Canis was making life rather difficult for Lisa and Bekka.
It was worth noting that the two of them were probably the most lethal tag team in all of Luxuria.
Because Bekka trained Lisa, the pair shared a level of understanding over each other's capabilities that went above and beyond the norm.
Lisa knew exactly when her partner was going to lash out with her claws and made sure to apply pressure on Canis to his opposing side.
Bekka knew when Lisa was preparing to launch a devastating blast of electricity and attempted to trap her father's feet with tendrils of darkness.
However, against the rampaging kitsune, their efforts were superficial at best.
Canis was truly monstrous.
Every attempt the girls made to bring him down was thwarted with diabolical ease and returned with his own sadistic counter.
For such a large creature, Canis proved to be terribly agile, and from his nine swaying tails he released blasts of icy energy that nearly froze the two women solid.
Boom!
Another blast of cold energy from Canis clipped Lisa's wing, slowing her movement speed just enough for him to swat her with his monstrous paws.
The dragoness was sent flying into a nearby wall and vomited a mouthful of blood.
"Lisa!" Bekka rushed to check on her injured friend but unfortunately Canis seemed to be waiting for this opening as he immediately rushed Bekka and pinned her down beneath his paw.
"Unfilial daughter! How dare you side with those that exterminated your kin!"
Even though a considerable weight was being placed on her chest, Bekka did not miss this opportunity to smile through bloodied teeth.
"You dare laugh?!" Canis pushed down even harder and Bekka began to feel her bones crack from the pressure.
"If they didn't do it, I would've." Bekka responded weakly.
Opening her hand, Bekka lobbed a small black dot at her father's head.
Sensing danger, Canis leapt out of the way and was surprised to see that small black dot turn into a black hole right in front of his very eyes.
"What the hell...?" He did not recall his daughter having a power like this!
He could not remember anyone with a power like this!
Canis did not hear his daughter chant any words nor did he feel a fluctuation of mana, so he was sure this wasn't a spell.
It was as if the power to create black holes was ingrained in her very own body!
"How did you even- GYAAA!!!"
Distracted by Bekka's strange and new power, Canis did not even realize Lisa had recovered and was now spewing a gout of sickly green flames from her mouth.
The pain caused by the burns was the worst imaginable and to make matters worse he could not put them out no matter how hard he tried.
As time went on, he began to feel a sense of drowsiness and knew instinctively that if he fell asleep now, he would never wake up again.
"What is this?! WHAT IS THISSS!?!"
With Canis flailing about trying to put out the flames that were slowly corroding away his soul, Bekka and Lisa were finally able to regroup.
"We need to force him into that black hole!" Bekka explained. "Once he's inside his body will be torn to shreds and reduced to atoms!"
Lisa nodded in agreement. As useful as her flames were, they did not work well on an enemy who was so much stronger than her and had a strong will.
The girls took another moment to concoct a plan and once that was done, Lisa changed back into a dragon and Bekka immediately rushed her father.
"HAAAAA!!!!"
Canis stopped screaming in pain long enough to notice his daughter's loud and hasty approach.
With his mind addled by agony, he did not notice anything strange about her sloppy and unrefined movements.
Bekka made several slashes in the air with her claws using the void element.
After seeing her earlier display, he did not even question his senses when they started warning him of imminent danger.
Leaping into the air, he easily avoided the attacks aimed at his legs and prepared to shoot off another icy burst when something hard and scaly slammed into his side.
Because Lisa's body as a dragon was denser and more powerful, she was easily able to send him flying while he was airborne.
While flying in the air, he realized he was on a collision course with that strange black hole his daughter had created.
In his final moments, his eyes found his daughter who was giving him a hateful scowl below.
Even though she looked completely different, he could not help but see the resemblance between she and her mother.
'Karliah... she is your daughter indeed.'
Canis made contact with the swirling black hole and his world immediately went dark.
Bekka made a closing gesture with her palm and the black hole immediately shut, leaving behind Canis' furry legs and tail.
With their enemy defeated, the two girls immediately collapsed on the ground side by side.
It was only after several minutes of labored breathing that the pair were finally able to regain their ability to speak.
"You know... I thought since we had a part of his power, we too would be as formidable as he is." Lisa muttered with a dry laugh.
"I had the same delusion." Bekka admitted.
As a stage three evolved, Canis was leagues above the both of them.
The only reason they were able to come out alive was thanks to the sudden influx of stats gifted to both of them.
They truly had to make use of everything that they had and if they were even a little bit slower, they would have suffered a humiliating defeat.
"Winning this way... it does not feel good."
Lisa did not say anything, but she silently agreed.
The two of them wanted to become much, much stronger.
As the wives of a king, they felt that they could not settle for mediocrity.
Just like their husband, their every victory had to be oppressive and dominant.
How else would they feel worthy to stand beside him on the field of battle?
-
Valerie could not take her eyes off the cages on the left side of the room.
Within those cages there were children at varying ages of adolescence from toddlers to teenagers.
Contrary to their mothers on the opposite side, these children were responsive and were incredibly aware of everything that was going on around them.
Emperium made sure to train these demihuman children in various areas befitting their races.
Once they were ready, Emperium would sell them off to the highest bidder where they would live their lives in servitude.
Or at least that's what would have happened had Valerie not come here today.
"Get those cages open, be careful with the women they'll be a bit... sensitive." Valerie ordered.
Immediately, the rabisu moved to carry out her orders and began freeing the captives.
"Monster!"
"What are they?!"
"G-Get away from me!"
Seeing these tall and frightening demons that were unlike anything they'd ever seen, there were naturally a few frightened screams of fear from the children and women, luckily Lailah was there to dispel the panic.
"It's alright, everyone. They may look scary but the rabisu are only trying to help."
Lailah's calm voice made them realize that the demons hadn't actually moved an inch since they'd ripped open their cages.
And the only ones the demons were actually touching were the women who were unfortunately too weak to walk.
Still, the group were unconvinced.
Their entire lives, they had only known utter cruelty.
So surely this new group was planning on using them for some nefarious purpose as well. They would simply be going from one master to another.
"I understand those looks." Valerie suddenly said.
In a moment, all eyes were on her and she gestured to the brand that was at her side.
"I grew up here just like you, so I understand what it's like to feel like your life is not your own."
Valerie chose this moment to raise up Zibel by his neck and show him to the onlookers before her.
With a final hard squeeze, Valerie broke the human's neck and threw his corpse onto the cold ground. "I'm not really one for speeches so I'm just going to say this."
"I'm not really here for any of you. The only goal of mine today was to kill this sack of shit lying before you. That said, if you want to live somewhere better, where you're free to live the life you choose then come with us.
Because I also used to live like all of you, I can understand how you all must be thinking. That's why I'm just going to turn around and leave without trying to convince any of you. This will be the first choice you get to make for yourselves."
With everything she wanted to say out in the open, Valerie finally let out a sigh of relief. She really did hate public speaking.
"Alright guys, nice work. Let's start heading home, yea?"
As promised, Valerie turned her back and began walking out the way she came with Lailah following closely behind her.
One by one, all of the rabisu followed leaving behind the newly liberated demihumans.
Valerie did not know how many would choose to follow and she did not really care.
Her objective of putting her past to bed was accomplished all the same. Anything else would simply be a bonus.