CHAPTER 190: CHAPTER 189: THE PACT BREAKS & FIRST NIGHT DECLARATIONS

The Demon Castle had survived wars, sieges, divine smites, and one unfortunate incident involving Drakana’s sneeze that turned half the western wall into glass.

But what it could not survive—was marital politics.

For weeks now, a fragile balance had existed. The "Yandere Pact."

It wasn’t written, it wasn’t sworn, but it was understood: none of Rei’s wives would press for The First Night. Not yet. Not while they each schemed for position, poisoned soup, or tried to brainwash him with pamphlets.

But that balance was an illusion and illusions always break. It began during dinner, when Rei innocently tried to compliment everyone equally.

"This soup—uh, it tastes holy. The steak’s... hot. The pastries glow nicely. Emilia’s... cutting is perfect. And Lucivella’s wine... isn’t killing me yet."

He smiled nervously, praying that would keep the peace.

Then Lilia stood up, eyes shimmering. "Then it is clear, sisters. Tonight must be the night. Our Rei-sama is ready to accept his holy bride."

"Hold up," Drakana growled, slamming her fist through the table. "If anyone’s claiming the first night, it’s ME. He’s been my mate since childhood. You can’t rewrite blood pacts with soup!"

Seraphina rose with a serene, terrifying smile. "Your barbaric claims mean nothing. The prophecy states the First Night will belong to the one who brings balance to his soul. Naturally, that is I."

Emilia adjusted her glasses, stood, and coolly said: "...Statistical analysis confirms that the optimal First Night candidate is myself. Efficiency, stability, and zero chance of castle-wide immolation."

Lucivella didn’t even stand. She simply swirled her goblet and whispered: "You’re all children playing at romance. He was born for me. And tonight, I’ll prove it."

The air froze. The pact—shattered. Rei, sensing doom, slid under the dining table and hugged a chair leg. "No, no, no, please—just argue about soup again! Soup is safe! Soup doesn’t destroy castles!"

[System Alert: "Yandere Pact" → Terminated.]

[System Warning: Stability Index: -999%.]

[System Notification: New Catastrophe Event Triggered → "First Night War."]

By morning, the castle courtyard was packed. Tens of thousands of demons assembled, believing this was another sermon from their "God-Husband."

But It was not. It was a battlefield of pride. The wives stood in a semicircle before the crowd, each radiating enough power to crack the cobblestones.

Lilia raised her staff high, tears shining. "Rei-sama’s purity must be entrusted to me! Only I can birth the holy child destined to unite heaven and hell!"

The demons gasped. "Holy child?!"

Drakana stomped forward, wings flaring, tail thrashing. "Over my dead body! He swore blood with me when we were kids! His first night will be fire, fangs, and eternal devotion!"

The demons roared. "Blood pact bride!"

Seraphina descended in a halo of blinding light. "Foolish mortals. I alone carry the prophecy. My womb is the temple that shall house the child of balance. None of you can deny destiny."

The demons fell to their knees. "Prophecy bride!"

Emilia adjusted her glasses, holding up charts and scrolls. "...Pregnancy probability: 87% in my favor, based on ovulation cycles and Rei’s current stress patterns. Conclusion: I am the optimal bride."

The demons murmured. "Scientific bride?"

Finally, Lucivella glided forward, crimson gown sweeping like liquid fire. She simply looked at Rei, who was still hiding under a table someone had dragged into the courtyard for him. "You already belong to me. Tonight, I’ll take what’s mine."

The demons screamed. "Demon Queen bride!"

Rei’s nose gushed blood so violently he thought his skull was spring-loaded. "STOP SAYING ’FIRST NIGHT’ IN FRONT OF AN ARMY!"

[System Notification: Fertility Calculations Exceed Safe Parameters.]

[System Warning: Overpopulation Risk Detected. Demon World Birthrate +900% Projected.]

[System Advice: Hide under sturdier tables.]

Rei sobbed into the table leg. "This is hell. Actual hell."

Just when Rei thought it couldn’t get worse—someone shouted from the crowd.

"I heard Lilia’s already pregnant!"

"What?!" Rei shrieked, smashing his forehead on the table.

Lilia turned beet red. "N-No! That’s not—"

Drakana roared. "LIES! She’s faking to get ahead!"

Seraphina smirked faintly. "If anyone is pregnant, it must be me. Prophecies work in mysterious ways."

Lucivella chuckled darkly. "Children... I already confirmed it last night. In my dreams, I carried his heir."

Emilia calmly unfurled documents. "...Statistical models predict a 23% chance any of you are lying, 74% chance all of you are lying, and 100% chance Rei is going into cardiac arrest."

Rei howled from beneath the table. "STOP TALKING ABOUT MY NONEXISTENT CHILDREN!"

[System Notification: Imaginary Fertility Count → 15. Estimated Delivery: Never.]

[System Warning: Mental Stability Dropping.]

[System Recommendation: Fake your own death.]

The tension reached boiling point.

Lilia’s staff clashed against Drakana’s flaming claws. Seraphina drew her holy blade, blocking Lucivella’s demonic whip. Emilia activated twenty automated golems, trying to "restore order," only to contribute to chaos.

The courtyard exploded into duels. Walls cracked, Towers toppled and Demons fled in terror as chandeliers fell from ceilings that shouldn’t have even been near the courtyard.

The cursed throne waddled out, screaming: "MARRY ME INSTEAD!" before getting obliterated by stray fire.

Rei huddled under his table, nose bleeding nonstop, soup-scented hallucinations dancing in his vision. "This is it. This is my death. Killed by lust and fake pregnancies."

[System Alert: Catastrophe Damage Report → Demon Castle Structural Integrity: -30%.]

[System Warning: Collapse Probability Rising.]

[System Suggestion: Consider moving to a tent.]

Chunks of stone rained down. The dining hall collapsed in on itself. The audience of demons either fled or kept chanting hymns about love, which only made the chaos worse.

The brides screamed each other’s names. Power detonated in every direction. The castle shook like an overripe fruit about to burst.

And Rei... crawled deeper under his table, muttering: "Peace. Peace. I just wanted peace."

Hours later, the battlefield smoldered. The courtyard was rubble. The Demon Castle lost another thirty percent of its structure.

Rei sat on a splintered beam, hair singed, shirt in tatters, eyes hollow. His brides stood around him, still glaring daggers at each other, none willing to concede.

"Tonight," Lilia whispered, "he will choose."

"No," Drakana growled, "he will wrestle."

"Prophecy," Seraphina intoned.

"Statistics," Emilia countered.

"Mine," Lucivella purred.

Rei slumped forward, face-planting into dust. "Kill me now."

[System Notification: New Event Flag Triggered → "First Night War: Phase Two."]

[System Warning: Prepare for escalation.]

And so the castle braced for another night of love, lies, and structural collapse.

Smoke curled over the ruined courtyard. Broken stone and shattered glass glimmered in the moonlight like the aftermath of a divine punishment. The only sound was the occasional groan of the castle walls, still deciding whether to collapse now or wait until the inevitable Second Night War.

Rei, covered in soot and dust, sat limply with a thousand-yard stare. His lips trembled as he whispered the same mantra:

"Soup. We should have just argued about soup. Soup doesn’t kill castles. Soup doesn’t threaten me with fifteen imaginary babies."

But peace refused him. Because even amidst the rubble, his wives hadn’t stopped.

Drakana pointed at Lilia, a fang bared. "Admit it—you spread that pregnancy rumor yourself to get ahead!"

Lilia gasped in horror. "I would never! It was a test of faith from the heavens! My Rei-sama is not so easily deceived."

Seraphina raised her glowing sword again, voice icy. "Faith? Destiny cannot be tested. It simply is. And destiny says tonight, he lies with me."

Lucivella licked her lips, stepping over rubble in her torn gown like a predator crossing a battlefield. "Children, children... why argue? The answer is obvious. He already gave himself to me when he looked into my eyes last night. The rest of you are fighting over scraps."

Emilia, somehow spotless despite the chaos, calmly rolled out another scroll. "...Based on recorded gaze duration analysis, Rei looked at each of us an average of 2.7 seconds longer than normal. Conclusion: statistically inconclusive. However, probability suggests a lean of 11% toward myself."

Rei groaned and smashed his head against the beam he sat on. "Stop. Stop counting how long I blink."

[System Alert: Head Trauma Detected. Brain Cell Integrity: -5%.]

[System Suggestion: Pretend to faint. It sometimes works.]

The demons, far from calming down, had reached religious hysteria.

"Holy bride!" half the crowd chanted, pointing at Lilia.

"No, blood pact bride!" others shouted, raising their weapons for Drakana.

"Prophecy bride!" Seraphina’s followers countered.

"Scientific bride!" Emilia’s scholars screamed while waving clipboards.

"Demon Queen bride!" Lucivella’s cult howled, tearing their shirts off in solidarity.

Rei’s hands shook as he pointed at them, voice cracking. "Y-You’re not helping! You’re supposed to be my citizens! Why are you chanting statistical bride like that’s a normal category?!"

A demon raised his hand politely. "Because, my Lord-Husband, charts are divine."

Rei collapsed. "I hate it here."

As the argument spiraled into new accusations, the earth itself groaned. A distant tower leaned dangerously. Cracks spidered across the throne room walls. Even the cursed chandelier, rebuilt only three days ago, began to sway ominously.

The castle was tired. It had survived armies, gods, and Drakana’s nose-blasts of fire. But this? This was too much marital energy.

[System Alert: Demon Castle Structural Integrity: -65%.]

[System Warning: Premature Collapse Event → 40% Probability.]

[System Suggestion: Move marital disputes to an open field.]

Rei looked at the sky, lips trembling. "Please, heavens. Just smite me again. Anything’s better than this."

But no lightning came. Only more shouting, more declarations, more claims of whose womb destiny had favored.

At last, silence fell. Not because the brides were finished—but because they were saving their strength. Each one stood in a different corner of the ruined courtyard, power simmering, eyes locked on Rei like lions circling their kill.

The moon rose higher, painting everything in silver.

"Tonight," Lucivella whispered, her smile sharp as fangs, "no more running."

"Tonight," Emilia murmured, adjusting her glasses, "statistical probability becomes reality."

"Tonight," Seraphina intoned, "destiny is fulfilled."

"Tonight," Drakana snarled, "blood pacts are honored."

"Tonight," Lilia cried, "heaven’s will descends!"

Rei let out a broken laugh, face pale. "Tonight... the castle dies."

[System Notification: "First Night War: Phase Two" Approaches.]

[System Warning: Survive, or don’t. Either way, you won’t sleep.]

To be continued...