The Demon King departed. The noble demons and Constans’s skeleton army left with him, leaving only Baph and the demons under his command to carry out the Demon King’s order.

Although Bazel, Lance, and the others were Greater Demons, bound by the black chains with their magic completely drained, there was no concern about them escaping.

Seeing no hope left, the four demons resorted to cursing and grumbling at Baph, figuring they might as well get some verbal satisfaction before dying.

Baph stood before the four demons, listening to them curse him for being heartless and disloyal, whining about how they were supposed to survive together but he sought prosperity behind their backs.

He shook his head helplessly. “Back then, although we were all subordinates of the previous Demon King, our relationship wasn’t that close, was it?”

Truth be told, most demons kept to themselves back then. They were merely nodding acquaintances, not friends bonded through life and death.

“Besides, matters succeed through secrecy. My decision back then risked the fate of my entire race; I don’t feel I owe you any responsibility.”

“I don’t care about your damn secrets! We were just slacking off under the previous Demon King; it wasn’t like we deserved to die, right?”

This was what Bazel felt was most unfair. They hadn’t become the previous Demon King’s subordinates willingly, nor had they committed any heinous crimes. Was it really necessary to kill them?

Baph shrugged. “Perhaps His Majesty is indeed taking out some anger, but who told you to get caught in the crossfire? Besides, I actually did try to find you all beforehand.”

The four demons stopped cursing, all looking up at Baph, confusion in their eyes.

When did he look for them? How come they didn’t know?

Seeing the idiotic looks on these four demons, Baph felt irritated. When he decided to help the rebels back then, he had considered asking these demons for help.

After all, they were fellow Greater Demons, exceptionally powerful, with talents perfectly suited for the battlefield. With their help, the rebels’ chances of victory would have been much higher.

Turns out, he couldn’t find a single one of them!

“Bazel, what were you doing before that battle?”

Bazel: What else? Searching for treasure everywhere, obviously.

“Searching for treasure, right? You were stealing from noble treasuries every day. Even if I wanted to recruit you, I couldn’t find even a ghost of you!”

“And Lance! You were everywhere, but always just illusions! As for Bode, your whole clan looks identical! You had your clansmen work for you while you snuck off somewhere to steal food! And Nick, what were you doing hanging around the previous Demon King? I couldn’t possibly trust a demon like you.”

Bazel, Lance, and Bode shifted their gazes guiltily.

But they couldn’t really be blamed; if they didn’t run around, what if that lunatic previous Demon King took a fancy to their bodies?

But what did he mean about Nick hanging around the previous Demon King?

The three demons turned to look at Nick. Nick quickly protested his innocence, “I wasn’t doing anything bad! And what do you mean ‘hanging around’ the previous Demon King? I was just hiding nearby gathering information! You all know how crazy that guy was!”

Bode was somewhat curious. “Weren’t you afraid he’d take a fancy to you?”

It wasn’t that the previous Demon King was particularly lecherous; rather, his abilities were unique.

The previous Demon King belonged to the Evil Spirit Race. They fed on various negative emotions, and their ability was possession.

These demons would often possess others when they weren’t paying attention, doing bad things to absorb negative emotions. Demons generally disliked this race, but they were usually weak, mostly low-rank demons capable only of possessing those of similar rank.

But the previous Demon King was different. He had somehow acquired vast amounts of negative emotions, rapidly advancing to the Greater Demon level, and subsequently gaining new powers.

A demon’s magic originated from their heart; he could actually devour other demons’ hearts to obtain their magic.

Furthermore, his possession ability mutated: after devouring a heart, he could continue using the victim’s corpse for possession, perfectly utilizing even their racial talents.

Such an ability was unheard of. The Demon King before the previous one was defeated this way—not only was his heart devoured, but his body was taken as well.

Afterward, this newly ascended Demon King searched everywhere for suitable bodies. Over ten thousand years, he had collected countless demon corpses.

No one knew if the demon they drank and chatted with one day might have a different core the next.

“Haven’t you noticed?” Nick had observed for a long time. “The previous Demon King liked possessing good-looking and powerful individuals. While I think our race is quite handsome, he looked down on us. He preferred good-looking humanoid demons.”

Like pitch-black demons such as themselves, or Slimes, or Black Goats, the previous Demon King wouldn’t even spare them a glance.

“And the reason I risked my life investigating every day was because he had taken a fancy to Lance and Bazel.”

This was the first time Nick had mentioned this. Because the previous Demon King had never devoured a Shadow Demon, he couldn’t detect Nick hidden in the shadows.

So, Nick often went eavesdropping, checking if the Demon King had suddenly gone mad and decided to annihilate the Shadow Demon race, or sometimes overhearing crucial information to sell later.

On one occasion, he overheard that the King had indeed taken an interest in Lance and Bazel—after all, their looks were considered quite good in the Demon Realm, they were humanoid, and their abilities were among the strongest of their kind.

That’s why Nick went eavesdropping every day; if the King really planned to move against Lance and Bazel, he could warn them in advance.

However, before the previous Demon King could make his move, he was sealed away.

“Nick, thank you so much! I never thought you’d do something so dangerous for us! I always thought you were just a black-hearted, petty demon who ran away at the first sign of trouble.”

Nick: “…You could have left out the last part. Though I was planning to charge you money for the info.”

The demons, about to die, were still chatting away. Baph, feeling he shouldn’t have brought this up, took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

“Alright, enough with the touching moments. You can chat all you want after you’re dead. As former colleagues, I’ll come lay flowers for you on this day every year.”

He was eager to get back and see the Little Prince anyway.

Watching the black goat approach them with a knife, Bode’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Are we really going to die like this? I wanted to see Baobao one more time.”

Nick’s ringed eyes dimmed. “We finally hatched him after so long, only got to raise him for a few days before dying. I should have stolen the egg sooner; maybe we could have spent a few more days together.”

Baph hadn’t expected them to still be thinking about the Little Prince even at death’s door. “There aren’t many demons who can enter the Demon King’s Palace unnoticed. Actually, I suspected it was you guys before. Nick infiltrating via shadows, Lance undoing the twelve seals—quite good cooperation. Couldn’t you just hide properly? Why did you have to do something so suicidal?”

Lance: “Huh?”

Nick: “Huh?”

The other two demons: ?

What twelve seals?

Seeing the four demons looking utterly confused again, Baph frowned. “The place where the Little Prince was kept is a forbidden area in the Demon King’s Palace. Normally, no one besides His Majesty can enter, not even me. There are twelve seals personally set by His Majesty there. Didn’t you break the seals to get in and steal the Little Prince?”

Three demons turned to look at Nick again.

Why did everything get blamed on him!

Nick shouted frantically, “I don’t know anything about seals! I just found the place with the most guards and went in! I didn’t see any seals at all! There was just a cave, and deep inside the cave was a Black Bone Wood box! I grabbed the box and ran immediately! I didn’t even know there was a demon egg inside at the time!”

Baph’s expression turned grave. Nick had no reason to lie. So, the seals were broken by another demon? Was there another demon there at the time?

Realizing this wasn’t simple, Baph lowered his knife. It seemed he needed to investigate this thoroughly first. He had previously wondered when Lance had become so formidable as to break even His Majesty’s personal seals. Now it seemed another demon was involved.

Did that other party stumble upon the forbidden area by accident, like Nick?

Or were they after the Little Prince?

What was that party doing when Nick stole the Little Prince?

And how did they break the seals set personally by the Demon King?

Just as Baph was pondering these questions, the Demon King unexpectedly returned.

Baph immediately went forward, only to see the Demon King wearing a rare expression of helplessness. The Little Prince in his arms was pushing him away forcefully, his face a mess from crying, eyes swollen, nose running, looking utterly wronged.

He had cried himself almost breathless earlier; now, unable to cry anymore, he was just sobbing continuously.

Bode adored Baobao the most. Hearing the sobbing, he forcefully rolled himself half a circle to sit upright. Seeing Baobao’s pitiful state, he immediately got angry, forgetting for a moment that the one standing there was the Demon King.

“Hey! Do you even know how to raise a child?! You can’t let him keep crying like this! Comfort him already!”

The little demon heard a familiar voice. Looking up and seeing Bode and the other three demons, his lip trembled twice, and he immediately burst into loud, wronged tears again, leaning forward, reaching out his small hands, wanting Bode to hold him.

“Bobo!” he cried out Bode’s name.

Though bound by chains, Bode still hopped forcefully towards him. The slime was short, and the Demon King holding the cub was tall. He bounced vigorously, making funny faces at the little one to soothe him.

Usually, this trick worked well, but today the little demon was both scared and wronged. Although his crying subsided somewhat, he was still weeping, leaning far out of the Demon King’s arms towards the ground, insisting on Bode holding him.

Bode was in a difficult position; bound as he was, he couldn’t even extend his tentacles. There was nothing he could do.

The next second, the chains binding him vanished.

The cub was also placed on the ground and successfully hugged the slime. He finally stopped crying, holding the slime with his short arms, rubbing his face against him, successfully smearing tears and snot all over Bode.

The chains on the other three demons vanished simultaneously. They immediately ran towards the cub after getting up.

Bazel ran the fastest, expertly picking up the cub and comforting him. The little one dependently rubbed his face against Bazel’s clothes.

“Baobao, while I’m happy to see you again, please really don’t do this to my clothes anymore.” Bazel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, looking at the tears and snot smeared on his outfit.

The little one looked at Bazel’s pained grimace, and even though his eyes were swollen, he chuckled, “Hehe.”

It seemed like a small act of revenge for the demons abandoning him earlier. Now that revenge was successful, the little guy was happy.

Afterward, Lance took him, preparing to repeat the same tactic, but Lance used a handkerchief to wipe his tears and nose. They really couldn’t manage to make baby clothes, so they used cotton cloths as handkerchiefs and diapers—at least it wasn’t a complete waste.

Nick saw Lance wiping the little one’s nose and told him, “Come on, blow.”

The little demon strained: “Hnnng~~~”

The four demons surrounded the little one, the scene warm and harmonious.

Eris’s gaze remained fixed on the cub. Though his face was expressionless, his solitary figure formed a stark contrast with the lively scene beside him, looking lonely and desolate.