He began to address them after the distribution. "Now for the next mission. I have something to do here before we leave to invade other worlds. In the meantime, I want the 541st plane of the abyss subjugated before my arrival. Your mission is to attack that plane, kill Beelta, and take control of the energy well. The reward is the position of my Herald."
His declaration set various emotions through them. Some felt fear because Beelta is a peak half-divine demon lord with all her stats at 63 and a state of existence of 17, so it is going to be dangerous to try and kill her when even Xander, the best of them is limited to an upgrade of two stats to 63. Some of them can't even upgrade yet, they will have to rely on their Accumulation to fight her.
The confident ones felt excited because of the reward. Beelta is far stronger than them and it will be a challenge to beat her but they have a chance. These ones have enough divinity to become half-divine and elevate their state of existence to 17. That has narrowed the gap between them and Beelta. The boost of 99% from the DIVINE HOUSE from Aeternus will make them more than capable of being her match.
"This is another competition. I have 6 positions for my Herald. One will go to whoever kills Beelta. The second one will go to whoever manages to bind the energy well to themselves. Another one will be for the demon that distinguishes itself by impressing me. The remaining 3 will be given to the dukes among you with the highest kill." He paused and leveled a stern gaze at them. "The target to kill that I am referring to is all of you."
His words chilled them. This is not a normal competition. This is the survival of the fittest. Two positions can be earned by either killing Beelta or binding the energy well after her death. There's no way the others are going to stand by and watch while someone else gets the two positions. That's in a normal situation but this is not normal. Aeternus has given them further incentives to kill each other. The competition will become deadly quickly because of the encouragement of targeting each other.
"The position of Herald is special. Apart from the power that comes with it, it will guarantee your life as my subordinate and exempt you from any future competition. Till then, every one of you except Xander must participate in this competition. The competition will end as soon as one of you succeeds in binding the energy well."
He asked Xander, "Do you want to participate or not? You will not be rewarded with the position of Herald unless you participate in the competition but you will be safe from the risks involved."
She has proven herself to be more efficient at eliminating targets than others so she can stay out of this deadly competition. The position of Herald is powerful but acquiring it is very dangerous. Participating in the competition doesn't mean that she will get the position either. There are 99 of them with just 6 positions. That means she can risk her life for nothing. She can choose safety and not risk her life.
She bowed and answered. "Lord Khaos, I will like to participate and bear the honor of being your Herald."
"Good." He said to her then he looked at the rest. "You might choose to hide away in the abyssal plane and not participate. It is allowed. But bear in mind that I will be creating more demon dukes and staging a competition to reduce the number to 99. If you stop being relevant in the house of chaos, you will die. If you're confident in yourself, then you can sit this one out."
The position of Herald comes with the privilege of borrowing Aeternus's Authority. Heralds are like vessels of gods except that normal vessels can't withstand the god fire or authority of a Celestial. Heralds can, even though It will only be for a short while since they can't withstand the power of a demon king for long. It will be like they used Accumulation when they borrow it but it will grant them power above that of the demon lord. Their state of existence will be elevated temporarily enough for them to match a demon king if only briefly, enough to save their lives.
The position of Herald is an incentive but it is not enough for most of the dukes to risk their lives. You risk your life when there's a chance of success. Demons are smart and the dukes are smart enough to know that the first 10 that received Godhood of grand gods have a good chance of becoming Heralds. They have elevated their state of existence to the same level as Beelta. So the rest will mostly sit out of the competition. If they do participate, they will not risk their lives by trying too hard.
He expects this of them. Even the fact that there will be a competition to weed out the weak is not enough to make the weak risk their lives. But it doesn't matter. Those that are confident and want to be his Herald are all that matters. They will weed out the weak for him during the competition. Quantity doesn't matter, only quality does.
The performance of his subordinates in the Zargoth plane is great but the difficulty of their mission was low. The plane had been tenderized for them. They were put directly in the mortal realm which has been weakened from the world war. They had no choice but to have victory. That will change once he separates from Helios and the Tree father. He will be on his own and he will need his subordinates to be helpful to him in dire situations. He doesn't want to be lugging around subordinates that are useless garbage.