By Fang Wolfsbane

"We might be," the man at the centre of the group that greeted them hummed, his hand resting on a sword nearly his height if he rested it on the ground beside him, "depends on whose asking."

Aspasia could feel her lips pull into an amused smirk, although she kept most of her posture rather casually. A glance to her side revealed that her brother wasn't deeming them a threat either. Good, that would make things a little easier, discussion wise.

"I am Countess Aspasia Sanguinem, eldest and only daughter of the Sanguinem household. This fool behind me is my twin brother, Count Ares Sanguinem, but I assure you, you have no need to mind him as much."

The look Ares gave her was one of pure question and annoyance. If it had just been the two of them on their own in a room somewhere, he wouldn't have hesitated to ask her what the hell she was doing. Luckily for her, she knew her brother would keep his composure around potential enemies so as to not let them question who currently held the authority between the two of them. She couldn't resist teasing him a little though.

"Huh, are twins-" the young man beside the other group's leader began to question before he was cut off by a brisk nod from the woman standing not too far away from him.

"A common thing among demons," the woman confirmed, resting a hand on her hip. From what Aspasia could tell, she knew a fight was avoidable, so long as negotiations went well enough. "If it wasn't for your human blood dilution, you probably would have been one too."

"Huh. Weird."

"Two of him? Tch, I can barely stand one half the time!" one of the other women chirped up, this one patting the side of some metallic vehicle. Aspasia almost found it strange, if she didn't remind herself of the time differences between the two realms. Time in the underworld moved at a far slower pace, which was why most of their kind deemed it the reason for their slow aging attributes compared to their human counterparts.

The younger man threw a frown over to the woman, only to receive a raised finger in return. She could practically hear Ares responding with a snort. From the physical differences between the two, she could tell that they weren't siblings, but their demeanour certainly hinted towards the possibility. Perhaps a distant relation?

"Countess and Count huh? What's big fish like you doing all the way up here? Forgot to bring your army or somethin'?" the man from before asked, a white brow arched to emphasise his question.

Aspasia barely kept the own questioning look off her face about being compared to those smelly water-bound creatures humans seemed to have a taste for. She had never tasted one herself, but she had been assured that the smell was quite atrocious.

"It's quite simple really. We were sent here by Mundus to destroy the human realm and take control of it for all demon kind."

That got their attention without a ounce of hesitation. In the blink of an eye, swords, all impressive in size, were out and aimed right at the Sanguinem twins. She would have laughed if not for the black-haired woman's scurrying to find a weapon of her own. She settled for the arm of a rage demon. Aspasia winced, but not for the reason the other woman probably thought. She once had a Rage demon as a pet, so the sight of an arm was quite… disturbing.

Ares knew better than to raise arms against him, and for once, she felt glad to have her brother at her back. Anyone else, especially subordinates, would have reacted by drawing their own weapons and preparing for battle, but her brother understood the true intent of why they had made contact with the half-human group in the first place.

Raising her hand smoothly, Aspasia ignored the glint of the ring on her index finger, marking her claim as Countess. "I assure you, we didn't come here for a fight, Sparda-kin."

"Yeah? Then why did you come here?" the boy demanded, keeping his red decorated sword lifted at eye-height. His target already picked out. Her.

" Why else? We wish to join you."

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