Chapter 1: When They Meet

Even after Kaze'aze defeat, no one could separate them.

Grand Chase.

A group formed by Queen of Serdin two years ago to save the world from Kaze'aze, the evil demon.

Start from only three girls as the members and now it grows into sixteen people. Not all of them are humans, there are also a demon and elf. After a long adventure they've grown fond of each other and now it's hard to separate them.

"CHEERS!" The sound of glass clashing filled the room followed by the laughter of almost everyone there. Brightly decorated lounge and delicious food compliment the situation perfectly.

All the Grand Chase members participate in the small, cozy party held only for them to celebrate their achievement.

"Ahem. Attention please everyone."

Red haired girl with red and black overalls cleared her throat to catch her comrade's attention. Her name is Elesis Sieghart and she's the one who is trusted by the queen to lead the Grand Chase. She's a bit hot-headed but mature enough not to let her bad temper to clouded her judgment. Though, sometimes she still quarrels with some people.

"As you know I'm not good with formal situation and speeches, so I'll keep this short."

Clearing her throat to ease her nervousness, she continues.

"I thank you all for these two years. Without each of you, we can't save the world from Kaze'aze. I know some of you seems to have another goal to achieve… BUT STILL, you contribute a lot to us and I'm really glad we can borrow your power to help us reach our goal."

Elesis raise her glass.

"Let us have a toast once more for our achievement. Long live the Chase!"

"LONG LIVE THE CHASE!"

And the party continues until midnight.

Most of the members are already excusing themselves to rest in their own room but three demons remained in the lounge.

Dio Burning Canyon, Ley Crimson River, and Zero Zephyrum. A peculiar demon group that is formed without no one knowing how and when. Even the three of them didn't understand how they can get along with each other. Even the Knight Master who saw them together for the first time almost having a panic attack, thinking that they are planning to hold a human-hunt event in Serdin town. After a lot of talking and explosion, the Knight Master finally convinced and let them go.

Ley, who is only wanted to go shopping that day is amused.

"Oz summoned you?"

A nod.

"Did you get broken without us knowing?" Dio asked his artificial friend half-jokingly. Human always thinks that the demon race is heartless but it's not quite true. Both Dio and Ley looked selfish and arrogant outside while Zero is expressionless most of the time. For demons, showing your true feeling is a weakness and humans easily misunderstood it as cold and heartless. The truth is Dio truly worried about Zero but he hides it, not something that Zero didn't know.

"He said he needed my presence for something."

"And here I thought he forgot about you." The male demon grumbled in annoyance. He never liked Zero's 'father' since he knew Zero goes on a journey to beat Duel for him. Zero is strong but Duel has more experienced and power more than anyone can imagine. It's the same as going for the Death God itself.

"That weakling might've found something interesting to mess with. Who knows why he needed Zero." Grandark, Zero's living sword joins the banter. His dislike towards Oz is the only thing that Dio can agree with.

"And? When are you going to go back to the Demon World?" Ley, the only female demon finally speaks. She is the childhood friend of Dio and now they are close to each other. Dio always denied having a special feeling but everyone in Grand Chase already know the truth, even Zero who usually doesn't understand knows by looking. He said there is something 'unusual' with how those two behaved to each other.

And of course, Dio turned into a blushing mess after that. It took around two weeks until Dio managed to calm himself down and explained his complicated relationship to the artificial demon. Zero didn't know anything about the relationship between male and female but he knew one of the reasons is to continue the bloodline. Or you can say, to make a child.

Dio almost coughing up blood after hearing the word 'child' came out from his fellow demon's mouth.

And the situation got worse after Sieghart accidentally hears it.

The Grand Chase watched how half of Serdin Castle got destroyed and Sieghart died once for too much laughing.

Now, back to the present.

"Now." Zero replied shortly and he took out a small device from his pocket.

"Is that a magic item? Huh, Oz sure can make something useful occasionally." Dio said while poking the device.

"It's only to Master Oz's laboratory."

"Still neat. By the way, I'm going too."

"You don-"

"Oh shut up, if I said I'm going then I'm going. Stop talking and let's go already."

Ley giggled.

"If Dio is going then let me in too~"

"Ley, it's danger-"

"Zero, start the machine please." Ley interrupted. Zero knew too well Ley is pissed so he complied before she started to torture Dio.

With one button push, they disappeared without a trace.

Oz Pone Max Reinhardt didn't know what to react when he found three demons instead of one in his laboratory. Usually, he will chase out any uninvited guest who came inside his sanctuary but not now. The uninvited guest both are famous noble heir in Demon World, one from the Burning Canyon family and one from Crimson River. He still remembered the later of course.

"Master, do you need me for something?" His creation's voice interrupting him.

"Yes, yes I am. Follow me, bring your… companions too."

Zero nodded and signaled Dio and Ley to follow him deeper in the laboratory.

The inside is wide and Both Dio and Ley passed a lot of tubes filled with… something bizarre. It's dark and all this 'product' added to the creepiness. Zero following his master with his usual silence probably used to see this every day. Even if he is bothered, he wouldn't dare to voice it to his own master.

After around five minutes of walking, Oz finally stopped in front of a door. All the doors in this laboratory are made of metals but this one is from wood. Looks very normal if only it's not in this kind of place.

Oz raise his wood staff and soon after the invincible barrier on the door is disappeared without a trace.

"Zero, leave your Grandark here and go in. The rest of you stay here."

"What!? How dare you sending him without telling him what's inside?"

Dio pushed Zero back.

"And without his weapon too…" Ley followed, she didn't sense anything dangerous behind the door, but she didn't trust anything that resides in this shady place. If Oz can save her from death and make weapon as powerful as Grandark then it's natural to be wary. She didn't know what to say to the rest of Grand Chase if something happened with Zero here.

The old demon sighed. He knew Zero started to learn about human feelings while in human world. When Dio and Ley are different because they are noble demons, Oz can tell they are also affected by the humans. He himself may be a demon who likes chaos when he is young but right now, he just wanted to live quietly.

Oz may look like he never cared about Zero but nope, that's wrong. Human called it 'father's heart', he prefers to call it 'creator's heart'. Yes, he still cares about his well-being all this time. Spying on Zero's movement are easy for a powerful mage like him.

"Rest assured, I detest meaningless death. Zero is my precious creation. I won't do anything to endanger him."

The two noble demon still not convinced.

"I will be fine. I won't break that easily." Zero cut it short with his words and lean the Grandark beside the door.

Grandark grumbled something about 'stupid old man' and 'you better be safe'.

Zero poked his grumpy sword while whispering,

"Not you too, Gran."

The demon wanderer didn't know what to react when he is greeted with a brightly decorated bedroom inside. He imagined something like dirty prison or an empty room filled with traps. That kind of rooms is common in his 'home'. He entered one of them right after he was made. It's not something worth remembering.

He scanned the room.

The floor covered with soft mattresses and it smells like an orange here. Various cushion and stuffed dolls can be found scattered around the room to add more to the fluffiness. There is also a blue colored bed at the corner of the room. He saw a frilly blue dress fold neatly on the top of it.

Is this a girl's room?

Zero suddenly remembered Ley's word.

"It's rude for a boy to come into the girl's bedroom uninvited."

He decided to get back out.

"Good morning…?" Soft voice though sounded a bit hoarse greeted him.

Beside the door, he saw a teenage looking girl lying on the mattress floor and covered with a lot of soft pillows. Her clear, blue eyes gazed at his masked face sleepily. Blue long haired (thankfully) covered her 'below' that accidentally got 'exposed' by her movements unconsciously. Not something that someone like Zero paid any attention to of course.

The girl rubbed her eyes lazily.

She corrects her position to a sitting position and straightens her white, short dress.

The male demon observed her quietly, not knowing what to react. He never senses her the whole time he was there. Something felt off with the girl, but he didn't know what is. His chest felt weird every time he gazed at her eyes.

Thinking the girl must've done something to him, Zero averted his line of sight to something else. He didn't know who this girl is but if she's in Oz's place then she must've been special. Without Gran's guidance the demon like a lost child. He waited for the girl to say something… Only to find her back to sleep. In a sitting position.

Zero took that chance to run away.

Or you can say, a tactical retreat.

TO BE CONTINUED

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