The ambush turned into proper negotiations when Maou's men carried in a long table.
Konrad took the end closer to the entrance, his haremettes on the sides, and—
"What do you want me for, archangel?" the Demon Lord grunted, leaning back on his throne-like chair in his pavilion. "Something tells me I'd have been better off killed right away."
His gaze bounced back and forth between Gabrielle and Stella.
Yeah. There might have been some trust issues here.
Konrad couldn't blame him.
The angel's small stature somehow overshadowed the entire table as she stood to talk.
"To start with," her voice boomed, but she did something he wouldn't have expected in a hundred years. "I must apologise for the grave sins my brother committed against you."
Head bowed, her forehead almost touched the table.
But if that wasn't enough, Lily even elbowed her.
"And sorry for attempting to kill you without hearing you out," Gabby forced it out, face bright pink. "I've assumed you were an enemy of the heavens and tried to stop you, whereas—"
"Yeah, yeah, that's nothing new," Maou waved. "Michael attacked me, not you, anyway."
He looked unfazed, but knowing him from their time on Earth—
"She's also sorry for being an arrogant prick," Lily interjected with a shit-eater grin. "And for trying to find fault everywhere but in her own, corrupted, snobby circle at home."
The pinkish hue turned bright red, and Konrad expected Gabby to scream.
But she didn't.
She had, in fact, bowed her head even deeper.
"It is as she says," she muttered, eyes closed, hands trembling by her sides. "I am very sorry."
'Could I get something similar one day?' Konrad thought, knowing the demoness read him.
She smirked but shook her head.
'There's only so much I could force her to swallow,' Lily's voice echoed within his head.
Well, it was a start.
And Gabrielle didn't cause all his suffering, anyway.
Actually, the demoness might have done more, for reasons unknown.
But the main culprit was Lucifer all along. And that's why they were here.
"So, with that out of the way," the Demon Lord sighed, still playing hard to get. "Depending on what you want from me next, I'll consider accepting or rejecting this apology."
'What a comedy,' Konrad thought, suppressing a smirk.
Considering what happened only minutes ago, the mood couldn't have been more different.
'He's a great mage,' Lily noted. 'Not only hurt in his pride, but used, abused, and then accused of crimes he didn't commit. Let him have this much. And Gabby has to learn some humility, too.'
Ah, he missed telepathy.
Not the chaos, but to have secret conversations with his lover behind everyone's back.
That her other versions, and this very angel, groveling at the table, could hijack at any time. But it was still something to signify their magical connection.
He hoped Gabrielle wasn't listening in on it right now, though.
But she was too busy explaining her plan.
"Rather than treating you as an enemy of the heavens," she said. "I'd like to make you an accomplice in cleansing its corruption. You'd earn amnesty, and we'd lift the restrictions on—"
"Summary," the Demon Lord interrupted. "You want me to betray and kill my guardian angel."
Silence. Long and awkward.
Then, he shook his head, hands balled into fists on the table.
"Then I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Why?" the question slipped out of Yuki. "Wasn't he, like, super mean to you, too?"
She earned her place with Konrad's harem right between Stella and Welf.
Okay, well, harem wasn't the right word for that, then.
"He was," Maou nodded. "He still is. But there's nothing I can do to rebel against an angel."
"That didn't stop you from banishing one," Lily noted with a smirk.
Konrad counted two, but he didn't want to get involved in this conversation yet.
The Demon Lord sighed.
"Let me rephrase it, then. There's nothing I can do against that particular heavenspawn."
He waved his hand, the light playing on the dust motes flying inside the pavilion, before—
A thin thread made of light appeared, connecting his chest with the sky.
No. The realization hit Konrad harder than a punch.
It wasn't the sky—it was Lucifer.
"Nothing I can do would affect him, and even if it did, I'd be harming myself," Maou explained.
Yes, those words rang familiar. Wasn't this the same thing Lu told him?
Gabrielle straightened her back, looking serious.
"That's what he wants you to think," she claimed. "But that thread—your soul tethered to him. This connection works both ways. The truth is, if we harmed you, Lucifer would feel it, too."
The Demon Lord narrowed his eyes.
This was news for Konrad as well.
"So that's your plan?" the old mage grunted. "Torture me to hurt your heavenly brother?!"
That did sound rough. And since he had the same connection—
"Know that if you harm me enough to kill him, all the souls he stole would die, too."
With Maou's words hanging in the air, Konrad realized what he had gotten himself into again.
He was about to kick his chair back in protest, but Lily was faster.
"And this is why we won't kill him," she announced. "I won't let anyone harm my Konny boy."
She flashed him a smirk, but only to confuse the Demon Lord more.
"T-then what?!" he demanded, turning pale.
"What, you ask?!" the little ginger pouted. "You of all people should know."
She crossed her arms, puffing her chest—but she still had nothing to puff there.
What was that about? Know what?
Konrad was losing the thread, and that didn't happen often.
"You sealed me away for a whole century, smartass," Lily pointed out. "And I'm still here. In fact, I'm stronger than ever, thanks to Mr. Husband. So there are alternatives to torture and killing."
Oh. OH.
Right. She used to be Maple. The dragoness he helped to break that very seal in the salt mines.
The Green Mage's. Ugh, of course, how could he forget?
The pieces of the puzzle all fell in the right place, but damn, time travel was sure messy.
"The plan is," Gabrielle took over again. "To banish that bastard from any worlds he could cause mayhem at, and gather all his toys to—well, get back at him."
Toys. So that's what Konrad was?
Not a second chance, not a hero or a protege.
He was Lucifer's toy all along. Pitted against the Demon Lord, who was nothing but the same.
No wonder he had second thoughts even on his deathbed, rejecting his first offer. If it sounds too good to be true, then it was. But with this plan, he could finally break free.
Or, well, his guardian's influence over him, over them all, would suffer a great deal.
Better than nothing.
"Where do I sign up?!" he asked, slamming his fist into the table as he stood up.
"Um, Konny, dear?" Lily asked with a forced smirk.
Yeah, he forgot where he was for a moment there.
This wasn't about him.
But if anything, the Demon Lord seemed more interested in this plan now.
"Hmm, I like your courage, child," he claimed. "And I second that. What else needs to happen?"