The clearing fell quiet again after Aldric spoke.
The cultist remained standing there, still lost in thought, her mind turning over the question she had raised.
But Draven had already stopped listening.
He turned.
"Vaelith."
She straightened immediately.
"Yes, my lord."
"We're leaving."
There was no hesitation.
Vaelith nodded once and stepped past him, already moving into the forest.
Draven began walking.
Lyriana glanced once at the cultist, then at Aldric, before sheathing her blade and following Vaelith without a word.
Branches shifted softly as they disappeared deeper into the trees.
Aldric remained standing there for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"Well… looks like story time's over."
He flicked his wrist lazily.
The last traces of blood magic around his hands faded.
Aldric stretched his shoulders before lifting off the ground again, crimson wings forming behind him with a faint glow of blood magic.
He hovered beside the cultist and jerked his head forward.
"Well?"
He smirked.
"You heard the boss."
He glanced sideways at her.
"You coming, or do you want to stay here and wait for the Empire?"
The cultist didn't argue.
She stepped forward and followed the others into the trees.
Within moments, the clearing was empty again.
Only the quiet forest remained as the group disappeared deeper into the night.
---
Far away from the ruined town, inside the command chamber of one of the returning airships, a mage finished transmitting the report to the capital.
The message traveled through a long-range communication array, the runic circle glowing as the final words were delivered.
**Mission failed.**
**Target confirmed.**
**The son of the Demon King has been sighted in the western region of the Eryndor Kingdom.**
---
In the capital of the Holy Empire, the report was received within minutes.
The chamber where the message arrived fell silent as the words were read aloud.
They had failed to capture him.
But something far more valuable had been confirmed.
**His location.**
After a brief deliberation, the order was given.
Not secrecy.
**Announcement.**
Runic broadcast towers across the Empire began activating one after another. Communication officers poured mana into the formations, sending the same message across kingdoms, guild networks, ports, mercenary halls, and mage associations.
Within hours—
The news spread across the continent.
From crowded taverns filled with adventurers…
To noble courts…
To pirate crews gathered around maps…
To wandering mercenaries and bounty hunters traveling the roads.
Everywhere the same message was repeated.
A bounty notice backed by the authority of the Holy Empire.
---
**The Son of the Demon King has been located.**
His presence has been confirmed in the **western territories of the Eryndor Kingdom**.
The bounty remains active.
Any who capture or kill him will be rewarded.
---
Across the continent, reactions followed.
In taverns, conversations stopped mid-sentence.
Adventurers looked up from their drinks.
Mercenary captains began giving new orders.
Ships in distant ports started preparing for long voyages.
Caravans changed their routes.
Even darker figures—those who thrived on chaos and profit—began moving.
Because the bounty placed on the son of the Demon King…
Was enough to make men cross oceans.
And now they finally knew **where to go**.
Toward the **Eryndor Kingdom**.
Toward the west.
Toward Draven.
---
The sun was sinking beyond the horizon, its last light bleeding through the dense canopy of the forest.
This region lay deep within the territory ruled by **Duke Alveric Thorne**, one of the nobles governing the western lands of the Eryndor Kingdom. His domain was known for its vast wilderness—endless forests, broken hills, and scattered villages barely connected by winding dirt roads.
Inside that forest, the aftermath of a hunt lay scattered across the ground.
Several beast corpses sprawled among the trees, their massive bodies still steaming faintly in the cooling air.
The cultist moved quietly between them.
With practiced motions, she grabbed one of the larger carcasses by the leg and dragged it across the forest floor. Leaves and dirt scraped beneath its weight as she pulled it closer to the others.
Once they were gathered, she raised her hand.
A faint glow appeared around her finger as the **space ring** activated.
One by one—
The bodies vanished into the storage space.
Across the clearing, Aldric crouched beside another beast.
His hand was buried deep inside the creature's chest cavity.
Blood magic pulsed faintly along his arm.
Then he yanked.
A glowing **magic crystal** came free from the monster's heart.
Dark blood splattered across the ground as the crystal emerged.
Aldric stood, examining it briefly before tossing it toward Draven.
Another crystal followed.
And another.
Each one floated through the air before drifting toward Draven as Aldric used thin threads of blood magic to guide them.
"Fresh ones," Aldric said lazily while walking to the next corpse.
"Should still have plenty of energy, like always."
He ripped another crystal free with a wet tearing sound and sent it drifting toward Draven as well.
Around them, the forest slowly darkened as night began to settle in.
Draven caught the floating crystals one after another as they drifted toward him.
They glowed faintly in his palm, still warm from the beasts they had been taken from, raw mana swirling within their cores.
He didn't examine them.
Didn't store them.
Didn't even pause.
Draven simply tossed one into his mouth.
**Crunch.**
The crystal shattered between his teeth like brittle glass.
A faint pulse of mana spread through his body as the fragments dissolved.
Aldric glanced over with mild interest as he ripped another crystal free from a corpse.
"Still eating those things like candy, huh?"
Draven ignored him.
He tossed another crystal into his mouth—
But this time, instead of swallowing it himself, he tilted his head slightly.
The small cat resting near his neck poked its head out from inside his collar.
Its eyes glinted in the dim light.
Draven placed the crystal near its mouth.
The creature opened its jaws and swallowed the glowing core whole.
The crystal slid down its throat with a soft **crunch**.
For a moment, the cat's body glowed faintly as the mana inside the crystal was absorbed.
Then the light faded.
Draven grabbed another crystal and fed it to the cat again.
Aldric watched the process while casually tearing another crystal out of a beast's chest.
"…You're spoiling that thing."
Another crystal floated toward Draven.
The cat swallowed that one too without hesitation.
Nearby, the cultist finished storing the last of the beast corpses inside her space ring and glanced toward them.