Dark Path to Heaven [Demon Romance]

Chapter 45

"Enough with the chit chat!" Orias headed to the center of the hall and adoringly gazed at the giant cauldron filled with a transparent liquid. "Let us ask the holy Priestesses to decide once more who is the one true King of our kind!"

That phrase alone threw the crowd into disarray. Everyone was more than convinced that the whole procedure was redundant. There was no doubt that this role had always belonged to Astaroth. Some demons were now demanding to speed up the process.

"Silence!" Orias commanded, his previous amusement already vanished. "Do you wish to get to the feast or not?!"

Dead silence followed, causing more chills to run down Merihem's spine. No matter how happy he was to see his friends again, that wasn't enough to stop him from grieving those poor humans' fate.

It was then that a dignified voice belonging to a female demon named Kali reverberated across the large chamber:

"Wicked bearers of life and death,
oh, hallowed saints who bring the end,
reveal to us the silver crown
and help us bring the whole world down."

Merihem inhaled sharply and stood in awe as he watched Astaroth's large horns turning from black to silver, completely matching the color of his hair. The next moment the demons broke out in cheers – no one willing to subdue them this time.

Instead, Orias's delighted voice resonated across the large hall: "Your Majesty, please launch the feast!"

In a state of eerie silence, the Demon King started walking toward the center as well, motioning to Sophia to follow him. After taking a dagger out of his coat, he raised a sleeve up to his elbow and outstretched his arm right above the gigantic cauldron. He plunged the blade on his bare skin, tearing it from the elbow all the way down the forearm. Several gasps –one of which belonged to Sophia– were heard as black demon blood flowed and dripped down to blend with the colorless substance.

Merihem already knew what this ritual was about: he had just witnessed the production of the deadliest poison ever known. It was still fascinating, though, to see such a large mass of transparent fluid turn as dark as his Master's blood. Only the King could have a soul so powerful that a few drops of his blood could have such a strong impact.

Sophia took a couple of timid steps towards her demon – her eyes glued to the large wound on his arm which had already begun closing. Astaroth caressed her hair with his other hand and appeared to whisper something comforting to her with an assured yet tender look in his eyes. Merihem couldn't believe that this was the ruthless man who had often been the reason behind many of his nightmares. Perhaps Sophia would be a good influence after all.

But before he could finish that thought, Merihem saw the same man accepting a long whip which he immediately dipped into the now thick and black liquid. Soon after, he headed straight for the human prisoners.

So he would ultimately act like the rest of his kind...

Sophia trailed behind him with a troubled, yet accepting look on her face. He couldn't understand why his best friend would ever tolerate a man tormenting another human being. Merihem certainly couldn't stand it. And that was why he found himself yelling in desperation before he could even contain himself.

~~~

"No!" a voice I knew all too well caused everyone around us to stir.

I turned around and my eyes confirmed what my ears had just heard: It was Merihem!

I was so happy to see him again! But what on earth was he thinking, shouting out of the blue? I too had my concerns about what Astaroth was about to do but I would never want to make him uncomfortable, especially in his coronation ceremony.

Astaroth, though, didn't even turn to look at the owner of the voice. He knew that was him, didn't he? Why wouldn't he spare a second to face his old friend?

The answer came swiftly: Interestingly enough, the other demons didn't seem to pay Merihem much attention since their new ruler hadn't either. Besides, I was sure that they had other things in mind, at that moment.

"Don't stay behind," Astaroth ordered then, making me pick up my pace.

We had almost reached that group of humans; the group of creatures who were unlucky enough to be born weak. I didn't know how to feel about them. My instinct was telling me that most of them deserved some kind of punishment but, perhaps, there could also be a few who were worthy of freedom.

"Hand me the report I asked for," Astaroth instructed Orias, his imposing aura demanding nothing less than compliance.

Once given a couple of paper sheets, he skimmed through them before focusing his attention on the humans.

I could identify several emotions in them – most of which were easily guessed. That is, of course, fear and rage. But I was also amazed to see a few of them bearing a rather longing expression at the sight of the man who was presently a threat to their lives. For the most part, those were women. In fact, I could go as far and say that some of them seemed to be competing in their minds concerning who the Demon King would turn to. A feeling of masochism I was quite familiar with.

"You and you." Astaroth beckoned to a young man of about my age and a pitiful older one to come before him. The former had an insolent look in his eyes which made him appear confident despite his tragic state. The latter seemed frail and defeated, as though he had already accepted his fate.

The young one shot me a fierce look as if he was accusing me. 'This could have been your fate, human,' I could almost hear him say. On the contrary, the elderly person didn't bother shooting me a glance and barely dragged his malnourished body in front of the King.

"Orias," Astaroth spoke again and handed the documents back to his 'friend'. "Take my woman and this old man away from me. Attend to his needs and grant him a permanent residence."

What?

Before I had any chance to react, Orias's strong grip on my arm took me aback as he nearly dragged us both several steps behind Astaroth. Most demons appeared to be calm and fully aware of what was happening. Orias was certainly one of them, looking at his 'friend' with a bittersweet smile.

Huh. This must be one of the sincerest expressions I've seen on him.

I glanced at the human beside me who was now looking at me as well. He was apparently shocked at that sudden turn of events. Not only had he been saved but he had also found a place to live? That must be a great opportunity for a human in this world. Although the Demon Realm was not the safest place for weak creatures like us, somehow I was convinced that the other demons would be more than encouraged to stay away from us both.

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