Because demon lords often fought with each other and were busy guarding their territories, the number of times they gathered together were truly few and far in between.
All of the demon lords were extremely powerful beings. Once they met, it was inevitable that they would fight to show who was the strongest among them. That's why, the death of a demon lord during their annual meetings wasn't a surprising thing.
If not for the order of the Great Demon King, they wouldn't have gathered together at all. It was too hateful to see the faces of those old bastards.
"Hahaha Dushi, it's true that I envy everyone, but I sure don't envy your big stomach. Just what kind of demon did you eat again?"
"Taishan, no one would think you're mute if you don't speak!"
Inside the conference room, the walls were split, the floor had cracked, and the corpses of various attendants littered the ground. It was not that they were murdered, but got accidentally killed in the crossfire of the fighting demon lords.
"Boom!"
"Ka-cha!"
Explosions and the clanging of swords echoed inside the chamber, along with the occasional splash of blood.
Song Jia's whole body shook. She finally understood why everyone was so surprised that a weak demon like her became Yanluo's personal attendant for the annual meeting. In a gathering of powerful demons whose powers have been maxed out, a weak demon like her...
No one would probably blink an eye even if she died.
"Everybody, shut up!" A female voice roared out.
Flames exploded around the room, licking the walls with crackling glee.
Chuljang, ruling the second court of 『Ira』. She was a short female with bright red hair, but her voice was at least 120 decibels, several times louder than a car horn.
Like they didn't hear her, the demon lords continued fighting with each other. Only the sloth demon lord, Wuguan, was peacefully sleeping in one corner of the room. His pants were on fire, and his head was buried into the wall from being accidentally thrown earlier by another demon lord.
However, all of the chaos around him didn't affect his sleep in the slightest. Probably, this was also another kind of power.
"My, my, who brought this adorable child here?"
A dazzlingly beautiful female slowly approached them, her hips swinging with each step. Beautiful blue hair cascaded down her shoulders, and underneath the oversized white cardigan that she was wearing, she wore an off-shoulder top and faded blue jeans.
Despite her modest outfit, she still exuded the scent of sex. Song Jia was certain of her sexual orientation, but her heart still couldn't help but speed up. Without even thinking about it, she knew that this femme fatale in front of her was none other than Piencheng, the demon lord of lust.
"Piencheng." Yanluo slowly greeted her.
At her approach, both male demon lords reflexively straightened out their backs. Piencheng lifted the corners of her lips as a greeting.
"Yanluo, is this child yours?"
Piencheng leaned forward in front of Song Jia. A long lock of hair fell over her eyes, and Piencheng elegantly tucked it behind one ear. Bright blue eyes stared at Song Jia with curiosity.
Yanluo cleared his throat, "That's my...that's my new attendant."
"Oh my, how cute. What's her name?"
Yanluo looked at Song Jia, and Song Jia looked back at him. Finally, Yanluo looked away.
He then said without hesitation, "Her name is Xiao Xiao."
Song Jia, "..."
Demon lord, even if you forgot my name, just don't make something up on the spot.
Fortunately, their conversation with Piencheng didn't last long.
That was because their long awaited host, the Great Demon King, had finally arrived.
The whole air became charged with static, as if lightning was about to strike. An immense feeling of terror and dread filled the room, while the demon lords that had been fighting completely became quiet. One by one, they began to kneel.
Song Jia felt as if her whole body was dunked in ice-cold water. She struggled to breathe, like a boulder had pressed down on her lungs. She thought that the auras of the various demon lords were already scary, but this aura...it was on another level entirely.
"Bow down," Piencheng told her, grabbing her wrist and forcing Song Jia to kneel.
With her eyes on the floor underneath her, Song Jia could hear light footsteps slowly approaching them. The frightening aura became stronger, causing Song Jia's knees to knock against each other.
She felt that it was a good thing that she was kneeling on the ground. If she had been standing up, she would definitely collapse and pass out.
She could hear the Great Demon King sit down on his throne. The lofty throne was raised up on a dais at the top of a great flight of steps. The moment he sat, the frightening aura also disappeared, causing everyone inside the room to silently breathe a sigh of relief.
The wrath demon lord Chuljang was the first one to speak.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Piencheng didn't lose out to her either, softly calling out in a gentle voice, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
And then came the murmurs of the other demon lords, quietly giving him their greetings as well.
"Everyone, stand up."
The Great Demon King's voice was cold and dispassionate. Song Jia kept her eyes stuck to the floor, not moving an inch even as the demon lords began to stand up. She could see that the other attendants kept their kowtowing posture as well, their foreheads pressed against the ground.
Of course, this was the difference between a fief lord and a serf. Only the demon lords were allowed to stand up in the presence of the Demon King.
"Everyone—" At this moment, the Demon King spoke out, without any fluctuations in his tone, "I called an annual meeting today because of an unexpected matter."
He paused and said, "Chuljang, get the head of the sloth demon lord out of my wall. Your battles with each other are always entertaining, but if you do it once more in my conference hall, don't expect me to be as lenient as today."
His expression was still indifferent, but everyone inside the room froze, unable to speak another word. A death-like silence filled the air, causing even the sloth demon lord Wuguan who had been wiggling his scorched lower body to stay still.
He also wanted to greet the Great Demon King, but his head was stuck. He didn't have the energy to pull himself out, and now, because of the Demon King's words, his lower body that had been burned felt cold and numb with fear instead.
Chuljang gave a hard salute, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
The wrath demon lord wasn't the least bit gentle with her actions. Wrapping her hands on Wuguan's ankles, she pulled him out of the wall with a loud 'pop.'
Wuguan was still blinking in confusion when a hard deck from Chuljang sent him reeling again.
Her nostrils flared as she went back to her original position, muttering, "Such a disgrace! Right in front of His Majesty!"
The rest of the demon lords also glared at Wuguan. The court of 『Acedia』had long been looked down upon by the other courts in the demon world. Not only were they lazy, they didn't contribute anything to the society.
Song Jia had learned that just like any normal functioning society, the demon world also had its own social structure with different roles and functions for each court.
The fifth court of 『Avaritia』controlled the finances, as not even spare change could escape the demon lord of greed. The third court of 『Superbia』supervised order and constructing buildings, while the second court of 『Ira』were enforcers and punished the law-breakers.
The seventh court of 『Invidua』built academic institutions and were responsible for education as they have secretly collected every attribute and achievements that they envied. The eighth court of 『Gula』managed food and crops, while the sixth court of 『Luxuria』took care of population control and healthcare.
Of course, the fourth court of 『Acedia』wasn't left out. They managed psychological issues, as their job was just to listen and not do anything at all, sometimes even offering wise quotes like "No storm can last forever, everything will be fine, just let time pass you by," or "Whatever happens, happens. Let things flow as they will, and you will have inner peace."
Demons weren't the least bit concerned about their mental health and psychological disorders, so the court of 『Acedia』, despite its function on paper, was mostly inactive and pointless.
However, Song Jia also discovered the flaw of such a social structure. The demon lord of greed encouraged capitalism, and the wrath demon lord, to vent her anger, did not even bother to investigate and just punished whoever was convenient to become a suspect.
The demon lord of pride valued a strict hierarchical structure, following antiquated traditions that suppressed creativity and talent.
The demon lord of envy made everything a competition, including learning, and the demon lord of gluttony was often more concerned about eating crops than farming them, to the point that the consumers outnumbered the farmers.
As the lust demon lord was in charge of population control, rather than prohibit lust, they even encouraged it. So long as the act didn't produce any offspring, abortions, infertility, affairs, sexual violence, and prostitution were allowed.
As for mental health that the sloth demon lord was in charge of...there was no need to say anything else, mental health became the lowest priority of the demon world.