Irium

"Yes, it is, Mr. Azazel." Grey answers and we enter the house. As I take a good look at the house, the cla.s.siness of the entire structure, I can definitely picture him living here.

"Yeah, it probably is." I say, "This does sound like the type of house that Kaylith would want."

"Mr. Azazel," Grey asks, "This might not be the best time to ask this but what is your relationship with Kaylith Glice?"

Well, that is a good question.

"I guess you can say we do favors for each other." I say with a straight face, "We are not exactly friends, but we aren"t enemies either. We are just two people who help each other, with the guarantee that the favor we are doing the other will be returned someday."

"I … see." Grey stands surprised, "I didn"t know he has such a relationship with a high-cla.s.s Demon like you."

"Well, he does ... or did." I say, "To be honest, I doubt we will see each other ever again."

"W-why is that?" A concern rises in his eyes.

"Our score"s settled. Neither of us owes any favor to the other anymore. And the last time I talked to him, it didn"t seem like he intend to keep it temporary."

"You don"t mean that …" he trails off, understandably.

"Yes, I do." But I have to say the truth, no matter how harsh it may be for him, "It seemed like he was ready to die."

"B-but his plan – that whole thing about ending your race, that-"

"That plan of his, of getting a h.e.l.l where he wouldn"t suffer from torment, he thinks it will succeed. And maybe it will. Who knows?" I say as I open the door to the living room.

"If-if that is the case, why would he help you find Dues by sending us? That would be bad for his whole plan." Grey asks with a confused expression.

"Well, to be honest, you haven"t exactly been helping us find Dues ex machina." I say.

"… what the h.e.l.l are you talking about?" With a scowling expression, he says so to me.

"Wait now! I didn"t mean to offend you. It"s just the truth. If we hadn"t been with you two, we would have already caught Dues ex machina."

"Explain yourself, Azazel." He looks at me angrily.

"No mister anymore?" I say with a mocking smile, "Fine! If we hadn"t gone to the hideout you took us to, what would we have done?"

He thinks for a second and says, "You would have come here because getting to Roswaisa"s only remains in this world would be closest to catching Dues in her tracks."

"Right!" I exclaim with a smile. "If we had done that, we would have been here before that b.i.t.c.h came."

As soon as I say that, Grey"s eyes turn to the carpet that has the pentagonal symbol used to summon Roswaisa drawn on it. And, from the lack of any mana in it, one can tell it has recently been drained of mana, i.e., Dues got what she wanted from here.

"…" Grey just stares at this whole mess in surprise. But seeing the smile on my face, he asks with a scowl.

"When did you figure this all out?"

"Exactly when I surmised, back in the car, that Dues would be coming either here or to Danny"s place." I answer.

"That"s the reason you were so annoyed you ended up breaking the car"s mechanism with your kick."

Yes, that"s true.

"So, what now? Now that you know you were played, what will you do?" Grey asks, "Are you going to try and figure out Dues" next move?"

"Well, I doubt there is any next move." I say with a sighing expression.

"What do you mean by that?" Grey asks with quite a desperate and confused look on his face.

"Right now, Irium, Danny and Roswaisa would be on an Asteroid Realm called Glice. I don"t think I need to tell you who rules over that realm."

"Kaylith."

"Yes. And I can bet that he intends to make sure Roswaisa learns his signature move, Absolute Frost Requiem." I say with confidence, which is mostly based on a hunch.

"Okay well, after she becomes capable of using that move, then what?"

"Learning that move and forming a connection with Danny and Roswaisa is the only reason she summoned her for. Albeit not how he had originally thought it would go, Roswaisa still formed a connection with them and so, when she learns that move, her purpose for being summoned will be dealt with and she would return to Heaven."

"…"

"In our timeline, she only knew Frost Requiem, so now when she returns with Absolute Frost Requiem, she will be stronger and probably even capable of killing Aknin."

"… oh G.o.d!"

It seems he has figured it out.

"If that happens, she would be alive right now and Dues would be able to reach her – through the fragmented energy she has gathered of her from this summoning circle." He points at the summoning circle as he understands that.

"Yes, the rest is all up to Dues ex machina." I say.

"So, we are already too late. The past will be changed and Roswaisa will be saved."

Yes, we have been completely outsmarted by the unintentionally combined efforts of Dues ex machina and Kaylith Glice.

"In that case, we need to figure out what Dues will do next. What will she do after she has Roswaisa on her side?" Grey says with a panicking face.

"That"s exactly what I have been trying to figure out ever since all these pieces fell into place in my head. But, there"s nothing I can think of."

"d.a.m.n! You could have told us all about this thing before." Grey yells at me.

"I could have, but what would that accomplish? In this timeline, nothing can be done. In the timeline that follows, who knows if we"ll even be here." After all, who is to say we aren"t already too late to save h.e.l.l.

Grey looks worried and anxious as he tries to think of anything he can do.

"Tell me something, Grey. Your former boss and friend would be saved if you let h.e.l.l die. So, why are you trying to protect it?" I ask a question that has piqued my curiosity.

"I want Kaylith to be happy but I can"t let Dues" plan succeed. End of h.e.l.l is far too much to bear."

Hmm … fair point.

"But, what about you?" He asks me.

"Me?"

"Why are you so calm even though your race would be destroyed because of all this?" he asks, confused as to what may happen.

"Well, to be frank, I don"t care about the Demon race, h.e.l.l or even my own life." It"s true, very true. "At this point, while I"m not actively trying to die, I wouldn"t mind dying all that much either."

Kaylith played me for a fool and made sure I don"t get to Dues in time. He is now going to make sure Dues has all she needs for her plan to succeed. And Dues is going to use that make her plan succeed.

Knowing that soon after his death, the entire Demon race will be wiped out by whatever plan Dues has, Kaylith can die in peace now.

And all of this – I bet I could have figured it out if I really tried. But, I didn"t. And now, h.e.l.l"s most supreme race will pay the price for it as the plans of two loonies succeed.

*****