I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

A few minutes later, two female figures stood in front of a brown, bronze-casted door.

It had a cold surface to the touch and a chilling atmosphere around it, which concealed its presence in the vast dungeons.

Gloria was the first to step forward, placing her hand on the surface as she scanned it.

'It seems to be the same contraption as the former'. She thought, recalling the mana door that Morganna had little difficulty in opening.

"Well, I can't do anything about this". She muttered, turning towards Aria.

Aria, standing calmly behind Gloria, locked gaze with her as Gloria turned back, a small smile playing on her lips.

"It's mana locked right? Then leave it to your aunty". She said, a wistful tone in her voice, as she stepped forward, placing her palm on the door and making Gloria cringe, as she stepped back.

Everyone had been evacuated by now, leaving the duo to the last door that seemed to have seemingly appeared out of thin air.

What lay behind these doors? What monsters awaited them? And more importantly, What atrocities occurred here?

Their bodies were tense, though not obviously, but the subtle signs were enough to tell.

Gloria unconsciously clenched a fist, and her brows had been furrowed deeply. It felt like she was standing on ice, as a warm sensation she felt when in danger had spread throughout her body, and her heart thumped speedily.

She felt choked. 'Whatever comes my way….no matter how hideous…I shall resolve myself….for these girls that have gone through this humiliation'.

She resolved herself, consciously paying attention to Aria.

Aria had quickly located the locked mana circles, equal in number to the previous but with a stark difference – quality. This one seemed of a higher quality.

She poured out her mana, letting it seep through her body as she imbued it into the door, unlocking them, lock by lock and circle by circle.

Her gaze had been flickering since she got close to the door, unknowingly to her, her body had grown tense after seeing the state of the captives.

They were used for breeding, a traumatizing experience for them, as well as a dangerous situation that could spell trouble in the future.

The Beastkins were enemies of the Demons. They harbored great hatred towards the demons, and this simple interest that aligned with the humans assisted in bringing the two races together.

Soon enough, the last circle had been unlocked, and a click sound echoed in their ears as the door slightly jarred open.

A moment of silence descended, as Aria turned towards Gloria, her smile replaced with a straight line.

"Are you ready ?" She asked, her tone filled with authority and vengeance.

It seemed like she could finally sense what was inside after opening the doors, and she didn't plan on letting a single one of them live.

"no matter what you see, if they are demons, then we must kill them all". She added, opening the door gradually, leaving Gloria to her thoughts.

She had a vague idea of what could be transpiring behind those doors, but with Aria's warning, her suspicion had turned into conviction. Explore hidden tales at empire

On opening the door, warm air crept onto their skin as illuminated magic lamps hung in the air, while stifling cries and cooing of sleeping babies suffused the atmosphere with a soft hue.

Its floor was made of heated bricks, a popular building material for constructing heat-retaining floors.

The diameter was much smaller than anticipated, at least a quarter of the dungeon where the captives were held.

Aria walked in first, and Gloria followed suit, her gaze flickering at the familiarity of the scene before them.

Aria seemed expressionless at first sight, but what boiled within her was a seething hatred…and a choking bloodlust.

There was no discrimination when it came to demons, and the same could be said about them.

Demons and Devils tend to eradicate all life forms when sent on exterminating missions. After all, humans were merely fodder for their goal.

Whatever that goal was, though, was unknown to humans and even the creatures of the demon realm sent to the Mortal realm on those missions.

The two ladies were left flabbergasted, shocked and speechless by the sight, reluctantly basking in the sounds..…..of these younglings?

Filling the room were a hundred cradles, placed orderly, according to growth…or at least, that's what it seemed.

They could spot some empty cradles but an estimate of at least sixty infants was counted.

It seemed like they had found themselves in a day care….a rather ominous one at that, since every single baby was identified as a miniature version of a demi-human with crying orc's features, such as their sewed up facial orifices.

Their movements were subtle and their cries were soft, a warm hue suffusing the air as a result. They looked very different from their adult versions; some seemed…..cute, but that sort of thing wouldn't cause these two ladies to falter.

What made them dumbstruck wasn't the number of the babies or the warmth they permeated in the air, contrasting with their adult demeanor.

No, it was none of that. What truly made them baffled was, in fact, the number of beastkins that had been sacrificed in birthing these creatures.

Impregnated Beastkins have their lives sucked out by the demon fetus until it is born, and thus they die after birthing these creatures.

It was almost scary to think of the number of beastkins that had been used for this purpose all this while, and the number that had been sold to Nobles for slavery purposes.

It was almost difficult for Gloria to convince herself that humans had been doing this sort of thing, for the demons…..the very creatures that want them dead. It raised questions, a lot of them.

Aria walked forward, towards the first crib. There was a spacious area in front of the room, with a table and a chair, most likely used by one of the demons or humans when observing.

About two meters forward, was the first line of cradles – ten in number.

She simply extended her fingers, causing her sharp claws to emerge, seven centimeters in length, and struck the first youngling dead, causing a solemn silence to suffuse the air.

Her brows arched as she looked up, her eyes scanning through the room as Gloria walked towards her, summoning her weapon.

The room had suddenly turned silent, causing only the vibrating sound of the magic lamps to echo in the air, and this alarmed them greatly.

Aria slowly turned towards Gloria, and the same expression was etched on Gloria's face.

"What's going on–

Gloria muted, when they felt a chilling sensation creep up their spines.

They whipped their gaze towards the rest of the younglings, the chilling sensation building up into an uncomfortable, needle–like effect on their skins.

The younglings all seemed to tilt their heads towards their direction, their eyes sewed up, hiding a malevolence too pure to be ignored. When one of them from the far back sprang up, Its blanket falling and revealing its infant nakedness…nearly humanoid.

Its head began to twist upside down, cracking and breaking of bones echoing through the air. "Wh….Wh…Why ?".

Its voice was a strangled, high pitched gurgle, dripping with a sickly, aquatic undertone, like a dying fish gasping for air.

"Wh…Wh…Why….did…..You…"

The cracking noise accelerated as its body twisted and contorted, snapping and rebuilding, elongating and enlarging, crumbling and reconstructing,dying and resurrecteing, crying and laughing, smiling and frowning, in a twisted, malicious cycle.

The other younglings sprang up, one after the other, undergoing some sort of grotesque reconstruction, expanding in size, and filling the warm room with a crimson bloodlust and cold hue.

The ghastly sight forced the two ladies to step back, their eyes wide with shock. "These aren't demons !" Aria exclaimed, her surprise palpable, and her resolve slowly building up from within.

"They're devils". Gloria completed her statement, stabbing her sword into the ground, unleashing a large chunk of aura to suffuse her body.

"We can't let them complete their transformation !" Aria's mana swirlied from deep within, her eyes shimmering with a pink afterglow.

Her fangs elongated, and the number of her tails increased to five.

"Aura Field of Vision !".

"Fifth Spirit Fox form !".

BOOM.

A loud explosion followed as their movements became a blur, phasing through the air as large vines bursted through the walls, floor, and ceiling.

It impaled some of the creatures dead before they could fully transform into whatever they had in mind.

Gloria's mind was in a state of frenzy, trying to make sense of all the series of events that had occurred so far in her mind. It was rather unsettling to find a bunch of devil younglings, and it was confusing how they came to be.

Weren't they demons? Demons and devils are not the same thing….How? How did demons procreate devils?

Though her mind-boggling questions reeled in as she frantically rushed in order to eliminate these creatures, her actions were sharp and purposeful, with not a single action wasted.

She continuously swirled around, eliminating the creatures with her sword and vines.

Her ONE WITH NATURE trait acted like a second limb, sprouting out of unexpected places to cause the maximum amount of damage.

While Aria used her claws and inhuman strength to cause destruction within that small room, her actions quick and precise, with the maximum amount of force released in each strike.

None of her extendable limbs were left unused, each causing damage with flexible and accurate movements, like a well trained martial artist….though, she was actually more trained than them.

Her tails would whip out at some, slamming their heads off, while they were still in the progress of their transformation.

As the numbers dwindled, the devil younglings' transformation hastened, and soon enough, some of them began to retaliate, cackles exuding their fang-filled mouth, their eyes dimming a crimson hue.