"You should let me take them, your Highness; even if you don't mind the burning sensation atop your skin, they are in a very weak state, and what they need right now is proper rest along with some healing." Advised Illumia seriously while eying Elif, whom Marley and Idonea were embracing.
"I suppose you're right; after surviving that, I don't want them to die shortly afterward; that would be quite unfortunate." Replied Elif with a nod as he looked down at the two trembling women.
"I don't think I'll be able to take them off by myself without possibly injuring them; they're hugging me quite tightly, after all." Added Elif with an awkward smirk as he glanced at Illumia, seemingly requesting some assistance.
Although Illumia did chuckle at my situation, she did offer me assistance, and with a snap of her fingers, both Marley and Idonea vanished from my body and appeared atop Illumia, embracing her instead of me, prompting me to slightly smirk, as it was quite the sight to see my three servants nude while embracing each other.
"You know, I never expected this situation to happen when Her Majesty asked me to be your personal servant, your Highness; the world is a crazy place." Remarked Illumia with an amused expression before lightly shaking her head and entering the house to tend to Marley and Idonea.
Seeing the three leave the courtyard, I shook my head before sitting down in my seat and eyeing the massive cauldron in the distance, which was now entirely surrounded by dazzling purple flames, causing the small pillar of steam above the cauldron to get even denser while Mandy endured scalding temperatures that put even molten lava to shame; yet, even so, not once did she utter a sound.
'You're halfway there, Mandy.' Thought Elif as he leaned back in his chair while eyeing the cauldron before glancing at his body, which was now covered in burn marks.
Now that I no longer have two people attached to my body, I was able to view the damage down to my body; of course, I was merely holding them for only a minute, so the amount of damage they did wasn't much, but even so, in a matter of one minute, they managed to burn parts of my body, which goes to show how hot the liquid was in inside that cauldron.
Yet what is slightly startling is that the yellowish liquid they were floating in didn't enhance the heat or anything similar to that; in fact, its purpose was the opposite. The liquid inside the cauldron actually has healing properties, and it is rather potent as well; the reason it's needed for cauldron burning is that without it, the person inside the cauldron will have their body burnt to a crisp, and while, of course, it would just make more sense to lower the temperature, if one did so, it wouldn't be considered an effective torture method, would it?
Although my circumstance is a little different, I'm not using it to torture anyone; instead, it's being used as a form of punishment. Then again, I suppose it's not that much different. Shaking my head, I summoned a rejuvenation pill and ingested it while letting it do its work, as I found no need to manually guide the pill since I didn't have any serious injury.
Time continued to move, and without Marley and Idonea's guttural screams of agony, it no longer felt so painfully slow; within the next hour, Illumia exited the house again, still nude, as she stood beside me.
"I've treated Marley and Idonea to the best of my ability, and they are currently resting inside; although neither has sustained any serious injuries, they are both physically and mentally exhausted." Stated Illumia calmly as she slightly bowed to Elif, who nodded in response while eyeing the cauldron hidden behind Calida's purple flames.
With my nod, Illumia returned to normal and stood beside me as we both watched the cauldron in the distance; before we even knew it, the bright artifact sun in the sky slowly began to dim as night approached until it emitted a slight greenish hue, seemingly mimicking one of the OverRealms many moons. However, even though night had arrived, the cauldron burning was still in effect, and I'm sure Calida's purple flames were creating a bright beacon under the darkness of night.
Several more hours passed, and the night sky slowly brightened until the artificial sun activated again, releasing a soft but bright orangish light that illuminated the entire clan, signifying the start of a new day.
Glancing at the morning sun, I looked back over to the cauldron, noting that only two hours remained until Mandy's punishment would have finally concluded; and just like that, those two hours passed by relatively quickly for me, though I'm sure for Mandy it must've felt like days, or possibly even weeks.
"Twenty-fours have passed; Calida, you can stop now." Stated Elif as he suddenly appeared standing beside the naked Calida, who nodded in response to Elif's words.
With Calida retracting her flames back into her body, I got to bear witness to the black cauldron, which was now bright red from the high temperature. Just as I was about to signal Illumia to go and retrieve Mandy since, unlike Marley and Idonea, she was much stronger than me. However, before I was even given a chance, I heard a splashing noise, and a few seconds later, I spotted Mandy's figure appear amidst the dense steam as she left the cauldron and floated toward the ground while dripping wet, each drop burning deep into the ground.
"I've fulfilled my punishment, your Highness." Declared Mandy solemnly as she floated to the ground and kneeled before Elif.
Eyeing the bright red Mandy, whose skin was blistering, I lightly sighed while shaking my head as I approached the kneeling Mandy.
"Yes, I watched it, though we will speak later; you should rest and recuperate; you may have handled the punishment rather well, but I'm sure it still took an immense physical and mental toll." Said Elif with a slight smirk as he stood just before Mandy and gently placed his hand atop her shoulder.
The moment my palm touched her shoulder, my hand was engulfed in a burning sensation as smoke emitted from my melting hand; yet, not once did I flinch from the pain of having my hand melted, though I will say it was indeed painful.
"Y-Your Highness!" Exclaimed Mandy in concern when she felt Elif's hand melt the instant it touched her shoulder.
"Hmm, what is it, Mandy?" Replied Elif with a light smile as he swiftly retracted his melting hand and hid it behind his body along with his other hand, which was perfectly fine.
"Are you okay, your Highness? I could feel your hand melting atop my shoulder!" Asked Mandy worriedly as she looked at Elif's calm face.
"You're worrying too much, Mandy; it was merely some slight burns, that is all; now then, stop thinking about other things and do what I said. Calida, if it isn't too much trouble, could you assist her? Once you're done with that, come and see me, I'll have to reward you for your efforts," Stated Elif softly while shaking his head before glancing at Calida.
"Yes, I don't mind assisting her, your Highness." Replied Calida with a nod while swiftly putting her clothes back on and approaching the concerned Mandy as she helped her stand up from the ground that was turning into lava.
While Calida and Mandy, who left a molten footprint, entered the house, Illumia approached me while glancing at the hand that I had hidden away.
"Are you alright, your Highness?" Asked Illumia seriously while glancing at Elif's hand that he had stopped hiding.
"I'm sure, as you can imagine, having your hand melted isn't exactly the most pleasant sensation; though, it's not like I haven't experienced more pain than this. My first Heavenly Tribulation was very painful; after all, I nearly died." Remarked Elif lightly with a slight chuckle while looking at his palm, which had been completely melted, and in its place was his skeleton visible for all to see.
"However, look at you, Illumia; clothed and all, what a surprise. Had enough of being an exhibitionist?" Added Elif, changing the topic to something joyful.
"It depends, your Highness; have you had enough to see, or would you like to view upon my bare body some more?" Replied Illumia with a slight smirk of amusement while deciding to forgo speaking about his hand as she pulled down her shirt, partially revealing her voluptuous breasts.
"Hehe, not at all; I have no interest in old women such as yourself." Remarked Elif with a mischievous smirk as he headed toward the residence while an annoyed Illumia followed behind him.
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It's been a few days since the cauldron burning; everyone has rested and fully recuperated. Currently, we are at the peak of the volcano the Phoenix clan inhabits as we are about to leave the clan after staying here for a couple of days longer than I had initially envisioned.
"It was a pleasurable experience, Hayat, and I suppose the next time I'll be seeing you is in a couple of years." Said Elif while fanning himself with his quạt tay while standing before Hayat, Patriarch Renata, Zanga, a few other important people, and surprisingly, Spica.
"I just hope next time, one of our own doesn't suddenly attack you." Replied Hayat with a slight smile as his words caused everyone to glance at Spica in the distance.
"I'd prefer that as well." Remarked Elif while looking at Spica in amusement before ignoring her and approaching his carriage.
Entering my carriage, I spotted Marley, Idonea, and Illumia sitting on one side, prompting me to sit on the other side as I leaned back and gave one final look out the window.
"Heh, see you in four years, Patriarch Renata." Announced Elif with a sly smirk just as Zulo and Zala disappeared into the distance, his words causing Renta to sigh.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, [https://discord.gg/TGc9yymDJP]
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 248: Tainted Silver) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 130: From Above?) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 224: Did Scar Lose? Well, Technically...)|| Marvel's Black Steel (Chapter 194: Four Horsemen Defeated) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]