"Cough... cough cough..."
Upon awakening once more, Yila almost immediately started coughing like this. A burning sensation from within his soul spread from his chest and throat, as well as from the location on his back where he had previously activated the [First Wing Pillar].
This was the price of forcefully using powers belonging to the Governor, ignoring the depletion of the Rune Bond.
Just as how the caster, when over-extending their internal magic power, would fall into a coma.
"Cough cough... cough cough cough..."
Yila, who kept coughing, glanced around at his surroundings, seeing a dim cell before him. The iron bars and the door formed the barrier between the cell and the corridor, with other cells naturally on the other side of the corridor.
In Yila's memory, he had completely exploded his final [Wings], a force that should have been enough to block his pursuers, and he had plunged into the rushing river with his last bit of strength.
Unexpectedly, he should have been able to drift all the way to the elven kingdom.
But the prison around represented that he seemingly had not escaped... Have they really imprisoned me?
"Isabella! You wouldn't want Master to ride Shoujoro?!"
Yila shouted with great frustration. He had keenly sensed the upheaval in the empire and was prepared to slip away, but... did he not escape?
It seems that an internal conflict might actually unfold next. Although I would win, that would also mean the situation has worsened to a terrible end... he really didn't want to be draped in the yellow robe.
[Lord Yila~ I entrust my daughter to you in the future! Train her into your pom-pom!]
He vaguely remembered the previous king, who gave him a thumbs up and smiled with a "smile echoing Yida!" a saying strange enough to make Yila remember those words.
A truly memorable king...
"Yose must have anticipated this day long ago, right? Hope I don't become Her Highness's pom-pom..."
As Yila guessed helplessly like this, his gaze shifted to the shackles on his hands... Just at a glance, his eyes changed, and the emotions of calmness and recollection vanished instantly.
Because these are shackles made of [Forbidden Magic Stone].
[Forbidden Magic Stone], as the name implies, is a special material that upon contact takes away the Mana (magic power) abilities of casters and other magic professions, acting as a bane for those magic professions.
However, although the power of the [Governor] also requires manipulating Mana, it is easily misunderstood to be susceptible to the Forbidden Magic Stone, but because of the reason regarding the [source] of that Mana, it actually isn't restricted.
If it were the Empire, they would definitely be aware of this point.
As Yila pondered this, he touched his own neck, just as he predicted... the feedback from the World Rune explicitly told him—a recovery proportion of 3/5 had been reached.
And the World Rune on the spell tie of the Governor would restore 1/5 each day, in other words...
Yila had been unconscious for three days.
...
While Yila was still contemplating which faction's prison this might be, as if he had heard something, he looked toward a certain direction beyond the bars of the cell.
"Clang~"
"Clang~"
From there came the sound of armor clashing against armor, sounding like two heavily armored knights walking over from that direction... that must be for me, right?
With this confirmation, Yila prepared for battle, softly triggering the [Triggered effect] of his abilities, just like the earlier chant: "First..."
But Yila's words stalled, not due to anyone else's actions, but because... he had already expended all his [Wings] during his escape.
If it were [Wing Spread], the wings would simply wear slowly.
But if it were [Wing Shattering], the stored wings would shatter directly.
The exchange of extreme power burst for utilization and wear rate completely disproportionate—a too low utilization rate with a too high wear rate.
"Clang~"
"Clang~"
"..."
In Yila's serious gaze, two armors came to stand in front of Yila's cell, and what was striking was, these two sets of armor neither had helmets nor the organs that should have been there below them.
Instead, a small cluster of blue flame floated where the head should have been.
The faint blue illuminated the once dim cell, though it didn't alleviate the original eerie ambiance, instead, it made it more bizarre.
"Durahan (Headless Knight), huh..."
Yila said this, and in an instant, realized where he was geographically now... Truth be told, he had almost guessed it before; without a doubt, he was on the monster's turf.
Was he captured by monsters after drifting downstream? But the specific city he was currently in was still unknown.
Yet since it's such a high-level monster, then he was either on the frontlines of battle or in the hinterlands near the Demon King City... I hope it's the former.
"Clang~"
"Clang~"
With the clang of armor and Yila's gaze, the two headless knights outside the cell had no intention of communicating, instead synchronously stepped aside, as if awaiting someone's arrival.
Yila had naturally killed Headless Knights (Durahan) before, and the Mana of headless knights happened to be very suitable as materials for the second and fourth wing pillars... Of course, current Yila was definitely not a match for a headless knight.
As Yila pondered, he heard the sound of a person running from the other end of the corridor, followed by the "click-clack click-clack" sound of high heels.
"Demon King! Please do not risk yourself!"
That was a very anxious female voice, invoking an image of a mature career woman as she chased and advised, "We still haven't confirmed if the opponent has lost combat ability! Demon King?!"
Demon King?
Yila was taken aback, and he instantly realized where this spacious and psychologically oppressive prison might appear; combining it with the "Demon King" title, his current location was undoubtedly...
[Demon Lord City·Half-plane Prison]
Because it wasn't established on the Main Material Plane, the difficulty of escaping was exceedingly high.
For Yila, this was not good news.
"..."
"Demon King..."
"..."
Staring at Yila across the iron bars was a girl appearing to be about ten years old; behind her were wings of dark crimson scales resembling blood and on her head a pair of red horns.
Following her was a female demon dressed in high heels and black stockings, possessing the distinctive tail and horns; her race was identifiable just by appearance—[Succubus].
And undoubtedly, the so-called [Demon King] was this black, straight-haired loli Dragon Lady standing before Yila.
This was a more troublesome reality because...
The [First Wing Pillar] that Yila had continuously used and had as a trump card, drew its Mana from the previous Demon King Crimson Dragon Yila had slain, and the young Demon King before him was likely that guy's... daughter?
Yila felt somewhat guilty... pondering how to eliminate the Demon King in front of him, seizing her Mana to refill his own empty [Wing] reserves.