It took the group several more hours to finally leave the underground mine completely and arrive at the original cave in the snowy hill zone that expanded through the Fabelt’s Pass.

As they exited the cave, the extremely cold temperature hit them hard but the fresh air calmed their nerves from the tense atmosphere in the mine even though they were still in a dangerous region and could still encounter even more dangerous monsters like the Night Terrors or maybe even worse.

At this point, they had only been gone for a little more than eighteen hours so they had achieved their objective in record time. Their original plan required them to spend more than forty-eight hours exploring and clearing out the monster nest in the mine.

As they left the cave, Larut was tasked with the job of scouting their surroundings before they would head out to locate the cave they had left the carriage and the six-eyed bull in. While ordinary bulls were Herbivores, six-eyed bulls were a little different, being Omnivorous creatures that could also go days without food.

Despite all that though, the group still felt like they needed to take care of the beast before they headed out, perhaps they felt bad for leaving it alone for so long or the gold they received made them feel extra generous today.

After taking a break to feed the six-eyed bull in the cave that had been warmed up by the beast’s fiery aura. The group leads the carriage towards the exit of the Fabelt Pass in their usual formation.

Their journey out was for some reason, a lot easier than their journey to the cave. While they had encountered some monsters on their way out, the group had been able to handle them easily without the help of Tyler or Nadine.

It only took a few more minutes for them to fully leave the Fabelt Pass as they boarded the carriage and drove it back to the city.

••••••••••

••••••••••

—Blackwing City

This was the capital city of the Sentro region, located at the heart of the region and protected by several layers of tall, thick, and sturdy brick walls that made the city look and feel more like a fortress instead.

There were five layers of walls to be exact. The districts or boroughs enclosed by each concentric circle of the walls were distinctly different from each other as each section served a different purpose.

The first or outermost district was mostly used for large military activities like training, reciting, and many more. The place was fully furnished with barracks and other military facilities. It was also where the Hunter Guild’s branch was built as this was the capital and Hunters were generally treated as unlawful mercenaries and did not have much influence over the city as the other branch and their HQ.

This was why one would be hard-pressed to find a weak or low ranking Hunter in any of the great five’s Capital City with the exception of Sun city.

The districts or boroughs after the first one were the residential districts, where the people of Blackwing City made their homes. Of course the further up you went the more high class the structure was and at the second to last district, one would be hard-pressed to find low-class citizens walking on the streets.

The innermost district or simply, the Royal district was of course the administrative area of the city and the place where nobles made their residents. In addition, the district also contained storehouses for combat rations. Thus, it was heavily guarded.

One would find guards geared in high-class armors patrolling the streets and this was the only place where the royal demon knights were in charge of the security protocols of the district.

This was because this district also housed one of the most important structures in the entire region, the Zorak Family’s Castle. The castle spanned over a vast area of more than one million square feet and was almost as large as the demon king’s castle.

Deep inside this massive and imposing castle that was exquisitely decorated. Inside one of the rooms on the top floors of the east wing. A slender figure laid on the queen-sized canopy bed covered in a white silk-like duvet.

The figure slowly squirmed underneath the duvet uncomfortably even though one would find it hard-pressed to be uncomfortable in such a high-quality bed.

However, the figure continued to twist and turn until it suddenly shot upright in a frenzy.

“Aweik!!!”

As though it had woken up from a nightmare, the slender figure shrieked in a high pitch shrill that surprised the only other person in the large room. This person was a petite Young lady that was dressed In a traditional maids outfit. She had a pretty face with short black hair and brown eyes but no other distinguishing features meaning she was a demon and from the way she carried herself, she was no doubt a noble lady.

“Lady Nina, are you alright? What’s Wrong?”

The maid responded quickly and tried to attend to the shrieking lady on the bed. As an experienced maid of the Zorak family, she reacted quickly and cast a spell as she noticed the panicked expression on the lady’s face.

“Placate.”

As the name suggested, the spell rapidly reduced her rising emotions and steadily stabilized her mental state. Her shriek slowly died down as heavy panting could be heard. Cold sweat poured from her even though the room’s temperature was magically controlled.

“Lady Nina, are you feeling better now?”

The female figure named Nina raised her head slightly to look at the maid. She had short blonde hair with green colored pupils and was quite the beauty although right now, her face and skin tone was extremely pale and her hair was like a bird’s nest.

“Where am I?”

“You’re back at the castle miss. This is the Zorak’s family’s castle.”

“I’m home? Aaa… so I made it back, Who the hell was that man?”

Her words were a whisper that even the maid that stood next to the bed would normally not be able to hear her clearly but being a demon, she could although she had wisely chosen not to pry deeper into her words.

Nina tried to calm her nerves as she slowly surveyed her surroundings. This was indeed the place in her memories, her old room. It didn’t look like it had changed at all since she left but had been well maintained.

She then turned to the maid before her and stared at her face. She could remember seeing this maid before but could not remember her name.

“Your name is?”

“Ah forgive me for not introducing myself my lady. I am called Vella Cora, please feel free to call me anything you want.”

“Vella huh? what happened to Rees?”

“I’m afraid she was sent to the branch family in Silverwing city my lady.”

“I see.”

Nina then gently massaged her temples as her mind flashed back to the last moments before her escape. Feeling a ting of pain, her left hand moved across her bare skin onto her right breast. Her well-rounded breast was let loose as she noticed she didn’t have on her usual clothing that would almost completely flatten her chest.

As she massaged her right breast, she could feel a constant stream of pain from five spots on them. Tracing the spots with her eyes she saw five grey marks the size of a fingertip on them. She could clearly imagine that man’s fingers as they grabbed onto her and her expression sank.

“We tried several healing spells when you arrived but we couldn’t completely get rid of that. The healers all said you were infected with quite a bit of negative energy so there was no way to completely heal you unless we get a mage that can use holy or light magic. Since the family does not have any mages that can use such spell, your mother had sent for one from our branch family.”

The maid explained the situation to Nina as she saw her struggle with the pain from her chest. Nina’s eyes seemed listless as she nodded, it didn’t seem like she was completely there, like she was still trapped in her head.

“I see… And when did I get here, how long was I out?”

“Three days my lady.”

“I see… Is my mother around?”

“Yes miss, she should be in her chambers at the moment.”

“Okay.”

Saying that Nina shifted her way off the bed. Allowing the duvet to slowly fall off her body to the ground as the maid hurriedly placed a robe over her.

“I’ll run you a bath miss.”

Nina didn’t respond to the maid at all as she walked towards the large window in the room and just silently stared at the view. Preparing her bath didn’t take long thanks to the use of several magic items.

After her bath was done, she was dressed in a short and simple but exquisite black dress which was what she preferred to the flashy dresses the nobles usually wore. Nina then walked out of her room closely followed by the maid, Vella and they proceeded down the hall with wide strides.

Turning a corner, they suddenly saw a handsome Young Man walking towards them with someone also trailing closely behind him.

The young man had long blonde hair that was styled in a lazy ponytail and extremely handsome features. He was also quite tall with broad shoulders, sporting on a stylish black suit. Five rings adorned his fingers one of which resembling that of a storage ring.

Although he currently had a gentle smile on his face, his eyes told a different story altogether. The young man behind him had short black hair, a handsome face, and was dressed like a butler of some sort. Well, perhaps that was because he was a butler attending to the man in front of him.

Coming to a stop in front of Nina, the young man turned and glanced at her for a moment before speaking in a distant tone that sounded like he was talking past her.

“You’re finally awake. I Heard you ran back here beaten and battered.”

“I didn’t run.”

“Pathetic. You abandoned your duties and ran off just to get beaten up like a commoner. Have you no pride.”

“My pride is non of your concern brother.”

“Don’t ever call me that again. If it wasn’t for the Grand elder, I would’ve had you disposed of, such filth does not deserve to be royalty.”

“You’re not even royalty yourself so—”

Nina’s words quickly got stuck in her throat the moment the young man’s eyes narrowed at her and the atmosphere got heavier. However, unlike the previous times, this had happened to her, she did not cower in fear only lowering her head slightly.”

“Hmph… I guess messing around with those pigs has given you a bit of courage. Is that why you left, just so you’ll feel special amongst pigs… Pathetic.”

The young man promptly walked away and his butler gently bowed to Nina before moving on with his master. While it was true that in this continent, there was technically no longer a royal family as the great five were still only just demon lords.

None of them believed so, they usually carried themselves as royalties amongst all the nobles as they held control over the entire continent. After watching her brother turn the corner, Nina scoffed under her breath “Scum.”

She then stormed off with her maid still trailing behind her as they both soon came upon a large door at the end of the hallway. Feeling the irritation inside her grow more and more. She decided to take a few deep breaths to calm down and her maid noticing her intentions, cast placate on her ones again.

*Knock knock knock…

A few seconds after she had placed her knock before the maid could do it for her, Nina heard a soft voice that came from the interior of the room invite her in and she complied. Opening the door and walking into the room her expression instantly changed.

“Why are you always naked!”