Chapter 102: The Coup in the Swamp (II)

“So it seems that Basong’s proposal is completely futile. No matter how much nonsense the Earth Elf diplomat spouts, there will be no doubt in the final vote.” Roger frowned and asked in puzzlement, “I suppose Basong must have known this long ago. Since that’s the case, why would he propose such a proposal that is destined to be rejected?”
“I’ve felt the same confusion, but it only dawned on me later that Basong was simply stalling—he was waiting for someone to return.” Viss’s face turned grim, as though he were reliving a nightmare.
“Who exactly?” Jolan asked.
“He’s called Kotar… I truly don’t wish to speak that loathsome name again. He is a figure of extreme evil and cruelty. If I must compare him to something, I would far rather think of him as a true demon than a lizardman.” Viss could not suppress a shudder.
Jolan noticed his fear and poured him a cup of hot water, handing it over. Viss accepted it gratefully, drained it in one gulp, and his color improved noticeably.
“Viss, and you, Messrs. Tidorels, before I recount Kotar’s deeds, allow me to first speak of our race’s faith. It will aid your understanding of what followed.” Viss set the cup aside and continued, “As is well known, our Lord Shemua is the common ancestor of every lizardman and the true god we generations revere. Yet in extremely rare instances, some lizardmen betray orthodoxy to turn to other deities. We remain generally tolerant of such heretics, but we will not abide the fallen who are seduced by demons. Indeed, at the bottomless abyss dwells a demon lord named Sesi Nek. This terrifying, colossal crawler seems to bear us lizardmen a deep malice, constantly striving to lure our kin into the abyss of corruption. Occasionally it selects a favored one from that small cadre of demon-worshippers, bestowing upon him great magical power and commanding him to corrupt Shemua’s children by any means.”
“Unfortunately, our tribe has harbored such a hidden cadre of heretics who outwardly honor Shemua while secretly serving Sesi Nek. They conceal themselves well. My father spent great effort to seize one of their tails. That man was Kotar, once our tribe’s foremost warrior and a misguided young noble.” Viss sighed regretfully. “Four years ago my father gathered ironclad proof of Kotar’s secret worship of Sesi Nek and convened a public trial before the elders. Confronted with irrefutable evidence, Kotar could only confess. By our laws, demon believers deserve death. Yet because Kotar was of noble birth, had served as high commander, achieved distinction in many wars, and wielded great influence in the army, and because his uncle Basong the Elder pleaded for clemency, my father spared his life by stripping him of his name and exiling him forever.”
“This Kotar gentleman will surely not accept such punishment and will nurse his resentment toward your father,” Dick surmised.
Viss nodded heavily. “Had I the chance to begin anew, I would implore my father to slay that rogue. Yet no antidote exists for regret. Just as Kotar had been banished from the tribe for four full years and we had nearly forgotten him, the man returned.”
“The day before yesterday, while we were in session, the great doors flew open and a figure both familiar and strange burst inside.”
“Both familiar and strange?” Jolan asked in astonishment. “Has Kotar changed that much?”
“We know not where Kotar wandered these four years or what trials he endured. When this man reappeared before us, aside from Basong who opened the doors, almost no one recognized him as the former Kotar.” Viss shuddered again. “That man had become wholly other: his deep-green scales had turned black-red, like frozen blood, and from his back sprouted two bat-like black membranous wings. Two pitch-black horns grew from the sides of his forehead. He looked like a monster half lizardman, half demon!”
Jolan recalled the term he had once read for such beings: half-infernal creatures.
“Most half-infernal beings are the offspring of demons and mortals, but Kotar clearly does not belong to that line. Instead, he belongs to another fate: certain demon-worshippers may receive favor from their idol, their flesh and soul becoming corrupted by the evil forces of the abyss, eventually mutating into half-human, half-demon abominations.”
Viss nodded, confirming Jolan’s guess, and spoke with a complex tangle of fear and hatred. “These four years of exile have not brought Kotar repentance. On the contrary, he has drawn closer still to the demon king he worships until he has become Sesi Nek’s apostle in truth. Returning to the tribe in this demonic guise, he brazenly demanded that my father surrender the Cold-Blooded Trident—the symbol of chieftainship—and name him chief of the Cold-Blooded Tribe.”
“My father would never yield the power to such a corrupted cultist. He immediately ordered Kotar from the hall. Yet Kotar did not wait for the words to finish before he struck. With some spell he flicked his cloak and vanished; the next instant he stood at my father’s side, while the Earth Elf diplomat McKinney who had occupied that chair now stood inexplicably at the hall’s entrance, as though the two had exchanged places.”
“It sounds like the second-circle spell Displacement,” Jolan guessed.
“Too sudden for my father to react in time. By the time he seized the Cold-Blooded Trident to strike back, it was already too late…” Viss’s voice shook, tears glimmering in his eyes. “Kotar unleashed the ultimate evil spell bestowed by his demon-lord master. He opened his maw and spat forth countless runes, their hue glowing black-red like Kotar’s scales. The unleashed magic killed every guard nearby, and my father himself was struck by that blasphemous tongue, sinking weakly back into his seat, clutching his head and groaning in agony, lost in a daze.”
“Kotar’s cruelty as the ‘Demon’s Son’ surpassed all imagination. He wrenched the Cold-Blooded Trident from my father’s grasp, his face twisted in a cruel smile, and raised the trident high… piercing my father’s chest…” Viss lowered his head, wiping away tears, and after a deep breath continued hoarsely, “My blood seemed to surge to my head. Mad with grief I lunged at Kotar, vowing to kill the demon myself, yet Basong—the old viper lurking in the shadows—suddenly appeared behind me and stabbed me viciously!”