Amid the Ancient Dragon's Imprisonment
Two days had passed since Kim Jae-hyun had descended into the Intermediate World. It was the very next day after the wedding with Irene.
At two in the morning.
"Kwaaaaah!"
William, the man with gray hair, let out a agonized scream in a deep, rough voice. Inside his body, countless parasites gnawed at his flesh, sending waves of agony through him.
From six in the morning until noon, for six full hours, he endured the torment of hundreds of ants crawling over his skin, slowly eating away at him.
From noon until six in the evening, another six hours of vultures tearing into his organs and every inch of his body.
And from six in the evening until six the next morning, twelve grueling hours of parasites burrowing deeper, devouring him from the inside out.
Now it was two in the morning, the moment when the parasites feasted on his innards.
At least he hadn't been forced to rape his great-granddaughter Sophia this time, so his mind felt a fraction of ease. His body, however, was in absolute agony.
"Hehe, how does it feel, Lucretia? Doesn't this sight suit a traitor perfectly? Isn't it exactly what a betrayer deserves?"
Kim Jae-hyun asked with a smile, looking at the silver-haired beauty still dressed in her sexy wedding gown—Saint Lucretia. Only hours earlier, Lucretia had been passed around by countless men, violated until she could barely stand. She was probably the woman who'd had the most sex in the last century.
Yet now her body was clean, every trace of semen wiped away, so the wedding gown and her flawless beauty matched perfectly.
Especially in this world, where wedding dresses originated as the Saint's sacred attire, she looked utterly radiant in it. The dress that celebrated a bride's purity and beauty had left her appearance somehow untouched, despite the countless times she'd been used.
Especially the way her silver hair blended with the white lace of the gown—utterly breathtaking.
"Fitting words for a traitor..."
Lucretia answered in a trembling, tearful voice. She understood exactly what this sight meant. The sight of the Gale Sword Emperor William suffering was nothing less than the perfect punishment for the traitor she had become.
Jae-hyun's words were saying that the torment she endured now was exactly what a traitor deserved.
Her belly had grown even rounder, and she could feel the beast inside her kicking with every breath. Even with her holy power sealed away, she could sense the living presence of the demonic offspring.
Soon she would give birth to it, and who knew what other horrors awaited her. Perhaps she would have to carry and birth different kinds of beasts. The possibility was all too real.
Staring at William's agonizing screams, Lucretia remembered the physical torment of her first day and feared the pain that still lay ahead.
'If I hadn't betrayed him back then...'
Once again she felt a wave of regret. If she hadn't betrayed him, she would have been loved as Jae-hyun's second wife.
But in this situation, she didn't want to be the second. The obsession to be first—something Irene could never be—still burned inside her.
After all, her reason for betraying him had been jealousy of Irene and a twisted affection for Jae-hyun.
* * *
"Ugh... uuuugh!"
Lucretia lay spread-eagled on the birthing table, arms stretched wide, legs parted.
"Uhn... ugh! Uuoh!"
Her cries of labor echoed through the hall. The countless dark-army men gathered from all sides, watching the Saint of the Astraea Holy Kingdom give birth to a beast's child.
It had been a long wait for this moment.
Irene, the continent's greatest beauty, had become something far beyond human when she transformed into a Great Archdemon. Among all the women still living, Saint Lucretia was currently the most stunning.
At thirty years old, she possessed mature, mysterious beauty. Her blue eyes, once so holy, were now filled with nothing but despair.
"No... ugh... I don't want to... aah! I can't...!"
Lucretia didn't want to give birth to the beast. But her cries began to grow lewd, her voice rising, until it became a final, desperate wail.
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
For a brief moment, silence fell.
"Nya~ nya~"
Lucretia's ragged breathing mixed with the infant's strong cries as the beast-child was born.
The child born between a beast and the Saint.
Though the beast resembled a young gorilla, it had little fur. Like gorillas, it only bore one offspring per birth, and Lucretia had delivered only one.
Yet this beast-child was unlike any true gorilla. The tentacles writhing across its body sent shivers down Lucretia's spine. Even though it was her own child, she felt no maternal instinct. Its human-like shape only made her more disgusted.
And the first thing that approached was a golden-haired girl whose beauty was dazzling and radiant, unlike the mysterious silver-haired elegance of the Saint.
Two years younger than Irene, but now restored to an eighteen-year-old body after becoming a Great Archdemon, Irene felt the lost decade being more than compensated for.
The feeling was stronger than anything she'd experienced with Jae-hyun.
"Saint Lucretia, congratulations on giving birth. You worked hard."
Irene smiled and praised her.
"A... ah..."
Lucretia stared blankly at Irene, unable to answer. Irene's beautiful face mocked her openly, yet that mocking beauty was too radiant to describe.
Lucretia's miserable state stood in stark contrast to the radiant happiness on Irene's face, making her own position feel even more pitiful.
If she hadn't seen Irene's face, it wouldn't hurt this much. But the comparison only made it worse.
"Enough, she's just given birth. She's exhausted."
Jae-hyun appeared beside Irene and tried to stop her. But he grabbed Irene's slim waist possessively, pulling her close, and showed Lucretia exactly how much he loved her.
He then lifted the beast-child from Lucretia's arms and placed it against her chest.
"This is your child. Take good care of her and rest well. She's also going to need milk, right? Well, there are a lot of males who want to taste it, so I don't know if there'll be any left, but your child will grow strong. Let's go."
With those words, Jae-hyun took Irene and vanished, clearly eager to enjoy their honeymoon.
And as Jae-hyun carried Irene away, Lucretia lay naked and drenched in sweat on the birthing table, clutching the beast-child. The sight was irresistible to the dark-army men—pure, glistening, dripping with sweat.
Even though she was soaked, the sweet scent of Lucretia drew them closer. The Saint, still on the table, watched in horror, knowing escape was useless. She tried to rise anyway, but the beast-child in her arms felt strangely lifeless.
Yet no maternal bond stirred. She scrambled up, desperate to flee, when a male beast grabbed her long silver hair.
"Aaaah!"
Lucretia screamed as her scalp felt like it would be torn out. More beasts swarmed her, grabbing her body, groping everywhere.
"Where do you think you're running to, bitch!"
"Running around shaking your tits and ass is kinda hot, but did you run because you didn't want to do it with us? Time for a punishment?"
"I-I don't want it! Someone! Help me! Please... I can't anymore..."
Exhausted from childbirth, Lucretia desperately wanted rest. The dark-army men had no intention of giving it to her. Soon she became nothing but a top-tier plaything for countless men to enjoy.
Meanwhile, Irene was being held in Jae-hyun's arms, her breasts and hips teased by his hands as they shared a passionate kiss.
* * *
Eight days after the Saint gave birth to the beast-child.
The beast-child had grown quickly, already showing a strange power.
It carried both demonic energy and holy power, even in tiny amounts.
The father was a mediocre beast. The mother was the Saint, who possessed the strongest holy power in the Intermediate World—and the purest, most abundant amount, rivaling an archangel.
The beast-child born from such a mother naturally inherited both demonic and holy energy.
Jae-hyun found this fascinating.
"From birth it's already balanced, isn't it?"
A being with both demonic and holy energy had never existed before. Jae-hyun was the only one who had ever wielded both the Holy Sword and Demonic Sword. Now his second such being had been born.
But the beast-child wasn't particularly useful. Holy power was useless against pure dark beings.
Still, in battles against holy-power users, it could weaken enemy attacks and allow him to strike with demonic energy in return, dealing the same amount of damage.
Even so, the combat ability of this beast-child was limited. Its father was only a mid-tier beast, not the strongest.
"I suppose I should try breeding it with Behemoth."
Reducing Behemoth's size to fit Lucretia and mating with her would produce a powerful beast-child.
But that was for later. For now, while the ancient dragon was trapped in its seal, Jae-hyun would enjoy his honeymoon with Irene and slowly terrorize the entire continent.