Chapter 93

I was just getting comfortable when the sound of alarm bells blasted across the palace. I barely had time to sit up when the door burst open and several armed fairies stormed in. A certain man came in behind them. Although he was old and feeble, he seemed to generate a presence that even the fairies had to walk around. His eyes scanned the room before landing on me. His eyes narrowed into small slits.

Mother stood up from the bed, pulling away from the sheets as she covered herself with them. “Guards! Arrest that devil!”

I shot the queen a look, but her expression was dark and unreadable. It appeared like my actions hadn’t been enough. Perhaps I had been hoping for too much. How long had the baby in her womb developed before she was finally freed from her control the first time? I had only just come in here, and so it could be months before the baby developed and she was finally freed from her control. It was plenty of time to about the child, especially with Aurica knowing what I was trying to do, and the arrival of the celestials in a short time.

It appeared like I had miscalculated things. At the least, the people in the dungeon should have escaped and gotten to safety. That was what I decided to focus on. My sisters, my daughter, my wife, and the other women in my life had all escaped this place. That was at least a small victory I could enjoy.

As the guards swarmed around the bed, the queen backed off into a corner, flicking her wrist to conjure magic. A moment later, she was dressed in fine white garments befitting a queen. If she could make a dress, why did she bother taking the sheets with her when she left the bed. I was lying on the bed completely naked. Even my sword and boots had been set to the side, which was why I didn’t try any valiant escape. I hadn’t expected the fairies to come storming into the queen’s chambers like that.

My only guess was that it had to do with the old man, the grand magus. He was the only one in the castle who would have as much sway as the queen, ordering them to burst into her room during such a vulnerable time. He was not staring at me, a hard-to-read expression on his face that was nearly as difficult to read as the queens.

“I gave you an opportunity, and this is what you choose?” He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

“I’m sorry.” I sat up in the bed as the surrounding faery soldiers pulled their swords from their scabbards and pointed them at my neck. “It appears that I went to escape, and I fell… repeatedly.”

I shot the queen a look, but she had her back turned to me, as if she didn’t even want to see the fallout of such a situation.

“Fine!” He broke into a gruff roar. “Have it your way then! I will see how you feel after I kill half of your sisters!”

I rose an eyebrow. “Will you kill them like you killed my daughter then?”

“Don’t try my patience, boy! I’ve been alive longer than you can even imagine.” The grand magus had finally settled on anger.

I glanced over at the icy back of the queen. “They’re your daughters too. Would you stand by while he killed them on my behalf? Even if you hate me, that seems rather cold of you to so shamelessly allow your kin to die.”

“You… don’t see the whole picture.” The queen spoke, keeping her back to me. “It is you who is causing their deaths. Not me.”

“Hmm… I wonder if there is even a scrap of my mother left in there.”

Her body shook slightly, but she otherwise remained unmoved as I was grabbed and forced to my feet. If I thought they’d allow me some clothing, I was mistaken. I was marched out of the bedroom naked and dragged down the hallway. The grand magus followed behind at a much slower pace. I was led out of the inner palace and brought to a massive courtyard. This was in the outer palace, and it seemed to overlook the entire city. I looked around curiously, wondering what my fate would be now.

“String him up!” The grand magus ordered.

“A crucifixion then?” I asked, not letting any emotions reach my voice. “You might make a martyr of me.”

“You will be a display for the mighty celestials.” The old man scoffed. “The only ones who will ever see you and know your fate will be the faery who hate you the most. If you truly think you’ll somehow be honored in death, know that such a thing will never happen.”

As he spoke, the faeries were roughly grabbing me and tying me to a post. I supposed I should consider myself lucky that they were merely using rope rather than nailing my hands and feet directly to the post. The grandmaster stood by and watched like he was afraid if he lost sight of me for a moment, I would find some way to disappear again.

“Mighty celestials?” I asked calmly as I felt the ropes tightening on my wrists and legs. “You plan to show me to them? What happened to this great plan? Wasn’t I suppose to head south and become a demon lord?”

“It’s already been made clear that you won’t follow the plan laid out for you. The celestials are nothing if not patient. Watching a devil like you slowly broken and pulled apart might be more enjoyable than any other plans we’ve made. Besides, as long as you live, there is always a chance you might be released. Perhaps, after you’ve been tortured enough, you will finally accept the fate that we laid out for you. It was my mistake thinking I could control you with so little motivation.”

With those words, the faery started to lift the stake I was bound to. In short, my naked body was being put on display to the entire city of faery. Seeing as my dick was still wet with the lust of their queen, I wondered how’d they’d feel if they knew she was defiled and the next brood of faery wouldn’t be coming any time soon. Well, that reality depended on a couple of my predictions being accurate.

Whatever strange and magical process was used to make the next generation of faery wasn’t what I did with the queen. I didn’t expect that we’d create some kind of strange dark faery race or something. After all, faery broods weren’t created through a process of sexual reproduction, but instead some kind of magical cloning. She would take the seed of a powerful faery and then use it to create a new generation of male drones. Impregnating her with my seed had only interrupted the process. Like with all of my girls, she would be perpetually pregnant until the baby moved forward. Of course, none of that mattered if she just aborted the child right away. In that case, her faery cycle would return and we’d be right back where we started.

“So? What now?” I asked, looking down at the grand magus, who was still watching me as I hung in the air. “Aren’t you murdering my sisters or something?”

He sneered up at me. “I suppose you’re aware that your sisters have escaped, but don’t act so excited yet. There is nowhere that they can escape. We have men scouring the city and the countryside. It is only a matter of time before they are found and dragged back here. However, I won’t unceremoniously behead them as I would have. You’ve taught me that such… civility is lost on a devil prince like you.”

“Oh? So, you’ll let them live.”

“Let them…” He chuckled. “Yes, that’s a good term. They will be allowed to live, so long as they service the faery army. These soldiers may be children of the queen, but they are still men, and they still lust. If they didn’t, then the problems with hybrid species never would have arisen. Your women will be made to service the faery army. You can stay up on that poll and watch as they are worn our by man after man.”

“Oi… I never signed on for cuckold crap.” I frowned.

“Haha… did that finally strike a nerve?” He chuckled. “How many women have been stolen by devils over the years? I think it will be incredibly therapeutic for the faery army to work out stress by defiling women who chose willingly to be the women of a devil. They deserve to be taken by man after man.”

He made a disgusted face as he spoke as if the very idea of a woman loving a devil disgusted him.

“Yeah, yeah… and you’ll have the first, right?” I snapped.

He grinned. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like to think that I am as debased as these soldier drones.”

“I saw the pleasure in your eyes when you held my daughter’s head. Don’t act like you’re aren’t just a deranged sadist.”

“Hehe… maybe I do feel pleasure when evil things die, but I am a man of righteousness. The gods believe in creating a world of peace. The only way this can be achieved is if the evil things of this world all die.”

“And who decides what is evil and what is good?” I asked. “You?”

“This is where your youth shows.” He responded with a sniff. “The battle between good and evil has been going on for eons. The evil of this world always shows itself. It has been decided since time immemorial.”

“How convenient… and dogmatic.”

“Hmph, laugh all you want. Soon, you will face judgment from the gods. The celestials will be here in only a few hours. Let’s see if you can act so conceded when they appear.”

“Gods…” I blinked, my eyes narrowing on the old man. “Not god? No, you’ve been treating the celestials reverently. You’ve been treating them like the gods.”

“They are gods!” He barked suddenly. “The old gods are dead, and the new gods have come.”

“I knew it… you are mad.” Another voice broke out from behind a column.

The old man spun, and the faery who was still at standby drew their swords. Baba took a step out from behind a pillar. His eyes narrowed at her.

“When you escaped, you should have stayed lost. Only you would I have allowed to escape. I owed you that much given our origins, but to think you would remain. You have thrown your lot in with the devils!” He snarled.

“And you’ve thrown away your sanity to worship a lower being.” She responded with a look of disgust on her face. “Just what happened to you? Do you even remember your mission?”

He smirked. “My mission is whatever my masters say my mission is.”

“Masters?” Baba’s voice was incredulous.

“You won’t be able to get through to him,” I responded. “They took control of him. He’s nothing more than one of these faery, a tool for the celestials.”

“What? Seriously?” Baba seemed genuinely surprised by this.

I had been suspecting it all for a while, but this conversation confirmed it. He had supplanted the god who had sent me, the one who had created him, with these celestials. He spoke of them as he would the gods, and he had even come here to do their bidding.

The celestials were only good at one thing, controlling the minds of others, and they had finally turned on their magus. Perhaps, they had always used him. Did he willingly give up the knowledge needed to create life, or did they force it out of him? It was a bit terrifying to think that he had been under their thumb this entire time.

“I think you’ll find I’m a bit more than a tool.” He responded, pulling a gap open in his robe.

Baba let out a cry, her hand going up to her mouth. Inside the robes was his bare stomach, but it was skeletal, and appeared like hunks of flesh had been torn out one piece at a time. No wonder he moved his body in such a pained way. There was nothing left of him but bone and flesh. He looked closer to a decayed zombie than a person. The faery distinctly didn’t look in his direction, although it was hard to say if it was from respect of disgust.

“I have given of the celestials my body and blood. I am a sacrifice for the future of this world, as the gods commanded!”

“I see now…” Baba lowered her head. “This was why your god summoned another to take your place.”

“What are you mumbling about?” He demanded.

She looked up at me. “How are you doing, David?”

“You know… hanging around,” I responded with a shrug.

“If you wished for my attention, there are better ways to get it.” Her eye went down to the area between my legs and a small smirk appeared on her lips. “It seems the girls weren’t exaggerating through their inexperience.”

“What can I say?” I responded. “I’m just getting a proper tan.”

“You’re going to ignore me now?” The old man snarled indignantly. “You’re only asking for death!”

“You’re the one asking for death,” I responded. “You’ve lost the way. Even you god has abandoned you.”

“Don’t speak such blasphemy to me! You are merely a devil!” He turned to Baba. “And you are nothing but a devil’s bitch!”

“A bitch, huh?” Baba’s eyes darkened slightly. “You know, even though our missions separated us, I had always seen the three of us as created by the same cloth. I had thought our coexistence was only natural and expected. It created a kind of balance, you see? It turned out I had been wrong all along. Coexistence while such weapons continue to influence this world is impossible. The only way I’ll be able to fulfill my goddess’s mission… is if you die!”

Her words were followed by a distance rumble of thunder. The faery who had their weapons pulled on her looked at each other and backed up slightly uneasily. They could feel a rise of mana. Faery was extremely sensitive to such things, and it felt like the very air was becoming electrified. My hair started to rise on my head, and I felt like I had tons of volts shooting through me.

“So, this day has come.” He responded, raising his hands. “I had always wanted to see which one of us grandmasters was truly the master of this world.”

“Neither you nor I have the right of being called masters.” Baba frowned. “We are but our god’s instruments. However, you’re broken and rusted, and you’ve long outlived your use!”

“I may seem decrepit in this body, but my gods have given me strength, and I do not believe this fight will go how you think.”

“We’ll see!” With that, Baba did a quick motion, and a massive fireball erupted from her hands.

No sooner had it left her hands than the old man did a set of hand motions far quicker than his broken body would suggest he could manage. The fireball seemed to be wrapped in water that coalesced in the air and then snuffed out half away to him. There was an eruption, and then streaks of water shot out toward Baba, turning into spiked icicles. She stomped her foot on the ground, and the piece of rock shaped like a shiel flew up, being struck by the icicles.

She threw her hand out, and the shield then flew at the old man like a Frisbie. He lifted his hand, causing gale wind to rise, sending the Frisbie wobbling high into the air. That’s when he sent out several unseeable waves of air, but I could tell by how they disturbed the air that they were extremely sharp and cut through anything. These movements only lasted seconds, but the pair threw out spell after spell. The faery soldiers on the old man’s side were quickly thrown back.

“Well, I’ve seen enough of this.” With a snap, the ropes behind me gave out.

I carefully reached down, using the tiny metal knife I had stashed under my skin to cut the remaining bonds. With a snap, I fell five feet to the ground with a painful thud. It was pretty difficult to undo myself without falling on my butt. I got up and finished kicking off the restraints.

“You dare escape!” The old man seemed to notice, and I felt a sudden rising of energy.

“I’m your opponent!”

A lightning bolt came at me, but it was redirected at the last second, hitting a nearby column. I still fell to the ground by the sudden bright light and roaring boom. I wasn’t the only one. Any of the faery that hadn’t fled or been knocked away in the aftermath of the pair’s rapid fighting were similarly brought to the ground too.

“What are you all doing? Cease him!” The magus shouted at the cowering soldiers.

“David, get out of here.” Baba declared.

Her usually childish and immature appearance seemed to be scoured away. Although she still looked to be a youth, she was extremely serious, and she had an expression on her face unlike any I had ever seen before. It was resignation.

“You need to come with me.” I declared, even though I felt I already knew her answer.

“The celestials can’t be allowed to get their hands on you.” Baba declared. “You need to escape. I’ll hold them back.”

“As if you can hold back a god!” The old magus sent several horrific spells and curses her way, but Baba continued to block them.

“Go! Go now! Find the other girls and get out of here!” Baba lifted her hands as countless spells were cast at once, surrounding her in pockets of ice, fire, air, and lightning.

With a roar, she charged the old magus. I could feel it inside. This felt like the last time I would see her. Baba was giving herself to take down the old magus. It was the only way to give us time to escape and to hold the celestial back.

The faery who had been ordered by the old magus had managed to work their way to their feet and were steadily advancing on me. Looking one last time at the battling loli fighting for my sake, I turned away and ran.

I would make them pay for this retreat. I would make them pay for it all.