The Way of a Demon Lord
chapter-189-30041322

The sermon was ongoing. The preacher's pleasant voice resounded through the air.

Adrian turned to Irene and nodded.

Irene nodded back before looking ahead. She snapped her fingers.

The temperature began to fall. The hall became colder and colder every minute. Soon, the neighbouring people began to shiver as they subconsciously looked around. The windows were closed and the greenery outside did not show any signs of swaying.

Intense low temperature temperature can affect a person's cognitive abilities, prompting them to drown themselves in confusion and disorientation. It also affects the nervous system, amplifying negative emotions.

Adrian scanned through the hall, spotting every one of the light magic circles present. A circle formed underneath his palm, away from the gaze of everyone.

The light began to flicker. Halseed, the light circler among them, disappeared from his seat. Even the peaked senses of the priests could not detect the man.

"How come you can affect light magic?" Elise asked with a frown.

"A wildfire cannot be stopped by a bucket of water." Adrian replied, his eyes still on the lectern.

The flickering of light, along with the constant drop of temperature only added to the fear and confusion of the people.

And soon, the light circles were out- completely disable by Adrian's light magic.

The crowd caused an uproar and reacted to their fear, holding their closed ones' hands and getting one step closer to the exit.

"It's time." Adrian pointed his right index finger at the hanging chain of the chandelier- the only connection between the body of the light source and the ceiling.

A small circle formed and hovered in the air. A tiny black projectile, concealed by Adrian's <Absence> essence shot off from the finger tip and… bull's eye.

The black projectile, the moment it touched the thick chain, disappeared. But soon, black marks formed on the golden chain as unnoticeable sizzling sound came out.

Soon, it fell.

*Crash*

Darkness descended upon the hall along with the chandelier.

Any sort of reservations the crowd had- disappeared. Their mind was already in a constant state of fear, worry and confusion. An ignition was all it required to make them burn and the explosive sound did the trick.

Their amygdala activated and they threw all caution to the wind as they ran towards the exit. The party of three got up and melded with the crowd.

And that's when their absent comrade came into play. The door slammed, crushing an innocent on the way.

Was that intentional, or an accident- nobody knew.

The crowd cried in terror. The icy chills, the unending darkness, the desperate cries of others and the horrid smell- everything only kept adding to the fear.

"WHO DARES?!"

Adrian turned to Elise. "Your turn."

She took a deep breath and nodded. She reached out her palm. There was a white magic circle drawn upon it.

"Thank you." He held her hand, his palm touching hers. "Senior sister."

She forced a smile.

Adrian began to speak with a changed voice- one that was grim and dark, authoritative and terror inducing. His voice was amplified by her circle.

He spoke such things that had the poor Elise drenched in her sweat. She wanted to let go off his hand, but did not dare to. She would rather be an eternal sinner than his enemy.

But what came after their effort was its fruits.

"BLASPHEMY!" An unfamiliar voice echoed through the hall.

A young man who looked as if he were in his twenties walked out. His eyes, though had the common brown colour- they gave off a feeling of dignity and holiness.

He looked down on the crowd, as if he were sure that the culprit is among them.

"Come out." He said nonchalantly. His arrogant tone had hints of wrath. "Else, I will have to make some sacrifices." His eyes scanned through the crowd, making their hairs stand. To light circlers like him, darkness was nothing.

"Heh." The grim voice mocked. "Go on."

The young bishop scowled. He conjectured that the culprit was a commoner rebel. Was he wrong?

"You dared to besmirch the honour of our forefather. Do you think you can leave?" The young man's threatening voice pierced through everyone's ears.

"Who wants to leave?" The unknown voice came from right behind the young man's left ear.

The bishop leapt to his right. His heart was racing as he looked to his original position. There was nothing there.

He activated his senses to the maximum, furthering its intensity by decreasing its range. Just when the range reached a meter, he sensed something. Someone was standing behind him.

He looked at his subordinates. They were still scanning through the crowd. His jump had attracted their attention earlier, but they did not sense anything and turned back.

He steadied his heart and turned back in a flash. He was prepared to use his fist. But just like before, there was no one.

His heart raced faster and faster. But what was faster was the being 'following' him.

He maximised his sense and limited it to a meter again. Verifying that it was clear, he turned back to the crowd.

But what met him was not a pack of shivering people, but a pair of eyes- dark abyssal eyes.

He wanted to scream and jump away. But alas, an overwhelming force was holding him in place. He could move neither a muscle, nor his magical energy. Fear was taking over.

The black masked man was looking right into his eyes. He felt as if his entire being was getting sucked into the pair of black holes.

Soon, everything returned to normal. He wanted to heave a sigh, but the pressure did not even let him do that.

The head priest turned back to him, not hearing any words from him. But the moment he did, the black masked monster disappeared.

He took control of his body back. Sweat poured from his fair skin.

"Are you okay, sir?" The man asked with a squint. It was as cold as a frigid year, and his superior was sweating?

The bishop heaved out a long breath.

"I think I just had a meeting with a devil."