The Grand Hall, Demon Lord Vex's throne room. Multiple demons under his rule had gathered to hear a special announcement. What was spoken here would be spread to all demons under his rule; only those nearby were lucky enough to hear the Demon Lord's words firsthand.
The Demons were set up into groups representing three of the four Demon Generals. Torogar's Demons were in the center, with smaller creatures like the goblins up front, and larger ones like Minotaurs in the back. Zeph's and Sirena's Demons followed similar patterns, with larger ones in the back and the smaller ones in the front. Zeph's Demons were on the right with Sirena's Demons on the left. Zee's Demons never attended, as information is shared between them, there is no need, and in her mind, it's a waste of brain power.
"Prepare for, Demon Lord Vex!" Torogar boomed, as everyone quieted down.
The sound of metal clanging on stone with each heavy step, the doors to the grand hall open as Vex steps in. Fear gripped the demons as they all laid their eyes on him. A chill ran through their bodies; his power was unmatched, and his rule was tyrannical.
Vex's eyes looked over the stone throne, which looked like a large demonic hand with the arm rests being two thick fingers with claws that curved down, with the seat being the palm, and the back rest had three fingers that ended in claws. He turns around, the red eyes in the helm overlooking the demons briefly, with many looking down, afraid to make eye contact.
Before Vex could speak, a young demon stood up. "He can't be as strong as the rumours say, we can't risk everything based on one demon, we'll all be killed!" The demon was hunched over, with tentacles protruding from its waist and limbs; Its mouth ended in a long, snout-like feature that resembled a walking octopus. The octopus demon gathered water into its mouth, mixing it with the air and magic before firing it in jet propulsion.
People gasp that someone dares to attack the demon lord; either he hasn't heard the rumours or overevaluates themself. They quickly distance themself from the Octopus. Everyone expected the Demon Lord to vaporize this fool with one of his mighty spells, but they didn't expect what happened.
Vex raised his hand, pointing his finger at the demon, "fool," he called out in a deep, calm voice. The water approached the Demon Lord before making a U-turn and firing back at the Octopus demon, blasting right through its face, limply crashing to the ground. The water loses its propulsion with the original caster dead and splashes against the wall. No one had ever heard of this ability, repelling an attack back at the caster, no magic required. This brought a new level of fear to the Demons, just as the Generals had hoped.
"Anyone else?" Vex asked in the echo voice of the helmet. No one responds, keeping their head down, "Good, then we shall proceed. With my unification, I declare war on the invading heroes, humans, and the Goddess who summons them!" As if hearing this declaration, moonlight shines through the window, covering the Demon Lord. His red eyes glare at the moonlight before looking over to Torogar, nodding.
Torgar smiles and nods, "My troops have been selected as the vanguard. We make our advance on the place humans call The Demon Gate, we break that down, and the rest of the nations are open for conquest!" When Torogar finishes, a roar of excitement erupts in the hall, and the primal urge of violence builds in their bodies.
The sound quickly quieted with the rustling of metal as the Demon Lord stood up. "I will be there to witness the victory. Do not disappoint me," The voice was cold, with the great hall staying silent as Demon Lord Vex stood up and walked towards the doors.
Once the door closed behind him, Vex would let out a soft sigh and walk towards the tower. "Everything went according to plan," he mumbled. The attack at the Great Hall wasn't random; it was planned. Young, ambitious, naive fools were easy to cultivate among demons, and with Zee, they're always being watched.
His own cold reactions were also trained brutally by Sirena, while his actions were moulded in the training room; his cold indifference to death was due to withdrawal. In his training, he was to execute captured humans to break down his morality; however, the unwillingness to do so required punishment—withdrawal of whatever drug they had been putting into his food. At first, he just felt twitchy and shaking a bit, but then something started to burn. It began in his gut but worked its way up to his throat, burning it before his eyes began to burn. He wanted to squeeze his throat and rip out his eyes. The pain was unbearable, but his own ability redirected any attempt at self-harm. This constant pain caused him to relent, cursing Sirena but also bringing himself to kill the humans.
Vex would go up into the tower and out on the balcony, the same balcony where he killed the original Vex, who was looking up at the moon just like him. Upon seeing another golden tear fall to the ground, he sighs, thinking about tomorrow and what he learned a few days ago.
--- 3 days earlier ---
In the tower, after the brutal training, Vex lets out another sigh, "Zee, I know you're there. Just come out."
Zee would appear from the shadows, the eyes from the cloak looking up at him as she tilts her head. "How?"
"While everyone sees me as Vex, I'm still a prisoner, of course, someone has to keep an eye on me," Vex stated and looked down at Zee, who only nodded back. "You guys never told me what this world looks like. Can I see a map?"
Zee pauses for a few moments before slowly nodding. She leads him back inside from the balcony into Vex's room. It was a strange room, with only a large king-sized bed, a standing mirror and a table on the side. Zee took out a map from her cloak that was rolled up and set it on the table.
As Vex grabbed the map and spread it out, Sirena and Zeph would walk into the room, surprising Vex, "What did you call us for, Zee?" Zeph asks, a bit grouchy. Zee glanced towards Zeph and pointed at the map laid out.
"I think she is asking to help teach Vex the stuff on the map. We've been so engrossed in the plans, I guess we have forgotten to explain this world," As Sirena says this, she turns around. "I already did my part in training; now you do something useful."
Before Zeph could chase after her, Zee stops him immediately and glares. Zee glares back as her eyes narrow, forcing Zeph to relent and look over the map, "What is with all she scribbles and numbers? Why is there a number one over our land? Ugh, never mind," Zeph scratches his head in frustration, then looks over to Vex.
I'm just going to give you a quick rundown, don't ask any questions, since I don't want to answer any," Zeph then took a deep breath, "You have four nations: ours on the peninsula, the Empire across the north-east mountains, the Kingdom to our East blocked by a gate they built called Demon's Gate, and a nation far to the south of the Kingdom," Zeph explains, showing the peninsula they're on and the nation to the south as being the same size, with the Empire being three times the size of the Demon Nation, and the Kingdom being five times its size.
"Are there any differences between the other three nations? Also, can you tell me the names of these nations? I don't want to believe they're just called Kingdom and Empire," Vex asked, raising his wrist and holding it partially up to get Zeph's attention to interrupt him.
Zeph would let out another sigh, gaining another harsh look from Zee, "Alright, the obvious one, our nation is just called the Demonic nation by humans, and we're hostile to them. The Kingdom of Argos has the goal of exterminating Demons and is the oldest human society in this world. The Kyros Empire appeared...how long ago?" Zeph mumbles, trying to remember.
"Two. Zero. Zero." Zee says, blinking with every word.
"Yes, two hundred years ago, while Demons aren't exterminated there, instead they're enslaved. From what Zee has gathered, their treatment of Demons is similar to how we treated each other back in our wartorn days, possibly worse. They constantly attack the Kingdom to expand their influence. Lastly, the nation far to the south is too far away even for Zee to get accurate information, but they do skirmish against the Kingdom, only defensively, with the Empire being aggressive; those two nations rarely interact now." Zeph turns to face Vex, "Is there anything else?" He asks almost sarcastically, hoping the answer is no.
"That should be all for now, I'll make sure to ask you if I need anything else," Vex states, getting a little joy from the annoyance on Zeph's face as the eagle walks to the balcony, deciding to fly down instead of the stairs. Once Zeph is gone, Vex would look over the last remaining Demon General. "Now, a question for you, Zee."
Zee would tilt her head a bit, confused, but slowly nods. "How many Heroes have you kept track of in this world at once?" Ves asks, looking over the map. The numbers beside the Kingdom and Empire are constantly crossed out and changed. The nation to the south has a question mark, and the number one is over the Peninsula. The only connection he could come to is that the number one represents himself, represents Heroes.
"Five, Zero," Vex responds, blinking again and speaking in her usual weird way.
"Fifty?" Vex asks in surprise, which Zee only nods. While that did match the numbers seen on the map, that would be too small a number for the amount of golden tears that fall from the moon.
Vex hands back the map to Zee, who hides it back in her cloak. With nothing more being needed, Zee rushes back to the shadows to continue watching Vex, leaving Vex mostly alone on the balcony. Vex would slowly walk back in, deciding he would need to prepare for the upcoming announcement in the Great Hall.
Vex would stop in front of the mirror, giving it a close look. Why did the Demon Lord have this mirror? Was there a scar that he needed to look at, was he a narcissist, or was it something else? The more he thought about it, the more he thought this bed chamber was strange. Nothing but a bed, the table, and this mirror. Vex places his hand on the mirror, but nothing happens. He shakes his head, starting to wonder if he was overthinking it. How could he even understand what was going through the mind of a Demon even the Goddess feared.