Adam arrived at a portion of the palace he'd never seen before. A mostly empty circular room with no windows or furniture to break the monotony of its slick metallic-looking walls and floor.
The chaperone who had guided Adam to the room tried to excuse himself and walk away, leaving him alone and confused as to where the others were and why they even were there in the first place.
"where do you think you're going? Where is Onvyr or whomever I'm supposed to meet?"
Adam glared at the demon and he shuddered in response, quickly breaking eye contact out of fear.
"I-I am sorry but I do not anything, I was only told to bring you—"
"I see that you didn't take my advice. I get that you're still upset Moren but please refrain from taking it out on your family. And you, good job on getting him here, you are dismissed."
Onvyr's words cut through the trembling voice of the chaperone as he appeared along with the demon lord from the other side of the room.
"Is there a point in me being here Onvyr?"
He walked toward Adam, making sure to position himself in front of the demon lord as he got closer.
"your guide will be here any minute now, everything will be explained once she gets here. Oh, and take this before I forget."
Onvyr tossed a sword to Adam. it was nothing too fancy, a short straight sword with a black leather sheath, the same weapon most unimportant demons used on the battlefield.
Adam unsheathed it with a single swift motion, releasing a beautiful blade with mysterious carvings on it.
"what is this? I don't know if you didn't notice but I'm human. These runes are supposed to hold and release magic, don't they? I can't even use it, speaking of which, wasn't I supposed to be given minimal equipment and resources, what's with the armor and sword?"
Adam sheathed and threw the sword back to Onvyr, but it was instantly tossed back to him.
"once a penance quest has been put into motion, its parameters can't be changed or canceled by any single party. Not even the demon lord. The only way to do so is for both parties to come to an agreement, which we basically did. You get the armor, a large sum of coin and resources to use as you wish, and the sword which will prove useful to you I'm sure."
"and what did you exactly get out of it."
"…well, you waved your 3 days of preparation."
"that's it? you give me advanced battle armor and a bunch of money because I'm going 2 days early? That's awfully generous."
Adam's expression did not fit his words. He glared at Onvyr with distrust and doubt in his eyes.
"it is a matter of great importance after all, and that isn't all you're getting for your haste as a matter of fact, our last gift will be revealed as soon as your guide arrives."
Adam was about to retort with words of doubt and mockery when his long-awaited guide finally arrived, hauling a big backpack and dressed in light armor.
"her? seriously?"
Adam was surprised, and for good reason, but Onvyr remained confident in his decision of including her in his penance quest.
"why not? She is a good warrior, decent with a variety of magic, and more importantly, she was just recently in the area. She's the perfect companion for you, aren't you Shiira?"
Shiira nodded and immediately took a deep bow, lowering her head to the ground out of respect for Onvyr and more importantly the demon lord.
"yes, master Onvyr, I promise to carry out the mission to completion and clear my name, I will not disappoint you."
"I'm sure you will carry out your task perfectly, as for you Adam, I know you have plenty of questions for her and you can ask anything you want on your journey, you'll have total command so you're free to take her on battle too if you wish, but you need to get going, only a few know of the changes to your penance quest and we don't want those who aren't in the know to get a whiff of it."
Adam was indeed about to interrupt and grill her for answers but he didn't want to remain there any more than Onvyr, the promise of more humans was too alluring for him, thus he nodded silently and remained quiet.
"excellent, now for the final boon granted to you by our generous demon lord."
Onvyr clapped his hand and the entire room shook violently. A massive amount of magic power surged through every corner of it, coating the walls and floor in a miasma of raw magic.
Adam and Shiira shared the same confused expression while Onvyr and the demon lord smiled in satisfaction.
"this is a teleporter; every great clan territory has one. it will shorten your travel time by a lot. The territory you'll be teleported to is maintained by the Dra'ig clan as it is the closest to the mist city, fortunately, Raou still allowed you to land there despite your little…incident earlier."
The magic miasma condensed yet grew, enveloping everyone up to their knees and filling those of them who can use magic with a feeling of euphoria.
"as you can see teleportation takes a lot of raw magic power, usually it would be impossible to use without many sacrifices but thankfully, certain spots naturally overflow with magic power. the capital just so happens to be built on the biggest, most plentiful one we know of."
The room shook once again and the miasma turned into a vortex moving rapidly but causing no discomfort as it passed between their legs.
"seems it's ready, remember the parameters of your quest, enter the mist city, uncover the truth behind it, and eliminate the cause of the problem. Best of luck to you, Moren."
Onvyr left the room along with the demon lord, closing the door behind them as the miasma of magic fully enveloped Adam and Shiira.
The shaking came to a stop moments after the door was closed and when Onvyr opened it again he saw naught but an empty room, no Adam, no Shiira, and not a drop of magic power.
"it worked, the territory overseer should send his reports soon. The girl was briefed on what she must do, and knowing Moren, he won't attack her even if he figures it out, as long as it is not related to humanity he doesn't seem to care."
"and if he does? do you think she stands a chance at escaping at least?"
Onvyr chuckled but quickly composed himself before replying.
"no, if he decides to turn on her she'll be dead before she can even attempt to fight back or escape, their levels are simply too far apart. But you can rest easy, he has absolutely no reason to attack. the information she's tasked to retrieve can only benefit the demon kin, it might as well not exist as far as he's concerned."
The demon lord rubbed his eyes and sighed tiredly.
"I hope you are correct…you can go ahead of me, I'll remain here for a moment. I still have a meeting with a few of the great clans and I'd like to rest my head before I have to listen to their complaints."
Onvyr bowed once more and walked away, walking up the stairs and disappearing into the darkness above.
"…"
"you can come out now."
the demon lord's words made his very own shadow come to life, warping and moving frantically before rising to meet him at eye level and taking the shape of a young female demon with long white hair and short horns.
The demon bowed before him, a smile visible on her face.
"I assume you have heard everything you needed to hear? Now you must carry out your task with the utmost discretion, Onvyr is very smart and he is a dear friend of mine as well, that's why I must be certain that he hides nothing from me, do you understand? you are free to do as you want but under no circumstances are you to harm him or be exposed."
The white-haired demon nodded and bowed her head even deeper.
"I shan't fail you, my lord, I swear it on the Nar'ii name."