~ Chapter 150: The hidden secret of an ancient’s curse ~

[Ayuseya’s point of view] 

 With my summon to the King’s throne room, the gears of fate that would bring about clarity to this nation’s future were finally set in motion. The dark clouds ever looming above the oppressed capital of Teslov crackled with the desire to let the rain pour down and drown all those below them who so much as dared to look up. 

The history of this nation was never one of glory or prosperity, at least not in the sense that Illsy made me aware off. From the moment of its inception, the draconians had been cast in the jaws of war. With their powerful bodies and ferocious attitudes, they would sweep away the enemies who dared to stand before them. 

A long long time ago, the Thorya Continent was home to over one hundred nations. Among them, there were also a lot of draconian ones, but the history books do not tell us what sort of civilizations they harbored, only that when the ancient Dragon Emperor of Teslov was born, they were conquered by him. Without showing even a single drop of mercy, he laid claim to all the lands around him, turning non-draconians and half-draconians into slaves of war or tools for devilish experiments. 

At one point, the last remaining free nations of Thorya joined hands together and formed the Paramanium Kingdom. They waged war against the Teslov Empire for years and years. The Paramnium historians declared that eventually, the Dragon Emperor turned to Black Magic and the worship of a Dark God, but this was considered a mere fabulation by Teslov. 

Considering the many situations, I came to witness in the past years as well as what happened with Illsyore and Tamara back on Sorone, I am inclined to believe that it was highly unlikely for it to be a fabulation of any sort. 

After, it was no sooner that the Dragon Emperor began to push back the Paramanium Kingdom. When the war spread to Allasn and Sorone, it became the first ever recorded World War and the brutality of the draconian soldiers was at its very peak. Their war crimes were countless and spread far and wide. They slaughtered everyone they encountered, they raided villages and drained the settlers of blood. They conquered the cities of Sodoma and Gomorraht, then they forced to surviving population to get drunk with aphrodisiacs and form massive orgies until everyone there lost their mind. These cities were then used as bait for the enemy armies and when the vast majority of soldiers were inside, they cast Supreme Rank magic spells that bombarded them with giant fireballs. 

And these were only some of their more... tame actions. 

One of the legends even claimed that the Dragon Emperor wished to conquer the world and enslave the other species merely to satisfy his own desires for a different sort of meat and when he was not satisfied, he didn’t mind eating his own wives or children. 

On the other hand, most of the legends in Teslov portray him as a hero of legend, who brought us glory over all the other species and nations that were vastly inferior to us. 

There were many faces to his tale, but even after he was defeated by a coalition of kingdoms and empires from all the three continents, Teslov still retained its fearsome might and savageness. The only thing that dwindled our power was the generational curse that passed from royal to royal, spreading like a virus. 

Although, Illsy’s words from last night regarding the hidden underground facility in the Pleyades Palace made me wonder if it really was something that was cast upon my family by the enemies of Teslov back in the Dragon Emperor’s time or maybe it was something we did to ourselves? 

What he said was “You know? This generational curse, I always found it be a bit odd. Back then, when I freed you from it, I never really gave it any thought because it happened so suddenly and also couldn’t analyze it properly, however, why does it work like this? Where does all that energy that it drains from its victims go to? If it simply dissipated in the air, then this palace would have been extraordinarily rich in Magic Energy, but it feels... saturated. Also, it makes no sense to use so much energy just to curse a family for thousands and thousands of generations... Just kill them off and make the next ruler your puppet. Isn’t that one of the most basic political strategies you can use? If you just curse them like that, then they become the puppets of the other nobles in the country or even end up getting killed by them anyway so that others could rise to power, yet for some reason, this never happened in a corrupt and unjust kingdom like Teslov all these centuries now.” 

It was not as if I had never thought about this myself, it was just that I had ignored it for the most part, thinking that they were simply doing it out of respect. 

“Your Highness, we’re here to escort you.” 

Seven new faces showed themselves before me alongside three old ones, they were all of Supreme Rank, with the latter three being the draconians who escorted me from the Illsyorea Island. They were wearing a special type of armor that was reserved only for the King’s most trusted guards. 

These ten released their intimidating presence as soon as I had opened the door of my room. With the exception of those three, from whom I couldn’t feel the same desire to suppress me, I could tell that they wanted to see me grovel at their feet, begging them to stop or to immediately start fearing them. 

How foolish. I thought as I looked back at them without so much as flinching. 

A whole minute passed, and they kept standing there like fools, some smiling while the others wondering why I wasn’t caving in already. 

“Are you here to watch me stand in front of my room’s door or are you going to let me pass so I can meet the King?” I asked them in a cold tone of voice once I saw that they weren’t backing up. 

“Huh?” the one who made the stupid face and let out the foolish sound was the same one who announced that they were going to be the escorts. 

From left to right, those seven were a mismatch of scale colors, blue, red, green, brown, red, white, and blue. The three from before kept their distance and stayed in the back. They knew better than to get on my bad side, although it made me wonder as to why they ended up as part of this group. 

“This way.” Said the one on my right with red scales, forcing the others to open a path for me. 

With absolute confidence and the elegance that was hammered down into me since a young age, I began to make my way towards the King’s throne room. 

No sooner after we left, one of these escorts opened his mouth and addressed me in a rather rude manner. 

“You know, your Highness, I have heard these strange rumors that said you have gained some sort miraculous strength. But a cursed one of the Pleyades couldn’t possibly attain any form of power unless it was from an artifact, right?” he spoke in a tone of voice that should have made me feel small and helpless. 

“I also heard that this place you are coming from, Illsyorea was it? Yeah, that place is said to be guarded by powerful monsters and ridiculous women warriors. But isn’t that just a foolish lie spread to keep the idiots and cowards away?” the one with green scales mocked. 

“That supposedly husband of yours, Illsyore, he dares claim to own what rightfully belongs to this nation. Even if you got impregnated by him, your offspring still belongs to Teslov.” the one with brown scales said. 

I did not react to their words until now, but it seemed as though the other three who knew me were taking a step back. That was wise of them. Maybe they got forced into joining this merry group? 

“Kind sirs.” I said and then stopped. 

“Huh?” the one with brown scales looked at me with a raised eyebrow. 

“Indeed, there are many rumors regarding our strength and that of my husband’s, but it seems there are some mistakes among what you declared.” I told them with a cold smile on my face. 

“And what mistakes would those be?” the one with green scales asked with a mocking smile. 

“First of all, it appears that these rumors have rudely spoken ill of my husband’s strength. Their claims portray him as far weaker than he actually is. Things like smashing a Supreme with one hand or slaying an army with countless monsters or traps are a bit too insulting. There would be no need for my husband to stain his Magic Armor with the blood of someone as weak as a Supreme and there would be no need to summon countless monsters to kill an army when a single squad of his imps would be more than enough. Countless monsters? What for? That would be a waste of Magic Energy. And second of all, it seems you all are under the false impression that you represent even the faintest and smallest danger to me. And lastly, I never gave you permission to talk nor asked for your opinions on anything. So, I would appreciate it if you don’t perpetuate such false rumors anymore. If you wish to, at least do it right.” I told them in a calm tone of voice that showed no emotion and ended my speech with a gentle smile. 

The way I looked at them was the same as I would at a helpless little child. I then turned around and continued to walk towards the throne room. 

I wonder how Illsy’s doing. I thought as I looked at this dark and gloomy corridor that seemed to be inviting me to a funeral rather than an audience with a King. 

 [Illsyore’s point of view] 

 This palace was overly complicated and big! That was all I could think about after I quietly sneaked out of Ayuseya’s room. It was too bad that I did not get to stay around and watch her change her clothes. Sneaking a peek at her gorgeous bosom was a heaven’s blessing in its own! 

Really though, I could not get enough of indulging in these carnal pleasures with my beloved wives. It was so exciting and thrilling to make them feel good and loved by me. It basically charged me up with infinite amount of energy! 

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, I was now wondering how big Vellezya’s breasts were. It was not as if I was thinking of hitting her with a ‘not not joke’ but rather I was curious if it ran in the family. If that was the case, then I had to make preparation for when my little girls turned of age! Papa wasn’t going to let any man just ogle at them in a perverted way! Papa looking at mamas was an exception decreed by the gods! 

That and well, it was normal to teach your beautiful daughters self-defense as well as ways to spot the creeps who looked at her funny. It was normal if she could make use of this weapon when she found a man she loved, but she definitely had to make sure she could differentiate him from any other unwanted perverts out there. 

So far though, my only daughter is Anette, and she is probably smart enough to figure this out long before I can even think about starting to teach her about the evil gazes of perverted men. Then again, it’s not yet certain if she will pick a female body or a male one. As a Dungeon, she does have that freedom, after all. Even I have the blueprint of my female version but going through a change would be anything but annoying. Level would reset to 1, I would have to retrain my muscles and start condensing my Magic Energy... ugh... If it wasn’t for the trouble of going through all that hellish training again, I may have had actually tried it out at one point. Nanya and Shanteya wouldn’t have minded sleeping with me in that form. I thought while I sneaked around the palace. 

Since it felt interesting and cool, I decided to go at it like a spy movie hero. The only thing that was missing was that music in the background. Still, the more I lurked around, the nastier were the things I heard about the Pleyades family or rather insults thrown at them. 

None of the guards respected the women of this family, but their faith and loyalty in King Braydan was almost at ridiculous peak levels. They spoke about him like he was one of the best rulers out there, but to be honest, it didn’t seem like they were brainwashed at all. 

Out of curiosity, I dropped by the servants’ chambers, where I did not end up by accident because I lost my way through this fricking maze, and there I stumbled upon the conversation between several maids that were in the process of changing their attire. None of them had Ayuseya’s breasts, so I wasn’t that interested, but they all had the bodies of trained soldiers. 

“The worst thing that can happen? Other than being born as a Princess? Hm, maybe becoming the personal maid of one. Those draconian girls are picked up from among the weakest of noble girls and interesting commoners. They don’t know how to fight or spot an assassin and once the Princess is sacrificed, their death is guaranteed.” she declared with a snarky attitude. 

“True, I don’t really think I heard of one to survive. Ah! There’s the case of those maids belonging to Princess Ayuseya, but didn’t they become slaves or something?” another one asked. 

This draconian maid had a deep cut on her chest from a sword strike. These ones were all at least Godlike Rank, and almost all the maids and butlers in this palace appeared to be well versed in combat for some reason. 

“Yes, they were sold as soon as they returned to the Palace a few years ago. But that has to have been the case with most of them. There’s even a secret bid among noble to see who gets to buy them first. It’s too bad they couldn’t be used for anything else, but not having a loyalty towards his Majesty was their own stupid fault.” the third one declared. 

They then continued to badmouth Soleya and all the other maids that were in Ayuseya’s service. I was reminded of the draconian woman who was raped and then brutally murdered by Dankyun back at the Fellyore academy. She held a high loyalty towards the princess, but within the Pleyades Palace, her and her fellow coworkers seemed to be the only ones. 

It was almost as if the royal children lived in some make-belief fantasy in which all the maids and guards changed their attitude towards them the moment they came into play. They were used and raised in certain manners in order to give off the impression that Teslov is like all the other kingdoms out there. 

This was why Ayuseya was allowed to study history and politics, to organize debate competitions at the age of 12 and even become an official representative of the Royal Court of Justice until the age of 16. She, just like all the other princesses before her, were used to make a good impression in front of the outside world. Even if someone captured and interrogated a maid or butler of hers, they would not have found out much because they too received a similar treatment. 

When their time was up, they were then sacrificed to reduce one tick from that generational curse. 

This made me feel like there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than anyone let out to be. Whether it had something to do with that curse and the farm below remained to be seen. I did not rule out the possibility of having all of this as part of a giant ploy organized and led by the most prominent nobles in the Teslov Kingdom. 

As soon as I get the chance, I will fully investigate that curse’s formulas to see how it works. I have a really really bad feeling about it. I thought.

After a bit of going back and forth, I finally managed to find the room I was looking for. Two big guards were standing there looking mean and dangerous. Well, either that or they were both constipated. The thing was, that I had to be extra sure that this was indeed Vellezya’s room. I didn’t want to go around looking through the whole palace for a mysterious room again. 

Well, Ayuseya did leave me with some directions, but I still got distracted by one thing and another. 

That being said, I walked out from the shadows, and with a smile on my lips, I asked “Is this Princess Vellezya’s room?” 

“Huh? Who’s askin’? Identify yourself!” one of the guards asked and then the other one placed his hand over the hilt of his blade. 

“Oh, I just lost my way and was told to make a left turn from Vellezya’s room... Or something like that.” I replied with a shrug and a smile. 

The two of them looked at each other and then nodded. They unsheathed their swords and took a step towards me. 

“I guess I need to be more persuasive?” I said right before I took a step forward and attacked them. 

The guard on the left received a punch to the chest and was sent flying across the corridor, while the other one was grabbed by the throat. Their weak Godlike Rank Magic Armors shattered with ease, and I wasn’t too loud either. I knew how to be stealthy. 

“So!” I said and showed him a smile. 

The draconian struggled in my grasp, but there was no way he could escape my grip. As for the other one, he was completely knocked out, but not dead. 

“Is this Vellezya’s room?” I asked again and then released the pressure on his throat a little so that he could speak properly. 

“Y-Yes.” he replied. 

“Good!” I showed him a smile and then punched him in the face, sending him off to the land of dreams together with his friend across the hall. 

“Now then!” I said and then approached the door. 

As soon as I did that, however, I began to pick up the voices inside. 

“Your Highness, please stop being stubborn. You need to take your medicine!” shouted the maid. 

There were the cries of a baby as well, most likely the boy, Brachen, which in this case would mean that he was my nephew? Then again, this also meant that all the mindless draconian women below were also my in-laws? 

This is one strange family... I thought, but as far as I was concerned, Ayuseya’s family stopped at her and then extended only by a little to her sister Vellezya and nephew Brachen. 

“I refuse! It is my choice to drink it when I please! Just leave it on the counter and leave this room at once. Look, you are scaring Brachen.” Vellezya told her. 

Yup! Yup! Don’t scare off my nephew! I thought and nodded. 

If anyone saw me right now, they would think I was a creep who was eavesdropping. Well, I wasn’t a creep, but I didn’t have the decency to ignore what they were saying either. 

“Sigh... Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter right now. Princess, it would be wise to say your farewells to the child. You see, the other reason why I came here today was also because I was ordered by his Majesty to take Brachen from you. As a Princess, you can’t have children anymore. You are far too close to the point of death now. You will waste away in this bed in the following days and no matter how much you scream or beg, no one will answer... just like your mother and even Ayuseya’s.” she told her in a tone of voice that showed disgust towards the person before her. 

“What? T-That cannot be! You can’t take Brachen away from me!” Vellezya cried out. 

“Like I said, not matter how much you whine or cry, it won’t matter.” she said. 

Well, this is getting out of hand fast. I thought and then took a step back from the room. 

Looking to my right I saw two guards on patrol turning the corner. Well, I did not want them to sound the alarm, so I rushed towards them and punched them in the stomach. The strike was clean and precise, shattering their Magic Armor and physical armor to bits and pieces while forcing all the air in their lungs to come out. 

“You were just unlucky.” I said as I looked at the two as they were gasping for air. 

They only had one moment to look up at me before I punched them in the face, knocking them out. 

I then turned around and rushed back to Vellezya’s room. During this time, I didn’t fear the idea that the maid might kill the baby, although it sounded like she could pose such a threat. If the farm underneath the palace was any indication of something that was the fact that they needed Pleyades blood. They needed the baby to be alive, but there was something else that posed a question for me. 

That maid said that she would suffer the same fate as Ayuseya’s mother and even Vellezya’s. Does this mean that the curse on the princesses doesn’t matter or maybe it has some sort of other purpose? I wondered as I stepped in front of the door. 

Whatever the case, I was about to find out since I had a particularly useful guinee pig right here in the form of a cursed Princess and a baby boy. I would, of course, guarantee that they wouldn’t be harmed in any way or manner, but I would definitely take my sweet time analyzing that spell. I had to find out what was the purpose behind it. If it were something dangerous, I also had to see how I could put a stop to it. 

Thus, I knocked at the door while the maid and Princess were struggling inside over the cries of the baby. 

“Hello! Pizza delivery!” I shouted.

“What?” came the reply from them right before I opened the door by force. 

Maybe I used a bit too much force since I ripped the door right out of its hinges. 

“Well, oopsie.” I showed them a wry smile and then dropped it to the side. “Never can get used to one’s superhuman strength, you know what I mean?” I laughed as I rubbed the back of my head. 

Vellezya’s room was remarkably similar to Ayuseya’s, although this one contained a lot more frills and felt a lot stuffier like it wasn’t being aired out properly. The maids probably had something to do with that or maybe it was the fact that outside a storm was coming. 

Not far from the entrance was the bed of the royal princess. She was quite beautiful as well, although her breasts... maybe they earned a hard pass? This meant that I had to watch out for creepy stalkers in the future. The draconian maid, however, was a B cup at most. 

Well with all that being said, they were apparently struggling for possession over the innocent baby, and it seemed as though thanks to my appearance, the villainous maid had won. The little boy was in her arms, crying his little heart out, while his mother was reaching out for him with tears in her eyes. 

“W-Who are you?! What happened to the guards?” the maid demanded to know immediately. 

“Hm? They are out cold. Don’t worry, if I wanted to kill them, you wouldn’t have been alive right now.” I replied with a smile, although I didn’t know if I could pull off Shanteya’s smile when she learned that I was trying to teach little Bachus the Colly Tos spell. 

I get the chills just thinking about that. I thought and then looked over at the little boy in the maid’s arms. “Hm? Mind handing my nephew over to me?” I asked. 

“Nephew? Who do you think you are?” she asked as she pulled back and stepped away from the bed. 

The way she was holding the baby couldn’t be considered either safe or careful. 

“Me? I’m that weak and useless Godlike Dungeon Lord and husband of Ayuseya whom everyone in this Palace seems to think that is easy to defeat. Although, seriously speaking, none of you could even hold a candle to me even if you gathered the whole nation together.” I laughed and then moved fast, quite literally vanishing and appearing right in front of her, from her point of view, at least. “Now, please hand over my nephew safely, and I won’t think about ripping your head and spine right out of your body as I spam healing spells on you so that you can feel every single second of this tormenting process?” I asked in kind and gentleman-like manner while as I looked right into her eyes with the delighted glare of a serial killer. 

“Hiii! P-Please s-spare m-me!” she trembled and cried as she gave me my nephew. 

“Alright!” I showed her a smile and then right after I made sure that the boy was safe and sound in my arms, I headbutted the maid into the wall behind her. 

The little baby boy already stopped crying as he looked up at me with big curious eyes. Well, I was his awesome uncle, so of course he would be mesmerized by my greatness, however, it was also likely that I had a very gentle air around me when handling him. 

Babies could sense when you were in a good mood or not as well as if you harbored any ill intentions towards them. The maid was not exactly a gentle and generous soul, so it was clear that she would cause Brachen to burst into a crying fit. 

On the other hand, I learned about this unique ability of a baby the hard way with my own children. At the very least, I knew how to properly handle them while making them feel safe and secure. When you did that, they turned into adorable poop angels. 

“Are you...” Vellezya asked with big eyes. 

“Illsyore Deus, Ayuseya’s husband. Maybe she mentioned me at one point?” I replied with a big smile. 

Vellezya nodded once. 

“Good, well, I’m going to pass Brachen back to you while I will prepare to remove those nasty curses from you two!” I declared with a smile. 

“Are you sure that you... can?” she asked while looking down with a worried gaze at her baby boy. 

“Of course! That thing should be easy, now if it were a Divine Curse, well, that would have been a problem, but even then, my wife Zoreya is an Apostle of Melkuth, so she would have nagged him for the solution for a bit. I would have had to help him in some way or build him a shrine or something, but it wouldn’t have been that much of a problem.” I said and then stopped for a moment Since when do I know that Divine Curses exists and can be solved like that? Hm... Meh, must be something Zoreya mentioned to me at one point. I shrugged and continued. 

“Where are you going?” she asked as she looked at me. 

“There are four unconscious guards taking a nap outside the room. I’m going to go and tie them up really quick and then lock them up inside a broom closet or something. Oh, right! The maid too!” I struck my palm with the bottom of my fist and then turned around to go grab that draconian as well “It would have been bad if she woke up while I was focused on removing the curse.” I said as I grabbed her by the neck and dragged her out. 

After a few minutes, I managed to tie up all the guards and maid in what I thought was an empty room. I gagged them as well and made sure that both the rope and the gag were enchanted to survive the power of a Godlike like them. Well, if they tried hard enough, then they could get free and if anything, the enchants would vanish in a couple of hours, so it was not like they were stuck there forever. On the other hand, if they gave me any reason to kill them, I would not have hesitated. 

When you rush out to kill someone, you should be prepared to be killed yourself. 

When I got back to the room, I found Vellezya nursing the baby. 

“I will be done in just a moment.” she said with a smile, and in that very moment, I had a vision of Ayuseya nursing our baby just like that. 

That image, although a product of my own imagination and maybe hidden desires, brought a warm feeling to my chest. 

“Yeah, no problem.” I replied with a soft smile on my face and then turned around to repair the door. I guess once we return to Illsyorea, Ayuseya will probably ask me for a baby as well? If she had the same feeling as I did right now when she saw Vellezya, who knows? Well, it’s not like I have a problem with having our family increase by two more heads. I was sort of prepared for this ever since Shanteya wanted me to impregnate her... Two more bundles of joy in my life, huh? Well, it doesn’t sound so bad. I thought as a small smile formed on my lips. 

Once she was done, I cast a barrier around us and then immediately began to undo the curse. As per her request, I started with Vellezya so that I would show her that there was no danger for the baby. 

The moment when I began to weave the magic threads within that curse, I could see just how complicated and thorough it was. The problem with it wasn’t that it couldn’t be removed by ordinary dispelling items but rather the moment they tried to do so, the Magic Energy of the dispel was eaten up by the curse. The more I looked at it, the more I was remembered of how my own Dungeon Territory worked. It gobbled up Magic Energy and expanded, gifting me with certain abilities and attributes such as sensing enemies or freely moving around it in my astral projection form. 

However, beyond this, I could see that the spell was sending the Magic Energy somewhere. It wasn’t just eating it up, it acted as a receiver and transmitter. The reason why all draconians so far met their end at a young age was because they could not grow and evolve more than this spell allowed them to. 

Within it, I also saw a period of time that was designated to act as a timer for when the victim was ripe for harvesting. It was literally a harvesting sub-spell that turned the body’s very life force into Magic Energy for the one it was transmitting it to. 

This... is definitely Black Magic, but... if it is meant to fuel someone or something with Magic Energy, who and where is the recipient? I wondered and as I dug deeper into the code, I also found the answer to my question. 

“This... this is ridiculous.” I said as I looked at what was written before me in the ancient language of the Dungeons. 

“What is it?” Vellezya asked. 

“This curse... when the victim, which is you, is sacrificed to a Dark God, then... your whole body is turned into Magic Energy which is then used to reinforce a certain draconian, the first one cursed, which is...” 

“The Dragon Emperor? But he’s... he’s dead, right?” she asked. 

I shook my head. “Not according to this curse. If he was, then you wouldn’t have grown as weak as you are right now. Without a receiver, Magic Energy would just float around you, but like this... it’s clear that your Magic Energy is going somewhere, you are a living battery.” I said. 

“The Dragon Emperor.... is alive?” she asked surprised. 

“And he’s been draining the very life force and Magic Energy of his own family for generations...” I said and with this, I shattered the curse that shackled her to bits. “But you are free now, and so will be Brachen.” I looked at the baby boy, who was now suckling his tail and looking at us with innocent and curious eyes. 

“T-Thank you...” Vellezya said as tears rolled down her cheeks, tears of happiness and joy to finally be free to live and do what no one in this family, except for my wife, was able to do since the ages of the Teslov Empire, which was to see their own children grow up.