"Essence of Gravity."

Out of seemingly everywhere all around them, a disembodied alien and mechanical voice spoke in a commanding voice. The next instant, a suffocating power enveloped the space, as the castle vanished only to be replaced by a space was dyed in the darkest black, as if they had been thrust into the darkest depths of the void.

Noah and Evan recognised it as the power from the presence that had emerged when the Demon Lord snapped his fingers—that felt so absolute yet so inferior next to the master it served. At this moment, the power felt more than just overwhelming. It felt omnipresent, and those in the room found themselves locked in position, as if the world itself disallowed it.

"My Lord would not fall victim to the information manipulation of the likes of you. However, I shall not allow even the smallest seed of doubt to form in my lord's mind that I had failed in the task he entrusted to me of delivering these four. To this end, if their survival in the encounter against my lord is not revealed to the rest of the world, I shall bring down this estate and do it myself. I have restricted your limb movements within my domain. Until a conclusion I am satisfied with has been reached amongst yourselves, this will not change."

The silence that followed was deafening. To these leaders who held themselves with pride, this was a lot to bear. To think that all of them could be assassinated without even being able to put up a fight.

Was this really the kind of power humanity was meant to be able to put up with? How have the heroes of the past done so? And what was a domain?!

The current heroes had immediately been shoved out of their minds. The same question that emerged within Noah as he felt this power that served the demon lord had been answered, as far as they were concerned, and it was an extremely harsh reality that they felt their eyes had just been opened up to.

The answer explained why the current four heroes, possessing just one skill compared to the six to eight that the past heroes had, were able to match up to them in their accolades against the demons. It explained why the heavenly kings of the past had names, while the ones that these heroes had slain were merely numbered.

The more they thought about it, the more they sank into despair. Most in this room had been active in the previous Demonic War and had noted the fading presence of demons with names over the last two hundred years, and were thus of the belief that the demonic forces were weaker under the current Demon Lord. It was simply a rational inference to make. They came to such a conclusion despite the mana concentration being higher than ever before in the history of the continent, suggesting the reverse about the strength of the demons was true.

The dots all connected in the minds of the leaders as the words of the demon sank in.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

They had been wrong. So wrong, especially when they considered that a demon had to be at least baron-ranked to have a name. The demons had not weakened over the past two centuries. No, they had gotten stronger. So much stronger, in fact, that a mere knight-level nameless demon could replace the heavenly kings and humanity could accept it.

Any demon of count rank or higher had historically always been considered an existence that could only fall to the hands of heroes with an array of skills and a mana pool to match. How is it possible that even heavenly kings could be subjugated by natives of the continent now? Sure, the subjugation would require entire squadrons of sovereign-ranked warriors and archmages, but the odds were not meant to have been closable with just greater numbers. If even the figures known as the heavenly kings were now just knight-level demons, that would mean that now even just baron-ranked demons would be out of reach for natives.

This raised three questions. One, where had the noble demons, who were so unfathomably strong due to having been born on the continent in a time of such abundant mana concentration, been all this time? Secondly, how would humanity hope to repel an earnest invasion from the demonic forces now?

But these two questions were not the ones that mattered the most right now.

"Demon, what is your title?"

"Heavenly King of Gravity, Spatialon. I shall permit no more questions about me. Proceed with your discussions now. This extended silence wears my patience thin."

The revelation prompted by Empress Seti's question shocked the crowd into another silence. Noah and Evan, who had not gotten a chance to rest following their Demon Lord fight, had the series of mental shocks in the last hour catch up to their battered physical state, and Noah fainted with a thud. Evan could no longer stand, and he fell to his knees.

"To think that we called these failures heroes. Was it mere knight-level demons that they made such a fuss about? I suppose we contributed to their overinflated perception of the weight of their accomplishments, though, so we could let it slide. Spatialon, we will allow these four to live. After we let them go today, finishing them off will become a hassle. We will, however, prohibit them from staying in my empire or any of the five major nations in order to allow the memory of these four to fade and the gospel of the new heroes that will be summoned to spread. None in this room will disagree with me."

No monarch in this room was willing to contest the word of Empress Seti. She donned her usual outfit, a purple Japanese yukata off her shoulders, that accentuated her busty figure and matched her purple bob of hair that covered her left eye, but no one would dare dream of sexualizing her. The Empire wielded the same power as the five nations combined, and if the demonic threat did not exist, it would surely have made efforts to conquer the five nations. Needless to say, if even one of the five nations was in agreement with what Empress Seti said, the other four would not risk speaking out, as they would not have the solidarity among the five major nations that they needed to muster the courage to risk the Empire's displeasure.

"That is settled, then. Now that you have your answer, demon, allow me to ask you another question. Why have you not executed us? Surely, the demonic invasion would be greatly accelerated without those of us in the room here right now, especially since now you might have inferred that we will be making an effort to summon heroes with the strength of all major powers, not just Eldoria as was historically the case? Would the heroes that would be summoned with such an effort be leagues more powerful than they had been in the past, enough to resist the demonic war machine, no matter how much more powerful it has become?"

"Hmph. I only move when my Lord orders me to, for the satisfaction of my Lord. It seems that my actions today have made you aware of many things, but my Lord will achieve what he wants, always and without fail. As I take my leave now, engrave this fact within your very souls, humans."

A moment later, without any warning, the suffocating power in the air abruptly disbanded, and the environment that had been dyed black was restored to the walls of the throne room, where the light of the sunlight from the tall windows streamed in, as if the demon had never deployed his domain in the first place.

'Thud'

A moment of contemplative silence later, Evan collapsed as well, following his comrades.