Stray

rope of horsehair on his wrist was still there.

“I got stuck in the wall three times.” Oliver is still riding on a horse, sounding a little in a daze.
“It really doesn’t like you, Nemo.
It is still upset about its mane.”

“…Tell it, when we return, I’ll bake it some horse snacks.
The craftsmanship is guaranteed.
I have sold it to adventurers in Roadside Town before, and the sales was very good.”

The black horse stared at him solemnly for a while, then turned its head.

“Let’s continue.
That wall has two security measures and all the mute arrays have failed.” Oliver pulled the reins and jumped off the horse.
“It may take some trouble to escape.”

In front of them was their destination.
Without any information or explanation, two people could feel the power that was quite substantial.

The lights in the underground hall were empty, and no researchers were active, but the magic lights around them weren’t extinguished, but were slightly dimmed.
A huge black cube was placed in the center of the hall.
It was painted with magic arrays and runes, and bright red lights flowed along the lines, a bit like the blood array used by Telaranea before.

It was extremely quiet all around.
Only the dull sound of overlapping voices came from the black cube.

Pandorater’s heartbeat.

The two recognized this aura as once upon a time, this aura meant pure death to them, but now they could tell more things from it— Despair, pain, and desperation.

“She’s very weak.
At the time of the Black Chapter test… She should have been forcibly brought back here, and she hasn’t fully recovered yet.” Nemo walked forward and put one hand on the rough outer wall of the black cube.
He couldn’t determine the material; he just felt that it was smooth and cold from the touch.

Oliver was silent.
The dark horse seemed to feel that the atmosphere was off, and it stopped making noise and stood quietly to the side.

The superior demon who was weaponized was completely bound like the nightmare leopard in the Church of Silence.
People had drilled holes with many arrays and fixed them into the gap between the Abyss and the surface.

Through this, neither could something descend to the surface nor return to the Abyss.

Like a person who has been swallowed by a swamp but has been unable to die for a long time.

The situation of Pandorater was even worse— At least the Nightmare Leopard Colestoro didn’t need to be worried all the time; worrying about which part of his body was split by spatial magic, and then roughly cut back.

To make matters worse, she would be killed once she reaches adulthood, as people couldn’t control an adult superior demon.
She was still alive now, which meant that Pandorater long childhood wasn’t over yet.

A lonely cub.

A child crying loudly in the darkness and loneliness.

Somewhat ironically, Nemo twitched the corners of his mouth.
People always thought that a child’s cry could change everything, but in the underground hall that people came and went, no one bothered to listen to her.

“Are you ready, Ollie?” Nemo asked in a low voice.

“Yeah.”

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Oliver didn’t say much.
He made a gesture causing the gray mist to turn into the shape of a chain that directly wrapped around Nemo’s waist.
Another part of the gray mist rose into the air, temporarily isolating the entire underground hall.

Nemo attached a huge black cage to his other hand and closed his eyes.

The glimmer of light flowing on the surface of the black cube suddenly went out, and the thick and sturdy material instantly turned into ash that scattered everywhere.
The imprisoned demon showed her appearance— She no longer looked like a scarlet mist tornado, but a dense and thick liquid in the cage.
Nemo couldn’t imagine if all these liquids would disperse into mist…

Pandorater floated into the air.

The liquid that originally maintained the shape of a cube began to stretch, and a hazy mist rose on the surface.
The demon’s body flowed like mercury, and countless liquid limbs spread out, dancing non-stop, like a dark red blossom blooming in the bright light.

It was an inorganic, creepy dance.

[Beauty of the Abyss, the demon dancer.]

Nemo stared at the scene in front of him intently, and suddenly understood the meaning of the gray parrot’s descriptions during the Black Chapter test.

It was a pity that the good times won’t last long.

Finally realizing that she had regained part of her freedom, the young Pandorater fell into madness.
The scarlet tornado steamed up from the surface of the liquid, sweeping through the solemn and luxurious decoration in the hall, and it was about to—

“Silence!” Nemo shouted loudly.

The Demon King’s aura was very effective.
The moment she noticed Nemo’s aura, Pandorater quickly shrank herself into a ball and laid back on the ground obediently, but the scarlet mist on the surface of her body was still floating dishonestly.

“Next I will send you back to the abyss.” Nemo removed the shadow shield in front of him and glanced at the ruined hall.

Pandorater’s reaction was very intense.

She spread out all her limbs and instantly grabbed every protruding part of the hall, with a fierce posture that she didn’t want to leave.
The liquid limbs were straight and taut, like an oversized sea urchin.

Nemo didn’t think she was nostalgic for this place.

“Listen, little girl.” Nemo stretched out a hand to the alien demon that filled the space.
“If you choose to take revenge now, you may be able to destroy this place, but your strength will run out, and they will eventually catch you.”

Pandorater didn’t mean to move.

“I have no desire of hindering your revenge,” Nemo sighed fiercely.
“Yes, I have not experienced your nightmares, and I have no right to decide for you whether to forgive those people, but… please listen to me.”

“I will send you back to the abyss.
You can find your family and recover.
This time you can rest as long as you want, and you can go wherever you want.
If after that, you still want revenge—”

Nemo paused for a moment.

“You may find a way to make a contract with humans and return to the surface.
And by then, depending on your way of revenge… I may be your friend, a spectator, or your enemy.
At least for now, now I ask you, let me take you home.”

Pandora slowly retracted her limbs and shrank into a ball again.
She seemed to be thinking.

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[You promise? Promise I still have a chance?]

The demon’s mood was still a bit confused.
She seemed to have not been able to recover from the discovery of “regaining freedom”.

[I promise.]

Finally receiving a ray of thought, Nemo breathed a sigh of relief.

Having handled the Church of Silence and Colestoro, he was a lot more proficient this time.
He quickly drew the magic array he learned from the Abyssal Church, plus some improvements…

The ground cracked, and the entrance to the Abyss appeared.

Pandorater stayed for a few seconds.
Even though she had no eyes, Nemo always felt that she was looking at the hall for the last time.

Then she rushed towards the crack firmly, pouncing on her remnant body on the other side of the Abyss.

“Now!” Nemo shouted, and then slid down the cracks in the Abyss.
After the superior demon returned to her position, the crack slowly began to close.

At the moment of passing through the crack, Nemo’s vision turned into complete darkness.
He desperately meditated “I am the Demon King” in his mind and mixed the memory fragments of Ulysses, but there was no accident— A sense of pulling, heaviness, then nothing.

Nemo sighed in relief and looked up at the crack that was about to close completely.
He pulled the gray mist chain that was tied his waist.

Oliver, who got the signal, quickly retracted the chain, probably because he was afraid that his lover would be left in the Abyss, his speed was frighteningly fast.
Nemo was pulled back like a fish by him and directly slammed into Oliver’s chest.
The impact caused the two of them to fall to the ground together, sliding on the floor for nearly ten meters.

“There is no problem.” Nemo propped up his body and patted Oliver’s cheek under him.
“We can prepare with peace of mind.”

Oliver laid on his back on his black cloak, and his face under the skeleton helmet began to redden suspiciously.

“Nemo, I have two things to tell you.”

“Hm?”

“First, the impact just now… my protective cover fluctuated, and it is estimated that the alarm outside has gone off now.
Second, your clothes were burned by the Abyss and there is nothing left.
Can you still restore it? …Uh, do you want me to lend you my cloak?”

“……”

The author has something to say:

The alarm has sounded.

Ollie: Uh, in a little while when we run away, it’ll cause a terrible misunderstanding…

Nemo: (Wrap Ollie’s cloak tightly.
Don’t want to talk about it at all)

Horse: *Whine* *Whine* *Whine* *Whine* *Whine*