"Well, that's one thing done!" exclaimed Glenn as he cleaned the blood covering him with a rapid Mundare.

Sahro grunted as he wiped his blade on a monster's corpse. "Weak. Way too weak. I expected much more than that. How am I supposed to catch up to Glenn if I can't face powerful opponents?"

The Devil's Hand group had been fighting for the past hour, slaughtering countless monsters without rest. Creatures with numerous legs, deformed bodies, and hundreds of eyes, jaws situated in curious places, or even exposed brains. The creatures of the Beyond were all strange in some manner, products pulled straight out of a mad scientist's nightmares. And hundreds, thousands of them were lying on the rocky ground, bathing in rotten blood.

Milena was lying on the floor, panting heavily, while Liara silently pulled her spear out of a corpse, her new, Mana-Aura bird chirping on her shoulder. Pebble was digging through the bodies, searching for some tasty treats, while Raijin, Sahro's fox, was sleeping lazily on his master's head.

Out of all of them, only one person was wearing a broad smile.

"The Beyond truly is an interesting place, don't you think Brother Glenn?" Lucian beamed with curiosity as his magic pushed away the corpses in his path.

"Interesting wouldn't be the word I'd use, but I get what you're trying to say," replied Glenn as he returned Nelg to his soul and crossed his arms, observing the vicinity. The hell-like landscape was nowhere near welcoming, and the eyes filling up the skies were still as creepy as ever. Despite all that, it felt like something was hidden there, even though he couldn't put his finger on it.

'I have to say, this place feels like my house back from before I met you,' commented Diamanes, 'Remember, the all-flesh room?'

Glenn almost scoffed. 'How could I forget?'

The Rift that led them to this area

Liara walked up to Glenn and leaned in his ear, careful not to be heard by Lucian. "I...I don't think that whatever is maintaining the Rift is here. I couldn't see any fluctuations in the Mana, no matter how hard I looked."

"Man...Can't I just come out and say hi to Lucian? I'm sure he won't act weirdly!' Nelg pleaded, but Glenn dismissed him without a thought.

"Glenn!" Sahro stood over a pile of dead monsters, pointing north to the Rift. "There's something this way!"

Glenn and Liara exchanged a look before heading in Sahro's direction, followed by the exhausted Milena and the curious Lucian. Raijin and Pebble played around amidst the corpses, blissfully unaware of how macabre it looked. Sahro jumped down from his pile of corpses with a puzzled expression.

"I think there's a structure in the distance, but...I could be wrong."

Milena's eyes widened at the same time as Lucian's glimmered with interest.

"Demons?"

"Demons!"

Both of them exclaimed with different emotions. Glenn took an instant to understand.

"Shit, you're right. Wasn't there a legend about demons being sealed into the Beyond?"

Milena nodded frantically. "Yes, demons who tried to bring down a god!"

Lucian chuckled with unveiled interest. "Oh-ho-ho, imagine that! Meeting an actual demon! My father is going to be so jealous!"

Milena snapped at him, forgetting her reverence for an instant. "If we're even still alive after meeting them!" She paled and hurriedly bowed to the waist. "Pardon me, your Highness, I didn't intend to—"

The Prince made a sad expression. "Miss Milena, do you think so little of our ability? Why do you distrust this Prince so much...?"

"N- No, Your Highness, I—!"

Lucian rolled his eyes and stopped her. "Come on, Milena, relax. I won't eat you. Can't you just act like everyone else?"

Milena frowned. "You want me to be disrespectful to you?"

"...I never said that, but, uh, if that makes you more comfortable with me around, sure."

Glenn winced. "Listen, I don't want to interrupt your bonding, but we have a situation incoming."

"Hmm?"

Lucian only had the time to notice the black spot in the distance before a dark-steel boot shattered his shield and hit him squarely in the face, sending him flying. Milena gasped as the colors drained from her face. Sahro had already disappeared in a bolt of red lightning, clashing with whatever that thing had been, while Liara had raised a circle of light around the group, burning the opponent.

Glenn checked on his Mana, grimacing as he realized he barely only had half of it left. Sahro's movements were practically impossible to track by the naked eye as he continued to clash against the unknown attacker. Glenn patiently waited, preparing his spell silently. Milena had run away to help Lucian while Liara did her best to try and follow the fight.

"Absolute Zero." Glenn's words were a command no one could disobey. Sahro froze in place alongside his opponent, both of their faces twisted in shock. Glenn didn't let his surprise stop him from acting, and with one fell swoop, used Nitrogen to form a solid crust to restrain the attacker. He snapped his fingers, releasing Absolute Zero while keeping the pressure on the attacker with his Gravity Manipulation.

"What the hell was that?!" Sahro exclaimed as he flexed his mechanical arm with awe. "It felt like...time itself stopped!"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Glenn grimaced. "Well, that's practically it."

He glanced back, sighing in relief as he watched Milena pull Lucian up. The Prince wasn't wounded gravely, just stunned. Glenn returned his attention to the attacker, unsure of how to proceed. Imprisoned in a jail of ice with only his head free was a demon.

Or what he assumed must be one. Dark red skin, two horns sprouting out of his forehead, black eyes, and an angry expression on his face. He wore an armor of dark steel bearing no sigil and didn't have any weapons. Red electricity was still running up his armor, leftovers of Sahro's power.

"Curse your hide, you scallywag of a human!" The demon suddenly cursed, fuming.

Glenn took a step back, surprised. "Oh! You speak the Common Tongue. That's...That's great!"

"Fiend! Don't try to lure me with your honey-laced words!" The demon raged against the ice, trying to break free, but Glenn's superior Mana made it impossible. Sahro's eyebrows were creased as he pushed the tip of his blade against the demon's forehead.

"Shut your mouth or I'll get rid of these horns for you!" hissed the Black Heir. Raijin's eyes glimmered dangerously as red lightning coursed through his fur. The demon paled and shook his head frantically.

"N- No, everything but the horns! I'd rather die than lose my horns!"

The corner of Glenn's lips curved upward as he crossed his arms. "Well, I mean, I do think they'd look good on an armor or something. Or maybe I could glue them to the walls of my mansion; make it demonic style, you know?"

The demon's purple skin began to increasingly turn pink. "N- No, I—"

Sahro shook his head and tapped his sword against the horns. "Are you insane? That'd be such a waste! Don't you know that the powder made from demon horns gives incredible power? I say we grind it and sell it!"

The demon's eyes rolled back in their sockets and he lost consciousness. Glenn and Sahro exchanged a glance before chuckling wickedly.

"Weak at the heart, hmm?" Glenn moistened his lips as he freed the demon from the ice prison. He pulled some chains out of his dimensional pouch and used them to tie up the demon. Liara crouched next to him and curiously poked his horns, before losing interest. Her bird perched itself on the horns, and pecked at it, only to be disappointed at the toughness of the material and flying back to its owner. Pebble rolled up to the demon and almost bit on a horn, but Glenn managed to stop him at the last second.

"Pebble—No! You don't eat living people, that's- that's just cruel."

The one-eyed dragon sighed sadly before phasing out of reality.

'A sassy, voracious one-eyed dragon that was birthed out of a rock. Pebble must have been my best friend in my past life,' remarked Diamanes. Glenn ignored him and instead walked up to Milena and Lucian.

"Well, Lucian, you really went flying there. Are you alr—oh shit!" Glenn couldn't restrain himself from swearing at the sight of the Prince's face. His nose was broken in the ugliest manner, bent in a direction that should be normally impossible. Lucian grinned widely despite the blood trickling out of his nose.

"Haha, tis' nothing but a scratch! I shall defeat this enemy and bring glory to Munirp! Where is the fiend?"

Glenn pointed back at the chained demon. "We already took care of him."

Lucian's excited expression collapsed and he looked down dejectedly. "But I'm sure we will find more if we keep going!" Glenn hurriedly added, raising the Prince's spirits. Lucian suddenly stood up, twilight shining over his shoulders majestically.

"Right! I shouldn't let this demotivate me! Glory is eternal! For honor, and for Munirp!"

Milena pumped her fist weakly, "Yay, your Majesty...Could you stand still and let me fix your nose now?"

"Ah, yes, pardon me..."

***

When the demon opened his eyes again, it was to the sight of four strange people, a one-eyed dragon, a fox, and a bird of light. And all of them were staring at him like he was a juicy, medium-rare steak from the finest beast. Tears welled up in his eyes but he raised his head straight.

"I shan't let you monsters ruin the Beyond again! May the Beyond rot your bones before I speak a word!"

Glenn shook his head and sighed heavily. "Demon. What's your name?"

"I said I wouldn't utter a word in your presence, you milk-livered coward!"

Sahro clicked his tongue and unsheathed his sword. "I told you he wouldn't speak. Let's just kill him."

Lucian stopped him, horrified. "What do you mean, 'killing him'? No, no, let me bring him back! I'll show him to my father, I'm sure he'll get a laugh out of it!"

Milena shook her head and stepped away from their farce, too ashamed to be part of the act.

"Now, now, let's all calm down. Demon, we don't actually want to kill you, alright? We're just trying to figure out why Rifts leading to the Beyond have opened in Munirp, alright?"

The demon froze. He looked at them like they were insane.

"...Wait, are you saying you came through the Horizon Gates?"

Glenn and his teams exchanged looks, unsure of what that meant. Horizon Gates? Was it how the demons called the countless Rifts that had appeared in the bed of the departed Dark Wall, Sevirox?

"No, no, that's...haha, no, that's impossible!" The demon laughed broadly, unable to believe their words. "You probably came through those small dimensional passages, like that bottom feeder Laurance!"

"Laurance?" Glenn repeated slowly, alarmed. He only knew one Laurance who crossed into the Beyond, and it was an Earthling who was part of the Occult Wanderers who liked sacrificing children to increase his own strength. Laurance, who also reached the Newborn Ruler level, but was dragged back to the Beyond by some sort of Hell Knight.

"I knew it! You're with that scummy son of a ghoul! You won't get anything out of me!" The demon shrieked. Glenn's expression hardened and he suddenly leaned over the demon, his purple arm hissing with purple mist.

"You better believe that Laurance is my enemy. I refuse to be associated with this child killer. Now, either you explain to us what's going on, or I skin you alive. Choose, and choose quickly."

The demon blinked, hesitating. "...Laurance is your enemy? We're talking about the same Seventh Circle monster, right?"

Sahro nodded slowly, his teeth clenched. Lucian smiled confusedly, wondering who was that Laurance they were speaking of. He looked at Liara, but she shrugged, uncertain. She wasn't present in the operation to save Redan. The demon sighed heavily in relief.

"Thank the Beyond. I- My apologies for assaulting you. I thought you were with this misbegotten knave!"

'He really knows some creative insults, doesn't he?' Diamanes remarked.

"I wish I had half of his inspiration," agreed Nelg.

"Velkris is my name, and I am a scout of the Last City." The demon bowed the best he could despite the chains restricting him. Glenn grinned and relieved him of the restraints with a flick of his finger, using Gravity Manipulation to get rid of the chains.

"Great, Velkris. I'm Glenn, also called the Devil's Hand these days."

"A fitting moniker indeed," nodded Velkris with a hint of fear.

Glenn bit down on his lip, ignoring the best he could Sahro's mocking glare. "We're an advanced party from Munirp, and wish to know how to close the, uh, Horizon Gates."

Velkris' expression turned grave and he turned to the landscape of the Beyond. "If the Horizon Gates have truly opened once more, this changes everything. Please, follow me to the Last City. My Elder will explain to you everything."

Glenn looked at his teammates before nodding.

"Sure, guide the way."

Diamanes' laughter rang loudly in his mind.

'Hahaha, this feels like we're going to stumble on even crazier secrets! I love it!'