The Prince of Demons

My conversation with Helga was running in my mind as I made sure Nil got his needed amount of False Immortal's Serum. I really should focus on what I am good at. Helga kept a watchful eye on Ein and Riva who were peacefully asleep. Riva wanted to pout for the couch, but thankfully the threat of waking up Krahinn stopped that cold. That was fairly clever of Ein to snag that couch while she was distracted. I was curious if that kind of subtle tactic was typical for siblings. I'm an only child unfortunately; maybe a bigger family has its perks. I was glad Julius, Cleo, and Cesar were abroad right now during this crisis. I know on this short of notice Ryker can't get across the world and back. Time was ticking by, slowly crawling towards dawn. I noted what Helga wanted to discuss because I felt she was right; that we needed to be a bit more open with how we felt about the struggle we all were in. Nil was barely moving in his sleep, seeming dead to the world. Can he even rest enough to be in fighting shape by tomorrow? I was concerned about how he was going to be even moving in a couple hours; the night felt so long as we sat in tense silence making sure nothing happened.

Around daybreak, Krahinn's eyes shot open, looking around. Krahinn hopped off the bed while reverting to his actual form, placing several powerful wards over Nil while opening portal for us to walk through. I gave Nil a hug, nuzzling deep into him and holding him as tight as I could; Nil groggily stirred, hugging me back, leaning his head against me. I held Nil close to me, not wanting to let go of him for a few moments. Please make it out fine Nil; I'm scared if I say anything it'll curse you. Nil ran his hand up and down my back, gently nuzzling me as we stayed like that. I hugged Nil for another solid minute before giving him a kiss goodbye. We wordlessly looked at each other as Nil gave me his dorky smile like everything was going to be just fine. I let go, turning to see Krahinn made a <Dark Nebula> to obscure Ein's and Riva's view of Nil and I. That is surprising of him. Krahinn made the <Technique> vanish as he gestured it was time to go through the portal while bending the wards out of the way for me to walk through. Ein, Riva, Helga, and I followed Krahinn through the portal into Phestia which was noticeably several degrees cooler.

"What brings you here, Krahinn?" Hoggdin asked Krahinn, noticing the entourage of demons behind him.

"Sovereign Hoggdin, I kindly request that you please allow these demons to please stay here for about a day." Krahinn requested with a polite bow. I stared at Krahinn, Helga stared at Krahinn, and Hoggdin was taking several, long blinks as he processed what he heard.

"Did I pass away in my sleep?" Hoggdin mused, looking around his cave.

"It is imperative that they stay here for a day with you nearby the entire time, so I am humbly requesting your assistance." Krahinn added on while still sounding polite. He does know how to sound polite.

"You know what, I will take it because this must be a crisis for you to be this polite. Fine, I'll keep them safe." Hoggdin agreed. Krahinn didn't even make a witty retort to everyone's amazement.

"I'll be back for you all later." Krahinn told us as he walked back through the portal.

"Big dragon!" Riva chimed excitedly, gesturing towards Hoggdin.

"Why are we here?" Ein asked me while Riva excitedly looked around Hoggdin's massive cave.

"What did your parents say?" I checked. Ein gave me an unamused stare because I borrowed Nil's tactic.

"You aren't going to tell me." Ein sighed as he correctly deduced the answer. I did not want to freak out his siblings with the truth until after this was over.

Luna, what could possibly have motivated Krahinn to be that polite? Hoggdin inquired as he knew something dire was afoot.

Nyx was angry at Nil trying to survive so she constructed an army of copies of Ryker, a human determined to kill Nil and make the everlasting Kingdom of Modinar, and unleashed them upon Umbra. I informed Hoggdin. He nodded as he mulled over the information.

Hard to give him grief for that because that sounds truly dire. Hoggdin quipped. It was hard to joke about the wrath of a malicious Lord.

It is a horrible situation. I agreed with him. I was disappointed I was here, but it was the smart move.

I am guessing these are Nil's siblings and their caretaker? Hoggdin inquired, making sure he was following correctly.

That is correct. I confirmed for him.

Interesting. I am quite confident that nothing will happen, but Krahinn clearly is just being cautious to have me stop if a Lord tries to rip you back to Tenebrae. Granted, depending on how determined she is, there is only so much I can do. Hoggdin informed me. To be fair, there was only so much to hinder a Lord one could do.

So, how is Lux doing on her <Journey>? I checked, wanting to change the subject.

I do not know as I need to remain impartial. King Miril won't know either. Hoggdin answered. King Miril was Ikol's mother if I recalled correctly.

When would I ask King Miril? I checked because I was not sure why he would clarify that.

She will be visiting soon as we have been transitioning from my rule to hers. Hoggdin stated. So, there was a chance I would get to meet King Miril. Lux wasn't a fan of hers, but that barely meant anything because with Lux it could have been countless reasons of varying pettiness.

Helga reigned in Riva who was running around excitedly while Hoggdin remained relatively still, probably to avoid harming Riva accidentally. Riva was likely going to be a bit of a handful today as she was bad about sitting still in silence for hours on end. Nil enables her a bit too much. That was another topic noted for whenever he recovered from this ordeal. Nil would be fine. He had to be fine. I need him to be fine. I was imagining Nil's dorky smile as he looked at me as if I was the only thing that mattered to him. I don't want to lose him. That stupid dork mattered too much to me. He better make it out of this okay. How long was it going to take until I knew Nil was fine? Just how bad of shape was Nil going to be in after this? I dread to see what the withdrawal of False Immortal's Serum entails. That was so unnatural as Nil forced himself to keep moving forward while his body was kept together by that concoction.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

I wanted to train to elevate my <Tier>, but my mind just kept going to Nil. He's in serious danger right now. He did have his family, Nautilus, and Krahinn on his side helping fight the army, but there was no guarantee all of them would emerge unscathed. Ryker on an individual level would struggle against any of them. The issue was the thousands upon thousands of copies with the experience shared between them all, or the fact this was created by Nyx out of spite for Nil. Probably the fact Nyx was so infuriated by Nil trying to survive she created an army just to spite him was the more concerning matter now that I thought about it a little. It's not fair. Nil would be fine, right? Nil is tenacious, he always overcame the odds. While I was worrying about Nil, I sensed something strong bounding towards the cave, closing the gap of when I could sense it to its arrival in less than a blink. Standing in the cave was a <Sentinel Lord> that resembled Ikol, This is probably King Miril.

"Fluffy!" Riva called out happily, moving excitedly towards King Miril.

"Riva, behave." Helga lectured sternly.

"But she so fluffy, like Ikol." Riva pouted, looking hopefully at King Miril.

"You must be from Tenebae." King Miril deduced while her eyes were looking intensely at us.

Hoggdin and King Miril had a quick mental conversation about why the four of us were currently in his cave. Hoggdin really did us a favor that we need to repay somehow. Maybe seeing Krahinn be actually polite will be enough, but that feels so insincere. Krahinn even asked politely for us to be able to hide here which was nothing short of both miraculous and concerning. On a slightly tangential note, that is King Miril. She was Ikol's mother and I was kind of curious just how different Miril was; I highly doubted there was another being with the same kind of thought process and level of thinking as Ikol. Riva was looking at King Miril, clearly wanting to pet her. Helga was keeping a strict eye on Riva who struggled in vain to try and inch closer to the fluffy one. Riva really needed to understand not every remotely fluffy thing was friendly and willing to indulge her. Lux doesn't, but she also isn't that mean to Riva other than just leaving the area.

"What is with the small one?" Miril inquired as she didn't grasp Riva's tiny hand gestures.

"I apologize for her behavior; her brother spoils her a bit much." Helga apologized with a bow. King Miril looked over at Ein as she cocked her head sideways.

"Big brother." Ein clarified. King Miril tilted her head to the other side in fake confusion. She clearly knew who they were referring to.

"Big brother? Who is that?" King Miril checked with feigned ignorance.

"Big brother Nil! He's the best!" Riva answered excitedly. Helga made a gesture to speak softer and lower her voice.

"That is the one Lux has a contract with if I recall." King Miril quipped. Her tails were flicking a bit as she was gauging our reactions in a way that was oddly familiar.

"Lux is mean fluffy; Ikol is nice fluffy." Riva replied. King Miril seemed amused by that statement.

"Of course, Ikol is the better one between the two of them." King Miril agreed with a nod.

"Riva, do not insult Lux because she doesn't like being pet." Helga lectured her. Riva looked at Helga a bit sheepishly before averting her gaze.

"Hold on, hold on. I think it is fair to insult Lux; she has many, many shortcomings." King Miril defended her. Helga looked at King Miril, debating her next words.

"Miril." Hoggdin chided while shaking his head.

"What? The child is drawing the correct conclusion all on her own." Miril defended herself. That manner of speaking was similar to someone I knew or used to.

"You know exactly what." Hoggdin pressed in an unamused tone.

"Are you Ikol's mom?" Ein probed. Even how Miril carried herself was oddly familiar.

"Yes, Ikol is my son." Miril confirmed. Hmmm. I wanted to test something.

"I'm glad Ikol has such a good friend like Lux." I chimed in. For the briefest second, I could feel King Miril's wrath erupt as her gaze bore through my soul. It was a flash of anger as Miril clearly did not like that fact.

"Lux is lucky to have a good friend like Ikol." Miril corrected me. Hoggdin looked between us, seeming curious as to what I was thinking. I was connecting some dots as I was thinking it over.

"Ikol was so well behaved, and a delight to have." I complimented him. Miril looked pleased to hear that. Ein gave me some side eye, as he remembered that Ikol was a bit odd.

"Of course he is, Ikol is my son after all." Miril agreed, seeming not to care if I was playing to her ego. I know who Miril reminds me of. Or more of a mix of two beings I knew to be more accurate but heavily favored one of them in particular; no wonder Lux didn't like Miril.

"Ikol is so much nicer than Lux." Riva slandered Lux. Because Lux won't let you pet her, and Ikol was fully on board with it.

"Because Ikol was raised correctly." Miril informed her. It was hard for me to not burst out laughing at how similar the two of them were.

"I see." I quipped, trying to keep my voice level.

"What is so amusing?" Miril snarled at me, as she caught my amusement. Should I pull a Nil here?

"Nothing." I tried. Do not laugh. Do not laugh.

"Do not lie to me, child." Miril ordered. Well, she did ask.

"You are just an older version of Lux." I answered with a chuckle.

That was undeniably the incorrect thing to say because Miril immediately attacked me. I barely reinforced my body in time before Miril swatted me across the cave with a massive boom from the impact. She emitted a dark, hateful aura as she towered over me before I could even blink; I could barely register the fact she was moving due to just how quick Miril was. Her eyes were attempting to disintegrate me with her paw ready to hit me again in case I said something else that displeased her. I sensed Hoggdin glaring at us, clearly telling Miril mentally to relax. Miril looked at Hoggdin as she definitely argued that I deserved to be attacked for such impudence. I couldn't even follow her movement. Miril was a level of fast I had never seen before; I noted that I needed to practice tracking speed that fast before the stakes were much higher. She even loses her temper like Lux if you press her with a fact she doesn't like.

"I AM NOTHING LIKE HER! YOU ALL NEED TO STOP THINKING THAT!" Miril demanded. Helga was looking at me with a smirk and a tiny thumbs up as Riva was now cowering behind her from Miril's sudden display of violece. Ein was fighting how much he wanted to laugh.

"And attacking me because I annoyed you is something Lux would never do." I pointed out. Miril looked at me, with displeasure all over her face. Her presence was terrifying because she clearly hated each syllable that just left my mouth.

"I do not like you." Miril informed me.

"For telling the truth?" Hoggdin inquired. Miril gave him a death stare.

"Why do you always support that ridiculous claim?" Miril spat at him.

"That particular family line is just a repeating cycle." Hoggdin replied calmly.

"Everyone has some ridiculous fantasy about that." Miril sighed as she bounded back over to near Hoggdin; I carefully walked back over towards Helga tentatively in case she changed her mind.

"It is not a fantasy." Hoggdin retorted immediately.

"I am nothing like Izol's birth giver and Lux most certainly falls woefully short of me." Miril snapped at him.

"Maybe in your revisionist history." Hoggdin quipped. Miril gave him some stink eye, but decided to drop as she shook her head in disgust.

I am glad it is obvious to everyone but her. Hoggdin informed me mentally while he had a toothy grin going still.

I shouldn't have said that. I informed him. My chest was sore from where her paw hit me.

She needed to hear that from an unbiased source. She is not as mad as you think, she is just in denial. Hoggdin replied, clearly happy that I had pointed it out as well.

Thank you, for everything. I told Hoggdin.

Do not worry child, you have more than paid me for it. Hoggdin assured me as now we just had to wait.