? ? ? ? ?

There was silence for a moment before Vivi wailed.

Vivi's face turned sad that could broke anyone's heart, and tears welled in her eyes. "I . . . I'm sorry . . ."

"Aah . . . you made her cry," Elena said with a click of her tongue.

"Meanie," Evie scolded.

"Are you happy for making a little girl cry?" Ren finished.

"Egh? It's my fault?" Lorelai pointed at herself and suddenly didn't know what to do or say.

"It's not her fault," Azazel said, standing to his feet while never letting go of the big piece of meat in his hand. "It's mine. All of this is my fault," he admitted and took responsibility.

If only that he wasn't stealing a bite of the meat in his hand every time that he was speaking a word, then he would be believable.

"Stay out of this and stop using the same reason that you're the demon king, and this is all your fault because you're absent from your throne," Lorelai barraged with a roll of her eyes.

However, when she saw Azazel, she paused. "Hey. Have you grown a little?"

Ren and the others noticed it, too. Azazel had grown a little taller, and his features were more defined.

However, there was still that annoying grin on his face that never left like the world was a big joke that only he could understand.

"Hmm~ Hmm~ Falling for me now?" Azazel pointed at himself and teased Lorelai.

Lorelai's response was a big whack over his head.

"Ah! Lord Azazel!" Vivi cried, glaring at Lorelai. "You. How could you do that to the Demon Lord?"

"Demon Lord, my ass. Don't tell me that you believe this liar?" Lorelai said, pointing at Azazel.

"He's not lying," Vivi defended. "Long ago, we overthrew the previous Demon Lord, and its corrupted power went to Obsidian X. Overtime, this corrupted power slowly changed Obsidian X and made him corrupt."

"To make the story short," Azazel chimed in, "I asked my seven warlords to kill me to stop the growing corruption inside me. This corrupted power is so powerful that it could destroy all of the Netherworld."

"Destroy . . . the Netherworld?" Elena was shocked. "Such power exists?"

"This power is unlike any other. It grows inside its host over time and becomes powerful," explained Azazel. "It cannot be contained or put in a seal, nor can it be destroyed. In the hands of a malevolent being, this power could prove fatal and might spell the end of the Netherworld or tip the balance of all the realms.

"In order not to let this happen, my seven warlords broke this corrupted power into pieces, and each took it inside their body. However, it looks like they couldn't contain it as well, as you can see the result."

Lorelai frowned and questioned, "Wait a minute, so you're saying that this corruption is the cause of everything? That's why the seven warlords are running havoc in this realm?"

Azazel nodded. "That's right. I don't want to brag, but my seven warlords are all a menace, mischievous, and just straight up rude, but they would never harm the Netherworld."

"Are you really bragging or insulting them?" Ren deadpanned.

"Anyway, like I was saying, when they destroyed my body and placed the corruption into theirs, I survived by putting my consciousness adrift for so many years and waited for the right body to house my consciousness," Azazel said and continued, "And I need your help to get to the others and take back that corrupted power."

"Get it back?" Evie muttered, and they exchanged glances.

"But if you get it back, wouldn't the corruption just consume you again?" Ren said.

Azazel only grinned and said, "Don't worry. During my years adrift, I thought of a way to contain it. Ahahahaha! Don't underestimate me! I'm the Demon King, after all!"

Vivi's eyes sparkled with admiration. "Lord Azazel, you're amazing."

"Amazing?" Lorelai puckered her lips. "I still couldn't believe that this weakling is the Demon Lord."

"It's because I haven't gotten back my powers. But now I have one of them back," Azazel said and flexed his nonexistent muscles on his arm. 𝙛𝙧𝒆𝒆𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒆𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝓶

He then teased Lorelai. "What, are you falling for me now that you know I'm really the Demon King?"

Lorelai gave him a loud hard whack on the head. "There's no way that would happen. In my eyes, you'll forever be that idiotic kid, Azazel."

Azazel only grinned widely while rubbing the big lump on his head. "Fine by me."

On the side, Vivi watched with a curious face at the strange exchange of Azazel and Lorelai.

"So what are we going to do now?" Elena asked Ren.

"First things first." Ren stared at Vivi and said, "Do you have the recipes you got from Vanadon-Necroth's lair?"

Vivi blinked. "Vanadon-Necroth?" She then stared at Azazel, and the latter nodded at her. She said, "Yeah. Do you want it? I've already got it on my lists, so I don't need it anymore."

Ren readily nodded.

When Vivi handed him the scroll containing one of the many categories of recipes and blueprints in Vanadon-Necroth's lair, Ren's smile fell right off his face.

"What's wrong?" Evie asked.

Instead of answering, Ren looked at Vivi seriously with piercing eyes.

Vivi looked to the side and forced a smile. "W-what is it?"

"Why is everything in here cooking recipes?"

Vivi shyly fidgeted to the side and giggled. "Well . . . I love food. So I took that part of the recipes."

Her demeanor then changed into glee with wide, sparkling eyes. "You'll find all the completed cooking recipes in there to date. Isn't it great!"

Ren wasn't feeling great at all! What was he going to do with cooking recipes? He didn't have the necessary tool for it and his cooking proficiency wasn't even max!

"Where are the other recipes and blueprints?" Ren asked urgently.

"They're in the hands of the other warlords," Vivi said without care.

Ren's face darkened.

He thought that he could finally craft equipment and weapons on the go while they journeyed to the other Warlords' territory, but . . . what the HELL was he going to do with all these cooking recipes?!