*Bang*

A fat, stubby fist slammed onto a dark wooden table. "Do you really expect us to believe that? Who do you think we are? Your idiotic followers?"

An overweight, slightly bald man sat at the head of a long rectangular table, surrounded by other, equally angry-look people. All staring to the foot of the table where a woman, wearing a black dress, stood stoically, her mask-like face revealing no emotion.

"Belive me or not, it matters little to me. That is what happened," replied Styx, her voice as emotionless as her face.

"So you had nothing to do with the demise of the other demigods, the disappearance of the Demon Lord's essence or the fact that you conveniently can't remember anything about the perpetrator other than his name?" The fat man took a deep breath. "On top of all that, this so-called Devil's spell has wiped the ritual of demigod ascension from your mind, making it impossible to create more?"

"We are not created, we are chosen," hissed Styx. "And as already explained, and proven by your experts, an unknown, god tier magic has been used to manipulate our memories. If I didn't bring this fact to light, you would still be ignorant to what had happened."

"Why would this Devil destroy the knowledge of making demigods? He has already proven that they are not a threat to him," questioned a middle-aged woman, goats horns sticking from the side of her head.

Styx replied in a mocking tone. "Who know's what goes through a higher beings head. Maybe he just wanted the exercise, but my thoughts are that there was a hidden meaning behind it, though I don't even have a hint at what they are."

Styx was playing a dangerous game, revealing enough to sate the Alliance Council's curiosity without revealing everything, though she already had a backup plan if things turned ugly.

The youngest member of the room, a furry, humanoid-looking dog, leant on his elbows, his yellow eyes locking onto the demigod. "And so we return to the original question. Why are you alive, Styx? You state you were first on the scene and, after confirming the Demon Lords demise, woke up just outside the blast zone."

Styx crossed her arms. "Isn't it obvious? It's not like I escaped. I was allowed to live, for a reason, I do not know. At first, I thought it was so that I could confirm that the end of the Demon Lord and his essence but the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make sense."

The hero had often told Styx she had a gift in method acting and, after his imprisonment, she had improved it to such a degree, sometimes she forgot what was real, and what was fiction.

The wolfkin did not look amused and opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by the fat man. "Enough, you may leave. You are to remain in your room, here at the Alliance Headquarters, until we know what to do with you."

Styx straightened. "You forget something important, Counsellor."

The room stiffened at the coldness in her words.

"I may be the last demigod, without the power to even be a minor threat to the Alliance but, to this room, no this entire city, I am more than enough to lay it to waste."

The wolfkin sneered. "Ha, most of your followers' di-"

"You were always a slippery one Styx. You have used this event and are already regaining followers at an alarming rate. We are not ignorant of you movements." This time, an elderly human interrupted, causing the wolfkin to growl.

The old man continued, ignoring the death stare. " You have also positioned yourself, at least in the public's eyes, as the Alliance's only viable weapon against this devil fellow... We can't publically touch you, and if we did it in the shadows, it would only hurt us in the long run as religion is one of the best ways to control the lower masses. But do not forget. The demigods and the Alliance still has a concord and even if you are the last of your kind, once again..."

The man chuckled before continuing. "You are still bound by it."

Styx nodded, her voice becoming strained. "I have not forgotten. Now if you excuse me, I grow bored of these pointless meetings and accusations. I have a Devil to hunt and the world to save."

The room didn't get a chance to answer as Styx disappeared in a flash of light.

"Martin," said the old man, all mirth gone from his voice, causing the fat man to flinch. "Open your mouth without thinking again, and you will never open it again. We cannot afford to ostracise Styx now. The other demi followers would flock to her cause and scream of conspiracies. We will let this incident blow over. If this Devil doesn't exist, when it dies down, then we get rid of her, if he does... We will deal with it as we always have."

A couple of miles away, still inside the Immortal City, Styx body reappeared inside an enormous mansion, Armoured soldiers, sporting a white mask emblem on their shoulder saluted as they patrolled, making the place look more like a fortress than where somebody lived.

Without even pausing to take notice of her guards, Styx marched through the ornate entrance and down a long, dark corridor before slamming open a heavy wooden door and entering a well-lit room.

"Mistress," echoed the voices of two women in sync, falling to a knee as they lowered their heads.

"Report," said Styx in a friendly but firm voice. She has spent hours being questioned by the Council and was not in the best of moods.

The two stood, looking almost identical, their long, elf-like ears and smooth, white skin standing out against their black leather armour.

"Mistress, we have received word that the target has entered a small down. As ordered we have stayed at a safe distance, but somehow, he seems to have noticed our agents."

The slightly taller elf, a scar on her cheek, frowned. "Are you sure this is the man we are looking for? He noticed but hasn't done anything."

"Alex... carry on with the report," Styx walked around the room. Sofas littered its edges with large, inspiring paintings adorning its walls.

The elf with the scar nodded, "They entered the town a litt-"

Styx abruptly stopped. "They?"

"He appears to have picked up a manaless, though from what we have discovered, he doesn't know it yet."

Styx smiled, forgetting the initial reason for her question. "Does he know of our plans yet?"

"We doubt it; he seems to be trying to keep a low presence and not draw attention... when not butchering monsters with his bare hands."

Styx laughed, the only trouble she had of imagining the scene was that she could not remember the hero's face. "It's funny really. When he first told me what he wanted me to do, I thought it would never work, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I may have lost most of my followers, but in exchange, he has opened the whole continent to me while giving me the ultimate recruitment means. It seems that people from his old world had to use more... underhanded means to gain their followers."

The elves frowned at the mention of a different world but said nothing.

Styx walked up to a suit of black armour, strangely, similar to the ruined one Ru was wearing in the Demon Lords castle, and placed her hand tenderly on a black mask where a head should be, her own featureless face gaining a slight red hue.

"Have you been at the suicidal, lovestruck souls again?" asked the smaller of the elves, displaying a cheeky smile.

"Lovestruck? No Maya, this is not something as common or meaningless as that." laughed Styx. "This man has given me three of the greatest gifts. Life, an almost certain method to obtain godhood and an eternal nemesis that will never leave or forsake me."

The two women looked at each other in confusion.

"As I grow, so will he, and as he grows, so will I." By the tone of her voice, it was possible to imagen she was smiling. "But although he is a terror when he gets going, he has always been lazy. He thought that he could get away with doing nothing to further our relationship. Ha, I am not the kind of woman to be walked over. Not anymore."

"If he needs me as a god, then equally, I need him as a Devil. Two sides of the same coin, light and darkness, good and evil... oh, how enlightened his words were." It was hard to tell Styx's emotions due to her face, but her voice was more than good enough for the elves.

Alex cleared her throat. "You mean the reason we are looking for those who might be unaffected by his spell is to force him to act when he finds out? If he is half as dangerous as you say he is, why would we want to antagonise him?"

"Hmm correct, it's mostly about getting him to act but, in a roundabout way, to also help him. If what is left of my memories are correct, he needs purpose and if I left him to wander around, he would either fall into the depths of despair or find a purpose that isn't me. I can't allow that. If our fates are tied, then, just as he has done for me, I must help him find his path."

The two looked worriedly at their mistress. Since she had returned from the Demon Plains, she had been different, almost fanatical.

"Are you sure he didn't do something else to your memories. This behaviour isn't you?" said Alex, expecting repercussions for her question but none came.

"You mean you think he influenced my mind for me to act like this?" Styx span, holding her arms outwards as if she didn't have a care in the world let out a beautiful laugh. "Of course not. When he finds out I am looking for manaless, his paranoia is going to go into overdrive and the resulting tantrum would make a leviathan sweat blood."

A yellow crystal glowed on a nearby desk. "V... you there? Come in gods damn it. V"

Alex looked murderous as she walked over to the desk and placed her hand on it. "What is it? And don't forget protocol."

The crystal flickered again. "The town... The target is burning it to the ground."

Styx laughter erupted. "Well, that didn't take long... Guess he knows."

Destroying a town was no easy feat, especially since the introduction of town spirts as guardians. The two elves paled. They would obey their mistress without hesitation, but there was a grain of doubt in her accounts of the man known as the Devil, especially as her stories seemed so... surreal.

Styx moved to the crystal and spoke. "Are there survivors?"

"Mistress!" The man's voice tensed. "Though to the untrained eye it looks like some are lucky enough to escape... he is letting them go but" The man paused. "They are going to be mentally scarred for life."

Styx walked over to one of the large sofas and flopped on it. "Lock down the area but do not interfere. When he is far enough away," She looked at her servants, her voice returning to its emotionless state. "You know what to do. It's still too early to reveal everything. Any that know more than his name or true form are to be eliminated."

They bowed and moved towards the doors, giving another bow before leaving.

Styx lay there, memories of the hero and his team floating the to surface, large black like blurs distorting them heavily. Suddenly she started humming, a tune that she had heard them singing after they were called heroes for destroying a small city.

The humming broke out into a song. "This ain't no place for no hero, this ain't no place for no better~ man."

Sighing she stood up. "Ahhh Hero, or should I say Devil now, you always loved your music... I wonder what new name you are going to pick?"