The Dark Demon Lord - Chapter 85

Near Arnin’s home village, a group of people were slowly walking away from the front gates. The path they were taking was the similar to the one that Arnin took to get to Lepidoptera academy. This group consisted of seven people, both old and young. If Arnin was here, he would recognize most of the people in the group.

There were two young girls walking within this group. Both were about the same age, and extremely pretty. The first girl had long blonde hair and azure eyes. She gave off a somewhat demonic aura, however there was also a magnetic attraction that she had towards others. She looked extremely welcoming, almost like an evil fairy. Her most bewitching aspect was a single horn that seemed to be tattooed on her forehead. For a child, she was gorgeous.

The second young girl wasn’t as pretty, but she was still very cute. She had short platinum blonde hair, but the hair near her scalp was an ashen grey. It was extremely uncommon, yet beautiful. Her malachite eyes looked lifeless, as if all the light in them had been stolen. This little girl was the younger sister of the seven year old that Arnin had killed back in the village.

Surrounding these two girls were three others. They were Ashia, Florian, and Avian. Of course, the reason they had the girls stay in the middle was to make sure that no harm would come to them during their travels.

The last in the group were two old men. Surprisingly, one of the old men was actually Zuko, the seven year old’s grandfather. This old man did not have any goodwill towards Arnin’s family and would have killed them, if not for Avian and the village elder. Plus, he decided that he would not get revenge for his dead son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. His precious granddaughter was still alive and he decided to look after her and allow for her to live the best life he could possibly give her.

The last old man was the village elder; he was the one leading the group. He had a somewhat awkward look on his face.

When he arrived back to the village from Lepidoptera Academy, Avian came to visit him about a week later. She wanted him to lead her there. Although the village elder knew that Avian would find out where Arnin was with her connections, he didn’t think that she would find out so quickly.

The academies were very careful when taking in information. They tended not to spread it, even if they were threatened by a major force. Of course, some could find loopholes in this if they had connections with higher ups in the Academy Alliance.

With Avian threatening him, the village elder had no choice but to lead them to the academy. Sadly, he didn’t have a mount, and the academy’s flying mount had already left, so he had to take them by foot.

Although he felt some pressure from Avian, he still had goodwill towards Ashia and Florian, so he was alright with leading them, but then Zuko also wanted to head over to Lepidoptera.

He and Zuko were extremely good friends so he found it hard to decline him, however because of his presence, the trip became very tense and awkward.

“So, the trip to the Academy should take us around a week, give or take a few days since we will be taking more breaks than usual.” The village elder spoke up after they were approximately twenty minutes away from the village.

It would usually take three days, but because walking long distances would be hard for Nekaia and the other little girl, the village elder knew that they would be taking longer breaks, and would probably not be travelling during the night.

“That is fine with me. I don’t want Nekaia getting too tired and falling sick during the journey.” Ashia said with a smile as she held onto her daughter’s hand. Although most cultivators would not usually get sick, there was still a chance for people in Orb Birth to get sick if they pushed themselves too far, especially if their bodies were weak.

“Mommy, I won’t get tired, I swear.” Neakai pouted her lips slightly as she looked at Ashia with a face full of determination. “I want to see Arnin as soon as possible too. He forgot to say goodbye to me before he left, there is no way I am going to let him go.” Nekaia put on an angry face as she spoke about Arnin, however there was also a hint of longing in her eyes.

As twins, she and Arnin were closer than most siblings, and with Arnin leaving so suddenly, she felt extremely wronged and saddened.

Ashia saw Nekaia getting upset so she gently stroked her head. She didn’t plan on telling Nekaia about what really happened, so she lied and said that Arnin had left for the academy earlier than expected.

Avian scoffed slightly as she walked. She felt that Arnin was a little too stupid, but there was still some worry in her eyes. She was troubled because Arnin was much more sinister than she had initially thought.

Not only was his way of speaking and handling situations beyond his age, he had even killed three people at just the age of five. That was not normal, and it was not a good sign for his future. She worried that because of all these things, Nekaia and her family might not be able to handle Arnin running into future troubles, or going on a rampage.

‘That kid needs to be closely watched. Once I get to the academy, I need to take him with me and keep him close by, or else he might commit other horrendous acts and slowly fall towards a very evil path.’ Avian had always felt that Arnin was different from others kids, but she hoped that this difference was only because of his maturity, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt scared.

She did not have any goodwill left for Arnin, but she still had hope that he could be changed. She couldn’t help but sigh with a slight frown appearing on her face.

Zuko also had a frown on his face as he walked. He did not like anyone related to Arnin because of what Arnin did to his son’s family, but he never mentioned it to his granddaughter. That day, when his son was killed along with his daughter-in-law and his grandson, his granddaughter was fortunately out with him. He felt pain just thinking about the fact that he only had his granddaughter left.

When he thought back to how his granddaughter asked him about her parents and brother, his eyes couldn’t help but redden. He choked up back then and cried in front of her, scaring the poor little girl. He didn’t plan on hiding the fact that they died, but he did hide the fact that they were murdered.

He did not wish for his granddaughter to pursue revenge and put her life in danger. He only wished for her to have a life without worry. Of course, the news of what happened to her parents and brother did shock her, but because she was still a child, and death wasn’t something she completely comprehended.

She waited for day, but her parents never came back, and eventually she knew that they never would. He still remembered how she came running to him and cried until she fell asleep. He still trembled when he thought back to that day.

Now, he decided to take his granddaughter away from the village. He felt that there was a change in his previously merry granddaughter. She was more quiet than before, and even her eyes lost some of the light they previously held.

‘Arnin, you demon! You caused this! You did this to my granddaughter! What did they do to you! WHAT?! Now’ He thought angrily, and couldn’t help but shake as he watched his granddaughter walk like a puppet. She seemed lifeless.

Ashia was clueless as to who the old man was. This was only the second time she had met him. The first was when Avian took her to meet the village elder and get some information out of him. Avian, on the other hand, knew who Zuko was. She investigated almost everyone in the village so she knew that this old man was the grandfather of the seven year old that Arnin had killed.

She somewhat regretted her actions back then, but even still, she wasn’t willing to let the old man act as he pleased. She pitied him and his granddaughter, but that was it. Arnin was still the twin brother of her personal disciple.

Since she wasn’t willing to help the old man, and even planned on becoming an obstacle for him, Avian treated the granddaughter just as well as she would Nekaia. Even though she treated the young girl nicely and tried to talk to her as much as possible, she noticed the dull and lonely look in her eyes.

‘For such young girl to experience something so Arnin!’ Avian gritted her teeth and thought of Arnin’s evil actions, and couldn’t help but think worse of him by the second.

All of them continued to walk slowly. Nekaia spoke to the young girl often in an attempt to become friends with her, but the little girl remained somewhat distant. However sometimes she would smile slightly, which would make Nekaia and Zuko extremely happy.

Soon, they had walked for about two hours. “Mom, can we take a break? My legs hurt.” Nekaia complained to Ashia with a small pout.

Ashia smiled at Nekaia and looked at her with a chuckle. “Weren’t you going to not rest? Didn’t you say that you can handle it?” Although Ashia teased Nekaia, she still slowed down.

Zuko also looked at his granddaughter and spoke warmly. “Szerra, do you want to rest as well?” Zuko spoke with a very light tone, as if afraid that a loud noise would break the small child.

Szerra looked at Zuko with her dull malachite eyes and then nodded her small head. “Sure, Grandpa.” She walked towards Zuko and held onto his large hand. The latter smiled lightly, and also stopped walking.

Ashia pulled out some food from a bag she was carrying and handed a candy to Nekaia. She then turned her gaze towards Szerra, “Little Szerra, do you want to eat some candy as well? I have lots of them.” Ashia didn’t know about what really happened to Szerra, but she noticed that the little girl was always a little down. This made her feel sad, so she tried her best to make her happy.

Szerra looked towards the soft candy in Ashia’s hand with a tiny bit of desire showing in her eyes, however she looked towards her grandfather before acting. The latter looked down and noticed that there was something different in her eyes and couldn’t help but smile.

“Go ahead, Szerra.” He gave her a little push on her back. Szerra walked towards Ashia and grabbed the candy with shaky hands. Ashia noticed this, and pushed the candy towards her gently with a warm smile.

“We also have some water. Would you like some?” Ashia brought out a small gourd that was filled with water, handing it over to her.

Szerra looked at Ashia’s smile, and couldn’t help but think back to her mother who looked at her the same way. She felt her eyes redden a little, before slowly grabbing the gourd. “T-thank you.” She spoke in an almost mouselike manner.

Zuko, although he held immense hate towards Arnin, did not feel the same way towards Ashia. The way she treated Szerra made him somewhat happy, but he still didn’t try to approach them. He knew that Ashia and Florian did not know that Szerra was the daughter of the people that Arnin killed, and that he was their relative as well, but because they were related to Arnin, he couldn’t bring himself to completely like them.

“Szerra, do you want to play a game? I’m bored, and there is no one else to play with.” Nekaia walked over to Szerra with her mouth stuffed with candy. She wasn’t the type of person to feel hate or dislike towards many people, and liked to make friends with almost anyone she met.

Szerra was confused as to what she should do. She thought for a moment, before nodding her head and walking off with Nekaia. “Girls, don’t go too far, alright?”

“Don’t worry, Mom. We are only going to play by that tree.” Nekaia replied hurriedly, before running off with Szerra.

“Honey, would mind keeping a watch on them?” Ashia turned and looked at Florian, who was silently drinking some water beside her.

Florian smiled and got up from the ground. He walked towards the direction that Nekaia ran off to. They were in the middle of the forest, and although they were is an area that was safer than other places, it was still a forest. Animals would be roaming around, and could potentially hurt the little girls. Though, the animals in these parts would usually be very small and practically harmless.

After Florian left, Zuko also got up from the ground. “Where are you going, Zuko?” The village elder looked at the old man and asked with a small smile.

“If you already know, why bother asking?” Zuko said with a cold tone, before walking away. The village elder sighed slightly as he shook his head. After the incident between him and Zuko, the latter had become quite distant.

This saddened the village elder greatly, but there was nothing he could do. ‘Arnin, what did you do? Why did have to be so rash and act so sinisterly?’ Even the village elder was shocked when he learned of Arnin’s actions. He felt that Arnin was a little too sinister for his own age, and that bad things would happen to him in the future because of this.

Avian watched from the sides and couldn’t help but sigh angrily. ‘Arnin really caused so much trouble and ruined so many lives. What a’