Eminent Vol. 2

Content

For the first time after Gesti discovered Laima's plans to hand Her Revelations over to posterity, the keeper of a Revelation had been murdered by a demon. Others had been sent by Gesti to complete that very mission, but Premier Eminent had been the first to succeed.{np}As Lydia Schaffen's arrow burried itself into Ruklys' neck, Premier Eminent looked ready to shout out, 'I won!,' but he did not say a word.
After disguising himself as a human and monopolizing the Kingdom's government from his political position, this was an important victory.
His only grudge was failing to defeat Schaffen and Maven. Their names were far too powerful for him to attempt it without great risks.
With Ruklys gone, all that was left to do was find the Revelation he was guarding. One word to poor King Kadumel was enough to grant Eminent full control over the operations.{np}He looked set to accomplish the enormous feat of becoming the first demon to seize Laima's Revelation.
Suddenly, Lydia Schaffen made her way towards him. His human self was older than her, but he made the effort to address the acclaimed archer in his usual polite tone.
[I was always sure you would be the one to capture the rebel leader. No general, no officer of the Kingdom but you, Lydia.]
Lydia gave one look at the cunning politician before sighing deeply.
[Next time you can believe I will be keeping my eyes on you. I don't care where you are or what you're doing, you won't be so safe anymore as long as I'm around. Mark my words.]
Had another human spoken to him so brazenly, he would not have hesitated to retaliate. With Lydia, he merely maintained his unassuming expression of years trained in human interaction and spoke in a soft tone.
[You are as proud as the one you killed today, I can tell. I should say, however, that one does not reach my position without a certain level of... competence.]{np}Eminent and Schaffen peppered their words with the right amount of ambiguity. Their conversation was less and less a dialog between two humans. Lydia spoke next.
[I knew a fool who used to say that... He's still up there, riding my arrow. I don't know if you know him.]
It was true. No demon ??neither the fool she spoke of, nor the highest of demon lords ??had ever crossed her path and survived. Eminent found it hard to believe that would be his fate but, even with his immense power, Lydia was far from an easy target.{np}Not only that, if there was any human capable of destroying a demon lord, the woman standing in front of him was certainly one of them. Her mentor Maven, on the other hand, was a high-ranked cleric who would stop at no means to defend himself from the demons.{np}Eminent decided not to respond to Lydia's provocation. In his human form of chancellor Eminent, he was in no way related to her sharp arrows.{np}Lydia Schaffen's strategy, however, was not to fight physically.
[Do you really think you'll get what you want now that Ruklys is dead? Have you forgotten that I was given the same divine task? If there was any chance of it getting to your hands, do you think he would have died at mine? Your plan will never work. You can be sure of that. But it's time for me to go now. Do me a favor when you deliver the news to His Majesty. Make sure everyone understands exactly what I did.]{np}Lydia Schaffen bowed and slowly walked away. Eminent wasn't too concerned yet. True despair wouldn't come for him until 10 days later.