The Demon King's First General
Chapter 69: Dog From That Place

Chapter 69: Dog From That Place

"Such a meanie," the woman said as soon as she heard Zeno’s reasoning.

"I really thought I controlled my emotions pretty well," she added.

She tried to understand how she was caught, but she couldn’t think of a single reason. Then Zeno hung the scythe on his shoulder again as he replied to the woman.

"You acted like you were surprised, but your soul didn’t even show any fluctuations. You felt cold, yet it remained stable, and just now, you tried to cry, but I can’t sense a little bit of sadness from within," he explained while staring at the woman’s chest.

After Zeno said his piece, the area was filled with silence for another few seconds.

’Soul?’ She thought.

Then she stepped a little bit closer to the man and looked at the moon above.

"I don’t get it, but now I know why Celestine lost to you," she uttered as she returned her gaze to the man.

Meanwhile, Zeno smiled upon the mention of another woman’s name.

"So you’re a friend of that time-rewinding witch," he replied while recalling what happened on that day.

It was just a second, but he managed to take a glimpse at that woman’s soul, so he knew her name very well. The woman laughed upon hearing Zeno’s remark regarding the Enchantress of Time.

"To call our precious Celestine a witch. You’re really something," she commented.

Then the wind started blowing once more, and her denim-colored hair swept to her right side. Her alluring figure was enough for any man to drool once they looked at her, yet the demon showed no excitement at all.

The next second, another monster circled around the sky. It looked like a small version of a dragon, with its wings connected to its hands.

Then, it plunged downward and landed on the woman’s side, and it licked her face while she put her hands on its scales, which had the same color as her hair.

"I hate to say this... But I’ll be leaving for now," she said, smiling.

She was about to climb into the wyvern’s back when Zeno spoke.

"Why do people these days love to make an appearance and then leave all of a sudden?" He asked.

His question made the woman curious, but she chose not to delve any further. Instead, she put her two fingers on her mouth and whistled.

The sound she made lasted for a few seconds, and when she stopped, a monstrous creature came running behind her and leaped in front of the demon. Then it let out a horrifying howl, which reverberated into the area.

Zeno’s eyes widened upon seeing the beast with three heads in a single body, but after just a second, the surpised look on his face turned into a smirk.

"I thought the gate was still closed. How come this dog is barking here on the surface?" He uttered, asking.

But the woman just laughed upon hearing his question. Then she hopped to the back of the wyvern and looked at Zeno.

"It’s a present from Strannard. He said that you should take care of it for him," she chuckled.

"Anyways, I know we’ll definitely meet again someday, and when that time comes, I promise to bring a leash that will greatly suit your neck," she added, and the wyvern flew up in the sky as it flapped its wings.

Zeno remained silent while staring at the creature’s silhouette, which disappeared as soon as it entered the sea of clouds. Then he reverted his gaze to the salivating monster in front of him.

"Now, who wants a cerberus’ meat for dinner?" He grinned and rotated the scythe around his hand.

. . . . .

Kizeler woke up due to the streams of chatter inside the tavern. His body felt heavy, and he tried to blink several times before staring at the hundreds of bottles displayed in a cabinet in front of him. The next second, he glanced at his side, where Zeno was previously sitting, but what he saw was a different person chugging a bottle of beer.

Then he turned his head and searched for the demon, but even his shadow couldn’t be found inside the place. However, he didn’t feel any trouble regarding his disappearance.

"Oh, you’re awake," the bartender said as soon as he saw Kizeler looking around the tavern.

"Your friend has already left," the man added.

Then Kizeler just nodded as his reply and asked for a cup of water. Afterward, he let the man’s words sink into his head.

’A friend, huh? A friend whose name I do not even know,’ he thought.

Then the bartender went in front of him and placed his request.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" The man asked, but Kizeler rejected the idea by shaking his head.

"Thanks, but this is enough," he replied while staring at the water circling inside the cup.

"Now, what to do?" He uttered.

Then he thought about his next course of action when the bartender looked at him and contemplated for several seconds. Kizeler noticed his strange stares, so he asked.

"Is there something wrong?" He said before emptying the water in the cup.

The man sighed and decided to relay Zeno’s message to his traveling companion.

"Ahmnn, I don’t want to say this to you and increase the number of casualties, but my conscience won’t let me have a good night’s sleep," the bartender said, which made Kizeler knit his brows.

"Your friend told me to tell you that he will be waiting for you at the frozen lake," he added.

Upon hearing the name of the place, Kizeler remembered the mission he had seen several hours ago. Based on what he heard from the stories inside the tavern, the place was known for its wonderful and relaxing scenery, but once a blizzard came, the place became dangerous.

"Why? Is there a problem regarding that lake?" Kizeler replied with the intention to squeeze even a little bit of information from the bartender.

"Yes, there is! It started a few months ago when people went missing during a blizzard; however, on the next day, they would be found dead near the coast of the lake," the man answered.

"What happened to them? Kizeler replied to keep the conversation going, even though he already knew this a while ago.

The bartender shook his head before answering.

"No one really knows the real reason behind their deaths." He paused, looked into Kizeler’s eyes, and continued. "But the companions of those who died are saying that their friend talked about a woman in the center of the lake."

"A woman? I thought it was some kind of monster," Kizeler said, and the man shook his head again.

"It is not," he said.

Then Kizeler stood up and bid his farewell to follow Zeno into the frozen lake when the bartender spoke once more.

"Are you still going to go to that place despite the things that I told you?" He asked, worried for the young man’s safety. However, Kizeler smiled at him and left with another set of parting words.

"Thank you for the concern, though; I will be fine," he said before turning around to leave.

’I’m more worried about the entity in that frozen lake knowing that a demon is coming to hunt it down,’ he conveyed inside his thoughts.

. . . . .

"It’s not the real thing," Zeno uttered as he dodged one of the claws of the three-headed creature attacking him.

He was so overwhelmed with thoughts about how a cerberus was on the surface of Exgreia when it was supposed to be found in the underworld that he failed to notice the three souls sticking together inside its body.

’It looks like there’s a capable alchemist during this timeline,’ he thought.

Then he leaped up and sliced one of its heads before giving it a kick in its huge body, sending it tumbling to the ground. However, as soon as the dismembered head turned into brown smoke and flew to the cerberus, its head grew back like nothing happened.

"This will be disturbing," Zeno uttered as he landed back into the snow.

The next second, the monster charged at him while aiming its three mouths to bite him, but Zeno went beneath it and struck his scythe into the creature’s abdomen, which healed in just a matter of seconds. Then the cerberus made a few stomps with its hind feet to crush the demon, but Zeno severed its legs from its body. However, like what happened a few seconds ago, the cut limbs turned into smoke and grew back from the body.

Afterward, the scythe on the demon’s hand disappeared as soon as a pair of jet-black gauntlets covered his arms. He gave the monster a devastating blow to the abdomen while holding one of its legs. His punch created a hole in its body that started to close in the blink of an eye.

The next second, the creature tried to run away from Zeno, but with him holding its leg, all it could do was bark and whip its tail in his direction. But it was nearly impossible to hit him.

"Immortality at its finest," Zeno said, grinning.

"And every time it heals itself, it doesn’t consume a lot of energy," he added.

Then the red dice on his left ear spun, and the surface with three skulls lit up.

’Piero,’ Zeno thought.

Afterward, the gauntlets on his hands were changed into a pair of jet-black daggers before he proceeded to deal small cuts to the monster’s body.

"Let’s see how long you can last," he uttered.

But the monster ran away to keep its distance from him. Then it turned around and opened its mouths before spewing concentrated balls of fire energy in Zeno’s direction.

Its attack made connected explosions that melted the snow, causing a vapor to rise up in the air, and as soon as it dispersed, a jet-black shield with four dots at its corners came into view.

"Even dogs now are spitting fires, huh?" Zeno said as he appeared unscathed after the giant shield turned into a small black cube that landed in his palm.

. . . . .