Deep in the dark abyss of the void, I held ------ in my arms, her broken, deformed figure caused tears to well up in my eyes.

“I'm so sorry,” I whispered in her ear as I brought her limp body close. “I promise that I’ll never let anything hurt you again.”

---

Hazeel watched in horror as Leon’s eyes shone luminously before a blinding light engulfed the two fighters in the ring. However, as soon as the light had appeared, it was gone. Hazeel looked up into the ring only to find Leon standing there with no trace of Zeek’s existence save for a gouged out spot in the ground where he had been standing.

Hazeel’s heart sank. How foolish Zeek had been to belittle Leon. The boy was a mage, and one of the most powerful ones Hazeel had ever seen, no less. Possibly even enough to rival the Terrestrial Demon Jane.

Only, Jane had never been good when it came to close combat or physical situations. Leon had shown proficiency where many mages would have otherwise failed: being physical enough to prevent a rush from opponents when cast-time occurs for a spell. Shaking off her initial stupor, she heard whispers from among the crowd, that continued to grow in volume and strength.

“He’s… he’s gone.”

“Zeek…”

“He killed him!”

As the crown began to perk their heads up and regain their vision, they saw what Hazeel saw: the site of a murder. The Conqueror tried her best to control her trembling body as she heard the unrest of her tribe.

The crowd of drunk goblins voicing their rage and sorrow were raucous, and the cacophony of noise and animosity surrounding the ring made Hazeel fear for her tribe. Had they not seen how abruptly and effortlessly Leon had obliterated their champion!?

She knew she had to calm their unrest and appease Leon before he decided to throw their lives away on a whim. She wracked her brain but couldn’t think of anything she could offer Leon that he wouldn’t be able to take by himself.

Perhaps she could offer him her loyalty? Hazeel didn’t want to polish her own painting, but she was one of the most powerful people on the continent, plus she had confidence in her own beauty. There was a reason Zeek had been so motivated to take her.

In fact, who wouldn’t want her services? She was a catch, and it was by her own choice that she had remained single for the amount of time she had. Yeah, definitely no other reason.

Hazeel was shocked out of her thoughts by a stone mug that whizzed past her face and was on a collision course for Leon. She looked on in horror as a rift in space opened up before him and swallowed the cup before closing once again.

A collective gasp rang out from those closest to the spectacle and grew as it neared the outer edges of the crowd.

“Leon, what did you-” Hazeel’s speech was cut short by an errant clunk that came from the direction of her makeshift throne.

She turned around to see the sprawled out body of Zeek, who was dripping blood on the ceremonial seat due to his right arm being lopped off from the bicep down.

There were several shrieks from the crowd as they ran from the center of the festival and back to their houses, leaving the space cleared of all save for Leon, Brago, Hazeel, her aides, and Zeek.

Hazeel was unaffected by the sight, having bore witness to the atrocities of war previously. “Zara, Ela, bring Zeek to the Shaman’s tent to be examined.”

“Yes, my lady.” Zara replied. The two aides picked up the head and feet of the exhausted champion before carrying him off of the throne and into the village.

“Nice one Leon, you really showed him!” Brago took a step forward but immediately took three back as Hazeel gave him a murderous glare.

“Leave, boy, before I do to you what your friend did to Zeek.” Brago gave a high pitched squeal and immediately ran in the direction Zara and Ela had walked off in.

Hazeel sighed while looking at the retreating figure. So this was the king’s new right hand man? How ludicrous. It was such a step down from when she had been the King’s attendant that she was ashamed for him.

Finally, she turned to face the source of a new unrest in her village: Leon. Hazeel knew from past experience that she needed to be as subtle as possible when requesting something of a mage. ‘Be calm, act casual and relaxed. He’s probably still upset over the mug that was thrown his way.’

“So… what will it take for you to not destroy our village?”

… Gods damn it.

---

“Leon?” I opened my eyes to see Hazeel the Conqueror only ten inches away from my face. Startled, I backed up a step and caused her to jump in surprise as well. I surveyed the area around me, expecting to see a horde of goblins but was only met with the sight of an empty space.

I felt dizzy and used the scythe to right myself while holding my head in my other hand. I had remembered another feeling from before I came to this world, and then passed out. Now there are no signs of anyone, not even Brago, and the only two people here were us.

It could realistically be one of two things. The first, was that they were cleared out because Hazeel was trying to eliminate me, and didn’t want her people caught up in the clash, but then why would she not try to get farther away from the village?

The second, and far more likely option, was that I had been drugged by Hazeel by a toxin that she was resistant to when we shared that bottle of shikal in her tent. Due to this drug I had imagined the entire duel with Zeek, and by extension the fact that there were ever goblins around the ring.

“Are you okay, you don’t look so well?” Hazeel said with a look of concern on her face, but a tingle that ran down my spine notified me to a very real danger she posed to me right now. My eyes wandered to the small hunting knife on her thigh. I definitely think it wasn’t her weapon of choice, but it seemed as though she was proficient with it nonetheless.

I feigned weak knees, drawing her closer until she had her arm outstretched to support me before swinging the scythe around and sweeping her off of her feet. She hit the ground and let out a gasp as the air escaped her lungs.

Not wanting the chance to subdue the former leader of the kingdom’s army, I quickly straddled her ribs and drew the scythe in close to her neck. I scrutinized her, pouring every movement of hers to the forefront of my mind so I could react whenever she reacted for her knife.

I sat there and tried to regain my bearings while she sputtered for breath. Finally becoming able to breathe again, Hazeel smirked and put her hands on my legs. “I had an inkling you liked to be the dominant one. Although the physical pain is a little deviant, I can’t say I wouldn’t be looking forward to a new experience.”

I recoiled as she move her hands closer to my groin. “Can I take this as our deal then? My pride and body for the safety of this village… I never would have guessed this would be my first experience with a human, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

Her hands had reached my waistband when I finally couldn’t take the discomfort anymore and sprung off of her. My mind went into overdrive with each passing second, careful not to waste any of the time I had.

She said ‘our deal,’ and it was in return for not destroying the village… which meant that I was currently holding all the leverage in our relationship.

“Oh? Leaving so soon?” Hazeel flashed a smile and called out coyly. I ignored it and instead put a frown on my face.

“Of course, I can’t be wasting my time here. I need to get back to my benefactor’s house as soon as possible.” Her smile vanished, and that tingling sensation on my spine came back. What if they followed me back to the Claireborn’s mansion and tried to exact their revenge?

I walked up to Hazeel and grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her face close to my own. “Make no mistake, Hazeel. You belong to me now. When I take that prize is up to me, not you.” I let go of her, and she stood up carefully before narrowing her eyes in a deadly stare.

“Hmm? So that’s how you choose to play it. Rather than instant gratification, you choose to hold it over my head and make sure our tribe can’t offer a rebuttal under the constant threat of annihilation.”

Suddenly, a huge smile broke out on her face once again. “You pass, Leon. It was right of me not to challenge you head on, plus you even managed to sense whenever I was thinking of using the knife on my hip. Very well, I shall allow you to command me!”

I cocked my head in confusion, but Hazeel offered an explanation immediately. "If you recall, I used to serve the kingdom as the commander of their military. I was basically just a kid then, and since the royal decree that outlawed non-human species went into effect, I’ve been itching to go to a real battlefield once more and prove my dominance once again. I will carve my name into the annals of history, and according to my instincts, you’re the perfect man to do that!”

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. Not only did I not know who to wage war on, I still hadn’t figured out all of my own secrets yet. I looked back up at her expectant face, and realized I had to shut down this notion before it got out of control.

“Listen, what do you think will happen to the tribe if you just up and leave? Your tribe will fall apart. With no chieftain to lead and train the next in line, the tribe will be lost. For giving that whole speech about family earlier, you seem pretty able to readily cast them away.”

She gave me a hollow look, but as soon as it had appeared, it was gone. “I understand. I’ll start training the next chief tomorrow… ah. That reminded me, Zeek always wanted to be chief, didn’t he? Perfect! I’ll take a rain delay on joining your ranks for now.”

She smiled, but that only fueled my exhaustion and I sighed once more. “Anyway, where’s Brago? I need to get him and get the hell back to the house. Jane and Bella are probably both worried about us right now.” I muttered under my breath, but Hazeel heard it all.

“By Jane, do you mean the Terrestrial Demon, Jane Claireborn!?” I gave her a long, hard look before trudging off in the direction of the village.

“Let’s find Brago and go home… wow I’m starving. I wonder if anyone in any of those tents is still selling food at this hour.”

“God’s damn it Leon, don't ignore me!”