Within the projected footage was a grand hall. Crisscrossing beams of light poured down from wall sconces, illuminating the palace adorned in the style of the Demon Realm.
Tiers of fan-shaped seating rose from bottom to top, forming a spacious semicircular gallery.
Even without exchanging a word, Hyperion and Lanqi recognized the scene unfolding before them as the regency hall of the Naicalis Demon King's Palace.
Numerous demon dignitaries had gathered alongside a Blood Clan delegation. It closely resembled the scene Lanqi and Hyperion had witnessed on the day of the painting selection ceremony in the Shadow World—the only difference being that the throne was completely empty, devoid of the princess's figure.
The atmosphere throughout the regency hall seemed fraught with tension. What had begun as harmonious negotiations between the Blood Clan and the demons had suddenly taken a sharp downward turn.
For at the very instant proceedings began, the eyes of the Fourth Progenitor, Eduardo, on the elevated dais across from the throne flared with a piercing red light. Fractures split across his body, venting terrifying blood-colored mana.
The horrifying mana condensed in a heartbeat, and amidst the rising commotion, every demon realized what was taking place.
The Fourth Progenitor, Eduardo, intended to unleash an unknown, forced self-detonation spell at the exact moment the great demons were gathered together.
Inside the regency hall, the two generals, the Mist Lord and the Thunder Lord, struck toward the Fourth Progenitor without hesitation.
Their eyes were furious and grim. They could not understand how the Fourth Progenitor could possess an authority seemingly belonging to the Sixth Progenitor—or why, once triggered, it proved impossible to restrain!
Eduardo's body then swelled, the blood-red luminescence blazing ever brighter. Fractures spread like spiderwebs across his skin, rushing toward their breaking point in the blink of an eye as a deafening roar tore from lips shrouded in bloody mist.
Even watching through the footage, Hyperion shrank back in fear. This scene from real history was far more perilous than what she had experienced in the Naicalis Palace.
In the Shadow World, the Fall Lord had at least been prepared to act; here, Fourth Progenitor Eduardo had triggered the Sixth Progenitor's authority, Blood Annihilation, without the slightest warning.
Eduardo was reduced almost entirely to a colossal sphere of red light, poised to engulf every corner of the Naicalis Palace with boundless wrath and annihilating power.
"Stop, Eduardo!"
With a furious shout, Fall Lord Caliera finally made it in time, unleashing the Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber without holding back.
An invisible surge of mana swept violently through the regency hall's air, cutting off the scorching red light before it could erupt further, preventing Eduardo from continuing.
It was as if time and space throughout the Naicalis regency hall had frozen.
Every figure, both demon and vampire of the Blood Clan, stood motionless like stone sculptures where they were.
Watching up to this point, Lanqi and Hyperion already knew which day Caliera had recorded.
"Even without the princess's painting selection ceremony, did the Blood Clan still intend to send a weakened Fourth Progenitor Eduardo to destroy the core of the Demon King's Castle?"
Lanqi shook his head helplessly.
The Demon King had died after a desperate clash with the Second Progenitor, the Blood Clan Prince, which had left the Second Progenitor gravely wounded as well. But the Fourth Progenitor copied the healing authorities of other vampires, sharing his own Blood Clan origin with the Second Progenitor to accelerate his recovery.
After that, the Fourth Progenitor copied the Sixth Progenitor's authority, feigning peace talks when he actually meant to raise the curtain on a full-scale war against the demons.
"Wait, if things played out like this, how was the Fall Lord supposed to deal with the Tenth Progenitor, Ulysses?"
Hyperion stared at the scene of the precarious Demon King's Palace.
Even though Fall Lord Caliera had successfully cast the spell, she didn't relax in the slightest. On the contrary, cold sweat beaded continuously across her forehead.
The sole flaw of the [Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber] was that it was a massive barrier spell that made no distinction between friend and foe. Although it could forcefully restrain the Fourth Progenitor, Eduardo, all allies throughout the Demon King's Palace had likewise fallen into the illusion of the gentle slumber.
Being a fellow Tier 9, she had to expend enormous concentration just to keep Eduardo's dream completely maintained, ensuring he couldn't break free for even a fraction of a second to resume [Blood Annihilation].
She had to hold out until a demon could quickly fight their way out of this maximum-output gentle slumber and help her deal with Eduardo.
If only two or three great demons broke free, they could forcefully seal Eduardo from the outside while he was trapped in the illusion.
"Esmod...!"
Bearing the extreme burden of maintaining Eduardo's dream and keeping an iron grip on this bomb of destruction, Caliera forced her eyes half-open and looked toward Night Lord Esmod on one side of the seating gallery.
Diverting what little strength she had left, she peered into the dreams of the other high-tier demons, countless images flitting into her mind.
By Caliera's judgment, the great demon on their side most likely to break free of the Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber was the Night Lord.
Yet.
A discordant sound rang out with striking clarity within the dead-silent hall. The Fall Lord's body shuddered as her awareness snapped back, and she looked up in dazed disbelief.
In the distance, directly opposite the throne among the Blood Clan seats, the Tenth Progenitor, Ulysses, was already moving.
He was leisurely pointing in the direction of the Night Lord.
"Pardon me, are you waiting for her?"
Ulysses sat with his legs gracefully crossed, looking as though he had shaken off the illusion in an instant, his blood-red eyes completely clear.
His amused smile seemed to mock the very spell itself, the Fall Lord's [Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber].
Hearing Ulysses's calm voice, Caliera felt as though she had plunged into an icy abyss.
With a light chuckle, Tenth Progenitor Marquis Ulysses reached forward, and a thin layer of the palace barrier dissolved into nothingness.
"Choose, Caliera. Will you wait for me to reach you and take your life, or will you release your grip right now, abandon these great demons, and perhaps survive the blast and flee?"
Marquis Ulysses asked composedly.
It was a game of minds.
To Caliera, choosing the former meant every great demon would perish; choosing the latter meant she alone might hold a glimmer of hope to survive.
"Then let's see whether you breach the barriers faster, or a great demon awakens first."
Caliera kept her head down, the backs of her hands trembling faintly as she tried her best to keep her voice even.
She knew the Tenth Progenitor, Ulysses, was trying to rattle her, to make her abandon the possibility that any demon could awaken before he reached her.
"My, what a stubborn demoness."
Ulysses remarked on Caliera with a sigh of helplessness.
Slowly, he shifted his gaze toward the left side of the gallery, where a tiny wolf demon sat.
He had originally planned to let Fourth Progenitor Eduardo successfully detonate.
Now, however, he had changed his mind. If possible, he would take this little wolf girl, clumsily disguised as a demon, away with him first.
She possessed the finest bloodline; using her to breed an enslaved Wolf Clan would be an exceptional strategic advantage for the Blood Clan.
Outside the projected footage.
"Someone help Caliera..."
Hyperion murmured in distress.
She realized that the little wolf girl the Tenth Progenitor, Ulysses, had just set his sights on was none other than her Xigelei.
In true history, the Blood Clan had no demon princess to abduct, so Xigelei had once again become their prey!
Suddenly, Hyperion noticed a figure in the footage, seated among the demons right beside Xigelei—one both familiar and strange.
Her eyes went wide.
It was a Glow Demon.
His horns looked like an exoskeleton of white jade, yet they were covered in cracks and stripped of luster.
Unlike Lanqi, his hair was white, loosely bound and draping over his shoulder.
He sat with his head bowed, as if sunk deep in a dream from which he could not wake.
Chapter 607