“Ahem… Father, this is Lance. Beside him are Barak and Balak.”
A few minutes later, everyone was seated on chairs while Elena introduced her father to her friends from the Demonic Continent. Lance had finally been untied after reluctantly agreeing to remain quiet unless spoken to, but that did not reduce the awkwardness in the atmosphere.
“…” Rodius wordlessly looked at the three Demons sitting on the opposite side of the room. He then turned to look at the dark haired man that stood behind them. At some point in time, Nasir had appeared and hung around like Lance’s shadow.
“Are you a Demon as well?” Rodius suddenly asked Nasir.
“I am not. But that is not your business.” Nasir coldly replied and did not look at Rodius. He was still a bit sour about losing to Leon.
“How did you come across them?” Rodius turned back to his daughter and asked. He wanted to know everything he could about these three Demons that Elena had supposedly entrusted with her life in Divinity’s Bout.
“They tried stealing Mica from me, but I beat them up, and they proposed that we work together.” Elena replied.
“Wait, you didn’t beat us up!” Balak protested, but was met with a sharp nudge to his ribs by his brother, followed by a cold glare from Rodius.
“Alright, alright. How about we all cool off with some drinks?” Leon appeared with a smile. After he spoke, drinks were served and placed in front of everyone. He took the lead and took a small sip from his glass, turning to look at the boys in order to urge them to drink.
When they were all busy with sipping their drinks, a sort of calm enveloped the room. Leon sighed in his heart and shook his head.
“Anyway, we have more important matters to discuss.” Leon eventually spoke up. He wanted to address Elena and Rodius’ presence first, but there was something more urgent on his agenda. He turned to Nasir with a questioning look and gestured for him to speak. Earlier, before Leon came to see Elena and Rodius, the man had told Leon that he had something to discuss.
Nasir was confused, as he did not expect the two other guests to be present when he said this piece of news, but with a bit of convincing from Leon, he finally started speaking.
“I received some news from the Demon Continent last night.” He said, looking at Rodius and Elena. “The invasion of the Central Continent will begin in two months.”
“What?!” Rodius exclaimed in shock. This was something he had not expected to hear at all. It was simply out of the blue!
“Oh, well that is bad news.” Leon rubbed his chin, but his reaction was not as explosive as Rodius’. He had already known that the war was on the horizon.
“Bad news indeed.” Nasir said with a pensive expression.
Leon silently eyed the man. The Demons and their guardian had been staying with him for a few days already, and he had noticed that they all lacked a serious loyalty to the Demon Continent. He had yet to ask them any questions about this, but he surely would not leave this topic uncovered. He just felt that the time was not right yet.
“How did you come about this news?” Rodius had calmed down by this time, and looked at Nasir with a serious expression.
“How I came about this news is not important at the moment. What is important is what will be done to stop the invasion. Or at least, repel it.” Nasir said seriously. As he spoke, he felt a mark on his neck below his collar burn. He felt like he was being burnt inside out, but he endured the maddening pain by sheer willpower.
The mark that burned him was something placed on his by Ashtar to ensure that he did not spill any secrets. While it was supposed to be a near instant kill switch, it had slowly lost its effects after Nasir had spent many years working on wearing down the spell. Now, the spell’s effectiveness had been reduced to a mere fraction of what it could do.
Of course, the pain from the burning was still something that would drive any normal person mad, but Nasir was no normal person. And also, by now, Ashtar should have been alerted to Nasir betraying him, and he should expect Nasir to have died from the consequences of betraying him now. His only worry might be Lance, but being the bastard he was, he probably did not care.
While Nasir was suffering from the effects of betraying Ashtar, the fluctuations that the mark was giving off did not escape his eyes. He only ignored it for the time being, but his worry rose with each passing moment as the spell did not shut down. Eventually, he decided to do something about it.
“Nasir, can I see you privately for a moment?” Leon asked and stood from his chair immediately. He did not wait for a reply and simply made his way out of the meeting room and to a separate room. Nasir followed behind him by a few steps.
When they arrived in a room a distance away, Leon shut the door behind Nasir.
“What is that spell on the back of your neck?” He asked the dark haired man with a serious face that brooked no room for argument. He did not like what he saw, and he could tell that Nasir was in extreme pain. Nasir was just very good at hiding that pain.
“I was hoping you would not notice it.” Nasir grimaced. Since Leon had noticed it already, he did not hide it. He pulled down his collar to show off the black spiral tattoo that was on the base of his neck. “This is a curse mark that was placed on my by Lance’s father. The Demon General that led the initial war that was dubbed as the Great Shift. It is meant to ensure my loyalty to him.”