Damian placed several protective spells all around the small cell. The explosion of that red knight was not strong enough to destroy multiple golden barriers, let alone a coat of seven.

"And where did you hear all that from? Lord Chaos." Damian asked, pretending to add the name at the end to show he didn't mean any offence.

"Lord Chaos? Haha.. Expected more balls in the guy who defeated an ancient, divine legendary while being a transcendent. No runic weapons were used at all, they say. How even does a runeshaper fight without any spells or runic tools?"

The Lizardman's mouth moved, and the dark god's voice echoed.

"Power of friendship?" Damian replied.

The lizardman scoffed and went into a fit of coughing. Laughing while talking. The human mage ignored the guy and opened his mouth with a crazy smile plastered on his face,

"Jokes aside, you should reconsider your decision to join any of those bastards. Join me, unlike those geezers, I can truly lend a hand when needed. That bastard Aurelion only cares for his schemes, and that weakling Astraea will never allow your ambitious nature to bloom. With me, you are free to choose whatever path you wish to pursue! As long as that path leads to Chaos!"

Damian stared at the crazy mage with blood veins in his eyes.

"If I refuse, I will be hated by only two gods. If I join you, I am an instant target of the three gods. No code will save me then."

"I am a worse enemy than any of those." The mage spat out.

"I don't doubt that. But facing that crazy legion of Sea God is certain death."

"What if I help unite the broken Ashenvale, Dawnstar, and the Malveria's demons? Wouldn't you, a half-demon, loved by demons and humans alike, be the perfect emperor to rule them all? Bring peace? You know I was the first demon lord.. It's high time a successor showed up."

"But all that will take time.. right? While the emperor and Faerunia can come with their gods tomorrow, if needed. Any chance I can become a follower and still be part of your plans?" Damian asked.

No other mana threads were visible to him right now, which gave Damian freedom to weave his own schemes.

The incomprehensible expressions on the human mage revealed the first demon lord's surprise. Clearly, the guy had not expected Damain's co-operation at all.

"If you choose Astraea, there is still a chance." The mage replied after a pause. Then eyeing the two around him, he added,

"They can see you, boy. Even if you are trying to play games, they will not play along."

"I have not pledged my loyalty yet. The only thing I want is the safety of my people. Anyone who provides that, my sword will forever belong to them."

"Hah! And they call me untrustworthy.." The mage laughed aloud as if it were some amusing joke to his ears.

The insane look disappeared from the faces of two men. And the second they were about to feel the relief, their bodies started to disintegrate from the inside. The origin was their heart. In a minute, the lizardman and human mage disintegrated into a pile of ash.

'What fucked up blessing.'

The bullwoman stared at the two piles of ash for a moment and then turned her head towards the monster.

Why was she spared? Damian focused on his aura sense and realized she wasn't a first-ranker. Her aura and physical strength were indeed on the level of a first ranker pugilist in at least their second job, but there were no mana-to-aura converting veins in her body—the trademark of being a pugilist.

Of course, some people had weird pugilist jobs and used a channeling weapon for gathering mana and converting it into aura, but still, completely non-existent veins were rare.

This mana to aura thing was something Damian and many scholars suspected for a long time, but only after becoming a transcendent did he confirm it. Probably only fourth rankerscould sense this minuscule body conversion.

"Who are you?" Damian asked.

The bullwoman didn't react for a moment, but when the silence lingered, she turned her head. Her face had no emotions, but her eyes held hints of surprise.

She stood up and walked near the bars. Then pulled down her shirt slightly and turned around.

The wide caramel skin back held a number of bruises. In the center, however, was a dark tattoed runic array. Skulls, traditional runes, amateur lines - a poor imitation of a slave spell.

Those should have been extinct.

"A slave mark.." Souldealer murmured.

"Is this why they have such large numbers of beastmen?" Einar guessed.

Why would the god of chaos reveal that to him? By now, the whole mainland knew about his ability to copy spells in an instant. Giving this to him practically gave Damian a method to control the actions of people...

Damian's eyes widened in realization.

'That devious bitch!' Damian cursed. *'Is he saying control your people like a tyrant before the gods can?'

But the slave spell was another forbidden spell commonly used by dark follower cults. Using it could probably trigger the natural subordinate path of a fifth ranker. Like creating an iron golem had made him a pseudo-believer of Steelweaver.

Well, at least Damian confirmed today that the potion he had created using Steelweaver's spell worked on the gods. Damian himself drank it daily to hide the fact that he was still Steelweaver's follower.

———

Damian returned to his office alone. They had enough big shots in the sanctum today that all sanctum heads had to partially stop their daily work and help out for the meetings. Only Torwin had taken charge of handling Sanctum things that could not wait.

The Sun Priest group and the Eldoris group would take the most amount of time, so he kept them for the last.

It was the Faerunians' turn.

But Damian had no idea what had happened in Faerunia after he entered the dungeon last night. So before the meeting, Damian opened a waygate to the captain of his information network team active in Faerunia. Following that, he also needed to check up on his spies from the Empire and Eldoris.

The muscular old knight stepped out of the waygate. Originally from Faerunia, but after the demon war, the knight travelled to Sanctuary and pledged his loyalty to Damian himself. The man was imprisoned in the old empire for years, captured in the battle against the demons.

He was one of those experienced veterans who knew that everything was not black and white in the world. Apparently, some shadowborn civilians had helped the guy and treated him well. Sanctuary's soldiers had helped those kind shadowborne survive the chaos once the demons were defeated and the cities fell into chaos.

"Lord Keeper," The old knight lowered his head.

"Why are Hellstorm, Alex, and his family in the sanctum?" Damian asked. Waving a hand to tell the guy to let go of formalities.

"Faerunia has crowned Lord Vearon Seablaze as their new king. Apparently, a younger brother of Thaddeus, who claims to have signed a mana contract to stay away from Faerunia as long as Thaddeus was alive. 70% of Faerunian nobility has accepted the Stonefang crown."

"Stonefang crown?" Damian repeated the unfamiliar term.

"A powerful relic the sea bestows on the worthy candidate for kingship. It's rare and has only happened a few times in history."

"Then?" Damian asked.

"Many civilians and some nobles were against the sudden change in leadership when all their lives they were told Lady Vesperine was the heir to the Stone crown. We have very little information as to what transpired in the royal palace, but Hellstorm and Lady Vesperine were seen by the maids raising weapons against the new king. There was some damage left in the palace floor when it all ended."

The knight added,

"Some reports say the queen and prince were seen raising banners in Neremyst estate, some say they fled into the wilderness. Now I know they are in Sanctuary."

"What's the new king like?" Damian continued.

"He proclaimed himself the rightful ruler; there are going to be festivals and an official ceremony to renew the oath of fealty, they say. But those are just rumors. I had the chance to see the man myself. He indeed looks like a younger lord Thaddeus with black hair and a similar aura. The armies are preparing, either it's for the show of power or for something else, only time will tell."

"Any mention of the treaty?"

"There is a buzz among the commoners that Lord Vearon is not beholden to any reparations or part of a treaty, since it's an entirely new rule. The nobles are being more careful, but there have been some whispers."

"What's Vearon's orders for the Thaddeus's family? And is there anything else worth noting?" Damian asked the last question.

"No, that covers everything. The rule has changed, the changes will follow, but nothing drastic yet. Lord Vearon has taken the Neremyst estate, but no orders for the previous queen or Prince Alex. But people are indeed looking for them."

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