Chapter 456: The Importance Of Family

After the five ministers had been dragged from the royal court, the atmosphere did not immediately settle. The heavy doors had barely closed behind them, yet the silence they left behind felt almost oppressive.

Only Talos, Jugo and Kan remained among the senior officials, and all three stood with noticeably rigid postures. None of them had ever seen Damian unleash such open fury inside the royal court, and although they had not been among those condemned, each of them understood that proximity to power could be dangerous when that power was enraged.

They had failed to protect Damian during his absence, and there was no guarantee that his anger would not eventually reach them as well.

"At ease... I know my enemies." Damian finally said, leaning back into his throne as one hand moved to his forehead.

His voice had lost much of its earlier fury, but the exhaustion underneath it was obvious. He closed his eyes for several seconds and rubbed his temples while the three ministers slowly relaxed their shoulders.

Damian knew perfectly well that the destruction of the old political structure did not mean his problems were over. If anything, he had just removed the people who had been holding the realm together, whether they had been doing so honestly or not.

The Order of Demons remained an active threat, the rebellion had not been completely crushed, and the Damika and Amon clans were certainly not going to sit quietly while he dismantled the influence they had spent centuries building.

The numbers alone were enough to make Damian uncomfortable. Between the Damika and Amon families, approximately eighty four legions were stationed around the capital, representing more than one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers.

A legion consisted of roughly one thousand five hundred soldiers, and if even a portion of those forces turned against him, the palace would be facing an army vastly larger than anything Damian personally controlled at the moment.

"How many legions do your families hold?" Damian asked.

Talos stepped forward first, standing calmly over the blood stained floor as though the gruesome scene around him no longer mattered.

"We Baron families are limited to only five legions each." He answered, and Jugo immediately nodded in confirmation.

Damian’s eyes moved between them while he silently calculated the numbers in his head.

Kan stepped forward next. "My Marquise family controls twenty legions, Sire."

Damian frowned slightly. The difference between the Kosak and Amon families suddenly made more sense. Both were Marquise clans, yet the Kosak family controlled only twenty legions while the Amon family controlled forty.

Amon’s position was not simply the result of wealth or political maneuvering. He was an ancient angel who had fallen from the heavens alongside the first Prince of Lust and his companions, a being who had existed since the earliest days of the demonic race and had played a major role in its development. Centuries of prejudice had prevented him from becoming a Duke, but nobody had ever managed to completely remove his influence. His forty legions were proof of that.

"That makes thirty legions, and until Jota gathers my remaining twenty three legions scattered across the universe, I can only rely on the one legion currently stationed here to defend the palace." Damian rubbed his chin as he spoke, clearly thinking aloud.

Talos, Jugo and Kan remained silent because they could tell Damian was calculating the situation rather than asking them for an answer.

A heavy breath escaped Damian’s nose as he closed his eyes and forced himself to slow his breathing. He had expected ruling to be difficult, but this was becoming absurd. He had spent the last week gathering allies only to discover that he had inherited a realm where nearly everything that could possibly go wrong had already gone wrong.

Then a familiar voice whispered through his consciousness.

"Rely on my power then... With it you have nothing to fear. Not even your brothers can harm you as long as you submit to me." The Abyss chuckled.

Damian’s eyes snapped open.

His gaze immediately shifted toward the darkest corner of the court. For a brief moment, he could see himself standing there.

Except it wasn’t truly him.

The figure possessed the same body and the same face, but black cracks crawled across its skin while crimson irises burned from within its hollow gaze. It stared directly at Damian and pointed toward him with an almost mocking smile.

Damian’s expression hardened.

Before he could respond, the great doors of the royal court were suddenly pulled open.

Damian’s wives and concubines entered together, their footsteps echoing across the massive chamber. They stopped almost immediately when they saw the blood covering the floor, but none of them reacted for more than a moment.

"Your Majesty, you cannot keep allowing your women to interfere with court..." The chief Eunuch began, his voice carrying the sternness expected from someone in his position but he never finished.

Damian slowly turned his head. The murderous look in his eyes immediately silenced the enormous Demigod.

The chief Eunuch’s body stiffened.

He remembered Kaizer who lost a test of strength against Damian and been split apart. Then there was Kanda, a member of the Order’s Twelve Pillars, possessing Damian for only a few moments before fleeing in absolute terror.

The Prince of Lust was not merely powerful. He had proven himself to be exceptional in both physical strength and spiritual resistance, making him one of the most dangerous beings the Eunuch had ever encountered.

"I apologize, Sire." The chief Eunuch immediately lowered his head.

Damian’s eyes remained cold.

"One more act of stupidity and I’ll snatch your life as well." He hissed.

The chief Eunuch swallowed and bowed even deeper. "Thank you for your grace, Sire."

Damian dismissed him with a glance and returned his attention to the women.

Everyone was present except Alice and Jugo noticed it immediately. His shark like features tightened with concern, but he wisely said nothing.

Hazel, however, stepped forward with a fierce expression still burning across her face.

"You don’t have to worry about security. Anyone who dares rise against you will have to deal with us first. You can focus on purging your enemies." She said firmly.

Her anger had not faded since the previous night. She had come dangerously close to losing Damian because the people who should have protected their connection to the throne had become so consumed by their own ambitions that they had forgotten the most important thing of all.

Their families existed because they were connected to the throne. If they continued treating Damian as an obstacle instead of the foundation of their future, they would eventually lose everything.

"I agree." Ruby stepped forward, drawing Damian’s attention.

"Our Viscount families each control ten legions. That’s another thirty legions loyal to you and only you."

Damian’s expression slowly softened. The crimson glow in his eyes faded as he considered the numbers.

Sixty legions.

Even if the Amon and Damika clans possessed eighty four between them, sixty loyal legions combined with his wives, concubines, ministers and royal guards gave him enough military strength to suppress an uprising.

"That’s not all." Racheal said, immediately drawing Damian’s attention.

She stepped forward with the confidence Damian had come to expect from her.

"This is an opportunity to pull the loyal subordinates of your enemies to your side."

Damian leaned forward.

"It is?"

Mary answered before Racheal could continue.

"Of course, Sire. Using the threat of treason, we can give many of them a choice. They can denounce their allegiance to their former lords and pledge loyalty to you, or they can stand beside their masters and face the same punishment. Many will choose survival."

Damian’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"But that tactic requires fear." Racheal continued. "They must watch people they have served for centuries lose everything. I suggest beginning with several public executions to shake the realm and make everyone understand that the old order is finished. I’ll handle recruiting their clan members."

"And I will handle recruiting their senior military officers." Mary immediately added. "If we can convince enough commanders to abandon their former masters, we can dismantle their military structure without having to fight every legion directly."

Racheal nodded. "And if we promise those who betray their masters that they will be rewarded with their former positions, we can preserve the clans themselves. That way we don’t create enormous vacancies throughout the government while the realm is already unstable."

Damian stared at the women.

For several seconds, he said nothing. The burden that had been pressing against his chest suddenly felt lighter.

He had spent the entire week trying to solve every problem himself. Now, without him asking, the women beside him were already dividing those problems among themselves.

Then Rah stepped forward.

"Finally, we need to strengthen your foundations and power base."

The entire court turned toward her.

Rah slowly lowered herself until both knees touched the bloody floor before bowing deeply.

Even Damian was surprised. He was not the kind that wanted to see his woman bow before him.

"Please, Sire. Allow me to travel to the other realms and negotiate their defection to Velmora. Your name is on everyone’s lips right now, and there is no one more famous in the Underworld than you are at this moment. This is the perfect opportunity to pull powerful people and territories into your camp. Please give me the chance to serve you this way."

Damian stood without even realizing it.

Emotion briefly flashed through his eyes.

Rah was offering to leave the safety of the palace and personally travel through potentially hostile territories simply to strengthen his position.

"You can’t go alone. It’s too dangerous." Damian said.

Kan’s expression immediately brightened. Despite everything that had happened, it was reassuring to see how genuinely concerned Damian remained for Rah’s safety.

"But Sire..."

"No buts. It’s too dangerous to go alone. I’ll come with you if I have to." Damian insisted.

Rah raised her face and looked at him with warmth in her eyes but she slowly shook her head.

"You cannot abandon your throne at a time like this." She said gently.

The court immediately fell silent because she was right. Damian had only just gained the upper hand in the palace wars. Leaving now would be disastrous.

Jugo stepped forward.

"She has a point, Sire. Why don’t I have my daughter and several guards accompany her? Alice is a Demigod as well."

Damian’s expression immediately hardened.

"Minister Jugo, your daughter has made her disdain for me clear several times since our short union. I apologize, but I cannot entrust Rah’s safety to her."

Jugo froze.

"She did what?!"

His voice came out far more furious than he intended.

The realization that he had spoken out of turn struck him immediately.

Jugo dropped to his knees and slammed his forehead against the blood stained floor.

"Forgive me, Sire! This old minister has trained a fool!"

A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder and Jugo looked up. Damian had crouched beside him and was looking directly into his eyes.

"This is not something you have to apologize for. My relationship with your daughter does not affect the agreement and understanding you and I came to on that cold night. Believe me when I say that this changes nothing between us."

Jugo’s eyes widened.

"Thank you for your grace, Sire. Thank you!"

He finally understood why Alice had been absent from Damian’s side throughout the crisis.

"I will speak to her, Sire. Give me the chance to correct this." Jugo pleaded.

Damian nodded dismissively before rising. Whether Alice came around didn’t matter. He was already surrounded by the people he loved.

His gaze swept across Talos and Kan. Both men wore approving expressions.

A ruler who could show mercy even while standing over the remnants of his enemies was far more reassuring than one who simply slaughtered everyone who displeased him.

"I’ll have my brother in law and two teams of Royal Guards accompany you." Damian said to Rah before looking toward Jugo. "I would also appreciate it if your Shaki Clan could put together a team of your most skilled warriors to join her on this journey."

Jugo immediately stood and bowed. He was truly happy, Damian was giving his family a chance to contribute to his success like others.

"Of course, Your Highness. Leave it to me!"

Damian nodded and briefly tapped his shoulder before turning toward everyone in the court.

"There is something else."

The room became silent.

"I will officially marry my wives and concubines during my coronation ceremony, two months from now." Damian announced. "Let’s work together to resolve these problems and take back our realm before then."

The reaction was immediate. Talos’s eyes brightened while Jugo’s face lit up and Kan straightened proudly.

Even the surrounding officials who had been silent throughout the meeting suddenly looked energized. Their families would officially become part of the royal household soon!

"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!"

The unified response thundered through the royal court.

Damian looked across the room and finally allowed himself a small smile. Only hours earlier, this chamber had been filled with terrified ministers begging him for mercy.

Now the same court was filled with people eager to help him rebuild what had been stolen from him.

What had begun as one of the bloodiest and most dangerous royal court sessions in the history of Velmora had somehow become one of the most productive.