Hell's Consort

Newest Chapter of Highest Tier (August 2021)

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Vampire King Apollyon

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"Cheating should be declared as an obvious defeat by the royal adviser. Unfortunately, the bastard didn't react to it, so I thought I was mistaken." His cold gaze strayed to the dead courtier on Sloth's feet for a few seconds.  "It turned out that he had let our opponents slide so that they could gain easy victory against us!"

Then he shifted to Sir Tristan's detached head.

Summer Fair folk who hadn't witnessed the duel might think it was just a dropped helm, but the surge of dark blood pouring from the gorget to the sand was enough of an indication.

A bemused smile escaped his lips.

The Knight from the Fall Courts and the courtier deserved this punishment of Luna's familiar, and no one, not even his wife, could have told him otherwise.

He would have done the same thing.

"Does this mean that no guests from foreign lands weren't allowed to conquer any member from the Summer Monarchs because their egos are so fragile they just couldn't bear the shame of losing in the arena?"  Apollyon ground his teeth and fisted his hands when he recalled how the Summer Monarchs tried to stop Ravin and him when they tried to save Luna.

Apollyon scowled at the Summer King, specifically.

"Am I right?" He bellowed that his wife had flinched beside her.

Nobody from the Royal Box had the answer to his question.

It was clear that someone was using magic in the arena.

No blades from the hands of the four duelists can cause the ground to explode.

If their opponent insisted that they didn't use any enchantment, the courtier was the only culprit.

Well, they would never figure out the answer anymore since he was dead.

A triumphant grin graced his handsome face as Sloth announced, as a matter of fact, "Killing the courtier is the justice I want."

Everyone averted their gazes in false remorse except for King Oberon, who stroked his beard in contemplation while Queen Titania tilted her head to study him.

He should have expected this, but he was still surprised.

At that point, Apollyon realized that the spectators were aware of the violations.

Yet, their actions told a different story.

Now, they desired to cover it up by not speaking about it.

Shoulders tensing, Apollyon realized that his family in the Summer Realm were never their allies in the first place.

"The courtier clearly had a preference to the Summer Monarchs instead of being fair in the duel. Only the courtier and King Oberon had the power to stop it, punish the rule breakers and determine the winner if they say so. What was the point in declaring the rules they should follow and stalling on that stupid ceremony when he already intended for Princess Ourania and Sir Tristan to win? "Tsk. Tsk." Ravin clicked his tongue and commented, "How pathetic."

Apollyon quickly looked him over before he gave Luna a questioning glance.

So the Archdemon of Gluttony's ten-minute silence had ended?

"That is not a Prince but a demon!" Another Summer Faerie pointed an accusing finger at Sloth, still not giving up with his wild guesses over the Familiar's true identity.

Apollyon let out an exhale to calm down his spiking adrenaline.

Gods Blood!

They were so close to the truth.  "Pray tell what Realm did he come from?"

"I am the Prince from the Realm of Ghouls." Squeezing his eyes shut, the Archdemon raised both of his hands happily, gesturing towards the sky as if he was distracting himself from his persecution.

"Ghouls?" King Oberon asked, raising an eyebrow, "Those creatures who ate human flesh?"

"Those horrible creatures aren't supposed to exist!"

"Human flesh came in second. Our first desire is to eat souls. We are an ally of the Vampire Empress. and I am the first of my kind to venture this far from our Kingdom." Sloth said calmly as he pointed at the Archdemon of Gluttony to officially introduce themselves to the Summer Fair folk in the Colosseum. "My brother Rav is also here, and we came from the Kingdom of Ghouls."

He flashed them his pearly white teeth.

His lies were so smooth that strangers would have believed him without question.

"We wanted to keep this a secret from the Summer Monarchs, but I guess…. the secret is not a secret anymore."

A collective gasp was heard from the different segments of the Colosseum.

The false revelation had hit them like a lightning bolt.

Face turning red from his rage, King Oberon carefully stood up from his throne and thundered, "You haven't introduced us to your guests properly, Vampire King. Empress Luna. The last thing you could do is to inform us what they are and where the hell these Princes came from when they set foot on the Summer Castle!"

Queen Titania followed suit  as her fingers curled on the fabric of the skirts of her gown, "Have they eaten any Fae from the Summer Courts?"

Cocking her head at her,  Luna answered with a slight quiver in her tone as she crossed her arms over her chest, "They haven't. Well, except for this moment."

Luna broke free from Apollyon to step closer to the Summer King.

She mockingly bowed to address him with disrespect.  "Your grandson and I made sure to watch over them to ensure the safety of the Fair Folk."

"She is lying, Your Highness!" A male voice shouted from the crowd.

"I can tell from the ring of your voice  that you spoke the truth." King Oberon said.

Apollyon forgot that the Summer Monarchs were truth finders as well as manipulative tricksters!

"So, you knew from the moment Princess Ourania's team swore her innocence before the duel that she was lying?" Apollyon stomped his foot so hard that it slightly shook the ground as he snapped at his grandfather's betrayal, "And you tried to stop me from interfering when they used magic against my wife even if it wasn't allowed?"