I wrote this chapter as fast as I could before I left, mwahaha... Don't pelt me with stones if there are a lot of mistakes.

Satan whistled. “What an intense amount of energy coming from that place...”

The place he was referring to was none other than Erebus’ domain. Nearly all of its occupants saw no need to hide their auras, so it was always in full-force. Weaklings wouldn’t notice it because the amount was far greater than what they could perceive, but the ones who were truly strong picked up on it.

The newest additions to Erebus’ fighting force, Xaltiq, and Wolf, were able to feel some of the power, but not all of it like the Four Princes were able to. As for the newest maid and Weryn's friend, the mother and her child, of course, they didn’t notice it.

“The person living here is considered to be Dragon rank. If it wasn’t of this level of intimidation, they could hardly boast about their strength,” Lucifer waved away what Satan said, writing it off as “only natural”.

Satan clicked his tongue.

"Besides, there should be no reason for us to fear about a measly Dragon rank and his subordinates,” Lucifer continued. “The only person we should worry about is Laufeia, but she isn’t a match against the two of us.

“Also, we aren’t coming in with the sole intention of fighting... it’s doubtful, but we can intimidate the ruler of this castle to hand over Laufeia peacefully.”

Satan pouted. “Fine, fine...”

The two continued their advance. Both of them thought that this castle was exceedingly strange, usually, castles had moats surrounding them or drawbridges. And if they didn’t have those, they were typically located deep within a city or surrounded by walls.

This castle, oddly enough, simply sat in the middle of a grassland. There was absolutely nothing defending it.

So, the ruler of this castle was either exceedingly arrogant or just plain stupid.

Lucifer knocked on the set of doors at the castle’s entrance that were meters tall. The doors were swung open and two women dressed as maids and a single man stood there as if they had been waiting for Satan and Lucifer. Well, they probably were.

Satan appraised the women... one was a scantily clad woman who could barely be considered a proper maid, and even though she was hiding her aura, she was clearly powerful. Satan thought she might even be on the same level as a high-ranked Demon Emperor, maybe even more than that. It was hard to tell. But Satan knew for sure that she’d be a troublesome opponent if he had to fight her...

Anyway, the other was obviously a timid and weak human woman. She was thin and had a sickly appearance, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that she was probably pretty.

Finally, the man that stood in front him could barely pass as an adult, but he was also attractive. He had a dignified appearance and seemed to have a decent amount of strength. He was also the one who spoke first, “Hello. My name is Dark Mist, a pleasure to meet you two.”

The cat-eared woman bowed her head slightly. “Nya, I’m Mae. I’m a, uh, temporarily hired maid? Nyaha, that’s what I am!”

It was more like she forcibly included herself so that she could meet the Princes. But, Lucifer and Satan didn’t know that, so, I’ll stay silent about it...

“M-my name is Amber... we shall escort you to our lord,” the human woman stammered.

"Ah, I'm the Prince of Hell Satan and this is Lucifer."

"I see... Follow me," Dark Mist said. "Do be careful to not get lost."

Satan and Lucifer both listened, they didn't feel any hostile intentions, so there wasn't a reason for them to not listen.

They all proceeded in silence through the labyrinth of hallways, Mae would occasionally turn to the Princes and say that they should be there in X amount of time.

By the time they reached the doors to the throne room, Lucifer and Satan had forgotten how many turns they had taken.

Dark Mist paused before opening the doors. "I'll warn you since you know nothing, don't anger him."

Before the Princes could respond, the doors were pushed open.

A surge of energy exploded from that room as if the doors had been holding it back. The two were overwhelmed for a second, taken by complete surprise at the sudden burst of power.

The three who were escorting them had no change in expression. Instead, the walked into the room.

Actually, Mae ran forward to the center of the room and sat down on the left arm of the throne. She threw her arms around the weak-looking man who sat on the throne and rubbed her cheek against his.

A gorgeous woman who stood next to the throne glared at Mae unabashedly, looking as if she wanted to tear Mae into shreds. And the young boy who was seated on the right arm of the throne, next to the alluring woman looked as if he was holding himself back from laughing.

The throne was on a slightly raised tiered platform, so on the bottom part of the platform, there were six people, three on each side. And in a far off corner, an azure-haired man was sitting in the corner with his back facing them, like a child in time-out.

The six were all seemed to be incredibly serious despite the far more light-hearted scene occurring before them. Well, minus the murderous glare.

Lucifer didn’t know how to take the information he was receiving. One of the people standing on the platform seemed painfully familiar, but he was wearing a mask over his face, so it was hard to tell.

“Hello!” Satan said, stepping forward and opening his arms wide. “As much as I’d love to go over the formalities, I’d like to get straight to the point. Hand over Laufeia and we’ll leave here in peace.”

“I don’t want to...” the one-eyed man seated on the throne responded quietly. “So where does that leave us now?”

Satan frowned and Lucifer took this as his own opportunity to speak, “Then we’d have to take her from you forcefully.”

“That... I’d like you see you try the second option,” the man spoke, leaning forward. His crimson eye was dazzling with excitement. “I can’t see it right now, but you two are strong, right?”

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. His earlier thought about the ruler of the castle being arrogant was correct. “You wish to fight us?”

“Eh! When did I ever say that? I’m a pacifist, you know?” he told obvious lies since no one became a Dragon rank by being a pacifist.

“But Erebus... isn’t that the reason you took Laufeia in? So you could fight them?” the magenta-haired boy asked, confusion coloring his cute face.

Erebus? Lucifer wanted to shake his head. It wasn’t uncommon for demons to name their children after the famous members of the Dragon Council, in hopes that their child would grow strong. Actually, it was becoming a tradition with multiple races to name their children after well-known dragons, so Lucifer didn’t find it strange.

Still, it was typically the weaker species of the races that would name their kids after famous beings. To Lucifer, it only meant that this man was a disappointment, the reason he was labeled as a Dragon rank was because of his powerful servants.

Erebus was written off by Lucifer as a weakling. “Someone like you... you think that you can challenge us?”

“Huh?”

Lucifer sneered. “A monster of your caliber is hardly worthy to be our opponent. Don’t lose your life in vain, child. Give Laufeia to us.”

“You... what are you saying!” the beautiful woman who had been glaring at Mae earlier shrieked loudly. “You... you scum... filthy cretin! How dare you say such things to our lord?”

Her aura was released, making the entire room tremble. Actually, the shaking could be felt throughout many floors of the castle.

Let’s see... Tear, normally, wasn’t very powerful. Her strength was in her support abilities. But there was one thing that made Tear’s raw power increase exponentially, and that was when someone insulted her master.

It was one of those moments.

“Nya? She snapped,” Mae could be heard saying. She, in comparison, wasn’t at all bothered by the insult.

Along with Tear, the other ones who were standing by Erebus’ throne seemed to be considerably angered and didn’t bother hiding a strong killing intent. The bunny-eared woman was holding back the wolfman, but she seemed ready to jump in herself.

The man named Erebus remained silent, but his previously laughing eyes had dulled and now resembled the eyes of a corpse. Suddenly, he seemed very dangerous.

The aura that had been barely perceptible began to leak out ever so slightly, but even that much was greater than what the seven others were displaying.

Satan recalled Dark Mist’s words... something like don’t anger Erebus? Satan looked over at Dark Mist.

“You’ve done it now,” Dark Mist sighed. “There’s no way I’m staying for this bloodbath. Amber, let’s go. Alura was taking care of your son, let’s check on them.”

Dark Mist and the fidgety maid named Amber both left the room, leaving the two prideful Princes to a pack of vicious dogs.

“Somehow, I have a bad feeling...” Satan said, scratching his head.

Honestly, he hadn’t come here with any intention of fighting. He was only here to see what was going to happen in person, but it looked like there was no longer a way to avoid battle.

“You are Lucifer, correct?” Erebus asked the white-haired demon. “Mm, I can tell, you two look similar. I can see where he got his arrogance from... It makes sense now.”

The masked demon tensed up a little bit.

“I am. Just give me Laufeia and we can continue on peacefully.”

Satan wanted to yell at Lucifer. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be the smart one? Being prideful and everything is great, but please pay attention to your surroundings a little bit more!” he wanted to cry out something like that.

But it was too late. Lucifer was surprisingly dense whenever he got stuck on a subject.

If you want to die, die alone!

Satan, who was a far better judge in times like this than Lucifer, was able to figure out that the Erebus in front of them was Erebus. You know? That one dragon... the Destroyer... the super duper strong one?

“Mae,” Erebus said.

“Nya?”

“I was going to play with them personally, but, that one needs to learn his place first. I’ll allow you to teach him a lesson. Ah, but don’t kill them.”

Mae perked up. “Nya, could that mean that you’re going to?”

“Yes.”

She jumped up. “Nyaha! Fear me!”

As if on cue, her true power was felt by everyone there. A dark red smoke tinged with black became visible around her body.

Mae’s body began to expand and grow taller until the catwoman changed into someone completely different. Her short blonde hair turned onyx, and she now very closely resembled Fox, Erebus’ female transformation.

Except, her lower half was completely covered in black scales. Some scales also covered the perimeter of her face before fading into her smooth skin.

Her blood red lips curled into a sinister smile and she purred, “Hehe, Master Erebus released my restraints, which means I get to go all out.”