Meanwhile, Raea was staring at the space Elrith just occupied with her mouth agape. The red lightning bolt had flown past the wall he summoned, and right when it was about to strike her brother, he vanished along with Sally. The bolt continued until it hit the dome of wind and black fire before scattering into a web of red lines. “They disappeared?” Palan asked and raised an eyebrow. “Were they disintegrated in one blow? That’s a bit excessive, don’t you think?”

“Was Elrith a coward?” Raea’s mother asked as her brow furrowed. “That’s impossible.”

“Then it was the harpy,” Raea’s father said before turning his gaze towards Palan. Since Sally and Elrith were gone, there was no point in worrying about them. Raea was the real reason why he and his wife left the capital after all. “Dissolve your contract with Raea. I will give you gifts and find someone more suitable to contract with you.”

“I think Raea suits me very well,” Palan said with a smirk. Raea squeezed his hand and glared at him. She should’ve known he was going to antagonize her parents.

“Would you rather I kill you instead?” Raea’s father asked, his face darkening. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t converse with a demon at all, but he wanted Raea’s demon to leave her of his own volition. If his daughter was abandoned by her demon for a few monetary gifts, she would realize the fickle nature of demons and possibly return from being fallen.

“I could dissolve my contract with Raea, but she has to be willing as well,” Palan said and chuckled.

“That is not an issue.”

“You sure?” Palan asked and raised an eyebrow. “Other than that, I have a two conditions: help me become an archdemon and take me along with Raea to the capital.”

“Impossible,” Raea’s father said. “Both of your sins will be detected.”

“What if the only way for Raea and I to dissolve—“

Raea pinched Palan’s side before he could finish speaking. Her gut told her that things would end very badly if her parents found out about her contract’s details. Maybe they’d kill her outright if they weren’t already here to do that. She glared at her father. “Why are you here?” she asked. “Are you going to kill me because I’ve fallen?” She released Palan’s hand and unfurled her wings, extending them to their full length. Dark-green mist began to seep out of her feathers, and a line of black flames appeared in the air around her, circling lazily like a snake.

“Are we not allowed to feel worry for our youngest child?” Raea’s mother asked. Her expression was relaxed, but silver-colored wind swirled around her body, matching the motion of Raea’s flames.

“Where were you when Selena died?” Raea asked in a calm voice, her eyes narrowing. “You stayed in the capital. Why didn’t you feel worry for your child then?”

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“When we heard about Selena,” Raea’s father said as he took a step forward, “she was already dead. Leaving the capital would not have brought her back.”

“You two seem devastated by her death,” Raea said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“As do you,” Raea’s father said. “Was she the reason why you fell? Are you angry that she died?” Raea’s wings trembled as her hands clenched into fists. “Did you know that she died because of you?” her father continued. “The only reason she volunteered to dig holes in the borderlands was because you were there. Should you not take responsibility for her death and atone for your sins? The world lost a great researcher because of you—how are you going to make up for it? By throwing a tantrum and burning down the city of Ni’En? Is that what Selena would have wanted?”

“Shut up!” Raea shouted. “You don’t know anything! You two sit in the capital all day, acting like you’re better than everyone else because you don’t have feelings!”

“Is that any way to talk to your parents?” Raea’s mother asked as the wind surrounding her body billowed outward, blowing against Raea’s flames. “Selena convinced me to give up my position to give you a second chance. She believed you would overcome your sins in the borderlands and return to us stronger than before. But now we are here: Selena is dead. You are fallen. Elrith is a deserter. It was a mistake to give you a second chance.”

“So what?” Raea asked while tears welled up in her eyes. “You’re here to clean up your mess? Is that it?”

“No, Raea,” her mother said. “That isn’t it at all. We are here to give you a second chance.”

“What?” Raea asked. Her brow furrowed

“We love you,” her mother said. “Even if it was a mistake to give you a second chance, we are offering you a third one because we care about you. You are our most precious daughter.” She held out her hand with her palm facing up. “Renounce your sins and return to us.”

Raea’s father’s face cramped. He truly didn’t expect his wife to make such a promise to Raea—they had already decided on punishing her after all. His wife was an angel of kindness and humility; he didn’t want to make her into a liar. Originally, he really was here to kill Raea if removing her demon didn’t return her back to normal. His lips drew into a line as he took a step backwards so that he was slightly behind his wife.

“Renounce my sins so I can what? Go back to being ignored by both of you? Go back to being treated like a doll sitting in the corner?” Raea hands dripped blood as her claws punctured her palms. “I only realized after I left the capital that I was missing out on so much: friends, banter, happiness. Why would I want to return to a life of loneliness and misery?”

“Right now you are blinded by greed, by envy, by wrath,” her mother said and shook her head. “When you renounce them, your vision will clear and you will see the truth. Return to us. We will bring you to Hailing where they can reverse your symptoms, restore your patience.”

“She said to piss off, lady,” Palan said as he took a step forward. “She’s having none of your shit.” A bolt of lightning flew towards his body, but Danger Noodle rose up and deflected it with its striped, red scales. “Just hearing the words parents and love pisses me off. All of you are a bunch of damn hypocrites.” The black flames surrounding Raea’s body began to circle around him as well.

“I think it’s clear where Raea’s rebellious attitude is coming from,” Raea’s father said as lightning gathered around his body. He turned towards his wife. “Surely you don’t want to spare her demon too.”

Raea’s mother shook her head. “No. He can die,” she said. “It will be easier to convert Raea back when he is no longer influencing her. The headmaster at Hailing will appreciate it if we made his job easier.”