Chapter 51
Istood up from where I had been crouched over the Demon Lord as he simply disappeared, dusting away into nothing as the system reclaimed what little strength I hadn't claimed from him.
However, I was true to my word from when I had fought him.
I didn't keep all of the strength for myself; instead, I fed much of it to those who had come to fight with me.
"It's done?" Ozzy asked, leaning against his weapon and watching on with an odd amusement as I returned from my soul.
"Not the whole thing, but this fragment is no more.
After this one and the Amazon, he's going to be cautious.
I'm not sure what his reaction will be," I said, staring down at the body, a strange sense of loss almost filling me as another piece of the Demon Lord fell. I didn’t know how many fragments he had at this strength, but I knew it was far more than two.
"Don't worry about it." Ozzy slapped me on the shoulder. "Revenge is always a little bittersweet."
"Yes, well… thank you, Ozzy," I said, looking up from what we'd done.
"No, thank you. I feel like I didn't do enough to earn my keep." Ozzy nodded towards the wrecked city and all of his people milling about. Once the Demon Lord had swallowed the rest of the demons in the area, it seemed they had lost out on much of the action.
"Identifying the problem and supporting us in getting rid of it is more than others have done." I turned back to him.
"Man, I knew I was above average intelligence, but they're that stupid?" Ozzy asked, aghast.
I chuckled and shook my head. "Unbelievable, isn't it. Though many fall for honeyed words, and honestly, demons are good at it."
"Demons are good for no one," Ozzy said quickly.
"Yes, well, convincing other people that they need to act now and stop sitting by the sidelines can be hard. Especially when they are being manipulated by demons themselves,” I answered. Throughout history, most people didn’t worry about the blaze until they personally felt the heat from the fire.
Ozzy nodded in understanding. "What will you do next?" he asked, and I looked back at all the Mul Branova and my ladies who had followed me into this battle.
"I think even demon hunters need a rest from time to time," I answered. I’d promised Simone a reward, and she wanted a beach party.
"But you just had your break," Ozzy said, and I turned to him, surprised that he knew about it.
"Oh, please. I was catching up on everything I missed, and Bran Day stuck out like a sore thumb. Honestly, I'm disappointed I wasn't invited, but I suppose I can forgive you, given that I couldn't have even accepted in the first place.” He smiled.
“How about a portal between our two headquarters?" I offered him. "It would make coordination in a time of need that much quicker. That, and I can invite you to the next Bran Day without too much fuss."
Ozzy paused and nodded in agreement. "Yes. And perhaps next time I'm trapped in a coffin, someone can come and get me fast enough to make a difference." He grinned, then laughed as if it were a grand joke.
He seemed to be at least taking his imprisonment and release well enough if he could make jokes like that about it.
"Let's hope it never comes to that." I held my fist out, and Ozzy bumped it before I returned my gaze to the women around me.
"Let's return and prepare for whatever counter the Demon Lord comes up with to slow us while he re-masses strength.
I would be absolutely flabbergasted if, after both these events, he didn't come roaring out of whatever hole he's been hiding inside. "
Simone watched me carefully and mouthed ‘beach day’.
I gave her a quick nod, and she smiled before twirling and walking.
"Of course, Lord Bran.” Many of the Mul Branova bowed to me and then stood, fixing their robes and falling into line behind Simone.
They moved together as if it were a long-practiced motion, and I legitimately wondered whether Simone had trained them to move in unison.
Or maybe somewhere deep within the ritualistic worship she encouraged, this was somehow a natural human reaction.
***
Camden sat among the Heavenly Fist Sect in a pavilion high up in the Himalayas, clouds drifting below him, partially concealing his sect and the world, while he concentrated.
While he sat still, he suddenly felt the thread connecting him to one of his many clones snap like an overstretched rubber band. His jaw clenched, and the muscles at his temple pulsed.
He hissed again, his eyes opening. The calm, handsome man lost his composure for a second as his eyes flashed a bright, burning red, like two lit coals sat in his skull instead of eyes.
His features warped for just a moment, becoming grotesquely demonic, before they clenched, and all expression vanished as he returned to his far more handsome, human face.
“Completely gone,” he snarled. “Not even a trace left of this one, the same as the Amazon.”
His mind wandered briefly to who could have done it, and the unfortunate result was that he didn't think anyone in this world was capable of such an act.
And that meant that he was currently underestimating someone, or there was someone present who shouldn't be on the board.
Either way, the end result of what he needed to do was the same.
Camden stood from his cross-legged seat and pulled on the various threads that connected him to his clones scattered across the world.
As he pulled, the smallest ones caved, collapsing wherever they were, only to be drawn across the world at his call.
Some traveled physically; others were pulled from whatever mortal shell they'd been inhabiting.
But what they had been doing wasn't important enough to not draw from their strength.
He kept some of his more important ones in place, those that had vital roles and had been performing admirably. Four of them, to be exact.
If there was one thing demons must do, it was continue to grow. When demons ceased growing, that was when they would inevitably die. And Camden had no desire to die here, or once this world connected to the greater universe, when he would be stacked up against greater demon contemporaries.
He needed to get this world tamed and under control before then, to have a world to call his own.
He must sink his will into this world and harvest the powers that came with world domination.
If he failed before too long, he would simply be consumed once he entered the wider universe.
It was the fate of demons to climb upward or perish.
As he called back his strength from around the world, he opened his arms wide, reveling in the sensation of power flooding his limbs.
His mind exploded with knowledge and potential as everything those fragments had been and could do was now a part of him.
With a sudden understanding, his eyes burned red hot, and he leaned forward.
"I have allowed the humans to grow bolder while I focused on my growth.
Regardless of who managed to snuff out the very souls of two of my clones, it does not change the fact that I must re-educate humanity of my dominance.
" Camden grinned as he floated upwards, and in a flash, he disappeared from his gazebo atop the peak of the mountain.
***
The Kailash Clan rested in an oasis of paradise. White stone buildings were dotted across a dozen acres, all sparkling like not a single speck of dust touched them. Yet it all remained oddly still for its size, save for a few fabric shades rustling in the breeze.
Outside the main estate, servants covered the massive rolling fields, filled with workers who toiled away to ensure the paradise was never reliant on the rest of the world. They could only helplessly look up as a figure stood above them in the sky.
The man was walking on thin air, staring down at them from lofty heights. More than a few began to point up at the figure floating above them, though none of them seemed overly concerned. Perhaps because people floating in the sky wasn't an unusual occurrence at the Kailash estate.
However, the fact that he didn't descend and instead stood and stared down disconcerted a few.
The wise ones, instead of immediately returning to work, paused and considered whether they should inform the masters they served. They would have been better off doing so, because in the next second, the figure waved his hand.
Carnage swept over the fields. Whether it be plants, animals, or the workers, they were shredded, sending what little remained shooting into the air.
This wave rolled over the hills, and those who hadn’t already stopped working dropped their tools and sprinted with every last iota of strength in their bodies.
But it was too fast and consumed everything.
The fields had nothing left in them save for a falling brown spray of indeterminate origin.
Every human, animal, and plant present perished.
Like a blight sweeping upon the land, the figure reappeared in multiple spots, and each time, with a simple wave of his hand, he wiped out every living being for miles, until his taunt was answered.
"Do you know whose land you're trespassing on?" A man who couldn't have been older than twenty appeared and stepped into the air to meet the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord grinned. "Of course I do. I stand above the Kailash Clan with the very purpose of greeting you."
The young man laughed and struck out at the Demon Lord, only to find the arm he'd swung no longer present on his shoulder.
"Wh-what?" he stuttered. Those were his last words before another sweeping strike removed his head and sent it sailing through the air as a dozen more figures rose to challenge the Demon Lord.
He threw his head back with laughter. "Will Shiva not come out to greet me?" he mocked, and those who had appeared gritted their teeth in shame.
"You don't have the qualifications to call our ancestor," they told him.