Noticing that Meryda couldn’t stop staring at Demon Fyend with an enormous smile on her lips, Demon Azazel asked, “Young Meryda, why are you staring like that at High Demon Fyend?”

“Sorry, it’s just…” Meryda said while looking down. She then raised her eyes to the curious gorilla-like Demon and asked, “If you are in charge of everything that concerns Biology, does that mean studying Monsters falls under your jurisdiction? And… one of your Institutes has Underwater Vessels to study sea Monsters?”

“Correct to both questions. Why?”

With her eyes shining, Meryda said, “That is so cool… You mean, students who attend your Biology Institute can learn everything there is to know about Monsters? Their behaviour, their physiology, their weaknesses, and strengths… all that?”

“Correct again. But why do you ask?”

“Nothing… just curious…”

Manananggal understood why Meryda looked so happy, and she explained it to the puzzled Demon Fyend. “Meryda adores Monsters. All kinds of Monsters. I think she is already wondering what she has to do to apply to the Institute of Biology to become an even better Monster Tamer.”

The gorilla-like High Demon cleared his throat and said, “Aham!… If your report is accurate, I believe she has everything she needs to join the Institute of Biology as an exchange student. She will have to pass the admission test, which is an effortless task to do for a Monster Tamer.”

Meryda eagerly looked at her father, who said, “Let’s see what happens here before you say anything more, okay?”

While Meryda was nodding, Demon Railbeater asked, “Craydon Crawler, I see a strange apparatus on your back. What is that?”

“It is a weapon. A crossbow. Simpler to use than a bow, it can shoot darts, small arrows, and hard marbles.”

“Do you mind if I take a look? I am always intrigued by new weapons.”

“Not unless you sign a contract with me so that you don’t start making a bunch of these and I don’t earn a single coin.”

With a slight smile, Demon Railbeater said, “I think that can be arranged if you don’t mind talking with me about that when we finish this.”

“I won’t mind doing that. Did I mention this weapon doesn’t need Magic? I don’t know if that makes this more or less interesting.”

“More interesting, actually. Making weapons or any kind of equipment that uses Magic is simple. Doing that mechanically is a different matter, one that has always fascinated me.”

With a smile, Meryda said, “Since we are now asking personal questions, Demon Lamashtu, when is your baby going to be born?”

Puzzled, Demon Lamashtu tilted her head and said, “I am sorry, child. I am not understanding your question.”

Meryda pointed at Lamashtu’s very large belly and said, “Your baby in your belly! When is the date?”

While Lamashtu looked dumbfounded, not knowing what to say or answer, the other Demons at the table burst into laughter. Meryda looked puzzled at them and asked, “Did I say something funny?”

With Demon Lamashtu angrily squeezing the hilts of her twin swords that were leaning against her chair, Manananggal answered between her laughing tears, “Hihihi! Meryda, Lamashtu is not pregnant! Hihihi! She is just weirdly fat! Hihihi! Pregnant! You thought she was pregnant! Hihihi!”

Demon Azazel tried so hard to hold it, but he spoke while also laughing, “I told you that you should go on a diet! Pregnant! Hahaha! No wonder Meryda thought you were pregnant with that round belly of yours! Too many snacks did that, so don’t get mad at her!”

“Hey! It’s my biology! I can’t do anything if all the fat in my body goes to my belly! Stop mocking me, geez!”

With a worried look, Meryda excused herself. “I am so sorry! I didn’t know! I honestly thought you were pregnant, and I was happy for you because Demon Manananggal told me Demons don’t get pregnant that easily.”

“I understand, but you guys! Stop laughing! I am going to slice your heads in half if you don’t stop this instant!”

Azazel swallowed his laughter and waited for the others to go silent. After a few seconds, he said, “Now that everyone has calmed down, let’s start this meeting. Manananggal, we all read your most recent report, but do you wish to add something?”

“I believe everything is in there. Meryda and her father saw all the wonders we have while we were travelling to get here, and compared to all the other countries in the World, I think they now understand how far behind the Oomans and Demis are. I might have told them a few things that I shouldn’t, but it was in preparation for this meeting.”

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A heavy silence fell in that room, and then Azazel asked, “With no more delays, what is your decision, Meryda? Will you join the Ooman Alliance and help them conquer and then destroy our country and kill all our people, or will you join us and help stop them?”

Noticing that Meryda remained silent, Craydon said, “What if we put all the cards on the table? From what I could see so far and from everything Demon Manananggal told us, I think that if you wanted, you could very easily exterminate all the Oomans and Demis in the World. I think you don’t do that because you need Oomans and Demis to have babies, considering how many Half-Demon Demis I have seen since I stepped foot in this country. Meryda joining them would only give them false hope, because while she would be with the Alliance and going to the mountains, you could send all the Emptiness, Drakes, and several Monsters you have to attack all the countries on the other side of the mountain range. Heck, you could even fill one of those flying vessels of yours with Monsters raised on farms and set them loose in any Ooman country out there! It would be a carnage!”

No one said a word. Then, the engravings on the wall at the back started to shine, and a chilly voice said, “We once thought of that approach, and now we are here. Condemned to look and never interfere. Watching from a distance and never allowed to act.”

Craydon looked puzzled at the wall, and Demon Azazel explained, “That is the voice of our ancestors. They usually remain silent, just watching over us.”

With Craydon still looking at the wall, the serious Fae said, “You guys know what you wanted to do better than anyone. That is why you are now there.”

Still looking at the wall, Craydon asked, “But on the wall? Like, mixed with the wall?”

The chilling voice explained, “Not quite. Only the High Demons at this table know as their ancestors did as well. What everyone calls Demons has, in fact, a more ancient and appropriate name. We are Demois. We are interdimensional beings, which is why we can exist here and in our dimension. Or we could exist here if that World didn’t reject us a long, long time ago. The only thing we could do was to leave behind a few Demois, weaker ones, that we hoped, with time, could get used to that World way better than us, and use the Magic so that they could grow. Crosslot had mercy on them and let them live. That World could very easily kill them all just by making all the Magical Crystals disappear, but he didn’t. And for that, we are grateful.”

Craydon asked, still curious, “But what about all the Half-Demons and Demons here? Or should I say, Half-Demois and Demois?”

“They are our evolution, a way for our kind to thrive in that harsh environment with not as much Magic as we are used to in our dimension.”

With a grin, Craydon faced the serious green being and said, “You are very kind indeed, Crosslot.”

“We don’t know what you mean by that. We are Fae. We already told you that.”

“Yes, Fae, this world’s avatar. That is why you are everywhere, you can go everywhere, and you are indestructible. I wonder if Goddess Cinna is also another manifestation of Crosslot. It should be funny watching you guys talk with each other, pretending to be different beings. A Goddess, a weird plant, and a living World.”

With a sigh, the green being said, “Stop talking about things that don’t concern this meeting. Meryda needs to choose what she wants to do.”

With a serious face, Craydon looked around the table and said, “If Meryda joins you, you will probably try to use her power to deal with the Alliance once and for all, but the problem is, she doesn’t want blood in her hands, and wanting her to kill for you is something I can’t allow.”

With a sigh, Azazel said, “We don’t need to do that. We can very easily have her stay in our country, and the Alliance will remain where they are, fighting a never-ending war and dying.”

With tears in her eyes, Meryda asked, “But there is not another way? Many Demis and Oomans in the Alliance don’t want to be there, but they don’t have a choice! Some were forced to join, while others went to try to gain a crystal to help their villages against Monsters!”

Demon Lamashtu stood up, and after a deep breath, she said, “I can’t believe I am going to say this, but I suggest we carry on Resolution 12. My Sub-Monsters are ready. They have been ready for years, waiting for this in case it was needed. That was why I created them in the first place, according to Resolution 11, to infiltrate our enemies with our sleeping agents.”

While the other Demons were silent, Craydon and Meryda were looking around, trying to make sense of Lamashtu’s words.

Seeing that no one was going to say anything, the worried-looking Manananggal explained, “Hundreds of years ago, we found out that the ones that were guilty of all the fighting and the ones that were always interested in invading our country and mining all our crystals were the Ooman rulers and Nobles. Because of that, we voted on Resolution 11, which was one of several Resolutions our ancestors left for us to use if we thought it was needed. That specific Resolution said that we should create a species of Monsters that we could use to infiltrate every castle, palace, mansion, or house that had an Ooman ruler or Noble of an Ooman country. Resolution 12 says, among other things, that those sleeping agents are ordered to kill every family member of an Ooman ruler or a Noble. After the activation of that Resolution, the next step is for Demons to be sent to those castles, palaces, and mansions to administer those countries and develop them to our standards. Any opposition we might face would become Drake’s food.”

Meryda gasped in horror, while Craydon remained silent. The Fae was silent as well, and so Manananggal continued, “Because such a Resolution would mean the deaths of hundreds upon hundreds of Oomans, we are not happy with that idea, but we are reaching a point where we either do something or we do nothing, and things continue as they always have been. And we are getting tired of the incessant Ooman attacks on our mountains.”

Several seconds of silence went by, and then the serious Fae said, “We vote in favour. We believe Goddess Cinna and Crosslot also vote in favour.”

All eyes were on the mysterious green being, and Meryda was the most shocked one. Since she met that smiling Fae, she always introduced herself as an observer, and it seemed she was just like that and also a kind and peaceful being. Hearing her supporting the genocide of hundreds upon hundreds of beings was something incomprehensible to her.

The Fae sighed and continued, “For millennia, Fae have been watching all the other species that exist, be they Demois, Oomans, Demis, Half-Demons, Monsters, or even animals and plants. Crosslot let the Oomans stay alive because he thought there would be a time when they would learn to live with other species. That thought has slowly faded away. As things are going, if Oomans ever set foot in this country, they won’t rest until they kill everyone, and then they will go after the other species. If, by chance, they give up on their attempts to conquer the mountain range, they will most likely aim their greed at every Demi country and kill or enslave everyone who is not Ooman. And because they are like they are, they will fight among them until only a certain number of Oomans are alive in the end. All this, we can’t allow, neither Crosslot nor Goddess Cinna.”