Baku slowly closed his eyes.
He felt his head throbbing. What was happening here? What happened to their plan?
'Why is she lashing out so far?'
As a devil, he was well aware of a young devil's tantrum. Brushing off disrespect and disregard was too much for a developing devil to handle. As a higher being, it wasn't just their minds that were arrogant and haughty…
The best way to deal with the feeling of inferiority is to reassert dominance.
Many ways can achieve that, talking down to people, beating up opposition, and of course, slaughtering the source. But what was this?
Hannya's blood seems to be satisfied with only wiping out all his men! He couldn't understand why her tantrum was so extreme. All of her logic was thrown out the window, asserting dominance only works if there are people to witness it! If everyone is dead, what's the point?
Hans stepped forward, unbothered by the alarmed looks of the knights in front of him. To be honest, he agreed with his young miss. The more she spoke, the more he realized this lot had gotten away with many slights since they got here. What would Cravings say if she hears of this?
She followed the teachings of the judges, as did he.
Hannya had done altruistic work and her reward was ridicule and questioning. Such actions were unacceptable. At the very least, the one that had spoken up had to die.
As his body began to heat up and the air in the barracks began to sizzle, Baku finally decided to step in. He was getting exasperated with the two of them.
'This damned butler plans on doting on her! How is she supposed to learn with this guy going along with all her whims!?'
He stepped forward, clearly, Hans was still too green when dealing with devil children.
"Ah, young Hannya.." he began cautiously, he had to word this right to redirect her anger back onto the traitors. "The knights may have been a bit unpolished with etiquette after so much time in constant battle, but rest assured, they respect the hierarchy, give them a chance to prove their loyalty and dedication. What do you say, kid?"
He said as he walked to her side, patting her shoulder reassuringly.
Hannya paused at Baku's words. She swept her cold gaze throughout the crowd of nervous knights. Baku had a point, not everyone disrespected her when she got here. If they truly respected the hierarchy, perhaps interrogation would help weed out the useless bunch.
Her blood slowed a bit as she nodded with a smile. "Kikiki, if you say so, grandfather. Who are we torturing first?"
Baku heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. His words still held weight in such a state.
He was curious about what visions of the future she had seen to favor him so much, but he focused on channeling her anger for now.
The knights on the other hand, had their eyes wide in disbelief. This old geezer was cooperating with her demands!? One of the rookies couldn't take the tension anymore and shouted.
"Lord Baku! Don't do this! Have mercy! You know we are all loyal-"
"Hans!" But his words were cut short by an enraged shrill voice. "Kill the next demon to interrupt us!" She shouted, causing the knights to all shake.
"Of course, young miss." His cold eyes scanned the crowd in front of him, his gaze weighing down the areas they passed through.
Hannya smiled happily. "Very good. You're one of the good ones, Hans!" Hans' strength, discipline, and domineering nature sure was a stark contrast to the sniveling muscle headed demons online in her old world, all bark and no bite in the real world.
It was useless strength to her. Avoiding war at the drop of a hat, whining about wages when they had just as much opportunity, and questioning the roles of their world's unifying faith.
This world proved clearly that men could be competent.
'Kikiki! And he's just a butler! Doesn't that mean every step darling takes is an earth shuddering event?!' Her thoughts twisted and turned as her supreme blood reacted to this absolute truth.
Hans nodded at the words, his face stoic, but he couldn't help but cringe a little in his heart. He knew she didn't mean it that way, but such phrases were no doubt plummeting her graceful and kind image to the masses. This would undoubtedly bring misunderstandings.
'Perhaps bringing her back to Sweet Oasis would be better after this?' A Lady should be mindful of expressing herself properly. This was, of course, one of the ten rules of being a proper lady.
The shadow demon leader wanted to curse at this development, he hadn't calculated the whore devil would turn tyrannical when he was trying to sow dissent. Baku was a relatively diplomatic devil when it came to the demons serving him. Who would have thought he would back her up in this authoritarian display.
Playing the role of Bellomy would give him some leeway with being questioning, he had chosen this husk for that reason. But the surprising unity of the young devil and the fortress lord was causing his calculated indignance to backfire!
Baku leaned forward and whispered in Hannya's ear. Her ever present smile widened as she nodded at his words.
"It's a devil's deal." she said as she jumped down from the stage."Since a cleansing is needed, I'll be conducting interrogations with each one of you to see if you have the grit and respect to continue serving this mountain guard. We'll start with the captains." She said as she beckoned Hans to her side, walking towards the groups of knights.
"All of you may kneel and present your necks respectfully." she said as she walked gracefully forward, quite confident in her ability to slay the ones she found unappealing.
The knights were so shocked by the turn of events they didn't move. What was happening? One second they were cheering and praising the princess, and the next they were facing a possible execution? And Baku was doing nothing to stop it!
Hannya frowned at the display, the knights were frozen in place.
The creatures were useless! All they ever do is just stand around like fucking cattle!
She stamped the ground and shouted. "I said kneel!"
An alarming event followed. As she shouted, a dense shockwave of pink energy flowed from her mouth. The rough wave flowed through the crowd, hitting the standing and dazed dream knights.
The second the shockwave hit, all the knights felt an aggressive force invade their bodies, both mana and chi flowing in harmony, ruthlessly penetrating the circuits and paths of the loitering knights, causing their legs to move on their own.
They hastily kneeled.
"!?!"
DING
[
Skill [Charming Wail] has been acquired!
Charming Wail(A): Mutated from Method Actor(S) + Devil's Whisper(B) + Charming Smile(A). Asking politely is always good, but sometimes you have to make sure you're heard properly! Disrupt the mana and chi of chosen targets, upon success, target(s) receive the status effect [Charmed]. Duration based on target charm resistance and your charm level.
Note: You can repackage it all you want, but this is stolen valor.
]
The knights were horrified, they were practically defenseless against the spell. What's worse, they knew exactly what law was invading their bodies, it was part of their sword arts.
Charm laws.
The night demons were understandable when it came to not resisting the spell, though they trained, their affinity with charm laws were mediocre at best, their forte lied in other disciplines.
But the charm demons felt their hearts trembling. Such aggressive charm was something they couldn't understand. Charm was meant to be subtle, moving people in a way that made it feel like it was their own choice. But what was this? It felt abrasive, domineering, hostile. This was no charm, this was aggressive coercion.
But their commander felt differently. Upon witnessing Hannya's display of charm, his pupils constricted. He had seen such a charm spell before, though it wasn't enough to move him, seeing the whole courtyard kneel so swiftly brought a flash of memories to his mind.
He remembered when he first met the 4th Luxuria on this mountain, offering her children and kin as payment for half of the mountain's dream core sales. A disgusting display, but she did say something that made him think.
'Mmmm I love men that can resist such charms. In the end, to charm is to control, Dream Eater, but playing with puppets gets dreadfully boring, don't you agree? hehe.'
Baku held down a shiver, he didn't fear her, but the way she had everyone around her almost lifelessly serve her was too unnerving.
'To charm is to control.' Baku glanced at the tyrannical devil before him, Hannya displayed such a high affinity of charm laws that it's almost embarrassing to say the dream knights study it constantly.
On top of that, the charm demon's philosophy of charm is the complete opposite of what Hannya was currently displaying. They aren't necessarily wrong in their approach, but the results will never be seen so directly, making it seem like the lesser of the two practices.
But Baku grinned at the thought, these children still had much to learn.
Hannya walked leisurely amongst the shivering knights, now that they were on the ground, they dared not get up. The war demon was daring them to. She went to and fro, relishing the dominance she now had, Hannya's mind was becoming more and more giddy as she watched them cower.
She giggled, "Isn't this great Hans? This is how it should be!"
The ever tactful butler, aware the Hannya he was escorting now was closer to the one he'd witnessed a week ago, nodded and spoke respectfully. "Indeed my lady, the hierarchy must always be maintained, only destruction follows when leadership is challenged."
Hannya stopped in her tracks. She turned to Hans, a strange gleam in her spinning eyes. She grinned and asked. "Do you really believe that Hans? In the hierarchy? That a demon will always be below a devil?"
"...." Hans didn't answer. He couldn't, because he himself aimed to break those barriers one day with his ascension.
"Kikiki, I didn't think so." She leaned in, standing on her tiptoes to whisper in Hans' ear.
"Gula would surely be disappointed if you answered yes." The little devil laughed.
Hans was startled at the words. What was that supposed to mean? But before he could inquire further, they came to a stop in front of a dream knight captain kneeling on the ground.
The knight was a veteran, they were not shivering in fear. They were just kneeling there, lifeless and empty. They had seemingly given up on fighting. After all the knight had seen, they came to a conclusion the knight couldn't accept. Baku had betrayed them.
Sniff Sniff
"Mmm.. you smell very nice." Hannya spoke, looking down at the dream knight wallowing in despair. She sized up the veteran dream knight, the knight was female, with long black hair tied back into a ponytail, her armour was slightly damaged, but she looked far from injured as her voluptuous and toned body kneeled before the small devil.
She didn't look up at the devil, but the scar on her cheek and disappointed brown eyes could be seen clearly from Hannya's height.
"You must be Regina." Hannya spoke, meticulously examining her body as she loomed over the demon.
'Baku was right, she has the ideal body.' Hannya nodded. She was now resolved to kill this knight if her body didn't exceed such an athletic yet hourglass figure after her evolution.
'No need for competition in the future. Kikiki!' But for now, she was curious about a different type of smell coming from her.
She put a hand on the demon's shoulder. "I see no fear in you, only the smell of despair and disappointment, now why is that, honorable dream knight?" She inquired with a grin.
Regina didn't answer immediately, her mind was drowned in hopelessness. She had served Baku for a long time, he was crude, shameless, and a scheming bastard, but never in her wildest dreams had she thought he would disregard the sacrifice of his brothers in arms.
She was on the other side of the battle field, defending and directing cleanup when the other veterans chose to sacrifice themselves, by the time she found out all the details, the assembly was already called.
But the rumors being spread around, the missing captains for this assembly, and his deference to the whims of this young devil, all pointed to a reality she did not want to believe. Baku had accepted his comrades' sacrifice for another chance at life.
Not only that, he had chosen the one that slain them as successor, as if it did not bother him one bit.
Deep down, she held a sliver of hope that this was all an act, that this was just a way for Baku to weed out a spy or something, anything for the reality in the back of her mind to be false.
But she had seen what hope did to her in the past, all her close comrades either died or deserted these few decades. She was one of the oldest veterans, she'd witnessed a lot, and seen how time could take away and change people.
Hoping for this time to be different would be foolish, and worse, it would push her past her breaking point.
Why? Because, although she chided Baku for being shameless and harassing her all the time, Baku was the only thing keeping her here. His honor, respect, and honesty was the only thing keeping her here. His warmth, a warmth devils don't usually show to demons, was keeping her here.
She didn't want to hope, only for it to immediately shatter in her face. Her feelings for Baku had been that pivotal. And deep down she knew that.
She looked up at the smiling devil, the hypnotically spinning eyes meeting her worn brown ones.
"I-I don't think I can handle the truth this time." She replied, her voice wavering and eyes shaking slightly.
Hannya tilted her head. "Oh? The truth? Kikiki." she laughed, she could feel her blood awakening further, a new scent was wafting passed her nose, coming from the dream knight before her.
A brittle, hopeful, fragile scent. Nothing like the dense scent of sweet despair, a smell so small and subtle, yet it mixed so perfectly with the overbearing aroma.
"I see…" The little devil peered down at the middle aged looking war vet. Her Luxuria blood resinated splendidly with the two conflicting flavors.
'The smell of love. Ah, that's right, these creatures can know this salvation as well.'
DING
[
A [Tenet] is forming in your inner world…
]
'Ah, Vainglory, see this? Though inferior, they can understand us if they really try.'
Hannya's mad eyes softened toward the dream knight, perhaps she will die another day. she leaned in close to the now trembling dream knight and whispered. "Fear not, noble knight. Those that know love will never truly know despair…"
DING
[
Devil Hannya's [Scripture of Despair Conquering Love] is now being recorded on your first tenet!
]
"...for love conquers all." The little devil smiled warmly at the knight. Regina's eyes shook.
A strange energy entered her body.
The sinking feeling she had about the whole situation slowly began to dissipate, replaced with a feeling of peace, relief, and newfound resolve.
What had she been thinking? Her commander had always come through for her and her comrades, there wasn't a single time he had shown otherwise. Death was unavoidable, betrayal was unavoidable, but there were still those that stood the test of time. Unmatched in battle and unshakable in will.
Her commander was such a person. She had forgotten such an obvious truth.
She gazed at the little devil in front of her. This was why Baku allowed her to vent, why he let her do as she pleased. Baku trusted the judgement of their new princess.
If that was the case, she would too.
She bowed deeply. "Thank you, princess, for showing me the truth."
"Kikiki, seems like you're one of the good ones too!" She laughed happily at such reverence.
Hans, off to the side, felt his head hurt. Why did she keep saying that?
As she laughed she felt a dense energy enter her body, it reached her inner world. The energy made her core feel full.
'Huh, I guess being benevolent really does fill one's heart, kikiki!'
She turned around and looked at the other knights, they kneeled there silently. They did not know what she said to the veteran captain, but the interaction had filled them with a bit of hope. If she allowed one of them to remain, all hope was not lost with others.
"Now." Hannya began once more, her eyes spinning lazily as she spoke with a more amiable tone. "It seems all hope is not lost on you all. Moving on, The next captain will be-"
SLIDE
THUNK
STEP
STEP
STEP
As Hannya was speaking again, her elegance at full display, a convenient sound came from the side door of the barracks.
STEP
STEP
STEP
It was a dream knight, not a captain, or a veteran, just a simple unit knight. He came in, his helmet still on, walking lazily towards his group of horrified, kneeling comrades. But he seemed not to notice the serious air in the barracks.
He gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry for being late commander, the porcelain bowl waits for no man haha."
Though he laughed nervously, a malicious gleam was shining under his mask. He was one of the shadow demon leaders' subordinates. He had just finished sending his intelligence to the Acedia clan, just returning to witness the whore devils 'benevolent' act.
He figured an interruption was a good opportunity to subconsciously lower the respect for Baku to his subordinates for being late and pretending to not care, the perfect multiplier for his leader. With Baku's understanding nature and weakened constitution, the most he could really do right now was snort and reprimand him.
He wasn't worried about the whore devil, this was not her territory, so her butler couldn't act so brazen with people that hadn't directly disrespected her. A trained spy knew where to toe the line.
Baku said nothing, his face filled with shocked disbelief, what was this idiot doing!?
The commander said nothing, but Hannya did.
"Hans." She said simply. She'd already shown the hand of salvation, now the fist of judgment was required. An even handed rule garners the most respect of course.
"At your will, young miss."
SWOOSH
POP
DING
[
A [Second Verse] is being written on your tenet!
A [Paradoxical Scripture] is manifesting!
]