All three humans were now flying with Vermillion, since there was almost no luggage, it was much easier for her to hold them. She was holding them on her left hand, with the right hand protecting them from the wind. Anastacia was embracing the finger at her floor with all her power, and while the other 2 were not that nervous, they still considered holding her leg… For security’s sake. They lost most of the view, but that was the price for more speed.

“We are almost there. Oh, someone is coming.”

Vermillion told the passengers, considering that most people in this tribe have wings, it shouldn’t be unusual to meet in the air, that was Akira’s thinking.

“Oh, as I guessed, it’s Auntie Flare. Please don’t bump on me like Mama, I’m carrying people with me.”

“Oi Mlly!? Please, don’t compare me to that mother of yours. You know I don’t like that!”

“Sorry, but I needed you to understand fast.”

Vermillion was laughing at her aunt, and while still flying, she suddenly stopped in midair. Someone suddenly appeared vaguely on the arm that belongs to the hand protecting them. Due to how they were placed, none could see each other.

“... I’m sorry, but it’s hard to fly with you around, your wings are really strong, it’s hard to stabilize... So, who are you carrying around, anyone I know?”

“No, but you could say they are the reason I’m coming here.”

“... Did you come here to reinforce what your father said? The Elders didn’t like the idea of stopping the preparations, especially when he was the one that triggered the new war.”

“... I’m sorry, but yes, I’m here for that...”

“Milly, I’m on your side, but the Elders are already really stressed with your father before, specially Vulkan, keep that in mind.”

“I will, but I won’t do the same as what my father did. I hope I’m able to persuade them.”

“Milly… This is not something your mother said, is it? Be careful with what that woman says and do, she destroyed that little brother of mine, it’s a good thing that you still have some sense in it.”

“Ha ha, I know you dislike Mama, and I know your grudge in regards to Papa, but the reason I’m here is from my own conviction. Can you trust me?”

“Of course I trust Milly, but if you say so… It seems you have changed, something happened? Met someone nice? Finally will let your mother go?”

With a bitter smile, Vermillion replied

“Maybe you could say something like that, but I’m not leaving Mama. I will explain better when I arrive there.”

“I see… Just be careful.”

At that moment, Vermillion landed, and Flare flew from her arm, likely going back towards the settlement. The human trio couldn’t know exactly what was happening outside, they heard the conversation, but there wasn’t much they could see.

It was a strange idea, Vermillion’s aunt rested on her arm, she was likely quite small too compared to her niece, but Akira remembered that they are giants themselves.

Having landed, Vermillion asked the trio if everything was alright, and after the confirmation, she walked towards their objective. Akira imagined that with Vermillion’s height, he would be able to see everything, and it wasn’t that wrong, but it was much less than he expected.

Compared to the small villages in the human lands, the settlement is almost like a city, it contains relatively tall buildings, scattered everywhere, from the looks of it, it’s like it has a maximum of 3 houses one above the other, and the upper floors are mainly reached by flying, although there seems to be alternative ways for non flying visitors

This was one of the reasons that Ignis and Vermillion can’t live in this place, as for them, it would be too tight, and they would risk destroying everything around them.

The settlement was quite wide, and although the demons in this tribe are somewhat long-lived, there doesn’t seem to be an overpopulation problem. They are flying all around, however, it seems that preparations of Vermillion’s arrival were already done, as there was a couple at the entrance, the man was a big mass of muscles, the mature woman in her late thirties that still looked quite the part. The reception didn’t had a good face towards her though.

Vermillion rose her free hand to show that she is not intending to rely on violence here. Once her shadow is cast on the couple at the front, she stops walking, and then sits in the ground. Of course, because they lost a lot of time in the morning, the time now is near midday, so the distance is not that far.

“Elder Vulkan, Elder Celosia, It’s good to see you two are well.”

The muscle man seems to be called Vulkan, and the woman is Celosia.

“Hmpf, and now that Ignis sends his daughter? Is he really turning into a coward? I wonder what those Titans taught him…”

“Vermillion, if you are trying to make us stop after the fact that your father went ahead and triggered the start of the war, you came in vain, if we don’t defend ourselves now, the humans will just destroy all of us. We need to prepare!”

The two already gave their verdict, there is no going back, it’s for survival now.

“I came here because of that. The matter has already been resolved without a fight.”

“Your father said that, but bullshit, that guy is the last person capable of something like that.”

Celosia doubted Vermillion’s words. Meanwhile Vermillion lowered her hands so that the humans can get to the ground, Akira and Ulrika were nervous with the 2 giant people beyond them, Anastacia however seemed more relieved for finally reaching solid ground. Vulkan and Celosia were somewhat far away from human perspective, but for the giant ones, they may arrive in a few steps.

The female Elder was certainly much taller than them, Ulrika would see Celosia’s knee at eye level. The woman could be described as a warrior, although females of this tribe are not used for physical attacks, Celosia seemed to have trained it nonetheless. Her pale blue skin looked unhealthy for someone from Earth, but it’s a different world, it’s probably normal.

Her hair was a fiery orange color, not that long, but somewhat “spiky”, while her eyes were also reddish orange with cat-like pupils. Her face was that of a beautiful mature woman, and her Horns, while somewhat reminiscent of Vermilion’s, have an extra loop and ultimately points upwards, so it’s clear that she is much older, and similar to Vermillion, her face has a somewhat refined villainous face. If Vermillion is the face of the young villainess, this is the absolute queen villain version, and it certainly had its own charm. Her build could be described as thick in a positive sense, with big legs and average to big chest, but nothing extreme.

Vulkan looks like a very serious person, he is quite buffed with his muscles, his hair is short and similarly Orange/Red. His skin was a little darker than Celosia. Both use somewhat revealing clothes, looking at the spectators still inside the settlement, it seems that this Tribe’s clothes are quite revealing, Vermillion said that too much cloth can be annoying when flying, although in her case, the clothes needs to be customized.

Celosia looked down at them.

“I don’t recognize from which tribe they are…”

“They are humans…”

Both Vulkan and Celosia reacted to that.

“W-What!? Even you!? We knew your father is a lost case, but you even went and kidnapped them without letting us know!?”

“Vermillion, what were you thinking? I don’t know how strong humans are and I don’t think we would lose, but aren’t you underestimating them too much? If you keep on provoking them, we may face more losses in the upcoming battle.”

Vermillion sighed.

“I didn’t kidnap them, they are actually the ones who made the first step. I went to the human lands to talk with them too, and we were able to talk properly. Now they came to our home to show us that we can coexist.”

Celosia and Vulkan were even more irritated now.

“Vermillion, you are still a child, you should know our enemy, ‘that thing’ should still be trying to destroy us all, and humans are only pawns. What if they attack us when we show them our backs? What will the one they call Hero do after he invades and massacring our people!”

“Our tribe only contains proud and strong warriors, we will fight that damn so called ‘Hero’ and show the humans the prowess of our might, but just as we get fiercer the more they attack us, they will do the same. Vermillion, do you plan to fight alone?”

Celosia seems to be a bit more rational, but Vulkan seems to be more into battles and honor stuff. Vermillion sighed again.

“That ‘Hero’ is here with us.”

The two giants are surprised again, Akira lifts his hand to indicate that he is the one, but instead of a welcome, Vulkan runs straight at him and Celosia is preparing a big fireball in her hand, but the instant Vulkan seems to be going to attack Akira, a giant hand slaps him back away, the hand continues moving and hits the fireball in Celosia’s hands.

“You two, stop, you are not giving me any time to explain. I know my father is just as fast to attack, but I’m not him, so I want to explain the situation, and I need time for that. Akira is not a strong Hero, so if he dies, we lose our chance, and I will continue to defend him. Do you two understand?”

Vulkan and Celosia seemed to have been intimidated by Vermillion, so much for trying to be different from her father… But the intimidation was so effective that looking beyond the entrance and the houses, everybody was looking at Vermillion, no one was flying anymore. When Akira looked above, from the shadow that she herself casted, he could notice her eyes glowing red again, but they soon stopped.

(I wonder if she does that when she is angry…)

And so, Vermillion explained in more details the actions that happened, from Akira’s arrival by himself, to siding with Ignis, their journey to the human world, and the princess of the Norrstvo Kingdom that is allying with the Demon King.

“Ha, I refuse to believe in this, certainly this human is going to betray us later!”

“Elder Celosia, my father trusts him.”

“That paranoid Ignis!?”

“That idiot wouldn’t trust anyone else, and he trusted a human!?”

“That’s right, Akira has already shown enough proof that he can be trusted, and I personally trust him too. He knows we are in a complicated relationship, but he accepted being in the front to help our own cause. So, would you want a fight that you would likely lose, or do you prefer to live and talk here. Be aware that I’m on Akira’s side.”

(Certainly, that’s the daughter of the Demon King Ignis)

Akira could only confirm that upon the word exchange between her and the two Elders. Celosia seemed to have recovered first. She looked at Akira, then at the two companions, and walked towards them. Vermillion was on high alert, and the trio were holding teleport magic items to ensure their safety, the same Akira had used before, but they still need to be activated manually

(Certainly if so many of these were to fight the humans, they would completely dominate them, if not for the broken existence of the Hero… Wait, could a single person defeat so many of them AND the Demon King? Even if he trains his harem… Are they equal in strength?

Although, if the fight were to happen in the Demon World, it’s possible that the human side would get stronger like it happened to Anastacia yesterday…)

Celosia stopped right in front of Akira, her boots were about 3m ahead of him.

“Elder Celosia, I should also tell you that they are holding a Communication Artifact connected with me, anything you say to them, I will hear too.”

Celosia seemed slightly shocked from the surprise, likely that she would threaten them personally, but that won’t work now, however.

“It seems the Demon King is quite trusty towards this human to lend him such artifacts instead of using them with all our tribes. I’m sure they could be quite helpful in having prepared our assault too.”

“It’s good to see you willing to talk Elder Celosia, however, these artifacts are not ours; instead, they were made by Akira, who is lending them to us to help with our talks.”

Looking above, now Vermillion had an expression that resembled her mother, and seemed that she was preparing a way for the conversation to flow in a good manner, however, their faces are very different, and it feels like Vermillion belittling the Elders as if Celosia is just a speck that can’t do anything against the titanic youngster, and the Elders knows it. Celosia seems perturbed, but now seemingly to be thinking deeply on the information she got.

“So, ‘Hero’, you can ‘make’ Artifacts?”

“Yes, that’s the ability I got. It’s not a fighting ability, but one specialized in support, as such I can make tools that can resolve a variety of problems, and I’m currently willing to support the Demon World too, although I have my limitations, if that may help in our peace talks, that would be great.”

“I see… I’m the current magic specialist of this Tribe, you are going to show me something? Or you will only reveal your cards after I buy into your game?”

“A-Ah, sorry, but a little of both. I was planning to give you some of these Communication Artifacts, however I would like to exchange it for materials… and clothes. If possible.”

“... I’m not sure if I can understand what you mean with the later one.”

Ulrika and Anastacia then stepped forward in this way. Ulrika’s clothes were things that were larger by default, and she was using Sandals, but it seems she kept it loose so as to not hurt. From the fact that they want to buy new clothes, it may be understood that the event from the morning may repeat itself in the near future again.

“I-It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Celosia, I’m Ulrika Norrstvo, First Princ-”

“Don’t waste my time, say what you have to say.”

“Y-Yes. Me and my bodyguard had a few problems with clothes this morning. We would like the permission, and if possible, help, into acquiring new clothes from your tribe.”

Celosia rises one of her eyebrows looking at the two below. She seems to be thinking if there is any hidden meaning in making such ridiculous request, although they could want to spy or just have access to their tribe, there should be better ways for that, especially with Vermillion’s support.

After a few seconds with no reply, Vermillion decides to intervene, with a troubled smile.

“I’m sorry, but they seem to be in need of clothes, so we thought we could find something here. I’m not sure how I can repay the favor, maybe help with some difficult hunt or something? And because Akira wants to make some better tools, we told him we could try getting materials from the Tribes we are planning to visit.”

Celosia suddenly saw Vermillion giving those reasons.

“You mean that in exchange of a few clothes and materials, you will be owing us one?”

“That’s right. We are going to give you a communication device too, so you can call me and I will help as soon as I’m able to. Would that be reasonable?”

“... I can’t understand why you are doing this for humans. But we shall see. I will bite for now, I don’t know what trap you humans are planning, but Vermillion, you said you are in communication with them. I will allow their entrance and guide them personally. If they do something inappropriate and you hear it, be sure I will kill them myself.”

“Yes, however, because I’m listening, if I find out you attacked them for no reason, I will enter the settlement immediately and defend them. Neither of us want me to do that, right?”

Certainly, if Vermillion were to enter the settlement in a haste, many buildings would be destroyed, that’s not to mention the amount of injured people.

“You wouldn’t dare…”

“Nothing will happen if you work nicely.”

With a smile while looking down at the Elder, Celosia seemed to be trembling slightly, but she looked down at the humans with a very angry face.

“Let’s go.”

She suddenly returned back to the entrance of settlement, where Elder Vulkan seemed to be waiting after having recovered himself from Vermillion’s slap. She looks behind, obvious the humans couldn’t have reached her at the same speed.

“You humans waiting or what?”

“Please Elder Celosia, you can clearly see that they are not as fast as you. I hope you are not trying to turn something this ridiculous into a reason to attack them while I’m not there.”

Looking at Vermillion again, her eyes can be seen to be glowing red again, Akira wondered, if he is right, is rage the right feeling for this occasion? But considering the Elders’ reactions, either they were afraid of Vermillion from the start, or maybe those eyes do have some effect on others, although it didn’t work on him the first time.

Celosia returned, and as she crouched, Ulrika rapidly held onto Akira. Akira wondered what happened, but then Celosia grabbed both girls, one in each hand. They were around ¼ of Celosia’s height, so the best she could pick was one person in each hand.

“... That makes it easier.”

“Please take care of them.”

From Vermillion’s smiling face, she waited for them from the entrance of settlement. She would remain in communication with them. The communication devices are simple, and they can only work in one way, they either send or they only receive. This means that up until now, the giants only got a receiver, and the humans got the emitters. Now, under a different channel, the humans have a receiver to communicate with Vermillion.