Skullcrusher

Five heavy, almost tangible gazes fell upon Liyana simultaneously.

But Liyana had seen her fair share of grand spectacles. Without backing down in the slightest, she stared right back at the group of Demon Kings, as if she were merely exchanging glances with a bunch of eccentric neighbors.

"I didn't expect there to be anyone else here," the Beast King Helug was the first to break the silence. He sized Liyana up with great interest and extended a finger, its curved claw gleaming with a cold, metallic light, pointing at her. "Elf, who are you?"

"I am Mida's aunt!" Liyana snorted softly and replied loudly.

Mida's delicate little face instantly darkened.

They had clearly agreed beforehand that Liyana's identity would be a subordinate she had casually picked up...

"Aunt?" The Demon Kings exchanged a meaningful look, obvious confusion flowing in their gazes.

"Mida is the only remaining Frost Dragon in the world, while you are an elf. Your bloodlines are completely different. How could you be her aunt?" Helug asked in bewilderment.

"Because Mida's brother is my father, so I am Mida's aunt!" Liyana straightened her back and loudly declared once more, her tone resolute and decisive.

"Li... Liyana... You said it backwards! It should be that your brother is Mida's father!" Mo Lini hid behind Liyana, tugged at the corner of her clothes, and whispered a reminder.

"Oh, right, my brother is Mida's father, so I am her aunt!" Liyana loudly repeated the statement.

Mida abruptly raised her small hand and slapped it heavily against her forehead with a smack.

So embarrassing...

Mida looked as if she wanted nothing more than to immediately freeze this fool completely in frost.

"Mida... I didn't expect you to know such an interesting fellow," Helug said to Mida, his tone carrying obvious teasing.

"I don't know her." Mida quickly turned her little head away, refusing to spare Liyana a single glance.

"So, are these lovely young ladies going to attend the meeting with you?" Nakaen asked in an easygoing manner, a faint smile inadvertently slipping from the corners of his mouth.

As the youngest sister who had become a Demon King the latest among them, the other Demon Kings always showed Mida a subtle, imperceptible indulgence.

"Mo Lini and Luo Lun are... I don't know Liyana," Mida stubbornly kept her face turned away, insisting stubbornly.

The Demon Kings looked at each other, unable to hold back a few smiles at Mida's cute reaction.

Mida kept a straight face and took her seat on the last Ice Throne reserved for her, while Liyana and the others voluntarily stood to the left side of the throne's armrest.

"Mida... doesn't sitting on this block of ice freeze your butt?" Liyana, seemingly completely oblivious to the subtle atmosphere around them, leaned in slightly and suddenly asked Mida.

After all, even standing next to it, she could feel the astonishing chill radiating from the throne.

"Shut up." Mida kept her face stiff, her mind filled with nothing but the hope that Liyana would stop making a fool of herself.

After this was over, she absolutely had to pack this idiot into a snowball and roll her straight down the Holy Peak.

"Actually, it feels alright. The coolness is quite comfortable," Helug, whose seat was next to Mida's, heard Liyana's whisper and explained to her.

This Beast Demon King seemed very interested in Liyana.

From his appearance, Helug had a rather extroverted and wild personality, standing as a stark contrast to Mida.

Although he was of the Lionfolk tribe, Helug retained very few bestial traits. Pointy fangs, sharp teeth, and a tuft of pale yellow chest hair... other than those, there were no other visible lion-like characteristics. Even his facial features were of a rather handsome and clean-cut type.

"Hey, Elf, how old are you? I hear you elves can live quite a long time," Helug asked rather casually.

"Me? I'm over a thousand years old... Is there a problem?" Liyana's eyebrow twitched; she also felt like she was on the same wavelength as Helug.

"Whoa, that's really quite a long time."

"You should be able to live that long in the future too, right?" Liyana shot a glance at Helug.

"That's true." Helug nodded gently. He was already a Demon King; with his strength, he had some ways to break free from the shackles of a mortal lifespan.

Liyana finally realized why this guy felt so familiar to her.

Helug... setting aside his identity as a Demon King, wasn't his personality exactly like the adventurers she usually interacted with?

"Uh, Lord Demon King?"

"Calling me? Just use my name."

"Then, Mr. Helug, were you an adventurer in the past?" Liyana asked directly.

"Yeah, I was." Helug didn't deny it, his golden pupils seemingly recalling something.

"Eh? You really were?"

Helug grinned: "Before becoming a Demon King, I spent a long time as an adventurer in the human territories, but that was centuries ago... I was actually quite famous back then."

Perhaps taking into account the sizes of different races, the throne was actually quite massive. For a normal human's size, even lying down on the throne wouldn't be an issue.

Helug lay down completely, carelessly resting one leg over the armrest and propping his head up with one hand, his posture wild and unrestrained.

The others were sitting properly... making Helug seem a bit out of place. Olides would normally have sat like him, but due to some previous events, he too was sitting upright and looking quite serious this time.

Liyana and Helug continued to chat.

"That doesn't make sense. With your strength, I should have heard of you," Liyana raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I used an alias back then, Skullcrusher, have you heard of it?" Helug said nonchalantly.

"Ah, it was you, kid!" Liyana's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered.

Although this title sounded like some third-rate bandit leader, Liyana knew that this person was a legend who had dominated an entire generation, known to absolutely everyone among adventurers.

The title of Skullcrusher came from his penchant for grabbing monsters by the head and crushing them directly into the ground.

Even though he never joined an adventurer guild, or even any party, he still established a terrifying prestige all on his own relying solely on his overwhelming strength.

"Liyana... you are being far too rude!"

Calling a Demon King kid, Mo Lini was so frightened her soul nearly flew out of her body.

Fortunately, Helug didn't mind at all. Instead, he burst into laughter, "After so long, there's actually still someone who remembers my name."

"But why did you think of coming to the human territories to be an adventurer?" Liyana asked with some curiosity. "The Wild Plains are built up pretty well now, aren't they?"

"If I had to say, I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my ancestors," Helug said in a deep, resonant voice. "A dozen generations ago, my ancestors came to the human territories to strive and fight for the sake of the tribe."