Rana watched as her Go-Link filled up with the city’s data.

“How are things going, Rana?” Liara asked, sitting down next to her.

“Well, enough. I found a few points of interest. I will send many of my mice to them to investigate more thoroughly. Do you think he will be okay without us?” She asked.

“I’m sure our big lug will be fine. The people and Io will help him out greatly.” Liara patted her friend’s shoulder.

“I sure hope so.” Rana stood and headed toward the door.

“Mom?” Lily asked.

“It is okay, Lily. I am just collecting some of my excess mice gathered at the back door.” Rana smiled at her daughter and headed downstairs.

Stepping out the back door, the air was cool and crisp. Rana inhaled deeply, enjoying the cool scent.

Six golem mice gathered at her feet, awaiting her attention.

“Yes, yes. Well done.” She squatted down and stored them away.

Suddenly, someone pulled a bag over her head and held her maw shut. She threw an elbow back, hitting someone in the face.

“Damn! Bitch!”

Someone struck her in the side.

She needed to summon Giiwo, but her consciousness was fading. Rana could smell that the bag was soaked in a sleeping potion.

Rana’s consciousness faded, thinking of her daughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily’s ears perked up, and she looked about in a panic.

“Lily? What’s wrong?” Liara asked.

“Mom!” Lily rushed out of the room.

The three other ladies rushed out after her.

Lily made it out the back door. “Mom!”

There was no sign of Rana anywhere.

“Lily, what’s happening?” Liara looked about and noticed a spot of blood on the ground. She checked it. “Fresh. It doesn’t smell like Rana’s.”

Lily’s fur and tail bristled. Someone dared to hurt her mother. Using One with Darkness, she zipped off.

“Lily!” Liara tried to stop the girl, but she was gone.

“I’ll chase after her!” Mari jumped into the shadows after Lily.

“We need to call Cael,” Listamati stated.

“I have my Crys-Link.” Liara began calling Caeldaemos. “He’s not answering!”

“Keep trying! We will notify the guards.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily rushed through the darkness faster than she ever had. She would make them pay. She was strong enough! She was the Demon-Lord’s daughter! No one would stop her from saving her mother!

Mari had tried to chase after her but could not keep up with Lily’s Flash Step.

Lily came to a stop. A familiar scent. One she had known all her life. Lily poked her eyes out of the shadow to look about. The smell was strong.

A small, unassuming house stood before her. Lily moved about from shadow to shadow. Looking inside, there was basic furniture, but it looked like it had been a while since anyone had been living there. Lily was sure her mother was inside.

Slipping in, she found some freshly disturbed dust and followed it to a back room with a staircase down. Moving into the basement, it was nothing more than an empty wine cellar.

“Dammit. Where are you, Mom?” Lily tracked the scent to the location, but there was nothing else, a dead end.

A muffled noise then came from behind a wine rack. Moving up to it, she listened.

“Damn bitch. Elbowed me in my nose! Does it look alright?”

“Still ugly, Bert.”

“Fuck you!”

Lily used Detect to find the mechanism to open the door. Pulling the latch, the hidden door slid open.

“What the hell?”

“Who opened that?”

Lily rushed in and decapitated one of the men, injuring the other.

“Okay, Bert. Where is my mother?! Why did you take her!?” Lily demanded to know.

“Whoa! Easy with those things! Alright! We heard she was mapping the city. It was only a matter of time before she found us!” Bert replied, his voice a bit nasally with his nose being broken.

“Who are you guys!?” Lily demanded, pressing her blade against his neck.

“Your masters.” A new voice spoke from behind her.

A pouch popped against her head, surrounding it with powder. Lily tried to escape, but the powder addled her mind and made her eyes heavy. “Dad…” She fell unconscious.

Lily’s eyes creaked open, and her mind felt heavy.

“Ah. You are awake.” A man said.

Lily looked over at the man. “What? I remember you. You were a servant at Yanni’s.” She was having difficulty putting her thoughts together.

“Yes. Well, soon-to-be, former servant. We will be closing up shop here in Hyuden. That bastard merchant has made it quite difficult to conduct business after he hired that woman.” The man replied.

Lily tried to slip free using One with Darkness, but her abilities weren’t activating.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The man smirked at her. “There is no use trying. Those shackles will prevent you from doing anything. You and your mother are prime stock. I am sure you two will sell for quite a bit.” His eyes motioned to her right.

Looking over, Rana was hanging next to her. “Mom!”

Rana didn’t respond.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?” Lily tried to kick the man.

“We gave her a stronger dose of sleeping potion. What I used on you is more of an emergent measure. She will wake up in a few hours. By then, we would have completed the special collars for you two.” The man replied.

“What?” Lily felt vulnerable and afraid. All of her bravery melted away, leaving a scared little girl.

The man smiled cruelly, seeing her expression. “You two are going to be slaves. We needed something better than our regular collars with how strong and special you two are. Don’t worry; you two will make us a lot of money.”

At that moment, the whole underground facility shook, and a furious roar of anger resonated through the air.

“W-What?”

Lily teared up. “Dad!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos wore a complete set of dragon-scale armor covering him from head to toe. No one would be able to tell who he was. After he crashed through the building he found to be an entrance to the underground facility, he quickly charged through the halls.

“What the hell is that!” A man cried.

A slaver. Caeldaemos didn’t waste any time on the man and crushed him with an earth spell.

He stopped at a cell that had multiple young men inside. He could tell they were enslaved by the collars around their necks.

Grabbing the gate with one hand, he ripped it from its hinges.

“You’re free. Go.” He ordered.

Caeldaemos went down the hall, slaughtering any of the slavers and freeing the people as he went.

“W-Who are you?” A woman asked.

“A benevolent Demon-Lord.” That is all Caeldaemos would say as he continued on his warpath. Nothing would stop him.

Caeldaemos had quickly investigated the compound and made sure to make a grand entrance. He approached the back of the place, where he heard panicked voices.

“Dammit! Hurry up!” The man ordered his men.

“Sir! The path has been sealed! We can’t get out!” A slaver yelled.

“There!” Another pointed at the massive armored demon who stepped into the room.

“W-Who are you!? What do you want?!” The man demanded to know.

“Dad!” Lily called out to him.

“Dad…?” Blood drained from the men’s faces.

Caeldaemos reveled in their fear. “Not just any, Dad. You idiots took the only daughter of the Demon-Lord.”

He flexed his Lord of War skill, giving him an intimidating aura.

“First time for me to test this out. True Demon-Lord’s Call.” Caeldaemos stated.

A rush of power flowed through his body while the slavers dropped to their knees.

“What happened?!” “I feel so weak….”

Caeldaemos went up to the man in charge.

“P-Please. Have mercy.” The men wet themselves in his presence.

“Where is your register?” He demanded, adding mana to his voice so that it boomed.

“T-There!” One of the slavers pointed at a thick book.

Caeldaemos stored the book away for Yanni and turned to the sobbing slavers.

“You took my wife and my daughter. For that, I cannot forgive you.” With his words and a single wave of his hand, their heads fell to the floor from the wind blade.

“Dad!” Lily called out to him.

He went up to Rana first and freed her, laying her down gently.

“Dad, I’m so happy you came for us!”

Caeldaemos took off his helmet. “LILY!” He shouted.

Her ears flattened, and she was scared. She had never seen him so angry with her.

“Why did you run off on your own!? Do you have any idea how worried everyone was?!” He demanded to know.

“I’m… I’m…” Lily couldn’t find the words. She had disappointed him, the one thing she never wanted to do.

Breaking the chains, he took her into his arms and hugged her.

“D-Dad?” Lily was confused.

“You damn idiot daughter! Do you have any idea how scared I was?” Caeldaemos’ large frame shuddered.

“Dad…” Lily could feel hot tears running down her face.

“Try to have a bit more faith in me. I’m your dad. I will always protect you and your mom.” He pulled away and held her face to his. “Don’t you ever do something reckless like this again. You understand me?”

“Mm!” She began crying, hugging her father.

A few minutes went by.

“What now, Dad?” Lily asked, wiping away some more tears.

Caeldaemos put on his helmet. “I think it is time for the Demon-Lord to truly appear. I will use this opportunity to tell the world I am unlike my predecessors. Take your mother and use One with Darkness to escape here. I used Panacea on her, so she should wake up soon.”

“Okay!” Lily took her mother onto her back. “Dad.”

“Hmm?”

“You were awesome.” Lily slipped into the shadows and used Flash Step to escape.

Caeldaemos shook his head. “What a troublesome daughter.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Get those people back, now!” A female knight shouted.

“Is what those people said true? The Demon-Lord?!” Another knight asked, his voice shaky.

“They said that he beat one of the heroes up.” Another stated, trembling in fear.

“Quiet! Word has already been sent to the capital. The heroes will be on their way.” The female knight stated, but even she was terrified.

The ground began to shake, and what was left of the half-destroyed house was ripped asunder.

The knights shielded their eyes from the dust.

“Above!” A knight called out.

The female knight looked up and saw it. She could tell just from a simple glance what it was that floated twenty feet in the air.

Covered in black scale armor from head to toe, large obsidian wings kept the massive form hovering in the air above them.

“T-The Demon-Lord!” A knight shouted.

The female knight wished the scared fool would have kept his mouth shut as the attention of the Demon-Lord changed from the horizon squarely to her.

He slowly lowered down to stand before her.

She wanted to run, but fear kept her in place. The sheer power emanating from him made her feel like she was being crushed.

“Are you the knight in charge here?” The Demon-Lord asked.

With just those words, the female knight no longer felt fear but awe. “I… I am.” She replied, feeling drawn to him.

“Hmph. You should do better at keeping your city clean of such filth.” The Demon-Lord pulled a large book out of thin air and handed it to her.

She opened it and checked the contents. “This! This is the slaver register!” She looked up at him.

“Use it well.” The Demon-Lord stated as he floated back up into the air.

“KNOW THIS WELL!” His powerful voice echoed throughout the city, rattling glass. “I WILL NEVER TOLERATE SLAVERY! ANY I FIND, I WILL DESTROY! ANY ENSLAVED I WILL FREE! FOR I AM A BENEVOLENT DEMON-LORD!” The Demon-Lord began to laugh as a dark mist surrounded him. Once he was hidden, he vanished without a trace.

“C-Commander.” A knight stuttered. “W-What just happened?!”

“I think... we were just helped by the Demon-Lord.” She replied.

The news of the Demon-Lord quickly spread through the world. One of the knights had a recording of the event, and every ruler was shocked by the news. The world became even more confused by the actions of the Demon-Lord. But they could not trust it. The Demon-Lord needed to be destroyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The airship the heroes were on was smaller and faster than others, allowing them to arrive a few days after the Demon-Lord’s appearance. They hadn’t yet found Gabriel, but they arrived in Hyuden and stood before the destroyed house.

“Is what you said true?” Hana asked the knight commander.

“It is, ma’am.” She replied.

“Hana, you have to listen to this recording.” Haley brought over the panel.

Hana watched the scene unfold.

“I don’t get it. Why would a Demon-Lord merely destroy slavers? What is his angle?” Hana ruffled her hair in frustration.

Even though there was so little about the Demon-Lord, it made no sense for him to do something like this. Wouldn’t the Demon-Lord prefer to enslave people?

“Perhaps the joke might be true?” Greggory was bringing up their joke of the Demon-Lord might be good.

“It is also possible he might be trying to manipulate the people into a false state of safety. He already attacked Gabriel.” Haley tried to rationalize.

“True as that may be, he freed those slaves and crushed the slavers. Were there any survivors down there?” Hana asked the knight commander.

“None of the slavers survived. Their deaths were… quick. But the Demon-Lord didn’t lay a single finger on the innocent people.” She replied.

“Alright. Let’s continue our investigation.” Hana ordered.

“So it’s already gone?” A voice called out.

Hana turned toward it. “Gabriel, where the hell have you been?”

The hero shrugged his shoulders, not a care in the world. “I’ve been busy. Not to worry, I took care of my issue.”

Hana pinched the bridge of her nose. “After we are done here, we are returning back to the capital. You will have to explain yourself before the emperor.”

“Very well.” He replied.

Hana was surprised by his cooperation.

But then they all felt a crushing force of mana pressing down on them.

“Hero Gabriel.” A voice above them boomed.

The heroes looked up to see that the Demon-Lord had returned. A cold fury burning in his eyes directed at Gabriel.

“Gabriel, what did you do?” Hana shivered.

“You seem to have difficulty learning your lesson. I am here personally to deal with that ability.” The Demon-Lord crashed to the ground, and the first battle between the heroes and the Demon-Lord began.