Now it was time to move on and get important items from the Dragon's lair.

When I killed the Dragon, alongside Master, I had left the corpse there. This corpse is what I needed now, luckily I had left it in mostly pristine condition.

The lair was nearby, actually in a cave in this mountain range, so there wouldn't be much time wasted on flying there. The entire range was called the Flaming Mountain, since all of the mountains were joined together and covered in what looked like hell flames.

It wasn't me who named it this time.

Even taking Soea's lower speed and less stamina, we made it to the cave in only a few minutes.

With a soft sound, both Soea and I landed at the large, dark, entrance to the cave.

I had spent many days lost in this labyrinth of passages and caverns, but I had also tamed a Shadow Wolf who had gotten lost as well. My first pet in this world, and I would be visiting its grave on the way to the Inner Sanctum.

Navigating the endless stone passages was easy for me this time, I could do it with my eyes shut if I wished. I changed my course slightly at around halfway, so as to pay my respects at the tomb of my pet.

Entering the mostly empty room, the only feature was a two meter high cairn created by loose stones and Earth Magic, I walked over and knelt on the cold stone floor.

I felt a wave of sadness wash over me.

Everyone can empathize with the feeling of losing a pet, the pain that can be buried deep, but hurts when dwelled on. The feeling is the same, even if that pet is a high-grade Demonic Hound, an intelligent Monster that hunted from the shadows and killed indiscriminately.

Ever since the dream I had when I transformed, I found that I had been feeling more sadness than usual.

But I also noticed that I had been getting odd reactions in general. The first of which was the strange sense of comfort from Soea's presence, from looking into her glowing sapphire eyes.

Well, I did sleep with her, quite a few times, so maybe that affected me more deeply than I thought?

Finally, seeing that Mind Rune again, it felt like it tore something open in my head.

Soea knelt beside me, one of her warm, slim, arms went around my shoulders.

I felt her also curl her tail around my other arm, the tail which felt nicer than what would be expected from just looking at it.

When I looked over at her, I saw worry and pain in her eyes, but she also tried to comfort me, transmit a feeling of warmth.

It actually worked.

Happiness visible in her eyes, she looked away and then bowed her head in the direction of the cairn, emulating what I had just done.

I looked away from her and immersed myself in the memories of the fun times I had with this dog. Playing catch the Monster, and fetch that body part.

The love and devotion of a canine, the loyalty and limitless love, no matter what you do. This emotion could warm even the most frozen of hearts, and no one could not return the love.

After a few minutes, I got up.

I sighed once more and then gently rested a hand on Soea's shoulder, who was still kneeling and waiting for me. She raised her head and looked at me for a few seconds before gently rubbing her cheek on my hand a few times before standing up.

We continued our walk in the labyrinth, this time our destination was the Dragon's lair.

 

Upon arriving at the lair, entering the huge stone amphitheater, I saw the Flame Dragon's carcass laying untouched on the floor. Even though I had left it there more than a year ago, it was untouched.

 

With the amount of residual Mana left in the carcass, even without its Dragon Soul, there was enough to keep it from rotting. It could be a pristine corpse for many centuries, having the possibility to become an Undead Dragon if left alone.

As I had hoped, the remains were completely undisturbed. These included the Gem Heart, Reverse Scale, Adrenal Gland, and Mana Engine. All of these were the most important parts of the Dragon, and because I hadn't needed them at the time, I had left them alone.

I knew that it was unlikely that anyone else would likely discover this place, so I felt secure in leaving them here. They were incredibly rare and powerful reagents, and if I were stupid enough to sell them, I could easily buy all the land of the Human Territories, and then some.

None of the reagents had decayed by even a single cell, they hadn't even lost any of their stored Mana. If I had left them alone, as well as becoming an Undead Dragon, a Mana Elemental could have possibly spawned.

Soea gasped when she saw the Dragon corpse.

Walking up to the Dragon, she ran her fingers over the solid shield-sized scales, tapping them with her fingernails. While she was strong enough to easily gouge out solid stone like butter, all that happened was the crystalline scales emitted a soft 'ding'.

The blood had dried up, however, because I had drawn all of the Mana out of it, on Master's insistence. Though the blood had no Mana left, it could still be powdered and used as a reagent in high grade potions and alchemical liquids.

Inside the Dragon, however, was a lot of blood that I hadn't used. There was a lot left over, even after both Master and I had bathed together in it. She technically hadn't needed to, and got nothing out of it, but she still insisted on joining me in the bath.

The Dragon was around one hundred meters in length, and thirty in height, its wingspan was around sixty meters. The huge stone amphitheater could barely contain it.

It was time to do what Soea had asked me, to release the Demonic Conversion spell and use a different Transformation Magic.

"Soea, do you still wish to change race? I have to make sure, it would be a lot of effort to change you back if you change your mind." I had to double check with her.

Women changed their mind a lot, and I didn't wish to upset her by changing her if she didn't want it anymore.

Soea turned from the Dragon and looked at me, "Yes, My Lord. Thank you for listening to my selfish request."

"You're welcome. Okay, I need you to kneel and stay still." As I spoke, I cut my finger, quickly collecting the blood and multiplying it through my Blood Magic.

Without any questions or words, she dropped to her knees on the stone floor, she was fixated on what I was doing, fascinated.

By the time I arrived at her, a fist sized ball of deep crimson blood was floating in the air next to me. Gently gripping her chin with one hand, I collected some blood on the fingertip of my other hand, I raised her face.

Her hair drifted back, revealing her pale forehead, I drew a Symbol of Revocation on her skin.

This was the official Rune used to cancel the Demonic Conversion spell, and it would only work if drawn with the blood of the caster, voluntarily given.

While I was worried that this would remove the Magic that directed her faith, and feelings, towards me instead of the bastard god, I did it because I wished to comply with what she wanted.

She may even revert back to a Priestess, hating me, attacking me as soon as she was free.

If this happened, I wouldn't kill her, I would knock her out and teleport her to the Human Capital.

This thought surprised me, I was willing to break one of my core tenants and allow an enemy to live, the fact that she had dug her way so deep into my heart that I would give up on one of my primary creeds so as to keep her alive... This is dangerous.

Master had long instilled in me to kill any and all enemies, so that they couldn't come back and hurt me or people important to me, yet that I was even considering going against Master's teaching worried me.

Drawing my mind back, I sighed and pushed Mana through the Rune and returned her Humanity. As the enormous amount of magic surged through her body, she arched back, spasming.

Her wings and tail withered away, turning into pure Mana before rapidly dispersing into the surround Mana. Her hair stayed the same shade of black as it was before, but the glow in her eyes faded, becoming a normal Sapphire-blue.

I found myself missing her Demonic form.

Her shape didn't change much, but her magic clothing disappeared.

I had noticed before that Demons didn't grow any hair below the neck, which I had seen with not only Soea, but the Demon Queen and the Archdemon I traveled with.

Arre had Revoked the names of both the Demon Queen and the Archdemon long ago. Being Nameless, I could only remember or know them by their position, though that information isn't important to the current situation.

After twitching and spasming for a few seconds, she got control back and looked up at me, I carefully inspected her eyes, looking for what I feared.

Luckily, but strangely, I didn't see the hatred that I expected. I didn't even see fear or regret, or even embarrassment for her current position and unclothed state.

She stared back into my eyes with a calm, but determined, look. Deep down, I could still see the affection and devotion that she had shown since I changed her.

"My lord?" Soea spoke quietly, almost whispering, her hands clenching. It was as though she was as worried about my reaction as I was about hers.

"You don't feel hatred or fear towards me?" I asked the question that was filling my mind, asking without consciously thinking about it.

There was a look of confusion in her eyes, "Why would I hate you, my Lord?"

The way she addressed me hadn't changed.

"Because I changed you, forced you to feel love for me, to serve me, I made you into a slave."

"My Lord, I don't feel that you forced me. Yes, at first you scared me, and your spell made me have strange feelings towards you. But my mind felt like it was somehow shielded, I felt emotions that felt odd, but they didn't fully affect me, I could stop it at any time I wished... But then I felt something different, deep in my mind. I felt like I knew you, and felt a deep love, but it was also my free will." She smiled softly as she spoke, her face blushing a deep crimson.

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I quietly muttered her name.

This was nothing like I had expected.

"My Lord, I can see that you feel uncomfortable without a spell enslaving me. My feelings are real, I wish to show you. Since it will make you feel better please reapply the spell?"

Soea's words surprised me.

Why would she want to be a slave?

That was a little extreme, even as a gesture to show that her feelings were real.

"There is no need to go that far, I will trust you."

"Anything for my Lord...I pledge my loyalty" Soea muttered and knelt again, one hand over her heart.

I had activated a spell as she spoke, making sure that she was actually telling the truth.

She actually meant what she said, there was no fear or hesitation in her eyes.

"I accept your pledge." I placed my hand on her shoulder, this was very similar to how I pledged myself to Master, a vow that I still held even though she had been dead for years.

I hoped Soea was the same way.

Drawing my mind back to the present, I continued with the Transformation spell.

With the ball of blood still hovering next to me, I moved it around, causing blood to drip rhythmically. After the circle of blood had taken form around the kneeling Soea, I began to chant, the blood started to burn with freezing sanguine flames.

Still chanting, I began to grab items from the Dragon corpse, pulling out the dragon heart, I placed it in front of her.

"Hold this," I handed her the Mana Engine.

Using a special spell, I extracted the adrenal fluid and placed it in a cup that I manifested.

Then I arranged the scales into a special formation.

Other than to instruct Soea, I continued my chanting.

Finally the oral component of the spell was finished.

"When I give the word, drink this and eat the Mana Engine," I pushed the cup into Soea's free hand.

She pulled a face as she accepted them, obediently nodding.

I knelt in front of her, my hands together, pointing my palms towards her. My hands started to glow as I as I gathered Mana in them, moving them slowly and carefully, I began to form Runic and Glyphic formations.

Using my Blood Magic, I drew the remaining blood out of the Dragon corpse and mixed it with my own blood, then I began to drip it on Soea.

She trembled every time the mixture touched her, which was normal because Dragon blood was a vicious substance that was incredibly painful when it touched a mortal Human body.

But she didn't object or even make a noise at the pain that she must have been feeling, something like acid being dripped onto her, coating her body.

I was planning on turning her into a Dragonoid, a Humanoid Dragon with the ability to shapeshift into a full Dragon. They were different from Demi-Dragons or half-breed Dragons, they were pure Dragons that had mutated and had the ability to shapeshift.

It was likely that with this form, Soea may be able to reach Divinity before I can, since Dragons are one of the Ascended species, the beings that would reach deityhood upon maturity. But she would be a juvenile Dragonoid, so she would require around a hundred years until she began to produce Divine power, or one thousand years if she wasn't talented.

While I knew that I was near the level where I am able to condense my own Divine power, it would take me a decade at the very least a century at the most.

I had the feeling that Soea was talented.

She had learned to utilize her Succubus form, and extendable tail and thrall abilities within a few minutes of becoming a Succubus. This was a sign that she natural talent.

The Glyphs and Runes surrounding us formed a glowing, sparking, dome. As the Mana reached the apex I spoke, "Eat the Mana Engine and drink now."

 

Soea nodded slightly and then took the Adrenal fluid as a shot, as soon as she finished it, she shoved the Mana Engine into her mouth and began to chew.

She showed absolutely no hesitation, this was a very obvious sign that she meant what she said earlier wasn't a lie or an exaggeration, since before the change she was a Priestess who hadn't learned to lie. Which was proof that she hadn't been a Priestess for long, since religion was based on lies and swindling, a pure and innocent person would be corrupted or deceived very quickly, it was deceive or be deceived.

Since the primary spell had been cast, my job now was to help her manage the massive amount of Mana flowing through and around her, to stop her from being shredded and then disintegrated by the chaotic energies.

The Dragon scales that were scattered around her began to float and glow, moving through the air rapidly before entering her body. When they impacted her soft skin, they drilled into her, but after entering, there was no visible hole in her.

Soea started screaming in pain, but she stayed still and allowed the spell to do its work.

As the chaotic energy entered her body along with the scales the adrenal fluid that she had drunk began to change her body chemistry, and the Mana Engine began to bind with her heart.

I was very careful as I managed her energy flows, making sure that too much of it didn't rampage through her body and eviscerate her from the inside.

Her screaming was starting to get to me, I felt pangs in empathy, but luckily I could control her Mana and Internal Energy without too much concentration.

Since I could split my focus, I moved over to her, holding her tightly. All the scales had already finished drilling into her, so she was in the final stage, which was purely internal changes.

Her skin felt like it was on fire, I could feel surges of Mana causing her muscles to twitch and convulse under her skin.

There was nothing I could do to stop her pain until the Transformation finished. She shook with the effort, barely managing to move and hug me back, her hands grabbing tightly onto my clothing, closing into fists, balling the cloth up.

I was cradling her, gently stroking her hair.

"Thank you, my Lord..." She whispered quietly, barely managing to get it out before the pain overwhelmed her again.

Since her mental defenses were lowered, I did a quick mind scan on her.

When I felt what she felt, not the pain, my mind went blank.

Why, why would she feel like this towards me?

How could she have feelings like this?

After I had failed Kirrin I had struggled to feel love properly, and because of Arre I had trouble trusting people. Master had slept with me, and said that she loved me, it had helped thaw my heart a bit.

But even with Master, and the Archdemon, I still couldn't feel love correctly. Though, I am not too sure if what Master felt for me was love or if it was a strange emotion caused by the fact that I was the first person who had spent time with her in the last few centuries, possibly millennium, and I returned her feelings, after a fair amount of work.

The way Master loved me seemed to be like it was more of a drug than me being someone close on an emotional level, though she was easily fifty to five hundred times my age at that time. It was as though I was a release from her loneliness, a release from her pent up emotions, like I had become a dependence. Though this didn't matter to me at that time, it wouldn't matter to me now either... The feeling of being needed and loved was what mattered, it didn't bother me the reason why she felt these things.

What Soea felt was so intense it reminded me of Kirrin, of what I had felt when she and I were mind-linked because of an accident with a Thought Crystal.

The energy swirling around Soea and I slowed and finally stopped.

Scales appeared on Soea's skin. On her arms, from the elbow down, she was covered in fine red scales, other than the palm of her hands. Her nails grew a few centimeters, turning almost crystalline.

Her legs were also scaled from the knees down, her toe nails were similar to the ones on her hands, though it would be more accurate to now describe them as claws.

She had three rows of small scales under each eye, and a large brilliant crimson scale in the shape of a diamond between her eyebrows.

Like a Demon, she no longer had hair below her neck, but there were a few layers of soft looking scales on her lower abdomen, seemingly highlighting her genitals.

Tearing my eyes away from the dangerous territory I looked over her shoulders. She had a row of scales which went up both sides of her spine.

A Dragonoid had wings, similar to those of a Succubus, but a bit larger and scaled along the bones. There was a pointed hook at their tips, and were obviously usable as weapons.

Though she no longer had a tail.

Two twenty-centimeter long horns emerged from the skin of her forehead, and though slightly curled, they pointed up. They were much shorter than mine, but the look was similar, poking above the top of her head and curving backwards, but they didn't curl into her hair.

Her eyes were beautiful, still a brilliant sapphire blue, but her pupils were reptilian. Her hair was actually longer, growing halfway down her back, but now she had crimson highlights in her raven-black hair.

As I was examining her, she regained consciousness. Her eyes focused on me, seeking out mine.

"My Lord...My love..."

Having scanned her mind, I knew why these were her first words. Because she was only semiconscious, she spoke without thinking, just expressing her subconscious thoughts.

In a few seconds, her eyes cleared and she blushed, which looked good by complimenting her new crimson scales.

I felt my skin heat up, for some reason, I was blushing as well. Hiding it with a smile, I started stroking her hair, which was as soft as before. But it emanated a strange heat, which felt good on my fingers.

She made a small moan, mixed with a strange growl, and almost animalistic sound.

My mood was good, I felt a strong feeling of relief.

Soea was alright.