The Seven Devils - Chapter 27

Acaedien Kingdom

Today was yet another beautiful summer day for the citizens of Acaedien. In the city, picturesque buildings lined the intertwining streets that stretched as far as the eye could see. Here in this prosperous, growing, and well-protected metropolis, the citizens—of many different manners and natures, ranging from human to elves, beast-people, dwarfs, goblins, orcs, and many more—went about their daily routines.

Sitting atop the hill overlooking the capital was a majestic castle, six stories high and built in creamy-white Oamaru stone. The grandiose palace had countless quarters, which were further divided into departments where around five thousand staff worked and resided.

At this very moment, at the hour of eleven in the morning, seven demon lords were having a conference in a boardroom up on the seventh floor, a level nonexistent to the outside world. After all, this secret level was shielded with an immensely high-tier protective barrier, which not only made the entire floor invisible to the naked eye, but only those with authorization—the seven lords—and those with passes could gain access.

The boardroom was grand and designed with rich color, soft furnishings, and chandeliers, with stately paintings and indoor ornaments made of silver and gold. One side of the room was designed in an open-plan style, stretching out onto the veranda where it had a stately view of the city and mountains beyond.

As it was at the moment, bright sunlight streamed into the room where five lords sat around a table, while two more appeared on the magic screen to the left.

Sitting at the head and facing a lovely view of the city was Lord Geoffrey Lancaster, a demon lord considered the head of the kingdom and a father figure to the Acaedien citizens. As one of the seven lords who ruled Acaedien, the very old and the very young loved him, the mature respected him, the male youth looked up to him, while the female youth both looked up to him and drooled over him. After all, Lord Geoffrey was a wickedly gorgeous man. Always in white or pale garments, Lord Geoffrey looked like an angel who had descended from the heavens to guide and protect them.

Sitting to the left of Lord Geoffrey was Lord Noah Wakefield, a demon lord professor and currently the kingdom’s head magic researcher. With light-brown hair stylishly cut, hazel eyes, a Roman nose, firm lips, strong jawline, and a pair of specs sitting atop his mask, he was the epitome of a hot yet stern professor in any young woman’s sexual fantasy. Always in white or pale garments, like Lord Geoffrey, Lord Noah, too, looked like an archangel who had descended from above to guide the citizens in the research and development fields, thus improving on almost every aspect of everyone’s lives.

To the right side of the table sat Lords Felix Worthington, Caleb Harrington, and Aaron Lancaster. All three warriors, as usual, were dressed in dark garments.

Lord Caleb Harrington, dubbed the Dark Lord by the citizens of Acaedien because of his stoic and hard-to-approach attitude was alluringly gorgeous. As opposed to Lords Geoffrey and Noah, whom the citizens believed descended from the heavens, Lord Caleb was believed to have risen from the depths of hell itself and was here to fight evildoers and protect the innocent, which was exactly Lord Caleb’s job description.

Like Lord Caleb, who had been awarded a title, Lord Felix, too, obtained one by the citizens of Acaedien. This gregarious lord was known by most as the King of Hell because of his colossally powerful dark qi. According to rumors, he was as powerful as Lord Aslan, the king of the Forbidden Forest, and could destroy an entire city with a flick of his hand if the mood struck him, which was why it was an unspoken rule that Lord’s Felix’s anger should not be tested, despite his easygoing attitude and charming smile. After all, it had happened a mere few months ago, when something precious had been taken from him, thus awakening the rage of this mighty demon lord; a whole city, in turn, was annihilated.

Where Lord Felix exuded the aura of dark, intense sexual appeal, Lord Aaron Lancaster, on the other hand, emanated a boyish charm. This came with soft features, a slender frame, and average height. Standing at five feet and seven inches, he was the shortest of the seven lords, which didn’t bother him since his unique physique enabled him to be the fastest and deadliest on the battlefield. With pale-blond hair stylishly cut, twinkling emerald-green eyes, a straight nose, and lips that seemed to always smile, females—both young and old—adored him.

At the moment, all five lords were listening attentively to Lords Ethan Sherwood and Victor Rutherford, who were appearing in the magic screen attached to the wall on the left side of the room. These two lords were currently in a lavish airship, flying at a leisurely pace, heading toward the kingdom, back from their diplomatic journey to the Wulin Kingdom.

On the screen sitting to the left side was Lord Ethan, who had golden-blond hair, blue eyes, and a strong jawline. Today, he wore a blue garment—his favorite color—which enhanced and complemented his eyes and tanned skin. Wickedly striking, he was dubbed the Golden Prince of the Acaedien Kingdom. Next to him was his best friend Lord Victor, dubbed the Silver Prince of Acaedien because of his pale, charming appearance of silver hair, which was stylishly cut, and silver eyes that looked as though they could see right through your soul, which they could because of the lord’s unique magical dark qi.

“That’s all the information we’ve gathered,” Victor said, his voice deep yet soft to the ear. “It’s understood that there seems to be an abnormality going on with the Aurora Barrier, not only in Acaedien, but that of the Forbidden Forest, Wulin, Yamato, Lyria, and many other smaller kingdoms as well.”

Ethan said, “I’ve been in contact with Aslan. He’s putting his best people to the task of researching the phenomenon.”

Folding his arms across his chest, Aaron said, “I hope this isn’t a sign of shit happening again, as it did two thousand years ago.”

Geoffrey glanced at his younger brother, his face grim. They all knew Aaron was referring to the apocalypse that had nearly destroyed their world.

Noah said, “At this point, though without much evidence, I can confidently say it’s very unlikely. This feels more like someone naughty is experimenting with the barrier.”

Felix folded his arms across his chest and asked, “What are you implying, Noah?”

“That someone powerful is tampering with the barrier?” Caleb cocked his head to one side.

“Why would anyone do that?” Aaron stated. “The barrier has been stabilizing our world for two thousand years now. Without it, we’re all in deep shit. Why would anyone risk another world disaster by tinkering with the barrier?”

Geoffrey said, “There are all sorts of powerful beings out there, and not all of them have the Aurora Realm’s best interests at heart.”

“That is true,” Victor said from the screen. “Speaking of which, congratulations on succeeding with the Bandits Suppression Campaign.”

Ethan said, “According to the report, Prince Philip was involved again. What the fuck is wrong with that bastard? He seems to be stirring shit up every so often.”

Felix shrugged his broad shoulders. “He’s probably still pissed off with us for what we did.”

Caleb sighed. “That was two thousand years ago. It’s not like she wanted to stay with him, for God’s sake.”

“He’s a narcissistic bastard,” Noah said. “Who’d want to stay with a narcissistic bastard?”

Looking at Felix, Geoffrey said, “It can’t be helped with what’s already been done. Personally, I’d like to think he’s pissed with you, who destroyed his entire city a few months back, Felix.”

Felix shrugged his shoulders again. “Hey, he fucked with us first. What a petty man, going as low as to steal…” The lord had a dark expression on his face. “I just gave him a warning. And besides, it was a crap, impoverished city. His people were starving and dying, and Philip didn’t give a fuck. I ordered my men to evacuate the residents before I unleashed my rampage. Furthermore, we were kind enough to offer them our kingdom as home.”

Geoffrey said, “Which they happily accepted and increased the population of our nation. Did I tell you that it added quite a bit of a workload to my staff?”

Victor said, “It’s great that Felix’s untamed rage and his inability to think about the long-term consequences of his rash actions actually helped those poor citizens of McFarland, but I still think it’s unreasonable to destroy a whole city just because of a necklace.”

“It was her necklace,” Felix said. “It’s all that we have left of her. It was a part of her, and when she was gone, with Philip taking her body with him, I… Yuki was important to us, and I just can’t…”

The moment that name was said aloud, all seven lords tensed, and a dark atmosphere descended upon the room.

Felix said, “Sorry. I just kind of…”

Everyone understood when it came to this woman named Yuki Hoshi—dubbed Beautiful Snow or known simply as Snow because of her strangely alluring beauty of dark hair, pale complexion, and blood-red lips—all seven lords would be affected. Felix was the most sensitive because he had always been the closest to her. After all, they were like yin and yang, with Felix retaining so much dark qi and Yuki so much pure qi.

“Yuki, eh?” Geoffrey said. “I’ve not spoken her name for so long.” He sounded nostalgic. “And yet I still think of her constantly.”

Aaron said, “And you still sound like a lovesick pup, even though it has been two thousand years and you’re one of the masters of a kingdom.”

Geoffrey chuckled. “It can’t be helped. Yuki was…just Yuki. It can’t be denied that she was special, not only to us, but to everyone who survived the apocalypse. Thanks to her and all of the Great Ones, our realm was saved from an imminent end.”

All seven lords agreed with that.