Caeldaemos arrived at the Judicial Hall in Galgalake with Rana.

“You sure you don’t want me in the courtroom?” He asked.

Rana giggled. “I’ll be fine. I have backup.” She smiled and pointed.

Caeldaemos turned to see the bright and smiling face of a friend. “Yanni!”

The two shared a heartfelt handshake.

“Good to see you, Cael!” The fellow baron said.

“So, I guess that merchant is in for some serious trouble.” Caeldaemos chuckled.

“Perhaps a fight worse than taking on the Demon-Lord?” Yanni joked.

“I don’t know about.” Rana giggled. “I’ll stay at the manor tonight. You should go meet up with Lista.”

“Oh? Heading to demon country?” Yanni asked.

Caeldaemos looked worried. Listamati may have said she was doing okay. He couldn’t help himself. “Yeah. I was going to head there once the case was done, but if you have Rana’s back, I can rest assured.” He gave Yanni his usual goofy grin.

After giving Rana a goodbye kiss, he left them to ruin the cheating merchant’s life.

Caeldaemos teleported back to Hallibrush to get ready.

“Cael.” Liara hugged him from behind. They were at the temple of Io.

“What’s up?” Caeldaemos chuckled while turning and hugging her back.

Liara was hesitant to speak, but he had an idea of what it was about.

“We can look into your mother’s situation.”

She smiled and tightened her hug. “Thanks. Just be careful of my father’s family. He is a duke with a lot of influence.”

He warmly smirked. “You want me to go full Demon-Lord on him?”

Liara laughed. “No! You would undo all of our hard work!”

He gently took her chin in his hand and turned her face toward his. “Okay. Only if I can find something damning.”

With a loving smile, Liara pulled herself up and kissed him.

Caeldaemos met up with everyone in the central courtyard of Hallibrush.

“Be careful, Dad!” Lily gave him a hug.

“Yeah! Um, Dad…” Geon said awkwardly.

Caeldaemos chuckled while giving the dungeon core a hug. Geon was still relatively shy about calling him ‘Dad’ because dungeon cores didn’t have parents. They were a naturally occurring existence in the world. The concept of ‘parent’ was new to her, and she had been feeling shy around Caeldaemos and far closer to him. For a while, she had been playing the part of daughter, but she was starting to understand what it meant.

“Come home soon… Dad.” Geon sadly hugged him.

“I will.” He patted her back.

Caeldaemos stood and turned to Chamberlain Toto. “Will you be alright? I’m sorry I have been so busy lately.”

Toto chuckled. “I will be fine. Thank you for helping me to catch up on things yesterday.”

“My lord! I hope to hear of new achievements to spread your greatness to the ends of the world!” Orelia exclaimed.

“I’ll… Let you know.” Caeldaemos chuckled.

Sophia giggled. “I will keep her under control.”

As they got new residents in Hallibrush, Orelia and Sophia weighed people’s thoughts on the Demon-Lord. They would gradually bring them to understand Caeldaemos, eventually bringing them to become followers. Orelia would praise and sing of his feats, while Sophia would assure them that he had the backing of Io. The two of them were quite the team in converting people.

After saying farewell to everyone else in attendance, Caeldaemos took to the air and blasted off to the east toward Venture.

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

Sylfaerune opened her eyes, seeing that she was inside a temple. Looking about, it seemed to be early afternoon.

“Ah, seems the oracle was true.” A woman in priestly robes approached. Her skin, hair, and eyes were obsidian in color. She held out her hand. “Can you stand?”

Sylfaerune nodded, accepting the assistance. “Thank… you.” The weight of her guilt crushed down on her.

“I am Darshae, a priestess of Tilra. The oracle I received said that someone was being sent here on a mission from the gods. What is your name?”

“Ah. I am Sylvia… Huh?” Sylfaerune was confused. “I am Sylvia. Sylvia!” She couldn’t say her name. Sighing, she assumed it was something Tilra might have done. She just had to accept this for now.

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“Apologies,” Sylvia stated. “Can you help me in my mission?”

“No worries. Sadly, I was instructed to only give you minimal assistance, such as information.” Darshae said.

Sylvia mentally clicked her tongue, knowing that Tilra wouldn’t make it easy on her. She wasn’t in a rush to get her divine power back as she wasn’t crazy about facing Michael, and she felt that she earned her punishment.

Darshae led Sylvia to a small meeting room, where they sat down. “Now, what questions do you have?”

Sylvia took a moment to collect her thoughts. It was harder without her Divine power giving her a boost to her mental capabilities. “The gods have sent me here on a mission to find the Demon-Lord.”

“Are you a hero?” Darshae asked.

She shook her head. “No. The gods found that the Demon-Lord is not like his predecessors. He has a good heart… I…” Sylvia paused. “He did not deserve the fate he was dealt. I need to find him.”

“You swear by the gods that what you say is true?” Darshae seemed on guard because of the statement.

“I swear by Io, what I say is true…” Sylvia watched as the haze of light rolled over her body. It was a system her sister had created to help make the lives of mortals easier. The system was designed after the first Demon-Lord in the hopes that it would let peace last forever, but it failed.

Darshae looked surprised. “The Demon-Lord is… good?”

“Better than the Hero…” Sylvia thought of her failure of choice, Gabriel. Even though she had been trying to keep a closer eye on him, something was sometimes blocking her vision. He was just like her, garbage…

“Well, I am guessing you seek information on the Demon-Lord. A moment, please.” Darshae left the room for a bit and returned with a Crys-Link. “Let’s see… Ah, here is all the news on the Demon-Lord.” She handed the Crys-Link to Sylvia.

“Hmm…”

There wasn’t much as to a location, but so far, the Demon-Lord was what her sister had stated.

After punishing Gabriel for potentially raping a noblewoman, he led to the non-lethal change in dungeons, crushed a slaver ring, and exposed those who participated and annihilated the cult of Halturnafey.

“Gabriel raped someone?” Sylvia asked.

Darshae nodded. “The story was buried and only recently surfaced. Rumors of other crimes have been circulating, but none have been proven.”

Why didn’t she know about this? Was this during one of the times she wasn’t watching him!? What has been happening!?

“Oh,” Darshae remembered something. “There was a rumor from a few months ago about him being punished by the Demon-Lord for something, but there are little to no details about it. Likely, the royals are keeping it quiet out of caution with the Demon-Lord’s motives still being unknown.”

Sylvia was sure now something was happening beyond her power. She needed more details. Sylvia needed to find Michael sooner.

Using one of her Detections, she felt the direction of Michael far to the west. “I need to go west. Where am I?”

“You are in Ellurane, the capital city of Spirits,” Darshae replied.

Sylvia smacked her head into the table. “Tilra, you bitch….” She quietly mumbled to herself. All sightings of the Demon-Lord had been in the west, mainly around the Demi-Human lands. Tilra had dropped her nearly to the farthest point east of where she needed to be!

“Did you say something?” Darshae asked.

“Nothing.” Sylvia sighed. “Can you help me to charter a ride to Galgalake?”

Darshae nodded. “I can manage that.”

After a couple of days, Sylvia was on an airship heading to the capital city of Demi-Humans. The trip would take just under a couple of months, but she had to find Michael as soon as possible. Something was wrong.

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

Caeldaemos rode his Magic Cycle to the gate of Venture.

“Greetings. What brings you to Venture?” The guard asked.

Caeldaemos handed his ID over. “Catching up with my companion. She is in the city of Nixaloq.”

“Ah, just passing through. Be on your way then.” The guard handed the ID back and waved him through.

Caeldaemos rode into the town.

There was a sizable difference between Venture and Hallibrush. It wasn’t in the buildings’ size but in the colors. Hallibrush used bright colors, and its people wore whatever they enjoyed or found comfortable. Venture, though, the colors were humble and solid, with little to no aesthetic design. The people wore loose-fitting clothing that went from just above their collarbones down to their ankles. The only ones who were different were those in armor, like Caeldaemos, who wore his OWP armor instead of his Demon-Lord dragon-scale.

Stopping at the mercenary guild, he ate a prepared meal Rana made and updated his Crys-Link map to the city of Nixaloq. He didn’t plan on stopping for the night in Venture as he would continue his ride. He planned on using Lord of Darkness to lessen the average seven-day travel time to arrive by tomorrow afternoon.

“Huh, it is you.”

Caeldaemos looked up to see a familiar face, Vexaloy. “Greetings, Captain Vexaloy.”

“Hmph.” The captain sat down. “What is your business in Venture, Baron?”

Caeldaemos finished up the last bite of his meal before answering. “Sorry about that. I am meeting with a friend in Nixaloq, as I am sure your subordinates informed you.”

“Yes.” Vexaloy seemed to have a pressing question but didn’t look like he wanted to know.

Caeldaemos chuckled, figuring out what the captain wanted to know. “Lista is not here.”

The captain sighed in relief.

Caeldaemos knew that Listamati had traveled to demon country after using Alter Appearance to change her appearance. Though, he wasn’t sure what type of look she took on.

“You seem more... refined than last time,” Vexaloy commented.

Caeldaemos shrugged his shoulders. “Marriage changes a man. That and becoming a noble.” He chuckled.

“You will want to mind your behavior here if you don’t want trouble,” Vexaloy warned.

Caeldaemos pulled out a couple of glasses and a bottle of bourbon. “We never got to share a drink. Just one?” He smiled.

Vexaloy sighed. “Fine. Just one.”

After sharing a single drink and getting some advice from Vexaloy on demon politics, the two went their separate ways.

Caeldaemos decided to follow a bit of Vexaloy’s advice and stopped by a clothing store to pick up a few of the everyday demon attire. He planned to order some more when he arrived in Nixaloq. Storing away his new clothes, he mounted up again and rode out of Venture to catch up with Listamati.

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

Hana and the other Heroes arrived in Galgalake and immediately met with her majesty.

Queen Meryl finished showing the edited copy of the recording Haley had taken. She decided it would be best to limit the number of people who knew about the gods creating the Demon-Lords.

“Unbelievable…” One councilman commented.

“To think there is a good chance.” Another added.

“A-Are we sure we want to do this?” Another asked.

The councilors and high-ranking nobles continued to discuss the revelation that the Demon-Lord might not want to destroy them all.

Queen Meryl sighed. “Listen, I showed all of you this because it was decided that one of us royals would reach out to the Demon-Lord.”

“Yes, we understood that since you mentioned it before, but shouldn’t the Vualdulin empire be better? They have more power, and all five heroes could be present.” A distinguished demi-lion asked.

“Duke Richardson, I understand your point, but I am sure the Demon-Lord is not evil. Not to mention, Hana received an oracle from Io about him.” Queen Meryl stated.

They turned to Hana.

Hana nodded. “I did. I spoke to Io herself, and she asked us to help him. I swear by Io.”

The duke fell into thought. “If the goddess says so, then I have no issue. I just hope there is no trouble.”

Queen Meryl sighed and gave a relieved smile to Hana.

With the support of the counselors and nobility, they made a great effort to prepare their people for the arrival of the Demon-Lord to Galgalake.