"Ever think I might've made it up to trick you?" Birand shrugged, light as a cat shaking off rain.

His rage cooled like iron in a downpour. Eli spoke evenly, "You said it out loud. Of course I believe you."

"So if I hadn't said it, you'd doubt me, huh?" Birand gave a wry smile and shook her head, like wind through dry reeds.

"You know what I mean. You know how I think best." Eli waved a hand, brushing it off like dust from a sleeve.

"Mm-hmm. Then that's the end of this talk." Birand smiled, raised her right hand, and snapped. Her aura dropped like fog at dawn.

Birand pulled on her hooded coat, turned, and waved to Eli, light as a sparrow taking flight.

"I hope you'll tell the Demon King a few things. Honestly, without him, getting help from the Abyss is like drawing water from stone. If two winters pass and you still haven't secured them, I'll go claim their authority myself." She turned her head and gave Eli a smile, cool as moonlight.

She snapped again. Whoosh—she became a curl of smoke and vanished, like incense fading at dusk.

A chill slipped through Eli like night wind. He stared at the woman who had seemed no different from an ordinary passerby, and realized he hadn't seen through her veil at all.

"Forget it. My true body's growing bit by bit. No need to rush." He sighed, patience settling like winter sun on frost.

The fog shrouding the battlefield thinned like old silk and drifted away.

The Fallen Angels stared in terror at the ranks of the Demon Race, like deer caught beneath a thunderhead.

Weren't the Demon Race supposed to be wiped out? Why were so many peak fighters still here, like ghosts rising from ash?

And... why were most of them Succubi, velvet shadows with burning eyes?

Their minds buzzed with questions, like hornets trapped in a jar.

The Fiends looked them over with playful smiles, like cats eyeing birds.

Era and Reni had already briefed them, words tossed like pebbles into a pond.

Word was, the Fallen Angels didn't want to cooperate. Still trying to sit on the fence, like willows swaying with any wind?

Nofiel clearly noticed the Fiends’ mood, and he wore a bitter smile, like salt pressed into a cut.

Who would've thought the Demon Race, defeated by the Hero, still held such numbers and such sharp steel, iron seeds sleeping under ash?

"Nofiel, remember me?" Edlyn smiled. Her demonic power pressed on him like a mountain pinned to his shoulders.

Nofiel dropped to one knee, grass bowed by rain.

He set his right hand over his heart. The half-violet wing behind him unfurled like a banner. He said respectfully, "Subordinate, Fallen Angels’ leader Nofiel, willing to offer my meager strength to the Demon Race. Only for His Majesty the Demon King. I beg the Demonic Lord to forgive our faults."

"Heh. Good. Carve the Demon Race’s sigil over your heart. Your conduct will still be tested." Edlyn’s voice was cold, frost on steel.

Nofiel didn't dare lift his head. He nodded, meek as a shadow.

Words were useless now. They had a record of wrongs, and the Demon Race didn't need his little stream of strength, a leaf tossed in a river.

If they were cast aside... perhaps they'd gutter like a candle in wind.

Nofiel grit his teeth. He pressed a strange iron plate, etched with demonic totems, over his heart, like branding with fire.

At once, he felt an unseen shackle close around him, ice chains clamping tight.

Edlyn nodded, satisfied. She turned and asked, "Era, your clan didn't want to bend to the Demon Race then. You oversee it. Set this mark. If they swear, spare them."

"Oh... okay." Era had just crawled out of the fear of death, mind foggy as dawn mist. Reni gave her a light pat, and she woke like a bell rung. Era nodded quickly.

With a faint worship in her gaze, she snuck a look at Edlyn, like a moon glittering on a still lake.

That old Demon King aura was back, a crown reborn from embers. The Demonic Lord had truly returned.

Meanwhile, the smoke cleared completely, like a curtain lifting from a stage.

Only Eli remained, rubbing his chin like a scholar at a window, brooding on secrets no one could see.

Seeing him, Edlyn’s cold, distant aura dropped in an instant, pressure slipping away like the tide. She turned into a little girl again, running and hopping toward Eli like a sparrow.

Eli saw the Demon King pounce like a cat. He smiled and caught her in his arms, sunlight warming his eyes.

Edlyn blinked up at him. "Birand? Why only you?"

"He... left."

"Huh?" Edlyn froze, mind blank as a white page. "Birand died? Or what?"

Eli rubbed her small cheek and said gravely, "Ed-chan, once we're back, I need to tell you something."

Seeing his gravity, Edlyn understood it wasn't small. She nodded, solemn as a temple bell. "Alright. The Fallen Angels—do you have a place to send them?"

Eli smiled. "The human nations are in chaos across the continent, maps aflame. Send them to aid your Demon Race. We'll sort the rest when my true body returns."

"Oh." Edlyn blinked, head tilted like a sparrow. "Won't be long, right?"

"Mm. Relax. I won't be gone long this time. I can't bear to be away, either." Eli smiled and rubbed his nose against her small jade nose, two foxes nuzzling in snow.

"Naughty."

...

"No."

"Why?!"

"I said no, so it's no. There's no 'why'. Elder brother stands like a father—did you forget?" Li Gongxuan spoke to Liqianyu, who was rolling and throwing a fit like a storming cub.

"But I've stayed here till I'm dying. Three years trailing those nuns has been exhausting." Liqianyu rolled her eyes, a caged bird beating its wings.

Li Gongxuan ignored her and shut his eyes, sinking back into meditation, a stone dropped into a still lake.

Liqianyu clicked her tongue. She knew that posture meant, like a door slamming shut: no negotiations.

Frustration smoked in her chest. She was never the sit-still type; or she wouldn't have run after her old man locked her up, a wild foal breaking its fence.

She embraced the thought now. She'd check with Li Gongxuan one last time. If he refused, she could still bolt, a hare eyeing open fields.

Her own father hadn't kept her in. Li Gongxuan? Please—twine against a blade.

Not a joke—when it came to running, Liqianyu was the patron saint of getting away, wind under her heels.

Just then, Li Gongxuan opened his eyes. He saw the sly curve on his sister's lips and knew what tricks brewed in her mind, smoke curling from a hidden pot.

Three years had passed; Liqianyu now brimmed with a woman's charm. The peach-blossom glow on her face told him enough—his father's words were right. Her life's calamity had come, a fated storm on the horizon.

When the thought of slipping away rose in Liqianyu's mind, a faint mist of death appeared above her head, shadow frost barely there. For his level, it was trivial.

Li Gongxuan sighed, a reed bending to fate. Everything was fixed in the ledger. He had to find another way.

So he said slowly, stones placed neatly on a board, "Liqianyu, let's make a pact."

"Huh?" Liqianyu blinked. Her joy popped like firecrackers. Her brother woke from meditation to talk to her? Could it be... a chance?

She spoke, thrilled like spring rain, "Alright, lay it out. What's the pact?"

"Endure three moves from me. Or, knock me down," Li Gongxuan said, voice steady as granite.

"??? Damn, big bro, you might as well send me to my grave." Liqianyu's mouth twitched, staring at a cliff she couldn't climb.

"That's just a fancy way to say no," Liqianyu muttered, deflated like a pricked drum.

"My 'knock me down' doesn't mean defeat me. If you can touch my head to the floor, I'll let you go," Li Gongxuan said evenly, a rule carved in jade.

Liqianyu blinked and flashed a knowing grin, a fox baring teeth. "Now we're talking! Hahaha. Come on, come on. Let me show you—these years weren't wasted."

Li Gongxuan smiled, then closed his eyes. Every trace of his presence vanished, a candle snuffed. If you didn't look, it was as if no one stood there. His hands held two longswords that rang in the air with clear chimes, icicles singing.

The left sword shed an azure glow; the right flashed with dazzling white, like moon and dawn side by side.

"War God state... Azure sword, Azure Dragon Pavilion. White sword, Jade North Star. Wait—big bro, you trying to kill me?" Liqianyu's pretty face froze; she stepped back two paces, a roe deer skidding on frost.

"Choose. Take three of my moves, or knock me down." His smile was gone; his face chilled like winter stone.

"...Of course... knock you down!" Liqianyu grit her teeth. Scarlet Battle Aura flared, and she charged like a comet.

"Reckless." Li Gongxuan kept his eyes closed, sighed like wind through pines, and lifted a foot. He stopped her surging force like a dam against a flood.

Liqianyu didn't show surprise. She rolled straight into her next attack, waves chasing waves.

"Let me see what the Li clan's super genius looks like!" Liqianyu snarled. She vaulted high, appeared over his head, spun midair, and drove a heel down, a hawk stooping for prey.

Scarlet energy boiled over her body, lava surf. "Wave-Flame!"

Li Gongxuan raised his left hand. Azure Dragon Pavilion traced a thin arc of azure sword-qi through the air, a crescent wave flying at her.

It broke her seemingly unstoppable momentum at once. It blasted Liqianyu away. She crashed to the ground outside, a kite cut loose.

"Damn it." Liqianyu gritted her teeth and crawled up, dusty as a sparrow out of ash.

"Say the word if you want to quit," Li Gongxuan said, voice cool as river stone.

"Heh. Dream on! Heads may roll, blood may flow, but I'll never live unfree!" Liqianyu spat mud-mixed saliva and laughed, iron bells ringing in a storm.

"You don't know good from harm." Li Gongxuan shook his head again, a pine shedding snow.