Entha

Chapter 20: The King and the Elders

“Anna?”

I asked of the paint-smeared Anna, who was looking down and is silent, but after a brief moment she raised her hand which clutched a folded piece of paper,

“This is?”

I asked again, but no words escaped her lips thus I gently opened the paper, which contained a sloppy painting of… me? I guess this is me, it was a painting you’d expect a child to have, a human figure made up of lines, but with no doubt the green eyes and the green armor would surely be me, a gentle warmth, is this perhaps what a father would feel when given a gift from their child, well I’m not Anna’s father, but I did promised to take responsibility for her, wouldn’t that be the same? On the midst of reminiscing this warm feeling I was unknowingly patting Anna’s head,

“Thanks Anna, I’ll be back”

I bid farewell with an honest smile, to which Anna simply nodded,

“Ill be counting on you”

I asked of Gale before I made my way to where father and the rest are waiting,

“Off we go”

said father, a second later and the scenery changed to that of a room, not that different from the usual living room back in the duchy, everything was heavily ornamented, leviathan designed sconce, huge windows, gold colored carpets, huge sofa and, like Gale, there stood a man by the entrance dressed in the same garb as the butler in the duchy.

“ I request an audience with the King”

Said Father to the man standing by the door,

“I apologize but as of right now the audience chamber is currently full, may I ask for you to wait for a while”

Replied the man to which father replied leisurely,

“Well it can’t be help”

but when he sat down on one of the room's sofas, his foot was constantly tapping the floor.

The phenomenon was affecting the entire demon world, it was predicted that those in control of other regions would seek answers from the king, resulting in a packed palace, as indicated by the tumultuous scene outside the castle which could be viewed at one of the windows,

The demon capital looked like any other capital in mankind’s history. The aesthetic taste was commendable, resembling that of Venice, with canals separating the castle from the tall spire that is packed in a circular shape similar to that of Ilig, that said the capital appeared to be deserted due to the demons crammed beneath the castle, understandably pure demons were present because they had suddenly lost their Entha but the common demons which were unaffected were most likely there to satisfy their curiosity

-haah

“Thickhead? What’s with the deep sigh?”

Said Esteroth coupled with a mocking smile as she tap my back,

“Ah no, I was just wondering how to persuade the humans to talk about an alliance; you see, most of them are unaware of our existence and the truth about our history; plus, demons are heavily persecuted; they even burned those so-called witches who were thought to be a demon's products; every action judged as evil in their morals is also believed to be a demon’s doing; humans believed wars are caused by demons, Affairs are caused by demons, vices are brought by demons, and now everything that goes against the majority is caused by demons, isn't it funny how they blame demons for their own ugliness, now… how do you even begin a conversation with someone who has been despising us for hundreds of thousands of years…even if we claim our innocence, won’t it just be regarded as trickery?"

All eyes were on me, and the room was deafeningly quiet as they concentrated exclusively on what I'd been babbling about, the silence was broken by Esteroth's taunting, as well as the others' comments and wry smiles.

“You’re unexpectedly a worrywart, thickhead”

“Lay down such thoughts for now brother”

“Focus on explaining your experience, perhaps”

“Ahaha yeah I should do that”

Even I was surprised that I had spoken about my worries, which I had never done before, it must be one of the benefits of being surrounded by people I trust and consider family, though the feeling of embarrassment is unavoidable.

After an hour of mindlessly watching the chaos and the seemingly peaceful sky filled with the bright lights of the billions of angels, the time had finally come to have an audience with the king,

“This way please”

Said the man, leading us to a spacious hallway lined with portraits of those who have led the Kingdom of Demons thus far, all of whom appeared powerful and intimidating, but one portrait in particular caught my eye, a portrait of a young man with white hair and pupils, he had the charming appearance of an international model with sharp nose and a well chiseled face, with one pair of his jet black crow like wings covering his body, while the other pair was stretching across beyond the frame,

“My child, That is Azam, our Overlord”

The voice of father was filled with pride as he spoke such words, well who wouldn’t be proud of a Lord who gave his life to protect those who had loyally followed him, after passing such portraits the door to the Kings throne was now in front of us, a door much more majestic than the one found in the duchy, sculpted was a demon conjuring a barrier in Helliun, probably a tribute to their late Lord, and with a creak the door stood open,

The King's throne room was twice the size of the audience chamber back in the duchy, the wide room is illuminated by flames glowing in white levitating up above the room, slowly I look up and a sight enough to make a critic of art cry at its beauty entered my sight, the ceiling was gorgeous, it was filled with historical depictions of the demons' history, and the sacrifices Azam had made for the demons' sake,

The king, the four rows of demons each with around twenty demons situated below the throne, and the eight figures above the balcony wherein four of them had glowing pupils of green, all had armors similar to mine had their gazes locked unto us, which made me a lot uncomfortable as I was not used to being stared at.

“We greet the King”

Said father and the others, The king, contrary to my expectations, appeared to be average. I anticipated him to be as massive as or bigger than father, but he was built like a typical college freshman, with green hair and green pupils and a juvenile face. Father and the others did not kneel, so I did not; there was no response from the king, and countless murmurs could be heard throughout the room; it was unusual; I assumed they were looking at us, but their gazes were fixed on me, which I confirmed when father walked up front and was the one speaking; their line of sight never left me. The furrowed brows of some demons reminded me of the first time I met Father Areath and the others,

“Areath, explain what this unusual demon is”

The king announced with a voice so deep, it was a total contrast to his appearance, I really shouldn’t judge a book by his cover, I am sure that I am the unusual thing the king had mentioned which is surely because of my eye and is probably the reason they are staring so intensely, Did father not inform them?

“Allow my daughter Esteroth to explain”

Answered father, Esteroth explained what had happened in the previous few months, with Esteroth meeting me and me being granted an Entha, those months of acquiring swordsmanship and contract-related skills, and the meeting with the mana like person who introduced itself as Azam’s will(Entha), and the reason why the demon world Helliun is currently in upheaval,

Gasp followed with mumblings filled the room, even the king had a stupefied expression, which stroked a great worry in me, if the king is even surprised at this fact could only mean one thing, we are doomed, I had hoped that I’m not the only one given the advice of allying with the humans, but the possibility of being the only one Entha had reached out to, frightened me, I can’t do this, I wont be able to, It was far too off my comfort zone, if I was to shoulder such responsibility…then Entha had chosen the wrong person.