The Bloody Duchy

Leonidas scowls at the pool of blood in front of him, The Reaper, and The Devourer, all three of them simply watching in silence as the atrocities continue revealing themselves on the pool of blood in the form of moving images. Images of the Lord of Hellfire turning entire cities to nothing but ashes, making screams echo out across vast distances around the cities due to his hellfire burning them all the way down to their realities. All while the Lord of Hellfire himself is blazing with a red and black flame with equally red and black light shining out of his insane eyes as he lets his Wrath lead him around.

“He isn’t fully lost yet, so there’s a chance to return him to his sanity,” Leonidas declares with a grimace. “But none of us can do it without killing him.”

Neither Lucius nor Xyvandra say a word as the two watch the atrocities being committed.

“At this rate, our only hope to stop him is to either kill him ourselves or hope Scarlet grows strong enough to nullify his curse sooner,” Leonidas says with a complicated look on his face at the idea of his daughter coming to Tartarus during this time.

Both Lucius and Xyvandra nod their heads in agreement.

Silence fills the Castle of Ruin for several minutes before Leonidas eventually sighs and says, “I’ll try to keep him busy to buy my daughter time.”

Lucius and Xyvandra both send surprised looks towards him, not having expected Leonidas to risk himself like that. Because unlike with most types of magic, hellfire can leave permanent damage. So even though Leonidas is stronger than Vorgrim, the Lord of Hellfire will very likely leave permanent damage on Leonidas. Damage that will remain until the Demon King is able to heal him.

It'll be troublesome, but I believe in Scarlet. I know she’ll be able to clear his curse. And if I want to save as much stability in Tartarus as I can for Father, I have no choice.

Unfortunately for Leonidas, he knows that neither Lucius nor Xyvandra will be of any help in restraining the Lord of Hellfire, since both of them use magics that will always leave permanent harm to the target. Both death magic and mind-eater magic.

Leonidas sighs at that thought before opening his mouth to say something more, only to blink and turn to the corner of the room when he finds an unexpected visitor standing in the room. One he instantly recognizes as the leader of the Kitsune Clan, Raiden Amaterasu.

Then only seconds later, a few more individuals enter the throne room as well.

The leader of the Succubus Clan, Lily del Rose, leader of the Arachnae Clan, Glaxius Scythlera de Scy, and the leader of the Oni Clan, Sartorius Blackthorn of the Black Flame. Father of the Lord of Hellfire.

“We will assist you,” the leader of the Arachnae Clan declares, the man standing in his humanoid form wearing pitch black armor, with two pitch black eyes with several spider-like limbs stretching out of his back. “Your Royal Highness.”

All of the other Clan leaders nod their head in agreement with a brief, “Your Highness,” making Leonidas grin.

So all the Clan leaders are here now.

Leonidas himself, the leader of the Blood Lycan Clan, Xyvandra, the leader of the Mindeater Clan, Lucius, the leader of the Ghoul Clan, and the four standing in front of him. All in one room for the first time outside of a Royal Council in over a thousand years.

Of the leaders, every last one of them appears to be dead serious. Even Amaterasu, who Leonidas has never seen so serious before out of the sight of Leonidas’s father.

“Very well,” Leonidas states, his grin growing even wider. “We will move out within the hour to restrain the Lord of Hellfire.” Then his grin goes cold. “I’ll be at the front of the battle with Lady Raiden and Lord Scy. Sartorius will deal with putting out all of the hellflames to limit the nearby destruction from his son’s rampage, and both Lady del Rose and Xyvandra,” Leonidas pauses for a second as he glances at The Devourer, making sure she is fine with participating since he has no real authority over her. And after she nods her head, he turns to Lucius, finding him doing the same. So he turns back to the group as a whole and continues, “Lady del Rose and Xyvandra will be in charge of digging into Vorgrim’s mind and attempting to direct him back to sanity. But if you can’t do that, then simply do whatever you can that won’t cause permanent harm to him.” Finally, he turns to Lucius again and finishes, “And Lord Blackheart will be in charge of managing the rest of the world, the demons, and the Gates and Fractures while we’re all out.”

“As you command, Your Highness,” the Clan leaders declare with the exception of the two Demon Lords who just nod their heads towards Leonidas.

However, right when Leonidas is about to call for a brief pause so that they can all prepare, Sartorius kneels and says, “Your Highness, may I make a request?”

Leonidas glances at him with a frown before eventually stating, “You may.”

The oni quickly continues, “Your Highness, I wish to participate in the battle.”

Leonidas doesn’t show any surprise at his words, having almost expected it of the man.

Vorgrim is his son after all.

“As long as you make sure to keep the hellflames under control, you may do as you please,” Leonidas declares, making Sartorius nod his head and answer, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Leonidas looks back at the blood portal next to them before looking up again and raising his voice, “Prepare for the battle ahead. We move out in an hour.”

All of the demons vanish in an instant, leaving Leonidas alone in his throne room.

Silence fills the room for several seconds as Leonidas watches Vorgrim going on his rampage.

I hope I don’t have to kill you in the end, old friend.

Then Leonidas vanishes from the throne room as well, leaving to prepare himself for the battle.