I splashed some water on the second whip.
"Blublub! My cod!"
The man spat out a bunch of water and slowly stood up, looking around himself. Then, he wiped away the veil of water on his face and slowly turned to face me.
"L-Lord Dark Moon! Dark Moon Whip!"
Catene hummed and raised its head as the man bowed.
"I have committed a great sin."
I was shocked that Catene was ok with being called a whip, but whatever. At least it wasn't difficult.
"It's a-ok. Now, can we please make our way? Is glasses here yet?"
"Yes sir," He nodded. "The First Whip and your counsel have already arrived and are waiting at our branch."
My counsel? I guess Bathym was playing around a bit too.
With the second in the lead, we made our way through the woods and over to the place where the next hideout of the Dark Moon was present. It wasn't an exact hideout but a place that had been prepared by the second.
"There are too few people, so we just drag along a house on a cart. I call it a moving pharmacy, but it's a place where all seven of us can fit."
"Seven?"
"Right, I have seven members in my team."
Would that be enough for espionage, was what I had been wondering.
But as it turned out, these guys had been frequently buying and selling information from different places and making their buck. Kind of like an information middleman. It was just a giant scam, but it seemed pretty well played.
"We're here," he mentioned. In front of us, the enormous house on carts that he mentioned was splayed out.
With giant wheels at the bottom of the house, and a space made for about six or so horses to pull the cart along, it really did look like a home on wheels.
The place was almost one and a half story tall and was wide enough to hold a lot of stuff, including smaller bedding cabinets and kitchens.
The space that was on the open side that operated as a pharmacy wasn't small either.
"Please, come along," Second said and rapped on the door of the house.
The door slightly opened up and a pair of floating glasses popped out.
"Did you kill him? Did you finally kill him?"
I cracked my knuckles.
The floating pair of glasses turned my way.
"Oh. I was talking about someone else… Uh. A demon, yes, a demon."
Glasses was about to go back in when he was pushed out and the door swung open.
"What of me?" The horned demon, Bathym, spoke up as Glasses fell down on the ground.
"What should we do with the first whip, Lord Dark Moon?"
"Bury him alive. No, leave his head out of the ground so that some horse can stomp it."
"As you command, Lord Dark Moon."
I grinned as the man started digging a hole with his whip and pulled glasses out. I ignored the two idiots and stepped through the door. Bathym tapped a few magic stones and light filled the inside of the place.
The area was wide with kitchens and cabins on the side, the driving spot was up front and was hooked to the reins ahead.
Leading me to a couch, Bathym pulled a table and left some food in front of me.
"Just a second, my liege."
I nodded.
There was no need for a lot of greetings or conversations. He was likely very nervous.
"It seems he succeeded," Titania muttered.
Bathym returned with a small glass box. Fixed tight inside it, was a chalice tightened with a cover.
"This?"
"There is an artifact from ancient times that lets one absorb a mass of energy. This chalice of gods, its something you can only take from the Over Gods."
It was the same as the chalice that was in the academy!
"Thanks to your help in letting us go back to hell, I managed to go to the city of Dantalian and steal this thing."
Since the space in the forest was all mine and secretive anyway, I didn't see any reason to not keep the place open to hell. It was going to be the door for my eventual economy anyway.
For blood, we used livestock.
"It was there all along?"
"Yes. That city seems to be starting to float up again."
As much as I wanted to take over that place, it wasn't a solid option.
"More than two-thirds of the population died with the death of Dantalian, but if things keep going like this it might just remain afloat. You have Agares to thank for that. He's a very neutral party like Marbas, but I would recommend caution."
"Don't worry, I've already met that gramps."
"G-gramps…?"
"Don't mind it much."
Bathym nodded.
"As expected of you, my liege."
"Sure. Now then…"
The air in the place changed as we came to the crux of the matter.
The box was pushed toward me.
"I succeeded," Bathym spoke.
I placed a hand on the box.
"You can turn into a demon lord, my liege."
His words.
Were not loud.
"But…?" I asked.
"I do not know the risks."
I raised my brows and Bathym sighed.
"My liege, the blood I had tested of yours still had traces of your human blood."
My eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
"You have not turned solely into a demon. At first, I believed you might be something special or along those lines, but there was only one explanation for it. Dantalian's act on you failed."
My blood.
The blood of Charlotte. Like a cockroach, it survived.
"As it is right now, your body is turbulent, on the verge of collapse."
"Hm?"
"Collapse?"
"You might even start seeing spirits after a lot of exertion, I do not myself, but I believe they love strong souls in vulnerable vessels."
"Is that… so…?"
"Using this chalice will bring you an authority… but it is different from what was the case with Dantalian. The demon lord of many faces' authority involved not just becoming another face, but also changing one. She used her authority to change your being, but failed halfway through."
I leaned back.
"You will become a Demon Lord. But I know not if your body can survive it."
"Ignore that, will I be able to see spirits after or not?"
"You can see spirits?"
"All the time."
"I believe they're linked to your soul, so no problems. But my liege, this is not a decision you can make so haphazardly—"
"Is there any way to make myself into more of a demon?"
"By absorbing an authority… perhaps…"
"Then what's there to think about?"
I either lived or I lived. Did you think I'd die? Of course not.
Death is the only ending for villains. Not for me.
I removed the glass cube, pulled away the lid.
"My liege—"
And raised the chalice to my lips.
"Cheers."
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