DEMON'S VIRTUE

"I will give you some time alone here as well. Take as much as you need, and just let me know when you want me to summon you." Eiro said, and Nelli just silently nodded her head, as Eiro spread out his wings. He pulled in some air from around himself, fusing it into his body, and shot up into the sky.

And so, Eiro made his way back home again. He felt quite... empty, and bitter about what happened. If only he had been a bit faster, he could have probably stopped them from doing all that. Or at least, he could have stopped them from damaging everything as much as they did in the end. At the very least they were all dead now. That was the only positive that Eiro could see right now.

During the whole flight back to Skyhart's capital, the Demon's mind was both racing with thoughts and completely empty at the same time. Nothing of substance really came to him, just a flurry of different opposing emotions and concepts. It was confusing, to say the least. But soon, Eiro reached his manor again. He pushed the air out of his flesh and slowly dropped down to one of the manor's balconies. He landed on it, and quickly pushed the door open, stepping into his bedchambers.

Once there, Eiro turned his head, looking at the woman that was sitting on one of the couches. She was clearly nervous, waiting for Eiro to finally come back. And when she heard the balcony's door open, she immediately jumped up, and rushed over toward the Demon, "Eiro! Is everything alright? What happ-"

Ariella wasn't even able to finish speaking as Eiro stepped toward her, lightly slumping forward until his head was laying on her shoulder, his arms, wings, and tail all loosely hanging down from his body.

"I was too late." Eiro said as he closed his eyes, soon feeling Ariella's arms as they tried to wrap themselves around him, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"...Not right now, no." He replied, "Maybe later. For now, I just... I don't even know what... I'm..." Eiro said, before simply falling silent a few moments later. With concern clearly written on her face, Ariella slowly pulled Eiro over toward the couches, and the two of them sat down together.

For a while longer, Eiro and Ariella just sat there, while the Demon was trying to cope with the things that just happened today.

---

[Your {Level 1} Domain has been upgraded to a {Level 2} Domain due to your constant influence on ther area]

[Your influence must constantly be placed on this area for 30 days to create a {Level 3} Domain]

---

Eiro looked at the notification that popped up in front of him while he was sitting in a carriage, "Hm, it's been a week already?"

"A week since when?" Arc tilted his head to the side curiously, and Eiro slowly ran his fingers through the notification in front of him, "I've jus been working on something, and it seems like it reached the next stage." Eiro explained quickly. He really didn't know what a 'Level 2' domain actually let him do in that area. He would have to figure that out when he actually went back.

Although, he really wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to go back there. Eiro turned his head to the side toward Nelli, who had read that notification as well. Reminded of that forest, she slowly lowered her head, just a few moments before the carriage came to a halt.

"Alright, we're here." Eiro explained, as someone opened the door for them so that everyone could get out. Eiro let his children step out of the carriage first, and then stepped out after them. They were currently in front of the royal castle, where they were going to meet up with Solomon today.

Eiro turned his head toward town, and smiled lightly. It was quite lively there, considering that it was finally the first day of the festival surrounding the tournament. The stages for the preliminary rounds have been set up all over the place so that progress could be made.

As per the rules decided on by all of the continent's countries, it was necessary for every participant to enter in at the level of the preliminary rounds before they could join the true tournament. After all, when it came to the Monster King and Hero, nobility did not matter. And of course, that included Eiro. He had to join in quite early as well.

"Dad, when's your first round?" Rudy asked as he looked at the town as well, and Eiro lightly shrugged, "In an hour, I think."

"You think? Shouldn't you know for sure?" Sammy asked with a wry smile, but Eiro just smirked at them, "Don't worry, I'll be there on time. I'm going to win this tournament, after all. There's no way I would miss my first fight."

As Eiro explained this to his children, he could hear a chuckle from nearby, "You will win this tournament? What a joke." Someone laughed as they stepped down the steps in front of the royal castle's entrance.

They had a familiar scent, so Eiro knew immediately who this was, "Duke James. Nice to finally meet you. But if I can ask, what exactly do you mean? I wasn't joking." Eiro replied, as he spoke to Evelyn James' father.

With a deep frown, he looked back at Eiro, "Do you really think you can beat Evelyn? I heard you are a mage. In magic, no one can beat my daughter."

"Actually, while I would call magic my area of expertise, I dabble a little bit in everything." Eiro explained with a smile, and the Duke scoffed, "A jack of all trades is a master of none, Baron Daemonherz."

"But still better than a master of one." The Demon completed, and the Duke's expression became sour, "We will see what happens, then. It should be a fun fight, if you even make it to the true tournament."

"I'm quite sure I will, thanks." Eiro replied quickly, and slowly turned toward his children, "Could you all head inside already? I will be taking a walk around town as I head to my first round." Eiro explained.

"Alright, we'll see you later tonight then." Arc replied with a wave, as Eiro's six children, plus Felix, stepped into the royal castle.

The Demon slowly turned his head to the side, looking at the man still standing next to him, "And I guess I will see you sometime during this tournament as well." Eiro said with a smile on his face, "At the very latest, when I completely obliterate your daughter during the tournament."

And with that, Eiro simply walked away, back toward town, with an angry duke staring at his back. Eiro walked through town, looking at the different fights already going on. And of course, his body was always slightly adjusting to the new information given to his body by the movements of the people that were currently fighting each other.

It was impossible for Eiro to lose at this point in time, really. He noticed the surprised and excited expressions of the referees as they saw someone that they thought to be a prime candidate for the tournament. They were easy to read, after all. But the actual people that they were looking at were nothing but weaklings.

"Well, except a few, I guess." Eiro said with a smile on his face, as he stood in front of a particular stage. One fight was about to begin, and it was certainly about to end just a few seconds later. The referee clapped his hands together as a signal, and one of the two warriors immediately reacted. Together with his enormous physical size, he had a surprising amount of speed that shocked the onlookers.

He swung his huge weapon at his opponent... who simply grabbed the weapon before it was able to hit him, "Oi, that all? Seriously?" Krog asked with a wry smile, as he casually swung his arm to the side, ripping the weapon out of the hand of the man in front of him.

"Do you even know how to use something like this? Here, lemme show ya." Krog suggested, as he grabbed the large club casually, as if it weighed just as much as a stick did. Krog swung the club at the man in front of him, who immediately tried to defend, knowing that he would be unable to dodge.

The moment that the club hit his body and the thick layers of protection on his arms, he was thrown off the stage and went flying all the way to where the audience was standing.

"Urgh... He can't even defend right..?" Krog asked with a wry smile, before the turned his head, noticing Eiro, "Yo! Eiro, these guys are super fucking weak for some reason!"

Eiro laughed as the audience looked at the two of them in shock at what just happened and at what Krog said, while Eiro turned his head toward the nobleman who was staring at Krog in disbelief, since his candidate had just been beaten in the first round of the preliminaries.

"No, Krog. I think you're just a bit too strong now." Eiro chuckled, as Krog smiled back, happy about being called strong by this Demon.

"Anyway, make sure to keep this up during your next fights as well.. I want to see you on the roster for the real tournament." Eiro said with a smile, and Krog looked at him with a broad grin and a quick nod, "Yo, you got it!"