Chapter 479: Devouring Queen

Two days later...

"So, you are my brother?" Kimora asked, her voice filled with excitement as she continued their conversation while they ate around the table.

Ethan had just picked up a portion of the delicacy that looked somewhat like noodles using his chopsticks and swallowed a bunch of it into his mouth.

Hayley smiled at little Kimora’s question as she also put some food into her mouth.

The three of them were seated around a table inside a lavishly decorated bedchamber fit for royalty.

"Mm-hmm," Ethan nodded, sucking in the last of the noodles. He hadn’t expected demons to be good at cooking something like this.

"But your own mother is a dragon?" Kimora asked again.

Ethan nodded, muttering the same response.

Kimora’s eyes widened slightly, filled with an almost unnatural excitement. "That’s so coooool."

Ethan stopped eating and swallowed the last strand of noodles before letting out a small burp.

He wiped the little stains of food from around the corners of his mouth, then turned toward Kimora. "Now you eat up, Kiki. Your food is going to get cold if you only listen to stories."

Kimora giggle and nodded several times before quickly digging into her food.

They were currently staying inside the Demon King’s castle. And this room itselfwas one of the chambers specially given to Ethan.

They had actually moved here a little over a day ago.

This happened after Bella and Morgana had worked out a further agreement, which led to the entire group being invited to stay within the castle.

Different chambers had been given to the others as well, so the rest of Ethan’s team were currently spread out across different parts of the Demon King’s castle.

After the commotion at the Krygon Provincial Palace, it didn’t feel right to continue staying there, even though the team technically won that battle.

In fact, Nathan could also have kept the Krygon family restrained until he finished restoring their altered memories:

But...that would have just felt a lot more awful, without justification.

That was what eventually led to the Mistress reaching an agreement with Morgana to have Ethan and the others stay within the Demon King’s castle.

As for Krygon Province, they were left to handle things on their own.

In fact, Nathan felt relieved that he no longer had to pretend or maintain the entire Lord Krygon facade.

He was also staying with the team now.

As for why Kimora was there, that was obvious.

It would have been a bad idea to leave her behind in Krygon Province.

Her mother was going to have an extremely difficult time adjusting, and Kimora would have been a constant reminder of that pain.

Also... her siblings, who were obviously furious but had no way of taking their anger out on Nathan, would likely have directed that anger toward Kimora instead.

Leaving her there simply wasn’t an option.

Hayley took the last of the noodles from her bowl, holding it in both hands as she sucked in the remaining strands. She then placed the bowl back on the table with a satisfied grin.

Ethan stared at her with a smile.

Afterward, Hayley asked, "How long does Isabella intend to stay there?"

Ethan leaned back slightly and gazed down at his feet.

The shadows around them moved slightly before he looked back at Hayley.

"Well, I... I don’t know for sure. But with this method, she’ll grow further and we sort of need that."

Hayley nodded in agreement to that, saying nothing further.

Ethan’s mind also seemed to wander briefly toward the newest changes he too had experienced in the last two days.

But Kimora cut off his train of thought as she began formulating another question while still chewing the food in her mouth.

This made Ethan smile as he calmly waited for whatever question she was going to throw at him next.

***

—

At that very moment, Isabella was in her realm, the Endless Dark.

She was suspended in absolute nothingness, sitting as though an invisible surface existed beneath her.

Bettie and Abaddon were also there, sitting side by side in front of the Mistress with their eyes closed.

The other half of Isabella’s power that wasn’t currently with the Keeper would slowly return to her the more she used her powers of darkness, maintained the Mistress persona, or simply spent more time within the realm.

As for Abaddon, he naturally preferred staying in this place.

For Bettie, however, the Endless Dark served more as a training ground.

Or at least, that was what the Mistress had suggested.

She had instructed Bettie to spend the hours with her in the realm, where she had now spent over ten hours meditating in complete silence.

The idea was that becoming accustomed to the Endless Dark would allow Bettie to establish a stronger connection with it and potentially broaden the range of abilities she could draw from its darkness.

Since Isabella did not yet possess the status required to specifically determine the types of blessings she could grant to her Blessed, this offered another way for Bettie to gain access to more applications of the darkness.

——

Meanwhile, at the palace...

The nine remaining demon lords had gathered inside the throne room.

They stood on opposite sides of the room, leaving a wide space between them. Their heads were bowed, and the entire chamber was filled with absolute silence.

Nathan was not among them.

He was no longer a demon lord, and with the situation surrounding Krygon Province still unsettled, the Demon King had not extended any invitation to the province.

As usual, the Demon King sat behind the velvet curtain at the far end of the throne room in his monstrous form.

Then he slowly stood.

The veil parted, and the Demon King began walking toward the gathered demon lords.

As he moved, his enormous horns slowly began receding into his head. The monstrous structure of his body gradually contracted and adjusted, while the markings covering his monstrous face faded back into his skin.

His features slowly refined, becoming more slender and feminine as his entire body continued transforming.

After a few more seconds, the smiling face of Morgana stood before the Demon Lords.

She retained the same robe, but this time she had a dark glossy lipstick and bore no horns.

Although the demon lords did not directly look at her during the transformation, they could sense the changes taking place around them.

One by one, they eventually raised their heads in curiosity; their eyes falling upon the smiling woman standing before them.

Then, almost instinctively, one of them spoke before realizing what he had said. "A woman..."

It was Tharnaron, the winged demon lord.

Morgana’s attention immediately turned toward him, her smile disappearing.

She slowly walked toward Tharnaron until she stood directly before him.

Morgana was of average height for a woman, while Tharnaron, like most of the demon lords, towered over her.

She looked up at him before reaching out and holding him gently by the jaw.

"Yes. A woman." She said.

Her feminine voice was calm, but there was something terrifying about the tone that sent a shiver through Tharnaron’s body.

"But what if I told you your Demon King was one?"

Tharnaron’s eyes widened, so did those of several of the demon lords who had heard her.

Right then, his eyes suddenly strained as blood rushed through the veins surrounding them, causing them to bulge across his face.

Then, his eyeballs exploded; followed by his body that withered rapidly.

The life seemed to drain from his body in an instant as his flesh deteriorated.

Morgana continued holding his jaw as Tharnaron’s body began collapsing in on itself.

Then something even more unnatural happened; his body started flowing toward Morgana’s hand.

The flesh and energy of the winged demon lord were gradually absorbed through her palm, disappearing into her body.

Her left hand became grotesque and swollen, its surface bubbling and mutating as Tharnaron was slowly consumed through her grasp.

Within moments, his entire body had been absorbed into Morgana.

The demon lords turned their heads away, some wearing expressions of fear or hurt, while others revealed nothing at all.

She released the empty space where his jaw had been.

A tongue attached to a mouth on Morgana’s palm licked its large lips before receding inside. The mouth closed into a devious grin, rows of claw-like teeth visible within.

Morgana’s true power as a sorcerer demoness was the magic of devouring. Through the mouth in her palm, she could practically devour anything, from magic itself to the bodies of her targets.

She then turned her attention toward the remaining demon lords. "Does anyone else have a problem with me being a woman?"

They immediately bowed their heads. "No, my King."

"Queen," Morgana cut in.

The demon lords bowed again in apology.

It was not that Tharnaron would have questioned her appearance, but he had only been caught off guard by the sudden transformation.

And blurting off his reaction, did not seem to sit well with the Queen.

Morgana then walked back to the start point before turning to face them once more.

"I called you all here to give you one instruction. From this moment forward, none of you are to concern yourselves with Izzgur."

A few of the demon lords reacted immediately, particularly Eolagar, whose expression darkened.

Morgana continued.

"He and his companions are staying within my palace, and they will remain there for as long as I deem necessary. During that time, they are under my protection."

"Is that understood?"

"Yes, my Queen." The demon lords answered in unison, except Eorlagar, who wore a deep frown.

Morgana noticed his expression, but right then, Eorlagar stepped forward and lowered himself onto one knee.

"My Kin—" He stopped himself. "My Queen, I have followed every word of yours to the letter. I have never conceived of going against you or any of your decrees."

He lowered his head.

"But I must admit, my Queen... I find this difficult to accept."