Chapter 475: The Winter Beast
General Malthorn stepped forward from the assembled court, his own presence diminished to insignificance by proximity to his king. The displays floating before him showed Earth’s current state, nations falling, rifts expanding, human resistance crumbling in most regions.
"My lord, the culling proceeds within acceptable range," Malthorn reported with detachment. "Approximately sixty-seven percent of the human population centres have been eliminated or compromised."
The court erupted in sounds that approximated laughter.
Their laughter was harsh and cruel. You could feel the evil intention taking form, just from hearing them laugh.
"And our losses?" Bael’zarok inquired, though his tone suggested the answer held minimal importance.
"Negligible, my lord," Malthorn replied with the same indifference one might use to discuss the disposal of garbage. "Approximately two thousand units eliminated across all theatres of operation."
The number represented an enormous quantity of supernatural death by human standards, but in the context of the Demon Realm’s infinite populations, it was statistically meaningless. More importantly, the nature of those losses made them not just acceptable but actively beneficial to demonic society.
"Excellent," Bael’zarok observed with satisfaction. "The disabled, the weak, the genetically inferior specimens that have been polluting our realm for millennia. Their elimination serves multiple purposes."
The demons possessed no emotional attachment to concepts like kinship or species loyalty.
Their society operated on pure hierarchical dominance where strength determined worth, and weakness justified extinction. The creatures being sent through the rifts weren’t valued soldiers; they were the demonic equivalent of disabled children, genetic mistakes, and evolutionary failures that stronger demons viewed as eyesores.
"The Earth realm is providing an excellent disposal service for our undesirable populations. Rather than expending time on eliminating them within our own territories, we simply transport them to die against the other’s resistance."
The strategy was brutally efficient from a demonic perspective. Earth’s dimensional rifts served as convenient waste disposal systems that eliminated unwanted demon populations while simultaneously weakening human civilisation. The creatures dying in such large numbers weren’t losses; they were successful waste management.