The Damned Demon

"Uhh…" Lysandra, whose strength was nearly sapped by poison, stirred faintly from the commotion going on around her, her consciousness flickering like a briefly lit candle in a storm.

Through her blurred vision, a familiar silhouette solidified—Asher, standing defiant against the Dreadspine Serpent.

"Asher...run...now...." Lysandra's voice was barely a whisper, strained and weak, yet carrying the weight of desperate urgency.

Asher's expression tightened, and he wondered why this woman had come all the way here to throw away her life when she clearly said she didn't care.

As expected, she can't let the only gate to her son be closed forever.

Lysandra regretted not waiting a bit longer and was surprised to see that Asher's aura was as strong as ever.

She didn't come in with him together because she didn't want to burden him and instead waited to see if he might come out on his own or not.

However, after not seeing him for a while, she grew worried and tried to think of ways to defeat the Dreadspine Serpent.

But she had no choice but to rush inside, feeling that she couldn't afford to simply stand around any longer.

It was not like she had enough time to gather help or ask without Drakar knowing.

Lori chuckled softly, her amusement tinged with confusion, "Ohuhu, I knew it! This poisoned queen loves your seed as much as I do. But then, why is she telling you to run away alone?" She mused aloud, her eyes narrowing as she pondered the paradox.

Why would this draconian queen care about him than her own life? That seemed too strange, no matter how much she loved his little snake.

Asher, seizing the moment, addressed Lori with a calculated coolness, "Lori, come here," he commanded, his face unreadable.

Lori blinked, intrigued yet cautious, "Hsssssss..What are you trying to pull off here, brat?"

"I thought you wanted me to be your man. But for me to start such a relationship, I need you to first give me a kiss so that I will be in the mood," Asher proposed, his hands hidden behind his back.

"Sssss, you are telling me what I want to hear, and that makes me very suspicious. But...it's not like I can refuse when a virile man like you is ready to throw yourself at me. Just remember..." Lori's voice was a serpentine whisper as she shrank to match Asher's height, though her tail still coiled possessively around Lysandra, "Your lover queen is feeling a bit cozy under my tail. You pull any tricks, and she might not feel so cozy anymore," she hissed, her gaze sharp and threatening.

Asher offered a slight, knowing smile, "Would I dare?"

Pleased by his submission, Lori slithered closer, her eyes gleaming with excitement. When she reached him, her face just inches from his, she teased, "Where do you want me to kiss you, you charming alien? Or should we skip such useless things?"

Asher smiled as he caressed her smooth yet surprisingly soft scales with the back of his hand, making her briefly close her eyes with a blissful hiss.

But suddenly, his eyes darkened, a storm brewing in their depths, "Look into my eyes, Lori."

"Ohuhuhu, you want to appreciate my beautiful—" Lori began, opening her eyes to look at his. But as her eyes locked with Asher's, they were suddenly bathed in an eerie dark green light, making her feel as if her soul was being swallowed into his blazing eyes.

Instantly, Lori's confident sneer froze, her words choked off in her throat as her body began to stiffen.

"SSSHHHHHKRR...NOOOO!!" she shrieked, her eyes turning a dark green to match Asher's.

Her entire body petrified, her tail's grip loosening as Lysandra slipped from her hold and crumpled to the ground.

Her confident demeanor crumbled under the weight of his gaze, her body convulsing as she was dragged back into the darkest corners of her past.

"SSSRAAAAGH!!"

Lori began to shriek and hiss, her voice laden with an unmistakable pain that pierced the cavern's heavy silence.

Tears welled up in her eyes, each droplet shimmering with the reflection of her tormented soul, "Papa... no, please... not again..." she gasped between wails, her words soaked in despair.

Through the connection forged by his powerful gaze, Asher caught glimpses of Lori's nightmare—a towering figure of a Moon Guardian, his fur as white as snow and eyes like blood, striking down a much larger serpent figure with bolts of crimson lightning mixed with oppressive darkness. The large serpent, who he guessed was Lori's father, fell in battle, his guts charred and torn out before her young eyes.

But that wasn't the end of it. Just as the Moon Guardian left, some other people came rushing in a frenzy to harvest her father's corpse, his scales, organs, and anything they could rip out being invaluable to them.

"Papa…." Lori continued to weakly wail despite the hunger and thirst gnawing at her little body.

Asher felt a pang of unexpected empathy. The raw agony in Lori's voice resonated with a haunting familiarity, stirring a rare flicker of sentiment within him.

She looked very young and much smaller in size...probably a child at that time.

They kept harvesting his massive corpse for days while she watched without moving an inch from her hiding place.

They were also prepared to take away his bones, but it was too heavy and strong for them to take away without the right tools.

And so they left behind a group for lookout while the rest went to get the right tools.

Feeling there would never come another opportunity, a young Lori finally slithered out of her hiding place and fought every single one that was standing guard over her father's bones.

Fortunately, they were weak but strong enough to wound her severely. But she refused to die, and eventually, she managed to kill them all with few breaths left in her.

Asher watched, his expression hardening as the memory played out—Lori, bleeding and gravely wounded, struggling to drag her father's skeleton back to their lair. And every day, she would lifelessly stare at her father's bones and hated venturing out.

As the seconds ticked by under the influence of the Gaze of Agony, Asher sensed a molten layer beginning to form over Lori's scales.

"Kraaak…Kraaaaa…."

Her shrieks of horror escalated into soul-tearing wails caused by her cracking voice, her body trembling uncontrollably as his gaze continued to exact its dreadful toll.

If he kept his gaze up, she might very well turn into a molten statue.

Realizing the intensity of the agony he had unleashed and remembering Lysandra's still critical condition, Asher knew he could not let Lori die—not here, not like this.

He sighed and closed his eyes, breaking the gaze, "Enough," he murmured softly.

"Sssrrreee…Papa…."

Lori's form collapsed to the ground, her wailing tapering into quiet, pain-filled sobs. Asher stood over her, his face a mask of coldness mixed with a hint of regret,

"You are not my enemy, Lori. Not my true one. You don't deserve such agony," Asher mumbled, his voice low as he began to walk back to where Lysandra lay.

As he moved to attend to Lysandra, the echoes of Lori's wails lingered in the cavern, reminding Asher that even the strongest creatures weren't safe from getting haunted by their past.

But at the same time, he once again realized how terrifying Lubac's Gaze of Agony was. However, he never expected he would also get to see the glimpses of their agony.

The huge skeleton of a serpent over there must have belonged to her father. No wonder there was a defensive barrier protecting it.

Asher's expression hardened as he turned his attention back to Lysandra, his concern palpable in the grim set of his jaw.

The cavern's flickering light cast barely lit up her face, accentuating the dark purple veins that had woven a sinister network across her pale skin, "Lysandra..." he murmured, his voice a mixture of worry and resolve.

Gently, he cradled her in his arms, examining her condition with a critical eye. The poison had spread insidiously through her mana circuit; the venom was not just draining her strength but threatening her very life.

She would get crippled before she dies.

As he contemplated his options, Asher considered using his own infernal flames to burn out the poison. Yet, as he gauged the severity of her condition, he realized that the aggressive treatment might overwhelm her already weakened body.

The risk of killing her in an attempt to save her loomed large in his mind, casting a shadow of doubt over his next actions.

"Let me go….and leave..." Lysandra weakly mumbled as she forced her eyes open to meet his.

"Lysandra, you shouldn't have come here…" Asher mumbled with a hard shake of his head.

"That doesn't matter now…But…you….you have to go while that serpent isn't focused on you. I have fought enough…I want to rest now…." Lysandra said as her hands, which were holding his, trembled.

"Bullshit. That's just the poison talking. You are not someone who breaks down like this. You have yet to kill Drakar with your own hands. Are you really going to leave this world without ending the one who caused all the misery in your life?" Asher asked with gritted teeth, his hand tightening around hers.

Lysandra's eyes flickered, but before she could say anything, Asher took out a health potion and said, "Just drink this and buy yourself some time. I will figure out things before that."

With few options left and time running out, Asher's gaze shifted towards Lori, who lay nearby, still shaken and remaining in her small form but was now wrapped around the skeletal remains of her father.

Asher gently placed Lysandra down, ensuring she was comfortable, before he stood and approached Lori.

"Papa…"

Lori's sobs had quieted to a soft murmur, her body coiled protectively around her past.

"Lori..." Asher began, his voice softer, infused with a rare humility, "I know it's shameless of me, but I need your help."