Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Raven's arrival at the 'Phordite mansion was met with a surprising silence. It wasn't because people weren't excited to see him again, but the fact that the Mistress had upturned Linkle's plans entirely. Gathering in the meeting hall, he was told in front of everyone that she was offering her help if they could get rid of the nuisance Tariyaan. The fact that she would approach them directly struck him as odd, but with no concrete evidence to allude to alternative intentions, he was forced to accept things as they were recited to him.

'No way she's offering help for nothing, there must be something more going on.' Pondering the thought did him no good, after all, he didn't have all the facts and to go without her help would be quite moronic. A safe passage into the hells, an assassination of the primordial instead of marching against his army of millions, masks to hide their true identity and shapeshift into demons themselves, what the Mistress was offering was just too good to pass out on, especially given her aid of a hundred thousand succubus if it does come down to a battle against the imp army.

Even so, Raven felt as if their odds of winning were still near zero. The only way to kill that primordial was either to find Linkle's body and help her get back in and have her kill him, or find a way to slice his throat–if that's even possible, without him having a clue as to what's happening.

"The automaton army's ready to dispatch by the way," hearing Shamisha talk, Raven lifted his head to look in her direction. Legs crossed over each other and a finger pressed to the chin, the bunny girl was in a world of her own while speaking to everyone around her. "We used goblin hearts to power them up so don't expect great results, if anything those succubus might be our best bet in terms of sheer numbers."

"Goblin heart?" A bit confused, Raven turned to Linkle. "Where did you get twenty thousand goblin hearts?"

Wide-eyed he stared at her, beyond baffled that it was even possible. Looking away with something devious reflected in her eyes, Linkle didn't answer, but the truth presented itself regardless.

"What do you mean?" It was Ophelia who spoke up, just as confused as Raven, but for an entirely different reason. "Linkle told me she had your permission to commission the adventurer guild for goblin hunting with the taxes we've collected. Don't tell me–"

Gasping at the realization that Linkle had lied, Ophelia turned her gaze to the witch, her expression quickly shifting from shock to sheer anger.

"Oh my goddd, you didn't, did you?"

"Fine! I lied, who cares? I'm gonna pay you back!" Rolling her eyes as she glanced back at Raven, Linkle didn't show an ounce of remorse instead what she held was frustration towards being confronted for the matter.

"Amelia also told me, you used our fund to make those potions, provide material for the automatons, the treasury is essentially empty all thanks to you. Seems like you're on a suicide mission and the price is being paid by us," wearing a deep frown, Raven pushed the witch further. It wasn't the funds that bothered him, but the lack of any regard towards anyone else. "I thought you've changed from the time we met, but maybe I was wrong, you're just as selfish as ever."

Clicking her tongue, the witch refused to answer and simply looked away.

"Well too bad then," taking out a pouch from his pocket, Raven set it on the table. In an instant everyone's attention turned to the item, and as he opened them up, what was revealed further drew in their curiosities. "The ring Aurora used for unlimited mana circulation and the core of a keeper we killed not long ago, I was gonna hand them both to you since I can't make use of them either right now, but you've changed my mind sufficiently."

As the witch stared at the core and the ring encased in the small dark box that she'd once given to Raven herself, her eyes quivered with anxiety as she hoped to hold them in her hand and make use of them somehow. Every resource, she wanted to extinguish them for her gain, but having already figured that out, Raven wouldn't let her even lay a finger on either of the items.

"Shamisha, I have a few questions," turning his attention swiftly to the bunny girl, Raven still wanted to help, but on his own terms. "Aurora the princess, after she was killed by Avarice we found this ring on her. Now is there any way we can make use of it in one of your automatons to potentially get a machine capable of matching Avarice's abilities?"

"What does the ring do, exactly?" She asked, not entirely in the loop about the item.

Taking a deep breath, Raven explained to her everything he knew about both the ring and the core of the keeper. As he was done, the mage saw a flicker of curiosity shine in the bunny girl's eyes, it gave him hope that she could at least make some use of the item.

"Unlimited mana and a collaboration of souls," she said, staring at the table and biting her nail. Shamisha delved deep into thought, trying to find a missing ingredient. She knew it was there, the recipe for the ironcore isolator, what was it that she was missing, she pondered, and there it came…Eureka.

"A steel dragon's scales! Yes! That's what I need to make a true battle model! The ironcore isolator, that's what Mono made it out of, I wasn't sure how she managed to gather souls into something concrete like an orb, or how she could make Avarice gather such an excess of mana into her body despite having the same structure as the regular models! But now, if she used something like these two items, then it's entirely possible!" Smiling hysterically, she glanced up and looked around laughing. "I know! Avarice, we can remake her–in a sense, not exactly her but–ughghh you know what I mean–I hope?"

"Steel dragon scales?" Scoffing at the idea, Linkle mocked Shamisha with a chuckle while shifting her attention to the man in charge. "Great! We only have to find the remains of an extinct species, no problems at all, right?"

Expecting Raven to break under her gaze, she kept staring at him but was later surprised when he continued to stare right back.

"Not all are dead, remember Gallaria? The guadian dragoness at Aran's kingdom?" Leaning forward on the table, Raven revealed something that made everyone who didn't already know gasp with shock. "After defeating Aran, I'm their new king, she's gonna give us some of her scales for the ironcore isolator one way or the other."

"KING?!" Screamed the public, but for now, he had no time to explain.

Before concluding the meeting, however, Raven looked to Mercedes who'd been silent all this time and standing in a corner.

"Remember, I told you I'm gonna need your help with something–consider this your punishment but you're coming with us to the island." Having no clue what he was talking about, she hesitantly nodded, ready to follow him whenever because of the sheer pressure being put on her by her past actions.

Although the meeting came to an end and everyone returned to their rooms to get some rest before the adventure began, Raven sat on the table, pondering like a general. Strategically placing his pawn piece by piece. An influence of Nightsilver's soul or the effect of his own soul being shattered by Umbra? Who really knows?