As Reign continued his mundane daily life in the fortification, something was happening in the capital back in the center of the kingdom. A shrouded figure was kneeling in front of an altar as many hooded figures could be seen in a huge underground area. All of them prostrated themselves as a person suddenly materialized from an altar located at the end of the area.
The person that had shown up was barely visible, but the intense demonic energy coming from it was enough to make all of the people present prostrate themselves and shake in fear and awe of the person. The figure at the very front of all the demonic worshipers stood up and started talking with the demon.
"I see." A grim voice echoed through the cave, the demon's voice was akin to metal grinding against metal, nonchalantly the demon continued, "A measly fighter that hasn't even gone through the first evolution, he won't be a problem at all, everything should continue as planned."
"Yes, mistress." The hooded figure at the very front said before kneeling down, the demon simply pointed a finger at the person as demonic energy suddenly flew out from the demon and entered the person. It wasn't only the person at the front, however, all of the worshipers that were in the underground cave were getting an influx of demonic energy and becoming stronger.
That was one of the reasons why people would turn to worshiping demons and turning themselves into slaves, the temptation of becoming stronger without having to train as much as other people was incredible. Demonic worshipers would get stronger depending on how useful they were to the demon they worshiped, of course, there were also ways for them to grow by themselves, but compared to the power the demon could give them with a simple snap of a finger, it was not enough, it was slower and harder.
Demonic worshippers were usually people who were either born without much talent or those that had hit a ceiling and couldn't grow stronger. For those kinds of people, the temptation of becoming stronger so easily was something that they simply couldn't pass up. In turn, they would become slaves to the demon, the more time passed the more influence the demon would get over them and after some time they would become mindless slaves to it.
Of course that wouldn't always happen, some people that the demon found interesting or valuable would be left with their minds and soul intact, those were usually the kinds of people that could grow stronger without the demon's help and would become valuable underlings in the future.
There was also the possibility of people practicing demonic arts by themselves, even though demonic arts were often associated with demons, it wasn't necessarily so. Demonic energy was simply one form of energy in the universe, same as mana, chaos, and others. It was however quite volatile and would corrupt those that practiced it, only the strongest would be able to completely control it. Laura for example was a demon hunter, thanks to her being possessed before she already had a high affinity toward demonic energy and she also had quite strong resistance toward the corruption that demonic energy brought, most possessed were like her and they were usually the ones that would succeed in fully controlling demonic energy.
The kingdom of Riplas was currently undergoing war, many were afraid and many were trying to find ways to become stronger in order to survive if the war became worse. Such situations were common on this planet and this was one of the best possible scenarios for demons who wanted to gain more followers.
The worst thing about this was that even though the many kingdoms and empires knew the chances of demons forming cults in their territory, it was incredibly hard to find the worshippers and destroy them. The same could be said for Riplas, even though they already had a cult in their territory, not to mention in the capital city, they were still unaware of it. Dark undercurrents were forming in the kingdom while nobody was looking.
A huge amount of demonic energy suddenly filled the hall as a small demonic pentagram was drawn by the blood of the worshippers. Back in the castle the princess and Lios were walking, the prince had been training non-stop for days and sparring with everybody who was stronger than him, even though it was a bit weird, she was happy that her brother had seemingly found passion when it came to fighting and becoming stronger again.
Lios was there to accompany the princess during her walk, even though the possibility of something happening was low, one could never be too safe, especially during times of war. Lios and Ilena talked during the walk, some soldiers could be seen patrolling and guarding the castle, upon seeing the princess and the right-hand of the king they saluted before returning to their posts.
"How is brother doing so far uncle?"
"Better than expected, to be honest, even I'm a bit surprised by the growth he is having right now, well, that just shows what having a powerful rival can do," Lios said with a smile, that was right, the prince had decided that Reign was his rival, before he managed to become stronger than him he wouldn't stop his training, thanks to that he was improving every single day.
The two walked a bit more before Ilena decided that it was enough and made her way to her room. Lios and her stopped in front of her room as they said goodbye, suddenly footsteps could be heard from the side, the two glanced to the side, only to find Ian and some other nobles there. They all greeted each other before Ian called Lios over, it seemed that the prince had some questions to ask him about his training.
Both Lios and Ilena smiled at that before Ilena hugged her uncle and said good night.
"Ilena!"
Suddenly Lios's eyes widened in shock as he pushed Ilena back, the power behind the push was strong and made the princess hit her door with powerful force. Ian and the other nobles weren't even able to think about what had happened before a circle was formed under Lios, incredibly powerful demonic energy could be felt as tens of red chains appeared and bound Lios. Even with the power of a first evolution combatant Lios was still powerless against the chains, in a matter of seconds he was immobilized and his whole body was suddenly swallowed by the ground.
Ilena, Ian, and everyone else present had shocked expressions on their face. Their uncle, one of the most powerful people in the area was seemingly captured by some powerful magic.
…
As Reign woke up he slowly got ready before leaving his room. Something however felt different today, the air itself was a bit heavier as many hurried footsteps could be heard in the castle. Reign had a bad feeling as he slowly went down the stairs, on his way down he found that all of the soldiers were panicked and were running around for some reason.
Before he could ask anybody about what was happening his shoulder was tapped by someone. Turning around, Reign could see that it was Lieara, her beautiful face was serious as she stared at him.
"Raigon is holding a meeting, I came to get you."
Reign simply nodded at her upon hearing her words, if even Lieara was so worried then something extremely bad must have happened.
Creak!
Reign and Lieara opened the door and sat down at the table. There were even more people present today compared to the previous meeting. All the higher-ups were present, and so were any notable figures of the fortification.
"I have some bad news, well, to be more exact, I have 2 incredibly bad news," Raigon spoke with a heavy tone.
"The first news is that last night, the right-hand of the king, the leader of our spy network, my father has gone missing." The news was like a bomb to the ears of everyone present, one should know that Raigon's father was a first evolution combatant, not to mention that he was currently in the castle, for him to go missing should be an almost impossible thing to happen.
"What?!"
"It's already been confirmed, upon escorting the princess to her quarters last night a demonic spell was suddenly activated on my father, he managed to push the princess out of its range, but he was caught and in mere seconds he was gone."
"I'm afraid that's not all." Raigon continued speaking, his expression was calm, but one could see anger flaring up in his eyes.
"The coalition is attacking."
Everybody quickly stood up in shock, the news of Lios missing was shocking enough, but to hear that the coalition had started an attack right away, even an idiot could understand that they had something to do with this.
"It seems they are aware of my father's disappearance, one of the rulers is coming here, and the king has to go to the other fortification in order to help them fight off the other 2 first evolution fighters that are making their way there."
"First – first evolution combatant, we have to go against someone like that by ourselves?" One of the people present asked with a shaky voice.
"Correct," Raigon said before looking straight at Reign.
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