“They have left.” Camilla finally uttered, he was too scared to speak while the Demon Lords confronted his master, the Dark Lord. When Arin Draco turned her attention on Camilla, Camilla thought that he would die from fear gripping his heart.

“Indeed they have.” Dark Lord checked Sariu’s pulse and breathing. She seemed to be fine; the crystal apparently preserved her within it without killing her. He could feel her mana pouring into his body, now that her mana was not bound by crystal, due to her contract to Dark Lord; her mana was being shared with him. “While I did tell you to serve me, I am surprised you did not take their offer. I was convinced you would follow the Demon King instead of sticking to nobody like me.”

“Please don’t refer to yourself as such, milord. The one who pulled me out of that hell was not the Demon King or the Demon Lords, but it was you, the Dark Lord. The contract I made with you is absolute; I shall not betray you, master.”

“That is good to hear. However, you must understand if you are going to walk with me on this path, you may not come back alive, if it is convenient for me, I will sacrifice you to save myself. Are you still sure of this?”

“My life was no longer my own the moment my village was plundered and my clan taken prisoner. If it helps my master, my life and soul are in your hands. Please do with them as you wish.”

“I will take your word on that. By the way…” Dark Lord poked his horn on his forehead, and with effort he managed to make horn retract back to his skull, now it seemed like there was no horn just a gash on his forehead. “Do horns usually retract?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Aren’t your horns retracted right now?” Dark Lord asked.

“No, my horns were mutilated by the torturers. Even before that, I could not retract them. I do not believe other demons can do that, not usually.”

“I see. Mine retracts into the skull rather neatly, it’s just itchy.” Dark Lord scratched his forehead. “But the most bothersome matter is this…” he pointed at his right eye. It was glowing eerie white. It was the demon eye. “How do you turn this off?” while he could conceal his horn, his demon eye stood off too much.

“I do not know. I never managed to awaken mine before losing my horns.” Camilla admitted.

“What do horns have to do with demon eyes?” Dark Lord curiously asked. He placed his coat upon Sariu’s body when he saw he shiver, she still seemed to be sleeping.

“Only demons with horns can awaken demon eyes. Demon eyes are a byproduct of the mana from horns interacting with the mana in the body. Some demons manage to take it further and awaken demon eyes. Each pair of demon eyes has a single power, unique per user.”

“You said pair, but why only my right eye?”

“It is most likely because milord has only one horn.” Camilla nodded, that seemed like the most obvious explanation.

As Camilla saw Dark Lord looking at Sariu’s unconscious state, he grew curious at what relationship they had.

“Dark Lord seems to care a lot for this witch.”

“She is a companion of my predecessor. Making sure she is free is the least I can do.”

“Will she come with us?” Camilla asked.

“No. As soon as she wakes up, I will have her annul her contract to me. There is no need for her to endanger her life further by being with me. I hope you will not question my decision.”

“I understand, milord.” Camilla nodded.

* * *

Sariu Lixus awoke from her sleep, her purple right eye and yellow left eye opening slowly, adjusting to the light. She wasn’t sure where she was, her consciousness felt dizzy. Yet, for some reason she felt that she was among friends.

“You finally awoke. That is a relief, I was getting worried you would become an eternally sleeping corpse, that would have upset my plans quite a bit.” That voice, it was familiar.

When she turned her head to look at him, her mind was flooded with her memories. She recognized this man, this demon, he was her companion. He was one person she considered her friend.

“Nur!!!” With a loud shout she ended up jumping towards him and tackled him in an embrace. Because her body was light, the tackle only made him swivel lightly.

But for some reason he did not return her embrace. Regardless, Sariu hugged Nur tightly for a few minutes before finally letting him go.

“But how? The last thing I remember was being attacked by a demon with the body of a crow and then he put me inside of a crystal…”

“That demon is gone, and so are his allies.” Dark Lord stated.

“And now, witch Sariu Lixus, I ask of you to annul your contract with me.”

Sariu hoped she heard him wrong.

That contract, it was symbol of the bond between them, their mutual need for each other to survive. But to her, it was a desperate action to not be abandoned again. To not be left behind, to not to end up alone, all over again…

“Nur, what do you mean? Annul the contract? Why would you want to do that?”

“My reasons are my own, witch. Now, please do annul the contract.” His voice was different from normal, it was much deeper.

“Why do you keep referring to me as witch? Nur, please tell me, what happened? Did I do something wrong? Please tell me, Nur…”

“I am not Nur Finnerman. My name is Dark Lord. Nur Finnerman is no more, only I remain.” That was Dark Lord’s harsh response. As he opened his eyes, Sariu could see one eye was red while the other was glowing white.

Sariu’s eyes opened wide from the horrifying realization.

Oh no… it is just as I thought. He is the same as me, a bearer of a sin; a Supremacy. It has finally completely taken over his body and soul.

“No, no, please tell me that is not true! You are Nur Finnerman, the demon who is my friend and companion, are you not?” she was hoping in her heart that he would dismiss his statement as a practical joke, but instead he looked at her with a solemn expression.

“Nur Finnerman was my predecessor. He was weak; he perished inside that dark dungeon. He exists no more. I am the Dark Lord, I am sorry, but I am not him.” Dark Lord’s smile seemed so gentle yet so cruel.

She shuddered from the realization that while the body of her friend was there, her friend was gone. Instead, he was consumed by the evil within him.

“Now then, do annul the contract.” Dark Lord’s voice took on a more serious tone.

“Alright.” With a wave of her arm, the invisible chains that bound Dark Lord and Sariu seemed to snap, dissolving into nothingness.

“That is done with. Camilla, we are leaving.”

“Yes, milord.”

“I am sorry, Sariu Lixus, but it seems it is time for us to part.”

“What? But why? Can I not come with you?”

Dark Lord shook his head.

“Our roads part here. You no longer need to endanger yourself by coming with me. Think of it this way, unlike us, demons, you can enter the Holy City without any problems, if you hide your eye, you can live out your life there, in safety and peace. There, you will be just a normal human being, in that city none knows you are a witch, you can leave your past behind you, live a happy life, and if you are lucky enough you will never run into a demon like me. No knights shall come chasing after you, no demons shall use you, and no crazy townsfolk will try to burn you alive. You can finally have a new start. A beautiful and wonderful apple pie of a life.”

“Why would I want that kind of life!?” Sariu screamed out at the Dark Lord. “Inside that dark prison, all I waited for was to die; I lost all my reason to live. Everyone I loved was already taken from me. My curse took everything that I ever cherished. I thought that if that curse could die with me, then so be it. But, like a ray of sunlight peeking into my dark world, you saved me from my fated death. You are my savior.”

Sariu’s expression was full of tears, apparently this issue had struck a chord within her heart.

“I owe you a debt not even a lifetime can repay; I wish to be of use to you! Even if the following you lead me to tears, blood, and suffering, I would rather have that kind of life instead of leaving your side!” Tears were streaming down her face. She was serious.

“Regardless, the answer is no.” Dark Lord replied.

“Why? You can use me any way you wish, you can sacrifice me for your goals or even kill me on the spot; as long as I can be of use to you I will be fine with it!” she ended up on her knees, begging him to take her with him.

Her heart could not bear it. To her, death was a better answer than being left behind.

“No. Sariu Lixus, my answer is final.” He walked up to Sariu, reaching into his pocket. From there he withdrew a sizable bag.

“I stole this from the nobleman’s mansion, it is full of gold coins. You can use this to have a fresh start.” He put the bag of coins in her hands.

But this seemed to have the opposite effect from intended.

Taking the bag of coins, Sariu proceeded to throw them at the Dark Lord, hitting him in the face with the bag, spilling the coins in the bag in the process.

She was panting heavily. But Dark Lord did not even budge, instead, he proceeded to stand up and turn his back to Sariu.

“I sincerely thank you for all your aid, but it is time for us to part. You deserve an easy life and good future, not death by my actions. Hopefully you can forget about me. Use the money in order to have a fresh start. I wish you the best of luck.”

With Sariu on her knees on the ground, crying, Dark Lord approached Camilla and whispered something to him.

Now both of them disappeared into thin air.

Sariu had been left alone, again.

“It is not an easy life or a good future I wanted. I just to walk alongside you….” Sariu broke down crying.

The one sound she heard transmitted through the air, just loud enough for her ears to catch was a sound. It sounded different from the man who called himself the Dark Lord, no, this voice; it was Nur Finnerman’s voice.

‘Farewell, my friend.’

Suddenly it started to rain, there was no telling whether it were raindrops or her tears that landed on the ground.

* * *

“Dark Lord, why did you not take her up on her offer? She didn’t even mind being used as a sacrifice; she would have been a perfect pawn, so why did you let her go?” Camilla was very confused at what he just witnessed.

“It was a last favor I owed to my predecessor. She lived all her life being hated; now she has a chance for a new start. If she takes it or not is up to her. Letting her go was the last step for me to cut off things that connected me to my predecessor’s past.”

Master may not show it very well, but he clearly cares for her well-being, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone so far to make sure that she would have a starting capital when entering the holy city. He might say it was for his own gain, but it is clearly because he cares for her.

The real reason he let her go is because he doesn’t want her to die. He does not wish to sacrifice her life; he cares for her too much. He might seem aloof, but it seems she has precious spot in his heart. A precious somebody he wishes to protect even if it is from himself.

Now they were going further and further away from the Holy City.

“Camilla understands, Master.” Camilla smiled, happy knowing that he was able to understand his master’s thoughts and that his master was such a caring demon.