“How rude.”
A cheery voice echoed through the lab.
“I’ve mocked them enough— How I do hate to rush. My hair’s not even dry! Hardly becoming.”
This voice—as alluring as a top-tier sex worker—belonged to a woman in her late twenties.
Heedless of the mayhem in the castle above, she was applying lipstick like she was getting ready to hit the town. She even did the lip-smacking thing.
“Oof, moving before I’ve adjusted to this body, everything feels wrong. You get that? That tingle you get in your extremities when you come inside from the winter cold and go straight into a hot bath. But only everywhere!”
She spoke like she was addressing a boyfriend—to someone stepping slowly out from behind a pillar.
“Then you really oughtta take your time. Let me kill you before you suffer!”
Tanned skin, broad smile, fearsome words—Shouma.
Folding his arms, he leaned against the wall and looked toward her voice. He was smiling, but his eyes were not, like a bird that’s spotted its next meal.
“My! Attacking me in my sleep? Kunlun villagers all take after that chief of theirs now. That should do it.”
Picking up on the threat he posed, she nonetheless strolled right out to face him, like a sales agent walking into a client’s shop.
She had a supermodel figure with clean features—tall and slender. Her long white hair contained dark highlights—quite an eye-catching look.
She radiated class, possibly because of the sheer confidence in her body language. Like royalty making a public appearance.
She wore a black dress with an orange accent, and a headband with crown-like flair. Both stylish anachronisms, a futuristic vibe that totally worked for her. With her confidence, she could pull off any look.
The mysterious beauty slinking out of the lab’s depths shot Shouma a seductive look over the top of her sunglasses.
As he looked back, his eyes narrowed.
“Hngg, you don’t exactly match Dr. Eug’s description.”
“Well, no. When I met her, I was an ancient crone. And the rest of the time, I was wearing a rabbit suit!”
She offered up a graceful curtsey.
“Greetings! A pleasure. I am Eve Profen, ruler of this land. My real name is Eva, but feel free to keep calling me Eve, Shouma.”
“I figured you knew about me.”
Her smile was positively jubilant.
“Of course I do! You were one of my best pawns.”
That phrase made him grit his teeth.
“Call me what you like, but—you always meant to sacrifice Sou and Dr. Eug, didn’t you?”
Eve’s response was hardly a justification at all. Her arrogance rose a notch to “haughty.”
“In a world full of riffraff, being deemed useful to me at all is genuinely impressive. Out of respect for that, I deigned to show myself. You’re the first to bask in my glory! Be honored.”
“Listen to yourself.”
He wasn’t having it, but Eve just kept on cozying up to him.
“Honestly, I do have some sympathy for you, Shouma.”
“How so?”
“I heard being far stronger than those around you left you dejected and apathetic.”
Shouma had left Kunlun once, but everyone had been so weak and buttered him up. He’d returned with a low opinion of humanity and hadn’t wanted Lloyd to go through the same thing. That’s why he’d tried to use the demon lords to make the world strong enough to be interesting.
“Dr. Eug filled you in?”
“Why, yes,” Eve said, smiling warmly.
The way she was trying to worm her way into his graces got Shouma’s hackles up. Eug had fallen prey to her manipulations and paid the price for it. She was like a lawyer who pretends to be an ally so they can charge for more time, or a financial planner baiting people into an unwise investment.
Well aware he was on guard, Eve kept pursuing this angle, trying to get on his wavelength.
“I used to live a life of total freedom, ordering everyone around. But once you get everything you want, the world gets dreadfully dull.”
“Yup.”
“And you seek new challenges—but they end up the same. The only difference between our actions is that you’re devoting your life to that hapless brother of yours, and I’m acting in my own self-interest.”
Eve was behaving like an influencer doing a World Conquest Challenge! stream. This side of her had certainly gotten worse once she discovered magic. Like an immature fool given a credit card without a limit. Shouma looked repulsed.
“You had me at first, but I really can’t relate. Not to anyone who’d badmouth Lloyd.”
“Oh, don’t give me that,” Eve said, waving him down. “I’ve been forced to acknowledge the boy’s power. Perhaps he doesn’t compare to the best the world offers, but that ceases to matter when you consider the miracles he can pull off.”
Shouma’s scowl was instantly replaced with a beaming smile. His love for Lloyd was undiminished in the face of evil.
“You noticed? That’s right! Lloyd’s greatness ain’t about stats! That’s the whole appeal!”
Eve matched his sudden shift in attitude, explaining what had just happened to her.
“I know! Just a minute ago, he had me cornered worse than I’ve ever been before. Or at least as bad as the time someone shot me to death.”
“Lloyd’s charms come right at you like a gunshot to the heart.”
This conversation was going wildly off the rails, but Shouma noticed Eve flexing her hands, getting used to the new body.
And his whole demeanor changed, switching to battle mode.
“Trying to stall with chatter till you adjust? Best I kill you first.”
Eve didn’t bat an eye.
“Too obvious? Well, I’m hardly in peak condition.”
Eve stretched, then put a hand on her hip, smirking at him.
“That sounds like a good warm-up. I’ll play along, boy.”
“Ha ha! I’m just part of your exercise routine? Passion! Let’s make it a fun one.”
Shouma vaulted forward, fists swinging toward her.
“Kunlun villagers can’t beat me,” Eve said.
Her smile was confident, and her declaration was purposeful.