Tales of a Seductress
TOAD – Chapter 96

“It took me many years to figure out a way to cut through and extract the Bahamut’s power.” Oberon declared as he began manipulating a few runes on the pedestal he was standing, overlooking Bahamut and the blood-filled wall.

“It is husband’s birthright,” I answered, taking a few steps back so that I wasn’t near the blood wall and dragon monument.

Meanwhile, I had status pulled up and I was looking through it. I wanted to find a skill that might give me the power to overturn this situation. Of course, everything I had required sexual intercourse, and there was nothing about this situation that made me feel sexy. Whether it was the dickless form of an ex-lover, the blood wall, or the sounds of screaming and dying coming from the balcony, none of it was my idea of a good night.

I wasn’t able to spend very long dwelling on it because a power began to erupt from the blood wall. The blood started to glow red with energy, and that energy seemed to collect at various points surrounding the dragon. In particular, there were seven energy pools, each one touching a part of the dragon. As the energy collected, it started to emerge from the wall and wrap itself around Bahamut’s body.

“You can’t punch a hole in it.” I realized it out loud.

“Yes, the hero sought to stop me, and so he created a nefarious spell. It regenerates itself using the energy inside. If I were to break a piece off, it’d heal before I could get to another piece, and the remaining power inside would also be used up. This is why I had to be certain about this attempt. I already wasted far too much of it discovering it.”

“My love will succeed.” I encouraged him, not sure what else to say.

I certainly wasn’t going to mention that the hero probably didn’t create the spell, but it came from the god Bahamut himself. He had merely given the hero his spell to inconvenience Oberon. Oberon didn’t respond to me. Instead, his hands moved over the pedestal like he was controlling the flow of magic himself. The power continued to wrap around the Bahamut in stream after stream, surrounding it in a red hue.

“My only option is to destroy the barrier completely in a single move, strip away the magic protecting it, and then absorb it.”

I watched him work, and morbidly it looked beautiful. His muscular body was tense and strung like a bowstring. His movements were fluid like a dance. With the red colors moving around his hands, it truly looked like some kind of artistic display. However, he was using life itself, a force extracted from thousands of lives.

“Is there a chance the armies will reach here before… before you’re done?” I asked.

“No.” He responded. “I collapsed the hallway leading up to these parts. They would have to dig us out. It’d take days.”

“I see…”

Of course, he probably had an escaped bird right outside the window, if my memories served me at all. As a god, he could probably restore the hallways in an instant. He truly left the world below to burn as he rose to power.

The energy grew thicker and thicker until the red streaks covered the stature with a red string like a ball of yarn. He reached out and pulled on a string, and the ball shrunk. He pulled again and again, continuing to shrink it until it was the shape of the original statue, a dragon wrapped in glimmering red. He reached out one more time with both hands and then he let out a roar, pulling back. His muscles tensed, and although he was grabbing nothing tangible, his body was pulling against something.

The red weave around the statue grew taut, and the tension of it continued to grow until I could hear a few snapping sounds. It wasn’t clear to me whether the weave would snap or the barrier first. That’s when there was a crunching noise, and the statue condensed even further. Threads began to snap one after another, but he kept pulling it as it broke and shrank again and again. Eventually, it resembled a small ball, and the threads had broken away enough that there were gaps in the string mesh, showing a bright glowing light inside.

That light had an ancient power that caused my entire body to tingle. I felt a shift in my womb as if the baby was reaching out for power. Yet, as mesmerized as I became with it, the attachment didn’t stop it from suddenly being yanked away. With one last tug, the entire ball rebounded and then broke away. The light energy was released for only a moment before it was sucked into the demon king’s body.

I blinked for a moment, realizing that was probably the point I was supposed to make my move. I had been too mesmerized by the procedure, and now the freed energy had already been eagerly absorbed by the demon king. I kept my face expressionless though, and continued to watch. The Demon King closed his eyes, and I could tell he was absorbing the newly found energy.

“Still, not enough.” He suddenly let out a growl and fell to his knee.

I instinctively ran over and grabbed him. “What’s wrong?”

He turned and grabbed my throat, surprising me. “It’s still not enough! It’s time for plan B?”

My eyes widened. Had he suspected I was going to attack him? The thought of trying to absorb the energy from him had passed my mind, but he couldn’t reach minds, could he? I didn’t know what to do as he suddenly grabbed hold of me.

“Wh-what?” I managed to get out in a strangled voice. “Why?”

“Did you think… that I aimed for a child with you because of some feeling of nostalgia?” He asked, reaching behind his belt and pulling out a long and cruel-looking knife.

“You’re going to kill me, husband?” I asked, my voice surprisingly cold despite the terrifying situation I found myself in.

“Your death is inconsequential to me.” He snorted, lifting me from the ground by the neck. “You don’t possess what I need to become a god.”

He wasn’t squeezing particularly hard, so I was still able to speak with some difficulty.

“Then why are you…” I croaked before realization struck me.

My eyes flashed, and I couldn’t stop my hands from jumping into my womb. He noticed the movement and gave a look that might have been a pity if I believed this man was capable of such a thing.

“I wanted my child to be born and rise to be king. In a perfect world, we both would have gotten what we wanted. Unfortunately, it appears too much of the dragon god’s energy has been wasted away maintaining that damned barrier. My only choice is to supplement that energy. I cannot just absorb it like you do, but I can take what is mine.”

“You… plan to sacrifice your own… child.”

“It would be better if the child was farther along.” He sighed. “However, even if his soul only provides me a tiny increase in the chance of success, I will take it.”

“You bastard! You used me.” I tried to kick at him, but I might as well have been kicking a rock.

“We used each other.” He snorted. “You received power and safety, while I received this child. I’ve just come to collect them prematurely!”

“No… No!” I shouted, panicking as he reached for my stomach.

I was already activating every pheromone, frenzy, and seductive skill I had. He stiffened for a moment, but his eyes seemed singularly focused. With one hand holding my neck, the other touched my womb. I immediately felt a burning sensation. I let out a scream.

I wanted to tell him that the child wasn’t his, that what he was attempting to do wouldn’t work. Yet, as the pain increased, I couldn’t seem to force the words out. Instead, I continued to scream as his magic forced its way into my womb. The dragon baby seemed to realize it was in danger and started twitching wildly. Of course, it had been merely a day since it was placed inside me, so it shouldn’t have been any more than a clump of cells, but perhaps the dragon god had pushed things along to prepare the fetus to absorb his power.

I wanted to say I was able to get the upper hand on him, but it all happened too fast for me to react. I felt a tearing sensation below like my insides had been gouged out. And then I was being tossed away like trash. I looked down to see blood coming from below. It wasn’t too unlike the first child I had, the one that had left me paralyzed. Meanwhile, Oberon was holding something in his hand. It was a mound of bloody flesh clutched within his fist.

[You have gained the status: Infertile.]

At that point, I knew it was already too late for the dragon god. Bahamut was dead, and all of his power was inside Oberon. As I watched him absorb the last wisps of energy, hungrily climbing to reach that godlike state, cold hatred, and fury rose within me. I had birthed countless children. Many of them had been pulled from me and many of those died. Yet, I was back where I started, unable to have children and the one child I planned to care for the rest of my life is now dead.

Perhaps, another woman would have broken, but I had already long since passed the realm of sanity. The pain was meaningless, and my body healed quickly. I used my skills and removed the blood. By the time I was back on my feet, there wasn’t a single sign I had just been through a forced miscarriage. Only a small patch of blood on the floor where I had fallen gave away anything. I watched as the power flowed into Oberon, my supposed husband, but I had no love for him. I had no desire to see him succeed. So, I struck.

A small frown started to form on his lips. “This… something is wrong.”

“Of course, it’s wrong.” I chuckled darkly. “Why would I give you your baby’s power?”

His eyes snapped open, and he turned to me. “What did you say?”

“I’m not without my tricks.” I chuckled. “You think I’d let you take your child? I gave you a dud. A fake baby!”

It hurt calling the dragon godchild fake, but only a little bit. This pain was overwhelmed by the satisfaction I got confusing and infuriating Oberon.

“You’re saying this child is not mine?” He growled.

I knew he would figure that out, so I went ahead and made it clear. “Not at all. I have slept with countless beasts. I already allowed myself to become pregnant before we were married, so my womb rejected your sperm.”

“You… whore!” He shouted. “Who was it?”

“Some prisoner? Some monster? Who knows?” I asked airily, not giving him the satisfaction of knowing just who.

He tossed the thing in his hand aside with disgust. “If you cost me the godhood, then I will mount your head on a pike!”

“Without a baby, how will you succeed?”

He let out a growl. “There is still time. I can still harvest the soul of my child.”

“What child?” I asked hesitantly.

He stared at me, a cruel look forming in his eyes. “This is your last chance, Aria. If you wish to live, you will give me a child and sacrifice it for me! No tricks! No games! If you do this, then I will allow you to continue in my kingdom. Do you agree?”

“It seems I have no choice,” I responded.

Thus, it’d be the second time I laid with the Demon King. However, this time, I had no plan to become his baby’s mama. It turned out, in the end, I would be the one to battle the Demon King. By the end, one of us would live, and one of us would die. Thankfully, it was a battle I was adept with!