The entire journey, Ace and the others decided without any discussion that they would ignore the Venomous Viper and Jade Serpent. Ace was unwilling to interfere with the Venomous Viper and the Jade Serpent. The Demon Lords were dreadful of the Jade Serpent for some reason.
As for the Venomous Viper, everyone could only wish him good luck as the Jade Serpent continued to pester him during each second of the journey in her human form.
The Jade Serpent would interlock her fingers with the Venomous Viper, ask him about how life has been without her and if she gets ignored, the Venomous Viper could be seen wincing in pain though no one knew what was going on.
Unwilling to be concerned with this any further, Ace asked the Turtle Demon Lord, who was probably the most faithful Demon Lord to him right now, "Senior Turtle Lord, what type of demon makes the seventh Demon Lord stand out from the rest of you despite holding the same title?"
The face of the Turtle Demon Lord turned grim at the mention of the seventh Demon Lord, the hesitance in his eyes concealed from Ace.
"Forgive me for being unable to explain the reason to you, but remember, the seventh Demon Lord only values strength and compared to him, all six of us together aren't even strong enough to be an army of ants in his eyes." The Turtle Demon Lord ended the conversation.
From just the reaction of the Turtle Demon Lord alone, Ace could deduce that the seventh Demon Lord wouldn't be convinced by him that easily unless he proves himself worthy of getting his assistance.
The nearer they were to the seventh Demon Lord, the more solemn attitude of the six Demon Lords. This also included the Jade Serpent which had been so proactive in engaging with Viper, who was constantly keeping a distance from her.
"Golden, Turtle, Owl, is it too late for us to back out now?" The Silver Talon Demon Lord asked in fear as he slowed down, the rest slowing down in unison excluding Ace.
But in everyone's eyes, Ace could tell that giving up was the last option all of them were willing to make.
"Are all of you afraid of the seventh Demon Lord even though all of you are comrades?" Ace couldn't help but ask them this question even though the Demon Lords have been avoiding this question.
"Young boy, we may have agreed to follow you because of certain reasons, but the seventh Demon Lord isn't one to be convinced by mere reasons. In his eyes, all he sees is strength. We may be superior to him in our unique areas, but in terms of just combat strength alone, none of us can receive a blow from him when we were at our peak." The Silver Talon Demon Lord took the initiative to explain on behalf of everyone.
Right at this moment, a gust of wind sent chills down everyone's spine. This included Ace who sensed danger coming from up ahead.
"Is that the seventh Demon Lord?" Ace asked without turning back as he unsheathed his sword, allowing the killing intent he has manifested until now to be fully released.
In the eyes of these merciless Demon Lords, the amount of killing intent Ace can control is insignificant, but when compared to his tender age of around fifteen, he was definitely more than just a cultivation genius.
"No, it's only one of his eight guards. Unlike the rest of us who rely on our individual strength, the seventh Demon Lord is one of the main reasons why everyone else fears us.
"The eight guards of his are no weaker than us at our peak in a one to one battle, but if the six of us were to face eight of his guards at the same time, their formations and combat patterns would attack us relentlessly until we run out of strength in a matter of moments."
The Golden Talon Demon Lord spoke up for the first time, it's also at this moment that Ace understood why he didn't bother to speak up this entire time. It wasn't because the Golden Talon preferred to remain silent, but because it was the second Demon Lord that was equal to the seventh Demon Lord.
"But don't worry, he knows his limits. But of course, I have told him to dismiss the guards so that we can face him directly. To be more precise, Ace, this reunion of the seven Demon Lords will be in your hands right now."
The Golden Talon Demon Lord instructed before closing its eyes without the intention to elaborate any further on this matter.
These Demon Lords are so boring and dull...this thought came across Ace's mind as he turned around and continued to walk forward.
"Ace, it would be better for you to back away right now, there's no way you would be a match for the seventh Demon Lord even though his strength is sealed!"
The Turtle Demon Lord tried to caution Ace, hoping that he would be back off. Not only because he didn't want a young genius to fall, especially when Ace might help both humanity and demon beasts to coexist in peace in the future.
"I'm not someone to take back my own decisions. Since I've acclaimed that I'm going to recruit all seven Demon Lords of this dimension, I'll make sure to see through it regardless of any difficulties faced." Ace's determination didn't waver in the slightest, despite the constant persuasion of the six Demon Lords.
Memories of his past resurfaced into his mind, memories, which he could never forget in this lifetime.
From the day he picked up the sword, he was determined to roam the cultivation world one day, free from the shackles of the cultivation world as he takes things in his own stride, just like the swordmasters in those classical novels.
But fate pulled its strings on him once again, making him step onto a cryptical path of mysteries and revenge.
Ace walked ahead after the determination to do so, rendering the six Demon Lords no choice to follow him, only for thick fog to obscure their vision.
"What's the matter here?" Ace turned around and asked as he unsheathed his sword, slicing the incoming mass of energy into half, as the ball of energy dispersed into thin air.
"This should be the protection measures put up by the seventh Demon Lord, to be more precise, this was his only but strongest way of sealing up an entrance." The Turtle Lord explained in a dull tone.
"But when the seventh Demon Lord does this, it could only mean that it has a specific reason for doing so. There have only been two instances, where the seventh Demon Lord has created this layer of defence in the years I know him." The Silver Talon Demon Lord explained.
"The two of you should just keep silent if that's all the information you can provide." The Jade Serpent approached Ace and silenced the two Demon Lords who tried to explain the situation.
"Jade Serpent Demon Lord, do you perhaps know the reason behind the seventh Demon Lord creating this fog?" Ace asked politely as he sheathed his sword and turned around to greet the Jade Serpent Demon Lord.
"Yes, the others might not know about this, neither does the seventh Demon Lord know that I know about this classified information. This fog itself is the sole creation of one of his eight guards. All eight guards of his possess a unique trait and will only perform actions ordered by him. As for himself, he's only responsible for combat."
"But what does this have to do with the guards? If that's the case, why do people only recognise him and not his guards?" Ace asked again, only to realise that all eyes were on the Jade Serpent, even the Golden Talon Demon Lord participated in a conversation for once.
"The guards are part of him, the seventh Demon Lord is half-human, half-demon, he was a mixed breed disdained and scorned by both sides. Humans attempted to kill him while the demons persisted in keeping him alive to use him as a killing machine after he developed through their experiments."
From there, the Jade Serpent started to narrate the story of the seventh Demon Lord.
(To be written from the full perspective of the seventh Demon Lord after volume 2 ends, applies to other characters such as Lancelot and other noteworthy characters before volume 3 starts, will see through to it before the end of the year if possible, for now, please enjoy the novel)
The seventh Demon Lord relied on his own wits and strength to free himself from those lunatics, escaping frantically from his life for seven years, living in constant fear that those madmen will hunt him down and turn him inhumane. He hated his parents, he despised the demons, he challenged the devils within himself.
The seventh Demon Lord then awakened eight different souls of himself, each possessing a unique trait that helped him escape in the end, only to bump into the six of them when they were still young as they provided him with a home.
The seven of them were far from being the strongest in the cultivation world, they knew that better than most demons by the time they stepped into the Demon Emperor Realm, but on the day all of them stepped into the Demon Saint Completion realm, the seventh Demon Lord enemies descended from the Divine Realm to seize him.
In the end, we managed to kill four Great Demon Saints through our own strength, but our strength and our cultivation bodies were sealed up by them, to the Demon Lord Realm we are at now, but the only reason we won that battle, was because the seventh Demon Lord sacrificed his true soul to the other eight phantom souls.
(Realms from the Martial Saint, Great Saint and the Mystic Sage Realm, will be from the early stage to the middle stage, to the great stage, to the peak stage, to the completion stage. The difference between each minor realm will be the difference between heaven and earth without exaggeration)
This was the reason why all of them fear the seventh Demon Lord, who has forgotten them and treats him as enemies. To be more precise, they had no way to reach him and call out to his lost soul due to the eight other souls preventing them from bringing him back to his own consciousness.
"I understand the situation now, dear Demon Lords, please lend me your strength to slay those eight phantom souls together. Regardless of the troubles that lay ahead, I promise to bring the seventh Demon Lord back. I swear this, on the martial vow. If I go against my words, my cultivation will cease to increase from today onwards!"