35 Discovered

"Haah!" Silvia could not help but sigh as she kneaded her aching forehead. Her 'master' was just too lazy. All she cared about was sleeping. 

Unfortunately, this time, Silvia could not help her as she always does. Eve had to be present for the Trial. The Trial was way too important for the Demon Race. If Eve did not go, the consequences would be dire.

Just like Eve, Silvia harbored deep disdain for those men, who blatantly looked at herself and Eve with desire. Nevertheless, she had no choice but to force Eve to go. "We have only twenty years to make preparations-." Silvia was solemnly explaining, but her words were abruptly cut off.

"Yeah, yeah, I understand." Eve pouted, her voice dripping with reluctance. "All twelve Demon Progenitors are needed to open the Trial. Blah! Blah! Blah! Every hundred years, I have to go and help open the Realm, and for what…? Nothing happens." 

With her head lowered, Eve sipped a mouthful of water. Besides sleeping and more sleeping… Eve liked to eat. Sweet foods like desserts were her favorite, but she did not like the aftertaste of sweet foods. Her mouth would feel weird. After the refreshing water cleansed her mouth, she lifted her head, peered at Silvia, and continued:

"What's the point of that stupid gate? I bet some old coot made up the story and like a bunch of obedient sheep, the Demons listened." Eve spat with contempt. The disdain she had for the owner of the story and even more so, the herd mentality of the Demons caused her disdain to be visibly palpable.

It was not as if Silvia did not understand what Eve meant. She sympathized with her sentiment and reluctance. The Ancestral Land of Demons was extremely important to all Demons. But the problem was, to this day the realm had never opened. Unlike Eve, Silvia would not voice her complaints out loud, due to it being blasphemous. Yet, internally she had questioned many times if the Trial was just a prank concocted by the Demons of Ancient times.

Annoyingly, Silvia and Eve might not be the only two who thought the Trial might be fake.

As she massaged her aching forehead, Silvia continued, "I will handle speaking to the citizens, but-" 

"Tch, if only there was another Prog…" Eve trailed off as if she was struck by a bolt of lightning, she froze. She recalled a dream she had while she was sleeping. A few seconds later, a smile, both bright and cunning, graced her beautiful pink lips.

"Eve, are you alright?" Silvia inquired, becoming worried when she saw Eve freeze and even more so when she saw Eve's expression. It was a smile she knew all too well. Each time Eve had that smile, it was when she thought she had an 'ingenious' idea or plan. Unfortunately, it also meant more work for Silvia. And as if her theory had been proved correct, she soon heard Eve's voice. 

"Silvia, go and 'kindly invite' the newly born Demon Progenitor here," Eve said, her tone kind and innocent belied by a devilish gleam in her eyes, which sent shivers down Silvia's spine. She felt all her hair stand on end.

Normally, Eve was like a gentle Fairy who had not an iota of evil intentions nor was capable of sinister schemes; however, that did not mean her nature as a Demon did not exist. The cluelessness that came with being a Demon still existed deep within her. And when Eve's cruelness was unleashed, it would even evoke fear within the hearts of the other Demon Progenitors.

"Huh?..." Silvia's brows furrowed in confusion. "If I'm not mistaken, the youngest Demon Progenitor would be the Progenitor of the Ghouls, but he's almost a millennia old… Eve, you aren't trying to send me on a wild goose chase again, are you?" Silvia's eyes narrowed dangerously and even her beautiful voice took on a darker tone. She lost count of how many times she had been sent to locate things… only to find out they did not exist. 

"...I-I y-you cannot blame me. I really did think the Lost Ocean of Rainbow Milkshake exists." Eve stuttered and then quickly looked away, not being able to withstand her friend's intense glare as if she wanted to devour her. 

"Do you take me for a fool?" Silvia's voice raised in pitch, irritation seeped into her tone.

With a cute tilt of her head and a blink of her pink eyes, Eve replied innocently, "I thought that was obvious." 

"..." Veins bulged on Silvia's head. She was speechless, yet equally annoyed. If someone questioned if she was an idiot, her reply would be a no. However, if someone were to ask her if she was too trusting of her best friend. The answer would be a yes.

After a few seconds of tense silence, Eve's eyes which were now emitting an even brighter pink color, rolled dismissively, "But this time it's different. I'm serious, a new Demon Progenitor has been born." 

"You're not joking…" Silvia muttered in disbelief. She did not even need proof to know this time Eve was not sending her on a useless wild-goose chase. She was telling her the truth. A new Demon Progenitor was born. 

Silvia, like everyone else in the world had believed… and rightfully so, that the seven-day Heavenly Tribulation was caused by the soon-to-born child of Lady Elizabeth and Crown Prince Hujarar. However, their notion was swiftly proven incorrect by the current Heavenly Virtue of Purity, Evangeline Evri Cora who had gone to the Alucard Kingdom to investigate. When the news was released that the soon-to-be-child was not the cause of the Heavenly Tribulation but was instead Swift Sword Albert, many were dumbfounded. To back up her claims, Evangeline had even provided visual proof in the form of pictures and video that Albert had consumed a Forbidden Potion. The Forbidden Marks on his body were proof of Evangeline's claims.

When Silvia learned that Swift Sword Albert had been hiding a sinister nature behind his kind facade, she was disgusted, furious, and disappointed. Even though Silvia had connections with the Demons, heck, her own master was a Demon Progenitor, she previously had respect for his determination in helping innocent people. Now, like everyone else in Arcadia, she despised him and was secretly gleeful that his Immortal life would be spent in the Nine Layers of Hell.

But if Eve said the Heavenly Tribulation was due to the birth of a new Demon Progenitor, Silvia would bet all of her life savings on that being the case. Simply because… Eve was born with the ability to see the truth of the world. 

A few minutes later, Silvia finally woke up from her stupor and saw a proud and arrogant-looking Eve. 

Although… Eve had the right to be arrogant, she might be the only being in the world to know the truth behind the Heavenly Tribulation. 

As for Evangeline's claims of Swift Sword Albert being the culprit behind the Heavenly Tribulation, Silvia did not think she was lying.

Evangeline, who represented Purity, could not lie. 

The only probable answer was that the Alucard Royal Family had duped Evangeline.

Silvia grew excited as she contemplated how to best exploit this discovery to their benefit.

Unlike Eve, who sought to evade her responsibilities, Silvia saw an opportunity. If they could capture the Progenitor and force him into a Master-Servant Contract, their military power would increase exponentially.

In Arcadia, where might makes right, power was what mattered. The person with the stronger fists would win and thus dictate how he wanted history to be written.

Child or not. Newborn or not. 

To shelter Eve from the darkness that lurked in people's hearts, Silvia had committed countless atrocious deeds. Enslaving a newborn baby would not change anything.

In the end, Silvia could and would spin the tale as if she was doing the world a favor. 

And what would the majority of the world think? They would believe her, simply because she saw through the falsities of the Alucard Royal Family's scheme in harboring a Forbidden Existence. Not only would Silvia and by extension Eve possess a Demon Progenitor as a servant; the Alucard Royal Family would even be denounced, hunted down, and killed by Arcadian residents.

Once the Demon Progenitor's family were killed, Silvia and Eve would not have to worry about potential revenge against them. As for the Demon Progenitor, once he was put under a Master-Servant Contract he would have zero thoughts of revenge. 

Suddenly, Silvia frowned, she thought of two crucial problems with her plan.

For her to capture the Demon Progenitor, she would need to leave the Demon Continent and travel westward to reach the Eldora Continent where the Duskhaven Capital City was situated.

The issue with that was the Dead Sea located between the two continents. Even with her Rank, she could potentially lose her life.

But the main issue that caused her to hesitate was The Treaty of Demonic Harmony. The treaty had several terms, one of which was the cause of her hesitation, territorial boundaries. The combined strength of Demons forced the other Races to allow them to continue occupying the now-named Demon Continent. The other Races not wanting to lose face and due to their apprehension of Demons forced the Demons to add another clause. Demons who were Advanced Rank and above were forbidden from leaving the Demon Continent. If even a single Advanced Rank Demon or above were to be spotted outside of their continent, war would break loose. 

The further Silvia mused, the more she realized just how much the new Demon Progenitor's birth could lead to an all-out war between all Races. Even civil wars between the same Race would not be farfetched.

'I have to capture the Progenitor… if he is killed… though it would be a shame it would still be acceptable, but if he is captured by other Demons the consequences would be dire.. I cannot allow the balance between the current twelve Demon Progenitors to be broken.' Silvia mused worriedly as she looked at Eve, who was innocently eating a cupcake without knowing the consequence of a new Demon Progenitor's birth. 

'It seems I can only use them.' Silvia frowned. She had no other choice.