— — — — — —
Nearly half of Maxwell's head—including his left eye—was gone, exposing part of his brain.
His entire upper left chest and left arm had vanished as well, leaving behind only twitching, mangled muscle.
Seeing this gruesome and disturbing sight, the Demon King of Confusion who had just walked in couldn't help but ask, "Damn… how'd you get this messed up?"
He wasn't surprised that Maxwell had been injured, but what did shock him was that Maxwell couldn't heal.
Maxwell belonged to the race known as Paradox Demons—beings without fixed physical forms. His human appearance was just for convenience.
If he wanted to, Maxwell could reshape his body at will.
But now? He was stuck in this state. That clearly meant something had gone seriously wrong.
Just then, in response to the Demon king's question, a young boy—one of the four people in the room—spoke up.
"Who is he?"
The small girl beside Maxwell, who had been treating him, looked up and answered, "This is the Demon King of Confusion—he was personally invited by Maxwell to join us."
"Oh…"
The white-haired boy responded in an indifferent tone.
At the same time, the Demon King was eyeing the two of them as well, a trace of surprise in his voice. "So, this is His Highness and his chief strategist, Rin? Guess this is our first official meeting, huh?"
The organization Ouroboros was structured more like a federation.
Various Demon Lords formed their own communities, then swore allegiance to a shared covenant, operating together under the Ouroboros banner.
Naturally, that meant Ouroboros had plenty of internal factions.
His Highness was the leader of a sub-faction within the Demon Lord Alliance Community, Ouroboros. And Rin, Maxwell, and the Demon King of Confusion were all under his command.
But this was the first time the Demon King of Confusion had met him, and he was understandably curious.
After all, the name Highness carried enormous weight. Demon Lords knew he was an Avatar (Avatara).
In Hindu mythology, there are ten avatars of Vishnu: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Kalki. His Highness, most likely representing the tenth and final avatar—Kalki—was the prophesied savior destined to bring about the end of the current age and restore balance.
A literal messiah of legend! Of course the Demon King of Confusion was delighted.
Even among the 17 Sovereign Domain Rulers of Little Garden, The Buddha was known to be one of Vishnu's avatars.
Which meant, in terms of mythological weight, Highness could be considered on par with the Buddha himself.
While the Demon King was sizing him up, Highness calmly studied the shorter, monkey-faced demon in return.
With just a glance, he gave a small nod of acknowledgment, then said, "Rin, explain the situation."
Rin nodded obediently."Understood."
She turned to Maxwell, continuing her healing as she spoke: "Both Maxwell's left brain and left chest were hit by the same kind of destructive force."
"The power behind the attack was enormous—strong enough to cause all this damage in under a second."
"According to the scans from our 'Omniscience' ability, the enemy inflicted atomic-level destruction on Maxwell's body. Their Gift seems to specialize in annihilation. It's an extremely rare, pure-destruction type."
"Atomic-level?!" The Demon King's eyes widened in horror as he looked at Maxwell. "No wonder he can't regenerate… even for a Paradox Demon, that's too much."
Maxwell, being a formless demon, wasn't supposed to suffer permanent damage. Even if his body was shattered, it was usually no big deal.
Severed limbs? Shredded flesh? Crushed cells? All easy fixes for him.
But when you're talking about atomic-scale destruction—where the very matter that makes up your body is broken down—that's a whole different story.
Not even immortality can help you regenerate from that. That's not "healing"—that's rewriting reality. That's time reversal or matter creation.
The Demon King of Confusion couldn't help but sigh. "With damage like this… the only option is to consume your Spirit Core and rebuild your body, right?"
The Spirit Core was the very essence of life. Maxwell's injuries weren't something you could brush off—it would take a serious toll on his lifespan.
Then again, he was a demon. If this had happened to a human, they would've been dead on the spot.
At that moment, Highness spoke in his usual flat tone: "Rin, stop. Let Maxwell decide for himself."
Rin immediately paused her treatment and looked at Maxwell, arms crossed.
"My advice? Either give up on restoring your full body and instead manifest as a younger, smaller version of yourself—around age seven or eight. Or…"
She looked at him seriously.
"...you'll have to burn a huge chunk of your Spirit Core to restore yourself to full form. Is that really worth it?"
The first option would shrink his physical capabilities, sure—but it was much safer in the long run.
And thanks to Rin's top-tier healing Gift, it would still allow him to function and grow back into his prime over the next decade or so. Essentially, a second childhood—no real loss.
Most others wouldn't even have that choice. They'd have to burn their lifespan just to survive.
But then, right in the middle of his agonized groans, Maxwell suddenly let out a piercing cry:
"No… not for Willa… for Willa's sake, I can't lose my body…!"
And just like that, he made his decision—choosing to burn his lifespan and restore himself completely.
Rin didn't even have time to try to talk him down.
Even she was left speechless. "Seriously? There was a better way… it's just a couple of decades…"
He was willing to sacrifice centuries of life… just so he wouldn't lose his ability to sleep with women?
Rin genuinely could not understand his priorities.
Highness, watching all this unfold, remained as stoic as ever. "Let him do as he wants."
"Hmph." Rin snorted, clearly not feeling any sympathy. She'd never liked Maxwell anyway—their relationship was more rivals than allies.
Seeing him waste a millennium of life just to regrow his body? The only reason she wasn't laughing was because she was too classy for that.
Once Maxwell's regeneration was finally done, Highness's expression turned more serious. "Maxwell. What the hell happened to you?"
"Willa… Willa… Willa…" Maxwell mumbled in a daze, repeating the name like a mantra.
Highness frowned slightly. "You mean Willa-the-Ignis-Fatuus? Leader of [Will-O-Wisp] Community? That woman who never leaves the base? You're that obsessed with her?"
"Wait… Willa's still in the base?" Maxwell's eyes suddenly snapped back into focus.
Realizing that Willa hadn't run off with anyone, he seemed to calm down instantly. His tone returned to normal.
"Apologies. I lost control for a moment."
"'A moment,' huh?" Rin muttered sarcastically under her breath.
Now that Maxwell had collected himself, Highness asked again, "What happened in the City? How did you end up like this? Weren't you just supposed to scout out [No Name]?"
Maxwell was silent for a while before speaking in a low voice: "I tried to assassinate [No Name]'s new leader."
Highness raised an eyebrow. "So you mean Leticia Draculea? She did this to you?"
Maxwell's voice dropped even lower, tinged with fear. "No… it was Ryo Yagami. The unidentified leader of [No Name]."
"...?" Highness stared at him, stunned. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Maxwell nodded grimly.
"No way," Rin said, eyes wide. "That guy only showed up six months ago! He was just a regular human! And now he's strong enough to do this to you?"
Even though Maxwell hadn't been a four-digit Demon Lord for long, his Spirit Core was extraordinarily unique—so much so that even Ouroboros's secret backer had taken notice of him.
Despite his youth, his strength and potential ranked solidly in the upper tier among four-digit beings.
And yet someone who was basically an ordinary human just half a year ago had crushed him?
This wasn't April Fools' Day, was it?
Highness couldn't help but frown, pressing further. "Tell me the details. What kind of Gift does he have?"
"...Light," Maxwell whispered, after a long pause—his voice dazed, uncertain.
"I think… I only saw a single flash of light."
.
.
.