They called the planet Noxis.
After their recent victories, they felt like they earned the right to name their own planet. The B-tier planet they resided on, forgotten by the church, which now housed a dark cult hell-bent on revenge and a god of hunger. It was as fitting name.
In the deepest cavern, the Midnight Covenant was preparing their boldest act yet. A place now dubbed, the Heart of Noxis.
A wide chamber pulsed with sickly red light. In the center sat the soul-capture device, its runes alive, humming with the weight of five thousand souls. Gathered from the rest of the unfortunate on the planet where they claimed the device.
Around it, etched into the very bedrock, was the Soul Convergence Glyph, a web of death and compression, designed to force multiple souls into one.
The ritual required a single, living conduit.
Gerald and Achlys dragged one forward: a former Church executioner turned traitor, flesh held together only by mana threads and dark magic. He was conscious—barely.
Nidhogg loomed, overseeing the drawing of the ritual. Joanne was the one who offered the idea, but her trustworthiness still had yet to be proven. However, so far, everything checked out and he couldn't detect her lying.
"Begin," he ordered.
Joanne began the chant, causing the glyphs to surge red as mana began coursing through them. The cavern filled with dark magic, causing those who weren't prepared to shiver slightly. This wasn't regular dark magic like they used. It was ancient and felt actually forbidden.
The soul-capture device opened. Thousands of screams responded, echoed out, but were sealed within the glyph's boundaries. The conduit's body locked in place as his body turns into a shape a human shouldn't. His face frozen in pain and horror as it began to float upward. As he ascended, souls began to be pulled into him against their will. Their cries were ignored as one no dared interrupt the ritual.
As flesh tore and bones cracked, everyone could feel his mana grow exponentially as he reached the thousand souls mark, turning him into a grotesque glob with faces threatening to break free from the conduit.
When three thousand souls entered the conduit, the body began to burn. When the body burned to ash, what remained was a soul that glowed like a cursed star, consuming all souls in the area in an instant.
The glyph collapsed. The soul immediately snapped back into the soul-capture device, which sealed shut with a blinding flash. Silence returned.
"It's done," Joanne managed to say out of breath.
Nidhogg didn't speak. He simply stared at the device. And smiled. He could feel that this was a soul with the weight of a freshly awakened Demon Lord. There was no doubt that this would sustain him in place of hunting for them. He decided to make the smart decision and wait before consuming the soul. He wasn't in need of it at the moment and there was one glaring problem that needed to be addressed before he mindless consumed this treasure.
Above ground, in the throne room, all Covenant's leaders gathered before their god. Nidhogg sat in silence, contemplating. Gathering souls was going to be the number one concern. They needed to figure out the most efficient way to collect said souls.
Montgomery tapped his cane once to silence the hall.
"My lord," he began. "Let me make use of my ability. I'll visit trading hubs, Church border-towns, refugee shelters—play one note… and they'll follow. We'll build roads to the soul device with their corpses."
"Quick. Reliable," Nidhogg said. "But predictable."
Montgomery grinned. "Only if they live to tell it."
Nidhogg turned to Odin. "And your proposal?"
Odin adjusted his glasses, his voice calm but intense. "We strike deeper, not through deception or farming, but through interception. The Church moves souls all the time. Pilgrims, refugees, supply caravans, mission transports."
He pulled out a rune-etched map.
"These routes carry thousands of civilians, priests, failed initiates. Lightly guarded. Easy to seize. We ambush entire convoys, slaughter them at once within range of the device. We also get rid of any possible future threats in the church we might have faced. "
"No buildup. Just waves of fresh souls in one strike."
Nidhogg leaned forward.
"Quick and violent," he muttered. "And we don't even need to conquer the world doing it."
"Exactly," Odin replied. "Let the Church carry our sacrifices straight to us."
"Now for the next matter. The conduit. For the next ritual, I will be personally supplying a demon to be used."
Joanne spoke up, "Hmm. Such an idea wasn't thought of before. Of course, we should expect different results. I can begin preparations on containment of a higher tier demon should the worst happen.
Nidhogg stood. "Very well. As for the method of collection, we'll do both. Montgomery, you move now gathering as many as you can. Leave before suspicion is drawn to you and you draw the church ire. Odin, assemble an interception team. The next Convergence begins when we hit ten thousand."
A collective, "Yes Lord Nidhogg." Filled the room before they filled out to follow my orders. I watched Edmond and Joanne leave the room as well. I needed to deal with them appropriately. Just hope they don't mess up and do something stupid.