Maurice’s lips twitched, but he didn't answer immediately.
Lilith stepped down another stair.
“You say the generals have military duties tomorrow, and that the elders are of advanced age.”
She stopped mid-staircase, her height now level with Maurice’s eyes.
“Then let me ask you: is the Demon King’s safety not a military matter?”
Maurice offered no reply.
“Is the Demon King’s life not more important than everyone else’s in this room?”
Maurice still said nothing.
“When an assassin strikes the Demon King, should the elders not be present?”
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Those who had been whispering moments ago now kept their mouths shut.
Maurice’s expression shifted. His lips moved as if to speak, but he ultimately lowered his head.
“I... I misspoke.”
“You certainly did.”
Lilith’s voice was like ice.
She continued her descent, closing in on Maurice step by step.
She stopped directly in front of him.
The distance between them was less than a meter.
Lilith was a full head shorter than Maurice.
“Furthermore,” she said, looking up, her crimson eyes boring into his, “you just suggested that I hand over state affairs to the Council?”
Maurice’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“I... I was only considering Your Majesty’s safety.”
“Considering my safety?” Lilith tilted her head, her expression as if she were looking at a hilarious joke. “Who do you think you are to 'consider' anything for me?”
Maurice’s face turned completely pale.
Lilith walked past him, moving toward the crowd.
The demons who had been murmuring moments ago all lowered their heads now. Several high-ranking demons in the front row instinctively took a half-step back.
Lilith stood before the crowd, her gaze sweeping across the entire hall.
Her voice grew colder and colder.
“Have you all forgotten?”
“I am the Demon King.”
No one in the hall dared to make a sound.
Sweat began to bead on Maurice’s forehead. Whatever arrogance he had possessed earlier had been ground into dust.
Yet, someone still wouldn't give up. One demon in the crowd moved his lips, seemingly wanting to say something.
Lilith saw him.
“Do you have something more to say?” she asked, looking at the demon.
His lips trembled.
“I... I simply feel... a Demon King should win people over with virtue...”
“Win people over with virtue?”
Lilith repeated the phrase and then burst into laughter.
In her previous life, she had been a total pushover, polite to everyone. She had believed in “winning people over with virtue” more than anyone.
But now? She wasn't buying it.
“You want to talk to me about virtue?” She stopped laughing, her red eyes fixed on the demon.
The demon’s face lost all color.
“Fine.”
She raised her hand.
Everyone recoiled a step simultaneously, as if facing a great enemy.
Lilith raised her right hand above her head, pointing a finger toward the ceiling.
The magic within her began to surge.
She didn't know how to cast spells or how to chant incantations.
But she knew one thing.
She could release all this magic at once.
Magic poured from her fingertips.
Black mist began to drift out from around her body.
At her fingertip, it condensed into an orb of purple light.
Maurice’s legs began to shake.
He finally realized something.
This seemingly timid and weak Demon King, whom they had mocked for an entire year, only needed to lift a finger to easily crush everyone present into fine powder.
“Your—Your Majesty!” Maurice’s voice cracked. “We admit our guilt! We admit our guilt!”
He dropped to his knees.
His knees hit the stone floor with a heavy thud.
The other demons followed suit, collapsing into kneeling positions.
“Please, Your Majesty, appease your anger!”
“We should not have spoken out of turn!”
“Please forgive us, Your Majesty!”
Cries for mercy rose one after another as everyone knelt, row by row.
The low and mid-ranking demons knelt the fastest. They hadn't been part of the whispering to begin with, so they knelt without hesitation.
In less than ten seconds, everyone in the hall was on their knees.
The only one still standing was Veen.
He stood below and to the right of the throne, watching Lilith with a complex expression.
He didn't kneel, but he didn't move either.
Lilith looked down at the crowd kneeling across the floor.
Her hand was still raised.
Her magic was still surging.
Looking at their reactions now, she suddenly found it all very dull.
She lowered her hand.
The magic vanished.
The hall was so quiet that the sound of breathing could be heard.
Lilith sat back on her throne, leaning against the backrest and looking down at everyone from her high vantage point.
“Rise.”
No one dared to move.
“I told you to rise.” Her tone was terrifyingly flat.
Only then did the crowd cautiously stand up.
“Veen will investigate the matter of the assassin. Within three days, I want to know who did it.”
Veen lowered his head. “As you command.”
“As for other matters...”
She paused.
“We shall discuss them another day.”
She had said those words twice today. The first time was in the Council Hall, addressed to Veen. At that time, she was just bluffing, her heart racing with panic.
But this was the second time.
The tone was entirely different.
Veen kept his head down, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
“Dismissed.”
After saying this, Lilith stood up from the throne and turned to walk toward the back of the hall.
She didn't stop until she turned a corner and vanished from everyone’s sight.
Lilith walked about twenty paces, making sure no one was following her.
She stopped and slowly crouched down.
“That was so cool!”
She whispered to herself, replaying what had just happened in her mind.
Her face grew redder and redder.
After a good while, she finally looked up.
The blush hadn't completely faded, but the corners of her mouth were curled up.
She stood up, found an empty guest room in the palace, and walked inside.
Rate on N.U.
