Chapter 563: An incompetent ally is worse than a cunning enemy (part 1)
The moment Agrak sat down, the meeting which was interrupted by his sudden appearance, continued.
"Leaving this brat aside, you said that you had a deal for us, Lord Dian, let's listen to it", casually said the smooth guy at the right seat.
Speaking of which, the "brother White" to whom those guys referred, looked around 50% to 60% like a younger version of Arlion, before he somehow possessed Terry of course, the difference is that this guy had the blue-white hair that Terry obtained after his lineage was boosted by Arlion as a preparation to steal his body.
Daimon whose point of view was the same as Agrak, tried to evaluate the guy in front of him, which he could suppose was the one currently occupying Arlion's original body, unfortunately, besides the fact that he could tell that everyone in this room was stronger than anyone he had previously met, there was nothing else he could discern.
"As I was saying before this small "interruption" happened, this war has prolonged more than what it should, aren't we all busy people from our respective Stellar Kingdoms, none of us has time to lose on a boring stalemate in a faraway trash level galaxy, right?", said Dian.
"Humph, do you think we would have bothered to keep fighting with your Northen Sea Kingdom out of mere pettiness, of course this is a mission that was given to us so we can't return before we fulfill it, unless we are ready to be demoted from our recently assigned role", exclaimed the black bone armored Nethereal.
"I see, perhaps if Lord Bane could be more specific, even I'm only the fourth in command, I still have access to the records of the inventory, maybe I could lend you a hand with that, with the correct price of course", added Dian.
"Do you think we wouldn't have obtained what we needed at this point if it was on your side's inventory, the information we got was wrong all along", added the smooth guy on the right.
For the first time, Dian slightly frowned, he tried to make the three leading Nethereals speak, but he failed to take the initiative, from the very beginning he was the one that came to make a deal with them, so he could only take a passive stance and ask.
"I see… in that case, what do you need from me and what can you offer in return?".
This time the one to speak was the tall and muscly Netheral in red battle armor who occupied the seat in the middle.
"If brother White came to us to offer a deal, I believe that the displease towards the current situation had created conflict on your side, right, let's make it like this, we'll help you get rid of the three "obstacles" in your way to become the sole general of the Northern Sea's army and in exchange we get to keep the corpses so we can exchange them for war merits to keep our ranks, of course we'll doe the same for you, you can keep the corpses of all the commoners we created for this war, I think that will be enough for you to be welcomed back as a hero", he said.
Dian's eyes glowed for a second, he has wanted to leave this miserable place for quite some time, but the three commanders firmly refused to leave until they had made sure that the Nethereals can't chase after them.
Without them knowing, he has gathered followers who are also tired of the current situation, but even then, he didn't dare to raise his voice, but if the only three guys whose authority was undoubtedly higher than his were to be removed, then he is sure that he can deal with the others at a similar level.
As for whether he'll be questioned by the higher ups at his return, he doesn't know the true motive of all this conflict as he isn't a commander, so he can always put the blame on the dead and fabricate a story that makes him a hero.
It's a better outcome than what he expected, since he didn't have to use his personal riches to settle the deal with the Nethereals, of course he still said.
"Deal, however I want a contract to make sure no "accidents" happen, you know just a formality".
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"Sure, as a sing of goodwill we'll use a contract provided by you", said the Nethereal in the middle and with those words and a short discussion later, the deal was closed and Dian was ready to leave.
"Agrak, since you want to sit with the adults, be useful and help our new ally to safely return to his base", said the black bone armored Nethereal, which made Agrak's face sour on the spot.
"Coming is the safe part it can be brushed off as scouting, but returning from the enemy base is dangerous, if others see me, I'll be dead meat, Andor you bastard are you that eager to see my corpse!", exclaimed Agrak.
Unfortunately, this decision was agreed up by the three leaders, since Agrak insisted on messing with them, they will teach him a lesson by making him suffer, just enough so that he doesn't get in their way in the future, of course they won't kill him since he has some backing back at their kingdom.
"You haven't fought in the frontline even once during this whole war, if you want to get your share of the merits, you have to contribute, you can either participate in the incoming last battle or do this little goodwill mission on our behalf, your choice", said the Nethereal in the middle.
Agrak gritted his teeth but ultimately, he chose to guide the new "ally" back, since he didn't want to die during the last battle and become a laughing stock, he knew that the three leaders took the risk once, to open a path for Dian to come see them, so now it was his turn, that is if he wanted a piece of the cake.
"Fine I'll do it… just remember that if something happens to me under the watch of war experts like you three, the one to die will be you, Balax", after saying those words, Agrak stood up and guided Dian out of the room, which made Daimon click his tongue, the three leaders weren't leaving yet, so they would for sure be discussing something important in a moment, unfortunately Agrak was leaving already.
But then to his surprise, the scenery didn't change, he was still inside the meeting room, the problem is that nothing was happening, it was as if time had stopped but he knew that wasn't the case, the memory was still ongoing.
'Pause', with a single thought, the memory stopped, Daimon then walked towards the door and casually bypassed it, he couldn't interact with the objects here, it was as if he was a ghost of some kind.
At the other side of the door, he saw that Agrak was leaning against the wall, he had a stupid smug expression on his face, Daimon allowed the memory to continue just to hear Agrak saying.
"I hope brother White doesn't mind to wait a bit, I need to adjust my mentality before we leave".
Dian didn't seem to care, he just casually nodded and then, a voice echoed in Daimon's ear the next second.
"That idiot is getting more annoying, trying to obtain gains in the middle of a war, that's why those damn Belliels aren't given much military authority no matter how much "donations" they make", the smooth guy's voice was the first.
Daimon once again paused the memory, he bypassed the door and found himself back in the meeting room, only then he allowed the memory to go on.
"I told you to give me the chance to use him for my new "project" Balax, but you refused and look, he just threatened you blatantly, you deserve it", aggressively said the black bone armored Nethereal at the left.
"Enough, we are at the end of the rope already, the intel only said that what we need is in the hands of those guys, unfortunately the informer didn't know that the shark bastard had already taken a step into the next realm and now I can only fight him thanks to the treasure given to me by the envoys, however "that" won't last forever, at most I'll be able to use it two or three times and that will be it, so it's now or never, we have to kill him during our next battle, the other two won't be able to hold against the three of us", the red armored Nethereal said with a solemn voice.
"Fine, knowing that guy, what we need won't be on him since he is always standing on the frontline, so he won't suspect anything if we focus on him", added the black bone armored Nethereal.
"Whatever, if it comes to the worst, you can just use that Belliel brat as fuel for that thing", casually said the smooth guy on the right.
And with that, the scenery in the meeting room turned into darkness, Daimon paused the memory and then left the now darkness that used to be the meeting room, just to see Agrak's angered frozen expression.
'I see, this guy somehow managed to spy onto those three, which is why the "scene" inside the meeting room was available for me to watch, it was his mental image of the conversation that he could hear', concluded Daimon.
His point of view wasn't only Agrak's one, he couldn't listen to his thoughts, but he could hear what he heard and see what he saw, Agrak only heard the previous conversation, but he imagined it and the result was combined and presented to Daimon as a whole.
Daimon could feel that the next would be really important, so he immediately allowed the memory to keep playing and just as he expected, Agrak who was boiling of anger due to the insulting comments of the three leading Nethereals, hurried to leave this place with Dian following him.
'Heh, so that's why that guy couldn't stand being looked down by others', thought Daimon, he couldn't hear Agrak's thoughts and none of them said anything for quite some time, so it was a boring trip out of whatever this place was, until they reached a giant black door.
"This is the emergency exit, a route that no one besides the three commanders and me, know about, this should be the safest route, but it is also the longest, I have some things I would like to discuss with brother White, I wonder if that would be possible?", said Agrak.
Dian slightly raised his right eyebrow, but he still nodded as he took out a pair of black mantles from his storage ring.
"Sure, I'm all ears".
Under Daimon's curious gaze, the door opened and those two passed through it, the scene at the other side, made Daimon chuckle, this place turned out to be an island, moreover, the gate from which they came out, actually belonged to some kind of spaceship, a really big spaceship.
'What the hell, the fortresses are already massive enough, but this thing is around ten times bigger', thought Daimon.
With enough energy, the Demon Fortress which Daimon obtained can produce the same power as a Maximum Stellar ranked, even if it is just in terms of offensive and speed, Daimon has learned about magic blacksmithing from Liz, the technology and energy needed to emulate the power of a mage or knight is higher than the realm it emulates, that is one of the fundamental laws of magic technology.
The previous is the reason as to why, the only magic treasure in Neptune that could rival a Maximum Stellar rank, used to be the Flying Citadel, even the legacy treasures used by the other powerhouses like Vincent and even Abaris were at most high Stellar grade things, otherwise Abaris wouldn't have done everything within his power to obtain the fortress, just for it to be snatched by Daimon.
'I guess this is one of the "flagships" mentioned by Ophelia, perhaps this is the one she destroyed…', wondered Daimon, anyway he saw those two soaring into the air so he followed directly, now he knew that the corridor from which he arrived at Neptune, was probably a leftover piece of one of these spaceships.
At the sky, Agrak finally couldn't hold back his inner thoughts.
"Brother White must be feeling quite frustrated, not knowing the goal of your "allies", is quite worrying, don't you agree?", he said with a tempting voice.
As expected, Dian's attention was caught on the spot, the three leading Nethereals didn't tell him about their goal, despite the contract saying that they couldn't kill him, at their level there were ways to exploit flaws on said contract, so the two parties were way of each other, but now a third party seemed to be willing to make a deal with him.
"It seems like Lord Belliel is a much better negotiator than the three commanders, but before we continue, what is the price for your cooperation?", asked Dian.
"Oh, nothing much, you probably already know that my Belliel family is tied to "greed", so I'll stick to my virtues and ask for some mere material possessions, let's say the storage ring from one of the three leaders on your side, you can decide who'll be the lucky winner for all I care, I only need to obtain it, ah right, I heard that the White Disaster race is specially skilled in curses, a rare subject even un our kingdom, so how about adding a tome of your choice", said Agrak.
Dian frowned, Daimon didn't need to read his mind to know that he was cursing Agrak for being a greedy bastard, but at the same time he who has personally clashed against Agrak, knew that the Nethereal liked to play as a smart guy, still he waited for the deal to be formalized before forming his conclusion.
After a moment of hesitation, Dian nodded in response.
"Fine, it can be done, but only if you know what those three are planning and before I can see it with my own eyes, you'll only get half of the payment", he said as he took out a book from his ring.
Agrak casually laughed before saying.
"No problem, I'm more reliable than those bastards, what I seek are only material possessions so as long as you give me benefits, there is no need for me to play tricks, in fact you should be wary of those three instead, specially from Balax and Bane, those guy's families focus on death and violence after all".
Before Dian could say anything, Agrak continued.
"They want something from the corpse of the Prison Megalodon guardian, as a proof of it, I can assure you that they will completely focus on him on the next battle, they tricked you by saying that they wanted the corpses of those three to exchange for merits, it was done to divert your attention".
Listening to Agrak's words, a cold light flashed through Dian's eyes, if that was the case, then those three were truly trying to play him like a fool.
Of course, Agrak struck while the iron was hot.
"However I'm different, like I said I only care about material possessions, if you give me treasures, I'll gladly be your ally, you saw how they treat me earlier and I'm even giving you the choice of whose ring you'll give me as a sign of goodwill, in the next battle, help me get rid of one of those three so I can take his place, in exchange, we can cooperate and make both of our enemies to wear each other out, so we can be the final winners".
Dian was moved by Agrak's words, compared to dealing with someone whose status was higher than his, he would prefer to deal with Agrak, who was on a similar level as him, moreover, what Agrak said made total sense, if someone on his side had a priceless treasure, that would be the strongest of them, and Agrak even gave him the chance to choose with what to pay him, it was as he said a really big sign of goodwill.
"Very well, this cooperation between brother Belliel and me, sounds like a better idea, that book is one of the curse grimoires of my White family, as for the ring, I hope brother Belliel can be satisfied with the one from the third ranked on my side, I have to chance to get the rings of the other two after all".
Agrak warmly smiled as he nodded.
"Sure, I gladly accept it, don't worry, we Belliels don't sell what we obtain to others, but collect it, your grimoire with be a masterpiece among my personal collection".
Listening to the blatant bullshit spoken by Agrak, Daimon had to pause the memory since he couldn't take it anymore, after a couple of seconds, he could only smirk.
Unlike Dian, he knew that Agrak's focus wasn't exactly "greed", what he wanted were "corrupted gains", in other words, being allies with him was a bad idea, just look at Dian, he was tricked by Agrak's words.
Those three were going to focus on the Prison Megalodon, but not because they wanted but because they needed to get rid of him, in order to capture the other two leaders of the Northern Sea's army, what they wanted was for sure with them after all.
So Agrak used that to trick Dian, he didn't directly ask for a specific ring, he didn't know who of the remaining two leaders had the thing that was making those three go crazy, so he left the decision to Dian, which earned him the thrust from the White Disaster shark guy.
Even if he couldn't get what those three wanted through this deal, he would get to know who had said thing, at that point he could plan how to obtain it, the initiative would ultimately belong to him regardless of the result, so he truly had nothing to lose but everything to win.
Daimon was sure that's what that idiot of Agrak was thinking, but since he knew final result of all this, his plan clearly didn't go as he planned, as to why, he was about to obtain the answer to that, since they were about to arrive at another island, after flying for about five hours.