1 Coming of Age Ceremony

When Leon was born, the Rist family household was in jubilation. After much a long time, the Duchess had finally given birth to a child.

The Duchess was a direct successor to a long line of Dukes that were at the very echelon of the politics and power structure of the Empire of Incidence. A grand festival had been held for the Duchess' betrothal that invited the strongest warriors of the Demon Race from all over the country of Incidence. They had been invited to take part in a competition to the death to find the strongest of them all.

Incidence was the the nation of the demon race. The demons were one of of the the strongest races on the planet.

During the competition a mysterious vagabond emerged as the strongest demon to win the title. As the prize for his victory he became the next Duke of the Rist family. Leon was the sole offspring of the mysterious vagabond and the Duchess.

However, unlike others from the demon race who had blood red hair and Ruby like eyes that shine like jewelry, Leon's hair was a pearly platinum blonde and his eyes had a deep shade of aquamarine that flickered like waves in an ocean.

The Duchess, paranoid that anything untoward should befall on her only child, ensured that the kid grew up a spoiled and pampered brat who received everything he desired, perhaps with the exception of a father. Leon's father, the mysterious vagabond of went by the name Grin, disappeared on the day Leon was born, never to be seen or heard from again.

Leon grew up under the shadow of this mystery and ended up wallowing himself in the manners of a wastrel. As the sole heir to one of the five great Dukedoms of Incidence, his every action was seen through a political lens. The political juggling that took place behind the scenes of the Demonic Royalty was complex and subject to all kinds of distinct rituals and interactions. Leon, who grew up a pampered brat was not fond of these intricacies. Thus, as the years passed by, he had no shortage of enemies both from his generation and from the older generations.

Eighteen years had passed by since Leon was born. Today, in his celebration a grand party was being held in the Emperor's palace. Leon was the new legitimate heir to the Rist Dukedom and this event was considered his coming of age platform, an important political ritual that would establish the young man as an important member of the royalty.

Hidden underneath the surface of this glorious event however, were some curious machinations taking place. The Emperor Deva had decided to betroth his second daughter to Leon to secure his political patronage. The Deva clan, the clan that the Emperor belonged to was the strongest Demon clan on the continent and the Emperor was the strongest expert in the clan.

Things were going pleasantly enough as all the nobility had arrived for the largest gathering of the year, but some of the other Dukes had smirks plastered on their faces. Leon was considered to be a waste. His exotic looks not withstanding, the kid had no talent in absorbing Dark Energy at all - the lifeblood of every demon. Rumors had abounded that he had no talent in terms of strength, a condition akin to being disabled in a society that worshiped strength beyond all else.

Leon, who was the center of attention at this event was now standing in the center of the crowd, in front of an archaic looking pillar. This pillar was an ancient artifact of the Demon Race. On the coming of age ceremony, every demon would touch a pillar of a similar kind to activate their Shadow Potential publicly. The shadow potential of a demon was the biggest indicator of talent and those who had a minor shadow potential were often considered to be failure of a progeny.

At the urging of his smiling mother, The Duchess Rist, Leon nodded and pressed his hand on the archaic white pillar. The way the pillar measured the shadow potential of a demon was by flooding the body that came into contact with it with dark energy in a peculiar loop. The energy would then return to the pillar and the grade of the shadow potential would be judged by the color of the glow that the pillar gives out in response.

White indicated no potential, a complete waste, and with increasing hue from yellow, orange, red, green, blue and finally violet would determine the shadow potential. Most children of nobility are selected carefully through planning and genetics to ensure the next generation has a higher potential than the one before. The situation with the Duchess was unique because she had been diagnosed with an illness that made it extremely difficult for her to bear children. Leon had been born after a lot of difficulty and the Duchess had almost died in the process, moreover, the father disappeared soon after. The other nobility looked at the Duchess with considerable pity in their eyes. Little could she have imagined that the child was such a wastrel. Not only had he failed to absorb any dark energy, he was also lazy and hated any desire to become stronger - a result of a failed parenthood, no doubt.

Beside Leon, a young girl with blood colored flowing hair and pale skin, was dressed in a fancy white princess dress. She was the unfortunate daughter who had been betrothed to this wastrel who looked ugly by her standards as well. Leon's white hair and blue eyes had been explained away as a mutation, but some people had their doubts. Such doubts, however, would never be vocalized for it could be considered treasonous and scheming. The girl was struggling to stop her face from contorting, a tribute to the intense etiquette lessons that had been drilled into her since her infancy. She disliked this frivolous and lackadaisical young man very much.

Leon touched the archaic looking pillar as others watched on in curiosity. His mother had an expectant look on her face and he did not desire to make her embarrassed. He knew the rumors that spread around about himself being a waste and he could only wryly smile. In his early childhood, he had indeed tried very hard to absorb Dark Energy and step on the path of becoming a demonic warrior,but to his shock he discovered that he could not sense the Dark Energy at all. After a year of trying, he gave up, realizing that he had no future in this path.

Today, his dismal talent would be revealed for the world to see, Leon thought as he closed his eyes to avoid the mocking gazes he expected. AS soon as he touched the pillar, a weird feeling washed over him as he felt his body turn hot. He could not feel anything else, other than a wave of heat flowing through every inch of his body before retreating.

"Is that it?" Leon wondered in surprise. He expected some stifled chuckles or even outright laughter at his terrible performance, but behind his closed eyes he felt confusion when he realized that he was greeted with pin drop silence. The silence was cold and a dangerous tension had filled the air. As Leon slowly opened his eyes, he saw the pillar had changed color from the previous pale whitish marble to a terrifying black.

"Black?" He wondered out in confusion. He hadn't heard black being a color that belonged to the spectrum of the pillar to describe talent. He turned to look at the reaction of others but saw to his shock that his mother had fainted. Not a single person had tried to help her. Everyone looked at Leon with cold and even murderous gazes.

"Mom!" Leon whispered and ignored those cold gazes. He was used to them, and didn't quite care what others thought about him anyway. The pillar had been swept away from his mind. He knew his talent was nonexistent and made his guesses about the same as he quickly walked over to his fainted mother. The nobles who had been crowding around her had shockingly distanced themselves from her as they looked on coldly. Some even had cruel smiles on their faces.

Leon tried to shake his mother awake and after a few moments she did. But when she saw the terrifying black glow, her eyes shone with terror as she almost fainted again. Tears streamed out of her eyes as she looked at her son and then a shade of hatred flashed through her.

"I did not know!" She suddenly yelled out, looking over towards the terrifying throne that towered over everyone else. The Emperor was looking at the scene with cold eyes, but the corner of his lip was curled up in a mocking gaze.

"Insolence!" Screamed Duke Abraxus, the duke who was most vocally opposed to the Rist Dukedom. The five Dukes were in an intricate balance of power, engineered by the Emperor to cement his own authority on the Incidence Empire. "You actually dared to give birth to a filthy hybrid! To think that this waste is actually half human!"

The Duchess looked at the emperor despondently. She sighed helplessly. The shock was evident in her eyes as she realized that the man she called husband was actually a human. How had he tricked her so? She had always hidden away her doubts at her son's bizarre appearance that looking nothing like that of a demon race child, but had always excused it away as being a special trait of her son that would lead to him becoming a powerful warrior!

The Emperor looked down at the turn of events with a cold eye. "Ignorance is not an excuse for a blood crime." He said calmly, but his eyes had a criminal glint to them as he continued. "The punishment for this blood crime... is death. The Rist family shall exist no more."

As he pronounced his judgement, a terrifying spike made of red energy solidified beside the emperor. This was his Shadow weapon, the Piercing Thorn. The moment it appeared, the very air began to crack and the palace began to crack as well. Earthquakes began to rage. Leon looked at the entire sequence of events with a dumbfounded expression. Did that duke just say that he was half human? Leon looked at the terrifying red spike that caused the space itself to crack into a million crevasses just by its appearance alone and felt a chill come over him. It was the chill of death, he realized as he stood there, paralyzed in fear.

The Duchess however, did not stay still. She suddenly manifested a gigantic spike filled vine that was covered with roses which quickly covered both mother and son to protect them. The other nobles didn't stay quiet either. The thorn of the emperor terrified them, but this was the time where their loyalty would be tested. They all manifested their shadow weapons and began attacking the tent formed by the sharp thorny vines. However, Leon's mother was a Duchess after. One renowned for her power. Her Shadow weapon was no joke.

Her vine enlarged into gigantic bulbous shapes and terrifying noxious fumes erupted from the vine poisoning many of the nobles who had jumped in to attack in a haste. The Duchess did not even glance a look at them. All her attention was focused on the Emperor and the other Dukes. Those powerhouses hadn't made their move yet. They simply looked at the scene with a detached bemusement as if watching a new entertaining play.

The Emperor smiled as he looked towards the other Dukes. "Slaughter those loyal to the Rist dukedom. The blood crime is unpardonable!"

The remaining four Dukes bowed and took their leave. Today, on the coming of age ceremony of the sole heir to one of the five dukedoms of the Incidence Empire, a grand and bloody slaughter and cleansing would take place. All because the heir was actually half human.