TTIGRAAS: Predator

Chapter 45

I, Clayman, sat at the table with all my fellow Demon Lords; excluding one: Milim.

We were all waiting for her as she was one of the most senior among us, despite appearances. I found the whole thing frustrating.

Supposedly we were all equal in status, yet I still had to defer to someone that, for all intents and purposes short of actual age, was a child. Milim was a dunce as well, making having to show her respect even more distasteful. But, I had to play by the rules laid out by the other Demon Lords in order to keep my reputation positive, so I just grit my teeth and bore it.

For this Walpurgis, I was given no reason for meeting, as well as very little notice. But, despite the circumstances, part of me felt relieved.

Something had just happened to my benefactor, Yuuki Kagurazaka.

I wasn't heartbroken over his death, I had no emotional investment in him. He had already done his part and revived my creator, and that was most of what mattered to me.

What I was more concerned about was being targeted due to my affiliations with the man.

That 'Guardian' character dwelling in Jura was a wildcard, one that Yuuki planned to take control of and utilize for his future schemes. He was just waiting on the foolish creature to show up and fall right into his hands, but something apparently went awry. What, exactly, I did not know. I was informed when it showed itself again in Englesia, and of Yuuki's death after assumedly engaging the monster in battle; nothing more.

It was unsettling.

Here, though, I was cut off from the outside world. That barbaric beast could not reach me in this space.

My job here was simple, I was to attend as normal; I could not reveal that something was amiss. My colleagues would take care of picking up the pieces left behind by Yuuki in the meantime.

But, the unstated purpose for this meeting still remained a mystery, and I didn't dare ask. Despite, again, our ostensibly 'equal' status, I was still on a low rung when it came to the Ten Great Demon Lords. And not only that, I felt that my reputation had been tarnished by my most recent plan failing and disappointing some of my fellow Demon Lords. That 'Guardian' was responsible for that as well. The monster was really becoming a problem, but if it could kill off Yuuki, then I stood no chance against it.

But that was a matter to worry about later.

I was alert. Most of the others seemed less so. Dino was sleeping as always, which I never appreciated. I often questioned why he was even one of us with his lazy attitude. Valentine was unsocial and unapproachable as ever, and the same went for Leon.

I despised that man for killing Lord Kazalim. He was a problem for a different day, though.

As for the rest, Dagruel was leaning back in his chair, making me wonder how he wasn't snapping its legs in the process. Frey and Carrion were quietly talking, and Carrion was, as usual, filling the conversation with his excessive jabber.

"Do you think this is about–?" He whispered to Frey, though the man was so estranged from the concept of subtlety that I could've heard it even without [Magic Sense].

"Stop that," the woman cut him off. "You are being so impatient."

"But it has me wondering, Frey. Why else would we be called to a Walpurgis so suddenly?"

It seemed they knew something, so I started to listen more closely.

"And Milim being so late just makes it more likely, doesn't it?" Carrion continued.

"Guy was the one who called Walpurgis," Frey rebutted, looking like she'd rather not be discussing this.

"And Milim probably urged him to do it!" Carrion insisted.