Chapter 22: Unfazed

 

 

The meeting went on as usual when the whole room was interrupted by the sound of water being swirled in a bottle. Everyone stopped and stared at Klauna who was looking into the bottle to see how much liquid was left in it. Even Saladis, who had her eyes closed the entire time, opened hers in order to see what the commotion is all about. As shameless as ever, Klauna couldn’t give a damn about the receiving looks and continued to drink the last of the liquor in the bottle.

It was at this moment that the Sixth Demon Lord, Sylendri, spotted Klauna at the seventh seat. Her face lit up in anger at the blatant disrespect that Klauna was showing. It then changed into confusion as she noticed that the person sitting in the seventh seat was an Analyst. Her expression soon turned into a mocking one. 

Sylendri then looked at Cera, totally ignoring Klauna’s presence. She deemed her not worthy enough to acknowledge her. “You. Lionel’s pet.” Sylendri called out Cera in a full commanding tone.

Cera who was normally stern and composed immediately stiffens at the request. “Ye-yes?” She responded, unable to act normally. Some sort of pressure was on her. It was like when Klauna challenged her during the siege at Fort Kron.

“Where is Lionel? Why is he not here?” Sylendri asked.

“...Lord Lionel… Lord General Lionel is no more… He passed away during a fight deep in human territory to seize Fort Kron,” Cera said. Her eyes turned away as she clenched her fist.

The whole room went rowdy at the revelation. Murmurs between the general and their vices could be heard.

“Impossible…”
“The Brave Lion has fallen?”
“The unstoppable Lionel died?”

“Cera… are you serious? ...Is Lionel really dead?” The first general, Leida, asked. In her face was the look of denial. Leida refused to accept that someone that was of equal to her would fall so easily to humans.

“...It’s true. I’ve cremated him myself,” Cera looked downwards, remembering the events that happened at Fort Kron.

“...and of the murderer? Who was the bastard who killed him?” Leida asked another question, her voice almost breaking as she was assailed with anger.

“...dead as well. The human responsible for Lord Lionel’s death is dead alongside his entire army. Slain by General Klauna,” Cera replied as she turned to face Klauna who was still sitting on the chair with a disinterested face.

“... I see… So revenge has already been taken…” Leida replied before looking away in sadness.

“Hmmph. So Lionel turns out to be as useless as his words. He said to me that he will win the war and yet his army is here running away like cowards. Useless just as him,” Sylendri said as she walked closer to Klauna.

Cera could be seen visibly angry at her comment. It wasn’t just Cera either, Leida and a few other generals, together with their vices, glared at Sylendry for her thoughtless words.

“How… How dare yo—” Cera tried to yell at Sylendri in a burst of anger when suddenly an enormous pressure was exerted on her, completely stopping her actions.

“Haaah?! You dare speak back to me?” Sylendri spoke back. Her body flared with a red aura that enveloped the entire room, the sheer power of the aura silencing the others in the room.

Cera backed away a step or two before looking downwards, unable to speak back due to the pressure by her Sylendri’s aura.

“Hmph.” Seeing Cera unable to reply, Sylendri looked towards the spear Indominatus before giving herself a nod and a smile. 

She then pulled out her hand in order to grab the spear. “I’m taking this with me then. A relic like this would be better off with someone as great as me rather than a weak and lowly Analyst after all.”

Just right as Sylendri was about to grab the spear, her hand was shoved away by Klauna who swung her spear towards Sylendri, causing her to take a few steps backwards. Klauna then stood up, albeit groggily, and moved in between Cera and Sylendri.

“Huh?” A dumb confounded face was seen on Sylendri. She could not comprehend the fact that someone would knock her hand away like that. 

“You are a disappointment Elisylendria Succour. Worse than the slut," Klauna said to Sylendri which broke her stupor.

“What did you say hahh?!” She then looked towards the person who did before unleashing more of her aura. Swooshing sound of the wind was heard together with the sound of the broken pieces of table and chairs being swept by the raging winds. Almost everyone in the room became more fearful of Sylendri and remained quiet. 

Almost everyone. A few others were not scared one bit, especially Klauna.

Klauna was unfazed.

“I said you are trash Sylendri,” Klauna said as she sips the last of the contents in her bottle.

Sylendri was fuming at Klauna and her words. How dare the lowly Analyst disrespect her like that! How dare she stand in front of her like that! Various negative thoughts came to her mind as she gritted her teeth and unleashed more of her powerful aura onto the surroundings. But no matter how much aura she releases, the lowly Analyst in front of her showed no signs of even caring.

‘Why is she unaffected by my aura…?’ Sylendri thought to herself as she glared at Klauna. She then realised that she has seen her face before.

“You… You are the lowly street rat that Lionel picked up in Divinatus. How dare a dirty filth like you speak to me like that?!” Sylendri yelled.

“... you know… if I am the rat. Then you are the litter by the roadside. A person who thinks she’s above all the other trash because she’s outside the trash bin.” Klauna said half-heartedly. She then threw the bottle of liquor right onto Sylendri’s face. 

The bottle breaking and the contents leaked out as it hit Sylendri. Sylendri's response was a nigh incomprehensible scream as she swung her hands towards Klauna. A large wave of energy appeared and flew towards Klauna in quick succession.

*BOOM!

Shockwaves of the explosion echoed across the room. The other demons got up and left their seats in order to make some distance away from the Demon Lord so as to not get involved with her wrath.

“Cera!” Leida shouted as she realised that Cera was behind Klauma. Leida feared that Cera might have been injured from the powerful attack

Her fear dissipated when the dust settled and vision restored. Cera was safe without a single scratch on her. It wasn’t just her either. Klauna could be seen unharmed as well. Her body was covered in some sort of red translucent shield. It was the signature skill of the Analysts, ‘Force field’. 

But unlike the normal force field, the shield that covered Klauna was different. It was not a bubble. Instead, it was a multitude of red hexagonal patches that covered her entire body like a suit of armour. 

Sylendri took a step backwards as she saw the Analyst uninjured. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened. Unable to fathom that someone could take a strike from her.

Klauna had wanted to give Sylendri the benefit of the doubt. That maybe she wasn't as bad as the rumours portray her to be. Alas, Klauna was wrong. Sylendri's true nature being revealed right in front of Klauna made the blood within her boil. But mostly, she was disappointed. Disappointed that her good friend truly died for nothing.

“Hmmph.” Klauna gave a scoff before turning her back towards Sylendri. Klauna then put her hands on the equally as shocked Cera before turning her body to face the door as well.

“General...  Klauna?”

“Don’t just stand there. Just go," Klauna said as she pushed Cera towards the exit.

“Uh..ummm alright.”

“Wait! I’m not done with you, get back!” Sylendri shouted as the two walked away from the demon lord. 

Klauna ignored her and continued to push Cera. This action enraged Sylendri who prepared herself to launch another attack on Klauna.

However, just before Sylendri could launch her attack, a loud obnoxious laugh came from behind. It was Leida who was clutching her stomach, trying to contain her laughter but ultimately failing. Samirayadare, the vice general of the first army let out a sigh as she tried to get her general to stop.

“That girl... That girl is a riot!” Leida let out a loud laugh. “How can she keep a calm face like that in a time like this?! Ha ha ha!”

Everyone just watched in silence as the first general laughed as loud as she could. Even Sylendri stopped her aura as she watched on in frustration. Klauna and Cera were long gone from the room as the first general laughed.

The laughing stopped when Leida finally ran out of breath. She wiped her teary eye. “...ahhh. It looks like the Ak’hims still have someone who has a gut. Come on Samiyadare. Let’s ditch this meeting,” Leida turned her back and started walking towards the exit as well.

“... yes, Big Sister” Samirayadare replied and followed her from behind.

“Aberanis, Parash. You two as well, come on let’s go,” Leida called out the second and the third general of the Northern Demon Kingdom.

“...Are you sure?” Parash asked.

“Yeah, she’s not worth following. Can’t you see? She’s just a brat with powers," Leida responded.

Hearing her words, the two generals and their vice got up from their seats and started to walk towards the exit. Seeing this, Saladis the mermaid queen too got up from her seat and started to flop to the nearest exit.

“Wait! Come back here!” Sylendri yelled before letting another blast of aura. “That’s an order Leidalaledaliliel Dragonicia.”

Leida did stop. But not because she was afraid. It’s because she wanted to say something to the ‘Demon Lord’. 

“If you want to order me around, you have to prove your worth and earn my respect Sylendri. So buzz off, will you? I need to mourn a dead friend.”

“Haah?! What are you talking about!? Haven’t you been following my orders all this time?” Sylendri argued back.

“I only followed your orders, Sylendri, out of respect for your mother Venti and Lionel. Not because you are the Demon Lord. Now that they are both gone, why should I bother listening to you? You even openly mocked my dear friend right in front of me. You expect me to listen to your words? Your mother will be disappointed if she sees you right now you know.”

Sylendri could not find the words to say back to her. She had wanted to launch an attack at her in rage, but she knows fully that Leida won’t be injured from a haphazard attack. 

“You will not have the strength of the first, second and third army for the upcoming battle, Sylendri. I think I contributed enough to your madness,” Leida said as she finally stepped out the door.

Sylendri could only grit her teeth as she sees the three strongest armies that the Kingdom has, walk away from her.