A balance had been maintained for a long time. The human world had five continents.
Auronia, which we currently call the Western Empire—honestly, that name was never really used since the First Emperor managed to dominate the entire continent, but that was the true name of the Western Empire. I don't need to comment on who is the ruler of this region, Aldria Scarlet the Empress.
We never talked much about the other continents since they never really interested Dante or his wives, not even Valentina cared about them. Why? Because they were insignificant. They didn't produce strong warriors, or rather... They didn't even know if they did or not.
The only person who could confirm this information to the current era is Alice Arcano, but she no longer gives out free information to everyone.
Borealis, Dynara, and Zephyra... These are the continents that were distant from the two Empires.
Borealis is a cold continent with snow-covered mountains and tundras. Its fjords and glaciers are prominent features.
Dynara is characterized by its lush valleys and active volcanoes. Its coasts are marked by deep bays and steep cliffs.
Zephyra has vast plains and pastures, with large rivers that create fertile regions. It has a temperate climate with well-defined seasons.
But these realms are not marked by Emperors, but by Kings... Having a general overview of the current Human World... The real problem...
A witch, an unknown witch... or rather, a great traitor spread to the entire world that the Eastern Empire no longer had a ruler.
The result of this? Besides Aldria... All the Kings were making plans to dominate the Eastern Empire and expand their own territories to dominate the Eastern Empire. Intrigues and conspiracies began to spread like wildfire. In Borealis, King Thoren Vingard saw in the frozen lands of the East an opportunity to expand his domains and gain access to valuable resources.
He didn't see the fjords and glaciers as limitations, but as natural fortresses that could protect his kingdom from invasions.
In Dynara, Queen Elara Vulcanis was busy gathering her fire mages and preparing her wyverns for war. She saw the valleys and volcanoes of her continent as the ideal forge to create weapons and soldiers that could conquer the eastern lands. Her generals discussed tactics on how to use the terrain of the East to their advantage.
In Zephyra, Hero King Lyam Solis believed that the vast plains and pastures of his continent could support an army powerful enough to sweep away any resistance in the East. His advisors were devising strategies to exploit the large rivers of the East, turning them into invasion and control routes.
While all this was happening, Aldria... just observed everything with a cold and calculating gaze after conveniently receiving a letter from that witch talking about this.
Aldria had already expected that the balance of power was about to be broken; the existence of... well, her new Husband, was already the very disruption of the Balance, and that she would need more than just brute strength to solve this problem...
"And there goes Dante conquering three more continents... it wasn't enough for him to take one Empire and an heiress from another, now they all want to attack just where his wife's mother rules... Do these people have no information about the Demon King? Well, they are isolated, they can go to hell, it's not like Dante will be defeated by these weaklings." Aldria said. She was...
starting to get used to having a competent man in her life...
"Well... now just wait, this entire planet will be his anyway... He married the World Tree." Aldria said and sat on the throne, "I'm going to take a nap."
Anyone who saw that scene... would not believe that the so imposing Empress was simply being lazy...
While all this was happening throughout the Human World...
"ATCHOO!!" Dante sneezed quite strongly, all the girls looked at him. "If you've gotten me dirty..." Voralith said, starting to lower her altitude. "Are you sick, darling?" Vex asked, hugging him from behind. "No, someone must be talking about me." He said, sniffing, "Wow, they're talking too much..." He murmured.
"So... what's the plan, darling?" Aaralyn asked, she was already thinking about how to help Sara in the best way possible. After all, unlike the other women who saw immense rivalry among themselves, especially Vex... Aaralyn just wanted a quiet life and wanted to have friends, something she never had in her entire life...
Of course, she had Valkyrie friends, but they were "work friendships," so to speak.
"First, we'll find my dear humility, then we'll understand what happened in the Empire. We have many problems to deal with, so we'll split up. Eldrax and Voralith will search for clues, and we—Vex, Aaralyn, and I—will go after Sara," Dante explained. All he wanted was to find Sara first and make sure she was okay. Why? Because she mattered more.
Not that Lyrianna didn't matter, but Dante had his priorities, and Sara was currently at the top of them, especially knowing that his mother-in-law was not very keen on him. Hearing stories from Nagasawa, he realized that his mother-in-law really treated him like a big bastard.
Well, he was, for his enemies, of course, but this also made him quite interested in his mother-in-law, who, by the way, he didn't know. Unlike Alice Arcano, with whom he had brief conversations, he had never talked to Lyrianna Vortex and didn't exactly know how she was or her personality. But knowing Sara... she was probably similar, right?
"We're arriving." Dante heard the echo of the huge White Dragon's voice and nodded while seeing the... terrifying image.
Hovering above Lyrianna's palace... it was devastated. He was still far away, but... bodies and bloodstains were everywhere. The lakes around the palace had turned into just large pools of blood. The blue water was already completely red, dismembered bodies, without heads, legs, and arms, bloodied weapons.
But this didn't intimidate Dante.
"Demons," Dante said. He had seen this scene in Hell. When he took a quick look, he saw some demons dismembering others in fights, "The patterns..." he murmured, "Demons weren't supposed to be on the physical plane." He said seriously while jumping off the Dragon and spreading his six demonic wings. Vex did the same and glided beside him...
"Is this demonic energy?" she asked, seeing the new type of energy for the first time. Previously, she knew what demonic energy was, but on a large scale. Now, however... "Refined demonic energy in small quantities," Dante explained, "this will be complicated." he murmured.
Currently, there are some types of demonic energy. Dante uses one called Miasma, which is the highest concentration of negative energy that exists, to the point where the energy is completely black. However, there are a few more types, like the one they are seeing, which is refined energy that can even be ignored by beings with positive energy...
And of course, the standard demonic energy, which, well... is just quite disgusting to any being with positive aspects like Sara.
"Voralith, you're still more proficient than I am in this matter of energy. Can you discern where this trail is going? I lost the trace inside that main palace." Dante questioned. Although he had total control over demonic energy, it didn't mean he knew everything. He was a newborn baby compared to Voralith, who had lived thousands of years. "High-Class Demon, possibly an ancient demon.
As for the trail... indeed, it seems to end inside the palace, more precisely in some underground tunnel," she commented while shifting from a White Dragon to a humanoid form. "Besides... I feel many corpses below the ground." Voralith read the small traces of demonic energy in the environment.
"Anything from Sara?" Dante asked, but Vora shook her head in negation, "But I feel that old mage and one more person. They are in the southern part of the palace." Voralith said, and Dante folded his wings and plummeted at full speed to the ground, causing a small earthquake and creating a crater. "You should be more respectful, darling," Aaralyn said from his shadow, "Sorry, love."
"Well, it's been a while since I exercised properly. Wow, it's cold here..." Dante murmured, and a suit appeared on his body, along with a wolf fur coat. After all, Dante hates wolves, and using them as clothing is very comfortable. "Much better," Dante said, starting to walk with his hands in his pockets.
"You look handsome, darling," Vex said, almost drooling, "Stop that, you pervert!" Aaralyn said and hugged one of Dante's arms. Vex ran and grabbed the other arm, while the man just smiled. Behind him, Voralith and Eldrax pouted. "Hmph!
I didn't even want to anyway!" Eldrax said, turning her face, "The strong don't need hugs!" She said while holding Voralith's hand, who just smiled at the situation, "So cute." Not even Voralith could stand Eldrax's cuteness, let alone Dante, who couldn't stop smiling as he continued walking through the palace corridors.
Before they could continue... "Finally, boy," Simon's voice reached Dante's ears as he walked to the place where the old man was trying to heal Akiko.
"Hey old man, need help?" Dante asked.