The Devouring Dragon-Chapter 33: Emotion

"Where's Raya?" I asked bluntly as I landed next to one of Vargan's generals, Baldrek.

The man looked like he had been through hell - his long beard was singed and burnt, likely from the Flame Dragon's fire, and his once sturdy, imposing, steel armor was cracked. Even his mace looked like it was only another few blows away from falling apart completely.

Raya was my primary concern as I landed on the wartorn battlefield that was once a dark forest. I had given the area a quick glance over when I arrived, and the wolf girl was nowhere in sight.

But, in the same strand, I didn't see her body anywhere either. Granted, it was hard to tell anyone apart in all the mangled and bloodied corpses, but it was a small reassurance.

There was still a large Flame Dragon towering over us, but I put it aside for the moment. Its fellow red dragon was dead, and I'd given Vargan a quick use of my [Light Heal] skill to ensure he wouldn't kick the bucket just yet.

But, if it turned out Raya had been killed while I was gone, I wouldn't feel guilty anymore about chopping the Dwarven King's head off.

"Safe. Skarn retreated with her," Baldrek grunted out, the man wiping a strand of blood from his mouth. A wave of relief shot through me at his words

Good. If anything had happened to her, I would've been pissed at myself for not turning back earlier.

"Good work," I said simply, turning to the Flame Dragon towering over us as it opened its mouth to launch a wave of fire down.

[Iunt] [Flame Dragon] - Level 137

It was pretty strong, so I could see how the two dwarves were losing even with their enchantments. Honestly, considering the level difference, and how a Succubus Princess was currently buffing the Flame Dragon, it was impressive that Baldrek and Vargan had held out for as long as they did.

It was already injured from its fight with Baldrek, looking bloodied and bruised as it was missing scales all over. It would only take another hit or two to finish it off.

So, I tensed my legs, blitzing into the air and swinging my sword as the fire streamed past me. In an instant, the Flame Dragon's head was separated from its long neck.

[Devouring Stab] has claimed stats from [Iunt]!

+390 HP!

+39 MAXHP!

+120 STR

+80 AGI

+99 END

+7 MP

+2 INT

I landed on the ground as the head fell behind me, causing the ground to shake as the massive body followed..

"D-Damn it!" I heard a hiss above me, and glanced up to look at the exhausted Succubus Princess floating above. She was staring down at me with a mixture of fear and anger, obviously feeling afraid as her protector was killed.

[Peach] [Succubus Princess] - Level 92

Just as with pretty much succubus I had seen, she was breathtakingly beautiful.

She had long blonde, almost golden, hair and piercing blue eyes. Her face was slim and gorgeous, and her body was devilishly sexy - with huge breasts that were at least J-Cup and sat perkily on her tall frame.

She was at least six feet tall, with near-glowing white porcelain skin and thick thighs that led to an equally thick rear. Beyond that, she was dressed in just a thin black one-piece that looked like a thin bikini - barely covering her perky nipples and crotch.

She looked exhausted, panting lightly as she was drained from using her power to enhance Iunt. As she looked down at me, she opened her mouth, but I didn't give her the chance to speak.

I'd dealt with enough [Charm]'s trying to pry into my brain for one day.

I leaped upward before she even got a word out, moving far too quickly for her to react to. I grabbed her face with my palm - literally palming her head as I dragged her downward and slammed her body into the snow.

A glob of blood flew out of her mouth from the impact, and then she slumped over, lying limply in the snow.

I didn't use my full strength, as I didn't want to kill the princess just yet. As I glanced around the mountain of corpses covering the battlefield, I knew I'd need to keep alive as many powerful succubi as I could.

Their stats would be nice, but my army had been decimated in this war. The casualties were far higher than I had expected - which made sense considering the sudden addition of dragons, devils, and other powerful monsters into the battle.

I knew the succubi's [Charm] was powerful, but neither I nor Vargan had any idea about the powerful beasts under their control that had come from outside the Familiar Forest.

But, that powerful [Charm] was what would make this war worth it. I was down tens of thousands of dire wolves, but I had access to a powerful subordinate printing machine in the form of the succubi.

As appealing as it was to just use [Devour] on every succubus in sight and avenge my fallen troops, it wasn't the smartest move. Instead, they'll pay for the lives of my soldiers by regrowing my army for me.

I reached down, grabbed the princess, and tossed her over my shoulder. As I turned around, a high-pitched voice called out to me.

"I-I surrender!" The second princess in the fight held up her hands placatingly as she floated in the treeline, looking down with fear at what I had just effortlessly done to her comrade.

[Dame] [Succubus Princess] - Level 88

As I took in the sight of the other princess, I felt like the 'princess' title wasn't just for theatrics. She was definitely Peach's sister.

They had a near-identical body type - as Dame was also tall, busty, and had long legs and thick thighs. She was also in a near-identical black skimpy outfit, and the only thing that separated her from Peach was that she had long brown hair instead of blonde.

"I'll accept your surrender," I nodded and she let out a sigh of relief. A second later, I leaped forward, wrapping my hand around her neck before she could react.

"W-Wha-" I slammed her into the ground just as I had done with Peach, knocking out the sexy succubus in an instant.

"Nothin' personal," I muttered, leaning down and picking her up, then tossing her over my shoulder with Peach, "I'm just not in the mood to fuck around right now."

In all honesty - I was pissed. I was beyond pissed.

My army was in ruins, and I had personally spotted the corpses of at least Ragno and Ragnot. I wasn't sure what remained of Ragnat, whether he was still alive somewhere or I simply couldn't recognize his corpse anymore.

My one friend and ally in Vargan was near death, and I was sure the odd general out, Rurik, hadn't just left his king to fight a dragon on his own. The man was likely dead.

But, while I was angry, I wasn't stupid.

This was war - a war I had started. A war where I had sent thousands of loyal subordinates to their doom. A war where thousands of dwarves had died for a King I had planned to betray.

I was the bad guy. I had started the war - I had sent my army to its doom. I had killed Raya's brothers and Vargan's general.

I knew this was possible before this battle began - I knew that many of my troops would die, even if I didn't think such a large number would. I knew I was risking Raya's remaining family members' lives, and that it was all for my own selfish reasons.

I was doing it for the quest - to continue to game, and to grow my power. I had tried to separate myself from the results - to unattach myself from the soldiers who were dying to support me.

I wasn't like them - I might've called myself the Beast King, but I was still a human at heart. I wasn't like the wolves, or the dwarves, or the succubi - I wasn't a monster.

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And so, when I sent out my men to die - when I risked the lives of everyone around me, I had done it heartlessly. I wasn't a monster like them, and I was a king.

Beyond that, I wasn't from this world. I was a gamer - a man with a system that drove him forward. What did I care for the lives of these creatures? Of these monsters from a world that wasn't my own?

They were just tools - stepping stones that would die so I could continue deeper into the game. Every time I tore out a monster's throat to take their strength, I did it so I could continue walking forward.

At the start, something like this wouldn't have bothered me. I massacred thousands uncaringly on my journey to kill Ragar - ruthlessly taking thousands of lives without an ounce of guilt. Whether the killing was justified or not, I had seen it then as stepping stones - as walking piles of stats, just waiting to boost me to greater heights.

But, just because I'm the bad guy, doesn't mean I'm a bad guy.

At some point during my time in this world, I had changed. Not a lot, but I had definitely changed.

As I stared at countless bodies filling the battlefield, I felt a true sense of guilt. I felt sadness. Above all, I felt anger.

I glanced at the Succubus Princesses slumped over my shoulder. By every logic my brain could think of, keeping them alive was the best option.

They would be strong subordinates to have, and their Queen had already submitted to me - they wouldn't put up a fight anymore. They could use their [Charm] to help regrow my army, making it even stronger than before. Beyond that, they were immensely beautiful - and for a person like me, who was a mixture of a beast and a man, why would I not want beautiful women?

I was a King now - a conqueror who was taking this kingdom known as the Familiar Forest as my own. And, what do King's do?

They take what they want - be it power, subordinates, or women.

But, despite my brain telling me to spare them, my body seemed to ache at it. My hunger demanded I devour them - that I get revenge for all the men they had killed.

I wouldn't say that I had gained empathy, or that I had become more human during my time here. No, if anything, I had become more of a Beast.

A Beast who viewed his fellow monsters as people.

I couldn't separate myself from them anymore - I couldn't see Vargan, or Raya, or the Princes, as monsters. I couldn't see any of the monsters in the forest as below me.

Instead, I saw them as people just like myself.

"How odd," I muttered, ignoring my hunger as I carried the two princesses toward where I had laid Velrissa and Benemue.

By becoming more of a beast, I had become more... human?

I laid the two princesses down next to Velrissa and Benemue, the quartet of women lying only a few feet from the unconscious Vargan.

I turned around, glancing over the battlefield again, and reached back to unsheath my sword again.

"Don't worry, my soldiers," I muttered, speaking to no one in particular as I glanced around. There were only a few groups of each army remaining - a couple of skirmishes raging through the forest as the majority of each side's army lay dead.

"Your sacrifice was not in vain."

Two princesses and a Fairy Queen remained, and then victory was mine.

No, it would be ours.

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