Further up the Hazy Mountain, halfway between the Dream Fissure and the fortress village below, Baku sat in the center of a large open-air pavilion. The place was big enough for an energetic body to run and move as they pleased, with padded floors, training dummies, and weapon racks placed orderly in designated areas.
Beyond the large pavilion, a similarly large, lush garden sat. The open space near the building was quiet and peaceful. Small, well-maintained trees swayed all around, complemented by colorful flowers, large and smooth boulders, and a small circular pond in the center.
This was his personal training area, the place where he and his master spent the most time, honing their swordsmanship and calming the mind.
As he sat, he held up his sword, wiping it diligently with a cloth. When he finished, he took out a small stick with a cloth ball wrapped at the end. He gently tapped the sword with it, thoroughly moving up to the tip and down the spine as he did so.
Pat Pat Pat Pat
He repeated the process until he was satisfied. When he finished, he wiped the blade and poured a bit of oil onto a new cloth and gently finished up with one last wipe down to his old partner.
"Haaah." He sighed contentedly, such peace once again. A small smile could be seen on his face as he placed down the blade. This is how things should be.
He had restored order in the ranks and swept the mountains clean of lingering dangers; soon the range should recede a bit more. Though the haze had transformed parts of the land permanently because of how long it stayed, the newer changes should go back to normal.
Baku sat there in silence for a while, just enjoying the breeze on his skin and the sun shining down on him. He was thankful, thankful for-
Jingle-jangle stomp
Jingle-jangle stomp
Jingle-jangle stomp
"So this is the place- Ah, there you are! I'm here for my birthright, Gramps, hand it over!"
He was thankful that his rising blood pressure no longer aided the lulling virus in killing him.
He could only groan at the obnoxious little devil. "What is it this time, kid? Why are you always so angry?"
*Snort* She looked away with a snort, not daring to expose such a face-losing event in front of this old devil. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Butler culture in this world really is predatory. Collective wills, my ass…" She muttered, her anger reigniting with a vengeance.
Baku decided to ignore the ravings of Hannya and move on to more important matters. He patted a cushion next to him, inviting Hannya to sit. "Take a seat."
She walked over while looking around; she found this training spot to be rather fancy. She was a little surprised that a bumpkin like Baku was hiding his power level when it came to aesthetics. A pleasant surprise indeed. She sat down on the cushion next to the commander.
"I want to ask you a few things before we begin your end of the deal." He raised his hand before she could protest. "Rest assured you will get everything you want after this conversation regardless; I'm doing this for your benefit."
Seeing as Hannya decided to let him continue, he spoke once again. "How old are you, kid?"
Hannya raised an eyebrow. "What does that matter?"
Baku scoffed. "Just answer. The faster you answer, the faster you get your 'birthright'."
Hannya pondered for a while before answering. "Hmmm, like 3 weeks maybe?"
Though a little surprised, the old man nodded calmly. He figured she was still awakening, but three weeks? He continued. "Second question, do you really plan on taking over the plane? Uniting it and all that, is that really your goal in all this?"
The little devil let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Kikiki, ah, I was just talking shit back then. You were pissing me off so much and all so… well…you know…" She shrugged, clearly not committed to doing something as bothersome as that. Thinking back on it all, she did crash out the window a bit with her words, but this Baku was so haughty when she first came here.
'Hmph! But he's much more respectful now!'
"Then why do you seek power on top of your natural growth? If you just waited, your speed and power would be unmatched anyways." If she had no interest in being a warlord, why did she add training to her contract conditions?
Hannya scoffed. "You know that speed and power don't always equal absolute strength. If I want to be able to do as I please when I please, I need more than my base stats."
"Base stats… Kahuhuhu, that's a strange way to call your natural talent, but I understand your meaning. You are correct; sometimes speed and power are not enough to win in battles… Very well, your logic is sound."
'So her fate mutation has shown her more than just the small events of the future. She seems to have gleaned a fundamental notion of true strength already.'
He found that Hannya was quite wise for someone so young and powerful. Those with ancestral knowledge tend to stick to that knowledge for growth, deviating only slightly as time and experience accumulate.
"My third question is…" He looked at the young devil intently. "That guard you killed when you first got here… Did you kill him because of your mutation, because you were angry, or because it made sense to you?"
Hannya furrowed her brows. "What do you mean? Can't it be all that? Kikiki, and why should that matter? He was from Bellomy's unit, so clearly he was-"
"Cadet Norman was not a shadow demon." Baku interjected.
"...Hm?" A goofy, flabbergasted noise came from the back of Hannya's throat. Her eyes showing evident surprise.
"Your butler would have noticed if that were the case. Norman was just an asshole from the capital that joined that unit later. He was most likely sent to the gates because he was getting in the way of their intelligence operations."
Hannya was still unmoved. "S-still! He called me a whore devil!" Even as a girl, who liked being called a whore?
"So you don't feel guilty over it? Even after finding out such a revelation?" Baku asked, searching for the truth within her flower-petaled eyes.
cough "Well… not really… Kiki, well… um, to be honest. I almost completely forgot about that guy directly after." She said sheepishly. She did not really understand why Baku was asking her all this. In truth, she wanted to scoff. She doubted he would care about killing a few demons had he wanted to; it wasn't like they were devils. So why would he expect her to feel guilty?
Such callous words and vicious thoughts tripped no wavering heart or incredulous eyes to the awakening young devil.
Hannya had yet to realize that throughout her journey, the integration of her soul to her devil body had already begun to cause her mind to see those outside of who she favored as nothing more than ants. Her perspective of demons, humans, elves, and beastkin was close to the same level as dogs, cats, birds, and rats. Barely sentient and easily replaceable.
Her playing favorites with Hans and the charm demons, clouded this subconscious truth growing in the back of her mind.
But still, the words of Hannya gave Baku a touch of relief. She was telling the truth. And it did not seem for a second she considered lying to him.
"Kahuhu, I guess that's normal. We aren't like the lower species; guilt and fear don't come easy to our kind, especially young ones…" The old devil said, sadly for his kin, empathy and discipline had to be trained rather vigorously.
"That's right! Isn't that normal? Wasn't he asking for it?" She asked smugly, finally back on the same page.
"Which brings me to another question: when that knight came in late during the assembly, did you kill him because you knew he was a shadow demon or because he interrupted you?"
"...."
"Do you kill everyone that makes you angry? Or perhaps… you kill when your blood tells you it's necessary for upholding your prestige?"
"I…" Hannya was startled, her blood telling her? Her head buzzed slightly at the words.
"Anger can be curbed easily, kid. But blood is different." He spoke seriously. "You are mature for your age, and since you haven't evolved yet, the imbalance between the mind and body is still simple to fix. But tell me, did your fate mutation bring you here to overcome your instincts, or did your blood send you here to hoard more power?"
Hannya was completely dazed. Was she guided here by her supreme blood, or was this her own idea? To her, all her actions seemed so seamless and rational. Sure, this mountain was a great place to train, but with her knowledge of the novel, she knew lots of places that could turn her into a powerhouse. So why here?
One example was traveling with her this whole time, they were even in an alliance! So why had she brushed off that idea of Hans training her so easily? Heck, she didn't even consider the other places when her physique awakened. Was this her decisive mind or…
Another issue was how she easily chose to kill the guard when arriving. Sure, she had killed before, well passed plenty of times. But had she done so at such a callous level? The bastard had just called her names, not threatened her life or been a heretic.
She was lucky with the late guy, but just the idea of considering the incident 'lucky' spoke volumes of the contradicting axioms currently steering her moral compass. Then, was it true? Was her blood taking her for a ride, and she was none the wiser? Was she getting shaken down, and her supreme blood was getting away with it?
Seeing the dumbfounded face of Hannya, the old fortress lord chuckled. He only needed to see her face to make his decision. If she had brushed his words off and answered without thought, he would not have trained her in his master's complete arts. A devil too far sunken in the instincts of their blood was too far gone to teach properly; they would never use those skills to protect another.
"Kahuhuhu, well, don't think too much about it. But now that you are aware of the possibilities, do you still wish to train here?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, Hannya turned her head to the old man. She saw no reason to leave, even if she had not fully considered her other options, since she was here and her relationship with the old man was good; there was no need to waste any anymore time.
Her beloved was being strong for her. Every second counted.
Hannya nodded with a smile. "Of course, you owe me anyways." She said, raising her small nose to the heavens.
"Kahuhuhu, I suppose I do. Then follow me; we'll start with something simple for our first day."
He walked over to the garden with the small pond. As Hannya followed and got closer to the pond, she noticed something strange about it.
"Hm? That pond…" She pointed curiously. The pond was clearly unnatural; she could easily feel it.
Baku chuckled. "Oh? You recognize the peculiarity, huh? Kahuhuhu, that's because it's condensed Haze, not water."
"Haze? Then…"
"That's right, it's a stable reality tear. My master back then had an ocular power like yourself; his was also quite the mystery. This small pond leads to the mainland of Neel."
"Mainland?" Hannya was truly awed. A portal to Neel without the assistance of a gate!
Baku nodded. His face full of pride. " Kahuhuhu sure does. Unfortunately, I have no clue where it leads to, and these types of tears are one-way. So if you fall in there, you'll be trapped on the other side; remember that." He said sternly.
Hannya nodded seriously; that would be a nightmare. She was well aware of the state of Neel right now without Hellnia's gate functioning, she'd be on the lam in seconds if she entered now.
'Hmph! They sure change their tunes when the gate repairs 'unexpectedly' though. Kikiki, propaganda can only work for so long when the truth keeps slapping you in the face.'
After 600 years, generations of the other races went by, forgetting about the fact that the closed gates were only temporary. Mayhem ensued when the glyphs of the gate began to shine again.
Many races began sucking up; some hid behind the protection of the angels, taking huge economic and sovereign losses for a shield against the devil horde they expected to rampage out.
The dynamics of devil relations after the opening of the gates varied greatly across the continents, with commoners now hating devils to the core and nobility and awakened beings now cowering or ingratiating themselves, understanding the true history of such entities. The world began to change dramatically.
'Kikiki! Damn, I gotta be one of the first to get some contracts with those devil glazers if I want to create a foothold over there.'
Unfortunately, the many that chose to brown-nose chose the first ones to appear, and due to the new generation of devils in Hellnia being more haughty, callous, and malevolent, the devil race quickly became enemy number 1 once again after the races saw that showing goodwill only made things worse for themselves; even the demons of Neel fought against them at a certain point in the novel.
'Wait a second! Isn't this pond the perfect opportunity for me and darling!?'
Hannya turned to Baku. "You got any luring paper, Gramps?"
Hearing that, Baku smiled. She was definitely haughty and obnoxious, but she was still a cute kid deep down. Baku understood what she wanted to do. She wanted to send a devil deal out randomly through the tear, hoping to get a reply.
Such pen pal methods reminded him of his own youth trying the same thing on this mountain; he didn't get many responses, but the ones he did get were always interesting. It was a good way to pass the time for a while.
"Kahuhuhu, sure kid, for the inaugural day of your learning here, we can send out a devil deal. Kahuhuhu, who knows, you might get an interesting offer." He extended his hand and tore open the void.
He reached into the spatial crack and pulled out three pieces of paper with a black texture, subtly humming with chaos energy.
"Here you go, kid, knock yourself out." He said handing over the three blank invitations. He had more of the stuff in his subspace than he knew what to do with.
"Kikiki, thanks, old man!" She crouched down happily and placed them one by one on the ground. She then waved her hands, covering the papers with mana and began to draw patterns and glyphs with her finger.
As she drew pattern after pattern and sigil after sigil, the old devil behind her had a benign smile on his face, like a grandpa relaxedly watching his grandchild coloring some nonsense.
But as time went on, his benign smile began to slowly change. At first it was fine, just the standard sigil setup for contracts, but then it began to get more…egregious.
The number of glyphs, patterns, and sigils on the paper was so condensed on them that the paper practically glowed with magic.
'I-I can't read any of this!'
When she finished, she walked to the pond before writing the names she wanted to send them to.
On the last letter, she smiled at it happily...
"If I remember correctly, the family house name was…"
...but her eyes carried something different deep within them.
"House Baphomet."