"How long has it been?" Said a woman with a smile.
"A long time, maybe ten thousand years?" Said another woman with a laugh.
Then, another one spoke flatly with an emotionless expression. "It doesn't matter how long. What matters is… Welcome back, Tatyana."
The third woman who spoke looked at a place where a woman was chained and warped in thorny vines that slithered across her skin, spilling blood constantly.
However, the face of this woman was nonchalant as a smile hung on her lips. "I didn't expect it, either." She looked around at the many females with the same face as her, wearing a variety of attires, and laughed. "Heart Demons, quite a pathetic bunch, aren't you?"
One of the "Tatyanas" summoned a bloody whip and swung it.
PAH!
Tatyana's face forcible swung sideways, a large gash appearing on her previous immaculate skin. However, Tatyana lifted the corner of her lips and licked the blood that dripped from the side of her face. "Weak. All of you are still so weak."
"Shut up!" The "Tatyana" that swung the whip snarled, her face warping in rage. "You, broken creature, how dare you even oppose us!? Tormented by us every day, at every moment, at every second. You are nothing but our plaything!"
Lifting her face to look at the whip-bearing woman, Tatyana laughed. "What Heart Demon were you? I forgot since we all have the same face."
That "Tatyana" mocked. "Acting tough? Just a little girl in search of a prince in a white horse."
Another laughed. "A woman that has opened her legs like a frog countless times in her life."
Another added. "A devil who kills innocents and relishes in slaughter."
Another ridiculed. "A pitiful being that has had her sanity broken and reforged, barely alive because she sacrificed those close to her."
"Pitiful."
"Pathetic."
"Weak."
"Indecisive."
"Liar."
"Coward."
"Insane."
Many of them began mocking her as the thorns around Tatyana tightened and dug into her flesh. Each word forced blood to spill onto the ocean of blood. However, as if accustomed, Tatyana remained calm.
One Heart Demon suddenly appeared behind Tatyana and hugged her, biting her ear. "Will you do the same to her?"
Tatyana flinched as that Heart Demon laughed and moved around, stopping when they were face to face. "She, our good daughter, such a cutie, isn't she?"
Tatyana looked at that Heart Demon coldly, not answering. However, that "Tatyana" smiled seductively as she whispered. "Yasenia will make a beautiful Undead in the future~, like Ying Yue."
CLANG!
The multiple chains that held Tatyana's limbs rattled as she pulled. "Say her name one more time, and I'll kill you."
That "Tatyana" laughed. "You can't kill me, Tatyana. While I'm your newest Heart Demon…" She approached, almost kissing Tatyana's lips, and smiled. "… I'm the strongest~."
Tatyana pulled the chains, creating a cracking sound around the pillars holding her, but the Heart Demons laughed.
"She thinks she can move?"
"She thinks she can escape?"
"Weak as she is, a helpless struggle."
"Our daughter, so talented."
"So beautiful."
"With such an accepting heart toward us."
"A noble desire to help kill us."
"Naïve woman."
"Innocent dragon."
"A little ant trying to face the sky, not knowing that a single droplet of rain can kill it."
Tatyana snarled, her eyes bursting with a bloody light. "SILENCE"
CLAAANNG!!!
All the Heart Demons stopped speaking, holding smiles on their lips. Suddenly, Tatyana felt pleasant electricity around her body as another Heart Demon appeared.
This one was different, as she was completely naked while hugging Tatyana from behind. "Tatyana~, doesn't it feel good when our daughter has sex with us~."
The fingers of the naked Heart Demon sank into Tatyana's clothes, caressing her. Tatyana tightened her jaw. "However… Our main body is thirsty. It doesn't feel that good physically. As women, don't we have needs? We should go have some fun before our lover can reach a level that can satisfy us."
Tatyana turned to look at the Heart Demon caressing her with murderous eyes.
Instead of fear, that Heart Demon moaned, showing a lustful face as she licked Tatyana's bloody cheek. "Such good eyes~. Don't you want to lose yourself? To open your legs in an orgy and not know who is fucking you? I want you to satisfy us~, satisfy our lust~."
Tatyana suddenly smiled, then with the help of the chain attached to her leg, she swiped her leg quickly, making the naked Heart Demon's body stumble forward. Without a single moment of hesitation, a red aura leaked from Tatyana's mouth and eyes as she opened her jaw and bit her neck deeply. "AHHH!"
The mocking Heart Demons opened their eyes wide.
Tatyana, like a wild beast, laughed as she used her tongue to latch on the flesh and arteries and continued chomping at her neck. The lustful Heart Demon began screaming and flailing around, but the red aura around Tatyana's mouth kept her there as Tatyana brutally chomped on her.
All the other Heart Demons suddenly started shouting.
"Pathetic woman!"
"Acting like a dirty beast!"
"A lustful creature that refuses to accept her nature!"
"A liar!"
"A slut!"
Each of their statements made the chains and thorn vines around her tighten until they pulled her backward, strong enough for her to be unable to continue biting.
The naked Heart Demon grabbed her open neck and gurgled in pain, blood flowing constantly as she fell into the Blood Ocean and flailed around in pain.
As the Heart Demon that represented Tatyana's past lust, she was quite weak to pain.
Tatyana laughed as she gulped the flesh she chomped. "Ah~, insignificant Heart Demons. All you can do is torture me and try to erode my Will. Hahaha." She looked around, blood dripping from her lips in a sensual manner. "I was wondering why I came here, so it was for this~. Now I can retaliate~."
BOOM!
A massive aura exploded from her as her body glowed with a bloody light. It felt as if the black sky would change colors as the World around Tatyana' bent to her Will.
"Is it fun? Creatures of the unknown?"
Clang!
Her chains rattled as she pulled again, and the pillars around her cracked.
"You can cage me."
CLANG!
"You can torture me."
CLANG!
"You can molest me, rape me, I don't care."
Tatyana smiled crazily as she pulled with all her strength.
CLAAAANG!
The pillars almost crumbled, but she couldn't escape them.
"The moment those pillars fall…" Tatyana's lips widened past normal human limits as her red eyes shone with a maniacal light. "… I'll devour you. Piece by piece. Finger by finger. Bite by bite. Slowly, while you are alive and screaming in pain. While you beg for forgiveness. While you try to return to wherever you came from. I'll make you all suffer unspeakable horrors while being devoured by me."
Tatyana laughed aloud, her aura swirling around her like a pillar of red and black light as she tensed her limbs. "So pray, hahaha."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Tatyana looked around with her face-splitting grin.
"PRAY TO WHATEVER GOD YOU BELIEVE IN."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"PRAY THAT THESE CHAINS ARE ENOUGH TO KEEP ME HERE FOR ETERNITY!"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"THE SECOND I ESCAPE! THE SECOND I CAN MOVE! I WILL CONSUME YOU! HAHAHAHA!"
CLAAAANG!!!!!
The Heart Demons involuntarily took a step back as they looked at the constantly cracking and regenerating pillars, many looking at Tatyana with fear.
At that moment, a voice reached Tatyana's and the Heart Demon's ears.
"Mom?"
Tatyana froze as her heart sank, and she turned her head to her right side to see Yasenia looking at her from a distance.
The Heart Demons stood still for a second before some of them suddenly felt a powerful wave of strength. Most of those stepped forward, appearing by Yasenia's side with gentle smiles. "Little Treasure, you've come?"
"Oh, we were waiting for you."
"How about you have fun with us?"
"So beautiful. Can you give me a kiss?"
Yasenia looked at the many "Tatyanas" around her with a frown, and she spat coldly. "Back off."
BOOM!
A tyrannical aura spread around Yasenia, pushing them back.
"Huh?"
One of them asked, puzzled. "How?"
Even the chained Tatyana was surprised. Yasenia looked around, walking forward toward Tatyana with slow steps as she commented coldly. "How can a Heart Demon affect someone who has overcome them?"
"Oh? Our daughter is so heroic~."
"So beautiful. Should we congratulate her?"
"How about we satisfy her lust~? We are many. We can give her pleasure she can't even imagine~."
"How about we sacrifice her?"
"Right! Like many in the past!"
"Such good Undead material~."
Tatyana's chains and thorny vines continuously tightened, making blood burst from her wounds and making her grunt for the first time. Her red aura also vanished as her body became weaker by the second.
"She is feeling it?"
The newest Heart Demon smiled. "How could she not when I, the newest but strongest Heart Demon, is here, hahaha. Tatyana, scream."
Yasenia saw a new chain appear from the blood ocean and pierce Tatyana's chest, tightening around her body. The soul-level pain was too much, and Tatyana screamed. "AH!"
Yasenia was startled and rushed forward. "MOM!?"
However, that new Heart Demon appeared by her side and hugged her, stopping her. "Little Treasure, stop for a moment~."
Yasenia extended her arm, summoning Draconic Heart, and swung it at the Heart Demon. "SCRAM!"
However, the new Heart Demon stopped it with two fingers, pinching the giant sword. She smiled softly, her eyes filled with love. "So strong~, Mom is so proud of you. But, forget about Tatyana for a moment and listen to Mom, Little Treasure."
Yasenia looked at Tatyana's warped face because of pain, and her mind spun. 'If I heard correctly, this one is the newest Heart Demon? Think, think, think… Did something happen when I was away? No, Mom was cultivating in seclusion. Analyze everything, speech patterns, situation…'
Her eyes flashed as she looked at the new Heart Demon. Then, she smiled childishly and acted coquettish, rubbing her face with her. "Mom, but I want to go out to play. Can you let me go, please?"
The newest Heart Demon paused, looking at Yasenia strangely. She opened her mouth to mock her, but instead, she patted Yasenia's head while tip-toeing with a smile and landing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Okay, be careful."
Yasenia nodded and easily moved away. "Thank you, Mom!"
The new Heart Demon waved her hand gently, and then she snapped out of its daze. "Huh? What happened?"
Yasenia smirked. 'Her newest Heart Demon should be her fear as a parent.'
Yasenia arrived in front of Tatyana and called her while leaning forward with a smile. "Mom, why are you so worried?"
Tatyana looked at Yasenia, her red eyes showing an incredibly vulnerable side. "Little Treasure, leave. They may hurt you."
Yasenia extended her hand forward, caressing her sweaty and bloody face. "Mom, didn't we talk about this in the past? I won't go anywhere." Yasenia smiled gently. "How could I ever abandon you?"
The new Heart Demon sneered. "Lies. Tatyana, we know exactly how things always go. She might remain by your side for one thousand years, maybe five, maybe ten. But eventually, you know how things will end."
Yasenia looked at the new Heart Demon. "Aren't I Tatyana's first daughter?"
That new Heart Demon frowned while Tatyana looked up. The new Heart Demon asked. "So what?"
Yasenia smiled. "I, who inherited parts of her. How could I fall? I, who she gestated, how could I die? I'm born from the strongest mother. How could I perish?"
A few at the side mocked. "Strongest? Hahaha, we are weak."
"Every time, others sacrifice for us."
"Every time, we are the only ones remaining because we flee."
"How could we be alive otherwise? After so many fights, after so many desperate situations? If we didn't flee each time, we would've died long ago."
"Undeserving, we remain alive."
"Underserving, we trampled among many innocent lives to remain afloat."
"Without us, how many creatures wouldn't have needed to face extinction?"
"Without us, how many creatures wouldn't have needed to fall into despair?"
Yasenia heard Tatyana grunt, so she looked at her. Yasenia sighed and leaned down, lifting her falling head with her fingers. Yasenia smiled tenderly, her golden eyes reflected in Tatyana's red eyes. "Did you think that I adore you because you are a hero? Because you can save people?"
Yasenia laughed, leaning down to gently kiss her pale lips. "How could that be? The only reason I adore you is because you are my mother, my lover, my first wife." Tatyana's eyes trembled, and Yasenia smiled softly. "A devil? A murderer? A scum that only brings despair to those around her? So what? My love for you is selfish, Tatyana. I would rather slaughter all sentient creatures than see you hurt."
Yasenia placed her forehead with hers and lovingly said. "Our love is not an honorable one. How could the daughter of a devilish woman like you be normal? Our love is selfish." Yasenia's golden reptilian eyes shone with insane possessiveness. "All the Worlds be dammed as long as we can be happy. I don't mind destroying this Heaven and Earth if, at the end of those moments, we are laughing together."
Tatyana's red eyes regained vigor, and the previous red aura that had died out reignited with the brilliance of a thousand Suns.
CLANG!
BOOM!
One of the many pillars shattered, and Tatyana's lips arched as her right arm was liberated. "Right." She looked at those Heart Demons and laughed, her eyes shining with a crazed light. "As long as MY Yasenia is by my side, everything else matters not."
Then, the chains that held her right arm shot and divided, piercing the hearts of twelve Heart Demons. "[Innate Skill: Death Absorption]."
"AHHHH!!!!"
The screams of twelve out of the few thousand Heart Demons burst like the wails of a Banshee, being absorbed by the chains and flowing toward Tatyana. Between them, the Lust Heart Demon was also destroyed.
Once they entered her, the pillar she exploded reappeared, and as if attracted by a magnet, the chains were instantly locked in place again.
Yasenia's eyes widened, but she heard Tatyana's soft and loving voice. "For now, it is enough, Little Treasure. I love you."
Then, Yasenia's vision spun as she was pushed outside Tatyana's inner World.