With his two bright red eyes, the only thing visible inside that darkness behind the cloak, the figure scanned the boy intensively who clearly showed signs of anxiety and was on his guard. Then it uttered.

"...Edward Osborne...born on the 14th of December ten years ago under the star of the Enchanter....possesses a strong affinity with magic but only discovers his talent after meeting with....Alastor. Interesting! But judging from the brief time you spent together, I am sure he won't miss you that much..."

"What? How do you know who I am?" yelled the boy.

"It doesn't matter. You will be gone soon anyway. Let me free you from this curse!"

"Don't you dare think that I will do whatever you want! "

With a single swing of his small arm, Edward created a powerful wind blade capable of cutting anything on its path toward the mystery man.

"Why do they always resist even when they know that they are going to die anyway?" the figure muttered. A dark smoke appeared around the stranger before forming a large obsidian scythe with a huge curvy razor-sharp blade. Wielding it with ease, the figure swung his scythe at light speed and slashed the wind blade in two, letting them cutting down the trees behind him.

But just before the shadow could react, Edward has teleported himself next to him, lunging his flaming fist to the figure's face. "Eat this!" The attack was at point blank. There was no way the shadow could do anything to avoid it. A simple and rather straightforward attack it might seem but quite difficult to execute. The user needed to be able to control the flame around his hand without letting the flame damaging himself. This technique required a very high level of concentration and would normally be available only for those who have mastered the art of magic. The attack itself would result in an explosion upon impact, setting the opponent of fire while Edward could redirect the force released by the blast toward his opponent. In other words, it was equivalent to take on a flaming cannonball fired at point blank that would normally kill anyone.

Yet, something felt wrong. The heat he felt from his flame has disappeared. Instead, his hand was cold freezing in such a way that it was let out in the open during a snowstorm. Furthermore, the boy could not feel any impact at all, as if he has missed.

He didn't. He saw it hit. Or at least that was what Edward thought he saw until he realized that his fist has actually passed right through the stranger without doing anything to him. It was just like the shadow was never there. And was his hand frozen, covered in a thin layer of ice, when it touched him?

"You...what did you do?" the boy, holding his frozen hand, spoke in surprised.

"What a delicious soul! So pure and warm! I was right to choose you for my collection after all. With such a wondrous soul, you will make a fine Reaper." The figure stated in a joyful tone. "Now, come!"

A skeleton hand poked out of the dark cloak and reached out to Edward, catching his frozen arm as it began to pull the boy back to the figure.

"Do not resist, young Edward! I promise I will make this as painless as possible."

"I will not submit to you." Using his other hand, Edward shot a fireball at the ghost, setting it on fire for a moment. However it did not last long as the flame was quickly extinguished. No matter how much he fired at him, nothing seemed to work as they either passed right through him or ended up being frozen in place before disappearing. "Why...? Why don't my attacks work?"

"You are strong, Edward, the strongest I have met so far. And you have so much potential. But unfortunately for you, I cannot die. It is not fair but you will have to forgive me. After all, I cannot deny my nature." The voice gently spoke.

"No! I will not die here. I have to find Tasha." The boy struggled with all his might, to no avail.

"If that's what you want, I can kill her too. That way, you two will be together forever."

"NO! Don't you touch her! Leave her alone!" Upon hearing the threat, Edward struggled even harder. The skeleton hand has its grip firmly on his so it would only hurt him more if he tried to move that violently. But he didn't care about his own pain.

"Why do you insist on hurting yourself? It won't make a difference. Don't you prefer to just slip away in peace rather than to endure the pain of death?"

"Let me go! You don't know anything about me." Edward exclaimed in anger.

"But I do, Edward. I know everything about you. From the time you hid that squirrel in your room from your parents when you were seven to how you feel about ....Tasha....Tasha...hummm...I see...it was that girl in the alley!" the figure uttered in awe. Somehow, it was able to see the image of Tasha overflowing inside the boy's memories. Even during his fight with his life at risk, it was all he could think of. The desire to see her again kept him alive, made him stronger and pushed him to go forward.

"You know Tasha? Where is..." the boy, upon hearing it, shouted at the figure.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a silver haired woman jumped down from above between the two and cut down the skeleton arm, freeing Edward from its grasp. Chaining her attack by unleashing a furious streak of sword dances, the woman was able to push the stranger, making him taking a few meters back from Edward. Then another woman came down behind the boy and helped him standing up as she stood in front of him, pulling out her twin daggers.

The first woman, silver haired with pale skin, wore a black tricorne and suit. Under this soothing moonlight, her alluring beauty was expressed even more with her crimson lips. Wielding two silver swords on both hands, she blocked the figure's attempt to take the boy skilfully while managing to keep him at bay.

The second woman, with hair as dark as night, had one of her eyes concealed by her hair. Slight of shorter stature than the first woman, she didn't seem less deadly using her two daggers and support spell from behind to help her comrade.

After a few exchanges of skills, even though none of the attack really did anything against the ghost as the blades simply passed through him, the table has turned against it.

"You...if only I could...Fine! You win this time!" the dark figure dissipated into a dark mist before vanishing from the scene.

With the danger passed, Edward could finally breathe normally. He didn't know these two women but their skills have left in stunned during the entire fight. If not for them, he would most likely have died.

"Who are you?" Edward asked the two strangers who have just saved his life. The entire time, they had their back on him, making him unable to see their faces clearly. So he decided to come closer to them, to expression his gratitude to his saviours.

Slowly turning back, the woman revealed her beauty, making the boy skip a heartbeat for a second as she gave off a gentle yet devious smile.

"The name is Maria. A pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

* * *

"This is troubling..." A displeased Alastor muttered as he strolled around the castle's halls in deep thoughts.

Since the discussion with his royal guards, the boy has been trying to figure out a way to get to Oros as quick as possible. But so far, nothing has turned out yet. Flying there was not an option as he could not maintain the spell for a few days straight without rest. Furthermore, Stella could not fly like him so that option was eliminated. He could use a boat but based on what the others told him, getting there by boat would be practically impossible. The continent was constantly surrounded by storms created by a powerful spell of the dragons to keep out intruders. Only someone who had the permission of the dragon council could enter safely. As for swimming.....he was not an idiot to think that could work. And so Alastor found himself in quite a predicament, unable to move on. It was why he decided to go around peeking at various things. Just like a book author, he might be able to come up with something to solve this situation.

As he passed by a large glass window facing the garden, Alastor could hear the laughing of children coming from there. It was weird because for the entire time he was here, he wasn't aware that there were any children in the castle. Could it be someone's kids coming to see their parents? He didn't know much about the family situation of his retainers so he had no idea who could they be? Though, Alastor thought it would be funny to see Mephisto or Naberius' kids, to see how they behaved around their own. Curious about who they were, Alastor decided to take a peek outside. Already the large figure of Naberius has met his sight. But who were those two small kids with him? A boy and a girl it seemed, with the girl holding a round blueish thing close to her chest. The image of Alice came to his mind as he remembered Alice used to hold something blue like that.

"...Is that Azureus? And those two kids...they are not demons...they are humans."

That was strange. How come there were two human kids wandering around in Ragna? This certainly has caught Alastor's interest as he decided to jump down the window and called out to the group. Hearing something landing behind them, Naberius turned back, only to see his lord landing perfectly on two foot like a feather.

"Alastor? What are you doing here?" asked the beastman.

"Just wandering around. What about you? Who are those kids?" inquired the boy.

"Oh them? They are sent here by Empress Morrigan as part of the Discovery Accord. Me and Azureus are just showing them around a bit." Naberius answered.

Alastor was surprised. The Accord between Ragna and Valhalla only stated that citizens of Ragna would be sent to Valhalla so people could learn more about demons and get used to their presences. However, nothing about Valhalla sending people to Ragna was mentioned. This was because Alastor thought no one would actually voluntarily come to the demonic continent, not when it was known to be feared by most. And Morrigan could not force anyone to go there as it might displease some people. Yet, the presences of these two kids could change everything. It meant that there were people willing to make peace and actually trusted the demons to protect their kids.

"I see....That's reassuring to hear." Turning to the two fidgeting kids behind Naberius, Alastor smiled brightly at them. He still needed to be careful to hide his true identity as the demon lord. Right now, he was Alastor Magnolia, prince and heir of the Valhalla Throne. Luckily, he has told the others about that so they knew how to behave around him in front of others. "Howdy! I am Alastor. Nice to meet you!"

"He..llo! Are you the prince?" asked the boy.

"Oh? You know about me?"

"Our father told us about you, saying that you might be here, your Highness." Replied the girl.

"Really? Who is your father, if I may ask?"

"His name is Sinclair. He is big and round. He works for your mother, Her Majesty." The boy said.

"Dan, you have to call him your Highness. He is the prince, your prince." The girl pinched the boy's cheek. Either she was the big sister or a very dominating little sister as the boy quickly apologized for his rudeness immediately and did not dare retort back against her. "Your Highness, we apologize for our late presentation. We are Dan and Melia of the house Sinclair. It's an honour to make your acquaintance your Majesty!" Melia bowed in a graceful manner, proof of her maturity or at least knowledge of the royal formalities, unlike her brother Dan who has lowered his head in an awkward manner, making the scene quite funny to watch.

"No need to formalities. We are all roughly the same age so you can call me Alastor for short." Said the demon lord,

"But..."

"This is an order from the prince!"

"Of course! If that's what you desire, your...I mean Alastor!"

Turning his attention to the blue thing in Melia's arms, Alastor stared at it before asking his question.

"Where are you going?" Alastor asked the slime.

"Today's subject is to study the wildlife of Ragna. At least that's what Martel wrote in the schedule. We intend to go to the southern coast first then up to the north. That way, they will be able to see most of everything and also seeing the different landscape we have." Replied Azureus in a joyful tone.

"Sound interesting. You mind if I accompany you?"

"Of course not! The more the merrier. But I thought you have to go to Oros?"

"I need to find a way to get there first. But since nothing comes up so far, I decide it may be a good idea to take a look outside. Perhaps inspiration or even a solution might come up." Said Alastor.

"Seem reasonable enough. Alright, matey, let us discover the wonderful sceneries of this land!"

"YEAH!" shouted the kids. Perhaps it was due to their young age but these two children have not shown any sign of fear toward Naberius who would normally make a man fleeing for his life with just a look. A possible explanation would be because they were young, the kids have not yet been subject to the social standards created by the adults, allowing them to have a view clear of all prejudices toward the demon kind.

.....

Within the first hour of travelling through the forest, the kids were able to see so many different monsters and demons wandering around. Needless to say, none of the dangerous creatures dared to do anything with two royal demon guards the demon lord himself around.

Upon passing through a small pond, the group encountered an eight heads creature rising from the water, shrieking a powerful roar.

"And here, we have a magnificent hydra in its natural habitat. With its eight heads white sharp teeth, the creature is able to tear apart anything from armour to stone....What?" Azureus sensed something tapping on him. It was the demon lord with a scary look.

"Are you out of your mind? You are scaring them." Alastor spoke in a low tone, pointing at the two kids who were hiding behind Naberius.

"Oh...sorry! Ehem...what I mean is the hydra really likes children, especially those with good behaviour. Go on, pat its head!" the slime told Melia and Dan, who reluctantly walked toward the beast. To their surprises, the hydra slowly moved its heads down to the kids' level and let them touch it quite easily without showing any sign of aggression.

"Hey, you sure about this? Isn't a hydra too dangerous for the kids?" whispered Alastor while still paying attention to the children, just in case they needed his intervention.

"Of course it's safe! I raised this hydra since its birth myself so it won't attack anyone I don't want it to." Answered the slime. After seeing Alastor' surprised reaction, Azureus decided to tell him the whole thing. "What? You think a hydra is just going to magically pop out of nowhere the exact moment we pass by? In this small pond? It's not even big enough to be its toilet."

"So you place it here? Did you do the same thing for all the monsters we have seen so far? Because I don't remember seeing any of them last time I was in this forest." Alastor questioned.

"That's the fruit of my works of yesterday. I had to place strategically each of them in one place, gave them a script to follow and made sure that they will stick to it. How do you think we can show them anything if there is nothing here?"

"....This whole thing is a lie." Alastor uttered.

"Not really! The kids are simply....very very lucky to have stumbled upon all the legendary monsters and demons in one single morning. At least, that's how the story will be told. Come one! Cheer up! Don't let the kids know or they will be utterly disappointed." The slime commented.

"I suppose so...Well, they will surely have something to tell their friends and families upon their return. Many adventurers spent their entire lives searching for a hydra and here are two random kids stumbling across one right off the bat inside a pond...It will make a good joke."

"Hehe you finally understand." The slime grinned.

.....

Exiting the forest, the group could hear the sound of waves clashing down on the coast of Ragna. The beach was finally on sight. Seeing this scenery, it made Alastor remember the time when he decided to go on an adventure with Stella, finding a coast town, razing it to ashes and rescuing young Edward and his maid Tasha. So many things have happened since then. He himself has changed a lot, not just in term of strength but also in personality. A sense of nostalgia began to take over the boy as he reminisced about the past. Until Azureus' loud voice awoke him from his contemplation.

"Are you hungry? Let's go fishing!"

"You didn't bring any food?" asked Alastor.

"Food is all around us. Why the need to bring them?"

".....*sigh*" giving up on reasoning with the slime, Alastor decided to just sit down and relax his mind, watching Azureus teaching the kids how to fish. In order to go to a deep water for more chance of catching fish, the slime has guided the kids to a wooden bridge going from the shore leading toward the sea for a hundred meters where the water was much deeper: a perfect spot for fishing. Where did those rods come from anyway? Based on what happened so far, Alastor was sure that everything was set up at this point. Perhaps even the fishes would just come automatically to the bait, just for the sake of pleasing the kids.

"Funny how things become, right?" Naberius took a seat next to Alastor on the hot sand under this bright sunlight. "I never thought there would be a day for me to play around with human kids like this. Time has surely changed."

"Do you hate it?" asked Alastor.

"I used to...but now when I see those two...I don't know. We adults are old and hard headed, Alastor. It's difficult for us to change what we have always been taught, to change the way we lived until now. But the future is not for us but for children like you and those kids. You will be the ones who will forge it to your wills. We are merely relics of the past. It's no longer up to us to decide anything anymore."

"...Do you have kids?"

"....Not anymore..." Naberius answered in a sad tone.

"I am sorry for asking...That was insensitive on my part."

"It's alright. It was a long time ago anyway. But enough of gloomy things, how about you go enjoying yourselves with those your age instead of staying here with an old man like me?" Naberius smiled.

"I am too old for that kind of thing."

"You are still a kid you know? Barely one or two years older than them."

"But not a normal one. I no longer have that luxury of playing around anymore."

"...I am sorry" apologized the beastman.

"Why are you sorry? About what?" asked Alastor.

"Your childhood, your life, were ruined by us adults. Every misfortune that has happened to you so far, whoever caused it...I want to apologize in their stead. I know it doesn't mean anything at this point but that's just something I want to say."

"...Thanks...But you don't have to be sorry about it. My misfortunates allowed me to become what I am today. It's also thanks to it that I was able to meet the love of my life, to have a new mother, friends and so on. And I am grateful for that...despite what it was worth."