The Hero Reborn as a Demon King Loli

Her aura weakened because her soul had left her body, and the system had also taken her panel with it, meaning all her magic power had been taken away.

Without magic, a body's energy will naturally weaken rapidly.

Chloe's body is now essentially an empty shell, only maintaining basic life functions.

Therefore, no matter how much treatment Lulum receives, it will be to no avail.

What's wrong with Chloe all of a sudden? There are no external injuries on her body... Where's her mind? Why is her mind completely blank?

As a psychic mage, Lulum could detect Chloe's mental abnormalities with just a slight examination.

And as Lulum's examination deepened, her eyes gradually became dull.

"Chloe's soul... is gone?" Lulum murmured in disbelief.

Furthermore, what made Lulum most desperate was that she actually discovered a trace of the Abyss within Chloe's body.

Was it the Abyss Cult that did it? Was it the Abyss Cult that did it?

After discovering traces of the abyss, Lulum was first filled with anger, then felt a sense of helplessness.

I was so stupid, really. All I knew was that those lunatics in the Abyss Order were causing trouble, and I thought that as long as you were by my side, everything would be fine. I never imagined they would actually attack you right under my nose...

Chloe, my Chloe… If only I had noticed something was wrong sooner, if only I had expelled the entire Abyss Order…

Lulum despairingly stopped casting the healing spell, then stroked Chloe's small face, which showed no other reaction except for faint breathing, and an ominous aura emanated from her...

But before Lulum could completely despair, Stella, who was standing to the side, spoke up: "Lulum, Daddy's soul is still here... I can feel it."

Upon hearing Stella's words, Lulum's eyes widened immediately, and the ominous aura around her vanished in an instant.

"Where is Chloe's soul?" Lulum quickly grabbed Stella's arms with both hands and asked anxiously.

“I can’t get in touch with him for now, but I’m sure my father’s soul is still here… This marking tells me that.” Stella raised her left arm and showed Lulum the markings on her hand, as well as the same engraving she had with Chloe.

"A soul contract? A soul contract! That's great! The contract's connection is still very strong; Chloe's soul is unharmed..."

Lulum immediately recognized the mark on Stella's hand.

Hope rekindled in her eyes.

If nothing went wrong with the soul contract, it means Chloe's soul is temporarily safe...

But Lulu was still very anxious... Even though she understood that Chloe's soul was temporarily safe, where exactly did Chloe's soul go?

And since it concerns the Abyss Order... she couldn't possibly be at ease.

However, she had no other choice but to keep an eye on the status of the soul contract in Stella's hand while anxiously waiting for Stella to contact Chloe.

After anxiously waiting for more than ten minutes, Stella finally got in touch with Chloe...

"Oh my god, you scared me! Is that Stella?"

Chloe's voice came from the engraving.

Hearing Chloe's strong voice, Lulum breathed a sigh of relief and immediately asked about Chloe's condition.

……

Are you perhaps making fun of me?

Even Stella, the Demon Queen, found it hard to believe after hearing Lucas's explanation.

Granddaughter... and what? When did her good-for-nothing daughter get pregnant?

“Whether I’m entertaining you or not, you should know better than I do.” Lucas replied with a completely indifferent expression.

Stella, who was once the Demon King, knew better than anyone whether he was lying or not.

Putting aside her mind-reading ability, just the fact that he had served under the Demon Queen Stella for so many years meant that Stella could tell whether he was lying or not just by feeling.

However, Stella, the Demon Queen, even used mental magic to test Lucas's explanation.

As for the result? What else could it be but the truth?

You could say that. It's precisely because Lucas was telling the truth that she found it unbelievable.

"And didn't you see Princess Chloe yesterday?"

"Seen her? You mean that little girl from yesterday?"

Seeing Chloe nod in confirmation, Demon Queen Stella couldn't help but frown.

If you told her that the little girl from yesterday was her granddaughter, she might believe it, since she could sense a familiar aura from the little girl... Come to think of it, that aura really does resemble her daughter's.

However, what she felt most familiar with was actually the "mistletoe" on the little girl's body. She had already confirmed it. Although mistletoe mutated into a weapon was unheard of... it was indeed mistletoe, and a very powerful mutated variety at that... well, it was still a tiny bit weaker than her.

As for how she determined that? Don't forget, she tasted it herself...

Besides mistletoe, there couldn't possibly be any plant that could extract the abyssal energy from her and still remain "temporarily" at peace...

However, the little girl who was summoned just now had a completely wrong aura.

Not only does it not resemble the aura of that little girl from yesterday, but it doesn't even seem like a living being.

It was a chaotic aura, like a plant, a living being, or even... a ghost?

But this chaotic atmosphere also possesses a natural sense of harmony... In short, it's eerie, yet incredibly interesting.

This aura has absolutely nothing to do with that succubus girl from yesterday.

That's why she didn't recognize who the little girl was.

After all, she only "observes" things by their scent... because she has a severe case of face blindness.

The longer you live and the more faces you see, the easier it is to develop this kind of problem.

"Forget it, let's just consider that little girl my granddaughter. But she was summoned by a spell to 'summon the soul of a hero.' Could she also be related to the hero?"

Having decided not to dwell on the matter any longer, Demon Queen Stella ended the discussion about whether Chloe was her granddaughter and turned to ask Xiao Yan Yan, who was standing beside her.

“…(shaking)”

However, Xiao Yan Yan seemed to have suffered some kind of mental blow, staring blankly and trembling on the spot, completely ignoring the Demon King Stella's question.

"Weak? Even if you're a fake, you're still close to the Saint level. How come you can't even withstand the aftershocks of a mental suppression?"

Seeing the mentally broken Xiao Yan Yan beside her, Demon Queen Stella said disdainfully, then reached out and snapped her fingers in front of Xiao Yan Yan.

After snapping her fingers, Xiao Yanyan immediately collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

This is terrifying! Is this what a Saint-level expert in the mental realm is like?

Xiao Yan Yan thought with a lingering fear.

She was still able to think, and even doubted whether this adult was a god-level powerhouse, but when this adult attacked the little girl, it seemed that in order to completely suppress the Shadow King, he activated his domain... that's when she completely lost consciousness.

Just now, she even forgot how to breathe.

If she hadn't confirmed just moments before losing her composure that Stella was using a "domain," she would have thought that the Demon Queen Stella was a god-level powerhouse.

However, Stella didn't care about her feelings and simply repeated her question.

After hearing Demon King Stella's question, Xiao Yan Yan thoughtfully replied, "This... I'm not quite sure either. Logically, it should only summon souls that match the 'materials,' it's impossible to summon a person out of thin air... unless something interferes with the summoning... like there was already a corpse inside?"

Xiao Yan Yan shared her analysis and pointed to the large pit next to the hero's corpse... which was the grave where the hero's relics were buried.

"Impossible, I've definitely checked... Wait, could that thing also be considered a 'corpse'?"

After listening to Xiao Yan Yan's analysis, Demon Queen Stella initially denied that there were other people's corpses buried in the hero's grave, but she soon realized something.

If summoning the hero's soul fails, why does the hero's body die again?

So she immediately went to the hero's corpse and tore off the black robe it was wearing.

Sure enough, there was a huge hole in the hero's chest.

"No wonder I always felt like something was missing, now I understand..."

Stella, the Demon Queen, probably understood everything.

The material she used to revive the hero—that clump of plant completely twisted by abyssal energy—was part of her old body.

It can be considered a "corpse" as well.

It was precisely because that thing was part of her old body that she was able to use a special spell to make it mimic the hero's heart and supply the hero's body with life force, thereby reviving the hero.

Now that the "corpse" that mimicked the hero's heart is gone, the hero's body is naturally no longer alive.

So now, the situation is basically clear... that little girl is her "resurrected" old body.

Has she become a stand-in?

“Interesting, very interesting... Lucas, are you sure that little girl looks exactly like my adopted granddaughter?”

After confirming the condition of the hero's corpse, Demon Queen Stella asked Lucas, who was standing nearby, with great interest.

“Almost identical, with only minor differences, but I'm certain that her inner self is Princess Chloe… What do you mean?”

Lucas was a smart man, and after combining his observations with what Stella, the Demon King, said, he became a little uncertain.

Although he was certain that the little girl's inner self was Princess Chloe... after all, she had told him about the situation in the Demon King's Castle before, so it was definitely her consciousness.

But his health... he was genuinely unsure.

After all, the aura of the summoned Princess Chloe was indeed unfamiliar, and her pupils were pure gold... He clearly remembered that Princess Chloe's pupils were heterochromatic, one of them being red.

Chloe's eyes couldn't possibly change color, could they? That would be too Mary Sue-ish...

"Then I'm pretty sure! That little girl is indeed related to me. She should be considered my incarnation... or perhaps my second daughter?"

After thinking for a moment, Stella, the Demon Queen, spoke to Lucas in a cheerful tone.

"But Princess Chloe is clearly your granddaughter..."

Lucas immediately offered a reminder in response to Stella's words.

If Stella, the Demon Queen, were to randomly claim daughters, wouldn't the relationships become a complete mess?

"Hahaha, a marriage between relatives, isn't that wonderful?" Demon Queen Stella seemed not to understand Lucas's meaning, and even laughed with her hands on her hips.

"?" Lucas looked at the Demon King Stella with pity.

It's not an illusion; Lady Stella's brain... seems to have really gone mad.

Sure enough, no matter who it is, once they are corrupted by the abyss, their thought processes will become somewhat abnormal...

……

"dad!!!"

Just as Chloe was wondering if she could use the contract to contact Stella, she was suddenly startled by the voice coming from the imprint.

Even the mysterious liquid was almost scared out of its wits... Don't get the wrong idea, it's definitely referring to tears!

However, she quickly realized that it was Stella's voice.

Immediately afterwards, Lulum's concerned inquiry came from the engraving.

Chloe didn't hide anything and told Lulum and the others everything that had happened before...

"The Cult... actually developed a spell to summon souls? This is unbelievable..."

"Yeah, I think it's pretty ridiculous too..."

After listening to Chloe's explanation, Lulum was clearly deep in thought.

"By the way, how come Chloe's soul could be summoned using that useless hero's corpse?"

Lulum murmured in a puzzled tone, while Chloe, who heard Lulum's murmur, had a black line on her face.

Why does it seem like Lulum has a lot of grudges against the Hero? Is it because she became the Demon Lord?

However, regardless of the circumstances, her identity must be revealed, after all, keeping this from Lulum, the Demon King, is unacceptable...

"That Lulum, actually I..."

"Hmph, thank goodness that useless hero didn't revive, otherwise I would have gone over there tonight and scattered his ashes! By the way, Chloe, Lulum is thinking about it. Tell me about the situation on your end..."

After hearing what Lulum... or rather, Black Lulum who had taken the opportunity to get some fresh air said, Chloe immediately shut her mouth.

For her and her family's safety, she decided to keep quiet for now...

So why does Lulum have such a strong opinion about the hero? Didn't she want to create a world where humans and demons could coexist?

Why?

……