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Notes from the demon king, page 304:

Pain is temporary. pain is not something to shy away from but something to embrace so that you can grow stronger. Pain ends if not in life than in death and, while youre living there will always be pain. Physical or otherwise. Walk through the fires and come out reforged. My daughters I know you'll hate me in the moment for this, but soon you'll see that suffering only makes you stronger.

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Chapter eighteen

Sandra-

The world was agony. Sandra's entire body felt as if it was being razed from both the inside and out. Her soul, every fiber of mana in his being, was in terrible pain, and she screamed but that only let the wiswater rush into her lungs and down her throat. It seemed to be trying to fill every orifice and the sensation grew from shadowy claws and noxious burning to fangs, talons and sulfuric acid trying to flow through her body like blood.

Her mind reeled, desperation suffusing her thoughts. She cycled her mana, not out of any desire to follow instructions but that the torture seemed to settle itself into her cores. The only recourse, so latent instinct told her, was to spread the pain out, at least if it hurt everywhere It didn't hurt as much in her center.

How long this went on for Sandra didn't know, she struggled and writhed trying to claw her way to the surface, but She couldn't tell which way was up, her mind unable to process any stimuli but the pain searing her soul.

There was one moment where she thought she felt the kiss of air against her hand as she reached out, but something pushed against her sending her tumbling deeper into the into the seemingly infinite pool. There was no escape from the agony.

But, then some part of her remembered… she of all people knew how to deal with pain.

Sandra’s mind turned inward. Not to her mana, but inward towards itself. There she let herself be consumed by her memories. The suffering that was the outside word fading away.

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She lay on the hospital bed. Her breath shallow and her chest aching. She had known this was coming for most of her life now, her family seemed to want to pretend it wasn't, but it had been inevitable. In and out of the hospital, sometimes for months on end, barely able to breath.

She wasnt scared anymore. She had long since come to terms with her fate. I was really a relief in some ways. Just getting it over with an end to her pain.

What hurt more was that it had to happen in the middle of the night. Visiting hours were long since over and there had been no sign of this earlier in the day. She hated that there was no chance to say goodbye. She would give anything just to look at them one last time, but she didnt have the strength to move her arm much less lift her phone to look at a photo or… call.

Mom would have assured her everything was going to be okay, maye even made a joke about isekai with her brand of dark humor, she’d say it through sobs. Dad would’ve been crying but he’d have tried to stay strong for the others. Her sister would be hugging her as if trying to give away her strength even if just a bit. Her brother would’ve been confused, hew was too young to understand what was happening to his big sister he just knew something was wrong.

Her mind was fading now growing dark at the edges and though she could swear she could almost see her family there she found she couldnt quite remember any of their names or her own

It was too late now. She was dying. It wasnt so sudden or unexpected. It was here.

She felt the last of her strength leave her along with one final, struggling, breath. The last tear ran down her cheek, there was a shock of shap pain in her chest, and then it all just ended.

The next thing she knew she was somewhere else.

She found herself in a soft bed, wooden bars keeping her inside to the confines of the blankets and pillows.

She tried to sit up, but her body refused to listen to her. her limbs just waved ald she just couldnt lift her head. Luckily, she found she could turn her neck enough to look out of the bars.

She was surrounded by… giant cribs? To her they seemed to be the size of small rooms and as she looked out across what seemed like a world of walls and wood, with a ceiling rather than a sky.

She didnt know where she was and that scared her. Her mind felt wong and her body even more so.

She knew she should’ve called for help or tried to escape or anything productive. But she was scared, confused, and alone and no matter what she did she couldnt think of the any words, she couldnt work of any drive to fight against whatever circumstances had put her here all she could think to do was cry.

So she did.

The world was beginning to go fuzzy. Was she dying again? That didnt seem fair.

No, it didn't feel like that. It felt more like falling asleep, just… deeper.

As the world was fading out, someone stood over her. She felt herself lifted, and rocked gently. A kind woman’s voice whispering in a language the girl didnt understand at the time,

“s’tahW gnorw Sandra? erA uoy yrgnuh? uoY deen a elttob, eiteews?”

The only word that registered was the name… ‘Sandra.’ The girl somehow knew that it was hers now.

She didn't hate it.

The woman went on whispering, her words turning to mutters as Sandra’s thoughts became less and less coherent. She felt herself shrink, her memories each growing out of reach as she relaxed. There she slipped into oblivion, her mind becoming truly that of a baby for a very long time.

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Sandra continued swimming in her mind avoiding the terrible hell that currently was her body and soul. She watched her memories flit by like lightning bugs.

Meeting the others, they had been around five then. Unusually knowledgeable five-year-olds, who remembered a life long passed. Sure they’d known each other as they’d grown but they only really met when they realized that the others were in the same situation they were in. Dropped into a brand new world with new bodies to like in. She remembered Ali always complaining about getting a gnome of all things and being peeved about being so short.

She remembered playing together, because despite having the memories of young adults they were still kids. They had a ball at the home that their little clique had practically claimed. Even Mother Eveans would refer to it as ‘their ball.’ The thought made Sandy smile. She needed to visit Mother Eveans.

The ball had met a tragic end though, Ali had been furious as Sandra played the ever classic game of holding it just out of the girl’s reach. Her anger had manifested in an uncontrolled burst of fire mana that had burned the rubber that made up the toy into a stinking melted mush. That was how they’d discovered that Ali’s core was active, and Sandra was forced to do extra chore duty as the destruction of the ball was apparently her fault.

So much time.

Sandra remembered her schooling. Or more that, she remembered not caring about the basic math and science that their home had required all the children to learn, she already knew most of it, the only subjects that interested her were the rare dip into the magical the lessons contained, those were nuggets of gold in a sea of stones. That and their language arts classes. Sandra had been desperate to learn to read again. Not knowing the language of her new world had prevented her from enjoying books, one of her favorite pastimes when she was stuck in the hospital in her old life. Sadly, when she did learn she discovered this world was nowhere as big on fiction as was earth, there were a few novels but most books were informational. Those didn’t interest Sandy at all, so instead she dived into non-fiction stories. To her great surprise she loved the biography and legends she found, In a world of magic, even the truest stories of the dullest life sounded like fantasy to someone with an earth mindset. She would read for hours at a time, only stopping when begged to by her friends or when Mother Eveans made her quit.

As much as she enjoyed the reading, it was also the loneliest of times, because she couldn’t help but think that her family on earth would love to read too. That was one thing they had all shared a love of tales of magic and power, and she ached so much when her heart showed her the faces of the ones she’d lost. So she read more.

Sandra gasped as her head finally broke the surface of the wiswater. She was jolted out of her meditation and back into the pain of reality by the feel of the air against her skin. It burned like blowing against a raw wound, but it was better that than the agony that coursed through the rest of her that was still under the surface.

She realized then that nothing held her under anymore, and with the desperation of a woman on the brink of death scrabbled over the edge onto the dry earth of the dungeon. The wiswater sent agony through her nerves as it dripped off her skin and she shuddered and hacked trying to empty her lungs, despite finding them oddly empty of liquid. A wave of nausea washed over Sandra, but she resisted the urge to vomit, it would hurt too badly. Instead, she just let herself lay there hating being alive in the moment. She finally recovered after… she didn’t know how long. She made herself stand, looking across the dungeon’s core room for the object of her rage.

There he stood, the demon king. Sandra screamed her hate pulling forth her dagger which was still on her belt and charged the creature, her torturer, in her first truly genuine attempt to kill another sentient being.

“Ah, Sandra. Good, you’re out I-” The demon began. But Sandra didn’t let him finish she slashed with her blade aiming at the demon’s face, he dodged to the left, but she pivoted with skill she didn't know she had and slice in a sideways slash to the demon’s chest. The Demon dodged again.

“Calm down, It was less than fifteen minutes.”

“DIE!!!” Sandra screeched sounding like a hysterical banshee even to her own ears.

The Demon king rolled his eyes not bothering to dodge her next strike as she plunged her dagger at his heart. The blade struck him, it bounced off his flesh not even breaking the skin. Still, he exploded into particles of light, his body disappearing in a sudden burst as her knife impacted.

“There, you killed me. Are you happy now?” Another Demon King said from behind her. Sandra turned startled by his presence. She raised her knife as if to strike again but deep down she knew it was pointless, and she was exhausted. Letting her blade hand sag to her waist and slumped back to the ground. She just sat there for a while. The demon attempted to take a step towards her but seeing her shrink away abandoned that. A minute passed before Sandra finally decided to speak feeling like her mind could handle it.

“....Why?”

The demon looked up from the book he had been writing in “Why?”

“Why do that?” She had almost been coming to trust the demon, but what she’d just been through…

“Why make you do it, or why surprise you?”

Sandra was quiet.

“Both then.” The Demon took a deep breath in “I made you do it for the same reason I brought you here. To make you stronger. I wasn’t kidding when I said it would include suffering, but I hope you’ll find the effects are worth it.” The callus persona he had put on when he dropped them into the pools was gone “as for why I didn’t tell you… Would you believe me if I told you I don’t know? Maybe something about teaching you to endure surprises… I don’t think that was all me. I’m a demon kid. That’s more than just horns and a tail. I’m a being of chaos even my plans end up….” He paused “Skewed by that fact some times…

Sandra couldn’t help but chuckle darkly “I know the feeling.”

“I won’t apologize as I still feel I did the right thing, you had to drink the wiswater before swimming in it, or the shock could’ve killed you. And what sane person would willingly get into that pool after experiencing that.”

“That’s a fair point. But it didn’t make it hurt any less…”

The demon just shrugged. “Pain is temporary, again I hope you’ll find the effects are wort it.”

“What are the effects exactly? What could be worth all that suffering?”

“Training your pain tolerance for one. Trust me, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, mana cultivation is often unpleasant, and you need to be able to endure worse if you want to make it anywhere.”

Sandra shivered to imagine what could be worse than the wiswaters attack on her soul but kept quiet.

“The other effects-” the demon was interrupted by Ali who charged at him in a similar manner as her.

It wasn’t long until all the others had freed themselves, panting and gasping from the womb of the wispools.

They all stood away from the demon king, who looked hurt but understanding.

He gave them all the same reasoning he’d given Sandra.

She could tell the others felt like it was an excuse.

He ended his speech with a sigh, “Well, The end of our little one-day trial... I guess. stairs are over there, meet me at the guildhall with your decision, think it over. I think you'll find what I did was worth it”

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Kenn-

The party marched solemnly towards the stairs, a gilded doorway with ‘exit’ marked above it in common. Kenn found himself last in line, the extra weight of his new cursed-steel chest plate slowing him down.

“Ah, Kenn. one more thing”

The human jumped as he heard the demon king call him. Hailey gave him a concerned look but he waved her on, turning to face the demon.

“What?” Kenn was ready for whatever bullshit the demon would spill, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

The demon king raised an eyebrow at Kenn tone but ignored it for the most part.

“That time core of yours, I suggest you suppress it. Best to let others think you only have one element”

Kenn got the distinct sense that the advice had merit “How do I do that... and why?”

“I've never even heard of time mana before, and I’m OLD. People fear what they don't understand and those who don't fear are going to want your power for themselves. That means binding you to their service or for the less ethical ripping your core out of your soul to put a magical item or something.”

Kenn shivered at the image, taking an involuntary step back “and which camp are you in?”

“Neither. I want you to kill me. You having a unique mana type is only an asset to that.”

Kenn frowned, the demon sounded genuine.

“Now, suppressing your mana is easy. You understand cycling yes?”

Kenn had just been through an event where the choices were either cycle or die painfully, so he thought he had gotten the hang of the skill. He nodded.

“Good, It’s just the opposite of that. Rather than moving your mana throughout your body force it all into your core and hold it there. It should be simple as long as you have basic mana control.”

It was easy. Within seconds Kenn had collected all the time mana in his body, which wasn't much due to his earlier expenditure, and forced it into his core. The sensation was distinctly uncomfy. If cycling was like actively controlling your breathing, this was like holding air in one lung and breathing normally with the other. It wasn’t painful, but it made him feel off and, added to the weight of his chest plate and general exhaustion, it wasn't fun.

The cursed steel didn't help matters either. The demon king was right it made his mana feel heavy and hard to move. Like someone else was trying to pry open his mental grip constantly and steal his power from him.

In the wiswater it had made the whole experience eleven times worse, having to actively focus when he felt like his flesh was aging to dust while being constantly stabbed was hellish and had left him with a headache that still hadn't completely faded, here it was as if it was trying to undo his suppression plucking at the edges of the knot he held his core in trying to unravel even a single inch of the metaphorical string.

It was annoying, but Kenn could deal with it.

“Good, You got it. Remember, higher level mages could see through that suppression with very little effort, but it still takes them actually trying to do it. Don't give them anything to look for, and you should be fine. Now, go on and decide. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The demon waved Kenn off.

Conflicted Kenn headed up the stairs meeting his party in a room at the top of the steps.

“What was that about?” Ali asked as soon as Kenn came into view.

“Nothing really, He just told me to keep my time core hidden because its rare and stuff.”

“Weird. I was thinking that too, but now I’m not so sure. If the demon king wants you to do it...”

Sandra stroked her chin “If I were you I’d show it off, consequences be damned.”

“Consequences be damned should be your motto” Giel chuckled,

The thief grinned “It is. But as I was saying you and Hailey got what are essentially superpowers in a world where magic is already a thing. Why hide them”

“Because superpowers are often also a curse.” Hailey pointed out “You should hide it, Kenn. In fact, teach me whatever The Demon King taught you. I want to hide my core too.”

Kenn nodded “Good Idea.”

With that the discussion ended, and the party made their way out of the dungeon, pushing through the stairway door and finding themselves back in the first room where they had entered the dungeon-proper the message still above the door and the furniture as fancy as ever.

There was a collective sigh of relief as they stepped out of the cave entrance. The sun was just starting to set and the group walked and talked as they decided what to do next.

“So what all did we get?” Sandra chirped at Hailey, the elf reaching into her bag and feeling about.

“A ton a coins, That jewel, Kenn’s chest plate, obviously, Ali’s staff and book, my mace, a whole bunch of random stuff from that fish room, including some potions, and those weird stones. Plus that mirror” she gave Sandra a look then paused surprised by something “...and those bottles of wiswater and the quest page.”

“I almost forgot about that after the whole… incident” Ali sighed.

Giel nodded “I guess that means the guild hall’s the next stop then.”

They arrived back at the guild not long after.

The ever bustling building seemed to stall as they stepped into it, pretty much every eye turned to regard them, many who recognized them seeming shocked at their… well, aliveness. Many gave them suspicious looks as they walked past, A few looked relived but most just looked curious.

Kenn felt was like fingers made of different mana types poking and lightly scratching his core.

People seemed shocked by what they found, muting to their groups about ‘F-party’ and ‘unlocked cores’ and “cursed-steel” the word ‘mages’ came up a few times muttered with disbelief.

Kenn couldn't help but swell with pride a bit.

“They’re talking about us.” Giel whispered, his canine ears twitching.

“I know I can feel their gazes” Hailey muttered

Ali shushed them “you only have holy mana remember” She said referencing the fact that Kenn and Hailey were suppressing all but one of their mana types “Let’s just turn in the quest and go home I need a shower and a some sleep… and like a whole tub of ice cream”

“Can we afford five tubs of ice-cream?” Giel sighed

“With the quest payout? Hell yeah” Sandra whisper cheered

Kenn agreed with Ali. He just needed the day to be over “I just want my bed and that's it”

There was a collective groan of agreement and the group went quiet, the exhausted kind of quiet that a long day brought about, as they waited in the line for the quest desk. Kenn feeling that his legs would barely hold him by the time they reached the actual desk.

“Hey guys!” Kel smiled looking up from the paper work she was working on “You aren't dead” she smiled, looking unsurprised “Here to turn in the goblin hog quest from earlier?”

Sandra sucked in air through her teeth “Umm… about that… Uh you might have to put that one back up. Stuff kinda came up and...”

“Oh yeah all the demon king stuff I know” She sighed, bags seeming to suddenly appear under her eyes in the magical way of bureaucracy, “More paperwork...yay…”

Hailey peaked out from where she was half hiding behind the others “Sorry…”

“It’s fine. Comes with the job” she shrugged “on the plus side I get to meet interesting people like you. Now, if it’s not the quest, what can I do for you?”

Hailey handed Kenn the quest sheet “It is a quest actually. This one with the wiswater and the dungeon and…”

“YOU WENT INTO THAT DUNGEON!!!”

“Yeah and we-”

Kel continued as if he hadn't spoken “I mean It’s not that hard of a dungeon, but you’re no trial and… Wait!” Kenn felt the sensation like something was rubbing his soul again, this time specifically it was warm and energetic like the feeling of a sugar high made physical, Kel’s eyes widened “Oh my god your core’re open! You’re first-trials, Congratulations!” She leaned over her desk and hugged the nearest of them, which happened to be Sandra who smiled like an idiot, “Oh! we should celebrate! We should go and get some drinks! You guys have time? Oh, wait I have work till nine… you guys free after that?”

After the day they’d had something genuinely fun might be nice…

“Sure, sounds fun.” Kenn smiled, then glanced down at the page he’d placed on the desk.

“Oh right! Sorry.” she playfully knocked on her skull “You have the water?” Hailey pulled the the vials handing them to the other elf. Kel quietly counted the merchandise “This stuff sucks you know. Did you guys drink some?”

Ali let out a pained groan “You could say that…”

Kel laughed “Yeah, It. is. Awful. Be glad you just had to cycle it. My Dad poured a whole bucket of the stuff over me during my training.”

“Oh yeah that's souls terrible” Kenn responded unable to muster anything more than a monotone.

“Anyway, that's one-hundred and fifty gold and do you have anything else to turn in, like loot. or otherwise.”

Hailey dumped out pretty much everything from her new bag that wasnt either money or explicitly owned by one of them.

This included the giant emerald which clonked on to the table in a way That just sounded like it made a dent.

Kel’s eyes took on an envy “WOOOAAAHHH!!! Where did that come from.”

“The boss from the dungeon dropped it” Sandra chattered excitedly

“Really? It usually only drops a few gold and… maybe a piece of low-grade equipment.”

“It also dropped Kenn’s chest plate” Sandra said sounding like it was somehow her accomplishment.

“Is that cursed-steel! We’re talking about the ‘dungeon of crystlstone’ right?”

“Yep!”

“That’s crazy!”

Hailey jumped into the conversation “s-sorry, we don't know what most of this is.”

Kel glanced around covertly “Okay, well I'm not supposed to tell you this but, I’d keep the mirror it’s enchanted i don't know with what, I’m not an artificer, but every magic item is unique, I’d also keep a few of these healing potions for emergencies. Everything else you can sell, I mean you could keep the mana stones but if you’re only at the soul stage you cant use them yet, and even when can they’re all crystal mana. None of you have that right?” when she got head shakes as an answer “As long as it’s not antithesis to your mana you can technically, use it but it won't be comfortable” she shrugged.

They decided to take her advice selling everything but the potions, the mirror, and on a whim Kenn suggested

“Lets keep a few of the mana-stones”

“Sure” Kel agreed pulling out a device that looked like the magical equivalent of an abacus and beginning to do calculations. “Lets say twenty out of the fifty you have? Okay, in total you're owed” She flicked a few beads “475...gold” she winced “I’m going to have to go to the back for that one second.” She disappeared into a door behind her and the party waited, a few minutes passing as words like ‘platinum…’ ‘which dungeon?’ ‘you can't be serious!’ and ‘we can't pay that’ drifting out of the room from a voice that wasn't Kel’s

Finally, she came back out a complicated expression on her face holding “Okay look. My manager says we can't pay you the 47 platinum out of pocket, that gem really is way above our usual margins, instead” she held up the contents of her hands, a coin pouch and a small piece of official looking parchment “we’re going to give you 200 gold up front and this” she shook the page “is a document that’ll allow you to claim the rest at any guild branch or bank the guild is registered with as long as it’s in amounts of 5 platinum or less there's also an extra ten percent in there for the inconvenience, having nothing to do with the fact that if you lose this page the guild gets to retrieve that extra ten percent, coming from the banks pocket, as if they’d earned it in sales. If it wasn't obvious they definitely want you to lose this so they can get your stuff for a discount. So don’t, sot loose it!”

Hailey took the money and the document looking comically serious.

Kel smiled her professional mask fading “So about those drinks. I get you guys are probably tired, so I’m not thinking anything big. Just us at this nice tavern i know, it’s a small place. Forth avenue in the adventuring district, you can't miss it. Does 10:30 sound good? I’d like to have time to change into something nice but… it’ll take a bit to find something that’ll fit. Elf anatomy and all that, you know the struggle Hailey.”

Hailey let out a pained chuckle “Yeah…”

Kenn nodded “We can do ten thirty,” They had things they should probably do before then anyway.

Hailey said “Kenn we should get you check out by the healers just in case”

Kenn let himself be dragged along towards the healers quarters

“We’ll wait out here” Giel offered “I could use a snack any way” the beastman began making his way towards the guilds inbuilt bar, Sandra and Ali behind him.

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The Demon King-

The demon king weighed a pouch of fairy dust in one claw, a red-faced and exhausted looking fairy giving him a look of pure loathing.

GA leaned up against the wall in their humanoid form, an androgynously attractive elf with the kind of body that could belong to a kind of slim male or a kind of broad female the demon king knew their physiology was fully capable of switching between either. In fact, he had experimented with that fact quite a bit over their long partnership.

Geah as, they insisted they be called in that body, glanced up from where they were playing cards against the dungeon through the medium of a golem, “Done?”

The demon king ginned “yep, it all here, a good forty milliliters” her threw a wink Alette’s way “thanks for your service” with that he placed the pouch into his spacial storage

The fairy let loose a tiny growl, shakily flying off to, part crash into part land, on the dungeon’s core.

“What did you even, need that stuff for” Geah questioned “alchemy plans?”

“Other than the fact this stuff is like the only stimulant that still effects mages of our level?” the demon king only got crossed arms and a stern look from his spouse “Yeah, alchemy. Seriously though I was thinking of whipping up some elixirs to help those kids get though the mortal stage a bit faster. Maybe a few extra for the girls if we have it.”

“Ali, Sandra and Hailey?”

“No, our girls I mean. Kelliane’s birthday is coming up, and she’s butting the edge of fourth trial.”

Geah sighed “I was thinking of getting her a magical item, maybe something from my hometown and-”

“You mean a pragma”

The weapon pragma huffed “Is it so bad to want to help my little girl find a partner? She’s seventy already, and you're only that young once. It’s a good time to settle down. And not to sound prejudiced, but it wouldn't hurt if it’s one of my people.”

The demon king didn't even bother with rolling his eyes, they could feel his thoughts on that through their bond. Rather than saying anything he pulled Geah’s weapon body from its space in his soul and began the unnecessary but traditional task of maintaining the blade after a battle

.

The pragma immediately relaxed, practically melting into a pile of adorable forced sternness, “Don’t try and distract me you- oh, that's nice…” they shut up and just enjoyed the sensation for a few seconds, before coming back to their faculties though notably calmer and shivering a bit when he ran the whetstone down the blade, “Okay you win, change of topic. just don't stop.”

“Your wish, my command”

Geah placed a card down, making the dungeon draw from the deck, “There was something i was wondering about anyway”

“Shoot.”

“Don’t you think you were a little hard on them?”

“The girl’s or the dungeon?”

“Neither. You know what I’m talking about. Our souls are linked, damn it!”

“You’re going to have to be specific”

Geah rolled their eyes, “Aje-”

“Eh eh eh,” the demon interrupted holding up one claw “Demon king” he corrected pointing at the dungeon core and fairy whose domain they were still in.

Another eyeroll “Okay Demon king, I’m talking about the kids from today. You went way harder on them than is necessary.”

“Ohhh, them” The demon king exclaimed putting a fist to his palm with a metal clank earning yet another eye roll (three for three) “Who’s to say I went hard on them?”

“I watched you train the girls growing up, You went hard on those kids. Then you made up some BS excuse”

“You caught that…”

“Of course i did. Really lying to kids!”

“It wasn't technically a lie, I am a being of chaos, and it does tend to effect my decision-making. It just wasn't the case in this instance”

“So why really?”

“To freak them out. Scare them. And hurt them they all in the process of strengthening them. Make them think I’m crazy and unpredictable because I am, while also giving them the opportunity to see I have their best interest in heart.”

“And if they come back after that they’re who you’re looking for” Geah asked skeptically

“Right on target, hun.” The demon king smiled beginning to whip down the sword with an oil rag, he’d save the detail work of cleaning the individual enchantment runes for when they were alone. Those were sensitive.

“And what if they don't come back

“We’ll see, but that may be the chaos talking” He shrugged “ready to go?”

Nodding Geah put down their hand of cards “Bye crystl, Alette”

The golem waved “Goodbye” the dungeon’s voice spoke through it

“Don't come back” Alette added throwing another hatful glance the demon kings way.

He chuckled. Geah disappeared the sword becoming firmer, for lack of a better word, as it was no longer forced to technically exist in two places at once and the demon king stowed it back into his soul.

‘I’m going to take a nap’ GA Spoke from within him, wake me up when something interesting happens’

“Awww but i get so lonely when you’re sleeping.” He felt them roll their currently non existent eyes again, and smirked “Goodnight, hun”

‘It’s not night but whatever, goodnight’