The Demon King's First General
Chapter 194: Eight, Eight, Eight

Chapter 194: Eight, Eight, Eight

"So you were the main reason why she became a cripple," the druid stated after listening to Zeno’s story.

"I just gave her a little lesson not to mess with strangers during their naps," the demon replied, his voice calm and collected.

Then, the fairy from earlier arrived; this time, she appeared as big as a human being, and on her hand was a plate with three wooden cups of tea, while on the other was a basket filled with different fruits. There were grapes, apples, lemon berries, and so on.

As soon as the fairy put them on the table, the old man picked up the cup of tea and took a little sip.

"This is really nice; there’s no better drink than a hot tea during a deep conversation," he commented while inhaling its intoxicating aroma.

Meanwhile, Zeno glanced at his companion, who was still busy admiring the treant’s massive size.

"Blackwell," he called him out.

Upon hearing his name being summoned, the black dragon glanced at the demon and moved towards him at an unimaginable speed.

"General, your orders," he stated, his tone overflowing with respect.

"Grab some," Zeno replied and pointed his hand at the table.

Blackwell tilted his head in confusion. After all, he was an apex predator, and his diet only had one kind of meal: flesh. However, he still obeyed the demon and took the cup of tea along with a fruit he didn’t even know what it was called.

Then, he excused himself and went back to the treants to satisfy his curiosity about how they grew that big.

Meanwhile, Zeno returned his gaze back to the old man, and the flow of their conversation turned serious.

"Now, let’s proceed to the matter at hand," the druid stated and let out a smile that soon vanished in a blink.

"The path leading to the underworld, eight gates, eight keys, eight sovereigns," the man added.

Then, he took another sip of tea before words came out of his mouth once more.

"Though one of them is missing," he conveyed while staring straight at the demon’s eyes.

Zeno leaned forward and grabbed a piece of apple and bit a portion of it.

"It looks like history was passed down in very accurate detail," Zeno uttered and took another bite.

The old man’s soft chuckle was heard as his response to the silver-haired man’s statement.

"I hope you wouldn’t mind me asking a question, but what’s the point of searching for the gates when you don’t have all the keys?" The druid asked, curiosity written all over his face.

Upon hearing the question, it was now the demon’s laughter’s turn to echo throughout the area.

"I don’t know either; I just want to have their locations imprinted in my memory just in case a time comes that I need to use them, and druids like you are the perfect ones to seek knowledge. Your long list of records could be far greater than any journals from other races," Zeno explained without hiding the real purpose of his visit.

Quite satisfied by his answer, the old man nodded and reached for a piece of paper hidden beneath his clothes. He extended the item towards the demon, and Zeno grabbed it from his palm without saying a word.

Though, the curl on the edges of his lips that appeared after looking at the content of the paper showed his satisfaction.

The small sheet contained Exgreia’s map, and eight small dots scattered around its different parts captured Zeno’s attention. These were the gates’ exact locations.

"You have my thanks," the demon expressed his gratitude and was already about to stand up when he remembered something that prevented him from doing so.

Thus, he looked back straight at the old druid and spoke with his voice laced with curiosity.

"I know druids are one of the races with the highest intelligence in this world, but since the second I came here, you haven’t even cared to ask who I was, yet you were pretty confident about the purpose of my visit," Zeno stated, then he paused for a second and raised the piece of paper, showing it to the old man before continuing his words. "And you even had this prepared."

The druid took another sip while caressing his white braided beard before attending to Zeno’s curiosity.

"You see, a week ago, a pair of a man and a woman came here and asked about the Gates as well. From what I sensed about them, they had all the keys except for one," the druid stated and glanced at the black ring on Zeno’s left middle finger.

"So, I prepared another copy of the map, and that’s what you hold right now. After all, I believed that if someone wants it, then another will try to get it as well," the old man added and emptied his cup.

Then the druid plucked a piece of grape and tossed it inside his mouth.

"And look at the result, you’re here now and have already asked the same thing," he stated.

"If they already had the seven keys, why did you give them the map? Aren’t you afraid that they might open the underworld and free those ancient demons?" Zeno answered with a question.

The old man thought for a while before giving out a reply.

"I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences. The man’s strength is beyond the ordinary; during those few minutes, I felt nothing but terror. Even the treants were helpless against him," the druid said, shaking his head.

Though curious about these people that the old man had talked about, Zeno chose not to speak any further about the previous intruders. After all, he knew that he didn’t have any control over their actions, and even if he learned who they were, it was too late; a week had already passed since their visit.

Thus, Zeno stood up from his seat and expressed his gratitude for accommodating them while bidding his farewell.

"It’s an honor to have a high-ranking demon in this place of ours," the druid stated with a smile.

Then, as soon as the two individuals left the premises, the treant that blocked Zeno earlier glanced at the druid; his gaze had a touch of curiosity.

"Lord Willow, why did you not tell him that the seal is getting weaker on each day that passed by?" Oakford stated, asking.

The old man shook his head before answering the towering creature’s query.

"Nothing grand; it’s simply because I believe that he’s already aware of that fact even before stepping on our land," the druid answered.

Then he glanced at the cups on the table and noticed that the other one remained untouched while the two were completely empty.

"He does hate tea, doesn’t he?" The old man uttered while caressing his braided beard.

. . . . .

Inside the Royal Elven Mansion, the home of the elves’ royalties, hundreds of people gathered. They were busy preparing for war; women created leather armors woven from tree trunks while the men were training their archery and swordplay against their very own kind.

All of them had an unwavering focus and worked in harmony, determined to meet the expectations on them for their respective tasks. However, they were disrupted when an elven soldier entered the place; his constant yelling made them halt on their chore.

"Lady Crescent! Lady Crescent! Where are you?" The knight yelled, calling the princess’ attention.

Crescent, who was helping in a corner in creating some kind of armor, stood up for her to be noticed by the man.

"Here! I am here!" She even yelled and waved her hand.

Upon hearing the princess’ voice and upon seeing that frail little arm, the man went in her direction.

"T-The... C-Cen-taurs... Dead ," the man stated, panting between each of his words.

"Calm down first! Breathe!" Crescent ordered as she couldn’t understand what her subject was trying to say.

The man did as he was told; he inhaled a deep breath and stared at the princess. After his breathing became stable, he started to speak.

"In the forest! I saw centaurs, a lot of them, and they were all dead!" He reported, straight to the point.

His statement captured everyone’s attention; they stopped for a moment on their tasks and went to listen even further.

"Are you serious about it? What happened? Who did it?" Crescent bombarded the man with questions.

The elf felt his head spinning while trying to provide the princess some kind of answers. He stayed still for a moment, contemplating, and before he began to be petrified by the curious gazes from people, he replied.

"I don’t know who the perpetrator was, My Lady but for those tough creatures to be slaughtered just like that is definitely the work of someone powerful," he said.

However, Crescent felt more confused than ever upon hearing his answer. Thus, she made a proposal.

"Would you please accompany me in there? I want to see it in person," she uttered, her voice laced with curiosity.

. . . . .