"This kingdom was founded four hundred years ago, after the fall of the Empire of the Sun," the elder begins, and I find myself completely invested. "It was the time when the Lords of the Sun ascended to heaven, leaving only Lord Helion, who wished to stay in our world to rule the people he had fallen in love with. He still rules today from the Kingdom of Akasha, in the capital of Cinder. Originally, Lord Helion ruled the entire continent, but when the demons appeared, it became clear he needed more hands to wield the spears that would defend the realms of humans, elves, and dwarves. So, he created the Order of the Knights of Cinder."
The minister pauses, his eyes flickering with a mix of fear and reverence.
"These knights were given weapons of extraordinary power and knowledge of magic never seen before. They were commoners; anyone could have been lucky enough to receive the gifts they kept for themselves."
"The gifts were granted because they displayed a heroism and nobility that one such as yourself would never understand!" Aria spits, her voice trembling with indignant pride.
"These... demons," I interrupt, my voice a low hum. "How do they look? What do they want?"
"Oh, Excellence. Demons only want destruction and—"
"With your permission, Great One," another minister speaks up, cutting off his colleague. "The lesser ones look like animals—monstrous, twisted beasts. The mid-class ones take human forms of varying sizes; they can be as tiny as a finger or as massive as a mountain."
"And the high-class ones?" I ask.
"Those look completely like humans or elves. They often hide their wings and horns, altering their already extraordinary beauty to look normal, though they remain heart-stoppingly beautiful. It is believed that the Princess's mother was one, and that is why she inherited such ethereal beauty."
I look at Aria. She is indeed immensely beautiful, a creature deserving of adoration, but even with my Perception, I do not notice anything supernatural in her being.
"That is a lie! An invented rumor you spread through the whole kingdom!" she defends herself, her face flushing.
I stop her with a natural, regal gesture of my hand. "What do they want?"
The answer seems obvious, but I want to hear their perspective.
"Control, My Lord. To rule. To reign over us all and make us fall into indulgence and pleasure, living in decadence until they grow bored and throw us away like a used toy. The city of Zhalo welcomed two of them; by the end of the year, the orgies taking place inside its walls were said to last days. Lord Helion joined the kings—his former knights—and sent troops to take down the demon lords. When they arrived, they found only sick and dying people, addicted to pleasures they could no longer chase. The city was burnt to ashes. No survivors were left, out of mercy." He shuddered. "And our city would have suffered the same fate!"
"Why is that?" I ask.
"Because of the King's new concubine! She is the most beautiful woman to ever step foot in this city," he says, sounding truly scandalized. "In his last days, the King looked paler than ever, as if he were being drained of his lifeforce, while that woman only seemed to grow more beautiful!"
"The saddest thing was her influence over the King's decisions," another adds. "She encouraged him to fund his dream of opening a portal to heaven! We couldn't kill the demoness, so we did what we could for the people. Your father was insane, Princess! He was going to ruin the kingdom!"
I look at Aria. she hides her gaze, her silence speaking volumes. So, it is true.
"And where is this demoness?" I ask.
"She disappeared the night of the rebellion. It is said she is now bedding Lord Cassius, a loyal knight of the King in the North," the elder replies.
I see. I am suddenly very interested in this "succubus." I want to meet her, to see if she is anything like me, and to hear what she knows of these demon lords.
"Point at those who are competent, Aria," I say, my voice cold and final. "We will make use of them. As for the others... do as you please with them."
I already have a plan forming. We are going North. The competent ministers will be left to run the kingdom, consulting Aria on important matters via whatever distance-magic exists here, while she travels with me. My goal is not just to meet this demoness, but to learn about these "Gods" called the Lords of the Sun. Knowledge is power, and I do not intend to die because I was ignorant of the predators above me.
"With pleasure," Aria says.
Before I can blink, the Akasha Blade is protruding from the back of the elder minister—the very one who had just given me such useful information. I feel a momentary flash of regret; I had wanted to ask him a few more questions.
But it is too late. Aria curses them as she slaughters the "incompetent" ones, taking her time with some, her face lit with a cruel, dark joy. She is no longer the frightened girl from the Void. She is a Princess reclaiming her blood-right through the steel I provided.
When she is finished, only two men are left. They are old and skinny, and their clothes lack the pompous, jewel-encrusted weight of their former colleagues. They look elegant, as their rank demands, but their attire is not a mockery of those beneath them.
Aria turns to me, her chest heaving slightly from the exertion. In her eyes, I see the look of a little girl who has just finished her homework and waits for her father's praise. Covered in the spray of her enemies, she is strangely cute—a lethal rose blooming in a garden of corpses.
"It is done, Excellence," she says, a small, proud smile gracing her lips.
"Very well..." I tell her.
I reach out my Will, turning the blood and bodies of the knights—and only the knights—into the golden essence I crave. I do not touch the dead ministers. They are Aria's kills, her property to dispose of as she sees fit. As the golden mist swirls into me, I turn my attention to the survivors.
"What is the goal of all governments?" I ask them, my voice projecting a weight that demands the truth.
"To secure its population's safety," both reply at once, without a second of hesitation.
"Why did you betray the King?" I ask.
"The King was no longer the man he once was," one explains, his voice steady despite the carnage around him. "And the Princess did not yet have the power or the respect of the population to ascend the throne. There was no other option. That monster—the concubine—had taken complete control over the King's mind."
"Our colleagues," the other adds, glancing briefly at the remains of the jewel-clad men, "may they rest in peace, lacked both the vision and the common sense to make the nation thrive. That is our only goal. If the commoner gains and thrives, the whole nation succeeds. A starving foundation cannot support a golden tower."
I smile. I like that way of thinking. It is efficient. It is logical. It is the physics of power.
"Remember those words, Aria," I tell her, looking down at her from the throne. "That is how great nations are built. You need your people to be great because that will make you even greater—or at least, that is what one should expect from royalty."
I turn back to the old men. Their honesty has earned them more than just their lives; it has earned them a place in my design.
"Tell me your names."
The two men stand straight, their shadows long and thin against the blood-stained marble.
"I am Silas," the first one says, his voice like dry parchment. He is the one who spoke of the commoners' success. "I served as the Minister of Logistics and Trade."
"And I am Elian," the second adds, bowing his head slightly. "I oversaw the Infrastructure and the Great Works."
I look at them, my violet eyes unblinking. "I have one last question for you both. Think carefully before you answer, for your words will determine which of you shall lead this city as Seneschal in the Princess's absence."
Aria leans in, her curiosity piqued. Even the silence in the room seems to hold its breath.
"Who favors God in the web? The spider or the fly?"
Silas frowns, his mind clearly racing through the scriptures of the Sun Lords. "The spider, Excellence. For the spider is the hunter, and the Sun favors the strong who provide order and clear the world of pests."
Elian shakes his head slowly. "Neither. The fly is the victim, and the Sun is a god of mercy. He would weep for the fly, even as the spider fulfills its nature."
I let out a soft, dry chuckle that echoes like cracking ice. Aria looks at me, confused. The ministers look at me, expectant, hanging on my every word as if I were the mouth of a new god.
"You are both wrong," I say, standing up from the throne. My shadow stretches across the marble, eclipsing the golden sigils of the old regime. "The answer is that God does not care. To the Creator, the spider and the fly are both parts of a single, functioning system. God is the observer of the result, not the protector of the players."
I step down from the dais, my presence filling the room with an oppressive, violet-tinted weight.
"Which of you feels like you could make this kingdom thrive?" I ask, my voice a low, vibrating hum.
"You won't stay then, Excellence?" Silas replies, his eyes widening with a sudden realization of the responsibility shifting onto his shoulders. "What about the Princess?"
"Insolent! Who do you think you are to—" Aria begins, her hand flying back to the Akasha Blade.
"I'm going to travel around this kingdom, and the Princess will travel by my side," I interrupt, placing a calming hand near her shoulder. "She will see reality and will learn what she is missing. By the time of her return, she will have become more than you can imagine."
I look Silas in the eye, then Elian.
"But when that time comes, she must find a capital worthy of her. If she does not, the two left to rule will pay with something more than their lives. Now, answer."
"I can do it," Silas says, bowing his head with a confidence that borders on eagerness.
I smile at him—a cold, thin expression—then I turn my gaze to the other man, who still looks as if the weight of the world has been dropped onto his shoulders.
"Then it will be you, Elian, who will rule," I reply. "And Silas, you will be his advisor."
Both men bow, accepting the decree. Silas looks momentarily stunned, his ego bruised by the sudden shift in hierarchy, but he dare not protest.
"You may leave now," I command. "Start preparing the city for our departure at dawn."
They retreat quickly, their footsteps echoing against the marble until the heavy oak doors thud shut. I am alone with the Princess in the cold, torch-lit silence of the throne room. She looks at me, her brow furrowed in genuine confusion.
"Why did you choose Elian?" she asks as we descend the hidden staircase toward the heart of the mountain. "Silas was the one who seemed ready. He was the one with the answers."
"Those who are overconfident in what they think they can do often lead a system to ruin," I reply, my voice echoing in the cramped stone passage. "But those who hesitate... they are thinking of the trouble, the risks, and the gravity of the decisions involved. Those are the people qualified to rule, Aria. You know they won't let anything important slip because they are too afraid of the consequences of failure."
She processes this, her silence a sign of her evolving education. We reach the lowest level, where the air grows heavy with the scent of ozone and ancient dust. Aria holds the Akasha Blade and the King's ring to the final, massive door of the Vault.
The mechanisms groan, stone grinding against stone, as the seal finally breaks. The door swings inward, exhaling a breath of cold, stagnant air.
Aria steps inside and suddenly freezes.
I follow her gaze into the dim light of the treasure chamber. My eyes meet the gaze of the woman standing amidst the piles of gold and Aether-Cores. Her skin is like flawless porcelain, her eyes are gleaming ambers that seem to hold their own light, and her beauty is superior to anything I could have ever dreamed of.
I know instantly who this is. The "Monster." The "Concubine."
She doesn't look like a creature of orgy and ruin. She looks like a masterpiece of biological architecture, and she is looking at me with a curiosity that matches my own.
The demoness.