Zane stood motionlessly, staring at the human-like demon in front of him. He was trembling, sweating, and breathing heavily. Again, not because he was a coward. But because he knew exactly who this human-like demon was.
Velrath Shadowspire, the demon, who Zane's grandfather once fought, the very battle that caused his grandfather, the strongest known mage in humanity, to die.
Velrath was also arguably the strongest demon of all. Although many people believe that he is nowhere near the first demon king, he was at least believed to have the potential to become the strongest demon of all. Well, if only he didn't die, of course.
Zane looked at Velrath with absolute horror in his eyes; he then said in a trembling tone.
"Y-you are... Velrath. I thought my grandfather sealed you?! How are you here?!"
Velrath looked at Zane dead in the eye, then said in his usual tone.
"Isn't it obvious? You unsealed me, idiot."
"..."
Zane's face turned pale. To think that he unsealed the demon his grandfather once fought and sealed. It left him speechless; if this demon were to cause havoc once again, then there would probably be no one left to stop him.
Well, probably. Although his grandfather, the strongest mage known in humanity, fought Velrath and died, he was also fighting him alone. That means that if humanity were to join forces, they could probably stand against him somehow.
"No way... that means that you were sealed in that book; that just disintegrated into pieces!"
Velrath grinned and said.
"Bingo!"
This discovery left Zane shocked. He had so many questions. Why was the book that contained Velrath on Ironveil?
The Ironveil castle was built to nurture a bunch of low-potentialists. Also, the castle wasn't really that good-looking. So, why would the book that contained Velrath be on this castle? Well, Zane had thought of an answer.
The news that Velrath was sealed by his grandfather was worldwide news. Everyone knew this—the demons, the elves, the dwarfs, and many other races out there. And many also wanted to unseal Velrath; many wanted to get a hold of his power. Which was probably why he was put on the Ironviel castle, where people least expected him to be.
But of course, there was no human in this world that was capable of unsealing Velrath. After all, he was sealed by a sealing magic that the strongest mage in humanity made. Well, if there were a human, I guess, but demons were unpridictable. That's why they had to be careful at all costs.
But, somehow... Zane unsealed Velrath. A human child unsealed Velrath. No matter how much Zane comprehended the situation, he just couldn't think of an answer; after all, no human was supposed to unseal Velrath, at least based on his knowledge.
'Was I perhaps wrong? I mean, all I did was grab the book, and somehow a beam arose from the book and disintegrated into pieces.'
'And now Velrath is in front of me; what the hell should I do? I have no place to run away. Wait... Wasn't I just trying to die earlier? Why am I running away now? I mean, I grabbed that book thinking it would kill me somehow...'
Velrath was staring at Zane with his unsual expression. If anyone were to see Zane right now, they would've definitely wanted to laugh.
Velrath sighed and said to Zane.
"Relax, kid, I'm not going to kill you. Right now I am not capable of that. Just tell me where are we? Am I in heaven, perhaps? No, that definitely can't be it."
Zane was surprised. Although he didn't really want to let his guard down, he could somehow tell that he wasn't really lying. Zane was observing him earlier; after all, he heard Velrath say that he didn't have his physical body currently. Zane had thought that he probably meant that right now... He was a ghost.
Yeah, a ghost. Well, it definitely sounds crazy even in a world like this. But that was Zane's only answer for now.
Zane was starting to feel calm after knowing this knowledge. He wasn't really sure, but if Velrath wanted to kill him, he would have done that the moment he got unsealed.
Velrath was looking left to right, scanning his surroundings. He was definitely unfamiliar with the place since he didn't really have any connection to the outside world while he was sealed in the book.
"Hey kid! Snap out of it. I said I won't kill you alright. Just tell me where we are. And why the hell is it so bright around here?"
"..."
"Uh, oh. Right, about that... to be honest, I'm not sure as well... I was in the library just a moment ago, and as I was looking for a book to read, an ancient-looking book caught my attention, and so I pulled it out from the shelf, then the shelves started to change shape, opening something in front of me. Then this place appeared in front of me, and just when I was about to leave to tell this strange place about someone, a mysterious force pulled me inside this hall. I'm pretty sure you know the rest."
"Hmm, I see. So in short, you somehow got yourself in here as you were walking around in the library, and out of curiosity, you touched a mysterious book, and then I appeared, right? Then that means you absolutely have no idea where we are?"
Zane paused for a while, then said.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened."
"..."
'And another problem arose; what a day...'
Velrath sighed; he then said in an annoyed tone.
"That means that we are completely stuck here, damn it. Just when I thought I was completely free."
"Wait, hold on. Uhm, Sir Velrath, aren't you a ghost now? Doesn't that mean that you can go through walls and escape this place somehow?"
Velrath's eyes widened in surprise. To think he had forgotten such a thing, I guess being sealed for such a long time had affected his brain a lot.
Velrath looked away from Zane's gaze and said, in a stuttering voice.
"Of course I know that. I was just being sarcastic!"
Zane stared at him blankly; he definitely wasn't being sarcastic. He could tell by how serious he was just seconds ago.
But although Velrath's problem has been solved, what about Zane? He also needed to escape this mysterious hall somehow.
Zane frowned in the end. He was going to die after all, and he was going to die being stuck in an unknown place, which means his body is never going to be found. I mean, there was still hope; since a demon king was with him, he could do something, right? But he is a demon king, right, a demon king...
As Velrath was about to move and try going through the walls, Zane called out to him.
"Uh-uhm, Sir Velrath... can you help me... get out?"
Velrath looked behind him. This time, he could actually laugh.
Zane stared at Velrath with a pain-empathy expression. Hell, he looked so funny. As much as Velrath wanted to hold onto his laugh, he couldn't hold it anymore. Just moments after he looked at Zane, he released a burstful laugh; he laughed as if he were a merciless demon.
"Pffft! What the hell is that face?!"
As Velrath laughed, Zane's face turned into an expressionless face. Velrath's unsual personality for a demon had made Zane forget who he was speaking too. To Zane's perspective, Velrath was laughing at him, thinking Velrath would actually save him.
But really, that's not it; he was simply laughing at how funny Zane's expression was.
Velrath was laughing so hard that he couldn't even look at Zane anymore.
"Ah, what a good laugh, just after being released."
However, sooner or later, when he finally calmed down and slowly stopped laughing, he raised his head to look at Zane again.
Velrath was shook to the very core. It was as if he stared at a demon. A very scary-looking demon. He was scared even though he was a demon himself; how strange.
Just when Velrath raised his head, Zane's entire demeanor completely changed. His aura was turned into something serious; his face looked hopeless and helpless, but this time the expression was more serious, making it look like he was in for something menacing.
Velrath couldn't help but feel fear; it was as if... He was staring at the man who once sealed him.
"H-hey kid. Calm down; I was joking alright. I will get you out, of course. I can't let my vessel die after all. Or else I would disappear as well."
"..."
Zane was caught off guard. Velrath, the infamous demon king was actually going to help him?
"Wait... you are really helping me?!"
'And what does he mean by a vessel? Does he mean he wants to take over my body?! He's joking, right? I hope so...'
Zane's expression softened; he looked like a normal person now.
Velrath grinned and said in his usual sarcastic tone.
"Of course, just give me a moment. I'm not really used to being a ghost, so I'm not sure if I can even cast a spell."
Zane smilled. He could almost shed a tear... Earlier he wanted to die so much, but strange. Why does it look like he seems really happy for getting saved?
I guess it was just a mood swing after all.
Zane watched as Velrath was doing something; hell, Velrath looked like he was having a seizure. Zane could almost laugh.
'What the hell.. Is he doing? Are demons usually like this?'
Velrath wasn't actually having a seizure; he was trying to cast a certain spell. However, he was having a hard time remembering how to do it since it had been so long since he was sealed.
'Hmm, how did I do it again? Was it like this? No, like this? Sigh, I can't remember anymore. I mean, I still have thousands of spells I could use, but all of them are too impactful; I might destroy this kid's entire castle, and I might have to pay for it. Definitely don't want that."
Velrath was trying to perform one of his weakest spells.
'Ah, I remember now! Right, right... How could I have forgotten?"
Zane was holding his laugh, staring at Velrath. When suddenly a loud explosion erupted in front of him, making him take cover on the floor.
Thud!
'What the hell?!'
As the impact slowed down, he slowly looked behind him. His eyes widened in shock.
'N-no way... He destroyed it. He destroyed the entire hallway!'