Devourer

Chapter 170: The Grand Ball

Mahaila sighed as she walked through the palace on her way to a dinner party. The angels decided to go with the Great Beast’s proposal which was surprising in its way. But the catch was there were now angels walking Elysia as observers. This was unnerving to Mahaila to say the least, especially considering she was disguised. She had shed her human disguise and was now masquerading as a pink-scaled Lizardkin. She had reduced the lustre of her scales and silver eyes to disguise herself further. Fortunately for her, pink scales and silver eyes were only slightly uncommon. What was uncommon was how bright her natural colours were. As for her arms and armour, she had switched to a longsword fencing style which was common among Zarimans.

In an official capacity, she was Mikala a seasoned hive beast hunter from northern Zarima who was brought in as a senior advisor for her expertise. As she walked she saw a familiar face. It was Ariel the daughter of Uriel. Mahaila always liked her, she was a sweet and willful girl. Over the past few months, Mahaila has been trying to get on good terms with her. It was standard espionage stuff, but considering that Mahaila knew Ariel personally in the past, it was quite easy to get on her good side.

Of course, Ariel had no idea she was speaking to the apprentice of The Blade. Mahaila herself was highly adept in illusion magic, she was able to mask herself so well that no one would be able to tell who she was. Well almost anyone…

Once when she was walking around the palace in a new disguise the Great Beast just so happened to move past. He just took one look at her and asked if she had some upcoming plans that needed a new disguise.

Not that surprising all things considered but still the casual manner in which the Firstborn can dismantle centuries of study and practice never stopped being unnerving. It was a constant reminder that the Firstborn were where all things stemmed from. Everything that anyone or anything took pride in was borrowed power. 

“Hello.” Ariel said as her face lit up slightly when she saw Mahaila.

Mahaila let a false small cross her lips as she approached, her body language implying that she was happy to see her.

“Hello, Ariel. Sorry that I didn’t check in with you the past week. I’ve been quite busy.” Mahaila replied, telling no lies but also telling no truths. With lie detection magic in existence, words must be chosen carefully.

“Don’t worry about it, I must say this nation is strange.” Ariel muttered.

“How so?” Mahaila asked.

“They seem so unbothered by the hive. I am sure you must feel unnerved as well given your past profession.” Ariel said and Mahaila nodded in agreement.

“Yes, it is strange but I will say I would rather not fight this hive. Besides I only took that job to protect the innocent border villages. Hive raids often leave entire villages decimated.” Mahaila said, and Ariel nodded in sympathy.

“I suppose you are right about that.” Ariel said as she shifted her gaze to the white creatures guarding the doors. Their blades were made of bone, and Mahaila could spot Focii weapons strapped to their sides.

“An ancient Hive is nothing to scoff at. I read the old accounts of them, it reads like a mad man’s ravings.” Ariel muttered as she shook her head.

“Well then, let’s not try the temper of the ancients shall we?” Mahaila replied with a light chuckle.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Ariel said as she turned and began walking into the banquet hall.

Mahaila followed after her and soon they both arrived in the hall. Today was a celebration of the empire and all who have contributed to it. There were the usual cast of nobles, the upper echelons of the church, leaders of powerful institutions and outstanding individuals. But when the Empress said all who have contributed she really meant ALL who have contributed.

This was a special banquet hall on the ground floor so that it could be connected to tunnels. It was also a completely separate building to allow things to fly in. The ceiling was ten stories tall, going up to over thirty meters. A feat of engineering only possible using enchanted materials and gravity magic.

As Mahaila scanned the room she saw Nafas towering over the humans as she spoke to Legiana and Azatharine. The three of them were standing in the middle of the banquet as all the humans gave them wary looks. They even had a special table with oversized food next to them. 

She shifted her gaze to the side and saw a group of merchants talking to the Vampires. The Vampires were wealthy thanks to millennia of plunder and their long lives so it wasn’t surprising the merchants would be interested in them. Naturally the church was giving them disapproving looks.

In another area of the banquet, a small group of beastiarians were crowding around a blue fire phoenix as they furiously took notes. Judging by the bored look in the phoenix’s eye, it was clear she did not want to be there.

Mahaila also spotted a group of mages conversing with some Blood Knight Signifiers, no doubt they were discussing some interesting magical applications. It’s not every day a mage gets to pick the mind of a few thousand-year-old dark mages.

On Ariel’s part, Mahaila noticed that she was giving some of the attendees dark looks. Well to be fair she was young, at least for an angel. She never saw the old world and she was basically were born into the era of Heaven’s Order. The neat pretty facade was all she ever knew, so she had no idea what the old world looked like.

However, to be fair a scene like this was also not found in the old world. Ariel fails to appreciate how rare and precious a scene like this was. In the old world, this was impossible, the races were almost always at each other’s throats. The dwarves and elves still hated each other so many years on. The dwarves even called the elves knife ears, partly because of the shape of their ears and partly because they felt the elves were treacherous enough to stab them in the back at every opportunity.

Although on that point, there were no elves here so at least the dwarves in attendance didn’t have to deal with that particular problem.

This was a scene of peace, where creatures who once despised each other could stand in each other’s presence and not try to kill each other. In the distant past the Firstborn would occasionally create situations like these but those eventually ended up as death matches for their entertainment.

Mahaila followed Ariel as they both headed towards Cecilia and the Great Breast. Mahaila watched as Cecilia spotted them and gave them a smile in greeting.

“Ah Ariel, so kind of you to join us.” Cecilia said, and Ariel gave her a stiff smile.

“I hope the food is to your liking. I am unsure of what cuisine is common in High Heaven but I hope you find the food is satsifactory.” Cecilia said with a light chuckle.

“It appears to be quite the spread your grace.” Ariel replied stiffly, clearly still not fully comfortable with the rigours of politics.

“Ah, then you must send one of your chefs down. I am sure my chefs would love to learn from them. They do say understanding is the root of cooperation.” Cecilia said with a light chuckle.

“You make any good wine?” the Great Beast asked suddenly as he loomed over Ariel. She took a tentative step back at the sudden interruption.

“I really like wine and I hear you angels make some great wine.” the Great Beast said as it loomed closer.

“He really likes wine.” Cecilia said from the side.

“I am sure we can arrange something.” Ariel said in a voice that sounded a tad smaller than before.

“Oh, thats great, I even made a law to make sure that the wine remains good.” the Great Beast said and with those words, Mahaila furrowed her brows. She didn’t remember a law like that, she made sure to thoroughly read every piece of Imperial policy. 

Cecilia, on her part also looked confused at that statement.

“What law friend? Perhaps you could propose it to me later.” Cecilia said.

“Oh, it’s already implemented its the Cultural Preservation Decree.” the Great Beast said and that threw both Mahaila and Cecilia for a loop.

“How does that decree preserve wine?” Cecilia asked.

“Oh it’s simple, by maintaining the food culture and ensuring some version of the original style of food is preserved I can also preserve the palates of people.” the Great Beast said and Mahaila felt that familiar throbbing headache start to appear.

The Cultural Preservation Decree was a legal policy that mandated certain zones of the three regional capitals of Elysia, Voleria and Zarima to have cultural zones that are protected. It was to ensure that with all the cultures now mixing the unique identities of each region won’t be lost. This was to prevent a sense of uniformity which would stifle innovation since each culture provides unique perspectives. 

One of the clauses covers food which now that Mahaila thinks about it covers wine as well. Where there will be licensed retailers who can produce the so-called “authentic” quality food and drinks. So by passing this law, the Great Beast can now effectively create special entities that are focused on producing high-quality wine while at the same time allowing for new types of wine to be developed.

“Ah… clever…” Cecilia mused as she cupped her chin.

“Tell me, friend, when you proposed this law, did you add this in later or was this intent the whole reason you came up with everything else?” Cecilia asked although her expression betrayed the fact that she knew the answer to that.

“Oh, I just wanted quality wine. Notice how I also tacked on protections for fruit.” the Great Beast said.

“Because you like fruit wine.” Cecilia replied with a nod of understanding.

“Exactly.” the Great Beast said with a laugh.

“Well, it is a good policy.” Cecilia mused as she took a sip of wine.

“I know right? Who doesn’t like wine?” the Great Beast replied.

Mahaila felt her migraine worsen. Cecilia wasn’t talking about the wine, she was talking about everything else…

“Well that is true, we do have very good wine.” Cecilia remarked and Mahaila felt the vein in her temple twitch.

This nonsensical conversation carried on for a while but Mahaila wasn’t stupid. This little display wasn’t without reason. It was an intimidation tactic, anyone who overheard this nonsensical conversation would come to one of two conclusions. The first being that the pair of them were fools. However, seeing as how they both managed to bring the angels down to negotiate on equal terms, only a bigger fool would think that.

The other conclusion was that the two of them were so comfortable with each other and so confident about their position that they could chat nonsense in the middle of an event like this. The best part about this whole thing was that this wasn’t even an act. The two of them genuinely did spend most of their time talking to each other like this. 

The way they spoke it was almost like code, a trivial conversation that was laced with insightful exchanges. Just that exchange from before showed not only that the Great Beast could produce something so comprehensive for such a mundane reason, but it also showed that the Empress wasn't even surprised that it happened.

Mahaila could only pick up such things because she had spent almost a year with them. It was ingenious, code that could be spoken as if it were normal conversation in full view of everyone. 

After they were done with their conversation Mahaila moved on to mingle. Eventually, she found Ariel speaking with General Montis. 

The two seemed to be having a rather… dangerous conversation.

“So you came up with ways to fight the hive.” Ariel stated.

“I attempted to, as did almost every military leader in this room. From the brightest to the dullest minds we all came to the same conclusion in the end.” Montis replied matter of factly.

“That you had no chance.” Ariel clarified.

“Yes, well some come to the conclusion faster than others.” Montis replied with a shrug.

“Really? Who?” Ariel asked.

“The dwarves, they live underground.” Montis replied bluntly.

“Ah I see…” Ariel replied stiffly.

Mahaila moved on and he saw Rosa speaking with a merchant and they were having a rather interesting conversation as well. 

“How do you like the food here Lady Maledicta? I am not sure if vampires even eat the same types of food we do.” the merchant said.

“Oh we do, we eat it strictly for pleasure it offers no sustenance,” Rosa replied with an airy laugh as she waved her hand.

“Then what type of food do you enjoy Lady Maledicta?” the merchant asked curiously.

“I love a good rib eye steak, I like my steak rare… dripping rare…” Rosa said as a cruel and savage smile crossed her face revealing her long curved fangs.

The merchant’s face went as pale as a sheet of parchment as he took a step back. Suddenly all too aware he was speaking to one of the most powerful vampires alive.

“Oh come now I don’t bite… much…” Rosa said with another low chuckle as her tongue ran over her fangs. She was clearly just torturing the poor man but honestly, what did you expect when you spoke to Rosa Maledicta? Her name literally means the Rose Curse.

Mahaila shook her head as she moved on, she turned to see Ordias Derenge speaking with the Lord Warden. What she observed was probably the most boring conversation she had ever heard.

“Doesn’t that pauldron restrict movement?” the Lord Warden asked as he pointed to the large armoured pauldron on Oridias’s right shoulder.

“To an extent, but Blood Knight formations are tight so they facilitate shield walls more effectively. In loose combat, the loss of flexibility is minimal since our combat style targets the chest primarily.” Ordias replied.

“Ah I see, the Vampire’s largest weakness is their heart.” the Lord Warden said with a nod.

“Well yes it is our largest weakness, but if you crush our heads we would still die. Decapitation would also work. We just need a small portion of our brain to stay connected for us to heal.” Ordias replied.

“Ah so that’s why the manuals strictly state to never aim for the head of a Vampire with an arrow.” the Lord Warden said.

“Yes, a simple arrow would be ineffective an explosive one however,” Ordias said, and the Lord Warden nodded in understanding.

“Enchanted Mithril arrows are expensive, so it would make sense why it was never suggested. Although that has changed recently.” the Lord Warden mused as he crossed his arms his voice trailed off as if he was lost in thought.

“Oh? I didn’t see them being used during the battle.” Ordias said.

“No production hasn’t caught up yet.” the Lord Warden replied with a nod.

“Yet?” Ordias asked with interest.

“The Dwarves do good work. Since we are on the same side, I think I can put you in contact with some of the Dwarves. The Empress has commanded that all aspects of the Empire work together. They will have to put aside all prejudices if they are to follow the royal decree.” the Lord Warden replied with a shrug.

“The Empress has that much power over the minds of the people?” Ordias asked his brows raised in surprise.

“More than you know. She may prefer to wear soft silk gloves, but make no mistake. This empire is run with an iron fist.” the Lord Warden said, and Ordias nodded in understanding.

Mahaila scanned the room and she couldn’t help but agree. Cecilia liked to wear red silk gloves that complemented her black and red dresses. But as she looked around the room and saw the multitude of races all offering their strengths and prowess to their Empress and the Great Beast Mahaila couldn’t help but understand the fear of the angels.

The angels don’t even know that more was to come. The Naga and the Mugummans will be visiting the Empire soon. The visit was nonsense, considering that Serchax had already pledged her support to the Great Beast. The angels had no idea that Eastern Voleria was already in the Great Beast’s pocket.

What’s more, Mahaila just got a message from none other than Nemesis the leader of the Syndicate. It appears she wanted to talk, most likely the Syndicate was ready to throw their lot in with the Great Beast seeing as he managed to get the angels to agree to tolerate the presence of vampires.

If the Syndicate joined the world would be introduced to a completely new brand of chaos. But it wasn’t just the Syndicate that got in touch. Like the diverse attendees at this party, the faction that Mahaila was now in was about to be far more interesting.

As her master always said…

When there is chaos…

The Demons are never far behind…