Chapter 426: The New Demons
Rainier swung his greatsword down with hardly any effort, parting a head from the shoulders of its owner.
He did it without any emotion on his face, even though part of him knew that it was cruel. He had performed cruelties before, after all, no matter that they had been against his will. The people he killed today were cruel as well. The once-masters of Dorred - a dead, hollow corpse of a city carved from the marrow of a world tree’s trunk. How many hundreds had they sent to die against Maledict, thinking themselves beyond reprisal?
He cut the head off a woman, and only belatedly noticed her black hair and elven features. A sight that filled him with regret, remembering Malz. Then, his role done, he went to stand behind Maledict on the small throne that had been set up behind the execution grounds.
As Maledict began to grandstand, warning the Dorredish folk of the consequences of further rebellion - an irony to Rain, considering Maledict was the Duke of Heresy - Rain let his eyes drift over the crowd.
How many of them looked at him with fear? The cruel angel serving demons. The godflesh that coated Rainier’s body turned him into a black colossus, with cracks of gold. The only parts of him exposed were his ears and his sky-blue hair. He wore a mask made of godflesh to hide his face. His shame and despair.
The takeover of Dorred was practically instantaneous the moment Maledict stepped onto the battlefield. He’d kept many agents in the city—bound by magic contracts or otherwise infiltrated from the jungle—and they lowered the shields the moment Dorred’s army took to the field to prepare for a siege. The angelic embassy fled as soon as the demons approached the city, and Rainier’s sole role in the brief war was to lead a detachment of Maledict’s fliers in destroying them.
He’d returned to find new orders waiting for him; to execute the Dhoej - something like a priest-king who had also been a mage - and the man’s entire bloodline.
Rain had taken no joy from it - he would never allow himself to - but he had obeyed. He was, after all, Maledict’s Oathbound executioner. And unlike when he’d been an Executioner for the will of Heaven, now he served an honest master. Honest, cruel, and fearsomely effective.
Since then, aside from restricting anyone from leaving, Maledict ruled with a loose hand. He supplanted the wealthier citizens, filling the upper districts of the tree with the demons of his nation. The rising of a swift rebellion had claimed the lives of dozens of demons, and Rain knew that as claimant to the title of Demon Lord, Maledict would demonstrate his power today.
The Demon Lord’s speech reached its climax. "You have taken my people from me, and it is not enough to repay death for death." He snapped his fingers and a portal opened up, depositing dozens of people onto the execution grounds before closing. Men, women, and children. The families of the rebels and especially the ringleaders.
The sight of children made Rainier step forward, but Maledict looked over his shoulder and hissed, "Stand still."