34 A Great Hunt
Sona appeared in her manor in Kuoh town in Japan. Her Peerage started to gather. The first one was a silver-haired girl.
Momo Hanakai, Sona's Bishop, followed by her Rook, Tsubasa Yura, a tall blue-haired girl, followed by a third circle.
This time, it was a hyperactive-looking girl, Tomoe Meguri, who was Sona's Knight. The girl had reddish-brown hair and had quite an energetic look.
Lastly, the fourth circle appeared; this was Reya Kusaka, a slim girl with brown hair done in two braids; she was Sona's other Bishop.
"How are you girls doing?" Sona asked with a resigned voice. She started to question the world.
"...Umm, is everything okay?"
"...You look—tired?" Momo asked as she walked over.
"...I am fine. It's just I am questioning what a devil is, what is its purpose for my species."
"Umm?"
"?"
"!?"
"...?"
The girls looked confused; what was going on!?
"I thought you were in Europe?" The girls tried to redirect the conversation.
"I am; I have brought my Fiance to see my parents. By this point, he has them over his finger. I saw my mother show my pictures to him.
My life is over."
Sona slammed her head into the table.
The four girls looked at each other. This was quick. They wondered if it was Sona's actions or that guy's actions. The whole thing is done and dusted by this point.
Their King's parents are already showing pictures of her. If this is like that, then they are pretty much a set.
"...Umm… wasn't that what you wanted?" Tomoe asked with a confused voice.
"Yes! B-B-But at a decent pace! Not like this! I-I-It's far too quick!" Sona stuttered, she liked the whole thing and that it was smooth sailing, but Raynor was— far too good. He is like that sauce that fits everywhere.
He bribed her parents with good stuff. He acted like a High-Class devil! Fitting in like he was one!
Honestly, she wanted to be the middleman!
'Is this my desire to control the situation?'
At that moment, Sona realised what was wrong.
She desired to control the 'battlefield'. But Raynor instead took over and never looked back.
*Sigh*
"Fine, whatever, don't mind me, so what is happening in Japan while I was not here?" The Sitri Heiress decided to change the theme of conversation. She realised what was wrong, so no need to brood anymore.
"Oh, right! I think we found possible members for the Peerage."
"Well, I am listening."
…
…
…
Sona returned several hours later; in the main living room, she saw Raynor with Daenerys on his lap. Her parents are nowhere around.
"I am back; where are my parents?"
"They retired; I think I am far too highly energetic for them. I mean, I used to party all day and night in Westeros." He shrugged at Sona.
"... I see. I hope you didn't say that my sister has been turned into a summon?" The Sitri Heiress asked while walking over to his side.
"Nope. That one is on Sera, and it depends on her. I don't want to open that can of worms unless she does that herself."
"Good enough. Shall we return to your place?" The Heiress asked as she realised it was pretty late; it should be close to midnight in his place.
"Fine by me."
~~~~~~Later~~~~~~
In the next couple of days, Raynor would visit his new territory in the Underworld.
It took him several days with breaks. These breaks include spending time with his Fiance and Daenerys; at the same time, he still needs to attend school.
But he finally found the boundaries of his new territory.
He owns land the size similar to his country, around similar size.
Well, he is not an expert in country measurements, but it is around that size.
This is quite impressive. He got enough land to run a country, and it cost him water with his mana inside of it.
Regardless, he felt quite bad for not giving a couple of good potions with a few drops of his blood.
Apart from that, Raynor figured out that this place was a sight of a battlefield. Long ago.
Artificial lakes are dotting this place, with several looking like craters.
After enquiring with Sona, the Heiress explained that this was the site where Ajuka Beelzebub fought against Tsufaame Tereaku Leviathan in the civil war.
Leviathan was so strong that she created lakes everywhere from her sheer demonic power.
It was an impressive sight.
'Well, well… I suppose I can make a couple of things here.'
After mentally mapping everything out, it was time to practise some totem magic.
The Shaman went around and located a tree he liked; then, he summoned an axe and chopped it down. Once down, he proceeded to remove all the excess branches.
With only the trunk remaining, he pulled it to the core of his territory.
The core is where the castle town used to be. Raynor decided to rebuild it to some degree. Maybe a lodge?
After dropping the totem, he proceeded to carve it. First, he will make his main one. The wolf, bear and boar totems, since he wants to improve it, he needs to make another one.
And his gut feeling is telling him that he won't be able to make the new elk one in Westeros.
'I guess I will start carrying tree trunks in my inventory.'
He chuckled to himself as he started to carve the shape of a wolf totem.
…
…
…
"So, you are the human who dares to walk in the underworld." An arrogant female voice said to him.
"Hmm?"
Raynor turned around and looked at the source.
He saw a brown-haired woman with glasses and big milkers; the hunter decided to comment on that.
"I have noticed a trend, but does the majority of devil females have large tits? Is this to compensate for the fact that you can barely breed?" He commented on something he noticed now.
"!!!"
"How dare you speak to me like this! Do you know who I am?"
"No, and I don't care. You are trespassing on my turf. According to American law, I can kill your spot." Raynor shrugged at her.
"...This is the Underworld! I don't follow worm laws!"
"Neither do I, but I felt like I should borrow a couple of theirs."
The woman screamed from frustration as she summoned a massive amount of water and sent it towards the Shaman.
'I think I was here before. Was I here before? Oh, right, I was— this is like a duel against Serafall, round 2.'
A cut shattered the woman's water attack as Raynor used his Godsgrief blade.
"Imposible! Your magic reserves— Aghhh!!!" She screamed in pain as there was an ivory knife in her gut.
The brown-haired woman backpedalled several steps as she started to feel the threat to her life.
"W-Where is he!?" She looked around; her eyes and demonic senses were not picking up anything.
Slowly, fear started to rise as she thought of running away, but then someone stabbed her back.
"Aghh!!!!" She screamed from pain as she tried to move, but at that moment, something cold was touching her throat.
"The sad thing is that I didn't even know your name," Raynor commented as he slit her throat and let her go.
The big-breasted brown-haired woman collapsed on the ground. There was sheer disbelief in her eyes as life left them.
"Did she think I would spend five minutes explaining my magic trick?" The Shaman snorted at that thought.
Regardless, Raynor mentally summoned his pet Satan.
"...What is it?" Serafall sighed as she realised she was summoned to the Hunter's side. She thought that he would forget about her for a while so that she could focus on her work.
"Who was this woman?" He pointed at the corpse.
"...Huh—!!!"
The Leviathan's eyes widened as she saw the woman on the ground.
"That's Katerea Leviathan!"
"Ohh… I see, this big tits was one of the descendants of the originals."
"...Y-Yeah! What is she doing here!?" Serafall asked him with a severe but shocked tone.
"Beats me. She appeared here and complained, obviously wanting something, but I killed her before she could moan about it." Raynor casually explained as he proceeded to take her body and started to pull it towards the middle of the camp.
"...I-I see. What are you going to do with her corpse?" The current Leviathan asked him.
"Render it; I want to see if I can make a totem out of her."
"!!!"
"I-I see…"
"Yeah, you can leave now. Do whatever things you do."
"Ughh!!!"
"Oh, right! I didn't tell your parents about your flop, so you don't need to worry." Raynor remembered the visit to Sitri castle.
"H-Huh!? What do you mean, my parents!?"
"I went to see them with Sona. They are quite happy with me."
"..."
"..."
Satan Leviathan facepalmed; she was about to leave, but then she got cold feet.
"W-Wait, you are not planning to go on a genocide!? Katerea was not with us! She is with the Old Satan faction! A splinter group!"
"I know, I know. But this is good. Do you have their general location?" He asked her as he finished pulling the corpse. There was a trail of blood along the path.
"Sadly, we don't. We know they are here, in the Underworld, but as you have noticed, this place is simply too big. On top of that, it's layered with caverns leading to hell depths." Serafall explained with a serious look.
Internally, she is gushing with happiness. Hell, yes! This is perfect; let Raynor slaughter the Old Satan faction; this will also serve as an example!
Hopefully, it will deter others from doing stupid things.
"I see. Well, sad for them, I have to find them."
Raynor cut several strands of Katerea's hair, then bathed the hair in her blood before pulling out a familiar wooden plate.
"...The Compass…" Serafall saw this before when they were collecting dragon eggs.
"...Yeah…" The Shaman expected it to work, but it started to spin and spin and spin.
"Hiding behind a barrier?" He exclaimed with an annoyed voice.
"Or, maybe they are in different dimensions? Maybe in one of the hell layers." Serafall said with a pondering voice.
"Hmm, I guess I will do something else." He turned to the side and looked at the totem.
"I guess it is a war."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Symbolism, Sera. Spoils of war, I still don't have Katerea's soul. To get souls of 'smarter' beings, I need to take extra steps."
"Huh, it's related to 'smartness'?"
"Strength of soul is measured differently from the sheer raw power you are used to. The more complex the individual, the harder it is for someone like me to capture it.
It's related to the ego of a being. A robust and independent nature of a being is part of that.
That's why it's easy for me to collect animal souls because they don't have certain traits like self-awareness."
"...Huh…but don't certain animals have such a thing? Like dolphins and monkeys?" Serafall remembered watching Animal Planet a couple of times.
"Yeah, however, these animals still allow nature to take its course. As long as they do that, my nature magic can work.
In other words, not all boxes have that tick placed on the list."
"...Oh, I get it now. So, if you can't harvest certain animal deities, then." In a way, the current Leviathan was relieved that Raynor's magic wasn't THAT broken.
"Heh, it depends on how these gods work, Sera."
After saying that Raynor didn't waste time; he summoned his Claw sword, his weapon made from wood and the claws and fangs of animals.
A wolf's howl erupted from the Shaman as he sliced another tree down.
He swiftly started to work on this one.
"W-What are you doing?" Seeing how recklessly Raynor is acting with the tree makes her experience chills. What is he doing now?
"A totem."
"The war Totem?"
"No, I was thinking of using a war totem, but my gut feeling tells me it won't work."
"...T-Then?"
"A Hunt Totem."
"...Hunt?"
"Yes. Since I am not a devil, I can't declare war."
"...That doesn't make sense. Why can't you do that?"
"Think of the wilderness of Safari. A Pride of Lion can coexist with other animals. Right?" She nodded at him.
"But they can't coexist with another Pride of Lions. Easy enough, yes?"
"...Yeah."
"When two prides come close to each other, that's a conflict. But when a Lion is prowling through his lands, he is hunting.
You understand, don't you? I am hunting these devils because they are not of my species; they are not humans." He explained plainly.
*Gulp*
"Nature has acknowledged that I am at a disadvantage, like a Wolf trying to hunt a moose or a Lion trying to hunt a giant elephant. I need more weapons."
As he said that, he proceeded to carve a totem with his hunting gear instead of weapons like he did in Westeros.
This means the abilities of the totem will be different. They will be more tailored towards certain branches of beings.
He used his ivory knives to carve devils on the wood, followed by wolves and himself wielding a bow.
Then, he used some branches to imitate devil wings.
While he was doing that, Serafall started to feel fear. This fear was similar to Holy and Light Magic. She was sensing this from this new totem.
'His actions tailored this specific totem to emit magic deadly against Devils!'
The current Satan Leviathan realised that this Shamanism is that broken! He can make such things!?
Once the totem was done, Raynor placed his hand on it, and the hunter totem glowed, black lines of magic similar to demonic energy weaved and bonded with his right hand. Creating an intricate tattoo of devils, wolves and a single hunter, this tattoo fits smoothly with the remaining tattoo, the spoils of the previous war he waged in Westeros.
"Done…"
The moment he turned to the side and looked at Serafall, she took a step back.
"...Umm… I am feeling chills here."
"Don't worry."
*Whistle*
At that moment, Deimos appeared next to him.
"Go, smell that corpse; your nose should be tuned with devils I seek. After all, I pointed out specific devils."
His big black wolf with yellows nodded and walked over and smelled Katerea's corpse.
Once he had done that, he looked around, taking in the smells.
"You think it can smell something your compass could not track?"
"Normally? Yes. But this time, it's different. Ritual has begun; the hunt is on its way. The Underworld is now the hunting ground; the devils are the prey, and we are the hunters.
My wolves can find my prey in this hunting ground; that's the totem's power." He said that as his wolf howled loudly.
His whole pack manifested, followed by Phobos and Apollon and their packs.
"He has picked up the scent."
For now, Raynor collected the big tits' dead Leviathan corpse and stored it in his inventory.
"Go, return to your paperwork. I have bats to hunt." Just like that, with a massive grin, the Shaman rushed with his wolves to hunt.
"...By the Satans… this is insanity."
Serafall swiftly teleported away. She needs to notify Sirzechs about this. Crimson Satan needs to smooth this out!
~~~
"Sir-chan!!!"
Once again, Serafall blasted into Sirzechs' office.
His maid looked at her with annoyance; Lucifuge was making sure he was doing his work and was not lazing around somewhere.
"What is it, Sera?"
"It's big! Raynor just killed Katerea and is waging a war on the Old Satan faction!"
Sirzechs' pen screeched for a bit as it broke mid-signing.
"Excuse me? Can you repeat it?"
"I said, Katerea Leviathan tried to do something to Raynor, but in turn, she got her neck slit, and now Raynor, with his three hundred wolves, is going to slaughter the Old Satan Faction."
"...this…"
"Katerea is an Ultimate Devil; how did she lose?" Grayfia exclaimed with surprise.
"I don't think a dagger to the stomach and neck discriminates ranks," Serafall said with a deadpan.
"But…it makes no sense. A higher amount of demonic energy negates any lower amount of mana by default."
"In normal circumstances, yes." Sirzechs leaned into his throne and crossed his arms.
"But this is a being practising Blood, Soul and Nature magic. It blurs out the regular norms we are used to. Perfectly honest, when I spoke with him several times, I did feel a chill going down my back.
Even we, at the peak of the Civil War, didn't kill as much as he did. Hell, we only fought fellow leaders of the opposing faction. Our conflict was simple compared to his bloodbaths."
"...True…" Serafall recalled her part in the war. She only had two major battles.
"There is more."
"...More?"
"Yes, after all this nonsense, he carved a totem which made all of his conventional weapons lethal to devils."
"...Damn…that Katerea!" Sirzechs took a deep breath.
"I pretend I didn't hear this. Neither did you two, did I make myself clear?"
"Yep."
"Understood."
The pair of Devils nodded. It is better if no one knows this small detail.
"However, we still have an issue of him running through the underworld's wilderness hunting down the Old Satan faction." The Crimson Satan pondered. He decided to use this to get rid of the Old Satan faction's influence finally.
"Sera, I want you to observe him from a distance."
"...I can't. He will sense me. We have a bond, remember? I was told to return to my duties."
"...In that case, Grayfia, I want you to observe him from a distance. The moment the old Satan Faction is gone, we will also start our purge."
"Understood."
"Great. Then, Serafall, I want you to relay the destination of the teleportation to Grayfia; in the meantime, we will prepare our forces as well." The Crimson Satan got up from his throne and walked over to the window.
He never expected Raynor to wage war only a week into getting his land in the Underworld.
Even he underestimated his character, and here he was as cautious as one gets.
Well, next time, he will be ready.
Or—
'This could work, I could use that.'
He can send all those rebellious elements to him to be hunted down and slaughtered.
'Well, well, this could work.'
~~~~~~
[Totem of Great Hunt]
[Only works when certain conditions are met:
Including: Having blood of the prey to be hunted down (species)
Hunters are in a pack/group.
Hunters are weaker than the prey]
[Totem Effects: Selected prey is weak against hunters' conventional weapons (includes claws and teeth)
[Mark of Prey: Special totem magic invoked on a specific strong prey. The marked prey is several times weaker when the hunters hunt it down.]
[The Curse of a Prey: blood magic, which is used in the totem creation, selectively weakens the prey]
[The Spoils of Hunt: All the game gathered in hunts is stored in the tattoo; this includes magics, bloodlines, and souls.]
~~~
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