Supreme Monarch

​ Tyler leisurely sat on the black high chair placed on one end of the hall as he silently watched the crowd break into nervous murmurs at the sudden turn of events the moment the Black Flame Legion were so easily defeated by the Vampire Lord.

This was supposed to be a party to celebrate the resurgence of the Darknar family, and yet this was happening. One of the fearsome Lord of the Five Great Families had just barged in and disrupted their celebration.

They were supposed to be celebrating the beginning of their new lives after being subjected to the harsh nature of the demon continent for countless centuries now. Especially since the majority of them were lesser demons and demi-humans.

So the fact that one of the leaders of the five most powerful tyrants in this world— had just barged into the new city they had poured their hearts into in order to create a place where they could belong.

The idea is that they may not be able to ever escape from the tight grips of the Five. Such a thing completely terrified them, sowing the seeds of doubt to the ones who had not personally witnessed the might of the own Demon Lord.

As such, the moment the vampire Lord released his aura. The entire hall fell deathly silent as even though they could not sense the aura of the Devine, their souls could clearly tell the vast difference between them and the vampire lord.

Most of their minds went blank as their legs shook. It was indeed a disgraceful sight to show in the presence of an enemy but no one could blame them. Faced with the intimidating presence of the strongest member of the Five Great Demon Lords, even other Demon Lords would cower in fear.

However—

"That's quite enough."

Those calm words came from the one they revered the most in this world, as though proving its dominance. Those simple, and calm words had completely erased the instability in the air in an instant, their master had wrestled and won dominance over the space to the surprise of the Great Vampire Lord himself.

The air returned to its previous calm and the space came under its rightful ruler. Seeing this instant change that not even the Vampire lord himself could stop, strength returned to the hearts of the masses and their reverence for their master skyrocketed even further.

"...Ferlis Drax Morningstar, I am afraid my subordinates have failed to offer you a proper welcome given the nature of your arrival. I'm, not one for formalities myself so I do understand your thoughts. However, I cannot simply overlook the fact that the head of one of the Great Fives has snuck into my territory uninvited."

The looks of hesitation, confusion, fear, admiration, and lust, which had been their initial reaction to these beings whose might had completely overwhelmed them had instantly turned to looks of hostility directed at the overly powerful vampire lord the moment they heard the voice of their demon lord.

Every single one of them knew that the only reason they could even dream of owning a home they could belong to was because of their master. Thus, none of them could cower in the presence of their master, even if their opponent was a Great.

"Absolutely interesting."

Those words seems to be lost in a whisper as Ferlis surveyed his surroundings. To think a few thousand mortals would completely break free from the pressure of his presence even without the help of their demon lord.

That was actually impressive as he was a being completely different from the other demon lord and his presence carried a certain weight that generally made him the center of attention.

As vampire nobles themselves, Silver and Selene also had such a presence about them that draws the attention of both males and females in by their alluring appearance. However, even that had failed to captivate the hearts of these residents for long as their original list towards them had completely morphed to looks of contempt.

However, that wasn't even what had interested Ferlis the most. The most interesting thing he had observed so far was the fact that his aura had been dismissed with a single word from this demon lord.

Not only that, he had even lost control of his skill to manipulate space as though he had been overruled by an authority. That was something only a God could do yet, there was no doubt in his mind that this demon had just done that to him.

Not the mention, the actions of his closest subordinates were a bit strange too. They allowed weaker opponents to attack him knowing fully well the outcome of that situation.

After that, only a single one of the General came down to challenge him. It was also weird how they reacted more strongly to his supposed disrespect of their master than his actual presence here.

'Hehe... how truly fascinating this turned out to be. I'm getting more excited by the minute.'

By now, it was already painfully obvious by their reaction and poor acting that they had all been aware of their actions in the city thus far and had simply chosen not to take any actions.

They must be truly confident in their ability to deal with his group at any time and we're simply creating the grounds for a more favorable negotiation with them.

'How truly amusing this is. Did they only expect one of the Great Five to make such a bold move or had they even foreseen this chain of events? I'm getting goosebumps.'

Ferlis smiled as he boldly took a step forward without minding the hateful looks being directed at him. He also didn't consider this an insult to him, none of those people even existed before his gaze.

"I understand your current position, Demon Lord Ty. After all, I am also the lord of a region myself and we cannot simply allow another region to trample upon our lands without first permission. However—"

The smile on Ferlis's face broadened as he saw the crowd hanging on his every word, he had already predicted the extent of their plans and thus. It would be impossible for him to allow such a blunder on his end just to entertain his curiosity. There was no way he would've remained a Great Demon lord of his strength was there was to him.

"I'm afraid you have yet to officially proclaim a legitimate claim to this region. From the report I received only a few days ago, you've only displayed your ability to defend your territory. Hence, deterring any invaders as you kicked open the doors to join the Ranks of the Greats. However, you've only just kicked open the door and have yet to step a single foot in."

His words were fleeting but held weight as the hostile gazes he received from the crowd had immediately died down considerably.

However, to his surprise, the expressions and demeanors of the Demo Lord Ty and his generals did not change at his words as though they were asking him the question;

And so what?

"Clearly, it seems you're already aware of this."

"I am. And what of it?"

'—He actually said it. This guy.'

The smile on Ferlis's face did not change as he continued his detailed explanation that debunked their general idea of milking his intention.

"What I meant was. Without making an official claim to a territory. It remains unclaimed and thus, it can be claimed by another party without the need of going through a former declaration of war or following any battle etiquette."

"So that's your aim."

Basically what Ferlis was saying was that he had not technically intruded on Tyler's territory as it didn't yet belong to him even though he was currently occupying it, it could only be seen as somewhat of a highly dangerous squatter. This was a law that had gone into effect a few centuries after the death of the demon king.

As the Great Five had gone through a rampage across the continent to rapidly expand their regions and military might. This had caused a bit of conflict as other Noble families also seemed to expand as well and would target the same region at a given time.

Thus after the Great Five solidified their authority over the rest of the continent, several laws were written to prevent the advent of the chaos they had experienced.

Of course, one could just simply kill the intruder whether they were considered a squatter or not. In the end, what Ferlis meant was that they could not use his intrusion against him in any negotiations and they could simply attempt to kill him or come to an agreement with it. There was no middle ground in this.

"Regardless, I do apologize for ruining such a lovely party in celebration of your new city, and as a token of my sincerity, the Morningstar family will be willing to aid in an official declaration of the Darknar family's claim to the Darknar region. With one of the Great Five attached to the report, you would be faced with much less resistance than usual."

"Lord Ferlis!"

"Lord Ferlis, you can't—"

With a subtle arm raise, Ferlis had immediately dismissed any objections from the ladies beside him as he focused his attention on Tyler's face with the same carefree smile still plastered on his handsome features.

However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not read this man's emotions on his face at all. His thoughts were even more guarded.

Everyone could tell from the reaction of the girls beside him that what he had offered the Darknar family was a really big deal but Ferlis seem determined to make the deal for some reason.

"Then, Vampire Lord, Ferlis Drax Morningstar."

"Ah, Demon Lord Ty, just Ferlis will do. I'm afraid I'm not particularly a fan of long names you see."

"Is it so. Well then, Vampire Lord Felis, you make a valid point so I will take your offer into serious consideration. It seems I may be drawn into some troublesome situations if I don't make an official claim to my territory in the near future so I'll be forced to personally deal with those troublesome things."

The current Demon Lord of the Darknar family finally changed his expression as a subtle smile formed on his face, causing Ferlis to wonder what the last words he said truly meant.

"That would mean?"

"Giving as your fellow Great Demob Lords place so much attention on this region, I'll have to make an example out of one of them. First, we will have those who had plotted against us till this moment pay the price for their foolishness. After that, we will crush all the troublesome families that stand against us until I attain my desired land of peace."

"Peace you say. Do you intend to go to war with the entire continent for that silly concept?"

"If necessary."

"..."