Saga of Slime and Devil (Remake)

Vol 2 | Epilogue

She wouldn't let her guard down, but for now, the voice wasn't an enemy. "So what do you want from me now that you've helped me out of his control? I assume you didn't do this out of the kindness of your heart."

"You'd be correct then." The voice murmured, its eyes circling around the vampire, "All I want is your neutrality."

"Neutrality?" The vampire turned, confused. It was surprising that out of everything it could've demanded, that neutrality was what it asked for. In the end, it was probably all she was willing to give up, but the point remained.

"I'm sure you're well aware of who that being is after. I want you to stay out of their conflict. He will not like this, but your mind should be strong enough to resist him now that you can think straight. He will attempt to split the church in his favor. Be prepared when that happens, it's in both of our best interests if he cannot create a schism of such a large scale.

"So that's what he wanted... He wanted my followers to get stronger holy magic..."

"That is not entirely true." The voice responded, "He wanted the power your followers had. He wanted to use the western nations to his advantage. You'll find that he has more followers than even you. It's best if you try not to beat him in holy magic."

"If all you want is for me to stay out of the fighting I suppose I can do that. I can't say I'm too fond of whoever that being is regardless, but I can't say I trust you either. Nevertheless, in a battle of two potential enemies, it's best to let them fight each other anyways." Luminous muttered as her arms folded across her chest.

The eyes nodded through the black mist, "That is all I ask."

The eyes faded as so too the darkness did as well. In just a few seconds she opened her eyes, once more outside the realm of her own mind.

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Mariabell Rosso sat comfortably in a luxurious chair in an equally luxurious room. The entire air around her and the place she resided gave off a single impression: Wealth and greed.

'Greed' was a term she had grown quite fond of using. It fit her perfectly, and she had no reason to deny it. What point was there in doing so? She was greedy, and she was damn good at it, too.

It was for that reason that she had the skill of the same name, and it was with that skill that she had come to dominate this world, or at least most of it. Her control over the world was just one of a few major cogs that kept it running.

The Demon Lord Council, the Holy Church, the Eastern Empire, the Free Guild, and the Council of the West. All of these were powers that kept the status quo running. Some factions opposed each other subtly, but few rarely ever outright opposed one another.

It was a multi-sided game of chess, after all, and as of now two of those sides were firmly under her control. The Free Guild and the Council of the West were both under her grasp, and with it, so too was humanity almost under hers. There were only two aspects keeping humanity at bay, or rather, there used to be only two.

The first was the Eastern Empire, however, their influence was kept as their name implied, East. The Storm Dragon had kept them at bay for the time being after their last expedition, and Dwargon was enough of a deterrent to prevent any immediate attacks for now. This left only the Holy Church as a threat to her directly.

The Church was certainly a dangerous foe, and in the end, the best option was to not face them head-on. The two were willing to co-exist for now, so it was best to not agitate them just yet anyway.

In the meantime, a new individual had appeared, and it didn't take them long to make a name for themselves in the world. Such individuals came and went with time. It wasn't rare for one to elevate themselves to a position of power, one that stood to threaten her own.