Something about the way Thalor said that and the way he reacted, I could just tell that he was acting all smug underneath that hood of his.

But, there was no real reason that I should feel irked by it, yet I did. I didn’t understand, so I decide that it would be best if we just headed back now.

Both Thalor and Miss Amoranaa agreed and we headed back to the copy office and through the portal into the academy office. And at some point, Thalor changed his dress from his rather creepy Illuminati robes to that of a simple thick and heavy brown cloak with a rope as a belt.

Felt a little bit too conspicuous if you ask me, but what do I know? Maybe it’s enchanted or something.

Anyways, after coming back into the real headmaster office, I was set to leave the academy grounds and have Thalor follow me back to my lodgings, which he did not mind was in the red-light district.

When we arrived, my friends had checked out, so I assumed that they simply went out to get something to eat from a stall somewhere or something, so we started to wander around for a little while searching for them.

That was until we heard of a commotion that happened nearby, and by the sounds of it, it wasn’t something good. Especially since a giant chunk of ice appeared suddenly that covered half the street it appeared in.

Thalor and I immediately rushed over to where this happened and saw a giant chunk of ice just as we’d heard blocking half the street.

You could even see through its crystal-clear surface that there were even people and stalls trapped inside of it, but Ash, Asty and Shirayaa weren’t here.

They must’ve scampered off after creating this behemoth of ice as I can’t see them inside. And when we asked about the little serpentine girl with pure white hair accompanied by a darker skinned Naga with pale grey scales, they were last headed in the general direction of the slums.

And they were rushing there too because some guardswomen were apparently chasing after them.

Upon hearing that I grabbed Thalor’s hand and spread my senses out towards the slums district to find them.

It didn’t talk long and I teleported us a little ahead of where they were headed so that we could catch up on them.

We disappeared from the half-frozen street and in a random back alley in the dilapidated slums not too far ahead from the trio. And just a few seconds later, they rounded the corner.

Upon seeing me, they all smiled and stopped as they reached me, a little out of breath.

Not far behind them were the guardswomen that were chasing them. They rounded the corner and brandished their spears at the lot of us as the one in the front started to shout at us as they approached.

"Halt! Cease running and come with us peacefully or else we’ll resort to forcefully taking you in!" The guardswomen were all dressed in a simple iron chest plate with arm guards and gauntlets as well as an iron helmet, with a chainmail skirt that draped down no further than the topside of their tail that they slithered upon.

"You do realise that telling us to halt was redundant right? None of us were moving when you said that." Thalor suddenly spoke up to my surprise. I thought he would just wait and see what happens, but no, he decided that he had a part in this.

"You have no right to resist us since you’re clearly an accomplice to this treacherous fiend!" The head guard spouted as she pointed her spear directly at Asty.

"I am not a fiend! I’m just inexperienced!" Asty shouted back with earnest resentment. It’s sometimes hard to remember that she’s still just a child in some respects at time.

"You are a miserable cur! A blight on this world for causing such unrest you heinous fiend!"

The head guardswomen just doubled down with her words, which caused Asty to start trembling as she tried to hold in her tears.

At this point I decided it would be best if I stepped in and stopped them from doing something regrettable. That being angering me more than they already have.

I slithered on front of our group to face the guardswomen with unbridled confidence oozing out of me as I released just a minute fraction of my true strength unto the guardswomen.

The lot of them shuddered at the pressure I was putting on them, most of them shaking and rattling the armour they were wearing. Only the lead guard was able to keep her shuddering to a minimum.

And she still insisted on taking us in, "Y-You dare resist arrest! You could be hanged for this!" She even threatened us with death, which was a pitiful attempt at displaying her power.

I merely scoffed at her as increased the pressure, forcing them to drop their weapons to the ground along with their faces. I wasn’t even using my Bloodline to supress them, just raw power.

I then slithered over to them and crouched down to speak to them. The feeling I got from them was something I knew I’d experienced before, but I couldn’t quite place where or when.

All I knew was that they gave me the feeling of worthless, not deserving of being what they are. And I was going to make sure they knew that.

"You have no idea who you’re speaking to. Which isn’t your fault since I never really revealed myself. But still, you have annoyed me, and this anger is seemingly only building the more I look at you. And I don’t really know why that is. I don’t really care though, because you are not worthy of the life you were given. That’s what my very being is telling me right now, and I would kill you because of that, but I won’t."

The whole time I was just staring at her with a dead expression on my face, my eyes unmoving and cold as they bore into hers, which was filled with a fiery hatred towards me, which was unfounded in my opinion.

I grabbed her chin and lifted her up, which made her groan in pain as the pressure continued to bore down on her even now. This close, I could even hear her grinding her teeth together. Amusing. So much so that my blood was starting to boil.

"Let this be a lesson for you, never bother them again, or else I WILL send you to hell. That’s not an empty promise by the way. I am the one and only daughter of Asmodeus, the Demon King of Lust himself. I can curse you to be thrown into the deepest pits of hell..."

I suddenly stopped as I spoke that last sentence, and then an evil grin adorned my face as the white sclera of my eyes slowly shifted red.

"Actually, that just gave me an idea... I’ll just curse you now for your transgressions." I took of the helmet she was wearing and crushed it in my hand.

Finally, the guardswoman displayed a hint of fear looking at her crushed helmet. Her eyes then started to tremble also as her face perspired as my clawed hand made its way over to her forehead.

The moment my claw made contact with her forehead, it pierced the skin and I began carving a curse into her, similar to what I did with that demon that possessed the Duchess’ nephew, but not into her soul. I may be feeling cruel with my demonic side welling up so much out of nowhere, but I wasn’t feeling THAT mean. This would simply be carved into her flesh permanently is all.

As for the curse I was carving into her, it wasn’t actually all that harmful to be honest, and depending on your desires, might be more of blessing in disguise. It was basically just a curse that would draw in nearby Succubi to fuck her and get their fill.

This didn’t take anywhere near as long because this wasn’t as complicated nor did it take as long as the last time I did this. And within about a minute, it was done.

I took my claw back and released her, letting her face plant the ground again before I released them from my pressure. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Do not ever cross me or them again, or I will make your punishment worse next time. The rest of you won’t be so lucky either."

With that, I turned around and saw everyone but Thalor looking at the scene with some confusion, as if they hadn’t witnessed what I’d just done.

And before I could inquire as to why they were acting like that, Thalor just winked at me with a wry smile. I knew instantly that he froze time for them, but why, I had no clue.

Either way, that was that and it was now time to properly introduce him to Shirayaa.