33 Sitri Clan
Raynor pulled out the ivory knife from the skull of the elk. His gaze inspected it from different angles.
There were no cracks in it. The hunter then inspected the head of the animal.
What he found out is quite a curious thing. It appears the head can use mana to solidify flesh.
It's something akin to reinforcement magic.
He then inspected the neck of the first stab's location.
'It either can only solidify one location at a time, or it didn't expect my stab.'
It appears the elk didn't crystalise the neck.
'So wind manipulation, crystal hardening magic, what else do you have?'
The Shaman proceeded to skin the beast. He was as excited as one could get. He was finally doing what he meant to do! Hunt, and hunt some and then hunt even more! And now he hunted a supernatural animal!
He quickly noticed that his skinning knife was slower than usual. Raynor prepared his knife through rituals for a quicker process.
But it appears the fur is resisting the process. So magic is fermenting the skin; this means the organs should also be mana-rich.
If organs are mana-rich, then this animal's food is mana-rich, too.
'Unless it can absorb it from the surroundings. But for that to happen, the effects would be slightly different.'
Raynor pondered on this. The antlers wouldn't be crystalline like this.
Regardless, once the hunter removed the fur, it was time for organ removal and let it bleed out. For that, he pulled out a rope.
After doing the dirty work, the shaman inspected the organs. He could sense mana radiating from them.
He was surprised at just how potent the animal was with mana itself.
Organs having this much mana is an entirely different level from the norm. Now, Raynor wonders how potent mana would be if he hunted a mythological animal. Like a Hydra or a Cerberus?
One thing he is certain: if mana is this potent, then his totem magic would be on a different level as if he makes this animal into a totem. He could potentially get some exciting abilities.
That depends on whether he can hunt more of these, that is.
Still, though, he continues to render this animal for parts.
Once the organs were gone, he proceeded to remove the antlers, which was a pain in the ass. This animal skull is fused with the crystals. And he finally found out what the hell happened.
His knife hit the part where the crystal merges with the skull. It tried to cut mana-rich crystals!
Raynor created the knife with the intent to butcher animals and people, not cut crystals.
Now, he wonders if the animal can crystallise how he thought initially.
Well, whatever; he finally removed the antlers and inspected the bones.
'This is just amazing. I should remake my gear with stuff from this forest. If an animal's organs and bones are like this, the vegetation should be no different.'
As he thought about that, he proceeded to inspect the blood. It was slightly darker than usual.
As the blood started to drip into the bucket, Raynor poked his finger in it and started to inspect it.
His senses were telling him that the blood was mana-rich.
Regardless, he proceeded to taste it. It was similar to the deer and stag, but there was a particular aspect to it.
Is this what mana tastes like?
'Hmm…'
For now, he summoned his wolves. Deimos, Phobos, and Apollon, with their packs, appeared around him.
Just like that, over a hundred wolves manifested.
"Apollon, your pack is to protect the camp. Deimos and Phobos, your packs will explore and map the place for me.
If you find anything interesting, tell me."
With howls, the wolves proceeded to spread out.
In the meantime, Raynor summoned his falcon; the bird joined his other bird in the skies as they proceeded to look for unique things as well.
It was time to figure out the size of the forest he got. The size of the forest will decide how much he should work with Sirzechs. After all, he is sure that other devil clans would give a massive fortune to continue their pure bloodlines.
~~~~~~Sitri Castle~~~~~~
Rias Gremory recently learned some crazy stuff. Sona was engaged to some human! How absurd is that! A pureblood Devil with a human! And everyone allows it!
The council usually are very grumpy that such a thing is happening.
But not this time. It turns out the human is super special, so special that devils handed over the Gusion territory to him, like the entire territory.
Not that the territory is particularly special. Well, maybe it is? But it was in the depths of wilderness surrounded by other abandoned lands because of dead pillar clans.
The lands are 'ruled' by wild beasts. In a way, her brother used one stone to kill several birds. He handed over the territory, as wild as it gets, to a hunter who will hunt down wild and dangerous animals.
Such a move will lower the amount of time dangerous creatures room closer to the cities, and on top of that, they will get a person who can make special potions for them!
And this wasn't the end, as Sirzechs made sure his deal was the best deal there was. No other devil clan could even come close to the territory he handed over.
As Lucifer, all the extinct pillar territories belong to the government. In a way, they belong to him, and he can manage them however he wants. Well, he did tell the council.
Regardless, now that Rias knew that Sona was engaged to that guy, she waited for an opportunity for the Sitri to return to Sitri Castle.
The moment she returned, the crimson-haired Heiress of Gremory went to see her.
"Sona!" The double doors opened, and the Gremory Heiress strolled in. Behind her was her Queen.
Usually, Sona has her Queen with her, too, but now, her Queen is doing her devil duties.
"Rias?" Sona looked slightly surprised she hadn't seen her childhood friend for months. Next to Sona was a silver-haired girl with striking lilac eyes.
The crimson-haired girl, for a second, stopped in her tracks and looked at this girl. Not only was she like an ethereal doll, but her mana was weird.
"Your new peerage member?" Rias asked curiously; she wanted to ask where she got her.
"No, she is my fiancee's— woman? Or more like a summon?"
"...You are marrying someone who already has a harem?" Rias was surprised. Sona never struck her as someone who would tolerate a Harem!
"Yeah, about that…there is a story behind it."
"Well, we have time! Let's hear it!" Rias was all up to learn the exciting parts!
…
…
…
"..."
"..."
Rias looked super serious. She just heard a goddam isekai story! And it happened to Sona's fiance! Just how absurd this is!
Her gaze then snapped to Daenerys, who was quiet the whole time. The girl was sitting elegantly like a princess.
'Wait! IS SHE a princess!?'
"...Then does it make you from that world!?" Rias asked with a heated voice. Her inner weeb is taking over.
"...Umm…Yes? I am originally from Westeros."
"...wow… a legitimate 'isekai' moment!!!"
Sona deadpanned when she heard that.
"Even if it is. That world is very wild. It made Raynor into a cold-blooded killer. He waged war on the whole continent to keep his freedom."
"I understand. I am not saying that it's something like those Light novels. I am saying that I am excited about the prospect of seeing someone from a completely different world." Rias explained herself before getting serious.
"What I want to ask you is if you like your current arrangement. Do you like being engaged to someone like him?"
Sona slightly snorted, hearing that.
"I am very satisfied with my current situation." The Heiress smirked as she saw Rias' face.
The Crimson Heiress looked somewhat annoyed. It's a well-known fact that Rias is not happy about her situation, so she visits Sona to find out if her friend is in a similar boat to her.
"Then, since he can visit this world, can he help me to get Peerage members?"
"...Hmm…I don't know. I mean, the world is quite complex. But you could get some interesting people." The Sitri Heiress remembered people of the north who could control animals and Targaryens who could tame dragons.
Rias' smile got even wider.
"HOWEVER, you need to get into that place first. On top of that, there is a cultural gap." Sona doesn't honestly want Rias to enter that place BEFORE she solidifies first.
"...I see—I see… so I need to meet up with your Fiance first."
"Yeah, and you need to strike some sort of deal with him," Sona said with a matter-of-fact tone.
"That's without a question. We are devils, after all." The Crimson Heiress smiled while saying that. She started to ponder on a few things.
Seeing that smile made Sona frown. What is Rias planning?
~~~~~~Devil Capital, Lilith~~~~~~
"How is it?" Sirzechs asked Ajuka after returning from showing the territory to Raynor.
"Not as good as you described."
"Potions, while it improves fertility, it's not guaranteed. The stronger the drinker, the less effect it has." Ajuka said with a sigh.
"It's pretty much useless for pillars." The Beelzebub sighed.
"...You found any blood in the potions?" Crimson Satan enquired.
"...Blood? No, the only thing it has is water and Nature mana."
Sirzechs sighed when he heard that.
"Of course, he didn't add his blood for proper effect." Lucifer massaged his forehead while explaining.
"I see. His blood, indeed, would solidify the effect. The way it is, the fertility boost is temporary, and women or men would only be around human levels of fertility.
And that is for mid to low-class pure-blood devils."
"I see. Then I need to think of something."
The Satan mentally decided to return to the drawing board. He needs to do something, or the council will do something. If it gets ugly— well.
'Hope it does not get to that.'
~~~~~~Back with Raynor~~~~~~
Raynor looked through the eyes of his wolves. He found ruins of some sort, almost completely buried under vegetation.
From material he could make out, it looked like stone.
Stone walls of some sort.
The wolves got closer to the ruins and started to smell them, walk around and inspect.
'With how devil culture is, I can say these are ruins of a castle which belonged to a pillar clan.'
'An extinct pillar clan, that is.'
After checking around for a bit, Raynor, in person, went to see the ruins.
His wolves found some animals, all supernatural by his standards.
From what he saw, some sort of hounds with smokey-looking furs—several different types of elks, boars and from, pawn marking on trees— some big felines.
The forest is crawling with monsters to hunt.
But nothing big yet. No dragons or some mythical creatures.
Yet!
As he has not seen the limits of the forest!
He is pleasantly surprised!
'If I am to mark this castle ruins as my land, I could potentially make it as my territory. Just how it was with Dragonstone?'
For a moment, Raynor pondered on that. His gaze went to the ruins.
There is not much left.
The Civil War and the Great War were long ago by human standards.
'Doesn't this make Serafall old as hell? Yet, I got a drop on her. Just how hilarious is that?'
For a second, the Shaman was amused, but then he realised that his Pet Satan was buried under paperwork for so long that she got rusty.
Regardless, he walked around the few remaining stone walls.
Then, he took some distance and tried to imagine how this could have looked several hundred years ago.
"I guess I will rebuild to some extent and then place my flag as a marker."
He said that while stroking his chin.
'Or just make a camp and smack a flag down?'
With a shrug, he decided to build a proper 'camp' and place his banner.
Why not? It's not like he has anything else to do. It takes ages for that blood to leave the carcass; he has hanged.
So he started with a basic campfire and a small tent, then made some basic sitting logs.
He needed to check out the trees here as well, and just like he guessed, the trees here are more durable with traces of mana.
Still, he chopped one down and cut it to pieces.
'I suppose I will need to remake my totem.'
Raynor casually commented as he stroked the tree trunk.
Once the inspection was over, he started to carve them up to make a proper seat.
With those done, he tried out if his 'declaration' of territory was working.
So he pulled out his banner and made it into a proper flag by stabbing it into the centre of the territory.
"Hmm? It worked!?"
He 'felt it,' so he swiftly checked out his faction interface.
[Faction Overview]
[Ruler's Official Name: Lord Raynor Valeron of Dragonstone (Planetos)
Lord Raynor Valeron of Gusion Lands (Underworld)]
[Rank: Lord (Westeros and Underworld)]
[Lands: Island of Dragonstone (Westeros)
The entirety of Gusion Lands (Underworld) ]
[Holdings: Dragonstone (Westeros)
Ruins of Gusion Castle (Underworld)]
[Population: 476 Small folk
25 Household guards (Westeros)
0 (Underworld)]
[Wealth: 135 Million gold coins, 554 Million Silver coins, 541 Copper coins (Westeros)
0 (Underworld)]
"...So I was made Lord— in the Underworld, I wasn't even aware."
Raynor was amused and perplexed at the same time. He wasn't even a devil.
How did that pass in the council?
'They REALLY sucking on that fertility stuff. I should milk it more.'
The Shaman is open for more business after seeing what he got by selling water and mana.
For now, he decided to explore this place some more.
He noticed some strange-looking mini lakes
~~~
"Sona, we need to meet your Fiance. You realise how weird this is?"
Sona's parents started to bug the Heiress as the circumstances escalated strangely!
The council itself wants Sona to marry a human! That is the strangest thing which has ever happened in devil society since its creation thousands of years ago!
"I know, I know! But Raynor is not 'regular'. He does as he pleases. He will visit when he has his things done. The magic he practises makes him highly attuned to nature. Such magic magnifies his instincts." The Younger Sitri explained to them.
"I understand, but you still make an arrangement. We need to meet."
Before Sona can reply, her eyes widen as she feels a call: Raynor is calling her.
"You will have a chance. He wants me to pick him up from his new lands."
With a burst of a blue circle, she disappeared.
"..."
"..."
"She has fallen hard for that wild boy." Lord Sitri said with a sigh.
"It's always like this. Girls like those bad boys." Lady Sitri smirked while saying that.
~~~
Raynor looked around the massive and luxurious Sitri Castle. His Fiance teleported him into her ancestral home.
*Whistle*
"This is my Parents-in-law's humble abode?"
"...Please. Sitri holds the rank 'Prince'. While it means nothing in current society, our lands and income haven't changed from old times.
We are one of the wealthiest devil clans in the Underworld." Some explained with a plain voice. She wasn't bragging or anything. The Heiress was simply telling facts.
"Yeah, I can see that. Regardless, I assume your parents want to see me?"
Sona's reaction to that was a flinch.
"Who gave it away?"
"You're fiddling. You get uncomfortable when you want to say something which is bugging you." Raynor explained with an amused look.
"...Let me guess, a hunter's power?"
"Nope, simple perception. I HAD to learn how to read animals in the wilderness. Body movement is key." He said with a simple shrug.
"...Anyway, come, they are in the living room." Sona motioned to follow her.
The Shaman shrugged; he didn't bother that he was still dressed in his hunter clothes. He did, however, remove his hood.
As they entered the room, Lady and Lord Sitri were waiting for him.
"Mother, Father, this is Raynor Valeron." Sona tried to sound as professional as she could.
But there was a blush on her face. She tried to play this down as much as she could.
'This is going to be amusing.'
The Hunter internally grinned, seeing how his Fiance was dealing with this situation.
"My apologies for the late visit. I have been exploring new land given to me by Crimson Satan." Raynor started first, as his voice was neither submissive nor superior.
"It's fine. I would like to formally invite you to Sitri Castle." Lord Sitri started.
Then Lady Sitri joined in with a smirk.
"If you ever need to see Sona's cute pictures, I have those in spades~."
"MOTHER!!!"
'So that's where Serafall's character comes from…' Raynor wasn't that surprised; Sera is—unique.
"Don't listen to her! She just wants to embarrass me!"
"Relax, So-tan, it's nothing bad." The Shaman patted his future wife's head.
His response made the parents of Sona start laughing while Sona's eyebrows twitched from anger and embarrassment. She was ready to snap.
…
…
…
Sona didn't expect Raynor to win her parents so quickly. It was—strange!
But then she realised that her parents are suckers for stories, suckers for talking and her future husband spent time with Lords of Westeros.
He knows what to say; hell, he even started cooking barbeque for them!
The Heiress was sitting outside listening to their chatter.
"So this fat king said, 'I can do it!' His hand was twitching. He could barely stand on his legs—"
'...I don't even know anymore…'
By this point, Daenerys had left the library and was listening to whatever story Raynor was talking about.
'Whatever… I am going to check what my Peerage is doing…' With a small huff, the Sitri Heiress left them alone. Since he has it under control, she can leave this to him!
~~~
For advanced chapters (+6 chapters) mypat : pat reon.com/DragonsFics
OR
Discord: discord.gg/denoffanfics
~~~
P.S.: I do weekly voting on Patreon if you want more chapters for this fic (or other fics ) vote there.
