Primordial Villain With A Slave Harem

Chapter 624: Covenant of Eternity

"… What do you mean?" I asked, not liking her choice of words.

With a sly smirk, she began musing. "An extremely tall spellcaster with a saber in hand, a Samurai, an Enchanter, a Phantom Canine… Introduced to the syndicate by an adventurer stationed in Braedon… It took me about an hour to find a curious little wooden inn with a very accommodating innkeeper… A mere minute and a beautiful smile were all it took to have him spill everything he knew."

Hearing her words, Lucille immediately flinched, and she wasn't alone. We decided to leave her ex-husband and daughter in Braedon because our home wasn't completed yet, and also, dragging them away from their lives wasn't an easy thing to do. Mavena was a young woman, being surrounded by maids and construction slaves was not ideal for her development. Naturally, if I knew the risks, I would've relocated them anyway. 

The mistake I made was not realizing just how recognizable we were despite my best efforts to hide our names and faces. And then, my first mistake led to the second.

"Sorry…" Lucille muttered weakly. I found no faults with her actions, so I squeezed her sensual thighs firmly to reassure this wonderful woman. 

"It wasn't just us who made the discovery," Vex spoke up again. "No one cared until the final round of the trials, but once you made a spectacle where you showcased your Elemental Sovereign status, it was no longer just Black Fang who was dying from curiosity. All other heads sent search parties all across the duchy, and they weren't alone—nobles, leaders of the Adventurer's Guild, the Mage's Association, members of other syndicates… everyone searched for you. The whole country wants to recruit Devil the Elemental Sovereign. Lady Black Fang had to station multiple Shadow Vanguards at the inn to protect your secrets from becoming public knowledge. Sometimes even I or Raika would have to rush to the place if the sentries were being attacked by mighty foes."

… Damn it. What an incredibly dumb blunder I'd committed. If it wasn't for Black Fang, Lucille's daughter would've likely been kidnapped to be used as blackmail material and my name would've become associated with the criminal known as Devil. 

The latter wasn't a horribly big ordeal as it wasn't like I was a public figure. Quinlan was not famous, and for every primordial trial I passed, I could swap my names. However, Mavena's kidnapping would've been an incredibly big problem. She wasn't even [Subjugated], so I couldn't use [Overlord's Eyes] or [Master's Link] to mount a hostage extraction mission.

As for how my [Warp Gate] remained a secret despite the heavy surveillance, Lucille visited her daughter about once a week, she wasn't willing to neglect Mavena. However, I simply portaled her right into the inn where they would merrily chat for a few hours, the sentries were likely stationed outside the inn. It was just dumb luck.

I'll have to thank Black Fang when I get the opportunity, and also relocate those two. Even if not to my home, to another city at the very least. Now that I think about it, sending them to Miri Town would be much better, there are thousands of people there. Mavena's life would be a lot more enjoyable there than in my home. As for Robert… I'm angry at him, but honestly, I should've known better. He literally shat his pants the last time I was a bit threatening toward him, it only made sense a spineless rat would keel over and spill the beans at the first sign of trouble.

It was time to move on. "The final mystery to unveil is how you learned of my race. Robert certainly wasn't aware."

Vex nodded at my words. "Indeed. Lady Black Fang is quite likely the most well-learned human when it comes to knowledge regarding topics that can help her become a mightier combatant. She's a prodigious combatant for certain, but what I admire the most about that woman is her brain's supernatural capacity to absorb immense amounts of knowledge and never forget it. She remembers details from obscure tomes she read centuries ago. And in one such tome, the primordial race was mentioned.

In the final round of the trials, you were running around as a saber-wielding Elemental Sovereign who was not only impossibly young but also somehow had the time to master wandless and even gesturless spellcasting. It made no sense whatsoever, unless..."

"… Unless I was not a mortal."

The pieces of the puzzle were at long last fitting together. I understood everything. I could give my old self some slack for committing these mistakes, but not my current self for remaining comfortable enough not to notice the jarring issue of us sticking out of crowds like a sore thumb.

<We must not make such dumb mistakes in the future.> I declared to my girls, receiving only affirmative responses. They were angry with themselves just as much as I was with myself.

"Thank you for opening our eyes, future wife. Please convey my gratitude to Black Fang as well. We'll relocate those two to safety once we get back."

A simple happy motion of her gorgeous head was all the reply I received.

"I believe it's time we discuss the necromancer business," I said, moving on.

Vex agreed. "Although her body has been severely ruined, she is clearly a human. In the Vraven Kingdom, necromancers are outlaws by default—classes that are associated with living sacrifices or corpses are hunted by the authorities even if the class holder has never committed any wrong. 

As such, this woman was likely part of a criminal organization, and it just so happens that the Covenant of Eternity, the largest syndicate of the Ravenshade Duchy, pursues eternal life by mastering the dark arts.They're a normal criminal organization like the Vesper Consortium in the sense they have all sorts of branches a big and profitable organization needs, with the only difference being their leadership and their aim. Instead of seven heads democratically voting on decisions, it's a covenant made up of an unspecified amount of undead liches who call the shots. 

Any person who successfully completes a ritual and becomes an undead with their intelligence retained is welcomed into the members of the covenant's inner circle. The aim of their members is thus more than simply having money, power, and political influence: they wish to attain immortality no matter the price. Enemies, innocents, their own friends and families—none are safe from their bottomless desire to achieve eternal life.

I always found it strange how just a meager dwarf managed to tip the scales of the animal kingdom- er, I mean the Beastman Confederation. You could see the might of the bearkin, the versatility of tigerkin, the speed of wolfkin, and how adaptable the non-apexes were. They didn't even use bows before, but were now riding birdkin and rabbitkin into battle to form an aerial cavalry. The lions simply did not have the numbers to dominate over so many tribes even if they had armor and weapons."

It was me who finished Vex's statement. "The Covenant of Eternity being the silent backer of the lionkin would explain everything."

She nodded with an uncharacteristically serious expression, "Exactly."

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