Emersyn was holding a cooking lesson with all the ages in the Demonic realm. The people were having fun when they cooked different dishes. Of course, Emersyn already supplied cooking stoves and made the people build a huge cooking space for them. Though… It was rather crude since the Central Marsh's villagers were not adverse to building an infrastructure, but they didn't mind.
Once the cooking lesson was done, they all went to their palaces with a smile on their faces.
"Here, I bought a carbonized drink," Elodiaren suddenly appeared beside her.
"You do know that I could buy my own drink, right?"
"I made this myself. It's made with lime and honey."
Emersyn chuckled as she accepted the drink from Elodiaren. She took a sip then said, "Now, this is much better than that expensive drink I bought from the store. Great job, Aren."
"It's no problem for me. I am happy that I could do as much as to assist you on everything you will do. You have to always remember that."
"Why, thank you, sire. It is an honor to be served by you."
"Anything for you."
Emersyn emptied out the glass and gave it back to Elodiaren. She thanked him one more time before taking her leave. Unexpectedly, her steps were so light that she could feel herself float from the ground. She jumped as a start and created a foothold under her feet. When Yvri spotted her from her room, which was the highest floor of the castle tower, he immediately took off with a squeal and flew rapidly towards Emersyn.
"Hey there, little buddy. Should we cook your meal now?" She gently said as she caught Yvri in her arms and hugged the little body tight.
"Un!"
"What do you want for now?"
Yvri tilted his head and exclaimed, "Peech!"
"Understood. I received the order from my son."
"What bout chu, mama?"
"Hmm… then I'll have what you are also having. Of course, I would add a bit of a twist for my adult self."
"Uwaaah! Can me also hab adul food?"
"Once you grow older, of course," Emersyn said as she smiled at the twinkling eyes of the baby in her arms.
Yvri suddenly felt conflicted. A dilemma. Should he transform into a child or remain a baby? But… if Emersyn didn't love his child form, then he would be forlorn. She seemed to really love his baby form, so he stayed like that for days now after he received a name from wherever that was. Sigh….
"What is it, Yvri?"
"Nu… nuffin," Yvri shook his head.
"My little son, you are loved, just remember that. I am always here for you, just like how you are always there for me," Emersyn quietly said as she combed back Yvri's hair.
"... mama…."
"Of course, you can also come to Uncle Aren for problems that you couldn't tell me about. I know you are already grown, but you don't have to hide yourself from me. I will always look after you and love you to the best of my ability. That is, until you finally decide to leave the nest and be independent."
"Nu!" Yvri shook his head vigorously.
Suddenly, Yvri turned into a three-year-old child. He was smaller than average, but Emersyn still found him precious. Yvri hugged his mother's neck and buried his face in her shoulder. He could smell the scent of Emersyn, the very first scent that he smelled after coming out from his egg, and it calmed him.
"Hey, you're leaving me out?"
"Hmph!" Yvri ignored the voice.
"Aren, why did you follow me?"
"Why not? You also looked awfully happy when you turned around, so I can't just let you go."
Emersyn rolled her eyes then giggled.
"Yes, yes. I understand. Since Uncle Aren is already here, do you want to join?"
"I have an issue to address before that. Why am I the uncle? Can't I just be Big brother?"
"Uncle Awen!"
"... I guess I'll stick with uncle. Anyway, let's go. I am dying to eat your cooking again, Emersyn."
"I guess we'll have beef curry for our meal."
"Again?" Elodiaren smiled warmly. "You always love curry dishes, so I guess it can't be helped."
"Yvri, my son, do you want Uncle Aren to cook?"
"No!"
"... I don't know if I should be happy or not…."
"I only want mama's food!"
"... it can't be helped…. Emersyn, I'll leave it all to you."
***
Children were huddled together as they slept in the igloos they prepared. It was crudely made, but it was warm enough for them to sleep soundly; though the space was kind of packed tight with children. Surprisingly, there weren't any monsters around that would attack them. They concluded that all the monsters were forced to evacuate since the opening of the Demonic realm.
Meanwhile, as the children slept, the adults were awake when the first moon was at its zenith and the second moon peeking through the horizon. Sua was biting his chipped nails as he grew more anxious.
He didn't have any materials to write on and even books to read, and it was killing him. Besides, he could feel his body already breaking down after being exposed to high concentration of mana. He had been living under the earth for the rest of his life and spent almost a third of his life in his research. His research, you say? There was a mysterious book that appeared in his room when he was a little lad. It contained information about that day when the last 'Demon Lord', as the book implied, was banished alongside his most loyal subjects. For some reason, at the back of the said book, there was a procedure. It wasn't possible five hundred years ago, but now, it seemed like only a few sacrifices could be made just to complete the process.
Sua wouldn't even dare sacrifice lives more than necessary, so he researched until he found a way. He could finally summon the Light that could save the world from utter destruction and secure the survivability of the humans for thousands of years just for a little sacrifice. He locked it in his airtight safe and buried it under his laboratory. He was expecting it to be found by the later generation when they most needed it with the clues he left behind. However, he didn't know that the chance to use it had already arrived.
There was a new Demon Lord, and the most powerful at that. He could feel the pressure in the air even when he was this far from the Demonic realm.
Tamel was buried with earth and the spaces left were filled with freezing water.
He didn't even know where to start after escaping from the destruction of Tamel with the excellent children and a few capable adults. They had to look for another way to survive, unless the Demon Lord came over herself and destroy them. That made his spine shiver from fright. Their survivability was lower than 10% now when they were outside. After surviving, if they could, they had to find the nearest city, so they could ask for help.
A thunderous roar broke his reverie and it woke up the children in the igloos. These poor children couldn't even scream.
"Hide in the igloos!" Sua yelled.
The adults gently asked the children to make way for them, and they immediately opened up a space for them to hide. Then, there was an earthquake that shook the world down to its core. The igloos collapsed and they were buried.
Sua, who tumbled down during his escape, saw a gigantic creature set foot on the planet. He could only see its shin from where he was. Little by little, every part of the gigantic creature's body showed itself. Once all its weight bore down on the planet, it began to wobble from its orbit. The temperature dropped drastically and ice began to form. The amount of mana multiplied and it put incredible pressure to those that were alive. Their bodies experienced pain as if their organs were being crushed.
Sua immediately dug through the hard snow to acquire even only one child and perform the sacrifice then and there. The urgency to summon the powerful power of the Light was high. He couldn't stop digging until he could see one face. Only one face. Just one face.
However, his fingers bled and his skin was turning purple. His body had already accumulated vast amount of mana and it was incredibly painful to bear. He started vomiting blood, and an idea came over him. He now had enormous amount of mana seeping into his body, and he knew the procedure. Despite his pain, he continued to vomit blood and used it as a means to write the circle on the ice ground. When he was finished, he poured waves after waves of mana into the circle as it glowed brightly like the sun glaring down the earth. Then, a portal opened and a beautiful woman in laxen hair and voluminous body appeared. She was dressed provocatively, however, it didn't earn Sua's lust.
Before the woman could open her eyes, Sua immediately summoned his wish.
"Please save this-"
And before he could finish his wish, a gigantic hand bore down and crushed the woman into sparkling dust.