Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus

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​​

"Okay, so here's the plan!" I exclaimed with a grin, before first prefacing with, "Oh, and we'll rediscuss it with the summons later. First, I want to explain it without having to filter myself."

"Is it the same plan that you previously told Gela and I about, or is it different plan?" Inquired Shiro curiously.

"Same plan, of course. But I've fleshed it out and have specific roles for everyone now," I replied with a grin.

"Just get on with it. Our roles are just going to be to cut loose like last time, right? You better not pull us out too soon this time, got it?" Frowned Shiro, crossing his arms.

Why's he always so pessimistic when it comes to me?

"Well, you're not entirely wrong, but I do have some instructions this time. And yeah, I'll decide later on exactly how much time we'll attack for before leaving, and I'll make sure to tell you. Okay?"

"Hm...yeah, that's fine, but you better stick to it!" He responded with a huff.

...see what I mean?

"I don't care so long as I get to tear apart some people!" Grinned Gela enthusiastically.

"Yes, I was not able to slaughter as many as I would have liked last time," Added Hacte in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah...alright, here's the plan..."

.

.

.

.

.

"Hm...have to say, you've thought this through pretty well, I'm kinda impressed," Said Shiro with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, I don't need your approval," I replied with a huff.

"By the way, how many people has Hacte powered up with Corruption Magic?" Asked Shiro with a look of interest.

"Over eighty thousand! We'll try to reach a hundred thousand before the attack!" I answered with a grin.

"I'm so mentally worn out, how much longer must I do this?" Sighed Hacte wearily.

"Wait, back up a sec, how many!? How!?" Exclaimed Shiro incredulously.

"Heh, I've been using various spells that act like drugs to supercharge his stamina and then used some other spells to cancel out the side effects. I can't do anything about mental exhaustion, though," I replied with a shrug.

"...why did you agree to this?" Shiro asked Hacte in bemusement.

"Because...because...wait, why did I...?" He mumbled with a confused frown.

Yeah, I've been using a mild brainwashing spell on him, one that makes people more agreeable and is hard to notice. From the look on Shiro's face, it looks he's realized that fact. You might remember that I tried it out on Shiro too, but he figured it out within the same day.

The spell has been way more effective on Hacte though. Can't let him realize. I subtly used the spell again and changed the subject...

"Well, anyway! You should go get some rest, Hacte, sound good?" I suggested with a sweet smile.

"Hm? Yes, I suppose that I could use some rest," He muttered, before walking away and leaving the room.

"Wow, is he really that easy to manipulate? That's just sad," Scoffed Shiro condescendingly.

"Yeah, it's really convenient, I'm starting to consider him a pawn...I mean, he's such a pushover that I feel like it's an insult to me if I label him as my sidekick," I remarked with a wistful sigh.

"Hm, so you don't consider us pawns?" Inquired Gela suspiciously.

"Well, yeah, I don't...I consider pawns to be disposable, but none of you are disposable," I replied with a shrug.

"So if we aren't useful to your chaos anymore, we'd be considered pawns and disposable too?" Chimed in Shiro with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh, I haven't really thought that far ahead...I dunno, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, I suppose," I answered, after mulling it over.

Hm, now that I think about it, whether I consider someone as my pawn or not doesn't really involve any criteria, it's purely barely on my whims. I don't consider any of my sidekicks as pawns, though Hacte is probably the closest to being one. As for Druj, I don't consider him a pawn, but more like a valuable tool that isn't disposable.

"What about the summons? Pawns or not?" Inquired Shiro with a raised eyebrow.

"Let's see...well, I'd place them below you all, and while I wouldn't quite call them pawns, at the end of the day, they're medium-term tools at best, I really don't have all that many long-term plans for them. Sure, they're powerful and all, but I don't know, I'm just not as emotionally invested in them as I am with my sidekicks," I replied with a sigh.

"Emotionally invested?" Remarked Shiro with a laugh.

"Well, sure...if not, I'd have probably left you in the Rustlands to get killed," I elaborated with a wry smile, "I definitely see you in my long-term plans, Shiro...especially after that display of incredible deception with the summons."

"Huh, so that's what you mean by 'emotionally invested'...in that case, can I invest my dick in your p-?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," I groaned in exasperation, "How are you always so horny!?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He responded with a lustful smirk, before pointing at my chest and butt, "Boom...and bam."

"Yeah, well, keep dreaming, because it isn't going to happen," I replied with a huff, "Anyway, speaking of the summons, how are things going with them?"

"Fine, I guess. They're kinda boring to hang out with, though, they're such generic 'good guy' types," He sighed in exasperation, "They've been interacting with some of the locals, and it's been a little tense in that regard, the Silvland idiots aren't making great efforts at hiding their condescension for the summons. No conflicts or incidents though, so it's all good. Those summons are remarkably good at handling people who don't like them."

"Well, so long as their trust and willingness to fight with us isn't compromised before the next attack, we have nothing to worry about," I remarked with a smirk.

"Hey, why don't we attack Bronztan too?" Suggested Gela with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes, "If we tell the Silvland troops that we should attack them because they're allied with the Rustlands, that will probably be enough to convince them."

"No, not yet. Tensions and paranoia are high in Bronztan right now, I want to let that build for a while before attacking them," I replied with a slight smile.

"And what about the hidden floating island? Do you plan on attacking it too?" Asked Shiro.

"What's with the rush, you two? I've been planning and scheming for a very, very long time, so you can just rest assured...I did tell you that my goal is to spread chaos throughout the entire world, didn't I?" I answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh...maybe? I don't know, you say the word 'chaos' so much that half the time, I just zone you out when you rant about it," Shrugged Shiro, looking like he was losing interest.

"Hey, that's not very nice. Anyway, my point is...just shut up and watch," I remarked with a dark smile...

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Point-of-View: Kuro Black

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"Kuro, I think we might have figured out why that friend of yours is so seemingly naturally powerful," Said Lazarus, piquing my interest.

Hm? You mean Az? For real?

I was currently at home, just lazing on the couch with Pero sleeping on my stomach, when Lazarus suddenly spoke up just now.

"Yes, that's right. Diablo mentioned something about the other races that I had forgotten about, or rather, something that I overlooked when I was telling you about the history of this world," He replied, "Although in my defense, it has been an extremely long time, so-."

Don't worry about it, just get to the point.

"Right...so, basically, Diablo and I were talking about the old days and were exchanging stories of our battles with the other races. And that's when Diablo mentioned the factor that I overlooked...Elemental Spirits."

Okay...and what are those?

"Let me explain that, because, you know...I didn't forget about it," Chimed in Diablo smugly, before continuing, "There are five Elemental Spirits, and they were each symbiotic existences with one of the other races. The Wind Spirit was symbiotic with Elves, the Earth Spirit with Dwarves, the Water and Fire Spirits with the Fairies and the Lightning Spirit with the Halflings."

None for humans or Demi-Humans, huh?

"No, they dislike humans, and Demi-Humans weren't suitable hosts since they lacked Elemental Magic. And what I specifically mean by symbiotic is this...let's take the example of the Elves, they choose amongst themselves and select one representative, and that representative is then possessed by the Wind Spirit. And when that representative dies, a new one is chosen to take his or her place, and the Wind Spirit will move on to the newly selected body. In a way, Elemental Spirits are like Demons, they don't have physical bodies and need host bodies in order to continue existing."

I think I'm starting to see where you're going with this...

"Well, yeah, it's pretty obvious. The person possessed by an Elemental Spirit gains an immense boost to their Elemental Magic, assuming that their type is the same as the spirit...in other words, the Wind Spirit is only compatible with those that have Wind Magic, but in the case of the Elves, that wasn't a concern since they all have Wind Magic, the same went for the other races and their respective Elemental Spirits as well."

So, what you're saying is that Az's body is occupied by...

"The Water Spirit, that's what I'm guessing anyway. But let me clarify, Elemental Spirit possession is nothing like Demonic possession. The spirit can't take control of the host body or restrict the host from using their powers. Oh, I know this because I once possessed a Halfling that housed the Lightning Spirit, but the moment I did, the other Halflings didn't hesitate to kill the body, before I could even get used to the immense power. The spirit can communicate with the host, just like how the idiot Vampire and I can communicate with you."

"Fuck you, stupid Demon."

"Up yours, loser Vampire."

Guys, bicker in your own time. Diablo, continue...

"Right, where was I...so, yeah, as I was saying, the spirit can communicate with the host, and remember when I said that they can't hijack or restrict the host body in any way, well that's true, but there is something that they can restrict. A transformation. I still remember feeling it during the brief moment during which I was in that Halfling body...I could feel a trigger inside the body, one that was holding back a significant amount of power. However, I couldn't pull the trigger and release the power...the Lightning Spirit had full control over it. I don't know exactly how powerful I would have become if I had been able to release that power, but-."

"Wait, I think I might know!" Suddenly exclaimed Lazarus, interrupting him and continuing, "I remember fighting a Dwarf that nearly killed me...his Earth Magic was abnormally powerful to begin with, when suddenly, his appearance changed and his Earth Magic was drastically enhanced to the point where he got very close to ending me, his power exceeded even Belia's at that point, I remember feeling that way as I barely escaped alive. The memory is a bit vague, but I can recall the fear that I felt..."

Wow, this is all a lot to take in. And...taking all this into consideration, if Az really is possessed by the Water Spirit...

"...then he has the potential to get even stronger than he already is, and by a lot, at that," Concluded Diablo.

Now that's a scary thought...let's go see if we can find out for sure, shall we?

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