39 Queen of the Land of Shadows

The light of the teleportation circle dying down I found myself looking out at a beautiful coastline, with the morning sun coming up over the horizon.

I took it in, just enjoying the beauty of the sunrise.

Which I did until the sunrise finally ended.

Once it did I turned to my companions, a serene smile on my face. "Wasn't that just magical?" I asked them.

My companions are Kaido, Reynard, Echidna, and Angelica.

They are here with me to watch my back, since a Maou just disappearing would cause a lot of issues and I'm not that irresponsible.

Now, what am I doing you ask?

Well I am getting ready to recruit another member of my peerage of course.

My queen.

Anyway, after I asked my question Angelica nodded her head. "Yes, it was beautiful." She said, using her usual monotone voice. But after knowing her for over a century I know how to read her, and I can tell she really enjoyed watching the sunrise just now.

"Eh, I've seen better." Kaido said.

Not that I was expecting anything less.

"It was pretty." Reynard admitted.

"Yes, it truly was master." Echidna said. "Hey, what do you think would happen if I made a prisoner continuously look into the sun from sunrise to sundown?" She asked, licking her lips in a seductive manner as she did so.

I gave Echidna a deadpan look after that. I then delivered my 'Fist of Love' to the top of her head.

This girl really doesn't learn.

"Ow!" Echidna said as I hit the top of her head.

"Don't say things like that and ruin the mood." I told Echidna.

She nodded at my instruction.

Once she did I nodded back. "Good, at least you are leaning." I said to her. 'Now then, let's get a move on." I said.

Everyone nodded at my words.

After they did I turned in the direction of our destination.

The ruins of an old castle, sitting on a cliff. Actually, there isn't really anything left of the castle at all, just a few walls and hardly anything else.

However, looks can be deceiving.

For you see, the ruins in front of me are those that belong to castle Dun Scaith.

The home that woman.

Who is known by many names.

The Witch of Dun Scaith, The Queen of the Land of Shadows, The Lord of Spirits, etc. She is also a teacher of legendary heroes from Celtic and Irish mythology.

Yes, the person I am here to recruit is that legendary woman, Scathach herself.

When I was thinking about who I should make my queen, she is the first person who came to mind. She is strong, a master warrior, a gifted rune mage, a leader and also a teacher, but above all she is a beautiful woman.

I have seen images of her, and heard tales of how men and women fall for her the moment they lay eyes on her.

When I heard all of this, it made me want her all the more.

And now that the evil pieces have finally been invented, I will make her mine.

In body, mind, and soul.

My group began moving towards the ruins of Dun Scaith, reaching it in no time at all.

The moment we did I used my power in the middle of the ruins. When I did a large magical circle appeared in the air directly in front of us, and turned into a portal.

A portal that will lead us to the Land of Shadows. Where the real castle Dun Scaith resides.

No, I shouldn't say that.

Actually both castle Dun Scaith's are real. However the one in the human world isn't where Scathath actually resided. It is just a waypoint.

The castle Dun Scaith of the human world is an anchor for those looking to enter the Land of Shadows. It is where the portal resides to take you to those lands, where the castle Dun Scaith where Scathach resides actually is.

So the castle Dun Scaith of the human world is real, and not real at the same time. That is how it is with the rest of the Celtic pantheon as well.

Tir Na Nog, where the Celtic gods reside like Lugh and The Morrigan.

Then there is Fairyland where the fae and other spirits associated with Celtic mythology live.

Finally there is Dun Scaith, which leads to the Land of Shadows.

These three places make up the backbone of the Celtic Mythology.

It's actually pretty ingenious when you think about it. Having a gateway in the human world so you can keep tabs on those who come and go from your homeland.

Moving on, the moment the portal stabilized I was the first through, the others following right behind me.

Once all of us were through the portal closed.

Leaving us in the perpetual night of the Land of Shadows.

(Image Here)

It's actually not at bad as I thought it was going to be. I can even see the other Dun Scaith sitting in the distance.

I got ready to move, but the second I did I felt something approaching us through my senses.

Several somethings actually.

Within a few seconds we were surrounded my grotesque beasts straight out of your worst nightmares.

(Image Here)

If I was still human I would definitely be shitting myself right now. Thankfully I am not.

Anyway, after the twenty or so beast surrounded us I looked at Reynard and Ecidna. "Go on, take care of them." I told them.

This is the reason I brought them along in the first place.

Among the three realms of the Celtic Pantheon, Dun Scaith is the most dangerous of them all. Ultimate-class beasts roam this landscape non-stop.

Which makes it the perfect training ground to get stronger, no matter who you are.

Makes perfect sense why Scathach trained her students here and still lives here to this day. To make sure her skills don't get rusty.

And it is for this exact reason that I wanted Reynard and Echidna to come here with me. So they can grow and surpass their current limits.

I brought Kaido and Angelica along as backup. Just in case a situation arose and I needed someone to cover my students.

Esdeath would have also come along, but I have her working on another matter at the moment.

She and Zest are training Ririchiyo and Soushi.

A month after I turned them into devils and brought them back to the underworld, I assigned those two the task.

While Zest is reaching the couple about the rules and laws of the underworld, as well as about the supernatural in general including sacred gears, Esdeath is training up their combat abilities. Since the both of them has such untapped potential.

Ririchiyo has the Longinus Telos Karma, as well as a high potential with both Youjustu and Senjutsu, as well as Touki. We did some tests to confirm this. Once we did I contacted Mephisto personally and asked for some books on Youjustu and Senjutsu which he was all to happy to provide.

The two of us get along quite well.

Now as for Soushi, his Youjustu skills are not that great. But he makes up for it with his Senjustu level and his wanting to learn Touki. Not to mention he has several bloodline traits from his kitsune heritage. He can conjure fox fire, and even modify his appearance and age, as well as his gender without any trouble. We also discovered that with enough training he can transform into a full-blown kitsune. Not to mention he is also into swordplay.

So yeah, both of them are grade-A supernatural's.

And I only had to pay one rook and one pawn to snag them.

That's why I want the two of them to become strong, which is why I put Esdeath in charge of their physical training. She will push them to the brink, but she won't destroy them. It's for the best this way. I would rather they suffer in training, than end up suffering in a real battle.

I used the same mindset when training my children and it paid off. Eugeo and Meredy are powerhouses who won't hesitate to destroy their enemies.

Moving on, after I gave the order to Reynard and Echidna they moved into action.

Summoning flames around his body Reynard launched them forward, catching and burning three of the creatures to death in an instant.

While he did that Echidna snapped her fingers and multiple magic circles appeared in the air around her. Immediately after they did fire, ice, lightning, and pure demonic powers bullets raced out of said circles and struck several of the monsters down in an instant.

Even so, over ten still remained.

Seeing that their opponents could keep up with them the monsters changed their strategy. They faded into the mist of the lands, and began using it as cover, dulling their presences.

These ultimate-class beasts are smart after all.

It's the reason people come here to train against them. At least that's what I learned when I researched this place.

Seeing their enemies fade Reynard and Echidna came to stand back-to-back. Once they did Echidna laid several curses and hexes around the pair on the ground in the surrounding area.

Then a few seconds passed before they started being triggers.

"Agh!"

Inhuman screams rang out as the monsters got caught in Echidna's traps.

Once they did Reynard summoned a torrent of flames and sent it flying out in a wide-range in front of him, burning all the remaining monsters to a crisp.

Leaving the area clear of enemies for the time being.

Once they completed their battle, my two students came to stand in front of me for a quick review session.

"Good job." I told them. "Your teamwork was excellent. Echidna, excellent use of hexes and curses. Reynard, good job controlling your flames. However if you want to become a super-devil someday you need to make your flames hotter. Hot enough to burn an opponents into ash in an instant." I told him.

"Yes, master." Reynard said.

"Thank you master." Echidna told me.

"You're welcome." I told them. "Now let's go." I said.

I then started walking towards the other Dun Scaith in the distance, everyone else following right behind me.

Along the way we encountered several more herds of monsters, but since I wanted to hurry up and meet my future queen I summoned several large thorns and dispatched them. I also started releasing more of my power to tell them to fuck off and not bother us.

It worked

Which allowed us to reach the other Dun Scaith in no time at all.

The moment we came to arrive in front of its gates. They opened up.

After they did a person walked out and stood in front of us.

A beautiful woman.

Long dark-purple hair, deep red eyes, a cute button nose, and a glorious body with curves in all the right places. I could see them all since she is wearing a skin-tight body suit that is leaving nothing to the imagination.

(Image Here)

"Scathach." I murmured, looking at her.

The moment my eyes landed on her I knew, no matter what she would become my queen.

I know I said that earlier, but I mean it from the very bottom of my soul this time.

This woman, I want her. I want her as my queen, as my companion, and as my lover. I want to see this strong and proud woman moaning in pleasure under me as I ravish her body.

No one else will ever have her again but me.

And I will not leave the Land of Shadows until I make it so.

I swear it.

Even if I have to force Scathach into submission.

She is leaving here with me.

No exceptions.