It was a bit hard to take everything in. From his presence to the fact that even Bella was quaking in her boots... everything was surreal. He was similar yet somehow different to my Master who I had thought was a one-of-a-kind beast.
"How are you not a god yet?" I immediately questioned him.
"Who says I'm not?" His chilling voice radiated through the atmosphere, grappling with my senses and suppressing my very will to live. It was like being before him was like being before an all-powerful being. One not of this realm. One not of this reality.
Suddenly, Bella kneeled down on one knee. Her eyes shot up towards me, clearly gesturing for me to follow her. Drops of sweat dripped from my brow and bullets of blood exploded from my strained pupils. Just standing in his presence was enough to force me to lower myself.
"I greet the King of The Sea," Bella muttered.
The air around me quivered, clearly suggesting me to take a knee. As the pressure around me only began to build further, I had no choice but to submit and look up at the man unphased by our presence. It was almost like he was expecting us.
"It's been a while... Magistrate of Eradication. You and that extinction asshole would work well together," The demon lord taunted with an unsavory smirk.
"Don't compare him to me," Bella instantly snapped back. "We are different."
"Mhm... tell that to the countless innocent lives you sacrificed in order to get off your Master's enemies... You were nothing but a pawn to him. That fire-breathing dick head is nothing but a lazy piece of shit who used you to do his bidding."
"I didn't come here to get lectured..."
"Oh, but I don't know why else you would have come here?" He smirked, a long spiky tongue whipping out from in between his rosy lips. They were so rosy and perfect that it almost looked like he had lipstick on.
"I only came here to confirm my suspicions... it seems Lucifer's throne world really can mess with time."
What? Mess with time? Did the three of them go back in time? I know Orion is an obvious candidate, but Cy and Bella should have been different.... I mean weren't they with Beelzebub? Unless that sly bastard was up to something, I'm completely clueless here.
Yet, despite my constant questioning of each and every sentence that flowed within this throne room, I kept my lips shut. I didn't want to ruin this tension as I knew more information would flow with fluctuating emotions.
"Kekekekekeke... KAAHAHAHAHAHAA! YOU'RE RIGHT! YOU'RE SO RIGHT! HIS THRONE WORLD CAN MESS WITH TIME BUT HE'S SO USELESS THAT HE CAN'T DO JACK SHIT WITH IT! THAT'S WHY HE HAD ORION, BUT GUESS WHAT?!" The man hysterically laughed, jumping ecstatically out of his grandeur seat. "GUESS! COME ON! GUESS!"
"It's not nice to talk bad about your peers..."
"AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA! WHAT AN IDIOT! HE WAS ACTUALLY SWAYED BY THAT BOY! HE'S UNBELIEVABLE! INSTEAD OF USING HIM AS A TOOL, HE WAS INSTEAD USED AS ONE! HE TURNED INTO HIS TOOL TO IMPROVE HIS STRENGTH AND POWER! THAT BOY IS A GENIUS! I NEED HIM! I WANT HIM!" The demon lord began to drool while gripping himself erotically.
"What a pervert..." I muttered. Bella nodded in agreement.
"AH! FUCK! I NEED HIM! I NEEEEED HIM!"
"Ahem..." Bella disturbingly cleared her throat, slicing through the disgusting tension created by this man. "I believe we have more to talk about... or should I say, something we need to settle."
She began to fire up. Instantly she began to swell in power. It was much stronger than what I experienced before and as I took a good look at her, a mass of digits and numbers flickered into my vision.
『Status』
[Name: Bella Wony]
[Race: Draconic High Demon]
[Class: Apostle of Draconic Extinction] (Destined: Savior of The Promethean Flame)
[Title: Magistrate of Eradication]
[Level: 13/100] (8/250) XP Needed
[HP: 500/500 MP: 250/250 SP: 350/350] - Above Human
[Strength: 90] - Above Human
[Defense: 80] - Above Human
[Magic: 350] - Above Human
[Speed: 80] - Above Human
[Mana Heart: Five Rings] (Draconically Enhanced)
[Skills: [Magic Staff Coating] [Magic Staff Enhancement] [Enflamed Presence]
[Mystical Pressure of The Mana Core] [Haste] [Empower] [Eagle Eye] [Will of Flames]
[Web of the Wony's Burning Heart] [Summon: Greater Fire Spirits]
[Apostle of Draconic Extinction Skills: [Combustion Control] [Draconic Flame Assimilation] [Demon Eyes] [Dragon Eyes] [Magic of The Sky Lord (Demonic Infused)]
[Draconic Flame Body]
[Passive Skills: [Rich Mindset] [Affable Connection Making Skills] [Warming Noble Presence]
[Constitution of a Tarturling] [Prisoner of Tartarus] [Iron Speech] [Demon's Gluttonous Stomach] [Potion Organs] [Silver Tongue] [Golden Tongue of A Fallen Noble]
[Blessing of The Ancient Lord of The Sky]
[Rune Path: [Eyes of Seduction] [Throne World: Second Ring of Hell (Lust)]
[800 Damned Souls of The Second Ring] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked]
[Equipment: [Magic Ring] [Storage Ring] [Dragon Scale Staff]
...
"You know, I only have five mana rings..." Bella smirked, causing the demon lord's eyebrow to raise slightly. Clearly, something was up once again and I had a hunch that it was this...
[You have inspected the aspect: [Draconically Enhanced]
[Aspect of Mana - Draconically Enhanced]
"That's impossible. Your power is far beyond that. I witnessed it first hand... lying will not do you any good..." The man's voice darkened while his own chest began to beat with the thumping of rattled ocean waves. They clashed against each other in a symphony of whitewash and salty particles.
[Description: Normally, mana rings represent the level of mastery and skill a wielder of mana has been able to accomplish. Typically they are represented in a very linear and discreet way, but due to the fact that this aspect of mana has artificially or naturally taken root in their body, a sudden change occurs to their output. For each mana ring...
"My mana output is quintpled. Whatever rings I have will always be multiplied by what I currently have. So in reality... I wield twenty-five mana rings."
As the scene unfolded, Bella's features began to undergo a startling transformation. Her skin, once pale and human-like, darkened to an ashen gray, taking on an otherworldly texture. Sinuous, flaming-green scales snaked their way up from her neck, covering her arms and shoulders in a network of intricately patterned armor. They gleamed with a menacing, emerald luster.
Her lips curled into a wicked grin, revealing elongated, razor-sharp teeth that seemed more befitting a dragon's maw than a human's. Her nails had grown into wickedly sharp claws only a few more centimeters longer, the color of onyx, contrasting starkly against her ashen skin.
But the most astonishing transformation was yet to come. Twenty-five arcane rings materialized around her, hovering in the air, each pulsating with otherworldly, draconic energy. These mana rings were like ethereal jewelry, circling her in a mesmerizing display of might.
As she raised her hands, her fingers crackled with powerful combusting energy, and the rings began to rotate in a hypnotic, synchronized dance. A deafening roar filled the chamber as the draconic power within her surged to life. Her eyes flared with intensity as they absorbed the energy from the mana rings, causing them to glow even brighter.
Each pupil slivered into blades while her hair, once green as leaves, began to shift, the color darkening to a deep forest green, and it began to writhe and sway as if it had a life of its own, mimicking the movements of a serpentine dragon. She looked like a creature straight from the depths of the underworld, a fusion of demon and dragon.
A basilik? Or maybe a naga? Or maybe a gorgon?
With a triumphant roar that shook the very foundations of the chamber, the demonic woman unleashed her newfound power, sending waves of draconic energy rippling outwards, obliterating everything in her path... besides the demon lord, completely unphased.
The mana rings continued to orbit her, pulsating with an unholy fervor as she stood there, an embodiment of dark and chaotic magic, ready to wreak havoc upon the world. But she wasn't done as those mana rings only began to speed up, feeding energy into a long staff. At the end it had a hoop with four more small hoops attached to it, jangling with each sway and movement of Bella's aura.
Soon, that very same aura surged within her, expanding and filling the room with an overwhelming presence. It exuded an oppressive heat as if the flames of a dragon's breath were licking at the edges of reality itself. The air seemed to vibrate with an arcane resonance, and an unmistakable scent of ancient power and smoldering embers hung in the air.
Her aura roared with the echoing cries of a thousand dragons, an auditory symphony of might and fury that sent shivers down the spines of those who dared to witness it. The very ground beneath her feet trembled in deference to the raw, unbridled power she was channeling.
"Hahh... These scars... I haven't forgotten about them."
