Virturia was a kingdom built by usurpers. This was ingrained in their DNA and in the Royal family's core cultural values. They somehow usurped the throne at the end of King Ackerton AKA "The Master" and ripped the notion of trust from their dictionary in a mad attempt to keep the power.
Now, looking at their secret vault, I understood why.
Pekothas was colonized by the Pekothian Empire. Even with his technical defeat at the hands of Lilly and the Fulgen Elves, King Rudolph III just ignored the Elven Forest and conquered the west part of the continent.
Auvanini, on the other hand, had the southern part controlled by the Auvani ever since Rushagal rallied the primitive tribes after I killed King Pzutynaar the Scourge of Bears in the mud-pit duel. The Auvani dynasty remained strong all this time even though their territory waned. But the Auvani cultural values spread over the entire continent.
The third known continent, now called the "Scorched Continent", on the other hand, had no major empire... Wait, it had the one that imprisoned Thor. Too bad it was devastated by the Thunder God's wrath. But the point was, it was fractured. It led to the widespread use of heretical magic that was shunned on the other continents.
For example, Marlowe used Blood magic to make that army.
Blood magic, necromancy, soul magic - not the one I practiced but one bound to unwilling sacrifices - and the icing on the cake of forbidden magics. Diabolism.
Back in Apricot's day, the diabolists used human sacrifice to summon weak demons as servants or to kill and harvest easy Exp and monster Cores. That was until I inadvertently broke into one such ritual and killed the ritual casters, adding their lifeblood to the ritual and opening a passage too big. The First Demon Lord came into the world and wrecked half a city.
That sent a message to the diabolists. Demon summoning could be a tool to change the political landscape. They salivated with the possibility of controlling the power of a Demon Lord. Too bad they weren't even close to being strong enough to do so. The first rule of diabolism was that diabolists were stupid enough to deal with demons. Let alone control something as strong as a Demon Lord.
But since they were stupid anyway, they tried anyway.
The only thing stopping more Demon Lords from crossing over was the barrier Wyxnos created with the cores of the previous ones. That increased the difficulty exponentially, and they had to get creative to garner enough sacrifices to power the passage. Like triggering a Dungeon Break and killing thousands of citizens. Hail Perenneth, devastated but not broken. We raise our swords for thee.
The second rule of diabolism was, "Trust no one."
Long story short, diabolism was a thing, was a quick way to power, and was common in the Scorched Continent. Case in point, the chained creature I found in the middle of the Virturian vault.
Rhenius had a lot of things to explain. First, why didn't he tell me his family were fucking diabolists.
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"Ah, a silvered soul enters the vault of the damned," the demon croaked. "Welcome to my humble prison, [Demon Slayer]. No, worse than that. [Hero]."
The demon was hideous. He had the head of a toad with a thick spiky fur covering his skin in sparse patches. The torso was strong like a Minotaur's, covered with spiny fur with both human and animalistic features. His tail ended in a flail head made of bone. He had eight limbs, four legs, and four arms. The front legs looked human while the hind legs were shaped like a mantis. The upper limbs were two humanoid-clawed arms and two tentacles. All of its appendages were chained to the ground or ceiling, causing the main body to hang in the air.
I couldn't {Appraise} it, but the creature seemingly had no trouble sensing what I was. I doubt he was using anything related to the System to do it.
A magical circle the color of dried blood hummed with arcane power underneath the creature. I had no doubt it was indeed dried blood.
I didn't answer the creature. Scanning around the vault, I saw the treasures the Virturian collected in all these centuries. The vault was tall, the arched roof stood ten meters above the floor. It had four wings and was crammed with treasure. The demon stood at the center of the X-shaped room. He could twist his head to see everywhere.
The walls had tall shelves full of books, grimoires, and scrolls. On the floor weapon racks with swords, axes, and spears, mostly. Suits of armor were carefully assembled around mannequins. Chests with coins and gems. It was something out of fantasy.
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The demon kept taunting and jeering. The condition of its containment circle was good so I could ignore it and explore the vault. On the second wing, I found what I wanted. A painting of Apricot's family along with individual portraits of the women. Including me. I wanted to stay there and admire it but I had little time. The knights would soon make their way into the vault and I had to hurry.
A wave of my hand sent all the items not nailed to the ground or walls into the item box. I carefully removed the paintings and stored them too. One by one, each of the wings was stripped of their valuables.
All that was left was the demon.
"A [Hero] and a [Thief]. What an interesting combination. What would you want to release me from my bindings, woman?"
I asked with feigned interest, "What are you offering, demon?"
He laughed. "Anything. Power, levels, Perks. Money, longevity, or a harem of men to cater to each of your wicked desires."
I heard the portcullis raising. "Belay that. We will resume our negotiation later. We have company."
"As the lady wishes," The demon said politely.
I hid as the doors opened, shape-shifting into a fingernail-sized gecko and climbing the walls.
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There was an illusion spell covering the doors with an illusion of themselves. The reason became obvious. It was to stop people from seeing the other side. The King obviously didn't want his knights to see the chained demon.
An old man that resembled Rhenius' brother walked into the room. He wore a shining suit of armor out of a fantasy novel. It was huge and so thick around his body that it resembled a marine from space.
> Romulus IV, [King of Virturia]
>
> Level 200 human.
>
> Impossible to Appraise detailed info.
This guy was the real deal. He obviously sensed my {Appraise} attempt. He looked in my general direction.
"Didn't have time to make your escape, [Thief]?" He asked. "Or are you also an [Assassin]?"
Correct on both counts. I didn't answer, though. He addressed the other creature in the room.
"You, demon. Where is the intruder?"
The toad-faced monster looked at me. I remembered the description of my {Animal Shapes} Perk. 'Mortal magic cannot tell you for what you are'. Demons weren't mortals. Lesson learned.
"Somewhere," the demon croaked. "Why would I tell you, my captor?"
"I'll sacrifice seven virgins to you," the King offered.
The demon snorted, "While their blood is a delicacy, it is a waste to not met me chew on their flesh and crush their bones with my teeth. Pass."
Rage burned in the King's eyes. "Then, suffer!"
He did something with his rings and the bindings of the demon flared with magical fire. The demon burned and screamed, filling the room with the scent of burnt hair and flesh. After a minute of torture, the flames disappeared and the demon started to regenerate.
It spat green ichor at the King. The spit splattered at an invisible barrier at the edge of the magical circle and vanished. "Fuck you, diabolist King. Seven times have you failed to bind me. I now patiently await your successor, so we can restart our game again.
"You won't go anywhere, Demon Lord of Decay. We can't risk the Gods learning of your existence."
Leave that to me!
> [Administrator Hotline]
>
> CALL START.
>
> Arista: Hey, Wyxnos, guess what? I found the Fourth Demon Lord.
>
> Wyxnos: Don't joke with me, girl. The dimensional barrier still holds. I have no record of strong demonic activity.
>
> A: My bad. I guess the King of Virturia is mistaken then. From what I gathered, I think this one didn't have the chance to kill anyone after his summoning. it's a small one but the containment barrier stops my {Appraisal}. It did identify me as both a [Demon Slayer] and [Hero] though. And it can see through fairy shape-shifting. Not a "mortal" demon, if they even classify as such.
>
> W: And you want me to go investigate it for you.
>
> A: No, I want you to do your job.
>
> W: My job is to keep this world from unraveling.
>
> A: Someone, get this man a medal! The employee of the month!
>
> W: Where is it?
>
> A: Underneath the palace in Virturia. Thirty meters underneath the ground level. Hey, can you implement a coordinate System? A GPS? Does the System have a GPS? Can you make it a Perk?
>
> W: I'll check.
>
> CALL END.
The Demon started to cackle manically. "What did you say about the Gods, little man?"
Wyxnos materialized in the room. King Romulus IV slashed the newcomer fast enough to make me sink into the rock in fear. In the most anime display of strength possible, the God held the sword with two fingers.
"System, deactivate Status for King Romulus IV," the well-dressed deity said without an ounce of emotion. A phantom and mechanical voice rang.
> ACKNOWLEDGED. Suspending privileges of user #4c210fd5.
I {Appraised} the man.
> Romulus IV.
>
> Human.
>
> This user is suspended by an Administrator.
I would laugh if I wasn't so shocked. The demon, however, had no such constraints. He chortled and guffawed and even made some gormandizing groans. "How does it feel, human, to know all the power you cultivated so dearly at the expense of your fellow brethren was for naught against the true owners of this world?"
Without his Status, the old man couldn't even sustain the weight of his armor. He fell into a heap, his sword clattering on the stone floor and echoing on the empty walls.
Wyxnos looked at the chained demon. "Are you a Demon Lord?"
"Fuck you, fake deity," the demon answered showing true anger for the first time.
Wyxnos shook his head. He looked at me. "You win, [Hero]. Hold a moment," he closed his eyes for a few seconds. "System, lock down all dimensional travel in this room for one minute."
> ACKNOWLEDGED.
Then I got the notification as Wyxnos vanished.
> [Hero], the Yznarian pantheon issues you a Quest:
>
> Slay the Fourth Demon Lord in less than 1 minute. Turn in its Core. Kill the diabolist King.
>
>
> Reward: Two Perks, up to Ultra-Rare. 50% Exp bonus for the kills.
>
> You have 55 seconds left.