The most recognizable and elite of all demons knelt before their Duke and his daughter. In their minds, they were some of the most powerful existences within this Realm. Unfortunately for them, only the Duke's daughter knew that there was a new player on the stage that dwarfed their puny selves.
Ironically, because they were all demons - creatures of deception and hate - they knew to avoid the dangers of narcissism and vanity. When the Duke's daughter ran in with news of this creature that came through the Hellgate, the elite Court Demons immediately re-evaluated their standing and place in the world. They were no longer the first among many.
"Aisella, you must immediately return and make amends. We cannot afford to offend this Calamity," the Duke told his daughter.
"Father, you are not listening," Aisella replied. "This creature is not interested in respect or diplomatics. It wants to kill us. Every one of us."
The Duke, like many of the other demons, looked human. But this demon in particular looked entirely human. No horns, no tail, not even the slightly reddish hue of skin.
"A creature that is not interested in respect or diplomatics, as you put it, simply cannot exist. Even dragons can be reasoned with; Gods can be brought to the dining table and impressed," the Duke said, casting a baleful glare over the demons in the Court.
If anything, the Duke had one thing no other demon present had; a malevolent gaze unlike any. Icy, blue eyes peered down at the peerage and the elite, and in those eyes all of them were nothing - less than nothing. Even stranger than that, glimmering fragments of the wreckage of love fell across the blue depths of his eyes like fallen stars.
"Go back and find what it is that the creature is interested in," the Duke said.
"But... father... it just wants to kill me," Aisella said, raising her head to look upon her father. "Do you still want me to go?"
When her eyes met her father's, she instantly found her answer. There was no love there - which was common for demonic parents - and there also was no hatred either. Even his daughter was nothing to him. A tool or a pawn, to be moved across the board in this new game against the new, mysterious challenger: Halas.
"I gave you an order, Aisella," the Duke said, tone cold and even.
One of the Court Demons jumped to his feet, looking up at the ceiling. It was all so sudden. "We are under attack," he exclaimed.
"Is it Witch-fiends, Corban?" the Duke asked looking up at the ceiling. The other Court Demons scrambled to their feet.
"Barriers! Now!" Corban shouted. Since detecting the threat, the ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach only grew stronger.
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[Codename Solomon: Shells on target. Re-entry phase. Thirty five seconds to impact.]
[FCS: Data received. Decrypting on auxiliary sub-processor.]
[FCS: Dataline: Sigma-Signal acceptable.]
[FCS: Shell velocity at impact: 3.86 kilometers per second.]
[FCS: Expected damage assessment: Total annihilation.]
[Weather radar: Sunny with high probability of Death From Above.]
[System: Voltage spike in auxiliary sub-processor detected.]
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The Court Demons scrambled to cast their most powerful defensive spells. Corban was the only one who could detect the threat, but Corban was also the calmest, coolest, Court Demon among them. To see him this spooked - to the point of even giving orders to his Liege - it meant that this was serious. It was deadly, in fact. Even the tiny shreds of pride and vanity were set aside to obey Corban's command, consequences be damned.
"Layer the shields directly above!" Corban shouted. "Quickly!"
Above the palace - a marbe building with multiple spires - hexagon-patterned layers of light formed, crystallizing and glittering with fragments of magical power. In most places, the shields and barriers were layered on top one another, but in some, they interfered.
"Leonus, Basal, cancel your barriers. Don't lose your heads. Leonus, you cast yours first," Corban instructed them.
"What about the rest of the city?" Aisella asked.
"Good. Basal, now you," Corban said, ignoring Aisella's question.
"Father! What about the rest of the city?" Aisella asked the Duke directly, this time.
At that moment, the Duke could also sense the threat. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to run. Then, following the Duke, the other demons also felt the impending threat. Their minds went blank.
"Don't panic!" Corban screamed. "Focus! If we mess this up we are all dead!"
Several moments passed in utter silence. One could hear a pin drop in that atmosphere. It was a miracle that they couldn't hear each other's terrorized heartbeats.
"It's not enough..." Corban murmured. "This is not enough... oh fuc..."
You have taken 8450000 damage.
Reduced to 192500 due to stacked thermal resistance and damage reduction.
Health critical.
Debuff: Deaf.
Debuff: Blind.
Debuff: Stun.
Critical Hit received: Lungs exploded.
Critical Hit Severity: Fatal. Reduced to Severe due to perks.
Due to an extreme experience, you have broken through a bottleneck.
You are now level 93.
You are now level 94.
You are now level 95.
You are now level 96.
You are now level 97.
You are now level 98.
The last thing Corban could remember was sensing that thing break into pieces, a kilometer above the city. It was so fast. Even tracking it, through his special abilities, made him feel like he was about to vomit. It was so high above, initially, that he felt like it came from outside the entire world. He was an Awakened Sky Demon. He could sense any threat below the sky - this one came from beyond the sky. And in thirty seconds, it was upon them.
Corban could feel countless lives evaporate in the first milisecond. In the third or fourth milisecond, the pressure wave obliterated his eardrums, eyeballs and lungs. It likely would've killed him were it not for his Indomitable Body perk. That is all Corban could remember. Nothing after that. He couldn't remember if the earth shook or not. He could not remember if his body caught fire or not. All he could remember was thanking the Ancestor, in his family tree, who passed on the nigh indestructible body to him.
On the bright side, he got a lot of levels from that. The day could only get better from this point.