Chapter 245
The three humans stood before the great sacred tree.
Even in its lush, blue-green glory, the Asti tree exuded a strange melancholy. Beneath its vast branches stood Sermedes, as motionless as a doll. She seemed to be communing with the tree itself, gazing up at its enormous leaves—then slowly turned her head.
When she spotted Ashtel waving and bouncing toward her, Sermedes’ eyes widened in surprise.
“Sue.”
“Sister, I came to visit!”
“This place is dangerous. Stay back.”
This was the domain of the absolute ruler of succubi and incubi, Sermedes herself. The demonic energy here was overwhelming.
It was the one area Ashtel had never ventured into since arriving in the demon realm. But today, curiosity about the sacred Asti tree—and the urge to surprise Sermedes—had brought Ashtel and Roman here, with Payne simply tagging along.
“It’s fine! Carmen said it’s safe as long as we don’t stay too long.”
“Even so…”
“We’ll just be here a minute. I wanted to see the Asti tree with my own eyes.”
The place she was born—her mother’s embrace, in a way—this tree was special to Ashtel. Finally getting to touch it again, she lost herself for a moment in nostalgia.
Meanwhile, Roman was poking around the Asti, but Sermedes’ sharp gaze soon chased him off to find Carmen. Left behind, Payne stood stiffly, waiting for Ashtel to finish.
“It’s a lovely day.”
“….”
“Are you ignoring me?”
“No, not at all. It is a nice day.”
“So you are ignoring me?”
“I just meant it really is a nice day…”
He hadn’t expected Sermedes to speak to him. Payne swallowed nervously. As much as Hela’s teasing got under his skin, Sermedes made him genuinely uneasy.
‘The pressure here is something else…’
Even if he put aside the fact that she’d once tried to kill him, every breath she took seemed to radiate a power that could smother any human.
“If Hela’s acting out, I’ll talk to her.”
“…Sorry?”
“She’s probably just upset that Sue left.”
Ashtel would be surprised to hear her eldest sister talking so much, but Payne simply listened in silence, not knowing the full story.
“The others feel the same way. They respect Sue’s choice, but… none of them were ready to accept how much they’d miss her.”
Payne wasn’t sure how to respond. He understood, though—after Ashtel became human, her lifespan had been cut short. And until recently, she couldn’t even visit the demon realm, which meant she was destined to be separated from Sermedes and Juvia forever.
After a moment of hesitation, Payne bowed his head earnestly.
“I’m sorry. This is all because of me.”
“Sue made her own decision. There’s no need for you to apologize.”
“…Understood.”
Was she telling him not to feel guilty, or did she simply dislike that a mere human would dare feel sorry for her? Maybe both. Payne fell silent.
Before long, Ashtel returned.
“Sis Seri! Payne!”
“Sue.”
“Ashtel.”
They both called her name at once, then Payne cleared his throat awkwardly.
Strictly speaking, only Payne coughed. Sermedes just narrowed her eyes, then swept her voluminous cloak forward—teleporting instantly to stand beside Ashtel.
“Oh, you’ve brought Juvia and Moablon.”
Ashtel hadn’t come alone; Juvia and Moablon were each clinging to one of her sides.
“We got up just to see our little Sue~!”
“I can’t believe you came to the demon realm while I was away in the human realm! So unfair!”
Juvia had only just woken up, while Moablon had crossed over from the human world just minutes ago.
“So, what were you doing in the human world, anyway?”
Moablon, still looking like a child, pouted.
“My toys disappeared, so I went to find them.”
“Toys?”
“Cannie and Vannie.”
“Wait… you mean Duval and Van?”
Both Ashtel and Payne shivered with goosebumps.
“They ran away?”
“Yep.”
“So what now? Did you find them?”
“No, not yet.”
Apparently, Duvalkan and Van had finally cut ties and escaped Moablon’s ‘training.’ If they left, that probably meant they’d disappeared from Medialle too.
As Ashtel was thinking this, Moablon added,
“I checked Katzel Medialle too, but they weren’t there. So I came back empty-handed.”
“Wait, hold on—you went into Medialle?”
“Just for a little bit, it’s fine.”
“Sister! What if you got caught?!”
Especially with Medialle being fortified like a military fortress after that demon incident on Payne’s trial day… and she just waltzed in?
“Payne, isn’t that insane?”
“Yes.”
“You hear that? The actual priest says it’s reckless!”
“I told you, it was fine. I came out just fine, didn’t I?”
Ashtel’s lips stuck out in a pout. When she’d tried sneaking around there, she’d gotten endless scoldings…
But her irritation melted away at Moablon’s next words.
“Still, it’s lucky I have one of Carmen’s gadgets. I think I’ll find them soon.”
“One of Carmen’s gadgets?”
“You know, she made it when your human man disappeared.”
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