Mathali returned exactly on the day he had told Yuki he would. Yuki waited for him in her apartment, Akira and Erica with her as well. When Mathali stepped in, his eyes went immediately to Yuki, not a drop of surprise evident in them.
“My lady, you do look quite stunning today,” Mathali praised as he marched over to the kitchen bar where Yuki sat on a stool, sipping from a glass in her hand. “The two ladies beside you as well.”
He gave Yuki a deep bow and Yuki looked at him, amusement twitching her lips. She set her glass down.
“You know I just woke up, right Mat?” Yuki said.
“But even so, your natural beauty shines as brightly as the morning sun,” Mathali proclaimed.
Yuki smiled. She had tried to tell Mathali that such praises weren’t necessary for herself, but though Mathali had acknowledged her words, he didn’t stop his habit of singing praises. Initially, Yuki had thought that his behavior was because he thought he was contractually obligated to praise his master. But after interaction after interaction of Mat throwing out eloquent praise after eloquent praise, Yuki gathered that the devil was simply like that.
‘Devil with a silver tongue,’ she thought, her smile widening.
“So, Mat. You bring news, correct?” Yuki asked. Changing the topic proved to be the fastest way of stopping Mathali when he was in the process reciting a soliloquy. “Uriel told me that it had to deal with the border.”
“Ah, of course, my lady. I understand that I have come later than what was expected from me, and for that I apologize,” Mat said, bowing again. “But, I do hope you will understand why I was delayed. I believed it was necessary and I hope that the information I provide will prove that judgement to be correct.”
“Go on then,” Yuki waved.
“Thank you, my lady. I was sent to the border between Libra and Keynal months ago to go on a reconnaissance mission that dealt with a troubling discovery that I had uncovered before,” Mat began. “I went right away and arrived in Yosef within the same day that I left. Then, I began my investigation without a delay. My findings in detail are within this file where I have placed all of my notes and observations.”
His hand slipped into one of the pockets in his suit jacket and pulled out a small thumb drive that he placed on the kitchen bar counter. Yuki took it and observed it for a moment as Mathali continued his summary.
“To repeat my previous discoveries, I had witnessed a miraculous event. The rapid evolution of a monster. Such a thing was something that I had never seen. Or at least, I didn’t remember seeing at the time.”
“Wait.” Yuki raised her hand and set the drive on the table. “Akira, could you plug this in for me to look at?” Akira nodded. “Thanks. Mat, you said you didn’t remember seeing. So does that mean you recall something now?”
“Quite so, my liege,” Mathali nodded. “As you know, I am a devil. I do not know if I have informed you as to how old I am.” Yuki nodded. “Ah, I have. Because of my age, I have seen many things and I have worked for many masters. You know that devils and diablos are the same, correct?”
“I do. They’re just different words for each other,” Yuki replied.
“Excellent. As expected from my lady,” Mat smiled. “Yes, we are one and the same. You know of the war that happened, oh, about eight centuries ago?”
“The Kienva War,” Yuki said, as she tapped on a screen that appeared in front of him. “I was told of it. Sophie showed it to me.”
“Showed, my liege?” Mathali’s head tilted as he frowned.
“Sophie, the Earth Dragon.”
“The Archmage?” Mathali asked, his voice lowering.
“Yes?”
“You’ve spoken to her? No one has seen her in centuries,” Mathali breathed. “We thought she was dead.”
“She is now,” Yuki said quietly. Mathali’s mouth stopped and his eyes fell just a bit.
“I see. That’s unfortunate to hear. She would have been a great help to our cause.”
“How so? I can see why, but I want to understand your thinking,” Yuki explained.
“Her goals are quite in line with what we want. She is for peace among the species and it is an ambitious and admirable goal. And while others may laugh at such a goal, her strength and her following gives one pause and think that maybe it is possible. That would be very helpful to our cause.”
“I see.”
“But the fact that she was alive for this long is good news.”
“Oh?” Yuki said, an eyebrow raising. “What do you mean by that?”
“She was the Archmage of Earth, unless my memories fail me. The other Archmages may still be alive now,” Mathali explained. “I remember them. The demon world would be a blaze with rumors whenever the Dragon Counsel would gather. When the Kienva War was raging, there were talks of the dragons joining the fray. People were quite excited. The dragons rarely showed themselves and even more rare was to see them fight. I do have to admit that I was one of those people.”
“But how does the other Archmages being alive have to do with our situation?”
“You see, my lady, the Archmages are a diverse set of personalities, but they are generally quite moral in their decisions. They never failed to right a wrong that was done to them. So it is entirely possible that as this situation grew, the dragons might intervene.”
“Though you said ‘done to them’,” Yuki repeated.
“Yes. That’s the major complaint many people have with the dragons. They only come out to help when a situation either affects them or will affect them,” Mathali said. “Otherwise, they sit in the back and only watch. However, it isn’t that large of a problem since many, myself included, believe that it’s for the better. The dragons are powerful. Powerful enough to possibly take over and rule all demons. But they choose not to and I respect and admire them for that.”
“I see,” Yuki nodded. Then she snapped her fingers. “We have gone quite a ways from our initial topic. Back to the Kienva War.”
“My apologies, my lady,” Mathali said, bowing. “Going back to my original thread, I am a devil. I lived through the Kienva War. I served during the Kienva War. I served the Lord Diablos himself. I was his butler. I was there when the Trifecta came and defeated the Lord Diablos. Their might was unbelievable. To be able to stand against the Lord and his pets was a feat worthy of the gods themselves. Or rather, it was the feat of the gods.”
Mathali’s eyes glazed as his memories flooded him. Yuki cleared her throat to catch his attention.
“And how does this relate to monster evolution?” Yuki asked.
“Ah, of course, I apologize. You see, Lord Diablos had a unique skill. He created a force filled with monsters, powerful ones. Normally, getting such a number of rank A and higher monsters is impossible, but Lord Diablos could induce evolution in monsters. And when he did, he bent them to his will and they became his slaves and pets. I’ve witnessed it.”
“How many rank S monsters did he have?”
“I do not know, my liege. They rose and they died. It couldn’t have been too many though, otherwise the dragons would have been forced to act.”
“I see. So you’re saying that such rapid evolution could be done by a unique skill and that the event with the Sunburst seemed similar to that,” Yuki summarized.
“Quite so.”
“Hmm.” Yuki didn’t like that idea. She decided to rope the conversation back around to its initial topic. “What did you find during your reconnaissance, and why did you take longer than expected to return?”
“Ah, well, the investigation could be said to be moderately fruitful, my lady,” Mathali replied. “As I said before, the details are in that drive, but I shall summarize the major points. First is that I am almost certain that monsters are being artificially evolved. There has been an upswing in reported high ranking monsters in the Keynal Strip, an increase that is far larger than any in the last couple hundred years. Libra Taskforce members have been directed to take a more defensive stance now. This usually only happens when a situation becomes of great concern.”
“So you think the situation is growing out of hand,” Yuki said. Mathali nodded. “Do you have a suspicion as to what is causing this artificial evolution?”
“Only guesses, my lady. Nothing concrete.”
“I see. What else did you find?”
“Well, the villages around the border do not seem to have any idea as to what is the cause of all of this. They blame themselves, saying the gods must be punishing them for something.” Mathali rubbed his chin. “It’s not the gods though. This doesn’t benefit them in any way. Moving away from the villages, I went on a detour to find the ones behind this situation. That’s why I was late.”
“A detour where?”
“The Gaeto, my lady. The Demon Lands,” Mathali replied. “I went back to question a few sources I had to see if the perpetrator of all of this was a demon. This was after I remembered Lord Diablos and his skill. I was worried that such a being had been born again.”
“And what did you find?” Yuki asked, swiping through a few pages of notes. “I assume it wasn’t another Lord Diablos. I hope.”
“And your assumption would be correct, my lady,” Mathali nodded. “It is indeed not another Lord Diablos and it doesn’t seem to be a demon at all, at least I couldn’t find any evidence that pointed to such.”
“So it’s one of the other races.”
“It would seem. But there is good news to report.” Yuki’s head went up and she gestured to Mathali to continue. “I believe that the person or people behind this have only gone as far as evolving monsters. I do not think they can control them.”
“Then they won’t be able to form an army.”
“For now. If I may, my lady, can I suggest something?” Mathali said. Yuki nodded. “I believe that it would be best to prevent these people from further advancing their research. Though they might not be able to control these monsters now, they might be trying to do so right now. I do not want to witness another Kienva War.”
“I don’t want to either,” Yuki replied, her voice grim. “And while a monster army is a big problem, I think the risk of rank S monsters roaming about is the more pressing issue. There have been only four in history, and each of them were barely defeated.”
“There have been many more,” Mathali said. “Many more than four, my lady.”
“How many?”
“I do not know. Demons have been fighting against such monsters for years and centuries. The Lord Diablos always had five by his side.”
“Five?” Yuki frowned.
“Yes. Two were sent out to fight in the war, but the other three were his guard dogs,” Mathali explained.
Yuki pinched the bridge of her nose and thought. Mathali was essentially telling her that rank S monsters weren't super rare occurrences. If just one was enough to warrant the use of a small army, what if multiple came crashing down on the country? The results could be disastrous.
“So what are you saying?” Yuki asked.
“During my time with Lord Diablos, I learned a few things about monsters,” Mat said. “One of those things is that creating a rank S monster isn’t as difficult as it would seem.”
“But then why wouldn’t one make an army of them?”
“Because rank S monsters are difficult to control. It wasn’t a matter of numbers, my lady. The Lord told me something that has stuck with me.”
“And what was that?”
“He said that he stops at five, because six would destroy him.”
Mathali returned exactly on the day he had told Yuki he would. Yuki waited for him in her apartment, Akira and Erica with her as well. When Mathali stepped in, his eyes went immediately to Yuki, not a drop of surprise evident in them.
“My lady, you do look quite stunning today,” Mathali praised as he marched over to the kitchen bar where Yuki sat on a stool, sipping from a glass in her hand. “The two ladies beside you as well.”
He gave Yuki a deep bow and Yuki looked at him, amusement twitching her lips. She set her glass down.
“You know I just woke up, right Mat?” Yuki said.
“But even so, your natural beauty shines as brightly as the morning sun,” Mathali proclaimed.
Yuki smiled. She had tried to tell Mathali that such praises weren’t necessary for herself, but though Mathali had acknowledged her words, he didn’t stop his habit of singing praises. Initially, Yuki had thought that his behavior was because he thought he was contractually obligated to praise his master. But after interaction after interaction of Mat throwing out eloquent praise after eloquent praise, Yuki gathered that the devil was simply like that.
‘Devil with a silver tongue,’ she thought, her smile widening.
“So, Mat. You bring news, correct?” Yuki asked. Changing the topic proved to be the fastest way of stopping Mathali when he was in the process reciting a soliloquy. “Uriel told me that it had to deal with the border.”
“Ah, of course, my lady. I understand that I have come later than what was expected from me, and for that I apologize,” Mat said, bowing again. “But, I do hope you will understand why I was delayed. I believed it was necessary and I hope that the information I provide will prove that judgement to be correct.”
“Go on then,” Yuki waved.
“Thank you, my lady. I was sent to the border between Libra and Keynal months ago to go on a reconnaissance mission that dealt with a troubling discovery that I had uncovered before,” Mat began. “I went right away and arrived in Yosef within the same day that I left. Then, I began my investigation without a delay. My findings in detail are within this file where I have placed all of my notes and observations.”
His hand slipped into one of the pockets in his suit jacket and pulled out a small thumb drive that he placed on the kitchen bar counter. Yuki took it and observed it for a moment as Mathali continued his summary.
“To repeat my previous discoveries, I had witnessed a miraculous event. The rapid evolution of a monster. Such a thing was something that I had never seen. Or at least, I didn’t remember seeing at the time.”
“Wait.” Yuki raised her hand and set the drive on the table. “Akira, could you plug this in for me to look at?” Akira nodded. “Thanks. Mat, you said you didn’t remember seeing. So does that mean you recall something now?”
“Quite so, my liege,” Mathali nodded. “As you know, I am a devil. I do not know if I have informed you as to how old I am.” Yuki nodded. “Ah, I have. Because of my age, I have seen many things and I have worked for many masters. You know that devils and diablos are the same, correct?”
“I do. They’re just different words for each other,” Yuki replied.
“Excellent. As expected from my lady,” Mat smiled. “Yes, we are one and the same. You know of the war that happened, oh, about eight centuries ago?”
“The Kienva War,” Yuki said, as she tapped on a screen that appeared in front of him. “I was told of it. Sophie showed it to me.”
“Showed, my liege?” Mathali’s head tilted as he frowned.
“Sophie, the Earth Dragon.”
“The Archmage?” Mathali asked, his voice lowering.
“Yes?”
“You’ve spoken to her? No one has seen her in centuries,” Mathali breathed. “We thought she was dead.”
“She is now,” Yuki said quietly. Mathali’s mouth stopped and his eyes fell just a bit.
“I see. That’s unfortunate to hear. She would have been a great help to our cause.”
“How so? I can see why, but I want to understand your thinking,” Yuki explained.
“Her goals are quite in line with what we want. She is for peace among the species and it is an ambitious and admirable goal. And while others may laugh at such a goal, her strength and her following gives one pause and think that maybe it is possible. That would be very helpful to our cause.”
“I see.”
“But the fact that she was alive for this long is good news.”
“Oh?” Yuki said, an eyebrow raising. “What do you mean by that?”
“She was the Archmage of Earth, unless my memories fail me. The other Archmages may still be alive now,” Mathali explained. “I remember them. The demon world would be a blaze with rumors whenever the Dragon Counsel would gather. When the Kienva War was raging, there were talks of the dragons joining the fray. People were quite excited. The dragons rarely showed themselves and even more rare was to see them fight. I do have to admit that I was one of those people.”
“But how does the other Archmages being alive have to do with our situation?”
“You see, my lady, the Archmages are a diverse set of personalities, but they are generally quite moral in their decisions. They never failed to right a wrong that was done to them. So it is entirely possible that as this situation grew, the dragons might intervene.”
“Though you said ‘done to them’,” Yuki repeated.
“Yes. That’s the major complaint many people have with the dragons. They only come out to help when a situation either affects them or will affect them,” Mathali said. “Otherwise, they sit in the back and only watch. However, it isn’t that large of a problem since many, myself included, believe that it’s for the better. The dragons are powerful. Powerful enough to possibly take over and rule all demons. But they choose not to and I respect and admire them for that.”
“I see,” Yuki nodded. Then she snapped her fingers. “We have gone quite a ways from our initial topic. Back to the Kienva War.”
“My apologies, my lady,” Mathali said, bowing. “Going back to my original thread, I am a devil. I lived through the Kienva War. I served during the Kienva War. I served the Lord Diablos himself. I was his butler. I was there when the Trifecta came and defeated the Lord Diablos. Their might was unbelievable. To be able to stand against the Lord and his pets was a feat worthy of the gods themselves. Or rather, it was the feat of the gods.”
Mathali’s eyes glazed as his memories flooded him. Yuki cleared her throat to catch his attention.
“And how does this relate to monster evolution?” Yuki asked.
“Ah, of course, I apologize. You see, Lord Diablos had a unique skill. He created a force filled with monsters, powerful ones. Normally, getting such a number of rank A and higher monsters is impossible, but Lord Diablos could induce evolution in monsters. And when he did, he bent them to his will and they became his slaves and pets. I’ve witnessed it.”
“How many rank S monsters did he have?”
“I do not know, my liege. They rose and they died. It couldn’t have been too many though, otherwise the dragons would have been forced to act.”
“I see. So you’re saying that such rapid evolution could be done by a unique skill and that the event with the Sunburst seemed similar to that,” Yuki summarized.
“Quite so.”
“Hmm.” Yuki didn’t like that idea. She decided to rope the conversation back around to its initial topic. “What did you find during your reconnaissance, and why did you take longer than expected to return?”
“Ah, well, the investigation could be said to be moderately fruitful, my lady,” Mathali replied. “As I said before, the details are in that drive, but I shall summarize the major points. First is that I am almost certain that monsters are being artificially evolved. There has been an upswing in reported high ranking monsters in the Keynal Strip, an increase that is far larger than any in the last couple hundred years. Libra Taskforce members have been directed to take a more defensive stance now. This usually only happens when a situation becomes of great concern.”
“So you think the situation is growing out of hand,” Yuki said. Mathali nodded. “Do you have a suspicion as to what is causing this artificial evolution?”
“Only guesses, my lady. Nothing concrete.”
“I see. What else did you find?”
“Well, the villages around the border do not seem to have any idea as to what is the cause of all of this. They blame themselves, saying the gods must be punishing them for something.” Mathali rubbed his chin. “It’s not the gods though. This doesn’t benefit them in any way. Moving away from the villages, I went on a detour to find the ones behind this situation. That’s why I was late.”
“A detour where?”
“The Gaeto, my lady. The Demon Lands,” Mathali replied. “I went back to question a few sources I had to see if the perpetrator of all of this was a demon. This was after I remembered Lord Diablos and his skill. I was worried that such a being had been born again.”
“And what did you find?” Yuki asked, swiping through a few pages of notes. “I assume it wasn’t another Lord Diablos. I hope.”
“And your assumption would be correct, my lady,” Mathali nodded. “It is indeed not another Lord Diablos and it doesn’t seem to be a demon at all, at least I couldn’t find any evidence that pointed to such.”
“So it’s one of the other races.”
“It would seem. But there is good news to report.” Yuki’s head went up and she gestured to Mathali to continue. “I believe that the person or people behind this have only gone as far as evolving monsters. I do not think they can control them.”
“Then they won’t be able to form an army.”
“For now. If I may, my lady, can I suggest something?” Mathali said. Yuki nodded. “I believe that it would be best to prevent these people from further advancing their research. Though they might not be able to control these monsters now, they might be trying to do so right now. I do not want to witness another Kienva War.”
“I don’t want to either,” Yuki replied, her voice grim. “And while a monster army is a big problem, I think the risk of rank S monsters roaming about is the more pressing issue. There have been only four in history, and each of them were barely defeated.”
“There have been many more,” Mathali said. “Many more than four, my lady.”
“How many?”
“I do not know. Demons have been fighting against such monsters for years and centuries. The Lord Diablos always had five by his side.”
“Five?” Yuki frowned.
“Yes. Two were sent out to fight in the war, but the other three were his guard dogs,” Mathali explained.
Yuki pinched the bridge of her nose and thought. Mathali was essentially telling her that rank S monsters weren't super rare occurrences. If just one was enough to warrant the use of a small army, what if multiple came crashing down on the country? The results could be disastrous.
“So what are you saying?” Yuki asked.
“During my time with Lord Diablos, I learned a few things about monsters,” Mat said. “One of those things is that creating a rank S monster isn’t as difficult as it would seem.”
“But then why wouldn’t one make an army of them?”
“Because rank S monsters are difficult to control. It wasn’t a matter of numbers, my lady. The Lord told me something that has stuck with me.”
“And what was that?”
“He said that he stops at five, because six would destroy him.”
