Chapter 399 – Burnt to a Crisp

*** Queen Yumanea ***

The temple said the ritual would start soon. I'm sure the monsters Nature's been raising are close. They moved so fast, and we don't have anywhere to run. The only thing we have going for us is the ritual. It won't take much time to break our line with those beasts. And Lensa isn't even going to be joining the fight. However, she did bring some warriors to pay for her time in the city.

Is she hoping we'll fail so she can kidnap Alzi herself?

Alzi has Geta. That should be enough against one woman, along with their deal from before.

"Dear, you feel the ground shaking, right?" Nesh asks.

"Shit," I mutter. "We've got an hour to set up. Their number and size should let us see them before they get too close. And we've got the traps. This is our last stand. We just need to buy time for Alzi to complete the ritual. That will decide how many of us make it to tomorrow."

The drums start up, ordering everyone to stand. No need to prepare for a drawn-out fight; we won't win it anyway. It's all about Alzi now.

Stepping out of the tent, I can see the Phoenixes and Dragons fighting in the air. The horizon is on fire, though whether it's from the sun or the beast of flames, I don't know, but it's something to worry about later.

I take a step forward and fall, a sharp pain shooting through my body, and a number of screams echo through the camp.

"This may be a problem," I say. "We're part of the ritual, but we're still needed."

"Are you sure?" Nesh asks.

"All hands are needed," I say. "If we die, it's on us for the pain we caused Alzi. We aren't about to just get saved despite our abuse."

"Very well," Nesh says. The women are going to know now that I planned for certain groups to die. Can't squirm my way out of something this visible.

*** Alzi ***

Not much about the inner circle changes when I enter Shimmer, but the pillars start to transform. Fire now dances around the base of the pillars, waiting for Shimmer's next pregnancy to begin climbing. Just a few more seconds. I'll have to find time to enjoy the women another day, and I'll just drown in their pain today.

The Phoenix Queen will be happy with seven new grandkids. If not, she'll get to live with a few new kids of her own. I'm too kind. But bending three Queens over and having my way with their wombs will be fun. Four Queens; I can't forget about Lensa. Kiyomi is clearly ready for me to take her, and Yumanea doesn't have a choice as an eventual wife.

I release my seed deep inside Shimmer, getting her pregnant the correct way this time.

I start to taunt Shimmer again, but the pillars whoosh alive as the fire consumes their bases, licking the feet of my sacrifices. I'll have chances to mess with Shimmer later. I have Yuki to stuff more kids into now. I give Shimmer one last kiss on her big toe and move over to my white tails.

There's a bit of blood at the corners of her mouth, but the roaring fire in the middle of the group is stealing all her tears. I don't give her any warning; her eyes are already closed off to the world. She doesn't react to me entering her lower folds, but that's fine. Her body's shaking enough for me. A group of four should be fine. I can try to speed them up or something, since it's a bit scary to have them due only a few days apart. I don't want the new batch to come out prematurely. I guess Yuki will get me coming in to check on the kids for this pregnancy.

Unfortunately, I can only faintly hear the sacrifices' screams over the fire. It would be nice if it had a bit more presence, but I'm happy knowing they can feel the fire.

I look to the side to see what state they're in now. The fire has crawled up to their knees. Flesh is falling off their thighs, and their feet are just bones. The flesh has long since burnt away in the white hot flames.

I caress Yuki's face before leaving her writhing in pain and move over to Talindra. I haven't seen her much since she almost killed Aurora and my unborn kids. If she had been just a bit smarter, I may have let her go completely, but Aurora's kids are really cute, so here she is. After all that fun she had raping Esiyae, she's now got blood coming out of her mouth and even a bit from her eyes. I'm excited to see what Ashryn will look like when I get to her. She's supposed to be feeling everyone's pain.

I don't really need to taunt Talindra; her position is enough, both as my slave and in the ritual. I won't turn her into a Shadow, but she can help raise the kids she almost killed, and then I can let her go after she gives me a few more kids, of course.

And that now leads me to the devil.

Osanna's shaking, and the blood at the corners of her mouth and streaming from her eyes help show just how pale the bitch is. Her spade-tipped tail is locked against the stone as well. Oh, what fun it is to see this. She loved to spill my liquids on the floor, always wanting more. She loved how easy it was to milk me. I don't know how long the Queen will let me have her, but it's nice seeing her squirm like this, her body vibrating from the pain.

She doesn't react to my touches, unfortunately. I know she's eating plenty, so she should get some extra kids to help with all the energy. Ten hungry babies should work well together. Syro hasn't been helping me much at night since I've been running around again. But after filling these bitches, I should have a true break.

After a quick go, I move over to my Shadow. Her body thrashes against her restraints like a heartbeat. Blood drips from the wounds she created from fighting her restraints. Her face is ghastly, looking like she hit it against a brick a few times. She's lucked out, not getting pregnant so far, but that ends now. She'll be a real Shadow now, since I know that no matter how much I wish not to get pregnant quickly after my current one, I'll end up letting someone knock me up again. Some of my wives are just too tempting.

I trace down my Shadow's flat stomach, admiring it for the last time, and hilt her fully. I've got enough sperm dripping already that I don't really need to fuck her, but that isn't right. I should enjoy her body some. It's only right that I have her for a bit. Trying to kill Mai was a big mistake.

I fill my Shadow up, and the flames roar again, now covering the sacrifices completely, both their screams and their bodies. Below their waists is just melted bone, but I can see them still trying to scream. I don't know whether it's the roar of the fire or their vocal cords just not working anymore that has silenced them, but I'm happy they can still feel. Rushing years of abuse into one ritual is working out better than I thought it would.

Just pillars of flame surround me as I step towards Ashryn again. Flames and others' pain. My body's whole, and theirs are not. I wish I could hug Mommy right now, but Ashryn needs her second load of kids. I'll have to go see my handiwork in the brothel every once in a while.

I don't think Ashryn's still awake in her bloody body. Every orifice is bloody now, and even her nipples are dripping blood. I'll have to save her after the ritual; I won't lose the one woman I was promised a continual punishment from, nor all the kids I'm giving her.

She lets out another round of rasping cries when I enter her again. My claws rake against her skin as I take what I want. A dozen. She can carry sixteen for me. She'll see how stupid it was to hold me for so long. She'll finally understand.

A beam shoots out from the middle cauldron of fire. It spreads out over the sky as the fires go out. My Shadow's thrashing stops to my right, but Lottie seems fine, just a bit tired. I kiss Ashryn and make sure she's going to survive. It doesn't show anything that will kill her, so I let her be and start to look around at the sacrifices.

I find nothing on the pillars. Nothing hanging at least. The pillars are burned black, but I can just make out where their bodies were hanging. There's just the faintest change in color if you look hard enough. I look at the one behind me and see a small pile of melted bones, burnt black.

Well, Queen, I made them disappear for you. Nothing is left to find of them if we grind those bones to dust.

'Sorry, Alzi, but you need to get into the temple and see to Elora. She isn't doing well. The ritual is working, and the city is safe. Check on the Princess and the child.' Space says. 'Well done.'

'Very well.' I think. She was struggling before, so I shouldn't be surprised she fucked up giving me a kid.

*** A warrior in the army ***

"The pain is getting worse," I say. "What do you expect from me, Your Royal Highness?!"

"To fight," the Queen says. "I'm working through it as well. Go, our women are dying. Help them."

Easy for the fucking mage to say! Fucker knows what is happening. This isn't a fight we can win, so she's got something going on in the city; otherwise, she would've run the fuck off. I just wonder how she picked the women to include in this scheme of hers. It isn't many, from what I can see, but two have already died due to a poorly timed wave, and she wants me to go forward. Crazy bitch.

"Go, or I'll cut your head off here," the Queen commands.

"As you command, Your Royal Highness," I spit out. I take a deep breath and leap forward, jumping over the lines. I have to be cautious, always prepared to jump back into our lines in case a wave of pain strikes. They've been speeding up as well, and the last one was a bit ago. It's too bad I wasn't able to stall through a wave of pain. The ritual must require us to go through the pain. I just wish she had told us so we could have prepared for it.

The sky lights up, blinding the monsters in front of me. The ritual must be complete. I need to push with the ritual, make sure we get the most out of my pain. My blade finds the neck of a monster, and I take its head, my cut continuing into the next stunned monster.

Then the pain hits me. It feels like my body is coming apart at the seams. My mind is too frayed to even scream, and the pain grows in my midsection. No, just my midsection now. I look down to see what is happening, and I can't find my legs. A monster is holding my top half. I blink just a few times before the monster collapses from nothing.

...

*** Alzi ***

The High Priestess walks towards me with a bright smile, holding a simple white robe for me.

"Well done, our Champion," the High Priestess says. "Well done. What would you like to do?"

"I have a wife to check in on," I say. "I appreciate the robe. I really should get more clothing from my maid."

"You grow so fast that it's hard to blame you for not having clothing around," the High Priestess says. "We'll take care of the bones and women. Go help Elora. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

I'm sure she will be. I just wish I could have a moment to gloat about my victory. So many of my torturers are burnt crisps now, and I don't get a moment to savor it! I guess it's good that Mommy convinced me to take Elora out of the ritual. But I probably wouldn't have to deal with Elora right now if I had just ignored her stupid request to include her as a sacrifice.