Death's Door

Dark Lord had arranged that they would be put on a bit of a wild goose chase while trying to find the Holy Maidens.

The interesting thing about the Blessed Stones is the fact that they will seek any piece of the person they are attuned to, even if the parts are as small as nails or hair.

Due to this, Dark Lord had made that locks of their hair be put in some remote locations so that the heroes will be delayed in their search at least by a few days.

But by now, they should have uncovered all the false leads and be going in the true direction where the Holy Maidens are held.

Even if they are on the right track, it will take Heroes five days to reach them, after all, Racron territory, where the Holy Maidens are currently held within the goblin caves, is vast.

"I have a rather pleasant surprise prepared for them, but I suppose it is not time for that."

Right now, he had much bigger concerns.

The Knight of Light, Leon Revilles, was coming over to visit.

However, the reason for the visit was simple enough; he wanted to see his friend Runfar.

After Leon and Runfar became acquainted, Leon sent many letters to Runfar by an enchanted bird, detailing his journeys and what he has been up to as of lately.

Because of Leon"s letters, Runfar knew full well that his plan on infesting the village with zombies was a complete success.

But Leon, unaware it was all Dark Lord"s doing, blamed it upon the undead sorcerer who has been sighted in many parts. Apparently, he even has a bounty placed on him by the adventurer"s guild.

"The sooner I get rid of that necromancer, the better. And if I can get Leon to do the job for me, then it would be marvelous."

Not only would Leon get rid of one of Dark Lord"s adversaries, she would be also too distracted to know what the Shadow Lords will be up to behind her back.

All the attacks upon the heroes were arranged to make it look like attacks by demons, which is plausible now, considering the barrier was no longer there to protect the Holy City.

None would suspect the existence of an organization with a sole purpose of destroying the human kingdom.

"The more we deflect the scent from our trails, the better. If the blame is placed upon demons and the undead, then their focus will be shifted on them, allowing us to make critical strikes."

Leon did not realize that due to his letters, Dark Lord could always be ahead of him in this game.

"But to think she wanted to visit…I must make sure there is nothing suspicious here!"

It would be a disaster if he got found out in such a stupid manner.

All of the Shadow Lords were disguised as mansion staff, the butlers and maids already knew that these people were Runfar"s employees, so there was not much trouble integrating them into the mansion staff.

Everyone found it fun, except for Lukalis, who found the notion of wearing maid uniform to be a ridiculous ch.o.r.e.

"Sorry, but I can"t have you stand out here, and also, let your hair down…"

Her elven ears had to be concealed, so now, she looked just like an ordinary woman, albeit a shockingly beautiful one at that.

All the traces of their gory deeds were hidden; all the prisoners were transported to the remote underground dungeons the goblins made.

With final touches as he made sure the fake skin, bandages, and the mask were in place, Runfar was ready to greet his guest.

After some time, he heard a knock to the door.

With a fake smile plastered on his face, he walked forward while leaning on a cane.

After Morphus occupied his body for more than two months, his body was rendered very weak, but due to his mana "therapy" sessions with Camilla, he was steadily getting better.

By now, he could walk for a short time, but doing it for too long was still rather painful.

So, the cane was not impractical.

Opening the door, Runfar proclaimed.

"Welcome to my mansion, dear guest!"

But what he saw and heard next made his jaw drop.

"h.e.l.lo brother"

A very familiar voice. A very familiar face.

It was not the Knight of Light, not even close.

Without a second"s hesitation, Runfar proceeded to punch his visitor on the face, sending him flying a few meters away.

His visitor was a Demon Lord, Kazan Karatengu, and behind him were four others, two of whom Runfar recognized as Demon Lords, one was not familiar, while the last one was clearly Arin Draco, the Demon King.

Strangely all of them looked like humans for some reason, with no horns present and without a.s.suming their true demon forms.

But the issue remained.

Instead of having Knight of Light visit him, it was the demons that have come to greet him.