In this world, news traveled surprisingly quickly. Or maybe because it was such a large-scale disaster, everyone knew about it by the next day.

One kingdom’s capital had been turned into plant life and other parts were covered with gore.

Another kingdom had literally been melted.

The third kingdom had been swallowed in an ocean of magma.

At first, these facts were thought to be bogus by the majority until they found out that the Dragon Council itself had done so...

The biggest question was why?

This question was quickly answered when the spokesperson of the Dragon Council, Frize, had informed the leaders of sizeable kingdoms that the three had been sentenced to complete eradication because they dabbled in affairs they shouldn’t have.

And once again, the power of the Dragon Council was known to be number one. There had only been a small issue back in Legacia, but it was an internal problem, other that that, they had been completely silent.

So, the races had started to think that the Dragon Council no longer existed, or at least, had secluded itself from the rest of the world.

How incredibly wrong and naive had they been? The Dragon Council only intervened in issues they considered to be dangerous...

The other problems they thought they had were trivial to the Council.

Two men who knew very well that the Dragon Council was alive and kicking decided to visit a certain dragon’s castle.

So, it leads us to our current situation.

Erebus, Mae, Yvick, and Triton (human form) were all seated at a table, inside a room that was engulfed in complete silence.

The reason it was so silent was because Yvick and Triton didn’t get along... at all. In fact, Erebus was waiting for the moment the two started to fight and ultimately destroyed his castle.

It was a staredown.

Anyone who entered the room would find it unbelievably tense and quickly make their way out. Erebus wanted to do just that, but if he left them unattended, they’d start to fight.

Even though Yvick would commission Triton to make his weapons, Triton would charge him astronomical prices. The only thing Yvick respected about Triton was his blacksmith skills and the only thing Triton cared about that Yvick had was his wallet.

Which meant all their meetings were strictly business.

But, this meeting was completely unintended, the two of them had the same idea after hearing about what happened.

For Triton, he had a messenger who told him about the world’s affairs, so he decided to come.

For Yvick, he instantly knew once he heard about it that Erebus was involved.

Both of them needed an excuse to get out of their domain and breath some fresh air, and Erebus provided with a great reason to. But! Neither of them had expected to see the man that they loathed there.

Triton sat with his back ramrod straight, his short and spiky azure hair matched his intense eyes of the same color, eyes which were focused on Yvick.

Mae seemed to be entertained by the situation, so a wicked grin was spread across her plump lips. Upon Tear’s prodding (she didn’t want Lord Erebus to behold the shirtless woman), Mae had outfitted herself in a form-fitting corset and tight leather pants.

There wasn’t much of an improvement as her breast were ready to pop out, but Mae refused to wear anything other than this or her loincloth.

A naga maid opened the door, in her scaly hands, she held a tray of cups filled with steaming tea that let off a pleasant aroma. She placed the tray on the table and retreated in silence.

“Nya...” Mae said, reaching for a cup and raising it to her mouth. “How is everyone feeling?”

Triton frowned. “I feel as if I need to retch.”

“Likewise,” Yvick responded coldly.

“Nya! Ain’t that great~”

Erebus simply sipped his tea, his face painfully blank. “Why have you two come here?” he asked, placing his cup down. “Surely, my actions didn’t warrant either of you two to come and visit me. Perhaps you missed me?”

Triton laughed nervously. If Erebus figured out that he had only come here because he wanted to go to the surface...

Flashbacks of horrors that couldn’t be described in Triton’s mind. He clamped his lips tightly shut.

“I wished to gain more information on how exactly the humans carried out those transmutations, I’m very interested,” Yvick answered without missing a beat. “The thought of something unknown to my stimulates my scholarly desire.”

“Mm, that... Mae, explain it to them. I have something troublesome to deal with, if you’ll excuse me,” Erebus said, standing up and leaving without waiting for their approval.

Not like he needed it anyway.

“Nya? I wonder what’s going on... Ah, I have to explain to you first.”

...

Erebus’ footsteps resounded throughout the empty hallways. Tear had contacted him with an urgent message, a group of demons had come to the castle uninvited. Normally, they would be turned away, but the name “Laufeia” had been mentioned.

The last time he had seen Laufeia was when Azure had fought her quite some time ago.

“From what Tear told me, she doesn’t seem to know who I actually am, still, this is going to be annoying. Since Vyne is here, well, he should be cooped up in his laboratory.”

Erebus pushed open the doors to his throne room. In there, two incredibly beautiful women were facing each other, the sight was absolutely magnificent, but it was lost on Erebus.

Of course, the two women were Laufeia and Tear.

Laufeia wore a black veil over her face, but from the single horn protruding from her head and her wings paired the elegance she exuded it was obvious who she was.

“What are you doing here?” Erebus didn’t bother with the formalities.

The woman’s head turned and she gasped loudly. “You are!”

“Ah, shut up. I don’t want to hear your dramatics. Answer my question.”

Laufeia fell to her knees, bowing to Erebus. It seemed that even with the passage of tens of centuries, she still hadn’t forgotten who he was. Not like she ever could forget. “I heard that there was a powerful entity established here, that they had even been given the highest danger ranking... I came to seek their help. I didn’t know that it would be you, forgive my rudeness and ignorance.”

The pain of having her horn removed had long faded, yet, upon seeing Erebus, it began to throb and hurt once more. All of the shame, the humiliation that she had been put through came flooding back to her in a torrent that she couldn’t stop.

Tears burned at her eyes and she tried to force them back, but she couldn’t. She was gracious that she had worn this veil, or else they would’ve seen her pitiful appearance.

“And?” Erebus asked, sounding bored with the entire ordeal.

Laufeia’s lips trembled. “I am being hunted. I was seeking refuge and protection...”

“And who is hunting you down?”

“The Four Princes of Hell.”

Silence enveloped the entire throne room.

“Are you serious?” Erebus groaned loudly.

The Four Princes of Hell belonged to a class ranking of their own. They were far stronger than the Demon Emperors, in fact, their strength could be comparable to high-rank dragons (excluding the Dragon Council), Weryn wouldn’t stand a fighting chance against them at his current level.

Basically, the only ones who could be a worthy opponent of the Princes were either the Seraphim or the Dragon Council and other powerful and old dragons.

Triton, perhaps, could win against them, seeing as he was just an abnormality by all standards. Yvick, even if he was at his full strength, would inevitably lose to them.

But, the Dragon rank humans created only referred to low-rank dragons, which they were far superior to. Similar to the Dragon Council, they had their own classification...

Anyway, the Princes typically kept to themselves, they secluded themselves deep within Tartarus.

The Princes were Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, and Belial. All of them had an overwhelming amount of strength and were undoubtedly the oldest and most powerful demons in existence.

Laufeia happened to be the wife of Lucifer, they had given birth to offspring... who had, in turn, given birth to Erebus’ subordinate by the name of Vyne.

Meaning, Vyne was Laufeia’s and Lucifer’s grandson.

According to Laufeia, their son, and Vyne’s father had passed away. There was an entire story that Erebus had zoned out during, but basically, Laufeia had been branded as a traitor since she refused to help avenge their lost son, who had been felled by a trio of Archangels.

She said that it would only lead to more death. Lucifer had been outraged, saying that he should have known she was a coward seeing as she only had one horn left because of her weakness.

Laufeia said that they were still very much in love, but he was too angered by her currently and had ordered her death. He would calm down when his blind rage faded, but for now, she needed to hide.

She finished her story and looked Erebus straight in the eye. “Will you help me?”

His answer came quickly.

“No. Why the hell would I?”