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Upon defeating the annoying blondie and ending up cooking the Deep One's Vessel alive, we arrived near the one we were chasing all this time. Yeah I know it sounds a bit creepy when I say it this way but this woman really loves running away and playing with us.
Thankfully Ruby and her friends managed to defeat all her Summoned Familiars, and she finally decided to reveal herself as I showed up with a Doppelganger there, all while my real body was still with my family waiting for some Deep One's hotpot to get ready.
"Fine, you win. I'll cooperate, dragon." She sighed, showing us her actual appearance.
She resembled a gorgeous mermaid with long pink hair and purple eyes, her dress wasn't actually black like I imagined, but colorful and made of many shells, dry starfish, and even seaweed. I guess that's a mermaid witch's fashion sense for you.
Though, her appearance… she looked a lot like Rose, no? And- Wait, what?! She had a stigma! I could clearly see one in her left hand; it had emanated a darkness which quickly faded away.
"S-She looks a lot like the tiny mermaid girl, doesn't she?" Yuki wondered.
"Yeah, she's like her mom or something… Or maybe a big sister?" Hector asked.
"Oh, you must be talking about one of my many descendants." Said the woman with a smile. "So? How about we continue this conversation in my house?"
"You're willing to invite us so easily?" I wondered, feeling slightly suspicious.
She slowly walked towards me and touched my chest while I was in my Ice Giant form. A smirk surged in her lips.
"Well, it has been a while since such a handsome man has come."
"Huh?"
Is she seriously flirting with me?
"Fufu, I am joking." She laughed. "But I am already well aware you might have come here to talk about the stigmas. I can sense another Stigma user nearby, and her guardian. Come, we can talk more there. I've read through your mind. Albeit you possess a swell of malice, you're also someone filled with brightness, hope, and dreams. You're indeed quite the strange being, Dragon."
"Name's Drake." I sighed. "And alright, let me call the rest of my family here. [Shadow Teleportation]!"
Utilizing the powers of the Unique Skill: Vampire Progenitor, I activated the [Endless Night] Ability, utilizing it to conjure the [Shadow Teleportation] Spell, which allows for me to teleport a piece of my Shadows where I am, and of course, to disperse them around into many clones if I want to.
FLASH!
Like that, my whole family appeared, and I quickly fused this doppelganger with my main body, changing to a Ice Giant Form once more. As the witch watched my magic, her eyes were filled with surprise.
"Such a seamless usage of high-level magic… You're truly a Divine Dragon, in the flesh no less! I have only seen Divine Dragons once, and it was in the long past…" Sighed the woman. "When our Country's Guardian was still alive."
"Guardian?" I wondered.
"Well, we can get to the details later." She giggled. "Oh? What is this delicious smell? It is… like a delicious seafood hotpot…" She started drooling childishly.
"Ah, must be papa's stew! It is almost ready." Said Benladra, emerging above my head and sitting on top of my hair while grabbing my horns as handles. She quickly pointed at the skies.
Amidst the mist, a gigantic burning golden pot emerged, shocking her even more than before…
"W-What in the world?! You summoned that, Dragon God?" She wondered. "I mean, Drake!"
"I told you I was cooking something. I wouldn't mind sharing with you. Now show us your old house." I said.
"V-Very well! Come!" She said.
As we followed her amidst the Endless Misty Forest, Miranda and Benladann seemed slightly concerned about this, the two had seen her flirting.
"So she's the witch, huh? For being someone ancient she sure is a bit…" Benladann was about to say something rather rude.
"Hmph, well, she has the Stigma so I bet she's important in this whole ordeal." Miranda sighed.
"Y-Yeah, please don't be rude with her." I sighed. "She was just joking around."
"Oh, of course honey, we are just joking around too." Laughed Benladann.
"Yeah! No worries." Miranda said.
I'm sorry but I simply can't relax when you're looking at her like you want to kill her.
…
Well, at the end the two calmed down as we reached the witch's house. Or well, a giant swamp. She walked straight in and didn't even gave us any directions, just saying to follow her.
"I-I guess we need to get inside the swamp?" Asked Yuki. "Yucky, it is all slimy…"
"It smells quite bad too." Laughed Hector. "But well, if we really have to…"
"Don't worry, just get inside my shadows, everyone." I said, as everyone seemed to agree to this better.
Once I carried everyone inside, I swam without problems inside the turbid waters, deep until we reached the bottom of it. In there, a gigantic fish skull rested, covered on seaweed. I saw the witch enter its mouth and disappear.
Could this be…?
I swam through the giant fish skull's mouth, and then…
FLAAASH!
I found myself in another space. It was small, but this was definitely a separate space from the swamp. This was… a Divine Realm! Makes sense, seeing how she was also a Divine Being. Probably the only one in this country that's not the Deep One.
The Divine Realm my itself was rather beautiful. It was a small sea with a large island in the middle of it. We arrived at the island, mostly filled with small ponds and jungle, animals, and divine monsters living in harmony.
There was a single castle that resembled more like an ancient ruin sitting in the middle of the entire island, where she walked inside.
"Here, make yourselves at home. It has been a millennia since I've had guests." She said. "Fishmen! Where are you? We have guests!"
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