Relia continued to speak with the Lamia guard captain for several more seconds.
During this time the Lamias asionally nced towards Lyra and Quillon.
Eventually Relia sighed and seemed to agree to whatever her opposite conversation patterner wanted.
Slowly she turned around and walked back towards Marcus, Lyra, and Quillon.
"Something the matter?" Marcus asked, his face a mask of concern.
"The situation is less of a problem and more of an annoyance. I didn''t see thising, but apparently, they want to buy Quillon from us. And they''re quite adamant about it"
For a couple moments, Marcus, Lyra and Quillon stood still with nk expressions.
They were wondering if they had heard Relia correctly, but there was little doubt about what she had just said.
The first to fully process what was going on was the main person in question.
"No way! I''m pretending to be Lyra''s ve because you said that would cause less difficulties. But I''ll fight with everything I have if they''re nning on taking me."
A truly fierce aura erupted around Quillon as she said this. At any moment he was ready to let his sword do the talking for him.
Relia gulped nervously as she watched this shift in his demeanor. She was strong, being an upper ranking vampire around level seventy. However, she already knew that Quillon was far stronger than she was. If he went on a rampage, there would be nothing that she could do to stop him.
"Calm down, Quillon." Lyra said. "Obviously we are not going to sell you to them. Still, we should attempt to solve this as diplomatically as possible. Let''s only resort to force if absolutely necessary."
Despite being heated, Quillon restrained himself for Lyra.
With the situation no longer as explosive as before, Relia further exined that the Lamias'' guard captain had only insisted on her speaking with Lyra since she appeared to be Quillon''s master.
If no deal could be made, she figured that there likely would not be a problem.
''If only I could understand what the Lamias are saying, this would be a lot easier. Though, if I ate one of their souls, I should be able to pick up theirnguage.'' Marcus thought, gazing towards the armored women a dozen meters away with a hungry look in his eyes.
A momentter his expression warped into one of shock and fear.
He could not believe that he had just casually thought about eating someone''s soul the same as he would a simple piece of bread.
Immediately one of his new Supreme Skills, Soul Gluttony came to mind.
After a bit of careful analysis of the changes brought on by his evolution, he found that his Soul Devour unique had not upgraded because of him bing a Transcended Ghost and Supreme Spirit. It was only after he had eaten the Gluttonous Spirit Eater that the skill achieved its higher form.
''Is it really affecting my mind that much?! I haven''t even used it once yet. So long as I was careful, I could deal with Soul Devour, but is just having Soul Gluttony going to warp who I am.''
Marcus was struggling to keep the panic he was feeling from showing. He had almost lost himself a couple of times before, and he was afraid of one day slipping past the point of no return. There was a nonzero chance that he might be a deranged monster in the future.
Thankfully, a distraction to his growing fears soon presented itself.
Relia had told the Lamias that Quillon was not for sale, but this did not bring things to an end.
"What!?" Lyra shouted. "This is insane! They want to borrow him for a few days!"@@novelbin@@
"Yes, they can tell that he is powerful, and to them, strong men produce strong children."
Relia''s response did not help to calm the situation. Instead of Quillon, it was actually Lyra who was the most outraged.
Of course, the man in question looked incredibly ufortable, but his reaction as not as intense as Lyra''s. Obviously, she did not appreciate the prospect of her lover basically being used as the equivalent of a stud horse.
"Tell them that they are not going toy a hand on him. They can either let us in peacefully, get out of our way, or I''ll cut my way through them."
''What happened to trying to get through this diplomatically.'' Marcus thought, his lips twisting into a smile.
Just a few seconds ago Lyra had acted as the voice of reason when Quillon looked ready to go on a rampage, but now she was right there with him. In fact, she may have even gotten more worked up than he had.
With a frantic expression on her face, Relia looked towards Marcus to control his two friends. If they really did go on the offensive, they would easily destroy the entire town.
Thankful for something to keep his mind off his earlier thoughts, Marcus happily stepped in and kept Lyra and Quillon from going out of control. Relia would likely work things out soon. There was no reason to be hostile towards the first civilization they had encountered in the Darnds simply over a few cultural misunderstandings.
''Looks like she''s resolving things. I doubt she''s using Lyra''s exact words. The Lamias would probably be hostile in that case. She did threaten to kill them after all.'' Marcus thought while observing Relia''s negotiations.
Eventually, the Lamias seemed to give up on getting their hands on Quillon. Some of them gave him forlorn looks like they had just missed out on getting to taste an especially exquisite dish.
Still, none of the guards made any aggressive moves. Either they respected Relia enough to ept her exnations, or they understood that a conflict would not turn out well for them.
"Sorry about that, I''ve only ever been here by myself before. I didn''t realize how much of a problem bringing a guy along would be. Luckily, we''ve been given permission to enter the town. Obviously, there are some restrictions since were outsiders, but well have a safe ce to rest and gather information on the current state of the area." Relia said once her discussion with the Lamia''s was over.
She then led the way into one of the tunnels where a junior member of the Lamia guards was waiting to escort them.