Dorian opened his mouth and yawned his heart out. “Man, sitting in this wagon for just a day made me lazy already.”

Ferris ignored Dorian while Ryu never strayed his eyes on Cecily’s carriage. They were arranged in a group. Ryu, Ferris, and Dorian were on the same wagon with some mercs while the soldiers took up horses in the front and back.

Three wagons were carrying the mercenaries and only one carriage to where Cecily, Murk, and Agatha reside.

“So tell me about this demon and dark elf that’s been hunting the Princess.” Dorian prompt his head on his palm, elbow resting on his knees as he leaned at Ryu. “I heard they’re strong.”

Ryu didn’t answer.

“Well, coming from a one horn demon, it’ll take like four C-class mercenaries to defeat one of them. As for the dark elf, I bet Valij and the other merc can take care of him.”

Ryu didn’t speak, and Ferris just closed her eyes shut. Too bored to be bothered by Dorian’s lame attempt of flashing out information and too sleepy to care at the other mercenaries’ glares.

Dorian skimmed his jawline. “With just two enemies, having this many soldiers and mercenaries is overkill.” He whistled and placed his arms behind his back. “But . . . if they’d call for reinforcement, then that’s a deferent story.”

Dorian palmed his knees and said in a whispering voice as he leaned to Ryu, “But more importantly, shouldn’t you two be sitting inside the carriage? Since your Princess servants and all.”

Ferris opened her eyes, and her red scarlet orbs blazed in threat. “It seems to me that you want to sit inside that carriage. I won’t mind sending your head there if you want.”

“Ek!” Dorian placed a hand on his throat. “W-why are you always grumpy?”

“Got a problem with that?” Ferris snapped.

Dorian raised his hands in surrender. “No. It’s just that you shouldn’t be full of hate at such a young age.”

Ferris huramp. “Mind your own business.”

Ryu looked over the sky when flying creatures shrieked. It was starting to get dark.

“I think we’ll be camping in the forest again,” said Dorian, and he stood to his feet. “I’m going to catch some bore while it’s not yet dark.”

Ryu opened his mouth, but with a whoosh, Dorian was gone.

Ferris opened his mouth, but after another gush of wind, Ryu jumped off the carriage and went hunting with Dorian.

Ferris sighed. It became a competition. Well, as long as Ryu was happy.

But . . .

Looking over at their companions in the carriage, Ferris smiled at them. Her burnt skin stretched, and some dead flakes flew from her head. The mercs looked away. Most covered their nose in disgust.

She entertained herself with the humans’ agony. They either want to jump from the wagon or kill her, but they couldn’t do anything about it since she was Cecily’s servant. Watching their constipated faces was the only relief of her boredom.

As the day turned to night, everyone camp near the lake. Dorian was always sleeping on top of a tree, saying it was comfortable and the safest place to be. The mercs created their groups and laid their tent near Cecily’s while the soldiers scattered, protecting the Princess tent in a circle.

Ryu and Ferris slept under a big tree like always. The scattered leaves their bedding and the roost their pillows.

After a hefty dinner, Ryu stretched his muscles before he clawed the barks to relieve the stress from his fingers. When he closed his eyes, sleep consumed him before Ferris even had the chance to say good night.

The two moons were miles apart, and the hour ticked to its darkest night where all fell under the spell of sleep.

. . .

. . .

Ryu’s eyes flung open when his nose twitched. He looked around and found Ferris snoring beside him with a droll on her lips.

Slow and as quiet as he could, he got to his feet and obverse his surroundings. They were creatures making rickety sounds and the lull of the harmless monsters lurking in the deep lake.

Ryu inhaled the scent lingering in the air. It smells like . . . fruits . . . rotten fruits and milk.

Ryu glanced over at Cecily’s tent before he peeked at Ferris’s sleeping figure. Without making a sound, he sprinted into the forest.

The smell was stinging his nose as he drew closer to the other side of the forest. It was like a pinkish haze lingering in the air as he followed its trails.

Ryu skidded to a stop, and before him were dense trees and bushes, the smell was overpowering from the other side. Whatever was hidden behind the thick scrubs was surely . . .

“What are you doing?”

Ryu’s hand that was about to push the bushes to the side halted in mid-air. He didn’t have to turn to know that it was Ferris.

Did she teleport? Ryu almost patted his head for remembering that term. There was a particular item that lets you teleport––

“Hmmm?!” Ferris appeared before Ryu, and he stumbled back when her ugly face zoomed to his. He almost inhaled some of her dried skin falling from her face when he gasped in surprise.

Ferris puffed her cheeks and asked again, “Well?”

Ryu grunted and pointed at the bushes. “There something . . . in there.”

Ferris raised a brow and turned to the bushes. Ryu’s heart pounded as Ferris’s hand weaved the shrubs to the side and what stumbled his view was an area of empty grass surrounded by dense foliage.

“That . . . can’t be.” Ryu inhaled a mouthful of air.

“Its . . . gone,” he mumbled.

Ferris yawned and rubbed her eyes. She faced Ryu with fists against her waist. “It’s either you’re dreaming and sleepwalking or blind.”

Ferris waved her hand to the empty grass. “There’s nothing there.”

Ryu titled his head.

“Don’t give me that.” Ferris jabbed a finger at the campsite. “Go back and sleep.”

Ryu grumbled, but the threat in Ferris’s gaze made him compelled. He swallowed a growl of protest and, in all fours, raced back into the campsite.

Seeing Ryu’s shadow disappeared in the darkness, Ferris released a sigh. She then flicked a hand, and the barrier she placed widened, encompassing her in its range.

“If you’re going to do this kind of thing, at least put a barrier to hide your scent. It stench.” Ferries faced Agatha and the delirious soldiers in the once empty grass.

There were more than twenty soldiers –– their soldiers, laying on the hard ground naked with eyes at the back of their head, saliva and semen all over their faces. Some were fucking each other, unaware that it was their fellow men they’re having sex. Agatha only needed their essence. She didn’t care how she’d do it.

Agatha stood to her height. Breasts bounced as she walked. She tilted her hips to the side and smirked. “You want to protect his innocence . . . How cute.”

“Cute?”

Agatha’s tongue slipped from her mouth, and licked the cum from the side of her cheeks. “How long till you can protect him from this tainted world, I wonder.”

“None of your business.” Ferris swept the soldiers and said, “Does the old man know you’re having an orgy?”

Agatha chuckled. “Who do you think ask me to put my pets in their head?”

The pets she talked about were little creatures the demons used to control someone’s mind. It worked for low-level beings like their soldiers.

“Do you really have to empty them dry to put your pets inside their head?”

Agatha shot a look at the soldiers. “I say they’re happy to release all their pent-up frustration. Tomorrow they’ll be good as new.”

“Good as puppets.”

Agatha laughed. “I don’t care. The old man certainly doesn’t care as long as they’ll protect the brat. Rather . . .”

Agatha bent, breasts dangling and nipples erect as she looked Ferris in the eyes. “I’m more curious about you. You’re a demon, but you’re not acting like one.”

Agatha’s eyes dilated. “I sensed your thirst for blood, but you also wanted to protect that boy . . . you’re full of contradictions.”

Ferris’s scarlet pupils turned to slit, and this put a smile on Agatha’s face.

“Sometimes, I wonder . . .” Agatha straightened her back and swayed towards the soldiers, “. . . is your other half really human?”