Witchbound Villain: Infinite Loop

"Son of Viviane, we meet again," Vlad said, sighing. "You two seem perfect for each other indeed."

"Thank you, Master Vlad," Morgan smiled. "Now, we will start with… the accusation. I want to hear what any of you know about my husband."

Burn sat, his back to the door. His eyes scanned the room, knowing full well that he had become the focus of the assembly. He had never met any of them before in all his previous loops, not even when he tried.

Wekkoun hummed. Behind him, Grumbletoe looked curiously at Burn and Morgan, noting that they were the pair of humans they had spotted the day before.

“Dwarfs are a very curious race. We always poke our noses where they don't belong in the name of 'technological curiosity.' That is also the reason we are possibly the race most interested in outsiders. And most likely to end up in trouble with them,” Wekkoun said.

He continued, “We trade many things with outsiders and dissect their technology, bit by bit, although most of the time, we cannot understand how it works. Naturally, it becomes crucial for us to gather information from them, and we have sold quite a lot of things in the process…”

Morgan asked, “Including information in return as well?”

Wekkoun nodded, confirming this.

“I am sure they received similar pieces of information, but it's surprising that the dwarfs got it not from Inkia, but from the outsiders…” Tashr said.

“No, we acquired it from the outsiders, but they claimed to have obtained it from the Inkians. We do not know where the slander and accusations originated, but they offered quite a great piece of information in return for more information about His Majesty’s past with the mythical community,” Wekkoun explained.

"So they spread it by offering to buy more information about it… that’s clever," Morgan turned to Burn, who just shrugged.

"They also came to us, dangling shiny armor and fancy tech, while casually dropping the bombshell question, 'Is it true that Emperor Burn of Soulnaught feasts on merfolk and unicorn meat for longevity? Got any juicy details?' Can you believe the nerve?" Adroros, the Centaur Chief, recounted with a cold annoyance.

"And when we tried to find any truth to the rumor, Inkia was talking about it as if it was a confirmed truth. They were running with it like it was yesterday's news, spreading the rumor like wildfire without a care in the world," Wekkoun said.

"First of all, unicorns are so rare and not easily encountered. We are only able to take hold of Master Eos Kirmizi through the announcement for the assembly by the World Tree, so we can't easily confirm anything," Tashr said.

"As for the beastkin, news like this is not that culturally important to us," Selen the Weretiger said. "Most of the non-humanoid creatures came to us to build a society in the Great Jungle, and including my husband, some of us still consume other mythical creatures, of course, under a strict law."

Selen turned to Burn. "Well, we don't consume sentient creatures, though. That's just… we're beasts, but not monsters anymore. Still, we don't judge as much."

"Same with us Lycans," Onulph said. "Sometimes, our youths lose control and go on a rampage due to our nature. It doesn't happen anymore, but until 50 years ago, there were still accidents in which people were consumed, but we settled that lawfully and ethically as soon as possible."

Onulph turned to the vampires, "I'm sure… so are the vampires."

Vlad and his daughter nodded respectfully to Onulph.

It was clear that the stereotypically dark mythical creatures and those who could only find sustenance through the life of other creatures were more accepting of it, understanding that there might be a reason behind the action, no matter how depraved it seemed.

“Verily, I do concur,” Isaiah said. “Dragons hath consumed sentient creatures through yon annals of history. In a world where 'twas eat or be eaten, we were the ones partaking in feasting. Born with the privilege of absolute power, nary did anyone protest. If they wished not to be consumed, they should have stayed afar from our treasures…"

Isaiah turned to Nayanika. “Well, some also doth hunt sentient or non-sentient creatures for sport, merely to savour or out of ennui."

The woman facing the wall flinched.

“Now that we’ve listened to everyone’s knowledge about the rumor, which is still… surprisingly vague, how about we ask whether it’s true or not,” Morgan turned to the Merfolk Monarch, Aidyl Navarre and the alicorn, Eos Kirmizi.

But before they could speak, Burn raised one hand.

“I hunted and ate the previous merfolk king named Karlung Navarre and a unicorn named Morelust… something, I forgot his name,” Burn said. “Don’t correct me on their names if I made a mistake. I have no respect for them.”

Just after he finished talking, every single throat lost their voices.

"Karlung... kuh—HAHAHAHHAH!” Aidyl suddenly laughed, bubbles forming in the floating blob of seawater, his voice muffled by the water. “It’s Kallank, but hey, Karlung works just fine!"

“And the unicorn I knew was named Moslast, but sure, let’s roll with Morelust instead,” Eos laughed, a playful neigh escaping through his nose.

Morgan closed her eyes, massaging her temples with her hand, trying to hide her frustrated smile. Here she was, doing her best to protect his reputation, but he...

“Pfft, look at you, the Holiness. You always act all righteous and holy, but it's just your pretentious nature! You hypocrite!” Nayanika turned from the wall, pointing arrogantly at Morgan.

“You stopped us from eating or harming fellow children of God, saying all sentient creatures are equal and all that, but you marry a cannibal!” she exclaimed. “Ah… a… an inter-species cannibal!” she corrected hastily.

“The word you’re looking for…” Morgan slowly turned her face to the female dragon, “...is Sapiophage.”

Morgan's usually serene visage contorted into a mask of terror-inducing wrath, her eyes ablaze with cosmic fury that froze even the bravest souls.

The air around her crackled with otherworldly energy, causing the ancient trees of the elven kingdom to shiver, tremble under her power. The majestic palace's towering trees quivered in fear, their branches reaching out as if seeking solace from the impending storm of Infinite Witch’s rage.

Her beautiful features twisted into a horrifying, yet enchanting embodiment of anger, a sight that could make demons cower and angels weep.

“Darling Bunny, remember how I told you I want to raise chickens and eat their eggs for breakfast every day?” she reminded Burn.

The man widened his eyes, never imagining he would see Morgan make that kind of expression. “...Yes, Momo.”

“How about we raise one female dragon and harvest her unfertilized eggs for breakfast every day instead?” Morgan smiled as she rested her chin on her demure white fist, veins bulging from tension.

Each word that escaped her lips dripped with sarcasm sharper than any blade, cutting through the air with chilling precision. The heavens themselves seemed to darken in response to her wrath, as if even they dared not witness the full extent of her fury.

“You dare drag me down to your level, child, so be it. Let’s go down together.”

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After my frustration a couple of days ago about ratings, I now feel the need to clarify something. The act of exchanging ratings between authors is actually not as bad as it sounds, and it is NOT frowned upon! Why?

Well, this is why. First, it can be seen as two creators supporting each other, especially indie creators with a small following or none at all, who have just entered the scene. In a world where numbers mean everything and the algorithm is the almighty god, you will appreciate all the help you can get.

Between friends and well-acquainted authors, this is common and fair. Because, well, usually, friends review and read each other's works and can testify to the quality. Also, even if they don't actually read the other's work, their words of encouragement to tell readers to give it a try are still precious and supportive. It's like saying, "Hey! The person who made this is cool, so check this out!"

Second, even with the intention of boosting each other's ratings artificially, how do we know if the authors, who might not know each other well, actually read it or not? What if they actually read it, liked it, and rated it fairly?

Of course, this is just my opinion. I understand that readers might sometimes feel deceived and betrayed by high ratings because of this practice. This is insider knowledge I’m sharing with you, and these platforms are harsh, harsh. You offend one lone god (or several), and boom, your decent rating's gone. I cannot simply blame people who do these kinds of 'cheats' either.

Why, then, do I not want to resort to it? Because I am stupid. I have author friends too, who would help me out. They know the quality of my work and have even helped me proofread sometimes. If I asked, they'd surely jump to help. Still, they are also busy with their own work and don't always have time for my shit.

I can still work part-time, and I am still a student. So, writing is still only my passion, not my full-time job. But imagine those for whom this is their only hope—maybe due to things like disability, where they can't find other jobs, or people with multiple jobs who also write.

Man, it'll break their hearts. But you do you! After all, a creation is not only made by its creator but also by its community. If you find something distasteful and feel compelled to rate it poorly, AT LEAST explain why in the review. I'm not stopping you, just be mindful of your one-click decision and make it a one-click-and-some-kind-words decision.

Aura +1 million.