Hana had been worried about Haley the whole trip back to Vualdulin. After returning to the airship, Haley locked herself up in her quarters and took her meals there. They would be landing at the capital airfield in less than an hour.

Hana, Greggory, and Lindsey sat in the mess hall. Gabriel had spent most of his time socializing with the people aboard the airship. The heroes felt strange to be around him because he felt too different. They were beginning to think that he might have actually changed, but it still weirded them out.

“Do you think she will be okay?” Greggory asked about Haley.

“I’m not sure. I’ve tried to speak with her several times, but she only said that she would speak of what happened once we are before the rulers.” Hana replied.

“I hope things go well,” Lindsey said, saddened for their friend.

Their airship landed at the airfield, and they immediately departed for the palace. One thing Haley did say was that she needed to speak to all the rulers immediately.

They arrived at the throne room and gave their greetings.

The emperor was on his throne while the many rulers worldwide were present through the large floating displays.

“Hero Haley, you called for this meeting. Begin when you are ready.” Grand Duke Lorenze said.

Haley stepped forward and took a breath to steady herself. “Lindsey, I want you to do something before I begin.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to cast Remove Curse on me.”

The various ministers and rulers began to mutter.

Lindsey approached and used a refined mana crystal. “Remove Curse… … … I got no reaction.” She stated, perplexed.

“Thank you. I am free of curses. Now, I want you to use the Purification spell to remove any mental affliction.” Haley said.

“What is this about?” One of the rulers impatiently demanded to know.

“I wish to prove to all of you that I am under no influence. Lindsey.” Haley turned to the Saintess.

“Um, sure.” Lindsey cast the spell over Haley. “I didn’t feel any effect. You are under no spell.”

“Thank you, Lindsey. To all the rulers, ministers, and nobles present, I apologize for that, but what I am about to say may have had you question many things.” Haley bowed her head to them in apology.

“Well, we know you are not under the influence of another. What is this about?” The elven queen demanded to know.

“I am sure you have all heard the report from Hana, correct?”

The rulers acknowledged this.

“Here is where my side begins. I wish to state strongly that the Demon-Lord is not evil.” Haley announced.

Many of those present went wild with her statement. They tried to argue that she was not right in the head, but others countered that it was proven she was sane.

As they spun their wheels, the emperor spoke. “Quiet.”

He didn’t shout, but the force of his authority silenced them all.

“Continue.” The emperor spoke.

“Thank you, your majesty. I barely survived the fall down the gorge. I was greatly injured and wondered if I would have survived long enough for a rescue to arrive. I survived thanks to the Demon-Lord.” Haley began.

“The Demon-Lord healed my wounds and waited until I woke up before going on his way to destroy the Blood Letters Cult. He was going to leave me behind to be rescued, but I decided I wanted to test whether he was good or evil.”

Haley continued her story, speaking of how the Demon-Lord gave the cultists a chance to live if they gave up, but showed no mercy if they attacked. When she got to the part of the prison area, one of the rulers stopped her.

“Are you saying they were going to resurrect Halturnafey the Slaughterer?!” The dwarven king exclaimed.

“I thought it was Talopar the Butcher?” A human ruler asked.

“Halturnafey was his true name. We are unsure how the other name came about.” The elven queen commented.

“Yes. But from the fragment of the dead Demon-Lord stated, it would not have worked.” Haley answered.

“You would trust the words of a Demon-Lord?” A minister blurted out.

“Halturnafey was in pain. She hated the fact that people were being sacrificed to her.”

“She? Halturnafey was a he! You were duped.” A ruler snidely commented.

“Then let me ask this of the Fae-Folk. Can spirits change their gender at will?” Haley asked, turning to one of the screens.

The three fae-folk rulers looked hesitant to answer, but the spirit king relented with a sigh.

“Yes. Only pure-blooded spirits are capable of such a thing. If I remember correctly, Halturnafey was a pure spirit of darkness. So, what Hero Haley says is feasible.”

“Thank you.” Haley paused for the next thing she would have to say. “I am not sure if I should say this next part….”

“Speak. You have me intrigued thus far.” The emperor spoke.

Haley knew the next part she was about to say would cause chaos. Looking about the room, she decided it would be best to limit the number of people who would know.

“Never mind. I will keep that part to myself until the end. I will only say it with just the rulers and heroes present. But it is something that could turn your world on its head.” Haley said.

“Very well.” The emperor spoke. Most of the other rulers accepted, with only a couple of them begrudgingly agreeing.

“After our conversation with Halturnafey finished, she called him the Demon-Lord of Benevolence.”

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“A benevolent Demon-Lord? That sounds asinine!” A ruler shouted.

“I witnessed it with my own eyes. The fragment of Halturnafey was muddied, dark, and looked like a corrupted crystal at first. The Demon-Lord of Benevolence used an ability that created a blinding silver light. It not only purified the Demon-Lord fragment to a beautifully clear color, but it also healed and restored the people within the cages.”

“Let me guess, the people were so appreciative they became a new cult?” The snide ruler stated.

“No…” Haley hugged herself. “They blamed him for what happened to them. It was clear that he had nothing to do with the cult’s actions. He healed them. Saved them. And yet, they blamed it all on him. They used him as a convenient target, even after what he had done for them.”

Hana joined Haley and placed her hands on her friend’s shoulders to show her support.

“Did he punish them in any way?” Grand Duke Lorenze asked.

“No. I could tell he was hurt by it. He understood they were in pain and grief, and he just took it all. Imagine what it would be like to be born and hated by the world because of your predecessors? To have a target on your back all your life.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

“The Demon-Lord brought a child the cultists killed back to life,” Haley said.

“What?! That is a high-level ritual spell that only the Saintess or Grand Priest has!” A minister shouted in surprise.

“The boy was alive. I checked the boy’s status, and he was perfectly healthy. But the Demon-Lord did something else on top of bringing the boy back to life. He cleansed the boy of the darkness within his heart, healing his soul.” Lindsey added.

Haley looked toward the Princess and Grand Duke. “We may have said in joking, but I believe we were short of the mark. The Demon-Lord is more of a Hero than all of us.”

The room exploded into arguments and shouting. It did not take long for the emperor to silence them.

“I understand your desire for us to believe you, Hero Haley, but this is quite hard to take in with just your words.” The emperor stated.

Haley looked up at him, then pulled out a crystal. It was the favor the Demon-Lord had asked of her to bear witness and record what happened for all the world to see.

“This is a recording crystal that I used to catch everything that happened. I was hesitant to play it with the sensitive information recorded on it.” Haley held it up for all to see.

“Did the Demon-Lord know you were recording?” The dwarven king asked.

“He did.”

“Then what’s to say it wasn’t all an act!?” The snide ruler cried out.

The room fell silent for a moment until the Queen of Galgalake spoke.

“We must consider the Demon-Lords actions thus far in tandem with Hero Haley’s testimony. We have not seen any monster armies, no mass destruction or death. We all need to face the facts before us. The Demon-Lord may actually be good.”

“You would be willing to take such a risk!?” The snide ruler demanded.

“I would like to see the recording with my own eyes first before I make such a decision.” She replied.

“Then everyone but the heroes and royals leave. Grand Duke Lorenze, you stay.” The emperor ordered.

It took twenty minutes, but everyone else cleared out of the throne room.

Haley activated the crystal, projecting a large image into the air for all the rulers to see.

“Is it running?” An image of the Demon-Lord asked.

“It is.” Haley’s voice could be heard.

“Alright. Let’s deal with these cultists. You focus on recording. I’ll keep you safe.”

The recording went on for nearly forty minutes before they got to Halturnafey’s statement of the gods’ involvement in the Demon-Lords.

“Lies! That has to be a lie!” The snide ruler shouted.

“Oh, be quiet.” The elven queen chastised him.

“This is a bit much to believe. But I now understand why you chose to keep this information to just us.” The queen of Galgalake stated.

They watched the remaining amount of the recording, trying to find any kind of fault or sign of the Demon-Lord being manipulative or evil, but they were having difficulty.

“Y-You saw that at the end, right!? He had the cultists ripping each other apart!” The snide ruler cried.

“They sacrificed a child. Anyone with a kind heart would be angry over that.” The emperor stated in a rare tone of pity.

“It seems clear to me that what Hero Haley said is likely true. I will need to speak with my ministers about this, but we will move forward with trying to contact the Demon-Lord.” The queen of Galgalake stated.

“Then allow the heroes to stay there in the meantime.” The emperor stated.

“I am willing to accept all but him.” The queen stared down at Gabriel.

“Perhaps I should be stationed nearby then? I believe that there is a human town not far from Galgalake.” Gabriel offered.

“Hero Haley, I wish for you to bring a copy of that recording here. I will need it to convince my people.” The queen requested.

“Understood.” Haley bowed her head in thanks.

“I hope everyone understands the gravity of the possibility that the gods have been making the Demon-Lords and would be wise enough to keep it to themselves?” The emperor stated.

“I can only think of one fool here who would do such a thing.” The elven queen stared at the snide ruler.

“I would not! Do you think I want chaos in my lands!?” He replied in a panic.

The screens went blank one by one until the only ruler present was the emperor.

“I hope that what you witnessed is true.” He stated to Haley. “Grand Duke Lorenze, I expect you will stay here and support the heroes. Alicia, I want you to travel to Galgalake with the heroes.”

“Understood, Father.” The princess bowed her head.

“Father, might I go as well?” The second princess asked.

The emperor pursed his lips. “We will discuss this later with the empress.”

“Thank you, Father.” The second princess bowed her head.

The heroes gathered in their meeting room along with Princess Alicia and Grand Duke Lorenze.

Hana hugged her friend. “You did so well, Haley! Thank you!”

Haley gave a tired smile and hugged her friend back. “You were the one who delivered the message. I would have stayed away from him if you had not told me about that.”

“Message?” Alicia asked.

“Oh, we did not bring it up earlier.” Hana turned to face them. “I… had a chance to speak with Io.”

“You spoke with the goddess?!” The Grand Duke exclaimed.

“Ah, you must have one of those blessed statues, too,” Gabriel commented.

“What?” Hana looked at him in confusion.

“Did your goddess not give you a statue that would allow you to speak to her? Sylfaerune gave one to me, but it broke.” He explained.

“No. I spoke to Io in a dream. I prayed really hard in needing her guidance.” Hana replied. She still felt uneasy about him and chose to keep the way to contact the gods to herself.

“I also never received such an item from Nanduun,” Greggory commented.

The other two heroes added that they also never received such an item.

“Well, it does not matter. What did your goddess tell you?” Gabriel got them back on track.

“The goddess told me that the Demon-Lord was not evil and just wanted to help. She said I would be surprised when I found out who he was. I tried checking multiple people, but nothing popped up saying ‘Demon-Lord’ in their status.”

“What about that big demon friend? Caeldaemos?” Greggory asked.

“We all checked his status. It just showed his name and class, nothing else.” Lindsey pointed out.

“If you all checked it, he is likely not the Demon-Lord. It is possible to hide one’s status but not fabricate it.” Duke Lorenze stated.

“I must apologize to them if I get a chance. I wronged his family quite badly.” Gabriel commented.

“I think it best you keep your distance from that one. Likely he would remove your head than hear you out.” Greggory warned.

The big man was not the only one who felt that way. The amount of hatred and anger in Caeldaemos’ eyes when he called Gabriel out was quite intimidating to all the heroes.

“He seemed to be a big man with a big heart.” Lindsey clung to Greggory’s arm, smiling up at him.

“So, the goddess herself supports the Demon-Lord? But what Halturnafey said was that the gods make them do they not?” The Grand Duke pointed out.

“It is odd. Perhaps one of the other gods made hi-….” The princess stopped before pondering for a moment.

“Princess?” Hana asked.

“It is possible that the goddess, Sylfaerune, created the Demon-Lord. Remember his anger toward the goddess and… Hero Gabriel.” She paused at the last bit.

“I deserved what I got, but I don’t think my relation to the goddess Sylfaerune had anything to do with it,” Gabriel commented.

“Well, I will be sure that the rulers know of this. For now, I will get the airship restocked and ready to fly out to Galgalake tomorrow afternoon.” The grand duke shook their hands. “It was a pleasure working with you. If you need assistance, do not hesitate to contact me. Hero Gabriel, you will be riding in a convoy to the town of Ludapalo in a few days.”

“Understood. I wish you all the best of luck.” Gabriel said to the other heroes.

The four heroes still felt weirded out by his change. They would not be surprised if someone told them he had been possessed at this point.

The heroes, minus Gabriel, would arrive in Galgalake a week later to assist the queen in convincing the highest-ranking nobles and her cabinet of ministers to enter talks with the Demon-Lord. There was a considerable amount of back-and-forth, but after a month, they were finally able to have a majority on board. They would publish an international message to tell the Demon-Lord of their desire to speak in person. But it would not be for sometime later that they would truly learn who he was.