Everyone had a flaw. Perhaps being a demon was being able to deliver horrible outcomes from a place of seemingly good intent. Perhaps in Waton's eyes, Damon had good intentions.

But from Damon's perspective, Waton was the fool. At this point he was starting to wonder why he didn't think of this sooner.

He had high levels of deception and charisma in his mastery stats, so why was he letting this fool annoy him?

Having Waton on his side had some benefits, a lot actually. He was the ultimate meat shield, both in battle and politically. Damon had pissed off a lot of people after all, and honestly, having Waton on his side was good.

'I just didn't expect him to be such a paper tiger....'

One mention of his weakness and a few words, and Damon had already gained his begrudging trust.

'How did he survive so long in the imperial palace?'

Well, actually, the answer to that question was quite obvious. Waton was a fool, and a fool was no threat. Evil people loved fools because they could be used easily.

Waton was saved by his foolishness. No one really thought he stood a chance to earn the throne, so they just left him to his own devices.

'Hmmm, if I wasn't plotting to sleep with his sister I'd keep him alive so I can gain influence in court politics....'

Damon smiled faintly as his eyes flicked toward the orbs watching and broadcasting to the outside world.

'But first I have to screw over my grandfather just to make sure nothing suspicious is going on....'

Ahhh, being a scheming wretch was too many sweats.

Probably why Damon preferred the simple, more violent solutions. But alas, that didn't really help now that he was heavily injured.

He glanced at Waton with a soft smile curling at his lips.

"Your Highness... ohh, I mean party leader... what do you know about those demons? I'm sure someone as knowledgeable as you would have already gotten some information."

Waton cleared his throat. Someone as knowledgeable as him.... Hmm, he really liked the way this Damon Grey spoke.

"That's nothing to me, of course. My retinue thinks very highly of me. I received a file on them."

Damon smiled. As expected of the imperial family, they had already gathered information.

He glanced around, noticing the number of people had reduced.

Hmm. It seemed the magic was teleporting people at random.

Was this an attempt to make all preplanning and coordination meaningless?

Damon noticed the demons standing together on one side. He smiled at Waton.

"Which of them do you know?"

Waton began naming the demon youths and pointing at them, giving Damon a full overview of their powers and attributes. The more Damon learned, the more his expression darkened. Well, that wasn't good.

One of them was a necromancer, with a bone attribute.

Another was one of the children of the current demon lord, Adramelech. He was a master of sun magic.

There was also a descendant of Astaroth, the Lord of Decay, which meant that demon had inherited the terrifying attribute of decay.

Damon paused, then smirked. Wait, why was he worried? Wasn't this a good thing? So many people with broken powers meant if he devoured them, he would gain more power, more skills.

Wasn't this part of the reason he had unleashed his shadow clone, so he could devour them?

"Hey, Your Highness... isn't your attribute like the emperor's? You have the time attribute, don't you?"

Waton bit his lips. This was indeed his attribute, but it wasn't as great as people thought. Time was a very hard attribute to control or use. It was only truly powerful in his father's hands.

"I... I do. I am... it's the strongest attribute."

Damon almost scoffed. That was doubtful. Time attribute was not the strongest. The strongest would be the void attribute, which could use all physical laws like space, time, gravity, and whatever else. Or maybe not.... No, the world's strongest attribute was the domination attribute, which could dominate everything.

Dominate light, dominate space, dominate time. This was why Ashcroft was so terrifying.

Damon could feel the magic beneath him growing. He would soon be teleported, and it seemed Waton would be as well.

His eyes shifted to a girl among the demons. She was covered by a hood, its long cloak reaching the ground up to her feet. Damon could feel her gaze on him.

He caught sight of her chin and the small smile that curved up her lips when she saw him.

Damon felt a chill. It wasn't the chill that was strange or unfamiliar, but he was certain he had felt that gaze before. Just as soon as he felt it, it was gone.

His eyes narrowed.

"Hey, do you know that one?"

Waton narrowed his eyes, his expression confused.

"I'm afraid not. However, intel seems to suggest she's with Paimon."

Damon raised a brow.

"With Paimon?"

Waton nodded cautiously.

"She must be a witch from the Snake Temple. They are always weird and dangerous. What they can do is often undocumented, or poorly so. And then there are the rumors...."

Damon tilted his head slightly.

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Waton glanced at the magic orbs broadcasting everything. There were thousands, so not many eyes could focus on him and Damon with too many people to watch. Still, he leaned closer and whispered in Damon's ear.

"It's said that they can call or invoke the Unknown God of the demon races... sacrificing their lives for strange powers."

His eyes shifted, watching Damon carefully.

"Keep it to yourself. The temple doesn't like how their god answers when ours doesn't."

Damon nodded slowly.

'Hmmm. This is troublesome... or is it... no. Unknown, you're planning something again, aren't you? You planned this from the moment of my death in Lysithara. Everything has led me here....'

As soon as Damon reached that train of thought, the power of the battlefield grew more intense all around them. Everyone who had not disappeared began to fade away into sparks as space itself morphed and shifted.

Then suddenly, Damon heard a system chime.

[Quest]

[You have received a chain Quest]

[Do you wish to accept?]

[Y/N]

He chuckled as his body disappeared from the white realm.

"I knew it...."

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