The Devouring Dragon-Chapter 49: Negotiations

"Oh, wow! That's pretty good!"

"I told you. Do you want one too?"

"Only if you feed it to me, fufu~"

"I'm not doing that." I deadpanned at the fallen-devil hybrid that was Akeno Himejima as I held a chunk of troll meat in my hand.

"I... thought this would be a lot scarier," Sona said dryly from her spot at the table, "I'm almost disappointed."

"I agree! When you said you were kidnapping me, I thought I'd end up in a dark room with a bag over my head," Latia nodded rapidly in agreement, "I also thought I'd be naked most of the time."

All of the hostages were sitting in the large dining room in my palace, excluding Koneko, who Kuroka was dragging around for some 'bonding time.' There was a long wooden table in the center of the room, which had enough space for well over a hundred people.

When Raya had ordered Chippy to build the table personally, I thought it was overkill. When would I ever have that many guests at one time?

Well, the group of guests in the room right now weren't quite the hundred-plus that the table could fit, but I could see Raya's vision now.

"Valon doesn't need to stoop so low as to force himself on you," Raya huffed from her chair at the dining table, a slightly proud look on her face, "He is more than satisfied in the bedroom."

"Yeah, Master's a good guy! He wouldn't do that!" Momo defended me as she stood at a makeshift stove in the corner of the room, casually cooking another chunk of meat, "He only gets really scary in the bedroom! Plus, he's a big softie for hot girls!"

"That's not true," I defended myself against her final statement. I was a big, scary, monster of a supervillain. I did not have a soft spot for cute girls.

"Oh? So it's just a coincidence that you spare all the beautiful women you fight?" Momo smirked at me lightly, "Is it also a coincidence that they end up in your bedroom, Master?"

I didn't have anything to say to that. She wasn't wrong.

"Ara, Master? Should we call you that too?" Akeno smirked at me, and I resisted letting out a groan.

"No," I replied bluntly, "She doesn't usually call me that either. She's messing with you."

"What do you mean, Master? Last time I called you by your name, you spanked me so hard that my ass was red for-"

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

I appeared next to Momo fasted than any of the devils eyes could track, lightly poking her in the side as she cut her words off with a yelp.

"Stop messing with our guests," I told her dryly, then turned to Sona to answer her initial statement, "I have no reason to treat you guys poorly. You're hostages, not prisoners."

I had no ill will towards the group, as if anything I actually liked them. There was no reason to treat them poorly.

"I appreciate the hospitality, Beast King," Rias stated professionally, "I'm sure my brother will appreciate it as well."

"Yes, this lowly food cooked by inferior beasts is passable, I suppose..." Ravel chirped, the woman doing her best to look nonchalant despite the fact that she'd already devoured multiple sets of meat, "I will tell my family to go easy on you when they come to rescue me."

"You guys are also taking this pretty well," I said casually to them as I took a bite of a piece of serpent meat. I figured that it'd be pretty awkward talking with them for a while and that I'd have to put down a bunch of escape attempts.

Instead, none of the devils had tried to escape or even fight back since they arrived at the palace. They were compliant to a concerning level.

"It's not my first kidnapping," Sona explained easily, "It comes with being a heiress to a noble family."

"Yup! I've been kidnapped a dozen times before," Rias nodded in agreement, her smile not matching her words, "Though, my brother usually comes quicker than this..."

It had been a day since I had taken the hostages, but I had yet to receive any official contact from any devils. There had been a flurry of them poking around the walls of my territory over the past day, but none had dared to enter the actual land.

"He won't be coming at all, Gremory," Ravel bit at her, as it seemed the two women still didn't particularly like each other. Ravel had made a point of having multiple empty chairs between herself, Yubelluna, and the Gremory peerage, "This isn't some little kidnapping. This guy is strong, and he has a Dragon King with him!"

"My brother is stronger than you can imagine, Phenex," Rias huffed back at her with a light glare, "I'll make you apologize for doubting him when he busts in here to save us."

"I'm afraid Ravel is correct, Rias," Sona interrupted, looking over at me slightly wearily, "You know how my sister is. If they had the power to just barge in here, then they would've done it already. We're at his mercy."

"Don't make it sound so bad," I deadpanned at the Sitri Heiress, "I'm not going to do anything to you. You'll be free to do whatever you want on the mountain, and you'll be well fed."

Of course, I had set up numerous subordinates all around the mountain to make sure they didn't try to leave, but they wouldn't need to find out about that unless they actually tried to escape. I had subordinates patrolling the entire mountain at every time of day, so there was no chance they'd be able to fly out of my territory.

"Though, I should remind you..." I turned my body to face them directly, activating [King's Aura]. In an instant, a thick tension filled the room, and all the women, and Kiba, stiffened.

"Your brother won't come. Your sister won't come. Your family won't come. No one will come," I said bluntly, grinning as the aura forced the weaker devils to instinctively lower their heads. Poor Yubelluna's head even nearly slammed into the table, "I'll treat you well, but don't get any wrong ideas. You won't be leaving. You're mine."

A silence stretched out at my words, each devil keeping their eyes down on the table as they didn't speak.

"...That was hot."

"N-Now is not the time, Akeno!"

"See? That's how Master acts in the bedroom!"

"Really, fufu~? Maybe I should find out first-hand..."

The tension was broken as I sighed, letting the aura disappear at Akeno's words. Despite how she was acting, there was a bead of sweat dripping down the side of her face, so I knew the message had gotten through.

"Valon," A voice said as a blue glow appeared next to me. A moment later, a human-form Tiamat appeared next to me, "Serafall Leviathan is attempting to contact us."

At her words, a blue magic circle appeared next to Tiamat. The woman casually raised her hand, poking her finger into the circle. It cracked down the middle and then vanished into thin air.

Not even a second later, the circle reappeared, and Tiamat poked through it again. It seemed Serafall was going with the 'spam call until they answer' approach.

"M-My sister?" Sona looked at Tiamat curiously.

"Let her wait another few minutes," I hummed, casually waving over my shoulder as I walked towards the doorway of the dining room, "Momo, Tiamat, come with me. You all enjoy your meal."

I quickly went to my room, ignoring Shera's attempt to get in my pants as I equipped my armor and headed to my throne. I needed to make a good first impression, didn't I?

As I sat down on my throne, Tiamat and Momo stood on either side. I nodded at Tiamat as Serafall's communication circle appeared again, "Make it visual."

Tiamat didn't break the circle this time, and a high-pitched voice came yelling out from it, "Tia-tan! Why did you-"

The voice stopped as the circle suddenly expanded, widening as the symbols in the middle disappeared. They were replaced by an image, and I was now looking at the adorable face of Serafall Leviathan.

"...You're not Tiamat," Serafall cleared her throat, suddenly becoming much more professional, "Are you the one who calls himself the Beast King?"

"No," I replied easily, grinning lightly under my helmet, "I don't just call myself that. I am the Beast King."

"Where's my sister?" Serafall got straight to the point, "If you did anything to her, I'll-"

"She's fine," I interrupted her bluntly, "And, as long as you don't do anything stupid, she'll continue to be fine."

Serafall's angry eyes lightened a bit at my words, but she didn't seem certain, "Let me see her."

"Nah," I brazenly denied her, causing Serafall's eyes to flash with anger, "Why would I? Do you think I'm kind enough to give out favors?"

"If you don't let me see her right now, I'm going to-"

"You're going to do nothing," I interrupted her again, leaning forward slightly in my throne, "I just told you, didn't I? I'd appreciate it if you gave me the respect of listening, Leviathan. If you do anything stupid, then your sister's safety can't be guaranteed."

I was bluffing, of course. I was an asshole supervillian, but I wouldn't really do anything harmful to Sona. She hadn't done anything to me and was also a high-tier waifu. Momo wasn't lying about me having a soft spot for beautiful women.

But, hey, if you were going to take over the world, taking women in the process was obvious, right? Being a King means you can do whatever the hell you want - meaning if I wanted to let all the sexy women live, who was going to stop me?

Serafall stiffened at my words, freezing and not responding for a moment. That was all the confirmation I needed.

My plan had worked - the Maou were definitely in a tough spot. Whether it was because of Tiamat, because I had made Tiamat my familiar, because of the hostages, or because of what we did to the Astaroth Territory, the Maou were afraid to oppose me recklessly. Serafall's threats were bluffs - she couldn't do anything, and we both knew it.

"...What do you want?" Serafall bit out, still staring through the circle at me with hard eyes.

"I want a lot of things," I hummed vaguely. I was the one in control here, so I wouldn't give the Maou any more than I needed to.

"For the hostages," Serafall huffed, glaring lightly through the circle, "What do you want for their return?"

"I'm not sure," I hummed, leaning my head against my armored hand as I mock-thought about the question, "These are pretty valuable hostages, you know? Two heiresses that are also the siblings of the current Maou's, along with members of their peerage. Then there's also the sole daughter of the Phenex Clan and the only bloodline-carrying member of the Astaroth Clan..."

Serafall stiffened at my final words, and I grinned under my helmet. They had surely realized that Latia Astaroth had disappeared, but they couldn't have been sure if I killed her or not.

Not killing her worked out better for me, as I had more leverage. If I had killed her, then the devils would've had to accept that the Astaroth Pillar was extinct. There would be no way to save it, and all they could do was get revenge for my actions.

But, now that she knew Latia was alive? They had to do everything they could to ensure she was safe. If she died, then a Pillar would be extinct.

"What do you want?" Serafall repeated, her face becoming stoney and blank. Learning about Latia being one of the hostages had clearly made her nervous, but she was doing a great job at hiding it.

"I'd need a lot for such valuable hostages..." I said vaguely, grinning even wider even though she couldn't see my face through my helmet. The hunger in my gut reared its head, and I was sure I looked insane under my helmet, "I suppose the Underworld would suffice."

"W-What?" Serafall blinked, her composure breaking for a second, but she schooled her face quickly, "What are you talking about?"

"I felt like that was pretty clear," I continued, "I want the Underworld."

Serafall stared at me blankly, definitely thinking that I was insane, so I clarified a bit, "Leave the Underworld. Not just you, but your entire race. If every devil in the Underworld leaves, then I'll release the hostages."

"...You know that won't happen," Serafall shot back, her composure cracking slightly.

Duh. However, the first rule of negotiation is to start high and work your way down.

I would have the Underworld eventually, but the devils would never agree to just up and leave. Even if they did, there were still other races down here that I'd need to deal with.

"Well, there's not much else I want..." I sighed in fake disappointment, "I suppose our conversation is over, Leviathan."

I nodded at Tiamat, and she walked toward the magic circle with her hand held up.

"W-Wait!" Serafall shouted abruptly, stopping Tiamat, "My sister..."

There it is. The moment I'd been waiting for, but I wasn't sure would come.

"What do you want for my sister?" Serafall gritted out. Even if the woman had contacted me to negotiate for all the hostages, she was still a devil. A selfish devil. There was only one hostage she really cared about.

"I just told you," I shook my head casually, goading her on a bit, "If you want the hostages, I'll need your race to-"

"Not the hostages," Serafall interrupted, a slightly pleading look in her eyes despite her stony face, "Just my sister. What do you want for Sona Sitri?"

I grinned widely again, "Prioritizing your sister over the others? You're pretty shameless, Leviathan."

She didn't fall for the bait, but stared me down as she asked again, "What do you want for my sister?"

I won't draw it out any longer.

"You." I said bluntly, and Serafall blinked in surprise.

"W-What?"

"I want you," I repeated, leaning forward again as my helmet's gaze bore into her, "I won't set Sona free, but I'll do an exchange. You'll take her place."

Sona was a useful hostage because having her meant I had power over Serafall. But if I just had Serafall as a hostage, I'd have that same power.

Overall, losing Serafall was a much bigger deal to devil society than losing Sona. Sona was a heir to a Pillar, but Serafall was one of the four Maou. WIthout her, the New Satan Faction would be crippled.

Of course, it would be much harder to keep Serafall as a hostage than Sona, but I had a workaround for that.

"That's not a fair trade," Serafall shot back, "A Maou for a heiress is ridiculous."

"I didn't say it was," I hummed, "And you don't have to take it. I'm happy with keeping Sona Sitri."

Serafall stared at me blankly, giving no suggestion to what she was thinking. Her eyes narrowed lightly, then she opened her mouth.

"...I can't do that," There was a slight wavering in her voice, and her eyes looked a bit regretful, "You are asking for too much."

Her duties as a Maou won over her desire to save Sona.

So, I just had to convince her a bit.

"Serafall Sitri," Serafall blinked, looking confused as I used her former name, "I have no more interest in negotiating with Serafall Leviathan, so I'll speak to you as Serafall Sitri."

"What are you..." Serafall trailed off uncertainly, her face becoming guarded.

"I'm not offering to trade a heiress for a Maou," I said bluntly, staring into her eyes, "I'm offering to trade an older sister for her younger one. I know that your sister plans to move to the human world to experience her young adulthood, and I know that you don't want to take that away from her."

Serafall's face twitched lightly at my words, and I knew I was getting through to her.

"A few years is like a second to a devil as old as yourself anyway," I hummed, "But your sister can only experience her youth once. I'm being generous in giving you this offer, so I'll only say it one more time. Give up your freedom for Sona's."

Serafall continued to stare at me blankly, her composure not breaking as she didn't say a word.

"I'll give you one day, Serafall Sitri," I nodded at Tiamat, who stepped forward to break the circle, "Tomorrow, at exactly this time, come to the Southern wall of my territory. Come alone. If you don't, I'll kill your sister."

Tiamat slashed through the circle with her hand, breaking it before Serafall could answer.

"Was that wise?" She hummed, glancing over at me, "It's not easy to take a Maou as a hostage, brat. That girl has enough power to blow up your entire territory with one spell."

"Don't worry about it," I reached up, taking off my helmet as I smirked, "I know how to handle her."

Now, all that was left was to wait.

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AN: Thank you for reading! The next Chapter will be out tomorrow!

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