The meeting had ended, and Arad found himself walking alone through the castle’s hallways. Unlike everyone here, he didn’t need guards or servants. He was alone, but that only lasted for a few seconds.

"Been a while, dad. Gotta say, this place ain’t as big of a shithole as I thought."

There was no one around Arad, just the empty air, and a strange soul sitting in one of the windows, smoking a pipe. Arad slowly turned around, and sighed. "Aether... where did you find that?"

Aether looked at the pipe in his hand, and it disappeared. "What? Not supposed to smoke in front of you? I’m a soul, drop it, won’t hurt me a bit. Besides, what the hell am I going to do with this life? Stuck in a box."

He jumped down and approached Arad, staring at him with a smile. "To us Time Dragons, space and time are reversed. We feel time the same way you feel space." He sighed, looked away, then swung his arms, pulling the pipe once more to smoke. "Feel like I’m tied down, locked in a tight box with only one hole to look through, the hole pointing to the future."

He then sighed. "No, I’m not blaming Astra for not growing fast. I got myself stuck here. First, I thought it would be easy, I just had to sit and wait a couple of years for her to grow strong enough that I could leave. But just after a few days, I can sense the madness seeping into my mind."

He then looked at Arad. "So, dad? Got anyway to help?"

Arad looked at him, then smiled. "Not now, but will soon. Doma and the rest are working on a way to create human bodies to house souls. If they got it done, we’ll be able to get you a human body. But it would be just a human body, I don’t think they can create the body of a dragon."

Aether clapped his hands with a smile. "That’s it! A human body is enough. I’ll eventually develop a time bloodline and evolve on my own. I just need a body to use." He looked at Arad with a grin and then turned to leave. "Thanks, Dad, I’ll be waiting. And, don’t worry about me, I’ll handle myself for now."

With Aether gone, Arad was once more alone, walking through the hallways without anyone in sight. It had been decided that the first Queen to be celebrated next week is Aella, and everyone was busy preparing for that.

"Arad!" A sharp voice called to him, and he looked back, seeing Kali standing behind him with Diana. "Do you have a few hours? We have some work." She approached him, and he lifted an eyebrow.

"What kind of work are we talking about?" Unlike everyone else, getting into Kali’s mind was hard, even if she allowed him to, which made it extremely hard to read her thoughts.

Diana extended her hand and smiled. "We’ll talk in another place." At that moment, they were all teleported away. Arad saw the space around them twist and shift, the strands of demonic magic flashed, and soon, abyssal waves of energy engulfed them as they landed in the abyss.

Kali turned around and looked at him with a smile. "Remember the pseudo-demon lord? The four-armed woman Merlin summoned when she fought you before, the one you allowed to rule Sawless’s layer in your stead."

"That woman, I remember her. It hasn’t been long, so how is she doing?"

Arad had let her rule that part of the abyss to lessen the load on himself, but now he wanted to see how far she had progressed, since technically Lunara and she are going to be the demon lords the humans would trade with directly at the start.

"Well, she is ruling well. But the demons here aren’t taking her seriously because she isn’t a demon lord. She was unable to evolve." Kali jumped to sit on Arad’s shoulder and pointed forward. "So, we’re going to check on her. Then we’ll decide whether she can keep ruling the layer, or if we need to find another demon for the role."

Arad frowned. "Or we should find out why she couldn’t evolve and help her. I’m not a fan of giving someone something and then taking it back."

Arad and Diana flew away as Kali sighed and looked at Arad. "I know why she couldn’t evolve. It is simple; she is just weak. She doesn’t have enough potential to reach the level of a demon lord."

Soon, they reached the demonic castle and landed on its rooftop, where over ten demons confronted them. Arad expected the demons to be aggressive as they came uninvited, but those demons knelt to Kali immediately.

Kali didn’t stay in her little girl form for long and immediately relaxed and took her destruction form as she jumped down from Arad’s shoulders. This time she didn’t wear her limb skirt and head necklace, but just a plain black dress decorated with golden chains and jewels.

"We’re going to the Lord’s Hall, no need for guards or escorts. In fact, clear the entire area of demons." She looked at the demons. "You’ve got half an hour. Any demon I find in a thousand arms from the hall would be killed."

The demons immediately disappeared to evacuate the area. Since Kali intended to kick the pseudo-demon lord away, she expected her to fight back. The demons understood that fact and were ready for change.

Whenever Kali showed up, it was always to either kill or elect a new demon lord. But if she showed up twice to the same demon, it was to kill them.

There was one rule that all demons understood well. If you’re a successful demon lord, then Kali would never need to visit you.

When they reached the Demon Lord’s Hall, Arad couldn’t sense any demons around besides the powerful aura coming from inside the hall. The pseudo-demon lord was all alone, awaiting her grim fate for failing to rise to the task of becoming a demon lord.

Diana pushed the door open, and Kali walked in first, followed by Arad. The throne was empty, and the pseudo-demon lord was prostrating herself in the middle of the room, waiting.

Kali glared at her. "What are you doing?" She had expected to see her ready to die fighting like a proper demon. Especially since this pseudo-demon-lord was a violent, barbaric, and proud brawler.

Diana quickly growled as well. "Stand and fight like a proper demon. Don’t insult yourself more than you’ve done."

She replied in a quiet voice. "If we fight here, many demons would die. I’d rather die a pitiful and humiliating death than get my people hurt for no reason. They are all proud demons and shouldn’t be killed for my own failure and insolence."

Kali sighed. "Fine, suit yourself." She lifted one hand, but then Arad walked between them. "Now, hold on a minute. No one said we’re going to kill her."

The pseudo-demon-lord paled. Getting in the way of the demon goddess was a death sentence, even if he was her husband; it wasn’t his place to speak. The Demon Goddess of Destruction would never...

"Okay!" Kali lowered her hand and smiled. "I see, if you want her to live, then so be it."

"What?" The pseudo-demon-lord cried, unable to believe what she heard. "But... isn’t it an insult if you don’t kill any failing demon lord? Leaving people like me alive would weaken the demon ranks and make our titles a joke."

"But my husband says to leave you alive, so you’re staying alive." Kali clapped her hands. "His words are the law." Kali had brought Arad with her here for this.