20 - The Hero and the Old Man with a Spine Arc: Ill omens

With Slime inside the Demon King’s Castle, Merle was able to sleep in her bed for the first time. Come morning, she stood in front of the full-length mirror and combed her long black hair. Her comb moves seamlessly through her luxurious hair.

Then, it suddenly broke in two and fell to the ground without a sound.

“Oh come on, what is this? Some kind of ill-omen?” Merle asked as she picked up and examined the break.

“What’s going on, Your Majesty?” Succubus asked as she continued to lay in her bed, sleepily rubbing her eyes.

“My comb broke,” Merle said. “I’ll have to get Slime to make me a new one soon.” With that, she laid the pieces by the mirror and went back to bed as if nothing had happened.

Succubus hugs Merle’s arm and goes back to sleep. At the same time, Slime also rolls over and hugs Merle’s other arm.

After leaving the mountain town and returning to the city, the Hero Eliza prepared for a trip to a temple where a Sage was said to live.

Merle’s easy victory over her left a deep wound in her heart, especially with the Hero’s blood running through her veins. At the rate things were going, the Demon King was going to conquer the world, and as a Hero’s descendant, she was the one who had to put a stop to her.

But to do that, she needed more strength.

The Sage was a party member of a former Hero who slew the Devil King, said to be well over 100 years old. If anyone could help her in her quest, it would be them.

Eventually, she found herself at an abandoned temple in the middle of the barren desert. The structure seemed to be waiting for its inevitable end as the sands gradually wear it away, Eliza finds a huge dune blocking the entrance.

Eventually, she finds a way inside, finds a dimly lit hall with seats on either side of her, a stone statue of the former Hero lit up in the very back.

The Sage kneels before it in prayer.

“ Sage,” Eliza says.

The Sage stood up and turned around, they did not look 100 years or even close to it. On the contrary, they were a young and beautiful woman, and if were outside this temple, she would have been easily mistaken as a village girl.

Her name was Frey, the sole survivor of her party after they slew the Demon King.

“ You’re a descendant of the Hero,” Frey said. “I dreamed of your visit, just why are you here?”

“The Demon King has returned,” Eliza replied.