As Daimon was about to greet those two, someone got ahead of him as Mellie flashed to hug her older sister.
"I'm back sis!", the queen was surprised for a second to see Mellie being so affective with her in public, but she wouldn't be considered the smartest woman in the Mermen Sea if she didn't realize the reason behind of it.
Daimon also knew why, Mellie is normally mature for her age, due to the circumstances of her childhood, even when she was facing an imminent death due to the schemes of the pirates, she didn't lose her temper and was ready to die fighting, her graciousness was revered by those guys from the middle ranked noble families that were present that day.
Even Daimon couldn't help but respect that side of her, but it is also true that for a girl her age she has been shouldering more than what she should, which is something she showed Daimon later on.
Like that day when they found about that her father poisoned her mother under the instructions of the White's ancestor, or when they went and visited that underwater cave just to find the empty coffin where her mother was supposed to be resting.
The recent events had been a shock for all the girls regardless of whether they are related to it or not, Aurora's daughter returned from the "death", in a different way but still, it doesn't mean that all of them have a relative they wish would return like that, but it's more of a realization that what others think to be impossible, sometimes it isn't.
Marlene who has regained her cheerful attitude is one of them, and so is Mellie, which is why they were in a pretty good mood.
"Heh, if I would have known that a few days away would make my little sis this affective, I would have sent you out of the Mermen Sea some years ago~", playfully said the queen as she patted Mellie's head a couple of times.
"S-Sis!", Mellie exclaimed, but she didn't let go of Annete, Daimon saw that Vincent also clearly had some questions for Aurora, so he took the initiative to leave those who needed privacy alone for a moment.
"Ahem, we have a lot of things to do, but a nice breakfast is a must, how about we install ourselves and continue later?", he said.
Annete softly laughed as she answered.
"Make yourselves at home, we'll wait at the dining room… Daphne, your mother is waiting for you at her room".
Having said that, the group separated, though most of the girls followed Daimon towards the room that the queen left prepared for when they returned, Aurora and the ones from the Light Palace stayed behind to talk with Vincent, while Daphne and Chris went to where the Duchess was staying, of course Annete kept Mellie company.
It didn't take much for Daimon and the others to accommodate themselves, since the room was previously prepared, maybe it was a joke from the queen, but this time there was only a single bed in their room, it was large enough to accommodate the whole group at the same time though.
While the girls unpacked their stuff, Daimon looked at his communication devices, there were a couple of messages which he had yet to read from the multiple fronts which his group is covering in Neptune, but nothing alarming so he left it to discuss it along with the queen and Vincent as a whole.
…
A few minutes later, once ethe girls were ready they all left the room to meet with the others at the dining room, it didn't miss Daimon's eyes that Daphne's mother looked rather exhausted, but she was happily sitting with her daughter, so it seemed to be just normal fatigue due to all the work she has had during the past week, she even turned to see Daimon and smiled as she nodded at him.
Daimon nodded back and then took his seat, the head maid as well as the captain of the guards that served Annete, brought the breakfast and then stood behind of their young miss.
"For starters, I suppose you have already received news from our two "friends", in the other seas, right?", asked Annete to Daimon as she elegantly cut a fruit.
"Yes, I must say that I didn't expect it from that idiot king, but on the other hand I doubt it is his idea to begin with", answered Daimon.
"Mm, inviting representatives from the four seas to discuss a new "treatment", those were the words that moron dared to say the moment the sun raised today", mumbled the queen.
Daimon received messages from Blacktooth and Armando, that Triten, in other words the king of the Mermen Sea, had invited representatives from both the Skelefiends and the natives of the Maelstrom Sea to attend the royal ball of today.
The curious thing, is that those who were specifically mentioned were Horrorclaw, Blackbeard as well as two of the rulers of the Maelstrom Sea, in other words, Thea and Armando weren't invited.
Of course, that put the Mermen Sea in a turmoil, as those guys were declared enemies, but Triten came out to calm down the masses by stating that the Mermen Sea wanted to avoid a way and with that in mind, the ancestor of the royal family himself will be coming out of seclusion to negotiate with the enemy leaders.
Not to mention that the Shaman as well as the Matriarch of the Light Palace will be joining to guarantee that a fight doesn't break out, and if someone tries to stir up trouble will be punished by all the others.
"Well, nothing really changed for us, our job is to contain and suppress those idiots whether they are being manipulated or not", said the Trident Marshal as he stole a gaze at Aurora who sighed to then add.
"Abaris is confirmed to be an enemy, though I don't know who he is working with… there was a rat hiding in my Light Palace for so many years, leaking my schedule to him".
The queen nodded in response.
"I have finished the preparations on my side, that assistant which Daimon provided has proven to be quite useful, and now all the low and around half of the middle-ranked nobles are under our strict orders tied by contracts", she said referring to Olivia who had returned earlier to help Annete to blackmail and control the nobles involved with Black Wave, from the shadows.
"The army is also ready, that brat Dominic and the neo noble factions are on our side too, they had their reserved but Triten's latest declaration pushed them all to our side, the troops are stationed according to what we discussed earlier", added Vincent.
Daimon nodded to then say.
"Thea hadn't contacted anyone since she entered the legacy of her ancestor, but her army is ready since her representative is cooperating with us, the same applies to Armando and the White Walker race".
"Speaking of which, one of the two idiots that came from my native place has been dealt with, but there is another one, and since the pirates are coming, there is a high chance he finally reveals himself, not to mention the scheming guy will most likely act during the royal ball too".
Vincent sighed as he massaged his temples.
"So, we'll basically be surrounded by enemies… forget it, you take care of the global raid and leave Neptune's battlefield to us", he said.
Daimon smiled before he took out all the incomplete emblems he has gathered so far, to start distributing them.
Staring with Aisha of course, next the Risha sisters, Mellie, Daphne, Chris, Tessa, Femi, Jasmine, Sarah, Reyne, Cassi and lastly Marlene, Daimon included for a total of fifteen people.
The limit of people he could include in his "team" was of 20, however he couldn't find that many incomplete emblems, not to mention he didn't have 19 teammates that could go with him into the global raid.
That being said, besides the girls there was a couple of people in which Daimon had interest to include in his team, which is why he took his last two remaining incomplete emblems as well as a letter which he handed to Vincent.
"When you find an opportunity give that to Lance, since they are now allies the opportunity is for them, whether they accept or not, it won't be on our side", he said.
The old Marshal nodded and then took the letter as well as the two emblems, before saying.
"I investigated through the records of past years along with little Annete, there should be quite a few emblems in the treasury of the royal family, but I couldn't confirm what has happened to them, since they weren't considered valuables".
"I see… well there is nothing we can do about it, we'll confirm if they are still in the treasury when we arrive at the royal ball later", said Daimon.
The rest of the conversation was pretty much just tactics and instructions on what to do, depending on the situation, and after that, the girls left the room to do their own things, leaving behind the queen, Vincent, Aurora, the Duchess and lastly Daimon.
"Kid, why don't we just launch an attack before everything starts, at this rate the royal ball is going to be a bloodbath, not to mention we have more than enough reasons to", said Vincent who was looking at Aurora, only to see Daimon shaking his head in response.
"We have enough blood for that, the only variables are the Maximum ranked, as long as you and senior Aurora can contain Abaris and the White's ancestor, everything will be fine, we have Armando to deal with Horrorclaw, as well as plenty of high stage Stellars to clash with the enemy ones, did you manage to contact that guy?", he said.
Vincent's eyes glowed for a second as he nodded.
"Yes, we can leave Blackbeard to them, you are quite a scary kid you know", said the old man, which made Daimon smirk.
"I just know how to assign "resources" where they are needed", he said.
"Ahem, changing the subject a bit, don't you have anything else to tell me, regarding… the coffin you retrieved with Mellie?", asked Annete.
Daimon could see the expectancy in the queen's eyes, she probably wanted to hear from him, that another amazing thing will happen since he is involved, unfortunately that wasn't the case this time, at least not completely.
"I… don't know, the water inside the coffin isn't regular water, it is filled with laws, similar to the water at the tri-colored lake, but different at the same time, what I can tell you is that it should be beneficial for Mellie and you to use it", he said.
"Mm…", the queen couldn't help but let out a slightly disappointed sound, but ultimately, she nodded.
"If there is nothing else, that little girl told me she found a way to cure Bell, would you mind giving her some treatment… I'm going to have my hands full with Abaris, so she and Sylvie will be leading the army of the Light Palace", said Aurora with a happy smile.
Daimon had a bad premonition, but he still nodded, since this was part of his deal with the Light Palace, Sarah has gotten rid of her curse, so it's not necessarily a lie that she now knows how deal with Bell's curse, even if it is different than hers and if it doesn't work, he still has a way to forcefully remove some of the marks using the crystalized nether from the core of the Nethereals which he has stored in the inventory.
"Also have a look at sister Valas, I need my most trusted commander at my side after all", warmly said Annete as she gazed at the Duchess who smiled in response.
"I'm fine, I'm just tired, a few hours of sleep should be enough", said the Duchess, still Daimon whose eyes were glowing behind his mask, shook his head.
"Taking a look won't hurt, I'm not a healer though, senior Aurora will be more effective in that aspect", he said.
Daimon then took his leave, the crazy girl was already waiting for him at the corridor, with a bright smile on her pretty face.
"We can't start with you, so let's go~", since he saw that smile on Sarah's face, Daimon knew something was wrong, but he sighed and just followed the crazy girl to Bell's room.
Sarah happily opened the door and invited Daimon in, so far everything was good, Bell was laying face down on the bed with her face resting on her pillow.
"When the curse placed on me was lifted, I realized how to deal with mom's one", she said as she took out a large container with a dark purple liquid that though had no smell, made Daimon frown.
"I know you are crazy but poisoning your mother to death is a bit too much", said Daimon which only made the crazy girl giggle as some wisps of purple mist were radiated from her.
"I learned that the only way to get rid of that guy's nether, was with another nether, that's what you did for us at the beginning and it worked like a charm, however, nether is also a type of mana".
"Only those of low rank are consumed by their nether, since their affinities aren't strong enough to find the balance required for it to work, the problem is that my poison was strong enough to overwhelm that guy's nether with the help of the new nether I absorbed, which resulted in me obtaining my own, but mom is more inclined towards darkness, so I thought, who has the purest darkness affinity in this world~", she said as she held onto Daimon's arm to then drag him towards Bell's bed.
"So then, what's the use of the poison?", asked Daimon, there were too many different things mixed there, probably including all the poisons Sarah obtained from Kerrol.
"Ah that, you have to simulate the curse by smearing the marks with that poison, with your own hands, since mom's imagination isn't as good as mine~", she playfully said.
"Huh?", Daimon was confused by Sarah's words.
"How cruel, making me say it out loud, that's why I can only be yours~", said the crazy girl before she whispered at him.
"When I was getting rid of my curse, I had to feel a touch that made me feel "warm", luckily, I had run a simulation in my mind enough time ever since we met, so that I didn't need to experience it in my own flesh, but mom is way meeker in that aspect, so you'll have to do it first-hand~".
"I'm not "meek", you are too much!", exclaimed Bell who finally couldn't keep quiet anymore, only for the piece of cloth that was covering her back to fall down, revealing her naked skin.
Now, seeing a naked back isn't something to feel ashamed about, at least not for Daimon, the problem is that Bell's whole upper body was naked and while from this angle, he couldn't see the front, he could see the sides of her chest and… there were curse marks there now too.
"Ahem, we'll start with the back today, could you please lie down miss Bell?", said Daimon, which made Bell slowly look downwards, just to see that her front was exposed too, and immediately lower her body against the bed, while using the bedsheet to cover the side.
Sarah saw her mother who seemed as if she was about to cry and she giggled, as she handed the container with poison to Daimon.
"Be gentle with mom~", she said.
Daimon inwardly sighed, regardless of the method he'll have to see anyway, even if it was solved in the less efficient way which involved him using Demon Light, which unlike with Sarah, might end up hurting Bell, he'll have to see either with his eyes or with his mana sense, just like he did with Sarah.
"Mocking your mother, it seems you need a nice beating to return to the correct path…", mumbled Bell, but she still nodded at Daimon as she accommodated herself to be comfortable.
Daimon poured the poison on her back and the curse marks immediately reacted by shining in a dark purple light, which tried to attack Daimon, which actually triggered his lazy ass magic core.
"Now that's a rare sight, are you finally doing something?", said Daimon as he saw the energy radiated by the curse marks, be dragged into his magic core to be devoured, until there was nothing left of it.
"Woah, that sure does accelerate things, as expected of my fated one", said the crazy girl, as she saw the curse marks losing their dark purple color, and then fading away, turning into dark mist.
Sarah then took out a pile of high-grade dark mana crystals, which she extorted out of the church of Kerrol and Antonio, for this exact purpose, and then gave Daimon puppy eyes.
"That's not needed, I obtained this for you two according to our deal you know?", said Daimon as he took out a big piece of the crystalized nether from his inventory, just to see the crazy girl softly smile at him.
"I wouldn't mind having to give you "something" in exchange for it~", she said as she licked her lips.
"Hey, I'm still alive so control yourself for a bit", said Bell, to then gaze at Daimon who bitterly smiled as he placed a few crystals on top of her back as well the crystalized nether, to then release some of his darkness mana.
"Uhhh", a comfortable sound couldn't help but escape from Bell's mouth, the floating dark mist was attracted to the mana crystals as well as the crystalized nether and Daimon's mana, making all the ingredients mix and then melt on Bell's back, before they were absorbed into her body.
"…", silence reigned for a second, but Daimon didn't worry, the next moment he saw large quantities of darkness mana gathering from all over the place, so he took a step backwards and the crazy girl did the same, she leaned against Daimon's shoulder as she watched with an excited expression, her mother recovering enough to not be considering a dead person walking.
The sudden spike of darkness mana got the attention of all the people on the mansion, but when they noticed the origin of it, instead of worrying they celebrated, Sylvie especially as she rushed through the corridor towards Bell's room.
The phenomenon didn't last too long, before everything returned to normal, the result was a Bell who was now sitting on her bed, her upper body which was naked, was now covered by a pitch black mist, and her pupils which are normally dark purple where now of black too.
Not to mention she was a middle stage Stellar now, and her vitality had replenished almost fully, the curse wasn't lifted unlike Sarah, but her life wasn't in danger anymore.
"Thanks…", just as Bell turned to see Daimon to thank him, the door of her room opened and Sylvie entered, just to see Bell whose upper body was naked and then see Daimon and Sarah who were standing near her bed.
"S-Sorry, you are busy sister, we'll talk later!", Sylvie immediately flashed out of the room, leaving behind a Bell who was speechless, she didn't know how to use nether so of course when she lost her concentration, it was dispelled, so you can imagine the rest.
Sarah who saw Daimon's right index finger covered in poison, laughed and then catching Daimon with his guard off, she licked it and even put it in her mouth.
Daimon turned to see the crazy girl, but he surprisingly didn't stop it, against all his wishes he left her until she fully cleaned the poison, just to see her smiling.
"Delicious~".
Daimon cleared his throat to then say.
"Ahem, now that you have your own nether, you can wear out the curse on your own, I'll assist you when the time to lift it comes, I'll take my leave since I still have to pay a visit to the Duchess".
Having said that, Daimon left the room, Bell remained froze for a few more seconds, before she gazed at her daughter who was looking at her with a happy smiling expression.
"You planned all this right, you little girl… did you know the requirements to break my curse", she mumbled.
"Well, it was just a hunch, having him "involved" worked for me, so I guessed it should be the same to you, if it was the me before Kerrol, I would have asked for more than just imagining, but now… I think it is more exciting this way~", said the crazy girl as she handed her mother something to cover herself.
"Don't cause him troubles at the global raid, we owe him more than we could ever repay him at this point", said Bell as she left her body fall backwards on the bed.
Sarah laid down on the bed next to her mother and then turned to see her as she giggled.
"I know of a way though~", she said before she whispered some words at her mother, who limited to bitterly laugh.
Daimon who was walking through the corridor towards Daphne's room, where the Duchess was resting, looked at the notification that popped a second ago and he sighed.
[Ding]
[The mission "Stealing from the hero (Clear Water Kingdom) has been updated]
[Steal the legacy left to help the Hero of Light (0/1) à (1/1)]
'Obtaining the core of the fortress didn't complete the damn requirement, but letting that crazy girl drink the poison of my claws and curing Bell did… or could it have been because I saw and touched her, what the hell kind of legacy is this!', he thought.
His instincts told him to add some of his own poison to the solution applied on Bell's back, so he secretly did, he never imagined that the crazy girl would do that, and he wasn't going to let her, but then he saw the notification being triggered and he actually got lost in the moment.
'Hahaha, well, every part of the mission has its own "requirements", you gained the trust of the queen and princess, when they gave you that pendant right, it seems like you gained something from that pair as well~', jokingly said Evangeline.
Ultimately Daimon shook his head, he knew there was more behind of the requirements from the mission than what met the eye, for Adam just "obtaining" would have been enough for him to complete the mission, but he wasn't walking in the same path as him, for him fulfilling the requirements had a much deeper meaning.
Curiously even if he didn't understand it at the moment, if it was marked as fulfilled, it's because he had achieved something significant.
