The minotaur finally defeated his opponent. He almost died in the attempt when his opponent cut off one of his hands with his wings. The minotaur enlisted the use of his teeth to crush the neck of his opponent before falling to the slumber of evolution. His mouth shouldn't have been able to do so but a brief boost of his stats with Accumulation that didn't last a second turned his jaws into jaws of death that crushed flesh and snapped bones.
Aeternus was impressed by the outcome of the fight. He knew it was unfair for some other demons. Magic-specialized demons didn't get time to adjust from not being mid-rank anymore and learn spells. The high-rank stage is when demons become familiar with spells but these didn't have the time for it.
The demons relied on their innate sin abilities which they also just learned and are not familiar with. Physical specialized demons didn't get weapons that they need to fully bring out the strength of their body but they were still at an advantage over the ones who preferred spells. It is why a brawler won the free for all.
"That's the thing about life and competition for survival. No one remembers the losers or cares about the unfairness of the struggle after the winner is settled. Nothing can be done for the dead anymore." He said in melancholy.
The central arena had quieted down now that no one is fighting. The arena is littered with the mangled bodies of opponents that are quickly disintegrating into chaos energy to join the pulsing dark red cocoon in the arena. The reason why they are quiet is that the cocoon though tinted with some sort of black energy looks very similar to an evolution cocoon.
An evolution cocoon is something that should only appear when a demon is evolving. While the fighting pit in the arena had quoted down and eased up, tension began to increase among the spectators.
There were silent mutters, quiet whispering, and discreet mental transmissions between the high-rank demons as they watched the change going on on the stage of the arena.
"No way, right?"
"It can't be."
"This should be impossible."
"But if anyone can do it then it's the ominous reaper."
"He did say he was at odds with the demon lord. This will explain why."
"Who wouldn't be scared of such a demon?"
They debated quietly amongst themselves. They weren't scared of Aeternus but of the evolving demon. Or could the demon be napping? Even if that is the case, no one wants to disturb the creature until they know what it will become. They were all well-behaved.
Even the geniuses didn't kick up a fuss. They have the power of Accumulation so it has helped them to touch upon the full power of the demon lord. That experience did not make them dismiss the demon lord, it instead made them aware of the disparity between them.
Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power. The geniuses know what kind of power a being beyond the level of noble demon wields. It has not made them full of confidence if they happen to face off against such an entity. Instead, it has informed them of their position on the food chain. They are simply genius high-rank demons. Even genius noble demons are wary of the demon lord.
They respect the demon lord more because of their genius. Their confidence has not been bolstered wrongly because they understand that there's a difference between temporary power and permanent power. That difference became especially glaring during the war 10,000 years ago when hundreds of noble demons couldn't do anything to her.
Only special demon nobles with divine rank Accumulation could hurt her but there were only 8 of them in that war. They were not enough to put the demon lord down and she has demon nobles as her subordinates. The nobles lost that war because they were outclassed in terms of quantity and quality. The demon lord was so terrifying that she outclassed them everywhere.
That's why no one wants to be on the blacklist of a new demon lord, especially if this demon lord can move around in the plane however he or she likes. There will be nowhere to hide then.
The paranoid ones remained still even though every one of the thoughts in their head and every bones in their body clamored for them to escape. They stayed still because if Aeternus can create demon lords, then it is highly likely that he has already created them. Running away won't save them now if Aeternus is out to get them. They might as well just sit here and accept their fate.
There are three major sins in the abyss. Weakness is the first sin. Failing to recognize your position on the hierarchy is the second most important sin. Trying and failing to kill someone is the third. Trying to kill isn't a sin, failing makes it a sin. Now they are going to pay for the sin of failing to kill Aeternus.
It was because of the quietness and focus of thousands of high rank that they noticed the change in the abyss. One could catch them glancing at the center of the plane. Specifically, they are looking in the direction of the energy well.
All high-rank demons can sense the energy well while only demon nobles can bond to it. So all the high-rank demons and the demon nobles can notice the charged fury that is beginning to radiate from that place. Someone had notified the demon lord of what could possibly happen here.
It is an absurd possibility that Aeternus could make a demon Lord from 1000 mid-rank demons. Aeternus himself never said anything like it. He only said he could make demon nobles then he said he will show them his full capabilities. But common sense dictates that the rank of demon lord comes after demon nobles in the order of evolution.
So the demon lord's divine sense arrived in full fury.
"AETERNUS!!!" She screamed his name in fury to all that could hear.