In the darkest, most hidden corner of the abyss where light had long vanished and even the bravest screams dared not resonate a grand obsidian table loomed in a throne chamber, its surface marred by blood-red cracks that pulsed like a living heartbeat.
Gathered around it were twelve Demon Kings, rulers of destruction, whose names had been forgotten by mortals, whispered only in fear of invoking their fury.
Their appearances were a twisted mockery of grandeur:
One wore a crown of writhing serpents, its skin a living tapestry of scales.
Another perched on spindly limbs, its human-like face stretched too tightly, resembling a mask
A third floated above the throne, shackled by chains forged from the wails of lost souls.
Each presence thickened the air with a distinct kind of dread a symphony of terror.
A slow, guttural voice shattered the stillness.
"The sacrifices… have stopped."
Heads turned. Wings unfurled. The speaker a grotesque creature with eyes sewn shut and mouths scattered across its chest spat out a name.
"The House of Niiro. For a century, they honored us. Goat blood, firstborns, tongues of traitors. Now… nothing. Not even ash in the breeze."
Silence fell once more.
Then a voice rasped like rusty blades scraping together:
"Let them rot. If they believe they can break the pact, let them choke on their defiance."
Another voice a figure draped in tattered silks, with a porcelain mask frozen in a smile chimed in.
"I heard a whisper… the last heir of that bloodline is expecting a child."
The chamber held its breath, suspended in anticipation.
"Then we need not destroy them all. We can curse their hope."
"Ah…" hissed one Demon King, eyes blazing like flames. "Take the child."
"No," countered another, tongue flicking between jagged teeth. "Break the child."
The masked demon let out a giggle.
"Strip him. Not of life but of everything else."
"No flesh."
"No warmth."
"No voice."
"No tears."
"No will."
"Let the child be born into ruin."
Each voice layered upon the last. And when all twelve had spoken, their eyes sparkled with a shared malevolence.
"Let him come into this world as nothing but bones."
" That does sound like a reasonable reason."
"Then let it be decided."
"What shall our great queen say."
The first great demon queen stares at the other demon kings thinking about the answer in which she already thinks of the idea as a good one.
"Its decided the next heir of the Niiro family will be stripped to nothing but bones."
They all grinned, every single one of them with a devilish glee, like kings to a throne.