Explaining

Kein lead Artemis and Alice inside the city. There he arranged for a meeting with the two, his motivations were already clear to Artemis who was already scheming on how he could manipulate Kein and the events that would soon transpire to his favor. The meeting was held inside the Lord's house which was a grand castle located at top of a huge cliff above Bulhin itself.

All of which represented the wealth that the city accumulated and the apparent rich to poor ratio that was very divisive. When Artemis and Alice were walking through the streets, since they refused to get in the carriage that Kein offered, Artemis noticed the drastic difference between the outer districts and the inner district.

Bulhin was a wealthy city but almost all that wealth was owned by the Lord, nobility and the merchants while the rest in the outer district was impoverished. The two were subject to a wide audience when they were walking through the city. The Queen's Guard was ordered to escort them as they walked past and were the main reason for the crowds that formed wherever they went.

Artemis then concluded that the Queen's Guard was highly respected in the city, or maybe in the entire kingdom and he should find a way on how to deal with them if the need ever came for it.

The meeting was about to begin. Artemis and Alice were escorted and directed to the dining room of the Lord's House. The dining room was luxurious in its appearance and design, red and purple linen strewed about over the ceiling, golden stuff placed around and about. Even the chandelier was made of gold that glittered along with the rest of the room.

"A complete and utter waste of money," Artemis told Alice who had so far been dazzled by the sparkles.

"Mister, why is this a waste of money?😐" Alice asked.

Oh, that's right. Judging by Alice's lack of any meaningful education and her peasant status, she does not know the importance of allocating money towards the benefit of the people rather than self-indulgence, Artemis thought. Seeing that the two were actually alone in the dining room, Artemis decided to explain his views.

"You see, Alice, I am neither a monarch nor a warlord. But, I am a leader of my own. You may not understand, but although this wealth in and on itself is outstanding, in the long-term it fails to bear any fruit," Artemis said.

"How is that, mister?" Alice asked.

"To begin with, you need to know of investment," Artemis said.

"Investment?" The curious Alice's eyes glowed and widened.

"Investing is to commit money to a certain project or any endeavor to generate wealth in the future, and it is darn more profitable than what these people are doing," Artemis went on.

Artemis was basing his knowledge with what Caitlyn thought him. The art of investing for a long-term benefit that was sure to bear more fruit lit up his mind. It was pure genius in his sense. He applied the teachings to his criticism of Bulhin.

"But, mister, how would that help? Isn't it just throwing away money?" Alice asked.

"Hm, well in a sense, it is like throwing away your money since investing can also be compared to gambling. You are, in a nutshell, gambling that your investment would eventually pay off in the future but most of the time, there is no guarantee until you see that the endeavor you invested in is showing much promise,"

Artemis did not know If Alice understood him. But, it did not matter, since just a few seconds after their conversation started, he detected that someone was outside, listening to their conversation.

It must be one of the Queen's Guard, or a maid, or that Kein, though I am not sure, maybe this will play out to my advantage? Artemis thought.

"Do you understand, Alice?" Artemis asked.

"No... (•___•) " Alice replied with a soft voice.

She's clearly overwhelmed, and it was more than likely that their eavesdropper was also too. Artemis took the opportunity and continued.

"Take, for example, this city. From my observations thus far, it is extremely wealthy and is a hub for trade but it overshadows the fact the one's making money here is leeching off from the poor. Of course, it's business but their business models seem to be going against competitiveness and promote rampant consumerism that is quite unhealthy for the rest of the people here but lucrative to those who control what is sold and what are on the stalls."

Alice, who at this point did not understand anything at all, just nodded.

Tsk, she does not understand but I hope I make my point clear to the eavesdropper, Artemis continued.

"This is beneficial and lucrative in the short-term but will inevitably cause problems in the long-run. Take for example, what if a rebellion was to tear this kingdom apart and the leaders of that rebellion promised the poor in this city, which I assume to be 80 to 90 percent of the population, to rise up and revolt against their greedy merchants and their corrupt government? What more once they promise to do better? The desperate masses will gather under their banner, and go against them."

Artemis continued.

"These people also fail to take into account that these people can also just emigrate to somewhere else, force them to stay, they may just become slaves rather than consumers of what they sell. But, If they were to actually invest in their upbringing, like for example, pouring money to the development of the outer districts, better facilities, more jobs, higher pay and just the right percentage of taxes, these impoverished peasants would rise to those of the middle class. That means, more money from taxes since there are more people with actual money to pay for their taxes. It all comes towards development, sadly, this is not the case,"

Artemis then stopped his lecture, though he said much and though he knows he had a point, what he said is purely based on his current knowledge provided by Caitlyn and not because of his own understanding of the matter. He had plans to actually incorporate this strategy of investing to the people once the Machine Empire eventually settled as a state, it was still a long way to go.

His true intentions, however, seemed to have paid off. The moment he finished, the figure outside of the dining room fell to the floor, only for it to stand up and walk away. It seemed like the person has had enough of Artemis' explanation. Will this bear good or rotten fruit, Artemis would soon find out.

Then, he heard snoring to his left.

Alice had fallen asleep.

Little brat.

Artemis thought.

Artemis did not need to sleep, he was also distrustful of the people in the castle. He must not let his guard down. Just to be sure, he scanned Alice for any poisoning or abnormal magical concentrations within her body. She was fine.

Artemis then concluded that Alice found his topic boring.

He took the time to take another good look at the little girl. She was still covered in scars and bruises but she was on her way to recovering. Artemis then noticed that her hair was losing its color, changing to that of snow pink. Her skin and other parts of her body were fine, she was not aging at a rapid pace, rather, her hair was just changing on its own.

Kein offered them a change of clothes, Artemis declined and revealed his raven black body armor, the cracks that glowed red and his eyes that had irises that seemed to move. In actuality, what he showed them was his outer naked body. Now, Artemis was actually sitting naked but since he was not a biological human in his entirety, they saw nothing disgraceful.

Artemis was still mostly a machine, an android with a human heart. He knew no shame unless he needed to act that he had, he did not fear other humans but fears those he know would pose a direct threat to him or his mission. His outlook on this magical world was as atleast medium as ever. Having squashed the Senadate Theocracy with its remaining territories up for grabs and his army marching in full force, he seemed unstoppable.

But magic was still a nuisance, nuisance that he needed to take care of and Alice was the tool he was going to use to achieve that. Artemis overhead Kein, even read his lips to confirm what his ears received. Alice had an immense magical talent and the sudden glow of her eyes that outshined the sun that was above them was already solid evidence.

He needed to learn more about magic in this journey of his, and it was without a doupt that he would be stuck with this little girl for many weeks, months, or even years to come. Well, as long as she survives and Artemis prevents any harm from taking her away.

"Meh, I'm sure everything will work in my favor." The words escaped his mouth just as the door at the opposite end of the table slammed open and Artemis stood up in an instant.

"Huzzah! Visitors!"

AN IDIOT! Artemis thought as he saw the man that slammed the door open.

"It is I! the lord of this wealthy and beautiful city of Bulhin! It is a pleasure to meet the angels of the GODS AND GODDESSES! O BLESS YE THE HEAVENS"

"What in the actual fuck??? ಠ_ಠ " Artemis saw a childish and immature aura leak from him as if the atmosphere that surrounded him that was once peaceful and shrouded by mystery and the threat of assassination was overtaken by this man's apparent lack of a decent IQ.

And, what was up with him calling them angels sent by heaven?

"Pardon me, the lord was very excited to meet you and the little girl." Kein stepped inside and walked by the side of the lord. The two then sat down on the opposite end of the long table with Artemis and the lord directly facing each other while Kein and Alice were seated by their respective sides.

After they seated, an entourage of maids and some women of the Queen's Guard entered. The maids all brought dishes, glasses, and tableware. The plates were definitely made of silver and laced with gold, Artemis was disgusted at the lack of prudence displayed. It was clear as day that the Lord was boasting the wealth that he and his friends have accumulated.

The maids were horrifying as they were efficient in their skills of setting up the table and presenting the plates, glasses and the food before marching out in unison, proper posture and formation.

"A well-trained and disciplined staff, I applaud you," Artemis began the conversation with praise.

"Huzzah! I am very glad you liked it. The maids were specifically trained by a captain of the knighthood and oh boy did he do well! -" For a full ten minutes straight, Artemis and Alice were forced to sit through the Lord's boasting.

And they were not even sure if he was actually the Lord of this city!

Kein cleared his throat.

"I beg your pardon, guests, allow me to formally introduce the man that has been gleefully speaking to you," Kein said as he stood up.

He is more of an annoyance that a gleeful person, Artemis was silent in his distaste.

"I present to you, Lord Harry the Handsome Of Bulhin" Kein continued.

"That's me!" Harry stood and placed his right leg on top of the table, pointed his thumb on his chest, and gave the two his heavenly smile. His hands were full of rings that shined and had different colors, his teeth were also golden and not a single natural one could be found.

It was going to be the start of a long and tiresome meeting between the humans who thought that were speaking to an Angel, and the Angel who is actually their enemies that will soon engulf their kingdom.

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At the same time after Galianna's death, in an unknown location, or dimension. The atmosphere of the place was extremely dense in temperature at an unimaginable level. Above the sky was nothing but red and an endless void sky was above, there is no space above but just an endless red sky. Thunderstorms erupted in the sky, no scientific explanation on how a thunderstorm existed without clouds and the temperature is still unbearably hot.

A Ginormous palace took place, surrounded by a large mountain range, hot lavas and the roars of the creatures below. 

Somewhere inside the palace was a throne room. A massive chair in the center was a large throne, in fact, no one sat on it for more than 2000 years and on the walls of the throne room were over 10,000 stones, more than 27 of these stones glowed red.

The stones represent the lives of the remaining 27 higher ranking Demons.

Now there are only 26 stones left because the other stone lost its light, like a candle's fire was taken out. It indicated that the life of one of those Strong Demons had been lost or died.

"Looks like Galianna died,"

The other Demon nodded when they heard the Demon member on the other side of the table speak.

And that Demon is a Demon Lord known as Lord Mammon, the Demon Lord of Greed, and the leader of the Green Clan.

He and the other Demon Lords with him sat on their throne in the war room with hundreds of chairs, they were the last remaining Demon Lords who invaded the world 2000 years ago before the Second Great War and their beloved Dark Lord died by a single mortal who got summoned from another world.

However, Galianna did something stupid which made most of the Demons present angry.

"I can't believe it. Why can't she knew that she's facing the leader of these metal demons,"

One of the Demons pinch above his nose irritated, he appears to be a pigman except it lost half of its face, making his skull visible. He wore heavily red armor and had a powerful and terrifying aura emitted from the surroundings.

It was Beelzebub, an SSS-rank Demon, also known as one of the 7 great Demon Lords. He is also the leader of the Gluttony Clan.

Unlike any high ranking Demons, the 7 great Demon Lords, or the Lords of the Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Seven Emperors of Hell, Princes/Princess of Hell, or Seven Kings of Hell, are the highest authority in Dark Realm.

They were the highest rank among them, they are a group of Demon Gods that single one of them at the level of SSS-rank and each of them has enough power to destroy worlds, and each of them ruled each 7 rings of the Dark Realm.

While very powerful and are enough to destroy Fordalt without any efforts, the reason they couldn't escape to other dimensions except for their minions and subordinates because a being with unimaginable power imprison them in their own dimension for thousands of years, with their power not enough to escape.

Leaving with no choice, they will rely on the lesser demons.

Back to the story, the Demons, mostly Mammon, knew Galianna was one of the best generals in his Clan, but with lack of speed and strength, she still has Undead summons that are powerful enough to destroy countries. However, her only downgrade was that she was the most naive.

"What about the girl? Even if she didn't capture that metal demon, she should've escaped when she already took her as her hostage!"

One of the Demons yelled irritated as the Demon Lords. He appears to be a floating flame with one eye, around him were floating flaming swords that could burn anything it touches. If that demon was in the mortal realm, then it could scorch an entire forest in just a very small amount of time.

Scorch, one of the most powerful Demon Generals beside Galianna, S-rank, while not one of the 7 Demon Lords but it is known as the 12th strongest Generals on its rank. He is a very powerful non-humanoid demon for its tens of flaming swords that are as strong as most of  the powerful ancient weapons from the past.

"Expected of the Demon belong to the Greed clan she is, hehe,"

Says one of the 7 Demon Lords known as Lucifer, the Demon Lord of Pride from the Clan of Pride.

"Indeed it is, Lucifer. She is always naive as ever, look what happens now, how unfortunate, we lost another great Marquess Demon, ah, every demon we've lost, it always reminds me of the death of the Demon Lord of Envy. Hah, my love I miss you,"

Said another demon with a stunning look. She is known as Adrienne, a true Succubus of the Lust Clan, and one of the 7 Demon lords. A powerful demon that has a passive ability to attract and seduce thousands of men with just a simple glance. She's a succubus, a true and the queen of her race.

What Galianna did was absolutely stupid. Of course, Mammon ordered her to capture one of the metal demons, but they knew there are Nine chosen ones with magic that nears the power of an Apotheosis level Demigod are out there and are more valuable than a single metal demon. And the little girl...

is one of them.

"What are we going to do, that metal demon will surely make her as his own weapon against not just these humans but also us! We still don't know what the other chosen locations are!"

Said one of the 7 other Demon Lords, known as Santhanna, the Demon Lord of Wrath and the leader of the Clan of Wrath. Very powerful demon that is infamous for his level of anger that surpasses every living being in the world when the demon becomes angry.

"Silence,"

As the voice echoed, the war room became silent. Unlike them, the demon's demonic energy surpassed all of them combined, many of the Demon Lords sweated in fear because of his intent. Even if they fight him head on, he would still easily beat all of them with no effort.

The Demonic General, somewhere at SSS-rank and was known to be General Davoth, he was the most strongest Generals among the whole demons of the Dark realm besides the Dark Lord, he was considered as the second most strongest, the Dark Lord's right hand man, also the Dark Realm's Overseer. But after the Dark Lord's death, Davoth had no choice but to lead the Dark realm and was now into the first place of being the strongest of them all. 

[IMAGES]

He was lost in thought when the other demon lords were still arguing. Annoyed by their complaints about each other, he began to speak.

"We should send the Hanzo squads to the city of Bulhin, most of the Queen's guards are just between B to C-rank weaklings. Our Hanzos could single handedly against them,"

"What about the metal demon that guards the girl?"

"If he is that weak or our Hanzos could take him on, we'll leave him dead and take the girl. But if he is that very strong, then we'll observe what he is made of, not to mention he easily defeated Galianna without having any magic. Then next we should change our plans in the future, while our Hell Priest are still currently reviving the Dark Lord that's been long for the past 2000 years,"

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A/n: Does that even make you more interest? And hows that twist!