I have my contingency if the bastard lives down to my expectations though…
"Your sister," I continue, my tone deliberately casual, pushing a little. "Wants out of her arranged marriage, doesn't she? I can give her that opportunity, the Boosted Gear wielder is new, able to be reincarnated even by someone as fresh as your sister, allowing you to stay out of the fray."
The air turns searing in a heartbeat.
The killing intent slams into me like a tidal wave, the sheer force of it bringing me to my knees. My bones creak under the pressure, my muscles locked in place.
Sirzechs smiles.
"Be very careful speaking of my sister." He says quietly, a pleasant smile still on his face.
Okay, the siscon button is not working as expected, I think, even as my jaw tightens. My entire body screams under the weight of his aura, my vision darkening at the edges.
"Tch." I force the words out, every syllable a battle. "A practically free Boosted Gear isn't enough for you to chill? You're a Satan - is the posturing necessary?"
It takes everything I have to lift my head up from its forced bow, my ice-blue eyes meeting his calm ones. "Tick-tock, I'm running out of care for who the Boosted Gear goes to…" I force out with a bloodied grin, capillaries on my lips rupturing under the pressure.
"Watch how you speak!" Grafiya snaps, her voice as cold as the void.
I let out a harsh, humorless laugh, blood dripping down my chin.
"Nah." I say, eyes hard, even as breathing gets hard, my words still forced out, "Kill me or bargain with me. But I'm done being a fucking slave!"
My Touki flares to life, a deep crimson haze bleeding into the air around me. I push, inch by inch, forcing myself upright, muscles trembling under the sheer strain.
I stand.
The pressure vanishes.
Sirzechs watches me, fingers steepled. "What do you want?"
"A king piece to replace the Bishop inside of me, and a set of fully mutated Evil Pieces, all fifteen." I say bluntly.
I need the power up, and I need away from my master. And while I might be a hypocrite for using the same pieces that enslaved me, I need the backup if I am to one day crush these people.
And I am not the most trusting of individuals anymore.
So yes, I will make use of the pieces.
Although I'll never force someone into my peerage. I draw the line there.
"Ajuka cannot help you," Sirzechs says, his tone almost light. "Mutated pieces are random, they do not work as you request."
I grin, slow and dark, wiping my chin with a gloved thumb. Least he isn't pretending the King piece isn't a thing, which means he believes I have information on things I shouldn't.
"Shucks," I say sarcastically, touki still flaring from me as I slowly recover from one minute of Sirzechs aura. "It seems I plain misplaced my memory of the Boosted Gear. Who knows where that Sacred Gear is…?"
A long silence meets my statement, both devils studying me.
Grafiya turns to Sirzechs eventually. "He is a reincarnated devil of some ill repute. The Shax family will not need much appeasement if you simply force the words out of him and dispose of him afterwards."
I glance at her. Cold bitch, ain'tcha?
I'll repay her with the corpse of her son before her one day. You just wait, bitch.
I might not want innocent blood on my hands anymore. But Millicas is a devil, so he doesn't count.
Besides, by the time I'll be strong enough, he'll probably not be a brat anymore anyway.
Sirzechs smiles pleasantly again. "I am sure this nice young man will cooperate, Grafiya. No need for threats."
I shake my head, "No, she has the right of it." I keep my hands behind my back to hide their slight tremor. "I won't tell you anything unless my demands are met. I've already shown I know things. Take it or leave it."
"You don't understand the situation you're in," Grafiya says, her voice almost pitying, if one disregards the open disdain.
I meet her gaze, my smile sharp and bitter.
"I understand perfectly. I've been a slave for four centuries. Seen horrors I'll never unsee. Gone through them more times than can be counted."
I bare my teeth at them, a voice in my ear screeching/whispering/begging at me to just attack, die with my hands around her throat. I ignore it with my usual ease, by now used to it. "I'll die right here and now with a proud smile before bending the knee ever again!"
Sirzechs tilts his head, curiosity flickering behind his eyes, even as he waves off Grafiya. "There are ways to make you talk." He suggests conversationally.
I tilt my head back, revealing the intricate runes carved into my neck, under my collar. My contingency if things didn't go well today.
"One thought from me," I say, my voice calm, the possibility of death accepted. Longing, peace, rest, whispers into my ear "And my head explodes. My master might be able to prevent my suicide within his borders, but not within the Satans' domain." The curl of my lips is somewhat morose as I finish, "Not even you can stop me before my death should I choose it."
Sirzechs regards me for a long moment.
"You'd go that far?" He asks quietly, almost looking troubled.
I glare at him, snarling out. "I'll go to any lengths to not be a slave any longer. You wouldn't know the feeling!"
A pause.
Then, Sirzechs sighs, waving Grafiya down before she can speak. Her expression is absolutely thunderous, eyes flashing with indignation at my boldness.
"How do you even know these things?" He asks. "You mentioned an oracle?"
I smirk.
"Lucky run-in with a dying oracle. I know many things, not telling you anything important without my King piece."
A lie.
Sirzechs does not call me on it, if he noticed.
"Give me something here. Something I can verify." He cajoles, "I can not give you anything without proof."
Grafiya seems absolutely disgusted that there even is a negotiation, but her maid fetish keeps her mouth shut, as she can't openly go against her master.
I tilt my head, considering. Then I smile.
"First off, Grafiya's brother didn't die in the civil war, he's working for Rizevim now, and brother dearest wants her back, under him." I say. "I'm sure you'll have means to find him, he's of her blood after all," I say, nodding at an incensed looking Grafiya, chew on that cunt. "But for something more immediately verifiable… Ophis is lending its power to terrorists that are after the complete upheaval of the world, you need only to check Diodora Astaroth to find the snake born of Ophis power…"
The pressure slams into me again.
I grit my teeth, my Touki flaring, my entire body locking under the strain.
"Tell me. Now."
"King piece. Now," I bite out in return.
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