2-16: Hero Candidate Part II

"Alright, I'll consider it."

"Consider what?"

Haruki's confused look ramped up to eleven, every bit as genuine as possible. Just a few minutes ago, he was trying to figure out Raze's tolerance of Demons, making way for the possibility of a cooperation between them and the Chimeras. After all, Lust Demons do have absurdly high Charisma and the qualification for the "mates" that could curb the minor race's mania did not limit to one race or the other.

The young Sovereign posing as an ordinary Incubus could have maneuvered more subtle methods when proposing the idea, but time was rapidly running out. While the revelation of the Hero Candidates brought a good harvest for Haruki, he neither had the convenient opportunity nor the prospective people to try it out. Even worse, with his current Sealed situation, he couldn't even check out his Status to see the increase in his Stats and the details of his shiny brand-new Skill.

However, one thing was for clear - the "Secret of the Hero Candidate" wasn't much of a secret in truth. The Varuna Theocracy was well aware of the benefits of such a mechanic and considering the information pried from Martha by Avon, at least one of their Hero Candidates was milling about somewhere in the Chimera nest, searching for the missing Chimera King.

That was right, though privy to only the higher-ups of the Silver Crescent Order, killing the Chimera King was their priority number one. As to why, it was definitely because of the prerequisite quest for the assimilation of the Chimeras, where one had to slay the King and obtain his "heart".

But even for a honed player of Verethragna Gloria, the operation of the Varunai was a little bit bizarre. In the game, it was the Chimera themselves that asked the player to end the life of their King, it wasn't some kind of bounty hunt one could take from a Mercenary Guild. Haruki couldn't figure out how the brain circuits of the Saint worked…

Nevertheless, since his arrival last night, Asmo had been scouring the entire nest under Haruki's strict orders. When that didn't bore fruit, he sent the little furball to stalk Fleming, Linus and the other commanders of the Chimera. Of course, Raze was the exception with his eyes that could see through Disguises and possibly even the System-generated Stealth.

And the very man of the hour was now eyeing him like a predator does his prey.

"Consider taking in Demons as mates instead."

Haruki was taken aback at the sudden change in tune. Earlier, wasn't this guy adamant against his fellows associating with Demons? How come he changed his mind so abruptly? They were only talking about their identities as non-Humans, nothing in the conversation prompted an overhaul in thinking! He never imagined that the always stoic Chimera was so fickle-minded.

Whether the other man was capricious or not, Haruki was a little unnerved by the not-so-subtle overpowering ogling. "What're you looking at me for?"

A mischievous smile appeared, bestowing a youthful and refreshing gleam on Raze's otherwise worry-prone face, multiplying his innate handsomeness by the dozen.

"Taking a look at my prospective mate, of course."

Haruki's heart chilled at the obviously passionate look, but also felt the temperature of the room rising. The warmth spreading on his face appeared almost simultaneously, erasing the cold atmosphere of being trapped helpless under the whims of the other. Though he could discern the wild and uncontrollable hormones that were threatening to envelop and swallow him whole, there was no trace of malice beneath it, akin to a dragon who finally found its pearl, sheltering the beloved treasure in an embrace that screamed of both possessiveness and gentleness.

In a moment, the heart frozen by fear was beating hard and fast, with the elimination of the danger of being forced to do something Haruki would rather not. While Raze's words did not confirm it, the young Sovereign could sense that the Chimera Hero wanted to treat him as an equal, instead of a tool to control his weakness. The sincerity was so obvious it practically oozed from the other man's eyes as he patted the dumbstruck Haruki's head, leaving the room with cheer-filled steps.

Left inside the cavern that was Raze's bedchambers and Haruki's temporary prison, the young Demon King mind remained blank for a few minutes or so.

What the hell was that?! How come the Chimera had good feelings for him, wasn't he very wary of him at the start? And Haruki's flirting was so clumsy it stunk of the work of a rookie - he didn't even use the "Seduction" Skill on Raze!

Ahhhhhhh, if only he could check Raze's Affection with Identifying Magic, he would have seen the early signs! Damn, these Seal Spell Enchanted cuffs had to go!

Haruki really underestimated the Sovereign of Lust's innate charm. If Monad heard about this, he would definitely wear an annoyed "I told you so" expression. The Incubus had been warning him non-stop about attracting the bees and the butterflies, but he wasn't at fault, who knew Raze would fall for him all on his own?

Thinking about the Chimera Hero, Haruki's face reddened once more. Compared to Monad's smooth looks of a gentlemanly rogue, Raze had a fiercer and colder temperament. The Chimera was also endowed with greater muscle mass, though he wasn't necessarily bulky like the usual brawny weightlifter. However, an aura of strength covered his entire body, not to mention the fearsome bestial parts.

The most noticeable was the large scorpion's tail, which was solely responsible for the "Scarlet Sting" moniker. While dark in coloration, the stinger and the outermost segment known as the venom bulb, would glow a bloody red when emitting the poison of the Girtablullu, the famous scorpion-like monstrosities that inhabit the westernmost territories of the Nit Magedom. Aside from the Girtablullu, Raze also had features of a Titan Bear and a Seer Drake - the left arm and the eyes respectively.

While the huge bear-like forearm that could crush boulders was wrapped in bandages, looking only relatively larger at first glance, Raze's reptile-like eyes could not be hidden. The vertical pupil was a reddish black, encompassed by a golden iris and a lighter sand-like sclera. Somehow, this piercing pair of eyes fit him, accentuating his tanned sun-kissed skin and red tousled hair. It gave a foreign feel on his otherwise rugged and chiseled face, boosting his attractive index to the top of the charts.

In fact, Raze became one of the more popular heroes of the Chimera minor race partly because of his handsome looks. Complemented with a tragic backstory and a very useful Hero Ability, there was no questioning why he was drawn in a lot of fan art and written about in countless fan fictions, despite not belonging to any of the major factions. To be honest, sometimes when Haruki encountered the Chimera on his playthroughs, he always chose Raze as the sole Hero to recruit.

Haruki would like to say it was due to Raze being a really good unit, but more often than not, he just liked the other man's aesthetics. Also, he was a good potential Consort for the Luxuria Sovereign. The latter reason actually became a popular meta that was attributed to Haruki, the so-called "snagging Champion Heroes" for the Lust Demons.

The so-called weakest of the Demons were referred to as such due to having zero combat-oriented Champion Heroes in their natural Summoning roster. While in a single-player game, one could circumvent this glaring flaw by investing in diplomacy and avoiding wars as much as possible, that wasn't really an option in the cutthroat multiplayer competitions. However, developer's insight was in play all along, as the Lust Demon Sovereign's "Carnal Connection" Unique Ability could easily break through this innate shortcoming.

Haruki really didn't think about adding Raze to his Consorts, especially after the reveal that he had to initiate sexual activities for it to work, not to mention the required Affection stat. From the description of the game and its many official guidebooks, Raze was a taciturn and composed man, ironically burning out his anger and other emotions on his decades-long quest for vengeance. Based on his backstory and behavior and ignoring the game's built-in mechanics that segregate story and gameplay, he was probably the last person to be affected by the Lust Demons.

But reality didn't conform to Haruki's expectations as usual. For some reason, he seemed to have conquered the unfeeling Raze's heart…

Haruki sighed heavily and laid his entire body on the rough stone bed, mourning this huge mess he somehow caused. Raze wasn't like Monad, who was an Incubus well-aware that he would share his liege with another sooner or later. While the Chimera Hero did accept his identity as an Incubus, the role of a Demon Sovereign was a huge red flag in any budding relationships.

Ah, heck, just leave it to fate! For once in his life, Haruki decided to turn a blind eye on what could possibly be a chaotic situation in the future. He still had to find the Chimera King, uncover the identity of the spy from the Varuna Theocracy, figure out Fleming and the Nit Magedom's motives, learn more about the Hero Candidates…

Feeling a headache coming and realizing he only had a few hours of sleep from last night's reports with Monad and Asmo, Haruki decided to have a quick power nap. Anyway, Raze was busy as always and would probably be back later in the evening.

However, the sun hadn't set yet when Haruki was rudely awoken by an earth-shuddering quake accompanied by the resounding crash of falling debris.

"Wh-what?!" Haruki stumbled as he sat up, listening to the noise of crushing rocks and human screams from outside the cavern. Instantly sobered up by a clear sense of danger, he leaped out of the bed and into the tunnel that led to the entrance.

With all the rushing, Haruki almost collided with a silver-haired man with a tufted wolf's tail. He instantly recognized the other, despite the uncharacteristic serious countenance and absence of a smile.

"Linus! What's going on?"

"Addie!" Linus wore a conflicted expression that Haruki didn't like, as if the Chimera was hovering between feeling guilt, relief and despair. "You have to help us out, the Captain has gone crazy!"

"Gone what?" It was only a few hours and he left on a good note, what the hell happened to Raze?

The distress was clear in Linus' face, void of any deception. "It's mania…"

"Huh?" Haruki quickly found out that things were not as simple as they seemed. His gaze sharpened, completely breaking out of his "Addie" facade and shocking Linus with his demanding tone. "Raze didn't have any debilitating signs of mania, how the hell did he succumb to it so easily?!"

"Right, this doesn't make sense, it would take decades before the Captain would lose his senses!" Linus connected the dots soon, but he wasn't as quick as Haruki, who had already rushed outside, leaving the Chimera to follow his footsteps with his rapidly churning thoughts.

The half-wolf, half-shark hybrid soon noticed something odd. "Hey, wait up, how do you know all this?"

The question was destined to remain unanswered. When the two men finally left the winding tunnel, they were greeted by a red-eyed Chimera Hero striking a man with his bear-like left arm. The victim was thrown out by the impact, landing painfully in front of Haruki.

Linus hurried to assist the man, who was a fellow Chimera with a hawk-like head and an additional pair of a squid's tentacles attached to his back. "Damn, you took a beating. You alright, man?"

"Vice-Captain!" The other man looked terrified and exhausted, but still had some fighting spirit in his birdlike eyes. "Got some broken bones, but I can still fight. Hurry on and find Doctor Fleming, he's the only one who can stop the Captain!"

"Not necessarily…" responded Linus, turning to look at Haruki, who was standing near them.

Noticing the other man's stare, Haruki shifted his sight from the rampaging Raze, who was battling a dozen other Chimeras at the same time. He gave Linus an expression of extreme disdain. "Don't tell me you want me to be fucked by your Captain when he's crazy like this! I'll be crushed before he gets to thrust it in!"

Linus audibly choked; he was still unaccustomed to the supposedly timid Human's sharp and shameless mouth. "Then what do you propose we do?"

"Raze is in an abnormal state," explained Haruki, ignoring the look of shock and awe from the hawk-squid Chimera, probably at his sudden change of temperament. "This 'mania' he's under was probably forced out by some kind of external factor. I'm assuming it has a set duration, so we need to distract Raze the entire time, keep him from killing anybody or causing too much damage to the nest…"

"How did you figure this out?"

The suspicion in Linus' tone of speaking was as clear as can be, but Haruki had no intention of elaborating the matter. He would leave it to Raze to clarify things, especially since the other man had considerable influence over his subordinates. If Haruki revealed his identity as a Demon now, he would only make Linus and the others more wary. Right now, he really needed their help.

Still, some clues could be intermittently given. "Someone from the Varuna Theocracy is posing as a Human slave here. His goal is to kill the Chimera King, so Raze's manic symptoms should be his work, probably a diversion of some sort."

"Wh-what?!" If things weren't so serious, Haruki would have laughed at the Chimera's version of a dumb dog. "Someone's trying to assassinate the King?"

As if awakening from a stupor, Linus forced a blank expression. "But he's not here, how can that be…"

"Don't try to fool me, the Chimera King is hidden somewhere in the nest, being protected. Or to be more accurate, 'protected' so he can't harm others."

Linus swallowed hard; disbelief written on his ashen face. "How do you know all this? This a secret only known to a few of the Chimeras…"

"I can't explain, but you have to trust me for now," stated Haruki in a pleading tone. He stared straight at the other man's eyes, showing both sincerity and tenacity. "I won't harm you, Raze or any of your fellow Chimeras, even the already manic King."

The wolf-shark Chimera held the Demon Sovereign's gaze, not even showing the slightest inch of weakness. For a happy-go-lucky guy, Linus was bold and staid when it counted, revealing that his title as the Battle Corps' Vice Captain was not for show. Haruki sweated a little at the mental shakedown, feeling that the other was no longer a mangy dog but a fierce wolf that would do anything to defend his kin.

It only took a few seconds, but Haruki thought it was a lifetime before Linus sighed and lowered his unfriendly gaze.

"Fine, you win, but I still don't trust you one hundred percent."

Haruki's responding smile of victory was both genuine and gorgeous, making the two Chimeras blush a little. "Thanks, I'm counting on you both."

"S-sure?" Linus tactfully remembered that this cute but vicious little guy was marked by his Captain, he had no business falling in love at first smile. He even shouldered the other birdbrained Chimera, giving him a warning look to not mess around.

The object of their newfound yet already ending affection didn't notice their small movements. Haruki just received a message from Asmo, making him wide-eyed in a moment of inspiration.

There was a sense of eagerness to act in his tone as Haruki laid out his orders. "Keep your Captain busy. I'll find Fleming and the Chimera King."

Linus once again wore his dumbfounded doglike gaping look as he turned to face Haruki. "How did you know Fleming-"

"Watch out!"

The warning came too late. The rampaging Chimera Captain pushed his foes out of the way with one swing of his barbed tail. And with a gigantic leap, he aimed for the distracted Haruki…