Chapter 337: The Black Testament

"They’re dead."

Those two words were enough to make the entire Royal Meeting Hall fall silent.

For several seconds, no one spoke. Zanki, Mae-hwa, Ragnar, the Salesman Demon, and even the Jester Demon stared at Allen in disbelief. These weren’t ordinary demons they were talking about. Zeri and General Malakar had stood among the three highest-ranking demons beneath the Demon King himself.

"What...?" Mae-hwa finally broke the silence, her fan lowering from her face. "How is that possible?"

Ragnar’s expression hardened. Unlike Mae-hwa, there was less disbelief in his eyes and more interest as he processed what Allen’s words actually meant.

"I see..." A grin slowly appeared on his face. "So there’s someone out there capable of defeating High Demons."

"Now that’s something new," the Jester Demon said, his smile widening with obvious curiosity.

The Salesman Demon glanced around the table.

"Didn’t I already warn all of you?" he said. "There’s a monster in Libeus powerful enough to destroy my clone. Perhaps you should’ve taken my report more seriously."

Zanki said nothing.

He slowly crossed his arms as his earlier suspicion became even stronger. Two High Demons were dead, their armies had been recalled, and instead of preparing forces to expand outward, the Demon King was gathering everything around the Demonic Kingdom.

So I was right.

This wasn’t preparation for conquest.

Something was coming.

"Silence."

Allen spoke only one word.

Yet the weight behind it immediately crushed every conversation in the hall. The Jester Demon’s smile remained, but he stopped speaking. Ragnar closed his mouth, Mae-hwa raised her fan again, and even the Salesman Demon turned his attention back toward the throne.

Allen’s golden eyes moved across them coldly.

"I didn’t summon you here to listen to your gossip. I summoned you because I need to know whether each of you followed my order and brought your subordinates."

Every Upper Blood Demon immediately lowered their heads.

"We did, Your Majesty."

"Very well."

Allen allowed the silence to continue for several moments before slowly leaning forward in his throne. His golden eyes moved across the gathered Upper Blood Demons, none of whom dared interrupt him.

"Listen carefully. For the next seven days, every operation in the human world is to be suspended."

Several demons looked up in surprise, but Allen continued before anyone could question him.

"Withdraw your remaining forces and concentrate everything on defending our kingdom. Strengthen the borders, reinforce every entrance, and ensure that no unauthorized individual enters our territory. Until I give further orders, none of you are permitted to launch an attack."

Ragnar frowned. The excitement he had felt upon hearing about the deaths of two High Demons had begun to disappear as he considered the implications of Allen’s command.

"My lord, forgive me for asking, but are we expecting someone to attack us?"

Allen looked toward him.

"That is precisely why I summoned all of you."

The answer made Zanki’s many eyes narrow. His earlier suspicions had been correct. The armies weren’t being gathered for another invasion. They were being recalled to protect the Demonic Kingdom itself.

"But from whom?" Mae-hwa asked cautiously.

Allen didn’t answer immediately. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"That is something you will understand soon enough. For now, your duty is to ensure that nothing interferes with the ritual I am about to perform."

The mention of a ritual immediately drew Zanki’s attention. He lowered his head respectfully before speaking.

"My lord, if I may ask... what kind of ritual are we preparing to perform?"

Zanki remained thoughtful for a moment before respectfully lowering his head.

The others looked toward Zanki again.

He had participated in enough demonic operations to recognize when preparations were being made for a ritual, but this was different. The number of demons being gathered, the secrecy surrounding the kingdom, the scale of the recent invasion, and now the deaths of two High Demons made it clear that whatever Allen intended to perform wasn’t an ordinary summoning.

Zanki continued carefully.

"I’ve witnessed many rituals before, my lord. But none required preparations on this scale."

For the first time since entering the hall, Allen smiled.

"This one is different."

The demons waited.

Allen’s golden eyes slowly moved across the table.

"This time, we are going to follow the final section of The Black Testament," Allen said, his golden eyes moving across the demons gathered before him. A faint smile gradually appeared on his face as he watched them waiting for his answer.

"The Book of Endings..... Chapter X: The Black Eclipse."

The entire Royal Meeting Hall went still. The Jester Demon stopped smiling, Ragnar’s grin disappeared, and even Mae-hwa’s fan froze halfway across her face. The Salesman Demon stared silently at Allen, while Zanki’s many eyes narrowed as he immediately understood the significance of those words.

Every demon of sufficient rank knew The Black Testament. Its final section, known as The Book of Endings, contained three Chapters that generations of demons had studied but almost none truly believed they would ever witness.

The first was Chapter X: The Black Eclipse, the ritual through which the necessary sacrifices would be gathered and offered to the forgotten god. It was followed by Chapter XI: The Last Sacrifice, which described the final offering required to complete what had begun.

And after those two came the Chapter every demon knew by name.

Chapter XII: Return of the God of Shadow.

Those final three Chapters were among the most important passages in the entire Black Testament. Yet despite their importance, most demons regarded them almost as an impossible prophecy. The requirements recorded within them were so absurd that even powerful demons who dedicated centuries to their god could hardly imagine fulfilling all of them.

Zanki slowly crossed his arms as his thoughts returned to everything Allen had done over the years. Ritual after ritual had been performed under the Demon King’s command. Sacrifices had been gathered, ingredients prepared, and countless lives offered merely to satisfy portions of the conditions recorded within The Book of Endings.

Yet no matter how much they obtained, one requirement had always remained beyond their reach.

The Child of Chaos.

According to the ancient text, the Child of Chaos was a strange existence that could not truly be described as human, demon, or anything resembling an ordinary being. Much of the wording surrounding its existence was obscure, but there was one thing the scripture made unmistakably clear: without the Child of Chaos, the Last Sacrifice could never be completed.

Zanki knew better than most how many times Allen had attempted rituals in search of that existence. Each attempt had failed. Rather than obtaining the Child of Chaos, those rituals had brought forth monsters and other strange beings, forcing them to begin their search again and again.

But this time was different.

Allen had summoned every Upper Blood Demon back to the Demonic Kingdom. Their armies had been recalled from across the world, the kingdom itself was being concealed, and enormous numbers of sacrifices had already been gathered. Even after losing Zeri and General Malakar, Allen was sitting before them without the slightest sign that his plan had failed.

Zanki’s many eyes widened as everything finally connected.

He found it.

The realization was enough to make him rise immediately from his chair. Zanki stepped away from the table before lowering himself onto one knee and bowing deeply before Allen.

"May the God of Shadow be with us."

Every demon in the hall turned toward him, but Zanki didn’t hesitate.

"And may our Demon King reign forever. It brings me great joy to know that Your Majesty has finally obtained the Last Sacrifice necessary for the awakening of our god."

Those words were enough.

Understanding spread across the faces of the other Upper Blood Demons. Mae-hwa’s pink eyes widened behind her fan, Ragnar stared toward Allen with an entirely different expression, and for once, not even the Jester Demon had anything amusing to say.

One after another, they left their seats.

The Upper Blood Demons dropped to their knees before Allen, followed by the Elite Demons stationed throughout the Royal Meeting Hall. Even the guards lowered their heads as the same words began spreading through the enormous chamber.

"May the God of Shadow be with us. And may our Demon King reign forever."

Their voices echoed through the golden hall before gradually fading into silence. Allen remained seated upon his throne, watching them with satisfaction until his golden eyes finally settled upon Zanki.

"Truly, you are the smartest among them, Zanki. I didn’t even have to explain it, yet you already understood."

Zanki lowered his head further, accepting the praise without allowing his pride to show.

"To receive such praise from my king is the greatest honor I could ask for."

He remained kneeling before Allen before raising his head slightly.

"My lord, if you permit it, please grant me the honor of opening the ritual grounds myself."

Allen studied him for several moments before raising one hand.

"Very well. I grant you permission."

Zanki bowed again, but before he could thank him, Allen extended his hand toward him. The movement immediately stopped Zanki, while the other demons remained kneeling in silence.

"And that is not all."

Allen’s gaze shifted briefly toward the two empty seats beside Xemom—the seats that had belonged to Zeri and General Malakar. When his golden eyes returned to Zanki, the meaning behind his next action was impossible to understand at first.

Allen extended one clawed hand toward him.

Before Zanki could react, the claws plunged through his shoulder and deep into his upper chest.

Blood immediately spilled down Zanki’s clothes.

"From this moment onward, Zanki... you shall receive my blood."

The demons around them immediately looked up, but none dared move. Allen’s claws remained buried inside Zanki’s body as his own blood began flowing directly into him.

Zanki’s many eyes widened.

"AAAAARGH!"

Zanki’s scream echoed throughout the Royal Meeting Hall as the Demon King’s blood spread through his veins. His entire body convulsed, and the enormous demonic aura erupting from him caused cracks to spread across the marble floor beneath his knees.

For the first time in centuries, Zanki felt something he had almost forgotten.

The fear of dying.

His muscles tightened uncontrollably as the foreign power tore through his body. Every heartbeat brought another wave of agony, and for a terrifying moment, he felt as though his own blood was boiling inside his veins. He tried to control the energy, but it was far beyond anything he had experienced as an Upper Blood Demon.

So this... is the True blood of our king...?

Zanki gritted his teeth. He had spent centuries perfecting his swordsmanship and strengthening his body, yet none of that seemed sufficient to withstand the power now flowing through him.

His black hair gradually turned white, while the numerous eyes covering his face darkened until they were almost completely black. Strange markings began spreading across his skin, and his muscles expanded as his body struggled to accommodate the transformation.

Then a sharp pain erupted in the center of his forehead.

"AAARGH!"

The flesh slowly separated, revealing a third eye unlike any of the others already covering his face. As it opened, Zanki’s demonic aura surged once more before gradually beginning to stabilize.

Allen finally withdrew his claws.

Zanki collapsed forward onto one hand, breathing heavily. The wound in his chest continued bleeding for several seconds before the torn flesh began regenerating at an extraordinary speed.

He had survived.

Allen watched him with a satisfied smile.

"Truly, you didn’t disappoint me, Zanki."

Zanki slowly lifted his head, still struggling to adjust to the new power flooding through his body.

Allen rose slightly from his throne and looked across the Royal Meeting Hall.

"Before every demon gathered here, I hereby declare that Akuryu Zanki has been elevated from the First Upper Blood Demon to the rank of High Demon."

His golden eyes shifted toward the two vacant seats beside Xemom.

"From this moment onward, you shall stand among the highest-ranking demons of my kingdom. Your authority will be second only to mine, alongside the other High Demons."

The Upper Blood Demons lowered their heads together.

"We honor Your Majesty’s decision and acknowledge Lord Zanki as our superior."

Zanki remained kneeling, his newly transformed body still trembling from the power flowing through his veins. He lowered his head even further.

"I will not disappoint you, my king."

Zanki bowed deeply toward Allen. Before the ceremony could continue any further, however, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from beyond the entrance.

A demon stumbled through the doors.

"My lord!"

He immediately dropped to his knees, lowering his head so far that it nearly touched the floor.

Every demon in the hall turned toward him.

The newcomer was one of the wardens from the Demonic Prison Tower.

Allen’s satisfied expression vanished as his golden eyes settled on the demon who had dared interrupt the meeting. He didn’t ask for an explanation. With a cold expression, he simply waved one hand toward the intruder, and everyone in the hall immediately understood the order.

Two Elite Demons stepped forward and seized the warden by both arms, roughly lifting him from the floor.

"How dare you interrupt His Majesty?"

"Take him away," Allen said coldly. "Kill him somewhere else. He’s ruining my mood."

The warden’s face immediately went pale. He struggled against the Elite Demons as they began dragging him toward the doors, knowing he wouldn’t live long enough to explain himself if they took him outside.

"Please, my lord! Listen to me! I wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t important!"

Allen’s eyes narrowed. For a moment, he seemed ready to ignore the desperate plea, but something in the warden’s urgency made him raise his hand. The Elite Demons immediately stopped, though their hands remained tightly around the prisoner’s arms.

"What?"

The warden swallowed hard before lowering his head as deeply as he could.

"The human, my lord."

Allen’s expression changed slightly.

"The human you brought back from the land of the living..." The warden hesitated for only a second before forcing the words out. "He has awakened."

Silence descended over the Royal Meeting Hall. Zanki and the other demons remained kneeling, watching their king as the coldness gradually disappeared from Allen’s face.

A smile slowly formed on his lips.

"Finally."

To Be Continued...