The Demon Sovereign and the Goddess of Destiny looked at me dumbfoundedly. They didn’t know what to feel or believe if I were in their shoes… I would likely feel the same way. Alas, I was expressing my true feelings, and it was irrelevant if they believed my words.

“I… cannot trust you.”

“Understandable,” I replied to the Goddess without any hesitation. “But it doesn’t matter if you do. Because the timeline has been secured, there’s nothing you can do to change it. The Demon race will serve under me, not as slaves, but as my subjects. And to do so, your help is essential. After all, you possess a portion of my powers.”

“…”

“I shall give you free rein on how to rule the Demon race,” I explained my terms to the Demon Sovereign. “The only thing I want from the Demons is this… Do not harm my family and me from this day to the end of time. As long as you follow this law, you will be safe from any oppression.”

“… It’s not like we’re given a choice, are we?”

“No, you’re not.” I laughed in reply.

Raising my hand to the sky, I channelled my will into my Vampire Aspect. Magic power, no, I no longer used magic power anymore… What should I call this new power of mine? Miracle power? True power? It didn’t matter. Vast amounts of energy formed within the circle on the back of my hand, and a golden halo rose from the depths of my soul up to the clear blue sky.

The halo grew exponentially, turning ever sanctified and holy with each passing second. Eventually, the golden ring exploded into life and grew large enough to envelop the entire planet. Northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, it didn’t matter. Every part of the Demon Realm was embraced by my magic. A thick golden-red aura enveloped my body and ascended me to the realm of the Gods in the Demons’ minds.

At this point, I felt like I’d ascended to a different realm. Every single living creature was in the palm of my hand. I could snap my fingers and kill them all or alter their destiny with a single thought. I’d basically become a God. I wasn’t Jin Valter the Progenitor… I had taken my first step towards becoming the Hegemon.

Demons flying in the sky fell to the ground while Demons burrowing deep in the earth were expelled out and forced to kneel. Even marine creatures weren’t spared from the glorious light and floated to the surface, mesmerised by the godly sight.

Enamoured by my presence, every Demon ‘knelt’ down in reverence. The Demon Sovereign and the Goddess of Destiny weren’t exceptions either. Unknowingly and unwillingly, they went on their knees with their hands on their chest like subjects obeying the laws of nature.

That’s it…

That was my power.

I could control everything in existence… to rewrite the laws of nature. What I had wasn’t magic; it was a higher version of magic itself.

[All living denizens of the Demon Realm, heed my law!]

My voice boomed in the minds of every living creature. There weren’t any who could resist or even attempt to resist. Neither the Demon Sovereign nor the Goddess of Destiny had the capability, let alone the low-level Demons.

The power of my law pierced through their bodies and reached deep within their souls. Not only were all living Demons affected, but it also altered their DNA. Their descendants, even those unborn for generations to come, will be affected by this law, and they will never break free from this restraint as long as I remain standing.

[No living Demon or their descendants will ever hurt a member of the Valter House from this day to the end of time! Any Demon who disobeys this order will be smited with my vengeance!]

My golden words resonated within their souls, causing the weaker Demons to convulse wildly. Their entire DNA makeup was being altered to my liking, and none of them will have the guts to harm my bloodline in the future. No, hurting anyone from the Valter House wouldn’t even cross their minds. Even if someone pointed a gun to their head and threatened their entire family, the Demons affected today will never harm a single hair on my four wives or anyone I loved.

That was the power of my law.

[My law is absolute!!!]

The Demons’ minds and souls were changed. My law had imprinted on them a spell that will never break, even to time itself. All of their descendants will be under the same law too. This was my true purpose for arriving in the Demon Realm. To eliminate the Demonic threat and bring peace to the Valter House.

My holy golden-red aura gradually dissipated like a mist, revealing my weakened state.

Future me could maintain this Godlike state perpetually without feeling any strain, but I wasn’t at that stage yet. My mind and soul weren’t ready to withstand the Godlike power, making me absolutely exhausted afterwards. It didn’t help that I’d spent so much of my energy on fighting the Demon Sovereign and reverting time for both of us just moments prior.

“We’re done here.”

Even though I’d used the power of law, and there was no threat of the Demon Sovereign or any Demons attacking me, it was uncomfortable to stay in enemy territory when in a weakened state.

But just before I could rip a tear in Spacetime to warp back home…

“Wait!”

The Goddess of Destiny stopped me. I glanced over my shoulder and stared her down with my golden-red eyes, and the woman shivered on the spot. Sensing that she’d drawn my ire, Uriel hesitated to continue.

“What is it?” I urged the woman, not hiding my annoyance. However, Uriel was undeterred. Taking one deep breath in, she asked:

“W-What are your plans now?”

“My plans now?”

I furrowed my brows and frowned. Before my fight with the Demon Sovereign, I hadn’t given it much thought. I believed that eliminating the threat of the Demon race was the most paramount and focused all my attention on that one goal.

However, after fighting Igni and talking with Uriel, I understood one thing. Demonkind and humanity weren’t too much different after all. They both felt emotions, desired freedom and hoped to improve their world by any means necessary.

They shared the same goals and were both worthy of praise. They weren’t monsters who killed for fun or nightmares that terrorised children… Demons were… just like humans.

Or should I say… humans were just like Demons.

And the threat I’d faced from the Demons, I would likewise face the same from humans. That’s why…

“I’m going to conquer humanity.”

❖❖❖

One week has passed since Jin conquered the Demon Realm.

Few knew that the Outer Demon threat and Jin’s exploits on the foreign planet had been completely quelled. Even those who knew about his invasion knew little of what happened there. Therefore, they all believed that Jin didn’t do much and returned from the Demon Realm unsuccessfully.

Only Jin’s four wives knew how powerful the Progenitor had gotten. How he’d destroyed entire planets and summoned a galactic wind. How he toyed with the Demon Sovereign and showed him mercy by reversing time. And finally, how he’d restricted the Demon race to prevent Demons from harming himself or his family.

And due to his exploits, Jin Valter stayed hidden for two days, seemingly to recover from his exhaustion and to celebrate with his newlywed wives.

But on the third day of his return, the Valter House dropped a bombshell.

“Jin Valter wages war on humanity! The new Vampire Progenitor intends to enslave the human race and everyone living on Earth! The head of the Valter House welcomes any and all elites to challenge him in a final battle; else, he will take over the planet as its sole sovereign!”

Headlines like these dominated the newspapers and news websites.

Rather than passively gaining power and influence as he’d always done, Jin did the unthinkable. He sent correspondents to every major nation on the planet and to every race, including the Vampires.

“The Valter House intends to rule Earth as the sole Hegemony.”

When that statement was published, most entities didn’t know whether to believe it or not. Most of them brushed it off as sheer insanity, but Jin’s following actions shocked the world. Flying over the tallest mountain on the planet, he lifted the massive rock into the sky and inverted it into a battleground. And on the mountain, he wrote:

“Send in your best… Else, the world will end.”

That deed stunned the world. Governments went into a frenzy, condemning the new Progenitor and stopping all trade with the Valter House. The Holy Church invoked the Holy Doctrine and condemned Jin to death. The Werewolves took advantage of this situation to escape the dark and joined hands with their respective countries.

All governments and races condemned the new Progenitor and his arrogance. But that didn’t mean Jin didn’t have his supporters.

The Church of Valter loved the move and wholeheartedly supported Jin no matter what. As for the Elves and the Vampires… They remained utterly silent.

They weren’t ignorant. The top Vampires and the High Elven Priestess witnessed Jin’s powers firsthand at his wedding. They knew if Jin wished to rule the world, nothing could stop him.

In the end, the world was divided in two.

Humans, the Holy Church, Werewolves… They all banded together and brought all of the elites in their fold together to fight the arrogant young Vampire.

As for the Vampires and Elves… They chose not to join the crusade and strayed far from the battle.

And as D-Day fast approached, the entire world was on edge, waiting for Jin Valter’s next move…