Chapter 885: Caged godslayers
Demon King of Destruction, Malorum, stood silently, gazing at the horizon while a group of Demon Lords made short work of a horde of undead at the bottom of the valley next to the cliff where he stood.
The man’s long reddish-brown hair whipped around in the violent winds caused by the impacts of the Demon Lords’ attacks, demonic energy and divinity flashing brightly in the corner of his vision.
They corralled the undead, and one, a Greater Demon with a High-Rank Death Authority, extracted all the knowledge he could from the souls trapped within the corpses before compiling it into a report, which he hurried up the cliff to present to Malorum.
"Your Excellency. Those undead were pursuing that group. However, we were unable to determine the source of their orders or why those twelve specifically were targeted among all the others."
Malorum’s slit pupils glowed faintly as he looked down the valley at the twelve young men, women, and children crammed together in a cage like sardines.
He tilted his head silently, then turned his attention to one of the fallen undead at his side.
The man leapt down the cliff, landing beside the undead humanoid and plunging his hand into its chest, much to the shock of the Demon Lords around him.
""Your Excellency!?""
Malorum ignored them as he tore the divine spark from the undead’s chest, then lifted it and chipped off a tiny fragment. He tossed the fragment toward the cage, watching it arc through the air and disintegrate the moment it came within 15 metres of the prisoners.
"godslayers."
"!"
The Demon Lords were all surprised by the name he called, and Malorum, stepping closer, continued muttering.
"They seem to be a higher breed than the usual ones we’ve encountered all these years."
He approached the cage, resting a hand on it as he added, "It appears the higher breeds of this new race have begun to appear."
At his words, one of the Demon Lords familiar with the details of Arthur’s contract with the 72 Demon Kings spoke.
"This is favourable news, Your Excellency."
"Is it?" Malorum asked.
The Demon Lord raised an eyebrow in mild confusion, unsure why it wouldn’t be, but before he could speak, Malorum’s gaze snapped toward the sky.
A moment later, every Demon Lord flinched as they felt an immense source of destructive divinity piercing through the gravitational field of the stars in this system.
"This presence...!"
"A god Lord!"
The Demon Lords drew their weapons, activating their Authorities and summoning demonic energies in response to the overwhelming divinity.
The twilight sky brightened to the intensity of noon as something streaked through the atmosphere, descending directly toward their position.
All but two of the Demon Lords moved to attack together, but the moment their weapons swung, and energies were about to be unleashed, the world around them slowed to a crawl.
Malorum raised an eyebrow as time’s flow reduced to a thousandth of its normal speed, and the streak of light struck the centre of the valley where he stood.
Emerging from the cloud of dust kicked up by the impact was a silver-haired young man, who waved his hand to disperse the particles and spoke.
"I sensed a familiar aura, so I came over to speak with you. As I got closer, I detected many of my progeny."
Ambient temporal law energy coalesced in his hand, his eyes glowing blue as he continued, "And now I arrive, the Visions of the Past tell me a story that pleases me greatly."
All the Demon Lords, except for the two closest to Malorum, appeared completely frozen, though they were fully conscious and could hear every word spoken.
"It seems you’ve been keeping up your end of our deal. Makes me wish time moved faster so I could fulfil mine. I’m not fond of being in another’s debt," the young man said, dispersing the law energy gathered in his palm as he looked up at Malorum and greeted him.
"Long time no see, Demon King. You’ve grown stronger since we last met."
"I could say the same about you, Progenitor godslayer," Malorum replied, casting a glance at the Senior Demon Lords, all affected by Arthur’s control over Time.
’Time seems halted, but it isn’t. The source...is not a standard Temporal Authority.’
He immediately recognised the difference, then turned back to Arthur and added, "Can you release them now?"
"Hmm? Ah. Sorry about that. It seemed they were about to attack, so I reacted instinctively."
Arthur snapped his fingers, the glow in his eyes fading as Time’s flow returned to normal. All the Demon Lords affected by his power collapsed to the ground, many wearing expressions of disbelief at how effortlessly Arthur had frozen them.
"Even I wouldn’t come out unscathed if I were attacked by this many Demon Lords at once," Arthur muttered with a shrug. "Might only take a charge or two, though."
That extra mutter made Malorum raise a brow, memories from nearly a century ago crossing through his mind, back to when the then-Legendary Arthur had somehow survived multiple certain-death attacks from the Divine Human Transcendent of Aramis, Duskhand.
’It must be that artifact of his,’ Malorum concluded.
While he thought this, Arthur walked toward the cage holding the 12 godslayers, his destruction energy reducing it to dust as he sighed.
"A dozen High-godslayers. Naturally occurring, at that.
Before I got stuck in the Abyss Labyrinth for a month, my Regent informed me that higher breeds had just started appearing. Seems the Divines are already targeting them."
The mention of the Abyss Labyrinth piqued Malorum’s curiosity, but he pushed it aside and turned his attention to the more pressing matter.
"The Legions here were dealing with an undead problem. I just eliminated their leader, and in the process, we discovered this planet on the far side of this system’s stars. I’m sure you can tell these 12 aren’t the only godslayers on this planet."
Arthur nodded, raising his gaze and turning east as he said, "I can sense hundreds a continent away, but none of them are superior breeds."
"The undead could have taken them all, but they only took these 12," Malorum said, his tone prompting Arthur to draw a conclusion.
"They were targeting superior breeds specifically."
Arthur rubbed his chin, glancing over the defeated undead around them while muttering to himself.
"Undead Divines searching specifically for superior godslayer breeds... Perhaps, the Kyrexi?"
Malorum immediately frowned at the name Arthur called.
"What makes you say that?"
"The report I received from my Regent," Arthur replied, summoning the report Stelan had prepared for him, flipping to a particular page and passing it to Malorum.
"Look."
The Demon King accepted the file, scanning the list of profiles as Arthur continued.
"That’s the list of individuals the Kyrexi had planned to kidnap in an attack they eventually abandoned due to King McEnda II’s intervention.
If you examine the information on the existences there, you’ll notice a pattern among those who aren’t godslayers but hold positions of power and authority."
Malorum flipped through the pages, skimming the list that began with Stelan’s name, moved down to other high-profile godslayers, and eventually tapered to seemingly random civilians and godslayers far removed from Nienope’s Command Structure.
"They’re all High-godslayers..." Malorum muttered.
"Exactly," Arthur said. "The first set of superior breeds Stelan discovered. He also mentioned that investigating the Kyrexi showed their tendency to choose ’control’ over ’destruction’."
"Indeed. The Kyrexi usually prefer to usurp and control the ruling existences in the territories they conquer, rather than eliminate them and install their own people."
As Malorum spoke, Arthur pointed at the undead around them.
"And if I remember correctly, there’s a Kyrexi member who specialises in undead, right?"
The Demon King went silent for a moment, eyes narrowing as he followed the connections Arthur was suggesting.
However...
"This is all still speculation. There’s no solid proof linking the undead here to the Kyrexi. And as for the ones you extracted this information from..."
Malorum held up the file, trailing off, and Arthur took it, waving his hand dismissively.
"Don’t worry. I already know they’re the tails the lizards have already cut off," Arthur said, sighing as he glanced back at the unconscious godslayers. "Still, knowing there’s someone out there targeting superior breeds, almost certainly with ill intentions, is frustrating to think about."
Arthur sighed again, and seeing his reaction, Malorum spoke.
"You’re the one trying to turn your race’s members into a force worth noting, aren’t you? These are some of the trials and obstacles you face on the path you’ve chosen."
"Oh, I wish I could skip straight to the results and avoid the tribulations along the way. But life isn’t that fair, is it?"
"No," Malorum replied. "It is not."
Arthur pressed his fingers to his temple and shook his head quietly, taking a deep breath before looking up at Malorum and speaking.
"I planned to head to Gozon to set an appointment with you and McEnda II, but since you’re here, mind letting me know a day you’d be free? I wanted to discuss a few things, including this attack on superior breeds."
Malorum nodded calmly. "That wouldn’t be a problem."
"Good. In the meantime, can you suggest places where I can safely power-level someone?"
Arthur’s question was so far off the current topic that the Demon King was momentarily stunned, taking a few seconds before he finally repeated the words.
"Power-level someone, you say?"
"Yes," Arthur replied. "You see, I have this child who I wan—"
"Hold on a second," Malorum interrupted, eyebrows rising. "You have a child?"
"Hmm? Oh no. She’s not my kid. Just a godslayer I picked up in another universe."
Hearing the clarification, Malorum nodded and gestured for him to continue, which Arthur did.
"As I was saying, she has Death/Darkness attributes, but she’s honestly weak, barely a Grandmaster.
I want to power-level her by defeating stronger foes and have her deliver the final blow to spike her level, but that comes with complications, as the increase in power would give her control issues.
I’m looking for a safe place where someone with her attributes can resolve those control issues, while also going through combat."
Arthur’s request made Malorum shake his head.
"You should be asking McEnda that," he said. "He could list a dozen off the top of his head."
"I know, right? I just thought I’d ask you as well," Arthur said with a shrug.
After a moment of silence, Malorum spoke again.
"You could take her to Denerth Prime, maybe one of their secret realms. You’re acquainted with the Sect Master there, aren’t you?"
The suggestion made Arthur frown slightly.
"Sect Master Chang, huh? It’s been almost a century since we last spoke. I’m not sure how accommodating of me he’d be."
