Eduardo stared in amazement as Nathan finished recounting the story of how Irene had been taken from him and how that tragedy had ultimately led him back to the Demon King.

Nathan smiled faintly. "That was only the beginning. After the Demon King accepted me, I spent some time within his court, and during that period, I had to find ways to grow stronger. For that... I had to kill my elder brother, Reenal."

Eduardo’s eyes widened slightly. Then, to Nathan’s surprise, he let out a short laugh.

"I knew you weren’t Reenal."

Nathan’s brows drew together in puzzlement. "You sound as though you knew of him, even though I don’t remember ever mentioning Reenal to you."

Eduardo shook his head. "No, you didn’t. But Ishtar told Master Ethan the popular story of how a certain Reenal, who was meant to become the heir of House Azazel, ended up slaughtering his entire family."

He smiled a little.

"Well... you could say that after hearing that story, your son feared that it might have been you."

"Oh, I see," Nathan said with a faint smile.

"You do remember when I told you that the Demon King would never have permitted my union with Irene because he feared that marrying a dragon would one day give me the power to challenge his rule?"

Eduardo nodded before adding, "Yes, I remember. Which is why you had to leave the Demon Continent and come to the West with Lady Irene."

Nathan nodded. "Precisely. But there was another part of that story I never told you."

"The Demon King knew of my relationship with Irene and was actually willing to allow the union to continue within his kingdom... but on one condition."

He paused briefly.

"The Demon King ordered me to kill everyone in my clan."

Eduardo’s eyes widened. "Are you saying..."

Nathan quickly shook his head. "Of course not. I could never have done that."

"The Demon King’s reasoning was this; By eliminating my entire clan, I would never be able to raise an army against him, even if he allowed me to remain with the dragon."

"What type of monster do demons serve?" Eduardo muttered in astonishment.

Nathan laughed a bit. "The Demon King gave me an impossible condition because he knew I could never fulfil it. He expected me to abandon Irene as a result."

"But instead... I abandoned the kingdom."

"That enraged him all the same, especially since I was one of those who served directly within his court. My elder brother also served there, and unlike me, he was completely devoted to the Demon King."

"As punishment for my desertion, House Azazel was sentenced to death... and my brother was chosen to carry out the execution."

"Such cruelty," Eduardo said quietly.

"Yes..." Nathan agreed. "Such is the cruelty of the Demon King."

"As for how I killed Reenal..."

-

Nathan continued his story.

After Reenal had exterminated House Azazel under the Demon King’s orders, he withdrew completely from the affairs of the Demon Continent.

He secluded himself within House Azazel, living as the sole surviving member of the family. Whether he had known Nathan had returned to the continent or had simply chosen not to concern himself with anything beyond those walls, Nathan never truly knew.

He lived in solitude, attended only by a newly assembled group of servants who oversaw his daily life.

Nathan, however, secretly observed the estate. He studied every servant who entered and left, memorising their routines, supply deliveries, and movements.

Only when he was completely certain did he finally make his move.

He abducted one of the servants in secret.

Using his signature soul-transfer spell, Nathan transferred his own soul into the servant’s body, allowing him to infiltrate House Azazel from within without raising the slightest suspicion.

Nathan could not confront Reenal directly because of the obvious difference in their power, so instead he administered a potent weakening poison into Reenal’s food that night.

When the poison had fully taken effect, Reenal had been reduced to a pitiful state.

The only reason the poison failed to kill him outright was because Reenal himself was an exceptionally powerful Demon. Anyone weaker would have died long before then.

It was only then that Nathan revealed himself.

Having secretly brought his true body into the family estate beforehand, he abandoned the servant’s body and entered Reenal’s private chambers in his original form.

The brothers met once again for the first time in years.

And there, Nathan delivered the final blow.

When Reenal died, something else happened as well.

Every fragment of life-force he had accumulated throughout his existence, even those gained after slaughtering House Azazel... all of it flowed directly into Nathan.

Such was the nature of demons. Their evolution depended upon absorbing life-force.

The greater the quantity of life-force they had accumulated over the course of their lifetime, the stronger a demon became.

And when such a demon was slain by another, that accumulated life-force naturally passed to the victor.

It was that event that elevated Nathan to the level of a Grade Ten Demon, granting him Astral Magic and the power to enter the Astral Sea.

That had also been the first major breakthrough he had made in his bid to grow stronger.

Additionally, the Astral Sea allowed him to perceive the countless consciousnesses that existed throughout the world, and from there, he had finally discovered Irene once again.

Just as he had been able to enter Eduardo’s Mind Island, the same method had been how he reached Irene.

Through her Mind Island.

Through it, he had finally been able to see her again after years of complete separation.

But what he witnessed had been devastating.

Irene was imprisoned inside the palace of the Dragon Emperor.

He had also realised that, even after reaching his new level of power, he still stood absolutely no chance against the Dragon Emperor.

So, for the next five years, he searched relentlessly for a means to bridge that gap.

It was during that search that he uncovered reports from Krygon Province.

Reports detailing how Lord Krygon had orchestrated a conflict between House Tisseus and House Dessendre.

The war itself had only been a means to an end.

Its true purpose was to capture the sole surviving daughter of the Dessendre bloodline.

Rumours claimed that the young heir had awakened an ancient inheritance—

The power of Carrion, the Demon God.