Galaxy's First Ruler

"I… No."

Few things had shocked Aldrich after coming out in the vast unexplored part of the Galaxy. So when the Shadow Homunculus refused to eat something, the shock on his face was truly a sight to behold.

"You are not hungry?!"

"I… save… him."

Aldrich narrowed his eyes at the sudden outlet of emotions by Sha and the usage of 'him'. Aldrich and she didn't need to speak to convey their feelings to each other. He could notice the instantaneous attachment Sha had felt towards the creature. But even though Aldrich didn't know the anatomy of this creature from in and out, he could still differentiate a hopeless case from the one that was not.

"Think about it, Sha. If you eat him, it's almost the same as being with him all the time."

Aldrich tried a different approach to tackle the situation, but he underestimated Sha's stubborn behavior. He could feel that his offer was enticing to the Shadow Homunculus, but it wasn't enough.

Sigh!

Aldrich sighed, not for failing to convince Sha, but for the failure of getting some memories out of an extinct species. Although the creature was just a young, who knows what memories it could have. And Aldrich wanted to have every advantage he could get for the plans he had made in the last few days.

Grreowww!!

Aldrich took a deep breath, hearing the growls of the dying creature. Four of its six eyes were already closed shut, and the remaining two almost looked defying nature to remain open.

"Well, it's better to kill it then and let it have some relief."

Aldrich didn't mean a single word he had just said. He didn't pity any dying breath from anyone, and if he had, he wouldn't have left a few cut-up Barons near Dungeon to bleed to death. The only thing he wanted to do by killing it was to remove the unknown factor it added when he would be inside the Dungeon. And if those words were to pacify the Shadow Homunculus, then it wouldn't be that bad either.

But Aldrich's words again brought out an opposite reaction from Sha. The mask on his face left without Aldrich's will and turned into the lusty figure Sha had assumed before. Her white hairs weren't as dull and rough as that of Aldrich's and her blue eyes were full of life and affection. She crouched down and picked up the creature into her bosom. Its two snakeheads' tails dangled like ropes.

Grrr!

The creature tried to put up a fight, but only a small breath of air came out of its mouth before the two huge breasts almost covered its face.

"No… Kill… Save."

Aldrich looked into Sha's watery eyes as she kept massaging its gray furred head with her hand. Her razor-like nails didn't leave a hint of their sharpness on the creature's body.

"We can't take it with us into the Dungeon. It..."

"He…"

"Yes, he… He would die anyway."

Sniff!

Tears rolled down from Sha's cheeks and dropped on the closed eyes of the creature. The surrounding Mana rippled and waved around her as if it was trying to embrace her. Aldrich's calm white eyes shined as he looked at that scene and only one thought came to his mind, exciting him greatly.

'Is this what I think it is…'

"Daddy… please… save."

Sha's broken voice took Aldrich out of his excited state. The more she wept and imagined the idea of losing the creature, the more Mana came towards her and turned from blue to pitch black. Aldrich stretched his right hand, and it glowed deep blue. The black Mana came rushing towards his hand, before turning into a tiny black bead.

'What a fascinating phenomenon!'

Aldrich had a slight smile on his face as he threw the bead towards his greatcoat. Just as the bead came into the greatcoat's contact, it diffused and became a part of it. Aldrich could feel the uptick in the Devil's aura around him. He looked at the pair of Sha and the creature and put a hand on Sha's hand.

"Ok, let me try."

A blooming smile came upon Sha's face as she heard Aldrich. She threw herself at Aldrich, with the creature still stuck deep in the ravine between her breasts, and gave a peck on Aldrich's cheek.

Grrr!

"Daddy… Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah. Hold it properly or it would die before I could do something."

Aldrich laughed and sent his Divine Sense into the FIR as Sha held the creature up high, making Aldrich remind of the movie The Lion King. He took out a red vial, which seemed to have a few drops of lava in it. Aldrich saw the bright red and hot potion and remembered how the Earl had given it to him as the most prized treasure of the House. Earl Drago had gravely said that only a Duke could acquire a potion like this, for it had the potency to even heal mortal wounds.

"The Volcanic-Blood Amplifier potion."

Since the time of their progenitor, only three drops had remained and Aldrich felt guilty about wasting them on such a hopeless case. But the prospect of making an outrageous payoff had always been the gambling factor in the lives of Scholars and researchers.

GRREOWWWW!!!

Aldrich poured two out of three drops into the mouth of the creature, making him howl in pain as the potion burned the creature from within.

"Daddy…."

"How could there be creation without destruction?"

Aldrich tried to explain, looking at Sha's shocked and angry face, but a notification popped up between them.

[…

Time Let: 00:00:00

Commencing teleportation within the Dungeon

…]

Aldrich turned back to look at the hundreds of meters tall equestrian statue in the distance as Sha appeared back on his face. He could see a knight with a thick beard and pulsing muscles riding a horse. The knight had a spear hoisted up and there was a flag attached to the spear at its top. The muddy yellow light surrounding the black statue turned to red as a bluish light engulfed Aldrich.

Even though Aldrich had come far from his home, he still had all the famous statues imprinted in his memory. Just in one look, he had guessed the identity of the knight. And Aldrich's nature didn't dare to let him forget about Spain's National Hero.

The protagonist of the most significant medieval Spanish epic poem, El Cantar de mio Cid.

El Cid Campeador, the Prince of Valencia.

The Song of my Cid