Chapter 729: The Tribute

Boom!

Red lighting thundered across the sky right then. The Demon World's weather seemed to turn worse, as if it was greeting them with hostility. But the three of them didn't bother with it and just stared at the watch on Sylvester's wrist.

"W-What is the meaning of this?" Dalgan asked, his four eyes frowning.

"Why is the date so drastically different?" Lord Two inquired. "What is this contraption?"

Sylvester looked behind himself. There was no portal anymore, and no quick way to return home. "It's a watch my daughter made me... An instrument to measure time."

Lord Two looked around at the destruction and back at the watch. "Y-You mean... Ten years have passed?"

"More for you." Sylvester heavy-heartedly focused his mind back on the current situation. "It seems traveling through that portal had effects on time, hastening it. Ten years have passed since we stepped in. For you two, I'm sure it's been more than a decade."

'Gab, Felix... Mum... I hope the time slip was only relative to the portal, and not you all.' Sylvester felt depressed and anxious, but in the enemy territory, he couldn't show any weakness. 'I'll come back as soon as possible.'

Boom!

Thunder continued to roar in the sky.

"We need to move from here. The acid rain can melt stones, it could be harmful to us, if now the Po—How are you alive?!" Dalgan stared at Sylvester in shock.

"I'm not your average Supreme Wizard, buddy. Now, lead me to your Empress Mother." Sylvester still held them through invisible chains of light. At the same time, he changed his body to look similar to Dalgan. An extra pair of fake eyes appeared on his forehead, and his fangs grew out. His height also increased a few inches, while his hair remained blonde as they weren't rare.

Lord Two blinked dumbly. "You look like my cousin."

"That's good. If you mess up, it'll implicate your entire family. So do a good job, or see your entire bloodline vanish from the face of this world." Sylvester didn't hold himself back at all and treated the two as his prisoners—which they were.

"..."

Dalgan silently hunched his back as if he had aged a century and started walking. "Let's get out of the incoming storm. If the rain won't kill us, the lightning strike might. From the speed of the wind and the color of lightning, it's a Type Three storm—deadly for those under the rank of your world's Master Wizards.

"There are types? What's the highest?" Sylvester amusedly asked, learning new things about the Demon World.

"There are five types, the lowest being simple water rain, and type five being acid-lava raining down, with lightning strong enough to kill a Grand Wizard with ease. There is also a mythical sixth type, but it's never been observed. It can supposedly kill your Supreme Wizards," Dalgan explained as they slowly walked towards a rocky mountain. A cave was in their sight.

The entire area was like a massive, dry, rocky mountain range with almost no plants in the vicinity, with even the dirt having a pale black color. With the red lighting in the sky, it looked as if they were in hell.

"Where are we right now?" Sylvester asked since he had no map of the Demon World. Everything was new to him, as no Popes had gotten this far in the past.

"We are on the southwest edge of the Redscape Continent, the biggest and the center of my world. The seat of power resides here... but right now, we are on Mount Doomsday, the most uninhabitable region of our world," Dalgan explained just as they finally found shelter inside a cave. The storm began to rage outside, and steaming acid rain that created small holes in the stones started to pour down.

But, to Sylvester's surprise, the raindrops turned solid within seconds, and the size of the rocks increased. That meant that the entire mountain range was constantly getting bigger and taller.

Thud!

Thud!

"Someone's coming closer!" Sylvester alerted them to the footsteps he heard. "You two cover for me. I'd like to avoid needless violence... if possible."

Dalgan frowned. "Someone? Here? Could it be someone from the army?"

"Make some space!" A voice came just then, demonic and distant, in the Demon language as well.

Dalgan and Lord Two made some space, shouting back at the three figures in the distance. "Run faster! The rain's getting stronger."

As they came closer, Sylvester felt his senses tingling. The three were taller than six feet, with long, scaly red limbs. They wore loose hooded robes that were made of fine black and white leather. But the amusing part was the glowing red hue on the robes that seemingly protected them from the rain.

'They have weapons.' Sylvester noticed the dangerous part. Each of the three figures had rifle-like instruments on their backs, while daggers and short swords dangled by their waists.

"Thank you..." Gasping, they finally reached the cave, and their leader voiced while removing his hood, revealing his black hair and four red eyes. "The damn storm came out of nowhere."

'Lies? Why lie about something so small?' Sylvester noticed the peculiar scent and right away knew they were up to no good. After all, when in a secluded forest, the animals weren't the real perils—humans were. For they had no reason to be there.

"Who are you people?" Dalgan conversed with them in the common tongue. "You don't look like you're from the army."

"Army? We're explorers. The Blackmines were discovered by the Grand Prince a few years ago. But after they extracted everything and left, we came to find more veins." The leader answered and extended his hand towards Dalgan, "I'm Molman."

"General Dalgan, it's a—"

Woosh!

"Aaaaaaargh! Fuck!"

Right before Dalgan could clasp the man's hand, Sylvester moved. He swung his spear and chopped the man's arm as if it were a little twig, turning the floor into a mess of red blood.

"Speak the truth! Who are you?" Sylvester stepped forward and raised his hand towards the other two lackeys, choking them and raising them a few feet above the ground with simple magic, like a certain Darth-something. "Molman is not your name!"

"What?!" Dalgan jumped back, finally overcoming the aftereffects of his homesickness. "And you can speak my language?"

Sylvester scoffed and walked closer to the imposter. "I'm no fool, Dalgan. I've been preparing for this eventual day for years. Now, restrain the other two."

As if Sylvester had become their superior commander, they moved quickly and restrained the other two. Pushed down to their knees, their hoods were removed to reveal their faces.

'Two eyes?' Sylvester was amused. He had thought all demons had four eyes in this world. 'The skin even resembles a human's. Other than the strange eyes, teeth, and small horns on their heads, they're pretty much human.'

"Fuck!" The armless demon groaned in pain on the ground, rolling and gritting his teeth. "I-I'll kill you!"

Sylvester scoffed and stomped on his back, pushing him down on the hard ground while the rain still poured outside. "First, focus on surviving this. If you don't answer me correctly, I'll rip out your other arm. If you still don't answer me truthfully, I'll rip out your legs. Little by little, I will cut you apart until I get what I want. Of course, if you're honest, I'll rejoin your severed limbs."

"That's imp-possible!" The demon groaned.

Sylvester sighed and demonstrated it right away. He left the demon and kicked his arm, which was bleeding on the side. He sloppily placed it on the demon's wound and hovered his palm over the wound. The magic of Creation was such that the tissues regrew and attached themselves.

"Believable now?" Sylvester asked. "But I attached it the wrong way."

"Aaaaargh!"

Sylvester swung his spear again and sliced the arm as before. "My words must be clearer now."

"Uuugh!" The demon spat out some blood from his mouth, along with mucus. The pain was unbearable, "Y-You monster!"

"I suppose there's some truth in it. You thought you were the hunter a moment ago, but now you have become the prey." Sylvester pressed harder on his back. "Let's start with a name."

"Ostrag! I-I am Ostrag, the Commander of Grand Prince Zorthror's Elite Guards."

Dalgan frowned. "Ostrag? I know no such Elite Guard."

However, Sylvester shook his head as he smelled no lies. "He's not lying, Dalgan. It seems much has changed since your disappearance. Your Grand Prince has probably forgotten you."

Ostrag noticed Dalgan showing a sense of familiarity with the Grand Prince. When he repeated that name in his head, he remembered something. "No... Dalgan? One of the four Generals sent to the human world?! But you were dead!"

Dalgan frowned, realizing he had been forgotten. Most likely, his family must also believe he's dead. "We were committed to our mission! We were waiting for the Grand Prince to contact us... How could he declare us dead?"

"The portal disappeared. There was no way of knowing if you reached the human world. He waited, but no response ca—"

Sylvester stopped them by pressing his back. "I'm the only one asking questions. Now tell me, who are these two, and what were you doing here? If you lie, I'll rip their arms as wel—"

"No! You can't do that. Dalgan... General Dalgan, we serve on the same side. Please protect those two! The Grand Prince is being hunted down by that Empress whore... You must hide the two Princes," Ostrag cried.

"Princes?" Sylvester quickly stared at the two almost human-

like demons, both tall and strong-looking. "These two are sons of the Grand Prince?"

"Yes! You're strong enough to protect them with Dalgan. I assure you, the Grand Prince will reward yo—"

Snap!

Ostrag lost his voice, the light in his eyes, and also his life. His head lay severed from the neck, dead at the swift move of Sylvester's spear in a single instant.

"Good." Sylvester turned to the two leftovers. "It seems we have the perfect tribute for a face-to-face meeting with Empress Mother."

Thank you for reading. Gifts and GT votes are highly appreciated.