On the last day of Leaf Fall (October), 1417 DR, Li Wei and Zariel—who had spent nearly sixty years in the chaotic floating mountains of the Astral Plane waiting for Sylvie to be born—finally returned safely to their own world. They passed through the Bottomless Abyss and returned to Avernus in Barto Hell, making a quiet detour along the way to Severed Domain Town to check on little Aili.
Seeing that, under Red Shroud's care, her appetite was still excellent and she was still cutting down demons in the Death Arena as easily as chickens, Li Wei was finally reassured.
Long before setting out for Zelatar, at his suggestion, Red Shroud's true body had taken Aili and Disfavored to Shendilavri, the lord of the Abyss's 570th layer, to lie low for a while.
It was to prevent the temperamental demon lord Graz'zt from taking out his anger on Red Shroud and the others after the unavoidable conflict with the Dark Prince.
Malkanth, Queen of the Succubi, might not have been a qualified mother, but she was at least a qualified demon lord, one with the means to contend against Graz'zt.
So, even if only to keep clinging to Sylvie's silver thigh, and to maintain enough allies to help her take revenge on Graz'zt, she would not betray Red Shroud and the others. Doing so would inevitably bring Li Wei's fury upon her and turn her allies against her. It was not in her interests.
Now, it seemed Graz'zt truly had not returned to the Bottomless Abyss?
Or rather, he had not truly "died" in the Astral Plane.
After all, whenever those demons died on an Outer Plane, the world's laws would cause them to be reborn in the Abyss.
That instead confirmed Li Wei's original suspicion:
Graz'zt had designs on