Supreme Monarch

 "Uh!?... WHATTTT!!!"

 The mouths of everyone within the throne room almost practically dropped to the floor at the words that had just left the Demon Lord's mouth. None of the elders could believe what they had just heard. 

 Throughout the years, centuries even, talks of vassalage had come up multiple times from the Great Five and even other large families but the Demon Lord had firmly declined their offers without even a chance for negotiations due to her unwavering loyalty to the previous Demon King.

 So the fact that she had just agreed to vassalage carried certain implications that none of them could even hope to comprehend. 

 Just as the hall steadily became loud, the Demon Lord's voice quickly silenced the hall as she continued to speak.

"However, I only have two conditions before any agreements can be made." 

 "Conditions?"

 The dark elf slightly tilted her head with a curious gaze, prompting the other party to continue. 

 "Firstly, I would appreciate it if you would allow us some days to trial and persecute the noble on the list you have shown me. Even if my subjects are truly guilty of the crime of corruption and treason, I would rather not have my nobles be slaughtered without a chance to defend themselves and give proof of their innocence." 

 The eyes of the Demon Lord scanned the room for a moment, forcing the mouths of the nobles shut before any objections could be made before returning back to the emissary. 

 "Secondly, I would like to offer the secret of the Jaxith family to the Demon Lord of Darknar, personally. That will decide whether or not the Jaxith family becomes a vassal family once again."

—The air reverberated with unified gasps. 

 Reynald in particular was stunned. This was too much of a change for his previously docile mother, who had allowed the Elders to practically walk all over her ever since she lost her husband. 

 He had even considered a coupe d'etat, utilizing one of the family's artifacts to give him an edge over his mother, yet after laying eyes on the rogue that had accompanied the Lightning General, she instantly returned to the Demon Lord she once was. 

 What could be the reason behind this sudden shift?

 He wondered as the rest of the courtiers recovered from the shock of their Demon Lord's declaration. 

 "Your Grace. You can't just simply accept such ridiculous terms by yourself. The Elders must first—"

 "Silence!"

 One of the elders panically voiced his disapproval when he was suddenly silenced by the Demon Lord herself. She then returned her gaze back to Rain and asked.

 "What is your decision? If you do not have the right to make such decisions, then I will simply await your response at a later date."

 Rain's expression had once again become serious as she observed the room. Everyone had conflicting emotions except one. Rain smiled softly and responded. 

 "Very well, I have been granted the authority to accept your conditions." 

 "I suppose that means you've already predicted my response. Truly impressive, I cannot wait to meet the one capable of controlling one such as yourself." 

The Demon Lord of the Jaxith family smiled a magnanimous smile but her expression did not showcase the superiority of a Demon Lord, rather, she could smile at herself for failing to live up to the promise she had made. 

 "Your Grace! This is ridiculous! I demand t—"

 *Boom!

 One of the Elders, seeing Keyrille coming to an agreement with the emissary could no longer stop himself from challenging such a dangerous deal. However, he had only gotten halfway through his sentence when his head was suddenly slammed into the marble floor by the Captain of the Royal Guards.

 "I believe her Grace asked you to be silent."

 The other Elders could not believe their eyes, they were supposed to be the second most powerful demons in this region in both status, magic potency, and physical strength, yet a mere lesser demon knight had easily overpowered one of them. 

 They had all heard about the prowess of the Knight captain but had never once seen him in battle. His aura had also never felt this intimidating so the only explanation was that he was carrying several magic artifacts on his person. 

 Keyrille saw the looks on most of the Elders's faces and frowned. 

 "I was hoping this list would not be true and many of you were only being targeted by the crime syndicate, yet your actions right now speak volumes. I cannot help but be disappointed. When did you all lose your demon's pride."

 The Demon Lord of the Jaxith Family's eyes turned blood red as her aura exploded as though it was a volcanic eruption. Even at her age, her presence was still strong enough to shake the foundations of the entire palace. 

 Keyrille sighed tiredly as she restrained her aura. She then returned to her seat before handing the list she had received from the rogue to the Captain of the Guards, Nars Horlace. 

 "Nars, please arrest everyone on this list immediately. It matters not who they are or what rank they hold. Anyone with territories will automatically be relinquished of them and repossessed until their trial is over and a judgment is made."

 "As you wish, your Grace." 

 In the presence of the Demon Lord herself, not even the Elders could resist their fate as the Royal Guards soon marched in and escorted more than half of the courtiers including 7 out of the 12 Elders of the Jaxith family. 

 Within moments, the entire throne room had become mostly empty and Reynald couldn't help but sigh. He had suspected the corruption of the Elders but not to this extent, to think most of their most trusted ministers and nobles were always working against them, how foolish their actions must've seemed to them. 

 "With that, I shall take my leave. Be warned, the punishment of the nobles on that list will be closely monitored and when that's done, a time will be communicated on Lord Ty—, I mean, the Demon King's arrival."

 With those words, Rain turned her back on the throne and walked out the doors without waiting for a response as Zelda silently trailed behind her.

The giant doors were shut just as Rain and Zelda's silhouette disappeared over the side of the doorframe. After a moment of silence, Reynald said to his mother,

 "Are you sure about this, mother?"

 "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. We both know the Dark Order can only exist with the backing of one or two powerful noble families. It's been painfully obvious that the Jaxith family has been betrayed a long time ago. I suppose I just didn't want to see it because it was so hard." 

 His mother replied with a feeble voice as she placed her hand on her forehead and massaged her temples as if to rub her headache away. 

Reynald felt as though his mother had just rapidly aged somewhat compared to just a few moments ago. It seemed as though she had used up a vast amount of her remaining life force to suppress the Elders earlier. 

 "Minister of Internal Affairs, how badly would this purge affect the state of affairs within the entire region?"

 "I'm afraid the results would most likely be devastating Your Grace. With so many heads of territory on trial for treason and our diminished forces thanks to the war. I expect there to be some form of backlash in the form of riots and coups. There may also be many deserters and in our already weakened state, this will no doubt lead to the fall of the Jaxith family."

 The minister spoke with a grave expression as he observed the practically empty room. There were so many divisions that had just lost their leaders and it would be impossible for any family or organization to function in such a state even if they were at their peak beforehand. 

 "Is that so?"

 "Well, I mean... Once the vassalage pact has been signed, I'm sure there will be some assistance from the Darknar family with the suppression of the masses. However, the true problem lies in the loss of competent leaders and heads of state. Including the various court positions that have been left open."

 Listening to the Minister attempt to console her, Keyrille turned to her son and asked tiredly.

 "What do you think about this, Reynald?"

 "There shouldn't be many issues filling less important positions in the court as the Ministers all have assistants, most of which should be in the clear. As for the others, we might have to look into dividing their responsibilities between the remaining ministers and Elders. There's also a chance the Darknar family will send us competent representatives to help the process along."

 "What about our lack of manpower? We would need a lot more knights and soldiers to maintain security in the various cities and towns."

 "I believe we might need to consider drafting more commoners into the knight's core. We should also look into Athena's orphanage for promising youngsters to develop, although that's in the long term. I don't think we can rely on the Darknar family for this aspect as they have only just been formed and recently just created their capital city, I believe they wouldn't have enough living soldiers to spare."

 Reynald's mindset was that, while the Darknar family most likely possessed enough undead soldiers to defend their territory against the other three neighboring families, they wouldn't have enough trusted and competent workers to send to their vassals for international support. 

 "Well normally I'd be against the idea of making commoners knights, but after being betrayed by so many nobles, I'm beginning to find it difficult to think of nobility as anything impressive. As long as they are talented, I suppose even commoners should have the right to become part of the noble knights core."

 None of the other courtiers remaining in the room could fault the minister's words as their expressions sank even further. After witnessing the sheer amount of possible traitors existing amongst them, none of them could muster up the strength to defend their pride as nobles. 

"Alright. Minister of Internal Affairs, I'll leave the rest in your care. Please try as much as possible to minimize the damage before the trial will begin."

 "Yes Your Grace."

 "Reynald, Athena. I have something to tell you. Could you come to my room later? Now then, I do apologize to everyone gathered here, but we will have to convene in another hour to discuss what will happen next."

The courtiers all lowered their heads and bowed as they waited for their leader to leave before they could. 

After the Captain of the guards escorted his mother out of the room, Reynald and Athena left together.