"My lord! I apologise! Please! Spare me!" Furfur cries out.

He is nailed to a raised bench in the middle of the execution square, his wings and arms gushing blood as he writhes. It may be the morning and be an impromptu decision, but a crowd still turned out all the same. Can't keep a demon from a good execution, can you?

"Kill the traitor! The idiot! The treasonous fool!" The crowd roars, shouting to kill him. I raise all three of my left arms, and they go silent.

"Hmmm... could it have been prevented, I wonder..." I say, pausing.

He gulps, a mild look of hope appearing in his yellow eyes.

I snort.

"How about..." I draw it out.

"No."

His eyes go wide, and with a sweep down of my upraised arms, I throw out three void slashes, simultaneously beheading him, splitting him in half, and chopping off his feet.

Blood explodes in a mist, splattering the assembled crowd, who roar in appreciation.

I grab the head, which is preserved in an expression of horror, and hold it up the crowd. They go wild.

"For his sins of gross negligence, allowing humanity to summon a great hero, allowing humanity to slay hundreds of fellow demons, enabling us to lose out during an important battle for supremacy, I have executed this idiot of a demon!" I state.

The crowd coos in appreciation.

I throw the head out to them, and a fortunate female demon catches it. She grins and roars in joy, like a happy bride.

It's considered good luck to keep the head of someone executed. Everyone around giggles happy and pats her on the shoulder. It's no use to me, so I let them have this tradition.

Whilst distracted, they don't notice the whistling crack noise as I extract Furfur's heart and put it into storage.

That I can use. A powerful demons freshly stopped heart is a great sacrifice to the void.

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At least he can be useful in death...

I keep a lid on my tumultuous emotions as I wave to the crowd.

...

...

...

Now I’m in private, I smash my desk in fury.

I rampage in despair.

Barbatos!

It is funny how you don't realise how much you might miss something until its gone.

It is fortuitous that her banner burnt away when no-one was there to see. I made a serious fool of myself. Even killing Furfur does nothing to ease the pains.

She has been with me since the beginning. I could not show affection for a subordinate, and love is a strange alien thing to a demon. But perhaps it was something after all?

Raum patiently wanders in and starts sweeping at the remains the desk, and I charge at him in fury, grabbing him by the neck.

He grimaces as I choke him.

His eyes look apologetic.

Agon's breath! It's not his fault. I let him go and he coughs, staggering backwards, nearly falling on his wings.

"How can you be so calm, Raum?! How...!? She was your sister!" I shout.

Raum sighs.

And then, his purple eyes, like hers, narrow.

"Calm, mi'lord?" He spits.

"Certainly… I am not. I wish to find the human that murdered my sister, pluck out their eyeballs, and make them into a delicacy." He hisses.

I am taken aback at the rage coming off him. Embers of fire spirits appear around him.

"But humans taking away things we adore is a matter of daily life. We are at war. A war I trust mi'lord will win. So, for that, I know I must simply remain at your side." He explains patiently, like talking to a hatchling.

I let out a breath. What a fool I am. You wouldn't think I had been alive for ninety years, and in charge of demons for nearly half that. Still a whelp compared to Marchosias S'lein, but few demons celebrate three centuries like that fossil.

I am a lord. The lord. It is I that rules over the demon republics. It is my duty to maintain a stiff upper lip, but here I am, raging like a spoilt child.

I need to act. My father had a dream. It was too narrow for me. Too mild. Too conservative. And I have been given Agon's blessing. The first in several decades. I must see it through. It is what Barbatos would have wanted.

"You are too good for me, Raum." I sigh.

"I know, mi'lord." He smiles wistfully.

I pat him on the shoulder.

"We shall make them bleed for opposing us. An eye for an eye. Family for family. Twice that. Surely there are enough humans to spare."

"Surely." He nods. "What shall be done?"

"Withdraw forty crystals. It is time we use them." I state.

He stares at me in shock.

"That... that would be the entire reserves, mi'lord!" He splutters.

"It would be." I nod. "I expect the secret will soon be up in any case. So..."

His eyes swim for a moment. But he nods tentatively, slapping his arm across his chest in salute.

"As you will! Do you also require...?"

"Seventy-five of the elite guard. I can manage that." I finish for him.

He gulps, but nods.

"I will see to it. Who will command? Shax? Astaroth? Andraelphus?" He asks.

"I think... Flauros." I pause. "My elder brother is always complaining about his axe going rusty. Well, let's give him something red to grease it with."

Raum grins, and dashes off.

I will see to it that your sacrifice will not be worthless.

I will make them rue the day.