669. Council of Cremont (Start of Book 13)

669. Council of Cremont

“It is almost time.”

The voice rumbled, shaking the throne room. Every single one of the gathered figures bowed deeply as Regnorex drew back from the ornate balcony. Far behind him, the backdrop of a dark storm played, covering the scarlet dome of the Netherworld.

The Demon King continued as he strode up to his throne.

“Soon, the Cycle of Advent will once again begin. But this time, Genesis will not come.”

He settled into his seat as he turned to his subjects. A pained expression crossed his face. It was the first change in emotion he had shown in many cycles. But not a single one of the Demons kneeling before him dared to raise their heads to meet his gaze and witness his moment of vulnerability.

Regnorex wouldn’t allow them. For a king must show strength when faced with his people.

“There will be no Desolation. There will be no death. There will be no new births— not in the Netherworld, any longer. For they shall be the brickstone which will be laid to pave our path to our eternal salvation.”

He wore a solemn face as he spoke. He did not find joy in killing his own people. They had suffered long enough. An eternity of damnation. An endless cycle of death and rebirth. However, Regnorex found solace in knowing that it was for the greater good.

That Demonkind shall be able to leave this hell once and for all.

“Oracli.”

Regnorex spoke, turning to face the Wisest of the Domain. Oracle raised his head, but didn’t meet the eyes of the Demon King.

“Have you confirmed the status of our future children?”

The Demon King asked the question simply. Oracle nodded and raised an orb, showing a scene from the Mortal Realm. Dark clouds were gathered above the Netherfied Lands— far fewer clouds than in the Netherworld, but they were present nonetheless.

“I have, indeed, my King.”

Oracli replied as he lowered the orb.

“The next generation of our people shall be birthed in our new home, and they shall be unaffected by the sacrificial ritual that is to come.”

“They are few, but they will eventually become many.”

Regnorex shook his head as he turned towards the dark clouds in the distance— in the Netherworld. His heart ached, knowing that those children would never have the chance to truly live. However, knowing what awaited them— both Desolation and the Revelation— only further entrenched the Demon King in his beliefs.

“Soon, Demonkind shall know peace.”

Regnorex’s eyes fluttered shut as he continued in a soft whisper.

“Soon, my dreams shall be achieved.”

It had been a month since the rifts closed up across the skies of the Netherfied Lands.

A whole month had passed with tens of thousands of Demons and thousands of high-leveled Demons converging at the center of the region that had once been the Inoria Empire and the Elutra Kingdom. It was a strange anomaly. Now, Demons no longer poured from the Netherworld to the Mortal Realm at random. Instead, a dark cloud hung overhead.

It cast a shadow over the entirety of the skies around the Netherfied Lands.

When Edithe Dawnrise had first seen this strange sight, she had wondered what it could have been. It didn’t make any sense to her. But what else she saw was obvious to her. That the Demons were acting erratic around that black cloud. That the Primeval Demon that had crossed through to the Mortal Realm had occasionally taken to the skies and circled around the dark cloud.

There was something else to this black cloud. And while Edithe herself didn’t exactly know what it was, she knew that the adventurer companies that were exterminating the Demons there weren’t well-equipped enough to deal with it.

That was why she had sought out the help of others. That was why she had gone to the Council of Cremont to seek out the aid of the temples. The [Priests] who communicated with the Spirit Plane. The [Crusaders] who exterminated Demons.

As a child who grew up under the influence of the Sanctum of Elements— one of the three denominations of temples that were out there— she believed that she’d be able to turn to them for help. But what she was met with was…

“The Council of Cremont refuses to offer aid to the adventurer companies in the Netherfied Lands.”

[Archbishop] Ulric Magnus bellowed as he slammed a heavy metal gavel down to the wooden desk. Each strike of the tiny hammer echoed throughout the vast chamber. Edithe stared at him in sheer disbelief.

But he wasn’t alone in making his decision. [Archbishops] Thorsten Siegfrid and Diana Ashlin were gathered there as well. Respectively, they were the leaders of the Sanctum of Elements, the Den of Souls, and the Sanctuary of Fauna.

So their decision was final. There was no one else for Edithe to turn to now.

“But you don’t understand—”

Edithe started. However, they refused to hear her out.

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“Your appeal has been dismissed.”

Ulric Magnus said as he slammed his gavel on the table once again. Edithe pursed her lips. She stood there for a moment as a group of [Crusaders] moved to escort her out of the dark chamber, illuminated only by a stained glass window hanging directly behind the three [Archbishops], casting shadows over their figures with backlight.

Lowering her head, Edithe thought about everything she had learned under the tutelage of the Sanctum of Elements. And as the [Crusaders] moved to remove her from the room, she raised her head and glared at the three [Archbishops].

“When I was a child, a [Priest] taught me that we need to study history books to learn from our mistakes. But the fact that you people rejected the Immortal King Alexander’s call for aid thousands of years ago, and ignored Belzu’s path of destruction until it was too late…”

The [Crusaders] seized her and began to escort her out of the room. But Edithe’s gaze never left the three figures sitting atop their high tables.

“It seems like you guys have never read a history book, because you guys just can’t stop yourselves from making the same mistakes over and over again.”

And with that, the door was slammed before her. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as the [Crusaders] led her down the hallway. When she finally left the Council of Cremont, she couldn’t help but pull her hair and suppress a scream.

“This is such fucking bullshit!”