"Good, you’re awake."

He heard a lovely voice as he opened his eyes slowly. The morning light was draped brightly into the room, washing it with a golden glow as the curtains swung open.

"Rise and shine sleepy head." Esty spoke as she walked across the room, still in her night gown. She had a unique glow on her face, showing that she was in a good mood.

"Ugh, the light is too bright!" Alaric complained, flipping over to shield his face from the bright sunlight.

"Good, that’s exactly why I opened the curtains, now get your ass up, you need to regain your energy." She commanded, not even batting an eye in his direction.

She got on the ground immediately and crossed her legs, she might have been over four hundred years old, but she had the flexibility of a child.

She gestured for him to hurry up and join her in her position.

This was their trademark Dual Cultivation pose, where they would merge their Qi and hone it to the best of their abilities.

Alaric opened one eye and looked at her, she gestured again, she wasn’t smiling, neither was she frowning.

She had a straight face as she hurried him.

The man groaned and grumbled, his injuries were completely healed by now. He managed to slide his body over to the edge of the bed and came down, he sat opposite her in the same position.

Flexible couple they were, there legs stayed crossed as the interlocked their fingers.

The energy around them began to swirl like a cam breeze, it settled eventually, when their aura’s had eventually merged.

Being old cultivators, staying completely and utterly silent during cultivation was not necessary, and since the workload was shared evenly amongst them, it was easy to even conversate during cultivation periods.

"So Jacob visited me last night." Alaric said blandly, his breathing was even and calm, even though he was talking.

"Visited you? He came here?" She asked, in tbe same calm and even tone.

"No, apparently he can astral project now, the boy keeps adding new skills to his reservoir everyday." Said the man, in a tone that suggested he was impressed with his grandson’s growth.

"How is he?" She was smiling now, eager for her husband’s reply.

"Oh! He’s doing great, he’s made a friend now, the son of tbe Primarch of Wutherhorn."

"Wutherhorn?" He asked, her tone suggested that, just like her husband, she wasn’t really fond of the Wutherhorns either.

"I know, I had the same reaction. But he’ll be fine."

"I trust he will."

_ _ _

"I’m back my lord." Morbius announced as he returned to the Demon King’s court.

He waved a medium sized, transparent vial containing a thick blue liquid in the air.

"This is the sap my Liege. We have confirmed that it is possible for you to infuse this with your essence, and gain total control of the source of all the world’s cultivation by injecting your essence-infused sap back into the tree." Morbius explained, utterly confident in his findings.

"Interesting." The Demon King’s voice resounded in the halls.

The vial immediately levitated from Morbius’ grasp and floated towards the Demon King’s chambers, out of the general’s line of sight.

"What a tiny little thing, but what power it holds." The Demon King paused, he pondered for a while in silence, while Morbius stood quietly in a corner, waiting for his next command.

"But there is a resistance, a great power has now learned of our plan."

"There is no greater power in this world than you, my Lord." Morbius praised.

"Shut up! useless! You know nothing—I’m afraid this power might pose a resistance to our plans, so we must tread carefully."

"Yes, my Liege."

"I will hold on to this until I can figure out a way to carry out a plan or supress this presence that I feel. I do not trust the likes of you to carry out my plans any further." The Demon King concluded.

"B—But My... Lord. I have been your most faithful ser—"

"My decision is final. Morbius. Your efforts will be rewarded duly, but your participation is no longer needed. Leave me at once!" The Demon King’s voice resounded through the halls, bouncing off the walls and causing the stronghold to vibrate.

He was the ruler of Helmand, a place where gods had banished all the demons to after the treachery they committed against the other races.

As the leader of the pack he was given the worst punishment of all.

He had the power, he had the resources, but the day that he would leave Helmand, would be his last.

That was the punishment he was given by the gods.

That was why he always stayed deep in his castle chambers, plotting and studying ways to break the curse, but there was no recluse for a Demon of his caliber.

Not until he heard word that the World Tree was collapsing, this would be his chance, if he could take control of the tree; the source of cultivation in the world. Then maybe he could channel all that power and break himself free of this curse.

Free to walk the continents and beyond, exacting his revenge on all those who had wronged him.

Morbius, at some point was his most trusted soldier, one he would send on different expeditions and missions to fulfil his wishes, all in a plot to one day escape the pit that his subordinates called a Kingdom.

But Morbius had failed one too many times, defeated by the same people he would always claim to be better than.

The Demon King knew better than to trust Morbius to hold on to the only chance of him leaving that Hell.

The rest of the demons saw Helmand Kingdom as a place of safe haven, but he saw it as a deep bottomless pit, one where only rot and suffering was acceptable.

The air was poisoned, the streets weee damaged, it was a place where even the sun and the moon had no connection to.

Disconnected from the world above.

Now he had the cure, now he would strive his hardest to make sure that he leaves the dump behind. But there was only one issue, he sensed unfathomable power from a being that walked freely on the continent above.

He was jealous of this power, this power was pure, unbridled, limitless. Enough to break him free of captivity.

A being that possessed no limits, he wondered if a god now roamed freely across the world, but that was too good to be true.

Morbius had already reached the doors of the chambers, on his way out, when the Demon King called out to him.

"I do have another mission for you Morbius." The Demon King said calmly, for the first time.

Morbius wiped his cheek before he turned, facing the same direction he was previously.

"I’m ready to do anything master!" He announced, a newfound glint in his eye as he eagered to please his Lord once again.

"Don’t get your hopes up, Morbius, it’s a surveillance job."

"Yes, Master."

"You remember that power I told you about. He roams freely about on the above world, I need you to find out everything you know about the source of this power and report back to me." The Demon King commanded.

"I will do that at once! My Lord." Morbius accepted the command and before long, he was on his way.

_ _ _

The Wutherhorn Dynasty lived in a large estate. A huge brown building that Jacob could see in the distance.

He had never expected someone as carefree as Light to come from such a noble home.

"So that’s your home." Jacob spoke calmly, his hand on his jaw as he listlessly looked out the carriage window.

The small carriage galloped slowly on the road as Leon drove the horses, they snorted and whinnied as they walked along the narrow dirt path.

"Yes, that’s my home." Light said, he didn’t seem as excited as he was before now.

Infact, if one looked closely enough, they could see a large bead of sweat forming on his forehead, suggesting that he was nervous about returning back home.

"What’s the matter, you don’t look too good." Xenia asked him, her gaze was fixed on him, which made matters even worse.

"I—I didn’t think I’d feel this way, but... coming back here after so long." Light muttered, his voice not as loud as before.

"We understand you bro, it’s okay. We got you, don’t we Xenia?" Jacob asked, switching his gaze to Xenia, who mirrored it.

"You are in safe hands Light." She replied flatly.

There was still a ways to go before they arrived at the estate, but Jacob was feeling confident in the new adventure he was about to embark on, he still felt a strange presence tingling at his senses.

He would deal with that later, for now he had only one focus.