Wolf of the Blood Moon - Book 3 - Chapter 53 - The Demon Lords of Tartarus (Patreon)

Scarlet

Of the four Demon Lords, I immediately ignore Leonidas who is standing next to a man with pale skin, pitch black eyes, and pitch black claws on each hand wearing a set of pitch black armor in the center of the four Demon Lords. A man I recognize based on his appearance as a ghoul, particularly due to his lack of any sort of pupil or sclera. Just a straight up single solid color for his entire eyes without any sort of light radiating from them.

<-[{Lord of Death} {The Reaper} – Ghoul – Level 1921]->

Yeah, this is the guy who got the new Title recently.

My gaze turns to the man on the far right, who has long red hair and a permanent scowl on his face, unlike the calm look the Lord of Death has. He also has glowing red horns on his head that I can feel the heat of from here, along with bright red skin, eyes, and claws. The man is also rather large, and his armor doesn’t cover much skin. Skin that also has glowing red veins on it.

<-[{Lord of Hellfire} – Oni – Level 1910]->

Only one Title? Guess he’s lagging behind the others.

I turn my gaze to the last of the four on the far left, finding them to be the most inhuman of the bunch. They have a deep green almost black carapace instead of skin, compound eyes like a bug that glow with an eerie green light, and natural blades extending from their forearms over their hands. Although they look to have some sort of carapace-like helmet on that makes me wonder if they can pull it down over their face or something. And while their carapace and bug-like appearance makes it hard to guess their gender, their chest makes it a bit easier to tell. That and their Titles.

<-[{Lady of Devouring} {The Devourer} – Mindeater – Level 1930]->

“Welcome, Demon Lords,” Grandpa says, making me realize that ‘lords’ is a gender neutral term to them. That or personal preference. “I introduce to you my granddaughter, Her Highness, Scarlet Art Asger de Archeron, the First Princess of Tartarus.”

Guess he’s not using the fae’s way of ranking the royalty, instead listing the princes and princesses separately in the ranking. Although that might just be because there’s only one Prince and one Princess, and First Prince and First Princess sound more intimidating.

I could definitely see him doing it for that reason.

That aside, I nod my head with a short, “Greetings, Demon Lords.”

Leonidas raises a brow at that but doesn’t say anything. Meanwhile the Reaper just nods and answers in kind, “Greetings, Princess Scarlet.”

I glance at the other two to find the Lord of Hellfire narrowing his eyes slightly without saying a word. But the Devourer smiles lightly and says, her voice coming out slightly shrill, “Hello, dear. I’m glad you’re back where you belong.”

My eyes widen ever so slightly before I nod my head, deciding not to comment on that statement.

She seems nice though.

Then again, from what I’ve heard, the mindeaters are a rather neutral demon in terms of the war. They don’t care about it at all. In fact, they’re the only demon clan against the war because it interferes with their sleep time.

A rather simply reason to be against a war, but good nonetheless I guess.

I look to the Lord of Hellfire again, only for the man to appear right in front of me as the rather tall man looks down on me, his eyes still narrowed. But since neither Grandpa nor Leonidas do anything, I simply stare up at him with a frown on my face, not backing down in the slightest.

We stare at each other for several seconds before a slight grin cracks his face and he pats my head, chuckles, and says, “You’ll do, Your Ladyship. You’ll do.”

Now I’m glaring at him as I move my head away from his hand, to his apparent amusement.

Not what I was expecting from an oni.

“If I had to guess, he was sizing you up based on your age, what he sees of you right now, and the achievements he’s been told you’ve made, and deciding whether you were worthy for your position,” Tar says, explaining his actions. Something I pretty much guessed.

What would he have done if he didn’t find me worthy?

“Not sure,” Tar answers directly into my mind as the other Demon Lords scowl at the oni. “He may have just scoffed and left the room. Or he may have tried to kill you. Depends on how weak and undeserving he thought you were, and if it sparked his wrath or not.”

I blink at that second possibility.

Now that would be more along the lines of what I expect from an oni.

Come to think of it, who was the Demon Lord that ate their contract with their fae?

“Uh,” Tar utters for a moment before answering, “It was the Reaper.”

Hmm. The ghoul then.

Guess that makes sense. He is affected by the Gluttony Sin after all.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if his eating his contract was one of the requirements for his new Title,” Tar comments, almost making me raise a brow at The Reaper.

Almost.

I hold myself back simply because the Reaper in question is currently staring at me in a slightly unnerving manner. Simply staring without blinking at all. And now that I look more closely, I notice an intense hunger in his gaze. One that I’m sure all ghouls feel all the time.

That would be a terrible Sin to have, if I’m being honest. Always feeling hungry.

At this point I feel like the blood lycan’s Sin of pride is probably one of the easiest on the cursed demons.

Then again.

I glance at the Devourer.

She and the other mindeaters don’t seem to mind having to sleep all the time. But then again, her true form is a giant insect. And insects hibernate.

Actually, she’s the only one in this room not in her true form right now. Also, the whole ‘demons used to be human’ thing certainly explains why the demons all get a humanoid form at Class V.

“If that’s all, I’ll be taking my leave,” The Reaper says, following which Grandpa nods. So he nods once towards Grandpa, then at Leonidas, then the Devourer, and lastly to me before leaving in a wave of black and purple death magic, ignoring the Lord of Hellfire in the process and telling me just what he thinks of the guy.

“Should you need anything, ask me and I will consider,” The Devourer states, her compound eyes drilling into me before I nod, and her body breaks up into thousands of insects and she flies off out the balcony.

Then the Lord of Hellfire walks up once more and places his hand on my shoulder, not budging an inch when I try to move my shoulder out of his grasp as he says, “Well, young lady, I think we’ll get along great! But I’m gonna head out! Got some skulls to crush after all.” His body immediately alights with black flames that make me begin panicking, only to realize that they aren’t hurting me in the slightest. “As you humans often say, sayonara!”

I blink at that before his body vanishes out the window in a flash.

Then I just stare out the window for who knows how long.

What is wrong with that guy?

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