’Well, that felt weird,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself after he actively weakened his connection to the newly minted proto-kaijin. ’I keep forgetting that these connections need ti to strengthen before I do sothing like that.’
With his curiosity now satisfied, this should’ve been the part where Zhen Liu focused on the files before him and learned more about the [Hearth Tender Trio] aether treasures that were certainly going to be playing an important role in his plans for both the [Sacred Fla] and whatever the hell that offshoot thing was.
But alas, his attention span had decided that the best course of action right now was to talk to the other people involved in this conflict.
One of the perks of being Kaijin Lord was that his identity could be very easily obscured from people...if he so chose to do so.
That said, this idea was still foolhardy at best.
Hell, even the kaijin mildly complained at the absurdity of this idea.
...Really?...
’Blazejudicator, you and the twins are still tracking Hulna, yes?’
[That is correct, Executor.]
’And Razorstella, you and the rest of Mysticlassic have eyes on Ferroxa?’
[By choice, yes. Although the man is still sohow boring despite being a traitor. You’d think he’d be doing more clandestine shit other than gathering corpses...]
’Either way, can you guys find a mont to try and make contact with them in an isolated setting? I get the feeling I won’t be getting any good information without first actually interacting with them.’
[As you wish.]
[Whatever you say, Producer.]
’Now, Nepherage, can you—’
[Milord, are you sure you want to do this?] Nepherage asked her creator, already anticipating the request. [I think what you heard from the First Hearth Tender is already enough for us to throw in our lot with her as opposed to a pair of fuckers working for a thing who knows what you are. As well, the Erupting Dawn Empire doesn’t exactly have clean hands either.]
’Perhaps,’ Zhen Liu agreed. ’But I feel like I wouldn’t be able to live with myself unless I get the complete story from every possible side. Besides, I think it might be useful to see if this emperor or any of his kids are being played like fiddles. Especially given the whole "horribly injured and can’t talk" angle that’s being pushed around.’
[I was going to say that’s ridiculous, but there are a lot of stories in the library that detail this exact thing...] Hurricroak mused. [I think I read one where they used the guy’s actual corpse and pretended it was alive the whole ti?]
[Power...makes...people...stupid,] Frosttusk agreed. [And...ignorant. Also...that...was...a...movie...about...soone...nad... Burnie...]
[An.]
’Enough movie references. For now, I need to know if you guys have found anyone that seems important enough to establish communications with.’
[We think we have,] Nepherage answered. [We may not be familiar with military encampnts, but we’re guessing the guy in the giant purple tent might be the fucker in charge.]
’Safe bet.’
[Wait, so are you going to be making contact with these three all at once or what?] Hurricroak asked. [Because I thought you hated having multiple conversations at the sa ti?]
’I am going to do these things one at a ti. It’s just going to be a matter of timing.’
[Timing?]
’You will understand in a couple of monts. Because Nepherage, you’re up first.’
[As you wish. Are you going to be possessing as well?]
’Partially.’
...Talking to the Enemy Without...
’I swear this image is getting fuzzier every ti I try to review it,’ Legante thought to himself as he continued to stare at the recording of the attack on rcenry Town.
’Fuck, I’ve been going in circles, haven’t I?’
As a veteran of multiple campaigns up until now, Legante knew that overlooked details had a tendency to get people killed and armies defeated.
One small flaw in a logistical line could lead to starvation, one injured warrior can lead to a defensive line collapsing in seconds, and one incompetent general can lead to betrayal or muddled commands.
It was because of this experience that Legante felt that the fuzzy footage was key to winning this war or losing spectacularly.
But another part of him, the rational part that usually prevented him and people like him from descending into madness, felt that obsessing over this footage was going to drive him insane.
Wait a minute...footage?
’I don’t know that word, what the fuck does footage an...wait, why am I cursing so causally?’
[Interesting. So that’s why I felt as if I was being watched.]
"!!!"
The mont Legante heard a voice coming from behind him, he didn’t let out a scream of alarm or called for help.
Faster than the blink of an eye, he imdiately swung an aether-empowered fist behind him.
He didn’t anticipate the attack to outright kill the person appearing behind him, but he at least hoped that the attack would stun or heavily injured them.
Instead, much to his utter shock, the attack did fuck all. In that mont, Legante felt as if he was a child again, punching a rock wall with an unenhanced fist.
Needless to say, this mont was oddly humbling and mildly terrifying.
"What the fuck?" Legante whispered as he pulled back his pained fist. He hadn’t felt sothing like this in a long ti, and this sensation stunned him. Then again, this stunned feeling might’ve been more due to who he was trying to punch.
It took him a mont to process it, but his failed punch had landed on a strange demonic woman with red-and-black stone like skin and horns like an ox. The sensation on his fist indicated that this demon woman was much stronger than he could estimate.
[Nice punch, but if I wanted to kill you, you’d wouldn’t have been able to notice,] the demonic woman growled before grabbing Legante’s wrist and moving the fist.
In that mont, Legante felt as if he was a child being reprimanded by their senior. Especially since he couldn’t move his wrist in the slightest against the imnse pressure clamping down on him.
However, he quickly recovered once it registered in his head that he wasn’t in any imdiate danger.
"What...no...who are you?"
[Hmmm. Not the exact question you should be asking right now, but I suppose it’s tangentially related, ] the horned woman admitted as she released Legante’s wrist. [You don’t need to know my na. All you need to know is that I represent soone who can probably tip this war in your direction with a wave of their hand, and nobody would know but you.]
"I...see..."
Examining his wrist, Legante realized that this being hadn’t used any aether when suppressing him. The horned woman simply used pure brute force to overpower him, and that...was sohow more terrifying.
On top of that, Legante began to rember so of the things he heard the missionaries preach whenever he sent spies into the city.
To be more precise, the sermons he heard pertained to devils and demons offering deals in exchange for one’s soul.
"Are...are you so kind of deal making demon?" Legante asked in a blunt tone that was very much not how he would normally approach such a delicate matter. "Wait, why did I just say it like that?"
[I suppose they could be considered as such,] the horned woman answered. [But I would like to reiterate that I am rely a representative. And going forward, you may refer to as...Jade.]
"I...see."
Every rational part of him scread at him to run like there was no tomorrow, find help, do anything to avoid being in the sa fucking vicinity as this literal demon.
And yet...the emotional part, the part that seed to be unusual loud this ti around, compelled him to stay, listen...and ask a simple question.
"What do you want?"
[Ah, now there’s the question of the hour,] Jade rumbled with delight.
The horned woman proceeded to walk around Legante and the table he was sitting at until she was seated directly across from him.
It was at this distance that Legante could now see the full majesty and terror of the demonic being nad "Jade".
[Now I should probably preface this conversation with the fact that my master was hoping to find a royal or soone with a deeper connection with the Erupting Dawn Emperor,] Jade began, imdiately setting the tone of this conversation. [Especially since this entire war seems to be no longer hinging on getting the Sacred Fla to help him ascend, but to heal him of his injuries. Isn’t that right?]
"That’s...correct," Legante nodded. "I was sent here by the current heir, First Prince Lofarro as a vanguard unit. I am to establish a foothold within the month so that we may properly siege the city."
[Interesting...an actual push instead of morning border skirmishes...] Jade mused as she idly scratched her horn. [Tell sothing, though, was this order made before or after he and his siblings tried to foster peace in order to get their father healed?]
"How did you—?!"
’Ah, interesting...’
Evidently, that clandestine eting between the previous Hearth Tender and the Imperial children was known to more people than anticipated...how annoying.
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