Chapter 29: The Second Shard
It turned out that the guy I broke the mind of was the guildmaster, however the submaster thought it was hilarious, so when he reported it, he made sure to remark how the guildmaster harassed me before I broke his mind without even touching him.
“Well, so you are here to help with the evil beast problem?”
“Yep, and these guys were sent along to kill me.”
The party flinched.
“Yeah, don’t worry I know you have no intention of following through.”
They sighed in relief.
“Who assigned you to kill her?”
“Lolimaster.”
“Who?”
“She means Darthen, sir.”
“Why does she call him lolimaster?”
“Because she forced the Café Chef to release all of her slaves, so he thought to shame her in front of the whole guild by stripping her. Combined with her looking 10, she started calling him the lolimaster.”
“Well, he was dumb enough to harass a dragon, I’m surprised he didn’t die.”
“Why does everyone assume I’m murderous just because I’m a dragon.”
“Because our first impression of you is shattering the mind of the guildmaster.”
“In self-defense, and besides, how was I supposed to know his mind was that weak.”
“You are a mature dragon, there are very few that can stand against your aura.”
“...?”
“Why are you confused?”
“I’ve released my aura, while in the bloodlusted stated, in front of the guard of Selethon’s capital, and a lot of adventurers, not a single one of them even flinched... I think your guildmaster was just weak minded. Especially since I held back a lot.”
“Ah... Well, we located the origin of the evil creatures. A dungeon, it seems to be too small for anything big, so we are assuming a maximum of legendary dungeon master.”
“Unless it’s a dragon.”
“We doubt it’s a dragon, unless you know of one of you siblings being able to summon demons.”
“Pretty much all of us...”
“...”
“Goblins is the only curveball that makes me think it’s not a dragon.”
“Alright, so here is where it is on the map.”
“That’s a 10-minute walk!”
“Yes, we’ve been getting attacked by demons quite a lot lately.”
“Hmm... Alright, let’s go.”
“Understood.”
“Let’s hunt us some demons.”
_
We found the dungeon without any difficulty, but there was a massive influx of evil energy. I could feel it in my core.
“Rose, are you okay?”
“You can’t feel that?”
“Feel what?”
“That... wrongness.”
“No.”
“Whatever is in this dungeon is powerful.”
“Alright. Men! Be careful.”
We entered and saw at the entrance a demon.
“Welcome to my dungeon. I am here to guard my summoner and the king within the dungeon.”
“There is a demon king in here?”
“Yes, but I don’t need to worry about it, none of you are leaving.”
“You are foolish if you think you can beat me.”
He jumped down laughing at my confidence. Then he looked at me and froze. He fell back.
“P-p-please spare me.”
“Nope.”
I cut the baron in half, the others were confused.
“Why did it cower?”
“I’m a dragon, plus I have the title Queen of the Beasts. Demons likely react to it.”
“I see.”
We proceeded, facing no more demons as all of the imps merely hid from us as we passed. We saw a demon lord.
“Hmm... a dragon? Well, I shan't block you. I saw what happened to the boastful baron.”
‘Mistress, thank you for gracing us with your presence. The dungeon master is a powerful human demon summoner. He is accompanied by a beast containing another shard. Please free it.’
‘Very well.’
We entered another room and saw a demon king. He saw us and spoke.
“Brave adventurers, you could not have come at a more opportune time. Our contracts are nearly over, so we can avoid fighting. Please destroy the summoner.”
He led us to a dark hallway and as we walked.
“This seems wrong. Even if they hated a summoner, demons would still be hostile to us.”
“Perhaps it’s because Rose decimated the baron?”
“Maybe, but I feel as though something is wrong.”
“Do you feel the wrongness or just realize something is wrong.”
“I still don’t quite understand what you mean by wrongness, but I can definitely tell that something is off.”
We entered the last room of the dungeon and saw a man wearing a robe that dragged on the floor... wait... that face...
“Ah my old rival. I suppose you’ve come to face me again, dragon!”
Callel was sitting on a throne.
“How the heck are you still alive. I’ve killed you twice now.”
“I... don’t know actually. I just keep popping up in dungeons.”
“You are irritating.”
“Eh, I don’t care, anyways I got an actual weapon this time. Go Celethar!”
A massive slug started moving slowly. I recognized it immediately. Another shard. We stopped and stared at each other.
‘Sister, merge with me. I can be free from this idiot.’
‘Why don’t you merge with me? I have a nicer body than a slug.’
‘Hmm... fair point, but you’d have to beat me first as I am still bound.’
‘How do I do that?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Are all shards like this?’
‘I think so, for an evil god we are pretty scatterbrained.’
“Um, Celethar... Please kill them.”
“Shut it.”
“Rose, why are you staring at the slug?”
“Busy.”
‘So, ignoring them, would you be able to throw the fight?’
‘Yes, I think I may be able to. Tap me.’
I tapped Celethar.
“WHOOOODLOOOOO!”
She fell over dead. Then given the opportunity we merged. A massive force of evil erupted as the dungeon shook like an earthquake struck it. I was no stronger, but I had a second mind that seemed about as confused as I was.
“You defeated Celethar? No matter, I shall beat you mysel-”
I broke off his head and created magma. I tossed all of his remains into the liquid rock.
“Okay, dungeon completed. Let’s go.”
“That was the most anticlimactic boss fight I’ve ever seen.”
“Same.”
“Eh, last time I beat him was lamer.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was threatening me when I was in dragon form, so I just bit him. He died instantly.”
“That is lame.”
We chattered until we exited the dungeon where we saw the whole demon army.
“Crap.”
“We can’t beat that many.”
Then they kneeled.
“Heh?”
“We wish to thank you for dealing with that annoyance, Mrs. Rose. Due to your great actions, we have decided to serve you until we face our end. Thus, I grant you two spells. Demon King Seleth and Demon Legion. You can summon me independently or with my whole army. Thank you for killing him.”
Then they disappeared.
“Um... Well, that just happened.”
“Was he really that bad of a boss?”
“It sounds like he’s more annoying than evil.”
“As someone who now has fought him three times, he is annoying.”
“How have you fought him before?”
“First time, he was an elf who cast a control spell that didn’t work, so I ate him, then he appeared as a lich, so I ate him, just now he was a human summoner, what next, is he going to be the mother****ing boogeyman?!”
“That would be funny.”
“It would not.”
_
“So, it was a human sorcerer?”
“Yep.”
“Why does Rose look tired?”
“BECAUSE THAT’S THE THIRD TIME I’VE HAD TO PUT THAT MAN IN THE GROUND!!!”
“Apparently, he keeps coming back.”
“How?”
“Not even he knew.”
“So... divine shenanigans?”
“I think that’s likely.”
I was tired, not from the fight, but from the merger. It consumed a lot of power, but I got the memories of the other shard, still don’t have my own. Apparently this one represented the sin sloth. Most of its memories were taking naps, or killing those who interrupted its nap.
I, all the sudden, had an urge to take a nap, but I resisted it.
After speaking with the new guildmaster, he ranked me up to A and told us to report to Darthen, the lolimaster.
We flew back to Stalaris capital and landed by the gate. My party dismounted and I shifted to cat form. I noticed a lot less slaves in line and more catkin.
After we got into the city, we headed straight to the guild.
“Ah, you all made it.”
He looked at me and froze.
“Ah, you all made it...”
“You already said that, lolimaster.”
“I said, don’t call me that!”
“Well, I survived, fulfill your side now.”
I laughed as he was forced to burn his slave contracts. We reported the events to him and then I said my goodbyes to the party.
“Hey, if any of you end up in Selethon’s capital, seek me out.”
“Got it.”
I exited the gate and shifted to my dragon form and flew off.