"So how do you intend to negotiate with Flynn?" Eleanor asked.
We were riding out toward the northwest province shortly after speaking to Tony Mowbray and my mage friends.
"We'll help with the peace negotiations," Chris had promised after our discussion. "You are right, we have never actually tried to talk to the demons before."
"I'm still not sure about this, to be honest," Wilson had admitted. "But it seems that the new Demonic Emperor might be different from his predecessors, if what you're saying is true."
"It's definitely worth a try," Rose had agreed.
"We'll stay here and see what we can do," Lance had added before shrugging. "Though I don't know how much we can do."
"I would like to accompany you," Mowbray had offered. "But we can't leave the northeastern borders unguarded, especially in such times."
"Don't worry," I had assured him. "We'll be able to handle this ourselves. Besides, a smaller force is more appropriate for negotiations. If anything, we'll be able to retreat more easily. We'll be able to move more quickly and stealthily in smaller numbers."
With that decided, my vampire knights and I had set out for the northwest. The journey itself wouldn't take too long, probably a few days on horseback. And so, while we rode, Eleanor pressed me for more details of my plan.
"The human marquis has a point. The Lord of Flies is not known for being open to negotiations. If anything, he's quite the stubborn one."
"That's why I'm bringing him a gift." I glanced at the carriage behind me. Even without using the magical functions of my glasses to see through, I knew Yvonne's body was stored inside there, locked in stasis thanks to my ice spell.
"Is that why you kept her alive?" Stella asked, riding beside me. I nodded with a sinister smile.
I couldn't let Yvonne die…yet. My revenge was far from over. She had to suffer for what she did, not just to me, but also to the people she ruled in the southern provinces, and the three ministers who she had murdered through the excuse of "hunting".
Stella pursed her lips in disapproval, but she didn't voice her disapproval. At this point, she knew it was useless to try and persuade me. Even though she witnessed some of the atrocities that Yvonne had committed, she was still an honorable knight who detested the idea of playing around with a defeated enemy.
Unlike her, I had no honor. I wasn't a saint, nor did I pretend to be an ally of justice. I was simply an avenger who was somehow appointed as the next Demonic Emperor. I wasn't sure I liked that second job, but if it helped me get my revenge, then who was I to refuse?
"I honestly don't think it'll be enough," Eleanor muttered. She also disapproved, but for different reasons. In contrast to Stella, Eleanor didn't care about Yvonne's wellbeing. She would gladly torture the latter if she could get some sort of benefit out of it. The issue right now was that she saw no benefit in me gifting Yvonne to Flynn.
"Oh, I know," I told her with a grin. "I'm not counting on that."
The strategist gave me a confused look. I scratched my head and sighed.
"I'm giving Yvonne to Flynn more because that's her punishment, and not because I truly think Flynn will listen to me. Even so, it's still a good starting point for negotiation, and it will help me buy some time."
"That is true. Flynn is still a politician. No doubt, to preserve his reputation and put on a show, he'll at least pretend to consider your proposal and pull back momentarily." Eleanor nodded.
"Then we can return with a greater force and crush him if he insists on defying your orders, my lord." Larson held up a clenched fist, determined to squash the poor bugs.
"That is the plan, yeah." I nodded. "But depending on how things go, we probably don't even need a greater force. Sometimes, sending in a single solo operative might be just as effective."
"If you say so, my lord." Larson was unconvinced, but he was as obedient as ever. Like Stella, he had a single-tracked mind.
I shrugged indifferently and stole a peek at the carriage behind us again. Yvonne's body was still in stasis, and I couldn't help but grin when I thought about the fate that I had in store for her. I was so looking forward to it.
Another few days flew past and I saw that we were entering insect-invaded territory. It was easy to tell – there was a huge number of flies buzzing about even though there weren't that many corpses lying around. Not to mention swarms of locusts flying over the fields, their millions of bodies resembling particles in a sandstorm.
"We're close," I murmured.
"Really?" Stella looked around, as if expecting an army of giant bugs to pop out of nowhere. She didn't have to worry. It wasn't as if we were stranded in an island somewhere, trapped with horny teenagers more interested in screwing each other than escaping from bugs. Man, I couldn't believe that comic series actually had an anime adaptation.
"Yeah," Eleanor affirmed, having noticed the same thing that I did. She glared at the flies before swatting them away. "He has left quite the trail behind."
I sighed and nodded. Of all the demons, the bugs were the most troublesome type of enemies. Their small sizes made it difficult for warriors to cleave through them with swords or other heavy weapons. Well, there were larger breeds, but giant bugs were creepy as hell. Fortunately, they were easily killed by magic. A single fire spell would exterminate hordes of them.
Unfortunately, we didn't have any mages in our current platoon, but blood magic should work as well. All we needed to do was manipulate blood magic into a giant flyswatter and we would be able to squash the bugs. The bigger ones would be handled more easily with blood blades and other blood spells. Worst case scenario, I would just freeze all of them.
Bugs were just as vulnerable to the cold as they were to heat. I just needed to freeze them and they would die just like any living thing.
"They are watching us," Larson said quietly, taking note of the bugs. He had one hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it anytime. At his signal, his vampire knights formed up protectively around us, also getting ready for combat.
I nodded, having received a similar sensation. This was the same type of spell we vampires cast when making use of our bats. Even so, I didn't like it. I wanted to see Flynn as soon as possible. Before then, I tried to restrain my subordinates. We weren't here to fight. It wouldn't do if my vampire knights began slaughtering bugs before we could begin the negotiation.
If that happened, then Flynn would be less inclined to listen to me, even if I had come bearing a gift. I also didn't want to think what would happen if he rejected my gift (though I highly doubted that he would).
We had to find him quickly.
"Where do you think he is?" I asked Eleanor. Out of the thirty or so of us, she was the one with the most experience with other demons, such as giant bugs and stuff.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," Eleanor admitted as she swept her gaze across the horizon, watching the bugs intently. She then regarded the bugs and cocked her head. "Perhaps they could show us the way."
"Good idea." I turned toward the flies and took a deep breath before yelling at them. "I'm here to see your master, General Flynn, the Lord of the Flies. Please take me to him."
The bugs appeared to ignore me, buzzing about and picking at the ground. I glanced at Eleanor, but she simply shrugged.
Was Flynn going to show up here? Should we wait here for him? Or were we merely wasting our time? Perhaps we should keep moving.
While I pondered over the various options, my attention was suddenly drawn to a brilliantly colored swarm of butterflies. They fluttered over the horizon before stopping before us, perching atop a bunch of trees and flowers.
My group tensed, our gazes fixed on the bright hues of their wings. Orange, black, yellow, red, white and a myriad of warm colors that reminded me of a sunset. Monarch butterflies? But they shouldn't be here…this was far from their natural habitat, was it not?
For a few moments, we did nothing but watch the butterflies. Then the vividly colored insects took off, fluttering their wings and forming a long, extended trail.
"I suggest we follow them," Eleanor said. I nodded.
"I was about to say the same thing."
Urging our horses into a gallop, we followed the butterflies closely, riding through several valleys before finally being brought to a trail that led deep into a northwestern forest. We proceeded inward, particularly aware of how richly infested with insects the forests were.
Seriously, forests were filled with nothing but bugs. There were many in the cities who claimed that they wanted to be one with nature, who romanticized nature and gushed over how lovely it must be to live in a forest, to be away from the hustle, bustle and stress of living in an urban environment. They would espouse nonsense about returning to the good old days of humanity dwelling in forests like hunters – much like Yvonne and her tribe. But even the hunter tribe didn't live in forests. They actually lived outside the forests and only went inside when they wanted to hunt something. They actually had settlements outside or inside the forest, an artificial habitat built to keep the creatures of the forests out.
And these romanticizers would often call for living off the land, as if it was so easy to switch to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. I had often seen readers of web novels post comments about how the protagonist should shun all civilization and humans, instead isolating himself in a forest and live off the land, as if it was a simple task.
Unless you were trained to distinguish edible plants from poisonous, inedible ones (mushrooms being the obvious example that came to mind) – like the hunters of Yvonne's tribe – it was unlikely that anyone would survive living in a forest for anytime longer than a month. Not only was it filled with predators, often you would find yourself malnourished because not all wild grass and plants were edible. Not only that, human beings couldn't sustain solely on a diet of meat, so it wasn't as if you could just solve the food problem by hunting alone.
Not to mention the bugs. I hated bugs, and the forests were teeming with countless insects, including toxic ones. Predators, scavengers…and diseases. Getting cholera or dysentery in the forest was no joke…and you wouldn't even have any access to medical treatment. Not to mention malaria, dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases or infections from insect bites and the like.
These readers vastly underestimate the dangers of living in a forest. Honestly, they should use their heads before screaming at the main characters for being "stupid" just because they didn't want to isolate themselves inside a forest and "live off the land."
Now, was it impossible to live off the land and eke out a living in a forest? No, it wasn't. The hunter tribes could do it. But you needed the training. You needed the knowledge necessary to survive a forest. A teenager from another world (especially one that was modern and mostly urban) wasn't going to have those sort of training, knowledge or skills necessary to survive in a forest.
Fortunately, Master taught me several survival skills, though those were more for hunting goblins than an actual "live permanently in a forest" scenario. The forest was just as deadly to goblins as it was to humans.
I just wished it was as deadly to bugs…ugh.
Hacking away at vines and foliage as I carved a path through the forest, doing my best not to lose the monarch butterflies, I suddenly came to a stop. My subordinates, who were closely following me, also halted, looking around carefully.
"What is it?" Stella asked. I nodded toward the front.
"I think we've found our guy."
Carefully parting the vegetation, I stepped forward and raised a hand in greeting. Before me was a clearing filled with the most nightmarish of monsters. Giant bugs chittered, their mandibles clacking, as their many legs scraped against soil and bark. Giant flies, humongous ants, enormous beetles, serpentine centipedes, massive moths and colossal mantises awaited us, ichor seeming to drip from their mandibles like drool.
In the center of them all was their lord, who resembled a large wasp the size of a human. He lifted one of his insect legs in greeting, his compound eyes reflecting many images of me and my retinue.
"Ah…the new Demonic Emperor," he chittered. "It seemed like you wanted to see me?"
"Yeah, I do." I nodded and then used blood magic to bring the carriage into the clearing. With a wave of my hand, I had Yvonne's body tossed out and thrown right at Flynn's many feet and sting. "I have a little gift for you."