Ragnarök

by PuddleMan

YGGDRASIL was a dying game, a relic from the past, no longer at the apex of DMMO-RPGs as player numbers dwindled and the once constant flow of game content had long since ceased. However, in one last ditch attempt to revive the game, the Devs released one last expansion; Ragnarök.

11. Intermission

Hey hey, I'm back from the depths of poor mental health to grace your screens with some complete garbage! Um so, sorry for not posting the past few months but I've had school and I've needed to actually plan out the personalities of the dragon lords and the demon lord as well as his subordinates which has taken way longer than it had any right to be! But hey, I've come up with almost every major character pertaining to the two latter groups, their personalities, abilities and roles in the story so I've at least done something I guess. Anyway, we're breaking from the story for this chapter to be introduced to two new characters. I actually didn't really like writing the central character for this chapter as I much prefer his far more reasonable or goofy counterparts but hey ho, gotta write some extra trash characters every now and then I guess.

So, about the dragon lords...uh...they exist I guess. They're pretty strong to boot as well though they aren't just magically gonna nuke everyone like idiots. I'm planning to have them be more cowardly and like set up traps and whatnot rather than just going "ooga booga smash mean player." That's as much as I'm gonna say though but please note that I'm not just gonna throw in a bunch of bumfuck randos to nuke the bois when I get to the dragon lord stuff. Regardless, the dragon lords actually interacting with the main cast again is still pretty far away from now so don't worry about it all too much.

Anyway, uh, enjoy(?)

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In the heart of the Empire laid the capital - Arwintar. A rather small city that wouldn't necessarily fit the role as capital city for a once great Empire . The city was nearly identical to when Pero had scouted out the location, great stone structures lined the various districts of the city, only being interrupted by wooden supports to keep the buildings from collapsing in and to save costs. Being surrounded by demon territory wasn't exactly cheap. Arwintar was a peaceful city, unlike the Empire's frontier villages. Each citizen, despite knowing full well that their homeland was being gutted by the demons from the West and from the mountains, wore bright smiles on their faces. They were not the smiles of the joyful however, more like the smiles of the ignorant. They had faith though in what, even they did not know. People just had faith. Was it in their Emperor? Their Gods? Perhaps faith in foreign allegiance? They knew not, yet their Emperor never once faltered nor ever even seemed destitute so his people followed his example.

The streets were filled with the noisy cacophony one might expect from a capital city of most nations. Jeers, cheers, shouts and whales were commonplace and made for a rather unpleasant soundtrack to accompany the bustling streets of the city. Men, women and those creatures in between the two rubbed shoulders through the tight, cold pathways that spread through the city to get to wherever they were going like a network of blood vessels, dictating the flow of the population to the primary economic hubs of the city. Some ate at the various markets while some took pity upon the elven beggars and handed them coin. Either way, Arwintar was peaceful if a tad noisy.

However, while the citizens of the Empire went about their daily lives, they were ignorant of a certain visitor to their capital. A visitor who'd been silently slumbering for many a month within a secluded inn just a few hundred feet away from their prized Emperor. A visitor who slumbered in ignorance of the common people just as they were ignorant of him. If awoken by the noise of their daily lives would see to it that the Empire was wiped from the map. And a visitor who wielded perhaps more political and most certainly military might then the entire Empire could dream of. The sleepy visitor made refuge in a cheap, dingy room and led atop a pile of void-like coins from underneath his now grime ridden sheets.

The room itself was the very definition of chaos. Clothes were strewn all around the room as if an explosion of fabric had been let off in the room. The walls were carved to pierces and a glassy residue glinted as the small crystals of glass caught the small amount of light that penetrated the drawn curtains. Even the bed and the floor and all the other pieces of furniture were coated in the glassy specks and torn to shreds by the owner of the room. Faint whispers and moans emanated from the occupant, a mix of general nonsense or crudity were all but common amid their sleep-talking.

"Ugh...no...Cure...I...don't care...if she's...a thousand...ngh...years old...she's...still...a…kid..." Came a sleepy voice in between heavy snores and other...less pleasant sounds that one may make while asleep in between the harsh scrapes made by a long appendage attached to the owner of the voice.

A large lump perpetuated the majority of the large bed. Darting underneath the covers was a long tail wormed around in a sleepy haze and a faint few snores came from the lump under the sheets. The long tail swished around with little regard for its surroundings, bashing into the bed frame and slapping the walls and ceiling while the owner (not so) quietly snoozed.

Both left and right sides of the lump flapped with each breath the snoozer took and two blackened talons jutted out from the left and right corners of the sheets and a semi-transparent membrane could barely be seen running into the depths of the darkness of the sheets.

A rather disgruntled girl made asylum in a warded off corner of the room, sitting with a blank expression on her face behind some form of warding spell that let off a faint emerald light.

Next to the girl was a small timepiece with sand pouring down grain by grain into a lower section that was almost completely filled with sand. Only the last dregs of sand remained and minute after minute, the girl sat in her corner and waited for the last of the sand to fall.

Eventually, it did fall and so, she stepped through the spell with a huff and a heavy, drawn out sigh as well as flicking her glasses back into place in an incredibly over dramatic display of annoyance before arriving next to the sleeping figure.

After gently clearing her throat and making sure the lump was asleep, she lightly tapped the head shaped protrusion in the sheets and gently said: "Gessenvult-sama, I do believe it is time you awoke."

She was met with nothing but the continued snoring of her master.

Ducking from a lazy tail swipe from her sleeping master she let out an even heavier, more exasperated sigh. With more conviction, she spoke again:. "...Gessenvult-sama, wake up." She flicked the lump and the resounding crack filled the room.

Still nothing apart from even more snoring and slightly more lucid tail thrashes.

She clapped her hand together, letting out a massive shockwave throughout the room and shouted: "Gessenvult-sama, wake up!" She said far more sternly than before.

Again, nothing except for the happy snores of the lump.

With a tut, the girl reeled back her fist and made to strike the sleeping person. The pair of gauntlets on her fists caught the thin strands of light that penetrated the drawn curtains and glinted an emerald hue.

"I shall be forced to administer punishment if you refuse to comply." She said just as her fist had fully reeled itself back.

Still they did not wake in light of her threat.

Nodding to herself, and confirming the laziness of her current lord, she said: "Very well." and prepared her swing.

Her options exhausted, there was only one action she could take - violence. Despite her rather impractical garb and girly physique, her first moved at incredible speed and flashed through the air in some form of magical fire that burst from her gauntlet. Before striking true on her target, the ebony tail that was just swaying clumsy around the room prior stood to attention upon her hand making brief contact with the sheets and swatted her hand away with a bone shattering crunch and extinguishing the flames that licked the sheets.

Just as she made to strike the sleeping being again, a faint "Nnnnn…." came from the sleeping figure, stirring in their sleep and causing her to cease her attack.

Finally she had his attention and all it took was having her arm nearly snapped in half and furnished with a new black crystal growth on the outer layer of skin. Such was easily fixable and the girl cast a basic healing spell on herself before addressing her lord once again.

"Gessenvult-sama, it is time you woke up, is it not?" Though phrased as a question, her stern expression and more forceful jabs proved otherwise.

After a couple long seconds of silence, the lump finally spoke: "Jeeeeez…." Two claws slowly slid from the sheets and partially lifted the covers up, revealing the glint of two emerald green eyes from amidst the darkness.

They spoke in a groggy voice: "Can't I just…*yawn*, sleep for another day...or more...?"

Her eye twitched at her master's question before she composed herself once more. Ignoring the sheer laziness of the creature before her, she simply wiped her face of all emotions and spoke: "My lord, I've had to cancel your meetings with the Emperor four times already. I simply implore that you attend today's meeting. So no, you shall not remain in bed for yet another day. "

Despite being a "lowly servant" as some of her other masters called her, she had no qualms calling her masters out on their...eccentricities, especially the ones she'd been ordered to serve. However, a small smile spread across her face, another day not being sexually harassed by the "flashbang-throwing moron", as called the demons and even his fellow dragons would call him, that was the Brightness Dragon Lord was something worth celebrating.

Yet the sleepy man did not get out of the nest that he made on the bed. Returning to the depths of warmth of the sheets, the man spoke in a low and groggy voice: "*sigh*, Gimme an...hour…"

That small feeling of happiness she felt from remembering that she could be dealing with a far worse master was wiped away. Her current master may be better than the Brightness Lord...but only barely and though less sexually predatory...this master was by far the most unpleasant of them all, personality-wise at least.

In a more assertive tone, she replied once again: "No, your meeting is in thirty minutes so I insist you wake now. Of course if you do not think your current punishment is enough, feel free to stay in bed for as long as you want. If that is your wish, I shall take a moment to contact your allies of your continued refusal to cooperate with them."

A low blow for sure but such was necessary when dealing with the zenith of laziness. A good punishment every now and then is a surefire way to motivate anyone, regardless of how foolish or lay they are.

The lump immediately disappeared and the person beneath dove onto the floor with a harsh thump. The sheets flew snagged onto the rough crystalline structures of their tail and was dragged to the floor with a very much awake Gessenvult.

Flapping his ebony wings and with a lash of his tail, the dragon was awake and groggily said: "Alright...I'm up...happy?"

Jeez...coulda tried to wake me up in a nicer way...

"Very good my lord. Now you shall only be three weeks late for your meeting. I congratulate you on this sudden reversal of attitudes towards work Gessenvult-sama." She clapped her hands in a slow, mocking rhythm.

Oh~ a new procrastination record, take that, Khargis, you dusty old bicth, your record is now mine!

"Three weeks, huh?...How long was I asleep for then?" He complained while digging at the flecks of dust and dead skin that had settled in between the scales on his arms and legs during his short rest at the inn.

Without any hesitation, she answered: "Four months, three weeks and five days."

A look of disappointment blossomed on her master's face at hearing how long he'd been asleep for. "Uuuuugh….You're killing me..." He rubbed his eyes and traced around the jet-black rings around his emerald eyes with his claw.

How the hell does she expect me to function with so little sleep? I thought we'd agreed that we wouldn't sabotage eachother! This is cheating, I won't be able to do anything if I can't bloody sleep!

Ignoring the complaints, the girl wiped away the flecks of dead skin from her half armoured garb that her lord had so generously flicked at her.

"Indeed, may we now depart?"

"Nooooo~…" He fell backwards onto the bed, puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms. It would have been almost endearing if he was a child, and not a near fully matured adult who is on a diplomatic mission at the behest of his fellow council members and one of the most powerful fighters alive.

"...Very well then." A small void in space appeared before the girl in which she took out a small scroll of aged parchment that she threw in the air, causing the paper to disappear into nothingness.

Placing two fingers to her temple, she spoke aloud to another of her lords: "Ah, hello Tsaindorcus...-sama, I have something to report...Yes, Gessenvult-sama is refusing to get out of bed again and I'd wish to request his punishment be increas-"

"Alright, alright!" Shouted the dragon, latching onto her boots in a rather pathetic display as well as using his tail to rip the girl's arms from her temple which cut her connection off. From such an angle, she caught a glimpse at the large patch of scar tissue on her lord's back.

Last thing I need is more damn tasks to do...this is gonna be a pain in the ass, I can tell...

"Very good. Now that you're motivated, use the thing in the corner to disguise yourself and we shall be off." She pointed to another corner of the room which housed a small lump that was lazily covered in fabrics.

"E-eh...?" Gessenvult 's eyes fell onto the tied up figure in the corner of the room and wafted his hands through the air as if catching wind of a foul odor.. "Uh...who's that?"

Whoever that is, breaks...and I don't think she's gotten me a present or anything...I'd probably take a guess and say it's a human for some kind of purpose?

"Well, going around without a disguise is hardly covert, yes? I can't imagine people taking too kindly to seeing a dragon walking around their capital, so I have prepared a way for you to disguise yourself seeing as how you're incapable of assuming a fully humanized form with just your own power."

He winced at the slight jab made about his magic proficiency...or lack thereof.

"Uhuh, right then." He cautiously made his way over to the lump, making sure not to alarm the thing underneath the fabric.

While her lord was being far too cautious in his approach, the girl reassured him: "I do not think he shall pose a threat to you my lord. Time is of the essence after all so I recommend hurrying up to avoid being late...again."

"I-I'm not stalling...I'm just being cautious." Now with a face full of red, Gessenvult pulled the thin fabric off of the lump, revealing the one who'd be used as fuel for his magic and immediately gagged at the overpowering stench that emanated from the boy.

"Guh...Jeez...you didn't do a thing to calm him down or even wash him?" The dragon fought back against his instincts and swallowed the vomit that was clawing its way up his throat.

God damn, this smells worse than that tea shit Jir makes for me! What is it with humans and smelling like shit all the damn time anyway!?

It was a child. A very, very small child. Not in age however, the skeletal structure of the boy's body resembled that of a young teen yet the complete lack of muscle tissues and fat granted the boy the appearance of a far younger child.

"Such would be pointless." Though she phrased such as simply being efficient, if not a little cruel, , she wore an ever so slight grin on her face as she watched the dragon fight back his vomit.

Oh shit...gonna vom...oh god...oh jeez...

"N-next time...calm him the fuck down before...I do this…" The drake swayed unevenly on his feet and gripped his abdomen that snarled and squealed in turn.

"If anything, it speaks volumes of your talents in emotion detection. While I was aware that your specific species of dragon had psionic abilities, I didn't think you'd have such a sensitive emotion detecting magic. You should be proud, Gessenvult-sama." She said while delivering another round of patronizing applause.

At least...she knows how great...I am! Though the dragon, completely misinterpreting the purpose of the patronizing round of applause.

Another wave of vomit surged from his stomach and beat against his hastily close mouth, spraying out slightly from the jagged teeth in his mouth. The odor was like nothing else.

Yup...definitely worse than Jir's tea...even that last batch he made can't compare to this.

Finally, he regained a semblance of composure and spoke again: "...B-bit young, ain't he?"

"The youth are ignorant of the world and naive to the motivations of their elders so they are easily gathered for these purposes." She coldly replied.

Bloody hell...I knew undead like Cure had no issue with murdering people but...you'd think the more human lookin' ones would at least give a shit about kids...

"But I though yo-"

"Using a child isn't exactly ideal, but the poor thing was knocking on death's door when I found him in the alleys so I picked him up for you. There is no issue using a life that's already begging to extinguish."

"You lot're quick to abandon yer morals if it benefits you... or that master o' yours." His apprehension immediately dissolved and he was not in the slightest bit bothered about needing to murder a child, especially if it was to get rid of the smothering smell that still heavily hung in the air. Gessenvult placed a taloned hand atop of the boy's head and ruffled his hair a bit and stared into the teary eyes of the young boy. Ever so slightly, the stench lessened in severity, allowing Gessenvult to actually breathe without risking vomiting.

"Of course. We were created by Gods. Being restricted to a moral compass is the mark of an inferior creature. One must adapt to the circumstances if one wishes for progress." She sagely nodded to herself.

"Made by Gods yet and yet...serves a demon...ain't that...not what you're meant to do as a creation of Gods? Like at all? You an' your kind may be hot as fuck and pretty damn strong but you don't really make much sense, do ya?" He said while gesturing to her...assets...

Her face wrinkled at the incredibly poor attempt at flirting/sexual harassment by the dragon and she tapped her foot on the floor while waiting for him to claim the life of the child.

Before the child could let out a scream or even feel any pain, Gessenvult slashed at the cowering boy with his glassy claws, killing the child in one swift and painless fashion. Slow and thin wisps began leaking off of the corpse, feeding into Gessenvult and filling him the necessary ammunition to begin his spell. With the death of the child, the heavy stench of fear immediately dissipated away, allowing Gessenvult to take in lungfuls of fresh(ish) air.

"Do I have to use his soul to disguise myself or can I at least use my remote armour while I sleep in bed?"

His hopes were brought crashing down at her rebuttal:"If you remember, Tsaindorcus-sama has confiscated your items. So no, you may not use your armour."

Tch, great, I miss that tincan as well...

Now then...um...how do I use the polymorph spell again? Do I…?

A small shard of glass shot from Gessenvult's hand and pierced right through the thin walls of he inn.

Shit.

He tried again, this time he'd successfully cast the polymorph spell...except he had the body of an orc...mixed with a dragon...mixed with an octopus. It was still progress though!

"My lord?" The woman patiently waited for her master to begin his spell and yet nothing was happening to indicate he actually knew what the hell he was doing.

"Gimme a sec, I'm a little rusty at this." Eventually, the more pronounced draconic features of Gessenvult disappeared as the soul of the child was consumed in the fires of Gessenvult 's magic.

Good thing it's not a one and done deal or I'd be shit out of luck right now. Thanks kiddo, your death probably wasn't in vain!

The glossy scales that dotted much of Gessenvult 's face receded into tiny blacks smudges that resembled freckles, his two wings folded up into his back, leaving only umber slits on his shoulders, his claws on both his hands and feet morphed into relatively normal looking human appendages and his tail sunk into his body, leaving no remnants of his draconic body behind.

"Ugh." Gessenvult shook while he settled into his new temporary body. "Mortal flesh sucks, I don't understand how Ffrwy walks around like this all day."

"There isn't too much difference in a human body to the dragonoid body that you're so accustomed to sleeping in so it shouldn't be too unbearable for you, Gessnevult-sama. and...well, such bodies are necessary for copulation if I am not wrong. Ffrwydrad-sama is rather fond of such so it is only-"

"Yeah, I know...you didn't need to spell it out for me." He swiped his now fleshy humanoid hand in air and scowled at the...fleshiness of the limb.

I miss my claws already...

"Very well. Seeing as how you are prepared, let us depart for the Emperor's palace."

"Fiiiine..."

Gessenvult stepped out from the inn and stretched as he took in the sunlight for the first time in over two weeks. It was great, his skin ate up the rays of the sun for the first time in forever. The glowing warmth from the sun was practically divine, even making Gessenvult 's vision obscured by his now drooping eyelids. It was an assault of senses, the cacophonous cries of the crowds was a far cry from the relative silence of the inn's room, the smells of freshly produced food tantalized the sleepy dragon's nostrils and the cool breeze snaked around his body in a chilly yet blissful embrace.

Nodding to him in satisfaction, Gessenvult noted : "Still not blown up yet so that's good."

"Indeed." Said his bodyguard who was already waiting in the middle of the street for the dragon to catch up to her.

"Woulda thought this place be overrun with [Imps] by now considering 'ow many are lose in the wilds after that big ol' tempertranrum one of you lot pulled."

"Indeed." She said again with a barely detectable amount of malice in her voice.

Oh...we're playing this game now...sorry for trying to talk to you then. Then again, bringing up that memory prolly ain't the best idea for now.

Catching on that perhaps provoking her wasn't the best of ideas, Gessenvult quickly caught up with his bodyguard and muttered some sort of apology.

Shielding his eyes from the harsh glare while slowly making his way out onto the white of stone of the street and stifling a yawn, Gessenvult asked her: "So...where exactly do we go?"

His bodyguard met his idiotic question with a tut and pointed to the incredibly obvious palace looking building that was only around a few hundred feet from the pair.

"Ah, of course! Then let us be off." He said while waiting for her to take the lead and show him the way to the palace.

After only taking their first couple of steps in the direction of the palace, a loud rumbling noise filled the air.

The dragon tapped the girl on the shoulders like a child and simply said: "I'm hungry."

Removing the dragon's hand from her shoulder she bluntly replied: "Your meeting is in twenty or so minutes so we do not have time to eat a meal."

He repeated his demand of "I'm hungry" with increased ferver.

"Yes, and your meeting with the Emperor - an invaluable source of tributes and someone who my true master holds in high regards, is in twenty or so minutes. Your hunger may be sated after your meeting."

Completely ignoring her, he turned and pointed to a food stand that had a long line of people waiting at it in the completely opposite direction to where the two needed to go and exclaimed: "Look, a food stand!"

Though to the superior scenes of a dragon, the food stand looked as clear as day to Gessenvult, to his bodyguard, the food stand stood hundreds of meters off in the distance, barely even a speck in her vision.

The dragon bolted over to the food seller without further consulting his bodyguard/jailer, earning himself yet another disappointed tut. The long line extended for many meters, stretching into the next street over, whatever was being sold was surely extraordinary.

It wasn't long till the drake came to a grinding halt, stopped by a gargantuan line of people. In fact, the line was so long it resembled a massive centipede carved from human bodys, stretching out into the neighbouring streets and obstructing passage to and fro.

"Jeez…" Muttered the disgruntled dragon, coming to a complete stop just before he smashed into the two girls who were in front of him in the queue. Well...he did get a face-full of wooden staff that one of the girls had fixed to her half-leather half-cloth armoured/clothing.

Ouch...Oh shit. He traced up and down the line of people and...it was absolutely massive, even more so now that he'd gotten up close and personal.

Well, there's only one way to get the front! Cure mode, engage!

"Oi, females." He jabbed a finger at the purple haired girl in front of him in the queue, eliciting a girly yelp from the latter.

"Wh-wha-wha-" The girl couldn't form words for some unknown reason.

"How long's the queue?" he asked, even though the sheer scale of the queue was on full display to him and everyone around him.

"It..I-...uh...Wha-" She babled, trying to get over the not all that shocking shock of being lightly poked, though her face was covered in a smoldering blaze of blush so her attempts were for nought.

"Long." Came a blunt reply from the smaller blonde girl who stood next to the purple-haired girl. Though the tone in her voice was pleasant, it did little to conceal the scowl on her face.

Catching up to him, his Gessnevult's bodyguard placed a hand on the dragon's shoulder and tried to rip him from his place in the line.

"Gessenvult-sama, I must insist on not waiting in line. We do not have time to waste."

I know I know! Alright, Cure mode, go! ...Again! People hate arrogance so I'll just have to be an insufferable prick to get them out of my way!

"Fine, fine, I won't wait in line then." He tried his best imitation of his far more arrogant friend and prepared himself for the onslaught of regret no doubt later about his actions.

Directing his attention to the group of people in front of him, Gessenvult called out to the person next in line from him. "Oi, half-elf, out of the way."

The purple-haired half-elf jumped at Gessenvult's obnoxious demand and let out another girlish yelp. The bow that was fixed to her back was flung into the air and clattered to the floor and her arrows spilled from their quiver in similar fashion.

With a bright red face, the purle haired girl asked with pure venom laced in her voice: "E-e-excuse me!?"

Um...what would Cure and his band of weirdos say now? Ah! I know!

"Move, I've got a meetin' with your Emperor in a bit so out of the way lest you wanna piss me off."

"Out of the way, child!" Gessenvult grabbed onto the blonde girl's shoulder and forced her out of the line.

"My lord, I do belie-"

"Hey, what the hell are you doing!? You can't ju-"

He placed a finger over the loud half-elf's mouth to shut her up before somehow making himself even more obnoxious: "Shut it, half-elf. You're in the way."

Ah, hit 'em with the race card, one of Cure's favourites.

He shoved the purple haired girl to the side with ease and forced his way to the main body of the line, earning himself many insults from the long queue he disturbed.

Each and every one of the people lined up at the stall were ejected front the queue in swift fashion by the insufferable dragon, flinging people left and right in an attempt to sate his hunger until the hungry drake finally reached the counter. All the treats and other such items were in full view, taking up most of the shelf space at the stall was some kind of bun topped with artery clogging levels of what looked like sugar and various other powders and liquid toppings that Gessenvult was ignorant of.

Breathing in a chest full of the intoxicating aroma of the sweets stall, Gessenvult's obnoxiousness grew to even greater heights: "You there, creature!" The pompous drake hollered to the frowning man in charge of the food stand, a slightly irked expression on the owner's face. Most generally don't appreciate being called "creature."

Not getting a reply, he continued: "I shall commandeer one of those things you're selling!"

Gessenvult held out his expectantly while his bodyguard / maid / wrangler moved to a distance such that none could tell that they're associated.

"Right...That'll be six copper then." The man bluntly said, standing strong in the wake of Gessenvult's arrogance and refusing to give him the food item until payment was given.

Just as Gessnevult was about to dissolved his little act, hhis hands made an alarming discovering in his pockets...he didn't bring any money with him at all.

Oh shit! I ain't got any money and it's not like I can just rip one of my scales off and pay that way! Forgive me, lowly creature but I must continue this act some more.

Covertly removing his hands from his pockets such that the man couldn't tell that Gessenvult had no money to pay with, he once again adopted the persona of one of his friends to carry him through this nightmare:

"Pft, I have t-to...pay? D-do you not know who I am!?" Said the leader of a foreign country (in title only), who was wearing a disguise that no one other than fellow wild magic casters could see through, who was in no way acting as the leader of the second mightiest nation on the continent, to a peasant who mostly likely couldn't even point out where he lived on a map, let alone who ruled foreign nations other than the Re-Estize Kingdom.

Despite his best efforts, his act wasn't very convincing, his voice was...shaky to say the least and his entire face looked more like a tomato than the face of human.

The resident dragon wrangler had to forgo her own embarrassment of being associated with such a cretinous reptile and approached the stand operator with an embarrassed and ashamed smile on her face.

"I must apologi-" Of course, she was interrupted by the beginnings of the dragon's self-important tirade, may as well continue the act since he's this far.

Leaning onto the stall, Gessenvult came face to face with the stall owner and exclaimed: "I am the bane of filth, the great glassmaker and the creator of cursed blades, peasant."

"My lord, I doubt that this is-"

Still he continued: "I am the Obsid-"

*smack*

After smacking the misbehaving dragon upside the head, She grabbed him the scruff of his neck and ejected him from the queue before chastising the manchild drake.

Shit that actually coulda been bad.

"Enough. I'd expect this from the wyrmling, not an adult. You'd do well to remember that all negative behaviour only leads to more harsh punishments." She turned back towards the stand worker and tossed him a few glinting golden coins before bowing to the stall owner with an embarrassed tinge of red across her face. "I apologize for my companion's...ahem, rude behavior. I shall see to it that he is appropriately punished for his transgression. I do hope you forgive him for his blunder."

Pocketing the coins, the store owner placed one of the treats in her hand and said: "R-right…"

"Alright, mission successful. Now then, let's run off before the guards come." Said Gessenvult, immediately after taking a bite out of his bun and letting lose a spray of half-chewed food onto the floor.

With his bodyguard in the lead, the duo slipped through the crowds of Arwintar, weaving between the "dirty elves" as Gessenvult called them while sneakily and sometime not so sneakily dodging the various guard patrols who were looking for the person who'd assault about twenty people and refused to pay for their food.

Eventually, after far too long spent on avoiding guards and a couple more scuffles with the locals, the duo had made the journey to the Emperor's palace and stopped at the gates.

"Greetings creatures!" He waited for a little while though the guards paid his provocations no heed. "I am here to grace your Emperor with my presence so ca-"

"We are here on diplomatic business. I do believe that the Emperor is expecting us so could I kindly ask you to let us in?"

"You got 'ny proof? We've gotta deal wit' a bunch o' morons saying they've got an audience all damn day. No 'fence but...yer friend 'ere don't look like t'e sort the Emperor would wanna meet wit'."

"That is of no issue." She calmly said as she produced a small insignia from a black void that appeared just in front of her. "As you can see, we bear the Emperor's insignia and thus, we have an appointment with the Emperor."

"Oi you bleedin' idiot, that's the girl who's always rockin' around Leinas-sama! Ya deaf and blind, are ya?" Shouted the second guard at his colleague before turning back to Gessenvult and co.

"Flippin' 'ell, sorry missy. Me partner here's a bit of a dafty so I 'ope you c'n forgive 'im fer wastin' your time."

What the hell is this guy even saying? Are these really the kinds of people Jir want sugaring his home? Well, knowing Jir, there's prolly a good reason for this.

The education of the guards aside, Gessenvult and his bodygaurd made their way through the now opened gate and into the domain of the Emperor proper.

Unconsciously, Gessenvult immediately began assessing the value of the palace, done to it's very core everything on the outside was scrutinized by dragon's subconscious yearning for wealth. Even though he'd passed through the palace many times before now, his inner dragon took control and he couldn't help but evaluate the outer layer of the palace.

Ah I see, generic limestone was used in construction...tsk tsk, Jir, how poor are you? Ionic pillars as well with clumsy engravings on them and each scroll isn't even symmetrical to itself nor matches the others on each pillar. How do you even mess up an Ionic column's capital anyway? It's better than a simple Doric column but I'd expect at least one Corinthian column since you're a damn Emperor. What, did you hire amateurs or something?

At least the frieze ain't too shabby though those Gods of mankind aren't the easiest to sculpt so I can at least give some credit to the sculptures there.

But come on, a plain pediment? The fuck is this? I can even see from here that the cella ain't even all that fancy either! You're an Emperor not some backwater peasant for fuck's sake!

Even the propylaea sucks as well! Worthless. You've used basic bitch limestone, fuck all decorations and the sculpting sucks. Sure it looks decent from a distance but come on! Just because people won't see the ceramic terracotta tiles doesn't mean you can cheap out and buy the most inexpensive ceramic you can find! For shame Jir.

The only real compliment I can give ya is that you've managed to make the wooden columns at least resemble stone.

With his opinion of the Emperor thoroughly lowered for the hundredth time, Gessenvult accidentally left out:

"Damn...Jir's pretty poor." The pompous dragon let out without even thinking as he pushed aside the quaint gate to the palace, much to the displeasure of the guards stationed around the entrance who met the dragon's insults with angry tuts, though no confrontation happened.

"I do believed tha-"

He pushed his finger up to her lips and silenced her. "I know, I know."

"Still, it's a pretty small palace."

The Emperor's palace could not be called grand in the slightest. Well constructed? Yes. Grand? Not a chance. It was more of a glorified mansion than a palace. The walls were lined with pure white stone, extending up to a total of four floors, each having a number of balconies and windows affixed to them. Other than that, the palace was near identical to all the other architecture of the Empire - wooden and stone supports, stone paths leading up to the metal gate and only a few dozen guards being present throughout.

"Woulda thought he'd at least have some money left over though."

"Mhm, if only someone didn't extort him and his ancestors, the palace and much of the Empire would have been far grander than it is today."

"I mean...We didn't force Granpa Jirnave into anything...just...slightly encouraged him to make some decisions. Anyway, that old geezer's dead now so it don't matter. As for Jir, it's his fault for gettin' drunk on that demon alcohol that the Demon Lor-" Gessenvult's eyes bulged outwards and an agonizing pain shit up through his body.

"Language." Ordered his bodyguard, retracting her gauntleted fist from his side after a quick jab.

"...ow...But still, it's his fault for gettin' too drunk to act rationally. He shouldn't agree to bets he can in no way win."

"His fault you say? How interesting. If memory serves correctly, you, Ffrwydrad-sama and Cugallach-sama both coaxed the naive Emperor into drinking the special alcohol - the same alcohol you forced both his father and grandfather to consume. Would the fault not be that of you three then?"

The walk to the main body of the palace was filled with Gessnevult being filled in on just what the hell he was meant to say or ask to the Emperor, how to respond, proper etiquette for a ruler to have, etc. He was given an entire crash course in how not to be an insufferable asshole in the space of thirty or so seconds.

The two had found their way into the cool entrance of the Emperor's palace. In line with the modest architecture of the Empire, the insides of the palace were constructed of a cool stone that was emboldened with wooden supports or a sparse few stone pillars.

Gessenvult's body nearly instantly began to lightly convulse at the sudden drop in temperature. Being a cold blooded organism has its drawbacks.

"J-j-jeeez…." Muttered the dragon, teeth chattering away as he swallowed lungfuls of the (at least to a cold blooded being) frigid air of the palace. The carpet on the floor of the palace offered no alleviation nor warmth, the thin fabric did little to hide the cold, hard floor.

"D-d-d-d-o w-w-we need to... s-state out business at all or…?" He wrapped his arms around his body and vigorously shook them up and down to warm himself while he waited for guidance from his bodyguard.

"That will not be needed, I have organised for one of the imperial knights to meet us beforehand to escort us through the palace, she should be arriving shortly so please hold out till then. Even that is an unnecessary measure as we are known to the staff here." She said as a matter of fact though she looked somewhat uncertain herself.

"O-o-oh…" He tried his best not to meet the gazes of the various maids and soldiers who'd been attracted to the odd clattering of teeth and snarky voice.

"Here, it would be unfortunate if you died of exposure before your meeting. My master prepared this item for you in case of such an event." Said the bodyguard who was fishing through a black void in space and retracing a small red orb that glowed slightly. Instantly the area around the pair was swallowed in the heavenly bliss of warmth that emanated from the small orb.

He began snuggling into the warm word and purred: "Aaaaahh~….Your master's pretty nice guy all things considered, dunno why everyonelse hates his guts."

"Of course he is. What fool would let their tools needlessly expire before they've been made use of?"

Their brief interaction was cut short by the heavy thunks and clatters of armour. From down the steely grey stone of the stairs came a woman. Unlike the rest of the standing guards found throughout the city and inside the palace, the armour the woman wore was a deep, rich green and outfitted with golden brands and trims to accentuate her authority over the lesser knights.

Oh boy. It's time to be annoying.

The appearance of the newcomer immediately caused Gessenvult to perk up and his eyes met the piercing blue eyes of the female knight.

"Oho~ Lookie here~" Now emboldened by his warmth, Gessenvult's snark had returned in full force...great...

"Ah, here comes our escort." Said the bodyguard, a faint smile on her face.

The female knight slowly descended the stone steps, each movement was grateful and precise yet the spear that was fastened to her back scraped down the walls of the stairway in an odd contrast.

"How do you do, Lei-chan?" For the first time since being assigned to the manchild dragon, the bodyguard's smile was only full display as she greeted her friend.

Though she returned the smile to her friend, the girl's - Leinas' - face dropped as her eyes met those of the bratty dragon again, this time the leering of the dragon and the smug look on his face only irked her more . The polite smile she wore evaporated and the dragon immediately began making his way over to here, a cocky grin clear as day on his face.

Getting right up into the knight's face, he spoke with a mocking smile on his face: "Oh look, it's the cursed girl. How's it going curse-chan~?"

"..." Leinas averted her gaze but otherwise showed no reaction to Gessenvult 's provocation and greeted his bodyguard instead.

"Greetings and welco-" Leinas' greeting only came out half way before being drowned out by the obnoxious dragon's continued provocations. He jabbed a finger at the sides of her armour just to make sure he really got on her nerves.

"Oh, ignoring me~? Has that curse of your spread to your ears as well? Shame, guess it's worse than I thought. Oh poor, poor Leinas-chan~ How's the search for a cure going? Obviously not good since you're leaking some puss already. In fact, I'd say it's gotten worse!" He waggled his fingers towards the part of her face that was covered by her blonde hair.

Instinctively Leinas raised her hand to the side of her face that was covered by hair before realising that such puss would not be visible to anyone.

"My lord, perhaps you shouldn't provoke the citizens of a country we're trying to reinforce friendly relations with...just a thought."

"Whatever, I'm sure Jir won't mind me stabbing fun at his lil' cursed friend here."

"Regardless of your relationship with the Emperor, I doubt this will reflect positively on Argland if you continue to insult her."

"Fiiine...Cursey-chan, call Jir down or however this works, alright?"

"As I have stated, you are to be escorted to your meeting."

"Oh yeah."

"Come this way, if you will." She did not wait for a response and began to ascend the stairs once more, leaving Gessenvult wholly disarisfied with his failed provocations.

Gessenvult lingered in the entrance way still, a blank look on his face while he pretended not to hear the Leinas as one last attempt to get under her skin.

Attempting to move things along in a not so painful way, the bodyguard ushered him up the stairs hurriedly. "Gessenvult-sama, if you please."

After far too long of the bratty dragon dragging his feet up the stairs and grumbling to himself like a spoiled child, he'd finally reunited with Leinas who promptly guided him throughout the halls of the palace.

Eventually, the group were brought to a stop as they reached a very slightly grand double doorway and Lianas turned to address the foreign duo: "The Emperor is waiting for you just inside. He said he wanted to speak to you before getting the meeting underway in a different room."

"Right right, don't care." Said the dragon, walking passed Leinas and opening the door for himself, revealing the interior of the room to the group.

The light sound of amicable chatter accompanied the creaking of the agonizing door but it slowly faded as the heaving of the door grew ever louder, announcing the arrival of the dragon to the entire city with how loud the door was.

Three more green armoured knights were present in the room, encircling the Emperor and were in what sounded like a rather chat with the young ruler though there was a peculiar smell in the air. A very faint smell in fact, a smell that swirled around the room, coating the inhabitants in the acrid stench. It was just faint enough where most normal humans wouldn't be able to detect it but for Gessenvult, a dragon with senses far superior to all humans and most of the filth, it was as plain as day. It was the exact same stench that the young child had given off - fear. The putrid, rotten stench of one fearing for their life. And it was the smell Gessenvult had long since gotten accustomed to. And that swirling typhoon of putrid fear condensed onto one person - The Emperor.

Figuring that a little fun could be gained from messing with the poor Emperor, Gessnevult decided to play a little prank on those within the room. With practiced ease, Gessenvult released a small wave of killing intent and all at once the temperature of the palace plummeted

In the centre of the room was a grand sofa that was outfitted with a number of carvings that bore a resemblance to the beastly religion of mankind, fire, light, death, etc, etc, Gessnevult didn't bother looking too hard at the room and simply stared at the person who could free him from this day's work - the Emperor who was led atop said sofa. The Emperor, upon seeing Gessenvult enter the room, immediately corrected his posture and sat up rather than lay down with almost a slight panic on his face.

Not saying a word to the Emperor nor the guards, Gessenvult plopped himself down onto the nearest available seat.

In complete unison, the three guards who'd been speaking with the Emperor stood to attention upon the dragon's entrance, causing a satisfied smirk to blossom on the dragon's face. His "fun" little prank was working.

"Jir." Said Gessenvult nonchalantly as he sank into the cushioning depths of the fabric attempting to stare into the icy blue of the Emperor's eyes though the Emperor never maintained eye contact for long..

After taking his time to signal to the the three armored guards to stand down and taking brief moment to recover from the shock of Gessenvult's immense killing intent, the Emperor spoke in a slightly shaky yet still confident voice: "A-ah, greetings my friend, I am delighted to welcome you formerly to Arwintar and the Empire as whole. It is a shame that your resting habits have gimped our prior agreed upon meeting times but I trust no ill will was intended."

"Of course not, I just enjoy my rest." The Emperor's face twitched slightly at not being offered even the slightest hint of an apology yet he did not press Gessenvult on the issue, resetting his face back into the polite smile from a few moments prior.

"Now, before we get our meeting properly underway, I wish to show a couple of things that I need input on, if that is alright with you of course?"

"Fine."

Please no.

Jircniv led the trio through a number of twisting hallways, at each doorway he'd explain the purpose of the room as well as those people who used said room, why those rooms were a justified cost and a whole host of other things none of the trio cared for. It was like Jircniv was trying to justify the presumably massive costs of the palace to Gessenvult. Fortunately for the Emperor, Gessenvult was far too lazy to even read the allocated budget of the Empire so he just went with it. Though there was something quite odd that even one as oblivious as Gessenvult could detect - each and every room that the Emperor led Gessenvult to was enchanted with detection magic. In spite of his poor magical abilities, it was fairly easy to detect the magic in the air of each room, studying and scrutinizing the dragon as he mindlessly walked through each doorway at the behest of the Emperor.

Thankfully however, the impromptue tour lasted but a few minutes and soon enough Gessenvult was led to a room he actually recognized - the dreaded meeting room.

Leading his friend towards the meeting room, Jircniv's voice had a hint of melancholy to it as he spoke to his guest: "Very well. Now, I would insist upon showing you with all the due hospitality yet...I am ashamed to admit that the Empire currently la-"

Before the Emperor could finish, a hand was tenderly placed upon his shoulder, shutting him up out of shock that the dragon had deigned to touch him.

Gessenvult 's voice shifted from the snarky, almost pompous voice into that of an actual adult. Granted he still sounded like a child doing their best adult voice and retained an amount of snark. "Jir, your hospitality is of no concern to me. You've displayed loyalty consistently in the past so I have no doubt that you mean no ill will. I am not cruel enough to punish you for something you cannot control. I am not like my fellows and so I shall forgive you, it is not easy to rule in the world's current climate so it is expected for countries, whether they be large or small to suffer in these trying times. "

Gessenvult's bodyguard flinched at the change in demeanor of her temporary master and she silently congratulated him for actually managing to say something befitting of a ruler. And she caught herself thinking: If only he was like that all the time.

"However, I do insist on showing you the recent additions that have been made to the palace's structure. I know that you're only here for our meeting but I'd liked to get some feedback from your allies about the recent additions."

"Huh? Why would you care what they think? Does it really matter?"

"Of course. Your comrades have been in power for a long time so naturally their rule is superior to mine. It's only natural to wish to improve oneself in the art of ruling, is it not?"

"No." He replied deadpan.

"I-I...I see…Well, before we begin, I must at least show you some kind of hospitality, no?" said the Emperor as he motioned towards a single cup of what smelled like tea...if that tea had passed through a Troll's digestive tract a few times.

Does he expect me to actually drink that again? That shit smells like some of the old geezer's chemicals, Jir really hasn't improved much in the tea making department...if anything, I think he's gotten worse at it! This stinks worse than the last time we met. I'll have to get some of those maids that Ffwrty keeps to teach him a thing or to.

He took his time to further analyze the tea and immediately reaffirmed his suspicion that Jir had no clue how to make tea. The bubbling liquid seemed to almost attempt to leap out of the cup upon Gessnvult lifting the cup up to his eyes. If anything, the "tea" resembled the slimes kept in the sewer systems of cities more than anykind of drinkable liquid known to Gessnevult.

I am pretty thirsty actually but...eh, whatever, if it melts my insides so be it! I'll probably live if it is poisoned anyway so it's not like there's a downside to drinking it or anything.

During Gessnevult's interal battle, the Emperor had already seated himself at the large wooden table that took up the majority of the space in the room and was patiently waiting for Gessnevult to come to a conclusion.

Ok like, what's the worst thing that could happen? Sure it smells just like poison and is bubbling and shit but like...Jir's my friend so he'd never try to poison me, right? I'm sure that the tea leaves were just...a little off or something like the last few times. Fuck it, I'll drink it!

The dragon grabbed onto the quaint teacup that housed the roiling liquid, causing a small drop to spill out over the jeweled brim of the cup and onto the table...It burnt through the table. The table sizzled and the wood was eaten away by the viscous fluid of the teacup, letting off a small stream of smoke to flutter through the air.

...Oh...it's probably just a little too hot...that's why it...melted through the wood...I've heard that boiled water is used in making tea so that must be it.

He blew the teacup, sending the fumes directly in the direction of the Emperor, who upon noticing the great green pillars of smoke bounding towards him, violently wafted his hands to redirect the lung ravaging smoking elsewhere.

But then again...Jir's letting off a pretty suspicious smell right now as well...what is that…and there's more magic coming from the tea...

He sniffed the air a few times to get an accurate read on the emotion given off by the Emperor.

Anxiety mised with fear...He's prolly just scared I won't like his tea or something, right?

Whatever, Jir's tea hasn't killed me yet so I doubt anythin'll happen this time round.

Coming to the least sensible conclusion when presented with a suspiciously slime-like liquid that could chew through solid wood and let off poisonous fumes, Gessnevult opened up his mouth and downed the entire teacup in one go, surprisingly without gagging or even showing a modicum of disgust, other than a slight grimace, towards the questionable liquid he'd just drank.

Damn...Jir really sucks at making tea… He thought while the stodgy fluid fell to the bottom of his stomach with an audible slopping sound...much in the way that liquids don't usually make when ingested.

Gessenvult was met with a mix of a horrified and terrified coming from the Emperor who just witnessed the dragon gulp down the malignant broth he'd served.

"G-Gessnvult…-d-dono...are you...w-well?" Tentatively asked the Emperor who'd aged a good few years since the last time Gessenvult met his gaze. In fact...everything seemed...off.

Maybe...I shouldn't drink everything Jir gives to me.

Though his head may be ablaze and the world around him resembled a strobe light orgy, the manchild dragon stayed strong and was determined to get at least one thing done today so that he can get right back to procrastination and waste away in his room.

"I...am...f-fine…" He said, while looking like death was just a few minutes away from taking him.

Shakily, Gessenvult sat at the table of the Emperor, he'd long since blocked out the drivel that endlessly spewed from Jircniv's mouth. Population growth is unstable and cannot meet the required amounts in the near future this, we desperately need to maintain our alliance or the entire Empire will fall due to threat of being over run with demonic hordes that, on and on Jircniv prattled on about topics of no real concern to Gessenvult. None of it really matters to the now high off his mind Gessenvult. Sure, it was probably incredibly important for him to listen about the waning population of the Empire and the dwindling economic prospects of his friend's nation but...Gessenvult was far more busy trying to keep his stomach in check. So, Gessenvult simply starred Jircniv in the eyes and waited...and he waited...and he waited for the Emperor to finish so he could run off and puke up whatever foul blend of tea he was served and get right back to sleep.

For the love of God please shut the hell up...I need...I NEED to vomit my fucking intestines out, Jir!

Unfortunately for Gessenvult, his eyes began to droop...they felt heavy...very...very heavy...until his entire vision went black, somehow not smacking into the table and remaining at least somewhat upright, just enough such that Jircniv probably wouldn't suspect anything.

After God knows how long, Gessenvult 's eyes flickered open in the middle of what felt like Jircniv's massive tirade about something. Gessenvult had long forgotten the crux of whatever they were talking about before so he blankly stared at Jircniv who was looking at him expectantly, offering him a turn in the conversation. A rush enveloped the dragon, he'd suffered the worst of it and now all he needed to do was to ask a single question about souls and bugger off home to report his success to Tsa and sleep for another few months or so after passing whatever creature he'd drank.

Unfortunately, he took slightly too long in his response and Jircniv opened his trap once more, clearly taking Gessenvult 's silence for agreeance to whatever the hell he was talking about. Gessenvult suddenly became incredibly heavy again, the life draining away from him as Jircnivs continued on about elven refugees or whatever...wait, now was Gessenvult 's chance to say the one thing he needed to and bugger off elsewhere!

Seizing the opportunity and trying his best to ignore the crushing weight in his gut, Gessenvult slammed his hands onto the table to get the Emperor to shut up and excitedly asked: "Jir, how many refugees can you secure for us?"

YES! I did it! Freedom is within my grasp!

It was a moment of elation for the young dragon, finally he had a clue and an actual interest about what his friend was talking about.

The Emperor was entirely caught off guard, not by the request for elves but because the table Gessenvult had been completely turned to a jet black glassy rock. A faint "GUH!" weaved its way into the room from behind the closed door to the meeting room and a faint clattering of what sounded like a wooden staff of some kind. It seems someone appreciated the showing of draconic magic.

Seems like someone appreciated my display….wait...why the hell is he hiding behind the door anyway? Usually that idiot is all over my body...oh well.

"C'mon, how many do you have?" Gessenvult inquired further though he winced at the pain of using his magic with no surplus of souls to use as fuel. Such was the price of looking slightly intimidating.

Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on! My stomach won't last forever!

The Emperor placed his hand under his chin and stroked it in thought. Jircniv took his time to run the number through his head yet he did not come to an answer. Instead, he probed for more information before coming to a definite offer. "Hmmm...Well, that depends on how quickly you need them and how many your bottom line requires...you're ahem, thing is coming up is it not?"

For God's sake man! B-but wait what? The thing? Ah shit...please don't mean what I think it means.

Now it was Gessenvult 's time to be caught off guard.

"Th-th thing?" He asked.

The question was met by a short answer from the Emperor: "Yes, the thing."

The thing? Surely Jircniv, a disposable pawn, couldn't know about it, right?

He knew in his heart that it wasn't even at all unlikely that a man of Jirniv's caliber could uncover some kind of superficial truth about the cycle of filth. Hell, most prominent rulers knew something about the coming of the players. It doesn't take a genius to understand that every hundred years, a group of disgustingly powerful entities from some foreign land show up and start wreaking havoc. It was a pretty well known fact among the more longer lived entities of the world and their allies actually. Even so, Gessenvult at least wanted to make sure Jircniv was in fact talking about the cycle rather than...something else.

"E-excuse me?" He tried his best to not seem desperate as all hell to leave though his fidgeting betrayed his desires.

A brief look of panic spread across Jircniv's face and he lowered his head in apology which elicited Leinas to offer her silent protests before returning to her conversation with the bodyguard. "Ah, forgive me but...Empire and Kingdom records show a massive drop in population every hundred years or so and I figured that since it has been around one hundred years since the last major population dip, you'd require some form of tribute?"

Good, he's ignorant of the players so I at least don't have to murder him and replace him with some shitty doppelganger.

He was correct, Jircniv at least recognized the pattern of strong entities appearing every century. Him knowing the information itself was of little importance to Gessenvult , so long as Jircniv didn't find out the sheer power wielded by the filth and how easily manipulated most were (at least during their first few weeks of life in this world), there wasn't any reason to kill the Emperor. Granted, now that Jircniv had admitted to knowing about the cycle, he'd have to be put under at least some sort of surveillance and watched carefully.

The first thing Gessenvult would need to do to prevent Jircniv from learning more information about the cycle was to learn just what these records mentioned and where they were. So, he began: "How...how are you aware of this and what did these records mention?"

Confident that he didn't insult his draconic master, the polite smile returned onto the Emperor's face. "Well, we do keep records of our population among other things so the archives of the Empire are incredibly expansive and detailed. You should know as well as a fellow ruler, correct, archives upon archives and so on and so forth. Simple things such as population growth, records of harvests, weather patterns, plagues, demon attacks and all that."

People keep records of that?

Gessenvult didn't have a clue what Jircniv was talking about. He'd never really dabbled in the whole ruler gig, that was a job for the smart people to do...well, not like his fellow councilors were much brighter than he but at least one knew what the hell they were doing.

"Such is only natural if you wish to rule. Granted, the records did not state exactly what caused the massive dip in population but if I had to guess...I'd say something close to our Katze agreement? Using the bodies for an army of undead, yes? Or perhaps something else? You and your lilies have been in contact with this nation for around three centuries or so, yes? That's when the population drops first began according to the few documents we have left from those times." He was close yet comfortably ignorant which put Gessenvult 's heart at ease.

Gessenvult relaxed into his seat for the first time since Jircniv opened his mouth more than two hours ago or however long it'd been. "Hmph, no but close enough I'd say. Jir, that's beside the point anyway, how many elves can you send to us? We can discuss that another time."

The issue of Jircniv knowing about the cycle was an issue for another day. The repeating of the cycle was nearing or even upon the world and the new wave of filth would have to be dealt with before any kind of investigation could occur. Gessenvult 's allies had been incredibly quiet about the encroaching wave so a twinge of anxiety wormed its way into Gessenvult 's mind for a short while. He'd seen the shadows of Gessenvult while in Arwintar and he was almost sure he felt some form of time manipulation spell trigger though he lacked the necessary resistances to be unaffected by the spell and was far too lazy to contact his allies to actually make sure. Was it the worst possible move a dragon could do? Absolutely. Did it make sleeping far easier for Gessenvult? Absolutely. Therefore, he could just willingly remain ignorant until push comes to shove.

Jircniv sat in contemplation and muttered to himself, most likely working out a suitable number of elves to send to their deaths. "I'd say...three-thousand if you wish to keep things discrete. However, that's merely the amount I can send to Argland masked as some sort of relocation plan. The majority of the elves have been sent to the villages on the edges of our borders so...they're rather exposed, if you will." A coy smile replaced Jircniv's normal fake smile. Gessenvult immediately caught on and nodded his head and ran through the uses of the initially three thousand elves.

The amount is...lacking but the supply of elves had been dwindling in recent years so such was to be expected of a race that is slow to reproduce. At least their country could serve as adequate undead breeding grounds once the inhabitants are vacated. Better hurry up with dealing with that smug elf prick in his little tree before we go any further with the elf stuff.

Gessenvult tapped the glossy exterior of the glass table he created with his slightly clawed nails. "I see...well, three-thousand elves and an undetermined amount from your frontiers then...it's better than nothing."

Three-thousand wasn't nearly enough fuel but Gessenvult would have to make do with Jircniv's offer, at least for now.

Satisfied with the tribute, Gessenvult relaxed back into his chair before getting up and approaching the Emperor and saying: "Alright, Jir, you've got a deal..." Gessenvult held out his hand to the Emperor who in turn got up from his seat to meet Gessenvult 's hand with his own.

Thank God, it's over! I did it! I did a diplomacy! Now to really reel him in and bugger off.

Before their hands made contact, Gessenvult quickly withdrew his hand and said bluntly: "IF you relinquish all of your dead and provide extra at another time."

The dead of the Empire, while not numerous nor powerful in their own right, had their own uses - that being each human, whether dead or alive possessed a soul. Gessenvult didn't really understand the specifics as he'd often tune out the words of his undead allies as their lectures were...unique to say the least. Either way, Gessenvult understood that souls could be harvested from corpses with the appropriate preparations and, once their souls were harvested, the weak undead were a natural source of negative energy to spawn more powerful undead or something like that. He'd only really gotten the gist of it when explained to him around the third time or so anyway.

And then another thought crossed Gessenvult 's mind. He'd almost let out a groan as he recalled what he was supposed to ask Jircniv."...And...how many can you send to Katze...actually?"

Gessenvult hated even mentioning or thinking of the undead farms. Those that lived there were unpleasant, as are most undead but the overseer...oh the overseer. How Gessenvult wanted to teach that good for nothing "gentleman" a thing or two. That man, somehow even more cowardly than the "white snake thing" as Gessenvult 's less intelligent friend so often calls Cure, and even more unbearable than the Sky Blue Parasite that was the bane of Gessenvult 's existence and fellow council member of Argland. He could picture it now, that good for nothing "larper" as he was called by the demons prancing about, shouting about the heroic exploits of people who'd never existed such as "Beowulf" or "Heracles" while wearing the most filth ridden, disgrace of a "suit" Gessenvult had ever seen.

For a guy whose life has been ruined by the filth, that bastard sure does love their religions and heroes...

Banishing the thought of the "gentleman" and the rest of the misfits from his mind, Gessenvult was keen to end the discussion about the Katze agreement.

"I'd say we can muster up the same as usual though I'm confident that the kingdom may not be able to offer as many tributes as you'd like."

"A-and why is that?"

"Well, seeing as to my knowledge, they are not in an agreement with you or your allies about offering tributes, they have little regard for their citizens and soldiers alike. The living conditions are low, morale is low, their armies are scattered and intent on quelling a foe they cannot dream of conquering. As well as the semi-recent economic crisis that struck the kingdom, I doubt they could muster enough soldiers to provide an adequate tribute."

"Right...So, um, are you sure you can muster enough as well? I understand that the territory of the Empire has receded in recent years and that you've lost much of your borders to the demons. Can your population cope with a heavy loss that comes as a result of Katze?"

Jircniv nodded in the affirmative though his face showed a slight amount of discomfort and the ever faint smell of regret trickled into Gessenvult's nose.

"Of course, the legions are still forty-four-thousand strong so a few "casualties" in the war would be nothing. As for the borders, while we have suffered a great loss of life due to the marauding demons, our population is still larger than most and is sustainable so long as we are not hit with some sort of cataclysm."

"Is that so? I would have thought your legions would be stretched thin escorting the elven refugees as well as regularly fighting off the western nations and demons as well as keeping the peace within the cities and villages."

An almost proud grin spread across the Emperor's face. Even when discussing how many men Jircniv would be sending to their deaths at the hands of his dragonic overlords, Jircniv never once passed an opportunity to boast at both his and his Empire's accomplishments. Gessenvult congratulated the man's confidence in his heart, it isn't everyday where someone is proud of just how well they can disguise mass murder as protecting the nation from demons and foreign invaders. Just a few years prior the Emperor was a cowering mess each time Gessenvult was sent to deal with him. And look at him now, going so far as to bask in his own hubris despite knowing just how worthless he was!

"Heh, you underestimate the legions of the Empire, dear friend. The common folk have long since placed their undying trust in me. You've seen so yourself, correct? The faces of my citizens are confident and happy with the state of the country. They trust me so keeping the peace isn't too labour intensive. Most of the guards in the cities are only there to deal with petty crimes and make people feel safer."

Gessenvult winced as Jircniv said "heh."

The Emperor still hadn't mastered the talk of the common folk just yet it seems.

However, he made a good point regardless. Not a single person Gessenvult passed on the streets was unhappy. Well, everyone was happy apart from the myriad of elven refugees who'd found their way to the capital after the Elven Countries downfall along with the Theocracy.

Gessenvult could feel the life slowly draining away from him again. Sure, he liked Jircniv, he was a good source of souls to harvest and wasn't as unbearable as some other country leaders but still, Gessenvult hated doing this diplomacy thing. It wasn't even a good punishment anymore, it was just boring! He knew almost nothing about running a country as the Sky Blue Parasite and Tsa were the ones who handled all that so Gessenvult simply trained all day or slept or bred. Even so, Gessenvult knew he had to press on so he inquired, albeit begrudgingly:

"...And what about the demons? A good number have already splintered from our forces and have begun pillaging villages indiscriminately. I trust that they're still partly loyal to the Demon Lord though our own efforts to quell the rampaging demons have proven fruitless and the Demon Lord is yet to act as well." He tapped the table faster in an effort to steel himself to stay a while longer.

Fortunately for Gessenvult , rather going into another hour-long tirade, Jircniv met his question with another question instead of giving an actual answer: "Ah, forgive my rudeness but…" Jircniv looked expectantly at Gessenvult though Gessenvult had no clue what this meant. The Emperor shifted around in his seat and even stole a glance round the room. Was he checking for something? Gessenvult didn't care and just kept tapping away.

"Why does our demonic "friend" not order the splintered hordes to cease their rampages and reunite his forces?" The Emperor froze again and stole another glance at Gessenvult 's face. Upon seeing no sign of offence he continued: "I can't imagine why one would opt to purposely have their forces divided. I-it just doesn't make sense to me at all..."

You motherfu-...Calm down...we're so damn close to leaving just bear with it...

Gessenvult snorted and leaned back into his chair, nearly falling over but also getting a good view out the window in the process.

Keeping things short and sweet, Gessenvult aimed to shut the Emperor up with a vague yet slightly informative answer: "Oh...Who knows? I've long since admitted defeat in that regard…"

He could practically hear Jircniv scrunch his face in disbelief, most likely shocked that his dragon friend isn't actually the toughest kid on the block.

He continued: "That thing is beyond me. That thing's intelligence is like nothing I've ever seen before, even my allies are basically children when compared to that thing. Every single damn thing melds into his plan without a single margin for error. Everything perfectly goes according to his plans. Even his own children, who are unimaginably smart in their own rights don't hold a damn candle to that thing. It's useless to try to understand him so quit tryin'."

"Hm~ Sounds like quite a monster then. I can't imagine what he'd be like in person."

Idiot. You wouldn't even get a spittin' distance to those mountains, not with those monsters that guard his damn home roaming the area around it, much less ever get a glimpse of that nightmarish lair he calls home. Good on ya for not pissin' yerself though.

Gessenvult moved Jircniv up on his personal "humans not to reap the souls from list" as he processed the hubris of the man. Oh how Cure would appreciate a new jester. Afterall, his old one was devoured by the glutton that is the Heavenly Dragon Lord so the white snake was due for another jester afterall. Gessenvult had to admit though, the identity of the Demon Lord was something even Gessenvult had spent quite a considerable time speculating on.

"Hmph, same here, I've never even seen the guy. Well not face to face at least, only ever seen 'im in a full body robe thingy. Even then. I only met him once or twice a while ago and he was covered up head to toe so I can't tell you what he looks like or even is. Same with his plans as well now that I think abouty it. I've only ever heard his plans through proxies or through Tsa so don't expect me to arrange a meeting for you two. Well, not that he'd ever agree to meet either of us for any reason that doesn't boil down to experiments."

Bastard sure does love his experiments though. He thought as his nail traced the area on his back that still housed an immense amount of decaying flesh on his back in spite of his spell.

"But still, I'd love to meet him."

But you're still an idiot.

"Really? Aren't you at all scared though? He is THE Demon Lord afterall. Y'know, the guy who has murder thousand just 'cause?"

"Of course but...as a fellow ruler, I'd love the opportunity to meet him, who knows, perhaps I could learn something from him? He has been ruling unopposed for...however many centuries so I'm sure his rule is impeccable and I know myself that my rule is far from perfect so any way to improve how I rule is welcome. He's protected those who live in his domain and himself as well as never once relying on any kind of foreign power. Is that not admirable? What ruler wouldn't wish to emulate such a rule?"

Me. Being a ruler sucks.

"Mhm." Gessenvult had already lost interest in the subject and got up from his seat and flicked a small shard of glass towards the head of his assigned guard who ceased her conversation with Leinas and made way to leave with her master, showing no signs of annoyance at being flicked with a shard of glass.

Fuck it, I'm out of here. I can feel it and oh boy, this palace is gonna come crashing down if I stay for too long.

"Farwell." Gessenvult opened up the door, ignoring the babbling sounds made by Jircniv, probably some sort of goodbye or something.

Before Gessenvult could even make his way out of the door he was met with the sounds of heavy, laboured breathing just behind the door. Gessenvult shook his head and didn't even bother checking who was behind the door for he already knew who lay behind the door.

Gessenvult simply forced his way out of the doorway and said: "No." without even looking at whatever had wedged itself behind the door.

How many distractions are there in this damned place!?

He didn't make it far however, a sudden thump came from behind him and the clattering of what sounded like a walking cane on the floor caused Gessenvult to stop and turn around in annoyance. Before even talking to the creature on the ground, he sighed and steeled himself for what was about to happen. Today really wasn't his day...like, at all.

"P-please!" Came a shrill yet desperate voice behind Gessenvult the instant he'd fully turned around. Standing before him was exactly what he'd dreaded would be - an old man...more specifically, a very special old man who's been the thorn in Gessenvult 's side for God knows how long. He and that necromancer brat from Tsa's group of friends were relentless in their pursuits of Gessenvult and his magic. Well, the old woman was more interested in Gessenvult , Cure and the "gentleman dragon" more than just Gessenvult as each was an oddity among their race but Gessenvult liked feeling special so he ignored that fact. Though his long, steely grey hair covered much of his face due to his prostration, there wasn't a doubt who this fellow was - Fluder Paradyne.

"..." The begging fool was met with silence and a disappointed tut.

Whatever, let's get this shit over with. He ain't gonna leave me alone so I may as well shoo him away.

He didn't move however. The old man remained on the floor in a silent beg.

Gessenvult groaned in annoyance and let out an even longer sigh.

Deciding not to waste any more time in the Empire, Gessenvult met the old man's pleas with a blunt rebuttal: "No, you can't meet him nor can you meet any of my allies so stop asking. And no, you cannot see my magic." The last part may have been a little lie on Gessenvult 's part. It felt pretty good to be praised for being so amazing after all though right now, Gessenvult had far better things to do.

Before he even knew it, the wrinkly hands of the old man latched onto Gessenvult 's boots which were met with a brief yet still painful glassy transformation of the old man's hands. Looking down into the old man's pleading eyes Gessenvult only grew more annoyed at the old man's persistence yet a twang of pride welled within Gessenvult . It was a rare thing indeed for someone to be so persistent in the pursuit of magical knowledge, even with how lowly of creature Fluder was, he'd been a useful pawn, or so Gessenvult was told by his allies and hadn't been rewarded...so maybe a small reward was in order? And besides, Gessenvult had a little experiment he wanted to run to test how compatible his magic was with the dirty magic of the filth. It's been many centuries since he'd even tried combining the two magics and even then he'd relied on the assistance of the Demon Lord to make sure Gessenvult didn't blow himself up.

Alright, ONCE. I'll show him once more and THEN I'll leave.

Fluder threw himself into a begging frenzy and began to climb up Gessenvult 's legs as he shouted: "P-please! I-I beg of you, once more! J-just once more! I simply must gaze int-"

"Ah...just a demonstration today? Well, since you've learned not to pester me about meeting my allies for once...fine, I'll show you my magic." He did his best to hide the cocky grin that slowly crept onto his face though it wasn't very hard as the convulsions of his stomach soon morphed his face into far less pleasant expressions. Though, despite the clawing pain in his stomach, it wasn't everyday where you were literally begged to show off after all, so he went for it.

Gessenvult took a moment to compose himself and calm his lurching belly. Though he acted reluctant, he'd been dying to show someone his new party trick as well. Gessenvult focused...and focused...and focussed for more than a minute as his soul was slowly consumed by his own magic, albeit painful, the spell he was about to use did little to him in terms of damage and would heal in a matter of minutes, even though his was litterally burning his own soul to be used as fuel. After a little while longer of preparing his magic, Gessenvult 's right hand sparkled slightly as glassy crystals began sprouting from his appendage.

Now was the time to show off. Gessenvult cut deep into his tiny mana reserve and cast a single spell:

"[Minor Flare]"

He lifted his right hand and clicked his fingers together. Before the spell even instigated, the old man's eyes went wide as he let out on "oooooh!" sound as Gessenvult 's magic surged throughout the area. Even with his poultry mana pool, the dual wielding of two conflicting magic systems left the old man in awe of the dragon before him. Gessenvult himself was still surprised that he could wield two magic systems at once.

Heh...fuck this hurts but at least he's impressed! I'll have to thank the demon and his folk for diddling with my body all those years ago.

A brief flash of fire erupted from Gessenvult 's fingers before the vibrant red gouts were shrouded in a blackish tinge that emanated from the sparkling spots on his palm. The black spread all throughout the flames and froze them in place in an instant. Like the table in the meeting room, the gout of flame was entirely transformed into a glassy construct.

"Oooooohhh!" Cried the old man, practically on the verge of tears and each tremor that rippled through his body would shake loose those tears and splatter onto the floor.

Gessenvult felt a feeling of accomplishment flare up within his chest. He was by no means the most powerful or skilled magic caster. His use and knowledge of the archaic system of magic was...lacking to say the least when compared to others and was reserved for either party tricks or nuking a country in an uncontrollable tidal wave of glass that'd surely result in his own death due to his soul being ripped apart from the magic. Not to mention that the magic disagreed with his blood and was further weakened by his...modifications. Even so, he was proud of his accomplishments. Only two others on the continent could wield two systems of magic at once without the use of items and both had thrust themselves into lichdom to do so. Granted, he had essentially cheated by utilizing a transformative item from the Demon Lord's treasury in one of the demon's many experiments but still, it was impressive. Either way, Gessenvult still had to train and train and train until his body was forced to accept the new magic it was given. Despite his incredibly poor grasp on the filth's magic (being able to use the very lowest or first tier spells) it was an insurmountable accomplishment for his kind that few could replicate so he held his magical prowess in high regard.

The old man was motionless and silent on the floor. Gessenvult smirked to himself and took a moment to admire just how far he'd come from the sickly wyrmling he'd once been. In a few more centuries, who knows how far he'd have come? With his ego firmly bolstered for the day, Gessenvult smiled to himself even wider as a thought popped into his mind. This old man could prove to be quite useful to Gessenvult . Sure most of the time he'd need to consult his allies before even thinking of working together with a base creature but since Fluder had worked with Gessenvult 's allies once before, it couldn't hurt to skip the process a little, right? His obedience was a guarantee as Fluder only truly cared for knowledge of the arcane and there wasn't any non-dragon magic caster out there that Gessenvult knew of that could steal the old man away from him so everything should be fine.

Oh! While I'm here, I need the oldy to do some stuff for me.

"Say...Fluder, you've always wanted to study powerful magical items, correct?"

The old man froze for a second, Gessenvult 's words took a good while to properly register in the old coot's mind.

"A-are you...are you saying what I-"

"Mhm, sure thing. Just hold on a sec." In his other hand, Gessenvult created a small shaft of black glass and began to worm up the glass flame on top of the crude handle. With the flame at least mostly centred on the handle, thin threads of glass sprouted from the handle and secured the blade in place. Now the ugly item was assembled, Gessenvult dropped it on the floor next to a drooling Fluder.

"It's nothing like those swords I made a few centuries ago but...it's got a little bit of magic in it."

He dived towards the blade, the fiery glow held within the cool glass of the blade was irresistible to the old man it seemed.

"I woulda made a blue but...well, circumstances and all that so since I'm running low on ammo, blue's all ya get."

"TH-THANK YOU! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU-"

"Uhuh, just don't cut yourself on the blade or grip while you're examining it. Those wounds won't heal no matter what you do to them so be careful. Curses are pretty nasty as you're aware. Just think of Leinas but like...a billion times worse. I'm pretty good at psychic magic so...your mind may also get infected by a curse...or two upon you inspecting the item so be careful."

"Thank you for your words of wisdom, teacher! I shall enact the utmost caution when examining this equ-""

"Yeah...uh, I gotta leave for...reasons but one of my subordinates will come by later and give you a detailed list of a bunch of tasks that you need to complete in exchange for that blade. But..uh, I guess I can tell you them without much detail. "

And they DEFINETLEY aren't the tasks I'm meant to do during my banishment...nope...not at all...

The dragon spent the next few seconds detailing off each and every little task he had for Fluder. In his own mind. Some were simple tasks such as providing knowledge of the Empire while others were more...impossible for a man of Fluder's capabilities that would surely result in the old coot's not so unfortunate passing. Sure it was asking a lot of the old fool but it'd keep the magic fanatic away from Gessenvult and his allies for a good while and having someone keep tabs on the young Emperor was useful.

"I see...your tasks are great in number and difficulty but I shall do my utmost to-"

"Yeah, great." Not wanting to listen to the crazy old man any longer, Gessenvult walked away before the old man could finish.

"Come, come!" He beckoned for his bodyguard/jailer who immediately joined him at his side.

After reaching a suitable distance away from the still shaking old man on the floor, Gessnevult returned to his bodygaurd and asked: "So...do I have anything else left to do in the Empire have we gotten all this out of the way?"

"I do believe that that concludes your business with the Emperor and the Empire as a whole, you may now go back to your slumber."

"F-for real!?"

"Indeed, we have no reason to linger in this filthy place any longer though I presume that you wish to stay here to rest after your...arduous day of work." She said though the sun was yet to even reach its zenith...in fact, it's only been three or four hours after they departed the inn and left for the meeting.

Wasting no time at all, the dragon broke out in a sprint, an ecstatic grin spread all across his face and headed for the nearest window.

Shit I'm gonna blow...I really shoulda just ran out instead of bothering with the old man!

Now that a portion of Gessenvult's hellish torment was over, he leapt out of the nearest window in utter elation/pain and slammed into the cobble pathways beneath while striking a triumphant pose to no one but himself.

"Jeeeez~ Finally done!" He rubbed his eyes while letting out a yawn and stretching himself out in the warm rays of the sun.

Landing next to him, his bodyguard congratulated him with a few mockingly slow claps.

"Congratulations Gessenvult-sama, you have now completed two duties assigned to you by your fellow council members. At this rate, we should have finished all your tasks by next century, congratulations." She said while a smug grin slowly formed on her face. She'd be stuck with him for another century, but that's an entire century without the damned Brightness Lord and an entire century of Gessenvult's suffering!

"Alright...let's head back!" He prepared for the (not so) long trek back to his inn room though as he moved, a great wall of voice swallowed the entirety of his vision and devoured one of his feet and bluish embers of burnt paper fluttered passed his face.

It'd taken the sleepy dragon to realise just what exactly the void was, it'd been a good while since he'd used or seen any kind of strong magic after all.

"A [Gate]...I thought we're meant to be stealthy."

She shrugged and gestured to the barren streets around the Emperor's palace: "That is of no issue."

Sooner than he could reply, she ushered him into the void and in an instant, both were transported to the dingy room that had been rented for them nearly over half a year ago.

"I must say, Gessenvult-sama, I am rather shocked that you've actually managed to procure the effort needed to complete any of your tasks. So, I must again congratulate you on a second task completed."

"Uhuh…" He crashed down onto the pile of glassy coins that made up a good portion of the bed and shed his human disguise before wrapping himself in the warm confines of the dirty blanket and dozing off despite the strange liquid that still lingered in his digestife tract.

I'll...go to the bathroom...tomorrow...sleepy time is now….

"Ah, I forgive me but I must insist that you do not rest yet, there is one other task that you are required to undertake before I'm allowed to let you sleep."

"Uuuuuuugh….Fiiine…" Whined the dragon.

"Fear not Gessenvult-sama, you need only be awake for a day or so to complete this task. As you know, the summit is approaching an-"

"Not going."

"Ah, that is the thing though...it is mandatory. It has been over a century since the last mandatory attendance afertall so each of your kind is required to meet and discuss whatever plans you have come up with while my lord actually deals with the newcomers. Both your allies and my master would see not attending as grave insults and you will surely be punished even more severely than you were last time."

"Don't wanna…" He babbled while squirming around on the glassy shards that scraped at his scales and dug out the filth that had accumulated during his prior slumber.

"Ah, hello Tsaindorcus-sama….Yes, Gessenvult-sama has refused to attend th-" Once again, the childish dragon ripped her hand away from her temple to sever the connection to her other master and freeing Gessenvult from furthered punishment.

"Alright….alright...I'll go. Just...where the hell are they dragging me this century though?"

"This time the summit will take place in the realm of my master as he wishes to participate in the meeting in person."

"Uhuh...uh...what…?"

"Is there an issue Gessenvult-sama?"

"You said...your master is...gonna be there in person? Like...in person in person?"

"Indeed."

"Oh...and...I have to be in that hellhole for an entire day?"

"Indeed, my master has arranged quarters for you and your allies within his own home for the duration of your stay. Do you find issue with that act of kindness?"

"N-no...but...I-I have guaranteed protection from those...things, right? Like, I won't just get assualted by the Demon Wench just for saying the wrong things?"

"Of course, what good master would willingly let his tools become damaged? If you leave the residents of his home alone then you will not be attacked."

"Phew~" Gessnevult let out a harty sigh of relief, his life was guaranteed for at least a while longer.

"Well, since we have nothing left to discuss, I do believe that it is time we depart to the realm of my lord, is it not?"

"S-sure…" He meekly said.

The girl wrenched a scroll from a sheer black hole that had appeared in front of her and tossed the paper into the air. Upon leaving her grasp, the thin paper dissolved into blue embers and a massive black void took control of the leftmost wall of the room.

Gathering his bearings, the now meek Dragon Lord prepared to enter the dwellings of the Lord of Demons - a place he'd only ever been to a handful of times to seek out power while he was still developing his magic with the help of his allies. Gently, he traced a claw across the maimed patch of skin on his back as the memories of the Demon's lair flooded his mind. The accursed palace of the Demon Lord, a place where countless have met their ends, a place where nothing could even hope of invading nor defending against, was opening itself up for the enemies of it's master.

"After you, Gessenvult-sama." She curiously bowed and patiently waited for her master to enter the void.

Guess I'm doing this now...

With a heavy sigh and with no way of delaying the inevitable, Gessenvult took a step into the [Gate] and surrendered himself to the mercy of the Demon Lord and those that dwelled within his home.

---

Hello, it is i, second author's note puddleman, how do you do?

Anyway, that was the chapter I guess. Fun fact, I didn't know that some of the dragons had canon names so yeah...I guess Gessenvult is the canon name of the obsidian dragon lord which is way better than what I came up with for him. Can't say the same about the other dragons though lol. I'm not very good at naming things unfortunately :(

For real, I didn't actually expect to make it this far into the story. Like I thought I woulda quit by chapter 5 tbh since I don't even enjoy what I write but oh well! I'll keep writing until I start to really hate the shit I write then imma just kill everyone off in a super unsatisfying way and peace out.

Yeah that's about it, I ain't got a whole lot to say down here apart from that weekly / biweekly updates should start back up again for a while so yay I guess? I've already written three fights so...my fingers hurt...

Kk that's all.

See ya - Puddle