Coleus Castle was quieter on the inside than Shizue expected.
The halls were broad and elegant, lined with old stone and high windows that let the evening light spill across polished floors. Servants moved carefully. Guards stood at attention. Everything looked intact, but there was a strange tension beneath it all, like the entire castle was aware it belonged to someone new and far more dangerous than the kings who had ruled it before.
Testarossa walked ahead of her without hurry.
White hair swaying gently behind her.
Perfect posture.
Perfect grace.
Shizue followed half a step back, calm on the outside, but very alert.
She had felt it the moment she passed through the gates.
The castle wasn't simply occupied by demons.
It was ruled by monsters.
Not ordinary monsters either.
The kind of beings that could change the fate of kingdoms just by deciding they were bored.
Still—
Testarossa had been polite.
More than polite, actually.
That was the strange part.
Shizue had expected tension. Suspicion. At least a little hostility.
Instead, Testarossa had led her inside like an honored guest.
That made the whole thing more unsettling, not less.
Eventually they entered a large inner chamber furnished more like a private lounge than a throne room. The windows were open, though the air inside was cold enough to make Shizue pause instinctively.
Then she understood why.
At the far side of the room sat a woman with pale blue hair and an aura so deep and old that Shizue's instincts immediately tightened.
It wasn't overwhelming in the obvious way.
But it was absolute.
The kind of presence that didn't need to announce itself because the world already knew to make room.
The woman looked toward them.
And smiled faintly.
"You must be Shizue."
Shizue stopped completely.
Her eyes widened just a little.
Testarossa moved a step closer and said, in the same smooth tone she always used, "This is Velzard-sama."
That name landed hard.
Shizue's body went rigid for a fraction of a second before she caught herself.
Velzard.
A True Dragon.
She had heard enough, lived enough, and seen enough to understand exactly what that meant.
Fear crept into her chest quietly and efficiently.
Not panic.
Just the clean realization that the things surrounding Loki now were not merely strong.
They were calamities.
Shizue bowed immediately.
"Velzard-sama."
Velzard's expression remained soft.
"There's no need to be so tense."
That was easy for her to say.
Shizue straightened slowly.
Testarossa noticed the reaction and smiled ever so slightly.
"You're surprised."
Shizue looked at her.
Testarossa continued.
"That's understandable."
Then she added, almost casually,
"I am a Primordial Demon, after all."
Shizue's breath caught.
She looked at Testarossa again.
Really looked.
And for a second, all the pieces aligned properly.
The poise.
The overwhelming beauty.
The pressure hidden behind elegance.
A Primordial.
One of the oldest demons in existence.
And she was standing here acting like an attendant in Loki's castle.
Shizue's fingers twitched faintly at her side before she forced them still.
The fear deepened.
Not because she thought they would attack her.
Because she understood more clearly now what kind of beings Loki had gathered around himself.
And yet—
Neither of them was treating her like prey.
Neither of them was looking down on her.
If anything, there was a strange gentleness to the way they regarded her.
That confused her more than fear ever could.
Velzard gestured to a seat.
"Sit."
Shizue obeyed.
Testarossa took the chair opposite her while Velzard remained where she was.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Velzard asked the obvious question.
"How do you know Loki?"
Shizue hesitated only briefly.
"We met before all of this."
She looked down at her hands for a second, gathering the simplest version of the truth.
"He helped me."
Testarossa's eyes sharpened slightly.
"And you came because of the gift."
Shizue nodded.
"Yes."
That brought the same subtle shift in the room it had at the gate.
Recognition.
Approval.
Something like acceptance.
Velzard leaned back slightly.
"If you received something from Loki when he ascended…"
She looked at Shizue carefully.
"…then you matter to him."
The statement was simple.
Matter-of-fact.
As if that alone explained the rest.
Testarossa nodded once.
"Which means you are to be treated well."
Shizue blinked.
That had not been what she expected.
At all.
Velzard continued,
"We would not mistreat someone important to him."
There was no false warmth in her voice.
No performance.
She simply meant it.
And somehow that made it easier to believe.
Shizue relaxed, but only a little.
Then Testarossa asked the next question.
"What kind of person was he… before?"
Shizue smiled faintly.
The question itself sounded strange coming from a Primordial Demon, but the curiosity in it was real.
"He was…"
She searched for the right word.
"…difficult."
That got a brief smile out of both women.
Shizue continued.
"But kind."
"And reckless."
"And strange."
The smile on her face deepened just slightly.
"He always felt like he was carrying too much by himself, but acting like none of it mattered."
Velzard listened quietly.
Testarossa did too.
Then Shizue added, more softly,
"He's not a bad person."
Neither woman argued.
That, too, surprised her.
Velzard simply said,
"We know."
The room went quiet again.
Then Testarossa, who had been watching Shizue with the same smooth interest as before, asked,
"There is something different about you."
Shizue looked up.
Testarossa's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The way you think."
"The way you speak."
A brief pause.
"And the way little brother behaves around certain ideas."
Shizue understood where this was going.
So she answered honestly.
"He's a reincarnate."
That made both women go still.
Not with confusion.
With genuine surprise.
Velzard's pale blue eyes narrowed.
Testarossa's expression sharpened.
Before either could comment, footsteps sounded from deeper in the hall.
All three women turned.
Loki entered first.
And for just a second, Shizue almost laughed at the sight.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was absurd.
He walked in like a king returning from a successful campaign, and flanking him on either side were Violet and Juane.
Except now—
They looked different.
Not in appearance.
In attitude.
The old arrogance was still there, but it had changed shape. Refined itself into something more focused.
More loyal.
They followed him naturally.
As if that was already the correct order of the world.
Testarossa rose slightly in her seat, a smile spreading across her face.
"So," she said, looking first at Juane, then at Violet, "have you finally realized how incredible our brother Loki-sama truly is?"
Juane grinned.
"Yes."
Violet folded her arms, but there was no mockery in it this time.
"We have."
Then, almost in perfect unison, both women lowered themselves to one knee.
"We are prepared to dedicate our lives to serving him."
Shizue's eyes widened slightly.
Even after everything, even after meeting Velzard and Testarossa and hearing the word Primordial spoken casually in conversation—
That still had weight.
Two more monsters.
Two more impossible beings.
Now bowing before Loki.
And as if that were not enough, the hall behind them darkened.
Then filled.
Demons began emerging from the corridor in disciplined ranks.
Not ten.
Not twenty.
Hundreds.
Two hundred from Juane's side.
Two hundred from Violet's.
A silent tide of demonic presences flooded into the chamber and stopped in formation behind them.
Shizue's breath caught.
'How many monsters does he intend to gather?'
Loki looked over the room once.
At Testarossa.
At Velzard.
At Shizue.
At the kneeling Violet and Juane.
At the four hundred demons assembled behind them.
Then he smiled.
"Ready the bodies."
That one sentence changed the atmosphere instantly.
The demons stiffened.
Testarossa's eyes gleamed.
Juane grinned.
Violet's mouth curved faintly.
And Shizue felt, very clearly, that she was standing in the middle of the beginning of something enormous.
Something that would change the world.
---
Far away, in El Dorado, the mood was very different.
Leon stood by the window of one of the upper chambers, arms folded, expression unreadable.
Guy Crimson sat nearby with his usual infuriating ease, one leg crossed over the other as though nothing in the world could possibly inconvenience him enough to change his posture.
Leon finally broke the silence.
"Have you decided on the date?"
Guy looked at him.
"For Walpurgis?"
"Yes."
Guy smiled faintly.
"I have."
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"Well then."
He turned slightly.
"The focal point is Loki."
His voic remained level.
"And yet he doesn't even know a Walpurgis is being called."
That made Guy's smile deepen.
"If he doesn't know," Leon said, "then he won't be there."
Guy chuckled softly.
"Oh, he'll be there."
Leon said nothing.
Guy leaned back in his chair.
"In fact…"
His crimson eyes gleamed.
"…I'll go myself."
Leon's expression did not change.
"To deliver the news?"
Guy smiled wider.
"Yes."
A small pause.
"Personally."
---
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