The demon Valac had been in a very good mood the past few days. Not only had he successfully settled in the human realm, he even took the body of the treacherous Hautean Prince and made the Empire's Crown Prince his own vassal.
Drinking Lilith's blood and absorbing her power was also a great achievement. Now, even the demons in hell would not be able to insult him as puny vermin. Except for a few infamous demons, the others might be quite worth fighting for.
"Hehehehe!"
He also enjoyed the merry life in the Crown Prince's castle's distinguished guest room that he got after threatening Acerus. Initially, Valac came all the way to this land because human life looked fun, but now, his life here as a demon felt much more exciting.
War would inevitably break out, and the combative demons that bothered him in hell would be the first to emerge. Humans were stronger than Valac had expected anyway, he could sell information about them to Acerus at a high price. Based on the information he sold, he could secretly follow a demon and drink their blood one by one whenever it was slain. Someday, he might even become a demon as strong as a demon lord and command hell.
"Maybe I'm a genius."
While Valac was fiercely praising his cleverness, he heard a loud noise from outside.
"His Imperial Highness? Why all of a sudden?"
"I don't know! Hurry up!"
"This way! Hurry!"
It was the voice of Acerus' aide and knights. Valac often saw them, so he could tell who they were just by their voices.
'What's going on?'
Valac, who was lying in bed and idling around, jumped up and went out the door. Then, he followed the aide into Acerus' room. The door that had always been tightly closed was now wide open. All the knights who were supposed to be guarding the door were not in their posts. Valac snooped around and heard the aide shouting.
"What's wrong, Your Imperial Highness? You're the great Crown Prince of Tarragon! You're my one and only liege! Please come down!"
"I… I'm done."
"Your Imperial Highness! You're not just an ordinary individual. You're the future of Tarragon itself!"
"I got dirty. I'm not who I used to be!"
"Your Imperial Highness, what do you mean?"
"I have to die…"
'What?'
Valac's eyes widened as if they were about to tear apart. He quickly rushed into the open door and found Acerus critically standing on the window frame. Acerus' room was high, if he fell out of the window, he would either die or at least be injured close to death.
"Your Imperial Highness!"
The aide wailed. He could not even get close to Acerus for fear of him letting go of his hand from the window. The aide could only beg him to change his mind from a distance away.
At that time, Acerus and Valac's eyes met.
"You disgusting demon… Because of you!"
"Acerus!"
"I'm going to kill myself!'
"No!"
"I will take my own life!"
Acerus screamed at the top of his voice and released his hands from the window. His body leaned slowly.
Valac had no more time to think. He ran with great speed as if exploding. He grabbed Acerus' legs and pulled him inside so he would not fall. He clung to Acerus' legs and begged him.
"Acerus, no! You must not die!"
Acerus looked at the demon. Everything about him—from his bewildered face, trembling voice, and humiliating posture—supported Lara's theory. Acerus thought if he was bitten by a vampire, he would become a marionette slave to the vampire. However, that did not seem to be the case. Whatever happened later, the situation now was not too bad.
Acerus smirked.
'You're dead meat now, you scumbag.'
26. Because the Moon Was Up.
Lara now knew that she had a fire that could burn down the demon Valac, she did not know how to use it yet but at least she would be able to overpower Valac. So if Acerus could not find out what Valac had done to him, she would lock him up in the dungeon and try to threaten him. However, in an unexpected and childish way, Acerus managed to notice Valac's secret.
"You were right, saintess. He's nervous that I'm going to die so he can't get too far away from me for even a second. When I threatened to end it all, shouting that I was ashamed to be a demon's servant, he acted like he would tear down the sky for me if I asked him to."
Said Acerus with a sour face.
"Hah…"
Dumbfounded, Lara was speechless. It was clear that her God, Abraxas, felt similar emotions. His statue in the center of the sanctum oozed out an extremely deplorable gaze.
"Didn't Demian contact you? At this point, I think Valac will not only tell me the names and abilities of the demons but also their weaknesses."
"Not yet."
"Please let me know when he contacts you. Valac is now under my control."
"But be careful, Your Imperial Highness, if the fact that your life is connected to a demon leaks out, it will spell out big trouble for us then."
"Yes, I will keep that in mind."
Acerus gave a sincere nod at Lara's request. Then, he slightly pointed to the statue and asked.
"Isn't God… going to bring up a miracle or something like that again? I heard that it was very flashy while I was away. Everyone only talks about how you appeared with glittering light on your back at the banquet."
This time, Lara said with a sour face.
"He's not even an idiot… No way he would do that again."
"I want to see it though."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Afterward, Acerus returned to the Imperial Palace, saying that he could not dare to interfere with the conversation between God and the saintess.
Lara faced the statue alone.
Abraxas… After learning his secret in the secret underground space, Lara kept thinking.
'The demon wanted the saintess.' These words had been handed down for a long time, perhaps they represented the relationship between the saintess and the demon lord.
It was a tragic story. God came to love the saintess, the world began to collapse because God forgot his duty, and eventually the demon lord was born. The reason why God destroyed himself and left this land was because of guilt. His leaving the saintess would stop the clock of destruction. And if that was so, then in Lara's past life, what accelerated the clock of destruction again was Demian, who had fallen in love with her and fell into despair after her death.
"Abraxas."
When Lara called him, warmth lingered in the cold statue. The presence of God, clearer than ever, enveloped the surrounding area.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
"What's wrong?"
Demian was leading the group on his horse, and suddenly, he looked up at the sky.
"Are you going to catch a bird?"
Just behind him, Lampion asked. Then, all the Barbarians around him looked up at the sky.
"But there's no bird."
"I'm tired of bird meat. I miss Isadora."
"I'll tell your wife."
"If my wife eats the food Isadora gives, she would like Isadora more than me."
The Barbarians chatted leisurely while riding their horses. They were running towards the Eastern Union border. Demian decided that it was their destination.
One of the past events that Lara remembered took place there, and according to the Emperor's sources, traces of demon worshippers had suddenly increased on the eastern border recently.
"The sun is setting."
"The road ahead is rough. Let's sleep early today and run far tomorrow."
Domino and Oscar approached Demian and told him their opinions, they naturally regarded Demian as the decision-maker of the group and followed his decision. Demian nodded and stopped his horse.
Fortunately, prosperous farms were lined up along the large fields. They also received a fairly large amount of subsidy from the Emperor so they could go anywhere and rest comfortably with the money.
"Let's go."
The people of the farmhouse welcomed the Barbarians greatly. Before Oscar could even give them his gold coin pouch, they opened the door wide, telling them to come. Due to the large number of Barbarians, they could not all be put to sleep in the house, but they were given permission to use any building with a roof.
"This is weird though."
It was not because the people of the farmhouse were naive. Regardless of status, the deep-rooted prejudice against the Barbarians did not change.
They were afraid of demon worshippers who recently began to appear here and there. So they were just relieved and happy that the strong Barbarian warriors passed by there.
"Demian, I heard they're going to vacate a house. Do you want to go in and sleep?"
"I'm going to take a look around."
"What? Should I go with you?"
"Nevermind."
Demian refused Lampion's offer and climbed his horse again. The sun had already set and his comrades were preparing to sleep after filling their stomachs with simple food.
"Go to bed first."
Demian's horse ran fast over the field. Since he had always acted so arbitrarily from a long time ago, no one stopped or chased after him.
Demian went up to a high place along the rough road that Oscar had spoken of. Then, he stopped on a hill overlooking the farmhouse at a glance.
The moon was tilting above his head. It was a pale, white, and soft moon. The edges of the moon were unclear due to clouds and fog, but it was still spreading in the night sky as if it had been rubbed with a finger.
Demian searched his pocket and took out the long-distance magic receiver Lara gave to him before he left. The lamp that Acerus had used was quite large and heavy, but the latest design Demian had was now much smaller than his palm. It was more similar to that of a compass or a necklace than a lamp.
Demian took out the receiver and quietly chanted the spell. Then, a reddish light began to hover from the fingernail-sized diamond.
『…Demian?』
Lara's voice rang in his ears. Even though she was far away, it felt like her face was in front of him. She must be talking with her pretty scarlet eyes wide open and her small lips moving very little. She was not the type to go to bed early, so maybe she was still working diligently.
Demian was appreciating Lara's voice and recalling her face, he did not speak for a moment. Lara talked again from beyond the receiver.
『What's going on?』
"Nothing."
『So you're just calling me?』
"Yeah."
Lara let out a sweet laugh like a sigh. Demian listened to her laughter and raised his head to look at the moon.
Ah, now I know.
Demian now understood why the moon looked so pretty today. Looking at the blurred edges of the moon, as if he had been bewitched by its beauty, he also understood why he was not listening to Oscar and his worries of the rain tomorrow.
Another name for the moon was longing. Demian had only been gone for a few days, but he was already going crazy because he missed her.