Harbingers of Change

AN: This is a double update so don't forget to read ch 23 first

Chapter 24

The vast cathedral had been rebuilt into a magnificent throne room, as befitting of her greatness, with an enormous marble throne to match. Of course, it was a far cry from her original one, sitting atop of the grandest pyramid in her birth world, but one must make do with what one has. This throne would have to make do for now.

Toltecatl was lying sideways on the throne, surrounded by silk pillows stuffed with the finest feathers, as one of her thralls massaged her feet with all the care in the world. She was clad in a loose white dress with a deep neckline and slits at each side revealing most of her legs, becoming the veritable epitome of seduction.

In her right hand, she held a large goblet filled with fresh blood generously donated by a young pack of animals under her protection. After all, she wasn't an unnecessarily cruel mistress, and not only did she let them live, she also let them live peaceful and happy lives so long as they knew their place and that their new Goddess and her thralls required a certain amount of blood and flesh sacrifices. The livestock were conditioned to see it as a blessing; since if their Goddess ate them, they would become one with her, and thus were more than happy to offer up their lives to her.

In short, life was starting to look good once again. Obviously, she wasn't as careless as to keep her main body in such a public place and currently possessed a flesh golem with multiple backups in case Tempest's elite entered her halls in a less-than-cooperative mood, but that was unlikely as she still sent them all the relevant information she could get through her hunts in the Western Nations and her numerous thralls still scattered throughout the human kingdoms.

This is when an unexpected visitor entered her throne room without her notice, freely walking past the guards frozen in place. With hands in his pockets, he approached her at a leisurely pace, proudly displaying his muscular chest. The unruly red mane only enhanced his rebellious look, and his face displayed casual ease. He wore a sly smile, and his red eyes were fixed firmly on her, as though he had come exclusively for her.

'Just what I needed. If it comes to the worst, I already got what I need in this land, and my new empire isn't worth a war with him.' Toltecatl stood up and waved for her thralls to disperse.

With a charming smile, she descended the throne and greeted the man, no, demon. "The infamous Guy Crimson, for what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I just decided to drop by to see what was done with Luminous' place after she left. I must admit, I like your style," He replied casually, stopping right in front of her and looking her up and down like a piece of meat.

"I'm sure she won't mind. Wine, or perhaps you fancy my choice of drink?" She offered and signaled her hidden servants to bring in some beverages.

"Wine will be fine. And you have me at a disadvantage here." Guy accepted a large goblet from a young vampire girl, dressed in only a short skirt and nothing else, approaching him timidly.

"Oh dear, oh dear, did Luminous forget to mention me? A shame." Toltecatl dramatically put her hand against her forehead. "I am Toltecatl. You may think of me as the original vampire."

"Mind explaining the original part?" Guy inquired after taking a large gulp from the goblet. "Not bad, might come to visit you more often."

The demon's demeanor was quite casual, but all the signs that implied he wasn't playing around were there. If she tried to play around and attempt to deceive him, he likely wouldn't let it slide. Considering she didn't know what abilities Guy had, only that he was far too powerful for her to even scratch with her current abilities, honesty was the only option.

"It was Twilight Valentine who summoned me. It was by using my blood and flesh that he made his mockery of a vampire. I sat in a cage for many millennia, sustaining on raw magical power, until Luminous let me out to play and have her hiding place," she explained, her grin displaying rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Guy's smile faded and his stare intensified. "You are a clever little thing. I like you." he leaned closer, almost touching her lips with his.

"I must say, you are the type of man that makes my blood flow faster as well." She raised her pitch a bit, glittering her eyes.

"Tempting… but I have made a promise that would be disastrous to break. How about you tell me your grand plan?" He suddenly leaned back and downed the goblet, chuckling.

"I plan to carve a little corner of the world for myself and then enjoy what life can offer. I'm certain none of the… important figures have claimed these lands yet," she told the truth as far as her current plans were. There was no need to announce that she eventually wanted to escape the world, and she was still telling the truth.

"You are clever, you know. Did you think no one would notice if you did your stunt at the same time as Tempest was doing theirs?" Guy shook the goblet, and the same girl came with a bottle and filled it up, a bottle incidentally from Luminous' old stores.

"I surely hoped it would be the case. Have I displeased you by not publicly announcing my current status?" She asked, her pitch only growing higher as she cupped her hands and pushed her chest forward with a small smile, hoping for the best.

"There are traditions that need to be followed. You can't just become a demon lord and then not come chat with your peers, but at least you had ignorance up until now," Guy ignored her attempts at trying to look cute and submissive. If not for a promise to Velzard, he would've already taken this vampire on her very throne, but the risk wasn't worth the fallout.

He was well aware that his wife was close to the point where she could and would sabotage the game and find a way to get him into unbreakable chains just to prevent him from sleeping with other women. Perhaps in another few thousand years, if this vampire is still around.

"My apologies, in that case, can I ask a big favor from a nice and experienced demon lord to show me the ropes? I would be most grateful."

"You can drop the act. It's cute but gets old fast. If I wanted to kill you, I would've gone right for your bedroom deep under the ground," Guy declared, his smirk fading for a moment before flickering back as he smugly glanced downward.

"I see." She straightened out and crossed her arms. "Then what does the mighty Guy Crimson want of me?"

"In three days, we Demon Lords have a gathering. A social event. We'll have some nice tea and wine. Talk about events, solve disputes—that sort of thing. We call it Walpurgis. As a Demon Lord yourself, you should join us, announce your plans, and meet your new peers. I'm sure an outgoing and sociable lady like you can manage that." Guy stated matter-of-factly, finishing the goblet with a contented sigh.

"Very well. I will join the festivities. There is just one thing I want to ask," She once again spoke in a low smooth voice, leaning back on her throne now that her efforts had proven useless.

"Sure, ask away. I am in no rush," Guy tossed the goblet at the girl who, to her credit, deftly caught it with one hand before dashing away.

"Are you protecting Luminous or have an interest in her lands?"

"No, and no, but you will have to join the line. Luminous had made quite a name for herself and many want to have a chat with her," Guy smirked.

"Ah yes, Tempest. I'll let them sort everything out then. Is there anything else I should know? I would prefer not to be at a disadvantage when attending such an important and glorious social event."

"You can only take two followers with you. I will send one of my own to pick you up, and if there are disputes, we have a set of rules to follow that I prefer not to be broken. Basically, you and whoever supports you get isolated with your opponent and their allies, and you fight it out there without ruining the place," Guy explained.

"Sounds wonderful, I look forward to it." Toltecatl bowed her head.

"I feel you'll be fun to have around. See you in three days!" Guy opened a portal and disappeared through it.

'He is far too dangerous to be ignored. How did he know where my real body was? I guess I will have to be at my most diplomatic and if everything else fails, pledge servitude to one of the big players to bide my time. I truly hate this world!' She let out a hissing sound and returned to her throne.

Her servants wisely kept their distance, letting the vampire queen brood by herself as her aura washed over her cattle, "blessing" them with her presence.

<X>

"Chief!" Ramiris once again filled his office with a loud high-pitched screech as she entered after knocking and slamming open the doors.

"What happened this time?" Momonga questioned, far too accustomed to her high energy and tendency for theatrics, a trait she had unfortunately picked up from both Veldora and Pandora. At least she hadn't picked up Pandora's tendencies to use German, a small gift in his opinion.

"Chief, I tried to figure out everything that had happened in the past few days and… I can't. I don't understand how you evolved, but I need to. I have the duty of being the Arbiter, and Guy can demand answers from me that I cannot give him." Ramiris explained while doing laps around his table and chair, her wings buzzing like mad.

"I prefer not to reveal any information to him," Momonga stated.

"We don't have to tell him everything, I just need to understand from my perspective. He'll be fine with that; he just needs something suitable to chew on." She continued her frantic buzzing.

"Can you get to the point?" Momonga considered testing out if she was immune to time stop for a moment until Ramiris continued on.

"I need to reach my adult phase. This event is too critical for me to be an adolescent right now. I know it can push me into rebirth but I'm sure you can deal with my child phase." Ramiris finally stopped and flew higher to reach his eye level, pausing before him.

"Are you sure? I have not yet looked into how to stop the cycle," Momonga asked the fairy who was starting to get him worried. She was theatrical, yes, but not to this degree. And despite her juvenile attitude, she was serious when important matters needed to be addressed, and anything involving Demon Lord Guy was one such matter.

"No, I'm not. I don't want to get reborn so soon. I don't want to go through another growth spurt. The last one was beyond horrible! But… Momonga… this isn't about me. I have a sacred duty toward the world, and we agreed that I would serve you as long as you didn't intentionally do something that could harm it." Her tone became serious and far too mature for her otherwise young appearance, implying just how important her proposal was.

She wasn't this mature most of the time, which unnerved Momonga. If Guy got pissed, perhaps he would send the true dragon Velzard on them, and it was her aura alone that kept a third of all land masses frozen. Perhaps that was why Ramiris was so nervous?

"And I intend to listen to you on these matters. Ramiris, sit down. I need to be sure we must go through this before we move on with your demand, given the investments from all of us and the rebirth at hand." Momonga motioned at the chair.

"I have this feeling… The problem is I lack the information at the moment to understand it fully. Something has gone astray. And I started to get this feeling when you evolved and it got even worse after Buku got hers, intensely worse. I'm not saying you did something bad on purpose, but I need to be in my prime to advise you, even if I have to go through another rebirth since it's probably related to the laws of the world. It's not about you and me, but the world itself. Neither you nor I can simply leave if it all comes crashing down, you know," She spoke, her voice trembling.

"Very well. I will perform the ritual again and if possible, stop your rebirth cycle. I do not want to ignore such a warning, given your intrinsic wisdom. And you have my word we'll take care of you in your child phase, and I will only age you again when I have a bulletproof method to stop your rebirth unless you claim it is absolutely necessary once more." Momonga agreed.

"I knew I could rely on you, Boss." She glanced up with a weak smile. "Oh boy, it's going to suck to go through aging again."

"Then let's go get Veldora, Buku, and Milim and prepare. For the record, I will see if there is a way to keep you as an adult right away," Momonga stated, activating Omniscience once more.

It wasn't the best time to expend a lot of energy, but an adult Ramiris could just be what he needed as the additional boost to ensure Walpurgis went over smoothly.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by aidan_lo, KieraKieraARTS, clagan, Cay, Sluethen, CakeEight, Malguis, NuggetLover, fvvck, Working_Stiff, and Nervy.

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