novelapdf Chapter 864: The Empire’s Ever-Watching Eyes
Chapter 864: The Empire’s Ever-Watching Eyes
"H-Hmph.... I see.... ehe.... eheheh....."
Valena’s muffled laughter continued against his chest.
Asmodeus looked down at the red dragon clinging to him and felt his brow twitch.
A few moments ago, she had been seconds away from burning half the deck with rage. Now, because he admitted he was worried about her, she was melting against him like some spoiled child who had received praise for the first time.
’What a troublesome creature.’
Nerim watched from his side with narrowed eyes.
’Why does my chest feel so tight, watching her cling to his chest so happily...?’
Meanwhile, the dragoness curled her long red tail around Asmodeus’s thigh, gripping tight enough to deform his muscles.
There was a slight jolt of pain, and then he felt a soothing, comfortable pressure as she slowly shook it, creating vibrations that travelled through the same muscles as if giving him a massage.
"Why are you glaring at me, fish?"
"Because you’re taking advantage of my husband!"
"Ahh... but it feels so comfortable here, don’t shout at me."
"You’re rubbing your face against his chest and sniffing his armpit, you perverted lizard!"
"I’m just checking his health~ don’t be mad."
Asmodeus grabbed the back of Valena’s neck and yanked it slightly as a mother cat would for her kitten, and the dragoness instantly became docile. She stopped teasing and egging on Nerim and silently clung to him instead.
"Be good, this isn’t the time for that."
Valena raised her eyes slowly, meeting his. "Mm." Then, with a nod, she averted her gaze.
"You’re too sweet to her... If—"
Before Nerim could complain further, heavy footsteps approached from the upper deck.
Brando came storming over with his cane in one hand and a rolled parchment in the other, his bald head shining beneath the sun and his face twisted with the expression of a man who had smelled something rotten.
"Brother!" he barked. "The stingy bastards sent a boat."
Asmodeus released a slow breath.
"They finally moved?"
"Not their whole fleet. Just a little ceremonial boat with six oars, two priests, one knight, and a bastard carrying enough perfume to poison a whale."
"Albrecht?"
"Ah....." Brando spat over the side of his ship before nodding. "Yeah, that arrogant bastard."
Valena lifted the cap from her eyes.
Yet Asmodeus didn’t care about the blond noble, "What about the strange people wearing masks, a cat, bear, wolf and fox?"
Brando scratched the side of his jaw with the rolled parchment.
"Still on the flagship."
"All of them?"
"Aye. The cat is standing near the rail like some creepy little statue. The others are behind her."
Valena’s tail tightened around Asmodeus’s thigh.
The pressure became almost painful.
Asmodeus lowered his hand and squeezed the base of her tail, making the dragoness twitch and bury her face deeper into his chest with a small, muffled sound.
"Haaaan....!?"
"Shhh, be quiet!" He hissed at her.
"I can’t help it!? You squeezed a sensitive place... damn overbearing bastard....Nngh...!"
Asmodeus continuously squeezed the fleshy base, enjoying how sweet her voice sounded each time he did.
"Uhm, brother?" Brando’s eyes trailed from the dragoness dressed as a sailor, hiding her curves and Asmodeus with an awkward expression. "Did you swing this way...?"
Her tail loosened, but the heat left by her body did not fade.
Nerim glanced between them, her expression sour, but even she understood this wasn’t the moment to complain. Her blue scales shimmered faintly along her cheeks as she looked toward the Imperial flagship.
"It’s not like that, Brando, look..." Nerim flicked the hat off the dragoness, revealing her delicate face with sharp features and a bewildered look.
"Fish!?"
"Don’t worry, he’s our husband’s most trusted brother, right, Brando?"
"Eh... Ah.... I’ll blush if the lady calls me such!"
Brando rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed at Nerim’s flattery, while he examined Valena and nodded. "My brother’s skills haven’t dulled a bit..."
"Stop messing around! So Albrecht came himself?"
Asmodeus covered Valena’s face with one hand and grasped Nerim’s with the other, trying to calm her jealousy down.
Brando snorted.
"That bastard and one white-armoured knight. I reckon it’s the same crazy woman from earlier. The priests are carrying some kind of box between them."
Asmodeus’s eyes sharpened.
"A box?"
"Covered in strange white cloth." Brando’s ugly face twisted further. "I wanted to shoot it, but that would cause you trouble... right?"
"Haha, yeah..."
"Shame."
Valena slowly raised her head from his chest.
"I wonder what’s in the box..."
Asmodeus looked down at her.
Her face had changed.
The childish greed, embarrassment and smugness had all vanished. Even her blush faded beneath the dull human disguise. Only her eyes remained sharp, red leaking through the muddy brown colour like embers beneath ash.
"You know what it is?"
"No." Valena’s lips parted slightly, and a thin breath of hot mist escaped. "But it makes me want to burn things..." She snarled slightly, clinging to Asmodeus as if to use him as a scratching post of some kind.
Nerim frowned at her words, glancing at the distant box.
"You hate that?"
"It feels disgusting." Valena pressed closer to Asmodeus, though her gaze stayed on the distant boat. "Like someone scraping something against my scales from the inside."
Asmodeus couldn’t help but think back to Mei’s warnings and how the Empire wasn’t as simple as it seemed from the people on the continent. To have ruled the lands for so long, it was clear they had some method...
A unique method only to them.
The Empire hadn’t come empty-handed. Whether that box held a relic, a seal, or something else, it reacted to Valena strongly enough for her to feel it across the water.
Brando noticed the change in mood and stopped joking.
"Brother?"
"Where is the boat now?"
"Halfway between the fleets. It seems whatever they’re carrying is too important to rush."
Asmodeus released Valena’s neck and straightened his posture.
The moment he did, the lazy atmosphere around him vanished. The sailors nearby felt it and unconsciously lowered their voices, while the cannon crews stiffened at their stations.
"Have your most trusted men watch the movements of the Empire, keep yourselves on guard from the moment they set foot on your ships. I hope you can keep several eyes on them from the start of this journey."
"O-Of course, Brother!"
Brando turned away, his cane striking the deck with a heavy thump.
"You heard him, you useless sea rats! Eyes on the Empire! If one priest scratches his arse, I want to know which finger he used!"
The nearby sailors snapped into motion.
Several climbed the rigging, others shifted behind cannon shields, while the mercenaries Brando trusted most moved among the ordinary crew with casual steps, blending in with the newly recruited men.
Asmodeus watched the movement with faint approval.
’He really did become reliable.’
Valena remained pressed against his chest, her fingers curling into his clothes while her tail trembled against his leg. The anger inside her had not disappeared. It had merely been forced down, like molten rock sealed beneath stone.
"Don’t lose control," Asmodeus said quietly.
"You say that, but your tail is trying to crush my thigh."
Valena glanced down.
Her tail had wrapped around him again.
"...It moved by itself."
Nerim snorted.
"Liar."
"Fish."
"Lizard."
Asmodeus squeezed both their waists.
"Enough."
He knew that her actions were a sort of affection, or rather, because she felt nervous about the current situation and wouldn’t punish her.
The two women fell silent, though their eyes still clashed behind him.
The ceremonial boat finally reached the side of Brando’s command ship. Ropes dropped from above, and hooks fastened against the rail with dull metallic knocks. The priests below looked pale as they held the covered box between them, their lips moving in silent prayer.
Albrecht stood at the centre of the boat, one hand resting against his chest as if the shaking sea meant nothing to him.
Beside him, Caelith’s white armour caught the sunlight. Her eyes were already fixed on Asmodeus, burning with the same fury from earlier.
"Well, it seems I’ve earned her enmity...." Asmodeus joked.
The moment he smiled, the box suddenly pulsed... a deep wave of strange energy surged across the ship’s bridge. He instinctively grabbed both Nerim and Valena tightly against his chest, hugging them close enough to feel their unique scents blending.
That’s when he noticed no one else reacted to the pulse.
It was faint.
So faint that most would have missed it beneath the groan of wood and the slap of black water against the hull.
"Asmodeus..."
But Valena felt it.
Her whole body stiffened.
The moment he hugged her tightly, she couldn’t afford to pretend to joke or flirt with him, as she just clung tightly and trembled slightly.
"It hurts..."
A low growl leaked from her throat with the usual sweet charm and was rough and inhuman enough to prove she was, in fact, a dragoness.
Asmodeus lowered his palm over Valena’s mouth before the sound could become louder.
Her eyes closed tight, as her hot breath blew against his skin and she sank her sharp teeth into his flesh.
"Nnnn....!"
Her red eyes trembled beneath the muddy disguise.
’There’s something in that box that can detect.... or maybe seal a dragon’s powers.’
That was the conclusion he came to.
The covered box pulsed again.
This time, one of the priests reacted; he began to speak frantically to his fellow priests as they all looked around feverishly, their faces bright.
The leading priest rushed to Albrecht’s side and whispered something in his ear.
There was a moment of silence as Asmodeus watched them.
His ocean-blue eyes lifted toward the deck.
Until their eyes met.
"...this is going to be a hassle..." Asmodeus grumbled, his hands gripping Valena’s buttocks tightly, raising her to his height. "This is just to lower their guard, Valena."
"Huh?"
Then he closed her lips with his.