Nothing but blood stains remained on the nursery where the Ghouls were supposed to be staying...
Demon Prince Lu's expression looks twisted as he stared at this. The sheer anger radiating off of his body was freaking the servant demons out, making them unable to even breathe loudly.
The worst part about this is that Demon Prince Lu had no idea where to begin with his search. He couldn't see any traces of the killer anywhere, not even a strand of hair, footsteps, or remnant aura. There's nothing except blood stains and a few bits of flesh.
Demon Prince Lu felt myriad of emotions but the most prominent of all was, of course, anger.
He couldn't believe this...years, nearly a decade of work, gone just like this. And he couldn't even find out how it happened.
How could he expect this? How can anyone expect him to remain calm when he had to be stuck in this god-awful place, looking after these lesser demons for this and enduring the boredom and droll environment to complete a mission that wasn't originally his business, to begin with just for all of it to disappear like smoke?
Raising the Ghouls was never his responsibility, to begin with. This was supposed to be looked after by his Older Brother. Unfortunately, Demon Prince Lu needed his Older Brother's help with something, his brother agreed but in exchange, he has to do this.
Demon Prince Lu didn't want to agree at first but he did anyway. To ensure that his wedding with his beloved will be secured and they'd live happily ever after, Demon Prince Lu decided to make the sacrifice.
God knows how much he would rather spend time lounging around the capital but no, he went here and looked after this mission like his life depended on it.
And now, you're telling him that all of the sacrifices he made, enduring everything on his lonesome, were gone just like that?
How can he be willing to accept that kind of nonsense?
Demon Prince Lu never felt so angry in his life. All decorum on his face and his noble presence disappeared. Replaced by the savageness of a real demon on the verge of going feral.
"RRRAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!"
Demon Prince Lu howled at the sky, his voice filled with resentment and anger. The aura of a Noble Demon exploded, causing the nursery to shatter into bits.
The servant demons near him directly turned into blood mist due to the sheer pressure he released but he couldn't care less anymore. This anger bubbling in his chest needs to be released or else he'll die because of it.
The explosions continued, and the city legitimately quaked under the Demon Prince's anger.
It's like a disaster struck the city. Explosions occurred here and flames swept the buildings, demons turned into blood mists, and so on. Demon Prince Lu continues roaring at the sky in resentment yet he knows that this wouldn't be enough to calm him down at all. He's way too angry and unreasonable in this state.
Yet, despite the anger and resentment, he felt for this unfair situation, some parts of Demon Prince Lu's brain retained some semblance of clarity. This allowed him to notice that the explosions in the city were a little bit weird.
Yes, he's angry but he has control over his strength. While he did kill some of his subordinates just now, he wasn't the one who caused the other explosions rocking the city just now.
He is angry but he's not angry enough to demolish this entire city...
This got him to realize that there is something else going on here. And that woke him out of his stupor.
The next thing he knew, he was floating above the city and looking at it with shock on his face. He was indeed correct. Something else was going on. The Demonic City was completely covered in flames, and not just any flames, it was white flames.
Demon Prince Lu couldn't tell where these white flames were coming from but he can feel the deep threat it poses to him and his kind upon seeing them. He had never encountered anything like this before, so what was going on here?
That's when Demon Prince felt a presence that somewhat alarmed him.
It came from the opposite side of the city. The presence was quiet and faint, yet when the Demon Prince felt it, it gave him all kinds of unpleasant sensations.
He then saw someone. A person wearing a pristine white cloak walks toward the city at a brisk pace. Demon Prince Lu tried to take a good look at that person's face but his senses were repelled by something.
The person was wearing a plain white mask with slots big enough for their eyes to see through. What unnerved the Demon Prince was that this person knows that they were already seen but they did nothing to stop in their tracks or their actions.
Demon Prince Lu watched as that person suddenly lifted a cylindrical item and lodged it on their shoulder. They aimed at the city and all of a sudden, Demon Prince Lu felt alarm bells warning him to dodge.
He did at the very last moment, just barely enough to dodge the swift projectile heading towards the city.
Gobsmacked, Demon Prince Lu watched as the projectile pierced the sky and opened a gaping hole in the clouds. Then, a literal rain of boulder-sized comets rocked the Demonic City, destroying everything in sight.
Demon Prince Lu had completely forgotten about the Ghouls and his anger. All he knows right now is that this person needs to be stopped as soon as possible.
Demon Prince Lu flew like a black star, heading towards the stranger in hopes of stopping him. Yet the stranger calmly regarded him. The long and cylindrical item lodged on the stranger's shoulders turned into a streak of white light and changed into something smaller.
The stranger raised his arm and fired a projectile at the Demon Prince, forcing him to dodge abruptly, interrupting his momentum.
"Firearms?" Demon Prince Lu recognized it now as he stared at the smoking barrel held by the stranger. He frowned and asked: "Who are you and why are you destroying my city?"
"...your city?" He heard the stranger ask in a weird tone. It's as though the stranger couldn't believe the words that he uttered just now.
"Your City huh..." the stranger repeated, sounding a little doubtful and cocky. "The gall of you ugly bunch is seriously skewed huh?"
Demon Prince Lu felt insulted by that, nevertheless, he still demanded: "State your identity, Stranger. And why are you destroying my city?"
"Oh, shut the fuck up, will you? Don't use that kind of tone on me, we both know that you're not all that." The stranger scoffed and crossed his arms in front of him. "As for why I'm destroying your city? Well, let's just say that I find it unsightly. I don't like the fact that you ugly things are here so I might as well do the world a favor and get rid of it."
"How...how dare you!!!" Demon Prince Lu was initially shocked by the audacity of this stranger then as they continued talking, he was angered by the sheer arrogance they held.
Unable to swallow any more grievances today, Demon Prince Lu's patience ran out. Without wasting any more words with the stranger, he charged and started the fight himself.
A wicked trident appeared on Demon Prince Lu's hand, he brandished it and prepared to stab the stranger to death but to his overwhelming shock, he was repelled by a strong force countering his momentum.
He then saw a ridiculous scythe appearing in the stranger's hand. With dawning horror on his face, it didn't take long for the Demon Prince to realize that the scythe was made out of his kin's remains.
What's more, is that he could feel a familiar aura on that scythe. It was the lingering aura and resentment of someone close to him.
"M-my beloved!?" Demon Prince Lu stuttered, "Speak!! Where did you get that bone from!!"
"Ah, this?" The stranger asked in a tone that anyone could recognize as foreboding, "I saw a mean dragon back there, you see. I didn't like its mug so I killed it and ripped its spine out while it was alive. Oh, that was the best."
"H-HOW DARE YOUUUUU!!!!!"
Demon Prince Lu lost all semblance of logic after hearing the stranger's words. His body instantly inflated and transformed into its true form, a Leech Abomination.
"I SWEAR TO THE DEMON GOD THAT I WILL KILL YOU!! I WILL FEAST ON YOUR FLESH! DRINK YOUR BLOOD AND SUCK YOUR MARROWS CLEAN! YOU WILL PAY FOR KILLING MY BELOVED!!!"
"Ooh, damn. Sorry, bro. I don't swing that way."
"RAGGGHHHHH!!"
With a maddened roar, Demon Prince Lu no longer had the patience to waste words on this person. He was charged with an overwhelming desire for murder.
Meanwhile, the stranger - who happens to be Ashton, smiled behind his mask and whispered:
"Alright, it's time to get naughty..." he gripped his scythe as he stared at the mad demon charging at him.
