"Good evening your lordships. I, hell's historical keeper, welcome you all to this signing of the demonic pact." Said the old demon while turning to look at the demon lords, and powerful humans present in the arena. When his eyes landed on the humans that were currently occupying the thrones reserved for the usual factions, however, his face changed from a welcoming one, to one filled with doubt and confusion.
It was clear to the eyes of everyone present, that this old demon did not appreciate the presence of humans to an event which was considered, at least by the group to which he belonged, almost sacred.
The historical keepers of hell were the one and only group of demons which could be considered truly neutral. They would never offend anyone, nor be offended back. Their only purpose and goal was to record the history of hell, as well as host the signing of the demonic pact, which for them, was considered the greatest of honors.
After greeting the demon lords that were present one by one, the old demon asked, "The presence of human cultivators in hell breaches the agreements drawn up in the period that followed the conclusion of the Great War.. can I take it that this was a voluntary action from your lordships, and that hell isn't being invaded by humans?"
His words were clear. To the historical keeper, which side would win a war or an argument was only of partial importance, and all they cared about, was to record the truth. His intent was not that of reprimand the action of these demons, but to know how things were going to go from then on.
To respond, was one of the demon lords. A humanoid being with branches that came out of his body, and a skull like face with an undying flame that come out of his eyes, nosehole, and mouth. He was currently sitting on the throne at the spearhead of the segment to the right of that of the Church of Damnation. After hearing the question of the historical keeper, he said, "We, holders of power, have decided to reject the authority that the agreement gives to the absent Demon Lords."
"And what method did your lordship employ to resolve this grievance?" asked the old demon, after turning to look at the demon lord who spoke to him.
"Battle."
At the mention of battle, the old man narrowed his eyes with curiosity, and after taking a massive leather bound book out of his spatial ring, he asked, "What was the result of the battle?"
The demon lord covered in branches straightened his back, and after taking a deep breath and making sure that the attention was on him, he said with clear pride. "I have met Naro of the abyssal waters in battle. He perished." This news caused for noises of surprise to be heard coming from the back of every single demon lord, but when it came to the demon lords themselves, not one of them was surprised.
The historical keeper, however, was the most surprised of all. A demon lord was a demon lord, but not all demon lords were equal in power. This demon lord in particular, was amongst the weakest, and newest members to this rank. The demon called Naro of the abyssal waters, on the other hand, was one of the demons which had been crucial during the war that took place thousands of years before, and for him to perish to this rookie, made no sense.
While shocked, the old demon wrote what he had just heard into the leather bound book, then turned to look at the next demon lord, which looked back at him, and said "Namara of the Puppetteers, the fight was concluded without victims."
To the words of this demon lord, followed those of all of the others, which quickly reported the results of their fights.
".. Sakia is dead."
"My encounter with Le'han ended uneventfully. I was able to convince him, but he decided not to participate."
".. dead."
"…"
There was no one in hell who knew more about the battle prowess of each demon lord, than the historical keepers. Every fight between demon lords that had taken place in the last ten thousand years was recorded, and the results of each fight were free for everyone to see. Thanks to this knowledge, it didn't take long for him to realize that somethin was wrong … aside for Lady Night, the Devil, and another demon, no other demon lord was a true match to the demons lords which they claimed to have fought against.
As soon as this doubt formed in his head, the old man realized why there were so many humans. This was not a simple breaching of an agreement, but the betrayal of one side of the demonkind, from the other side.
"Your lordships, may I inquire about the fate of the factions whose lord have perished?" Asked the old man while slowly lowering his book.
The demon lord with tree branches that came out from all over his body straightened his back once again, and said "We only wished to express our opinion to our peers. We have no intention of eradicating hell's heritage." His tone was righteous, but hidden in his mind, as well as the minds of most other faction leader, were thoughts of conquest, and greed.
Naturally, the old demon did not buy this lie, but since it was not his place to reprimand, he recorded the events in his book while saying "A truly wise choice, your lordship.. One that won't spare you the shame of exposing our home to human's greed in case, whatever may your projects for the future be, were to not go as planned."
The power of the old demon could not match that of any of the demon lords, but just like an old patriarch whose muscles and bones weren't as strong as they used to be, he still felt like giving his opinion regarding the matter. Naturally, this opinion came from a place of truth and objectivity.
"Do you allow this vermin to speak to you like that?" Asked one of the human cultivators, a plump woman with purple clothes, behind which were a hundred soldiers clad in the same exact armor. "Maybe you should simply kill anyone that doesn't agree with our presence here.." she then added, showing her willingness in killing the old demon herself, if the demon lords were to agree with her.
Another of the human cultivators caught up with what the woman said, and quickly chimed in by saying "We can't allow for such a lie to be spread. This is not an invasion, we are guests. If your historian can't report the truth, then you should kill him, and write the truth yourself."
The words of this second human were enough for the rest to feel entitled to their opinions, so one after the other, they decided to join in the conversation.
While the demons opened hell to a certain number of human factions in order to gain allies and prestige within the universal government, the motives of the human factions were completely different. A new territory had to be explored by the universal government first, and after being studied, the territory would be left for the factions to fight for, and inhabit.
For the humans factions to be in hell was not only a breaching of the pact between the demons, but also a breaching of their agreements with the universal government.. Therefore, they could not allow for the news that they had invaded hell to spread.. They were guests, invited by the demon lords right before they willingly opened hell for all to explore. Any news different than that, would create trouble for all of them.
After hearing the complaints of these humans, the demon lords either kept quiet, or looked at one another in an attempt to understand each other's thoughts.
The stadium became completely silent for a good minute, a silence that was broken after one of the demon lords stood up from his throne. This demon lord was amongst the oldest and strongest ones, and along with the Devil, and Lady Night, was the only other one whose power could match that of the defeated demon lords. Due to this, his opinion was taken in high regard.
Tall and muscular, with skin as red as a rose, and with horns that appeared like the horns of a bull, but much thicker at the base, this demon looked at the historical keeper, and said "Demonkind's history is going to merge with the rest. We will be one of the races that will dominate the universe, and not the ones that hide in our corner. Your order has served us well in the past, but we don't need you anymore." As he reached the end of the statement, he raised one of his hands, and caused for a flame made out a mixture of fire and darkness to appear from within the book that the old demon was holding itself.
The old demon was fully aware of the power of these flames, and he knew that he had no chance of putting them down with his power. The book which contained the history of hell, the book to which his clan had dedicated their existence to, was going to be burned to ashes.. And he was willing to burn with it.
The fire of the demon lord quickly began to spread, reaching the hands of the old demon, who looked at what happened with what could only be described as disappointment.. disgrace and destruction was what awaited demonkind, and what was worse, was that it would be caused by the demons themselves.
Before these dark flames could consume the historical keeper, however, the temperature of the area began to drop. At first it was of only a few degrees, but then the area became so cold, that the saliva of the demons present began to freeze in their mouths. Around the flames that were burning the old man appeared a stratum of magical ice, which was able to freeze them into a solid state.
"You breach our agreement, you let humans in to fight your battles, you sell your home for your own gain.. And now you try to erase our history. How far have all of you all fallen.." Said a powerful disembodied voice that all of the demon lords were quick to recognize, and pinpoint at the highest part of the stadium.
There, six demons, a snow white wolf, and a human, were standing one next to the other.
These six demons were, of course, the demon lords who had survived the combined attacks of the demon lords already present, and the human cultivators. Amongst them was the Lupa, the leader of the beastmaster faction, five others, and finally, Daniel.. Who was looking around, while also rubbing the ring he wore on his right hand with his thumb.
"Lady Night.. I expected this level of scheeming from everyone else but you.." Said one of the demon lords who stood on the walls of the stage, a demoness with baggy clothes which covered an unnaturally slender, and pale green body.
After hearing the words of this demoness, Lady Night, who seemed to have never spoken for the past ten thousand years, finally broke her silence to say "My dear friend, I see no other way for our kind to advance while shut in hell.. I only wish that you could see this as well." The sound of her voice was clear and sweet, despite the fact that her lips never moved while pronouncing these words, and instead reached for the ears of everyone present in the form of sound essence.
The leader of the Church of Damnation, which until now had looked around quietly, and with an aloof expression.. finally noticed Daniel's presence. He then leaned forward on his sceptre, and said "I want that human. Give him to me, or I will make you feel true desperation."
To hear the Devil talk was an odd event, just as much as it was to hear the voice of Lady Night. In two years, Xargy had been forced to follow him around while in fear of being killed at any moment, and yet he had never heard his voice. It was this very occation, however, that lead him to focus on the human whom his master was talking about.
As soon as his eyes landed on the human's body, a big smile formed on his face.. A smile accompanied by a happiness that was able to distract him from the fact that he hadn't been able to recognize Daniel's smell.
He then said, "HA! You are all going to die!.."
