The Author's POV

"We've come a long way, everyone…"

Jezebeth stared at the sea of demons that stood before him. They numbered in the millions, and they all looked at him with fervent eyes.

The sight made Jezebeth smile.

'Who'd have thought that our race, which was on the verge of extinction a few centuries ago, is now the most dominant of all races.'

The sight…

It moved him, and the smile on his face deepened if ever so slightly.

"A lot of you are probably confused… perhaps even annoyed by the sudden orders, but I want to make something clear."

Jezebeth paused and looked down at all of the demons present.

"The order… It was something that I had passed down. It was a decision that I made, and not something that was made on the fly."

Jezebeth's soft vice traveled through the ears of each of the demons present.

It gently vibrated within their minds, and almost seemed to bewitch some of the demons as their eyes turned hazy and their bodies swayed.

"If you are dissatisfied with the orders, you can voice out your complaints now. I'm all ears."

Jezebeth stopped and looked at the army of demons in front of him. He waited for someone to speak up, but none dared.

The place was incredibly quiet, and all the demons looked at him with the same eyes as before.

"So it seems like no one here is dissatisfied…"

He didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed with this news.

He would've loved to have seen a few demons oppose him. Show him that they were different from the others, but he was disappointed to know that such demons didn't exist.

'I expected too much.'

Hiding his disappointment, Jezebeth raised his head up and looked at the demons in front of him once more.

"Now that I got out of the way, I am happy to announce that the war is officially over," Jezebeth continued before the other demons could cheer, "but! ..and I mean but! The real war hasn't even started yet so don't be too quick to rejoice."

As if pouring cold water on them, all of the demons that were previously showing excited expressions revealed disappointed ones.

Jezebeth continued.

"What we have dealt with at the moment is merely a taste. A taste of the true war that is about to come to us…"

What everyone had currently experienced was merely the prelude to the true war that was about to come.

Their forces were strong, and Jezebeth was confident in his chances of victory, but… that was before he came to learn of Kevin's action.

At the moment, he was uncertain.

He was uncertain about the imminent future.

What he previously thought was certain was no longer certain, and at the moment, all preparations seemed for naught.

That being said, there was actually one certainty… And that this was truly the last regression.

Having collected all of the Akashic fragments, he was certain and knew that whoever won between the two of them would be the ultimate winner.

With the Protectors gone, there was nothing stopping him from getting to the records.

In fact, there was

certain someone who held the key to getting to the

familiar with, and the one entity that he could truly claim

ever beaten

anymore now that Kevin has given

made his core palpitate, and his gaze shifted toward his right. He felt

right, I'm not completely

little something

ready. We

gazed at the army of demons in front

dictate whether we will be the only race that exists within the

***

on

just the two of us at the moment, and

"I'm not crazy."

"Like hell, you aren't."

"That's kind of rude."

truth doesn't make

"Oh yeah, it does."

"Then you're delusional."

rude again… Is this how you

and me for who

I had lost count.

on, you know best that I'm making the right

he was coming from, I still don't think my choice

perfect sense, and

That being said…

get used to this new

was completely at a loss

deal more emotion than he ever had in the past, and some of

the old Octavious

much as I despised the old Octavious, he was incredibly rational and never let his

Octavious, who appeared to be on an emotional high, if one

a bad thing, but in situations

the blowback that is going to be directed toward you in the near future? Do you realize that the majority of people will be angry with you because of the decision you make? Do you

moment and listen

let out a sigh and pinched the middle of

to have reached his ears, and

I continued.

begin, I will not be forcing anyone into

stated this to Maylin and the

going to do that, I'm confident that there won't be any protests... and if

be that

I am doing is merely providing them with a safe haven to help them avoid this war and not die

be a burden on me,

I would place them at the bottom of my priority list of the things that I needed

allow them to become

"Okay, I get it."

front of me,

returned to normal for the first time in a while, and he fell into

bit of an overstatement since this was supposed to be his normal

"Alright."

his head to meet my line of sight. Rubbing his chin, he

going to do this, how much

"How much?"

"As in cores."

"Oh."