[17 Years Ago in a world called Helheim]

Through the halls of a luxurious palace walked a beautiful woman with long white hair that cupped around her waist and black angel-like wings dangling from her hips. Curved black horns grew from her head like tree branches, and in front of her was her swollen stomach containing her unborn child.

"You seem feisty today, little one," she chuckled as the child kicked and thrashed around inside her. "I reckon you’ll be born any day now. I can’t wait to see which form you’ll take."

As she walked, all the demons in the palace couldn’t keep their eyes off her. They were all captivated by her beauty even though they all knew she belonged to their king. Soon she came upon a towering door that was ten times the size of her.

She gave a slight chuckle before she shoved the door open, creating a loud creak. Immediately, everyone in the room paused when they saw her. Inside was a group of five seated around a table. The woman knew that four of the specters there were the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but the one seated at the head of the table was her darling husband, the demon king Lucifer.

The woman paid the others no mind and went to take a seat in her husband’s lap.

"Lilith, what are you doing here," the demon king growled in a low, intimidating voice.

"I was getting bored in my room all alone, so I thought I’d attend the war council with you, dear husband," Lilith purred as she wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck possessively.

"I see you haven’t changed a bit, woman," one of the specters seated around the table said. "You still don’t know your place."

The specter was a handsome man with long white hair that fell onto his chest. He had curved white horns on the top of his head and eyes the color of flames.

"Conquest, my darling older brother, aren’t you happy to see your sister?" Lilith asked, trying to look hurt.

Conquest frowned at her, then his eyes went to her inflated stomach.

"I see you’re with child... again. This is child number what now?"

"Eight," Lilith answered without shame. "The little dragon will be born any day now."

"Are you sure it will be a dragon? I don’t mean to sound rude, but most of your children with Demon King Lucifer have been born as demons. What are the chances that this one will inherit our proud draconic bloodline after so many failed attempts?"

"Only time can tell," Lilith hummed with a slight melody in her voice. Lilith didn’t really care for her brother’s harsh words. She already felt that her child would be a dragon, and as long as his birth proceeded as planned, nothing could stop that.

"Enough of the bantering," Demon King Lucifer interrupted. "About the invasion. Our next invasion will take place in 17 years’ time."

’Wow, that’s awfully quick,’ Lilith thought to herself. ’Usually it takes a century before they could invade the world they set their sights on. Those handy little friends of mine must be the reason for this change. These beings called witches are more handy than I first thought.’

"The reason this is so quick is because we’ve figured out a way to send more powerful demons to weaken the world’s defenses. This time, the demons I’ll send will be my own children, the archdemons."

The four horsemen at the table looked pleased by the demon king’s words. None of them offered a rebuttal. So as the discussion wrapped up, all of them got up from around the table and left, leaving only Lilith and Lucifer. Before leaving, Conquest shot both of them a glare and snickered something under his breath.

"Your brother seems a bit unruly. Should I get him back down to where he belongs?" Lucifer asked in a cold tone.

"Dragons are prideful creatures. He’s just upset that you defeated him."

"That was centuries ago."

"A short time for a dragon."

"Mmmh..."

At that moment, Lucifer decided to ignore Conquest’s treacherous behavior, but just this once. Instead, he turned his attention to his pregnant wife, looking at her stomach with a bit of interest.

"I’m sending him too," he said flatly, and immediately as those words left his mouth, Lilith’s face froze stiff.

"You mean to the other world? But he hasn’t even been born yet. Besides, this stage in a young dragon’s life is crucial. The slightest bit of change can affect his development immensely."

"He’s going,"

Lucifer didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t have to as the air around him thickened. The air grew heavy as if the room itself was bowing to his will.

"At least wait until he’s born," Lilith pleaded, taking Lucifer’s hand in hers.

This time Lucifer only exhaled and the weight of his demonic pressure was enough to crush her.

Lilith’s breath hitched, her chest rising fast as her motherly instincts kicked in and she wrapped her wings around her stomach, guarding it. Her eyes flashed a deep shade of orange as she stared at her husband in defiance.

She was fine with sending her child away but not before he was born. That she couldn’t do. The early stages in his life was just too precious.

"I won’t wait any longer. I’m sending all of my children to that world, even the unborn one. Just their presence alone will be enough to create a rift between the two worlds, allowing us to enter. I’ve already spoken to the witches about sending my unborn child to their earth. They’ll transport the child in your stomach into another already pregnant woman from that world."

"B-But that means he’ll be raised as one of them. If that happens, then he won’t become a dragon. Who knows how he’ll turn out! Who knows what kind of abomination he might turn into. He might even take after the woman who gave birth to him rather than his true mother!"

"Doesn’t matter," Lucifer said coldly. "I already have children who have inherited both my demonic bloodline and your draconic bloodline. This child doesn’t matter, so I’ll use him as a tool to wage war on another world."

"What about Death?!" Lilith hastily asked, clinging to the one person who might stop her husband’s foolishness. "You already made a contract with him and our unborn child. The two of you had some kind of agreement with this child. If you send him off now, then this could lead to problems between the both of you."

"The contract still stands whether the child goes to another world or stays here. The only issue is that he’ll have to wait for 17 years until he can see the child and fulfill the contract. Since it will take 17 years for that world defenses to weaken and the first rift to form."

That was how Lucifer intended to conquer that world. The very presence of magical forces would be enough to weaken the world’s defense against magic. So that is why he normally sends demons to the worlds before hand when he decides to invade. The demon’s presence would weaken the world. But this time he decided to send his own flesh and blood. His children, the archdemons will act as a catalyst for what was to come.

"B-But..."

Lilith’s mind was racing. She was desperately trying to come up with a way to stop her husband, but it was to no avail.

"That’s enough, Lilith. You’ll do as I command. This is the end of this discussion."

At the words of her husband, Lilith had no choice but to accept her child’s fate. She felt as if she was losing something precious to her. Something she couldn’t get back.

Since if her child didn’t become either a demon or a dragon, she would make sure he ceases being her child altogether. She forced a smile and nodded to his request.

"Yes, darling, I’ll do as you command."