Stratos of the Black Blood.
Venus of the Divine Blood.
And last, but most certainly not least, "Indigo" of the Cursed Blood.
These three families held the strongest contenders for those who could dare to claim the title of most powerful entity within the realms. Still, among even those families, only one individual had dared to claim the title of strongest. At least until a certain demoness deigned to affirm it as her own.
As such that demoness made herself as powerful as possible and believed victory was all but assured for her accession to being unbeatable. At least until her own blood betrayed her. Now that very demon was watching as her most loyal subordinate explained basic principles to the girl who summoned her.
She was not in the physical realm, though, as she narrowed her blazing violet eyes at the "screen" that hovered in front of her throne.
Rather than being in her true fiery visage when she appeared in front of Elizabeth; she was slovenly resting in her throne of skulls in a human enough body. Of course - even this form - she was not truly human as could be seen with her crown of horns. The two most prominent of which were front & centre.
Not quite literally centre but they still proudly showed off her origin as an oni. Starting off the same shade of her corpse-pale skin only to darken to red then finally purple as they stood far taller than any of the others that she had. Her lips parted to show off her viscous set of savage flesh tearing fangs.
Those black markings across her face and the bits of her body that were revealed under her loose robe did little to disguise her expressions.
And she was very expressive of her opinions.
Although there was some lingering intrigue about the girl's sudden explosion of curiosity - her boredom was completely undisguised. One hand tapped the throne's armrest while the other cradled her cheek with her elbow acting as a fulcrum to keep her steady. Waiting for something of intrigue to happen.
She thought with the well founded belief that watching Necrohamster go on about statistics and logistics was hardly her thing. If logistics were her thing then she wouldn't need the cuddle critter to do it all of that for her in the demon realm. Not that her form of ruling required much in the way of that.
Her gaze, as such, fell away from that of the girl & archdemon to instead travel across the little pocket space that she found herself in. One one side were the hot winds & the other held icy winds that came together to make the tribulation of the demon realm. Those opposing elements split around her.
Making a wasteland of ice & fire that vied for dominance - most divine figures wouldn't even be able to live long under their power yet she sat unbothered..
Right under her was a coliseum that was held above the conflicting tribulations by several heavy chains that had vicious spikes sticking out from them. Making climbing up them a quick ticket to falling into the death pit below. Sadly there was no one down there to keep her amused.
"I doubt Necrohamster is even aware…"
What was he not aware of?
The fact that she wasn't actually sleeping in that coffin but had in fact transferred herself into the mindscape of the little girl.
Her mindscape is just one of countless in the 8 layers of the dreamscape.
One the demoness had alleviated due to just cohabitating peacefully inside of it.
It was hardly surprising as the dreamscape was a "realm" that could be thought of as a collective consciousness linked to the physical via the bridge known as a soul. A place which was constantly shifting and yet also existed in dimensions that a human mind couldn't fathom. In other words… Dangerous.
Even her fellows at the peak of the totem pole of power would need to be cautious when traversing or dealing with this place. Although they were at least more aware of things than others. Yet she could be said to be far above nearly all of them in her understanding of this place due to one simple reason.
Her desire for strength.
"How long ago did I give birth to the incubus to explore the wonders of the realm of minds?"
She pondered to herself as she wished she had at least brought some paints with her so that she could allay the boredom she felt. Her only reason for patience towards her plan was that her stubbornness overcame her impatience as it often did. Afterall, she didn't like it when things didn't go her way.
Yet reminiscing on her vast knowledge of the dreamscape brought with it the memories of when things didn't go her way yet exceeded her expectations completely. A cute little niece-cum-daughter in law that she loved to dote on. Especially when that doting came in the form of a brutal display of martial arts.
"That foolish son truly outdid himself by bringing Lizzy into our fold and even supplemented our diversity with the succubus coming into existence thanks to their paring~."
Those lips curling up into a smile which came out as being savage & cruel on account of those same lips still being peeled back to reveal her viciously sharp fangs.
Her bell-like voice breaking into a surprisingly sweet giggle.
However, if anything, even that just made her appearance all the more terrifying.
Just when she was finally distracting herself from the tedious feeling that came with stagnation a figure abruptly appeared beside her throne. She obviously noticed them but didn't turn to look at them nor did they demand her attention. Simply informing her of what they came here for.
"A conference of archons has been announced and I can guide you there if you desire, your majesty~♥"
The sultry voice joined with how she practically grinded against the throne teased her identity as a succubus who managed to survive thanks to their ancestors' blessing. That dreaming ice dragon was probably the only entity who could sleep peacefully in the core of those flames. So she wasn't surprised.
Instead she moved her tapping hand to instead tap her chin as she pondered whether she would bother to visit that little party her older sister had set up.
Beings like them needed to socialise at least to make sure they didn't destroy everything.
As such nobody was allowed to fight during the conference.
Finally she nodded her head.
"Nn."
Agreeing to join since it was at least more interesting than watching Necrohamster give a lecture.
Fortunately travel was far more efficient (if difficult) within the confines of the dreamscape so it wouldn't take too long for the fun to start. That succubus merely opened up a portal while Victory pushed herself out of her throne. Heading through the portal without so much glancing at the demonic girl.
Finding herself in a room with raised desks that formed a complete circle in the pure white room with no doors or windows visible… Although there was a shitty wooden school desk with an equally rough name plaque that was more tape than wood. It was also by a trash can.
The name upon it was "Navy Indigo".
"*snort* 'bout right."
Not caring that the portal snapped shut behind her; instead heading to sit at her own conveniently marked desk where she sat in the same uncaring manner. Soon enough other figures that she recognised arrived yet she couldn't be bothered to open her eyes to look at them. Crossing her arms in front of her chest.
It wouldn't matter since none of them would arrive with their actual bodies - it was the realm of minds after all - thus she knew her target wouldn't be here.
"This conference shall begin with the first thing of note; why are there no other demons other than the host in attendance at the moment?"
Being questioned directly by her older sister made her open her eyes to look towards the one who always led these events. She was the one in charge of keeping them all in line, after all. Her sister appears as a flaming figure with two eyes; one of a bird and one of a dragon.
"Dunno - lost contact."
Of course her curtness didn't change just because she was talking to her sister.
"Ara~ that sure is a shame~!"
"Nn."
The figure to cut in had an appearance that conflicted her voice - being made out of ash with cold magenta eyes that contained an unfathomable depth like the ocean. It was something that Victory could usually respect in a peer yet anger still bubbled in her. Glaring towards the figure.
"Now why are you so upset~?"
"Stole prey."
Closing her eyes to ignore as that figure just laughed with an "ohohoho~" as the meeting continued to two other figures who everyone paid attention to.
"And the spirit realm has been rather insular since the passing of your leader…"
Somewhat unsurprisingly one of the figures had also appeared in a "physical form" and it was a figure that the human girl would likely recognise as the abyssal spirit empress. Dressed up like a doll which worked well considering she looked like one. Although her eyes weren't the only thing to be magical.
Her hair too contained what seemed like a vast galaxy while closed eye tattoos littered her slender arms.
"I wouldn't worry about our matters nyahaha~!"
Her face raised arrogantly only came off as endearingly cute while also matching the galaxy adorned cat ears that twitched atop her head.
Yet it wasn't cuteness that the observant demon took note of.
Not bothering to hide her grin upon finding that out.
"Yes everything is perfectly peachy chehehe~!"
That other one appeared as a scarred little black cat.
Closing her eyes once more as she doubted anything of interest could happen.
Only reason she was here was due to gathering some information.
"I also notice that Navy is not attending…"
"Ohohoho~ I shan't imagine he'd be inclined when under lock 'n' key~."
"Fool of a god."
She wasn't quite certain if she said that out loud or not… But she also didn't care as she doubted anyone who'd care would understand the implications.
And, sure enough, the meeting continued with them discussing the various universes suddenly vanishing or new ones sprouting up. If she was currently in the demon realm she may have cared. Conquering a new mortal realm was always a fun way to kill time.
Sadly nobody here knew anything about the demon realm since no other demons were here.
Even their host didn't actually visit… She was probably asleep again.
"Speaking of things going missing… Has anyone heard anything about Pandora and the goings ons within the plague lands?"
That question caused her eyes to snap open as she glared towards the True God.
"Ara~? So intense, I just haven't heard anything from that silly girl in a while, suppose she has likely just fallen asleep or something. Not surprising as my other daughter who was meant to be our host hasn't deigned to grant us an appearance ohohoho~."
Mostly everyone seemed to agree while the two cats were too busy "smiling" at each other to really comment on matters within the mortal realm.
Even if a conflicted glimmer travelled through their eyes for a brief second.
Victory's own thoughts lead elsewhere upon hearing the news of Pandora's sudden MIA status.
Knowing this was just the first step of her brother's master plan…