Chapter 150: A Game Of Cat And Mouse!

Dark Lord's POV:

After arriving in a small town on the southwestern side of my territory, I had my men surround the building my beloved had chosen for our date. It was a two-story restaurant near the center of town. Once I moved up the stairs to the second floor, I spotted the silly little girl waving at me from the corner table with a bottle of sake.

"Hehe! Have you finally decided to come home with me, my lovely Noxy!" I spoke as I sat down, while using my psychokinesis to lift her onto my lap before giving her a hug.

"Nope! I just thought I should give you one last chance since you're my Crybaby's friend and all!" She spoke, showing no reaction to my advances.

"One last chance to what exactly?" I spoke, as I rested my head on top of hers, taking in the herbal scent coming from her body.

"Your times up! Pay me the 990 high-grade magic stones you owe me or else!" She said as she poured herself a cup.

"990?! Wasn't it just 90 you wanted?"

"Well, a certain playboy went and raided my base and use my most expensive project to date along with my lifesavings for his dumb advancement! So, I figured you didn't mind that I placed it on your tab! Now pay up or I'm raising your palace to the ground before dismantling your empire!"

"Pft! HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's a funny joke, but even you have your limits my dear!" I laughed as I took the cup away from her.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"Your still not old enough for this yet! *Gulp*! Just wait until your birthday and I will let you have all the alcohol you could ever want! Speaking of! I've been wondering whether we should have our wedding on your birthday or the day after! I wanted to have our ceremony as soon as possible, but I don't want to miss a chance to spoil you with my affection! What do you think?"

"I think, it's unfair I've been branded crazy by my son when his friend is obviously more delusional than me!"

"SON?! Oh, wait! Are you perhaps referring to your disciple? You shouldn't scare me like that! Though, if you behave yourself, we might have one as early as next year!" I spoke as I cuddled her some more.

"Hm? Gross!"

As I was enjoying my time with this little minx, my men came in to surround our table, while evacuating the commoners from the building.

"Oh, good! The cops are here!"

"My lord! We have finished setting up the barrier! In addition, we have destroyed the ritual magic that was set up around the city!"

"Well then Noxy, are you ready to depart towards your new home?" I spoke as I gripped her tightly to prevent her from escaping my grasp.

"So, that's a 'no' on paying your rent?"

I chuckled to myself as I moved closer to whisper into her ear.

"Don't try to resist! I prepared that barrier especially for you! It drains the elemental energies from the area so you can't use your spirit magic!"

It's so rare that it took me some time to recognize it, but that rock inside my beloved which she uses to manipulate the elements is a spriggan's spirit core. A spirit core is what allows elemental spirits to control the elements with just a thought. This ability is what is referred to as spirit magic and is an art that is unique to energy-based lifeforms. Even immortals and gods can only vaguely emulate it due to the strain it puts on the psyche. Elemental spirits are rather hard to find in the wild due to their racial traits, but spirits of multiple elements are rare even amongst fairies. That scarcity increases the more elements they possess as well.

If it was only a single or even just a double element spirit, I wouldn't have been too surprised, but to think she found another spriggan like her brother to make a contract with. She truly has a talent for treasure hunting. I digress.

While ordering my men to put up a barrier that would make her magic obsolete, I had also told them to destroy any traps she may have placed around the city just in case. With her in my arms I could easily use my qi to disrupt any spells she may try to cast. With her magic gone, I could easily overpower her in physical strength, even without the help of my hoard of nascent souls that surrounded us at this very moment.

"*sigh* I hoped it wouldn't come to this!" She sighed in disappointment.

"Hm?"

I suddenly got this ominous feeling that something was wrong. With her traps dismantled and her magic useless, I was expecting her to start panicking or at least show some unease, but she was eerily calm. She wasn't even struggling to escape my arms as I stood up to carry her towards the stairs.

"Why are you *bleurgh**cough**cough*"

"YOUR LORDSHIP!"

I was about to inquire why she seemed so relaxed when I suddenly felt a jolt of pain in my stomach as I began to cough up blood. I dropped to the floor in pain as I could feel my qi going out of control.

"*Cough* What is this?"

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIS HIGHNESS?!" One of my men screamed at Nox.

"Me? I did nothing! That kleptomaniac did this to himself!" She said as she used my back as a seat.

"*Cough* What?"

"Maybe, next time you should think twice before stealing what's mine you alcoholic playboy!"

"Alcoholic? *cough* You poisoned me? *cough*" I spoke as I recalled the cup of sake I drank earlier.

"You poisoned yourself, dumbass!"

"GET OFF OF HIM!" One of my men shouted as he was about to push her off my back.

However, …

"Ah ah ah! One more step and the mystery juice this kleptomaniac drank will be the least of your concerns!" She said, while holding a jagged green blade to my throat.

Due to my high cultivation, any normal blade would shatter before piercing my skin, and even the average unique-grade weapon would require quite a bit of force to even put a scratch on my body, but this small dagger managed to nick me with only a light touch. I could see a drop of blood hit the floor as my subordinate halted in his tracks.

"GIVE US THE ANTIDOTE! NOW!" My subordinate shouted.

"Sorry, but as the newest terrorist in town, I don't negotiate with plebs! Got to make the government know I'm serious you know!"

"WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! YOU HAVE NO HOPE OF ESCAPE! SURRENDER YOURSELF AND WE MIGHT LET YOU LIVE!"

"You got that backwards, Sonny Jim!" She spoke, much to our confusion.

"WHA-!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Shortly after she spoke, we heard the screams of one of the soldiers. Looking over, there was a nose-less humanoid creature with an inhumanly large mouth and sharklike teeth chewing on his neck. We could see blood spurting everywhere with each bite. By the time my soldiers got the creature off him, the man was already dead, and we watched his nascent soul spirit body leave his corpse.

"That enchantment you destroyed was my plan C! Plan A was to let you pay your debt! Can you guess what plan B is! I'll give you a hint! It's got nothing to do with contraception!" She spoke as another one of those beasts smashed through the window, while the sounds of my soldiers' screams could be heard from outside.

"WHAT ARE THESE CREATURES?!"

"They are the neighborhood watch this continent deserves! Now surrender yourselves peacefully and we might not castrate you all! Maybe!" She spoke, while more creatures came flooding into the room from entrance they could find.

"Whoa there nelly! Don't be too haaaAAH! *thud*"

Having had enough of being her chair, I mustered what little remaining strength I had to shake her off me as I fell to the floor with a deep cut in my throat. Fortunately, due to my body possessing a natural regeneration ability independent of my cultivation based-healing factor, I was able to recover before I died from blood loss.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!"

Some of my subordinates quickly ceased the chance to grab me before making our escape through the window, while the rest of my men held those beasts at bay. As we swiftly flew towards my aerial craft the 'Crimson Eye', I got a good look at the enemy forces below, and to my surprise…

"*Cough* Where did *cough* they all come from?"

As far as I can tell, the only people left on the ground below were my soldiers and the beasts we saw before. Aside from their sharp fangs, the only other thing of note would be their incredibly sturdy bodies as I watched them survive being flung through multiple buildings with barely a scratch. In every other aspect, they were inferior to my men. If this had been a fair battle, killing all the beasts would only be a matter of time, as my soldiers could just dodge the creatures' attacks while wearing down their defenses. However, they overwhelmed us through sheer numbers as they swarmed us with a force several times larger than our own.

I was struggling to figure out how she managed to hide this many monsters within the town without me or my subordinates noticing. It was then that I noticed something peculiar. Despite the chaos going on in the streets, I couldn't spot a single citizen within the town's limits. Even if most of them tried to hide in their homes, with all the damage caused by the battle, surely at least some would be crawling out from beneath the rubble, but there was nothing. It wasn't until we reached the ship that I realized.

"*cough* It's the *cough* people *cough*" I coughed out as they carried me into the ship.

As we reached the top of the deck, I struggled to get up as I went to look down at the side of the aircraft, where I could spot the creatures in human clothing crawling up the side of the ship as we ascended into the air.

"YOUR MAJESTY! IT IS NOT SAFE OUT HERE! PLEASE! LET US CARRY YOU INSIDE!"

"Pft! HAHAHAHAHA! *cough**cough**bleurgh*!"

As my suspicion turned into certainty I started laughing, causing me to vomit more blood.

In this world there are some creatures capable of changing their shape and appearance to hide amongst us. These creatures must belong to one of such species of beasts. Whether she had tamed a colony that had been living here in secret or if she had managed to replace the original residence herself, I do not know, but I now understand how we failed to notice their ambush. She had hidden her forces in plain sight, while betting on us to hyperfocus on her prowess as a mage and only look for magic based traps. We were doomed to fail from the moment we set foot in that town.

No, we were doomed from the moment I drank from her cup. Even seeing how durable these creatures are, they would be nothing but dust in the wind before my power, but whatever was in that drink is clogging up my qi canals, causing violent qi fluctuations that are tearing my body apart.

As my men were busy knocking those creatures off from the side of my ship, I was lying down in the sickbay feeling my emotions run rampant as the doctors were trying their best to identify and treat the poison.

"What is that?"

She confidently waltzed into my territory.

"Why would he be-?"

She turned an entire town into a monster nest without anyone noticing.

"It must be a symptom from the poison!"

She somehow discovered a poison that my body is not immune to, before tricking me into drinking it. She then went as far as to use me as her personal seat as she watched those beasts devour my nascent soul subordinates. I just…

*moan*

There are no words to describe how my heart yearns for her. The frustration from giving it my all and failing still, the humiliation from being used as a chair in public and the adrenaline rush from my life being threatened. And above all else, the undeniable arousal I felt throughout the entire experience. Never before, have I experienced such a stir of emotions. It's like I am falling in love all over again.

*moan*

*BOOM*

As my surging desires reached their peak, the ship began to shake with a loud explosion coming from outside the aerial craft.