Mido didn't delay and rushed to the top of the castle while holding the portrait of Lilith.

The staircase to the top was in a spiral shape. Mido climbed the stairs for a long time while swearing at Monet da Vinci.

'I'm almost colorblind. What can I do...?!'

In fact, Mido herself knew that she had no talent for art. In particular, her natural sense of color was much lower than that of other people. Her obsession with pink was big and her drawing level was almost elementary school level. Fortunately, Monet had written at the end of the letter.

-P.S. You just need to color the lips well with shadow ink.

It was really as he said. The portrait was almost on the verge of completion. In fact, the portrait was 98% complete. All that remained was to color the lips as Monet said. It would only take a moment to paint, but Mido could lose her life in that moment. Of course, she wouldn't die, but then Monet wouldn't be saved.

“...Sigh.” Mido took a deep breath and continued up the stairs. Fortunately, the shadow ink was black so she didn't have to worry about color.

How far did she go up?

“......”

Mido finally reached the top of the stairs. There was a door at the end of the staircase. It was luxurious and obvious at first glance that this place was definitely Lilith's room. Mido took a deep breath once again before slowly opening the door.

Creak.

A woman's voice was heard along with the creaking sound. [Are you already here? You came quickly~]

It was a nasal sound that was a mix of being coquettish and cute. It seemed she was in the room right now. Mido moved carefully while pulling out the pistol James had given her and preparing it.

Click.

She only had one chance.

'I have to be sure to succeed.'

Mido was determined as she quickly entered the room.

[...Uh?]

It happened at the same time that Lilith made a surprised sound...

Taaang!

The first bullet of light loaded in the pistol burst out with a dazzling flash in front of Lilith.

* * *

At the 1st floor of Lilith's castle...

Asmodeus temporarily paused in confusion as he looked at James who knew his former name. It was a face he had seen somewhere before. Then James took off the earring that made him look like a vampire and his face became that of a familiar human. Asmodeus' eyes widened as he confirmed this person's ident.i.ty. [I thought I had seen you somewhere before. Was it Michael's follower?]

Asmodeus's mouth curled up like it was ridiculous. Asmodeus hadn't seen Michael for a long time so he asked James, [Is Michael doing well?]

“Groan. Why are you wondering?” James replied while barely enduring his headache.

[Well, it can be called a greeting or something. Huhu.]

James was filled with anger when he saw the smile on Asmodeus' face. He knew it well because he had heard about Michael's matter from Damian. Michael's constellation was corrupted and abandoned him. “Don't talk bulls.h.i.+t...”

[Huh?]

“You abandoned him!” James shouted with resentment before quickly pulling out a pistol and firing an ice bullet.

Tang tang! Tang!

Asmodeus had the sand attribute so responding with the ice bullet was the right choice.

[Hmm, still putting on airs. You and your constellation, Desperado.]

Asmodeus raised his huge body and easily blocked the ice bullet with a sandy wall filled with demonic energy. By this time, James had barely regained his mind and his magic power was recovering. Even so, the opponent in front of him wasn't good.

Asmodeus was corrupted, but he was once a constellation. It was clear that Asmodeus would be at least as strong as Michael during last year's World Compet.i.tion.

“......!”

Then the sandy wall scattered in all directions and wrapped around James, threatening him. They were like spears. Asmodeus opened his mouth at a distance that was so close that not a single step could be taken, [If my memories are correct, you are one who rides in the shadows. It would be better not to even dream of running away.]

James felt a cold sweat flowing down his back.

'...s.h.i.+t. I really can't run away like this.'

There was one condition required for him to move into the shadows. It was to place his palm against the ground once, feel the shadows around him, and sense the location he would move to. It was only through such exploration that he could generate magic power and perform the shadow movement. James couldn't move in this position and he truly couldn't dream of escaping like Asmodeus said.

'The opponent is too bad for me. It is only up to here...'

James closed his eyes.

[Kyaaaack—!]

Then a creepy sound came from the top of the castle and a chill shot down his back.

Asmodeus stared up at the ceiling with shock. He scowled as his body a.s.similated into the black sand and soared toward the sky.

* * *

At Lilith's room...

Lilith let out a short scream and closed her eyes from the dazzling flash. Lilith attacked her surroundings with the power of blood using her abilities as the queen of vampires. However, she couldn't hit anything when she couldn't see. Mido avoided Lilith's attacks and started to color in the lips of the portrait with shadow ink. It didn't take long and the portrait was completed in an instant.

[The portrait of Demon King Lilith has been completed.]

[The portrait contains the power of sealing.]

[Starting to seal the target that looks exactly like the portrait.]

There was a spiral of energy from Lilith's portrait and strange tentacles appeared that dragged her into the painting.

[W-What is this? Kyaaaack—!]

It really happened in an instant. Lilith's portrait floated in the air and swallowed Lilith before slowly falling to the ground. Mido slowly picked it up. 

“...Wow.” This was the only word that came to mind.

Mido knew how strong the demon kings were, yet one of them was sealed in the portrait. Looking at it, Monet had done almost all of it while she just put on the finis.h.i.+ng touch. Still, it didn't matter.

[Lilith—!]

Then she felt a strong energy suppressing her body at the same time as a loud voice was heard from the opposite side of the door. Mido could immediately tell that the owner of the voice was Asmodeus, Lilith's fiance who had gone downstairs earlier. This was an area where whispers couldn't be sent, so she couldn't confirm that James was safe.

“Aish, really!” Mido looked around quickly while holding the portrait with the sealed Lilith. She first locked the door. Then she saw a staircase leading to the roof and headed there without delay. At the same time, the door exploded behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Park Muyeol, Park Maksun, and I were flying over Beatrice, the capital of Dark Moon. This place was covered with black things. It wasn't just the black fog covering the sun. The forest and trees were also black. The capital of Dark Moon was like living in a place covered with coal dust. The only things that weren't black were the stars and moon in the night sky.

“Why is it so black?”

Park Muyeol frowned as he looked at Beatrice's dull atmosphere.

“Hey, now. The moon isn't black. Are your eyes crooked?”

“What? This granny, since a while ago...!”

“Ah, your eyes must be crooked since you're calling such a pretty woman a granny. Right!”

“It isn't my eyes that are wrong. It is your eyes!”

Park Muyeol and Park Maksun started another argument. I sat on Chunza's head while listening to the conversation between the two of them. It was obvious that they would fight again even if I dissuaded them, so I had half given up. Fortunately, this was the sky. If it was on the ground, then there would've definitely been a fight. Just imagining it made me shudder. I imagined myself trying to stop it.

...A shrimp's back would break when caught in a fight between whales.

I shook my head.

It happened just then...

“Guruk!” Chunza cried out and signaled to me. Jinny just told me in words, but when Chunza found something, she would cry out like this. For reference, Jinny's magic power consumption was relatively severe so we were now riding on Chunza. It was due to Crescent's advice to be careful since he didn't know when and what would happen where.

In any case, I looked at the place that Chunza indicated. My super sensitivity was focused on my vision and my field of view expanded.

“No, does this old lady really have dementia?”

“Who has dementia? Now, who do you think has dementia? Now!”

However, the voices of the two people behind me gradually increased and made it difficult to concentrate. I reached my limit and screamed, “Be quiet! I can't focus!”

“......”

“......”

The loud shout echoed over Beatrice. Only then did the two of them fall silent. I sighed and focused again. I could see the castle in the distance. “Is that the location of the demon king?”

Crescent said there was a castle in the capital Beatrice where the demon kings, Lilith and Asmodeus, were staying. At the top of this castle were two people. One seemed to be Asmodeus, who had transformed to the scorpion demon king, and the other...

“Muyeol, Maksun.”

“......?”

“......?”

Park Muyeol and Park Maksun looked up at the same time. I spoke in a quiet voice without looking back at the two people behind me, “Prepare for battle. I've found Mido.”

The eyes of the two people changed sharply. I immediately instructed Chunza to use s.p.a.ce magic to move to the top of the castle. We pa.s.sed through the portal and immediately appeared between Mido and Asmodeus. Mido's surprised voice as she discovered us was the first thing to be heard.

“Grandfather? No, why are you here...?”

“I'll talk about that later. Are you injured?”

“Ah, I'm fine!”

Park Maksun smiled at Mido's courageous answer and scanned Mido from the top of her head to the tip of her toes with a kind expression. It was like she was looking at her granddaughter. “Now. Now that I'm seeing you in real life, you're really pretty. You are like Orabeoni's younger sister. It is nice to meet you.”

“Ah, h.e.l.lo!” Mido bowed politely to Park Maksun.

Park Muyeol walked over with a frown like he wasn't satisfied. “...Mido, you are greeting someone you don't know first.”

“Ah, Teacher-nim, it's been a while! Have you been well?”

“What nonsense about have I been well...?”

The teacher and student who hadn't seen each other for a long time exchanged words of blessing. Then Asmodeus growled out, [Kuock, I won't let you go if you dare to get in my way. Release Lilith! Where is Lilith?]

I looked back at Asmodeus in front of me. His appearance was quite different from what I used to know. The scorpion's appearance was distorted due to the demonic energy and black sand was everywhere around his body. By the way, where was Lilith? What was he talking about?

“Mido, Lilith...”

“That's right. The demon king. I just sealed her.”

“What...?”

Park Muyeol, Park Maksun, and I had wide eyes at the same time. All three of us couldn't believe it, but Mido just nodded confidently. “Yes. I sealed her.”

At this moment, a group of bats appeared and took a human form. Mido confirmed the ident.i.ty of the man who appeared there and shouted with a rosy face, “Monet da Vinci!”

[It seems you have succeeded in the sealing. Thank you for your help.] Monet smiled lightly and nodded to Mido.

Asmodeus growled at Monet, [Monet! It was your work!]

Monet just smiled at Asmodeus and snapped his fingers. The portrait of Lilith in Mido's hand immediately flew into his hand. Monet stared at Asmodeus and spoke, [If you are going to kill me, then do it. If I die, Lilith's seal will never be released.]

[What?!]

Asmodeus' face became paler than ever.