Muriel put the bag of coins back into her bottomless coin pouch while it was still stained with blood from the corpse lying on the ground, then she held it with her tail. She tried to wipe the smile off her face, but it refused to fade. She pinched her own cheeks lightly and shook her head before searching the body. She was only looking for the key to the prison cell, and soon enough, she found a keyring with four different keys. She had no idea which one was for what, so she simply tried them at random to unlock the cell door.

The slaves inside, who had heard the sound of the door unlocking, slowly turned to look at Muriel. They had heard everything that had just happened but hadn’t realized that the final sound was Muriel smashing a man’s skull with a pouch full of gold. After blindly fumbling with each key, Muriel finally managed to open the cell door. She stepped inside and then closed the door behind her.

"Over six hundred years ago, I wiped out the slave system from the Western Continent. You can imagine my greatest displeasure, waking up after five hundred years only to find you all still bound in chains," Muriel said, looking down at the slaves sitting on the floor. She reached into her bottomless money pouch as if searching for something.

"Did your ancestors die just for you to end up like this?" She continued to stare at them but soon realized they couldn’t see her in the darkness of the cell. Given that her clothing was black, she blended in with the shadows. So, she spat a thick, white saliva onto her other hand and then breathed fire onto it, turning it into a makeshift torch so they could see her face.

"What… are you?" Their voices trembled with fear. The black-haired girl in a black dress stood before them, her hand engulfed in flames, yet she showed no sign of pain. They wanted to back away from her, but there wasn’t much space to do so in the cramped cell.

"My name is Muriel the Black Calamity. First of my name. The one true Demon Lord of the Western Continent. Though I have been a dragon since the egg, I was raised by humans… just like some of you," Muriel said. Now that the fire illuminated the cell, she could see the slaves more clearly. Though they were still clothed, they looked no different from the mermaid—thin, as if they had been starved, or fed just enough scraps to keep them from dying.

"I did not come to Oviliea to be your master. But I will offer you a choice: You can continue to die like rats, let your children become slaves, and let your children’s children be born in chains." Muriel finally found what she was looking for in her bottomless pouch and tossed it onto the ground in front of the slaves. They were small keys, no larger than a finger, dozens of them. The slave keys that had been used to remove collars five hundred years ago.

"Or… you can free yourselves and ensure that the filth sitting in Senwara never brings this wretched system of slavery back to the Western Continent a second time."

"Those keys look ancient… can they really unlock our collars?" A male elf in the group asked, eyeing the keys in front of him but not daring to touch them.

"Come here. I’ll show you, knife ears."

Muriel pressed her still-burning hand against the floor, and spread her burning saliva leaving enough light in the room, then blew out the fire on her other hand. She picked up one of the keys from the ground and walked toward the elf. He tried to crawl away, but Muriel pinned his leg down with her tail, preventing him from escaping. The moment she grabbed him, he could feel the heat from her hand—it had only just been extinguished, and the warmth still lingered.

Then, a sharp pain spread across his neck as Muriel inserted the key into his slave collar, twisting it back and forth. But then, finally, the pain was gone. The slave collar unlocked and dropped to the floor of the cell. Muriel immediately let go of him.

"Those fools are using the same slave collars from five hundred years ago. Of course these keys still work," Muriel smirked and released her other hand from him.

"It... it came off! Ha! Finally—" The elf began to shout but was quickly silenced by another slave who rushed over to cover his mouth.

"Keep quiet, or we'll all get caught."

"Then what now? Some of you might die tonight. Do you want to take this chance to make sure your children are free?"

"Even if we get out of this cell, what then? We don’t have weapons or anything like that. The city is full of guards, not to mention foreign adventurers." One of the slaves asked Muriel. Despite their excitement, despair still lingered in their voices. They wanted to know if she had an answer.

"Even if we escape this cell, we’ll just be stopped out there anyway. Wouldn't it be better to give up now and avoid getting hurt?"

"Freedom is never given through surrender," Muriel said, disgusted by their willingness to give in. "If it’s adventurers, I can deal with them. But freeing the other slaves… that will be up to you. How many of you are there? Three or four slaves for every noble?" She reached into her pouch and pulled out the weapons Hari had gathered for her, letting them crash loudly onto the ground, not caring if the noise attracted guards or slavers.

"Hurry up. You have less than five minutes to seize your freedom."

The way Muriel spoke made it clear that she was no saint sent by Syra to free them. There was no hope hidden in her words—only a path to freedom. But they would have to walk it themselves and claim it with their own hands. It would be a harsh road, but they would walk it. They would not be slaves any longer.

One by one, the slaves freed themselves from their collars and picked up weapons.

“What the hell!? Who killed the boss!?” One of the guards, who had come to check on the noise, found the man Muriel had been speaking with earlier lying dead on the ground. But before he could call for reinforcements, the cell doors burst open, and the freed slaves swarmed him, stabbing him to death instantly.

“Yeah, that’s it! Stab the bastard!”

Muriel “encouraged” them from behind while making her way out of the prison cell herself. However, there was something she wanted to find first. As the freed slaves rampaged through the slave trading hall, killing the slavers and freeing others, Muriel broke off from the group and headed toward a particular glass tank.

She didn’t have to go far. Right in front of her stood a massive glass container mounted on a wooden cart with wheels. Inside, a mermaid clung weakly to the rim of the tank, desperately trying to breathe the open air.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Muriel spread her wings and climbed onto the tank’s edge. The mermaid, startled, immediately slipped back into the water. Muriel, seeing this, leaped in after her and grabbed the slave collar around the mermaid’s neck. The mermaid struggled against Muriel’s grip, thrashing in the water, but Muriel’s strength was more than enough to break the collar, even underwater.

For a moment, the mermaid stayed still, unsure of how to react. Then, as she felt her gills working freely again, she slowly turned to look at Muriel. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around Muriel and lifted her to the surface. Muriel pushed herself out of the water, gripping the edge of the tank once more.

“They say merfolk never forget a debt. Let’s put that to the test. Do you have a name?” Muriel asked.

“A name? My name’s Uzuri. I’m th— I mean, I’m a mermaid!” Uzuri said, sticking her head out of the water.

“Yeah, I can see that. I’m not blind,” Muriel responded dryly, slightly annoyed by the unnecessary clarification. “So, how’d you end up here? There’s no way these idiots could’ve captured a mermaid out in the open sea.”

“Well… about that…”

“I swam upriver, and ended up in the lake by the city. But before I could leave, I got caught and stuffed into this tank.”

“No wonder. So, want to go back to the sea? We’re in the middle of a revolt. Wanna come along?”

“And how exactly am I supposed to do that? I can’t stay out of the water for long—ah, hey!”

Before Uzuri could finish, Muriel jumped down from the tank, shook her entire body, which surprisingly, completely dried her up and simply lifted the entire tank and carried it along with her. By the time she reached the entrance of the slave trading hall, the number of freed slaves had nearly doubled. However, none of them had left the building. Instead, they had all gathered near the exit, hesitating.

Muriel walked ahead, placing Uzuri’s tank down beside her. As she stepped outside, she saw the reason for their hesitation—city guards had completely surrounded the entrance, accompanied by a group of hired adventurers. At the front of them all stood an older man with neatly groomed facial hair, dressed in pale yellow leather resembling a lion’s coat. A monocle rested over his left eye.

“Oh, what now?” Muriel sighed, stepping forward and setting Uzuri’s tank down beside her.

“All slaves here must be executed immediately! My company will not—”

“FUCKING! Kneel!!.”

Muriel’s voice boomed across the street, infused with the power of a Demon Lord’s command. Both the freed slaves and the city guards fell to their knees before her, unable to resist.

“I am Muriel The Black Ca—ah, whatever, I just said that earlier. Too lazy to say it again.”

“I am the Dragon of Freedom! Every slave in this city will be freed! And anyone who dares stand in our way will be turned to ashes, carried away by the winds of liberty!”

Muriel lifted her head and looked down at the city guards, the adventurers, and the man before her. Her voice echoed through the streets, and with just her words alone, the city guards surrendered almost instantly. They had never expected to face something like this. No matter how much the adventurers had been paid, it wasn’t worth risking their lives. The moment Muriel permitted them to leave, they fled the city without hesitation.

The freed slaves wasted no time in running to release every last captive in the city. Meanwhile, the old man remained the only one still bound by Muriel’s command. His body felt as if an entire mountain was pressing down on him, making it impossible to move even slightly. Muriel allowed him to lift his head to look at her, and in return, her golden eyes stared back at him.

"Your slave-trading company? Did I hear that correctly just now?" Muriel asked, stepping toward him and looking down at him directly.

"Do you even have a name?"

"A name? I am Frasis Dalophen, and you have some nerve doing this. Lord Samwell won’t let you get away with it. You—"

Before he could finish, Muriel had already heard enough. Dalophen—that was all she needed to know. She grabbed his lower jaw, yanking it away from his face as effortlessly as a gardener pulling out a weed to silence him, then tossed it behind her.

"Hmm, I already knew that scum was behind this. You can go ahead and wait for him in hell. I’ll send him to join you in a couple of days."

Muriel gazed down at him before unleashing black flames, engulfing him in an instant. His screams barely lasted a second before everything fell silent—except for the distant cheers echoing from the city. Muriel extended her hand toward the fire, letting the flames burn away the blood on her fingers until her hands were clean again, free of any trace of red.

Then, she turned back to Uzuri, who was still trapped inside the water tank, watching her intently. But now, Uzuri understood—Muriel was something so dangerous that she didn’t even want to comprehend it. Yet, what troubled her more was why Muriel had gone out of her way to help her in the first place.

"Come on, canned fish. Let’s get you out of here."

Muriel picked up the jar again, spread her wings, and took off toward the other side of the city. As she flew, she saw the newly freed slaves filling the streets, cheering with unrelenting joy. Seeing them from above, Muriel smirked.

Once she reached the city’s dock, she landed and unceremoniously tossed the water tank into the lake. It sank before Uzuri swam up to the surface.

"Thank you, Lady Muriel."

"Don't forget who helped you today. I might forget your name in a few days, but I never forget a face," Muriel said in a threatening tone as she sat down at the dock, looking down at Uzuri.

"Uh… okay, Lady Muriel," Uzuri replied hesitantly. She didn't even want to imagine what Muriel might want from her. Would she roast her over a fire? Conquer the seas? Or claim some priceless treasure hidden beneath the ocean?

"You don’t have to be scared. I don’t plan on calling in that favor anytime soon. Not like I have any reason to go underwater," Muriel said offhandedly, waving her hand dismissively as she observed Uzuri. Then, as she looked around, her eyes landed on the city's palace, perched atop a hill and clearly visible from the docks.

"Now hurry up and get home. Don't get caught again, or I will eat you," Muriel warned before standing up, spreading her wings, and soaring toward the white palace. Uzuri watched Muriel in silence before letting out a deep sigh. Then, without another word, she submerged and swam down the river.

"Hooo… That was way too close. I honestly thought I would become a grilled fish."

Around the same time, Hari and Lilith were sitting in a chamber within the palace. Hari was teaching Lilith how to read, and in less than an hour, Lilith had already grasped most of the letters and vowel sounds. Hari felt uneasy about how unnaturally fast Lilith was learning. She knew children learned quickly, but this was beyond normal. Something about it felt off. She suspected Muriel might have something to do with it, but she couldn't say for sure.

For Lilith, it was as if an entirely new world had opened up to her—legends, history, spellbooks, and countless volumes filled with words she could now read. To her, it was nothing short of magic. Her copper-orange eyes gleamed with excitement, so much so that she barely noticed Hari beside her.

Then, they both heard a knock at the bedroom door. Lilith, believing it was Muriel returning, immediately put her book down on the bed and ran to open the door. However, Hari felt a strange sense of unease. She rushed to stop Lilith, but she was too late.

"Lady Muriel, welcome ba—"

The moment Lilith opened the door, an ice-cold hand grabbed her wrist. At a glance, it was obvious that it wasn’t a human hand. It was covered in a chitinous, spider-like exoskeleton.

Lilith slowly lifted her gaze, too terrified to move or even speak. Her breath caught in her throat as she met Slyvif’s four glowing red eyes.

"Good evening, Lilith. Mind if I come in for a chat?"

----------------------------------------