The former king, this was the key phrase that made Jyu, Taffie, and Sizhi confused. Then where is he now? And why must there be an escape tunnel like this?
"Why did he have to make an escape tunnel like this?" Jyu asked curiously.
Elveryn immediately showed the way toward the demon castle. He kept hanging on Jyu's shoulder while pointing out the correct path. Until finally they arrived at an intersection, there were four corridors leading to different directions.
"To the right, walk to the far-right corridor," ordered Elveryn. Everyone followed him, walking in a line while remaining alert for attacks that might appear at any moment.
Elveryn then continued his story, "The former king was overthrown by an ugly person. He killed the former king and now replaced his position."
Hearing this made Jyu, Taffie, and Sizhi glance at each other. They seemed to be wondering, apparently in the Darkent realm there were coups as well. They thought actions like this were only done by greedy humans.
But it was also quite reasonable, because greed is the nature of demons. At least that was how Jyu thought about it.
"If you want to kill that damn king, I'm in! I can't endure living in suffering without food anymore. All food sources are controlled by that wicked king. Yesterday we were lucky because that area wasn't guarded," Elveryn explained again.
"As long as you show the correct path, I'll make sure that king dies," Taffie said firmly.
There was no more conversation, everything fell silent, focusing on the journey through this mysterious corridor. There were only the sounds of footsteps and rumbling coming from above the tunnel.
The longer they walked, the more enthusiasm filled Jyu's heart. He seemed impatient to fight the demon king soon in order to release Kuma's curse. Even without realizing it, his steps became faster as if he were running.
"Hey slow down your steps!" Taffie snapped, trying to stop Jyu. For her they had to walk carefully because there might be a real threat ahead. They had to stay alert!
"Stop!" Elveryn shouted suddenly.
"We've arrived," he added.
Jyu, Taffie, and Sizhi were confused, because they hadn't found a door at all or at least a speck of light leading to the outside world.
"Where is the exit?" Jyu asked.
At that moment, Elveryn immediately jumped down. He walked quickly to the side of a damp wall with a small stone at the top end of it.
"There, hit that!" Elveryn said while pointing at the small stone. The stone was quite high, impossible to reach by hand.
Taffie immediately acted, she drew her sword to strike the stone. And finally a door slowly opened, light entered with a dazzling glow.
They all immediately came out of the tunnel. Instantly, the field of cone-shaped rocks welcomed them again. But from afar, a magnificent castle could be seen standing beyond the field of cone-shaped rocks.
"There! That's the castle, let's attack it!" said Jyu who without realizing it immediately ran toward the gray and black castle.
Taffie and Sizhi lost their chance, neither of them could stop Jyu anymore. Of course, there was no other choice but to chase after him. If they shouted carelessly for him to stop, they feared an enemy might hear it.
It was clear that Taffie was angry, but she kept holding it in. Right now, she could only run fast to chase that annoying junior of hers.
But everything was already too late, because from afar their presence had already been noticed by the demon guarding that place. He took a large rock, then threw it toward Jyu.
Jyu didn't realize this attack, but not Taffie. She had already sensed the scent of a killer lurking. Her sword was already unsheathed and immediately deflected the huge rock.
"I've warned you earlier, don't be reckless. Look now, because of your actions, the enemy noticed us," Taffie snapped, very annoyed with Jyu.
Jyu was truly shocked when he was attacked, instantly his heart became chaotic with guilt. Now they had to fight, and surely the enemy coming was not a weak one.
A second later the demon approached, she flew gracefully and landed near Jyu. This demon was at the Arabai level, already perfect like a human. A female demon wearing all black with her hands wrapped in bandages.
"She's a strong enemy. Jyu, Sizhi, continue the journey right now. I'll follow as soon as possible," Taffie ordered.
Her order was clear, the two of them had to continue the journey and let Taffie fight the Arabai. Jyu wanted to refuse, because indirectly he was responsible for this fight.
"Remember we came here to protect you, you must succeed in finding the curse of your demon," said Taffie, trying to remind him of their mission in entering the Darkent realm.
Jyu, together with Sizhi and Elveryn, immediately ran to continue the journey. Taffie would protect them from behind.
"Hey, where are you going? Hey, the man over there, I like you. Let me introduce myself, I'm Delta, let's go on a date," said the female demon named Delta.
Instantly Jyu was startled, he truly didn't expect to receive a proposal from a female demon. "I don't like you!" he shouted.
"I don't want to be rejected," said Delta, who was now ready to attack. Suddenly, the bandages on her hands loosened and shot forward like ropes. Jyu was caught, and he was immediately tied by those ropes and fell to the ground.
Taffie didn't stay silent; her sword instantly cut all the ropes. "Run quickly!" she shouted.
"Your enemy is me, don't disturb them," Taffie said calmly. Even now, Karakura had appeared beside her, ready to fight until death.
It was clear that Delta was annoyed, "I don't want to fight you. You're not beautiful, we're not on the same beauty level."
Clearly an insult, Taffie became even angrier. Like it or not, Delta couldn't avoid this fight. Taffie fought Delta, the battle was so fierce that the area of cone-shaped rocks was destroyed.
Meanwhile, Jyu together with Sizhi and Elveryn had run far away. Jyu still felt guilty because of his earlier mistake.
"If you are a man you shouldn't look back," said Sizhi who ran beside him.
Indeed, it was true, Jyu couldn't pity Taffie because of her deadly battle against an arabai. He had to be ruthless because this was a mission. For DV Army soldiers, dying while fighting mystical creatures was an honor.
At that very moment, Jyu's gaze completely changed. There was no regret, now there was only the spirit to complete the mission as best as possible. Ahead, there was already the demon castle, Kuma's curse was stored inside it. Surely there would be strong demons inside, and Jyu had to defeat them.
He believed in his own strength as well as in the presence of Kuma, who belonged to the Supreme-level demons. Defeating any enemy should be possible.
The two of them kept running tirelessly toward the castle. Elveryn, who was still hanging on Jyu's shoulder, also remained alert toward enemies lurking.
Their distance was getting closer, and the demon castle was becoming clearer. But surprisingly, a human appeared from one of the castle balconies. An older man with white hair and a beard. He looked authoritative but also strong.
"Hide, that's Alber, he is the king of the Darkent realm," said Elveryn. Of course, Jyu immediately hid behind the cone-shaped rocks.
But it was different with Sizhi, he instead stopped and stared blankly at the older man. "Grandpa," he said softly.
At that moment, Jyu was shocked, "Grandpa, what do you mean?" Jyu asked.
However, this question was not heard by Sizhi. Surprisingly, he ran forward at full speed, even Svider appeared and carried him flying toward the demon castle.
"Sizhi! What are you doing?" Jyu shouted.