Cinder didn't understand love,
but he knew Morag was a demon filled with overbearing lust, and his behavior was strangely un-demon-like; he had been pondering this.
By the lakeside.
Morag was teaching the Ice Wolf Clan girl warrior skills—yes, the girl named Ice Moon.
He witnessed Ice Moon growing stronger; though still at the level of a Level 1 Warrior, she had mastered a more powerful Frost Power.
"Cinder."
Chen Zhen looked at the appearing Cinder.
"Lord... Morag!"
Cinder hesitated for a moment before adding the special honorific.
"Lord? Cinder, you might be a bit short, but we are friends."
Chen Zhen said softly.
He didn't want to blatantly take Cinder as a subordinate yet; it would give the other companions a sense of crisis, making them think he had used some kind of scheme.
"At least not until I give my word!"
He grinned.
"Yes."
Cinder shrunk his neck.
He had to admit one thing: Morag's dominance was addictive, making him want to submit voluntarily.
Sooner or later, Morag would become a powerful Demon Lord; Cinder believed this from the bottom of his heart.
"You have something to tell me."
Chen Zhen stared at Cinder, reading his thoughts from his expression.
"Yes, yes."
Cinder smiled flatteringly and whispered in the Demonic Tongue: "I discovered..."
"Cinder, what do you take me for?"
Chen Zhen stared at Cinder suspiciously after hearing him.
"Let's go see. Evil should only be performed by us demons; everything else is just a clumsy imitation and a hateful desecration!" he said.
"???"
Cinder was both surprised and delighted, completely unable to grasp Chen Zhen's pattern. He smiled and said, "Right, they're all clumsy imitations and hateful desecrations."
"Mhm."
Chen Zhen thought for a moment, told Cinder to wait, spread his wings, and flew toward Verelia's location.
A moment later, Verelia flew back with him, her face cold.
"Ice Moon, I need to leave for a while. Until then, your Big Sister Verelia will stay here." Chen Zhen rubbed Ice Moon's small head.
"Okay..."
Being treated affectionately in front of others made Ice Moon a bit shy.
"Big Sister Verelia."
Ice Moon called out.
"Mhm..."
Verelia responded, walked coldly to a bench in the courtyard, and lay down.
What did Morag take her for?
A servant to be ordered around!
That hateful, stinky face—she really wanted to give it a hard punch!
Thinking of Morag's smile, Verelia couldn't help but grit her teeth, only to look up and find Morag smiling at her.
"Verelia, I'm counting on you."
Chen Zhen nodded in acknowledgment, then left with Cinder.
In a woodland.
Two demons, one tall and one short, were hidden in the branches, staring down.
Several red-skinned Lizardfolk were driving along a girl with fiery red hair. She had a diamond-shaped scale on her forehead, wore clothes woven from flowers and grass, and a short red lizard tail hung from her bottom. Her pale wrists were bound by thick rope.
Her appearance was very different from the lizard-headed Fire Lizardfolk.
"Thea, it is your honor to be offered to Lord Orian!"
A strong Lizardfolk laughed hideously.
"A soft and weak existence like you is only fit for food! You are the shame of the Fire Lizardfolk!!" another Fire Lizardfolk shouted.
"If it weren't for the Fire Lizardfolk blood flowing in her, Cross would also want to taste that tender flesh!"
They couldn't understand how Siless, also a Fire Lizardfolk, had given birth to a human-looking child; it was simply a disgrace to the Fire Lizardfolk.
No one admitted to being Thea's father. Now that Siless was dead, they would offer her to Lord Orian, who liked to eat humans!
Thea lowered her head, her body covered in mud and dirt; clearly, she had been pushed to the ground by the Lizardfolk many times.
Because she walked slowly, her fair feet were covered in bloody gashes from the sharp rocks on the ground. Every step was a piercing pain.
Tears fell uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.
Without her mother's protection, she was an outcast in the tribe. Perhaps the god of the Fire Lizardfolk believed her existence defiled them.
"What filth and evil! The weak should be protected, not insulted!"
Chen Zhen's soul of justice began to burn.
Having always possessed the heart of a weakling, he remained a weakling at heart, and naturally sympathized with the Fire Lizardfolk girl before him.
Weaklings like them should help each other to resist the oppression of the strong!
"Indeed."
Cinder echoed.
Knowing he had correctly guessed Morag's preference—this was a demon with a special fondness for protecting the weak, while also possessing overbearing lust.
Lifeforms like Ice Moon, who possessed human appearances and fit Morag's aesthetic, were too rare in the Nora Mountain Range; after all, this was far from where humans lived.
As a demon weaker than Morag, he strongly agreed with Morag's words.
The weak should be protected, not insulted!
"Cinder, what do you think I should do?"
Chen Zhen asked.
"Huh?"
Cinder didn't expect to be asked. He touched the single horn on his head and said hesitantly, "Kill them all?"
"Purify them. Cinder, it seems you also think this is right." Chen Zhen flapped his wings and flew down, with Cinder following closely behind.
The two demons landed in front of the group of Fire Lizardfolk.
The Fire Lizardfolk stood there in a daze, looking at the creatures emitting a powerful aura. Raking their brains, they finally remembered... these were... demons?!
Why would there be demons here?
"Thea, your name is Thea, right?"
Chen Zhen ignored the gazes of the Fire Lizardfolk and looked at the Fire Lizardfolk girl who was also looking up at him. Tears still hung from the corners of her eyes; she looked dazed and pitiable.
"Look, how pitiful. I see a fire-like purity in your eyes. How could such purity be insulted by clumsy evil!"
Her fiery red pupils gradually gained a different light.
"My eyes... fire-like purity?"
Thea pursed her lips slightly and cautiously revealed a hint of a smile. Never... her tribesmen had always mocked the ugliness of her eyes.
"Then are you willing? Let me purify the filth that attempts to take away the flame of purity on your behalf!" Chen Zhen flicked his finger, and a parchment contract appeared before the girl.
"What is this?"
Thea stared at the parchment in confusion.
She was like a blank sheet of paper; all the knowledge she had received came from the Fire Lizardfolk Tribe, and it was fragmented knowledge, as the tribesmen didn't like to accept her.
For all these years, only her mother and loneliness had accompanied her.
"A contract. Become my wife, and I will help you kill them!"
Chen Zhen pointed at the several Lizardfolk behind Thea.
The Lizardfolk now understood what Chen Zhen was going to do and retreated two steps in terror.
"Hehe!"
Cinder stood behind the Lizardfolk, a fist-sized Fireball appearing in his hand.