263 Demon's Seal (Part 1)
“A way to prove everything you’re talking about? Um, that would be really exciting. All right, I’ll allow it.” Spoke the Emperor, resting his head again on his right fist.
The overbearing, confident smile had disappeared from the black-haired man’s face, and the guards noticed that his eyes were more alert than ever. Many of the Imperial Guardsmen were nervous to see Callant’s black eyes so serious, because they didn’t look that way even when the news about Erick Smakusa’s arrest for treason reached the Emperor.
Then, to prove his point, Luke turned to Alexis and nodded, which was not a sign of previously planned action, but the half-dragon understood what he wanted. She stood up, summoned the beautiful green bird, and from within its feathers she pulled out a white cube, causing sighs. Alexis held out the cube to the half-wolf, who took it carefully.
“Do any of you know what that is?” Looking at the mighty knights in white armor, whose strength of each was on par with a Tournament of Legends winner, or even above, Luke asked.
Before anyone even had a chance to deny, the Emperor answered while regaining his posture, and finally a look of surprise appeared on his face, but slowly turned to anger:
“That is the seal of a demon. What do you think you’re doing bringing it here? This is the home of my family, my friends, my wives. Guards!”
At this time, the imperial guards without a second thought drew their weapons and started walking quickly towards the half-wolf. All the members of the half-wolf, including Amelia and Ayumi, stood up without hesitation.
Luke did not tremble, Luke did not sound off, he just said very calmly:
“You know, Emperor, the behavior of a human is a reflection of the state of the mind. Lack of trust breeds fear, lack of love breeds hate, and pride breeds death. Do you really want to put your pride and fear in front of the lives of millions of people, or would you rather listen to me before you act? A wise leader would choose the second option, that’s what the Council members and the Pontiff of the Cardinal Church did.”
When Luke finished speaking, all the Imperial Guards stopped to listen to the Emperor’s decision first.
Callant looked deep into Luke’s eyes coolly, then his gaze went to the white cube in the half-wolf’s right hand. He then looked at the apprehensive people behind Luke, and noticed that even Ayumi and Amelia were afraid, which made him feel a little bad.
“All right, all right… If you are so confident, I will allow you to continue.” The Emperor stated, as he unraveled his gaze.
“Thank you very much, sir.” said Luke, finally reverencing him with a nod. Soon after, Luke looked back and extended his hand to the half-dragon, who was not too far away.
Alexis took his hand, still a little confused, and whispered:
“Why did you decide to act alone?”
The half-wolf took advantage of the fact that one of the red-haired woman’s hands had already grabbed one of his, and pulled her away when she asked. In a serene voice, he answered calmly. “Ayumi insisted that he is proud, and I thought I should tease him to grab his attention.”
“Why didn’t you warn us about that?”
“Why? It’s simple. You would be able to convince me that this was too risky, and I would probably end up accepting the original plan, something my instincts told me not to follow.”
“Khum! If you keep me waiting too long, I’ll get angry again.” The Emperor warned.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary, sir. However, before we can proceed, we need to ask you something.”
“I am listening.”
“Do you have confidence in your safety? I mean, I’m not asking you this to provoke you, but I have a demon in the palm of my hand and I also know his name, so I will be able to kill him as soon as possible, but first I wanted him to spontaneously confess everything to you. What do you think?”
Emperor Callant was quiet for a few seconds, while his imperial guards waited for the answer with distress.
“All right, move on.”
The half-wolf looked at Alexis, and they both nodded at the same time. He handed her the white cube.
When the half-dragon felt the strange sensation of the cube touching her skin once again, she felt uncomfortable as always.
‘This time I will use a weaker magic circle because we don’t have much audience time left.’ She thought, and suddenly a translucent circle with runes appeared around the cube, causing it to rise naturally.
In just a second, this single, small magic circle expanded a few dozen times, causing the half-wolf’s friends to sigh, as they had never seen rune magic up close before. For Alexis it was also a strange sensation to use magic after some time without even thinking about it, but her muscle memory allowed her to realize the magic circle without making mistakes or losing focus.
Ten seconds after the emperor’s speech, the cube was already on the ground, and around it a slightly orange circle, closely resembling the shade of the half-dragon’s hair.
The S-Class looked at the half-wolf, who nodded to her, and only then did she release the demon prison seal. At that moment, the cube turned to nothing but dust, and an intense amount of energy was expelled from it. The energy was mostly held back by the magical containment circle, and the rest just threw everyone’s hair back a bit.
Amidst the glow of energy, a figure just over six feet tall emerged. The man inside the circle had black hair, pale white skin, and torn but still elegant clothes. He had his arms crossed back, and after being released a smile appeared on his face, displaying his sharp fangs.
“How nice it is to be back, ladies and gentlemen.” Masink spoke, as he opened his arms to the side, leaving him with an open chest. Both of his hands lightly touched the edge of the magic circle, which released a weak burst of energy against him. “Ouch, if only those weren’t the conditions I’d like to be in.”
“Shut up, Masink, or rather, Morax.” Luke ordered.