The master spy or Puss in the boot adventures

Тhe return of the Demon Lord 11, Part 199

The demon's voice dropped to a low, mesmerizing whisper, his words heavy with the weight of dark revelation. "For you see, my true aim has never been mere conquest or domination. No, my ambitions extend far beyond the petty squabbles of gods and mortals alike."

He leaned in closer, his breath hot and rank against the witches' faces. His eyes burned with a feverish intensity, twin pits of swirling madness that threatened to engulf their very souls.

"Through the seeds of the Ether embedded within my being, I seek to unravel the very foundations of reality itself. To tear down the walls between dimensions, to shatter the boundaries that separate the myriad planes of existence. And in the ensuing chaos, to remake the multiverse in my own image, a realm where the Cosmic Dreamer and I shall become one once more, our consciousnesses merged into a single, all-encompassing totality."

The demon straightened, his form seeming to swell and grow with each passing moment, as though the sheer force of his dark ambition was causing him to transcend the limits of his physical being. The swamp around them warped and twisted, the trees bending and writhing like tortured souls, the water churning with eldritch energies.

"And now, my dear witches," he purred, his voice at once seductive and utterly terrifying, "you have the privilege of bearing witness the Rise of the Demon Lord, One Horn. But before that one of you must die!"

The demon's grip tightened around Gnash's throat, his obsidian claws drawing thin rivulets of ichor that gleamed like liquid onyx in the sickly light. The witch's struggles grew weaker, her shrieks fading to strangled gasps as the life was slowly crushed from her body.

Maleficent, tears of rage and desperation streaking her withered cheeks, flung herself at the demon's feet. "Please, master!" she begged, her voice cracking with emotion. "Spare my sister! We are but lowly servants, unworthy of your wrath. Have mercy, great one, and we shall dedicate ourselves to your every dark desire!"

The demon's burning gaze shifted to the prostrate witch, a cruel smile playing across his lips. "Mercy?" he rumbled, the word dripping with mocking contempt. "You presume much, to ask for such a boon. What could you possibly offer me, that I might be swayed to stay my hand?"

Maleficent's mind raced, desperate to find some bargaining chip, some leverage that could tilt the balance in their favor. And then, in a flash of dark inspiration, she remembered the ancient tomes they had pored over, the moldering scrolls and cracked vellum pages that spoke of the Unicorn's legendary origin.

"The Celestial Essence!" she blurted out, her words tumbling forth in a rush of manic hope. "The divine spark that once burned within you, before your fall from grace! It is the source of your true power, the wellspring of your ultimate might. But it was sundered from you, hidden away by those who feared your ascendance!"

The demon's eyes narrowed, a flicker of something - uncertainty, perhaps even fear - passing across his chiseled features. His grip on Gnash's throat loosened fractionally, allowing the witch to draw a shuddering, rasping breath.

"You speak of matters beyond your ken, witch," he growled, but there was an undercurrent of tension in his voice, a subtle tremor that betrayed his unease. "The Celestial Essence is lost to me, scattered to the cosmic winds. It cannot be reclaimed."

Maleficent seized upon his hesitation, her eyes gleaming with feverish intensity. "But it can, master!" she insisted. "The secrets of its location are hidden within the very scrolls that foretold your coming. The Celestial Essence was divided and sealed within nine sacred relics, scattered across the planes. Only by reuniting them can your full power be restored!"

The demon's gaze turned distant, as though seeing beyond the fetid swamp, beyond the mortal realm itself. "Nine relics," he murmured, his voice a low, contemplative rumble. "Yes, I can feel  them now, calling to me across the vast expanse of the multiverse..  Each one imbued with a fragment of my lost Essence, each one a key to unlocking the full measure of my ascendant might."

He fixed Maleficent with a piercing stare, his eyes smoldering with a mixture of avarice and dark anticipation. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he released his grip on Gnash's throat, allowing the witch to collapse at his feet, gasping and retching.

"Very well, witch," the demon growled, his voice echoing through the twisted trees like distant thunder. "You shall have your chance to prove your worth. Bring me the nine relics that contain my scattered essence, and I shall spare your miserable lives."