Page 56 of Witch Queen

Mae gulped.He looks like he could cut air molecules by just looking at them!

Even Armaros seemed shocked by the weapon’s appearance.

Everyone startled when Hellreaver yawned and smacked his teeth.

“Ah. That was a nice, long nap,” he said drowsily.

The voices of the demons who dwelled within him rumbled faintly across the courtyard.

Mae’s eyes bulged.

“Everyone heard that, right?” Vlad said flatly.

Hellreaver tensed when he became aware of his surroundings. “Where is this?Who—?” He twisted around, saw Mae, and froze. “My—my witch?!” Demonic energy blasted around him, waking Vannog and Vozgan with a start. “Where is he?!” The weapon pivoted on himself, his tone murderous. “Where is that scoundrel Sorcerer King?! I will cut him and bite him and?—!”

“He broke you.”

Hellreaver recoiled at Brimstone’s quiet words.

The demon fox bent his giant head and nuzzled the weapon affectionately. “It is good to see you, old friend.”

“Br—broke?!” Hellreaver stammered.

“You protected me from harm in the battle the three of us fought against the Sorcerer King,”Brimstone explained. “He was about to stab me in the heart with a sword made from the soul of his familiar. He thought I was hiding theBook of Light.”

“You stopped Vedran, but not without taking heavy damage in the process,” Mae said in a low voice.

Hellreaver trembled in the fraught silence. “You mean, I—I wasdead?!”

Mae’s eyes welled up as she relived that awful moment all over again.

“Yes.” She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “We tried to use our magic to revive you but we couldn’t. You were too far gone forAssimilateto work. So we came to Hell and asked Armaros to fix you.”

“Oh.”

Hellreaver’s quivering got worse. He sagged in midair.

Mae smiled tremulouslyandopened her arms. “Come here.”

Hellreaver shot into her hold. She squeezed him tightly to her chest, her heart swelling with happiness.

“I missed you so much, Hell.”

Hellreaver sniveled, the shivers racking him finally abating. It was a while before he spoke.

“Hmm, my witch, I hate to mention this, what with this being a delicate moment and everything, but have you put on a little weight? It’s just your bosom feels a smidgen bigger and your breasts are squishier than—ouch!”His tone turned offended.“How could you hit me?! I’ve just come back to life!”

“You totally deserved that,” Nikolai snapped while Mae scowled and shook her smarting hand.

Brimstone sighed. “He never learns.”

“So, he really is just a scumbag, huh?” Vlad observed, his lip curling. “I always suspected he was.”

“Can I eat him?” Vozgan asked Vannog hopefully.

“Not unless you want indigestion,” his father huffed.

Hellreaver observed the helldragons nervously. He brightened when he spotted Astarte and Ilmon. “Oh, it’s Astaroth and the Wicked Ravisher.”

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