My Servant System

With that tidbit of information now securely lodged inside our minds, the Arch Fiend giggled again before snuggling closer to me, wearing a content expression as she closed her eyes and began to rest, ending her participation in this conversation.

"Well... like she said, I have a feeling that fighting against most Sla Fiends will be far trickier and difficult than I would care to partake in, and yet I guarantee that they will be not only unavoidable, but also something that will be far more difficult than fighting the other Fiends combined."

"If you all weren't already hitched, I'd say training yourself through sex and just enjoying yourselves a bit would be the easiest route; Sla pussy is out of this world, and if you can manage to remain sane during it, they get really cocky and lower their guard, making it really easy to just slit their throats after you reach climax. Honestly..."

Lady Fenryas leaned forwards and stared at Cali with a small smile on her face, the Demon Wolf ignoring the way all of her sisters and her wife turned to stare at her quietly as she added "I wouldn't even mind having a go at an Arch Fiend~! Bet it feels real~ nice inside you, hm?"

"It's amusing you think you could last longer than three pumps inside me, little pup."

Cali just smirked back at Lady Fenryas, making the Demon Wolf stiffen for a moment before anger flooded her single silver eye, something that made Cali snicker as she added "And even if you did manage to get a fourth in, your mind would be broken beyond mending... You think you can comprehend what it would be like to have sex with Lust incarnate? Not even she could go for more than a few rounds, and even then... one slip up and I'd have her wrapped around my finger..."

Glancing at the Empress, Cali just grinned before shrugging her shoulders, going back to ignoring the Demon Wolf as she finished speaking, making sure to cover all her bases as she said "Not that I want to try that, but still... just saying, y'know? Since we're being open and all that..."

Her head returned to my shoulder, her snakes all slithering towards me as they flicked their tongues out and hissed quietly, nuzzling against me and 'biting' my hair, making me gently shake my head as I wondered why her snakes were seemingly opposite of her.

"'Cause they like you and have the intelligence of a child... on a good day, anyways."

Cali's murmur made me blink, before I frowned as I glanced down at her, not knowing if I should be worried about how casually she could 'read' my mind or if I should only be cautious about it, which just made her chuckle softly as she remained where she was.

"Anyways, like I said, I think it'll be challenging, but perhaps manageable? I think we'll need to see if Sla'Caligo can be gracious enough to 'train' us against Lust Mana, but otherwise, it sounds like mental fortitude is the key there, so... maybe we'll need to find other methods to defend against them. Either way, I am confident enough in saying that we could likely find a way to defeat the other three types of Fiends given they weren't able to just... kill us outright, so yeah."

All of the 'adults' nodded and remained quiet, letting Jahi continue if she wanted to, or allow any of us to talk, but that silence continued for a few moments as we all just looked at one another, wondering who would speak next.

There wasn't anything else that happened that was truly important to share with everyone present, so we just sat there for a couple of seconds before the Empress broke that silence, the blindfolded woman leaning against the table and lifting her wineglass as she got everyone's attention.

"You were likely wondering why we were calling you back with 'important news', so we mind as well get that out of the way now, before you go off to rest and recuperate. There were a few things, ranging in levels of importance. The first was that the Sultana sent a letter describing the general state of the Sultanate, and one of the key things was that there are a few Fiends awakening within the Desert. She wanted to know if she and her Death Jackals should take care of it or if she should let them be for now, so that you four could get some more experience against them..?"ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt

The Empress looked between us four, with the most emphasis on Anput, who was now paying attention completely to the conversation as she stared at the Empress with slight worry, before relief showed on her expression at the end of the Empress' question, her concern for her family and for her people obvious.

"We were thinking of heading over anyways to give Anput some time with her family as well as see if we could learn something from the Sultana, so this is ideal... though that letter should have come in days, if not a week or so ago, correct? Can they really afford to let the Fiends wander freely during that time?"

"I guess you've never actually seen Anubi fight, have you..? The Sultanate is in good hands, Jahi, and most likely the Fiends have already been corralled into certain areas of the desert by Anubi and her Death Jackals. She is quite the talented warrior, almost as much as Chordeva... albeit with less natural born boons like Chordeva, though I would argue she strives for excellence at a greater pace."

"You'll get no argument from me on that front. The Sultanate is a harsh place to live, and considering everything she went through? Yeah, she's got grit, that's for sure."

Anput was almost beaming at the praise being heaped upon her Mom, though the tanned Jackalkin refrained from outwardly displaying the grin that she likely wanted to wear in exchange for her tail swishing side to side beneath the table, almost out of sight and mind...

"That was the first tidbit of news, and I'll send word to her tonight. The next was that the general state of the world has slowly begun to deteriorate, at least from the news that trickles in ever so slowly through our networks. Fiends are appearing in greater number far sooner than we thought they would, with the Dynasty to the East and the various Confederacies to the West taking substantial losses to their Labyrinthian bordering cities, since most of their sealed Fiends were locked within the Labyrinthian or within the mountainous walls that contain it."

Solemness filled the room at that, and I briefly wondered how the Arese were handling themselves over in the Rimelands, their home built near the mountains of the Labyrinthian - a home built to allow them easy access to the cages of the Fiends they had trapped many years ago - likely at risk now, and it was hard to not worry about the eccentric, unique tribe that had helped me in my time of need.

But from what it sounded like, the entire world was feeling this event, and reaching the Rimelands would require crossing THAT forest again, which... was not a place that I wanted to step foot in ever again, even when I was much stronger now than I was then; as useless as it sounded, I was going to put the Arese inside my prayers and pray that they would make it through these ordeals.

Their tribe was born and moulded for the singular purpose of holding those Fiends at bay, so I could only pray they were still as strong and ready for that task today as they were when they originally managed to seal those Fiends away...

"Because of the world being at a general... imbalance at the moment, fortifying the newly acquired Kingdoms had moved up in importance, so there is the option of returning to the Kingdoms to aid the Demon Clans in establishing their rule over Tragon if you desire, though heading to the Sultanate makes more sense in many separate facets..."

A quick glance at Anput was enough for Jahi, Leone and I to nod in agreement, and we turned back to the Empress as she got on to the next piece of news, which was seemingly far more important than what had already been said.

"The awakening of the Fiends has done damage to many places around the world, and as such, it's already begun to have its chain effect on the world in ways most don't tend to think about. Smaller states and groups are being swallowed up by the larger to acquire more land, materials, people and power, and as such, the borders are now in a constant state of flux. Obviously we aren't entirely free of blame or scrutiny either, what with the conquering of the Three Kingdoms, but watching as our neighbors begin to scramble for short term gains is... unpalatable. Especially since it is being done in messy fashion."

I couldn't help but raise a brow at the Empress' words, something that she caught as she smiled softly at me and said "I am aware of how 'hypocritical' that seems, as well as how self important and arrogant it sounds, but believe me when I say there is a difference between what we have done and what is currently happening. Full fledged invasions, weaponizing of the Fiends awakenings, backroom deals between countries... all of it is different from our own approach, and the amount of countries that have begun to change allegiances, grow and shrink, change name or simply disappear is astounding. The amount of pillaging and other crimes being committed are increasing exponentially too, Katherine. That is the difference."

"Whilst I can believe that, I still do not see why it entirely matters..? Past the obvious shift of the world power balance, that is, which is arguably rather important... Is it simply a caring for the wellbeing of the common populace, or is it in regards to other changes that come along with it?"

Lady Lorelei was the one to answer, the mature Vampire tapping her fingers on the table as she said "The simple answer is just 'yes', Miss Katherine. The people are suffering, the economy is in constant flux, chaos is rising... it is simply bad for the world in the long term, but those that are taking advantage of the chaos don't care about the long term, only the short term. Stability means little to them compared to the power and wealth they could gain with each passing day. It's impacts are quite... far reaching.

The fall of the mining city Cai Liao in the Dynasty has cut off one of the Northern Region's largest suppliers of Mana Crystals, while the burning of Erntehaven lowers the supply of wheat to most of the Erz Reich, which means they will be looking for new ways to sustain themselves... everything that happens has ripple effects that travel far and wide, even if people don't believe they do."