Chapter 888 Chapter 887: Making Some Decisions
"Well damn, this changes things even more doesn't it? Not just one Fiend, but two of them? Of differing domains and unknown strengths, with who knows what goals in mind for this Dungeon, connections to Gods know who..."
Satanya's sigh as she lounged at the edge of the pit, tapping the tip of her longsword against the dirt and tracing out runes before looking up at the rest of us, gauging our reactions to Cali's information and trying to figure out what we should do going forwards, though...
"We should remain, even with the revelation that there are now two Fiends here. There are too many materials to gather, too many monsters waiting to be killed and used for our gain. Too much we can learn about our strengths, our weaknesses... And with an Arch Fiend acting as a guard for us all, we can rest easy that if we do run into them, we can deal with them."
The Demons all nodded their heads and continued to think on it, while Cali - the guard in question - glared at Leone and asked "Now why should I want to act as a guard this ENTIRE time?! None of you show any sort of gratitude to me that would earn that sort of privilege! Hmph!"
Crossing her arms over her over abundant chest, Cali floated around and looked away from us all, with Satanya looking towards me as she asked "What sort of 'gratitude' does the sex doll want exactly, Kat? She's your responsibility, no?"
The Arch Fiend sneered as she glanced at Satanya, before cocking her head back proudly as I said "She's still a 'person', Satanya, even if she is a Fiend. And no, she is not my 'responsibility' since she isn't a pet of some kind. We're... mutually bonded together, I guess. Partners of a sort."
"Doesn't change the fact that she's a damn Fiend."
"Watch your tongue, whelp, lest I tear it out and choke you with it."
Satanya glared at the pink skinned Fiend in front of her, while Cali's lip curled into a snarl as she inched ever closer to the Demoness, only to begin to raise her hand and shroud a finger in that all too powerful and familiar mana, which made me step forwards and glare at them both.
"Cali, don't even think about it! Satanya, don't try to fight someone that's nearly a hundred times stronger than yourself!"
They both froze as I stood over them, and Cali let out a soft growl as she turned away and began to float to a different side of the room, grumbling to herself as she continued to make her displeasure known.
Looking down at Satanya, who was grimacing slightly as she avoided looking at me, I sighed before pointing my finger at her, deciding that scolding her would get it through her thick, horned skull better than just a simple explanation.
"I don't know what the hell your problem is, but try not to pick a fight with the being that's lived for as long as your entire CLAN has existed perhaps?! Try not to pick a fight with something that could easily turn you into a mangled corpse inside this pit?! Is that something you can do?!"
"Why should I?! It's her kinds fault that-!"
"But it isn't hers! So don't be a dumbass and keep that to yourself. She's here helping us, got that? Besides, what happened has already happened, so move forwards and do something about it if you want, but only when you really can do something. Got that?"
The red skinned Demoness just glared at me before letting out a huff, remaining quiet as she sat there and withstood my glare, eventually turning away as I continued to stare at her and ensure she understood I was being serious.
"Alright, so any objections to wanting to leave?"
Looking around at the assembled Demons, I got no objections at all, with most of them alternating glances between me, Satanya, and Cali, who was still floating around and sulking as she languidly moved around the building, keeping to herself now.
"Now that we know there are two Fiends here, we should probably prioritize getting our gear upgraded as soon as possible, which means not only prioritizing minerals over other materials, but also..."
I looked towards Anput, who just blinked as all attention was redirected on her, everyone now focusing on my new line of dialogue instead of what was previously spoken, which was what I wanted at this moment.
"That means you need to forge it. The Begum, anyways. Our materials. Her skills. New creations... Is that what you are insinuating? We need to understand the reward split and ensure we are keeping to our side of the deal?"
Ammit was the one who spoke, and I nodded as I said "Since it is your materials and her skills, yes, that is what needs to happen. As for the fee that should be there for forging and maintaining new gear, well... we are in a desperate situation, no? So we should be forgoing such things, but..."
"A larger cut going towards you and your party, in exchange for your services. The enchanting. The forging. It... is fair. Understandable. Irritating. However, like you said, we are in a desperate situation. Two Fiends. Monsters."
The Cimeriesa pursed her lips as she looked towards Satanya, who was still sitting glumly on the edge of the pit staring at her longsword, though as if she sensed the unique gaze of her fellow Demoness, she looked up and nodded.
"Fine. We need to work together and all that, I guess. We need to employ your services to ensure we overcome this obstacle and improve ourselves. The experience we gain here is worth the price we'll pay..."
I could tell she was still mulling over the 'argument' we had, causing me to sigh as I just turned and looked towards Anput again, who shrugged as she said "I can do it, but it'll take time. Obviously. The prep work can be shorted with their help, and the minor things can too, but forging well over a dozen different and unique pieces of armor, all those weapons... its gonna take a lot of time, Kat. That's gonna cut into our allotted timeframe by a good bit."
That made me nod and rub my jaw, before I turned towards Jahi and sought out a second opinion, which she provided quickly as soon as she saw me seek her out.
"Then I think we should strike a middle ground, no? Let's take the next day, day and a half to harvest as much ore as we can, as many bones as we can, before heading back to Custodia. Check in with Mary and the humans, and have someone travel back to the Empire to send word to them. It's about a days ride to and from, right? That's enough time to get our gear forged and prepared, and enough time to at least let them know what's happening. This Dungeon is large, and while I would love to continue to believe we can clear it out ourselves, I just... don't think that's feasible, so..."
We all sighed, the slight greed we all held getting hurt by that realization, but it was assuaged when Satanya added "Even if they send over a large amount of people, the splits will still be more than enough for us all. If anything, they'll just occupy the upper layers and begin working their way down after clearing each grotto entirely, so we'll have time to delve deep and search for the good stuff ourselves."
With a clear plan now in place, and everything feeling slightly smoother between everyone now that our focus had shifted again, we got up and gave the building another look over before heading back towards the base, where we would begin acting on our plan.
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