It was nothing like he had initially imagined.
'Not at all,' Amari thought.
It was ten times worse.
He and Fuller stood in the middle of the throne room. It was a large antiquated space with towering black pillars and an empty space in the middle of the room. The king and queen's throne stood a few metres in front of them, but he couldn't see.
Amari's head had been down since he entered the room.
The aura rolling of the King of The Ifrits—Lilia's Father—managed to completely stifle him.
However, that wasn't the focus.
Several meters from the kneeling figures of him and Fuller, several blindfolded and gagged individuals screamed to no avail.
"Ahh," a bored sigh came from before him.
It was deep and baritone, bouncing across the walls of the ancient room with a tired ambience.
"If only my queen was here, it would make everything much more interesting. I hate making such decisions alone. So let's make it easy. I have better things to do."
The king took a deep breath and sighed again.
"Did you do it?"
Muffled 'no's' called out in response, filling the room with the tortured sounds they were making.
"Well, since you didn't do it, that's okay. It only makes things harder to do. Since I believe you've done it, it would be contrary to my thoughts and opinions that you hadn't done it. So for your own good, let's just say you did it."
He was insane. His voice shifted from manipulative to diplomatic in the blink of an eye, and Amari could only make out a sudden splash a second later.
"Now that those pests are gone," the king continued, "we may begin our conversation, Lieutenant Fuller."
Just then Amari felt the pressure on his whole body ease. He waited a few seconds before lifting his neck. His bones cracked painfully but he could now see Lilia's father in his full glory.
The large demon stood easily over 600 centimetres (20ft) sitting down. His coarse red skin resembled Fuller's and Lilia's and several golden runes trailed down his face all the way to his arms. His large ram-like horns curved and twisted devilishly, their tips alighted with blue flames.
His shirtless upper body radiated constant heat and Amari saw small insects incinerate when they came near him.
"So… are you going to talk or did you bring this peon demon here to infuriate me?" Lilia's father furrowed his brows and the room temperature rose dangerously.
Fuller quickly shook his head and bowed further to the ground. "No, sire. I would never do that."
"Then what do you want?"
The temperature had cooled down, but Amari still felt the sparks between the two.
No matter how much he tried to hide it, Fuller could not hide the fact that he didn't care for his so-called Lord.
"I'm here to take a leave of absence and nominate someone for the position I am currently filling." The smaller Ifrit said, his voice laced with faint irritation and annoyance.
Silence ensued for a few short seconds and Lilia's father continued.
"It seems like I got it the first time. You did come here to infuriate me."
"Not at all," Fuller replied calmly, still talking in the same tone.
The King's amber eyes fell on Amari for the first time since the start of the conversation and the flames burning on the tips of his horns flared up.
"What is so special about this boy?" he asked snapping his fingers.
Crackle.
A small crackle appeared and a blue fireball rose from nothing above his fingers.
Fuller answered, his eyes twitching with each movement of the fireball. "Observe him keenly and you will see," he said.
Lilia's father let out a small grunt and focused his attention back on Amari.
'Fuck!'
His neck snapped down as the pressure returned tenfold. It lingered for a few minutes before returning.
"So what if he has three patrons? Why should I care about that?"
"We found him in the Pit. He was raised by wolves." Fuller continued.
"I will not repeat myself, Fuller. What is so special about him? You have another try. Any more wrong answers and I'll end both of your miserable lives. My daughter needs competent soldiers, not traitors."
Traitor.
A small growl erupted from Fuller, but the demon kept it in.
"Raion'shalang, tell him what species of demon you are." He said, still calm.
"Variant Incubus- Verbum Daemonium" Amari repeated the words on his status hesitantly. If that answer was wrong, they would die.
Nothing happened.
An overwhelming silence engulfed the whole room uncomfortably. So much so that a pin drop would be clearly audible.
Lilia's father raised a palm above his face and laughed. "Mmmh,"
His muffled laughter replaced silence with vague danger
"You've really outdone yourself, Lieutenant Fuller. You may go on leave and your little friend has my permission to serve my daughter."
Fuller sighed and Amari a second later.
"But…"
Amari cringed a bit. 'I hate buts they're the worst.'
"What is it, my Lord?"
The large ifrit atop his throne pointed one finger at Amari, smiling like a fox that had not eaten in days.
"Your friend has to take the Faustian Academy entrance exam at the highest difficulty…"
"Okay-" Fuller began before being interrupted.
"I'm not done yet. Apart from this, he must also defeat a battle-competent professor. You have one month to do it. If this month elapses and both missions aren't completed he will be killed and your contract with me will be extended."
Fuller glanced at Amari. His red skin appeared wrinkled under the lighting and his eyes were veiled with a faint layer of hatred that threatened to burst out.
"Understood, my Lord."
"Good. Now leave my chamber. And call someone to clean this mess while you're on your way out."
Amari turned towards the door, then glanced at the smoking puddles of blood not far from where they had just knelt. It was like that everywhere. Dried up blood stains.
That could be him in a month. Dead; nothing but rapidly dying blood cells mopped up by some random stranger.
Everywhere he went this seemed to be the major stake.
Death.
And he was sick and tired of people dictating his life and his death!