Scarlet

Whispered conversations begin to echo throughout the entire battlefield both from the demons and the humans. And while the demons sound extremely happy with this arrangement, as I thought they would, the humans sound conflicted. Some of them are saying that I shouldn’t be the only one bearing the burden of humanity’s loss in this bet, while others are saying it’s only right since I’m a demon and need to earn their trust. Most are saying that it wouldn’t be right though, leaving the others to be a minority.

“I’m surprised you just went out and did that,” Tar comments from his place on my shoulder.

Yeah, well, I don’t really have the right to bet anything of humanity’s, and this is something I know the demons, and especially Gramps, all want. Pretty sure Leonidas wants it too.

“There would have to be some rules to the bet, since it would be unfair if you all just continued sending more and more Nobles to Earth and eventually brute forced your way to victory,” I add, still with a smirk on my face. “But I’m sure we can work those details out, right?”

Satan finally smiles and reaches his hand out, saying, “Yes. I believe we can.” But when I grab his hand in return he frowns slightly and adds, “We’ll have to speak with your Grandfather for you to negotiate this, so I would prepare for that if I were you, Your Highness.”

Negotiating with Gramps… that’ll be interesting.

Also, why do I feel like there are millions of glares locked on us right now? And why is Satan looking so awkward right now as he looks behind me?

“Because every last demon out there with any sapience is glaring at him for daring to touch their Princess,” Tar says, sounding more than a little amused. So I let go of the man’s hand, giving him a break from the death glares his own army is sending him.

Regardless of the fact that none of them could actually harm him, being glared at that way by your own army under your command is probably not a pleasant experience.

“I will prepare for the meeting with His Majesty, so please be ready within the next few days,” Satan says with a nod of his head before vanishing in a wave of hellfire. And Red just looks between me and the fading hellfire before eventually staring at me and asking, “Why did you need a human representative again?”

I blink at that question, only to shrug and answer, “To make it look official?”

He just stares at me, meanwhile more than a few of the humans below all start laughing.

The man shakes his head after a few seconds before vanishing in a wave of hellfire, exactly like Satan just did. Which I find rather ironic, and judging by the look on his son’s face, I’m not the only one.

Also, he kinda just ditched his son here. Did he forget about him or something?

“Maybe?” Tar half asks, half states.

I glance to the side, finding that the speaker is gone as well. Although I’m not sure when he took it.

“So,” Blake suddenly says, his voice not echoing through the valley like all of our voices were doing before, bringing my attention to him. “Long time no see.”

Long time no… did he stay behind to talk?

“Looks like it,” Tar says before yawning and closing his eyes as if he were going to sleep. And he actually does go to sleep after a few seconds.

“Guess so,” I answer Blake while pulling up my terminal and turning it off sleep mode to then search through forums online. And right away, I find recorded videos and livestreams both of my negotiation with Satan and of me just standing here right now. Which has me glancing towards the angle of the camera recording me before narrowing my eyes and finding a Class III Guardian with his terminal pointed my way. And almost immediately after noticing my gaze, they all turn their cameras away from me.

So I look back at the livestreams and the chats on the videos to find that all of it is actually positive. Everyone seems okay with me still.

Although I wouldn’t be surprised if the government or Amelia were managing any people with… harsh words. Just to direct the public opinion.

PR aside, they also appear to like that I made a bet with the demons to make them give up on Earth if we win. One that doesn’t involve any risk on Earth’s part for losing. Unless they consider losing me a risk.

It looks like I made the right decision. Although whether we can actually back it up and win this thing… I’m not too sure about that.

There are over a hundred thousand Class Vs on the other side of the Gate, and they’ll be sending more over on a regular basis. So even if there’s only about a hundred and fifty something now, there will be more in the future. And the ones here now already outnumber the Class Vs from Earth.

Meaning it’s not looking very good.

I’ll have to reach Class V myself if I want a chance. Because at that point I should be able to take a large majority of them even if only due to Apex Predator alone.

Skills are still far more important in battle than level after all. And a mythic skill is at the, well, apex of all skills.

I’m glad Tar was asleep for that. Probably would’ve said something snarky about it.

I glance at him to find that he really is asleep this time, so I return my attention finally to Blake who had been silent as I was looking at my terminal.

“Did you need something?” I ask him while tilting my head slightly, my hair falling over my shoulder a little and making me glance down at it.

Yeah, I need a haircut. Too bad my hair is too strong for scissors that aren’t specially made or enchanted to cut.

A rather large pain if I’m being honest. Especially since my hair just grows right back not too long after anyways. Like an entire foot of length in just a month.

Ridiculous.

I raise my head to look at Blake after finding his silence odd, only to narrow my eyes slightly at the sight of what I think is a blush.

“Um,” I utter, not really sure about what to say before remembering the whole crush thing Red mentioned. Oh. Right. That. “Sorry, but I have no interest in dating or ever having any sort of romantic relationships.”

His face lights up like a candle.

Thought so.

“I-It’s fine,” he says with a slight stutter before taking a deep breath and then calmly finishing, “would you like to walk with me to the base? I can catch you up on some things that’ve gone down at the university along the way. And keep anyone else away, if you’d like.”

I blink at his proposal.

That… doesn’t sound half bad.

A little surprising he’d suggest this after being rejected though.

“Sure,” I answer with a shrug before we begin walking across the mountain in the direction of the main base. And as we walk, I can’t help but notice both the human and demon armies retreating for now.

Good.