The sky was almost dark, and Maya managed to get out of the forest. When she was about to enter the city doors, she met the horse-drawn carriage belonging to the demon king Lina.
"Thank you for giving me a ride, Demon King Lina." Maya lowered her head in gratitude to the demon king Lina who offered her a ride.
"No need for thanks, the road to the palace crosses your residence," Lina asked Maya not to lower her head.
"…." Lina watched Maya very carefully, she felt concerned about Maya's condition, who was so thin.
"Are you awake? Last time we met, you weren't this skinny." Lina wants to ensure that Maya's food needs are met.
"Lately, it's hard for me to get back to the way I used to be. I have to prepare to continue the restaurant owned by my late father." Maya pretends to have lots of thoughts about business that she's not ready to take on, to protect her mother.
"Seems like it's very troublesome for you, there's no need to rush," Lina asked Maya not to think about things that haven't happened yet.
Deg...Deg...
Both of them heard a strange sound coming from the small bag on Maya's waist, and it sounded like a heartbeat.
"If I'm not mistaken the sound came from your small bag," Lina told the source of the sound.
"…." Maya opened her small bag and took out the item she found in her small bag.
"Where did you get that thing?" Lina felt something very big from this item.
"I found it in the forest at the foot of Mount Vorz," Maya said.
"Haa…I don't know why you came there, but the forest is a gathering place for bandits. I will ask the soldiers guarding the city gates to forbid you from leaving if you stay there." Lina reprimanded Maya, she didn't want Maya to be in danger.
"Please understand my feelings for making a promise to your ancestors," Lina asked Maya to understand what she was saying.
The horse-drawn carriage carrying Maya and Lina stopped in front of the house.
"Thank you again, for the ride Demon King Lina." Maya got off the horse-drawn carriage and expressed her gratitude to the demon king Lina.
"You're welcome, come if you need anything. See you again, Miss Maya."
The horse-drawn carriage left again.
On the other hand, her mother and father saw this from behind the window of the house with an unpleasant look.
"Stupid kid!" The mother slapped her daughter with hatred.
"Sorry Mother, I'm not complaining. I swear-"
"Don't listen to her, my wife. There are times when a child will rebel and curse, it could be that she was hiding something when her was with the demon king Lina." The father tried to provoke his wife.
"Ah! Mother, it hurts!" Maya screamed in pain because her hair was pulled so tightly, and she was taken to the warehouse pulling her child's hair so hard.
They tied Maya with ropes big enough to tie her hands together and held them up.
The father just smiled happily, seeing his wife abusing his wife's biological child.
"Keep going, keep going Frida...if she dies because of you, I can sue you under royal law. That way, I will become the owner of all the property and the restaurant." The husband said inwardly so happily, despite having to wait five years.
"Please stop Mom, I can't take it anymore," Maya said in a voice that was already weak, the marks from the whip were starting to color.
"Don't listen to my wife." The father got up from his seat and tried to provoke his wife.
"Indirectly, Maya has brought the demon king to our house. If only, Maya opened her voice right then and there. What will happen to us?" The husband continues to say words that make his wife even more hateful and angry.
"Mother, please, listen to me. Dad just -"
"Shut up!" The father shouted, slapping Maya in the face.
Both parents punished Maya, to the point that their child was unable to endure the pain and could barely maintain consciousness with blurred vision.
"Please, demon king Lina..." Maya said in a very small voice and was still enduring the pain of the whipping her father had given her.
"After you said that, you intended to ask her for help. Maya!" The father was furious and laughed evilly.
"Feel this, this, and this—"
They were shocked, Maya suddenly disappeared from their eyes. The man thought Maya was running away with her magic powers.
"That means we have to ally with the kingdom—"
While Neii, Lina, and King Ligt were discussing, a ball of darkness and light surprisingly appeared in the centre of the table they were using.
King Ligt, Neii, and Lina were shocked to see that. After the orb disappeared, they saw Maya with torn clothes and blue, bruised skin.
"Maya!" Lina was shocked to see Maya unconscious.
"…." Lina immediately grabbed Maya without thinking.
"Actually, what happened…" Neii was so confused.
"…." King Ligt was shocked inside by the item in Maya's hand.
"Could it be that he is also here?" King Ligt concluded what he had previously known.
The situation couldn't be controlled, Maya just came and made Lina and Neii so confused. Moreover, King Ligt looked back at an item that Lumina had previously shown.
The next day, Lina and Neii saw King Ligt again silent, staring at the item the foreigner had brought.
"He's back like this again…" Neii was so amazed. Seeing Ligt who was staring outside.
"…." Neii and Lina walked towards the balcony.
"Is there a problem with that thing?"
"I don't know, that's clear. I found out about this thing from someone." King Ligt said what he knew.
" …." Neii and Lina looked at each other and were so confused.
"Knowing the thing your sword from someone?" Neii was so curious. Neii thought it might have something to do with his friend's change.
"Princess Lumina was the first to have this, when she fought the ancestors. Three goddesses brought us all back to life from the dead, and—"
"Wait-wait, you said we all died fighting the ancestors?" Lina interrupted King Ligt's words which shocked both her and Neii.
"We are indeed fighting the ancestors, but we are not dead," Neii informed.
"Vail, Rii, and Cini disappeared along with their ancestors and soldiers. Nobody knew about it afterward." Lina said again.
"That's what the problem is." King Ligt told them where the problem lay.
"What I know about the war a thousand years ago, is that not what you two say." King Ligt said again.
"Maybe you just dreamed about something, and it brought you to this real world." Neii tried not to make Ligt think about things that only happened in the dream world.
"….." King Ligt just remembered something.
Neii and Lina were asked to follow him, to the front room of the palace which was none other than the front door of the castle.
They both saw Ligt destroy a floor.
"What else did you do this time?" Lina was so surprised.
"If this is true and what I remember, Miss Etina once hid a sword here." King Ligt continues to dig.
"You mean that heavy sword?" Neii told his friend.
"That's right, that sword." King Ligt continues to dig.
"Did you forget that the sword was stolen?" Lina tried to remind him.
"Stolen?" King Ligt stopped digging.
"Who stole it?"
"The demon king Badou stole the sword," Neii informed.
"King…"
One of the soldiers came to them and told them. If Maya asks to be taken out of the locked room.
At that moment, the item Lina was holding slowly disintegrated into grains of black and white light.
One year later.
"What happened?"
"I don't know myself either."
"Where are the ancestors and their troops? Moreover…"
They looked confused, and the three of them explored the strange forest. But they could still feel something familiar about the forest.
"Rii, Vail, come here."
"…." Both of them went to their friend who called them.
"I think I'm familiar with that house." Rii felt something familiar about the house he saw.
"That house…"
"Long time no see, you three." Etina just appeared behind the three of them.
"Aaah!"
The three of them screamed in fear.
"You apparently, don't startle us by appearing like a ghost!" Rii was very surprised.
"After disappearing for a thousand years, is that all you guys are saying," Etina complained about the meeting which was supposed to be dramatic.
"A thousand years from where? Didn't we just fight against the ancestors?" Cini was so confused.
"Yeah right, and that was a thousand years ago," Etina told the three of them.
"Then why can you—"
CRACK!
Cini crushed a stone, and his face was full of annoyance.
"Who wrote our names on this stone?" Cini was so annoyed.
"Ahem! Can you listen to me for a moment?" Etina cleared her throat to change the subject.
Etina tells the three of them that they disappeared a thousand years ago, along with their ancestors and their army.
And told him that Ryzen had been killed.
"Then, this world almost experienced the same thing in the past," Etina informed.
"The same thing? Hasn't the ancestor disappeared along with his army?" Cini concluded and told what he heard.
"That's true, and also, they disappeared together with the three of you. I was wondering how you guys could disappear too and reappear here." Etina told them confusion.
"Who are y'all fighting now?" Rii was so curious and wanted to know.
"He claims to be a demon king and is named Badou. I, Ligt, Neii, and Lina have fought the demon king Badou…" Etina informed.
"It's just that we couldn't defeat him. The demon king has so many followers."
"There are demon kings besides the three of them." Vail was so confused.
"Not only that, the demon king is the leader of a group of people who worship ancestors," Etina informed.
"Worship ancestors?" Cini was so curious.
"They aim to resurrect their master, the ancestor," Etina informed Cini's question.
"So…"
The three of them saw Etina who seemed reluctant to speak.
Vail asked Etina to say something that made her anxious and wanted to think for a moment.
"Reki and his family have been killed, and the power of the sword has been taken away," Etina informed.
"They were killed so cruelly."