Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 108: Rain the Fraud!
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- Rain -
She allowed a happy go lucky grin to form on her face once she had made enough distance with Lord Guy. If that guy knew she was having fun he'd probably call her back like the meanie he was, so she made sure to suppress her joy.
She had been the one to suggest they directly visit Lune once the little battle that had taken place was over. Lord Guy originally planned to send one of her Lieutenants who was now a Daemon Duke to investigate and perhaps initiate contact with Demon Lord Luminous to make sure that everything was alright in the West.
But that would be boring, she was already pretty bored and she wanted a chance to flex her new power! So she suggested to Lord Guy that he could personally check the situation out, maybe he'd meet someone new and interesting.
That was enough to convince Lord Guy, he was rather carefree like that. So he ordered her to teleport them to Ruberious. He could have done it himself but why was she there if he had to perform the basic tasks?
Despite everything she still prided herself in being one of the two maids of the Lord of Darkness. She'd rather keel over dead than have Lord Guy prepare his own meals or teleport himself like some peasant.
She raised a brow as she felt a decently moderately large aura quickly rush its way towards Lord Guy before shrugging. He would be fine, in fact something like that was the exact reason she was able to convince him to come to Lune in person.
Lord Guy was looking for something or someone interesting to entertain him. Every few centuries he was hit with a spurt of boredom and would sow some chaos in the West to entertain him.
It wouldn't be anything catastrophic of course, just enough to get Humanity a bit worried and change the status quo a bit. This time Lord Guy didn't even have to do anything!
This new generation of Demon Lords were really a fun bunch.
That Rimuru guy was roleplaying as a kingdom builder and was slowly expanding his empire which intrigued Guy. While Felix was just an overpowered bastard which also intrigued Guy. The older Demon Lords were getting caught up in all the change as well, like Luminous, Milim, Leon, and even Dagruel was making some moves behind the scenes.
She was super old so she was used to not having anything interesting happen for a long, long time. But it was still nice that she would get to stretch her legs a bit!
She was using the Hydra as a way to get Lord Guy a little interested but it seems that wasn't needed in the first place.
There was more than enough in this city to entertain Lord Guy somewhat if what she sensed was accurate. And she was a Primordial so of course her senses were accurate.
Though she wasn't lying when she said the person who killed the Hydra had to be quite strong. It was stronger than that guy Clayman, and he was a Demon Lord, though he was a faker. Not like her! She was a real Demon Lord now! Umu! Throughout heaven and earth, she alone was the honored one… or something.
Though she would never be able to call herself a real Demon Lord due to her service to Lord Guy, plus the world didn't actually see her as a Demon Lord, in the world's eyes she was a mere fraud.
She got the power boost but not the status the world gave True Demon Lords, but that was alright. That didn't mean she wouldn't take pride in her newfound power. She was grateful to Felix for that, it had been ages since she was a Devil Lord again.
She was still the one of the strongest people around, but the difference between her Daemon Duke self and Devil Lord self was vast. To the point that she could beat 10 of her old self rather easily now.
In return for Felix's gift she even put yet another good word in for him with Lord Guy! Her benevolence was truly astonishing, she should have been born as one of those pesky Angels instead of as a Daemon. Oh, she had destroyed hundreds of thousands of souls? Pish posh, that didn't count! She was still as pure as an Angel!
She clenched her first, releasing a pleasurable sigh as she felt the overwhelming power within her.
The sheer physical force she could exert now would be enough to punch Clayman away with ease!
She could do that before too, but she'd have to rely on her Aura for that, which was honestly just shameful as a Primordial. But what could she do? The world nerfed the Primordial Daemons whenever they entered the Cardinal World, even Lord Guy was subject to that, being a mere Arch Daemon when he was first summoned by that Jahil guy.
Talk about an idiot. When Lord Guy first summoned them after wiping out that kingdom she was stumped as to how someone could be so stupid. She quickly learned how stupid Humans could be.
After her Awakening she felt like the king of the world, or something. It had been a really long time since she was truly a Devil Lord, it was nice to feel her old power with her once more. Not to mention she was even stronger than she was when she originally left the Daemon Realm! That showed Lord Guy that she wasn't a slacker! So what if he said that she didn't improve much in the 20,000+ years she was in this world?
He was just jealous… yeah, sure, Lord Guy might have been stronger than her. But was he as irredeemably cute as her? Didn't think so. Could he paint women like they were one of his French girls? Nah, man, he couldn't. At least not now, he probably could steal all her years of painting by giving it a side eye. But he still couldn't do it right now, which was enough for her.
She would cope with that thought so she didn't cry.
She didn't acquire an Ultimate Skill, something Lord Guy verbally expressed his disappointment with, she wouldn't lie and say that his comments didn't hurt but Lord Guy was just like that. He cared for her in his own way. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully?
She would be sure to rub it in that pesky Noir's face about how she was stronger than him now though! Same with Arcueid, Megumin, and Lalatina, they always picked on her back in the Daemon Realm.
Sure she was one of the youngest among her kin but that didn't mean they could bully her! Sure they were older and more experienced, but she was a Devil Lord, she would show them their place! Umu! Right after she finished helping Lord Guy with his reconnaissance of course.
She definitely wasn't nervous, she totally wasn't stalling.
Anyways, after she and Misery evolved Lord Guy quickly requested a spar with them. She knew they stood no chance, she was one of the few individuals that had seen Lord Guy go all out on multiple occasions.
But she still thought he wouldn't completely destroy them as he had! As a Primordial she had always had Demon Lord's Haki, just as the rest of her kin had, but the potency of her Haki had increased with her Awakening, but Lord Guy just batted away her and Misery's combined force.
It really was not fair, Lord Guy was just too broken! Her Mist Illusions were seen through, her strengthened Demon Lord's Haki was negated, her Magic was dealt with. Lord Guy was just built different, but that was why she continued to serve him she supposed.
She was there for his first battle against Velzard which turned the Ice Continent into what it had become today. She was around for all his spars with Leon, Leon was seriously a monster for all the destruction he had wrought in those spars.
He was a scary dude, she would highly recommend against messing with him. She had her pride as a Primordial but she also had a sense of self preservation. She knew there were monsters out there far above her pay grade. Leon was one of them.
….Though she didn't even get paid… Even the most common of maids got paid…
She shook away the sad thoughts, today was a day of positivity! Who cared that she was poorer than even that clown Clayman? He was dead, she was not! He got killed in a rather brutal way from what she heard.
Felix was another monster, she had been around for some of his "spars" with Lord Guy, and man they were throwing things around that she would not want to touch with a ten foot pole. Seriously, he wasn't even a Primordial? The world was unfair! How did he get so strong while she only just became a Devil Lord!?
Ugh, he did have the favor of that nepo baby Milim Nava. Maybe that had something to do with it?
In one of the spars she had been observing some time ago she even saw Felix and Lord Guy blink in and out of existence.
It was super freaky, they were in one spot then a moment later they were in another, slightly wounded and laughing. It wasn't teleportation, she was experienced enough to know that.
In fact she recalled something similar happening during Lord Guy and Velzard's original fight. That just went to show that she had a lot more to learn. Her and Misery had been training together ever since their Awakening. Progress was slow but there was at least some progress. Their reserves had grown by a very slight amount at the very least.
She whistled in a carefree manner as she felt a shockwave pass through her, causing her skirt to flutter giving a pantie shot to any soul lucky enough. Though she was under an illusion so no one saw. Sucks to suck.
She was sure Lord Guy was having fun. She could feel a rather powerful Aura erupting from where she left Lord Guy. It was maybe just barely at the level of a Saint. Moments later a barrier was placed isolating that fight from the rest of the city, though many of Luminous' Paladins were panicking and heading to the area the shockwave originated from.
Uh oh, that probably wasn't good. She should probably stop them before they get in the way of Lord Guy's fun. Plus if lots of other people got involved it could send the situation spiraling out of control.
Lord Guy might just purge them all if they annoyed him.
Just before she was about to intervene to distract everyone another man appeared in front of her. Her presence was concealed so he didn't seem to notice her.
"Calm down everyone!" He began. "There was just a little mishap, Saare is handling it!" The man explained.
Saare? Was that the name of the guy who Lord Guy was having fun with? She pitied the guy. He seemed strong, but he really stood no chance. He might even die at the end if he didn't entertain Lord Guy enough. If anything though she could respect the balls on him.
One of the Paladins sighed in relief. "Sir Saare is handling it? Then we can rest assured. Thank you Sir Arnaud!"
She guessed that there were others calming down the Paladins on the other side of Lune. Though just why were the Paladins covering for Lord Guy?
As the Paladins backed off she approached Arnaud. She could tell he was a pretty strong Enlightened. Clayman would lose against him.
Huh, since when did she start using Clayman as a measure of strength? Poor guy, she would forever be using him as a strength measurement. Imagine dying and being so damn weak that even after death your meager strength is multiplied over and over to calculate someone else's strength.
Heh, she would be doing that now. For example, she was about 7 Clayman's strong.
She tapped Arnaud on the shoulder. He immediately stiffened up and swung his blade around at her as it erupted in flames. She had placed an illusion around them just before she tapped him as she expected something like this to happen.
She held the sword back with a single finger as the searing hot flames attempted to burn her alive. She merely raised a brow and gently blew out the flames. "That wasn't very nice!" She said with a playful grin.
Arnaud was looking at her with some fear in his eyes, but there was some determination in there as well. She missed talking to people who were weaker than her. She had been associating with absolute monsters so much that she forgot the looks of absolute terror people shot her.
Arnaud's grip on his weapon tightened as she placed a hand on her hip. "W-Who are you!?" He demanded.
She could tell he was reinforcing himself with his Aura, he was preparing for a fight which was smart. His eyes were quickly glancing through the surroundings, he was confused why the nearby Paladins were not doing anything. Illusions were handy for things like that.
She just waved him off. "Don't worry. I'm not here to cause trouble, just have a little fun!"
"Are you with the man that Saare is fighting?" Arnaud questioned.
She raised a brow but nodded. Oddly enough Arnaud relaxed at her confirmation. Now she was confused.
"Lady Luminous has informed me that we have a colleague of hers visiting today." Arnaud explained seeing his confusion.
"Luminous reacted quickly then." She mused out loud. "Why is that man named Saare fighting my Lord then?"
Arnaud's lips twitched. "Lady Luminous decided to not inform Saare as by the time she realized one of her colleagues had arrived, Saare had already begun clashing with them. She believed that Saare would not be harmed so she wished to have Saare test himself against her colleague."
Luminous was a sneaky one. Using Lord Guy as a sharpening tool for one of her own subordinates. She was sure Lord Guy had realized the same, he was probably just amused.
Though Luminous was being rather trusting if she expected Lord Guy not to kill her minion. Her bet paid off this time, but Lord Guy was rather whimsy at the best of times.
This Arnaud guy must also be pretty trusted by Luminous for her to bother explaining her reasoning to him.
She sighed. "Let's go then. It seems my fun time is going to be cut short today."
Arnaud nodded as he fully sheathed his sword. "May I ask for your name?"
"Hmm? Oh, you can call me Lady Rain."
Arnaud froze up. "Rain… one of the maids of Guy Crimson? Do you serve the Lord of Darkness?" He asked in a dead tone of voice.
"Mhmm!" She cheerfully nodded, grinning slightly at Arnaud's obvious fear. It was good to be her.
- Luminous Valentine -
She watched Saare's fight from above. She almost immediately recognized Guy's presence in Lune.
She was busy, but when the Lord of Darkness comes to pay a visit, you receive him. He wasn't here to cause trouble, if he was he would have already done something. Plus she had a significant amount of forces concentrated in Ruberious at the moment, not that she was deluded enough to believe that would mean anything to Guy, but the strong people present did matter.
Felix was still here, Hinata was still unconscious but Luminous still felt confident that with all the forces present even Guy would be hesitant to push his boundaries.
The power she felt from Felix that day was truly absurd, to the point that she felt confident that Guy would at the very least be careful of pushing his boundaries, similar to how he acted with Milim Nava.
Milim may have enjoyed playing the fool but all of the older Demon Lords were well aware that she mustn't be underestimated.
It only put into perspective how much more she had to work on herself, and she had been doing so. Her reserves had grown a fair portion, especially since she acquired Granbell's lifeforce which strengthened her fairly significantly.
Though she would not put herself down either, she was well aware that she was one of the most extraordinary individuals in existence.
In the end the "class" she most identified with was the support class. Her healing capabilities were second to none, and she felt confident that at her full power she could heal entire battlefields of millions in an instant.
Combat was simply not her main priority until recently.
Felix would likely be here in moments. Felix and Guy had a rather odd relationship from what she had observed, but to each's own. Personally she would not like a man such as Guy Crimson to be a friend, but that was her own personal opinion.
Just before she was about to greet and question Guy she felt Saare charge ahead. She was rather impressed that Saare managed to sense Guy's Aura. Saare likely believed Guy to be an enemy, so he attacked first and asked questions later. Something he would be reprimanded for. But for now she saw it as a potential learning opportunity for Saare.
Previously the majority of her attention was on Hinata as she believed Hinata had the most potential of the bunch. Saare was also rather impressive however, perhaps he would learn a thing or two from his… spar with Guy, if you could call what she was watching a spar.
She was rather surprised that Saare had continued his assault beyond the initial attack, Guy Crimson's general appearance was infamous throughout the Cardinal World. She had no doubt that Saare recognized Guy the moment he caught sight of him.
It went to show how much courage Saare had that he was willing to challenge Guy despite the obvious fear he must have been feeling.
She guessed that Saare perhaps thought the attack may have been a scheme caused by internal fighting among the Demon Lords. It wasn't as if she explained all the inner workings to her subordinates, only her closest subordinates such as Louis and Gunther were aware of what had happened.
Saare likely thought that Guy was perhaps here to finish the job, that was the only explanation she could consider as to why Saare was putting his everything on the line currently.
Despite everything, Saare was loyal to her, or at least to what she represented. He cared for the people who dwelled within her territory and he would fight tooth and nail to protect them.
Saare was unaware about the internal workings of the Nine Sovereigns, he likely thought Felix and Rimuru were the only Demon Lords he didn't have to worry about.
Whereas in reality none of the Demon Lords would challenge each other without warning or reason. Dagruel had the most reason to attack her, yet even he hadn't initiated any attacks just yet.
She had informed some of the other Nine Great Saints to divert any Paladins from entering the area as she did not wish to make a scene out of it. She further went on to place a barrier around Guy and Saare so the fight would remain isolated.
It was a shame, Felix had just remade the city, yet she had a feeling that there would be more damage that needed to be repaired.
For now she would watch.
"So what'd I miss?" Felix's voice echoed out from behind her, though she felt the presence of another man behind Felix.
"Nothing much." She responded, her thin lips curving into a smile.
- Guy Crimson -
He allowed a small grin to form on his face as he took on the white haired Saint's attacks. He merely tilted his head, allowing the young Saint's weapon to boom past his head leaving shockwaves in its wake.
Guy casually leaped backwards, creating some distance between him and his attacker. He could sense Luminous and Felix hovering above him. How kind of them to let him have his fun. Though he sensed someone else that he hadn't sensed in a long time. It had been so long that he was considering if his own senses failed him.
He had only met Damrada in passing once before, but Damrada was strong and so Guy had remembered him, even after all this time.
He supposed he'd get his questions answered soon enough.
He could also sense Rain making her way towards him with someone else. It seems she wouldn't be getting to have much fun after all.
Maybe he'd give her another vacation? She had been making progress, and good deeds ought to be rewarded.
Both Misery and Rain seemed to have finally taken a hint and began training themselves. They were stronger than they were back in the Daemon Realm, but that wouldn't be enough.
Neither had acquired Ultimate Skills but that wasn't unexpected for Guy. Even he hadn't acquired an Ultimate Skill after his Awakening, he was too Prideful, thinking his abilities would be enough to take on the entire world.
He had been humbled by Velda very quickly.
He had always been annoyed at Misery and Rain's lack of progress, but he wouldn't force them to train, that will had to come from within themselves.
He did still consider them close companions of his, he would even avenge them if they got themselves killed, but not much more than that.
Though he did have to wonder if he now had to consider the fact that each and every Primordial had been Awakened into Devil Lords. If Felix could Awaken Misery and Rain, then he could do so with the rest. Though the soul requirement would be rather troublesome to satisfy. Guy hadn't heard any reports of any kingdoms being destroyed so the soul issue still remained.
Of course Guy considered the possibility that Felix already had the souls, in which case there was nothing Guy could do except account for the new Devil Lords that had been thrown into the mix of his game with Rudra.
"What is your name?" Guy asked as he casually tucked his hands into his pockets. This man was far too weak for him to use even his fists, let alone draw his blade. That didn't mean that he wouldn't enjoy toying with him though.
The Saint's grip on his blade tightened. Guy could tell the man was terrified, yet he was still standing. Something like that was rather impressive, he has seen people terrify themselves into death when in his presence before.
"Saare. And you will walk no further. I will not allow you to." Saare declared with solemnity.
Guy laughed. "Pffft! Perhaps I have been too quiet if you Humans underestimate me so." Guy said mockingly.
It was ludicrous to even think that Saare could last a second against him if Guy wanted him dead. Saare was weak, he was merely stronger than most which was enough to entertain Guy for now. He had come to gather information after all. He had never been one for spying and sneaking around. He preferred to be direct.
"You're the one who's underestimating me!" Saare yelled as he dashed forwards leaving behind a sonic explosion.
Guy Crimson stood still, his grin widening as Saare surged forward, the sonic boom trailing behind him. The white-haired Saint's blade gleamed with holy energy, crackling with power as he brought it down in an arc meant to cleave him in two.
With a flick of his wrist, Guy conjured a barrier of crimson flames, the air around it warping from the intense heat. Saare's blade struck the barrier, sending a cascade of sparks and shockwaves in every direction. The collision of holy energy and his flames created an ear-splitting crackle, illuminating the battlefield in the process.
Guy hadn't been using anything Saare wasn't capable of handling. It would be too boring if he accidentally killed Saare. He was just trying to test this newbie Saint for now.
"Is that it?" Guy asked, his tone dripping with mockery. "If you're going to entertain me, you'll need to do better than that, weakling." Guy said as he mockingly yawned.
His words seemed to only tick Saare off more. It really was too fun messing with those beneath him.
With a casual motion, Guy waved his hand, and the flames of his barrier swirled outward, coiling like serpents toward the Saint. The surrounding temperatures would incinerate even an Enlightened in an instant, but not much more than that.
Guy lightly tapped on the ground with his foot. He was surprised the land around him wasn't melting, it seems it was enchanted to be able to last even in somewhat high level fights.
Saare reacted swiftly, channeling more holy energy into his blade, creating a radiant crescent of energy that sliced through the incoming fire. The two forces collided mid-air, resulting in a powerful explosion that shook the ground.
Saare didn't let up. He leaped into the air, raising his blade high as he chanted a spell. Golden runes spiraled around him, and a massive spear of light materialized above his head. With a shout, he hurled it toward Guy.
"Interesting." Guy mused, watching the spear descend with the force of a meteor. He raised a finger, and a glowing red sigil formed in the air. As the spear closed in, the sigil expanded and absorbed the attack, neutralizing it in a flash of crimson light. He had always enjoyed messing with runes.
Before Saare could react, Guy extended his hand, and the absorbed energy morphed into a barrage of crimson shards that rained down on the Saint. Saare dodged and parried as best he could, his movements a blur. Despite his skill, several shards found their mark, tearing into his armor and drawing some life blood.
Saare gritted his teeth, his aura flaring brighter. "I won't fall here!" He roared as he ignored his wounds.
"Ah, so there's more to you after all." Guy said, smiling slightly. He cracked his neck and finally pulled his hands from his pockets. He had yet to even take a step forward this entire fight. "Then perhaps I'll try just a teeny tiny bit more."
The air grew heavy as Guy unleashed a fraction of his true power. Crimson and black energy danced across his body, and the ground beneath him cracked and smoldered from the sheer intensity of his aura. This wasn't even 1/100,000 of his aura, but it was still fairly impressive that Saare was still standing.
"Let's see if your light can withstand my darkness, Saint." Guy taunted, but just before he could attack a single hand appeared on Saare's shoulder. All of Saare's wounds were instantly healed up.
"That would be enough, Saare." Guy grinned as Luminous stood behind Saare. She seemed no worse for wear despite the fights that had occurred in her home territory. If he knew one thing he knew Luminous had to have been ticked off, she was a prideful one.
She had grown stronger… far stronger. An Ultimate Skill?
"L-Lady Luminous!"
"Leave us." Luminous demanded.
"B-But!" Saare protested.
"Now." Luminous ordered.
Saare grit his teeth but nodded. Just as he was leaving, Luminous said, "I will be informing Hinata of your reckless actions."
"Yes." Saare mumbled as he walked away.
Guy didn't even blink as Felix appeared beside Luminous. "Ha! He looks like a kicked puppy, Luminous!" Felix chortled.
Luminous smirked slightly. "Indeed. It was a good fight however." Saare must have heard Luminous as he seemed to have gained a pep in his step.
Guy's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Felix, sensing his gaze Felix merely winked at him.
Guy sensed something… familiar from Felix. Felix may have been suppressing his Aura masterfully, but even then some taint of his Aura was left on Felix's body. That taint felt like that of Velda's Aura though different. It shared similarities with Velda's, Veldora's, and even Velzard's Aura but it was still entirely its own thing.
Just what had Felix done to himself? Guy sighed, he didn't think Felix would be answering that question, and Guy didn't think it wise to alienate Felix by trying to force the issue so he would let it be for now.
Still, he was rather curious.
It wasn't hidden from his view that Felix had chosen to stand next to Luminous. Felix was making his support of Luminous in this situation clear, he was telling Guy that if Guy was here to cause trouble, then he would be helping Luminous out. Guy didn't enjoy playing politics, but that didn't mean he didn't understand them.
Guy lightly stretched. It was an entertaining fight, nothing to write home about but it kept him entertained for a few moments. Saare did have some potential, and Guy was curious if Saare would ever reach his full potential, but nothing more than that.
He was able to confirm that Luminous did indeed acquire an Ultimate Skill. It was about time, if she hadn't been so lazy then perhaps she would have acquired one long ago. At least she got one now, she would be a useful piece to use against Rudra.
Guy's eyes wandered behind Felix, where Damrada was standing. "And I thought I was mistaken. It has been quite some time, Damrada."
Damrada nodded. "Indeed. It is an honor to see you again, Lord Guy." Damrada dipped his head.
Guy just nodded as he stepped forwards. He was here for a reason after all, work came before his fun. Though in this case his fun and work were one and the same. Before he could speak he was interrupted.
"Lord Guy~! Your wonderful maid has returned!" Rain yelled as she skipped towards him. She really was too childish.
Guy sighed, Felix shot him a sympathetic smile. Rain took her place beside him as the Paladin that she arrived with went to stand behind Luminous. "You may leave, Arnaud."
The man bowed. "Yes, Lady Luminous."
Now that they were mostly alone Luminous spoke up. "Why are you here, Guy?"
"Oh? Getting right into things?"
Rain stepped forwards, her hands on her hips as she pouted at Luminous. "Hey! At least serve us some tea or something!"
Guy raised a brow at Rain's uncharacteristic outburst.
She was acting far more confident than she usually did in front of his fellow True Demon Lords. Before she wouldn't exactly cower in front of them, but she would be wary of them which was fair.
Now however she was standing in front of Luminous as an equal. It seems that Awakening gave Rain a rather large confidence boost.
If it weren't for Luminous acquiring an Ultimate Skill of her own, then Guy believed that in a fight between Luminous and Rain the results were not as certain. Oh, Luminous would win by a land slide, but she would need to exert some more effort.
Luminous narrowed her eyes as a light pressure began to leak from her. Felix placed a hand on Luminous' shoulder. "Relax." Felix chided. "You know how Rain is."
"Tsk." Luminous clicked her tongue. "It seems that your Awakening has given you a bit of an ego." Luminous stated.
Rain puffed up her chest. "Hehe, I bet I'd be able to beat you up easy now!" Rain said as she began shadow boxing around. Had Rain been hanging out with Ramiris or something?
Guy sighed. Rain really had no sense of self preservation, but he'd let her dig her own grave. Luminous wouldn't go too hard on her, she knew the consequences if something fatal happened to Rain.
Luminous raised a brow. "Is that so? Then I suppose we can test that another time then." With that Luminous stopped paying Rain any attention, making his maid pout. She really was too needy. Even though he beat her up, that didn't seem to have been enough to put her ego in check. He really should have brought Misery instead, she was far more obedient.
"Let us go somewhere more private." Luminous said. She snapped her fingers, teleporting them into a meeting room of some sort. Guy didn't even blink as he took a seat, casually lounging back. Rain took her place behind him. Look at her, trying to be a proper maid.
Felix and Luminous took their seats with Damrada standing behind Felix. That alone was a message. Why had Damrada aligned himself with Felix? Last Guy heard Damrada was still serving Rudra, though that was a long time ago.
As Guy contemplated Damrada the door opened. Gunther walked in, a tray in hand. Gunther quickly went around the room and served each of them tea.
Gunther was a massive disappointment in Guy's eyes. He had a lot of potential, he was a Progenitor of an entire race, and was born strong enough to kill most Saints.
If he became a True Demon Lord Guy had no doubt that he would become a valuable pawn, but he wasted it all on playing butler.
Once Gunther left Guy finally leaned forwards. "It seems events worked out in your favor this time, Luminous." Guy began as he took a sip of his tea.
He didn't know whether Luminous had only just acquired her Ultimate Skill during the attack, or if she acquired it earlier. What he did know was that during the last Walpurgis she had no Ultimate Skill. Her total energy also had gone up by around 20%. A rather significant gain.
And that was even more impressive when considering the fact that forming an Ultimate Skill costed a significant amount of energy, more energy than what most Saints had.
If she had another few centuries perhaps she could become someone even he would need to take seriously, though with her attitude probably not.
Luminous lightly stirred her cup of tea. "Indeed. Quite a few annoyances were dealt with. I can only thank Felix for keeping your interference away. It would have been quite troublesome if you decided to attack the West with your Daemons… again."
Guy smirked. "Indeed." Luminous always did like to play these sorts of games, talking around the subject but never quite going into depth. She always managed to get what she wanted out of a Walpurgis through that method, at least until she swapped herself out for Roy.
Felix yawned as he leaned back against his seat, tilting it to balance on 2 out of the 4 legs. "Why're you here, Guy?" Felix asked casually.
Luminous turned to glare at him for interrupting the game she was playing, Felix just smirked at her which only seemed to annoy her more.
Guy tilted his cup of tea back and quickly guzzled it down, the tea was quite tasty after all. "Hmm, I just wanted to check up on some things. You said you'd handle it but it would be irresponsible for me if I just left it at that."
Felix nodded. "That's fair."
Guy's gaze wandered to Damrada who was staring ahead stone faced. "Why are you here, Damrada?" Guy asked. Damrada looked to Felix who nodded to Damrada.
"I have decided to serve Lord Felix wholeheartedly." Guy's eyes narrowed at his suspicions being confirmed.
Luminous' brows furrowed as she looked at Felix in confusion.
Felix noticed her gaze. "I'll tell you later."
She slowly nodded.
"Just why are you serving Felix? Last time I met you your loyalty to Rudra was overflowing, what changed?"
Damrada looked to Felix again. Felix just shrugged. "Tell him whatever you want to, I imagine he probably knows most of it."
Before Damrada could speak Guy gestured to an open chair. "Take a seat." Luminous' eyes narrowed at the clear powerplay he just made. This was Luminous' domain, yet he was acting as if it was his own home.
Damrada looked to Luminous for confirmation. "May I?"
Luminous nodded. "At least one of you has manners." She whispered under her breath.
Damrada took his seat and opened his mouth. "I am unsure if you are aware, but Emperor Rudra is dying." Luminous' eyes widened as she looked to Felix for confirmation. Felix subtly nodded, confirming Damrada's words to Luminous. A small smile spread across Luminous' face, one she quickly hid with her cup of tea.
Guy's smile wilted slightly. Of course he knew that Rudra's soul was degrading over time, he was the one who told Rudra about it. He wondered if Velda saw this coming? Who could tell with that guy?
"I'm aware, I'm the one who told him about his condition." Guy answered.
Damrada nodded. "I thought as much."
Damrada went on to explain that Rudra had ended up tasking Damrada to find someone capable of defeating him. Rudra was fearful that should he lose his battle against Michael, then his body would be forfeit to Michael, which Rudra did not want as he did not know what chaos Michael would unleash upon this world.
Luminous had some questions about Michael that Felix was able to answer.
"Hmm, I see." Guy responded simply. Guy could always take on Rudra on his own, in the past they were once equals, but over time the gap between them had widened ever so slightly.
When they first began their spars Guy had to use everything in his power to fight Rudra to a draw. But overtime Guy grew stronger or Rudra grew weaker, to the point that Rudra always placed barriers around them to weaken Guy before their spars. Without those barriers Guy would firmly be in the lead between the two of them.
Guy had always known that the game between him and Rudra would end in one of two ways.
Either Rudra would win and Guy would serve him as agreed upon, or Rudra would die and Guy would win their game.
Guy had stopped caring for their game long, long ago. But when he met Rudra after Velda and Lucia's death, Rudra was in a broken state. It hurt to see a once great man, a man Guy considered his equal to be in such a state, and so Guy reminded Rudra of their game. That if Rudra didn't get up off his ass, Guy would be the winner.
That seemed to have been enough to put a little bit of light in Rudra's eyes, and ever since then their game had been Rudra's purpose for living. The game was the only thing pushing Rudra forward, and so Guy had taken on the burden of keeping their game afloat, all so that Rudra could live for just another day. It was the least he could do for his best friend.
"And you chose… Felix for your goal?" Guy asked.
Guy could see Damrada's reasoning. Felix was strong, Guy would be the first to admit that. He was absurdly talented as well, more talented than Rudra.
He had prodded Milim a bit and learned that just a few short years ago Felix was a nameless Arch Daemon, one that Guy likely wouldn't have given a second look at.
Yet now he was a powerful Devil Lord that Guy could respect as a peer. The sheer rate of his progress was absurd. The strongest non Primordial Daemon previously was one of Arcueid's subordinates, and he was tens of thousands of years old, and even he couldn't touch a Primordial.
That truly put into perspective just how insane what Felix had done. He had done in not even 5 years what none had done in eons.
Felix had learned Time Stop, an ability Guy took a very long time to learn, and only managed due to copying Gabriel, Lord of Patience from Velzard.
Felix's control over his own power could rival Guy's own and he had much more experience. Felix's Arts were top notch, everything about him surpassed expectations, and Guy would give anything to figure out just how Felix ticked. But that was for another time.
Rudra hadn't become quite that strong that fast, and Rudra was the student of God and the most talented person Guy had ever met prior to Felix.
Rudra didn't even get his overpowered Ultimate Skill on his own merits, he traded Velda for it, though previously Rudra had Uriel, Lord of Vows which was incredibly powerful in its own right. Velda had also offered Guy an Ultimate Skill but he rejected Velda. He was too prideful to accept handouts like that. But he didn't blame those who did like Rudra, Velzard, and Velgrynd.
Damrada nodded. "He was not my first choice, but I do believe he has the potential."
"Aww, you're going to make me blush!" Felix laughed.
Luminous lightly slapped his shoulder. "Cease your arrogance." She then looked at Damrada. "And you, mind your words, Felix has a big enough head as it is."
Damrada's lips twitched. Guy was curious just how Felix and Damrada ended up meeting, but he didn't care enough to ask about that at the moment. He had bigger priorities.
"Now if you're done with your questions I'd like to ask you some of my own since you're here." Felix said.
Guy raised a brow. He had thought that Felix had already asked most of his questions. "Very well. What are your questions?" Guy had a feeling that this conversation would make or break his relationship with Felix, and he was all for it.
Life would be way too boring if there weren't oddballs thrown in here or there.
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I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.
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Author's Note:
Heyo everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. Man I really love Rain as a character, she's just so much fun to write. I went a bit on the crackier side with her pov, hopefully it didn't sound or look off.
Now Guy is finally here! Felix is finally going to learn about the bigger picture involving the war with the Eastern Empire so that'll be fun.
Anyways, thanks for reading everyone, peace!
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.