Land of Death

It was imperceptible at first, making one doubt if what they were seeing was really the expected arrival of allies or just another wave, but then soon enough they began to notice various colours. Then a few seconds later they began to notice how irregular the movement of the 'wave' was. And finally, after half a minute had passed, they saw a second 'wave' gradually appear in the sky, growing bigger as it approached them.

Without a doubt, their allies had finally appeared. The 'wave' above were flying Beasts and the one below must be the Sea Beasts that were carrying their other allies that couldn't fly or swim.

Pharaoh had the best vision amongst them thanks to his Eye of Cremation, so he could see a lot more than the others could. He could see the various creatures of all kinds and saw many that were in their Enlightened Form, no doubt so that they could easily fit on the respective creatures that carried them.

However, the thing that caught all of his attention was the 3 gigantic scarlet eyes hidden beneath the surface of water that were looking directly back at him.

He felt his Eye of Cremation throb in a way that it hadn't done before, and an odd agitation rose within him. He felt restless. He felt like he had been locked on by a superior predator that intended to do him harm. But at the same time, he also felt a familiar hunger, the kind he felt whenever he discovered a delectable prey.

What was the meaning of this?

He had never felt something like this before and he didn't know what to do. But just as the conflicting feelings within him began to truly become uncomfortable, he felt a finger suddenly poke his left cheek.

"What are you doing?" A feminine voice spoke.

Liyanda. Who else but Liyanda?

Only she had the gall to continuously disrespect his boundaries and think nothing of the damage he could inflict on her if he truly got angry and decided to go all out. But nevertheless, he felt his agitation melt a way like the hailstones that attempted to settle on his head.

He grabbed her offensive hand and dragged it away from him, doing his best to ignore her soft skin and deceptive delicateness all the while.

He knew just how much damage a single punch from her could cause if he took it head on. Liyanda may not have possessed any ranged attacks which was a common problem with the humans, but her explosive speed was enough to relegate that disadvantage greatly. Furthermore, her strength could even cripple an Enlightened Beast in a single blow if they didn't take precaution, so although it was common to hear the Phoenixes or Purgatory Vermillion's laugh at her because of her race behind her back, nobody dared to do it in front of her.

By the time they had flapped their wings to fly away, she would have already appeared in front of them to punch a crater into their chests.

He himself had been a victim of that might once. A long time ago, in a moment of weakness they had come too close and eventually they could no longer restrain themselves. He had been caressing her luxurious body, admiring the contrast between the tightness of her abs and the softness of her breasts, and she too could not keep her hands off of his body.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, they had been interrupted by the arrival of a few Golden Rocs.

In his embarrassment at his lack of control in front of his people, he had sullied her dignity. He verbally condemned her for falling into a heat and wanting to be bred without even caring who did it, acting like he hadn't been in heat himself.

What a big mistake that had been…

Before he knew it, a knee had buried itself into his abdomen, breaking his ribs and rupturing his organs as if they were made of rotting fruits. Then whilst he was doubled over with agony, a terrifying force struck his jaw and nearly shattered it to pieces, sending him flying in the process.

But worse than the pain of his injuries was the look he had found on her face. He would never, ever forget that look of betrayal, nor the disgust he had felt for himself.

Knowing how cowardly he had acted, he had gone the next day to apologise to her. But when he arrived there, feeling as low as he could possibly feel, he was abruptly knocked into shock when he heard a set of familiar sounds… It was the sound of a man and woman in pleasure. He couldn't identify the man, but he had most definitely known the woman.

He couldn't say for sure how long he had stood there, trying to wrap his head around what he was hearing, even though he knew. But he would eventually be risen out of his reverie by the sound of her voice in his head.

=Didn't you say that I couldn't control my heat and would go for any man? Why are you standing there so surprised, Pharaoh? You look foolish.=

He felt like he had been bleeding in that moment, but he still tried to control himself. He knew that she had every right to do as she wished and that she was not even his mate. After what he had said the day before he had lost all rights to even a semblance claim. Besides, it's not like he hadn't bred multiple females beforehand so he did not have the rights to anger.

But then he heard the sounds of the male's climax, his joy as he unloaded, and Liyanda's sigh.

The rage that had burned through his veins in that moment had been so great that he had gone blind, he only saw flashes of colours and lights as his emotions exploded out of control. He vaguely remembered taking his true form and flying into the air covered in flames, and obviously, his goal had been slaughter. But for some reason he never did it. The thought of killing Liyanda didn't quite calm his wrath but it somehow beckoned him to a different direction. Alas, his primary target was very disgustingly intertwined with Liyanda and any attack on him would also land on her, so he never attacked. Instead, he actually flew away.

But he absolutely did not fly away in defeat or weakness. No, his emotions continued to worsen and instead of mere slaughter, his goal had switched to something greater. He wanted to unleash a calamity like no other. He wanted to burn everything until only dust remained. Not even the Heavenly Sun Flame had occupied his thoughts in that moment, only destruction.

He didn't know how long he flew, but by the time he had come to he had found himself in an unknown location surrounded by ashes as far as the eye could see. But perhaps more importantly, he had discovered that he had somehow gained a third, pale blue eye on his forehead that had been profusely leaking with blood, sending him constant pangs of pain.

By that time, his anger had greatly reduced and fear at the horror surrounding him had wormed its way in. He had been quite literally standing in a land of death, with ashes falling around him like snow, joining the huge pile on the ground that he could not see the end of. The only thing he could smell was charcoal, and the only thing he could hear was his increasing heartbeat. To top it all, he could not for the life of him figure out how that had happened or how he had gotten there.