Devouring Dragon Heir

The city of Baresan reeked of sulphur and smoke, its jagged towers looming like teeth biting into the sky.

Inside the demon-occupied territory of Star Land, this stronghold thrived on blood and fire. Everywhere you look, you will only find traces of destruction and chaos. Bloody streets filled with slaves of different races being sold and slaughtered.

Somewhere they are being herded like sheep for their delicious meat. And among all this chaos is a palace, and in the deepest chamber of its heart sat Demon Lord Kaziraik.

He lounged on a throne carved from obsidian, the veins of the black stone glowing faintly with infernal runes. The chamber was drenched in a sickly crimson glow from blood-red lamps. The scent of iron hung heavy, mixing with the perfume of burning incense.

Kaziraik's clawed fingers cradled a glass filled with a wine-red liquid. He swirled it lazily, his eyes closed. A faint shimmer of yellow and red aura coiled around his tall, muscular frame, as though fire itself bent to his will. Every movement radiated control, decadence, and arrogance.

His lips curved faintly when he took a sip, the rich metallic tang rolling over his tongue.

Then he paused.

From the shadows of the chamber, a servant knelt. His voice trembled as he delivered the news.

"My lord… Xylose's life orb has shattered."

For a moment, silence claimed the room. The wine lingered on Kaziraik's tongue. His eyes opened for the briefest instant, glowing molten red. The silence was heavier than chains, suffocating.

The servant swallowed hard, expecting fury, death, or worse.

But Kaziraik only lifted the glass to his lips again. He took another sip. Slowly. Almost deliberately. The faintest curl of disdain touched his mouth.

"You may leave," he murmured. His voice was soft, but the weight of it pressed down like an avalanche.

The servant bowed and vanished, fleeing with relief.

Kaziraik leaned back in his throne, eyes shutting once more. No one knew what was going on in his head.

----------

Meanwhile, in the bustling streets of Baresan, a group of cloaked figures moved quietly among the crowds. Cloaks were common here; many demons and travellers wore them to hide their features. No one spared the group a second glance as they slipped into a modest inn on the edge of the marketplace.

Once inside their rented room, the six figures threw off their cloaks, revealing their true selves. Each of them had restrained their aura from leaking; otherwise, their radiated power would have been so dense that it warped the air.

The first to speak was the thunder lord with crackling arcs of lightning running across his arms."The city stinks. Kaziraik is a really bad ruler, to be honest."

Beside him, the fire lord commented, and he grinned, sharp teeth gleaming. "All the better. I've been waiting to burn his kingdom down; might as well do a favor for this world."

A slender figure draped in emerald cloth stepped forward, her eyes sharp and cold as blades of air; she was the Wind Lord.

"We must not underestimate him. Remember what the lord told us about him: he had the corrosion concept in his arsenal. The lord is also familiar with the corrosion concept, and he knows how dangerous the force is.

The ground trembled slightly as another spoke, his voice deep and steady, the Earth Lord.

"Then we will do what Lord Klaus commanded. We will have to have a good strategy to kill him."

On the far side of the room stood a pale figure devoid of any breath, the necrolord. He spoke with quiet, deliberate calm.

"The demon king's court is fractured. There are rumors swirling about his negligence around the city, although the subjects still fear his wrath. If we fan the flames, his own subjects will question him."

On this, the shadow lord also spoke up: "Don't worry, I will assassinate all the people around him before he even knows he will be all alone; we can strike them together."

The six lords stood in silence for a moment, the weight of their purpose heavy in the air. Then Thunder Lord broke the quiet. "It's just the head of one person; we are overthinking this."

---

The days that followed were anything but peaceful.

It started with whispers. Merchants claimed Kaziraik had grown lazy, drunk on his own power, ignoring threats from other lords. Demons muttered about broken promises of spoils.

Noble demons questioned why Kaziraik's ranking had fallen over the years. Each rumor spread like wildfire through the taverns and gambling dens.

Kaziraik noticed the shift but dismissed it as common rabble. "Dogs bark at lions," he muttered. "What of it?"

But then came the deaths. His trusted lieutenants were found slaughtered in alleys, their corpses marked with strange wounds, burned, or torn apart.

The work of powers no one could trace. His spies reported nothing concrete; all they knew was that there were multiple parties involved since the assassinations happened at multiple places at the same time.

Sometimes even dozens of people died in a minute.

At night, assassins tried to enter his palace. They never reached him, but their audacity made even Kaziraik frown.

On the third night, he woke to find one of his concubines dead inside his palace, her throat slit without a sound. The chamber guards had heard nothing while someone had dared to enter the palace and kill his beloved.

Kaziraik's patience began to fray. He summoned his generals, only to find their numbers thinned. Many had fled; others had vanished. Fear had entered his court. He lashed out, killing three officers in a rage, but it only deepened the terror around him.

And still, Klaus's men pressed closer.

In the inn, the six lords gathered again. Reports were shared.

"His generals are running like rats," Shadow Lord added with a chuckle. "Soon he will be blind and alone."

Fire Lord leaned forward, flames sparking in his eyes. "Enough games. When will we strike?"

"Soon," Wind Lord said firmly. "If we had moved too early, he might have united his servants out of fear. But now, the timing is perfect. He is weakened, and his mental state is unbalanced."

Earth Lord slammed his fist into his palm. "Then we should crush him immediately; it's already been a week."

Thunder Lord stood, lightning flickering violently across his body. "Tonight. We will take the head of Kaziraik."

That night, the fortress shuddered under the weight of power. Kaziraik stood in his throne hall, his aura flaring in molten waves. His wine glass lay shattered at his feet, crimson liquid pooling like blood. His eyes burned with fury.

"I know you are here," he snarled, voice echoing. "Come out, cowards!"

The doors burst open with a crash of thunder. Lightning split the air, and Thunder Lord strode forward, his presence suffocating.

"You are unworthy swine with the title of Demon Lord. My lord gave you a chance, but you still chose death. Now I have come as the sword of my lord to deliver judgement upon your pathetic existence," he declared.

Fire roared as Fire Lord appeared beside him, flames dancing.

Earth Lord also entered with heavy, crushing steps.

Three figures, each radiating power equal to a calamity, surrounded Kaziraik.

For the first time, his smirk faltered.

"You…" he hissed. "messenger's dogs.

Without waiting, he stood, his aura flaring. The air grew heavy, and the fortress groaned as if it sensed the carnage about to unfold.

The clash shook the hall instantly.

Kaziraik roared, his body swelling with demonic energy, claws stretching, and horns lengthening.

His aura exploded, a tide of molten gold and red, crushing the floor beneath him. He struck first, claws slashing at Thunder Lord with blinding speed.

But when lightning met the deathly corrosive claw. The hall erupted as Thunder Lord parried with a storm-wrapped fist, the collision ripping apart the throne dais.

The Fire Lord unleashed a sea of flame, forcing Kaziraik to retreat, only for shadows to ripple unnaturally across the walls.

Before Kaziraik could react, the Shadow Lord emerged from the void behind him, twin blades of darkness stabbing forward.

One pierced into Kaziraik's shoulder, black mist corroding flesh instantly. The demon lord snarled, spinning violently to slash at the intruder, but the Shadow Lord melted back into the gloom, leaving only searing pain behind.

That brief distraction opened another gap. Wind Lord descended from above like a phantom, his blades of compressed air slicing across Kaziraik's back. Blood sprayed, his roar shaking the fortress. He staggered a half-step, fury blazing in his molten eyes.

"You dare wound me?" Kaziraik bellowed, his killing intent erupting like a tidal wave.

Yet the damage had been done. The sneak attack carved away his composure. For the first time in centuries, the Demon Lord of Baresan bled.

He countered with a roar that sent shockwaves through the chamber, shattering stone and sending debris flying.

Earth Lord froze the shockwave midair, splitting it into earthen debris. He then slammed his fist down, pillars of stone rising to block Kaziraik's advance.