Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1278: The Council of Demons

The current reigning Demon Emperor had called for a grand meeting that summoned almost all of his vassals, except those who held command at the borders of their empire due to the ongoing war.

Compared to even that of the Rakos Empire, not only was the Demon Palace almost 3 times larger and twice taller than Kahn’s Imperial Palace, but the throne room expanded to a whopping 2 kilometers in length itself.

However, even that was hardly adequate for the entirety of the forces to be accommodated.

Because, contrary to humans or demi-human races… the Demons of the Khorne Empire were just as big as High Lord and Legendary Rank monsters.

And unlike the former kind, they were all highly intelligent beings with proper fighting classes, combat techniques, unique skills, and were seasoned with knowledge of warfare.

They did not move with instincts; no, they moved with purpose. And that purpose was to fulfill their master’s command.

And at this meeting, the most important figures of them all were present in this meeting.

The Twelve Rakshasas.

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The epitome of Maliketh Baal’s experimentations manifested, were all present in the meeting called within the Demon Palace.

They were officially recognized by the rest of Vantrea as his Swords and Hammers that decimated their enemies whenever they made their appearance outside of the Khorne Empire.

All of them were seated against the Emperor’s throne, each one of them being at least 100 meters tall, even though they were merely seated on metallic constructs resembling a throne themselves.

And at the very end, was the tallest of them all… the 500 meters tall being, despite just casually sitting on his throne, towered over everyone else.

By normal people’s understanding… these were absurd parameters for their size. But in reality, these were not their true forms. Rather, the smallest form they could take to have a convenient meeting like this.

At this point, a glowing red crystal mounted behind the Demon Emperor’s throne against the wall, only revealed the silhouette of his multiple horns as the rest of his visage remained completely dark.

“Let us begin,” spoke his advisor, who had an Ox skull for a head.

The royal advisor who also carried the proceedings of the emperor himself was a 50-meter-tall being who had multiple curled horns coming out of his skull, two snake-like tails, and hooves as his feet, while covering the remainder of his body in a glowing red and black cloak.

Three orbs of dark blue fire floated around the back of his head as he spoke with the rest of the court.

“I, Belphegor, invite you all to summons by our lord, the Demon Emperor.

After today, it is hardly likely for all of us to assemble like this again,” spoke the advisor in a hoarse and sinister tone.

His gaze then lay upon the 12 Rakshasas, his eyes darting from one to another.

“As per our lord’s commands… the Rakshasas, intentionally awakening the Mythical Rank beasts slumbering in various empires, had yielded enough Chaos for us to finally begin our main objective.

It was our strategic move to destroy military outposts and take down some saints during the battle. Meanwhile, we also polluted their water sources, causing plague and drought while billions across Vantrea have already died to our schemes.” declared Belphegor with a malicious smile.

“Except for someone present here,” spoke the Demon Emperor in a grim tone.

However, one of them was bowing his head, looking down in shame.

“I had to assume my true form to save a particular useless runt from a Fenrirborne in the Nadur Empire.” he spoke with disdain in his tone.

The Demon Emperor recounted the time when he had to save this particular Rakshas from Romulus Lykaios, the Heavenly King of Fire.

While Kahn and Maximus Gladius, the Hero of Nature, were facing mythical rank beasts, Romulus had also foiled one of such attempts at the borders of Elysium, the part of the Beast Empire he guarded.

“And to our shame… the Superior Dragon, Varuna, was also killed by the Empress of Nadur Empire, Kaali Adisesha.

In the Space Empire, Emperor Hideyoshi also almost killed one of our Rakshas, and he is currently recovering.” stated the Demon Emperor as he looked at the end of the thrones on his right, gazing intently at one of the wounded Rakshas.

Even the Rakshas was trembling in fear, his body flinching instinctively under the demon emperor’s judgmental look.

It was then that Belphagor explored the topics of conversation.

“The Empire of Time is currently the weakest due to what happened with the Hero of Time and other empires attacking them.

However, when two of our Rakshas tried to make use of the opportunity and attack their capital… they were saved by the Warfarer Sovereign, Sylvester Armstrong.” he stated to all the demonkin commanders and generals present in the court.

Two other Rakshas put their head down in shame as they clenched their fists.

One could say that their strategic attacks weren’t completely successful.

“The matter with the Hero of Darkness was supposed to divide them further.

If only the Revenant Sovereign hadn’t declared himself as his guardian… we could have made use of that opportunity and maybe destroyed a couple of empires when they were after his divine key,” said Belphagor.

“To make matters worse… it turns out he became the Emperor of the Rakos Empire of all places. It is not only far beyond our reach but also holds the border with the fallen Abyss Empire.

The only way is to use the Vulkan, Zivot, and Nadur empire, but they’re all on high alert already; especially in the No Man’s Land.

On top of it, that bastard Havi Hos Siegfreed is still alive… I even helped find Pandora’s Box and gave it to their Pope, Demiurges Val Arhlem.

But not only did their rebellion fail, but they got the Hero of Fire killed in the process.” revealed Belphagor.

Yes, the plot to kill the Emperor by the Church of Hetrax, while Axel Lobthrox, the Hero of Fire, who targeted Vanessa and Kahn… was also initiated by the Royal Advisor of the Demon Emperor, almost 5 years ago.

Soon, Maliketh himself spoke with an incredulous tone…

“He would’ve been a useful ally in this war, just like the original timeline.

Even though we cannot confirm whether he has already gone through his ‘Miserable Life’ part, he ought to be an indispensable tool.

In the original timeline, the Martial Emperor was planning to kill him after the latter killed the Hero of Nature.

But now… we can’t even kill that bastard who ruined our plan.” he stated with an indignant voice.

“Since the progression of life was not confirmed… I guess we should also thank the Hero of Darkness for killing the Hero of Fire.

Had his fate untwined during our great crusade… we could have suffered immeasurable losses,” added Belphagor, as he tried to soothe the demon emperor’s anger.

“But now, we must change our priority target. The one we must kill as soon as possible is none other than…” said the royal advisor as his sinister aura turned the court silent.

“Kassandra Mikealson.”