Once they reached the main residence, each person went to do their own thing, since the visit to the Bone Sea was shorter than what Daimon expected, they practically earned a second day to spend into the Maelstrom Sea.
Originally Daimon was going to look for Calvin and the others on the way to Thea's territory, but now that there was no need for that, he went straight to the prison, while Aisha and the others stayed behind to meditate in the Main Residence.
Even the two elders of the angelfish clan gladly took the chance to try and advance since this was such a rare chance, Marlene on the other hand asked to follow Daimon, because she had some questions to do, to the high stage Stellar that was subordinated to Marcus, the same applied to Aurora who had some questions for the Nethereal whose core was trapped in her spell.
Thea was going to tag along too, but she then seemed to remember something and instead sent a message to one of her generals, and then asked Daimon to keep the guy in a "decent" state, because she'll have someone look at him later.
Earlier she was surprised to discover the magic beast characteristics of the lightning affinity guy, because she thought she knew each and all of the snake-like races of Neptune, but she has never heard of the characteristics that guy had.
But that isn't necessarily impossible, out of the four magic beast rulers, she is the youngest an the only one that doesn't belong to the old generation, meaning she didn't participate on the all-out war, from the times where Vincent and the other now Maximum Stellar ranks, became renowned.
Her father was, and though he is dead, his adviser which is Thea's strongest general is still alive, so he might have some answers, normally that guy is on the front defending the borders of Thea's territory from the attacks of the other rulers, so she had to call him back to her castle.
And while she was on that, she also summoned all the leaders of the respective races that were subordinated to her, because she now has learned how to detect those annoying curses that eluded her before, not to mention she has Daimon's aid to detect those that had been corrupted by the Nethereals.
'This time I'll clean all the scum', thought Thea as her amber snake-like eyes glowed, before she laid down on her bed to enjoy one of her drinks, advancing just with the help of the Elemental Conversion Array was impossible for her after all, especially because she has been stuck at the peak of the middle stage of the Stellar rank, she had already understood that she was lacking something.
In part that's why she has been consuming three-colored water non-stop, because she is looking for the inspiration she needs to advance, well, that and because this way she can drink more than one cup without getting dead drunk.
Leaving what was happening in the Main Residence aside, Daimon arrived at the prison accompanied by Aurora and Marlene.
"I'm going to have to expand the area of the prison at this rate", jokingly said Aurora, to prevent the prisoners from having any fun ideas, each one was isolated in single cell.
The first visit of the day was of course Roger, the ex-member of Black Wave saw Daimon and his body shivered as he threw himself at the ground.
"I-I'm willing to submit and obey the young master, please no more!", he shouted, it hasn't been too long since he was captured, and this man who thought he had seen enough as the one in charge of managing the assassins of the organization, realized he was wrong.
In part the reason as to why he was going crazy, was mostly because since his body has been re-structured to adapt to Nether, the suffering that Demon Light caused him was amplified, and that is a lot to say considering Demon Light is already horrifying enough without any help.
Aurora also contributed to that, because after interrogating Roger and realizing he knew nothing about the Nethereals that plotted and killed her daughter, she used him as a living target, until she discovered the way her light mana caused the most damage, then she cured him, as Roger doesn't have a black sphere so light is still able to heal him, but that only extended his suffering as Aurora started all over again.
"I don't buy it", said Daimon, his hands lit up in white flames which nearly made Roger faint, his eyes were filled with fear, he has tried to submit around thirty times up to date, but he wasn't accepted, and instead was used as a test subject again, making him miserable.
Fortunately for him, this time was different, because the moment Daimon prepared to once again use Demon Light on Roger, to practice for when he has to cure Sarah, the sweet sound of a notification which he has been waiting since forever, finally echoed in his mind.
[Ding]
[Commoner Nethereal "Roger has offered his loyalty; do you wish to accept it Y/N]
Daimon who had his mask as he was "Gabriel" right now, smirked, not only because his Terror Contractor skill once again was working, for some unknown reason, but because that sole notification also proportioned some valuable information.
So far, he has confirmed that "Lesser" Nethereals are a one of the ranks of the enemy, the previous guy who ended up dying due to the loyalty curse, belonged to that category, he also called Daimon "Esteemed Lord", which he supposed is another rank, and now he got to know that these guys who don't have that black sphere in their bodies are considered "Commoners".
'That Lesser Nethereal from back then was for afraid of me than this guy, because I made him able to feel pain, his resistance crumbled apart on the spot, Roger on the other hand still harbored some rebellious thoughts, until now whether he knew it or not', thought Daimon.
While he still didn't know why his Terror Contracts worked with Nethereals, while they didn't work for Neptune's natives, he was slowly understanding the requirements for them to work, unlike when he enslaved the Skin Tailor, fear wasn't the only thing needed, he literally had to bring Roger to the brink of despair before the skill worked.
And he had to get rid of the loyalty curse, or the result will be death for the Nethereal that is submitting, Daimon shook his head and then pressed "Y", under the surprised eyes of Aurora and Marlene, a black bone chain collar formed around Roger's neck, piercing his flesh and making him bleed a bit.
"Congratulations you were ascended, from prisoner to guard, because we now have a more interesting test subject, get up and go ask Remi so he gives you something to do", ordered Daimon.
"Y-Yes!", Roger who noticed the change in his mind, as he was now completely unable to harbor any ill intentions towards Daimon, and anyone who was related to him, immediately ran to follow his instructions, who knows if his demon-like young master will torture him just for fun.
Daimon of course noticed Aurora and Marlene's slightly dubitative gazes, and he chuckled, it's actually not the first time they see a collar created by his skill, Rita wears hers with proud as an accessory, but hers is a much more detailed one with a skull design, that goes along with her outfit, so it doesn't look out of place.
The same applies to Horals, his collar melds with his heavy black armor, also unlike Roger and the Skin Tailor who are the only "slaves" Daimon currently owns, besides the fire djinns who don't have a physical body, those two have never been harmed by their collars.
"You can consider that an innate ability of mine, it's similar to Thea's ability to make contracts, but mine only works with enemies… it does have a stronger trying effect though, you don't need to be wary around that guy ever again", he said.
Aurora's eyes glowed, even contracts weren't flawless, Thea's ability to dispel them are a proof of it, but if what Daimon said was true then, he had one terrifying ability, anyway, she had already put her trust in Daimon, so she didn't doubt about him, from the very beginning Daimon affirmed to be on par with that dangerous guy, that somewhat managed to trick her, in other words, Adam.
Everyone had its secrets and trump cards, and Daimon showed his honesty by telling Aurora and the others that what makes Adam and Marcus "different" than others, he also has it.
For Aurora, the crazier Daimon's skills were the better, as it meant her granddaughter will be safer, as for Roger who cared about the fate of an enemy, and one that decided to become one of the things that killed her daughter on top of that, Marlene on the other hand kept a contemplative expression on her pretty face, while they walked towards the next cell.
"Roger, you act as the guard, Remi, follow me", said Daimon.
"Yes!", both of them immediately answered, and then Remi went with Daimon and the others, while keeping a respectable distance, normally when Marcus called him was to… do some special "training", but his new young master didn't have such hobbies, so he wondered why was he called to enter a cell with him.
And the answer to that soon appeared in front of him, the "guest" of the cell in which they entered was none other than the lightning affinity guy with electric eel-like characteristics, who was feigning to be still fainted.
Daimon gazed at Remi and the later nodded, he closed his hand and then punched the face of the eel guy, though both were mages, Remi is a middle level high stage Stellar, a minor realm above the eel guy, also he could reinforce his body, while the eel guy had his powers suppressed by Aurora's chains, so the result was a few teeth flying out of the mouth of the eel guy.
The eyes without any white of the eel guy widely opened, his bleeding mouth, spiked teeth and unnatural eyes gave it a threatening appearance, and his words were too.
"Let me go you bastards, once my Lord find out I'm here you'll all die… aghhh!", the response he got was Daimon burning one of his eyes with Demon Light, which forced a scream out of him.
"Yeah, I know Marcus is almighty for you, unfortunately for you, I'm stronger than him and your life is now in my hands, so do yourself a favor and obediently answer to my questions", casually said Daimon.
The eel guy whose left eye was now closed, gritted his teeth and closed his mouth with force, meaning he wasn't willing to talk, could be because he didn't know that the loyalty curse was removed from him while he was unconscious, or because he really was amazed by Marcus.
"He is one of the guys that was stuck in the middle stage of the Stellar rank, his life was reaching its end prior to meeting L… that guy, so he is loyalty isn't only due to his advance, his name is Torbal", said Remi, which made the eel guy glare at him.
"Oh, I see, I want the answers to these questions in two hours, any method is allowed", said Daimon as he handed Remi a list, and then walked towards the exit of the cell.
"Ah right, you can take off your mask", Daimon added, in that list there were the questions Marlene had, they didn't have to waste their time making Torbal talk, when Remi had nothing to do.
"As the young master wishes", said Remi, he took his mask off and as expected, Torbal's face paled, as if he had seen a ghost.
"I-Impossible you are dead!", he shouted, which made Remi softly snort, at the fact that he was declared dead so easily, Armando was in contact with them, and there was no news regarding a group from Marcus's side even trying to look for him, so he was discarded just like that, in part that's also why he was now willingly following Daimon's orders, well, that and how Roger was treated, until a moment ago.
"Remi you bastard, you betrayed the Lord, he can know if you have traitorous thoughts, you are dead meat, help me kill these guys and then I'll put a good word for you… aghhh!", Torbal's offering was interrupted by Remi kicking his face.
"Don't worry young master, I'll have the answers you want in a couple of hours at most", said Remi as he bowed towards Daimon.
Daimon nodded, and then left with Aurora and Marlene, the next prisoner required a much more persona treatment, especially by Daimon but Remi could have his turn to shine interrogating his former teammate.
The next cell contained none other than Fabio, in other words Roger's former companion vice-leader of this branch of Black Wave, but unlike Roger, this guy had started to change into the bizarre appearance of a Nethereal, having developed feathers similar to those of a buzzard and a beak on his chest.
As soon as Daimon and the others entered the cell, the recently converted Nethereal glared at them, but before he could say the words "I won't talk", Aurora snapped her fingers and spiked white chains raised from the ground, wrapping around Fabio's body.
"Would you mind leaving the interrogation to me, I want to see how much has my modified light mana has improved, for the interrogation of this guy's superior", asked the Matriarch of the Light Palace.
Daimon shrugged, as he took a seat at one of the corners of the room.
"Sure, I doubt he knows too much anyway, the goal is that guy who has a black sphere, he should know more of the targets appointed to them by the scheming guy, and maybe be able to give us a hint about its identity", said Daimon.
Fabio whose body was being crushed and healed by the spiked chains Aurora created, heard Daimon and a tinge of horror flashed in his eyes.
'How do they know that!', he inwardly screamed, unlike Roger, he was in charge of intelligence, so he indeed has a bit more information than Roger, for example he knows that some squads of the other seas have been eliminated, or disappeared, which is why middle or high stage Stellars have started to be mobilized, and the answer to that mystery has just been solved, they have been captured, interrogated and most likely killed by this group.
'Just what in the world is happening, this guy doesn't fit with the descriptions given to us by Lord Garrius of the ones we should be way of', was the last thing Fabio thought before his world went blank, literally because Aurora completely wrapped his body with white spiked chains, made with her mana.
Muffled screams and smoke came from within the ball of chains, as Fabio was forced to bleed, and his blood then reacted to Aurora's light mana, which burned it, resulting in that smoke.
…
A few hours and a "Commoner" Nethereal who ended up burned to a crisp, though alive, later, Aurora received a message from the captain's cabin, because they had reached the entrance to the middle area of the Maelstrom Sea, so she ended the training, Fabio had already spat any information he had, which included the fact that Underwood's family was one of the recently assigned targets to that Garrius guy, who then appointed one of the many subordinates he had to do the job.
"I need Thea's guide through the middle area, otherwise we'll lose time lost in the mist that surrounds it", said Aurora.
"We'll leave it as it is for today, I'll order Roger to keep this guy in check so we can focus on our main target", said Daimon.
Through all the process Marlene didn't participate, but Daimon could feel she had something she wanted to say, but every time she seemed to have taken the decision she hesitated, so Daimon didn't force the subject, though he could guess what she was going to ask.
Outside of the prison, Daimon was met with the scene of the entrance to the middle area of the Maelstrom Sea.
"I guess that explains why the Mist Horrors screwed the army over back then", mumbled Daimon, the whole area ahead of them was covered in a thick gray fog, but that wasn't all.
Even from high into the air where the Flying Citadel was, Daimon could see the many rests of ships that had accumulated around the entrance to the middle area of the Maelstrom Sea, the reason of it was the many spiked rock formations that filled the whole area, and of course the aggressive magic beasts that swam here and there.
It was a natural barrier so to speak, and one of the reasons as to why the four ruler magic beasts were wanted by the pirates, secure a route through this area would give them access to the resources that can affect Stellar ranks, which all lay in the middle area of the Maelstrom Sea.
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