About five days after our return to Illsyorea, Ayuseya came back from the Teslov Kingdom. She was able to settle most of the internal disputes there and also prepare the groundwork for future external political relationships. Vellezya also received a crunch course on the ‘do and do not’ of politics. A trusted adviser of the Paramanium Emperor also arrived there two days before she departed, so for the time being, the Teslov Kingdom was in safe hands.

Thus, with the occasion of her return, I decided to hold a party to celebrate everyone’s success. We invited the teachers at the academy, the Emperor of Paramanium, a bunch of political figures, and made it a free day for the students.

We didn’t stay for too long on the Demon Continent, but I had more than enough time to teach Graymore the method that would greatly help Akardia to safely deliver both of her babies. While I was doing this, I also got to learn a few tips and tricks about the proper way of using my own Dungeon Territory.

The old goat acted as though what he was teaching me wasn’t all that important and that it was something any Dungeon from the Dungeon Continent was capable of doing, more so if they held the equivalent rank of nobles over here.

Just when I was about to win, Nanya’s mother put an end to my mortal combat duel with that Dungeon who claimed to be Nanya’s father and then invited me to her palace in Akardia. At first, I was a bit unwilling, as I kept glaring at the old man who now looked more like a peasant that just had a tumble down the hill than a prestigious Dungeon Lord known by many and feared by all.

I was in no better position either, the battle was one that forced me to put my ALL into it! Ahem... and by no means was it a pathetic children’s scuffle if seen from afar... definitely not that!

Both me and my husband believed that we were in the right in this matter. The Dungeons outside the Dungeon Continent were known to be manipulative, petty, weak, and most definitely eager to kill and corrupt others.

Their reputation wasn’t exactly the prettiest either and those who managed to achieve human form were known to be the most terrible out of them all, but it didn’t appear to be the case with the one who introduced himself as Nanya’s husband.

“Why?” I said as tears flowed down my cheeks “Why are you doing this, father, mother?” I asked.

The moment Illsy arrived, they took up an aggressive stance against him without so much as giving him a chance to introduce himself properly. I knew that they would not like the husband I would get to choose for myself, but I didn’t think it was this bad!

I felt my heart aching just looking at how father and Illsy were fighting each other.

Nanya’s husband was undoubtedly a very powerful and intimidating Dungeon, however, the way he made his appearance in front of us, her parents, was what I could only call as being something disrespectful, savage, and maybe even ruthless? The amount of Magic Energy he released and the way he did so made it look as though he was declaring all those who stood below him on the ground as his worst enemies or at the very least weaker individuals who should not dare cross his path.

I sent out the call just as Illsy taught me. Red for nothing important and Green for very important... or was it the other way around? Well, it did not matter. Since I had won this duel now, every single demon and demoness within the Demonarkiar Empire would learn that the Weakest Daughter of Akardia was not that weak anymore. I was all grown up and with more power at my fingertips than they could dream of.

Upon arriving on this island in the middle of nowhere, which could only be described as some sort of forsaken land of the dead, I found myself acting not as a savior in shiny armor but rather as the witness to my wife’s prowess. To be honest, I was expecting her to come out victorious in this battle, but I wasn’t expecting her to humiliate the Phantom Rage Guild Master in such a way. She didn’t spare him a moment and didn’t even bother to go down and face him in her real body.

The battle between me and the Guild Master resumed, but this time, with an intensity that was fiercer and far more merciless than before. The obsidian sword fueled by his Dark Magic released an ominous aura, while his attacks were all aimed either at my joints or vital points. I had to do my best as well to block each and every one of those strikes. My body moved on its own most of the time, but thanks to my speed, I could avoid all the more dangerous ones.

To be completely honest, I had no idea where Nanya was getting her confidence from. This battle was not going to be an easy one. As far as I could tell from both the rumors and all the information I asked my subordinates to gather on this High Demio, he appeared to be someone who managed to reach the impressive level of 2000 and was known to have succeeded in subjugating all sorts of monsters.

Cold winds were howling like angry beasts, while the ocean was more and more wrathful. The waves that crushed against the shoreline had grown by almost half a meter in height, and the clouds above the island have gathered like angry devils who planned to rain down only suffering and abysmal hate upon us. It almost felt as though the souls of the recently departed were screaming at the heavens for justice and retribution against me, the one who took their lives with unimaginable ease.

Yet, I felt no fear or worry from them. It was... their fate.

“I-I’m happy you are alive, you foolish daughter of mine.”

These words of hers sent a shock through me. I did not even know what to say or to believe when I heard them. I always thought that whatever happened to me was not something either my parents would care about. I was just that weak daughter of hers, not even worth looking at when comparing me with my older sister Entupia, not to mention my older brothers. They were the true pride and joy of this family, the ones who succeeded far more than I ever did in the demonkind’s eyes.

An Empress or a Queen, to the demonkind, this was merely a title granted to the demoness who ruled above them all. If I would have been a demon, then I would have been called an Emperor or a King... Maybe even having my own species’ name as a Demon Queen rather than a Demon was just a cruel joke played upon me by the gods?

For centuries I’ve wondered whether or not my role on this wasteland planet was nothing more than that of a ruler, a shepherd for the tormented demons and demonesses who lived on this vast continent?

The Phantom Island had many facilities hidden under the guise of this endless barren wasteland. Scattered behind the cliffs of the mountains and stretching through intricate tunnels all the way deep underground, there were numerous caves created with the special purpose of hiding and training the deadliest assassins within the Phantom Rage Guild.

The weakest assassins that could be found on this island were of at least a lower Godlike Rank in terms of strength alone, which meant that the more powerful ones could reach lower Supreme Rank. They didn’t even compare to those found in the hideouts outside of Phantom Island, which I had encountered so far.

The Supremes who stepped up to challenge me were weak and lacked the skills needed to entertain me even for a couple of seconds. The three draconians who refused to fight me turned against the Royal Guards and the other Supremes, helping me restrain all of them in no time at all.

This gave me the freedom to head up and witness Ayuseya’s battle.

Did it hurt?

Yes.

Was it something I wished for?

No.

Then why did I let it happen? Why did I let this bastard kill those innocent draconians? Even if they were nothing more than living hosts for his fiendish curse, they were still part of my family... True, they were part of the family I had cast away, but even so, I couldn’t deny their existence since they themselves never did anything bad to me. They weren’t my enemies, they weren’t my friends either, but letting them die simply because this monster of a draconian thought that they didn’t have the right to live was too much.

If someone were to ask me if I could imagine how it was like to have my entire family slaughtered in a manner of seconds just to satisfy the desire for power of a madman who was the incestuous parent of half of them, well... I probably would reply that I had no idea even where to begin to process this complicated mess of an emotion, yet right now, this was what my beloved Ayuseya was going through.

The draconian by the name of Brayden revealed himself to be someone else, but from the lack of reaction from both the guards and the two nobles by his side, I could only suspect that they were all aware of his true identity. Ayuseya, however, wasn’t. She was shocked by this; her fists were clenched tight, and her jaw locked so that she wouldn’t gasp in surprise. The tail covered with gold scales didn’t move an inch as though it was bolted to the ground.

“Oh~! I kind of like that expression of yours, my dear Ayuseya~! It’s shock... and... is that a hint of despair?” the draconian on the throne showed us a playful smirk.

With the generational curse removed from the little one and his mother, I waited patiently for Ayuseya to call me out, which didn’t take too long. With one last glance at barrier surrounding my sister-in-law, I walked up to the window and then jumped out.

I flew up into the sky until I reached good altitude and then stopped to look down at the capital city. Drakaros was gigantic even when compared with Aura, the capital of the Paramanium Empire. The vast city districts have been built over the course of thousands of years and spread out into the surrounding plains. It was easy to get lost among the streets, since they were built in a very organic way depending on how big or at what angle someone built their homes.

Just as I had thought, the official who handled my mother’s audiences was standing not that far away from the throne room itself. He had a desk and everything, and there was already a demio talking with him.

In front of the door stood two guards who were far more powerful than any of those seen walking about on the streets, but they were still considerably weaker than me.

The doors were huge, reaching at least ten meters high, but they were just an overzealous decoration. They were opened only during special ceremonies or when foreign royalties arrived. Everyone else just had to use either the normal door on the left or the one on the right of the big ones.