The trio was making their way back to Hel when they came across a large group of demons. Well, Demons and the Dark Races.
The humans called them all demons but the true demons distinguished themselves between those of the dark races. Demons and Dark Races were similar in most things except their rank and power. Those who were called Demons were B rank and higher while Dark Races were E-C ranks. The power of Dark race members was closer to humans and other humanoid species like them while Demons could only be compared to by Heroes and Great Races.
Take Kore for example. She was a member of the Oni race. The weakest members of their race were B-rank. This gave them an entire two ranks over humans, who were D-ank, and a huge advantage over them.
Kore rode up to the group and was greeted by several familiar and frustrated faces of her husband, head maid, and vice-commander. Each saw the little bundle in Kore's arms and let out sighs of reliefs.
"We agreed for you to only head out about 5 kilometers with your guards. Why did you go over 50 and ditch them? We have been looking for you for hours!" berated her husband, Soren. He was a Devil of the A-rank with red skin and leather wings on his back.
Their forces had encountered an ambush and he did not want his battle loving wife to get involved since she was with child. She already was supposed to stay home but had strong-armed him into letting her accompany him to the battlefield. He figured it would only be a small battle and that there was no true danger.
He felt sorry for his wife since she had not been able to get into a battle for over a half a year due to being pregnant. He wanted to spoil her a little since he knew how much it was killing her to not to go on a slaughtering spree.
Since they also brought over 5,000 forces with them, he was sure he could protect her from anything that happened. But when they were ambushed by over 10,000 enemies, she had to be sent away from the battlefield.
He was less worried about her safety and more the safety of their child. Kore would have fought with reckless abandon and while there were few who could hurt her, it was better safe than sorry.
Kore was sent out of the battle under the protection of her head maid and loyal vice-commander. But she had ended up abandoning them by having her hell-steed go all out and run away.
They could only watch in shock and try to catch her but were unfortunately unable to. Kore had abandoned all of her companions swiftly on a whim like how she made most decisions.
Once she had finally returned, it was understandable that they were all upset with her but they were unable to do anything about it. The woman was a true monster without equal and no one could control her actions.
Kore held a finger to her lips before pointing at the baby as if telling them to keep quiet. The others looked at her in shock.
They could smell the blood that was on her that obviously came from humans. They knew that the woman had most likely gotten into a fight soon after her child was born. What they did not know is that she battled literally seconds after giving birth.
If Soren knew that, he would definitely fight it out with her even if he knew the outcome was his total and absolute defeat.
Kore decided to change the subject before anyone asked her any more questions about what happened before.
"Let's start making our way back to base. Lucy is waiting to hear about how you dealt with those traitors and their human allies."
She did not even wait for a reply before riding her steed past them with her baby in hand. The head maid and vice commander shared a look before following her. Soren had no choice but to order the soldiers to start marching back to the capital.
The trip would take them a few weeks using the armies marching speed even though the elites could return within days if they truly wanted to.
During the travel, the little baby oni became a favorite among all the demons in the army. He gave out the cutest laughs and made the cutest faces once he was drunk on wine.
After debating for 4 days on what to name the child, the husband and wife duo finally settled on Mordred for the baby. Their reasoning was that they wanted him to be a great lord who would take whatever he wished.
They did not know just how much their name would truly affect him.
--3 and a half weeks later--
Mordred was sucking and nibbling on the head maid's, El's, fingers while both of his parents were directing the army. The duo was sitting atop a carriage as El pointed out all of the things that were within sight to entertain the baby. She did not want him to act up and start crying.
Mordred was a Blue Oni who was known for its intelligence and steady personalities. Even as babies, they rarely acted out unless they were very upset so El's worries were for nothing. During the entire trip, Mordred had only cried a single time and that was when his mother gave him to much wine.
Her reasoning was,
"We are Oni. It is fine for him to drink this much. He needs to learn to drink while he is young so that others cannot out drink him when he is older."
Everyone felt there was something wrong with what she said but no one tried to dispute it. Among the Demon races, Oni had the second smallest population right after Weredragons and only numbered in the hundreds. Kore would not risk her son's health and one of the few Blue Oni just to see him get drunk for a bit.
"Oh. There goes the capital of Hel, Tartarus. That is where all the Demons stay except for the rare few. That is also where the Demon Emperor and 7 Demon Lords reside. See how the walls are in a weird shape compared to most cities? That is because the city is divided into 8 districts.
The central district is where the Demon Emperor resides. The rest of the city is divided into 7 other districts which are named after the sin of the Demon Lord who rules them. We are currently heading toward the Wrath gate since that is where we stay.
Each Demon Lord is the ruler of a certain Sin. Your momma is the Demon Lord of Wrath and said to be in the top 3 of most powerful Demons in Hel. Her two competitors are the Demon Emperor and the Demon Lord of Gluttony."
Before El could go on, a hand hit her on the back of her head. When she turned around to see who it was, it turned out to be Kore herself who was still in her Red Oni form.
Seeing that she got caught, El stuck her tongue out playfully. El was a Demon and had been friends with Kore since they were children. She had chosen to work as the head maid under Kore due to some issues and this being the only way she could avoid them.
"Stop talking nonsense. I surpassed both of them years ago. Neither of them dares to battle me though. Always saying something about, 'Our battle would cause too much destruction if we go all out' and whatnot. The cowards!"
El just laughed at her words while all the soldiers around them broke out into cold sweat. Kore's words were traitorous and if anyone else said them, they would end up dead without even leaving a corpse behind.
Only Kore dared to speak like in the Hel. Not even the Demon Emperor of Pride would speak those words confidently.
The army soon passed through the large gates that protected the Wrath district before making their wat to the barracks. Once they arrived and counted everyone, Soren, Kore, El, and Mordred made their way to the central district and to the Demon Emperor's castle.
The group of 4 did not have to wait at the gate and were immediately allowed entry. They were the and with one of the Demon Lords whose authority was above all royalty except for the emperor themselves.
As soon as the group walked inside the foyer, they heard a loud, feminine voice from above.
"Nephew!!!!!!!!!"