Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Made lighter by the reunion and Luna’s care, Adam left the ruined city, his fingers interlocked with hers.

As stories accompanied their steps in the demon realm, across the universe, in one of the rare realms hidden from the prying gaze of gods and demons, two siblings rushed down a broad street.

Their silver hair fluttered in the soft wind as they moved among the pedestrians headed toward the grand palace in the distance. There were so many that temples and draconic statues, imposing on other days, turned unremarkable compared to the mass of colorful togas, hair, and horns.

The girl, now ten years old, halted once the crowd became too dense for her to continue. Her fox’s ears perked up as she glanced far behind with her brother, then waved her hand. Voice drowned by surrounding whispers, she still called out. "Hurry, papa, uncle! We don’t want to be stuck behind these tall adults once the ceremony begins!"

"Yeah!" The boy raised his fists. "We must get the best places or we’ll miss everything!"

Behind them, a man stumbled forward, his sweat-drenched muscles visible beneath the loose toga he wore. More sweat cascaded down his bald head as if the mild heat cooked him inside out in a sorry spectacle.

Fortunately, another man, three heads taller and twice as large, wrapped a firm hand around his shoulder for support. Yet, he consciously shifted his arm, avoiding sweat as if it would contaminate his oily beige skin.

He gripped his forehead with a sigh, two sharp red horns poking through his fingers. "You know your uncle can’t move too fast! Come back, Noah, Maria, or I’ll tell your mother you’ve been naughty with papa!"

Maria crossed her arms around her chest, her eyes narrowing. "Such a low move!"

Noah nodded. "We’ll tell her you’ve drunk until sunrise, then!"

The children chuckled mischievously, then vanished through the crowd.

Meanwhile, the uncle sighed. "I hope Shihan won’t make your life hard. Sorry, Bart. These covert operations are not for me."

Bart chuckled. "These brats are just spewing nonsense. It would be weird for her to get mad when we drank together back home. But I feel you, Ifrit. I can’t imagine how you contain your blaze."

"You’d be dead if you really felt it." Ifrit clenched his jaw. "Your children have a point. I’m not enduring all this to see the ceremony from the back. Carry me faster."

"And expose my skin because you’re sweating more than a catoblepas in heat? Not a chance," Bart countered, the corner of his lips rising. But his steps hastened when Ifrit glared at him.

"That’s what I thought. At least, I don’t need to paint myself. On a serious note, I can’t wait to leave this stuck-up realm." Ifrit pointed at the pedestrians neat togas and combed hair, then at soldiers flanking the immaculate buildings.

The sun reflected on the benevolent dragon’s face carved on their golden breastplate. Though they seemed to ensure safety, their half-drawn blades and narrowed eyes suggested something else.

"I’m disgusted by this realm of fake perfection." Ifrit’s nose scrunched. "Their peace is as brittle as wood beneath my fire."

"I’m as eager as you are, old friend. They have peace, but dread to speak too loudly even on this celebratory day. They have no choice, no freedom." Bart shook his head. "It works, but my entire being refuses this life. Perhaps our demonic nature speaks for us."

Ifrit snorted as they approached the palace’s plaza, where people gathered around a broad fountain. Once more, dragon heads spewed fresh water into a broad basin, right in front of the balcony where the ceremony would happen.

"Get us a place near the water. But tell me, Bart. Their population is almost as mixed as ours, and demonic nature doesn’t matter. So, do you think they’re happy? I mean true happiness, not happy that this place is slightly better than the last one."

Bart observed men and women until he reached the fountain and helped Ifrit sit. Then, he smirked. "They’re as happy as the demonic beasts I rear. A bit of food, two or three pats on the head, is all they need to walk in line."

Ifrit nodded. "They look like surrounded pieces on a burning war map to me. The more their desires are superficially suppressed, the more their frames crack." He shrugged. "It might not happen soon since everything is still new, but the consequences won’t be pretty when it does."

The children chose this moment to return. They sat on the fountain side, plunging their feet into the water, chuckling while nearby citizens glared at them as if they had committed a capital offense or a crime of lèse majesté.

Bart removed his children’s legs, then pinched their ears softly, sighing. "This place won’t have time to collapse on its own. We leave as soon as we find Maven... if he’s really here. Then we return with an army."

Ifrit splashed fresh water on his face, drenching his toga without care. His eyes, however, never left the royal balcony.

Sharp-eyed guards, clutching halberds that almost poked the ceiling, surveilled the growing crowd freeweɓnovel.cøm

Milky white jewels adorned fine scales crafted into impregnable armor. They struck their weapons down, the sound traveling through the entire city. Instantly, the palace gates closed, and the ones between them creaked open.

An unnatural silence engulfed the plaza, both solemn and heavy with unspoken tension. After all, this was the first ceremony held to reward the growing empire’s meritorious subjects—none of whom, as always, were commoners.

They watched nobles and military officers walk out in a grand procession of silvery, magical silk and satisfied, almost contemptuous smirks.

Ifrit’s eyes locked on one of them. Shorter and hidden behind a smiling mask, the individual caused him to break the silence with a soft answer. "We’ll see him sooner than you expect." His eyes blazed with unspoken secrets. "Trust me."

Bart followed his gaze, his eyes widened. "Don’t tell me..."

"I won’t tell you." Ifrit cut him off. "Enjoy the show and... prepare for war."