Chapter 4

I tried making eye contact with Seir, but he wasn’t turning away from the screen. Sitri looked taken aback for a second but regained her composure.

“For those of you who have been living under a rock for the duration of the King of Hell summit. This is the current Marquis of the Kimaris House, Baako Kimaris! He is currently undefeated and has wowed us, with his lightning quick victories!”

“Thanks for such a felicitous introduction Ms Sitri, or can I call you Sabrina?”

“Hehe, w-well…”

“Hyahahahahaha, so you’re the youngling that took over for old Berko, how is he doing? I hope you inherited his ability with the Akrafena.”

“My father spoke highly of you Earl Paimon, he is well.”

“Now that we are all acquainted, we will begin analysing tonight’s two matchups. We will start with the Seir House’s clash, I hope that you’re OK with us leaving your match till later Marquis Kimaris?”

“Of course, it’s fitting to leave the best till last. Also, please call me Baako.”

“Hehehe, O-OK.”

The overly flirtatious nature of the exchange between Sitri and this Kimaris guy was starting to make me feel sick. I wanted to hear what he had to say though, so I decided to power through it.

“It’s safe to say that Baroness Belith was the favourite for this matchup, although, if this summit has taught us anything, it's that we should never count the Seir House out.”

“Hyahahahaha, well said there girl, my boy appeared just in time too. I would have liked to have seen the young Prince step up and show us what he’s made of though.”

“I agree, the whole arena was surprised when Prince Seir stepped forward at the start. We could have been treated to a real battle between two high class nobles, If that simpleton didn’t ruin it. I mean he could have landed anywhere, but he had to go and land right in the middle of the battlefield. His foolishness, forced me to disqualify Prince Seir from the match too.”

“Oh? I’ll admit that you were presented with that option Sabrina, but let’s not overlook the fact that Alessia Belith, requested the match continue, it was Prince Seir himself, that surrendered.”

“R-right, but rules are rules, he’d have been disqualified any…”

“This isn’t a game. We are trying to decide who the next King of Hell will be. You know as well as I do, that if Prince Seir wanted to stay on, you wouldn’t have been able to stop the match from continuing.”

“W-well…”

“I’ll admit that the commoner’s entrance was laughable, however, it had no effect on the actual skirmish. They hadn’t even started yet.”

“Hyahahaha, what’s your point boy?”

“My point is, what kind of a world would we live in, if someone as half assed as Prince Seir became King? Where I’m from, a King leads from the front. Throughout this entire summit, we haven’t seen Prince Seir take to the stage even once. It is perfectly natural to allow your vassals to take centre stage at the start. However, when you resort to stalling for time and then ultimately forfeiting a match for no apparent reason, it shows nothing but weakness. He does nothing but hide behind that commoner as well, it’s pathetic.”

“S-strong words from Marquis Kimaris.”

“I have no idea how that commoner defeated Ms Belith either. One moment she was about to deliver the final blow and the next she lost control of her own power. I suppose I do owe him a debt of gratitude for removing Ms Belith from the equation though, I’d rather take him and his wimpy lord on than her. One swift swipe with my Akrafena will be enough for each of them.”

“Hyahahahahaha, those are some heavy words boy, are you going to be able to back them up? My son in law isn’t weak yknow, you might just end up regretting those words.”

“My one and only regret Earl Paimon, is the fact that it was not my noble house that was paired against you first. Upon my victory, I’m certain that you would have granted me the honour of Lady Mei-Lien’s hand.”

“Hyahaha, you have guts kid, I’ll keep a close eye on you when you clash with the young Prince.”

“T-that’s right, it’s practically a certainty that the Kimaris House and the Seir House will meet to decide the final Noble Household in the top 4.”

“Wrong.”

“E-eh?”

“It’s practically a certainty that the Kimaris House will BE the final Noble Household in the top 4.”

This guy was pissing me right off.

“Once I step over Prince Seir’s superficial esteem and put that commoner back in his place…”

“K-Kuro! His name is Kuro.”

“Oh? Is there more to those pictures in Hell Weekly Magazine than meets the…”

“Hyahahahaha, my little Mei-Lien froze when she saw those, her cute little face…”

“I-I’ve already released an official statement in relation to that!”

Sitri’s outburst resulted in an awkward silence. I gingerly turned toward Shiro to find out if I should start running, but was surprised to see that she, like Seir, was also glued to the screen.

“Pffft, I know you’re watching this Prince Seir. You didn’t have the backbone to show up tonight. I suggest you forfeit before we meet face to face, because after I defeat that commoner dog of yours, I will not accept your surrender. It’s time that a Kimaris sits on the Throne of Satan again. The next King of Hell, will be Marquis Baako Kimaris.”

Following this final declaration, Seir switched the TV off. A stiff silence fell over the whole room. Seir was deep in thought for a brief moment but then returned to his usual grin.

“He’s good.”

“W-what?”

“With one single overly conceited performance, he completely undermined my legitimacy as a candidate for King of Hell. He made me seem weak and half assed. He also undermined your power and all that you’ve accomplished so far Kuro-kun. Every single thing he said was to get in our heads and play mind games, he’s good ahaha.”

“He didn’t mention me even once your highness…”

“Exactly Shiro-chan! Why do you think that is? He wants you to feel unimportant, he wants to get inside you head.”

“H-hold on Seir, I mean I get how he called me a commoner and a dog etc. I mean that does totally piss me off, but how did he undermine my power?”

“Ahaha, come now Kuro, he completely glossed over your victory against Alessia Belith, he also failed to mention Bahamut-san at all. There’s no way that someone that has made it as far as he has, was unable to see Bahamut-san’s shadow cast over you, during that battle.”

“You’re right.”

“He’s left me with no choice than to take to the stage against his household. If I let you and Shiro handle it again, then I will be exactly what he made me out to be.”

“I say screw him Seir, who cares what he says and thinks.”

“The people of Hell value strength above all else, all we’ve worked for would be meaningless if we are victorious in the end and the common folk have no faith in his highness as a ruler.”

“Ahaha, well said Shiro-chan, you’re absolutely right. The scariest part, is the fact that Kimaris knows that I’ll figure out what he’s trying to do. I completely misread his character, he is one cunning guy.”

Silence fell on the living area once again. Seir was lost in thought, Alice was staring at him and Shiro also seemed adrift.

“Is he strong Seir?”

“Oh? Hmmm, well he’s defeated every adversary in less than 5 minutes and in less than 10 hits.

“Can you beat him?”

“Ahahaha, what do you think?”

“...We’re doomed.”

“Hahahahahahahahaha” (all)

We all laughed, even Alice cracked a smile. There was something fishy about this Kimaris guy though, but, he made a big mistake when he called Seir out like that. He’d better have something else up his sleeve, because if I know Seir, he would definitely make Baako Kimaris regret his words.