To all my fans and that one pest that comments after every chapter:
Sorry for not uploading for a while, but I have an iron-clad excuse. That excuse being one of my periodical hyper-fixations on something, and that something is a new project that I've been working on instead of sleeping. I won't get into details rn, but I think that you guys will love it when I announce it. Either way, I'll be uploading a bit less frequently for a few weeks while I work on that project.
Sorry again
Yours trully, BonsaiCat
________________________________________________________________________________
Adam (Isaac Sygrim)
When the little annoying pests were taken away, I calmly returned to my throne and sat down, then, after hesitating for a second, looked at Jane and asked. "How do you feel? How does having blood on your hands feel, I mean?"
Those words seemed to shock her out of her thoughts. She lifted her eyes and said. "I still haven't processed the whole ordeal, it feels like a dream."
"Are you satisfied with your revenge?"
"I thought that I'd feel better, but it's still the same, just… Emptier." She answered.
"Do you regret it?"
"I don't know."
"Take some time to think it through…" I turned my head to the sound of distant high heels clanking on the stone floor, getting louder with every step, and continued. "Lady Carnal will give you a room, if there is anything you need, ask her."
Jane nodded and turned to the approaching demoness, then was taken away.
After Lady Carnal returned, she approached the throne and bowed gracefully. "Everything is taken care of, your highness." Her eyes then turned towards Yama, still sitting by the wall in a pool of blood, covered with cuts and barely breathing. "May I now tend to his wounds?"
I followed her gaze, then gave a counter question. "Is he weak enough to get affected by something so minor?"
The demoness hesitated for less than a second, then answered. "Not at all, I was just worried that his unsightly state might displease your highness."
"It doesn't bother me that much, so you can just leave him here." I said with a cold voice.
The expression on Lady Carnal's face changed for barely a moment, then returned to her usual smile. "Your highness may not be affected by the sight, but your esteemed companions may find it not to their liking."
I pretended to think about it, taking my sweet, sweet time, then finally said. "You are indeed correct. Let's put some cloth over him to not scare the others. After all, the nights here are cold, it will serve an extra purpose of keeping him warm." Then, I locked eyes with the demoness to see what she would do.
Lady carnal thought for a second, then bowed, a smile still gracing her alluring face and said. "It will be as the highness says. Excuse me. "She turned and began walking. A few minutes later, the demoness returned with a bed sheath, approached Yama and draped it over him. Then she bowed to me once more and simply walked out, her heels clanking on the stone floor as she left.
I followed her every movement with my eyes and listened to her footsteps until I could no longer hear them, then waited. 10 minutes passed, then 20. After an hour had passed and she hadn't returned, I stood up, stretched and approached Yama.
After removing the now blood stained sheath, I produced a healing potion of the highest quality from my dimensional ring, broke the vax seal and poured it over the barely breathing corpse, then turned and walked away.
The next day, I awoke in my massive bed with Elizabeth's supple body pressed to my side, contemplating whether to get up, or to stay with her for a while longer. It was tempting, but having made a deal with the goddess of this world via Lady Carnal and having completed my end of the deal, I decided to cash in my rewards as soon as possible.
I moved my arm from below the cat girl's head as gently as possible in order not to wake her up and got out of the bed, dressed and went to the great hall, where I was met by the already waiting Lady Carnal, whose face was still adorned by that same light and tranquil smile.
I sat on the throne, gently leaned my head onto my left hand and asked. "Where are they?"
The demoness gave a slight bow and asked in return. "Which one of them is your current target?"
"The strongest, of course." I answered.
Lady Carnal hesitated for a moment. "Would you like some advice on the matter?"
"If the advice is on where to find that piece of shit, then I'm all ears." I calmly answered.
I could see that she was holding back a sigh, but acted like nothing happened. With the same smile the demoness said. "When fighting a group of opponents, is it not customary to start with the weakest one and go from there?"
"Even for a god?"
"Yes. When fighting other gods…"
My voice turned cold. "Are you saying that those filthy true dragons are stronger than me?"
"Just as you, they stand at the top of this world, but unlike you, they have thousands of years of experience." Lady Carnal dropped to one knee, her voice now almost pleading. "You haven't had the chance to fight anyone with your full strength in years, while this feeling of craving for an exciting battle is foreign to me, I can somewhat understand it, more so, after seeing just how bored you were fighting those that came from your own world and were hailed as heroes. I understand how you feel now that the fight you were looking forward to for so long had not met your expectations. Even so, that doesn't make you invincible."
She continued. "To you, winning or losing might just cause you your life, but for the Icathian kingdom and all the demons that reside in it, your life means their lives and the lives of their children, so…"
"I will not lose to a filthy dragon." I interrupted the demoness. "So there is no need to worry. Which one of them is the strongest and where can I find it?"
Lady Carnal hesitated for a moment, then stood up, composed herself and said. "Currently, the strongest one would be the Frost Dragon - essence of stagnation."
"Where?"
"...In the northern mountains, at the very north of the continent - where the ground is covered with snow all year round." She hesitated for a moment, then added. "This true dragon's power is similar to the one you hold - the similarity being that…"
"Don't care." I interrupted. "It's just a dragon."
"Yes, but just like your power to destroy anything leaving nothing behind, the Frost Dragon's power…"
"I said, I don't care." I interrupted again. "I'm leaving in three days."
The demoness bowed again and excused herself.
Three days later, I left the castle with my crew - even into battle I brought along those that I cared about, those that they cared about and those whose job was to take care of those that I cared about. Oh, and Jane.
The journey through the demon kingdom was arduous, but once we entered the territory of humans, it became far easier and shorter due to the abundance of teleportation gates. These gates were usually heavily guarded, but due to the abundance of chaos in the kingdom due to the deaths of those in power, the gates were almost deserted.
I wanted to show this world to Jane to the best of my abilities, but since I only had a month for the whole trip, I decided to make as few stops as possible. Even so, she seemed fascinated by the sights surrounding her and had far too many questions.
After around a week of travel we reached the most northern part of the Chelian - human kingdom and entered the last town before reaching the wilderness of the northern mountains.
As we entered the town, I felt a familiar sensation and an inexplicable sense of guilt washed over me. I stopped in my tracks.
Elizabeth was the first one to notice. With a concerned look, she asked me whether I was okay, I replied affirmatively, pushed the uneasiness and guilt away and continued walking. It was getting late in the day and, as winter was approaching, the sun was already down, so we entered the only inn in town.
As soon as we entered through the door and went to check in, I noticed someone running with less than gentle intentions towards me from behind. I turned and caught the arm of the assailant that was clutching a familiar knife, my eyes landed on the assailant's face - teeth that were ready to bite through my jugular, wolf-like gray ears and furious eyes that were almost brimming with tears.
I hesitated, but at that moment, another knife went for my throat. Before it reached me, I kicked at the assailant's gut with considerable force - sending her flying. She retched in pain, snot and saliva running, now mixing with her tears, but no matter the pain, she stood up.
I sighed and asked. "What is it that you want… Aurora?"
These words stunned her for a moment, but then, as if overtaken by rage, she lunged for me once again. I cough her arm and threw her over my shoulder onto the nearest table, breaking it.
"I was wondering what felt so familiar when I stepped into this little town…" I said, stepping onto her chest. "It seems that due to our proximity the mental link from back then activated." Aurora coughed up blood, but I didn't lift my foot. "You're wondering how I am so strong? Well, to put it simply, I was always far stronger than you. In fact, the only reason you had won a few times against me back in the good old days was because I allowed it."
She tried to get free - kicking and punching my leg, finally, with a defiant look, she dug her nails into my ankle. I just sighed. "A mutt like you actually dared to attack me? Laughable." I lifted my foot and planted it back onto her chest once more, this time using far more force.
"I'll be staying in town for a few days, after that we will never meet again, so be a good girl and ignore me for now. Good night." I raised my foot from her chest and kicked her head, knocking her out. Then I turned to the frightened receptionist, dropped a few coins on the table, picked up two keys and went to the second floor.
Jane was the first one to break the silence. "Who was she? You seemed to know her."
"Just a lost puppy, I once fed." I answered.
Join me on patreon at patreon.com/BonsaiCat for early access to new chapters or buy my book 'How to rule a fantasy world' on Amazon. It's the same stuff that you read here, but I fucked up with the naming and the book is already out, so fuck it, let's go with this name for the book. I appreciate all of your support and your forgiveness for my utter incompetence. Best regards, BonsaiCat.