Chapter 176: Enclave Demands.
"Summon me."
Nyssara smiled and the room became colder.
Lucian looked at Vivienne and for the first time in his life, he saw her eyes shine with... excitement.
A cold, violent, almost hungry light appeared in them.
Lucian could see it, the part of Vivienne that did not wish to merely teach battle, the part that... desired it.
The part that looked at an Archdemon who wished to descend into the world and instead of thinking of danger first, it thought of the possible fight she could offer.
How strong would she be?
Would she actually be able to defeat her?
Or would she be the same as others?
Vivienne’s mind rushed with excitement, then, the very next second, a few bloodied images appeared in her head and—
The excitement in her eyes died.
Lucian narrowed his eyes at that.
He recognised it.
Red Quiet.
Only far, far more refined than the version he used.
Lucian saw Vivienne’s eyes returning to normal and—
"No."
She spoke with the same coldness.
"No?"
Nyssara looked amused.
"I have no reason to."
"Afraid?"
Vivienne’s expression remained bored.
"I know I would win.
Proving the obvious would be pointless."
Nyssara laughed again.
This time, even the purple flames behind her seemed to dance with it.
"Arrogant to the end, huh?"
"I have no reason not to be."
"Summon me, I’ll give you a reason."
"You talk an awful lot for someone who’s begging for help."
Vivienne shrugged.
The smile on Nyssara’s face deepened as well.
For a moment, the two women only stared at each other.
One standing in the human world.
The other beyond the mirror, surrounded by violet fire.
The room felt too small for both of them.
The others in the room, including the two Seats, seemed small in their presence.
In the end, Nyssara just chuckled, her eyes finally moving away from Vivienne and falling on Lucian.
Lucian reacted to her gaze. Nyssara studied him from head to toe, showing clear interest. The amusement on her face shifted into something deeper, curiosity, recognition, and perhaps...
Hunger.
That made Lucian narrow his eyes a little. Nyssara acted like she didn’t notice that.
"So..."
She just smiled.
"This is the troublesome little thing we are here for."
"We are here because of Vaelrith, not him."
Vivienne corrected.
"Of course."
Nyssara nodded, though her eyes remained on Lucian.
That was when the Concord Seat spoke up—
"Archdemon Nyssara of House Vesperis, Velvet Adjudicator of the Court of Desire, the Enclave recognizes your presence through the Accord Mirror."
He spoke in a controlled, formal tone.
The initial greetings were over, it was now time to start the meeting formally.
Nyssara’s gaze lingered on Lucian for another second, then, she turned her attention towards Severin and smiled beautifully.
"And the Court of Desire recognizes the Enclave’s invitation."
The purple flames behind her rose.
"Then let’s proceed."
Severin nodded.
"Of course."
Nyssara nodded back.
Marcelline Voss placed a black file on the table.
Severin placed three fingers on the file, then formed a pattern. The next second, the file glowed and the projection of its pages started hovering in the air.
"Vaelrith’s actions have crossed restraint boundaries twice."
He began.
"The first incident occurred on the day of Evelyn Starling’s rehearsal. His subordinates hired packless young werewolves and they transformed in front of thousands of civilians. There was fire, gunfire, panic, and public recording attempts from multiple angles."
Lucian narrowed his eyes as he remembered that day.
That was the first time Vaelrith had attacked openly.
"The cleanup required emergency witness separation, mass media redirection, police influence, and fabricated publicity damage. Because panic had already spread too far, the Cleaner Seat was forced to settle on the explanation of a failed movie promotion.
And because that lie is now public, the Enclave is being forced to produce an actual werewolf-themed film within the month to keep the cover stable."
Lucian blinked.
Even he did not know about that.
To think they were actually making a movie.
"The cost of that cover has already crossed hundreds of millions."
Severin spoke with a serious look on his face.
"How creative~"
Nyssara chuckled.
"It’s expensive."
Marcelline spoke coldly.
Severin then pressed on another document hovering in the air.
"The second incident occurred about ten hours ago. A popular television studio was attacked, hundreds of demonic Hosts entered the structure in coordinated waves. The number of witnesses remains unclear. The number of public casualties is still being confirmed."
Lucian’s eyes moved to Severin.
He did not fail to notice the word ’public casualties’.
Not casualties, not the people who died, but the people whose deaths created a public problem. That was all these people here cared about.
It was outright disgusting.
However, he did not react to any of it.
This was something he needed to get used to, this was the type of world he was in now and he knew it well.
Nyssara watched him from the mirror, no one knew what she was thinking.
Severin, on the other hand, continued further.
"A protected civilian target was nearly taken, a public studio became a battlefield, emergency services were involved. Footage had to be seized, witnesses had to be isolated, public records had to be rewritten.
The secrecy balance was damaged."
He then closed the file, all the pages hovering in the air disappearing.
"This report contains the current damage estimate."
"How thorough."
Nyssara’s smile did not change.
It was quite annoying to see her act like none of this concerned her.
Severin did not show that, instead—
"The Court of Desire will reimburse the resources spent on containing Vaelrith’s excesses."
He spoke directly and for the first time, Nyssara’s smile paused for a slight second. Then, however, it quickly returned and—
"Will we?"
She asked with a playful smile.
"Yes. You will."
Severin nodded calmly, as if this was already decided.
Lucian looked at him, at that terrifyingly calm face as he made his demands, and he couldn’t believe he was the same man who was stuffing his face just a few minutes ago.
Severin, oblivious to what Lucian was thinking, continued—
"Funds, favors, and material compensation will be collected from Court of Desire holdings on Earth."
And the instant he heard those words, Lucian’s expression changed.
Court of Desire holdings...?
What...?
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