After interrogating Lux and getting no other answers aside from "thighs," King Septimius and Cleo gave up.
They also couldn't do anything to him because the threat of two Supremes possibly rampaging in Agartha was something that none of them wanted to risk.
In the end, everyone sat and settled for a compromise. After negotiating for nearly an hour, the King of Agartha reluctantly agreed to the settlement that Lux's side had asked for.
"In order to compensate you for the psychological trauma that you experienced after being hunted down by Bounty Hunters and your Master facing off against Sion, I will grant you five Empyrean-Ranked World Bosses Beast Cores," King Septimius stated. "I will also guarantee that Sion will not trouble the two of you again for the duration of your stay here in Agartha."
Lux and Gaap nodded because this was the condition that they had requested.
"Are you sure you don't want to negotiate Leonidas' release?" King Septimius insisted. "I will be generous and add two more Beast Cores for his freedom. You can keep the other Gladiators. I only want Leonidas."
"Sorry, but Sion's and Leonidas' cases are not the same," Lux replied with a smile. "We fought him in a Deathmatch, and in a Deathmatch, there is only one outcome. Either they die, or we die. Since we won, their lives belong to us, and this is non-negotiable."
King Septimius snorted before grumpily tossing a storage bag towards the Half-Elf, which contained the five Beast Cores as compensation.
After checking its contents and making sure that they were all World-Bosses Cores, Lux smiled and glanced at the black coffin that was hovering beside him.
"Spit him out, Blackfire," Lux ordered.
The Black Coffin nodded and opened the lid of the casket.
A moment later, a heavily injured Sion collapsed on the floor, the sight of which made King Septimius frown.
"Take him, Darius," King Septimius ordered before giving the Half-Elf a sidelong glance. "Know that it is not only Sion who isn't happy with my decision to allow you Highlanders to freely roam my kingdom. There might be other Saints who will come and harass you along the way."
"Really? That's good news then," Lux smirked. "Blackfire still has plenty of room for Agartha's Saints."
King Septimius scoffed before disappearing from the room.
He had to return to the Capital City and hold an emergency meeting, notifying all of the Saints, as well as their subordinates, to not mess with the Half-Elf while he was roaming Agartha.
He didn't expect Gaap to be capable of fighting against Saints. That was something that he, as well as Sion, didn't see coming.
During the Deathmatch, Gaap did nothing, so everyone assumed that he merely decided to not get in the way because he was only a Grade-A Apostle.
After this incident, King Septimius, Darius, and Cleo would no longer underestimate the Halfling, who seemed to have no fear, even when he was in the same room with an angry Supreme.
King Septimius also noticed that Lux wasn't afraid of him. The only reason that he could think of why they acted this way was due to the two Supremes that were backing them.
If he were in their shoes, he would also have the same attitude, which solidified the King's belief that they were telling the truth.
Darius picked up the injured Sion and also disappeared from the room, leaving Lux, Gaap, and the Saintess, Cleo, who had a guilty look on her face.
"It's fine, Cleo," Gaap said after making sure that they were truly alone in the room. "You had no choice, and my Disciple didn't mind. Isn't that right, Lux?"
Lux nodded. "I'm sure that you did it against your will, so let's forgive and forget shall we?"
"Lux… Gaap, thank you," Cleo replied with an apologetic look on her face.
"Ah, but if this happens again in the future, I will force you to call me Daddy, okay?" Lux stated. "I can only forgive you once. Next time, you will need to be punished."
"Okay." Cleo nodded. "If this really happens again, I will call you Daddy."
Cleo really didn't plan on using her ability against Lux ever again, even if her King ordered her to do so a second time. Also, since Lux already knew how to counter her ability, it would be useless even if she tried again.
"By the way, why thighs?" Cleo asked while arching an eyebrow. "You have some kind of thigh fetish?"
Lux pretended that he didn't hear Cleo's comment and simply handed the storage bag to his Master, Gaap.
"Master, since one of your Covenant Members is seriously injured, you can use these Beast Cores to give her a full recovery," Lux stated.
"I'll just take three of them," Gaap replied. "You can keep the rest."
Lux used the term seriously injured instead of perished. Although Hana had died after her battle with Sion, she was part of Gaap's Covenant, so she could be revived once Gaap sacrificed an adequate amount of Beast Cores.
In order to revive her, Gaap needed two Empyrean-Ranked World Bosses Cores.
The last Core that he took was for future emergencies, in which he might need a Beast Core to tend to his injured subordinates.
"Thank you, Blackfire," Lux said as he patted the Black Coffin's body. "You can rest now."
Blackfire nodded before disappearing from the room.
Truth be told, releasing Sion wasn't a very big deal for Blackfire and Lux. The moment the Juggernaut of Agartha was sucked inside the Black Coffin, his Fate had already been sealed.
Anyone that Blackfire had devoured would treat Lux as their Master and would be forever loyal to him.
Also, since Blackfire's Mark had already been placed in Sion's body and soul, the Half-Elf would be able to summon the Saint anytime he wanted.
Just like he could summon Sid and Scarlet to aid him, he could now call forth a Saint without the need to make him part of his Guild.
Lux understood this as well, so he and Blackfire put on an act of reluctantly agreeing to King Septimius' request.
Not only did they gain a Saint as a subordinate, but they also got five Empyrean-Ranked Beast Cores in exchange.
Lux was planning to use the two remaining Beast Cores for Leonidas and Alcapone.
According to Blackfire, these two Rankers had a very high chance of evolving into something great if they were revived using the Black Coffin's power.
Similar to Lux's Undead Generator Skill, Blackfire could now take in other materials aside from Beast Cores in order to revive any creature it devoured.
The Half-Elf's plan was to have Cleo unseal the Cursed Weapon in his possession and have Blackfire use it as an ingredient alongside the Empyrean-Ranked Beast Core to transform Leonidas into a more powerful being.
He believed that after Leonidas' rebirth, he would become one of Lux's strongest subordinates, who would serve him for as long as he lived.
"Rest for now," Cleo said before walking towards the door. "We will be leaving tomorrow at noon. The journey to the Pantheon of Exile is a long one, so prepare yourself for the journey."
Without another word, the Saintess left the room in order to return to her own room.
Gaap also bid his Disciple farewell because he needed to perform the ceremony that would revive Hana.
Also, the Halfling needed to talk to Baal about future battles against Saints. He had a feeling that even if King Septimius forbade all the Saints, as well as Rankers of Agartha, to harm them, they might still face other threats along the way.
To ensure their safety, he had to make preparations that would ensure that his subordinates could fight to their fullest potential and lower the risk of another death among his Covenant Members in their future battles within the Ancient Kingdom of Agartha.
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