While Akeno stood entirely dumbfounded, staring at the two figures who had just shattered their cloaking spells, Finn remained perfectly calm. Akeno instantly recognized the muscular, stoic man—he was the one person she was most dreadfully familiar with. But Finn focused his attention entirely on the man standing in front, the obvious leader.
"Well, what an incredible honor," Finn said smoothly, remaining seated. "To have the Governor-General of Grigori, the legendary Fallen Angel Azazel himself, personally drop in for dinner."
Finn stared at Azazel. By all accounts, the ancient being should have looked like a primordial ancestor, yet he maintained the laid-back, rugged appearance of a man in his twenties. Beside him stood the gruff, heavily muscled Baraqiel—Akeno's estranged father.
"Did you come here to assassinate us?" Finn asked curiously, his tone entirely conversational.
"No, no! Of course not!" Azazel quickly waved his hands, shaking his head. "We didn't come here to do anything crazy like that! I'm just here to have a peaceful, diplomatic chat!"
"Do you honestly believe it is possible for a High-Class Devil and the leader of the Fallen Angels to have a 'peaceful chat' given the current geopolitical climate?" Finn raised an eyebrow.
"Come on! Just give me a chance to explain, alright? Your father-in-law is here, too!" Azazel offered a charming, albeit nervous, smile.
"HE IS NOT MY FATHER!" Akeno snarled, her violet eyes burning with absolute, unadulterated hatred as she glared at the muscular Fallen Angel.
"Akeno..." Baraqiel's voice cracked slightly. He looked deeply conflicted, an ocean of guilt swirling in his dark eyes. Yet, he knew he had absolutely no right to say anything. Considering his past failures to protect her mother, and the highly hypocritical nature of the mission they were currently on, he felt entirely hollow.
Could he even call himself a man right now?
Azazel momentarily lost his voice. He could physically feel the agonizing pain radiating from Baraqiel, and he knew just how incredibly selfish his current diplomatic play was. He had dragged Baraqiel all the way to Hong Kong just to use him as a political shield for the request he was about to make.
But what completely derailed Azazel's confidence wasn't Akeno's hatred. It was the fact that the legendary Victorious Fighting Buddha, Sun Wukong, was casually sitting at the same table, eating Sichuan takeout with a young Devil.
Look at how terrifyingly arrogant this kid is... Azazel thought, sweating slightly.
Even when suddenly ambushed by two of the strongest Fallen Angels in existence, Finn hadn't even flinched. He hadn't bothered to stand up. Where did this absolute, unwavering confidence come from?
Was it the immense political backing of the Devil Pillars? Was it Sun Wukong's physical presence? Was it Finn's own anomalous individual power? Or was it something far deeper, a terrifying variable that Azazel couldn't even see?
The situation was so incredibly complicated that it made Azazel's brilliant mind stall for a moment. Taking a deep breath, Azazel tried again. "I just want to talk with you for a few minutes. Give me a chance."
"What exactly are you going to pay me for this chance?" Finn asked, swirling his tea. "You trespassed in my territory without prior notice, creeping in the shadows like assassins. Why should I give you anything for free?"
It was impossible for Finn to act warm and welcoming. The canon plot hadn't even started yet, and with the way the Fallen Angels had just ambushed him, they had absolutely no right to expect cozy hospitality.
"As I said, I have no hostile intentions. But... I admit, our unannounced arrival was incredibly rude," Azazel conceded, reaching into his coat. "Let's see... how about this as a consulting fee?"
Azazel pulled out a highly encrypted flash drive and several ancient, densely packed scrolls, placing them carefully on the dining table.
"And that is?"
"Decades of my personal, highly classified research data on the Sacred Gear system," Azazel said calmly, meeting Finn's eyes. "Think of it as my formal apology for arriving unannounced."
"Acceptable." Finn nodded slightly, then glanced at his Queen. "Akeno."
Akeno nodded sharply and walked over to the table. "I will verify the contents first."
While her baseline knowledge of modern technology might not have been as advanced as Finn's, she was a shockingly fast learner. Unbeknownst to her, because she was deeply tethered to Finn's system, the Manager passively optimized her cognitive processing speed and memory retention.
Without sparing a single glance at Baraqiel, she snatched the drive and the scrolls, sat down at a laptop nearby, and pushed her reading glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"..." Azazel and Baraqiel stood in awkward silence.
"Take a seat. Let's talk," Finn gestured to the empty chairs with a friendly, perfectly manufactured corporate smile. He then casually pointed to the boiling, incredibly spicy Sichuan soup in the center of the table. "Have you eaten? Join us. Unless, of course, you're afraid I've poisoned the broth. In that case, you can just sit and watch."
Azazel stared at Finn for a long second. Then, he stepped forward and boldly took a seat.
"Azazel!" Baraqiel was startled. He immediately stepped forward, ready to taste the food first to ensure the Governor-General wasn't walking into a trap. But Azazel raised a hand to stop him.
"I am the Governor-General, Baraqiel. I will do this. If I show fear over a bowl of soup, we won't even be able to negotiate on equal footing," Azazel declared. Grabbing a spoon, he boldly scooped a massive portion of the blazing, chili-oil-infused red broth directly into his mouth.
Almost instantly, Azazel's face turned violently, aggressively crimson. Tears welled up in his eyes.
"SO HOT!" Azazel gasped, furiously waving his hand in front of his mouth.
Sun Wukong burst into roaring laughter, slamming his hand against the table. "You're so pathetically weak, crow boy!"
"Shut up, you stupid monkey!" Azazel wheezed, chugging a glass of water before turning his watering eyes back to Finn. "Alright... can we talk now?"
"What could you possibly want to discuss that was worth handing over your most precious life's work?" Finn asked, having just received a mental confirmation from the Manager that Azazel's data was 100% authentic and incredibly valuable.
"...You really are entirely different from the other Devils," Azazel noted, his voice dropping an octave.
Finn's utter lack of raw hostility surprised Azazel. Furthermore, watching how gently and protectively Finn treated Akeno made the Fallen Angel feel even more guilty for the request he was about to make.
"You paid the entry fee, so of course I'll give you the floor. I'm not like the old, stubborn generation of Devils," Finn explained calmly. "If you possess value, I have absolutely no problem negotiating with you."
Finn was genuinely tired of playing the exhausting, emotional games of 'love and hate'. He was a businessman. His own political allies were already incredibly troublesome, so he might as well play the board with his enemies too, provided they offered high-yield benefits. It was too tiring to fight pointless battles. It was infinitely more efficient to use them and discard them once their value was depleted.
It was exactly like the slice of orange Finn had just eaten. It was sweet, tart, and highly enjoyable. But once he had sucked out all the juice and devoured the fruit, what did he do with the empty peel? He threw it in the trash without a second thought.
Pragmatic, Azazel thought. It was a terrifyingly simple, predictable mindset, yet it sent a cold chill down his spine. He knew perfectly well that the moment he ceased to be valuable, he wouldn't even register in Finn's eyes.
Because of this, Azazel knew exactly how expensive his upcoming request was going to be.
"So, have you calculated the price of the favor you're about to ask me?" Finn smiled pleasantly, causing Azazel to break out in a cold sweat.
Yet, what about Baraqiel?
Strangely enough, Baraqiel didn't look angry or protective. Instead, a bitter, cynical smile touched the corners of the stoic man's lips. He was actually enjoying watching Azazel squirm.
Why? Because what Azazel was about to ask Finn was so incredibly selfish, so politically hypocritical, that it made Baraqiel deeply question his own loyalty to Grigori. What was the point of sacrificing his entire life for an organization that would do this?
"Ten seconds," Finn announced, pulling a pristine white handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing his mouth. "If you don't state your business after the countdown, the meeting is over, and we are leaving."
Sun Wukong looked at Azazel with deep amusement. The Monkey King leaned his chin casually atop his legendary staff, the Ruyi Jingu Bang, eagerly waiting for the drama to unfold.
"W-Wait, that's way too fast! Let me formulate my pitch!" Azazel panicked.
"Five. Four. Three..." Finn continued the countdown, his voice devoid of any emotion.
Finally, Azazel gritted his teeth, let out a massive, defeated sigh, and blurted it out. "Can you please call off the bounties and spare the Himejima Clan?"
"...."
Sun Wukong blinked in sheer disbelief. Akeno's fingers froze over her keyboard.
Yet, Finn remained absolutely, perfectly calm. He had already calculated that the world was exactly this hypocritical.