It was the middle of the night, hours after Sarah and Daryl had taken dinner. The wind was blowing quite loudly outside, and there were the occasional sand scratching the windows that made it all the more eerie.

But Denka wasn't bothered by them at all, no, not because he no longer had a heart, but because he could not detect the wind, only the flying sand particles that hovered in the air before settling down again, only to be picked up by another breeze that came by.

Although he should've been in a sleep-like state, he was awoken by something strange poking around the wind. Mana, he thought as he sensed the source coming close to Tenur's residence. An abundance as well. Whoever it is, they're dangerous! He was conflicted on whether he should let Tenur rest or awaken him, but decided on defending him instead.

The mana-ethereal channel must not be interrupted, his train of thought stopped there when there came a knock on Tenur's window. There was a shadow there, and it seemed to Denka that it was the source of the dangerous amount of mana. "Tch..."

He sent a mana pulse, intending on disrupting the shadow's mana pool. The pulse worked in the same way it treats electronics: the higher the energy content in this case, mana, the stronger the disruption effects. Yet, the shadow did not seem to have been affected. In fact, it made the shadow even persistent, for reasons unbeknownst to most.

*Knock knock*

The window rang again. It seemed the shadow was trying to gain access. With that in mind, Denka projected a sperm field that would impregnate anyone with mana the moment they tresppased it. It would continue infusing the tresspasser with mana until he or she either explodes and dies, or gains a way to wash it out faster than the infusion. It was slightly inefficient in regards that it had to use the caster's mana as fuel, but the spell was the only one Denka managed to develop in order to defend multiple people, not to mention due to the current tresspasser having a full mana pool and a slightly full mana storage, it would easily be killed by the infusion.

As if sensing the sperm field, the shadow hesitated, but it didn't take long for it to make the decision to barge in. The window cracked as the shadow leaned onto it, and eventually, the glass shattered as the shadow lunged into the bedroom.

"You...!" As the shadow unveiled itself, it revealed a woman with a tail. A demon, to be exact. Denka was sure they were doomed this time if he didn't forcefully collapse the mana-ethereal channel by sacrificing some of Tenur's reproductive capabilities, even though it was nearly complete.

Just when he started trying to break the channel, the demon called out first. "Wait! I'm not here to kill!"

Skeptical, Denka continued applying pressure onto breaking the channel while shooting back. "Why not? You're a demon!"

The channel's supporting mana magic began weakening and right before it collapsed, the demon stepped in by forcefully dispelling Denka's magic on the channel. "I said stop!"

With his spell now interrupted, he had no choice but to complete the channeling while buying as much time as possible before the demon sucked both their souls and mana away. "Dispelling my magic is unnecessary, demon."

"I come here with a message! At least hear me out before you try damaging," she looked at Tenur still sleeping on the bed. "Your bargain chip."

Hearing that, Denka became slightly confused but did not show it. The channeling was complete now, and all it took was a little more time before Tenur would wake up and they'd blast the demon back into hell. "You call him a bargain chip, but what do you have to offer other than our lives?"

The demon smiled as she surveyed Tenur's sleeping form and Denka who laid on the table. "The queen has requested an audience with him, actually. So if you don't mind me taking him with me, then I'll be on my way." With that, she tried to approach Tenur but was met with increased resistance from the sperm field.

"Do you know how hard it is to wash away your mana from sticking in me!?" The demon stopped trying to approach Tenur when the resistance increased dramatically. "Would you rather I suck your soul out of your body right here, right now?"

"I- " while Denka gulped spiritually, he was glad that Tenur finally awoke.

"Wha...? Is it... morning already?" Tenur yawned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he scanned around his room. "What's going on Denka? And why is there glass everywhere? Who's this woman here?"

When Denka tried to reply, he was interrupted by Tenur coming to a realisation. "Oh! So you've got yourself a new wife then, good for you."

"I'm going back to bed." He laid back down and turned to sleep on his other side, where the demon wasn't there.

"You ime-! I mean, lord magus, may I please request for your audience at our palace?" The demon did a courteous bow, but Tenur was already snoring away. "You...!"

"Leave it. If you want to leave a message, I'll tell him later when he wakes up," Denka then sharpened his tone. "If you try to take him by force, I'll send you to the nether realm directly. No delays."

The demon looked terrified at the mention of nether realm, but regained her composure. "Please tell him that Queen Alius is seeking his audience, and that he should respond to her as soon as possible. I bid you farewell now." The demon clicked her tongue and flew away, not before repairing the broken window and leaving a written message on it. It wrote, "Consider this a gift".

While Denka was slightly terrified at having to actually send a demon to the nether realms, he knew it was bull crap. At most, he could only send the demon back to hell's gate, and even then, he would need tons of mana to support the gate bridging the realms.

Sighing, he looked into how successful the mana-ethereal channel had been, and found it mostly successful. He let out another sigh, but this time, it held more relief and joy compared to the previous one.

"I should definitely look into improving his awareness." He knew even professional sorcerers and magi had to spend years to train that awareness, but Tenur's potent mana attribute might help him speed up the process. With that in mind, Denka returned to its sleep state, planning the next course of action for tomorrow.