"Well, the situation is not entirely clear but what is clear is there no resolution to be found on Artas. We should make our way to Suprema and make contact with the other races –no solution will be reached with only the two of us. And perhaps some our brethren might yet live across the sea." Pink's face was twisted into a frown of concentration as she spoke.

"Make contact?" I ask her curious.

Though after a moment of thought that was true, obviously. If there was a solution, it would have to involve the other races. Perhaps they would have some insight into what exactly has happened; I have trouble believing that they were just so blood-thirsty and unable to curb their lust for genocide that they literally exterminated every demon on Artas. But maybe that's just me being optimistic. It sounds troublesome though, I don't know exactly how far Suprema is but I remember that Suprema is the name of the human continent – so it certainly won't be close by.

"Yes, mistress, as I understand it we are sorely lacking in information. As we travel through Artas to Suprema we will learn what we can about what happened here. What we determine will decide how we deal with the inhabitants of Suprema."

"What we determine? What are you expecting Pink? And 'deal with'? Do you plan to reignite the Blood Cycle with just the two of us?"

"It's my hope we will find some clue as to what has happened to so many of our brothers and sisters here in Artas. As for what I expect, well I can only say I have no good answer to give you, this situation is so unexpected with too many unknown factors for me to say anything concrete. As for the Blood Cycle, it may well yet continue with or without our intervention" She looked off into the horizon as she spoke "I certainly can't imagine it coming to an end…

"But more importantly no I don't think combat with the races on Suprema is wise – if I understand the problem correctly retaliation would likely only inevitably worsen the situation. My thoughts were more that it might be necessary to disguise ourselves to travel in Suprema. Or maybe we won't depending on the situation. We simply don't know enough right now so I feel we should make reconnaissance our first priority until things clarify themselves."

As she finishes outlining her plan Pink looks a bit proud of herself. Now she's looking over at me, vague expectation dancing in her eyes. I'm not sure what she wants. But her proposal is acceptable. Loathe as I am to do something like traveling, I've already come this far so I might as well try to see things through.

“I see. That is an acceptable plan. We will travel together then, west toward Suprema.” I point off into the horizon she was just admiring. “Let's begin.”

With those words I prepare myself for the journey. Using my eyes to pick out a route – around the tower and onto the road that stretches out into the distance. I hear Pink quickly moving into place behind me. This road should connect my domain to the territory belonging to the adjacent Demon Lord – beyond those mountains in the distance. Then further west – on the opposite border of that Demon Lord's territory – there should be a great sea; across that sea will be the continent of Suprema that the humans call home and reluctantly share with a half dozen other races. I'm not clear on the exact distances but I do know Artas is a massive continent and travel from my domain to the sea is a journey typically measured in months. I don't really want to spend months though and there's no reason for my journey to be typical.

After all I am something like a demon, my wings aren't just for show. Rather than scrabbling about in the dirt it will be much easier to take to the skies. With that thought my wings expand behind me. Flaring out to their full span of nearly sixteen feet – an impressive span almost three times my height – flapping them down once I explode off the ground propelling myself a hundred feet into the air with that single motion. Then I just hover there a hundred feet off the ground, my magical power keeping me afloat, flight for demons is more related to magical power than any physical ability of our wings after all. That's why someone like me, with a lot of magical power, will have explosive take-offs if I don't control my mana carefully, and be able to continue flying more or less indefinitely. Actually literally indefinitely in my case, the mana required to keep me aloft is negligible – even when combined with the mana I expend to maintain my body it's not even a single percentage of my total capacity. An amount that regenerates as quickly as it's expended in other words.

Maybe it was worth getting up just to be here I think lazily, as I wait for Pink to catch up. The view is magnificent, behind me is my castle carved into the side of the mountain and from this height it looks whole and pristine – no evidence of the indignity its suffered visible; save how the front doors hang slightly askew. The massive black cathedral cuts an imposing figure over the ash-blown landscape below, truly worthy of being my home. To the west I can see the road we intend to follow, cutting a smooth path through cracked land and dusty gray plains, until it disappears over the horizon. The horizon itself though is beautiful, as night is beginning to fall in Artas, the sunset over the smoky mountains in the distance is breathtaking to behold. The entire horizon glowing purple and streaking the sky orange in the light of the setting sun, punctuated by flares of red from the erupting volcanoes below.

Seeing that sunset reminds me of when I first came to this land and was dazzled by this same view all those years ago. A stark reminder: nothing's really changed. Though countless generations have passed for even the longest lived races since then the view from this place is the same. As it is with everything. People die, borders move, kingdoms rise and fall, each time I open my eyes there's something new. An endless cycle of everything is different but nothings really changed.

“Mistress, should we set out then?” Pink asks from my side. Geh, I didn't even notice her fly up. I keep getting distracted by stupid sentimentality.

“Yes. Lead the way.”

Pink just nods and sets off, flapping her wings and flying forward, the journey begins. With great reluctance I follow. Distracting myself from the length of the trip by focusing my attention on Pink. She's cute on the ground but she's also quite cute in the air. Human bodies are not well built for flight – too heavy – so humanoid demons like me or Pink rely on our innate magical properties to make up the difference. It's different from casting proper magic because every demon from a winged race is able to fly, despite the apparent impossibility, they can draw out their mana by instinct even if they've never received any magical education at all. Just like how every dragon can use their innate magic to create their destructive breath or how every nikh worm can spit acid; every winged demon can fly.

Pink flies quite seriously, her whole body stretched out almost completely horizontally, she looks a bit like some oversized bird of prey with bat-like wings riding a thermal. Well a bird of prey with horns, a tail, and an extremely shapely human body – so not much like a bird at all really. Occasionally her wings beat and – with my senses – each time I can see her mana well up around her to increase her speed and keep her aloft. Idly I wonder how long she can maintain this speed. We're moving pretty slow if you ask me but clearly Pink is working hard to keep this pace up. Conversely I am not working hard at all, it's obvious from my posture which is still nearly vertical, lazily beating my wings once for every dozen times Pink flaps hers. It's unavoidable considering the gap between us – not to sound arrogant but if I wanted to move quickly Pink would have no hope of matching my speed.

I'm not in a rush though, I'm content to match whatever pace she wants to set. I left the planning to her after all. And while I did feel a certain measure of urgency when I decided to leave my throne I've largely gotten over that. My sense of time has readjusted itself a bit, with the sun and moon passing overhead, and I have once again begun to acknowledge the passing of such tiny units of time as days or weeks. In short, while our problem was quite urgent in throne time – time as I perceive it while sleeping – it's actually quite a bit longer if you're going to divide it into tiny units like months or years. You could probably squeeze another fifty generations of humans in before the planet is truly uninhabitable. As long as we don't dither about too long – and as long I don't fall back asleep – we shouldn't have to worry about running out of time.

What maybe we should worry about, is that Artas is a dangerous place. Moreso than the last time I was out and about. I don't think Pink has noticed though considering how intent she is on flying westward at – what is for her – a breakneck pace. I noticed though, couldn't not notice really. The second I took to the sky I felt a million hungry eyes, ears, and other various sensory organs trained onto me – positively radiating bloodlust. It abated somewhat when we began to move but a large number of them have kept up with us. As for who they are, I can't say for sure – well they are monsters of some variety almost certainly. What kind? No idea.

Artas has always been the demon continent. Now the demons seem to be gone, only the monsters remain. Monsters roam everywhere in the world but they were always especially numerous and powerful on Artas – mainly because while demons are more individually powerful than other races, they are less numerous; and less likely to care about a monster that isn't directly trying to kill them. Those factors combine to mean that the monstrous ecosystems outside of demon cities were always left largely undisturbed and allowed to grow far more than their counterparts on Suprema. Now that the demons are gone entirely – and have been for some time probably – the monsters have only each other to fight, allowing them to grow stronger still. Monsters fighting monsters only inevitably breeds stronger monsters.

For a monster to be able to track me, or Pink, through the air while also hiding itself from us – it should be pretty strong. Well I act concerned but really I just don't care about something like a monster. If it wants to come out and try to eat me I'll get rid of it but otherwise I'm fine with letting it be. Pink though probably doesn't have that luxury, her strength has not impressed me, I wouldn't be surprised if the monsters following us were actually stronger than her. In fact they probably are why else would they follow if not to try to eat her? Of course I won't let Pink be eaten, I need her right now, but maybe I should warn her just in case? It's possible some random monster attack could slow us considerably.

Maybe I should warn her. But it's too much work. The two schools of thought bounce around in my head as we fly and ultimately I decide not to bother. Unless a monster capable of killing Pink before either of us can react appears it shouldn't be a problem. And I seriously doubt a monster like that exists, I'm pretty strong you know? Ridiculously so even. And with my blessing Pink should at least be durable. So our flight is largely uneventful. The ground below is just an endless plain, the ground cracked and split and covered in gray ash – nothing interesting or notable. The road had disappeared at some point, reclaimed by the elements. Sometimes I spot a monster, crag beetles trundling along in the deeper cracks or ash hounds that briefly appear in especially dense clouds of ash, never anything interesting or threatening. And of course nothing like a clue to what happened.

On the third day of our flight Pink stops. Pulling herself out of her flying posture and just hovering high above the ground. We've made fairly good progress and are currently at the feet of the 'distant mountains' I had seen from my castle when we set out. So probably another three or maybe five days of flying at this pace to reach the Sea? I remember this mountain range marked the edge of my territory more often than not over the years. I guess Pink wants to rest here?

Looking at her she looks like she could use it. She hasn't been drawing on our bond at all for mana and as a result she looks pretty exhausted. As I suspected she was pushing herself pretty close to her limit with that speed. Not like I'll tell her to stop, the faster we finish this the happier I'll be after all. With a couple lazy flaps of my wings I pull alongside her and send her a questioning look.

“Mistress, we will start the investigation here.” She says.

“Here?” I look down but there's nothing there. Just more billowing clouds of ash.

“Yes, this is the location of one of the largest cities in Artas, I'm sure of it.” She stares intently downward as she speaks “I can't see any trace of it right now but I'm sure it was here – it was built to guard this pass that leads through the mountain range and has stood for all of recorded history as far as I'm aware. It was called the Gates of Alexandria.”

“Hmm, was there a city like that? I don't see it down there in any case.” I peer down once more but there is nothing below us but ash gray dunes. "Well; whatever, let's go.”

Saying that I fold my wings and disperse the mana I was using to fly. Immediately dropping the hundred feet or so to the ground below. The impact causes a tiny explosion of dust to shoot out and away from my point of impact and leaves a small crater beneath my feet. Pink arrives a moment later, dropping down from the sky and using her wings to control her descent. I ignore her, looking around me for the so-called Gates of Alexandria but I don't see it. Rather this place is just a bunch of sandy dunes – blown here from the desert we just traversed and piled up against the mountains ahead of us. There isn't even a road here.

That aside Pink is right. I remember this mountain range has only a small handful of pathways wide enough to lay a proper road – one such pathway is directly ahead of us – and each of those pathways had a city or at least a defensive fort positioned at its mouth. Well they did, thousands of years ago, but the concept is sound so the tradition probably continued? With that in mind I examine the gray sand dunes we're standing on again, looking for traces of a buried city. Pink seems to have the same idea because I feel her drawing on my mana and blasting a gust of wind magic at the ground at our feet.

The blast cuts about twenty feet into the dune, sending a massive spray of sand into the air and completely blinding both of us for a moment. Pink hastily creates another spell and more wind pushes the billowing sand away revealing the newly formed hole and there not two feet below the surface is a blocky stone building of some kind still half buried. Glancing sidelong at Pink I can see the effort has exhausted her a bit, if I leave the excavation of this entire area to her we may well be here for weeks.

“It seems this is the right place.” Pink says grimly.

A brief but intense struggle rages inside me. Order Pink to handle the excavation and stand around idly for who knows how long? Or do it myself, hastening our progress toward the ultimate goal of being able to return home and idle indefinitely? This place is kind of windy and dirty, what with the clouds of ash billowing around, not a great place to spend idle time – that decides it. Decision made I turn to Pink.

“Yes. Come here.”

I hold out my hand. Pink looks uncertain for a moment but then steps over and offers her hand. I grab it. “Ah…” As our fingers entwine Pink's face reddens a bit and she let's out a small sound. Ignoring that I begin creating my magic. First a small Rune Formation appears at our feet, a ring of arcane characters glowing a soft green. Then the hard part, I focus intently to paint a picture with perfect clarity in my mind's eye. My mana roils and rises up in me, releasing a physical pressure in my immediate vicinity that I can see Pink shying away from. I let the mana gather for a moment to give me time to hone my mental image. Then for the first time since I've woken up I release a truly grand magic, the likes of which I doubt even that old Demon King I once knew could conjure.

The sand outside the Rune Formation around us ripples like the surface of a lake disturbed by a stone. The ripples intensify, a huge wave in the sand speeding outwards a mile in every direction with my Rune Formation at the center. With the area of effect established the spell pauses and for just an instant stillness returns. Then there is a massive rumble, like thunder in the distance, as the air around us becomes oppressively dense with mana until … BOOM! All around us the sand geysers upwards, propelled with incredible force into the sky. Streamers of the stuff continually rising up and following the massive explosion. I feel a giddy laugh bubbling up inside me, I just blasted a square mile of land into the air – loosely packed sand admittedly but even so…

Pink and I are standing inside my barrier, the only place untouched by the mass exodus of earth and above us there is huge amount of dirt floating briefly in the sky – a vague disc of dirt momentarily free of gravity. It looks almost like one of those floating islands the Celestials so proudly build their cities on. Which is exactly what I was aiming for incidentally. Magical winds surround the huge airborne clump of dirt and keep it together in a more or less cohesive whole as the more complex part of my spell activates. Rapidly compressing the airborne dirt, shaping and infusing it with demonic energy. It takes only a moment before it's done and a new floating island is born.

It floats there above us, engraved with Rune Formations that give off a sickly green light – the light of demonic energy. With this the little island of dirt will continually absorb ambient demonic energy to keep itself afloat. A perfect example of hitting two birds with a single stone if I do say so myself. Job done I lose interest. It's just a flying clump of dirt after all. More interesting is what blowing it away has revealed, surrounding Pink and I is a city. The remains of one anyway, here and there all throughout the mile of cleared sand there are sandblasted stone buildings and rotted wooden shells that may once have been structures of some kind. The city has been uncovered.

But before Pink or I can say anything a massive roar sounds in the distance. A roar filled with anger and challenge – promising death to any who dare defy it. Oh right. There were a lot of powerful monsters around weren't there? Seems my little explosion pissed someone off.