"I knew black looks good on you."

Kiefer pulled Rye closer to him by his hand. Rye obediently stepped forward, dragging the sheer cape of his black dress behind him. Kiefer inspected him from top to bottom. His hand glided down Rye's waist until it reached his thigh and lifted it up, exposing his bare leg.

"I didn't want to dress you like a woman but covering these exquisite legs would be a grave sin," Kiefer dropped Rye's body to the blood-red bed, "you surely won't understand my desire to defile you since our first encounter. Your strength is an additional bonus to your charm. For you, I even advanced my invasion faster than the initial plan."

He got himself to the bed and encased the captivating man beneath him. He brushed his fingers on the outline of Rye's face and neck, "But don't worry. I'm a patient man. I will savor you bit by bit and love you thoroughly."

Rye raised his arm and hooked his hand to Kiefer's neck, "Love me."

"Yes," Kiefer's eyes glinted vicious red, "I will love you."

He lowered his head and connected their lips. The warm sensation of Rye's lips felt hotter on his lips due to his low body temperature and its softness exceeded his expectation. He was also no stranger with tongues, easily accepting his invitation.

Ah…such a treasure he found. No wonder his brother wanted to keep Rye to himself.

For once, he successfully snatched one good thing away from him.

Kiefer bit down at the tender skin of Rye's neck when someone knocked on his door. His heated eyes cooled down and sat up.

"What?" He didn't raise his voice, but the demon outside could hear him loud and clear.

"Someone– Something is ambushing the castle. He is an embodiment of white with a mysterious holy energy."

Kiefer didn't bother anymore and burned that demon into a wisp of black flame with a snap of his fingers.

"Useless bunch of trash. Can't even handle a mere angel," he clicked his tongue irritably before gently pulling Rye up from the bed, "Excuse me for the disturbance. It seems like somebody came to see you. Would you like to meet them?"

Rye blankly nodded.

In a realm filled with pitch-black mountains overflowing with hellish lavas, a hint of gold existed from a chained-up man beneath its abyss. His previously white, stainless robe was torn and stained with his divine blood. The shimmering golden hair was exposed and flowed endlessly into the shadow.

Octavian's fierce solar eyes drilled into the black framed mirror hovering in front of him. The more he watched, the tighter his jaw clenched and the tenser his veins snapped. His amiable and kind bearing was nowhere to be seen. His figure now was even more terrifying than a raging beast.

His brother was created as the embodiment of evil and chaos for the world to balance him out. He knew that, he was perfectly aware of that. Yet never did he expect that his brother would go against the world itself, even killing a fellow god and imprisoning him.

He wouldn't care if it was only that. Although they were brothers, they never got involved in each other's business. He was also confident that he could break free from this restraint with time.

But touching the person he held dear and corrupting him?

Kiefer will pay with his existence.

Back in the demon castle, Kiefer sat down on the throne before placing Rye down on his lap. He condescendingly watched the fight happening in the hall between the angel and the demon lord while lazily stroking Rye's back.

When it became too long, he grew impatient and smiled at Rye as he kissed his finger, "End them for me, my love."

Rye turned his head to the fight and raised his hand. Instantly, both the angel and demon were entrapped into a black ball. He slowly closed his hand, shrinking the ball until it was about to crush the two creatures inside it.

"Don't kill them yet. They still have some use," Kiefer rubbed Rye's hair in satisfaction, "just make them half-dead."

Rye stopped shrinking the ball. He clenched his hand with one finger raised and the balls burst out with long spikes which stabbed into the floor and ceiling. Once they were retracted and the balls vanished, the angel and demon hit the ground limply with a dull thud. Both bled their different colored blood which mixed on the carpet.

"Lovely," Kiefer gave Rye a kiss.

Rye obediently returned the affection and rested his head on Kiefer's shoulder once they finished.

"A pigeon is best for delivering messages, is it not?" Kiefer cast a teleportation spell at Light, "I suppose you should do your job."

After Light was gone, he landed his gaze at the demon lord and scoffed in disgust, "Weak, useless, pathetic. The world is really not giving any chances for evil to prevail, huh? Is it because your phony brother is those three things that my puppet got degraded? How ridiculously convenient."

Sensing Kiefer's foul mood, Rye looped his arms on Kiefer's neck, "Don't be mad."

Kiefer raised an eyebrow. Was his brainwashing too potent that it affected Rye's true feelings?

"Are you comforting me?" Kiefer pressed Rye's body closer, "why?"

"To be loved, you must love," Rye tilted his head and glanced up tenderly at Kiefer, "because I love you."

Kiefer's eyes faintly narrowed. He didn't have a beating heart, but it felt as if his chest just made a loud thump. He fell silent for a moment before he inexplicably chuckled.

"I see. Now I know what made you weak, brother. How ironic," Kiefer smiled deeply at Rye with his glimmering red eyes, "yes, you love me. You love me so deeply you could die. I am your life as I am your death."

The red ring on Rye's eyes spread out into the blackness. But before it could devour everything, the redness dimmed until his eyes returned to their pitch-black state. Kiefer frowned from the scene.

"Don't you want me to love you the same?" Kiefer raised Rye's face.

Rye shook his head, "It'll hurt, so don't."

Kiefer stroked Rye's hair in silence. Standing up, he carried Rye in his arms with him, "Shall we return to our room?"

Rye nodded.

In the demon territory, the group of heroes clad in white armor rushed past the bloody barren land. They swiftly cut down every and any monsters and demons blocking their path. The powerful light attribute imbued in their armor enhanced their overall strength and protection, not letting creatures of any level and number harm them.

The new weapons in their hands were powered by the remnants of Lord Muriel's blessing in addition to Adnadan's. The leaves of the Light Tree swam inside the liquid from the holy river which was compressed inside an orb as their cores.

The white fox beasts they used as their ride abruptly stopped as a demonic red circle appeared in front of them. Ludric readied his sword and jumped off his ride. But to everyone's surprise, what came out of it wasn't any brutal creature.

Instead, it was a brutally beaten-up young man. Not one of them has seen Light's humanoid figure except for Ash and couldn't recognize him. But when Ludric saw his metallic blue blood glittered with gold, adding with the battered wings behind his back, he quickly realized what he was.

Before Ludric could cast a healing spell on the angel, Light's eyes suddenly opened and clawed into his arm with bloodshot eyes.

"Hurry…Rye–Gakh!" Light coughed out the blood clogging his lungs and lost consciousness again.

Hearing the name coming out of the angel's mouth, Ludric's face immediately tightened. He ordered Rosetta to teleport the angel to the elven kingdom and they resumed their journey with godspeed. If it wasn't for their rides, they definitely would be left behind by Ludric.

"Rye, please be safe. I'm coming," Ludric prayed under his breath.

On the other hand, Octavian forced out all his strength to break free from the chains. His eyes didn't shift the slightest bit from the mirror Kiefer put to mock him. The chains were stronger than he thought, but he was undeterred.

The bright glow of the sun filled the abyss with an unprecedented intensity which would soon lighten the underworld into the non-existing daylight. The ground shook as the chains tensed and rattled stubbornly from the force of god challenging them.

He burst into rage, blasting his massive divine energy with his eyes turned fully gold even the white parts, when he saw how Kiefer undressed his dearest lover and wantonly tainted him with his sinful hands. The chains finally couldn't handle the energy and shattered along the grounds connected to them. Instantly, half of the underworld broke and collapse, swallowing all the mountains, creatures, and souls above it.

"My dearest Rye, I shall salvage you."