1 The Mad Emperor

Shrill, heart-wrenching moans from a woman echoed throughout the walls of an enormous hall.

The huge, towering walls were gold-plated, which shone as the sunrays from the broad windows fell over them, bathing the hall in a golden hue.

On the walls, intricate yet bemusing art of many unknown beasts had been done. Some looked like dragons and serpents', others like humans yet oddly disfigured.

Gemstones of multiple colours were engraved on the golden plating to colour the bizarre figures.

Vale Umbrae, not to his surprise, felt himself being drawn into the odd figures even though he had been looking at them for the past 200 years.

He stood on his knees on a huge bed placed in the middle of the golden hall. His hips swayed back and forth with a practised rhythm as if he had been doing it for ages.

In front of him was a mature lady who had been bent forward, her hips raised, and her hands sinking deep into the silky bedsheet.

Paw! Paw!

"Ahhh!'

With each thrust of Vale, the lady moaned at the top of her lungs. The moans, however, didn't seem those of pleasure but deep pain and loathing.

Looking carefully at her shaking figure, it seemed as if the lady was trying to move away from the constant pounding but was unable to do so.

An invisible force held her in place, restricting any unnecessary movements.

Her milky white skin shone due to the sweat, and her bright orange hair felt akin to wild flames that fell over her arching back. She had wide hips, a curvy waist, and beautiful yet tight breasts.

Just from her exquisite features, it was clear that she belonged to a royal family. Such a beautiful woman could be a reason for war between many families.

Yet despite all of that, Vale Umber didn't feel an ounce of excitement about fucking this beautiful lady. After all, no matter how exotic the dish, it would still taste bland if fed three times a day for years…perhaps centuries.

"As beautiful as ever!" Vale commented, studying the intricate art on the wall. Unlike everything else, these walls never bored him. Every time he studied them, he saw something new.

"How wonderful!" Vale whispered.

Paw! Paw! Paw!

"Ahhh, you demon, I hope you die a cruel death!" "Ahhhhhh!" The orange-haired lady below him screamed with immense hatred and loathing in her voice.

Vale slowly moved his head to look at the lady finally, and after a while, he said in a monotonous tone, "Oh, that is for sure."

"After what I have done in my life, there is no way my death won't be the cruellest." For a moment, the memories of the past 250 years of his reign flashed through his eyes, and Vale could only sigh.

After a short pause, he continued, "But I hope... after that, everything will go silent."

For a moment, Vale got lost in memories, but soon he felt something and snapped back to reality.

Suddenly, Vale grabbed hold of the lady's butt and started thrusting faster and deeper.

The movement was so fierce that the enormous bed shook, with tremors running everywhere.

"Ahhh!"

The lady screamed, feeling her back was about to break from the fierce thrusting, and finally, with a curse, she let go of what she had been holding back all the time.

As he felt her cumming, Vale sensed a surge of energy moving into his body.

Finally, he released the lady, and she fell to the bed.

Soon, Vale raised his hand and scrutinised it.

In the middle of his palm, a small, flaming ember manifested itself out of nothingness.

Vale focused a little, and soon the tiny burning ember was now the size of an elephant as it floated over his head. The flames crackled, radiating a terrifying head, but neither Vale nor the lady were affected.

It was clear that both of them weren't normal humans.

With a snap of Vale's fingers, the huge ember disintegrated into nothingness.

Vale then looked out of the window into the plain, green gardens and the empty land far beyond.

His eyes suddenly squinted, and, in a moment, far away into the empty lands at the end of his sight, an enormous ball of flame, like a meteor shot down from the sky colliding with the land.

Tremors rose from the impact, smoke, and dust, creating an enormous mushroom cloud.

"I see, quite a useful spell!"

It took a few seconds for the sound and waves to arrive, but with a swipe of his hand, Vale calmed them down.

Looking back, he saw the lady had also been witnessing this miracle with grim eyes.

"Just to keep this spell away from me, your family colluded with the demons, breaking the most severe law in the empire. How foolish!" Vale said, gazing into the lady's eyes, who now went silent as if the realisation had dawned upon her.

"No, not just for the spell!" The lady said this, crazily shaking her head.

"We heard the rumours about the .....tournament. We didn't want our husbands… our sons to be killed, and every Emberhart woman who holds the bloodline to be raped!

"That's why we colluded with demons; at least they are far more human than you will ever be!" the lady wailed.

"Emberharts aren't the only ones who will participate in the tournament; every royal family in the human empire would, and every woman is responsible to cultivate with the competitors of the throne if they succeded in killing their partners; it would be better to get fucked than get your whole family killed."

"Now the whole Emberhart family is dead!"

"Perhaps the next emperor would have been from your family only!"

"Maybe your son; I heard he inherited this spell too!"

The lady flinched and was silent for a while until she muttered with a trembling voice, "Spare my son!"

"Wish granted," Vale mumbled, and with a swipe of his hand, the lady's head fell to the floor.

A fountain of blood emerged from her decapitated neck, but before it could stain the bedsheet, her lower body disintegrated into ashes.

Unfazed by the death, Vale stood up and exited the bed.

He turned to look at a mirror on his side, studying his visage.

Dubbed "The Mad Emperor," the third and reigning human emperor... Vale Umbrae didn't look like a human from any angle.

His skin was covered in vicious scales that appeared to be stitched from the hides of numerous beasts. On the arms, it was crimson, with a circular pattern, and on the chest and legs, it was dark blue with thin triangular patterns.

One eye was that of a serpent, the other that of a human. Two black fangs extended out of his mouth, and long, multicoloured hair that changed colour every second fell to his shoulders.

His right hand was made of polished metal, while the other was made of water, which somehow didn't spill. At last, the face was shaped in an odd way, with the recognisable features of multiple beasts.

Looking at the bizarre appearance, Vale clicked his tongue. "I can hardly change back into the human form, and the bloodlines are growing more chaotic each day."

"It looks like the time has come."

"It's time to choose the next human emperor!"