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~~((National Do Something Nice Day Special -- Page 8 of 24))~~
'What is your interest in Asad?' said Qorvass.

"Eeheheh. Well, I did mention that I wanted an arasaba, didn't I?" The emperor's silver gaze locked onto Asad with manic interest. "The Lion of the Desert is pretty much the same thing, I'd say."

'You want him as your pet? To what end?'

Rather than answering, however, the Mad Demon just kept staring.

Asad had never met Dozer or Morgunov before, but after all that he had been through in his life, all that he had seen and done, he had come to think that he was prepared for an encounter like this. Not in terms of power, of course, but in terms of mental fortitude. Psychologically.

He'd heard the tales. Of people meeting a hostile emperor. Of the overwhelming presence, full of palpable malice. He'd heard that many who experience it were forever changed, that weaker servants could just... break. Spiritually. They would simply give up. On trying. On growing. Or even on living. And their reapers would have little choice left but to release them.

He'd thought that, by now, he couldn't possibly be susceptible to a thing like that. Or that the tales were exaggerated, perhaps. There was no way that someone's presence alone could do such a thing, surely.

And yet now, with the Mad Demon holding him in place like a helpless child and staring straight into his soul, Asad Najir was made to doubt.

Those eyes. And that wild hair. Black speckled with gray, bobbing and swaying with the slightest movement of the madman's head, as if it were a living creature unto itself.

Asad's vision blurred and darkened around the edges. It felt like the entire world was shrinking around him. Like Morgunov was making it shrink.

And maybe he was.

In that moment, Asad felt as if no feat could possibly be out of this being's reach. Because this wasn't a man. This was a god taking the appearance of one.