"One last time — do you want to die, or do you want to live? If none of you are willing to swear loyalty, I won't hesitate to kill every last one of you. Demon Kings aren't limited to you lot — I have plenty of other options beyond you. And besides, you shouldn't feel any shame about it. Those who refuse to submit to me will die; only those who submit will survive. Nobody will remember the choice you make today — except you yourselves! Three breaths left." Yang Kai's expression suddenly turned impatient as he delivered his ultimatum, then raised three fingers. He curled one down, his face cold as ice: "Three!"
A brief pause, and then he continued: "Two!"
Every Demon King's expression tightened, knowing full well what would happen once this Witch Ox finished counting down.
Before he could call out the final number, a Demon King with horrific scars across his face stepped forward, his voice low: "I am willing… to pledge loyalty to my lord!"
He ground the words out through clenched teeth, his expression shifting wildly — clearly, he had waged a brutal war within himself before arriving at this decision.
The ghost-fire in the eye sockets of the Bone Demon, Phil, showed no flicker of emotion. When Shaya had been the first to surrender to this outsider, he had already anticipated this outcome, so he made no move to condemn anyone else.
Standing to die or kneeling to live — those were choices each man made for himself. Some were willing to cast aside their dignity and pride to grovel before an outsider, and that was none of his concern.
But he knew that most of the Demon Kings present were not so spineless.
They were Demon Kings, after all!
And indeed, just as Phil had predicted, under his cold gaze and that of the majority, only a handful of Demon Kings chose to submit — their faces flushed with shame and unease. One by one they dropped to one knee, refusing to meet the eyes of their former comrades, looking for all the world like children who had done something wrong, awaiting Yang Kai's judgment.
"Five…" Yang Kai smiled faintly, looking down at the Demon Kings kneeling in a row before him, then glancing over at the remaining eight. He grinned. "It seems you've all made your choice."
Phil snorted coldly. His contemptuous gaze swept over the five Demon Kings before him, then locked onto Yang Kai's eyes. The flickering ghost-fire burned with undisguised mockery.
"Perfect number," Yang Kai said, his grin widening.
The words left the assembled Demon Kings baffled.
Yang Kai slowly raised his hand, his expression devoid of all warmth. "Then now — I ask you to die!"
"The demon fire never dies — the demon race will never perish!" Phil bellowed.
The other Demon Kings joined in the cry, their faces set with the resolve of men prepared to meet death without flinching.
Several muffled detonations rang out in rapid succession. One by one, the bodies of the Demon Kings exploded into clouds of blood mist, leaving behind not even bones. The demon hearts that had been hidden within their bodies had vanished without a trace as well.
The smile froze on Shaya's face. Bao Qi's eyelids twitched violently. The twin flames in Phil's eye sockets flared fiercely, betraying the shock roiling inside him.
Every other Demon King stood dumbstruck.
Because the ones Yang Kai had killed were not the group of defiant Demon Kings who had chosen death over surrender. They were the five cowards who had shown him their willingness to submit.
Had he killed the wrong ones?
The thought sprang unbidden into every Demon King's mind — but a moment's reflection told them that couldn't possibly be the case. If he hadn't made a mistake, then only one explanation remained.
This was deliberate. A calculated move by the outsider. The ones he actually intended to keep were not those handful of cowards, but the remaining Demon Kings who had refused to kneel. No wonder he had said the number was perfect — excluding Bao Qi and Shaya who had already submitted, the remaining eight were exactly the right count.
"What do you mean by this?" Phil asked coldly, staring at Yang Kai.
"Can't you figure that out?" Yang Kai replied with a faint chuckle.
Phil said, "We will never submit. You might as well kill us too."
Yang Kai nodded. "I have no doubt about that — you've proven as much with your actions. But like I said, even if you won't submit willingly, I have ways of turning you into slaves. I need the strong ones among you. Those who bow their heads on their own aren't much use!"
This made Shaya's cheeks flush. She had surrendered without putting up much resistance at all back then. Thinking about it now, she realized she was fortunate to have been the first — had she been in that scene just now, she would probably be dead too.
"Is that why you humiliated them, toyed with them, and then killed them?" Phil's composure suddenly cracked. A few cowardly Demon Kings dying was one thing — but Yang Kai's methods filled him with a fury he could no longer contain.
"That's right. Exactly because of that." Yang Kai's expression was as cold as if he were devoid of all feeling. "It was the only way I could weed out the trash."
Phil opened his mouth to say more, but Yang Kai waved a hand, cutting him off before he could speak. Impatiently, he said, "Enough. Now it's your turn."
As he spoke, he reached out with a gravitational pull and drew one of the Demon Kings directly before him. His left eye blazed with golden radiance, and his gaze fell upon the Demon King with commanding authority.
The Demon King struggled with all his might, but could not break free in the slightest. Under the suppression of this world and the influx of Yang Kai's divine sense, a look of pain gradually crept across the Demon King's face — then it faded just as quickly, replaced by an expression of visible relief.
When Yang Kai released him, the Demon King still seemed slightly dazed, shaking his head to clear it. When he looked up at Yang Kai again, his gaze was complicated but held no more hostility. He offered a respectful bow, then stood silently beside Bao Qi and Shaya.
"Welcome, Yura the Strength Demon!" Bao Qi said with a smile.
The Strength Demon called Yura shot him a glance but said nothing, leaving Bao Qi to nurse his bruised ego.