“You’ve worked hard. I’ll take over from here… you may withdraw.”
“Yes.”
Following the orders of Wilian, who claimed to be the head of the Nelf Family, Swallowtail bowed deeply to Milin and Luc, then disappeared into the shadows beneath his feet.
“You can’t be the head of the Nelf Family,” Selene spoke first. She clearly hadn’t fully digested the shock this room had brought her… but that didn’t stop her from questioning the identity this person claimed.
“The head of the Nelf Family is someone from the era of the Fairy Queen who founded the Tree Sea Kingdom 1,300 years ago. There’s no way she could look like you.”
“But if it’s the Demon Lord’s Wife’s subordinate… then that makes sense. Are you also of the Demon Race?”
“…It seems ‘Crescent Moon’ didn’t tell you anything.”
Their suspicion didn’t provoke her anger. She simply furrowed her brow slightly, then raised her arm:
“Let’s sit and talk.”
As her words fell, the vines covering the ground twisted and gathered at the spots where Luc and Selene stood, forming two chairs.
After the chairs formed, two clusters of vines lightly pressed on their foreheads, pushing them into the seats.
“……!”
The two instinctively tried to stand up again… but an incredibly terrifying pressure of magic power pushed them back into their chairs.
“What are you doing?!”
Let alone standing, even lifting a single finger was extremely difficult—the pressure released by this unremarkable, maid-dressed head of the family was that strong.
Under the gaze of her abyss-like eyes, Selene’s face gradually filled with terror—
She felt this person’s presence expanding continuously, as if merging with the entire room.
Clearly only one person stood before her… yet she had the illusion of looking up at a towering ancient tree.
This pressure was just like the Demon Lord’s Wife…!
Seeing Selene’s whole body begin to tremble, Wilian nodded slightly.
After that motion, the two forced into the chairs felt the magic power that had been pressing down on the entire room recede.
“Since ‘Crescent Moon’ didn’t inform you, I’ll convey it myself. I don’t know what your guesses were… but most of them are wrong. You’d best forget all of them now.”
“‘Crescent Moon’… refers to the Demon Lord’s Wife?”
“You Shadow Demons seem to call the leader of your race that. But in Moon, she is a leader called ‘Crescent Moon’… or perhaps ‘executive’ would be easier for you to understand.”
“She, like me, is one of Moon’s seven original founders—our ranks are not hierarchical. And this organization… is not, as you imagine, one composed solely of the Demon Race.”
“Its scale and complexity far exceed your imagination. But as New Moons, you only need to understand one thing—that is the purpose of its existence.”
“…Purpose?”
“Yes. Seeing this room, you can understand, right? We come to know everything, understand everything, and finally control everything through this method.”
Wilian said with a smile. As she raised her arm again, the images displayed on the magic stone arrays throughout the room all flickered… and finally became the same image.
It was a brilliant bright moon. It hung high in the sky, its phases rotating continuously in fast-forwarded time, displaying eight different forms.
“We are the eternal unsetting moon. Our radiance will quietly overflow through the cycles… until we topple the sun.”
The dance venue after most of the guests had left.
“Natalia… is this really okay?”
“What’s not okay about it? Just ask here. Anyway, I’ve already kicked out the opponents and troublemakers.”
Nephtalia had someone simply nail a wooden board to the railing to repair the large hole burned through by flames. The march ‘Jade Triumph,’ once used to welcome legendary heroes, continued to play, its powerful sounds echoing throughout the venue—
But the guests remaining in the hall did not dance. The center of the dance floor was cleared, and a dessert table was temporarily moved in. On that table lay the Demon Race’s head.
The cut at the neck of this head did not ooze blood… instead, surging shadows replaced it. Even with such damage to its body, the Shadow Demon was slowly regenerating, reshaping its form—
“I told you not to regenerate!”
Milin, with a furious expression, slashed sideways at the surging shadows, cutting them away. Her movements were extremely swift—with a single stroke, the bit of neck that had just grown was gone again.
“…It’s our race’s instinct! Instinct, you know! Even if I lose consciousness, my body will keep growing back!”
“Then won’t I have to keep cutting it off?”
“You don’t have to cut it! After you’ve beaten me like this, how could I still think of escaping—”
“Ugh… it’s creepy with just a head talking.” As the Demon Race’s head was fiercely retorting to Milin, Nephtalia gave it a disgusted look. “Can’t you shapeshift? Change into something less creepy. Look, you’re scaring the people around you.”
Nephtalia pointed at the surrounding guests, and indeed, a few young ones among them showed fearful expressions.
“This is my base form!”
“I know you Shadow Demons use a chosen ‘base form’ as your usual appearance, but you can also turn into things like cats or dogs, right? Just become something cute.”
“I haven’t analyzed those things…!”
“Then use your ‘initial form.’ Just don’t let me see this disgusting look.”
Hearing that word from Nephtalia, the expression on the Demon Race’s head changed.
“…You know a lot about us Shadow Demons.”
“Less talk, change. Or I’ll have Milin cut you again.”
“Alright, alright, as long as you don’t use force, anything is fine!”
Seeing Milin silently raise a flaming hand blade, the Demon Race quickly replied. Under everyone’s gaze, the elf-like skin on his head melted like a lit candle, reverting to pitch-black shadows. That mass of shadows gradually condensed into a shape—
“Is that your ‘initial form’? A ball? Your ‘initial form’ is just a ball? I thought it would be at least something like a slime.”
“A ball is a perfect geometric form! What do you little brats know?”
Nephtalia laughed uncontrollably while banging on the table, and the surrounding guests joined in the laughter. Seeing the venue filled with a cheerful atmosphere, the hesitation in Milin’s heart disappeared.
Ever since that acting head of family named Laiweianse pointed out that her approach was inappropriate, she had felt somewhat apologetic. Although the Demon Race didn’t deserve sympathy, the method she had used earlier might indeed scare ordinary guests in terms of appearance.
So when Nephtalia suggested questioning right there, she had been hesitant. But now she could feel the gazes around them converging here.
Some were excited, some vigilant, and some simply curious, wanting to see how things would develop. But no matter what emotions these gazes contained, they didn’t look away or shift.
Everyone must also be very curious about why this guy managed to sneak into this dance party.
“Natalia, I’m going to question him.”
“Ah… go ahead, go ahead.”
She lowered her voice and said to Nephtalia beside her. Nephtalia wiped away the tears she had laughed out, stepped back a bit from the small table to give her space.
“Anyway, no one’s going to object.”