Chapter 287 – Andusia Is a Tsun

Andusia swam up to the dagger's hilt and grabbed it with her pitifully small hands.
However, even though her current body was tiny, she was still a former Demon King.
She had also recovered most of her strength already, so removing a dagger that was stuck in a brick naturally wasn't a problem for her.
She could easily accomplish it by applying a little force.

Or, at least, that was what Andusia believed…

Huh?

Unexpectedly, the dagger refused to budge even after Andusia tried to pull it out of the fountain's brick foundation.
This was quite an astonishing situation.

It should be known that Andusia was a Demon King.
Unlike the demons' Four Heavenly Kings, Catherine the Gryffin Kingdom's Royal Guard Captain, and Filia the Elven Hero's partner, Andusia didn't have to rely on mana to have great physical strength.
This was because Heroes and Demon Kings developed their mana and physique simultaneously.
Even if Heroes and Demon Kings didn't deliberately train their physique, their physique would still grow to levels far beyond ordinary people.

In her current state, Andusia could even shatter an entire mountain with her bare fists if she used her full strength.
Although she had used only a small portion of her strength to pull the dagger, it still didn't make sense that she would fail to pull it out.

Interesting.
Did someone place a restriction on it?

Andusia naturally wouldn't think that the dagger was only tightly inserted into the fountain.
There was definitely some kind of magical restriction placed on the dagger, making it so that the weapon couldn't be pulled out by just anyone.
More specifically, a Demon King most likely placed this restriction to prevent those weaker than them from drawing the dagger.

Although Andusia had already recovered most of the strength she had during her peak, she couldn't make a full recovery due to the limitations of her current body.
Hence, she couldn't ignore this restriction and draw the dagger from the ground.

Dammit.
This body really is troublesome.

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After trying and failing to pull out the dagger for some time, Andusia couldn't help but curse her current body.
The main reason she had tried to steal her descendant's body previously was precisely because of her current body's limitations.
Not only could it be taken advantage of by plant-based magic easily, but it also couldn't replicate a real body perfectly.
Hence, it would limit her strength to a certain extent.

However, Andusia also knew that Alice wouldn't simply let her take over another person's body.
Not to mention, her hatred for humans had lessened significantly already.
So, although she found her current body's limitations depressing, she no longer thought of stealing another person's body to fix her problem.

This thing should have a Demon King's Protection cast on it.
Moreover, the condition set should be to prevent others from drawing the dagger out of the ground.

As a former Demon King, Andusia naturally knew about the Demon King's Protection.
It was an ability unique to Demon Kings.
Although other restriction-type spells could achieve a similar effect, the effects of these spells would weaken with time.
However, the Demon King's Protection did not have such a problem.

Regardless, since Andusia couldn't draw the dagger, she had no choice but to inform Alice of this matter and see if the other party had any solutions.
Although Andusia was aware that Alice's strength still hadn't reached the level of a full-fledged Demon King, the girl seemed to have some kind of special power.
So, she felt that maybe that special power might come in handy in this situation.

“I found the target, Alice.
It's a dagger stuck at the bottom of the fountain,” Andusia said to Alice, transmitting her voice directly into the girl's ears using mana.
“But there seems to be a Demon King's Protection cast on the dagger.
I can't pull it out with my current strength.”

Demon King's Protection?

When Alice heard Andusia's words, she couldn't help but recall Grant's Radioactive Soul Stone.
That stone also had an ability called “Demon King's Protection” attached to it.
Meanwhile, the ability's description was “Opponents weaker than the user cannot destroy or move this weapon.”

Back then, Alice naturally didn't have the strength necessary to bypass this restriction.
However, because her right hand had forcibly changed the Radioactive Soul Stone's “user” to her, following the formula of “I am not weaker than myself,” Alice became able to do whatever she wanted with the Radioactive Soul Stone.

In other words, Alice should be able to pull off a similar feat with the dagger stuck at the bottom of the fountain if she were to grab the dagger with her right hand.

However, the problem now was how she should enter the fountain.
She couldn't possibly jump into the fountain in broad daylight, right?

Alice had constantly been trying to maintain a low profile to avoid blowing her cover.
It might be fine if she did something attention-grabbing in the human realm since she could use her identity as the princess as a shield.
However, if she were to attract attention in the demon realm, people might look into her identity and dig up some crucial information, such as her close ties with the Four Heavenly Kings.
She also did not doubt the various media outlets' investigative capabilities.

Afterward, Alice told Luna and Little Death about the dagger's situation, and the two also fell into silent contemplation.
The park wasn't a private place, so they didn't have the authority to casually kick people out of the premises.
Even if they chose to kick people out regardless, the surveillance cameras would catch them in the act, and Alice would still run the risk of exposing herself.

“How about going invisible? Don't you have that magic robe that lets you turn invisible?” Luna suggested.

“Going invisible doesn't mean I stop existing.
I will still make splashes if I jump into the water.
Moreover, it'll be even more frightening if a pocket of air shaped like a person suddenly appears in the fountain,” Alice said, shooting down Luna's suggestion.

“How about we create some chaos? My bodily fluids carry an undead virus.
So long as I bite someone to death, I can turn them into undead.
We'll create an undead crisis here and take advantage of the chaos,” Little Death said, voicing the plan she devised using her dead brain.

“That's not necessary,” Alice said, wiping the sweat on her forehead.
She didn't know that Little Death could convert others into undead by biting them.
Though, based on Little Death's words, it would seem that she could only convert people after biting them to death.
As to what would happen to those who didn't get bitten to death…Alice had no idea.

However, Little Death's suggestion also served as a useful reference.
Not the undead crisis part, but the creating chaos part.
If it was only creating a little bit of chaos, Alice could accomplish it easily.