"Ah!"

"Ugh!"

"Oh!"

"It hurts so badly!"

A young woman's frantic, pained bellows resonated through the black of night with deafening clarity.

Pain. A throbbing pain worse than what the tales told; coursed through the woman's body.

She felt as if sharp instruments were ripping her innards apart without relenting.

"Fuck!" the young woman cussed inadvertently as the pain climaxed.

Uncertainty. Anxiety. Dread. Joy. All were emotions that the young woman discarded the moment she chose to birth her child.

Despite that, she felt no regret. Her resolve was like an unsullied flame—burning ever so brightly.

She found the dreadful pain to be the worst part of the whole affair.

"I can see the baby's head, child," said an elderly midwife. Her wrinkled face riddled with relief.

"One more push, just one more. You will not have to bear with the pain for much longer!"

As if invigorated by the midwife's words of reassurance; the young woman mustered the last of her strength for one final push.

However, it seemed all her effort was for naught; as she suddenly felt weak in the knees, and a burning sensation overcame her torso—only by a hair's breadth could she breathe.

With a grimace; the elderly midwife was quick to notice this.

"Ha! Not on my watch!" An eerie laugh escaped the elderly midwife's lips as she started waving her hands in the air—following a queer order of sorts.

Suddenly, her bony hands gleamed with a dazzling green light that seemed to overflow with a strange power. A power that exuded an abundance of life.

So much so, that a nearby, shriveled peach plant suddenly bloomed with flowers, and developed fruit that ripened in mere moments.

Upon seeing that, the elderly midwife merrily hummed to some incoherent tune and nodded in satisfaction.

'Still got it,' The elderly midwife thought. A light smile reaching the corners of her lips.

Her moment of satisfaction was, however, short-lived and her face soon paled with disbelief as the radiant power she exuded; did little to nothing in aiding the young woman through her ordeal.

A cold sweat run down the elderly midwife's spine—that was one of her best spells!

The young woman's life force was waning rapidly. She looked so weak.

Her disheveled, long, black hair clung to her body as she sweated buckets. Her plump lips had long since turned pale, and her beautiful face looked ghastly; as her cheeks lost their usual healthy, flush.

Most would have given up the ghost already. But the young woman's resilient vitality, coupled with her strong desire to birth to her child, was what egged her on.

"Blood! She 'needs' blood," the elderly midwife said in haste. Her creased forehead draped in sweat.

With puckered lips, the midwife's gaze turned to the man leaning against a wall of the cramped room as she continued, "otherwise, neither mother nor child will make it!"

"…"

The man had a cold, disdainful look written all over his unusually handsome face.

He reeked of indifference and authority. And an air of confidence radiated around him.

Yet, somewhere in the depths of his calm, red eyes was a patent glimmer of interest as he looked at the young woman writhing in agony.

"Shadow," was all the man said.

A light smile reached the corners of his lips as he looked at the expectant woman once more.

The man found her to be a person of great interest. But that was it; interest only—he had no concern for her well-being.

No sooner had the man said that word, than his shadow danced as if under the flickering light of a flame.

Soon, ripples appeared on his shadow as it became thicker, with a darker shade of black and bits of purple.

A light breeze emanating from the shadow caressed the man's face; brushing gently against the black of his locks—it was as if his shadow was the entrance to a bottomless abyss.

A most shocking sight then followed.

A fair hand with long, beautiful fingers emerged from the shadow, followed by another. As the two hands firmly rested on the wooden floor, they seemed to support a figure's gradual rise from the depths of the shadow.

First, a head of long, purple hair and cat-like ears emerged. And then a pair of seductive, fox-like eyes followed. Finally, a voluptuous figure and a bushy tail waving back and forth; in that order, emerged from the shadow.

It all happened within a few seconds.

The exotic beauty that emerged from the shadow seemed to be a mix of human and beast. She possessed a unique allure that any female who was entirely either human or beast would most definitely lack.

In all likelihood, like moths drawn to a flame, most men and some women would do the vilest of things just to see her smile.

However, the sinister aura radiating about her seemed to scream: 'danger,' and kept weak-willed ones from getting too close.

When she realized someone had summoned her, the fox-like woman felt incredulous and infuriated.

She looked around the cramped room with molding floors and holes in its roof with blatant contempt.

The fox-like woman's gaze landed on the bed where a young woman covered in her own bodily smut lay with spread legs.

She could tell the expectant woman had little time left.

Also, she noticed that the remarkable healing spells being continually cast by the elderly midwife did little to nothing in aiding the expectant woman through her ordeal.

That was odd, but the woes of a mere mortal were of no concern to her.

'A dying succubus in labour, and an old witch with one leg in the grave, already,' the fox-like woman thought in amusement. 'Where in the Realm of Mortals am I?'

Then her gaze turned to her now dusty hands. She grimaced in disgust at the sight.

Her cold, beautiful face contorted and her luscious, rosy lips formed a pout. It looked like she was about to murder someone!

When last did someone force her into doing something against her will? She couldn't remember!

And they had the impudence to summon her to such a vile and dirty place! It was unbecoming of an Empress of the Realm of Sovereigns.

She felt so mortified!

However, that feeling only amplified her insatiable desire to kill, as a deathly aura exploded from her!

Countless shadowy figures that looked like the messengers of death; ready to mail an unlucky soul to the depths of hell, appeared—bending to her fancies!

"Insolent! You dare summon me, Fox Empress, to a place such as this; vile and unworthy of my splendor! As punishment, I will end you, and eight generations of your—" as Fox Empress' gaze drifted to the source of the residual magic that summoned her, she froze.

The man before her was handsome in the extreme, yes, but that wasn't the reason she froze. It wasn't because she wary of him, either, no. What she felt then was hard to describe.

A flurry of emotions overwhelmed the icy beauty as she looked at the man.

Her indifferent facade crumbled instantly as her lips quivered and her eyes went moist. Part of her wondered whether she was dreaming, even, as her eyes widened in bewilderment and glee.

The man slowly walked towards Fox Empress with a tender smile; unafraid of her sudden display of power.

As he drew nearer, Fox Empress unconsciously parted the myriad of shadowy figures around her, and created a path for him—not that anything could have prevented him from reaching her, though.

Fox Empress' eyes were wide with shock. As the man stood right before her; the cogs she was missing, all fitted into place—only 'he' could have summoned her!

The man lifted his hand and brought it towards her head. Fox Empress closed her eyes and tilted down her head like a bashful little girl.

Her change in personality was akin to the difference between night and day.

"What a fine woman you have become, Little Fox. I cannot believe you are a Sovereign, already," said the man as he stroked her head gently, like a loving parent. "If you work hard enough, you might just become a Demigod in a few centuries."

Hearing the man's words of approval, Fox Empress' tail waved back and forth, as she blushed. Who else but 'him' would dare call her 'Little Fox'?

'Does he still see me as a child, only?' She thought.

"M-Master, it has been so long! Where were you? Mother and I thought you died by father's hands that time. And yet, here you are, birthing your child with a mortal woman, a succubus, no less!" Fox Empress spat out those last words like flames.

She was so happy and excited to see him again that it brought tears to her eyes. However, when she remembered how long she and her mother grieved for his supposed death, it welled her fury. Even more so when she saw the expectant woman!

On other hand, the man nearly coughed up blood when he heard her words.

He showed a wry smile as he said matter-of-factly, "That is why I summoned you instead, Little Fox. You are far more understanding than the Nine-tailed goddess is. Who knows what she might do to little old me, in a fit of rage? I am but a mortal in this realm, after all."

Fox Empress rolled her seductive eyes in disdain. She knew better than to fall for his sly words that had wooed even a goddess like her mother into inviting him to her bed.

She knew this man who 'challenged god and failed' was not one to be taken lightly. After all, why else would he deserve to be called her master?

"Also, you misunderstand, Little Fox," the man continued. "I see your imagination is just as wild as your mother's."

"I plan to raise the unborn child as my own," the man said in a serious tone. "But I believe he will be stillborn. That is why I summoned you here. Will you give him some of your 'Sacred Blood of Rebirth' when he is born?"

Fox Empress' eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn't believe what he was asking of her!

***

To be continued…