Underworld Negotiations XVII

The meeting was seen as a chance by both the Great King Faction and the Old Satan Faction to further their agendas.

The former wished to prevent any travesty to the old ways they held sacred as they believed in blood purity amongst high class devils and Riser and Ravel who were captured fit this profile. If they could use this incident to bring the Phenex House into their fold, even better.

As for the Old Satan Faction, they were thinking of criticizing the "weak" and pacifist approach the New Satans would definitely be going for so as to undermine them and, under the covert direction as well as support from the Khaos Brigade, they aimed to spark a conflict that would enable them to perform a cleaner coup.

Amidst this environment, the pre-meeting started . . . As Morgan tracelessly spied on the whole of the proceedings . . .

After the facade of polite greetings, the rather impatient Old Satan Faction which had recently got a taste of tangible power, were eager to start throwing shade.

"A pure blooded son of one the remaining Pillars from amongst the original 72 is currently being held against his will, suffering who knows what and yet nothing has been done about it? This meeting is a waste of time when we should be showing those upstarts the cruel truth of reality." Creuzerey immediately spouted.

Meanwhile, Morgan who was listening in commented in a mental channel so that Grayfia who was with them could not listen in . . .

"Well . . . It was not hard to find out who is aiming to make these negotiations a complete disaster. They did not even make any attempt at being subtle."

"Such is the folly of small men who get a taste of power." Jeanne commented with wisdom.

"Indeed." The Fairy Queen agreed while Artoria pondered on the duality of Jeanne.

One moment she was an innocent farmgirl while the very next, she could turn into the saint she was revered as, even though she herself would be the first to deny such a title.

She was wiser and knew people's hearts quite well, Jeanne's good and bad point, was a her will to believe in the "good" she saw even though she knew the "evil" in them all too well.

Back to the meeting however . . .

"Regardless of their intentions, the other party gave us time to make a decision as a courtesy, not taking advantage of such an offer would simply be foolish." Lord Bael countered.

"Indeed. Based on past dealings, Haikami Jun and his group can be expected to honor their word and they have claimed to withhold punishment until these negotiations were complete." Sirzechs declared.

"This Lord Bael might be a fool to cross us but it appears he is not wholly incompetent" Morgan continued to give out commentary.

"Indeed. The one who spoke before, he reminds me of those knights too eager for glory that they overextend, with far too often deadly consequences." Artoria also gave her commentary while Jeanne listened in silence.

Grayfia noticed they were communicating through some means she could not decipher but though they were simply discussing the situation and how to act in the coming meeting, not having a hint of suspicion that they were brazenly spying and casually commenting on the private pre meeting that was currently taking place.

"Hmph, even if that is the case Lord Bael, you must agree that a harder attitude is required to deal with such an affront." Shalba Beelzebub interjected.

"That is indeed the case. We must not show weakness but that does not mean we have to blindly antagonize an enemy we do not know much about." Lord Bael spoke in return.

"A strong attitude is a must but jeopardizing the life of two pure blooded Devil, especially ones so young, simply to satisfy our vanity is not what we should do as leaders of our people." He then added, receiving support from the other members of his faction.

Lord and Lady Phenex also appreciated his attitude which was more conductive towards ensuring their children's safety, even if they knew it was a calculated and politically minded group. After all, regardless of one's intentions, the truth that they were trying to keep their kids safe did not change.

"What do we know about this group? Sharing all the information we personally have regarding them should be the first step." Katerea Leviathan then spoke.

"Finally some sense being spoken by the Old Satan faction and from the others' acceptance, it seems they are more overeager than they are foolish." Morgan commented on the latest development.

"They most likely had never seen any hope of fulfilling their ambitions before. Now that they have been shown some, even if just a sliver, they are eager and motivated to do anything in order to see those ambitions fulfilled." Jeanne followed up with her own comment on the situation.

In truth, that was what she did in life as well . . .

Many of the soldiers she led found hope in her and her words which allowed them to fight with zeal they had never shown before nad through masterful leadership by her and Gilles de Rais who was the experienced military leader in the group, that zeal was channeled into something productive.

Unfortunately, that zeal could be extremely harmful if not properly channeled and the Old Satan faction seemed to be clear victims.

Once again, Jeanne's wise words received complete approval from her two fellows. For a time, Artoria too was Britain's glimmer of hope and she knew that it was hope for a better future for her country and people that drove her to work as hard as she did, make the sacrifices she made.

As for Morgan, she saw the truth and wisdom of Jeanne's words from the opposite end. During her long rule which ended tragically and violently, Morgan knew how dangerous it was to leave those that would depose her with any glimmer of hope.

At the same time however, she knew said glimmer could be used to manipulate them for her own ends if properly channeled.

As for the meeting, it had fallen into a very strange silence as the present parties revealed their information on Jun and his group . . .

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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

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I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.