Hilriad stared at Moser, eyes storm-bright as confusion rolled in like fog. "What did you say? A nationwide migration? What is Father thinking?"

Moser sighed, his breath thinning like winter steam. "Not sure, but the King’s message to us was exactly that."

Hilriad clicked his tongue, irritation pricking like thorns, and turned to Eli. "Mr. Eli, what do you think?"

Eli fell silent, a stone dropping into a still pond, then shook his head. "If it’s true, you should prepare as soon as you can."

Hilriad froze, heart snagging like cloth on a nail. "Us? What about you, Mr. Eli?"

Eli shrugged, shoulders loose as willow branches in wind. "If you’re heading to shelter or whatever, I won’t go with you."

"Huh?" Hilriad’s voice popped like a bubble; confusion fluttered like startled sparrows. "Why? Didn’t you say you’d help me?"

Eli sighed, weariness settling like dust. "Hilriad, you’re no fool, so some things are clearer to you than to me."

Hilriad fell quiet, silence pooling like shadow, then glanced at Moser.

Moser nodded, motion crisp as a blade, and stood. "Please come with me. His Highness and Mr. Eli have other matters to discuss."

"Huh? We can’t listen?" Carlo glanced at Eli, nerves twitching like a rabbit’s ear.

Li Gongxuan rose, movements steady as a drawn bow, and tugged Carlo and Liqianyu along. "You two, outside. I’ve got words for you too."

Liqianyu shot Eli a look, cool as moonlight on water, then followed Li Gongxuan out.

Jim stayed at Hilriad’s side, arms firm around his sword like a shield held in rain, saying nothing.

Moser eyed the unmoving Jim, gaze sharp as frost. "Jim, I said His Highness has business to discuss."

Jim lifted his head, eyes deep as a well at night, and measured Eli. "I’m His Highness’s personal guard."

The meaning landed like a closed door; no need to dismiss me, I won’t leave him alone with this man.

Eli lounged back in the chair, spine stretching like a cat in sunlight, smiling at Jim.

Hilriad spoke to Jim, apology soft as damp clay. "Sorry, Jim—step out first. We won’t take long."

"Understood," Jim said, his reply clipped as a blade sheathed mid-step.

"Jim, trust me." Hilriad tried to smile, but the curve trembled like a candle in wind.

"Got it." Jim nodded, offered a bow like a folded wing, and withdrew.

At last, only Eli and Hilriad remained in the sitting room, silence hanging like a thin mist.

Hilriad’s face darkened, clouds sealing the cheerful sky he wore by day, and he lowered his head. "Mr. Eli, have you really decided to leave?"

Eli sipped his tea, steam curling like mountain fog, and didn’t answer directly. "You know this—your father claiming he’s cured now, at a time like this, is impossible."

"Yes." Hilriad sighed, breath heavy as wet cloth.

"So this whole thing is his stage-play, curtains pulled by his hand, probably to test you all and fix the heir."

Eli smiled, light and brittle as frost. "You don’t have an intel web that holds real truths."

"What does that prove?" Hilriad blinked, confusion gray as ash.

"Nothing much. I’m teaching you this—when you’re not sure, don’t skitter around with little schemes. If you want the throne, know this: that habit will kill you."

"So you really are leaving?"

"I can’t keep playing house with you here." Eli shrugged, helplessness brushing him like rain. "I’m tired of it."

Hilriad’s pause hung like a curtain, heavy at the edges.

"Relax. I’ll still help you until the migration begins." Eli let another sigh drift out, thin as smoke.

"I actually want to know the reason for the move. And how your father plans to make the people accept it."

Eli laughed, the sound light as wind through reeds. "Funny thing—this whole arc, I’ve almost done nothing."

"Huh?" The word fell like a pebble into shallow water.

Outside, Li Gongxuan faced Liqianyu, his expression hard as carved stone.

Liqianyu waved a hand in front of him, fingers quick as dragonflies. "Hey, what’s with that face all of a sudden?"

Li Gongxuan sighed, the sound long as a winter river. "Little sister, we should leave too."

"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting?" Liqianyu laughed, like bells tossed in a breeze.

"Did you lose to Eli and now your pride’s lopsided?" Her words pricked like thistles.

Li Gongxuan’s mouth twitched, a line pulled taut like string. "Am I really that petty?"

"Aren’t you?" Liqianyu shot back, her tone sharp as vinegar.

"Enough jokes. We need to go back." Li Gongxuan pressed his fingers to his brow, pressure heavy as a millstone.

Liqianyu looked puzzled, hands on hips like a guard at a gate, eyes fixed on him. "…Why so sudden? You said before—"

"Before was before." Li Gongxuan’s face set, stern as iron. "We can’t stay here."

"But… why!"

"Father’s dying!" His words struck like lightning under cloud.

Liqianyu went silent, stillness tight as a knotted rope.

Li Gongxuan watched her face, his voice low as thunder behind clouds. "That reason should be enough."

Liqianyu lifted her head, stubborn light burning like a lantern in wind. She hammered each word like nails. "I. Said. I. Won’t. Go. Back."

Li Gongxuan frowned, lines cutting like plowshares. "Little sister, I know you hate Father, but at a time like this, can’t you listen?"

"I won’t!" Liqianyu shouted, her anger flaring like a torch.

Behind Li Gongxuan, Carlo shifted, nerves fluttering like moths. "Ahh… siblings fighting. Should I… find a place to hide myself?"

Kate’s manor stood quiet, walls pale as bones.

Kate was tied to a stake, bare to the waist like a felled tree, while eerie green markings crawled from his heart to his neck like vines. Another force pressed on them, a lid of invisible stone.

Jelan Osborne stared at her son suffering, tears bright as rain on leaves, and burst out, "Damn Demon Race—what did you do to my boy?"

Era frowned, disdain coiled like a snake, looking at Jelan. "Old woman, remember this. If the Demon Race wanted to torment your son, it wouldn’t be this simple. Don’t fling filth."

At that moment, Edlyn stepped out of the room in formal dress, fabric smooth as lake water.

She entered the sitting room, gaze steady as a blade, and lowered her voice. "You’re this nation’s head of state?"

Jelan nodded, anger burning like a stove. "What did you do to my son you captured?"

"We did nothing. That toxin was his to begin with, unrelated to us." Edlyn sat on the sofa, posture regal as a swan.

"Why should I believe you?"

Edlyn’s face cooled, frost over stone. "We don’t need your belief."

Jelan thought of recent chaos, frustration bristling like brambles. He answered with a cold voice. "Demon Race, don’t think clinging to a backer lets you keep limping along. In the end, you’re failures."

Reni ripped her sword free, steel singing like lightning. "You damned, undead relic!"

Charles stood behind Jelan and watched Reni. He moved a finger, and a force dropped over the room like a glass dome.

Edlyn seemed to feel it, her voice steady as rain on tiles. "Reni, don’t get heated. We did lose."

She studied Jelan and Charles, a smile thin as a blade. "But this time, you’ll lose everything. Look at you now—nothing but a stray dog."

"You—!" Jelan’s anger burst like a thunderclap.

Charles coughed, sound sharp as a pebble in a bowl, drawing every eye. "Everyone, have you forgotten why we came?"

"We’re here to plan for that lord’s move, together at one table. Don’t waste time."

"It’s not us who want to waste time," Edlyn shook her head, patience thin as paper. "When he comes, he’ll kill you, not my Demon Race."

"Are you truly the Demon King?" Charles studied Edlyn, brows furrowed like hills.

This little girl had acted like heaven’s number two and herself number one, yet he’d charged battlefields head-on. He remembered the Demon King’s face most clearly, carved in fear like a mask.

Edlyn frowned; she had expected this knot to appear, heavy as a stone in a shoe.

"I am Pandora reborn, the Demon King. Doubt me or don’t—either way, I hold the power of the Supreme Demon Ruler."

Charles frowned deeper, thoughts swirling like smoke. During that war, just how much happened?

"Demon Race, what’s your plan?" Charles shook off the fog, eyes fixing on Edlyn’s face like hooks.

Edlyn made a small gesture, hand light as a crane’s wing, and Era drew a pouch from her spatial gear.

"Drop these into the water supply. That segment of the populace will lose reason for a time, and our specialists will control them." Her words fell like cold rain.

"You lot can do that?" Jelan scoffed, disdain like grit in his teeth.

Reni’s glare drilled into Jelan, hatred sharp as broken glass; she wanted to tear him apart like paper right now.

Edlyn just smiled faintly, confidence coiled like a spring. "Foolish. Those who know our craft, know. Don’t overthink it."

Charles patted Jelan’s shoulder, palm steady as a stone on a bridge. "Jelan, this is the least-harmful ‘plague.’ The Demon Race used a stronger version during the holy war. Birand neutralized it easily."

Jelan could only nod, acceptance heavy as a wet cloak.

"So small a pouch?" Jelan frowned, doubt wrinkling like ripples.

Reni snorted, a cold spark in snow. "Too little for you? With more, we could wipe out humanity."

"Behave, Reni." Edlyn’s voice carried authority like a drumbeat.

"So, everything ready?" Edlyn asked, her tone cool as a blade’s back.

"Yes, everything is ready." The answer landed like a seal pressed in wax.

Overlord City lay under a dark sky, towers rising like black spears.

"Why give them a month?" Janus sat beside Zero, confusion flickering like candlelight. "We could push them out with our own power."

"If you drive them out by force, it hurts our later plans," Zero smiled, an arm around Janus like a silk rope.

"Remember, they can stall Birand for a time, giving us openings. If we push too hard and break their will, it backfires." His words flowed like a river.

Janus sighed, weariness dropping like a cloak. "What a pain."

"No help for it. For our future, we have to step lightly." Zero rested his head on Janus’s shoulder, touch warm as sun. "When the dust settles, we can have a child, yeah?"

"You—what nonsense are you saying?" Janus flushed, color rising like dawn, and pinched Zero’s waist, a playful twist.

Zero laughed, bright as bells. "What’s there to be shy about? We’re an old married pair."

"Get out, get out. You’re getting bolder every day!" Janus huffed, words snapping like twigs.