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Chapter 861: The Empire’s Hidden Aim
Asmodeus wasn’t truly interested in her either, and if anything, she disgusted him. How could he lust for the woman who insulted his cute empress... He wished to kill her on the spot, but somehow he found the little game the Empire wanted to play more important.
His eyes shifted away from the blond male, towards several masked individuals standing behind them wearing imperial outfits.
A fox, a bear, a wolf and a cat.
’Ah, I see. Not only is the woman who insulted Serena here, but the bastards who tried to attack Vinea, Luvia, Velvet, and Erika...’
He sifted through his mind for their names, but couldn’t recall hearing them. Though Velvet mentioned the leader being quite famous after looking into things. Her name was Coco, from the Scarlet Paw Clan.
’The leader of the emperor’s eyes... if she’s here, there must be another goal.’
It wasn’t just to form a fragile alliance either.
Asmodeus slowly smiled.
Albrecht noticed the change.
The envoy’s ocean-blue eyes narrowed by a fraction, so faint that most men would have missed it. Yet Asmodeus had spent too many years surrounded by Serena, Alice, Vinea and Velvet, insane monsters wearing human skin.
He knew when someone realised something wasn’t as it seemed.
"Well, you’ve brought quite the amusing collection of lackeys, Albrecht," Asmodeus said with a glance toward the four people wearing masks.
Caelith still glared at him, cheeks faintly pink beneath her fury.
Albrecht remained calm.
"I am afraid I do not know what Your Majesty means."
"Haha, of course you wouldn’t."
Asmodeus’s gaze returned to Coco again, giving her a little wave.
The four masked figures remained still behind the imperial line, their cloaks and uniforms neat enough to pass as ceremonial guards. Yet the fact that he could barely trace the movement of aura and breath amongst each one was quite surprising.
Though he could let it go, Asmodeus couldn’t help himself
"My wives were indebted to you, Coco."
There was an instant change in the deck’s atmosphere. Every imperial soldier seemed to freeze the moment he called her name.
’Ah... It’s meant to be a secret or something...’
Asmodeus almost laughed.
Coco did not move, but the cat mask tilted slightly toward him, and the subtle change was enough for Asmdoeus. It was Albrecht who showed the biggest change from Asmodeus speaking her name. His faint smile practically vanished as he spoke.
"It seems Your Majesty is well informed..."
"Not really," Asmodeus shrugged. "It was more that they left quite the surprise for my wives that I just couldn’t forget them."
His aura pulsed with a heavy burst of pressure with each word.
The three members beside her shook slightly, all of them struggling against his aura.
Coco raised her hand with a flicker of scarlet flames, the three stopped struggling, but continued to pant on the spot.
’I see... she’s not a paper tiger.’
Caelith quickly stepped in front of the group, her amber eyes glowing with intent as she almost reached for her sword once again.
"Caelith!"
Albrecht practically shouted her name before dragging her back and pushing her back into line with Coco and the other animal masks.
Asmodeus casually observed everything with keen eyes: Albrecht seemed a complete loyalist to the Emperor, while Caelith seemed faithful to the Empire itself and had a strange temperament that reminded him of Levia.
"Do forgive us for the sudden outburst, Your Majesty...." Albrecht’s lips trembled.
He clearly wanted to keep this truce idea going, constantly taking a lower position beneath Asmodeus despite the Holy Empire claiming to be the centre of the world.
’I should consider it...’
There was something they sought from this alliance, but for Asmodeus, if they didn’t attack him during their campaign against the deep-sea beast, then that was as good as winning the lottery.
"It’s fine, shall we have our aides discuss the details and terms of our partnership, Lord Albrecht?"
To ensure things moved smoothly, he even dropped his playful atmosphere, no longer flirting or teasing Caelith and Coco. He stepped towards the tall blond holy knight and offered his hand.
’A little humility should lower their guard.’
Albrecht just started at him at first, not moving or accepting the gesture.
He seemed completely stunned that Asmodeus would be the first one to offer such a thing.
"Ahem!"
Caelith hit his side with a clean elbow, causing the knight to clear his throat.
"Forgive me, I was just a little startled."
"You’re forgiven."
The handsome man’s lips twitched when Asmodeus spoke, but there was nothing else he could do; clearly, the thing his Emperor wanted was something Asmodeus had.
’What exactly could it be...?’
Asmodeus could only keep guessing, unable to find the answer.
"I’ll send someone over to discuss the truce." Asmodeus stepped onto the ship’s hull, glancing back over his shoulder and speaking with a sharp tone. "Do not cross the current lines or make any swift movements, or I will obliterate your entire fleet."
The moment those words left his lips, Asmodeus stepped from the hull.
Several Imperial soldiers gasped as his body dropped from the ship, his black-and-red mantle snapping in the wind.
Then his wings spread.
Boom!
A burst of pressure slammed against the flagship, shaking loose ropes and forcing several knights to brace against the rail. Asmodeus shot back toward Lumeria’s fleet like a dark arrow, cutting through the grey sky above the warped sea.
The trio watched him leave with various expressions on their faces.
Caelith watched him leave with clenched teeth, her hand still trembling near her sword.
Coco remained silent behind the cat mask, but never took his eyes off his body, and Albrecht only stared at the fading trail of bloody mana.
A thread holding together the polite mask on his face.
Across the water, Brando’s command ship waited with cannons still raised and spell arrays glowing faintly across its sides. Asmodeus landed among them without looking back, and the Lumerian fleet did not relax.
’Well, this seems interesting...’
He knew the truce could only happen because of his inhumane strength; otherwise, the Empire might’ve attacked today.
...
Meanwhile, Albrecht Valerius didn’t move until the demon emperor returned to his own fleet; only then did he release a slow, turbid breath.
"Damn it! To share the same oxygen as that foul creature..."
"Envoy," Caelith said, her voice low with anger. "We should not tolerate such humiliation."
"No," Albrecht replied. "You’re right, but that man is nothing like the empress we met before, Caelith. That man would’ve eviscerated you where you stood if you truly drew your sword, though he made flirtatious remarks. The eyes he stared at you with were as cold as a corpse’s!"
"R-Really!?"
"Yes."
He adjusted the cuff of his white-and-gold sleeve, smoothing away a crease that did not exist.
Caelith bit her lower lip, clearly shocked that she couldn’t sense such danger and instead became obsessed with the obscene words that slipped from the man’s lips.
"Do not forget what we came here for." He said with a louder, more stern tone.
At this noise, Coco’s shoulders trembled.
"Since the Emperor seeks a dragon more than anything else, we must ascertain the truth of the eyes’ report that there exist two dragons in this empire..."
Albrecht paused, clenching his wrist tightly.
"I just hope that at least one of them has nothing to do with that man..."
The deck remained silent.
Even Caelith’s anger faded slightly as those words settled between them. For the Holy Mainland Empire, dragons were not merely monsters. They were relics of the previous world, living weapons that had outlived kingdoms, doctrines and the gods themselves.
"Coco, since you’ve already been made, there is no reason for you to remain here." Albrecht wasn’t a powerful tyrant who could power through troubles like many others. But he made up for that with his wits and cunning.
"W-What!?" Coco gasped, the other masks holding her back as she almost rushed forward.
Albrecht did not look at her.
"The Emperor’s Eyes are useful because they are unseen. The moment that demon named you, you lost all worth. If you insist on staying, then prepare for a difficult journey, because that man won’t let you leave unscathed..."
Albrecht felt it in his bones.
The anger of the monster ruling Lumeria.
His power didn’t need rituals or special reasons to be unleashed.
He might’ve just killed them all on a whim!
"Coco," Albrecht said, his tone lowering, "that does not mean I am sending you away."
The cat mask lifted slightly.
"Then..."
"You will remain exactly where he can see you."
Caelith frowned. "Envoy?"
Albrecht glanced toward Lumeria’s fleet, watching the dark figure land among his own people.
"If she hides now, he will assume we fear him discovering her. If she stays, then we pretend her presence was never a secret to begin with."
Coco’s fingers slowly unclenched.
"You want me to become bait."
"No, I want you to become something that could trip that arrogant demon up. He seems to care about his wives, and thus... we will use his own clever nature against himself and how he suspects our true goal. So we give him something fake to watch and observe.
"And while he watches me?"
Albrecht smiled faintly as if to copy and mock Asmodeus.
"We look for the dragons, of course!"