The Dark God has been wandering in this world for two thousand years.

Stuck among plebeians without magic, he's been able to keep going because he wanted to find Renasir Ari and his child.

When he does find them -- though he has no idea how he ended up in the past -- Renasir Ari is gone, leaving behind a newborn in the lap of a goddess who is barely capable of caring for a newborn.

His daughter, Misumi, is a demi-god, nonetheless a halfling. The child is born weak because she didn't get appropriate care when she was in her mother's belly. She needs her mother the most. Does that woman not know how much a halfling newborn needs her mother? It's clear to him that the newborn didn't even get the first drop of her mother's breast milk.

What could be more important than a child? He can forgive anything but this. Leaving just after naming the child… what a cruel woman!

Nothing should be more important than a child for a mother.

He's been running after that woman, but he's going to stop now. His child's health is his only priority.

"This world is not right for my child's growth. The magic isn't enough."He says to Rilyah and Cina, "I can't have her suffer more here."

"Renasir and Ai also want to go to Iravan," Rilyah replies in a rushed voice, "It's their home."

"Then, why did they leave?" Adira eyes her darkly, "They shouldn't have travelled that far away from Iravan if they thought that it was your home. Even now, she doesn't think of Iravan as her home or Misumi as her child. No mother would leave her newborn behind like this."

"Dark God, please try to understand." Rilyah folds her fingers nervously. "I am sure that something bad happened. That's why they left. If you wait for a while…"

"Cina!" The Dark God turns to the tree god. "Start preparing for the gate. You will finish it as soon as possible. I will lend you my strength."

"Adira, I think that Rilyah is right." Cina tries to reason with him. "We can't leave them behind."

"They will find their way home if they think of it as their home." The Dark God snaps at him, "Did you think about what is becoming of Iravan with you and this moon? The world must be in chaos. Did you forget your responsibility as a god?"

Cina purses his lips and shakes his head.

"And you." Adira turns to the girl who is looking down on the floor in fear. "I know that you were the one who made use of Cina's naivety back then. You will receive your punishment after we return. We are going back to Iravan whether you like it or not."

Adira storms inside the house, carrying his daughter. Misumi is hungry. His halfling child has to be fed cow milk that doesn't help her body much.

Outside, Cina and Rilyah look at each other, not knowing what to do.

"We should tell him," Cina says with a concerned look in his eyes. "Though he's right, we know how much Renasir suffered when she was carrying Misumi and Misaki. The babies must have suffered too."

"Even if we tell him, he won't be able to find them. This is not our world. We can't find people like we used to. Think! It took us a decade to find Renasir Ari, and he had been in this world for a longer time. When he doesn't find them, he will get frustrated and wage a war," Rilyah replies solemnly. "Create the gate. We can always sneak back here after taking him back to Iravan."

"What if we go back to the past again?" Cina questions her.

"It won't happen this time. We already know about this world, and now, you know the name of this world." Rilyah sighs. "You don't have much strength. If you go back to Iravan, you can gather your power faster. Then, we can create a seeker gate to the place where Misumi and Renasir are."

"A seeker gate would work," Cina agrees. The gate can open to any location, but it takes too much power. At the moment, he doesn't have enough strength to make that gate. Even if he takes Adira's strength, it will never be enough to make such a powerful gate. In fact, creating the gate in the past used nearly all of his strength.

His body has gathered some magic in a decade, but it is still not enough. He's sure that Adira isn't at his peak either, even if he's been in this world for a longer time.

Most of the time, it's only one-time use. It means that he has to make two seeker gates before he comes to this place -- the second gate is for their return to Iravan. Hopefully, Ai will find Renasir before that.

Inside the house, Adira feeds his daughter, watching her with soft eyes. His daughter is too calm for a newborn, and he doesn't find it unusual, considering that she's a halfling -- half human and half god.

Because she didn't get enough dark ehr, her channels are dry. She's weaker than a human child, and her growth will be affected. At this moment, she also needs her mother's care. But her cruel mother has decided to abandon her.

"She took you away from me," He says to Misumi with a heart-wrenching voice, "she also abandoned you. Did she hate us that much?"

The child stops drinking and turns her mouth away from the milk bottle, letting out a pained cry.

"It doesn't satisfy you." He touches the child's temple, sending his magic through the shrunken channels, warming them up. "Bear it for a while. We will return home. I will never let you out of my sight again."

It's a promise of the god. Misumi stops crying, blinking her eyes at her father. He strokes her cheek gently, silently humming a lullaby that he doesn't seem to remember where he heard it from.

His bones remember the lullaby, but his mind seems to have forgotten it.

***

[A few light-years away, Dark Realm, Iravan]

Kresi scratches her chin, watching the fighting ring with an intense look in her eyes.

Honestly, she's been bored. Running a kingdom is so not her thing. Mogrok prefers peace, and she prefers fists. Arguing with the thousand-eyed-beast is rather tiring. He did say a few times that he wants to eat the beasts who cause trouble all the time, but he holds himself back when the times come to do the deed.

"I wonder why he's holding back." Kresi stretches her back. "Whatever his reasons are, he's no fun. I am going to beat these rebels up and send them back home."

Let's face the truth. The rebels started rebelling because she's on the throne. They don't like that the so-called world-destroyer gets to rule them again. Some of these rebels are the spirit beasts and humans who had to spend time in Qeshaya because of her. Then again, the retired holy knights are fuelling these rebels' anger.

There's only one solution: fists.

"Tomorrow." Her eyes shine brightly. "I am going to teach them what it means to mess with me."

"Nope!" Aren's voice startles her. Kresi looks behind and finds him leaning against the door frame, watching her quietly.

"Who are you to decide?" She puts her hand on her hip.

"Your owner." He squints his eyes on her. "Let's fight now."

"I want to fight the rebels first." She replies curtly, "You are no fun."

"Are you afraid of me, Oh-so-great Kresi Mirin?" The sarcasm in his tone is heart-slicing. "I am heading to the ring. If you don't come, then you are the loser."

She watches him jump inside the fighting ring and go to the middle.

"Royal arse!" Kresi leaps into the ring, intending to fight his royal highness. Today, she's going to teach him what magic is.

At a distance, Mogrok watches them from a hidden spot, wondering who he should bet on.

"I think that the chosen one will win," One of the spirit beasts sitting on the seat beside Mogrok utters excitedly.

"The sinner has higher chances," Other spirit beast replies. "1000 on Sinner."

"500 on the chosen one." The first spirit says, "He does look weak."

"10000 on the chosen one," Mogrok announces, "I want him to win."

Inside the ring, Kresi and Aren stare at each other until Kresi growls, "Attack me."

"Are you sure?" Aren raises his brow. "Can you bear my attack?"

"I want to see what you have." She smirks at him, summoning a forbidden rune in her left palm. "I give you the first chance to attack since I owe you a bit."

"Don't regret your words later." Aren winks at her before he casts the spell.

In the next second, the rune disappears from Kresi's palm. She widens her mouth in shock.

Aren is completely naked, showing off his third arm between his legs with his hands on his hips.

"Y-Y-You!" Kresi stutters. Though she has seen a lot in her life, she has never expected him to use this trick. His thing is longer and thicker than she has expected it to be, clearly not as small and thin as her middle finger.

The spirit-beasts can't keep straight faces either. They all turn to Mogrok.

"I got nothing to say." Mogrok rolls his eyes. "Shameless royalty!"

The former-prince takes advantage of Kresi's shock and lunges in her direction, surrounding her with fire. Instead of casting a rune against the fire, she raises her arm toward him and sends a mild rune in his direction. He dodges it smoothly, ducking down as he rushes toward her. The flame envelops her in a minute, not burning her but turning her blind in its light. She lets out a curse as she summons another rune.

Aren grabs the back of her neck, pinning her down on the ground and grabbing her elbow with his left hand and pushing it away. The rune is shining bright on her left palm.

"This is cheating!" Kresi howls at him.

"It is," Aren admits. She has underestimated him for sure -- not bringing her poisons or talismans. Then again, she can't use the serpent's sting because her right hand is gone. He has expected her to rely on the forbidden runes to defeat him.

However, the forbidden runes -- though powerful and bothersome -- have certain disadvantages. He has seen her last battle: the runes need a medium for transmission from the owner to the target. It's probably because she hasn't mastered the other runes that don't need a transmission medium.

Surprising her is one way. "You already lost. Don't think of sending those runes to my body using your body as a medium."

Kresi clenches her teeth. "I want to kill you."

"No, you can't." He releases her and casts a spell to cloth himself. "From now on, you are my slave. You will listen to everything I say."