This Includes You

The Demon frowned, his Qi retreating into the his body like the receding tides of a wave. He then shifted sideways, his scrutinizing gaze scanning the figure floating few dozen meters away from him.

The Demon's frown deepened. Demons were not a savage and bloodthirsty race like most lifeform believed them to be. However, the doubtless part of them is that, they are rather battle thirsty.

As a result, when engaged in any altercation, they always fought with an especially unique savagery that made them appear bloodthirsty. It was almost impossible to spar with a Demon, because when they fight, they fight with an inherent need to douse themselves in blood.

This was a curse they carried.

This, unsurprisingly, also made them fearless, regardless of how powerful their opponents might be.

And yet, the Demon God could have sworn that he trembled when he heard that sigh.

'Was that fear…?'

He refused to believe it.

"Isn't it quite inconsiderate of you to allow past grudges to cloud your sanity? The lives of the youngsters present here are at stake, you know."

The figure's tone was slow and soft, sounding as though he was reprimanding a couple of hotheaded youths rather than cultivation experts with cultivations well into the Divine realm, or the Divine realm equivalent.

He appeared in his full glory, wrapped in silk fabrics of colors red and black. His hair was a flowing mane of obsidian strands, twisting intermittently as though the abyss called it home.

His crimson red eyes that appeared more demonic than Human, yet carried the aura of no such creature, bored into the violet pair of the Demon God.

He appeared to be in his 50s. Yet, the charm he radiated was immense. Even more so than the angelically handsome King of the Sprites. He was none other than Elder Ren, one of the Elders of the Fahren Clan.

"Huh.." The Demon searched for his voice, but what he found was barely a whisper. No, it was more gasp than a whisper.

He couldn't believe it. When he heard that sigh earlier, he had been expecting a Grand Elder at the very least. However, never in his wildest dreams had he thought a… mere Elder had been the one to force them to cancel out their auras without lifting a single finger.

Subconsciously, the Demon God's gaze shifted from Elder Ren to a certain Sprite King sitting less confidently at the forefront of his kind. The shock hidden deep within their eyes becoming palpable. Although, a nearly irreconcilable feud brewed between them, even that seems to vanish in the face of an even more pressing matter.

The customs of the Demons, comparatively speaking were not dissimilar to that of the Sprites, in that, unlike the Humans, both follow a strict monarchy.

The Humans, however, didn't have a ruler until the hidden prowess of the Fahren Clan began to surface. Even then, they were not conferred the title, but only seen as the ruler just by virtue of the fact that they had the bigger fist.

There was an inherent difference between the two.

Furthermore, those of the Fahren Clan were fully aware that, should the Humans they subordinated ever find the chance to backstab them, they wouldn't hesitate to latch on it.

The Demons and the Sprites, though, from the getgo, didn't have such disorderliness, at least, not to an extreme like the Humans. While the former are headed by the strongest Demon God Clan in the Infernal Plane, the latter were ruled by the most powerful Divine Clan in the Spiritual Plane.

When things were put this way, one would think it all boiled down to the fact that the reason these two races could rule was because they were the strongest.

This wasn't incorrect. However, while the Fahren Clan would have to watch their back for possible backstabbers, the Clans heading the Demons and the Sprites need not do such a thing.

Their rule was so firm that the Plane they each ruled had acknowledged them and affirmed their position, making them the undisputed ruler of their race.

Of course, this didn't mean there were no backstabbers. Infact, there were plenty. However, it could be said that, compared to Humans, they were a little more tame.

As such, they have a strict hierarchal system. In the Infernal Plane, the King was their God. His words were absolute and few dared defy him.

This was followed by the Throne Heir, a talented Demon groomed to be the next King. This was only judging by status, though. If cultivations came into play, then the Throne Heir wasn't even among the top ten.

A step below the Throne Heir were the Lords. And further down came the Dukes. The Elder equivalents of the Infernal Plane.

Under normal circumstances, the Elders of Sects and Clans of the Humans were not different to the Dukes of the Demons, whether in power or status. And these Dukes were those the Infernal King could trample under his feet if he deemed it.

However, this Elder of the Fahren Clan gave the Infernal King the feeling that he was staring at an Ancestor. The subtle pressure he gave off tingled at his body like the darkness of the Dark Edge.

He couldn't decipher how Elder Ren could give him such feeling, but he knew, should he try to prod at it, it would drown him, with no hope for survival.

Thinking to this point, the Demon God couldn't help but suck in cold breath.

'If their Elders are already as powerful as my Blytht Clan Ancestors, then what of their Grand Elders? Or… could it be they are Ancestors in disguise? No, there is no way that is possible.

Ancestors are too proud to do something as mundane as stopping a fight between those they consider below them, if the Ancestors of my Clan are to be taken into consideration at least…'

"What do you have to say regarding this?"

The voice of Elder Ren shook the Infernal King out of his thoughts. He looked towards the Elder and the veins underneath his pale white skin picked up.

However, outwardly, his expression remained indifferent. Even though Elder Ren was powerful enough to end him with a flick of his finger, he was still the King of a major race that called the Dark Edge Realm home.

Furthermore, he wasn't about to allow his subordinates to pick up on his momentary weakness.

"I–"

However, before the Infernal King could even speak, the voice of Elder Ren sounded again, this time, undirected to him.

"And this includes you, the Sprite King."