Chapter 10

1

Yu City lay eighteen hours west of the Imperial Capital by air.

We landed around three or four in the morning local time. It still counted as early; demons weren’t exactly morning people.

A few scattered figures walked along the old stone-paved streets.

This retro-style city was a complete visual shock compared to the steel-frame Imperial Guard City.

It looked like the Demon Realm had built a road from the Main Gate back to its ancient heart, halfway between cutting‑edge and stuck‑in‑the‑past.

“It’s safe here for now. In four hours there’ll be a reception ball downstairs.” Nana double‑checked her schedule. “Not that I wanna go at all, but you highborn demons love this kind of thing.”

“A ball? Then I need a dance partner!”

“You’ve got me! Lilith Guer is absolutely the perfect choice. For this kind of ball, your partner has to look like somebody.”

“For Lilith to ‘have status,’ we still need to talk to Father first. Otherwise, you’re still officially an exile.”

“The Demon Realm already approved my entry. What’s there left to talk about with that god?”

“We can talk tonight. Just be my partner and give Pluto a nice surprise.”

I pushed open the colored glass window.

The building was old but preserved incredibly well—timeworn, yet imposing.

After tens of millions of years of rise and ruin, the fact that anything had survived our last great war at all was a miracle.

In the Demon Realm, aside from that familiar, comforting blood‑red sky overhead, everything else felt strange and foreign.

“If you need to get stuff ready for tonight, go on ahead. I wanna…”

“You wanna be alone.” Nana studied my face. “Lilith, we’ll take you to get a dress that actually fits.”

Bodyguard and secretary rolled into one—no wonder she saw through everything.

Soon I was the only one left in the room.

It was luxurious, sure, but that didn’t matter.

What mattered was tonight.

I picked up the iron mask.

Even here in the Demon Realm, I had to show up as the Demon Dragon.

The mask was a must.

Even among Demon Kings, my real face had never been revealed.

The Forst Lord had only inferred I was the Demon Dragon from various clues—he was far from one hundred percent sure.

If he were absolutely certain, he wouldn’t have sent that sort of demon after me.

In a Demon King’s mind, if you wanted me dead, you did it yourself to be sure.

Or maybe killing me wasn’t actually about the Demon Dragon identity at all.

Reisgolo.

“Who!”

The voice made my whole body jolt.

It was that voice from the Gate.

Back inside the Main Gate, the space had been unstable, so I couldn’t hear clearly or remember it.

Now it was only a single word, yet it carved itself into my mind, sharp as a blade.

“Reisgolo?” I’d never heard that name before.

Huh?

The Flame of Punishment didn’t seem to find the name unfamiliar.

The normally quiet fire suddenly jumped inside the jade.

“So you know him. Too bad you can’t talk.”

Black, try letting the demonfire talk to it.

I let the demonfire wrap around the jade.

Whether they could actually “chat”… that was another question.

2

Outside the city ran an artificial river.

But don’t mistake this fengshui river for some regular moat.

No one dared underestimate it.

Use Magic on that waterway, and you died.

“Night hasn’t even fallen and you’re already wandering around.”

There weren’t many boats on the river, but there were always a few.

One of them belonged to the Forst Lord.

“The Great Yu River is basically forbidden ground for us,” he said.

A ridiculously long tachi lay on the long table in front of the Forst Lord.

“Hahahaha!”

His laughter was bright and hearty, completely at odds with his icy aura.

“We old ones have lived too long. There’s nothing we haven’t seen.

What I want most now is peace and pleasure.

You youngsters just wanna fly or teleport everywhere.

Life should be taken slow.”

“Peace? Pleasure? You missed one—greed.”

“I was greedy since I was a kid. This demon blade is a piece of Magic tools. Keeping it on me all the time is a pain.”

The Forst Lord opened a bottle.

Off‑white liquor poured out, rich fragrance spreading through the boat.

“Humans are always so tempting when it comes to alcohol.

When we focused on Magic, humans were all about agriculture and machines.

When we shifted to machines, they started mass‑researching Magic.

Fascinating.”

“Man and blade as one. As long as I’m here, the sword is here.”

“Tony, sooner or later, the blade will devour you.”

The Forst Lord poured liquor over the scabbard.

The wine seeped in.

The blade was drinking.

“As long as I can keep getting stronger, I don’t care who’s using who.”

“For demons, that really doesn’t matter.

How’s the Demon King’s throne treating you?”

“Comfortable? To truly be Demon King, either the Demon Dragon approves, or you kill the Demon Dragon.

Otherwise no one will ever truly follow a ‘new Demon King.’”

Tony’s hand trembled around the hilt.

He was unwilling to accept it.

Maybe even I would never fully understand how much demons cared about the word of the Demon Dragon.

The Forst Lord didn’t find Tony’s reaction strange at all.

He understood.

He understood exactly how Tony felt.

“In the near future, the approval you need won’t be the Demon Dragon’s.”

His eyes were calm.

“It’ll be mine.”

“Is there really anyone who can kill the Demon Dragon?”

“Don’t question me.”

The Forst Lord exploded.

He snapped his fingers and an ice sword formed, its point dead‑center at Tony’s throat.

From forming to aiming, it took less than zero point three seconds.

Yet the craftsmanship was intricate—carved lines, smooth grooves, a flawless edge and unbreakable blade.

This was what a Demon King should be: doing what others could not.

“Thirty‑five million years. No Demon King will ever control me again.”

Tony didn’t understand, but the Forst Lord did.

Before the war between gods and demons, the Demon Dragon had looked down on him for not daring to kill him.

That contempt had become a lifelong shadow, clinging to him for thirty‑five million years.

“What about that human brat?”

The Forst Lord dismissed the sword, though his mood still hadn’t really calmed.

“He’s dead. Plane crash. No body left.”

“That brat, alive, is an obstacle to our forces in The Human Realm.

And you say ‘no body left’?

You know the saying, ‘If he’s alive I see him, if he’s dead I see the corpse’?

A body is the only solid proof of death.

Find him. Bring me the body. Now.”

The Forst Lord’s smoldering rage flared back to life.

He slammed Tony hard into the floor.

The angrier he got, the colder it became around them.

He didn’t even use Magic; his mood alone twisted the surrounding elements.

“Swim back to shore.

If you trigger the River God of the Great Yu, don’t expect me to clean up your mess.”

Using Magic on the river would awaken the Great Yu River’s god.

For the Forst Lord, pacifying it wasn’t a problem.

He just didn’t want to.

His mood was already at rock bottom.

Tony’s mood was just as foul.

He shot the Forst Lord a vicious sideways glare, then jumped into the river with a heavy splash.

He had no choice but to endure him; he hadn’t yet reached the point of standing as his equal.

He swore he’d surpass the Forst Lord one day.

He refused to spend his life bowing his head.

“Demon Dragon…”

The Forst Lord crushed his wine glass into powder.