Ch 50: The Demon Lord's Daughter

As Baldeur landed out of the portal he sent his senses out. He found himself in a long hallway with a number of doors.

"Caw." From behind him a raven immediately called.

"I figured as much." Baldeur said.

The bird cocked its head before leading him down the hall.

Eventually it stopped in front of a door that was separate from the other doors in the hall.

"Am I supposed to go in?" Baldeur asked the bird. It gave a brief nod.

The room was finely decorated with a number of Mana powered lanterns lighting it up. On one of the couches at the back of the room was the person he had been expecting.

"Give me one moment. I'm finishing up helping your friends." Veneris said.

Baldeur took the time to look around. This room contained a number of landscape paintings that reminded him of Tartarus. Off the room was a bedroom and a bath. Numerous fine rugs and tapestries covered the cave walls and floor.

There were also a number of implements that were used for more intimate moments. Though they looked unused.

"Ah, that should do it. As long as they follow my birds they'll meet back up before facing my brothers." Veneris said.

"So should I be grateful for helping us out of the trap or upset you helped set it up?" Baldeur asked.

"We're playing with fire at the moment. It's difficult not to be completely unburned." She replied.

Baldeur sat on a couch opposite her with his arm across the back in a relaxed position.

"What now?" Baldeur asked.

"We have a few minutes before your allies reach my brothers. Attacking my father before then would only draw them to his defense." She replied.

"Let me get this straight, a team of eight are going to attack your two brothers so that I can fight your father, a demon lord, by myself? Forgive me but that is a ridiculous plan." He said.

"Well it isn't exactly my plan as much as it is the fulfillment of prophecy." Veneris said.

Baldeur scowled at her. Since she was a Saintess of a religion of this world, she would have access to their holy books.

"Could I hear this supposed prophecy?" Baldeur asked.

'Nine shall arrive, separated eight shall be led by raven's flight to meet the sons left for protection. The last shall meet the daughter before facing the fallen lord and bring an end to his existence. You will know him by the powers he will show, Mana and Anodular. From beyond the gate closed long ago shall he come.' She paused for a moment before commenting.

"That is the verse that most have access to, but, the royal family, High Priests, and Saintess' have access to a few more bits of information about you. Mostly that you will also have the abilities of royal blood. In other words Divinus."

"The royal family can use Divinus?" He asked.

"At this point only one of them can. But in the past it was more common." She said.

"Is there any more of this prophecy that I should know?" He asked.

"There is a bit about what happens after you kill my father but don't bother asking because I don't want to ruin her fun." She gave him a seductive smirk.

"Besides as with all prophecies, knowing too much beforehand can cause more harm than good. So let's move onto other matters, your friends are almost gathered back together."

"Where is your father's army? This place seems empty for a demon lord." Baldeur asked.

"I was able to convince them that we needed to handle the beast tide and drive it towards the kingdoms in the west. Then launch some attacks, possibly take a city or two." She said.

"That's going to cause a lot of death and destruction." He replied.

"Not really. The crown prince is leading an army through the mountains clearing the beast tide. My other brothers should have run into him a few days ago. Most of them are hopefully dead."

"You don't seem to like your family all that much."

"Family is such a loose term to describe us. My father has many children. The boys are raised to be his high priests and generals and the girls… Well all my sisters have been given to the dokunpal. For some reason I was given a place of honor and kept around."

"Well if your father is experiencing Source degradation to the degree I think he is, then having a daughter that has an affinity for Lust to the degree you do is his only hope for survival. Well, that was before the City reconnected to this world."

She frowned at his words. "Care to explain?"

"It's all part of a forbidden ritual to increase, or in this case heal, his power. The curse on you is to keep you a virgin, but based on your power he spent a great deal of resources and effort to make you a master of your sin.

"Celestial alignment and rotations of heavenly bodies change from world to world but I would guess around your 33rd birthday he plans to.. Um, take your forbidden fruit. Doing so in the right circumstance will rob you of your power and your life. But he would experience an increase in power."

"Honestly, that's not surprising to hear. All of us are just pawns for his glory after all." She picked up a glass of wine and gulped it down.

"The curse won't go away once he dies. Your own power is what is sustaining it." Baldeur said.

"Oh and I suppose you have a way of breaking it? Maybe in return for my eternal… Services." She looked towards his crotch as she spoke and didn't hide the fact that she might enjoy that.

"If we actually survive all this, then I'll consider it as repayment for your gracious help." He said.

She laughed at the bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"If only I had been born in the right world. Maybe… Lifting the curse would have to wait until after I gain citizenship in the City of Gates. Unfortunately it provides a level of protection I will need, even after my father dies."

"Is Sansone not the ally you'd hoped for?"

"Ha, that pervert is only truly loyal to his dick. If I had other choices of allies I would have taken them."

"And you think he'll let you leave this world?"

"He needs to. My father's cult occupies many important positions in his church. Once my father and brothers are dead, those people will follow me. Our deal is for me to turn over control once I make it to the City of Gates." She replied.

Baldeur nodded in agreement. He felt sorry for her. She was stuck in a world that didn't feed her Source, the training she must have undergone to obtain her power as a virgin would not have been very pleasant, and her only hope for allies would turn on her the moment they could.

"It's time. Your friends have entered the throne room and are engaging my brothers. Yuriy will pretend to be my father and has been given access to a number of prepared spells to fight. But according to the prophecy your friends will come out victorious and alive. Severely wounded but alive." She said.

Baldeur was still very reluctant to go and fight a master of nine sins in a one on one duel but he kept thinking about what he felt back in that cathedral. Divinus had a method of viewing the far future. It was a difficult spell to pull off and wasn't perfect, but enough was adding up for him to take the risk.

Well, if the plan he had been formulating worked, it might not be that big of a risk. He was also confident in his ability to escape if he had to.