Settling into a log cabin-esk shelter, Haruki took to the bed and laid down beside Stella's tiny frame. Barely affected by the cold, she was sleeping about soundly as if nothing else mattered. And at this point, her constant naps have begun to make Haruki a bit worried about her growth as a slime girl.
'I knew that slimes mostly like to rest in cold spaces, but still…' Running his hand through her glistering hair, he tried to wash away his worries with a warm smile.
"Master?" Peeking in from the door, Asuka called out to him.
Turning to her he noticed a wooden tray in her hands with a warm bowl of something steaming. Getting closer, Asuka placed the tray by the bedside table. Then as she straightened her back and looked at Haruki, it reminded them both of their time in the Frost castle.
'Feels like forever ago when I first woke up with her by my side.' Thought Haruki.
'So much has happened, but I'm glad I can still keep my promise of being with him.' Asuka reminisced about the past.
Propping himself up, Haruki picked up the bowl of lamb soup with all kinds of mushrooms. Having seen the ingredients being locally grown in the dungeon, the potential of using dungeons for farming both crops and levels revealed itself to Haruki.
"By the way, master, the goblin queen has invited you to visit a special chamber with the other monster girls tonight," puffing her cheeks up she seemed jealous of the monster girls. "You know what that means, right?"
"Yeah, she's essentially making an offering of virgins girls," hearing Haruki say that, Asuka's cheeks blushed up red in an instant. "Well, maybe not since I did see some of them carrying their newborns in their arms."
"Bu-bu-but! There are hundreds of them!" Leaning closer to his face, Asuka put up a child-like expression of annoyance. "That's too much!"
"I can create clones for everyone, and with just a pinch of my consciousness in each one, I'd be able to feel them all at the same time," not sure himself about whether he could handle so many clones, Haruki was just trying to tease Asuka a little.
Puffed up in frustration or anger, Asuka turned her face away with a sharp hum. However, unable to keep the pretense of annoyance for long, she turned back to Haruki with tears in her eyes.
"Can I join in, master?" She asked, but instead of a reply, Haruki pulled her closer by the arm and gave her a kiss.
"I hope that answers your question," pulling away from her lips, she picked up the bowl of soup once more.
Flustered red, Asuka lowered her head in embarrassment, but the gentle smile on her face gave away her true emotions.
***
Atop a throne of gutted bodies of men, and women of all ages, Asmodia sat with a silver cup filled with the poison that the mongoose men had allegedly tarnished. Swirling around the blood-red liquid, she brought it right under her nose and took a deep whiff.
"Haaa…" Intoxicated by the poison blood of Medusa, she couldn't bring herself to taste it just yet. "This won't kill a fly, but…"
Suddenly as the effect of the poison started taking over, her eyes shed tears of blood, and her throat was patched despite being pooled with her own blood.
"Aghhhh!" Tired of the weakened state, she almost threw the poison to the ground. "I wanna taste it, but it'll weaken me further unless I'm back in my physical domain."
Lowering the cup, she brought it near one of the hands of the corpses. Raising its bloodied arm, the corpse of a young child took it from Asmodia's hand. Slipping into the pile of dead bodies, the vial of poison was stored away for later.
"Damn you Atlas…" Reminded of the man responsible for her current state, Asmodia let her tears flow as she settled back into her throne of corpses.
'What are you up to right now?' She thought, and let her mind wander off to the memories that she once held dear. As radiant as an angel, she remembered the wings that turned one day just turned dark. Wandering deeper into her own memories, she saw herself idolized by many and worshiped like a god. 'No…I was never a god, I don't to be, I just-'
"You what?" Breaking the everlasting silence in the abyss, came the altered voice of Asmodia herself.
Opening her eyes, she saw the radiant angel from her memories, slowly walking toward her through the dark. She knew who it was, yet she couldn't bear to keep on looking. Shying away from her own image, Asmodia closed her eyes shut once again.
"Doppelganger, I swear on my name to eradicate every trace of your existence if you keep this up!" She exclaimed in a warning to her pet.
Unlike the other creations of hers that followed every command, Doppelganger was quite rebelling by nature. And so to tease its master further, it took a few steps closer to reveal the rest of Asmodia's past right in front of her eyes.
"Many blessings upon you, children of Atlas-"
"Lurker in the dark eat her!" Following Asmodia's command, the skinned face of a monster peered up at Doppelganger from under the floor. Every one of his thousand eyes from each socket focused right on her, the lurker in the dark opened its mouth to reveal an endless pit of spiked teeth sticking out from its insides.
"I warned you," said Asmodia right as the lurker bit Doppelganger's in half.
Turning to the gruesome sight, she caught but a glimpse of her past body before the lurker completely consumed Doppelganger. Yet that brief look alone managed to ruin her entire mood. Having lost her radiance, and the word of the lord, she felt wallowed up by self-pity.
'Something, I wish I had killed you when I had the chance Atlas!' Even though she wanted to witness his demise, her heart still bled for having once loved that man with all her heart.
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