"Fucking shit!... fuck!!" I cursed under my breath, slamming my way out of the nightmare tower.
I finally understood the saying that in a family, there must be one kid who is a pain in the ass.
Well, for my family, it's Lament.
I can't deal with her; the undead girl is beyond my understanding.
She's a mix of emo, suicidal, masochistic, and a fucking genius all rolled into one. The only one who could deal with her is another fucking monster genius.
My sister Victoria.
Sadly, my twin sister is far away from my reach, so I must deal with her myself.
So far, I managed to keep her busy. I gave that abomination monster I created a long time ago, using the goblins in Celeste's dungeon.
When Lament first saw that twisted monstrosity, she did something that I didn't expect.
She smiled.
A real smile, not that depressed or forced one, but a genuine smile.
Swiftly seizing that rare chance, I spawned a few goblins and gnolls for her to experiment on. And it worked marvelously.
The last thing I saw her doing was dissecting a gnoll while humming a creepy lullaby. She was trying to switch the gnoll head for a goblin one and see how the poor creature reacts.
She was happy. She kinda reminded me of another character from my old world who had a similar obsession with the flesh, Dr. F.... something.
Dr. Fuck? I don't remember. It's so weird to 'know' things from my past without having memories of my past. Like, I know what a phone is, but I don't have memories of a life where I used one. But whatever.
Anyway, I was finally free for a while to take care of other stuff.
'By my holy ass, I need to breed something happy for a change,' I thought to myself, rubbing my temples as I leaned against the cool wall. 'Maybe a puppy? A fluffy, happy, tail-wagging puppy who doesn't want to hang herself from the ceiling. Or a plant. A simple, photosynthesizing plant that doesn't have existential crises.'
"Mo-Mother!"
I looked up to see something green standing before me. It took me a moment to realize it was Zarka, the hobgoblin and the boss of the fifth floor.
"Zarka!" I greeted, a small smile playing on my lips. "It's good to see you again. You stopped calling me queen... Nice."
I raised a thumb up for her.
"I..." The hobgoblin blushed, her green cheeks turning a darker shade of green. "I am... sorry, my queen... I mean, Mother... sister Lilis told me you don't like being called that."
"Good girl." I patted her head. "Now, what do you need?"
In the five months of my absence, Lilis and Zarka became best friends, and as the only one who could befriend and keep up with that horny succubus, I had to give Zarka a lot of credit. She truly is a strong-willed goblin.
The two spent most of their time playing with the eight wolf-kin slaves, training them, and torturing them. It was a different kind of fun for them, of course. Not the breeding kind. The kind that involves whips, chains, and a lot of screaming. And to my surprise, Zarka seemed to have developed a sadistic streak. She enjoyed inflicting pain upon the slaves, and to be honest, I wasn't complaining.
She needs that kind of mentality to better perform her duties as the floor boss.
"I..." Zarka shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, her hands clasped behind her back like a schoolgirl caught sneaking snacks.
"I came to… report something important, Mother."
"Oh?" I raised a brow. "Did Lilis break another slave? Or did you two accidentally summon something again? Because I swear, if I walk in and find another tentacle-beast teaching the wolf-kin 'advanced stretching,' I'm going to run for the next week."
"N-No, nothing like that!" Zarka stammered, her cheeks flushing darker. "This time it's actually serious."
"Huh." I crossed my arms. "Seriously serious? Or goblin serious? Because goblin seriousness is usually like: 'Mother, help, the slave we flayed is crying too loudly.'"
She shook her head vigorously.
"Seriously serious… Mother." She looked at the floor, then back up at me. "Something is happening to me."
That got my attention.
"…something is happening to you?" I repeated, my voice dropping into that low, dangerous tone that only comes out when one of my kids says something that could either be a problem or a very fun problem.
Zarka nodded stiffly, her fingers twisting together.
"I think… I think I'm changing…"
"Changing how?" My eyes narrowed. "And don't tell me it's puberty—your boobs already grew two cup sizes thanks to Lilis' 'accidental' curse."
"I–I told her not to touch my chest again." Zarka flushed a deep forest green. "…but that's not what I mean!"
"Alright," I motioned for her to continue. "Go on."
Zarka swallowed thickly.
"It started a few days ago. At first, I thought it was just my imagination. But every time I train the wolf-kin… every time they scream… every time I push them… something inside me starts burning."
"…burning?"
She nodded.
"Like a fire… but not painful. More like…" She looked away, embarrassed. "More like excitement."
Ah.
Oh.
Oh no. Oh yes.
"Oh gods," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You're awakening."
"A-Awakening?" Zarka stuttered. "Like the warriors during the ceremony? Or like sister Lilis during her first heat?"
"No." I sighed. "You're awakening as a sadist."
"!!!" Zarka's eyes widened. "I–I had a feeling, Mother. But there's… more."
Of course, there's more. There's always more with my family.
"What now?" I exhaled.
Zarka lowered her eyes.
"When I hurt someone… my mana changes. It grows. It feels… stronger. Thicker. Like I'm being fed by their pain."
She looked up again, fear flickering in her amber eyes.
"I think… I think I'm evolving."
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then slowly, very slowly, a grin crept across my lips.
"Well, well, well… look at you," I chuckled, patting her head again—this time harder. "My little hobgoblin is becoming a real monster."
Zarka squirmed, cheeks burning. "M-Mother, it's not funny. My skin… sometimes it tingles. And my claws feel sharper. My hearing is improving too. And when I smell blood, I just—"
Her breath hitched.
"—I get hungry."
And there it was.
The final nail in the coffin. My little floor boss wasn't just becoming a sadist.
She was becoming a predator.
My kind of predator. A beautiful, sexy, sadistic predator.
"Zarka. Sweetheart." I clasped her shoulders. "This is good. Very good. You're not broken. You're growing."
"R-Really?" She blinked up at me.
"Yes," I smirked. "In fact, I was hoping one of you goblins would evolve."
Besides my two goblin daughters that I gave birth to using that hobgoblin leader, none of the other goblins had evolved or had the potential to become a leader.
They remained just goblins.
Zarka here, however, she's different. A floor boss with a stronger will and body than the other goblins. She was clearly cut out for greater things.
'I need to find a way to bring my tower creation to the real world,' I made a mental note to myself. 'Imagine every monster inside the nightmare tower coming out of a portal in the middle of the enemy's city. Just... beautiful chaos.'
"Ahh~" Savoring the image of my tower's little horrors flooding an enemy capital like a surprise party from hell, I refocused on the trembling hobgoblin in front of me.
Zarka wasn't trembling out of fear. She was trembling because she was holding herself back.
A good sign.
A very good sign for breeding!
"Zarka," I purred, my hands sliding from her shoulders to her biceps, feeling the coiled tension there. "You've been good. A very good girl. And good girls get rewards."
"R-reward, Mother?" She gulped, her amber eyes wide, locked on mine.
"Mmmhmm." I leaned in, my lips brushing against her pointed ear. "I'm going to help you. Not just 'help' you... I'm going to accelerate it."
Before she could ask what that meant, I closed the distance between us.
My lips claimed hers.
It wasn't gentle. It was a claim. A branding. My divine power, thick and intoxicating, flooded into her, a golden river flowing into a parched, dusty riverbed.
Zarka stiffened, a surprised squeak muffled by my mouth. Her hands, which had been hanging limp at her sides, flew up to clutch at my arms. Her claws, the dull, unassuming things of a common hobgoblin, pricked at my skin. Not hard enough to draw blood, but the intention was there.
"Come on, Zarka," I murmured against her lips, nipping at her lower lip. "Take it. This is your reward for all your hard work."
I broke the kiss, pulling back just enough to see her face. Her amber eyes were wide, luminous pools of shock and burgeoning power. Her green skin seemed to glow from within, the dark blush spreading from her cheeks down her neck.
"Are you ready to cum inside my womb, Zarka?" I purred, my hands sliding down her back to cup her ass, pulling her flush against me. "Are you ready to fill my womb with your goblin seed?"
Zarka could only nod, her throat working, but no sound coming out. She was lost in the tidal wave of divine energy I was pouring into her.
"I... I will not fail you, my queen."