Steinherz, the Fourth Demon Monarch, and Temerith, the Fifth Demon Monarch, were arriving at the same conclusion from different directions. Two artifacts. Two thefts. Both contain the origin of the Abyss Law that alien races categorically could not control.
Both were gone within days of each other, one from Arboriel and one from the Endless Continent, two planets separated by only two galaxies, closely linked since the Ancient Era.
It had to be the same person. What made it worse was the historical context. Since the Throneveil Shrine emerged, no force, no race, no alliance, no individual, had managed to make the Dimensional Demons suffer losses like this.
The Eye of the Abyss had existed untouched for tens of thousands of years. The Sorrow of Time had been sealed in the Elf Empress' treasury for twenty thousand years. Both were gone in the same week.
"A Demon Lord born on a different planet." Steinherz said, "It must at least be a late-stage Supreme God to have taken them both. Given that nobody's found him yet, he must be hiding in the Endless Continent."
"When I find him." Temerith said, in the tone of someone making a personal commitment, "I'll tear him to pieces."
She'd been planning to recover the Sorrow of Time herself when this Divine War began. She'd spent twenty thousand years preparing for that retrieval. Now that she'd lost her divine imprint, it meant that the bow was gone permanently. Someone had beaten her to it and she hadn't even landed yet.
Steinherz watched her and didn't say anything that would make the situation worse. Before the conversation could develop further, both of them received word simultaneously.
The First Demon Lord Eisenfaust had returned from Arboriel. The Demon Emperor's roar shook the entire Abyss a moment later, which answered the question of how the investigation had gone.
"He found alien corpses in the planet's underground." Temerith said, "They have the aura of the Endless Continent on them. Our mysterious Demon Lord isn't just hiding there, he's been operating there, which means our guess is right."
Steinherz nodded slowly, "A rat who ascended on a different planet, hiding in the Endless Continent. He should also be dreaming for the God King's Throne."
He smiled without warmth, "What qualifications does a demon who betrayed His Majesty have to compete for that throne?"
"Praise His Majesty, the Demon Emperor." Temerith said, by reflex, in the direction of the Aschen Temple, which was the Emperor's residence.
They looked at each other afterward with the mutual understanding of beings who had said the correct thing and privately maintained their own opinions about the Throne's eventual occupant. Among the twelve Demon Lords, only Eisenfaust had been open about his ambitions. The rest kept theirs quieter.
The Demon Emperor's oracle arrived for them to mobilize immediately, move to the Devil's Moon, and prepare for their descent to the Endless Continent. This Divine War was different from the Ancient Era.
A hundred thousand years ago, the demons had committed only part of their strength and still nearly captured the Endless Continent. They were only stopped by the emergence of 'Truth' at the critical moment.
This time, every Demonic Legion was moving including the twelve Demon Monarchs' clans and the full might of the Burning Legion. Even the Demon Emperor himself would be participating this time. All of it was aimed at the Endless Continent.
Steinherz left for the ancestral lands of the Lava Trolls. Temerith also decided to pass her orders to the succubus clans. Similarly, the other Demon Monarchs also contacted their clans to mobilize their clans' armies.
Temerith looked at the empty hall for a moment before leaving.
"I'll definitely catch him."
…
Back in the Imperial Palace at Angel City.
Haru looked up from what he was doing with the vague sense that someone, somewhere, was thinking about him with focused malice.
He considered the candidates—the Evil Pantheon, the various Demon Monarchs, a few stupid Castle Lords, the Light Empire's leaders, and other general enemies accumulated over the past month.
He finally concluded that the list was too long to narrow down without proper mastery over the Law of Fate, which he didn't have. He set the thought aside and returned to the Scepter where the golden light from the first upgrade had almost faded.
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