No matter how much mental preparation she put herself through, it was never easy to be in Momonga's presence and not flee for the hills. Her wings were flapping as hard as they could - powered by the sheer tension in the room alone.
The Supreme Overlord of the Tempest Hegemony had received them with the usual politeness and even prepared some rare delicacies for her and Carrion to enjoy while they discussed what measures should be taken, which only marginally helped out with her nervousness. At least they made her favorite wheat and honey cakes taste good.
With Claire, Luchia, and Nemu standing behind her chair at attention as her entourage, she reached forward and picked up a glass of aged spirit from the table, taking in the strong but inviting aroma of the strong alcohol, with Carrion doing the same as his three beastketeers stood guard behind him. He even reached for some cheese, supposedly aged a few years in a perfectly dry cellar the undead was intent on them trying out.
The only guard Momonga had in the room was the mysterious 'angel' who had garnered a reputation throughout Tempest as someone no one wanted to mess with. The creature's pleasant face was but a mask hiding something darker underneath, everyone was sure about that, but nobody knew what was hiding beneath the surface. Frey was unsure what type of monster the creature was since it wasn't an angel, like the ones she had fought in the last Tenma War, but it was something she decided not to investigate for the time being due to the danger level involved for her operatives.
No matter which room the Overlord chose to host the guests in, the decadent wealth was present in a myriad of ways. Each piece of furniture was a work of art decorated with rare metals that most would use to craft powerful weapons passed down as family heirlooms, worth tens of thousands of gold coins alone in raw material, let alone their exquisite craftsmanship.
"Regarding the mysterious criminal attacking your people, we have a strong lead," The Overlord opened the conversation, placing his metaphorical cards on the table. "Recently, Demon Lord Luminous released all the prisoners she had kept ever since her creator had imprisoned them. All but one, by the testimony of the rest whom we have captured and integrated, the most dangerous one, are accounted for. From the limited information we could gather, this creature is the original vampire Luminous herself was based on, and is the fundamental blueprint of which all created life from her creator is said to be derived from."
"Wait, wait, vampire? The only vampire demon lord is Roy Valentine. Who is this Luminous? I thought she was just some made-up deity humans worshiped," Carrion couldn't hide his surprise. He had no reason to believe Momonga lied to him, so he took the information at face value, not that Frey had much reason to deny it either.
"She is the actual ruler of the former Ruberios Holy Empire. Roy is her underling as far as I know. It truly surprises me that you were not aware of her existence," Momonga explained.
"Hmm, Roy always has a powerful maid with him. Momonga, you wouldn't know what this Luminous is supposed to look like by any chance?" Frey joined the conversation.
Yet another way for Tempest to flash their superiority of manpower and intelligence had occurred. She was a demon lord, yet Momonga knew more about demon lords than she did, despite having never attended Walpurgis.
Momonga picked up a cup of tea from the table, took a slow sip that seemingly disappeared into thin air, and then replied to her question. "A young pale woman, looks about twenty years old give or take in human years. Long, silver-colored hair. Has heterochromatic eyes with a crimson red right eye and a sky blue left one."
"So that maid IS the real Demon Lord. I'm starting to think I've been left out," Carrion spat, canines snarling in an aura-releasing snarl.
"There has been an unseen divide between the old generation and the new one. That aside, is there any information about this vampire Luminous has unleashed upon us?" Frey, to her credit, kept a calm appearance, unlike her more hot-headed peer.
"I am afraid I only have a general description, and that's about it. But considering that Luminous has made herself an enemy of Tempest, I am willing to expend resources and help you deal with this threat of her doing. If left unchecked, this vampire could target my people as well, having proven herself capable of slaughtering this world's elites," Momonga offered.
"Then in return, I offer to find and deal with Luminous. A demon lord that has been hiding in plain sight and betrayed the covenant demon lords had agreed to must be put down," Frey struck at the opportunity to strengthen the bonds with Tempest. With this revelation, it became clear that she couldn't trust the older demon lords to any degree and instead put her faith in Momonga in exchange for letting her live when Tempest inevitably swallows up Fulbrosia. With this, she could prove herself valuable enough to not immediately put her head on the chopping block when their governance eventually chopped down her trees.
She had already considered simply offering to join the Hegemony but needed an opportune moment to do so. As a ruler, she was far too aware that overly eager and overly cowardly servants were nothing but trouble for those who managed them. She needed to show that even in servitude, she still would be the harpy queen; someone that could be relied on but not be annoying in their subservience.
"I will join the hunt for Luminous as well. If she is the one who caused the deaths of my people, it would only be fair if I returned the favor." Carrion cracked his knuckles, already hyped up for the fight.
"Very well, I will gladly accept your help on the matter. For now, let me introduce you to the one who will lead the hunt for the vampire." Momonga waved his hand and a gate opened right in the middle of the room.
A young, dark-haired girl dressed in what looked like a traditional kijin outfit stepped through. "This is Aureole Omega, one of our reconnaissance specialists."
"It will be a pleasure to work with you both, Demon Lord Frey, Demon Lord Carrion," The girl spoke politely, with a soft voice befitting her delicate features, bowing before the rulers.
'That ring! She's one of the strong ones,' Frey recognized a ring on the girl's index finger as one most of Tempest's elite wore. As her interactions had shown, anyone with that sort of ring was at least equal to her in terms of power, meaning this one was quite the fighting force to work with.
"I'll make sure to provide adequate escort for the girl. If there is nothing else you wish to discuss, then I prefer we start the hunt before more of my people disappear," Frey glanced at the girl while trying to get a read of her power level.
A feat she ultimately failed at, only getting a vague feeling of the girl's capabiles and not much more.
"I have only one question left I prefer to get an answer to. What is your relationship with Leon?" Momonga asked, much to their surprise. That much should've been obvious, given how his informants had likely infiltrated both of their nations.
"I do not interact with him in any capacity on either a personal or national level. But I would prefer not to get involved in conflict with another demon lord if avoidable. May I ask your intentions on the matter?" Frey asked a counter question after revealing her indifference on the matter, her daughters stiffening to attention once more.
"I had spoken with Leon once or twice, but that's about it. Eurazania does not trade with El Dorado, and I have no stake in his dealings." Carrion also denied any involvement with the elusive hero-turned-demon lord.
"I see. Leon attacked Tempest during the battle with Hinata with the intent of kidnapping one of the children left in Buku's care. While I won't demand you take a side, I suggest you won't ally with Leon if you wish to keep a friendly relationship with Tempest." Momonga casually stated a not-so-subtle threat, one that neither party missed.
'Soon he will drop any pretense of equal cooperation. I will have to continue showing resolve while making sure I do not defy his will in any capacity.'
There wasn't much else she could do at the moment. In a world where the weak follow the strong, her status had changed from strong to weak, like a small fish that found herself in much larger waters than used to and found out what sort of predators lurked in the vast seas her river had fed to.
Cattle. These creatures were nothing but cattle ready to become her next meal. Toltecatl walked the streets of Eurazania's capital, cloaked behind a veil of invisibility. How laughable it was that these lycanthropes idiotically considered themselves the elite of existence while being nothing more than prey for someone like her who was well aware of where she stood on the totem pole.
Her soul was done with fully absorbing the last remnants of her previous victim, a lion-like lycanthrope armed with "unique-grade" equipment, so it was time to pick the next one. She had grown so much in the last few days by feasting upon these magicule-rich meals that she just had to get more of it.
And her appetite was only growing. The thousands of years of imprisonment had within her so severely that now she wanted to partake in all pleasures life could bring, no matter the cost. Reminiscent of a black widow, she had consumed the few men she had decided to share her bed within these short, sweet weeks of freedom, desiring both carnal and digestible.
And maybe it was time to get another one. Her grand prize of course in this region would be "demon lord" Carrion, but there was a chance that his disappearance would not be looked favorably upon by entities whom Toltecatl didn't want to cross such as its neighboring Tempest.
As she began to once more search for her prey, something caught her attention. One of the beastketeers, Albis, was casually, no, carelessly walking and barely paying attention to her surroundings, lazily swinging around her staff without a care in the world.
'So easy… hmm, too easy in fact. Oh my, oh my, what interesting bait I have been offered. I wonder where the hook is hidden.' Only a fool wouldn't notice such an obvious trap.
Toltecatl poured everything she had to maintain invisibility and completely hide her aura while scanning the area. Her potential captor was near, she could sense it. Resolved to gain an upper hand, she crept behind Albis who strolled through the city, now completely blind to her presence.
With her ability to defy gravity, Toltecatl ran up the wall, reaching a nearby house's roof for a better view. As she crept forward, carefully observing the street, below she noticed multiple figures moving in a predictable pattern while covering their tracks.
'Now who is the leader? Hunting a hunter is much more interesting. I wonder what abilities you would give to me.' Toltecatl wondered when her instincts suddenly screamed to get out of the way.
Knowing better than to ignore them, she lunged to the side barely avoiding a woman with spiked gauntlets attempting to turn her head into a bloody mush.
The creature reeked of death despite having the appearance of a beautiful young woman, perhaps an undead. As she tried to gain a distance from the attacker, the sense of danger only rose. With another evasive maneuver, she barely avoided a small projectile that shattered the house wall behind her into pieces.
The ruse was up. She was discovered and needed to retreat, fast. But not before she at least wounded one of them seriously enough to force them to back off, or else they would continue hounding her for who knew how long. Utilizing her immortality as a tool, Toltecatl charged toward the one who was sending projectiles toward her at a rapid pace with some sort of metallic tool, intent on crippling the young woman with the eyepatch.
More attackers closed in, And an easy-to-see pattern started to form. The group tasked with defeating her were all women. They were powerful, she could give them that. Too powerful to be Carrion's servants, given what she had observed here.
Toltecatl let a thrown knife hit her in the shoulder, disabling all her defenses so the projectile didn't get stuck and prevent regeneration, instead passing straight through. The pain was a small price to pay for continuous movement.
Her mind was working hundreds of times faster than her body could move, allowing her to analyze the situation. The most pressing question she needed an answer to was, who was behind this group of women? As a careful and cautious person, she had made sure to memorize all known dangers, most of them being either demon lords or Tempest's elite.
'Seven women. Each is distinctly different. Powerful enough to make me careful in one-on-one, yet attacking in coordinated strikes while using a beastketeer as bait. There aren't any…dammit!' She could think of only one group that fits the bill.
The Tempest's maid school had a set of teachers that not only taught household duties but combat as well, renowned throughout the land as monstrously powerful pinnacles of women who could hold their own against most elite fighters. A group known as the Pleiades Battle Maids.
Toltecatl stopped in her tracks, abandoning any plan of even attempting to attack them. As long as she didn't wound any of Tempest's forces, there still might be a hope of not being on the monster nation hit list, something she desperately wanted to avoid for the time being until she grew a lot stronger. And even then it seemed a risky idea to ever engage their monstrous leaders in a hostile manner.
Toltecatl intentionally took a kick in the stomach from a blonde maid with thigh-high plate boots in a short skirt that sent her flying and gave the much-needed distance between her and the maid with spiked gauntlets, giving her the space to flee with all her might.
'This is bad. Carrion got help from Tempest. I should've considered this possibility given their shared border.' She landed on the street, breaking the momentum with an elegant roll, before breaking into a full sprint.
Before using teleportation, she needed to plan her next steps since she could be followed from here on out, given that they had seen through her strongest invisibilities.
'I will use one of my vampire thralls as a distraction. If I don't escape now, they won't let me go, that's for sure.'
A precise shot pierced her heart, momentarily stopping the blood flow. The regeneration was fast enough not to stop her, but not fast enough not to have a momentary slowdown either.
'Now or never!' With a plan in mind, she teleported to Ingrassia, where her thrall patiently waited in the slums. She instantly applied her aura on the young girl she had turned into a vampire a few days ago and teleported again. Repeating the action a few times, she created a trail nearly impossible to follow, with a dozen red flags across the world. The last step was to go fully invisible and run like hell.
One, two, three thralls perished. They were still following. Fourth, fifth, sixth. Almost all of them died. But that was enough. After running for an hour, she stopped in a cave outside the city and sat down, trying to see if there were any pursuers.
'I got away. That wasn't ideal. I will need to get into some sort of agreement with the leader of Tempest. Too bad I can't hunt lycanthropes anymore. I could go for harpies again, but there are no guarantees Frey hasn't made a similar deal. Ugh, humans are not a bountiful meal.' She lamented being deprived of rich meals once again, forced to feed on the weaklings of this world.
Freedom was more important than feasting on powerful creatures. With a need to lay low for a while, she once again would disappear without a trace until hunting luxuries was safe. And hunt she would.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by Sluethen, aidan_lo, FantasyTroll, shynavyseal, Cay, Thea, and clagan.
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