The Audience chamber was silent again. The place had been a roller coaster of emotions for the onlookers ever since the small devil and her band had entered the room.
Now, the tension was at its peak. The young one had offered a fate changing deal for both Baku and the villagers that lived within the safety of the fortress.
The healing of Baku, letting him return to his prime in power, and the demand for discipleship, essentially making her a dream knight for the force.
Such an offer could lead to the possibility of beating back the growing tide of dream beasts to a considerable degree, if not completely.
This was, without a doubt, a once in a lifetime opportunity.
However…
"You…you want ten of my men as sacrifices!?" Baku hissed out, his teeth were clenched in anger as his aura began to surge wildly.
He could kneel and kowtow thousands of times if it meant protecting this fortress, but to gain power in exchange for sacrificing his brothers in arms….
The armrest of his stone throne cracked and crumbled to dust as he clenched the edges with his fists. Sparkling gray fog began to expel from the gaps of his clenched teeth as he stared down at Hannya with fury.
As the hall rumbled from the solidified power in the air, Hannya stood there, her smile wide, her eyes forming crescents at the scene. This Baku was much better than the old fool she met earlier.
With Hans here, she couldn't even feel the aura's pressure, giving her an uninhibited front row seat of her future master's display of overwhelming power. She was quite satisfied with the results. He seemed very formidable.
The soldiers shook and trembled from the power, some could barely stand from the pressure. The dream knights seemed fine, but the sweat pouring down their brows made it clear they were barely keeping a straight face.
Sawyer was the only one who stood at ease, besides Hans, and Hans' aura was spread to her and her maids behind her.
Hannya shrugged. "That's what I now want, fortress lord. Ten heads of dream knights of my choosing, a kowtow, and the deal will be made immediately. An easy choice if you ask me."
"Silence!" Baku's aura surged higher as he slammed his fist into the remaining left arm rest, turning it to dust."You think I would trade my men's lives for my own!? Preposterous!"
Such an act went against all he stood for, and this devil spoke of it as if she were speaking of the weather. It made his blood boil, these were the actions and deals of the noble devils, callous and cruel. The type of ego stroking deals that threw life away carelessly for their perceived honor!
His breathing became labored as his aura began to fluctuate rapidly. The rise and drops in emotional states had finally gotten the better of the old man. His contained illness, now breaking free of suppression, spreading further throughout his body, making his situation worse.
Sawyer, noticing his commander's unstable state, stepped forward and spoke hastily."My lord, your health! Do not let the words of these nobles worsen your health further, it's what they want!" He shouted, glaring at Hannya and her group. "Such an offer was never a deal you would take, and they should have known that."
Hearing the words of Sawyer, Baku began to calm his fury, he was right. There was no way this little girl would think he would accept such a deal. Her words were just to anger him.
Cough! Cough!
As he settled his emotions down, while pushing the infection back with his chi, Baku began to cough violently, causing his vice commander to run up and support him. A mix of black and gray could be seen staining his handkerchief, causing the soldiers and the dream knights in the hall to shake slightly at the sight.
Hannya, on the other hand, seemed to not care about the old man's weakening state. She waved her hand. "It seems you're too under the weather to answer to my deal, so I'll give you time to recover and consider."
With that, she beckoned her group and turned to leave. "I'll give you five days to think about it."
But as Hannya was leaving with her group, the horse voice of Baku came from behind her.
"....tell me, really. Little devil...." His voice was exhausted, as if he was slowly losing hope in his situation. If this truly was his only offer from her, he would have to apologize to his old friend. He would never take it.
Hannya turned and looked at the worn form of Baku, his display was impressive earlier, but it seemed to have taken much of the wind out of his sails.
He continued. "Are you a noble? Or…or are you a nomad?" he knew either answer would wear his hopes down further, but at least, before his time came, he had to know. Were the true nomads truly all gone from this world? Replaced by devils no different from the nobles?
But the smile he was used to seeing from the little devil, the malevolent smile he expected from the question, didn't show on her face.
Instead, it was confusion, then realization, and finally, a face of pure disgust.
Changes the weakened Baku noticed vividly.
Hannya answered."Neither. I am far more supreme."
Sawyer, hearing this, frowned and couldn't help muttering. "What is that supposed to mean?" He couldn't understand what that was supposed to convey. A nomad is a devil with no major clan, family backing, or domain. If she wasn't a noble, she was a nomad.
Even if she used his lord's esoteric meaning of nomadic devil, she could have just said she was a wanderer.
Hannya glanced at the muttering Sawyer, a himbo without a doubt, she scoffed."Those that should know, know. Those that don't, don't."
She failed to notice Baku's weary eyes shoot open at the phrase. Those were the words of his old friend, the Downwards Direction!
"I don't want your men, Baku." Her grin turned malicious once more, as she scanned the room of shaken warriors. "Kikiki, I want ten dream knights. You're a devil right? Show some backbone." With that, Hannya turned and left. Leaving a confused and distraught audience chamber.
~~~
As Hannya returned to her temporary lodgings, she was lost in thought. The audience with Baku had gone better than she expected! The unhinged and overbearing behavior he showed in the beginning was expected, it didn't take long for him to act outrageous just to get a little extra information.
Just what she needed for a bit of leverage in their dealings! If Baku and his army was gonna be rude to her this whole time, she would obviously face slap him!
She entered the spacious room with her group in tow. She sat on the floor in front of the center table, a small cushion underneath her as she stretched her legs beneath the table, feeling peaceful and relaxed.
'Damn, I looked really cool back there!' she laughed in her heart, sure the ten heads thing was a bit of an ad-lib, but didn't she seem domineering leaving after crushing his ego?
'You have five days, peasant! *Slow walks away from your crumpled form*'
"Kikiki! Kikiki!" The little brat laughed. Such a miserable looking Baku brought her a strange sense of satisfaction. He dare show her no respect? Guess again!
'Wouldn't Vainglory's chiseled face be smoldering at me right now for such a womanly display?'
"ehyuk! ehyuk!" If only her beloved could see her flipping the heavens right now! Would there be any need for words at that point?
While the giddy creature rested her weight on her hands and laughed, the charm maids brought her food and drinks respectfully.
Hans, standing at her side stoically, looking directly ahead, choosing to focus on the wall in front of him, casually asked."How confident are you in his submission, young miss? Baku is known for being rather unreasonable when it came to dealings pertaining to his mountain secrets and loyal men. His senility does no favors for negotiations either. " Though he thought of this question to tactfully stop that strange noise, he was truly curious about the thoughts of the young devil. Did she truly want to become a dream knight or was she aiming for something different altogether?
The way she approached this deal was rather domineering after her feigned submission. Baku's secret arts, treasures from his treasury, and the lives of ten of his subordinates. A request pleasing to the old butler, given Hannya was made to humiliate herself in front of beings below her status.
But he was well aware that her demands were not only heavy, but well past the old devil's bottom line. Kneeling was one thing, but sacrificing his loyal comrades was not in the nature of a warrior that protected a mountain village from dream beasts most of his life in the name of valiance.
Hannya waved her hand. "He's not senile, but that's too complicated to get into. He will submit one way or another, his time is running out. Soon (once the nobles show up), true despair will arrive in this village. Even his fake senility won't be able to shield him this time. His strength is far too low now, you saw him today." She shook her head.
She remembered this side story in the novel. Baku's death and his transformation into a sleepwalker class dream beast. After the nobles show up, Sawyer, that idiot, went to broker a deal with the nobles behind Baku's back in order to help with his ailments and 'mental deterioration'.
He ended up being convinced by ten of Baku's 'loyal subordinates' to pledge their loyalty to the Acedia clan in exchange to fully heal their leader.
The second Sawyer signs the contract, he finds out that the comrades he came with were already branded by the Acedia clan.
They were not his old comrades either, the charm and night demons he knew were long dead. Replaced by shadow demons from the capital some time ago.
His soul was then extracted, ripped to pieces for samples, and taken back with the procession.
Baku then later hears news from his 'subordinates' that Sawyer ventured into the fissure to find an item he heard would heal his commander's injuries.
Baku, now enraged, charged into the fissure to find him, despite his injuries. He dies there by unknown and mysterious means, most guessed to the virus. Later he shows up in the story as an outrageously strong dream beast used as a stepping stone for one of the main characters in Neel.
'And that character farms all that exp and takes his lucid sword arts style via some soul gratitude bullshit scene between him and the old man.'
Hannya grinned. 'Welp, mine now.' The art was wasted on that sword style collector anyways. He's plenty strong without it.
But now that she jumped the gun a bit on her initial plan, she needed to quickly figure out who the damn spies were so she would be able to snitch at the right time to appear overwhelmingly formidable and wise.
The last glance in the audience chamber was her hasty attempt to cheat and suss out the perpetrators.
Unfortunately, nothing substantial was found with her useless boon.
[
Name: Sawyer, the shade demon
Age: 28
Lv: 80 - Dream Knight
Stats: [??? - evolution required]
]
[
Name: Donald, the night demon
Age: 51
Lv: 61 - Dream Knight
Stats: [View]
]
[
Name: Regina, the charm demon
Age: 55
Lv: 64 - Dream Knight
Stats: [View]
]
[
Name: Harol, the night demon
Age: 66
Lv: 65 - Dream Knight
Stats: [View]
]
'Figures.' she shook her head at the thought.
It made sense, if the inner circle was full of shadow demons, she doubted even the weakened Baku wouldn't notice.
Hannya then glanced in Hans' direction.
[
Name: Hans, the war demon(Contractee)
Titles: The Queen's Protector, Head Butler, High Society Instructor, Stillborn Devil, Demon Lord, Spark Master
Age: 4355
Lv: [??? - evolution required]
Stats: [??? - evolution required]
Curses:[??? - evolution required]
]
"Tch!" Not only could she still not see shit, her mana gets ripped away by crazy amounts even when she glances at this bastard's status.
She glared at Hans. This fucker lied to her too! He said that guy Sawyer was 'close to him' in strength, so why does she lose almost no mana at all looking at Sawyer's status? Yet here she was now, almost OOM just by peeking at Hans. Was he really that humble or trying to look cool?
Seeing his young lady's rage, the head butler was startled, but being the ever professional butler, he remained calm. He gestured for the charm demon Lily to bring the little devil more cake as he spoke softly.
"Is something bothering you, young miss?"
"....No." she maintained her glare as she snatched the plate from her servant. She took a vicious bite as she continued. "We just need to wait until the boat here gets rocky, then we'll swoop in to rob the old bastard for all he's worth, hehe….oh! Yummy! This wasn't the cake from earlier…"
As Hannya began to eat happily. Hans couldn't help but shake his head. He still wasn't sure what her intentions were, but his old butler senses were telling him Hannya was the type that at least did not revel in the suffering of others leisurely.
He would just continue to observe for now. He wanted to see how all this would unfold.
'Devils that can see fate really are curious individuals.'
"Oh and Hans?" She spoke between bites.
"Yes?"
"If you see that guy Sawyer sneaking around and acting on his own in the next couple of days, make him submit and bring him to me." No way would she allow this guy to make a deal with the nobles behind Baku's back and ruin all her plans!
"..."
"Hans?"
"....Yes. Young miss."
"That's a good butler."
~~~
Three days later.
Sawyer paced back and forth in front of a large door deep within the castle. He was distraught. On the same night his commander met with the little devil Hannya, Baku had decided to reduce the dream mist accumulating from the fissure once again, despite his illness being exacerbated during their encounter in the evening.
As a result, Baku lost control of his suppression once again, furthering the spread of the lulling virus once more and collapsing on the mountain peak. Had Sawyer not come to check on him, like he now regularly did, there would have been no telling of Baku's condition.
Using his special ability, Sawyer managed to suppress the spread, but the damage was already quite substantial. His lord hasn't woken up since.
Creaaak
The door to the bed chamber slowly opened, and a bespectacled woman in a white coat exited the room.
Sawyer stopped and went up to her with urgent steps. He asked quickly. "How is he, Doc Mills?"
The middle aged demon, Millie, shook her head."He's not dreaming yet, but the toxins spread in his body are too much now. He won't wake up without a way to expel at least some of it." She sighed. " And the longer he's asleep, the more violent the toxic haze will become. I'm not sure your ability can hold it back for long."
"H-how much time do you think?" Sawyer voiced, if he could just hold out for 3 days, no 4, he might be able to broker a deal with the Acedia clan when they arrived.
He didn't trust the nobles, but whatever the price would be, he would pay it.
Unlike the unknown devil, Sawyer was banking on the fact that since they were Baku's clansmen, they would keep him alive. If anything, it was more convenient to have a fellow Acedia controlling the fissure and filling their pockets rather than any other clan or demon.
He knew they would probably make the price steep, but what could he do? His back was now against the wall. And despite their small possible schemes here and there, the clan higher-ups did not have a bad relationship with Baku himself.
At the behest of some of his comrades, he sent a proposal letter to intercept them, not explaining the severity of their situation, just the possibility and some generous payment options. With some luck, a deal could be struck before things got beyond saving.
Millie answered. "Perhaps 5 days to a week, if you don't do anything to break concentration or be too strenuous."
He nodded. That was a relief, he could do that. He might have to be a bit harder on his subordinates for a while, but they would understand. This was for their lord.
Around the corner a servant suddenly appeared, they looked rather stressed as they approached.
"Vice commander, a letter came from the noble procession." He handed it to Sawyer with an exhausted face.
Sawyer took it, opened it up, and began to read.
Thump Thump Thump Thump
At the same time, a soldier came running through the halls from the other side. He stopped in front of the vice commander, panting heavily and spoke hastily."Sawyer, word from the scouting team you sent! The mist density has increased. I-I think the fissure is trying to expand again!"
But Sawyer didn't react to the words. His face was pale as he read the letter now slightly crumpled in his hands.
"Ha…haha…" he let out a hollow laugh.
"S-sir?"
He took a deep breath."Call an emergency meeting, gather all unit leaders to the war room."
He crumpled the paper fully and threw it to the ground.
"We will not need any dream knights watching the southern gate for the noble's arrival. They will come next month, after their detour to Pleasure Palace."
"What?! Weren't they also bringing the supplies we paid for?"
"S-sir Sawyer, I thought they were a couple of days away? Isn't that palace in the opposite direction?"
The soldier and the servant asked.
But Sawyer said nothing as he glanced at the door of Baku's chamber.
His face was neutral, but his knuckles were white as blood dripped from his palms.
"....Just follow my orders." He said as he turned and walked to the war room with heavy steps.