I stop approaching the island and start circling while I wait for the two ships to enter port. They can probably see me, but they most likely have no idea what I am and what’s about to happen to them. Once the ships have entered port, I activate my technique and dive at the ship sailing away from the island.

I completely bathe the ship in flames and Asuna jumps down without me asking. I trust her to handle herself, so I turn and fly over to the port and start spewing flames on all of the ships. As long as the ships can’t escape, there should be no chance of me missing anyone.

Once all of the ships and the port itself have been covered in flames, I shift my target to the mansions. It is my guess that the owners of the mansions are the ones that deserve to burn the most. Only after I have covered the mansions do I turn my attention to the town.

Unlike the port in the desert, this one doesn’t have any siege weapons for me to worry about. This allows me to calmly fly back and forth along the town to make sure I cover every part of it. Sure, a few people launch arrows or spells at me, but it is nothing for me to worry about.

Even if an attack somehow gets through my defenses, my healing will handle it without issue. It would take the concentrated attacks of a well equipped army to actually hurt me. Of course, they would also have to not use any fire or lightning attacks since they heal me.

Once I have covered the entire town in my flames, I circle as I listen to the screaming. The fact that I enjoy hearing those who deserve it screaming to death probably isn’t a good thing. However, as long as it stays limited to those who deserve it, I am not going to worry too much.

I am confident that if I start acting more like a monster, my wives will quickly set me straight. Although, that does remind me that I was supposed to work on a golem that could deal with me if needed. I will have to make that a priority when I get back to the castle and have access to my workshop.

For now, I am just going to enjoy it and try not to overthink what it might mean about me. Thanks to my technique, I know that everyone who is screaming deserves it and I haven’t hurt innocents by accident. This is nothing compared to the suffering that they will feel in Krenocia’s realm.

“Oh, Krenocia? Just wanted to warn you that you have souls incoming!”

Krenocia says “Some have already arrived. What are you up to now, Ash?”

“Just completing the quest that Melomarc gave me.”

Krenocia says “Oh, right. Well, be careful.”

“It’s already done. I am just waiting for them to finish burning.”

Krenocia says “That’s fine, but I want you to do me a favor. After this, don’t accept another quest from Melomarc.”

“Why not?”

Krenocia says “Because as much as I enjoy watching my sister go nuts, seeing her in a jealous rage is not fun!”

“Why would she get jealous of me doing quests?!”

Krenocia says “Because they are not her quests!”

“Ah, alright. No more quests for Melomarc.”

Krenocia says “Thank you, and thank you for the souls as well! I must say, I am impressed by how you made a technique like that from Dark Mark.”

“It is handy. I am just glad that it worked out the way I wanted it to.”

Krenocia says “It is great! Everyone you burn will face exactly the punishment that they deserve. The fact that it also heals the innocent is just brilliant!”

“It’s to maintain a balance. You can’t judge everyone and then only punish the guilty, you also need to reward the innocent.”

Krenocia says “So, you incorporated both my power and my sister’s?”

“Yes. Balance.”

Krenocia says “Is that why you took both of us as lovers?”

“No, that was purely greed on my part. Besides, if I had picked just one of you, whichever one I didn’t pick would hate me.”

Krenocia says “That’s true, but it would be much worse if you had picked me. I am a little more stable than my sister is.”

“You may be more stable, but you are definitely more dangerous!”

Krenocia says “Thank you for noticing! So, with that in mind, you will do as I asked and be careful, right?”

“Um, yeah, sure. I will be careful. I am always careful!”

Krenocia’s laughter is the last thing I hear before she cuts the connection with me. My conversation with her took enough time that most of the slavers and pirates should have finished burning. I fly over and land at the biggest and most ornate of the mansions outside the town.

As soon as I land and spread out my senses, I detect almost a hundred living beings inside the mansion. I was expecting to find a lot of slaves, but that is a rather ridiculous number. I shapeshift to dragonoid form so that I can fit through the doors and head inside.

Just inside the doors is a huge entryway and it is filled with slaves standing in a circle. They are standing around, staring at a man who is rolling around on the ground screaming. For him to still be burning at this point, he must have been a heavy sinner.

From the way all of the females watching him are smiling, I am betting that he deserves to suffer. I am not about to interrupt their enjoyment of his suffering, so I wait quietly until he finally dies. Then, although the slaves are afraid of me, I start removing their collars and restraints.

As I am working, I ask those that are already free to go gather all the slaves in the town square. Surprisingly, they go without asking me any questions, which I am totally not used to. I free the rest of the girls and send them out too, then I scan the mansion again.

There are no more people in the mansion, but I also use my mana to search for gold and gems. If I am going to need to sleep like a dragon, then I may as well collect a hoard. This guy certainly isn’t going to need it and there is no point in leaving it for Vex’s men to loot.

I head upstairs and spend a few minutes looting, then I head to the town square. There are already hundreds of slaves waiting for me and more are still arriving. I quickly get to work removing their restraints and using the cleaning stone on them.

The slaves are about eighty percent female and mostly human, which is a little surprising. Although, I guess that it doesn’t make much sense to haul beastmen out here just to send them back. There are a small number of elves mixed in and they just make me feel guilty that I didn’t search harder.