‘Well, this is weird’

Dark Lord had to admit. First he discovered that someone else was about to jump off the bridge, then he ended up striking a conversation with this somebody which lasted until night came, and the moon radiance illuminated the land.

“I never asked what your name was”

“It’s Cifer, what shall I call you?”

“Runfar shall suffice”

“I see….”

“Well, night is still young, so how about we get a little wasted, shall we?” Dark Lord proceeded to pull out a bottle of finest wine from his storage ring along with two cups.

“Aaah, considering where I am heading towards, I see no reason to refuse”

Apparently this Cifer was not good at drinking; just two sips and he started crying hysterically.

“If only I was stronger! My King, my king, please, I am so sorry!”

‘Oh boy, he really is a light weight isn’t he?’

“By king you mean?”

“Demon King! Who else~!” Cifer answered while crying. Considering his entire body was covered in clothing and bandages, Dark Lord had to assume he was crying by the sound of it.

“Arin Draco?”

“You knew my king?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“Are you a human?”

“No”

“Then please hear this….Demon King perished, at the hands of humans….and it’s all my fault!”

“Wait, wait, wait, Demon King is dead? When did that happen?”

“Few month ago, the Knight of Light charged through our forces, killing many of the Demon Lords, and he captured the Demon King to be publically executed. I was severely injured, but when I came to I heard that the demon imprisoned by the Knight of Light was executed….I have failed you, my king! Why, why couldn’t I have stopped him?!! Aren’t I one of your Demon Lords? Then why, why am I so weak?!”

‘Oh wow, so he really believed the propaganda the human kingdom is spreading about the captured Demon Lord being executed, huh? Poor guy…’

“Uhm, Cifer?”

“Y-yes?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but…Demon King is not dead”

“And how can you be so sure of that?”

“Well, for one, I am the one who helped her escape”

Now Cifer stopped sobbing.

“It can’t be…”

“I am pretty sure it is”

“It has to be a lie! Look into my eyes and tell me the truth!” Cifer took off the hood covering his head, revealing a very pale face with shoulder length black hair and ash dark horns. His demon eyes were glowing brightly.

“Demon King Arin Draco is alive. I freed her”

Dark Lord repeated.

“Not a lie….” Cifer muttered.

“Not a lie, just plain facts”

“Then the rumor I heard within the city is…false?”

“Well, they are most likely trying to cover up the facts for the sake of keeping people from panicking, though, considering the recent events; they should not be able to cover up the truth for much longer…”

“Are you a demon?”

Dark Lord nodded.

“You don’t have horns”

“Actually I do, though only one in my case”

Currently Dark Lord was wearing a special mask made by Camilla and Lukalis which created an illusion of having flesh on his right side, which is why he looked human by all practical means, and not half skeleton.

The mask was only made a couple of days ago, but it was very handy. Dark Lord parted his hair; a single horn emerged on his forehead.

Luckily, the mask was made of semi-permeable substance, allowing his horn to emerge without damaging the mask.

“It really is a horn…And you can retract it? How?”

“Dunno, but it comes in handy, does it not?”

“Indeed it does….But what type of demon are you?”

“Crow type”

“Crow? Are you same as…”

“Kazan? Yep”

“I didn’t know there was another crow demon besides Kazan; I thought he was the only one left”

“Being in the same group as him does not make me happy”

They drank even more, before Dark Lord asked.

“So, Cifer, why do you wear so much clothing and conceal yourself?”

“I am a Shadow Demon; my body is very vulnerable to sunlight”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed, In fact, after the Knight of Light struck me down, I have yet to heal completely from the damage I sustained”

“How bad is it though?”

Maybe because he was drunk or maybe because he didn’t care, Cifer was not hiding anything.

He proceeded to take off the top part of his clothing, revealing a heavily bandaged upper body.

Dark Lord couldn’t help but open his eyes wide in surprise. Cifer was missing his right arm and large portion of the right side of his torso, almost like a monster bit and tore off a part of him.

“That must hurt a lot”

“It is not as bad as it was before, I managed to reform to this state but it will be a while until I will be at full strength”

“You can heal that?”

“Yes, I am a Shadow Demon, after all. Unless I am completely destroyed, I can heal back to normal…Maybe in a couple of months, the damage from the Knight of Light makes my regeneration extremely slow”

“Hmm, I see, having a body made of shadows must be nice”

“Not at all. I can’t even go under the sunlight without risking my life”

“Did you ever try an umbrella?”

“What?”

“Maybe I can lend you one….By the way, are you going back to Arin, since you now know she is still alive and well, I mean, you no longer have a reason to jump off, right?”

“Why not? What use I am to her as I am right now? My King needs capable servants, not failures, after what has transpired, I can’t bring myself to face the Demon King, it’s too shameful”

“Do you still wish to oppose the human kingdom?”

“With all my heart”

“Then, how about I make you an offer, a limited time deal? Come over to my side and you shall play a role in my plans to bring down the human kingdom?”

Dark Lord was apparently drunk too.

“Are you sure about this? Recruiting someone like me?”

“I need more members, and finding an available Demon Lord, even a wounded one, is a rare find, so what do you say?”

* * *

“Master Runfar, you have a visitor?”

“Who could it be at this time?”

Runfar was currently recovering from a very bad case of a hangover, apparently he ended up getting carried away with drinking during the night and when he came back home he experience the inevitable side effects of getting too drunk.

The visitor came at night, his entire body covered up with clothing, except for the head, which was covered by a hat, concealing his horns. His face was very androgynous and pale. As Runfar opened the door, he was greeted by his guest.

“About you offer….” His visitor kneeled on one knee.

“I accept. I, Cifer Palak, shall be in your care, Master”

Runfar now looked at his guest with a mouth wide open. ‘Who is this guy again?’ Not all of his memories from the night before were completely clear.