Part one hundred forty four — The Chamber That Answered to Him

　Ivy opened the mist gate precisely on schedule, the passage unfolding into something Kai still hadn't fully adjusted to, no matter how many times he'd used it by now.

　They stepped through together — Kai, Nyxara, Seli, Ivy — and the gate closed behind them, sealing off Horizoncrest entirely from wherever they'd just arrived.

Lord Kai, he thought, still faintly bemused by how thoroughly that title had stuck despite every attempt to correct it.

Guess I've officially given up fighting that particular battle.

　The chamber itself waited, the same one Kai remembered vaguely from the last confrontation — except the moment his foot actually touched the floor, the whole room shuddered, alive, responding.

　"It's reshaping," Ivy said, unbothered. "This happens every time a new Demon Lord enters for the first time. The chamber takes whatever form the newest member desires."

　"Who designed it last?" Kai asked.

　"Belial," Ivy said.

　"Given his personality," Kai said, "I'm guessing it was a nightmare."

　"You have no idea," Nyxara said. "Truly the worst."

　Kai laughed, and the room finished settling around him — something beautiful, vast, feeling almost like the center of the universe itself, elegant seats arranged for each of the seven.

　He and Nyxara took their own seats, waiting, and the others began arriving one by one, seemingly from nowhere.

　Demon Lord Ravessia — No.2 — appeared directly beside him without warning, close enough that he genuinely hadn't sensed her at all.

　"Oh, if it isn't Kai," she said, cheerful. "A pleasure to meet you."

　Her aura, once it actually registered, was genuinely terrifying — enough that Kai visibly tensed before her own subordinate smacked her lightly on the head.

　"Don't scare him," the subordinate scolded.

　"I was just messing with him, geez," Ravessia said, entirely unrepentant, before spotting Nyxara and launching herself into an enthusiastic hug.

　"Big sis!"

　"Get off me, you troublesome child," Nyxara said, trying and failing to dislodge her, eventually simply accepting the hug as inevitable.

Wait — big sis?

"Correct," Null-Subconsciousness offered. "Demon Lord Ravessia is also a primordial demon, designated No.2."

No wonder I couldn't sense her coming. And her aura's a different color than what Mom taught me. Why—

"It is likely your mother did not wish for you to learn the full truth of this world quite yet."

Well, I'm learning it anyway. Apparently this world just enjoys correcting everything I thought I understood.

　Demon Lord Mirella arrived next, quiet, taking her seat without a word.

　"What race is that?" Kai asked silently. "She's not human."

"Demi-human," Null-Subconsciousness supplied.

At this point nothing's going to surprise me. I wouldn't even blink if a spirit showed up next as a Demon Lord.

　Right on cue, Demon Lord Orinthia entered — and Null-Subconsciousness informed him, flatly, that she was one of three known primordial spirits.

You have got to be kidding me.

　"Nice design," Orinthia said, approving, glancing around the reshaped chamber. "Unlike that loudmouth Belial. So you're Kai, right? Looking forward to getting to know you better."

　She closed the distance with obvious curiosity.

　"Back off," Nyxara said, sharp.

　"Yes, yes, my lady, please take your seat," Orinthia's own subordinate — a true spirit — urged gently.

　Then Vaelith the Unbowed — Divo, as they apparently called him — arrived, and Kai went very still.

　Two subordinates flanked him: Regera, the Abyssal Seraph, born of fallen angelic essence and demonic energy, Vaelith's own executioner.

　Gemera, the Abyssal Sovereign Dragon, ancient, born in the abyss's deepest layer, his guardian and ultimate powerhouse.

Oh boy. I would very much like to never get on either of their bad side.

"The one in the center is Demon Lord Vaelith," Null-Subconsciousness clarified. "The other two are his subordinates."

Wait, subordinates? I assumed they were all Demon Lords themselves. How does he even have subordinates that strong?

　Ivy, sensing the direction of his thoughts, gave him a look that suggested he'd been thinking something faintly disrespectful.

　Vaelith simply glanced at him once and took his seat, saying nothing at all.

　Once everyone had settled, the room went quiet, waiting.

　"What are we waiting for?" Kai asked. "Aren't we complete?"

"There is one more."

　"I thought there were only six Demon Lords."

"Incorrect. There are seven."

　Orinthia sighed.

　"Could someone please explain why he's still not here?"

　"Were you actually expecting him to show up on time?" Mirella asked, dry.

　"Are we just going to sit here and wait?" Ravessia added, impatient. "This is annoying."

　Nyxara turned to Vaelith.

　"Divo. Did you actually inform him about this meeting?"

　Gemera answered instead.

　"The invitation was sent to every Demon Lord."

　Vaelith said nothing.

　Then time itself simply stopped existing in the room, in a way considerably beyond the usual quiet — and a boy, appearing perhaps fourteen, materialized upside down in midair directly in front of Kai.

　"So you're the one I've been hearing about," he said, cheerful. "Nice to finally meet you."

　Every Demon Lord except Vaelith and Nyxara went utterly still.

Not an ordinary child, Kai realized, immediately.

　This was Demon Lord Aeon Stillmere — the Primordial Time Dragon, also called the Unknown, unlisted at prior meetings precisely because so little about him could be confirmed.

　History claimed he might be the God of Creation's own younger brother, equal in authority to Vaelith himself, though no one had ever properly verified it.

　He tapped Kai on the head, playful, and laughed.

　"About time you showed up," Orinthia said. "We've been waiting."

　"Sorry," Aeon said, entirely unbothered. "I was asleep this time."

　"Please," Nyxara said, "take your seat. Let's begin."

　Gemera performed the formal introductions, Kai's own name included among the seven for the first time.

　The meeting had finally, properly, begun.