Lavos knew of the dimension of spirits and demons, but her cryptic statement likely referred to something else. Her acting as if she knew something he did not was getting on his nerves.
Before he knew it, Wridra created a sofa across from him and took a seat. Her fingers caressed the armrest, which had a dragon design on it. “Never mind that. This skill aspires to create a world for me and me only. It weakens anyone who enters and can make them disappear completely. I doubt it would work on someone nearly as powerful as me, even if you are just a copy of your main body.”
“Since when did you love being alone so much? Come to think of it, you have been holed up in that cave for a while.”
Wridra gestured as if to say she hadn’t finished talking. Lavos shrugged, and the Arkdragon continued, “There are a few intriguing characteristics to this domain. First of all, it’s completely isolated from the outside world. Surely you must have felt that severed connection from your main body. That is why my victory is assured.”
“That’s where you’re mistaken. I’ll burn you to cinders as soon as you step out of this hole. Then I’ll chain you up and make you spend the rest of your days serving me.”
His eyes glinted dangerously, but the woman picked up a fan from seemingly nowhere and snickered, covering her mouth with it. The blatantly mocking laughter made the Prominence Dragon’s expression darken.
“So, what are you trying to do here?” he asked. “I’ll have you know, I can easily destroy this meager force field with my Wither skill.”
“Hah. If you apologize now, I will still show you mercy. I will allow you to live freely without interfering in the Age of Man. Your answer...is obvious, I suppose. You fool,” said Wridra, seeing the contempt on his face. She rose from her sofa and turned on her heel, vanishing into the darkness and leaving Lavos alone.
Despite what he had just said, Lavos didn’t believe he could break through this domain. Even if he could, the world he had come from likely wasn’t on the other side of the force field. Wridra had said this place was completely isolated from the outside world. If he believed her, it would still be her domain on the other side.
It was hard to breathe. Some sort of presence loomed closer from the depths. Lavos loosened his tie, his expression stiff. Something didn’t feel right. Anxiety that he hadn’t felt in a long time closed in on him, making him feel as if he had made a grave mistake during his earlier conversation.
In the darkness, low-pitched, rumbling music started playing out of nowhere. Heavy drums began to beat, then a roar came from something giant. The slow tempo reverberated erratically as string instruments joined in to add an element of sorrow.
“What the hell is going on?”
The sound of the hysterical plucking was so powerful that it felt like the performer was dedicating their soul to the performance. The Prominence Dragon had no way of knowing it was from a movie the Arkdragon had seen in Japan; it was music of despair, symbolic of a colossal creature wreaking havoc. It made him feel as if something were about to appear. The melody, quicker than his heartbeats, made sweat pour down his face for the first time in a long while. He felt as if a terrible monster were about to be born, and he couldn’t help but wipe his sweat nervously. The music began to intensify.
Then a dragon appeared from the darkness. Eyes burning bright red, the dragon shook the ground as it stepped forward. It was the Arkdragon in her true glory, and the Prominence Dragon couldn’t take up his own dragon form due to his main body being separate from this one. The ground continued to rumble as the dragon closed in on its prey, and Lavos couldn’t help but partially rise from his seat.
“Stop this distasteful music right now! You want to torment me, is that it?” he shouted.
The Arkdragon opened her mouth full of fangs as if to call him out on his hypocrisy. Purple light glowed from deep within, and it appeared to be the color of despair in his eyes.
Just as a chill went down his spine, he was incinerated in a blast of fire.
§
Lavos woke up, his right hand throbbing in pain.
“Agh! My fingers...”
His body had been so badly battered that he could hardly move. He felt something being pressed hard against the tip of his finger, his bone crunching as it was forced all the way to the base. The same thing happened to the rest of his fingers, and when he turned his vacant eyes toward his hand, he found a golden ring placed on each of his fingers except his thumb.
Wridra stood there in her usual dress, faintly smiling at him. She was beautiful yet terrifying, and a cold sweat rolled down his forehead. It was a skill used by a certain hero candidate―or, to be precise, it had been created by a certain dark elf’s love, which was taken and abused by a man named Zarish.
The skill was known as Engagement.
“Stop...it...”
“It was a good thing I took these rings. I did not think I would ever need it, but here we are. I shall let you in on how it works. Each of these takes about twenty percent of your levels and grants them to me. Of course, that is after I had given it some improvements.”
She chuckled as she pushed the final ring in place, but he knew she wasn’t done. Just stealing levels from one of his clones wouldn’t have been a reason for him to feel such fear. She still must have had something terrible up her sleeve. Lavos moved his eyes, which were the only mobile parts of his body, and saw her smile cheerfully.
“Hah, hah, so you have noticed. You must be particularly perceptive because you are such a coward deep inside. The dark elf’s rings have another delightful characteristic. You are right to be afraid; you should be glad that you have such sharp instincts.”
Lavos shook his head side to side as far as he could but only made it tremble slightly. He had never known such fear since the day he was born. The primal sense of dread welling up inside him made him want to scream like a child as if he would transform into something terrible.
“No need to worry,” Wridra went on. “From today on, you will be my slave. You will spend your days roaming my house with a cleaning rag. I will teach you to cook. I will teach you to change diapers. I will make you a loyal dog that will look after my home while I am out.”
“Nooo! Noooooo!” cried out Lavos, his face contorted in despair. Yet Wridra’s delighted smile never wavered.
“Hah, hah, as our first collaborative assignment together, we shall destroy your main body. At first, you are to act as if you are not under my control, then we will make our move as your body has its guard down. Let our fun little hunt for my darling begin.”
With that, Wridra pushed the final ring all the way down his finger. As his consciousness faded, he heard her say, “Perhaps I will give the rings to my main body while I am in Japan.”
Wridra showed no shred of concern for her husband, and Lavos the Prominence Dragon felt deep despair once again.