The entire room fell silent as the duchess covered her mouth, brainstorming over the events that had occurred at the perimeter of the city. And the realization that she had come to was so dark that her face couldn't help but pale.
"Are you telling me he was acting weak just so he could infiltrate the city and destroy us? I mean, under the authority of another duchess, he could practically get away with anything as long as he has her under his control."
"You overestimate him. The reason why he is so smart and calculative is that he is weaker than everybody else in the first place. This allows others to see him as nothing more than a tiny, harmless spider, allowing him to weave the webs of control through their entire being… he's basically me, but weaker. And that's what makes him better than me at controlling people. He won't be the one making moves on the city, but people he managed to control… and that includes you, Apostle of Destruction," The demon lord turned back towards me, pointing his long middle finger right at me.
After licking the tip of his fingernail, he chuckled ever so slightly before proceeding to walk out of the room. His gaze nearly punctured holes through the two guards, who were frozen with fear at the very presence of this man.
Their guard duty of protecting the entrance to this room was nothing but a joke in front of this man. He could walk in and out as he pleased, and nobody would dare to stop him. What an asshole…
He had left a gaping hole in the mood surrounding us. This office wasn't already looking good, but now after this, the entire thing just felt completely pointless to us being here. Just standing next to him was draining, and it was quite obvious to see as the guards suddenly dropped to their knees and hands, coughing up pools of blood that gathered at their palms.
"Okay, shall we get going?" The vampire who had come to deliver me the message asked. I had completely forgotten he was there, but I was too tired to even ask why he seemed completely unaffected and just went with him as he passed by me. The duchess didn't even try to stop me as she sunk back into her chair, angrily gnashing her teeth. She was mad at not only the demon lord but herself, who was nothing but an ant beneath him.
"Your pride will be the death of you," I spoke up just as I was about to leave, yet as I expected to be called back, surprisingly, she didn't say anything. To be honest, she might not have even heard me as she didn't even attempt to give me a glance and instead continued to burn a hole through the wooden table, using nothing but her eyes.
Upon leaving the estate and walking through the desolate and now destroyed streets, I found myself looking at each and every corner of the city. Well, each and every corner of what I could see while on the path to the vampire duchess' mansion. And from what I could detect, the hunger was starting to die down, meaning the demon lord must have left by now or gone to some other part of the city.
Ruckage was still spread across the streets as people attempted to recover from their starving bodies. Mentally, they also had to recover, as some had even eaten their friends, coworkers, and possibly even family. It was a sad sight to see some of the demons dropping to their knees upon the realization that they held the mauled corpse of their mother, father, daughter, son, sister, brother, cousin, uncle, or aunt. I saw it all, and boy, was it not pretty.
They all entered the five stages of grief. Denial, where they attempted to convince themselves that it was somebody else who did it, and they just didn't see it in their blind hunger. Anger, where they soon came to the realization that gaslighting themselves was pointless. They knew they did it, and that realization came with a wave of emotions that sent them tumbling down to the ground, pounding it and slamming it so hard, small craters formed across the streets.
"Poor things…" The vampire I was following muttered. But despite his words, he looked to be smiling beneath the black mask covering his nose and mouth. His eyes were tilted upwards, like he was excitedly grinning at the pitiful beings who were breaking down on the streets. I mean, killing your family member is one thing, but cannibalizing them is another.
The next stage of grief that was witnessed was that of a daughter who looked to be only a couple of years old. She was barely at the point where she gained consciousness, but due to the curse of demons growing faster than others, her mind was fully developed. So, as her blood-stained mouth dripped with the flesh of her mother, she proceeded to mutter over and over, "I'm sorry… I-I'll be good. I won't be bad anymore. Just come back. I-I'll be good. I won't be bad anymore. Just come back. I-I'll be good. I won't be bad anymore. Just come back…."
Over and over, I saw her slip further into the five stages as her throat ran hoarse, and she could no longer bargain with a dead individual. So, she just sat there on the ground, her eyes matte with a lifeless aura, slight tears running from her face. She was sad but still couldn't accept it, causing her to fall into a motionless paradox of depression. Nothing she could do now would save her or her mother.
"Hey, don't worry. It's not your fault," I quickly kneeled beside the girl, stretching my hand across her back and slowly rubbing her other shoulder. Her expressionless face, stained with red tear streaks, turned towards me. Slowly, her pale face returned with color, and her face crumpled into that of an ugly cry. Mucus dripped from her nose while large balls of tears flew down her face like they were rushing to moisten her dry and cracked lips.
Acceptance was the final stage, and no matter how much I tried to tell her it wasn't her fault, she still uttered, at her young age, "No… It was still me who ate her. Even if somebody influenced me… I-I still ate my mom… I-I hate myself," The girl cried into my collarbone whilst a few onlookers used this girl as a source of reality as well. The street was filled with tears, and the vampire standing right next to me couldn't help but roll their eyes.
"Have a bit of sympathy, asshole," I slowly stroked the girl's long hair. She definitely had demonic features, but not all demons were these horrible beings. It was only the strongest of the strongest that were terrible, and when they rose to the overworld, they brought their misfortune with them, staining their reputation.
But it was quite the opposite of what was stigmatized around them. Probably 98% of demons were innocent. They were just like humans as they lived their lives peacefully, while some humans were evil as well. The two races were no different, yet clashed because their superiors were prideful assholes who only wanted to conquer or destroy the other race.
"Hey, is it a bad thought that I want to make peace between the demons and humans?" I turned towards the expressionless vampire, waiting for me to get up. And as I handed the girl over to what seemed to be her injured big brother, the man opened his mouth.
"If that's what you want, I can't stop you. It'll be troublesome, though, because of both sides. But if you want to achieve true peace, which is what I think you want to do, you must have demons and gods in the same field of thinking. Real peace will come from a fresh treaty between demons and gods."
"A fresh one? So are you saying there is an already existing treaty between both sides?" I asked, continuing my way down the street. And as the vampire walked next to me, his eyes went cold just as he began to explain further.
"I guess you're new here, or maybe a fallen one from the overworld, but the demons and gods have a non-aggression pact. Both, to be honest, can simply be put in terms as… on a cease-fire, per se. That's the only real way to explain it. And this cease-fire has been going on for a couple of centuries."
I continued to ask him miscellaneous questions about the demons and gods, but most were stuff I already knew. The things I did learn about were pretty useless when it came to the broader spectrum and my goals. But at least it let me kill enough time till we finally arrived at the vampire estate. And I was so excited to see Orion.
