The Demon King’s Palace

The area around the Demon King’s palace is filled with battle-ridden wastelands for as far as the eye can see as Leonidas Val Art de Archeron – one of the four Demon Lords of Tartarus and the son of the Demon King – charges through the wastelands in his full beast form without stopping for anything. The man has the appearance of a massive werewolf standing at two and a half meters in height, with black fur streaked with the occasional bit of red as crimson as the blood running through his veins, glowing red eyes, and claws as sharp as blades wearing a set of red and black blood metal and leather armor. He has a tail that at first glance looks and even feels soft to the touch, but from time to time whips out and solidifies into a sharp, silvery red metal, destroying any weaker demons in his path without the man even glancing their way.

After Leonidas reaches the palace located on a hill in the middle of the wastelands, he simply jumps straight up before landing on a balcony overlooking the wastelands with a man standing at the edge of the balcony. Leonidas then immediately transforms back into his lycan form, revealing a mostly human form but with two wolf-like ears on his head, short black hair streaked with red highlights, and glowing red eyes with the same tail he had in his beast form, only for the tail to be absorbed into his body a moment later as his armor adjusts to his new, smaller size and the loss of his tail.

The Demon Lord then kneels down before the man, who looks very similar to him, and says, “Your majesty.”

“Leon don’t call me that in private,” the Demon King says with a frown, not taking his eyes off of the spawn in the wastelands who are fighting amongst themselves and anything that passes through.

Leonidas raises his head and climbs to his feet before nodding once, “Yes, father.”

Arkaz Luna Val de Archeron – the Demon King and absolute ruler of every demon in existence – continues looking out over the wasteland for several more seconds until he finally turns to face his son. He then takes in his appearance for a second, sniffs once, and asks with a frown, “You saw her again, didn’t you?”

His son stays silent, opting to not answer. Since he knows all that will do is piss his father off.

If only he’d tell me why he hates humans so much, then I might be able to understand it better.

Arkaz eventually just sighs and focuses on the wasteland again as he asks, “Am I to understand that you told her of the Class V Fracture the Witches foresaw opening up?” Then he shakes his head. “Never mind. Of course, you did.”

Several seconds pass between the two, neither of them saying anything as the screams and howls of the demons around the palace fill the air.

“At least tell me how the pup is progressing,” Arkaz asks, sending a slightly worried look towards his son. A look that very few people have ever seen on the tyrant. One that the man only shows when talking about his beloved granddaughter.

A granddaughter Leon brought to Earth without his permission.

Leonidas relaxes ever so slightly upon seeing it and thinking of the girl as he answers, “Very well. Better than we’d hoped.”

A smile emerges on the Demon King’s face at that before he turns back to the wasteland and says, “Good news. Very good news.”

After a short hesitation, Leonidas walks up to and joins his father at the edge of the balcony. The two then just stand there without speaking for several minutes.

Eventually the king asks, “At least tell me why you did it. You know very well that I could easily protect her.”

“That’s the point,” Leonidas answers, not explaining any further to his father.

If she’s to grow into what the seers saw, she will need to do so on her own.

The king sighs again, and Leonidas can understand how he’s feeling. But he knows he can’t say anything more.

So he doesn’t.

“Very well, if that’s your wish,” Arkaz eventually says before growing stiff and moving onto business. “Satan of the Oni Clan informs me that he is ready to go on the assault in one year’s time, the moment the Class V Fracture opens up.” He then turns to face his son, who is quickly lowering down onto one knee again as he understands what his father is about to say. “I hereby order you to pick a mid-ranked blood lycan of the family and send them to Earth through the Class V Fracture.”

Looks like it’s finally time then.

“Yes, your majesty,” Leonidas says with his eyes closed and his head lowered to the ground. He then stands up a second later and transforms back into his beast form before jumping into the wastelands again.

Send one of the mid-ranks… I think she’ll do.

Leonidas immediately changes his direction and begins heading South of the palace.