On the day of departure, Divus finally met the people he’d be travelling to the demon world with. Despite there being many races and countries, the people going with him weren’t that many. There was a grumpy old Dwarf, an aloof Elf with his nose in the air, and a Beastman who you could tell was all brawn and no brains. Divus didn’t bother to remember their names, depending on what happens in the demon world, he felt it was unlikely that these weaklings would return. He felt that they were underestimating the demon world, he knew that there were stronger warriors other than these people in the military of each country and race. In the end, it was only the alliance that sent their strongest.

Whilst Divus was looking disgruntled and impatient, the elder Elf from the meeting took the Elven warrior to one side.

“Looks like the second prince really did become a demon.” The elder snorted. “You’ll have to find him in the demon world. Even if he’s become a demon, the heart of the sea will still do what it should.”

“I’ll do my best Sir.” The Elven warrior nodded obediently. “It’ll be my honour.”

“You must make sure to bring it back!” The elder looked sternly at the warrior. “It’s imperative you bring it back! This order takes precedence over taking on Abyssus. Understand? Even if all the other members of the team die, you have to get the heart!”

“…Understood Sir.” The Elven warrior saluted whilst stifling a sigh.

Divus was looking at the two whispering Elves with suspicion when a hand tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, he turned around only to see an old scared Dark Elf who looked at him with worry. The old Dark Elf was robust and muscular and didn’t look his age apart from the fact that he had a limp leg.

“General. You must be careful.” The old Dark Elf whispered. “That Abyssus shouldn’t be touched!”

“What do you mean?” Divus asked, he didn’t brush off the Dark Elf’s words.

“Haah… About 5 years ago, I was ordered to investigate the situation of the demon world. It was highly chaotic in that place and I had to hide a lot just to survive… most of my team were also lost.” The old Dark Elf began to recall with a solemn face. “After I had investigated the land, I decided to investigate the demonic sea after hearing rumours of a very dangerous being living down there. So, I used the special grasses that grow on the shore to allow me to breath in the water for 72 hours and I found it!”

Divus stared at the old Dark Elf and gestured for him to continue after the old man had a sip of water.

“I found an underwater cave. It was of a colossal scale. So, I went inside it, and there I found an ancient castle in ruin. I tried to approach the castle and succeeded, but I ended up going through a barrier of sorts and the next thing I knew, I was on dry land! The barrier kept all the sea water out of the castle! I couldn’t help but be wary. Just how powerful does someone need to be to erect such a barrier!?” The old Dark Elf became animated as he told his story.

“Did you find anything else?” Divus asked, knowing that there had to be something else or the old thing wouldn’t have come to find him.

“It wasn’t something. It was someone.” The old Dark Elf shook his head, a profound look on his face. “I stayed cautious and kept to the shadows and explored the castle. Eventually, I found the castle’s throne room. The castle felt like it had been built by giants! And what I saw on the throne confirmed my thought! There was a beautiful being sat upon the throne, they looked too stunning to be a demon, yet the demonic energy surrounding them was palatable!”

The old Dark Elf’s gaze looked trance like as he recalled and told what happened.

*********

The old Dark Elf hid behind a pillar as he couldn’t help his breath being taken away by the beautifully handsome figure sat upon the throne lazily.

“…Are you lost little one?” A majestic but lazy voice echoed in the hall as the being on the throne looked in the direction of the pillar the old Dark Elf was hiding behind.

The old Dark Elf shuddered as he knew he’d been found out. He bit his lips wondering if he should show himself or runaway.

“No answer huh.” The figure leant back even lazier as they looked towards the entrance to the hall in disgust. “Well, whilst you’re figuring out whether to run or see me, I suggest you hide yourself well, little one. A disgusting pollution is about to arrive.”

Hearing the warning from the figure, the old Dark Elf was confused and decided to hide first before thinking properly. And he was so glad he did.

After the old Dark elf hid, a big strange muddy like figure flew into the throne room, its body looking as if it was constantly dripping yet nothing actually dripped off of it. Accompanying it, were a huge mob of weaker demons.

“Abyssus!” The blob’s scratchy voice cried out with hatred. “Give me back my power!”

“Your power?” The being on the throne, Abyssus, raised a brow, his scarred face full of mockery. “Your power is being a cockroach, honestly, it’s impressive you could still survive from that. But what you claim to be yours is simply the power you stole that I took back. So, what power of yours do I have to give back?”

“I deserve that power, not you! So it’s mine!” The blob hissed.

“…I see, you’re made up of the truly damaged dregs of Sordes, not the thing itself… I guess his obsession with my power and greed for it is all that remains.” Abyssus looked as if he lost interest with the blob and leant back in his throne.

“Give it to me!” The blob charged at Abyssus splaying out tendrils from all over its body. “Attack!”

As the blob shouted out, the huge mob of weaker demons also charged forward, greed filling their eyes as they looked upon the giant beauty. They raised their clubs and gathered their demonic energy as they began an all out attack.

Once the tendrils appeared, Abyssus’s expression turned frosty. He extended a hand and waved it effortlessly, releasing a blast of icicles created from his demonic energy. The entire mob of demons, save for a few lucky ones, were slaughtered in an instant.

The blob continued its attack, not caring that the demons that had followed it were annihilated. But the blob only got so far before it was surrounded in the purest demonic energy mixed with divine power, stopping it in place directly.

“I can’t erase you completely given that you are a natural occurrence. As long as there is life in the universe, you’ll always be there.” Abyssus sighed as he simply clicked his fingers. “But no matter, I just need to erase your conscience and make sure you can never become sentient again.”

“AAaAAaAAaAaaAAaAaAAAAAGGGH!” The blob screamed before it dissipated into thin air like dust in the wind.

The hall returned to silence as the air stank of blood.

“…Little one, I suggest you come out now.” Abyssus looked to where the old Dark Elf’s hiding spot.

The old Dark Elf had been stunned silly by the very brief battle. He knew there was no chance of hiding from such a being, so he came out of hiding and walked until he was stood in front of the throne. His neck craning as he looked up to Abyssus.

“What is your purpose in coming here?” Abyssus narrowed his eyes. “You are a being that shouldn’t be in the demon world.”

“…I was sent to investigate the situation of the demon world, Sir.” The old Dark Elf bowed and trembled as he reported. He knew he couldn’t lie to the person on the throne.

“Not unusual then.” Abyssus shrugged. “Very well, I’ll send you out of the sea. But you should do well to remember to tell the human world that I couldn’t care less about what they intend to do in the demon world. Just tell them to never provoke me, Abyssus, and I’ll leave them alone.”

“…Yes Sir.” The old Dark elf could only obey thinking that he also hoped the human world never had to go against this person.

“Time for you to go then.” Abyssus snapped his fingers and sent the old Dark Elf to the surface with a spell.

*********

“After that, I returned to the demon world and a few months later, there were many demons that started to use Abyssus’s name as a bluff.” The old Dark Elf sighed. “It escalated until many demons used Abyssus’s name to recruit others to create armies. The situation was getting more volatile and there were signs of them thinking to attack all over the human world, so I had to return and report.”

“In other words, it’ll be meaningless to take out Abyssus?” Divus raised a brow, feeling that the attitude of the Abyssus in the old Dark Elf’s story felt quite familiar. Maybe  it really was the God that vanished all those years ago.

“Not only meaningless, but dangerous!” The old Dark Elf’s voice tremored. “I reported everything when I returned, but they didn’t believe me at all! They only blamed me for being the only one in the team that returned…. I tried to warn them about the incoming attack and to prepare for it, but my words fell onto deaf ears. Even after the attacks actually happened, they still didn’t believe me. Now they’re actually going to provoke a being that should never be provoked!”

“It’s a pity you aren’t one of my soldiers.” Divus patted the old Dark elf on the shoulder. As he expected, the countries and races that were used to peace thanks to the alliance of Mare and Calva’s sacrifice were complacent and arrogant, taking the peace for granted. He had the feeling that this team of his was going to be nothing but a liability.

“You believe me Sir?” The old Dark Elf, who just wanted to try to give a warning one last time, hoping that he could help someone avoid the danger, was shocked by Divus’s words and eyes. The general was serious.

“The demons have been raging war with us for thousands of years, yet it’s only in the last decade that the name Abyssus has been appearing.” Divus shrugged. “It’s not the first time in history that the demons have bluffed using the names of bigger and stronger demons.”

The old Dark Elf looked at Divus with admiration and respect. The person in front of him had been fighting for a long time against the demons. But thinking of Mare, the old Dark Elf recalled the other thing he had wanted to tell Divus, the fiancé of the second prince.

“There’s one more thing.” The old Dark Elf gestured for Divus to get closer.

“What is it?” Divus leaned closer to listen.

“Please try to stay calm so they don’t notice, but it concerns your fiancé.” The old Dark Elf whispered. “I overheard the elder giving orders to investigate whether the second prince had really become a demon or just being hidden by the Mare Kingdom! They plan to gouge out his heart! The second prince is the heart of the sea!”

Divus clenched his hands as the old Dark Elf’s words confirmed his suspicion, the damn Elves really did intend to kill his wife!

“The Elven warrior might ask you on information about the second prince on your journey to Abyssus.” The old Dark Elf whispered as he glanced over at the elder and Elven warrior that were still whispering.

“…Thank you for telling me.” Divus’s voice was low as he spoke.

“Thank you for listening to the words of this old man.” The old Dark Elf smiled, as if a burden had been lifted off his shoulders, yet his smile was also lonely. He knew that his words might cause conflict between the other races and the alliance, but he was old and full of disappointment towards his own people and the other races. He had lost his team, his friends whilst trying to get the information he was ordered to, yet when he finally returned, the information he was ordered to gather was discarded and labled as a pile of lies, fantasies created by an old man. He felt that the other races were not so different from the demons.

“The teleportation gate is ready!” A mage shouted so all members of the team could hear.

“I’ll be going then.” Divus said farewell to the old Dark Elf. “Thanks for letting me know everything. I’ll try to talk to Abyssus and see if he is willing to stop the other demons. From what I could gather from your story, he can be reasoned with.”

“That’d be for the best.” The old Dark Elf nodded and waved as Divus turned around and walked to the teleportation gate.

Not far away from where Divus and the old Dark Elf had been whispering, the king of Mare was looking towards the other races with resentment. With his strength as an archmage he also had good hearing, he’d just never let it be known and in chaotic places like ballrooms or banquets he’d usually seal it off with his mana to avoid headaches. He’d overheard the old Dark Elf’s words when the old Dak Elf had mentioned Lupa.

From the old Dark Elf’s words, he could tell that even if Lupa hadn’t turned into a demon, the other races would’ve kidnapped him and killed him for the heart of the sea either way. They knew yet didn’t tell him and he even agreed to finding the heart of the sea! He cursed his ignorance, yet even more, he felt a boiling rage towards the races that knew, yet still persuaded him to unknowingly sentence his younger brother to death!

A decision, a very reckless and cold decision had been made in the king’s heart.

Divus had no idea, that whilst he would never return to the human world, the Mare and Calva alliance would soon become an empire as they raged war on the human world. Both the people and the military would become vengeful and had agreed on raging the war. Even if their beloved prince could no longer come home, even if he was no longer their prince, he was still the reverse scale of the alliance.

But that was in the near future.

 

---

Hope you enjoyed it.
（づ￣3￣）づ╭❤～