Harbingers of Change

Chapter 29

"Now that we have resolved the main problem, we have one more pressing issue before we decide the future of this council. Now that demon lords serve others, that clarification alone isn't enough to be part of the council. Demon Lords are supposed to stand at the pinnacle of monsters." Guy addressed everyone once again, returning to his seat as the table fixed itself.

Everyone else went back to their seats, splitting the table into those who surrounded the undead overlord and those who didn't. Equipment was put away, auras were retracted, and magics were canceled. It was time to talk, not fight.

"But let's start with the reason this Walpurgis was called in the first place; the conflict between Luminous and Tempest." He continued, motioning at Luminous to talk.

"What do you expect me to say?" Luminous hissed, aura flaring in anger. "They will have my head either way. All of you have your tails between your legs already. So I will make only one demand. Momonga, release my people and let them find their place under Roy's rule and you can have my head. I am done running from my inevitable fate."

She stood up as an elegant rapier appeared in her hand, strong enough to rival some of Nazarick's stronger equipment. Chloe had warned them about it and its abilities as a god-grade sword, and they had already prepared countermeasures for it, but it was still respectably strong as a blade.

"They aren't your people anymore. You were too weak to rule, and you are still too weak to make demands now. It shames me to be considered the same species as you!" Shalltear was the one to respond, her tone laid with shrill mocking.

"I think we are done talking. Roy, leave. You are released from my service." Luminous ordered coldly, moving towards the space of the room where duels usually happened and making no sound as she walked.

There was no escape, there was nothing to gain or even lose anymore. The impossibly powerful monster she had prodded could scare even Guy into backing off, he alone was enough, but in her last moments, she would have to face the one person she once truly called a friend. There was a saying that an enemy could never betray you, only friends could, and this betrayal was something she would've never seen coming.

Chloe had only given vague hints that she would appear in the timeline after her old self was put in the casket and all would be revealed the moment she returned since the future was apparently quite unpredictable after their death. 'Fool, I was such a fool. I would have done anything. If you had told me to befriend that reptile or Momonga, I would have. Why did you do this to me? Just how cruel of a person you have to be to play friends for fifteen hundred years without ever showing your true self?'

But a part of her wished to reject this possibility. There had to be other explanations. 'Maybe that monster was holding her hostage and that's why she couldn't reach me. But why then make up the story about the blue slime? I need to confront her.'

"I am not leaving you, my Lady. We stand or fall together." Roy ran up to her, openly refusing the order. There were no illusions left about how the fight would play out. This was their last stand against the forces of the world, sanctioned by its top brass.

"Anyone else taking Luminous' side?" Guy asked.

When there was no response, he continued, swiveling in his chair. "Who will oppose her? Momonga, do you plan to do it yourself or let your underlings dirty their hands?"

"I will deal with her myself. I assume you have no stake in what I do with her?" Momonga asked as he slowly stood up, approaching the duel area. Most of Tempest's side stood up to join him, arming themselves as well.

"None whatsoever. Carry on."

Momonga stopped, raising his hand. "Rubedo, Chloe, join me. The rest will observe."

Guy, despite outwardly exuding disinterest mixed with amusement, carefully observed the scene. The young woman and the void beast took Momonga's side without arguing while the rest didn't move at all. Even Milim didn't show her usual itch to join the fight like she normally did when something even remotely involving her happened during Walpurgis, and she had said earlier that she was an outright ally of Momonga. By all means she should've been rushing forward to fight for her associates.

Once both sides had their combatants prepared, he removed the round table and shifted the chairs into a half ark for easy observation. The room once again expanded as he placed a translucent shield around the empty fighting area.

"So the traitor will do one last treacherous deed. Do you plan to spit on my corpse as well, Chloe?" Luminous spat as tears glistened in her eyes, aura flaring with grief.

"I would be careful what you say to her. She is the only one still on your side." Momonga commented, dismissing his staff.

"My side!? So this was your ploy from the beginning? What have you done with my friend?!" Her tone grew harsher as she glared at the undead.

"Don't try to spin this like you're the poor victim here. You attacked us. And if you had succeeded months ago, you would have caused Chloe's death in the process. I suggest you don't attempt to play the role of a poor misunderstood vampire who wanted to make the world a better place. Your religion alone is the pinnacle of hypocrisy. I did the world a favor by removing it," The overlord stated, flaring out his aura in return.

"I won't be mocked like that! I made many mistakes, Momonga. I know that. My desire for vengeance against that terrible reptile blinded me. I carelessly let Hinata take upon something I didn't understand and lived to regret my decision even before you claimed her."

She stopped, putting her gaze firmly on her former champion. "Now that I have your attention, Hinata, my biggest regret is what I did to you. I should have exacted my revenge myself. You deserved better. I should have sought peace when it was still possible. I should have stood in front of my people before they were taken. But…" Her voice broke. "Chloe, I trusted you. I trusted every word you said. Why? Why did you do this to me? Were you unable to reach me? I would have listened to you." She closed her eyes as tears poured down her cheeks, silently crying as both sides prepared their magics.

"I didn't-" Chloe spoke up but was silenced by Momonga raising his hand.

"You will just waste your breath."

"You promised!" She protested, glaring at the overlord.

"You will have your chance," Momonga stated calmly. "She will try to misguide you and invoke your guilt for her own mistakes. First, she will taste the might of Tempest."

Luminous expression darkened. "So be it. Prepare yourself, Momonga. Show them your might. Make me an example as you intended!" She raised her sword and charged forward, followed by Roy with his blood magic.

Momonga observed her without a slither of worry. She was fast, he'd give her that, but her speed wasn't that impressive by Nazarick's standards.

{ Rubedo, make an example of Roy. Be showy without invoking too much. Chloe, stand back. I will give you a chance to talk her into surrender, but it will be on my terms. } He messaged both at the same time.

{ With pleasure, Master. } Rubedo responded with glee.

{ I will stand aside. } Chloe uttered. She understood what her master intended to do. Luminous would not surrender that easily. Lord Momonga intended to crush her will first and show futility in the hope of standing against Tempest.

As Luminous closed in, aiming the tip of the rapier at the ominous red orb in his chest, he applied a shield on his right hand and, without much effort, let the tip of the sword slam into his palm as he seized the rapier's blade with his fingers.

Luminous eyes widened as her attack was effortlessly stopped in an instant. She tried to pull back but the power difference between them was wide enough for Momonga to keep the sword in place despite her magic boosting her physical capabilities on top of the intrinsic strength of vampires.

Learning from the fight with Hinata, he had revised [Grasp Heart] and made an upgraded version of the spell with a flexible damage range for total control called [Crush Spirit, which could theoretically bypass almost any spiritual defense so long as he knew where its chinks were, in comparison to the former that just brute-forced it.

Despite Luminous using two-layer deception to hide her true limits, there wasn't any ultimate skill aiding her deception, and thus Omniscience could effortlessly see through it.

With that in mind, Momonga lifted his left arm as a translucent heart appeared in his outstretched hand, where he momentarily squeezed it just hard enough to bring her near her limit.

Though from his perspective he had done both actions without any hurry, for the weaker observers, everything had happened in an instant and all they witnessed was Momonga blocking her attack with his bare hand while Luminous let out a pained scream before collapsing to her knees.

But that was by far the easiest part to observe. The mysterious angel, who was always near Momonga, approached Roy ominously, and before the vampire could launch any offense such as his characteristic Blood Ray, she split herself into multiple pieces that shot away from her frame, unleashing something rare few were ready to witness and even fewer were prepared to handle or even recognize.

Hinata was the first to shut her eyes and bolt behind Buku, the latter not trying to stop her as she threw up a barrier around Tempest's attendants: a prototype Anti-Memetic Defense that she and the void beast had been working on for occasions such as this.

Velzard, Milim, Dagruel, and most of the Tempest personnel watched on with visible discomfort, grimacing at the sight.

Ramiris had put a shield around her two attendants that blocked out everything, especially vision, before Rubedo split herself apart into bits and pieces.

It was Frey's and Carrion's attendants who suffered the most. While the two self-proclaimed demon lords lightly shook, staring in mute horror, those who served them clutched their heads and desperately tried to hide, scrambling for cover behind their leaders' chairs. Buku, noticing their severe reactions, gave additional shielding even though Guy had seemingly accounted for such reaction, and the barrier he put up already shielded observers from the worst.

Among them, there was one exception: Diablo. The demon formerly known as Noir was grinning ecstatically, displaying nothing but pure insanity glazed on his face. Hinting to the observant Crimson demon that he had already long embraced such a thing.

'That freak enjoys it! Must have damaged himself worse than I assumed...' Guy mused, seeing his rival's reaction.

But the show could and would only go on. Tendrils shot out from the writhing mass, ensnaring the vampire who was screaming in pure terror, his face twisted beyond what should have been possible. Slowly but surely, they pulled Roy closer, who couldn't offer any resistance as all magics failed against this… thing that had captured him.

Chloe, the moment Rubedo disassembled her outer shell, slammed herself into an Infinity Prison and cut off all physical senses, unable to withstand such a close exposure to the void creature. Despite her being above Hinata in terms of power and not suffering any lasting damage, she was still unable to observe Rubedo's true form directly without feeling an oncoming panic attack.

'Huh, the dread is gone altogether.' Momonga turned to observe Rubedo for a moment. Her true form didn't even feel frightening anymore, perhaps from the constant exposure from when the two interacted in the immaterial realm, perhaps from his evolution into a quasi-True Dragon.

But this fact wasn't his main concern at the time. He yanked the sword out of Luminous' weakening grip and tossed it into his inventory while squeezing the heart ever tighter. Luminous, to her credit, refused to scream, again glaring back at him with an incredible resolve to not be broken.

{ Now I will show you your two options. } Momonga spoke into her mind directly, as trying to talk over the hysterical screams of Luminous' servant would be pointless. He poked the Demon Lord's cheek with his index finger, turning her face to see what Rubedo was doing.

Luminous didn't respond to him. Instead, despite the intense pain, she pushed his hand aside and tried to crawl toward Roy, who was about to disappear into the swirling madness.

"No! Roy!" She cried out while trying to grab her last servant's hand and pull away from the horrible monster, but she couldn't, whatever attack Momonga had used against her had rendered her almost immobile while her very being struggled against constant, devastating damage.

And then he vanished before her eyes. The monster pulled its shell back together, once again resembling an angel. There was just so much one's soul and mind could take, and then that would be it. She snarled and stood up despite her body trying to refuse her orders, glaring at the undead.

"You want me to beg. Is that what you are aiming for, to break me?!" She spoke, her voice straining at each word.

"No, I don't intend to make you beg. What you just saw is one option you could choose. Hinata might tell you how it feels to be in there. I felt it fitting to show you what your decisions led to." Momonga explained, towering over Luminous who still stood proudly against her inevitable demise.

Only her dignity remained. It was the last thing she still had. If nothing else, she would die with her head held high. She would not beg for her life, the life she had fought and fought and fought for ever since her creation thousands of years ago. She had grown into this world fighting, she would go down fighting.

"You fed one of my most trusted people to that monster for that? Will Chloe be next if I do not break as you intended me to? Just end it. You have won, everyone present knows that." She spoke with the tone of a proud Queen who had seen her kingdom crumble to dust.

"No, I gave Chloe my word that I would present you with an alternate option despite all your transgressions. There are few things more important to me than keeping my promises."

"And what would be the other option?" Luminous asked, already knowing the answer.

"To surrender. Luminous, I am so sorry I didn't get to you sooner, but when you launched the invasion, it was already too late. I never lied to you. The timeline changed too much this time." Chloe approached her, blade sheathing itself. "The only thing I could ask of Lord Momonga was to let you live after what your actions have caused. There were casualties among Tempest's people."

"Surrender? Chloe, after all this you dare to ask me to surrender? I would have done so when there was still something to save." Luminous questioned, feeling the pain lessening as she staggered to regain her balance.

Momonga had released the heart he was holding from his grip and let her regenerate, not that she had taken on many wounds besides their initial trade of blows.

"I'm sorry, but that is all I could have asked. I will try to help you more. You are my best friend. Despite everything, I couldn't abandon you even if my new friends wanted to make you suffer. I know what Veldora did, but you sent an invasion to kill everyone, even innocent children," Chloe spoke quietly, her lips trembling as she played with her fingers.

"I know what order I gave! And for that order, I lost everything. I lost Hinata, I lost Roy and Louis, I lost Gunther, I lost my people. There is nothing left. Just step aside and let that monster finish me off. I cannot defeat him."

"So, you will just give up? The Luminous I remember wouldn't have given up. You told me you lost kingdoms. You lost more of your people than you could remember. But you always stood with your head high. Hinata is still there, she serves Miss Buku. Your people are still there, Shalltear spared them and let them embrace her as their new leader. I am still here. Please, let me help you. I know things will be bad, but at least you will be alive. Lord Momonga gave me a promise you will stay alive, and I will do everything to make your life better," Chloe let out a sob, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry I couldn't reach you sooner. I'm sorry you lost so much because I didn't think so many bad things could happen. I don't want to lose you. Because I think… I think this will be the timeline where I don't die. You are my best friend, and I would do everything to help you, but this is all I could do."

Luminous knew her friend. Her assumptions about betrayal were wrong. Chloe didn't betray her. She still stood alive because Chloe had begged the undead overlord to save her. 'So, my dignity is the price. That monster won't let me walk out of this with my head held high. Fine, for you, Chloe, I will trade the last of what I have.'

"Show me the other option, Momonga!" She declared.

Momonga thrust his hand into a small, dark hole appearing in front of him around his chest area and pulled out a collar. A dog collar to be precise, with a shiny metal name tag in the shape of a bone. With her vision as sharp as it was, she saw her name engraved on it, glittering with magisteel and enchantments.

The undead monster tossed the collar at her, and it landed between her and Chloe, clattering as the room went silent.

"Lord Momonga…" Chloe gasped. "Is this necessary?"

"I promised to give her the option to live. She will live only if she knows her place." Momonga replied.

"I didn't know. I-" Chloe tried to explain.

"Don't," Luminous interrupted. "I know it's not you who decided to do this. I see what price I must pay." Luminous smiled bitterly, leaning forward.

'You are a pure soul. You didn't expect this monster to be so cruel. For you, I will do it. For Hinata, I will do it. For my people, I will do it. They will not pay the price for my defiance. He will have his target to humiliate, and it will not be the others.' She kneeled and picked up the item, slowly putting it around her neck.

"This is your answer. Chloe deserves better than being manipulated in such a cruel way." Luminous straightened out with pride, as if wearing the item, that was meant to humiliate her, didn't have anything to do with her.

"This is not all. Come forth and do not resist. I will not risk my people for Chloe's reward." Momonga beckoned her forward with a motion of his hand.

Luminous did as told, approaching the overlord. As his skeletal finger touched her forehead, she felt a new skill firmly attach itself to her soul, Nazarick's Thrall.

At that moment, she felt the greater whole. The millions of souls that she tried to extinguish for her revenge. She felt that Chloe was part of it. But she wasn't a slave like her. Her best friend was a willing servant, serving the monstrous undead before her.

"I think we are done. Does anyone wish to protest against my decision?" Momonga spoke up, glancing around.

There was only silence.

"Looks like it's done. Congratulations on your new pet, Momonga." Guy announced as he removed the barrier and began shrinking the room. "I think we can take a short break and have dinner. I, for one, am starving after that show."

Pet. How twisted her fate was. One decision had led to all this and the only one she could blame was herself. Luminous didn't even protest when she was handed over to Shalltear by Chloe herself. She didn't fight when the new ruler of vampires put a leash on her collar and yanked her to sit at her feet. For the sake of all those who paid the price for her decision to attack Tempest, she accepted her fate.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by aidan_lo, KieraKieraARTS, Cay, clagan, Sluethen, CakeEight, fvvck, Malguis, NuggetLover, Working_Stiff, and Stac.

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