Chapter 318 - The Signing Of The Demonic Pact
After Sewah's appearance, the scrawny looking horses-like beings which were pulling the carriage went crazy, unable to kick and jump in fear due to the harnesses that kept them locked in position. The only thing they could do, was to brace their fear and push through in Sewah's direction, something that the charioteers were only able to prevent thanks to their superior strength.
The guards were clearly prepared for any sort of attack, and while most of them were normal demons accompanied by a few high demons, the demon who exited one of the carriages was, surprisingly, at the noble stage. However, it was clear that she had just broken through that stage, due to the allerted expression she showed the moment she felt the sheer power of Sewah's body.
"IT'S THE ONI!!" screamed one of the charioteers after noticing the physical characteristics of the demon that had appeared on their path.
This scream caused the guards to put their weapons down in surrender. It was a known strategy of the oni to show up, act in a rude manner, and after being attacked.. To kill everybody. When being questioned about their reasons to behave in such a manner, they would always claim that they were simply responding to an attack.
The place where they were now was not the oni territory, so the captain and her caravan were not expecting for a member of the oni tribe, not to talk about one with such power, to show up in front of them.
While visibly scared, the captain had trained for thousands of years to be able to keep her calm in every situation, so she placed a hand over then grip of her sword, and approached Sewah with a steady pace.
The race of demons to which these demons belonged was drastically different from the members of the oni tribe, as shown by the two stag-like black horns that came out of her helmet, and the blood red tail that came out of a hole placed in the lower back of her armor.
"Is there something we can help the oni tribe with?" She asked with as much courage as she could muster, and pointing her light green eyes straight towards Sewah's. Her tone was respectful, as she did not wish to provoke this irritable giant.
Unfortunately, she had no idea who she was dealing with.
If here was something that Sewah loved above everything else, was to see the effects of his dominance in the faces of the people he encountered.. Something which despite the loss of his system, was still an integral part of his personality, and therefore, hadn't changed.
"Where are you little demons off to?" Asked Sewah while showing a big smile that made an uncomfortable feeling bloom in the minds of those who saw it.
"You jest.. We are headed to take part on the signing of the Demonic Pact. Isn't that what every family and group will be doing for the next few months?" She asked with curiosity after listening to Sewah's odd question. In her mind, the only reason why an oni would be here, was because he was part of the group that was traveling towards the place where the signing of the Demonic Pact would take place.
"An encounter between demons? That sounds interesting." Said Sewah as his smile widened. "Tell me more about it." he then added.
The suspicion of the captain was confirmed. Every demon would know what the signing of the Demonic pact, as every group who did not participate, would not be able to obtain his classification based on their strongest member. It was a political event that would make it clear who underneath the sky of hell, were to be feared, respected, and at times, obeyed.
"A demon of your power must have heard of such an important event." Said the captain with surprise. She had participated to numerous different signings in the thousands of years she had lived, and she was sure that the oni tribe had never missed one either. With a hint of curiosity she looked attentively at Sewah's face, and only after digging deeper into her mind, was she able to remember where she had seen him.
Her back straightened like a bowstring, while her hand wrapped tightly around her sword.
"Humor me. Describe to me what that event is, as if I was not a demon.."
Now that the captain had remembered to whom this face belonged, sheer terror made its way into her mind. A noble demon possessed a power comparable to a fiftieth phase high human, and that was the level she was at.. However, she knew for a fact that the leader of the oni tribe was way past that, and that she would not be able to pierce his skin even if she wanted.
"Y-You are t-the leader of the O-Oni.." she said while desperately trying not to stutter.
Sewah quickly realized what the problem was, and since this demoness was already gone astray, he moved his head to the side a little, and took a peak at the carriages behind her. He then said "I wonder what a noble demon like you is tasked with protecting."
His words shook the captain of the guards awake just as much as it terrified the rest of the guards, who were only now understanding in what kind of situation they were in, by noticing the reaction of the strongest within their caravan.
"I-I can explain!" exclaimed the captain with enough emphasis to attract Sewah's attention to herself. Then, before he could say anything, she continued by saying "Every hundred years an event will take place in hell. The board of ranking will be cleared, and the groups who want to be part of it will participate. It is a tradition as well as a method to make sure that the entire inhabitants of hell are aware of the prowess of the groups that are currently in it."
As the demoness in armor appeared to be done talking, Sewah said in slight disappointment. "Is that it? You just show up, say how long your member is, and then piss off without even bothering to have a fight or two?"
"Of course not. There will be demonstrations and events hosted by the strongest powers. They have a hundred years to prepare, after all." Said the captain, ignoring the rudeness of Sewah's remarks which, from what she knew about the oni demons, fit their character pretty well.
"Ha! Now we are talking.. Tell me more about these events."
The captain had gone past her shocked state already. Everybody knew that the information about the event was not shared in order to maintain the surprise effect, but since this time there was an exception, and he really looked interested, she decided to share what she knew.
"As you might know, usually nothing is shared regarding the events.." she said calmly, but after noticing the annoyed expression that had appeared on Sewah's face, she quickly continued by saying "However, this time it's different. There is a rumor that a fight between a human and a demon will be hosted by the Church of Damnation."
At the mention of the word 'Human', Sewah's face became dead serious. "Tell me about this human.." he said without bothering to keep the power of the oni demon from emanating from his body, and sending the horse-like beasts that pulled the carriages into unconsciousness.
"T-There isn't anything else to know.. Just a human that the Church of Damnation managed to capture in the past couple of years." Said the captain while subconsciously stepping backwards.
For just a moment Sewah turned to look at the direction of Daniel's cave. He then turned to look back at the captain of the guards, and while feeling the power in her body, and the fear in her eyes, he said "Well, this is a piece of information you shouldn't have told me." His eyes narrowed into a menacing expression, and he took a step forward while shutting his hands into indestructible, and massive fists.
"What is going on?" Asked a young sounding voice that came from within the carriage right in the middle of the caravan. Right after, the head of a kid with stag-like horns appeared from the frame of the chariot's door.
Sewah had a deep hatred for Aeron. It had been a long time since he had found out that he was the sole reason why things had gone wrong with the possession of Daniel's body. As a mental cultivator, he had felt his presence inside Daniel's body, and for some reason, he had decided to set up a protection to his consciousness. So when he took over Daniel's body and devoured his mind, a portion of it had been spared from that fate.
He knew that if Daniel learned about Aeron's location, he would find a way to save him. After all, he knew the karmic system better than anybody else, and if there was something the system was good for, was to create viable plans for its owner to use. So before Daniel could come out of his cultivation and learned of Aeron's location, Sewah had decided to kill this whole group of demons. If he was lucky, the event would terminate before that happened, and at that point, Aeron would be already dead.
Each of his steps was a promise of a quick death, and the visible power his skin emanated was enough to drain the bodies of the observers from the idea of resisting.
The family of demons to which this caravan belonged was not a weak one, and while nobody of the present demons was as strong as the oni leader, to be able to send a noble demon to protect a kid, showed what kind of horrifying power this family could display. Unfortunately, none of those shockingly powerful demons was here to protect them..
The captain of the guards mustered every bit of courage that was left in her body and unsheathed her sword, which caused her power to be emanated in turn, almost as if drawn by the uncovered blade of her weapon.
The tail that came out of her lower back wrapped around her waist, while the horns on her head started to grow out of proportion. The ground began to tremble as well under the pressure that both the captain and Sewah emanated.
Before jumping to fight against Sewah, the captain hid one of her hands behind her back and used it to send a message to the rest of the guards. The moment the fight started, they were to take the young master away, and call for support. Once done, she noticed the last step Sewah took before raising his hand.. then braced herself to parry the attack.
However, there was no impact.. Just a powerful scream that came out of the oni who, until moments ago, was standing so proudly in front of her.
"AAAARGH! AAAAAAHHH!!" screamed Sewah while digging his sharp fingernails into the sides of his head, almost as if trying to dig the pain out it with his own hands.
While beyond shocked, the captain decided to use this moment to escape along with the young demon who she was tasked to protect. So she dashed into the carriage, grabbed the younger demon, and prepared to disappear into the distance.. But a voice that came from behind stopped her in her tracks.
"May I have a word with you?" Said Daniel, who had appeared right next to a screaming Sewah. His tone was calm, but powerful enough to resound clearly in the ears of the captain, which found it extremely odd.
She turned to see the human appearance of Daniel, who stood calmly next to a being she was terrified of even approaching.
"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!!" Screamed Sewah as his already feeble consciousness was abused by the formation inside which Daniel had locked it. The feeling of pulling, tearing, shaking, grinding, and kneading sent Sewah into a nauseating spiral of pain and confusion which he was barely able to withstand.
Daniel ignored Sewah's cries. He had heard everything the two had talked about, and was already aware of the fact that Sewah wanted to keep things for him.. so he decided to teach him another lesson, as apparently, the ones he had given him weren't hadn't sunk in.
He waved his hand into a faint motion which immediately silenced the screams of agony that Sewah emitted, and instead walked closer to the captain.. then asked "Excuse the rude behaviour of my servant. Please, can you tell me more about this 'Demonic Pact'?"