The lead hunter’s words hung in the frigid mountain air, a heavy confession of Lord Balam’s inadequacy. Malphas didn't move, but the temperature around us seemed to drop another ten degrees, the very frost on the stones thickening in response to his silent fury.

  The hunter, emboldened by the silence or perhaps just desperate for logic, looked directly at Malphas. "My Lord, if the threat is this great, why can't the Demon Lords simply find the suspect? Why not let fate itself lead you to him? With your power, surely the threads of destiny would pull him to your feet."

  Valerius stepped forward instantly, his eyes narrowing as he placed himself slightly between the hunter and Malphas. "Mind your tongue, tracker," the butler warned, his voice like cracking ice. "To question a Demon Lord's methods is a height of disrespect you cannot afford. You speak of destiny as if it were a leash, yet you understand nothing of the collar."

  The hunter flinched, but Valerius continued, his tone shifting into a cold, clinical explanation. "Do you think my Master is idle? He attempted to scry the culprit’s location before we even departed the Black Obsidian domain. However, the Black Rider, whoever he may be, possesses a trace of Demon Lord essence. It is a fundamental law, it is forbidden, and magically blocked, for one Demon Lord to peer into the life or location of another using scrying magic."

  Valerius adjusted his spectacles, his gaze stern and unforgiving. "Furthermore, the true power of a Demon Lord is sealed the moment they take on their title to prevent the unraveling of the world. Casually bending the laws of fate to find a peer is not just difficult, it is a forbidden act that carries a price even my Master does not pay lightly. Do you wish to see the world burn just so you can find a thief?"

  The hunter’s face went pale, and he bowed his head until it nearly touched the frozen stone, his breath coming in ragged gasps of terror. "I, I am sorry, My Lord. I should have figured as much. I spoke out of turn, please, forgive my ignorance."

  Malphas remained silent for a heartbeat, then reached into his robes and pulled out a weathered parchment, the bounty for the Black Rider. He held it out so the hunters could see the sketch of the dark, mounted figure. "Do you know anything more than what is written here? Have you seen the face beneath the cowl? Tell me, or your journey ends in this clearing."

  The hunters leaned in, studying the ink with trembling hands. The leader shook his head defeatedly, his eyes brimming with a moisture that froze instantly on his lashes. "Nah, we only know what he looks like from a distance. Just like the bounty says. He’s a shadow on a horse. No one who sees his face lives to talk about it, or they come back with their minds turned to mush, babbling about a king in the dark."

  Malphas pulled the parchment back, his expression unreadable and stony. "Then you are useless to me here." He waved a hand dismissively toward the path they had come from. "Go home to your own domain. Tell Balam that if he wants answers, he is to stop hiding in his chambers and come here himself. This threat is far beyond the reach of his playthings. Tell him Malphas said it, and tell him his cowardice is noted."

  The hunters didn't need to be told twice. They gathered their broken, dented equipment and scrambled back down the ridge, disappearing into the thick, unnatural mist within seconds.

  "Will he actually come?" I asked softly, looking up at Malphas, feeling the oppressive weight of the tower growing as we stood still.

  "Balam is a coward who prefers his silk sheets to the bite of mountain air," Malphas replied, turning his back on the retreating men. "But he will be afraid. And fear is a better motivator than duty. He knows that if I am here, the end of his comfort is near."

  He looked toward the horizon, where the windowless tower loomed like a jagged needle against the purple sky, pulsating with a dark, sickly light. "Come. We have wasted enough time on the help."

  With Malphas leading the way and Valerius following with his usual effortless grace, we continued our trek through the mountains. The tower was closer now, its dark stone pulsing with a faint, rhythmic hum that I could feel in the marrow of my bones, like a heartbeat that shouldn't exist. We walked in silence, three figures moving deeper into the heart of the Rider's nest.

  ─── ??☆?? ───

  As we continued our trek through the mountains, the wind howled between the jagged peaks, sounding like the distant, agonizing screams of the damned. Malphas walked with a heavy, contemplative silence, his eyes fixed on the windowless tower that seemed to pierce the very belly of the clouds, bleeding shadows into the air.

  Valerius, ever observant, broke the silence as he adjusted his pace to match the Demon Lord’s long, purposeful strides. "My Lord," the butler began, his voice steady despite the thin mountain air, "I couldn't help but notice your focus earlier. What was so interesting about that coin you held?"

  Malphas didn't turn his head, but his jaw tightened, a muscle leaping in his cheek. "It wasn't the gold, Valerius. It was the symbol engraved into its face. It was the logo, the crest of the previous ruler of the Black Obsidian."

  Valerius suddenly froze in his tracks, his polished boots skidding slightly on the frost covered stone, his face losing what little color it had. "The crest of the previous ruler?" he whispered, his composure momentarily shattered. "You mean, the ruler you had to kill? The one whose name was stricken from the records?"

  I stopped as well, looking back and forth between the two of them, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Wait, back up," I said, my voice echoing off the canyon walls in a way that sounded far too loud. "What do you mean the one you had to kill? I thought you were the original ruler of this domain, Malphas."

  Malphas stopped but didn't look back, his silhouette dark and imposing against the purple sky. Valerius was the one who answered, his voice dropping into a somber, historical tone that made the air feel even colder. "Miss Akira, many thousands of years ago, the land we now serve was ruled by a tyrant named Vorgath the Despiser."

  Valerius stepped closer to me as we resumed walking, explaining the dark history of the throne while the shadows around us seemed to stretch and reach. "Vorgath was a cruel master who only allowed fellow demons to live freely. All others, Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, any race he deemed lesser, were nothing more than slaves and cattle in his eyes. He built the foundation of our world on a mountain of bones."

  "But my Lord challenged him one day," Valerius continued, his eyes glinting with a mix of pride and lingering dread. "The fight that followed shook even the heavens, they say the sky cried for months, a torrential rain that wouldn't stop until the blood was washed from the earth and the fires were quenched. By the time the battle ended, Vorgath was not just slain, he was erased from existence. My Lord took over and became the best Demon Lord and ruler those lands had ever seen, granting freedom to all who draw breath."

  Malphas finally spoke, his voice like grinding stones in a deep cavern. "To see that crest now, on a coin that hasn't seen a day of wear, it means the Black Rider is meddling with a ghost I thought I had deleted from time itself. Something is reaching out from the grave, and I intend to break its fingers."

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  With that chilling thought hanging in the air, we pushed onward, our small group moving like shadows toward the high tower. The deeper we went, the more the air felt like it was breathing with us, a slow, wet wheeze that came from the rocks themselves.

  ─── ??☆?? ───

  As we moved deeper into the mountain pass, the weight of the history Valerius had shared pressed down on me. "Maybe, maybe we should try to get answers first," I suggested, my voice small and trembling against the wind. "I mean, what if the Black Rider is just a fan of that previous ruler of the Black Obsidian? Or just, um, lost?" I trailed off, realizing how naive I sounded.

  Valerius shook his head gravely. "No matter the case, Miss Akira, that crest being involved is no coincidence. What is even more concerning is that Vorgath the Despiser was known for using different species to create chimeras, a practice that is strictly forbidden by the laws of the current Throne. Seeing how many chimeras have appeared recently, it is clear someone is reviving his dark legacy, and they are doing so with a terrifying efficiency."

  Determined not to be just a bystander, I decided to practice my training as we walked. I could still barely sense my own mana, but I remembered Valerius’s words about sensing others. I closed my eyes, stumbling slightly on the uneven rocks, and tried to lock onto the presences of Malphas and Valerius. I failed over and over, feeling nothing but the biting, empty wind. I am not useless, I whispered inwardly. I tried searching for it the way I found my own spark, like listening for a heartbeat in a silent room. Suddenly, I felt it. Malphas’s mana was like a crushing, infinite ocean of dark fire, while Valerius’s was a sharp, clinical pulse of silver. The sheer, raw intensity of it was too much, my vision went white, and the world slipped away.

  When I finally blinked my eyes open, I wasn't on the cold, hard ground. I was being carried in Malphas’s arms. Valerius noticed my movement immediately. "Ah, you are awake. Good job on successfully sensing the mana of others, Miss Akira," he said with a small, encouraging nod. "I suspect you fainted because of the sheer density of my Lord's mana, it is like staring at the sun with wide eyes."

  My face heated up instantly as I realized Malphas was holding me. "I, I'm okay!" I squeaked, quickly jumping down and nearly tripping over my own feet in my embarrassment. I started walking briskly alongside them, looking anywhere but at him. "Thank you, Malphas, and I'm so sorry. I’m such a burden."

  Malphas didn't respond with words, but as I walked a half step behind him, I caught a glimpse of his profile. He was smiling, just a faint, genuine curve of his lips.

  "It might be wise if you don't try that again while we are on enemy ground," Valerius advised. "The air here is too thin for mistakes."

  We finally arrived at the base of the tower. Up close, it was even more intimidating, a massive, seamless pillar of dark stone. But as we looked around, the horror truly began. The tower was crawling. Thousands of chimeras and monsters clung to the surface, some flying, others climbing with multi limbed grace.

  Malphas stopped, looking up at the sky. He let out a long, weary sigh. "How tedious," he murmured. He opened his Mystic Eyes, and the pattern within them began to spin in a reverse, chaotic motion. A pulse of violet light rippled outward. Suddenly, the growling stopped. The chimeras turned to one another, their eyes turning a glassy white. With a sickening sound of tearing flesh, they began to rip each other apart. It was a massacre of the mind.

  We reached the base of the wall. Valerius raised his hand, and a glowing blade of mana materialized. With a single, fluid motion, he sliced through the dark stone. We walked inside, floating higher into the tower and bypassing the spiral stairs. Finally, we reached the very top, the roof of the tower open to the swirling clouds. To my shock, the man from the bounty was standing there.

  "Finally," the figure said, his voice carrying over the gale with a smug tone. "So, you raised your mana to warn me of your presence, eh, Demon Lord? I knew my illusions wouldn't work against a Demon Lord, yet."

  Malphas interrupted him, his voice cold. "Yet you still underestimated your enemy. You are a child playing with matches in a cathedral."

  The figure laughed, a harsh sound. "No, no. I was merely testing you. And by the way, those two hunters from earlier? I killed them. I wouldn't want two Demon Lords here at once."

  He laughed again, and suddenly, heavy chains erupted from the ground. They lashed around us, locking Malphas, Valerius, and me in place. The figure stepped closer, finally revealing his face. He was a middle aged man with a thick black beard and piercing green eyes.

  "You might be wondering who that Black Rider is, eh?" he sneered, puffing out his chest. "That'll be me! Kaelos the Forgotten! The one who will assist this world into its new age!"

  He looked at us as if he expected us to be shocked, but in all three of our heads, the thought was identical, well, no shit you're the Black rider.

  Then, a thick, grey mist began to seep from the stones. My vision began to blur, I was starting to forget what the man looked like even as I stared at him. The mist was specifically meant to handicap someone like Malphas who relied on his Mystic Eyes. "How does it feel, Demon Lord?" Kaelos mocked. "To be blind and bound in your final moments?"

  But the world twisted. The figure of Malphas in the chains didn't struggle, he simply stood there with a bored expression. Suddenly, the real Malphas stepped out from the shadows directly behind Kaelos. Kaelos jumped forward, his eyes bulging. "How are there two of you?!" he screamed. "The one in the chains, an illusion?"

  While Kaelos was distracted, Valerius Flare his silver mana, and the heavy chains binding us shattered like glass. The illusory Malphas next to me simply turned into a wisp of dark smoke.

  "Did you really think I would walk into an enemy’s base so carelessly?" Malphas asked.

  "Since when could you do illusion magic?" Kaelos stammered. Malphas’s Mystic Eyes sparked with a terrifying light. "Who said I couldn't?" Kaelos tried to disappear, but he found himself rooted to the spot. "Why isn't my teleportation working?!"

  "Curse you!" Kaelos yelled. "Now, you might have been immune to my mist, but this next one is a power the Demon King Himself had given me! A gift for the end of your reign!"

  I froze. The Demon King? Who was a Demon King? The name felt heavy and ancient.

  "Behold!" Kaelos screamed. "Memory Wipe! You will forget your names, your past, your power! Even those around you will forget that you ever existed! You will forget the very language you speak!"

  He unleashed the spell, a wave of grey, soul numbing energy. I felt a momentary void, a feeling that I was disappearing from my own mind. But the wave hit Malphas and simply broke against him like water on a cliff. He stepped toward Kaelos, calm and terrifyingly silent.

  "Why, why isn't this working?!" Kaelos screamed, backing away until he hit the low stone wall. "It was given to me by the Demon King himself!"

  In the blink of an eye, Malphas was there. He reached out, grabbed Kaelos by the face, and smashed him against the wall with enough force to crack the ancient stone. Malphas let his hand off the man's face, leaving Kaelos gasping. Malphas’s Mystic Eyes began to rotate in a complex pattern. "Reveal your secrets," Malphas commanded. "How are you connected to Vorgath."

  Just as Kaelos was about to mention the previous ruler of the Black Obsidian, a sound like a massive clock tower going ding echoed across the roof. From the clouds, hundreds of silver knives descended like a lethal curtain. Malphas reacted instantly, teleporting in front of me and swinging his arm in a wide arc, creating a massive force of air that swiped the knives away.

  Standing in the center of the roof was a new figure. He wore a high collared frock coat and a flat, featureless white mask. Just as he appeared, another figure seemed to manifest out of thin air behind Kaelos, a bloodied, injured man in a white mask. This mystery man, who we didn't yet know was known as Jack the Ripper, grabbed Kaelos by the collar.

  "Shut up, fool," the masked man in the center spoke, his voice a refined, old English London lilt. "Master won't be pleased that you spilled all that. You were always a leaky vessel, Kaelos."

  Even before any of us could react, both Kaelos and the bloodied man dissolved into black smoke and vanished into the wind.

  The roof was silent, save for the howling wind. Valerius looked sharply toward the horizon. "My Lord, do you sense that? It's the signal. The castle has been attacked. The Obsidian Throne is under siege."

  Malphas’s face darkened with a cold, murderous rage. The air around him began to crackle with black lightning. "We must leave at once. They chose the wrong day to knock on my door."

  I stood there, my head spinning with the title of a Demon King and the image of the white mask. Before I could finish my thought, Malphas grabbed me, and the world began to blur into a tunnel of shadows.