The party arrived before a huge metallic gate. It was pitch black just as the dragons remembered, and light wouldn't even dare reflect. Since the place was only recently opened, there were no guards manning the gate. The dragons looked at each other as they figured out whether they should open the gate, and more importantly, who would do it. When they were at their peak of anxiety, Emersyn was the one who opened the gate by her own hands.
The gate didn't produce a sound at all as it silently opened, and welcomed Emersyn and her entourage.
Yvri was already circling the very top of the castle as he squealed merrily. This had become his favorite pastime when Emersyn would be making his meals, teaching those people about living for themselves, and preparing the monster parts that she could sell and use for her own convenience. The familiar energy that was contained in Emersyn was apparent in the pitch black castle. It was ominous, yet beautiful. Yvri couldn't help but shriek in happiness whenever he passed through every hall and room.
Emersyn gazed up with a smile, then turned around and looked at the uneasy dragons before her. When she was about to open her mouth, a huge dragon descended down and transformed into a handsome young man with fiery red hair.
"I already prepared their dwelling," he said.
However, the dragons stood rooted on their feet as they gazed at the young man before them. It was one of the royal children of Gerania, Ignis. He was the most promising dragon when he was but a mere child. Since the world already fell into ruins, they didn't care about following Gerania and her children anymore. Now that he was clearly so close to the Supreme Being standing so oppressing in front of them, they felt cold sweat perspire from their bodies.
"Can you guide them to their palace?" Emersyn asked.
"Of course," Ignis smiled then turned towards his kin. "Follow me," he said before walking out.
The dragons were skeptical as they tentatively followed Ignis. They passed palace after palace. It was a very long walk as the entire center of the Demonic Realm was filled with palaces for the royal family. There were some that picked the one that was furthest from the castle where the Demon Lord lived. Because of the Demon Lord's presence dominating over the entire realm, they didn't need a fortified wall to protect themselves from invaders, monsters or humans. The closer they got to the Demon Lord, the stronger the pressure dominating them became. Even the normal people couldn't breathe before her. That was how Emersyn established her position, even without her trying. However, this wasn't what she had planned. After all, she had to leave once the teleportation function in her bracelet worked once again. Before that, she needed to teach all these people that decided to live in the harsh world of the realm she revived. It was the least she could do to those people.
When she stepped inside the castle, Elodiaren was already there, welcoming her with a bright smile.
"How's your mission?" he asked as he hovered his hand on her coat, asking for permission.
Emersyn took off her coat and handed it over to Elodiaren.
"I procured more materials, so I have to work on it now."
"I'll help you, then."
Emersyn smiled at him then nodded. "That's much better. Later, I have to check on the crops and the farmers, so it's a big help."
"I already checked on them. We can just focus on dismantling that enormous dragon. After seeing it from afar, I could guess that it's really humongous. We need to dismantle it outside. If you ever need more help, I can hire a few people that are adverse to this field."
"Hahaha. We need to dismantle the dragon away from the dragons. Doing it in front of their kin would be a bad idea. Besides, it's dangerous. What if they think that they'll be killed and dismantled too? We need more powerful people to protect this realm for a long time. Since they didn't have any more homes to go back to, we have to make them get used to the people here."
"Understood," Elodiaren chuckled, then led Emersyn outside of the castle. When they arrived on the spacious training ground near the castle. They saw Carnash and the humans running laps around the ground. They were already sweating from their training and the Demon Lord had to come here and put fear into them.
Emersyn signalled at Carnash and the old dragon came forward.
"Yes?"
"I just wanted to inform you that I am going to dismantle a dragon's corpse."
"Ah! The corpse of Faria! May I join?"
"Of course, you are free to join."
Emersyn looked at the others and beckoned them over. They immediately approached and there were questions in their eyes.
"Dismantling a huge dragon would take us days, so I would like to hire helpers. Are there any of you that would like to help? I can pay you handsomely."
"Yes, please! I am in!"
"We are!"
"No, all of us!"
"Understood. I will supply the knives and swords, so you don't have to worry about yours. We'll start right away."
Emersyn and her entourage came out of the training ground. She immediately took out Faria's body and gently settled it on the ground so as to not disturb the people that were working. She instructed them which part of the dragon they would work with knives and swords in their hands. Once they heard the orders loud and clear, they immediately worked on skinning the dragon. After that, they proceeded to carefully hack away the muscles into smaller chunks. They were settling down the meat when it disappeared from where it was settled. They didn't get surprised since they knew that the meat would go bad if it were left alone under the glaring sun, and that they believed that Emersyn was the one who stored them away. When the skin, organs, wings and horns were hacked, they proceeded to cut the ligaments. Then, when the bones were piled up in small mountains, they also disappeared from their sight. It was already night time when they finished dismantling the corpse of Faria.
When they were resting on the dry ground, Emersyn approached each of them and handed over fifty gold coins. The workers were ecstatic when they received their very own income that would last them a few decades. However, there were questions in their mind. Emersyn noticed and immediately addressed the people.
"The materials acquired today is an enormous income when I have the chance to sell it in another world. The fifty gold coins that I handed over to each of you are just a small change compared to the one that I will earn from this. So, just accept it."
After all, Emersyn was earning all the time when she resold the things she bought from the store in her bracelet. She was the sole supplier of the products that they were selling in the Demonic Realm. She was also the one who offered loans to people to open up their shops and sell wares. Of course, Emersyn was also preparing for the time that there wouldn't be any more supplies coming from her if she left. She made sure that there were city activities where they would craft whatever they fancy, build things from the raw supplies they got from Locruna, and make innovations all the time. Those were mandatory. Now, the economy was steadily rising; and later, they wouldn't be able to be dependent on Emersyn.
She would wait for the day that she would be able to go explore again. Of course, she didn't forget to search for her identity. After all, if she forgot all about it, Elodiaren would nag her all the time. Though, she was wondering, what if Elodiaren just straight up took her to her parents?
Where was the fun in that?
She would rather find it on her own, and find more places to go. She knew one world where she could go to different branching worlds.
Strevalia.
***
"This can't end like this!"
After surviving the wreckage of Tamel, Elder Sua raged. His hard work was buried along Tamel and thinking all about it made him all the more furious. From the tunnel where they escaped to, he could see the drowned corpses of his colleagues that had the signs of hypothermia. He couldn't do anything about it, yet it made him more furious. He could feel his blood pressure go up as he tried to calm himself down. No matter. He would find a way to connect another tunnel to his laboratory and ritual room.
He gazed at the few children he could save. They were huddled closely to the fire Sua made and their little bodies were trembling. Sua smiled gently when the children looked at him with kind eyes. However, in his eyes, he could only see the auras they permeated from their bodies; and they were excellent.