Chapter 869: We are Demons, not monsters. 2
"I will personally ensure to punish this Demon for not obeying my orders."
Despite uttering these words, Victor was not foolish enough to give a Rune Sequence that could identify his Demons to all Factions. This would only be used on the brighter side of the situation. His Elite Demons and personal Assassins whom he sent to do his dirty work would not be identifiable with this Rune.
Why was Victor doing this? It was simple. This was just the first step towards Demons being seen as 'citizens' rather than 'monsters.'
Due to the actions of Demons themselves and The Demon Leaders of the past, Demons were seen only as 'Monsters' to be eliminated, a highly mistaken belief. After all, just like any Being, Demons, too, had their own sapience. They were not monsters like the ones Victor had killed in The Adrastella Clan's territory or the Demonic Beasts that lived in Hell.
"... How exactly is this going to work?" The Celestial Father asked curiously. He was not oblivious to these forms of identification as he had seen them many times in the Human World. However, such a thing had never been applied to large Factions like Angels and Gods.
After all, why did they need to identify themselves? They were Gods, and their Divinity spoke for them.
It was this arrogance that had prevented the Gods from progressing further, as they believed themselves to be above all. They were unprepared for someone like Victor.
"Think of it as a way to identify my citizens. All Demons who are citizens of my Realm are required to register their identity – their name, age, profession, everything will be collected by the Government, and it will create a form of identification," Victor replied.
"I see... It's like Human identification, huh."
"Yes, it's similar," Victor did not deny but also did not confirm that it was the same. After all, while Humans had papers for identification, he had a Magical Rune that could shape Reality. Not to mention, the functionality of this Rune did not end there.
Victor could sense all registered Demons anywhere in the world; he only needed to focus his senses. The Rune would also inform Victor of which Demons were planning something against him, enabling him to use the situation to his advantage.
Despite preaching that his Demons were citizens, he had to acknowledge the reality that Demons were beings driven by desire. After all, their entire existence was based on the sins of the capital vices.
The safer society became, the more people grew comfortable and started looking for meaningless things to do. Victor had seen this very well in Human Society. That's why he didn't conquer the other Demon territories, which were filled with Demonic Beasts. Instead, he helped the Demonic Beasts become stronger.
Danger would always exist; after all, this was Hell. Only the cleverest, the strongest, and the most capable would reap the rewards, while those who couldn't adapt would simply be devoured.
He wanted his Demons to be strong, and even those without physical strength should at least be mentally strong. He didn't want to see the society he built deteriorate due to peace, as had happened with Humans.
"Let's conduct an experiment to prove my point."
Victor looked at The Owner of Limbo and silently sought permission with his eyes. The Owner of Limbo nodded.
In the next moment, a portal appeared in front of The Heavenly Father, and a small Demon emerged. He was clearly an Imp, a very neatly dressed Imp. He even wore a suit.
The Angels tensed at the sudden appearance of the Demon, but the Demon himself and the Heavenly Father did not seem to mind.
"Your Majesty, Demon of Tyranny, Victor Alucard! I am deeply honored that you have chosen me for this magnificent event!" The small Imp spoke with fanaticism, devotion, and great nobility in his speech.
"Arnos, thank you for your services as always."
"Of course, I exist to serve The Demon King of Tyranny. Your Majesty can ask for anything, anytime, whenever you want because I, Arnos, exist only to serve The Demon King of Tyranny."
"Mm, cooperate with the task at hand. I will be watching."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will give 10,000% effort for The Eternal Glory of The king!" The Imp Demon shouted with a look of pure respect. Then he looked at The Heavenly Father with a bored look and said, "Do it."
"...." People broke into a cold sweat when they saw this demonstration. Even in the presence of The Heavenly Father, this little Imp showed no fear.
"... Huh?" It was worth noting that even The Heavenly Father himself was confused for several seconds as he had never seen a Lesser Demon show no fear of him before. After all, The Heavenly Father's very presence was the antithesis of Demons.
"Heavenly Father, you just need to point the Rune at me, and it will work," the Imp explained with the same bored look as if the existence of these Beings meant nothing to him.
Victor remained silent as he observed everything with a smile on his face.
The Heavenly Father unconsciously nodded and pointed the Rune at the citizen, and a red tablet appeared in front of him.
The camera angle changed, showing the world what was happening.
…
Name: Arnos Nightshade Imperious.
Infernal Age: 78469
Place of Birth: Abbadon.
Registration Number: 0002456
Crimes Committed: None. [An Exemplary Citizen of Hell.]
Achievements: The First Lesser Demon to create a Mega-Corporation in Hell. The First Lesser Demon to gain the direct attention of The Demon King of Tyranny... [Click here to see more than 50 other achievements.]
Current Occupation: CEO and Founder of The Nightshade Corporation.
...
This Imp was older than many Supernatural Beings out there! And he had many achievements! And what in hell in an Exemplary Citizen of Hell?! They never thought they would see the words "Exemplary Citizen" and "Hell" in the same sentence! It was disorienting, to be honest.
This was what Supernatural Beings thought when they saw this card.
"This is an example of identifying a good citizen... Now, I will show you that of a criminal."
A portal appeared, and a Demon with large wings, a small body, and a mouth full of teeth appeared.
"Y-Your Majesty."
"Silence."
The Lesser Demon could only obey the King.
Victor looked at The Heavenly Father.
"Do it."
The Heavenly Father nodded and pointed the Rune at the small Demon.
…
Name: Festifiolioedes.
Infernal Age: 1548
Place of Birth: Alexandria.
Registration Number: 1559876321448
Crimes Committed: Wanted for committing Murder in The City; Committed Treason against The King; Went to The Human World and caused chaos while disregarding a direct order from The King. [A wanted criminal to be captured and handed over to The Authorities of Hell. If capture is deemed an impossibility, this Being must be terminated.]
...
"... What order is this plaque talking about?" Shiva asked.
"I prohibited any Demon from leaving Hell for 10,000 years without my permission."
"... For what reason?" He asked curiously.
"Stability among Supernatural Beings. Due to the last war waged by my predecessor, Demons became even more hated. I don't want my citizens wandering out of Hell only to be killed, especially if they haven't done anything wrong."
"Is that reason enough to kill them?" Shiva asked.
"Of course." Victor nodded as if it were obvious. "You seem to be confusing something, Shiva. I am not a Benevolent Being to all. As my Title suggests, I am The Demon King of Tyranny. Disobeying my direct orders is a very serious crime."
"Be competent, work hard, achieve many great feats, and you will be rewarded, just like what was done with Arnos."
The Imp puffed up his chest with pride.
"Disobey me, cause chaos, and follow your desires like an animal, and you will be sacrificed in this way."
Victor lifted the Winged Demon telekinetically into the air with his hand. Before the Demon could say anything, Victor's hand closed, and the Demon was crushed into a ball of flesh.
"Zack."
A creature resembling a mix of tiger and cat made entirely of darkness with blood-red eyes emerged from Victor's shadow and opened its mouth.
Victor tossed the ball of flesh into the creature's mouth, and it swallowed it, becoming its meal for the day.
The creature then returned to Victor's shadow.
"I value Martial Honor and Family, and I will always reward those who work hard... But I utterly despise those who shed blood without reason and provoke unnecessary chaos." These words might seem hypocritical coming from Victor.
But those who knew him well understood that he had every right to say that. After all, EVERY conflict that had occurred between Victor and another Being had been provoked by the other party. He had never personally attacked anyone except in a duel to prove his strength.
It was always someone else who attacked him, and since he wasn't foolish enough to sit idly by, he retaliated.
With just a few words, Victor proved why he was called The God of Blood, War, Demons, Vampires, Fear, Despair, Murder, Strength, Destruction, Beauty, Revenge, Martial Honor, Family and Home, and Nature by his faithful followers.
Although, after this meeting, he would also be called The God of Dragons by his Faithful.
Finishing up his presentation, Victor gestured with his hand, and the Rune he had thrown into the air reformed into a large Rune and disappeared again.
Victor looked at The Heavenly Father.
"If you want to form a stronger alliance with me, you will have to put into practice what I said. All Officials of your Faction will need to have something similar for identification, much like the Demons... Oh, another detail I forgot to mention. If a Demon is killed, the Rune will record their last moments, and my government will instantly know what occurred."
"This last Function will be applied starting today, even if we don't have a strong alliance... Choose your enemies wisely, my dear Supernatural Beings."
His words were a clear warning to all who were thinking of continuing to kill Demons without consequence.
He leaned back in his chair and rested his chin on his hand, and with a gesture, his subordinate returned to Hell.
"We are not irrational monsters; we are Demons."
A silence fell around as everyone looked at Victor with various thoughts in their minds.
This silence was soon broken by The Owner of Limbo: "... Very Well, I understand your position. As the one who regulates Balance, I will not interfere in your Pantheon."
"Oh..." That was the reaction everyone had when they heard what The Owner of Limbo said. They understood that he was testing the man to see if his actions were 'Evil' like his predecessor's or not.
At least that's what most of The Supernatural Beings who did not know The Primordials thought. But for the present Divine Leaders, they understood that so long as Victor had no intention of disrupting The Balance, he would not intervene; this interview served that purpose.
"Returning to the main topic, how do you want to resolve the issue related to The Blood Dragon Progenitor invading a Pantheon?"
A silence fell around, and no one dared to say anything for five long minutes. Victor's previous display had revealed many things between the lines.
The Demons' fanaticism for their King, Victor's absolute control over the Demons – not only that, this was just the tip of the iceberg. They noticed several other things, with the main one being... he was an excellent politician.
With just a few words, he made it clear that a war with him would harm the attacker more than himself, and he didn't even need to threaten anyone to say those words.
Another reason for the long silence was the Draconic characteristics of the two Beings in front of them. Two Dragons already existed; how many more were there in his Faction?
This was critical information. Due to these and various other thoughts, the room remained silent for those five long minutes.
