by KSY
“OK, Master,” Shera said helplessly, as he knew that if he did not make a move on the Calamity Sect, he would definitely end up dead. He wouldn’t be able to hide from Solomon even in the Inner region of Hell, as he could from Anubis. He would prefer to anger ten Anubises, than just one Solomon: he’d already seen how dangerous and cruel Solomon could be, if he was angered.
Ch.4
A Teleportation portal opened in the Outer region of Starlight Forest. Its sudden appearance startled all the creatures that lived in that part of the forest, following which they started to run helter-skelter in all directions, thus breaking the silence of the night. The powerful Spatial disturbance released by the Teleportation portal was like the Spatial aura released by Immortal Realm Spatial Attribute Beings. The creatures living in that part of the forest were mostly in the early Sub-realms of the Mortal Realm, so it was natural that they would react in such a manner.
A red-eyed young boy with a half-mask hiding his facial features and a Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit flew out of the portal – none other than Ryan and Caius. Both of them were fully charged at that moment, as they were getting an opportunity to explore a new place.
Ryan had activated his Asura eyes before stepping out of the portal and quickly scanned his surrounding and found it devoid of any creature which made him relax a little. That was what that he’d been expecting but he had no intention of taking any risks.
“Let’s go to Tondenth’s place first,” Ryan said to Caius as they charged deeper into the forest where Tondenth had created his lair.
--------------------------x--------------------------
The situation on Demon Continent had taken a drastic turn after the information about a demon that was trying to evolve into an Oblivion Demon had spread across the entire continent. All the demon factions started to prepare for fighting it. The ones that had their Main branches in the Divine Universe quickly contacted them, as they knew that they were not strong enough to deal with the threat that the Demon Continent was facing. All the demon factions decided to drop their enmity amongst themselves for the time being and work together to fend off the threat that they were all facing.
Each demon faction had sent a representative to the capital of the Twilight Demon Kingdom for the meeting called by its current King at his palace. These representatives were by no means ordinary demons. Each one commanded the respect of millions of demons and their names were enough to shake the entire Demon Continent and cause havoc in the continents controlled by humans. Today their expressions while sitting in the Throne Room of the Twilight Demon Kingdom were no different from that of chickens in the butcher’s shop who knew that their end was coming.
The capital of the Twilight Kingdom is in the eastern region of Demon Continent, a few thousand kilometers from Green Highlands. It is called Heavenly Demon City and it looks no different from a human city except that everything in it is huge – from entrances, to residential buildings and so on. That’s because the average height of most Demons is about six to eight meters depending on their species. Heavenly Demon City is divided into different parts based on the status of its residents, just as it is in any human city. The hierarchical system within the Demon race is extremely strict and individuals need to abide by it, until he or she has the necessary strength to ignore it – otherwise only death awaits such individuals.
On that day, the entire Heavenly Demon City was shrouded in silence as the information about a demon trying to evolve into an Oblivion Demon had already spread over the entire continent.
The Royal Palace of the Twilight Demon Kingdom is in the center of Heavenly Demon City. It is the grandest, biggest and oldest structure in the city and is spread over an area of five square kilometers. Anyone can tell from a single glance that it is made from the best construction materials available on Grandura. The city’s grandeur even makes human factions envious of it. It is that flashy!
The high-profile meeting was taking place in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace. The Throne Room was decorated with priceless jewels and precious furniture but the atmosphere in the Throne Room was extremely chaotic. The representatives of all the factions were arguing about how they should deal with the demon in the valley in Green Highlands.
The representatives of some factions were suggesting that they blow up the entire valley using the combined might of millions of Immortal Realm Demons to stop the demon while it was still in its evolution phase. Some were thinking of asking devils for help as the Devil race wouldn’t get much affected by the Baleful aura and other Innate Abilities of an Oblivion Demon in comparison with demons. The Devil race and the Demon race were in alliance on Grandura as well as in the Divine Universe. The two races had a long history of helping each other during each other’s difficult times.
“We won’t reach a conclusion like this,” the King of the Grandura branch of the Twilight Demon Kingdom thundered, which made all the arguing representatives go quiet as they looked at the huge throne on a pedestal at one end of the Throne Room where the King was seated. The King’s name was Nox and he was wearing a red robe which had a large number of Asura figures printed on it.
Nox was a humanoid demon with black scales that covered every inch of his body including his human-like face. He was a Soul Sucking Hell Demon with High-grade bloodline purity and was about ten meters tall.
Soul Sucking Hell Demons are an extremely terrifying existence amongst demons and are infamous for their ability to quickly increase their Cultivation Level, so long as they have sufficient souls to devour. The scales covering their bodies give them unparalleled defense amongst demons, while their physical strength is equally terrifying. The Innate Abilities possessed by them are also quite frightening, as they mostly target souls and it is quite difficult to defend against them. Most Martial Artists avoid challenging a Soul Sucking Hell Demon on his or her own. Nox was one of the most famous Soul Sucking Hell Demons of Grandura, as he had killed numerous powerhouses from human factions.
“We have an Ancestor from our Main branch on Grandura. According to him, it would be best to avoid a fight with that demon, as we are not its match and would only add to its strength if we fought it. That Ancestor has already tried to enter the valley to deal with the demon but he almost lost his life the moment he came into contact with its Baleful aura. He is currently in the process of sealing the valley and will join the meeting once he’s done with the sealing,” Nox added once everyone went quiet.
Many of the representatives were stunned upon hearing Nox’s words, as they were not expecting the Twilight Demon Kingdom to have had an Ancestor from its Main branch secretly supporting them all this while.
The Founders of all the factions on Grandura, including the demon factions, that had their Main branches in the Divine Universe, had come to an agreement that they wouldn’t send members of their Main branches to Grandura until and unless their Grandura branches were under severe threat of complete annihilation. This agreement had been broken by many factions of the different races on numerous occasions (like the Calamity Sect had done when it had plotted against Shana), but usually nothing big came of it unless a lot of lives were lost due to their meddling in Grandura’s affairs.
Many demon factions had violated that agreement but they had informed the other demon factions about their Main branch members being on Grandura – unlike the Calamity Sect. There was a big reason for this. The numerous demon factions on Grandura were always at loggerheads with each other, so wars were extremely common amongst them and a huge number of demons had died in them – unlike the situation for human factions.
If a demon with a Cultivation Level beyond Immortal Realm were to secretly support its faction’s Grandura branch, that Grandura branch would but naturally fare well in any war. Additionally, there was no way to easily tell if the members of the Main branch of that demon faction supported their faction’s Grandura branch in the war or not. As a result, the demon factions of Grandura had additional agreements amongst themselves.
Whenever members of a demon faction’s Main branch arrived on Grandura, they were supposed to inform all the other demon factions about it. During that time no demon faction would start a war with the demon faction being visited by its Main branch members – and neither would that demon faction attack other demon factions.
The higher-ups of the Grandura branch of the Twilight Demon Kingdom hadn’t informed the other demon factions of Grandura about Liam and they’d also fought with a number of demon factions in the previous few years – and won all those wars. As a result, there was a very high chance that those demon factions would believe that they’d lost the wars due to Liam secretly supporting the members of the Grandura branch of the Twilight Demon Kingdom. Otherwise, the Grandura branch of the Twilight Demon Kingdom would have told them about Liam right after his arrival instead of hiding his existence from them.
Nox hadn’t wished to divulge this matter to them, but he had no choice as Liam was the one who’d asked him to call this meeting and shortly he would be joining it personally.
“I would also like to clarify why that Ancestor from our Main branch is on Grandura. He was sent to Grandura by the Main branch of our faction to keep my recently-born son safe, since Noah possesses an Original-grade bloodline,” Nox said, as he could tell what was going on in the minds of the representatives of the different factions. They could erupt at him at any moment.
The representatives glared murderously at Nox and were about to erupt with anger, but suddenly had dazed expressions as they slowly digested Nox’s words. It had been millions of years since a demon with Original-grade bloodline had been born on Grandura, so this news was bound to shock them.
A demon with Original-grade bloodline is of very high significance for any demon faction for three reasons. First, that demon has extremely high potential and the speed with which his or her Cultivation Level rises is far quicker than for demons with lower bloodline purity. Second, his or her strength is way above that of demons with lower bloodline purity of a similar Cultivation Level. Third, his or her children possess extremely high bloodline purity. So, the birth of a demon with Original-grade bloodline in any demon faction leads to an increase in the strength of that demon faction.
“Congratulations! King Nox!”
“Congratulations! King Nox!”
“Congratulations! King Nox!”
One by one the representatives congratulated Nox with forced smiles on their faces. They sent information to their factions about Nox having a son with Original-grade bloodline right away after regaining their composures and they no longer found the presence of Liam on Grandura odd. It was completely understandable for any faction to take such protective measures for a demon with Original-grade bloodline purity. They decided not to raise the matter of Liam for the time being.
Nox could tell what was most likely going on in the minds of all the representatives which made him worry about the safety of his son. It was not rare for demons with Original-grade bloodlines to be kidnapped and used like stud animals to father a great many children for the kidnapping faction, or for demonesses with Original-grade bloodlines to be forced to marry a powerful demon of the kidnapping faction and give birth to a number of children.
Nox had already asked all his subordinates to increase the protection of his son. He had no intention of taking any risks with Noah’s security, as he was extremely important for their faction’s future. He would not have let Noah’s existence be known to the world had it not been for the current circumstances and the major reason was his faith that Liam would keep Noah safe given the fact that he had a cultivation level in the Early Celestial Elite Realm.
The Main branch of the Twilight Demon Kingdom could have sent a powerful demon with a Cultivation Level in the God Realm but such a demon’s existence would have been felt by all the demons of Grandura. So, they’d no choice but to send Liam, who had a Cultivation Level in the Early Celestial Elite Realm, whose existence wouldn’t be felt by any other demon on Grandura and he would be able to secretly keep Noah safe. Liam was strong enough to easily defeat beings with Cultivation Levels in Immortal Saint Realm and Noah’s safety was guaranteed as long as his existence was kept a secret.
“Thanks a lot for your kinds words. I am sure Noah will be happy to know that he has so many well-wishers,” Nox said with a cheery laugh but deep down his worries were increasing with each passing second. He just hoped that Liam came back quickly, as he could see evil glints in the eyes of all the representatives. He wanted them to leave the Royal Palace at the earliest. He wouldn’t find it at all odd, if someone tried to kill or harm Noah.
Just as one of the representatives was about to speak again a Teleportation portal opened within the Throne Room. The sudden appearance of the Teleportation portal shocked all the representatives, as they knew that such an action was forbidden in Twilight Demon Kingdom. The Throne Room was a sacred place within the Twilight Demon Kingdom as it represented the authority of the King, so actions like teleporting into the Throne Room were considered offensive and demeaning to Nox’s position.
Soon two Redback Demons stepped out of it, one of them, male and the other, female–none other than Liam and Sabrina.
“Ancestor Liam!” all the demons from the Twilight Demon Kingdom said quickly as they gave a deep bow to Liam. Nox also bowed to Liam after standing up from his throne, as he was weaker in comparison to Liam. Demons revere the strong and their leaders are decided solely on the basis of strength – not on any other quality, including intelligence. This is the main reason demon factions fight so much with each other, as well as the factions of other races.
When the representatives saw the over-exaggerated reaction of the demons of the Twilight Demon Kingdom and the manner in which they addressed Liam, they could tell that he was the supposed Ancestor from the Main branch of the Twilight Demon Kingdom. They also bowed towards Liam but not as deeply as Nox and the others from the Twilight Demon Kingdom.
Liam just gave a slight nod in acknowledgement. His face had an unsmiling expression, as he looked at the representatives of all the different demon factions.
“I hope that your Faction Heads have already informed their Main branches about the impending danger on Grandura. The situation is not something we can handle on our own,” Liam said as he looked at the representatives of the other demon factions.
“They have already done that,” some of the demons amongst the representatives said in unison.
“Let’s hope they arrive on Grandura within a week or two, otherwise the Demon race might go extinct on Grandura,” Liam said in a grim tone which made the expressions of everyone present in the Throne Room change drastically.
“Are the Divine Beast Sealing Pillars not good enough to seal it until the arrival of help from the Main branches of the different demon factions?” Nox couldn’t help but ask with a worried expression.
“I have no idea. This is my first time in dealing with a demon that is trying to evolve into an Oblivion Demon but if the legends and stories are taken into account, then I don’t think Divine Beast Pillars will be able to hold it for more than a week once it finishes evolving into an Oblivion Demon,” Liam said with sigh. His words made everyone even more tense.
“Can’t we strike while it is still evolving and stop it from completing its evolution?” one of the representatives asked.
“We can’t. If we kill it while it’s undergoing evolution, then its body will release a terrifying type of miasma which will turn the entire Demon Continent into a waste land and also wipe out all life on the continent,” Liam said in a tone that was far more grim than before. Everyone in the Throne Room couldn’t help but suck in cold air on hearing that.
Lucas had evolved into an Oblivion Demon some three hundred million years ago and after that no demon had ever been successful in evolving into an Oblivion Demon. So, the information regarding the capabilities of an Oblivion Demon was eventually forgotten with the passage of time. That was also what the Demon race on Grandura wanted,
so that knowledge couldn’t entice other demons to attempt evolving into Oblivion Demons. As a result, Liam didn’t find it at all odd that they were making such suicidal suggestions.
“I want all of you to return to your respective factions and inform your Heads about everything that’s happened in this meeting. It would be best if your factions could send all their Immortal Demons to Green Highlands to fight it, until help comes from the Main branches of the different demon factions,” Liam added. He didn’t think that anything else needed to be said in this meeting. He would explain things more thoroughly, when the Faction Heads arrived at Green Highlands.
The representatives nodded their heads as they quickly left for their respective factions. They knew that if the things said by Liam were even half-true, the future of the Demon race on Grandura was in danger, so they hurried back to their respective factions.
“Ancestor, I had to tell them about Noah to explain your presence,” Nox said in a bitter tone. If he hadn’t done that, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that both the Grandura branch of the Twilight Demon Kingdom as well as its Main branch would have faced the combined wrath of the other demon factions.
“That’s OK. The matter of Noah couldn’t have been kept a secret forever and the Main branch will make arrangements for his security, so don’t worry,” Liam said with a smile.
Nox felt a little more relieved on hearing that from Liam.
“Where is Noah?” Liam asked Nox.
“He is in his bedroom. Should I call him?” Nox replied in a respectful manner.
“No need. I will go and meet him there,” Liam said as a smile appeared on his face from just thinking about Noah. He then left for Noah’s bedroom, but Nox and the rest remained in the Throne Room to discuss other matters relating to the Kingdom.
Noah was a five-year-old Redback Demon. He’d had a Cultivation Level of Early Immortal Elite Realm right from the day he was born. He even possessed a very terrifying Evil flame. This Evil flame was intrinsic to Redback Demons but only individuals with Original-grade bloodline possessed it. This flame is slightly weaker than Hell’s Fire flame and is called Red Demon flame. His mother, Rashmi had only survived giving birth to him as her Cultivation Level was Mid Immortal Saint Realm at the time. If her Cultivation Level had not been anywhere near Noah’s, then her life would definitely have ended on the day of his birth. The midwife that helped Rashmi deliver Noah died from his flames. It was not just the midwife – all the other maids in the room that had Cultivation Levels below Immortal Lord Realm died from the torrent of flames that had erupted out of Noah right after his birth and quickly spread throughout the entire room.