Sensing trouble Imuru calmly fixed his gaze to Arruru, not really wanting to hear what she had to say.
"Lord Imuru, if I may ask, are you perhaps a loner?" Arruru inquired, throwing herself into the conversation a mischievous smile playing on her face.
" " "Oh la la!!!" " "
The Dark Triangle equally voices, surprised by Arruru's brazen move, yet not at the same time… after all, Imuru was pleasing to the eyes; despite not matching the typical masculine type that are president in Dark Devider culture, she seemed willing to try something new.
Arken eyes went wide, and he immediately got up to confront his mother. "Mother! We've taken enough of Imuru's time. Come, you must leave." He grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to force along, to avoid further embarrassment.
"A loner?" Imuru batted his eyes in need of clarification.
"Y-Y—" Arruru twisted from Arken's shoulder hold, grabbing her son by the hand, twisting it as she slipped behind him, pushing him away to speak. "What I meant Lord Imuru, do you have a close partner… wife, humans call it."
"Eh!" Imuru physically shifted back. Arruru kept up on pursuing the topic, closing the gap between herself and Imuru; as he moved back defensively, matching Arruru's pace.
"This is Arken's mother… what to do? What to do? What to do?..." Imuru thought in frantic panic, "Deflect."
"Umm…" Imuru nervously looked around, "What's a wife?"
"Awe." Arruru stood only a few feet from Imuru, with her arm under her chest she subtly lifted it up. "Lord Imuru…" She leaned forward with a smirk, "you look nervous?" She lowered her voice to soothing mesmerizing tone, "In simple terms a wife is someone your romantically close to… closer than friend… close enough—"
At the last second, Arken tightly grabbed a hold of Arruru's hand, pulling her from Imuru's vicinity. Shocking her as she let out a high-pitched squeal. "That's enough mother!"
Arruru protested but Arken wouldn't allow her to overpower him this time around, and he managed to successfully drag her from the front yard, around to the back, where he let go of her.
"There!" Arken pointed at the path to leave Imuru's residence. "Go."
Arruru frowned, planting her hands on her hips, glaring at Arken with fury in her eyes. And her tone snapped to an arrogant menace. "You've gotten stupidly confident. Lord Imuru would be upset with me, if I crippled someone so close to him…"
While this was ongoing from behind, the workers were on their return to continue their expansion and building of Imuru's front yard—along with Gull and Nudge.
Hesitating, Arken found he didn't have it in him to engage in physical combat with his mother. As she rambled, he noticed the approaching workers and the Orcs, and sighed internally.
Arruru moved to draw the sword mounted on her back, only for her arm to be stopped mid-reach, held firmly behind.
She was swift to look over her shoulder, gritting her teeth, disdain flashing in her eyes. Nudge held her gaze, his grip tightening as she tried to pull the weapon free.
"Get your hands off me," Arruru warned, her voice low, "or you'll lose it."
"Mother, release hold of your weapon," Arken said firmly.
"Arken, quiet!" Arruru snapped, anger sharp in her tone.
"Hmph." Nudge's eyes flicked to Gull, who gave a wary nod. Slowly, he released his grasp. Arruru stood down, flicking her wrist as if shaking off the contact.
"Strong grip." She huffed, composing her form. "Excuse me." She walked past the group, heading back toward town.
Arken crossed his arms and closed his eyes, weary. His mother was as exhausting to deal with as ever—spending time in Cherisnot had made him almost forget.
"Arken." Gull greeted him with a bow of his head. "I hope you didn't mind our intervention."
"Not a problem." Arken's voice was calm, indifferent. "I do not wish to fight my mother. If I did, I would have won. But there is no point to prove here."
"Ahem. Let's move along."
"He seemed worried," Nudge mumbled under his breath, doubting Arken's posturing.
No one thought much of this. The Dark Devider workers and Orcs had tasks to complete, while Nudge and Gull were there on different business entirely.
As Imuru's chaotic morning stretched on, he found himself locked in conversation with Nudge and Gull, sitting on some boards stacked beside his house. The three of them spoke in low tones, the weight of leadership settling over the makeshift meeting.
With a stick in his hand and the pleasantries out of the way, Imuru kicked it off. "How has patrol been? You want to say you're both here simply to see me, but I bet it's far more important than that I presume?"
"Calm," Gull spoke. "Nudge and my squad haven't run into any problems on our routes in our short range… You are indeed correct, Lord Imuru, there is an issue. What was reported to us by Erinot; Huln's energy signature is present."
"Huh?" Imuru wasn't exactly sure what to say about this… he didn't even know what to think. "Energy signature? Are you saying he's purposely unsuppressing himself?"
Gull nodded in confirmation. "That would be the case. From Erinot's words this is something unnatural for anyone; worse a Great Force." Gull tired gaze drifted to the ground, he had realized the implications of this. "This means…"
"It's a challenge." Imuru said out loud what the two Patrol Commanders were thinking. Imuru's brief hardened gaze softened out, staring blankly lost in thought.
"What should be done?" Gull inquired concerned, amplified by Imuru's face. "Nudge, I and the Orcs are fully prepared for war, if you n—"
"No," Imuru chipped in to cut Gull off, stunning Nudge and Gull from his response. "Not to be rude. I appreciate that, I do really, but if this is a challenge, then I will be going by myself. Vunaru made it clear what Huln was like; it would be of great disrespect to him to bring an army to battle between rulers." Imuru picked the stick point from the floor, putting a pause to dragging it on the ground, as he twirled it in his hand. "... This is moving a lot faster than I expected. In the Sacred Forest it seems information travels fast. Collon needs to hurry with Cat Daughter, I need to hear what he has to say about Huln."
"I don't want any of you to worry about me when I leave. I assure you with certainty I will return." Imuru put his stick down and leaned back against the house. "Putting this aside for the moment, are you okay Gull and Nudge? You both seem rather tired?" Imuru smiled gently, "Is Roll being a bit rigid with the patrol times?"
Not a word was said by Nudge and Gull. In any case of the truth this had indeed been the issue that weren't not questioned with Rolls reasoning.
Two days after their initial arrival (weeks ago) in Cherisnot, Nudge and Gull were called into the Cherisnot Diplomatic Building Of Connection And Resolution, directed by Yosho to the Roll's office.
Inside awaiting their arrival were both Imuru and Roll—halting their chat once the two Orcs came in.
"There they are," Imuru chirped, hurrying out of his chair. "Thank you both for coming, Gull, Nudge," Imuru bowed his head as he said their names, introducing them to Roll. "These were the Orcs I was speaking of. Harden warriors… Dark Deviders without the—you know."
Roll stood from his chair, bowing his head. "It's an honor. Lord Imuru spoke much about you two. If you Orcs are capable as per Lord Imuru's words, then I expect great things from you two."
"Huh, before I leave you three to it. There's no species, animosity is there?" Imuru inquired with suspicion.
"Uh… No, no. Not at all," Roll replied, his voice carrying hesitation. "Dark Deviders and Orcs… I don't think both species interact very much—if at all. So there's no reason for us to carry any hatred."
"Sounds good. Alright, take care of them, I leave our plan to you." Imuru said his goodbye and was out in a second.
The trio stood there in silence, Gull had an innocent calm on his face, while Nudge had held a look of distrust. To push things forward, Roll invited them to sit. Once they were seated, Roll took his seat.
"Cheif Gull, and General Nudge. I'm Roll, my role in Cherishnot is complicated—I handle a little of everything, as per Lord Imuru's wishes. And today is no different. He came with me with an idea… but of course Lord Imuru is charitable to an unfathomable degree; so this is solely up to you both. We want to have you and your men as security—call it patrolling."
"It will be an all around job. Imuru wants it to be a routine thing, but at Cherishnot's current stand we can't afford that… I appreciate it if you guys can push yourselves a little for the time being. Until Linira returns with the others from my former home… though I'd count them out. Until further notice, you'll both work as one, Cherishnot Patrol Commanders."
"Don't worry, we're not sending too far from town, that's for Erinot and the Grand Pack. They'll be working with you out there. You'd have some of the Dark Deviders in Cherishnot with you, but we've decided it would be easier to have the Orcs make up the patrol squads. That's it from me, what do you both think?"
Roll didn't get an immediate answer, and he didn't expect one. Nudge couldn't hide his skepticism on his face of the fact that there was a 'choice' in the matter; he didn't voice an opinion, waiting to hear what Gull had to say about this.
"We accept."
The response was so abrupt to Nudge he had thought he misheard Gull for a moment, he even turned and looked to ensure it was surely coming from Gull's mouth. "We'll be happy to play our part," Gull added, certifying his confirmation to Roll and coincidentally Nudge.
Roll smiled from ear-to-ear. "Excellent! Once again, It's a pleasure to have you in Cherishnot," Roll got up, leaning over to shake Gill's hand.
So, Imuru was right on the golden coin with his assumption of what happened after he left that room.
"Hmph. Don't worry, no need to tell, it's all fine," Imuru assured them. "Just don't overwork yourselves. Do what you can within your limits."
With Imuru's and the Orcs' conversation seeming to be near its end, a Dark Devider on the side observing them and acting paranoid, raised his head; waving it in frantic motion to get Imuru's attention. Imuru spotted him from his peripheral vision, and looked over to his direction; Arken was nodding in approval from behind the paranoid Dark Devider, meaning it must be important.
"Hi… hello. Your the Great Demon Lord, correct," The Dark Devider softly inquired, visibly shaking.
Imuru stared at him, purposely for an uncomfortable duration of time, before he answered. "That would be correct."
"R-Right…" The Dark Devider swallowed. "My deepest apologies if you felt disrespected in any way shape or form," He bowed repeatedly. "I'm a new hire at the C.D.B.C.R. No… No! Not a new hire… yet. Sir Roll needs me to first prove myself. Th-This is my first mission, out of combat, I've—I've been in… in combat. N-Not inexperienced… at all, not at all…"
"Umm. I should… I should get to this in my hand. This is why I'm here, Great Demon Lord Sir. Okay… There's an issue… a food issue. So we're looking to terraform a part of the forest to supplement this… grow wheat, along with a variety of seed options brought by the newcomers from the Shadow Of The Moon. Which includes me too… so we're seeking your approval to begin."
This was awkward to sit and listen through, but Imuru understood that feeling all too well, so why would he judge? "Lighten up a little. Just call me Imuru. In that case, there's a nearby stream, the source of it seemed about infinite. I haven't been there in a long while though… Uh, most importantly, beware; there lives a deadly fish in that water."
"Y-Yes. Wonderful. I'll relay every single word to the exact detail Great Demon Lord Sir," The Dark Devider repeatedly bowed. "I will not fail you, I promise!" Not taking up anymore of Imuru's time, the Dark Devider was off in a rush.
Unfortunately this didn't mean Imuru could get back to his conversation with the Orcs when another problem in of itself made their appearance; in loud dramatic flair… Lizard King Murk. Like Father like son, the ground erupted in a cloud of dust, and when it cleared there stood the King, his son Kigaru and most loyal Crun.
"Ohh… great." Imuru looked past the dramatic entry, because all he saw with their arrival was not only trouble but now there was extra work to be done to his front yard.
"So information really does travel fast here."
"WAAHHH—HAHAHAHA!!!" Kigaru laughed out loud and made his presence known… to all that can already see him. "Great Demon Lord, be honored, and be not afraid. The prodigy Kigaru has brought an army to lead, to crush yo—"
WACK!
Murk shut Kigaru up instantly by dropping his Trident on Kigaru's head.
"Imuru!" Murk marched up to Imuru. "I heard the good news and accomplishments with Vunaru. Furthermore for your next objective, I come to show my support and bring aid. If necessary I'll bring thousands of Lizardmen to battle. Just say the word."
Once he was finished with his pretentious display, Imuru gave the final verdict. Explaining to Murk he'd be going in alone.
"What!?" The Lizard King's supportive nature deflated almost completely. He paused to think momentarily, having not expected this.
"You should take the help and not underestimate Huln, Imuru."
"Mm-Hm." Imuru dismissively listened to what Murk had to say. "Not underestimating him… at all. Since you're here to do have any history with Huln? I'm going to need to know about him as much as possible before the confrontation."
"Agh. You're determined to fight him alone." Murk narrowed his eyes. "Now, why is that?"
"Respect," Imuru put forth. "He's challenging me. I don't want to bring an army to a fight between leaders."
"Respect?" A word Murk heard thrown around more often than he'd like in his lifetime. "That's a mentality that will be your undoing Imuru. Huln has thousands of undead right at his bony finger tips. What made you believe he wouldn't use them?"
"I don't. I'll leave that up to him. Don't you know anything about the guy?" Imuru asked, expecting if anyone were to have details about the Great Force it would be Murk "Anything would be of use."
Murk sighed. "Fine then. If you insist on going in on your own. I can tell you what I know of him; Undead King Huln." Before he began he looked to the Orcs Nudge and Gull who had been here listening. Imuru gestured casually for Murk to continue, finding no reason as to why they can't be here.
Since they had Imuru's approval Murk continued. "As you know I'm one of the oldest among the Great Force, the other person to match my age and experience is Huln himself. A man cursed upon death to walk the earth for eternity. He was once human… your natural enemy Demon Lord, a Hero… but that was a long time ago."
"A Hero?" Imuru mumbled.
"Yes. Meaning, if anyone will have the capability to expose your natural weaknesses it will be him. Holy magic," Murk informed.
"Holy magic?" This sounded like a clear cause for concern, up until now he has never encountered or heard of such type of magic.
"He might be undead, but his core is still that of a Hero. He'll be your worst opponent yet," Murk added.
"Worse opponent yet…" Imuru contemplated. He began to think about his viable options. "So, whatever he throws at me, I'll need to avoid it at all cost. Belzora should be able to at least minimize Huln's kit… best not to depend on it."
"Thank you. What I'm hoping for is something that avoids us both needing to fight," Imuru reiterated his stance.
"Doubtful. Whether you want it or not it is wise to prepare for the worse… Huln was once a Hero, if I were you I'd be against casually walking into his territory expecting a peaceful meeting." Murk stood firm in his stance of the situation, but at the end of the day he knew it was all up to Imuru in whether to heed his advice or not.
Stepping out onto the porch and buttoning her jacket against the morning chill, Yosho looked around at the ongoing work. Her gaze swept the yard—then caught on Imuru at the side of the house, deep in conversation with Murk.
She happily greeted him and hurried over.
"Yosho." Imuru turned as she arrived. "We were just speaking about Huln."
"Huln. Have you come to a decision yet?" Yosho inquired.
To get things moving back in pace, Imuru filled in Yosho on his prior conversations.
With all the details now in hand, Yosho had something to say, her voice measured, but concerned threading through. "Great Imuru, if Huln possesses magic that is your natural weakness, why not take someone with you? Even just Forcent would be enough."
"Have you considered that you might be walking into a trap?" Murk added nodding in agreement. "If you won't accept my army or further assistance, then you should bring that Ennom."
Everyone seemed worried. Everyone advised him to have someone at his side. Imuru's mind began to change, bit by bit.
Right at that moment, a wolf howled.
They turned as a figure came into the yard—Collon, cheerfully riding a Gray Persudo, with a nervous Mult on horseback beside him.
They dismounted. Collon gave the Persudo a gentle pat. "I didn't know you Persudos could be so easily reasoned with. Imuru performed a miracle on your group."
"Finally." Imuru's internal sigh was one of profound relief. The one person he'd been waiting for this entire time.
"The child of Ire... Collon," Murk said, his voice carrying a weight of recognition.
Collon's smile was faint as his eyes traced over Murk, Kigaru, and Crun. It had been a while since he'd seen Lizardmen, especially the Lizard King's himself. "Imuru really did get you out of the underground."
"We've become great partners," Murk declared, "thriving for the revival of the Sacred Forest. When I heard of such a presence... I had to introduce myself."
"That's the type of will we need to build back Sacred Forest to what it once was… it's good to have you back on our side." Collon reached out a hand, to which Murk accepted with pleasure.
"Now, for why I'm here. Sorry for the wait Imuru, Kemono held me back."
"No. You're on time," Imuru assured. "We were just discussing my decision to face Huln alone. I think everyone disagreed."
"Did they?" Collon eyes darted at each of them. "I get their concern… but going alone is the smartest option here. If anything you'll be handycapped—no offence to anyone of course." He said his peace, siding with Imuru on his decision, while receiving a distasteful look from his sister.
"Please kindly excuse us." Collon gestured for Imuru to follow him.
Imuru dismissed the Orcs so they could continue about their day, and excused himself to the others. Catching up to Collon, Imuru had to thank him for agreeing with his decision; if Collon did it must've been a good reason. "Going alone is the best decision?"
"For you? Then yes. With the kind of connection and responsibility you feel to your people, having anyone there would just be a distraction to you. I doubt you'd be able to focus," Collon reasoned. "Downside of your empathy. That's why I agree."
Hearing Collon's reason, Imuru's eyes drifted to the ground. "Sound reasoning… Murk told me that Huln was once a former Hero."
"That is true… Ah," Collon pinched the bridge of his nose, "you took the evolutionary path of a demon. Facing someone with potentially Holy skills, your inherent weakness, will be problematic."
Imuru eyebrows rose in surprise at the thought of Collon not knowing he was a demon. "I am called the Great Demon Lord."
"Yeah, yeah. That doesn't mean you're a demon Imuru," Collon retorted. "There are Demon Kings with the title on a different evolutionary path."
"Is that so?!" Imuru intrigue perked the second he heard this.
"Exactly…" Collon confirmed. "Let's not get off topic. There are a few things to note if you ever get into conflict with Huln. One is, Cast Canceling—A basic but useful skill that cancels the casting time of other skills, a skill every Great Force learned. His Gift, Curse King, enables him to control the skeleton of the dead. And the skill you should fear is Purification."
"Purification… Holy skill?" Imuru inquired.
"Eh…" Collon tilted his head. "if you want to call it that. It technically is… just that when you're vaporizing your enemy I don't think it matters whether or not it's considered a Holy skill."
"It would usually require some casting time…"
"Huln has Cast Canceling." Imuru finished Collon's sentence.
"You'll be gone in a matter of seconds… the skill to watch out for." Collon sighed, looking up, his eyes catching the sun through the canopy. "Uh." They were so lost in conversation, they'd walked aimlessly into the woods. "Damn it, we wandered too far."
"Ah!" Glanced around realizing how far they've walked too. Wandering into the forest wasn't in his book for concern, when he had 'potentially getting vaporized' to worry about… even with that playing in his mind, there was something to be thankful for, "It would be quick. That goes for something," He thought in feigned enthusiasm.
Watching Imuru slowly dwindling to getting lost in his thoughts, Collon shaked him out of it, asked a throw away question. "Formulating a plan already?" He rested a hand on Imuru's shoulder. "You've been through a lot already… I have faith you'll get through this too."
"So what's the plan? There are a few ways you can handle this. It will take you a few days to get to his territory. You could have us as company until then."
"Company…" Imuru closed his eyes and shook his head subtly. "Worried company. Yosho and the others are far too concerned. The closer we get to Huln's territory, the more they'd try to force themselves into the situation."
"Heh." Collon chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Knowing my sister, if she followed you that far I can see her ignoring your order and following you in."
"I know Huln's location." Imuru crossed his arms across his chest. "It might take me a few days to get to him… Hmm, I could cut that time down with flight," Imuru expressed his thoughts.
Collon's mouth parted slightly as he had forgotten Imuru was capable of that. "Y-Yes… yes exactly. That slipped my mind. Doing that you can indeed get there faster." Collon scratched the back of his head, falling into a nervous laughing fit. "Now that makes things easier… I wish I had wings too…"
"Imuru." Collon dropped the casual talk, his friendly expression faltering to a cold and calculating measured face. "Huln has unsuppressed himself to guide you to him. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but that's very odd… it comes off as a bit too eager, not a behaviour I'd ever associate with Huln of all people."
A cold sweat dripped down Imuru's cheek, and his tone lowered to a hush to match Collon's. "What are you saying?"
"You're a special case here… even then, that behavior is just out of place for me," Collon put forth, voicing his concern.
Imuru cleared his throat to push away the eerie silence creeping in; Collon words instilled another layer of concern into an already delicate situation. "You believe someone else is involved in that excitement?" Imuru Intoned.
"I believe so. Keep this between you and me. Until we know what's going on, trust no one. It might be nothing—I pray it isn't and I'm merely overthinking…" Collon paused and scanned his surroundings from the small rustle of bushes he heard. He leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper, "neither of us should take that chance. When you leave I'll shadow you from behind. Don't trouble yourselves, with relaying information to me, I have that under control, just act normal and do as you planned. If something comes up; fine, I can adjust. We keep this between us until further notice."
Back at Imuru's residence, Murk stood with his son and Crun, quietly awaiting Imuru's return in silence, watching the steady business of the yard. Yosho and Arken stood idly by, observing the Lizardmen with measured suspicion. Mult rested in the shade of a tree beside his horse, fanning himself lazily.
Soon, their wait came to an end.
Collon and Imuru returned, walking side by side, smiling and chatting like old friends.
"Hmm… close," Murk grumbled under his breath at the sight of Collon's arm draped casually around Imuru's shoulders.
He cut through the yard of workers, his stride purposeful, and stopped directly before the pair. "Your decision?" He inquired, though his real interest was clear in a sharp flick of his gaze toward Collon's arm. The short display proved, at least to him, that they were too close for 'his' comfort.
Before he delivered his final verdict, Imuru went back to his meeting spot, this time pulling Arken into the fold.
"Nothing has changed."
Yosho clenched her fist, her knuckles white, barely holding back herself from shouting in frustration. Arken stood clueless, due to being apart from the earlier conversations.
"I'm fighting Huln by myself…. And his massive army!" Imuru said in profound exaggeration of a child, a cute and youthful smile on his face, hands raised beside his cheeks.
"Huh…" Arken didn't know who this 'Huln' person was. Neither did he particularly care. What he heard was an act of bravery—and that was enough.
"HAAAAA—HAHAHAH!!!" He threw an arm around Imuru's shoulders, grinning wide. "Whoever this Huln individual is… he chose the wrong person to challenge… A true warrior… who battles alone. This level of fearlessness should be mandatory for all Deviders!"
"Huln is a Great Force, not a joke!" Yosho snapped at Arken, her teeth gritted.
"Should that matter?" Arken asked, genuinely perplexed. There was no worry in his voice, no care in his eyes. He had been there when Vunaru fought Forcent; she was a Great Force… a Great Force he had dared to challenge until Yosho intervened. "What's a Great Force to the Demon Lord? Even I, Superior Arken, could crush one on my own."
At these very bold words, Arken received stern gazes, not only from his close ally Yosho, but from the two other Great Forces themselves: Collon and Lizard King Murk. Murk's commander, Crun, glared at him openly. But Murk's son, Kigaru, seemed rather… intrigued by Arken's unshakable confidence.
"Delusion does play a part in the Dark Devider species," Collon mumbled, his voice monotone.
"And I think I've seen it before… from someone close." Murk knew he'd seen this behavior from a person he didn't bother to name… this hit close to home.
"This is what I need, a hype-man…" Imuru thought in glee, flashing his teeth grinning. "Act normal… act normal. Collon, let's hope you are just being paranoid and nothing comes of this."