Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1277: The Empire of Chaos

In a land far, far away…

A particular thriving Empire filled with highly diverse species and architecture came into sight. While most of the buildings in this civilization were either black or red, the populace was as orderly as it was in any other empire.

Thud!

Thud!

Gigantic beings that towered over hundreds of meters walked freely as the streets were 40 to 50 times broader than a usual four lane roads. While a human-sized individual appeared like a small rat in front of them.

However, everyone carried on with their daily lives without hurting anyone or causing any accidents.

Among the majority of the population, whether the normal person or the gigantic beings, a few physical traits were common.

Their skin color was blood red, and their heads had at least two or more horns. Their shapes weren’t primarily humanoid, and some even just floated in the air without wings or any extensions. But this did not create any form of chaos, as if they were afraid of causing even a small disturbance.

If Kahn were to see it, he would feel like even humans on earth should take notes from these beings on how to follow proper civic sense.

Yet unexpectedly… this was also the most violent and chaotic empire presumed by most of Vantrea, namely… the Demon Empire.

Khorne Empire, also known as the Demon Empire to the rest of Vantrea, was a civilization established nearly 600 years ago. It was also common knowledge majority of the residents were the demonkins, who were also the descendants of none other than the Deity of Slaughter, Mors.

600 years ago, a very strong demon named Deimos arose, whose strength reached the 9th-stage saint rank, and he unified the ever-fighting demonkins, who were not just barbaric but also practised cannibalism.

The logic behind being that those who ate stronger demons could concentrate their bloodline and ascend to higher levels of metamorphosis, which allowed them to not only improve their physical strength but also increase the mastery of the Chaos Element.

However, it was also the most warring era as various tribes often fought and killed each other over supremacy, and the land was often filled with blood.

It was the first Demon Emperor, Deimos, who unified all tribes, and instead of waging more wars, he established the Khorne Empire and created a Class System.

Every rank of demons could be classified using this class system and the higher ranking demons would get stronger and more influential positions in his rule.

And there was no partiality based on species or even bloodlines. Any random nobody could become a respected lord or commander as long as they proved their strength through battles.

Here, the first Demon Emperor did not repeat the mistake of the Strong taking from the Weak.

No, his class system made sure that to prove one’s worth, they had to battle only others of their same class and then challenge above their rank to ascend.

And as a reward, they would get a drop of his blood that helped them break through the metamorphosis procedure and evolve over time.

The higher one rose, the more drops of blood they would receive, directly from his own established institutions.

But this time, there was no carnage because those who wanted to become strong and evolve, had a clear guideline and a finite way to ascend instead of just random killing.

Because even those kills couldn’t confirm a sure way to evolve, and the actual requirement, such as the number of other demonkins they had to kill or amount of blood they had to drink, no longer mattered.

And thus, the blood of the Demon Emperor became an equivalent of what humans would consider ‘holy and sacred’.

It took centuries for the first Demon Emperor, Deimos, to solidify this system and eventually introduce farming, horticulture, rearing cattles and various means of survival where not everyone had to kill just to live another day.

While many rebellions arose over decades… Deimos purged them all, and as generations passed, the influence and convenience of the Demon Emperor’s blood became ingrained into this civilization.

And how could one being’s blood be enough for hundreds of millions of demonkins?

The answer lay in the size of the first Demon Emperor.

According to the legends, Deimos was a being that stood 20 kilometers tall in his original form; his enormity could even rival Jotun, the first Titan, who was said to be the progenitor of the Primordial Titans in the Immemorial Era.

Yet, a single drop of this being’s blood, while not on par with Mors, was enough to grant even a small imp, the lowest and weakest kind of demonkin, a confirmed evolution.

Over 400 years ago, Deimos died naturally due to his age, and the strongest demon after him was given the title.

And the first thing the second Demon Emperor did was to consume his predecessor’s body and blood over the years to achieve the same level of strength as the original.

The tradition was followed to this very day, and thus, the current reigning Demon Emperor came to be.

However, what mortified the rest of Vantrea was that the current demon emperor did not follow the tradition at all.

Neither did he consume his predecessor nor did he drink the blood. Instead, he used the blood to increase the strength of the empire, creating armies of strong warriors on such a large scale that not only ensured their survival as an empire but also granted them enough time to raise their population so much that it even surpassed that of his predecessors.

Now, why did the present emperor not follow the tradition and almost increase the entire empire’s strength as well as the population by almost 4 times that of his predecessors?

The reason was simple. Because he didn’t need it.

The current Demon Emperor had already surpassed the first Demon Emperor, Deimos, before he even made his existence known to the world.

He simply appeared one day, challenged the reigning demon emperor, and killed him for the throne as per their customs.

And using the blood of his predecessor and granting his several body parts to stronger demons with unique mutated powers, he created what people now call the 12 Rakshasas.

Each one was already a being on par with at least a beginner 7th-stage saint. As for the rank and strength of the current Demon Emperor himself… very few knew.

Hence, the Demon Empire broke its curse, and at present, it was strong enough to consequently fight 4 Empires on its own and still stand proudly despite being isolated from the rest of Vantrea.

Yet, his name alone was enough to send shivers down most empires, and only someone like a Sovereign was enough to put him in a stalemate.

And at this very moment, this Demon Emperor was having a very important meeting in his palace that spanned 20 kilometers, and even the tallest towers within this palace touched a height of 3 kilometers.

The name of this being, who even the 4 Sovereigns couldn’t kill outright, was…

Maliketh Baal, the 5th Demon Emperor.