***************
"Why don't we talk this one out huh?"
"What?"
"I don't want to fight you. I only wish to speak with you"
"Really?" I asked warily, my grip on my two spikes tightening.
"Yes of course! I'm not some beast that immediately kills any person that I come across." Said Dirval as he soothed and suppressed his raging dark mana until it was completely still. The other demons who had their weapons aimed at me also dropped them on the floor and raised their hands in surrender as sign of sincerity. Sensing that they truly meant me no harm, I soothed my bloodlust and excitement which calmed down the bubbling mana inside me.
A part of me was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't be able to fight the demons because if I killed and devoured Dirval then I would be able to obtain four hearts which would be even better than my original plan of obtaining two more hearts but the fact that the demons were intelligent monsters capable of communication made me change my objectives. I was now curious of the amount of information that Dirval had of Azaelon and also if all demons possessed similar intelligence to him.
'He might be useful to me' I thought. I couldn't keep relying on Anna's information all the time.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Why don't we talk on the way to my territory. I have food as well as a room in my mansion for you to sleep for the night. Think of it as a sign of gratitude and good will." He said as he slightly bowed and pointed his left hand to the carriage.
"Alright." I said after taking a few minutes to consider his offer. I could tell that Dirval was quite an intelligent demon and hence would never offer a room and food at his mansion for free unless it was to accomplish something. For a moment I suspected that he was trying to lure me into a trap but I immediately erased my suspicions at the sight of his face. He had the expression of someone with a plan in mind but it wasn't to kill me otherwise he would have killed me here considered how strong he is which meant that he probably needed me for something else.
'Well, at the very least this should be interesting' I thought as I opened the door of the carriage and stepped in.
The inside of the carriage was well decorated with various images of beasts and among the beasts I recognized the image of the Lycanrin which was next to an image of what appeared to be …..a dragon? Was it possible that a dragon exists in this hellish place? After all there were a variety of monsters all over Azaelon that before I wouldn't have believed existed and so there was the possibility of the existence of a monster that I had only seen in movies and fantasy novels. I couldn't even imagine what its rank was and as I tried to make a guess my thoughts were interrupted by a voice.
"Human?" said Dirval as he looked at me concerned by the fact that I was not responding to his calls. "Did you hear what I said?"
"Ahh sorry about that, I was lost in my thoughts," I said a bit embarrassed. At this point the carriage had begun moving towards Derzen territory and even though the road towards the territory was filled with rocks and pebbles, the carriage didn't shake and seemed to move smoothly on the road. The carriage inside was also well lit by the small lanterns however the light they produced was far too bright in comparison to the lanterns from earth.
'Is this due to the effects of magic?' I thought in wonder.
"Sigh…..I was asking what your name was? I can't keep referring to you as human"
"Ohh….my name is Jack"
"I see, nice to meet you Jack"
"So, what did you want to talk about?" I said in a serious tone, my attention focused on what he had to say.
"Do you know about the rulers of Azael kingdom?"
"No! This is my first time seeing or hearing of the kingdom"
"Ahh I see….."
Dirval thought silently for a moment as he slowly stroked his chin. He then smirked at his own brilliance as he conjured dark mana into the shape of what appeared to be the image of an entire kingdom that was completely detailed right to the little houses that existed in the different territories.
"What is that?" I asked extremely curious. The image looked sort of familiar and yet I couldn't put my finger on it since the dark mana made the image look extremely dark in the brightness of the lanterns.
"It's an overview of the kingdom of Azaelon"
Interesting, I didn't know mana could do that. It would seem that being able to use magic in the future would very useful. It was something I needed to keep in mind for the future.
"The Azaelon kingdom consists of ten territories in total. The capital of the kingdom is in the middle of two territories, the territory of Benar which is ruled by the demon Abadon and the territory of Saznu which is ruled by the demon Mozzan. The two demons are the second highest in terms of ranking among the nobility and are of equal rank. The capital is also where the castle of Azael is located"
"Azael? As in a prince of Hell." I asked with my jaw wide agape. Like I had said I was a fanatic of historical stories and there was one story that I had heard of in the religion of Christianity in one of the documentaries I used to watch.