SSS Demon King System: The Rise of a Dying Extra-Chapter 70: The Farewell. (2)

The boy’s shadow stretched.

Though it wasn’t really his shadow, it was the swamp of gluttony, a demonic ability his "Chaos Record" system had granted him.

His "shadow" adopted a liquid consistency, with the same characteristic disturbances of water’s surface.

Slowly, a black metal helmet began to emerge from the swamp, and then, the entire armor began to emerge.

Siegfried had been summoned.

Hati looked at the warrior with clear surprise on her face.

"Wow, thank you very much! He looks very strong," Hati commented upon seeing the warrior.

Lloyd nodded at that comment, when his desire to say "you should have seen him when he was alive" came.

In fact, Lloyd was still surprised with the power Siegfried had shown in the trial.

Killing him had been an almost impossible task.

If it weren’t for the trial being designed so the challenger couldn’t die, he wouldn’t have succeeded.

Lloyd felt a chill remembering how many times he had died at the hero’s hands.

An unpleasant memory he tried to push away as soon as possible, since every time that memory returned his guts started churning.

No one could blame him, after all Siegfried had killed him in horrible ways no person should experience.

It was normal he felt that trauma, Lloyd himself was aware of it, that’s why he usually tried not to think about it.

Forget the trial.

But there was something undeniable he would never forget, Siegfried’s power.

That warrior had withstood natural lightning, a laser charged as hot as a star’s core, a fucking nuclear explosion, and had still survived.

Lloyd had to use a complex magical formula inspired by E=mc² to be able to beat him.

A formula that fortunately he had learned from the novel, because if not, he would still be locked in that monster, dying over and over until going mad.

Something that gave Lloyd chills just thinking about it.

However, what was without doubt more impressive, almost terrifying, was thinking that the Siegfried he knew was a mere echo of the true Siegfried.

That the living, conscious Siegfried was several times more powerful than the one he had known.

What kind of monster would he be?

Would Lloyd be capable of reaching that level of power?

It was something that worried Lloyd, since he knew in that world there were beings even more powerful than Siegfried.

Beings it was better to pray not to encounter, because if you did, there would be nothing left to do.

Imagining it, Lloyd felt he was starting to get dizzy.

Without doubt it wasn’t the best thing to think about.

But fortunately, Sköll intervened, pulling him from those thoughts.

"Yes! He looks very strong! Someday I want to fight against him!" Sköll affirmed with sparkles in her eyes, looking at that warrior with clear enthusiasm.

The girl leaned forward to see him better while her tail moved energetically, and gave jumps around him to observe him better.

"Without doubt he is," Lloyd responded, now calmer. "And if you wish so, when all this is over I can let you train with him."

The boy responded.

After all it wasn’t too demanding a request, though Lloyd worried Siegfried wouldn’t know how to restrain himself.

"Really? Great!" Sköll responded with joy and enthusiasm.

In her mind the girl was already imagining her epic battles with that warrior.

"Of course, but don’t back down," the young man responded with a mocking smile.

Upon hearing that comment, Sköll’s brow furrowed, and her cheeks puffed up.

"Of course I’m not going to back down! Who do you take me for!?" the girl responded agitated, looking at Lloyd reproachfully.

Her golden eyes gleamed with certain annoyance, as if she had received a wound directly to her pride.

Lloyd couldn’t help but smile, amused with the situation.

"Relax, I was joking, I know you’re very brave," the boy responded with a smile, making Sköll calm down a bit.

The girl crossed her arms, still with some indignation on her face.

"Hmp, I hope so," she responded with her pride restored.

The truth was Lloyd couldn’t deny that truth.

Sköll could be annoying sometimes, and somewhat clumsy, but without doubt the Sköll he knew was brave.

She had dared to face the assassin guild head-on, knowing her plan was to be captured by them.

In fact, not only was she brave but she had also known how to trust Lloyd, when not even he was sure his plan was going to work.

She trusted the plan of a stranger, which put her directly in danger and could easily go wrong.

Reflecting on it, Lloyd wasn’t sure if Sköll was very brave or perhaps very reckless.

Perhaps a mix of both.

On the other hand, there was something Lloyd didn’t know, and that’s that Sköll felt very vulnerable about that topic.

It was her weakness, a wound that hadn’t healed well.

Yes, she herself felt very proud of her achievements, but also mistakes weighed on her.

She remembered how she fled when the village was attacked, how she left her sister alone to fight against the assassins.

Yes, they had already told her that had been best, the smartest thing, that in the end, everything had turned out well.

But it was still hard to accept it.

She still felt ashamed of that cowardice she had shown.

It was a difficult feeling to make disappear.

Moreover, she greatly took into account Lloyd’s image of her.

She greatly valued his opinion, so hearing him say that, even as a joke, was difficult for her.

What if he really thought she was a coward? 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

It hurt Sköll just thinking about it, since she admired Lloyd quite a bit.

"Yes, we all know how brave you are Sköll," Hati answered with a comforting smile, seeing her sister’s reaction.

Sköll turned to see her sister, surprised by those words.

"Really?" Sköll asked surprised by those words.

Was it really so?

Hati didn’t seem to be lying, in fact, Hati usually was always very sincere.

However, Hati was someone who had lived with Sköll her whole life.

Someone who knew her vulnerabilities, her weaknesses, her mistakes.

Someone who had witnessed the cowardice of that fateful day and had suffered the consequences of that same cowardice.

Sköll couldn’t help but smile awkwardly, while Hati nodded.

If someone like her recognized her bravery, Sköll had no reason to doubt her bravery.

Because without doubt, it was an irrefutable fact.