That said, they were hardly a monolith. Numerous night elf factions existed, and the greatest of them served the Izanis family. The Izanis family’s understanding of intelligence and espionage operations outclassed that of all other demons, making them and the night elves a perfect match. They regularly made accommodations to suit the night elves, and so the night elves returned the favor with information.
Recently, another night elf faction had risen to power. One that was heavily influenced by Zilbagias, forming around a man named Sidar. The former prison warden had secured control of the special healing quota that Zilbagias had offered the night elves, and used that authority to start breaking up opposing night elf factions and securing more personnel for himself.
Of course, his rise was met with resistance. Many took offense at the audacity of such a young man vying for leadership within the night elves. Others saw the inherent danger in so many of their men being sworn to the service of Zilbagias and sought to leech some of his momentum.
This maid here was part of that anti-Sidar faction.
“The seventh demon prince has a very close relationship with the leader of the undead, Enma.”
“Sure,” Emergias said. He had to stop himself before making a snide remark about “Zilbagias for quality.”
“What’s that mean?” Jiiria prodded.
It’s a nickname that stuck when he was found to be as lacking in fidelity as my sex-mad older brother.
From Emergias’s perspective, the idea of a former human that was now undead was stomach-churning. He could barely stand even catching sight of someone like that. He had no idea what his younger brother saw in Enma, but that was Zilbagias for you.
“For some time now, the seventh prince has been seen visiting Enma’s underground palace. But once the autonomous zone was established, they also began communicating in writing.”
“In writing?”
“Yes, Your Highness. He always burns the messages after reading them, so we are not privy to their contents. However, shortly after sunset on the day of the fiend attack, he received one of those letters. He then raced through his meal and immediately left the castle...or so the rumor circling among the beastfolk goes.”
Night elves were tight-lipped folk. Being so skilled in espionage themselves, only those of them that were especially thick could be expected to leak any information. But the beastfolk and the dragons were a different story. They loved to gossip, so anything they weren’t strictly forbidden from discussing quickly became a topic for conversation. Everyday details, the behavior of their masters, who was meeting where—the night elves were able to gather all sorts of intel just from keeping their long, pointed ears to the ground. And this time, they had stumbled upon something rather intriguing.
Emergias was starting to see why Hisuizia felt this was worth reporting. They said he flew back to Evaloti as if he had known about the attack. But what if he actually had known?
“Speaking of which...there’s also Fort Aurora. Father...”
The Demon King had contracted the Corvut family to reconstruct the fortress. Emergias’s teeth started to grind. Aiogias had asked the king what it was for, but the only answer he’d gotten was “something for the good of the kingdom.” Spinezia had also approached Zilbagias about it directly, and she had been told it was for highly confidential research into something of royal interest.
“Spinezia said that Zilbagias asked her for a small magical tool,” Emergias murmured to himself.
“A magical tool?” Hisuizia echoed.
“Yes. He wanted something to make a barrier to stop all magical interference. He said it was for a personal experiment...” It was clear Zilbagias was engaged in some sort of research. “He also said that Topazia and Daiagias weren’t involved. At this point, that appears to be true.”
Emergias scowled. But what if it wasn’t Rubifya’s faction they needed to worry about? What if Zilbagias was siding with the undead?
The demonic kingdom saw the undead as convenient tools to use as they saw fit—from skeletons as simple laborers to the tireless bone horses used for shipping goods and transportation. As repulsive as they were, their vast utility meant many demons were willing to put up with them. That included Emergias himself.
There was a good chance that these undead tools would continue to spread throughout the kingdom. And though he had no idea how they’d go about it...what if undead were capable of long-distance communication?
“Hypothetically speaking, how fast could we get a message from here to Evaloti?” Emergias asked.
“Four hours. It would require a particularly strong dragon and someone particularly powerful to use wind magic to accelerate them,” Hisuizia replied, face clouding over.
She and Emergias shared a look. They both understood the clear and present danger here. It would take the best of the best within the Izanis family four hours to send that message. Yet Zilbagias had responded to the fiend’s attack almost instantly.
Were they trying to develop a new form of communication? He couldn’t stand idly by while they did. It shouldn’t even have been possible.
The demonic kingdom had entrusted communication duties to the Izanis family! That of course included not just communication across the field of battle during conflict, but also between cities and from the castle to the front lines of the war. All of that work was done by the Izanis messengers and their dragons. People often mocked them, calling them “messenger boys.” But the higher level demons understood the critical role the Izanis family played. And they were proud to serve as the eyes and ears of the kingdom.
But what would happen if that role was snatched right from under them? And by the undead, no less! And to make matters worse, by him!
“Zilbagias...!”
The image of his younger brother’s victoriously smug smile rose to the back of his mind. Emergias had to be overthinking things. After all, Zilbagias was only six years old. This should have been a matter he could simply laugh off. But ironically enough, Emergias had the utmost trust in his little brother’s competence. He wasn’t so optimistic as to think he could just laugh this off.
That was why he was so jealous. That was why he hated him so much. Why had he been so blessed? It was like he had been backed by the gods themselves. No, not just the gods. Even his parents showered him with love.
Muddy black emotion started oozing from Emergias’s soul. Overwhelmed by the torrent of magic, the night elf maid choked, dropping to her knees.
“Good, Emergias, good! You look absolutely wonderful!” The Devil of Envy laughed. “That is jealousy you feel, yes? Feeling ssso envious that it’s gnawing at you, killing you? Then let’s sssnatch everything from him!” she whispered into his ear. “We’ll take it all for ourselves. His research, his exploits...his power.”
Emergias didn’t say a word. But despite his silence, a pitch-black fire burned in his serpentine eyes.
†††
At Fort Aurora.
“How does it feel?”
“Not bad at all!”
“Honestly, it feels way better!” Two silver swordsmen answered as they swung their blades about. Though it appeared as though Barbara and Hessel were clad in silver armor, in actuality they were now possessing bodies made from my flesh and Layla’s scales.
“Looks like the new bodies are doing the trick.” Taking a moment to step out of her study and observe, Claire watched with a smile as the two Swordmasters moved around with such ease.