Chapter 59
The last two living paladins in the world were in my possession. Ending a day of victory with yet another victory sounded nice, but I doubted I could break both paladins on my second visit.
A pair of silk soldiers delivered Charity first. Her prison attire was essentially one oversized shirt with a cinch at the waist. Her bare feet shuffled across the stone floor as my soldiers half-dragged her into the room.
I ordered them to tie her to a type of wooden horse shaped like a barrel. The position forced her into a sort of permanent backbend, pushing her hips and breasts into the air while her head dangled upside down. She shouted all sorts of horrible things at me, but her gag made them incomprehensible.
“Are you ready to renounce your paladin status?” I asked.
She screamed back at me like a crazed, cornered animal.
“I like it when you scream like that,” I said. “It gives your breasts a nice jiggle.”
I reached out and felt her over her clothes. Charity yelled again.
“See? Just like that.”
Silk soldiers brought the second paladin into the room. Her eyes went wide at the sight of Charity contorted by her restraints. She shook her head frantically, babbling all the while.
“Hold her there,” I ordered the soldiers. They stopped halfway into the room, each holding one of the paladin’s arms.
When I pulled the gag from her mouth, she said, “If I renounce my paladin oath, I get to leave, right?”
“I offered that to you before, but you refused.”
“Please. Just let me go.”
“Make me an offer.”
“What?”
“You offered to forfeit your oath. That’s not enough.”
“I’ll blow you. Is that what you want?”
“Is that what you’re offering?”
She nodded hastily. “Yes. Fuck my face, your Grace. It’s yours.”
“Deal.”
The paladin dropped to her knees when my soldiers released her.
She fumbled to undo my pants and began one of the most pathetic blowjobs I have ever received.
She went no deeper than the tip, and the only thing she could think to do was a weird little head bob that seemed more like a seizure than anything else.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that a paladin girl was bad at sex, I suppose.
Paladins remaining: 1
Ah, but that notification felt good.
I could slit Charity’s throat right here to bring that number to zero. She was helpless, and her neck, like the rest of her, was stretched and exposed by the bend of the barrel. A single flick, and the world would be free of these self-righteous assholes.
But I had students to teach.
“Today’s session is going to be simple,” I explained to Charity.
“I’m going to whip you until you promise me that the next time I visit, you won’t scream or protest. You’ll walk into the room and stand still and quiet.
I don’t recommend breaking that promise once you’ve made it.
Scream nonsense at me if you understand. ”
Charity raged at me.
“Thought so. Soldiers, stand on either side of her. Whip from the bottoms of her feet to her shoulders, then go back down to the feet. Repeat that until she makes her promise.”
The silk soldiers moved to follow my orders.
I stayed for a bit longer so Charity could watch her once-ally suck on my sword, but her technique was such that I wasn’t likely to finish this week, if ever. So I dragged her out of the room and had her set free in Grubiit.
I stopped to talk to my students, and was both pleased and frustrated to find three of them with their hands down their pants, fingering themselves to Charity’s suffering. I wanted them to pay attention, but I also respected them for taking the initiative.
“Today is a good example of how different reactions to training can be,” I said to my girls, allowing them to continue to masturbate while I spoke.
“The first one gave me what I asked for and then submitted to me to show she meant it. At that point, she was a lesson to the paladin who still resisted. Obey, and get rewarded. Disobey, and get punished. She already disobeyed for the day, so we’re punishing her.
If she does as I say and enters the room tomorrow quietly and respectfully, then we can move forward. ”
“What if she still refuses?”
“We’ll repeat the punishment,” I answered, “and when she goes back to her cell, her mattress will be gone. Then we’ll take her pillow. Then her blankets. Then her food. She will submit eventually. It’s up to her how long that takes.”
“Why not press her now?”
“Because jumping to an extreme will break her instead of bending her. Anyone can torture a prisoner until they break, but what good is a broken toy? Remember, steady pressure. If any of the angeli are giving you similar difficulties, apply this method and let me know how it goes.”
“Yes, Master,” the chorus of students replied.
“Feel free to stay and watch if you like.”
When I departed, every girl remained. They wanted to finish themselves before they moved on with their days.
Good for them.
One paladin left.
The various factions of celestials argued intensely about where the duel should take place. Each of them rightly assumed that extreme destruction was likely no matter who was ultimately victorious, and they all preferred that such destruction happen on someone else’s plane instead of their own.
The seraphim ended the debate by declaring they would travel no lower than the plane of powers. Like humans, celestials found violence entertaining, so our duel would take place in an arena built specifically for showcases like this.
Solara and Purity were the only people I allowed to come with me, and I was resistant to even that concession.
Bringing valuables deep into enemy territory was unwise and invited all manner of potential interference, but my wives insisted that we not go alone.
When I refused to permit all of them to accompany me, they argued me down to Solara and Purity.
Solara could cast the Seraphim Slayer spell if a full-scale skirmish broke out, and Purity, being the first to take the oath, gave her seniority in the eyes of my other wives.
That was never a status I imposed or even suggested.
In fact, I actively worked to make my harem feel like one of equals, but they still chose to show Purity that deference.
The whole way from Sanctuary to the arena on the plane of powers, I knew Solara wished I had finished my phylactery already, but she didn’t say so out loud.
Telling your husband you believe there’s a chance he could die was not the kind of pre-duel confidence a champion wanted to carry into the arena.
I agreed with her. The reassurance that I could come back to life in the event that this gambit failed would have been nice.
But my feet already crossed the sandy floor of the arena.
The bleachers were packed with celestials–none from any of the planes lower than this one, I noticed–who had come to watch me die.
Arcturus had a box seat, which he seemed to use as a networking opportunity, inviting cherubim to enjoy his view and drink his wine.
The other boxes encircling the arena were full as well, and I assumed they were stuffed with celestials of great import, but I didn’t know who they were or why they mattered.
A six-armed, multi-winged seraphim marched toward me. He was unlike any other seraphim I had seen thus far. The whole of his body appeared to be made of diamond, and where other seraphim had bare foreheads, his held a third eye that blazed with white-hot heat.
I didn’t know very many celestials, but thanks to Queen Lace, I knew who he was.
The elder celestial crossed the arena, meeting me in the middle to speak.
“I am Glaos,” he bellowed. “I am the Supreme Ruler of the Heavens. I have come to confirm the terms of this contest of champions.”
“Well met,” I replied. “When I win, you will give me two seraphim. I choose one, and you choose the other. You cannot decline my choice. Then, I want the path to ascension reopened for every plane, and I want you to swear to 1,000 years of peace with me and my kingdom.”
“You ask me to forfeit two of my people? For what purpose?”
“The purpose is irrelevant.”
“Who would you choose?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t decided. A beautiful woman, most likely. If it gives you peace of mind, I can agree to omit you, your wives, and your daughters from the selection pool. And, as I said, you pick whoever you want for the second.”
Glaos towered over me in silence as he thought. “When my champion wins, you agree to forfeit your kingdom to me. I will be Sanctuary’s new king. I will take ownership of your wives. And I will punish your people for your sins in any manner I see fit.”
“You can’t have my wives.”
“Come now. Your terms demand that I forfeit lives I am sworn to protect.”
“That’s true,” I conceded. “Then we will apply the same restrictions. I pick one. You pick one. The rest are allowed to go free.”
“You do not protest the other conditions?” Glaos asked.
I shook my head. “If I’m dead, my kingdom and my people don’t matter to me.”
“You’re as heartless as the stories say. For as long as I have lived, I still struggle to fathom why any being would pursue evil to such a degree.”
“Several demons have argued that they are more honorable than celestials because they are transparent about their evil. You believe yourself a just ruler, but I see a being whose depravity rivals even my own.”
“Your death will be satisfying,” Glaos replied. “You are already proof that we were right to close the doors to heaven. Humans are all corrupt beings. Every one of them, man, woman, and child.”
“Do we agree on what happens when someone wins? If so, let’s move on to the rules of the duel itself.”
“You do not wish to argue on behalf of your people?”
“I do not. You’re probably right about the corruption, but your judgments and opinions carry no weight for me. When a dog starts barking, I don’t care why. I just want it to shut the fuck up.”
Glaos seemed to grow in size before my very eyes, but I couldn’t tell what was real, illusion, or posturing. I could tell he was pissed, though.