Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. We are currently in my private manor in the independent city of Avares, which was previously a Barony under the tyranny of Jerome Worder.

Like any other manors I have in the other independent cities, this manor was given by the people. I have been saying that I don't need it but I am grateful that I have it now; thanks to it, Lunea can treat Celia without worrying about people's eyes.

"Phew.... Her condition is stable now," Lunea remarks as she wipes the sweat off her forehead. "I didn't expect that my medical knowledge would come in handy this way."

"Thank you for your hard work," I say as I lightly pet her head. "Go get some rest and let the potion take effect."

"Okay, then. Tell me when her body is doing something weird."

Lunea gets up and walks to the door of the bedroom. She wobbles slightly, so the worried Winerva helps her get to her room. When the bedroom door is closed, I turn my eyes to the silent Millonia standing in the corner of the room. She still can't get over the fact that she was a hostage for some time.

Of course, she is not upset because she was defeated by Alivert; she is upset because her carelessness almost cost me my plan. We were lucky that Alivert "sided" with us. Had it not been the case, her defeat would have ruined the plan.

Had that happened, would I be upset? No. I am confident that I still could take Mark down. I have made this clear, yet Millonia still sulks. She is disappointed in herself and I can't do anything about it. I am not that well-versed in sugarcoating, so I let her be.

Moving my gaze to the opposite side, I find Neroel staring at Celia silently. His eyes are empty; I believe he is still caught up with his father's death. When he notices my gaze, he immediately turns to me and nods respectfully. What a weird guy. He doesn't have a tiny bit of hatred toward me.

"May I know what your next plan is, Master?"

"There will be a war this upcoming week. Until then, we will liberate territories that we can and destroy the crucial ones."

"Liberate? Are you perhaps also the person behind the...?"

"Yes, I am Shadow."

"So, that is the case."

Millonia walks toward the door without saying anything to me. She opens the door, stops in her tracks for a few seconds, and then exits the room after I nod my head at her. She knows that I want to talk with Neroel privately. As soon as the door is closed, I motion for him to sit down.

I take my mask off and put it on the table to let him know that I am going to have a real talk with him. This also gives the impression of me being genuine--to make him feel that I am not going to slither my words and deceive him.

"Your hair reminds me of my hair a month ago," I say, so I can make him feel like he can relate with me. "I used to have grey hair too. It was also shoulder-length--my late mother liked to see me that way."

"I heard that Demons had to...did you...your mother...?"

"No. A human killed my mother." I put my hand up and smile lightly. "You don't have to feel bad. I was once a human, so she wasn't killed because she was a Demon. I don't know why she was killed until now. That's what made me side with Demons."

The reason why Neroel sides with me is that he has a personal interest. He wants to avenge his father, who has to die unjustly. He doesn't have the same vision as I do, so I feel the need to influence him. He will become a useful pawn. I can't let him die to achieve his goal or after achieving it. I need to make sure that he sees what I see, so he will keep fighting.

"My mother was also killed by a human.... She died protecting me when I was six. My father was away at that time, busy slaying Demon. The killer was one of his rivals. My father had done nothing wrong to him but he still did that because he 'couldn't help it.' I became a Warlord to eradicate people like him."

"Humans often kill unnecessarily, don't they?" I chuckle. "It makes us question if Demons truly deserve to be associated with savagery and chaos. I have been a Demon for some time now and haven't seen any of us unnecessarily kill our kin."

Neroel stays silent as he lowers his head.

"Tell me, Neroel, why do you want to serve me?"

"Because I have nowhere to go. The Kingdom is after my head and my father is dead."

"What are you going to do under me?"

"Avenge my father and...honor my father's wish."

I hum to myself as I look at Neroel who is lost in his thought. He must love his father dearly for him to lose his way immediately after his father's death.

"You have fought against my girls, haven't you? Did you notice something during the fight?"

"...they admire you dearly."

"No, Neroel. That is not it," I say as I wiggle my finger. "They fight for something, don't they? Their beliefs. They are fighting for their beliefs. They don't just follow me around and fight when I tell them to. They fight because they know something is wrong and want to make it right."

historical

"I am afraid I don't get what you are talking about."

"What you are going to become in the future is a killing machine. You have no goal and thoughts--you kill because I tell you so. I don't want that to be the case. I only want people who can think independently under me."

Neroel seems to have figured that I am asking him to pick a side as his eyes widen slightly. He lowers his head again and then ponders silently.

"I have something to propose. I am going to take you to the territories that are asking for my help. You may participate in the liberation or just observe but by the end of this week, I want you to make a decision. If you find yourself disapproving of my view, you may get away from me. I won't kill you as long as you don't stand in my way."

"That is..."

Standing up, I put my mask on, and pat his shoulder. He opens his mouth but no word comes out. I walk to the door, prompting him to also stand up. He follows me but he doesn't stop me, contrary to my expectation. We both get out of the room and say nothing to each other until Celia regains consciousness, which is eight hours later.

Everyone is in her bedroom when she opens her eyes. I sit right before her bed, meanwhile, Abigail and Gabriela sit on the sides of her bed. The others are standing on the sides to not make her feel crowded. She sits up in her bed and looks around the room. She panics for a moment but immediately calms down upon seeing Abigail and Gabriela, the people she knows.

I let Abigail and Gabriela explain the situation to her. She remains silent as she listens to the story and only asks a couple of things after she hears everything. She looks at Neroel and smiles apologetically before turning to me. She looks at me solemnly and then clears her throat before speaking.

"Kuhum! Greetings, Lord Layland. First, let me thank you for saving my life and allowing my surrogate father to die an honorable death." She bows politely. "My name is Celia and, quite frankly, I don't know what you want of me."

"Do you still have the right to use your God's Divinity?"

Celia immediately smiles bitterly. "It would have been surprising if I still could. However, I still can use Holy Energy, heal people, and hurt people with it now that I have lost my title as a Holy Maiden."

"You can't use Divinity but still can use Holy Energy that is derived from Divinity? Isn't it weird?"

"A Holy Maiden bears God's Seed, so--"

"You are bearing his child?"

"That's not the case!" Celia retorts defensively. "I am a virgin and proud."

"Okay--didn't know that I need to know that."

Her face reddens and I quickly wave my hand, so she will keep talking.

"Kuhum! What I mean by God's Seed is his Divinity Seed. It is a reward for us Holy Maidens, so we can develop our Divinity. Now that I have lost my right, I have lost the chance to develop it; however, I still can use it as a source to produce Holy Energy."

Looking at me inquisitively, she carefully says, "So...what do you want from me? What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to stay alive and become my messenger. I want you to guide the people that are already on my side but still not under me--the people whose territories I have liberated. They who share my view as Shadow but not as part of the Cursed Creation."

Convincing humans to follow me is not a hard thing to do. I can cast [Anima Sordiem] on them and they will immediately follow me. The catch is, I won't be able to look after them forever. The effect will wear off someday and chaos may ensue.

Celia, as a well-known Holy Maiden, should be able to do it easily. With her on my side, acquiring the whole Antares after killing the Heroes and bringing the King to his knees should be a piece of cake.