While Detrass, Yazzo, and Valiant ate breakfast together. Demon was running his pinky across the Dominatsu's sword, secretly admiring he still held such a relic.
"My maiden," Demon's voice was cold. "You've been a good girl recently. And for that, I'll teach you some more of the characters engraved into your forearm."
She reached out to Demon like a machine, keeping the same emotionless expression. Despite her drowned wishes of understanding what vogh, hido, and shefir meant.
Demon pointed at vogh. "Remember: vogh - ruin, shattered, broken, distorted, corrupted, remade, forgotten, banished, forsaken, betrayed, loyal."
Then he pointed at hido. "Now: hido - vessel, frame, figure, body, being, creation, entity, man, woman. Now that you know half of the story, you can mix the meanings up."
He leaned back in his manifested chair, choosing to alter the one-way mirror to look at another location. Left over Syndicate Dust from their time inside of Olavin-Faa sprung to life.
Letting him monitor the forest from afar. Life was very quiet, not even the impossibly quiet Glyker screeches appear to ring out. Making Demon question their population.
Forest stalkers sat idle atop of trees after destroying their webs. Almost like they knew something big was going to happen. Except, nothing was going to happen in Olavin-Faa.
"They believe Volatile has only one voice, like Conqueror. But they don't realize their attempts at provoking Hail Heart and Furmire have gone on deaf ears," Demon laughed.
Demon sighed, looking emptily at the Nexihm Ferals prepare ambush routes for their expected visitors. "I'm interested to see what they'll do when Volatile doesn't come."
He lifted his right hand off the sword. Dust swirled around the back of his pale hand, changing how his pocket universe worked. Demon wanted time to go by quicker, so he disconnected the time flow.
Instantly after changing it, his Iron Butler arrived. The ridges on his armor portrayed him as the warrior that stood inside Krugi while Breckus caved in on the city.
"Ah, my fine butler. Did you teach Ether the lesson?" Demon asked with confidence. "If only there was a way to teach him without giving him nightmares, though. But that wouldn't impact him as hard."
Syndicate Dust abruptly stopped dancing, standing suspended in the space above Demon's hand. His eyes quickly shot up at the one-way mirror, ready to mock their failed attempt at a fight.
"I'll tell you a little something," Demon turned to the one-way mirror. "I can assure you Infinus is a powerhouse, but that powerhouse is only so powerful. How powerful? I can't say."
He turned to look in a random direction, aiming right at a distant planet. "Not that I don't know, I am well aware of what they can handle. But because we've got some... eyes on us."
The Iron Butler's armor groaned as his body lowered itself onto one knee, he knew this was not his type of fight. After all, what good is an unpowered machine?
Demon rose from his seat, then raised his hand. "I'm sure you, my dear watcher, want to see Infinus' progression after the time skip. So here it is, enjoy it."
Jakery latched armor onto his thigh, tightening the leather belt underneath and fidgeting with the plates to make sure they were secured. He sighed, then picked up another piece of armor.
Like the previous one, this one latched itself in place with a heavy clank. Then he fastened the belt into place and checked to see if it too was secured.
"I'm sure our metal workers can shape armor like the good old days," Jakery puffed. "Maybe ten more pieces to go until I -"
Hazen opened the door leading into the house. She paused for a moment, choosing to frown upon the vast emptiness without Pearl and her offspring inside.
"Can't want to bring them back home," Hazen commented. "Hey, Shojoro, the first four battalions have taken off. Same with Valentine. Decka ordered some of Krim's Ferals to follow him on foot."
"Hmm? Does Decka believe Valentine won't stand a chance against Yarno's coasts?" Jakery paused.
She closed the door behind her. "Can't tell."
Jakery fastened a piece of armor onto his forearm. The heavy plates assisted the underlying leather outfit to weigh him down further. But he was used to it, especially after training so much.
Hazen realized a plate on near his elbow didn't look right, so she adjusted it. Her gloves protected her from accidentally being cut by the sharp edges.
"Thank you," Jakery said without looking at her. "Can you help me put my armor on?"
"Wow, you need a lot of help with these. I should start asking you to take off my armor when we get back," Hazen joked.
"I've taken other things off you before," Jakery retorted. "Remember the last time I did? You thought I wasn't going to do the same to myself."
"Yeah, okay," Hazen shrugged the reminder off. She used one hand to station Jakery's left shoulder, then she tugged the belt tight. "Where are we attacking from?"
Jakery slid one hand into a protective glove. "We're aiming to claim Hail Heart and the grasslands leading up to Olavin-Faa. Maybe use our status with the Nexihm pack to let us stay there."
Hazen took a step back, letting Jakery check over himself one last time. Once he was sure, he reached for the short-sword he had on the nearby table.
The strap wrapped around his hip, letting him pull his weapon out like a firearm if he needed to. He then reached for the helmet that rested on the same table.
Its lifeless expression stared up at Jakery's face, reflecting how he wished he felt going into this invasion. Deep down, he wanted to feel nothingness.
So he would fight with a purpose, not a grudge or desire. To dedicate himself for the wishes of his allies, not his own. Keeping an eye away from the domestic problems.
And that's how Infinus was doing after my time skip - Demon C.