Chapter 4: The Footsteps Of Doom / Declaration of War

The Kingdom of Astraea began to experience multiple attacks on the frontier towns and villages simultaneously, this wasn’t the usual demon attacks that the kingdom was used to. It was a coordinated attack, as if inspired by the eclipse the demons were attacking relentlessly without caring about their lives as such they killed many soldiers and guards without sustaining too much damage. In their mouths were the words “GLORY TO THE DEMON KING, GLORY TO THE DEMON EMPIRE, GLORY TO THE ETERNAL NIGHT!!” it was clear to everyone what was going to happen with their continued assault on the frontier once it broke down.

“sigh This is so unnatural that it is giving me a headache”

“I feel you man, all of this is happening all too fast.”

“The eclipse has had me working in ways I never thought were possible”

These were the three remaining heroes, Lucas, Scott and John. They had been busy as of late from dealing with the fake quest that General Salvatore had given them via a magic message which was sent through a teleportation spell, then they heard what he did and it started to not make sense if at all. It didn’t align with his personality however they didn’t fully know the man or what could lay inside the depths of his heart so they merely gave condolences to the ones who were lost in his siege. They sat on the roundtable which was located within the royal palace, the demons had finally began to act. The barrier of the Demon King had been shattered and all access to that damned continent was now open, but something was strange about the continent. If one could see well, it was now a place that was night time at all times. This was what the scouting birds had seen before being eaten alive by bigger monsters, something had changed and this was what was getting to the trio. Usually the Demon King would be born from ten years to hundreds of years from the death of the last one but this new Demon King was an anomaly not only had the entire world been forced to recognize his birth but even the Demon Continent as well as things like the sun and moon recognized he was a being far greater than the rest. In other parts of the world, blood had rained. Monsters had become more vicious even if they were docile before, it was unsafe for people to normally hunt unless they had a certain degree of strength. This is what stressed the heroic trio out, it is what kept them awake at night. The world was evidently showing them that, it was up to them to save it but the foe they were facing up against was clearly not normal by any means.

☆

The King, Viktor Halter Solvanis Astraea had been busy as of late. The recent birth of the Demon King had kept him on his feet even more than when he dealt with the previous Demon King, the people had to be calmed and reassured of their safety. This was the most difficult of the tasks he had to do. The people who had suffered at the recent scandal that is the betrayal of Isaac Salvatore were now in panic as the Demon King had been born way sooner than they had expected. Viktor had to contact the church to aid them but they declined his offer saying that they had their own issues to deal with. Viktor sat at his desk which he starts to mindlessly stare at the documents with a small shivering occurring in his heart, had he spared the hero he would not be doing anything right now, had the hero been still alive the people would be reassured but it wasn’t time to be crying over spilt milk. 

“Your Majesty”

“….”

“Your Majesty”

“…..”

“Your Majesty!”

“Huh?”

“I apologize for shouting but there are visitors who would like to see you right now”

“Visitors?Are they from the Theocracy?”

“No”

“The Empire?”

“No, they say they are people His Majesty personally knows and refused to take off their cloaks even when prompted to by the knights”

“Hmm interesting, I shall go and greet these rude visitors who I supposedly know”

“What shall I tell them?”

“First gather the council. I want to know what they think about this person as well”

“As you wish Your Majesty”

Viktor wondered if he knew such a being, who was this mysterious man? And how did he know of him, was he a person from his past?He couldn’t answer all these questions all by himself thus got up with a sigh and walked towards the High Council room.

The High Council, a group of people who were astonishing in their own right, people who were praised for their wisdom, strength, resourcefulness and finally ability to lead, judge and having eyes of discernment. If one was to be judged by the High Council no matter what it was, their fate would be sealed and dealt with. The High Council was made up of five members including the King himself, the room where the High Council had gathered was a room that was kept in good condition. It was a room that had the image of a maiden dancing with an eagle with clouds below her feet and a phoenix flying above her head as a painting that decorated the ceiling. The floor was made out of marble and the seats of the High Council were made out of sky lapis lazuli, each seat had its own symbol and stone associated with the member of the council. 

From the left to the center to the right were the respective rocks for the members: Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Ruby, and Topaz. In front of them were flowers that were picked out of keen respect for them: Marigold, Sunflower, Chrysanthemum, Rose, and Dandelion. The king was the center of these people and he merely watched as the other members of the High Council arrive at their own times but not too late. He nodded and they allowed their visitor inside.

“You say you know me, I do not know of any being who is perpetually cloaked”

“Ahh yes, I certainly do look suspicious do I?”

A familiar voice rang out from the cloak clad figure who then snapped his fingers and produced a throne made from bones covered in a gem like stone. He sat on it with his legs crossed and his hand on his cheek as suddenly there was a beauty to remove the hood of his cloak for him disappearing into the void as she did so, a chorus of gasps could be heard within the room. Short white hair, pale white skin, eyes dyed in abyss black with crimson staring back at them. His hand was on his cheek with a nasty smirk on his face, it was almost thought this was an illusion cast by a demon but no it was very much real. This was the hero, the dead and betrayed hero. 

“You definitely know me, do not try to act like you forgot me Viktor”

“B-But you’re supposed to be-“

“Dead?Rotting?A pile of bones?I was but now I am back”

“Y-You must know it was for the sake of the nation”

“Yeah of course I know, you ordered it, all of you did. Me and the girls should die for the sake of our nations. We should be the sacrifices for the happiness of the people”

“I-If you understand then you must not have a grudge towards us, it was for the benefit of mankind”

“I did not come here to be your little tool, I’ve come with a message”

“From who…?”

“My new self”

The hero stood up and pointed at them with the smirk widening as they stared into his abyss filled crimson eyes.

“I Alastor Steppenwolf, declare war on humanity”

“Wait it can’t be?!”

“This cannot be happening!”

“But it is. When I was murdered I was called Demon King, after two long years of pain and suffering I crawled out of hell as a new being. I vowed to conquer for every last bit of territory you have taken for yourselves.”

“C’mon David we can talk this out, we can c-coexist!”

“Sorry but that idea died long ago along with that name, all of you except the select few will die. Except the remnants I choose will live. Prepare, gather up the people, give them weapons, fortify yourselves and wait because in 7 days from now on I am going to be invading this royal capital and turn it into a pile of rubble. Enjoy this little grace period that I have given you”

“You do know that we have the heroes?!They will just kill you before you can invade Astraea!!”

Viktor barked at Alastor who turned around, staring down at him with a great grin on his face. 

“Heroes?Traitors like those aren’t heroes, I really do hope to see them try to kill me. But none of them will see it coming”

Alastor pulls out an amulet with an eye inside of it that begins to shine brightly.

“None of you will remember it was me who came here anyway. As for the traitors?Heh they’ll never see it coming”

Viktor much like the others began to feel dizzy as he faded into unconsciousness.  As the new Demon King, a monster of their own making laughed wildly as he did so.

☆

While there were those who feared the eclipse there were those who admired it, loved it, even worshipped it. Such people within the human kingdom were not rare to find, organizations such as the dark magic guild, the assassins’ guild, the Demon King cultists and so many more had seen the eclipse as a sign of the end times and as such were making a group effort to be taken notice of by the Demon King. It was something that they who were of different occupations and backgrounds had collectively agreed upon, those with glass masks had them taken off as they grinned at this new development. They were happy to see the predicament that had taken over the world, it was something worth celebrating over for. The first princess of Astraea, Vestra Aleksandra Vasilisa Astraea said to be the most beautiful and kind in the entire kingdom had locked herself up inside of her room because of the entire event. She had been just as scared as the people but when the time came she stood up for them and guaranteed their future, however…

“🎶”

She was quietly humming inside of her locked room, her long straight finely combed white blonde hair swaying as she bobbed her head to an unknown song, her normally ice blue eyes were dyed in an unnatural crimson color, she was wearing a jet black dress that reached her knees. She was drawing pictures of the eclipsed sun and the massive eye ball that watched the world that day, many of the pictures were graphic in nature. Roughly speaking the princess was not a little child, she was a fully grown adult of marriageable age. But the images she produced were grotesque and even evident of a master artist, whenever the maids saw this they too admired her art style.

“But why do you create such images”

“They are of the future, the kingdom will fall”

“That’s not a joke you should be saying Your Majesty”

“Its becoming realer everyday, ever since that eclipse fell upon the world. Things have not been running well for us, by us I do not mean those affiliated with the dark guilds but I mean the kingdom. Everything is falling apart so rapidly and everyone involved is going to be slaughtered brutally”

“Does that include us Your Majesty?”

“No you are all my cute maids you cannot die unless I say so”

“Your Majesty….”

“She is certainly a kindhearted girl isn’t she?”

“I wouldn’t want to hear that from the man who declared war on us”

The Demon King sat at on the window sills that allowed the wind inside, he looked outward with a gentle smile on his face.

“Perhaps I didn’t notice it but you are pretty black hearted aren’t you?”

“I am, I merely planned my safety away from being done in by my father and his subordinates. I do apologize for not telling you any sooner, even if I did tell you wouldn’t believe me”

“You’re right about that, I wouldn’t have believed you but now I do. Thus will you join me?”

“Why?I believe that you have your own strategist on your side”

“I do. But I do not have the information network that you have, that I need in order for my conquest to be successful”

“You really have changed. I can almost not recognize you”

“Heh, death changes people. So does betrayal, I take it that you are also associated with the dark guilds that wanted to contact me”

“Yes I am”

“All the more reason to have you on my side. I still have one person in my heart if you know what I mean”

“I do, the scenario is the princess has been kidnapped by the demons”

“You’ve read my thoughts, you’re more terrifying than I thought”

“I am glad I didn’t have a hand inside of your betrayal otherwise that would have costed me a lifetime of seeing kingdoms fall”

“Your intuition helped you out”

“No, I merely calculated the many many scenarios where the culprit of the hero’s betrayal was someone close to him be it his mentor or the princess who dies a horrid death. And I simply did not wish to be a part of that cycle”

“You chose well. Now then the first princess, did you and your sisters decide what to do next after I kidnap you?”

“The others go into ‘hiding’ ~”

“This royal family is fucked, I wonder what the queen is like”

“My mother was stubborn at first but as soon as the eclipse of the Demon King revealed itself she has been working to make sure that she too stays alive”

“Are the royal women in this nation that fucking twisted?”

“Beyond anything life is more important than position. My brothers and father do not value life thus they would rather die than live. You of all people should know that”

“I do”

“How is Myne and Fiona?Are they well?”

“Doing better than expected, shall we make our departure?”

“Certainly. Girls the time has come, now make yourselves ready”

The maids became wrapped in shadow and what stood in their place was a group of women wearing cultist masks. The Demon King who was once a hero laughed together with the corrupted princess. The song of the doomed kingdom was beginning to play and no one could heard it except for those who dwelt in the shadows.