Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

'Demonmir, what the fuck are you up to?'

Gregory asked Demonmir through voice communication. Of course, he sounded furious. He remembered Hansen's advice about Ottoman given to him before they fought each other.

Hansen had told him that if Demonmir could outplay them, he would outplay anybody. Gregory started to believe Hansen's logic. But he believed it too late. At this point, Demonmir had already made this a three-way fight.

Demonmir did not keep Layos in the loop while partnering with JJ. It could be said that he used Layos' forces as a tool to make it easy for JJ to be here.

Demonmir had a reason to join hands with the Last-Blood Bastion. He wanted to become a half-blood himself. So he could better use his demonic powers.

The advent of war made it easy for Demonmir to work on his plan. And he made effective use of both kingdoms to receive a favor from JJ. Layos still needed Demonmir. So he didn't want a total confrontation with them.

'Consider this the backup I was talking about, Sage Gregory. We both knew that we wouldn't be able to do much against the kingdom of Edinburgh right on their home turf.

You asked me to turn Anfang rankers into traitors. And I did that. But there was only so much I could do. Our numbers were not enough. So I had to come up with a contingency plan.'

Gregory-- and the kingdom of Layos by that extension-- had invested a lot in Demonmir. They provided many resources for his blood ritual. It had been decided that Gregory would get the support he needed from Edinburgh's defected rankers when he showed up at the sceneâ€" the high-ranking entities particularly.

This was why Gregory Grant adopted a wait-and-watch approach at the start of their confrontation. But it soon became clear to him that all Demonmir had done was convince small fries into siding with Layos for the most part.

Gregory was indeed waiting for the backup Demonmir promised him. But he didn't expect the backup to be a half-blood force. And he certainly didn't expect it to demand the very thing their side wanted to rob the kingdom of Edinburgh off of.

Demonmir understood what Gregory meant. He provided a solution.

'You don't want the Sansara World but the demonic altar within it, right? Frankly, the demon that the altar belongs to is shit and a waste of time. If the continent-spanning array wasn't there, I would have given you a better alternative myself.

Anyway, since you only want the altar, you can acquire it through the back channel after the Last-Blood Bastion captures the Sansara World. I'll contact Reva when I'm ready to hand over the altar to you. You can get this thing without being accused of having it.'

The kingdom of Layos targeted the Sansara World because it wanted Beelzebub's demonic altar for itself. The continent-encompassing array made it near impossible to build a demonic or divine altar on Anfang. Only those altars established before the array's creation could work, albeit in a limited capacity.

This was the reason Arthur wanted the seven-headed serpent statue taken from Purgatory. Since the statue existed before the creation of the world-encompassing array, it could still be used to get Sin Series Marks.

Gregory's frown didn't go away even after hearing Demonmir's cooperation promise. The latter pondered a bit before continuing.

'I know you are worried about being associated with the half-bloods because of the Anfang Alliance. And I can understand that, Sage Greg. This is the reason I separated myself from youâ€" at least in the eyes of the audience.

But I and the rest of the half-bloods can still act as your allies in a different way. That is if you do what I ask.

You don't need to support the Last Blood Bastion. You just have to avoid opposing it if and when we attack Edinburgh. The Anfang Alliance wouldn't be able to prosecute your side if you did that.'

Demonmir watched as Gregory's expressions softened. The demonic whispers worked. Ottoman knew time was of the essence. He couldn't finalize the subtle details of the cooperation between the two forces on the spot. So he provided an alternative.

'Reva Rain will serve as my point of contact from now on. Take her to your camp. We will ensure that both sides get what they want out of this ruckus.

Furthermore, you are at war with Edinburgh. And it has just begun. I am sure we can further cooperation between the two sides without making things too obvious.'

Reva Rain was a critical pawn for Demonmir to serve as his point of contact for Layos. He knew he would be blacklisted by the Anfang Alliance as soon as he learned about the current developments.

The Alliance didn't care if both kingdoms' rankers became traitors to the other side. But it would hunt them down if they joined the Last-Blood Bastion.

Demonmir could avoid a lot of trouble by using the Paladin of Pain as his contact. He also groomed her for the same job recently. This was the reason he intervened in her fight when the butcher was about to kill her.

Gregory didn't like Demonmir playing him. He had done many things behind Layos' back and expected it to back his actions, if only from the shadows. Gregory would have killed Demonmir in anger if he wasn't so close to JJ Edgar.

However, Gregory also understood that cooperating with Last-Blood Bastion had various benefits. What's more? The war had just started. Layos could use some shady allies to make some shady moves.

Gregory looked at Edgar and observed the man a bit before responding.

'Fuck! Alright... You have a deal, Demonmir. But you have to know this before proceeding any further. This is the last chance you will get from me. I'll personally hunt you if you try to swindle Layos again.'

Demonmir smiled but didn't say anything. A shady agreement had been reached between the two forces, with Demonmir acting as the mediator.