3. The King

The blazing blue eyes radiated pure hatred; anyone who looked into them knew they were filled with loathing. Alice despised the demon king standing before her, Luke Fier'diese, renowned for his powerful black energy and teleportation abilities that could drag angels to the depths of Hell, beyond even God's reach. Not only that, this man was also known for his foul mouth.

Luke grinned at Alice, who stood before him. "Don't look at me like that, I haven't done anything yet, you know?" he asked with a smile, though his eyes didn't share the same warmth. Alice saw it; his eyes were filled with malice, and she truly loathed it.

Alice smirked at him. "Of course, I hate you. I was born to destroy you, weren't I?"

Luke furrowed his brow, but he still smiled. He planted his feet on the ground and raised his hands as if surrendering. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you look ready to kill me," he said sarcastically.

Alice flapped her wings, several feathers flying around her to protect her.

Seeing something amiss with her feathers, Luke began to retreat slowly.

"In the name of God, I will kill you," Alice said sweetly, suddenly disappearing, leaving her feathers still hovering in the air.

Luke sighed as Alice suddenly appeared behind him. "Erise," Alice whispered slowly with a grin, suddenly a thousand swords began to surround them. "So, it seems this is the end," she said in Luke's ear with a very sweet tone, "Den-ro-soe." Slowly, the swords began to attack Luke.

Luke grinned. "No wonder you're the strongest angel."

Suddenly, Luke disappeared from Alice's sight. "But such power is still not enough to kill me," he said.

Alice sighed. "Yes, I suspected you wouldn't be that weak." Alice turned around and found Luke behind her, smiling at her.

Quickly, Alice pulled out one of her wing feathers and turned it into a sword. She threw the sword at Luke, but he easily dodged it.

"Seriously? Did you think that throw would hit me?" Luke grinned at Alice's foolishness.

Alice smirked. "Of course not."

Suddenly, a sword pierced Luke's body, blood spreading as the sword continued to stab him.

Alice smiled. "Wow, how foolish you are, so easy to kill. Are you really sure you're a demon king?" Alice sarcastically mocked.

Luke smiled, suddenly singing, "Alice oh Alice, one of the foolish angels created by God," he sang suddenly.

Alice furrowed her brow, "Why are you singing?"

"Alice might be strong, but she's a foolish angel," Luke continued singing as if he were taunting Alice.

"Stop singing!" Alice shouted as she began to stab Luke more forcefully.

"This song, my people keep singing it until I'm sick of hearing it," Luke said with a smirk, suddenly grabbing the sword still piercing him, gripping it tightly until blood flowed from his hand. "Alice oh Alice, an angel created by God, strong but foolish, very foolish. You may be strong, but your foolish mind prevents you from killing our king, Luke."

"I SAID STOP SINGING!" Alice yelled as another sword began to stab Luke's body.

"How foolish," Luke grinned, suddenly disappearing and leaving Alice's sword which had just stabbed him.

Luke's sudden disappearance made Alice turn around and see nothing. She continued to scan her surroundings, but found nothing.

"Where did that filthy creature hide!?" Alice shouted, her eyes continually scanning the area.

"Enjersia."

A heavy voice suddenly sounded, it was Luke's voice!

As she realized something suddenly, it made Alice stare at the sky after she heard his chant, "Don't say..." There was no mistaking it; this was one of the most powerful destructive forces.

"Haliosae."

Suddenly, there was an explosion in the city, even the explosion left nothing behind except scorched earth from the hot flames.

After a while, the battlefield between Alice and Luke was destroyed, and nothing remained except Alice with her injured body. She still stood with her sword in her hand.

"This... is annoying," she said slowly.

Luke picked up Alice's sword from the ground, then threw it towards Alice. "Even if you wait for a thousand years, you won't be able to defeat me. Unfortunately, I have a principle not to kill women," Luke said with a grin before leaving Alice lying on the ground.

"I will definitely kill him!" Alice stared at the sky, her sapphire eyes burning with hatred; she couldn't believe she had lost!

With her remaining strength, Alice grabbed the sword thrown towards her, she plunged it into the ground, "I have to go..." she muttered, she certainly didn't want to die here.

Koorselian, Human World

Alice sighed as she heard the laughter of children; somehow, hearing the sound of children made her feel comforted.

Alice had managed to escape from Findlia to Koorselian; luckily, she still had a little power to shift dimensions. If she had truly run out of power at that moment, she would surely have become a delicious meal for the demon nobles. Better to die on her feet than become a mockery of the vile demon nobility!

Alice stared flatly at the sky. "Should I go back to heaven?" she whispered softly, "No! I'll surely be ridiculed by the gods and angels!" Her dignity was as hard as steel; she didn't like being mocked. Throughout her life, she had never been defeated by anyone, but then there was this demon king who made a cunning move and she was defeated.

Alice sighed again, "ahhh... what kind of Sacred Angel is respected by anyone but looks as pathetic as me? Should I resign?" she continued to murmur because this was the end of her life as a Sacred Angel; her dignity had been shattered to pieces.

Suddenly, a paper flew towards her; she picked up the paper and read its contents, "boarding house, for men and women, bathroom inside and... only 20,000 hane...."

One year in Koorselian was equivalent to 10 days in Heavania; she had one year to train herself again to gain the strength to kill that demon king.

Alice had made up her mind, "Yes, I have to choose this path." However, she could, she had to kill the Demon King! Until that moment comes, she won't return to heaven!

An old woman smiled at Alice as she entered the building, "oh, how beautiful," praised the old woman.

"Thank you, ma'am," Alice nodded.

"I'm really glad to have a beautiful woman like you as one of the residents of this boarding house," the old woman praised again, "here's your room key, you're the first resident of this boarding house, I hope you feel comfortable here," said the old woman with a smile, handing the key with the inscription 'floor 2, room 3' to Alice.

"floor two number three... I hope I can live well here," Alice whispered as she entered her room. After she entered the room, she could see a bed with white sheets, white translucent curtains placed on the room's window, she then glanced to the right side of the room, there was a simple wooden table and chair, a lamp, and next to it was a wooden door, presumably leading to the bathroom, and also a simple wooden wardrobe.

"Not bad," Alice murmured softly. She placed her belongings on the table and then jumped onto the bed. "Finally, a place to rest!" she muttered softly as she began to drift off to sleep.

The ringing of the doorbell woke her up; it seemed someone was calling for the woman who owned this boarding house.

"Handsome man!"

Alice roused herself; this building certainly wasn't soundproof, she could hear how the old woman praised someone from inside her room.

"Ma'am, I need one room to stay for a short time," a man's voice could be heard by Alice. His voice sounded familiar, deep, and calming.

With curiosity, Alice decided to step out of her room. The sound of the man seemed very familiar; it made her curious.

As she peeked at the front desk, she could see the old woman smiling at the man in front of her.

The man seemed to notice Alice's gaze; he looked in her direction and then smiled. "What a coincidence, we meet again, don't we?" Lucas - the man smiled at Alice.

Alice looked surprised as she stepped out and approached him. "Oh my goodness, no wonder your voice sounded so familiar," she said with a shocked look.

Alice and Lucas both sat on wooden chairs in front of the boarding house. "What a nice coincidence," Lucas said.

"Well, maybe fate between us didn't stop at that festival day," Alice said as she poured the tea she brewed.

"So, what are you doing here?" Lucas asked.

Alice shuddered when Lucas asked, "Aahh... just want to enjoy my vacation," Alice lied. It was a good thing she wasn't an ordinary angel; at least lies could still be forgiven, or so she thought...

"Vacation? Did you manage to kill the Demon King?" Lucas asked curiously.

Alice didn't want to answer; instead, she changed the subject. "Alright, enough of that! I hope we'll stay close for the next few months!" Alice panicked as she changed the topic.

Lucas nodded, then he stared at Alice intently. "By the way, you look different since the last time I saw you."

"Different?" Alice looked puzzled.

"Yes, you look more comfortable in that dress; you look like a beautiful normal girl now," Lucas praised.

Alice furrowed her brow; she could only sigh. "Thank you."

Lucas smiled as he heard Alice's response; then he stood up from his seat and extended his hand. "Would this handsome man happily invite this beautiful angel to the festival again?" Lucas looked at Alice with pleading eyes.

Alice looked at Lucas strangely, "What are you talking about?"

Lucas pulled his hand back, "This is a noble expression to invite someone to go with him!" Lucas's face looked annoyed as Alice didn't understand his words.

Alice sighed; she folded her arms across her chest. "Fine, this angel will go with the innocent man, satisfied?" she replied resignedly.

Lucas's face still didn't look satisfied, "You seem reluctant."

Alice looked flatly at Lucas, "Don't I?" she said convincingly.