Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

The determination to see a glorious fate for the elves blazed in Elaris' eyes. His hunched back straightened, and his shaking hands firmed around his staff. He walked to stand by Sylvie, his features full of righteousness.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I'm at your service, Queen Sylvie the First. Allow this old mage to see Elden rise from its scattered ashes."

As his words carried his dreams, the noble council faltered. Sylvie's powers already overwhelmed their makeshift resistance, and only Elaris could balance the odds. But he joined her side?

"May our ancestors curse you from Helheim, traitor!"

The nobles cursed him, yet venting didn't alleviate the despair settling in their hearts. They were all mages, but in front of them stood two adepts—one of whom wielded unusually potent and ancient magic.

Meanwhile, a crow's caws reverberated in Adam's mind as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Bart? What's going on?"

The elves snapped their heads at Adam, the ambers of hope reigniting in their chests. He and his demons! They were the key to defeating the usurper before she swallowed their city. But first, the council had to fix his memory problem.

Without wasting a second, they turned to him. Under Sylvie's amused gaze, they channelled their mana and roared their spell names.

"Cleanse!" "Relaxing mind!" "Emotions placate!" "Memory anchor!"

Mana danced at their fingertips, swirling intricately before condensing into solid streams that rushed into Adam's mind.

Although Bart frowned at their sudden use of spells, he kept quiet and bit his lip in anticipation. His lord had to recover!

Everyone watched Adam scratch his head, their hearts drumming in their ears... before everything crumbled with his bright smile and carefree question.

"Where are we? Oh! Hey, elven friends."

"Hahaha. This generation's noble council is truly hilarious. Don't you think so, Elaris?" Sylvie's mocking laughter shattered their hopes further. But she was only beginning. "Look! They even thought they could stop my plans without any response." Her voice chilled the room, and her eyes narrowed. "Elden doesn't need imbeciles."

She clasped her palms, mana glinting like metal engulfing them. She pulled slowly, the energy coalescing into a silver whip that caused the air to tremble. Dark energy followed, buzzing and rotating around its frame to form a threatening spell.

Before the elves noticed anything, her hand twitched, an innocent, almost imperceptible movement that shouldn't have drawn any attention.

Yet, Bart's eyes widened in horror. "Duck!"

With his panicked yell, he pushed as many elves as he could and threw himself back—just in time to hear the wind cry behind him.

BOOM

"ARGH!"

His ears rang as a deafening crash and agonising screams engulfed the room. Panicked, he looked at Adam's frowning face before his gaze snapped to where he had stood a second ago.

Dust rose from a pit dug into the floor. The scent of decay permeated its withering cracked edges as if poison consumed the previously elegant wood. But that was nothing compared to the ten elves he failed to push back.

His chest tightened in horror as he saw their disfigured expressions. Dark patches spread through their drying skins. Their rotted teeth dropped down their whitening gums before their bodies followed.

Like stringless puppets, they collided with the hard floor. Yet, the dull noise he expected didn't register. Instead, their bodies exploded into a rain of drifting ashes, leaving only the rags of their luxurious clothes as proof of their existence.

He trembled as all his achievements and the strength he had gained under Adam's command melted away under Sylvie's overbearing strike.. A single touch, a scrape. It was all it took to kill him like a powerless sheep.

As the last sliver of hope extinguished in everyone's hearts, Sylvie roared in maniac laughter, her arms hugging her trembling shoulders and her back bent backwards.

"Hahaha. Curse your foolish lord for his kindness. Because of him, you can only die or become my little playthings. How ironic, how... amusing. If only he knew who I was and who I still am."

Scenes of her past flashed through her mind as she smirked and resolved to make everyone bend the knee now that she had asserted dominance. After all, she had more use for them alive than dead.

"Listen, fools. Elden's fall..." Her eyes enlarged, darkness wafting from them as her voice rumbled. "I planned it all. Hahaha!"

Everyone's eyes bulged at the sudden revelation. Why did she do it? Wasn't she promised a grand future with her out-of-this-realm talent and as the crown prince's fiancée?

Before they could drown under the mystery, hate replaced her amusement and her voice chilled.

"Freyr, this useless god! He asked us to live with Hestia's followers in harmony, to share our lands, MY LANDS!" She whipped the ground in her rage, causing it to explode as she roared hysterically. "And these royal fools agreed to it! Never! I'd rather destroy them than share a morsel."

After huffing for a second, her smirk returned as she continued her somber revelations.

"A chance I found Mab's slumbering echo beneath our royal crypt. All I had to do was to awaken and enrage her. And that's what I did after killing the prince and offering the arcanists to guard his last resting place as a banshee. And three thousand years later, I'm back, stronger than ever." She smacked her lips, blowing a kiss at Adam. "With the support of a god no one would dare to defy: Odin!"

Bart's teeth sunk into his gums as the words rumbled in his mind. Those bastards! They were interfering with his lord's development again.

"Odin..." He muttered, his breath catching in his throat before his thought process shattered.

Something dangerous stirred behind him. He could feel the heat, smell the sulfur, and hear the chaos.

In the blink of an eye, he leapt aside, only to see Adam's distorted face.

"The gods again?!" A hate-filled growl escaped Adam's lips as he drew his abyssal blade. "I'll execute all these bastards myself!"

Memories didn't matter when the gods were involved, not when he hated them with all his heart. And since the Sylvie he trusted allied with his enemies, he'd cling to that information and forget the rest—all to obliterate Odin's influence from this realm!

He growled, his legs bending like a beast under everyone's shocked gaze. Was it the clueless demon from before? How did he transform into a vengeful abomination? They didn't know but shuddered at the two chaotic pools swirling in his eyes. It felt as if they would engulf everyone, the city, and the realm if they defied them.

Then, he stomped, cracking the floor under his terrifying strength.

WHOOSH

The wind roared behind him as he pounced at Sylvie, his blade whistling in a broad arc to decapitate the traitor.