Mutagen

Day ▋▋ - ▋▋:22 PM - Spire Tree Castle, Kingdom of Black Duendes, Spirit Dimension

A castle made of gray-colored stone, decorated with a large tree with its trunk and roots circling the structure, it was the abode of this Kingdom's Royal Family.

This landmark was one of the few places that were not changed after the Demons influenced the development of this Kingdom. It was not just some regular castle.

It was a castle that was built, specifically, following the tastes of the current King of the Black Duendes.

Similar to the Stone Fortress of the Brown Duendes, this castle was also built with large-sized. Even a four-meter tall giant would be able to comfortably walk through its hallways.

However, the two places had different reasons. The Stone Fortress was built like that to accommodate guests. On the other hand, the Spire Tree Castle was like this because of the King's lust.

He was a person driven by an interest in beauty. And thus, he made a harem filled with beautiful women. Their race did not matter as long as the King had an interest in a woman. The King had great control of his abilities, being able to change his size. No matter what race the woman was, he could make them give birth to an offspring.

Fortunately, this King was very picky with women. So far, there were only nine women in his harem, and all of them were top-class beauties.

The unfortunate thing, however, was that not all of those women wanted to be here in the first place.

Some of them were abducted, while some were blackmailed. Among the nine, only two were the ones who really loved the King, and one became his for benefits. As for the others, they were only following the King's bidding to continue living. Fear for their lives.

It was because there were already instances that the King did not hesitate to kill a woman that defied his orders. And that did not only happen once but several times already.

And from those women that became his queens, fifteen children were born, ten princes and five princesses.

Of course, due to being born from different mothers, siblings from the same mother looked unique compared to others.

And without a shred of doubt, this family was a troublesome one.

For the cause of it all, the King named Luserio, it was all just fun and games.

And as such, he was dubbed as the Playful Tyrant by his subjects.

Currently, the Playful Tyrant, Luserio, was in the throne room with one of his Queens. The Ninth Queen. Among the Queens, she was the latest. And without a doubt, the bridge between the cooperation of the Black Duendes and the Demons.

After all, this woman was a Succubus.

The Succubus. These female Demons were alluring creatures. Most men would not be able to resist the temptation of embracing one even if the Succubus looked like a child.

Even so, Luserio was strong enough to resist the temptation. In fact, the Succubus Race did enter his eyes in the past. What he was looking for was beauty among the race. Since all Succubus was beautiful, it did not interest him at all. Until he met this woman.

Il'vella, she was a Succubus among the Succubus. In fact, she was among the princesses of one of their Demon communities.

In exchange for cooperation between the two races, Il'vella became Luserio's ninth Queen. And also the most important one.

The King sat on the throne while the Ninth Queen stood beside him. Luserio and Il'vella received the reports of the Demons under their command.

"Dualla's Armor Queen Spider is killed, you say?" Il'vella asked the Demon in front of her. "Dregor, it was your order to send it out at the border, am I right? What happened?"

Dregor, he was one of the Demon Generals currently in command here. He was a Demon with a lizard-like appearance. He had green scales and light yellow skin. Although his face looked human, the irises of his eyes were slits, and his tongue was forked and long.

"My apologies, but we are still investigating. Almost the entire nest had been killed, with all the survivors escaping. So far, what we found out is that the culprits were a group of individuals composed of at least eight people. Three of them seemed to be small-sized, while they also have a large creature with them being used as their mount. We tried to follow the tracks left by it, but it seemed to be capable of flight."

"A large creature capable of flight. And yet, none of you managed to see it. What use are your soldiers? First, the ambush had failed to kill all of those warriors due to interference. Then the Fifth Prince was captured. Anella then returned to report she was spotted. That is why we tried to recall the spies we sent there. But before that happened, we suddenly lost contact with our spies. We found out that they were all killed! And now, this?"

Il'vella complained while rubbing her forehead.

"Any more of this, and I will not have any face to show our lord!"

"You should calm down, my dear Il'vella. Wrinkles are not good for your face."

King Luserio appeased his Ninth Queen. He pulled her to his body and made her sit on his lap. He then gently caressed her head. Il'vella did not resist and seemed to be enjoying this show of affection.

On the other hand, the other people in the room seemed to be disgruntled about his. However, it was not a new sight for them, and they could only ignore it.

Besides, even them, the Demons, it was not a good idea to get on the King's bad side. Their relationship with this Kingdom was an alliance. Why? Because the Playful Tyrant was also a powerful being. If not for his existence, taking over this pitiful Kingdom would not even pose a challenge.

If one was to think, how could this King get away with his crimes? He abducted women and threatened enemies. And yet, he was still living. No one wanted to cross King Luserio face to face.

Those that did had already fallen to ruin just by his prowess alone.

Of course, it was not because of war or combat. King Luserio did not have that physical ability. Instead, he would use his magical prowess to put a peaceful tribe into a nightmare of illusions, killing each other until none was left.

King Luserio might be a lustful King, but he had the power to back it up.

Even a lot of Demons that knew his power feared him.

While Il'vella was enjoying his display of affection, King Luserio turned to Dregor.

"Any information about my unfilial son?"

Unfilial son. The Thirteenth Prince, who left the Kingdom several decades ago, Teremillio.

Before the ambush on the warriors of the Stone Fortress commenced, Tierio sent a message that they found Teremillio in that place.

"I'm very sorry, but nothing so far. All the spies had been killed in the previous night, and the new ones we sent had not sent any finds yet. Please wait until midnight as it was when we recieve their intelligence on schedule. Unless it was an emergency."

"Is that so, then be sure to give me the information I needed later."

The King commanded, and Dregor vowed in response.

"Yes, your Majesty."

Then, Il'vella turned to Dregor.

"Prioritize the information about that Thirteenth Prince, but the most urgent is to monitor that Demon that disrupted our plans. I have a hunch that all of this that was happening had a connection with him."

"Yes, Queen Il'vella."

"Then, dismiss. I still have to play with my dear, here."

King Luserio shooed the others away as he pulled Il'vella to her chamber. The nights were always long for this King.

As the two left the throne room through the back door, they passed by someone.

"My Dear Lumeria, what are you doing here?"

King Luserio asked.

"I'm just taking a walk, your Majesty."

Lumeria respectfully replied.

"Is that so? Then don't take too long. Staying up late will be bad for your beauty."

And with that, Luserio and I'lvella, who did not even greet Lumeria, left.

They did not notice how Lumeria was gripping her fist hard.

"Teremillio, why did you return?"

She whispered in a voice that only she could hear.

She was the former princess of one of the Kingdoms of the White Duendes, Lumeria. Now, the Seventh Queen of this Kingdom and the mother of the Thirteenth Prince, Teremillio.

Teremillio left this place because of various reasons, and she helped him attain his freedom. After years and years that there was no news from him, although she was worried, it was better than being in this place.

But now, news about her beloved son suddenly surfaced. She could not help now but worry about his safety.

Unfortunately or fortunately, the Thirteenth Prince in question was currently roaming their Kingdom in incognito.

***

"Is this really safe?"

Teremillio asked Mark while hiding in his pocket.

After stealthily leaving the area where the pitiful human slaves were being kept, Mark observed the surroundings and noticed something.

Demons, like the Spirit Races, came in various forms and appearances. There were some that looked like mutated humans with different colored skin, there were also those that appeared to look exactly like humans but with horns and bat wings. Moreover, there were even some that looked like humanoid animals, and even some that did not have a humanoid body at all.

Along the streets, Mark even saw a Demon that looked nothing else but a talking ball of flames.

And thus, Mark had an idea.

Mark created a pocket on his armor and made Teremillio hide inside it. And then, they dispelled the illusion that disguised them.

Instead, Mark adorned his cloak that was made with Miasma and replaced his mask with a more sinister one.

Now, he looked like a formless Demon taking on a humanoid form.

With that appearance, Mark and Teremillio openly entered the streets.

And to Teremillio's question...

"Looks like its fine."

Mark replied.

The streets had many individuals roaming around. Whether it be Demons the citizens of the Kingdom, nighttime did not affect their activities too much.

Mark's current appearance would take some attention from people, but none of them even had the slightest urge to approach him. Miasma Demons were the worst creatures to deal with, and no one wanted to get in their way if possible.

Along with the "get away from me" aura that Mark was exuding, no one bothered him as they strolled across the town.

Even so, Mark was already frowning behind his mask. Structural-wise, this place was beautifully made. A town with a gothic-medieval look was definitely interesting to see.

However, the problem lay with the inhabitants.

A lot of Demons had human slaves with them. And to say, all of the slaves were in the same state as the first ones they saw after entering this place. Some were using their slaves as baggage carriers while others as pets.

Seeing a good looking human woman naked and being made to lick a Demon's dirty shoe while on all fours was a really uncomfortable scene to see. The woman was even delighted to do this. This woman's mind was already broken to an irrecoverable degree.

If this place was already like this, then without a doubt, the Demon Realm was a representation of hell itself.

"Are you alright, Boss?"

Teremillio asked as he noticed that Mark was stealthily glancing at human slaves that they passed by.

"I'm fine. Just point the way where your mother should possibly be."

"Alright. My mother's chambers are on the east side of the castle. Unless they changed it, it should be there."

Mark then followed Teremillio's directions.

But of course, saying that he was fine was a lie. He was not really affected by the pitiful fates of these humans, but their negative emotions were flooding into his head constantly. His head was throbbing from time to time.

All he wanted now was to finish their goal here as soon as possible.