The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 518: Sometimes, guarding from the outside is not enough

Chapter 518: Sometimes, guarding from the outside is not enough

There’s no such thing as perfection.

Even the mightiest dragon had a gap between its scales, and the Primordial One fell from the creations’ negative energy. Naturally, a mortal made Lord Castle would have several blind sides.

In the first place, the Realm of Greed wasn’t the best in fighting power. Their soldiers weren’t as strong as Wrath or as good as Gluttony--which was full of soldiers with centuries of experience. Ironically, the Castle Guards getting focused on the Lord Consort as well as the lakeside forest created some holes in the Castle’s overall security.

The moment the Lord of Greed was sighted in the Realm of Wrath’s warcamp, a scroll burnt in the darkness of a forgotten room beneath the Temple. Several cloaked figures straightened their back and slipped inside a tunnel that hadn’t been used for centuries; the existence obscured in history.

It was the tunnel that would bring them inside the Castle ground.

* * *

Fairies? Why were the fairies here? They were buzzing so hard that the air seemed to be vibrating.

But I didn’t need to know what they were saying; I already knew it was something bad. And it was something bad regarding Shwa.

Because I could feel the thumping of my heart the moment I opened my eyes; rapid and full of fear. I was sweating and cold at the same time, and had goosebumps all over. A sense of urgency screamed from somewhere deep inside. From his soul.

From Shwa.

Despite feeling sluggish from abruptly getting woken up, I stood up in urgency. My muscles were creaking and my head felt dizzy, but my mind was on my little flower, and I scolded the fairies.

"Why are you here?! You should protect--"

I gasped as my heartbeat spiked, clutching my chest. My body folded involuntarily, and I felt like my stomach got churned.

"You told them to tell you when something happens," Ignis crawled into my shoulder. "Are you going?"

"Of course I’m going!" I snapped, and suddenly remembered that Ignis promised Natha to watch me. "Ignis, I need to--"

"I know," the Salamander patted my cheek. "We’ll go, but don’t do anything. Let me and Jade take care of it."

[Jade will protect Shwa!] the little bird hugged my neck.

My head cleared up slightly from their support, but my mind could only think about Shwa, Shwa, Shwa, and how we should go there as soon as possible. "Hurry..." the word came out as a wheeze. "Hurry!"

Perhaps reacting to my urgency, the fairies held my trembling hands. In the next seconds, we were surrounded by light, and I had to close my eyes tightly.

When I opened them, the trees of the lakeside forest filled my vision.

* * *

"My liege," a succubus knocked on the Lord of Lust’s private room. It would be considered impertinent if it wasn’t for how urgent she sounded.

And if it wasn’t the Lord’s half-sister.

The guards couldn’t help but let her in, even though the Lord was in the middle of a shower. The succubus trudged across the bedroom while calling the Lord. "My Liege! Sister!"

"Ah, what?" Aleena opened the bedroom door harshly, looking annoyed. Her twisted lips and knitted brows were very different from her usual Lord face. "It’s been a while since I have a beauty ba--"

"They found a trace."

Aleena froze as her sister, who was also her secretary, spoke. Immediately, her eyes turned sharp and cold, and her lips smoothened. She quickly changed her towel for a nightrobe and walked to her private study in the next room.

"Where is it?"

"The empty region," the sister, Ra Chiria, replied grimly.

"We had been looking over there all this time, hadn’t we? Why now?" Aleena frowned. But she shook her head, decided that the ’why’ wasn’t important right now. "Which one?"

"West," Chiria said, and Aleena froze again.

"Greed?"

Chiria nodded, and Aleena suddenly had a chill running across her spine. It was exactly her job to make sure those people stayed away from the Realm of Greed, and the notion of failure felt like an invisible noose around her neck.

"That’s not all..." Chiria bit her lips, looking at her sister cautiously.

"What now? Are they really heading to Greed?"

"That too, but..." Chiria clenched her fists so she could speak without trembling. "We also find the trace of the Old Ones."

This time, blood drained from Aleena’s face, and she slumped to her chair. "What?" she swallowed. "In the same place?"

"Yes..."

Aleena buried her face in her palm. It had changed from bad straight up to the worst. But she only allowed herself a second of lamentation before slapping her cheeks and taking out a communication orb.

"Do you have more information?" she asked.

"Marji is trying to follow the trace, but they disappeared at the border of Greed."

Aleena cursed. "That’s bad enough already. In what region?"

"Southeast."

Another string of curses. The southeast side was basically a way toward L’Anaak Eed. At this point, she couldn’t even hold any grudges if Natha killed her. She glared hard at the communication orb that merely blinked without successfully connecting.

"Come on..." she muttered anxiously. "Come on, Uncle..."

But even after waiting for a few minutes, the line did not get connected. Aleena stomped around her office, groaning, shaking her hands, ignoring her wet hair. Chiria called someone from the external division, and came back to Aleena with even worse news.

"Sis...Lord Natha is...in Wrath right now."

Aleena parted her trembling lips, freezing for a few seconds. She snapped and scrambled to her desk again, activating another communication orb. This one, it only took five seconds to glow red.

[Hello?] a sleepy voice could be heard, and Aleena grabbed the orb tight.

"Zia, I need you to go to the Castle right now!"

* * *

Zia was about to sleep after forgoing it altogether for the past two days to meet her deadline. Her eyes had only been closed for ten minutes when one of her communication orbs made a voice and glowed red.

Groggily, she activated the orb. "Hello..."

It was almost an automatic answer, but what he heard next made her wide awake, as if she didn’t have two days’ worth of sleep.

[Zia, I need you to go to the Castle right now!] Aleena’s voice came in an urgent tone. Zia blinked and widened her eyes, at first because of curiosity. But after the next sentence, her nape turned cold. [We found a trace of Zir’Kal and the Elders near the border of Greed, and...]

Zia could hear the sound of swallowing before Aleena spoke again.

[Spectre...]

Zia got up immediately, snatching her cloak and the communication orbs--two of them--as she ran to the kitchen. "Angwi!" she yelled as loud as she could. Screamed. "Angwi!"

The six-arms demon frowned in disapproval, but she held back her scolding when she saw Zia’s face. A face full of fear and anxiety.

"We need to go to the Castle!"

Angwi frowned again and tilted her head, but Zia immediately shoved a communication orb to her face. "Sis, explain it!"

While Aleena repeated what she had told Zia earlier, the succubus frantically activated another communication orb that she brought. "Come on Val...pick up!" she bit her lips when seconds passed without any reaction from the other side. "Come on!"

But even after Aleena finished her explanation, it did not get through. "Is he asleep?" she bit her lower lip harder it bled a little. When she tried to shake the orb, Angwi suddenly grabbed her waist, carrying the succubus to the highest floor.

[I’m going to keep contacting Lord Natha] Aleena said before ending the call, and Angwi put the orb inside her pocket. While moving, she used her other arms to summon the golems and put them on defensive mode, as well as instructing some of them to inform Doun and the twins of the situation.

Ignoring the shaky movement, Zia kept trying to call Valen. Maybe he was indeed asleep. Valen could sleep so deeply sometimes, especially when he was tired. Yeah. Maybe if she kept calling, someone would notice; Ignis or the servants.

But it was already late, and the master bedroom was spacious, away from where the servants were usually stationed. While there were guards on standby, they didn’t want to disturb Valen’s rest, so they would keep their distance and focused on guarding the area around the Lord’s Quarter.

"Ugh--this is..." Zia almost swore, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. No; cursing wouldn’t solve anything. She took a deep breath and kept trying to contact Valen’s communication orb.

On the top floor, Angwi glanced at the emergency communication orb that could be used to contact the Castle. But they didn’t have concrete news, and Angwi knew Natha wasn’t there. She decided it would be better and faster if they just went there themselves, so she crossed the portal for the first time.

"Angwi, I’ll fly!" Zia said the moment they stepped into the garden, and Angwi nodded, putting Zia down. The succubus immediately flapped her little wings and flew to the Lord’s Quarter side, while Angwi ran toward the Castle.

With frantic flaps of her wings, Zia soon reached the balcony of the master bedroom, startling a patrolling guard. Thankfully, they were familiar with Zia, and did not attack her. Well, the explanation could wait--Zia immediately pounded the balcony door.

"Valen!" she called out. "Valen!"

Her pounding should be loud enough for even the servants to hear, and yet, there was no answer from Valen. She bit her lips and called the children. "Jade! Ignis! Open the door!"

No answer.

"Ignis! Ignis, you’re there, right? Is Valen asleep? Open the door!"

"Miss? What are you--"

"Sush!" Zia glared at the guards--not because of the interruption, but because he heard something; the sound of a soft knock and a door knob turning. A rustle, and then...

A scream.

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