The Demon Lord Is An Angel-Chapter 426: The New Demons

Rainier swung his greatsword down with hardly any effort, parting a head from the shoulders of its owner.

He did it without any emotion on his face, even though part of him knew that it was cruel. He had performed cruelties before, after all, no matter that they had been against his will. The people he killed today were cruel as well. The once-masters of Dorred - a dead, hollow corpse of a city carved from the marrow of a world tree’s trunk. How many hundreds had they sent to die against Maledict, thinking themselves beyond reprisal?

He cut the head off a woman, and only belatedly noticed her black hair and elven features. A sight that filled him with regret, remembering Malz. Then, his role done, he went to stand behind Maledict on the small throne that had been set up behind the execution grounds.

As Maledict began to grandstand, warning the Dorredish folk of the consequences of further rebellion - an irony to Rain, considering Maledict was the Duke of Heresy - Rain let his eyes drift over the crowd.

How many of them looked at him with fear? The cruel angel serving demons. The godflesh that coated Rainier’s body turned him into a black colossus, with cracks of gold. The only parts of him exposed were his ears and his sky-blue hair. He wore a mask made of godflesh to hide his face. His shame and despair.

The takeover of Dorred was practically instantaneous the moment Maledict stepped onto the battlefield. He’d kept many agents in the city—bound by magic contracts or otherwise infiltrated from the jungle—and they lowered the shields the moment Dorred’s army took to the field to prepare for a siege. The angelic embassy fled as soon as the demons approached the city, and Rainier’s sole role in the brief war was to lead a detachment of Maledict’s fliers in destroying them. freewebnøvel_com

He’d returned to find new orders waiting for him; to execute the Dhoej - something like a priest-king who had also been a mage - and the man’s entire bloodline.

Rain had taken no joy from it - he would never allow himself to - but he had obeyed. He was, after all, Maledict’s Oathbound executioner. And unlike when he’d been an Executioner for the will of Heaven, now he served an honest master. Honest, cruel, and fearsomely effective.

Since then, aside from restricting anyone from leaving, Maledict ruled with a loose hand. He supplanted the wealthier citizens, filling the upper districts of the tree with the demons of his nation. The rising of a swift rebellion had claimed the lives of dozens of demons, and Rain knew that as claimant to the title of Demon Lord, Maledict would demonstrate his power today.

The Demon Lord’s speech reached its climax. "You have taken my people from me, and it is not enough to repay death for death." He snapped his fingers and a portal opened up, depositing dozens of people onto the execution grounds before closing. Men, women, and children. The families of the rebels and especially the ringleaders.

The sight of children made Rainier step forward, but Maledict looked over his shoulder and hissed, "Stand still."

There was no compulsion in his voice, but Rain obeyed, returning to an attentive stance. He watched as Maledict’s gnossinians removed the corpses before they began to draw a magic circle with the blood of the dead. Minutes passed, the crowd watching in horror; waiting to see what their conqueror intended.

The moment the circle was finished, Maledict snapped his fingers once more. A new portal opened up, one that bathed the area in heat, with the scent of sulfur on the wind. He stepped from his throne to the edge of the circle, arms circling as he gathered mana between his hands before planting it into the circle.

The screams began quickly.

Exposed to the air of Hell, with mana forced through their bodies by the spell circle, the people within the circle began to transform. Their pain paled the faces in the crowd, and one civilian tried to throw a stone at the nearest gnossinian, only to find it blocked by a shield maintained by two others.

There would be no stopping the ritual.

Long, long minutes after it began, the ritual ended.

Though the people within the circle kept many of their traits as myriadfolk, every single one now had demonic traits added on top of them. Not as dramatic in their appearances as true demons, yet unmistakably no longer what they were. The most dramatic changes were amongst the beastkin, some of whom gained fierce spikes, horns, and longer claws regardless of clade. The children resembled imps with their transformations, but they had none of the untamed energy of fully demonic children. Only terror in their eyes.

What happened next was insidious.

After allowing the transformed moments to realize their new situation, Maledict spoke, "I give you a choice. Come to me, and you will be safe amongst your new kin. Not trusted, but you will live. Or walk beyond the barrier, and take your chances. You may only choose once."

Tension filled the air. One man dashed for the shield, and the gnossinians let him through. The crowd parted, unwilling to come close even as he cried out to the people who knew him. The former elf grabbed a former friend, only to be shoved away, tripping on his own tail and crying out as he fell.

The newly made half-demon rose shakily, looking back to Maledict, who wore a stern expression, but with a confident glint in his eyes.

Perhaps he realized he had nowhere to go. Perhaps he wanted revenge, however long that would take. Whatever the man’s reasons, he walked slowly back to the barrier, only to find it would not let him through.

"Your choice is final," Maledict said.

The man pounded his fist against the shield, shouting invectives at Maledict. His moment of rage ended as a pulse of magic surged along the shield, throwing the man back into the crowd, which rapidly backed away as the people he collided with let him drop. He turned tail and ran then, and the towering demons guarding the rear edge of the crowd let him through.

Something broke in the remaining prisoners.

Rain watched as those with children led the way towards Maledict, while a smaller number, hatred in their eyes, chose to pass through the shield, skirting the edge of the crowd as they fled from the scene.

His demonstration done, Maledict turned from the crowd to address his attendants. "Rainier, take them to the palace. Turn them over to Jagorn."

"As you wish, Demon Lord," Rainier replied. He paid no attention to Maledict’s conversations with his staff as he gestured for the newly made demons to follow. A pair of gnossinians brought up the rear, encouraging their wards to keep pace with Rainier’s long strides.

As he walked, Rainier tried not to think about the fate of the city. Maledict was consolidating power, and that meant he would soon send messengers out to take credit for Heaven’s destruction if he hadn’t made arrangements for it already. Demons would rally from all corners, and Dorred would become the point from which Maledict would spread his new empire.

And Rainier would serve. That was the price he’d paid to save the life of his former lover. He suspected Heaven would find a way to survive. It was a sense gained from his brief time possessed by the mad god Helios, that Araqlun, the capital of Heaven, would find its way to Ayther.

More importantly, Cassiel was still alive... but he didn’t know how he would feel if they met. He sensed that in her eyes, he’d betrayed everything that Heaven stood for. No matter the contradictions she was aware of, Cassiel had never wavered in her loyalty to her people. She had no reason to, since she was an angel and he was merely a half-breed.

Maledict knew what Rainier did, he’d been thorough in his interrogation after Rainier accepted the Oath. He was wise enough to wait and gather forces, rather than strike at Heaven’s forces on Ayther without the element of surprise.

A dark whisper of thought rose as he thought of how he’d been used by Heaven, and was now being used by Hell. He could find Kir. Maledict insisted his son was still alive, but for some reason he could no longer trace his whereabouts. Perhaps he could convince Kir to destroy him. End his misery.

He owed it to the man he loved to apologize. He wanted-

"Are you an angel?" a child’s voice interrupted Rain’s thoughts.

He looked to the side and found a young girl looking up at him. She had been an orc, to judge by her features, but now she resembled an imp close to the edge of adolescence. Her skin was still green, but purple skin edged her fingers and her budding horns and tail tapered into a deep black. Her eyes had become yellow and cat-slitted.

"No," Rain replied. "Go back to your parents."

"I don’t have parents anymore," the girl said. "You look like an angel. I thought angels helped people."

Rain snorted bitterly. "Angels don’t help people." He wanted to explain, but how could he explain to a child? It would just be a waste of time.

"But you’re helping us... even though we’re demons now."

"You’re still a person. I... don’t deserve to be anything."

"Is that why you’re sad?" the girl asked. "I can tell when people are sad. Everyone else is scared, but you’re sad."

It took Rain a moment to process. The girl was likely an empathic maven. If she developed her powers, she would be an asset to Maledict, able to detect lies or manipulate people based on their emotions. Maybe it would mean a better life for her, but in all likelihood, she would just wind up being used, just like him.

"Keep that to yourself, or they might take you away," Rainier warned her. "And leave me alone."

"I’m Myrti," the girl said. "What’s your name?"

No. I don’t want to know your name.

Things were so much easier when he couldn’t put names to faces.

"Leave me alone," he repeated, a bit louder than intended.

His sadness deepened as she fell back in line.

In silence, he led.