Jane, who was left behind at Freja's mansion, sat in one of the guest rooms hugging her knees worried about the outcome of the fight. Almost every Admiral had been killed, making her possibly the only one to make it out alive.
To make things worse, killing the admirals seemed to be part of the plan as Klaus was able to reanimate them. This way they would never go against him, giving him the perfect loyal elite squad.
'Does that mean if I die I will turn undead as well?' Jane was scared for her own life, worried that she had already been infected, so she tried to figure out how Klaus was able to set up such a plan. Then it hit her, she knew exactly when they were most likely all infected by the dark magic.
"The emergency meeting…" Jane explicitly remembered drinks being provided which could have been infused with mana. As long as it was a very small dose they would have a hard time realising it. There was also the fact that many stayed behind to talk with Klaus, especially those that supported him.
'There is a chance I am fine.' Jane had not taken the drink or stayed behind, so unless this was something done more than a year ago then she should be fine.
"Hello there." Even though Jane never heard the door opening, there stood Freja, as if simply appearing in her room was perfectly normal.
"AHH! When did you get there?" Jane almost fell off the bed from the shock of hearing Freja.
"I have been here for a while and saw you deep in thought so I didn't want to interrupt you, but I got bored." Freja tried to be considerate, but she had things to do and Jane needed to leave.
"Oh, well what did you need?" Jane felt intimidated by Freja's presence, so she avoided all forms of eye contact.
"I need to send you back to meet the Demon Queen and tell her everything you know. Himeko will be there, so you shouldn't have to worry about getting instantly killed by Elaina. She is in a rather bad mood at the moment." Freja explained what was going to happen to which Jane didn't seem to respond too well. freewebno vel.co m
"W-wait, going back there? Won't I just be killed either way? We humans pretty much killed their heroes." Jane was afraid of the consequences she would face as she felt partly responsible for all the damages caused.
"Don't panic so much, many of their people saw you helping them. There will be no witch hunt for your head." Freja understood her worries, but it was unwarranted. In an attempt to calm Jane down Freja approached, giving Jane a hug which was unexpected.
Jane froze up, but after feeling how gentle it was, she hugged back.
"Alright…" Jane was still sceptical to a degree, but she believed Freja was telling the truth.
"Good girl~ now let me send you off." Freja clicked her fingers teleporting Jane away in an instant.
'Maybe that was a little cruel to send her so suddenly… oh well I'm sure she will be fine.' Freja shrugged it off and teleported herself away.
***
<Demon Castle>
"Huh?" Jane had no idea what had just happened, but she found herself in some big hall with a throne. A quick look told her the place was completely empty, but then she heard someone walking behind her.
Quickly getting up from the ground, she turned her body, preparing for the worst, but froze when she found someone truly unexpected.
"Jane?" Himeko walked in with a very loose white t-shirt, leaving her chest tantalisingly close to being visible. It was also impossible to tell if she was wearing shorts as the shirt was truly oversized.
"H-Himeko?" Jane blushed and quickly looked away covering her nose.
'Fuck she is still hot.' Jane thought Himeko would have been heavily injured by The Pope, but she still looks the same as before.
"Oh my god! Jane, you are here!" Himeko rushed over, hugging Jane from behind. This was a critical blow as Jane felt Himeko squish her body right up against Jane's back, letting her feel everything.
'She isn't wearing anything underneath!' Jane's mind spiralled, betraying her obvious crush on Himeko. To Jane, Himeko was her only friend for whom, after knowing each other for many years, she had finally developed feelings. Still, to this day even Jane herself didn't realise what feelings meant.
"Why are you looking away? We hug all the time, hmph!" Himeko noticed how Jane was acting all shy, which was a little odd as she usually returned the affection.
"S-sorry." Jane felt bad, so she turned around and hugged Himeko back. However, due to their height difference, Jane was engulfed in Himeko's chest.
"Haha, it's okay, I'm sure you are still recovering from all the fighting." Himeko slowly patted the back of Jane's head trying to make her feel as safe as possible.
"Damn you, why did you have to disappear on me?" Jane started to tear up as she recalled just how much she missed Himeko. The comfort she provided by just being there was invaluable to Jane, so it came as a shock when Himeko was suddenly gone.
"I'm sorry, Klaus defeated me, forcing the use of my reincarnation skill. But I'm here now and as good as new." Himeko felt her heart ache to see Jane break down. She didn't really realise how much Jane cared about her until now.
"Dummy, don't do that again, I don't want to lose the person I love." Getting carried away in the moment, Jane accidentally confessed, but Himeko was too dense to realise it as she saw it as platonic.
"It's okay now, I won't be going anywhere. I will be joining some of my peers to help tier them up, so I should be out of harm's way for a while." Himeko explained to Jane what the plan was, which did come as a surprise, but also comforting to know she wasn't going anywhere.
"Ahem!" Breaking up the tender moment, the woman on the throne cleared her throat trying to get their attention.
"Sorry to break this up, but you can continue later, I have limited time and it's getting late." Elaina was in a hurry so she wanted to deal with Jane as it shouldn't take too long.
"Oh sorry, you did call for me so I don't want to waste any more time that you have given us." Himeko actually had been called to the throne room by Elaina but didn't know why.
"Alright. Now tell me Jane, what exactly happened?" Elaina got straight to the point wanting an account of what transpired in the city.
"Y-yes." Jane quickly stood up straight and faced Elaina trying to be a little bit presentable.
"What happened was…."
**
"Hmm, I didn't see that transformed admiral, must have been taken away when we drove Klaus away." Elaina saw the damage done, but there was nobody matching the description of the metal-using admiral.
"Were there other bodies?" Jane wondered whether the other admirals transformed as well as she was confident that Kinzoku wasn't the only one infected.
"I only saw the bodies of my own, are you trying to say that there were other admirals killed?" Elaina did not find any solid evidence, but Jane's testimony did line up with what the other demons were saying,
"Oh no! they must have transformed as well." Jane's worst fears came true. The others must have indeed been infected in some way beforehand.
"Hmm, that would explain the missing bodies… Come here Jane." Things started to click into place in Elaina's head, making her realise something.
Jane slowly walked up to the throne wondering what it could be. She was honest the whole time so it was a little confusing as to why Elaina would want to see her up close. However, just as she was close enough, it clicked in her head why.
'She must think I will transform too!' Jane, realising this fact, tried to step back, but it was all too late as Elaina stabbed with her hand right through Jane's body.
"JANE!!!" Himeko screamed, instantly coating herself in flames and jumping forward.
"Halt! I am not killing her, look at my hand!" Elaina used her other hand to put up a magical barrier stopping HImeko from getting closer.
As she pulled her hand out of Jane, demon nurses came out from behind instantly healing Jane back to how she was. freewebnov(e)l
Himeko was stunned as Jane was instantly healed back, but what caught her eye was the swirling dark ball in Elaina's hand. It was clear this was planted by the pope and most likely the cause of the transformation Jane talked about.
*Cough* *Cough* "Fuck that hurt." Jane still felt a lingering pain, but she now felt a lot lighter.
Himeko calmed down, seeing that Jane was perfectly fine and no longer had a gaping hole in her stomach.
"Glad to see you are okay, sorry about the sudden surprise, but I didn't want to take the chance of a manual activation." Elaina was not going to let the Pope get any more wins in her presence, so it was better Jane didn't know what was coming.
"What is that?" Jane looked up to see the swirling dark ball wondering how the hell that fit inside her.
"It's pure black magic, the same thing that corrupted the admirals. I noticed something odd in you when you mentioned a transformation, so I took the liberty of scanning your body for any anomalies." Elaina explained her process while she crushed the dark orb, erasing it from existence.
"So I'm safe now?"
"Yes, you are Jane. Now, what do you want to do now?" Elaina found out all she needed and was in a better mood now that she ruined another one of Klaus' plans.
"She is a blacksmith, so I say we use her skills to make some upgrades to your new trainees' equipment." Himeko jumped in knowing full well that Jane is capable of making legendary weapons which would be a great help.
"Hmmm, I don't mind. Maids! Please set Jane up with a room and a forge." Elaina called for some demons to do her bidding while Jane was still trying to understand what was going on. She still felt dizzy from the sudden attack on her stomach making it hard to concentrate.
"It's okay Jane, let me take you to my room while they set things up. Thank you Elaina for your help, see you tomorrow." HImeko realised Jane was just like a lost child right now, so Himeko took the initiative to leave.
"My pleasure." Elaina disappeared leaving Jane and Himeko to themselves.
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