Chapitre 29: Plateau

It had been decades since Lucifer finished the separation of the Demon Continent from earth's spatial realm, and the subsequent establishment of what he proudly dubbed The Demon Realm.

Much had happened since then, from an established force of thousands of fully educated imps, to the now complete subjugation of the local flora and wildlife of the continent. This led to Lucifer being met by a rather strange sensation as he sat upon his throne, its appearance much changed from the shape transfigured bedrock it once was.

During the decades that had passed, Lucifer no longer needed to accomplish every tedious little task himself. He now had thousands of magical fanatics who rushed to fulfill his every whim and desire, with more joining their ranks for every year that passed.

So it was with a sense of accomplishment but also a slight feeling of loss that we find Demon Lord Lucifer Le Maléfique, the likely most powerful humanoid on the planet, The Ruler of the Demon Realm and all its vassals, The self proclaimed Satan himself bored upon his throne.

Indeed, he had reached a sort of plateau when it came to his magical development.

His understanding of his demonic powers incapable of reaching a higher level after finally comprehending the entirety of the Demon Runes he was gifted with. He was sadly limited by not having enough or perhaps not potent enough Demonic Power to truly utilize the more abstract and esoteric of the runes, but he had worked around the limitations imposed upon him by his lacking Demonic Power by discovering his Demon Core´s ability to convert Demonic power from souls!

If he had made such a discovery in his past life, he would most definitely have shuddered at the cruelty of such a practice. Because souls corrupted and broken down into Demonic Power, ceased to exist.

A true death of that beings very essence so to speak.

But Lucifer today?

He immediately sought the most effective and cost efficient way to utilize this cruel method of improving his demonic reserves, and it was during this phase that he delved deep into the esoteric matter of souls. Everything from their very nature, ways to contain them to how to manipulate the very essence of a soul.

And much like how regular humans achieve a major breakthrough in weaponry and in doing so finds a thousand different discovery's for every day use, So did Lucifer.

He not only invented a ritual he proudly named Tribute, where his followers or he himself, can place down a reusable magic circle, that will not only attract the souls of the recently deceased but contain and send said souls through the circles meta connection to his very Demon core.

Where his Demon core would start the immediate process of corrupting said souls till they fell apart into the desired Demonic Power. This in itself was a major boon for him, as he received a constant stream of souls from his followers not only in Syndebyen, but also his loyal imps venturing the world, collecting knowledge in the form of tomes and books all the while recording their travels in journals, all to serve their Demon Lord in filling the Infernal Library.

This had led to not only him having filled his Core a little over the halfway point, a full 50 X improvement from the beginning, but also to the discovery of him being able to contain souls within what he previously assumed to be his Mindscape.

Yes, Lucifer made the discovery that the space where his core, soul and his treasured artifact Tabula Rasa manifested themselves in such grand ways had evolved into an Astral realm. A place where nothing may physically exist, but everything in its meta form may enter.

So what did Lucifer do upon discoing this inner world he found himself in the possession of? he crafted his very own afterlife, he started of by actually creating another planted for the space, and to prevent the further corruption of souls he wished to safekeep, warded the entire planet to prevent it from being infused with the ever-present Demonic Power in the form of the vapor ever-present in his realm.

He spent years crafting a paradise, a place for his most loyal and fervent imps to rest after a lifetime of service and worship. he didn't do this out of charity nor out of the kindness of his heart! No, Lucifer was well aware that he may one day come in the possession of the power to raise the dead properly. So why would he waste perfectly good minions and put himself through the unnecessary effort of recruiting new magicals and later training them up to an adequate degree, when he can simply recycle what he already had?

If these recycled imps gained several lifetimes in which they can grow more powerful, knowledgable and experienced then so be it! And lets not forget the impact this had upon his followers either, for if they are guaranteed paradise then wouldn't they die for you with a smile upon their face?

His musings were cut short by the sudden arrival of an elephant sized lion in the middle of his throne room, The smooth marble floor cracking upon the immense weight from its paws the size of a standard man. "Now what did I say about using your true form inside?" Lucifer couldn't help the quirk of his lips as his soft remark caused his familiars previously proud demeanor to shirk into what could be perceived as sheepishness

`No matter how powerful you get, you still forget the most whimsical things` Lucifer mused as he stood from his throne, walking towards the now shrinking behemoth of a feline, "I didn't slave away at that crest for you to so easily forget its purpose Shiro!"

And truly he had slaved away at that project, to the point where he had dissected countless shapeshifting beasts and magicals to then find a way to replicate their ability through the ever versatile Demonic Runes, just so he could finally experience what he had so sorely missed.

So it was with softening serpentine eyes that he grabbed the flying ball of floof, and gazed down upon Shiro in his cub form. "Worth it though"

His Shiropy (therapy though cuddling Shiro) was sadly interrupted by the soft chime of the bell by the entrance, a signal used by the Imperial Imps standing guard outside the throne room that someone requested an audience with their Lord.

"This better be good, or I will have the souls needed to test out my own personalized version of hell" Lucifer grumbled as he gently put Shiro down and walked back upon his throne. Said feline following behind his master. but stopping at the first step leading to the massive throne, assuming his previous domineering size as he lazily laid down upon the step, facing the entrance.

Lucifer graceful sat upon his throne as he reached out to the ward controlling the door, slowly releasing the tens of enchants keeping the door shut and insulating all sound and magical presence inside.

On que, a solid hundred imps marched into the stone room, clothed in the standard full body armor used by the imps in Lucifers guard retinue. Their every step silent as they formed two lines leading up to the first step towards the throne, said silence thanks to the rigorous and plentiful enchantments ingrained into their armor by the Enchanters Guild in his service.

Shiro lazily observed as his masters toys filled the room, his eyes tracking one of his masters favorites as he humbly and rather awed stepped into the hall, his every move watched by a hundred pairs of eyes, whose possessors wielded the might and skill of his masters best.

The man stepped toward the throne, keeping a mindful distance to the elephant sized feline, but the promise to see his lord in the flesh once more driving him to take a daunting step closer.

"Your humble servant, Jarl Thor Leviathan greets his Majesty, Demon Lord Lucifer LeMaléfique!" His knees slammed into ground as he prostrated himself towards a being who many, including himself proclaimed a god!

Lucifer stayed unmoving upon his throne, his serpentine crimson eyes staring down the current lord of the Leviathan family he had instated in Syndebyen. The man had pleased him immensely when he has started raiding countless settlements, massacring in the tens of thousands and sacrificing them all to him.

The hall stayed silent, a hundred men with their hands on their wands and swords as they stoically stared at the jarl, said man still prostrating himself, waiting for his Lords say so before he dared to otherwise.

"And what, pray tell. Has given you enough haste that you come her without an established audience Leviathan?" came the melodic voice of his lord, the beauty of the voice not betraying its owners demonic might

Thor gulped as raised his body from the floor, his eyes meeting the slitted rubies of his Lord "We have received reports that Hogwarts is under siege, an army of ten thousand by command of the Britannian crown!"

He received a soft hymn in response, "Hogwarts may not measure up to our standards of warding indeed, but their defenses are nothing to scoff at" Lucifer slowly started tapping a slender finger adorned by a nail deceptively sharp upon the armrest of his throne.

"It is as you say, but we bring tidings that a pardoned name has been burned by the British" Thor gulped as he thought upon the severity of the situation, a pardoned name as decreed by the Demon Lord himself was names of men and women who shall not be touched nor bothered in the imps everlasting quest to impress their lord

Lucifers eyes glinted in cold steel, his mind racing at the news his vassal presented him. "Elaborate."

The cold tone of his Lord brought a chill down his spine, but nevertheless he reported what he himself had been told

"Salazar Slytherin was betrayed by his own kin, fed a Draught of the living death by his very own wife, and sold to the British in exchange for a pardon from the crown" During his report, the entire throne room slowly suffused with an insidious presence, its might causing every being apart from Lucifer to break out in cold sweat at its slow but steady increase in presence and weight.

"My Lord...They burned him alive infant of the castle late last night as a message to the others"

The insidious Presence exploded, as Lucifer encompassed his entire realm in the unconscious wrath of his demonic might, his imps knew that blood would be spilled to sate their lords wrath.