God-Tier Villain

Chapter 25: Chapter 25

"You are the first man who has ever dared to ignore me."

Soren’s conquest of Victoria ran on force and dominance, prying the doors of her heart open one push at a time, getting the high and untouchable Victoria to show him this side of herself, a side no one alive had seen, was itself a way of stirring her heart.

If Obedient and Submissive already looked like this, then by the time she reached Following to the Death, she would be the noble Great Demon Emperor in the eyes of the world, and Soren’s docile little wife behind closed doors.

"Fine, it seems you don’t wish to speak with this Empress."

"This Empress, chattering on and on..."

"It must be rather annoying."

Victoria considered stopping there, she couldn’t, the colder he played it, the more desperately she wanted inside his head.

"You’re not afraid of me, are you?"

"It’s not as if I’d eat you."

Soren replied mildly, "I’m not much of a talker."

"If you want to talk, talk more, I’ll listen."

Victoria fell silent.

What was this feeling of punching a ball of cotton? He was obviously inventing excuses not to converse.

She felt faintly dizzy from his antics, and somewhere in there came the awareness that she was trying much too hard to please him.

Soren, meanwhile, was quietly watching the Strategy Encyclopedia, those few exchanges had set the title Deep Affection and Righteousness flashing with golden light.

A single step remained before it lit for good.

The Fairy Great Demon Emperor’s heart was about to come open in his hands, for anyone without the Strategy Encyclopedia, Victoria’s door was not one you knocked on, men who let slip improper thoughts about her met exactly one fate, death.

Who could have imagined an opening offensive as ferocious as Soren’s? Without perfect timing it would have gone nowhere, he had gambled on several things at once, fortunately, he gambled right.

Her current tier stood at Obedient and Submissive.

That degree of relationship was already equivalent to a pair of Dao companions who had confirmed their feelings, his progress with Victoria bordered on absurd, and Soren had no intention of being the one to speak first.

Her words and fidgeting had already betrayed her growing impatience.

Beyond Obedient and Submissive lay Deep Affection and Righteousness, once she crossed into that tier, whether Soren told her to stand, lie down, or kneel, Victoria would comply, sweetly.

The method was simple and brutal, and the results spoke for themselves.

Before meeting Victoria, Soren wouldn’t have dared imagine any of it.

She sat with her chest rising and falling, still sulking.

Soren rubbed the bridge of his nose, then, experimentally, he laid his hand on the leg she had closest to him.

Victoria startled at the touch, every instinct said push him off.

But in the end, she only adjusted her posture a fraction, glaring at him with nervous eyes, her voice carrying the smallest tremor. "What do you think you’re doing?"

Watching the flush climb her cheeks, Soren marveled inwardly.

The Strategy Encyclopedia did not lie, Obedient and Submissive had massively raised her tolerance for him. From here on, he could be as brazen as he pleased.

His hand began to wander.

Victoria’s palm pinned it flat.

"Soren, no."

"This won’t do."

"Whatever this is between us, it’s still undefined, I... I can’t let you do anything excessive."

"Know where to stop."

Soren chuckled, he’d only been testing how much she would tolerate, he hadn’t planned to push further tonight.

But the record was clear on one point, to raise her tier, dominance was non-negotiable.

"I do as I please, and only as I please, that is the whole of how I live."

"You think a sentence or two from you is going to stop me?"

His tone and eyes both glinted with chilling wickedness, for one moment, Victoria found this man genuinely frightening.

The world called her a demoness, and here he was toying with her without a shred of mercy, he was the demon of demons.

One hand was clamped tight in hers, he had another, he used it without hesitation.

Victoria felt herself come untethered from the ground, the sensation was subtle beyond words, profound, and mysterious.

A long moment later, the last sliver of clarity in her mind pushed her to shove him away, she couldn’t, she pushed harder, still couldn’t.

She felt as though she had turned into a small, cornered lamb, she, who had spent a lifetime crushing every opponent, was being pinned down by Soren, her heart hammering like a war drum, her mood was transforming.

And her view of Soren was transforming with it.

The evening’s auction had long since begun and was closing in on its halfway mark.

Soren listened with half an ear to the lots being called, experience said nothing in an auction’s first half would be worth his attention, so his focus stayed on Victoria.

But the Deep Affection and Righteousness title kept flashing without ever lighting, and at last Soren withdrew his hand.

Victoria had her face turned away, apparently too humiliated to meet his eyes.

In truth, she was replaying that subtle, floating-like-an-immortal feeling from moments ago, savoring it in secret.

Neither spoke, her hands kept finding small tasks, smoothing back her long silver hair, adjusting the neckline of her dress, she was so unsure how to face him that even his breathing set her heart skittering.

Her thoughts had knotted themselves into a ball of yarn.

He won’t think I’m easy, will he? Should I explain myself? Or maybe I should invite him to become my Dao companion first? No. That won’t do.

I am the ruler of the Violet Jade Immortal Domain, if word gets out, what will they say? That I’ve been faking purity? That the only reason I haven’t looked at a man in a thousand years was to preserve my image as the aloof Fairy Great Demon Emperor?

The demon bloodline and an Upper-Tier Demon Emperor’s strength have kept me young, but Soren is barely a few hundred years old, and I am well past a thousand, will they say I’m robbing the cradle... This is unbearable.

While Victoria agonized, Soren suddenly sat up straight and looked down toward the stage.