"You think a king's decree holds water?"

"Should be, right? How could His Majesty Jielan lie to us, his name flying like a banner in the wind?"

"But he said the plague crept in from the outskirts, and we've never heard a whisper of it, not even like mist along the walls."

"No idea. Maybe not from our side. Folks say the news rode the north wind."

"The north? People up there are so few I can count them on one hand; how could they spawn a plague so big it moves a whole nation like a tide?"

"Then why would the king lie, for what shadow?"

"How would I know?"

"Then quit flapping your gums for nothing."

"I'm just saying what gnaws at me, like a splinter."

"I say we head home and pack early. Word is there's compensation waiting like frost on silver."

"What about my mother? Her legs are stones."

"Carry her if you must, and get her inside. What if it turns bad? If there's a plague, you want your mother taken by it like a wolf at night?"

"Sigh. These days taste like sawdust."

"Sigh."

At the same time, Jielan sent his secret troops like night birds to seed the Demon Race's virus around the empire's rim.

Openly, Jielan began receiving his people and organizing the ones who'd arrived to head for the ancestral homeland like a river finding its bed.

He ordered: the earlier you come, the richer the reward, like bait shining on a hook.

Suspicion sprouted in some hearts like weeds, and little local groups pushed back.

Rumors spread like smoke.

When the "plague" truly broke out, those voices went silent, snuffed like candles in wind.

From the surrounding cities, with every passing moment, more people caught the Demon Race's "plague."

Under demon control, they lost reason like torn kites, biting anyone, smashing anything in sight.

The bitten fell ill as well, sickness jumping like sparks in dry grass.

Soon, more and more people flowed toward the evacuation points, a flood after the dam broke.

Strangely, once folks escaped beyond the city lines, those turned into monsters stopped attacking, stood like puppets staring at air.

Bored idiots poked and prodded and found supposed safe zones, like children testing thin ice.

Chasing thrills, many turned it into a game and bragged there was no threat, like roosters crowing at dawn.

They didn't live long.

Once the Demon Race brass and Jielan's human brass learned of it, tragedy followed like thunder after lightning.

Court death, and death answers.

Pushed by all kinds of reasons, the retreat moved smooth as silk.

With the spatial transfer device the Demon Race brought from that elder, gates opened like ripples on a lake.

In just over half a month, everyone uninfected was moved safe and sound to the ancestral homeland, like birds to wintering grounds.

Soon, the once-bright Miter Empire turned hollow and echoing; even in the imperial capital, aside from chaos and rats scurrying like shadows, no human breath remained.

Jielan stood on the palace rooftop, looking over a "nation" empty as a dried riverbed, his heart heavy with sorrow and pain like rain-soaked stone.

This was his land, his people, his country, all once green under his gaze.

All ruined by the damned Demon Race, and that faceless, accursed Lord.

Sorrow didn't last. He soon saw the infected crowding toward the Miter capital like ants to a fallen fruit.

Jielan watched them with cold eyes, or rather the Fallen Angel leading them. He asked, voice flat but burning like iron, "What do you plan to do with these humans?"

Era took a drag, smoke curling like a lazy snake. She smiled at Jielan. "Rest easy, human leader. That Lord warned us: we can't harm them."

"So what are you going to do with my people?" Jielan's anger flashed like a blade.

"Relax. I'll put them in our Demon Race cryo-protection chambers, until your return to your places. Satisfied?" Era's smile fell; she shrugged, helpless as wind-blown grass.

"..." Jielan's face shifted like a stormed sea; no one could read his thoughts.

"I told you. Rest easy. That freezing setup was built with that Lord's help. Does that soothe you?"

Jielan drew breath to speak, but Charles appeared beside him, and patted the ever-more-gaunt old king's shoulder like a steadying hand on a kettle's lid.

"Let's go. That Lord is human. He should keep the promise he made. At that level, words carry a strange power."

"Do you believe it?" Jielan looked at Charles with a thread of despair, like dusk refusing to lift.

Charles sighed. "If I don't, what can I do? So I choose to believe, like lighting a lantern in fog."

"These people, once they leave Demon control, will go mad. Their kin have all seen the ones carrying the 'plague.' If we let them into the ancestral homeland now, chaos blooms like wildfire. You know that."

Charles locked eyes with Jielan. "Know the weight of things. If they enter the homeland, it says there's no plague outside. What then, King? The cap of broken faith lands on your head first."

"Then they return, meet the Demon Race and that Lord, and get slaughtered clean, like wheat under a scythe?"

"But I—"

"No buts. Trust me. It will go smoothly."

"...Fine."

Era watched them, impatience sharp as a knife. She lifted both arms.

A flock of Black Demons dropped from the sky like crows, seized the humans, and flew off.

Soon after, when no one living remained, the palace doors burst open under Eli's kick, wood cracking like dry thunder.

He looked around and sighed, like a bell fading. "No one's left. We can go."

Li Gongxuan and the others slipped out from behind him like shadows leaving a wall.

Li Gongxuan cupped his hands to Eli. "Friend, we should leave."

"Leaving? Back to the Far East?" Eli sighed, wind in a hollow gourd.

Li Gongxuan smiled. "Yeah. Time to go."

Liqianyu stood behind Li Gongxuan, mood dark as rain.

Li Gongxuan glanced at his sister, then pulled Eli aside. He smiled. "Brother Eli, you took good care of my little sister these days. I'm grateful."

"No need for thanks."

"If you have time, come visit the Far East." Li Gongxuan smiled, like tea warming the hands.

"Sure." Eli shrugged, light as a leaf.

"But if you really plan to come, don't dawdle." Li Gongxuan's tone turned sly, a fox in tall grass.

"Why?" Eli frowned, brows knitting like thread.

"Our Far East is a secret realm. Know why the Demon King never attacked us?"

"Why?" Eli's confusion was clear as water.

"Because back then, that place didn't have a Far East—no such thing yet." Li Gongxuan whispered like a door creaking.

"What!" Eli's shock rang like a struck bell.

"Talking more is useless now. If you want answers—or if you're hunting for something—come to the Far East. Some of us will tell you properly." Li Gongxuan smiled.

"...All right. Deal."

"Deal."

Eli noticed Liqianyu's gaze never left him, a thread of silk tugging. He chuckled. "Hmm? Old rogue, can't bear to part with me?"

Liqianyu blinked, then yanked her eyes back and shook her head. "Bear with you, my ass. Scram, scram, you make me itchy."

"Hahaha."

"Eli! Eli!" Janus wrapped Zero from behind, joy bubbling like spring water. "Can we start now? (≧∀≦)ゞ"

Zero ruffled Janus's hair, fond as sunlight. "We agreed: don't use that name before it's time."

"But can't we now?" Janus blinked, puzzled, eyes bright as stars.

Zero shrugged. "Go tell the Demon Race to finish the altar. I still need to wait a bit."

"Wait for what?" Janus tilted her head. "Aren't we all set?"

"If I want the Abyss—your father—to talk to me calmly, I need it." Zero smiled, a locked box with a key. o(*￣▽￣*)o

"What is it?"

"We act after the current me goes to the Far East and brings it back. Meanwhile, have your people set the altar. It saves time." Zero's tone turned firm, like a blade sheathed.

"Without it, your father will tear me apart the moment he sees me, like paper."

"Oh... that so."

"No joke."

"By the way," Zero added with a helpless shrug, "let's stop stirring trouble outside. Let people of this era handle this stretch. Too much meddling twists the flow of time like a bent river."

"Fine, fine, I'll listen to you." Janus laughed, a bell in a courtyard.

Zero watched her little face with a smile. "Since when did you get so girly?"

Janus blinked, fox-bright. "Why? You don't like it? I'll switch back."

"No, no. I like it. I like it a lot. This is perfect."

"What do you mean? So you didn't like the old me?"

"I like you both, all right?" Zero was half-crying, half-smiling.

"No. Pick one."

"Hey now, my lady—who taught you that trick?!"