A sharp pain jolted Rivern awake from unconsciousness. Moonlight filtered through layers of overlapping leaves, casting fragmented patterns on his body.

He weakly turned over, and suddenly, a pair of massive bat wings entered his view.

It was a male demon. Bearing the hallmark bat wings of demons, he nonetheless retained a humanoid form.

Rivern couldn’t make out his features; he only saw the figure land on a cliff edge not far away. Rivern didn’t know who this being was, but one thing was certain—this was not the master he had served fifteen years ago, but someone far more terrifying.

The bat wings vanished. The demon sat leisurely on a rock, resting his chin in one hand, looking down at the prone Rivern with interest.

"...Who?" Rivern asked.

"Your companion," the demon replied with a sly grin.

Rivern let out a disdainful chuckle. "Companion? You've got the wrong person."

"Is that how you treat your companion?" The demon feigned a hurt expression. "I even took care of that Winged Celestial who tried to harm you. Shouldn't you at least thank me?"

Rivern's body jolted in shock, triggering a fit of coughing. It took him a while to recover before he managed to ask, "...Are you trying to frame me?"

"Frame you?" The demon's grin widened into a malicious smile. "You wound me with such accusations."

Rivern’s gaze, filled with hatred, locked onto the demon, but he remained silent.

"But speaking of which," the demon continued nonchalantly, completely ignoring Rivern's hostility, "even though you're not a full-fledged one, you've still awakened as a demon, and the Winged Celestial watching over you is now dead. Think about it—you're the prime suspect with the strongest motive. Do you really think those white-feathered fellows will let you go? Now that I think about it, I guess I did frame you after all."

The demon grinned mischievously. "My apologies for that."

"They're not that foolish. Just think about it," Rivern defended himself. "If my goal was freedom, and I killed that Winged Celestial to achieve it, why would I have let him cast a control spell on me first? In my weakened state, there's no way I could have defeated him."

“Well said.” The demon couldn’t help but applaud Rivern. “When those Winged Celestials come knocking, make sure to give them this little speech. Who knows, they might actually believe you.”

Rivern, of course, recognized the mocking undertone in the demon’s words. In truth, even he wasn’t entirely certain if the price he’d paid could truly earn the trust of the Realm of Light.

But Rivern was willing to take that gamble. He had already made up his mind—no matter what happened, he would stand on the opposite side of the darkness.

“They will believe me. I’ll prove my loyalty with my actions and show them who my true enemy is.”

The demon erupted into an exaggerated fit of laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke of his life.

“Impressive!” he said, still chuckling as he doubled over in mirth. “Since you have such admirable faith in them—and in yourself—how about we make a bet?”

The demon receded into a shroud of darkness, leaving only his glowing violet eyes visible, radiating a sinister light from within the shadows.

“Let’s bet… hmm…” He paused for a moment, pretending to think. “Let’s bet on your friends.”

“You’re not allowed to harm them!” Rivern suddenly tensed up, his voice sharp with alarm at the mention of his companions.

“Don’t be so tense.” The demon grinned, his tone carrying a false reassurance. “Sure, killing them would be as easy as squashing a few insects, but I’m not one to act so recklessly. Only a lunatic would slaughter the chickens in his own backyard just to vent a little frustration.”

“What exactly do you want?” Rivern’s patience was wearing thin, and he had no interest in pondering the deeper meaning behind the demon’s analogy.

“It’s simple.” The demon’s grin widened, his delight almost tangible. “Confess your true identity and all your secrets to your friends. If they still trust and rely on you after that, you win.”

Rivern had no intention of participating in the demon’s game. Once enslaved, he would never again fall for their honeyed words. He was convinced this was nothing more than a trap.

“I’m not interested,” Rivern replied coldly.

“Not interested? Or are you afraid?”

Rivern mustered all his strength to sit up, leaning his back against the tree trunk. He gazed calmly at the demon and said, “Interpret it however you want. I won’t believe a word you say.”

“Alright, alright. Let me lower the stakes for you.” The demon smirked, dragging out his words with deliberate emphasis. “Even if no one believes you, it doesn’t matter. All you have to do is speak up, and you win. Because,” he said with a meaningful pause, “I bet—you’ll never have the courage to confess to them. Not today, not tomorrow—never.”

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Rivern froze.

“Cat got your tongue? No rebuttal? What happened to your conviction? Where did it all go?”

The demon mocked him as he stood up from the rock. Under the moonlit night, his bat wings unfurled once more behind him. A faint purple-red glow, like flickering embers, danced and scattered in the air as his wings stretched.

With a gentle flap, he descended gracefully to Rivern’s side.

The shadows entwining the demon dissipated, and soon after, his bat wings vanished like a mirage.

Only then did Rivern clearly see his face.

The demon’s strikingly handsome features carried a chilling smile that sent shivers down one’s spine. His jet-black hair was casually tied back, with loose strands flowing like shadows spreading in the night. His violet eyes roamed freely over Rivern, glowing like the haunting lanterns of the Underworld, stealing the very essence of his soul.

"As long as you never confess everything—and I mean everything—I’ll remain the winner." The demon crouched down beside Rivern, extending a finger that lightly touched Rivern’s forehead. "And as the winner, I have the right to cast a curse on you. What kind of curse would suit a lying little troublemaker like you?"

"…Stop…" Rivern's voice was caught in his throat, his body frozen in place. He could only watch helplessly as dark magic seeped into his body through the demon's touch.

"Do you remember them? The lives you took, the girls who perished by your blade?" The demon leaned in closer, his voice a chilling whisper in Rivern's ear. "From tonight, they will…"

The raging wind swayed the shadows of the trees, swallowing the demon’s words. Rivern stared blankly at the sky, unable to resist or escape the whispers invading his mind.

“Want to beat me? It’s simple,” the demon said with a ghostly chuckle, his gaze shifting to the depths of the forest. His eyes lit up with delight.

“Someone’s coming this way. Perhaps it’s your friends. Well then, here’s your chance. All you have to do is speak up.”

Sure enough, a massive bear burst through the trees, charging straight at the demon.

With graceful agility, the demon leaped backward and then soared into the sky, leaving the bear to lunge at empty air.

Unfolding his bat wings, he hovered in the night sky, casting a piercing gaze down at the three intruders.

The bear glared up at him with a ferocious intensity, its roars echoing endlessly. Beside it, an archer held a longbow trained on the demon but hesitated to release the arrow. Meanwhile, the young priest focused entirely on treating Rivern's wounds, not sparing the demon so much as a glance.

"Your friends are here. Didn’t you have something to say to them?"

The demon called out mockingly from afar.

With Eddie’s help, Rivern managed to regain some of his strength. But before he could speak, Eddie steadied him and said, “Don’t move, Rivern. You’re badly hurt.”

The demon, seemingly bored with Rivern’s side of the scene, shifted his gaze to the bear.

Shinya felt the weight of the demon’s stare. In that instant, he realized that a long-forgotten fear was creeping back, slipping through the cracks between his anger and hatred.

And those eerie violet eyes—they felt hauntingly familiar, stirring unease deep within him.

“Long time no see, Akane Shinya.”

The demon looked at the bear, his grin barely containing his delight, as if reuniting with an old friend.

The three people and the bear present all displayed expressions of shock. None of them had expected the demon to call out Shinya's name—and his full name at that.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” the bear growled.

“Who I am isn’t important. Well then, to avoid further misunderstandings between us, I believe it’s necessary for me to explain the... incident from fifteen years ago.”

“Incident?? You call that massacre an incident?” the bear retorted, his voice rough and wild with fury.

“Don’t be so heartless,” the demon explained innocently. “To me, it truly was an accident. Poor management on my part led my subordinates to act so recklessly, harming everyone’s feelings. I do feel guilty, you know.”

“Spare me your false sincerity, demon!” the bear roared in fury. “I will never forgive you. Even if I have to chase you to the ends of the earth, I’ll see to it that every last one of you is eradicated!”

“Eradicated? By you?” The demon looked down at him with disdain. “Very well. I’ll prepare a stage for you in the Northernmost. I’ll be waiting for your arrival—if you can survive the journey.”

Hearing this, Rivern suddenly grasped the demon’s intentions. “Don’t trust him—it’s a trap!” he exclaimed, triggering a violent coughing fit.

Eddie quickly cast another Holy Light spell on Rivern. “Don’t talk, Rivern. You need to rest.”

“My gracious invitation, mistaken for a trap?” The demon sounded disappointed, as if no longer interested in continuing the conversation. “If that’s the case, there’s nothing more to discuss. I must take my leave now, everyone. I can’t keep my Sleeping Beauty waiting too long.”

With that, he gave a powerful flap of his wings and soared even higher into the sky.

Watching the demon depart, Kyle let out a sigh of relief. For all his experience as a seasoned archer, this time, he couldn’t even summon the courage to release an arrow.

The survival instincts of the weak compelled him to retreat in the face of overwhelming power. Years of battle-hardened intuition told him that the enemy they had just encountered was invincible, and the only reason he was still alive was that the demon hadn’t considered him a threat at all.

On the other side, Shinya seemed to have been driven into a frenzy. The massive bear sprinted a few steps before transforming into a horned owl and taking off in pursuit.

Seeing Shinya acting alone, Kyle panicked. “Shinya, stop! Don’t go after him!!”

He ran after him, only to realize that his two legs were no match for Shinya’s speed.

Both the demon and Shinya had already moved beyond his range. All he could see were two figures in the night sky—one large, one small.

With Eddie’s help, Rivern struggled to his feet. “Forget about me,” he said firmly. “You must stop him. Shinya is no match for that demon.”

In the night sky, the demon turned mid-air, hovering while watching the approaching horned owl. He extended his arm and summoned a pitch-black longbow, pulling the string taut.

A dark purple arrow coalesced on the bowstring, and a cruel smile spread across the demon's face.

The arrow flew with a sharp release, but the owl twisted nimbly in the air, performing a perfect roll to evade the attack.

On the ground, Kyle let out a breath of relief as he saw Shinya dodge the first strike. Yet, he couldn’t hold back a shout, "Shinya, get back here!"

Although Kyle wasn’t a shapeshifter, he understood that the horned owl’s flight form had almost no offensive capabilities, let alone the power to fight against a demon.

Eddie had also caught up, but he quickly realized that Shinya was already out of his casting range, leaving him helpless.

The horned owl’s maneuvers seemed to surprise the demon, sparking his interest. A smirk spread across his face as he flicked his fingers. The dark purple arrow in his hand suddenly erupted with a sinister glow, the same eerie hue as his eyes. He took aim at the horned owl and loosed another shot.

Once again, the owl executed a flawless dodge, avoiding the attack.

However, the arrow, after missing its mark, suddenly curved mid-air. From an angle the owl never anticipated, it struck him from the side.

With a pained cry, the horned owl, the arrow still embedded in its side, spiraled down from the sky.

The demon watched Shinya fall, his eyes filled with anticipation. "See you later, Akane Shinya. There are some things I need to discuss with you—privately."

With those words, he vanished into the endless night sky, as if he had never been there at all.