Chapter 444: Order Of Demons
Kan stepped forward in his blue ministerial robes, his hands cupped respectfully before him, but there was something strange in his eyes that immediately caught Damian’s attention. The Kosak patriarch wasn’t displaying the confidence he had shown when Damian first appointed him to investigate the assassination. His expression was controlled, but there was a heaviness behind it, as if the information he carried was not something he was particularly pleased to reveal. Damian’s relaxed expression slowly faded as he studied him from the throne.
"Is there a problem?" Damian asked.
Rah glanced nervously toward Damian before looking back at her father. She knew exactly how much depended on this investigation.
Kor understood it even better.
Standing near the edge of the court alongside the newly appointed Royal Guards, the Demigod felt the tension in the chamber rise from that single question. If his father failed here, everything Damian had spent the last week building could begin collapsing. Kor clenched his fist behind his back. His father couldn’t afford to fail.
"No, Sire. It’s the nature of what I found that bothers me." Kan answered carefully.
Damian’s eyes narrowed further.
He had expected something like this. A simple assassination attempt would have been easy to deal with. Find the culprit, expose the faction behind them and punish everyone involved. The fact that Kan had returned looking troubled suggested the investigation had uncovered something far more complicated.
Damian waved his hand.
"Speak freely."
Kan slowly nodded before reaching beneath his robes and pulling out a sealed scroll. He walked toward the bottom of the staircase leading to the throne before holding it up. The chief eunuch immediately stepped forward and accepted the document from him. Ordinarily, the eunuch would have carried it directly to Damian, but Hazel reached out first.
"I’ll take it."
The enormous eunuch hesitated for barely a moment before handing it to her. Hazel leaned closer to Damiqnr and carefully unrolled the scroll so he could read the contents without having to leave his throne. Damian’s eyes moved across the writing while Kan began explaining the results of the investigation.
"After cross checking the records of the Grand Chancellor’s family in the capital, every member of the Damika Clan could be accounted for." Kan said.
Damian’s eyes continued moving across the document. The Royal Police had included names, locations, witnesses and the various records used to verify each member of the clan’s whereabouts. It was surprisingly thorough. Kan hadn’t simply checked whether the Damika Clan members were present in the capital. He had gone through their movements and established that none of them had disappeared during the period surrounding the assassination.
Kan continued without hesitation. "Then we checked the capital gate soldiers and determined that no member of the Damika Clan from the other regions entered the capital during the relevant period."
Hazel slowly rolled the scroll closed once Damian finished reading it.
Damian’s attention shifted back toward Kan.
"So the Grand Chancellor isn’t behind the assassination." Damian asked, genuine surprise slipping into his voice.
Kan immediately shook his head.
"Unfortunately, no."
The words caused several people to glance toward Grand Chancellor Darbin.
Darbin’s expression had become noticeably colder. Amon was no different. Both men stared at Kan with displeasure, but the Kosak patriarch didn’t show even the slightest indication of fear. The political balance of the court had changed dramatically over the past week. Kan was no longer some without an official position speaking above his station. He was the minister in charge of the royal police, and more importantly, he was standing beneath Damian’s protection.
He had no reason to tremble before a Duke.
Damian leaned deeper into his throne, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest as he considered the information. If Darbin wasn’t responsible, then the possibilities became much more interesting.
"So it has something to do with the Order of Demons?" Damian asked.
He called out the name name was written clearly on the scroll and the reaction was immediate.
A cold silence swept across the chamber.
Several people visibly stiffened. Some exchanged nervous glances while others lowered their eyes. Even Amon’s expression changed, and Darbin’s hand stopped moving through his beard.
Damian noticed all of this.
Kan remained half bowed, waiting for Damian’s next instruction, but Darbin suddenly stepped forward.
"Is this truly the work of the Order of Demons?" Darbin asked, his usually measured voice carrying an unusual degree of sternness.
Damian’s eyebrows rose slightly. He looked around the court and nobody seemed amused. Even people who had been completely confident moments ago now appeared cautious.
Damian’s gaze returned to the Grand Chancellor.
"Grand Chancellor, what is the Order of Demons?" Damian asked calmly.
Darbin cupped his fists and stepped closer.
"Sire, it is a dangerous sect built around the ideology that the seat you occupy belongs to demons alone. They believe the throne should never be held by anyone who does not possess demonic blood, and they have been responsible for several incidents throughout the Underworld. Their first major appearance was approximately a thousand years ago, when they aided the rebellion that nearly cost your predecessor his life."
Damian’s expression changed. He slowly sat forward.
"You said what?"
Darbin’s eyes remained serious.
"It’s true, Sire. Their network of operations eventually reached almost every realm ruled by your brothers, with the exception of the Sin of Pride."
Damian rolled his eyes.
Of course Pride was excluded.
If the Order’s entire ideology revolved around demons being the rightful rulers of the Underworld, there was no way they would have much influence in a realm inhabited entirely by humans. There would be no demon population to infiltrate, no sympathizers to recruit and no reason for them to waste resources establishing a network there.
But here?
The situation was completely different. They could hide among the demon population. They could recruit from clans that already believed the throne belonged exclusively to their kind.
And more importantly, they could operate without immediately attracting attention.
Damian’s eyes hardened.
"Did you find a trail we can follow?" he asked.
Kan nodded calmly.
"Yes, Sire."
That answer immediately drew Damian’s full attention.
Kan continued, carefully explaining the steps of the investigation. "I traced the assassin’s movements and activities across the capital before the attack. We followed every connection we could identify and eventually traced his actions back to a woman from the Kitsune Clan. Based on the evidence we have gathered, we believe she was the deceased’s lover."
A slight murmur moved through the court.
Kan didn’t pause.
"She has already been detained and is being interrogated as we speak."
This time, the reaction wasn’t subtle.
Lilith’s eyes widened as she looked toward Kan, while Hazel’s expression changed with surprise. Even several of the Kitsune representatives behind Damian shifted uncomfortably at the revelation. They had expected Damian’s assassination to become a political battle between the major clans, but discovering that someone from their own people was connected to the assassin was another matter entirely.
Damian, however, was already standing.
He rose from his throne and Hazel naturally moved with him, allowing him to step forward. The sudden movement caused several people to straighten instinctively as Damian descended the first step.
"Take me to her." Damian said. "I want to see her for myself."