A little bit of an awkward silence ensued, with neither party quite sure how to continue the conversation. They'd kind of gotten things a bit backwards, after all, what with talking about their species before properly introducing themselves.
"So Udon," Alesha ventured, "You said your people are really good with beast taming. Do you have a specialty? Or are you just good at taming everything?"
A couple of the demon's ears twitched absentmindedly as he responded. "An excellent question, young miss. I am accomplished in taming all sorts of beasts, but my favorites and the ones that listen to me the most readily are bears and creatures like them. I hear the forest here is known as Owlbear Forest. I'm not sure I'll have the heart to carry out the students' final examination because I would rather tame the poor beasts than kill them; I haven't had the pleasure of taming an Owlbear yet."
"Is that so? I'm sorry, that sounds rough." Alesha was surprised at the gentleness of this demon. She had expected demons to be a lot more violent, and this was particularly the case with Chaos Demons. Compared to that terrifyingly creepy demon, Zorhellian, from the hall of portraits, this one seemed as tame as a rabbit.
Udon gave her a sidelong glance, trying to read her expression. "Are you surprised by my gentle manner?"
"Yeah, is it that obvious?" Alesha laughed. "Your size is scary and your claws don't help at all, but you seem so refined and gentle that I can't help but be surprised. Every Chaotic entity I've seen or heard of thus far seems a lot more… bloodthirsty, if you know what I mean."
Udon chuckled. "I do indeed, young miss, I do indeed. I am actually somewhat of an outcast among my kind for the fact. You see, Beast Succubi are already among the least violent of the Greater Chaos Demons, but I take that nonviolence to an extreme even among my kind. Only on nights of the Chaos Moon or when filled with Chaos Energy am I prone to bloodshed. Otherwise, I am rather tame in comparison to the majority of Chaos Demons. So do not let meeting me lead you to incorrect conclusions about Chaos Demons as a whole."
"I see," Alesha said, taking his words to heart. "So I should expect Chaos Demons to be bloodthirsty lovers of Chaos?"
He laughed aloud at that, his deep songbird chitter sounding once again. "Indeed, young miss, that is how the majority of Chaos Demons are, though every breed is their own flavor of it."
After a minute of silence, Alesha asked him something else. "Udon, what do you know about a kind of Chaos Demon called 'Spawn of Loki'?"
All mirth left Udon's countenance and he leaned down closer to her, the serious look in his eyes sending shivers down her spine. "Where did you hear about them?"
"I- I saw a portrait of one in the main hall," she squeaked out, the demon's sudden intensity having surprised her.
He relaxed. "Alright. That's safe enough, I suppose. Young miss, pray you never meet one of the Spawn of Loki. Their nickname is not bestowed upon them in jest. They are among the most vicious and bloodthirsty of all Chaos Demons, and their penchant for games only makes them more dangerous. You never know when or how they'll come for you -- only that they inevitably will. The moment your eyes meet theirs, your fate is sealed."
"Yeesh, that's terrifying," Alesha said, hugging herself. "Now I kinda wish I hadn't asked."
Udon sat back again, relaxing further. "I am merely grateful you did not ask me because you had met one. It is better to learn of the dangers of certain kinds of demons before they ever have a chance to sink their fangs into you. I am curious, though, you said there was a portrait of one in the main hall? I haven't examined the portraits there. Do tell me about it, if you would?"
Alesha explained about the portrait and its plaque, recounting how the Dark Summoner Harold had struck a fatal deal with Zorhellian in order to eradicate the Erthellan Syndicate. When Alesha mentioned the name Zorhellian, Udon gasped. "No, you can't mean Zorhellian Fa Qinfeerus, can you?"
"How'd you know?"
"Truly, the worlds are smaller than they seem," Udon muttered. "Zorhellian is a spacefaring, traveling entertainer, one who spreads worship of the Chaos Goddess Toltura wherever he goes. He must have been summoned here before joining up with her faith. He's famous for his cruel, blood-soaked games, and rather popular for them too. This world is exceedingly lucky that he hasn't returned since being summoned, otherwise it would have been long since conquered."
"Conquered?"
"The Chaos Goddess Toltura has a secondary title, the Goddess of Conquest. She, just like the powers of Chaos, refuses to be contained within any kinds of borders and perpetually expands her territory. All beings associated with Chaos follow her. How do you not know this?"
"Ah. Well, um, I guess it's time to tell you a bit about myself, then," she replied, deciding to trust this demon with her tale. Perhaps, if she shared her story, he might have some insight to offer.
So she chronicled recent events in her life, again omitting the existence of the System (which stubbornly refused to allow her to talk about it), focusing especially on how her home planet had been attacked twice, as well as how the Chaos Moon had affected her, causing her to go into evolution. Without explaining about the System, she couldn't explain how it had been a conscious choice, so she instead made it seem like it happened instinctively.
"Amazing," Udon muttered. "You said that all of this started because you were set on fire with some kind of multicolored flame?"
"Yes," Alesha confirmed. "Then after I woke up, all of that happened within just the past couple of days. It's been quite the short, intense ride, haha."
"Indeed, indeed it has," he said, interlocking his four fingers and resting the bottom of his beak on the knuckles. "I wish I knew more about Toltura's Army. All I can say for sure, as an outcast Chaos Demon, is that for whatever reason, Toltura has marked your world for conquest. No matter how powerful your rulers may be, their loss is inevitable. Your world is as good as conquered already. Consider yourself lucky to be on the path away from being human; since you are now a being associated with Chaos, they might take you in as a full member rather than simply execute you or make you a slave."
This came as quite the sucker punch to Alesha's gut. The Alliance… would lose? No way! "No, that's not possible," Alesha muttered. "The Alliance controls half the galaxy, there's no way they can lose --"
Wait.
This was a literal Goddess the Alliance was up against. Was the Alliance even aware that gods really existed? Just moments ago, Alesha wasn't sure she could have answered confidently in either direction as to the existence of gods. What about the Alliance? Did they know? And if they did, could they counter the army of one?