Chapter 96 - The Eldest and Verath

“You,” I said softly. “What are you doing here.”

“Do you like the two gifts that I bestowed upon you?”

“Gifts?” I asked, unsure of what she was referring to.

Her fingers went together to form a crude sphere and the four-horned female mimicked an explosion as her fingers went apart. She gave a cruel grin then as she saw the flicker of surprise that had pass through my guarded expression.

“Can you guess the other one?” She paused for a brief moment, waiting for my answer. She continued, not the slightest bit bothered by my silence. “Of course you can't. My other gift was killing that baroness.” The four-horned woman laughed for a short while. “It was fun to see the consequences of that result.”

“Anyway, enough talk. You shall die now, Deathwalker to the Goddess Linara. I have confirmed the danger of you living. Thus, return to her cold embrace.” A red sphere of fire formed in front of her in less than a second. “Sweet dre—”

Before she could finish her words, a column of blue fire sprouted from where she stood. Nothing remained after the blue fire disappeared. Not even ashes. The magic had been precise and perfectly controlled. It had only affected its intended target.

“Up above, Verath,” a male voice spoke down.

Hearing the voice, I looked above and saw a tall, white-haired man hovering in the air. Also, floating beside him in a horizontal manner, were Eden and Kiara. They were both unconscious, but seemed undamaged.

Navra Bloodseeker slowly descended and touched the slab of earth I stood upon with a light tap, while the unconscious Eden and Kiara kept floating beside him. “To think I would see a Midling Ethera of the Court of Domination here in the human lands.”

With impassive and calculating eyes, Navra observed his surroundings. A small smile came over him. “Looks like there are still some humans here. No matter though, let us go back.”

“Wait! Why are you here?”

“Why, you ask?” the eldest said with a small smile. “I came here to pick up my son.”

The shock of that revelation felt as if I had been smashed into tiny pieces. “What do you mean!” I inadvertently shouted.

“It means I am your father and your mother is...well...let's just say it is not the emerald dragon you were with. Oh, and no need to worry so much, I already know that you were once a human soul. Otherwise, why would I have allowed you to come to these human lands.”

“What about the other two beings inside me then?”

“Oh, them? Those two are just the souls of the Deathwalker and a Demon Lord I captured and put inside your body when you were a mere egg. You need not mind them. I have sealed the memories of the Demon Lord so he cannot easily escape,” Navra—my father—casually said.

“I am confused. Who was the original owner of this body then? Should it not be a dragon soul?”

“You ask too many questions, son. That said, I suppose I shall explain it to you bluntly. I am cursed to have soulless descendants so I resorted to grabbing the nearest and most suitable soul that had lost its body at the same time my son was born. Thus, you reincarnated into a black wyrm. Simple, is it not? I did not, however, expected such a black color when little Malia, your first brood-keeper, brought you into my chambers. It took a lot of effort to rein in my excitement at that time.”

The eldest chuckled a small bit. “Did you not find some of the actions of your first brood-keeper strange and our first meeting even stranger? Did you not realize when we first met, I had the same white hair as you do now?

“Ah right, the blood mark I put on you also serves to somewhat curb the influence the two souls have on you. Due to the strength of its restricting nature, your true dragon-form is also somewhat affected. Transforming only parts of your body, however, is a method to get around this.”

The eldest continued speaking, unhindered by the look of surprise on my face and the silent state I was in.

“I had been observing what happened after your near-death experience with the lich, and I was right. When you were near death, the Demon Lord took control of your body for a few brief seconds and the seal became weakened. Thus, I strengthened the seal after you touched the orb and further strengthened it when you came back from your second tribulation. In conclusion, you will feel an agonizing amount of pain if you transform into your true dragon form.”

“Then why did you even put the two souls in this body in the first place if they were going to cause so much trouble?” I asked with disbelief in my voice.

“For the sake of my boredom, my son,” Navra merely replied with an amused look. “You will be a First Monster, one of a kind.”

“...”

“Anyway, let us go back..”

“Wait,” I said, walking toward Efari's corpse. Her straw-colored hair and her darker-than-ever eyes were in a disarray.

“Ah, a Matriarch Devourer, eh? I remember they were the servants and mates to the Deathwalker of Goddess Linara. It is a shame almost all the gods and goddesses, however, have abandoned this world millenniums ago.”

“She was the last matriarch,” I softly said toward Navra, while still continuing to look at the last Matriarch Devourer.

“Rest well, Efari.”

I removed my winged helmet which had not gotten lost in the chaos. My enchanted black armor was tattered beyond recognition and my longsword was missing, most likely destroyed or buried under tons of rock.

I put the winged helmet, whose wings had been shattered and burnt off, beside Efari. It was no longer a winged helmet, though I kept calling it that. Both helmet and body was broken and dead.

Finally, I summoned the Flames of Interitum, drawing upon the black pool of magic that belonged to the Deathwalker and perhaps the Demon Lord that was inside me. The flames quickly covered the entirety of Efari's body.

And soon, not one sign of her remained.

Death had claimed her.

“A familiar sight...The flames of oblivion, or Interitum, to be precise,” Navra said from behind me. “They are flames that belong distinctly to the higher nobility of the demon race. Even I had a somewhat hard time facing them.”

I turned around to see the eldest looking at me with impassive eyes. It did not match the smile he formed on his face. There was just something incongruous about it.

But I dare not reveal these thoughts to the eldest.

I could somehow sense that he was withholding some information from me. Or perhaps I was just being led toward some greater destination, an end which I knew nothing of. An end which I could do nothing about...for now.

“We can leave now...father.” I said the last word hesitantly. “Nothing but memories remain here for me.”

---------------------------

[3 Months Later]

I stood hovering in the air above countless islands. The view below was expansive since I was more than two thousand feet above. The countless islands of various sizes were surrounded by water as far as my eyes could see.

I descended using the black feathery wings that sprouted from my back and using some Air magic to stabilize myself.

When I landed on one of the larger islands, the sea-dwellers who called themselves the Drenai, quickly greeted me. Drenai women and men went down on both of their knees. Even their children stopped playing among themselves and bent their knees.

The island leader quickly separated himself from the mass of Drenai and bent as low as possible. “Demon Lord Codrixas, we are honored by your magnificent presence,” the island leader smoothly said in a flattering voice.

Age, it seemed, had brought wisdom to the old Drenai.

“I have come for a sacrifice,” I stated plainly, not one ounce of emotion in my voice.

Shock passed through the islander leader's face. It was quickly hidden. The old Drenai had been this island's leader for a long time, and he had the sense to not go against me.

This time, however, the old Drenai differed.

“Isn't it too early for a sacrifice, Great Lord?” the old Drenai asked in a placating tone.

His question, though masked by the placating tone, was still too forward and disrespectful toward me.

It was the last question he would ever ask.

The old Drenai island leader did not even have a chance to scream out before he was entirely devoured by the Flames of Interitum. He had been obliterated. Not one shred of his existence remained.

Some of the Drenai children screamed out, but their mothers quickly put a stop to it. I allowed no screaming or unneeded noises in my presence. I was feeling merciful today, so I let the few screams pass by without doing anything in retaliation. Next time...there would be no next time.

The weak had no need to complain. The strong dispensed mercy, and the weak dispensed obedience. It was a natural law among demons and all other creatures.

“Who is the next chain in command,” I asked unhurriedly.

A middle-aged Drenai—they lived only a little bit longer than humans, though granted some powerful mages lived longer—spoke up. He came hurrying forth from the crowd of Drenai and bent even lower than the old Drenai had.

“It is I, Great Lord.”

“Very well. Bring me my sacrifice.”

“Of course, Great Lord,” the new Drenai island leader said with obedience. He gave a look toward some of the Drenai warriors, tall muscular males that trained intensively with their natural-born aquatic forms.

The warriors soon surrounded a small girl and ripped her apart from her crying mother, who was helpless against the crowd of Drenai that did nothing to stop the warriors. They only watched with sadness, some of them even turning away from the scene.

All of them knew not to interfered. Thousands of Drenai people had died before they had learned their mistake in raising their hands against me. Rebellion was not accepted.

“Mommy!” the girl Drenai cried out in fear as two warriors dragged her toward me. She had most likely heard of these sacrifices, but never knew what they truly were. None of the Drenai knew.

The other Drenai warriors looked impassively at the girl while they held back her mother. “Do not cause anymore unnecessary strife,” a Drenai warrior spoke up sadly with a mix of resignation.

The mother could only burst into tears at that.

“Please, stop! I don't want to leave my mother alone! Father already passed away!” the Drenai girl sobbed with the voice of a twelve year old. Or at least that was what I guessed to be her age.

I only looked at her indifferently. Then I carried her forcefully with one arm, locking her in my chest with one smooth motion. The flapping of my wings caused a small storm of fierce winds and in a few seconds, the Drenai girl and I were high above the sky, moving among the few clouds.

“What do you plan to do with me?” the girl finally asked after all of her tears had dried out. She had sobbed her heart out.

“Sacrifice you,” I said without the slightest bit of hesitation. I felt nothing for the girl. Nothing but indifference, for most of us demons, especially a Demon Lord such as I, were born selfish, cruel, and indifferent.

And I was one such, connected with death, which was symbolized by the black flames I could use.