Two weeks later…

The throne I sit on probably isn’t as grand as the one that the Demon Lord Askadon sits on, but it’s grand enough for me. The temperature isn’t too hot and the occasional breeze is relaxing. Just sitting on the throne makes me relaxed―however, Aline is complaining to me which took all my relaxation away. Aline Eragon was the name of the woman that I had threatened.

She usually is quiet, but if a topic that she likes emerges, she gets a really talkative. She’s helpful, very observant, but mostly very distant towards me.

And now, “Please do something!” she complains to me, “Rulers are not just supposed to relax on their thrones.” Her soft brown hair bouncing as she shakes her head, remonstrating me.

I stare at her and ask, “Are you telling me that retarded prince before me used to do this administrative stuff?”

With an expectant look in her black eyes, she shouts, “Yes! Modric Clayrest Askadon was bad at this, but he at least made some effort and did work.”

Honestly, she would look a lot more threatening if she wasn’t so short.

But hmmm... does she expect me to make the same effort? I’m a bit taken aback since he didn’t give off such an impression, but its too much trouble for me. “Anyway ―” Before she gets a chance to continue, I wave her off.

“Just do it yourself,” I tell. As I tell her, she jumps in delight and asks me with starry eyes, even more so than when she thought I'd do the work, “Did you just give me the permission to rule the colony?”

“Just as my... regent?,” I tell her, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do and it sounds too troublesome. Don’t soil my name, Aline.”

It’s a wonder that she still talks to me. I thought she would go against me since I had forced her, but she became excited when I became the ruler. She also came to me and asked me to let her work under me. There really was great merit in keeping her alive. She’s famous and well respected, and the best of all, she can happily do those bothersome administrative tasks.

I yawn, and walk out of my throne room. There are a few subjects in here but they almost never speak to me. All they do is report everything to Aline. I have a feeling that all of them hate or resent me. The Eragon family is one of closest aides of the Demon Lord Askadon and Aline is a member of that family. That was the only reason she was allowed to serve under Modric, or simply the previous ruler, even though she had almost no experience and was young.

My so-called subjects display no change in their expression as I start walking out of the room. They were used to my attitude; earlier, they used to ask Aline to stop me, but never in person. Now they are totally apathetic towards my actions.

I get out of the throne room, only to find another a long corridor decorated with high quality artworks and sculptures. I inspect a few pieces of work as I stroll ahead. I wonder if any of these are made by humans.

I couldn’t tell what the sculptures were made of when I touched them but I enjoyed looking at some of them. Soon, I even reached the end of the second long corridor. The men standing there opened the gate for me and I stepped out.

Although, I’ve announced that I’m open to challenges and duels, yet I have not received a single offer. Aline had insisted that I should at least wear my lordly garb when I go outside, but I blatantly ignore her warning and go off roaming with my usual clothes.

“Why is everyone staring at that person, Mother?” I hear a small boy’s voice.

“Shh! He’s our new Lord. Don’t stare at him too much. Keep quiet, will you?”

“Why, mother?”

“Don’t ask too many questions!” She scolds the small boy. I wanted to tell that person that I could hear her even though she spoke softly but decided against it.

Recently, whenever I pass through an area, they keep staring at me. I’ll never get used to this feeling.

As I walk further, I hear a loud voice behind me, “I found him. Rick!”

I continue to observe as the so-called Rick shouts back to the man who shouted earlier. “There’s no need to scream that loud when I’m right next to you!”

He continues, “Don’t just stare at me, you fool! Contact the princess right now!”

The other nods, and runs back.

I wonder what’s this commotion about… I continue to observe them as a beautiful girl appears. She had fiery red hair, green eyes and an athletic build.

It was clear that her and Rhea were leagues apart in terms of beauty.

With grace in her steps she walks to me .The denizens of my colony watch with bated breath.

I’ve thought about this recently, but humans have common features, like every human has 2 eyes and one nose, but there is nothing fixed for demons. So their appearances vary greatly. Although, I have observed that the more intelligent they are, the more they look like a human. For example, Rhea and Aline don’t look much different than humans. The girl, who appeared to be no more than 18, looked unbelievably human. If there weren’t horns on her head, I would have never guessed that she was a demon.

She only slightly bows after approaching me, and I do the same. She studies me with her faintly glowing green eyes before saying, “Nice to meet you,”

I just nod back, not bothering to reply.

“Sister to Modric Clayrest Askadon, I’m Erika Devonshire Askadon. I permit you to just call me Erika.”

“What brings you here?” I ask her. Before she starts speaking, I add, “I really don’t want to make too many enemies. Especially not with the Demon Lord.”

If I go around making an enemy out of every one, I won’t last long.

“Fear not, I’m not here to take revenge. I couldn’t have cared less about what happened to my stupid brother,” She replies with a wide smile.

“If you say so,” I instantly get to the point as I want to avoid talking for too long, “What brings you here, princess of Askadon?”

As she plays around with her red hair, she replies in a strict tone, “Although my father does not harbour any ill feelings towards you, he wants Grust back. Grust has been a very important place to my father and it’s also one of the cores of Askadonia. More importantly, father was going to gift me Grust on my birthday.”

I shrug. “So you want to have a duel with me?”

I really don’t want to fight her even though I had no doubt that she’ll be very delicious. I could not see another’s aura, nor did I have any skill that let me know her fighting prowess. Her level of confidence and manner of speaking make me believe that she’s really powerful.

Rick starts speaking behind her, “Do you think you’ll win against the princess? Dream on. Pretty funny, don’t you think, David?”

The other man, who was called David, starts laughing loudly as he hears Rick’s remark. “Brat, you might think Modric was stronger than our princess because he was the crown prince, but that’s not true. Our princess is at least ten times stronger than Modric Clayrest Askadon.”

“Bwahaha, you underestimate our princess, David,” Rick tells David, “She’s at least hundred times stronger than anyone alive. The only exception is His Highness.”

“Shut it, David and Rick. You’ll end up scaring up him.” Erika orders them, “Haven’t I already told you not to open your mouths when I’m speaking?”

“Don’t worry, Erika,” I assure her, “I won’t be scared. Anyway, continue what you were saying before.”

She starts speaking again, “I’ll be giving you two choices, Lundel,” She continues speaking threateningly, “You could either duel me and die, or integrate into Askadonia and live.”

Its been so long since someone has spoken my name...

“If I choose the second option, can I assume that Grust will still be mine?”

“Its a shame, but yes. Grust of Askadonia shall be co-cooperatively ruled. If we have conflicting opinion, we will duel it out. Naturally, the duels between Lords will not last to death,” She replies.

I roll my eyes at her reply, knowing full well how unfavourable it will be for me. “You have two days to decide,” She says as I see her retreating back.

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“So that’s what happened…” Aline says after sighing.

I nod, letting out a sigh, too. “What do you know about her?”

“Just some things...” She speaks with a low voice, “She currently is the strongest among demon royalty.”

I frown, “Why was Modric the crown prince, then? Isn’t the hierarchy in kingdom strength-based?”

She replies back, “Erika Devonshire Askadon declined her right to the throne. She could have been the demon Queen and a good one at that, but unfortunately, she had no interest in the country.”

“How strong is she? Isn’t Modric older than her?”

“She’s one of the youngest within her siblings. She’s only one-twenty years old. About her power… she would probably be as strong as the almost-thousand-year-old-Askadon when she’s only two hundred years old.”

I look at Aline, surprised. “Just how did she acquire that much power?”

“She has the power of Phoenix,” She says, “People have seen her in flames, burning everything else to crisp. There are many rumours behind it, like how she has inherited the Phoenix’s soul from the Phoenix itself, or how she actually got them after she defeated the Phoenix.”

“Those don’t sound true,” I mumble.

“They might be,” Aline says.

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“Do you think I have a chance agains―” I speak but am interrupted.

“None,” Aline blatantly tells me.

She continues, “Erika is also known for also treasuring her servants and allies. She’s that type of a person-- best ally that you could ever get or the worst enemy that you could ever get.”

I grumble in a low voice, “I’ll just accept her offer. Its not like I need to keep Grust with me, but... ”

She continues what I had left unfinished, “But your pride won’t allow you to surrender peacefully or is it because you’re so greedy you wouldn’t give away a single possession of yours?”

“Both,” I reply. “What would have you done if you were in my shoes, Aline?”

I have a feeling that this is the first time that I’ve had such a long conversation with her. I shouldn’t have tried to avoid her. She’s calm, full of information and of great strategic importance.

“I would integrate into Askadonia, seek an audience with Askadon to impress him. But I guess that’s just me. You will be seeking Askadon for a completely different reason, won’t you?” She smirks at me, seeing that I’ve made up my mind.

“I don’t want to make too many enemies, but I guess I’ll have too…”

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The next day I and Aline reach the place where Erika was dwelling. We are rudely greeted by David and taken near the garden, where we see Erika and Rick sparing. Erika keeps dodging with graceful and minimal movements, while inflicting heavy damage and sending Rick flying away many times. It doesn’t seem like she’s using any of her Phoenix’s skills.

After she had beaten Rick to a pulp, she finally notices us and approaches me.

“Please have a seat,” She speaks, as she directs me towards a chair. Aline stands near me, Erika sits opposite to me on a chair, crossing her legs to express her dominance and asks me, “Have you decided on what you are going to do?”

I nod and she says, “I hope for both my and your good that you’ve chosen the wise option.”

I nod and say, “Grust will be integrated into Askadonia once again. It should be jointly-ruled by the two of us accordingly bywith our earlier conversation. The only thing I demand is that I should be granted an audience with Askadon.”

“My Father does indeed seem interested you, so he’ll grant you an audience with him if you ask for it. When would you like to meet him?”

“As soon as possible,” I reply.

“I will make the arrangements,” she says.

“Today is a boring day, don’t you think so?” She asks me all of a sudden.

“Yes, it sure is,” I reply back.

“Do you want to try having a spar with my servant Rick? I need some good entertainment on this boring day.”

I’m a bit interested in the power of her servants, so I decide to go ahead with it, only with a bit of twist though.

“Declined,” I tell her, “I won’t accept a spar. Only a duel.”

“You sure have some guts,” Rick says while grinning, “Want to duel to death? Although I might end up leaving you alive if you end up looking so pathetic that I actually feel pity for you.”

“Sure, I like duels to the death,” I tell him.

“Princess, please don’t interfere no matter what happens,” Rick says, as he cracks his knuckles, “I’ll show him his place.”

“You’re one of my best servants--don’t disappoint me, Rick. It would hurt to lose you.”

“Don’t worry, Princess, bwahaha, I could win against this runt with my eyes closed.”

“Don’t forget what you have said, Erika,” I glare at her, “You must not interfere no matter what happens.”

She nods, and says, “Also, all that is done is for good. We won’t hold out against each other, no matter what the result is.”

The princess smirks at me and I give her a ‘ I’m ready’ signal. She nods, tells Rick something and we start fighting in this open space.

Rick looks down at me with his tall physique and then starts attacking me with a punch. Despite having a big body, he attacks fast enough and I fail to avoid two out of five punches. I retreat back, cursing, “These punches are even more stronger than Modric’s!”

“Naturally,” Erika says, “I myself have searched for these top-tier servants. We could have taken Grust from you whenever we wanted, but that could cause too much collateral damage.”

“Stop running away!” Rick shouts to me as he skillfully feints with a punch to hit me hard in my face. I fly back, get up and spit out the blood in my mouth. Rick probably doesn’t know this, but I’ve already fully devoured Modric and have just as strong punches and kicks.

“Time to switch to offense,” I whisper to myself.

I run up to Rick, kick him from below, making him lose balance and then swiftly kick him again on his chest to make him slide back. “When Modric gave me that sort of kick, I flew backwards…” I grumble as Rick had only slid a few centimeters back.

He gets back on offense real fast while attacking my vital points like the back of my neck. I fall down to the floor, and dodge by rolling as he tries to stomp on me. I steal a glance at Erika, who is faintly smiling. She is thinking that her servant is at an advantage and hence is taking pleasure from it.

“Its alright,” I tell my myself, “she’ll lose that smile soon. Soon, and very soon at that, she’ll be staring at me helplessly. Smile while you can, Erika. Time to get serious.”

I finally take out my daggers, and randomly slash at Rick. He completely dodges most of them, and the ones that land only slightly cut him. He grins, but I start circling him. He tries to throw in a blow, but I easily manage to foresee this and side step them with the unusually high perception that I acquired from Modric. He tries to hit me again and again, but fails every time.

Finally, he rages and gives me a huge opening to strike at. I instantly throw my dagger down and punch him there. Both Aline and Erika look at me with a confused look which reads ‘Why didn’t you use the dagger?’ all over it. Rick shouts something that I don’t bother to hear, and charges in at me. Again, I drop my dagger as he shows an opening and kick him there.

After several cycles of this, Aline finally understands what I’m doing and looks at me with a smile. Erika has stopped smiling, but that’s not enough for me. After a few more cycles of him not being able to land a hit, Rick finally stops attacking stupidly. I land a few non-fatal blows on him, and he doesn’t rage out like earlier.

What do you mean― best possible ally and worst possible enemy? That just means her weakness is seeing her servants and friends suffering.

Within ten minutes, I am controlling the entire duel. I only deal superficial blows as I slowly beat down Rick. After a few more cycles, Rick finally stops attacking and defending as he falls down, tired and exhausted. I don’t let him get the rest that he wants, as I instantly kick hard into his stomach a few times. He throws up and falls down again.

Erika takes a step ahead to stop me from attacking Rick anymore, but Aline firmly grabs her hand and says, “You said you won’t interfere no matter what happens.”

So Erika only watches me thrashing Rick around with a helpless face. Her best companion or rather, a servant to her, is getting completely dominated by me and she can’t do anything-- nothing at all.

She averts her eyes, but turns them back onto me when Rick begs, “Please...spare me…” I do not listen to Rick as I kick him around. “You might be nice enough to say ‘I might end up leaving you alive if you end up looking so pathetic that I actually feel pity for you’,” I tell him, “But I’m not and never will be.”

I punch, kick prolonging his suffering before saying, “Although I might spare you on one condition…” I tell him, evoking a small ray of hope within him. “What...is...it?” He asks in a tired voice.

“If Erika kneels to me, I’ll let you go.”

The ray of hope within him instantly dies out, and he looks down.

“I’ll never bow to--” Erika starts speaking; I thrust my daggers into Rick’s heart as soon as I hear her speaking that, and she stops.

“You could have saved him, you know,” I tell her, “Anyway, Aline, how long has it been?”

Aline tells me back, somewhat blanched at what she had witnessed, “About three hours, My Lord.”

“Time passes so quickly,” I tell her, “I guess it’s true that the time moves faster when you have something to enjoy it in . That was fun, Erika. Was it a good enough entertainment for you, for your boring day?”

David hastily runs to Erika. I approach Erika and repeat what she had said, “We won’t hold it out against each other, no matter what the result is.”

I’ll make you regret making an enemy out of me, Erika, even if its slowly and steadily. Erika slowly regains her senses and nods with fire in her eyes. “I won’t hold it out against you...”

“Lets get moving, Erika,” I whisper slowly into her ear, “Askadon is next.”

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Author's note: I'm so sorry for the delayed chapter. I actually finished writing it a day ago but wasn't confident that its good and matches the storyline. This shouldn't happen often, but I might get busy with real life once in a while but I'll still write since I really love writing this...

Thank you Coreh_ for proof-reading and giving me some ideas~.