The Hero Reborn as a Demon King Loli

"0.68 seconds? Looks like she's not at her peak yet..." Chloe muttered to herself, frowning. The next instant, she was back home.

"I can't sense any trace of her presence. Has Lulum really been taken away?...Tsk, System, track magic!"

That's right. After Chloe used [Character Switch], although her appearance didn't change, her stats reverted to what they were when she was still a hero.

Name: Li Wen

【Race:???】

[Attribute: None]

[Abilities: Combat Skills (Unleashed), Magic (Unleashed)]

[Level: 90 (Saint-level)]

When she was a hero, she had the advantage of the system, allowing her to use all the fighting techniques and magic she had ever seen. So even if she hadn't learned them at all, she could still use them.

But what she didn't expect was that while she was using magic to search for Lulum's whereabouts, she suddenly felt dizzy and her consciousness began to blur.

Before she completely lost consciousness, she only heard a prompt from the system.

[MP reaches zero, skill interrupted]

[Data error, system restarting]

……

Why did Lulu run away from home and deliberately hide her whereabouts?

That was so that she wouldn't become the Demon King, or rather, it wasn't the right time for her to become the Demon King.

After learning part of the truth, she couldn't accept the Demon King's approach of having to be an enemy of humanity, but she didn't have a good countermeasure.

So she resolutely left and went to live in seclusion in the Starry Forest, hoping to find a way to live peacefully with the human race.

This seclusion lasted for a century.

She concealed her whereabouts to avoid being captured by the Demon King and forced to inherit his throne, thus avoiding doing things against her will but which she had no choice but to do.

Therefore, as a Saint-level mental mage at the time, she set up a "cognitive impairment" barrier spell around her secluded place to ensure that no one could find her.

The power of this barrier lies in the fact that anyone looking for her, unless their mental strength is stronger than hers, will subconsciously avoid the areas covered by this barrier.

Furthermore, this barrier magic can also block all tracking magic of a lower level than the barrier itself.

It can be said that the only one in the entire demon realm who can find her is the Demon King himself, but the problem is that the Demon King has disappeared.

As for why she was suddenly found, it was because when Lulum's vital energy was drained, the barrier magic failed for a moment. However, in that very moment, a certain demon's tracking magic was able to capture her.

That demon was one of the Shadow King's subordinates.

Upon receiving the news, the Shadow King, in order to show his sincerity, is personally heading to Lulum's location to invite her back to be the Demon King.

Chloe probably never imagined that because of her carelessness, her leisurely time with Lulum would come to an end...

Let's go back to when Chloe first went out to study the engraving.

After Chloe left, Lulum suddenly sat up in bed and began talking to herself:

"We've been discovered."

"Yes, it seems it's time for us to go back."

"Leave everything to me once we get back."

"Yes, remember to take good care of our daughter, and don't you dare have any ulterior motives towards her."

"Of course, after all, she's our lovely daughter... Besides, no matter how wicked my thoughts are, they won't be as outrageous as yours."

"No way!"

"Alright, they're here. Leave this to me."

Her facial expression kept changing, sometimes gentle, sometimes sinister.

Immediately afterwards, as if sensing something, Lulum got up and walked towards the front door.

As she walked towards her home, her hair gradually turned a slightly sinister dark silver, her skin darkened slightly, and her expression transformed into a wicked yet domineering smile.

Then, she pushed open her door and looked at the group of people kneeling on one knee at the entrance, saying, "With so many people surrounding my house, do you think you can forcibly take me back?"

Silver-haired Lulum looked at the Shadow King who was leading the group and spoke in a domineering and mocking tone.

"No, no, we've only come to ask Lady Lulum to return and take charge of the overall situation."

"What? Are all four of you useless? You can't even find one person who can suppress 'that thing'?"

"So you knew all along? I'm truly ashamed. We searched the entire demon realm but couldn't find it, so we had no choice but to come to you..."

Faced with Lulum's mockery the moment she appeared, the Shadow King apologized repeatedly, his tone full of humility.

That's how the demon race works; the strong rule.

The Shadow King and his men had been circling around this area for a while, but they couldn't find the exact location they had tracked. If Lulum hadn't taken the initiative to remove the barrier, they might have been searching for half a day longer.

This is enough to show that Lulum's strength far surpasses his.

He also knew that Lulum had a terrible temper. He remembered that when this "young lady" got angry, she had slapped the Demon King's head in public. If he neglected this "young lady", what would he do if she got angry and he couldn't get her to calm down?

So no matter what, his attitude has to be good.

He wasn't confident he could keep Lulum, who was already a Saint of Mental Magic a hundred years ago, and given the unpredictability of Mental Magic, he might already be under its spell.

"Am I really that bad-tempered? Hmph, I'll let you off this time. Let's go, I was just planning to go back to the Demon King's Castle soon anyway, just a few years earlier... By the way, my daughter is still over there, wait for me."

"Yes!"

As expected, he had fallen for it... After receiving Lulum's confirmation, Shadow King breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help feeling a lingering fear.

However, halfway through his lingering fear, he suddenly froze.

What did Lady Lulum just say? Daughter? What's going on?

Who is such a beast?! Lady Lulum is clearly just a child who is a few hundred years old!

The Shadow King felt his worldview had been shaken.

Lulum, who had originally planned to go and ask Chloe to go with her, suddenly paused. She played with a strand of her dark silver hair, glanced at her skin which was slightly darker than before, and hesitated.

I wonder if little Chloe will accept me as her mother? Probably not, right?

If the child throws a tantrum, it will be difficult to explain.

I need to make a good impression on Chloe. I've decided, I'll have her explain to the child when we get there.

After thinking it over, the silver-haired Lulu felt that for the sake of family harmony, it would be better for her not to suddenly go see Chloe.

"You, and you too, my daughter is still playing over there. Go and bring her here... no! Just teleport her to the Demon King's castle, can't you do that?"

"Yes!" x2

The two dark elves who had been called out by the silver-haired Lulum responded and then merged into the darkness.

"Let's go, Lucas! What are you standing there for? Take me back to the Demon King's Castle! Otherwise, I'll wait decades before going back!"

"No, we mustn't! We'll leave now... but it's your daughter..."

"Are you teaching me what to do?"

"Let's go! Let's go!"

Upon hearing Lulum's threat, the Shadow King, whose real name is Lucas, quickly responded. He dared not say anything more and immediately teleported Lulum back to the Demon King's Castle.

Chapter Ten: The Restoration of Reason

What's wrong with me? Where am I?

When Chloe woke up, she looked around and realized that she didn't know why she was lying in a wasteland.

The location of this wasteland seemed strangely familiar to her... Wasn't that the house next to it her and Lulu's home? This area used to be a forest, so why has it turned into a wasteland?

Chloe didn't dwell on this strange incident, because she was thinking about something more important.

Lulum! I still haven't found her!

Chloe remembered what had happened earlier and tried to get up, but found that any movement caused excruciating pain throughout her body, as if being torn apart. This pain made Chloe's teeth chatter uncontrollably, and cold sweat poured down her back.

The intense pain calmed her previously chaotic mind slightly.

Although Chloe desperately wanted to find Lulum, she was in no condition to do so.

Lying on the ground, gazing at the starry sky, Chloe had no idea how long she had been unconscious, let alone going to find Lulum.

It's been at least an afternoon, maybe even longer... Chloe looked around with some difficulty; all she could see was wasteland.

Chloe suddenly had a bad feeling.

Fortunately, she was still relatively calm. She remembered that the system had a trivial clock function, and after glancing at the time, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She was unconscious for only eight hours.

Chloe tried to sit up again, but the result was the same.

Damn it, is my physical condition too poor?

Having had similar experiences before, Chloe immediately guessed what was going on. This was a common symptom that occurred after using a skill that exceeded her physical limits. She had experienced even more severe aftereffects than this one after using cheats to defeat bosses of higher levels in the past.

It seems that after the [Character Switch], only her panel data changed to that of the Hero; her body remained the same.

In other words, she previously possessed a level 13 body but gained level 90 power, and also used a Saint-level tracking technique.

Even if she could use the level 90 character attributes and skills normally, her body wouldn't be able to withstand it.

This is also why her MP instantly drops to zero when she uses magic, because the mana cost of a Saint-level tracking spell is simply too high for her to afford.

What's even more frustrating is that she didn't even notice anything unusual about her body while maintaining the hero's status.

Fortunately, she used a spell to force her to exit the hero's character panel due to insufficient MP. If she had remained in that state for a while longer, she might have been "torn apart".

Speaking of those two dark elves... I shouldn't have been able to knock them unconscious for so long, so why didn't they take advantage of my unconsciousness to take me away, instead of leaving me near their home?

Although the reason is unknown, this does not affect what happened before Chloe pushed back.

However, I was indeed a bit too impulsive before. Those two dark elves clearly didn't mean any harm. I should have pretended to be harmless a little more to extract information... At the very least, I should have asked them where they were taking me.

Moreover, dark elves are subordinate to the demon race, so why did I subconsciously treat them as enemies? I am a demon now, and Lulum is a demon noble.

Thinking about it this way, it makes sense that they even called Lulum "Your Excellency" and said that Lulum sent them to find me... As a noble of the demon race, it is indeed reasonable for Lulum to be able to command two dark elves.

By the way, the problem lies with the "King" they mentioned, which is what completely made me lose my composure.

Dark Elf, "King"... Shadow King!

The Dark Elves are subordinate to one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Clan—the Shadow King.

The Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Clan = Enemy = Vital Point Lulum.

This was the equation that came to Chloe's mind subconsciously at that moment.

So, is it still the ingrained mindset I had when I was a hero that's affecting me?

As Chloe's thoughts gradually became clearer, she felt that more and more things were not right.

Although she did not want Lulum to be harmed, upon closer examination, if the Shadow King, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Clan, were truly an enemy, why would he personally come to this remote place to "take Lulum away"?

Based on Chloe's understanding of demons, demons should generally fight and kill their enemies.

By the way, Lulum fell asleep simply because she was tired. For a mage, this has no impact on combat power at all.

Chloe recalled that when she returned home, there was not a single trace of magical energy in the house, which meant that Lulum had never resisted and had voluntarily gone with the Shadow King.

So why does she harbor such hostility towards the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Clan? She's clearly had no interaction with them whatsoever. And the mere thought of them is enough to trigger her hostility and even cause her to lose her reason—this is utterly illogical.

Based on this, Lulum should be out of danger.

Although there are still some questions, such as why Lulum didn't come to pick her up in person, none of that matters anymore.

Perhaps it was a racial talent, but after she figured out that Lulum was probably not in danger, she suddenly sensed from the depths of her being in a good mood, as if nothing had happened.

As long as Lulu is alright.

Chloe finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Now all she had to do was think about how to get through the night.

I hope I can move again soon; lying on the ground like this is a bit cold...