Chapter 518: War of words

Duke Dantalion stared down at Damian with the same cold expression reflected across all hundred of his faces, yet Damian remained completely unmoved. His ceremonial robes fluttered gently beneath the pressure rolling across the city, his hands resting calmly behind his back as though he were standing in his palace rather than facing one of the most feared demons in the Underworld.

His eyes briefly shifted past Dantalion, focusing on the final fragments of the distorted sky as they slowly returned to their proper positions. The cracks sealed themselves one after another until the last glimpse of the dark void disappeared, leaving only the moonlit heavens behind.

Only after confirming that the void had been completely sealed did Damian return his attention to Dantalion. Under ordinary circumstances, the presence radiating from the ancient demon would have been suffocating, perhaps even enough to make another demigod collapse beneath its weight, but Damian had spent too much time standing before the Abyss to be intimidated by pressure alone.

After repeatedly experiencing the presence of something that existed beyond conventional understanding, even the arrival of a God would no longer shake his resolve.

"Arrogant... Short sighted... Impatient... These are reasons why mortals must never be allowed to stand above we demons." Duke Dantalion spoke calmly, his voice carrying across the entire capital with such authority that the cheering crowd gradually fell silent.

The civilians instinctively froze, their bodies responding to the ancient demon’s presence before their minds could even process what was happening. Soldiers lowered their weapons slightly as they listened, while even some of the Order members stopped moving to hear their leader speak.

Everyone except Damian seemed affected by the atmosphere. However, Damian’s expression instead became colder, his eyes remaining fixed upon Dantalion as the elder demon continued to regard him as an insignificant mortal who had somehow wandered above his station.

"And here I am... Standing above your kind after constant attempts failed to bring me down. Your case will be no different." Damian responded without fear, his voice carrying clearly through the square.

The hundreds of faces belonging to Dantalion twisted simultaneously, the sight producing an unsettling distortion across his enormous body.

For the first time, his calm expression gave way to an ugly frown before he slowly began levitating backward. His robes fluttered around him as an eerie laughter escaped from every one of his mouths, creating a layered sound that seemed to come from every direction at once.

"Foolish human, you know nothing against the entity you stand before. Your ignorance will be the reason for your demise!" Dantalion hissed, his voice becoming colder as his presence pressed down upon the capital once more.

Instead of being intimidated, Damian suddenly laughed. It was not nervous laughter or the laughter of someone trying to hide fear. It was genuine mockery, and the sound caused several Order members to stare at him in disbelief.

"Cut the crap you fraud!" Damian snapped, his voice suddenly becoming sharp enough to cut through Dantalion’s declaration.

Buzz!

The entire crowd seemed to react at once, eyes widening and mouths falling open. Even Lucy raised a hand over her lips, visibly shocked that Damian had chosen those words when speaking to Duke Dantalion.

Damian did not care. He stepped forward slightly, his gaze becoming increasingly contemptuous as he continued,

"You have had thousands of years to confront every other prince and show your might but you waited until you found a demigod prince to flex on. If you were so great why don’t you drag your worthless ass to Aurelios and repeat this bullshit to Sol."

Buzz!

The capital shook violently.

Several citizens instinctively covered their mouths, while even some of the Order members looked toward Damian as though he had just committed an act of suicide.

Dantalion’s hundreds of faces remained fixed upon him, but for the briefest moment something else appeared within his expression.

Fear.

It was there for less than a heartbeat before he buried it beneath his usual composure, but those close enough to notice saw it. Damian had not merely insulted an ancient Duke. He had invoked the name of Sol and challenged Dantalion to prove his supposed superiority against the strongest Prince in existence.

The entire capital waited for something to happen. They expected Damian’s body to erupt into golden flames, expecting Sol to react to the insult despite his distance but Damian remained perfectly fine.

"But of course you would never do that because you are nothing but a bitch masquerading to be one all powerful demon. Now shut the fuck up and come at me with all you’ve got... I have dinner plans tonight with my girls." Damian continued, completely indifferent to the expressions surrounding him.

For a moment, the capital was utterly stunned.

Then the city exploded into a deafening roar.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

The citizens who had remained loyal to Damian erupted into a violent cheer, their voices shaking the buildings surrounding the square.

The Order members, however, stared at Damian as if they were looking at a monster. He had not only called Sol by his name without the slightest trace of respect, but had directly insulted Duke Dantalion to his face.

Even Astaroth, despite being elected leader of the Council of Elders, would never casually speak to Dantalion in such a manner.

Across Damian’s side of the battlefield, the reaction was completely different. Many had heard the rumors that Damian casually called Sol by his name in court, but now they had witnessed it themselves.

More importantly, they had just watched him verbally tear apart one of the most legendary figures in demonic history without even blinking. For many present, this would become one of those moments people spoke about for centuries.

Duke Dantalion’s hundreds of faces twisted with rage, but he refused to fall into a war of words with Damian. Doing so would only diminish the reputation he had cultivated over thousands of years. He had not survived this long by allowing an arrogant young Prince to drag him into an exchange of insults.

His rage therefore remained buried beneath a cold expression as he turned his attention toward the countless members of the Order scattered throughout Velmora.

"Hear me, O loyalists of the Order... Open the city gates for your brethren and make this realm yours!" he ordered in an ancient and vicious voice.

The hidden Order members immediately responded. Throughout the capital, disguised soldiers began moving toward predetermined positions while others rushed toward the gates, preparing to turn the city itself into a battlefield.

Damian, however, simply waved one hand as though Dantalion’s declaration had barely interested him.

"Lucy, Yuji, Khalid, Kor... I leave the capital in your hands. As for the citizens of Velmora, return to your homes and wait a short while. I promise, this won’t take long!" His calmness stunned even some of his own commanders.

Damian was essentially telling them that he intended to deal with Dantalion himself while leaving the entire capital to his newly appointed military leadership.

Lucy immediately straightened and reached for her weapon, while Yuji and Khalid began barking orders to the soldiers positioned along the walls. Kor moved toward the nearest formation, his expression becoming serious as he prepared to defend the city.

Damian had given them no detailed strategy because he understood that they already knew their responsibilities. The moment he finished speaking, Dantalion’s restraint finally broke.

"BASTARD!" Duke Dantalion bellowed, unable to tolerate another insult.

His enormous body shot forward like a missile, tearing through the air with enough force to produce a violent shockwave. Damian charged toward him at the exact same moment, abandoning the execution platform as the two figures rapidly closed the distance between them.

The collision between their movements alone caused the surrounding air to distort, and everyone beneath them instinctively backed away as the battlefield between the two powerful beings shifted toward the sky.

Meanwhile, below the battlefield, the civilians finally began fleeing in earnest. They rushed into every building they could find, scrambling through doorways, alleys and streets as the enormous crowd gradually dispersed.

The city square that had been packed only minutes earlier began clearing as people desperately sought shelter from the battle above. Yet among them were thousands who had never been civilians at all.

Several figures suddenly ripped off their clothing, revealing white and purple armor underneath. Weapons appeared in their hands almost instantly, and they attacked the nearest Order members without hesitation, engaging the infiltrators in brutal close quarters combat.

The capital descended into chaos as streets became battlefields and the Order’s carefully prepared infiltration was met by forces Damian had already positioned throughout the city.

Along the eastern walls, Yuji and Khalid suddenly looked beyond the city and their expressions hardened. The movement they had initially mistaken for scattered enemy reinforcements was far more organized than expected.

A massive army was approaching the capital in disciplined formations, with infantry advancing at the front, cavalry positioned along the flanks, ranged units arranged behind them and artillery pieces being transported into firing positions.

Khalid’s eyes narrowed as he watched the approaching force. Yuji immediately began issuing orders to the soldiers along the battlements, commanding them to prepare their artillery and reinforce the gates.

The war between Velmora and the Order of Demons had begun.