~ Chapter 157: Was it my fault? ~
[Illsyore’s point of view]
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.
When one thought back at their own family, they could speak about pride, about honor, about strength, but in this case, there was nothing but disgust. Even I who was a mere spectator felt repulsed by all of this, but I couldn’t even begin to fathom what she was going through. In her eyes, there was sadness and anger dancing in a ballet of swords on a white marble floor covered with shattered glass.
“If I knew it would feel so good, so euphoric, I would have done this more often!” Draconius laughed out loud.
I had no words to spare for this monster, but while I wished to bash his skull into the floor, I believed that Ayuseya would be more fit for this role. She had every right to stop this senseless slaughter.
True, it might have been difficult for me to undo the curse of all the draconians in the underground facility, but while we couldn’t save the adults, the children… there was still hope for them.
I still can’t shake the feeling that I could have maybe done something to stop this madman from activating that spell. If I knew what he was planning from the get-go, or if I had the faintest idea of how the process of remotely stealing the very life force and Magic Energy from someone worked, I would have probably done something? I wondered, but at the end of my thoughts, a simple question arose: And what would that be?
Indeed, what could have I done? The process wasn’t clear to me, and with so much Magic Energy flowing towards him, in such an unstable form, could I have risked the lives of all those in Drakaria for a chance to stop him? Thinking about it, the answer was a painful ‘Yes’, but I couldn’t risk the lives of Vellezya and her baby. Ayuseya would have never forgiven me for it. Not to mention that if there was the remote chance of her getting killed in this action, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself afterwards for this foolishness.
If there was anything to give me some peace of mind in all of this, then it was the fact that the ones who died were mindless drones, bodies that were made for the sole purpose of acting as living batteries, even if… even if that was only partially true.
This weight on my shoulders was not an easy one to bare, and a part of me kept wondering if there wasn’t anything that I could have done to prevent all of this?
Maybe in a way, this event was a small slap to my face so as to remind me that there were some situations out there which even I, with all of my knowledge accumulated so far, couldn’t solve in time no matter how hard I tried.
Luck maybe have been a part of it as well, and tonight, it wasn’t on our side.
As I looked at my beloved wife, I couldn’t help but think If I, who am just a stranger in all of this, feel so much guilt and helplessness, I can’t even begin to fathom what you must be feeling right now… Will you blame me for this, I wonder?
“Initially, King Draconius, I wanted to engage in a polite discussion with you. I wanted to talk things out and reach a mutual agreement, but through the many actions and words you have used tonight, I fear that your intention was never set on negotiating a solution with me.” Ayuseya said as she continued to look down with her clenched fists and trembling shoulders.
“Indeed. I wanted to do this from the start, but to be honest, I failed to bring you to the state of despair and hopelessness that I had initially planned. For a while, I even pondered how to bait your husband into trying to ‘cure’ me of my curse and then stab him in the heart with a Dungeon-killing dagger.” he shrugged and took out the weapon at his waist.
It was a weapon of high quality on par with some of my pre-plasma blade swords. The enchantment on it was done perfectly and the materials were well forged as well. But while it could go through a big portion of our Magic Armor, it lacked the ability to finish the job. Even if I allowed myself to get impaled by that thing, I still would have survived without a problem. After all, this body of mine was custom-built by me and did not operate like that of a normal human even if it did look similar to one.
“You are despicable.” Ayuseya said while holding down her anger.
“A mere compliment, but once I’m done with both of you, I’ll be able to return to ruling the world. After all, who will be here to stop me?” he laughed.
“What about the Apostles?” I asked raising an eyebrow.
“They are worthless. Once I give 10000 innocent souls as offering to the Dark God, I will be made an Apostle myself!” he laughed.
The draconian was now powerful enough to levitate in the air without any problem. It wasn’t that much of a difficult thing to do, seeing how all of us Over Supremes were capable of flying freely through the sky, but it didn’t seem like this madman was even aware of this.
Since he was within my Dungeon Territory, I could more or less understand how powerful he was, and his stats didn’t feel like they were above my wife’s. If I felt even the slightest discomfort or fear of her losing the battle against him, I would not be standing here worrying about the guilt I felt for not being able to save the draconians in the underground facility.
“Your dreams are all unworthy of being heard by draconian ears. You treated these people like your pawns, like steppingstone towards your imaginary greatness. You are not worthy of your crown or even the head standing on your neck, so I will do you the kind favor today and... remove it.” Ayuseya said right before rushing towards him with one powerful leap.
Peaceful talk went out the window the moment he started using black magic. I thought and then let out a sigh.
Looking around, I noticed that the Royal Guards made me their main target in this battle, but they could not have picked a worse enemy to test their might against.
“[Wind Hammer].” I said and gave them the courtesy of knowing what hit them.
A powerful wind attack smashed into each and every one of these puny draconians who dared take a step closer to me with their swords unsheathed. The result of their mistake was them being tossed into the wall behind them with enough force to shatter their armor and incapacitate them.
“Let’s watch the show. If you attack me again, I’ll kill you.” I warned them.
I had no fear or regret when it came to the act of taking the lives of those who attacked me, but when it came to innocents, I couldn’t do it unless it was some sort of extreme case in which I had no other choice. No matter how powerful one would end up becoming, there were always some rules that they had to follow be them self-imposed or otherwise.
As I looked at the draconian King who managed to block my wife’s attack, I knew that he was not someone who cared about such things. After all, taking such measures with yourself wasn’t mandatory, and in my opinion, you did require a bit of wisdom to become aware of it.
“Kuh! A powerful blow, but worthless, in the end!” he spat and then turned around, attacking her with his tail.
Ayuseya pulled back before he managed to hit her, letting his tail smashed into the floor, causing it to crack and send a powerful shock wave towards us. Among all those present, the two politicians by the thrones appeared to be the ones in the most trouble as they were the closest and the weakest of all those present here. Whether or not they survived had nothing to do with me, and I certainly did not plan on lending them a helping hand. As of right now, all those who followed Draconius were my enemies.
“Illsy, I wish to go all out against him.” Ayuseya gave me the heads up.
I replied with a simple nod to her. It wasn’t as if I was going to deny her the pleasure of pummeling Draconius into the afterlife. As for why she let me know of her intentions, well… it was so that I would be ready to cast a protective barrier just in case she cast one of her more powerful attacks.
“All out? You must be joking!” Draconius laughed as he looked at her mockingly.
Ayuseya did not reply, instead, she closed her eyes and touched the Storage Crystal in her hand. A moment later, the high-tech armor I made for her replaced the elegant dress she was wearing, and an unmistakable two-handed plasma-edge sword appeared in her right hand.
Within a room filled with soldiers and fighters from a Medieval period of time stood someone who looked as though they had been ripped right out of a Sci Fi story.
Unlike the powerful pressure Draconius was giving off, the armor with golden neon lights and no excessive decorations appeared as simple in design at first sight, but a true warrior would immediately feel unsettled by its appearance. The helmet perfectly covered her beautiful face, keeping her red eyes and facial expression hidden from the enemy, stopping him from trying to read her movements. Her tail was covered in a material that was flexible and durable, not to mention deadly when needed to. On her back were two metal discs on which she could attach a pair of propulsion engines. The armor didn’t have any claws like Nanya’s or hidden daggers like Shanteya’s, but it had a remarkable high durability, strength and ridiculous affinity to fire-based spells.
Every armor I made was designed to enhance the specialties of each of my wives while also helping them with their weaknesses. if they were to trade these armors with one another, let alone activating, they wouldn’t be of any use to them. Nanya’s was designed to adapt to her demoness form, while Shanteya’s to her slim and enchanting form, and Ayuseya’s was made to take advantage of her high build, powerful limbs, and the tail she could use as a club when needed to.
They also had these special nifty features which helped them fight with all they got. They amplified their unique affinities, such as Nanya’s Boost, Shanteya’s stealth, and Ayuseya’s strength and fire control.
Their weapons, however, were more general and could be traded off between each other. They connected to the user’s armor systems and activated a special type of magic circuit which modified certain settings that would then allow the sword to act as a tool that can help its user. Thus, Nanya would get a sword powerful enough to withstand her boosted self, Shanteya would get a sword that can hide itself and attack without giving away its user’s location, and Ayuseya’s sword would strengthen its blows and allow for a better elemental conductivity around it.
Now among all of my high-tech armors, the one that Ayuseya currently wore was not only the biggest one of them all but also carried a bit more armor and also had a special transformation function for when she switched to her dragon form. What was the use of equipping something as powerful as that if it didn’t help you no matter what shape you took? Well, if she was a slime-girl, I might have needed to wait until I invented nanotechnology or something like that. For now, these power armors were the best thing I could make for them with my current skills.
“Do you really think a junk armor made by a third-rate blacksmith and bought at a secondhand shop by your husband will be able to compare with my own? I wear the Mantle of the Emperors and wield the Sword of Champions!” Draconius bragged and then laughed out loud.
There was no pressure coming off from her armor, there were no decorations on it that made it look either evil or godly. It was just a simple slick high-tech power armor with black plating and neon gold lights on it. When I built it, I did not think about making it look scary or majestic. I focused first and foremost on functionality and efficiency. If a pair of dragon head shoulders made my armor too bulky and difficult to move in, I didn’t need them no matter how awesome they made me look!
“...” Ayuseya tilted her head to the left for a moment and then straightened it again.
In the next second, she was in front of the draconian, with her hand clenched into a fist, ready to dig a hole into his chest. He reacted at the last split second and managed to dodge, but the shockwave destroyed the proud throne he was previously standing on.
“Illsy... this helmet is good... I can cry without fear of being seen.” she told me as she strengthened her back.
“It’s meant to hide the user’s emotions, to stop the enemy from reading their moves by looking into their eyes.” I told her with a soft smile on my lips.
Although I couldn’t see her expression, I could tell from the sound of her voice that she allowed for a few tears to slip past her icy barrier. Even if she wanted to admit it or not, the innocents where were killed today by Draconius were, in the end, her family. Among them, while the teenagers and adults were probably beyond recovery, the newborn, toddlers, and small children weren’t.
If we knew something like this could happen, we would have done our best to first save as many of them as we could… but who knew that the curse was meant to be used like this? Hell, who knew that Draconius was still alive and the mastermind behind the curse? I, for one, only became aware of it after I removed Vellezya’s curse, and by then, it was already too late to do anything else…
Ugh… Why is it so hard to let go of this guilt?… For now, let’s just think of the happy thought that my wife will give that bastard a good punch for me as well! I thought.
In both mine and Ayuseya’s eyes, there was no reason or desire anymore to spare the life of this monster.
His rule had to come to an end tonight.
“Your Majesty! Are you alright?!” suddenly the doors were pushed open and several draconians stepped inside.
These fellows were the Supremes of this country, including the three who once visited my island: Brakhian the red scale, Varidan the blue scale, and Ashavar the green scale. They were also the most reluctant to step inside. No, actually, they were afraid to go in since they witnessed firsthand Ayuseya’s power.
“Oh good! You are all here! I order you to capture that Dungeon either dead or alive. I don’t care, but his body could prove useful for various experiments. Kukuku!” Draconius laughed and then placed his full focus on Ayuseya.
I did not mind this little sideshow, after all, I still had to figure out who among all of these draconians was still loyal to Ayuseya and her sister. Besides those three in the back, there did not seem to be anyone else, but since they were not invited inside earlier, it could also give reason to show that they weren’t aware of the hidden side of their king.
“Whom do you serve?” I asked them in a calm tone of voice as I turned my attention towards them.
“We serve his Majesty King Brayden!” one of them declared.
“What about you, Brakhian?” I asked.
The man looked at me right in the eyes and then towards my wife, who was now facing the king. He was aware of her strength, of what she could do, and her personality. They traveled together for so long that it was impossible for him not to have gotten even a slight idea of how she was as a ruler.
When his eyes turned back to me, he unsheathed his sword and declared “I serve...” he stopped.
He looked back at his comrades. Ashavar let out a sigh while Varidan shrugged. They both unsheathed their swords and stood next to him.
“Oi, you aren’t really thinking of...” the draconian who spoke earlier said as he glared at the two.
“I serve her Highness Ayuseya Deus.” he declared with a determined tone of voice.
Of course, this ended up catching the ire of the other Supremes here, but since he made himself my ally, their number did not really matter now. I was pleased to know that there was still some fighting force left behind in this wretched place.
Once we finished off the so-called king here, we would need to take care of the servants left behind by him and replace them with those who could truly be considered as loyal to the current ruling party. In other words, we would have to go through a tedious and annoying process to make sure that Princess Vellezya and her son were going to be safe here and not eaten alive by the unscrupulous corrupt politicians in the shadows.
While I was still thinking about this stuff, one of the Supremes didn’t wait any longer and attacked me. His sword slash was so weak that I felt like yawning while looking at it in slow motion. I didn’t make him miss and took the attack head on with my armor. The blade, although enchanted to cut through Magic Armor, wasn’t able to completely slash through mine. It stopped halfway there.
Smirking at him, I grabbed the sword with my bare hand and then used [Telekinezy] to slap him towards his teammates.
“You are all Supremes in full right, I won’t deny this, but tell me, can you really take on someone who holds the rank of an Over Supreme?” I asked with a smile as I charged up the beams in both of my palms.
“You speak only nonsense! Tonight, you die!” the draconian kept it short, but the crazy gaze in his eyes reminded me of the battle maniacs I happened to encounter occasionally.
Those types would pop up here and there at the Illsyorea Magic Academy, especially among my students. In order to correct their wrong view of the world, I would have them do flower arrangements with Ayuseya, for some reason though, from time to time, Nanya ended up in her class with Melkuth’s shield on her lap and a sign hanging around her neck that said: ‘I’m being punished for eating Zoreya’s pudding.’
Leaving that silly part aside, there were also other ways of breaking these types, mostly by showing them that you were far more powerful than them and then revealing the fact that true strength didn’t come from blindly following it like they did. By explaining that if they continued in this manner, they would make more people sad than happy, it would often make the gears in their head stop turning. This type of mental typology was the most annoying for me to handle since either dominating with brute force or logical arguments were not always my strong points. Hence why I more than often sent them off either to Nanya or Ayuseya’s classes.
I heard at one point that Zoreya also had a way to deal with them, something about frightening them stiff with what she called ‘The Eulogy of War’. Out of curiosity, I did read it once, and it was some really scary stuff...
Unfortunately, right now, this mad draconian was neither my student nor someone I knew. There was neither the time nor the will to change his personality, and a Hero I was not.
Thus, I grabbed him by the face when he got close enough and without a single drop of remorse, I smashed him in the ground. A gasp of pain was heard right before the AGLMC in my hand was set off and pierced a hole in his skull.
“Now, one down! Who else wants to play?” I showed the other a smile, who took a step back and gulped.
Things had just turned serious, and they all became fully aware of how dangerous I was. I didn’t hesitate to kill their friend, and I wasn’t weak enough to let myself get threatened by their foolish words. For me and for my wives as well, the current Teslov was the land of my enemies, not some peaceful country where I could take a stroll without worrying about getting stabbed in the back.
“W-What are you?” one of them asked.
“I’m Illsyore Deus, a Godlike Dungeon Lord with the Over Supreme Adventurer Rank, which is as you may have guessed the next step after your Supreme Rank. To put it in simple words, just as you saw, I have the power to individually crush you into a meat paste.” I replied with a smile and then above us an explosion took place as both Ayuseya and the King took their fight to the night sky.
“His Majesty...” one of them said when they saw all that Magic Energy flowing around him.
“Let me make two things clear for all of you.” I said and then looked back at them with a serious expression on my face “First of all, this country exists only because I allow it to exist for the moment. It’s no problem for me to erase it off the face of the map. Second of all, the one who is fighting against my wife isn’t your little Brayden Pleyades whom you believe took up the crown to become the next King. That fellow is dead now, and the one above is the Dragon Emperor Draconius, the one from your legend, the same bastard who tonight sacrificed the lives of hundreds if not thousands in order to buff up his own power.”
“W-What?” one of them said as he looked at me with big eyes that were uncertain of whether or not they should accept my words as truth.
“Thus, I advise you...” I stopped and then showed them a calm smile “choose your side carefully.”
Several of them gulped, but four of them chose to take a stand against me.
There was fury and joy in their eyes. They didn’t care about those who died, they simply wanted to see blood flow tonight or maybe they prayed to become that mad king’s underlings. Considering the culture of Teslov so far, it was not so farfetched as to believe that some of the draconians, if not a vast majority of them still believed that their former Emperor was some sort of misunderstood leader who was just and powerful. Someone who was plotted against for being too brilliant.
These draconians, however, were far from that though. Their blood thirst was clear as day. Their mad expressions were not something that could be simply ‘misunderstood’.
“I guess... you will be the first to die, tonight.” I said as I charged up the AGLMC in my palms and then jumped towards them.