The five heroes entered the throne room of the Vualdulin palace. Floating about in the air were screens showing the various rulers from around the world that were in attendance. A multitude of ministers and high-ranking nobles were present at the sides.

Hana was feeling suffocated by the amount of power represented around them. A single mistake could mean trouble. She prayed that they would not get dragged down with Gabriel.

They stopped just short of the stairs to the emperor’s grand throne.

“Do you know why we recalled you all?” The emperor asked.

Before Hana could speak, Gabriel stood. “I do, your majesty.”

“What excuse do you have, hero of Sylfaerune?” The dwarven king asked.

“I understand that it may be difficult to believe, but I was done a great favor by removing that cursed eye from me,” Gabriel replied.

“What do you mean?” Another human ruler asked.

“The cursed eye was corrupting my thoughts, leading me to do such terrible things. I will not attempt to beg for mercy or reprieve for my crimes and ask for your judgment.” Gabriel knelt before the various rulers.

“I find this difficult to believe. The eye had been removed from you for some time, and your actions in my palace have me suspicious of the drastic change. Is this not a desperate attempt to save yourself?” The queen of Galgalake questioned.

“I have no excuse for that. But, after I left the banquet, I heard the voice of my goddess. She purified me of my dark and evil thoughts, allowing me to be free. I swear in the name of my goddess.” Gabriel answered, a haze of light rolling over his body.

All those present, even the heroes, were surprised to see the light.

“I see. This is surprising.” The emperor stroked his well-maintained beard.

“I have also disbanded my Silver Blood mercenary group, turning many of them in for crimes they had committed. I am truly sorry for my actions.” Gabriel stayed kneeling.

Hana felt like something was off about everything. It was all too strange. Could he have really changed? Did Sylfaerune set him straight? She internally sighed in frustration. Why was everything so confusing?

“So then. What say you all for his punishment?” The emperor turned to those on the screens.

“Hmph. I am still suspicious of him, but perhaps we can delay until the Demon-Lord is dealt with.” The dwarven king offered.

“Agreed. We will be keeping a close eye on you.” The queen of the elves commented.

Many of the other rulers agreed to the idea of delaying his sentence until a later date.

“Thank you all for your mercy. Now, I have a question for you all.” Gabriel began, standing.

“That is?” The emperor looked down on Gabriel.

“When we fought against the Demon-Lord, we noticed he was well equipped. Wearing dragon-scale armor while wielding a magic-eating shield and powerful mace no regular man could use. I ask you, do we think he may have a supporter?”

“Dragon scale? There is only a single race that can work such armor. The dwarves.” A human ruler pointed at the dwarven king.

“If you think we would help a menace to the world, you are mad!” The dwarven king shouted.

“Only dwarves can make such items. Your best craftsmen who could make such items would be under your command.” The emperor of demons commented.

The rulers began arguing with one another. Hana could see that tensions were starting to get out of control.

She quickly stepped forward. “Your majesties!” She shouted.

The rulers stopped arguing and looked down at her.

“I can understand your suspicions, but I remember the Demon-Lord of War was capable of creating items from mana. We also know he entered two dungeons, so some of the items he wields may come from them.” Hana argued.

“See! She makes a fine point!” The dwarven king supported.

“But to get a full set of armor in his size from a dungeon?” Another ruler questioned.

“Please, this is not a time to throw ourselves into disarray.” She begged.

“I agree.” The queen of Galgalake seconded.

The many rulers calmed, but a few still eyed the dwarven ruler.

“I…” Hana wasn’t sure if she should bring it up, but she felt she needed to. “I wanted to get your thoughts on the Demon-Lord’s actions.”

“What do you mean?” The emperor of Vualdulin asked.

“So far, the Demon-Lord stays quiet. But in every report thus far, he has been doing good in your world. Do all of you think it could be possible that he might be… different?” She asked.

The many rulers tensed at her question, unsure how to answer her.

“Hero Hana.” The queen of Galgalake spoke. “I understand from your perspective, from your world, it is possible that one who is evil may be redeemed. But throughout our history, the Demon-Lord has always brought chaos and destruction.”

“But then, what of Eevicaln the Lustful? From what I have read, she did not lead to the deaths of people, but a large boom in population.” Hana asked.

The emperor of Vualdulin sighed. “If you had asked that question a few hours ago, we might have entertained that idea.”

After being signaled by the emperor, a robed man carrying a crystal ball stepped forward and projected a recording from the crystal.

An insane-looking man covered in blood showed up on the projection.

“Greetings, lambs of the world! I am the high priest of the Blood Letters! I am sending this message to inform you all that the sacrifice of Elaseen was greatly appreciated. Our god appreciates the blood offering of its people. We will continue our work and dedication to the Demon-Lord! ALL HAIL THE DEMON-LORD! BLOOD FOR THE DEMON-LORD! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!” The man’s maniacal laughter ended when the recording stopped.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Do you see, Hero Hana? The cults have begun to move.” The emperor spoke.

“But… what if he has nothing to do with their actions?” Hana tried to argue.

“Hero Hana.” The queen of Galgalake scolded. “We can understand your confusion. But as I said, we cannot make such an easy call without better proof.”

“I… understand.” Hana deflated in defeat.

“The heroes are dismissed.” The emperor ordered.

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

The rulers would have changed their tune if they had seen what the Demon-Lord was actually doing.

Caeldaemos relaxed on an oversized towel on a beach in Barnoo. Next to him was Listamati lying on her stomach.

Geon and Lily were having a volleyball match against Liara, who was dominating them, using her spirit arts to control the wind.

Rana was nearby under a parasol because her fur made her too hot to be in the sun. But she kept busy checking products she wanted to manufacture by their business. She had been wracking her brain to devise a name for their business.

“Hrn. Cael, I really cannot come up with a name for it.” Rana commented.

Caeldaemos chuckled. “Well, what ideas do you have?”

She turned away. “Nothing I want to mention.”

He chuckled once more while sitting up. “Alright. Let’s see…” He took a minute to try to think of something. “How about Terra Technologies?”

“Terra?” Both Listamati and Rana asked.

“Terra was another word for Earth, the world I am from.” He explained.

“Hmm, I don’t know. It sounds good and can be abbreviated as T.T.,” Rana mused.

“People could also say Terra Tech.” He added with a warm smile.

“Hmm. I’ll try running past the people of Hallibrush to get their input, just in case.” Rana decided.

“By the way, you never told us what power you got from Eevicaln.” Listamati pointed out.

“Ah, sorry about that. You know that Panacea works a lot like an Elixir, right? Well, I got a powerful ability called Restoration. It not only works on people but things as well. I can restore anything to perfect condition. I can bring a person back to life as far out as five days.” He explained.

“That’s… pretty powerful,” Listamati commented, feeling like he was getting further away from them.

“It also…” He began but stopped.

“Also?” The two wives asked.

“Might have… greatly improved… Lord of Debauchery.”

“Um, how so?” Rana hesitantly asked.

“Let’s just say you might not want to come at me as confidently as you have been. Daemos will remain undefeated.”

The two women both dreaded and looked forward to their next nightly activities.

Rana got up to get some drinks from the beach house.

“Hey, Dad! Lia is getting arrogant! Can you help us?” Lily called over.

Caeldaemos looked at Liara and saw she had an overconfident look on her face.

He chuckled and stood up, much to Liara’s change in expression to worry.

It did not take long before Liara was on her hands and knees in defeat. Geon and Lily sat on Caeldaemos’ shoulders, cheering at his flawless victory.

Shortly after, there was a small explosion of sand into the air.

Caeldaemos set the two girls down and headed over to see what had happened.

“Damn, lady! You’re nuts!” A demi-human man cried out from the ground.

“Yeah! You should be happy we were even willing to give you attention!” The second demi-human man yelled.

Giiwo stood before Rana, acting like she was cracking her knuckles. “My master did not appreciate your advances. Touching her tail was a big mistake. Only his lordship is allowed to touch it.”

“H-Hah! I bet he’s just some pathetic male!” The first man desperately stated.

“If you think you can compare to my husband, you are quite mistaken,” Rana said, pointing behind them.

A massive shadow came over them. The two men looked up to see Caeldaemos standing above them.

“Hmm? Do you think you can compare to me? Let me show you, boys, something.” Caeldaemos isolated them in a blacked-out barrier.

A short moment later, the barrier disappeared, and the two demi-human men looked white as a sheet.

“W-What the hell was that thing?!” One stuttered.

“There is no way we could satisfy a woman who takes on such a monster….” The other said with a blank expression.

Caeldaemos chuckled and walked over them, terrifying the two, thinking it might club them in their heads.

Rana pouted. “A husband should not show such a thing to just anyone.”

He laughed. “They could only truly understand what they were up against by seeing it.”

Multiple women began chatting among themselves while staring at Caeldaemos lustfully.

Rana noticed some were working up their courage to approach Caeldaemos.

“Giiwo.”

“Yes, my master?”

“If anyone woman outside of those authorized by me tries to flirt with Cael, throw them into the ocean after stripping them,” Rana ordered with a dangerous smile.

Any of the women who were interested in approaching him immediately backed off.

“A bit extreme?” He asked, stepping up to her.

“Necessary. If we leave you alone too long, you might end up with a thousand women.” Rana replied.

“Yeah… I don’t want that.” Caeldaemos agreed.

“Shit!” Rana cried.

Caeldaemos was surprised by her. He had never heard her curse before.

“We need to get back to the others and return to Hallibrush!” Rana cried.

He picked her and Giiwo up, not asking any further questions, and flew back to the others.

After gathering their things, they teleported back to Hallibrush.

They gathered with Sophia, Mayor Toto, and several other Hallibrush townspeople.

“Is it true, Toto?” Rana asked him.

“It is as you saw at the beach house. The Blood Letters Cult leveled a town far to the west.” Mayor Toto replied.

“Who are the Blood Letters?” Caeldaemos asked.

Liara sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. “The worst thing that could happen to us. They are a cult dedicated to worshiping the Demon-Lords.”

“You gotta be kidding me!” He shouted.

“I’m afraid not, my lord.” Mayor Toto shook his head.

“This could be detrimental to our goal to change the view of you.” Rana lamented.

“What are you all talking about?” Listamati asked.

“Have you not been listening?” Liara asked.

Listamati sighed. “That is not what I meant. I mean, why are you worried? This is a perfect opportunity.”

“What?” Many of them asked.

Listamati groaned in frustration. “What would the world think if the Demon-Lord himself showed up and crushed the cult?” She asked.

Many eyebrows raised up.

“You know.” Caeldaemos began. “I feel like that answer should have been obvious, and I feel dumb for not seeing it.”

“It is alright. I love my big oaf.” Listamati happily commented.

“Okay, so how long would it take to get there?” He asked.

“By carriage and you using Lord of Darkness, nearly two months,” Liara commented.

“By airship then? Could we charter one?” He asked.

“It would only cut the time by half,” Rana replied.

“Welp. I guess I will be heading there alone.” Caeldaemos stated.

“What?! I want to help!” Lily cried.

Caeldaemos pet her head. “I don’t mean to not get your help. I could get there far faster if I fly at my top speed.”

Listamati shivered over her memory of how fast he flew before. “Yes. I would advise no one to try to fly with him. It is… terrifying.”

“I wasn’t even flying at max.” Caeldaemos chuckled.

“You weren’t?!” Listamati’s mouth hung open for a moment before she collected herself.

“We needed to see where we were going. What would you estimate on my speed?” He asked Listamati.

“Oh, well, perhaps nearly ten times faster than an airship.” She assessed.

“So, if I use max speed, I might be just short of thirty times faster.” He contemplated.

“You could get there in a day?!” Liara exclaimed.

“More likely a few hours,” Rana commented.

“If I head out now, I should arrive there in no time. Also, if I teleport to Flower, I should be able to cut down the time even more.” He added.

“Great! Then I can join you!” Lily stated.

“Actually, I think you should handle this one, Cael,” Liara commented.

“What?” Lily asked in dismay.

“We have a lot to do here. The new home for us, workshop, the business, defenses, we need help.” Liara explained.

“B-But…” Lily struggled.

Liara nodded at Geon.

“Oh!” Geon realized and clung onto Lily’s arm. “Big sister, are you going to leave me here all alone?”

“Hngh!” Lily’s heart ached at Geon’s doughy-eyed, emotional attack.

Lily glanced between her amused father and her little sister Geon before sighing. “Okay… I’ll stay.”

“Sorry, Cael, do you think you can handle it on your own?” Liara asked.

“Yeah. I’ll see if Lady Temerilla can offer assistance in some way.” Caeldaemos replied.

It made him a bit sad to be away from his family, but someone had to deal with the crazy cultists. As Listamati had said, who better to do it than the Demon-Lord himself.

An hour later, a fully armored Caeldaemos stood in the town square.

“Good luck, my lord.” Mayor Toto wished.

“Thanks,” Caeldaemos replied.

“Hopefully, we will be done rebuilding by the time you return,” Rana commented, hugging and kissing him.

“I hope so too. I cannot wait to see what you all do.” He replied, hugging and kissing Listamati.

“Cael.” Liara wrapped her arms around his neck. “Don’t bring any new women home, okay?”

He laughed and kissed her.

After giving farewell hugs to crying Lily and happy Geon, Caeldaemos bid them farewell and teleported to Flower.