Mystel’s pair of bloody red eyes glared at Ranae while gently stroking the hairs of the somewhat still trembling Shina in her arms. Having never experienced any kind of mental attack before under her parents’ protection, she had no way of protecting herself or knowing how to dispel it.

Even if she had forgotten everything that happened, her body was still slightly trembling without even realizing it.

While it might be a good first experience for as she was only shocked and didn’t suffer any real psychological damages, the shivering transmitted by Shina’s body through her arms made her anger rise even higher at each passing seconds.

That frog had dared use her painful past in an attempt to break her mind. If it wasn’t for how careful she and Arsal always were with her, leaving a protection just in case… She wouldn’t have known what happened.

Thinking about it, it meant that Arsal knew that Shina was in danger— It was now only a matter of time before he would force his way into this dimension and no matter how shameless Mystel could act… She knew she was in the wrong this time.

Having lived for so many years, thousands of years were nothing to her. She didn’t imagine that this empire of hers would change so much that people would dare to ignore her rules.

Ranae didn’t know what to do while being glared at by Mystel. If it was someone else he would act arrogantly and try to use his authority to find a way around. But this time, Listae had addressed her as ‘Lord’ which made him feel very uneasy.

For Listae who ruled this city to call someone her Lord only meant one thing… The red eyed woman glaring at him was the most powerful and terrifying monster ruling this realm. Due to his young age, barely three thousand years old, it was the first time that Ranae saw Mystel and had until now just heard a few stories about her.

Even the amount of stories on her were limited. Among the senior who had lived much longer than them, talking about her was something they considered as taboo and as such the information on her was extremely limited— In fact, some of the younger ones didn’t even believe in her existence and called her a legend.

The only stories left of her until now were the ones where she fought Arsal in various worlds and led them to destruction. Even Ranae’s grandfather who was his backer lived for eight thousand years and became the newest ancient elder didn’t meet her.

His status as a new elder didn’t give him much authority within the city, it was due to his grandfather’s backing that he and his son could enjoy such freedom and ignore laws. There were only 7 ancient elder with him included and only managed to get a spot with the agreement of three of them. Together with those three, he convinced them to act with him against Listae and gradually reduce her influence within the city.

Mystel simply kept staring at him, despite the large amount of bloodlust coming from her, she didn’t want to kill him while carrying Shina. Closing her eyes as if to look away from a disgusting bug, she turned her head toward Shina and softly kissed her forehead.

“Listae, kill him.”

Listae simply stood up and didn’t hesitate, like a machine which received an order, she emotionlessly looked at Ranae but still feeling a wave of happiness in her heart.

Ranae and his family kept challenging her authority in the city and make her work harder. Whether she wanted to punish someone they would interfere and form connections with those they saved. But under Mystel’s order… Did she even need to hold back?

It was finally time to purge the filth covering the city.

With a wave of her hand, the blood on the ground rose up in the air and transformed into crimson swords and spears. The land was dyed in red and hundreds, if not thousands of bloody weapons formed under the vampiresses magic. Seeing how he was about to die, Ranae tried to bounce away for his life but his legs were locked down by snakes made out of blood.

This battlefield that Shina had covered with blood now became her weapon that she could manipulate with a simple thought. With a snap of her finger, all the weapons flung toward him large body, but before they could pierce it they stopped at Mystel’s word.

“Wait…”

The very thought of disobeying the order didn’t even cross Listae’s mind as all the weapons instantly stopped. Listae looked at her with a mature yet the somewhat childish expression of being wronged, but Mystel didn’t even care about it.

“Make him suffer.”

Listae understood that Mystel was extremely angry for some reasons, and it probably had something to do with this little girl she was holding. If it was the usual Mystel, after being angered she would have refused anyone’s help and torture him on her own for days. But this time, she didn’t wish to get directly involved and would rather keep comforting the girl than deal with Ranae.

Silently nodding her head in approval, with a simple thought she changed the essence of her blood magic and restructured the weapons into dark red nails which this time penetrated his skin and dissolved within his body.

The nails mixed with his blood and like a virus contaminated his body. His blood started to burn from within and literally slowly cooked his organs. Smoke came out of his mouth and nose, carrying with them the odor of cooked frog which was a delicacy in a few kingdom.

“*Krroaaa* H-Hoaat! NONNOO… Can’ Koiulll me lika thooatt!”

(Hot! No no… Can’t kill me like that!)

Ranae started screaming from the pain of being cooked from the inside. It was a pain that only a few people knew about and that not many who experienced were willing to discuss— Should they still be alive...

Mystel didn’t care much about the screams coming from the frog and paid more attention to her daughter who stopped moving in her arms. Her body had gotten particularly hot and her breath somewhat strange.

Putting her hand on her forehead, she quickly dismissed the theory of it being a disease… In fact, it was the least probable option since due to her physical condition she was somewhat immune to disease and most physical poisons even though Shina herself had no idea about that.

Seeing Shina’s reddened face and the idiotic expression she was making, Mystel couldn’t but squeeze her puffy red cheek a few times. She was enjoying a moment of innocent happiness despite the disgusting screams echoing just a few meters away from her. It was as if it had nothing to do with her.

Under Mystel’s careful observation, she noticed that Shina wasn’t in pain but somewhat dazed. A certain flowery scent came out of her which made Mystel frown for a moment before sighing in relief.

She glanced at Kanabo who was having troubles to remain on her legs after Listae broke the seal on her body. Mystel’s eyes laid on her gourd which vanished and instantly reappeared in her hand.

Kanabo who saw her gourd vanished looked at Mystel with astonishment. Her gourd was an artifact that couldn’t be stolen or given without her authorisation. That was why it had remained by her side until now and despite being imprisoned by Ranae, they didn’t manage to obtain it.

But such restrictions had nothing to do with Mystel, if she wanted to take it then it wouldn’t be able to resist her.

Sniffing the inside of the gourd, Mystel recognized a scent similar to the one coming from Shina. It was the alcohol that Kanabo had strongly ‘shared’ with her.

“Alcohol made of licentia. No wonder she’s drunk…”

Mystel sighed as finally found out why Shina was acting so strangely. This was a pretty rare alcohol made for spiritual beings. It was considered as rare because it took centuries to make just a small bottle, but Kanabo had managed to steal a few drops after sneaking into her father’s reserve and replicate it with her gourd.

What was interesting about this alcohol was that it was a slow acting one. Even after drinking tens of liters, one wouldn’t feel the alcohol’s effect. It took at least one hour before taking effect.

Kanabo, of course, didn’t know much about it. Oni’s are races that drink alcohol like water and digest it even faster.

After finding out what happened, Mystel threw the gourd back at her without a care. Since Shina had drunk from it then it meant that they shared a certain relation. She didn’t feel angry at Kanabo for getting her drunk and in fact felt quite happy that Shina had made a new friend.

Kanabo looked at the gourd in her hand with a strange expression, she wanted to say something but the moment Mystel’s eyes fell on her… She couldn’t.

The mere fact of her noticing Kanabo’s existence had made her feeling oppressed. Whether she had good or bads intentions, it was like a self-preserving instinct that told her that dying would be a thousand times better than angering Mystel.

The existence of Ranae was the proof. His screams engulfed her ears, with but a word she had condemned him to a fate worse than death.

“Huuu~ Noisy…”

The unconscious Shina shook her head with a displeased expression which made Mystel frown as she glared at Ranae’s roasting body.

“Finish him off.”

Listae acknowledged the order and waved her hand. The blood inside of his body was completely under her control and quickly started to crystallize. It turned into small crimson shard that seeked to burst out of his body.

“Krouuuaaak. You cwan’t krouill me like thoat! Withtouat the tribunal accord!”

(You can’t kill me like that! Without the tribunal accord!)

Listae sneered while Mystel looked at him with wide eyes, she stared at him with a dumbfound expression like she was shocked.

“Why can’t I kill him?” She asked Listae, it was the very first time that she heard about a tribunal in this city.

“T-Tribunal…”

Under Ranae’s desperate shriek, Mystel felt displeased by the fact that a mere frog thought he could order her around. Moreover, she didn’t know what this tribunal was about, the mere fact that someone tried to create an order within her own city angered her.

Order was something that was made by dog who forsaken their fangs and forgot how to bite… It was an attempt made by weak who sought to rule over the strong.

And it was also the reason why Listae couldn’t move around within the city as she wished. Ranae’s grandfather managed to enter the group of the ancient elder thanks to the agreement of three of them. Under his demand and after convincing them, the four of them using their advantage of numbers to force the creation of a council where they would judge the crimes within the city.

Ranae’s grandfather used this tribunal to save sinners and have a way to challenge the rules, making connections at the same time.

This tribunal which Listae detested so much was a subject that should have remained taboo in front of Mystel— But Ranae didn’t know it.

With a childish smile, Mystel walked toward Listae and whispered a few words to her ears…

“I want to see them with my own eyes… Those people who try to rule what belongs to me.”

Words that could make any inhabitant of the city shriek in fear. Every elder has a place in the tribunal, while less than half of them has an active role, almost two third of them belonged to Ranae’s faction.

Listae’s heart rate began to accelerate, the distant memory of two women massacring hordes of monsters resurged in her mind and made her smile.

This city need to be purged… And once again, they’ll leave a mark that will last for another ten thousand years.