The duel began with a sound that felt less like a battle and more like a geological event.

  BOOM.

  Warlord Thrax brought his massive hammer down. The weapon struck the earth where Lady Kaida had been standing a fraction of a second before.

  The ground liquified. A shockwave of dust and shattered rock exploded outward, slamming into the barrier of Obsidian Hollow. The shield shimmered violet and groaned under the pressure.

  Inside the town, the citizens didn't cower. They cheered.

  "Crush him, Kaida!" A Goblin shouted while waving a fistful of betting slips. "Mama needs a new pickaxe!"

  "Break her back, Thrax!" A massive Ogre roared from atop a roof while chugging a barrel of ale. "The odds are three to one on the Rhino!"

  Li Yu stood near the gate with his arms crossed but was watching the spectacle. To his left, a human miner was eating a sandwich, casually watching chunks of bedrock fly past the barrier as if he were watching a street performance.

  'This culture,' Li Yu noted while shaking his head slightly. 'It’s not just violent. It treats violence as entertainment.'

  Out on the wasteland, Lady Kaida was a blur of crimson death. She was less than half Thrax's size but she moved with a ferocity and strength that was his equal. She didn't dodge the hammer; she danced around it.

  She wielded a greatsword. A slab of black iron almost as tall as she was. It should have been slow. In her hands, it was a feather.

  "Is that all you have, cow?" Kaida laughed. Her voice cut through the roar of battle.

  Thrax bellowed in frustration. His grey and plated skin was like enchanted steel. It glowed with metallic Qi. He stomped his foot. Earth Art: Iron Spikes.

  The ground beneath Kaida erupted. Dozens of ten-foot metal spikes shot up and was aiming to skewer her. Kaida didn't retreat. She spun. Blood Art: Crimson Cyclone.

  Her aura exploded. A tornado of red energy engulfed her. She became a buzzsaw. Her greatsword clashed with the metal spikes and shattered them into shrapnel. She carved a path straight through the attack and was closing the distance to the Warlord.

  Thrax swiped at her with a massive hand. Kaida leaped and used his own arm as a runway. She sprinted up his bicep with her sword trailing sparks against his natural armor.

  "Get off!" Thrax roared as he was trying to swat her.

  Kaida reached his shoulder. She grinned.

  "Down, boy!"

  She slammed the pommel of her sword into the side of Thrax’s helmet.

  CRACK.

  The sound was sickening. The metal helmet dented inward. Thrax’s eyes rolled back for a second and his equilibrium shattered. He stumbled and his massive legs crossed. He was outclassed by her.

  The colossal Warlord crashed to his knees, shaking the earth so hard that tiles fell off the roofs in Obsidian Hollow. The crowd went wild.

  "Finish him!" The Mantis-Kin guard screamed.

  Kaida didn't hesitate. She landed on the ground in front of the kneeling giant. She dropped her sword and grabbed one of Thrax’s tusks with her bare hands.

  With a roar of effort that bulged the muscles in her crimson arms, she twisted. Thrax groaned, trying to rise, but the leverage was against him. Kaida forced his head down into the dirt.

  "You wanted my ore?" Kaida hissed and was leaning close to his ear. "You wanted my town?"

  She placed her boot on his nose. She bit her own thumb, drawing blood.

  "I told you," she whispered, her voice dripping with dark promise. "You belong to me now."

  She slammed her bloody thumb onto Thrax’s forehead. Seal of the Dominator.

  A complex glowing red glyph burned itself into the Rhino-Kin’s grey skin. Thrax screamed. It was not in pain but in the despair of a soul being bound. The metallic Qi in his body flickered and died. It was replaced by a subservient red aura that linked him directly to Kaida.

  The fight was over. The Warlord slumped and his eyes glazed over as the slave seal took hold.

  ‘It would seem that there are some forceful ways to create a slave seal on this realm. They are also quick to use it.’ Li Yu thought.

  Behind him, the Beast Army froze. The War Boars stopped charging. The Thunder Birds circled uncertainly. Their leader, the invincible Thrax, was on his knees, nuzzling the boot of the enemy commander.

  "Run," Kaida commanded while looking up at the army. Her voice was tired but projected with absolute authority. "Or join him."

  The army broke.

  It wasn't a retreat; it was a rout. Without the Warlord’s will holding them together, the disparate tribes of beasts panicked. They turned and fled back toward the Eastern horizon, a chaotic stampede of fur and feathers.

  A few ambitious Enforcers from the town jumped the walls to hunt down stragglers for loot but Kaida didn't join them. She stood panting. Wiping sweat and blood from her forehead. She patted Thrax on the head.

  "Good boy," she murmured. "Now, stand up. We have a long night ahead."

  Thrax, eyes dull and devoid of his former fire slowly stood up. He loomed over her, a mountain of muscle but his posture was slumped and his aggression gone. He followed her like a beaten dog as she walked back toward the gates.

  Inside the town, the tension evaporated instantly. The shops reopened. The gambling dens started paying out winners. The human miner finished his sandwich and picked up his pickaxe.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Back to work," the miner sighed to Li Yu. "Show's over. Quota is still due."

  Li Yu watched him go.

  'Just like that,' Li Yu thought. 'The town was nearly overrun and now... business as usual.'

  He looked toward the gate as Kaida re-entered. The crowd parted for her while cheering. It didn’t seem like this was the first time this had happened. It looked like this was a relatively normal thing.

  Kaida ignored them. She looked exhausted. Her armor was dented in a few places and she was bleeding from a dozen small cuts. But her eyes were bright with triumph. She held the golden chain and attached a collar around Thrax’s massive neck.

  She led the Warlord through the main street. It was a surreal sight. She was marching him toward her spire.

  Li Yu watched from the shadows of an alleyway. He had to admit, he was impressed.

  'She is brutal,' Li Yu analyzed. 'Her technique is straight forward but refined. Her combat instincts are terrifying. She fights like a wild animal that learned how to use a sword.'

  He watched as she yanked the chain and forced Thrax to lower his head so she could whisper something to him. The Rhino Kin shuddered.

  'And she keeps her word,' Li Yu thought. 'She said she would make him beg. She meant it literally.'

  He felt a strange mix of admiration and discomfort.

  On one hand, the concept of enslaving a defeated enemy was common. He had enslaved and taken prisoners as well. It was much too harmful to oneself to let your enemies go free. There was the chance they would come back with greater forces.

  On the other hand, forcing them into a harem was... distasteful. It went against his own morals. He had never once forced them to do anything against their will. It was one thing if the men wanted to be a part of it willingly. But Li Yu had seen the minotaur being forced into it.

  On yet another hand, Thrax had come here to kill everyone. He had besieged the town, threatened to slaughter the inhabitants and take the resources. In the law of the jungle, the loser lost everything. If Thrax had won, Kaida would likely be dead, enslaved like him or perhaps something even worse.

  'She follows her passion,' Li Yu thought. 'She likes strong men. She defeats them. She takes them. It’s honest, in a twisted way. I can't judge her by my own standards. Here, mercy is a weakness that gets you killed.'

  He watched the procession disappear into the central spire.

  'Still,' Li Yu rubbed his own neck unconsciously. 'I'm definitely staying out of her line of sight. I prefer my collarbone without a collar.' He was much stronger than she was so he wasn’t truly afraid of falling into her hands. However, he was alone in this realm and had to be extra careful.

  Night fell over Obsidian Hollow.

  The red sky deepened to a bruised purple. The bioluminescent vines on the spires glowed brighter and were casting the town in a surreal, underwater light.

  Li Yu found an inn. Once inside he set up a simple concealment array using the array disks that he had in storage. He didn’t want anyone spying on him.

  He cycled his Myriad Rivers technique. The violent Qi of the night flowed into him. The Koi purifying the energy.

  He checked on the Spirit Sea. Vayla reported that Vespera was still stable. Her spiritual body slowly knitted together under the influence of the pill and the cores.

  'Tomorrow,' Li Yu decided. 'I will head south. To the Dust Lands. Just to see what it is like. If they are there, they won’t be too powerful. They will most likely not know of a way to get back. I can still use it as a hub to gather additional information though.'

  Just as he was about to close his eyes and get some sleep. Extremely loud moaning sounds could be heard from Kaida’s spire.

  ‘She could easily have an isolation array yet she wants the town people to hear. Is it like this every night or is it only today because she has a new trophy?’ Li Yu thought to himself. He activated an isolation array of his own to block on the noise and went to sleep.

  Dawn in the Demonic Realm didn't break; it bled.

  The sky lightened from purple to the color of fresh arterial spray. The fractured ring ignited, casting harsh long shadows across the jagged landscape.

  Li Yu woke up to a sound he was becoming all too familiar with.

  BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

  Drums. War drums. Again.

  Li Yu stood up and he looked toward the East.

  'You have got to be kidding me,' Li Yu muttered. 'Do these people ever take a day off?'

  He looked down at the town. The streets were already bustling. The shopkeepers were opening their stalls and looked annoyed rather than terrified.

  "Another one?" the Magma Elemental shopkeeper grumbled. "I haven't even fixed the roof from yesterday."

  Li Yu stepped down to the street level and blended into the crowd moving toward the Eastern Gate. The citizens of Obsidian Hollow lined the walls and were looking out at the wasteland.

  The Beast Army was back.

  It was the same army that had routed yesterday. The War Boars, the Thunder Birds and the Dire Bears. But they were no longer scattered like the end of yesterday. They were organized.

  And at the front, standing exactly where Thrax had fallen yesterday, was a new challenger.

  She was a Rhino Kin, just like Thrax. But where Thrax was a wall of gray steel, she was a sculpture of white marble. Her skin was pale, almost pearlescent but covered in thick, natural armor plates. Her horn was long, curved and capped with gold.

  She wore robes of woven silk over her armor and she wielded two massive war-axes.

  She didn't roar. She didn't scream. She stood there with the silent and terrifying pressure of a storm about to break.

  On the walls of Obsidian Hollow, Lady Kaida appeared.

  She looked remarkably fresh for someone who had fought a Warlord yesterday, twice. She wore a silk robe that was loosely tied and exposing a significant amount of crimson skin. She held a goblet of wine in one hand.

  And next to her, kneeling on the stone rampart, was Thrax.

  The Warlord was unrecognizable. His massive armor was gone. He wore only a loincloth and the golden collar around his neck. His eyes were glazed, staring adoringly at Kaida. He looked like a massive and docile pet.

  "Who disturbs my morning?" Kaida called out as she was taking a sip of wine. She rested her hand on Thrax’s head and scratched behind his ear. Thrax leaned into the touch, letting out a low rumble of pleasure.

  The white Rhino Kin woman below pointed an axe at the wall.

  "I am Matriarch Gara!" she announced. Her voice was calm, cold and sharp as a razor. "Of the Iron-Hide Tribe!"

  She pointed her axe at the kneeling Thrax.

  "That," Gara said, "is my husband."

  The crowd on the wall gasped in surprise. The betting pools immediately started opening up again. People were wiped into a frenzy at the lovers quarrel.

  "Ooh, a domestic dispute!" A Goblin cackled. "Five cores on the wife!"

  Kaida looked down at Gara. She looked at Thrax. Then she smiled. A lazy and satisfied smile.

  "He was your husband," Kaida corrected. "Now? He is my puppy. Aren't you, Thrax?"

  "Yes, Mistress," Thrax rumbled. His voice was deep and obedient. "I am your puppy."

  Gara’s eyes narrowed in anger. The air around her began to vibrate. The ground beneath her hooves cracked.

  "You have humiliated the Bloodline of the Iron-Hide!" Gara stated. "You have stolen my mate. You will pay for this!"

  She slammed her axes together.

  CLANG.

  The sound was like a temple bell ringing the death knell.

  "I challenge you, thief," Gara declared. "Fight me. Or return him to me and I will leave your city standing. Refuse and I will tear down every stone."

  Kaida laughed. She drained her goblet and tossed it over the wall. It shattered at Gara’s feet.

  "I don't give refunds," Kaida laughed.

  She tugged on Thrax’s chain.

  "But if you want to join him..." Kaida’s eyes flashed with yellow fire. "I have plenty of room in the kennels for you too!"

  Li Yu, watching from the back of the crowd, rubbed his temples.

  'This town,' Li Yu thought, 'Or perhaps this realm. Constant conflicts.'