The Demon Monarch System

---- 

The room was pin-drop silent following Valac's shocking revelation. Although every demon understood that their likeliness to cause chaos was linked to something beyond their control, never would they believe that their actions were double-sided.

In addition to upkeeping their actions to sustain their strength, they were supporting their world as well. So, a substantial reason for the demon's current deterioration was due to their lack of conquering.

After all, invading other worlds became far more difficult after the relocation. Not to mention, Fuhrer's barrier made teleporting beyond the Ring harder as well. Unless an abnormally pure Sin sustained the technique, there was a chance of the invasion portal being off.

Though floating around aimlessly in the nebula wasn't dangerous for higher-level demons, the same couldn't be said for Lesser Demons, Greater Demons, and even some of the earlier demons because the nebula consisted of various types of energies.

Just as there was Sin, there was Virtue Energy, Mandate Energy, Arcane Energy, and much more. Resisting the corrosion of these other energies required a strong Demon Body. In most cases, an Archdemon's mature Demon Body wasn't enough unless it reached the last stages.

At that point, their Sin Vessel should be mature enough to counteract the various opposing energies found in the nebula. Only then did the Council allow stronghold and even the sparse households to dispatch their forces to other worlds.

Unfortunately, compared to the siege team that could once effortlessly fell worlds, the Council was lucky if they could amass a joint group of ten thousand demons to slay worlds. While they could create a large amount of Sin Energy, it wasn't enough to fuel the current Rings.

Hence, its current decline.

"Are you telling me that… our home depends on us just as we depend on our world? If so, why hasn't my father told me about this? I'm sure it'd serve as a decent motivator," Tirasha answered in response.

However, Valac just chuckled at her naivete. "You think exposing this to the current demons would change anything? They aren't even aware of the standard that I compare them to. Releasing this information would only cause every demon to turn on each other."

"How so?! I don't think that's the case. There's definitely a number of demons who love their home and would hate to see it disappear!" Tirasha argued. Despite the inherent actions of the demons, Tirasha had faith in a few.

After all, most of the demons from her stronghold were originally an unruly bunch. However, after countless hours of drilling order into their mind, Tirasha managed to change their outlook and cleanse all of the corruptive behavior Valac exposed them to.

"I don't doubt what you say," Valac said while shaking his head. He paused for a moment before continuing, "I just doubt that the number is enough to be of any worth. At least, not without some extra assistance."

"In other words… you believe we should place our faith in Apollo," Tirasha commented with a complex expression. It wasn't anger or frustration that she felt, but rather shock. She couldn't understand how Apollo fostered such deep devotion from these three.

Despite sitting here for less than 10 minutes, Tirasha listened to these three individuals vouch for Apollo countless times. Though she understood that it was typical in a conversation of coercion to repeat the offer, she understood the look in everyone's eyes was genuine.

They truly believed that Apollo was the answer to all their issues. And truthfully speaking, the belief was rubbing off on her as she continued to switch her gaze between the three. Just then, Valac spoke up with a faint smile.

"You'd want to place your faith in him if you knew who he was. Unfortunately, I can't reveal that without the Lord appearing in person. We want to avoid any security issues, even if the Council is inactive and unreachable."

"What… does that mean?" Tirasha questioned while looking at the others. Unfortunately, she could tell that none of them would answer the question based on their questions.

Perhaps if the Council revealed more to her, then she'd be able to guess what their words were related to. Still, outside of demons familiar with the sensation of a household's creation, no one knew that another household had appeared or instead reappeared.

On the other hand, Tirasha didn't intend to ask her father about it because she was tired of receiving dodgy non-answers. She preferred to find out the truth herself, even if it involved taking unknown risks.

"Fine. I'll take this one risk and side with Apollo. So, what happens now?" Tirasha asked.

However, instead of receiving an answer, the others smiled. At first, it was unsettling, but then Valac stood before Tirasha.

"Next… you meet the Lord because while we can get you on the same page as us, we aren't the one who can give you the same identity as us. That requires the Lord's personal touch," Valac said.

As a result of his words, Tirasha's confusion grew. "I-If you can't let me join now, then what's the purpose of you visiting me? Wasn't this whole conservation useless?"

"Nope, not unless at all. It very much has a purpose. It saved you from any forceful means that would have needed to be employed. I'd hate for anyone to suffer the same fate as Arleo. Because just like him, you're a fresh Archdemon," Sapphyr interjected, which caused Tirasha's jaw to drop.

'Arleo? Wasn't that one of brother's vice commanders? Are they saying that something happened involving Arleo's evolution? There's no way. He's an Archdemon of dual Sins and should be quite difficult to damage! Should I be worried?' Tirasha wondered.

Eventually, her worries were unable to be kept back. However, she didn't get a chance to voice her question before Typhir interjected, answering her concerns before she could ask.

"The answer is yes. Something happened to Arleo. As a result, he is now a Greater Demon instead of an Archdemon. However, in my opinion, he's lucky to be alive. I feel that claim on my Lord's life to be intolerable."

Tirasha's eyes constricted after hearing this. However, another question arose in her mind. Besides her worry for Arleo's safety, she couldn't help her curiosity about another matter. "Was it… Apollo who delivered the punishment?"

"Correct," Typhir nodded. "None of us would so bold as to rob our Lord of the pleasure of inflicting punishment personally."

Again, Tirasha fell silent as her fear towards Apollo's progression deepened. 'Strong enough to punish an Archdemon alone? While I'd like to think that it was related to equipment, Arleo's gear was quite strong as well. Meaning… Apollo should be able to handle Archdemons quite easily.'

Finally, Valac cleared his throat while waving his hand. "Aside from this, we come because of another matter. As a person of the Council, you should possess a special connection with the All-seeing Nautilus, right?"

"What about it? Don't you have a contact inside the Nautilus as well? Or… did you do something to burn that bridge long ago," Tirasha said with a faint smirk that caused Valac to choke. He had indeed committed a backstabbing deed that caused his connection at the Nautilus to be burned.

In fact, he didn't even want to show his face seeing as his actions caused one of their prime information gatherers to be killed. Even now, he was sure that his name was still on their Most Wanted List. However, after years of going unfulfilled, the attention surrounding it was bound to diminish.

Be that as it may, Valac still wasn't sure if his sudden appearance would reignite that buried passion.

"Listen, that's besides the point! Just answer yes, or no?" 

Before answering, Tirasha gave Valac a nasty glare. "Tch, how couldn't you extract an answer from my earlier response. What business do you have with the Nautilus anyway?"

"Information. We need some information on Amduscias amongst a few other things.

"Sorry, did you just say Amduscias? As is the same Amduscias that is famed in this Ring as the Lightning Killer?" Tirasha blinked.

"Hoh, hoh, hoh?! The pretty boy has gotten quite famous, I see! That's him, alright. So why exactly is he famous?" Valac said while rubbing his chin. During ancient times, Amduscias was one of the strongest Noblesse on the team because of his odd combination of powers.

In addition to his high affinity with Superbia, he possessed the shocking ability to control dark lightning. Not only was it strong, but it was unmatched in speed and piercing ability.

Therefore, he switched between two special weapons―a spear and a rapier.

"Well, did you not hear his name? He's known as the Lightning Killer. Not only are all of his kills lightning quick, but he uses this horrifying lightning. He's a hired hand for all that can afford him."

"And, how strong is he?" Valac questioned with even more intrigue. While they could determine the piece's position and their general difficulty by the dot's intensity, the system didn't reveal much about how much power was at their disposal.

"Err, that's unknown. It isn't easy to gather information on him. Even the Nautilus fails because anyone who pries is left with a warning char," Tirasha said in a grim tone.

In response, Valac could only sigh while shaking his head.. 'The Lord is really up for some fun with this one.'