As soon as Kai answered, the door opened. A demon woman with skimpy clothes walked in. No, could they even be called clothes? She was just wearing underwear and then some.

She was well-endowed, and her body curved in the right places. However, Kai only felt disgusted when looking at her.

"Kai, suppress your emotions a bit more."

"..."

Kai heeded Reo's words and calmed himself down even more than he already had.

During his stay in Agurys' castle, he had gotten in contact with the hostile faction. And currently, he was being held captive inside one of their bases. "Though being held captive isn't exactly right," were their words.

The woman in front of Kai was someone he was very familiar with. After all, he had personally cut off her head after she killed many of the people he knew. If he wasn't careful and let his urges get the better of him, the woman in front of him would be dead and a battle would be unavoidable.

"The Duke is able to see you now."

"...I shall go and greet him then."

The demon woman looked at him once and licked her lips before leaving. Kai didn't hide his disgust for her after she left.

"Reo, prepare to assimilate."

"Weren't you going to avoid battle?"

"Demons have a different custom than us. To greet means to battle. Their very hierarchy thrives because of fighting and while the existing nobles don't fight with each other as often, they still battle each other as a form of greetings. They can already sense what level of power I hold, but using a spirit would help me use power above that of my own."

"So you're using me as a disguise to use more power?"

"Basically, yeah."

"You could've just said that..."

Kai shrugged and walked out of his room. There was a guard standing by there and when he saw Kai had exited the room, he moved to the side.

"This way."

Kai followed the guard until he was in front of two large doors.

"Sir Tullius is entering."

The moment the doors opened, Kai felt a tremendous amount of pressure on his body. If he wasn't able to react in time, he would've been down on his knees.

The closer one's level of power was to someone, the more they could read of their power. An A-class could feel the power of an S-class more than a B-class could.

And even though Kai was already an SS-class, there was still a gap-no, a chasm that he needed to fill to overcome his opponents.

The room was dark, and although Kai should be able to see clearly, he couldn't see anything more than faint silhouettes of the room. Doing his best to look around, Kai could see a throne at the far end of the room and floating on top of it were a pair of azure eyes. Looking at them made the pressure that Kai was feeling multiply severalfold.

"You're very interesting."

It was a woman—no, a child's voice.

"Everyone, step out of the room and don't even try to listen in."

The presences that Kai had faintly sensed around the room suddenly disappeared. Then, the child snapped their fingers and the light came on.

"So, what business does a human have in our realm?"

There was a child sitting on the throne, with his horns pointing upwards. It signified the highest class of demons, a bonafide duke. The one in front of Kai wasn't an SS-class made with good fortune and coincidences like he was, it was the genuine article.

"And, there's no use in trying to lie to me. I already know a lot about you."

The child rested his head on his hand which, in turn, was rested on the armrest of the throne.

Kai knew about this child, who was actually one of the oldest demons still alive. He's the「Fortune Teller」, Gusion and what he said was the absolute truth. There was no use in lying to someone who had already seen your whole story.

"...I'm here to make a deal."

"A deal, you say?"

Gusion looked unperturbed and he urged Kai to continue with his gestures.

"I would like to offer a truce with the human race—"

"Denied. Is that it? If so, then you can go ahead and leave now."

He was shut down instantly. Kai furrowed his brows and he tried to speak again but the moment he stepped forward, Gusion glared at him. Those azure eyes glowed and looked as if they could see through his very soul.

Kai couldn't help but gulp in face of such pressure.

"I have absolutely no interest in something like a truce. If I was interested in that prospect, I'd be in the peaceful faction or if I'm not too active, then I could be in the neutral faction. Why would I be in the hostile faction if I wanted a chance to ally with those humans?"

"...In a few years—"

"A war will break out concerning the entire world, yes, yes."

Kai clenched his fists.

"Then why aren't you trying to do anything to stop it?!"

Gusion's glare became even more fierce but Kai stood his ground. He slowly lowered his arm and stood up from his throne. Then, he took a step towards Kai.

"Do you think..."

Another step.

"That us demons..."

Two more steps.

"Will be defeated?"

Gusion took just five steps, but Kai was already kneeling on the ground.

"If you can see the future... then you already know!"

Kai talked with grit teeth. It was hard to talk and it was even harder to remain upright.

"Know of what?"

Gusion asked, as if there wasn't anything he knew that would give him any concern.

"The Fallen Hero!"

Hearing Kai's shout, Gusion scoffed.

"He may have been a hero of the past, but what has that got to do with me? Am I as weak as my predecessors?"

"You don't know the truth...!"

Why was it that Gusion couldn't understand the urgency of the situation? Kai knew, the Gods knew, and conversely, so should the demons and Devils. Yet, why did he act so unaffected?

"..."

At that moment, Kai came to a realization.

"Duke Gusion, I've heard that you know the future."

"Indeed, and so?"

"You don't know everything, do you?"

For the first time since Kai entered, the pressure that was weighing on his body disappeared. Gusion looked at him silently—no longer glaring, but still showing animosity.

"Did one of the other rulers put you up to this?"

After just a few seconds of respite, Kai's body crashed onto the floor.

"Agh...!"

Gusion was staring at Kai with frightening eyes, as if he was just waiting for the chance to kill him.

"The only way that you could find out the limits of my abilities would be if someone had told you. Speak, who sent you?"

With a motion of his hand, Gusion lifted Kai up and summoned spears of water to surround him. One of the spears then suddenly disappeared and at the same time, blood spurted out of Kai's shoulder.

Kai winced in pain.

The spear that went through his shoulder was covered with his blood. Pain was something Kai was exposed to all the time, and he had quite the high tolerance for it. But, tolerance just meant he was more resistant, not that he was immune.

In the current situation where he isn't fighting a battle, there wasn't enough adrenaline in his body to block out all of the pain.

A few seconds after the spear pierced his shoulder, smoke began to rise from his wound and in just a brief moment, it completely healed itself. The clothes that Kai wore still had a hole on both ends, but his skin looked like it wasn't touched at all.

"...You're not a human."

Gusion looked at Kai in a different light.

'He doesn't have knowledge about that either?'

It wasn't a fact that Kai shared with everyone, but it was true that he made no moves to hide his blood. If Gusion managed to see his battle with the Immortal or the Blind Swordsman, he should be able to tell that Kai wasn't a human. After all, no human would be able to survive on the injuries he suffered during those battles.

Hell, even with his vampire blood, he only managed to barely survive those attacks.

Gusion looked at Kai in a new light.

"...I'll hear out your terms. And, in exchange, tell me about your blood."

After lowering Kai's body and dispersing the spears, Gusion walked back to his throne.

There was one thing that demons had in common with every other sentient race—curiosity. Humans are curious creatures, who try to do things they don't normally do in the name of adventure or a better life. The many inventions that had appeared throughout human history were all proof.

The demons were no exception to curiosity as even if they lived longer and were more powerful than humans, they were still living beings that seeked comfort and could die.

Kai thought about it for a moment. It was obvious that Gusion was curious about him, but he wouldn't ally with the humans for such a simple matter. Though an irregularity was a spectacle to be observed, missing out on seeing them isn't a loss.

"...Three months."

Kai raised three of his fingers.

"Within three months, I will set up a meeting between the strongest of the demons. I would like you to attend that meeting then."

It was nearly an impossible task, considering that it had taken him more than a month to meet with a high-ranking member of the hostile faction on this continent.

However, he didn't want to spend more time on this continent more than necessary. After all, there was someone waiting for him at home.

Amelia.

Kai's heart ached just thinking about her current condition. Vampires had nearly the same physiological aspects as a human. Meaning that their pregnancy was around the same time as a human's.

When they fought the Blind Swordsman, it had been around Amelia's third week. He then spent sometime at home and then, it's been a little more than a month since he's arrived at the Demon Continent. She should be around four months by now. With three months to set a meeting, and most likely, another month to settle everything else, he would have a month to spare.

It was just enough time to make it if she were to end up conceiving early.

But, while he was worried about Amelia, he was more worried about their child.

Kai was born of a Demon and an Angel who had turned human, his mana went on a rampage and nearly killed him. His sister was in the same situation, but since she was a girl, her blood was a lot more pure than his. Now, she was stuck in a coma until her body could adapt to it.

If Amelia were just any vampire, it wouldn't matter. But, she had the purest bloodline in their race, the blood of the Primogenitor.

The Primogenitor was an entity that could contest with Gods and Devils.

If their child were to inherit that blood...

Kai shuddered at the thought.

Gusion leaned on his arm once again.

"If your secret satisfies me, I shall grant your wish. I give my word."

That was enough for Kai. He began to tell Gusion about his blood—but concealed his parents among other things.

"Hey, Azrael..."

Akane was hugging her knees. She was balled up on her bed.

"You know, Kai is a really, really nice person. When we were young, he took care of me every step of the way. When he came back super strong, I couldn't believe it. He was strong before, but he became stronger than the Clan Master at the time!"

Akane buried her head deeper into her legs.

"But, I've done nothing for him... In the end, all I've been doing is take everything he's given me with a smile on my face. Even now, he's trying to respond to my wishes of wanting to save you."

Then, Akane became silent. It was only after a few seconds did she begin to talk again.

"I know. He's doing it because he wants to, but... he always looks so sad. Sometimes, he goes back to his old self, like when he's with us, but I can still see him struggling to rest everyday."

Kai had told Akane about the future, and everything that happened during her disappearance.

"...Do you think I'll be able to become useful to him someday?"

Akane waited.

"You're right... I guess I shouldn't be thinking like this. Nn. Okay, I'll do that."

Just as she finished talking with Azrael, Akane sensed a familiar presence appear at the door. She looked at it and saw Kai, there was some tearing on his clothes, but otherwise, he looked fine.

"Kai."

Akane gestured for him to come closer.

"What is it?"

Kai was about to do his daily routine but as soon as he neared Akane, she opened her arms as if asking for a hug. He didn't know what to do, until she got impatient and embraced him. He had to crouch down so Akane held his head against her bosom.

"Rest."

"...I've got things I need to do."

"Kai..."

Akane made sure to sound a little teary. Kai couldn't refuse her wishes anymore after that.

She made him lay down on the bed beside her and after wrapping her arms around him tight to make sure he wouldn't leave, she began to sing a lullaby. It was a lullaby that Kai her mother had always sung for her whenever she felt troubled sleeping. Though it had been a long time since her mother had sang it for her, the song was still engraved in her mind.

In the end, Kai gave in to his urges and slept. It was one of the most hectic, yet peaceful days he had spent in the last couple of months.

"As expected of a childhood friend."

Akane chuckled and soundly slept while holding him from behind.