Chapter 118: Olympus Palace

Back in the Olympus palace.

Sophia and Emilia were standing on the balcony, staring at the starry sky and waiting for Nero to return.

Sophia was in her angel form, and she looked so imposing under the full moon that no words could describe her beauty.

"What do you think?" Emilia glanced at Sophia and asked, "Do you think he will come back before the sunrise?"

"He said it was a personal matter, so he will most likely enjoy torturing that S rank before giving him a painful death. So yeah, he might not come until the sunrise," Sophia replied.

Emilia didn't say anything and stayed silent, as if she was thinking of something serious.

Sophia noticed it and asked, "What's wrong? Your face looks like you are thinking of something stupid."

"I was just wondering. Like, Nero never forgives his enemies, but he used to forgive them before, right?"

"Some, yeah. But what are you trying to say?"

"His 'enemies' before, and his 'enemies' now have changed. So it's not really as if he would forgive his old enemies, right?"

"Ye...ah?"

Sophia was confused and couldn't figure out what Emilia was trying to say.

"But what about the enemies that are good? Like, the humans see demons as a monster, and they are indeed monsters. And the humans will try to kill them, so of course, one day they will come after Nero and us too."

"But for them, they are not doing something evil; they are just trying to protect themselves. In that case, should we consider them as our enemies, or not?"

"Oh!" Sophia exclaimed as she finally realized what Emilia was trying to ask. "It's not that they are wrong here. And as an angel, I would never let Zeus kill an innocent. But don't worry. Zeus would never harm an innocent, no matter how evil he becomes."

Emilia sighed in relief after hearing Sophia reply and smiled at her, saying, "I am starting to like you."

Sophia was freaked out after hearing that as she never expected something like that from Emilia's mouth. And she was confused about what exactly Emilia meant by that. Just like Nero, Sophia had a habit of overthinking every little thing.

As she was pondering, a demon appeared behind Sophia had said, "Uhh—"

Sophia jolted as she suddenly sensed a demon behind her and yelled with a frowned face, "Stay away from me, or I will kill you!"

The demon immediately hopped backward to the door— without turning back, and bowed down to Emilia and Sophia.

"You have been summoned in the hall," said the demon.

"What for?!" Sophia yelled.

She was still freaked out. She waited for an answer, but the demon was so scared of Sophia's glare that he ran away without replying.

"Useless monsters," she muttered in annoyance.

"Ehe!" Emilia couldn't hold her laughter anymore and began laughing out loud.

"Stop laughing!" Sophia yelled.

"But it was so funny! Ahaha!" Emilia laughed. "You even jumped a little when that demon spoke! I can't stop laughing!"

"I was thinking about what you said so I didn't pay attention to my surroundings! And I wasn't scared; I was just a little surprised, okay?" Sophia proclaimed.

"I must tell Nero about this!" Emilia laughed out aloud.

"Don't tell him!" Sophia shouted with a flushed face and stormed out of the room.

Emilia followed her and went to the hall.

There was a big dining table in the hall with various types of dishes served on it. All are categorized by the level of hunger. It also had multiple kinds of drinks and sweets as desserts.

"What is all this?" Sophia asked.

"It is food," a demon replied.

"For whom?"

"For lord Zemon and his companions," another demon replied.

Sophia turned around and said, "There is no way I am eating something made by demons."

There were dozens of demons present in the hall, including Asteria, and everyone had the same look on their faces.

The hall was filled with nothing but silence, and it looked like an eternity had passed.

Emilia cleared her throat and said, "Why not just taste it? If you don't like it, then don't eat. We haven't eaten anything since last night, and I am sure you are hungry too."

Sophia furrowed her brows and looked at Emilia, "I would rather die than eat something made by demons."

"That was harsh, Sophi. You shouldn't have said that." A voice echoed in the hall.

Everyone, including Sophia and Emilia, glanced around to see the source of the voice— although everyone knew who the voice belonged to.

"Looking for someone?"

Sophia and Emilia turned around to see Nero was sitting on the chair behind them.

All the demons present in the hall immediately kneeled down.

"Since when did you… I couldn't sense your presence at all," Sophia uttered.

"I can stabilize and hide my presence now that I have my one core back."

Sophia raised her brows in surprise and touched Nero's chest: "You are right. How did you obtain it?"

"It was easier than I thought," he shrugged.

On the other hand, Emilia was left dumbfounded since she sensed no change in Nero.

Nero stood up from the chair and glanced at Asteria, who was standing on the other side of the table.

"You said some harsh things, Sophi."

"What do you mean? I just stated the fact. There is no way I would ever eat food made by demons," Sophia repeated.

Nero raised his brows and slightly shook his head at Sophia, as though he was trying to say something.

Sophia squinted her eyes and tried to figure out what Nero was trying to say. Nero then pointed his gaze repeatedly at Asteria.

Sophia gasped and covered her mouth with a horrified look on her face. She slowly jerked her head at Asteria and saw she was about to cry.

"You… made this food?" Sophia asked, stammering on her words.

Asteria hesitantly nodded and drooped her head down.

"Oh, no, no, no." Nero made a funny reaction.

Sophia rushed to Asteria and hugged her, saying, "I am sorry, I didn't know it was made by you. I thought these monsters made this food. Please forgive me."

"Oh, no, no no no," Nero remarked again.

Sophia glared at Nero and moved her lips to say, 'Help me out' without letting out any voice.

Nero shrugged his shoulders and turned to Emilia.

Sophia's face twitched as she tried to talk to Asteria.

"There was so much food, and a single person can't make this much food in such a short amount of time. How did you do it?" Sophia asked.

"I used the haste spell," Asteria replied.

The haste spell was a widespread and popular spell among the adventurers as it boosted the time of the object on whatever the spell was cast on. However, there were several limitations to this spell.

It couldn't be used against any living beings, nor could it be used on an object that already had a different spell cast on it.

The opposite to the Haste spell was the 'Delay' spell, used on objects to slow down the time. Nero used it on the furs and skin of the animals Emilia hunted on their 24 day trip from Astracliff to Astrared.

"I am sorry. Please forgive me," Sophia apologized to Asteria.

"It's okay. I understand you meant no harm."

Nero clapped his hands and ordered, "You all, go back to your work and leave us alone."

All the demons left, leaving Asteria, Sophia, and Emilia alone with Nero.

"Where is Leto?" Nero asked Asteria.

"She is still sleeping. Shall I go and wake her up?"

"No, let her sleep. There is still some time left before our departure, and I won't leave without bidding her farewell personally."