Chapter 581: Fragile Alliance

Damian flew into his room through the balcony at midnight after spending hours talking with Twenty, his body finally beginning to feel the weight of everything that had happened that day. He had barely stepped inside when his attention immediately settled on the bed.

Linda was sleeping soundly beneath his sheets, completely unaware of his return. For a moment, Damian simply stared at her before his attention was drawn toward the other side of the room, where Rin was sitting on the floor and bopping her head to the messy rhythm Biron was producing by repeatedly striking the table with his hooves.

The golden bull seemed completely convinced he was making music despite having absolutely no sense of rhythm, while Abel sat on the couch with both hands pressed tightly against his ears, his expression suggesting that he had been enduring the noise for far longer than he could tolerate.

"They drank too much again, didn’t they?" Damian asked, his eyes falling toward the bowls scattered across the table, several of them half filled with wine.

"They claimed to be celebrating your victory and got your girl and themselves drunk." Abel flew from the couch and landed on Damian’s shoulders, looking thoroughly exhausted by the entire situation.

"Are you serious?" Damian blinked in surprise, his gaze shifting back toward Linda.

Only then did he notice the goblet lying beside her on the bed, with several dark red stains spreading across his sheets where wine had been spilled. Damian let out a tired breath.

"Good I’m too tired to even get mad." Damian rubbed his forehead with a frown.

"Mad? I’m the one who should be mad. I have to deal with them all the time." Abel complained, folding his tiny arms as he remained perched on Damian’s shoulder.

Damian sighed and walked over to the sofa before settling into it. He shut his eyes and placed one hand over his face, hoping to steal even a few moments of peace before dealing with anything else. His body relaxed slightly, but then his brows suddenly narrowed. Something had caught his attention.

He slowly pulled his hand away and opened his eyes.

The room disappeared.

In its place came the familiar sight of the golden palace of Aurelios. Damian found himself seated upon his throne, flanked on both sides by human ministers who stared at him intently. Ahead of him sat Sol upon his throne, his imposing figure radiating authority, while Leo lay beside the throne with his eyes fixed directly on Damian.

"God I can’t even get a day of rest scene after killing a God. I really need to get this soul call ability." Damian frowned.

Leo’s expression tightened while Sol laughed, seemingly amused by Damian’s complaint. Yet Damian could sense the suspicion hidden behind the smile. Sol’s amusement was genuine, but so was the scrutiny behind it. He was studying Damian carefully, trying to determine what had changed after the battle with Lazarus.

"I believed you would be well rested by now since the battle happened in the day time."

Damian shook his head. "I went back to earth and eradicated the church, liberating the people from angels."

"Ooh?!" Sol and Leo muttered with genuine surprise.

"Now the threat to my throne is gone, I can finally bring my people over and protect them. I think it’s more satisfying that killing Lazarus." Damian confessed as he reached beneath his sleeve and pulled out his cigar pack. He casually selected one and placed it between his fingers.

Sol’s eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of Damian’s people, but his expression remained composed. "Congratulations on your victory, I didn’t think you would be able to succeed without our help." Sol said with a deep gaze.

Damian acted aloof and simply shrugged. "It’s nothing special. Any demigod prince can kill a God as long as they have the throne of power, an artillery unit in his army and God killing arrays."

Leo’s eyes narrowed further. He clearly did not like how casually Damian reduced the killing of a God to a matter of preparation and resources. More importantly, Damian had deliberately mentioned that he had accomplished it without their help, subtly reminding them that he was becoming increasingly independent.

"How about you come to Aurelios, let’s celebrate your victory together?" Leo suggested.

Buzz!

Damian froze for a moment before pulling his cigar out of his mouth and giving Leo a deep stare. The atmosphere around the golden palace immediately changed.

"You do know I am also one of the princes of hell, right?" Damian hissed and the room fell silent. "Don’t you for a moment think for a moment I’m unaware of the killing intent radiating from all corners of the room."

Buzz!

Leo’s face turned ugly. "If you are not an enemy, you have nothing fear."

Heh!

Damian chuckled as he blew out some smoke from his nose. At the same moment, gold and purple smoke exploded on either side of his throne, and the two forms emerged from within them.

Biron stood in his normal size as a massive golden bull, his golden horns catching the palace’s light, while Rin appeared beside Damian in her normal seven tailed fox form, her multiple tails spreading behind her as she stared directly at Leo.

"How about you come to Velmora, the landscape here is nice and our cherry blossoms trees are beautiful." Rin sneered viciously.

"I agree. We have so much we would love to educate you on so many things." Biron grinned sinisterly, lowering his head slightly as his golden eyes locked onto Leo.

"YOU DARE THREATEN ME?!!!" Leo roared, unleashing waves of golden aura that exploded through the palace.

Hmph!

Purple and golden aura erupted from Biron and Rin simultaneously, smashing directly into Leo’s aura and counteracting it. The collision sent a violent pressure through the golden palace, forcing several ministers to stagger backward as the three beasts stared each other down. Neither side gave an inch.

Silence followed as the beasts continued staring each other down while Damian and Sol maintained eye contact the entire time, completely ignoring their spirit beasts. Neither ruler seemed particularly interested in interfering with the confrontation. Both understood that the exchange between their servants was merely an extension of the hostility already present between them.

"What do you plan to do from here on?" Sol asked, but Damian could sense that the question was not as simple as it sounded.

"I have a god realm wife now so I plan to cultivate and grow my strength. As for politics, I already have the riches of Gildreach Vault to finance my realm for a while. So I should be able to enter secluded cultivation until I make it to the God realm." Damian shrugged indifferently.

Sol’s brows narrowed at those words. The mention of Gildreach Vault and a God realm wife clearly caught his attention, but he did not interrupt.

"You have no desire to hunt down more princes?" He asked in an oddly cold voice.

"Weilding two inheritances and dealing with two entities trying to seize control of your mind and body, especially when you have a damaged soul is not easy. I’ll rather sit back, master and consolidate my strength first. Every other thing is secondary. Especially since I didn’t have much lifespan left due to my damaged soul. Avoiding conflict is in my best interest," Damian said directly.

Sol’s brow narrowed slightly higher than usual. "And what if an opportunity to kill another prince falls before your lap. Will you take it?"

The way the question was asked made Damian understand immediately that this was the final test. Sol was not asking about some hypothetical situation. He wanted to know whether Damian’s ambition had truly cooled or whether the prince sitting before him was simply waiting for another opportunity to strike.

"Of coruee... I won’t let such an opportunity slide." Damian answered without hesitation.

Sol’s frown slowly relaxed, and he nodded in understanding. "Good..." Sol nodded in approval. "I shouldn’t keep you here for long... I’ll let you go back and rest now."

With a wave of his hand Damian vanished immediately, returning to the palace of Velmora as abruptly as he had arrived.

The entire court sucked in a deep breath once his presence disappeared. Leo immediately turned toward Sol, clearly prepared to speak, but Sol raised one hand and silenced him before a single word could leave his mouth.

"As long as he’s still willing to serve my purpose, let him. Wait till he has fulfilled his role before advocating for his head." Sol declared coldly.

Leo’s expression hardened, but he lowered his head in obedience. Around them, the ministers remained silent, none willing to comment on what had just happened. Sol leaned back against his throne, his gaze lingering on the empty space where Damian had stood moments earlier.

The young Prince of Lust was becoming far more dangerous than any of them had originally anticipated.