36 Black Cloaks? (I)

[3rd Person POV]

Silence reigned over the bar as the gentle lights from the ceiling illuminated all that stood, lay, or sat beneath it. Three figures sat in front of a wide bar table, two of which sat quietly while the last one slept with her hands over the cold bar table.

Rather than three, however, there were four people inside the room, the fourth of which stood on the opposite side from where the other three sat, his hands gently clutching onto an already spotless glass though he continued to wipe it with a clean piece of white cloth.

"Well...?" Daemon asked, his voice lacking any of the serious tones that one would expect from his situation and the request that he had made. Though it was unnoticeable to the two other conscious figures, a sense of urgency lay behind his tone which had been practiced after many years in his line of work.

"Before I give you the answer, I want to ask my own question. What the hell is his daughter doing here?!" Another voice shouted, the owner of which was a small penguin who, even while standing, couldn't reach Daemon's waist. His flipper was stretched outward, its blunt edge pointed at the unconscious woman who shifts in her sleep but doesn't awaken.

"She is my lover." Daemon answered succinctly, absent from it was any sort of hesitation to describe his current relationship with Yuhsia. "As for why she's here, it's because she fell asleep in the middle of the mission and I wanted to come here first before heading back to our base of operations to tuck her to bed."

"I... what am I supposed to... does Texas or Mostima know about this?" The penguin asked, struggling to formulate words that could describe the emotions he inwardly felt. The two had been friends for a long time and the cooperation contract they both had made sure that Penguin Logistics would grow at a steady pace regardless of how the business was going. "What the hell are you even doing here?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not here, I'm back at my airship doing whatever it is I usually do." Daemon answered with a smile, choosing to answer the easier intelligible question of the two before all emotion left his face. "I'm sure Texas will notice my scent when she comes back here but I'll need you to convince her to not look for me."

"That doesn't exactly answer my first question you know..." The emperor sighed as he scratched the back of his head whilst raising a bottle of hard liquor, drinking it straight from the bottle as the amber liquid warmed his throat and chest. "As for your request... do you understand the risk of what you'd be doing?"

"Of course, it'll take some convincing but I can just kill them if they push their boundaries." Daemon stated without a single bit of doubt to be found in his voice, quietly shocking the penguin though he did his best to not make it obvious. "I'll need the orders to be done within an hour or two, six cloaks will be enough and I need it to look as similar as possible to what the black cloaks wear."

"Fine... be prepared for Texas though, you know how she is despite that cold and calm face she keeps around everyone." He conceded before pointing out his inability to control the black-haired lupo of his company. A smile forms on Daemon's thin lips, his eyes gaze into the near yet distant image of a blushing Lupo with ears drooped down while she gazed up at him.

"Heh, I know, just give me some time. I'm sure we'll end up seeing each other out there." Daemon spoke after a few seconds passed, his hands gently holding a glass that had already been empty for a few minutes now. "I'll come back for the cloaks in two hours, I need to gather up the subordinates that are meant to join me after tucking her into bed."

"Alright, I'll call you using that communicator gadget of yours if it gets finished much earlier than expected." The emperor stated as he nodded his head to the tall figure that cleaned the glasses, face covered with thin black clothing that hid his/her facial features from even Daemon.

"Good, can I borrow one of Exusia's pantyhose?" Daemon asked nonchalantly as the emperor stared at him with a stunned expression though he followed it up with an explanation that dispelled the shock by only a small bit. "It's for Yuhsia,... hers were torn while I was traveling to get here."

"... I'll get it for you..." The emperor states after a seemingly long but short few seconds of awkward silence as he leaves the bar. He comes back into the room with the pantyhose, handing it to Daemon as he carries Yuhsia into the bathroom.

There he stays for a short minute, taking Yuhsia's slightly wet pantyhose which still had drops of cum that slid out of her body with practiced hands and replaces them with Exusiai's. All the while, the penguin sat on his bar stool, wondering how his life had come to this as he finishes the bottle he held.

Daemon opens the bathroom door with Yuhsia over his back, her hands wrapped around his neck as a bit of drool soaks the fabric of the cloak Daemon wore. He wordlessly moves to the door leading out of the bar, nodding his head to the emperor before suddenly stopping.

"By the way..." Daemon whispers with a voice that was only strong enough for the emperor to hear, prompting the penguin to look at Daemon with raised eyebrows as he waited for Daemon to finish his statement. "Mostima is pregnant, you're gonna be the uncle. Bye."

The emperor stays silent for a long time, quickly understanding Daemon's parting words though he failed to say anything out of shock. The door closes and he is left alone with his bottle, eyes left staring at the floor as the bottle in his falls and breaks into countless pieces. "What the fu-"

[Daemon's POV]

"What the fuck!?" The emperor shouted as I entered the alley situated right next to the bar, jumping through the dirty walls etched with graffiti of various kinds with the drawing of a penguin standing above all else.

"I know you've been awake for a while now, Yuhsia." I whispered while jumping from one roof to the other, blasts of air rushing past my cloaked and masked face while the sounds of a vibrant city filled my ears. I was somewhat distant from all the fighting, or at least far enough to the point wherein their sounds eluded me.

"So, you're friends with that penguin rapper huh? My, it seems my future husband has a lot of useful connections." Yuhsia stated, her lips forming a cute smile while the arms that were wrapped around my neck tightened. "You know... I was lying about taking the pill."

The moment those words left her mouth, I stopped, the sudden halt to our movement forcing my neck down as sudden bouts of air did their best to have me faceplanted into the floor of the roof. Slowly, I turned my head toward Yuhsia, an unknown expression filling my face as even I was confused.

"...You should've seen your face." She stated before an oddly quiet but cute laugh left her lips before planting her face deeper into my back while relief filled my chest. Even if I'd already accepted my relationship with her, having a child right now is a bit... problematic.

Mostima and Reed's current situation with having a child in their bellies was no mistake though I must admit, they were acts I'd done out of longing and desperation. I was already past that point, and though I wouldn't mind continuing the Lin bloodline, this was no time to think about childbearing.

"Seriously... that's no joking matter you know." I stated with an exasperated sigh, her giggle trickling down to a snort before silence retook its hold between us. We reached the warehouse compound and I stop in front of the door leading to our base of operations, letting Yuhsia down before turning my body and gaze toward her.

"Stay safe... alright?" She whispered, genuine worry present on her face while her lavender-colored eyes peered deeply into my gray eyes. I bend my back just enough for us to be of the same height, placing a hand behind her which ushered her closer to me.

"I'll be fine... I'll make sure the objective is fulfilled." I answered with confidence before placing our foreheads against each other after kissing hers. I pull away only for my lips to be sealed, my gaze opened wide to stare at Yuhsia who had opted to close hers as her free hand pushed a strand of hair to the back of her ear.

"Idiot, I'm not worried about them." Yuhsia stated after pulling away, a satisfied sigh leaving her lips after snorting at my reply. I place a hand over my face, covering the grin that had slowly formed over my face as I nodded toward her. "Now go, your master orders you."

"Heh, as you command, master Yuhsia." I told her before jumping back up into the sky and landing on a roof, turning my gaze back toward her with our eyes meeting one another. I nod my head one more time before leaving, reaching the airfield, and stopping in front of hangar thirteen.

I push open the doors leading inside, surprising every member of Squad A who managed to quickly assemble themselves in front of me. My gaze roams across the hangar, searching for Skadi and Specter's familiar faces only to find them sitting atop crates that had been there long before we arrived in Lungmen.

I and Skadi's gaze meet only for a short second, their stare broken by Skadi's choice to turn her head away from me while I sighed at her reaction. I pull my mind off of those concerns, choosing to prioritize the mission ahead and the people I'd need for my mission.

"Avery." I called, prompting the man to move forward before placing his hand on his head in a salute. "I need you and four others for an Interception-bordering rescue operation outside of Lungmen. The operation doesn't require any communications handler so take two brawlers, a caster, and a sniper unit."

"Operation debrief will take place in hangar fourteen after five minutes, I want every uninvolved personnel to leave that hangar until after the debrief." I ordered before leaving the hangar while those who were previously inside the mentioned hangar left.

I go inside hangar fourteen and am welcomed by nigh emptiness, finding only the unused aircraft utilized by Elysium to greet me as the minutes slowly went by. The silence was broken by the sound of the door opening, an act done by Avery and four of his subordinates who followed behind him.

"Sir, I'd like to introduce you to Hayes, designation code, Sandman. His official position within my team is a guard though he fights similarly to a defender." Avery stated after they all stood at attention in front of me, his finger pointed at the man standing beside him.

Hayes wore the standardized uniform for squad A which meant his face was covered by a gray helmet with a pitch-black visor that hid his face though it was custom-made to accommodate the Sarkaz horns poking out of his head. In his right hand was a longsword with serrated edges painted red while on the left was a chipped shield made of black metal alloy sourced directly from Kazdel mines.

"As for our sniper, he goes by the name of Santiago, designation code, Robin." Avery continued as he pointed his finger over to the person standing beside Hayes, one who had no such custom modifications to his armor as that of Hayes'.

This meant that there were next to no observable characteristics that I could use to figure out from which race he belonged but that didn't matter. No, my attention was placed elsewhere. My gaze was thoroughly placed on the crossbow he held, one which had a scope and bigger body than the commercial crossbows sold in the underground weapons market.

"Moving on, our other frontlines fighter is named Lucian though he goes by the name Godfrey which he uses as his designation code." Avery explained while pointing a finger at the man that stood to Santiago's left. His face was kept hidden by the same helmet they all wore though his helmet had holes to the side meant to accommodate his horns.

I remembered him, he was recruited in Victoria alongside a great majority of the personnel who weren't initially aligned with the Dublin faction of my subordinates. Godfrey was a Vouivre, his most easily observable racial trait being the brown horns which ended with the color white.

He'd initially been recruited as a simple mechanic meant to serve in the engineering and maintenance department of the ship though he had his own story, one that encouraged him to take up the lance which he had asked to be trained on.

The training lance he'd once used was gone, destroyed after months of ceaseless and rough training that he'd volunteered for so that he could join the elite division of the fieldwork team. He succeeded, earning him a position within squad A as well as a weapon that had been custom-made for him by his friends in the engineering department.

The weapon came in the form of a forged steel lance, its handle smaller than the overall width of the weapon which fit perfectly in the man's grip. On the back of the weapon were originium-powered thrusters, a little extra boost that he could turn on and off with a small button placed close to the handle.

"Lastly, we have Ayden, designation code, Lurker." Avery gestured to the last of the four subordinates that we were supposed to bring on the mission. The man he gestured to bowed his head theatrically, only stopping until almost half his body had been bent before raising it back up at attention.

This theatrical man was Ayden, a Phythian that I actually knew next to nothing about though I do remember glancing at him for short moments while he'd tell stories that would either catch his squadmates' attention or just outright annoy them.

He held no such stave, prompting me to believe that he most likely is a victim of Oripathy with high amounts of originium concentration traveling through his body already. Elysium had no qualms about recruiting the infected, we had more than enough funds to cater to their needs after all and we'd need all the manpower we can reasonably maintain if we wanted to take over Victoria one day.

"Very well then, you as the four chosen subordinates meant to accompany me and Avery are expected to remain in utmost quietness while out in the field." I explained after a few short seconds of silence, standing up before placing my communicator atop where I previously sat.

I tap on the screen a few times, prompting a map of the area around Lungmen within a three-kilometer radius to appear in front of all of us. I didn't know where yet but I should be getting news soon thanks to our access to the L.G.D.'s communications line.

"Remember, Elysium isn't supposed to be here so I'll be providing you with a uniform that'll hopefully be enough to mask our identities." I explained before adding in the additional details of the lack of information we had in terms of where the actual operation was meant to take place.

"Our objectives will be the success of L.G.D. and Rhodes Island with an excursion that we expect will happen soon." I continued after the image of Misha appeared on a small box virtual box placed over the city of Lungmen in the 3d hologram of the map. "Success, in this case at least, means only their survival and victory over the battle, not the accomplishment of their specific objective."

"I expect all of you to be ready within two hours and thirty minutes. Dismissed." I finished, gesturing for all of them to leave once more as I was left to my lonesome self inside the cold metallic walls of the hangar. I place a hand over my head and feel a headache form, clouding my brain for s short second before I decided to have a chat with Alina.

"You've been quiet the entire time, is there something wrong, Alina?" I inwardly mumbled to myself after sitting down on the table again before tucking my communicator away into my pocket.

[Hm? Oh, it's nothing. I've just been budgeting the magical energy that's been formed in your reserves.] Alina explained, prompting me to raise my hand as a familiar sword formed within my grip. It changes form immediately, turning into the scythe I used in the past while memories of what I'd seen in the soul-shard surface.

"About Cain... was he the fifth Draconic God you mentioned in the past?" I quietly asked, hoping that there was no one listening in to this conversation I was having since it'd most likely seem that I was talking to myself.

[Him? No, the fifth Draconic God was named Aurelius, and he died during the great war because of the behemoths of the sea, not the humans.] Alina answered, causing me to sigh over how little I knew of my past as Hyperion. It was mind-boggling, to say the least, though I guess it technically had nothing to do with me now. [He was indoctrinated decades after the integration of the northern frontier to the central territories, by then, his position as a "Draconic God" was nothing more than aristocratic appeasement.]

'I need a break...' I thought to myself while processing the information given to me by Alina before the door to the hangar suddenly opened to let another figure in. "Skadi...?"

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AN: Sorry about the late update, I've been busy for the past two weeks with chasing deadlines (I still currently am actually) to the point that I've yet to even finish the next chapter. Nothing to worry about though, I've finished 2/3 of the chapter already, it's just that I've been feeling a bit uninspired because of the deadlines and the feeling that no one reads this story anymore other than a select few.