Malikai remained seated upon the ancestral flame stairs, unmoving, his figure carved against the backdrop of the vanishing ancestral flames.
Finally, he was teleported to the foot of the stairs, the crowd was still reeling from the shock this trial brought, a subtle truth etched into their souls. Malikai Doom was no ordinary scion of the asura race. In the past countless eons since the asura race migrated to the eight prime world, only one person made it to the 110th step, and even that illustrious demoness, who is currently the strongest demon Godlord of the Doom clan wasn't able to take that final step to the 111th step no matter how hard she tried.
Among the spectators, Anzu had never felt such pure, unfiltered hatred. His blood, boiling with the remnants of his trial, now seethed beneath his skin, his veins tightening, his fingers digging deeper into his palms.
His eyes were bloodshot, envy twisting into something darker, something far more dangerous.
Yet beside him, Tabitha remained outwardly composed;
She did not speak
She did not move
But inside, she was raging, her killing intent coiled within her like a beast waiting to be unleashed.
Without another word, she placed her hand on Anzu's shoulder, gripping it with a subtle force of command. He did not resist.
Together, they blurred and disappeared from the gathering, leaving behind the ceremony, but carrying the seeds of hatred that would soon be sown.
Among the paragon demon lords, Abbadon remained unreadable. His gaze did not flicker, his stance did not shift.
None could discern his thoughts, nor the calculations brimming within his mind.
What did he think of Malikai's rise?
No one knew.
At the highest throne, a gleam of satisfaction flickered across Astaroth's gaze, yet he remained outwardly stoic.
Seated among the Empyrean demons of the doom clan, Lilith finally exhaled, her fingers, once curled in tension, relaxing upon the armrest of her seat. For the first time since the trial began, a serene, knowing, and delighted smile touched her lips.
The ceremony closed, but its aftershocks remained.
Throughout the Doom clan, whispers spread like wildfire, the name Malikai Doom passing through every lip like the first breath of an incoming storm.
Within the grand chambers of Abbadon's lineage, Tabitha and Anzu sat in silence, the flickering candles casting shadows upon the head throne.
Anzu's chest rose and fell, still tense, still simmering with rage and humiliation.
Then at last, Tabitha spoke.
Her words, deliberate, slow, dripping with calculated poison.
"Do you see now, Anzu? Do you understand the threat before you?"
Her voice was like silk, yet beneath it, something far more vicious lurked.
Anzu clenched his fists tightly.
"I'll crush him", he muttered. "No matter what, I will make him kneel."
Tabitha smiled, her eyes gleaming in the dim light.
"Yes, my son, you will."
And thus, hatred was forged anew.
Hidden deep within the Doom Clan, beyond mortal perception and veiled by countless folds of space, there existed a realm untouched by time.
A void within a void, suspended between dimensions, unreachable by even the strongest of Paragons.
There, seated in eternal silence,
A colossal figure sat cross-legged upon the bones of extinct stars.
Agares.
A demon Godlord of the Doom clan
The father of Astaroth and Abaddon.
He was not like his sons.
He did not guide. He did not coddle.
For Agares believed true strength could not be gifted—it had to be earned, sought, bled for.
Only then would it be real.
He had not moved in eons.
Until his ancient bloodline stirred again for the second time in only 12 years.
A faint tremor.
Subtle.
But enough.
Agares' eyes snapped open for the second time in eons. The first was when Malikai was born.
Twin galaxies spun in their depths, swallowing light, time, and all things lesser.
His gaze pierced through the veils of space until it fell upon the Doom Clan.
He saw.
The boy.
And with a voice so cold it could freeze divine fire, so vast it echoed through the marrow of creation, Agares spoke a single word:
"Interesting."
Then, just as silently, he closed his eyes once more.
And the timeless stillness of the void reclaimed him.