"Go on," Mine said, patting Addai's shoulders but soon pinched his lips again. "And don't growl at them."

Many bubble speeches popped around Addai, but none could be proffered because Mine was shutting his lips. He had so much to say, but obeying was for the best. With a stranded nod, Addai agreed to behave and attest to the sigil's integrity without growling. Mine released Addai's lips once again and huffed, satisfied.

Addai approached the gargoyles and extended his finger, touching the pattern on the scarred gargoyle's arm. The sigil glowed faintly as if petals made of mana floated around them. A misty and sweet breeze blew them when Addai finished checking the friendly-looking gargoyle's sigil. However, the sigil faltered in the very end as if it glitched.

Addai's pupils shrank, and the scarred gargoyle gasped. Before Addai could grab the gargoyle's face with his bare hands, and a mist covered his body, a shiny spear fell between him and the gargoyle. The spear glowed and faded when a slim hand grabbed its shaft, followed by jewel trinket noises.

The friendly-looking gargoyle gasped and soon bowed. "Y-Your Majesty!"

The "Majesty" was no one other than the Consort himself, standing between Addai and the scarred (and scared) gargoyle. He raised a hand and turned to Addai. Seeing him closely, he was taller than Mine but shorter than Addai. A mystic aura surrounded him as a warm smile formed on his peachy lips. Still, what the mouth shows isn't what the eyes see. So, Addai took two steps back, staying close to Mine as the teacher held one of his hands again.

"Very well, I see you testified my sigil," the Consort said, calm and ethereal. "Don't worry, it does glitch. You didn't see it wrong." 

Mine took two steps back, holding Addai's hand. "What do you want from us?"

The Consort gave a surprised huff and took two steps in Mine's direction. "You two protected my child back when. So, I want to help my baby's first friends," he grinned sincerely.

"Your…?" Mine squinted his eyes, confused as he looked at the entity bestowed upon him.

The Consort chuckled and lowered the hood over his head. What Mine and Addai saw was far different from what they had imagined about the Consort's appearance. The one in front of them was more like an angel than a demon. Also, his pink hair (like cherry blossoms flowers) resembled the small pink hair strand on Tieran's bangs. His eyes were thin and charming as if God drew him with perfection despite where he ended up living. The Consort warmly smiled at the duo, and the gargoyles behind him bowed, each wiping the cold sweat drops from their foreheads.

"Y-your Majesty, please don't remove your hood…" the friendly-looking gargoyle said.

"That's fine. They're good kids," The Consort beamed, taking his spear. "My baby babbled a lot about you two. Little Tieran is eager to meet you two again, haha!"

"Little Tieran is adorable," Mine faintly smiled.

"Isn't he?" The Consort smiled.

Addai trembled a little, remembering Tieran's toothless grins and babbles when he glued himself in Addai's arms, contrasting to their sudden goodbye. Addai felt his heart itch at the baby's pained face for a second, secretly hoping to see him again someday. Mine chuckled at Addai's complicated expressions and frowned from thinking about something.

"Y-your M-Majesty… sorry to interrupt, but we need to hurry…" the scarred gargoyle worried.

"Ah! That's true," The Consort gasped, looking at the horizon as his amethyst eyes glowed faintly. "Agarath might take some time until he fetches us. Mr. Zophiel told me about your meeting point, so don't worry!" He grinned, his eyes shining as he did so.

Mine and Addai covered their eyes because the Consort's smile was bright. That being was far too angelic to be called Lucifer's Consort. However, there he was in front of them, and that fact was unquestionable.

The Consort wore the hood again, covering half his face with the now stained cloak. There were brutal crimson stains all over his torso and head, but that blood wasn't his. His steps began, and Mine and Addai had no choice but to follow the strange creature walking barefoot on the filthy ground. Mr. Zophiel's relationship with the Consort and how the angel told him about the feather's location was a mystery. But all Mine and Addai wanted to do was go back home as soon as possible without solving riddles. So, they swallowed that mysterious entity's goodwill and followed him.

As they walked, the path changed every minute. A tree was in the middle of the way but soon vanished as if it was only a mirage. The same went for the puppets. Some were almost close to them, but soon they were far away. The Consort explained the forest was a "mirror room," where Agarath used his illusions to make it bigger than it looked. Still, once you spotted what was real and what was just a mirrored version of the real thing, you'd walk perfectly among the traps and settle back like puppets and dense miasma fogs.

The gargoyles stood watch at the rear while the Consort led the way, humming a song in a foreign language. His soft-like-velvet voice massaged Mine's ears and brain, making him feel less restless at their surroundings, and, funny enough, Addai's dark stains over his arms were now miraculously gone. Maybe that feeble song wasn't too feeble after all, who knows?

At a certain point, they finally found the path Mine mapped while possessing the unique leafy buddy. Everything was the same way as earlier, except for the patrolling gargoyles, all scattered on the floor like pebbles and destroyed statuses. The Consort leisurely twirled his spear and broke an agonizing gargoyle on the floor, shattering it. Mine faintly gasped and covered his mouth, caught off guard.

"Oh, my apologies," The Consort apologized, a bit flustered. "They're traitors, so it's for the best. If I wasn't merciful, my husband would torture them so…"

Self-note: plan my vacations as soon as possible and stay away from weird things for a long while. Mine and Addai wrote that down mentally, solemnly nodding at the Consort. The Consort grinned and kept walking as if nothing had happened.

After a few more steps, they reached the location of Zophiel's feather. However, there was no signal from the rest of the group. Mine took Zophiel's feather from the plant and looked worriedly at their rear, not seeing a trace of the group. Addai patted Mine's shoulder, and Mine looked at him.

"They must be safe by now," Addai reassured.

"How can you be sure of that?" Mine asked, worried.

"Because Eden is with them," Addai said, and the Consort nodded. "Eden is smart, don't worry."

Mine fiddled with the ivory feather and looked at the horizon again, hesitating to step into the corridor as he felt his skin oddly crawl. Addai gently pulled him to the exit, and the Consort followed them, holding his spear in his hands. At their rear, the gargoyles exhaled, relieved they finally reached the exit.

"Your Majesty, the King will take care of Agarath's situation, right?" The scarred gargoyle asked.

"Yes, and so the Governors," the Consort nodded.

"Ha! He's so fu-"

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, without a sound nor warning.

The gargoyle's skull cracked, and it shattered, scattering itself on the floor as if it were only a pile of pebbles and concrete. The friendly-looking gargoyle barely had time to gasp, and it was also shattered, its pieces rolling on the floor. What made them break fell on the floor. An obsidian sword with golden patterns on its faintly glowing blade. The heinous sword shivered and floated in the air, aiming at the Consort as it vibrated.

The Consort immediately turned and paired another mysterious attack with his spear. But another attack pierced his torso, and he let out a pained sound. His struggling noise caught Mine's ears, and the professor quickly looked back, only to find the same obsidian sword flying in his direction.

Before the sword approached his body, Mine saw a sudden darkness take over his vision and an unexpected warmth embrace his body. Then, he felt his clothes turning damp, but no pain was felt. He slowly opened his eyes, only to find Addai's eyes looking at him. The pupils in his heterochromatic eyes shrank, and his breathing was unsteady and painful. In his chest, a sword was pierced from the back to the front.