Chapter 53 - Setback

The morning came, in a specific part of the Safe Village, some minor training was taking place.

Kirika, along with Takumi were in the yard of Meril's residence, where Kirika was testing her control over nature; it seemed that Takumi's 'assistance' brought fruitful results.

With glowing green eyes and a half-raised hand, Kirika channeled her emotions through the energy known to dryads as 'Natural Essence', and freely moved some plants on the ground in a rather erratic way.

"Good, now try to call an animal," Meril stated.

Nodding with determination, Kirika placed her hands in a loose clasp and shut her eyes. Takumi watched in anticipation as tiny orbs of green light were emitted from her skin; soon after, a small chirping bird perched on her shoulder.

"Excellent! Although you need more training, I can safely call you a true dryad!" Meril congratulated with sparkles in her eyes.

Hearing this, along with her emotional persona, tears of joy welled up in her eyes. Takumi was about to console her when he was greeted by a tight, loving hug.

"Thank you, now I won't need that place anymore, thank you so much." Kirika expressed her gratitude.

"What do you mean, 'that place'?" Takumi asked with a caring expression as he rubbed her head.

Kirika tried to muster the courage to recall what seemed like a traumatic event but was interrupted by Meril, who knew the story and could tell it with clarity.

"You see, based on her story," she began, "Kirika here was an orphan in the 'Essence Hills', the place we dryads took as a settlement, the reigning dryad Emperor and Empress saw how weak she was and well… cast her out, not all dryads are as sweet as her and I. And since then she's been barely surviving on her own, almost getting killed by beasts multiple times."

Takumi was dumbstruck by this revelation, Meril was about to continue when Kirika interrupted her.

"Yes, and now because of you, I can find my own place in this world." she said, looking straight into his eyes with pure admiration.

As Takumi was about to accept the thanks, his lips and tongue were invaded by Kirika's in a passionate kiss. She released him half a minute later as she looked at the ground with a red face.

Takumi chuckled and glanced over at Meril, who wore a rather lustful look on her face; she then licked her lips while staring at Takumi and winked at him, right before turning inside her house.

***

A few minutes before the group of demons gathered to discuss a serious matter.

The dungeon was completely void of captured humans waiting to be turned, the only sound that could be heard were that of cracking whips and howling cries.

"Your spirit is quite strong for a princess, why don't you give in?!" A female demon holding a whip said as she delivered another blow.

The recipient of this torture winced in pain as the whip slashed against her skin, exposed through the many tears in the garments she wore. That recipient, was Aegis.

Her small body, which was tied to a wooden 'x', had red slash marks all over, she had been subjected to this torture ever since she was recaptured, in an attempt to break her soul along with her will to live.

"Nn-No matter… how much you… beat me…" she muttered as the demon ceased the whipping, "you won't have my body!"

Aegis stood steadfast, she seemed to be unbreakable in a situation like this; this strong spirit was courtesy of her dear father's blood coursing through her veins, she was determined to not let herself be responsible for the downfall of Endolis.

"Let's see how long you can last! Strengthen!" the demon roared, activating a scarib attribute, causing the muscles in her scarred arm to bulge, she delivered another strike.

*Crack~*

The added power behind the swing tore into Aegis' already damaged skin, sending a jolt of pain through her entire body as she howled in agony. A flurry of strikes came after, they were literally trying to beat the hope out of her.

But Aegis wouldn't give up, she knew that she was the last line of defense between Urusla and total domination; so no matter how much pain and suffering she was subjected to, she would hold out as long as she could.

"If you want, I can give you some extra dragon force to strengthen your body, lessen the pain," Daichi offered, wanting to help her get through the ordeal as at this time she couldn't be rescued.

"Thank you, but no," She replied mentally, "They'll just absorb it and it's back to square one."

The whipping ceased and the sound of footsteps could be heard getting louder as they approached where Aegis and the demon stood; the owner of these steps was Tai, the advisor.

Being of higher rank than her, the female demon bowed in respect. She was ignored as Tai walked straight over to Aegis, grabbing her face by the cheeks.

"That look in your eyes, it's still there," He said as he turned her face, which was surprisingly wound-free.

Behind the nerdy look Tai possessed lay a ruthless man, Urusla had quite a liking for that specific kind of man and as such she always chose the ones who had this personality trait to be her advisor, and to satisfy her 'other' needs.

"I'm a good person you know," Tai continued as he forced her to make eye contact with him, slowly sliding his hand down her belly before stopping just above her crease, "I let you keep your innocence, but from what I see, I may have to change my mind,"

*ptoo~*

Aegis spat at his face with a disgusted expression, he chuckled coldly as he wiped the saliva from his glasses; the chuckle instantly changed to a scowl as he delivered a solid punch to her face, knocking her out.

"Where's the dagger? I know how to break her spirit," Tai asked, turning to the female demon while still keeping the scowling expression.

The female demon spasmed as her face showed surprise, she had no idea what dagger Tai spoke of and as such she asked what he meant.

"You don't have it?!" He roared in both anger and fear.

Now there were two other demons in the dungeon and they joined in in the conversation, seeing the fear on Tai's face, the feeling infected them as well.

"So which of you will tell her, huh?" Tai asked, he rubbed his forehead as none of the other demons would speak up.

He decided to take on the responsibility along with the risk and inform Urusla of the matter; He fearfully walked to the throne room where he knew he would find her and of course, she was there, taking part in one of her usual activities.

"My Empress," he said meekly, shivering while he got on one knee, "we seem to be facing a setback…"