"Stuck here for eternity? What are you talking about?!" Caliste imdiately said as he stood up and beca extrely serious.
Liana was speaking as if she could never escape this hellish place.
"I-I said what I said... I’m stuck here for eternity."
Caliste shook his head. "No, no, no. Now that I’m here, I’ll take you out of here. I swear. I swear that I will take you out of here at once. Believe ."
There was no way that Caliste would leave her in this place. She had suffered enough, and now that he was here, it was ti for her to enjoy her life again. She needed to live for herself, not for him.
However, Liana shook her head as she revealed a weak smile that hit Caliste right in the chest.
"I-I can’t go out of this place..."
"Why? What happened? Why are you here in the first place?"
She took a deep breath. "It’s the Demon King’s fault. He punished because I disobeyed him, and I was banished inside this place where ti and space pass by extrely slowly."
Caliste frowned at those words. "Then what about the Dwarven Cave? Wasn’t that your work? The Molten Core? Wasn’t that you?"
Confusion began to cloud Caliste’s mind as he wasn’t sure what to think at this point.
"I-I’ll get to it, just listen. I’ll explain everything."
"I knew what the punishnt of the Demon King would be. Thorin told about it after he heard it from one of his spies close to the Demon King, and that’s when I began preparing this plan. I created a tunnel filled with magic runes, one of which would lead to this place because... I knew you would co back."
Caliste gritted his teeth. "How did you know about my reincarnation?"
"Because I had a talk with the heavens. They are the ones who told about your return and what they had prepared to defeat the Demon King. They told that you would reincarnate in the future. However, they didn’t provide with any other details. I only knew that... one day... you would co back and save us all."
Caliste tried to make sense of those words. "Did you know about the betrayal? Did you know that they wanted to kill before it happened?"
Caliste had no choice but to ask those questions, even if he already had a clear idea of what her answer would be. He still wanted to know.
She weakly nodded. "I knew... but I was also told to let you die."
Caliste bit the lower part of his lip as he heard that. He already knew who had told her to do such a thing. It had to be the heavens, that mysterious entity that kept interacting with Caliste, saving him and giving him strength when he absolutely needed it.
"What about that deal that you made with the Demon King? What was it?"
She weakly smiled and raised her eyebrows, a little surprised. "Mhm... you’ve already learned about that. It’s unfortunate, but I can’t help you. If I speak a word of its content, then I will die instantly. The Demon King made sure that no one would be able to speak of it."
Caliste clenched his fists. He had expected all of his questions to be answered right there. But... it seed that he would still have a lot of things to figure out. Nevertheless, he didn’t give up as he listened to the words that next ca out of Liana’s mouth. He knew that this discussion was probably the most important one he had ever had since his rebirth.
"History changed after we signed that deal. You beca a traitor, and all of us beca heroes. But I’m sure you learned that already."
"The real reason why I brought you here is because of the Molten Core. I guided you here for you to absorb it. Or, at least, to show you the way to absorb so of its energy very slowly."
Caliste smirked. "So, I was right. You were the one who was stealing its energy."
"More like borrowing it... but yes."
"Wait... before we get into that, why did you get punished? What happened? Why did the Demon King decide to act against you?"
However, Liana didn’t seem too interested in telling him, as she only said that it was a long story.
In the outside world, one day had passed since Caliste had entered this strange place.
"Are we still unable to break down this wall of dirt?" the adviser asked with a frown on his face.
Rachel nodded.
"Yes, we tried digging on all sides of the tunnel. But all of its sides are protected by mana barriers, and we can’t break through fast enough to get inside, or even glance at what’s happening inside the tunnel."
The adviser shook his head. "Did you hear anything from within?"
The adviser was referring to Caliste, since he was the one who had caused all this in the first place.
"Nothing. It’s complete silence. I think sothing might have happened that took him away from this place," Rachel muttered.
After all, most of the runes inside this tunnel were of Space and Ti, which ant there was a good chance that Caliste might have gotten dragged to another place, very far away from here.
"Any idea where that might be?"
Rachel shook her head, annoyed. "No idea."
But then, as she was about to continue talking, she noticed a man with two long horns poking out of his forehead, staring at the wall of dirt with a frown.
She imdiately frowned as she approached him. "I’m sorry. How did you manage to get in? This place is under our protection for the ti being; no visitors are allowed."
The man turned toward her with a large grin, apologizing for a mont.
"I’m sorry."
However, he did not move as he continued to stare at the wall with a frown.
He seed to be in the process of analyzing it. He tried putting his palm against it, but nothing happened. He moved his hand back slightly, frowning.
"Interesting spell," he muttered to himself.
"I’m sorry, but who are you?" Rachel asked with a frown on her face. "I told you already, we don’t allow visitors."
He laughed for a mont. "You don’t recognize ?"
She shook her head. "Stop laughing, and no, I don’t. Who are you?"
The man started shaking his head, also disappointed. "I guess I really should go out more often; people have begun to forget what I even look like." He turned toward the girl with the sa grin as earlier, bowing slightly. "Nice to et you, I’m the Demon King."
Rachel’s eyes widened.
She had not felt the man entering the cave, so she knew that he was very powerful, and his overall deanor was also very telling. This overwhelming confidence, as if nothing could kill or hurt him. However, now that he had learned of her identity, it all began to make sense.
"Y-You’re the Demon King."
He smiled. "The one and only." Then, he quickly changed the subject. "So, tell about this wall. What did you try to get through it?"
"I tried to use magic, but it failed. We also tried hitting against it, but it doesn’t work. The harder you hit, the faster it regenerates. And... we have no idea what to do anymore."
"What about what’s inside of it? Do you have any idea what that tunnel is?"
Rachel shrugged, while the adviser was trying his best to keep calm as he was on one knee, bowing to the Demon King.
"I-I’m sorry to interrupt, but why is the Demon King in the Dwarven Territory? Did sothing happen?"
He laughed loudly. "My son is stuck in there. I just want to know if he’s alright."
That’s what he said. However, it was a lot different inside his mind.
’The connection I had with him was cut off, and I can no longer know where he is. And it’s been pretty boring, so I’m going to bring him back...’
The only reason he was there was that the source of his entertainnt had been cut off, as if the power of his TV had run out.
The Demon King smiled as he approached the wall of dirt again, this ti with a slight frown. "Can I try sothing new?"
Rachel and the adviser nodded without a second thought. Who were they to order the Demon King around?
He walked up to the dirt wall and placed his palm against it again. Then, the dirt beca darker and darker within seconds.
Rachel was shocked as it seed the dirt was getting corrupted in real ti. However, even then... it seed to be fighting back, as the corrosion was kept to a very small area.
"Mhm..." The Demon King shook his head. "I know who made this."
Rachel’s eyes widened. "Who?"
"Liana."
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