Supreme Monarch

As Tyler observe the two behemoths, he contemplated his decision but found it difficult to come to a decision as his mind rapidly went over the countless reasons for both sides of the situation.

However, his stalemate quickly came to an end as Uriel provided him was an answer.

[Answer: Master does not need concern himself as it matters not if these two behemoths are spies or not. This encounter is as expected and will prove useful to Master. However, to ease Master's nerve, the use of a demon's pact is advised.]

Tyler was completely at a loss for words as he couldn't believe his ears or what he had just heard.

'Huh? What exactly do you mean by 'this situation is as expected?' Did you sense their presence during the fight at the Scarlet sea?'

[Of course.]

'Of course? Then why the hell didn't you inform me about this?!'

To be honest, Tyler hadn't been focused on scanning his surroundings during that fight with the shadow king. His only other focus was to prevent the prying eyes of the Great Fives from learning about his skills so he had mainly been using anti divination spells at the time.

Who would've expected that there would be a couple of behemoths sailing tat deep into such a dangerous sea. Then again, they were both demigods so there weren't that many sea monsters that would be capable of hindering their exploration.

[Master never asked for that information. Also, such minor hindrance was judged to be at the lower end of the Master's list of priorities, as such, it was discarded.]

'You're kidding me.'

[...]

Tyler found it almost impossible to argue with Uriel as she apparently had a perfect answer to everything. She even had an answer to when she would just flat out ignore him which he could not complain about as he did not understand most of what she would tell him anyway.

Anyway — back to the point.

Tyler retracted his scrutinizing gaze from the pair before casually stroking his chin as he pretended to contemplate the issue a bit longer. He then returned his gaze to the pair and answered.

"Very well. I Shall permit you to pledge your fealty to me. However, you will both remain outer members of my family until you have proven your usefulness to me."

While Tyler was still worried that this was a trap, he knew from the daily report he got from Liz that they were still short on valuable resources as they hadn't yet established any trade negotiations with other regions so they needed to hunt for these valuable resources themselves.

However, with very valuable resources being located in an equally dangerous area, they currently lacked sufficient manpower to cover all their basis and having two demigods he could send to these dangerous areas as both a test and a necessity, was bound to be a possitive in the growth of his city.

Besides, if he remembered correctly, Z was currently working on a plan to take advantage of all the spies in his city and these two would be no exception.

With those thoughts flashing through his mind, Tyler decided to trust in his subordinates, especially the 'know it all' Uriel as he accepted the pair of behemoth in the outer layer of his family.

His words immediately brought a smile into Onyx face as Oxa made a gentle sigh of relief before immediately standing up and genuflecting before Tyler. Onyx was caught a little off guard but soon mirrored his younger brother.

"Truly this is more than we had expected from you, your Grace. You have our eternal loyalty. We, the brothers of Necronn solemnly bow to serve you with everything we have."

At his words, a complicated magic array took root in Oxa's pupil as Onyx followed his brothers led and they activated the demon's pact.

Seeing no fault in their degree, Tyler silently agreed to the terms of the pact and the glow in their eyes slowly faded away.

It was hard to see such genuine words as anything but that. Still, Tyler couldn't help but feel off about something as though his intuition was speaking to him. Well whatever, he'll just have to let it go for now while he tries to stay atop of things as they progress.

"Very well said. You may leave for now. I'll have someone prepare a temporary residence for the both of you before we begin discussions on what your duties for the next six months will entail."

"As you command, Master!"

•••••••••••••••

•••••••••••••••

Having completed his meeting with Oxa and Onyx. Tyler had Cora lead them out of his office and hand them over to someone that could assign them a temporary resident in the city.

After which, Cora escorted in various other representatives that were patiently waiting to see him.

Most of them were the representatives from the settlement already in Paragon city and only wanted a chance to swear their loyalty directly to their demon lord so the fact that Tyler had accepted their request had filled them with joy and excitement.

Another portion of these representatives was from the noble families seeking to form alliances with him because they believed he was in cahoots with one of the Great Five that was currently on the verge of taking over the entire continent.

Of course, Tyler neither accepted nor denied their subtle remarks as he didn't mind leading them deeper through that thought process.

Soon, Tyler finally met the representatives from those families wondering if he was the second coming of the demon king. It was hard to make such a judgment call as if it was as simple as strength alone, any one of the Great Five Demon Lords would've already be qualified to be called a demon king already.

What these representatives wanted was to look into his eyes. Hoping against all odds that they would see the spirit of their beloved demon king of Destruction within him.

Tyler had no idea what the hell this meant but he didn't expect to meet their expectations as he wasn't the type to rely on destruction even against his enemies. He needed to be pushed to the absolute limit before something like that would become an option.

However—

"Lord Ty. I, Anox Jirx Hervia. The representative of the noble family of Hervia, the sovereigns of the Kanton Region. With the authority granted to me by our family's head, Azon Kirx Hervia. Hereby pledged our family eternal loyalty to you. Please accept the Hervia family as your first vassal family and we will do everything in our power to make our family worth the honor."

To Tyler's surprise, a demon family actually took a look at him and immediately decided to become his vassals.

This was completely a surprise as there had been more than ten such representatives that only expressed their respect for taking over the Darknar region and initiated talks of trade between their regions instead of kneeling before him.

Of course, this did not include the first group of noble households whose original purpose had been to strike an alliance with him because of his possible connection with a Great Family.

There had been a limited number of such representatives so Tyler had only met them briefly before referring them back to Hecate who would prepare a report of the details of their allaice to Liz for approval.

However, of of the ten previous representatives that came in hopes of confirming he was qualified to be the demon king, none of them had deemed him capable of succeeding the image they had of their king. So naturally, none of tnem had even considered initiating talks of partnership with him or even becoming partial allies.

So the fact that there was actually a representative that had taken a look and him and immediately genuflecting before him, was truly, in every sense of the word, a surprise.

Of course, Tyler hadn't been bothered by those other representatives even though Uriel sounded irritated by their audacity to look down on him. None of their trade offers had been in any favorable terms to Darknar so most of the talks had fallen through.

Frankly, it seems they didn't even want anything to do with Tyler after judging he was not qualified to be their king, but as they were still in his territory, they acted diplomatically and offered him insincere compliments and trade offers.

Still, Tyler also couldn't let such an insult slide as he had been the one restraining Rain from tearing these representatives apart.

This was why she was currently pleased to see at least one representative could see her beloved 'husband's' greatness. Sitting proudly beside him, she had her legs crossed and her chest puffed out as though the representative was swearing loyalty to her.

Tyler chuckled inwardly at her actions which were always amusing. Still, he couldn't allow those families whose trade with him had fallen through to go scot-free but he didn't want to start any wars so he would just have Z thoroughly investigate the secrets of these families for future reference.

Indeed, he would need to open talks with them again after gaining enough information on their darkest secrets. That was something he could actually look forward to.

Still, that didn't change the fact that there was still a family here willing to become his vassals. Unlike with the two behemoths, this was something he could actually trust as— the reasoning behind their decision aside— this was something that would benefit both parties.

Becoming a vassal family was in essence, the same as becoming a branch family of the Darknar family. They would not become his direct subordinates and could maintain their current status and rights to rule their region with minimal interference from him as this results had not come from a conquest but a show of good faith.

However, they would in turn receive his protection against other noble families looking to extend their territory into their borders in exchange for resources and amenities.

A trade route would be established between both regions and Tyler would receive a report about the families' secrets and specialties, as well as an annual breakdown of their earnings from both taxes and trades.

A percentage of those earnings will then be paid to the Darknar family. Of corse, this didn't mean they wouldn't receive other benefits besides his protection as they now had access to the resources that Great Darknar region produces via the established trade routes.

This would surely increase the merchant traffic in their cities as well as attract more businesses. Increasing their yearly revenue by a sizable percentage.

These were all the benefits of becoming the vassal family of a Geat Family, but that didn't mean such a thing didn't come with its own disadvantages.

Taking a look at the representative kneeling before him. It was an aged man with crimson-colored hair and contrasting sky blue eyes.

Ignoring the few wrinkles on his slightly oval face, he had the features of a handsome man with neatly trimmed crimson-colored beards. He wore a mage's robe of white and red, a blue scarf was wrapped around his neck as he remained on one knee awaiting Tyler's response with a gentle expression on his face.

His demeanor was that of an high ranking noble and his aura matched his strength. Yet, he was willing to lower his head to the young man sitted accross from him as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Such a thing was to be admired and it was not something that would go unnoticed by Tyler as a faint smile was plastered on his face as he spoke.

"You may rise. I have decided to accept the loyalty of the Hervia family. From this day forth, the Hervia family will be considered vassals of the Darknar Family."

The expectation on the aged man went through several stages but soon, a gentle smile crept into his face as he obey his new master and stood up.

With a deep bow, he loudly proclaimed:

"As the representative from the Hervia Famuly, I offer your Grace our eternal gratitude."