Daimon looked at the black emblem in his hand and he then remembered the dream he had the other day, whether it was Annete's necklace, Disaster or one of his two emblems, he needed a nice stock of sea crystals which were the equivalent of mana crystals, to do some tests.
He also suddenly realized something he failed to contemplate before; Daimon turned to see the Trident Marshal before saying.
"You say the emblems have abilities only when they are complete, and yours seem to have the capacity to make oaths, but what is the price to it?".
Vincent raised an eyebrow, he was clearly confused by Daimon's words, but then a realization hit him like a truck.
"Ah right, your emblem is different, all the complete emblems allow their users to do oaths with other people, mine's ability is not as simple as that, but indeed for it to properly function I need to use a small fortune in sea crystals when I use it".
Daimon's left eyebrow trembled, for a moment he felt the urge to crush the little thing with his hand, he has been having headaches over the fact that he can't enslave… no, make contracts with the people of Neptune and apparently all the other emblems had that functionality.
'You little…', thought Daimon, but he then calmed down before saying.
"I see, if that's the case can I ask for some of them, I want to see what this little thing can do".
The queen was the one to answer this time.
"Sure, go to uncle's treasury and grab the crystals you need, I'll discount them from your part of the bet and the respective rewards that are granted to you due to the prisoners you captured, they were so easy to provoke", said the queen with a playful voice.
Daimon could almost see a fox's ears and tail growing on Annete, she easily played with the ego of the nobles to make a profit, of course Daimon was the one that told her, his group will win on matter what, so she also did a bet which paid off.
Daimon nodded, while the Trident Marshal sighed, he only had money in his treasury since his wealth from when he became a Stellar ranked and above, is always with him, so it's not like Daimon could literally take anything else but crystals and other not so rare gems.
But he was still weirded about the fact that Annete simply gave Daimon what he asked, from his treasury and not hers.
And he wasn't the only one, Daimon also knew that the queen didn't do anything without a good reason, and as if to confirm it, Annete then spoke with a gentle smiling face.
"Speaking about it, I seem to remember the anguished voice of the Skelefiend ruler's main wife, are you perhaps the one who captured her and if that were to be the case, how about you sell me that source of troubles~".
Daimon was surprised, not by the fact that the queen wanted Shirel, she probably had a thousand uses for a hostage that was enough dissuasion for a maximum Stellar Ranked like Horrorcaw to retreat in disgrace in exchange of her well-being, but by the fact that Mellie hadn't properly told her.
'She didn't have the time to, or perhaps she didn't want to make me lose an opportunity, the little princess knows how to show gratitude', thought Daimon.
He had his own plans for the hostage and so he couldn't give her to the Clear Water kingdom, even if the king were to demand it, he will tell him to suck it up, since the one who risked his skin to capture her was him and his group.
"She is in my hands indeed, but I can't give her to you, that being said I can "lend" her to you for interrogation, but all the information you get, must be shared with me, besides that I only need crystals as compensation".
The queen's eyes glowed for a moment, she stole a gaze at her sister and saw her giving her a "Don't be a cheapskate" gaze, and she inwardly sighed.
"Deal, take what you nee from uncle's treasury, I'll replace it later~", she said while she thought.
'Only an emblem ability can deny or nullify an emblem ability, and since he'll be protecting Mellie, it's money invested in that girl's safety~'.
Of course, Annete wasn't going to take a loss, even if she went along with Daimon's suggestion, there was a benefit for her, the only one who lost here was the Trident Marshal.
Daimon then took out the black miniature castle, which had started to show some signs of being worn out, it was probably just going to last a few more hours before it would become unable to contain Shirel.
That's also why he accepted handing her to the queen, Rita's ability didn't last forever.
"She is inside this restraining treasure, be prepared to suppress her", said Daimon as he opened the gate of the black miniature castle.
A battered and untidied Shirel was expulsed from the black castle which crumbled apart and then integrated into Daimon's shadow, unfortunately for the Skelefiend not even a second later from her release, she was suppressed by the queen, who then ordered her guard Mina to imprison her.
"Mina, be sure to tie her tight, we have some questions that need answers after all".
"Yes, my lady", said Mina as she dragged Shirel out of the room, of course Vincent opened a breach in his barrier for her to leave.
The Trident Marshal noticed the fatigue on everyone's face and he nodded.
"We'll leave things like this for today, have a well deserved rest and we can continue tomorrow, there are three days left until the three art tournament starts… ah right kid, the "gift" from the Blackfin Duke will arrive tomorrow too, the whole place is in a turmoil as you can expect and I need to do some rounds to calm everyone down".
Daimon nodded.
"Thanks, and also for the book and the crystals", said Daimon as he got up from his chair.
Vincent bitterly smiled as he dispelled his barrier, he then called one of his subordinates and gave him some orders before disappearing from the room.
Annete and the Valas Duchess stared at each other before saying.
"I'm going to be doing some boring stuff Mel, you can stay with Daimon and the others, the queen is in charge of external relationships, so you'll be in charge of making some connections with our guests", said the queen as she became a blue flash of light.
"Mm, Daph, mom has to go break the bones of the bad guys, meanwhile relax with your friends~" added the Duchess as she followed the queen.
Mellie and Daphne stared at each other and sighed, truth is their sister and mother were still really angry over the fact that they were specially being targeted, so they could tell the prisoners were going to have a really bad day.
"Can we join you for the rest of the day, Gabr… Daimon?", asked Mellie.
Daimon shrugged in response.
"Sure, but I can't assure you I'll stay awake for too long, I'm still too tired".
"Mm", the princesses accepted and then they proposed to go, when Daimon was suddenly immobilized by the slim arm of a woman grabbing his shoulder.
Daimon turned around just to be directly looked at by the snake-like eyes of Thea, her expression was death serious… until her pretty lips opened and her clearly drunk voice came out of them.
"You even got to "squeeze" some money out of the Clear Water kingdom how impressive, I'm liking you more and more, come and have a drink with this Empress, I need more capable subordinates and… ah this thing is empty, Linaaa give me another one!".
Midway, Thea tried to drink from her bottle but noticed it was empty and went to bother the white snake general
"Sorry about that Daimon, she doesn't show it, but the Empress is still a bit hurt after those two's betrayal… it's good that she isn't just keeping it to herself, she is being serious though, if you feel you aren't welcomed by the Mermen or the Elemental Seas, you'll always have a space with us", said Karmandi as he patted Daimon's shoulder before he went to help control Thea.
"Young master, Lord Vincent told me to bring you to the treasury, do you wish to go now or later?", asked Vincent's subordinate.
Daimon nodded, the girls were already talking with each other so it was better to go and take what he needed, he'll decide what to do after that.
"Let's go at once".
"Understood", said Vincent's subordinate.
While Daimon and the girls were being guided to Vincent's "public" treasury, at the top of the mansion Aurora was looking at the sky with a serious expression on her face, when Vincent appeared next to her.
"It's been how long, two or three thousand years since I saw you worried about something, Aurora", said Vincent with a nostalgic voice.
The old woman sighed but she still answered.
"And who do you think the fault is, normally if I were worried about a boy getting close to Jasmine, I will just grab him by his neck and make him spill the beans, but I can't touch that kid, or you'll stop me am I right?".
Vincent bitterly smiled as he shrugged.
"Don't put all the blame on me, little Annete has complete faith in him, she even said that she was happy to have been wrong for the first time in her life because of that kid… besides to be honest even if we were going to make a move I'm pretty sure you won't be able to force him to answer you".
"Have you forgotten what was written in the record we found in that chamber under your mansion, "Don't ever directly attack the hero or anyone who is like him, not only it won't work but it will bring disaster upon you", those were your ancestor's words", said Vincent.
Aurora softly snorted.
"I know, that's why I left, that kid doesn't give me the vibe of being a threat to Jasmine, but I was tricked by that brat who now is who knows where once, so what guarantees that I'm not being tricked once again, and more importantly that Jasmine isn't being used… again", she said as she gritted her teeth.
Vincent tapped his fingers on the wall of the mansion before saying.
"To think, some kids from the young generation will make us the peak of the existence in Neptune feel trapped, it's an interesting feeling, I can't force you to trust if you don't want to, just be aware that I have already made my decision and I will follow it to the end… even if that means going against you, my first and only surviving friend from the previous era".
"Still, I think the kid has proven to be trustworthy, and I think you are also missing something due to your judgement being clouded by what happened to your ancestor and your daughter, unlike that… Adam was it, Daimon managed to reason with the magic beasts, the Black Empress who is considered one of the most bloodthirsty herself, came all the way from the Maelstrom Sea and stayed in my Malleus city surrounded by the Mermen she hates to the core, because of that kid".
"I'm pretty sure he isn't like the hero mentioned in the "promise", but isn't that better, he isn't a hot-headed idiot, he values allies and his potential is endless, hell if I had an unmarried daughter, I would arrange a marriage right away Hahahaha!".
After finishing laughing out loud, the Trident Marshal added with a more serious voice.
"Besides, you saw it too right… the mark of the ancient clans in his eyes, his lineage isn't that of the Black Armored Shark I'm sure of that, but he was mounting a Half Stellar ranked beast from the Maelstrom Sea, something the hero couldn't do, not to mention that black Sea Emblem, whatever it is, I feel he is the correct choice to bet for".
Ultimately Aurora let out a sigh of relief and then mumbled.
"Fine, I'll talk with Jasmine and I won't take it against the kid, the countdown has already started anyway, I don't care what happens to me, no, I don't care what happens to the whole Elemental Sea, I won't lose a member of my family ever again, if she survives then Neptune's demise is a price I'm willing to pay", she said with a fierce expression on her face.
Vincent chuckled.
"I had already forgotten that below that "saint" mask of yours, you used to terrify our enemies more than me back then hahaha".
"Shut up, you old bastard", said Aurora.
…
While at the Mermen Sea, the people were agitated but somewhat celebrated their victory over their enemies, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from there, a portal opened and the tired and untidied figure of Adam came out of it.
"Damn it Ariel, why the hell was I dragged into that weird dimensional tunnel, I just lost my time!", exclaimed Adam.
The expressionless angel girl, Ariel shrugged with an uninterested expression on her face.
"You used an emergency escape, it took you to where you would need to go to make your next move, don't blame because you screwed over with the light princess".
Adam gritted his teeth, as he was reminded of all his "efforts" gone to waste.
"Fuck, I didn't even get to taste her what a waste of time, fucking Skelefiends, I'm going to burn them all… now where the hell am I?", he mumbled as he took out a small compass, he was gifted by Jasmine.
"Hoh, how interesting, so this is the best move to guarantee me a profit, thanks to the system hahaha".
While Adam laughed out loud, the angel girl boringly looked at her surroundings, they were in an island with architecture that was similar to that of the ancient Greece, he appeared at an alley where there was no one, even.
"Having a plan b was a good idea after all, let's go, we will make a "triumphal return" for the second event".
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