"It's so dark in here… These bushes are making it impossible to see what's ahead."
Five figures moved silently through the depths of the forest. The faint moonlight was the only thing guiding their path as the seven moons shimmered high above the night sky. Beneath that pale glow, the five demons continued forward through the darkness.
Suddenly, Yeld spoke in an irritated tone.
"Yina, would you stop complaining already? We're almost there."
Yina clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Huh? Yeld, shut your mouth. I'm not interested in hearing your nonsense."
Yonk glanced around before speaking.
"Can both of you calm down for a second? More importantly… why are we sneaking around like this?"
Yina stopped walking and turned toward him.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"We could've just flown here."
Yirina looked at him with approval.
"At least someone here knows how to use their brain properly."
Before anyone could move, Yokzo interrupted.
"But if we do that, we'll have to remove these rings. And the moment we take them off… they'll know we're here."
Yirina slowly raised her hand toward her face and began removing her ring.
"What makes you think he doesn't already know we came here?"
Yokzo sighed before removing his own ring as well.
"You're right. He's far too cunning. We should stay careful."
As Yina pulled her ring off, she muttered,
"Leaving Peld behind… that wasn't a mistake, right? He would've made the perfect bait."
Yirina replied calmly,
"That woman never trusted us from the start. That's why she imprisoned Peld away from us. It's not like we couldn't defeat her… our luck simply wasn't on our side back then."
Yina frowned in confusion.
"And what even was that strange mission she gave us? Bringing someone's hair… what is she even planning to do with it?"
Yirina thought quietly for a moment before answering,
"From our perspective, we know nothing. But she's a scientist… so it's probably for some experiment."
Yina crossed her arms with an annoyed expression.
"I don't really care about Peld… but he's one of the Demon King's favorites. We can't afford to lose him."
Without another word, dark black wings spread from Yirina's back.
"Enough talking. Let's go."
She shot into the sky, and the other four followed immediately behind her.
The five demons hovered high above the forest while the seven moons glowed brilliantly behind them. A moment later—
BOOM.
They burst forward through the air at terrifying speed.
In barely three seconds, they crossed nearly thirty kilometers of forest before finally stopping once again in the sky.
Yina stared ahead in complete amazement.
"So… this is Demon Lord Roy's city… El-Dorado."
Even in the middle of the night, the city shone brilliantly beneath the moonlight. From distant houses to the roads themselves, everything glimmered as though the entire city had been forged from gold.
Yina rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
"Am I seeing things…? Is this city actually made of gold?"
Unlike the others, Yokzo remained perfectly calm.
"No. The city itself isn't made of gold. A special type of bacteria exists here. It causes anything lifeless—or anything that remains stationary for too long—to glow like gold."
His eyes shifted toward the enormous palace standing above the city.
"There's only one thing here made from real gold."
"The Demon Lord's palace."
The five demons began flying toward the palace.
The entire city felt strangely silent, almost as if nobody truly lived there. Soon, they arrived near the massive palace overlooking the city from atop a hill.
Gigantic walls surrounded it from every direction, and even from outside the gates, the palace radiated a dazzling golden light.
The five landed before the main gate and came to a stop.
A moment later, two figures approached them.
Neither of them were human.
One possessed the head of a buffalo with a massive muscular body, while the other looked mostly human except for the rabbit-like ears protruding from his head.
The three younger demons immediately became cautious.
Then the buffalo-headed man spoke.
"So, you finally arrived. Took you long enough."
The rabbit-eared man crossed his arms.
"He's right. We've been waiting for you for quite some time."
Yina cracked her knuckles loudly.
"You two sure talk a lot. Sounds like you need someone to teach you a lesson."
She stepped forward aggressively, but Yirina quickly stretched her arm out to stop her.
"Enough, Yina. We didn't come here to fight."
Yokzo nodded in agreement.
"Yirina's right. Control your temper. The last thing we want is to become enemies with a Demon Lord."
Yina let out an irritated groan.
"Ahhh… fine. Whatever you say."
The buffalo-headed man turned toward the palace gates.
"Then follow us."
Yirina and Yokzo had been here before, so the sight before them no longer surprised them.
But for Yina, Yeld, and Yonk—this was their first time stepping into the territory of a Demon Lord.
Everything felt new.
Yonk looked around the palace grounds in amazement before speaking to Yeld.
"Yeld… this place is way too huge. And beautiful."
"You're right," Yeld replied while staring at the surroundings. "Even the gardens here are incredible."
Yina overheard them and rolled her eyes.
"Would you two stop talking nonsense already? What's so special about a bunch of flowers—"
Her words suddenly stopped.
Near the lake, under the pale moonlight, countless white roses bloomed beautifully beside the water.
The moment Yina saw them, her eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Wait… those are…!"
She pointed toward them immediately.
"I want one!"
Yirina glanced at her coldly.
"We don't have time for this. Keep moving."
"But those flowers only bloom during a full moon night!" Yina protested desperately.
Yirina simply stared at her in silence.
That alone was enough to make Yina nervous.
"…Fine. Let's go."
Yeld and Yonk quietly laughed to themselves, but the moment Yina glared at them, both instantly fell silent.
Soon, they arrived before the enormous palace doors.
The gates were gigantic.
As they opened, two maids stepped forward and bowed politely to welcome them inside. Both of them possessed a single horn on their foreheads.
Meanwhile, the buffalo-headed man and the rabbit-eared man remained outside.
The five demons followed the maids deeper into the palace.
As they walked through the halls, strange paintings covered the walls—paintings of bizarre creatures and unknown beasts.
Eventually, the maids led them into a massive hall.
Three sofas were arranged neatly inside.
Two large four-seat sofas faced each other, while a single-seat sofa rested between them. Behind that central sofa stood a grand staircase leading upward, though midway it split into two directions—left and right.
Between the stairways hung a massive painting of a man battling a black dragon.
The maids seated the guests before quietly leaving the room.
Yirina and Yokzo sat on one side, while Yina, Yeld, and Yonk sat opposite them.
The room fell silent.
It seemed they were waiting for someone.
After some time, the maids returned and served coffee.
Only after the coffee cups were empty did footsteps echo from the staircase.
A man slowly descended from above.
His hair and beard were completely white, yet he didn't look old at all. Instead, he appeared to be around thirty-five years old.
As he walked down the stairs, he smiled faintly.
"It's been quite some time, Yirina… Yokzo."
Yirina stared directly at him.
"You're right. But we didn't come here to meet you."
The man chuckled softly.
"Oh? You should visit me sometimes too. Men like me are hard to find these days."
Yokzo let out a faint smile.
"You really haven't changed at all."
The man walked toward the sofas.
"What are you saying, Yokzo? I've changed completely. I'm not the same person anymore."
He sat down on the single sofa between them.
Yina watched the entire exchange with growing confusion before finally speaking.
"What exactly is going on here… and who are you?"
The man turned toward her politely.
"Oh, forgive me, young lady. I haven't introduced myself yet."
He placed a hand against his chest.
"My name is Aries."
"The left hand of Demon Lord Roy."
Yeld's eyes widened instantly.
"Aries…? The same Aries who once fought Demon Lord Roy on equal footing? The same one who even battled Demon King Yakoza equally?!"
Aries smiled calmly.
"That was a very long time ago. Two hundred years have already passed since then."
His expression became more relaxed.
"Now both the Demon Lord and the Demon King are far stronger than me."
Yirina suddenly spoke in a cold voice.
"We didn't come here to listen to your useless chatter."
She stood up instantly.
A beautiful sword materialized within her hand and pointed directly toward Aries.
The sword itself was elegant, with a butterfly-shaped hilt glowing faintly beneath the light.
"So tell me," Yirina said coldly.
"Where is the Demon King?"
Despite having a sword pointed at him, Aries remained completely calm.
"Yirina… do you really want to fight right now?"
"You should think carefully first."
Yina, Yeld, and Yonk immediately grew nervous.
Yina stared at Yirina in confusion.
"(What happened to her all of a sudden…? She's always angry, but this time feels different…)"
Yokzo looked toward Yirina calmly.
"Calm down, Yirina. We didn't come here to fight."
Yirina silently looked at him for a moment before making her sword disappear and sitting back down.
Yokzo then turned toward Aries.
"Now answer us honestly. Where is Demon King Yakoza?"
Without hesitation, Aries replied,
"How would I know?"
Yokzo narrowed his eyes.
"Don't lie to us. We know the last message the Demon King received came from Demon Lord Roy."
"And speaking of Roy… where is he?"
For a brief moment, Aries remained silent.
Then finally—
"Fine."
"Demon Lord Roy and Demon King Yakoza are currently in the Underworld."
Everyone looked surprised.
"The Underworld?" Yina muttered. "Why all of a sudden?"
Aries stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"The balance of the Underworld has become unstable recently. That's why both of them had to go personally."
Yokzo frowned slightly.
"The Underworld has remained peaceful for years. What suddenly changed?"
Aries' expression turned serious.
"The reason is… Rangda."
The room instantly fell silent.
Even Yirina's eyes widened slightly.
"Are you joking?" she asked coldly. "Do you even realize whose name you just said?"
Aries looked directly at her.
"Does it seem like I'm joking?"
He leaned back slowly.
"Just like last time, Demon Lord Roy couldn't handle the situation alone."
"That's why he needed Demon King Yakoza's help."
Yokzo remained calm despite the shocking news.
"Then there's nothing more we can do. We can only hope the Demon King is safe."
Yirina placed a hand against her jaw, deep in thought.
"But what is that witch trying to do…?"
"Why would she leave the Underworld and come here?"
Even Aries didn't know the answer.
"I can only guess," he admitted. "But perhaps the angels are involved somehow."
Yirina immediately rejected the idea.
"I highly doubt anyone can control her."
"Especially angels."
She slowly stood up from her seat.
"Whatever the case, we got the information we came for."
"There's no reason to stay here any longer."
The others stood up as well.
Aries also rose from his seat and walked toward Yirina.
"I have one more piece of information."
"It may help you greatly."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded letter before handing it to her.
Yirina took the paper carefully.
"What is this?"
"Read it yourself."
She opened the letter and scanned its contents.
"It's just an address."
Aries stroked his beard again.
"The person you're searching for… can be found there."
A faint smile appeared on Yirina's face.
"You really never change."
"You love interfering in other people's business."
Aries placed a hand dramatically over his chest.
"Well, gathering information is my profession."
Then his gaze shifted toward Yina.
"By the way… your name is Yina, correct?"
Yina looked at him cautiously.
"Yes. Why?"
Aries smiled lightly.
"You may take one of the white roses."
The moment she heard that, a bright smile appeared on Yina's face.
After everything was settled, Yirina spoke once more.
"Let's go."
The five demons turned and began walking away without looking back.
From behind them, Aries called out casually,
"You're welcome to visit me anytime."
Without even turning around, Yirina raised her hand lazily and showed him her middle finger.
Aries burst into quiet laughter.
"That woman…" he muttered with a smile.
"She'll never change."