Chapter 355: McEnda’s ‘Predicament’
"Oh, you’re not a little girl? My apologies. It’s just that your maturity seems to be playing hide and seek, and unfortunately; it’s winning.
Silence pervaded the area after Arthur spoke, and from the way the woman stared blankly at him, it seemed even she did not anticipate that follow-up.
However, her blank expression rapidly changed in the second that followed.
If she was just messing around before, she was genuinely pissed off now.
The demons around her quickly jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid being blown away by the aura that suddenly burst out from her body, cratering the reinforced concrete floor she stood on.
The pressure she emitted was enough to make even some Sovereign Demons sweat. The ambient temperature rapidly dropped by the second, and those closest to her could see thin layers of ice building up on their fingertips.
In response, Arthur flared his own aura as well, dumbfounding the demons as they didn’t understand how this unknown Inferior Legendary kid dared to go up against a Superior stage.
The woman held up her hand and ice elemental energy coalesced, forming a sword of frost while Arthur motioned to summon Celestia.
Just when everyone thought a fight was about to break out, McEnda’s voice rang out.
"What in tarna-! Sigesi?! Why are you here?!"
As if her previous anger was all a lie, the woman’s expression turned blank and her aura was retracted into her body.
She took a ’step’ forward, and she was suddenly standing in front of McEnda, holding a single sheet of paper that had a long list of items written on both sides.
"Greetings, General.
Answering your question, I was informed that a certain General who left the recently acquired territories to his subordinates and disappeared, ignoring the mountain of paperwork on his desk was supposed to be here so I came to meet him."
The woman whom McEnda referred to as ’Sigesi’, replied in a clear voice as she looked up at the Archdemon with a blank expression.
"Right...paperwork...I wonder who that General is..."
"Indeed. I also wonder who they are, General McEnda. I wonder who."
McEnda looked towards Alvey with pleading eyes but the other General silently looked away from his friend, muttering something about him ’not wanting to get involved’.
Left for dead by the person he was banking on for help, McEnda racked his head on how to escape his current predicament.
"Ah! Yes, I sensed your aura earlier! Were you trying to pick a fight with someone again?"
Sigesi tapped her foot on the floor, sending in a stream of earth law energy that remoulded the ground she had cratered a few moments earlier, returning it to normal.
She then tilted her head to the side with an expression that seemed to be ’genuine confusion’ and asked.
"What are you talking about, General?"
Even Arthur whom she had been trying to pick a fight with couldn’t help but admire how quickly she changed expressions.
Unfortunately for her, McEnda wasn’t going to let go of his advantage.
"I’m talking about your earlier actions. If I recall correctly, they just so happen to be a clear violation of my orders."
His words made Sigesi turn her face to the side and click her tongue before returning her gaze to McEnda.
"Violation of Orders? That’s a serious offence, General. I wonder who’d dare to do that."
She quickly retracted the hand holding out the list to him and stuffed the paper in her pocket at lightning speed.
The other demons who were present all looked at this scene with familiar eyes, not showing surprise at the interaction between the two despite the rank difference.
"Leave those two, they’d sort themselves out.
Come with me."
Alvey called Arthur to follow him, and the teenager only shrugged his shoulders and moved into the building along with the other demon.
"First of all, I’d like you to meet our designers so you can have a uniform tailored for you."
"Uniform?"
"Even if ’tentatively’, if you’re going to be with us, it’d be better if you’re dressed in the same way to avoid any issues."
The man flipped through the folder in his hands and gave Arthur two papers from it. On them, were the printed top and bottom designs for the Demon Army’s official uniform that all commissioned officers wore.
"No matter how I look at it, you’re enlisting me in your Army.
I recall stating that I was going to check the other side of the war out first."
Arthur spoke without care for whatever thoughts that the other demons who were trailing behind the two thought, and Alvey only afforded them a side glance as he replied.
"When you’re going to do that, you’d temporarily hand our uniform back to us."
"Temporarily?"
"I’m fairly confident you’d eventually return."
Alvey calmly spoke as he marked a few things off the checklist he was holding, while Arthur scanned the uniform designs and asked a question.
"Is this about the Duskhand Bastille?"
When he said the name of that place, the boy momentarily glanced at the demons behind him and he noticed that everyone who held a General rank reacted with frowns on their faces.
’So, there IS something off about that place...I’m curious.’
As if Alvey could read his thoughts, the man replied.
"Keep your curiosity at bay until it’s actually time for you to go there."
The two went up some stairs, entered an elevator and eventually reached a large conference room with the other demons trailing behind them.
It was then that Alvey called out to some non-commissioned officers nearby and had them show Arthur to the guest quarters.
Alvey then entered the conference room with the other demons, moving straight to the head of the table and taking a seat there.
"Be seated."
With his words, the other Demon Generals (Brigadier, Major and Lieutenant) took their seats, in order of ranking with the higher-ranked ones seated closer to Alvey.
The General snapped his fingers and a bunch of folders appeared on the desk in front of him, which were then picked up by a Warrant Officer and shared with the others in the room.
When he confirmed everyone had a copy, Alvey picked his up and began speaking.
"Now then, shall we begin the briefing of the Triton Ark Operation."
