Hello all. Well, I got mixed reviews on my last chapter. Perhaps I should've posted it as a separate story, after all. It was never my intention to do the crossover for more than one chapter but thanks for the tips anyhow. I did decide to keep Yuber in my story though and used a suggestion from Blue Paladin in this chapter (Cookies to anyone who finds it). Thanks for sticking with my story. It think there will be only one chapter after this, unless you guys want me to detail Sasarai's capture. I will only do that if you want though. It could be interesting to see the boys reactions without Her in the picture.
Disclaimer: Suikoden isn't and never will be mine. They just have to rub it in.
Chapter 10: The
Twins
After the demon had been…taken care of, Shu pushed the group to move against the next target, Albert's current employer, Luc. He reasoned the shock of losing his demon coupled with losing his job would dishevel Albert long enough to provide the group a narrow window of opportunity to ensnare Luc. The only question left was how to catch an all-powerful mage who possessed a true rune. So, on a stormy Friday night, the group once again found themselves sitting around a circular table discussing the next step. She was sitting at what could be construed as the head of the table. On Her right side was the self-possessed Shu. On Her left was Caesar, who appeared very fidgety at the moment. Percival was sitting on the opposite side of the table, between Borus and Nash. Franz was sitting despondently next to Caesar, tracing a finger in circles along the table. Shu had suggested they go around the table, giving everyone a chance to voice their ideas before finally settling on his. Fred had just given his opinion on how to capture Luc, which explained the resulting silence at the table. Sharon, sitting next to Fred was the first to recover.
"I think we should blow up the palace," She stated with utmost seriousness. Percival started laughing but quickly disguised it as a cough when he received a death glare from the girl.
Nash took advantage of the opportunity to slap the knight on the back. "You okay, Percival?"
"Just peachy," the knight made a face at Nash
Borus, realizing that his arch nemesis had his hands on his best friend, lunged at the offending spy with a growl. "Get your filthy hands off him!" Unfortunately, as Borus slapped Nash's hand away, he lost his balance, causing him and his chair to topple into the unlucky Percival. She put Her head in Her hands as the two knights crashed to the floor, the spy leaping out of their line of fire just in time.
"Impressive," Shu gazed coolly at the scene. "Aren't you going to help…" he trailed off at Her deadpan expression. With a quick glance around the table, the tactician realized that no one looked too concerned, save Franz, who was observing the scene with distaste.
"Why," She stated rather than asked. "They do this all the time. They've never managed to seriously injure themselves thus far."
"Borus! Get off me!" They heard a muffled yell come from Percival.
"Uh," Caesar grunted. "There was that time Borus threw acid in Percival's eyes."
Shu's eyes widened in disbelief.
Nash smirked. "Need a hand?"
"I think you've helped enough," Percival grunted, as he heaved Borus off him.
"Weren't you unconscious at the time?" She scowled at the red-head, who was now smiling smugly while pretending to pick at his nails.
"Should I be concerned for my welfare?" Shu asked, half-seriously, as both knights slowly rose to their feet.
"Don't worry." She patted Shu comfortingly on the shoulder. "They were all informed of the consequences of turning their mischief towards you."
"Thanks Borus," Percival cracked his neck. "My back was out place before, but I think that fall definitely fixed it."
Borus winced at his friends derisive tone while he stood both chairs on their legs. "Sorry Perce."
Percival's eyes softened a bit, and he shrugged. "No harm done." He grinned at the other knight, clapping him companionably on the shoulder. Borus looked visibly relieved.
Shu turned to Her, unconvinced as the two knights retook their seats.
She ignored the strategist. "If I knew you guys had trouble sitting in chairs, I would've made yours with a seatbelt." Nash snickered at the knight's abashed expressions. She continued without pause. "Getting back to your idea, Sharon, I could blow up the palace, but Luc is a bishounen, and I'm collecting bishounen, not blowing them to smithereens."
"Oh," Sharon deflated. "How about…"
"Sharon," She admonished the girl. "You've had your turn. Now it's time to let the others share their ideas." The girl crossed her arms sullenly in response.
Shu's eyes held a tinge of amusement as he surveyed the group, his eyes lingering slightly on the knight's. "So, we've established that both demolishing the palace and directly attacking the mage are not good plans.
Fred slumped in his chair. "I think we could defeat him head on."
"That's why you're not in charge," Nash retorted. "Enough of this," Nash's mouth quirked wryly. "You obviously have a plan Shu. Maybe you should tell us what it is before Borus devises a way to get at me without injuring his comrade, here." He jerked his head towards Percival, who snorted in response.
"Unlikely," She scoffed.
Caesar squirmed in his chair. "I think we could use Luc's brother."
"Wow," Nash mockingly appraised Caesar. "Shu. I didn't realize you were into red hair now."
Caesar flushed at the implied criticism.
"You think so?" Shu arched an eyebrow, ignoring the spy's comment. "Luc hates his brother."
"Yes," Caesar continued, with a final glare at Nash. "But Luc's after the true runes and his brother is wielder of the True Earth Rune."
"It might work," Shu nodded his head thoughtfully. "I assume you have a plan to capture Sasarai."
"Of course." Caesar almost looked arrogant.
"Very well," Shu shrugged his acquiescence. "As leading strategist here, I give you leave to pick your team for your mission."
She touched Shu's leave, and leaned close to his ear. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Don't worry," he smiled back reassuringly. "If all goes well, you'll have another member to add to your team. If not," the strategist shrugged, "At least we'll be free of Caesar's execrable ideas for the next mission."
She blinked once before nodding Her head and turning back to Caesar. "You can't take Percival though."
"Awww," Percival whined sarcastically. "And I so wanted to go with him!"
Caesar pursed his lips and looked as if he was about to argue with Her. Her lip twitched in the beginnings of a snarl causing the red-head to think better of it. "Fine," he shrugged. "I want Futch, Franz, Borus and Watari."
"I don't want to get in trouble for kidnapping a Harmonian bishop!" Franz cried.
"Calm down." She looked at Caesar disdainfully. "A strategist of your skill should be able to capture Sasarai with just Futch, Borus and Watari."
Caesar puffed himself up. "Of course I can! Now that I think about it, he would just get in the way anyhow."
"Hey!" Franz shouted. "I-"
"Sit down Franz," She commanded. The mantor trainer sullenly obeyed. "I have enough to deal with with those three over there," She gestured at Nash, Percival and Borus. "without you starting to act up to."
"What about Sharon?" the dragon knight turned to his apprentice in vain hope.
"Oh," She smiled sweetly. "Sharon stays here."
"What!" Sharon opened Her mouth to argue. "I…"
She scowled at the apprentice. "Don't argue with me, Sharon. I just got a whole new troupe of NPC servants. I need you to stay here to keep them in line."
Sharon paused, considering the havoc She could wreak on the NPCs while She was gone."
"Sharon," She warned, recognizing the expression on the girl's face.
"Okay, Okay," The dragon knight apprentice rolled Her eyes. "I'll stay."
"And…"
Sharon wrinkled her nose in distaste. "And I'll be nice to your servants."
"Thank you."
"Whatever," Sharon grumbled.
That settled, She gestured for Caesar's troop to move out. As the group marched single file out the door, She grabbed Watari by the arm, easily staring him down. "If anything goes wrong, I want you to get Borus and Sasarai out of there. Understood?"
The ninja bobbed his head once and slid out of the room.
"Not concerned about Futch?" Nash smirked.
She shrugged. "He's got a dragon." She turned to Shu expectantly. "So what do you know that I don't?"
Shu assumed an innocent expression. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Why are you letting Caesar go after Sasarai, knowing the bishop might be of some use to us? You know there's a good chance Caesar will fail."
Shu smiled calmly. "I find that it's better for one to not reveal his secrets until they are no longer of use."
Percival smirked.
She quirked an eyebrow at Her strategist, not in the mood for games.
Shu looked around the table and smirked. "Fortunately for you, the reason I've kept this secret is no longer present…Sasarai no longer possesses his true Earth rune." Eyes widened all around the table.
"You don't seem surprised Nash," Percival remarked softly.
"I was there," Nash grimaced in reply. "There was nothing I could do, so of course I came back here and told our all mighty strategist."
Fred's brow furrowed. "But didn't Caesar just go to get Sasarai for his true rune?"
"That was his plan," Shu agreed.
Sharon chuckled maliciously.
"If young Caesar accompanied us on this mission he would be so intent on proving his intellectual superiority that he would not pay attention to the mission, lose sight of the ultimate goal, prematurely reveal our position or otherwise make a misstep that could jeopardize our success. This puts him on a harmless quest to get him out of the way. Sasarai is of no strategic importance to us, so if he fails…" Shu shrugged.
"But if he succeeds, there will be an extra bishounen joining the team," She smiled approvingly. "I knew there was a reason I went to the trouble of obtaining you."
"Hmm," Percival thumbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's rather devious."
Shu shrugged. "It was necessary."
"So what is our plan for capturing Luc?"
Shu pulled out a map and laid it across the table. "Right now, Luc is headed for the mantor trainer's shrine as a result of Albert's manipulations."
She started. "Why…?"
"Luc is on a quest to obtain all five of the Elemental True Runes. Now that he has two of them, it will be easy for him to extract the other three from their current bearers. Albert has arranged it so Geddoe's team will try to intercept Luc at the shrine…"
"So he can steal the True Lightning Rune," Percival groaned.
Shu nodded. "What we must do is intercept Geddoe's team before they reach the entrance to the shrine."
She shifted uncomfortably. "You'd better do that Shu. Geddoe doesn't like me very much."
"That's an understatement," Nash snickered.
"I can take care of that," Shu assured Her. "You'll have to wear a hooded cloak to disguise your identity though."
She considered for a moment. "We all wear cloaks and they're black."
"Done."
The team of Shu, Percival, Nash, Fred and She traveled without hazard (except for some misunderstanding between Fred and the ducks in Duck Village) to the Le Buque inn, where they successfully met up with Geddoe's team. She waited in the shadows until Shu had explained the situation to the mercenaries, who were more than glad to stay out of Her way.
"Someday you'll have to tell me what you did to that hardened mercenary captain to make him so afraid of you," Shu commented.
She chuckled uneasily before fixing Her eyes on the ground. "Sacrifices must be made for the good of the group, right?"
"Hm," Shu grunted. "They wanted to know who we brought with us." Shu and She glanced towards the three hooded figures hovering in the corner by the door. Well, actually one hooded figure was hovering in the corner. The other two were looking markedly uncomfortable and trying to give the figure as much space as possible while still trying to maintain the appearance of a cohesive unit.
"And…"
"I told them it would be better for them if they didn't know." Shu smirked wickedly.
"Nice. How's Franz taking the news?"
Shu snorted. "Rather well, I think…considering that he's a hot-headed nationalist and all of his people have been kidnapped by a Harmonian Bishop and are being held hostage at the shrine his people have been guarding reverently for decades."
"You put such a positive spin on everything."
"I try."
"I suppose we should get on to the shrine." She directed a smirk at the mercenaries.
Shu nodded. "Yes, and quickly. Albert has informants everywhere. He may already know of our involvement."
She grinned maliciously. "Is that a bad thing?"
Shu studied Her a moment before answering. "On the contrary. I'm counting on it."
The two looked towards the mercenaries, who were in a deep discussion with Franz. Geddoe suddenly shrugged and calmly followed Franz out of the inn. The remaining three mercenaries were silent for a moment before breaking out into a heated argument, Joker and Queen on one side and Ace on the other.
"Come on Ace." Queen snarled. "All you have to do is go over there and tell Her we're leaving."
"Are you kidding?" Ace whispered urgently. "I'm not going over there! Do you remember what happened last time?" His face paled. "What if She's not ready to leave?"
"Just remind Her that we're the ones in charge here," Queen scowled at Ace. "What kind of a man are you anyway?"
"I…Now wait a minute," Ace put a finger in her face.
"You're the one that got us into this mess in the first place," Joker countered. "If you weren't such an idiot, She would've never tried to take advantage of you."
"But…" Ace was beginning to panic.
"I wouldn't say that." The mercenaries froze as She walked up beside of them, Shu right behind Her, modeling the ideal strategist. "I could've taken advantage of either of you as well…But it wouldn't've been as much fun."
The mercenaries unconsciously put their hands to their weapons. She ignored the gesture. "In fact, you should be thanking Ace. If not for him, I would've had to use one of you."
"That would've been unfortunate," Shu remarked, his eyes maintaining a stony expression.
Ace chuckled nervously. "Yes, well. It's good that we're all getting along, but it's time to go." He gestured towards the door.
"You can go first." She offered magnanimously.
"Oh no," Ace threw his hands in the air. "Please. I insist."
She exchanged an amused smile with Shu.
"Only if you insist." She twitched Her finger at the guys in the corner. Two came immediately. The other looked away, as if misunderstanding the signal. She responded by stamping Her foot and angrily pointing at the ground.
He growled, and slowly sauntered over to Her. She scowled at the figure for a moment before soundly cuffing his ears. "Pink bunnies," She whispered enticingly.
He flinched away from Her slightly.
"We're ready," She smiled sweetly at the mercenaries, who all looked a little bewildered at the exchange.
Queen returned the smile with a shaky one of her own. "Okay then. Lead the way."
"This should be interesting," One of the cloaked figures commented.
They walked quietly through the deserted little town to the exit. "This really is a sad little town," She remarked.
"Hmm," Shu grunted without breaking stride. "The people of Le Buque don't have much to live for. As Harmonian third class citizens they're basically slaves. It's particularly difficult for these people to adjust because of their nationalistic culture. They would actually be more useful to Harmonia if they were allowed to have some rights. Although…" Shu shrugged. "With all major dissenters being translocated to Crystal Valley, there's really no one that would seriously challenge Harmonian rule."
Franz snapped. "I told Iku not to come back! Why didn't she listen to me?"
Nash turned his cloaked head to the mantor trainer. "For the same reason the other mantor trainers came back here after you came to the ranch…"
Franz blinked in confusion.
Nash smiled patronizingly. "Because she cares about this place just as much as you do."
Franz locked his troubled eyes on the ground.
"Not again!" whined Ace, startling everyone from their gloomy thoughts. "Why do the bad guys always have to carry out their business at the top of huge, dangerous mountains?"
"Stop complaining," Queen sniffed disdainfully, Aila following suit.
"It could be worse, Ace," Joker grinned, while the girls haughtily stalked past Ace. "We could have to fight our way through a dungeon."
"I don't see a difference," She muttered, snuggling under Her cloak. "They're both cold, dark, damp and full of spiders."
"Not to mention undead monsters and Mirages," Percival helpfully pointed out, as the group started up the mountain.
"Yeah, that too."
"Or we might be hostages at the top of this mountain at this very moment," Nash commented sarcastically.
The group turned to stare at Nash as he suddenly came down with a fit of sneezing.
"Gesundheit," She cocked Her head to one side, visually appraising Nash's condition.
"I'm fine," he impatiently waved Her off. "I'm just coming down with a little cold, that's all."
"What a shame," Percival grinned, not looking particularly sorry for his traveling companion.
"Thanks, friend."
"How are you doing?" She cautiously peered into the third cloaked figures face.
"Oh, I'm fine. Just fine," he retorted. "Can I kill things yet?"
As soon as the figure spoke, Geddoe's head shot back in alarm. "That better not be who I think it is."
She put on Her most winning grin, as Nash sneezed again. "Whatever do you mean, dear Geddoe?"
"Fuzzbutt of a furfly!" Joker cursed. "You brought that deranged lunatic with you!"
"Thank you." Yuber grinned under his hood.
Geddoes lips thinned. "My team isn't going to get hurt in this venture."
"Oh, don't worry. Yuber won't hurt you." She glanced at Nash, whose eyes looked rather drowsy. "Nash might be contagious though."
"Is impudence contagious?" Percival blinked innocently.
The mercenary team sniggered while Nash glared at the impudent knight.
The captain sighed and continued on up the mountain.
"Someone better get hurt on this trip," Yuber growled.
"Well," Shu started. "If you're really set on the idea you can clear our path up the mountain."
Yuber considered. "I could."
"Or not," She shrugged. "It makes no difference to me, either way."
"You're no fun." Yuber snorted and brandished his swords. "Hmmm," he stared at the two swords in his hands.
The mercenaries snickered again. "Nice blades," Joker quipped.
Nash coughed.
"This does pose a problem," She glanced back at Shu, fighting back a smile. "Nerf swords?"
Yuber shrugged and began stabbing the ground with the swords, only they didn't really stab the ground, but instead bent into a ninety degree angle upon contact. "Psycholeopard said she didn't trust me."
She scratched the side of Her eye thoughtfully. "Understandable."
"Did she also disable your magic?" Shu prodded.
Yuber held up his neck, which still had a collar around it.
"I see." Shu glanced at Her.
"What?"
"Surely you can do something about this."
She grimaced. "I don't know…"
Yuber leaned over to whisper in Her ear. Her eyes widened in shock as She looked at him. "She wouldn't."
Yuber grunted.
She smiled and reached over to undo the collar. Ace quickly cowered behind Queen, who sniffed her opinion of her cowardly teammate.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Aila looked at the demon doubtfully.
Nash coughed again, shaking his head. "Big mistake."
"I don't think Yuber is a threat at this time. There. Now should be able to use your magic."
He sighed in relief as the collar snapped off. A bolt of lightning immediately hit Nash squarely in the behind.
"Hey!" he shouted, slowly picking himself up. "Aren't you going to do something about that?"
"That was just a reaction of the collar coming off," Yuber solemnly explained.
She glowered at him sternly, her mouth twitching. "Maybe it will cure your cold?"
Nash glowered at the demon, rubbing his behind.
"You are to stay in sight at all times and only use your magic to clear our path or when I otherwise tell you to. Understand?"
Yuber nodded his head, practically bouncing up and down.
"Okay, then."
With that Yuber bounded off, destroying the undead monsters in his path. The group looked on in wide-eyed astonishment.
"You'd think he would've just vaporized us when he had a chance," Percival shivered.
"I think Albert overworked him," She glared distastefully at the demon.
Shu looked amused. "Perhaps Albert just had certain guidelines for Yuber."
She shrugged. "Perhaps."
"Shhh," Shu admonished Her as they neared the shrine. "Listen."
"Yuber," She whispered.
The demon's shoulders slumped as he dragged his feet dejectedly back to the group.
"There, there," She patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "You can clear the way down as well…And if we have real trouble with Luc, you can help."
Yuber started. "Double-crossing my former employer's employer." He grinned maliciously. "I love it."
Shu asked, as the group hid behind a boulder. "I didn't think the bond would allow you to do that."
Yuber's mismatched eyes twinkled. "Normally it wouldn't. But my bond with Albert is weak now. Psycholeopard made sure of that." He shuddered.
"Speak of the devil," She whispered. The group watched silently as Albert emerged from a portal ahead of them.
"Luc!" he called.
"Hmm," the magician walked out from behind a pillar of the shrine.
"We have a slight problem."
"Problem?" Luc's brow furrowed for an instant. "Well, take care of it then. That's what I hired you for."
"Y-yes," Albert's eyes flickered. "I have reason to believe you're in danger."
Luc chuckled coldly. "Albert. I have two True Runes. I'm on a mission to annihilate the world. What could possibly be a danger to me?"
"Someone that has the ability to capture you and so prevent you from obtaining your benevolent goal."
Luc paused and stared at the strategist thoughtfully. Albert's usually unruffled appearance was somewhat shattered. From the dark circles under his eyes, it was obvious the man hadn't slept in days. His face was haggard, his hair was ruffled and his coat was wrinkled. "What exactly have you done Albert?"
A bead of sweat dripped from the strategist's brow.
"Where's Yuber?"
She held the demon down.
"That's part of the problem."
Luc raised his eyebrows. "Explain."
"Remember that Girl I told you about. The one who tried to kidnap me in Vinay del Zexay?"
"The One that you told me was an insignificant insect?"
She grinned maliciously.
Albert grimaced slightly and nodded.
Luc sighed. "So what do we do?"
"We have to get back to Crystal Valley. She could be here any minute."
"Or She could already be here," Her eyes gleamed hungrily at the strategist as the group and She stepped out from their hiding place.
"Who are you!" Luc demanded, taking in the mercenary group as well as the cloaked figures. She quickly pushed back Her hood.
"Who I am is no concern of yours. Here are our terms."
Shu unshrouded himself and stared the magician unflinchingly in the eye. "You can choose to come with us, and we will not harm or restrain you in any way, shape or form."
"Or…"
Shu grinned. "Or you can resist us and we will take you by force."
At that moment Percival, Nash and Yuber unveiled themselves.
"Yuber!" Albert shouted.
The demon calmly turned to his former master.
"Yuber! What are you doing? Kill them at once."
"I wish I could. On my loathing of Pesmerga I wish I could."
"Hey!" Percival shouted. "We're not that bad."
"Look at my hair," the demon shook with barely contained rage, as he flung his braid out of the hood.
The group's eyes widened as they took in the sight. Albert stared dumbly at the braid. Finally, She giggled. "I don't know. I kind of like it."
"It's pink," the demon breathed. "I…hate…pink."
The mercenaries snickered again.
Yuber's eyes narrowed. "I could kill you."
She instantly turned serious. "You lay a hand on them and so help me, I'll make you sit in a pink room filled with cute little fuzzy bunnies with the Care Bears on all day listening to Jessica Simpson."
"Sing?" Nash stared.
"Speak."
Yuber shuddered. "What do you want?"
She grinned. "You see, Albert. Yuber is…well, mine for the moment."
Albert's face went ashen. "Y…you can't do that. I summoned him from the underworld."
Shu snorted. "You really should learn not to underestimate the abilities of your opponents.
"Y…yuber?" Albert trailed off plaintively.
"Sorry." The demon shrugged. "I don't work for you anymore." The demon directed a feral grin at his former master.
"So this is it, then." The strategist looked resigned.
She exchanged a look with Shu. "I think you misunderstand us Albert….We're not here for you. We're here for Luc."
The strategist blinked. "But…"
"So what's it gonna be Luc?" Shu interrupted, ignoring the other strategist.
Albert stared at the group barely hidden disbelief. "You want to break me."
"Sarah," the magician responded coldly, while putting his hand in the air.
"That's not going to be as easy as you perceive." The strategist's eyes narrowed.
"Get down!" She shouted, tackling Shu as masses of ice sprang up around them.
"I got her." Yuber's eyes gleamed.
"Don't kill her," She warned as Yuber pummeled into Sarah, causing the sorceress to collapse to the ground in an unconscious heap. At the same time, Geddoe turned Thor's Hammer on Luc, causing him to join Sarah on the ground.
"Bring them over here Yuber," She ordered.
"No Yuber!" Albert rushed towards the demon to stop him. Yuber slowly turned his head towards the strategist and casually knocked him to the ground. Albert suddenly found himself with two twin swords crossed on his throat. The group froze, except for their one extremely composed strategist.
"I thought he didn't have his swords!" Nash cast an alarmed glance at Her. She glanced at Shu, who regarded the demon calmly.
"Just a second Yuber."
Yuber shrugged, not breaking eye contact with Albert.
"I should tell you, Albert," Shu calmly got back on his feet and brushed his cloak off. "I wouldn't count on falling back on any of your former employers. Sasarai already knows of your betrayal. We are now in possession of Luc." Shu paused, noting Albert's still arrogant demeanor. "And your last employer no longer feels you're trustworthy enough to have dealings with."
"What other employer?" Albert snidely asked.
Shu smiled knowingly. "Did you suddenly forget about your friend over in the Western continent? She certainly hasn't forgotten about you."
Albert's face paled. "How…"
"She wasn't very pleased when I told her of your transgressions in Harmonia. I believe she said something along the lines of annihilating you should you try to land in her country again."
"You're lying," Albert breathed.
"Am I?" Shu arched an eyebrow. "Perhaps you should go over there and ask her yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if assassins were already on your trail. She seemed pretty angry by the time I was finished."
Albert groaned.
"That's all," Shu gestured to the demon..
"My turn," the demon whispered menacingly, forcing his former master to meet his gaze.
"Dissatisfied with the working conditions I imposed upon you, Yuber?" Albert sneered.
Yuber smiled dangerously. "You know, for all your tough talk, you look a little tense." The demon grinned, his mismatched eyes twinkling. "Don't you trust me?"
Albert's breath quickened. "No."
"Awww. Now that hurts. And after all that time we spent together." Yuber feigned a wounded expression. He lazily trailed one his swords along Albert's neck drawing a thin line of blood across his otherwise flawless skin. A trace of fear flickered across Albert's features before he regained his arrogant air.
"I don't trust anyone, least of all a centuries-old demon whose only desire is to leave an everlasting trail of chaos in his wake."
"Well, it is what he's good at," Percival pointed out. Albert directed a withering glare at the undaunted swordsman.
"Alas," Yuber sighed disappointedly as he casually wiped the bloody sword across his lips, sucking the blood off. "You don't have anything to be afraid of…from me. I'm not going to kill you…unfortunately." Yuber glanced at Her.
"Unfortunate for who?" Albert's eyes narrowed slightly at the demon.
Yuber smiled, slowly turning his face back towards Albert. Albert shuddered as the demon closed in on him, letting his breath bathe the strategist's face. "I think I'll let you decide," he whispered, putting a finger under Albert's chin.
"Yuber." Her tone held a warning note.
"Duty calls." He smirked before straightening and sheathing his swords in one fluid motion. She glared as Yuber smugly returned to Her side. "So, do I still get to clear the way down?"
Please review, especially if you have opinions on a Sasarai chapter!
