165 Days to the Deadline

On his two-hundredth day as the Demon Emperor, David called all of his inner council to the throne room.

Standing beside his throne was a gigantic, looming wolf that growled at them.

It was ten metres long with snow white fur, deep red eyes, and it was baring its sword-like teeth to them.

“My council, today marks the beginning of the end of the Holy Empire of Themis.”

It had been eighty days since the assassination of Duke Cavan and David had spent most of that time crafting a plan for his overwhelming victory.

He had been making preparations for his two-hundredth day for it was the day he would finally execute his plan to destroy the Holy Empire.

His army had grown substantially and he was in the process of acquiring new allies.

Both Jorōgumo and Mímir's spies had spread throughout the entirety of the Holy Empire, and had even begun spreading further to the north and west.

However, one thing had always managed to evade David’s reach and that was sourcing strong metals to use for his and his general’s equipment.

I’d hoped that we would’ve uncovered at least one suitable metal to use by now, but we’ve hit nothing but dead ends, David thought. My summoned armour’s probably very weak in comparison to the best this world has to offer, so I definitely need new equipment.

Mímir mentioned a few metals he’d heard adventurers talking about at the Hierophant, but it was all very rare and expensive, and there were only a few kilograms of it in Stonefall. I’ll have to get him and Jorōgumo to increase their efforts in finding strong metals.

Further, during the last eighty days, David had been in constant contact with Kella.

The two even exchanged letters at least twice a month.

David had given Kella an address to a small house in Themis which, in reality, was a base for the Ravens and spiders investigating the city. Whenever a letter did arrive for David, Jorōgumo’s spiders passed the information to her and she passed it onto David.

Per his orders, both she and the Ravens were sworn to silence about the letters and were never to be mentioned to anyone else.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for Kella, I’d probably have gone insane by now.

Whenever he wanted to take a break from his duties, he would visit Kella wherever she was. They’d spend the whole day and night together, then David returned home to the Dread Keep early the next morning.

If his generals asked him where he’d been, David would lie or tell them it wasn’t any of their business.

. …If there’s one part of my plan that I’m uncertain about, it’s you, Kella.

For now, David pushed her to one side and continued speaking to his council.

“You might be wondering who my new servant beside me is.” The wolf snarled. “This is Fenrir, the Wolf of the End, and she’s able to transform into a humanoid form like the twins are.”

David snapped his fingers and the wolf’s body began to glow a pale blue. Its body began to shrink into the form of a tall, muscular woman with wolf-like ears and a tail.

Her limbs were half-human and half-wolf, and she was wearing a loose-fitting white shirt and torn black shorts, leaving most of her skin exposed.

Her hair, like the fur on her arms and legs, were a beautiful white colour and her eyes were a fierce ice blue.

“Normally, I would have Fenrir introduce herself properly, but there are more pressing matters to attend to. I trust you find that acceptable, Fenrir.”

“Of course, Dark Lord!” Fenrir loudly proclaimed, slamming her fist against her chest in salute. “This is a special day for the Dark Lord, and I wouldn’t dare ruin it for you.”

David smiled. “Good. Within fifty days’ time, the Holy Empire of Themis will fall.”

The generals, Jessica and Jorōgumo excitedly cheered and mumbled amongst themselves, whereas Rebecca, Eva and Hilda looked on calmly, not showing any emotion on their faces.

Eva and Rebecca aren’t shaking like they used to.

Either they’re fully committed to serving me, or maybe they’ve just resigned themselves to their fate.

“My council, it has been a long, and difficult, journey. We have had many great successes, made many great allies, and.” David lost his smile as he fixed his eyes on his first wave of generals. “We’ve had many setbacks.” The twins and Fenrir smiled smugly at the original three generals who lowered their heads a little.

“However, as of now, all those previous grievances shall be forgiven.”

Stunned, all of the generals turned their gazes to David, and Mania snuck in a snide grin towards the newer generals.

“From here on out, I shall not judge you for your previous failures and shall only judge you for what you do now as we move forward. I have orders for each of you, personalised to meet your specific skillsets, so I would be very disappointed if you did something stupid like go off on your own judgement without my knowledge or permission.”

I spent weeks agonising over how best to use each of you, not just as we take Themis down but for when we declare ourselves to the world.

As long as they don’t do anything stupid or get discovered whilst obeying my orders, then we stand a real chance of overthrowing the Holy Empire.

“Fenrir, as you have only just been summoned, you’ll be assigned to the Hierophant as their bouncer for the time being. Mímir, Mania: make sure to thoroughly eradicate the Sons of Tartarus once this Herakles attacks. Scum like that are not worthy to be part of my empire. Remember, time is off the essence after they attack and none are to escape. Spare whatever slaves you find and bring them here.”

“We shall swiftly deal with them when the time comes, your majesty,” Mímir said with a small bow.

“I will also make sure that we don’t cause a disturbance like before, Master,” Mania added, curtseying with a seductive smile.

“Good. Then, let us begin.” David snapped his fingers and, from the shadows, the Ravens emerged, scrolls in hand, and began handing out the council’s orders.

They each opened their orders and began to study them intently.

“Soon, the Satyr Skull will fly above all the cities in Themis and the world will know of the Demon Emperor.”

There were one hundred and sixty-five days to go before Eris’s deadline and the summoned heroes would arrive, and David didn’t intend to waste a single one of them.