Roy and Rose gulped.

If they got hit, wouldn't they be skewered to an instant death?

The path became clear after treading forward for around 5 minutes. In return, it split into two ways.

Noel didn't stop for a second before choosing the left one.

The path didn't have any spikes, but there were many pits on the ground filled with countless snakes. It was practically pools of snakes. Noel's smoke wasn't encircling them anymore. Instead, the ground was blanketed with it.

All the way to the end, they were accompanied by the snakes' harmonization. This time, the path branched into three.

"What the hell is up with this passage?" Dervon whispered Welston.

"Don't ask me. But whoever made this really has a bad taste." Welston replied.

"Wh…What do you think is on the other path?" Rose nervously asked.

"Probably another insta-death traps." Dervon answered.

They entered the middle one. The walls sandwiching them were pouring out black liquid into the holes at the foot of the walls.

Noel covered several patches on the ground with his smoke, "Avoid that."

Frederic floated the carriage and the horse attached to it because they couldn't avoid the marked patches with their size. At the end of the path, which branched into four, He put them back down.

Just like that, the group followed Noel closely through the endless path. Without him, this passage might as well be a death maze for them.

While the others were in a nervous wreck, Frederic's heart became increasingly heavy. Each time the path increased, the desire to turn around and take Noel back to the castle also grew.

If they reach what lies in the end, would he need to say goodbye to Noel?

This place was clearly not somewhere that could be entered by anyone casually. And from what he heard from Dervon at the station, Noel wasn't someone who could be visited at will.

He couldn't understand what it was that made him very reluctant to separate from Noel. They have only spent 2 weeks with each other with nothing special happening in between. He woke up early, trained, cleaned himself, and woke up Noel after that. They ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together with casual strolls to fill up the empty time. Noel then took an afternoon nap after lunch, and he did his work in the meanwhile. After dinner, he escorted Noel back to his room and the routine repeated the next day.

They actually didn't chat that much since Noel wasn't a talker. At most, Noel would answer his questions. Although they were asked in a casual manner and Noel didn't mind answering them, Frederic felt like he was interrogating Noel rather than communicating. So he also didn't do it that much unless it was something he really wanted or needed to ask.

He was deep in thought when he heard Dervon's voice, "Look."

Frederic looked up. They were about to enter one of the seven passages in front of them. beyond the cliffs, they could see a majestic castle. Its size was far bigger than Selvesthine's royal palace, his home. Approximately 5 times bigger. The walls were as black as the cliffs and reflected the purple moonlight shining upon it. Pointed edges, enough to kill dragons, embellished every rooftop with the highest and biggest one bearing a complex crest with 7 colored gems inside.

Noel safely led them out of the security system. Although the paths inside kept branching, only one combination of choices led to the true exit. The rest were dead ends that would roll out massive bulldozers to flatten out the intruder that managed to survive the traps. Some bulldozers were poisoned, some were on fire, some were filled with spikes, some have their own consciousness. Furthermore, those wrong paths contain various poisonous gas inside that mess with the intruders' minds and bodies.

He still couldn't understand what that brother of his was thinking when making these. They never have any visitors except for the prime ministers. Much less intruders. As result, it was their prime ministers who experienced those 'attractions'. They also couldn't fly out since the top of the cliff was also a trap. It would fry anyone who crossed a certain height with electrocution.

The group gawked at the tall metal spear gate fencing the building inside once they reached the front gate. Just how much did the people inside hate being visited?? Or how paranoid they were to have such tight security??

There wasn't even anything here except for this one building!!

The royal palace was surrounded by more risks and threats, yet the security wasn't this extreme!

The gate opened outwards a few seconds later. They proceeded to enter inside, passing the unkept front-yard filled with thorns, strange gruesome plants, and even bones. Roy could swear he saw humans' hand skeleton sprouting out on the ground!

They all unmounted their ride as Noel invited them in through the black front door fully carved with several demonic figures sporting glinting red eyes looking at them. On both sides of the door was a statue of a strange dog-headed creature.

When Noel opened the door, he heard a click and from the far end, a long spear flew towards him. His energy flicked it up and it hit into the ceiling above with a loud noise.

Noel, "…"

He didn't know that one.

"Noel, what was that noise?" Frederic quickly went to check.

"Nothing."

"WHY ARE YOU BACK?! DIDN'T I TELL YOU THAT I COULDN'T CARE LESS IF YOU FLIP OVER THE MORTAL WORLD?! JUST DO YOUR F*CKING JOB AND–"

A loud noise boomed that startled the group behind Noel. Then, they saw a man with literally flaming black hair walking out with angry steps. They could even smell the scent of burning, unlike Noel's odorless smoke.

The man saw that the person who opened the door wasn't their prime minister. Instead, it was his brother who they have been looking for since 2 weeks ago.

"NOEL!"

The flame on his head extinguished and his hair settled down like a mane.

Noel covered his ears dreadfully.

"GUYS! NOEL'S BACK!! GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE! ESPECIALLY YOU, KAHEL!!"

Noel entered still with his ears covered. He noticed that Frederic and the others weren't moving. He caught Frederic's arm and dragged him inside, "Not hostile. Most of the time."

Frederic let Noel drag him, but the other 5 people decided it would probably be safer for them to wait outside. The pressure coming from that flaming guy was too much for them.

"Is it really him?!" an unkept bespectacled man appeared in a hurry, "Noel! Glad you found your way back here!! Gavel was going to kill me and the prime minister if you don't come back soon."

"That's because it's your fault, Kahel."

A man(?) with voluminous hair set to his side hugged Kahel from his back and plastered his gown-covered body. His hand slid down Kahel's torso and whispered sensually, "Do you rather be punished by me?"

"Damn it, get your dirty hands off of me, Isabel!" Kahel threw Isabel's body away from him.

Isabel laughed and went to hug another man's arm who just arrived. The man was wearing a neat set of suit complete with tie and leather shoes. He wore a pair of black gloves and a monocle hung on his left eye.

"I told you he'll be fine."

"Zaviel is always right." Isabel praised him.

Zaviel scoffed.

"I also want to play to the mortal world!!"

A boy jumped out.

"RAEL, WHERE'S THAT FAT ASS ORTEL?"

"Stuck in his room as always." Rael rolled his eyes.

Noel rested his chin on Frederic's shoulder tiredly. This was why he always stayed in his room here. All of them were too loud and troublesome, he rather spent his time in his own world rather than deal with them.

He glanced at Frederic and slightly nodded in approval.

Un. Eric is better than them.

Frederic wasn't loud, he woke him up pleasantly, he never forced him in anything, and most importantly, he earnestly took care of him.

Why did he return here in the first place?

He should've just stayed in the mortal world with Frederic.

At least he prevented them from destroying the mortal world. All of them probably didn't know or forgot that the demons has signed a peace treaty 300 years ago. If he came too late, they would create a second interworld war.

Although they didn't care much for each other on a daily basis, when one of them got into serious trouble, they all would of course take action.

However extreme it was.

"Hm?"

Isabel then noticed the guests that Noel brought with him. Including the 5 people outside the door.

"Everyone, Noel brought guests with him," he squinted his eyes at Frederic, "And they're humans."

Hearing his words, the others immediately shifted their attention to Frederic who was the closest to them.