Honestly, there are only a handful of things in this world that could really infuriate me. One of them is to falsely claim something that is already and will forever be mine. 

How presumptuous of them to think that they were allowed to even look at what's mine—let alone to touch it with their filthy hands.

And when they do?

They die, of course.

Didn't that pig just try to touch what's yours?

It did. 

KiLl HiM!

dEsTrOy.

I should...

ReLeAsE tHe SeAl!

rElEaSe?

Releeease!

Hush! 

This damned chorus of voices—always trying to incite me. I will not loosen any of those seals. But they're right about that pig. 

I emitted a certain amount of my aura into the room. Everybody froze in an instant. Tulsi looked irritated why the thick black fog-like substance didn't affect her. The gifted bracelet shielded Tulsi—don't want your underlings being in the same embarrassing state as the enemies, don't ya?

Surprisingly, my new little fox knight eluded every effect. 

"Huh, that's new," I whispered thoughtfully. 

Her fluffy ears twitched as if she understood what I said, but this was impossible. My eyes wandered from her ears down to her slender neck, which was almost entirely covered with shoulder-length fiery red hair that occasionally had black strands. 

All mine.

I snapped out of my ogling before I started drooling. Gosh, I got horny in the weirdest situations. Anyways, focus! I still had some pork on my shopping list.

As I stepped closer, the pig's knights looked at me with fury in their eyes. But those poor fools couldn't move at all. I just smirked back at them. Should I let them loose, only to see what will happen?

"Tulsi," I called her over to me. "Could you do me the pleasure of removing this...thing?" I pointed at the archduke.

She nodded, walked past me, and kicked him in the guts. He flew a few feet away into a row of his knights. Strike! Well, mostly. 

You could see how blood ran out of the pig's mouth, but he made no sound. That's the only drawback of my aura—you can't hear them squeak. 

"Master...it's honestly kinda boring." 

"Yeah. Should I dispel my aura? Do you think you could win against them?"

"Oh, umm...don't think so. They look rather high-leveled with good gear," Tulsi answered sincerely. 

"Then don't be so cocky," I admonished her. 

"Y-yes," she replied, looking down at the floor in shame.

I tried to reassure Tulsi, "Oh, come on, don't be downhearted. Arrogance is the first step of one's own demise. You're still young, and you'll learn."

You know, it's not wrong what I've told. Throughout my long life, many idiots thought they stood a chance against me—they all lost. I mean, nobody will ever have a chance against me. It's not arrogance if it's the truth.

Seemingly happy with what I told her, she moved over to the cute Teade and inspected the collar around her neck. 

"Master, this slave collar is weird. It emits some strange soul magic. I think it tries to manipulate her mind and make her docile like a soulless puppet. It reminds me of my first attempt to create husks," explained Tulsi.

I glared at the—still on the ground lying—pig. I was furious. How dare he?! 

"Speak!" I commanded. My aura around him retracted a bit. 

He coughed blood. "You bitch! Do you even know who I am?!" 

"I do, but you're still unimportant. So be quiet, you useless piece of shit, and tell me what's up with this slave collar," I responded with a blank expression.

"Hahaha, you'll never be able to remove it. It's a custom-made slave collar, blessed by the metropolitan with holy magic and imprinted to me. It will make her a stern believer of mine."

"Holy magic, you say?" I stepped closer to my new servant and inspected the collar. 

I saw similar strange threads as those attached to Dawnbringer. Yes, they were connected to the System, but also to something that felt divine—absolutely disgusting. 

Interestingly, I wasn't sure if I could cut them off...not without damaging the seals. Haa, so it really ended up with the good old torture. I really don't like the idea of getting my own hands dirty with that swine's blood. Well, whatever.   

"Release," I said out loud. Didn't need to, but some people thought spells have to be spoken in order for them to work. Even if it's true for some, it wasn't the case for the majority.

The knights and the archduke stood up sluggishly. "Oh yeah, Tulsi, I forgot to tell you that I drained them a bit. You probably can handle them now. So come on, chop-chop, get some free souls."

Tulsi took her mask off—we both had put it on again after leaving the loge—and stored it into her ring. Her eyes turned ghastly white. Suddenly, she vanished and emerged in front of a knight almost at the same moment, holding a jagged dagger in one of her hands. 

With swift movements, she stabbed it into the eye slit of the helmet—the only unprotected part of the heavy armor. The man screamed, and blood flowed out of the slits on the marble floor. Ordinary folks couldn't perceive it, but a nearly see-through white flame appeared on the palm of her free hand. It was the so-called 'Soul's Flame', and the proof that she was Vetala nobility. 

The Soul's Flame absorbed the essence of the slain enemy and converted it into pure energy. Tulsi could feast on it to heighten her overall power capacity, store it for later or use it right now to enhance spells or physical attacks. It's a convenient little thing, that flame. 

Tulsi killed another two of the swine's men with the same technique and rushed to the fourth, but unfortunately, he had already recovered far enough to fend off the attack with his armored forearm. A loud clang echoed through the room. Tulsi backflipped in an attempt to make him stumble while simultaneously pushing herself off, gaining a few feet of distance.  

Tulsi huffed—she was clearly not used to fighting. Her stamina left something to be desired, though it was nothing that couldn't be fixed. Nonetheless, she went back into a fighting stance, but before she could do anything, the door of the auction hall opened. People—who obviously wanted to see what this commotion outside was all about—rushed out. At the same time, guards pushed their way through the crowd to us.

  

It was only now that I saw that the butler stood only a few feet away from my fox girl. He stared at the scene before him with a horrified expression. 

Tulsi did well. More and more blood came out of the corpses so that the puddle of blood—in the brilliance of the crystals—painted a beautiful picture of a world reflected red in it. The iron scent was terrific. 

"Halt! Cease your aggression. Under the law of the auction house, you're arrested for breaking our rules!" yelled a guard.

"Are we now?" I asked with a grin. 

Their response to my snarky inquiry was to draw their weapons and prepare for an impending battle. I shooked my head in disappointment—those fools. Why does everybody think they could stop me? Le—

"Stop! Sheath your swords!" the butler screeched in a panic and broke my line of thought. 

Confused, the guards looked at each other but did as commanded. The knights, however, drew theirs. 

"This is high treason! You all will be executed for your—"

"Oh, shut up, you human orc," I interrupted him. 

Thereupon the pig's face turned red in anger, sweat flowed down his forehead, and I thought I saw steam coming out of his ears. Was he cooking himself? I mean...it smelled kinda like steamed ham right now.

"KILL HER!" he screamed at his knights.

"That's so incredibly boring," I turned my head to my apprentice. "Tulsi, get behind me."

She didn't even question my decision and moved behind me. "Last chance, tell me how to remove the collar or live with the consequences."

The bastard just grinned, believing that he had already won. I saw the pleading look of the butler from the corner of my eye but decided to ignore it. My patience ran out. 

The knights came closer and closer and made the mistake of passing through the large blood puddle. Their heavy footsteps were making squishing sounds—small waves rippled through the red liquid. 

They'll die.

Fools.

Idiots.

Stupid hairless apes. 

The voices commented tonelessly. I could only agree. What else did I expect? Humans will always be the same. Their potential equaled their stupidity. 

Now.

NOw.

nOw.

...

...

With a nonchalant sigh, I waved my hand. Eerie echoes filled the room as the blood began to stir. Immediately thereafter, blood spikes shot out of the drenched ground and impaled the remaining knights. Blood, guts, metal, armor pieces, and body parts scattered crisscross. The remnants still clinging to the blood stakes could hardly be identified as human remains. Few knights were split in two, while some were lanced from rectum to mouth. Still, others were simply shreds. Right in front of me was an eyeball with the optic nerve still attached. Next to it was some brain with helmet scrap in it. The heavy armor had offered them absolutely no protection against my hemomancy—it might as well have been made of paper.

All of this happened so fast that no one even realized what had befallen them. When the first guests noticed that they were covered with all kinds of innards—one lady had some cerebra on her cheek—a panicked scream went through the previously gawking crowd. Some wanted to draw their weapons; others tried to run away.

"Silence!" I commanded, this time filling the entire room with my aura. Their rigid bodies and the disturbed look in their eyes were like balm to my soul. But the price paid so far was still not high enough for the insolence that a human thought he could claim something that belonged to me. I wanted more! More blood, more suffering—I craved it. 

With another wave of my hand, I made the spikes disappear again. The blood dribbled down like rain. With a loud splash, the remains also reached the ground. A kind of blood mist had formed and permeated the air with a sweetish aroma. 

I glanced briefly at Tulsi, who gave me a devilish smile. Madness lingered in her eyes. She craved more death, more violence—quite the warmonger species I remembered. 

I had spared the archduke from the aura because I wanted to see him squirm as soon as I began to slowly squeeze the answer—of getting this collar off my sweet Teade—out of him. 

But when I examined the pig's eyes, there wasn't a sign of the terror I had hoped for. What I saw was only scorn and the belief that he still had the upper hand. I walked up to him.

"Hahaha, you monster. Do you really think I would help you take off that collar! Hell no, that bitch is going to suffer. The collar will dictate that she can only love me, even if I die. She will crave for my cock, wish that I fuck and make her mine. She will only have me in her head and never belong to a lowborn like you. Never!"

I snapped. In a blink of an eye, I stood before him. How dare this lowly creature challenge me? How could an ape—who looked more like the ugliest pig this world had ever seen—have the gall to lay claim to my property. What absurdity! SHE WAS MINE! SOLELY MINE! SHOULD SHE NOT BELONG TO ME, THE WORLD MAY BURN TO ASHES 

It's crumbling.

CrUmBlInG.

The Seal?

tHE sEaL?

SEAL!

Wrath?

Wrath!

No...

Not Wrath.

...

GrEEd?

Greeeed!

Greed.

Yesssss.

 

---

 

I had absolutely no idea what was happening at all. This whole situation was utterly ridiculous.  

Before that ugly human managed to touch me, a voice interrupted his motion—it was the one of the so-called Titled Witch. 

I felt something spreading in the room. It was a strange feeling, as if a substance was slowly lovingly enveloping and protecting me. The last time I had felt that kind of warmth was when my mother took me in her arms while we fell asleep together in bed. Then, I saw what it was. A strange black smoke—or was it fog—enveloped everyone in my field of vision. But for some reason, this mist seemed to petrify the gathered audience. Their eyes betrayed their dread, but the bodies did not move. I laughed maliciously in my mind for a moment that this person in front of me couldn't move either. It was very satisfying. My hopefully soon-to-be mistress whispered something. I think she was surprised that the mist didn't have the same effect on me as on everyone else. For some reason, her remark made me happy.  

Shortly after that, everything proceeded faster than my mind could handle, which was undoubtedly the fault of this stupid collar. 

The now annoyed female voice asked someone else to remove something. The request was barely spoken before that someone, a girl, appeared near me. Next, the disgusting archduke flew into his knights with full force. What a heavenly sight! In addition, a slight smell of blood filled the air—it made me hungry.

Afterward, the girl with the mechanical mask inspected my collar. I tried to get a more distinct picture of her in my head, but my vision momentarily became a little blurry. That damn collar! 

She must have had the same thought; she told the witch that something was wrong. A question was demanded, but again my mind blurred. When I came back to my senses, the girl had killed three knights. The smell of blood gradually filled the room. It was soo tempting. Then I blacked out again. As my consciousness returned, I saw the knights who were still alive approaching. 

'NO! NO!' I screamed in my mind. Did something go wrong? Surely someone with such a Title would not lose to those wretched slavers!

But before I could worry further, spikes shot out of blood pools. Never in my life had I seen or perceived so much blood. The smell clouded my mind and awakened me at the same time. I wanted some of it! I wanted to taste the blood, savor the flavor on my tongue—oh, how I craved the taste. As the spikes disappeared and the remaining shreds of flesh fell to the ground, I hoped some of the splashes would reach me. But for some reason, they didn't. 

I was so lost in thought about blood that I didn't notice at first that a palpable feeling of inevitable calamity was spreading through the room. Nor had I noticed how many people were gathered here by now. The archduke looked in my direction for a brief moment, then next to me. I could not turn my head but knew who was standing there. I blinked. Suddenly, I saw the person whose face I could already admire in the loge standing in front of the ugly aristocrat. She lifted him upwards with a one-handed choke until his feet no longer touched the ground, whereupon he made gasping sounds.

Then I heard a rumble, a noise so terrifying that I felt the blood freeze in my veins. I could hardly believe it when I was able to determine the source—it was coming from right in front of me, from the...witch?

Her witch's hat had fallen off and revealed horns that began to grow on her head. They sprouted backward in an arc, becoming thinner and thinner until they ended sharply with another nearly vertical curve upward. The horn itself was made up of several short ridges and was almost completely ash gray, except for the tip, which shimmered obsidian. The arm with which she held her prey was encased in black scales that appeared burgundy towards the end. Her hand was now more akin to a claw, with all those deadly-looking fingernails.

But what really left me completely breathless were the twelve long, fluffy and graceful foxtails, which now peeked out from behind her militia dress and moved wildly back and forth. They were—all the way down to the hem of her dress—also partly covered in the same scales as her arm. It looked like an additional armor piece. The tails themselves were also ash gray but faded to a black hue toward the end, like the horns.

I didn't know why, but the sight triggered an emotion in me that I don't understand...at least not yet. However, there was something else. I could feel that something else had changed about my rescuer. It was something dark I was all too familiar with. Before I could reach a conclusion, I heard her seductive voice again—this time in my head.

"Sleeep," and as the word echoed within me, my vision blurred, and the world went black.

 

---

 

Tulsi caught the falling Teade. I didn't want her to struggle any further to stay awake and sane. I felt her craving for blood getting stronger and stronger. How long it must have been since she had had any blood? Even I knew all too well how the desire for something could mess with your head—as it is doing now.

I turned my head back to the oh-so-sublime archduke. He finally had the look of horror on his face that I wanted to see. Though it was no longer enough. No...not enough at all. Lemme show those ridiculous beings what will happen if they dare to even think of taking what was mine. The question is, what exactly should I do to burn it into their memory? 

Then I remembered an old acquaintance who always had fun in the suffering of people. Oh, wait...of course, what a terrific idea! Something that would also involve our dear audience. Yes, that's exactly how I'm going to do it...

"I have an old acquaintance—a wonderful witch. She lived on an island for a long time, preying on passing seafarers. Her games and traps knew no bounds. Unfortunately, at some point, that fool fell in love with a human whose crew she had transformed. In exchange for their freedom, the human stayed. Regrettably, one day he betrayed her, and if I didn't happen to be there by pure chance, she probably would have died. Tsk-tsk, someone as powerful as her, almost struck down by love. 

"Anyway, the phase that began after that 'accident' was no fun for humanity. Tell me, pig, can you tell who I'm talking about?"

His eyes rolled back further and further. Oh yeah, oops—totally forgot that I was still choking him. I threw him on the ground next to me and heard the breaking of some bones. Well, whatever. 

"Speak, you ridiculous excuse of a well-dressed man."

He coughed hard for a few seconds until he looked me in the eyes. I don't know what exactly his facial expression meant, but it was a mixture of fear, horror, fright, and loathing. 

"W-What kind of monster are you?!" decided the bastard to ask.

"Haa, I just asked a question first, didn't I? Have people gotten dumber in my absence? Are you even aware of the situation you're in? Are your arrogance and narcissism really so enormous that you don't get it? But ok, let me answer your question, at least a little. The Master Appraiser, what did he call me again...ah yes, Titled Witch. This term should answer your question, so let me repeat mine. Are you familiar with a witch named Circe?"

The mouth—of the already pretty battered man—went agape. Also, I noticed that the eyes of the frozen spectators opened wide.

I impatiently tapped my finger on my arm. "Well?"

"Y-yes," he answered directly, trembling. Funny what that absurd title implied.

"How was I supposed to know you belonged to Circe! It's been generations since anyone from her coven had strayed here. I'm sorry, please, I don-"

"Psst, you're kinda late for excuses now," I said, scratching my head causing me to accidentally touch my horns. God damn it, I had completely forgotten they were there. And my beautiful witch's hat was on the floor too...

Anyway, I was astonished that it was probably the mentioning of Circe that made him spontaneously this submissive. It was good to know that she was probably still alive. At least someone seems to have earned a name for herself in the meantime, whereas I was forgotten. I turned my attention back to the orc human.

"But to be clear. I don't belong to Circe. Were you not listening? Whatever, you're about to find out what one of her spells feels like on your own body. Quite happy she showed me that one, even though I never thought I'd actually use it."

I began to cast the magic. The archduke tried with his last strength to crawl away across the bloodstained floor—but in vain. By the time a purple ball of mana appeared in my clawed hand's palm, armored in scales, it was already too late for him. I fired it at him, and the transfiguration began at once. 

Now, I must admit, Circe's transfiguration magic was nothing that could be called pleasant. It was more akin to torture magic. The transformation that now took place in the archduke was an excellent example of their similarity. His bones broke, were forcibly repositioned, fell out of the flesh, which also rotted in some places and regrew in other areas. It was also what happened when you performed regular transformation magic or brew change potions incorrectly. Still, the difference here was that the pain sensation and the regeneration speed were deliberately increased to suffer and stay alive during the process. 

Piece by piece, the no longer human turned under screams and hell agonies until the magic was finally finished. Standing directly in front of me on all fours was a fat pig, so ugly that even a butcher would not foist the meat of such an animal on his biggest competitors. 

The pig grunted and squealed, knowing precisely what was going to follow next. The good thing about all this was that the mind was still preserved and intact. Thus, he understood everything that was happening. I grinned. 

When I looked at the crowd, I noticed that some had fainted while standing. Gosh, the sight of the transformation wasn't THAT gruesome. Though, I wasn't finished with my demonstration. 

I went to the pig and tore out a front leg without effort. The anguished screams of the creature—which had been so insolent not twenty minutes ago—were like music to my ears. I cast a fire spell, cooked the leg a bit, and voilà, delicious roasted pork, ready for tasting. And there was no better jury than the one that was already present. 

With a fleeting glimpse over the people, I found the first completely volunteer tester. A cheap butterfly mask covered the face. Long blonde hair was tucked behind pointed ears. She was a high elf. Such a person was perfect. I ripped off three bite-sized pieces of the steamed pork, tossed it afterward somewhere in the crowd, and walked up to her, beaming with delight. Unfortunately, her eyes didn't seem to reflect my joy. Too bad.

I opened her mouth with one hand by squeezing her cheeks and put one piece inside. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Maybe I would feel sorry for her if she didn't belong to those who would clearly sell their own people. 

"Eat," I commanded, loosening my control over herself. Idiotically, the first thing she did was cough it up. 

I looked at her in disappointment. "Really, such poor manners from an elf?" 

"P-please, stop!" she begged me.

"Nope, can't do," was all I replied. "I have to show everyone what happens when people like you think they can mess with something that's mine. I want to kill any of you, but who else would spread the word that nobody touches my property?"

I looked into the eyes of the elf, who turned her head away. With one finger, I directed it back toward me. 

"Eat, or you will die despite everything I just said," I commanded again, holding the clearly delicious piece of pork in front of her. 

The tears were flowing now, but she said nothing and just opened her mouth. "Good girl," I said and placed a piece à la archduke in her mouth. I could hear her whimper as I turned away from her; nevertheless, she continued to chew diligently.

I walked over to another person I had noticed. Her hair was red, and the magical aura she radiated was extraordinary for a lower race, such as humans. But what fascinated me was the completely calm and relaxed demeanor. She was the only one here who could keep her composure. I loosened my absolute control over her and offered her the food. She took it emotionlessly and ate it without batting an eye.

"How boring," I just commented and moved away. Somehow she was spoiling all my fun. 

"Let that be a warning to you!" I exclaimed and walked over to the bleeding pig. I took another flask of Soul's Tears out of my storage box and poured it into the pig's mouth. 

Immediately the effects were noticeable. The torn-off leg grew back, and all the wounds it had suffered internally as a result disappeared. Why did I do it? I could still have use for it. Well, and besides, he still owed me a bunch of gold—I wanted it. For some reason, I had the desire to hoard more and more gold. Strange.

However, despite this, my punishment for him was still not over. Now I'll use my own magic. I put my hand on the pig's head, and for a short moment, it glowed brightly. 

Shortly after, the pig's body was wrapped in some kind of silk cocoon, which laid on the floor. It would take a brief moment for the magic to take effect. Thus I directed my attention to the butler and released him from my control as well. Yet, he remained standing where he was.

I moved up to him and whispered in his ear. "I hope I will still get my shiny gold coins. Also, I would like to know if you have some properties within the Royal District that you can sell me quite discreetly. Preferably without much fuss. Of course, out of kindness, I won't haggle over the price."

He just nodded and replied in a trembling voice, "W-We have some properties that might interest y-you. I'd just have to prepare the papers for a minute. If si-"

I interrupted him, "Go and prepare the documents. I will find you later myself. I'll just clean up the mess I've made. Out of kindness, of course. I hope you understand what I'm saying."

"Y-yes," the butler answered, swung around, and pushed his way through the still petrified crowd.   

  

I turned to the cocoon lying on the bloody floor. Being a hemomancer, I had easy control of loose blood, so I decided to concentrate everything in one spot.

Slowly, blood flowed from everywhere toward the cocoon—the chosen concentration point. Bit by bit, the white silk-like threads turned deep dark red. Along the way, I also took care of the knights' remains with freezing blue flames, which disintegrated everything I ordered. The one woman with some brain on her face briefly went wide-eyed when I spread the flame on her face. It did not hurt her, though. 

After the room was clean again and all the blood disappeared into the now blood cocoon, it began to form cracks until it finally broke open to reveal a beautiful young woman with silver hair. She looked a little petite.

After hatching, the cocoon began to disintegrate and crumble into dust. Befuddled, the naked girl stood up and looked around, somewhat disoriented until she realized where she was. She was about to exclaim something but noticed her hands, slender arms, and hair reaching her buttocks.

"W-what, what have you done to me?" she asked, in a very delicate quivering voice.  

"This is your punishment!" I announced loudly, so everyone understood my words clearly. "I've seen how you treat women. Seen how you treat them as something weaker, as toys for your lust. Well, I say punishment, but it's probably more of a blessing. I didn't expect you to look so...gorgeous." 

She looked at me, and for a brief moment, the color of her eyes changed from the dark red in which the cocoon had previously shone to a bright blue. 

I stepped close to her and whispered in an enchanting voice, " Look forward to the changes that await you in the future, my little archduchess." 

I laughed maliciously, then clapped my hands, withdrawing my control over those present. A majority fell directly unconscious on the cold marble, while the rest still managed to keep standing with trembling legs. No one dared to oppose me now.

Tulsi was so kind and princess carried the currently sleeping Teade. I instructed her to follow me, and we made our way to the butler. Before we left, I shouted, "Ah, and please take good care of your new archduchess. I have high expectations of her in the future."

Then we walked through the crowd, which immediately made enough space for us to have no problems getting through. Ere that, I'd picked up my witch's hat and stowed it away—with my horns, it was pretty hard to wear it.

As we moved along, I licked over my newly grown fangs. Slowly, I began to get hungry. It's really time for a meal...