"Good night, Prince Idel." A sweet feminine voice resounded in the room before reaching the young demon lying on the bed.
The room was quite dark, making it hard for Idel to discern the exact position of his personal servant, Sagi.
He wanted to return the gesture… that is what everyone considers normal, right?
But he was too tired to lift his head, let alone move his lips. So he remained silent, waiting for her to leave and bring an end to the awkward moment that seemed to occur every night.
'Sigh, ' He wondered why Sagi always bothered bidding him good night despite knowing that he would never respond.
Stranger still, though he had sent the servant away the moment she was placed under his care, she returned the following morning with the same bright, cheerful smile, unwavering in her resolve to remain
'Is realizing that I'm not the social type so hard?'
No, that did not seem to be the case. Everyone in the demon realm knew Prince Idel's persona: he was slow, always tired, and a demon of few words… in short, a lazy antisocial brat.
Well, this was how every low-ranked demon referred to him behind his back, he was pretty sure of that. He needed no special ability to see the disgust on everyone's faces when he appeared; even his own father disliked him for being the fragile demon he was.
But this Sagi was different, her affection for him was almost tangible.
'Maybe her blindness is the core reason; she might think of me as some Prince Charming.'
But that was not plausible as well; just by hearing his voice one could easily picture his frail frame. And frailness was the antithesis of good-looking in the demon realm.
'Huh… ' perhaps her, being a low-ranked demon that was stereotyped by her family, had something to do with it… after all, people—demons in this case—all want a sense of belonging.
So in her perspective, according to Idel's point of view, the two were weaklings who needed to stick together in this strength-driven reality.
Deep into his thoughts, he heard the door open and close, indicating the departure of Sagi.
'Weakling, me?' He almost chuckled at the line of thought.
Slow, ungenial, listless, and of course lazy brat was candidly him, but referring to Idel as anything close to weak was an insult to the demon with the sin affinity of sloth, the only demon to ever possess it for that matter.
He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the murky ceiling.
"They are just apparitions…
"They are not real…
"The humans, all of them…
"It's nothing more than a long continuous dream, do not get attached." He repeated his nightly ritual three times, each time his voice becoming more dreary.
At the same instance, his crescent pupils glowed with a deep green radiance as an invisible field slowly spread out from his glabellar.
Soon, the doors and windows became firmly shut, but they were merely the first layer of protection. Anyone who dared force their way inside would be caught within the invisible field, fall into a deep slumber, and, just like Idel, be drawn into the dream realm.
This was his ability. By wielding Sin Affinity of Sloth, he could gain access to the dream realm. However, in his case, he had no control over the entrance time. Every time he fell asleep, he was inevitably pulled into the otherworldly domain.
Simply say, he had never known rest in life.
Crack! Crack!
With layered fractures steadily crawling through the air, reality shattered. The gazillion shards, reflecting different parts of his body, floated above as he gradually plummeted in an endless black void.
He fell and fell but remained calm. He was used to this.
Ray by ray, wisp by wisp, the darkness receded, consumed by crimson fog and light.
The light, radiating from a crescent moon, bathed his entire being in a thick red.
Thud!
His body hit a hard surface. Ignoring the pain, he slowly got up and stood with a slought posture.
Due to the wild breeze that whipped his hood, he tucked his pale white hands in the pockets of his black loose trousers in search of warmth.
"Sigh…" He shook his head as he realized that he had to untuck a hand to raise his hooded cloak.
After seven seconds of completing the "tiring" task, he tucked his hand back and surveyed his surroundings.
Standing on the highest hill of the crimson-fogged hill terrain, his glowing green eyes and swaying black cloak made him seem like a mercenary waiting to hunt down a target.
But in actuality, he was the target.
The dream realm was not a vacant world by any means at all; it was actually home to different species that came in different sizes and shapes… most even lacked proper structure.
Despite their differences, most of these species shared one feeling when it came to idel; Hatred. To them, he might have been an anomaly, a being who should not exist in their world… and so, some sought to kill him at any opportunity they got.
Just like now, Idel could spot a disfigured lump of black flesh that was slowly, with its tiny different-sized arms, scaling a hill twenty meters away from him.
His brow furrowed. This was a rare sight!
Under normal circumstances, a grade 4 nightmare was incapable of sensing his presence, let alone pinning down his location in a matter of seconds, and for that matter daring to attack him alone.
This was odd, but thinking about it would only strain his mind. This damn lump of flesh was here and needed to be dealt with immediately.
At that moment, the grade 4 nightmare, looking at Idel with a good number of eyes that dotted its body, opened its several mouths and let out a jarring screech.
The screech echoed throughout the terrain, sending ripples through the crimson mist. This sound, once heard by lesser beings of the dream realm, would lead to them being inert on the spot, and from there they would be devoured.
But Idel was no lesser being, and most stupidly, the nightmare dared to attack him in his pocket universe: the Labyrinth, an extension of his will!
The oblivious nightmare lunged, hopping from one hill to another with terrifying speed and a burning rage in its eyes.
It was going for the kill!
But just before it reached him…
Just before it opened its mouth to strike his neck…
Idel blinked slowly, and in the next second thick black blood poured on his body in a torrent.
The nightmare hung before him in a lifeless haze, its body pierced by long crimson thorns that manifested out of thin air by Idel's will.
"Must... kill… kill…" The nightmare let out a hoarse sound as its eyes looked at the swaying black-cloaked figure with fear and pain. "…The lone dreamer."