What Else Have I Got To Live For?

Iblis yanked the door open and hollered. "Servants! Where are the servants!?" His loud roar reverberated in the open hallway, startling the guards and servants in the palace.

The Demon Queen woke up with a start, shivering slightly, heaving roughly as her wild eyes nervously scanned the room. "What's going on? Why is Iblis shouting?"

"My Queen, something must've happened with his new purchase." The personal servant of the queen reported lukewarmly.

"New purchase..." A strange expression appeared on Queen Nymrit's face. She wondered if this was the thousandth or the thousandth and one. "Go and see what happened."

"Yes, My Queen." The servant stepped back and dipped into a bow.

The Demon Queen tiredly waved her away and settled back on the soft mattress.

Images of her past flashed before her eyes, taking her to the time when she first met the Demon Lord. He had been stunning, a breathtaking sight to say the least, causing her to give him her heart and soul and abandon her family. At that time, she had been blissfully naive, disregarding the rumors and ignorantly jumping into the flame like a moth.

It was her folly to fall for his charm. Again. Over and over again, even when she knew what he was and what he was capable of. Even when his heart was too cold and dead to love another, she held hope that one day, he might just turn and the iceberg would melt under her radiant eyes.

But after so many years of waiting, nothing changed. And now her heart didn't even ache when she heard he was with another woman, yet again.

Releasing a long sigh, the Demon Queen closed her eyes and tried to return to the land of sleep.

In the crimson palace, a squad of servants shuffled through the dark corridors towards the room on the far corner of the palace. The dim lighting and cold air made them shiver in dread, as a feeling of unease invaded their hearts.

"Hurry, hurry. If we're a second late, the Lord will feed us to the Wyverns!"

"Fucking hybrid! What did she do to evoke the wrath of the Lord!?"

"Forget about her. Right now, we should worry about ourselves."

Trembling in trepidation, the squad of servants picked up their pace and arrived at the door of the room allocated to the Demon Lord's new bedmate.

"My Lord, we're here! How can we..."

"Damned servants! Where the hell did you all disappear to!? Go and call the Healer!" Iblis kicked the servant groveling at his foot and pointed to the woman lying in the pool of blood. "If she dies, you can all kiss your families goodbye!"

The servants blanched as a bout of chill invaded their limbs and seeped into their hearts. The Demon Lord's ruthlessness was known throughout the northern hemisphere. Any region he strolled through would be littered with severed limbs and headless corpses.

If such wrath was focused on them...the servants broke out in cold sweat and scuffled out of the room.

"The healer! Where's the healer!?"

"Damn it! Check the medical wing!"

"Not there! Someone saw him head towards the dining area!"

"Go, go, go...move faster!"

Like ants on hot coals, the squad of servants raced to the Dining Hall and pulled the white haired man out of his seat.

"Hey, hey! What is going on here!?"

"Sorry, Old Man. Our lives are at stake right now. We'll explain everything later!" Without wasting any more time, the group of servants dragged the white haired elder behind them as they raced towards the little palace room.

Back in the room, Iblis was seated on the edge of the bed, his gaze fixed on the woman on the floor in confusion. "I can have your body, but not your soul? Is that what you mean?"

Funny. Truly hilarious. 

After living this long, not even the vampire king and werewolf king dared to provoke him. And yet, a little hybrid female dared to look him in the eye and challenge him? Has he grown soft recently or did she lose her mind?

Iblis wanted to know this so desperately that he was prepared to do whatever it took to keep the wench alive. Life was so dull and boring that he had long grown weary and tired.

His Queen and the numerous mistresses in the palace worshiped him and begged for his attention. They were all the same, lustful and needy to the point of revulsion. He found it to be a strenuous task to even glance at them, as the desolate mountains and lakes were more pleasing to his eyes.

It was probably because he had gone through too many women in his quest to get an heir. His heart didn't stir, nor did his core burn and ache with need at the sight of a woman's naked body. He stopped feeling the lust and desire symbolic to healthy men a hundred years ago.

He thought he had grown numb and immune to the pleasure of flesh...until he saw her.

This was the first time in a long while that he felt his body stir at the sight of a woman. A long, long time since someone dared to challenge him.

If he let such an interesting toy slip his grasp, then what else would he have to live for?

"A hybrid. I've never seen a hybrid who could command the element." If he wasn't wrong, the stake that breached the window was a manifestation of wood element. Witches and fairies could perform flashy magic and cast spells, borrow the power of the five elements to assist them in attack and defense.

But they didn't have the ability to command the elements.

"Hehehe...Interesting. Very interesting."

When the healer and the squad of servants entered the room, it was this sight of their Lord sitting with his legs crossed, one arm supporting his elbow, while the other stroked his chin in a thoughtful manner and cackling sinisterly that they witnessed.

The poor servants almost lost their soul from fright.

"Damn, damn! The Lord is smiling! Why do you think he's smiling?"

"You ask me, then who am I supposed to ask?"

"Maybe he's thinking about how he'll drink the woman's blood and rip her to shreds after she recovers."

"Or maybe, he's thinking about how he's going to punish us."

Cold silence settled over the group, and their minds started to wander. How would the Demon Lord punish them? Rip off their arms? Throw them to the electric eels, razor fanged wyverns, or dark specters?

There was also the bone ghoul...

The more and more torture beasts flashed through their minds, the colder and colder their hearts became. 

"My Lord, the woman sustained a fatal wound. Without a dragon's heart blood, it will be difficult to save her." The healer who was hunched over the naked woman, sighed regretfully before rising to his feet.

"A dragon's heart blood?"

"Yes, My Lord. The woman's heart is damaged beyond repair. If not tonight, then she'll be dead by morning. A dragon's heart blood is the only thing that can heal the damage and give her a chance at life."

Iblis narrowed his eyes. Under the red candlelight, the woman's pale complexion radiated a lustrous sheen that belied her deteriorating health. Her unrestrained, mad laughter resounded in his mind, mocking and jeering to his ears in their content.

'You can have my body...if you want my soul...hahaha...no way, Jose!'

Iblis rose to his feet and viciously kicked the nearest servant, abruptly snapping the dazed group back to their senses.

"You lowly servants! Go to the Isle of Eve and bring a dragon's heart blood! If you fail to return by midnight...Heh...you can kiss your families goodbye!"

"Yes, My Lord!"

With cold sweat trickling down their foreheads, the squad dipped into a uniform bow and hurriedly scuffled out of the room.

The same anxiety, the same trepidation, as when they sought the healer, marred their features. Only this time...their task was more dangerous than grabbing the healer.