Chapter 91

“Damn…” I had been standing in that hallway for nearly a minute, looking at an empty wall like I expected it to suddenly become a door as quickly as it had the other way.

I had already checked, and this door wasn’t an illusion. I wasn’t sure if he had teleported me to some other part of the castle, or if he had merely rearranged the structure of the castle. Either thing would have been an extremely powerful spell, and one I had never seen Baba cast. If she could throw such spells out like he just had, then why hadn’t she?

My hand slowly dropped down to my side. My fingers tightened into a fist momentarily, but I finally released and let out a ragged breath.

“You got me angry there for a second.”

I was usually pretty controlled, but the sight of Isabella’s head had caused me to lose it for a moment. In many ways, Isabella wasn’t my daughter. I wasn’t the man to conceive her, first off. I also hadn’t been involved in raising her. By all accounts, I had only known her a few days, yet my feelings for her were much more powerful than I had anticipated.

The magus had been clever to pull that card. What did he call it? Motivation? Yes, that would motivate someone to act recklessly. Raising an army and causing a war that would wipe out the demons sounded exactly like something I would want to do at the moment. It was too bad that I knew something the grand magus did not. I had rigged the deck from the beginning. Since he decided to pull such a despicable card, his death would be a horrifying one. It was the least I owed him.

A cruel smile formed on my lips, and I turned away from the wall. Using my elongated nail to draw some blood, I began to use my arms as I worked a couple of simple blood spells. I may not be able to teleport or rearrange matter, but I had my tricks as well. In this case, I was using the dark magic I excelled at to make myself disappear. A guard ran around the corner, but rather than acknowledging me, he ran right past.

My spells could affect perception, making it so I was ignored. Unless someone was extremely vigilant or specifically looking for me, they wouldn’t be able to see me. Such a spell wouldn’t work on someone like the queen, but for the rest of these faeries, I was pretty confident I wouldn’t be caught. As for the queen, I had already taken care of her earlier. It was probably a good time to follow through with that.

Although I was under an enchantment fueled by my blood, blood I now understood to be blood shared with that of a faery queen, and thus far more magically potent than what a normal devil might be able to pull off, I still moved cautiously and avoided being in direct sight as often as possible. There was no reason to tempt fate.

It took me a bit, but I slowly started to work out the location I was in. I was in the outer castle, an area separate from the faery queen, who resided in the inner castle. The inner castle was also the place where my daughter and my sisters had lived, as well as where I had stayed when I was still considered a guest. I had a feeling that the grand magus and the rest of the celestials would be taking up residence there. Thankfully, the celestials wouldn’t arrive yet. The grand magus had come ahead of the celestials to resolve things here.

By all accounts, I had every reason to flee. All of my allies weren’t just in prison, but they were being held as hostages. The queen, perhaps the most powerful person in the castle other than the grand magus, was my enemy. Every person in this entire country hated devils, and would happily see me die. I was outmatched, and when the celestials arrived, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to hide anymore. Fleeing from the country seemed to be the only option, and I did not doubt that no matter which country I fled, I wouldn’t be welcome.

Yet, rather than head toward the exit, I made my way toward the inner castle. It was time to finish what I had come to do. I had to stop several times along the way, waiting for various groups of guards to pass me before I could continue. However, it didn’t take me too long to make my way into a familiar area. I was approaching the hallway that lead to the rooms. Where were the queen’s chambers again?

A feeling of danger caused me to duck, and just then a powerful ball of flame struck where I had been standing. I rolled and then rose back to my feet. My hands formed in a fighting hand-to-hand stance. I wasn’t nearly as practiced with this as I was with the sword, but I didn’t have any weapons on me. They had all been taken after I was imprisoned, and I didn’t find an advantageous opportunity to acquire anything since then.

I quickly locked eyes on the one who had attacked me like that. My expression immediately turned grim. There was no doubt that I had been seen. His sneer and the recognizable look in his eyes said it all.

“General Duheart, a surprise seeing you here,” I spoke more confidently than I currently felt.

I knew he’d be skulking around, but what were the chances that not only would we run into each other, but he’d get the drop on me. Duheart was far too vigilant a man to be left alive.

“I knew you were a slippery devil.” Duheart sneered. “After surviving the trip through the Hedgeman’s Pass, I already predicted that you would be a danger. We were ordered to stand down, but I remained nearby, and just my luck, I caught the rat.”

I was supposed to escape, so he was told to stand by to help facilitate that escape. If he succeeded in capturing me, I wondered just how the celestials and grand magus, whose plans hedged on my escape, would reward him. They might be so furious that they’d order him killed. As for me, would they let me escape again, or come up with another plan? As much as the thought of seeing this insolent faery destroy himself, I couldn’t take such a risk.

“Your faery queen hasn’t called on you yet?” I responded in a voice just as mocking as his own. “Do you think that perhaps you’re no good?”

That was enough to turn his smug expression into a snarl. “When I cut out your tongue, I wonder if you’ll still try to speak such foolish words. Learn your place!”

“I’ll learn mine when you accept yours!” I flicked my finger, sending some blood flying at him.

It turned into a fine mist. He lift his sword and swung. It turned to fire, and that fire seemed to cut through the mist. A hole of mist was created around him, causing the poison to hit everywhere but the person I was aiming it for. He didn’t waste the opportunity though. His body shimmered as he moved at an incredible speed. I didn’t know if he was a will user, or if he just had mana that facilitated battle like this, but he was a powerful enemy.

He swung down at me, going for a killing blow without hesitation. I summoned a wall with my blood magic. The sword struck the barrier, which abruptly shattered, sending me flying back. I slid down the hallway about ten meters before getting back to my feet. Even with a sword, this fight would have been one-sided. Without a weapon, I didn’t even have a chance at victory. I had already depended on my blood magic several times. I wouldn’t be able to pull off too many more spells.

Yet, I wasn’t given a choice. He blurred once again, and this time I tried to dodge rather than block. That turned out to be a bad move. I felt myself get struck on the back, and then the leg, and then the arm. I collapsed to the ground in a heap. Now, I was losing too much blood to even think of doing another piece of blood magic.

When I looked up, I saw the hate and murderous desires in his eyes. General Duheart had no desire to leave me alive. He planned to kill me outright. He wasn’t acting rationally anymore. The celestials would have wanted to deal with me, so he should have imprisoned me and thrown me back in chains. Instead, he was going for such a killing blow.

“Any last words, Devil?” He asked, lifting his blade overhead.

My eyes flickered behind him for a moment and then I nodded. “Yeah, what are thoughts on dragons?”

“What?” He frowned, but he sensed something I tried to spin.

At that moment, teeth came flying at him. As powerful as General Duheart was, he could have still been killed by a wyvern if he found himself caught off guard. Even so, he was able to throw up a last-ditch defense, blocking the teeth as they clamped down on him. Just as he was taking a breath to prepare his next move, the defensive barrier shattered, and the teeth came closing down around his body. After all, this wasn’t a wyvern, but a dragon. Having not known that, Duheart couldn’t have possibly prepared for the attack in question.

General Duheart didn’t even make a sound as he was perforated by a dozen long teeth. Aster’s jaws clamped down tightly, and Duheart’s spine was broken in half with a snap. General Duheart could only stare at the eyes of death as the primordial aura that Aster had suppressed was released, overwhelming Duheart and freezing him in his place. Aster’s attack didn’t stop there though. He lifted the man in his jaws, shaking his head like a dog with a bone. Blood spilled to the ground and shook on the walls violently as Duheart was shredded into pieces. If he had been wearing his armor, he might have had a chance, but this was the inside of the castle, the safest place in the kingdom. Who would have predicted a dragon would suddenly appear behind you, let alone one small enough to fit in these hallways?

When Aster finished making sure that Duheart never had another thought, he dropped the mangled corpse to the ground and then looked up at me. He even cocked his head to the side, much like an expectant dog.

I shook my head. “Don’t act like you don’t understand what’s been going on. You’re far smarter than you’ve been acting.”

The dragon straightened his head and then snorted. I had been thinking about that perverted dragon of mine since I had taken charge of him, and my observations had only come to one conclusion. Despite acting like a dumb animal, he was incredibly smart. His perverted behavior, while possibly reflecting a bit of his true inner nature, had also only been a means of deception. How could the child of the last living dragon be simple? Aster had gone out of his way to come off as innocent and naïve, but I had realized he had a calculating mind all along.

The thing that had ultimately confirmed it for me was when we met up with Duheart and he had come to believe Aster was just a baby drake. Given his draconic might, Aster’s true identity should have been obvious. At first, I had thought that maybe Aster’s mother had put some kind of protective spell on him, but as I thought about it, I realized that it was Aster himself who was suppressing his identity. He was able to do this even under his mother’s nose.

Would she have allowed a dragon to appear so close to her seat of power? She hadn’t mentioned his presence even once, and I had deliberately kept it a secret so that I had a card up my sleeve. Aster had deliberately managed to dupe even the faery queen, and he remained in her stables for several days without anyone realizing what kind of threat they had sitting right there.

“You’re still not going to speak, huh?” I frowned as the dragon watched me appraisingly. “Alright, then, what about her?”

I didn’t know if the dragon could speak, but if he was intelligent, then he already should have had the ability. The dragon gave another snort and then nodded to a nearby doorway. I got to my feet, looking at it intensely as a small form stepped out nervously.

“Isabella.” I closed my eyes and let out a breath.

“I followed your commands.” She spoke quietly, her voice a bit shaky. “As soon as you left for the ceremony, I snuck out like you showed me and headed straight to the stable. A guard saw me and tried to grab me but he…died.”

Isabella’s eyes shot to the dragon nervously and then back to me. Stress I hadn’t realized I had been holding fell from my shoulders. Even though I had sent Isabella away, I had only hoped she had listened and done what she was told. I had suspected the Grand Magus was using an illusion, but as I lunged at him trying to confirm if it was her real head, he had thrown me away before I could confirm it. However, my guess had proven to be right. Since they couldn’t find my daughter, they had no choice but to use an illusion to try to trick me.  Even though I believed in my plan, it still had been enough to cause me a great deal of concern.

I had already suspected things would go south, so I had naturally pulled on my hidden card. That card had been Aster. I believed that if I sent my daughter there, he’d figure out what was going on and act accordingly. Since he could hide his draconic aura from my mother, then my daughter’s weak devilish aura should have been no problem for him

I had hoped Aster would come and break me out of prison. That had been my plan. At the time, I hadn’t expected to be let go. When I saw Isabella’s head, I also worried for the worst, that Aster was killed as well. However, I didn’t think they’d be able to kill Aster without such a thing being known. He might not have the same effect his mother did on her death, but at least Baba would have been able to know and alert me.

“You did well.” I gently patted Isabella on the head, and she closed her wet eyes, a small smile formed on her face. “Your mother is safe, and soon we’ll all be safe.”

There was a grunt, and I felt Aster push against me.

“You didn’t come to save me! What took you so long? Where were you?” I demanded.

Aster’s eyes widened, and then he gave me an indignant look.

“Aster was leading the way, but suddenly you started moving and he went a different route. There were a lot of guards, and the magic you taught me doesn’t work on him.” Isabella defended.

I had taught Isabella the perception spell too. It was how she was able to escape the castle and make it to the stable. It seemed like Aster was too larger and more powerful for her perception spell to work. It was miraculous that they had managed to make it this far unseen by any guards. It only spoke to Aster’s exceptional senses and ability to hide his aura that they were able to do what they had done.

Aster gave Isabella a nod and then turned to me, lifting his chin with a huff. I scratched the back of my head and chuckled.

“Alright, you didn’t do bad… for a dragon,” I admitted reluctantly.

Aster gave another snort, this one showing a bit of pleasure.

“What do we do now?” Isabella asked, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

I realized the hallway was quite the disgusting scene. As innocent-seeming as Aster could look, he did just tear a general into pieces. The hallway was no place for a little girl, but then again, there was nowhere in this entire castle that was a good place for a little girl. I quickly thought about our next steps and came to my conclusions.

“Aster, can you detect the magic users in this castle?”

Aster looked at me for a moment and then shook his head yes. It might not have seemed like much, but this was the first time he had ever directly responded to something I had said. He was showing that he did have the ability to communicate with me. He was showing me a level of trust he hadn’t shown up until now. A small part of me was touched by it.

“Is the faery queen in her quarters?”

He gave another nod.

“Is the other powerful mage still near Baba?”

He cocked his head for a second and then shook it.

I nodded to myself. “I need you to go to the dungeon and free the girls. Stay clear of that magic-user.”

Aster gave another nod, and I turned to Isabella. “I need you to be brave and go with him. Your mother might believe you’re dead, so you need to get there and help her. I also need you to tell Baba something for me, okay?”

“You’re not coming?” she asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll meet up again. I just have something I need to do first.” I leaned toward her ear. “Tell Baba…”

When I finished my words, I made her repeat them twice before letting her go. Just as she took a few steps toward Aster, she looked back at me.

“Where will you go?”

“I have something big I have to do,” I responded, a grim look on my face.

It was time to face the faery queen.