Chapter 188 - True Colours Part 1
After taking some time to digest everything she heard, Raven approached the large map on the conference table.
Looking at it, she saw how the center region was trapped within the various demon lord territories.
Starting from the northeast and going clockwise, she observed the way the seven territories formed a circular visible light spectrum from wraith/red in the northeast and all the way to pride/purple in the northwest.
\'It makes me wonder how was Red able to claim the center region while maintaining control over his own region.\' Raven thought to herself.
The north itself was left as a white empty area meaning it probably hasn\'t been explored before.
Asking Red about it proved useless as he only mentioned that there are dangerous demon beasts living there so no one actually risks exploring the north.
"You two, Blue and Yellow," Raven called. "What are your powers exactly? And how strong are you? Do you have any ranking system between the seven demon lords?
"The original plan was taking one demon lord at a time, but now that you mention factions, it means that we\'ll be up against four ancient demon lords…" Raven sighed, not knowing how to proceed from this point.
"Mistress," blue raised her head, "we do not have such a ranking system, but we know that-" suddenly noticing a glare from Red, she hesitated and didn\'t know what to say.
\'Wait, was he just bluffing when he allowed her to announce herself as the new master?\' Blue was confused.
Gritting her teeth, Raven looked at Red, rage visible in her eyes. "If you have something to say, spit it out now or don\'t interfere!"
"Apologies, Lady Raven," Red bowed with a smile. "But as I have mentioned before, some secrets should be left-"
"F*cking bullsh*t!" She cut him off, feeling her aura surround the area around her.
To say that she was lost and mad would be an understatement, Keith had said that she could trust Red, but now she was doubting that.
"Lady Raven, you have to understand that-"
"Shut up," Raven interrupted Red again.
Clenching her fists, she looked him in the eyes. "Just what side are you on exactly? You formed a faction to take over the entirety of the Demon Realm. And that wasn\'t enough, but you also seek control over the Human Realm? You disgust me!"
Feeling his mistress\'s rage slowly grow, Red smiled inside since everything was going as planned, although part of him was hurting badly since he didn\'t want to see his mistress being mad at him.
"Blue," Raven said while looking at the demon lord kneeling in front of her. "Continue answering my question. You were about to say something before being interrupted by Red, what was it?"
While she was enraged, Raven had wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible, for far too many reasons. The most urgent and critical one being that her family was near her.
\'You also have no way of beating them…\' Kayla simply said while analysing the situation in every possible aspect. \'Our chances of winning against Red are simply too low, not counting the other two demons.\'
"Lady Raven," Red spoke instead of Blue. "If you insist on hearing the answer, then let me teach you some history." He smiled, sadism radiation out of his every particle.
"I am called Red simply because I have defeated the real Red, also known as Satan, and took his spot." The demon said with a grin. "I was not originally part of the Seven Sins, I am merely a demon that hates all of them.
"I am their bane and destruction, and that is why they fear me. Instead of Red, I used to go by Black.
"What Blue wanted to say was that I am able to defeat them all. So in terms of rankings, I am the king and everyone else is beneath me!" His smile gave Raven goosebumps for how violent it was.
His dark corrosive aura radiated around him and started to corrupt the room\'s walls.
"Lady Raven," he said again, almost in mockery that she had believed him to start with. "You are here because I have acknowledged your power. But alas, you have chosen to ask too many questions... you shall be my food!"
Gritting her teeth, Raven\'s mind was working at top gear trying to find a solution to end three ancient demon lords and rather quickly since she couldn\'t let this drag on or else her family might as well be collateral damage.
\'Hehe,\' Kayla smirked, easing Raven\'s concerns. \'Do not worry about anything, remember that we have the anchors already set up in the Human Plane, in Maria\'s mansion.
\'I have sent a message to everyone through the bracelets, and they\'ve assured me that they\'re all safe! It\'s only us and the demons so you can easily ignore them and teleport away too!\'
Hearing that, Raven\'s frown turned into a smile while mentally thanking Kayla.
\'Let us go now!\' Kayla said while noticing that Raven was standing still.
\'Kayla,\' Raven said, in a low yet serious tone, which made Kayla\'s heart drop. \'Remember how Red can basically teleport between the two planes as if it\'s nothing? I\'d rather teach him a lesson now to prevent him from chasing after us… I can\'t risk hurting my family again.\'
\'But you can\'t! Staying here and hurting yourself will definitely hurt Axane, Maria, Liz, Aella, and literally everyone else!
\'The only skill that can be helpful here in this situation is currently unusable and under cool down!!\' Kayla yelled, feeling that everything around her was going the wrong way. She had calculated every possible solution to this scenario, and the optimal option was to run away.
There must be a limit to how much he can travel between realms, even more, he\'d be weakened in the Human Plane which makes it a better fighting ground for Raven.
Here, she was completely under their mercy.
The only other option that provided Raven with a hint of a win was too dangerous to attempt. If she didn\'t die by the demons\' hands, she\'d die as a side effect, or even worse… she\'d turn into a killing machine!
\'Rave… that blessing is too dangerous. It has corrupted your soul before you know that, right? Why would you attempt to mess with it again?\' Kayla asked, understanding Raven\'s thought process.
\'I understand,\' Raven answered. \'I am not asking you to activate Infinity\'s Will since we don\'t have control over it, however, if you just let that corruption empower me for just a second, it would be alright, I promise…\'
Kayla\'s mind was struggling to keep up even Raven\'s stubbornness, but seeing how determined she was, she knew that it was already too late to change her mind.
"Please Kayla, do it…" Raven muttered while shifting her attention towards Red, or rather Black.
Widening her eyes at Raven\'s request, Kayla hugged herself tightly in her mind space before nodding with a sorrowful expression. She didn\'t want to do it, but she had to support her and especially in critical situations like this one.
[The Blessing: Avavia\'s Affection has been internally deactivated.]