Chapter 507 – A Skirmish of Malicious Wits

The crimson doorway quickly dissipated behind Noir as she stepped into her private chambers. Finding herself back in the bedroom, she threw a brief look around for any change. The simple queen-sized bed remained untouched just like she had left it earlier, and the complex desk with multiple compartments was still riddled with notes and reagents. No one seemed to have tampered with the books covering three entire walls, which were organised in neat rows from floor to ceiling in their respective cabinets and shelves.

For a long time, this was her last sanctuary in this accursed world. A place warded strongly enough to stop even her mother from peering inside without being noticed.

Fortunately, that was no longer the case.

Noir had gained access to a great number of safe spaces throughout the universe. Even if she still lacked control over which one she would show up in. That depended on her new master and where he was when he called for her or she came to him on her own.

In the past, any thoughts of being at someone’s mercy would cause her to explode in a fit of rage. The mere idea that she, Noir the Nightmare, first-in-line descendant of Black the Allterror, would find herself under someone’s thumb was utterly abhorrent. It was her who was supposed to put others in their place, not the opposite.

However, as tough to swallow the jab at her pride had been, she couldn’t deny the great benefits she was reaping every single day since the one when she had been bested. In front of an audience, at that. Such an affront would demand a complete genocide of everyone involved and their full lineages.

Yet, she had not done that.

Just because of something as stupid as gut feeling.

Shaking her head with a growl, Noir turned towards her desk.

A week.

That was what she’d said.

The only issue was, her current approach might not make it even in the month she had been initially offered. It was too time-consuming. Having found out the general location was not enough. Her forces scouring the area had undoubtedly caused the coward to bury himself even deeper under the ground than he already had.

But, she could not fail again. She had to bring in actual results this time. Before the insolent rat-blooded excuse of a male could try something like the day before once more. Bringing harm to her partner.

Therefore, there was only one solution.

Bringing the spatial artifact up, Noir stared at it for a few seconds, then nodded to herself. Throwing it into the spiritual vault within her core, she whipped towards the exit. The thick metal door screeched loudly as she pushed it open, moving into the spacious corridor outside.

Its magnitude made her pause for a moment. Spending most of her life in these hallways, she hadn’t fully realized how big they were. Or, in fact, how big everything was.

Designed and constructed purely with True Dragons in mind, the Shadowpeak Keep could most likely rival the size of the whole town under Asterios’ rule. The passages were wide and tall enough for two full-sized True Dragons to move freely in each axis. Columns as monumental as entire buildings upheld the ribbed canopy, everything made of black and dark gray stone. Only personal chambers and other rooms tended to be humanoid-sized, as that made them more useful in such form.

After only about a week in the other, much smaller stronghold, Noir was starting to feel like this was just too much. And so, instead of shifting into her draconic body, she started walking to her destination like she had gotten used to in the last few days. It allowed her to collect her thoughts more before she jumped straight into the fire.

Half an hour later, a towering double-winged gate entered her sight. Two draconic silhouettes lay ahead of it, roused from their slumber by her unhurried arrival. Noticing her form, they shrank into two humanoids with hair, horns, wings, tails, and scales in colors nearing shades of black. They wore ominous but regal uniforms.

When Noir was about to pass between them, the one on the left barred her path by extending his arm to the side.

“My apologies, Lady Nightmare, but Mistress Allterror is not accepting visitors today,” he announced calmly.

She flicked her eyes to him, her lips twisted in a snarl. “Get your arm out of my way, slave.”

“We’ve been ordered not to let anyone in—”

His words were cut off by a yelp as Noir grabbed one of the man’s horns and yanked it down, twisting his head to the side as she growled right in his face from above.

“That was not a question.” Her hand transformed, and she tightened her grip enough for faint cracks to reach their ears. “This is your last warning. Get the fuck out of my way or I’m going to snap this pathetic stick in half, heat it up until it’s glowing red, shove it down your impudent throat, and watch you cook from the inside until you piss and shit yourself from pain.”

The vigorous nodding that answered her could have almost done the deed on its own, but she let go of the male’s horn and allowed him to jump aside, his guard companion doing the same in a flash. Throwing them both one more furious glare, she kicked the huge gate open, the noise of heavy metal scraping against the polished floor forcing them to cover their ears from how the blow bent the weighty double door.

Paying no mind to the destruction, she marched into another extensive passage, the sentries behind her struggling to close the gate. A few steps in, deep shadows coalesced next to her and revealed another male Dragon with shoulder-length hair and in something akin to a butler outfit, but much more menacing.

“That was surprising.” He hummed to himself, matching her stride. “Did something good happen today or…?”

“Mind your fucking business, Svart.” Noir didn’t even bother glancing his way. “Nothing changed. Nothing ever does.”

“Oh, but something did.” Svart chuckled foxily. “The Noir I know does not offer second chances. Especially not to disposable slaves that can be replaced with a snap of one’s fingers.”

Stopping abruptly, she brought out her old greatsword with a flutter of black flames and swung it at his neck, pausing just short of his throat.

“Then you won’t care if I kill you right here, right now, will you?” Noir pinned him with a manic gaze.

“Now, now.” The stalker snickered again, trying to push the edge away with his finger, but the amount of resistance shocked him, and he cut himself a little.

As his shrinking pupils found her eyes, she smirked in challenge.

Svart cleared his throat. “We both know you wouldn’t do that, would you? The consequences are rather obvious.”

Holding her sword by his skin for a little longer, which had by now turned into scales around the endangered area, Noir scowled and dismissed it with a flick of her palm.

“Mother would just send someone else to spy on me instead,” she said with a huff, resuming her walk.

“And it would once more be a pain in the ass winning that person over,” he added, following her hastily.

“You are on my side only until she tells you to betray me, slave.” Noir flicked him off. “Don’t act like you won’t double-cross me the moment whatever hopes for my intervention that you are holding in that tiny brain of yours are shattered by her direct command.”

“You speak as if everyone already doesn’t know and do that.” Svart laughed more openly. “Betrayal is a natural part of existence. There is no entity alive who doesn’t wish to bring another down for their own benefit.”

She might have believed that a month ago.

But she wasn’t so sure anymore.

“Begone.” Noir straightened up, approaching a grand entrance depicting a humongous, flaming black True Dragon resting atop a tall mountain. “She will erase you herself the second she takes a whiff of your stink anywhere near her lair. Don’t let your position get to your head. You are just another of her pawns, lucky enough to survive longer than most.”

Leaning forward into a deep bow, the man disappeared into the darkness.

Alone for once, Noir gazed upon the carving obviously portraying her mother. Her goal lay behind that depiction. A battle most sophisticated awaited her. It would not be easy to get what she wanted without giving everything away. But, she was not going to back off just because of that.

Setting her palms against the cold metal, she pushed the gate open. As soon as she slipped through the gap, its double wings slammed shut with a resounding thud. Still, anything happening behind her was drowned by what stood ahead in the giant, round enclosure resembling an intricate, eerie cathedral.

Heaps of gold, artifacts, books and documents, weapons and gear, trinkets and vestiges, even skeletal remains and corpses filled the space, each collection high enough to compete with the largest warehouses bundled together into batches of many. To an outsider’s eye, everything must seem lost in the chaos. But there was a trace of order in that chaos. Order only the creator of the arrangement was able to perceive.

Speaking of the creator, she was currently sleeping soundly in the very center of the rich formation. Black’s draconic body had always been imposing just by its sheer size and presence, her onyx scales so dark they consumed light instead of reflecting it, which were marred by countless marks of battle and survival.

Yet, even her sinister bulk paled in front of the vastness of the entity that called itself the Storm King.

Shaking her head, Noir got rid of the thoughts about her mother’s reaction to the Dracodon and continued on. A third of the distance to the raised dais, the slumbering Dragon lifted one eyelid, its pupil locked right on the daring invader. Three slow blinks later, it shifted around to lie down in a more fearsome position, facing the visitor directly with its head held high.

“Curious…” Black eyed her daughter intently. “My door is not in pieces… There’s a distinct lack of vehement screaming… And I see no sword coming for my neck…”

The ancient female tapped her claw against the floor repeatedly.

She tilted her head curiously. “Did you by any chance fall ill?”

“I did not come to kill you today.” Noir let out a low growl. “I came here to… talk.”

The statement caused the other woman’s scaly brows to jolt up ever so slightly, just enough for Noir to pick up on it.

Good. Her mother was suspicious. That could be used against her.

Before the conversation could resume, powerful onyx flames burst out of the middle of the chamber, forcing Noir to cover her eyes and face. They gradually retreated, leaving only remnants of a lingering blaze in a few spots over the central platform. Amidst those flickering fires stood a humanoid woman of an ethereal beauty.

A dazzling, hourglass figure with wide hips and a full chest. Lush black hair reaching almost to the floor, the fringe falling over the left half of a dazzling but fierce face. Carnation of a finest bronze adorned by an evening dress dark as the night, fluttering over the edges like the nearby flames. Even the occasional scars could not detract from the overall magnificence brought forth by those combined features.

“Let’s hear it, then.” Black descended the steps leading down from her resting platform, the noise of her bare feet hitting the floor echoing around them. “I do wonder what scheme you have designed for me. It does feel different from the usual. I hope you won’t disappoint.”

Noir gritted her teeth. All she really wanted was to slug the bitch right in her treacherous mug. As if all the disappointments her mother had experienced up to this point weren’t the result of her own interference. Not once had she not hindered Noir’s attempts at anything relative outside of her control.

Unfortunately, right now was not the time for that.

Never mind all that, as much as she wished to solve the issue as quickly as possible, she couldn’t do something as outrageous as ask for help. Not only would that be laughable, but it would make her mother even more wary, as Noir had never done such a thing in her life. Her childhood did not count.

While, for some reason, the idea was not as abhorrent to her as she would have expected it to be, that was not the way forward in this particular scenario. To secure her mother’s cooperation, she had to outsmart or provoke the woman well enough to convince her that she was taking action of her own volition.

That was… doable.

“Remember the rat I’ve been chasing recently?” Noir asked with an even tone.

“Hard not to with how fruitless that little endeavor of yours seems to be.” Black’s annoying chuckle grated on her nerves.

“I wonder whose fault it really is.” Noir snorted, causing the teasing smirk to disappear from the other female’s lips. “If a certain someone didn’t insist on stealing the right to build my own entourage without their oh so necessary input, I wouldn’t be forced to use sub-par subordinates who aren’t even competent enough to find a fly in a close vicinity of a freshly taken shit.”

Black’s dress shimmered as her pupils narrowed. “Watch your words, whelp.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” It was her daughter’s turn to grin slyly. “Or do you admit to making them drag their feet around to impede my hunt? Now, that’s an interesting topic for the keep’s servants.”

The mother suddenly appeared right in front of her, face-to-face. “Smearing my retinue that I benevolently lent to you will lead only to a slow and painful death.”

Schooling her expression to not give away the fact that she had barely perceived the shift in shadows, Noir did not falter from the murderous glower directed her way.

“You can rest easy knowing that it’s not on my to-do list, then.” She smirked bravely. “But, we are getting sidetracked. All while the wimp that you decided to spare on a whim instead of devouring him for simply daring to covet me so boldly continues to grow even bolder. His pitiful machinations not only annoy me more and more, but I was even almost injured in one of his attacks.”

Black’s nostrils flared as she froze in place. Once again, only that tiny physical tick betrayed that the revelation had any effect on her. It wasn’t hard to guess what was now going through her head. She must be searching her memories and all the information she possessed to figure out how she could not have been aware of something as significant happening anywhere in her domain.

After a moment, she squints at her shorter descendant, undoubtedly expecting this to be part of the trap set up by her daughter. “And how do you plan to resolve this… discourtesy?”

“I’m going to use the Cradle of Twilight.” Noir raised her chin daringly.

“Funny, last I remember, it’s in my possession, not yours.” Black let out a ladylike laugh, then assumed a cold expression. “And this is no posture to beg for something.”

In a blink, an almost indomitable aura descended upon Noir’s frame, like a mountain had just dropped on her shoulders. She fell into a crouch, her knee shaking as it hovered a hair’s breadth off the ground, refusing to give in the rest of the way. Only thanks to her quick reaction had she avoided completely losing control over her entire body.

The pressure was nearly impossible to fight off at this stage. And the past Noir might have already let it crush her just so she could be done with the humiliation and leave, working her ass off for the sake of a future attempt, during which she would be the one on top.

Yet, this time, it felt different.

She would no longer grovel in front of an overwhelming authority.

She would no longer surrender to an irresistible domination.

She would no longer kneel before anyone in the world.

Save for one person.

Her Dragon Lord.

Something flared inside Noir’s chest, a kernel of power quickly filling up her Dragon’s Heart. It was eerily familiar, and she recognized it right away. Before the surging energy burst out of her and flaunted its completely different spiritual signature, she quickly wrapped it in a protective cloak of her own presence. Thankfully, it listened to her and didn’t expand any further. It lay in wait, ready to follow her commands.

No, not commands.

Wishes.

With its kind and friendly support, Noir gradually rose from the forced crouch. Slowly at first, then without any visible struggle, standing straight and unbothered in front of her mother once again. The other woman’s Aura of Authority did not recede. Ast’s own Aura of Domination merely matched it, the two clashing against each other on equal ground.

Her mother evidently hadn’t expected that. And Noir couldn’t deny that she hadn’t either. But she was the one defiantly glaring at the other female now, who had taken a surprised step back.

“You…” Black spoke through tense lips. “You weren’t this strong…”

“Maybe.” Noir smirked at her. “Or maybe you are just growing weaker, you old bat.”

Her mother’s forehead creased, clearly already expecting the follow-up.

“I might be the only one who knows the truth now. You’ve made sure to kill anyone else who had witnessed the battle. But don’t let that make you think that the others won’t believe a lie if it aligns with their desires and interests.” Noir stepped into her face in turn, baring her sharp fangs. “He wants me, and you are in his way. Now, how do you think a miserable coward would approach this situation after already being rejected once? Another challenge? Or perhaps spread a rumor that the Great Primordial Black hasn’t leisurely retreated into her lair because she’s gotten bored with the universe’s mundane matters but because her old injuries from a lover’s spat with a crimson-scaled mongrel sap at her strength every single day, and let the others do the dirty work for him?”

A reverberating growl that shook the entire keep hit her straight in the chest, blowing Noir away and sending her skidding back over the shiny floor. Even aided by Ast’s energy, the honest animosity was making her weak in the knees. She had not only just said something equivalent to rubbing salt into an ancient monster’s wounds, but very possibly shoving a lemon-coated barbed spear right into its asshole.

It was a risky gamble, but not one without a chance of success.

“Give me ONE reason not to tear you to shreds this instant…” Black’s snarling voice bordered on something truly demonic as she responded to her taunt.

Her hair and dress whipped wildly from the spiritual storm surrounding them. The flashes of black over her brownish skin made it apparent just how much she was holding back the feral urge to transform and be true to her words.

Inhaling softly, Noir summoned all her courage to send an amused sneer her way.

“Would you mind toning that killing intent of yours down a tiny bit first? Amongst all the contingencies against your unbridled hostility towards me that I have amassed over the last few centuries, there’s one that’s… rather sensitive when it comes to my life.” She let out a mirthful chuckle. “Coincidentally, it’s most likely the only thing in the known universe… that could have a real chance at mending your condition.”

Noir felt the subtle change in the air the moment the last word left her mouth.

Got her.

“The choice is yours, though.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “You either let it kill you… Or hazard a chance of it one day giving you a new life…”

The growling faded away along with the immense pressure, and Noir barely caught herself from stumbling due to the abrupt switch. Still, her mother stared daggers at her with a rather ugly expression. The older woman was never going to acknowledge defeat, so this was as good of an agreement and permission as she could get.

“I’m now going to resolve this discourtesy, so don’t bother me anymore.” Noir turned around and started walking away, throwing one more glare at Black over her shoulder. “I don’t care about any of your schemes to mess with me, take revenge, or all that bullshit, but if you try to sabotage this one thing, I’m going to murder you myself. You don’t think you’ve been the only one holding back during our fights, do you, Mother?”

Not waiting for her response, she drew on all of Ast’s energy still churning in her Heart and unleashed it all at once while concealing it beneath her own aura. The potent combination found an outlet through her leg as she blasted the three-story-tall double gate off the hinges with a single kick. The devastated doors bounced off the walls and floor of the spacious hallway outside, striking multiple sculptures and figures, before they slammed into the outer entrance, evoking panicked screams from the two guards positioned behind it.

Black stood exactly where she had, unmoving as her daughter waltzed into the distance through the freshly created carnage. Her mind was buzzing for a hundred reasons. It had been generations since so many pieces and variables did not match what she had designed for them.

And her only daughter had just become the biggest one.

With a dangerous glint in her calculating eyes, she turned towards the heart of her lair.

It was time to get back to work.