Chapter 46: The First Move.

Bane paused.

A cold light shot from his eyes, stabbing straight at the wolf-headed commander.

“By the way, let me tell you a bit of good news,” he said calmly.

“According to reports from the front line, that wolf clan general of yours who was fighting on the western front was personally torn apart by Ravina in yesterday’s battle.”

“Not even his soul managed to escape.”

“Lies!” the wolf-headed commander roared.

Yet a tremor had already crept into his voice.

“You dare fabricate such a lie!”

“Are you trying to incite internal conflict?!”

“Are you rebelling against the Demon King already?!”

“Your ambition is far too obvious!”

Bane did not answer.

He merely raised his bony hand lightly.

And clapped.

“Clap. Clap. Clap.”

Three soft sounds.

In an instant, a sinister wind swept through the hall.

Six figures wearing black bridal gowns appeared soundlessly in the corners of the chamber.

Their bodies were slender.

Their faces were completely hidden beneath layers of black veils.

They moved like specters.

Slowly, they positioned themselves behind six demon commanders.

“Bane! What are you trying to do?!” a lizard-man commander suddenly stood up and shouted.

“Are you really going to betray the Demon King?!”

“Betray the Demon King?” Bane chuckled and shook his head.

The blue flames in his eye sockets flared brightly.

“Why would I betray her?”

He swept his gaze across the room.

His tone suddenly turned cold and sharp.

“She is the one who betrayed us.”

“She replaced us old ministers with scraps from the human race.”

“She numbed our will with false peace.”

“With loyalty tests and resource allocations, she hollowed out our authority step by step.”

“She is no longer the Demon King who led our race out of division.”

“She is a tyrant who butchers her old followers with a blade of gentleness.”

He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the six veiled women.

“Now, I will set things right.”

“And you—”

His voice dropped abruptly, like a serpent hissing.

“—are the first batch of chess pieces I throw onto the board.”

Before his words had even faded, the six veiled women raised their hands in unison.

Their fingertips brushed across their veils.

“Rip—!”

The black veils scattered like ashes.

What was revealed were not human faces.

They were six twisted, ferocious ghostly visages formed entirely of deathly aura.

The next second, six streams of black smoke burst from their mouths like living creatures.

They shot forward in flashes of lightning.

They drilled straight into the seven orifices of the commanders before them.

The six female figures vanished instantly.

“Ahhh—!!!”

Screams erupted at once.

The six commanders convulsed violently.

Their eyes rolled back.

Blood poured from their mouths and noses.

Their limbs twisted unnaturally.

It was as if countless insects were gnawing at them from within.

Their armor wailed under the surge of magic.

Eerie black patterns surfaced beneath their skin.

Only a few breaths later—

The convulsions stopped.

The six commanders slowly opened their eyes.

But the gaze within them no longer belonged to themselves.

In their pupils remained only absolute obedience and reverence toward Bane.

“We pay our respects to the leader,” the six spoke in unison.

Their voices were perfectly synchronized.

Completely devoid of emotion.

Bane watched them.

The blue flames in his eyes danced with delight.

“Very good,” he said with a light laugh.

His tone was as casual as if arranging an ordinary hunt.

“Carry out my instructions.”

“Remember to do it cleanly.”

“Do not let the Demon King detect anything.”

“Yes, Leader,” the six replied in unison.

They turned around.

They exited the council chamber in silence.

The stone doors closed slowly.

Only Bane remained in the sealed room.

He stood at the boundary between candlelight and shadow.

He raised a bony hand.

His fingers gently rubbed his jaw.

“This Demon King is truly foolish,” he muttered softly.

His voice brimmed with mockery and pleasure.

“To entrust such a critical position to me…”

The corners of his mouth slowly lifted.

A grotesque, triumphant smile appeared.

“Then I’ll give you a grand gift.”

Standing at the center of the chamber, the skeletal being swept his hand through the air.

A streak of ghostly light appeared.

A message formed from deathly energy slithered deep into the ground like a serpent.

Moments later, the air at the center of the chamber began to twist and condense.

A hunched figure slowly materialized.

It was Eben.

His projection hovered opposite Bane.

Cold, ancient magical fluctuations radiated from him.

“Bane,” Eben said.

His voice was hoarse yet calm.

“You summoned me.”

“For what purpose?”

Bane tapped the stone table beside him with his bony fingers.

“Click. Click.”

“Eben,” he said with a smile.

His tone was relaxed.

“The batch of goods I asked you to prepare earlier.”

“Are they ready?”

Eben did not answer immediately.

The eyes hidden beneath his wrappings rested quietly on Bane.

After a moment, he spoke.

His tone was serious.

“Bane, don’t make this too big.”

“I do not wish to see more demons harmed because of this.”

At his words, the rhythm of Bane’s tapping abruptly quickened.

“Hahaha…” he laughed softly.

The sound was thick with mockery.

“Eben, sigh.”

“You’ve grown weaker and weaker.”

“Since when did you start caring about the lives of those low-grade demons?”

He stepped closer.

His skeletal frame trembled with intense emotion.

“You and I have lived for so long.”

“We’ve witnessed countless rises and falls.”

“Entire races wiped out.”

“So what if a few die?”

“To overthrow that woman, this sacrifice isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth.”

Eben remained calm.

As if he had expected this response.

“Although each demon is born different, some strong, some weak,” he said slowly.

His voice was low but firm.

“That is precisely why we must not discard any of them lightly.”

“Every demon has their own domain of strength.”

“And most demons are inherently weak.”

“They are the true foundation of our race.”

“Foundation?” Bane sneered.

The blue flames in his eyes surged higher.

“You keep talking about foundations.”

“But what you really care about is that tentacle girl, Ferrier, isn’t it?”

He mocked coldly.

“What, planning to pass your legacy to her already?”

“Honestly, why bother with trials at all?”

“Why don’t you just kneel before Morgana and say—”

“‘Ah, I submit to you!’”

“‘I will offer all my life’s work, all the knowledge tower I control, to that foreign woman you sent!’”

The air froze.

Eben fell silent.

He knew Bane was venting.

They were both immortals who had lived for a thousand years.

They had once fought side by side.

They had later parted ways over ideology.

Bane’s anger was not only directed at him.

It was also fear—fear of his own millennia-old foundation being purged.

After a long while, Eben finally spoke.

His voice was still steady.

“I have no intention of giving up.”

“What I possess will not be surrendered lightly.”

“If she wishes to learn knowledge, I will not stop her.”

“After all, knowledge should not be monopolized.”

He paused.

His tone turned cold.

“But if she attempts to seize by force everything I protect…”

“I will make her pay the corresponding price.”

Bane listened.

Then suddenly laughed coldly.

He shook his head.

“Alright, alright.”

He waved his hand impatiently.

As if shooing away an annoying fly.

“I don’t want to hear your grand principles.”

“I’ll ask you just one thing.”

“The task I gave you.”

“Did you do it properly?”

Eben did not grow angry at his attitude.

He knew that the Bane before him was no longer the old friend who could reason calmly.

He was a beast driven by fear.

Still, Eben replied calmly.

“Bane.”

“The enslavement runes you asked me to apply have been carved into the interior of that batch of magic crystal ore.”

“The runes resonate with the ore’s natural magic.”

“They will interfere with all detection spells.”

“They cannot be discovered.”

He added slowly.

“No one will notice.”

The blue flames in Bane’s eye sockets flared violently.

Like twin fires ignited in the darkness.

He laughed.

Low.

Pleasant.

Like a serpent tasting blood.

“Eben…” he said softly.

For once, a hint of genuine approval entered his voice.

“Well done.”

He raised his bony hand.

He clapped lightly twice.

As if applauding a tragedy about to unfold.

“It seems…”

“This game is finally about to begin.”