Chapter 113: Try to make an excuse

Sairaorg sipped tea in a garden.

Kuisha had locked herself in 'Queen' room in the assigned guest quarters, and one of Sairaorg's Bishops, Coriana, had volunteered herself to go and talk with Kuisha while her expert opinion and advice for Sairaorg was for him to go for a walk or something, as he'd only make things worse if he tried to talk to Kuisha right then.

Sairaorg had agreed, and had asked a passing-by service staff member if there was a garden or some such where he could drink tea and relax outside.

Time passed in solace as Sairaorg thought about his situation- And that of his Peerage. '...I knew Kuisha had feelings for me, but… I am at fault as well. I should have seen it, taken her to the side, and let her know what I felt…'

He took a sip from his drink. '...Instead I allowed things to escalate by inaction. I was too focused on battle, on rating games and building strength, that I ignored the feelings of my Peerage… I should have talked to her… Perhaps tell her how I feel, before she could build courage to confess to me, make the finishing blow less painful by not allowing the wound to fester…''

Sairaorg sighed. "I messed up."

"...No, we messed up." A voice came from somewhere behind Sairaorg, and he turned to see Kuisha walk into the garden.

"Kuisha, are you-"

"Don't. Don't worry about that. I am alright. I was… just a bit too arrogant." Kuisha sat next to Sairaorg, but left a gap between the two. "I'm sorry for making a scene, my King."

"Sairaorg. You can call me Sairaorg, like you always have."

"As you wish, my King."

"...I see you're still mad."

"I do not know what you're talking about." Kuisha bristled a bit… Before sighing heavily. "I, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lash out like that…"

Sairaorg leaned to the side in order to hug Kuisha, as she looked quite vulnerable and fragile for a moment, despite the fact that Sairaorg had seen her pull a head off a bear with her bare hands.

"Sairaorg-sama…. No. Not this." The woman pushed him away with both hands. "Don't… I… You don't know the impact of your kindness on wretched, houseless things like me. Do not give me more false hope."

"I didn't mean it like that, I was just-"

"I know now. I know now what you meant, I saw your kindness as something you reserved for me, I read too deeply into it... but, now I know…" Kuisha sighed. "...You're a weird devil, you know that, my King?"

"...I'd like to think that I am not a deviant, but-" Sairaorg sighed. "I've known I've been an odd one in the bunch since the day I was born. Without the [Power of-"

"Bullhead." Kuisha poked Sairaorg's head with her finger. "I mean your kindness. How easily you show it, how easily you open your heart… What if I wanted to break it? All I'd need to do was to reach out, mislead you… And then crush your heart."

"But I know you won't do that. That is why I can open my heart to you."

"Hrgh- Here you go again." Kuisha blushed to her eyebrows and looked away from Sairaorg. "You need to learn to stop talking like that! It's seriously dangerous!"

"It's alright." Sairaorg tied his arm around Kuisha's shoulders again, causing the woman to let a hiccup but not toss him off this time. "I know. I know why you're here."

"You… You don't know anything…" Kuisha looked away while the hiccup repeated, this time causing the woman's words to become a bit muted.

"I know that too. And why you're lashing out. It's because of my foolish words back then, and because this might be the last day you're my Queen." Sairaorg allowed Kuisha to look away, as the woman's pride wouldn't allow her to be seen crying. "I was cruel when I ordered you to do that, knowing that you might harbor feelings towards me."

"You- You knew?" Kuisha breathed out shakily. "What- do… Ah…"

"It's alright. I won't shun you for it. I didn't realize you were so serious about it, I didn't think too much about it… I should have confronted you about that earlier. All of this is my fault." Sairaorg explained. "Instead I didn't focus on it, allowed your feelings to flame from spark, until it turned to a fire that would have eaten the relationship we have already built. That of a King and his Queen."

"But… Not that of a man and a woman." Kuisha's voice was quiet.

"No." Sairaorg nodded his head, figuring that a moment of harshness would be better than a hour of false hope.

"...I see. I… I understand. I… I… H-hic I…"

"It's alright to be sad. I am sorry." Sairaorg hugged Kuisha as she cried, leaning her head against his chest. "I'll swear to be a better King for you… In the time we have left, and after that as friends. If you accept me as one. No matter what happens, you can count on my help."

"Of course I want to be your friend, even after I am traded away, dummy…" Kuisha blew her nose on Sairaorg's shirt, before freezing utterly still as she realized what she had done.

Sairaorg looked down at his snot-stained shirt… And reached to pat Kuisha on the head in a joking manner. "...Well, I did say that you can count on my help. I didn't expect you to take me up on the offer so soon though."

"Ah- Ahaha- ahahhaa!" Kuisha seemed to lose it and leaned against his shoulder while giggling uncontrollably. "I- I'm… ehehee- S-sorry… I didn't mean to…"

"I know. Now then…" Sairaorg used [Power of Imagination] to dry up his shirt, leaving it crumpled and a bit stained, but dry. "Let's return. We have a day to hang out with the others, so let's make this day a memorable one."

"What about your mother? And… If I'm not the one that needs to be traded?" Kuisha asked carefully.

"I've sent word to those loyal to me in the clan. They're retrieving mother from her abode in Bael family's countryside, where she resided, and are transporting her here. Michael said that he'd have someone escort the convoy outside the perimeter, and bring mother into the church by the lakeside for healing."

"I see… I must confess I'm not really comfortable with the idea of a church in the Underworld, nor this religion thing, but I'll trust your judgment, my Ki-"

"Sairaorg."

"...I trust you, Sairaorg. And what about the trade? What if I am not enough for Momon?"

"...That's a bridge that we'll cross when we get to it." Sairaorg sighed, and Kuisha put her hand on his shoulder.

"No matter what happens, I'm with you. As a Queen, or as a friend. I... I hope that you'll manage to trade me back, somehow... And that you'll not see me differently after that. That I was tainted."

"Thank you, Kuisha." Sairaorg nodded to Kuisha. "Of course I won't. Something like that would never darken my view of you, much less so when it was something I ordered you to do. You know me well enough to know I'm truthful with my words. And if I find that Momon is not treating you well, then..."

Kuisha smiled at Sairaorg, and leaned closer before Sairaorg could finish his sentence.

Sairaorg was a bit shocked as Kuisha kissed him on the cheek.

"I know. You need to stop speaking like that or you'll seduce every woman you'll meet, time and time again, and then there won't be enough of you left for Seekvaira-sama." Kuisha joked to Sairaorg.

"Hm?" A third voice entered the conversation, causing the two of them to turn around to see a pair of women.

"Ah. Ravel-san. Greetings." Sairaorg greeted the fellow Young Devil, and then bowed to the woman beside her. "Lady Phenix. Please accept my condolences for the recent tragedies that have struck your family. My heart goes out to you and yours."

The woman shook from head to toe while pale as a sheet, and she sent Ravel a frightened glance before answering Sairaorg in a shaky manner. "I… I accept your condolences, and I thank you for your compassion."

"Kukuku…" Ravel chuckled in a way that caused Sairaorg's neck-hairs to stand on ends.

'...What is going on here?' Sairaorg turned towards Ravel. "Ravel-san. I heard that you were engaged to Momon- ahem, True God. Please accept my late congratulations, as I was not invited to the engagement ceremony."

"Thank you." Ravel curtsied in a picture-perfect 'young lady' manner, although there was something off about her behavior- It lacked the arrogance and headstrong attitude that Sairaorg had come to expect from devils of Phenix clan.

The muted, scared behavior of her mother made the situation even more weird, as Sairaorg had seen the woman a few times and had spoken to her once, and during those occasions the woman had been warm and easy to approach, yet had hidden a underlying sharpness and cunning under the air of warm motherhood.

Yet, the woman in front of her was, simply put, a wreck.

'...She did lose her children apart from Ravel, her husband through divorce and now physically…' Sairaorg felt quite saddened by the woman's state. "I am saddened to see that your grief has affected you so. Please be reassured that the House of Bael offers you what aid we can during your hour of grief."

"Kukuku…" Ravel chuckled for some reason, making Sairaorg quite confused as he hadn't meant the words to be a joke. Meanwhile Lady Phenix's frightened shaking only intensified, and her eyes darted from Sairaorg to Ravel to seemingly random items as if she was a trapped or wounded animal.

"Ahem… Regardless, I feel that this is a bad time to speak about such things. But I feel that it is cruel to keep this from you, as I heard that my mother and you are friends." Sairaorg coughed to his fist and addressed his words to Lady Phenix while Kuisha was slowly edging between Sairaorg and Ravel. "She has, unfortunately, succumbed to Sleeping Sickness."

Lady Phenix's lower lip quivered.

Her legs seemed to lose strength but she managed to catch herself mid-stumble, and leaned against the wall in shock. It looked like she was in too much of a shock to think straight as she turned towards Ravel. "Is… Was this… His plan too?"

Sairaorg froze still, while Ravel's chuckling intensified.

"In other words, you're here to trade something to our Master in order to have your mother healed, no?" Ravel chuckled to the back of her hand. "Aha… haha… And what were you planning on trading to Him in order for him to grant you that boon?"

Sairaorg wasn't a fool. He had already put the pieces of floating evidence together, and had figured out what was happening. 'In other words, Lady Phenix is being held as a slave and is being tormented… Meanwhile 'Momon' has done something to Ravel… Or Ravel is no longer alive, and I am speaking to a puppet that wears Ravel's skin. Killing Phoenixes is nearly impossible, and Phenix clan of devils lives up to that legacy… But from what I've heard of this 'Supreme Being', he just might be able to do that easily.'

'...That slip by Lady Phenix… I see. I had doubts about Yuuto's words, but it seems that he was being truthful.' Sairaorg resisted the urge to vent his rising anger, and managed to swallow it. "Indeed, Ravel-san. You are correct."

"Kukuku… In that case… I'll let you get to it." Ravel chuckled and turned to leave, much to Sairaorg's confusion. Specifically as Ravel passed her mother and stroked her cheek briefly, and then walked off.

'Ah.' Sairaorg realized what Ravel had meant as Lady Phenix gulped and steeled herself.

"I… I hope that whatever you're trading for Misla-, ahem, Lady Bael is worth something to Momon-sama." Lady Phenix told Sairaorg, even though it was clear that the woman was barely capable of standing upright despite putting up a strong front.

"...I planned on pledging my house to Momon-sama's cause, and offering my Queen as a trade." Sairaorg spoke, knowing full well that lying or obfuscating things would not help his cause. "I hope that would be enough for Momon to revive my mother. There is no known cure to Sleeping Sickness, but with resurrections on the table, there is no limit to True God's power… Or should I say… The Supreme Being's power."

Sairaorg knew that he was pushing his luck, but Lady Phenix had slipped something crucial in her moment of weakness, letting Sairaorg know that she was likely privy to the information as well.

Lady Phenix's eyes glazed over. "So you know."

"Indeed."

"How did you come across this information?" Lady Phenix asked, sounding more curious than afraid, almost as if she was thinking that she was speaking to a corpse.

"I was told so by…" Sairaorg realized that if he spoke out Yuuto's name, he might potentially jeopardize the Knight's life as the man had chosen honor and truth over a lie, and by Sairaorg blurting out the truth, the Knight might pay for his honorable nature with his life. "...I deduced it on my own."

Lady Phenix snorted out, her eyes lifeless and body utterly still. "I said the same, you know. When he revealed himself to me, and I panicked, thinking that a lie would save the one who had first told me that. But it was a trap as well. Do you think that you can out-scheme the Supreme Being?"

"I…" Sairaorg was startled by the sudden change in the woman's body language, almost as if she had lost all hope.

Kuisha sent Sairaorg a frightened glance, but she stayed slightly in front of Sairaorg in a way that would allow her to intercept an attack if one was struck.

"...This is your Queen, then?" Lady Phenix sent a glance at the blonde woman. "I see… It seems that Momon-sama prefers blonde women… I should probably warn Yasaka-sama…"

Kuisha seemed quite intimidated by Lady Phenix's lifeless, evaluating glance, and took a step back.

"...What did you mean by that?" Sairaorg asked. 'It was almost as if Momon planned for-'

"Momon planned for your offering, of course." Lady Phenix sighed. "Likely from the start. Like how my fall from grace was premeditated, and intricately carried out. I offered myself out of my free will, in order to resurrect my husband… But it was not my free will. Momon-sama manipulated me to offer myself, and I… I…"

The woman's body shook in grief and anger. "And I was such a fool… Such a utter fool… I…"

"Lady Phenix!" Sairaorg took a step forwards as the woman fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands.

"I was such a idiot… I traded myself to Momon, but I resisted… I put it off, I didn't go to him… Instead I tried to ignore it, ignore that I had been traded, that I was no longer hubby's… In response Momon took my husband's warmth, took my children, and now had thralled my husband to a wretched death…" Lady Phenix cried out, thick streams of tears flowing down her face. "I… I can't… I'm such a fool…"

"Lady Phenix!" Sairaorg knelt in front of the woman, and sent Kuisha a desperate glance. 'I'm not good with crying noble ladies!'

Kuisha seemed to get it and knelt beside the woman. "Lady Phenix, if I can be of assistance…"

"No, there's no-one that can help me, no-one that can save me… Momon is a true Maou, a true demon king… He grants life with one hand, and takes away with the other… Our torment, our pain, our life and death, it is all a game for him…" Lady Phenix shook like a leaf. "Even my Ravel… My sweet, kind Ravel… Uwaaaaaah!"

The woman seemed to break down utterly and Kuisha tied her hands around the woman's shoulders while she cried bitterly and shook from head to toe.

"Pwease… Pwomise me… I don't want… I don't want this to happen to anyone else…" Lady Phenix spoke out between hiccups that racked her body while turning her eyes towards Kuisha. "If you're traded to Momon… For resurrecting Misla… Please promise me, for your sake, for Sairaorg Bael's sake, for Misla's sake, for your sake… Don't try to ignore him, when your time comes, when you are His… Momon is not one who comes asking for what he wants, he is the one that makes other people bring him what he wants, whether they realize it or not… And if they fail… The consequences are horrifying…"

Kuisha froze still.

"I made that mistake… And this is what I am now…" Lady Phenix shook from head to toe. "He won't take his anger out on the one who wrongs him, but rather destroys everything they hold dear, systemically, precisely, emotionlessly, until they realize that they have wronged Momon, and come begging for forgiveness… Only to be denied, and be forced to even more cruel fate. Please… I don't want… I don't want Misla to go through that too…"

"I… see. I understand." Kuisha gulped and sent Sairaorg a frightened glance. She seemed to find something in Sairaorg's face as her expression softened, she nodded, and then her look hardened to that of an iron-clad determination. "I understand, Lady Phenix. Thank you for telling me that. I understand now, what kind of person Momon is. And what I am to become."

Sairaorg's jaw let out a threatening crack as he grind his teeth, feeling like scum after hearing Kuisha's determination and contrasting it to Sairaorg trading her away for the sake his mother, for dispelling whatever Momon himself had cast upon her to have her fall ill of Sleeping Sickness.

'...It looks like Momon-san is someone truly despicable and dangerous… I should have guessed, when Diodora gave him such a gushing endorsement… Figures that those two are alike… Just my luck…'

.

.

Momonga sneezed as sat on a bench in a park in Tokyo. 'I guess it's getting colder…'

Ophis sat down on the bench next to Momonga and was kicking her legs over the edge in an excited manner even if her expression was stuck to disinterested blandness.

Rossweisse was hidinding behind Momonga on the other side from Ophis.

"So… Your home is in the Interdimensional Gap?" Momonga asked after a moment, during which Ophis's excitement seemed to only increase.

"I… I lived there. It was fun. Everything was quiet. I liked it. I want to go back." Ophis explained. "But I forgot something, and went looking for it, and when I came back, there was a big red idiot thing exploding stuff in my home. And it was no longer quiet."

"I get it." Momonga nodded. 'I don't get it.'

Ophis beamed in delight, even if only through her body language.

"O-Ophisisis- shshamaamam…" Rossweisse was quaking like pudding, and she seemed to be extremely afraid for some reason. And her drunken state likely didn't help things.

"Calm down, Rossweisse. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe." Momonga reassured the woman while stroking her head, although mostly so that she wouldn't blurt out anything unnecessary to Ophis. 'Letting her get drunk might have been a bad idea… Haa…' "[Weaken]"

Rossweisse flopped down on Momonga's lap, and Momonga adjusted her position so she was more comfortable. 'Being drunk and [Weaken]ed should help her relax, or rather, knock her out with a minimal amount of force…'

"Hmm… Sorry, Rossweisse. I don't think you'll be much help right now. [Gate]." Momonga chucked the woman into the swirling portal which would lead to his bedchambers in Phenix estate.

Ophis tilted her head at the portal. "I… I've seen that before… Is that the same thing that skele-guy uses?"

"Skele-guy?"

"I… I think he's a skeleton, and a guy, so a skele-guy…" Ophis tilted her head on the other side. "Are you related to skele-guy?"

"Um…" Momonga sweated a bit. "I don't think so?"

"I believe you, true-guy." Ophis waved her hands from side to side in what Momonga hoped was a reassuring way. Which did not reassure him at all.

"Do you want to go for a cup of tea?" Momonga moved the conversation along as he had little interest or wanted to continue the previous subject as it had almost gone somewhere dangerous. '...Infinite health? Not good… I didn't realize that the Overlord General's boss-of-sorts in Khaos Brigade was that much of a monster… I need to tell it to stop eating Khaos Brigade and go somewhere to lie low, I'm lucky that Ophis didn't take that too personally…'

"Tea?"

"Like, the drink? Or is coffee more of your thing?" Momonga offered. 'I should probably ask for backup… Michael knows where I am, as do the Gatekeeper maids… But with infinite health, I think my best option is to avoid fighting at all costs…'

Ophis tilted her head and there was a question mark above her head.

Momonga shook his head to dispel the illusion. "Right, um, let's go to a parfait cafe… I think I saw one on my way back. Koneko and Asia seemed to like those…"

"Does it help you kick baka-red's snout?" Ophis looked puzzled.

"No, well, I mean…" Momonga was sweating under the young girl-looking monster's flat, puzzled stare. "Ahem, actually, I think I have some in my [inventory]..."

Momonga reached into his inventory, shuffling for some YGGDRASIL food items that were supposed to taste good. 'This feels like a massive waste, but I should think of it as cost of doing business…'

He offered Ophis a [Dragon cake]… Before he snatched it away as he realized what he was offering.

Ophis tilted her head while covering her nose. "That smells scary…"

"Right, um… Some macarons?" Momonga offered a plate of caramel-coloured meringue confectionary to the girl, who took one of them and just held onto it. "...You're supposed to eat it. With your mouth?"

Ophis seemed to get it, and stuffed the entire thing in her mouth, chewed a couple of times, and gulped.

She seemed to shake for a while… Before she let a 'pop' and a shower of sparkly confetti materialized around her to drift down.

'Uh… They did have some visual effects…' Momonga sweated as he offered the plate to Ophis again.

Ophis looked at the plate, opened her mouth a couple of times, and then took two of the sweets and stuffed them into her mouth.

"Does it taste good?" Momonga asked as Ophis was stuffing her face, causing a concerning amount of glitter to form around her as the visual effect went off in rapid fire. "I think I have something to drink too… Um…"

Momonga offered Ophis a pitcher of ostensibly low-'level' lemon water, which was supposed to help with stamina regeneration. 'I hope I'm not just pre-buffing her, if we have to fight…'

The girl seemed to blech a bit from the water, causing Momonga to come to a conclusion. 'She likes sweet things, got it…' "Ahem, there's more of those sweet things in a cafe… Want to come with me?"

The girl looked at Momonga, at the empty plate of macarons, and then nodded eagerly while her face was stuck to an emotionless stare.

She tossed the lemon water jug to the side, causing Momonga's hoarder instincts to cry a river of blood, but he soldiered on and took the infinite-health having monster dragon in the appearance of a young girl to a unplanned date-slash-sweets tour around the city.

Ophis seemed to enjoy herself, based off her body language, but Momonga's hoarder instincts were practically planning to commit self-die as he was forced to supplement some cafe's with food items from his personal inventory if Ophis ran into something that she didn't like.

'So she likes sweet, creamy, chocolatey and cold things…' Momonga noted that his bank balance was starting to slowly creep to concerning numbers as Ophis slurped down a four-person ice-cream bowl full of brownies, chocolate ice-cream and strawberries. '...I think Rias has somewhat the same taste… I hope she's not too angry that I went for a vacation at a time like this…'

Ophis seemed to be stuffed full as she wobbled after Momonga, before Momonga picked her up and put her up on his shoulders, akin to how he had seen someone carry their child in a playful way.

Momonga hoped that it would help Ophis think of him as a friend and ally, and it seemed that she wasn't offended by it even if she was a bit confused.

The tour of Tokoy's confectionary underworld ended where it had started, which was the park.

"I… I liked that…" Ophis jumped down from Momonga's shoulders and did a small pirouette, which Momonga translated as her being in high spirits. "That was fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Momonga commented, trying his best to sound warm and caring.

Ophis reached to pat his thighs. "I… I'd like to go home now? Can you help me get home now?"

"So… You're expecting me to kill the Great Red and bring you home?" Momonga asked Ophis, who nodded her head eagerly. "Right now?"

"I… I'd like that… I give you my snake, so be strong, like skele-guy…" Ophis waved her hands from one side to another in celebration, and then reached under her skirt.

"Wha- Ahem, thanks, I'm good. I don't swing that way." Momonga paused the 'girl' as he had enough of ero-world's shenanigans for one vacation, and he did not want to know what the child-looking girl had under her skirt. 'One Gasper-surprise is enough, thank you...'

The 'girl' dragon looked surprised, but then her face returned to its usual emotionless stare. "You're weird, true-guy. People usually want it…"

"You shouldn't just give it to anyone who asks." Momonga rubbed his temple. 'She's, er, he's is way too clueless and vulnerable…'

"Okay." Ophis continued 'her' celebratory dance. "Are you going to kick baka-red out now? Right now? Please? Right now?"

"What, do you expect me to just wave my hand and pull the Great Red away from the Interdimensional Gap?" Momonga waved his hand to illustrate while his words were delivered with the sigh of an overworked businessman…

.

.

The Great Red screamed in pain and fury as the avalanche of tentacles and bleating, hungry goat-maws swarmed around him, tearing at his scales and body, and in multiple places had managed to pierce through his armor and had begun to devour the softer flesh and organs.

The fight in the Interdimensional Gap had been furious, and the Great Red had destroyed a countless number of the Dark Young. But he knew that it wasn't enough- Even though the Dark Young were gradually being weakened and disintegrated by the energies of the Interdimensional Gap, the fact was that if they were allowed to rampage as they pleased, they would eventually break the seal the Great Red had placed to keep an unknown evil at bay.

And so, he had fought valiantly… And lost inevitably.

'Was that the reason these things were dumped here? Who did that? I saw that… strange, alien thing that reeked of death…' The Great Red thought in an attempt to distance himself from the pain, as he had realized that he had long since lost the battle.

The massive red dragon's guts were flailing in the gravityless void, and a few of the goat-trees had burrowed into his stomach and were greedily devouring his internals. Massive ribs were exposed, and had been gnawed to stumps. Car-sized scales had been broken, lashed and shattered, and were floating around the Great Red's body like a debris field.

The massive seal made by the Great Red still held strong, and the Great Red forced himself to stay in the Gap- Every moment the swarm of Dark Young spent devouring his body was a moment during which the Dark Young were not actively breaking the seal.

One of his wings let out a crack and was torn off, and the Dark Young responsible for it floated after the shredded wing before starting to gnaw on it. The Great Red couldn't do anything but watch… until the wing floated past his face with the Dark Young stuck to it like a devouring leech.

A gout of flame came from the Great Red's maw, catching the goat-tree and causing it's bark to smolder and crack, but the intensity of the flame had dwindled to mere embers.

The Great Red felt something breaking in his chest, and breathed out flame as his core had overheated from his last gout of fire and had vented it's heat to his lungs, causing them to burn. 'Ah… So this is the end…'

The Great Red, however, had one last plan.

It was a desperate plan. Even idiotic, if he had told himself the plan when he was still intact.

He felt his death approaching, and knew that he couldn't distract the Dark Young anymore.

But he knew someone who just might be able to finish what the Great Red had started.

A massive portal appeared in the Interdimensional Gap, slowly pulling the Great Red's body into it…

.

.

Momonga finished his handwave just in time for a massive, shimmering portal to appear in Tokyo's sky.

Almost immediately afterwards a broken, shattered, and partially devoured body of a massive red dragon lurched through the portal, accompanied by a shower of gore, broken scales, and flying organs.

The massive red dragon failed to fly as one of its wings was missing, not to mention it looked like the dragon was on death's door as it collided against a skyscraper, toppling it down, smashed against another in a way that effectively snapped the building two like a twig, and finally digging a massive trench on the streets with it's massive body like some sort of dragon-brand plow.

The red dragon came to a stop inthe park after digging a huge trench, and it let out a thick gout of black smoke from between it's massive jaws.

"Haa- Haaa… Haa… Ophiss…." The dragon's voice was seemingly echoing from all directions at once, which let Momonga know that it was likely projecting it through magical means.

Momonga realized that it was the same red dragon he had seen briefly when he had first come to the ero-world.

Ophis looked at the red dragon, then at Momonga, then at Momonga's hand which was frozen on the end of his handwave.

Then Ophis hopped up from the park bench and hugged Momonga.

The massive dying, broken and partially eaten red dragon seemed to recognize Momonga and opened it's mouth, causing more black smoke to come from it while something bright seemed to form in the depths of it's throat..

"[Boost]!" Momonga instantly recognized that the dragon was about to attack.

"Wha- whu?" Ddraig woke up from his nap as Momonga equipped [Boosted Gear] and activated [Scale Mail]. "Red?! What hape- Wait! Wait!"

"[BoostBoostBoostBoostBoost] - [Maximize Penetrate Magic: Grasp Heart]" Momonga extended his hand towards the massive red dragon.

A massive red-coloured, cracked orb materialized in Momonga's hand, causing him to almost fall on his face as his body didn't have high enough strength to hold it properly.

The massive red dragon stared at Momonga for a moment in shock… Before it's eyes rolled up and a massive gout of pitch-black smoke came through it's snout and it flopped against the ground, causing a small earthquake.

The red orb seemed to start to dim slowly, and then glowed blue as Momonga cast [Detect Life] and [All Appraisal Magic Item] on it.

"I… Is that baka-red's heart?" Ophis seemed to recognize the orb, voicing what Momonga had seen through his magic.

'So the dragon's heart is an item, technically… And it's alive.' Momonga noted, and then flinched as the dragon in his head screamed.

"Red-senpaiiiii! Noooooooooo!" Ddraig fell on his knees on the flat dust-scape of Momonga's internal world, and the massive dragon slammed his fist against the flat in a way that caused the red dust to crack. "Dammit! What did you do, Momonga?!"

'In my defense, he was about to attack…' Momonga felt suddenly nervous as it looked like killing the massive dragon was something that Ddraig had taken personally. 'Er, good morning, I suppose?'

"Not a good morning! Definitely not! What was that? What did you dooooooo?!" It looked like Ddraig had enough and was positively fuming.

'Erm… Right, timeout.' Momonga paused the situation by opening his [Inventory] wide and chucking the smoldering dragon-core in it. 'Normally living things can't enter [Inventory] but since the heart is an item, and Ddraig was there once already… Ah. It seems that it fits.'

The massive orb-like thing slid right in after a bit of expansion, and as soon as the item disappeared, the Great Red's body began to disintegrate.

Momonga checked his inventory and noted that a [Red Dragon Core] had been added in it. 'I suppose that's that… Hm… Is it like a crystal that holds a soul? Technically the Great Red isn't dead, just bodiless… I wonder if I could substitute it for a Data Crystal from YGGDRASIL and use it to craft something?'

"You are so not going to use Red-senpai's soul for your wicked experiments. I am putting my foot down." Ddraig fumed.

'Are you ready to lose that foot, Ddraig?' Momonga turned his thoughts on the dragon in his head, using bluffing to make up for his lacking strength as he was keenly aware that his recent victories were little more than a fluke and had very little to do with his actual strength.

Ddraig seemed to hesitate, so Momonga ignored the dragon which caused it to pout but this time in a cowed way.

Ophis, meanwhile, was doing a victory dance which involved hugging Momonga once every few seconds.

"Right, um… So that happened." Momonga's fleshy body's mouth was dry.

"I… I like you, true-guy. I'll go home now. I want to be in peace and quiet. I like you." Ophis seemed to be uncertain, almost as if she didn't know what to do now that the Great Red was no longer occupying her 'home'.

She slapped herself on the cheeks, which looked somewhat disturbing as her expression didn't change.

"I… I'll go home now. Thank you, true-guy, I'll… I'll… um…" Ophis seemed to fall into deep contemplation before she seemed to realize what she wanted to say. "I'll reward you somehow!"

"Thanks, I'd like that. Please be safe." Momonga hurried Ophis along, as he was feeling more than a bit spooked out by what had happened. "In that case I'll return to the Underworld. You can find me there if something happens."

Ophis nodded in a spirited way, and a void of sorts seemed for form behind her and she backed into it.

Momonga sighed and cast [Gate] back to the Underworld. 'Well, I suppose that my vacation went as well as I expected…'