NOVEL NEXT Chapter 63: What Makes A Demon
Far in the west of where {The Forest of Mortality} was located - past the {Eternal Frontier} which separated {The Land Abandoned God} from Mother’s far larger territory - was a mountain range.
The range was an impressive place in the way that the creatures within were certainly stronger than what mortals could usually deal with. Not only that but the mountain range had a very large coverage with many tribes of nomadic Cow-kin & Minotaur; gaining the name {Moolesh Mountain Range} from the surrounding countries called {Gobberz}, {Evergreen} & {Orrid). In the mountain range there were also many types of [Sub-Dragons] which were feared for their might no matter where a mortal lived.
Though if looked through the lens of the world as a whole there was little special about all those details that made it anything special. Many mountain ranges existed which were even larger or taller than {Moolesh} was, many tribes roamed the lands with many being more impressive such as the Lamia and [Sub-Dragons] could only intimidate mortals. As such, to those who truly rule over the world under Mother, this is just a normal mountain range of little interest.
If there was anything of interest it would be the area surrounding the mountain range since there was the {Evergreen Forest} in the south which was an elven country. Their kingdom in particular contained descendents of Mother who guarded the gigantic [World Tree] - within the north of the mountain range was {Gobberz} ruled by {Chaos J Faust}. Even Sohn-Tochter & the Dreamer had their own footholds there.
Above all of them there was one single fox though…
Atop one of the many freezing mountain tops was one which was ‘flattened’ - though it would be arguable if it were merely flattened and not cut down. In the centre was a decently sizable wooden cabin with a nice porch with a rocking chair which were all made from wood only obtained in the oni’s home forest. Surrounding the cabin were rows upon rows of strawberry bushes which likely shouldn’t be growing up here.
The man responsible for this strange growth was ‘hard’ at work with a hoe in hand which he used to till the hard earth of the mountain. His crimson hair tied up behind his head in a simple low ponytail - clearly fashioned just to prevent it from getting in his way. To facilitate his long hair as well as snow white skin was a straw hat upon his head which stopped the glares from the undisturbed sunlight (no clouds floating high enough).
Even with the harsh sun pounding on his arms, the sleeves of his white blouse pulled up past his elbows to reveal his slender muscular, as he dragged the hoe through the earth. The red sash tied around his waist flared up in the wind as it held two wooden practice swords. After a few hours of preparing more earth for some more plants he finished. Reaching up with his calloused hands he took the towel around his neck to slowly wipe his face even if there was no real sweat.
Ten mighty bloodred fox tails coming from his back stretched out after what… Well considering he was one of the few beings on Violet’s level of might it was hardly any effort let alone a workout that required stretches. If anything it was more accurate that he was stretching after having rested for a bit too long resulting in his muscles sleeping.
Abruptly he turned his head to behind him where the old dragon Leviathan slowly approached from without any hurry.
As always of one with his bloodline, his eyes were passively closed, yet unlike his daughter he presented no smile. Instead a slight frown which suited the ancient samurai remained on his face in a less disturbing fashion than that of the always smiling Mother. The crimson ten tailed fox made no attempt to greet him but instead merely snorted dismissively before continuing on.
Leviathan didn’t care about that as he had his senses washed over the mountain top - unlike his daughter he didn’t even attempt to go through the motions such as turning his face. Still that seemingly didn’t help him anymore as his brow soon furrowed while his frown grew more extreme as the fox began to till the ground again. He spoke in his old gruff voice which contained all the weight of the oceans.
“Where is the hatchling?” <Leviathan>
Contrary to just about everyone else in the world the fox made no attempt to answer the dragon as he instead began to till with one hand. The other hand reached into his pocket to pull out a smoking pipe which he soon began to focus on rather than his job of tilling the earth, placing some ground up dried purple leaves into the bowl of the pipe. Lifting his right above the chamber only for sword intent far beyond what a mortal could comprehend formed upon his thumb & index finger which he then… Clicked to create a spark to set alight the pipe.
While the fox was doing all that Leviathan was just left watching silently as if he was well used to this kind of treatment; considering how much he dealt with Violet it made sense.
Even still the fox made sure to place the pipe in his mouth and take a long drag of smoke with closed eyes. A few minutes more passed as the fox held the smoke in his lungs before letting out a large plume of smoke, opening those blood red eyes to finally look at the dragon. Looking for a few minutes before the fox finally spoke.
“No clue.” <Bloodleaf>
“*Sigh* You were supposed to be teaching her on your master's command so how come you don’t kno- no, you did know but you forgot, haven’t you?” <Leviathan>
Hearing the clear complaint in Leviathan’s tone the crimson fox didn’t seem to care as he slowly walked up to the house to sit in the rocking chair. Taking another puff of his pipe before blowing out the smoke again - luckily for the primordial god he didn’t consume as much time before answering. Still didn’t change the fact he spoke with an uncaring yet somehow regal tone which could easily annoy anyone.
“I did not care to remember, considering she went out meditating.” <Bloodleaf>
“Did you not consider that all ‘hippie bullshit’?” <Leviathan>
“Yet apparently my older sister is a hippie snorting shit with relish - would not be surprised if she actually did with how long she pandered those kinky green gremlins for so long. Not to mention the god she worships is called ‘Elizabeth’. Everyone knows that anyone with that accursed name is a crazy kinky bitch with close to zero self control.” <Bloodleaf>
“Bloodleaf…” <Leviathan>
The level of warning in how Leviathan called the man was enough to make anyone worry yet clearly the fox was beyond all that.
“Sue me if I am wrong, big guy.” <Bloodleaf>
To that the dragon could only snort while Bloodleaf just took another large drag from his pipe while looking over his farm. Strawberries were already seemingly ripe for the picking from some of those bushes while others seemed like they were only just about to start growing, showing a discrepancy in time depending on where they were planted. Of course, he had done that on purpose so there would always be strawberries all year round yet it was hardly an easy feat for the average non-magical farmer.
Even for cultivators the seasons couldn’t be ignored like the cheeky fox was doing.
Seeing everything growing well made a confident smirk appear on his face making it quite clear he was proud of his achievement, which as impressive as it was, was hardly that great. He didn’t care about that though. Still his brow would furrow as he heard the next words the eldest living dragon spoke, making him blow out his smoke, the first time he replied sharply.
“It’s time to prepare for war {Demon God of The Bloody Battlefield}.” <Leviathan>
“I don’t mind playing as much as the next beast yet I don’t do war anymore - my blades have tasted enough blood so they don’t need more.” <Bloodleaf>
Leviathan shook his head and was about to reply only for an unexpected comment to come out the ‘heroic’ fox.
“Anyway who the fuck are you - I don’t remember inviting a bloody scaly into my backyard - in fact I- who the fuck am I again? ” <Bloodleaf>
The fox seemed genuinely confused as if he truly couldn’t remember his own name making him fall back into his chair making it rock back and forth. Overlooking the farmstead once more as if trying to find the answer - instead of his previous look of pride he seemed more impressed in the appearance of the strawberries. He really liked strawberries which at least was one thing that was consistent.
Despite the rudeness of the situation Leviathan wasn’t surprised but merely shook his head gently with a long sigh; well aware of the curse on his comrade. Other than that he was well aware of the way to solve it and it was quite simple. Just remind him of someone so absolute that they were impossible to forget.
“Remember your empress; the one for which you drew your blade.” <Leviathan>
“Empress…” <Bloodleaf>
It was there that something appeared in his mind, just a regular day for them, yet an example of the only being able to truly rule over the demons across all the realms.
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“-and so it was suspected that he sacrificed his fellow Demons to the hands of our self-righteous enemies in order to take over their territory including that of his father a [Vampire Earl]. As it stands three have already fallen to him - yet we weren’t able to find any solid proof that this bastard [Dhampir Earl] actually committed the crimes. So I could not pass down judgement without backlash and thus wanted your insight, mommy.” <The Blood Queen>
A crimson haired beauty who was best referred to as a childish runt with an oversized bust stood in front of black bone throne of a certain Demon God Empress. That very Empress wore leather which somehow clutched to her body to cover the important bits yet left little to the imagination while ‘lying’ against the throne upside down. Said appearance was something that made {The Blood Queen - Ruler of the Children of Blood} quite distracted as blood trickled down from her nose despite her supposed to be the one sucking blood instead.
On the other side of the upside-down ruler was Leviathan and Bloodleaf who each had a hand resting on their swords; even if Bloodleaf only had wooden practice swords.
The queen of vampires wore a black backless dress which tightly clung to her frame with no neck thus allowing her cleavage to be displayed to the world. If a mortal had such a dress it would be impossible to explain how they wore it with no support - even her skirt had a slit on the left side showing her plump thigh. On the other side of the skirt were crimson bats.
Glaring at her from behind was a white haired ‘boy’ who didn’t seem older than 16 yet was in chains made from silver alloy resulting in a soft hissing whenever it touched his skin. Only one of his eyes were crimson while the other would be a more human looking blue with a wax white skin that seemed even more unhealthy than a regular vampire. Still didn’t stop him from yelling quite healthily towards his rulers back.
“Exactly; you have no proof thus I expect compensation after I’m released!” <Dhampir>
Everyone looked at the boy with cold eyes yet Violet appeared somewhat amused with the actions of the boy; she didn’t remain looking at him. Instead she giggled quietly getting everyone's attention back on her at which point she turned to Leviathan before moving her hands to her own eyes. Using her slender fingers to push on her eyelids letting the old dragon look clearly into her eyes yet somehow he understood what that meant since an unreal pressure caused the angry Dhampir to collapse in a cold sweat on the floor; unable to complain anymore.
“Don’t have evidence? Make it! Imprison half-blood then if no more demons get betrayed then push him into reincarnation to make him a human he works with. If innocent then make him full-blood as reward - become way stronger which all demons like. He can also help search for people who framed him as innocent~!” <Violet>
While saying all that she remained upside down with her head tilted to one side due to the fashion she was keeping herself balanced. She did end up spreading her arms at her last words causing her to tumble to the side yet nobody was worried - if Violet was that easy to hurt then the demons would have other problems. That didn’t stop from her blood sucking daughter from wiggling her hips while clutching her hands together while shouting her praises.
“Ah~ as expected of this one's mommy - you are truly the wisest of the wise just like you are the strongest of the strong and toughest or the tough~!” <Blood Queen>
“Alucade good girl… Best vampire ruler, better than Dracula or Alucad, unfilial sons…” <Violet>
Upon saying that Violet slowly climbed up from her awkward angle to sit upon her throne in a more reasonable manner yet the Dhampir wasn’t too happy about his sentence.
“How can you decide something so arbitrary is wrong while other things are right; demons kill each other all the time for petty reasons while I want to improve things! Compared to those old fools who only know how to celebrate their own success I want to make a world where the strong won’t bully the weak. Is that so wrong?” <Dhampir>
The room went quiet… Not because of the boy but…
“Vihihihihihihehehehe~!” <Violet>
A bell-like laughter chilled them all to their very bones, making even the two beings who should be equal to her in strength shudder with a primordial fear. Those three ancient beings, two of her loyalist servants as well as her own daughter, knew fine well she wasn’t upset. It was far scarier than her being ‘upset’.
She was amused.
“Demons selfish, kill each other for strength or display strength, don’t like hearing no or being disrespected since stops them being selfish. Thrive on being selfish demons do. Always spill blood of others for smallest slights since can’t appear weak… Yet demons also loyal while follow all promises - demons who betray no better than mortals.” <Violet>
“W-what are you on about?!” <Dhampir>
“Gahru~!” <Violet>
Clearly she was done talking as she rested her head on the arm of her chair at a pace which would shatter a normal person's skull; even getting a loud *THUMP*. Nobody else in the room questioned her though since they were all experienced demons themselves. It could be said that was the summary of what a demon is.
They are selfish, cruel and sinful beings that don’t care how they solve their problems or who need to suffer for them to do it. Even then a demon isn’t as lawless as it first seems since they have two principles that must never be crossed if they wish to call themselves a demon under the {Demon God Empress}.
A demon never betrays their kin for ‘outsiders’ & never goes back on their word.
Though for the latter it is more accurate to say that a pureblooded demon literally cannot betray their word hence why many make deals with them. It could be said this is what made many of the half-demons like the Dhampir get ahead of themselves in pursuit of power - they always think they can take ‘advantage’ to become powerful with no repercussions.
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Remembering that was like breathing in a breath of fresh air after suffocating; bringing the fox back to life as he let out a long sigh.
“I suppose I’ll have some work to do yet I don’t intend to draw blood… Though spirits don’t bleed so I suppose it’s okay?” <Bloodleaf>
“Mmm.” <Leviathan>