The Ardor family had had little over a full day to adjust to their new reality. Their dark lord had fulfilled his end of the promise almost as soon as they had struck their agreement, giving them control over a horde of tireless and surprisingly powerful undead warriors, laborers, and servants.

He had also taken their slaves away almost as quickly, liberating them moments after their deal was struck. G.o.ds operated on a speedier scale than mortals did, as the Ardors had forcibly learned. That said, the family didn"t mind. They now had new toys, new powers, and a dark master who had ideas in mind for them.

The family was currently celebrating the success of the deal. They were doing so at the expense of their fellow dark elves. A number of dark-elven men and women who weren"t Ardors were in this chamber in various states of mind, unrest, and undress.

More than a few of the dark elves that the family had felt like toying with were meant as meals for their newly revived ancestors and had been sliced and stabbed so that they"d bleed. The remaining dark elves were intended to be used by the living members of the family, and unfortunately for them, the Ardors had unusually s.a.d.i.s.tic l.u.s.ts even among dark elves.

In one dark corner of the ma.s.sive chamber the family"s leaders were in, a single female dark elf cornered and approached a male. She smiled as she closed in on the small male. Duliha Ardor was ma.s.sive even for dark elves and stood well over two and a half meters tall. She wore the ornate robes that befitted her status as a n.o.ble, despite the fact that she was a savage berserker.

"Why are you running little one? Don"t you want to be... protected from the wrath of my relatives?" She asked, her voice deceptively gentle, before she began to cackle cruelly. She was having fun as she "hunted". Her prey stood no chance of escaping her selfish gaze unscathed.

In another corner, silence reigned supreme as one of Althos" vampires feasted on a now-deceased dark elf. His teeth were deep in his victim"s neck and he delightedly drank the precious, scarlet fluid that once gave the dark elf life.

The vampire held onto the drained dark elf. He supported the fallen figure as he lazily feasted on the pathetic creatures" life-force. The vampire was one of Althos" first gifts to the Ardor family, and was a fervent worshiper of Althos who mentally muttering a prayer to his creator, even as his vampiric talons held his victim upright.

The vampire clung to the dark-elf, drinking his life-giving fluid long enough that the pathetic, deceased creature was able to begin to reanimate in his arms. True vampires, like the Ardorian ancestor, possessed an innate ability that reanimated their victims as lesser vampires.

The deceased dark elf began to shake and shudder in the sinister embrace of the creator of his unlife. The lesser vampire, whose eyes had been open as he died, began his unlife by closing his eyes and sighed in unholy pleasure.

This hedonistic scene was only the first that the Ardorians would create. And in the days to come, they"d become both more lascivious, and more depraved. Their master had ordered them to be decedent and they intended to obey him.

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I wasn"t with the Ardors, but I sensed them. I sensed their dark delight, and the cruel ways they celebrated their new powers. I wasn"t alone in what I sensed either.

"The Ardors are growing on me." One of my mental companions muttered, before sighing gently. The corruption subdomain was apparently growing fond of them. I was annoyed by that declaration, but if I removed my history with them and my thoughts on their former practice of slavery from my judgement, I could understand where it was coming from.

The Ardors were a family of physically attractive dark-elves with wealth, power, and influence. I had easily turned them into my allies, and in giving them power and being honest with them I had gained devoted new worshipers. New worshipers who selfishly fixated on their own pleasure.

Their devotion to their own pleasures was considerable. It was the thing that had dominated their minds over the course of the last few hours. They treated members of their own species as nothing more than sources of pleasure and inflicted themselves upon their kin without remorse or kindness.

Their devotion to their own sinful urges was so powerful it was almost contagious. A small part of me wanted to visit them and see their l.u.s.ts firsthand. Even experience their l.u.s.ts and let them stain me with their desires. Or stain them with my own.

"Should I go to them one of these next few days? I know if I appeared, and ordered them to indulge in their l.u.s.ts they would..." I mused, wondering how long it"d take before one of them, be it Milene or someone else, attempted to entice me into joining them.

I questioned if I"d resist them if they did attempt to entice me, or if I"d join them willingly and slake the quiet desires I felt towards their sinisterly beautiful and handsome bodies. That said, other things were happening. Other things that required my attention as well. Like Ygaynth awakening.

"I suppose I should intervene." I muttered as I teleported from my lair to a place not far outside of the dragon"s lair. I chose a place between the reptilefolk encampment and the dragon"s lair, solidly in the middle of the two places, even as the dragon began to fly right in my direction. A natural tunnel that connected the two places.

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The shadow-scaled dragon was currently in mid-air. The gigantic beast lazily flapped its wings through its own utterly ma.s.sive cavern lair. Its ma.s.sive body slowly sailed towards one of the walls that separated its lair from the rest of the world below Puerto Rico.

The monster was a gigantic and terrifying beast, a nightmare given physical form. It was only lazily flying, but it still moved with terrifying speed and horrifying ease, through the confusion architecture of its treasure-filled lair.

The treasure that littered this cavern was piled dozens of meters high in some places and should have made flying in this place a challenge especially for the ma.s.sive creature. It was not a challenge for the dragon who expertly maneuvered through his home.

The beast was making his way towards one of the walls that defined his home. Had any untrained eyes been locked on him, they would have noticed that he looked to be going towards a dead end. The dragon was not bothered by this fact, as it was the one who had made its home.

When the dragon had closed in on its targeted wall the monster opened its maw and unleashed a magically charged and guttural roar. The sound exploded out of the elephantine beast and collided with the wall. The wall stood firm for a moment, and then immediately began to collapse.

By the time the dragon would have hit it, there was no wall to obstruct him. Instead there was an opening into a natural tunnel that the sapient beast had once widened to fit its gigantic frame. It took the dragon next to no effort to fit itself into the tunnel, wings open and all, and to begin to fly towards its destination.

Stones and soil posed no risk to a black dragon. Such creatures were practically made from the stuff. Their magical blood and potent souls gave them eerie powers over even the greatest rocks and the most fertile or least fertile soil.

The dragon believed it was now free to fly carefreely until it reached its target: the reptilefolk encampment where it foolishly believed an easy meal would be waiting for it. Unbeknownst to the beast, it was on a collision course with destiny.

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When I entered the tunnel that connected the encampment and the dragon"s lair I realized something. I found myself inside of a ma.s.sive tunnel, one both wide enough and tall enough to house an entire city, one big enough to dwarf even Aronms or San Gerardo.

"So this is the dragon"s power..." I muttered as I waited for the beast to appear off in the distance. The tunnel around me was amazing in its dimensions and haunting in its disuse. It was as if anything sentient that might once have lived here had long been scared off.

"This place... The dragon made this." I mused, as I studied the dimensions of the tunnel. It was almost lifeless, hauntingly unused by any sort of natural life aside from small plants and fungi.

The cavern was tall enough that even my deific vision couldn"t quite see the natural ceiling that existed above us. It was amusing to try and strain my vision so that I could see it, but also a childish distraction I occupied myself with just once before refocusing.

[Dragons are among the strongest mortal lifeforms in existence. And ancient dragons are the pinnacle of their kind. An ancient dragon could defeat armies on its own. Ancient dragons in this world are older than empires and many of them have singlehandedly brought entire kingdoms to their knees.] The system told me, excitement slyly sneaking into its not quite robotic voice.

A smile found its way onto my face as I listened to the system. It was right when the system finished speaking that I first heard it: the incredibly distant sound of wings flapping against the still air of the cavernous tunnel I found myself in. And a moment later, the beast came into view. The gigantic dragon.

For the first time in my life, I could see the black dragon that had once cowed the ancestors of the reptilefolk. It was the single largest living creature I had ever seen, and it was moving towards me at an impressive pace. But the dragon hadn"t yet noticed me. It would soon though.

I lifted a single hand and chuckled as I began to manipulate the earth that surrounded me. Deep underground I was in my environment.