What had Broken done?! She was the Crown Princess of the Dissidia Kingdom, and they were kiss-ing?!
He pulled away from the kiss, feeling a rush of awkwardness between them. Avoiding her gaze, his mind raced with thoughts. What would she think? Had he crossed an unspoken boundary? Even though it felt genuine, he couldn’t ignore the reality that she was royalty.
“Uhm…” Broken began, trying to find the right words.
“The chest,” Alora interrupted.
“The- chest?” He turned to her, confused.
“The reward, treasure chest,” Alora clarified, pointing towards a different part of the arena.
“Yes, the treasure chest,” he replied.
Both of them turned towards the center of the arena where a treasure chest now stood, with a portal nearby indicating their exit. Walking towards the treasure chest, Broken took a moment to read the notifications that flashed before him.
[Congratulations, brave warrior! You have successfully vanquished the fearsome Duke Flauros, Named Demon Ranking 64, and earned yourself a new title: Demon Slayer Extraordinaire!]
[Your heroic deed has also granted you an additional 20 stat points.]
[You also received a new special ability to deal 5% more damage to any demon foolish enough to cross your path.]
It wasn’t disappointing at all – the reward for defeating a Named Demon was truly impressive. A 5% increase in damage against demons was a significant boost. And the bonus of 20 additional stat points was just the cherry on top for him.
They had truly completed the Trial Domain. Seeing it with their own eyes when they killed the Named Demon was the only confirmation they needed that they had finished the Trial Domain.
This Trial Domain was incredibly challenging. Could Alora have finished it alone if Broken hadn’t come to help? In the final phase, Alora received a boost, something intrinsic to her role as a Special NPC. She was too important to lose in such a trial, right? It showed that King Elandorr was still protecting her, even though he was no longer in this world.
Broken opened the wooden chest, curious about the reward they received. However, his expectations were a bit different. Inside, he saw an egg! Yes, an egg the size of a soccer ball, oval-shaped, dark black with white stripes like a cat’s markings.
“It’s an egg,” Alora remarked softly.
[Legendary-grade Felhorn Egg]
Broken swallowed hard when he saw the information about the egg. A Legendary-grade Egg?!
The egg was from the same demon type as Flauros, a Felhorn. It seemed to be a horned cat- like demon, but the grade was Legendary, which made it incredibly valuable. But was the egg safe? How would they incubate it? And what would emerge from inside?
“You should take the egg with you, Broken,” Alora said.
“But it’s a demon egg. Could it be that Flauros has reverted back into an egg?” he wondered aloud.
Alora paused. “I don’t have any knowledge about that, but I’m sure Elincia can help you with this,” she said, then fell silent for a moment. “I think it will be safer with you, under the protection of you and Elincia’s guild. You have more freedom.”
Broken touched the egg’s surface; it was textured and slightly rough. “Since when do cats hatch from eggs?” he murmured.
He then lifted the egg and examined it closely. “What if Flauros hatches from this and appears in Yunatea?”
“Kill him again. He should be easier to defeat when he’s newly hatched, right?”
This was the reward from the Trial Domain. It ought to be something useful and valuable. But considering it was a Trial Domain created by a Named Demon, who knew what awaited him inside this egg?
Broken nodded and tried to store the egg inside his Inventory, and he managed to do it, even though it was an egg containing a living being.
That was the conclusion of the Trial Domain. Yet, their troubles were far from over, as Broken still hadn’t received any updates on what was happening outside, nor on what had become of Tristan, who had escaped.
“Let’s go, Princess,” he said with a smile.
Alora nodded, and a smile appeared on her face as well.
Broken was about to turn towards the portal, but he stopped when Alora called out to him.
“Broken.”
He turned back. “Yes, Princess?”
“About my promise to you,” she said softly, and they locked eyes for a moment.
“Ah, yes…” Broken felt oddly awkward. “That thing.”
“I will keep my promise. You may claim me as your bride, but you need to wait until I ascend to the throne and fulfill my duties,” she continued.
Broken nodded firmly. “Yes, and I’ll help you secure the throne. To vanquish anyone who tries to oppose you.”
Alora paused for a moment. “Do I seem like I’m taking advantage of you?”
“I’ve intended to do this from the start, so it makes no difference to me,” he said. “Besides… that’s when I’ll claim my reward, right?”
Alora giggled at his words. “Don’t you dare brag about what you claim from me today! Or the deal is off,” she said firmly.
“I don’t remember a thing. What have we done?”
“Shut up,” Alora replied, then walked towards the portal.
Broken laughed softly. “You’ve shown me a lot of your true self today, Princess.”
“It was because of you, testing my patience. Take responsibility.”
“Nah, it was actually cute,” he said, but Alora immediately jumped into the portal after hearing his comment.
After exiting the Trial Domain, the outside conditions remained unchanged from before Broken had entered. He immediately summoned Polly and climbed on, with Alora following and sitting behind him. Polly quickly dashed down the cave corridor, eager to exit the cursed
place.
“I’ll repair your armor and weapon, Princess,” Broken murmured as Polly began to leave the
cave.
“No, it will take up your time. Let the royal blacksmiths handle it,” she replied from behind.
“There is a chance to upgrade the grade if I do the repair.”
“Does that mean the grade might also decrease?” Alora asked.
Broken paused at the question, realizing he hadn’t considered that possibility before. He then confirmed the skill in his Royal Blacksmith class. There was no information indicating that the grade would decrease or increase, but he had previously upgraded a pickaxe grade through
repair.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” he admitted.
“You need to head to Slumdon Town quickly, right? I’m sure you’ve already delayed a lot of
time. Just go, I’ll be fine,” she insisted.
“It will only take maybe three days, depending on the damage. That’s alright for me.”
Alora sighed. “I’ve been through enough to know you’ll still insist.”
From a distance, they noticed someone floating in the air, dressed in blue. Broken quickly recognized who it was. The figure approached swiftly, and as they floated in front of them, Polly came to a sudden stop.
It was Elincia, floating down to match the height of Broken and Alora on Polly’s back.
“I’m glad to see you’re both okay,” Elincia said. But her attention was drawn to the
questionable smiles on their faces; was it just her imagination?
“What did you do inside the Trial Domain?” Elincia suddenly asked.
“Fighting demons, what else?” Broken replied.
Elincia glanced back at Princess Alora and responded to her smile. “Let’s go; the others are
waiting.”