Arima killed time for two days in the spirit city, mainly by sleeping.
During the third day, at the human capital, in a special meeting room of the castle, some influential figures had been gathered together. Most of them were people Night had selected while the others were those who heard about this bizarre assembly and invited themselves. Among those, three of them were very important characters. One was the Human King, the second one was the Elven Priestess, and the last one was the Demon King, literally.
"The reason I gathered everyone here is to discuss something crucial for the security of our country," Drannoc spoke, seated at the table, and everyone around it focused on him. Fayla stood silent behind the prince. "To be exact, I want to talk about someone."
"Is it the person who did this to you?" His father, the King, raised his voice. He looked a bit old and had some white hairs, but overall, he was a well-built and handsome man. "I heard you were spreading rumors about a certain individual since the day you came back."
Drannoc nodded. "Yes, indeed. As you may have heard already, his name is Arimane Blade. To be frank, I’ve never met him personally."
"You’ve never met him?" A tall and burly man, with horns on his head and chilling golden eyes, indifferently cut the prince’s words. It was the Demon King. "Then why are you going so far as to craft a rumor and hold a meeting?"
Drannoc eyed the Demon King. ‘This man is said to be the strongest on this continent. I didn't expect him to come unsolicited as well.’
The prince retained a stony face and faced the Demon's glare. "It's true that I didn't meet him in person, but I crossed path with his soul beast."
"Oh," the Demon King exclaimed in slight surprise and interest. Not only because of what Drannoc said but also the fact that the latter could face him without wavering. It was a complete change of personality. He was now even more fascinated by the person who could bring such a change to this human prince.
"What kind of soul beast?" It was then the Elven Priestess’s turn to speak.
Drannoc smiled. "A dragon. A noble dragon at the late ninth level."
Everyone in the room fell silent. The less influential people in the room who were already suppressed by the three huge figures and couldn't even gather the courage to speak anymore.
"As a proof of that, that dragon defeated Fayla in a duel," Drannoc added and pointed his hand at Fayal behind him.
"…Where did that happen?" The King asked about the biggest wonder he had in his mind.
"It was in the spirit city. It seems that they were some guests there and we, unfortunately, happened to quarrel. It was then that the dragon used an odd magic and transported us to a strange place, separated from our reality,” Drannoc explained as he added a few small lies he had come up with.
"A strange place?" The Demon King mused. "Is that perhaps dimensional magic?"
Drannoc glanced at him. "That's what I was told indeed."
The demon grinned. "Interesting. Even I can only use that kind of magic for a few minutes at most. But a soul beast alone managed to sustain a dimensional link long enough to fight. I have to say I’m impressed," he praised and everybody was shocked. The words of the Demon King carried a lot of weight. "What's the name of that soul beast?"
"He said that he had been named Night Bahamut."
"Hm, I see…" The Demon King smirked and nodded in satisfaction.
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The Elven Priestess then opened her mouth to speak again. "Ultimately, why did you gather these people here? Does this have anything to do with the reason that soul beast didn't kill you? And I will be frank, if there is someone as dangerous as that, you should have called us as well. We shouldn’t have had to invite ourselves."
The prince smiled. ‘She is doubting something already… There’s no point in hiding it any longer. I already did what I was asked,’ he thought and sighed.
"…The reason behind this gathering is that he ordered me to do so. The dragon was also the one who chose the participants."
“What?”
"Why us?"
The people from the original list finally started panicking.
"Prince Drannoc! What does he want from us!?"
“What if he wants to invade this country?”
"If he threatens us, we’ll just have to kill him! Let's see if he can survive an army!"
"Silence!" The King shouted and his aura shut the mouths of all of them. He stared at his son with narrowed pupils. "What does that mean?"
Drannoc exhaled. "It means I completed my job…" He muttered and closed his eyes as if he was exhausted. The people in the room were confused by his relaxed reply.
Suddenly, a clap resounded in the room. Then a second, and a third one. Among the people present, someone was actually clapping for an unknown reason.
The three important figures had a drastic change of expression. Their eyes expressed pure disbelief. They slowly turned their heads toward the corner of the room.
There, a man wearing black clothes was leisurely clapping while eating chocolate. He was leaning against the wall while a huge wolf was sitting next to him.
Every participant of this meeting looked dumbfounded at the scene. Fayla and Drannoc lifted their heads to inspect the man who they didn't get the 'chance' to meet.
The Demon King grinned in excitement while the Priestess deeply looked at him as if she was trying to see through him. In contrast, the Human King was somberly watching.
Arima finished his candy and abruptly raised his hand. Except the two who had encountered Night and the three others who didn't fear him, everyone took a step back and utilized all of their willpower to not take a second one.
Arima smiled so naturally that it sent shivers down the spines of everyone there. He put his thumb against his middle finger and snapped them. At that moment, every person Night had selected beforehand instantly disappeared from the room.
The Demon frowned, the Priestess’ eyes narrowed, and the King’s face darkened. They had already understood what would happen from Drannoc’s explanation; they weren’t fools. They didn't know why, but they knew that the people who had just vanished would never return alive.
Arima put his hand down. "[Heus, hic comedetis] (Hey, come here to eat them)."
It sounded like a calling instead of chant.
"[Vashta Nerada] (The Shadows that Melt the Flesh)."
Arima cast a magic he already had used once before. But this one was a hundred times stronger, combining death and darkness magic.
***
In another dimension, around thirty people were freaking out because their surroundings had suddenly been replaced by thick darkness. The ninth-levels tried to break that magic but couldn't disperse it at all.
It didn't take long before the first scream echoed. No one could see what was happening, which amplified their fear to the extreme. A few seconds later, another scream resounded and it lasted for a minute straight.
"What's happening?! Answer me!" The strongest one shouted, hoping to get an answer. But he only heard endless screams. He attempted to take a step forward but he felt that something was strange about his legs. He couldn't see them but he still had his sense of touch. He tried to touch his leg and his thought process completely froze.
He used his two hands to feel the state of his legs. The more he did it, the stronger his fear became. No matter how he did it, he could only feel a solid surface. He couldn't feel any flesh or skin. It was just as hard and slim as a… bone.
The man finally yelled like the others and then a weird sensation reached his hands. He moved them slowly and entangled his fingers. A dull sound that shouldn't come out when you join two hands resounded.
The sensation climbed until his neck and suddenly stopped. The man almost sighed in relief, thinking that he was saved. But then, it began to rise faster than before. At that moment, all of his mental fortitude subsided and he bawled until the moment his vocal cords had been consumed. But in the absence of his lungs, his last scream was quite pathetic.
***
In the real dimension, Arima stood up and suddenly disappeared which surprised the remaining people who were watching. But since Night was still there, yawning, they knew that he would come back soon.
Arima entered the other dimension just to retrieve the life force permeating the air. After that, his strength rose one more time along with his affinities. He then looked around the room and inspected the clothed skeletons. Some were standing and others fell on the ground, scattering the bones.
"It worked pretty well. I found another way to use this place."
Actually, Arima had prepared what you could simply call a trap. He set up his magic in the other dimension then sent his targets inside who directly arrived in the middle of a magic array. Thereafter, he only needed to activate it to eliminate the people in the area of effect.
Arima exited the dimension when he was sure that he had collected all of the life force. He reappeared in front of everyone in the meeting room. He then snapped his fingers for a second time and the dimensional link was severed. The people he had 'abducted' instantly came back.
Skeletons appeared at their original position before falling on the ground. There wasn't any flesh left on the bones, which scared the weaker individuals in the room. They gave up on trying to fight the fear and rushed out of the room.
The only ones left in the room were the three powerful figures, Fayla, Drannoc, and, of course, Arima and Night.
The Demon King approached one of the remains to tap it. "The clothes are intact. There's also absolutely no sign of injury on the bones…"
The elf was doing the same thing. She elegantly bent down and picked up a hand of one of those skeletons. "…These people died quickly while feeling absolute dread. To the point, it was etched into their bones. I also detect death magic looming over them."
The Human King glanced at those skeletons before staring at Arima. "For sparing my son, I won't blame you for this. In the first place, all of these people were just worthless trash. I came here just because I was curious of why my son, who had become so gentle now, had summoned them. Now, I got my answer."
He paused and steeled himself. "But I can't ignore everything. Who are you? What did you do to my son? And what is the meaning of this?"
Arima chuckled, he grabbed a chair lying around and brought it to the table in the center of the room. He unceremoniously sat down and smiled. "Let's talk."