45 - Mammon

[ I want to know the reason why Queen Lavayn is so desperate to fight Edgehollow. She seemed to be the non-violent type when we first met her. ] Blair instructed Mammon.

[ Yes, Master. I'm currently watching them right now as they speak. ] He replied, watching the Elves through the eyes of one of their Ministers.

Minister Honas Alino seemed to be one of the few Elves who are actively against the idea of fighting Edgehollow. Seeing this, Mammon took the advantage and possessed his body in order to participate in the meetings of Queen Lavayn.

He left his body sleeping in one of the inns in the human village residing just below the Elves' floating island. This spell has a time limit of only six hours, so he needs to gather as much information as he can.

"You look sickly, Minister Honas." One of the other Ministers sitting beside him spoke.

"I am only filled with concern for our people over this upcoming war." Mammon sighed, trying to act as concerned as he could.

"You worry too much, as you always do. Do you not understand that this is the perfect time to completely eradicate all of the Dark Elves who live in Edgehollow?" The other Minister scoffed and Mammon's interest peaked.

"Is that why Queen Lavayn wants this war? I thought she wanted peace between our people and other races?" He shook his head in disappointment. Most of the Ministers who are listening to their conversation chuckled as if he's spouting gibberish.

"Have you forgotten the fact that Dark Elves are the mistakes of our race? They're not even supposed to exist, and yet they do because they betrayed their own people and gave in to the darkness." One of the eldest female Ministers frowned, sounding like she still has a deep grudge over it.

"Queen Lavayn is not a martyr, Minister Honas. Even if she's the most progressive and merciful ruler that we've ever had, she will never forgive those who have disgraced the Elven race. She seeks to erase the shame and the dishonor that these Dark Elves have brought upon us." The Minister sitting across his seat declared.

As if on cue, Queen Lavayn entered the room with four maids following behind her. All of the Ministers stood up to greet her and simultaneously sat as soon as she took a seat on her throne. She looked serious, with her original gentle demeanor gone. Mammon assumed that this is the real Queen Lavayn when no foreigners are present.

"Good day, my wise people. We are here to finalize our battleplan against the dark kingdom of Edgehollow." She announced and Mammon took his time to listen to all of them first.

Just like the Minister said earlier, Mammon confirmed to himself through the following conversations that the Elves are only using this war as an excuse to eliminate all of the Dark Elves. They seem to treat the others as traitors, imminent threats and the embodiment of the Elves' greatest flaw.

"You have been real silent, Minister Honas. Usually, you'd be the first to voice out your thoughts." Queen Lavayn spoke, turning all of the attention towards him.

"I wanted to hear all of yours first, Your Majesty. But I still stand by my belief that this war will do no good to our people." Mammon spoke politely.

"I don't understand how and why you won't side with us, Minister Honas. Even if we get defeated by Edgehollow, our only task is to find all of the Dark Elves and erase their existence." Queen Lavayn glared at him in disappointment.

"I thought you promote peace and unity, my Queen? Isn't this the opposite of what you preach?" Mammon's voice went lower.

"It's different with the Dark Elves and you know that. I don't care even if I shake hands and make peace with a dirty blood-sucking Vampire, but I will never accept a Dark Elf in the same room as me. Their existence brings nothing but indignity and filth to our pure race." The Queen's voice is filled with venom and her beautiful face is contorted with disgust and anger.

Mammon was interested at how deep her resentment goes to the point where she throws away her own beliefs of tranquility and harmony for the sake of committing mass murder against the people she despise.

The meeting concluded with Mammon unsuccessful in trying to convince the Queen. If only he had the power to control other people's minds like his Master, he could've done something of significance.

He thought about possessing the Queen's body before, but the incredible amount of Holy magic that she possess in her body is enough to protect herself from high-ranking Demons such as him. Unless he finds a way to weaken her magic to a crucial degree or find a spell strong enough for him to be able to control her mind long enough to change the tides, he has no choice but to go along with their plan.

He went straight to a vacant room and immediately left the old Elf's body, returning to his original body back in the inn.

He opened his eyes and the familiar wooden ceiling of his room greeted him. He stretched out his body before contacting Blair and reporting the things that had happened in the duration of the meeting with Queen Lavayn.

[ I see. This is certainly an interesting situation. We shouldn't have expected too much from Queen Lavayn and her words. Inform the twins of this issue. I expect them to be fighting against their own people soon. When that happens, don't interrupt them. Just leave Queen Lavayn alive, even if barely. ] Blair commented after hearing all of what Mammon has to say.

[ Understood. ] Mammon nodded to himself.

To the surprise of no one, the twins were more than angry to hear what the Queen of Elves has to say about their kind. They then promised to protect their people at all cost.

Mammon found out that there are currently more than 30,000 Dark Elves living in Edgehollow and most of them are at least as strong as the twins. The two of them were chosen to work for Nosferatu as representatives of their race due to their unbeatable combined power.

[ Please. Leave the Elves to us. We will show them that we are not mistakes nor an embarrassment to our kind. ] Mahel growled.

[ We will prove to them that they are the weak ones, not us. ] Malah commented.

[ Good. The Master expects you to handle it. ] Mammon concurred.