Perrim stepped through the portal as the world around him reoriented itself. The workers of the Portal Hall all stopped what they were doing, turned, and immediately bowed as his Aura descended upon them. As a member of the Imperial family and a Cultivator of the Transcendent Realm, it was only natural for those beneath him to prostrate to him in reverence.
A wiry Althori woman approached him with her head still bowed. "You honor us with your presence, Lord Adjudicator."
He smiled to himself, enjoying the title she had bestowed upon him. One day soon, he'd ascend and become the Divine Lord. Then, his mother would be his.
He turned and stepped off the raised stone dais where multiple portal archways stood, not even sparing her a second glance. "Where is the Steward's manor?"
She followed swiftly behind as his Inquisitors came through the portal. "It is at the center of the city. Shall I announce your arrival and get you an escort, my Lord?"
"Unnecessary," he said, making for the doors.
People scurried out of his way as he strode confidently. He sent a pulse of his Aura Sense throughout the city and easily found the manor. However, a room in a slightly run-down building to the east caught his attention. His Aura Sense had failed to penetrate whatever was obscuring it.
He frowned as he sent another pulse, but it failed too. "What's off in that direction?"
The woman, who had remained close by, followed his finger. "That is the Eastern District. There's nothing much besides some residential areas, the Vyshtani slums, and the Guild District."
"The Guild District," Perrim repeated, focusing on the building.
There were fewer than two dozen people in and around the building, but none of that interested him. He tried to pierce through the void that was the room on the second floor, exerting even more of his Aura. Still, it amounted to nothing.
Incensed, he put the room out of his mind for the moment. He had other matters to attend to.
He leapt into the air and flew towards the manor using Wind Essence, his Inquisitors close behind. In a matter of moments, he landed in front of the building. He held his hands behind his back and unleashed his Aura as a greeting.
The doors flew open the next instant as an Althori man dressed in a black suit stumbled out. His eyes widened in fear, and he bowed low. "Lord Adjudicator! How may I be of service?"
Perrim restrained his Aura and strode past the head manservant of the manor into the building without a care. "Summon your Steward."
"Yes, Lord Adjudicator," the man said before rushing up the extravagant stairs before him.
"Such extravagance for mere mortals," Nepherani said, crossing the threshold behind him along with his other Inquisitors. "They should know their place and offer all they have as tribute to the Divine family."
His eyes roved over the marbled floors and walls, draped in silks, lavish art, and golden furnishings, before landing on her. "Our family transcends mortal desires. We have no need for such triviality."
Nepherani quickly bowed low. "Forgive me, Adjudicator."
Perrim said nothing, only turning slightly to stare down at her.
Nepherani fell to her hands and knees and prostrated. "I'll accept any form of punishment for my transgressions."
He lifted an armored boot and placed it on her head, stepping ever so slightly. "Oh, you will."
The marbled stone beneath her head cracked as if it were glass.
"My Lord Adjudicator," the manservant said, scrambling down the steps to bow before him, "forgive me, but my Lord Garn Dumar was out on business."
Perrim stepped off of Nepherani's head and turned to the manservant, relishing the fear oozing from him.
"But rest assured, Lord Adjudicator. I've informed my Lord of your arrival, and he shall be here shortly."
Perrim remained silent, letting the servant wallow in his displeasure. His gaze bored into the back of the manservant's head. Sweat dripped from his face onto the ground, or were they tears? Perrim didn't know or care. The only thing that mattered was the terror he instilled in the man.
A smile then broke across his face as he released a belly laugh. "Then we shall wait! Fetch us your finest bottle of wine!"
His smile vanished the instant the manservant scurried off to do as he ordered. "Pathetic ingrates, the lot of them."
He turned and found Nepherani still kowtowing on the floor. "Rise, Nepherani. There'll be time to grovel later."
"Yes, Your Radiance," she said, rising and wiping her face clean of the dust from the cracked stone.
The manservant returned with several bottles of wine and led them to a waiting room to the right of the entry chamber. In it were several decadent low tables surrounded by velvet settees and large plush pillows. He set the bottles on a low table. "Compliments of our Lord, Lord Adjudicator."
Perrim grimaced, hating having to share the title with a lowly mortal, but nodded in response with a toothless smile.
The manservant bowed before leaving them to enjoy the wine in peace. However, just as Perrim sat down, the door opened again, and the manservant returned, leading a line of collared and tethered slaves.
"Our stock of pleasure slaves, Lord Adjudicator. For your entertainment while you wait."
Perrim looked over the line of twenty Thavari and Vyshtani men and women, all clad in provocative, sheer undergarments that did more to show their skin than hide it. He nodded at the manservant, who sighed in relief before leaving.
Perrim leaned back on the settee, stretching his arms over the backrest. "Pleasure before business, I suppose."
That was all his Inquisitors needed before they swarmed the slaves, choosing their helpless partners, one or two each, before leading them to their own areas in the room.
Nepherani sat beside him and rested her head on his arm. "Are you not going to join them, My Radiance?"
"You know the Divine Mother's decree. We of the Divine family are not to intermix with the mortals."
A lascivious smile came onto her face as she slid from her seat. "Then perhaps I can provide you with some entertainment while we wait?"
"Perhaps," he said with a wicked grin of his own.
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Garn stepped through the portal from his personal teleportation chamber and hurried out the door. Hamerthsun stood at attention on the other side, waiting for him. "My Lord! You've returned."
"Where is he?" Garn asked, panic creeping into his voice.
"In the parlor, Sire."
Garn was about to take off for the stairs when Hamerthsun's voice stopped him. "But I shall warn you, Sire. He is not alone. Six Inquisitors accompanied him, and right now they are… indulging in our stock of pleasure slaves."
Garn frowned but nodded. He rushed through the halls, their walls blurring past him, and down the stairs to the entrance chamber. The door to his left remained closed as he approached, yet the slightly muffled sounds of pleasure still escaped. He stopped before the door and gripped the handles of the double door, priming himself for the inevitable meeting.
With one final breath, he twisted the handles and pushed the door open. "Welcome, Lord Adjudicator. I'm—"
However, his words left his mouth when his eyes fell upon the sight before him.
There, he found the Adjudicator and his Inquisitors entangled with his slaves in a pile of debauched degeneracy. The sight aroused him as his hands drifted down. A member of the Divine family was in his home, taking pleasure in claiming what was rightfully theirs.
The heady aroma of their act filled the air as he joined in, but only as a viewer.
He, the Adjudicator, and his partner all finished at the same time.
The Adjudicator leaned in and whispered to his partner beneath him. "Did you enjoy your punishment?"
"Yes, Uncle Perrim," she said with a giggle, wiggling her hips beneath him.
Garn froze in the midst of sheathing himself, slightly stunned by the words. He had heard rumors of the incestuous relations of the Divine. But that was merely that—baseless rumors.
However, now they had just confirmed it for him.
The Adjudicator's booming voice pulled him from his shock. "Are you just going to stand there watching, or are you going to introduce yourself, Steward?"
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"Well?" he asked, pushing himself up and turning to face the still silent Steward.
He hadn't bothered to make himself presentable, just standing there blessing the mortal with his divine glory.
His attention finally spurred the man into action, as he put himself away and fell to his knees. "Forgive me, Lord Adjudicator. I am Garn Dumar, eldest son of Ravengel Dumar and heir to House Dumar. How may I humbly serve you, My Lord?"
An evil grin formed on his face as his gaze fell upon the man, then to the pathetic dribble he had released on the ground beside his face.
Perrim stalked forward and placed a bare foot on the Steward's head, pushing it closer to the ground. "First, you can clean up your mess."
The Steward hesitated for a moment before he applied a bit of pressure to his head. The man dipped lower and, with his tongue, licked the floor clean.
"Good," he cooed before lifting his foot and returning to gather his pants and armor by Nepherani, who still lounged on the rug.
He smacked her rear, eliciting a yelp. "Clean yourself and dress me."
The pout she gave him was one worthy of punishment. But it lasted for only a moment before she rose to her knees, returning to proper decorum. "Yes, Adjudicator."
He watched her as she took a moment to clean herself, admiring the taut muscles of her legs and ass. She grabbed her trousers and undergarments, bunched at her ankles, and pulled them on as she stood, putting on a show for him, and he enjoyed every second. Her clothes slowly slid up her curves, hugging them tight and accentuating her womanly figure.
Once she had finished, she helped him into his trousers and boots before clasping his armor back into place.
Fully clothed once more, he looked at the rest of his Inquisitors, still locked in the wild throes of their lust. "Wait here. Be sure they are ready to depart the moment I return."
Nepherani's face flushed as she bowed, shifting ever so slightly on her feet. "As you command, Adjudicator."
"Come, Steward. Let us speak in private."
He strode past the man, who jumped to his feet and followed him through the open doorway. The Steward rushed ahead and led him up the stairs into the very first set of doors that opened into a study.
He entered the room and waited for the man to close the door before pulling a map from his spatial device and laying it on the desk, pointing to a spot marked with an X. "Are you aware of any unnatural goings-on in this general area?"
The Steward took one glance at the map, and his face paled, not saying anything as if a Banshee had stolen his voice.
"Speak! You witless cur!"
"For… forgive me, L…L…Lord Adjudicator." The worm paused, and Perrim was about to explode again, but he took a deep breath before continuing. "Actually, yes, something just came to my attention today."
Perrim's eyes tracked his finger, which stopped at a castle not but an hour's flight away. "A Guild known as the Shining Arrow undertook a quest to reclaim this castle, Castle Dumar, from a Vampire plaguing the area."
He followed his finger that traced a road all the way back to the X. "This was the road they took to the castle."
"Based on the privileged information I have, they should have been camped here," he stressed by pointing at the X. "Yet, this morning, a group of them returned, having claimed to have rid the castle of the Vampire."
Perrim's eyes narrowed. "Did they have a Cultivator proficient in Space Essence?"
"Yes, but they wouldn't be able to open a portal from there to here."
His mind raced to search for any hidden clues before the worm provided one. "But I've also received a report of two strange individuals accompanying the Guild when they entered town."
His eyes instantly locked onto him, prompting him to bow low over the desk. "Lord Adjudicator! It'd be easier if you saw it with your own eyes."
That was all he needed before he channeled his Psionic Essence and invaded the worm's mind. He watched the scene projected onto the desk play out and listened to the following conversation before probing even deeper and smirked at what he found. Such a trivial mind with base pursuits and an even weaker will.
His father, on the other hand, was quite ambitious. Perhaps in a few centuries, the man would suffer a terrible accident if he continued on his path.
"So, Joon Mai-kall-sun," he whispered, withdrawing his mind from the worms.
Such a strange creature, and the woman with pink hair, too. It seemed like he'd have some new toys to play with.
His heart quickened as he grabbed the map. It disappeared the second his hand touched it as he spun for the door. His mind had already shifted from this place to the man and woman in the vision.
"Don't get up on my account. I'll see myself out," Perrim said to the worm, who lay motionless, face down on the desk as foam pooled from his mouth.
Perrim gathered his Inquisitors, and they immediately left for the Shining Arrow Guild house. The ground shook beneath him as he and his Inquisitors landed in front of the Guild house. He grimaced at its decrepit state, about to unleash his Aura in his customary knock.
But before he could, the strange man appeared before him with a candid smile and a wave. "Hello there!"
For just the briefest of moments, a shiver of fear crept down his spine. He hadn't even sensed the man's approach, nor could he sense the man's Aura. He was a void, just like the room in the Guild house was.