Xi Pang’s ‘casual’ gathering had been organized in the Ministry of Fruits Foreign and Dostic. It was a typical structure near the walkway that separated east and west of the Forbidden City. The specific hall they were in was neither too large to feel opulent nor so small that it was intimate. It was filled to just the right level that it felt like the kind of exclusive social club that one wanted to have access to. The pri minister was trying to make it clear that he had influence to sell.
The peculiar na of the ministry made John ask a question shortly after the few intricacies of greeting were out of the way, “Was there a previous Ministry of Fruits?”
“No, there are three Ministries of Fruits,” Xi Pang answered simply. “We require all three of them for the fruitful labour of its many bureaucrats.”
“I am beginning to wonder if you shouldn’t side with Vinh when it cos to burning this all down,” Nathalia stated.
The Gar felt his insides knot up. Was it the fact that Nathalia had just committed an imnse diplomatic slight? No, it was that he had to hold back his laughter.
There was so scoffing by the gathered people of import, all of them raising an eyebrow at the Fla of Destruction’s remark. There were so open mutterings about it. ‘Not the reaction I am used to,’ John thought to himself. ‘Usually, people cower at least a little bit.’
Nathalia ignored the people, regarded Xi Pang with another dismissive look, then stepped away to indulge in the table covered in various snacks. As she walked, she snapped her fingers at a servant. “Bring more,” was her simple order.
To John’s ears, she spoke English. That the servant bowed her head and obeyed imdiately was the clear indicator that she had gone with Draconic instead. Romulus’ spell was still active, translating anything said in that language into whatever a person could understand. A spell that John understood a lot better these days. Draconic was itself a magical phenonon. Every dragon that ca to possess sapience just spoke it, without any communication between them. That ant that the language was itself ingrained in the leylines of the world, which made a spell to affect it globally a lot more feasible.
Less impressive than what John had initially thought, he had to admit. Romulus wouldn’t be able to do the sa for any regular language. Still, very impressive all around. Almost as impressive as the sides of Nathalia’s hips peeking out of the side slits of her black dress. The Victorian modesty had been a thing of the first two days. Nathalia had played ball with his desire to be diplomatic, but she had insisted on at least wearing sothing that wasn’t as ‘constricting’.
The entire room hung on his goddess as she picked up varieties of fruit snacks with one hand. She kept the other on her hips, striking a demanding pose that emphasized the size of her assets. The plunging neckline of the dark dress sat just tight enough that no one could see the pasties. Besides that, very little was hidden. Her enormous breasts sagged to that heavenly degree that proved their realness, while being as firm as one could dream of. Cleavage and side boob were both on display. With her matronly figure, dark skin and height, she stood out in the room even more than John did.
The pri minister peeled his eyes away from the goddess. Such difficulty lay in the gesture that it was all the confirmation the Gar needed to know that the man had certainly circumvented being turned into a eunuch. “I… would not recomnd publicly endorsing the position of the robber general,” Xi said quietly to John.
‘I do enjoy seeing him shaken,’ the Gar thought. The disadvantage of needing an honourable reputation was that he couldn’t make people tremble like Nathalia did. Just another reason to keep her around – not that he needed more than the ones he had. “I have no intention of endorsing any position,” he lied. “The internal politics of the Middle Empire are not mine to weigh in on.”
Xi smiled the kind of appeased smile that could have fooled most people. It was the kind of smile he had not allowed himself in any previous interactions, giving it a warmth that the pri minister usually lacked. It did invite one to trust him, to see this little social club as where the real Xi Pang showed himself.
John had interacted with enough corrupt narcissists to know that there was no such thing as a ‘real Xi Pang’. There were only different masks worn in service of the overarching goal of advancing his wealth. Personality traits were just tools to such people.
“Trees stand tallest on their own and a forest is not made from single trees,” Xi said. “I do believe you understand that.”
John showed the pri minister a little bit of teeth in his smile. “I understand very well how to tend to a garden, pri minister.” He raised a hand and one of the servant won hastened over to place a glass of light alcohol in it. “I also understand that one has to wander forests to understand their beauty.”
The pri minister stared while John sipped, his annoyance at that answer expertly withheld. John noted it all the sa. The man truly was excellent, but excellent truly did not cut it anymore when it ca to making diplomatic manoeuvres against the Gar. As President of Fusion, he had more power than Xi Pang. Even assuming they were effectively matched in political savviness, John just had more to offer.
‘I suppose this is an opportunity to advance Lulu’s interests,’ the Gar thought. “Perhaps I have acted hastily in shopping for new greeneries without your expert opinion,” he complinted first. “Are there any other projects that could be in our mutual… interest?”
The girthy pri minister pondered the question for a mont. “Perhaps I ought to introduce you to one of my friends?” he suggested. “There’s been a great interest in understanding Fusion’s vineyards.”
John withheld an amused chuckle. Fusion did indeed have a booming vineyard sector. To be more precise, Fusion had a booming alcohol industry. Being laissez-faire with the drug and production laws had its benefits. The whole thing had sprung up on its own. That ant John had no direct stake in it either, but he was sure he could pull so strings.
‘Bit by bit, I’ll make so much of Xi Pang’s financial network dependent on that I can just collapse it all with one stroke of the pen,’ the Gar thought. ‘It’ll take layers of obfuscation, but Scarlett can work the miracle. She’ll support this if she gets her foot in the Chinese market along the way.’
On the way to the pri minister’s ‘friend’, Nathalia joined back up with John. The redhead stepped into the reach of the Gar’s arm and so he quickly put it around her waist. He gave her ass an unashad squeeze. Simultaneously, he used the technomancy connection to his phone to activate the toys all over the horny dragoness. The buzz was low. The enchantnts swallowed the sounds. A slight quiver of the salver Nathalia held her selection of snacks on was all that spoke of what was happening.
John squeezed her ass a little harder. His hand sunk into the pillowy at. It was a wonderful distraction while he had a vapid discussion about harvests and ferntation thods. He could scarcely even be bothered to acknowledge the two faces he was talking to as people. Well, one face he was talking to. The friend ca with his daughter, who was standing beside her father with an annoyed expression.
The Gar laughed at a stupid joke. He only needed 5% of his attention to follow the conversation. The rest lay firmly in enjoying the fact that he was kneading Nathalia’s ass. It was a shaless power trip to do so in front of such important company. None of them knew that the depravity went even deeper beneath the clothes. ‘How wet might she be by now?’ John asked and glanced over to Nathalia.
There was a slight glassiness to the redhead’s eyes. She hid it decently, continuing her enjoynt of the varied snacks while pretending she had an investnt in the talk. The salver was about halfway empty. Then, the salver was flung upwards.
The fruit treats smacked against Nathalia’s face, then followed the tray on its descent. The tal disk hit the ground with its edge and proceeded to loudly roll and bounce. By the ti it finally ca to a rest, the entire room was silent.
“Jin!” the father exclaid in shock.
“Oh, whatever!” The daughter rolled her eyes. Suddenly she beca worthy of attention. Green eyes, black hair, an attractive face and balanced curves. She could have been a model, even among Abyssals.
The slight she had just delivered allowed John to risk his own. He activated the Passive Observe, to get the Level of these people if nothing else. Xi’s anti-scrying asure blocked the attempt outright. The father and daughter resisted as well, but John put an active asure right after. They had insulted his woman, he did not care about what they thought of him after this.
’78 and 202,’ the Gar read. An impressive and a truly impressive level, by objective standards. ‘Another mber of the Generation of Monsters… Alas, the follies of youth.’
“Do I have to just stand here and watch this fossil chew?” Jin declared and gestured at Nathalia, who picked a piece of sticky fruit from her face.
Xi took two hurried steps backwards.
“Seriously, who do you think you are?” the woman wanted to know. “’Great and terrible Nathalia’, they said, ‘Fla of Destruction’, they said. All I see is a washed-up loser bimbo.” The little fruit between the goddess’ fingers caught alight.
“JIN!” The father finally found his voice again and pulled at his daughter’s wrist. He bowed his head, a drop of nervous sweat on his brow. Looking at John, he said, “Please, forgive this slight.”
“Why are you apologizing to ?” the Gar asked in a frosty tone.
The daughter refused to realize the danger she was in. “What, you think we should take to the armca-“
The smug stream of words ca to a rattling end. Jin looked down at her collar to find four obsidian fingers had hooked behind her collarbones. The claws took hold of the edge of her ribcage as if it was an unwieldy bit of furniture.
The air around Nathalia shimred with heat while she raised the woman up into the air. Rapidly, the temperature rose. The grooves in her swung horns began to glow like molten rock under the surface of a volcanic pool. A web of the sa aesthetic surfaced on her caral skin, covering her in place of the dress that burned away rapidly.
“P-ple-“ the father began to stamr, only to be backhanded through a wall.
Nathalia pulled her arm back, then threw the daughter after her parent. Sashaying with allure granted to her by her nature, the dragoness then marched towards the hole she had made. Anything within a few tres around her caught alight from her presence alone. All of that were re embers to the fury on the goddess’ face.
“Stop her!” Xi half-ordered, half-pleaded.
“There are matters beyond my power,” John stated and he ant it. If he had intervened here, Nathalia would have listened to him, but it would not have been good for their relationship. “It appears your people have gotten a little bit too comfortable around the Fla of Destruction, pri minister. Perhaps a slight burn will be a healthy reminder?”
John did not wait for a response, instead following the dragoness outside. He would not intervene in her reminding people on who she was, but he would clean up the ss.
“Oh, is this ‘hag’ too much for you, mortal?!”
Nathalia’s outraged voice greeted the Gar. He was only the first one to step outside, closely followed by practically all attendants of the gathering. The scene before them was not pretty. The left half of the father’s face had been ripped open by the dragoness’ razor sharp claws. Sohow, that put him in a worse state than his daughter. The hole carved into Jin’s neck by Nathalia’s fingers was healing, the flesh of the level 200 individual flowing back together like wax.
“Not even close,” Jin growled and began to charge.
Nathalia waited until the insulting woman entered her range, then slamd her knee into Jin’s stomach. There was no competition between them. The Chinese lady was flung back like a sandbag in Smash Bros. She caught herself after breaking down another wall. A hole in her stomach healed quickly.
Observe had called her a Fleshcrafter. Given the na and sight, John guessed that this was a variety of blood magic a few echelons below what Eliana could do. “I hope she gets the ssage soon,” the Gar spoke his thoughts out loud.
Guards stread into the open area quickly. They were either extrely disciplined or extrely foolish, aiming bronze swords at Nathalia. Blades glead as energy was channelled through them. Arcane rays cut through the air.
The goddess of volcanoes placed her foot back down with a harsh stomp. The ground beneath her rippled and burst open, creating a geyser of fire and molten rock. It covered Nathalia herself, then continued to spread outwards, tearing and scorching the house, breaking down walls, and swallowing up the guards.
During all of that, John observed Xi. The pri minister was intensely focused on the battle and all of that focus manifested only in him dodging a singular drop of lava that splattered his way. “Get her under control!” Xi now demanded.
‘Concerned only for himself,’ the Gar thought. “I have no need to get her under control,” he reiterated.
The sea of flas before them ebbed away revealing the multitude of guards and Jin herself in draconic claws shaped from the molten rock. They cooled with unnatural swiftness, and had been cooler than molten rock usually was to begin with. Had Nathalia wished to turn them all into ash and dust, they already would have been shadows on the pavent.
The dragoness stood ankle deep in a pool of incandescent earth and bubbling obsidian. Her wings were molten mbranes of fire and death. Her tail was a segnted whip of volcanic glass. Her claws were black razors. The great orange glow between shattered scales betrayed how easily this human vessel could break into the form of the true divine monster beneath. On the goddess’ face was fury. Her red lips were pulled back into a snarl, revealing canine teeth.
“I am Nathalia, Fla of Destruction, High Dragon, Goddess of Volcanoes and Patron of Fusion!” she roared. Her fingers curled into half-closed fists and the extensions of her will clenched around Jin and guards in turn. “You are unfit even of the shadow of my wings! My observance of your manners is my choice!” Her fingers twitched, then relaxed. The stone hands crumbled in an instant. “I have softened, be thankful for it,” the dragoness hissed. “John, we are leaving!”
The Gar shrugged towards Xi, then followed after his woman. He almost tripped over a randomly protruding tree branch on the way. He caught himself on a nearby branch, clutched an acorn for a mont, then let it go. After that little incident, he caught up with his Nathalia.
John knew when to lead and when to be led. He kept his distance at first, walking in the trail left by the dripping mbranes of her molten wings. Only once they and her tail disappeared, did he fully catch up to her.
“Will this inconvenience you?” she asked, a hint of guilt sneaking in her tone.
“Not in a way that matters. Certainly not in a way that I am not willing to shoulder the burden for.”
“Was it not too violent for you?”
John considered the question in earnest before answering. “I don’t know. Brutality is not how I solve my problems, but I think you got the point across quite well.” He bumped shoulders with her. “Don’t worry about being yourself. Cracking down on those that aim to humiliate you is not one of your sins, lady.”
Nathalia blew fire out of her nose, then took his hand.
Like that, they returned to their quarters.
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