You Are Very Talented

The Demonic Realm, Karnas Mountains.

Located in the far north of the Demonic Realm, this place is covered in blizzards year-round. If it weren't for the Demonic Realm being in the Year of Blazing Summer, the blizzards here would be enough to freeze all living beings.

Therefore, those who live in the Karnas Mountains... are all Undead with a second life.

"Your Highness, I believe visiting that lord directly is... unwise."

As soon as Joshua stepped out of the Teleportation Portal created by Zennas, he heard the wise words spoken by this brave Sin Demon.

Zennas's Race is second only to the Chaos Demons in the Demonic Realm. He rarely fears anything, but unfortunately, the master of these mountains is an existence that Zennas has to fear, and even treat with reverence.

"I've met the Duke a few times, he's an easygoing person," Joshua said.

"Easygoing..."

Zennas had always followed Joshua's orders without question, but this time, Zennas absolutely did not believe Joshua's evaluation of "easygoing."

The forces in the Demonic Realm are divided into One King, Four Dukes, and Seven Heroes. The One King refers to the Lord of the Demonic Realm, who is the Third Prince's father, Notlein. He is the existence at the pinnacle of the Demonic Realm, the absolute ruler. Below Notlein are four Dukes who respectively control the four territories of the Demonic Realm.

The one Joshua was going to visit was one of the four Dukes, known as the Bone Duke... Regarding this Duke's past, Zennas had only heard a little.

The four Dukes of the Demonic Realm are synonymous with danger. Unless Notlein himself visits, they will kill any creature that invades their territory according to their own preferences.

"Judging a person based solely on rumors and appearance, isn't that the same as those despicable humans?"

Joshua's rhetorical question left Zennas speechless.

He remembered the little girl he met in the Prison before. Afterwards, Zennas hid in the darkness, using the Flame overflowing from his body to form a beacon like a will-o'-the-wisp, guiding the little girl to successfully enter the Teleportation Portal.

The sight of the little girl smiling and waving at the beacon before entering the Teleportation Portal touched some unknown emotions deep within Zennas. Zennas couldn't understand this emotion, but... it was unforgettable. That scene was more unforgettable than the scenes where Zennas had burned an enemy to ashes before.

Seeing Zennas's silence, Joshua didn't continue to make things difficult for this loyal subordinate.

Joshua's gaze fell on Ciri, who had followed him to the Demonic Realm.

The crystal on her neck had an almost extraordinary deterrent effect on Ciri. To avoid any mishaps during the teleportation that would cause the crystal on her neck to explode, she generously held Joshua's hand and entered the Teleportation Portal.

"I always feel like there are wolves or bears watching me in the forest."

Ciri stepped on the thick snow on the ground, let go of Joshua's hand, took out her magic Staff, and looked at the forest shrouded in darkness.

Since stepping into this snow-covered forest, she had a very familiar feeling... the feeling of being watched by something, and it was a gaze full of malice.

"There are no harmless creatures like wolves and bears here. What's watching you might be a Soul Eater or a Mind Flayer. If you're unlucky, it might be a Death Knight."

Joshua recalled the Third Prince's memories. This area was basically the core territory of the Bone Duke. The Undead creatures living in the forest were certainly not low-level mass-produced Undead creatures like Skeleton Soldiers.

The moment an ordinary human stepped in here, within a few seconds, the surrounding Undead creatures would swarm over and devour them into nothingness, not even leaving their souls behind.

Joshua being able to stand here so safely wasn't because of his identity as a Chaos Demon, but simply because the master of this forest had granted Joshua a small privilege.

"..."

Ciri didn't say anything, because Joshua's words once again touched upon Ciri's blind spots of knowledge.

She only needed to know one thing: the existences watching her in the darkness of the forest were guys she absolutely couldn't defeat with the small Staff in her hand.

"Let's go, it's not far from the Castle where the master lives."

Joshua, Ciri, and Zennas walked deeper into the forest.

Deep within the forest, there was indeed a castle. The forest outside the castle was covered in frost, yet the garden inside the castle bloomed with various unknown flowers. The colors of the flowers were very dim, and the statues used for decoration in the manor were also entwined with black thorns. Coupled with the shroud of night, the entire castle exuded a strange atmosphere.

As Joshua walked up nearly a hundred steps and arrived at the castle gate, the gate slowly opened as if to welcome him.

The interior decoration of the castle was full of luxury, indicating that the Bone Duke's aesthetic taste had not decayed with his death.

And the music. Unidentified music echoed throughout the castle. It was an ensemble... The timbres produced by the ensemble were all from instruments Joshua was familiar with.

Thanks to the parallel world?

"Why do I feel this music is so strange?"

Ciri followed Joshua up the stairs in the center of the castle hall. Hanging on the stairs was an oil painting portrait of a young man.

"Strange? Your little remark is enough for me to feed your soul to my dogs."

A voice as rough as fingernails scraping a blackboard echoed throughout the hall... A dark figure passed through the oil painting and 'walked' out.

"Your Highness..."

The Sin Demon following behind Joshua saw the figure appear and wanted to step forward to block Joshua, but Joshua reached out and stopped Zennas's impolite action.

The Bone Duke's appearance was very different from the standard image of a Lich that Joshua had in mind, like 'Kel'Thuzad'. Although his insides had decayed to just a skeleton, his attire looked more like a pirate than a mage.

"You'd better give me a reason for trespassing on my territory and disturbing my performance, otherwise, even if you are Notlein's offspring, I will turn you into a skeleton and send you to your father."

Hearing the Bone Duke's words, flames surged around Zennas, but the scarlet light in the Bone Duke's black eye sockets flickered, and Zennas's massive body instantly knelt on the ground with a heavy thud.

Is this the power that can rival the Lord of the Demonic Realm?

In front of this being, Joshua was indeed insignificant. Joshua's identity had no effect here, so he couldn't continue to talk nonsense like he did in the Imperial City.

"I see you have great talent. Let's form a band together!"

"..."

The Bone Duke's skull suddenly turned ninety degrees, seemingly contemplating the meaning of Joshua's word 'band'.

"Simply put, I came to appreciate your performance, Duke. If you don't mind, could you play a piece for me?"

Joshua made a suggestion that no performer could refuse.

If the Lich in front of him were a musician with tens of thousands of attendees at a concert, Joshua's suggestion might simply be a death wish.

But in this place, other than the ghostly servants serving the Bone Duke, there was no one else who could appreciate his performance.