Dalgan, Lord Two, and the two other demons silently watched Ostrag's head roll on the cave's floor. Once they were sure the man was thoroughly dead, they looked at Sylvester.
"Don't," Sylvester warned the two demons. "Don't even try to run; it'll spell your doom. By the time anyone comes searching for you, you'll be nothing but bones."
"Then kill us. It's better than falling into the hands of the Empress. She'll torture us to get to our Father," one of the two demons said.
Sylvester nodded and wiped his spear clean of the blood. "I can, but I wish to avoid unnecessary bloodshed."
"..."
They wanted to point at the headless body, but they chose to be smart and stayed silent.
"Tell me your names," Sylvester asked them as he sat down to wait for the rain to end. "Leave them be. They can't run away even if they want to."
"I'm Zostris."
"Orzoth."
Sylvester sighed, "Your names are hard to remember. What about your last name?"
"Only the Empress has an extended name," Dalgan explained. "We can, however, have a long single name divided with a backtick."
"Which one of you is older?"
"I am," Zostris voiced in a frustrated tone. "What do you want from the Empress? Our Father can give you more."
"How old are you?" Sylvester didn't answer his questions.
"Twenty years old," Zostris answered.
'The gravity of this world feels almost the same,' Sylvester evaluated and looked outside the cave. 'It's not possible to see the sky.'
"How many moons does this world have? How long is a year?" He asked Dalgan.
"We only have one moon, and the day-night cycle, as well as the year's length, is almost the same as your world."
"His world? Where is he from?" Zostris eyed Sylvester with a confusing gaze.
Right then, Zostris' younger brother, Orzoth, pulled him by the shoulder, asking him to stay silent and not annoy the one who could kill them in an instant.
Sylvester remained unbothered by the two. They were barely as strong as a Master Wizard or a Golden Knight. What did amuse him was their clothes and the rifle-like contraption on their backs. "What are those on your backs?"
"Weapons," Dalgan said and picked it up from the elder Prince. "Your world doesn't have anything like this. This can shoot energy projectiles that can lead to severe burns, and holes in the body of the target if they're too weak. These are quite common in the armies of our world."
Sylvester took it and inspected it on his own, checking out its various parts. The barrel didn't seem like an empty hole, but rather like a coil filled with something. "What fuel does it use?""It can use a user's own energy, as well as special Fuel Crystals with limited rounds of shots. This rifle can shoot three hundred times once full. But in your hand, it's infinite." Dalgan felt proud while revealing it to Sylvester. After all, he wasn't from any particular faction at the moment. If anything, he was Sylvester's lackey in the eyes of everyone else.
Sylvester nodded and tried to use it. The feeling was very nostalgic, just like a big rifle. The butt went against his shoulder, and his finger went to the trigger, which in this case wasn't a pull trigger but a button on the side.
The length was almost a meter long, and was certainly heavier than any rifle Sylvester knew of in his past life.
Boom!
"Interesting." Sylvester looked at the discharge of energy that shot out. It wasn't solarium, but it was still energy that he felt he could turn into solarium and feed his body. "Nothing's stopping me from doing the opposite."
Once again, Sylvester tried to use the gun, but this time, he supplied it with solarium that acted as the energy source. The mechanism of the rifle also became clear as he sensed every part of it. It was based on runes as well, but the runic language was different. There was energy circuitry created with runes that formed the bullet.
BOOM!
This time, a much bigger and visually terrifying blast came from the rifle. It traveled through the rain, evaporating the acid, and struck a big boulder in the distance, forming a gaping hole inside it.
"Oh!" Sylvester felt excited for no reason. "How big can it get?"
Once again, he aimed the gun and gave it some more energy than before. The whole body of the gun rattled like it would break apart at any moment. But Sylvester still tried it.
BOOM!
At last, a much bigger energy bullet went out, the size of a cannonball. It struck the same boulder and this time, obliterated it into tiny pieces, while most of it turned into a molten mess. However, the price was also paid.
"Your weapon got blasted open." Sylvester threw the ruined rifle back at the elder Prince. "The barrel can be made stronger, I think. What else do you have, Dalgan? Do you have palm-sized bombs as well? Or perhaps a smaller version of these bigger weapons?"
"Much more, Pope. We have multi-shot cannons that can fire fifty rounds per minute. The range is also quite high. We added them to our flying vehicles, land vehicles, water vehic—"
"What do you mean by vehicles?" Sylvester interrupted and stood up. "You know what, let's start moving. I'll keep you under a shield so the rain won't affect you."
"But we will be climb—"
"No, we'll be walking in the air." Sylvester didn't wait for them and created Light Tiles for them to walk on. "Follow me. And you two Princes, if you try anything, I'll throw you down from the sky. Now, tell me which direction is your closest city."
Clank!
Though invisible, Dalgan and Lord Two felt the chains holding them once again, prompting them to sigh and simply follow.
"The closest city is in that direction. The capital of the southern province."
…
Imperial Capital of Carus,
"Empress, I beg your forgiveness. The Grand Prince was able to escape the hunt."
"Despite being a Supreme Commander, you couldn't hunt him down. Tell me, should I enter the battlefield myself now that your incompetence has been proven? Zama'tar would have ended that traitor's bloodline by now, and you can't catch a single man."Head hung low, the Supreme Commander knelt on one knee before the modest black throne, occupied by the Empress, armored from head to toe in the Divine Armor of Void; pitch black, glistening with the flickering of fire and lava around the throne room.
"Give me one more chance, Empress Mother. I will bring you his head this time."
"No, I'm sending Supreme Commander Bakillan with you. If even the two of you can't get him, there's no need to return alive." Her voice reverberated with power, yet there were no emotions of anger or malice. "Leave."
Quickly, the Supreme General left. In haste, he passed by a woman cloaked in an oversized black hooded gown. Her face remained covered, and her stature seemed too small for someone to be in the Imperial Capital.
He gritted his teeth and sneered at the passing woman, finally exiting, but not before hearing the last few words.
"Empress Mother Zartha, a spatial anomaly was detected in the deep South. As your Oracle, I request your permission to go there and observe it."
"Hmm…" Empress Mother hummed and tapped her chin with her finger. An amusing smile adorned her face. "You may go, but whatever you find, you must bring it to me—alive."magic
…
Southern Province,
Sylvester arrived at the capital of the Southern Province; he couldn't help but feel numb and somewhat worried for his poor and inferior world. The vision he had seen a long time ago in the past about the Demon world reminded him of where he was.
This was the reality, the true power of the enemy. Tall massive buildings, bustling city with what seemed to be cars but oddly shaped. Well-clothed people were walking on the sidewalks, and shops were everywhere.
'This is ten thousand years of uninterrupted development.' He remembered what the ancestor of Giants had told him.
"What is the name of this city? Compared to other cities, where does this stand?" He asked.
"This city is called Vlelas." Dalgan was smiling at the sight of his people and society. "Southern Province is not that rich, so this city is not even among the best ten in the world. The greatest one is, of course, the Imperial City at the Continent's capital. It has the tallest buildings, but I don't like that place. Reeks of snobbery and depression, hidden behind the veil of a happy society."
"Are people not happy?" Sylvester asked since all he saw were happy demons walking by. Even demon kids walked around unsupervised.
"They certainly are happy since food, water, and many more necessities are cheap and easy to afford. But somehow, people have become depressed and distant from each other. But no doubt, Empress Mother did uplift the standard of life by a great margin." Dalgan chattered. He was undoubtedly boasting. "Look there, that's a food court. Are you hungry?"
"No, but I am interested." Sylvester changed their direction. "I'm sure these two princes are famished after our long walk."
The two were like zombies already. With their lack of physical and magical powers, they had to give their all to keep up with Sylvester, Dalgan, and Lord Two.
Soon enough, the five walked into a big hall with countless tables placed everywhere, occupied by families and loners. The fashion of the demon society seemed very uniform, most wearing oversized robes over their bodies.
"Aha! They have the Okini!" Dalgan chirped excitedly. "It's the most famous and cherished dish of our world."
"Bring me some." Sylvester allowed them to move freely as he went and took an empty seat. He observed the people all around and then noticed the food they were eating.
'Wait a minute, that's bloody Pizza! But with a purple dough and… strange topping!'
Busy looking around, he never realized when Dalgan returned with a big tray in his hands. "Here it is!"
Sylvester frowned. "This…"
"Hah, don't be uncomfortable with the deep green color. It's made of fried waterbirds."
"No." Sylvester grabbed a piece. "This is just… green KFC fried chicken!"
_________________
[Hello there, the new and final volume finally begins. It was supposed to start yesterday, but I forgot to change the volume number in the previous chapter.
Again, thank you very much for reading this book until now.]