"Let’s go!" The Moth Queen scrambled to fly off, but I held a tight grip on her ankle.

I realized this when we were fighting that even though she possessed powerful magic, she was physically weak. Not only that, she was clumsy. There were many times in our battle where she nearly fell flat on her face.

That was one of the main reasons she couldn’t keep up with my fast movements and land an attack. She had powerful spell that could destroy an entire city, yes but that was all she had. Now that she didn’t have her staff, she resorted to slapping, kicking and even biting like a child lashing out against their parents. She swung her hands wildly at me like a cat while cursing.

"You will pay for this, you barbarian!"

"Who would’ve thought that the powerful Moth Queen was really just a spoiled princess?"

"Unhand me!" she screamed as she pounded her fist against my chest.

"Calm down, I only want to talk."

"Talk all you want, but I’m never joining you! You’re better off killing me!"

Another one? she sounded melodramatic while someone else I knew.

"You don’t really have a chance." I responded.

"You can have my body, but you’ll never have my heart!"

"Hold on, I don’t want you b—"

"My heart already belongs to one man, and you are not him! You could never be him!"

"Calm down."

I laced my voice with a bit of my bloodlust, and she instantly went quiet and her unruly expression changed all of a sudden.

"Yes, my lord," she bowed her head, almost getting on her knees. "Wait, what am I doing? Why did I bow to you? For a second it felt as if... Does that mean you’re... It can’t be!"

She looked completely in shock as if she had just realized something. Suddenly, she lifted up her head and brought her face closer to mine as if examining my appearance. She stared at my face for an awkward couple of seconds before finally speaking.

"Boy, what are your parents like?" she questioned.

"Parents? They are werewolves," I answered, feeling slightly confused. "Why?"

She looked at me suspiciously.

"We’ve done our study on the creatures on Earth before coming here. I certainly don’t remember hearing anything about werewolves having fire affinity like you just displayed. You guys have some kind of transformation magic that is connected to the moon, correct?"

"I guess. The whole concept of magic is a bit new to me."

"That is to be expected. You guys are nothing but cavemen after all." She sighed and shook her head. "From our fight, it’s blatantly obvious that you have an affinity to fire magic for whatever reason. But you won’t be able to cast high-tier spells until you’ve evolved and unlock the hidden bloodline that gave you access to fire magic."

"I see, but why did you ask about my parents?"

"Never mind that. Answer this question truthfully: when you awakened, was the first skill you received one that allowed you to see the heat signature of any living creature?"

"Yes, but how did you know that?"

"What level are you?" she asked, ignoring the question again.

"I’m at level 33, but I still haven’t evolved."

She nodded along and mumbled with her hand resting on her chin.

"That is strange. A creature from Earth would’ve evolved already. Then I may be ight about this." She looked as if she was deep in thought about something. I decided to use this moment to restate my earlier proposition.

"Join my pack. All you have to do is submit."

This time, while I asked, a sharp smile appeared on her face.

"I’m sorry, but you’ll be unable to recruit any demon to join your pack. We all already belong to someone else."

"And who is that?"

Her face glowed a pink blush.

"Lucifer, our demon king. He’s the one leading this invasion."

The demon king, huh? I’ve never heard of him. So he’s the one behind this.

"What about the four horsemen? You said they were generals before."

"Yes, they are. Each horseman holds a vast amount of power, which is why they’ll be the catalyst for destroying your world."

"But where are they? If they are so powerful, why haven’t they made a move yet?" I questioned.

"Because this is only the beginning of the apocalypse. There are three more waves left to come, and with each wave comes a horseman. You humans are lucky that Death isn’t taking this seriously. If he was, then so many of you wouldn’t have survived. Just wait until the next horseman comes then you’ll truly feel the wait of of invasion."

"When will that be, and who will be coming?" I questioned.

She chuckled.

"Conquest, of course. The one who rides atop a white horse. The next wave is set to arrive a year from now, and any human who hasn’t at least reached their first evolution is unlikely to survive. Conquest is far worse than Death. That man lives to conquer. He and his people traveled through countless worlds, conquering them and taking their treasures. He even tried to conquer Death, if you could believe it. If it wasn’t for Lucifer, then he would have."

The Moth Queen’s words opened my eyes. I’ve been worried about the wrong thing all along. Death and the Wild Hunt isn’t who I should be worried about. It was Conquest. This made my situation even more desperate. I need to find a way to evolve before he arrives.

The Moth Queen smiled as if she was somehow reading my mind.

"I can’t join you since my will isn’t my own. I belong to Demon King Lucifer unless he decides to let me go. But I can make a contract with you."

"What kind of contract?"

The smile on her face widened.

"It’s simple. I’ll bind myself to you so you can order me to do anything you like. You can even ask me questions, but you can’t force me to answer anything related to the demon king. That’s my only condition. Our contract will last up until you evolve. It’s only then that I can either choose to terminate the contract or continue it. Do those terms sound acceptable to you?"

"Why the sudden change of heart?" I asked, feeling a bit suspicious.

She shrugged at my question.

"I just don’t want to be killed by you, nothing else."

I knew she was lying. There was something else she was hiding, but I decided to leave it for now. I’ll have time to thoroughly interrogate her later.

"Okay, I accept."

She smiled and immediately two pieces of paper manifested themselves in the palm of her hand.

"Good thing I always carry contract parchment with me."

She then handed me one of the papers. The terms on the contract were just as she said earlier.

"Sign it with your blood," she instructed. "I’ll do the same."

Both of us signed the contract with our blood, and at the same time, the contract started glowing bright red, then disintegrated into small pieces. Those pieces attached themselves to us, creating a glowing red tattoo formed in a strange symbol.

The branding appeared on my arm, and it was the same for the Moth Queen, but suddenly I realized there was a glow on another part of my body too. I lifted up my shirt to see another tattoo on my stomach, glowing ominously. It was the same as the tattoo I just got from my contract with the Moth Queen. In fact, the two looked identical.

I immediately looked at her and saw that she too looked confused.

"Wait? You already have another contract?"