Chapter 23 The Demon King’s Kingdom
The deeper they traveled into Baalania the darker the desert became. Black dunes slowly gave way to obsidian plains cracked by rivers of glowing fire beneath the earth. The skies above were no longer merely red from ash storms now.
They burned. Entire clouds flickered with distant crimson lightning while volcanic mountains loomed across the horizon like broken crowns rising from the wasteland.
The land itself felt cursed. Even Tenji’s shadow crows refused to fly too high here.
The Fairy drifted silently beside Einar through the heat haze while silver eyes studied the endless ruins scattered across the desert valleys below.
Ancient cities.Destroyed long ago.
But not abandoned.
Every ruin carried signs of worship.
Gigantic statues of horned kings carved directly into canyon walls. Black temples built around eternal flame pits. Countless skeletons chained in kneeling positions beneath weathered altars.
And always the symbol of the Flame Eye. Baal-Zhur watched from every wall.
The rising kingdom of Baalania was still small compared to what it would someday become. Its holy clans warred constantly among themselves while scattered desert tribes competed for territory and relics.
Yet the foundations of empire were already there.
Faith. Conquest. Fear.
And at the center of it all Baalaniah Mehmeth.
The Demon King of Molochia.
The one who defeated the Vampire King centuries ago.
The trio eventually reached the edge of a colossal canyon stretching across the desert like a scar carved into the world itself.
And there they finally saw the ruins of Molochia.
Even Einar stopped walking.
The dead kingdom spread endlessly through the canyon below beneath burning skies and drifting ash storms. Black pyramids rose among shattered citadels while gigantic bridges of obsidian crossed rivers of lava glowing beneath the ruins.
It was not human architecture. Everything had been built too large. Doors the size of fortress gates.
Statues taller than skyscrapers. Temples carved directly into mountainsides.
And towering above the dead kingdom itself stood the shattered remains of colossal war machines.
Kael would have called them impossible.
Even old-world science could never have created such things.
Gigantic skeletal constructs rested half-buried across the canyon floor like dead titans from another age. Their bodies resembled enormous humanoid skeletons forged from black iron and bone-like obsidian.
Each machine was the size of a city tower. Some still held gigantic blades larger than buildings. Others possessed ribcages hollowed into mobile fortresses.
Ancient siege gods. Dead now. But not entirely lifeless.
Occasionally red fire flickered faintly within empty eye sockets beneath the ash.
Tenji stared silently at the machines below.
“…Necro-titans.”
Einar looked toward him.
“You know them?”
The Fairy’s expression darkened slightly.
“They marched during the First Purge.”
The wind shifted across the canyon.
And suddenly the whispers beneath the sands became louder again.
Not prayers this time.
Screams. Millions of them.
The dead kingdom remembered its wars.
Far below the cliffs, enormous roads stretched between ruined temples where dark caravans moved through the canyon carrying black banners and sacred flames.
Baalanian pilgrims. Warriors. Priests.
The kingdom still lived among the bones of the old empire.
Mordecai remained strangely tense near Molochia.
The shadows around the Death Reaper moved violently now, almost agitated by the ancient ruins surrounding them.
Then Einar saw why.
At the center of the canyon stood the Black Palace. Even in ruin, it dominated the entire kingdom.
A gigantic fortress-temple built from volcanic stone and black iron, surrounded by towering statues depicting Baalaniah Mehmeth seated upon a throne of skulls beneath burning moons.
And behind the palace embedded directly into the mountains was something far older. A massive circular gate carved into the canyon wall itself.
The Seal. Ancient silver symbols covered its surface, though most had been burned or corrupted long ago by black flame rituals.
Gigantic chains thicker than buildings crossed over the gate.
And from beneath it cold air escaped. Impossible cold.
Like winter breathing beneath the desert.
Einar’s glowing blue eyes narrowed.
“The coffin is below.”
Tenji remained silent.
The Fairy stared at the enormous seal with visible unease. Even Mordecai stepped backward slightly. The Death Reaper recognized this place.
And feared what slept beneath it. As twilight fell over Molochia, the trio descended carefully into the canyon ruins while ash drifted through the burning streets around them.
The deeper they traveled the more signs of old war appeared.
Entire districts melted by black fire.
Gigantic skeletons chained to towers. Ancient battlefields preserved beneath layers of ash and obsidian.
Then they found the throne hall.
Or what remained of it.
The colossal chamber stretched through the center of the ruined palace beneath a collapsed volcanic dome where rivers of lava illuminated shattered black pillars and mountains of ancient bones.
At the far end of the hall stood the throne of Mehmeth himself.
Massive. Monstrous. Carved from fused obsidian and skeletal remains.
And above it hung the corpse.
Tenji stopped immediately.
Einar narrowed his eyes.
The body had once been enormous.
Nearly fifteen feet tall even in death, wearing black armor fused directly into dried flesh and bone. Great curled horns crowned the skull while enormous chains suspended the corpse above the ruined throne like a warning.
Its chest had been pierced by hundreds of silver weapons.
Ancient vampire blades. The Demon King. Or what remained of him.
Einar stared upward coldly.
“…So he truly died.”
Then the corpse smiled.
The entire throne hall shook violently. Ash exploded across the chamber while black flames erupted suddenly within the dead king’s empty eye sockets.
The chains holding the gigantic corpse began rattling loudly.
And a deep voice echoed through the ruins like thunder from beneath the earth.
“NO.”
“I ENDURED.”
Far beneath the Black Palace something ancient awakened beside the sealed coffin of the Vampire King.
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