Hans stood in front of his young miss's door, waiting for Sawyer and his men to compose themselves. He had decided to end the battle early for them once the men began to volunteer their lives. Since they were now willing to face his young miss, there was no need to stand and watch, as more deaths would only lower her options when choosing.
There were a total of 30 knights gathered to offer their lives in exchange for Baku. All veterans, all loyal, such a tight knit group truly was inspiring to the old butler. His old army, back when he was a demon lord, would not have been able to gathered this many men to die without a worry.
'It's just as the young miss said…'
Hannya had anticipated, no, foreseen this fateful night. Baku's declining health, and the dream knights seeing true despair in their fight against the endless beasts. He was awed. Such a supreme mutation having such accuracy was truly a powerful ability.
She had told him to go witness this fool Sawyer's display of useless sacrifice. Fighting the dream beasts with his ability sealed and Baku bedridden. She was right, he was an idiot. Sneaking around and acting on his own, just as she predicted.
Does honor matter when the lives of his villagers were at stake? Of course not, at the very least, trying to negotiate with the young miss once more would have been a better option in the very beginning.
Yet he did no such thing, he wanted to try his hand at handling everything himself.
He turned to the vice commander, who was standing there with his men, dazed. "Kneel for the young miss and show your submission." He stated. No way would he allow them to stand with their heads held high in front of her. Their willingness to sacrifice themselves was admirable, but they dare to only choose this option when their backs were against the wall, making the young lady wait for days.
"Y-yes, War Demon…" Sawyer answered as he and his men bent down to the ground.
Hans snorted at that. "I am simply head butler Hans, do not refer to me with any other names. You disrespect the hierarchy with such titles."
"Hierarchy…" Sawyer muttered. After witnessing the devastating power of Hans, Sawyer and his men knew who this person truly was. Only one demon in Hellnia was known to have this kind of power, a power on par with the devils, on par with their commander.
1st Gula's head butler and royal protector, the high demon, war demon Hans.
All the dream knights kneeling in the hallway had heard of his tales. A demon even the older veterans looked up to and aspired to be like. A demon the devil nobility secretly feared, masking their anxiety with backhanded compliments, giving him the title Stillborn Devil.
Such an ancient and formidable figure was guarding the young lady, meaning only one thing.
The little one was an elite, and favored by the Feast Faction.
'A four star, at the very least.' Sawyer thought. He would even bet she had five. With the war demon tending to her, such a bet was not out of the question.
"Now, I will go speak to the young miss, to keep a supreme existence such as her waiting would have surely angered her." he shook his head, all this nonsense for nothing.
Hans walked up to the door, raising his hand to knock. He had to make sure the young miss was decent before having an audience.
But to his surprise, before he could knock, the door swung open.
'As expected…' He thought. Of course she was aware of his arrival.
Before the butler stood the young lady, smirking at him, as if all was inevitable. His heart shook slightly at such a look. The mind of someone nearly all-knowing was a bit intimidating, even for him.
"Butler, bringing gifts to this young miss? A capable butler indeed. But did you think keeping me waiting wouldn't have consequences?" She said with mockery.
The dream knights shook at the words. It was obvious, those words were clearly meant for them. They had waited until the times were dire to seek her aid, and she did not appreciate it.
During the meetings in the war room, they had all unanimously agreed to avoid this option, but now here they were, well past their wits end and begging for assistance.
Would she increase the sacrifices? Ask for more treasures?
Sawyer could only clench his fists in frustration. But he had no other options left, he had to commit fully. The time the war demon had gained for them will only last so long, the beasts will regroup soon and pour out once more.
Hannya stepped forward, her face showing no surprise at the miserable forms of the knights.
"Oh?" She stated, seemingly amused, pretending to be oblivious to the plight of Sawyer and his men, the knights assumed. "What brings you here, Sawyer?"
Sawyer, having resolved himself to die here with a few of his brothers, took a deep breath. He then said firmly. "We will accept your offer to heal Baku and hand over the treasures you wish."
He paused, gathering his courage once more. "...and… we knights here, offer ourselves as sacrifice."
The words brought a knot to his heart, but he said them. He would die for his village, his wife, his commander. This was the choice they made as a collective.
The knights in the back did not waver in the slightest at the words, they were ready, ready to pay the price for Fort Reverie.
Hannya, hearing Sawyer's words and seeing the determined expressions of the dream nights, was bewildered.
She stared at them strangely. Where was Baku? Could they make a decision like this on their own? Wouldn't he be pissed about this? If she took anymore lives from his group without his knowledge, and with no good reason, she'd never get her training from him. She was quite clear of his disposition.
Or…
'Could it be he's too ashamed to face me after making this decision? Too meek to go through it himself?'
Her lips curled in disdain, if that was the case, being his disciple was a mistake. This kind of weasel behavior would disappoint her. She liked the Baku from the novel, strong and unyielding, not some cowardly hack.
If he was different deep down from the novel's description, like she guessed Gula to be, her plans might have to change again.
She glanced at Hans, but he just stood there, seemingly more stern than usual. Well, she could always train with this guy if that were the case.
'I need more information here.'
She waved her hand and scoffed.
"I offered that deal to Baku, not you lot." She said, secretly peeking at Sawyer's reaction as she did, trying to suss out the truth for his abrupt arrival. "If he wishes for a deal, he will say it with his own mouth. You may not speak for him."
The hall was silent for a while before realization struck the kneeling group. Soft gasps escaped a few lips. C-could it be?
Hans, standing to the side, smiled slightly but didn't say anything.
'So, it was indeed a devils game…'
It seems his young miss did indeed favor the old devil. He was getting a better picture of her scheme. He was curious about the need for sacrifices, outside of pissing the old man off for his pitiful hospitality, but he guessed that soon, time would tell.
He had long grown accustomed to these types of interactions between devils. He will simply follow orders and wait for the grand finale. With the young miss' ability, most of this is most likely just a simple formality to achieve her goals while one upping the old devil.
Sawyer's eyes went wide at the words, his lips trembled as he replied. "You.. you mean to…"
Heal him first? With no price? But why?
Before he could finish his sentence through his choked voice, Hannya gestured down the hall.
"Lead the way."
'These freaks are acting too strange, I'll see what's going on myself!'
…
…
Hannya stood over the unconscious form of Baku, her eyes filled with incredulity. What was this? This didn't happen in the story.
She had assumed, given how tattered and worn the warriors were, Baku had either been on the battlefield right now, or just finished, hiding in his castle so that his subordinates could make a deal. Not in a coma.
Hannya then thought of their encounter in the meeting 5 days ago. Baku had exerted power to the point he was coughing up blood.
She shook her head. She knew he was in bad shape, but to such an extent? Had her face slapping actually crippled this guy to the point of no return?
It also seemed like the nobles weren't even around...
'Did I flap my wings too hard here?'
There were too many changes to the story for Hannya not to be the obvious culprit. She wanted to curse, all her plans were crumbling before her eyes.
She wanted to look cool, looking down on Baku's behavior with her and her group when getting to hazy mountain. Then, when the nobles showed up, she would expose their plot while simultaneously swooping in and being the benevolent hero, making a deal with him and healing him, earning the people's respect. And finally, taking her place as a disciple dream knight, getting recognized as a formidable warrior, firmly solidifying her stance as the number 1 young miss of the mountain. A strong, no nonsense, enigmatic beauty.
Such a legend would raise her status from the pits of hell without a doubt!
But with this old man now having one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, along with the fact that the nobles weren't even here, such a plan was all but shitcanned.
She felt her face heat up a little, did she really have to save him now? Wouldn't she look like a pushover at the end of the day? They made her kneel in the audience chamber, gave her slum housing(though surprisingly cozy), and even called her a whore devil! Where was her prestige at this point!?
'Wait a minute…whore devil?' A thought flashed in Hannya's mind. Something hadn't occurred to her while all these events were happening.
Hannya turned to Sawyer, who was standing to the side, a little more respectful than normal.
"Vice commander." She said, her tone nonchalant.
"Yes, my lady." He stepped forward, bowing slightly. Seeing Sawyer take such a 180 over and over again made Hannya feel this guy was quite moody. Textbook male, she thought, but the haughty simp held back her sneer.
"That nobody guarding the gates when we got here, who was his superior? I know he wasn't a regular soldier."
The vice commander's face became grim hearing that. Norman, that fool of a dream knight. If Sawyer were a blaming man, he would attribute a portion of this whole conflict to him. His actions still made no sense to him at all, but he hadn't even thought about that eye sore since his gruesome death. He was too busy to even give the guy a second thought.
He answered. "His superior and training leader was dream knight captain Bellomy, miss."
Hannya scanned the knights that came to sacrifice themselves for Baku, sure enough, he wasn't amongst them.
'Oh, this could work! It's gotta be him!'
Only one type of demon would have the lingo and guts to call a Luxuria branch devil a whore unflinchingly. A demon from the capital, a bumpkin wouldn't dare! Plus he wasn't here! That had to be the person she was looking for!
That would be her chance! Her chance to capture the spies within the ranks! Her chance to raise her prestige once more! Her chance to win!
"I see…" she said calmly. Somehow more than sure such a hastily grasped straw was the solution to all her planning going awry.
Seeing the young lady scan the knights behind him, he hastily added. "Sir Bellomy wished to also sacrifice himself, but we all thought it best to have at least a few good men to hold the line out there."
She snorted in her mind. 'You all came to that decision huh? Are you sure about that?!'
She waved a slender hand. "No worries, I only wanted to speak to him. When the healing is done here, drag his ass over." She said with a relaxed smile.
He bowed once more. "O-of course, my lady." Sawyer didn't know what lady Hannya wanted to speak to him about, but given his connection with Norman, it was most likely not anything good.
Hannya nodded. "Good, now let's begin. Everyone but Hans and Sawyer may leave."
The other knights were a bit uneasy about leaving, but with a reassuring nod and a mission to fetch the dream cores needed for payment, the knights reluctantly left.
Hans pulled up a chair by the bed, allowing Hannya to rest her feet. As she sat down she beckoned Sawyer closer.
"Do you need me to undo my ability to start, young miss?" Sawyer said as he moved closer.
Hannya shook her head and grinned. "The opposite. To do the treatment in an hour, your ability is needed. Cast it on me as well."
Sawyers' mouth twitched slightly hearing this. So she really was lying about a few things.
Hannya smiled sweetly and shrugged."I didn't say how I was gonna cure him, just that I could."
That was true, but her claim of 'controlling the dream mist completely' was indeed a lie. She could only control mist generated or passed through her own fissure that rested in her devil core, not mist in general.
Sawyer immediately figured that out the second she asked for his assistance. Though, what really gave him a chill was the fact that she had already known about his ability. He took a quick glance at the war demon standing behind her.
Sure enough, he was giving him a knowing smile.
'Indeed, a type of clairvoyant mutation as well?'
It made sense, with a guardian like the war demon, there was no way she was simple.
'Two major aspects… a five star without a doubt.'
"...very well, young miss." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shadow magic:[Shade Sharing]."
Sawyer's shadow began to sway and twist beneath him. A small circular portion left from underneath his feet, traveling across the floor and into Hannya's own shadow below.
Hannya's own shadow began to sway a bit before settling. She then felt a small pressure weighing her down, not really physically, but as if her mana core was carrying something stuck to the outer layer, almost like a small backpack strapped to its superior shoulders.
To her it felt a little annoying. She frowned.
"I-is the connection too heavy young miss? The shared mana is pathed to the commander's core already, so bear with it for a bit." He spoke apologetically.
[Shade Sharing] was his unique ability. By entering the shadows of chosen people, he could connect their cores, paths or circuits with his own [Filtering Shadow], distributing the chosen energy amongst groups. An incredibly rare support skill.
Not only that, since they have to be shared, he can tweak the nature of energy slightly to make them more compatible and usable for each person when needed.
Sadly, it's useless for two people that have wildly different types of energy. For example, a devil with a mutated core that contains fragments of fire law can't utilize a devils core whose mutation contains fragments of frost law.
However, it's very useful to share among similar or neutral natures, even boosting the two parties' attacks, allowing improved mana or chi density in exchange for the mana cost.
Such a combo with Baku as the core, with his seemingly endless mana, was what gave the warriors on Hazy mountain their tremendous combat prowess the past decades.
'Such weight alone, should be rather taxing for the young miss..'
Sawyer assumed. He didn't know the particular age of the young devil, but given she's never been spoken of by the Feast Factions people, nor the nobility, she couldn't be any older than a decade.
Given that information and the suspicion of her being a 5 star devil, her own core is most likely barely holding on with the influx of residual mana Baku is producing.
"I'm fine, let's begin." She stated, frowning at Sawyer. She was fine, but she didn't really like the feeling of her core being touched by this foreign mana at all.
Unbeknownst to Hannya, her supreme devil blood detected the foreign mana in her system and disdained it. Her bigoted blood, being used to generating mana with much higher quality and purity compared to Baku's and Sawyer's, didn't like the taste one bit. It made her nerves prickly.
Sawyer nodded, determined. He focused his ability from changing the nature of Baku's spreading lulling virus to more dormant dream mist particles, to circulating the infected mana out of Baku's core to Hannya's and vice versa.
Since Hannya can control dream mist, she could feel the aggressive particles in his system trying to change his mana to pure dream mist the second the connection fully opened. She immediately began to circulate the infected mana to her own core.
And as expected, the lulling virus was devoured and refined by her own fissure, now ready for reuse. An easy solution for someone with the [True Dream Body], a physique practically made out of dream mist.
She continued, slowly eating away and replacing Bakus core with regular mana. As she worked her own core to the bone, she laughed in her heart.
'Baku, you old fool! You're deep in my debt! What will you do now? Kikiki!'
An hour later, in the presence of the now exhausted Hannya and Sawyer, Baku slowly opened his eyes.