Chapter IX: The King and the Baron

"Did you find it?", says a man with a crimson red crown sitting on his head. He lays there on his bloody throne room, looking down on his subjects.

"No sir. All we found were books about human history and one particular book about [1]Lolita Complex", answers Lycomedes.

"We suspect he's carrying the other half with him, sir", says a demon wearing some sort of eye patch on his right eye.

"And what of the other half?", the King asks.

"We've extracted it from the Void Elemental, sir. It is now secured beneath with Barnabas", Lycomedes explains.

"Good. Continue your search for the two for the time being."

"What do we do with the Void Elemental, sir?"

"If you cannot get anymore information from her within five days, you may have your way with her", he orders his general.

"Understood", Lycomedes bows then dismisses himself.

"Geno"

"Yes, sir?", the guy with the eye patch answers.

"When can we begin preparations for Draconia?"

"Not too soon, sir. Stray Demons have not been assembled and Balphagore is yet to recover." 

"I see. Carry on, then", he dismisses Geno.

That's him. Orion Gremorie, the Ruined King. As the root of the Elemental Incident, he was able to create a gaping hole in Hell for him and 60,000 other Demons to escape. That hole leaked a small fraction of Hell on the Elementals, causing the entire nation to be damned. It was a well thought-out plan, actually. He deceived the Azure Bladesman into making a deal with the devil for the sake of "justice". Now look where it got him. He' on top of his tower, gazing upon the world that he's always wanted to make perfect for his people. 

All he's wished for his people was perfection. To carve away the fat and save the lean. That's what he wanted to do. Extinguish the weak and eliminate the useless. But we all know how immoral that is, so heaven sent him and his followers to Hell when he was defeated by the Elementals. Now, after a century of confinement, he's back to purge this world once more. The last sixteen years he's been slowly growing in power. By now, he knows someone's going to try to stop him. And he'll be waiting for him. 

"Come and get me..."

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"Achoo!"

Solis sneezes as he walks toward the bridge to the human settlement of Xenovia with his two new allies and three ridiculously enlightened spirit animals. It looks like it's almost night time.

"What was that?", says Solis.

"What was what?", Credo asks him.

"I don't know; I think I felt a chill."

"Hello there!", says [2]a man carrying a fishing rod and a set of goggles with six eyes peculiarly attached to his face. 

"Hello, sir", Eve greets the man with a smile, "Is this the way to Xenovia?"

"Yeah, down that way", he points behind him, revealing his [2]blue skin, "But ya' better be ready to face what's in there", he points at the other two with her, "These two look like they can pick a decent fight...."

"Excuse me... fight?"

"Ya' better be ready to defend yourself. Something's amiss back there, they say. What would a cute little lady like you do in a situation you can't escape?", he underestimates her.

In response, Eve lets out the hidden blades clasped to her wrists. Did I ever mention that those two blades are named "Dante & Virgil"? No? Well Dante & Virgil are apparently used by the assassin, [3]Sparda, back at Eve's village. He never found out that it had a Dark Elemental Affinity with it. Luckily, Eve was able to learn to use it before and after her dark powers were awakened. 

"Wow, I haven't seen one of those since [3]Sparda", the man is surprised.

"His daughter taught me."

"Really? [4]Yami taught me how to use one too!"

"How did you-"

"Well! Good'luck to you guys!", he immediately takes off.

"That guy looks familiar...", Solis thinks to himself.

Later, they make it to the bridge. It's actually a natural bridge formed by a mass of rock. The problem? There's a huge serpentine creature with red scales that's entangled itself to it. It had a pair of flashy purple eyes and two deadly fangs set to hold and kill prey. Another monster to kill? Why not? Solis would love killing a nuisance, right Solis?

"Look, man...", he talks to the beast as if it understood what he's saying, "I'd love to rip out your guts any other time of the day, but right now I really have to do something important that involves a toilet and some under-digested spider fluid" -I guess the writer didn't expect Solis to have to take a dump when he told me to put a monster there. 

Suddenly, the monster started to shrink to human size then a flash of light burst from its many eyes. The flash of light produced something, or did it transform the beast into something? Wait for it... wait for it.... It looks like... a girl.... Damn!

"Hey Credo! Long time no see!", she runs to him then somewhat embraces him.

"It's nice to see you two, Nash", he smiles at her.

"Is that her?", Solis asks.

"No, she-"

Nash lets go of him to take a look at Tenenbaum riding on Solis' shoulder, "Wow, you got a cat too, and this one's a gloomy blue!", she pets her.

"Guys, this is Nashor. She's shape-shifter", Credo introduces her.

"Is she... Elven?", Eve asks since only Elves can do that.

"Her father's Elven."

Tenenbaum gets a little too comfy and jumps on Nashor's shoulder instead.

"Hey, Tenen, no", Solis scolds her.

"It's fine", she keeps petting her, "So what brings you here? You come to visit me?"

"Maybe...", he shrugs, "More importantly, we need a place to stay."

"I think we got a difference in opinion on what's at stake here", Solis, about to release the power of a thousand suns.

"Come right it in, then!"

The silhouette of a forest is changed into city walls and a gate where the bridge leads to.

"Is that...", Solis wonders.

"Yup! A Mirage Field!", Nashor answers him.

"Sweet..."

"Enjoy your visit!", she waves at them. 

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1. People who are into little girls in Anime (Counterpart of Shota-con)

2. Angler Jax look-alike, League of Legends

3. Dante's father from Devil May Cry

4. Konjiki no Yami(Golden Darkness) from To-Love-Ru

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Imagine if Legolas can make a mirage field