(TPD) Chapter 52: Isle of Skye (1)

Chapter 52: Isle of Skye (1)

The Underworld, Bael Clan Estate.

After receiving his next mission to disrupt the meeting between Hexennacht and the Old Satan Faction at Mount Olympus, Avalon had returned to the Underworld alongside Sirzechs—going straight back to the Bael Estate while his brother returned to Grayfia’s side. 

And before he gave the news of what he’d be doing to his peerage, he decided to begin by relaying what he had learned back to Zekram, who he was sitting together with in her private room. 

“Incinerate Anthem,” she mused to herself, picking up her teacup and taking a sip from the soothing beverage. “That’s definitely something we’d like to get rid of sooner rather than later, but the lack of information on True Longinus and Dimension Lost is rather concerning.” 

Avalon nodded affirmatively, “Yeah, but at least it’s something rather than nothing. We’ll just have to make do with what we have, and hope it leads us to the Malebranche before they get desperate enough to pull the trigger.” 

Zekram tilted her head, observing Avalon’s expression with even more scrutiny than usual. 

Strange, he’s not acting as flippant as usual. She couldn’t pinpoint the reason, but she had a gut-feeling that something was amiss with her husband. 

The way he carried himself didn’t seem normal, but from what she had heard, nothing of note besides the signing of the alliance had occurred at Mount Olympus. 

Obviously there was the possibility that he and Sirzechs were hiding something from her, but if something major had happened in the Greek Pantheon, it was only a matter of time before it reached her ears. 

And she knew Avalon was smart enough to understand that, which made that possibility seem less likely. 

Notwithstanding, she wasn’t a fan of the uneasy sensation swelling in her stomach.

“Avalon.” She spoke softly, causing his brows to furrow upon noticing the change in his wife’s demeanor. 

“Yes?” 

“Are you feeling alright?” That was basically her way of letting him know that she had taken note of his strange attitude. 

Zekram wasn’t the type to ask or care about another’s feelings—ever. 

“Yeah, it’s just that all this travelling is a little tiring, but I’ll manage.” He rubbed his face, letting out a noticeably weary exhale.

She hummed inquisitively, pouring a warm, lime-green colored brew into a spare teacup and sliding it towards him. 

“Drink up, it’ll help stave off some of your fatigue. You’ll probably have enough time to rest properly once Hexennacht has been dealt with.” 

“Oh my, when did the Bael Clan’s Ice Queen become so considerate?” He let out a dry chuckle, calmly taking a sip of his wife’s undeniably tasteful tea blend. “Thank you.” 

“It’s not a big deal,” she replied idly. “Just make sure this whole mess is dealt with in a timely fashion, I’d like to get back to business sooner rather than later.” 

“Only the best for my honey,” he chuckled lightly, kissing her on the cheek before getting up to leave. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get a certain Fallen Angel prepared for battle.”

“Have fun.” 

Her eyes tracked him as he left, the foreboding feeling that had been plaguing her ever since his return starting to intensify. 

You’ve done something… haven’t you? Even if I can’t see your eyes, I can tell you have that kind of a look on your face. 

She looked out of the window, her mind bringing her back to the time when she had first “proposed” to Avalon. 

I expected your powers to mature before your mind did, but it seems I’ve been proven wrong. 

Instead of going for another sip of tea, she reached for a bottle of wine that had been curated by the Phenex Clan—known for its fierce potency. 

“I just hope you’re at peace with whatever decision it is you’ve made, dear husband.” She muttered to herself, pouring herself a full glass. 

…

Some time later, Avalon found himself sitting down on the living room couch, his cheek propped up against his fist in an exaggerated manner. 

“Correct if I’m wrong but… I’m pretty sure I only asked for you to come here didn’t I?” He raised his brow, looking at Eurus with a questioning gaze. 

“You did,” she confirmed. 

“Right…” His attention shifted to a different part of the room. “Then why are you here as well?” 

Much to his dismay, Adaloth had decided to join in on their discussion out of her own volition. 

“Is there a problem with that?” Adaloth furrowed her brow, giving him the I dare you to tell me to leave look. “You’ve just come back from your trip, and instead of coming to me like you should’ve, you went straight to Zekram—and now you call for Eurus’ presence. It’s only natural that I’m concerned.” 

He groaned, rubbing his temple with the knowledge that he was in for yet another argument with his Queen. 

“Harmonia’s given me a task to handle, and our older brother isn’t keen on letting me go alone. Therefore, taking the nature of the task into account, I decided that Eurus would be the best fit to bring alongside me.” 

Sensing that she was about to intervene, Avalon raised his hand, signalling for her to let him finish. 

“And no, it has nothing to do with your weird conspiracy that I favor black-haired women or whatever it was that you cooked up in that defective brain of yours.” 

She clicked her tongue, confirming his assumption.

It’s definitely true though… I’m willing to bet you probably met another black-haired girl while you were at Olympus. 

If only she knew. 

“I need someone capable of high-level strength, speed, and stealth. While you might have Eurus fairly beat in one of those, you’re far too lacking in the other two to be the right fit for this task. That’s why I want her here instead of you.” 

Eurus tapped her lower lip as she watched Avalon speak, falling into a faint trance of contemplation. 

Avalon and Adaloth had always been standoffish with one another, Eurus had been with them long enough to understand that. 

But she couldn’t help but feel like he was being more heavy-handed towards her than usual.

She wasn’t capable of the same deep, analytical observation that Zekram was, but she could discern that there was something different in his tone of voice. 

Something more—resolute. 

She decided against commenting on it for the time-being, choosing that it would be better to watch him for a while to see if her hunch was on the money. 

“What could possibly—” 

“It’s not going to be a long mission, Adaloth.” He stood up, gesturing for Eurus to follow suit. “Just focus on training Esdeath and Lars for now, there’ll be another mission soon enough, and I’ll make sure to bring you along for that one.” 

I definitely wasn’t imagining it, he’s never acted this authoritative before, especially not with Adaloth. She hummed to herself, pursing her lips. It’s kinda hot, maybe I should go on another rebellious streak. 

“Well? Are you just going to stand there?” Avalon took full notice of Eurus’ contemplative state, but decided not to pay it any heed. “We have work to do, chop chop.” 

She licked her lips, looking at Avalon in a way only Adaloth seemed to notice. 

And naturally, she wasn't a fan of it. 

“Aye aye, captain.” She saluted him jokingly, leaving the Bael Clan Estate with him. 

It was time to go capture them an Old Satan Devil. 

---

Scotland, Isle of Skye.

The Isle of Skye was connected to Scotland’s northwest coast by bridge.

It truly was a sight to behold, a bright-green, picturesque landscape that looked like it belonged in a high-value painting, with rugged hills as far as the eye could see, fishing villages that dated back to hundreds of years ago, and medieval castles that oozed pure majesty. 

It didn’t matter where you looked, every direction your eyes chose to observe would be filled with album-worthy scenery. 

The place truly was a tourist destination that deserved to be on every living being’s wishlist. 

But there was a piece of information regarding the place that no tourist brochure could tell you, nor one that could be found out with any amount of exploration. 

Above the bustling crowd of enamored tourists, laid a structure. 

A structure so large that it would normally need at least a dozen titanic pillars to support its weight, yet somehow, it was able to hover in the air without so much as an iota of support. 

A castle, not too dissimilar to the ones that stood below it, other than the fact that it was completely black in color, and that its size completely dwarfed them. 

Like a corporate skyscraper standing beside a humble start-up shop. 

In between the cracks of the castle’s exterior was an ominous, glowing purple watery substance. 

The castle looked like it had been ripped straight out of a fantasy book, yet all of the tourists below didn’t seem to pay the gargantuan structure any attention. 

Not because they didn’t want to, but because they weren’t able to. 

Humans, unless they were awakened Magicians weren’t capable of viewing Hexennacht’s headquarters. It was protected by an intricate masking barrier designed to keep them hidden from even high-ranking supernaturals, unless they happened to have unbelievable perception, even an Ultimate Class Devil could walk through Isle of Skye without noticing what was above them. 

And it was all thanks to the genius of Hexennacht’s leader, Walburga—Incinerate Anthem’s current host. 

She was a light-silver haired woman who looked to be nearing her 20’s, who wore purple Gothic Lolita attire similar to the black-colored version Ophis wore. 

She had a distinct dagger-like glare that remained in her eyes at all times, one that she had become known for amongst her subordinates, and one that terrified each and every last one of them whenever they were unfortunate enough to be met with its scrutiny. 

At the moment, she was sitting in her headquarter’s throne room in anticipation, awaiting the arrival of Hexennacht’s guest—a member of the Old Satan Faction who would be meeting Walburga in an attempt to recruit her. 

While Walburga wasn’t the type to follow another’s lead, the fact that the Infinity Dragon’s name had been dropped sufficed as a method to warrant her intrigue. 

If the Devil ended up boring her, then she’d probably just burn them on the spot, but until then—she’d allow them the honor of being within her presence. 

They would say their peace, and then they’d be placed at her mercy whether they liked it or not, such was the mentality of Hexennacht’s young leader. 

Creeeaaaakkk! 

“It’s about time,” Walburga murmured to herself in an irritated tone of voice. Knowing exactly who was about to step through the front doors of her throne room, but deciding to remain seated in a leisurely fashion nonetheless.

Footsteps started to echo through the hallway, inching closer towards Walburga in a confident stride that radiated a sense of pride and poorly masked arrogance. 

“Making me walk here as if I’m some sort of eager subject, you have some nerve, human girl.” A clearly dissatisfied, womanly voice conveyed their discontent to her. 

She was a tall, tan-skinned, bespectacled woman with a voluptuous, big-breasted figure. 

Her eyes were dark-purple in color, and her hair was dark-brown and fashioned into a tightly-woven bun.

And her attire consisted of an extremely low-cut purple dress, with high slits which exposed a large portion of her boobs and thighs. 

Walburga grinned, breathing a sinister snicker. 

“You’re the one coming to me, not the other way around. I’m under no obligation to treat you with any level of respect, a Devil like you should be able to comprehend that basic fact.” She leaned forward, “Especially a Devil as weak as yourself, you should be used to groveling at the feet of your betters shouldn’t you?” 

“Don’t test me.” The woman, presumably a member of the Old Satan Faction, growled. 

Her name was Katerea Leviathan, and unlike Serafall, she was an actual blood descendant of the Original Leviathan. 

Naturally, her bloodline had lost all meaning after the Old Satan Faction’s loss during the Civil War, which is why she now served as one of the figureheads of the defeated faction's remnants under Euclid’s leadership.

“Oh my, how terrifying.” Walburga shook her hands playfully, feigning a look of fear. 

With Incinerate Anthem on her side, she was naturally coded to hold Devils in very little regard, seeing them as a weak, insignificant species she could render to ashes with the snap of her finger. 

What could they possibly do when she had the power of Holy Fire on her side? 

“Girl! I’d highly advise you to—” 

“Shut up.” 

Katerea froze, an inexplicable sense of dread seeping through the cracks of her mind in a moment’s notice. 

Walburga’s demeanor had done a complete 180. 

Her flippant, insistent nonchalance had been replaced with a hard, boulder-like gaze, exuding a pressure that came crashing down on Katerea’s shoulders like boulders. 

“I’m the stronger one here, so you’ll do as I instruct.” She pointed her index finger at her, threatening to extinguish the Leviathan on the spot. “All I want to hear is you begging for my assistance, if you even mention anything off-topic, I’ll exterminate you without a second thought. So don’t test me, Devil.” 

Katerea swallowed a nervous gulp, adjusting her loosely-fitted collar. 

With just one verbal show of dominance, the immensely prideful descendant had found herself cowering like a mouse before a famished cat. 

“There you go,” Walburga slow-clapped. “Now you finally seem to have understood the situation here, well done. You may begin.” 

As it would seem, recruiting Incinerate Anthem’s host wasn’t going to be as cut-and-dry as she had hoped.