Morning was approaching in the Risen Kingdom.
At a secluded corner of Bawalia Beach, four people were sitting on the sandy shore.
Those four were Lucifer, Vance, Zyrene, and Mara.
At that moment, Mara and Zyrene rested comfortably in Lucifer's lap. Zyrene gently ground her soft ass against his growing bulge while Mara leaned back against his chest, her thighs spread slightly. Lucifer's hands roamed lazily over their bodies — one slipping under Zyrene's clothes to cup and squeeze her breast, the other sliding between Mara's legs to slowly stroke her already damp pussy.
Even as pleasure clouded their expressions, the two shadow-daughters softly recounted how Vance had used his intelligence to create floating footwear. They described running across the surface of the sea, rushing nonstop toward the Risen Kingdom, and eventually encountering a group of krakens — killing two out of the eight monsters. Soft moans occasionally slipped into their words whenever Lucifer's fingers brushed their sensitive spots.
After that, they continued explaining the recent events involving Vance.
Throughout the entire conversation, Lucifer listened to his shadow-daughters with great patience and interest.
After hearing everything, Lucifer looked toward Vance and said,
"I have a map of the Risen Kingdom.
With its help, we should be able to reach the royal capital, Grimancia, without much difficulty… I've already confirmed that Sir Valdren is being imprisoned inside an underground dungeon there."
"At the moment, the place where we are located is called Bulma Town.
It is an orc tribe stronghold, and the capital of this territory is called Baguta.
At the same time, the ruling orc family here also carries the surname Baguta."
"From here to the royal capital, Grimancia, there is only a single route.
The Risen Kingdom — or rather, this entire continent — is shaped like a semicircular landmass. Except for its northern side, every other side is surrounded by massive mountain ranges, and beyond those mountains lies the Fog Sea."
"First, we'll need to cross Bulma Town. Its borders are connected to the territories of kobold, ogre, and werewolf strongholds.
Beyond that lie the goblin stronghold, the Kameri Barony, and the capital of the Narkul vampire stronghold, Nephtalina.
Both of those territories share their borders directly with Grimancia, the capital stronghold of the Malakar family."
Continuing further, Lucifer said,
"The three of you need to listen carefully to what I'm about to say.
"I don't know the power structure of this place… and I doubt any of you know it either.
Because of that, there's no need for us to take unnecessary risks.
As far as I can estimate, the number of powerful monsters within a barony should be lower compared to duchies, counties, earldoms, and higher-ranked noble territories… and eventually, we'll have to face the Malakar family anyway.
"So, I want the four of us to first cross Bulma Town, then move through Barchilova Barony and afterward the Kameri Barony… because Grimancia begins immediately beyond that point."
"During this journey, we must neither provoke anyone nor allow ourselves to be provoked.
That's why we'll need to rely on concealment and invisibility magic throughout the entire route."
"The moment the four of us arrive in front of the royal palace, Vance, you'll create a commotion outside the palace… while Mara and Zyrene will hide within my shadow."
"After that, I'll stealthily infiltrate the royal palace, because the path leading to the dungeon can only be accessed from inside the palace."
"The moment I enter the dungeon, Mara and Zyrene will neutralize the dungeon guards, and the three of us will rescue Sir Valdren before teleporting back to Vance using teleportation magic."
"And after teleporting once more, we'll return directly to this exact location."
"As for how we're going to take Sir Valdren back to Westirifer… we can think about that later.
Right now, our first priority is rescuing Sir Valdren before this evening."
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Far away in the south, there lay a specifically dark and enormous building... or rather, it should be called a palace.
This dark-colored palace had boundaries and pillars made of pure gold, oozing an aura of royalness from its core.
Inside the palace lay a large royal court room where two thrones stood. One was positioned a step above the other, clearly defining the status of each.
Upon the highest obsidian throne sat a monstrous sovereign whose very presence felt heavy enough to crush the air itself.
His towering figure resembled a fusion of demon, ancient dragon, and demonic wolf, wrapped in regal darkness and divine terror.
Two colossal wings unfurled behind him like curtains of the abyss. Their leathery membranes were black as midnight, yet veins of crimson shimmered through them like molten lava flowing beneath scorched earth. Every slight movement of those wings caused the hall to tremble with an unnatural pressure.
From his skull rose a crown of twisted horns — enormous spiraling structures curving outward and upward like the roots of a cursed world tree. The horns were ridged and jagged. Between them rested a dark golden crown embedded with glowing infernal gemstones, marking him not merely as a monster… but as a king among devils.
His face was terrifyingly inhuman. Pale gray skin stretched tightly over sharp predatory features, while a wicked grin exposed rows of needle-like fangs capable of tearing flesh apart effortlessly. His glowing scarlet eyes burned like twin hellfires in the darkness, radiating cruelty, intelligence, and overwhelming dominance. Looking directly into those eyes would feel as if one's soul were being judged by an ancient god of destruction.
Ancient runes glowed across his muscular body in fiery orange-red light. Those symbols crawled over his chest, arms, and abdomen like living magic seals, pulsing rhythmically as though demonic power itself flowed through his veins. Every rune emitted an ominous glow that illuminated the throne room in flickering crimson.
His armor was forged from black metal trimmed with radiant gold, both elegant and brutal in design. Massive spiked pauldrons rested upon his shoulders, while clawed gauntlets encased his hands like the talons of a predator. The armor bore countless engraved demonic scriptures and battle scars, evidence of endless conquests.
Even while seated upon the throne, his posture radiated supremacy. One clawed hand rested lazily against the armrest carved from black bones and skulls, while the other gripped the handle of a colossal weapon planted beside the throne. He sat not like a ruler seeking respect — but like a conqueror who already owned the world.
In front of his throne lay a group of female monsters who were all naked and belonged to different species, including vampires, baalreths, mythrakars, ogres, orcs, succubi, and pureblood dragons.
Some of them were gasping and panting while others were simply sleeping.
What was common among all these women were the claw marks covering their bodies and the sticky, gooey, musky white fluid flowing from their pussies and assholes.
He looked less like a living being…
and more like the incarnation of calamity itself.
He was none other than Gorgathar Hellwrought Malakar,
the sole king of the Risen Kingdom.