Cadell returned to the castle before the day closed. The Earl commanded that he should report to him as soon as possible. He showed his copper medal to the guards, and entered the castle grounds.

In the great hall, the Earl was already waiting for him. He greeted the Earl, and went closer.

“The demons were here”

Cadell was surprised. “Did your lordship expected them?”

The Earl nodded. “Enough with that”

Cadell followed the Earl, who began strolling along the hallway of the castle.

“Cadell, are there insurgents in my domain?”

“The last one was killed by Osbert, my lord”

“Murderers.. burglars.. any useless soul”, the Earl said, then he stopped walking. “Are there any?”

Cadell was bewildered. “They will always be here, my lord”

The Earl went back to the great hall, and went outside. Cadell kept on following him, confused about the Earl’s strange question.

“Cadell, let’s go”, the Earl was walking straight to the castle gates.

“My lord, if I may”, Cadell asked finally after restraining himself.

“Speak”

“My lord, why are we going out in the middle of the night?”

The Earl stopped and face Cadell. “Cadell, what do you know about demons?”

“They’re wicked and powerful. They’re loathsome, my lord”, Cadell replied.

“How about their form?”

“Their form?”, Cadell thought for a while. “My lord, demons have horns and have hideous forms”

“And?”

“Forgive your servant, that’s all I know”

The Earl nodded, and turned to continue walking towards the castle gates. Cadell followed along, not expecting another word from the Earl.

“Keep guarding my castle”, the Earl said to the guards stationed at the castle gates. The guards saluted and opened the gates for the Earl.

They continued walking.

“Demons hide mysteries”, the Earl said to Cadell after the two of them passed the castle gates.

“They’re elusive, as you told us, Lord Gideon”

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The Earl nodded. “But.. there are people who know more. I’m one of them”

Cadell listened intently. The Earl started lecturing him about the two kinds of demons. One are “complete” demons that have physicality, and can influence the world directly. The second kind are the “incomplete” demons that have visible forms, but didn’t have physicality and thus, were unable to directly influence the physical world.

The Earl also explained that there’s a hierarchy among the demons. A higher demon have authority over the demons below him which, as the Earl claimed, is absolute. No lower demons can rebel against a higher demon’s command.

The Earl looked at one of the houses of the town, and on top of the house he was looking at, there’s a silhouette of a man looking at the adjacent house.

They walked towards the house. While doing so, the Earl continued speaking.

“I’m helping a demon complete himself”

Hearing the Earl, Cadell was flabbergasted. The Earl immediately followed to answer Cadell’s unspoken questions.

The Earl told his servant about the situation he was in. He revealed that the red-eyed demon that turned Osbert into a demon was named “Talzer”. The demon was pestering him for so many years now, commanding him to collect darkened souls for the demon to consume. But even if he did the demon’s command, bringing the corpses of the people he killed to the demon, he was not under the influence of the malevolent being. Rather, he has one objective. He wanted to kill the demon with his hands.

“Don’t tell anything to the others”, the Earl commanded Cadell.

These revelations horrified Cadell. He saw the vengeance in the Earl’s eyes, as the noble said things about the red-eyed demon. The Earl was with such strong conviction. For the Earl, helping the demon gain physicality will give him the revenge he so wanted to achieve.

Cadell wasn’t out of his mind yet. He knew that the Earl’s plan was not only flawed, but also outright dangerous. For one thing, when Osbert turned into a demon, the young man became equal to him in strength. And here, Cadell heard, that the Earl was planning to let a more powerful demon to have influence to the physical world. He didn’t want for the Earl’s plan to happen, but he couldn’t defy his master.

“My lord, isn’t that dangerous?”, Cadell asked.

“I know”

[Full Boost]

The Earl leaped towards the burglar, and snatched the horrified man out of the roof. He returned to the ground, gripping the burglar by the neck.

“Wh.. what will you do to me?”, the agitated man said.

The Earl didn’t answer. “If I refused to help him, he will find other people”

[Burn]

Cadell was taken aback seeing the charred body of the burglar. He couldn’t believe that the Earl could do such cruelty. He believed that his lord was under the influence of the demon.

“If I can destroy evil, I will do it”, the Earl firmly declared.

“Bu-”

“As the Divine Emperor commanded”, the Earl continued.

Cadell couldn’t say anything anymore. The Earl was dragging the burned body back to the castle, and he was silently following. The Earl was clouded by his desire for revenge. The consequences of letting a demon be “complete” wasn’t even considered. Cadell knew he should prevent what the Earl was planning, but, as if the Earl saw through his mind, his lord warned him.

“Don’t try to stop me. Cadell, I trust you”, the Earl said.

‘This is bad. It’s a good thing that Lord Gideon said something before it’s too late. I have to inform the others about this’

The Earl dropped the body in front of the castle gate. The burned corpse freaked out the castle guards. Without saying a word, the Earl roamed the town again with Cadell.

Cadell was thinking about what he should do to get to the village. He thought that Seqina and Elalios will help him if he tell them about the Earl’s plan. For now, he must endure.

He accompanied the Earl through the night. He saw all the faces of the people before the Earl disfigure all of them. It was a horrifying night. Cadell felt that he was looking not to his master, but to a terrifying demon.