Tonight’s sky was studded with brilliant stars, white and pale purple constellations filling the heavens, hazy yet magnificent.

Beneath the starlight, Eris held the soft cub, feeling his warmth and weight in his arms.

When the little one rested his head against his chest and called out “Papa” in his small, milky voice, those dark golden eyes, so similar to the cub’s, gradually softened from the killing intent they radiated moments before.

He held tightly onto this long-awaited child.

“Mm.”

Bound by the black chains, the four demons plummeted from mid-air, crashing heavily onto the ground. They were Greater Demons; such a fall naturally wouldn’t kill them. But with their magic drained, they couldn’t cushion their fall, making the landing rather unsightly.

Seeing Eris catch the cub mid-air relieved the demons somewhat.

They didn’t land in the same spot.

Lance ended up dangling from a tree.

Nick and Bode crashed to the ground, feeling like they’d been flattened into paintings.

Bazel, however, landed amidst a group of demonic beasts, scaring them witless initially. Realizing there was no danger, they returned and started gnawing on Bazel. It was only thanks to his thick hide that he wasn’t actually eaten.

After quite some time, the four of them were found one by one by the arriving legions of the Demon King’s army.

“Long time no see.” Baph, the black goat demon, looked at Bazel, who was covered in demonic beast drool, and offered a polite greeting.

However, the upward curve of his lips was clearly irrepressible.

“Baph, you bastard! You ##￥$#!”

Bazel wasn’t angry about being captured—after all, he was weaker. But being seen like this by his nemesis? He knew without even thinking that that guy was definitely laughing his head off internally. The thought made the black dragon so angry that he wanted to breathe fire.

“Don’t be so ill-tempered. I didn’t even hold a grudge when you injured me last time. We haven’t seen each other in so long; shouldn’t old friends catch up?”

“You remember something from hundreds of years ago so clearly, yet you say you don’t hold a grudge? You big bastard, you pretentious fraud!”

The irate Bazel was carried out of the demonic beast den by Baph’s subordinates. Because he was too heavy, it took several demons working together to lift him, making him look like a beast being carried onto a roasting rack.

The other three demons were also found by Baph’s subordinates and brought to the spot where they had encountered the skeleton demon.

Bazel’s dragon breath had burned the surrounding vegetation clean. Now, countless demons gathered on this patch of scorched earth, all part of the Demon King’s army, who had arrived after seeing the signal.

They had various appearances: some humanoid with horns, others monstrous with ferocious faces, skeletons with eerie green lights flickering in their eye sockets, and many more hidden in the nearby forest.

Despite their vast numbers, not a single demon spoke. They all looked towards the same spot—the very center.

The little demon was being held by the Demon King, playing peekaboo.

When Demon King Eris returned with the cub to Constans’s location, the little demon immediately recognized the skeleton that had scared him earlier. Now, not only had the skeleton been reassembled from scattered bones, but he had also changed color.

Scattered bones weren’t scary, but seeing him restored to his skeleton form, the little demon was still a little spooked.

He immediately hid his face in the Demon King’s chest, bottom sticking up. After a moment, he cautiously turned his head to peek, saw the skeleton still standing there, quickly hid again, then peeked again, then hid again.

The Demon King held the child somewhat stiffly. It was his first time holding a living cub; previously, he had only held the demon egg at most. An egg didn’t wriggle around like this, nearly squirming out of his grasp.

Constans had originally stood very close to the Demon King. Noticing the cub peeking at him, the black skeleton seemed to tilt his head thoughtfully, then shifted half a circle to the side.

When the little demon turned his head again, the skeleton standing there was gone.

He looked around curiously, then felt a tap on his shoulder. The little demon instinctively looked over and saw a skeleton head extremely close.

“Ah!”

The little demon was startled again, but having had some experience this time, he didn’t cry. Watching the skeleton head slowly disappear behind Eris’s shoulder, the little demon immediately flapped his wings twice and scrambled towards the shoulder.

Then the skull reappeared, disappeared again, reappeared, disappeared…

From being startled every time initially, the little demon eventually started giggling whenever the skull suddenly popped out, thoroughly amused.

The surrounding demons remained utterly silent; only the cub’s laughter echoed clearly.

The Demon King kept his gaze fixed on the cub, looking at his face, his little wings and tail, watching him laugh happily in his arms. A faint smile touched Eris’s lips as well.

By the time Baph arrived carrying the four demons, the cub saw familiar faces and immediately lost interest in the skeleton peekaboo game, looking happily towards where the four demons were.

Constans: … silently moved away.

The four demons, who had just been cursing Baph, now quieted down. They had some sense of shame. It was one thing when only that bastard Baph was around—everyone knew what everyone else was like.

But now, not only was the Demon King here, but the cub was too, along with many unfamiliar high and mid-rank demons. Continuing to make a scene would be rather embarrassing.

“Your Majesty, all four fugitives have been found.” Baph, the black goat demon, bowed to the Demon King, his etiquette impeccable.

As he raised his head, his gaze met the cub’s curious eyes. It was the little demon’s first time seeing a goat-headed demon, and his attention shifted from the four demons lying on the ground to Baph.

“Is this the Little Prince? He is truly adorable.”

The Demon King gave a slight nod. “Mm.”

Baph, without the slightest hesitation, also bowed respectfully to the little demon. “Good evening, Little Prince.”

The little demon tilted his head, not understanding what he was doing. “Ngh?”

“Tch.” Bazel, lying on the ground nearby, let out a derisive snort.

“Quite the flatterer,” Nick muttered under his breath.

Because it was so quiet, everyone heard him.

Baph and the four demons had all been Greater Demons thousands of years ago and were all subordinates of the previous Demon King. Their relationship had been reasonably decent back then; they were colleagues, after all.

Due to the previous Demon King’s tyranny, wars constantly ravaged the lands, even spilling over into the human and celestial realms. Many demons tried to overthrow his rule but failed.

After all, the previous Demon King had ruled the Demon Realm for over ten thousand years, possessing terrifyingly immense power, practically invincible.

The Seven Great Demons of the Demon Realm were all his subordinates. Although they didn’t necessarily like his methods, their strength couldn’t match his, and their entire clans depended on his favor for survival. Any sign of rebellion would lead to clan extermination—such events had happened many times before.

But no one expected that a thousand years ago, an unknown demon would actually defeat the previous Demon King and seal him away. That battle was incredibly brutal; most rebels who participated died.

As for Bazel, Lance, and the others, although they were officially on the previous Demon King’s side suppressing the rebellion at the time, in reality, whenever the previous King wasn’t looking, they were all secretly slacking off. Low pay, too much work—only fools would be serious.

Bazel fought while simultaneously picking the pockets of his opponents. Discovering the rebels were poor with little money, he started ambushing his own side.

The wealthy nobles participating in the battle back then were almost all relatives of the previous Demon King. He distrusted other races, giving all money-making opportunities and important positions to his own kin.

So, the Greater Demons, whose strength was second only to the Demon King but who held only marginal positions, were all slacking off in various ways.

Bazel covered his head and ambushed nobles, knocking them out efficiently—these guys were loaded!

Their purses bulged with gold coins. Their gold rings, accessories, necklaces, and even clothes embroidered with gold thread and gems were all thoroughly looted by the greedy black dragon.

He was very skilled at this; it was how he’d gotten rich, after all.

Lance created illusions of himself fighting valiantly while actually napping in a corner.

Bode expanded himself to enormous size on the battlefield to make his presence known, then created an alibi while sneaking off to the camp kitchen to steal food.

Nick claimed to be scouting but actually found a hilltop and sat there watching the two sides fight.

Anyway, none of them were doing any real work.

Only that Baph fellow was the shrewdest. He had actually colluded with Eris long beforehand, betraying their side mid-battle and successfully becoming the new Demon King’s trusted confidant.

All subordinates of the previous Demon King who participated in that battle were purged. As for the four “loyal” Greater Demons, because they were too strong, Eris always came personally to capture them each time.

The four demons actually had a decent impression of Eris, since he defeated the stingy and tyrannical previous Demon King, finally bringing peace to the Demon Realm.

If only Eris hadn’t tried to ruthlessly hunt them down without a word every time they met, their impression would have been even better.

And the one they hated most was Baph.

They were all in the same awkward position, yet Baph found himself a good way out without mentioning a word to them!

If they had known earlier that a demon could defeat the previous King, they would have switched sides long ago and wouldn’t be in this mess.

Before the cub arrived, Nick used to stab Baph voodoo dolls daily in the underground palace. Whenever Baph’s name came up in their arguments, they would immediately stop fighting each other and unite in cursing the black goat.

Only after the cub came along did Nick throw away the Baph goat doll, focusing all his attention on the cub and no longer mentioning Baph’s name.

But now, seeing him effortlessly sucking up to the Demon King while they were prisoners, the four demons were absolutely furious.

Baph glanced their way, his expression unchanged, then lowered his head again respectfully towards the Demon King. “Your Majesty, how should these four demons be dealt with?”

The Demon King’s attention was currently focused entirely on the cub in his arms. The little demon wore a simple baby outfit, which had gotten dirty from travel and sitting on the ground earlier.

Eris planned to return quickly and get new clothes for the cub. Those four demons were insignificant to him now.

“I will take the cub back first. As for those four demons…”

Eris glanced at the four demons lying on the ground. Remembering they were the ones who stole his child, a flicker of killing intent crossed his eyes.

“Kill them all.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Eris spread his bat-like wings, holding the little demon, preparing to leave immediately for the Demon King’s Palace.

The little demon had been chuckling at the four demons on the ground, assuming they were asleep.

In the underground palace, the demons always slept on the floor around his crib, so he was used to seeing them lying on the ground.

But as he was carried away, watching the four familiar figures shrink smaller and smaller until they became tiny black dots, their scents fading away, the little demon finally realized something was wrong.

“Ah!” He pointed downwards, wanting to go back.

Eris didn’t understand the cub’s meaning and just patted his head.

“Ah!!” The cub stared wide-eyed, pointing downwards insistently.

Eris understood this time that he wanted to go down, but there was only forest below, nothing else. He patted the cub’s head again. “Hilaire, we’ll be home soon.”

The oblivious and inexperienced Demon King completely failed to notice the cub was already angry. Hilaire angrily retracted his finger, his chest heaving increasingly, his mouth pouting high.

Then, the little demon burst into tears with a loud “Waaah!”

Don’t want him to hold me!

The little demon cried while twisting in his Demon King father’s arms.

He had been lying against his chest, but now his whole body stiffened like a small wooden board, starting to thrash like a fish, trying to break free from his hold.