It was the first home of the demons and also the planet where Darkness, the element of destruction was born. Sulphur-red clouds drifted in the dark sky, while the ground below had a red tinge to it.
When the demonic race was fairly young, there had been talks about whether Tartarus had such dark energy because demons lived here or if demons were such powerful Darkness users because they lived in the Darkness-ridden Tartarus.
But instinctively, demons were creatures who loved to destroy and soon stopped thinking about such things. Eventually, fights within the Race began, until the strongest demon emerged from their Ranks.
To honour his strength, the demons began referring to him as the Demon King.
From the countless demons he had fought, the Demon King selected four demons, their strength being second only to the King himself. He elevated their status to that of Dukes and provided them titles.
Death. Famine. War. Conquest.
The Dukes spread themselves on the four corners of the Tartarus. Mobs of demons followed them and established their unique colonies all over Tartarus.
Currently, Nyx was passing through the market of a town in the Duchy of Death.
Although the demons detested light, the town was still brightly-lit, thanks to the red fireflies that buzzed everywhere. In the centre of the town square stood a large fountain. Brimstone water sprayed around, as demons danced below it.
Around the structure, many stalls were bustling with customers. Some were selling weapons, while others were selling potions. Some even sold different monsters as slaves. Since the demons of Death Duchy were famous for their brutality, various fights erupted around the stalls as the customers fought for the items. Nobody even attempted to stop them and instead, the demons around them cheered for a winner, as if they were witnessing a festival.
Seeing this, nobody would believe that the Demons were currently in the middle of war right now.
Well, it didn't matter anyway. In the end, it will be the Demons who win. Out of the 25 planets in the universe, the Demon King and the Dukes had already taken over 20 of them. Out of the remaining 5, long wars were already being fought on 4 of them while the remaining 1 was undergoing the final preparations for war.
She couldn't wait until the entire universe was ridden with the power of Darkness.
As Nyx passed through a pub, two drunkards slammed against her shoulder causing her hood to slip off. Her dark purple locks, which she had bundled up inside the cloak as part of her disguise, gently flowed down.
"Hey, hey, little girl. You can't just slam against us, you know." One of them yelled at her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
If this scene had taken place on Earth, one would have thought that two human thugs were harassing a young lady. Well, that is if you ignored the tiny details that differentiated humans and demons, such as the two horns poking out of their forehead and their blood-red irises.
Usually, demons went right into violence if they had to solve any sort of dispute. But today Nyx was in a pretty good mood, so she decided to give these lowborns a chance.
"If you take your hand off my shoulder right now, I will let you leave with your life." She gave them a warning.
"Huh? Do you think a weakling like you can do anything to me?" Angered by the woman's words, the demon raised the bottle in his hand, ready to strike her.
Suddenly, blood started to drip on his face. The man didn't realise what was happening, but his partner started screaming, as he scrambled back out of fear. The man looked up to find that his hand had been cut off from the wrist. The action had been so swift that even his nerves were delayed in registering the pain. As he was about to let out an anguished scream, he met Nyx's eyes, forcing him to swallow down the pain.
"I was planning on enjoying a peaceful walk, but now you guys ruined it." Two tall black wings appeared on her back, as she took to the skies. “I guess I should go back to the castle now.”
In the alley, she had left, the two finally realised how close to the jaws of death they just were.
"Let's get away from it quickly." The two quickly scrambled inside the alley, unaware of the shadows squirming behind.
Overlooking the town from a corner stood a large castle, straight out of mediaeval times. The castle was made from stone and black marble, complete with its own moat filled with snakes and crocodiles.
Despite being its owner for many years, Nyx still had no idea why the architect had added that useless structure.
'Any demon, that is strong enough to kill me, would just fly in from above. Was it made for aesthetic purposes?' She wondered, as in flew into the entrance hall of the castle.
“Welcome back, Mistress.” Her two maids greeted her at the door. They were twin sisters with straight jet-black hair and red eyes. Their horns were still small stubs, showing they were quite young for demons.
“Hello, Kit. Hello, Kat. I believe there weren’t any problems while I was away.” Nyx asked, handing them her cloak.
“There weren’t any complications in the castle…” Kit started.
“But Sir Nero is waiting for you in the guest room.” Kat ended.
“Nero? Why is that moron coming into my castle when I am not here?” She was already tired from her trip to Earth. She did not want to deal with some useless idiot right now.
“Just tell him I won't be back until tomorrow and tell him to leave.” Nyx instructed her maids.
“But, Mistress…” Before the two could continue, something whished past the two, drilling a hole into the wall behind them.
“What, Nyx! Too proud to even see me now?” A small voice called out to her.
Flying above the grand staircase, was a small boy. With his angelic-white hair and blood-red horns, he would have looked like the purest little devil in the world. But that nasty little mouth ruined the image.
If only she could cut his tongue out!
“What do you want, Nero? Make it quick.”
“I heard you went to visit Earth. Did you go to curse someone?” A sneer spread on his face, as he looked at her with curious eyes.
“I went there on a job. And anyway, why would I want to curse anyone? That’s a waste of mana.” Nyx rolled her eyes at his comment.
Disappointed flashed across his eyes. "Oh come on! I thought you were finally going to have some fun."
“Fun? Just looking at you tells me why you should not curse stupid humans.” She mocked him, pointing out Nero’s childish appearance and his weak C Rank Aura.
Unlike most races, where one’s Rank was determined by the average of their Stats, the Demon race’s power and Rank were also determined by the number of hearts they had.
E Ranks had one heart, D Ranks had two, C Ranks had three, and so on.
Nero was originally a B+ Rank Demon like her, but a few years ago, he gave up one of his hearts to fulfil the wish of his contracted Fallen and curse someone. This price was the reason why Demons rarely cursed someone, as it would lead to a significant drop in the demon's power.
“Oh, please, I will get my heart back soon. The Hero I cursed is already on Death’s door.”
“Still! Is it truly worth it to lose a part of your powers for so long? Not to mention, you can’t even raise your Rank while your Curse is in effect!”
“Oh, my poor Nyx. You haven’t enjoyed your life if you haven’t Cursed someone.” Nero made a pitiful face toward her. “The pleasure you feel as your Cursed Hero awaits their inevitable fate. The terror they face while living their lives, thinking that now is when the Curse will ruin them forever. Ah, that feeling is euphoric!”
Nyx just stared in disgust, as Nero looked like he was gonna pleasure himself silly.
“Have either of you ever experienced this intoxicating feeling?” Nyx looked down at her maids.
Kit and Kat shook their heads. “We are only E-Rank demons. We don’t have the hearts to spare.”
“Right!” Nyx turned to Nero. “See! Nobody in this house wants to feel that euphoric feeling you are talking about.”
Nero tsk-ed at her. “You should have your fun on Earth while you still can before the four Dukes descend. Then, there would be too much chaos to enjoy the torment properly.”
“Speaking of that, we should ask the Fallen from the Chaos Alliance to make the proper arrangements. We need to make sure to provide the Four Dukes the best service they can.” Nyx ordered him.
“I will get to it, once I get my heart back in a few weeks.” Nero nodded at her order. "Anyway, can I ask what job the Duke of Death send you to do?"
"It's none of your business to know what my Master ordered."
"Aww. Look at you, still doing all of his biddings. The Duke of Death must be really happy with his lapdog." Nero laughed at her.
Suddenly tendrils of darkness rose from the ground, their spikes surrounding Nero.
"Insult my Master one more, and I will kill you on the spot." Nyx warned him.
" Jeez. That was just a joke, don't worry. I won't be stupid enough to insult a Duke."
"Make sure you remember that." With a final glare, Nyx retracted the spikes.
As Nero was planning to leave the castle, Nyx stopped him. "I almost forgot. Can you tell me who is the Human that you put your curse on?"
“It was some Human child named Ryder Briar.” Nero replied after giving it a small thought. "Why do you ask?"
"Just because." She vaguely replied, before shooing the Demon out of her castle.
"Looks like Master's plan is going perfectly."
It was the first home of the demons and also the planet where Darkness, the element of destruction was born. Sulphur-red clouds drifted in the dark sky, while the ground below had a red tinge to it.
When the demonic race was fairly young, there had been talks about whether Tartarus had such dark energy because demons lived here or if demons were such powerful Darkness users because they lived in the Darkness-ridden Tartarus.
But instinctively, demons were creatures who loved to destroy and soon stopped thinking about such things. Eventually, fights within the Race began, until the strongest demon emerged from their Ranks.
To honour his strength, the demons began referring to him as the Demon King.
From the countless demons he had fought, the Demon King selected four demons, their strength being second only to the King himself. He elevated their status to that of Dukes and provided them titles.
Death. Famine. War. Conquest.
The Dukes spread themselves on the four corners of the Tartarus. Mobs of demons followed them and established their unique colonies all over Tartarus.
Currently, Nyx was passing through the market of a town in the Duchy of Death.
Although the demons detested light, the town was still brightly-lit, thanks to the red fireflies that buzzed everywhere. In the centre of the town square stood a large fountain. Brimstone water sprayed around, as demons danced below it.
Around the structure, many stalls were bustling with customers. Some were selling weapons, while others were selling potions. Some even sold different monsters as slaves. Since the demons of Death Duchy were famous for their brutality, various fights erupted around the stalls as the customers fought for the items. Nobody even attempted to stop them and instead, the demons around them cheered for a winner, as if they were witnessing a festival.
Seeing this, nobody would believe that the Demons were currently in the middle of war right now.
Well, it didn't matter anyway. In the end, it will be the Demons who win. Out of the 25 planets in the universe, the Demon King and the Dukes had already taken over 20 of them. Out of the remaining 5, long wars were already being fought on 4 of them while the remaining 1 was undergoing the final preparations for war.
She couldn't wait until the entire universe was ridden with the power of Darkness.
As Nyx passed through a pub, two drunkards slammed against her shoulder causing her hood to slip off. Her dark purple locks, which she had bundled up inside the cloak as part of her disguise, gently flowed down.
"Hey, hey, little girl. You can't just slam against us, you know." One of them yelled at her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
If this scene had taken place on Earth, one would have thought that two human thugs were harassing a young lady. Well, that is if you ignored the tiny details that differentiated humans and demons, such as the two horns poking out of their forehead and their blood-red irises.
Usually, demons went right into violence if they had to solve any sort of dispute. But today Nyx was in a pretty good mood, so she decided to give these lowborns a chance.
"If you take your hand off my shoulder right now, I will let you leave with your life." She gave them a warning.
"Huh? Do you think a weakling like you can do anything to me?" Angered by the woman's words, the demon raised the bottle in his hand, ready to strike her.
Suddenly, blood started to drip on his face. The man didn't realise what was happening, but his partner started screaming, as he scrambled back out of fear. The man looked up to find that his hand had been cut off from the wrist. The action had been so swift that even his nerves were delayed in registering the pain. As he was about to let out an anguished scream, he met Nyx's eyes, forcing him to swallow down the pain.
"I was planning on enjoying a peaceful walk, but now you guys ruined it." Two tall black wings appeared on her back, as she took to the skies. “I guess I should go back to the castle now.”
In the alley, she had left, the two finally realised how close to the jaws of death they just were.
"Let's get away from it quickly." The two quickly scrambled inside the alley, unaware of the shadows squirming behind.
Overlooking the town from a corner stood a large castle, straight out of mediaeval times. The castle was made from stone and black marble, complete with its own moat filled with snakes and crocodiles.
Despite being its owner for many years, Nyx still had no idea why the architect had added that useless structure.
'Any demon, that is strong enough to kill me, would just fly in from above. Was it made for aesthetic purposes?' She wondered, as in flew into the entrance hall of the castle.
“Welcome back, Mistress.” Her two maids greeted her at the door. They were twin sisters with straight jet-black hair and red eyes. Their horns were still small stubs, showing they were quite young for demons.
“Hello, Kit. Hello, Kat. I believe there weren’t any problems while I was away.” Nyx asked, handing them her cloak.
“There weren’t any complications in the castle…” Kit started.
“But Sir Nero is waiting for you in the guest room.” Kat ended.
“Nero? Why is that moron coming into my castle when I am not here?” She was already tired from her trip to Earth. She did not want to deal with some useless idiot right now.
“Just tell him I won't be back until tomorrow and tell him to leave.” Nyx instructed her maids.
“But, Mistress…” Before the two could continue, something whished past the two, drilling a hole into the wall behind them.
“What, Nyx! Too proud to even see me now?” A small voice called out to her.
Flying above the grand staircase, was a small boy. With his angelic-white hair and blood-red horns, he would have looked like the purest little devil in the world. But that nasty little mouth ruined the image.
If only she could cut his tongue out!
“What do you want, Nero? Make it quick.”
“I heard you went to visit Earth. Did you go to curse someone?” A sneer spread on his face, as he looked at her with curious eyes.
“I went there on a job. And anyway, why would I want to curse anyone? That’s a waste of mana.” Nyx rolled her eyes at his comment.
Disappointed flashed across his eyes. "Oh come on! I thought you were finally going to have some fun."
“Fun? Just looking at you tells me why you should not curse stupid humans.” She mocked him, pointing out Nero’s childish appearance and his weak C Rank Aura.
Unlike most races, where one’s Rank was determined by the average of their Stats, the Demon race’s power and Rank were also determined by the number of hearts they had.
E Ranks had one heart, D Ranks had two, C Ranks had three, and so on.
Nero was originally a B+ Rank Demon like her, but a few years ago, he gave up one of his hearts to fulfil the wish of his contracted Fallen and curse someone. This price was the reason why Demons rarely cursed someone, as it would lead to a significant drop in the demon's power.
“Oh, please, I will get my heart back soon. The Hero I cursed is already on Death’s door.”
“Still! Is it truly worth it to lose a part of your powers for so long? Not to mention, you can’t even raise your Rank while your Curse is in effect!”
“Oh, my poor Nyx. You haven’t enjoyed your life if you haven’t Cursed someone.” Nero made a pitiful face toward her. “The pleasure you feel as your Cursed Hero awaits their inevitable fate. The terror they face while living their lives, thinking that now is when the Curse will ruin them forever. Ah, that feeling is euphoric!”
Nyx just stared in disgust, as Nero looked like he was gonna pleasure himself silly.
“Have either of you ever experienced this intoxicating feeling?” Nyx looked down at her maids.
Kit and Kat shook their heads. “We are only E-Rank demons. We don’t have the hearts to spare.”
“Right!” Nyx turned to Nero. “See! Nobody in this house wants to feel that euphoric feeling you are talking about.”
Nero tsk-ed at her. “You should have your fun on Earth while you still can before the four Dukes descend. Then, there would be too much chaos to enjoy the torment properly.”
“Speaking of that, we should ask the Fallen from the Chaos Alliance to make the proper arrangements. We need to make sure to provide the Four Dukes the best service they can.” Nyx ordered him.
“I will get to it, once I get my heart back in a few weeks.” Nero nodded at her order. "Anyway, can I ask what job the Duke of Death send you to do?"
"It's none of your business to know what my Master ordered."
"Aww. Look at you, still doing all of his biddings. The Duke of Death must be really happy with his lapdog." Nero laughed at her.
Suddenly tendrils of darkness rose from the ground, their spikes surrounding Nero.
"Insult my Master one more, and I will kill you on the spot." Nyx warned him.
" Jeez. That was just a joke, don't worry. I won't be stupid enough to insult a Duke."
"Make sure you remember that." With a final glare, Nyx retracted the spikes.
As Nero was planning to leave the castle, Nyx stopped him. "I almost forgot. Can you tell me who is the Human that you put your curse on?"
“It was some Human child named Ryder Briar.” Nero replied after giving it a small thought. "Why do you ask?"
"Just because." She vaguely replied, before shooing the Demon out of her castle.
"Looks like Master's plan is going perfectly."
