Luke sat at a long dining table with the demon lords, eating across from a beautiful blond elf. Artemis though not the Artemis he usually dealt with.
"Can you pass that… thing?" he asked, pointing at a bowl of sothing that looked like orange gelatin.
"No," she replied. Sa voice as the necklace Artemis, but completely emotionless. Her expression was blank, a picture of stoic disdain.
"It is unpleasant to be in your presence," the elf added. "Human. Mortal."
He had been sitting with them for barely ten minutes and already knew every being at that table was divine level Rank S.
"The food tastes awful," the butler doll announced.
"You… do not eat," said Serious Laugh, a humanoid shadow given form.
Luke had begun piecing together who they all were. The cursed doll was an automaton like Anne, but where Anne resembled a near-human android, this one looked like a child's wooden toy dressed in a butler's suit.
The reptilian demon lord shoveled food with his claws, never taking his eyes off Luke. The water goddess seed lost in her own world, while the spirit woman at the far end chewed her al while glaring at him, simring with silent hostility.
"I am not a general," Samael comnted quietly to Luke. "My station is religious within the order. Not because I'm weaker. Quite the opposite. I stand above them. With the Originals."
"Originals" was the title given to Azazel's founding group those who began conquering alongside him.
"Elder Samael, I expected the chosen one to be… more imposing," the reptile demon said. The others called him Kor.
"Humans do not vary much in appearance, Kor," remarked the Lady of Ti.
Kor slamd a fist on the table, splashing soup across his plate.
"You spilled," the cursed doll C3 observed.
"I am not satisfied with this," Kor growled. "Of everyone in the multiverse, this is who was chosen? Even one of us would make more sense. But him? I disagree."
"It cannot be changed," Artemis said. "Unfortunately."
She barely touched her food, idly turning her spoon in the bowl.
"If you're unhappy, feel free to complain to your sovereign," Luke said.
Kor's eyes widened. Shock flickered across the entire table.
"Bold, little man," Kor hissed.
"He's correct," Samael said with a sharp smile that felt anything but friendly. "And I will not tolerate dissent toward our sovereign's decision while I'm present."
The table fell silent again.
"Of course, Elder," Kor murmured.
Then he faced Luke. "How many planets have you taken?"
"None," Luke said.
Kor blinked. "None? How many kingdoms have you conquered?"
"Also none."
Kor let out a harsh laugh. "Elder Samael, forgive , but I cannot believe the chosen one has achieved nothing. Even blessed by the sovereign, he has done nothing."
"As I explained," Samael replied, "he cos from a newly integrated universe."
"Then he truly hasn't accomplished anything," Artemis said. "If he was unworthy before, now…"
She trailed off.
"I've committed genocide," Luke said simply.
"Genocide?"
"I wiped out an entire race," he answered, taking another bite of sothing that resembled at.
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All eyes turned to the cursed doll.
"The human is not lying," C3 confird.
Now every gaze returned to Luke, curiosity replacing disdain. Because he had, in fact, done it: he had killed the last two angels that still existed.
"I assure you, the race I wiped out was made of creatures none of you have ever seen," Luke said.
"He's not lying," the puppet added.
"A race we've never seen?" asked Gali, the gray-skinned humanoid form of a Moon Panther.
"Impossible," Kor growled. "I've lived through Eras. There is no race I do not know."
"That's because I killed them," Luke replied, deliberately provoking.
Kor stared at him for a long mont, then went back to eating in silence.
"And afterward," Luke continued, "I resurrected one of them and recruited her as my soldier. She'll serve until the end of my life."
He was talking about Angie.
"He's speaking the truth," the puppet confird.
"Well… that is at least a respectable feat," Kor admitted.
Several others murmured agreent. When the dinner finally wound down, Samael rose from the table.
"The Sovereign Azazel will be arriving shortly," he announced.
"The Sovereign? When!?" Kor shot to his feet.
"We need a grand banquet, sothing fitting," the banshee insisted, her voice overlapping in three mournful tones.
"A tournant would be more appropriate," Kor argued.
"I'll send hunters imdiately. We must prepare a worthy offering," said Gali.
"That won't be necessary," Samael replied. "He'll arrive discreetly. His visit is solely to speak with Luke Moon."
The generals exchanged looks that were anything but welcoming.
"We understand, Elder Samael," said the undine, though her expression suggested otherwise.
"The Sovereign will take so ti before he reaches us," Samael continued. "He advised that one of the generals accompany Luke Moon in the anti. Teach him, refine him, hunt with him, and guide him until the Sovereign arrives."
He turned to Luke.
"Of the eight generals present, which one do you choose to spend these days with?"
Eerie static filled the air as Serious Laughter spoke. "Elder… can he die… during the hunt?"
"Yes," Samael said. "But only if he chooses to face sothing capable of killing him."
"So if a general leads him to hunt sothing dangerous…" Gali began carefully.
"As long as Luke Moon accepts the danger and knows what he's walking into, the responsibility is his alone," Samael concluded.
The generals stared at Luke.
"What do you say, little human?" Kor asked with a predatory grin. "Co hunt with ."
"How about ?" the banshee crooned. "I promise not to let you die… probably."
Every offer felt like a trap.
"Don't look at and don't talk to ," Artemis muttered when Luke's gaze drifted toward her.
"So, Luke Moon," Samael said, "which general will you choose?"
"The General Artemis."
She clicked her tongue sharply.
"General Artemis, you will care for our guest until the Sovereign arrives."
"With pleasure, Elder Samael," she replied, though her tone suggested anything but pleasure.
The others began filing out, so loudly unhappy.
"I would've loved to toss him into a volcano hunt," Kor said to Serious Laughter with a rumbling laugh.
"Black hole," the shadow spirit whispered.
Gali approached Luke. The man was easily two ters tall, his gray skin shifting as he transford into a sleek moon panther. He sniffed the air around Luke.
"There is panther scent on you."
Then he padded away without another word.
Panther scent? Must be from wearing the assassin outfit too much.
There was no way to fool the senses of a panther god, even without him wearing that outfit.
Samael handed Luke a letter. "Here is the answer to what happened to your mother."
Luke snatched it without hesitation. "Seriously?"
"Yes," the demon replied. "I got it. But let make sothing clear. I don't want this disrupting your training. Do not open the letter until after you're done and after your audience with the sovereign. When you stand before him, your focus must be on him alone."
And with that, the demon vanished. Luke's fingers tightened around the envelope. Every part of him wanted to tear it open imdiately.
"While you are under my supervision, do not even think about trying to peek at that letter," Artemis said as she began walking away. "You will follow the elder's instructions exactly. Co on. Or are you planning to stand there forever?"
He followed her down the corridor. The halls were beautiful but empty eerily empty.
"No one enters this place except generals and high-ranking mbers of the order," she said, her tone flat. "Consider yourself honored. Though, truthfully, you already received the greatest honor possible by sharing the sovereign's blood."
They continued down the long corridor. She didn't speak again. At the end, she gestured to a series of doors.
"Choose any room in this wing. Mine is the one at the end. Be up early tomorrow. We're going hunting in a forest."
"Hunting what?"
"You'll find out tomorrow."
She stepped into her room and shut the door, leaving him alone in the quiet hall.
Her real version isn't exactly very lively.
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