It Seems the Demon King Has Returned to a World Where Gender Roles Are Reversed - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 :

“Damn it, what do I do now?”  

Had the suggestion worn off? Did she remember what happened earlier?  

But as Ragna looked at Seria, there was no sign of that.  

Her trembling eyes, her flushed cheeks she was clearly mustering all her courage to make a move, but it was the clumsy attempt of a novice.  

If she had realized the truth, there’s no way she’d be acting like this.  

Even so, the current situation was absurdly dangerous.  

“This is bad… People at the lodging might start noticing soon.”  

The workers’ dormitory wasn’t an issue.  

He’d put them to sleep with a spell.  

But the officers sharing Seria’s building were another story.  

If any of them realized she was gone, it could cause a huge commotion.  

He needed to send her back as soon as possible.  

And then there was the issue of his own body.  

Ragna assessed the lingering, throbbing pain coursing through him.  

He’d barely managed to calm himself, but the “magic from Seria” that had seeped into him was still wreaking havoc inside.  

He needed time to recover, and for that, Seria had to leave now.  

There was no choice.  

It wasn’t his intention, but for now, he’d have to humor her to defuse the situation.  

With that thought, Ragna spoke.  

“Seria… I get how you feel. So, let’s just-”  

“No, I’m not stopping.”  

“…?”  

Ragna frowned at her response. He’d just said he’d acknowledge her feelings what more did she want?  

“I-I heard it from my friends at the academy!” she stammered.  

“They said if you let things slide in a situation like this, nothing will happen! So you have to make it a done deal, no matter what!”  

(A done deal? That’s already happened!)

Ragna barely swallowed the words that nearly burst out, silently cursing the academy friends who had filled her head with such nonsense.  

“S-so, Ragna…”  

“…!”  

Her hands crept closer, her breath heavy and uneven.  

No.  

He couldn’t let this happen.  

That’s what he told himself, but-

“S-something hard…”  

(Damn it!)

Ragna gritted his teeth, letting out a silent scream.  

Seria, her cheeks flushed red, cautiously reached for his clothes, her fingers brushing over them.  

“W-wow… so this is what happens with guys…”  

“…”  

This was getting ridiculous.  

If this continued, it would be the end of him.  

“Seria!” Ragna shouted her name.  

“…?”  

She looked up, her eyes wide with surprise.  

And then-

“…!”  

Their lips met.  

“…”  

Seria stared at Ragna, startled, but soon closed her eyes, understanding the moment.  

Ragna deepened the kiss, exploring her lips.  

At first, she flinched, uncertain, but soon they were lost in the sensation, their tongues intertwining, savoring the sensitive connection.  

“Mmm…”  

Seria trembled, her brow furrowed, but she didn’t pull away.  

Impressed by her courage, Ragna gently guided her, pulling her closer.  

They lingered in the moment, indulging in each other, until-

“Phew.”  

They parted, both gasping for air.  

Ragna looked at Seria, who was catching her breath, her expression dazed and dreamy.  

He chuckled softly.  

“So, now you know how I feel, right?”  

“…”  

Seria nodded.  

Ragna picked up her clothes from the ground, helping her put them back on.  

“Time to head back.”  

“Huh? B-but there’s still time…”  

“Why don’t you check for yourself?”  

Grumbling, Seria pulled out her pocket watch. Her eyes widened.  

“What?! It’s already been this long?!”  

No wonder over two hours had passed.  

“Exactly. You should get going.”  

“Ugh… but…”  

“Come on, I’m not going anywhere,” Ragna said reassuringly. “We’ll pick this up next time. I promise I’ll take responsibility until the end.”  

“…!”  

Her eyes sparkled at his words.  

“For real? You promise?”  

“…Yeah, I promise.”  

Seria’s intense gaze suggested she’d pounce if he gave the wrong answer, but Ragna nodded desperately.  

Satisfied, she stepped back with a nod.  

Watching her, Ragna gave a bitter smile, realizing once again that this world was dominated by women.  

“Ugh… still, it feels like something’s missing. Like I didn’t get to have enough fun before going back.”  

Seria sighed, adjusting her clothes.  

Ragna laughed lightly.  

“If you’re gonna blame anyone, blame yourself for passing out so long. You scared the hell out of me.”  

“Ugh, fair point…”  

She couldn’t argue it was her fault.  

Seria sighed again, finishing up with her clothes.  

“Alright, then.”  

She stepped toward Ragna, as if urging him for something more.  

Resigned, he leaned in and kissed her again.  

“Ehehe…”  

Even the brief kiss made her beam with joy.  

It was the same smile she always wore when they talked, but thinking of the truth hidden behind it and what he’d done Ragna felt a pang of sadness.  

“I’ll head back now. I’ll come find you tomorrow…, Ragna.”  

“…Sure.”  

His reply was short, but Seria nodded happily, then took off running down the forest path toward her lodging, her footsteps echoing lightly.  

She suddenly turned back, waving.  

Ragna waved back, waiting until her figure vanished into the darkness.  

Only then did he let out a groan, collapsing to the ground.  

“…Finally alone.”  

He sat there, breathing heavily.  

The union with Seria.  

The surge of magic to fully activate the spell.  

But the problem came after.  

Something inexplicable had flowed from Seria’s body into his, tearing through him like a storm.  

“At first, I had no idea what was happening…”  

Recalling the moments just before Seria woke up, Ragna felt the strange “force” still lingering in his body.  

_______

_

“…!”  

How much time had passed?  

His body twitched occasionally, foam spilling from his mouth.  

Was this it? Was he going to die?  

As the thought crossed his mind, memories began to flash before him.  

The so-called “life flashing before your eyes.”  

He’d seen it before, in the moments before his previous death.  

Memories flooded in.  

Life in the Magic Tower. Betrayal. Drifting to the demon realm and meeting Margarita. The adventures they shared. Conquering the demon realm, lamenting its scarce resources, and resolving to return to the surface.  

And the result…  

“…!”  

Suddenly, tension surged back into Ragna’s limp body.  

His unfocused eyes sharpened, and his foaming mouth clamped shut.  

*Crunch.*

Grinding his teeth, Ragna vowed:  

(Not like this. I won’t let it end like this.)

What sustained him was rage.  

Rage at the atrocities committed by the so-called hero, at the endless betrayals and deceptions of humans who had toyed with him.  

He couldn’t fall here not until he’d settled that score.  

With that resolve, Ragna forced strength back into his body.  

First, he had to endure.  

Then, assess his condition.  

Rather than acting recklessly, he needed information a fundamental principle for any mage.  

To do that, Ragna chose to let his body remain in a natural state, conserving what little strength he had left.  

As a result, the “force” that had invaded his body began to behave differently.  

Until now, it had been like a runaway carriage, smashing through everything in its path. But given the vast “space” of his body, it began to rampage freely.  

It was as if it had escaped a narrow alley into a wide plaza.  

As it roamed, the force gradually slowed, revealing its true nature.  

And when Ragna realized what it was, he was stunned.  

This force tearing through him it was magic.  

Pure, refined magic.  

And not just any magic it was "black magic"  

“…”  

The realization snapped him into focus.  

If this was indeed black magic, he could control it.  

With that thought, Ragna began to channel the energy within him, guiding the black magic through his veins.  

“Ugh!”  

The magic surged through his already-damaged veins, grazing wounds and sending pain like saltwater poured over cuts.  

But Ragna gritted his teeth, enduring the agony, and continued to direct the black magic.  

The reason for the pain was simple: the condensed magic was too potent for his body’s pathways, causing it to wreak havoc as it flowed unchecked.  

The solution? Break it down.  

Divide the dense magic and distribute it throughout his body.  

It was like trying to chip away at a boulder rolling through a narrow ant tunnel to make it smaller.  

A reckless endeavor—one wrong move could collapse the tunnel entirely.  

He couldn’t rush it.  

Bit by bit, carefully, he had to divide the magic without harming his body further.  

It was a task requiring immense patience, one that would make an ordinary person pale and give up.  

But Ragna didn’t.  

He pressed on through the mind-numbing work.  

How much time passed?  

Minutes? Hours?  

Lost in a trance-like state, he kept at it.  

Finally, the massive clump of black magic had been broken down into manageable pieces.  

*Rustle.*  

Feeling the sensation of tiny pebbles rolling through his body, Ragna began the final step.  

He took control of the fragmented magic, absorbing the directionless fragments into his body and using them to subdue the rest.  

*Grind.*  

“Ugh!”  

He groaned, feeling the magic resist.  

But he couldn’t give up now.  

With greater force, he suppressed it.  

And finally—  

*Rumble.*  

It was as if a blockage in his veins had cleared. The magic flowed smoothly, and a thrilling sense of unity flooded his body.  

Ragna had succeeded in taming the black magic from Seria.  

_______

_

“…”  

That said, his injuries hadn’t healed.  

His torn veins, shredded muscles, and bleeding organs remained in critical condition.  

He was using the controlled magic for emergency measures, but he needed rest.  

Checking Seria’s pocket watch, he saw it was past 2 a.m.  

Not long after, Seria had woken up.  

Ending his recollection, Ragna clenched and unclenched his hand, testing his condition.  

He summoned magic to his hand, and black flames flickered around it.  

Not bad. The black magic from Seria was definitely his now.  

But a question lingered.  

(Why?)

Why did she have black magic in her body?  

In Ragna’s memory, black magic didn’t exist on the surface only in the demon realm.  

Sure, surface magic and black magic were fundamentally the same.  

But their properties were vastly different.  

It was like saying a wooden bowl and a wooden sword were the same because they were made from the same material.  

With a complex conversion process, the two could be interchanged. But when Ragna examined Seria’s body earlier, there was no trace of such a process.  

Yet her body had been absorbing ambient magic to replenish the black magic Ragna had taken, as if compensating for the loss.  

Discovering this had shocked him.  

“Damn it, I don’t get it.”  

Five hundred years.  

Had something changed in the human species itself?  

How else could black magic naturally manifest in surface-dwellers, where it shouldn’t exist?  

Ragna sighed, exasperated.  

He had no idea what this world had become.  

There was no way to resolve this mystery now.  

Even if he wanted to investigate, Seria had returned to her lodging.  

And so had he.  

“…”  

Ragna stood, brushing off the dirt.  

When Seria left, it was already past 2 a.m.  

The sleep spell he’d cast on the workers’ dormitory was nearing its end.  

It was time to head back.  

With heavy steps, he made his way to the lodging.  

Despite the night going according to plan, an unsettling feeling lingered.  

Ragna’s expression remained grim.  

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Translated by Reversalnovel.web.id