At night

The dinner was fantastic, to say the least, food of exquisite nature was served, some dishes I have never seen before and some were old fashioned foods that I tasted but now the level of the fine cuisine was enough to water the mouth and make one ask for more even if their stomach was bloated with food.

This is true cooking.

The banquet ended and I decided to take a rest, its been long since I last slept I would now use such opportunity to relax, I know for a fact that I don't have much time before I do.

Yet before I could ask for where I would sleep I heard a loud roar.

It is Nemu, it seems that he arrived.

I walked outside the palace to find an enormous beast standing proudly before the palace. His size was enough to almost have the size of the palace. He grew a lot. His pitch black scales mixed in with dark green colored ones made him look imposing. A pure-blooded dragon of curse and soul…

I inspected him to see his level and was astonished to see the results

Black Souled Dragon

Adult.

(Bound to Daiki Genkaku)

Level 1885

A powerful mutation created from the egg of a black dragon.

Able to wield the power of both darkness and soul magic.

"You became an adult dragon, wonderful," I said towards the giant beast.

"Indeed, Herald, I grew stronger in the time you were not present, amazingly the cursed nature of my old self no longer threatens my growth, I no longer need to be afraid to grow stronger, my mind is now clear and the more powerful I become the more I am able. The current me could probably destroy the old you…" he said with a smirk of pride in his tone

"So you noticed the change?" I said

"Indeed, you grew far stronger than ever Herald. Though your level stagnated, your understanding of the world is more than one could hope to achieve, the aura you give is of someone that lived thousands of years…" he said

"You might not be wrong about that Nemu." I said, "Nemu, I am going to be invading the upper realms. Are you willing to come with me?"

"To fight against the Divine? Indeed that is a reckless task, but for me, I would never back away from an opportunity to become much more than what I am. So indeed, Herald I shall follow."

"Thank you, your aid will be appreciated," I said

"When I came here I saw several beings bound to heavens that are still roaming the place. I was wondering if I could test my power against them." Said Nemu

"You don't need my permission to do as you please Nemu, you may rampage to your heart's content, go and show them who is the ruler of the world," I said with a smirk.

The dragon then roared and flew up causing the still sand to shake as his enormous wings pushed them aside.

Looking at the sky it began to darken, with a filled stomach and a growing sense of fatigue I decided to take a rest. A rest that was long due.

Once inside the palace, I wandered around, looking at the sculptures and different paintings that were littering the place.

They all depicted the history of this land, a place that was once prosperous and alive now turned to a desolated place where even water was scarce, people that lived here died long ago due to the king's unwillingness to supervise his domain.

Some of them left, and some tried to overturn his rule but were met with punishment,t the four Djinns were a strength to be reckoned with and were his loyal servants.

However, all of this was caused by the king's sadness as he parted with his wife who died due to the divine's interference. His negligence caused harm to his people but he didn't care. He mourned here for years until he ruled on nothing but sand…

Quite the sad story depicted here in these walls… but no matter. Now that he has his reason to live, this land will slowly live once again.

However for it to prosper those of the divine need to disappear. With their influence, everything is rotten to the core.

I met the priest that made our supper and greeted him.

"How much time had you spent to reach such level of proficiency in food making?" I asked

"Well as one of the kingdoms of the sun we are given much more time than normal humans, we live for centuries while your race disappears within decades. So I had the time to learn various things and produce miracles that many would die to eat or would be willing to live once more to feast upon. But that is just a rumor, although I make amazing food, nothing short of necromancy or true rebirth can give life back to those that were once dead. My title is just something that is given to me due to the proficiency of my food making."

"What is your food making level, I have a subclass as a cook too. I am already level 8" I said

"Hmm, interesting, but even if you reach the final level, that is not all there is to learn, once you reach level 10 in food making you will be able to take a branch rout, a speciality of sorts, dedicating enough time to that you will be able to reach my level or even surpass it." He said then added

"I find it however strange for a great one like you Herald to have chosen a cook for a subclass," he said snorting. "You could have gone for a necromancer or some other powerful class why a cook?" he asked

"Well, that was all I had first, I dreamt to live using this skill, to have a better life, but it seems that fate is treacherous, I then took the path of power forgetting about this… however I don't need any other subclass, though they give a strong boost to the specifics of this class, I have mastered necromancy without needing the subclass, classes are just shortcuts, they will hinder the progress of anyone if they did rely on their benefits too much." I added

"Indeed, you are a wise man Herald, I truly wish that these times were different, that the Divine would have left us alone… but once peace reign once more, people's lives will truly prosper."

"Aren't you mistaken something?" I asked

The man gave a look of bewilderment as if saying what?

"We are not in war, I will be the one to instigate it. Don't you believe that my actions are wrong?" I said. Even I doubt that my actions will not cause harm to everyone, what if I fail and those of the upper realm take their frustration on everyone else?

"No, Herald, We have been at war since the day we were born, forced to follow their rules and their decree never having a free will of our own, then succumb to their punishment if we do not meet their requirement. There are some that deserve to be punished for their lives, however, eternal torment is not just."

"True" at least for now my belief has not been shaken and was once again reinforced.

One needs to know that his actions are supported by others, even if these persons were only recently met.

"Where can I rest?" I asked.

"You may want to have a room to yourself herald. Most of the dwellers of this place had gone to their corresponding rooms, yours is one in the upper floor of the palace the one that has a golden door. That is the room that his majesty reserves for the most influential and powerful of people that used to visit him, you deserve nothing short of that, great one" he said as he gave a deep down.

This priest looks like a nice grandpa… it is sad that his appearance is deformed due to the curse of necromancy but I believe that he prefers to remain like this and further serve his immortal King.

"Thank you," I said then headed upstairs.

I used my armor's helmet passive to track down the souls residing in this place to locate everyone.

Once the wave washed over all o them I made a rough estimation.

The king and his wife were inside their chamber, Haru, Haruka, and Misaka were inside a room at the farthest part of the palace, it looked spacious and had enough beds to accommodate many.

Beelzebub was nowhere to be seen, and Shara… she actually was inside the room that I was designed to rest in.

Opening the door I saw her sitting on the side of the bed.

She looked rather alluring, her appearance right now brought all kinds of emotions that I had long since forgotten.

She looked at me with eyes full of meaning, saying.

"Do you hate me?" she said, "For tricking you, do you now see me as an enemy?"

"I do not, no. if it were not for you I truly would have suffered… but still, you could have avoided that, you could have told me…" I said

"I wouldn't have dared… if I did, you could have refused, many things would have gone wrong… the fate-" yet before she could continue

"Nonsense! Fate? Destiny? That is bullshit, I do what I must when I need. There is no such thing as a paved road to make, that is but utter shit, I reach where I aim and I do what I want, no one has any influence over my decision. Your little stunt forced me to the depths of hell, but finishing it and crossing all the circles was my choice, I could have given up halfway, truly I had many chances to do so, but still I persevered… just to come back and know why have you done what you did, however you were not there… tell me, what happened when I was not there?" I asked

"I was nothing but a borrowed doll, for the entertainment of Annwen." She said "I was going to perish after 1 year from meeting you, that was the limit of the body I was given that year was the last I was going to survive. If you had remained in the palace, I would have disappeared and you would have died against the onslaught of the black demon. Yet by sending you to a more vicious place you grew stronger and was able to take your revenge on that thing… indeed my reasons may seem selfish for sending you without your consent there, but if I didn't, we both would have died without purpose, we would have suffered and would still be suffering inside that inferno." She said

A lot to think about and much to ponder, yet before I could even begin to speak my mind, Shara stood up and approached. Embracing me and forcing me out of my stupor.

"Forget about things that long since passed… You have gone through great length with minimal reward, indeed you grew strong, but you are still the same naïve human that I met before, still afraid to reach out first, unwilling to take the first step. You are indeed powerful in war, but your heart is still covered with a thick shell. You have many beauties that followed you, yet you don't give them your time. Are you afraid of being hurt?" she said

"Pain is nothing to me," I said as I pushed her onto the bed.

"The pain of the body can easily be ignored," she said "But the pain of the heart… rare things could heal" she said "And I have a way around it" she added with a snicker as we intertwined in an embrace…