Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 82: When Evil Plans for the Future…

—Cretia Laurent's POV—

I couldn’t help but giggle to myself as I giddily made my way through the hallways of my family’s manor. The reason for my giddiness is that I had multiplied my own personal fortune by gambling some of my funds on the tournament of the Blaise Academy.

Due to my gamble, I was able to gain enough funds to use for my future plans and it was all thanks to the adoptive son of my bastard brother Frederick.

It fills me with delight to know that my father and my other brother Michael, both stubborn fools, lost all the money they gambled while I gained more than I ever anticipated. 

In the end, their stubbornness and hubris proved to be their demise, they thought they could easily win some money and mingle with other like-minded fools by betting for Alberis Nebandia and putting the odds against my adoptive nephew as a personal revenge toward my brother Frederick.

Because of their pride, they lost considerable amounts of money while I got richer.

They genuinely thought that Alberis victory was certain, and for a moment, it appeared to be like that… But then, the wonderful boy my brother adopted proved everybody wrong and won the match, but not before showing us all such a delightful cruelty that moved me to my core.

Just like when my brother made that surprise visit to our family’s mansion, the boy proved to have such peerless strength that made me get weak in the knees. I was filled with a level of happiness that I never knew that could exist, in that moment I knew that I wanted to own that boy as well. 

To have him as my servant to do my bidding… To have my bastard brother and the boy massacre all who dare to oppose me, including my father and my brother Michael. With those two swearing their undying loyalty, there would be nothing to stop me from claiming the throne of the entire Empire. With that kind of strength by my side, even conquering the world wouldn’t be a far-fetched idea.

But patience is key for this kind of endeavor. As great as my urge to have those two in my possession is, I cannot be hasty, especially if I want my plans to be successful.

“As usual, each possibility needs to be explored before a plan can be executed. The more time I spend planning the better. There’s no need to rush.” I smiled as thousands of possibilities came to mind.

As for my bastard older brother, he has made it more than clear that he will murder any of us without a second thought if we decide to disturb him by coming after his family. So that would leave kidnapping my nieces or my sister-in-law out of the question. Not that I would be successful in the first place considering the fact that the woman in question is also very strong in their own right. 

Going that route would be basically calling the goddess of death for a rapid visit. A destiny I do not wish to inflict upon myself any time soon.

As I see it, there’s no way that my brother would ever cooperate with me, at least while he is alive. I have no way to threaten him, I have no way to harm him, no weapon that could ever pierce him… Under his and his wife’s watchful gazes, it is not possible to take their children as hostages.

Thus, the only way that Frederick would ever bow and declare his loyalty for me would be for him to do it in death. 

Necromancy is the answer to this issue. A forbidden form of magic that would forever condemn me in the eyes of the Goddess of Death. If I decided to take this route, I would have to make up my mind to face her eternal punishment in the realm of the dead in exchange for raising Frederick’s corpse as my servant for eternity.

As I stared at the window, I couldn’t help but contemplate the wonderful and grim world of the living. A heavy rain poured down from the gray clouds covering the sky, washing away the filth of the capital.

I was greeted by the sight of an unbelievably beautiful reflection in the mirror. A goddess born in the shape of a mortal. A tall and slim woman with an ample bosom and curves that enticed most men, a woman with bright red hair that flowed way past her hips and with a pair of hazel colored eyes. Said woman wore a luxurious pink dress that hugged her body like a glove. A golden tiara rested over her head, making her look even more appealing and regal to the eye of those beneath her and her glory.

That was a reflection of myself, Cretia Emilia Laurent. 

“Given that I am considering forsaking my eternal rest for power, then I suppose I could gamble even further and also seek immortality. After all, there’s a myriad of ways to achieve that goal. Whether it is through lichdom, alchemy or even the favor of a god, it doesn’t matter to me. I will get the place I deserve in this world. I was born to rule everything, so what’s the matter if I resort to forbidden magic to achieve my goals?” I muttered my real thoughts as I watched the rain.

With one potential way of making my bastard brother bend the knee in my favor, another issue was raised for this method to work.

“Now how do I kill someone like Frederick, I wonder. How do you kill someone who cannot be hurt by a dagger to the heart? A poison perhaps? I believe no normal poison would work on him. What about a curse? The same would apply in this case, just like the poison. Worse, his wife could dispel the curse and trace it back to me in the worst case scenario.” I focused deeply as I pondered about how to accomplish my objective.

No matter. I have the time to think about each step thoroughly. I have the time to gather whatever items I need to be successful. Money and time are not an issue.

Putting my possibly unkillable brother aside, there are many ways I could go to get his child to come to my side.

“That reminds me… One of the prizes for winning the tournament was for the winner to have their social rank raised. Since he's lacking a proper noble title, he will be given one by the Emperor.” I mumbled to myself. A soft smile appeared on my lips as I thought of a wonderful way to get what I wanted.

Marriage, yes… It would be an excellent way to bring him to my side. Young men can become surprisingly fickle after being presented with the charms of an older woman. 

When I was younger, I had decided that I would only marry a useful man, someone who could be an obedient little pawn that would do as they are told. What could be better than an impressionable young man? Just show them some cleavage and they’ll sell even their own mother for you. Or even better yet, act like an innocent and helpless maiden and they will be flocking to you to protect you from all harm.

I believe I have found a perfect candidate to be my pawn.

If I move some strings here and there, I believe I could forcefully arrange a marriage between the boy and myself by forcing the Emperor’s hand. 

From what I have heard, the boy merely turned ten years of age a few weeks ago, barely just in time to participate in the tournament. I am presently twenty-nine years old but I will turn thirty in the summer. Considering the obvious difference in age, I will have to wait at least eight years to a full decade for the boy to be old enough if I want the Emperor to work in my favor.

“If I’m not mistaken, my own mother had me when she was forty-three. So leaving an heir would not be too much of an issue.” I mumbled to myself. “Ah… Right, I’ve also heard that there was an interesting meeting between my bastard brother and a few important high ranking nobles. Wasn’t the boy getting a bit too close with some young noble ladies between the matches? I think I can use this to my advantage.” I saw my reflection in the window, a devilishly charming smile appeared on my face.

A common man is easy to manipulate, but a man who has a weakness for women is far easier to use. After all, what man is immune to their carnal desires?

The boy is already showing interest in some of the young daughters of a few high ranking nobles. That will make my plans slightly more difficult, but it will be nothing that I can’t handle.

Considering that he is the child of my bastard brother, although not by blood, and the fact that he has shown his superior strength, I’m sure that most of those nobles will try to marry off their daughters to the boy. All for the purpose of having a connection to the boy and his parents and to strengthen their bloodlines.

“Even if the child is a demon-touched, this eternal game for power persists. The hungry nobles seek a prey that would help them increase their own standing and prestige. It matters not, since I will be the one to get all the power and prestige. You should all limit yourselves to learn your place beneath me.” I scoffed before I decided to continue my walk. “Well, even if he marries one of those girls or all of them, it won’t matter. As long as I manage to seduce him when the time is right, it will be a child’s play to quietly dispose of the other girls. Unlike my bastard oldest brother, killing a few noble maidens will be nothing but child’s play.” I giggled to myself as I made my way to my room.

Anyhow, taking into consideration that I have a long wait ahead of me for my goal to be fulfilled, I should begin by making preparations to take full control of the Laurent family and all of the underworld of the Empire.

First, my bastard brother and his son, and after that everything else will fall into place… My family and the underworld, then the Empire as a whole and then the world. With patience and caution, everything will eventually belong to me. And with those two by my side, no one shall defy my eternal rule.

Who knows? Perhaps I will find a way to even defy the gods themselves with my future puppets.

“Good evening, dear sister-in-law.” Unfortunately my wonderful thoughts about my ambitions were interrupted by someone whose existence I had forgotten. 

It was Michael’s wife, Zania, my unfortunate sister-in-law.

A common-looking woman with long dark blonde hair tied into several braids and gray eyes. She was wearing a modest, if not ugly-looking evening gown and a pair of sandals. She was very petite and skinny with barely any remarkable features to speak of. Well, there were a few neat features left on her face made by my dear brother, mainly in the shape of a black eye and some bruises on her cheeks.

The woman in question was the third or fourth daughter of a marquis serving beneath my father. Of which marquis, I can’t even be bothered to remember. I just know that he didn’t love her very much since he gave her hand to my brother.

Zania had appeared from the corner of the hallway. She had most likely just come out of the room she barely shared with my brother nowadays.

Putting my annoyance aside, I decided to greet the cowardly bitch in front of me with a kind and warm smile.

“Oh my, if it isn’t you my dear Zenia! How delightful to see you.” I said to the pitiful woman. “I was told by Michael that you weren’t feeling well and that is why you decided to stay behind instead of coming to watch the tournament.” I faked my concern for her.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Cretia. You are really a wonderful sister and I feel like I am blessed to have you in my life. I am feeling better now.” She quickly approached me and embraced me tightly. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Her injuries and her shaky hands were most likely due to the antics of my dear older brother. I have heard and seen him relieve his anger by using his wife rather violently.

“That’s what sisters are for. We need to care for one another, don’t we? Everything will be fine, my dear Zenia.” I hugged her while trying to comfort her.

Sigh… The things I have to do please this poor little thing. She seems like a lamb, trembling before going to the slaughter house. If she only knew that most of the bad things that happen to her in her life are because of me.

I believe that at some point in time, my dear brother was actually in love with the poor woman in front of me… Yet, her inability to produce him an heir rapidly killed whatever love he felt for her. Just like before he was married, he began to use our maids as well as prostitutes to satisfy his desires and to produce an heir somehow. 

As his attempts with Zania, the maids, and the prostitutes continued to fail, he began to abuse Zania due to his frustration for not giving him an heir. He has also killed one or two of our maids and several prostitutes during the act.

Michael, in spite of his stupidity, is just as proud as my father is. He would never admit that he is the one with a problem down there. So he just continues to abuse Zania while using the maids or other girls for his desperate desire to have a child and fulfill his role as heir of the family title.

Ah, what a fool! 

It was so easy to slip that concoction that rendered him sterile into his drink during his engagement party all those years ago. Did he seriously think I would allow an idiot like him to inherit everything?

I could have killed him easily back then, but I decided against it because even a fool like him has his uses. If I took over the family title and the underworld all of a sudden, our subjects and goons might rebel against me since they still somehow respect Michael more than me. 

Well, it is not surprising that the brutes only respect brute strength.

Which is why I have to take my time building up my own power and riches before taking over everything. With time, those brutes will begin to favor me more than Michael, and by then it will be too late for him or my father to do anything.

Fortunately for me, since Michael somehow managed to not leave any bastards behind and is now completely sterile, that part of my plan won’t take much effort to accomplish since I have no other potential competitors.

I haven’t done anything to Zania as I find her too pitiful already. 

She should be sufficiently capable of having a child if she ever decides to be with another man besides my brother. It is doubtful that something like that would ever happen though since she’s very devout to her marriage vows and the gods and has honor or whatever, but I would have to kill her anyway if she gets pregnant, even if it is not from my brother.

That is why I consider her a pitiful spineless bitch. She’s clearly suffering, yet she doesn’t do anything for herself. She doesn’t even try to kill the man that abuses her, nor does she try to escape from this mansion or the people she’s clearly afraid of. With her looks, she could at least get with another decent man to spite my brother, but she doesn’t.

Well, it is not like her and the other hypothetical man would live to tell the tale afterwards to begin with. My brother has killed for much less than a simply mug of ale, he would definitely torture Zania and kill the other man if she was unfaithful.

But that’s exactly what annoys me about her… She’s just living in this mansion, afraid of everything. Not doing anything for her benefit and she intends to remain like that until the day of her death. 

“I am very happy to hear you say that, Cretia. It fills me with bliss to have you by my side.” She seemed to find my company very comforting. “I was actually looking for you. I thought we could have some dinner together along with some tea.” She looked at me with pleading eyes, almost like a puppy.

“I suppose it would be a pleasant way to spend the rest of the evening. As much as I liked the tournament, today has been a very tiring day if I’m being honest.” I agreed since I had nothing better to do.

I couldn’t even consider Zania a person anymore. She was no better than a pitiful pet in my eyes. Had she at least shown some spine when she married my brother things would be different now for her, but alas, she didn’t and thus, she remained as the pitiful pet who only knows how to hide in her room, waiting for her death.

Even a sad little pet like her has its uses, so giving her a bit of my pity and supposed friendship doesn’t pose any effort on my part. If anything, at the very least she’s the only one in this manor who listens to whatever I say without question.

Heh… I could perhaps use her in the future to kill Michael. Giving her a little treat for becoming a loyal little pet would be such a kind act I think.

“Please tell me about the tournament. I would like to hear if it still remains as exciting as it was when I was young.” She linked her arms with me, looking happier and calmer than before.

“I wonder where I should start… I don’t think it is too much to ask for us to take a seat before I begin. Let’s go to my room so I can change my clothing as well.” I gave her a fake smile, just to throw her a bone. 

I didn’t mind entertaining her just this once. After all, a good ruler has to take care of their tools and their pets.

“Oh, please pardon my rudeness, dear sister. I almost forgot that you must be tired from the long day. Let’s depart at once! Please lead the way!” She panicked slightly before motioning me to continue walking.

“Very well, let us enjoy the rest of the evening, my dearest Zania.” I nodded before I resumed walking towards my room along with the sad little pet that was my sister-in-law.

“Yes!” Zania replied earnestly, like an obedient pet should.

Perhaps retelling the events of the entire tournament will help to better prepare for my plans to get Frederick and little Julius under my thumb. 

But as I said before, both time and money are not an issue, so I must make sure to prepare thoroughly.

Fufufu… Just you wait, older brother. I will make sure to give you and your son proper use once you become my pawns. I will make sure that Julius never feels lonely as my consort if he bends the knee and if not… I will still keep him as my plaything. Whether it is through the use of forbidden arts like necromancy or even seduction, both of you will belong to me.

I couldn’t help but feel butterflies in my stomach as I imagined the bright future ahead of me. A future where I would rule everything with an iron fist. A future where everyone would bend the knee for me.

—Agmos’s POV—

I was bored out of my mind sitting at the celestial throne in the former hall of The Assembly. An enormous hall that had a gigantic marble table, big enough for all the gods of Unitya to sit and feast as well debate the fate of the world.

This hall, which was decorated from top to bottom with the most luxurious of materials and marble, has served as my ruling castle ever since I sealed Melius and began to usurp him.

In this lonely hall, I couldn’t bear the boredom. All the thrill I had experienced today had sadly come to a miserable end.

Until a few hours ago, I had been using the body of one of my apostles to gaze into the material plane. I was watching a tournament through that girl’s eyes… And there I saw it all.

“Oh, Lia… Lia… Dear, Lia. How pleasant of you to finally get out of your hiding place,” I smiled as I stared at the projection of the world of Unitya in front of me. “And to top it all off, you decided to send your own apostle to Hresviae as well.” I felt unbelievable delight as I remembered the wonderful scenes I had watched today.

A demon boy, Lia’s apostle, was currently being raised by the strongest human in the world. The one who Lia was protecting when I felt her presence in Mutm. A boy who is a direct descendant of Basalto, the former God of Magic turned mortal, the original Demon King. 

A boy whose soul felt awfully familiar to one I had killed not so long ago. It took me some effort to remember this particular soul, but as the mortals say, the joy of a good prank cannot be easily forgotten.

“Ah, Julius… To think that the man I killed just because I was bored would end up reincarnating into my world.” Many of my mouths laugh with amusement. “It is too good to be true. I can’t believe my own luck!” I smiled with delight. 

How or why was this possible, it truly mattered little to me. I had my share of fun deceiving his family to help me end his life and breaking their minds. Ah, the screams… I can still hear those wonderful screams of terror from his girlfriend and his sisters when they discovered Julius’s dead body. I can still remember the expression that his girlfriend made when she saw me taking her appearance and putting another bullet in Julius’s corpse.

It was all so satisfying!

“And now I get to do it all over again!” Many of my mouths smiled with malice. “And I get to hurt Lia as well by doing so… Truly how lucky can I be?! Should I pose as his adoptive mother this time? Or perhaps should I take the appearance of the Skull Crusher? Or maybe any of his little girlfriends?” For a moment I fell deep into thought.

I had never been presented with the chance of torturing the same soul twice, a foreign one I mean, so this was an auspicious occasion for me. I needed some time to decide what I wanted to do.

“I know!” I rose from my seat. “I could wait for him to age a bit and then bring his girlfriend from Earth to this world to show her what he has been up to with all of those girls! I can break her heart, then make her sleep with another man or a handsome deity such as myself and make Julius find her exposed like that! Ohohoho! The pain something like that would inflict on that poor bastard would be a delight to behold! Of course, I would kill him afterward and fuck his former girlfriend on top of his corpse! Can’t forget to disrespect him as much as possible! I could maybe keep the girl as a plaything or something or just kill her afterward as well. I shall call this prank… The tragic lovers reunited! No! Deadly NTR! Seriously, those humans on Earth definitely know how to create some gut-wrenching suffering!” I was getting excited as several ideas came to mind.

But then… That excitement quickly faded away as I was reminded of my own actions of the past.

“No, wait… I've already done that prank... What was the bastard's name again? I remember it was some kind of elven royalty. It was at a wedding, yes! I remember it now! I hypnotized all the guests and the bride and then I fucked the bride under the wedding cake while the guests held the poor and groom and made him watch. Oh, I also mutilated the groom and shoved him into the cake before making everyone eat it, didn’t I? That was hilarious at the time, but making the same prank more than once or twice is no fun at all.” I fell back to my throne with annoyance.

In my thousands of years of life, I have come with many ways to torture mortals and make them betray one another. After all, I am the god of deceit, treachery and torture, that is what I do best, to make mortals suffer as much as possible for my own amusement. I mean, what else can I do with my eternal life? If there’s something I hate, it is boredom.

This I am incredibly frustrated that I can’t seem to think of a good torture for Julius. I want something so evil, so putrid, so vile that will make him wake up in the afterlife as a broken shell of a soul. Something that not even Skell could repair. As I said before, this the first time I ge to torture the same soul twice in such a short period.

“Ah! Perhaps I could make his adoptive mother or any of his girlfriends fall ill suddenly and then offer him a cure for almost nothing, then he will doubt me for a long time but before long, he will become desperate! He will then use the cure on the sick person, whoever I feel like killing at the time, and then the cure turns out to be a lethal poison! Imagine his face when I tell him that he ended up killing the person he wanted to save! It will be so hilarious seeing his broken expression before I kill him!” All of my mouths smiled with anticipation before… “Wait… I did that one too like a hundred times already. It is the oldest fucking trick in the book!” I punched my throne with frustration.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I usually can think of worse shit to inflict on people that are just taking a stroll! Why is it so difficult to think of a way to torment this fella?

“You’re still brooding here? Why am I not surprised?” A woman’s voice echoed through the almost infinite halls.

“Oh, Ezra! I hadn’t noticed you there! Care to help me? I find myself stuck in a little dilemma!” I spoke with glee the moment I noticed the presence of my fellow goddess

I was greeted by the wonderful sight of the sexiest woman I had ever laid my many eyes upon. A goddess with great curves that would drive any man, mortal or not, completely mad just by the mere sight of them. She had long light brown hair that covered her shoulders and a pair of gorgeous blood red eyes. She was wearing a short purple dress that left little to the imagination. This was obviously on purpose, as Ezra liked to provoke desire on all who managed to cast their gaze on her.

Ezra is the Goddess of Lust and Carnal Desires, after all. Her only objective is to satiate her sexual hunger by whatever means necessary. Although, she does like to delight in human suffering from time to time, so that is why we get along so well. On top of that we are technically twins since we were born at the same time, so one could say we are thick as thieves.

“First of all, when was the last time you left this place? It reeks with your hideous smell, Agmos.” She said with disgust while her bare feet strolled through the endless halls.

“Rude! I left just a few days ago to run some errands!” I protested against her malicious accusations.

“To run some errands… Right. And for whom were you running these errands?” She asked as she gracefully took a seat near me.

“For myself actually. This is for the secret project I have been working on for years! Remember? The one I promised Merenis that I would execute for her to be on our side?” I tried to refresh her memory while playing dumb.

“Ah, yes. How could I ever forget about the most insufferable year of my existence? The year where you wouldn’t shut up about that little War of Heroes of yours.” Ezra rolled her eyes with annoyance. “Honestly, I have a million other better things to do rather than to hear you tell me how you will plunge the world into the greatest war ever seen in this world. I could literally be fucking someone and have a much better time while at it.” She let out a huge sigh, something which somehow only made her more beautiful. Her disgust toward me was extremely alluring.

“Speaking of fucking…-” I was interrupted before I could suggest anything.

“I won’t ever bang you again. In fact, I won't ever touch you again even with a stick, Agmos. Tentacles and your other… Things… Are not my taste. Once was enough in my opinion. Now I’m more interested in handsome boys and cute girls instead of whatever abomination you are.” She said with even greater annoyance.

“Oh, don’t be like that. You had fun last time and you know it, but sure whatever. Have it your way.” I scoffed at her. “Anyway, back to my dilemma.” I spoke with conflict in my voice.

“So what is afflicting you, oh mighty God of Deceit, usurper of the Divine Throne?” She asked while making fun of me.

“You know there’s this boy that I want to kill… Again. I killed him once on Earth and now he has come to this world. He was reincarnated or whatever bullshit happened to him. Case is that I want to make his existence miserable before ending him for good.” I explained my predicament.

“Why don’t you just go and kill him then?” She said as if the solution was obvious. She also rolled her eyes, like the good bitchy sister no one wants to have.

“You don’t get it. This one is special. I killed him like a decade ago… Wait, I think it was a month ago in Earth’s time. Well, the time thing is not important! I killed him and now he is in this world and on top of that, he is Lia’s apostle.” I tried to make emphasis on why I wanted to make him suffer.

“Oh? He’s Lia’s apostle? I didn’t know she came out of her little dome.” She said after I had clearly caught her interest. “May I see an image of this apostle? It’s been a while since I got to taste a demon, so I might be able to take care of this problem for you. We both win something out of this, don’t you think?” She licked her lips seductively before showing a gorgeous smile. She had found a new prey.

“Sorry to ruin your little party, but he is presently a ten year old boy. You will be rather bored until he comes of age and is able to do your favorite unspeakable act.” I decided to crush her excitement immediately. I wouldn’t tolerate my prey being stolen from me. “But sure, I can at least show you what he looks like.” This was just a deliberate attempt to make her jealous. As much as I liked to keep my prey to myself, I also enjoyed flaunting my things in front of my sister. A great flaw of mine, I know.

Thus I decided to show her the recordings I made of the tournament I was watching through my apostle’s eyes. Ezra watched the entire thing without even blinking, her interest in my prey had grown exponentially.

“Interesting…” Ezra’s enticing lips had curled up into a cunning smile. “I wonder why, but Lia always chooses some cuties as her apostles. In other circumstances, perhaps the two of us could have been good buddies. A shame she’s a fucking prude.” Ezra shook her head with disappointment.

“Oh? Is that some desire I sense in your voice?” I said to her with a teasing smile.

“I always wanted to get a taste of the Goddess of Knowledge, you know? Carnal desires are what I live for and she’s one of the few that has escaped my grasp. I really hate prudes more than anything… They are missing so much pleasure.” Ezra spoke with honesty.

“Jeez, no wonder they call you the Divine Slut.” I said jokingly to my fellow goddess.

“Unrelated question Agmos. If you were to be sealed, where would you like to spend the rest of eternity?” She asked with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

“So anyway, what do you propose I do? I’m in a bit of a pickle since I can’t decide how I want to kill that boy.” I quickly changed the topic.

“It would be a waste to kill him right now. One simply does not take a fruit from the tree before it is ripe enough to eat.” She shook her head with disapproval. “In fact, if you do try to kill him before he turns into a handsome young man for me to taste, I will actually seal you away no questions asked.” She immediately threatened me. Ezra was determined to have a taste of my prey.

“See? This is why people think you are a creep, you slut.” I was very annoyed at her, but this was on me for thinking she would just stay in her own lane.

“Says the one who has sex on top of corpses while brainwashing their partner. Who’s really the fucking creep here?” She replied with disdain.

Naturally, before I could form my rebuttal, another person decided to intervene.

“Both of you are creeps. All of your cunning tricks and torture methods make me sick beyond belief.” Said a petite woman as she walked into the assembly’s hall.

The woman in question was the Goddess of War and Terror, Merenis.

She was covered from head to toe by a silver plate armor which hid her lean and muscular figure from the prying eye. She carried a huge sword of divine flames on her back and a round shield on her left arm. The woman was incredibly petite, even more so than a regular human woman, so much so that she actually resembled a dwarf standing at 1.46 meters tall. Her short auburn hair fluttered as she made her way towards the enormous table. The imposing gaze of her yellow eyes as she looked at Ezra and I with disdain were simply lovely.

After expressing her feelings toward us, Merenis sat down and crossed her arms without a word. She immediately snapped her fingers, and a complete feast of roasted cuts of meat appeared on the table in the blink of an eye.

“Ah, Merenis! As usual, your presence here is a wonderful gift,” Ezra said while winking at her. “Do you feel like you are ready to spend a night with me again?” She asked as she licked her lips with expectation.

“No. I’d rather not share a bed with you again, Ezra. I prefer the thrill of battle instead of the sheets, Goddess of Lust.” Merenis denied her firmly before she started to eat the meat by herself.

“ A pity… Even though we had such a wonderful time together…” Ezra looked actually disappointed this time. “But you should know that my doors are always open for you, little war goddess.” She was reinvigorated and began to flirt again.

“I’ll pass.” Merenis denied her again before focusing her gaze on me. “Agmos, when will your promise be delivered? The world has gone without a great war for decades now, and you promised me that you would cause the biggest war I could ever see. War is essential for the societies of mortals to progress. If mortals don’t progress, then our world could only be considered a failure.” She demanded an explanation with those fierce eyes of hers.

“I am still working on the details. There’s heroes to be summoned, old wounds to be opened, allies betraying each other before the war can truly commence. Hell, I still have to give the secret of the hero summoning ritual to every country in Hresviae and also the secret of how to bypass the limit of summons that Melius imposed! Already gave the latter to the Marcelian, Emperor, but as you can see, I am running a little behind schedule.” I shrugged in response, hoping that she would find my answer acceptable.

“This is not what you promised. Again and again, you have said the same thing over and over for thousands of years, and you have failed to deliver.” Merenis looked at me with fury in those eyes of hers. “The only reason I ever aligned myself with your faction was that it was easier for me to perform my duties as the War Goddess while on your side. Never forget that. I could cut both of you down, without a second thought.” She gave us the same old threat she always gives. "I fulfilled my part of the bargain by threatening the lesser gods into remaining on the sidelines, now you should do the same before I decide to kill you both."

“We are well aware, dear Merenis. You know how Agmos is, a lazy hedonist to his core. Just give him some time and I am sure that he will deliver what was promised.” Ezra surprisingly came to my defense. She really didn’t want to get on Merenis’s bad side.

Merenis listened to Ezra silently before giving a look for confirmation.

“You’re as impatient as always, aren’t you?” I let out a sigh of annoyance before something great came to my mind. “A villain… That’s all I have been missing… The final piece of the puzzle! Of course!” I rose from my seat and started to shout.

Both Merenis and Ezra looked at me with confusion, almost waiting for me to elaborate.

“A villain! This war also needs a proper villain! Just how I made Basalto the villain in the eyes of the people of Hresviae during the Thousand-Years War, I need someone for the entire world to hate on!” My multiple mouths all began to smile at the same time.

“Ah… I understand what you want to do now. This should make things a little spicier. Both of us would get a piece of that prey you are gushing so much about and Merenis will get her little war. We all win something out of this.” Ezra caught on quickly on what I meant. She even seemed excited for something that was not completely related to sex for once.

“Precisely! I get to inflict pain and sorrow on everyone and remain entertained. You get to fuck whoever you please as usual, and Merenis finally gets the huge clusterfuck of a war she wants! We all win so much from this!” I nodded with excitement.

“Can you elaborate, Agmos. Who is going to be this proper villain you’re talking about?” Merenis asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice. “If that person is strong enough, I might even go down to the material plane to face them in battle.” There was a fire growing behind her yellow eyes.

“I’m talking about the return of the demons. The Demon King shall return to its former seat. To cause conflict and burn down the countries of men, just as they did in the past.” I smiled as I once again projected the image of my target.

The image of a boy with silver eyes and black hair appeared above the huge table. With that alone, I managed to catch the interest of both goddesses once more.

“Let us finally set a date for the conflict.” I smiled confidently at the two of them. “Eight years from now. I will give the world eight more years of peace. After those eight years are up, it will be free for all. Who will survive? Who will thrive? Will it be the Heroes from another world or will it be the Demon King? I cannot wait to find out!” I was happy from the bottom of my heart.

As my excitement grew, I couldn’t but wish for these eight years to pass quickly. Though, that amount of time was a miserable wait in the eyes of us immortal gods.

The board was set. All the pieces were slowly but surely finding their place. An all-out war with heroes from other worlds unable to return home, with nations resparking their old grudges while the threat of supposedly extinct demons and their all-powerful king looms in the horizon. Will these mortals set aside their differences to fight this new evil or will they simply continue to fight each other while everything burns around them?

Whoever is left standing at the end matters too little. What matters is that this will be the greatest spectacle that I will ever witness!

Chapter 82: When Evil Plans for the Future…

END

GodlyKamui

Heya! Author here back again with a new chapter. Ah, it feels good that the tournament is already over! There were times where I thought I wouldn't ever be able to finish this long arc... Anyway, this time I don't have much to say other than I wanted to give some of the spotlight to our villains and their plans.

On the one hand, we have a manipulative sociopath and heartless woman who wants to turn our MC and his adoptive father into her slaves/puppets/undead servants and quite possible brainwashed consorts. So we have a somewhat incestuous bitch as villain number 1.

And then as for villain number two we have an eldritch sadistic abomination who has an obsession with NTR and fucking on top of corpses...

And finally we have villain number three who is basically number one but on steroids and crazy about sex. So a nympho on roids.

As for the war goddess, I don't really consider her a villain. An antogonist, definitely. But not really a villain.

Now... Ever since I wrote this chapter, I been wanting to write a smut chapter about these two goddesses doing the nasty business. Can't help it, but I suppose that will have to wait until I actually end the remaining chapters of this arc. There's still some interesting things about the aftermath of the tournament to write about, after all.

Anyway, that's it for now. As usual, please don't forget to comment and leave some hearts since that motivates me to continue writing the story! Also, don't forget to join the discord: https://discord.gg/uH6APbzrFR

That will be all for now, peace!