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Within a large and dark hall, a group of people covered in black robes looked into a mirror reflecting what had occurred just some minutes ago within the Forest surrounding the village where Blake lived. Before their eyes were all the hard work of over ten years laid waste, as hundreds of demon corpses decorated the landscape. The Demon Settlement was completely and utterly blasted into smithereens by the explosion caused when the Artificial Demon Gate was destroyed, and now there was nothing left at all, not even the possibility for demons to come back through said Gate.
The figures within this dark hall remained in silence, as their faces showed grim expressions. What had happened was never within their expectations. Who would had believed that a mere army of no more than 150 men would had managed to destroy an army with over 500 Demons? As they analyzed the battlefield, however, they quickly realized that the soldiers alone would had never been able to win.
This was a cooperative work that took many powerful priests, villagers that knew the terrain more than anybody, and incredibly talented individuals capable of slaying hundreds by themselves. Even their Demon General, whom they believed would had been able to clean things up at the end was ultimately defeated by incredibly talented children.
Yes, the most humiliating thing was that the ones that inflicted the most damage aside from the Head Priest to the Demon General were a bunch of children and their spirits. The sight was utterly ridiculous, making the figures grimace what had happened while growing increasingly unrestful. What should they do now that things had come to this? Of course, they had many other options and plans, but this plan which had been worked for over ten years getting destroyed in a single day was utterly terrible for their morale.
“T-The Artificial Gate we made is destroyed so easily…”
“The Demons we brought and raised to invade this fiefdom…”.
“The glorious demons we raised…!”
“…”
Amongst the figures, a taller one remained in silence as the others seemed to despair. It quickly spoke with a cold tone of voice.
“Do not falter, in the great scheme of things, this doesn’t matter as much. This entire place was merely a small village. Although our ultimate plan was to take over the fiefdom with these demons just as our lords have guided us to do, this only delays the inevitable! The Great Archdemon Beelzebub shall one day be brought to this world, and he shall bring the ultimate end!”
“The ultimate end…!”
“Ah, how glorious it would be to see a Great Archdemon!”
“The other branches of our organization are all working hard for this same goal. Our Lords are guiding us, do not falter! We can continue doing this, we shall keep persevering… As long as there are a few of us, we can rebuild everything. With the power of the demons by our side… We shall complete our goal.”
The figures seemingly raised their morale by the words of their leader. Despite having their plans of taking over the fiefdom in the next months completely destroyed, as long as they remained alive, they would simply begin to work in something once more.
…
As the meeting between these people ended, the leader of the branch of this organization moved towards his secret chambers, sitting over his chair, and contacting the Lords through the power of a special magical artifact in the shape of a red crystal ball. As he infused both Demonic Energy and Mana into it, the ball glowed bright red, and several shadows suddenly answered his call.
“Do you have any picture of how the child looks like?”
A terrifying and lugubrious voice spoke through the crystal ball, as he man nodded rapidly.
“Y-Yes, my Lord.” With a wave of his hand, red and purple essence flew from his head into the crystal ball, infusing his memories and images stored inside of his mind into the magical artifact.
[0)ᴠʟ “I see… He seems powerful and brilliant, and so very talented… Such a promising future…”
“Is this the one that took away the Cambion from us?”
“Yes, he is the one. A mysterious child indeed. So much power, ability, and potential. It feels like he’s not really a child.”
“He was seen developing the ability to fuse with his spirit at this early age…”
“Is this how he ultimately defeated the Demon General? Amusing.”
“He received the help of various others…”
“What shall we do with this?”
“Hmmm… For the moment. Let’s observe. You, prepare things until then. Materials for another Artificial Demon Gate will be delivered soon, alongiside some new items. Make sure to not stand out, the entire issue with Cassandra was because she stood out too much… That Cambion is a precious specimen, we shall procure him on its due time. But for now, let’s observe and prepare.”
“Yes, my lord.”
As the Lords cut off the connection with their servant’s magic artifact, they remained in silence within their dark temple, as they directed their gazes towards an enormous floating spherical-shaped red crystal. Many would thing it was an ordinary ruby of insane size, but those in this place quickly noticed it wasn’t something so simple.
It emanated a bizarrely strong aura of pure Mana and Demonic Energy essence, the combination of both elements so magistral that it created changes within its environment. This rich energy was being constantly absorbed by these figures, nourishing their strength and powers.
“A Demon Core such as this is truly a wonderful item… Our power is being nourished at a rapid pace.”
“Indeed… The Demon Towers are truly filled with treasures beyond our comprehension.”
“The larger organizations that are competing with us seem to have been seizing more floors. We cannot lose…”
“Our pact with Lord Beelzebub is strong, as long as we can summon his Avatar, we’ll have our wins secured. But the path towards such a goal is arduous…”
“Do not falter, fellow brothers…”
Within the floating core, a faint heartbeat could be heard.
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