The Demon King drank from a jewelled cup, his lips parting to reveal teeth as sharp as daggers. Demons moved forward presenting their gifts. One offered up a severed head of a righteous sect leader who offended the king, another offered gemstones pulsing with dark energy and the other a scroll inscribed with forbidden techniques. The king accepted them all, his gaze never leaving the concubine in his arms.
Xiang Yu was pushed forward and forced to move along with the queue. When it was his turn the female demon in front, her eyes sharp and assessing, gestured for his gift.
With a swift motion, Xiang Yu cut his palm and squeezed his hand into a fist. Blood dripped down to the marble floor and the air thickened. And the Demon King's attention shifted from his concubine towards Xiang Yu. He could sense his demonic aura in the young man's blood tainted with human blood.
"Father!" Xiang Yu's voice echoed through the court while holding his heart in his hands. He didn't dare breathe too loud his gaze never leaving his father.
The demon's reaction was as expected. He let out an evil, bone-chilling laugh reverberating off the black walls. Anger blazed in his eyes, and the demons around them trembled, sensing the impending storm.
The Demon King leaned forward, his throne creaking. "That bitch didn't get rid of you?... Where is she?" he demanded, the words dripping with venom. Xiang Yu's body froze as something sinister stirred in his blood.
His voice trembled as he uttered the words he had carried like a curse. "My mother... is dead."
The Demon King's laughter echoed through the court, a cruel symphony. "Dead?" he mocked. "Ah, what a tragedy. She was stunning."
Xiang Yu clenched his fists. He had hoped for anger, for remorse, but the king's eyes held only amusement. The truth was laid bare before him. The Demon King had never wanted to be a father to him. He even thought that Li Hua had long disposed of him. His longing for family, for connection, was a weakness and a joke.
"So why are you here? Did she send you my way?" asked the King the irritation in his voice unconcealed.
Xiang Yu bowed low, the cold floor biting into his knees. "I want to swear my servitude...," he whispered. "To you my lord."
The demon king's hand moved, and a force slammed Xiang Yu against a pillar across the court. The painful sounds of bones cracking mingled with the gasps of the high-ranking demons as they stepped out of the way. Pain shot through his body as he slammed to the ground.
The concubine slid from the king's lap, her lips curled into an evil smile. The Demon King rose, his aura overbearing, a tempest of cruelty and might. He spat derogatory curses as Xiang Yu struggled to get up. Blood dripped from his mouth to the floor. His right eye was partially blurred by the blood trickling down from his temple.
The Demon King approached, his steps echoing dominance. His eyes bore into Xiang Yu, and the court held its breath. The king's voice dripped with venom, berating him. "Servitude, ha. How laughable," he said his laughter a blade cutting through his soul. "You, a pathetic weak, filthy half blood want to serve me? What were you going to do? Serve me tea? Clean the floors, huh?" Laughter bounced off the walls and some demons chimed in mocking him.
Xiang Yu didn't flinch when his father raised his leg to kick him. He hugged the king's leg, defiance in his eyes. "If I'm filthy," he whispered with a twisted smile, "what does that make you... Father?"
The Demon King's anger flared. The laughter in the court died down as he stepped back his eyes dripping red. His hand curled around his serrated whip. With a cruel smile, he lashed out, the whip tearing through Xiang Yu's flesh. Blood sprayed, pain searing his flesh torn from his bone.
It lashed across Xiang Yu's back once more blood splattering on the wall and pillars. It shimmered with demonic energy, each strike searing into his blood, feeding on his pain. His father crouched down and ruthlessly gripped Xiang Yu's hair, yanking his head back. The blade at Xiang Yu's throat was sharp, its edge promising swift death. His fearless eyes met the king's abyssal gaze.
"I will finish what your mother should have done," the king hissed his words dripping with malice. His mother had tried to kill him when he was born and almost succeeded at her second attempt when she strangled him. Now his father was wielding a blade pressing it against his throat his intentions the same. Xiang Yu chuckled his laughter almost daring his father to do it. What was the point of living when the two people who were meant to love him unconditionally wanted him dead?
The cold blade slit his throat and his blood slowly formed a pool beneath him. His father brutally kicked his lifeless body with no emotion. Xiang Yu was sent hurtling down the thousand stairs. His body rolled down to the foot of the stairs as a sea of eyes coldly watched with no hint of pity. His blood slowly pooled around him, staining the ground.
The Demon King beckoned his servant and handed him the blade gleaming with Xiang Yu's blood. "Take care of it," he commanded before he returned to his throne, an evil smile on his lips. His whip coiled in his hand as if nothing had transpired.
***
The servant's gnarled hands lifted Xiang Yu's lifeless body, cradling it with a practised detachment. The mongrel's blood tainted with both human frailty and demon power stained the servant's palms. He'd done this before, incinerated other offspring of the Demon King, their existence erased like whispers in the wind. He ordered someone to grab the crude cart. The wooden cart's wheels creaked as the servant eased Xiang Yu's body into it.
The servant pushed the cart, the wheels grinding against the gravel. When he reached the edge of the realm he met his companion who was eagerly waiting for the body. The servant had been commanded to cremate the body but just like the other times they planned on eating his flesh and absorbing his demon core so they could improve their strength and power. His companion licked his sharp teeth his drool almost dripping out of his mouth. This meal was going to be delicious.