The Tale of Hero Alice's Social Death (Pantsu Hero Alice) Chapter 268 - Demon King -1

"That's none of your business." Alice snorted. "You tried to run when faced with my Burning Star just now, so that means this Soul Mark Scroll is weak to fire, right?"

"You can't do it. Although I don't recognize the sealing spell you've used, its sealing effect works both ways."

The blonde Demon King's voice came out of the paper crane. Even Alice, with her lack of knowledge in reading expressions, could hear the panic in the blonde Demon King's voice, so she could easily imagine how anxious the other party was.

In addition, going by the blonde Demon King's words, Alice deduced that the other party was a Demon King from a long time ago. At the very least, the blonde Demon King should be much older than Andusia. After all, Andusia had managed to recognize the Forest Crystal taboo at first glance, but this Demon King failed to recognize it.

Forest Crystal was one of the elves' trademark taboos. Logically, no Demon King should fail to recognize it. If there was such a Demon King, there'd be only one explanation for such a situation—the time this Demon King had been active was before the elves had developed the Forest Crystal taboo.

However, despite not recognizing Forest Crystal, the blonde Demon King still managed to interpret its effects—sealing. Moreover, just like the blonde Demon King mentioned, the Forest Crystal's sealing effects weren't unidirectional but bidirectional.

The Forest Crystal might prevent the paper crane's mana from flowing out, but it also prevented any outside mana from flowing inside. In other words, depending on the user's decision, the Forest Crystal could be used as either a sealing or defensive spell. If Alice wanted to destroy the Soul Mark Scroll, she would have to dismiss the Forest Crystal.

Yet, if Alice dismissed the Forest Crystal, it would mean that the blonde Demon King would get to use her little remaining mana to make another escape attempt. Alice dared not guarantee that she could stop the blonde Demon King from escaping again. After all, the other party had already shown that she possessed vastly superior combat experience.

However, this didn't mean that Alice wasn't without a solution.

"Is that so? Did you forget that the Soul Mark Scroll can be used to store a spell?" Alice sneered. When she saw that the blonde Demon King remained stubborn, she decided to explain her discovery to the other party: "In other words, so long as I store a fire spell and set a simple activation condition, even if I don't dismiss my Forest Crystal, I can still have that fire spell activate on the Soul Mark Scroll."

The paper crane visibly shuddered, proving that Alice was right in her guess—she could bypass the Forest Crystal's effects and store a spell in the Soul Mark Scroll. This was because Forest Crystal wouldn't recognize the action as an attack, so it wouldn't try to block it.

"But the Soul Mark Scroll can only seal one spell at any time," the blonde Demon King said. Despite her anxious tone, she still forced herself to keep calm. She needed to instill the idea that there was no solution to this problem into Alice's mind. That way, she would have the initiative when negotiating terms with Alice later on. "The spell currently recorded in the scroll is my 'Spiritual Realm.' You cannot overwrite this spell without my permission."

"Is that so?"

Alice could tell what the blonde Demon King was trying to play at. Unfortunately, she no longer intended to negotiate with the other party. Rather than keep such a dangerous fellow around, it'd be much better if she just got rid of her.

If any other person were standing in Alice's place, they would indeed have to get the blonde Demon King to remove her recorded spell in the Soul Mark Scroll first before they could record a new spell. Unfortunately, Alice was different.

When an item became a "weapon" in Alice's right hand, any special ability it had would unconditionally fall into Alice's control. It didn't matter, even if Alice wasn't the original owner. It was just like how Alice had managed to turn Grant's Radioactive Soul Stone into her weapon. This Soul Mark Scroll was no exception.

Since Alice was holding the Soul Mark Scroll with her right hand, the scroll's "Spell Storage" active skill was already under her control. In other words, she was the one to decide whether the Soul Mark Scroll would keep or remove its current recorded spell and record a new spell.

"What did you do?!" A panicked cry came from the paper crane the next moment. "You removed my 'Spiritual Realm'?!"

"I already said I would use the Soul Mark Scroll's ability to get rid of you, so I naturally have a way to remove the 'Spiritual Realm' you've sealed in it."

Since Alice had already decided to dispose of the blonde Demon King, she did not hesitate to replace the "Spiritual Realm" taboo sealed in the Soul Mark Scroll with a spell of her own

However, Alice didn't really have much mana left in her right now, either. She had already cast several taboos since entering Demon King Castle until now. Even if these taboos were all weakened versions of the original and consumed significantly less mana than their original counterparts, they still cost more mana than the average spell to cast. Alice also hadn't developed her mana pool to its full potential yet, so she was running a little short on mana now.

But there wasn't a rule stating that she had to store a taboo-level spell, right?

"I originally wanted to store a 'Burning Star' and let you die a somewhat dignified death, but it's a pity that I don't have enough mana to cast another Burning Star," Alice said with an evil grin. Then, she began sealing a new spell into the paper crane in her hand. "So, let's just settle with a Fireball. It's just paper, anyway. Any type of fire will work wonders against it, right? You don't have to feel too bad about it, either. Just think of it as a Burning Star that's hundreds of thousands of times weaker."

"Wait! I think we can negotiate!"

The blonde Demon King's panicked shout came from the paper crane. She could already sense fire-attributed mana flowing into the Soul Mark Scroll, so it was obvious that Alice had made good on her promise and stuffed a Fireball into the scroll. This situation made her feel incredibly vexed. Even if she were to die, it would be much better to die under a taboo than a measly Fireball spell.

All Demon Kings had their own pride. It was similar to how Andusia would feel uncomfortable watching Magical Girl Hikari. Meanwhile, this blonde Demon King was no exception.

"I can tell you whatever you want to know! So— What?!"

Before the blonde Demon King could finish speaking, the paper crane had suddenly ignited into flames.

"I'm not interested in talking with you. You are much more dangerous than Andusia," Alice said as she tossed the burning paper crane. Just like she thought, a Fireball was more than capable of setting the Soul Mark Scroll ablaze.

"I was actually…by a Fireball…"

The blonde Demon King's unreconciled voice came from the charred and burning paper crane. It would seem that she felt incredibly frustrated from having her life ended by a simple Fireball. Unfortunately, it was her fault for storing her soul inside a piece of paper. Had she stored her soul inside something like the Radioactive Soul Stone or Soul Gathering Tablet, Alice would have had to resort to much more powerful means to get rid of her.

Soon, the flames subsided, leaving behind a small pile of ashes. Even though the Soul Mark Scroll used to house a Demon King's soul, it burned no differently than an ordinary piece of paper.

"Ah, I forgot to ask for her name."

Alice scratched her head awkwardly as she looked at the remnants of the Soul Mark Scroll. Only now did she remember that she still hadn't gotten the other party's name.