The day of the meeting was finally here, and Glyea had already called before the assembly. After a brief talk with her, she was dismissed and taken to a separate room inside the tower. The sages had confirmed that she was willing to play along and be queen; nothing else mattered to them, neither her achievement on the battlefield nor how she'd managed to slaughter the zombie army. What report they did take from her was brushed off as a stroke of luck; it was the merchant that they were now interested in, as the equipment provided by him had played a major role in the battle.

Unfortunately, since Glyea no longer had the ring which she'd used to defeat Valentine, the sages decided to talk to Custer first and then interrogate the hero's party about their knowledge of the merchant and his group. Housing them in a separate room had already been part of their plan, as the last thing they would want, trying to discover the truth, was for the two groups to come up with matching stories.

Drumming its fingers on the desk, Toma finally smiled at the sight of Custer, Cecilia, and the rest of his group walking in through the assembly room's entrance. A pair of devils, a vampire, and a Capra, a curious group–if only the sages knew the truth that is.

"Well then," looking around, Toma placed both its hands on the table. "Feel free to ask questions. I'm sure you've come prepared, given the inquisitive predilection."

To affirm Toma, a man unaffected by Valentine's abilities, lit the crystal ball before him with magic. Turning their eyes to him, everyone watched in silence as he spoke up.

"The weapons you distributed to the joint forces of the hamlet, where did you acquire them?"

Focusing his eyes on the man, Zephyr took a deep breath. Stretching his arms forward, he waved them to the side, and in a flash, the vampire's puppets jumped out of their chair with their weapons drawn to those of free minds. The tip of their wands pressed to the neck of the free mind, the group of sages was swiftly divided into two parts. One who'd been off guard with no weapons of their own inside the assembly, and the other in control of the incubus and more than willing to blow the heads off their comrade's shoulders.

But then, there was another–Cill and Toma, both sneering at the sudden shift in their environment. Through gritted teeth and frustration, the two knew that they'd messed up despite knowing what the merchant most likely was.

"A demon…" They scoffed in unison.

Undoing his mask at once, Zephyr stretched his wings and glanced back at the others. With an approving nod from him, they changed into their true forms as well. And by the time the devil looked to the front, every single one of the sages had rattling jaws.

"Who are you?" Toma inquired, showing no signs of fear despite two sharp wands digging into its neck.

Cill, on the other hand, was fearful, but the fact that her plan for the sages was about to be thwarted made her more frustrated than afraid. So long she'd worked towards this goal, and to think a devil would waltz into their assembly and ruin it all? Felt like a dagger being twisted in her heart.

"What do you want?!" She screamed, surprising the sages.

Placing a hand on Zephyr's chest, Aura took a step forward to speak before her master sullied his tongue speaking to such mongrels in his true and darkened form. Stepping on the assembly table, she looked around at the many faces with a smirk.

"You shall call me Aurabel, and my master, you will call master from now on." Stomping on one of the crystals, she shattered it under her heels before turning her eyes to Toma. "You are free to do as you planned to do. Glyea will be queen if you so desire, but rather than your own, you will serve your master's interests. What is yours will be ours, and what is ours we take by force. It's only a matter of how attached you are to what you bring to the table, because we will rip it off your hand if that's what it takes to separate you two."

"And why will we serve you instead of accepting our fate right here!" Slamming her hand on the desk, Cill screamed her heart out. "We would rather die than serve a devil, you stupid, bringled bitch!"

"What did you say?"

"Cill!" Grabbing Cill's hand as Aura slowly turned her head towards her, Toma squeezed it hard to get her attention. "Shut up and let me talk. You're out of line here. I'm still above you in authority."

"Hmm?" The darkness in Aura's eyes retreated for a spell as her attention shifted back to the sage Mediora. "At least someone has some sense. Would be a shame to kill you all when we can make use of you as slaves."

Taking in Aura's words, Toma closed its eyes and lifted its head to look at her the moment they opened. Washing away its discomfort, it brushed the wands off its neck to see if the devils would allow it to get away with pushing back even a little. Thankfully, for it, Zephyr was far more pragmatic than Aura, and under his control, the sages allowed Toma to push the wands away without any retaliation.

"Before I say anything, can you answer one question?" Toma asked, swallowing its tension.

Aura's lips parted to respond, but to her surprise, she found herself changing places with Zephyr. Blinking a few times, she noticed her husband on the very spot where she'd been standing, and though he was far more forgiving, his face, enshrouded in everdark, was like an abyss peering back at the sage, and the longer they peered, the more insignificant they felt the face of true horrid strength.

"Speak…" Only one word he spoke, and most fell unconscious. Others soiled themselves and trembled as their seats rattled under their weight. "Do not make me wait."

As brittle as ice its heart had grown, and yet looking around, Toma knew that it had to speak before the devil grew frustrated. Lifting its head again, it looked in his eyes and asked.

"Who are you, really? You're not just some devil."

A silence followed its word, and as it broke…

"Archfiend Zephyr, the godbutcher, " so did what little sanity had remained within the sages.

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