I focused my thoughts inward. The many scattered bits of information faded as the spell formed before me. A simple fyrefly spell. Well, relatively simple.

The floating ball of flame, that mimicked a butterfly was quite simple. Giving the fire more power and then copying that more complex spell a thousand times was more difficult.

One ball of light. Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen…

Around me was the raging battle. The dozens of men, women, and whatever was trying their best to kill my beautiful helpers. The bound slaves I defeated so long ago.

Sixty-four. One hundred and twenty-eight. Two hundred and Fifty-six...

Of those, only three lived still. Their simple, fragile lives in the palm of my hands. Their loyalty… a really mixed bag.

Five hundred and twelve...

“Fyrefly, take flight!” I screamed. Okay, it was more of a hoarse croak as that wasn’t my best battle cry.

The 1,024 fist-sized butterflies took to the air. They were the size of a fist and held the power of a decent fireball spell.

I needed to sit down and figure out how it worked. I kept remembering that brat and his stupid phrase, ‘In America!’. I didn’t know what the hell this America was, but obviously, it was defective if he had been their representative. His playing cards were novel, however.

Spells scribed onto parchment were not new. What was stupid was holding a piece of fragile paper on a battlefield? Trying to activate it during an intense firefight? Good luck.

A complex and wax-covered parchment card? That was novel. Simple and elegant if done properly.

I could have made this fyrefly into a card and then activate it. Less shouting, though. Or maybe... Yell something catchier?

I watched as the other thirty people into the screams and became ash. The fyrefly spell did its vibrant work. It was bright enough to light up the evening sky, and I had few doubts that their screams could be heard from a fair distance away.

“It’s done, master,” Pearla said as she kneeled at my side.

“Great job everyone!” I said with a smile and patted her head. She purred under my attention.

My senses felt two survivors, but they were far from good health. In fact, Jessica and Releina were already moving over to finish them. No point in prisoners, or letting them plot revenge. I wasn’t that bored.

The golden rule of the Shadow Realm was survival of the strongest. If you were strong, you deserved everything. If you were weak, then you deserved that fate as well.

“This was rather… disappointing,” Pearla complained as she slid up to me. Her hands were hot enough to boil water. She was usually calm until there was a fight, then everything was on literal fire.

I grunted as her hands pressed into me. It burned. I moved my left hand down to her waist, hugging her to me. She got catty if I showed weakness.

She did this to test me. If I showed too much weakness, she would kill me in a heartbeat. She was so cute!

Jessica and Releina were the same. The two were practically twins as they at some point had bonded as battle sisters. An odd Valkyrie thing that Jessica instinctively did. A show of loyalty to those close to her heart.

Jessica had tried to include Pearla, but the Elven woman was incompatible. Something that irritated the three of them. They had been sisters for some 600 years. Enough time for love, hate, and animosity to mix and settle. It was a resilient familial love.

Of course, I knew why Pearla was incompatible. I groomed her to be a noble. A Lady and master should I fall. The other two would become her property. The odd Valkyrie bond knew that, even if they hadn’t grasped it yet. Perhaps they knew, but ignored it?

I moved my arms lower and swatted her rump. “Go do work too!”

Pearla gave me a bright smile. It was all teeth.

Even now, some 900 years later, I didn’t know if she loved or hated how I casually ordered her to do things. I would bet today’s prize on the fact that she probably didn’t either.

I squatted and stared down at the simple flower below it. It wasn’t huge, but it held a fruit the size of my palm. It glowed with a dim purple glow as the taken lives emitted spiritual energy. The energy that was was now getting absorbed into this thing. Though it was a subtle drain.

A ripe Bozi fruit was incredibly rare. Most got harvested well before they matured. This always killed the plant, but a seed would always form from your corpse. Beginning another cycle of life and death.

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I held out my hand, and with my will alone condensed the dense spiritual energy of the dead. It formed around the Bozi’s ghostly skin, creating dew drops. They slid off rather than into the fruit.

Okay. It was fully ripe. Even now, some thousand years in this damned realm, I had only seen three Bozi fruits. This was the first time I had seen a ripe one.

I focused my magic into my hands and gently touched the base of the Bozi plant. Magic ran into the base and reinforced the plant. Once I got satisfied, I pulled. My magic allowed me to yank it all up without excess harm.

I opened my dimensional bag and pulled out a fertilized pot. The simple clay pot was enough to house this plant. I would have to hold it until we reached home. There I could prepare a nice Bozi recipe I had recalled reading in the kitchen’s library.

This fruit could enhance a person’s energy by some 1000 units of mana. Enough to last ten years in this forsaken realm.

Split into four, that was 250 units, more than enough to let us continue our comfortable lives. We were far luckier than most because of our skills, knowledge, and willpower.

The three girls were quickly taking what they could. The fyrefly spell was destructive, and we usually lost most of the victim’s belongings in the attack.

I hummed a tune as I patted the pot. The Bozi fruit glowed brighter. Probably a result of the far better soil than where it had grown.

I smiled as I stared at my girls. They were chatting, laughing, and looting. Who knew that getting banished here would have been a blessing rather than a curse?

Home. The Rylunds was far better in terms of environments. No death beasts, and unending raw nature. Survival of the fittest meant killing everything to just stay alive.

I was now stronger than most. Which allowed me to take these girls as battle slaves. In return, they got a constant source of life mana and gear. Somewhere along the way, I began treating them like family.

The banishment spell would one day end. Then I would return to Rylunds. It would be a vicious surprise for Eldren Richard. I would avenge my unwitting participation in that sacrifice ritual. My living potential for a smidgen of empowerment.

Yes. The tugging was like that day, so long ago. Wasn’t there an odd keening sound? Like the aftereffects of a shattering sound spell? Ah yes, that’s what it sounded like!

I… why was it suddenly daylight?

I looked up and saw the white circle form around me. The dense inscription of magic mirrored those that had sent me here. Had I done it? Had I lived through the thousand-year banishment? Hooray!

“Girls! To me!” I ordered. They obeyed as they ran to my side.

I gave Pearla the Bozi plant. She stared at it as if I made it of poison and ice.

“We don’t know if I can take you with me. This is just in case. Make sure Jessica and Releina don’t suffer too much, okay?” I was going to say more but couldn’t. The three hugged me hard enough to crack several ribs.

“Plant!” I gasped, but Pearla ignored me. Bad Pearla! Bad!

Then the world turned inside out.

I hoped they didn’t let the Bozi fruit break open.

—

The world twisted outside in.

A crack broke open the air, and I felt my other ribs crack and strain. The girls had only squeezed harder, and I struggled to keep the Bozi plant upright.

“A--r!” I gasped. The Bozi fruit was growing fuzzy. Dim even!

The three let me go, and they looked around, their hands grasping their weapons. Jessica’s spear, Releina’s two small axes, and Pearla’s sword whip.

It took me a few moments to regain my breath and heal my ribs. Those girls needed to stop hugging my fragile body so hard. Well, that was a lie, they just needed to stop doing it with clothes on. Unless we were in public. Okay, so nothing was going to change.

I stared at the white marbled room I remembered from so long ago. The pristine white with gold accents. Everything looked even better than I had remembered.

“Who are you!?” a man bellowed. A fat man. His cheeks wobbled as spittle flew everywhere.

I stared at this enormous man and gawked. He wore the hat of the Grand Sorcerer. The cape looks hilariously tiny on his fat body. It looked like a bath towel that got thrown across his shoulders.

“I am have returned after a thousand years! Tell me, where is Eldren Richard?” I demanded the man. I put some oomph into my voice as I flared my power.

This had to be some sort of joke. Releina had more magic in her cute toes than this man did in his entire body.

I doubted the man had even 1000 units of mana to spend. Well… maybe a thousand considering how fat he was.

“The great Eldren Richard? He died almost 1000 years ago,” the man replied, cowed by my casual display of power. Everyone was shaking and more than a few soiled themselves.

“I… serious?” I wasn’t ready for that answer. I stared into his eyes and skimmed his mind. Yeah, the Eldren of my generation, Eldren Richard, died because of poisoning by his third illegitimate child.

I considered killing everyone here… but it didn’t seem it was worth the effort. I was feeling great for the first time in a long time. The very air teemed with magic and life.

“Let us go explore this world then, my lovelies,” I said with an unhappy sigh. Another dream was broken because of the lame reality of it all. I couldn’t ascend to a higher tier of life, and I couldn’t become a heartless tyrant. I couldn’t exact revenge. Bah!

The three cheerfully. stayed at my side as we turned and left. They slaughtered the few knights that tried to stop us with equally disappointing ease. Things had regressed across a thousand years.

Once upon a time, they seemed so invincible. Releina looked perhaps more disappointed than I did. That girl loved the battle and the rushes that came with it.

“Beach home?” I asked, and the three nodded and chatted amongst themselves.

The far higher ambient magic was making us all a little high. My mental facilities were buzzing as I simply saw, felt, and tasted too much.

We practically skipped to the closest patio and teleported high into the sky.

The blue and green world below us showed what I had never seen. What I had always dreamed of. With a thought, I teleported us to the edge of the ocean.

We would see what this world offered.

—

“Eldren Richardson, what should we do? A Demon Lord has appeared!” a high mage cried out.

“What can we do!?” another high-ranking mage cried back.

Eldren Richardson, the descendant of an illegitimate child of Eldren Richard, calmed his shaking. “Call for a meeting with the church. We need to summon heroes from another world! Teenagers with attitudes! Prepare our resources, there could be demons invading us tonight!”

The rest quickly agreed. The hall emptied by everyone except him.

Eldren Richard thought furiously as he crafted a plan. Summoned Heroes were expensive, but a known Demon Lord would be perfect… No… A Demon King! Maybe that man and his girls would be strong enough to get classed as a Demon God!

Summoned Heroes were an incredible force. Teenagers would give them enough courage to fight, but not enough wisdom to understand the politics involved.

The declining Heldrack Kingdom just found its turning point, with him leading that charge! The Richard family could erase their shame at long last!