Asmodeus decided to host a feast in celebration of me defeating my first hero party.

We held the celebration outdoors to accommodate more people. Strings of lanterns are attached to poles, giving off a warm glow. Long tables overflowed with platters of food. The atmosphere was friendly and festive.

Instead of her usual baggy ill-fitting clothes, she wore a black lace dress. Asmodeus completed her outfit with a matching parasol to protect her from the sun.

Not that it helped her poor table manners.

“Ah I spilled blood on my dress again,” she complained, dabbing at the stain with a napkin. “Try it, it’s really good.”

I frowned, swirling the thick, vicious blood in my wine glass. Grimacing at the sour smell, I took a hesitant sip.

I grimaced again. It was sweet—too sweet. “What is this? Are you sure it’s blood? It tastes like… Sour cherry syrup?”

[You have been poisoned]

She took a massive gulp of her drink, holding the body of the glass in both hands. Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, she grinned, her eye twitching slightly. Bernard appeared to become increasingly agitated.

“Behold! The blood of a diabetic dragon, aged for… Uhhh? Two years? Seven years?” Asmodeus tapped her index finger on her chin, appearing deep in thought. “Bernard? For how long was it aged?”

I grabbed the bottle, squinting at the handwriting. “Did a four-year-old write this?”

Bernard took the bottle, uncorked it, and turned it upside down. A thick sludge oozed out, it’s intense iron scent mixing with the sickly sweet smell of spoiled fruit.

A nearby couple glared at Asmodeus, but she seemed unbothered.

Bernard sighed in defeat, corking the bottle. “I think you just forgot about it, and it spoiled…”

I facepalmed. In the end, we were provided with fresh blood. Blood was the one food source we have in abundance.

“Many of our citizens find it unethical to consume other beasts. However, one thing we have in excess is blood.”

The captives were kept underground in a stasis chamber, drained for blood to satisfy their citizen’s primal urges.

The cuisine is similar to a blend of elven and dwarven foods. Platters are filled with nuts, berries, and vegetables.

“A lot of the human seasonings aren’t strong enough to flavor our food,” Bernard explained. “So we rely on ingredients like nightshades. They taste delicious to us, but are deadly poisonous to most races.”

I glanced down at the dishes and gulped. Hesitantly, I dipped some bread in the deep, purple-black sauce.

‘I should be able to resist it with [Holy Blessing].’

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Taking a nibble, my eyes widened in surprise. The sauce has a deep, savory-sweet flavor, with subtle bitter herbal undertones.

I did not have a good time in the outhouse afterwards.

Construction was going smoothly, as the snow started to melt and the first flowers bloomed.

Suddenly, Bernard burst through the door.

“We have an emergency,” he shouted, his voice frantic. “Th- there is an army.”

“A what?” I asked, doubting my ears. “Hey you stop that! Stop nibbling me!”

Asmodeus retracted her fangs, licking the blood off her lips. “How big is the army?”

Bernard stared outside the window. “See for yourself.”

Hundreds upon hundreds of people of all races are marching over the horizon—elves, dragons, humans, dwarves. Stangely, there were no beastmen.

Outside the castle, we were greeted by absolute pandemonium. An advance force had already breached our defenses.

The sun shone brightly, its light reflecting off the crimson-stained snow.

Quickly wiping the bewildered look off her face, Asmodeus led the evacuation efforts.

“Meet me at the farm!” she shouted, shielding herself with a wall of blood. “Please don’t panic!”

Baskets of laundry lay spilled on the ground. Thick, black smoke filled the air.

The evacuation was anything but orderly. Monsters of all sizes ran in all directions, as Asmodeus desperately tried to guide the citizens.

Pulling my sword out of a dwarf, I helped in creating a shield of blood to protect those fleeing towards the farm.

Our power grew stronger as the corpses of our people fell around us, their blood awaiting our command.

A wide staircase led underground to a magically sealed door. Asmodeus cut her index finger, letting her blood drip onto a sigil. It lit up green, and the door creaked open with a thud. People rushed in, startling the workers inside.

Stasis chambers lined the massive hall, suspending naked people in a blue, bubbling liquid. A venous catheter connected to their arm slowly drained wine casks. Occasional flashes of light restored their bodies to be ready for another round of bloodletting.

At the end of the hall lay a tunnel leading to the outside, where ships stood ready for emergencies.

My eyes darted around the room as footsteps grew louder.

As our citizens fled through the tunnel, many thoughts ran through my mind.

There are many faces I recognized as they passed.

The baker.

The gardener.

That random goblin who obliterated the outhouse.

There was no better place to take our last stand.

“You go ahead with Bernard,” I said, glancing at Asmodeus. “It’s me they are after, leave without me.”

They exchanged a brief glance.

“Let’s go.”

“I’ll stay,” she interrupted.

The door was about to crack under pressure. I began pulling blood from the casks, preparing for the inevitable.

“Bernard, leave. Help the evacuees. Asmodeus can protect herself.”

He hesitated, then turned to leave. “I’ll be waiting for you, master. Stay safe.”

She nodded. “I’ll miss you.”

The scent of blood invigorated Asmodeus. She began creating towering knights made of blood of over three meters tall.

As the massive doors finally gave way, soldiers and adventurers of all races poured inside the room, their boots splashing in the thin layer of blood coating the floor.

The chamber crackled with a red light, illuminating the expressionless faces of the captives. This finally confirmed the suspicions of the invaders—they are justice.

At the center stands Asmodeus and I, surrounded by towering knights of blood.

“You really shouldn’t have came here,” I said, laughing despite the situation.

With a flick of her wrist, the knights began charging. Volleys of blood spears rained down the tight corridors, literally drowning the invaders.

“Feed 100 souls to the seed.”

[The Seed is pleased by your offering. Recovery and damage increased dramatically for the next thirty minutes]

Raising my hand, the air itself shifted, blood spiraling upwards, twisting into spears, chains, and whips.

The initial wave of soldiers didn’t even get the chance to scream—their bodies were torn apart immediately, the blood bursting from their wounds, absorbed back into the crimson whirlwind.

Corpses quickly piled up, creating a natural barricade. Everytime one of us got tired, we swapped places while the other recovered.

However, the situation quickly turned for the worse.

I gasped as an enchanted arrow hit Asmodeus in the shoulder. She tore it out with a grimace, the wound sizzling from holy magic. More projectiles followed, cutting through the air and taking lives indiscriminately.

I immediately rushed over to her side, enveloping her in my wings.

[Hardened Carapace]

[Hardened Carapace]

[Hardened Carapace]

She sank her teeth into my neck, causing me to wince slightly from the pain.

“Go!” I shouted, pushing her towards the tunnel. “I’ll hold them off.”

“Pro.. mise?”

Reluctantly, Asmodeus glanced behind herself one last time before staggering down the tunnel.

The temperature in the room suddenly plummeted below freezing. Bodies and blood froze where they stood, forming a grotesque sculpture of death and destruction. Stasis chambers cracked and shattered, sending bubbling liquid flooding down the corridor.

The adventurers parted, making way for the offender—the Frost Dragon King.

He seemed almost amused, sending out puffs of cold air out of his nostrils. “Stand down, Demon Lord. This is your end.”

With every step he took, the ground froze beneath him.

I smirked. “Not quite.”

I rushed at him, and before he could react, my sword cleanly hacked off his head. With all the experience I gained, my sword is sharper than ever.

Swords and spears and arrows stabbed into every inch of my body.

[Borrowed Time activated. Five seconds remaining]

The floor suddenly gave way. My body screamed in agony as blood filled my lungs, but I managed a weak smile as we all tumbled down to the cavern below, jagged stalagmites waiting to break our fall.

I had the last laugh.