The Damned Demon

As Asher and Lysandra were straightening their attire, the rustle of scales against stone announced a certain serpent's unceremonious return.

She slithered into view with a wide, satisfied smile plastered across her serpentine face, her size still reduced to small proportions, "Well done, brat! With the amount of seed you pumped into her, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets pregnant with two or more children, ohuhuhu. What if all of them turn out to be blessed with the blood of the Primarch??"

Lysandra, her cheeks still tinged with a flush, focused intently on buttoning her dress, choosing to ignore Lori's intrusive commentary as if the walls themselves were more interesting.

Asher, who had caught Lori being a peeping tom earlier, shook his head with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

He gave her a helpless look and retorted, "You don't know the meaning of privacy, do you? But now that we have done as you wanted, it's your turn to stick to your words."

Lori's hiss cut through the cavern as her vertical pupils narrowed, "Ssssss, even if the skies were to come crashing down, I wouldn't renege on my words," She proudly raised her serpentine head into the air as she added with gleaming eyes, "This is my calling...to fulfill my destiny and my father's wish after avenging his death."

She then lowered her gaze to look back at Asher, "But you better prepare a cozy, large cave for me to live. Otherwise, it will be very hard to take care of my precious soft scales. You have no idea how difficult it is to follow my scale routine, sssss…" she remarked, glancing admiringly at her own shimmering scales.

"You have to be kidding me…" Asher muttered under his breath before adding louder, "Unfortunately, the only space we have got is the seas near our kingdom. It's not like we have lands lying around to accommodate the last descendant of Hydra," he explained, hoping to preempt any later demands.

"What?! What kind of puny king are you if you can't even arrange a few hundred acres of land for my majestic self? I don't want my scales to get damaged under the scorching sun," Lori hissed back, her tone dripping with exasperation.

"For fucks sake, you are a peak Soul Devourer. Unless you run out of life crystals, the sun isn't hot enough to destroy your scales. But since you are so worried, I will take care of your scale routine for you. Happy?" Asher asked, his voice laced with exasperation as he pondered the absurdity of pampering a centuries-old serpent.

"Ohuhu, now that sounds like a reasonable offer…But! I still need a place to store my father's skeleton," Lori said with an adamant look, making Asher realize this was probably the real reason why she was asking for a huge place.

"We can store it under the sea in a place where no one will dare go near. Only you can go as you wish," Asher said in a reassuring way.

"Under the sea? Ssss…" Lori hissed with a contemplative look as if she wasn't so sure of the idea.

"You are the last descendant of Hydra. If I recall correctly, Hydra once ruled the seas along with the Kraken until its descendants split off, and most of them moved to the lands, including your ancestors. Isn't it better to live and explore your ancestor's true roots?" Asher asked with a narrowed gaze.

Lori let out a low hiss, "Sssss…fine. Maybe His Greatness would want me to do that."

"I should get back to my kingdom. It's already very late," Lysandra suddenly announced, her voice echoing slightly in the vastness of the cavern.

Asher turned to face her, his expression solemn but supportive, "You should. But let me know if you need anything, okay? Don't keep it to yourself. Remember what I said about allies looking out for each other, okay? If anything happens to one of us, it will affect everything." His words were earnest, emphasizing the fact that she wasn't alone in this.

Lysandra met his gaze, a silent understanding passing between them. She nodded slowly, then with a graceful sweep of her dark silver wings, she took to the air and flew away, disappearing into the distance.

Asher watched her departure, his thoughts lingering on everything that happened between them.

As he stood there, Lori slithered up behind him, her presence close enough for him to feel her breath, "Was her flower that good for you to miss her already?" she whispered, her voice dripping with mockery.

Asher rolled his eyes, a mix of irritation and amusement flickering across his features, "You might be centuries older than me, but you still have a long way to go to understand people."

"Pssshhh, it doesn't take more than an eye to see how your little Hydra down there still hasn't had enough of her. But if it had tasted how sweet my flower was, I have no doubt you wouldn't want to leave my lair for eternity," Lori retorted with a sly, knowing smile.

Shaking his head, Asher replied, "I think it's time for me to leave as well. Are you coming with me now or what?"

"Wait. I want you to help me pack my stuff. I don't have a spatial root like you walkers, nor did I ever have the need of putting one in me. So I want you to stay here and help me collect a few items. As a king, you must have access to a large storage, and I can't trust my stuff to any lesser people," Lori responded, her tone casual but insistent.

Asher gave her a tired look, "How many items are we talking about?"

"It's only a few... maybe around a few thousand? You see, I have a lot of collections and—"

Asher's eyes widened in disbelief, "Hold your horses. I will send some people along. I am not your personal mover," he stated firmly, turning to leave.

"Don't refuse me that fast, brat! I will let you in on some interesting knowledge if you help me out," Lori called out, her voice carrying a hint of leverage.

Asher paused mid-step, turning slightly to face her again, "What do you mean by that?" he inquired, his interest piqued despite his frustration, aware that a centuries old creature like her might indeed know something.

Other than the Moon Guardian, she was the oldest intelligent creature he had made an acquaintance within this world.

Lori's sly smile widened, "You were never curious about that 'key' you almost lost your life for after that old dog tried to take it from you?" Her voice held a mocking tone, her disdain for a certain someone palpable in her choice of words.

Asher's interest piqued, though he was amused, sensing the sharp edge to Lori's resentment, calling the Moon Guardian an old dog,

"It's not like I didn't try. Drakaris entrusted it to me, but he left the very important part of what that 'key' is capable of other than telling me to use it to protect my kingdom, even if it meant it could end up swallowing all the resources of my kingdom in due time. I even tried consulting the Hell Warden, Duncan Doru, who is the most knowledgeable person in the 00:04

kingdom, but it seemed as if he was purposefully keeping something from me and ended up telling me nothing as well. I tried researching old books but found nothing useful."

Lori's laughter echoed through the cavern, rich and knowing, "Ohuhuhuh, the Supreme One must have felt quite nervous but must have had no other choice if he entrusted it to you."

"Nervous? What do you mean?" Asher's brow furrowed, his curiosity deepening with each cryptic hint Lori dropped.

Lori's smile turned sly as she began to slither away, her body moving with sinuous grace, "Not so fast, brat. If you want to know more about the legendary Void Reaver, you know what to do."

Asher clicked his tongue in frustration, watching Lori's retreating form.

Despite his irritation, her knowledge of the Void Reaver, especially her casual mention of the sword's name, meant she held crucial information.

With a resigned sigh, he followed her deeper into the cavern.

Almost an hour later, Asher found himself aimlessly tossing random items into his Damned Dimension, already bored with the mundane task of packing. Lori's collection seemed endless and eccentric.

"Don't forget this too," Lori's voice called out from behind him.

As Asher turned, he instinctively caught a human skull that flew towards him.

He winced in disgust, the skull still adorned with bits of flesh and dried blood, coated in a gooey liquid, "What the fuck is this?" he exclaimed, holding the skull at arm's length and trying to grip it with just his fingers.

Lori, now wearing round spectacles that sat atop her serpentine head, glanced up from a large, dusty book she held with her tail.

Without missing a beat, she responded, "That is the head of a Peak S Rank Hunter I killed in my younger days. I have been carefully preserving it using my saliva so that I can eat its brain when the time is right. Don't you know the benefits of doing so? You have too much to learn, tsk, tsk."

Asher stared at Lori, the absurdity of the situation dawning on him as he juggled the preserved head of a hunter. Just what kind of benefits was she going to get from eating this disgusting stuff? On second thought, it was better to not know.

Even the skull seemed to plead mercy to him with the half-

broken jaw and eye sockets.

And why was she wearing human spectacles? It was not like it could serve any purpose unless this eccentric snake took a fancy to it. However, he did notice that she had a lot of old books and scrolls, probably snatched from her victims.

But he had enough and flung the skull into his Damned Dimension as he placed his hands on his hips and said, "Are you taking me for a ride here, or do you really know anything?"

"There it is!" Lori excitedly called out as her tail stopped flipping at a certain page in the book she was holding.