Chapter 17 – A Compromise

"""*Sigh*""" The Nameless Circle's trio let out a sigh as they sat around a long table. Alistair was seated to the far end of the table. Shirayukihime and Inaba sat on the left and right side of Akatsuki who was on the opposite end of Alistair. Theia was seated in the center of the table and treated like the prize. Well technically she is a prize.

"Akatsuki-san how do you feel?" "Ahn? Great." From head to toe he was wrapped around in bandages as he took up a whole couch to himself.

Because of his wounds they had the chair replaced with a couch. His right arm was especially bulky...

"You look beat up to hell and you can say that?" "Doesn't matter, wounds will heal from what I've heard." From using the Shattering Earth a second time Akatsuki's right arm is completely disabled. He couldn't feel any sort of pain from it. The nerves had been torn to shrews so he couldn't even move it.

"So in the end who exactly won?" The reason they had all been gathered here is because they did not know. A powerful flash of light was emitted from the clairvoyance sphere. At the end of the flash both sides have fallen. "Can't we just check the Contract for the winner?" "About that..." Not even the Contract knew. The Judge Masters of War Games who resided in the Celestial Heavens, they who deem the winners of games did not give an answer.

"From what it would look like it seems to be a tie." "Maybe." Akatsuki gives off an "I don't care" attitude as if this whole matter has been settled beforehand.

"The winner of this game is..." Alistair begins to speak with a tired voice.

"Nameless." """Eh?""" Inaba, Theia, and Shirayukihime were confused as Alistair gives the win to Nameless.

"Then we'll be taking the two rewards of victory off your hands." "There is not a clear winner but..." Reluctant to speak Akatsuki took over for Alistair.

"I said that we won't win but I didn't say that we'd lose either. So long as we get a tie or something similar his noble highborn ass won't be able to settle down. A tie for us equals a win for us as well even if the winner isn't too clear. After all..." What if rumors spread that the match ended in a tie because the Demon Lord is a sore loser?

That would be even worse of a humiliation for Alistair than losing to a human. He had no choice in the matter to keep his pride. In this situation he had to give the win to Nameless if he wanted to save his image as a powerful Demon Lord.

"Akatsuki-san did you plan this the whole time?" "Exactly." Though he wasn't too confident about his plan as it requires fighting Alistair to a tie Akatsuki nevertheless went with it as a gamble. He had barely managed to pull out a win in the end at the cost of his right arm.

"Then..." Theia's eyes glittered as she got off her seat. Her joy was short lived as the next piece of news came up.

""A compromise must be reached."" Both Akatsuki and Alistair agreed at the same time. Regardless Akatsuki wanted both the rewards of the money and Lumen's Lamp. So the only choice left is to...

"Theia as your new master I order you to think of a way to appease that damnable brother of yours." "Why!?" She never remembered signing the Contract of becoming a slave to Akatsuki's playful whims.

Why was it that she is being forced to deal with this unreasonable situation? "It can't be helped. So what do you want as a compromise for giving us the win?" "Hmm..." As if it was a difficult decision Alistair furrows his brows and folds his arms. What would be a good compromise in this situation?

"If you want I got a suggestion here for you." "And that is?" Akatsuki took out his cell phone and snapped a picture of Theia and slid the phone across the table which stops perfectly in front of Alistair.

"Wha?" He turns speechless as he stared at the LED screen of the phone. A high quality resolution picture of Theia is shown on the screen in vibrant colors. What was this godly device that he has never seen before? To have the ability to capture a still memory at the press of a single button it had to have been a high graded one time use Magic Armament!

"What is this tool?" "It's something originally from my world. We call it a smartphone. The camera lens on it can snap an image at 1080p and record videos at a 60 frame rate." "What do you intend to do with this?" "It shouldn't be that hard to make or summon an inanimate object like this right?" "It can't be helped. So what do you want as a compromise for giving us the win?" "Hmm..." As if it was a difficult decision Alistair furrows his brows and folds his arms. What would be a good compromise in this situation?

"If you want I got a suggestion here for you." "And that is?" Akatsuki took out his cell phone and snapped a picture of Theia and slid the phone across the table which stops perfectly in front of Alistair.

"Wha?" He turns speechless as he stared at the LED screen of the phone. A high quality resolution picture of Theia is shown on the screen in vibrant colors. What was this godly device that he has never seen before? To have the ability to capture a still memory at the press of a single button it had to have been a high graded one time use Magic Armament!

"What is this tool?" "It's something originally from my world. We call it a smartphone. The camera lens on it can snap an image at 1080p and record videos at a 60 frame rate." "What do you intend to do with this?" "It shouldn't be that hard to make or summon an inanimate object like this right?" Realizing what this could mean for his collection Alistair widens his eyes. This human boy before him is an abnormality from another world. The other world. A place where devices such as this is an everyday occurrence. How great must it have been to live in such a highly advanced civilization of technology!

"I send you my number when you get one of your own. After that I'll send you a picture of Theia on a daily basis. If you have some request on preferences that will cost extra." "What are you doing without my consent to this!?" Theia protests to her image being used as a bargaining chip but she is immediately held back by the maid squad once Alistair raised his hand.

"Slave shut your trap I'm the owner here!" "I'll kill you for sure one of these days!" She was silenced as a hand covered over her mouth.

"Interest compromise you came up with. Very well I'll take it." "Alright we have a deal." This is the first time that they saw eye to eye acknowledging the other. And with that the Lord of the Vampires War Game came to an official close with the Nameless Circle as the victors.