Chapter 27 : DIABLO (8)
Chapter 27
DIABLO
From the journal of Princess Nora Ophilis
To understand this palace, the first thing one must do is discard every human frame of reference and standard of measurement entirely.
There are no lavish oil paintings trimmed in gold here. No marble statues of heroes lining the corridors. No overly intricate city planning or labyrinthine pathways.
They think simply and directly. The vertical structure of this palace built into the granite cliff face, when examined closely, reveals that each ascending level is designed more like "building a home" than "building a palace."
They simply need open spaces to catch the mountain wind. A natural stone roof strong enough to shelter from rain. And glowing tree roots threading through the ceilings to provide light and mana energy.
Every room extends in a straight line, connected by staircases and stone bridges that are plainly visible to all. Hiding a secret room or two would be possible, but only very few given this style of construction.
They do not seem attached to their dwellings the way we are. They do not "bury the dignity" of their lineage into these bricks.
They rely on nature almost entirely in their original way of life, and I suspect they will rely on it less as they open themselves to human knowledge.
She lifted her eyes from the page, blew gently to let the ink dry, then closed her journal.
Princess Nora walked back from the terrace, where she saw Dan turning to look for his other student. He found Rafinya standing with her face tilted upward, staring at something hanging on the wall.
What she was staring at was a massive black-and-red spear.
The iron spear was sized far beyond what any ordinary human could wield. Its forging was remarkably crude, the metal surface rough and bumpy, lacking any uniformity whatsoever.
Its tip was iron, but iron that had long since gone dull and was no longer intact, cracked and chipped. The red coloring on its body likely came from ruby ore, or perhaps a rare type of mana crystal, neither of which was in particularly good condition.
"That's mine."
Rafinya turned to Dan.
"Yours?"
"My partner from a former life. From the days when I was still weak."
"You used to have a personal weapon?"
"I did."
The young man stood staring at it as though reading the memories of a life that this thing had recorded.
"Father liked the human 'spear.' He thought it might help save my strength. We hired a blacksmith from Tampa Bay to forge it. During the unification, I used it for a while. It was an excellent force multiplier."
"So that means you're skilled with the spear?"
The eyes of the young woman who lived for combat began to shine. But the young man went quiet for a moment, as though thinking.
"Skilled with the spear? I wouldn't know. I never studied any technique."
"Then how did you use it?"
"I threw it."
No spear dances. No spinning for defense or thrusting the way Rafinya had been trained.
Just raw arm strength and the momentum of this thing hurtling through whatever stood in its way.
The young woman glanced down at her own sword, bearing the rose crest, hanging at her right hip.
Then she looked back at the weathered black-and-red spear.
In that condition... what had it been through? How many Diablo had this thing killed? How many monster beasts?
"Want me to teach you the spear?"
Rafinya didn't answer, but her eyes said it all.
"Sorry, but I can only teach you how to throw it."
Which was not exactly something many humans practiced.
With that, Dan beckoned and led the way onward.
They walked past a wall hung with the skulls of unidentifiable monster beasts.
Dan led both of them upstairs, but before that, they passed a door made of thick stone, guarded extremely heavily.
"Mr. Fury?"
Nora asked, pointing.
"What's that room?"
"A secret."
"Tell us."
"I just told you. It's a secret."
"Otherwise Rafinya will sneak in there tonight."
Rafinya: "Excuse me?!"
Dan turned.
"Inside is a multi-purpose ritual chamber. When Freya and I received our human forms, it was done in there."
"No wonder it's a secret..."
"Now that I've told you that much, you won't try to go in, will you?"
"Rafinya will go in anyway."
Rafinya: "What are you even saying..."
High-ranking Diablo soldiers bowed as Dan led the group up to the throne room.
The chamber at the very highest point of the Demon Palace.
There... it looked exactly like the lair of a dark lord. A faint white mist hovered above the floor, drifting in from the mountain fog outside.
Rafinya glanced around, eyeing the demon soldiers with quiet reverence.
Dan pointed and explained.
"This is our throne room."
A massive throne stood at the center of the chamber. It was assembled from the bones of hundreds of slain beasts and fallen enemies of the Diablo royal family from ages past. Sharp, cold protrusions of bone jutted outward in every direction from its back, proclaiming the fearsome authority of the one who ruled this nation.
Dan gestured toward the group of Diablo who bowed to the girls.
"These are Father's attendants. They are high-ranking Diablo."
Them: "Good day, young misses."
"If anything troubles you during your stay here, you may ask them for help."
Their arrival, however, had not gone unnoticed. They were being watched intently by someone concealed behind the curtains of this palace.
...Silently.
Afterward, the Empress and Demon King Byleth arrived at the royal palace, accompanied by journalists and senior officials.
The Demon King welcomed the Empress warmly upon her visit to the Demon Palace.
It produced a deeply impressive diplomatic image: two national leaders strolling together across a bridge that spanned the waterfalls, photographs sent back to both nations.
The political atmosphere was amicable, and of course, the image of Empress Ophilis shaking hands with Prince Fury was captured on film as well.
Both sovereigns conducted a joint review of the honor guard, a display of respect and military might held on the Scandinavian-style grasslands outside the palace grounds. The Demon King led the Empress in reviewing troops from all five biomes, assembled at full strength.
They had prepared well. Princess Nora noted in her journal that the desert unit erupted from the earth in unison to salute, and the snow unit emerged from the mist in absolute silence, without a single footstep, demonstrating the formidable power of their forces for the press to witness.
Late in the evening, the official dinner hosted by Diablo was held at the Glowing Sky Garden at nightfall, amid the shimmering purple, blue, and green of mana light that replaced candlelight, scattered across the grasslands as far as the eye could see.
"...It really is beautiful."
Princess Nora, in her ceremonial attire, stood gazing outward.
"Yes... until summer arrives."
Rafinya said,
"When summer comes, all this grass dies. It turns into the barren, parched landscape we've seen in the books."
"Grass that evolved only in Diablo?"
"Must be."
From Nora's journal:
Rafinya told me that Diablo's diplomatic functions lack the extravagant, tiresome ceremony of Luminus. Every activity was designed simply, yet packed with sincerity... and a significant measure of intimidation.
...Or perhaps that sincerity itself is the brand they wish to build.
The event proceeded until the schedule was complete.
The soft golden light of the banquet on the sky garden dimmed and faded as security measures relaxed with the hour.
After the long performance of diplomacy came to an end, Empress Ophilis XIV retired to her royal quarters, while Nora and Rafinya were assigned to separate guest rooms to rest, as protocol dictated.
But for these two young women, the night was far from over.
A Scandinavian stillness settled over the palace. The sound of the waterfall cascading from the cliff outside became a low-frequency hum that masked all other sounds.
Princess Nora, in her black casual clothes, slipped silently from her room. She met up with Rafinya, who drew on her knight's training to cut through the mist and moonlit shadows without alerting a single attendant from either side.
The two crept along the route Fury had hinted at in advance, until they came to a stop at a blind spot on the lower level.
A solid granite slab slid open without a sound, revealing a "hidden room" concealed behind the imposing DIABLO banner.
And the high-ranking Diablo soldiers who bowed to both of them, as though they had been told in advance that the girls would come.
The moment they stepped past the stone door, the entire world of stifling protocol outside was severed.
This hidden room had no grand stained-glass windows or luxurious woven carpets. There was only the raw roughness of natural cave walls, and a thick oak table with a strategic map spread open upon it. The sole source of light came from a frozen indigo mana crystal placed at the center of the table.
Both girls saw the figure of the most powerful young man in the empire, already seated and waiting.
"You've arrived. Well done finding your way here on your own. I thought you might have passed out on those soft beds."
"Mr. Fury... it's a great honor to know this hidden room even exists."
"Of course. It was bound to be something special. You have me as your Mentor, after all, Rafinya."
"Thank you, Mr. Fury."
"Why do I get the feeling that if I said the same thing, your reaction would be completely different?"
"It depends on the person, Nora. It depends on who's saying it."
"Look at you two, teasing each other. This close already?"
The voice of an older man spoke up, before its owner emerged from a dark corner of the hidden room.
He appeared to be a man in his fifties, with a beard and mustache trimmed immaculately, giving the impression of a seasoned senior official with a wealth of experience. His hair and facial hair were dark, streaked with white. He was tall, roughly the same build as Everton's human form. He wore a warm brown-toned suit in the Mathema style, and a faint smile rested permanently on his face.
The age he wore was not a sign of weakness, but of a life weathered by experience.
Standing beside Dan, he looked like someone's father. Yes, he had to look that way.
Because he was, in fact, the young man's father.
The human form of the Demon King Byleth.
"Hello again, little ones. Do you remember me? Guess who I am."
"Your Majesty."
Both girls bowed at once.
His voice was like a kind uncle's. It was different. Gentle.
He raised his hand.
"This is Diablo's domain, and in Diablo, we have no formalities. Please, sit."
He gestured to the chairs before them.
And if you wish to address me by a human name,
just call me Byleth.