When we arrived at Chione's city I was surprised. It was a lovely city, mostly built from white stone and using a lot of glass. It was all covered in snow but ice itself was not used in its construction. Although… Wait! The glass was not glass, but ice?

The surprising thing was not the architecture though. The surprise was Chione, standing there with a number of soldiers. They wore mithril chainmail and were mostly ice fey who looked like rather pale elves. Sir Cedric, her knight, was standing beside her. No weapons were drawn and the army looked more like an honor guard.

"I greet the Storm." Lady Chione said, giving me a small bow.

"Wait, this won't be a slaughter?!" Shani exclaimed, her scythe already in hand.

Chione tensed at those words. "Why have you come? To cull the Frost, while Winter sleeps?"

I crossed my arms. "You leaked information to Beira, who had clearly gone mad. Her runes, her enslaving of souls, was unacceptable. You knew her sentence, you interfered."

"I… I made an error. I misjudged the situation. I apologise." She replied. I was not sure if she was lying but at least she did not seem hostile right now.

"I see. I am here for information. Beira used ancient demonic teachings for her work. She must have had more contact with hell than we had first assumed." I said it out here, in public, because I wanted those fey to know. I wanted to make sure they knew the crimes of Beira.

"I see. Maybe we should discuss such things in private?" Chione offered.

"Boring reasonable fey…" Shani muttered, kicking a small rock.

I ignored Shani. "Lead the way." I told Chione. I had made sure that her subjects knew about a demonic connection. Discussing the actual details in private was fine.

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We were led through the city towards her palace. It had a lot of arches and spires. As we got closer I could confirm that the windows were ice now, magical ice. I could also see some gold and silver used for decorations. Overall the preferred colors seemed to be shades of blue and white. I would have preferred a few darker tones.

Inside the palace we were greeted by a group of butlers and maids, neatly arrayed and bowing as we entered. They led us into a cosy study that even had a fireplace. Although, the fire was blue and not actually warm. Maybe it was not that cosy after all.

"I do hope you don't mind the temperature…" Chione said, looking at the cold flames.

"Thankfully I am rather resistant to the cold." I replied, although I would have preferred an actual fire.

"Hm." Lucy pondered the room, then she turned into a fox but she kept her size small. I had mostly seen her go big, now she was as small as an actual fox. That was certainly new. Normally she was at least the size of a wolf and in combat even bigger than that. Of course, she still had all her tails.

As I sat down on a couch she jumped into my lap and I started petting her.

"Lily, Kira, Shani are you ok?" I asked.

"I am used to the cold up in the mountains." Kira replied.

"I am using magic to keep warm, my lady." Lily replied.

"Pfft, as if a bit of cold would stop the cutest elemental!" Shani stated.

"Well, let's get down to business then. You mentioned demons?" Chione asked.

I nodded. "Actually, we now suspect Beira had help from one of the ancient demon lords. It is possible that they had a falling out but she used demonic works for her project."

"Why would an ancient demon lord work with an archfey?" Chione asked.

"Because fey have easier access to the mortal world. Because we are more accepted, can blend in more easily and are good at deception." I replied.

"Perhaps, but why not succubi?" Chione wondered. "They are getting summoned fairly often and are good at infiltration."

"Because Lilith would have been harder to manipulate. I also suspect they wanted to enslave succubi, possibly Lilith. I have a feeling Beira sought power in the fairy realm and the demon lord sought power over hell." I said.

"Interesting. And why do you think I can help you?" Chione asked.

"Because you probably looted Beira's place." Lucy said.

"Why would you think that?" Chione asked.

"Because you gave her information. So you had a way to contact her. You likely knew her hideout. And I assume you took everything of value the moment you heard about her death." I said, while staring at her.

"I… Yes, I did." She replied. "However, I have not found any of those texts you mentioned."

"Really? I guess we will have to search everything you have found then. And if we are not finding what we are looking for you will have to show us to her hideout." I mused.

"I am sure we can negotiate…" Chione started.

I unleashed my aura and hit her with full force. My eyes started to glow. "Do not test me. I have been lenient with you so far. Either you cooperate, or I shall show you the true power of the Storm."

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