Lucian rubbed his hands together, excited. "Haha, another land to pioneer for Munirp! The Last City, a mysterious bastion for the forgotten race of demons! Fortune is befalling the kingdom!"

Glenn glanced at the Prince and grimaced. Keep your hopes down for now. And I'm not sure which resources Munirp would profit from in this hellscape."

Milena shook her head. "You dumb oaf. The entire environment is over-saturated in Mana. If we can find a way to eliminate the suppression effect on low-ranked individuals, this will become the perfect place to raise Mages or Knights."

Lucian's eyes brightened. "You are entirely correct, Miss Milena! Are you familiar with Munirp's nurturing methods?"

She paled and stammered an incomprehensible reply. Lucian nodded with an unfaltering smile. "I see! This makes complete sense!"

Velkris, the red-skinned demon was rubbing his hands together tensely as Sahro breathed down his neck, his sword ready to be unsheathed at any given moment.

"How far are we from the Last City, Velkris?" Glenn asked with a relaxed tone.

The demon cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uhm, we're only a dozen minutes away. That is, if we don't meet any of the sewage-dwellers Occult Wanderers on the way!"

Milena leaned in curiously. "What did the Wanderers do for them to warrant such hatred?"

Velkris gritted his teeth angrily. "They're insipid, motherless scallywags who hunt our kin to try and rob us out of powers. Talentless heathens who resort to underhanded tactics to grow stronger."

Sahro scoffed. "I see their actions in Limbo and the Beyond are the same. No matter the world, evil remains evil."

"Don't worry, Brother Sahro!" Lucian grabbed Sahro's shoulder casually. "We will exterminate these fiends threatening the safety of Munirp! For glory!"

A dozen minutes later, the group arrived in front of an old medieval city with blackened, crumbling stone walls. The watchtowers were only shadows of their past selves, reduced to smoldering piles of stone. The iron, grated gate looked like it would turn to dust at any moment, covered in brown rust. The moats dug around the city were filled with volcanic stone, and solidified lava.

'Hmm. This place sucks.' Diamanes' comment resumed it pretty well.

"This is the last demon bastions inside the Beyond!" Velkris exclaimed proudly.

"...Wow, it's very impressive," said Milena with a forced tone. Sahro touched the volcanic stone with his foot, frowning.

"I'm pretty sure I could destroy these walls with a swing or two..." muttered the Black Heir.

"Demon, did a dragon try to reinforce your city's walls by breathing fire on it? This is an interesting strengthening method for certain!" Lucian exclaimed curiously with a broad smile.

Velkris awkwardly cleared his throat. "It's, uh, the walls have certainly seen better days, but they still do what they were built for correctly."

The steel grate suddenly rose and the drawbridge came down, revealing a dozen demons in black steel armor like Velkris', and with the same dark red tone of skin. Some had only a single horn, while others had up to four, some even resembling antlers. Glenn instinctively stepped back, his Mana surging out to face the threat. These demons were at least at the fifth level, Expert Magi or Crusaders. A quick use of Mana Sight confirmed to him that there was a Saint and an Archmagi among them, and not the weak ones. If Glenn had to compare their strength to someone, it'd be to the Head Cleaner Director, Manalok Calopea Truant.

"Just admit you don't feel confident fighting them, that'll be faster," groaned Nelg.

'What?' Diamanes blew raspberries. 'Nonsense! Glenn, you already fought against the Lightbringer at the Newborn Ruler level. What's a Saint and an Archmagi compared to that?'

"Doyle Malory allowed himself to be used as a punching bag, I'm not sure those guys will do the same..."

Glenn dismissed both voices and stayed on his toes as he watched the powerful newcomers.

"Velkris! Who are these raggedy, human fools you brought back? Did the enemy coerce you?" The oldest demon shouted from a safe distance, his fists tightly clenched and covered with Aura. He had a single, very long gray horn, and gray hair that reached to his shoulders.

'Demons can have hair?'

"Elder Ialkris! These people came through the Horizon Gates!" Velkris shouted back. Elder Ialkris stared at his demonic interlocutor, blinking a few times in confusion.

"The Horizon Gates?"

"The Horizon Gates."

"By the Beyond..." Ialkris turned to the other demons and shook his head. "He's mind-controlled by these motherless fiends of the Occult Wanderers. You know as well as I do that the Horizon Gates are sealed, fool!"

Velkris' face turned a deeper shade of red. "Ialkris, you old, empty-brained relic, I am speaking the truth! May the Beyond collapse on my head if I lie!"

Elder Ialkris gasped, his eyes widening. "Good Beyond! His swears are the same as usual! He's not lying!" The demon pointed at Glenn and his comrades, his eyes tearing up slightly.

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"Does it mean the Horizon Gates truly opened up? Is the Beyond finally going to be freed from the constant Corruption?"

Glenn cleared his throat, confused. "I don't have a clue. We came to seal the Rift—sorry, the Horizon Gates—because monsters keep on pouring out of it. But we'd love nothing more but to be enlightened as to what's truly going on, if you see what I mean?"

Ialkris coughed out a thick phlegm before nodding heavily. "Of course, please, follow us, noble foreigners from Limbo."

Lucian walked in without a hint of hesitation, all smiles and no doubts. Milena hurriedly followed him, worried about what might happen to his Highness. Glenn sighed in relief and came in as well with Sahro and Liara. Both of them and their pets were glaring with suspicion at the demon guards.

"Glenn, I feel like they really want to keep the Horizon Gates open," muttered Sahro discreetly. "Isn't it going to create some conflict with our mission?"

"We'll see," winced Glenn. "Hopefully, we will be able to work something out. Thank Onnea we're the ones who came through the largest Rift, imagine if Veil had been there instead of us."

Sahro sneered. "Blood would have already been drawn. Which might have been a better ending, if you want my opinion."

"Thankfully, I don't want it. And...who knows, maybe we'll learn something about what maintains the Rifts opened." Glenn replied as he kept his eyes on Ialkris' back.

"Welcome to the Last City, the last hope of survival for demonkind." Velkris declared as they walked through the gate. The city was exactly what Glenn expected, strangely. The houses were rundown, somehow still standing despite having endured seemingly powerful attacks. Sword and burned marks littered the place, and every other demon in the city wore a gloomy expression. Medical tents had been raised, with wounded constantly flowing in and out.

There were a few children, but they all looked terrified. A fear that wasn't helped when Glenn and the others stepped foot inside the Last City. Most demons raised their weapons or channeled their spells, alarmed. Glenn almost thought a fight was going to break out, but a wave of Elder Ialkris' hand sufficed to calm the situation.

"I apologize for the hostility of our denizens, but our recent experience with the Occult Wanderers pushed all of us on edge." Ialkris bowed slightly.

Glenn shrugged. "I can understand. We've met them ourselves, and it didn't go too well for us either."

Ialkris's eyes shone with interest. "You did? Wait, no, let us get to a more peaceful place, and then we'll talk."

They walked the group to a sort of ancient, decrepit castle. Ialkris led them into a dusty guest room where they could relax on uncomfortable, rotten wooden chairs.

"Alright, let's give me and my guests some intimacy, yes? Vilkris, you can go as well. Resume your activity as usual."

"Of course, esteemed Elder." Vilkris bowed and left the room alongside the other five demons. Ialkris sighed and collapsed in a broken armchair.

"I'd love to serve you some refreshments in real human fashion, but as you can see, we don't even have teacups." His expression was dejected, but that soon turned to hope and trepidation.

"But enough with that! You came through the Horizon Gates! Please, tell me how that is possible."

Glenn exchanged a hesitant look with the others before recounting the event of Sevirox's flight. Far from being surprised, the old demon was nodding along.

"I see...Indeed, only one thing could have possibly sealed the Horizon Gate, and the Old Dragon's body would have done so perfectly. The records are finally making sense..."

"You knew about Sevirox?" Lucian questioned curiously. Strangely, the Prince wasn't surprised by the fact that Glenn and the others knew the identity of the dragon that took flight during the last Blood Moon. Even stranger, he himself knew it.

'The King knew about Sevirox,' realized Glenn. 'Of course, he did. If D was the First King, and Sevirox his best friend, there must have been some sort of secret records shared only to the royal blood. I wonder what the Throne's stance is in all this mess.'

'Guess what, you literally have the next king in line sitting beside you! Maybe you could, I don't know, ask him?'

'...It wouldn't hurt to try, but not now. Still, good suggestion, Diamanes.'

"Those come rarely from him." Nelg mocked. Diamanes turned a deaf ear to him, ignoring the Soul Weapon will all his might.

"Sevirox was practically the father of magic, of course we know about him." Ialkris scoffed. "He was a precious friend to our race, alongside these two powerful kings, the human and the dark elf. You can say that with our Demon King, they formed one of the most incredible quatuor in history, haha—cough, cough..."

Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes in confusion. "Wait, what? Sevirox, the First King, the Demon King, and the...Dark Elf King were all friends? How?"

He momentarily pushed the information about a dark elf king existing in the past in the back of his mind. 'What sort of nonsensical alliance was in place back in the First King's era?'

Ialkris nodded in confusion. "What's surprising you? Did your elders not teach you about old history?"

Lucian clicked his tongue, puzzled. "No, no, my teachers certainly taught me all I needed to know about history, but this is contradicting with what you're telling us. Elves existed, but dark ones never did. And I find it hard to believe that our proud nation, Munirp, would ally themselves with demons." He grimaced when he spoke the last word, then quickly added, "No offense intended, of course."

"All taken," hissed Ialkris. "You think we're proud of that past? Demons are the strongest and noblest warriors in existence, to know that we fought alongside humans and dark elves is a terrible stain on our history."

"A shame you shall bear forever. Anyway, you sound like you know the reason Sevirox was blocking the Rift." Glenn said, swiftly turning the conversation around.

Ialkris nodded slowly with his teeth clenched tightly. "Long, long ago, the Horizon Gates was a stable, permanent passageway allowing travel between Limbo and the Beyond. Back then, this place was nothing like how it is currently. It was a land of dreams, constantly covered in the dark veil of the night, where magic flourished and life was abundant."

"But after our Demon King of old allied himself with Sevirox, the human king, and the dark elf king to take down a god, our kind was sealed into the Beyond. The records aren't clear as to when, but the Horizon Gates were suddenly blocked."

The old demon rapped his knuckles on the table, struggling to contain his anger. "The Beyond produces much more Mana than the Limbo. The Horizon Gates was the world's natural solution to evacuate the excess Mana, but when these were shut closed..."

Milena suddenly perked up, alarmed. "Corruption. Too much Mana can cause Corruption, can't it?"

Ialkris nodded gravely. "Correct, young witch."

Milena's eyebrows twitched as she clenched her teeth shut, forcing out a kind smile. Ialkris continued, blissfully unaware of the young lady's growing anger.

"At first, we simply had to deal with newer, more dangerous monsters. But as time passed, the harvest dried up, the water became stale, and the ground sterile... Monsters began adapting to our tactics. They became resistant to magic or physical attacks. Maybe you've encountered one of those already—faceless humanoids with stone feet, maybe?"

Glenn's eyes lit up in recognition. "The Magekillers! Shit, so they really were engineered to take down magic users, then?"

Ialkris frowned. "Magekillers...? I suppose that is a suitable name. But yes, that is one of the creatures we were forced to fight by the hundreds. Eventually, our powerful Rulers succumbed to exhaustion, and then to Corruption. Nobody could put an end to their agonies, so..." He looked at the dusty ceiling. "...We banned them out into the sky."

Glenn paused, shivering in horror. Sahro laughed in disbelief. "Are you saying that all the eyes in the sky are..."

Ialkris smiled sadly.

"Yes, they are our ancestors, the strongest demons, now Corrupted."