[Subjugation Forces]

 

"His Highness, Prince Judus Artemis will now speak!" Sir Roman stood on a wooden platform facing a huge crowd of soldiers and adventurers.

He stepped aside and Prince Judus stepped forward to face these forces.

"All hale, His Highness the Prince!" The crowd roars.

He holds up his hand to silence the excited crowd before speaking. Everyone became silent immediately.

"My dear citizens of Artemis Kingdom, I have been too lax. For that, I would like to apologize. Because of my incompetence as your Prince we have lost many good folk. And I want to say that I agree with everyone here if you say that I should step down because of this incompetence of mine. But before that, I would like to make a stand. As the Prince of this kingdom, I would like to make up for my mistakes. This is why instead of sitting around doing nothing we will march to Mount Irda to exterminate the monster that has brought harm to my people!"

He waited for the end of the excitement that erupted among the soldiers and adventurers before speaking again.

"If somehow I do not get our revenge and once again fail you, then I will be happy to step down from my throne and appoint Sir Roman here as the new Prince!" Prince Judus declared.

The roars of the people began again.

"Let's march forward and take back Mount Irda! Men, women, go forth and take revenge on that monster!" He yelled over the cheers while pointing towards the mountains that can be seen in the distance.

Afterward, he followed Sir Roman to the carriage that awaited them.

"Prince, it seems that the people believed your speech," Roman says.

Prince Judus sat in the carriage and Sir Roman slid across from him.

All the soldiers and adventures mounted the horses that lined up behind the carriage.

"Well, I think to get people's hearts moving, a speech to match the occasion is a must." Prince Judus says with a fake and gentle smile.

While it is true that he would never step down from his throne, the real reason that he wanted to get the message across this way was so that his mistake didn't make him look bad.

Because to him, appearances were everything.

Playing as a Prince who cared for his people...this was the image he was willing to act out.

[Bright's Perspective]

While everyone was busy training, Bright was taking flight through the skies. Doing so puts him at ease whenever he feels stressed about a long day. As a dragon who lived alone, he wasn't used to having so many people around him.

But, thinking about it, he didn't regret saving the demon ogre that day. Seeing her laughter after the things she had been through was a treasure for him. Watching her grow as he trained her, he admitted that she had something special.

There were traits to becoming a Demon Lord. At first, the goal to help her get there seemed like a pipe dream. But slowly, he felt that she was starting to catch up to him, who was an Ancient Dragon. Though it's still true she can't defeat him in a fight, there's potential that she will one day.

Before meeting Reesa, he met Til. The goblin was a small child who was abandoned by other goblins for being weak. He found him injured by a lake and so took him home. He never planned to keep him by his side, but Til clung to him and promised to become his servant.

He got used to him after some time. Then Reesa showed up, and after Reesa came Hina. When Reesa brought Hina here, this dirty elf woman with pure emerald-colored eyes, he couldn't say anything. What's the harm in letting in one more person? Good thing he upgraded the cabin.

As he flew through the clouds, there was a feeling of peace that washed over him, thoughts of what life would be like with these three by his side played through his mind. He flew like that for hours before returning to Mount Irda.

[Two Days Later...]

There's only one day left before the forces arrive at Mount Irda. If one looked from the mountain's peak, then one could see the flickering torches from a distance. Of course, these four haven't the slightest clue of the danger that's almost at their doorstep.

[Reesa's Perspective]

If one thing has changed about me, it's the way I can accurately handle my dark magic now. Since I've been here, I have only evolved once. I'm now a Demon Noble which is a step higher than a Demon General. I guess since I've only been here for a little over a month, only being able to evolve once made sense.

Thanks to my evolution, my appearance has changed a bit more. Not only did I grow a tail and my horns seemed to have curves and thickened a bit, but I also got bigger in the chest department. What am I a large C-cup now?

Besides my appearance, my mana is basically overpowered. It's almost limitless, like a running faucet that never stops running unless someone turns it off. I had to learn to draw it all in to keep from scaring off monsters with lower levels than my own. I even manage to scare off monsters with levels up to fifty. Since my level is around forty, it's almost cheating.

Reesa's Stats now

Name: Reesa 

Race: Demon Ogre Rank: First-Rank Noble

Level: 42

Age: 16

Magic Affinity: Dark

Abilities:

1. Curse (D): Reesa can use dark magic to curse her opponents

2. Poison (D): Reesa can use poison that is lethal enough to kill a mid-leveled monster.

3. Dark Mana Control (B): The ability to control dark mana, almost without limit.

Stats:

Strength: (30) Intelligence: (70)

Agility: (32) Sense: (88)

Endurance: (54) Magic: (80)

It's been tough gathering higher-level monster cores. So far, I only managed to find lower-level ones that help my stats grow. I put most of the stats in magic and intelligence since I knew I would know it more. Honestly, I'm a bit impatient about getting even stronger.

There were a few occurrences I would find myself injured or near death due to my weaknesses. I turn to Bright relaxing on one of the sofas. He looked extremely focused on the book he was reading and didn't seem aware of his surroundings.

"Should we battle?" I asked him.

He didn't look up from his book, "There's no need." He says.

"Why? Afraid I'll beat you?" I teased.

I noticed the smirk on his lips as he glanced up at me. The glint in his glasses is noticeable, "you still have a long way to go before that's possible." He says.

"How long? 2 years? 4?" I'm looking at him with hope and determination.

"Hmm? Maybe about 10?" He answered.

Ten years? Why's it so long? I pouted. I can't believe I still have such a long way to go!

"Don't be discouraged, you'll get there in no time." He teased.

This dragon.

"Just wait, I'll have you bow down to me sooner than you think," I tell him with an annoyed expression.

He smiles, his gaze seemed quite smoldering to me, "Is that so? I'll do something much better. The day you become the Demon Lord, I'll happily hand over myself ." He says.

I don't know if I was blushing or not, but he's really unfair! I'm not sure when he's taken to teasing me like this, but I mustn't let it get to me. Let's just look like it didn't faze me at all. I did my best to show him a blank stare.

"You said it yourself, don't go back on that later," I tell him.

His lip turns up into a curl, giving me a hot gaze before turning his attention back to his book. He's ignoring my last words that damned dragon!

[The next day with the army not far from the mountain...]

I decided to take a small walk in the morning while the sky was still dark and the sun had barely risen above the horizon. I was a little ways away from the cabin and I could no longer see it at this distance. The air was a bit breezy and chilly against my skin and I shivered slightly due to the cold.

The sound of footsteps behind me made me whirl around. Bright was approaching me holding a mug in each hand. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked as he handed over one of the mugs.

The distinct aroma of freshly brewed tea tickled my nostrils before taking a careful sip. "That's not it. I just wanted to get some fresh air in the early morning." I told him.

He stood next to me while also looking out over the edge of the mountain, "what were you thinking about?" He asked.

"I was wondering if it bothered you." I found myself saying.

Bright looked over at Reesa, her beautiful black hair gently swaying with the wind. From her expression, he could see that she was nervous as she asked the question. "Bothered? What could possibly bother me?" He wondered.

"That someone like me is trying so hard to be a Demon Mistress," I told him.

He frowned at her choice of words, "Someone like you? I'm not sure I understand."

"You know. Someone that's not a dragon or whatever." I don't know what's causing me to ask him this.

"Why on Earth would that matter to me?" He asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know. Wouldn't it be more understanding that you, who is an Ancient Dragon, become the Demon Lord?" I asked.

There was a bit of silence before Bright spoke again, "I don't know what you're worried about, but I don't have that kind of ambition. To tell the truth, I hate politics more than anything. I'm better off on the battlefield. Worrying about your race, there's no need." He turned to me his golden eyes bright like his name.

"Be more confident, Reesa."

I knew he was right. I nodded before glancing in the direction of the cabin. The sight of an orange light glowing above the trees seemed a bit odd to me. "Bright, did the sun decide to rise in the North today?" I asked.

He followed my gaze, "there's no way that could happen." He says, "Do you hear that?" He looked extremely worried.

I didn't hear anything, but I suddenly had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. This feeling as though something bad was happening right now.

"We should get back quickly. Something's wrong!" Bright yells and grabs my hand.

Before I knew it, we were running in the direction of the cabin. My heart was squeezing tightly from fear. The thought that something bad happened to Hina and Till kept gnawing at me on the inside. Til, Hina, please be alright!

 

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