The road back to Heavenfield was still long. Right now, everyone was exhausted and taking a moment to rest and recover their strength.
"Damn it… we used too much fuel during departure. I just hope what's left will be enough."
Wonton sat reading a book while keeping an eye on the data panel above.
Zoe, Beast, and Ceasar were happily piloting the machine.
Inside the passenger cabin, the robot controlled by Tetsutaro had shut down after running out of energy.
Lio had already fallen asleep on the large seat beside Shinji. Alba was also taking out a pillow, preparing to sleep.
"Hey Shinji, hurry up and finish copying so you can sleep."
Shinji was carefully copying every word written on the board by Tetsutaro.
"My hand hurts… I've written it seven times already. Thirteen more to go."
As punishment, Tetsutaro had ordered Shinji to copy the basic first-aid and bleeding control instructions twenty times.
Alba lay down on his pillow, stretching comfortably before closing his eyes.
"Get some rest when you're done, Shinji. Wonton said it'll still take a long time before we reach Heavenfield."
Shinji kept writing, but suddenly stopped.
He looked up at Alba.
"Hey… do you think demons were once human?"
The question made Alba laugh.
"What's with that question all of a sudden? Did copying too much mess with your head?"
Shinji stopped writing and placed the pen down.
"Almond and Cashew… those two are evil, but… I feel like they care about each other a lot."
Alba chuckled lightly and replied.
"No way. Demons are demons. There's no way they can love each other."
Alba turned to face the wall.
"He was probably just afraid of losing a useful fighting tool."
And with that, he quickly fell asleep, leaving Shinji as the only one still awake.
But Shinji didn't think the same way Alba did.
That moment… the moment Almond held Cashew's severed head in his arms. Shinji had accidentally witnessed it. A terrifying monster, yet at that moment, he seemed strangely gentle.
"Maybe… demons can love too…?"
"Focus on copying those twenty lines first."
Alba muttered before his snoring soon filled the room.
Shinji shook his head and lightly slapped his own face.
"No… demons have done countless evil things. Maybe Alba is right. Demons are just demons."
Back then, Almond had held Cashew's severed head in his arms and whispered to it.
"I failed to protect you again… I'm so sorry."
He gently stroked her soft brown hair while quietly humming a song, as if Cashew could still hear him.
Then the Musheria emerged from the Perga tree. They repeatedly struck his legs with wooden sticks and firewood.
"Die!"
"You monster!"
"You wicked bastard!"
Almond simply stood there, silently listening to every word.
He looked down at his own hands — grotesque hands, rough and calloused from countless swings of his blade, hands that had been twisted and deformed by this demon body.
Almond slowly raised his head to the sky.
The sunset that day was strangely beautiful.
The figure of a beautiful woman appeared before him, reaching out her hand.
The image slowly approached.
Almond slowly reached out his hand as well.
"Cashew…"
But the woman's figure passed straight through him. Her face turned into a dark emptiness before gradually fading away.
Almond lowered his hand and could only stare blankly at the sky, while Shinji and Lio were being led away by Zoe as they escaped.
Back to the present.
Outside the white mist of Greenpath.
Envy had stepped out from the fog.
Behind him was Freyz, holding a large chunk of Almond's flesh and biting into it, devouring it with clear enjoyment.
"How troublesome. Those little pests in there kept forcing me to get involved."
Envy said as he spun his sharp scythe. The blade was still stained with green blood.
Near the white mist in Greenpath, Mieren and the other Anteria had already been slaughtered by Envy. Their bodies had been cut in half and left scattered on the ground. The giant spider that had crawled out of the mist was now nothing more than a severed head.
Envy walked forward, his scythe slowly sinking back into his body like mud swallowing it.
"How boring… there's nothing fun to play with."
As he walked, a monster suddenly burst out of the white mist, spreading its wings and diving straight toward him with its long sharp beak.
But at that very moment, Envy simply turned his head slightly.
A flash of blue light burst out.
The creature was struck and instantly fell to the ground in pain.
"Oh… a little seasoning for this bland meal."
The monster tried to stand up.
But suddenly, a sharp stone spike shot out from its mouth, piercing straight forward.
Another spike then burst through its back, killing it instantly.
Envy continued walking as if nothing had happened.
Then he noticed the ground that had been violently torn apart — the place where Wrat had dug through to help everyone escape.
"What's this?"
Envy crouched down, examining the disturbed soil carefully.
A twisted smile slowly spread across his face.
"Freyz… go inform the Demon King."
He chuckled softly.
"We're about to have some fun."