Queen Of Adis

*Adis immediately stood in front of *Haru and shielded her from the prying eyes of the new villain. His face was ferocious but he had to observe extreme prudence and complete mind control to prevent himself from exposing his malevolent aura.

If this man called Erebos got a whiff of his dark energy, he would know who he was. And if that happens, tracking down the past Haru would be easy for him, too. He could not allow that without warning his other self first.

This evil creature was no ordinary. How could he see them when he was not even a seer? He needed to speak with Elior at once.

He urgently whispered to *Haru, "Wife, you better perform that time skip and make it fast. I have a feeling he will lock us here if we won't make our move now!"

"Huh?" *Haru jolted as she woke up from her daze.

The new persona of Pier was giving her a scare like no other. When she saw the villain stood up and quickly walked towards them, she shut her eyes and buried her face on *Adis' broad back, forcing her vision to work.

Before they completely disappeared, she faintly heard Erebos clicked his tongue when the breathtaking view was suddenly gone. "Tsk! There goes my beautiful doll."

"My lord, is there anything wrong?" The blond demoness inquired at his weird action.

"Nah! It was just a prying but adorable ghost. How troublesome, though. She has a disgusting black dog with her." His eyes changed color and shone deviously. He had a feeling that it won't be the last time he would see the attractive amber light.

Meanwhile, due to panic, *Haru wasn't able to envision her next time skip and just focused on escaping from the man's disturbingly possessive stare. When she slowly opened her eyes, she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw verdant terrain and night sky.

"Thank heavens, we are finally out!" she happily exclaimed.

The two will-o'-wisp seemed to be delighted that she was feeling okay now. They even floated around her and brightly glowed their flames to entertain her.

She giggled and motioned for the golden orbs to give her a hug again. She failed to notice her husband's serious expression while looking at a distance. "*Adis, look at these two little fireballs. Aren't they charming?"

When she did not hear any response, she turned around to look at her devil. That's where she realized that he was watching someone from their location. She squinted her eyes to see the man's face who was dragging his feet like a living corpse. Then she gasped when she figured who it was.

*Adis glanced at her and placed his index finger on his lips. "Sshh, come closer to me, Haru." He guided her to hide her small frame behind a huge trunk in case Erebos appear out of nowhere.

Then he positioned himself behind her and shifted his attention to the two wisps. "I told you to stay in your mother's embrace, didn't I? Go back inside and don't reveal your golden flames without my word." He softly reprimanded like a father to his mischievous children, making sure that his wife wouldn't hear him.

Even without a direct confirmation, his intuition was telling him that the two fire orbs were his babies and were protecting their mother just like what he ordered them to do. And his intuition has never failed him even once.

The wisps' light flickered. *Adis heard them cooed as if they were reasoning at him. When he narrowed his eyes at them, they immediately rubbed their warm body to his cheeks before obediently hid inside *Haru's cloak, totally afraid to be scolded any further.

Oblivious to what's happening behind her, *Haru asked with her brows furrowed. "How come the time skip didn't work?"

"It actually worked. But your mind might have only wished for you to escape the earlier situation that it only skipped an hour or two in the future." He assured her as he rested his hands on her shoulders. "But it's okay, it seems like this will be very interesting. Look..."

After fleeing from the awful exhibition of his mother and Erebos inside the cavern, Alfred walked aimlessly on the edge of a cliff as though he wished for nothing but to end his hellish life with just one wrong step. When he finally stopped, he gazed up at the starless sky. Dawn was about to break, and yet his heart could not see the promise of a new day.

"I know that I am a sinner and a coward. I have bitten many hands that fed me, including the prince who taught me that I am worthwhile." He looked down at his own hands but his vision suddenly blurred from the tears that welled up in his eyes. Then, those same tears eventually touched his palms. "But for once... I really wanted to save someone."

His knees touched the ground with a loud thud, but the deep void he was feeling in his heart numb him from feeling any physical pain anymore. He let out an agonizing howl as if someone was mercilessly stabbing his heart. "I-I'm so sorry... I didn't mean it! I swear I didn't mean it. I'm so f.u.c.k.i.n.g stupid! Can anybody tell me... how can I break free from this cruelty?!"

He banged his head on the stony ground, again and again, hoping to find forgiveness from doing so. With a hoarse voice that filled with grief, he called out, "Someone... please help me..."

"You seem to really like this man." A familiar voice came to answer his plea.

"..."

Alfred refused to respond and harshly wiped his tears with the back of his hands. The man in front of him may have the same voice, stance, and face as Pier, but he knew that the kind young master was no longer there. Now, everything about him was just a lie.

As if Erebos was not affected by his indifference, he just shrugged his shoulders and walked toward him with his hands in his pockets. He stopped a couple of steps away and flashed him a smile that the real Pier showed him once.

"I am the angel of the abyss. I once lived in heaven before they threw me down and bound me to the eternal darkness of hell. But even still, my capability hasn't dwindled. If anything, I became even more powerful by s.u.c.k.i.n.g those corrupted souls. No one can help you, but me... And you know that."

"Why would you help me? What about my mother?" Alfred cautiously asked, afraid to trust anyone anymore.

Erebos scoffed, "She's just a mere servant to me, just like you. But I am a reasonable employer. Since you do all the dirty work, I want to reward you. However, I am just curious. You seem to be a good guy... or used to be a good one. So why are you taking her orders? Is this your way of showing your familial love?"

After a moment of silence, he finally revealed the truth. "I... have a little sister. She's also a half-blood but we have a different father. She is seven years younger than me and we are very close. My mother abandoned her right after she gave birth. I secretly brought her up and hid her existence. B-but... I was too naive to even think that... I could hide her forever."

"And one dreadful day, your mother found her and asked you to avenge her pitiful fate, in exchange for your sister's safety," Erebos finished his story. When Alfred clenched his jaws and nodded, he added, "What a typical tale in the name of revenge. She's a lying bitch, though. Are you even sure that your sister is alive?"

"She is. I just talked to her today, hence I was in town... and accidentally met young master Pier."

"But for how long?"

"..."

Erebos nodded in understanding. "Well, it's true that you are stupid to even bring this body to your mother despite her reputation of being a great healer in the olden days. But I guess you were left with no choice since a nobody like you won't have a penny to buy even a simple herb to cure this man's broken ribs and stop the internal bleeding.

"Ah, but I have to thank you as well for bringing me this body. So let me make a deal with you." He leaned down and extended his hand to help him stand up. "If you want freedom and love, I can give it to you. I can even help you protect your sister. And if you can summon my real body back to this world, I will revive this man you call Pier."

Alfred shook his head vehemently. "How can you do that? You know the rule. Once a life force was s.u.c.k.e.d out by a demon, he won't be the same again."

The fallen angel sneered at his ignorance. "Do you know why I was kicked out of heaven? Because I am not just powerful. I also have this," he pointed at his head to emphasize his brilliant mind. "My role is to defy whatever is already set in stone. I can do a lot of things that even the gods can't do. However, I need my real body to recover my true power.

"Help me and I will surely grant your heart's d.e.s.i.r.e."