DAILY UPLOADS ON ROYAL ROAD. IDK HOW LONG I'LL KEEP POSTING ON WEBNOVEL CONSISTENTLY.
Hellnia, Gula's Domain, Sweet Oasis Grand Temple.
In the private dining hall of the grand temple, Gula sat on a gaudy golden chair, reading letters sent from her handsome and reliable butler, Hans.
As she sat there, flipping through the pages, she couldn't help but smile at the information he gathered. The little devil she wished to form friendly relations with was more interesting than she had anticipated.
'Her strength is outstanding for a young devil, her innate abilities are unique and formidable, and her intelligence is quite high already.'
Gula was happy the little one was growing so rapidly. Hans even stated her evolution might come sooner than the norm, given her trajectory. Defeating demonic beasts days after her birth was an achievement many her age could not accomplish.
Instead of the 3 years Gula assumed, average for a young devil, Hans seemed to suggest her full awakening might take a year and a half! Such growth speed rivaled the rumored late genius of the Superbia clan, and the current genius of the Invidia clan.
The thought of Gula having such a strong sister brought her a level of excitement she hadn't felt in a long time. She herself was strong, stronger than many of the current families combined, but her strength early was pitiful due to her special physique. She was happy Hannya had no such issues.
She leaned back, placing the papers down on a table next to her as she giggled.
'My first alliance! It feels good.' Her smile was wide as she thought about her hard work finally bearing fruit.
Gula was close to giving up on devils as a whole when it came to alliances. For the longest time, all her outreach and goodwill had been met with disdain and mockery. Thinking an alliance with a new archdevil with no 'foundations' was either below them or not worth the risk.
With the nobility around, pushing every devil that stood out either into a corner or under their thumb, and the nomads constantly taking advantage of every person they came across, her options were all but spent.
Funny enough, the Dream Eater, the person Hannya was currently visiting, was a viable option for alliance with Gula as well, but with his lack of response to her letters and the constant dealings he had with his old clan, Gula never had a chance to meet with the old devil.
'But now it seems young Hannya plans to get that old coot out of his stubborn ways.'
She laughed again. From the stories she was hearing from her butler, her little sister was quite the unique character. Rough and rowdy, cunning and cute, and to top it all off…
'A fate mutation.'
With such an ability, it's clear Hannya had a plan to shake things up on that mountain, Gula surmised.
With one slender leg over the other, she swung her ankle, getting a melodic jingle from the anklets she wore. Such interesting events were unfolding from the young one, and it hadn't even been a month since her birth.
She couldn't wait to see what would unfold next.
"P-please, I-i've told you everything I know… just… just kill me…. p-please!"
Gula frowned at the pathetic whining of the devil kneeling in front of her. Couldn't he tell she was thinking of her adorable sister?
She looked down at the devil. Half of the skin and flesh was gone from his body, revealing his white bone and pulsating organs. The skin and flesh that remained was dry and cracked, portions were black at the edges, falling off periodically. When the pieces fell, only black sand hit Gula's pristine floor in mounds, surrounding one side of the devil like small castles.
"Kill you?" she giggled. "No. You will live, in fact, I have a new job for you. A chance to turn your life around." She said benevolently. She snapped her fingers and the sand eating away at his flesh stopped.
He looked pitiful, the right side of his body was only white bone, his eye had long withered away and his horn had crumbled to dust. The two stars under his remaining eye were hollow, indicating his wishes had been stripped.
He kneeled there, listless and broken, he'd been tortured for days since he'd woken up in the dungeons of Sweet Oasis, having no idea how he got there. All he wanted was death at this point, he couldn't handle such pain, he was just a businessman.
Gula stood up and strode to the two star devil. She stood before him, looking down at his broken form. She nodded in satisfaction. A slaver, a betrayer of kin, should only look like this.
She pointed a delicate finger to the devils temple and spoke.
"[Gluttonous Devil Curse: Hambre Abundante - Fiesta]." Chaos energy surged forth into the limp body of the two star devil. He jolted for a moment, then fell to the floor.
Gula waved her hand and an apple appeared from thin air. She tossed it to the floor before the two star.
Seeing the apple roll in front of him, the listless eyes of the businessman shot open. He pounced desperately at the apple, biting madly into the succulent fruit. He was so hungry, so needy for food, he didn't even bother picking it up. He ate it from the ground directly, like a wild animal.
Gula smiled at the scene. "Now, every task you complete from me will be rewarded with an apple. How does that sound?" the two star nodded his head vigorously while taking savage bites, core and all didn't matter, such a delicacy couldn't be wasted! To him, this apple was his everything for now on.
But his everything soon vanished in an instant, and the two star was far from satiated, in fact, he felt even hungrier.
Gula sat back down and spoke. "You are now Manzana, you will do my bidding from now on. You fail, you wither. You take too long, you wither. As long as you eat an apple from me every now and then, you stay alive, and don't bother looking for someone to remove the curse, you're just a grunt, by the time you even get an audience with someone able to help, you'd already be sand."
She said all those things, but she knew the man wasn't listening. His eyes darted around, searching for another apple, there had to be one more somewhere, at least one lying around this room filled with food! He scanned over plates savagely, ignoring the fine meats and fresh breads. An apple was what he needed, an apple would stop the hunger.
Gula shook her head, grinning. It was time for her to make more moves. Since Greed dared to spike her ritual chamber and target her new little sister, it would be fine for her to spread the wonders of delicious food to his people right? Since they seem to think money was the only thing fulfilling in life, she would show them a new passion on this side of the gate.
She laughed.
"Kakaka, perhaps my approach was too delicate in the past with these people. Maybe instead of ten meals to build a friendship, I too should be asking for ten heads to show submission. Kakaka!"
From Gula's actions and words, it seemed to have taken only one whimsical devil accepting her friendship to turn a kind and benevolent soul into a sneaky and vicious entity.
~~~
Forbidden Zone 3, Hazy Mountain, Hannya's temporary Lodgings.
A petite and delicate young girl laid leisurely on a new couch in her cozy room. Her legs were propped up in the lap of a mature and attractive female demon, massaging her calves and feet.
While her head rested on the almost overly ample bosom of a meek, bobcutted female demon feeding her food.
Her hands were outstretched, giving better access to a third bespectacled and demon who was applying polish and designs to her nails with a determined face.
This lavish young miss was Hannya, the heart devil.
She let out a yawn as she laid there, she was quite comfortable. Having slaves was actually not as bad as she initially thought it would be. She didn't have to do anything, just turn her brain off and relax.
Hannya guessed if she asked them to walk her to a store and she didn't want to move, they would simply support her limp arms and legs to walk forward if needed. Such an indulgent lifestyle was to her liking.
"U-um young miss?" The well endowed, bobcutted pillow voiced out to Hannya in a soft voice.
Hannya tilted her head up slightly. "Sup Lil?" she asked.
"It's just…how long do you think this will take?" She asked meekly, as if trying to not sound too questioning.
"Hm?" Hannya raised an eyebrow."Were homies ain't we? Ah, are my horns bothering you?"
"N-no, not that, you can rest as much as you like. I'm just wondering how much grace are you going to show the Dream Eater." She asked. "I mean…today is the fifth day and…" She trailed off.
The other charm devils stopped their work and looked over to Hannya as well, wanting to hear her words. Their young miss had been rather patient with the old man, yet they haven't heard from him or his lackeys at all.
Hannya waved her hand, seemingly not worried in the slightest about her plans. "It's fine, it's fine. They still have a couple of hours left, I even sent Hans out to send out some feelers not too long ago, he should be back soon with what we need to get the ball rolling." she said confidently.
The three nodded, trusting Hannya to have a plan for success.
Hannya was calm and collected as she said all this, but in reality, she was sweating inside.
'What the fuck are those guys doing?'
She hasn't heard shit from the old man in days, they didn't even send a rejection message. She had a plan for that too, but they had to speak to her for her to hatch that plan!
In her rage earlier today, she stomped over and told Hans to 'Go see what that idiot is doing'. That old bastard dare ignore her? There was no way the talks with the nobles this week were going well. So why was there no negotiations being thrown her way? Not a single fucking bone?
The more annoying part is Hans isn't even taking her words seriously! It's been hours since he's left, isn't he an elite? Skulking around and gleaning information should be a cakewalk for him.
'Is he goofing off somewhere?'
She squinted her eyes, thinking about the possibilities of his delay.
While she was thinking, she picked up a sweet fragrance wafting past her nose. She recognized the smell but couldn't quite place it.
Sniff Sniff
It smelled good, like freshly baked cinnamon rolls, or maybe a rack of ribs hot off the grill? But the smell lacked the hidden undertones that made it the genuine smell, she couldn't describe it. It smelled…almost like some flavor changing candle.
Sniff Sniff
A candle slowly burning away, each layer more enticing, more delicious. She turned into Lily and sniffed her.
"Eep!"
Nah, it wasn't her. She smelled like a candle too, but it was more like an unlit strawberry scent rather than the brightly burning scent she was currently smelling.
It was coming from the other side of the room.
Sniff Sniff
She stood up abruptly and began to walk to the other side of the cozy living space.
As she walked, her nose locked onto the trail, she was like a bloodhound, deftly following the alluring smell beckoning her to move closer.
Sniff Sniff
She found it, it was behind her front door. She opened it, and to her surprise, Hans was standing there, about to knock.
He looked surprised. Hannya smirked at his shocked face. She wouldn't be fooled, not with her super sniffer and cold logic.
'I see, coming from the market with incense to soothe my anger, huh old man?'
Hans must have gone to the market to surprise her with luxuries to appease her wrath, a common tactic in her old world. In a reverse world, a man doing such a thing made sense.
"Butler, bringing gifts to this young miss? A capable butler indeed. But did you think keeping me waiting wouldn't have consequences?" She said, trying to stay haughty. She couldn't let her excitement show from getting a gift, that would make her look like a sucker. If Hans knew that, wouldn't failing at his missions be inconsequential? She had to be stern as a young mistress.
But then she belatedly noticed a group of dream knights kneeling on the ground, face to the floor, shaking.
She noticed their armor was damaged all over, with rainbow colored liquids staining their clothes, it smelled metallic, iron-like, blood most likely.
'Dream beast blood? Strange…'
She gazed at the one in front. The vice commander, Sawyer, gripping his fists tight, his jaw clenched, he seemed distraught, yet determined about something.
"Oh?" she stated with a smile, unbothered by the bloody forms of the demons in front of her."What brings you here? Sawyer?"
~~~
One minute earlier.
Sawyer trudged to the door of the devil nomad he met almost a week ago. As he followed the loyal butler of said devil, his face couldn't help but get a little complicated as he remembered the events from earlier.
He'd been fighting on the front lines for days now, trying his best to push back the tide of dream beasts with his brothers, desperately fighting wave after wave with no end in sight. Just as the injuries were accumulating and the casualties of the soldiers were rising, something devastating happened.
A Walker exited the fissure. A large, 20 foot tall, pale blue bipedal creature with no face and large holes all over its body. Its enlarged pores emitted unholy amounts of dream mist with every step it took, filling the battlefield with a new, denser layer of white clouds.
The denser the dream mist, the higher the quantity of dream beast can traverse to the real world. With such an entity arriving, their dire straits only became even more bleak.
Sawyer couldn't understand it. One day the mist was steadily flowing from the fissure, easily containable, and the next, the flow picked up and beasts began to charge out, frenzied and aggressive.
Such occurrences rarely happened, and just when Baku was unfit to fight. They thought their luck couldn't get any worse, but now…
'This might be the end for us all…'
That thought flashed past Sawyer's mind as he cut down one beast after another, taking no time to rest as his katana sliced through the waves swiftly, trying his best to lead his unit to the giant Walker shepherding larger beasts through the expanding fissure.
He couldn't think like that, he had to hold on. Be strong for his men, for his pregnant wife at home, for the village below this mountain peak, and for his commander, fighting to stay alive.
Another image flitted past his mind as he thought that. A devil sitting within the walls of their fortress village. Waiting, watching, expecting his arrival. Forcing him to make a choice. A choice that he and Baku would never make in their lifetime, a choice that went against all they stood for. A choice that destroyed and desecrated their warrior code.
Sacrifice the few to save the many? No. It was betray their trusted to live on in regret. That was the true deal.
Sawyer glanced behind him as he swung again. He was still there. The Butler.
He stood on a boulder in the distance, his hands clasped behind his back, the moonlight reflecting off his glasses as he smiled amiably at the scene below him. He just stood there, waiting. Most likely at the orders of his master.
Taunting them, reminding them. They had options, a choice, a way out, but would they take it? Would they submit?
"AHHH!" Sawyer charged forward, letting out a battle cry while slashing wildly. He cut down one after another, but the kill was only replaced by another time after time. They were making no ground, and he couldn't even use his ability. He was barely maintaining it on Baku while he fought, a monstrous feat. Sawyer was already surpassing his limits in this battle, and it was far from enough.
As he was fighting, Sawyer heard something he would not have expected in such a dire situation. He heard laughter.
"Hahaha, what's the point of this? If I die here, if we all die here, my family goes with us…." A defeated voice said as he swung his sword.
It was Donald, a dream knight veteran and loyal subordinate to Baku. He had lost an arm and he was covered in wounds, everyone could see he was on his last leg, but he kept swinging violently, slicing and dicing anything that came near him.
"Vice commander," he said with a dark chuckle. "I volunteer as a sacrifice for the healing of Lord Baku."
Sawyer clenched his sword tighter as he said nothing, he only swung faster. He would not acknowledge it.
"Fuck it, I also volunteer vice commander, my old bones have already reached my potential and I have no family left, send me as well sir."
Harol as well.
"Maybe if I die, Baku will stop making passes at Regina and defend this place properly!"
"Haha you think in death he'll stop the lechery? If that's the case, I'll go too."
"Hahahaha!"
Thompson.
Frankford.
One by one, the older dream knights, the loyal brothers and sisters of Baku, began to volunteer for sacrifice in order to heal their bedridden commander.
As they slayed the beasts in front of them desperately, they laughed and shouted, unwavering in their resolve to save their village from the endless tide in front of them.
Until all of a sudden, a tactful voice came from behind them.
"It seems that's ten."
As the voice spoke up, intense heat swept through the mountain top.
The air crackled and flashed with blinding light, causing the dream beasts to pause in their tracks.
A terrifying pressure locked everything in place. The mountain peak suddenly became deathly quiet as all eyes witnessed the dark canopy above turn red, the clouds above collapsed outward..
…and the sky began to fall to the earth.