Everyone had the same thought.
Alruin was the first to speak.
“That’s why earlier, you kept asking twice if anyone else had found the Aurora Orb with Eyes, isn’t it?”
Meteor nodded once.
“Yes. From what I can tell, it didn’t feel like the exit opened because of me. That’s why I wondered if someone else might have found the orb first.”
“Hmm. Then why did the exit open, if what you’re saying is true?”
Evan furrowed his brow in confusion.
After a moment of thought, Alruin spoke again.
“Duke Winterly did say that if anyone found the Aurora Orb with Eyes, everyone would escape. But if the exit opened before you found the orb, Meteor, then there must have been another reason.”
“Doesn’t the exit open if the dungeon’s master is killed?”
Lucas, who had been quiet until now, posed the question.
Everyone knew this was a common rule.
This time, Edgar chimed in.
“Could Duke Winterly have died suddenly? No demon would open an exit for us unless their head was skewered on a pike or some condition was met, right?”
“Hmm. What could have caused Duke Winterly to suddenly drop dead after gathering humans in his domain?”
Alruin’s remark earned nods of agreement from the other knights.
But aside from Duke Winterly’s possible death, no one could think of any other reason for the exit to have opened in the Demon Realm.
“None of us killed Duke Winterly, so if he really did die, doesn’t that mean we got absurdly lucky?”
“Or maybe Duke Winterly suddenly had a change of heart and decided to let us go!”
Lucas exclaimed, following Edgar’s line of thought.
But Alruin shook his head skeptically.
“That seems unlikely. Either way, the reason the exit opened doesn’t matter much now. The important thing is that we made it back alive.”
“Exactly. And since Meteor found the Aurora Orb with Eyes, it doesn’t change the fact that we were saved,” Evan added, agreeing with Alruin.
The other knights nodded again, their expressions settling into acceptance.
Was this the conclusion, then?
Crescent, who had been observing silently, opened her mouth as if to say something but then hesitated and closed it again.
Meteor noticed her reaction and instinctively turned to her.
Did she have nothing to add?
Just as he wondered, Crescent clasped her hands together.
“There’s something I must tell you as well.”
“?”
What could it be?
As all the knights focused their attention on Crescent, she began to speak.
“Actually, I met Duke Winterly in the Demon Realm.”
“What!”
“Is that true?”
Alruin exclaimed in shock, and Evan shot to his feet.
Edgar, Lucas, and Adrian all had their mouths agape in disbelief.
Crescent, forcing herself to remain calm, continued.
“Yes. I was with Meteor in the Ice Fortress, but somehow, I suddenly ended up in Duke Winterly’s manor. Fortunately, he didn’t kill me and instead made me work as a servant. While I was there, I found out that before we escaped, Duke Winterly had left to meet the Demon King—to offer him a birthday cake.”
“What?”
“A birthday cake?”
The knights were floored.
To think that Duke Winterly had gone to meet the Demon King of all beings!
It gave them some sense of why the exit might have opened before Meteor found the orb.
Perhaps something had happened at the Demon King’s castle.
Crescent nodded once, her expression calm as she continued.
“Yes. As it turns out, the day we were in the Demon Realm happened to be the Demon King’s birthday. If something happened to Duke Winterly, it must have been at the Demon King’s castle.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
“Maybe that’s what happened.”
The knights seemed to settle into an understanding, their confusion easing somewhat.
Crescent allowed herself a small smile as she saw the atmosphere lighten.
“In any case, I’m just glad we all made it back safely.”
“Right. If we’re lucky, maybe the cake Duke Winterly gave the Demon King was so bad it made him want to kill him.”
“Yes! It would be amazing if it was that bad!”
“What could he have made? Probably just crushed ice from his domain mixed with some demonic energy brew!”
Nod, nod.
The other knights nodded vigorously in agreement, their imaginations running wild.
In no time, Duke Winterly had become the butt of their jokes—a demon who lost his life because he served a disgustingly bad cake to the Demon King.
It wasn’t entirely wrong.
After all, the cake had led to his demise.
Crescent could only let out an awkward laugh.
“Haha...”
Her laughter was contagious, and soon the knights were chuckling along with her.
But Meteor didn’t laugh.
For some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off Crescent.
***
Boom!
The Demon King’s castle, as always, had a long line of demons stretching far and wide.
Each demon, desperate to curry favor with the Demon King, seemed to multiply by the day.
Then, out of nowhere, something massive plummeted from the sky with a thunderous crash.
There was no time to react.
Several demons standing in the impact zone were obliterated, their remains scattering in all directions.
“W-what the hell!”
“What just happened!”
A deafening roar echoed as the ground caved in, leaving a deep crater.
The demons, startled at first, quickly became curious and began gathering around the site of the crash, their eyes glinting with intrigue.
What was it? What just happened?
All attention turned to the center of the crater.
Shockingly, someone lay sprawled there.
Though battered and bruised, the figure was unmistakably striking—both elegant and incredibly handsome.
Hair that must have once gleamed like gold was now scorched and blackened, and the luxurious, embroidered uniform they wore was tattered and torn.
Who... is that?
The same question crossed everyone’s minds.
But soon, the demons began to piece together the figure’s identity.
“Damascus!”
“The Duke of Dimensions? That’s the Duke of Dimensions!”
“No way. That’s impossible!”
The demons were in chaos, their voices rising in disbelief.
This must be a mistake. It couldn’t be him.
And yet, no matter how they looked at him, there was no mistaking it.
Even in this ruined state, the golden hair—though marred—was unique to none other than Lagos Damascus.
And that wasn’t all. His striking features and commanding aura still radiated from afar, making his identity indisputable.
Lagos Damascus, the Duke of Dimensions, was the top-ranking demon of the Demon Realm.
For over a thousand years, he had held his position with unrivaled power and dignity, earning the unwavering favor of the Demon King.
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He was a figure admired and envied by all demons.
So why was he now lying in front of the Demon King’s castle, reduced to a pile of ash and rags?
Could he have fallen out of the Demon King’s favor?
If so, some demons secretly thought, this might be a cause for celebration...
Just then, someone descended gently in front of the crater.
The air around them shifted instantly, and an oppressive atmosphere silenced the murmuring demons.
The newcomer, clad in a flowing white cloak with a high collar, carried a long black sash draped across one shoulder like a priest from the human realm.
His hair was a rare silver, shimmering faintly, exuding an unfamiliar, almost otherworldly presence.
Something about him felt both mysterious and unsettling.
The demons couldn’t speak, let alone move a finger.
Is he a demon?
He must be. And yet... something about him felt off.
His presence carried an overwhelming, transcendent majesty that felt out of place even in the Demon Realm.
The man tilted his head slightly and spoke, his voice low but resonating with power.
“Demon King, Your Majesty.”
The brief statement sent shivers down every demon’s spine.
As he gazed up at the Demon King’s castle, his eyes held a fleeting hint of melancholy.
“The new Duke of Dimensions has come to pay homage.”
His silver eyelashes gleamed faintly in the light.
In that brief instant, every demon felt chills run through their bodies.
A new Duke of Dimensions.
If they hadn’t misheard, they were witnessing the arrival of a Duke who had surpassed Lagos Damascus for the first time in history.
This was a moment rarer than a once-in-a-millennium event.
The shockwave from this revelation rippled through the demons, shaking them more than the news of Lagos’s death ever could.