The Undead Lord (1)

Lord Kieran Fleurnoir didn't care about being told where he ought to go. Not him, the ruler of the Frost Guards and Lord of the Court of Nightfall. As the Ruler of the Frost Guards, Calaren town and its neighboring human dwellings were forcibly assigned under his protection, regardless if he approved of it or not. He had the freedom other demon lords in their stricter domains were bereft of, and he relished this freedom.

However, he had some responsibilities to uphold now, and one of those was to make sure that no rogue darkling would escape the border and cause disturbances in the human dwellings nearby.

Lord Kieran agreed to deliver his tasks, but that didn't mean he cared about the humans. Maguses were somewhat tolerable for him, but humans were no better than vermin in his eyes.

A millennium ago, a powerful black mage caused a tremendous power imbalance in the world, when the Kingdom of Dravial was still part of Asnar. It was a half-demon, half-human who taped and robbed the magic of several demon lords in Asnar and caused the 'Age of Degeneration' amongst them.

Many beings lost their home, families, and friends because of the long war against the 'Black Mage' and that didn't spare Kieran Fleurnoir, the second son of the demon noble family. His parents had been murdered by one of the Black Mage's general, but before that, his elder brother, Killian, had disappeared and was presumably dead, leaving Kieran as the one to succeed his father's position.

The war against the Black Mage had taken centuries before the thirteen demon lords were able to seal him to the Lake of Fire, his soul ripped away from his body. After that, the humans who weren't capable of magic demanded to be separated from the darklings.

It was a futile attempt in Kieran's opinion, but he supposed that these mortal humans had deluded themselves by believing that relying on iron and salt would be able to ward the darklings like them out of their territories.

Still, the Court of Shadows consisting of the thirteen demon lords who defeated the Black Mage, including him, had given them their approval and a treaty had been made between the two parties. Since the treaty between them was signed, virgin maidens from the Kingdom of Dravial had been sent every decade as a tribute to the Court of Shadows.

Not that Kieran cared about those poor sacrifices anyway, nor did he care about what other demon lords think or about those mortals who refused to face the reality of this world. Of course, others assumed that he meant ill will towards humans. After all, there were records that showed that the humans were the ones responsible for the disappearance of his elder brother.

Before coming to the border that separated his lands to the mortal kingdom, Lord Kieran attended a scheduled meeting with the rest of the demon lords and watched as the others lost themselves in their talks, varying from world domination to helping the mortals live the way they wanted to, while allowing themselves to drown in ambrosia for demons like him.

Lord Kieran was released at last from their endless conversations and arguments that he didn't have any interest to participate in. He was itching for a fight, for something exciting that could quell his boredom, and Aiden's report came just in time.

The Lord of the Court of Nightfall immediately went to the border to hunt the rogue demon lord who had been terrorizing the human villages and towns for the past six months. Randal, a vampire who gained the title of 'demon lord' for killing hundreds of humans, was reported to be seen near Calaren Town.

He left without waiting for his vassals to accompany him, and hunted Randal and his pack alone. However, Lord Kieran didn't anticipate for the vampire lord to ambush him upon stepping out of the border leading to the Kingdom of Dravial. He was caught off guard when Randal had used a demonic sword against him, giving him a fatal blow in the process.

Ha. A vampire that can wield and withstand the power of a demonic sword? Lord Kieran wasn't sure if Randal was desperate to defeat him, or didn't know what using a cursed sword like that entailed.

'How pathetic.' The demon lord thought.

Whether he was referring to himself sustaining an injury or Randal, who didn't know that he was an immortal one, incapable of dying regardless of the method used against him. He wasn't called 'The Undead Lord' for no reason. Whether it was stabbing, decapitation, poisoning or burning alive, it didn't matter, because the curse had forbidden him from dying.

Randal had given him a deadly blow that forced him to shape-shift into his wolf form to avoid the vampire's subsequent attacks. However, once the curse on the demon lord's body started to take effect, preventing him from dying, the vampire lord and his minions backed out in fear of being inflicted by the curse itself, leaving Lord Kieran to draw back to allow his 'shadows' to heal him.

But something unexpected appeared from nowhere. No — more like someone. The injured demon lord didn't even notice her presence, something that baffled Lord Kieran. How was he not able to sense that a human would come here to the clearing and get close to where he was without him noticing its presence?

What's more, his curse was currently activated, which meant that any life or living things around the vicinity should have perished upon being touched by the shadows that were prohibiting anyone to reach him. Did she not realize how dangerous he could be at that very moment?

"Let me help you." He heard the foolish human say, only realizing that it was a woman.

Lord Kieran would find it laughable and insulting at the same time if he wasn't gravely injured.