Once we finally arrived at Anastasia’s castle, we felt shivers down our spine. Such an enormous place, without any living being inside of it had a really uncanny feeling to it.

“I-Is this all right? Somehow, this feels really wrong…”

“I know, right? But…”

But this is what Afallen would have wanted, I know that, even if Phlum wasn't able to finish her sentence. However, the feeling that gives me entering this place at everyone’s back, just to take back Afallen heart, is still something that I can't get myself used to.

“This is wrong…”

“I know, but we have no choice…”

We started walking through the dark and empty corridors of the castle. There was absolutely no one else around, but somehow it felt like…

“Doesn't it feel like there's someone following us?”

I asked Phlum what I was thinking. Both of us have sharp senses, so if we agree on this, even if we can't see anyone around, that’ll mean…

“R-Right… But I can't see anything, can you, Beatrice?”

“Nothing at all. Stay on guard, Phlum.”

“O-Okay…”

After looking around us for a few more seconds, in order to confirm that we were actually the only ones standing in the corridor, we continued walking through the castle, searching for Afallen’s body.

We walked around the place for what it felt like an eternity, but we weren able to find any signs of it. It wasn't that we were looking aimlessly around the place, it was just that Anastasia’s castle was so big that at this point, it started feeling like a maze.

“I guess now we’ll have to check the southern dungeon, right?”

“That has to be the place, if not, I’ll surely cry out!”

When we finally arrived at the southern dungeon, I stopped at its entrance.

“W-What…?”

Phlum was about to ask what I was doing, but I know that, if this is the place we have to do it now.

“Show yourself, I’m tired of this.”

That's right, since we got to the castle, there has been this strange presence following us around the place, and now is time to stop fooling around. I have a feeling about who could be the one behind this, and I really hope that we can tip the scales in our favor.

“Pfff… All right, you found us! However, you still have to explain what you are doing in this place, all by yourselves.”

The ones that emerged from the shadows were Nero, Kaashi and Fluph. However, the three of them were on guard, looking ready to fight us.

“W-What are you…?! We are here to…!”

Phlum started talking, but she was cut out by Nero’s words.

“We know what you came to do here, and that's disgusting!”

“Yeah! Afallen was our friend and now…”

“I’ve never thought of you as someone like this, Beatrice…”

In this kind of situation, what should I do? Should I try to convince them that everything is a misunderstanding and explain to them what is happening? Or should I just knock them out and keep on with our plan?

I let out a long sigh and decided to trust in them, trust in our bonds and trust in their own judgment, so I explained everything to them.

“Wait, are you telling me that everyone is dancing in Anastasia's hands?!”

“That’ll explain a lot…”

“Wait, since the five of us are here together…!”

“That's right, Anastasia is free to manipulate everyone as much as she wants. At this point, she has already won over them, I guess her next step is to turn them against us.”

“B-But doing this is…!”

I know, this is something that no one should have to be doing… However, Phlum tried to convince them otherwise.

“Just think about it, Anastasia wants us off the board. I guess she’ll even use the destruction of the city as…”

Suddenly, Phlum stopped what she was saying, and her face distorted as if she had understood something really bad, something that she shouldn't have understood.

“We have to get out of this place,as soon as we can!”

Everyone was shocked at Phlum’s reaction, so we started asking what was going on while following her to the insides of the dungeon.

“If she is going as far as eating another Demon’s heart just to be more powerful…”

Phlum was running around the place, opening different cells, searching for Afallen’s dead body, while at the same time, half explaining what was on her mind.

“...There's no way she’ll kill everyone in that city!”

My foot stopped as Phlum’s words reminded me of an old forgotten tale.

“Aren't you telling…?!”

“There's no way we’ll be able to beat such a strong cursed child!”

That's right, a cursed child. The only survivor of a massacre that was cursed by the envious souls of the one who perished in it. If they are able to survive the curse, cursed childs are one of the few ways that Humans have to deal with the strongest Demons.

But going as far as to create a massacre just to breed your own cursed child… Could she really be that wicked?!

Suddenly Phlum stopped searching. In the middle of a tattered cell, Afallen’s body was laying over a pile of straw.

But before we were able to do or say anything, even before we were able to shed a tear, through the cell’s window we saw the army of Demons that was coming back to the castle.

They have Human’s heads and body parts pierced on spikes and lances, but there was something that was even more atrocious. Walking right by Anastasia’s side, there was a little Human girl  with teary eyes.