Outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Bruce stood waiting, more than a little nervous.
He had prepared for this for a long time, and he had the advantage of home ground—but what came next was still a face-to-face clash with a Primarch. Nerves were only natural.
Especially since Lion El'Jonson was famous for caution and secrecy.
For all that Lion styled himself as a knight, the truth was that among all the Primarchs, he was the one most like a beast—both in the way he thought and the way he acted.
If Bruce hadn't had the transmigrator buff on his side, he would absolutely have been fooled by Lion's outward image and then coldly killed at the crucial moment.
In short, Lion could afford to make countless mistakes.
Bruce only had one chance.
"Old Wang, you look really tense," Blue Fatty said worriedly, dressed in the same fairy-maid outfit as the others.
"You think Lion is like the current Curze? That's a real Primarch we're dealing with!" Bruce snapped back, fists clenched hard.
For whatever reason, Curze after turning into Remilia really didn't feel all that threatening. Maybe it was the skin and character model.
But no matter how you sliced it, a Primarch in peak condition was not something Bruce could endure, let alone fight. If Lion wanted to kill him, he would truly be killed in an instant.
"A Primarch…" Blue Fatty muttered, thoughtful.
"Anyway, if the talks collapse, I'll just have to go for it!"
Bruce lowered his head and checked over the various wonderful life-saving gadgets on his person.
The Barrier Ball could block a Primarch-level instant-kill strike at the critical moment. Then there was the Invisibility Cloak and the Bamboo Copter—both divine escape tools that could give Bruce a chance to run for it.
On top of that, the Premonition Antenna—used to sense danger—could drastically improve his survival odds too. Thirty seconds of advance warning, minimum. Far too useful.
As long as he could survive the first wave of attack, the rest would naturally be handed off to others. He was not fighting alone. Curze was inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion too.
"If things really get dangerous, just run immediately. At worst, we gamble everything on the Anywhere Door!" Blue Fatty declared, clearly ready to go all in.
Because the idea—get a Primarch drunk, then find a way to imprison him—was just too bold. If it were discovered, the First Legion would come slaughtering their way over in a matter of days.
Making the Night Lords, who were maybe Tier 2 at best, fight the Dark Angels, who were easily Tier 0?
Seriously?
"Hah… just watch how I handle this!"
Bruce drew another deep breath.
Waiting was always agony.
After an entire hour, the people at last saw the specially modified ceremonial car approaching. Seated within it, the towering Primarch in black power armor was impossible to miss.
Even from a distance, the way Lion's smile gradually faded made Bruce start to feel an invisible pressure pressing down on him. Especially when Lion's gaze swept over him, it felt like being stared at by an actual lion.
So this really is the Lion…
Bruce couldn't help sighing inwardly.
Compared to Curze, whose terror came as a cold, suffocating oppression, Lion's was direct and overwhelming—as if a lion truly stood before you, the sort that could kill you effortlessly with either a roar or a swipe.
"Li— Warmaster Lion."
Seeing that Lion remained standing in the car without getting down, Bruce hurried forward to help open the door and bowed in welcome.
"We welcome the Warmaster to the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"
"Ah…"
Lion did not get out at once. Instead, he looked Bruce over carefully—the immature Astartes recruit before him.
Then he greeted him with casual indifference.
"So, it's Acting Commander Bruce."
"I wouldn't dare…"
Bruce took several steps back, lowered his head further, and bowed again.
"I am nothing more than a minor soldier under Lord Curze's command. How could I possibly deserve to be called 'my lord'?"
"A minor soldier? Good. Very good."
Lion stepped down from the car, passed by Bruce, and headed toward the already-open doors of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"While my brother has been absent, you've done a good job with this place. I had heard of Nostramo, but seeing it with my own eyes today has been quite the revelation."
"That is all thanks to you, Warmaster!"
"Oh? My doing?"
Lion stopped abruptly and looked up at the gothic building before him, whose atmosphere was undeniably a little strange.
His instincts told him there was absolutely something waiting for him inside.
But then again…
Did he, Lion El'Jonson, really have reason to fear one Bruce Wayne?
"It is precisely because you and the First Legion fought and bled that Nostramo has become what it is today! Your achievements could not be fully praised even if one sang of them for three days and three nights!"
Bruce stopped in step behind him, echoing the halt.
"I heard my brother's palace was called the Night King's Hall."
"If Warmaster says that is its name, then that is its name."
"Then why is it called the Scarlet Devil Mansion? Was that your idea… or someone else's?"
Lion slowly lowered his gaze and asked.
"It was the Primarch's decision. It is also the consensus of the Legion, and the name best aligns with the glorious vision of the Master of Mankind."
"I see. I had assumed it was the idea of you, Acting Commander."
Lion let out a faint laugh and resumed walking inside.
"My brother's taste may be poor, but if he wants to call it the Scarlet Devil Mansion, then so be it."
The Night Lords had always favored skin and bone as decoration, whether human or xenos. Though Lion did not understand such bloody art, he could at least accept that it suited his brother's preferences.
Accordingly, before entering the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Lion had already prepared himself mentally. He had even expected to make some cutting remark or two about a corridor of gore or a gallery of nightmares.
But very soon he discovered that the Scarlet Devil Mansion had far better taste than he'd anticipated. Though dim and shadowy, with inadequate lighting, the relief sculptures, hanging paintings, ceramic ornaments, and other furnishings all had something of the Terran Imperial Palace's aesthetic.
There was just one thing he could not quite understand.
Why was his brother's palace full of mortal women?
And why did the little girl in so many of the paintings keep giving him a strangely familiar feeling?
"Lord Lion, please take your seat."
Bruce stepped aside and gestured him into the banquet hall.
"Acting Commander, who is this girl? Why do I get the feeling she's the true master of this palace?"
Lion stared at the enormous painting of Remilia drinking tea and asked the question.
"That is exactly what I am about to explain to you. Along with the truth behind the Primarch's disappearance."
"Good. Then let us sit."
Lion nodded in satisfaction.
"Welcome, Warmaster!"
"Welcome, First Legion!"
As Lion and his knightly guards entered, the fairy maids lined up at both sides of the entrance bowed and spoke in unison.
"Warmaster, please be seated. This is your place."
Bruce personally hurried to the host's position and pulled out the Night King's Throne—the seat that symbolized authority itself.
"This isn't appropriate, is it? That is my brother's seat."
Lion said that, but his body was far more honest: he sat down anyway.
"With Father missing, only you are qualified to sit there now."
As Bruce answered, he also gave the fairy maids a discreet signal.
As the attendants accompanying Lion took their seats one after another, the fairy maids pushed dining carts into the hall at top speed and began laying everything out. Alongside a dazzling spread of dishes, bottles of red wine were uncorked, filling the room with a fragrance even Astartes would have trouble refusing.
In the 30K era, Astartes were not yet the sort of ascetics they would become in 40K, where food merely had to fill the stomach.
Even so, each Legion still had its own attitude toward cuisine. The First Legion fell firmly into the category of: edible is good enough; don't fuss over the details.
So when such a table full of fine food and wine was placed before them, the knightly guards were first shocked that the Night Lords ate this well at all, and then immediately began wondering whether this was bait in some kind of trap.
By the First Legion's way of thinking, the better the food in enemy territory, the more suspicious it was.
"Warmaster Lion, I offer you a toast."
Bruce rose, set his own glass aside, personally picked up a bottle of premium red wine, and poured it into Lion's cup.
Then he took up his own glass again and bowed slightly, presenting himself in the most humble and deferential posture possible.
"No need. I'll just drink this."
Lion was eating peanuts from the table while holding up his own flask. Out of courtesy, however, he still clinked his drink lightly against Bruce's.
"Then I shall drink first, in respect!"
Bruce promptly downed his wine in one gulp and returned to his seat.
"?"
Lion drank some water from his flask as well, then frowned.
What was this?
Why was the water so sweet?
It tasted almost like wine.
Sensing something was off, Lion took several more swallows—and discovered that this water was addictively good.
Meanwhile, Bruce, secretly watching from the side, wore a sly smile that all but said the plan is working.
Go ahead and eat the Booze Peanuts.
Once you've had those, it no longer matters what you drink. Everything turns into something that hits like alcohol—stronger than the real thing.
Normally, alcohol to an Astartes was little more than cool boiled water, and to a Primarch it barely even counted as that.
But with the Booze Peanuts, that was a different story.
Their effect was simple: whatever the eater drank afterward would truly hit like alcohol and produce the proper effect.
"…"
After finishing the water in his flask, Lion felt more and more that it had a kick to it. He picked up a nearby wine bottle and emptied it in one pull.
Huh?!
Even better.
This fizzy little fruit-flavored sweet drink was incredible.
Seeing their Primarch openly drinking now, the knightly guards finally dared to follow suit. The moment they did, every one of them wore the same expression:
Holy shit, this is amazing.
Rather like Space Wolves discovering medical alcohol.
"What is this? Why is the texture so unusual?"
Lion savored the peculiar fragrance lingering in his mouth and the faint tipsy feeling he had never experienced before. It left him pleasantly lightheaded.
"In answer, Warmaster—this is a special private vintage of the Scarlet Devil Mansion."
"I see."
Lion picked up another bottle and took a long pull from it, then let out a deeply satisfied breath.
"Excellent. Absolutely excellent!"
In the past, Lion had never understood why that barbarian Russ was always so obsessed with drink.
Now, he was beginning to understand.
Of course, Lion would never sink to Russ's level of vulgarity. Russ drank stuff that looked like piss—beer—whereas Lion was drinking red wine.
Since the Warmaster likes it so much, then perhaps…
Bruce rose again and came forward with another toast.
"Bruce, regarding my brother, I hope you will confess everything properly."
Lion looked sideways at him over his now-empty glass.
"I wouldn't dare deceive you, Warmaster."
Bruce lowered his head again at once.
"In that case, bring another bottle. For my brother's sake."
Lion set the cup aside.
"Bring the Warmaster a larger cup!" Bruce shouted.
While Lion continued crunching peanuts, the fairy maids placed a cup beside him that was larger than a washbasin, then filled it with red wine.
"These mortal women are surprisingly strong."
Lion noticed the oddity, but somehow felt there was nothing particularly wrong with it.
These fairy maids were undeniably women, yet for some reason they gave the unmistakable impression of trained soldiers.
And yet they were clearly only mortal women.
"Warmaster! I toast you!"
Bruce raised his own cup.
"Good!"
Lion, not bothering with restraint, directly picked up the huge basin-sized goblet. After clinking it against Bruce's cup, he started drinking.
At the end of the day, it was just grape juice with a bit of fizz, wasn't it?
As if such a thing could actually get Lion El'Jonson drunk.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter95)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 55
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 45
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 32
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 31
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 31
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin