He also assumed that since a threat was coming to him, she wanted to achieve two things at the same time by preserving him and getting him to owe her but she had made a hasty plan full of holes to achieve it.
He was right about almost all of the assumptions except the one where she made a hasty plan full of holes about it. He didn't have enough information, so he made incorrect assumptions and fell into her ambush. She told him about the attack before it happened so that he would fall into her ambush and be pincered.
It worked on Aeternus the second time. She did something and he assumed that she killed all her subordinates to stop him from getting to them. It was a faulty assumption because she didn't kill all her subordinates and she did it to stop him from getting to one of her subordinates.
That's how to trick intelligent people who have confidence in their intelligence. Withhold information, make yourself look like a fool and they will walk into a trap with their heads held high. The demon nobles didn't have enough information but they acted high and mighty just like Aeternus when he disregarded her. Just like Aeternus, they will get the full information once they meet him.
But it will be too late by then. They will be forced by their contracts to capture him for her or just watch and do nothing while she captures him. Aeternus has grown much too strong to face him and the other demon nobles together.
This way, she has eliminated all distractions and will be able to focus on Aeternus. The demon nobles wanted Aeternus and her to fight, but they don't know what they will be missing out on by not joining the fight.
"Now I've have him for sure. I just need to wait." She said to herself.
Her gigantic body inside the energy well regained its appetite because of her good mood. She was so happy that she decided to play games with the demons she will eat.
When she's in a bad mood, she will torture and eat prisoners. But she is in a good mood, she will play games with them before eating them. The eating is constant because she is a demon of gluttony. The other thing is just her being an evil entity, a demon.
Back To Aeternus.
The demon lord isn't the only one currently happy. Something unexpected had happened. The fighting has become chaotic because of the onset of desperation. It is a good thing because the fighting will end quicker that way. High-rank demons with Accumulation can last between a week to a few months depending on their stock of empowerment. The others without Accumulation on the other hand won't last a day. It is causing desperation.
"Excellence is mostly exhibited when there's a definite threat to life." He said in wonder, "But this one is beyond me."
The ones without Accumulation could feel themselves weakening. They weren't regenerating health and stamina as fast as they could. Their sin energy and mana aren't being siphoned yet, but their maximum storage of it is reducing because of what is happening to them.
They are being at a disadvantage the more time elapses because of their lack of Accumulation. Something has to be done or they will die soon. You would expect this group to be the most desperate ones in the fight but they are not.
The most desperate group are the geniuses with Accumulation. Their health and stamina are regenerating nicely. The sin energy and mana in their body are working the way they should. They are practically fine if not for the dwindling Accumulation.
It is this slight anomaly that is pushing them to desperation. These geniuses know that if you run out of Accumulation you become nothing. Someone with 100 units of Accumulation will hesitate to attack someone with just 1 unit. But someone with zero Accumulation is not a threat to anyone.
In order not to fall to become zero threat, something has to be done to save their Accumulation.
They made some quick calculations and decided that it was more efficient to use their stockpile to kill opponents and resolve their parasites rather than to try and save it. It will deplete anyway regardless of what they do. The only difference is by how much.
The fight became boisterous because of their desperation. The geniuses with Accumulation will empower themselves for a brief period with boosted state of existence, then they will create attacks within that window of empowerment. The attacks can be physical, magical, or spiritual but they have become far deadlier to a high-rank demon because of the increase in their power rating. Their fervor is making Aeternus happy.
Some were lucky to only need to kill a few while some needed to kill a lot. Either way, many geniuses had killed enough for their parasites to be resolved in less than 10 minutes of Fighting. The parasites in their body combined with the external ones like Aeternus said they would. Their combination resulted in the formation of a Chaos spark which floated out of their bodies.
They brought the Chaos spark to Aeternus. They were about 17 of them. They flew into the sky as a group and stood a short distance away from Infernox who had Aeternus in his palm.
He clapped and said. "Well done. You have showcased your excellence."
Then he pointed to the chaos spark. "That is the fruit of your labor. It is an opportunity to achieve greatness and to go beyond your state of existence. The choice is yours. You can choose to evolve and continue the trials until you achieve the strength of a demon duke or you can leave. I promise to let you leave unharmed."
High-rank demons are resistant to the parasites and since the parasites haven't fused with their existence, they can't be forced to evolve. If they want to evolve, then they have to swear fealty to him. His ability will break any other oath of allegiance that they have because his is more powerful than other oaths.
Swearing fealty isn't something that high-rank demons like to do. The best high-rank demons in charge of fortresses don't want to do it and the geniuses with Accumulation certainly won't do it for a chance to become a demon noble. But everything changes when it is a chance to become a demon duke. That is a unique chance of a lifetime.
If he had said he could create demon dukes, no one would believe him because the demon lord herself can't. It is best to show them what he is capable of. That's why he staged the show for them.
They had watched the first show and saw how 1000 mid-rank demons became one demon duke. Aeternus had told them what to do to resolve their infection. They can see and tell that their Accumulation has stopped dwindling once the Chaos spark formed. They have every reason to believe him. The alternative is that he is lying and he won't allow them to leave.
He might also be lying about the infection being resolved. It might just be dormant and will become active soon or on command from Aeternus. Would they like to find out? All they have to do is give up the opportunity to become a demon duke, an opportunity that they fought for. And even if they are allowed to leave, what comes next?
'Will I return to my father and become his lackey again?' Bael asked himself.
His father is a genius and he sought to create another one like him. There were more than 8 demon nobles with divine rank Accumulation in the past, but the rest died during the last war ten thousand years ago. The competition between these 8 is high and there is a lack of cooperation since they are each other's direct competition. That's why Salazar tried to create a reliable ally.
Salazar succeeded in creating a helper but the help isn't being offered voluntarily. Salazar was never a good father, so why will bael offer to help him? Salazar offered him a choice just like this one on the day he acquired Accumulation. Either he serve or he dies.
Bael took the oath of allegiance to Salazar and he also signed a contract to do everything within his power to help Salazar become a demon lord. Salazar hadn't even tried to feign having trust in his son. He chose to acquire insurance in the best way possible, through a contract enforced by the will of the abyss.
'The deal is to not betray him and to do everything within my power to help him become a demon lord. If I am to help him, I need power.' Baal thought to himself.
'I can also make him come and swear allegiance to Aeternus. I can use force too since it is according to the contract.'
Then he said to Aeternus, "I accept."
Aeternus nodded to him. "Good. Now return to the ground and evolve. No one will disturb you."