"Kaleiya! I'm going to face that thing alone. Go back and prep my victory feast!" Jiuqi flicked the devil's tail behind her, confidence gleaming like steel, a conqueror's smile hooked at her lips.

"But, Your Majesty..." Weren't you just sent flying... Kaleiya bit down like on iron. She swallowed the rest, fearing she'd pop that proud balloon.

"I understand, Your Majesty... if that's your order." Kaleiya trembled like a reed in wind, scared her Demon Lord would do something foolish.

Suddenly, Jiuqi felt a nameless jinx flag perch on her like a crow. "Kaleiya... are you thinking something bad?"

Kaleiya's eyes set like jade. She stood and gave the loli Demon Lord the highest bow. "Your Majesty! Kaleiya will live and die with you!"

"...Kaleiya! I order you, now, immediately, go back and cook! I'm hungry!" Her stomach rumbled like distant thunder.

"No! Your Majesty... if we eat, we must go back and eat together! I won't allow the dinner I made to be offered like a sacrifice..." Her voice shook like a candle in wind.

Jiuqi, meanwhile, went charcoal‑black in the face, smoke in her glare. She'd thought that damn busty she‑dragon meant to stay and die, so she'd barked to make her scram. Now it sounded like the woman was straight up cursing her to die?

Can't beat that woman? Can't! But she could still run like lightning!

A shadow about blue hair had lived in her heart since a dozen years ago, like a stain in ink.

She'd never met a blue‑haired one who was weak; each could string her up and beat her like a drum. Take that revenge run for Brother Han, a dozen years back. She burned her divine power to the wick and only managed to vaporize one fifth of the sea. That blue‑haired old witch, as long as she stayed in water, had endless mana and a constant regen cheat. Jiuqi remembered it clear as frost: she cut the woman more than once, and seconds later the wounds closed like water smoothing sand.

That time, hot blood boiled her brain; she even burned her origin, because the woman had seized Brother Han and lit her fuse. Even so, that whole storm‑barrage only bought a "minor injury" the woman couldn't heal for a little while.

Know this: if they'd fought on land, at least half a continent would have been flattened like fields after a flood.

Fine, the last one was an unkillable freak, but at least she could be hit. This new one was worse—she was swinging at smoke and couldn't land a blow.

This blue‑hair matched her strength and danced better. A moment ago she felt like a monkey on a string, run in circles by that woman. Jiuqi clung to luck, whispering a prayer like smoke that the woman dodged only because she couldn't take a single hit.

But what came next blew past her expectations like a gale. The woman got bored of playing house. The scales of power tipped her way in a breath. Before Jiuqi could blink, a mysterious force piggybacked her divine power and bound her like chains. What happened after... she would never forget in this life.

That woman... she actually spanked her. Her own father and mother had never laid a hand on her butt!

Fire roared up Jiuqi's spine, but one line from the blue‑haired girl plunged her heart to the valley floor like a stone.

Seeing it work, that devil leaned in with a fox's grin and, right by little Jiuqi's ear, recited every good deed she'd ever done. She laced it with warnings and threats. That combo string shattered her guard from skin to soul like glass.

After that, she fought the woman again—and got swatted from the sky like a leaf.

"I know that woman! I have things to discuss with her. Kaleiya, can you hurry up and leave? If you don't, I won't talk to you ever again!" Jiuqi panicked, storm winds in her words. Kaleiya was usually obedient; stubborn today, she was a boulder in the stream.

"I... Your Majesty, but—"

"No more buts. You don't have a shred of faith in me! If so, why stay at my side like a shadow?"

"..." Kaleiya's look wavered like ripples. She stopped pressing, drew a long breath, and forced herself calm, choosing to believe her Demon Lord.

"I understand, Your Majesty. It was my fault. I shouldn't have doubted your strength. When we return, I'll ask for punishment... Your Majesty, I'll head back now and ready the feast, waiting for your triumphant return." She forced out a confident smile like sun through cloud.

"Hmph, that's more like it. I'm still this generation's Mad Thunder Demon God! I'm not scared of a shameless hag like her. Just wait, this time I'll—"

"Spank your butt hard?"

"Uwah!" The blue‑haired woman appeared out of nowhere and made Jiuqi jump like a cat in thunder.

'This vile woman scared me again! No—I need to lure her away from here first!'

Jiuqi snapped back fast. She pulled a face at her. "You nasty woman, chase me if you've got the guts. Nyeh~"

She even curled a finger in taunt, then turned into a bolt of lightning and vanished from the spot, like a streak across storm clouds.

As expected of the Mad Thunder Demon God—her escape arts never disappoint, quick as summer rain.

The blue‑haired woman sighed, helpless as the tide. "Still provoking me at a time like this... what an unruly child."

"Don't stare. Staring won't change the fact you can't beat me. Do as your master said and go cook." The blue‑haired woman gave Kaleiya a cool glance, eyes like cold water. To keep her obedient, she even slid a silken thread of suggestion into the mind.

It had to be said: with a strong spirit, you could do as you pleased, like wind bending grass.

"Yes." Kaleiya's pupils went unfocused like fogged glass. She nodded to the blue‑haired woman and left, steps quiet as drizzle.

Watching from not far, Jiuqi nearly coughed blood with rage. If that woman had this trick, why not use it earlier? Didn't that make Jiuqi's act just now pure suicide?

"Crap, she noticed me... Forget it. Since I'm running, I might as well run far, so no one else sees—like a stormcloud skimming the horizon..."