While greed takes over Tyrion's mind, even his pride takes second place. "I'm sorry if I was too hard on you, Lucien, but you must understand that a father has to make sure a man is really the best for his daughter, right?"
Lucien doesn't quite comprehend what it means to be a father, but when he thinks of the child in Sophia's belly and in his other wives, he feels a powerful instinctive urge to protect them at all costs and make them as happy as possible, something that Tyrion is clearly not doing with Kamala.
But now is not the time to put her and Mira at risk, so he pretends the best he can. "And now you're sure I'm good for her?"
Tyrion smiles and nods while Tanu cleans his clothes. "You faced the Great Naga King because you thought it was better for her, so clearly you love her a lot, don't you?"
Kamala was disgusted by Tyrion's fake paternal speech but is now afraid to hear a fake response from Lucien.
But he gently smiles at her, making her heart warmer while he doesn't have to lie about that. "I really like her a lot."
She doesn't know why but she's overjoyed because of Lucien's expression, which doesn't look fake at all. Yet, that makes her even more concerned about her father's evil intentions toward him.
"Great!" Tyrion wastes no time and quickly approaches Lucien and taps his shoulder. "So you are now officially part of the family!"
Lucien wants to summon his golden naginata and pierce Tyrion's neck. He knows it's possible because, with the naginata, he managed to pierce the Leviathan, which is much stronger than the Naga King.
But at that moment, he had just become much more powerful with Aylin's soul power, and the Leviathan was taken aback.
But Tyrion already knows that Lucien is very strong and is probably on guard, completely alert to his every move. Even using the teleport ability to surprise him, Lucien isn't sure he can kill him.
But Lucien is also aware as he doesn't know when Tyrion will try to steal his power, so he quickly sep away from him.
Tyrion thinks Lucien is scared of him, so he makes a fake sorry expression. "Was Kamala already shown you our beautiful city? How about you take her on tour around, and we can meet for dinner later?"
"Sounds great!" Kamala quickly approaches Lucien and takes his hand.
Lucien nods but then glances at Mira before looking at Tyrion again. "I would love to have my mother-in-law's company too."
Tyrion can't help but be jealous even though he loves power much more than his wife. But out of greed, he smiles and pretends it's okay. "Of course."
But he doesn't miss the opportunity to look at l.u.s.t with a lecherous expression. "What about letting l.u.s.t talk to Tanu? As demons, they must have a lot to talk about..."
Lucien has to make a great mental effort not to attack Tyrion right now. He thinks of all the people who are counting on his help and that it would be stupid to attack the Naga King right now. Yet, he won't let him live much longer.
l.u.s.t shares Lucien's feelings and looks at Tyrion with a hostile expression. "I don't leave my husband's side even for a second, and your look is making me nauseous, so don't look at me again!"
"..." The atmosphere gets tense as Tyrion is also furious that l.u.s.t doesn't have any respect for him. But in fact, he's jealous because l.u.s.t looks infinitely superior to Tanu as a demon, partner, and wife.
Lucien hugs l.u.s.t's waist with one hand while also holding Kamala's hand and starts walking towards the castle gate. "We'll be going then..."
Mira quickly follows them and doesn't even look at Tyrion, who gazes at her back with an upset expression.
As soon as they exit the castle, Tanu makes a sound block barrier around the hall, and Tyrion quickly punches one of those gla.s.s cases with his trophies.
*Smash*
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!" Tyrion exclaims as he destroys one of his trophies.
He summons his trident and destroys more gla.s.s cases in a rage. "How dare they look down at me?!?!?"
"..." Tanu is silent as she doesn't know what to say. She is still shocked that she has actually met l.u.s.t in person and also that Lucien is so impressive.
Tyrion smashes another bunch of treasures inside the hall before looking towards the gate. "I'm going to make them pay... I'll take everything they have and make them beg for death!!"
"My King..." Tanu speaks in a concerned and respectful tone. "We really shouldn't mess with them."
"Why?!!" He asks sarcastically. "Even though they are strong, they are alone and far away from your f.u.c.king race!"
Tanu sighs. "You don't understand how powerful they are... The Great Demons don't need an army; just the seven and their hosts are enough to destroy worlds like this."
*Whoosh*
He moves quickly and grabs her by the neck. "Enough of this s.h.i.+t! You know you're only alive 'cause I left, so you will keep loyal to me and only me, or..."
"I... I..." She has difficulty speaking as he is squeezing her neck so hard. "I am loyal only to your majesty."
He throws her to the ground. "If I take that boy's power, I'll get a lot stronger, and it doesn't matter if more of his friends come; I'll take their power until no one can stop me!"
Tanu realizes that Tyrion is completely blinded by greed, and she can no longer explain to him how dangerous it is to mess with the Seven Deadly Sins.
So she nods. "Yes, if you can steal his power, you will certainly become much more powerful..."
"Not just his power…" Tyrion's eyes sparkle with expectation. "I want that spear and her demon too!"
"My King???" Tanu doesn't understand how he can be so naive.
He looks at her with a disappointed expression. "Look at yourself…you're garbage compared to that woman."
"But..." Tanu is both jealous of l.u.s.t and worried about her position. "There's no way you can have her..."
*Pah*
He slaps her hard in the face, knocking her back several meters. "What do you know about it?!? I don't have a pretty face like that boy, but surely I could be a better host than him in every way!"
Tanu wipes the blood from her lips. "But my King, that's not how their soul contract works. As soon as the boy dies, her soul will return to the Demon World; there's no way she can make a new soul contract with you before all the Sins are reunited again."
Tyrion smiles. "So I just have to kill the hosts of the other Sins, right?"
"Well..." Tanu can't lie to him due to their soul contract. "That could work, but why would they cooperate with you after you kill their hosts? That is madness!"
"Because I would be the most powerful host they've ever had, of course." He answers. "With their power and help from the Demon Race, I could become Emperor of the whole universe!"
Tanu wants to cry. [No, you idiot! You're just going to kill us with these stupid ideas!!]
When she thinks about how the Seven Deadly Sins are going to torture them, her smart mind quickly thinks of something. "But, my King... there is another problem."
"Which problem?!" He asks in an annoyed tone.
Tanu quickly explains. "l.u.s.t will feel it when we do the ritual to steal the boy's power."
Tyrion makes a thoughtful expression. "Isn't it enough that we set a trap as we did with Mira? Before they realize what's happening, it'll be already too late."
She shakes her head. "l.u.s.t is an ancient demon, not your wife. If we take them somewhere, she will be suspicious, and just by using her magic sense, she could discover the trap..."
*BAM*
"d.a.m.n!!" He punches the wall in frustration, then quickly looks at Tanu. "You're not lying to me, right? You know that-"
"It's impossible!!" She quickly explains. "I can't lie to you because of our soul contract."
Tyrion understands that, which makes him even more frustrated. He craves Lucien's power as much as l.u.s.t more than anything he's ever wanted. "There has to be some way!"
Tanu smiles. "I think I know how to do it..."
"Say it already!" He exclaims.
She nods and quickly explains. "Make the tap in somewhere else would be suspicious, but we could set a trap somewhere they're already comfortable in and wouldn't suspect a thing… something like Kamala's bedroom, where Lucien will probably want to sleep."
"Hmm..." Tyrion makes a thoughtful expression. "But wouldn't l.u.s.t be sus-"
"We would have to keep them far away from here to make the trap, of course." Tanu quickly speaks.
"Yes, it makes sense." He still looks thoughtful. "But how do we do that without being suspicious? Also, I'm afraid they'll run away as soon as they get out of this town."
"We can solve that with the same thing." Tanu's eyes s.h.i.+ne like black pearls. "We just send Kamala on a mission and keep her mother here. Then, Lucien will want to help her, but she'll come back because of her mother."
"Hahaha..." Tyrion laughs as he sees that as a perfect plan. "Now, we just need to find a goal for that girl to be useful finally!"
-------------------------------
Kamala feels a bad sentiment as she exits the castle along with Lucien, l.u.s.t, and Mira.
Then she holds Lucien's hand tighter, and he gently strokes the back of her hand with his fingers, making her feel better and protected.
At the same time, he looks at thousands of black guards around the castle, all with weapons in hand and hostile expressions on their faces.
"Why do these guys act differently from the other Nagas?" He asks Mira.
"That's a long story..." She sighs.
Lucien smiles, making her want to smile too. "Well, everything was different two thousand years ago, before Tyrion was born..."
She makes a nostalgic expression as she explains. "At that time, my father was a good King. He was loved by all Nagas, and our race was slowly thriving..."
"Yet, outside the barrier that protects this city, our people were just prey." She looks sad. "There were no other Naga cities like today as any Naga who stayed outside for more than a few hours would be devoured by predators."
"Living so deep in the ocean looks really dangerous…" Lucien comments.
"It wasn't just dangerous down here." She explains. "The whole Blue Star was dominated by monsters a long time before. But old stories say that a powerful Primordial being gave my ancestor this barrier, but it would only work well far away from the sunlight."
Mira pauses as they swim from one dome to another. "The few demi-human aquatic races that had were forced to fight terrible monsters for resources and food..."
"So everything changed when Tyrion was born..." She continues explaining. "His father was the first person to say my father wasn't a good king. He said our people had to be predators and not prey."
"And since everyone was tired of living in fear, those revolutionary ideas quickly spread among our people."
"And things have changed..." She looks at the Nagas that have sad and sorry expressions on the face. "But at a very high cost..."