YAAA WE'RE CLOSE!! CHAPTER 14 IS WHEN SHIT STARTS!! And time to introduce more characters... ehehe... [hehehe]
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"What, so the Èxi are going to come?" Shiro listened in as he sat at the inn's dining hall. "Yeah, I heard it goin' around in the flower district."
It has been three days since Shiro had arrived in the capital, he managed to get close to the castle and see the outside much better but he could never actually go inside as there was something protecting it.
"How long do you think they'll be here for?" The other demons asked.
"Reckon it's for that again." The one said, taking a chug of his drink. "Do you think that the king'll finally show himself?" Just as he asked that, demon2 smacked him in the head and hushed him.
"Do you want to die!?" He whispered, dragging the demons head on the table. "You know what kind of consequence you'll get if you talk shit about... the king..."
Shiro was curious. The three days he was here, the kings seemed to be a touchy subject. They say that the king barely left his castle and sometimes huge amounts of magic would bomb the capital and Shiro felt it first hand the other day.
He was just walking around when he suddenly felt like he was being suffocated and the air inside him was being sucked out of him. That was the power of the king. That his father. He felt his power first hand and he already knew how powerful he was.
He was scared. But he knew that he had to be strong and finish this as soon as possible.
"Hey." Shiro turned around, glancing over to the two adult demons. "What do you mean? About the king, I mean."
The two demons looked around and crouched as demon2 whispered, "You don't know?! Well... you are still a demonling... Well, hear me out." Shiro nodded, getting ready to hear the story. "After the king destroyed the human territory fifteen years ago, the human king and our king got into a peace treaty."
"Mhm, I heard about that. But why is-"
"HUSH!" Demon2 exclaimed. "I was going there, let me talk, got it, kid?" Shiro nodded and zipped his mouth. "Well, a lot think that the current king is nothing but a coward."
"Cause he is!" The other demon cut him off and he got a slam on the head.
"During the peace treaty, only the king and the Èxi were there, so no one really knows what exactly happened. But one thing is pretty clear..." He paused as he lowered his voice. "The king didn't continue this attack because they held something against him."
Shiro raised a brow. What could it be that even the demon king is afraid of. If he knew what that is, he might be able to kill him. "What is it?"
The two demons sighed as they shrugged, sitting straight. "That's the thing, it's just a rumor, no one really knows."
"I bet it's a dirty secret-" Cue him being hit in the head again.
"Do not." Demon2 glared at the other as he cowered and turned back to Shiro. "Anyway, whatever you do, do not talk about the king in such a manner, in the best-case scenario, you'll get your tongue cut with a special artifact so that you can't regenerate or they kill you."
Shiro nodded, taking in the information he's able to manage to get. 'Will this be enough, can I get closer to him with just this much... and who-' Shiro gasps as he turns back to the two demons. "Hey! Who are the Èxi?"
The two demons looked at him in surprise and disgust. "You actually don't know?! Were you living under a rock all your life or what!?" Demon1 exclaimed in rage, nearly ripping out his hair. "Look, kid, those Èxi are the strongest demons right under the king! They were the ones who helped him gain the throne!"
'What?' Shiro thought. He was not told about this.
Demon2 sighed and pushed the other away to talk to Shiro. "I guess you can call them the king's own personal forces. They're extremely powerful. They come to the capital every year to hold a meeting. And after that meeting, they usually stay here and just... chaos."
"What?" Shiro asked in confusion.
"Well, one of them loves to play and fight, sometimes they destroy part of the capital. And they stay for a while." He explained. "I'm surprised you don't know this. Almost every demon knows. And... what happened to your eye?" He pointed at the eye patch Shiro wore.
"Oh this." Shiro pointed to his eye and the two demons nodded. "Accident."
After finishing his conversation with those two, Shiro made his way back to his room and changed back to his original form. He sat on his bed, took his notebook, and looked at the notes he's taken so far.
He had doodles of what he saw outside the castle and from the little snippets he saw from inside when he went to the mountain and peeked from there. And from what he saw... "There are no guards or any servants..."
There were basically zero signs of life in the castle. He couldn't find anyone. He guessed that it might be the barrier surrounding it that's keeping him from pinpointing someone inside.
"Ugh..." Shiro groaned, putting his notebook back in his bag and stood up, going into his demon mode. These past few days, he's been able to use this form for a lot longer than before. "I need some fresh air."
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When Shiro left the inn, he noticed that there were a lot more demons than from when he arrived. Everywhere he looked around there was someone, for the first time he'd arrived, the capital looked alive.
His eyes trailed to the castle in the distance and his eyes widened. The barrier. It was gone. Finally! Finally! His chance has come. 'Tonight! I'll go there tonight! After that meeting when those Special Forces are gone! Mother can finally-'
Shiro's thoughts got cut off as he bumped shoulders with someone. His lilac eyes met with mint green, one horn sticking out of his left side. There was a boy shorter than Shiro, he had long black hair fading to mint green, besides the boy was another copy of him, but his horn was on the right side
"Well, are you going to apologize?" The one with the right horn raised a brow, glaring at him.
"It's alright, brother." The one who Shiro bumped with said, his voice was softer than the other. "I just... bumped into..." The boy paused, staring directly into Shiro. "You..."
"You two." A new voice scolded from behind Shiro. They all turned around and faced with another boy. But this one had mahogany hair and (E/C) eyes, a horn sticking out of his temple. "Let the kid be." He said as he walked over to the twins. "We have a few preparations left to do before they come. Let's get moving."
The twins nodded as they left. Shiro stood there, wondering why that redhead called him a kid when he was clearly older than him. 'That redhead... (E/C) eyes... mother...' He felt nostalgic, seeing the same eyes as that redhead.
But he needed to focus right now. He needed to kill that demon.
His father.
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"THE ÉXI HAS ARRIVED!" It was night time already. A lot of demons were on the streets, watching in awe as figures walked in the middle of the streets, almost as if it was a parade. Shiro watched from above the inn's rooftop, his eyes boring holes into one figure. 'He's part of the Èxi?!'
Douma. He was walking calmly with Inosuke by his side. Inosuke was dressed nicely and wasn't wearing his boar mask. He also didn't look like he was pissed, he looked calm and confident walking with Douma.
"Master Douma! Èktos!" A demon announced as the two passed a certain point.
There was also another figure that Shiro could recognize. It was the same man from when he had first arrived. But this time he had three women by his side, one of them from that night as well.
"Master Tengen! Pèmptos!"
"Master Obanai! Tétartos!" The next one was another guy. His black hair framing his face, heterochromic eyes with a snake on his shoulder and various snakes slithering besides him.
"Master Kanae! Trítos!" This time, a woman came with long black hair, she had pale purple, slitted eyes and had butterflies fluttering around her. Besides her were two girls, looking just like her.
"Master Akaza! Déftros!" It was a man with black hair with pink tips, he had long pink lashes and blue slitted eyes.
"Master Tamayo! Próta!" An elegant woman appeared, her dark hair tied. She had purple, slitted eyes. Following her was a boy with light green hair and the same purple eyes. From where Shiro was, he could smell something fragrant from her.
'So these are the Èxis...' Shiro gulped. He felt adrenalin rush through him. 'These are my problems. I need to make sure that they're not there when I enter the palace.'