Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

First and foremost, the most important thing was to gather the attention of the ball as a whole; this would surely pique Althea's interest as well.

And what better way to do it than to use Luna?

Few could rival her beauty or commanding presence. Combined, those two traits were enough to draw eyes like moths to flame. Since she had arrived alongside Zaroth, naturally, some of that attention would spill onto him too.

But wouldn't these people recognize that she is actually a dragon in human appearance?

Before they might have, but Luna already had informed Zaroth that she was able to take human appearance without making it possible to guess that she was actually a dragon.

Zaroth suppressed a smirk as he noticed the crowd watching him and Luna with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

'Well, I guess that part of the plan is done,' he thought.

Acting as if he hadn't noticed the stares, Zaroth stepped forward with Luna beside him.

Zaroth threw a quick glance at Elysia, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

He had not informed her that he was going to make a scene, so she no doubt wasn't sure how to feel about the situation.

'No matter,' Zaroth thought as his gaze fell on Althea, who was sitting on the smallest and most distant throne from the emperor.

It wasn't time yet to say what his wish was, so he began to look around the ball. Luna left his side as she had her own job to do.

'Well, I guess I have to make some connections,' Zaroth thought as he began to talk with some people.

*****

No matter if he liked it or not, Draconis was unable to shift his gaze from the woman that he was currently looking at.

He had seen so many beautiful women, and yet everybody paled in comparison to this woman.

Luna chatted happily with a few people, making it seem like she gave a crap about these things.

After a few seconds, she noticed that she was being watched and stared back at the emperor's gaze.

At the moment, hundreds of thoughts were going through Draconis' head.

Who was this woman? Why had she come with Zaroth? Why was she so powerful?

He was confident he would've noticed someone with an aura like that before. She radiated power that could possibly rival Elysia.

'Wait!' Draconis realized.

'This woman entered with Zaroth and he is working for Elysia. Does this mean that this woman is working for her too?'

His jaw clenched.

If that was the case, then things could turn ugly very fast. He could fight Elysia on about equal footing, but if this woman entered the picture, he was doomed!

'Maybe…' Draconis began to wonder.

Even though there were a few dozen meters between them, Luna was still gazing at Draconis, who hadn't moved his gaze.

There was a wide, dangerous smile on her face.

'Should I?' Draconis debated for a few seconds if he should try and take a peek at the woman's thoughts.

'It could prove useful if she is planning to attack with Elysia. I can't read Elysia's thoughts, but what about this woman?'

Time was running out as there was a possibility that they would no longer share a gaze, so Draconis decided to try it.

He was going to try to read her thoughts.

…

"Where am I?" Draconis spoke, dumbfounded, as he found himself in a dark void.

He stood in a pitch-black void. There was no floor, no sky, and yet somehow he stood—balanced on nothing, surrounded by nothing.

There was no sound, no scent—it was like all of his senses were completely and utterly blocked.

That was until he noticed something in the far distance.

"Is that a sun?" he asked with uncertainty.

From the right of him, there was a large green sphere that was so massive that it looked like a planet.

"Wait, there are two!" Draconis realized as he saw that to his left there was another sphere.

"I just wanted to look into her thoughts. Why the hell am I here?!" he shouted as his voice dispersed in the void.

He was alone and there was nobody that could hear him.

Or so he thought.

Suddenly he broke into sweat, as his instincts were telling him something.

He would die! At this moment in time, it was certain! He was going to die!

He began to look around helplessly like a lost puppy. Something was looking at him with the intention to kill him—he was sure of it!

There was no way he could be mistaken! The way his heart felt like it was about to explode, the way his muscles tightened, ready to explode into flight or fight mode. He was being perceived by something.

Something deadly.

But he couldn't see anybody.

Frightened and panicked, he lifted his gaze and froze.

The giant spheres had moved, and now they were looking at him.

"Are these eyeballs?" Draconis muttered in fear.

"If these are eyeballs…" he whispered, his voice trembling. They were so enormous, it was as if he were staring at planets themselves—utterly incomprehensible and watching him in return.

"What am I looking at?" Draconis muttered as he took hurried steps back.

This being in front of him—whatever it was—stared at him silently, saying nothing.

Yet just being under its gaze was enough for Draconis to realize that he could never pose a threat to it.

He would die!

HE WOULD DIE!

DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!

"Father?"

Draconis blinked a couple of times as he gulped audibly.

Luna was still looking at the emperor with a smirk on her face.

She had done her job.

"Father?" Amara repeated.

Draconis took a few seconds to recover as he gazed at her.

"Are you okay? You dozed off for a few seconds and as such you made me worried."

Despite looking at his daughter, Draconis was still processing what he had looked at.

'What was that thing?' He had never seen anything like that.

One thing was for certain: that woman was danger! Grave danger! Maybe even more dangerous than Elysia, depending on the situation.

Finally, after a couple of seconds, Draconis nodded. "Yeah, I am fine."

Amara didn't seem convinced but didn't press the matter further.

"Your Majesty." Hearing a voice, Draconis shifted his gaze—it was Alexander.

Draconis managed to return to his stoic expression in a second, not allowing anybody to see his moment of weakness, with the exception of Amara.

"If it is fine with you, could we proceed with the wish of the champion? There are some matters that we would like to discuss."

"Sure," Draconis answered as he gazed at Zaroth.

"Champion of the tournament! The time has come—speak your wish aloud."

Seeing that he had been summoned, Zaroth quickly walked up over to the red carpet, standing in front of the emperor and bowed.

He didn't particularly like it, but he had to pretend he cared about the man, or that he held any respect for him..

Naturally, as the main event was about to unfold, everybody stopped their talks as they all gazed at Zaroth, who was about to say what he wanted.

"Rise," Draconis said coldly. "From among more than sixty thousand participants, you alone stand as the victor. As such, the royal family and I are prepared to grant you a single wish. Speak it now."

Zaroth rose as he gazed at the eyes of the emperor. It was hard to notice, but it was like Zaroth's eyes shined menacing green as he suppressed a smirk.

"I want…"