Mother's Embrace

Two hundred years ago, in one of the rooms of the Demon King's Palace. A place filled with countless weapons and training dummies scattered across its floor.

Scratches and burned marks were painted on the walls, while other training materials were cut into several pieces.

There was a child catching her breath in one corner of the room. Beads of sweat were dripping from her head down to the concrete ground.

She closed her eyes and leaned forward. Then she placed her hands on her knees to support her body and inhaled a deep breath.

"Take it easy, little one; let's call it a day for now!" A man said, his eyes were blindfolded, and there was a single horn protruding from the right side of his head. It was pointing downward, while its tip curled beneath his ear. In addition to this, a slim tail with a pointed end was sticking out of his back.

"No! I can still continue Zephryx," the child said.

Then she looked at the man with determined eyes before she stood up straight. She raised her hand and focused her energy on the tips of her fingers. 

After a few seconds of concentration, a little bit of flame took shape, but she felt disappointed upon seeing its color.

'It's still orange,' Zephryx thought.

"Don't get disheartened; you're doing fine for your age," he said, comforting the child.

However, she still felt broken. Then she flicked her finger, causing the ember of fire to be hurled into one of the dummies, igniting its wooden body.

She concentrated once more and gathered her energy to produce another flame, but there were no changes. The flame still shone with its orange hue.

Afterward, the door opened, and both of their eyes stared at the figure that stepped inside the room. It was a man with white-colored hair, similar to the child.

"Greetings, Lord Cinhard," the demon bowed as soon as he saw that it was their king who entered.

He was holding a black cane in his right hand, then he looked at the two figures and spoke.

"Any progress?" He asked.

The blindfolded demon was about to answer, but the child chimed in. 

"I'm still-" she said, but as soon as Cinhard looked at her before staring into the flames at her fingertip, she lost her reason to continue speaking. This action of the king made her put out the fire in her hand and lower her head.

Then Zephryx answered to break the tension spreading in the atmosphere.

"She's doing great, my Lord; however, she's still striving to achieve your expectations," the demon explained the situation to his king.

However, Zephryx's words were insufficient to persuade the supreme ruler standing in front of him. In fact, Cinhard was already dismayed by what he had seen, but he still nodded at his subject before turning around to leave without a single word.

Zephryx stared at the demon king's back and watched him disappear from the place before he looked at the child, who was sulking and busy clenching her dress.

"Does Father love me?" She asked while her eyes were still staring at the floor.

The demon sat down, patted the child's head, and smiled.

"Yes, young lady! He does; you and the queen are the people he treasures the most," he answered, giving assurance to the now-crying child.

"B-but he never praised me, even once," she wailed, which made the demon hold her small hands.

"He just wants you to be stronger than him and your mother. For you to be able to protect yourself from the dangers of this world," Zephryx murmured, trying to calm the child.

However, the tears from her eyes continued to fall despite all the words of comfort the demon gave her.

After a few seconds, another figure entered the room. This time, it was a woman with crimson-red eyes. She looked inside, and worry could be seen on her face. 

She sighed in relief upon seeing that Zephryx was consoling the crying child, and as soon as the child noticed her staring at them, she ran in her direction.

The woman leaned forward, and the child jumped into her embrace. She then raised her and carried her in her arms.

"Are you okay, my baby? Why are you crying again?" She asked and wiped the tears from the child's face.

"I failed to amuse Father," the child replied.

The woman thought for a moment before answering her child's query.

"How about this: do you want to learn my abilities for the moment? I'm sure your father would like it," she said, which brought a smile to the child's face.

"Really? Teach me, Mother!" She exclaimed.

The woman smiled and kissed her on the head before speaking.

"Then, let's go. Say goodbye to Zephryx for now," she said, then looked at the demon standing not far from them.

"Bye, Zephryx," the child turned around and said, but the demon didn't reply. He just bowed in their direction until they left.

. . . . .

"I don't have someone I can call my father, and aside from that, I don't trust a demon charging at me without introducing himself," Cinn said.

She was startled as she heard the man's words, and the presence pouring out from him was enough to give her a hard time breathing, but she didn't let him see it.

But the man before her smiled, then answered.

"I am sure that you're that bastard's child. The presence you emitted earlier was enough proof to justify my claim," he said.

"Besides, those old foxes were long gone from the surface of this world," he added.

Cinn's eyes widened, and her lips slightly parted in shock. Curiosity started to bloom inside her mind, along with several questions.

'Who really is this demon? What is he talking about?' She asked herself.

Then the object dangling from the man's ear caught her attention.

"Where did you get that thing?" She questioned then looked into the demon's eyes once again.

But a fist came straight at the man's side. It was Lux; however, his attack was blocked without any effort. The man pushed him away and didn't even avert his eyes from Cinn.

"I'm the only one asking questions here," the demon replied.

As soon as he finished speaking, a bluish darkness appeared between them. It was three meters wide and twice the length of the demon's height.

"Mistress! Get in fast!" Aichelle yelled from a distance.

The palms of her hands were sticking together. Then Cinn heeded her advice and stepped inside the portal without a second thought.

As she disappeared from the other side, the curtain of darkness shattered. Then Aichelle waved her hand, and another portal appeared in front of her.

But unlike before, it was the same size as her regular portal.

"Lux!" She shouted, and then another portal appeared beside her companion. After that, she stepped into it and disappeared as well.

However, Lux didn't enter right away. He put his hand inside the portal to prevent it from closing. Then he smiled at the demon, who was now looking at him.

"I was wondering why you were not using the full extent of your power. It looks like they're not aware of what you're truly capable of," the man said.

He raised his arm and opened his palm, which revealed a spinning black dice.

However, Lux just laughed at his remark.

"Like you, I'm not in the mood to play, but let me give you a parting gift," he said.

Then a small black sphere materialized in Lux's hand, and he threw it in the demon's direction. 

"Have fun surviving that," he stated before he walked through the portal. 

Zeno was left there, looking at the condensed form of energy moving closer to him. 

'This thing is far too dangerous to be left alone,' he thought.

And the sphere produced a massive shockwave before it started to suck everything around it. The ground shook, and different light objects were pulled in an instant. 

The city walls trembled, and the knights who were watching the scene earlier were slowly getting dragged. They stabbed their weapons into the land while others embraced the gate's post.

But Zeno remained firm in his place, and when the sphere came closer to him. He extended his arm and reached for it. The dice hanging from his ear spun and emitted light, then the condensed amount of energy shrank in size before it dwindled and vanished in full.

"Well, staying at this place a little longer will be worth it," Zeno said, and he turned around to walk back inside the city.

The knights stared at him, but they didn't move or say a word, despite knowing that he was a wanted criminal for killing a diamond-class mercenary. They didn't want to break the order of the king to not touch him and just let him roam without any surveillance inside the city.

. . . . . 

Cinn leaped out of the portal and headed to her room. Aichelle sent her not to their inn but to her mansion in the center of a prairie.

The vampire laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. She recalled the man's statement, but she still had no idea what he was talking about. She tried to sleep; however, the man's words kept repeating inside her head.

Then, memories that she did her best to forget—those that she hid deep inside her thoughts—were surfacing in her mind. And tears began to stream down from the corner of her eyes. 

"I miss you, mother," she uttered in silence before she reached for a pillow and placed it above her face.

Her strong and powerful personality couldn't be seen at the moment; she was like a child searching for her mother's embrace.

. . . . .

Outside of her room, Lux walked out of the portal that Aichelle had prepared for him and searched for his mistress.

"How is she?" The first thing that he asked as soon as he saw the maid in front of the door leading to Cinn's room.

"She locked herself; I think she's crying," Aichelle answered.

"Should I check on her?" She asked and created a portal to trespass inside the room. 

"No, just let her be," Lux replied, and he turned around to leave.

But Aichelle grabbed his arm and asked.

"I know that you knew that demon's identity. Who is he? Tell me!" She said this, demanding answers from Lux.

The butler sighed, yet he still faced Aichelle. 

"Then listen," he said.

And he told the maid all about what happened in the nearby town on the day he went out. The horrors that the man brought to the group of mercenaries and how he killed innocent people for fun made Aichelle clench her fist.

"I won't let him approach the mistress," she stated.

Her words brought a smile to Lux's lips. Then he left, leaving Aichelle gritting her teeth in anger. 

. . . . .