With the battle against the hero party over, Jax returned back to the Cathedral, the bells ringing to signify his return.
Across the surrounding area, various Demons froze as they heard that ringing and understood that their King had returned, and with him, the stench of holy blood.
The great doors of the Cathedral groaned open as Jax stepped inside, his armor clean as can be while he held the unconscious body of Natasha in his right arm.
Seeing that, the entire plaza had fell silent, thousands of demons who had surrounded the Cathedral to see their King's return now shocked as they saw him come back with a captive.
Jax stopped at the center of the plaza and slowly raised his right hand, lifting the unconscious body of Natasha high enough for everyone to see.
"This," he said, his voice calm and resonant, carrying to every corner effortlessly, "is one of the so-called Heroes of Light."
A murmur rippled through the crowd as he said that.
"They came to destroy all of you, using their blessings of their pathetic Goddesses with unchecked arrogance,"
His grip tightened just enough to make the chains of Natasha's armor creak, "But they failed. Victory belongs to the Demon Kingdom!!! And soon, all of these pathetic Heroes will be crushed beneath our boots!"
As Jax's short speech ended, there was a strange silence for just a moment, before an eruption of celebration.
Centuries of desperate battle with the forces of the Divine Goddesses and months of being cruelly slaughter by the Heroes, the emotions of all of that erupted as they finally secured a massive victory.
"DEMON KING!"
"HAIL JAX!"
"BLOOD FOR THE KING!"
The Demons all chanted in celebration until Sabrina arrived, her eyes lighting up in delight as she spotted Natasha in Jax's hand.
"My King! It seems you've been successful. Congratulations on victory in your first clash with the Heroes!" Sabrina said, taking a knee respectfully as she waited for Jax to acknowledge her.
Jax turned slightly and extended Natasha toward Sabrina, his grip loosening just enough to transfer control. "Take her," he ordered, "Send her down to whatever prison you have here, restrain her as much as possible,"
As Sabrina accepted the body, demonic chains slithered from the stone itself, wrapping around Natasha's limbs and torso, glowing with sigils designed to suppress mana, divinity, and will.
"I want her alive," Jax continued evenly, "I want her conscious later, we'll have a-lot to talk about," Jax said with an evil smile.
Sabrina bowed deeply, "Understood your majesty,"
Natasha was dragged away, disappearing beneath the Cathedral as the crowd watched with reverent hunger.
The celebrations did not die down when Natasha vanished beneath the Cathedral.
If anything, they intensified.
The demonic chains dragging a living Hero into the depths was a symbol far stronger than any speech. It was proof made flesh. Proof that the Demon Kingdom was no longer prey for the Heroes to hunt.
Jax watched the crowd for a moment longer, golden eyes steady beneath his helm as roars echoed off obsidian walls and crimson spires.
Then he raised one hand, and everyone immediately went dead silent, giving their full attention to their King.
"Celebrate," Jax said.
His tone was calm, but there was something beneath it that stirred every demon's blood.
"Drink, Fight, Fuck, Sing," he continued, "This victory belongs to all of you."
A ripple of excitement passed through the plaza as he said that.
"But remember this," Jax added, "This was not the end. This was the beginning. There will be more victories, more Heroes crushed beneath my boot, and soon, the Demon Kingdom will be bigger and more successful than ever,"
~ROAR!~
A huge roar of excitement echoed across the plaza as all the Demons began chanting.
"DEMON KING!"
"DEMON KING!"
"DEMON KING!"
"DEMON KING!"
As all of them were chanting, Jax had already left, heading into the Cathedral where he was met with Orianna, who he had sensed waiting for him since he had arrived.
"My King," Orianna said as Jax finally came face to face with her.
"Dragon Queen," he replied evenly, "I assume you didn't come just to congratulate me."
A faint smirk tugged at Orianna's lips. "You assumed correctly."
"The task you provided me is underway. Tens of thousands of Demons have already registered, and more will surely register as time passed. Hearing about Merit based promotion has made everyone quite excited,"
Jax's eyes glowed faintly, "Good."
"But," Orianna added, her tone sharpening, "not everyone is pleased."
Jax arched a brow, "Explain."
"Certain influential demons and demon families are clinging to their inherited authority. Old generals, merchant families, the people who'd lose a-lot from common Demons being able to improve themselves through merit. They also want to retain the influence of having massive private armies. A public, general militant group won't be kind to them,"
Jax chuckled softly.
"So the rot reveals itself," he said.
Orianna met his gaze evenly. "Give the word, and I will crush them."
Jax shook his head slowly, "No, I'll do it, these people need to learn that I won't tolerate that kind of disrespect,"
Orianna studied him for a moment longer, then nodded once.
"As you wish, my King."
She raised her hand, and a projection of condensed mana unfolded between them, forming a vertical list of names, sigils, and a map with their territory marked.
"Here are the primary holdouts," Orianna said calmly, "These are the worst offenders, remove them, and the rest will fall in line."
She gestured to the first.
"The Grimholt Bloodline," she said, "They're an old family with three private legions. They refuse to disband their armies or submit officers for merit evaluation. They're also funded by another one of the holdouts, the Varkuun Consortium, who control a-lot of the supply routes across the West,"
"The other holdout is Sir Ashveil. He's a Fallen Angel who lost out on being Clan Leader to Xara, but he has his own group of fanatic followers determined to go against whatever Xara wants."
"Once you handle these 3, the other holdouts will fall into place. Everyone else is a subordinate or deeply connected with these 3 in some way," Orianna explained as Jax looked at the list.
"So," Orianna asked after a moment, voice neutral, "what will you do?"
Jax's golden eyes lifted to meet hers, "I'll kill every leader on that list," Jax responded calmly.
"No point in keeping them around. I'll strip them of all their power, confiscate their lands, vaults and as for their armies, they'll be assimilated into our military. The members will report their actions to see if they deserve any titles based on merit,"
"I don't need idiots who can't understand the new status quo," he said. "If they think clinging to old power will save them, they deserve what's coming, and after that, there will be vacancies."
Orianna's lips curved into a slow, predatory smile as she heard that last line.
"There will be many who beg to fill them," she said.
Jax nodded once. "Exactly. There'll always be people desperate for power, I'll give them that power as long as they remain loyal to me,"
He turned toward the inner halls of the Cathedral, his cape shifting softly behind him.
"Make the preparations for when I'm finished," he said, "I'll be starting out tonight with the Varkuun Consortium, since they want to fund dissent, then they'll be the first ones to be destroyed,"