87 Victory (1/2)

”My kin will be upset... But I suppose this is what we get for being weak.” Hissed the strange woman, in response to me asking her if she'd like to strike a deal. She beheld me once more, her serpentine eyes studying my form with a bizarre detachment and near objectivity that I found amusing.

The coldness of her gaze made it feel as though she was actually assessing me pragmatically. I could admire that and allowed her to study me for a bit longer before doing something I felt I ought to do before we continued our conversation.

”As I told you previously, my name is Althos. And I know your name, Beithir.” I told her, revealing that she was one of the creatures I had used my abilities on. Her eyes went wide again, and she looked at me in fear for a moment. Though I liked surprising her, I was a bit annoyed that the fear that she felt wasn't because she recognized my strength.

I could clearly tell she wasn't afraid of me because I was a god. She was afraid of me because she didn't know what I was, or how I knew the things that I knew. And the silly creature was still afraid of this dragon, Ygaynth more so than she was of me.

”I believe it is time that we negotiate.” I proclaimed, confident that I could strike a deal with this odd creature. Beithir looked at me, anger in her gaze but she nodded at me and approached me openly.

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When the female lizard-creature was in front of me, I declared my intentions. I made no attempt to hide anything from her, and spoke to her as an equal.

”Beithir, I am a god. I am in the process of acquiring followers and building an empire. I am more than happy to make deals with evil creatures. I have no problem forgiving your past actions and working to save you.” I told her, speaking frankly. Her personal vice was pride, and I knew that if I were to deal successfully with her than I ought to treat her with some respect.

She gave me a look that told me that she had questions about what I had just told her. I chuckled and waited for her to speak. When she did, her voice was respectful and inquisitive.

”Althos... I suspect your power is the real deal. I can... just tell.” She said, speaking hazily for a second. She quickly regained her focus and spoke more sternly. ”But what are you? What is a god?” She asked, genuinely curious. I laughed softly at her question, and considered how to best answer her question. It took me a few moments to come up with a real answer to it.

”A god is a higher-being. One of the many types of entities that vanished a long time ago. We can manipulate the system, and do many other things.” I told her, while opting to manipulate the system to send her a message.

I activated my power to send messages remotely using the system and wasn't surprised when a textbox appeared in front of me, asking me to compose a message to send to her. I sighed, and quickly mentally scribbled a simple message.

[Gods are creatures of creation and destruction. They were the most powerful entities in the mythic age, alongside other lost species like demon lords, archdevils, elemental overlords, and other devastatingly strong creatures. They were once worshipped by quintillions of living beings throughout the multiverse.]

I chuckled and sent the message. I watched the lizard woman's eyes widen as she received the message I had sent her, and smiled at her.

”Gods possess an incredible diversity of abilities. One of them is that we can arise spontaneously. Which is what happened to me. I came to life a few days ago, and I am already powerful enough to begin to build an empire.” I told the woman, speaking confidently and honestly.

She looked at me with an astonished and curious expression on her face. I could tell that she believed me, but I also sensed that she had questions for me. I grinned at her but the truth was that I also had questions for her. So I opted to begin to ask them.

”I believe it is my turn to ask you a question.” I told her, before immediately asking her what I was curious to know.

”What is the deal your people made with Ygaynth?” I asked her, getting straight to the point. I didn't believe in not starting with such an important detail. This caused Beithir to cringe, and I could tell it was something she didn't want to reveal. But after a few moments where I just looked at her, quietly, she could tell that she had no other choice.

”Althos... Where we're standing right now was made by Ygaynth.” Beithir whispered, speaking of that event reverentially. She looked at her allies, who gave her a neutral stare. There was something oddly cryptic about their reaction to one of their leaders. I had a feeling that I was about to receive a sort of secretive history lesson.

The lizard-woman glared at her companions, and she gestured at me like I was giving her no choice but to reveal the secret history of this region. I chuckled at her pointed gesture, though I made no effort to react to her actions.

”When my people first reached Puerto Rico, there were no human settlements here. We arrived on the island long before humans first left their little continent across the sea. We lived in caves until the day that Ygaynth first roared into the lives of our ancestors.” Beithir told me, her serious tone causing me to stop even think snarky thoughts and listen to her.

”We lived in caves until the dragon arrived. He didn't arrive alone Althos. He was being pursued by dragon hunters.” Beithir announced, speaking dramatically. And to this, I actually did react. Mostly because the way she spoke about it suggested that that was something I ought to be surprised by.

I shrugged at her, which caused her to look at me in disbelief. While she looked surprised at me, I sighed and began to remind her of something.

”I'm a few days old Beithir! You could write an endless number of books on the things I don't know. And that includes what dragon hunters are. Or rather... I can infer from the name and context of the history you're telling me what dragon hunters are, but I don't have the cultural or historical knowledge to understand why hearing that would shock me.” I told her, annoyed at her surprise.

She listened to my explanation and then quietly mulled over my words. After a few seconds, she nodded at me, understanding my statement a lot more. She was silent for a second while considering how to best reply to me. When she did, a smile settled on her lips.

”A long time ago, this portion of the world was not inhabited by humans. At all. Only other things lived here. Things like my people. Humans came in pursuit of Ygaynth. And when he arrived, he saw my ancestors who had settled into their caves and lived relatively peaceful lives. But he came and made us an offer.” She explained, opting to go back to the beginning and start over.

”He offered us a grander life. He said that he was tired of being hunted, and wanted to go to sleep. He informed us that he was going to tunnel through the island, and create a lair for himself. He asked if we'd come to guard his realm and capture sacrifices for him. We said yes, and so he granted us the power to tunnel through the earth and capture people to sacrifice to him.” The lizard-lady revealed, speaking proudly of her people's bloody history.

”He awakens once naturally every few decades, and when he does we tunnel through to him to uphold our end of the bargain. But once after we didn't have the sacrifices we needed he reacted. And he reacted viciously. He ate many of our members, showing us the steep cost of failure.” She told me, speaking sternly and frightfully when thinking of what'd happen if they failed to keep their end of the deal they struck.

”So the slaves you'd acquired were just going to be dragon food? That doesn't make me regret doing what I did.” I told her, curious as to if there was some deeper meaning to all of this. She sighed and then began to laugh.

Her laughter was a harsh sound, like that of a dying animal. I wondered what she found so amusing because I wasn't amused by this. It took her a moment to regain her composure and pull herself back together. When she did she immediately began to speak to me once more.

”It's not about making you regret what you did, it's about explaining why I regret what you did. Why my people will regret it. And the truth is... A lot of people will suffer if Ygaynth decides to continue to rampage the next time he awakens.” She explained, trying to get me to see her side a bit more. That said I wasn't about to passively accept her justifications for her behavior. I wasn't that nice.

”What you did was wrong. You took random people and enslaved them and you're just trying to justify it so that I'll stop my attack.” I told her, not feeling inclined to do so now that I actually knew the annoying justification her civilization had for its immoral behavior. And I still had more to say.

”Plus, Ygaynth won't be a problem.” I told her, speaking confidently. There was an arrogant smile on my lips and a glow in my eyes when I said this. She looked at me, intrigued by what I said.

”Oh? And why is that?” She asked, and I could tell by the gleam in her eyes, a strong glow that was surprisingly astute that she knew why.

”Because I am going to go and ensure that that dragon either never bothers you again, or never wakes up. And in exchange for that you all will join my empire. Those of you I let live anyway.” I told her, grinning all while I spoke. And I had one more condition to reveal.

”In addition to that, I'll reanimate those of your people who already died as undead you can use to make up for the loss of labor that you have to deal with now that your slaves are gone. I recognize that slavery, though unpleasant, was seen as a necessity before. It's not now.” I told her, speaking sincerely.

Beithir looked like she had something to say. There was a steely expression on her face and a flare of anger in her eyes.

”And if we say no?” She asked, sharply. I could tell this was her way of suggesting she planned to refuse my very generous offer. I smiled at her and chuckled.

”In that case you all die. Well... not all of you. I'd keep you alive. Or anyone who opted to accept my offer. Even the men, though they are unnecessary.” I told her, speaking sinisterly and allowing myself to sound as evil as possible. My comment confused my audience though and one of them spoke up.

”Umm... What do you mean by 'unnecessary'? Men are pretty necessary!” He remarked, calmer than some of his fellows. There was an innocence to the question that made me chuckle. I turned to face the questioner and replied to him.

”Not for gods! I can cause someone to become pregnant, even a virgin. So long as one female is alive I can ensure the eventual regrowth of a population.” I explained, hinting at the diversity of powers I possessed. I then turned back to Beithir with a smile on my face.

”Don't underestimate gods. I am a natural-born emperor with the ability to build buildings instantly, and so long as one woman exists, be it you or someone else, I can make full use of my powers to control your population. I could even render you immortal long enough to restore the population to this point and use my powers to make your child grow to adulthood almost instantly.” I explained, making it clear that my powers allowed me to inflict a horrible fate on those I wished too.

The lizard-lady shivered when I informed her of this. I chuckled at her. She visibly deflated, sensing that her defeat was at hand now that she knew about some of the things I could do.

She looked to her companions once her, her people. There was a sadness in her gaze, and the sadder she looked the happier I did. I knew that I had won, that there wasn't a way forward for her people without me.