Choosing the Demon King did not bring peace.
It brought consequences.
Within hours of the Domain Declaration, the sky fractured above distant lands. Seas boiled. Ancient seals hidden beneath continents shattered without warning.
The world was correcting itself.
Violently.
---
In the Eastern Kingdom, a holy city vanished overnight.
No explosion.
No fire.
It simply ceased to exist.
In its place remained a perfect, silent crater.
The message was clear.
The gods had begun retaliation.
---
Inside the tower, alarms screamed again.
The assistant moved fast, reports forming instantly in his mind.
"My King," he said, voice tight, "retaliatory strikes across allied territories. Precision erasure."
Elowen's face drained of color. "They're punishing people for choosing us."
The Demon King's gaze darkened.
"They were warned."
He stepped onto the balcony.
The world felt it.
---
Far above the clouds, divine constructs gathered—faceless weapons forged from law and judgment. They descended not toward the tower—
—but toward the people who had knelt.
Villages.
Refugee camps.
Newly sworn cities.
Elowen grabbed the Demon King's arm.
"Stop them," she said. "Please."
He looked down at her.
"You understand what that means?"
She nodded. "They'll never forgive you."
"They already won't," he replied.
The Demon King raised his hand.
The sky closed.
Across the world, divine constructs froze mid-descent. Laws unraveled. Judgment fractured like glass.
The constructs shattered.
Silently.
The gods screamed.
---
In the Celestial Realm, panic erupted.
"He's overriding divine jurisdiction!"
"This isn't possible!"
One voice roared, filled with rage.
"Then we end the world before he claims it."
---
The Demon King turned back inside the tower.
The assistant followed, shaken.
"My King… the price."
"I know," the Demon King said.
The tower's core pulsed violently.
DOMAIN ESCALATION DETECTED
WORLD STABILITY: CRITICAL
Elowen stood in the center of the chamber, trembling.
"This is my fault," she whispered. "If I wasn't here—"
The Demon King interrupted her.
"Enough."
He placed both hands on the core.
The tower responded.
Not with expansion.
With containment.
Reality stabilized—barely.
The Demon King exhaled slowly.
"I will not let them erase what chose me."
Elowen looked up, tears in her eyes.
"…Even if it costs everything?"
"Yes."
Outside, the world trembled under the weight of a choice it could not take back.
And somewhere beyond gods and kings—
Something that devoured collapsing worlds
opened its eyes.