Over the span of several weeks, the human kingdoms and countries lost several key figures, such as town mayors, dukes, ministers, senators, and generals. The loss of so many people whose strength and power held up their kingdoms and countries, keeping everything in check, was now felt by everyone as inexperienced people tried to fill in their roles, sometimes turning small matters into catastrophes due to their mistakes.
Although scary rumors were spreading from village to village about the odd deaths and disappearances of demigods they were not that noticeable for a time. But as the rumored death count reached over 1000 the gossip turned into fact as most demigods knew someone or had heard of another person that had disappeared and had not appeared since.
For the first time since appearing in this world, the Demigods become fearful of falling ill, receiving an infection from a wound, and even dying.
With this fear driving many of the demigods they became even more ruthless with their interactions with anyone or anything that was not a Demigod. When the groups of demigods went out to hunt, they were extra cautious to the point of making sure that they had either a numerical advantage or a fail-proof way to escape.
This change of doctrine led them to target the weakest things they could hunt. Even if the rewards they could get from killing such weak things were next to nothing they still camped out the areas and hunted everything they could find.
The human villages and cities were now in even more of a dire strait as they tried to hunt for meat to slow the effects of the approaching famine… but found the local animals were almost all hunted down by the demigods!
The hidden demon races all had it even worse as they were now the focus of even more attention if they ever strayed out of their hidden villages and cities. Although their crops and farm animals had not been targeted by the plague for some unknown reason, they were still being suppressed by all of the demigods that chased after them and wanted to hunt them down!
All of this led to the growing mayhem and downward spiral of the human countries as more and more problems began to rise and weaken them to the core.
***
Cult of Science’s main ritual cave.
A throne made from the bones of humans, monsters, and several of the different demon races had been erected on the central platform. On this throne sat the demon lord.
With every breath he took, a black mist escaped his mouth, which was hidden by the black mask covering his face.
The armor that he was currently wearing was not the trash that the vessel had been wearing before but an ancient set of dark armor specially created and enchanted by the cultist over several generations. No one had dared to use it as it was only meant to be used by the demon lord.
Even if an opportunist or thief tried to use or steal the equipment, they would die a horrible death as the armor would not detach itself from them, and it would sap the energy from their body until there was nothing but dust that was blown away by the wind. This was a well-known fact, as several dozen people had lost their lives after touching it.
All this energy gathered by the death of those who had touched it caused the armor to emit a dark and foreboding aura that suppressed anyone that stood near the Demon lord if their willpower was not strong enough to resist.
“With the increasing deaths brought on by the ritual… I can feel the energy entering my body,” said the masked demon lord as he looked at his armored hand and clenched his fist.
“We have enacted all the rituals at their proper places so that your plan may succeed,” said Tall.
“My strength is slowly growing. How many more deaths will I need until I can summon my true body to the mortal plane?”
“We are unsure… It could be as little as a few months… to several years?”
“I can not wait that long! I must take matters into my own hands!” said the demon lord as he stood up from his throne.
The demon lord bowed his head and began to chant silently. A thick cloud of dark energy immediately started to surround his body. When his body was completely hidden by the dark cloud, his silent chanting turned to the booming guttural snarls of an ancient language not known to any human or demon race alive.
More and more of the death energy was gathering around him and seeped into the black armor and mask that he wore, further strengthening the misty black aura and suppressive feeling that washed over everyone in the cave.
But to the surprise of the six cultist leaders who were still conscious, they saw the exalted demon lord in front of them slowly transform before their very eyes!
The dark, oppressive aura and energy that surrounded him was slowly changing to a shade of dark gray, then to light gray, and then a dull white, before bursting out throughout the entire ritual cave as a bright pure white!
As the cultists regained their sight, they saw a completely transformed Demon lord!
To their utter surprise, the demon lord’s mask and armor had become pure white. Gone was the oppressive dark aura and dark mist. What radiated out of the demon lord now was a heroic holy aura that could charm anyone if they stayed in his presence long enough.
The feelings of fear and dread the cultists all felt for the demon lord slowly washed away and were replaced with reverence and one-minded worship as they felt they could follow him into battle to the ends of the earth!
The demon lord reached for an ancient black helmet that rested on his throne and reeked of ancient evil, but as soon as he placed it on his head, easily fitting over his white mask, the helmet slowly morphed into a holy white color to match with the rest of his armor.
“The vessel that I have replaced… What was his name?” asked the demon lord as his voice once again changed to closely match the vessel’s original voice. He was not 100% successful in his attempt, but the small flaw was covered by his deep heroic charm that he was now emitting.
“I believe it was Ualtar,” shouted the young childish voice of one of the cultist leaders as they tried to blurt out the answer in their hope to receive praise from the glowing demon lord standing before them.
“He is supposed to be a Guild leader who has control and power over several other demigods. This was one of the reasons we chose him as your vessel. With your control over this so-called [Demon hunter’s] guild, you will have no trouble enacting the full plan as you wish.”
“The stage has been properly set! Let us begin the next phase!” said the heroic Demon lord.
***
The current known demigod guilds were experiencing upheaval as many of the smaller guilds or hunting groups disbanded overnight or were swallowed up by the larger guilds. It was all to ensure their safety in the new frightening events that were now affecting them all.
Those who did not want to join the large guilds escaped farther out into the wilderness and the far-flung areas that were not as prosperous or important to the medium and large guilds.
Some guilds set up their own ‘Dukedoms’, if in name only, where they ruled the area with an iron fist. This was the best they could do as they had neither the power nor the skill to take on the larger guilds or the kingdoms’ armies and guards from larger cities.
A few of these smaller guilds made their way to the vast grasslands north of the southern swamplands.
Although they were free from the pestering of the large guilds and the main armies of the human kingdoms, they still faced many large natural disasters from mother nature, and the local monsters were not friendly, forcing them to search for a place to call home.
Ding! DING! DiNg!
The sound of ringing bell towers rang out far and wide on the open grassland.
The several dozen shabby-looking peasants quit working on the fields outside and rushed back into the protective walls of the remote monastery they lived at.
Due to all the crop failures and burdens placed on the many villages in the area, many had been abandoned, with the residents migrating to the local monastery to find safety in numbers with the help of the monks, who generously let them build new homes inside the monastery and shared the stored supplies they had.
“Who is it this time?” asked a wizened monk with a bald head as he used a cane to laboriously walk up the steps of the brick wall surrounding the monastery.
“They do not look like bandits or villagers looking for refuge…” said a muscular monk whose bare arms were showing as he crossed his arms and stared into the distance.
“They all have armor, weapons, and mounts… these are…?”
“They are indeed demigods. Although we have had a few friendly encounters with these ‘demigods’ in the past, something seems to have infected their minds, making them crazy recently, if any of the rumors from the villagers are to be trusted.”
“There is naught we can do but see what they want with us,” said the old monk.
“The crops are sure to be targeted by these fiends.”
“We have enough holy water to grow many more fields of food. It matters not if they destroy it.”
The holy water that the monastery held was able to ward off the plague that had infected most of the crops, which was one of the main reasons that the monastery was now filled with so many new residents.
The mismatched armored demigods stopped outside the closed monastery gates and looked up to the gathered guards who were nervously staring down at them.
“OPEN THE GATES!” yelled one of the demigods.
“We can not do that. If you would like to trade we can offer many goods. Otherwise, we will have to ask you to leave!” yelled the muscular monk.
“You heard him! Bust it open!” ordered the demigod leader, not bothering to speak with the monks anymore.
Lights started to glow all around the demigods as they activated their skills and attacked the gate!
The sounds of battle frightened the villagers, who were all holed up inside the monastery walls with many of them crying out in fear.
“Do not fear! I will take care of this!” shouted the head monk waddled down to the ground and moved to block the entrance with his guards.
KABOOOM!
With the skills raining down and slamming into the gates, there was little the monks could do to stop them from being blown wide open.
“Halt! This is God’s place of holy refuge for all in need! How dare you bring your petty conflicts and greed to our monastery! We are a neutral faction that takes no part in politics or war!” shouted the angry head monk as he wheezed from both his anger and the high stress he was under.
“F*** your God! I AM your god now! Bow down to me, and you will live!” said the demigod leader as he pointed his sword at the old monk.
The guards moved to protect the head monk but were blocked by other demigods who pointed their weapons at them as well.
“Such blasphemy! I will never bow to such a power-hungry demon. Leave this monastery now!”
I bright flash shot forward. Thud…
“AHHHHH!” The horrified cries of the villagers rang out as they watched the headless body of the old monk fall to the ground in a pool of growing blood.
“You murders!” shouted a young monk.
With the snap of the demigod leader’s fingers, an arrow was loosed and pierced through the heart of the angry young monk, killing him.
This quick death silenced many of the other angry outbursts from the other monks and cowed the villagers into whimpering silence. Even if they wanted to fight, they had no chance of killing the demigods without 90% of the villagers and monks dying in battle.
“You are all worthless and weak! Your god does not exist. I am your god. Bow down and declare me your god! Or receive your just rewards for refusing!”
Not one monk or refuge villager bowed down or said a word. They all silently stared at the demigods.
“Kill them all!”
