( Demon Count Dino's POV, Demon Territory )
Dino was one of the stronger demon counts in the king's council, and a being with considerable power and influence within the demon society.
At first, when his subordinates brought a bunch of human scum before him, he almost felt the urge to decapitate them for wasting his time.
However, when his underling informed him that they were the envoys of the black robed man and spoke passable Demon Tongue, Dino immediately turned interested.
Daemonacles and his colleagues were presented before him in one of the largest war tents, where Dino sat with two plumpy demon women on his thighs.
"Welcome, Envoys of the black robed man. I'm Count Dino, what message do you bring?" Dino said, as he expanded his aura, and almost immediately Daemonacles and his colleagues buckled to their knees, feeling overwhelmed by the Demon Count's strength.
"Hahaha, puny humans" Dino's guards said, laughing audibly at the messengers, whom they categorized as weak and unworthy of respect.
"Great Count Dino…. I'm Daemonacles, a messenger of Lord Boss…. Or as you know him, The Black Robed Man" Daemonacles said, as he managed to raise his head and look the count in the eye after much effort.
"I'm here seeking an audience with the King Of Demons, for I carry a message for him that I must deliver in person.
So if you can be so kind and guide me to the Demon King, I will appreciate it greatly" Daemonacles said, as Dino immediately rejected his offer.
"To waste the time of the Great Demon King with the likes of you, is an unforgivable crime.
Even your master, The black robed man is not worthy enough to seek an audience with him, let alone you…. Weak human" Dino said, as he did not seem interested in granting Daemonacles an audience with the king at all.
At this point, Daemonacles felt incredibly nervous, as although he had a trump card to convince the Demon King to agree to meeting with Lord Boss, he did not possess one to convince this Demon Count to take him to the King.
If he failed to convince the Demon Count here to agree to his request , his mission would undoubtedly fail, which was why Daemonacles decided to use a gamble.
"The message I need to deliver to the Great Demon King, is not something that the humans wish to deliver to him.
It's rather information that the king requested that he be brought.
We are simply obliging his whims here" Daemonacles said, lying through his teeth, as he cooked up a story to hopefully fool the demon count before him.
"Is that so? The Demon King requested this information?" Count Dino asked, feeling surprised that this was the case, as he had not heard about the Demon King being in contact with humans.
However, it also seemed like something that the visionary Demon King was capable of, hence Dino could not dismiss it as trivial either.
Shifting uncomfortably, he tapped on the waists of the demon women sitting on his lap, and gestured for them to move away.
"Very well then, you may deliver the information to me, and I shall promise in my honor to carry it to the King," Dino proposed, as he demanded that Daemonacles hand him the message.
"No!" Daemonacles opposed, taking a scared step back, as Dino's expression immediately soured.
"No….I cannot, because it's written in human language, unless you know how to read it, it's useless in your hands" Daemonacles said, stumbling through his words as he came up with a brilliant excuse.
"Is that so? The scroll is written in human language eh?" Dino asked, aggressively scratching his ear, as he wondered how to tackle this issue?
After a while, he relented and let out a deep sigh, as he informed Daemonacles that he will take him to see the King.
"Very well, I'll take you and you alone to seek an audience with the King, and in the meantime the rest of your colleagues will be kept prisoners here.
If I find out that you were lying to me, they will spend their entire lives as lowly slaves in my army" Count Dino said, as the faces of the uprising members beside Daemonacles paled immediately.
"No–no, surely that's not necessary, I mean, I'm not lying to you—" Daemonacles began, as Dino interrupted him immediately.
"If you're not, then you have nothing to worry, I'll let you return alongside them freely once our business is concluded.
But for now they will stay here in captivity" Dino concluded, as he snapped his fingers twice to signal for his men to spring into action.
"No! No! Don't touch us! No!" Said one of the uprising members, as the High Demons brutally restrained them with nothing but their bare arms.
Their scared screams and haunted expressions were burned into Daemonacles's memory as they were dragged away, however, there was not much he could do about it.
The demons were not the most rational of species and Count Dino especially did not seem in the mood for any more negotiation.
Daemonacles could only hope that the secret letter that ChaosBringer gave him would be enough for him to win back their freedom, because if not, all of them were doomed to a cruel fate within the demon army.
"We ride at dawn tomorrow. Tina here will take you to your temporary quarters.
We don't offer much for hospitality, but if you require a human slave to suck on your manhood before sleep, just inform the patrol guard outside your tent–" Dino said, as he snapped his fingers once again, only for another high demon to drag Daemonacles away as he was put in a tent that was under constant supervision from all sides.
Thankfully, it was log-out time already, as for once, the mundane reality of the Arc Ship felt much less stressful to Daemonacles rather than spending the night within the wretched Demon Camp.