Chapter 620: Terrifying Human

The massive dining room was filled with the aroma of freshly prepared food. A round table occupied the centre of the room, its polished surface covered with dishes purchased from the Dark Pavilion before the fight had forced Damian and Elsa to abandon their meal.

Roasted meats, glazed fish, steaming bowls of noodles, delicate pastries, and several unfamiliar delicacies unique to the Imperial Capital occupied nearly every inch of the table. Golden lanterns illuminated the room, while servants stood discreetly against the walls, ready to refill cups or replace empty dishes.

Damian sat beside Elsa, with Duke Paimon and Laura opposite them. The meal had been intended as a casual gathering, but the conversation had quickly turned toward the Council of Princes and the events that had unfolded earlier that day.

Damian swallowed his food and washed it down with a cup of water before returning his attention to Duke Paimon. "What happens to the Prince of Envy?"

Paimon sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, we can only keep him in our custody until evening. He’s a Prince, after all. We can do nothing to him except fine him for the damages to the Dark Pavilion and the trouble he has caused."

Damian nodded and lowered his cup. His empty gaze wandered across the dishes spread before him, settling briefly on a plate of glazed meat before moving toward a bowl of unfamiliar vegetables. The answer did not surprise him. The Imperial Capital might possess enough power to restrain a Prince, but its authorities could not casually imprison one indefinitely without inviting political consequences. Belial would be released before the evening was over, and Damian had no doubt that the Prince of Envy would remember the humiliation.

He picked up his chopsticks again, apparently more interested in the food than in the consequences of the day’s events.

The silence continued until Laura finally spoke.

"You are really amazing. You killed Lazarus, and now you can even fight Envy without getting harmed. You must be really bold."

Elsa drove her fork into the cut-up beef on her plate. The metal struck the porcelain with a sharp clink, loud enough to draw everyone’s attention toward her.

Everyone except Laura.

The young Mink’s eyes remained fixed on Damian, her expression bright with fascination. She seemed entirely unaware of the tension building beside him, or perhaps she simply did not consider it important enough to acknowledge.

Damian glanced briefly at Elsa before returning his attention to Laura. He shook his head, dismissing her praise with a casual gesture.

"You overestimate me. I only fought the Prince of Envy because he tried to harm my wife. It’s a husband’s duty to protect his wife."

Elsa’s hand stopped above her plate.

She turned toward Damian, surprise flickering across her face. The words were simple, almost dismissive, but she had not expected him to say them so openly in front of their guests.

A small smile appeared on her lips before she could suppress it. For a moment, she forgot the uncomfortable circumstances surrounding their marriage and allowed herself to enjoy the reassurance hidden in his words.

Then Laura leaned forward, her eyes shining.

"Oh my God... How romantic! Whoever becomes your wife is extremely fortunate!"

Elsa’s smile vanished.

Beneath the table, her fingers slowly curled into a fist. The young woman had just been told that Damian was married, yet her enthusiasm showed no sign of diminishing. If anything, the declaration appeared to have made him even more attractive in her eyes.

Elsa pushed her chair back and rose to her feet.

"I’ll go rest first."

Damian lifted his head. "Already?"

"I’m tired."

She offered no further explanation. Turning away from the table, she walked toward the exit without waiting for a response. Her footsteps remained steady, but the servants standing along the walls quickly lowered their eyes as she passed. None of them dared ask whether something had happened.

Laura watched her leave before returning her attention to Damian, seemingly oblivious to the reason for Elsa’s departure. Paimon, however, had noticed the tension from the beginning. He looked at his daughter with a faint frown, then turned back to Damian.

The Prince of Lust did not call Elsa back. He simply watched the doorway for a moment before reaching for his chopsticks again.

"Can you help me secure the votes of the Dukes in the Council meeting?"

Paimon raised a brow in surprise. The abrupt change of subject was so complete that it seemed as though the previous conversation had never occurred.

"Has my lord already reached a conclusion on which side to stand?"

Damian nodded. "I wish to continue the fight against the Heavens."

Paimon’s expression grew serious. He rested his hands on the table, considering the implications of such a decision.

"At the expense of letting the threat of the Dark Continent grow? My lord, shouldn’t you wait until you have a full scope of the danger before deciding how to vote?"

Damian shook his head. He set his chopsticks down, and the casual air he had maintained throughout the meal began to fade.

"Great Duke, since I gained this inheritance, I have been in constant battles with no moment of peace. The fight against Duke Dantalion left my soul damaged, and my fight with Lazarus drained it further, reducing my lifespan drastically."

Paimon abruptly stood up.

Laura rose with him, her earlier fascination replaced by shock. The revelation had come so unexpectedly that neither of them immediately knew how to respond.

"Is this true?" Paimon asked urgently.

Damian nodded, a faint smile returning to his face. "Unfortunately, yes."

The Duke’s expression tightened. "How much time do you have left?"

"Enough to accomplish what I need to accomplish, provided I don’t waste it."

Damian reached for his cup, took a sip of water, and continued.

"The consciousness behind that inheritances believe I can find a cure for my condition in the Dark World. It also believe I can obtain the resources necessary to reach the God realm much faster there. I’ll investigate the hidden threat in the Dark Continent while I’m at it. But I need to make sure I’m safe from the Heavens and my brothers while I do so."

Paimon slowly rubbed his chin.

"That’s why you want them to be distracted with the war against each other."

Damian nodded. He picked up his chopsticks again, rolled a portion of noodles around them, and ate as though the conversation concerned an ordinary business arrangement.

Paimon remained standing for another moment before lowering himself into his seat. Laura followed, though her attention had shifted entirely to the Prince across the table.

She started to speak, but Paimon caught her hand beneath the table and gave it a small shake. Laura glanced at him, confused, before reluctantly remaining silent. Her father had recognised that Damian was discussing matters of considerable importance, and this was not the time for her to interrupt.

Paimon returned his attention to Damian.

"I’m guessing you plan to use the wealth of Gildreach to fund a religious movement across the mortal planes?"

Damian smiled.

"Duke Paimon is truly insightful."

The Duke had already suspected as much. However, the plan had a weakness.

"But you know," Paimon continued, "no matter how much funding you invest in such a movement, your progress will be hindered greatly when the Ten Commandments get personally involved. You are bound to fall behind your siblings."

Damian stopped eating.

He placed his chopsticks beside his bowl and raised his head to meet Paimon’s gaze.

"Are you worried one of my brothers will claim the throne by the end of the century?"

Paimon nodded without hesitation. "Yes, my lord. Don’t forget Astaroth’s words. Whoever conquers the most territory will become the new Demon Lord."

The announcement made during the Council had been clear enough. The Dukes would support the Prince who acquired the most territory by the end of the century, provided that the Prince did not expand by invading another Prince’s domain. The arrangement was intended to encourage the recovery of territory lost to Heaven, but it also created a race in which every Prince would compete for influence, military strength, and the loyalty of mortals.

Paimon had no reason to believe that wealth alone would overcome such obstacles.

Damian, however, laughed.

It was not the brief chuckle he had offered earlier when discussing Belial. This time, he laughed openly, shaking his head as though the Duke had raised a concern that had never occurred to him.

"Don’t worry, Great Duke. All the Princes of the Underworld will be dead before the end of the century. That includes the man living in the Golden Peaks of Aurelios."

The laughter died away, leaving a silence that seemed to swallow the room.

Paimon’s body stiffened. Beside him, Laura felt a chill run down her spine. Neither had mistaken Damian’s meaning, and neither could dismiss his words as an idle boast. The Prince of Lust had just declared that every other Prince would die before the century ended, including Sol, the most powerful among them.

Laura stared at Damian’s face. His eyes were glowing, purple and red light swirling within them as though two distinct personalities were struggling for supremacy. The colours shifted against each other, neither willing to yield, and for an instant she felt as though the man sitting before her was only the surface of something far more terrible.

A thought slipped from her mind and reached Damian through the unusual connection between them.

’Father... This Prince is really scary, like Sol. Are all humans this scary?’

Paimon heard the thought as well, and his expression became even more complicated. He did not answer his daughter. He could not tell her that all humans were like Damian, because they were not. Nor could he reassure her that Damian’s threat was impossible, because the evidence before him suggested otherwise.