Viceroy Aphrodite

18th floor,

The Primordial Tower

Inside the walls of a castle, the godswood's multitude of trees created a dense canopy over old, packed earth and humus and moss. Among the many trees, the most common ones were ash, chestnut, elm, hawthorn, ironwood, oak, sentinel, and soldier pine. And at the center of this grove, standing tall over a pool of steaming, black water, was an ancient weirwood with a face carved into it. A heart tree.

On the moss-covered bank of this pool, under the red shade of the redder leaves of the heart tree, was a woman. Her hair was golden pink, with a touch of redness at the ends. Her eyes were like a peacock; brilliant teal pupils, so fascinating that they could snatch the breath away at one sight. Her face was round, soft, pink, and devoid of the tiniest blemishes. She was wearing a thin, green silken gown, hoping to cover the voluptuous bosom marked by a cleavage that could very well be mistaken as a depthless valley. A beauty mark, just over her left breast, threatened to make men and women alike lose the hold on their senses.

She was beauty; and beauty was her. One dared not speak of beauty and not of her lest one should do the folly, for she was Contestant Aphrodite, a Viceroy to the King-level Contestant.

Aphrodite was seated on a round, plain rock, with a sword in her lap for a lover. Sword was a mild term to describe this thing, whose hilt was resting on her left knee with heavy majesty. It was over 6 ft long and around 2 ft wide, and had one edge, with thickness increasing to become several inches towards the edgeless side. The sword's end wasn't a point, but it was flat and blunt. Yet, it was the sheer sharpness of the sword's edge, and the very steel carrying it, that made it a hazardous sight, drying throats, eyes, and minds alike.

It was a Buster Sword, weighing several tons, and made of one of the rarest, costliest, and most desirable materials among the top Contestants of the Primordial Tower, the Valyrian Steel.

Today, Aphrodite was whetting the sword, her hand carrying the whetstone, stroking the sword's edge in an even rhythmic motion. Her feet were bare under the sword, wet and soiled. However, even this only gave her an earthy smell, embellishing her otherworldly attraction.

In front of her, towards the pond, hovering mid-air was a screen. Her eyes observed the complete whiteness of the screen, waiting for the live feed to commence. Suddenly, the screen shook.

Aphrodite's slender fingers paused, her eyes narrowing at the odd sight presenting itself to her.

A blue-skinned and white-haired man, with mysterious hazel eyes, was standing at the place of the red-haired and red-eyed Candidate she was hoping to see. There was a blood-colored jewel embedded in the forehead of this man, and he also had a tail, thrashing at the snow under him. On his shoulders was a wooden case, strapped and bolted.

"Ara-Ara!" Aphrodite smiled. "He's handsome."

The lack of humane appearance failed to bother her even for a second. She was a Viceroy; a Contestant just under the level of Kings. In her vast lifetime, one could count the things that could surprise her on one's hands. And yet, she could remember that it was one of those things that had made His Grace command her to send out the Sponsor's request for Blood Demon.

'Color of Observation…' Aphrodite recalled, her smile widening. 'That too, under the 1st Threshold, was it? Hmm, handsome, indeed.'

Blood Demon's mission details had already been shared with her, other than the Mission's grade. This she had expected. The Systems scarcely played games with the Tournament of Worth. However, how unique the Random World Timeline Blood Demon would face, it would be revealed eventually, she knew.

'Would it be what His Grace had predicted?' Aphrodite asked herself, resuming the whetting. 'Now that would be amusing and quite erotic. Hehe!'

A rosy blush, like that of sweet red wine, surfaced on her cheeks as she thought of the king's prediction about Blood Demon's Unique Random World. She felt an itch between her thighs. Aphrodite pressed together her plump and sensuous thighs, and an electric pleasure sprouted from her nether regions, making her bite her lower lip.

Her right hand had just slid down, reaching under her gown, and aiming for more stimulation, when she heard the tink of a familiar clash. The strikes of swords. The thought of battle made her open her eyes and give the screen a look.

She saw the fight between the Blood Demon and Tanjiro Kamado, their sword styles, and then the Blood Demon ran away, caught off guard by the sudden ambush. Then she saw the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka, attacking the Blood Demon, who seemed to be rooted to the ground like a statue. Suddenly, the Blood Demon moved as though he had gained an incredible boost in strength and met Hashira's slash head-on.

Blood Demon lost half his tail and ran away like a bullet, causing a snowstorm in his wake, and preventing the Water Hashira from chasing him.

She then saw Blood Demon hiding in a cave like a rat. That amused her quite a bit. For an entire day, Blood Demon didn't go out of the cave, recuperating himself and regaining the lost flesh.

One day was nothing but a blink of an eye for Aphrodite. At her level, days seemed to have lost meaning. She had been whetting her Valyrian Buster Sword for the last 30 years, and who knew for how long she must whet to reach a King's level?

A notification popped up, then.

[

Blood Demon is using his privilege to converse with Sponsor Aphrodite. Do you acknowledge?

Once acknowledged, a countdown of 1 hour will begin. The time of conversation will be deducted from the hour-long limit.

Note: Other Sponsors cannot hear or perceive the conversation

]

'Oh! Am I the first, then?' Aphrodite thought, licking her lips. 'That's so exciting!'

Her thighs parted, and the whetting continued, as the Viceroy gave a nod of acknowledgment.

A new chapter of the history of the Primordial Tower had just begun.

*********

AN: Big chapter tomorrow