Inside a forest in Amaryn between Aeston and Redmound, a group of people stood around, searching and scanning their surrounding. Horn of many sizes, colors, and curvatures fashioned their head. Some had wings on their back, some had tails that came out from area just above their butt, others had both. They were demons of humanoid variants, all women.

In front of the group, a demon with veil over her face was extending her arms out. Her hair was ashen color and reached down until her thighs. Her robe was black, big, and loose, hiding her figure under it. Yet even without showing her face and body, alluring aura oozed out from her body. Any who touched it was instantly entranced and charmed, no matter the gender, no matters the preference, no matter the race. As if the rule of reality itself dictated that everything should be attracted towards her. Worms and ants wriggled on the ground around her feet. Birds, bees, and insects circled her, abandoning their job and duties. Even plants seemingly leaned towards her direction, disregarding wind and sunlight.

"Found her." The woman said while pointing her finger. She had kept her silence for quite some time, her unexpected voice caused everyone there to blush. She herself was not bothered by it or by the animals circling around her. It had been like that since the moment she was born, a power that she couldn't control, a curse. "Dig her up."

Two demons dug the ground where she was pointing. Collars coiled their neck as a mark of their status. Their eyes were covered with thick black blindfold while their ears were plugged, yet it didn't stop them from hearing the command of their master nor does it prevented them from blushing.

"Kyrie!" A clink rang out when a massive female demon approached her. Cassandra stood more than two meters tall with equally massive curved sword hanging on her back. Armor covered her from the tip of the horns to her toe without any visible opening, even for her eyes there were no holes. The armor and warhammer were made from titan steel, a metal only found in Demon Realm and only forgeable by a demon smith. It was as strong as the strongest of man-made metal yet was twice as light as the lightest.

Demon race smithing technique and technology were leap and bound beyond any other race. Even the famous smithers race of dwarves couldn't compete with them in term of smithing. though unlike the dwarves, demons only interested in smithery works that have something to do with war like weapons and armors.

"Why the hell are we wasting time here for, we paid you not to loiter around in this ... godforsaken forest!" Her voice was pregnant with enmity even though she was just as charmed and allured as the two slaves. This was not a mere brave front or acting, attraction and hostility were not mutually exclusive. And Cassandra was never accustomed to act polite or hide her hostility, a brute through and through. She had no need for politeness outside of speaking to her father.

The two slaves snapped their head around. Their glare went through Cassandra even with their eyes blindfolded. They wouldn't ignore a hostile intent directed at their master.

But before they could raise their body, Kyrie raised a hand, and the slave returned to their task.

Cassandra was undeterred by the stares and grabbed Kyrie by the shoulder. Most demon lord would not take kindly if a lowly demon touched them, but Kyrie let her do as she pleased. "I'm asking you. What the hell ar-"

Her words got cut off when the stench of rotting flesh suffocated her throat and nasal cavity. The slave had reached arms deep into the ground, revealing a grave and a corpse. Everyone grimaced and stuffed their noses at the overpowering smell, except Kyrie. The corpse had been buried for almost four months now, but due to the dry soil and cold air, still retained most of its flesh and some of its feature.

She was a woman with green hair. The horn coming from her temple indicated that she was a demon just like them.

With a flick of a hand, Kyrie sent the slaves to their original position before kneeling beside the shallow grave. She extended her arms out and pulled the rotting corpse to her chest. She embraced it. She stroked its head. And kiss the forehead while shedding a single tear.

She couldn't mistake her. She wouldn't mistake her for someone else. Even if most of her feature had already gone, even if she was just a bone, no way she wouldn't recognize her.

"M-my lady, you shouldn't do that, it's dirty." One of her slaves said.

Kyrie glare caused the slaves to tremble and lose the color from their face. Their body reeled back and fell to the ground, but they quickly assumed a kneeling position.

Seeing her slaves trembling in fear, she sighed and closed her eyes. "Sorry." It was not within her intention to scare them. Her glare was more of a reflexive reaction after hearing someone she held dear being called dirty. The two didn't deserve such scare, they had served her well for the last century. Helping her with her every need and every want, anywhere, anytime with utmost impeccability. They had never given her any dissatisfaction with their service and she had no reason to complain, much less glare and get mad. She could tell how shocked they were.

The slave's face turned completely bright red and bowed. "N-no, I should be the one to apologize. I-I've spoken out of my place, my lady."

Kyrie smiled. The dark veil covering her face should have make it impossible to be discerned, but such small obstruction proved useless. The swarm of birds and insects around her went into a frenzy and crashed into nearby trees. People around her, even those that didn't have her inside their vision, held their breath without even realizing it.

She quickly took a poker face, ceasing this strange phenomenon.

She turned her gaze to the corpse in her arms. "Yes, she is dirty." She then muttered a spell under her breath, resulting in the disappearance of the stench and sign of further decomposition.

She walked to one of her slaves. "Varin, return to the demon realm. Clean her and give her a proper burial. Be careful on the way, there's no need to rush, the preservation spell will last for months." She said as she handed the corpse with careful and gentle movement.

Varin bowed and was about to say something when Cass interrupted her. "Hey, hey, hey, that's not within our agreement!" She put herself between the slave and her master, which incited a hateful glare from the former. "She's our property, Papa's property, what happened to her body should be ours to decide, not you!" She stared down at Kyrie without any fear of retaliation. She knew full well that Kyrie was not the kind to act based on her emotion but based on cold calculation.

"Her body is already too decomposed. Even with your family's advanced magic, there can be no use left for her ... Unless of course, your 'Papa' have a liking to decomposed corpse. I'm not going to judge." She put her emphasis on the 'Papa' part to mock Cass while her hidden face showed no sign of emotion.

Cass growled at her mockery. Her left hand balled into a fist and her right was itchy, wanting to grab the sword on her back. But she held her rampant impulse back. She was not known for holding back and had never needed to do so. It surprised even herself that she was able to rein her emotion.

"Hahahaha, is that your argument?" Cass forced herself to smile even though she knew no one could see it behind her faceless helmet. "Yes, her body is no use to us, so what? Papa still own her body!" She calmed herself and turned her head, then pointed at one of her companions. "You, come here!"

The woman Cass called had a pale skin that stuck to her bone and long black unkempt hair that covered her eyes. She had small withered horns and small withered wings. While she could be called sickly, she was far from ugly. Actually, everyone in their group could be called beautiful to some degree.

"You call me, captain?" Her voice had no will behind it, reflecting her appearance. Black robes covered her body while a necklace of demon skulls hung loosely from her neck.

"Call her soul, right now! I want to know everything. Hopefully, she knew something useful." Cass ordered her without taking Kyrie presence into account. She was confident Kyrie wouldn't do something even in this condition as it would do her more harm than good.

This time, however, she was off the mark.

"AGHHH!" Cass screamed and fell to her knees while holding her now half of a left arm. The part from elbow below was cut clean through her titan steel armor, resting on Kyrie's left hand.

Kyrie raised her right index finger and pointed it at the pale woman. Invisible sword of magic extended out from the tip of her finger. "Move, and it's your head." The pale woman didn't say anything and backed down.

"I'll tell Papa! I'll tell Papa!" Cass cried out as she held the stump of her left arm "He'll kill you! He won't forget this! He won't let this slide!"

"We both know that even he stands no chance." There was no intimidation nor hostility coming from her voice, yet still, it felt sharp.

With her ragged breath Cass lashed out, unwilling to admit someone was stronger than her papa. "You bastard! Is this how you operate, Is this how you handle a business contract?"

Kyrie chuckled inside her heart. It was funny how she always disregard the contract until she needed it. Though she realized pointing it out wouldn't do anything but agitate Cass even more. "Your Papa paid me to bring you to the human realm and help you in your search for the runaways. There's no agreement about what I'll do if we find the runaways, neither is there any agreement about me helping you capture them."

Cass tightened her lips. "Fuck you!"

Kyrie pointed her finger at Cass' neck and glared at the rest of the group. "Don't move, or you'll lose your dear captain." She turned her head and nodded at Varin. She nodded back and sprinted away with the corpse in arms. Her movement was swift and soundless. She ducked hanging branches and jumped over exposed roots, went through bushes and avoiding rock like she had known this forest all her life.

Kyrie waited until Varin was out of sight and out of range before retracting her finger. She walked near Cass, bringing her severed arms with it. "Don't move." She held Cass' arm and with a little bit of magic, returned it to its original condition. There was no leftover wound nor any pain left, even the armor was fixed.

"What the fuck are you trying to do?" Her question sounded like a howl. She never trusted Kyrie one bit ever since she heard about her, and she lost more and more will to do so with each passing second. What she was thinking and her true intention was hidden behind that veiled expressionless face. But now she was even more puzzled and her trust went to the negatives.

Kyrie ignored Cass' anger-filled puzzled face and opted to observe the sky. The moon was up even though the sun hasn't drowned in the horizon yet. Though the most striking object in the sky was the deep blue line stretched from horizon to horizon similar to the tail of a comet. It first appeared a little over a week past, yet the mark it left on the heavens haven't dulled in the slightest. Sometimes even, it seemed to brighten for a few moments. Along with its appearance was the increase of mana density in the air. A slight increase, but without a doubt she felt it, both in the demon realm and human realm.

She had read many ancient manuscripts, heard many prophecies, and remembered old legends and myths. Many foretold the coming of a big change or a major disaster through the sign of comet, though none ever mentioned such deep blue comet with tail that long. Was it a sign of change, or a disaster, or maybe the return of something ancient, she wondered.

"Night is coming." She muttered.

"Of course it is!" Cass swung her left arm around with disbelief plastered on her face. The recovery was too perfect, it even felt like her arm was stronger the before.

She almost ordered her companion to set up a tent when she remembered something. She glared at Kyrie and the insects, worms, and little animals converging around her feet. "Don't come near our camp. I don't want animals stalking us with their erect cock at night."

"You don't have to worry." She turned her head, her gaze focused somewhere out of sight. "I know a place." She walked away from Cass and her group with her slave tailing behind.

After walking for some time, Kyrie glanced over her shoulder to make sure neither Cass nor her underling followed her. She stopped her feet and cupped her hands. A small portal, a hole in the space opened up above her hand. She reached inside and pulled out a letter.

Dear Kyrie

How are you? Sorry for not sending you any letter the last few months. The situation back home has turned for the worse. Papa is becoming more and more paranoid, he monitors all communication to the outside world. I have to smuggle my letters out if I wanted to send one to you, but I rather not risk it.

This is only me guessing, but I think Papa's paranoia stems from the coming ceremony. Papa finally deemed my little sister mature enough to become his next head wife. I told you about her before, right? She is Lyana, remember? She has grown into a fine woman, even more beautiful than me. Haha, you don't expect to see me write that, do you?

Anyway, Lyana is my sister, and I love her more than anything. I wished for her happiness and safety, but she is born with normal feeling. She doesn't have this mad love for Papa like I do and the others do. No matter how much Papa tried to make her, she only feels disgusted by the thought of marrying him. I love her and cared for her more than anything in this world. I love her more than I love Papa. Surprising coming from me, I know.

I don't know what else to write here. Just know that you don't have to write anything back, I won't be home to accept it. By the time you got this letter, I probably have already run away with my sister, so don't bother trying to help. We decided to run to the human realm. I know, it's crazy and it's basically a suicide but there's nowhere in the demon realm that's out from his reach. Every demon lords want his support in the civil war, and I know you do too. I don't want to burden you anymore, you have a war to fight after all.

Gosh this letter turned out so long. So yeah, this is a farewell. Thank you and sorry for everything, I will miss you.

Love,

Sarah

Kyrie crushed the letter in her hands. Her heart was wailing and aching, yet her face showed none of it. The images of Sarah rotting body was fresh in her mind, and it would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

She was furious, not towards Cass or her Papa, but at herself. She was a fool, always failed to notice the problems of her loved ones, and always failed to protect them. She was never there when they needed her the most. Now all she had left was regret, and their last will.

It was hard. It made her suffer, but their will was the last thing she had of them. She was forced to work with those that made Sarah suffer. She loathed them, wanted to kill them. She could have, easily, but working with them was the best way to fulfill her father's last wish.

She raised her head and looked over the horizon. "Sarah ... I swear to all the Gods, old and new, true and false, good and evil. I swear to all of you-" She uttered this exact same sentences after she heard her father's dying wish.

"-I will find -" the name of Sarah little sister floated in her mind.

"Lyana, little sister of Sarah, and if she turned out alive-" She didn't want to think the possibility of Lyana being dead, but she had to if she wanted to complete the vow.

"Then I will protect her with all my life. I will devote my life to ensure that I die before she does lest the worst of curse and worst of fate befall upon me and all my blood." The Vow did nothing, nor does she need it to. It was a mere lip service to cement her new resolution.

She would find her. And she would stop at nothing.