Based on what intel he had been able to glean from those few who had encountered this foxy femme fatale and had managed to walk away with their wills intact, Kai was convinced that whoever ended up fleshing out the details of this world was either very unoriginal or very lazy. Possibly both. Then again, not many would have built such detailed… details about seemingly random people, places, objects, and forces, so perhaps the final hand behind the creation of this world that both was and wasn’t his own had at least some level of competence.

As much as he dreaded the conversation to come, Kain was really the only person who could or would feasibly be able to tangle with this fox-woman if the situation got worse, and only if he held out long enough to allow Alexis, Zalga, C’thylla, Zero Noir, Piotr, the House Founders, his children, and Arcail the Ascended to join the fray. Hell, he could feel even from here in the throne room the sheer force of the approaching being’s will, so he had to win not by force but by guile.

Kain figured the only real way he would be able to win without major casualties would be if Lord Wolfenstein unleashed his true power, and if memory served then Lord Wolfenstein said that to be shacked again after a release would result in another trip to Sleepytime Junction. Then again, Kain’s memory from before being put on that overly possessive chair was hazy at best, so for all he knew his mind was just playing tricks on him and he would be perfectly fine even after having his limits set once again.

Either way, he needed to be very, very careful. Still, with the sheer volume and intensity of the power that was continuously being emitted from this ‘Da Ji’ person, Kain had to wonder why her nation would ever seek a non-aggression pact at all. Would not she be able to conquer this land with ease?

As the nine-tailed fox-type beastman female was ushered into the throne room, all emission of power from her immediately ceased. Kain could tell quite easily that she was trying to intimidate him and make him more susceptible to any coercion or manipulation, but Kain had enough Earth knowledge to hopefully make some jabs of his own.

“Ah, you must be Da Ji, the emissary from the Oriant Co-Prosperity Sphere that I had heard had decided to grace us with her presence. Or perhaps I should refer to you with a different name?”

…

“Oh? Whatever do you mean?” Da Ji asked innocently. As much as she wanted to rip this weakling apart and make him serve her, the damn old man had beaten her to the punch and preemptively decided to send an emissary to Darksol. It seemed that even the deteriorating health of the Loong Emperor was not enough to keep him from trying to outmaneuver her. Thankfully, she had a man on the inside who was able to alter a few Imperial Orders and have her dispatched instead of someone else.

“Forgive my words, but I assumed you were someone else. Perhaps you know one of these people that I’ve heard so much about?” the weak little wannabe Emperor asked. His question made Da Ji… uncomfortable. Surely this minor ruler of a barbaric backwater was not worldly enough to know anything of value about her and her plans, right?

“Perhaps if you tell me their names, I would be able to tell you more. I do know a great many people, after all.”

“Wonderful!” The petty king exclaimed. However, his next words made Da Ji even more uncomfortable, even to the point that her body and posture showed it. “Would you perhaps be familiar with anyone by the name of ‘Lady Kayō’? Or perhaps a person by the name of ‘Bao Si’? If neither of those ring any bells, then maybe you’ve heard of someone by the name of Tamamo-no-Mae?”

Da Ji couldn’t help but gulp as this backwoods hic listed off the three other names she had for herself. Each of these names were just aliases, but each held great power over herself. Like any good Eastern Sorcerer, she knew that names held power. They would not be enough on their own to assert total dominance, but even knowing a part of one’s name and speaking it while using coercive magic would grant someone a not insubstantial influence over them.

This mere barbarian knew three of her hidden names, ones she had created and made unknow to all save herself so that no power could be held over her. Only the current Loong Emperor knew those names, not to mention her final hidden name. If this backwater’s despot knew that final name, then he could turn the negotiations irreversibly in his favor. Perhaps this was why that old snake had dispatched someone on this mission!

He must have known that this hillbilly knew her names and intended to humiliate her! But no matter how much influence that this dumb human had over her now, without her final, fourth hidden name he could only influence her a moderate amount in the negotiations. Thankfully, there was no way that this mangy monkey would know her last secret name.

…

“Oh, yes. There was one last person I forgot to ask you about.” Kain said with a smile.

“And who might you be looking for, besides those three whom I know nothing of?”

Kain didn’t need to be a mind-reader to know that simply saying that he knew Da Ji’s other aliases was enough to turn the tide of things in his favor. He did not know exactly how much he had moved things in his favor, but he would find out shortly after he asked one more question.

“Does the name ‘Hakumen-no-mono’ seem familiar to you?”

Kain’s face lit up like a Christmas Tree as Da Ji’s countenance went from merely showing major discomfort to nearly displaying outright despair. If the person in front of him was a man, you could have said that Kain had them by the balls, but in this case, the more appropriate thing to say would be that he had her by the throat. Kain did not need to wait for Da Ji to respond, as he now felt that the situation was now entirely in his favor.

With a smile that would be fit for an anime anti-hero on his face, Kain began the negotiations. He would not let the opposition make this a pact that would end up biting him and his nation, and he would not let the bitch who had brutalized Zalga and C’thylla and had given even Alexis quite a scare succeed in harming this empire of his.

With pen and paper, not fire and sword, he would make this fox-woman bleed. She would have no choice at the end of this but to go back and tell her masters how she had ended up making a deal that did not benefit her nation in the slightest, but if his memory about nine-tailed fox women on Earth was anything to go by, he figured she would be able to brush the shame of with relative ease.