Chapter 69 – Aisle 4: Dairy and Dragons

Shopping for groceries shouldn’t require tactical planning.

Yet here I was, standing in the cereal aisle of SaveMart at three in the afternoon, wondering if the generic brand was worth the seventy-cent savings. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. Muzak versions of eighties hits played through crackling speakers. A kid screamed somewhere near the candy section.

Normal. Peaceful. Exactly what I needed after last week’s nightmare.

Sarah stood next to the cart like a Secret Service agent guarding the president.

She wore her human form today. Shoulder-length brown hair. Average height. Plain jeans and a hoodie. The kind of face you’d forget five seconds after seeing it. Except for her eyes. They tracked every single person who walked past us with predatory focus.

“Kai.”

Her voice was flat. Emotionless.

“The male in the red shirt has been following us since produce.”

I glanced over my shoulder. A teenager, maybe seventeen, was looking at his phone two aisles over. He wasn’t even facing our direction.

“He’s shopping, Sarah. That’s what people do here.”

“He looked at you. Twice.”

“People look at other people. It’s a public space.”

Her fingers tightened on the cart handle. The metal creaked under the pressure. Small hairline fractures spread across the chrome.

“Should I remove him?”

“No. Absolutely not. We are not removing anyone.”

I grabbed a box of off-brand corn flakes and tossed it in the cart. Sarah caught it mid-air, examining the packaging like it might be a bomb.

“This container is structurally compromised.”

“It’s cereal, not explosives.”

“The seal has been previously broken. Potential contamination.”

I took the box back and checked. The seal was fine. Completely intact.

“Sarah, it’s good. I promise.”

She didn’t look convinced but released her grip. I set it carefully in the cart and moved toward the dairy section. The prices on the refrigerated cases made my eye twitch.

“Five dollars for a dozen eggs? Are they golden?”

Sarah tilted her head, confused.

“Gold would make them inedible.”

“It’s a figure of speech.”

“Your species uses many inefficient communication methods.”

I grabbed the eggs anyway. My wallet was crying but my stomach didn’t care about inflation. I added milk to the cart. Sarah immediately repositioned both items so they wouldn’t touch the cereal.

“Optimal weight distribution,” she explained.

“You’re taking this very seriously.”

“I take everything regarding your safety seriously.”

A woman with a toddler walked past us. The kid stared at Sarah with that weird intuition children have. Sarah stared back. The kid started crying. The mom hurried away, shooting us a dirty look.

“You scared a child.”

“Good. Children are loud and unpredictable.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. A headache was forming behind my eyes. Maybe I should grab some aspirin while I was here.

“Try to look less… threatening.”

“I am in my least threatening form.”

“Then smile or something.”

She attempted a smile. It looked like a shark baring its teeth. Absolutely terrifying.

“Never mind. Just stand there and don’t make eye contact with anyone.”

We turned the corner toward the snack aisle. Sarah froze. Her entire body went rigid. Eyes on the back of her neck opened. Literally opened. Six additional eyes manifested across her shoulder blades, scanning in different directions.

“Sarah—”

“Threat detected.”

The teenager from earlier was now at the end of our aisle. Still on his phone. Still completely oblivious to our existence.

“That’s the same kid from before. He’s harmless.”

“He has moved three times in response to our position. Classic surveillance pattern.”

“Or he’s just shopping and we keep running into him because this is a small store.”

The eyes on her back blinked in sequence. It was deeply unsettling.

“I should neutralize the threat.”

“You should absolutely not do that.”

Her hand twitched. Fingers started elongating. The skin rippled like water.

I grabbed a bag of marshmallows off the shelf and shoved it into her hands. Her attention snapped to the bag. The extra eyes closed. Her fingers returned to normal human proportions.

“What is this?”

“Marshmallows. They’re soft and squishy. You’ll like them.”

She squeezed the bag experimentally. A small smile formed on her face. An actual genuine smile this time.

“Acceptable texture.”

“Great. Focus on those instead of the teenage boy who’s definitely not a threat.”

She hugged the marshmallows to her chest. Crisis averted.

We made it through checkout without incident. Sarah insisted on carrying all the bags herself despite me only buying five items. The cashier looked relieved when we left.

The parking lot was nearly empty. My car sat in the back row, right where I’d left it. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.

Normal. Peaceful. Perfect.

Then the sky turned red.

Not sunset red. Wrong red. The color of blood and warning lights and every bad omen in human history.

“Oh come on.”

The temperature spiked. Heat radiated from above like someone had opened an oven door the size of the atmosphere. The asphalt under my feet started to soften. Sarah dropped the grocery bags and moved in front of me, her body already shifting.

“Stay behind me.”

The supermarket roof melted.

Just straight up liquified. Metal and concrete and insulation turned to glowing slag that dripped off the sides of the building. People inside started screaming. The automatic doors burst open as customers fled.

Something descended through the hole.

Wings. Massive leathery wings that blotted out the dying sunlight. A humanoid form wrapped in flames and armor that looked like it was forged from dragon scales. Horns curved back from a feminine face. A tail whipped behind her, tipped with wicked spines.

She landed in what used to be the produce section.

The impact cratered the floor. Watermelons exploded from the shockwave. Lettuce ignited. The sprinkler system tried to activate but the water evaporated before it could hit the ground.

The dragon-woman straightened, flames dancing across her skin.

I stared at the ruined fruit section.

“I was going to buy those.”

【Solomon PoV】

The command center hummed with power.

Screens covered every wall, displaying tactical data, surveillance feeds, and real-time magical signature tracking. The room itself was a cathedral to military might. Vaulted ceilings. Polished marble floors. Banners bearing my family crest hanging from support columns.

I stood on the central platform, hands clasped behind my back, looking down at my three greatest acquisitions.

They knelt before me. Perfect. Obedient. Lethal.

“Rise.”

They stood in unison. Three women who represented the peak of their respective species. Three weapons I had collected, bound, and shaped into instruments of my will.

Ignis stood to the left. Dragon Queen of the Southern Wastes. Six feet of scaled muscle and primal fire. She wore minimal armor. Her body was the armor. Red scales covered her arms and legs. Black horns curved from her temples. Her eyes burned with barely contained rage.

The collar around her neck glowed with suppression runes.

Nyx occupied the right position. Void Assassin from the Seventh Layer. She looked almost human if you ignored the way light bent around her edges. White hair. Pale skin. Eyes like black holes. She wore a bodysuit that seemed to absorb illumination.

Her collar was darker. Reinforced. She’d tried to remove it once.

Unit 777 stood in the center. Cybernetic Angel from the Fallen Choir. Blonde synthetic hair. Perfect porcelain features. Wings made of folded light and steel. She was the newest addition. The most expensive. Worth every gold coin.

Three collars. Three slaves. Three tools.

“Ladies, we have a situation.”

I activated the main display. Kai’s face appeared on the screen. That insufferable smile. Those defiant eyes. The man who’d humiliated me at the diplomatic summit. The man who’d turned my own sister against me.

“This creature calls himself Kai Evans. Head Warden of the Interdimensional Containment Facility. He presents himself as a humble civil servant.”

I zoomed in on his face.

“He is a demon. A mind-controlling parasite who enslaves the powerful and corrupts the innocent. My sister, my allies, even gods themselves have fallen under his influence.”

Ignis snarled. Smoke curled from her nostrils.

“You wish him dead, Master?”

“No. I wish him captured. Broken. I want to understand his power before I destroy it.”

Nyx tilted her head. Her voice was a whisper made of static.

“His defenses?”

“Significant. He has multiple high-tier entities guarding him at all times. His facility is a fortress. Direct assault would be costly.”

I pulled up a new image. Kai leaving a building with grocery bags.

“But he is careless. Arrogant. He ventures into public spaces without proper security. Today, he went shopping with only one companion.”

Unit 777’s eyes brightened. Her voice was melodic. Artificial.

“Target acquired. Awaiting orders.”

I smiled. This was the moment. The first move in a game I would dominate.

“Ignis. You will go first.”

The Dragon Queen’s eyes widened. Excitement and fury mixed on her face.

“You honor me, Master.”

“You are my most destructive asset. I want him terrified. I want him to understand that nowhere is safe. Descend on his location and bring him to me. Alive if possible. Wounded is acceptable.”

She bowed her head. The collar pulsed, reinforcing the command. She couldn’t refuse even if she wanted to.

“As you command.”

I turned to the others.

“Nyx, you will provide backup if Ignis fails. Unit 777, you are the contingency. If both fail, you will extract them and we will reconsider our approach.”

Both nodded. Perfect soldiers. Perfect weapons.

“Remember, he is not your friend. He is not your ally. He is a demon wearing human skin. Do not listen to his words. Do not hesitate. Bring him to me and you will be rewarded.”

Ignis spread her wings. Fire erupted from her back.

“I will bathe him in flames and drag him here by his ankles.”

“See that you do.”

She launched through the ceiling portal I’d prepared. A streak of red and gold disappearing into the sky.

I watched her go on the tracking screen. The trajectory was perfect. ETA to target: four minutes.

Nyx moved beside me, silent as death.

“You believe this will work?”

“It will work because it must. I have invested too much in this campaign to fail now.”

She said nothing. Nyx rarely questioned orders. She simply executed them.

Unit 777 remained motionless. Her wings folded against her back. She looked like a statue. Beautiful and cold.

I returned my attention to the screens. Multiple cameras tracked Kai’s position. He was still in the parking lot. Still vulnerable.

Four minutes until contact.

Four minutes until the demon learned what it meant to oppose Solomon von Astoria.