Vulcan stood up from his seat and walked towards the raised platform.

His massive shadow loomed over the nearest tables, causing everyone to stop what they were doing.

Demons stopped chewing their food while the musicians stopped the music mid-note and the dancers slowly stopped dancing.

Conversations between demons gradually died out one by one as thousands of demons turned toward the twelve-feet-tall Pyro Demon Lord who was now standing before them.

Even the firework-like fireballs stopped flying into the sky as the plaza became dead silent so they could listen to what Vulcan had to say.

"I have an announcement to make." Vulcan's deep voice echoed throughout the plaza and everyone exchanged glances, wondering what kind of announcement he wanted to make.

Vivian simply remained seated with her leg crossed over the other while her chin rested lightly on her knuckles.

Since she and the other demon lords had expected Vulcan to make an announcement today, none of them were surprised to see him standing before the crowd.

"First," Vulcan began as he amplified his voice with magic. "I would like to thank Her Majesty, the Dragon Queen, for hosting this banquet. Not only for the feast, but for giving the demon continent something we have not felt in a long time."

He half-turned toward Vivian and bowed his head slightly.

Seeing this, most of Vivian's loyal subjects murmured softly with smiles on their faces.

Vulcan had willingly acknowledged how amazing their queen was, so why wouldn't they be happy to see this?

Unlike the other demon lords, Vivian's loyal subjects had an immense respect and loyalty toward her, so seeing that the Pyro Demon Lord was publicly showing respect to their queen made each and every one of them really happy.

Due to this, they instinctively began to like him more than the other demon lords.

However, the other demon lords simply rolled their eyes with a slight smile on their faces.

They all knew Vulcan's intentions for doing what he just did.

After all, due to that little gesture of his, all of Vivian's loyal subjects were now willing to give him their full attention, and Vulcan utilized this greatly to his advantage as he continued.

"I'm sure we all know that in three moons from now, Evermore Academy will begin a new trimester," Vulcan explained and a few murmurs rippled through the plaza.

"Huh? Is this true? So a new trimester will begin soon?" A male demon whispered softly to his friend sitting next to him.

"Yeah, that's right. My daughter will be enrolling this year."

"Wow, I didn't know the time for the new intakes was so close."

"Yeah, it is and you probably would have known this if you had a kid of your own." His friend teased him and the male demon became red with embarrassment

"Hey, don't you dare remind me of how boring and miserable it is to live as a lonely demon."

His friend chuckled softly as he replied. "Well, I'm glad you acknowledged this yourself, my friend. So I suggest you get a spouse soon and start moving those hips of yours like your future generations depend on it."

"Well, actually, they do." The male demon said as he scratched the back of his head with a small smile on his face, causing his friend to laugh softly.

A few other male demons chuckled softly as they eavesdropped on the conversation between the two friends.

Then they swiftly lifted their heads and brought their attention back to Vulcan, as the pyro demon lord continued.

"Everyone knows that since the academy was founded, the instructors have created a strict teaching system with harsh timetables, ruthless tests, and unforgiving training routines." Vulcan paused as he allowed his words to settle in their minds.

"Because of these… There is now almost a five percent chance for a student to graduate as a Third Order Demon within three short years. But I'm sure everyone knows how hard it is to accomplish this now, particularly due to the current era we are in."

"Nevertheless, we encourage our children to enroll because we want them to become the next student to achieve such a feat."

"We want them to have the fame and prosperity that comes with being regarded as a genius among their peers, so we push them into the academy to make this happen."

"However, are we really supporting them on their journey to become great and famous?" Vulcan's words lingered in the air and the plaza broke out in murmurs once again because everyone knew how difficult it was for any race to rank up from Zero Order to Third Order within a short span of three years.

Back in the era of The Great Wars, most demons needed at least twenty to thirty years just to rise from First Order to Second Order.

Even now, the majority of the demons used at least a decade to rank up from Zero Order to First Order, and this was why many young demons aspired to get into Evermore Academy.

With the combined knowledge of the great and skilled minds from across the supernatural realm, Evermore Academy had been able to increase the ranks of their students from Zero Order to Third Order within a short amount of time.

However, the chances of a student making such progress were only as high as five percent, and it had been this way since the academy was established.

Of course, this was still seen as a huge achievement made by the academy because, unlike before, when there had been a zero percent chance of achieving this, the academy had a platform where this dream could be turned into a reality.

"And now, many young demons and children of other races enroll in the academy, hoping that they too will be able to rank up to Third Order by the end of their final year," Vulcan said as he leaned forward slightly with all four of his arms now resting on the railing of the raised platform.

"But this is an impossible dream for any young demon to achieve, you know why?"

"It's because we, as demons, have become lazy." He added and silence reigned as everyone raised their brows with a puzzled look on their faces.

'Did he just call us lazy?' Many of the demons wondered to themselves, refusing to believe that they had heard him correctly.

However, Vulcan's gaze swept over the crowd, over the nobles, over the commoners, and over the young demons around Aster's age who were now watching him with wide, uncertain eyes.

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