" Explain to me the circumstances surrounding your dual identity and how you lied on the system contract? " Hades demanded as his first question as he caught Max off-guard.
Of all the questions that Max could answer cleverly, this was one such question where proving his innocence was tricky.
He had deliberately evaded the system contract with the intention of keeping everyone in the dark about his true identity.
Now, spinning the story any other way was going to be difficult, while conveying the truth would potray him as a conman who was untrustworthy.
" Mind you, if you lie, I don't even need a lie detector, the queen shall judge your words and let me know " Hades warned as he made it clear to Max that he did not need any truth orbs to determine the authenticity of the information that Max was going to provide and that lying was absolutely not an option.
" I bypassed the system contract because of a special artefact gifted to me by the angels.
My brother was a powerful man and while he was still alive, his enemies did not dare raise their heads against him, but after his death, there were many who wished to settle a score with his family.
The identity of ' Max Rajput ' was as big of a curse as it was a boon and the Angels understood my peril.
I did not lie when I say that I am Ravan Bloodfall, because my real gaming name is indeed Ravan just like my brother's gaming name is Shakuni.
However, keeping the image of Ravan separate from that of Max helped me avoid a lot of unnecessary troubles and gave me a clean slate in life to build my own reputation separate from the shadow of my brother.
No matter how great Max Rajput becomes, he will never reach the heights of Shakuni.
However, Ravan can…. " Max said with conviction as he carefully avoided stating the true reason behind his dual identity while also giving the audience a believable reason behind his intentions.
The queen did not object to Max's statements because it wasn't technically a lie.
Max did feel at times that his achievements as Max Rajput were always measured with Shakuni's achievements as the measuring stick.
With his brother as the frame of reference, greatness was basically expected of Max and some of his legendary feats were hence downplayed in public minds because they expected him to be stronger than most.
Hence with the essence of bending the truth behind his story and depicting it with maximum emotion like a true diplomat, Max danced around the gist of the question and delivered a sad story that everyone could relate to, successfully generating sympathy for himself.
" The angels helped you? So is it safe to say that the angels interfered in the internal politics of the vampire society? " Hades asked in a sharp tone as he once again put Max in a tough spot.
If Max disagreed to the statement, he would seem dishonest, however, if he agreed then he would generate sympathy for Regus Aurelius and give an impression that there were foreign powers influencing the internal politics of vampire society.
" I don't think so, the angel in question, did what she did because of a personal connection to me.
I don't think it represents the political interests of the angels as an organisation or the individuals willingness to interfere in vampire politics " Max said as he yet again gave a shady answer to Hades's question tip toeing the line between truth and lie using fancy words.
" Very well…. " Hades said as he seemed to be satisfied with Max's answer and began scribbling on a paper placed on his desk as he seemed to be taking note of the statements made in the proceedings.
After a while, he looked up and made eye contact with Regus as he said " You have stated that Max Rajput is a primordial vampire, and a threat to vampire society.
Can you elaborate on how did you reach the conclusion about his race? and how did you determine him to be a threat? "
Hades cut no corners in trying to understand the case as he gave Regus just as tough of a question as he presented to Max.
Just like Max, Regus too was a veteran politician and was unfazed by such questions as he had a convincing like of reasoning ready for the question.
" The history books in vampire archives describe primordial vampires as ' Masters of Blood '
They have a bloodline ability capable of manipulating blood itself and when they are surrounded by a bloody battlefield they turn into invincible warriors.
The history books suggest that primordial vampires could heal any damage inflicted to their bodies by absorbing blood and also replenish their stamina faster.
In ideal conditions they turned into unstoppable beast capable of defeating warriors several tiers above their own.
They were bloodthirsty vampires who lost their minds and became beasts when their satiety fell below a threshold and they were no different from barbarians during the ancient times.
Kin killed kin, food was hunted and eaten alive and in general, war was always their main agenda.
There were hardly any skilled labour amongst them and those that were, would mostly be involved in industries surrounding war such as blacksmithing or alchemists.
They were a primitive species that were superseded by the modern vampires through sheer number and evolutionary strength that taught us to band together and rise over our base senses, however, before the last vampire king was dethroned, he made a prophecy that the extinct primordial vampires would one day make their return and bring chaos and ruin to vampire society.
Since the main class of the previous king was a ' Prophet ' his warning became a popular folklore in vampire society and there are many, including myself, who believe in his dying words.
During the Dimensional War, the demons allegedly claimed that Max was a primordial vampire and when I learnt about this fact, I acted out of self-preservation and in the best interest of the kingdom and imprisoned him at once.
His contributions to the society are undeniable and as of now he has not double-crossed anyone.
Yet, to me it seems like his intention is to one day backstab me, which is a great source of concern for me. " Regus said as he expertly answered Hades's question.
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