Chapter 70: Threat

The village’s commotion was silenced by the matriarch with a powerful bark. Although she was like a puppy before me, her power was no joke. "My lord, I don’t know if you are aware of the problem, but if you allow me to explain, I am sure we can reach an agreement," she said, her voice now calmer. I stared at her intently, without saying a word, to increase the tension. She began to speak, with her hands clasped and an expression of supplication. "The Moonclaw family tried to steal our clan’s sacred treasure. Although we discovered them in the process, they stole six of our seven sacred relics. That is why we had to act against them, as the foundation of our clan would be at stake if we didn’t." The matriarch paused, gauging my reaction. "No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get them back. That’s why we killed them all..." Jayde, beside me, said nothing. She only gritted her teeth, remembering her clan’s past and their tragic fate. The matriarch took advantage of Jayde’s silence to try to turn us against each other. "You see, your excellence, she has a guilty conscience; that’s why she can’t say anything. We are not the cruel, murderous tyrants you think we are." Desperate to get out of the jam, she made a deep bow. "If you allow me, I can offer you my granddaughter, Senda. She is still pure and chaste. I assure you that absolutely no one has contaminated even the slightest part of her purity." I looked at the young dogkin, who looked beautiful with her eyes fixed on the ground. I could see her teeth clenched from being treated like an object, and I perfectly understood her feelings. Her grandmother was just trying to save the skin of everyone else in the village by using her body in exchange. "I regret having to disappoint you," I told the matriarch. "Jayde’s words are not needed here. You have sinned, and you will have to pay. You can choose between two options, as I am feeling generous..." I remained silent, pausing to increase the tension on everyone present. "What would those options be, honorable guest?" the matriarch asked in a faint voice. "First: I will wash my dear Jayde’s past with blood. Or, second: you can become my slaves." Shouts resonated among the other clan members. "Slaves?!", "Who does this outsider think he is?!", "We will never submit!" Jax listened to them, but he just gave a signal to Anya, who raised her hand, invoking a gigantic fireball that left everyone in silence. Although she hadn’t launched it, they felt the imminent danger; that fireball could destroy them all without mercy. "There’s no need, no need, your highness," the matriarch said quickly. "We accept being your servants. I will be honest with you: we already expected this outcome, so I brought the Omaishi and the clan altar to offer them." With a movement of her hands, the Omaishi and a small altar appeared. This was the first time I had subjugated a village, and I wasn’t sure how to proceed, so the matriarch’s actions helped my objective immensely. The matriarch lifted the Omaishi and pressed it while saying words in a language I could not understand. The Omaishi began to shine brightly before fragmenting and falling onto the altar as brilliant ashes. "It is done, we have destroyed the contract with the Demon King..." she announced with a sigh of relief. Roooaaarrr...!!! A roar resonated in the distance, and suddenly, a Demon King emissary appeared in front of me. It still looked like a kind of shadow, but the strange thing was that this emissary looked small, not even half the size of the one I had faced in the village. I checked it, and the system still identified it as a Doppelgänger of the Demon King, but this one was level 5. It seemed to have been locked inside the Omaishi, which would explain how the Demon King found out everything if his soul was connected to these small fragments. I didn’t know that he could create doubles at will; I thought they would all have the same power, but it seems I had overestimated them. "We meet again, Hero..." he said with a rough, condescending voice, as if he were mocking me. "It seems so," I replied, smiling sideways while looking at him with disdain, trying to provoke him. I wanted to know if he would dare to attack me or if he was just bluffing with his nonchalant attitude. "How are you? Did it hurt when I killed your copy?" "Insolent as always... Enjoy your remaining time; you have no idea how many people want to kill you, and I could tell them where you are so they can come for you..." The Demon King issued a warning as if it were a casual comment, but it set off alarms inside my head. It could be very dangerous if the other demon kings found out my location, and I couldn’t dismiss that he would try it in a desperate act. "That’s a nice threat. But if you did that, wouldn’t they know where you hide your dirty ass? You’re stupider than I thought. Or isn’t that why you’re on this island? Because you’re afraid of your own kind? I heard the other Demon Kings screw and eat the fallen. Maybe they’d be interested in your dirty ass to fill up before they devour you." I mocked him, faking a tough front as if I didn’t care and underestimated the demons. "Dammitoo!!", the Demon King’s scream resonated, making the dogkin fall to their knees in terror. But at that instant, Riven moved. Her sword shone in a silver flash, decapitating the Doppelgänger without any problem. "A minor insect... not worthy of your valuable time," she said, while pretending to wipe the blood from her sword. The image of Riven decapitating the doppelgänger was even more effective than Anya’s fireball, as everyone feared the Demon King and now they could see that the women who followed me were just as powerful as I was. If each one of them was as strong as I was, there was no possibility of resistance. This made them thank the matriarch from their hearts for having made the decision and not being so foolish as to fight against such a terrifying power.