Lady Temerilla kept a stoic face, but her hands trembled with anger as Alpen updated her on everything that had transpired.

“My uncle?” She asked Caeldaemos.

“I kept all of them alive. They are buried up to their necks in compacted earth in your backyard.” He answered.

“I want to see.” She swung her legs from her bed, and Alpen helped her stand.

“I’ll go check on the garden and see you down there. Hopefully, the gardeners are tending to the melons properly.” Caeldaemos used Lord of Darkness and shifted through the shadows.

“Bastard!” “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!” “Die! Die! Die!” “How does that taste, you sick bastard!”

The eight women Caeldaemos saved and healed were kicking, spitting, beating, and force-feeding the buried men human feces.

Caeldaemos stumbled. The terrible memories and experiences of all the women were still fresh in his mind. He wanted all of the Silver Bloods dead. Concentrating Lord of Darkness and Bringer of Light upon himself, he forced the pain and suffering from himself.

He sighed. “Glad I can do that to myself too.”

One of the women saw Caeldaemos. “Our lord!”

The ladies rushed over to him, thanking him for his help.

“Really, Cael?” Liara and Mari popped out of a shadow.

“Sorry. After I cleared the suffering from Lily, I couldn’t stop myself. These men are scum.” Caeldaemos looked down guiltily.

Liara looked at the ladies. “Just so you know, he’s married and happy. So, don’t any of you get any ideas.”

“Oh, your ladyship, we don’t want something like that from him!” One of the ladies stated.

“Yes! We only desire to serve and worship the Demon-Lord!” Another stated.

Liara looked at him with disappointed eyes. “How?” She asked.

“Like I said, I lost my cool and may have said a few things to intimidate them….” His large frame shrunk.

“The Demon-Lord?!” Alpen, who had just helped Lady Temerilla outside, exclaimed.

The old man got over his shock and began laughing. “So, this is the answer the world gives me! If I cannot put faith in the gods, I might as well put some faith in the Demon-Lord!”

“I must say, you are unlike any Demon-Lord of old.” Lady Temerilla stated.

“My lady!” A woman rushed forward to hug her but stopped. She still had remnants of human feces on her hands.

“Hannah!” Lady Temerilla opened her arms to welcome the woman.

“Let me help you with that.” Caeldaemos cleaned her with magic.

Hannah quickly bowed and thanked him, and embraced her lady.

“How?! HOW?! That poison is supposed to be uncurable unless you use a damn Elixir!” Lord Vern shouted.

“Poison?” Alpen finally had his answer to why his lady would not get better.

Lady Temerilla stepped up and stared down at her uncle’s feces-covered face. “Un-… No. Lord Vern.” She coldly said. “I have heard from Alpen what you have done.”

“Lies! He is lying to you!” He responded.

“Hold on a sec.” Caeldaemos threw a curse at the man’s face.

“Ack! What have you done to me, you monster!” He demanded to know.

“Go ahead and ask him a question,” Caeldaemos smirked.

Unsure of what the Demon-Lord had done, Lady Temerilla proceeded. “What have you done to my domain?”

“I joined up with the Hero Gabriel, promising that I would gain him the most amount of profit! I had you slowly poisoned until you finally collapsed! After that, I had my men seize your household and threaten your life to get your sigil ring! Then I changed people to my own and took over your town!” He shouted without his control.

“Did the hero know you were doing this?” Alpen demanded to know.

“He had an idea but kept his distance!” Lord Vern answered. “Dammit! Stop this!”

Lily arrived with Listamati, in human form, Orelia, and Rana.

“Then who raped my lady!” Alpen stomped up and kicked Lord Vern’s head.

“Ack! I don’t know!” He shouted.

“Huh?! Your Lordship! I think your spell wore off!” Alpen felt that the buried man had lied.

Caaldaemos placed a calming hand on the butler’s shoulder. “It did not. He really doesn’t know.”

“My lady!” Hannah caught a stumbling Lady Temerilla in a daze. Alpen rushed to her.

“Wait…” Listamati approached and checked the lady’s face. “Cael.” She turned to him.

“What is it?”

“She is suffering from a memory slip.” She reported.

“What is that?”

“Sorry. A memory slip is something I have seen many times. More than likely, someone or something has tampered with her memory. This is a reaction I have seen in someone trying to remember but unable to grasp it. You see this with people who don’t want to remember something traumatic, but this was deliberate.” Listamati’s experience when she abused her abilities helped her to discern what had happened.

“Can you not think of anything, my lady?” Alpen asked her.

She shook her head.

“Maybe I can do something?” Caeldaemos offered.

Lady Temerilla nodded.

He sighed, unsure of what he might see this time. Though the weight was removed, he did not relish having more horrible memories.

Taking her into his arms, he activated his abilities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Good night, my lady. Sleep well.” Alpen bid her goodnight and shut the door.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Temerilla sighed as she looked out toward the moon. It was a clear and calm night. It felt nice. She turned to head to bed, and a hand roughly covered her mouth, the edge of a blade on her throat.

“Good evening, my lady. Scream, and I kill you, your butler, and that maid.” A garbled man’s voice threatened.

Her hands were bound behind her back. “What do you want?”

The masked man looked down at her, the look in his eyes making her skin crawl.

“I’m the one who will make you a woman.” He grabbed her head, and a sharp pain shot through it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos and Lady Temerilla screamed and pain and slumped against each other.

“CAEL!” “MY LADY!” Many of the people rushed to them.

“It’s okay! We’re… okay…” Caeldaemos’ mind was reeling. What the hell did that man do?

“Cael, maybe you shouldn’t use that ability.” Liara proposed, worry plaguing her face.

“I’m… not fine. But I realize now that I shouldn’t use it so many times in succession.”

Alpen and Hannah helped Lady Temerilla to a sitting position.

“I saw. It was a man. He wore a mask and hood. I couldn’t make out any distinguishing features.” Lady Temerilla regretted not being able to get something out of it.

“What about the dagger?” Caeldaemos asked.

“Maybe, I don’t remember it clearly.” She replied.

Caeldaemos used his Create Item skill and made a replica of the dagger he saw.

Alpen held it up for his lady.

“Hmm. It seems familiar, but I am not sure.” Lady Temerilla commented.

“I also feel like I have seen it,” Hannah added.

“I will try asking around,” Alpen said.

Caeldaemos looked toward the buried Silver Bloods. “What do you want to do with them?”

Lady Temerilla looked toward them. “It’s a garden of melons, is it not? I will let the gardeners tend it for now. But I do have a request.” She bowed her head to the ground to Caeldaemos.

“I will not ask for much. But please, can you help me clean out all the Silver Bloods?” She asked.

Caeldaemos smiled. “Our missions match up. We are here to stop the dungeon from being mined.”

“Mined?”

“I can tell you the details!” A young voice rang out from within Caeldaemos’ shirt.

Pulling out Geon, an illusion of her projected out of the core.

“Greetings! I’m Geon! To summarize, mining the walls of the dungeon causes great damage to the dungeon. If it continues, the dungeon will collapse, and everyone inside will die!” Geon lied.

“But it is impossible to mine the dungeon walls,” Alpen commented.

“Not anymore. They have special tools to do so.” Liara replied.

“The problem is that the stones are highly condensed mana, 100 times stronger than the current best on the market,” Rana added.

“I am not sure how I can help. Destroying the operation will only delay it. What we need is a way to make the stones undesirable.” Lady Temerilla stated.

Geon got a bright idea. “Have any been shipped out?” She asked.

Alpen reported that they have been stockpiling it while they looked for a way to sell it in the larger market. He also remembered that an inspector from the capital would arrive in a few days.

Geon giggled wickedly. “Then I have a great idea.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A cart was pushed out of the dungeon gateway, full of dungeon wall chunks.

“Excellent. The inspector will be here soon to assess the product.” A Silver Blood with three stars on his sash said, noting the quantity the three-man brought out.

A few carriages drove up and parked. Several guards and a group of mercenaries climbed out of the carriages. Out of one of them, a tall man with an unimpressed look joined them.

“That’s the official! Hurry!” The Silver Blood ordered his men.

“Yes, foreman!” The men hurried off with the cart.

The official was joined by the mercenaries, a few of them being demi-humans. It disgusted the foreman to see the demi-humans, but he had to admit, they were alluring. He might try to enjoy them later if he could get rid of the big guy.

“Greetings, good sir!” The foreman approached and welcomed the official.

“Yes, yes. I am Viscount Briggs Aldaan. I am the official assigned to inspect this new product.” The viscount stated, not wanting to waste time with the foreman’s false flattery.

“Of course, sir. Please, this way.” The foreman led them to a small warehouse.

“Is the news that you mined dungeon walls true? Is it even safe to have?” The viscount demanded to know.

“Of course, sir! We take things out of the dungeons all the time. What is wrong with taking the material off the walls? Besides, a single chunk of it is more powerful than any mana stone on the market.” The foreman replied.

“Have you ever seen a monster spawn in a dungeon? They come out of the walls.” The fox demi-human woman commented.

The foreman scoffed and continued leading them toward the warehouse.

A few men ran out of the warehouse in terror. “RUN!”

The warehouse burst apart, and several monsters came out of the mess.

“Oh, gods!” Viscount Briggs’ judging expression crumbled to terror.

“Get behind us, sir! Let us handle this!” The big mercenary ordered.

The monsters charged at them. But the seasoned party quickly took down the monsters.

“Damn! Arrest them! Arrest them all!” The viscount ordered the soldiers that came with him.

“Wait. This is all an accident! Those stones wer-!” The demi-fox woman knocked him out.

“That’s for eyeballing a married woman.” She spoke.

The remaining Silver Bloods were rounded up and clapped in chains.

“Yes. Please inform his majesty that these stones become monsters after time passes. Yes. Very well. I will contact the local lord and ensure that the word spreads here. Yes. Thank you.” The official hung up his Crys-Link and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sir?” The big mercenary checked on him.

“Huh? Oh, well done. I am happy Lady Temerilla recommended your party. If not for you, I may be dead. You have my thanks.” The noble genuinely thanked them.

“What do you want to be done with the equipment?” The big mercenary asked.

“Well, it is a mining equipment. So, we will probably outlaw its usage beyond hard labor camps. Keep in the control of the imperial family. They will notify his majesty of what happened here and outlaw the mining of dungeon walls for good. Good gods, what fools.” Viscount Briggs headed back toward his carriage.

“Good job, Geon.” The big mercenary said, patting his chest. A quiet and giddy giggle came from within the shirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geon, the little genius dungeon core, devised the perfect plan to not only crush the Silver Bloods but also make it so no one would ever try to mine a dungeon again.

What Liara had stated was true. Any mercenary who entered a dungeon knew that monsters spawned from the walls.

This was where Geon came into play. Since the stones were dungeon walls outside her friend’s influence, the little dungeon core could convert the stones into monsters once she was in range.

Everything was wrapped up beautifully, with a few well-placed lines and good timing.

Caeldaemos and his party returned to Lady Temerilla’s manor, where Captain Ańa spoke with the noble.

“We have finished rounding up the last of the Silver Bloods and have them locked up. We also imprisoned the ones from your garden.” The captain stifled a laugh, remembering the ridiculous sight.

“Ah. Ca, Ahem, Mr. Michael. Were the finding true at the dungeon?” Lady Temerilla asked.

“They were your ladyship. We got lucky this time as the stones turned into monsters shortly after our arrival.” Caeldaemos reported.

“Was anyone hurt?” She asked.

“A few Silver Blood workers. They should be at your prison by now. The viscount said he would rest for a bit and visit you tomorrow. Mining of dungeon walls will be banned. All Silver Bloods are to be arrested.” He continued his report.

“Thank you. I am sure your party is tired. Please, rest for a bit.” Lady Temerilla asked the captain to her office for them to continue their conversation.

None of the buried Silver Bloods said anything about Caeldaemos being the Demon-Lord, as Listamati had altered their memories using her abilities. The only ones who knew the truth were Lady Temerilla, Alpen, Hannah, and the other girls who were imprisoned in the manor.

In the large room at the lord’s manor, Caeldaemos’ group held a meeting.

Geon was laughing aloud. “I will remember the look on those guys’ faces forever! That was priceless to see that official’s judging expression crumble! Hah, hah, hah!”

“So, dungeons utilized the concentrated mana of the walls to form monsters. Well, we helped your friend, so it ended well.” Caeldaemos commented.

“We’ll be visiting, my friend, right? Since my disconnection from the network, I haven’t been able to check on them.” Geon requested.

“Yeah. We’ll be going tonight.” Caeldaemos answered.

Geon cheered.

“Will we be taking another dungeon?” Lily asked.

“It would not be good for the town if we did. Galgalake was a prosperous location, so losing the dungeon there would not affect it much. Flower losing theirs would damage their economy.” Rana explained.

“One Geon is enough.” Liara teased.

“Alright, get some rest, everyone. We will be heading to the dungeon in a few hours. Thankfully Lady Temerilla was willing to work with us on this.” Caeldaemos ordered.

Orelia, Mari, and Lily, wearing Geon, left the room, leaving the three wives.

“Uh…” Caeldaemos got a tired look on his face. “Is this what I think it is?” He asked.

Liara smiled. “The three of us made some improvements. I want to test how capable my new body is too. Today! We defeat the mighty Daemos!” She declared.

He didn’t mind spending some quality time with them, but he still reeled from all the Heart Purifications he had performed as Lily dubbed them.

“Screw this. Learn some control. Domain of Isolation.” Caeldaemos created a domain around the bed he was on, isolating himself from the ladies.

“What?!” The three watched in shock as an impenetrable barrier formed around the bed.

Liara pounded on the barrier, but it did not budge, and Caeldaemos laid down to sleep.

“You let us in right now!” Liara continued to pound on the barrier.

Rana and Listamati looked away sadly.

“Want a drink?” Rana asked.

“Sounds good to me.” Listamati agreed.

The two ladies left the room while Liara began practicing her Spirit Arts against the barrier. She tried Spirit Walk, and nothing worked. “But it’s my turn….” She teared up.

The barrier expanded and pulled her inside.

“Cuddling and sleeping. That is all I will allow.” Caeldaemos stated, lifting the covers for her.

She smiled and hopped into the bed, cuddling up against him.