Supreme Monarch

"Peace you say. Do you intend to go to war with the entire continent for such a silly concept?"

The smile on Ferlis's face had completely disappeared as he stared daggers at the one sitted in the high black chair without a change in expression. His demeanor seems to demonstrate his rising hostility that could explode at a careless answer to his rather provocative question.

As a Great Demon Lord commonly regarded as the strongest Greats amongst the Five, he didn't need to release his aura to intimidate his opponents. His presence was more than enough to swallow the wills of lesser beings and right now, everyone could sense that he was wrestling control over the space around them with their demon lord.

However—

"If necessary."

"..."

Hearing the Demon Lord's immediate response without a change in his expression as though completely disregarding the grueling tension in the air, caused Ferlis to be momentarily short on words as he just stared blankly at Tyler before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"Hahahaha... spoken like a true Great demon lord candidate. I'm quite impressed. You already possess the power and resources to consider such a thing so I can't challenge that goal of yours. In a way, the Morningstar family does share a similar thought process. That may be why we tend to stray away from the norm too often."

Ferlis smiled brightly despite Tyler's lack of a reaction to his cleverly worded sentence and intimidating tactic. There were several reasons why he had done what he did but he didn't dwell on the outcome for long as he finally got a response.

"...Vampire Lord, Ferlis. It is about time we move on to the situation at hand. So can you get to the reason why you had sought an audience with me?"

Ferlis didn't take any offense to Tyler's blunt response and lack of interest in the Morningstar family. In fact, he couldn't. The truth of the matter was that this endeavor may have been too much of a risk for his family simply to satisfy his wild intuitions.

The reason why he felt this way was not just because of the strength disparity between his current party and the Demon Lord's forces. He hadn't brought his strongest force with him as he didn't want to ignite a conflict between the two families, it didn't matter how inferior they were to a true Great, he just felt that this would bring about the most interesting outcome of all and his intuition was seldom wrong.

However, the fact that the armored knights that had escorted him thus far, who were specially hand-picked for their versatility and strength, had immediately been pinned down by a stronger force, whose existence was completely beyond their expectations, completely surprise him.

The original report he received from the Undead war had clearly outlined the strength, structure, and limitations of the Darknar family's forces beit failed to comprehend the strength of the Demon Lord himself.

However, what they had observed was enough to provide the Great Five with an estimate of the Darknar Family's strength, even though they knew no one was foolish enough to expose themselves without maintaining a hidden trump card.

However, they must've all assumed that the said hidden trump card would be the hidden treasure of the Demon King. So Ferlis believed he had chosen the appropriate strength of his unit, that would not be too threatening, and could not be intimidated by the Darknar family.

Yet, for some reason, their estimation had been completely off to the point that he was wondering if his intel division had been stupid enough to be so completely fooled by the mere illusion.

His senses could also pick out members of the crowd that were capable of rivaling or even surpassing those 4th Tier Knights of his. Such a thing should not be possible according to the report. It was as though the lot of them had suddenly grown stronger overnight.

Regardless of such an impossible feat, those unexpected individuals weren't even the reason for his concerns. The issue was the so-called six Great Demon Generals that stood beside the Darknar demon Lord.

He had read the report about their absurd strength feats but seeing them in person was a treat that made him both excited and worried. Currently, there were only four of the six Generals present in the hall and the weakest amongst them was the aged man that had withstood his aura of hate like it was nothing.

He couldn't feel any divine aura from this man dressed as a butler, yet, he could tell that he was fully capable of going toe to toe with a demigod of Selene's level— the black-haired beauty standing to his left.

While Silver—who was considered the strongest mage in the Morningstar family— was strong enough to handle him with relative ease, there was still the matter of the three girls that were yet to make any significant moves.

One of them even seemed to be almost capable of rivaling him. There was a chance that given the right use of a God Tier artifact, she could actually kill him, or at the very least neutralize him for a while.

Of course, he had his own God Tier artifact so such a scenario was most likely never going to happen. Still, if a fight was to break out right now, he was most likely the only one that would survive.

However, this glaring disadvantage was also within Ferlis's expectations, and frankly speaking, it may prove more favorable in furthering his agendas than if it was the other way around.

The smile on Ferlis's face did not change as he casually responded to Tyler's question while the two female vampires beside him maintained their position.

"There really isn't any major reason for my appearance here today. I simply wanted to make the acquaintance of the man who had taken the world by storm and brought the entire demon continent to a halt. Such a feat is not possible for just anyone you know."

Ferlis carefully watched the expression on the Demon Lord's face but unfortunately, he was unable to read his emotions. It was safe to say that skills such as mind-reading and charm would be easily resisted by such an opponent.

While there was a chance he could be honorable to such ability. The risk far outweighed the rewards of taking such an action.

"Is that right?"

The Demon Lord's response was curt and a little distant but Ferlis could sense his willingness to listen as asked in a questioning tone that prompted a further explanation.

"Indeed. Once again, I apologize for the intrusion earlier, and I do hope we can form a mutually beneficial relationship with the Darknar family in the future. However, you will have to show me more than just the strength of your family if you want to become the allies of the Morningstars. A first step would be to step into the ranks of the Greats where you can attempt to stand on equal footing with us."

No matter how hard Ferlis tried, he could not predict the thoughts of this Demon Lord and couldn't shake the feeling that his mind was being read. Or at the very least, he felt as though his actions till now had been foretold which was why these demons seem to lack the proper reactions.

This was why he had chosen to attach an extra condition in his last statement. His original plan had been to ally with this Demon Lord if he found him interesting enough to warrant it.

However, despite him meeting his expectations, Ferlis felt as though backing off now and acting frivolously— which was the norm for him— would affect his image in the eyes of this family which was not something that holds well for the start of any alliance.

Something like that would only serve to create more work for him in the future. So he quickly decided to confidently make that statement in an attempt to remind them of the vast disparity between an already established Great Family, and one that was yet to get its bearings.

However—

"I see.. then let it be so."

"...Urh... right, yes."

Tyler had completely ignored Ferlis's statement and agreed so fast that it left him dumbfounded for a moment. It was almost disappointing and Ferlis found himself searching for words to respond. He had not expected things to go so smoothly.

"Excellent. Given as we've come to an understanding on this topic. Shall we get to your next goal for this meeting, or by chance, is that all you came here for?"

Although Tyler's tone remained the same all throughout his question. There was just something within his tone that seemed to rub Silver and Selene the wrong way.

Their eyebrows creased and their eyes narrowed, but their auras did not flare and they almost effortlessly retained their composure. As direct vassals serving under their king, they could not make a move without first reviving their master's permissions, even when it involves their master's honor.

"You continue to impress me Demon Lord Ty, very well then. Let's get to the second reason why we've come all this way just to meet you."

Without glancing to his sides, the female vampire to his right instantly pulled out a scroll from thin air as she approached Albert— who had only moved to the side after Tyler's command earlier— and presented it to him.

After waiting for a moment, giving Albert the time to go through the letter before bringing it to his master, Silver spoke calmly and emotionlessly.

"Please allow me to introduce myself to your Grace. I am known as Silver Morningstar, The Court Mage of the Morningstar family as well as my lord's personal assistant."

With that, she paused yet again for Tyler to receive and read through the letter before lowering her head slightly as a show of respect that surely did not exist in her eyes before.

"On behalf of my Lord, the Vampire King, Ferlis Drax Morningstar. I announce your formal invitation to this century's summit of the Greats, located on the Rejlaus island, between the demon continent and the dwarven continent, a neutral zone."

The complete details of what this so-called summit of the Greats truly is, were written in the parchment Tyler had received and it basically states that this was simply the gathering of most of the higher-ranking members of the Great Five once every century to discuss various aspects of the demon continent as well as maintaining their various pacts between the families.

This was also how they usually communicated their intentions to attempt breaking the barrier of the Darknar castle before the arrival of the new Darknar family.

Obviously, this also meant that this was a place where Five almost God-level beings gather to decide the fate of the entire demon continent. It was a wonder why they had never attempted to dominate the entire world.

"For what reason?"

After taking a moment to go through the details on the entire parchment. The demon lord casually returned his gaze to the Boeing vampire mage and asked that question.

"While this century's summit had been called earlier than expected to address various topics of urgent nature. The main aim this time will be the inauguration of the Sixth Great Noble Family. Each Great Family had nominated a single family for this position and my lord, the Vampire King, Ferlis Drax Morningstar, has chosen your Grace's family as a potential candidate."

"An invitation? Potential candidates? Are you by chance mocking me, vampire king, Ferlis."

"..."