The small rocks clinging to his clothes rolled and fell to the ground, while the swirling dust thinned around him. Aldis looked at Cayn with a pair of eyes full of vengeance, a powerful energy of hostility emanated from his body.
Cayn himself seemed not to notice Aldis's hostile attitude, he turned towards William and looked at the fire spirit with a cold face. "Just because you slept for a few years, even your abilities have weakened? You couldn't even hit that midget creature's backside, how pathetic."
William immediately bowed his head and knelt, a bead of sweat running down his cheek as he felt fear hearing the cold tone of his Master's voice, especially seeing his Master's true appearance which made him feel even more terrified. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, I was careless."
Cayn snorted, then he turned to face someone who had apparently been standing behind him the whole time.
His gold eyes immediately sparkled, very different from his cold demeanor just now. "How was it? Was I great?"
Tsana blinked and couldn't help but feel that Cayn looked funny. Tsana nodded and said honestly, "Yes, honestly I've never seen such great power."
Cayn was even more pleased.
Even William seemed to see a tail wagging rapidly behind Cayn.
"Then kiss me now-"
"How dare you underestimate me! In a fight, you shouldn't turn your back on your opponent!"
Aldis had leaped behind him with a wide grin, preparing to slash his sword towards Cayn's back. However, suddenly his eyes caught a green silhouette standing in front of Cayn, and it made him lose focus.
And when he saw the face of the person standing before Cayn, his body instantly froze, and his sword slipped from his grasp, falling to the ground with a soft 'clang'.
Aldis sat down on the ground, his eyes wide, staring at Tsana.
Instantly, past memories spun in his head.
When he was still small, moaning with a body full of wounds in a corner of an alley to hide from human pursuit, when he ran in fear from humans throwing dozens of spears at him, and when a pale woman with green hair extended her hand to him as an arrow pierced his stomach.
His eyes welled up with tears when he saw Tsana, and a second later, his tears flowed uncontrollably.
Zephyr and Helena, who initially saw Aldis as a terrifying creature that was very strong and difficult to defeat, were now surprised when the creature was sobbing uncontrollably like a small child.
His crying echoed in the place, like the cry of a sad child.
"Why did you just come now? I thought you had forgotten about us! Hwaaa," Aldis tried to wipe his tears, but they seemed unwilling to stop flowing.
William, Zephyr, and Helena couldn't help but feel amazed by the change in Aldis's attitude.
They had just faced a Demon General whose swordsmanship was very strong. Even William himself was still struggling to fight him.
However, now they all saw that the Demon General was sobbing uncontrollably like a small child.
Tsana saw Aldis's figure overlapping with the figure of a crying dog-human monster child, and the sight seemed to touch a certain point in Tsana's heart.
Cayn shifted his body to the side to make way for Tsana.
Aldis saw a pair of legs covered by a black cloak and a simple wooden stick in front of him, and he looked up, only to see the face he hadn't seen for so long and missed very much.
Tsana extended her hand towards Aldis. "It's getting dark, let's rest first."
Aldis's eyes widened. Tsana's sentence was exactly the same as in the past, when Tsana first brought him with her.
Aldis pressed his lips together, and he accepted the outstretched hand gently.
The sight created a harmonious atmosphere, as if Aldis's long wait was finally paid off. Like a child who missed his mother very much, and finally the day of reunion arrived.
★★★
The wood burned by the bonfire crackled softly. The daytime sky had now turned into night.
The forest was now enveloped in darkness.
Besides the sound of the crackling bonfire, the sound of insects was also heard from various places, as well as some growls of wild animals stalking their group from a distance. However, the wild animals did not dare to approach their area because the aura of intimidation emitted by Cayn was very strong.
William did not even dare to move as he felt the dark aura around Cayn growing stronger.
Meanwhile, Helena was struggling to breathe. As was Zephyr, who had turned into his child version and was hiding behind William's body.
Meanwhile, Rolan was still unconscious from fainting.
Cayn's gaze was sharp as he looked towards a tree not far from the bonfire, where Tsana was sitting under the tree with Aldis lying on her lap.
William, Helena, and Zephyr sat with straight backs. They didn't even dare to move slightly, as if the dark energy around Cayn was suffocating them.
They seemed to see a demon whose eyes glowed red and was enveloped in blazing black and red fire.
It was clear that Cayn was annoyed right now.
But they didn't know the reason for the man's anger, except for William.
William knew exactly what his Master was like because he was Cayn's contracted spirit from the beginning, so when he saw his Master enveloped in dark energy while looking at Tsana with Aldis, he clearly knew that his Master was jealous.
Meanwhile, on Tsana and Aldis's side, the two were talking.
"So, you lost your memory?" Aldis asked, lying on his back on Tsana's thighs to see Tsana's face.
Tsana nodded. "Yes."
"Then where have you been all this time?" - Aldis.
"I visited many places." - Tsana.
"Have you met Kylos? Where is he now?" - Aldis.
Tsana answered. "Yes, I met him. But he won't be able to meet you again."
Aldis widened his eyes, then he got up and sat cross-legged in front of Tsana.
Seeing that, the dark aura around Cayn disappeared, and William and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened to him?" Aldis asked.
"I have released him."
Those three words were enough to explain the whole situation to Aldis. He himself knew that if a Master released the Master-subordinate bond between them, then the Subordinate would be freed from everything. So that explained why he could no longer meet Kylos.
"I see." Aldis let out a long sigh, then he explained. "You know? When you suddenly disappeared, all of us, the 5 Demon Generals, were trapped in this forest, for reasons unknown to us. I couldn't meet Raka and Sidan, but I could still communicate with Kylos, who controlled the first part of the forest, and Magda, who controlled the third part of the forest. We don't know what caused us to end up in this forest, and why we are imprisoned here, and even became immortal so that we are still alive for hundreds of years until now. But from the start, I always assumed that we were forced to wait for your return."
Tsana looked down, until her eyelashes covered her dim gaze. "I'm sorry."
Since she met Kylos, she now realized that she had a Master-Subordinate bond with the four other Demon Generals. She didn't understand why they also had to bear that immortal curse. She didn't know at all why they all had to wait for her return for hundreds of years, and be trapped in this forest. She didn't know at all who or what created this forest. How this forest could be created, why it seemed as if this forest was only created for her.
She didn't know anything at all.
But she realized one fact, that this curse made people who had a relationship with her in the past also bear it.
That's why she felt guilty and apologized to Aldis, even though she hadn't remembered all of her past.
Aldis shook his head. "No, this is not your fault at all."
Tsana looked up and stared at Aldis's dog face covered with soft fur.
"I have considered you like my own mother, I even swore to protect you with my own life. Please don't blame yourself."
Tsana's eyes sparkled. "Should I release you now?"
Aldis smiled and nodded. "I leave it up to you."
Then Tsana placed her hand on Aldis's head, and a gentle green and gold light glowed from her palm.
However, a few moments later, nothing happened. Aldis was still there, not gone like Kylos.
The Master-Subordinate bond between Aldis and Tsana was still not released.
"Why can't it be done?"