Demon Continent. Demon King Zeddro's Castle.
In a worn down throne room, a black dragon could be seen laying down. This was a castle with a rich history. Now, it was just an old, dilapidated building. A shadow of the magnificence it used to be.
Click. Click. Click.
The sound of footsteps echoed as a man entered the worn down castle.
Zeddro's eyes flicked open, revealing a pair of yellow, slitted eyes.
"It's you." He spoke calmly.
"Yes." The visitor answered. "I've come to seek your help once again."
"Humph. It would stain my honour to help an imposter like you."
"Honour?" The visitor laughed. "What honour is left for us demons? Ever since the Lord perished, we've been left in this desolate wasteland of a continent. Our people, enslaved and suppressed. Demon King Zeddro, don't you understand?"
Zeddro maintained his silence, looking at the man before him.
"The demons needed a leader, so I stepped up. All the preparations have finished. With your strength, our people will finally be able to regain our former glory and prestige."
"Child..." Zeddro sighed. "You don't understand anything. Leave."
"Demon King Zeddro..."
"How could waging wars be better than living in peace like this?"
And so, the new Demon Lord was sent away. He was a young demon full of ambition and dreams. In the snowy landscape of the Demon Continent, he stood alone. His spirit never wavered, his eyes full of resolve.
"Is it wrong to wish glory and prestige for my people?"
He kept walking.
"The Demon Kings do not wish to help me, so be it."
He arrived at a cliff.
Below, hundreds of thousands of demons were gathered. They were organized in a large formation with banners in hand. At his arrival, their collective cheers shook the earth.
He began his speech. He was a charismatic man, capable of raising the morale of his troops to the max. At the end of his speech, he concluded.
"Our first objective. The Holy Continent."
Back at the Great Continent, the Elven Kingdom.
The joint training of Alea and Earl continues. From the progress they've been making, this would be their last day.
The level of difficulty has been increasing quickly as they rose to the higher floors, forcing Earl to use more of his powers.
"What is that magic?" Alea curiously asked.
Earlier, she just witnessed Earl freezing multiple Animated Ancient Armour Monsters with unknown methods before finishing them off.
"It's Shadow Magic," Earl answered. "I came up with it a few years ago."
"Amazing."
"A rare moment of being praised by Alea!" He beamed.
"Ah, I take it back."
"Humph, I didn't need the praise anyway."
"Are you bitter?"
"No."
"So this is what power feels like," Alea muttered and casually poked Earl's cheek.
He laughed and confessed. "It's a secret of mine, actually. I figured it was time to show you."
"How many more are you keeping from me?" She glanced.
"Other than my relationships, and magic, I have nothing to hide."
"I see. I don't want to hear about your relationships, so just tell me about your magic."
"Jealous?"
"Yes."
More Animated Ancient Armour Monsters emerged from around the corner and Earl began to demonstrate to Alea the uses of his magic.
"Shadow Magic. As the name implies, uses shadows. This is an easy one that catches people off guard." He concentrated his sights on the 3 Armour Monsters, freezing them in place. "I use mana to hold their shadow, freezing them in place. It's the one you saw me use earlier."
He stepped into the attacking range of the Armour Monsters and loosened his hold on one of them. Armour Monsters were proficient in close combat. It swung its mace towards Earl at lightning speeds.
Whoosh!
Earl turned into his shadow form and the mace phased through his body.
"When I infuse Shadow Magic into my body, this happens," He explained and tightened his hold on the rampaging Armour Monster. "And finally, this is the one I learned most recently."
He took the Armour Monsters under his control, forcefully moving their shadows. They faced each other under his command and raised their maces together.
Bang!
The 3 Armour Monsters were simultaneously destroyed by each other's attacks.
Alea came to Earl's side once the demonstration finished. There was a pondering expression on her face.
"You are much stronger than me."
"Not exactly. If you imbue your Spirit Arrows with more light, this magic is rendered useless."
"I see." She smiled and hugged his arm, squishing her soft buns against it. "No matter, there's no reason for us to fight."
"That's true, fufu."
"The rest area is up ahead." The two gave each other knowing glances before hurriedly moving ahead.
They arrived at the rest area. Not much needed to be said about this room as it was the same as the others before it. Perhaps the only significant difference was that it had yet to be tainted by their bodily fluids.
The instant the door to the rest area closed, Alea pinned Earl against the wall and kissed him madly. Their tongues battled for dominance and sweet saliva was exchanged.
After a couple of minutes, Alea removed her face and rested it against Earl's chest. Her soft body pressed against his own.
She was back to wearing her usual white attire today. It was sleeveless with the skirt ending at her knee, and a green sash was tied around her waist.
As she was busy rubbing her face against Earl's chest, she noticed his necklace.
"What is this?"
"Check it out."
With a nod, she unbuttoned Earl's top buttons and held the necklace in her hand. It was the locket Ari gave to Earl years ago.
Click.
The locket was well maintained and easily clicked open.
"Goodness, how adorable." Alea expressed her surprise at the picture.
It was a picture of Ari and Earl. Ari's appearance remained unchanged while Earl's was that of a young boy.
Earl smiled and asked. "How do I look now?"
Alea looked up and blandly replied. "No comment."
"..."
"Speaking of which, I tried to sneak into your room the other day but I was stopped by Master."
"I've missed out."
"Yes. I was horny."
"I will make it up for you now, then."