18 Intermission 3: The Prince and the Devil

"My Liege, some news just came in. It seems Jack Evergreen found a demon skill user and managed to recruit her to the Academy," said my retainer as he took a knee.

"Can we get to her first?" I asked.

"The fourth princess is, most likely, already in contact with the demon."

Tch. That was a shame. One of my spies could find out more on this new skill user. If they look troublesome, we could have to get rid of them. I couldn't have anything interfere with my plans now that they were so far along.

"Send out the Green Scout corps. Have them watch the demon and evaluate her threat level. Make sure they report back as soon as possible."

"Your will be done, my Liege."

With that, my retainer left the room.

"I don't like the sounds of this," said Phanedor, my advisor. "I've heard a report saying that Jack Evergreen's home was destroyed by this demon's skill. I recommend we contact The Oni and have him on standby just in case. You know how particular he is with us contacting him ahead of time."

"Yes, you're right. I'll have Watterson write a letter. We should be sure to include the appropriate… Payment, too."

I, personally, thought having The Oni take this case could be a bit of an overreaction, but Phanedor hadn't steered me wrong. His skill [Path Correction] usually sent us in the right direction. If this demon could destroy a mansion sized home, she could cause unnatural destruction as a champion for my sister's party. I couldn't afford to let things fall apart when we were so close to the finale. First and Second brother wouldn't be back for another two months. This window of opportunity wouldn't come again for years if we failed here.

"While we're at it, perhaps we should contact Emerlia and try to sway her again. I understand her desire to remain neutral in this whole affair, but perhaps we should remind her of the old adage that goes: 'if you aren't with us you're against us,'" said Phanedor as he popped the cork to a vintage. I could only nod in agreement.

I had no qualms with Emerlia personally, but she did tend to meddle in affairs if left alone. The last thing I wanted was her to stumble in on this coup.

"Have our scouts come back from The Forgotten Lands, Phanedor?" I asked.

"Patience, Thomas, Patience. They've sent a messenger bird saying they've encountered far greater treasures than initially anticipated. They need time to bring them all out. It will take a few days at least."

This news conflicted me. I should be happy that they found more bounty than we anticipated, but I was also concerned that information could begin to leak. Anytime an operation took too long, someone would get suspicious.

"Send a bird back telling them they have two days at most to get back here. Even if they have to leave some of the treasures behind."

"This is probably wise. I'll make the arrangements," replied Phanedor as he poured my wine glass. With a bow, he left the room, leaving me with only my thoughts.

-

It had been about a month since my scouts began monitoring the demon. She seemed close to Lily. This could only mean the demon joined Lily's camp. The spies claimed that Remus decided to act on his own in an attempt to assassinate my sister, but his attempt was foiled by said demon. The report, surely hyperbole, claimed the monster brought down 40 Devil Hounds in an instant.

I had an assassin sent to silence Remus's tongue, but there was no telling what my sister pried from his lips in the interim. The demon seemed powerful enough to warrant the use of The Oni if even part of these reports proved true. Phanedor was right again.

Emerlia had, unexpectedly, decided to cooperate with us. I feared a knife in the back but Phanedor thought otherwise. He thought she joined us in case we won this power struggle. She knew Lily wouldn't kill her if my plans failed, but she also knew me well enough to understand that I wouldn't hesitate to have her beheaded when I won. Perhaps she was playing both sides in order to guarantee her own life? If I ever heard word of such a thing, The Oni would be after her next. For now, though, The Oni would claim the demon Calliope's life. I asked him to take care of things tonight. Now we just needed to wait for the good news.

-

The Oni failed. The world's greatest assassin, the level 50 skill holder called 'The Oni', failed. He was tied up and left on a guardhouse step. Phanedor was in hysterics. His skill [Path Correction] was saying we needed to befriend the demon at all costs. I was beginning to wonder if the story of her killing 40 Devil Hounds was a fabrication or not.

The Oni, with tattered garb and a dead expression, was dragged into my office.

"You failed. Tell me how?" I asked.

"I stabbed her through the neck. I used my skill [Stealth Crit] and I used the Heavy Critical Dagger. My blade went into her. That dagger enchant does 500 instant damage on a critical strike, you know," said The Oni in a soft tone. "I thought her dead so I turned around to leave. Then she sat up. She pulled my dagger free from her throat and spoke to me while the wound stitched itself closed. The next thing I knew, I was tied up at the guard station. I still remember the words she said to me, though. Do you want to hear them?"

I was a bit thrown off by his narrative. Both Phanedor and I knew of his skill that guaranteed a critical strike when used on an unaware target. We both also knew his dagger enchantment well. Even the highest level warrior in the entire kingdom, the Knight Captain, would be dead after a critical blow from it. This demon… This Calliope couldn't reasonably be this strong. The only demons with this much power were the royalty line, but there had been no contact from the Northern Continent. If a member of their Royalty Line were wandering our lands, all the kingdoms would have been notified.

"What did she say to you, Oni?" Asked Phanedor.

"She said that my strike didn't drop her health by a tenth. A TENTH. Do you hear me? That means she has at least 5000 health. Not even the highest rank beast on record, the Chaos Dragon, a rank 7 beast, has 5000 health! Little Prince, you're not picking a fight with a demon. You're picking a fight with a God."

"Our plans will have to change. We need to try to negotiate with this demon. If we can't do that, then that means we'll have to use Tartarus," said Phanedor. He seemed to regain his composure.

"Tartarus is our -no- Tartarus is all of Gransus's trump card. Are you certain this is the right course? She could have been lying about her health," I said.

There was a long pause as I met my advisory's eyes.

"I've never been this certain of anything in my entire life," he said.