Its horn shed a crimson bead of blood. The demon, with its ceramic white skin, paid no heed. Instead, the demon, serpentine eyes focused, sharpened its claws.

“Where is the portal?” Noah asked.

He took a defensive stance. The demon only scoffed. The moonlit backdrop, within the quiet forest, no one would think an intense battle was raging on. Serene peace as seen from the outside.

“I’ll never tell you.” The demon spat out its blood between his words. “Not you.”

In truth, Noah was just playing with the demon. At least, that was what Iris was thinking. Noah didn’t seem to struggle. His muscular frame bulged. She watched from the sidelines.

“Then why now?”

The demon scoffed. It pushed a leg back, and pointed its claws at the demigod. Though they looked human, they were simply beasts. Beasts that mastered the use of language.

“Why? What the king wants, the king gets. We are simply appendages to achieve his desires.”

“The same as the previous, then.”

“I’ve heard about you. Noah. They call an undertaker.”

“Well deserved. If you don’t give the location up, then say your last words.”

“You’re confident in your abilities, are you not?”

Noah did not let it utter any other words. That taunt, heard only by the two, was its last words. The demigod simply blasted a hole into the demon’s chest.

It collapsed onto its knees. The fall was slow, and it didn’t seem shocked. With its dying breath, it only laughed.

“Statis...” It cackled.

“Cursed demons.” Noah crushed its head under his heel.

“You couldn’t get the information out of him?”

“You know nothing about demons. They are pests that should be eliminated on sight.”

“Any ideas what he wanted to do then?”

“Not him. It. They are absolute parasites. Eliminate them at first sight.”

Iris nodded. The dead demon continued to bleed out, its crushed skull shattering into ash. The rest of its body followed along, scattering into the wind as grey ash. But several questions still lingered on her mind.

“What did he- it want though?” she pondered.

“I don’t know. Only that it can’t be good.”

“The Forbidden One... Frances?”

“That’s the only possibility that I can think of.”

“We need to get to her now. I need her alive.”

“For your fate, yes?”

With a sidelong glance, Noah made a decision. Iris didn’t quite know what he decided on, but he made one. She felt it from the aura he gave off. He sighed, and covered his eyes with his thick hands.

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“There’s probably someone who knows the situation far better than me.”

“Who? One of your old friends?”

“Yeah. Selvern, they’re an elf. Were you thinking about how old they must be?”

“How’d you know? But you’re kidding, right? The elves are a mythical race.”

“Is that what you think?”

The moonlight shone upon the clearing of the forest. They made their way back to their campsite, signalled by the lasting pillar of smoke. The burnt wood crackled. Iris sat on the ground, a layer of strange fabric separated the cold frigid dirt and her bottom.

“Now I can’t sleep.” Iris leaned against a tree.

“Neither can I. Wanna talk?”

Noah was in a similar position. He sat in a sleeping bag, his long legs crossed. The stars watched from above, as nocturnal animals prowled through the forest.

“Then tell me about the demons. This isn’t the first invasion.”

“Probably won’t be the last either.”

“Right, then why are they invading?”

“The will of the demon king. Usually, it's for living space. Demons are naturally asocial beings. So the demon world tends to run out of space.”

“Is that right? And they can’t live with us?”

“Demons are the absolute pest. I believe Lady Frances would call them an invasive species.”

“And there’s no way to stop them, save for killing the demon king?”

“Absolutely nothing. We simply cannot coexist. An old friend of mine was interested in the demons, psychologically speaking.”

Like an elderly man reminiscing, he began to go on and on. But he seemed pleasant. As if retelling an old tale at the bar with a group of friends.

“He was a genius, simply put. And he had a final theory that he didn’t get to test out. Hive mind.”

“What’s that?”

“It's a kind of consciousness. Gestalt, I think.”

“Simplify it? I understand nothing about that.”

He nodded. After slipping out from the bag, he picked up a long stick. He drew a diagram on the dirt, and Iris watched over his shoulder.

A sharp, angled crown stood atop a pyramid. It quite resembled the hierarchy of a normal kingdom. The king led a few dukes, who themselves led lower nobles.

“But the thing is, there aren’t any rebellions or dissent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly that. He said that the demons are of one mind. That though they have some level of individuality, ultimately they all answer to the immutable rule of the king.”

“I don’t quite understand. Why?”

“Even I don’t know. Perhaps some kind of hive mentality?

Iris nodded. That part she could understand, somewhat. Like bees, the workers follow orders. Everything revolved around the queen.

That was her understanding. There was no room for coexistence, from what she knew. Iris bit her lip.

“I’m gonna make sure she’s alright?”

“Lady Frances?”

“Yes, the only one that the demon could have been referring to.”

“Alright. Find out where she is, and we’ll figure out the next course of action.”

She leaned against a tree, beneath the cover of leaves. It was quite late at night. She wasn’t quite sure if Frances was awake, but she tried anyway. Through the Messenger, she spoke a few words.

“Are you up?”

“I’m up, but busy. What’s going on? Financial support again?”

“No, not that. You might be in danger soon.”

“Ah, not surprising. Oh, since you’re here too...”

Frances muttered as she shifted around. Iris stared at the waning moon above, its craters and hills. There were fairy tales that went around about the moon. Many of them centred around the Moon Goddess, and her forbidden earthen lover.

The craters and dark spots joined hands to form a brilliant painting. A small black rabbit, with eyes of white against the unperturbed sea of grey. And that too was accompanied by the veil of the distant stars, holding unknown worlds. It wasn’t an image that made sense, but did it need to? She took in the serene peace of the night. It may have been one of her last quiet moments after all. Their expedition of sightseeing and nostalgia cut short by the demons.