It took almost an entire night to move beyond the harbor despite my vampires' enhanced strength. There were just too many people. Fires, screams, and anguish painted the city in chaos, while red blood stained the pristine white concrete that filled its streets and towers.

  Ralph nuzzled me as we made our way out of the harbor. The sky turned a fiery red as the sun peeked over the horizon.

  "You're too late. My vampires have already infiltrated their homes," I mocked the sun, which had failed to halt my ongoing conquest. The towering concrete spires stretched high into the sky, blocking much of the sunlight from reaching the streets below. Unless the vampires' entire heads and torsos were exposed to the heavens' light, they remained fully functional. I felt a sense of guilt over these civilians. However, my conviction compelled me to kill them all. I had a purpose, a mission, when I saw the red moon.

  Here, I didn't need to hide my powers. Even if sunlight momentarily incapacitated some of my vampires, I merely had to command others to move them back into the shadows. The link would always reestablish itself.

  Spreading my wings, I flew to the tallest tower. From its peak, I surveyed the vast expanse of the demon continent.

  As I expected from a race with 4 billion people in a single continent, no single patch of land lay unused. Rooftops teemed with vegetable gardens and livestock pens. Towers and buildings stretched endlessly in all directions, some adorned with windows, while others remained stark and featureless. Massive bridges connected one structure to another, forming a labyrinthine network of pathways in the sky.

  "Who are you? You're trespassing! I'll have you reported!" a rotund demon barked, storming onto the rooftop. However, he froze mid-sentence when he caught sight of my white wings and glowing red eyes.

  I smirked at his terror. Without a second thought, he turned and bolted for the door. I let him go. Wasting my time on small fry held no appeal.

  I relished the steady growth of my link as the horde expanded. My vampires leaped from windows into neighboring buildings, feasting on the unfortunate souls within. The anguished screams of men, women, and children echoed through the streets, weaving a symphony of terror. With each passing hour, the number of vampires swelled by the thousands.

  And yet, despite their exponential growth, they didn't seem to progress. As night turned to dawn, only half the buildings in my view had been infected.

  "There are still so many left," I murmured, taking to the sky with Ralph to survey the city. The sun rose steadily over the horizon, casting long shadows across the chaos below. Even from here, I could see a towering structure that seemed to pierce the heavens. No other building came close to its grandeur. It was massive, its base larger than even the settlers' hub, narrowing as it climbed higher into the sky. I think it could even house a smaller city in its base alone.

  "Is King Rausha there?" I mused aloud. Should I fly ahead now, or wait for my horde to grow further?

  Deciding to let tomorrow answer the question, I sought out an empty room to rest. As I closed my eyes, the red hues of the horizon faded, and the familiar dreamscape unfolded before me.

  A sea of corpses stretched out almost as far as the eye could see. The mountain of bodies beneath me had grown so vast I could scarcely make out the ground anymore. Above, black holes punctured the crimson sky, raining down thousands more bodies to create jagged mountain ranges of flesh and bone.

  I sat down beside the towering pillar of the contract, gazing out at the grisly expanse. The mountain I occupied remained the tallest among them, casting its shadow over the rest.

  "Make the contract, and you will have more power..." a ghostly whisper coiled around me, its words dripping with temptation. But I ignored it. Power had never been my desire. I only wanted to live in peace and forge connections. And yet, there were always those who sought to harm me—so I harmed them back.

  "Four billion people... That's a bit much, don't you think?" I chuckled softly, watching the endless cascade of corpses. "I wonder if this dreamscape can even hold them all."

  ---------------------

  Claire, Alicia, Ludwin, and Heracles had finally completed their preparations. After destroying a settler's ship, they pushed forward toward the settlers' hub without knowing that Elidranthia was already long gone from there. Along the way, they encountered another one of the carrier ships. However, this one was much larger, as though five of those smaller island ships had merged into one.

  Ludwin was restless. The airship was moving at only fifty percent of its maximum speed to accommodate the sailing ship trailing below. When he spotted the enormous island ahead, his frustration grew. This island was significantly larger than the others, which meant more demons—likely tens of thousands. He knew Claire was just as worried about Elidranthia as he was, but she needed to prioritize humanity and her people. He could tell she would choose to engage this ship first.

  "Prepare the cannons," Claire commanded. The engineers immediately sprang into action.

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  "Princess Claire, the demons seem... different this time," reported a scout, handing his telescope to Heracles. After peering through it, Heracles nodded grimly.

  "They look more grotesque than the demons we've encountered before. This might mean there are high-ranking demons among them."

  "Grotesque?" Claire asked, stepping closer to Heracles.

  "They have purple skin, and their tongues... they slither from their mouths all the way down to their knees," Heracles said with a wince, passing the telescope to Claire. His expression was so unsettling that it made Claire hesitate before looking through the lens herself.

  Her reaction mirrored his. "They're... repulsive. But they don't appear hostile. Are they preparing to attack?"

  "Negative," the scout replied. "They seem to be waving a white flag. By our customs, it's a symbol for negotiation."

  "Approach cautiously," Claire ordered. "If they show any sign of hostility, we'll open fire. Be ready." She paused, her expression tense. "The demons have never done anything like this before…"

  Naturally, Claire didn't risk landing the airship on the moving island right away. It was far too dangerous. Instead, she ordered one of their sailing ships to approach the island first using semaphore signals. To their surprise, the ship was welcomed warmly. The crew aboard signaled to Claire that it was safe to land the airship.

  Still gripping their weapons, Claire and her elite soldiers, led by Heracles, descended cautiously from the airship. The purple horrors, their grotesque tongues slithering down their backs, knelt and bowed reverently before Claire. Claire was surprised as their politeness betrayed their outward appearance.

  "Our savior, Countess Elidranthia, told us of your arrival. Are you Claire?" one of them asked. One of Claire's henchmen was about to complain since they didn't use any honorific, but Claire signaled him to be quiet with her hand. Hearing the name Elidranthia lifted Ludwin and her mood. It means she was still alive.

  "Yes. I am Claire. We are searching for Elidranthia. Do you know where she is?" Claire replied firmly.

  "She is now pursuing her mission to exterminate the Leymen, the slavers of all. We are grateful for her deeds," the slaver responded.

  "Where did she go?" Ludwin, emboldened by the unexpected news, lunged forward, his hand twitching near the trigger of his gun.

  "She headed north to the demon continent after freeing us from the Leymen's migration-center," the slaver explained.

  "Where is the demon continent?" Ludwin pressed.

  The slaver glanced at his companions before answering, "In the north."

  "Let's go!" Ludwin turned sharply, ready to board the airship and chase after his fiancée. However, the slaver raised a hand to stop him.

  "I beg you to wait, companion of the White Wing, our savior," he said. His companions exchanged uneasy looks, clearly reluctant to get involved. One even nudged him, silently urging him to stay silent, but the slaver continued, driven by an unfamiliar yet overwhelming sense of gratitude.

  "What do you mean?" Ludwin demanded.

  "The demon continent is surrounded by a wall of wind. No flying creatures can traverse it. Wooden ships or small vessels, like your airship, will not survive the storm. Please reconsider," the slaver warned.

  "We must go there! Are you saying only this island-like ship can pass through the storm?" Ludwin's voice was sharp with frustration.

  "As far as we know, yes. The Leymen—or demons—use these large ships, anchoring smaller vessels to them for safe passage through the storm," the slaver explained.

  ".…" Ludwin fell silent, his eyes narrowing as he studied the slaver. Before tensions could escalate, Claire, maintaining her composure and diplomatic tact, interjected.

  "May I ask if you would consider escorting us to the demon continent? We can compensate you. Do you have anywhere else to go?"

  At the mention of compensation, the slavers whispered among themselves. One shook his head, voicing fears of being enslaved again by the demons, while another spoke hopefully about the possibility of a new home under Claire's protection.

  "Esteemed Claire, we are slaves. Our homes were stolen from us by those you call demons. We humbly plead for a land where we can sustain ourselves," one of the purple humans said, his voice trembling with desperation.

  "Done. We will grant you one of the ruined cities and provide food. Now, escort us there!" Ludwin interrupted, his tone impatient. Claire sighed deeply.

  "Don't be too hasty, Ludwin. Even if Eli is there, we only have a single airship. If possible, we should sneak in. We can't announce ourselves openly—there are 4 billion demons in that place," Claire said, massaging her temples. The sheer scale of the challenge weighed heavily on her mind. If one genuinely considered it, Elidranthia's plan was madness. How could one person face 4 billion enemies, all of whom were mages?

  "And what do you suggest? That we abandon her?" Ludwin snapped. "Let's just get there first. When we see their homeland, then we can talk about strategy and sneaking!"

  "That's… not a bad idea," Claire conceded reluctantly. "Alright, let's do that."

  "May I ask your name?" Alicia addressed the slaves gently.

  "My name is Lilulilalelo, and he is Tatutetutoeti," the slaver replied, gesturing to his companion.

  "Thank you, Mr. Lilulilalelo and Mr. Tatutetutoeti." Alicia bowed politely, treating them with kindness as though they were Elidranthia's friends. Nobody questioned how Alicia managed to remember their names—it didn't seem necessary.

  Claire then engaged the slave representatives in a detailed discussion. After some time, she was relieved to learn that there were only about seven thousand of them. Despite their grotesque appearance, Claire realized that the purple humans were not so different from ordinary humans in Althemer or the Western continent. Some were mages, while others were ordinary beings.

  The hardest part of the negotiation came when Ludwin insisted that the slavers escort the group to the demon continent. Having gone through so much to escape it, the slaves were understandably reluctant to return. Thankfully, Tatutetutoeti and Lilulilalelo volunteered to escort them by detaching one ship from the five gifted to them by Elidranthia, and the group prepared to depart. The remaining sailing ships, except Claire's airship, would escort the slaves to their newly designated city.

  As they prepared for the journey, the two slavers explained the mana engine and how it consumed energy. Luckily, most of the airship crew inside were top-level mages, so this wasn't a major concern. After all, they have a level 7 mage (ludwin), a level 6 mage with enormous mana (Alicia), and a level 7 light mage (Claire). Lilulilalelo himself was a mage.

  Little did they know, Elidranthia was already far ahead of them. This moment played out well after Eli had landed on the demon continent. The likelihood of their journey being fruitless loomed large—they might arrive only to find an empty land with Elidranthia long gone. Dark clouds loomed on the Demon Continent.