A demon with orange skin made his way out of an enormous fortress, into a realm of darkness.
Lanterns lit up the streets, providing the only light in this forbidden realm, and yet it was strangely peaceful.
It was likely mid afternoon at this point, however there was no sun in the sky to tell, therefore this demon checked his own watch with every step he took.
His lime green sneakers seemed to light up the streets themselves, glowing with a strange aura.
Surrounding him were buildings that could only be described as demonic.
A wicked realm of evil, where the very architecture attested to such a fact.
The pitch black buildings seemed to twist and turn in all sorts of horrible ways, and their Gothic theme united them.
This demon, Vex, was the Host of Wrath. As such, he was the head of one of the seven major houses of the realm of demons.
His spiked up red hair was gelled with such firmness that it barely made any movements as he walked through this city with a sly grin, almost skipping.
'I've got three minutes to get there. Better hurry things up.', he thought.
With a spring in his step, Vex made his way through the city, passing a number of demons in the streets.
With forms similar to humans in all but the tone of their skin, the prominence of their veins, and the fangs, horns, and wings which they bore, some of these demons were hard at work like regular members of society, whereas others were resting while having a meal at some tables outside a restaurant.
Many looked up in surprise as they saw Vex rush by, yet they did not call out nor speak to him.
He was there and gone, and they continued their work as if nothing had happened.
"That was the Host of Wrath, wasn't it?"
"I didn't get too close of a look, but I don't think anyone but him would wear anything like those shoes."
Some bystanders who were sitting at a table made idle gossip.
Among the demonic realm, and specifically within the city of devils, Regalis, there were two who held a claim to the title of monster king.
The Host of Pride who held the title, and the Host of Wrath, who had failed to attain such a title.
The city was peaceful.
It was a strange peace, contrary to the rest of the world.
It was a peace which had been established for hundreds of years, one which would not be so easily broken.
The devils and demons of the realm had no qualms with this.
While there were some who desired to go to war, these were few in number. The demonic races were ultimately powerful compared to the people of this world, and yet they held no instinctual desire for destruction or chaos that one might think demons would have.
Yet the times were changing rapidly.
These demons, who held physical prowess high above the humanoid races which had been created by one of their predecessors, would soon move forward to reap the seeds which had been sewn.
Vex continued to rush through the streets with a carefree look on his face as he slicked back his own hair and polished his own horns with his hand.
"Can't be late, can't be late.... why is it that women are always allowed to be late but the one time I show up late she happens to be on time? It's like they have eyes following me or something."
The carefree demon seemed to laugh as if remembering something bitter.
"1 minute 20 seconds..... and..."
The demon stopped in front of the gate of a large home.
"I guess I made it on time."
Squatting down, the demon jumped up, taking to the skies as he flapped his dark orange wings which looked like withered branches connected by a layer of skin.
He flew through the air before soaring down and landing right on the doorstep of the home, bracing his own knees to land in style.
Standing at the door were two demons who were dressed in suits- likely some form of butlers or guards. They didn't so much as blink an eye at the man who landed abruptly in front of them, but merely glanced at him.
"Master Vex. It is a pleasure to see you again. Here to meet the lady?"
"No need for the master part. I told you, didn't I? Just call me Vex.", the orange demon stated as he dusted his own suit off.
"Then, Vex. The lady is currently preparing herself for the outing as we speak. Would you like to wait inside the living room?"
"Ah ah. Looks like I was right. If I arrive on time she'll take all the time she wants to get ready, but if I'm even a second late she'll probably be ready right on time. Alright. I'll wait."
The butler opened the door and notioned into the grand hall, pointing over to a door on the left side.
"The living room is right through here. Please follow me."
Vex was led into a luxurious room with red velvet all over the furniture. The decorations were excessively high class, yet he did not seem surprised in the least at the high luxury.
Portraits of a demonic family and individual portraits of each person seemed to line the walls of the room.
Vex was then subject to what seemed to be an eternally long wait.
He waited.
And he waited.
And he waited.
Checking his watch almost every minute, he continuously switched his own position as he waited until he was hanging upside down with his horns supporting his own head, lying off the edge of the couch with his legs in the air.
The butler which stood by him didn't seem disturbed or annoyed in the least, but merely bitterly smiled as if he understood the pains of Vex.
"The lady certainly does love taking her time with these things. After all, it is not every day that one is able to have an outing with the head of a household."
"Is that so? Is that why she always takes so long?"
"Hm? Well, I'm not sure how to answer that, Vex. But perhaps it is that she looks forward to your company, and is willing to put forth her best effort to prepare for such an outing."
Lifting his head up from the floor and sitting up straight, the demon fixed his own hair which had been somewhat disheveled from his own antics.
"Well, whatever! I guess I can take my stress out on whatever poor souls I run into tomorrow, so I can keep it all pent up in me for now."
The demon said this without even the slightest bit of stress on his expression.
He was energetic and clearly delighted, despite his words.
"Is there something in particular which you plan on doing tomorrow? Forgive me if I have overstepped my bounds.", the butler questioned.
"Ah, well I guess it won't be too bad if I tell you. It will pass the time at least. I'm leaving the city. Did you hear the news? A group calling themselves the antiheroes have shown up and are taking over villages left and right."
Vex was cracking his own fingers one by one with a look of excitement on his face.
"It looks like I can finally get out and do something. Spending time with my girl is fun and all but if it's the only form of entertainment then it gets a bit old. The last time I had a good fight was against Hube when we fought for the title. I wonder what it will be like to go to war? What do you think?"
As the current house leaders were mere descendants of those who formed the contract to cease warmongering, not a single one of them had ever led an army in a war. The most recent event of an attack was the last host of Envy, who led a group of flame elementals to attack the city of ice. The army was annihilated in the struggle, but had they succeeded the other hosts would have been forced to ally together against him. Even so, this was over a hundred years ago.
It was almost shameful for the leaders of demons to be raised and live their lives without ever having led an army, however this did not mean that they had never fought in battle before.
They did fight for rankings among themselves. Technically speaking, this was for nothing more than bragging rights, and it determined the pecking order during the ever rare meetings between one another.
The house leaders were selected by crystals which were said to be the 'origins of sin'. These crystals were said to seek out those who exhibited a certain sin in excess, and as such the selection of a new house leader did not depend on strength- but rather on the magnitude of sin within the heart of the being.
When a host of sin was selected, they were granted with specific abilities and usually this came with an increase in physical and magical power, however not necessarily.
Even so, when one held a position as a house leader they were held to a higher standard than others. With that being the case, Vex could not allow himself to become weak.
This powers granted to the Hosts made it so that no matter what, the seven leaders were the top brass among the demonic races. If their powers were overcome by those not chosen, it would merely show their own unworthiness in being selected as hosts.
Furthermore, a new host would not be selected unless the old one died.
Incidentally, the house of lust was considered a never changing position.
Lustia had been it's leader after living for over 400 years- twice the length of most other Hosts- and none had so much as challenged her position. As a spirit, she was ageless, able to live indefinitely, and so from the moment she existed she was not affected by the passing of time.
"War you say? My, times are changing. How many years has it been since the demonic races went to war with anyone? And with a group calling themselves the antiheroes..... are they the real thing?", the butler responded.
"Who knows. I'll find out soon enough. All I hope is that they prove to be an interesting opponent. Well, I plan on messing with some people before I approach them directly. After all, I'm supposed to be the leader of the house of wrath. Shouldn't I be pissing people off a bit more?"
Vex laughed to himself, his demonic fangs exposed as he laughed.
"Though maybe I piss off Hube just be being around him, so I guess that's enough. Well, he gets irritated by anyone."
It was at this moment that the butler seemed to look back through the door into the grand hall, and he then turned to Vex who was now cleaning one of his sneakers, wiping off the last smudge of dust.
"It seems the lady has finished her preparations."
"Oh, is that right? About time. Thanks for the company. Don't work too hard."
With a light smile the butler stood out of the way and Vex exited the living room and into the grand hall to see a gorgeous demonic girl making her way down the stairs.
Her skin was a pure white, and she wore a sunhat and a plain yet exquisite white dress.
She wore a slight amount of makeup- just enough to accent her own features without being classified as excessive.
"Sorry for the waitttttt..... I just couldn't decide what to weeeeear....."
With a beautiful smile the demonic girl tilted her head.
Her tiny horns glimmered as she made this motion, and Vex smiled as he fixed his own tie.
"Nah, it's all good. Where do you wanna go?"
"Mmm.... where should we go...."
The demon put her index finger to her lips in thought as she smiled.
"You decide!"
With a bitter sigh Vex nodded and walked over to the foot of the staircase where he offered the woman his arm to hold.
Grabbing hold of it, her radiant smile beamed down on Vex.
'Ah, she's so difficult but at the end of the day it's worth the wait.', Vex thought.
Walking towards the entrance, Vex glanced back.
"Your father doesn't care that you're headed out with me all the time like this? Most fathers I know of are awfully suspicious."
"He's actually happy to hear that I have an arrangement with someone like you, Vex. After all, you're a house leader, so he couldn't hope for any more in a marriage."
"That's all it comes down to in the end, doesn't it? Not my looks. Not who I am. Just my position."
"Don't say such negative thiings.... after all, you obtained that position through your own efforts, right? I don't really understand how you're chosen, but it isn't that you're just born into it, right? Each and every house leader is amazing in their own right."
As the girl made this statement, the flippant demon became serious for just a moment.
"We're not born into it. I don't think anyone who has become a host would look back on it as a good thing."
"Really? You've never told me how you were chosen so I wouldn't know. When are you gonna tell me?"
Vex looked down with a bitter expression.
"Not today."
"I see..."
Looking up, Vex smiled at the girl, changing the topic.
"Let's focus on us. Here and now. Alright?"
"Alright."
"Ah, by the way.... this is gonna be my last night in town for a while so why don't we make it one I'll remember?"
The girl nodded.
"Mhm."
"So? Where do you wanna go?"
"I just said, didn't I? You choose."
"As if. I know those words. You say I choose but then you actually have a place in mind, and if I don't guess it correctly then you get all annoyed and irritated for the rest of the night."
"Ooh... you caught me! Haha! Well how about that restaurant on Mal Street. I heard they have the best pie in the city."
The two walked out the door and prepared themselves to fly, flapping their crooked wings in sync.
"Sounds great. So? I assume you aren't gonna be taking any of the bill then? It's gonna be all on me?"
"Of course."
"Figured. Let's go."
And with that, the orange and white streaks flew across the sky, below them witnessing only the lanterns and dim lighting of the demonic city.
"But why are you leaving the city?", the woman asked as they flew.
"Ah, I told your butler already so I guess I can tell you. We're going to war."
"Eh.... that doesn't seem like a lot of fun. Why go to war when we can just do this all the time?"
Closing his eyes with a grin, the orange demon stroked his spiked hair.
"We're going to war so that our people can do stuff like this all the time."
----
A grand tent stood high, surrounded by a number of other large tents which were not quite the size of the one which hovered above the others, yet still substantially grand.
Inside this tent sat a certain man who had known stagnancy all his life.
This man was Tirius, the Legion Commander of the 3rd Legion of the Empire.
Tirius held the most honored duty among the military of the Empire, for if he were to fail in this duty then not only the Empire, but eventually all of humanity would collapse.
His legion was known by the common folks as the border patrol.
It was the duty of the 10,000 men underneath him to ensure that the wall was never breached by the monsters that brooded behind it.
Yet in recent history, the stagnancy of this position had been shaken.
Tirius was a patriotic man.
He longed for the vision of the Emperor, Percius IV, to be fulfilled- for the Empire to beat back the monsters and take over the monster realm for themselves, removing the threat from their back yard.
Yet despite his long years of life, there had been no such chance.
It was the duty of the third legion to protect the people of the Empire and prevent monsters from invading- not to attack.
For hundreds of years this had been the role of the third legion, and for hundreds more this would remain their role, or so Tirius believed.
And so he accepted the fact that even if the Empire was to attempt to expand into the monster realm, the role of the third legion would not change.
They would be designated for one and only one purpose: To defend the border between humans and monsters.
Even so, his heart burned with passion to see this come to light, yet this passion had been doused as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water on his flaming heart.
Percius IV, the Emperor who produced more change within the Empire than any other man in history, had been killed.
Tirius was tormented at the death of his Emperor, knowing now that this dream was nothing more than that- a dream which could never be achieved.
A few days before, a certain event had occurred.
An attack on the wall had happened.
It was not completely uncommon for attacks on the wall to occur by nearby monsters, however they would usually be quickly taken care of by the men on the scene, and there would be no large scale commotion.
However, this scene was different.
100 men had been slaughtered with no witnesses remaining to tell the story.
The only thing left was the bodies of the men- and claiming that they were even bodies would be to sugarcoat the horrid state of the victims to whatever massacre had occurred.
This event troubled Tirius greatly, for the lack of the body of the culprit could mean only one thing.
They had escaped alive.
Yet there was another event which troubled Tirius right now, and that was the message he had received recently with the seal of the young Emperor, Percius V.
The message stated that the 5th legion was to be stationed at the wall and all units were to prepare themselves for an invasion of the monster realm.
This delighted Tirius, however what he was concerned about was the presence of the 5th legion.
The 5th legion was known as the legion of order.
Led by Calerius, the 5th legion was known for being obsessive to the point of disorder when it came to ensuring that things were in proper order.
Tirius loathed the thought of having to cooperate with such a group.
And yet, they had not arrived yet for some strange reason.
'Just what could be taking them? It has been multiple days since I received the message of their departure. Has something held them up?'
Tirius had sent a messenger to the Emperor the prior day informing him of the strange loss of contact with the 5th legion.
Yet, as Tirius lay on his own bench within his tent, he heard a voice call out from the waiting rooms.
"Legion Commander Tirius!!! There is a messenger here who bears the seal of the Emperor with a response! May I allow him in?"
"Of course! Get him in here!!"
Tirius responded energetically, ready to hear the news.
A man walked in and knelt before Tirius, bowing his head until Tirius spoke.
"What is this message? Please tell."
"Legion Commander Tirius, the Emperor has orders for you. The third legion is to begin a campaign within the monster realm on it's own. Support will be sent when the war with the Kingdom has completed, but you are to do what you can to expand our territory with your own men, and set up a winning scenario for our armies. The method is up to yourself to decide. That is all."
"Such unspecific orders.... though I do not dislike that. It means I have the freedom to use my own methods.... more importantly, it seems this day has finally come!!"
Tirius could not help himself from shivering with excitement.
"At long last..... I will be able to take to the battlefield!!! I can leave this wall behind for the sake of this Empire and take back the monster realm which is rightfully ours!!!! I salute the young Emperor for this decision!!!! I will not disappoint him!!! I am certain he will become a greater Emperor than even his father, who was legendary in his own right. Please relay my gratitude to him."
"It will be done, Legion Commander.", the man replied.
Standing up, Tirius shooed the messenger off and rushed over to his own desk where a map was located with a number of strategic pieces.
The man who had allowed the messenger in was on standby, and Tirius looked over to him with a delightful smile, his egg shaped helmet gleaming in the dim candle light.
"Well? Gather all men of General ranking or higher! We have a campaign to plan!!!!"