The air in the throne room shifted, thickening with power as Valentine lifted his hand. Shadows writhed outward, coiling through the cracks of reality itself.
"Lumi," he muttered, still rubbing his temple. "Summon the Inner Circle. If I'm truly going to… retire, they deserve to hear it first."
Lumi bounced in excitement. "Ooooh, meeting time! Should I prepare name cards? Snacks? Tea?"
Valentine gave her a flat look. "…It's the Abyss, Lumi. We don't do tea."
"Maybe we should!" Lumi chirped before hopping toward the summoning circle carved into the throne room floor.
A low hum reverberated as black fire ignited across the runes. One by one, figures stepped from the abyssal gate, each radiating the weight of nightmares.
Selene arrived first, her black wings unfurling in a languid stretch that filled the chamber with shadows. Curved ivory horns crowned her head like a twisted diadem.
Her golden eyes glowed faintly, slit pupils narrowing as they swept across the room before settling on Valentine.
She wore a white gown trimmed with gold, cut to flatter every curve of her body. The fabric clung to her narrow waist and spilled down over her hips, but did little to hide the swell of her breasts or the smooth expanse of her thighs.
A faint blush touched her cheeks, softening the predatory tilt of her smile.
Her wings folded close as she stepped forward, her eyes sliding over Valentine's slouched form with slow, deliberate interest.
"You called, my lord… and yet, you look ready for a nap. Did another hero bore you to death?"
Next came Nyx, clad in blackened plate, glaive in hand, her posture ramrod straight. She knelt instantly, silver hair spilling over her shoulder like a pale river of moonlight.
Her armor was a thing of dread, forged in the image of something more beast than human. Black steel gleamed with veins of crimson, as though molten blood pulsed within the metal itself. A tattered crimson cape flared behind her, stirring with every movement.
Her silver eyes, now twin embers glowing red beneath her helm, fixed on the ground in deference. Yet even kneeling, her presence was overwhelming. "Say the word, Lord Valentine, and I will rally the legions. Who dares challenge the Abyss?"
Erevan oozed from the shadows behind them, smoke and violet eyes forming into a lean humanoid shape. He grinned. "Oh, this should be good. I do love a bit of theatre."
A tremor shook the room as Cerberon padded in next, three massive heads snarling, each dripping a different-colored flame. The left head barked, the right growled, and the middle one rumbled, "I smell heroes. Please tell me I can eat them."
Malrik appeared last, he drifting through the gate with skeletal grace, candles flaring atop his shoulders. His chained tome hovered at his side, pages fluttering as if eager to speak. "The convergence of prophecy nears. The heroes march. The abyss stirs. Surely you called us to prepare for the next conquest, my lord?"
Valentine studied the six of them with a slow, tired blink. Then he stood, cloak dragging against the stone.
"…No conquest," he said flatly.
The room froze.
"No war. No dungeons. No endless slaughter. From this day forward…" His eyes flicked to Lumi, who was practically vibrating with excitement. "…we're trying farming."
The silence that followed could have killed a lesser man.
Selene's wings twitched. "…Farming?" Her voice was sugar-laced venom. "My lord, I spread terror with a whisper. Armies crumble at a glance. And you… wish me to flirt with farming? What is farming?"
Nyx slammed the butt of her glaive to the ground, sparks scattering. "Unacceptable. War is glory. Without it, we are nothing."
Erevan tilted his head, grin widening.
"…Or perhaps it's genius. A human thing, is it not? A farm is the perfect cover. Trade routes, supply chains… from cabbages to empires. Delightful."
Valentine squinted at him. "Wait. You actually know about farming?"
Erevan placed a hand over his chest, smirking. "Naturally, my lord. I was human once, after all..."
He paused, then scratched his cheek. "…Though I confess, my expertise was not in soil and crops. I spent most of my days in a circus, juggling fire and pretending to be a horse."
Valentine blinked. "…That explains so much. And nothing at all."
Malrik's candles flared. "Blasphemy! The prophecy decrees fire, blood, the breaking of suns! Not… not compost!"
Cerberon tilted all three heads in different directions. The left one growled, "Farming sounds stupid." The right one huffed, "Farming sounds safe." The middle one licked its chops. "…Do plants scream when you kill them?"
Valentine stared at the lot of them, with an unimpressed gaze. He dragged his hand down his face.
"Every time I speak to these six," he muttered, "I regret it."
Selene's lips curved into a sultry smile as she slinked forward, her wings spreading out then folding in close. "My lord," she purred, lowering her voice until it was velvet itself, "surely you jest. You've ruled for centuries, a god of terror, a legend whispered in every cradle and tomb. And now you would abandon all that… for this farming?"
She leaned against his throne, letting her hand brush the armrest, her eyes smoldering. "Perhaps you've simply forgotten your… appetites. Let me remind you."
Her words hung thick in the air, sweet and heavy, dripping with charm.
Valentine didn't even bother to look up. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "…Selene, if you're done purring like a tavern cat, sit down."
Her smile twitched. Just for a heartbeat. She stepped back, her wings folding tighter, the aura of seduction breaking like mist.
Nyx's glaive rang sharply against the stone as she stepped forward, fire blazing in her eyes. "Enough games," she barked. "If you're truly retiring… then I'll see it with my own eyes." She pointed the weapon straight at him. "Have you grown weak, Lord Valentine? Is that why you hide behind words of peace?"
The air crackled. Shadows coiled like snakes across the walls. Valentine finally raised his head, green eyes glowing faintly in the gloom.
"…You want to test me, Nyx?" His voice was calm, almost lazy but the weight of it made even Cerberon shift uneasily.
Nyx's grin was sharp, battle-mad. "Yes. If you are still our Overlord, prove it!"
Valentine exhaled slowly, rising from the throne with a stretch, cloak dragging like smoke. His presence pressed against them all, suffocating and endless. "Child," he murmured, "if I strike you… there will be nothing left to bury."
Nyx's fingers tightened on her glaive, every muscle trembling between terror and thrill.
Erevan's laugh broke the silence, smooth and sly. He strolled from the shadows, clapping lazily. "Oho, delightful. But before anyone dies...and I do hope someone does...I must ask, my lord…" His violet eyes gleamed with mischief. "Where, pray tell, did you get this… cabbage-brained idea of farming?"
All eyes turned.
Valentine didn't hesitate. He pointed at the slime, who froze mid-bounce. "…Lumi."
The room went deadly still.
Selene's wings flared wide, her face twisting with outrage. "That thing put this thought in your head?"
Nyx snarled, glaive lowering toward the slime. "I knew it. Treachery."
Malrik's candles flared so violently wax dripped down his skeletal frame. His chained tome rattled like a beast in its cage. "BLASPHEMY! The Abyss reduced to soil enrichment?! I'll incinerate the blob where it jiggles!"
Cerberon's three heads snapped toward Lumi in unison. The left snarled, "Kill it." The right muttered, "Eat it." The middle rumbled thoughtfully, "Or… stomp it."
Lumi squeaked, wobbling backward. "M-Master?! Why are they all looking at me like I'm fertilizer?!"
Valentine rubbed his temples, sighing long and hard. "Because, Lumi… you are."
The circle of nightmares closed in.
Selene's voice dripped venom, every word sharp as glass. "A slime. A slime sits at our lord's feet and whispers foolishness into his ear? It mocks us all."
Nyx sneered, her glaive gleaming with sparks. "Pathetic. I've slain creatures ten times stronger than this… puddle. She is unworthy of the Circle."
Malrik's chained tome snapped open with a hiss, pages aflame with runes of doom. "An abomination of jelly and ignorance! I shall boil it down to nothingness!"
Cerberon padded forward, three mouths frothing. The left head barked, "Crush it!" The right snarled, "Chew it!" The middle rumbled, "I wonder if it tastes like melon…"
Erevan's grin widened, shadows curling playfully around his form. He didn't lunge, not yet. Instead, he wagged a finger at Lumi. "Ah, but truly… how delicious this is. A slime, closer to the Overlord than the rest of us. Oh, little blob… you've no idea how much they hate you."
Lumi's goo quivered, wobbling back until her jelly hit the edge of the throne dais. "M-Master?! Why are they all so mean?! I only wanted… pumpkins!"
The Abyss itself seemed to bend under the rising tension, every lord of nightmare ready to strike.
Valentine lifted a single hand.
The hall went black.
Shadows coiled like serpents, crawling into every crevice, every breath. The oppressive weight crushed the room until even Cerberon's three heads whimpered low in their throats. Malrik's tome snapped shut on its own, as though terrified. Nyx's glaive trembled in her grip.
Valentine's voice cracked through the darkness, calm yet sharper than a blade,
"Enough."
The word carried such finality that even the fire in Malrik's candles flickered out.
Slowly, Valentine lowered his hand. The darkness slithered back, leaving the council in stunned silence. His green eyes glowed faintly in the gloom.
"You forget yourselves." His voice was quiet, but each word pressed into their bones. "This slime, weak or not, is mine. My servant. My Inner Circle. And so long as I draw breath, not one of you will touch her."
Lumi peeked out from behind the throne leg, still trembling, though she puffed up with a tiny blob of pride. "Y-Yeah! Master says no squishing!"
Selene folded her arms, biting back a snarl. Nyx lowered her glaive with visible frustration. Malrik's candles sputtered angrily, whispering curses in a dead tongue. Cerberon whined under its breath. Erevan, of course, only chuckled, bowing mockingly.
Valentine sank back into his throne, rubbing at his temple. "I tire of repeating myself. The next one of you who raises a hand to Lumi will find themselves erased. Is that understood?"
A heavy pause followed.
One by one, the Council bowed their heads.
"…Understood, my lord," Selene murmured, her smile strained.
Nyx's knuckles whitened around her glaive, but she forced the words through gritted teeth. "…As you command."
The others echoed, some grudgingly, some with venom in their tones.
Only Erevan whispered as he faded back into the shadows, grinning wide, "Oh, what fun this will be."
The Council dispersed into uneasy silence, the weight of Valentine's warning still pressing on their shoulders. Shadows lingered like a reminder of just how thin their lord's patience was.
Then...a squelch.
Lumi bounced forward, puffed up with gooey pride, her jelly shimmering brighter than usual. "Hehe~ did you see that? Did you see that? Master Valentine chose me over all of you scary nightmare bosses!" She wiggled like a smug pudding. "That's right. Don't mess with the slime, or you'll get erased. Pfft, 'unworthy of the Circle'...more like unworthy of me! Hah!"
Nyx's silver eyes narrowed, sparks dancing at the edge of her glaive. Selene's smile sharpened, beautiful and venomous. Cerberon growled low, three sets of teeth bared.
Valentine sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Lumi."
The slime turned with a bounce. "Yes, Master?"
"Enough gloating." He slouched deeper into his throne. "If you want to prove yourself… then explain farming to them."
The Council blinked as one.
Lumi perked up. "Oh! Gladly!" She puffed up her blob chest, wobbling like a professor about to give a lecture. "Farming is the noble and glorious art of planting tiny little seeds into the ground...like boop!...then you give them water...splish sploosh!...and sunlight. well, okay, not much of that down here, but we'll figure it out! and then they grow into big strong plants!"
She bounced in a circle, leaving little slime spots on the stone floor. "Then you harvest them snip snip! and tada! Food! Not corpses, not ashes, not shattered kingdoms… just nice, tasty, crunchy vegetables!"
Cerberon tilted all three heads. The left one snorted. "Weak." The right one muttered. "Boring." The middle one rumbled, "Do… vegetables scream?"
Malrik's candles sputtered violently, wax dripping like blood. "This is heresy. My tome weeps ink at your babble."
Selene gave Valentine a long, withering look, her voice like poison silk. "This is what you want to trade your throne of terror for? Vegetable patches and gardens?"
Nyx slammed the butt of her glaive into the floor, glaring at Lumi as though daring her to bounce closer. "I will not till soil like a peasant."
Erevan, of course, leaned lazily against a column, smirking. "Oh, I rather like this. Imagine it...our mighty Overlord, draped in shadow… watering vegetables." His grin widened. "The irony alone is exquisite."
Lumi, undeterred, puffed up proudly. "Well I think farming is the future of the Abyss! You'll all thank me when you're eating stew instead of ashes!"