Chapter 144: The Declaration of Pazuzu
ELYSIUM
The deities’ eyes widened in absolute horror as the demon prince glided into the hall, his dark, majestic presence suffocating the very air in the room.
With every slow, deliberate step Pazuzu took, a wave of dense, crushing power rippled through the chamber.
The pressure slammed into the gods’ chests like a physical weight, forcing even Celestian, the Supreme Deity, down onto his hands and knees.
Red veins bulged against Celestian’s neck as he gasped for air, his divine light sputtering uselessly against the overwhelming darkness.
"I count five heads," Pazuzu drawled, his deep voice echoing off the arched ceiling as his purple eyes swept over the kneeling gods. "Where is Mirevale?"
Silence gripped the room. None of the deities offered a reply, their faces pressed against the cold stone floor as they struggled against the suffocating pressure.
"No answer?" Pazuzu let out a low, sinister chuckle. He casually reached out a gloved hand, snapping his fingers to lift a nearby palace guard off the ground by his throat. "Tell me. What happened here?"
As he spoke, Pazuzu’s glowing violet pupils shifted into a cold, hypnotic silver.
The guard’s eyes instantly glazed over, matching the silver sheen. "She... she died," the guard choked out mechanically.
"Died?" Pazuzu’s dark brows furrowed as he glanced over the table of fallen gods. "Strange. How does an immortal goddess simply die?"
"The fated mate of the Prince of Lust killed her," the guard answered, his voice void of emotion.
Pazuzu’s eyes snapped wide, a slow, wicked grin spreading across his handsome face. "The Sins, hm?" He let out a dark, amused laugh. "They managed to slaughter a god? How fascinating that this is the world I wake up to. So, a fated mate? A god from another realm?"
The guard shook his head weakly. "No. He is a mortal human... and he carries the child of Lust."
"Oh?" Pazuzu chuckled, his smile growing sharper.
Without a second thought, he clenched his raised fist.
CRACK.
The guard’s neck snapped, his lifeless body dropping onto the polished stone with a heavy, wet thud.
"You served your purpose, but you are useless now," Pazuzu muttered softly, stepping directly over the corpse as he approached Celestian’s kneeling form. "I had thought that wretched woman would be here. She was supposed to be the very first soul I snuffed out. I still vividly remember her sealing my father and murdering my mother. So you can imagine my disappointment finding out the great Goddess of Life and Death met her end at the hands of a mere human."
He spread his arms wide, letting out a booming, mocking laugh that rattled the stained-glass windows. "What a pathetic, humiliating fate! If she were standing before me right now, I would have ripped her jaw from her face myself!"
"Pazuzu..." Celestian managed to force his head up, his skin flushed dark red and his jaw tight with sheer strain. "How are you... even here? You were sealed deep within your realm... destined to sleep until the Demon King awoke!"
Pazuzu’s eyes flashed a dangerous, fiery crimson before settling back into a cool purple. He let out a long sigh, turning his back on Celestian to walk casually toward the massive glass window overlooking the divine city.
"Something triggered my awakening," Pazuzu replied smoothly, folding his hands behind his back. "You foolish deities managed to stir the dormant power inside my dear cousin, and that shift in bloodline resonance broke my slumber. So here I am—five hundred years later—ready to avenge everything you and this wretched realm did to my father, my mother, and my people. I came to reclaim what is rightfully ours."
"Azriel has awakened his demon blood...?" Solmira gasped from the floor, her eyes widening in realization. "That is..."
"Impossible?" Pazuzu interjected, glancing over his shoulder with a sharp tilt of his head. "There is nothing impossible for a demon prince. I will take over this world, and I will claim Elysium just as you pillaged my realm five centuries ago."
"Insolent beast!" Nythera shrieked, forcing herself up through sheer fury, her eyes locking onto Pazuzu with pure hatred. "A dirty, filthy demon like you will never rule Elysium! This is a sacred realm—"
Before she could finish, her breath hitched, and she violently spat a spray of dark blood across the marble floor. She clutched her throat, gasping, "What... what did you do to me?!"
Pazuzu slowly twirled his fingers in the air, watching her suffer with an amused smirk. "I merely repaid a fraction of what you inflicted upon my kind," he purred. "Shouldn’t you be thanking me for not burning this palace to the ground immediately? Though, looking outside, the rest of your realm isn’t faring much better."
He pointed a slender finger toward the window.
The deities forced their heavy heads up to look outside, their hearts sinking into absolute despair. The once-pristine, radiant golden city of Elysium was half-buried under thick columns of black smoke and roaring purple flames.
Panicked shrieks and agonized cries from lesser deities echoed from the streets below as chaotic darkness devoured the divine paradise.
"You monster!" Elios roared, his divine power flaring in a desperate burst. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on our people—"
"When I say enough, it means enough!" Pazuzu barked.
The sheer sonic force of his voice hit Elios like a battering ram, sending the God of Fate flying across the hall.
Elios slammed hard against a thick marble pillar, sliding down to the floor as he coughed up a pool of blood.
"Now you pretend to care for your people?" Pazuzu sneered, walking slowly toward the fallen god. "Where was this righteous anger centuries ago when you slaughtered innocent demon offspring and slaughtered our civilians?! Why should I care for your realm? My father was weak because he believed in peace, and you used his trust to seal him away for centuries! I am not my father. I believe in an eye for an eye, blood for blood! I will fight until the end, become the supreme ruler of all three realms, and force the gods to bow, the demons to worship me, and humans to serve me forever!"
"Never!" Celestian gritted his teeth, forcing himself to his feet.
Six radiant white wings exploded from his back, and a blinding golden broadsword materialized in his right hand. "The three realms will never fall to demon scum!"
Celestian rapidly chanted ancient runes, carving glowing symbols into the air.
A thousand radiant, golden swords manifested in a massive halo above his head, pointing directly at Pazuzu’s heart.
"Die by a thousand divine blades!" Celestian roared, unleashing the spell.
A rain of golden swords surged forward, tearing through the air.
Yet Pazuzu didn’t even flinch.
As the blades drew within inches of his skin, their golden light flickered and died. One by one, the divine swords shattered into harmless sparks, falling uselessly to the floor. Pazuzu casually reached out, catching the final sword by its blade with his bare, gloved hand.
A sudden eruption of dark purple hellfire burst around Pazuzu, climbing high up the hall’s massive pillars.
"It seems you still fail to grasp the reality of your situation," Pazuzu whispered, his voice vibrating with terrifying power. "I did not merely sleep for five hundred years—I cultivated my dark core every single day. My power vastly surpasses all of you combined! Your divine magic is nothing to me now!"
He raised his free hand, and the thousands of shattered, fallen swords rose back into the air, their golden glow corrupted into a dark, pulsing purple. He pointed them squarely at Celestian.
"I am the supreme being of this era! You will bow!" Pazuzu commanded.
An invisible, crushing force slammed onto Celestian’s shoulders, instantly snapping his knees against the stone floor and forcing his forehead down.
"You are immortal, Supreme Deity, so you cannot die just yet," Pazuzu declared, lowering his hand. "Instead, you shall feel every ounce of pain my people suffered!"
A deafening, agonized scream tore from Celestian as the thousands of corrupted swords rained down upon him.
The sickening sound of tearing flesh and breaking bone filled the hall as blade after blade pierced his divine form, pinning him to the floor in a pool of golden blood.
Pazuzu turned away from the bloody sight, striding toward the massive arched window. "I, Pazuzu, son of Draca, First of His Name, declare myself the Supreme Ruler of the Three Realms!" he decreed, his voice booming across the entire burning realm.
With a wave of his arm, the reinforced glass shattered into millions of sparkling shards. Down below in the courtyard, thousands of demons who had been chained in the dungeons for centuries looked up at their prince.
"From this moment on," Pazuzu bellowed, "you are all free!"
A thunderous, deafening roar of triumph erupted from the demon horde below. Former captives wept, hugging one another as their heavy iron shackles shattered into dust, their cheers echoing across the burning ruins of Elysium.
In the corner of the council hall, Solmira lay trembling, her body weak from the oppressive pressure.
But quietly, beneath the cover of her flowing robes, she focused the last remaining embers of her divine energy. Threading her consciousness through the soul-bond she shared with her son Anomas, she pushed a desperate, panicked vision directly into his mind—a vivid image of Pazuzu standing amidst the blood and flames of Elysium, declaring war on the world.
Anomas... she pleaded silently as her eyes began to flutter shut. The Demon Prince has returned...