Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Adam shuddered for a split second before his instincts took over. They clawed at his skin, veins, and cells, roaring louder than when Zeus had almost beheaded him. Whatever Luna’s ritual tried to summon from the netherworld couldn’t crawl in this realm—in this universe. Though he would have preferred not to interfere in her revenge, he had to stop her... before it was too late.

Without thinking, he dashed at Zepar, who cleaved a bloody path through the heretics. Blood seeped through the cracks in the ground, his wounded stomach adding to the gripping stench.

Eviscerated demons, sprawled around him, still flailed their arms at his cuisses. Their broken fingers slid on the metal’s smooth surface. Yet, like a ghoulish forest defying death, their arms rose relentlessly, gripping the duke’s calves and shins, smearing his brown pants a deep burgundy.

Adam nodded at them as he passed by. They were weak but valiant, worthy of his respect. Then, he gripped Zepar by the back of his neck. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"What?!" The duke howled, his claws flashing behind him. Before they could hit their targets, his eyes widened as the ground vanished beneath his feet.

Legs dangling, he scrutinised Adam’s scarlet and blue eyes. "You’re still here?"

Surprise gave way to opportunity. He could feel the iron grip on his skin and the horrifying physical might lifting him as if he were a baby. A marquis or a weak duke, perhaps. In any case, he was the key to stopping her!

"Great! We can’t let her widen the netherworld passage. Trust me, no one wants to see these creatures resurface. They’ll ruin the entire universe! I’ll give you a territory, thousands of servants, and a hundred demon barons to serve in your army. Demonic metal, gold, and jewels will follow if we survive."

He grinned, his honeyed voice echoing. "We are demons. No matter what fancy name you hide it behind, only greed fuels us. I know you’re no different. No one is—not even other species."

Inside the blazing pentacle, Luna’s eyes locked onto Adam. The head dangling from the rope in her grip trembled as her voice sharpened. "I don’t know you, friend. But this moment, this instant, is the culmination of all our preparation. Zepar must die." She clenched her jaw. "So do not let words sway your resolve, for a better future, for a world in which demons are more than greedy beasts."

Adam closed his eyes, sighing. Eleven years and a few evolutions had changed his appearance too much, and this conflict didn’t allow her to ponder who he was. Even if he understood, he felt his heart tighten subconsciously. A dull ache prickled his chest as his voice came out weak.

"That ritual will take away your revenge." He shook his head. "It’s too dangerous, not to mention useless. Cancel it, Luna. You can deliver the coup de grâce with your own hands."

Zepar flailed his limbs to free himself, calling him a foolish traitor, while the flames surrounding Luna froze mid-air.

A hesitant frown creased her brows for a moment. She gazed at the head, from which the outline of a broad neck sprouted. Soon, gills and fins would follow along with a terrifying, scaled torso. Four arms, a size second only to Leviathan, and boundless fury would resurrect to end Zepar’s treacherous life. But did she need it? Must she pervert Forneus, the only demon she respected, beyond the grave?

She bit her lip, her flames wavering. "I don’t know if I can trust you... But I want to. Don’t make me regret it."

"I’ll never make you regret anything." A soft smile stretched across Adam’s face as he walked to her, unhindered by Zepar’s resistance or demonic essence. "End him!"

Luna dismissed the pentacle, the passage to the netherworld closing before it widened. Forneus’ fierce expression eased, the eyes and lips closing as if thankful that someone stopped the madness.

Not that she noticed it. Instead, she recycled the flames. Like a maestro guiding them to her whims, they coalesced into a proud demonic figure that made Adam gasp.

The long leather coat flapping over a muscular frame, the draconic horns and wings, the sharp features, the missing eye, and the scarlet blade enveloped in a golden halo... it was a reconstruction of him from eleven years ago—the proof she still cared about him.

As emotions swelled in his burning chest, his replica raised its blade overhead.

Zepar shuddered in his grasp, his voice cracking. "I’ll give you everything I own and more! I know secrets you’ll never learn of. Who commanded me to murder you? What terrifies the nine demon kings? And why only nine exist despite the passing millennia?"

He clenched his jaw, knowing his knowledge was worth more than infernal material. After all, revenge would follow as long as he survived. The bastard who dared to grip him from behind would suffer most. Corruption would only be the start. He would slowly break his mind and body with both pleasure and pain until a broken, addicted shell was all that remained.

"I taught you to think with your head, not your heart." His voice steadied, eyes narrowing. "You’ll lose secrets that shake thrones—names that bend nations—for what? Petty revenge on the tool, instead of the hand that wields it. You know I can give you so much more, Luna."

"I know." Luna nodded, waving her palm down. "Offering me the world won’t make me forgive you for what you’ve done to Belle!"

The incarnation swung its blade down as her palm dropped. The scalding blade whistled, drowning Zepar’s answer in a cacophony of miserable wails. The crackling fire, the scent of his burnt skin, and the victorious cries of the few demons who survived the battle soon overwhelmed even the wails.

Luna watched the source of her pain, anguish, and nightmare slowly turn into drifting ash until nothing remained, feeling its huge quantity of demonic essence rush to her core, sublimating it with boundless energy. But she focused on her wounded heart, feeling it expel these negative emotions to let satisfaction and longing replace them. It felt both warm and sad, so she closed her emerald eyes, tears trailing down her cheeks. Her lips quivered as she whispered softly.

"You can rest in peace, Belle... and I can finally move forward, unshackled by my past. I... I want to see him."

Adam approached her, grinning. "See who?"