Chapter 415 - 415: The Traitors Among Us
The room was filled with a deafening silence as all those still living stared at the maid with various thoughts, feelings and expressions. Some were horrified, some were confused and some were just getting hungry with that body sitting there.
Very quickly, however, the sound of silence was broken by a slow, deliberate applause. All eyes turned to a singular man, with mocha coloured skin, who was grinning like an idiot as he sat with his feet up on the table.
"Well now... That sure was some spectacle, wasn't it? My favourite part was when she popped his head like a peach, which I got that on film." He clicked his tongue, shaking his head in mock disappointment as he leaned further back in his chair.
By the very thick, pan handle twang in his voice this man was the American leader. Made even more obvious by the fact he was dressed like he had crawled straight out of some cheesy old west film. Not the accurate kind, more like the Clint Eastwood type where everyone's clothes were far too neat, clean and well kept instead of worn and rough like they should be.
He even wore a poncho to hide the armour he was wearing underneath, as well as had a pair of revolvers strapped to his hips. Each looking freshly polished with glossy white handles and intricate engravings. He stopped clapping and flicked the lip of his ridiculous cowboy hat, tilting it up to show his
"You know, I love blood sports as much as the next guy, Looking at you Russki, but is there a point to all of that? Doesn't exactly give us much confidence in this little meeting if you're ripping heads for a little argument."
A few agreeable mutters reverberated through the room, as the American smirked to himself. The maid's eyes narrowed into a glare as she scanned the room, looking at all those who were muttering.
Corvus couldn't help but notice that, for the briefest second more, she lingered on him more than the others. Just another thing that added to his curiosity around this whole meeting.
Eventually, the maid glared at the American and spoke calmly, once again regaining her bored and emotionless composure.
"His death was not for his attitude. The beating he received was punishment enough. His death was earned by the fact he was a traitor, plain and simple."
"A Traitor?" A thick Russian accent spoke from the other side of the table, belonging to a man in full plate armour, much like Corvus himself. He was an older man, with his hair cropped short and neat, and he sat with his back ramrod straight as if he had never heard of the concept of slouching.
His wrinkled eyes narrowed at the maid,
"I do not remember dedicating myself to you. This was an invitation. Not recruitment or promise. How could he be traitor?"
"Correct, you were invited and are our guests. He was not a traitor to us, but to all of you. To your planet.
We brought you here today not just for opportunity, but to warn you. I am sure you have all encountered plenty of instances of portals opening up. Creatures not of your world appearing in places they should not be."
She paused for a second, glancing around the room as every one at the table exchanged knowing looks. They whispered to their companions, nodding softly as they agreed with what she was saying. It was only Corvus and Astra who took a few seconds to remember what she was talking about.
The Shattering, that had to be what she was referring to. It seems like it was a world wide issue after all. But while Ravenkeep had Lee, a spacial expert, as well as Seth and Julius to craft runic icons to prevent it, it seemed the other countries were not so lucky.
However, judging from the aura's a few of them were letting out, Corvus had to wonder if preventing it across the entire country was a mistake on his part. After all, in the last year he had spent a lot of time taking things easy.
It was true that he had to take a lot of time to form his [Soul of a God] but he hadn't exactly been in a rush about it either. Not unlike the initial weeks and months, when desperation drove him to grow stronger.
Seeing she was understood the Maid continued,
"These invaders are not arriving by chance nor misfortune. It is exactly that, a targeted invasion. If it is not clear by now, you are not the only populated planet in existence.
Out there exists species who see you as nothing but cattle to be culled. In their minds, you exist for their benefit and nothing more.
But the invaders don't just come in the form of mindless destruction and genocide. They come in beautiful forms made to deceive you, to lure you to their side so that you can betray your own species and planet.
Invasion is always easier when the doors to the kingdom are opened from the inside, and the people within are already primed for their new masters.
That man did not betray us, he betrayed you. He betrayed the Eternal Flame Prometheus, who graciously gifted you the power you now wield..."
The room remained silent as the Demon Maid explained the truth of their situation, eventually moving on to what was tantamount to a sermon for Prometheus. She told the tale of his arrival on earth, everything he did for the people and why he did it.
But for the entire sermon, Corvus couldn't help but smirk as half of it absolutely didn't line up with what he knew to be true.
For one, she claimed that he stayed behind to protect earth from the invaders and that it is only because of his recent death that the world has been plunged into chaos. Which wasn't just wrong, it was completely backwards.
Firstly, he stayed because he got stuck, not because he chose to. Secondly, the events like the Shattering happened before his death and, well, the reason for his death was sitting right here.
She also failed to mention a lot about the true reasons of the invaders, such as the fact that the System was initially invented to be a planetary gacha system to see what mutations the creator species could add to themselves without the risk.
He was not the only one who was picking up on this crafted narrative. As she was talking and spinning her tale, he was focused on the faces of those around him.
When she mentioned her crafted lies, a few of the leaders within the room had slight frowns or clenched their fists ever so slightly tighter.
It wasn't much, just tiny signs, but they were there.
They became a little more clear when the maid moved onto information that not even Corvus knew.
"... These traitors have been here before. Many times throughout your history, searching not just for the Eternal One, but checking to see if the planet is ready for harvest."
"That can't be true." The American interrupted with a laugh. He removed his feet from the table, instead leaning on it and supporting his head in his hands.
"I mean no offense but as fine as you are darling, you don't exactly blend in. I think we would have noticed a couple demons walking around.... oh."
The maid raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Yes, oh. You think it is a coincidence that you recognise my form, even if it is with a name of your own creation?
Demons, Dragons... Gods. The humans have all crafted such wonderful tales to fill their histories.
While not all are true, there is plenty that are as well as those that hold a partial truth to them.
The tales of your old gods are true. And they are the ultimate deceivers."
"Why should we believe you darlin? Isn't this the exact same thing they would say to us, about you? Hell, if you wanna say our stories are true then the stories say that Demons like you are the ultimate deceivers instead."
The American smirked again, flicking up the edge of his hat once more as the murmers began even. Although the bestial leaders had yet to speak a single word so far, if they were even capable of such things, they were even nodding along.
They didn't know much about the stories of humans, but they knew that one didn't just believe everything you heard. They were beasts, not morons.
The Maid narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but simply shrugged as if she didn't have a care in the world.
"Nothing I can say will change that. It will simply be your people, and you yourself, crying out in despair when your trusted old gods slaughter you like cattle."
That was the second time she had used that phrase and although the beasts didn't know exactly what a 'cattle' was, they knew it sounded like prey. They were also intuitively connected to the bloody world of fighting for survival. It was how they became to be Apex Predators, and none of them were eager to give up that title and become prey to something else.
However, while it gave them pause, the American just smirked again.
"Is that all you got? Vague threats. Sorry Darlin, I ain't scared. In fact, I think it's time I made a little announcement."
He slapped the table, pushing his chair out as he rose to his feet. He puffed his chest out and held his head high.
"I ain't scared because America has always been the mightiest superpower the world has ever seen, and It remains to be this day. Feel honoured people, because you get the pleasure of meeting the world's first Celestial being.
And he was born in the good ol' US of A!"