321. Investiture (2)
321. Investiture (2)
- 1 -
Daeng —
Daeng —
Daeng —
A bell tolled within the Grand Hall of Corona Tenebris.
Three times.
The sound spread far and wide, extinguishing every murmur that had filled the city.
"That sound..."
"It's from the Grand Hall."
The bell that rang across the Demon Realm was special.
For it was the signal announcing the commencement of a ceremony in the Grand Hall of the Demon King's Castle.
"Who was being invested, again?"
"You know, the one everyone was talking about. The Baritra family betrothed, the one of extraordinary beauty."
"Ah. Will His Majesty the Demon King grace us with his presence?"
"I wouldn't know..."
The Grand Hall was a place opened only on special days, when a noble of Marquis rank or higher was granted a 'Demon Name' by the Demon King.
In effect, every being of significance in the Demon Realm was listening with bated breath.
The Grand Hall of the Demon King's Castle, Corona Tenebris, was situated on the floor directly below the audience chamber where the Demon King received his subjects.
The placement itself attested to its stature.
'To stand here again, after all this time.'
Lucifer, the Archduke of Pride, a man with long platinum-blond hair as brilliant as the morning star, gazed around the Grand Hall, lost in thought.
Gold and obsidian.
Ceilings and pillars adorned with black marble.
Light suffusing the entire space, and the dance of shadow and illumination.
Tapestries of different hues descending from the ceiling on all sides.
And upon them, the inscribed patterns of the 13 Great Sins.
It had been a full hundred years.
For in all that time, no one of sufficient note to merit his attention had been ennobled here.
But the one who would stand here today was different.
'A Duke, when she was born but two years ago?'
True, her actual peerage was Marquis, and her elevation to Duke was a product of human connections and personal ties.
Yet even so, it was an extraordinary thing.
How many countless infants of the Demon Realm, far from discovering their origins, had vanished into nothingness on the Surface above? Did anyone know?
Lucifer himself had dispatched a few promising bastard children to the Surface decades past, but the present reality was that not a shred of news of them could be found.
The humans of the Surface called the places where the Surface Archdukes had entrenched themselves 'Demon Territories,' but to the Demon Realm parents who sent their children there, it was the Surface that was the true 'Demon Territory.'
'Of course, that's how the "ordinary" ones think, at any rate.'
Having brushed aside thoughts of his dead or missing bastards without much regret, Lucifer raised his gaze to the thirteen tapestries.
A smile soon touched his lips.
'Perhaps a new sin will one day be carved in that place.'
The recent mingling of a noble being's bloodline from the Other World with the lineage of a Demon Realm Archduke was a secret known to all who were in the know.
Who exactly that 'noble being' was had not been disclosed, but if a Demon Realm Archduke acknowledged their power and sought to mix bloodlines, their divinity could not be ordinary.
That the Gluttony Duke had sent the product of that bloodline alliance to the Surface, to that demon territory, was also something bound to become known eventually.
For no 'talented youngest child' had appeared, no matter how much time had passed.
And as time flowed on, a new heir of the Gluttony Duke's bloodline surfaced as a Dungeon Lord.
An infant born only a few years ago, no less.
'It is something to look forward to. I wonder what manner of being they are.'
Deolkeok!!
Thus musing, Lucifer watched the spectacle of the great hall's doors swinging open.
And he felt his own eyelids tremble involuntarily.
Sarahk —
For an instant, he thought he heard such a sound.
What first parted the shadows was...
The hem of a white dress, and legs as white as the dress itself.
And vivid red. An intensely vivid red pair of heels.
Ttogak —
The moment the heels met the floor.
Concentric rings of red blossomed outward, as if the very floor bled.
And so, gradually, her figure was revealed.
"That is the child of Baalzebub, the Gluttony Duke...?"
Someone murmured, as if in disbelief.
It was only natural.
If the Archduke was grim, she was gentle.
Unlike the Gluttony Duke, the most massive of the Archdukes, she was diminutive.
In contrast to a father who was gaunt, dark, and pallid, she held within her a glow of exceedingly vibrant health.
The only traces of the Gluttony Duke were her dark hair and the color of her eyes.
Apart from that, not a single point of resemblance existed.
Were the two placed side by side, someone would unfailingly dare to ask, 'How can those two be father and daughter?'
"Ah... the star of today's ceremony. Duke Libertas Gula is entering. Let us all welcome her with applause."
The introduction by the Chief Chamberlain acting as host came rather late, yet no one thought to hold it against him.
The presence of the woman in the white dress was simply that overwhelming.
"Wow... So that is the Dungeon Lord?"
"Indeed, but isn't she far too small...? With that body, she defeated Botis?"
"Does that truly matter? With such beauty, I should think anything is possible..."
"Watch your tongue. She is the daughter of the Gluttony Duke!"
The demons' gazes converged on a single point.
A woman with a gentle and soft impression, yet strangely cool purple eyes.
Libertas.
Upon that beautiful woman.
A dress of pure white cloth set in stark contrast against her black hair, which seemed to brush the floor.
Pure white, flowing from her delicate shoulders down to her toes.
Jewel dust like cascading starlight was scattered across the smooth fabric of the dress, and flower-shaped ornaments and patterns were traced around her shoulders.
Carnations and lilies. The two flowers that symbolized her.
Chalkak.
Around her neck lay a thin choker of black metal, and upon her head a small tiara of the same hue.
Observed closely, patterns like the fangs of a beast were etched upon their surface, and upon those, the two flower patterns were carved once more.
A fortress is the pattern that symbolizes the title of Duke, but the fortresses of the Demon Realm typically bear pointed summits.
Ttogak.
More striking still, with every step she took, a red trail lingered and spread across the floor stamped by her heels, radiating a deep luminescence.
Marks like blood, engraved upon the floor, gradually broadening and blurring in color.
"They aren't fading..."
Some noble whispered.
The shoes that swiftly erased traces of demonic power when worn by others now left marks on the floor that remained into the next step, and the one after that.
What covered the floor was a black carpet, designed to vividly display the demonic power traces of the new noble.
And that carpet was slowly being dyed red each time Libertas passed.
The ceremonial heels, which left marks of potent demonic power in their wake, were proof of their owner's strength.
The deeper the crimson, and the longer and broader the brand.
The mightier the owner's demonic power and talent.
The sight of her walking thus, leaving red traces upon the floor, was — irreverently and blasphemously enough — not lacking in a quality fit to be discussed as 'sacred.'
"Huuh."
Watching the spectacle, Lucifer drew in a breath.
'When last did I witness such a thing, this floor turning entirely red?'
Twice.
One had been the Demon King.
And the other, two hundred years ago, that...
'No, what use is it to dwell on the dead?'
He shook his head.
At any rate, the dead are dead. What use is the memory of vanished glory?
But, however that may be.
He finally understood.
The reason Dantalion had been so wary of this woman.
The reason Eligor and Agares sought to draw near her.
The reason that merely showing her face once in the Demon Realm had sufficed to spread rumors of her far and wide.
'Such power. Such beauty...'
In Libertas's eyes as she cast her gaze about, no agitation or fear could be seen — nor even awe or reverence.
She merely surveyed the Grand Hall with calm and composed eyes.
And each time her gaze brushed past the other nobles, they shifted uncomfortably or bowed their heads.
'Magnificent.'
Lucifer, the Archduke of Pride, felt the power of Libertas prick, however faintly, at the edges of his own aura.
Simultaneously, he sent praise toward his past self who had acted swiftly.
To have discerned such talent. Truly, his eye for people was superb.
"From this moment forth, the investiture ceremony for the new Duke shall commence."
Concurrent with Lucifer's declaration, Libertas began to move.
Her partner, a golden-haired woman, held her hand and guided her from the front, while five other women lifted the hem of her dress and her hair from left, right, and rear as they followed.
Leaving blood-red footprints, the sight of her walking toward the central altar stirred an eerie feeling, as if a god had inhabited the body of a sacrifice and walked.
As she came to stand before the ceremonial dais, a natural nobility and a strangely tranquil elegance were conveyed to Lucifer.
'...Surely not. It cannot be.'
In that moment, Lucifer inwardly shook his head.
For a sensation he had experienced from but one person in his entire life had flickered through him.
A sensation he had felt only from the Demon King.
The name of that sensation was 'awe.'
- 2 -
The ceremony proceeded according to tradition.
Tang! Tang! Tang!
As Libertas ascended the dais and knelt, Lucifer struck the floor thrice with the black staff he had received from the Demon King.
Immediately thereafter, black mana rose from the fountain at the center of the Grand Hall and began to fill the basin.
The mana filled the fountain, overflowed, and dyed the carpet Libertas had passed over black once more.
Thus, the mana that climbed the carpet and saturated the space up to the altar formed a magic circle beneath her feet, linking Lucifer with the priests of the Demon King's Castle.
"We have gathered here this day,"
Lucifer's voice resounded through the Grand Hall.
"To bear witness to the birth of a new noble."
Power was carried in his voice, and the nobles held their breath.
"In the name of His Majesty the Demon King, the Supreme Lord of Darkness, and watched over by the Archdukes of the Thirteen Great Sins, I do hereby commence this ceremony."
At Lucifer's gesture, the ceiling parted, revealing the dark sky of the Demon Realm.
Countless stars glittered in that darkness, and among them, a total of fourteen stars held a bright light, illuminating the heavens.
The one great star at the center, and the thirteen stars arrayed around it.
"Heavens. Hear the name of this one. The lord of the demon territory who has nested upon the Surface, and the inheritor of the great blood of the Demon Realm, Libertas."
As Lucifer placed his hand upon Libertas's head, a golden light, like sunlight, streamed from his palm.
"A child of the great Demon Realm who stands here, having inherited the bloodline of Baalzebub, the Gluttony Duke, survived the Continent by her own strength, and with that strength surpassed the Elite level to reach High Rank."
The moment those words ended, one of the fourteen stars glowing softly in the ceiling flared with an even more intense radiance.
The brightest and greatest star.
The pole star of the Demon Realm, signifying the Demon King, sent down 'Black Light.'
The star's mana, cascading from above like a waterfall, was drawn to Lucifer's golden mana and drenched the crown of Libertas's head.
"Now the hour has come to proclaim your title and Demon Name."
Lucifer raised his head.
Below the dais, countless nobles stood in attendance, yet above it, there were only sixteen seats.
The Demon King and the two Queens.
The Seven Archdukes of the Demon Realm.
The Six Surface Archdukes.
Among them, every single seat was filled save for two.
Excepting the Demon King himself, and the Duke of Envy, who had been ordered to remain in close attendance.
Even all six Surface Archdukes, who were the 'enemies' of Libertas, were seated there, giving clear indication of just how elevated the stature of this occasion was.
"Let those who will verify the qualifications of Libertas step forward."
At Lucifer's words, 'darkness' stirred in two of the thrones.
At once, those who parted the shadows and appeared to the left and right of Libertas were a pair — a man and a woman.
Devour Baalzebub and Velastella Lillis.
The two locked eyes for a moment.
The look in their eyes, devoid of any affection whatsoever, was ill-suited to a true father and daughter, yet terribly alike.
They soon averted their gazes, each stepping forward one pace and resting their hands upon Libertas's shoulders.
"I shall be a witness."
"As shall I."
With the two standing behind Libertas, their black suits and dress made her white gown stand out all the more.
The traces of red mana spreading from beneath her feet also became more vividly imprinted upon the eyes of the onlookers.
Having closed his eyes once and then opened them, Lucifer faced Baalzebub directly.
"Is she indeed of your bloodline? Gluttony Duke. And Demon Queen."
"Indeed. She is my beloved younger sister."
"Truly. She is of my bloodline."
Libertas, Devour, and Vellastella extended their fingers toward the golden chalice that Lucifer held.
Though no discernible wound was inflicted, blood welled from the tips of the three people's index fingers and mingled.
Their blood mixed together, tracing the image of a beast's face with gaping maw — the purple pattern of 'Gluttony.'
After handing the golden chalice, which had verified the bloodline, to Libertas, Lucifer again looked around the hall.
"Her bloodline has been proven. Now, let the noble ones who shall bestow their blessings step forward."
"I shall go first."
A booming voice rang out, and the dais shook with a sound of 'Kung!'
The eyes of Satan, the Archduke of Wrath, filled with discontent and fury, settled upon Lucifer for a moment.
For he, too, had coveted the role of presiding over this ceremony.
"Hmph."
A blast of flame surged and subsided over his entire frame, and Satan stood before Libertas.
"Burn the wrath that flows in your blood. It shall be the driving force that brings forth change."
With words brief yet intense, the blazing mana of Wrath was carved upon the golden chalice.
As Satan stepped back, Elegos, a man in the form of a Black Knight, approached in his wake.
"Receive my blessing."
The Archduke of Violence whispered, engraving a blazing pattern onto the golden chalice.
"To bleed, and to spill the blood of another — that is the essence of violence. There is no peace of which all speak. There is only the stillness born when the strong dominate the weak. I shall watch whether you can maintain that silence."
An unexpected figure followed.
Asmodeus, the Duke of Lust, stepped forward with glittering golden eyes and gently brushed the tip of Libertas's chin with her fingers.
Her nine fox tails swayed softly behind her back, revealing her interest in the new Duke.
"Do not fear the light. Your beauty shall blind even the light itself."
Next was Agares, the Archduke of Corruption.
Opening his colossal crocodilian maw with a 'Jjeop,' he tore his mouth wide and smiled.
"May you grow to be a great demon that shall corrupt the entire continent. Junior. May your laws stain the laws of the Surface."
The last to step forward was Mammon, the Archduke of Greed, who had never once failed to step forth and bless at every investiture ceremony.
Possessing the appearance of a middle-aged man, he narrowed his eyes past his monocle and stroked Libertas's hair.
"All beings are beings of desire. May your deep and lofty desire twist the very laws themselves."
The demons gathered in the ceremonial hall could not hide their astonishment.
For it was unprecedented that five Archdukes should bestow their blessing upon a single noble.
"Now, the investiture shall be concluded."
The five Archdukes returned to their thrones, and Lucifer ascended the dais once more.
He touched the Demon King's staff to each of Libertas's shoulders, then finally let it rest above her head.
In that moment, the light of 'revelation' descended upon Lucifer.
"Libertas Gula."
When he, who had shut his eyes for an instant, opened them again, it was no longer his own golden light that emanated forth, but the dark light of the Demon King.
The one who stood there was no longer merely Lucifer.
"Henceforth, the name that shall summon you is 'Hecate.' Your designated virtue is 'Paradox.' From this day forward, you shall be called by the name 'Duke of Paradox, Libertas Hecate.'"
The gazes of the Archdukes and nobles who had beheld the entire ceremony converged on a single point.
As the entire hall was swallowed by silence, Libertas answered with her head bowed.
"Hecate accepts the command of the Supreme One."
His voice laden with meaning, Lucifer spoke out again.
"Arise, Hecate."
When she rose from her place, a 'deep light' flickered above her head.
Space distorted, and the light of mana seeped into the tiara, reshaping it.
A white veil cascaded down her back, and a beautiful ornament of golden material was fastened at the front.
The crown, which had swelled upward and taken form, became a magnificent coronet, lending her appearance an even more brilliant luster.
"Now, as one who has seized territory on the Surface, walk the path set before you. Your name and your virtue contain your essence, so interpret their meaning and rule. I shall await the day you stand before me once more, standing higher still."
The Demon King's light faded from Lucifer's eyes, and he bowed his head briefly in her direction.
In that instant, the entire Grand Hall trembled, and the patterns engraved on the walls and floor all emitted light at once.
The thirteen tapestries billowed as if paying homage to Libertas, and the red marks of her mana that she had trod upon spread no farther, but hardened firmly, remaining as a permanent trace.
The 'red' carpet she had crossed would be delivered to her dungeon.
"A new star has risen here this day. Let all celebrate her new birth with applause and cheers."
- Waaaaaah - !!!
- Libertas! Libertas!
- Hecate! Hecate!
No sooner had Lucifer's courteous declaration ended than the cheers and applause of the nobles filled the chamber.
Libertas responded by lifting the hem of her dress toward them.
"I thank you all for your congratulations. I, Hecate, do swear deeply from my heart as a Duke to bring further glory to the Demon Realm."
She raised her head.
The direction of her gaze was the ceiling, which illuminated her from above the dais.
'Now, I am a Duke.'
She did not miss the newly kindled starlight there.
Fourteen in total. Beyond the brightest star, yet another star had risen and was shining down upon her.