Cooled Passions Chapter 66: Obsessions

Chapter 66: Obsessions

She let out a long sigh, rubbing her eyes as she took off her enchanted glasses. It was lucky that Devils could not get headache’s from overwork, but that did nothing for the intense mental strain of non-stop study. She glanced down at her notes, frowning as she noted how many of the earlier theories and observations were now obviously falsified by her latter ones.

She glanced at the glowing screen, putting pen to paper to jot down her latest observations and resumed the recording. Ignoring the brutal sight of a Noble scion getting his head caved in by another Devil, she paid the upmost attentions to the Sagan’s lips. The savage beating continued, a now familiar sight, but the Sagan’s lips didn’t move. He had obviously used the Power of Binding to prevent the Astaroth from surrendering, but she was still unsure of when exactly he had done so.

The way the Sagan power functioned was public knowledge, but it was even more dangerous because of that. People assumed just because they had an idea of how something worked, they knew everything about it. That was obviously not the case here.

He had locked Diodora’s shield spell, but only a specific part that had caused the entire structure to collapse. That needed an immense mastery over spellcraft and magic, or an ability to pick apart magic circles at a glance.

She doubted that Lord Sagan possessed an understanding of magic that rivalled Lord Beelzebub, so that left some sort of magical sensing ability. Was it a part of his Sagan heritage as well, or something else? Perhaps a gift from the Dark Moon, an early indicator of her influence? She was unsure.

The important part was, that was not the only time the Sagan had used his family trait in that fight. He had used the surprise to completely Lock Diodora’s magic, using close quarters strikes and pain inducing attacks to prevent him from focusing enough to break said lock. That left the final lock that she had already noticed. Which brought her to the problem she was facing.

Did the Power of Binding have a cool down? Could he only Lock one thing at a time, or was he able to suppress both Diodora’s speech and magic at the same time? Depending on the answer, she would have to come up with different tactics and strategies. Unfortunately, she had no to get said answers. The Power of Binding allowed the Sagan to place a Lock on a concept, which sealed the thing in question but could be overcome with sufficient willpower and Demonic Power.

That was what everyone in the Underworld knew, but it wasn’t exactly helpful she realised. What things? Sealed how? In what way? Could anyone fight a seal, or was that only possible by the being said seal had been placed on? Was willpower or Demonic Power more important to breaking the Lock?

Many questions, few answers. Still, that just meant that she had to approach this from a different direction. She had no way to figure out the weaknesses of the Power of Binding, so she would act as if it had none at all. Assume that everything she could do was susceptible to Lock. This meant that to overcome it, she would have to not rely on any one tactic or attack, instead bringing as many diverse and different forces to bear as possible.

Nodding to herself, she wrote down in perfect script, ‘Overwhelming variety of forces’ on the notes in front of her, before linking it back to her heading for the Power of Binding. There were many other possible counters, some that had been crossed out as she ruled them to be unfeasible, but that was so far the one she had the most confidence in.

Many Devils would deride her, stating that she should merely use her own Family Power and prove her clan to be superior to his. They were fools.

Relying on a singe tactic was doomed to failure. Besides, her Family Power relied of Demonic Power to be effective, something that Damocles had already proven he was able to Lock. Perhaps if she caught him by surprise… Still, having many backups was important to her chances of success.

She rubbed her eyes, placing her glasses back on her nose and moving on to his allies. The statement was that he would be using only a single Bishop, but not which one. She had looked through all the articles she could get her hands on about his visit to the Arena and had come to the conclusion that the Bishop that he was speaking about was likely his adopted sister, Shiro Sagan.

She would make plans for if it was Naomi instead, of course, but she believed her initial theory to be the correct one. She could even deduce the reasoning behind this move. It was common knowledge in the Underworld that in terms of raw Combat power, Shiro Sagan was the weakest when it came to Sagan Peerage. CC was terrifying foe her mental attacks, Kasane was an absolute monster and Naomi was a madwoman.

If Clan Sagan were to be attacked, it would be obvious that Shiro would be the most enticing target. This exhibition match that her brother was setting up was meant to be a message, a statement that Shiro was not nearly as defenceless as she seemed, in order to dissuade any from attempting to strike at her.

Why would he chose to do this now? Well, if rumours were to be believed, there was an attack near Sagan Manor by a God. This was most likely a response in order to delay or deter any further attempts. The Sagan Manor itself was sunder the protection of Tiamat and the Goddess Ranni, but outside the Peerage members were still, in theory, vulnerable.

She said in theory, because if the Sagan had really killed a God with not a single Longinus user in his peerage, then any perceived vulnerability was a blatant lie. Personally, she believed it likely that was indeed what had occurred. The reactions of the Satans and Lord Sagan himself all pointed towards it.

So why then, was she preparing to take up his offer, even though she was fully aware that the Sagan had probably become a God-slayer?

Pride.

They had a Rating Game scheduled on the very same day that the Sagan had set all this up. A Rating Game that she had put some effort in to preparing for, on the off chance that this was the day he finally decided to show up. When he did so, visiting the arena on the same day of what would have been her Rating Game Debut, she believed that it hadn’t been in vain.

When he didn’t actually deign to combat her, instead laying this trap and leaving as if he hadn’t even considered their match, she had been incensed. She would admit to having some admiration for the Sagan Lord, how he had boldly declared his independence and built up his Clan to be a power worthy enough to keep it, but that had only made things worse.

Having the one she admired show up, apparently thinking that she was worthy of his first Rating Game, only to not even bother acknowledging that it was taking place while doing his own business…

The pen in her hand creaked in her tightening grip.

Her gritted teeth were loosened as a knock echoed through the study, a mask of perfect calm descending over her face as she faced the door, “Enter.”

At her command, her Queen opened the door, pausing briefly as she saw the mountain of notes on her desk. Recovering quickly, he briskly walked into the room, arms full of a stack of folders. Placing them on an open space upon the desk, he bowed his head in a nod towards her.

“Here are the profiles for all the Pieces that are open to loaning towards us. Also, your father asked me to tell you that the bribe had been accepted. You are to go last in the Sagan’s gauntlet.” His eyes narrowed, observing her face intently, “When was the last time you slept?”

She waved off his concern, picking up the first of the folders, “I’m getting sufficient rest, Alivian. I’ve just been working non-stop on this for longer than I should have. I have a scheduled break in half an hour.”

Her Queen stared at her for a beat longer, before he sighed, “I know better than to argue with you when you are like this, Seekvaira.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him, before turning back to the folder in her hands.

The loopholes in the Sagan’s little trap had been wide and obvious, but that was probably intentionally so. After all, you only needed a full peerage at the time of the match, nothing said they had to be permanent members. Of course, she would have preferred to have a full compliment that she had time to bring up to her personal standards, but needs must.

Damocles was arrogant, justifiably so she hated to admit. He had amassed significant power to himself very quickly, enough that he could spit in the eye of the Factions that ruled the Underworld and not be immediately crushed in response. Unfortunately for him, the Agares were not without their own power and connections. With enough resources, she was confident that she could put together a plan that would give him a run for his money.

Doubly so now that the bribe to ensure that she was last in the order had been accepted. With enough extra knowledge about how his sister fought, she was confident that she could derail this little plan of his. She just had to make sure that any game-plane she came up before the day itself was flexible enough to adapt to what the Sagan revealed.

“Seekvaira…” Alivian started, obviously uncomfortable with what he was about to ask, “Do you think that we will actually be able to win? The rules are heavily in our favour, which makes me nervous.”

“Rightly so, Alivian.” Seekvaira Agares, heiress of the Agares Clan, replied while smiling at her friend, “But the hunter is most vulnerable just before his trap is sprung. I promise you, we will impress everyone with this performance.”

Alivian raised an eyebrow, wisely holding his tongue as his Lady started going through the dossiers he had provided.

He doubted his Lady would appreciate him pointing out that there was obviously someone in particular she wanted to impress.

---XXX---

The Australian outback was immense. When you looked at a world map, the continent of Australia didn’t appear to be that large, in comparison to America or Asia, but that was a distortion. In reality, the country was huge. It was almost 4000 Kilometres wide and mostly empty. The population density outside the major cities was almost non-existent, wide stretches of the country almost completely devoid of human life or construction.

A consequence of this, was the view above us. Stretching overhead, painted in a myriad of dazzling lights, the majesty of the Milky Way bore down. With no need for the spell to filter out light pollution that I had used to show this to CC, the sight was still amazing. Something that my companion had been rather taken by. Of course, stargazing was not what currently interested her.

Instead, Selene and I floated through the crisp air of the Outback night, the land slowly moving below us as we moved lazily in random directions. One of the reasons I chose this as the location of my date showed itself here, the land below us was by no means flat, but there were no mountains or ravines, making it a relatively level surface.

Rotating to float on my back, I stared up at the sky, the land not visible at all even in my peripheries. It felt… dangerous. As if I could fall into the swirling colour in front of me, falling off the world and being swallowed by the cosmos. The sheer enormity of the emptiness all around me made for quite the impression.

The feeling, if I could describe it, was almost the exact opposite of claustrophobic. Instead of being a space that was too small, it was almost as if I instead existed in an area that was too big.

Something that Selene was relishing in, floating through the vast expanse giddily, relishing in the complete and utter feeling of freedom. Turning back to where I had last saw her, I was greeted by the view of two shining red orbs.

“Enjoying yourself?” I asked, getting a nod from the vampire, “How’s the view?”

“Beautiful.” She replied, eyes not deviating from mine, causing me to grin wryly, “Thank you so much for showing it to me.”

“There’s no need to thank me.” I smiled, “I’m glad you are enjoying it.”

“Mhm.” She hummed, floating close to me and snuggling into my side, eyes turned up to the vista above.

A comfortable silence enveloped us as we slowly floated through the sky, a moment of peace that I sorely needed. A part of me was shouting at me that I needed to spend every single moment I could dissecting the Seal, but I knew better intellectually. Rest was important, to ensure that I could approach it from every angle and not overlook anything.

As it was, my own training had been taking a back seat to the issue as it was. I was determined to not let it interfere in my relationships.

The soft sound of passing air was interrupted by another, the now families punching of sharp teeth through delicate skin.

I sighed, moving my head further to the side, giving the lamprey on my side more space, “You really are a glutton, huh?”

She took a deep pull, the sensation on the sensitive skin of my neck causing me to shiver, before she pulled back and shot me a small blood-stained smile, “Mint. You last slept with Ranni, didn’t you?”

My eyes widened, before a grin split my face, “Does my blood really change flavour depending on who I sleep with?”

She nodded, laying a kiss on the now healed punctures, my regeneration closing the small wounds quickly, “Among other things. After you killed that God, it was spicy.”

“Probably because of the anger, or maybe just combat.” I mused, “Why did you bring it up? I thought you would be jealous.”

“I am.” She muttered, biting into my offered neck and taking another deep pull, “It’s always delicious, though. No matter the flavour.”

“Good to hear.” I murmured, “Variety is the spice of life.”

She leaned up, a hand on my chest as her crimson painted lips came near my ear, “I can’t wait to find out my own flavour.”

I grinned, whispering back, “Oh, trying to seduce me, are you?”

“Is it working?” She breathed.

“What if it is?” I posed the question, “What if I pounced on you, right here, right now?”

“You won’t.” There was certainty in her statement, such a deep well of it that it took me by surprise, “You are too gentle to do that.”

My immediate instinct was to deny, “I would hardly call myself gentle.”

She lay her head back on my chest, vacating her spot by my ear, “Yet you are. To us, at least. There is nothing you would ever do to harm me.”

“That’s a lot of trust you’re giving me.” I remarked.

“You’ve earned it, many times over. We talk, you know. Shiro, CC, Kasane, the rest.” She responded, matter of factly.

“I see.” That was interesting to know, “Makes me wonders what tales you have been told about me.”

“They were bragging, mostly.” She pouted, I could feel from her lips against my skin, “But I still learned a lot about you.”

“That’s all tainted by their perspectives though.” I didn’t want her to make a choice that she will end up regretting.

She stopped any further words by shaking her head, “Maybe. But your blood doesn’t lie. You would not be so appealing if you weren’t perfect for me.”

Well, I didn’t have the taste buds to appreciate whatever it was about the liquid that she gleaned from it, so I would have to take her word for it.

“So you’ve made your choice?” I questioned.

“The answer hasn’t changed.” She affirmed, looking up, crimson eyes locking with my own, “Make me yours.”