Chapter 680: All hail the King of Demons.
Take two children who are the same age and have knowledge about a certain topic.
Put these two children to do the same work, instruct them to do what they think is best as long as they complete the task, and give them books to follow step by step.
The child who completes the work according to the instructions followed in the book is a studious and hard-working student and can even be considered gifted.
But the child who completed the same job but innovated several more things that, while not perfect, were more efficient solutions and with significant untapped potential is a genius.
That's the difference between a talented child and a genius.
It's clear that this cheap analogy does not wholly reflect reality. Many loopholes and scenarios are not highlighted, such as the environment the children lived in before, the level of creativity of each one, the influences in the child's life, etc.
But this analogy is not flawed either and would be 100% correct if both children grew up in the same environment, heard the same things from adults, and learned the same things.
Like two inseparable twins who, despite being twins, had strengths and weaknesses, like any other being.
After all, no one was the same. Everyone is different.
It was these meaningless thoughts that Victor fell into when he saw the bloody spectacle before him.
Yes, Victor was very good at torture and punishment; he'd learned from the best teacher in that kind of subject and even suffered her torture to gain resistance to pain.
He was good at striking terror; he was good at striking fear in the hearts of other Beings.
That was an indisputable fact.
But... it seemed like he'd found someone on par with him in this torture business or even surpassed him.
He believed that not even Scathach was as creative and talented in torture as this woman before him.
Lily Baal, this woman was definitely born to cause others pain.
Proof of that was the morbid spectacle in front of him. What he was witnessing was so graphic and sickening that even he had to agree it was incredible.
The proof that this spectacle was worthy of a painting of Lovecraft's tales of horror were the Demons' reaction.
The square was silent. Some Demons were looking on in horror at what they were seeing. Even if it weren't obvious, such a scene made even the Elder Demons uncomfortable.
Victor was sure that if his prior warnings and public demonstrations of what happened if the Demons went against him had little effect,
The Demon Lily had just made a spectacle of was a perfect warning. Her methods were really effective...
Perhaps even too effective if Victor thought about it for a few seconds.
He looked at the Lesser Demons and sensed the emotions of the populace.
'I must control this.' Governing by fear was good, but excessive fear was detrimental. Respect was also necessary.
Like all things in the Universe, a balance between fear and respect was crucial for a Ruler.
"Your Majesty, what do you think of my work?"
The Demons withdrew their eyes from the nightmare-inducing scene before them and looked at the woman who, although very beautiful, had several parts of her body stained with blood and a slightly manic smile on her face.
The definition of madness was before them, enough to make even Demons uncomfortable.
Unlike the Demons, Victor couldn't help but find the sight beautiful.
There was a beauty in that madness that Victor simply couldn't ignore.
"Splendid, a work worthy of an artist such as yourself." Victor gave his honest opinion.
And that made Lily's smile grow even wider.
"Am I to assume Your Majesty is very pleased?"
Victor's smile was the answer Lily received. He didn't need to say anything; his smile was the answer she wanted.
"I am curious, though; where did you learn such art?"
"I learned the basics from my mother, but I perfected the craft at heights that even my mother did not reach." She spoke with pride.
'It's nice to be praised for something you're good at.' She was good at politics and the games of Higher Demons, but she didn't consider that a very impressive skill. Her hobby had always been 'art'.
"I see; it seems to run in the family."
"Unfortunately, only the women in our family carry this trait."
"I see. It seems this is a taste of what to expect from Lilith."
"Indeed, like me, my mother is very fond of practicing this art."
"......" The population and Victor's Generals didn't know how to react to the duo's casual words before such a morbid scenario.
Victor nodded in satisfaction, then he rose from his Throne and stood, and finally, everyone could see the entire face of the Demon King without that strange darkness hiding it.
The Demons couldn't help but absently observe the King's face, it was as if the entire population had forgotten that morbid art and concentrated on a more 'perfect' painting. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Demon King was attractive to everyone without exception.
'Good, that face is useful.' Victor laughed internally as he felt the fear leave the Demons' hearts. Then, taking advantage of those few seconds to completely regain control of the situation, he changed his expression to a more serious face.
"My citizens."
"You have seen the consequences of those who go against me."
A chill went down everyone's spine, and everyone was pulled back to reality by Victor's words.
"Remember this if you plan to go against me," Victor said while gesturing to the desecrated body of the still-breathing Demon.
"Remember. There will be no mercy."
"For those who go against me," Victor raised his hand to the sky, glowing with red power, and the translucent image of the Souls of several Demons being tortured soon appeared.
"Only True Death awaits them." Victor clenched his fist.
Even though the sounds couldn't be heard by others, the screaming visages of the Demons were visible to all. The silence only furthered the effect by relying on the Demon's imagination. It was quite obvious the pain the Souls were feeling.
In the next moment, all Souls displayed burst from existence.
"No reincarnation."
"No afterlife."
"Just the empty disappearance of nothingness."
Victor was silent for a few seconds and waited for his words and sight of what he had done to be absorbed by all the Demons present. He smiled inwardly as he felt various hostile intentions disappear, and only fear remained.
The small flames of rebellion were extinguished.
'Now it's time for the carrot.'
"Those who are on my side, and those who have true loyalty, however, are rewarded."
Victor pointed his hand at Lily, and red power shot out of his palm and hit the woman's body.
Lily didn't close her eyes; she didn't do anything. Instead, she just accepted everything as she looked into Victor's eyes with mild surprise.
'Is he so pleased…?' A satisfaction swelled in Lily's chest; she didn't expect that she would gain so much just by killing some rubbish and giving her all to her 'art'.
Of course, she knew there were ulterior motives to what Victor was doing now; she clearly understood that.
But she also understood that if Victor weren't satisfied with her performance, he wouldn't have given her more than she already deserved.
'Ahh ~, this is the King's Power... It feels so good~!'
A pillar of Miasma and white light rose to the heavens changing the weather. The burst of Power only lasted for a few seconds. Then, slowly, the pillar of Miasma and light subsided, and everyone saw a Lily who had barely changed outwardly.
But the Power emanating from her body was surreal, the very air around her seemed to distort at her presence, and everything around her fluctuated as if she were in her own world.
Lily looked down at her hands and squeezed them tightly. She had never felt so good before.
'So much Power…' A big smile appeared on Lily's face.
"Loyalty is rewarded."
"Betrayal and insubordination lead to punishment."
"Choose your sides, my legions of Demons."
"Are you with me, or against me?"
All the Demons snapped out of their stupor from watching Lily and looked at Victor with a new glint of fanaticism, loyalty, and ambition in their eyes.
Nobody knew who started it or where the first voice came from,
"All hail Alucard, The King of Demons!"
"All hail Alucard, The King of Demons!"
"All hail Alucard, The King of Demons!"
But the effect was instantaneous, spreading like Hellfire that affected everyone.
The flames of ambition blazed in the hearts of Demons.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOOM.
The chorus of Demons grew louder and louder. The Demons stomped their feet on the ground making everything around them shake. It was like an earthquake was happening all over Hell.
The Demons' eyes glowed with the image of a man with a big Demonic grin on his face.
Victor Alucard, King of All Demons.
'Good.' Satisfaction coursed through Victor's entire body at the sight before him. 'The conditions have been fulfilled... Now, I can do that Technique.'
...
"Aya, aya... That got pretty interesting, didn't it?" A man who was observing the 'Judgment' that was broadcast all over Hell spoke.
"I completely underestimated the ability of the new King," Zagan spoke with an amused, neutral face.
"Diablo is in for a surprise when he returns to Hell."
"The new King fully understands the Demon Race. He knows how to play the carrot and stick game; he is a born manipulator."
Zagan looked up and saw a familiar face.
"Phoenix."
"Yo, how are you, Zagan ?"
"Aren't you supposed to be on Earth?" Zagan asked curiously.
"Diablo sent me. Despite being focused on the current war, he wants to know what is happening in Hell."
"And as you know, due to my 'condition', it won't take many sacrifices for me to return to Earth."
"Hmm…" A calculating glint appeared in Zagan's eyes.
"So what do we do? Do we support Diablo or The New King?"
"We don't take sides. Just like the cheapest bitch in the Human World, The Witch Queen, we will go to those who will give us the most benefit."
"I really don't like that analogy." Phoenix snorted.
"But it is a more accurate analogy for our small organization."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"That is true." Zagan leaned back in the chair and put his feet on the table.
Phoenix walked over to Zagan and looked at the transmission.
"One thing is undeniable with the new King; he is quite charismatic."
"Manipulative, charismatic, ruthless, and not afraid to make decisions. A Perfect Demon King."
"That's true…" The glint in Zagan's eyes faded, and he looked at the transmission.
"Tell me your thoughts, Zagan."
"…I am undecided."
"Oh? That's rare." Phoenix expressed his surprise.
"What Diablo promises if the plan succeeds is much more than what the new King can give us."
"But we also don't know if Diablo will succeed in carrying out his plans."
"A crossroads, huh… On the one hand, you know Diablo very well. You've had thousands of years to learn about him. But, on the other hand, you don't know anything about the new King."
"Correct, but we can't ignore the new King either. He is causing big changes in Hell; we can't ignore his absurd ability to increase the Power of Demons."
"Interesting, isn't it? A man who isn't even a Demon has the ability to increase a Demon's Power." Phoenix commented.
"That capability is very attractive." Zagan pointed out, eyes sparkling with interest.
"Indeed."
"Ahhh, I don't know. Do I bet on the young, full of potential and clearly competent?"
"Or the old customer with big plans, who can give us a lot of fruit?" Zagan rested his head on the table.
"Why not both?"
"Eh?"
"I mean, why do you need to choose one? The choice is as simple as a hot redhead and a hot brunette; you don't have to pick one. Just get them both."
"That's an interesting analogy, I assume you learned it in the Human World?"
"Yeah, spending time in the Human World has given me some knowledge..." Phoenix flashed a small smile.
Zagan rolled his eyes when he heard what the man said.
"Your idea has merits."
"Of course! We are merchants; we don't take sides. We just aim for profits." Phoenix spoke.
"Pretty capitalistic, isn't it?"
"Even in Hell, money has value."
"Indeed." Zagan laughed.
"So what do we do?"
"I can assume that Diablo's situation is pretty tight, right? Since he is no longer the King of Hell, he cannot open The Gates of Hell and acquire new soldiers."
"Correct, he can't even send Elites to Hell either; after all, the war is still ongoing."
"In that case, withhold information about the current state of Hell."
"Oh? Do you want to hide Alucard's progress?"
"Diablo knows that Alucard became King of Hell, this cannot be hidden, but he doesn't know Alucard's 'progress' since he became King; we will work with that."
"So I should say something like: He a good warrior but not a good Ruler?"
"Correct."
"Hmm, understood; I can work with that." Phoenix happily accepted.
"What about Alucard?"
"I will ask my subordinates to contact the new Government."
"Heh, not you personally?"
"Well, I broke into Nightingale the other day. He probably knows who I am, and even though I haven't done anything, I don't want to risk it."
"So cautious... I assume you will offer your services to the new King using the previous speech as a reason?"
"Indeed."
"Well, I must say that I, too, felt a fire burning inside me. His words affected me greatly," Phoenix spoke.
"That motherfucker is charismatic." Zagan laughed.
"That is undeniable." Phoenix laughed along.
"Hahahaha."
.....
