Regarding that time I reincarnated, betrayed, reincarnated, and reincarnated again into a heartless villain to build a harem and exact revenge...

by Babo12345

Summary:

The moment XX-kun life ended on earth, he was reincarnated as a non-human in a fantasy setting world. Still in this world, human and non-human lived together in harmony. This harmony was shattered by an existence of a "demon emperor." Like any fantasy game goes, the demon emperor was finally defeated by XX-kun and his party... yet, afterward, he was killed... His second reincarnation was into the same world but way into the future.... but, he was reincarnated as a monster being experimented on in a laboratory. One of the experiment went wrong, thus his life ended. The third reincarnation, he again was born as a hybrid monster, half incubus, half ogre in a monster village. Everything seemed to go well until the village was attacked...

Notes:

This work is the combination of pretty much all isekai out there so you will see a lot of familiar characters/setting.
This will be my first bisexual writing.
Im starting at Chapter 2... still thinking on how I will write prologue and chapter 1.
You can think of this as "Plot with porn" or "Porn with Plot", it's up to you. I would try my best to keep the porn chapters separated from the plot chapters.
If youre looking for a trashy isekai, this is the trashiest lol
Like any of my other work, I don't proofread.

Chapter 1

Kibadios (in fancy clothes which he obtains later on :) )Thanks Hanage for such a wonderful illustration.

 

 

「Kibadios… I hope this river would take you far away from here… please survive, my son… I’m sorry...」
「Hey, there’s a monster over here!」
「Leave none alive!」
「She’s running away...After her!」
「Is she a succubus? Be careful of her hypnotic magic!」

It has been more than a year since Kibadios’ village was massacred, yet every time the boy closed his eyes, he could vividly remember the fateful day when his mother reluctantly set him loose, down along the Kidan River. Even now, the scene of the ember lit sky, the loud screaming and begging of the villagers still haunted his nightmare. The 1 year old incubus sat up from the dried straw covered stone slab he called a bed, then wiped away his cold sweat.
「If only I was a bit older then… I can help defending the villagers...from… that shitface fucker!」
Kibadios slammed his fist hard down at the stone slab, causing another crack forming on an already fractured slab.
At one year old, the half-incubus, half-orge hybrid looked much older for his age… in fact, he looked like a 16 years old at least. After all, ogres, just like its close, yet lower status relative, orcs, belong to a group of monster that age extremely fast. Their younglings would reach sexual maturity in less than a year. Though unlike orcs, whose life span last only around a decade, ogre would be able to live for more than 100 years. Kibadios was grateful to the fact that he has been reincarnated as one since had he been born into any races with normal aging cycle, it would mean he would be dead the moment his mother let him floating downstream of the Kidan River. Instead, with his fast growth, he was able to walk around on his two legs at only 3 weeks old, started practicing spells at 4 weeks, and killed off any wild animals or non-intelligent monsters that threatened him at the beginning of the 5th week. Soon, seeking food and shelter has been proven an easy task for the now thrice reincarnated kid. At around 6 months old, he has already grown into a size of a 7 years old human child. Now, he has obviously entered a period that is considered to be puberty in humans. This fast growth, though helpful for his survival, has proven a bit challenging for the hybrid at the moment. The reason was because as a half incubus, his lust has been magnified more than ten fold during this puberty phase, causing much unwanted distraction. Woken up by the nightmare, the hybrid let out a small sign as he noticed the huge bulge underneath the rag which he made into his pants. Resigning to his biological need, his hand made its way down into his pants, his fingers now wrapped around his erect member, and he started to rub it out… for the fifth time of the night.
「Being a half-incubus is kinda tough for this body… No offense, Mom. 」
The teenage monster let out a faint smile as his hand increased its speed. Despite the vigorous rubbing, it took him more than thirty minutes to finally be able to climax, his body fluid thoroughly covered his palm
「Ha…. I didnt know I’d be experiencing puberty again for the third time.」The hybrid shook his head, then stood up and walked to the cave’s entrance. 「Guess I should take a walk to clear my head」
It was barely two hours past midnight, the forest, which encompassed the cave, was bathed in the dim light from the full moon. Kibadios had only been recently moved to his forest so he was not too familiar with its surroundings. He only knew that no other group of intelligent monsters had made this forest their home so he did not have to compete with them for food and shelter. Besides, with all his accumulated wisdom through many reincarnations, he knew that forests were the best environment for him to grow since they usually lack presence of humans while the abundance of animals and fruits would mean he did not have to spend much time to gather food. All those resulting extra free time can be spent training to become stronger.
Ever since he first reincarnated into his current life, he had noticed all of his skills and abilities had been retained from his previous life, although most of them were locked away. Though, as he grew, his skills and abilities quickly unlocked themselves. Granted, the power he possessed now was far below his true potential, the one of which he had obtained during his first reincarnation; however, he was strong enough to have taken over his current cave, in which he lived, from a bunch of savage goblins. He could not ascertain his power since he had not fought against any other intelligent beings ever since he was born, but if those stinking goblins’ power was of any indication, he’d be placed into rank of a mid to high level individual. He did scout for some human settlements in hope to find any powerful person to gauge his power, but all he could find was a small, isolated village located 5 miles from the edge of the forest. It was a depressing, backward looking village that devoid of any noteworthy individual, though. One look at the villagers and the hybrid monster just shook his head and walked away. One day, for sure, he would move out of this forest and fulfill the promise he made to himself and exact his revenge.
Kibadios finally made it to the top of the hill where his cave located. It has been his favorite spot in this forest since with the exception of only a few shrubs, the hill was almost fully bare, allowing him an empty space with a perfect view of the starry sky and far enough field of vision to even spot the desolate human village. Perfect spot for relaxation… and masturbation, of course, since his junior has just begun to rise up again.
「and I thought I was an extreme horny teenager when I was living as a human on Earth… That was nothing compared to this...」
Kibadios continued to mumble to himself, but it soon stopped the moment he reached the top of the hill. Far off in the distance, he could see some bright red spots flicking in the dark night. With his hypersensitive nose, he could pick up the smell of smoke and blood every time a breeze blew pass his face. Although he could not see what was going on down at the village, he could tell they were being attacked and killed…
「Just like the village I was born into...」
The hybrid stood still and assessed the situation. In his mind, there were several actions he could take. His first and obvious choice would be just do nothing. After all, even if those humans were currently being killed, he couldn't care less. Human lives, to him, a monster, worth nothing. Had this been his first reincarnation, I would have immediately sprung into action, saving those innocent lives. But now, after all the betrayal and torture he experienced under the hands of humans, he felt nothing, even if he used to be one… On the other hand, this scene that played out in front of his eyes reminded him of what happened to his own village a year ago. Something deep inside the hybrid wanted to do something
「...Though...This may be the perfect opportunity for me to test my strength...」
Hesitant for a few minutes, the teenage monster finally decided his course of action. A dark pair of wings suddenly appeared on his back as he swiftly jumped off the high hill into the forest below, heading toward the burning village. As he approached, he could feel several mass of mana emitting from the village, though almost all of them were non-human… except for one.
Is he the ringleader? It seems like he’s performing some kind of ability that controlled the monsters who are rampaging. I have to get closer to observe this a bit more.
Kibadios activated his ability, which allowed him to completely hide his presence. This ability, which he inherited from his succubus mother, was so potent that he can easily walk and stood right behind his target without being discovered. Of course, there was a chance that the mysterious human figure would possess some sort of ability that can detect or even nullify , but for now, Kibadios knew it was much better to use it rather than not. Yet before the ability was fully activated, Kibadios was distracted by a deafening scream, originated almost a mile away from the village’s entrance.
The hybrid changed his flight course and descended down to the ground where the loud scream originated from. There, he saw a couple trying to fend off the vicious wolf-looking monsters, which had already surrounded them. Judging from the look, Kibadios first thought they were probably trying to escape the onslaught. Yet his deduction was soon proven partially wrong as it turned out, they were trying to go to the neighboring town to seek help.
「Maia, just go! I will keep them busy!」
「No, Rowan! You’ll be killed! There’s no way you can fight against these beasts.」
「If you stay here, we would both be killed… and even Emma and others... You have to break out and get help from the town of Syllia」
Yet, before the girl was able to gallop away, the monsters’ aura finally scared off both of the horses the pair rode on. NEIIIGHHHH. The horses soon reared out of control, their hind legs collapsed, causing the couples to fall down onto the ground. Seeing this, the monsters rushed toward them and quickly devoured the two horses. The other half of the pack turned their attention to the couple. Having just fallen down, with no hope to escape, the guy wrapped one of his arms around the girl, who was still struggling to stand up, while swinging his short sword around, scaring off the encircling monsters.
「Get away from here!」
「That’s not going to work. You think these monsters would be afraid of that rusty sword?」Kibadios suddenly appeared next to the couple 「I’d praise your courage but how dumb are you? You dont even possess any affinity for swords」
「... Who are you?」 Rowan looked up at the hybrid and soon noticed his dark pair of wings.「 A monster!!!」
Rowan quickly dragged Maia away from Kibadios’ feet. The youth, though did not possess any appraisal ability, could just tell right away the power of the dangerous new monster that just appeared right in front of him.
「Is this your doing? 」
「... This? I dont even know what ‘this’ is. I just know your village is under attack and I came here just to spectate.」 Kibadios flapped his wings a few times, creating several large black needles from thin air. Then at his discretion, the needles propelled toward the wolf monster packs, instantly impaled and kill them all. All of this happened in an instant to the point that no sound was able to escape from the monsters’ salivating mouths.
「 So these new monsters were not that strong either…」
「... Please save our village!!!」 Pleaded Maia suddenly
「Maia, what are you saying? 」
Kibadios raised his eyebrows in amusement at the request.
「He’s obviously strong enough… He’s helped us, killing all these beasts too. And it doesn't look like he’s responsible for the attack on our village. He’s our only hope now! 」
「Look girl! I dont know what’s going on your mind but I did not help you. I merely wanted to test my strength… In fact, I can kill the both of you right now if you irritate me anymore than this.」
「... Please… Monster-sama…」 pleaded Maia
「... Please help us!」 The guy finally understood the situation and the fact that the monster that just appeared in front of him would truly be his village’s only chance at survival. 「I would do anything for you!!」
Looked at the couple, pleading on their feet, suddenly caused Kibadios, the half-incubus, experienced a wave of lusting arousal. 「I would do anything for you」 has been the catch phrase for every porn and hentai scene back in Kibadios’ first life and now, he was actually experiencing the scenario first hand. Of course, as an incubus, he did not care whether it was a girl or a guy, he lusted after them all. Their bodies and flesh would help him to release this pent up stress that he has been experiencing for more than a month now.
「... Is it now?」The hybrid bent down, whispered face to face with the couple. 「Anything? What about giving me your bodies.」
「... What?」
「 I want your bodies… The both of you… I want to EAT you.」 A broad, devious grin now covered half of Kibadios’ face. 「If you two give you your bodies and let me EAT you, then I will save your village.」
「You can eat me, but never would I let you touch Maia!」 Rowan again took up his sword.
「Let’s be honest here. If I want to, I can bring you two back to my cave and eat you without any consent. You have no power here. But if you want to refuse my offer, that’s your choice...」
「Please promise me, you would not harm any of the villagers? 」
「Not if they don't harm me or my interest. I have been living close by for more than three months now and I did not harm any of you, haven't I? I don't believe in senseless killing… at least… for now.」
「Fine!」 Maia answered determinedly 「I’ll give you my life. Please help our village.」
「Then we have a deal?」
「No! You can do whatever with me, but Maia…」
「Stop it, Rowan! Our lives in exchange for the village, that’s the best we can do.」
「So we have a deal. I will come back to collect you two once I finish with the job.」
The hybrid again spread his wings and flew to the village. Two birds with one stone… I can both gauge my strength with that mysterious man who attacked the village and I can have some toys to play with later. Still, Kibadios was amused at the fact that he himself did not consider this dubious “deal” immoral one tiny bit. During his first reincarnation, despite being reincarnated as a non-human race, he still retained his “humanity” but that “humanity” seemed to have, as what his first life would say, gone the way of the dodo.
「Maia! Why did you agree to his term?」
「The same reason why you agreed to his term, when it comes to only your life. Just like you, to me, saving Emma and the villagers, is the most important thing now… and I can stake my life for it」
「... I’m sorry for being weak… I can't even protect you.」
「It’s fine, Rowan… Let’s just hope that the mysterious monster can stop the attack and save everyone」

Chapter 2

The villagers were for sure no push-over. It made sense that for an isolated village such as this one, its residents would be vigilant about any sort of attacks, whether from monsters, bandits, or maybe a foreign nations. The villagers has set up defensive barriers and organized into 3 layers of defense. The first layer, which encompassed the first few blocks of houses from the village’s entrance, witnessed the fiercest battles as all of the able men have picked up arms and fought against various monsters. The monsters, from Kibadios’ quick assessment, were not from the forest since he did not recognize any of them. There were a few packs of dark wolf monsters, just as the ones he had easily decimated moments earlier. A few goblins also joined in the fight, though for sure they came from a different area since they were a bit taller and more muscular than the ones Kibadios fought in the forest. Their main offensive forces, though, comprised of more than 10 mountain trolls and around a dozen of ape-like monsters. Their strengths were on a completely different level than the lowly wolves and goblins. Still, from Kibadios’ <Analysis lvl.5> ability, they were far inferior to him. 

That does not mean they were inferior to the villagers’ militia since they have been wiping out several men fighting them all at once. The injured men were transported deeper into the village to the second defensive layer, which would treat their injuries, if they were still alive, that is. The third layer, which laid deep in the village’s central square, has all of the children and elders, who were too young or old to fight. Observing the whole battlefield on top of the highest building in the village, a small, run down church, Kibadios had to admit the efficiency of the village’s defense. Though, that alone would not be enough since as time passed, it was clear that the villagers were still only able to delay the inevitable defeat. 

Once finished with his observation, the hybrid jumped down onto the ground. Slipping through the thick of battle with his ability, Kibadios made his way toward the ring leader. The human figure stood still in the dark of night, wearing a cloak with a large hood that covered most of his face. Only a smile of confidence was visible. Surrounded him for protection were 4 mountain trolls and 3 ape monsters, each equipped with heavy armors, unlike those who were currently fighting the villagers. 

So they are the elite forces. Kibadios thought. Their stats were a bit higher than the other ones, though still posed no threat to the hybrid. The man, though, may prove difficult to deal with. Even <Analysis lvl5>, Kibadios could not make certain all of his status, which only means that the guy possessed a <Concealment lvl5> or greater. What he could tell though, was the fact that the mysterious figure was clearly a mage since his mana was fairly high. This, in combination with the guards standing next to him, providing him support in close combat, has convinced Kibadios of the man’s class. After fully strategized his plans, the half incubus, half ogre deactivated his < Cloak_lvl4> , revealing himself in front of the man.

「Who’s there!」

The man shouted out the very moment he picked up Kibadios’ presence. This caused his guards to turn their attention toward the hybrid, who was now fully visible under the moonlight

「An incubus?... No… you’re a hybrid demihuman.」

「...」

「What does a high class demihuman like you doing here? Dont tell me it’s because you’re attracted to these monsters」

「...」

「Not saying anything, I see」 The man signaled for one of the ape monsters to deal with the hybrid. Yet the monster soon collapsed onto the ground after only taking a few steps toward the hybrid, his head flew high into the air. 

「WHAT?」the man shouted in disbelief. Even though he was not able to make out what has just happened, he could tell it was Kibadios’ doing since the hybrid was now holding a gigantic scythe on his hand. Despite the slender and long handle, the scythe’s blade was as large as Kibadios’ whole body. Dripping slowly from its edge was the ape monster’s blood. 「Who are you? Why are you here?」

「Well, I can ask you the same question…」

「That’s none of your business!」

「Then I guess we have nothing more to talk about. All I need is to defeat you and stop this carnage.」

「Nonsense! Get him!」

The remaining guards obeyed their master’s order, raising their weapons and ready to fight. Yet, just like their comrade a few seconds earlier, they all found their heads detached from their bodies in an instant, their feet barely even lifted up from the ground to make their first step. It took a few seconds but the man finally realized what had happened and swiftly hopped back several paces away from the hybrid, a cold sweat running down his forehead. Attacking this village was supposed to be an easy task. After all, his power was on a level of an A class adventurer that would be able to take on more than 1000 trained soldiers at a time. On top of that, he’s controlling more than 400 monsters all at once thanks to the help of a certain person. Not even a tiny doubt on the success of the raid has crossed his mind. Yet, now, that outcome may just be realized.

「What did you do?」

「...」

「Damn you, filthy demihuman!」The man casted several fireballs and threw them at Kibadios from a safe distance. Yet, his attack was neutralized as several dark tentacles sprung out from Kibadios back and devoured all the incoming fireballs. This skill, <Arms of Darkness lvl3>, was a fairly new ability that he just unlocked. It was a surprise to him too since he did not possess this ability in any of his previous life so it took him a while to fully control it. Since his mother was a succubus and his father an ogre, both had affinity for shadow attribute, he figured this ability was somehow relating to them. 

「...I see that you’re a mage… Coincidentally, so am I 」

「You’re kidding me!!!」

The man was surprised since not once had he detect any magic coming from the hybrid. Also, he knew that not many people could both possess strong abilities while having high affinity for magic, not even high ranking adventures. Of course there are some exceptions such as high ranking hunters… or some great generals of big nations… or demon lords… DEMON LORDS? The man was visibly shaken. The thought that the entity standing in front of him being a demon lord was a very real distinct possibility. The teenage hybrid did not look like any of the demon lords that he knew, but then, there were more than two dozen of demon lord class individuals, and this hybrid here could definitely be one. 

「Why would I be kidding you? I don't have much sense for humor. 」Kibadios recreated the man’s recently cast fireballs in his hands. However, unlike those he received, these fireballs were much more deadlier, with their temperatures around ten times hotter and their diameter were twice as big. 

「Dont worry, I'm not planning to cast this. After all, I need you alive」Smiled Kibadios. The moment he extinguished his spells, the mysterious man was filled with a sense of relief, for he knew he would be burnt to death the moment the hybrid attacked. Yet, his easiness soon vanished as he found something had wrapped around his ankle. Looking down, he noticed one of Kibadios’ dark tentacles had crept it way toward and got a hold of him. 「Got you! That spell is merely a distraction.」

「Arrrgggghhh! Let me go!!」The man struggled in vain to free himself from the tight grip. As the tentacle pulled him ever closer to the hybrid, he knew the moment he got inside Kibadios’ hypnotic range, it would be all over. After all, incubi all innately possessed several <Hypnotic> abilities so once he got caught, unless he had a strong enough will or some abilities to avoid the hypnosis, he would be completely under the hybrid’s control.  

「Now it’s time to answer my questions」Kibadios smiled as his tentacles slowly coiled around and restrained the man. For his part, the man could tell his consciousness was fading as effect of the hybrid’s hypnotic ability slowly taken over this mind.

「In your dream!」screamed out the man as he finally managed to get a hold on his pocket knife and stabbed his leg. The pain instantly dispelled any of the hypnotic effect. 「Die, you monster!」

From his mouth, the man released a spell, breathing out fire directly at the undefended hybrid. Unlike the fireballs he used, this fire breath was hot enough to melt stones into glass. Yet, once the fire subsided, all he could see was Kibadios standing still, unharm. In between him and the hybrid, an invisible barrier has been instantaneously erected.

「Now, that was a surprise. Don't try to “roar like a tigerdillo” right into my face. If you don't want to divulge your secret the easy way, why don't we try this?」

The half incubus, half ogre, thrust his hands straight into the man’s brain. With his sharp fingers, it quickly penetrated the man’s skull, yet strangely, there was no blood. The man screamed out in agony, then fainted from the pain. With his hands directly touching the man’s brain, Kibadios began to extract his memories. From the man’s head, his knowledge about the current timeline of this world rushed straight into the hybrid’s mind. He knew that he has been reincarnated far into the future of his first reincarnation, yet, for this “future” to be 3000 years came a bit as a surprise for him. After all, he did not see much advances in civilization. A more valuable information though, was how strong his power is. From all the information available, he would place himself in the threshold between A and A+ power ranking. Not bad for a 1 years old, he thought. Since he knew his power could only grow stronger by days, this was a good starting point. Knowing he could bring this man back to his cave and extract more information about this world, the hybrid was now really curious about the reason this strange mage has attacked the village.

 

「Ah… finally found it」After some prodding around, Kibadios finally arrived at the mage’s segment of memories contained the reason for his attack. It was a meeting between him and another figure cloaked in hoodie on the edge of a cliff. What’s with this era and hoodies, all trying to be members of Organization XIII ? He thought to himself while approaching the two men’s conversation

「Well, this job is easy enough」said the mage

「Of course, attacking an undefended village… and with the group of monsters I entrusted to you too.」

「I will make you proud!」

「... Of course you will...」

Huh? Seems like this is the end of their conversation. I need to go back a bit more.

「... but first, I need to deal with this wannabe “three-eyed raven” here.」 Just as Kibadios turned to walk away, the hooded man’s sentence caused the hybrid to freeze up. The moment Kibadios turned around, the man was standing right next to him, face to face... or to be precise, face to breast since the man was a fair bit taller than the hybrid. Kibadios looked up at the man's face but the darkness had covered much of it. He definitely is seeing me… How?... And that reference… Is he from earth?

「Taking a peek at someone else’s memories? You’re an exceptional hybrid, little monster. If you’re here looking at Don’s memories, that meant he’s compromised. Since you’re looking at this particular moment, dont tell me he failed his mission?」

「... and what mission is it?」asked Kibadios cautiously. The man standing in front of him was clearly superior to the hybrid. Just in a brief moment, it looked like the hunter has become the hunted. Still, this was still memories and as far as he knew, there was no way they could fight it out in a memory.

「... Ahh, that, my little monster, is a secret.」The man slowly placed his index over this crescent smile. 「Since Don is now compromised, I have to regrettably get rid of him. Now… GET OUT!」

Kibadios’ consciousness soon found itself ejected from the mage’s mind at the end of the man’s sentence. Sensing danger, he quickly retracted his hand from Don’s brain, only to see the mage quickly busted in flame. Within seconds, the mage’s body turned into fine dust and scattered off into the night. The pack of monsters, sensing their controller’s demise, panicked, turned their tails to run off into the forest. In the shouting of joys and relief of the villagers, Kibadios stood there in silence. Despite his winning, the turn of events had left a sour taste in his mouth. He knew there would be individuals who were much stronger than him but what just happened was beyond his understanding.

「Ha… Haha… HAHAHA…. This world… or rather, the world it has turned into… is rather interesting, is it?」Kibadious laughed hard. 「Dont worry, strange man. I have a feeling we will meet again… friends or foe, that is the question.」

A few regrets came over the hybrid as he realized he did not extract everything he needed to know about this world from “Don.” However, he could always learn more about it… from the two toys he just acquired. Now, since he had fulfilled his end of the deal, protecting this shitty village and all, it was time he got his reward.

 

 

Updated on a much much later date
Source: NovelAI

Figure in black hood:

Chapter 3

Summary:

PORN!!!!

Notes:

Yes, it's bisexual porn!

「How do you two like that performance?」Kibadios directed his question at the couple who were hiding behind a small shrub outside the village, close to where all the actions happened.
「... Thank you!!!」Maia responded, tears streamed down her face as she realized her little sister, Emma, hiding in the village square, was now safe, .
「...You really did save our village」Rowan clenched his fist. He was relieved, of course, but now, he knew what would be coming next. He did not mind if the price for the village safety was only his life, but it would also cost Maia’s life too. Several thoughts running through his mind, debating whether he should somehow delay the monsters, allowing Maia to escape… or maybe he could attack the monster when he let his guard down. Still, none of the options was viable since Maia and he both have just witnessed the incubus’ ridiculous power, something that was almost incomprehensible to the two backwater villagers.
「Save? No no, it was merely a transaction. Now it’s your turn to keep your promise」
Maia nodded, acknowledging the deal they made with the monster. Rowan, though, remained silent. Kibadios noticed the conflicts raging within the boy’s eyes but he just responded with a faint smile. After all, he was interested in what the boy could do. Sacrifice only himself? Save your lover? Though, after seeing that fight, you should know that I am more than capable of decimating your village if you did something rash. The hyrid wrapped up the unsuspecting couple with his shadowy tentacles then flew back to his cave. He could not wait anymore as he rubbed his pants mid flight, anticipating a release. Once arrived at the cave, Kibadios released the two “cargo”, throwing them hard onto the ground.
「Are you okay, Maia?」immediately asked the boy.
「... I’m fine...」
「Now now now. Dont make me wait. Why dont you two strip down to your birthday suit and show me my delicious late night meals. 」
Again, Maia responded with a nod and slowly remove her clothes, piece by piece. She seemed to have resigned her life away. Soon, the girl was almost completely naked, asides from a thin layers of underwear.
「Please, monster-sama! I begged you! Just eat me! Please spare Maia!」
「That was not part of the deal and you know it.」Kibadios laughed, then violently tore up Rowan’s shirt with his bare hands. Some of his sharp fingers scratched the boy in the struggle.
「Rowan… Please stop it… it’s fine… I'm fine with it...」
「But!!!」Rowan turned toward Maia to protest, only to have his face turned bright red as he saw the girl he loved stood still, wearing nothing but her undergarments.
「Monster-sama… Will there be pain?」
「... Well… a little bit… If it’s your first time, I guess」
「... Of course it’d be our first time」surprised the girl.
「Really? You two are virgins?」now, it’s Kibadios’ turn to be surprised.
「...Wait! Dont tell me… I thought you’re going to be eating us alive?」Rowan screamed out, his face was now beet red as he just realized what the hybrid meant when he said “eat.”
「...What? I am not goblins, having to resort to human meat. They are not that more delicious than rabbit’s meat either… I want to eat you as in fuck the shit of out of you with my raging dick! I am half incubus afterall. We have our need.」
「Damn you!」Rowan sprung toward Kibadios, only to be caught and incapacitated by his shadow tentacles.
The hybrid now turned his attention toward the girl, who has covered her breasts and pussy the moment she realized the hybrid’s intention.
「Why are you afraid now?」asked Kibadios, his hands ran down Maia’s silky long hair. 「Just think of yourself as a whore, who instead of selling her body for money, you would be selling your body for the safety of your village...」
「... I...」Maia’s eyes were now glancing at Rowan, who was struggling to break free from his bind. His mouth seemed to be saying something, though it was nonsense since he was gagged by the tentacles.
「Dont worry about your boyfriend there… I will also make him mine. You’ll be still together. Afterall, I’m a merciful monster.」The hybrid’s hand now run on the back of Maia’s head. He slowly pulled her face toward his. Suddenly, their mouths touched one another as the girl and the hybrid shared an intimate kiss. In contrast to Maia’s innocence, Kibadios enjoyed his first kiss of this life. His tongue moved around Maia’s mouth, swirling the girl’s own tongue as they exchanged their saliva. Although the kiss only lasted for a few seconds, for the maiden Maia, it was also a lifetime. The moment Kibadios withdrew his tongue from her mouth, she could feel all of her strength has left her body as it collapsed into the hybrid’s embrace.
「Don't try to fight your urge, it would only make it more painful. You just shared a kiss with an incubus, it has an effect like taking aphrodisiac」Smiled Kibadios as he slowly removed Maia’s bra, revealing her soft breasts. Her sakura-pink nipples were erected from merely a kiss, though it was expected since like the hybrid said, it was an incubus kiss. Spending some time playing with the girl’s breasts and nipples, Kibadios finally slid his hands down Maia’s naked body and got under the last piece of clothing she had: her thin and thoroughly wet white panty.
「Haa...haaaaa… monster-sama...」Maia moaned as Kibadios’ fingers explored her tight virgin pussy.
「Arrgh! I really cant wait!」Kibadios shouted out to himself. He was planning to extend the foreplay a bit more but his dick was now at its limit. The hybrid, with his nails, shredded Maia’s panties into pieces, then pressed the maiden down onto the ground. For his part, Kibadios had quickly discarded his clothes away, revealing his thick raging dick, measured more than 10 inches long.
「Haa.. Monster-sama… it’s not… going to fit...」Maia pleaded after taking one look at Kibadios’ dick.
「Dont worry… You’ll get used to it, whether you like it or not! Too bad it’s not your boyfriend’s, huh?」Kibadios gave the maiden a wicked smile before plunging his dick deep inside her virgin pussy. Since it was oozing with her pussy juice, there was almost no resistance at all. The brief initial pain Maia felt has soon turned into euphoria as the half incubus, half ogre thrust his dick deep inside her pussy, then slid it in and out, in and out, hitting her sensitive spot every single time. While her pussy was being assaulted by the monstrous dick, his mouth was spending its time playing with her tingling breasts. One of her oversensitive nipples were bitten and sucked dry by the hybrid while the other has become a plaything for his hand. Her initial resistance faded as lust finally took over her body. Her mind went blank as the girl came violently several times, convulsed in streams of pleasure. Still, Kibadios continued to fuck her senselessly with no sign of stopping. It took an hour for the hybrid to finally exploded his cum inside her pussy. As he discarded her down onto the ground, he could see his thick, white cum gushed out of her twitching pussy.
Nonetheless, the half incubus, half ogre was not satisfied yet. He had just unlocked his pandora’s box. Previously, when he had no toys to play with, when he became horny, he would just masturbate to subside his lust. But now, one taste of flesh and he wanted more… His primal instinct as an incubus had taken over his once clear strategic mind. Kibadios jumped right next to where Rowan, his next toy, laid. With his hands, he dispelled the ability that has been restraining the boy and freed him. The moment he could move, Rowan immediately threw himself at the hybrid that had just violated Maia. The boy’s eyes were now all red from his helpless crying.
「It’s useless, Rowan-kun!」Kibadios dodged the boy’s assault, then got hold of his hand and pinned him down onto the ground with only one arm. Even though Kibadios only had torn off his shirt, while he was caught in the tentacles’ wrap, his remaining clothes were also slowly dissolved away. Now, the teenager was completely naked.
「Look at your ass! I hope it’d satisfy me...」commented Kibadios as he eyes were now glued onto Rowan’s bare ass. With his hands restricted behind his back, Rowan was completely helpless when Kibadios finally used his free hand to spread his asscheek apart, revealing the teenager’s pink rose bud.
「Stoppp!!!」Rowan frantically screamed out. But of course, it was completely ignored by the hybrid as he aligned his dick in front of Rowan’s asshole. Then without prepping or warning, Kibadios pushed his dick pass Rowan’s entrance, then thrust it deep inside his asshole. Just like what happened to Maia, Rowan’s excruciating screams soon softened, then soft moans replaced it as Kibadios’ aphrodisiac fluid started to penetrate inside the teenager’s ass. The hybrid had released Rowan’s arms for a while now, but the male villager now had no strength to resist.
「What’s wrong, Rowan-kun? Want to cum?」Kibadios has deviously wrapped his hand around Rowan’s dick for some times now and did not allow the poor teenager to climax.
「Haaaa… hhhhaaaaa...HHHHAAA」
「If you beg me nicely, maybe I would let you cum」
「... Please let me cum! Pleaseee!」Rowan was able to hold out for a few minute but his pride and mind finally broke
「As you wish」Kibadios released his grip on the teenage villager’s dick then turned the boy on his back. The moment it was free, Rowan’s dick exploded with his cum. Since he was laying on his back, his own cum shot up onto his naked breasts and face. Rowan laid there in silence, breathing hard. Still, Kibadios would not let his toy to relax as he again plunged his dick back inside Rowan’s gaping hole, causing him to cum uncontrollably. The hybrid’s mouth began to slide on Rowan’s lean naked torso and licked away all his cum.
「Sharing is caring, Rowan-kun」declared Kibadios as he kissed his toy with his mouthful of semen, causing the poor teenager to choke in his own cum. Afterward, the hybrid again paid his attention to Rowan’s erect nipples. Ah I love nipples, thought Kibadios as his teeth pulled onto his toy’s nipples hard. After another half an hour, the hybrid finally release his cum directly deep inside Rowan’s asshole. The half-conscious teenager was breathing some sign of relief as he naively thought his ordeals were over. It was far from it.
Once his toys were full with his own cum, the hybrid dragged Rowan by his arms and threw him right next to the naked Maia. Despite the fact that he’s laying right next to a naked Maia, someone he loved dearly, he felt nothing. In contrast, a terrifying thoughts crossed his mind: he missed the pleasure the hybrid’s dick has given him. He tried to shake his head to free himself from such thought, but it was in vain. Only when Kibadios finally grabbed a hold of his hip, then pushed his dick deep inside his cum-soak asshole again did he felt right again… He, a man who was deeply in love with Maia, was now craving for a monster’s dick. He was afraid to admit it, but on the other hand, he could not deny it. His arms slowly wrapped around the hybrid’s muscular body while his legs locked around the hybrid’s moving ass, hoping his dick would never stop moving. Right next to him, Maia was now moaning uncontrollably as Kibadios’ hands played with her spent pussy. The couple started the previous day smiling and talking, trying to get some water back to the village. Little did they know, just in 24 hours, they have transformed into a monster’s toy.
……..
…..
...
Morning came. For Kibadios, what happened last night marked a new chapter in his life… and also his toys’ life. He sat upright, fully naked, his back leaned against the cave’s wall next to his bed.
「Man, I made such an impulse decision yesterday… all because I was horny… I guess it’s true when earthling people joke ‘masturbate before making any big decision’... But still, what shall I do with these two toy I just acquired?」
The Kibadios signed. Each of his arms wrapped around one of his naked toy: one of his hands were stroking Rowan’s half erect dick while his other hands fondled Maia’s soft and smooth breast. They still did not know, but the moment they opened their eyes was the moment they would have to completely discard their old lives...

 

Updated on a later date:

Artist: メロン

Pixiv ID: 18209583

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@melon12346578

Chapter 4

The first few days were hard for Kibadios’ two toys to adjust to their new lives. Since he could not have his toys walking around naked all the time, Kibadios had to sneak inside the village at night to steal some clothes for them. During the time he was there, the villagers were holding a mass funeral procession for all those who died. Apparently they thought both Rowan and Maia were dead since their names were recited at the ceremony. One kid, who shared Maia’s silky hair, were crying and screaming「Onee chan!!!」the whole time. That must be Emma, Kibadios thought.
He hurried back to his cave, where his two naked toys held each others’ hands and sat silently in a corner. He took them to a nearby lake to wash up, but in the middle of their bath, his primal urge soon took over as he glared at the couples nude bodies. He soon forced both of them on their knees. The intense outdoor sexual intercourse lasted for almost an hour, after which his lust soon faded away and he let them reclean their bodies.
「You two are not eating?」asked Kibadios as he swung a pair of rabbit grilled legs in front of them. Still, his gesture elicited no response from the despondent couples
「... Fine then」smiled Kibadios 「You two can die here if you want, but that just means I’d come to the village to find new prey to replace you.」
「No!! Dont you dare!」Rowan glared at the hybrid.
「Then eat. I won't ask twice.」
Rowan and Maia, fearful for the villagers, each took their share. They have not eaten for almost the entire day so now, the two quickly devoured their given portion. Kibadios looked at them. He had not been paying much attention to their physical appearance but now, he had to admit they were as handsome and pretty as any of the famous celebrities he knew from his life on earth. They are a cute couple. He thought. Interesting how fate works out. Had there been no attack on the village, they would probably get married, bear children, and live a happy life…
「But that’s all over」said Kibadios, continuing the final part of his thought out loud. He had no qualms whatsoever about turning the couple into his playthings, after all, this was partially their choice.「As of now, you two belong to me and only me, Kibadios…. “Got it memorized?”」
Rowan grit his teeth but slowly nodded, along with Maia. They themselves have made the decision to trade their lives for that of the villagers’ and now they would have to own up to it.
「When I stopped by your village, I learned that they all thought you’re dead… given the half devoured corpses of your horses and all the blood, I bet. But that is convenient. That way, you can give up your old lives and devote yourselves to become my personal properties. 」Kibadios paused then looked directly at Maia. 「...I saw your sister, Emma. At least I think I did. Short, silvery hair?」
「That’s Emma!」jolted Maia 「Is she alright?」
「Yeah, she’s unharmed. She was crying in an arm of some guy, probably your dad, since he had the same hair color too. 」
「They are all right...」Rowan let out a sigh of relief.
「... Yup… It was your own decision to become mine that helped to keep your families and friends alive. Just remember that every time you curse your own fate… after all, the world is a cruel place, not everything you want will come true.」Kibadios said while thinking back about every tragedy that had befallen all his past lives. After a brief pause, he continued 「From now on, you can address me as Kibadios-sama or Master… and most importantly, you will have to satisfy my every need at all times… such as now 」
Kibadios suddenly pulled Rowan toward him. Letting his toy sat on his lap while his hands sensually explored the teenager’s body. 「I am half incubus, so I can feel aroused at any given moment. When such time comes, obediently offer your bodies for me. That way, no one would get hurt. On the other hand, since you’re my properties, I will keep you safe… That is my promise. 」
The two nodded, though Rowan was now trying to suppress his moaning as Kibadios’s fingers had been playing with his nipples and the tip of his dick for a while now. Of course, the night again played out exactly as last time as the three soon indulged themselves in an intense intercourse session. The next day, when Kibadios woke up, his dick was still hard, docking deep inside Maia’s tight pussy, who was sound asleep on top of him. Rowan, her ex-boyfriend, laid exhaustedly naked right next to the hybrid.
After the following few days, Kibadios continued to learn more about his new toys. As it turned out, Rowan and Maia were not a couple, at least not yet anyway. They have been childhood friends, and neighbors. However, five years ago, when Rowan’s parents unfortunately passed away in a tragic accident while accompanying a trading caravan, the boy was adopted by Maia’s parents. They have lived in the same house since there, with their feelings for each other becoming more and more apparent as the days passed. Yet, the shy little teenager did not gather enough courage to confess his feelings for Maia.
「Hah, I really thought you two were a couple.」laughed Kibadios 「So it was a surprise for me when you two said you were virgin. I thought for sure you would have done it already. Well, I guess… Thanks for saving yourselves for me.」
Kibadios deviously provoked Rowan, though the young teenager gave him no responses. The hybrid has been trying to break his toys’ spirit to ensure they would be obediently serving him. It seemed he had succeeded with Maia, since the girl soon became obedient and opened up to him more and more. Now, she was responsible for cooking food and doing small chores. Starting from her second week of being his toy, he could clearly noticed her change as she actively tried to please him sexually. Whenever they were doing it, her moanings have become more and more unrestricted… Rowan, on the other hand, despite dutifully served Kibadios’ sexual needs from time to time, still retained a large resentment at the half incubus, half ogre. It’s so clear just from looking into his eyes.
Regardless, Kibadios still actively trained Rowan. Maia, even though was not gifted with magic or fighting, possessed an unparalleled talent for alchemy. The girl was able to distill several potions and poisons just from harvesting herbs from the forest. Unlike Maia, Rowan was a prodigy at healing magic. Of course the teenager was not aware of his talent since he lived in a backward, desolate village. After one scan using his , Kibadios was surprised at his toy’s status and potentials. Ever since, the two would be practicing magic together, with Kibadios teaching everything he knew about basics of healing magic to Rowan. The hybrid knew his toy’s mind was still not completely broken, but since he knew that under his manipulation, Rowan would eventually broke so it’d be better to teach him magic now and save time later. After, he was confident with his power, in case Rowan ever dared to rebel. The hybrid wanted to move out of the forest by the end of the year, once his familiar came back to report to him about the intel of the world.
「Hahahahaaa!」
Rowan let out an unrestricted laugh as one of Kibadios’ fire magic backfired and charred his face completely black during one of their training sessions. Of course Kibadios did not plan for this, but he was amused at this development. After all, it’s been a month since Rowan became his, and the teenager had never laughed. Who would be in a mood for laughing when they’re seeing their love interest started to fall completely into the charm of an incubus. Kibadios thought to himself. Even though Rowan and he had started to talk with each other more often, this very moment was when Kibadios first heard Rowan’s laughter. Granted, it only happened when something bad had happened to him, but still… It seemed like Rowan has also suddenly been aware of his laugh since he abruptly ended it.
「Are you okay, Kibadios-sama?」He walked to the hybrid, tending to his master’s wound as any obedient toy should be.
「.... Yeah… I'm fine」answered Kibadios while staring at Rowan. 「Let’s call it a day. Maia should be ready for dinner back in the cave」
The hybrid and the apprentice healer soon made it to their cave, with Kibadios’ hands thoroughly touched and squeezed his toys’ ass while walking. This was their normal routine, which made Rowan extremely uncomfortable the first few weeks but now he seemed to have accepted it.
… Just one small push...
That night, in the darkness of the cave, Rowan opened his eyes and sprung up from Kibadios’ arm. The teenager glanced over as Maia, laying naked, snuggled under the embrace of the monster.
I love Maia! I hate this life that we’re living! … But why? This evening… I could tell… His incubus charm is slowing getting me…
Walking naked to a corner of the cave, Rowan pulled out an obsidian rock. He had picked up this rock, sharpened it, and tugged it there in secret. With the sharp obsidian rock in his hand, he walked lightly to Kibadios. He had planned for this very moment, but he knew that if he did not do it now, he would never do it, not ever, since he would soon be fallen completely into Kibadios’ influence. Gather all his composure, Rowan delivered his kill stroke. The obsidian rock penetrated hard into the monster’s chest. As his blood gushed out from his opening wound and splashed onto Rowan’s face, Kibadios was awoken to a sharp pain in his chest. Using his mana, the hybrid tried in vain to contain the blood, but to no avail.
「... YOUU!!!」Kibadios screamed out, blood flowing from his mouth. 「HOW DARE A MEre… toy like.. You...」
The loud scream woke up Maia, who quickly got away from the hybrid as he struggled in agony.
「... I...」mumbled Rowan, his mind was now completely blank. His whole body shook uncontrollably. The teenager was not able to formulate any response before Kibadios’ hands finally fell down. His naked body laid motionless as the life force in his glaring eyes faded into black.
「... You did it, Rowan… Kibadios...sama… is dead?」
The couple embraced each other, weeping uncontrollably. Finally, they were free from the monster’s grab.
The couple returned to the village, which welcomed them back with open arms. Of course, they made up some excuse for their month-long absence since they did not want to let anyone know the real story. Soon after, Rowan, this time, found his courage, and confessed to Maia. Even though there were still young, they have decided to get married. They were already sixteen though, so it was not too uncommon. The ceremony was held in the square, with everyone from the village was invited. And so, they lived happily ever after, with the memories of that one month buried deep in their conscious.
….
…
…
Or so Rowan thought.
The moment Rowan kissed his bride, Maia, at the ceremony, he could feel something was wrong. He loved Maia, but somehow, their kiss did not give him the same passionate feelings he experienced when he did it with Kibadios all those nights. Then, seeing Maia, laying naked on his bed during the wedding night, did nothing to arouse him. He loved Maia, but somehow, this felt wrong… And so time passed: one day, one week, one month, one year, one decade passed. The life he spent with Maia was more like a close friends living together, sharing a home, rather as husband and wife. Not one moment did he not miss the days he spent with Kibadios. Yes, it was resentment and hatred that he felt at first, when the half incubus took away Maia’s and his peaceful days. But during that one short month, he had changed… Maia had changed… Rowan would not care less whether it be because Kibadios’ hypnotic charm or because his personal charisma, but he knew… by now, ten years later, he knew he had loved his captor… Now, every day, he yearned for the half incubus’ embrace. He yearned for his kiss… He yearned for his dick, which gave him pleasure. He yearned for something that can never come back. All because of him… of his thoughtless decision that one night, when he plunged the obsidian rock into his master’s heart.
「ARGGHHH!!!」screamed out Rowan. His own scream brought him back to reality, where he was standing right inside the cave where he spent his days with Kibadios. The monster’s skeleton still laid there, on the cold slab of stone. His rock, his one mistake, was still there. Rowan slowly brought up Kibadios’ skull next to his crying face
「I am sorry, Kibadios sama… I am sorry… I… I am sorry!!!!!」
The healer continuously mumbled his apology to the hollow skull until his voice gave out. The despondent Rowan picked up the obsidian rock, which was stained with his master’s blood. Without any thought, the man plunged it straight into his heart, ending his miserable life and correcting the mistake he had made, more than ten years ago. Darkness came over his mind…
「Having a nightmare, my pathetic little toy?」
A familiar voice brought Rowan’s consciousness back from the abyss. In front of his eyes, his master, with his eyes glowing red in the darkness of the cave, stared right into Rowan.
Where am I? … This is… we’re still in the cave?
「and what are you trying to do with that sharp rock?」asked Kibadios, as he still laid naked on the straw bed while Rowan was on top of him, his hands hold on the rock tightly.
「... I… I… I am sorry, Kibadios sama!!!」Rowan cried out, which awoke the soundly sleeping Maia. The teenager swiftly threw his rock away, his hands touching Kibadios’ bare chest, trying to make sure he was not injured. 「Please, dont leave me! I will stay with you, for eternity!!!」
「Of course… You have no choice, my toy.」Smiled Kibadios. 「How do you like that future?」
「It was terrible… It was...」Rowan could not even finished his sentence since he was overwhelmed with tears in his eyes.
「... So now, are you saying that you willingly want to become my obedient toy?」
Nodded Rowan
「Even though you may be controlled by my hypnotic charm? All the future that you experienced was due to my unique ability… knowing that, would you still pledge your obedience to me?」 Kibadios was now holding Rowan by his hair, forcing him to look straight at the hybrid.
Nodded Rowan without any hesitation. It did not matter if the future was fabricated, all he knew was that he would not want to experience it ever again.
「And Maia...」Kibadios turned to look at the girl
「You know my feelings, Kibadios sama」smiled the alchemist.
「Fine. Then tonight, let’s reaffirm your loyalty to me.」Ordered Kibadios. Both Maia and Rowan nodded, knowing what their master was requiring of them. The two started to pleasure the half incubus, half ogre monster they called “master” throughout the night...

Notes:

I was thoroughly inspired by The Strongest Brave Who Craves For Revenge, Extinguish With The Power Of Darkness. When the MC appeared behind the two sons, I was like "rape time!" and then I was like: "... why not truly rape time?" Then I read Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi and I was like "why not harem time?".... Hence this.

Chapter 5

Rowan Z.
Age: 17
Level: 14
Mana: 10,400
Class: Mage_Healing
Ability:
Unique Skill: N/A

 

Maia Z.
Age: 16
Level: 10
Mana: 17
Class: Alchemist
Ability:
Unique Skill:

Interesting. Now the world’s system registered them with my initial… I wonder if that was because they have completely devoted to me or because they have received my incubus mark. Kibadios thought as he scanned his servants’ status. The incubus mark, of course, was referring to a small magic seal, located right above his servant’s private parts. This seal was just a way to mark a property of an incubus, though it could only be casted into individuals that have given their consent. It has been a week since the fateful night when Rowan’s mind was finally broken, and now, his two servants have completely become his, both their bodies and minds.
「Kibadios-sama, how are our stats?」asked Maia worrily, afraid that she has not become useful enough for the hybrid.
「Well, decent enough, I guess. I did not expect you two to become A rank just in a month period. Still, I like the progress Im seeing here」Kibadios walked toward Rowan, who was shivering nonstop. His mouth suppressed some faint moaning sounds. 「Especially Rowan. His abilities have not leveled up, but I like the increase in his mana. His mana reserve was now ten times higher compared to when he first started.」
「That’s great!」Maia excitedly responded
「And you’re no slacker either, your abilities have leveled up. Though I could tell just from the quality of your alchemy products.」Kibadios praised the girl, while his hand slid into Rowan’s ass.
「Thank you… Master.」blushed Maia
「NNNN...HHHAAAAA!!」Rowan moaned loudly in mid of the conversation as the hybrid finally had removed a huge dildo from his ass. As he held the black, vibrating dildo made from his shadow tentacles, it suddenly vanished into thin air.
「Thank you, Kibadios sama, for taking it out of me」
「I told you, didnt I? That the punishment for trying to kill me would only last for a week. I'm a man of my word」His hand was now caressing Rowan’s blushing face.
「... Again, I am sorry for...」
「 “Frankly my dear, I dont give a damn.”」Kibadios smiled, then pushed Rowan’s wet lips against his for a deep, passionate kiss. With a string of their saliva still connected their panting mouths, he continued 「...All I care about is that now I have obtained you, with your uttermost devotion.」
Afterward, the two servants continued their training every day as instructed by Kibadios. Since he told them he wanted to move out of the forest by the year end and that he would not want to be burdened by them being weak toys, both Maia and Rowan tried their best to improve, fearing they would be abandoned by the hybrid if they did not. Rowan spent most of his time perfecting his healing magic. Because Kibadios was not a healer, it was tough since Rowan had to learn most of the advance casting techniques by himself. Yet, his master still trained with him from time to time. Soon enough, Rowan was able to advance to a stage in which he could morph his healing magic to a more advanced, defensive one. Kibadios was excited by the progress Rowan made for his defensive spells could even protect him from one direct hit of Kibadios’ fireballs, the same spell that scared the crap out of the “advanced” mage he fought more than a month ago. With Maia, Kibadios was no help at all. But that did not impede her growth one bit as she steadfastly improved her ability as the days passed. Since she’s no fighter, every time she went out to collect herbs, Kibadios would accompany the girl. Now, Maia was completely open to the hybrid, telling him about her life in the village, about Emma, about her likes and dislikes. Unlike her, though, Kibadios was still closed off to the world, even to his devoted servants. He was betrayed before, and now knew better. All he did was listen to Maia, without giving her any details about his life. Yet, during these days, spending his time with Maia and Rowan, somehow he felt at peace. Somehow, he wished this would be it, that these peaceful moments would last forever… Maybe, he did not need vengence...
WHAT THE HELL!!!
The hybrid shouted out in his thought during the middle of the night. The hybrid was laying naked like usual, with Rowan below, dozed off into his sleep while sucking on the hybrid’s dick. On his side, Maia’s naked body leaned against his, her breast pushed against his arm.
「This is not the life I wanted!」said Kibadios. His voice must have been loud enough since both Maia and Rowan was woken up by it.
「What’s wrong, Kibadios sama?」asked Rowan as he slid his sticky, cum-soaked body up toward Kibadios.
「Are you okay?」asked Maia, concerningly.
「... We will leave tomorrow!」 declared the hybrid.
「「Huh??」」
「Like I said, we will move out the forest tomorrow. I was planning to wait until my familiar returns, but not anymore. It can find us on the way.」Kibadios looked at his servants 「Any complaints?」
「「... No, master.」」
As morning came, both Maia and Rowan was ready. They have nothing but the clothes on their bodies so of course it did not take long. Kibadios, on the other hand, took a while since he went deep inside the cave and gathered most of the goblin’s loot. The cave used to belong to the goblins so they have hoarded, among skeletons of noob adventures, a lot of their equipment and several bags of gold coins. With this, he would have money for the trip. Selling the equipment would get enough to buy Rowan a staff to conduct his magic too.
Once finished, Kibadios and his servant finally left the cave. Their first destination would be the town which his two servants were trying to ask for help from. They told him that the town was fairly big, with lots of shady smithing shops so he could unload these weapons without much questioning. If travel by foot, Rowan estimated it would take about 2 days. Of course Kibadios could just fly there, but then flying to a human’s town as a monster was probably not a good idea. As of now, the hybrid had thoroughly disguised himself, masking his trademark incubus scent and ogre’s horn, making him look completely like a 16 years old teenager.
As the three walked farther and farther from the village, Kibadios kept noticing Maia’s hesitation. The girl frequently looked back at the village direction with an expression of uneasiness.
「Don't want to leave your family? I can leave you here if you want. After all, I have no need for toys who are not completely devoted to me」
「No, Kibadios sama! I want to be with you」Maia shook her head. 「It’s just… Im worrying about Emma...」
「... Do you want to have a final goodbye to her?」
「Huh? … Can I do that?」
「They all thought you’re dead but with my ability, I can make it as if your little sister is dreaming of you.」Kibadios scratched his head and looked away shyly. He did not want to leave his servants with the impression he was a compassionate monster… It was just he knew how hard it was to not able to say the final goodbye.
「Thank you… Thank you, Kibadios sama!!」
The group of three turned around toward the village. Before arriving there, though, they have already found Emma sitting next to a huge tree, in the middle of a meadow nearby. It seemed like her dad was close, busy gathering something from the field. The little kid still looked depressed, her eyes were all red from crying, even though it had been more than a month since her sister and Rowan disappeared. The hybrid casted a low-level illusionary spell to isolated Emma, allowing Maia to approach her as if it’s her spirit. Kibadios did not care what they were talking about so he stayed a bit farther away, waiting for her to finish the conversation.
「Maia... she really needed it.」said Rowan as he sat down near his master.
「Is that so?」
「Yeah. Her mom died giving birth to Emma, so ever since, she had been playing the part of her mom for Emma… This goodbye would help her to give Emma the push to live freely on her own. And it would help Maia to have her closure too.」
「What about you? Is there anyone you want to say goodbye to?」
「Not really. My parents had already passed away. There’s Maia, but then she’s still with me.」
「Say… Do you still hold any feelings for Maia?」Kibadios stared at Rowan.
「Yes.」answered Rowan immediately with a smile 「Though, it’s the same feeling Maia has for Emma. You’re now the only one that I love… the only one that I devote my life for.」
Rowan leaned onto Kibadios.
「Love? Ha! It’s not love that you’re feeling. It’s just Stockholm syndrome.」dismissed the hybrid.
「... Stockholm? What’s that?」Rowan’s eyes were wide open.
「Nah, nothing. But don't confuse your feelings with love. I just broke you and Maia into my perfect toys, that’s all.」
「...」

After saying goodbye to her sister, Kibadios and his two servants resumed their journey. At first, all three were travelling on foot but after a while, Kibadios’s patients finally ran out. The hybrid conjured up and wrapped his thick tentacles around Maia and Rowan while using the others to swing and wrap around the tall tree’s branches to move. This must be what Spiderman felt. The hybrid thought as he freely traversed through the densely packed forest, skillfully dodged random shrubs and trees on his path. From a depressing mood, Maia and Rowan were now laughing as they experienced this unique mode of travel, all from the comfort of a small shadowy basket made from the tentacles. As the night approached, the company has almost reached the town they want to visit. Still, since Kibadios has become a bit exhausted, they decided to camp for the day. Luckily, just around 5 miles south of the town, the company was able to spot a small ancient ruin. Apparently, according to Rowan, the ruin used to be a large city of an old nation, but after several raids from a neighboring country, the city was abandoned for a much more easily defended position, which the town was now located.
「I see… Let’s just stay here for the night then!」decided Kibadios.
The sun finally set down beyond the forest. As usual, Rowan had made a small fire, which Maia used to roast a few forest animals that they caught on the way here. With her , no matter how blant was the catch, they always tasted great.
「So what is your plan, Kibadios sama?」
「First, we need to unload all these weapons at the smithing shop you mentioned. That way we would get some money. Then, I want to travel up the Kuren River.」
「You want to go back to your old village?」asked Rowan. The two had, at least, heard from Kibadios the story about the village in which he was born and its destruction.
「Yeah. I want to see with my own eyes… what has happened to it. Then, I want to find that man… the commander who directed the assault… and slowly torture him… slowly kill him… I want to hear his scream… his begging for mercy...」Kibadios stared straight into the small fire in front of him. He wanted to pay back for what the commander did to him, both in this life and in the brief life of his second reincarnation. The commander, who was responsible for his death during the last reincarnation, and the death of so many innocent monsters in the village which he just reincarnated almost a year and a half ago, has to taste the despair that the hybrid himself had experienced… Sitting next to him, Maia and Rowan could only remain silent, looking worryingly at their master. The almost trance-like looking Kibadios finally snapped back to reality, his eyes sharpened.
「WHO’S THERE??」
His sudden shout jolted both his toys. Rowan and Maia, quickly stood up, looking at the direction of which their master had just directed his attention too.
「Hello!」A young, handsome looking teenager, donned in expensive, shining armor, his hands placed on a long sword, walked out of the shrubs in front of the company of three. 「Don't worry, we’re not bandits! My companions and I just travelled a really long distance. We’re planning to visit the town of Syllia, just about 5 miles from here. We were tired and we saw your fire so I just want to come over.」
Followed him were three more people: a girl dressed in what to be priestess, a large, muscular monk, and an elegant elven man. Hmm, what’s with this typical JRPG party? Kibadios though. And that leader… that aura he’s possessing… No doubt about it… HE’S A HERO CLASS!

Chapter 6

Notes:

Hentai during the last third of the chapter

「OH MY GOD! Your life story is sooo sad!!!」cried out Ryan, the hero class individual that Kibadios just met. His eyes were now streaming down with tears, strings of snot hanging down his nose, to the disgust of Kibadios’ company and even his own companions.
「Haha… It’s not that sad」Kibadios shook his head. It’s not even the real story… what’s wrong with this guy here?
The hybrid, in order to hide his identity, had fabricated a backstory for himself and his two toys. He was just telling Ryan that he came from far away. His family was a bit wealthy so he lived with his two servants. But then his family went bankrupt, his parents passed away from either stress or disease. With just the three of them, they were trying to make it as adventurers and merchants. They even have a shipment of low grade equipment to prove their stories. When telling the story, Kibadios had no idea the hero here would overreact like he was doing now.
「Calm down, Ryan.」The elven archer patted his friend’s back, then turned to Kibadios. 「I'm sorry for his behavior.」
「No… No… Dont worry about it… I guess?」
「So what about you guys? What are you doing here?」asked Maia.
「We are a group of B+ rank adventurers, though Ryan here is already an A rank, being a hero and all」
「Really? You’re a hero? That’s awesome!」Kibadios pretended to be surprised. He had known Ryan’s class ever since they first met, though the fact that he’s already an A rank was new to him. The hybrid became a bit cautious now that he knew the individual crying in front of him possessed the same power level as him.
「No… No… That’s nothing!」Blushed Ryan 「The director at my orphanage told me that I belonged to the hero class after I took some tests, but I’m not really that strong. I’m not well known either.」
「All heroes started as newbie!」exclaimed the monk 「Being a hero, you’re destined for greatness.」
「Yeah」nodded the priestess. 「After all, heroes like you would help to protect us against the likes of demon lords, acting as a balance for this world’s order.」
「Sooo, anyways, what are you plans?」the newbie hero tried to change the conversation as his face was now fully red from blushing.
「We would just be selling our shipments of equipment here. Then maybe buying a cart for our trip.」answered Rowan. 「What about you? Why are you going to the town? 」
「We are on our way to the capital.」answered Ryan, which caught Kibadios’ attention.
「The capital… of this country?」
「Yeah, Lorian. Kingdom of Maeg’s capital.」
「...What’s your plan there?」
「We got a royal decree summon us there. I think many heroes in the area are also heading there. We don't know why though.」
「...」
Kibadios remained silent. No matter what the era, summoning groups of hero together was never a good sign. During his first reincarnation, the summoning of heroes at Doriath signified the beginning of a long Holy War. The hybrid bet something has also happened for the king of this country to summon all the available heroes in the area. Still, this was not something he cared about so he doubted that he would ever be involved.
「Well, it’s getting late. We should get ready to sleep. Tomorrow morning, we can all walk together to the town」suggested the monk.
Ahh, it’s now the dreadful moment, thought Kibadios. As the hero’s party prepared their sleeping bags, Kibadios glanced around the ruins. This doesnt work! There’s completely no privacy here. I was planning to fuck my toys a bit before sleeping but now this damn hero party just went ahead and sleep next to us.
「What’s wrong, Kibadios sama?」asked Maia, concerningly
「... Nothing!」the hybrid pouted.
「Dont worry, Kibadios sama. I promise we will make up for tonight when we stay at an inn in town tomorrow」Rowan whispered to the hybrid’s ears, knowing full well what his master was thinking.
「Well, you better be!」He soon turned to Maia 「Can you get me one of your heat suppression pills? Or else I won't be able to sleep tonight」
「Sure, Kibadios sama!」The girl quickly got from her pouch a small glass bottle contained several pills, which the hybrid just took and gobbled them all 「Master, that were a lot. You were not supposed to...」
「Just to be safe. I dont want to wake up in the middle of the night to stick my dick in you in the presence of those people…. Argh! Such a pain!」
Nonetheless, thanks to Maia’s pills, the hybrid slept soundly through the night. His two toys were each sleeping on his sides like usual, except that they were now wearing clothes. The hybrid still groped Maia’s breast a few times throughout the night though since it had been now imprinted into sleeping habit.
As morning came, the two groups woke up almost simultaneously. After sharing a meal together, they all travelled toward the town. On the way, Kibadios was able to learn even more about the group. Turned out, the hero has just officially been an adventurer for only half a year, which in itself was impressive since within such a short time, he was able to climb his way up to rank A. The elven archer, Reuk, was a close friend of the hero. Apparently Reuk’s elven tribe was close to the orphanage’s village so the two had been hanging out ever since they can remember. The priestess and the monk, though, just joined the party about a month ago. Regardless, Kibadios was amazed at the newly formed party and their teamwork as they effortlessly obliterated several monster packs that dared to attack the group before they reached the town. Of course, the other three members were not as strong as the hero, but they made it up by complementing the others.
Not even out of breath, huh? Kibadios thought, as he observed the group from behind, right after a small skirmish.
「Too bad. Seems like I only have a slim chance of success if I want to make the hero my toy」
「The hero?」asked Rowan, who was walking right next to the hybrid. The teenager hesitated for a moment, then continued 「... Are we not doing a satisfactory job as your servants, master?」
「Nah, it’s not that. I am an incubus, there’s no such thing as ‘enough’... Does that upset you two?」
「Not at all.」Maia smiled 「We promised our lives to you. We would do anything if it pleases you. 」
「...Though, making the hero your toy is a bit farfetch.」
「I know. I know...」sighed Kibadios.
----
「Here we are!」exclaimed the monk the moment they got to the town’s gate 「The town of Syllia!!」
Though, in contrast to the loud mouth monk, the town was a bit let down to Kibadios. Calling it a town was probably an exaggeration since it is not much bigger than the village that Rowan and Maia came from. The town itself did not even have a proper wall. Most of their defensive “wall” were made up of small wooden fences. There were two small watch towers at the entrance, though there were no townguards on duty so the group just walked through the checking point without any inspection.
「We will have to report to the guild in town. Do you want to come with us?」asked Ryan
「No, I think we will have to part ways here.」Kibadios shook his head. Afterall, he had told the hero’s group that they were also adventures so if they all went to the guild, they would be found down. 「We will be unloading our shipments first.」
「Is that so? We would be around for another day though so I’m pretty sure we will still see each other around.」
「Yeah. There’s actually a decent inn at the eastern side of town. We would be renting rooms there for tonight. I really recommend it」suggested Reuk
「Oh, I know that place. It probably is the best inn in town.」Maia agreed
「So we would see you guys again tonight, I bet!」
「... Yeah, of course!」nodded Kibadios.
And so the hero’s party slit from Kibadios’, much to the hybrid’s relief. Walking next to a hero, to a monster like him, was pretty much a torture. Nonetheless, Kibadios was seriously curious whether he could take on the hero in a one on one fight… Not that he wanted it to ever happen, at least not yet. The hybrid fully understood that until he reached the full potential of his first reincarnation, or that his familiar came back to him, he would still be vulnerable.
「We better find a different inn.」said Kibadios
「Well, there are several others, but most look like that」Maia pointed at a run down building, disgusting even compared to the cave that the three had lived in before. One quick look and Kibadios admitted defeat
「Guess we have no choice but the inn they recommended...」
Once parted with the hero, the hybrid let Rowan and Maia went and sold the low grade equipment while he walked around the town for a while, since he had never been to one in this lifetime. The town, if i could be called one, was a disappointment. It only took the hybrid less than 30 minutes to visit every location that the town got to offer. Shaking his head once he finished sightseeing, the hybrid found himself in front of a jewel shop. Despite his refusal, the owners relentlessly pressured him into buying some items, most likely since they knew he was not from the town.
「Fine fine! I’ll take this hair clip and this earrings」The hybrid finally yielded to the pressure. After all, he has never been good at dealing with merchants, even since his life on earth. The hybrid paid for the items using the coins he found in his cave. So it came out to a few copper coins? I don't even know if this was a good deal or not…
「So what are you buying?」asked Maia, all smiling as Rowan and she both found their master, who just started to walk away from the shop.
「Hm, Good! You two are here!」The hybrid turned around to his toys. 「Here you go.」
To Maia, Kibadios handed her a pink hair clip, attached with some flowers that reminded him of sakura on earth. To Rowan, he gave the teenager a long earrings. At one of its end was a blue feather. Both of his toys stood there, speechless. They knew their master could probably be considered a sadist, but they never knew he had this soft side in him. As tears started to flow on both of their eyes, Maia and Rowan excitedly took in their presents and gave their master a hug.

「「Thank you, Kibadios sama!」」

That night, even though the group finally decided to stay at the same inn as the hero’s party, Kibadios did not see them around at all. Not that it matters since now, the half-incubus, whose was in extreme heat since Maia’s medicine’s effect had faded, could only think about one thing: sex. The moment they got to their room, the teenage hybrid quickly pressed Maia down onto their large size bed. He did not even have time to look around the deluxe room as his gaze was now fixed onto his toy, his pent up dick would be pressing against her pussy. As he licked Maia’s nape, the pheromone he released started affected his two toys.
「Open your mouth, Maia」
「Yes, Kibadios sama」obeyed the girl. The moment she opened up her lips, a stream of the hybrid’s saliva soon dripped down from his mouth into hers down below.
「Stay there for a bit. I have to prepare Rowan」
The hybrid’s attention has now been shifted to his male toy, who has already stripped down onto his white silk underwear.
「This earrings look good on you.」complimented the hybrid, his hand caressed behind Rowan’s ear.
「Thank you… Mas...」The teenager blushingly responded, but was stopped short since he found himself quickly restrained by his master’s shadow tentacle. The healer mage was now fully defenseless as his legs were tied up with his knees pressed against his naked upper body. His hands were tied behind his back. The tentacles had also formed a gag around his mouth in the form of an o-ring. With his toy’s mouth wide open, the hybrid aligned his face above that of his fuck toy as he let his saliva, which acts as a strong aphrodisiac, flow straight into the waiting mouth. Rowan could not do anything as his body started to heat up, aching for his master’s dick, his eyes were now looking at his master, begging to be fucked.
Still, Kibadios would not give it to him right away as he now turned to Maia. The girl had discarded her outer clothes down onto the floor, leaving on her body a layer of undergarment that was so thin that almost every curve on her body was visible to the hybrid. Kibadios smiled, as his arm wrapped around his now thoroughly horny slave, his mouth eagerly sucked on her breast, without even removing the thin layer of fabric. As her breasts were sucked and her nipples were played with by both Kibadios’ tongue and fingers, she could feel some of his fingers had slowly started moving from her hips to her ass.
「Ugh!」moaned out Maia as her ass was suddenly squeezed by her master the very moment his teeth bit down onto her erect nipple. 「Please, master… give me your dick...」
Maia started to beg for her master as a prostitute begging for money. Even Kibadios was impressed at the transformation that Maia went through: from an innocent maiden living peacefully in a village to a lusty girl who begged to be fucked by a monster. It’s just like the plot for “Emergence” all over again. He thought several times as she begged for him.
「Fine, my little toy.」The hybrid had now removed all of his clothes, revealing his well-toned body and his enormous erect dick.
With Maia laid down on the bed, Kibadios had moved on top of her. With his hand, he finally removed the very last piece of fabric on her, revealing her trembling breasts, along with her dripping pussy.
「Here I come!」declared the hybrid as he kissed his toy, his dick thrust straight into her pussy.
「Ahhhh!」screamed out Maia in pleasure. Her master’s dick repeatedly plunged deep inside her, hitting her most erogenous spot as he went in and out. Her legs were now locked onto her master’s buttocks, her arms wrapped around his back as the pair continued to share a passionate kiss. Kibadios would continuously fuck his toy as she screamed out for more. After some times, they would change into various positions. As some points, her knees were pressed against her breast as Kibadios’s dick pounded down hard into her. Throughout the session, Maia has cum more than three times. By the time Kibadios released his cum in her, she was only half conscious due to the intense pleasure.
「Ha. It’s almost two months and your stamina has not really improved at all.」complained the hybrid
「Ha..hhh..hahaaa. I’m… sor… ry.. Mas… ter...」mumbled Maia.
「Well, it’s fine. Just rest there. I’ll play with Rowan」the hybrid turned to his male toy, who was now reaching his limit. His eyes were full of tears as his dick has been raging underneath his silk white underwear. The teenager had leaked so much precum that his entire underwear was now all wet, turning it into an erotic see-through piece of clothing.
「Dont be impatient, I’m coming.」Kibadios gave his toy a wicked smile.

 

 

 

Updated at a later date:

Artist: Flügel // ふりゅーげる

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@GUMI710

Pixiv ID: 14016789

This is how Maia looks. These sexy poses are not technically of this chapter.

 

 

 

 

updated on a much much later date:

Source: Novel AI

 

Reuk (elven archer):

 

 

Desmond (the monk):

 

 

The priestess:

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7

Notes:

first half is yaoi

After an intense fucking session with Maia, the hybrid’s heat has calmed down, though obviously not enough. The monster chugged in liters of water, then walked to Rowan, who has been obediently waiting for his master for more than an hour now. Still under restraint by the shadow, Rowan’s pupil dilated as he realized it would be his turn to be with his beloved master. The monster smiled at his fuck toy, then opened up his mouth, letting water flew down onto his slave’s mouth.
「I bet you’re thirsty. Drink up.」The hybrid waited until Rowan has taken in all the water in his mouth, then continued 「I’m going to use your mouth for relief!」
Kibadios proceeded to sit on Rowan’s face, his dick had inserted deep inside his toy’s mouth. With his hands held on tight onto Rowan’s hair, the hybrid started to mercilessly pump his dick down Rowan’s throat. Since he has been tight up, the healer mage could not do anything but letting his master used his mouth as an onahole. Not that he wanted to protest though because as his master stuck his dick deep in his throat, Rowan’s heart had been pumping faster and faster, his own dick’s precum gushed out uncontrollably.
「Ahh, your mouth feel as good as Maia’s hole!」complimented Kibadios, if that could even called a compliment. Still, Rowan was extremely happy when the hybrid praised him as he cummed hard at that exact moment. His faee fuck lasted a while, but in the end, Kibadios finally released his cum inside his mouth.
「Now, that was refreshing」Kibadios patted Rowan. The shadow bondage around his body and his mouth gag started to fade away.
「Gulp」Rowan swallowed all of his master’s sticky cum. 「I’m glad you like it, Kibadios sama」
「... You’re pretty much a masochist, aren't you, Rowan?」smiled Kibadios.
「No no… It’s just if it’s you...」Rowan blushed red.
「Just in a month, I have completely ruin you and Maia for any potential suitor.」Kibadios pulled Rowan next to him, his fingers swirled around the teenager’s hard nipples, causing it to moan loudly. 「Can you even live without me cock?」
「... Of course not, master!」Rowan leaned in and gave his master a passionate kiss. As the kiss went on, Kibadios slowly removed Rowan’s cumsoaked underwear. Once the hybrid broke the kiss, he picked up the underwear toward Rowan’s salivating mouth.
「Keep you mouth open. I’ll let you drink your own cum!」The hybrid squeezed the cum out of the underwear and let them drip down onto Rowan’s tongue.
「How does your own cum taste?」
「... I prefer yours, master...」
「Is that so?」The master leaned down for another kiss. 「Uhmm… Your cum taste delicious for me」
「.... Master...」Rowan was on the verge of tearing up after hearing what Kibadios said.
「Well, let’s move onto the main course, shall we?」Kibadios traced his finger from the tip of Rowan’s dick, down his undershaft, his two aching balls, then stopped at his asshole.
「... Please use my asshole as much as you want, Kibadios sama!」
「I intend to. After all, we need to make up for last night.」Kibadios’ hands grabbed onto the teenager’s full ass, then lift up his bottom until the toy’s asshole aligned with his dick. With no warning, the hybrid again ravaged his toy with his cock penetrated deep inside Rowan’s asshole. Having his sensitivity ramped up to the max with anticipation, the boy’s whole body curled up as his master moved his dick in and out.
「Haa… AHHH… HHHHH..AHHHHHHH!!! PLEASE! DON’T STOP, MASTER!」begged Rowan
「... I dont intend to!」declared Kibadios as he pulled, then twisted hard on Rowan’s nipples.
…..
He did not know how long did he spend fucking Rowan since the moment he opened up his eyes, it’s been almost noon. As he looked down, he noticed both Rowan and Maia, who were still fully naked, one on each side, were dutifully licking his morning wood.
「That felt good, though Maia had the advantage since she’s also using her breast… Rowan had the better technique though… I’ll rate both of you 8/10.」
All three moved to the bathroom since they wanted to take a shower to clean off their bodies, but the shower again transformed into an intense fucking session as Kibadios slammed his dick inside Rowan while Maia licked his behind. In the end, when the three were able to set foot out of their room, it was way past noon.

Today, Kibadios intended to officially register as an adventure. He had to sneak around the guild, making sure the hero’s party was not there before he entered the building. This guild, just like the town, was a bit run down. There were several adventurers hanging around, drinking beer and screamed out profanities at the guild’s tavern. Few other groups would be hanging out around the job request board, trying to look for suitable jobs. Unlike what Kibadios had thought, the process to sign up to be an adventurer was much easier than he thought. It only took less than two hours, with 1.5 already being a testing phase. Of course the hybrid held back during the test since he knew it’d be suspicious for him to obtain rank A or even A+ as a newbie. In the end, he got Rank B+, while Rowan and Maia, performing at their full strength, got B- and C rank.
「Oh! This is amazing! You’re a newbie and you already got rank B+?」surprised the female clerk, which was overheard by most other people at the guild. Soon afterward, Kibadios was swamped with people admiring his ranking.
What is this? This is the exact amount attention that I don’t want! The hybrid thought to himself. It took awhile for the crowd to disperse for Kibadios to be able to talk to the clerk again.
「Is B+ rank really rare?」asked Kibadios.
「Well, it’s not really that rare. In fact, most adventurers, saying around 40%, are B rank, about 10% would be A rank. But it’s just rare here, you know? We’re a backward town so not many high ranking adventurers would visit this guild. Though yesterday, I met a hero possesses Rank A+」The clerk excitedly claimed. 「Ahh… He was so handsome, with a bright looking face that radiates like the sun! One look and I could guess he’s a hero class.」
「Oh yeah, we know him and his party.」
「Really?? You know the hero? No wonder you ranked that high during the test」
「Well, I dont really “know him” know him. I just met him before entering the town... 」
「So you know where is he now? We were supposed to meet him at the inn yesterday but we did not see him.」
「Oh, he did not return yet?」surprised the clerk. 「He and his party took a job cleaning out the goblins nest that is a bit too close to the town for comfort.」
「... Did he?」
「Yeah, that was nice of him too. That job is beneath him, but since no one is taking it, he volunteered because he said leaving goblins living so close to the town would be dangerous. Maybe he finished late yesterday so he camped out.」
「Where the nest is at?」asked Rowan
「About 10 miles northeast of here. But why?」
「Oh it’s nothing. I just want to know.」
「Anyways, we have to leave now. Thank you for the ID card.」
「No problem! Come back to us if you are looking for requests.」
「We’ll do!」

「Well, that means we may be able to see the hero’s party at the inn tonight. 」said Maia as they walked out of the guild
「Let’s hope not. I’m weary at dealing with him… I wonder if it’s because of his holy affinity.」
The group continued to plan for their trip without caring about seeing the hero’s party soon after. There were so many things to buy for the trip. But first, they would use a part of the money they got from selling weapons to buy a wagon and a horse. After all, they did not plan to travel up the river by foot nor by spiderman move Kibadios did back in the forest. In the end, Kibadios, Maia, and Rowan spent three full days at the town, buying various things and getting ready for the long journey. During this time, Kibadios had the privilege to witness Maia’s special ability in action: the ability to haggle. Despite her innocent look, the girl was able to haggle her way through so many transactions that once they have acquired all the goods, they cost less than ⅓ of what they thought.
「I told you Maia took in the role of a mother for Emma right? And a mother always knows how to haggle for a better price.」laughed Rowan when he noticed the astonishment on Kibadios’ face.
On the third day, they were all ready to depart until they went and checked with the guild one last time.
「... Uhmm.. Can you go to the goblin nest and look for the hero’s party?」the clerk reluctantly asked as he went into say goodbye.
「... They still have not come back yet?」asked Kibadios 「I have not seen them but I just assumed they came back, check in with you, then depart right away. After all, they told us that they have an urgent meeting at the Lorian.」
「That’s why I was worried.」The clerk could not hide her concern 「They have not checked back with us at all. Though of course, there’s a chance they just left for the capital without letting us know. He’s a hero, after all, so there’s no way lowly goblins would cause him any trouble.」
「... Okay, it’s fine. I’ll check out the nest.」
「Thank you! Thank you!」

Chapter 8

Notes:

GORE and TRAGEDY. I REPEAT, GORE AND TRAGEDY.

「Well, that does not look good, does it?」Kibadios clicked his tongue. 

It took almost an hour for Kibadios and his toys to reach the goblin’s nest in question. Since it is located a bit far away from the main road, the gang had to walk during the last one third of the trip so it took longer than they would have expected. Once arrived, they hid themselves in a bush while scouting for any sign of goblins. At first, since they have believed the hero would have eradicated the nest, they did not expect to find any goblins walking around but to their surprise, the entrance to their nest was closely guarded by a group of goblin sentries: four of them carrying long, crudely made spears, walking back and forth across the narrow gate while three others were standing up above the earthen entrance, looked out vigilantly for any sign of trouble. In this world, unlike how they were depicted in many other fantasy books back on earth, goblins would be classified as non-intelligent monsters. They could not comprehend speeches nor think much for themselves, so the sights of goblins guarding their nests as soldiers would almost be unthinkable.

「With this level of organization, there’s no doubt there’s a Goblin King resides in this nest.」concluded Kibadios.

「Goblin King?」asked Maia and Rowan

「... Wow, you guys know less about this world even more than I do」

「「I’m sorry.」」

「Unlike non-intelligent goblins, Goblin King is a very tricky and crafty individual. Their intelligence may exceed many human strategists and tacticians out there… Well, at least that’s how it was during my first reincar...  」Kibadios stopped short of letting his two slaves know more about this past. 「Anyways, in short, this means trouble… Though I doubt it’s a trouble for the Hero’s party though.」

「... But the goblins are still here.」pointed out Rowan 「Does it mean the hero failed?」

「...」Kibadios stayed silent for a bit.「Well, we will find out, won't we?」

As cautious as Kibadios, the hybrid began to strategize for his attack on the nest. Even though it was unlikely, he still operated under the assumption that the hero’s party had failed to fight off against the goblins and now were captives. If that was the case, it meant Kibadios and his slaves would most likely suffer the same fate if they were not careful. After half an hour preparing, the three began to move out. 

「This time, you will be the star, Maia!」

「I will try my best, master!」The girl excitedly responded. Little did she know, this battle would be where her future nickname “ The Poison Queen ” be born. 

Once ready, Kibadios, Rowan, and Maia finally walked out from the bush. There presence was easily spotted by the goblins who soon sprung into action, with the spears holding goblins charged forward while the others readied to hit the gong, alerting their pack. Yet, just like what happened back at Rowan and Maia’s village, the goblins were all swiftly decapitated without them even noticing. The moment their heads hit the ground, their black blood splattered all over the green grass, some found their way toward Kibadios who was leisurely walking through. Yet, the droplets of blood suddenly hit an invisible shield casted by Rowan on his master, Maia, and himself, preventing them from getting dirty. During all this, Kibadios was surprised at the fact that both of his toys were walking resolutely by his side, showing no sign of disgust or panics. And just to think, just more than a month ago, their eyes were full of fears when I found them. The hybrid thought to himself. Once they reached the gate, Maia, with several small glass bottles wedged between her fair, slender fingers, gallantly threw them into the nest’s long, dark hallway. Once the bottles hit the ground and broke opened, several substances began to spread out and flew deep inside the nest. A few drops of the substance, which would have been extremely lethal to any other individuals, landed on her fingers. Maia sensually licked her finger clean, then turned to her master.

「It should only takes a few minutes.」declared Maia.「After that, all individuals got infected with the poisons would be dead.」

「Good job, Maia.」Kibadios patted her head. 「Still, dont let your guard down. Rowan, keep erecting your defensive barrier as we walk in the nest」

「Yes! Master!」

The three walked cautiously next to each other deep into the nest, all under Rowan’s protection. Kibadios would probably be able to accomplish the task of cleansing the nest by himself, but giving Rowan and Maia chance to practice their power would always be a good idea. Even now, Kibadios was amazed at the potency of Maia’s poison as they walked passed dozens of goblins’ corpses, all foaming and bleeding from their orifices. The girl was not supposed to possess much combatant prowess but looking at the mountains of corpses from her use of poison, Kibadios would have to reconsider her role in his group. Rowan, too, was performing much better than expected as he continuously put up a 360 barrier around them as they moved, a task that would probably be difficult for high class mages… at least during the time of Kibadios’ first reincarnation. The hybrid would have no idea how much magics have advanced since then. Nonetheless, judging from the mage that attacked the village, he would say it has not advanced at all. 

 

The group swiftly made a sudden stop, since in front of them, two huge orcs laid dead, fully naked, thick cum were still leaking out from their throbbing erect dick. Lying beneath one of the orc appeared to be someone. As Kibadios moved the orcs bodies asides, both Maia and Rowan gasped hard as they noticed someone familiar: Reuk the elven archer… at least part of him anyways as the poor elf’s body has been mutilated, with both his arms and legs were chopped off. Reuk laid on the floor on his stomach, all naked, with orc cums flowing out from his loose asshole. His bodies were completely beaten up as Kibadios could tell most of his ribs were broken. Just within days, the orc had completely transformed him into their personal onahole. 

「... Ki...ba...dios?」the elven archer whispered as he opened his eyes the moment Kibadios picked him up and let him lean against the wall. 「... you’re … a demi-human?」

「... Yes.」He answered with a smile. Ever since they stepped into the nest, he had dispelled his disguise since maintaining it requires a bit of his mana, and the cautious hybrid would not want to waste his energy on such a farce. 「What happened here?」

「He… ughh!」Reuk coughed up blood as the poison had penetrated what remained of his body. 「... betrayed us… DESMOND!」

「The monk?」surprised Kibadios, though this would explain why the hero party was defeated by lowly goblins. Now that he knew it, he had much better confidence in dealing with the nest. 「... I am sorry, Reuk. But you’re poisoned. We used it to eradicate this nest and sadly, there’s no antidote」

「... It’s…. Fi..ne… but… plea..see, I beg… you.. Please help… Ryan!」

「Where is he?」

「Deeper…inside…」

「Leave it to me.」said Kibadios, then he continued with a smile, his tongue licking his lips. 「Reuk… Since you’re dying anyways, can I devour you?」

「...」The elven archer closed his bleeding eyes. 「You’re ... a half ogre... arent you?」

「So you know about ogre’s unique skill, < Devour >?」

「... Go ahead… But please… rescue Ryan… dont harm him...」Reuk resigned his life since he knew he had no other choice.

「I promise.」

「AND KILL DESMOND FOR ME!」yelled out the elf, his eyes wide opened now, though they were fully dyed in red blood.

「I promise.」Kibadios’ shadow began to envelop the elf. Unlike pure blood ogre, whose < Devour > skill would require them to bite their prey into pieces and swallowed them whole as wild animals, Kibadios could use his shadow to “swallow” his prey.

「Will… there… be… pain?」the elf whispered, his consciousness has finally slipped away.

「... No… I promise.」

「Go...o...d… I’m… s..ic..k … of… p..ain...」Reuk let out his final words as the shadow fully wrapped around his body, then it constricted and retreated back into Kibadios.

「Hmm… You taste much more delicious than I’d have thought, Reuk… Rest assure. I’ll take in your vengeance. 」smiled Kibadios creepily. 

Behind him, both Rowan and Maia looked in horror as their master truly “ate” another being. They knew that their master was a monster so this would not be unexpected, but now that they have witnessed it in person, their whole bodies were trembling. Though, their tremblings were not because they were afraid of their master or seeing him as a bloodthirsty monster that he was. They were trembling because of how emotionless they were when witnessing such an act. At this time, they have finally realized they have fully rejected their humanity. To them, their master’s deeds and thoughts would now be acting as their moral compass, if it can even be called “moral.”

「You two are afraid of me now?」asked Kibadios once he turned back to them.

「Of course not, master!」Rowan firmly answered.

「... Though Kibadios sama… Why did you say we don't have antidote? 」asked Maia since in her pouch were antidotes for several of her poisons.

「... the state that he’s in, it’d be better for him to die, wouldn't it?」

The two nodded, knowing that had it been them in Reuk’s shoe, they’d be asking for death themselves. 

「Anyways, let’s continue deeper into this nest. We need to find Ryan… and that girl. I wonder if they’re alive」The three resumed their formation. 

「... Master, so what does your skill, < Devour > do?」asked Rowan after a brief moment of silence between them.

「It’s a unique skill for the ogre race. Apparently, it’s also rare for ogre to possess it though. But anyways, it allowed its users to gain the skills of those whom they “devour.”」

「So does it mean now you have Reuk’s abilities?」

「Yeah. Though I dont think I can fully control them well yet.」

「I see… 」Maia thought for a while, then she hesitantly asked. 「... If we ever fall in battle, would you “devour” us?」

「Of course! After all, you two are all mine.」grinned Kibadios broadly

「「Thanks, Master!」」The two excitedly responded, knowing they would be able to help their master, even in their death.

Oh man, this was totally not the reaction I was expecting! I was going to scare them, but why am I scared instead? … Seriously, did I break them too much? Kibadios warily glanced at his toys as the two have been smiling nonstop ever since they knew no matter what, they would prove useful for their master. It took the three of them another 10 minutes until they finally reached the exit of the goblin’s nest hallway. By this time, the poison has been diluted enough that it would not be able to kill anyone. Luckily for the three, though, all of the surviving goblins were busy circling something in the big circular ground at the end of the hallway so they did not notice the intruders, nor the fact that their companions out in the hallway were all dead. Kibadios and his toys quickly hid themselves behind several large rocks as they assessed the situation. This area of the nest seemed to be the innermost chamber, located below the ground. Here, only a few flickering fire from the torches acted as sources of light. Several small streams of underground water crept out of the earthen wall and ceiling, dripping down onto the floor in a harmonious rhythm. The scene reminded Kibadios of either the place where Tidus from Final Fantasy 10 met Rikku for the first time or that place where Goblin Slayer fought an “orge” with his transportation scroll… In fact, if he’s currently a character in a badly written story, he was pretty sure his writer would use the visual from those places to describe the current area he was looking at right now.

Once Kibadios had finished scanning the “battlefield” and formulated appropriate strategy, he now focused his attention at the goblin horde, with several distinct orcs being spotted. The pack was paying attention to something attached to the wall but since his field of vision was limited by the crowd, he couldn't tell. On the far right of the chamber, though, he could clearly spot two of his main targets. The Goblin King, sitting naked on his throne, his hands holding onto a naked girl’s hip while his enormous, deformed dick, as thick as Kibadios’ arms, was pounding mercilessly into the girl’s pussy. Sitting beside him was none other than Desmond the monk, the traitor that brought the downfall of the hero’s party. The man was smiling, his gaze fixated at the wall where the goblins were.

「Come on, Ryan. Just give up, both you and I know you’re just making it hard on yourself… literally...」

… So he’s over there… Ryan!

Notes:

Trust me, I hate both gore and tragedy but it's goblins we're talking about.

Chapter 9

「Time’s up, Desmond」said the Goblin King as he discarded the girl onto the ground after having cummed hard in her. Kibadios soon realized the girl was the priestess that has accompanied the hero. 「You have your three days.」

「Aww… Can I have one more day? I’m pretty sure he’s really close to his breaking point」

「We have our deal. My boys and I have our needs.」Laughed the Goblin King as he stroke his dick.

The Goblin King walked slowly down his throne, his hand grabbed firmly on a large silver spear, which most likely a loot since goblins did not possess the skill to forge any weapons. As he walked by the priestess, who laid lifelessly bare on the ground, the Goblin King, without even glancing at her, suddenly thrust the spear’s blade straight into her heart, ending the poor girl’s life instantly. Rowan and Maia almost sprung forth to the priestess from their hiding place, but their movements were stopped by their master. Shaking his head, the hybrid signaled for them to calm down to continue observing the situation.

As the Goblin King walked toward the hero, the crowd of dozens of lower class goblins and orcs parted onto either side. With that, Kibadios was finally able to see Ryan the hero. Completely stripped naked, the hero was strung up into the air by his arms, leaning against the wall. His body was covered in bruises, some have darken while others were still bright red. Undignifying for a hero, his dick was completely erected, leaking precum like a faucet. With his eyes covered in a black blindfold, the hero squirmed around, moaning escaped the gag on his mouth. Below him, two small goblins, holding a blunt end wooden stick, constantly prodded his asshole while laughing like maniacs.

「Three days. Under strong aphrodisiacs that can kill an elephant. Yet not even once he begged to be fucked」complimented the Goblin King sneeringly 

「I know!」exclaimed Desmond. 「Ahh, I would just love it to see him begging for my dick like a common whore in the market on his own volition.」

「Well. Since he didnt. I guess I will claim him first for myself.」the king signaled his goblins to remove his blindfold. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light, the hero angrily struggled, trying to break free of his shackles as he saw the priestless’ lifeless body lay on the ground. 「Surprised to see your companions here, Hero? Yes, yes, it’s true. Your companions were not able to escape like you thought they would. In fact, the elf had been turned into an onahole for my orcs. Soon, it’d be your turn.」

Licking his lips hungrily, the Goblin King approached the dejected Ryan. The hero had suddenly stopped struggling the moment he heard the fate of his companions. 

Well, I guess I need to act before that hideous thing taint my soon-to-be toy…  

As the kings hand reached out for the hero, Kibadios suddenly jumped out of his hiding place, his hand equipped with the giant scythe he once used during the night attack. With one swing, he quickly chopped off the heads of several goblins and orcs, only to have his strike stopped by the extremely reactive Goblin King and his silver spear.

「What is this?」The king’s eyes turned red from rage as he realized intruders were able to infiltrate into his deepest chamber without setting off any alarms. 「Where did you come from? Where are my guards??」

「Dead.」

「... Kibadios kun?」Desmond stood up, surprised at the presence of someone he knew 「That appearance… you’re demi-human?」

「Isn't it obvious?」The hybrid gave the monk a smile while his eyes were still paying attention to the Goblin King he was facing.

<Analysis>

Woube.

Age: 85

Level: 30

Mana: 1,400

Class: Goblin King

    Ability: <Skullcrusher lvl3>  < Earth Roar lvl4> 

    Unique Skill: <Leadership> <Thought Acceleration>

… Thought Acceleration? So the longer I stay in the fight, the more disadvantage I become since he can formulate more plan for counter attack…

    「Get him!」Ordered the king as both he and Kibadios were currently contesting their physical strength by having their weapons clashed against one another. Still, clearly, the Goblin Kings was losing since he could feel Kibadios’ scythe getting closer and closer to his body.

    Heeding their King’s order, the remaining goblins and orcs rushed toward Kibadios. 

「Now, Maia!」ordered Kibadios. 

From her hiding place, Maia leaped forward. In between her fingers were, again, several small bottles. Though, this time, they did not contain poisons as the one she previously used. Swirling her hands around, she let whatever in the small bottle diffused out toward the incoming horde of goblins and orcs. With one snap of her fingers, sparks began to appear around the monsters. Confused, they stopped their charge and looked around. 

BOOM! 

Suddenly, wherever the scent diffused to, the area caught on fire. With her being an alchemist, creating volatile gunpowder like substance was an easy task. However, the skill that made her creation deadly dangerous was the fact she could feel the air circulation and spread her scents so that only targeted area would be affected by the explosion. Despite the unpredictable molecular diffusion governed by Brownian motion, Maia somehow still are able to direct her “scent” wherever she wants like an airbender , Kibadios thought, an elegant ability that is befitting her maiden look… Even I would have trouble dealing with her . Due to her manipulation, even when Kibadios was downstream of the wind, he was completely unaffected by the fire that was set off. The same thing cannot be said for the orcs and goblins though since all of them had fallen down onto the ground and burnt to a crisp. 

「Damn you!」Screamed out the king as he tried to reduce the distance between him and Kibadios while helplessly watching his pack reduced to ashes. After all, even though he was holding a spear, his specialty was close combat… So was Desmond. The monk sneakily stepped behind Maia during all the confusion, readied to strike down at the unsuspected girl. 

「<CHAOS SMASH>」screamed out Desmond. With his ability activated, a large haki enveloped his arm. Desmond was confident since with just one hit from him, the girl would be pulverized. After all, this was the very attack that brought down the Hero. Yet, the girl turned her head around, facing the mad monk without any fear in her eyes. 

CLANGGGG!!!

It was a hit and he knew it. She’s dead! Desmond thought to himself. Yet strangely, his hand hurt… actually it really hurt. 

「ARGGHH!!!」The monk screamed out as he noticed he had hit an invisible barrier, just a few inches away from her face. From pure instinct, the monk jumped back a few steps, then looked around to find Rowan, who was casting a defensive spell to protect Maia. 

Damn it! I forgot they had three people! Desmond thought. His setback was severe since one of his arms, which was his main weapon, has just been taken out from the fight. Yet, before he could think, a barrier soon appeared right in front of him, then another to the right, and another to the left. Shit! This is… With his quick wit, the monk again jumped back even farther away. His reaction was just right in time since had he been slow for even a second, another barrier would be constructed behind his back and boxed him in. 

「What is this? Why the hell are you guys so strong?」yelled out Desmond. If he had trouble dealing with the two, he knew he stood no chance against the demi-human who was leisurely fighting against the Goblin King. From his estimate, the man, Kibadios, possessed a power equal or even exceeded Ryan. After all, the monk could only take down Ryan because he was caught off guard. Had it been a fair fight, there was no way he could win. With that, he fully understood the situation he’s in: there was no way he could win. 

「Haha… Woube, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you, but I’m afraid I don't want to die together here.」

「What… are… you… talking about? … Give… me… a hand!」shouted the Goblin King as he was out of breath, trying to keep up with Kibadios.

「No chance! I gotta escape! It’s now or never!」The monk, using his one good hand, dug down onto the marble floor of the chamber, then with all his strength, broke a fraction of the ground and threw it toward Maia and Rowan. Of course, the huge piece of the floor broke off into pieces before hitting the two teenagers as it collided with the large barrier Rowan erected. But the moment the dust settled, Desmond had already escaped. 

「Damn it!」shouted Rowan, who was preparing to chase after Desmond but only stopped when ordered by Kibadios.

「Don't worry about him. Who knows if there’s any traps. Don't chase him」said Kibadios. 

「Damn… You… Desmond!」the Goblin King panted. Now that all of his underlings were dead, his unique skill, <Leadership>, was useless since it could only be activated on his underlings, granting them extra strength and stamina. His <Thought Acceleration> has always been activated, yet, with the 14,000,604 scenarios planned in his head, all led to him being killed by the hybrid standing in front of him. Escaping was impossible now that the hybrid’s underlings has stood in front at the only exit. He could use the Hero as a shield, but then the hybrid had given him no chance to break away from the fight. The milliseconds that the hybrid attention was directed toward the barrier boy, though, was his only shot. The Goblin King dropped his spear onto the ground, then sprung forward, his hands formed into the shape of a claw.

「<Skull Crusher >」screamed out the Goblin King. His ability, < Skull Crusher lvl3 > , was a perfect skill for close combat. Similar to < Chaos Smash>, once the ability was activated,  haki would be concentrated into the user’s fingernails. The moment the opponent got grabbed by the users would be all over as their bones would be instantly shattered. 

Despite the Goblin King’s confidence in his attack, Kibadios remained calm even when the king’s reach has gotten so close to the hybrid that dodging it would be impossible. The confident smile on the king’s face vanished as he realized both his arms had been sliced clean off. 

「AHHH!!!」the king collapsed on his knees 「HOW DARE YOU!!!」

Swooshhh!

The moment he finished his sentence, his head has already been rolling down onto the floor. Why did it turn out this way? Just a few moments ago, everything was going great! 

「This was much easier than I thought」Kibadios stomped onto the Goblin King’s head to stop it from rolling around, then picked it up with his hands. The black goblin’s blood dripped down his arm「Ryan must be really careless…Now, its time for you to rest in my stomach, you ugly bastard.」

Again, Kibadios’ shadow crept out from his feet again. Though this time, it took shape of  multiple shark heads, each of their teeth was as sharp as a knife. The shadow circled around the headless body of the Goblin King for a few times, then mercilessly devoured it by shredding its flesh into pieces. Like a pack of piranha, the feeding frenzy lasted for mere seconds as the corpse disappeared into thin air, leaving splashes of blood on the floor. Once finished, Kibadios then threw the goblin’s head he was holding into the pool of shadow, leaving no traces of the Goblin King behind. 

 

「We’re sorry, Kibadios sama, for letting Desmond get away.」Rowan apologetically approached his master with puppy eyes, expected to be scolded.

「Dont worry, he would only be temporarily extending his life … for now… After all, I have promised Reuk to avenge him. And I may be a lot of things, but not a liar. 」Kibadios lovingly patted both Rowan and Maia

「You two did well. Much better than I expected, actually.」His hands began to move down from their slender backs to their pear-shaped buttocks and gave them a few soft squeezes. 「I will reward you two accordingly later.」

After paying attention to his toys, the hybrid turned around and walked to Ryan, who was still strung up high. 

「You’re safe now, Ryan」said Kibadios as he held the naked hero in his arms after lowering him down from the rope. 

「Haa… haaaa」Moaned the hero, then he continued to speak incomprehensibly 「Kiba..dios? … Re..uk?」

「... He’s dead.」replied Kibadios. The hybrid has now positioned the hero on his back to be carried out of the goblin nest. The moment he heard his best friend has died, tear filled his eyes as his consciousness started to fade away. 

「Should I use give him my potion to heal, Kibadios sama?」

「... No. Not yet, anyways.」answered the hybrid after he thought for a few seconds. 「I need his mental and physical state to be weak. That way, I have a higher chance to control his mind through my unique skill as a half-incubus. 」

「You’ll be turning him into a new toy?」asked Rowan.

「Yeah. Unlike you two, though, I’m pretty sure I would need to control his mind for him to stay obedient.」

「I see.」Answered Rowan indifferently… or rather, he was excited. After all, he would soon have a brother in master’s harem.

Chapter 10

「You two stayed out there and guard the carriage. I dont know how long would it take to fully control the hero’s mind.」ordered Kibadios as he placed the hero, who was still flinching and moaning due to the effect of an aphrodisiac, down onto the carriage.
「Yes, Kibadios sama!」
「Kibadios sama, please be careful. Despite his condition, he’s still a hero. He may prove resilient to your hypnotic ability.」advised Maia.
「I know. You two just focus on keeping watch for now.」
Kibadios and his toys had carried the hero out of the goblin nest and back to the main road, where their carriage located. To make sure no one would disrupt Kibadios’ ritual to corrupt the hero, the group drove the carriage off the road to a secluded area. Now, with his toys acted as a lookout, Kibadios can focus his attention to the helpless hero. Removing the white sheet that Kibadios had used to cover Ryan’s body, he could now admire the well-toned body of the naked hero. He was not muscular nor buff as those gym trainers back on earth but for sure it would be hard for the hybrid to find a single piece of fat on Ryan. His stomach, covered in his firm six packs, was covered in his sweat just like the rest of his body. Kibadios could feel a few of his ribs were broken, most likely due to Desmond’s close punch. I will heal you soon, Ryan, the moment you become my new fuck toy. Kibadios thought as his hands roamed freely across the hero’s upper body. As his hands reached Ryan’s pink perky little nipples, the hybrid would swirled his fingers around the hero’s small areolas.
「Time to wake up, my hero」smiled Kibadios as he flicked Ryan’s hypersensitive nipples, causing his dick to twitch around.
「HAAAA!」The unconscious hero was brought back. The hybrid gave Ryan some time to process what had happened「Kibadios? … Where am I?」
「You’re in my carriage.」answered the hybrid 「Do you know what has happened?」
「... I… Reuk… and Sophia…I」His memory came back to him. 「... Because I’m too weak...」
「Yes… yesss」confirmed Kibadios of the hero’s incompetence while he held the hero face right in front of his… was an innate unique skill that all of succubus and incubus possess. Of course, the ability was not an overpowering skill like it was tend to be portrayed in hentai and yaoi doujinshi back on earth since the conscious mind was much more complicated for any ability to take over. Instead, it worked by exploiting the weakness in the minds of the targets. That was the reason why Kibadios did not let Maia or Rowan to heal the hero since that would strengthen him and let him resist the power of 「Because you were weak, your companions have all been killed.」
「... Kibadios… I...」The hero tried to escape Kibadios’ gaze, yet, he had no strength left to even push away the hybrid.
「In the end, it was me who helped rescuing you. How will you pay back your debt to me?」
「I...」
「Weak, little boy, who thought he could take on the world just because he’s a hero… tsk tsk tsk...」
「I tried my best, trust me, Kibadios… I wanted to protect them!!!」Ryan was now on the verge of crying as tears swelled up in his eyes.
「You know what Reuk said right before I ate him? He said ‘IT’S ALL RYAN’S FAULT! MAKE HIM PAY FOR MY DEATH!’」
「No… I...」The hero finally broke down crying after hearing what his best friend just reportedly said. The shock destroyed the hero’s logical mind to the point that he completely ignored the fact that Kibadios just admitted to eating his best friend.
「They are all dead because of you and yet here you are, naked and horny like a slut.」The hybrid slowly wrapped his hand around Ryan’s fully erect 9 inches dick.
「No… This … is because I was fed with aphrodisiac...」Ryan shook his head.
「... Is it? Or is it because you’re lusting for me?」Kibadios leaned in and sensually bit the hero on his nape. The moment the hybrid’s teeth sank into his skin, Ryan cummed hard into Kibadios’ hand. This was the first time he was able to climax for the past three days since Desmond and the Goblin King did not allow the hero to cum, not until he begged for their dicks, at least. Ryan’s mind became blank. His holy affinity soon eroded into nothing as Kibadios’ finally took hold of the poor hero’s mind.
「Did you just cum because of my bite?」Kibadios held up his hand soaked with Ryan’s cum. 「A horny little hero who failed to protect his friends… How will I punish you? How can I fulfill Reuk’s last wish of making you pay for his death? … Oh I know! How about I make you my slave?」
「... Your slave?」Ryan asked blankly.
「My sex slave, to be precise.」The hybrid pressed onto the side of Ryan’s cheek. Once the hero was forced to open up his mouth, the hybrid would stick his cum soaked hand inside the hero’s mouth, letting him licking up his own cum. 「Being my sex slave would be a way for you to atone for your imcompetence…」
「... N… no… I」
「Besides, aren't you lusting for me right now?」Kibadios placed his finger on top of Ryan’s cock slit.
「... No… A… aphrodi..siac… makes me...」
「Search your feeling, you know it’s true: You yearned for me when we first met. You lust for when and that’s what distracted you back in the goblin nest… Where you party members died… all because of you」
Ryan now started crying like a child.
「...No… I didnt mean to… Nooo… I」
「It’s fine, I'm here.」Kibadios, after putting down the hero, would now comfort him. The hybrid hugged the hero tightly, giving the hero the support he desperately needed. Interestingly though, Ryan started to wrap his arms around the hyrbid and reciprocated his hug.
「Kibadios… I did not mean to let them die… I tried my best to protect them...」
「I know… Your master understands. I don't blame you.」
「... Master?」
「Yes.」Kibadios leaned in for a deep kiss, then continued. 「I am your master. And you’re my obedient sex slave. You lust for me, you wanted to be mine, and that distracted you and resulted in your friends death… But I don't blame you. 」
「... Thank you… master?」
「Good. Now, look at me… What’s my name?」
「Kibadios...sama?」The hybrid could see the hesitance in Ryan’s eyes.
「Good.」Again, the hybrid complimented him, his hand patted the hero’s head like he was petting a well behaved dog. Each of Kibadios’ touch would now calm down the hero’s guilt stricken mind. 「Who am I to you?」
「... My master?」
「Am I? Look like you dont believe what you just said.」Kibadios withdrew his touch from the hero, leaving him feeling abandoned.
「No! Please don't leave me, master!!」The hero hurriedly held Kibadios back. The hybrid knew he had successfully turned the hero into his fuck toy. This was much easier than Kibadios thought, though all thanks to the exhaustes state that the hero was in.
「Look at me.」Kibadios ordered Ryan, which the teenage hero obediently followed. 「What are you feeling right now when you’re looking at me?」
「... Hot… 」answered the hero as he again felt the effect of aphrodisiacs.
「Do you lust for me?」
「I lust for you.」
「Do you want me to fuck you senselessly?」
「I want you to fuck me senselessly.」
「Are you my obedient fuck toy? Are you mine?」
「I am your obedient fuck toy! I AM YOURS!!!」The hero has finally reached his limit. 「Please fuck me, master!!! I can't wait anymore! I need your cock in me!」The hero pulled Kibadios in for a kiss, this time, on his own accord. Once finished, Ryan would pulled his legs up, his knees pressed against his chest, his hands spread out his asscheek, revealing his pink rosebud, gapping and twitching uncontrollably.
「Good...」Smiled Kibadios, his cock poked slightly at the hero’s asshole. The combination of the aphrodisiac and the anticipation for his master’s cock turned Ryan into a true crazed slut. 「Before you get a taste of my cock, let me hear from your slutty little mouth, once again, who are you?」
「My name is Ryan! I am a hero! But most importantly, I am your obedient slave, Kibadios sama! Please don't ever abandon me! 」cried out Ryan.
「Good!!!」exclaimed the hybrid as he finally pushed his cock inside the hero, sending an unspeakable wave of pleasure straight into his brain. For three days, the hero had tried his best to resist the effect of the aphrodisiac, but this very moment, he embraced it. His master’s cock sent the hero’s eyes rolled back into his head, his feet curved up as his cock exploded, shooting his cum straight into his face. Kibadios leaned his body against his slave’s bruised body for a kiss. Despite his master’s weight pressing against his broken ribs, the hero ignored the pain as he did not dare to do anything that would push his master away. With the hero’s inner wall wrapped tightly around his cock as he pistoned it in and out, it did not take long for the hybrid to finally cum inside his slave, marking the hero forever his. For his part, Ryan shrieked out in excitement as he could feel his master’s warm cum flooded in asshole.
Of course, cumming just once was not good enough since Kibadios quickly turned the hero around and fucked him in doggy style. With one of Kibadios’ hands pumping Ryan’s cock, another teasing his nipples, while his cock slit in and out of Ryan’s now thoroughly fucked hole, the hero could not even make a sound as his teeth instinctually ground hard against one another, his fingernails scratching onto the carriage’s wooden floor.
「Do you like my cock fucking your once virgin little hole, Ryan-kun?」
「Haa… haaaa… Yessss!! Master! I love your cock!!! I LOVE YOOOUUUUU!!!!」
「Remember this twisted ‘love’ that you’re feeling as I fuck your brain out, Ryan-kun!」Laughed Kibadios. Not in a million times did the hybrid imagine he would be turning a hero class individual into his toys. 「After tonight, you won't be able to live without my cock. Just like Rowan and Maia!」
「YESSHHH, MASTERRR!!! 」screamed out Ryan. 「I AM YOURS!!! FOREVER YOURS!」
The two continued their intense fuck for another two hours, after which the hero would collapsed as his wounds and exhausted stamina finally rendered the him unconscious. Kibadios, however, was still not satisfied. The triumph he experienced today had caused his testosterone level to skyrocket. The hybrid soon called in his two fuck toys who have been obediently waiting outside. Despite having tasked with guarding the carriage, however, the two have been mesmerized by the moaning coming from inside the carriage. Rowan’s cocks have been erect, creating a tent in his pants for the last two hours while Maia’s panties had been thoroughly wetted, with some of her pussy juice dripping down along her slender thighs. The moment they heard their master called for them, their heart jumped in excitement.
「「Yes, Master!!」」
「Come here, strip!!!」
Their clothes quickly dropped down on the floor. Their eyes glanced toward Ryan, who laid in puddles of cum, while their tongues started licking their soft, red lips. They could not wait to be fucked by their master… and their master could not wait to release his cum inside their assholes and pussy.
「Like I said before, I’ll reward you two for your excellent performances.」
「「THANK YOU, MASTER!」」Shouted out the two almost simultaneously, with heart shapes could be visibly seen forming in their eyes.
-------

「You sick twisted monster!」Reuk angrily shouted at Kibadios.
「Hey, sorry for letting the monk escaped but aren't you going to thank me for saving Ryan?」
「How dare you did that to him?」
「Let’s be honest here: Ryan was under the influence of so much doses of aphrodisiacs, even if I was not controlling him, he would offer himself to me sooner or later. 」
「Why are you doing this? 」Reuk held Kibadios by his shirt. 「I knew what you have been through, I have seen your past… I understand your hatred, but it does not give you the right to enslave others. Look deep inside you, you know you’re not a heartless...」
「You have seen my past? So how does it feel to have seen the truth about this world?」Kibadios glared at Reuk. 「To correct what I have wronged and to destroy those who have wronged me, I will continue on this path… And you have no power to stop me.」
「... That may be so… But dont you think you can control Ryan forever like you did with him today. Sooner or later, he’ll break free of your control. He’ll give you a good beating and set you straight」
「Have you seen how Rowan and Maia changed? Sooner or later, Ryan would be mine even without being controlled.」snickered Kibadios. 「and together, they would help me with my revenge… Burning down this very corrupt world and its arrogant self-proclaimed gods. 」
「Kibadios… You’re walking down a path that has no return.」
「... Do you remember that very moment when you screamed out in rage, asking me to kill Desmond, right before you died? That is how I feel, every second, every minute, every hour, every day. There is no return for me.」
「Ryan will stop you… He will...」
「We’ll see, won't we?」

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on a much later date:

It's a bit different from what I imagine the scene to be (I imagine Kibadios pins Ryan down and ravages him mercilessly) but I still like it cuz I really like the artist's style.
Artist: ロビン神父

Pixiv ID: 25474

R18

R18

R18

Notes:

I was sleepy when I wrote this and since I have not proofread it, it may be filled with inconsistency and plot holes lol

Chapter 11

On the first day after Ryan’s induction into Kibadios’ harem of fuck toys, the hybrid let him borrow some clothes they had stored in the carriage while allowing Rowan recovered most of the hero’s injuries. To both the surprise of the hybrid and the hero, it only took Rowan a few spells to completely heal the hero back to how he was before. According to Ryan, who was more knowledgeable about this world, such a feat was rare, even for high ranking healer found in the kingdom’s royal capital. Such compliments from Ryan made Rowan’s face blushed red.  

「As long as I am useful for Kibadios sama!」Rowan scratched his head shyly.

After breakfast, which all of them gobbled their food like hungry beasts since none of them ate anything last night, Kibadios turned to his newest toy.

「... Do you mind if  we take a walk after this?」asked Kibadios. Ryan has been staying silent for the entire breakfast that it made the hybrid worried about whether he was still under his mind control.

「... Sure...」Ryan answered while avoiding Kibadios’ gaze. 

This is not a good sign. He’s not acting as if he’s my toy at all…

 

The two individuals, a hybrid monster and a hero, walked silently next to each other for a good ten minutes. Not even once did the hero made direct eye contact with his supposed master, and that worried Kibadios tremendously. At this very moment, the calculating hybrid was strategizing his plans for the scenario in which the hero would suddenly break out of his mind control. The warning he received from Reuk was now echoing inside his head. 

「「... So.」」Both of them initiated the conversation at the same time.

「「...」」

「「You go first.」」

「「No, you...」」

「... Ahhh… 」screamed out Ryan in frustration. 

「You go first, Ryan.」yielded Kibadios, this time in a more demanding voice since he wanted to know what the hero was thinking before formulating his responses.

「... I wanted to thank you for rescuing me from the goblin nest.」said Ryan.

Huh? No anger or anything? It seems he’s still under my control

「Dont sweat it. Sorry I was too late to save your companions.」

「... No, it was not your fault. Like you said yesterday, it was all my fault… I was weak」

He remembered our hypnosis session yesterday? The hybrid was surprised. Even though yesterday was the first time he performed < Hypnosis >, he believed anyone who was under its effect should not be able to remember the session itself. Maybe because he’s a hero so he’s more resistant… I have to be careful on what Im saying.

「... Yesterday, when I was under the effect of the aphrodisiac… I remembered you said you ate Reuk?」

Shit! Kibadios panicked, though there was no way he could deny it.「... Yes. One of my unique skills I inherited from my ogre father let me devoured him whole and obtained his abilities.」

「Was there any pain?」

「No. I made sure he would not feel any pain.」answered Kibadios frankly.

「Thanks… Master.」Ryan let out a faint smile.

What did he just call me? So he’s still under my control? Kibadios was thoroughly confused.

「Master? You're alright?」Ryan concerningly asked when he noticed the hybrid has stood still, looking at him puzzlingly. Yet, the moment Ryan looked straight at Kibadios’ face, the hero quickly turned away, covered his face with his hands, his ears were all red.

Wait, dont tell me he’s blushing…

「Yeah, Im fine. 」answered Kibadios, his hand grabbed onto the hero’s burning face 「... Are YOU okay?」

「... I… 」The hero’s burning face turned even redder as their eyes met. 「I am sorry, Master! I was so lewd yesterday, all because of the aphrodisiac!!!」

… Ka… Kaa… KAAWAAIIII!!! The hybrid screamed internally as he realized the reason Ryan was acting strange all morning was not because he had broken free of his mind control, but because the hero was remembering everything they did yesterday. You’re even more innocent than Maia and Rowan, my virgin little hero!

「It’s… It’s fine.」Kibadios calmed himself down and switched back to his calculating personality within seconds.  「... So you remember what happened yesterday night?」

「Yeah.」nodded Ryan. 「You put me under your mind control...」

FUCK!? Jolted the hybrid. 

「... and so I have begged to be your slave 」Ryan fidgeted.  「... And then, we… had… sex... I begged for your … you know… and...」

What is going here? So he is now aware that I put him under mind control but then he still consider me as his master now? So, does this mean the skill worked?... or not?

The hybrid scratched his head,  worrying about the hero gaining back his free will, but soon adorableness radiating from the hero caused him to just forget all the concerns. His hand instinctively patted the Ryan’s head and ruffled his beautiful crimson hair.

「Dont worry about it, Ryan. I like how you acted last night. A hero helplessly begged to be fucked like a horny whore, that’s just hot!」reassured Kibadios. The hybrid intentionally described the hero demeaningly, just to observe his reaction. And to his relief, the hero did not show a hint of anger as he nodded and smiled at his master, devotedly. 

So despite his awareness, the < Hypnosis > still works!

「Kibadios sama」the hero hesitantly called out his master’s name after the two have started to walk back to their camp 「About your < Hypnosis >... Is there any way... you can erase the memory of what happened in the goblin nest from my mind?」

Kibadios suddenly stopped walking, and just stared at his newest fuck toy.

「Ryan, You disappointed me.」the hybrid declared.

「Kibadios sama… I ...」

「Look here, Ryan the hero」Kibadios held the back of Ryan’s head, pulling the hero toward his face. The intense eye to eye contact rattled the now visibly nervous hero. 「I did not know you are such a coward, though had I known this, maybe I should have left you there in the goblin nest. If you keep trying to forget a memory just because it’s unpleasant or painful, how can you ever grow as a person? Forgetting your past, or in this case, the sacrifices of your companions, just to find a peace of mind, how selfish are you? Can you still consider yourself a hero after that? 」

「No!... But I… Everytime I close my eyes, I could see them suffering in agony… all because I failed to protect them.」Tears fell down the hero’s cheek

「Then live with your failure. Your failure defines you, it molds you into the future version of YOU. The moment you forget a part of your past and your failures, you forfeit a part of your own future.」Kibadios passionately lectured the hero. The hybrid did not know he would have cared about it that much but somehow, Ryan reminded the hybrid of his past self. 「Channel your regrets and hatreds to be the seed for your growth, Ryan. Only then, can you find the peace you’re looking for. 」

The hero at this point, could only nodded. Suddenly, he felt a gentle touch on his face by his master, wiped away his tears.

「Grow stronger to avenge the death of your companions. Grow stronger to be more useful for me. Grow stronger to be useful to your own self」Kibadios leaned in and whispered into Ryan’s ear. 「... and one more thing, I lied to you about Reuk’s last word. He did not blame you. He asked me to save you. Do not let his sacrifice be in vain」

As Kibadios walked away, he soon broke into a cold sweat. Why the hell did I do that? He totally got caught up in the moment and inadvertently revealed the truth to Ryan. However, it seemed like his control still clouded the hero’s perception since he would just smiled and thanked Kibadios for telling him the truth. Nonetheless, the hybrid clicked his tongue and reflected his latest slip up. This was his third reincarnation as a monster, his mind and body filled with grudge and the desire for revenge. He thought he had discarded the last of his humanity and compassion, yet it still resided within him, waited to sneakily take over his thoughts and actions as it did just now.  I think I like myself better when I am in heat and lust would just turn me into a heartless ass . 

Once Kibadios and Ryan got back to the campsite, Kibadios would tell Ryan about his real backstory, about how he was born in a monster village, how it was attacked when he was just an infant and his mom had to leave him floating down the river to escape the onslaught, and how he was now longing for revenge against that particular Commander . What he left out, though, was the stories of his previous reincarnations. They began to discuss what to do next since the hybrid’s plan of going up the river to visit his old village was disrupted by the addition of the hero into their party. Although Ryan was in favor of ignoring the summons he received to accompany Kibadios on his trip back to his home village, the hybrid had another idea. He had decided to take a detour and visit Lorian, the capital of the current nation they were in. After all, he reasoned, he saw no reason to rush for his revenge. Going to Lorian, meeting other high ranking individuals and heroes would help him grow even stronger. After all, he needed to regain the power he obtained during his first reincarnation to be able to carry out his grand plan of destroying the false gods of this world. Spending the time to discuss his future plans with his slaves, though, reminded him of the fact that he still did not know much about the geopolitical information of this current timeline. 

「Ryan, can we spend time today for you to teach me everything I need to know about this world?」asked Kibadios.

「Sure, Kibadios sama!!」Ryan excitedly answered. 「Though, I thought Rowan-chan and Maia-chan would have told you about it by now?」

「Well...」Rowan and Maia looked at each other. 「We have been living in an isolated village since our birth so we did not know much either. The world that we know of comprised only of our village and its vicinity. I guess the farthest we ever got to was the town of Syllia.」

「Is that so?」The hero nodded. 「That makes sense why you guys didn't let master know that he is using weird terms to refer to himself.」

「Huh? Weird terminology?」asked Kibadios

「Yeah. You kept referring to yourself as “monster”」said Ryan. 「Technically, that’s wrong. “Monster” are usually used when referring to the unintelligent monsters like slimes, golems… or goblins… But intelligent humanoid races, like ogres, or demonic races, like incubi, are usually called “demihuman”. There is one exception though: the people from the Yronas Theocracy , who believe in human supremacy, would call all demihuman “monsters”. Heck, they even call Elven race “monster.”  」

「「I see!」」Rowan, Maia, and their master all nodded, though the hybrid quickly gave his two slaves a puzzled look, wondering how the hell did they not knowing these basics. But that mysterious man who pulled the strings behind the attack on Rowan and Maia’s village, didn't he call me a monster? Does that mean he’s from the Yronas Theocracy? From his tone, though, it didn't seem like he held any hatred for monsters. 「Thanks, Ryan, for letting me know about this basic knowledge」

「It’s fine, Kibadios samas. After all, you were just born more than a year ago and no one was around to teach you all these things... 」Ryan suddenly looked dejected. 

「What’s wrong?」asked Kibadios.

「No… No, it’s nothing. It’s just that I remember you’re only around 1.5 years old now...and that would make me a shotacon… an extremely perverted shotacon.」Ryan covered his face from all the shame. Since he just pointed it out, both Rowan and Maia also gave the hybrid an “I’m so sorry for being a shotacon” look. 

What the hell…Physically, I’m like 16-17 while mentally, i'm already like 70+ from all my previous life combined so that wouldn't be counted as shotacon, would it?… Wait a minute, does that make me the pedophile here since they’re like teenagers? Well, let’s not go there… Kibadios gulped, then tried to change the topic.  

「... Anyways, let’s continue. How are the demi-humans being treated in this world?」

「That’s a bit hard to answer. I guess it’s depending on the regions. This country,  Kingdom of Maeg, is a bit friendly to demihumans since they have a lot of elven and ogre tribes living in their territory and they even have a close diplomatic relationship with the demihuman city-state of Uruk . The closer you get to Yronas Theocracy, though, demihumans are being treated worse and worse, with many of the nations’ governments do not grant them the same rights as humans so you can find a lot of demihuman slaves there. On the extreme side, Uronas Theocracy would actively kill any demihuman set foot in their country.  」Ryan explained. 

...That “Uruk” name, maybe it’s just a coincidence, but somehow I feel like it’s related to the ancient city state of Uruk in Mesopotamia, if that’s true...

「Let’s talk geopolitics later, Ryan. I want to know a few other things first.」Kibadios decided to wait until they have a better map to learn geography. 「First of all… what do you know about The Gods ...」

The hero began to explain everything about this current world to Kibadios. At several mentioning of his targets of interest , the hybrid’s eyes would turn bloody red with rage but he would skillfully hide it from the hero since he was afraid the hero would be too afraid to continue explaining about the world to him. Afterward, the lecture continued on to talk about crucial geopolitical information as the hero drew up a large world map onto the camp ground with a stick. Since the hero was locally from the Kingdom of Maeg, a large part of his lecture was about the kingdom itself.

With all these new information, I have to formulate my plan accordingly . Concluded Kibadios as Ryan finally finished his Geography and Political Science 101. Since the sun has begun to set, Rowan was tasked to find some game for Maia to cook dinner. Meanwhile, Kibadios would send a letter to the guild girl back in the town through a messenger hawk he bought to inform her of what happened. Of course the letter was written by Ryan since Kibadios did not know how to read or write… something that he had asked Ryan to teach him. He always felt weird how his mind could easily understand and speak the language whenever he reincarnated but he could not read or write, a handicap that he would love to fix. 

「You know, I could tell the guild girl was interested in you.」teased Kibadios as Ryan was writing his letter.

「That’s too bad, because I have already belonged to you.」Ryan gave his master a mischievous grin as a reply. 

Well, that admission was just too kawaii. It has been more than 16 hours since he last had sex and the hero’s grin has just kicked off another session of heat in the hybrid. The hybrid soon sat behind the hero, his hands freely slit under his clothes like it was the most natural thing in the world.. At first, they were playing with the hero’s sensitive nipples, which after just a few twists, have caused the hero to uncontrollably moan. Since he was writing a letter, the hero protested a little bit but with his mind still under control by the hybrid, it soon proved futile. The hybrid ordered his fuck toy to continue writing the letter as he pulled down the hero’s pant, revealing his rock hard, precum-leaking cock. His hands then moved down onto the hero’s lower part and rubbed his uncut cock hard. By this point, the hero could not even more a finger, let alone writing a letter, since he was writhing in pleasure. Just a few minutes later, the hero’s cock exploded in cum, splattered it all on top of the letter, which was already covered with his own saliva. 

「Lick up your cum from the letter, Ryan. You still need to send it to the cute guild girl」Kibadios bit down into the hero’s slender nape. 

「Huh? I can write a new let...」

「No, I want you to send her this letter that is dripping in your cum. Dont be too stingy, my toy, let the girl have a little memento from her crush.」

「... Are… are you jealous, Kibadios sama?」asked Ryan smirkingly, after he understood why his master was acting strange.

「You little shit!」exclaimed the hybrid. Being mad since the hero just exposed his intention, the hybrid became even more aggressive. By the time Rowan and Maia came back, the hero was lying naked on the ground, cum leaking out of his gaping hole.

Notes:

On Hiatus. This is the end of the intro arc (FOR REAL THIS TIME) and I need to think of the detailed plot line. Also, I need to focus on my school work for at least 1-2 months.

Chapter 12

It has been a full week since Ryan was put under Kibadios’ control and it seemed like the hero has finally gotten used to being a part of the hybrid’s harem of fuck toys. Of course there were some awkward moments as he saw both Rowan and Maia being naked for the first time, servicing their master together. Being a principled and honest hero, Ryan kept turning his head away the moment his eyes caught glimpses of Maia’s naked body. Even though he did not hold any lust for the girl, his instinct of a gentleman forbade the hero to look straight at the girl while she has fully discarded her clothes. It took Kibadios a few days to help Ryan to get comfortable with Maia presence by purposefully fucking both of them together. By the third day, both of them were happily sucking their master’s cock while naked, one on each side. Despite Maia’s smooth perky breasts and tempting pink nipples presented right in front of the hero, he would no longer avert his eyes as both of them focus on the most important task at the time: pleasuring their one and only master. 

Even though the group has been travelling north toward Lorian, spending most of their time inside the carriage, Kibadios made sure to stop frequently by the roadside. During those breaks, he would make all three of his slaves practice their fighting skills. Thanks to having included Ryan, whose level and skills are almost at the same level as the hybrid, Kibadios now has a sparring partner. This world operated just like any video games back on earth: to raise your level and skill, you have to be continuously fighting with a strong enemy. Since Kibadios had pretty much “maxed out” his level by killing random low level monsters, he desperately needed to fight with someone as strong as him to advance even further. Either that or killing more than 150,000 low level monsters just to improve 1 level. The choice was clear.

<Analysis>

Rowan Z.

Age: 17

Level: 23

Mana: 12,700

Class: Mage_Healing, Mage_Defender

Ability: <Sensory lvl3>  <FullHeal lvl2> <Barrier lvl5>  

Unique Skill: <Flame of Restoration>

 

<Analysis>

Maia Z. 

Age: 16

Level: 17

Mana: 68

Class: Alchemist

Ability: <Synthesis lvl4> <Cook lvl3> <Forager lvl5>

Unique Skill: <Poison Manipulation>

 

After several training sessions, the hybrid finally scanned his slave’s progress. To his surprise, Rowan the healer mage has finally acquired a unique skill, < Flame of Restoration >. He has never fought anyone with that skill but according to Rowan himself, < Flame of Restoration > contained a temporal element that allowed its user to cast busts of flame that can rewind about 30 minutes in time wherever it burnt and the effect is permanent. 

「Interesting!」Kibadios was excited to know his loyal slave has acquired such powerful unique skill. 「Do you have full control of it now?」

「I’d say 60%.」

「Try to master it.」Kibadios patted his slave’s head, encouraging his progress. 「Have you realized the potential of that unique skill? First and foremost, it can be used as a healing magic. However, imagine if your opponent has just used some potions to recover, you can instantly negate that recovery by casting the flames on him and rewind back in time to before the effect of the potions take hold.」

「I see.」nodded Rowan.

「For you, I see that your <Poison Resistance> has evolved into <Poison Control>.」Kibadios turned to Maia. Despite her innocent look, her skills have become more and more deadly overtime. She’s basically Megellan, minus the constant diarrhea and infinitely prettier. Her <Poison Control> is just another name for Doku Doku no Mi. The hybrid thought to himself. 

「Yes, Kibadios sama!」Maia smiled 「Though as of now, I think I can only use 40% of its power.」

「I bet. Since it’s a powerful skill, it would take some time for you to fully master it.」

Next, the hybrid turned to Ryan, his newest slave. Since meeting the hero, Kibadios was never able to read his status since both of them are at a similar level. However, with the hero fully under Kibadios’ influence, Ryan consented without a bit of hesitation to let his master peek into his stats.

 

<Analysis>

Ryan Z. 

Age: 18

Level: 45

Mana: 5700

Class: Hero_Swordfighter, 

Ability: <Martial Art lvl5> <Heavenly Slash lvl5> <Sensory lvl5> <Thunder Flash Lvl6> 

Unique Skill: < Holy Blade Works > <Tempest Crush>

 

「So you’re aligned with lightning elemental? 」observed Kibadios. 「That makes sense why you were so fast during our trainings.」

「Yeah. Besides that, as you can see, since I have the seed of a hero, I also align with holy elemental, but its not at a mastery level yet.」explained Ryan. 「Apparently, with my < Holy Blade Works >, I can summon thousands of swords imbued with holy elements. But as of now, the best I can summon is 10.」

Well, that just sounds like Unlimited Blade Works… with extra steps , Kibadios thought.

「... With you having taken in my last name and associated with demonic elements, I bet you wont be able to improve your mastery over that holy elemental skill anymore.」

「That would explained so much! I have been having a hard time trying to summon the swords. I just tried last night, but I could hardly materialized 9.」

「... Can you comfortably maintain, say, like 5 or 6?」Kibadios stared at Ryan.

「That should be fine.」

「Then focus your training on using only those 6 holy swords. There’s no point trying to increase the number of weapons if just summoning them draining you so much power already. 」

Ryan nodded repeatedly. 「Do you want to start our training now?」

「Sure!」grinned Kibadios. 「This time, try your best. Fight me at your most powerful state. Dont worry about injuring me. If anything, Rowan and Maia can step in and heal us.」

「Yes, Kibadios sama!」The hero was excited. For a few days now, the hero wanted to spar with his master with all he got. However, during all the past training sessions, he held back his strength since he was afraid his master would misconstrue his actions to be rebellious. After all, he was still a hero and his master was still a demi-human, he did not want the hybrid to doubt his uttermost loyalty. But now, having granted permission to fight against his master using his best effort, the hero was thrilled, his heart beat fast with anticipation. With Rowan and Maia standing on each side of the imaginary battlefield, the fight suddenly started as Kibadios quickly summoned his black scythe. With just one swing, the scythe extended toward Ryan at an incredible speed.

CLANG!

The hero, with his lightning aligned skills, easily unsheathed his sword and parried off his master attack. Moving in a high subsonic speed, Ryan ziczac-ed his way toward his master. The hero’s unpredictable move caused the hybrid some trouble as he did not know where to direct his strike since his slave kept jumping from one place to another. Damn, just like Ash’s pikachu and his quick attack, Kibadios gritted his teeth in frustration. Soon enough, with all his strike easily missed Ryan, his slave was soon standing right in front of him, ready for his counterattack.

「Thunder Flash!!!!」screamed out Ryan, the slash of his sword was now sparkling with electricity. Since Kibadios’ specialty was not truly close combat, the hybrid had no chance of stopping his slave’s attack. Soon, the holy sword cut through his flesh like mud. As his blood splattered onto the ground and Ryan’s clothing, dying it red, both Rowan and Maia panicked. 

「Stay back, you guys!」screamed out Ryan as both of his fellow harem members hurried to their master. 「He’s fine! I did not cut him! It was an illusion. 」

「... How did you know? 」Kibadios emerged from the hero’s own shadow. For the first time, his < Jagan_Evil Eyes > unique skill was detected without him having to reveal it. 

「I could feel the difference in the resistance of your flesh.」replied the hero as he swung his sword around his back. 

「So you have perfected your sensory skills to such a degree?」amused Kibadios.

「Yes, master!」Answered Ryan. 

Kibadios knew that his newest slave was strong, but strong was a bit understatement as he witnessed how the hero fight earnestly in person. Each of his attack, thanks to his <Martial Arts lvl5>, was extremely difficult to dodge. The straight, sharp sword, in Ryan’s hand, was fluidy like a hungry snake hunting for prey. Another reason that made dodging his slave’s strikes extremely difficult was the fact that the faint yellow lightning that enveloped the metal sword was almost impossible to see. Whenever Kibadios moved to avoid the sword, he also had to pay attention to the lightning, which could expand or contract at Ryan’s will. Even though the hero almost land several direct hits, as time passed, his master has gotten used to evading. After continuously attacking for a while with no result, the hero suddenly directed his attacks onto the ground. 

「Tempest Crush!」With his swords imbedded into the earth, the hero shouted out, activated his unique skill. The whole battlefield was quickly filled with tiny sparks of lightning as the sky above them darkened. Without any warning, several orbs of lightning circling around the hybrid. For the first time since he was born into this life, he could see a distinct possibility of defeat right in front of him. Kibadios fully understood that on wrong move and he would be electrocuted by those thunderbolts. 

「Incredible, Ryan.」the hybrid praised his slave as he noticed the orbs have now formed a sort of a dome, covered every direction possible. 

「I’m sorry, master! But since you ordered me to go all out...」

「Don’t be sorry!」Grinned Kibadios. Under his feet, his shadow has expanded out, ready to protect its master. His unique skill, < Demonic Abyss >, was now fully activated. Even though his shadow could be used for attacking, it was more of a defensive unique skill since it could act as a blackhole that absorbed most of the attacks. When used together with < Devour >, Kibadios could easily gobble up his opponent whole, just like he did with Reuk back in the cave. On top of his shadow, his hands clenched into fists, were now covered in black flames. Due to his alignment with fire,  he has long achieved mastery over fire magic so casting a fire spell in such a quick time frame was an easy task for the hybrid. Knowing that he could not win without also putting all his strength to use, he has quickly casted the spell of eternal flame . A high tier magic,when casted, a black flame would envelop the caster’s hands. With it, the casters can attack their opponents by projecting the flame. The spell possessed two special properties: One was that it could never be extinguished unless the casters willed it, or they are killed.  The second was that the flame could be extended within a 100 meter radius and its projectile could be easily controlled by the caster. This property provided the caster with an unbelievable flexibility in attacking. 

「Here I come, master!」Ryan leaped toward his master with his sword in hand. The hero also directed some of the lightning down his feet to protect himself from his master’s large shadow that was cast onto the ground

「Come, my slave! Let me show you the strength of your master!」screamed out Kibadios. 

By now, several thunderbolts had been fired at the hybrid, but luckily, most of them were blocked by Kibadios’ shadow defense. Some were able to pass through, but they exploded before reaching their targets as the black flame, controlled by the hybrid, easily kept up with their speed and pierced through them. As the hero closed in, Kibadios did not bother to dodge anymore as he also charged straight at his slave. Ryan with his sword and Kibadios with his eternal flame clashed directly, their incredible aura spewed uncontrollably into the surrounding... 

 

「Ahhh!」screamed out Ryan, who was now laying on the ground, his hands covered his face. 「You’re incredible, master! You’re way too strong!」

「You’re one to talk!」Kibadios was laying next to Ryan, though his head was resting on Maia’s lap.  「I thought I would actually lose.」

「But you didn't!」 Ryan looked at his master with admiration. 「I lost to you… And I bet you didn't even use 100% of your strength either. I can tell.」

「... Maybe 80%?」admitted the hybrid. Though now, after the fight and the adrenaline rush, he has become too horny to care about what happened during the fight anymore. Right now, he preferred to focus on what would be happening next: an intense foursome between him and his three loyal slaves. 

Noticing his visible pant tent, Maia let out a faint smile, then slowly stripped down her clothes, revealing her bare breasts. Without any order from her master, she bent down her back, lowering her breast down onto the hybrid’s salivating mouth. The moment her breast was within his reach, the hybrid swiftly bit and sucked on one of her breasts while pulling and twisting the other. The obedient alchemist could not contain any of her moans. 

「Still no milk. 」teased the hybrid as he released her nipple from his mouth. Just a few weeks ago, Maia has just confessed with the hybrid that her period was late and she was afraid she’d be pregnant with his child. Of course, that would be a blessing for her, but she knew if she was pregnant with his child, she’d be a burden for him. The alchemist girl was soon relieved (and a bit disappointed) when her master explained to her that not having her period was normal since the moment she chose to become an incubus’ slave, her body would change to accommodate the incubus’ constant need for sex. Additionally, it’d be hard for her to get pregnant with his child since the chance that an interspecies couple to conceive was almost zero. That was the reason why hybrid demi-humans were extremely rare… and extremely powerful. Still, the hybrid assured her, she would soon be able to produce milk with her breasts since it was another modification to an incubus’ slave. 

「I’m sorry, master!」Maia covered her blushing red face.

「Dont worry. You’ll be producing milk for me sooner or later.」The hybrid opened his mouth and sucked on his slave’s other breast. 

Ryan and Rowan did not want to lose to Maia either since after removing their master’s clothes, both of the men were also butt naked and skillfully taking care of the hybrid raging boner The hero has, by now, took in the hybrid's whole erect cock down his throat. Despite gagging on his master cock, the hero still consistently bobbed his head and and down, his tongue swirled along the rock hard shaft.  For Rowan, the healer thoroughly licked and pleasured his master’s balls with his mouth and hands. Often, he would suck his master ball, then his tongue would slowly find its way down his master’ asshole. By now, the musky scent from their master’s sweat has caused both the teenagers to enter a trance like state, their sensitivity and horniness maxed out as their own cum bust out of their erect cocks from merely licking and pleasuring Kibadios’ cock. The two, who were now covered in their own cum, slid their slimy bodies up against Kibadios. They soon stopped the moment they reached their master’s nipples. With Ryan on his left and Rowan on his right, both his nipples were being massaged and pleasured by the men’s mouth, while each of their hands still wrapped around his cock. Of course, what happened next was the usual intense intercourse as the hybrid intensely fucked his slave’s brains out for more than 4 hours until all of his slaves have laid lifelessly, butt naked on the grassy field. Needless to say, their trip to the capital was delayed by another day…. Not that Kibadios would complain.

Notes:

Writing his chapter while I take a break from writing for school lol.
Btw, one of my "kink" was laying on someone lap while sucking their nipples lol...

Chapter 13

Note: This is still on Hiatus period since Im still busy with my work. I have been writing this chapter on and off for like months. There maybe some inconsistencies within the chapter itself since it was written over a really long period of time. Once I get back to writing for real, I'll reread the whole chapter over and correct any inconsistencies. 

 

Since Kibadios and his harem were camping just a few hours away from Lorian, they were able to finally make it to the capital at just half past ten. Lorian, the capital of the Maeg Kingdom, was unlike any other small towns Kibadios has passed on the way. First and foremost, it was huge. Even compare to several large towns that Kibadios has passed through, the capital was at least six times their sizes. Protecting the city was a large stone wall structure with numerous watch towers. According to Ryan, there were more than 6 gates leading into the capital and the gate they were entering right now was one of the largest. Indeed, as the hybrid’s carriage approached, the gate seemed to be growing more and more with each step they took. Instead of wooden structure gates that were found in other towns, Lorian’s gates, or at least the one they were entering, was made of metal reinforced with protective magic. Once reaching the gate, he noticed several soldiers, covered in high class armors that hide almost all of their bodies, were inspecting any travellers who wanted to get inside.  

「Name and purpose?」The leader of the city gate’s guards asked Kibadios’ group.

「My name is Ryan, a hero. I am here in response to a royal summon.」Ryan calmly responded, then he turned to the hybrid, who has disguised himself as human to lessen any scrutiny they might get from the guards. 「And here is my master, Kibadios-sama!」

「...Master… of a hero?」surprised the guard as he examined the authenticity of the royal summons. After all, heroes, pinnacles of human existence, were supposed to be the leader of their respective party. It was not too often they would encounter a hero who served someone else. 

「Yeah, I am nothing but his loyal retainer.」Ryan shoot the hybrid a smiling look. After all, on the way, Kibadios had planned to act as Ryan’s party member and follower, but the hero fervently refused and insisted to have people acknowledge from the beginning that Kibadios was his master. 

「... Hmm」the guard looked at Rowan and Maia. 「So, what about them?」

「We are also Kibadios sama’s retainers.」Maia replied with a smile. 

「... Having a hero to serve as your retainer, you must be a big shot, huh?」

「Not really, I’m just an adventurer. Just by chance I helped saving Ryan’s life so he swore to follow and serve me… not that something I wanted but he kept insisting… hahaha」Kibadios lied.

「Is that so? Okay, you guys can...」the guard looked at Kibadios from head to toe. As he almost let them pass, he was interrupted as Kibadios’ chest suddenly swell up. The surprised and confused guard slowly poked the hybrid’s breast. 「What… is this?」

「CHiiiii!!!」a small shadow quickly popped up  from inside Kibadios’ shirt, then quickly slid up along his face and nested on top of his head. 

「A slime??」asked the guard.

「Oh yeah, we picked up this little guy here on our way here.」Kibadios raised his arms above his head to grab onto his newly adopted pet. The slime, who he named Nu, was a low class monster he found right after his big mock battle with Ryan. According to Rowan, during the clash, some of the hybrid’s and Ryan’s haki had shot up to the sky and hit a flying monster, causing it to drop its prey down onto the ground. The prey, which turned out to be a cute little slime, was adopted by the hybrid as his pet after Maia seemed to have fallen in love with its cuteness. Since Ryan guaranteed them that despite being classified as monsters, having a slime as a pet was fairly normal, Kibadios did not find any problems with keeping the slime. After all, he was also fond of the cute little slime himself since it reminded the hybrid of his dog during his life on Earth.

「A slime huh? That scared me. I thought you’re growing boobs right there!」laughed the guard. Although it annoyed the hybrid, he remained calm since causing a scene here would make it harder for him to cross the checkpoint. 「Oh well, everything seems to be fine. You guys can come in… Welcome to Lorian, capital of Maeg! Hero-sama, you can report to the Royal Inn, they will make arrangements for your stay here at Lorian. Further instructions will be given to you there.」

After a few nods and thanks, the hybrid made it in the city without any problem. The group took a few steps inside, then both Rowan and Maia suddenly stop moving. For people coming from a mere isolated village like them, who might have never set foot into the capital had it not been for their master, the pair was dumbfounded by the grandeur of Lorian. The capital’s main street, despite being as wide as a highway back on earth, were packed with people and carriages. Each side of the road were decorated with fully grown row of trees that cast an undisrupted shadow onto the smooth pavements, providing refuge for people in the summer heat. According to Ryan, during the springtime, these trees would be blooming yellow with their flower, providing a pleasing aesthetic to the city itself. Still sitting on top of the hybrid’s head, the slime was also excited to be in Lorian as it continuously jumped up and down, making noises. 

「That’s not good, Nu-chan!」Maia finally removed the slime off of Kibadios’ head. 「Stop jumping on top of Kibadios sama’s head. Stay here with me!」

The slime finally calmed down as it laid there in Maia’s arms and tugged itself nicely underneath her breast. You little shit… Kibadios shot him a look but soon turned his gaze to another direction as he realized he was jealous of a pet. That and the fact that he realized he could ravage Maia’s body any time he wanted has quickly calmed him down. 

「Kibadios sama.」called out Ryan 「You guys can have a look around, I will go to the guild for a bit.」

「You’re going to ask for the home address of the priestess in your party?」Asked Maia.

「Yeah. Since most of the records of adventurers are kept here, at the largest guild in the country, I should be able to find out her home address. As I have told you, she told me that she usually sends money back to her hometown for her sick parents so I just want to continue sending them some money in her stead...  It’s the least I could do for her.」

「We can come with you.」said Kibadios. 

「Huh? It’s fine, Master. I don't want to bother you. Besides, I also want to hang out at the guild for a while to gather some information too. 」

「Are you sure?」

「Yes. Besides, Master, Rowan-chan, and Maia-chan. You guys have never been to the capital right? You can walk around, there are a lot of fun attractions. There’s also a huge marketplace a few blocks from here, you can find almost everything for sale there.」

「「Really?」」Both Rowan and Maia’s eyes were brightened up.

「If that’s the case, I’ll take a look around.」

「I’ll be waiting at the guild for you guys.」

「Good. We’ll be back within an hour or so.」

Once Ryan has entered the guild, Maia turned to her master. 「Let’s check out the marketplace Ryan mentioned. I bet it’s going to be fun.」

「Sure.」the hybrid nodded. After all, he’s also curious about what it had to offer.

------

「I’ll take this one.」said Kibadios as he held out the circlet.

「Is that a present for Ryan chan?」asked Maia

「Yeah. After all, a hero needs his circlet to have a more heroish look.」The hybrid reminisced about all the JRPGs he had played during his first life. 「You two arent jealous, are you?」

「No, of course not!」Answered Rowan while touching the feather connected to his earring 「We already have received our own gifts from you」 

「Why dont we go over there, where the crowd is?」asked Maia once her master has finished paying for Ryan’s gift. 

「Wow, that’s a lot of people. What’s happening there?」wondered Rowan

The three people soon made their way through the sea of people. This marketplace, befitting its unofficial title of “Largest gathering in the Kingdom of Maeg”, was unimaginably huge. It was probably more than ¾ the size of Rowan and Maia’s village, with merchants gathered from various corners of the kingdom, with some even came from outside the kingdom border. Just like how Ryan told Kibadios, since the Kingdom of Maeg did not actively discriminate against demihumans, the hybrid could see lots of nonhumans walking around the marketplace, some were buyers, some were sellers. Still, since he has decided to keep his identity hidden, he did not want to remove his disguise here. 

「100 copper coins!!!」yelled out someone at the middle of the large gathering that Kibadios and his two slaves were heading toward. 「Any higher bid? Going once... going twice… SOLD!」

「An auction?」

「I wonder what are they auctioning?」

「Who knows.」

「Slaves.」A husky voice spoke out from behind.

Kibadios turned around to look at the person who just answered their question. It was a tall and muscular man, or at least that was the impression the hybrid got since his entire body, except for his head, was cladded in armors. With his dark wavy long hair covered the top half of his face, his exceptionally white shark-like teeth stood out even more than usual . With just one glance, Kibadios could tell the man standing behind him was a dangerous individual. His haki alone was only comparable to Ryan’s; however, since the hybrid could tell that the man was actively suppressing his own haki, it meant his true haki level was much higher than Ryan. He’s clearly a hero class human!!! ...

「... You are?」asked Kibadios

「...」The hero stared down at the hybrid for a while, then finally answered. 「My name is Kyles. I bet you’re a traveller from far away since you dont know about their famous slave auction.」

「I am an adventurer. This is my first time at Lorian.」

「... Is that so? And these two are...」

「We are his retainers.」answered Rowan. 「We came from a small village so this is the first time ever I see a live auction of slaves… 」

「I see.」

The four of them finally made it to the front row. On the stage was a flamboyantly dressed auctioneer, his face donned with a lively grin as if he was leading a festive event. Yet, kneeling down next to him was a half naked man, his body was covered in fresh wounds, his hands were cuffed behind his back. Once the payment was made by the bidder, the auctioneer remorselessly dragged the slave by his unkempt hair to his new owner.

「You just got yourself a bargain!」laughed the auctioneer as he handed the goods. 

「I know! I know!」nodded the bidder. 

Once the auctioneer made his way back to the middle of the stage, he continued on

「Now, to conclude the event today… The rare and high class slave that most of you have come here for… The elf-girl that we have recently caught from a hunting trip! Her beauty rivals those of princesses from royal houses...」the auctioneer signaled his henchmen to bring out the elf.  「Yllaner!!! 」

Despite being caught as a slave, the light blue hair girl, unlike others who were treated badly in her batch, was still dressed in a beautiful high class garment. Although her smooth, white skin showed no sight of injuries, her hands were still tied behind her back to prevent the elf-girl from escaping. 

「As you can see, I did not lie about her beauty!」The auctioneer held her chin up, allowing the crowd to take a good look at the good. The elf-girl face was both elegant and prideful, her deep blue eyes instantly captivated both men and women in the crowd. 「Once she’s your slave, with the slave crest, you can force her to do anything… I promise you, she will be the perfect onahole!」

The men among the crowd cheered. Presented with the beautiful maiden, some of the rich ugly bastards sitting in the front row were unable to hide the bulges in their pants while their hands busy wiping away their drools. After all, this was the reason why the crowd was abnormally large compared to the usual auctions. 

「Master, look at that elf… 」Rowan nudged his master, who stood right next to him. As a man himself, he could fully appreciate Yllaner’s beauty while as his master’s loyal slave, he could tell Yllaner would be the perfect addition into Kibadios’ harem. Strangely, his nudge received no response. Curious, the teenager turned to his master, only to witness something he had never witnessed before: In front of his eyes, his master stood frozen, his eyes opened wide without a single blink. From the edge of his eye slits, tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping onto his clothes. Taken back aghast by their master’s strange behavior, both Maia and Rowan hurriedly leaped next to their master.

「「What’s wrong, Kibadios sama??」」

「That cant be her...」Kibadios murmured to himself. 「She was dead… She was clearly killed by that fucking bitch and the bitch’s dad more than 3000 years ago… 」

「Who was dead?」asked Rowan worryingly.

「... Master!!」Maia tried shook the hybrid but it was Nu, the slime, who brought the hybrid back to reality by climbing onto his head and stomping it hard with his entire jelly-ish body. 

BONGGG!!! 

「... That fucking hurts, you little shit!」Kibadios angrily removed Nu from his head. 

「「Master, are you okay?」」

「... Yeah. I’m fine.」The hybrid sneakily wiped away his tears. Ignoring the puzzled looks from his two slaves, Kibadios turned his gaze back onto the stage. That elf-girl, Yllaner, looks just like Sylvia . But I can tell they’re not the same person. Is that her reincarnation? Or is that just a random doppelganger? 「She looks… just like someone who was dear to me.」

「The girl?」surprised Rowan. The healer knew that his master was only born more than a year ago, so it was puzzling that he has met someone else before meeting them… 

The girl must have looked like someone from his village? Rowan came to the most logical conclusion. Still, he could not explain the part about her being "killed more than 3000 years ago."  「If that’s the case, should we rescue her?」

「... No.」The hybrid coldly answered after a brief moment of hesitation. After suffering unspeakable tragedies in every single reincarnation, the hybrid named Kibadios now knew only of vengeance. He believed that he had long discarded any unnecessary emotions and attachments, since they were the very causes for his downfall during his first reincarnation. Even if the elf-girl named Yllaner looked just like his beloved wife, so what? She died. She has been dead for more than 3000 years now, along with everyone else that he once loved. This Yllaner was nothing but a stranger… Even if she was the reincarnation of Sylvia, so what? In the end, she was not Sylvia, she could never be his Sylvia. She was nothing but a distraction.「Having her joining our party would just distract me. It’s better for her to be sold off somewhere out of my sight... 」

Chapter 14

    Once the hybrid has regained his composure, the bidding war for the elf-girl named Yllaner has been raging on for a while now. Ignore the yelling and screaming, Kibadios discreetly glanced at Kyles, who was standing next to his group this entire time. The hybrid was worried that he has been saying too much about himself and his past in front of a random hero class individual he just met. As cautious as he was, he had to treat every single person he came into contact with to be a spy for the Ennead, the self proclaimed gods of this world, and Kyles here was not an exception. As of right now, his power level was far below what he had achieved during his first reincarnation so his only advantage over the Ennead would be the fact that they had no idea he had been reincarnated and seeking them out for revenge… and the hybrid really wanted to keep it that way. He carefully studied Kyles’ face for any clue, but soon noticed the armored clad man’s attention has been focusing onto the stage, toward the elf girl.

「5,000 gold coins!」Kyles suddenly made a bid, his loud and husky voice soon quelled any other voices. The crowd began to murmur, discussing the outrageous bid. Even though Yllaner was a beautiful elf, the highest bids for her have been hovering at the upper 100s gold coins. What Kyles offered was almost 50 times that. Strangely, from the moment Kyles made his bid, the frightened and confused elf girl has been smiling nonstop as if she had found her savior. As the whispering began to grow, the auctioneer finally reverted back from his shock, a broad grin now could be visibly seen on his face.

「5,000 gold coins! Going once… Going twice… SOLD!!」He could not contain his excitement, thinking of the fortune he was going to make from the commission for this auction, given that someone had just paid such an outrageously high price for the elf. 

The auctioneer’s declaration was met with growing whiny responses as the rich ugly bastards finally realized they have missed an opportunity to buy a good slave for themselves. Still, as rich as they were, coughing up 5,000 gold coins for a single beautiful slave was not something they could stomach. Once Yllaner has been sold off, the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving only Kyles and Kibadios’ gang standing there in front of the auctioning stage. 

「She’s now yours.」said the auctioneer as Kyles handed over three pouches filled with gold coins. Once confirmed the payment was good, he continued.「Do you need us to restrain her with a slave crest? Once you make a slave crest pact, she won't be able to disobey your demand.」

「I know what a slave crest is! I don't need one. 」Kyles coldly answered. 「And you better uncuff her now.」

「... Sure, sure, sure!」the auctioneer nodded while fumbling through his key chains to find the correct one to open the elf’s cuff. 「It’s good doing business with you. If you ever need another slave, please let me know and i’ll personally find a good one for you. 」

「No need.」Kyles wrapped his cloak around the lightly shaken girl.「Let’s go, Princess.」

Princess? Kibadios, who still stood close by, could clearly overheard Kyles just called Yllaner a “princess.” Interesting… It seemed like they knew each other before.

「Please excuse us. 」Kyles nodded as he walked pass Kibadios. 

「The name is Kibadios!」The hybrid yelled out to the couple, to which Kyles responded by waving his arm as he walked further and further  away.「Maybe we'll meet again, in the near future」

「... From the look of it, they must have known each other.」Rowan also made the same conclusion as his master once Kyles and his newly acquired “slave” have completely disappeared into the crowd of the marketplace.

「So that means Kyles “buying” the elf girl was just to rescue her, right? That’s good for her! It’d be really bad if any of those fat ugly men had bought her instead. 」The kind hearted Maia sighed in relief. 「But are you sure, Master?」

「About what?」

「She looked just like someone dear to you right? Is it okay for you to just let her go like that?」

「Yes. Why not? Even if she’s looking exactly like someone I knew, she’s not her. I couldn't care less if she was bought and raped by some rich ugly dudes, let alone that hero.」

「「Hero??」」

「Yeah, definitely he’s a hero… one that is much stronger than Ryan… maybe even myself.」Kibadios nonchalantly commented. 「Anyways, let’s visit a few other shops before going back to the guild to meet Ryan.」 

Both Rowan and Maia nodded to their master’s suggestion. Although they still had questions about the mysterious person who their master clearly held dear in his mind, neither of them wanted to pry any longer. They knew if they had asked too much about it, the hybrid might become angry. One day, they believed, their master would trust them enough to open himself up to them so for now, they knew all they could do was to obediently serve him until that time came.

「...」Back at the guild, with one twitching eyebrow, Kibadios finally said something after a few minutes of awkward silence. 「How come you two know Ryan???」

Sitting across the table, right in front of him and his slaves, was the couple they had just said goodbye to a few moments ago, Kyles and Yllaner. Once the hybrid and his slaves got back to the guild, they had found Ryan to be happily conversing with the two as if they were some life long friends. Granted, the hybrid had declared that they would soon meet again, but this was too soon. It was like saying goodbye to someone, then only to find out that they all were walking the same fucking direction , Kibadios thought to himself. 

「... Yeah… Ryan was just telling us about you. I am also surprised that you’re the mysterious master who Ryan pledged his loyalty to.」said Kyles, while his “princess” sat next to him in silence. 「Anyways, first and foremost, I have heard what happened to Ryan and his party during that goblin nest mission. I just want to thank you for rescuing him from Desmond and the goblins’ trap.」
「That was nothing. But let’s get back to our topic here: How come you guys know Ryan?」

「Kibadios sama, let me reintroduce them again: His name is Kyles. He possesses the Seed of Hero, just like me. Although he’s 10 years older than me, we have been hanging out together for much of the time we were at the orphanage. He’s like a brother to me.」Ryan happily explained. 「And this is Yllaner-sama, a daughter of the chief of the elven tribe close to my home town.」

「Close to your orphanage? So does it mean Yllaner came from the same tribe as Reuk?」asked Rowan.

… Ahhh, that pain in the ass guy! I already regretted devouring him...

「... Yes. We came from the same tribe.」the girl finally spoke as she tried her best to hold back tears. Her melodious voice quickly captured the attention of Kibadios, Maia, and Rowan. 「He was actually part of my guards before leaving the tribe and joining up with Ryan. He has always wanted to travel to new places. To think he was killed...」

  Even her voice? The hybrid frowned at the fact that even the princess’ voice sounded exactly the same as Sylvia.   

「So, do you have any information on where Desmond might have gone off to?」asked Kyles.

「Not really.」shrugged the hybrid. 「Since the incidence, we have been continuously on the road so naturally we did not hear any news about him.」

「I see.」

「... But don't you worry. I have made a promise with Reuk to kill Desmond for him.」Kibadios’ eyes glowed red, a faint, creepy smile crossed his face. 「and I don't intend to break a promise, ever.」

「...」The hero remained silent while staring straight into the hybrid’s murderous eyes, then finally spoke「I’ll keep my eyes and ears out for any news about the monk. If there’s any lead, I’ll let you know.」

The conversations continued on for another hour, with the topic quickly changed to Yllaner’s situation. Turned out, just by chance, the elf princess was captured the moment she travelled outside of the elven lands. Her entourage was ambushed by some mountain bandits and most were killed. Because Yllaner was clearly a beautiful, high class elf, the bandits decided to sell her to one of the slave traders for a whole lot of gold. Thankfully, some people from her entourage were able to escape and reported the situation back to the tribe. Since Kyles, the princess’ childhood friend, was visiting the orphanage close by, the elven chief had asked him to find and rescue the princess back. Being a veteran adventurer, gathering information and finding out the princess location was not a hard job for him. 

「I see, so that’s why you came to the auction.」

「... Eto...」Maia hesitantly spoke up. 「I know it may not be okay to ask, but how come you can come up with so much money back then at the auction? I was really surprised when I heard your bid.」

「Ah,  that… 」the hero scratched his head. 「Well, one of the members of Yllaner’s tribe has a unique skill to transform anything he touched into gold coins so ...」

「Haha! Really? What an interesting skill.」Kibadios was amused 「Does he realize he can disrupt the entire world’s monetary system?」

「Actually, he can’t」Yllaner shook her head. 「Without one’s Haki continuously pouring into those gold coins, they will transform back into useless rocks in less than hour.」

I see… so this hero here was not just trying to suppress his haki, he was also directing it to the gold coin’s pouch. Having that much control over his own haki… how strong is he, really?

「Wait, so that means the 5,000 gold coins they received will soon turned worthless? 」asked Rowan. 

「To be honest, they got what’s coming for them. I really dont like their business practice. Buying and selling people as slaves, dont they have any decency?」asked Maia. The village girl smiled as she reached out to the princess.「Yllaner, I’m glad that it turned out okay for you.」

「... Thanks, Maia.」

… Wait, that’s ironic considering she loves being my slave … Did she forget that she belongs to me? Thought Kibadios.

「Ha!」a group of passersby loudly interrupted the conversation 「So this is the loser hero who was captured by some lowly goblins?」

「And is that the so called “master”?」another adventure joined in, pointing his finger at Kibadios while looking down at Ryan. 「Man, I have never heard of any hero who would pledge to become a subordinate of a nobody adventurer. Are you sure you’re a hero, Ryan-kun?  」

Yet, the moment the adventurer finished laughing, he was sent flying across the room by Ryan’s punch. The normally happy and easygoing hero quickly turned murderous once his master’s name was being put down by some strangers. 

「「Hiiii!!!」」

「Dont you dare badmouthing Kibadios sama!」Ryan glared at the remaining men. 「I don't care whatever names you’re calling me, but disrespecting my master again and you’re dead.」

Heeding Ryan’s warning, the men swiftly recovered their knockout comrade across the room and ran outside of the guild building.

「Sorry, Kibadios sama… 」

「It’s fine. We knew the rumors about us was spreading in the adventurers’ community so moments like this are to be expected. Afterall, it is indeed strange for a hero to be someone's subordinate, isnt it? 」commented Kibadios. Little did they know, more than just a subordinate, you’ve fully transformed into my obedient slave, Ryan-chan .

「Hahaha!」Kyles let out a loud laugh. 「I guess it’s good that Ryan is with you, Kibadios. I have always been worried about him since he was such a pushover. Always trying to make everyone happy, at the expense of his own well being and feelings. But look at him sending that guy flying with a solid punch! He finally learns to stand up for himself… Well, granted, just now, he was defending your honor, but still! That’s a step in the right direction! 」

「... I guess so.」the hybrid stared at Ryan. 「Anyways, we will have to get going! We need to check in with the royal inn, don't we?」

「Is that so? If so, I won't be delaying you guys. I guess I will see you at the royal meeting two days from now.」

「Huh? You’re not staying at the royal inn?」

「No. I have an acquaintance running a small guesthouse so i’ll be staying there instead. 」

「See you in two days then!」

-------

「... So you finally met the princess?」

「Yeah. The resemblance is uncanny, isnt it?」

「...I was surprised too, when I saw the girl named Sylvia from your memories. She looks exactly like...」

「...If you’re talking to me then at least stop reading the fucking hentai, you fucking perverted weeaboo elf!!!」Kibadios finally threw a thick manga straight at Reuk’s face. After devouring Reuk, the elven archer’s soul has been existing within Kibadios ever since. Naturally, at first, he was adamantly antagonistic toward the hybrid for mind controlling Ryan. However, after realizing the hybrid did not really harm the newbie hero, instead, he was actually helping the hero to cope with the goblin incidence, the elf finally settled down. ‘Well, at least now, I can get to know you more and hopefully I can act as your conscience’ was what he said a few days after being devoured by Kibadios.  Ever since, he had become more and more laid back, his attitude changed 180 degrees from an ideal ikemen to a pervert who kept trying to peek at Maia’s naked body through the hybrid’s eyes. What’s more, he had fully transformed into a weeb the moment he discovered the existence of manga and anime through Kibadios’ memory.「Who could have thought the handsome, serious elf would turn out to be like this...」

「Aw man, you’re still going on about that? I didn't try to deceive you. When we met, I was just too nervous to act like myself since Maia-chan was so pretty… I didn't want her to have a bad impression of me. Everyone knew this side of me, just ask Ryan or Princess Yllaner.」

「That reminds me! Speaking of Maia, if you ever try to catch a glimpse of her naked body, i’ll fucking smash your head!」Several cross-popping veins were now visible on the hybrid’s forehead.

「... You do know that I don't have a physical body anymore right? Smashing my head would do nothing.」smirked Reuk.

「I can still seal your consciousness...」The hybrid stopped mid sentence. Why, yes. He could easily and effectively erase the elf’s presence, but somehow, for the last few weeks, he did not do it. Deep down, despite all his denials, the hybrid indeed realized he liked these pointless interactions with the elf, who currently would be the only person in the whole world that Kibadios could speak to, unrestrictedly… just like a close friend. Ha! A friend?… I am getting soft... Maybe I should really erase his existence...    

「Well, let's get back to the topic. Do you really think the princess is Sylvia’s reincarnation?」The elf finally put the hentai doujinshi of Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken down onto the side. 

「I am almost 90% sure… Though not that it matters much. Even if Yllaner is her reincarnation, they’re not the same person.」

「That’s for sure! Their personalities are almost completely opposite of each other.」

「Is that so?」The hybrid gave Reuk a puzzling look.「Why would you say that?」

「No offense intended but your Sylvia is so crafty and manipulating while the princess is ...」

「Why would that be an offense?」Kibadios cut of the elf while giving him a wicked smile. 「If Sylvia is here, she would totally thank you for the compliment. Besides, if my hunch is correct, I’m pretty sure your precious little princess is wearing a carefully crafted mask.」

「Huh?」

「Just like Yuuki.」Kibadios pointed at the manga next to Reuk. 「You would never have imagined...」

「STOPPPP!!!!」The elf hurriedly ran over to the hybrid as if his life was somehow depending on it, just to cover the hybrid’s mouth. 「Dont freaking spoil the manga for me!!!!」

Chapter 15: Chapter 16

The unseasonal rain has been pouring down onto the crowded capital city for quite some time since dusk, thoroughly soaking and washing away all the accumulating dirt on the city’s pavement. The usual festive capital’s streets at night were now completely empty as most of the citizens have decided to stay within their own comfortable homes. The tavern located on the main street, though, was packed with unusually large crowd as most of the adventurers have chosen it as a place to hide from the cold rain. Of course, the warm delicious food and cold beers they provided were additional bonuses. 

「Damn that fuc…hic... fucking…hic... pathetic hero!!!」A drunk adventurer unsteadily made his way toward the tavern’s exit. Just before leaving, the disheveled man left the tavern a last parting gift as he vomited whatever that was left in his stomach right in front of the entrance, then quickly disappeared into the dark, rainy night before the tavern’s owner could ever chase him. 

「My back and my sto… stomach…hic...still hurts! I bet… I bet he broke several of my bones… that fucking loser of a hero!」The man continued to walk back to his home, which was located only a few blocks away, as he examined his ribs. Although the man’s body was supposed to be aching all over, thanks to him being completely inebriated, he now could barely feel the pain. After all that happened to him today, the drunk and injured could not wait to get back to his home, where his wife and young daughter fearfully awaited for his return. If he could not dream to hit back at the hero, who was clearly much stronger than himself, he could always release his stress by acting out in front of his defenseless family members. The man chuckled at the prospect of beating his wife and kid since the frightened looks on their faces have never failed in reinforcing his self-projected image of a strong and powerful adventurer that he has always believed himself to be. Ahh… home… cant wait get back to my home… the man thought to himself. I cant wait to beat the fuck… His thought was suddenly interrupted as he collided with someone, causing the drunk man to fall down onto the pavement. 

「What the fuck!」the man drunkenly shouted as he looked up at the mysterious person. 「Who the fuck...hic… Who the fuck are you? How dare you…hic... Dare to block me?」

Despite the cloudy storm blocking out the moonlight, thanks to the flickering light from inside people’s homes, the man finally made out the person who was standing in front of him after squinting his eyes together for a few seconds. 

「Hah??? Arent you...hic… arent you that loser’s so called “master”?」said the man as he struggled to stand back up. 「What the hell are you… hic… doing here?」 

「Well, what do you think?」the hybrid gave a devious smile as he looked down at the pathetic adventurer.  「You and your friends insulted me and my slave earlier today, do you think I’ll just let it slide?」

「What? Hah!」The man looked around to make sure the hero wasnt around, then finally stood up from the ground and stared straight at the hybrid provokingly. 「You want a piece of me? What can you do without your precious hero follower?... Wait… What? Did you just say “slave”?」

「Yes, I certainly did.」answered the hybrid as he suddenly swung his arm. It took a moment though, for the drunk man to finally realize his own arms were severed and sent flying by the hybrid’s attack.

「... Ah?.... Ahhh… AAAAHHHHH!!!」The man screamed out, though the loud thunder storm easily drowned out the agony sounds that he just made. With both his arms being cut down, even the liters of alcohol he consumed earlier could not help to suppress the intense pain. 

「You see, I am a selfish and small minded person so I really hate it when others insult me… or even my adorable obedient slaves. I didn't do anything at the time cuz Kyles was there, but that did not mean I’ll let you off.」The hybrid moved closer to the horrified man.

「Get away from me, you monster!!!」The man hurriedly backed down. He was still trying to process what had just happened, from some no-name adventurer calling a hero his slave, to the fact that he had just severed his limbs without breaking a sweat. With both his arms gone, attacking the overpowering threat standing in front of his with his usual sword attached onto his waist was out of the question. Still, from all years being an adventure, he knew he had to fight back or else death would be certain. Of course he could flee, but what chance did he have when the so-called master was so fast, he could easily chop off his arms in an instant. Luckily for the drunken man, he has just remembered one thing, the one thing he learned from the mage in his party that could prove useful: an explosion spell. He was never gifted at magic, that was why he was not a mage. Still, just a few months ago, during one of his missions, the man has learned that he possessed an affinity for explosion magic. After learning a spell from the mage, he has been continuously practicing it. By now, although he could not call himself a mage, he could at least be able to cast a small explosion spell at ease. That was what he needed in this situation. 

The man screamed out as he finished chanting the one spell he knew. 「Die, you fucking monster!」

Soon after the man finished chanting, sparkles began to form around the hybrid, who was completely caught off guard by the man’s unexpected retaliation. The explosion, which soon followed afterward, easily engulfed the hybrid. Although the size of the explosion was much smaller than what the drunken adventurer had hoped for, he was sure such an attack would take down the menace standing in front of him. Yet, as the flames and smoke subsided, the adventurer could still clearly see the so called master stood right there, unharmed. A slimy substance has fully covered his body, protected him from the explosion. After making sure all the shock and flames have been completely absorbed, the substance slowly retreated , condensing into what appeared to be a small slime, resting comfortably on top of the master’s head. 

「Thanks, Nu!」the hybrid raised his hand over his head to pat his pet, then looked around the neighborhood, checking whether anyone was alarmed by the noise from inside their homes. 「It seems people all thought the explosion was merely thunder, huh? Good! I dont want to attract further attention」

「...Is that a slime?... How can… how can a weak slime take on such direct hit?」The man was still in disbelief. 

「He has been absorbing my Haki nonstop for a week now, that should be the least he could do.」explained the hybrid. 「Dont you look down on slimes… well, at least my slime.」

「This is nonsense! Just who are you?」

「Well, let’s finish this, shall we?」the hybrid ignored his victim’s question as he tossed something toward the man. 「Though, truth be told, it seems you fared much better than your other friend there.」

The man’s face turned to despair as he finally realized what the hybrid had just thrown next to him: the head of his friend.

「Remember him? He was the one who started this whole thing by calling my adorable Ryan-kun “loser hero” and mocked him for being captured by goblins.」The hybrid shook his head. 「What was he thinking though? Like I would ever overlook such action and let him live?」

「...Please… Please, spare me!」The adventurer’s mind finally snapped. After seeing the head of his party’s leader rolling around on the ground, he knew he had no chance of escaping here alive if he further angered the embodiment of devils standing in front of him. He continued on to appeal to the hybrid’s mercy, desperate tears swelled up from his eyes. 「Please! I have a wife and young daughter waiting for me at home… Please, spare me! I beggg youuu!」

「...So what?」asked the hybrid coldly as he looked down at the man, who was trying his best to inch away. 「Nu, he’s yours! Hopefully he won't taste so bad. 」

「Chiii!!」The slime excitedly jumped off from the hybrid’s head onto the drunken man’s body. The slime slowly expanded itself as it did earlier when it covered the hybrid’s whole body, but this time, its body turned acidic in the process. With his body fully enveloped by the slime, his clothes soon dissolved into the slime’s body while he struggled in vain for some air. With his clothes gone, his skin was next. Then his flesh and muscles, and lastly his bones. Within seconds, the slime had completely digested its victim, then gleefully jumped back onto the hybrid’s head, looking for his praise.

「Argh...Ahh!」the hybrid groaned as the heavy slime jumped up and down on his head. 「I know, I know! You did a good job… You did a good j… Stop it, you little shit!! Dont you know how heavy you are?」

「Chiiii!!!」answered the murderous adorable little shit as it burped out a bone fragment.

 

---------

「...Kyl-chan… They didn't touch me or do anything to me.」Yllaner’s face blushed beet red as she softly spoke to the hero, who was sitting half naked on his bed, his wet bath towel still laid on his broad shoulders. 

「I know, Yllaner… If anything has happened to you, I would never have left them alone like that.」Kyles reassured his childhood friend with a warm hug to let her know that she was now safe in his protection. Yet, he quickly broke off the embrace as the hero noticed the intimacy atmosphere they were now in.「Anyways, you should go take a bath, Yllaner. I have told them to prepare you a scented bathtub for relaxation.」

The princess looked at the hero for a brief moment, then hesitantly nodded. As she walked out of the room, the elf-girl gave Kyles a faint smile.「You know, Kyl-chan. Sometimes, I really miss the days when you still called me Yllan … 」

But it’s not like we’re kids anymore… Kyles let out a soft sigh. You’re just making it harder for the both of us, Yllaner. 

The great wood-elf clan of Shilna , the self proclaimed protectors of the Vernys Forest where Yllaner came from, had always practiced matriarchy, with Yllaner’s mother presided over the vast forest as its supreme ruler. As her eldest daughter, Princes Yllaner had always been raised with the expectation that one day, she would take over the leadership of the clan. Of course, as the clan’s head, it was expected that the princess’ future daughter would also one day taking over the clan in place of Yllaner. And that was when problem arose, at least for Kyles and Yllaner. It was the clan’s tradition that the head of the clan had to be of a purebred wood-elf and of course, if Kyles and Yllaner ever got together, their children would be a hybrid between human and wood-elf. Interracial marriage was not a taboo for the Shilna clan; however, it would be a different story for the head of the clan to marry a human man.

「Promise me you’ll be my wife, Yllan-chan!」the 10 years old Kyles loudly demanded as he placed a handmade flower headpiece on top of the 12 years old Yllaner.

「... Wh… What are you saying?」the girl blushed.

「I gave you the flower crown as a be… betruth present. What say you?」the kid struggled to remember the fancy word he just learned a few days ago. 

「... It’s betroth, Kyl-chan!」laughed the girl. 「And I dont really need this present.」

Kyles was visibly disappointed at Yllaner’s answer. The kid could not believe that he had gathered all his courage to confess to his crush, only to be shot down like this. Tears was almost pouring out of the dispirited 10 years old boy, yet a gentle peck on his cheek suddenly brought the boy back to life. 「Even without you giving me this “betroth present,” I’ll still be your wife.」

Kyles’ memories of the past was suddenly disrupted as he opened his eyes. He did not know how    long he had fallen asleep on his bed, but several drops of water on his face has awaken the hero. In front of his eyes, Yllaner was laying on top of him, completely naked. Droplets of water continued to drip down from both her face and her light blue hair down onto the hero’s bed. 

「Yllaner? what are you doing?」The hero tried to avert his eyes and stopped defiling the princess with his lustful gaze upon her slender body, yet somehow, he could not. The hero was completely mesmerized by his childhood friend’s unnatural beauty, and of course, the intoxicating smell emanated from her was not helping..

「Kyl-chan… I’ve tried but I cant get over it」said the princess, her eyes welled up with tears, her hand caressed his dumbfounded face. 「During my capture, the thought of someone else other than you would have their way with me haunted me. And it still haunts me now, just think about it. I can’t hide from my feelings anymore… and I know you can't either」

「...Yllan… I...」The hero’s hands reached out to the princess’.「You know we cant be together」

「I dont care!」Yllaner screamed out in tears. 「I dont care about the rules anymore. Why should some rules dictate who I can love and who I cant? I am willing to break any rules, Kyl-chan, as long as I can be with you… The question is, will you?」

「I...」The hero could not suppress his feeling, either. He still remembered how outraged he felt when he received the news of Yllaner’s kidnapping. He had almost lost her once, he did not want to ever lose her again. 

「I love you, Yllaner! 」Kyles had finally made up his mind as his arms wrapped around the woman he loved and pulled her down into his embrace. 

「Kyl-chan...」was all Yllaner could muttered before their lips finally touched in a passionate kiss. The princess had always dreamed of this day, this embrace, and this kiss, and now she had obtained it. 

Without breaking their first kiss, their tongues still intertwined with one another, the hero finally flipped Yllaner around on her back. His hands unconsciously rested on top of her still soaking wet breasts. Using his fingers, Kyles began to play with the princess’ small nipples, which soon stood up erected from her lover’s touch, causing her to let out some soft moanings. After a while, they finally broke off their first kiss, with strings of saliva still connected their mouths. Yllaner’s hand had now slit under the hero’s pants, her fingers sensually wrapped around his rock hard cock.

「Yllan...」

「Kyl-chan… Dont think about anything else. It’s just you and me tonight!」

「... Forgive me, Yllan!」The hero had finally discarded any of his restraints as he “devoured” the princess like a hungry hound. His hand moved down along the princess’ curvy hip and grabbed onto her ass. The hero gave his lover a squeeze, his finger pressed down onto her soft, smooth skin, causing her to tremble in pleasure. With his pants finally removed, his fully erect cock was throbbing in plain sight. Kyles again kissed the elven princess, though he quickly broke it off as his lips slowly moved toward her elven ears. With his sharp teeth, the hero slightly bit down into the princess’ ear, causing her to cover her mouth and preventing herself from moanings. 

「Dont try to hide it.」whispered Kyles into her ear. 「I love your moaning sound, Yllan.」

Knowing his cock was at its limit, the hero soon position his cock right on top of Yllaner’s soaking wet pussy, his tip slightly touched her slit. 「Yllan chan… I’m going to...」

「Just do it, Kyl-chan!」The princess gave him an encouraging smile as her arms wrapped around his back. 

The hero nodded, then slowly inserted his cock inside the woman he had always loved. Ever since learning about the taboo of their relationship, never did he imagine there would come the day he deflowered his princess. Yet, here they were, with his cock slowly pushed inside her pussy. Although the hero wanted to do it slow to prevent hurting the elven princess, the sensation he felt as her inner wall wrapped around his cock caused him to lose any inhibition. Soon, his cock was ramming hard into the princess’ hole, causing both of them to bite down their teeth in euphoria… 

As morning came, the princess woke up due to the chirping sounds from outside the window. Her pussy was still a bit sore, with Kyles’ cum still leaking out every time she repositioned herself on his bed. After all, the couple had continuously been fucking each other out throughout the night and only had fallen a sleep a few hours ago. Yllaner, with her head still rested on Kyles’s muscular arm, let out a satisfied smile as she looked up to the hero’s snoring face. She slowly wrapped her arm around his naked chest and gave him a light hug, not wanting to wake him up from his sleep. 

Kyl-chan… we’re finally together . The princess thought to herself. I'm sorry I had to resort to such trickery but I knew without it, you would never be mine.

Unbeknownst to the oblivious hero, everything that had happened was all according to the plan she laid out. After all, if she did not risk it all in his one gambling move, she felt she would forever lose her beloved hero. Ever since they were kids, she always knew she wanted to be his wife. Although she acted composed and all, she was so moved when the 10 years old “proposed” to her on that meadow of that fateful day. When she accepted his proposal, she knew full well of the rules her clan had laid out for her, but she did not give a fuck. After all, it was her life and she would live as she wished. But then, it crushed her when Kyles had decided on his own to respect her clan’s tradition. That meant she would lose him. Day by day, year by year, she could feel their distance was widening. She had to do something... and so she did. It was her who tipped off the bandits about her scheduled travel, hoping that they would try to attack her entourage and kidnap her, and so they did. Knowing that this gambit would result in some lives lost, she carefully arranged for her entourage to consist of people from factions that opposed her mother within the clan… and so they were all killed during that raid, saving for one or two individuals who she had carefully arranged so that they could escape. To ensure her safety, she purposely let the bandits knew of her title and her virginity, since she was betting that they would not touch her in order to fetch a higher price for themselves when selling a confirmed virgin princess as a slave… It was a risky move, but she knew that she had to do it since it would be the push that could help Kyles realizing his true feelings. And now, she was laying next to him, naked. She knew it was all according to Keikaku.

Chapter 16

The capital Lorian was divided into two distinct portions: a residential and commercial segments, which comprised almost 90% of the city's landmass, and the royal land, which located neatly on a large hill at the center of the city. A moat had been artificially constructed to separate the two segments, thus in order to enter the royal palace, visitors had to cross either the North or the South Bridge. Aside from having the moat as protection, encompassing the palace was another layer of wall, along with hundreds of keeps, albeit they were smaller than the outer wall that protected the city. Had this been a palace on back on earth, it would most likely be considered impregnable. But in this world, with the existence of magical abilities and unfathomable fantasy creatures, it would be an easy task to storm the place. That was why the security of the palace rested solely on the protection provided by the Royal Knights. According to what Ryan had told the hybrid, they were strong individuals, selected from across the vast kingdom, each wearing a custom made Mithril class armor and weapons. 

「Welcome to the Royal Palace, Ryan the Hero.」Greeted a Royal Knight who was fully covered by his armor from head to toe. 「My name is Arch. I’ll be your guide for today.」

「Good morning, Arch-san.」Nodded the hero. 「This is my master, Kibadios sama. And these two are Rowan chan and Maia chan. They are also following Kibadios sama, just like me. 」

「Ah, yes. I have heard about your story. I am so sorry about what happened to your previous party.」Arch politely commented as he glanced at the hybrid. 「If Kibadios sama here had saved you, I’m pretty sure he’d be a powerful adventurer.」

「Of course!」The hero excitedly agreed. 「He’s much stronger than I am. That’s for sure!」

「Is that so?...」The Royal Knight suddenly swung his giant sabre at the hybrid. Strangely, to his surprise, the strike clashed into an invisible barrier before it could hurt the so called “master.”

「What do you think you’re doing, Arch-san?」Rowan glared at the knight after had quickly constructed a barrier to protect Kibadios.

「My apologies. It was my intention to test out Kibadios sama’s strength, but judging from all your stances, readying to strike me down, I guess you would not allow me to fight him...」The knight slowly retracted his weapon. 

「Stand back, you guys.」Ordered Kibadios. 「After all, we are in front of the Royal Palace, it would be trouble if you were to attack a Royal Knight… Am I right, Arch san?」

「No, no, no… I was the one who initiated it. I was in the wrong here.」Arch shook his head. 「I was just curious about your strength since it’s not too often you see a hero class individual pledged himself to serve someone else. To be honest, I don't think I could take on Ryan sama and these two right here. Thank you for holding back. 」

「Dont worry about it.」

「Well, I hope you can forgive my transgression. If you allow me, I will be showing your company to the Royal Audience Hall, Ryan sama.」

「Of course, please do.」The hero nodded begrudgingly since he could not get over the fact that someone was just trying to harm his beloved master. 

As the group walked through the entrance, they finally got to see the inside palace for the first time, a rare sight for any commoners living in the capital. Since the palace was built along the slope of the hill, it was divided into different levels. From what their tour guide, Arch, told them, the first level was where the soldiers and Royal Knight stationed. The second level housed all the necessary departments that helped the king govern the country. Most of the high officials also had their second residence here. On the very top of the hill was the Royal Residence, where the King and his family lived. Extending out from the middle of the Royal Residence was a tall tower that strangely emitting a small quantity of magical energy. 

「What’s with that small amount of magic coming from that tower there?」asked Kibadios as their group was being lifted up the slope of the hill on a large magical platform.

「Oh, I’m impressed that you could detect such a small quantity of magicules. The tower housed our palace’s last line of defense. It’s supposed to be “off” now but when it’s “on”, a strong barrier can be projected from the tower to completely cover and protect the palace from all forms of attacks.」Explained Arch. 「If you can sense it, am I correct to assume you belong to magician class?」

「... Hm, not really. I am good with magics but I can’t say I’m a magician.」

「Ah, I see」Arch nodded. Since Kibadios did not elaborate, he did not want to push the question further. After all, in this world, keeping secret the class that one belonged to was common, since in knowing someone’s class was equivalent to knowing their strengths and weaknesses. A warrior class individual would possess a higher physical strength but a lower affinity to master magics while a magician would be the opposite. Some of the classes, though, were really obvious so there were no points in hiding. 

As the group waited for the platform to reach the Royal Residence, the hybrid turned his gaze toward his three slaves and admired their new outfits that he had picked out for them yesterday. For the hero, Kibadios had chosen for him a black sleeveless short shirt that hugged tightly into his muscular torso. Overall, his outfit was not that revealing since Kibadios was kind enough to add onto him an outerwear.「This is what master chose for me, of course I love it!」was what he eagerly claimed the moment the hybrid gave him his new clothes and his own gift, the circlet that he picked out back at the marketplace. For Maia, who was wearing a pretty conservative clothing, the hybrid chose her an oriental looking outfit that revealed most of her slender dorsal area and her back, which reminded him of the signature looks of Erune female characters from Granblue Fantasy. Although excited at the clothes Kibadios picked out for her, Maia was blushing red at the time she first wore it, but now, it seemed like she had already gotten used to it. Rowan, who was wearing a typical "villager A" clothes, had changed into a sleeveless shirt that was similar to Ryan, although unlike his fellow male slave, his shirt was a bit loose from his body . Additionally, the hybrid also chose for Rowan a long scarf that wrapped around his neck and shoulder to ensure cold weather would not make him too uncomfortable, though he wondered if it really helped since much of the teenager's back was exposed, for his own viewing pleasure. Since he was technically a cleric class, Kibadios also got him a staff to channel his healing ability, although he was not too sure whether it was needed since Rowan was mostly focusing on his barrier ability.

「Ah, we’re finally here!」exclaimed Arch as the platform reached its highest point: in front of the Royal Residence. 「Please follow me.」

The Royal Knight stepped up to privately speak with the four guarding soldiers, who immediately hurried to open up the large gate leading into the castle. As the group followed Arch, they were surprised at how, even though from the outside, the Royal Palace has been looking like a bunker, the clever architecture and layout of the place had allowed plenty of sunlight to shine through the castle’s interior. At one time, they were even walking through a small open air garden filled with blooming flowers, causing Maia’s face to brighten up from their beauty. After a while, they finally arrived at the Royal Audience Chamber, where the meeting of the heroes would occur. According to Arch, even though the king had personally sent out summons to more than a dozen hero parties travelling close to or within the kingdom, including Ryan, only 5 had answered the call. 

「Do you know for what reason?」asked Ryan

「... You will be briefed on that soon, Ryan sama.」answered Arch as he knocked on the door. 「This is Arch Lynen. I have come here with Ryan sama’s party.」

Once he had informed them, the door slowly opened from the inside, revealing the large chamber. Unlike the luxurious decoration befitting royalty that the hybrid had expected, the room was almost empty, save for various emblems and a large, empty throne at the far end. Once the hybrid’s group got inside, Kibadios could saw four other groups already present in the room. The group stood closest to the throne comprised of a few large and muscularly built men, with the leader-looking man wearing gold-plated armor. Another group comprised only of two women, one was clearly the other’s follower, or at least that was what the hybrid thought. The one group standing next to the door, comprised of mostly middle age individuals. The last, but obviously not least, was Kyles and Yllaner. Somehow, there was a glowing aura emitting from the satisfied looking hero as Yllaner wrapped her hands around his arm. 

… They fucking had sex, I can tell! The hybrid thought to himself. After all, it was obvious to him that the two liked each other just from the brief interaction he had with that. Then, instead of staying with Ryan at the Royal Inn, they stayed at their personal guesthouse. And lastly, if Yllaner was really Sylvia’s reincarnation and they shared the same personality, there was no way she would spared Kyles’ virginity when she had all the perfect setup for a romance drama like that. Nonetheless, the hybrid did not feel any jealousy, since to him, the elven princess was a completely different person regardless of who she used to be in her past life. 

「Hey Ryan!」called out Kyles. 「Over here!」

「... Ryan the pathetic loser of a hero?」the man in gold-plated armor laughed out loud as the hybrid’s group walked toward Kyles and Yllaner. 「Hahaha! I’ve heard rumors about you! You were caught and fucked by lowly goblins then pledged to serve a no-name adventurer? How can you even call yourself a hero?」

「Ha! Like you’re one to talk, Corey!」Before Ryan could reply, the female hero had already intervened.「Aren't you head of the biggest brothel in the capital? That is not much more befitting for someone possesses the seed of hero, either!」

「HUUUH? How is that not befitting? I am their boss! I own those whores. What I do is the most befitting! True heroes like me are the pinnacles of humankind, of course we should stand on the very top. What’s wrong with owning some bitches? The dozens whores that I own should be proud to have me as their master. 」The man growled at the female hero, then his eyes fixed on both her companion and Maia.   「In fact, your sidekick here and that chick in the loser’s party looked pretty nice. Maybe they wanna work in my brothel? I promise you two much better pay than whatever you’re being paid now! Hahaha!」

「WHATT?」The female hero’s party member angrily shouted.

「Like I said...」The laughingly Corey was going to reply something, yet his sentence was cut short when he felt murderous haki enveloped his body.

「You’re Corey right? Do you mind repeat what you just said about my Ryan and Maia?」The hybrid slowly step forward with his eyes wide opened in rage as he released his concealed Haki. 

「Haa… What the hell? You’re the so called master?」Corey gulped. Even though he was an overconfident man, he was not stupid. He was able to tell the hybrid’s power could easily rival his and maybe in a fight, there was a chance he might even lose. His hand has by now instinctively grabbed onto his glave, ready to receive the hybrid. 「...you were hiding your haki before? 」

Ignored Corey’s question, the hybrid had summoned his usual weapon, a black scythe, in his hand. In an instant, Kibadios leapt forward, crashing his weapon down at the arrogant hero. Corey the Hero was no push over since he quickly reacted by swing his glave upward to receive the hybrid’s strike. 

「Please calm down, O guests of His Majesty!」a voice called out for the hybrid and Corey to stop just before their weapons finally clashed against one another. 「I advise you two to conserve your energy, for the enemy you were summoned here to deal with is much stronger than anything you have fought before.」

From the shadow behind the throne, two figures emerged: A young nobleman with a fancy cape and a young woman, who seemed to be his servant. With a smile on his face, the man continued「My name is Jayden Stringer, Lord Protector of Lorian, and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Maeg. Unfortunately, ailment has caused His Majesty to be bedridden for almost a month now so he can't personally greet the five great heroes and your parties here today. For that, you have my deepest apologies. However, His Majesty has entrusted me to take care of the important meeting so I do hope to have your fullest cooperation. 」 

As he looked up to the throne, where the Minister and his maid stood, Kibadios froze. His hand grabbed tightly onto his scythe… though… it was not because of Corey. His rage has suddenly been redirected the moment he saw that person. The one who was responsible for the death of Sylvia more than three thousand years ago. The one who betrayed and slaughtered her own kind in order to gain favor to ascend to the ranks of the false gods. Why is she here?... Kibadios did not care. Why is she acting as a lowly maid for the young nobleman?... Kibadios really did not care. Right now, the hybrid was only thinking of one thing: chopping off and stomping on her head as a piece of trash. And so, with his scythe in hand, Kibadios was going to do just that...

 

 

Updated at much later date:

All Hail to the great Tsushima! (I was jumping in excitement when I saw she's (or he?) taking request again after so long. I've always like her art style since it's very clean and lively and the fact that she charged only 100 yen for her fanbox pages. I have no idea how to read japanese but it's always fun to follow her short manga posted there.)

Pixiv ID: 411873

I requested these just 3 days ago and she already finished drawing them!

 

 

 

BONUS haha

 

Chapter 17

The woman standing next to Jayden looked nothing like how she was 3000 years ago, yet Kibadios could never mistake her for anybody else, for the unique sinister lurking within her Haki was a dead giveaway. It made sense to Kibadios since 3000 years ago, after the incident in which her father and she betrayed the whole mortal kinds, they were accepted by the Ennead , a group of elder gods, to join their ranks. There they lived, in their own plane of reality called Modun , separated from the rest of the world. They called themselves “ the Astrals” while the people of this world worshiped and called them “gods.”  Because Modun provided them their immortality, the godly residents there would never venture outside of its protection. To be able to influence the mortal world and their course of history, they had to resort to transfer part of their soul into the homunculi dolls to travel outside their domain. This ensured the Astrals the ability to walk among the mortals while freeing them from the fears of death since even if the homunculi whose their souls resided in were to be destroyed, they would easily find their way back to the original bodies in the Modun. Of course, this was merely because of their irrational fears after enjoying immortality since after all, there could hardly be anyone who can physically harm them. Even the lowest ranking Astrals could easily level a nation, something that Kibadios had experienced during his first reincarnation. Back then, among the mortals, the people who could match the Astral’s power numbered less than 10 individuals… though to match against one of the Ennead, there were only two: Kibadios’ previous reincarnation and his once best friend.  Having the mortal kinds calling them “gods” was not just for show. Undeniably, the Astrals did possess the power of gods, holding and playing with the fate of the world in their hands...

「Kibadios sama!」Maia’s callings to Kibadios for the fifth time finally brought him back from his unrealistic revenge fantasy. 「What’s wrong, Kibadios sama?」  

「... No, nothing.」Knowing that acting right now would be a mistake, the hybrid finally moved to one side of the Royal Audience Chamber, where his slaves, Kyles, and Yllaner were, though, his gaze was still fixing on the woman standing next to the Prime Minister. The homunculus in which the Astral Adela, the former princess of the Holy Kingdom Eberus , resided in shared the smooth, snow-white skin with her original body. It even had the well defined eyelashes that accentuated her piercing eyes, the trademark look that Adela possessed 3000 years ago… THE EYES! The hybrid internally screamed in his head as he realized his mistake.

「Kibadios dono, was it?」The homunculi finally spoke. 「I understand your reservation in displaying your true race, but it’d be rude to hide yourself behind that disguise in front of the Prime Minister and other heroes, dont you think? 」

「Huh? What do you mean, Adela?」Jayden turned and asked

「My unique skill <Eye of Horus> can discern anyone’s disguise and right now, Kibadios dono is wearing one.」the dark hair homunculus softly explained.

Damn, you fucking bitch! You’re one to talk, using a homunculus to channel your presence here. Kibadios thought but soon, he was able to calm down through his rationality. Disguising as a human, just like what she just said, was understandable for a hybrid monster like him to fit in so it would not have raised any suspicions about his real identity to the Astral. Fortunate for him too, was the fact that the Kingdom of Maeg did not hold the same hatred for demihuman as those from the Theocracy. Heck, he was able to see tons of them walking the streets just in the past few days. 

「Your so called <Eye of Horus> can see through my disguise?」Kibadios pretended to be oblivious about the skill’s ability. He then continued as he transformed himself back into his hybrid form, with a small ogre horn protruding from his head while his rounded ears turned pointy like that of an incubus.「I just don't want to reveal my race since it would attract even more attention to myself and Ryan.」

「Hoh?」amused Jayden. 「Kibadios dono here is a hybrid demihuman? That is indeed very unusual. Our kingdom does not discriminate against any race, so please rest assured in displaying your true self. In fact, I should be the one that is honored to have met a strong and rare hybrid such as you are. May I ask where did you come from?」

「I dont have any recollection of my birthplace. My earliest memory was that I was let loose down the river… I survived and grew up in a forest all by myself, and that’s where I rescued Rowan and Maia here from packs of monsters. They pledged to serve me soon after that.」The hybrid lied, after all, he did not want anyone to know about his intention of travelling up the river back to his birthplace.

「I see… I’m so sorry to hear that.」The prime minister grimly nodded.

「So my hunch was correct...」Kyles looked down at Kibadios. 「I have always thought you weren't a human but I couldn't seem to tell why.」

「Sorry for deceiving you, Kyles.」

「No, no worry!」The hero shook his head. 「Demihuman or human, the importance is that you save Ryan! I couldn't care less about your race.」

「... HAHAHA…. HAHAHAHAHAHA!」Corey’s laugh echoed throughout the chamber. 「What a joke is this? A hero pledging to serve a demi? Shouldn't we strip this little fucker of his title as a hero already?」

「It’s not that we’re discriminating against demihuman...」the middle aged hero, who has not said anything since Kibadios’ group entered, finally spoke in a low voice. 「but like Corey said, a hero serving a demihuman is outrageous! After all, how can we, heroes who are actively fighting against all those self-proclaimed demihuman demon lords, accept this? 」

「I personally dont like it either but I just want to remind you that you dont have the right to strip anyone of their hero class, Thomas.」The female hero chimed in. 「What determine someone as a “hero” is the fact that person possesses a <seed of hero>. It’s not your decision… or mine.」

「What Amber sama said is true.」Jayden finally spoke, trying to calm  the heroes down. 「Also, in this country, there is currently no law discriminate against demihumans so we will not interfere with Ryan sama’s decision to serve Kibadios dono here. Furthermore, we are in desperate need of manpower so we welcome Kibadios dono’s presence here, if he so chooses to help us. I’m sure as a hybrid, his power can be on par with any of us here.」

… Any of us here? The hybrid thought. He had not been able to gauge the Prime Minister’s level but just now, he had revealed a bit of such information.

「... What do you mean?」Kyles, tired of the pointless arguments from his fellow heroes, asked in hopes of changing the conversation.「For what purpose have we been summoned here?」

「... To fight!」The Prime Minister answered without any hesitation.

「Against whom? Last time I checked, there arent many notable demon lords around this region. The one threat that I can think of is the Great Demon Lord Gilga of Uruk , one of the Yonko … but isnt this kingdom on friendly relationship with her city state? Dont tell me your trading relationship broke down? If so, I did warn you and His Majesty, did I not? Never trust a Demon Lord, especially a Yonko! 」Corey continued on. 「If Great Demon Lord Gilga finally shows her true nature, then that’s a Celestial level threat . With just us here, there is no way we can stop her. You better call for help from the Six instead.」

「Lucky for us, the threat we’re talking about is not the Great Demon Lord Gilga.」answered Jayden. 「In fact, the threat has not been materialized yet… But if we wait for too long, he will finally break free of his seal… and once he does, he can easily be considered to be Catastrophe level … or maybe even Celestial. If such a time comes, I will make sure to ask for aid from the Six. As of now, though, your timely aid would most likely suffice.」

「Who is “he”?」asked Amber.

「The Primal Dragon that defied the gods a thousand years ago, Ryujin . After the battle against the Six Heroes of that generation, Ryujin was sealed by them in the North Eastern part of our kingdom but now the seal has been greatly weakened.」explained Jayden. 

「Ryujin?」Taken aback by the familiar name, Kibadios instinctively asked. 

「So the legend about the primal dragon Ryujin is true?」asked Amber, inadvertently diverted the attention from the hybrid, much to his relief.

「Yes. Though not many people know the truth. Within the kingdom, only the Royals and generations of Prime Ministers like myself know about it. After all, there would be endless unrest had the citizens know they are living close to where a Catastrophe Level Disaster sleeps.」 

「「I see...」」Both Amber and Thomas nodded.

「So what do you want us to do with the seal?」The visibly annoyed Corey asked.「You better not expect us to deal with the dragon all by ourselves.」

「Of course not! Like I said, the seal is still intact.」The Prime Minister shrugged at the inattentive hero.「First and foremost, we are asking for your assistance in eradicating the monsters that are gathering to the region. With the seal being weakened, the miasma emitting from the Primal Dragon are attracting large amounts of monsters. Currently, many towns and cities in the North Eastern parts of our kingdom are practically under siege by them. Secondly and most importantly, we are hoping that you can lend us your strength to restore the weakened seal.」

「What do you mean?」Corey was suspicious at the task since heroes, despite standing above others in the general population, were never good at sealing techniques. Such task required a special kind of mages, not heroes.

「We have sent out our royal mages to check out the seal. Apparently, the barrier created by the seal requires the essence of the <seed of hero> that each of the four of you are possessing for it to be fully functional. After all, it was created by the Six after their battle against Ryujin a thousand years ago. We are hoping that you can lend us the power that are unique to only you… That’s why you, as heroes, were summoned here.」

「Hmm...」Corey thought a while, then asked.「So if we accept this job, how will we be compensated?」

「10000 gold coins. Along with large batch of fertile lands in the North Eastern territory. Of course, if you guys accept the mission, we will prepay you with 500 gold coins right now.」answered Adela in her homunculus disguise as she signaled another servant to bring out a tray carrying four pouches of gold. 

「Hahaha!」Corey laughed greedily, then hurriedly stepped up and took one of the pouches without waiting for permission from either Adela or Jayden「I accept! When do you want us to go there?」

「As soon as possible. We are racing against time here. I will have a messenger sending you detailed instructions later today.」answered the Prime Minister, then he turned to the undecided heroes. 「What about... ?」

「I accept.」Kyles agreed to the mission without any hesitation since he knew the threat of a Primal Dragon was too much to ignore. 

「That’s great!」Jayden exclaimed. 

「I’ll just take 100 gold coins. You can distribute my remaining rewards to the people who were affected by the Primal Dragon’s miasma.」

「Ho!」Thomas laughed. 「I expect no less from the great hero Kyles. Same here! I accept but I’ll only take the 500 gold coins for me and my party. Please use the rest to help those in need, Prime Minister Stringer.」

「Me too!」Amber gave Kyles a smile.「100 gold coins should be enough for me and Natalie. After all, I cant lose to Kyles  and his generosity, right?」

「Hey, I’ll still need my full 10000 gold coins and the lands you promise!」sneered Corey at his fellow heroes. 「I’ll take what I deserve.」

「What about you, Ryan sama?」asked Jayden.

Ryan turned to look at the hybrid, who slightly gave him the “go ahead” signal. 「I accept. Though Kibadios sama has just procured our funding through trading some weapons so I'm also just going to take 100.」

「What? For sure we don't need this newbie… this a failure of a hero, right?」Corey mockingly asked.

「On the contrary. Ryan sama still possesses the <seed of hero>. We are desperately in need of his help.」said Jayden as he personally gave the 100 gold coins to Ryan. 「And I’m sure Kibadios dono will also help us to deal with the monsters?」

「... Of course...」

「I'm not approving of Ryan pledging to serve this hybrid here, but from what the Prime Minister said, we indeed do need his help. I’ll try my best to cooperate with his party for now.  」Thomas commented, then turned around to his party and walked out of the chamber. 「I’ll be back to the Royal Inn. Once we get the instruction, we will set out. Is that okay with you, Prime Minister Stringer?」

「I have no complain.」

「We’ll be going too. And Ryan-kun, I know you’re new to the life of a hero but please reconsider being Kibadios’ servant. I dont have anything against him, but serving a demihuman would not be appropriate for a hero.」Amber waved goodbye to the group.

Inappropriate for a hero? Ha! He’s already serving me as an obedient sex slave, Amber. Kibadios smirked at the female hero’s advice for Ryan.

「I’ll also take my leave.」Corey signaled his group before turning around to give the hybrid a cryptic warning. 「And be careful, Kibadios. Dont try too hard keeping up with us veteran heroes. There are a lot of monsters that might prove too much for you and your pathetic newbie hero to handle… Though maybe it’s better for you demihuman to lay dead somewhere on the field, being devoured by monsters. That way, your adorable servant girl can seek me out to have me as her new master! 」

「Dont listen to them. Do whatever you like. If you want to serve under Kibadios, then do it. Living your life how you see fit, don't be bothered by others’ opinions.」Kyles patted Ryan’s head and ruffled his crimson hair, then turned back to hybrid. 「I’m so sorry about how you were treated. Just ignore them… and please take care of this little brother of mine, Kibadios!」

「Will do!」The hybrid gave Kyles a genuine smile. Among everyone that he has met in this reincarnation, asides from his slaves, Kyles would probably the most decent human being who treated the hybrid with respect, not that Kibadios thought he deserved it. Still, the hybrid rest easy knowing that in this reincarnation, Sylvia has chosen a perfect life partner. 

「Please send me the information as soon as possible at my current guest house address. If possible, I want to get going today.」said Kyles to the Prime Minister.

「Are you going to take Yllaner sama back to Vernys Forest first?」asked Ryan.

「No, I’ll go straight to where the seal is. Yllaner will stay with me for some time.」

「Dont worry, Ryan. I’ll be safe travelling with Kyles.」Smiled the elven princess.

「I’ll get going soon, within a few days at most.」said Ryan, but then he turned to his master to make sure if he was fine with the schedule. After seeing his master gave him a slight nod, he continued. 「Yeah, for sure within a few days. I’ll see you two soon! Be safe!」

「Same to you!」the elven princess replied. 

As Yllaner walked out of the chamber besides the hero, Kibadios could easily noticed the discretely disdain look that Adela was giving her. Seeing a person who died by your hand reincarnated into someone with identical look was a bit too much for you to enjoy, Princess Adela ? He thought to himself. Luckily for him, he was reborn into a hybrid individual that had no resemblance to his first reincarnation so for now, he rest assured knowing that the Adela that resided within that homunculus maid vessel would never suspect him to be her mortal enemy. 

「Should we be going back to the Inn, Kibadios sama?」asked Maia.

「Of course, we have to prepare for the journey.」The hybrid respectfully turned to the Prime Minister 「Please excuse us.」

「If you need anything, please let us know!」said Jayden. 「Normally I would be glad to escort your group and others… But seeing how there are much frictions between you, I think it’s better for you guys to go there in your separate ways.」

「I think so too...」nodded Kibadios before he and his group walked out. After all, travelling separately like this will allow me some time to think more about this mission… Why Adela is here? Is the threat they call Primal Dragon Ryujin my little Ryujin ? And I still have a hunch that there are other details they are hiding from us… I need to piece together all the available information  before I can make my next move. Just wait there, Bitch… You and your Astrals friends. I’ll be coming for you! Though I guess I have to deal with that Corey first… When I’m done with him, he will wish he was never alive in the first place!

「... You’re happy about something, Master?」asked Rowan as he noticed a devious smile on Kibadios’ face.

「... Nothing!」replied the hybrid. 「Ryan, once we get back to our room, tell me everything you know about that Corey guy...」

「... Of course, Master!」

 

 

 

Notes:

This was the last chapter I wrote during my break over the holiday. Again, I will probably be on Hiatus since I'll be super busy during Jan/Feb. This can be thought of as the final chapter of Volume 1. :D (Still need Prologue, Chapter 1, and Epilogue.

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Book 2 Prologue

Summary:

Prologue to Book 2

Notes:

I wrote this short introduction to the new arc over the course of 2-3 months. Probably it contains a lot of inconsistency but w/e :D
I'm still busy with my qualification so I probably won't be releasing a lot of chapters. Not that a lot of people reading them anyways haha.

Corey Wesley has been living a wonderful life, both in this current world and back on Earth. Unbeknownst to many, the infamous hero, who made the capital Lorian his primary residence, was a world traveller… though “traveller” might not be an appropriate term since it implied a hint of free will: “I travelled here, I travelled there.” In Corey’s case, though, it was more like he was forcibly transported to this world, against his will at first. Corey Wesley was born on earth into a rich and well connected family, with his father had been serving as a Senator for more than 20 years while his mother was a powerful CEO of a global conglomerate. As an only child, he was spoiled rotten by his doting parents, especially his powerful father, who saw him as the only heir to his expanding political empire that he had built for the last few decades. Living under the impression that the world was revolving around him, arrogance had been edged into his personal trait ever since he was a little kid. As he grew up, they young man had turned so unruly that not even his parents could reign him in, not that they ever tried. With their combined power, his parents could easily cover up many scandalous and debauchery actions that their only son had caused. From his countless dubious intercourses with underaged girls to accidentally killing a pregnant mother of two with his limited edition sports car on one night of drunk-driving, it seemed like Corey never had to face any consequences for his actions. Such retribution, though, did befall upon him during that one fateful night, when a gas leak at one of his high rise apartment was ignited into a huge explosion. At the time, Corey and a few of his lackeys had been busy raping their new batch of girls, which they had just “acquired” from a source in Asia. Just as usual, the girls were heavily drugged as the men taking their turns ravaging their slender bodies. Among the smells of cums, sweats, and aphrodisiacs, when someone finally noticed a slight smell of gas mixed in their orgy session, it was too late as Corey had just lit up his cigarette with a gold plated lighter he bought back in Europe.

BOOOMMMM!!!

The loud explosion enveloped the apartment and rocked the whole building. It took firefighters more than three hours to fully extinguish the flames. Inside the charred apartment, they could only find the burnt remains of those poor girls, though the Chief soon concluded the remains of Corey and four of his lackeys must have been burnt and shattered into dust due to the unusual intensity of the fire… Or so they thought…

「Where the fuck are we?」asked the naked Corey as he looked around. Asides from himself and four of his lackeys, he could not see anything else but pure light. 

「... Was that an explosion just now?」asked one of his lackeys.

「Are we dead?」

「Dont fucking joke like that, man!」Corey angrily shouted. 「Someone, explain to me what just happened!!!」

「Corey Wesley?」a voice radiated from the vast empty whiteness. 「We’ve been expecting you.」

「Who the fuck are you? Show yourself!」The annoyed man shouted.

Soon enough, the bright light that enveloped the space receded, revealing 9 elevated platforms decorated with extensive symbols, along with the 9 intimidating individuals sitting comfortably on them.

「Welcome, Corey Wesley of Terra.」one of them, a man wearing a tunic-like dress, spoke while his cheek still rested lazily on top of his fist. 「I know you and your friends here are still in a stage of shock but...」

「Where the hell are we?」Corey cut off the man before he could finish his sentence.

「... you’re in a dimension called Modun.」the man answered after repressing his annoyance at the arrogant brat. 「A place that we, the Astrals, call home.」

「What the fuck is an astral? And how did we even get here?」

「I am sorry but in the current timeline on Terra, you and your friends have already died in the explosion. 」Another of the nine, a woman who possessed an unparalleled beauty, sympathetically explained to Corey and his group. 「We, the gods of this world, have extracted the five of you just before the flame consumed your bodies.」

「What nonsense was that?」Corey was still unconvinced of his supposed demise. 「Did you drug us and bring us here? What do you want? Money?」

「… I know it’s hard to believe, but you can see it for yourself.」The woman lightly snapped her finger and conjured up a hologram of the very apartment Corey was just in. With his own eyes, the young man was able to see the aftermath of the explosion at his high rise apartment, which was now filled with countless firefighters walking around the place, gathering evidence. The chatter from the holographic firefighters fell into Corey’s deaf ear as the man was too shocked to comprehend anything that had just happened. No way... I have much to live for… 

「I am dead? How can that be? I am here, arent I?」

「...Yes. You are here, but back on earth, you are already dead.」

「You did call yourself gods, didn't you? Transport me back to my apartment!」demanded the man. 「What do you need? I can get my parents to give you anything you want… Just… just fucking let me go back, god damn it!」

「We can't do it.」answered another of the nine as he waved his hand, dismissing both the hologram and Corey’s demand. 「You guys are already dead. If we transport you back to Terra, you will only appear as charred remains in that apartment. We are not omnipotent, not especially in Terra, a world that exists in a different space and time than our own.」

「What a joke is this?」Screamed out Corey, his voice cracked as tears poured out from his eyes. 「You call yourself gods and you can't even do that? What the hell… I could not have died… No way… This is just a bad dream… 」

「Calm down, Corey. We cannot ‘revive’ you on Terra but we can let you and your friends live here, in the world of Esthar. 」

「Esthar?」Corey raised his eyebrows. 

「Indeed. We are the gods of Esthar, a parallel world that exists alongside your very own Terra. Since you cannot be living in Terra anymore due to the event of your death, how about helping us, protecting the world of Esthar as one of its heroes?  」

「... What?」

「Have you not heard of multiverse theory back on Terra, Corey?」the beautiful goddess again raised her melodious voice as she jumped down from her platform. Strangely, the moment she fell down, her body quickly faded away into a veil of white smoke, only to reappear in front of the naked Corey. 「There are many universes that exist in parallel to one another, among those are our Esthar and your Terra, the twin worlds whose fates have been intertwined since the very beginning of time. Our Esthar, though, is not as developed nor stable as Terra for it has been continuously subjected to the darkness of evil ever since its inception. It is constantly need of emissaries from us, Astrals, emissaries who can protect the world from evil.」

The goddess seductively placed her finger on the man’s bare chest, then traced it upward toward his chin. With  her standing right in front of him, Corey finally noticed the Goddess’ breast was clearly visible from thin layer of her clothing. This caused his unerected private part to slowly rise up as he fell further into the influence of her hypnotical beauty. 

「But… how can I be a hero?」Corey gulped. From just a brief interaction, the goddess had finally calmed down the confused future hero while entranced him into accepting her offer.

「We will plant in you the seed of heroes. It will grant you immeasurable power in Esthar and transform you into a man worthy of the title ‘Hero’...」The goddess leaned her breast against Corey’s bareback as she continued to explain. 「As one of the world’s heroes, you will gain all the wealth, power, and influence… such that can rival or exceed your old status back in Terra.」

Corey was sold! Better continue his life of debauchery rather than being dead, he thought. Though, before he could answer, his lackey’s murmuring grew louder until one of his followers, a young man named Peter, quickly raised his voice.

「What about us???」

「Of course, the five of you will follow your master, Corey Wesley, to Esthar if he so chooses to be our emissary.」By now, the goddess had again faded into thin air and reappeared to her seat back on the high platform. Her answer caused the five men to sigh in relief.「That’s why we brought you together with him here.」

「...So what say you, Corey Wesley? Will you accept our offer, continue living your life in the world of Esthar and become one of the heroes that defend and lead the world to find its salvation!」One of the nine, who sat on a platform that was a bit higher than the rest impatiently asked the man as his eyes glowed red under the darkness of his hood.

「... I accept.」Corey let out a broad grin.

「Great!」the goddess clapped her hand, smiling. 「I will direct one of my faithful in Esthar to find and guide you through the first few difficult months. Just stay put where we place you for a few days and I promise, she will find you. 」

「「We will follow your journey and protect you from harm, Corey Wesley, the newest hero of Esthar!!!」」

Chapter 19: Concerning Esthar's fundamentals...

Corey strode down the Capital’s main avenue arrogantly, humming along the way. He did not expect much from the meeting with Prime Minister Stringer. After all, all the previous summons coming from the Kingdom was only for trivial matters. Yet, this time, it was completely different. Just by promising to lend a bit of his strength, he was granted a large sum of money and a batch of fertile land. This reward, or rather, prospect of reward, would increase his already large fortune by at least 25%. It was undeniable that the menace that was a Primal Dragon sounded a bit scary, even for a hero like him. But his deal was not to confront the dragon, it was just to help contain it within its seal. He had planned everything, since even if by some small chance the dragon ever broke the seal, it was not his job to confront that freak of a monster. It would be left to the Six heroes instead. He had spent years living in Esthar so he was fully beware who he could and could not fight against. 

Fifteen years ago, when he and his lackeys first got transported to this new world, it was as if he was a newborn infant in a man's body: he knew nothing about Esthar, not its geography, not its nation states, heck, he did not even know how to utilize his “hero” power, which he allegedly received from the Ennead . There he stayed, at an abandoned cottage next to a small lake. With the thick forest enveloping the surrounding, even if he wanted to leave the cottage, it would be almost impossible. Every night, he and his men cowarded, covered their ears from the howling and grumbling of the beasts and monsters lurking in the darkness. As morning came, the beast and monsters seemed to disburse, yet they came back every single night, haunting the group. Strangely, they ventured no farther than the edge of the forest. By some strange power, any creatures that tried to invade Corey’s space soon writhed in pain and hurried back into the dense rows of trees surrounding the place. By the third day, as food supply in the cottage ran low, Corey cursed the so-called Ennead to have placed him in such a god forbidden location. He began to doubt their words. ‘Maybe this is just a practical joke?’ one of his lackey suggested but they all knew what happened was neither a joke nor a dream. They were now in a strange world, a world where two moons, one red and one blue, have replaced the familiar white celestial object they knew back on Earth. A world filled with monsters and deformed beasts, wandering around their cottage. On the fourth day, when their hopes have faded and arguments have erupted within the group on what would be the best course of action, Corey’s face suddenly brightened up as he noticed a group of people emerging from the forest. The group was led by a muscular, handsome man with a large sabre on his hand. Next to him was a beautiful pink-haired girl, holding a long white staff while dressed in a JRPG priestess class. Two other women were walking behind them, one with a large breast while the other flat chest. They were not as beautiful as the staff wielding woman, but for sure they’re quite pretty. 

「Corey-sama?」The man asked as he hurriedly ran in front of Corey and knelt down. 

「Yes?」He hesitantly answered. 「And you are?」

「My name is Haden . This is Ariel .」He introduced himself, then the priestess. 「And these are Floria and Estel . We have come here, as per instruction of the Ennead, to pick up and welcome you to the world of Esthar! 」

「What? Really???」Correy’s face brightened up, but soon his relief turned into anger. Hitting Haden’s head, the former young master of the Wesley family scolded. 「What took you so long? Do you know how many days have it been since we got here? Our food is almost out too!」

「I’m so sorry for the delay!」answered Haden 「Our party was not in the vicinity. When Ariel got the message from Lady Freya , we tried our best to arrive here in a timely manner...」

「Stop with your excuse!」Again, Corey hit the adventurer, to the annoyance of both Floria and Estel. 「Just a little longer and we would have left here! What would you do if we had left, huh?」

「I’m sorry, Corey sama...」Haden lowered his head even further. 

「Please Corey sama!」Ariel, who Corey later learned, was Haden’s fiance, begged. 「We really tried to come here as fast as we could. I’m really sorry for the delay. I promise we will serve as your retainers dutifully and make it up to you. 」

「... Is that so?」Dark thought clouded Corey’s mind as he took a good look at the priestess. 「Fine. I forgive you this one time. But what should we do now?」

「Corey sama!」answered Haden. 「We will take you back to a city on the other side of this forest. There, we can get you and your followers here all the equipment you need. Since you got transported here and are unfamiliar with this world, I’ll make sure to explain everything you need to know and about your role as the newest hero.」

「Hmm… Sounds like a plan!」

And so, the group left the cottage behind and Corey’s life as a hero of Esthar began. Under Haden’s guidance, Corey quickly learned everything about this world. He was not just another dumb rich kid back on earth; in fact, being the only son of a craft CEO and a powerful Senator, Corey possessed all their intellegence and craftiness. Since Haden’s first instruction, it only took the young man less than a week to master all of his skills. This world, Corey realized, functioned as an RPG world, in which an individual’s power consisted of three main determinants. First of all, every single person living in Esthar belongs to a certain「Job Class」. Each 「Job Class」possessed  certain sets of 「Skill」, which can be unlocked as they grew stronger. However, the 「Class」system was not as rigid as it sounded since individuals from one 「Class」can learn skills from the other 「Class」, depending on their affinity. One example would be how a 「Warrior」class can learn skills from a 「Monk」 or 「Grappler」class due to their affinity to close combat; however, it would be extremely difficult for them to learn skill sets of a 「Mage」class or 「Alchemist」class. How many classes were there, no one knew for sure, but common classes have been further categorized into four different categories: Physical Combat group, Caster group, Ranger group, and Special group.  On top of 「Job Class」,  there were 「Racial Class」since many races lived in this world, each race possessed their unique skill set on top of the skill set acquired from 「Job Class」. For Corey, his 「Job Class 」would be called Hero, while his 「Racial Class」 would be Human, which was the most versatile [Racial Class] . The only other 「Racial Class」that rivaled Human would be Hybrid, a special case of 「Racial Class」.  On top of normal skill sets, there was something Haden called 「Arte」, sorts of unique skills that were not as common as normal skills. Only high tier individuals could possess「Arte」. ‘What determined someone as high tier?’ was the first question that Corey asked. Apparently, in this world, there was a ranking scale that adventurers and governments have been using since time immemorial: It classified power into 6 levels: S, A, B, C, D, and F; A high tier individual would be anyone who acquired rank A or higher. Heroes, though, would naturally possess at least one 「Arte」, as it was the gift of  ‘Seed of Heroes.’ There were a few, though, Haden stressed, could acquire something called 「Ultimate Arte」. These are unrivaled skills, with power that could level nations. According to Haden, only 6 known Heroes were confirmed to have 「Ultimate Arte」. Corey was hoping he would, somehow, possess such power but he was disappointed to find out that was not the case. 

The second determinant that defined one’s power besides ‘skill’ was 「Magic」. Every person in Esthar could use Magic, as long as they knew the spell and had enough Mana to channel and materialize it. However, just in ancient times back on Earth, when written words symbolized power and those who learned reading and writing would inevitably rule over the illiterates, people who were blessed with the knowledge of spells and runecrafts tried their best to monopolize it. Learning a new spell was invaluable, especially for adventurers, who had to deal with unimaginable perils and knowing a spell or two would undeniably come in handy. Haden himself only knew of three spells, all of which he tried his best to teach Corey. Despite being a sort of prodigy, Corey was incredibly bad at mastering spells and magic. Even with his best effort, the new hero could only utilize one spell to proficient, the other two though, were hit or miss. That was the nature of spells and another reason why magic was not as widespread as they should even though everyone had the capacity to perform a spell: it was incredibly difficult to master one. Magic utilized by people belong to Magic Casters classes, though, was different. They were loved by nature and spirits, so they were able to materialize the natural 「 Flow of Magics 」 into physical spells, without consuming any of their Mana. Usually, the magic casted by the Casters were much more efficient and powerful compared to those spells used by non-Casters. Even though they represented less than a fifth of the general population, some of the most powerful individuals in Esthar, Haden argued, in fact belonged to this Caster group. 

The third, and also the last manifestation of power in this world would be 「 Haki 」. Haden did not know what the term meant, nor since when  did people start calling it Haki, but it was the most widespread and easiest power to use. Some people may only possess one meager skill, with  no talent in mastering magic and spell, but they had to have a certain amount of Haki and control over it. Haki, essentially, was the life force of a person. High tier individuals and Heroes always have an incredible amount of Haki, in which they could imbue in their attacks. They could transfer their own Haki into inanimate objects, such as their weapons, to reinforce them when fighting their opponents. The utilization of Haki was not only in fighting, though. Since it was literally the life force of a person, everytime a person concentrated on their work, they used some of their Haki: from cooking, singing, sculpting… Haki was ubiquitous, whether the users were aware of it or not. 

From the basics of combat to common knowledge about Esthar’s geography and political climates, Corey mastered everything Haden could teach him in merely half a year. Learning a new language would probably take the hero a bit longer; however, strangely, both him and his lackeys were able to read, write, and speak in the Estharian Language the moment he got transported here. He reckoned it had to do with the Ennead, but he did not bother figuring out why. By the end of his first year, he had made a name for himself: Corey the Hero. He liked the sound of that… and the power and prestige that it brought him. Haden and Ariel had delayed their wedding to wholeheartedly help the new hero, just as commanded by Lady Freya, one of the Ennead. Despite Corey’s attitude, they were ecstatic when they saw the once unnamed hero that they helped just a year ago was now renowned throughout the world. Yet, little that they knew, that very moment they accepted the command from the Ennead, their lives and their destiny have forever changed. For Corey has been laying his perverted eyes on Ariel and the other two girls in Haden’s party ever since their first meeting, and the one year time they spent together had not calmed his lust for them one bit. On the contrary, it was amplified. The pious Ariel, bowing and obeying his every command, has fueled the perversion in Corey. Now that Haden and his group’s usefulness has ran its course, it was time Corey enacted his fantasy… 

Notes:

I don't think I will explicitly have a chapter on what happened to Haden and his party. Will have references in later chapter though.

Chapter 20: Corey vs Kibadios

「So you have decided to ‘take care’ of his group?」

「Yes. Not in the capital though. I’ll follow them into the wild… Haaa... There, even if I massacre their little group, their corpses will be taken care of by the wild beasts… Hahaaa … Like I have warned them, accidents may happen at anytime.」Corey smirked. He was naked on his bed as his cock rammed deep into his unwilling victim. 

「Be careful, my brother! Ryan may pose no threat to you but that hybrid is a bad news. His two other retainers are also fairly unique. 」

「I know, I know! How many time have you warned me that?」Corey finally reached orgasm as he cummed hard inside the girl. Wiping away his sweats, the hero quickly cloaked himself in his expensive nightgown and walked out of his bed, leaving the now unconscious girl laid there naked. 「I have seen him unleashed his Haki during the meeting, I can tell how strong he is. Still, to think my Maia belongs to the 「 Alchemist Class 」, I can't wait to turn her into my obedient whore.」

「Dont be overconfident, Corey. I was during my attempt to turn Ryan into my plaything and look how it turns out. I was lucky to escape the goblin cave alive」

「I do have a plan. You’ll see.」

「I do hope it’s a good plan.」Desmond stood up. Not from a chair nor a couch. He was sitting on a naked man’s back. All four of his limbs were bound in a leather harness, his mouth was gagged with an O-ring, forcing his saliva to freely drip down onto the floor, while his rear end was plugged with a large dildo. 

「It is, it is!」Corey glanced at the Desmond’s slave. 「Hey, his face looks familiar... isnt that the man I let you have?」

「Ah yes. What was his name again...」Desmond tried to remember. 「Anyways, I just call him ‘Maggot’. But indeed, he was the fiance of that girl you claimed when you first got to Esthar.」

「Ariel!」nodded Corey. 

「You still remember her name?」

「I never forget names of my conquests!」laughed Corey as he intentionally got closer to ‘Maggot’.「Her pussy was one of the best. Too bad she did not last long though, she died a few years after I whored her out… with both her mind and body broken.」

‘Maggot’’s eyes lit up as he glared at Corey with hatred. Before he could do anything, his master, Desmond, slapped the man hard across his face, then gave his already bruised body a furious kick into his stomach, leaving the man groaned in agony. 

「Sorry brother!」Desmond clicked his tongue. 「I need to discipline my slaves better than this.」

「Haha! I dont mind. He’s going to die if you’re getting any tougher with him」Corey wrapped his arm around Desmond’s shoulder. 「But still, I dont get your taste in men but this sadistic side of you never ceases to amuse me, brother! 」 

「Ha, you flatter me, Corey!」

----

Corey laughed hysterically as his saliva drooled down the naked and restrained woman. Her firm, exposed breast was laid bare in front of his eyes, her hands struggled in vain against the hero’s tight grip as he pressed her down onto the grassy ground. Tears welled up her eyes. She desperately looked at the dead corpse of a man, laying a few distance away, as if she was begging for him to wake up and rescue her from Corey. This took the hero back, of course, to a year after he came to Esthar. The similar scene unfolded then as it did now . The man back then was not laying dead… No, his fate was far worse than being dead: He had to witness his beautiful fiance being ravaged by Corey and his lackeys in front of his own eyes, all the while his own muscular body was being tortured and raped by a young monk, a new friend of Corey. He tried to rescue his fiance, to do something, but strangely, he could not move a muscle since unbeknownst to him, both he and his fiance were drugged by Corey and his group a few hours ago. The two other girls in his party, one of whom, was his own sister, had been disgusted by the behaviors of Corey and his lackeys. Yet, at that moment, after being force-fed with some aphrodisiacs, they were wrapping their own legs around Corey’s men as they aggressively thrusted their cocks inside their pussies. Their minds had been completely taken by the powerful drugs as they happily slurped in the men’s drools. His party, his life, his destiny were completely shattered in front of his eyes… 

「Your scream!」said Corey. 「Your struggle, all they ever do was to turn me on even more, Maia! Why dont you just be happy that you get to be my obedient bitch?」

Corey enjoyed every minute, every second of this moment. His plan has gone perfectly without fail and now, he was going to claim what was, in his own mind, rightfully his. It all happened a little bit earlier. After being notified by a bribed guardman the moment Kibadios’ group left the capital, his lackeys and he quickly soon followed his prey. They trailed behind the group for five days, while being careful to keep a safe distance from the hybrid. Although he was not told by Desmond about any tracking skill the hybrid may possess, he wanted to make sure his prey did not know they were followed. He was no stranger to such ‘missions’. After all, he had done them a fair bit often all those years back. That was how he acquired many of his unwilling whores for his first brothel: stalking, raping, and breaking their minds. Granted, it has been a while since the last time he hunted, but that did not mean his skills were any rustier. Things have gone even better than Corey could have imagined since strangely, his prey had chosen to avoid the open road and traveled through the secluded forest for most of the time. Understandable . Corey thought, since despite travelling with his human retainers, Kibadios was undoubtedly a demihuman, and such, it was natural for demihuman to avoid contact with humans in the open road.  At the perfect opportunity, his killing stroke finally fell upon his prey, when they least expected it: Kibadios’ group had finally decided to make a quick stop at noon, next to a small pond. As the hybrid was busy gathering water for his retainers to cook lunch, Corey made his move. The hero, hiding behind the shadow of a large tree trunk, sneakily imbued a small dagger with his Haki. The moment Kibadios lowered himself to scoop up a bowl of water, Corey propelled his deadly dagger, aimed at the unsuspecting hybrid. It travelled through air at almost the speed of sound, yet Kibadios easily noticed it and enveloped himself in his own Haki as a protective barrier. Unfortunately, since the dagger was coated with Corey’s Haki, the two great forces of life, one from Corey and one from Kibadios, canceled each other, allowing the dagger to project through the barrier like thin air. But that was not enough to kill the hybrid as the man swiftly twisted his body from his bending position, his hand was able to catch the dagger before it could land a hit. 

「Poison huh?」he smirked. 「Such attacks would be fairly efficient: using your own Haki to negate any barrier, then coating your dagger in poison to make sure one strike and you’re done… This isnt your first time at this type of mission, is it? 」

「No」answered Corey as he stepped from the shadow. 「But that’s not all there is to my attack either, Hybrid!」Before he could finish his sentence, the dagger glowed bright, then exploded, swallowing up the hybrid within the blast radius. By now, Ryan, Rowan, and Maia all stood their ground and assumed defensive stances as Corey’s lackeys have surrounded them. 

「「「Master!!!」」」The three cried out

「... Im fine.」Answered the hybrid. As the smoke from the blast dispersed, Corey clicked his tongue as he saw the hybrid was still standing. Although the blast did not take out the hybrid as intended, it was not a failure either, for Corey could clearly see one of his hands was charred and trembled from the impact. With any attempts from his three retainers to come to his aid were successfully stopped by his numerous lackeys, Corey wanted to bring the hybrid down as soon as possible. After all, although his lackeys might be considered “strong” by this world’s standard, they would probably not be able to stop Ryan for much longer. As such, with this sword coated with holy aura, Corey leaped forward and swung it at the hybrid. Fifteen years experience as a hero was not just for show, as just in a blink of an eye, Corey had closed his distance. By the time Kibadios conjured up his scythe, all he could do was to raise it forward, barely able to stop Corey’s sword. The holy aura quickly eroded the dark element that made up the scythe. Struggled to stop the heavy strike, he could see the edge of Corey’s sword inched closer to his face, while his scythe slowly being chipped away by the sword’s edge.
「Checkmate, filthy demi!」smirked Corey, then he screamed out「Do it!」

Before Kibadios could react, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Once he slowly turned his head around, he could see from the water, one of Corey’s lackeys were able to hide in the depth of the pond, sneaked behind him and pierced his chest with a sharp spear. The hybrid could not utter a word, but Corey was now laughing as his strike finally followed through, slicing the hybrid in half the moment his strength vanished and his grip on the scythe loosened. Mixed in Corey's laugh were the desperate screams of the hybrid’s retainers. Rowan, the healer of the group, lowered his guard to run toward his master, only to be cut down by Corey as he reached out to his master, trying to heal the demihuman. Ryan and Maia, after a moment of dispirit, shouted out in anger as they directed their rage at Corey and his group… but that was for nothing, since Ryan, who was barely considered a hero, could never fight evenly against Corey, who possessed within him a fifteen years experience. After a brief exchange, Ryan, too, fell. During his final moments, the newbie hero tried to crawl toward his lifeless master, only to have Corey’s blade pierced his heart. Maia, the prize of this mission, was now struggling against all the men surrounding her. She fought valiantly, for a non-combat class such as alchemist, but she too, was now pinned down onto the ground as the men hungrily tore open her clothes. She was now fully exposed in front of those that were not her master. Corey, who had already discarded his own clothes, was now laying on top of her, his hands gripped tightly onto her wrist, his saliva drooled down her naked and restrained body…

…

…

「Having a pleasant dream, Corey-“sama”?」

A familiar voice echoed from the woods jolted Corey. The hero raised his head to look around but soon his attention was brought back to the girl as she started to laugh. Her laugh became louder and louder, until she suddenly melted away. The surprised Corey stood up, his hand placed on his sword. Something is not right , he thought. The surrounding became distorted as his lackeys, one by one, melted away. 

「What the hell is going on?」the hero screamed out, demanding for an answer. Once he finished his sentence, he suddenly realized his supposed naked body was now fully clothed. He panicked 「What did you do, you filthy demi!」

「Welcome back to reality.」a hand ripped through the air, casted away the distortion. There Kibadios stood, in front of Corey, along with his three retainers, all alive. Maia, who should have been naked, was also fully clothed. The bruises that she got from the struggle were gone. By now, Corey has realized all of his lackeys were dead, with some laid motionlessly on the ground covered in bloody wounds, while others were impaled in several dark spikes, their faces still retained the horrified expression and agony they experienced before their deaths. 

「How...」Corey’s own hand was shaking. He could not comprehend what had just happened. His lackeys, who have been with him since they got transported to his world, were not weak. Through all the adventures they had, those only grew stronger. He only ever lost one of them before, and that was due to carelessness. This was no carelessness… This was a massacre. 

「What did you do?」Corey’s voice was trembling.

「It’s one of my unique incubus racial class’ skills, < Jagan_Evil Eyes >.」explained Kibadios nonchalantly.  「It’s like Sharingan from Naruto, you see… well, not that you know what “Naruto” is. Anyways, It’s a hypnotic skill,  one that is so potent that I can only use it once in a while… be proud that I used it on you, Corey- “sama”.」Kibadios said mockingly.

「Wait… I have heard of that name...」Corey’s eyes widened. He did not care for Japanese culture nor its products, but ‘Naruto’ name was ubiquitous.「You’re a 「 World Traveller 」?」

「Ho?」amused Kibadios. 「You’re also one? Not that it matters though. You will die right here, right now. World travellers or not. The moment you decided to target us, you’ve already fallen into my trap. 」 The hybrid continued to explain. 「Did you ever think why it's weird that we’re travelling through secluded places instead of the open road? We were baiting you to act, Corey- “sama.” And predictably, you did.」

「How dare you!」

「I have heard stories and rumors about you from my Ryan chan… I know how scums like you think and act… After all, we are all alike, Corey- “sama”. 」Kibadios walked closer to the now visibly distraught Corey. He had planned to run away, but he was one step too late since Rowan had erected a circular barrier around him and Kibadios. Of course, he could break the barrier, but that meant he would be vulnerable from Kibadios’ attacks. 「Though, the “assassin” sneaked in the pond, that was creative. Too bad for you that my Nu-chan found him. And now, the “assassin” is comfortably resting inside its ever expanding stomach.」The hybrid pointed to his bloated pet, who was innocently slimming around the dome barrier, with a few remains of the “assassin” floating around inside it.

「... No way! There’s no way Andrew would be killed by a mere slime!」

「But Nu isnt a mere slime though. That little guy has been continuously consuming my Haki nonstop. By now, it would probably be as strong as an B+ rank monster.」explained Kibadios 「Another shortcoming of my plan to lure you out would be that fact that you’re freakishly strong. Granted, I should have expected that since you’re a veteran hero. That was my bad. But the moment you faced me directly when you tried to land a hit on me, that’s when my <Jagan> activated. So here we are. Your followers are all dead and you cornered… How the “turntable”, huh?」

「Ha. Is that so? You conveniently forget one fact.」Corey raised his sword 「That I am a hero and you’re a lowly demihuman! I’ll end you right here, right now.」

「You’re right… 」admitted Kibadios. 「I may be able to defeat you but for sure I won't step out of this unharmed..」The hybrid raised his injured hand 「But why do you think I entered this barrier alone? There’s one thing you don't know about me: Just like Ousen, I never fight a losing battle… or at least, that’s a lesson that I have learned. The very moment you’re facing me, you’ve already lost.」

「What nonsense!」Dismissed Corey, his sword glowed bright in holy aura. 「From the information I got, you’re a caster class. In this close combat environment, you’re the one at disadvantage here.」

「...」Kibadios thought for a moment. 「Whose information did you get? Since my reincarnation, there are only a handful of people who have seen me fight, and three of them were already my slaves there.」

「Slaves?」Corey raised his eyebrows.

「... Does it mean you know that hooded man?」Kibadios ignored Corey’s question.「Or Desmond?」

At the mention of his brother-in-arm, Corey’s slight change of expression betrayed him. 

「So you’re Desmond’s acquaintance?... Well, doesn’t matter. Once I’m done with you, you will spill everything you know about that monk to me. 」Kibadios shrugged. 「Oh, by the way, there's one thing I want to clarify: I am not a Caster Class. I am a 「 Summoner 」. 」

「Special class?」gasped Corey. This changed everything. Among the four categories, the special class was the most difficult to deal with since there was just too much variation in their skill sets. And the Summoner class was one of the most troublesome one. Asides from their affinity to magic and caster class, they could summon spirit to fight in their stead. In addition, once they fused with their summon, they would be able to fight as any class in the physical, caster, or range group, depending on the spirits they summoned. In short, Summoner, one of the rarest classes, was also one of the most troublesome. 

「Yes.」Nodded Kibadios. 「And unfortunately for you, my familiars have all returned to me the day we left the capital… including the one familiar that will forever appear in your nightmare, not that you will ever need to sleep.」As the hybrid raised up his burnt hand, Corey could feel the change in the atmosphere. He could feel every single hair on his body was now spiking up. Something terrible was coming. 「「 HaoS 」, the primordial spirit of fire, I call upon thee.」

「What?... WHAT?!?!!」Corey screamed out from the top of his tongue as the scene in front of his eyes folded. Even for a 15 years veteran Hero, this was something he could never expect to witness. The being that he had only heard from myth and legends, the being that stood above all living creatures in this world, the being that was the very essence of this world, was staring right at him. Of course, he had never seen it before, no one he knew had. Yet, the moment he stood face to face with HaoS, he knew clearly what he was looking at: his doom. How did it turn out this way? His mind was in shambles. 「Wait… Waiittt… I’m sorry… Please… I begggg youuuu!!!」

Chapter 21: Retribution

Corey has discarded all of his dignity as a hero, or even as a person as he prostrated himself in front of Kibadios, begging for forgiveness. He was crying a river, not that there was any droplet of tears left to roll down his cheek, for the heat resulting from HaoS evaporated everything within the barrier. Corey could feel his skin dried up, all the water in his body abandoned him. After just a few seconds in the heated barrier that felt like an overheating oven, Corey collapsed as his strength vanished. Fortunately for him, for some strange reason, the heat subsided. Before he could let out a sigh of relief, though, his body froze up. In front of him, Kibadios stood. The hybrid has just fused with the primordial spirit, a feat that would kill any creature. For you see, not every summoner could fuse with their spirits. Only the strongest summoners could, since the act of fusion could easily take the summoners’ life, or at least their minds. When a spirit fused with one person, they were sharing both mind and body so any small mistake, the mind of the person could easily be destroyed by the spirits. Corey only had to deal with such a scenario once before, it was tough, but he came out triumphant. Yet, he knew there was no hope for him now. There was not much difference about Kibadios appearance in his fusion form: Only his hair seemed to have transformed into bright flames of many colors. A few flickers of embers could be seen wrapping around his two hands and feet. Yet… Yet… The power he possessed far exceeded that of the Great Demon Lord Gilga that Corey had once witnessed during his time acting as Kingdom of Maeg’s representative in Uruk. From outside the barrier, although Kibadios’ three slaves could not feel the heat, their eyes were also wide open after they witnessed their master’s transformation. The most knowledgeable about the Primordial Spirit among them, Ryan, was shaking in excitement. His master, who he decided to dedicate his life to, had just transformed into his God. He always knew Kibadios was hiding something, but he never would have guessed it was HaoS.
「Well, what are you kneeling on the ground for? Let’s end this」Kibadios leapt forward.
「Please… NOOOOOO」
The fight was over in an instant. Once Kibadios transformed back from his fusion form and signaled for Rowan to dismiss the barrier, Corey was already defeated, laid down in agony with each one of his arms and legs were chopped off. He was surprised that he was left alive though. He struggled to lift his head from the ground, trying to find out where Kibadios had gone. There the hybrid sat, on a small boulder not too far from where Corey was.
「Now, about the information about Desmond...」
「He’s living in one of my guesthouse!」screamed out Corey. With his life on the line, he would betray anyone if it meant he would be left alive. 「Please, spare me!」He coughed out some blood, then continued. 「Please spare me and i’ll take you to him.」
「No need. Didn't you just say he’s living in your guesthouse? I'm pretty sure you don't own more than 4 different guesthouses from what Ryan told me...」
「5」Ryan corrected his master.
「5! Yes, 5. We can just search them, one by one. I’m sure we will find him sooner or later. Knowing that he is your associate, finding him would be easy.」
「No… no...」Corey internally cursed his stupidity. 「What about money? I can give you lots and lots of money!」He finally changed his begging strategy. 「I’ll serve you! Please! Anything!」
「Serve me?」Kibadios laughed. 「There’s no need for that. I already have three perfectly obedient slaves, all eager to serve me… all eager to offer me even their own bodies.」The hybrid pulled Ryan down into his laps. His hands slipped under the hero’s shirt and teased his nipples, causing Ryan to use his hands to cover his soft moans. 「You see? They’re not just my retainers. They’re my precious slaves. I have no need for you.」
「But… please….」Corey could not believe his own eyes. In front of him, a full fledged hero was willingly letting a demihuman molest him. This Kibadios, he finally realized, was no mere demihuman… He was something much worse. Before Corey could think of anything to convince the hybrid, he noticed Maia walked toward him, holding a small bottle in her hand. Once she reached him, the girl poured a strange liquid stored inside on top of his body, then quickly rinsed her hand in the pond closeby.
「He’s been fully coated with it, Master.」reported the girl to the hybrid.
「Good!」
「In less than a few minutes, he will be suffering something worse than death.」Maia glared at the defeated Corey in disgust. Although it did not really happened, she was sick that in his fantasy, he had dared to mercilessly kill her beloved master and then tried to rape her.
「What… what did you do?」screamed out Corey. From his pain and his fears, he was oblivious to the rusting noise from the surrounding woods.
「I heard of rumors that you kidnapped, drugged, and raped many girls, then transforming them into whores working in your brothels.」
「... So what?? I am a hero! I protect this world! Those girls are only my rewards for doing it! My justified rewards!」argued Corey.
「... You treated them less than animals, left them to die after you’re done with them. And so, you will soon experience what they have experienced. The liquid that Maia poured on you is a strong aphrodisiac, though it does not work in humans… I specifically told her to make it so that it only works in monsters and beasts.」
「Wait… you ...don't... mean...」His voice shakened.
「Yes, I do. Hear those rustling sounds? Soon enough, you will know what it feels like to have some disgusted creatures pin you down and fuck you hard.」
「YOU HYPOCRITE! 」Corey finally lost it. 「Acting all high and might but I’m sure you also fucked and broke those three fucking shits you call slaves! YOU...」
「Ah...Yes… 」Kibadios face turned grim. 「Yes… and I dont expect to meet a happy ending either… In fact, I did not have my happy ending. One day, I will again suffer. But one thing I know for sure: it is not this day. On this day, it is you who will suffer… and I intend to watch every second of it.」
「You mad, filthy demi!」Corey turned around onto his stomach, trying his best to crawl away from the hybrid. But he was not able to move much further when he stumbled upon a pair of furry legs. As he looked up, he realized he was surrounded by several apes-like creatures. Further away were several deformed monsters, all salivating and staring at the defenseless hero. The beasts and monsters paid no attention to Kibadios’ group, who stood only a small distance away, for their minds have all clouded with a strong sexual frenzy induced by the drug coated on Corey.
「No! Get away from me!」The hero frantically shook his arm and leg, hoping somehow he could disperse the crowd. But it was to no avail. The apes-like creature took hold of his body and shrieked loudly before ripping away what’s left of his clothes. 「Noooo!! Pleaseeee! NOOOOO!」
…
Ryan and Maia had decided to take a walk to get away from the scene. Although she was on board with the idea, for a girl like Maia, seeing such a scene in person was too much. For Ryan’s part, he was still a hero. He wholeheartedly agreed with his master’s action, he still could not bear to witness such obscenity. Only Kibadios and Rowan remained where they were, next to a pathetic man that was Corey the hero. Kibadios did not care much for beastility in front of him, but he had promised to himself to witness Corey’s fall, since he knew in his heart, such pain and depravity that Corey experienced was nothing compared to how his own life might end. Rowan did not care one bit about the scene unfolding in front of him either, but he stayed with his master to heal his injured hand.
「...Kibadios sama」Still healing the hybrid’s hand, Rowan finally spoke after a long pause. 「I know there are a lot of things about you that we don't know. You are an enigma. But one thing for sure, you’re not Corey Wesley.」
「Huh? Where did this come from?」Kibadios smiled.
「Before, when you were telling how you’re just like him and you will be meeting a fate similar to his.」Rowan frowned as he remembered his master’s words. 「You’re nothing like that piece of garbage there! You saved us, you protected our village! We promise our bodies to you and you were just claiming what we owe you! There’s nothing stopping you from taking Maia chan and I away and raped us… broke us, without having to rescue our village, but you didn't! For Ryan chan, what we did to him might be questionable… but he owes you his life! It just pains me when you think you’re just like Corey. We stay with you, we serve you because we love you… I’m sure that’s how Ryan chan felt too… I’m sure of it.」
「I told you before, don't confuse what you feel with love. It’s just merely Stockholm Syndrome.」dismissed Kibadios.
「Is that a term coming from your original world, Kibadios sama? This ‘Stockholm Syndrome’...」asked Rowan. 「When we were outside the barrier, Ryan explained to us about “World traveller”. I don't care if you’re one. I don't care about your past, or your plan for the future… I dont care if what I feel is this ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ you keep talking about. All I know is that I will serve you until the end.」Rowan has finished healing Kibadios, his hand now held tightly onto his master’s hand.
「... Thanks, Rowan chan...」Kibadios did not say anything more. The hybrid just patted the healer’s head, then pulled him into his embrace. Rowan was surprised at his master’s tenderness but he just stayed there, enjoyed the warm hug the hybrid gave him. For Kibadios, the hybrid was conflicted. He did not think three slaves he obtained, those he once dismissed as his mere toys, would cause him to feel ‘loved’. Whether their love for him were genuine, he did not know, but he knew he did not deserve it. The path he chose to walk would undoubtedly lead him to his doom and somehow, for the first time ever, he did not want to continue on the path… If it was just him, he would be totally content with it, but now, he did not want to bring pain and suffering to Rowan, Maia, and Ryan. Somehow, they have become something much more special to the hybrid.

Chapter 22: Porn

Notes:

This chapter would be the only explicit porn chapter for a while. The next few chapters will be plot/actions packed chapter.

Kibadios ended Corey’s suffering with his <Devour> Skill, swallowing him whole into the dark abyss of his skill. “Whole” was a bit relative since by the time the beasts and monsters were done with him, he was barely alive as bite and claw marks covered his bloody body. Had he been any regular man, he would have been dead hours earlier. It was his <Seed of Heroes> that protected him until his end, prolonging his suffering. By consuming the hero, the hybrid demihuman was now able to gain affinity to the Holy element, something that no other demihuman could… At least that was what he learned during his first reincarnation and what Ryan has just confirmed for him. After finishing devouring all other corpses to ensure no one could find out what happened to Corey and his group, the hybrid finally got going. Now, his group could travel along the main road and was able to sleep over at fancy inns instead of camping outside in the woods. It was funny. Kibadios had spent the whole first year of his life living in the wilderness, inside a rocky cave, yet now, he could no longer do so. He had gotten used to the luxury provided by cozy inns by the road: the warm bath water, the hot meal, and top of all, a soft, comfortable bed. For this day though, sleeping would elude him most of the night since he needed to give out his reward, especially to Maia who was able to synthesize such a unique aphrodisiac. 「If that’s what master wants!」was her response before she devoted all her time into making it. It had taken her more than three days and nights, with countless trips to the market to gather different ingredients. At some points, Kibadios has thought about telling her to stop, since the aphrodisiac was not really that crucial to the plan. However, he did not, for he loved seeing her devotion to him. After all, he was a selfish bastard. 

「Mmmhhhh」Maia’s beautiful face was now happily leaning against the hybrid’s cock. As usual, she was fully naked, kneeling at the end of their bed, with both of her light pink nipples fully erected. On one corner of the large bed they all shared were Ryan and Rowan in their birthday suits. The mischievous and trusting Ryan’s sleeping posture has always been the worst among his three slaves as he slept spreading his legs, revealing his bare, flaccid cock. One of his legs rested on top of the much more matured Rowan, who slept neatly in the fetal position, facing the hero. The hybrid still could vividly recall what had happened less than five minutes before.

「Ever since we left the Capital, because we were afraid Corey would attack, we weren't able to “do it”」said Ryan, his arms wrapped around the hybrid’s neck while his firm, clothless body leaned against his master. 「Now that Corey was dealt with, we can relax and have all the sex we want and make up for our “dry spell”, Kibadios sama!」

「You tell me!」replied Kibadios, once he took a break from french kissing Ryan. 「I had to take the heat suppression pill every day to repress my lust. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go crazy had Corey delayed his ambush, even if it’s just for another day.」

「... Master!!!」Maia, who was sitting in the middle of the bed, called out to the hybrid in a whining tone, her face was pouting. 「Didn't you say you’ll reward me for making the aphrodisiac?」

「Right, come here!」smiled Kibadios. It did not matter if it was the first time or the thousandth time Maia saw the hybrid smiled, her face still turned beet red at the sight. After devoting herself to the hybrid, in her mind, her master was the most handsome creature she had ever seen. 「I did promise to give you a special reward right? After all, you spent days and nights developed your solution, we barely had any sex even back at the capital.」

「... Yeah… 」Maia blushed. 「Thanks, master!」

「Huh? But does it mean you’ll be monopolizing master tonight? I dont think we can just watch you guys on the side.」Protested Ryan. 

「Haaa… Haaaaa」Rowan was moaning as his master’s hand wrapped around his cum leaking cock. 「He’s right…」

「Well, you guys dont have to watch. Rowan and you can just go to sleep」Maia was pouting again. 「After all, you did have way more sex with master back when I was synthesizing the solution.」

「HAAAA!!!」Rowan almost climaxed, but the hybrid swiftly wrapped his hand tightly around the healer’s shaft, causing him to be unable to shoot his cum. Once his pleasure subsided, he suggested. 「We’re already in this state… There’s no way we can just sleep… Let’s share master again, Maia chan.」

「Remember what master always says」Ryan's mouth briefly sucked on one of the hybrid’s nipples. 「Sharing is caring!」

「Maia, just come here. I’ll make sure to satisf...」The moment the hybrid paid his attention to Maia, he could feel the murderous aura emanating from the usual well-behaved girl. 

「I told you guys to go to sleep! I will have master tonight!」The fuming alchemist girl leapt toward the two men. Since they were both in heat, with their backs facing the girl, both Ryan and Rowan were able to comprehend Maia’s fury until it was too late. Just in seconds, her hand softly wrapped the two men’s faces from behind, darkness emitting from her own while her lusting eyes glowed red. The moment the future Poison Queen’s hands were placed over their mouths and noses, it was over for the two poor men as they fell down onto the bed, unconscious. It did not take more than 10 seconds for Kibadios to hear Ryan’s soft snoring sound escaping his mouth. By now, Maia has reverted back to her usual innocent look, before addressing the hybrid. 「Sorry master! Sometimes I need to be rough with them to get my point across. Just for tonight, I’ll make sure to please you in their steads.」

「... Okay?」The hybrid gulped, then nodded. Note to self, do not piss off Maia . He thought to himself. The girl finally got to lean her face against his cock as she inhaled in her master’s musky scent…

 

---

 

「Tell it to release me, Kibadios!」 yelled out  Ruek, who was blindfolded and hung in the air. Next to him was a humanoid creature with an angel-like flaming wing, his face was devoid of any human features such as nose, eyes, or mouth though.

「Why strung him and and covered his eyes like this?」asked Kibadios.

「He was trying to take a peek at your naked slave so I figured you would want me to take are of that」The figure answered Kibadios telepathically since it possessed no mouth. 「I could have incinerated his soul, like I did with the pathetic hero and his lackeys that you devoured… but you specifically told me to spare his soul.」The figure poked Ruek.

「Just let him down.」

Once the humanoid figure released Ruek, the elf shot it an ‘I thought we were friends, why did you just casually blindfolded and strung me up’ look before complaining directly to the hybrid. 

「I was not trying to look at Maia-chan’s perfect body… her round, perky breasts… ahhh」Although Reuk was trying to deny his sin, his facial expression was outing his lie since he was nose-bleeding like a faucet. 

「Maybe I should let HaoS destroy you...」Kibadios was pissed.

「I can do it right now!」HaoS, the humanoid spirit, was excited at the prospect. After all, it has been stuck with Reuk ever since it came back to Kibadios’ body a few days ago after its mission to explore the world. For some strange reason, the elf-turned-otaku annoyed him to the extremity. Since it was only Reuk and Haos living inside Kibadios’ consciousness, Ruek continued to bother the spirit, even it tried its best to avoid the elf. 

「Let’s stop joking like that! HaoS and I are best buds!」Reuk dismissed Kibadios’ threat, his arm placed onto the spirit’s shoulder, much to his annoyance. 「Not that I have any other person to talk to while living within you...」

「Seriously, I don't see why you want to keep him around. You let me destroy the other souls...」HaoS tried to escape Reuk’s embrace.

「Well, he’s Ryan’s friend… I guess Ryan would not like to have his friend’s soul destroyed.」

「Talking about having souls destroyed.」Reuk finally let go of HaoS. 「That was gruesome, Kibadios!」

「What was?」

「What else? What you did to Corey, of course!」said Ruek. 「I cant believe Ryan would let you… Though since he’s under your mind control, I guess it makes sense why he did not protest...」

「What’s there to protest? Since I absorbed him, you and I could both see his past, right? With all his unspeakable sins, we both know he deserve it.」

「Still… ARGHH!」Ruek pulled his hair. 「Seriously, ever since I got devoured by you, your actions started to make sense and it’s hard to argue against! Are you sure it’s not a side effect of having to live within you? Cuz for sure if it was the old me, I would fucking kick your ass to prevent you from all of your questionable actions.」

「Hmm, I dont think so… This reincarnation is the first time I have the skill <Devour> but I doubt that’s the side effect.」answered Kibadios honestly. 「Though I doubt you can even fight against me.」

 

---

 

…Chirp…Chirp... Chirp...

The hybrid slowly opened his eyes as the morning ray shined down where he slept. The sex was wild, even with his standard. He fucked his Maia throughout the night, without any break until his slave finally gave out in the early morning. Then they slept, with his cock still rested deep inside his slave’s constricting pussy, plugging up all his cums inside. His arm wrapped around her smooth, hickey-filled body as his hand now lazily played with her perky breasts.

「You’re awake, Kibadios sama?」Rowan asked. The heal was still butt naked since long ago, Kibadios had already decreed that none of his slaves should wear clothes when they were inside  the room. 

「Uhmm」The hybrid yawned, then slowly sat up while making sure Maia’s sleep was undisturbed. After all, he knew his slave must be exhausted after last night. He did not know what time it was but judging from the sun, he doubted they had slept for more than 3 hours. It was fine for him, since both of his demi-human races required less sleep than normal humans: Orges were a fighting race so they have enough stamina to power through the whole week with less than five hours of sleep, while incubus… well, incubus substituted sex for sleep anyways. 

「We have already drawn a hot bath for you…」

「Hot bath in the morning sounds good.」nodded the hybrid. 「But you know what sounds better? A tongue bath from my adorable Rowan and Ryan chan!」The hybrid grinned, then effortlessly carried Rowan bridal style to the bathroom. 

「Huh? You still want to have sex with us even after the night you had with Maia chan? Ryan and I were sleeping like dead thanks to Maia, but judging from all the cum stains and fluids, I thought you would all be spent by now.」

「Is anything wrong? You don't want to be fucked by your master?」asked Kibadios.

「Of course I want to… 」Rowan pulled himself up toward the hybrid’s cheek and gave him a kiss. 「I’m just worried you might be too tired...」

「Nonsense! Have I ever been too tired for sex?」By now, Kibadios has already got to the bathroom.

「You want to do it with us?」Ryan, who was busy checking the temperature for the bath, excitedly asked when he overheard his master was talking to Rowan. 

「... Let’s make up for last night...」

…

…

…

Ryan’s trembling legs were now supported by Kibadios’ strong arms as the hybrid aligned the hero’s twitching asshole on top of his raging hard cock. After having his two slaves thoroughly cleaned his body using their tongues, the half incubus sex drive has now shot up through the root. Kibadios kissed the hero’s nape, making sure to leave a visible hickey before he abruptly lowered the hero down. His cock thrusted deep inside Ryan’s sensitive asshole. Having been fucked by the hybrid for some time, his asshole has now been completely molded into the shape of the very cock that was now pounding it. His master’s cock ground against the hero’s inner walls, sending unspeakable pleasure sparks that almost fried his brain with each thrust. Ryan would have come right then had it not been for Rowan, who deviously wrapped his finger around his fellow slave’s twitching cock. 

「Not yet, Ryan chan! I need to get ready to collect your cum to share it with master.」Rowan smiled, then lowered his mouth onto the poor hero’s cock. As how he normally did it for his master, Rowan’s hot and wet mouth aggressively sucked on Ryan’s, his tongue skillfully swirled around the shaft. By now, Kibadios had already let go of Ryan’s legs, allowing the slave to move freely on his own rhythm. With his free hands, though, Kibadios traversed slowly along his slave’s slender hip and finally settled at his breasts. The hybrid started off by lightly squeezing Ryan’s firm breasts but soon, his fingers began aggressively tweaking and pulling on the hero’s already highly sensitive nipples, causing his whole body to arch upward. 

「Hmm… Dont be selfish, Ryan chan. I’m working hard to give you pleasure, the least you can do is give me a kiss.」teased the hybrid. 

「HAAA… haaa… HAAA… AHHHH...」Ryan tried his best to contain his moans. 「Ye… Yes.. Mastaa..」The hero turned his head around to receive the hybrid’s salivating mouth. As they kissed, his master’s tongue swirled around the hero, while his hand continued playing with his nipples, his cocks rammed hard inside his asshole. And then there was Rowan’s mouth, sucking and licking the hero’s cock. Having experienced pleasure from all fronts, the hero quickly gave in. The moment Rowan loosened his grip on Ryan’s cock, the hero shot his cum violently directly into Rowan’s mouth. Due to the sheer volume of cum deposited, Rowan had to gulp down some of it. Still, in the end, his mouth was still swollen up, filled with his fellow slave’s cum. Rowan tried his best to make sure none of Ryan’s cum was leaking out as he swiftly sat up and offered the cum he held to Kibadios. In an obscene threeway kiss, Ryan was also forced to drink some of his own cum as he tried to slurp away any droplet of cums that leaked out, as previously instructed by his master.  

「Delicious!」the hybrid commented while patting Ryan. 「Cum of a hero always has the high-quality taste to it. You too, Rowan. You did a good job delivering it to me.」

「Thanks, master!」Rowan grinned.

「I guess it’s Rowan’s turn now.」Kibadios pulled his cock out from the hero’s asshole and gave him a devious smile.「Ryan, now is the time for you to payback for what Rowan did to you!」

「Yes master!」

「Huh? Waittt!」Rowan panicked. 「Let me prepare first… Waittttt!!!」

And so Rowan was pinned down by the hero, forced to experience the unspeakable pleasure that the hero himself experienced just a few moments ago. By the time their master finally released his cum, both of the slaves were exhausted. In the large bathtub, the two leaned exhaustedly onto their master while the now satisfied hybrid wrapped his arms around their shoulder. 

「Hmmm… You know what? Now think about it, I wonder if I have always been bisexual!」exclaimed the hybrid. After having enjoyed the company of two men after all these times, Kibadios suddenly realized an obvious fact. 

「What’s bisexual?」The tired Rowan asked.

「You know, gay, bisexual? Having sex with both men and women...」The hybrid was surprised that Rowan had just asked something simple.

「What do they mean?」Even Ryan did not know what the hybrid was talking about 「... Are those terms you used in your previous world?」

「Wait… you don't use them?」

「No?」Ryan was confused. 「In this world, when it comes to sexual preference, there are only two designations: “to do” or “to be done”」Now that his sex drive was satisfied, Ryan tried to clean up his speech, or else he would have said “‘to fuck’ or ‘to be fucked’”. 「Men can always do other men, women can always do other women. Such an arrangement is kinda normal, especially in big cities, master.」

「Is that so?」Kibadios thought about it for a moment. 「I guess such thinking was normal in ancient Rome too…」

「... Where’s Rome?」asked Ryan.

「You know I’m a world traveller, right? Rome is a place back where I came from...」

「I have always been meaning to ask: Why did you never tell us you’re a world traveller?」Ryan curiously asked.

「Ryan chan!」Rowan frowned. 「I’m sure Master has his reason.」

「... Cuz you dont need to know?」said Kibadios. 「Would it have make a difference?」

「Not really!」answered Ryan without any hesitation.

「Then there you have it!」smiled Kibadios.

 

Update on a later date:
Artist: Hagane

 

 

Notes:

This concluded the small Corey Wesley "arc."
Next up, Ryujin "arc", follow right after by the (tentatively named) "Plaything of a Goddess" arc.
----
Anyways, I know not many people are reading this story but I just want to say thank you for reading it! Any comments/suggestions are welcome! :)

Chapter 23: Road to Falas

Notes:

Somehow I dont like a lot of the wordings in this chapter, but Im too lazy to do anything about it... Maybe I'll come back later and rewrite them

Damn it!  Kibadios cursed as he exhaustedly leaned back into a corner. Next to him were Maia and Rowan, their bloody bodies laid unconsciously on the ground . A few blocks of rubbles away were the severely wounded Ryan and Yllaner, who were busy tending for Kyles, whose chest had been pierced through by a metal pipe. The great capital of Lorian, the pride of the Kingdom of Maeg, was reduced to nothing but ashes. Hovering on top of the sole standing structure, the Royal Tower that once housed the magical barrier that acted as the Royal Palace’s last line of defense, a hideous winged creature looked down at the carnage it had caused, yet tears filled up its eyes and streamed down its cheek. 

「...Kibadios… Some… Somebody… Anybody… Please… 」It barely spoke before diving down toward Kibadios and the panicking crowd. 

I was too careless! Kibadios raised his scythe and readied to receive the creature’s attack. Yet, he knew he was no match for this Celestial Threat . The only way he could come out triumphant would be to fuse with HaoS. But how could he, for Adela was now observing the fight from the distance, a twisted grin donned her face. If he summoned HaoS, his identity as her worst nemesis would be revealed since she knew too well that no other being in Esthar would be capable of performing such a feat asides himself. Running away was another viable option. But that meant leaving his three slaves and Sylvia’s reincarnation, princess Yllaner, to die. It was the most logical action to take, yet, somehow, he could not do it. Without him knowing, his three precious slaves have become such a big part in his pathetic life that he could no longer abandon them. And Yllaner too. Sharing the same face as his beloved Sylvia, how could he leave her?  Damn it! How did it come to this!

-----------

 

The journey to the north eastern region, where the City of Falas was located, did not take that long the moment Kibadios’ party decided to follow the main road. From the jungle and thick vegetation landscapes that covered the land near the Royal Capital, the scenery before Kibadios’ eyes have slowly transformed to a grassland terrain, mixed in with a few ranges of mountains, protruding from the flatland from afar. The cold wind at the end of the fall season started to blow from the North, sending chills down the three (intentionally) lightly dressed companions of Kibadios. Although the hybrid did not feel any cold with his superb control of Haki, the others in his group were a different story. And so, during the last settlement they visited, the hybrid had bought his slaves extra cloaks to wrap and protect themselves from the increasingly cold weather. Presently, both Rowan and Maia were hiding inside the cozy carriage, leaving their master and Ryan outside to steer the horses. Unlike the other two, although not at Kibadios’ level, Ryan was much more adept at controlling his Haki so he was able to protect himself from the cold wind. What he was not able to protect against was his master’s constant nimble kisses and touches as the hybrid was sitting right behind him, his arms wrapped around his slave’s torso while his hands molested the guy’s sensitive nipples. 

「We’re almost at Falas, master. The traffic will get more crowded as we approach the city, maybe it’s time for you to take hands out of my shirt.」The hero reminded his master. 

「Hmm, what to do. My hands are still cold though.」Kibadios grinned as he leaned his chin on the hero’s shoulder. 

「How about this? If you take them out, I’ll make sure tonight’s sex will be one of the best we have ever had.」

「...Fine!」Kibadios finally removed his hands from Ryan’s pants. 「I’ll be looking forward to it」

Ryan sighed at his master’s constant horniness.「Anyways, what shall we do when we get to Falas?」

「First thing first, we need to find Kyles and Princess Yllaner, right? They left a few days before us so they should have gotten there for a while. The next thing would be waiting for the prime minister’s arrival. Before we left, he did say he will try his best to wrap up the work at the capital before leaving for Falas. Technically, without him, the only thing we can do is exterminating the monsters gathering close to Falas. We can't do nothing about the seal since who knows where they seal Ryujin.」

「...」Ryan stayed silent for a moment before finally deciding to ask his master the question he has always wanted to ask ever since he explained to his master about the Legend of Ryujin. 「Kibadios sama, I have always been meaning to ask… have you known about Ryujin before? 」

「Why do you ask?」

「It’s just… It’s just ever since our first meeting… actually more like when I explained to you about this world, I could feel your hatred oozed out from your body. Then when I explained about Ryujin, you seemed to have already known about him.」Ryan continued to list his every single suspicion he had about the hybrid and his past. 「Then Rowan chan told me how you said Princess Yllaner just looks like someone you knew in the past. And most confusingly of all, you were able to summon HaoS, one of the missing primal spirits. It just seemed to me you’re more than just a typical  <world traveler>.」 

… One of the missing primal spirits? Did the Astral lose possession of others besides HaoS... Kibadios was surprised at the revelation, but he remained silent.

「I dont mean to upset you... but… but was what you told us about your village and your purpose to travel up along the Kidan River even true?」Ryan was prepared to see his master getting mad over his accusations, but to his surprise, the hybrid still warmly embraced him and showed no sign of irritation.

「It’s true. But just like what I told you, Rowan, and Maia.」Kibadios calmly replied. 「There’s no need to tell you about my past since it would change nothing. Rowan and Maia are still my loyal slaves. You’re also my loyal slave. Aren’t you? Even if you guys know my past and my purpose, will you ever disobey my command?」

「No, I would not.」Ryan turned to look at his master and answered without any hesitation. 「Though, knowing about your past would be nice since you will have someone that can share your pain... and possibly your hatred.」

… Is that so?... Maybe it is. Maybe if it’s them, I can share with them… Kibadios stopped short of his thought. Still, this slave of mine, despite his trusting nature, is pretty sharp, huh? 

「Ryan will stop you… He will...」Kibadios suddenly remembered what Ruek had initially warned him when they first met after he died. 

「Say, Ryan chan.」Kibadios hugged his slave tightly before continuing. 「If one day, I do something despicable… something unspeakable… Will you also be on my side or will you carry out your heroic duty and stand against me?」

Ryan looked troubled for a moment. He has always felt as if his master was planning something sinister but this would be the first time Kibadios alluded about it directly to him. 

「I actually dont know.」answered the hero honestly. 「I really want to say I will stand with you no matter what… but I really dont know if I would be able to. On the hand, I can't ever imagine going against your wish either.」

「Is that so?」Kibadios’ face turned grimmed. Seriously, is he still under my <Hypnosis> skill? I will never figure it out, will I?   「If that’s the case, I’m warning you. I don't care who will stand in my way, but I will never stop until I achieve my goal.」

「What if it’s Yllaner sama who wants to stop you?」Ryan asked, partially out of curiosity and partially as a joke. All and all, he really wanted to invoke Yllaner’s name to get his master to explain more about his past.

「Ha, Not even Sylvia can stop him, let alone Yllaner. 」Kibadios scoffed.

「... Sylvia? So that’s the person you knew that shared the same look as Yllaner sama?」

「Are you trying to get me to talk about my past?」Kibadios could easily tell Ryan’s intention.

「Yes, though you’re making it really hard.」the hero casually admitted. 

「... Who knows...Maybe some days, I’ll tell you three about it.」

「「「Really?」」」All three of his slaves, even Rowan and Maia, who were eavesdropping from inside the carriage, excitedly asked. 

「... Or maybe not!」Kibadios let go of Ryan, hurriedly stood up, looked worriedly at the sky  「Rowan, quick! Erect a barrier above us!!」

「Kibadios sama?」Ryan was alarmed at his master’s sudden command. Of course, Rowan, who stayed inside, was also confused since he could not tell what was going. Yet, a large barrier was quickly constructed as the carriage came to a sudden stop.

BAAAMMM!!!

「What was it?」Both Rowan and Maia leapt out from the carriage, only to see their master and Ryan both looking up to the sky, cold sweat ran down the hero’s cheek.

「... Wyverns?」Ryan mumbled. 「There should not be any wyvern around this region. How come there are two of them here? 」

「Aren’t they high level monsters?」asked Maia.

「Yes, they’re A-rank monsters according to the Guild Association’s standard.」Ryan reached out to his sword. 「You two should be careful.」

「Hmm.」Kibadios carefully observed the situation. The two wyverns were still unable to break through the invisible barrier, their two large eyes glowed in frustration while their claws continuously smashed and scratched onto what appeared to be thin air to them.「It’s true they’re fairly strong, but they’re as unintelligent as ever.」The hybrid thought for a moment, then continued. 「Actually, Rowan, dismiss your barrier. This is a good opportunity for you three to level up.」

「Huh?」surprised Rowan. 「You want us to fight them?」

「Yes.」Kibadios nodded. 「Ryan will assist you two if needed… three actually. NU! Come out here!」

「Chii!!!」Hearing his master’s call, the slime quickly jumped out from the carriage and slid up the hybrid’s body to his head. 「Chii? …. CHIIIIIII!!!!!」 Yet, one look at the two raging wyverns, the slime’s somewhat solid body quickly turned liquidy as it melted down under its master’s feet to hide from the two menacing monsters.

「Stop being a freaking scaredy-cat, Nu! 」Kibadios grabbed the slime and brought it to his eye level.  「You’re a strong monster, act like one.」

 「I think Nu is afraid because they’re winged monsters.」suggested Maia.

 「Oh, that’s right!」nodded Rowan.「Wasn’t it caught by some winged monsters as a prey when we first found it?」

 「Yeah, thankfully the flying monsters dropped Nu down when it was hit with our strayed attacks. 」Ryan recalled. 「That might have traumatized Nu, causing it to be afraid of winged creatures」

 「Hm… Well, get over it, Nu!」ordered Kibadios after he looked straight into its weeping eyes.  

「I, too, am a winged creature.」Kibadios suddenly revealed his two dark incubus wings, spanning as much as the length of the whole carriage. 「Does it mean you’re afraid of me? If you don't want to be my pet anymore and leave us, I’ll let you.」

「Chii, Chi, Chiichi.」The slime vigorously shook his body, disagreeing with the idea.

「If you want to be with us, then get over your fear!」demanded Kibadios.

「CHII!」The slime confidently shouted. It seemed as though the threat of abandonment was enough to force the slime into facing his fear.

「Good! Dismiss the barrier, Rowan.」

 「Yes, master!」the teenage healer obeyed as he waved his hand. Within seconds, the invisible disappeared into thin air, allowing the two wyvern to swoop down at the carriage. Seeing that all four of the participants in this trial that he concocted were ready, the hybrid swiftly flapped his wing and leaped backward away from the carriage, allowing his slaves and Nu to fight the wyverns on their own. 

「Remember to keep the carriage intact!」

「「「Yes, master!」」」

Ryan himself jumped up to the air, receiving the strike of a monster five times his size. Despite the disadvantage, he was able to push the wyvern away from the carriage. The other wyvern was received by the courageous slime as it inflated itself and reflected the winged creature’s attack. With the two wyverns being lured away from the carriage, the fight commenced while the hybrid stood silently on the side, nonchalantly judging each move his slaves made. The looks of wyverns did not change after 3000 years, Kibadios noticed. During his first reincarnation, he had fought with countless of these creatures when his party stormed the land of the Demon Overlord. Of course that was when he was at his peak. At his current condition, he doubted he could take on more than a dozen of them at a time without summoning HaoS or any of his other familiars. During his second reincarnation, being born as a monster acting as lab rat in the laboratory, he had seen a few of wyvern corpses being dissected and experimented on too. Wyverns were typically not as big as a full fledged dragon. Unlike dragons, which had a distinct pair of wings on their backs, wyverns’ wings were attached to their forearms, much like a bat. Interestingly, depending on the element they were affiliated with, their wings would manifest differently. The wings of fire affiliated wyverns would usually be covered in flickering embers while thunder affiliated ones would be sparking with electricity. The two that were fighting against Kibadios’ slaves, though, clearly belong to the undead class since their miasma could be clearly seen dripping down on their torn wings. 

「Undead huh? That means Ryan would be fine. But then for Maia...」

As the hybrid correctly guessed, since the wyvern was an undead, Ryan’s holy imbued swords were extra effective at dealing with the creature. As he activated his Arte, <Holy Bladeworks>, six different blades made out of holy aura dropped down from above and hovered around the wyvern. Originally, Ryan could have utilized  <Holy Bladeworks> and summoned numerous blades beyond counting. However, ever since his association with the hybrid, who tainted the hero with his dark element, he could not fully control this arte, which relied heavily on the holy element. To make up for this, he had listened to the hybrid’s advice and summoned less than 10 blades at a time. By doing so, he now had complete control over the movement and trajectory of each blade. Keeping the blades floating around his opponent while he himself moved from one blade to another at lightning speed, Ryan has seemingly warped around space taking one blade to another and slashing the wyvern from multiple directions in a moveset that would make Noctis Lucis Caelum proud. 

「Looks like your training paid off, Ryan.」Kibadios slightly nodded, acknowledging the hero’s growth. After all, his flawless control of both his speed and his blades was not easily obtained. Ever since he received advice from Kibadios, Ryan has been practicing to control his Arte at every opportunity he got. The result was commendable , the hybrid thought. 

「My poison doesnt affect it!」Maia called out to Rowan. 

「It has to be an undead class.」Rowan successfully deduced.

The hybrid’s attention has now switched to the trio, Maia, Rowan, and Nu. The three have been struggling with the wyvern for a while now. Most of Nu’s water jet attacks were dodged by the winged monster while Maia’s usual weapon, vials of poison and her arte <Poison Manipulation>, were proven to be ineffective . Rowan, as normal, acted as the shield of the group by constructing barriers to protect all three of them from the monster’s slashes and miasma breath. Technically, Rowan’s skill was much more versatile than just defending and he could repurpose his barriers to attack by projecting the barrier he made toward his enemies to crush them like what the Priestess did to the Goblin Lord in Goblin Slayer. Yet, at his current level, such an attack would be as ineffective as Maia’s poison. The reason laid in the strength of his barriers. Rowan did not possess the skill or level sufficient enough to maintain the integrity of his barrier while moving it around so more often than not, a projected barrier made by Rowan would easily be shattered. 

「Ouch!」Maia shouted, as part of her arm was hit with the wyvern’s breath. The miasma quickly spread up her shoulder.

「<Flame of Restoration>!」Rowan activated his Arte without thinking. The blue flame suddenly enveloped the girl’s arm and quickly reverted it back to normal. 「Be careful, Maia. My Arte cannot be reactivated for another hour.」The girl simply nodded.

Such a powerful skill . Kibadios thought to himself as he watched the fight from the side. Too bad the cooldown time is fairly long. Hmm.. I wonder if they can  deal  with it on their own. Maybe Ryan has to come  to their rescue. 

Maia has stayed behind the barrier for a while as the slime has taken its turn to attack the wyvern. Interestingly, the alchemist was not just standing there idly by. She was formulating her plan for a counterattack. After all, poison was not all she was good at. She could easily ignite her alchemy dust and burn the winged monster to crisp, as she did during the goblin cave, but the problem was the fact that the wyvern could easily extinguish the flame by flying around at high speed. 

「Rowan, I have a plan.」Her eyes were now full of determination as she explained what has to be done to bring down the monstrous creature. By now, Ryan had already finished dealing with his opponent, but the hero, just like his master, just stood by and watched the trio. Somehow, he was confident that his fellow companions would come out of the fight victorious. 

「... I see!」Rowan nodded after listening to the alchemist. 「Nu, come back here!」

「Chii!!!」The exhausted slime was glad to be summoned back. 

「Now, Maia!」screamed out Rowan. For his part, the healer has already trapped the wyvern inside a hollow spherical barrier. Yet, unlike any of his other barriers, this sphere was purposely filled with small holes. Kibadios was no barrier expert but from just one look at the sphere, he could tell the tremendous talent that was required to construct one. In a sense, Rowan was a prodigy in both the art of healing and barrier construction. For the alchemist’s part, the girl was now directing a stream of dust emanating from the vial on her hand toward the monster. Since there were hundreds of small entrances that allowed the dust to enter, soon enough, the sphere was full of the combustible dust particles.  

「Burn!」Maia snapped her hand, causing the thin layers of the fine dust to sparkle. The sparks became more intense as it travelled along the stream toward the sphere. Once there, due to the high concentration of the particles and the initial spark, a huge explosion was ignited

BOOOMMM!!!!

And so the fight ended as the explosion easily enveloped the undead wyvern. After the explosion, an intense flame continued to burn. Once Rowan dismissed his barrier, the corpse of the crispy burned monster crashed loudly down onto the ground. This has turned out much better than what the hybrid had anticipated. After all, he did not expect the trio to win, at least not with the assistance from Ryan. Maybe, they’re stronger than what I give them credit for. Kibadios thought to himself.

「That was incredible, Rowan, Maia, and even you too, Nu!」Before Kibadios could say anything, Ryan had already complimented the two for him.

「Indeed it was.」The hybrid nodded

「Thanks, Ryan, master!」Rowan scratched his head in embarrassment.

「That was nothing!」Maia was also blushing, while the slime excitedly jumped up and down.

Unbeknown to the trio, the burned wyvern still had a little life in it left as it summoned all its strength and sprung forward with its jaw wide open, aiming at Maia in a desperate attempt to take her down with it. 

WOOSSHH!

Before anyone in the group could react, a large harpoon had already crashed down to where the wyvern was and smashed its head into pieces before it could harm Maia. The three slaves and Nu were all dumbstruck at the attack, only Kibadios was aware of what had just happened.

「Thank you for saving Maia.」The hybrid shouted out. 

「It’s nothing.」A figure standing on top of a large boulder some distance away casually replied before jumping down to the ground.「I’m sure you had it under control even without my intervention, didn't you?」

The man who saved Maia turned out to be Thomas, one of the heroes that were summoned by Prime Minister Stringer back at the capital. As he stood in front of Kibadios, the hybrid suddenly realized the middle aged hero was much more muscular and taller than what he remembered, as he stood almost two heads above the hybrid. Asides from his gray beard and mustache, which covered most of the lower half of his face, it was his eyes that stood out. Or rather, it was the scar that ran across both of his blinded eyes that caught the hybrid’s attention. 

「Well, I still have to thank you nonetheless.」Kibadios looked up at the man. Just like Kyles, he could feel a great pressure coming off from Thomas. If he had to rank Thomas, the man would be somewhere above both Kyles and Corey in terms of pure strength and Haki control. 

「Again, it’s nothing.」Thomas shook his head. 「Rather, I have to thank your party for showing me such a beautiful fight.」... He can see? Surprised Kibadios 「Your retainers were much stronger than I gave them credit for. And Ryan too. I guess the Prime Minister was right in requesting for your help. The situation is getting out of hand.」Thomas finally bypassed Kibadios and walked to the dead wyvern to retrieve his harpoon. 

「What do you mean?」

「Well, just as you can see with the two exhibits laying dead here, because of the aura leaking from Ryujin’s seal, Falas has increasingly been experiencing an influx of monsters… And it’s not just the low ranks, strong monsters like these wyverns are also gathering around Falas. My party and I have been busy keeping the road to Falas clear of these monsters ever since we got here.  」

「Is that so?」

「... To be honest, with the increasing frequency of waves of monsters, I’m pretty sure soon enough, if we don't fix the seal, this region will be overrun by monsters. Now that you two are here, we only need to wait for Corey and the Prime Minister.」

Kibadios’ group flinched at the mention of the fallen hero, though the hybrid himself remained stoic, acting as if nothing had happened.

「Have you heard any news from them?」asked Kibadios.

「Nothing from Corey. Though the Prime Minister should be arriving to Falas today.」

「Really? He should be leaving the capital after us, I figure it should take him a while longer.」

「Dont you know? He’s travelling by the Royal Airship, which only takes about 2 days to get here.」

「I see. Anyways, again, thanks for your help. We should get going and head to Falas. I bet I will see you there?」

「Yes.」nodded Thomas. 「I will head back later once I regroup with my party. If you found any monsters while heading there, just eliminate them.」

「... Will do.」

-----------------------

「So you met with that hybrid’s party on their way to Falas?」

「Yes. Their party is pretty strong. Ryan-kun was one thing, but even the other retainers and their pet were strong enough to take down an undead wyvern.」

「What? No way? Are you sure it’s not just some trickery they pulled in front of you?」

「... Nonsense! You know even if my eyes cannot see, no trick can deceive my <Absolute Perception>. To be honest, if our party goes against theirs, I can’t even guarantee we would win.」

「You’re joking!」

「The worst part was that I could not ascertain the hybrid’s power. I could feel a tremendous potential in him with my skill, but I did not see him fight in person.」

「That’s not good, isnt it? I know the Prime Minister and this kingdom needs help, but we can't trust any demihuman, let alone working with them without knowing the full extent of their power.」

「I know. Dont worry. I'm not as gullible as I was before. After all, I did pay for the lesson with my eyes.」Thomas touched the aching scar across his face. 「For now, we will corporate with Ryan-kun and his hybrid master. But always be on guard. After all, he’s a demihuman. We don't know what he is thinking.」

 

------
I have  edited the ending of this chapter, in case anyone reread it lol

Chapter 24: Suikoden

「Jayden, please stop this plan of yours before it’s too late」Sitting in the dark corner of the jail, a man pleaded, with both of his hands tied to the wall by a large iron chain.

「It’s already too late.」Jayden Stringer, the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the kingdom of Maeg, solemnly replied from the other side of the bars. Unlike his usual look, the prime minister’s spiky dark hair now appeared unkempt as it flew down, covering most of his face. Jayden was sitting down on the dirty jail floor, abandoning any hint of the dignified air he usually gave off from his appearance.「Everything is already in motion. Soon enough, Ryujin will be awoken and my wish will be fulfilled… Or rather, our wish.」

「You don't know what you will unleash upon this world the moment you remove Ryujin Seal!」The man shouted angrily and shaked his chains. 「What has happened to the rational Jayden I have always known and admired?」

「... You know exactly what happened!」The Prime Minister almost lost his normal calm composure as he raised his voice at the man.

「...She would never agree to what you are doing.」

「Does it matter? She’s dead.」Jayden slowly stood up. After elegantly putting on his white gloves, the man skillfully fixed his hair with his hands.「And I will do whatever in my power to bring her back to us. You should just sit and wait in here for a while, Lance .」

The protesting shout from Lance, the sixth Prince of the Kingdom of Maeg, slowly faded from the Prime Minister’s ear as he walked further and further away from the dark cell. 

「The king has just passed away.」Adela, who was waiting for Jayden outside, informed the Prime Minister the moment she saw him

「... Is that so?」A brief sadness showed on Jayden’s stoic face before he quickly faded away, replaced by a determined expression. 「Then I guess it’s time for us to board the airship to Falas, where the Ryujin Seal is. From all the intel I’m receiving, the seal has been weakened enough. 」

「Good~」Adela clapped her hand cheerily. 「Soon enough, your dream will be fulfilled.」

「Let’s go!」Jayden commanded. 

「Say Prime Minister Stringer, there’s something I have always wanted to ask you ever since the meeting with the heroes.」Adela curiously said after a brief moment of silence walking alongside Jayden. 「Why did you insist on inviting the hybrid? It’s not like we really care about the monsters invading Falas or that we really need extra help in eliminating them.」

「Well, Ryan kun was serving the hybrid.」Answered the Prime Minister. 「I doubt he would take on the mission without the hybrid agreeing to it. We need Ryan and his <Seed of Hero> so convincing the hybrid to accept this quest was essential. 」

「But you do know he’s also an unknown variable in this plan you drew up. Unlike others, we don't know anything about him or his power.」

「... You could say the same about Princess Yllaner that accompanied Kyles.」

Adela’s cunning expression turned irritated as the Prime Minister mentioned the Princess. 「Ha, for her, at least we have researched her background. Kibadios kun, though, is an complete wild card.」

「What are you implying?」

「I don't know!」 The Astral teasingly answered. 「It’s not as if you’re trying to sabotage your own plan, right?」

「Hm!」Jayden exhaled loudly. 「Why would I? After all, this is the only shot I have at resurrecting Reena .」

「Yes… Of course.」Since Jayden was walking ahead of the Astral, he could not have realized the sinistered smile Adela had on her face now. 「Let’s hope that’s not the case.」Little did the Prime Minister know, asides from the mysterious hybrid and the unexpected reunion with Sylvia reincarnation, everything had been happening all according to her own plan. After all, she was an Astral and it was inevitable that this whole world was her plaything. Maybe after she finished with him, she would pay more of her time toying with the so-called Princess Yllaner. 

----------------

 

「Are you sure?」

「Certainly. I was informed about his demise last night.」Jayden answered the fiery Amber. Except for Kibadios and his group, every single person in the room was shocked to hear the Prime Minister announced the death of Corey. Silence briefly fell upon the small chamber located inside the Guild Association before Thomas asked to further confirm the news.

「Directly from the Divine Oracle themselves?」

「Yes. Apparently, about a week and half ago, his Star of Destiny suddenly faded away from the Holy Runes . The oracle quickly sent out messengers around the world to inform the countries about his death, though by the time the messenger got to Lorian, I had already left. It took them a while to catch up to me here. 」

 

「... What are they talking about, Master?」asked Maia from the back corner of the room. 

「How did they learn of Corey’s death?」

「Through the Oracle.」answered Kibadios. Though after a brief glance at his slave, he knew he had to explain more. 「The Divine Oracle acted as the ambassadors for the Astral and within their establishment, there existed a large tablet that they called a “Holy Runes”. Carved upon the tablet are the 108 Star Runes, or Star of Destiny, representing the 108 individuals who possess the <Seed of Heroes>. Because each of the runes are linked to its respective hero, the moment a hero perishes, the rune will fade away and remain unlit until the next hero is appointed. That’s how the Oracle knew Corey is dead.」

「「I see!」」Both Maia and Rowan, the country pumpkins of the group, nodded.

How ironic… The system that I set up thousands of years ago has become so useful for the Astrals that it is still being used even until now. Kibadios let out a faint smile. 

「... Master.」Ryan tugged the hybrid’s arm, and lightly whispered into his master’s ear. 「Please be careful. For most of us, we just call it the “Holy Runes” without knowing its exact physical appearance since access to the Divine Oracle is forbidden. I don’t know how you know so much about the inner working of the Oracle but it’s not wise to let others know that.」

「I see. Thanks for letting me know, Ryan.」Kibadios nodded. 

「How can he be killed?」Amber asked the obvious question. 「I mean, he’s worse than maggot, but he’s a veteran hero. Aside from Catastrophe level threat or higher, what could have kill him?」

「... When did you say his star disappeared?」The hybrid innocently asked, as if he knew nothing about Corey and his death.

「The exact date would be 9 days ago.」

「9 days ago, huh?」The hybrid pretended to think for a moment. 「Morning or evening?」

「Why? I believe it’s in the morning.」answered Jayden.

「Our group saw him in the morning 9 days ago.」claimed Kibadios. 「Right guys?」

「Uhm, yes. I don't remember the exact date though.」After initially being caught off guard by his master, Rowan agreed to what he said. Why would master admit to seeing Corey? All three wondered in their heads.

「Really? Where did you see him?」

「Next to a small lake in the forest about a third way between Lorian and Falas. 」answered the hybrid. 「I’m a demihuman, so I preferred travelling in places with fewer people. I was surprised to see him camping next to the pond instead of staying in some fancy taverns in the city, but seeing how there’s animosity between us, we just ignored his group. We continued on after that. I was surprised he did not get to Falas before us.」

「That’s indeed strange that he camped there. I wondered what he was planning to do.」

「Given how his star disappeared soon after, I suggest you send a search party there. Maybe there’s some clue.」Advised the hybrid. 

「... Are you sure you did not directly engage with him… or get into a fight there?」asked Thomas.

「No.」answered Kibadios firmly. 「What are you insinuating? That somehow our group got into a fight with him there and somehow, we were able to overpower his group and kill him, all without any grave injury? You give me too much credit, Thomas-dono. 」

「Please calm down.」Jayden stood up, trying to diffuse the situation. 「I’m sure there’s no way that’s the case. After all, why would Kibadios dono deliberately let us know such information? I will dispatch investigators to where Corey dono was last seen, as per Kibadios dono’s suggestion.」

Ha, as I thought, voluntarily divulging information is the best way to deflect suspicion. The hybrid thought.

「Without Corey, how are we going to reseal Ryujin?」Kyles asked a sensible question. After all, they were told by Jayden that at least five <Seed of Heroes> were needed to fix Ryujin’s seal.

「We don't have time to wait for another hero to come here. 」The Prime Minister shook his head. There was a hint of irritation on his face.「Even if Corey is not with us, we will still depart Falas tomorrow. The seal must be fix.」

「With just four of us?」confused Amber.

「... Five.」answered Jayden. 「There’s a fifth person who possess the <Seed of Heroes> in this room.」

「What? Who?」

「Me!」The Prime Minister loudly proclaimed. 

「Hoh? I did not know you’re one of 108 heroes, Jayden-dono.」amused Thomas

「Not many people know.」answered Jayden. 「Only the king, a selected few members of the royal family, and the Oracle knew.」

「I see.」Thomas nodded as he understood the reason behind it without any explanation. 

「As you know, I am the head of the  Stringer Family. My family has been serving the Kingdom of Maeg for generations, holding countless ministerial positions. Even if I possess the <Seed of Heroes>, there’s no way I can both uphold the expected heroic duties and be the Kingdom of Maeg’s Prime Minister at the same time. That is why the Oracle has agreed to withhold the information about me and my <Seed of Heroes> from the public.」

「That's great news indeed! We will set out tomorrow then.」

「Where’s our destination?」Asked Amber.

「Just a few miles behind Falas, within the northern mountain ranges.」

「If that’s all, we’ll take our leave now and prepare for tomorrow’s expedition.」Thomas excused himself. As he walked past the hybrid, the old hero gave him a slight nod. 「I didn't mean to upset you, Kibadios. I hope we can still work together… even if it’s only until Ryujin is firmly sealed.」

「... I was thinking the same.」Kibadios replied without looking at the man. 

-------

「Thomas-dono was rude to you yesterday, but please dont hold a grudge against him.」Kyles apologized for Thomas, not knowing it was indeed the hybrid who was responsible for Corey’s death. 「Unlike Corey, Thomas-dono is truly an amazing hero. He’s someone I have always looked up to. Though due to an incidence in his past, he lost both his eyes to a demihuman whom he trusted. Ever since then, he always has suspicions toward demihuman races. 」

...So he is truly blind huh? Does it mean he can “see” using his skill?  Kibadios kicked a small pebble in front of his path. 「Dont worry about it. I know he’s not so bad since he saved Maia and Rowan once before. Besides, I’m a demihuman, I dont expect humans, let alone heroes, to treat me well. Not that I care either. Though, what surprised me was how both you and Ryan did not hold any hatred for us demihuman.」

「Our hometown is located close to a demihuman territory. On top of that, our orphanage received patronage from Yllaner’s elven tribe so it’s a given we hold no animosity against demihuman.」Kyles gave the elven princess a quick glance.

「...」Yllaner seemed to hesitate before finally she finally spoke. 「Though, for Ryan’s case, he’s more than just “fond of” you, isn't it, Kibadios dono?」

「What?」The question caught Kibadios off-guard. 

「... Maybe I’m wrong, but I have a feeling that Ryan sees you as more than just someone he serves... 」Yllaner’s slender fingers touched her chin before Kyles quickly covered her mouth, preventing her from further explaining her conjecture.

「Ha… Haaha...」Kyles awkwardly laughed. 「Just ignore what the princess says, Kibadios. She did not mean anything.」

… Man, Yllaner even inherited Sylvia’s “gaydar” intuition?  Kibadios thought to himself. Well, there’s no point denying it, it’d probably just make it worse if I have to hide the fact that I fuck Ryan from these two.

「How did you know?」asked the hybrid curiously. 

「Wait, what??」Kyles was surprised at the revelation while Yllaner was only triumphantly smirking at the hero, unimpressed at the news.

「It’s in his eyes.」explained Yllaner. 「Whenever he looks at you, there are sparks in his eyes. They are no mere admiration gazes. At least that’s how I felt.」

「... I see.」Kibadios nodded. 「Similar to whenever Kyles looks at you.」

「「What? No…. What?」」Both Kyles and Yllaner’s faces were blushing red. Since their relationship was technically even more taboo than the one shared between Kibadios and Ryan, they did not expect to be outed by someone they have only met a few times. 「「How did you know?」」

「Well, you two confirmed it just now!」Both Yllaner and Kyles now shared the same “Oh shit, what did we do?” expression before Kibadios continued reassuring them.「Ryan told me how close you two are. On top of that, I also have good observation and deduction skill.」Kibadios smirked. 「Don't worry. Ryan told me that I should keep your relationship a secret since it’s forbidden in your tribe. I won't tell a soul.」

「Ryan also knew?」asked Kyles.

「Well, I told him I just suspected it. You know Ryan is too gullible and absent-minded to notice anything. 」

「That’s true」Kyles nodded. 

「Well, that makes it even, then.」Yllaner looked at Kibadios with a cunning expression. 「We know your secret and you know ours. Though, dont think I have not noticed what you did.」

「What did I do?」

「You have just changed the focus from your relationship with Ryan to the relationship between Kyles and I.」Claimed the princess. 「I was going to ask so many questions about you and Ryan.」

Damn, she’s as good as Sylvia… Wait, did she just say questions? What type of questions? Dont tell me…

「So how did it happen? I can't see Ryan being the one who takes initiative so it must have been you who took the first step right? Is it right after you rescued Ryan? And most importantly, who’s the sem… 」Again, Yllaner’s mouth was covered by Kyles’ hand, effectively muting her barrage of questions. 

「Sorry, Kibadios!」Kyles nodded. 「She always gets a bit excited when… uhm...」

When two guys are getting together! Kibadios finished Kyles’ sentence in his thoughts. She’s still a fujoshi even after her reincarnation. Man I still remember back then how Sylvia was shipping me with him before we got together. 

「Don't worry about it.」Kibadios scratched his head. 

「Ahhh!」Kyles yelled after being bitten by Yllaner. Her bite mark dug deep into the hero’s palm. 

「You dont have to cover my mouth everytime, you know!」Yllaner pouted at her lover. 

「Ha… Hahaha!」The hybrid laughed out loud. It’s been a while since he had such a good time. Somehow, the interaction he has been having with Yllaner and Kyles brought him back to the peaceful period in his first reincarnation.「Well, Princess, I know you’d be unable to sleep tonight if you don't find out the answer so I’ll just wanna let you know, I’m the seme! 」

「I knew it!」Yllaner was excited at the information. Although the same could not be said for Kyles since the innocent image of his brother was completely shattered inside his mid. 「Too much information, Kibadios」was all he could mutter. 

「Well, let’s put that aside for now!」After a few minutes to recover from the shock, Kyles was finally back to his normal self. 「We have to push forward to the center of this dungeon , where Ryujin’s seal is. I hope the other groups won't have any trouble.」

「Dont worry, they’ll be fine!」Yllaner smiled. The hybrid merely nodded in agreement.

Chapter 25

「... So this is it?」Amber finally broke the silence that befallen onto the group since the moment they discovered the dungeon. In front of their eyes, the dense miasma was creeping out from the deep dark entrance. Even the lowly foot soldiers that accompanied the Prime Minister could feel the presence of countless sinister monsters lurking inside the shadow. They were attracted here by Ryujin’s miasma like moths attracted to lamps. Although the dungeon was not that far away from the city, it took the group twice their estimated walking time since they had to exterminate the gathering monsters along the way. Asides from the heroes’ parties, the Prime Minister and homunculus doll that was Adela, all of the soldiers in the group were completely exhausted.
「Yes. Though it has certainly changed a lot since I was last here to check on the seal.」Answered Jayden.
「What do you mean?」asked Kyles.
「When I was last visiting this place half a year ago, there wasn't this much miasma. Neither were there monsters lurking inside since the entrance was protected by a strong barrier. I guess it was destroyed once the seal deteriorated to a certain point.」
「I see.」Nodded Kyles.
「So that means we have to fight past those monsters inside to get to the dungeon center?」said Thomas.
「Regrettably so. I was hoping the barrier was still intact but at this point, we can't get to where the seal is at without dealing with the monsters first.」Jayden shook his head.
「Well, then. What are we waiting for?」Thomas stepped forward, heading straight into the entrance without any hesitation. The other parties soon followed the most senior hero while the Prime Minister spent some time instructing his soldiers to guard the cave from the outside before joining the group.
Still, it only took Kibadios no more than a dozen steps into the dungeon before he could feel something was wrong.
「Huh? This doesn't feel right… Everyone, wait a minute!」The hybrid shouted out to warn the group, yet it was a bit too late. The space around them began to warp and distorted while the very ground under their feet crumbled away. Leaving no time for the hybrid of any of the heroes to react, the spaced wrapped around them as they fell down into the endless empty space beneath.
「This is because the seal is unstable!」screamed out Jayden. 「Wherever you end up, just continue on to the center of the dungeon!」The Prime Minister instructed the scattered heroes and their parties before he himself got gobbled up by the space around him.
-------

「It seems like wherever we go, there are monsters waiting for us.」Ryan sighed. The hero, along with Rowan and Maia, had been separated from their master after the fall. Of course, there was no sight of other heroes or the Prime Minister either. Once the space around them finally stopped distorting, the three found themself standing in a rocky cave, with water dripping down from the ceiling. Somehow, being in a cave again reminded the two villagers of the days when they first met their masters. Minus the monsters of course since back at the cave in the forest, their master had already eliminated all the goblins before both Maia and Rowan moved in.
「Well, this was expected. The miasma is getting thicker and it’s attracting the monsters.」
「If the Miasma is getting thicker, it means we’re heading the right direction, at least.」Maia noted. 「The Prime Minister told us to keep heading to the center.」
「I wondered what had just happened back then.」
「Didn't the Prime Minister say something about the seal being unstable?」Ryan recalled
「Do you know what that means, Ryan chan?」asked Rowan.
「No idea.」Ryan shook his head.
「I wonder if Kibadios sama is okay.」said Maia.
「Of course. If we are unharm, it’s given that he’ll be fine.」Rowan tried to dispel the alchemist’s worry.
「I guess you’re right, Rowan chan.」Maia nodded. 「I guess I’m just nervous since we have never been apart from our Master ever since he saved us.」
「... So I never got a chance to ask for the details.」Ryan chimed in his two fellow slaves’ conversation while effortlessly cut down two serpent monsters jumping straight at him. 「Master saved your villages and brought you guys to a cave just like this?」
「More like ‘kidnapped’」Maia smiled.「He told us that he wanted to “eat” us in exchange for helping out repelling the attack on our village. We misunderstood it as he would like to kill and actually eat us...」
「Turned out what he really meant was to have sex with us. After all, master is a half incubus. 」Ryan continued. 「Unlike you, we were resisting him at first. At least I was. But soon after, I realized my mistake and willingly pledge myself to him.」
「What? Really? You hated master at first?」Ryan was surprised.
「Well… yeah.」Rowan was ashamed of his past actions. 「Please dont talk about it, I feel really bad remembering how I acted.」
「Sorry, Rowan.」The hero patted the healer’s shoulder. 「I wont talk about it anymore.」
「... What about you, Ryan chan?」Maia, walking behind the two guys, hesitantly asked.
「What do you mean?」He turned around, looking puzzlingly at her.
「Were you completely fine with the fact that Kibadios sama had done “things” to you while you were drugged?」
「... He was just trying to help me though, right?」Ryan scratched his head, not understanding what Maia meant.
「You were aware of him using a hypnotic skill on you and you’re still fine with that?」
「... Are you two asking if I love him and follow him because it’s my own free will or just because of his skill?」
「「... Yes.」」Rowan and Maia reluctantly answered. Both of them and their master have been wondering the same thing, but they never asked Ryan about it. After all, they did not want to remind the hero of the fact that he was under hypnotic skill when he pledged to be the hybrid’s slave. Yet, now seemed like the best opportunity for the two of them to ask Ryan since the whole conversation about them becoming their master’s slaves were brought up.
「Truth to be told, I don't know if me being under his hypnotic skill has anything to do with my decision or my feelings… But I know he was the one who saved me in that goblin hideout. He was there when I needed him most. He was the one who gave me reasons to move on.」Ryan clenched his chest. 「I truly love Master and I really don't think I can ever live without him. I want to be by his side and be useful to him. I bet you guys know this feeling too well, right?」Rowan and Maia smiled and nodded. 「Though I don't believe so, but if these feelings were brought by Master’s hypnotic skill, then so be it.」
「If that’s how you feel, then I’m good with it.」
「Yeah… We were just worried because we overheard the conversation you and Kibadios had on our way to Falas, about how you don't know if you will stick with Master if he does something unspeakable.」
「I see.」
「Let’s be honest about it.」Rowan gave Ryan a hesitant look. 「We all know that Kibadios sama is planning something. There is so much mystery surrounding him, his past, and his plan for the future. However, both Maia and I have talked about it. We will always be on Master’s side, no matter what he will do.」
「... Is that so? I’m glad. 」Now it was Ryan’s turn to show his relief.「Then can I ask you a favor, Rowan chan? Maia chan?」
「「Yes?」」
「If I ever betray Kibadios sama and stand against him, please deal with me. Kill me if you must. No matter what, I don't want to cause our master any trouble.」
「What? We can never...」Maia was going to protest at Ryan’s request, but Rowan soon stopped her.
「I understand, Ryan chan. Although I hope that day will never come, I will still make sure to stop you if your blade ever turns toward Kibadios sama. 」The healer quickly stopped Maia and accepted Ryan’s request with a heavy heart.
「Thanks!」The hero pulled both Maia and Rowan in his arms and warmly embraced them. 「I’m really glad to have met you and our master. 」
「Us too!」Maia smiled.
「CHII!!!」The slime slid out from Maia’s bag and jumped onto the three teenager’s head as if it, too, was happy to be able to travel with the group.
「Ouch! Yeah, you too, Nu!」Rowan patted the slime.「Anyways, let’s get going!」Rowan suggested as he tried to tickle the hero to dispel the heavy atmosphere. 「I want to get to the center of this dungeon, wherever it is, and reunite with Kibadios again. I think I’m having some sort of Kibadios sama withdrawal symptoms. It just feels weird not having him next to us!」
「I know right!!!」Ryan nodded. 「I have been killing monsters to keep me from thinking of Kibadios samas!」
「Let’s hurry up and meet up with him!」Maia put herself in between Ryan and Rowan, grabbing their arms and pulling them forward deeper into the dungeon.
------------
The sound of monsters shrieking and screaming echoing the metallic chamber where Amber and her companion were at. Unfortunately for the two women, they have landed right into a nest of wolf-like monsters. Yet, despite the wolf pack’s best effort, they were proven no match for the two who had just invaded their territory. Right now, Amber’s companion finally sliced the last wolf monster in half with her iron fans as it attempted to run away after witnessing the female hero easily chop off the head of the pack’s alpha.
「... Feel better, Floria?」Amber placed her hand onto the woman’s shoulder, looking empathically.
「Not really. I still can’t believe he’s dead.」answered the Floria, her hands gripped tightly onto her weapons.「I mean I’m glad that he’s dead, but I was supposed to be the one who kills that bastard!」
「With his line of work and his arrogant attitude, it was only a matter of time until someone killed him. Please, Floria, now that he’s dead, maybe you can finally move on.」Amber tenderly held onto her female companion. Floria, in turn, reciprocated as she slowly wrapped her arms around the female hero. 「He has paid with his life for his sins… for what he did to you and your friends back then.」
「Maybe you’re right. Maybe now I can sleep well at night… 」
「That’s the spirit!」Amber squeezed Floria before finally letting her go. 「Now, let’s head to the source of the miasma. I’m sure we will find others there.」
And so, setting aside both her hatred of Corey and her disappointment at the news of his demise, Floria, along with Amber, set out to explore the corridor in front of them, where the miasma source was located. As she walked alongside her partner, the blue haired woman thought back to the ordeals that she went through after the fateful meeting with the abhorrent hero more than a decade ago, how she had lost all of her friends and her party at the hand of Corey. Would she ever be able to sleep soundly at night again, she highly doubted it. But of course, she lied for Amber’s sake, since she could never let the hero become even more worried about her. Had she been the one who slay Corey, she might have found peace, but now, it was forever lost to Floria. When she faced him during the meeting back at Lorian, it took all her will power to restrain herself from attacking him right there and then. He had not recognized her, of course, for asides from using a fake name, she had already changed so much after a decade being whored around, being subjected to countless abused and degraded treatments on a daily basis. Now, sometimes, when Floria looked into the mirror, even she was surprised at the stranger that stared back at her.
「... Amber chan… Thank you.」Floria said softly to the woman who saved her from Corey’s brothel.
「What was that?」Amber asked, unable to hear Floria the first time.
「No, nothing.」She shook her head. 「It was nothing.」

-----------------
「「「Kibadios sama!」」」 All three called out as they spotted their masters from afar.
「Ryan, Rowan, Maia. You are alright? Yeah yeah, you too, Nu! Glad to see you’re doing fine!」
「Ah, you guys finally make it!」Jayden greeted the four groups, who almost all arrived at the dungeon’s center simultaneously. To their surprise, Jayden was sitting on a large rock in one of the corners of the chamber, his clothes were soaking with monster blood. Scattering around the room were more than a dozen corpses of wyverns, their heads all detached from their necks.
That settles it, except for that bitch and myself, the Prime Minister is the strongest individual among everyone here. Kibadios wisely concluded after a quick glance around.
「What just happened? One time, we’re entering the dungeon then next thing we know, we’re falling into some metallic chamber?」Asked Amber.
「You got it easy. My group was dropped into some place with hot lava, Amber sama.」Thomas laughed.
「You see, the whole dungeon was made unstable since the seal itself is breaking down. Because of that, we were dropped into different parts of the dungeon as the space warped.」explained Jayden. 「At least that’s what I believe happened. This place was created by the Six Heroes of the past, only they know for sure the mechanism behind it.」
「... So that’s the seal?」Kyles was a bit distracted from the Prime Minister’s explanation since a white floating cube in the middle of the chamber had caught his attention ever since he entered.
「Yes.」Adela answered before Jayden could. Walking toward the cube, she continued.「You can see cracks are forming on all six sides. It’s lucky that we’re here because soon enough, the seal’s outermost layer will crumble.」
「Then how can we fix it?」Kyles asked.
「By utilizing the you all possess, of course.」Answered the Astral.
「You see the five circular platforms? That’s where we should stand to channel the power of our to repair the seal.」pointed Jayden.
「Then what are we waiting for?」Thomas urged the group.
「... Ryan...」the hybrid held onto the hero’s arm as he made his way to one of the platforms. 「... Be careful.」
「Thank you, Kibadios sama!」he nodded.
And so, the hybrid, along with others who accompanied their respective heroes, stood on one side of the room and observed the ritual that would fix the seal. Kibadios himself wanted to break the seal, since the Ryujin they mentioned might very well be the dragon pet that he raised during his first reincarnation. At least, that was a hunch that he had. But of course, there was no way he could stop them from fixing the seal right now. Now that he knew the location of the seal, he could always come back afterward and find a way to break the seal himself after every other group had left. Once the five individuals stepped on the platforms and activated the power of their seeds, five columns of bright light enveloped them. Soon, a large beam of light shot up from the middle of the chamber and covered the seal cube. Somehow, to the hybrid, this did not seem right… at least, it did not seem like they were repairing the seal. On the contrary, judging from the flow of magic, he reckoned the seal was actually being depleted. At a few distance from the hybrid, Adela leaned back onto the wall with her arms crossed and a devious smile crept up from her face.

Chapter 26: Jayden vs Ryujin

Notes:

Man, I have been so busy after the lab reopened and my experiments piled up lol.
Anyways, I've been writing this chapter over a really long period of time, hopefully there's no inconsistency.

The first thing everyone within the chamber noticed was the sudden change in the atmospheric pressure. Their weight became heavier and heavier to the point that their legs started shaking, unable to support their bodies. Yllaner was the first to give in to the extra gravitational force and collapsed. Soon enough, one by one, from the veteran members from Thomas group, Floria, to Kibadios’ two slaves, all were forced on the ground.  Only two people were able to stand on their feet, Kibadios and Adela. The Astral seemed to be unaffected while the hybrid had to lean on the scythe he just conjured. He could see Adela slightly raised her eyebrows in amusement when she noticed the hybrid was able to stand upright. 

「What’s happening?」Amber shouted, although just like the others who bathed in the light beam, she and the rest seemed to have been paralyzed, unable to stop the ritual. 

「Yllaner!」screamed out Kyles as he struggled to break free from the invisible restraints.

「Master!」Ryan called out.

「It’s finally breaking」said Jayden softly.

「What did you say?」Thomas, who stood on a platform adjacent to the Prime Minister, demanded an answer.

「At last, the weakened seal has finally been broken!」declared Jayden loudly this time, his gaze still fixated on the eroding cube. Before anyone could question the Prime Minister any further, a loud shriek erupted, echoing throughout the air, causing everyone to desperately cover their ears. Yet, their attempts at reducing the noise was in vain, for it was no ordinary sound. Instead of traveling through the vibration of the molecules, the uninterrupted eerie shriek was directly registered in each person’s brain via telepathy. It was indescribably loud, yet, deep down, there was a hint of anguish that only the hybrid could discern.「I can feel your presence, Ryujin. Come to me!」Jayden was visibly happy as he desperately screamed out, hoping his voice would reach the creature. 

「ARGGHHHHH!!!!」From the small cube that acted as a portal, a ginormous serpent-like creature violently emerged, cracking open the large space in the process. 

「What did you do?」Thomas, now broken free from the restraint of the light beam once it has faded away, rushed toward Jayden. 

「We have finally freed Ryujin from the seal.」answered the Prime Minister calmly as he gazed up at its magnificence. The creature, who took the shape of an Eastern dragon, was of course wingless, saved for two large pectoral fins that emerged on its side. Its dorsal blue fin ran uninterruptedly from its slender neck down to its tail, glistened with a hint of silver. Although the creature was covered in scales, since they were as clear as a crystal, one could easily overlook such a feature. Its head, unlike many eastern dragons depicted in Chinese writing, was rather pointy, with many megalodon shark-like teeth menacingly protruding from its watery mouth. Once its eyes were opened, it was only pure darkness. Kibadios could not feel anything since staring into its eyes was like falling into the dark abyss itself. This creature was clearly not his “Ryujin,” yet, somehow, he could feel a hint of familiarity coming from it. 

「What do you mean free?」Thomas was pissed as he held Jayden by his shirt collars. 「Weren't we supposed to fix the seal?」

「NO!」Jayden answered coldly.「I’m sorry but that was never my goal. There was no way we could reverse the deterioration of the seal. Ryujin needed to be released… and defeated by us here. Once and for all! And by doing so, I will be able to obtain its blood.」

Obtaining its blood? Kibadios thought to himself.

「What? Are you crazy?」The exhausted Amber shouted from across the Prime Minister’s platform. 「We can’t defeat Ryujin! You need the Six for this!」

「The Six will not allow us to break the seal. After all, even though it’s weakened, it’d take another thousand or two thousands years before the seal would be broken on its own.」

「You lied to us!」Kyles had now aimed the large sabre that he always carried on his back at Jayden. 「Why did we have to worry about the seal if it would not break for another thousand years or so? What do you mean you need its blood?」 

「...」Jayden remained silent, yet Adela soon answered Kyles in his place. 「The blood of Ryuujin is needed for a resurrection ritual. Our Prime Minister is attempting to resurrect someone he holds dear, even if it means risking the lives of hundred thousands citizens.」Jayden frowned at Adela’s apparent dig at him.

「Resurrection?」

「Nonsense! A dragon’s blood is only blood… and a dead person will forever remain dead, no matter what ritual you want to perform!」The hybrid declared, before cursing himself for failing to control himself. Just as he was afraid, his out-of-character outburst has drawn the attention of Adela onto himself.

Luckily for Kibadios, though, once the Ryujin finally was fully awake after its deep slumber, the dragon began to splash around, cracking the space even further. Now that the seal, the heart of the dungeon has completely broken, the space around it was already fragile enough to begin crumbling on its own. Ryujin’s violent outburst was the final straw. As the crack in space spread, the space began to warp again, just like how it did when they first entered. Yet, this time, knowing what would soon happen, Kibadios swiftly made his way toward the raging dragon while others were still in confusion, ensuring that once the dungeon collapsed and scattered them again, he would end up next to the giant creature. And so, as the hybrid’s calculation, the fabric of space and time within the dungeon crumbled again, for the last time. Although he was hoping to be alone with the dragon so called Ryujin, once the space finally stabilized again, he found that it was not only him who was facing the menacing dragon. Standing next to him were Rowan and Maia, his two loyal slaves, who made sure to have followed their master once they saw the hybrid leaped toward the dragon. On the side was Jayden, the Prime Minister of the kingdom, who unbeknownst to the hybrid’s group, possessed the power that was considered to be the closest to the great Six heroes. All four of them, along with the still confused Ryujin, were thrown away from the dungeon to a location much deeper within the mountain ranges compared to where the dungeon was situated, five leagues at least, Kibadios estimated. Fortunately, he could not feel Adela’s presence, which worked out for him.

「Kibadios dono? Rowan dono and Maia dono」mumbled Jayden once he noticed the two. 「... Can I count you three helping me out in dealing with Ryujin? I know you would not have approved how I deceived you guys, but it is important for us to stop Ryujin. I was planning to ask for the assistance from other heroes in suppressing the primal dragon, but it’s impossible now that we have all been scattered like this...」

「Even if you tricked us, of course we still have to...」Rowan was going to accept Jayden’s request, albeit begrudgingly, but he was stopped short by his master. 

「No.」Kibadios coldly gave Jayden a look. 「I’m sorry but I merely wanted to have a conversation with this creature. I have no intention of fighting it. After all, you were the one who deceived us first. We are under no obligation to help you in this situation.」

「... Who are you? What are you after, then?」asked Jayden. Although appeared to be relaxed, the Prime Minister, in fact, was ready to strike down the hybrid at any given moment. Of course, the bloodlust emitting from Jayden did not escape Kibadios’ keen eyes.「A mysterious hybrid that is as strong as a veteran hero, who does not care about Ryujin’s potential rampage across the world… If I did not know any better, I would assume you’re a servant of one of the four demon lords. But then, from all the intelligence that I haven on file, no such servants fit your profile.」

「Intelligence? Hahaha!」the hybrid laughed. 「Even though I’m not anyone’s servant, I still doubt the intelligence you have worths much since you wholeheartedly believe dragon blood could resurrect someone?」

「What?」Jayden was surprised at this strange hybrid, who spoke as if he knew everything he needed to know about the world.

「Let me guess, it was Adela who led you to believe in such fairy tales myth?」

「... How do you...」

「ARRRRGHHHHHH!!!!!」Ryujin, who has finally snapped out of its brief confusion, let out a deafening roar, which echoed throughout the mountain range. While hovering above in the sky, its attention was now on the three humanoid figures standing in front of it on the ground. Of course, it particularly focused on Jayden and Kibadios, whose power could easily eclipsed the other two. 

「Hmm… Looks like my questions for you will have to wait, Kibadios dono.」The Prime Minister turned to Ryujin. Although he thought he had come prepared to face the threat that was Ryujin, confronting it in person was another story. He could feel his body shivered as the creature’s dark gaze pierced his soul.「Even though I don't know why you would ever want to communicate with this creature, I doubt you can. After all, reason and logic does not exist in any creature that possesses <Seed of Chaos> 」

「... Seed of Chaos, huh? No wonder it seems to be acting strange.」 What is <Seed of Chaos>? Both Rowan and Maia thought to themselves, though they knew this was not the time nor place to ask their master. 「Doesnt matter, all I need to do is to get rid of the Seed of Chaos.」

What? Did he just say he can get rid of Seed of Chaos? How is that even possible?...Who is he really? The enigma that was Kibadios troubled Jayden. Yet, he knew this was no time to worry about the strange hybrid. His sole task now was to at least sufficiently injure the dragon in order to spill its blood and collect it. Will the blood work? What if it does not, just like the hybrid was claiming? The Prime Minister’s confidence was slightly waning after having heard of the hybrid’s declaration on how Ryujin’s blood would never be able to resurrect anyone. But he had committed to this plan this far, he could never let it go now. Originally, he would have preferred to defeat the dragon once and for all by coercing the heroes to help him out, but ever since learning of Corey’s death, such an outcome has become a mere distant prospect. With the arrogant hero’s death, he had to fill in Corey’s role during the unseal ritual, which greatly drained his own power. He knew the risk that his plan carried, yet he still decided to see to its completion. Such devotion was the testament of his love for Reena . For him, aside from getting to see his beloved Reena again, nothing else mattered anymore. This plan would work, he wholeheartedly believed, even if the price is the prosperity and lives of the citizens from the very kingdom that he had devoted his whole life serving. 

「Such a pathetic existence.」Kibadios sighed while observing the Prime Minister struggling against Ryujin. Since the hybrid had decided to stay out of the fight between Jayden and Ryujin, he had already sat down on a rock under the cliff, a bit far away from the two. By his side were Maia and Rowan, his two loyal slaves, who have reluctantly kept their distance from Ryujin since their master had specifically commanded them to stay out of the fight. 

「Who do you mean, master?」asked Maia.

「Who else? I was talking about our Prime Minister over there.」answered Kibadios as he pointed at the man.「I dont know what happened in his past but it seems like he is desperately trying to resurrect someone important to him. Such a fruitless endeavor.」

「... It’s pitiful, though I think I understand how he feels.」Maia clenched her chest. 「If something ever happen to you, I’m sure we would do whatever it take to have you come back to us.」

「...」Kibadios stayed silent for a brief moment, then his hand patted and ruffled her silvery hair.「Don’t worry, I dont intend to die anytime soon. You guys probably have to serve me for a long while, doesn't matter whether you like it or not!」

「「Of course we would, Master!」」Both of them eagerly replied. 

By now, the battle between Jayden and Ryujin has been raging on for more than fifteen minutes. Clearly, there was no chance for the Prime Minister to come out on top, no matter how confident he was. Still, the hybrid had to commend Jayden’s effort for despite being greatly weakened, he was able to survive fighting against a Catastrophe Level Disaster. The dragon, with its power amplified by the implanted Seed of Chaos, was a creature of pure madness. Each time it twisted its body, its excessive Haki reverberated the surrounding space, which could easily knock people off their feet. Each of its splashes would blow off an entire side of a mountain. The only reason Kibadios could still remain calm was because of <HaoS>. If Ryujin’s attention switched to the hybrid, he could easily deal with it by calling forth the primordial fire spirit. Of course, with Kibadios’ current power, <HaoS> would  not be able to materialize more than a few minutes; However, that should be enough to neutralize the Ryujin threat. Despite deep in thought as he formulated strategies in his head, his eyes were still fixated onto the ongoing fight between Ryujin and Jayden: Although being pushed back, the Prime Minister was much more powerful than Kibadios had previously given him credit for. Without calling <HaoS>, the hybrid doubted he could take on Jayden. In fact, if they ever fought against one another, the question would not be if he could win. The question would be how long would he be able to last against Jayden. The weakened Prime Minister was still a beast in his own right. The man clearly possessed affinity for the <Wind> element since most of his attacks were imbued with it. Heck, he could even effortlessly float around in midair by wrapping streams of winds around his feets like Hermes, continuously dodging Ryujin’s densely packed Haki blasts. Several times, the Prime Minister tried to restrict the dragon’s movement by trapping him within several columns of humongous tornadoes. Yet his efforts always failed for they were clearly not strong enough. Of course, it was all relatively speaking since if just one of these tornadoes hit Falas, Kibadios doubt there would be more than half of the structures left standing afterward. 

「Ha… Damn it!」Jayden cursed softly under his heavy breath. 「I never expect to defeat it, but not able to even scratch it is a bit ridiculous.」

Jayden has been exhausted even before the fight and now, his stamina has almost depleted. In a last desperate attempt, the man conjured up two large invisible air whips by invoking one of his <Arte>. Even the hybrid, despite his keen eyes, would not be able to tell exactly the size or length of the whip. The only reason he knew Jayden was holding onto something with his hands was because of his posture and the irregular flow of Haki emitting from his hands. Even when he was staying inside Rowan’s barrier, he could feel the faint stinging blades of winds originated from where the Prime Minister stood, blowing past his face. 

「He’s running out of time. 」Kibadios was amused.「Watch, Rowan, Maia, our Prime Minister has readied his most lethal attack yet. Now, we shall know the outcome of this match in less than a few minutes.」

Just as Kibadios predicted, Jayden soon launched his last attempt at injuring the primal dragon Ryujin. Though, it was by no mean futile. The Prime Minister’s attack was one of the most powerful unique skills Kibadios has witnessed ever since his third reincarnation, enough to probably have injured the hybrid during his prime. Once Jayden made his move, the invisible whips expanded and contracted at will. Soon enough, one of his whip would find itself wrapping around the mountain sized dragon, restricting its movements while the other began mercilessly slashing around, with Jayden hoping that he could at least break through Ryujin’s crystal scales and scratch its bodies. Amazingly, against an opponent almost a thousand times his size, the tiny human was able to suppress the dragon’s struggles to break free as he mustered an incredible strength into this arm to hold onto the whip. From the other airwhip, several of his strayed swings could easily chopped off the tips of several mountains nearby. One of such attacks was able to break through Rowan’s absolute defense barrier, scattering it into pieces. The hybrid, though, quickly shielded his faithful slaves into his arms while invoking one of his spells, which instantly transported them to another spot.

「Wow, that was close!」commented Kibadios as he sighed in relief once they have dodged the strike.

「Haaa!」Rowan was heavily panting. 「I’m sorry, Kibadios! I could not maintain my barrier.」

「That’s not your fault!」said Kibadios. The hybrid has now grimly assessed the situation. Within a mile radius, most of the mountains were cut clean off while thousands of large boulders were also split into pieces from Jayden’s attack. The Prime Minister, though, was spent. As his skill dissipated after the use, the hybrid could see him resting on his knees, his Haki was almost exhausted. 「Jayden Stringer was truly in a league of his own. And to think, this much damage was after his power was previously drained into breaking the seal.」

Nonetheless, his desperate attack seemed to have worked, for the hybrid could see some of Ryujin’s scales have started to fall off its body.
「Haa.. Finally!」Jayden exclaimed. His attack finally reached the Catastrophe Level Threat and injured the creature. Now, he only needed to collect some of its blood and get out of here… Before he could make such a move, his eyes widened as it focused on the small wound on Ryujin. 「... How come...」

「As you can see!」The hybrid screamed at Jayden. 「Ryujin has no such thing as blood! You were tricked by Adela. Unlike other dragons, the Primal Dragons Race absorbed magic molecules straight from the surrounding into their body so they don't need blood. You are trying to obtain something that does not exist, just like your so called “ressurection ritual!”」

「... What?...」Jayden’s eyes, which were full of determination just a few seconds ago, have turned hazy with hopelessness. 「... You’re lying… Why would she… There’s no way...」

Before Jayden could regain his composure, the Prime Minister was hit directly by Ryujin’s giant tail the moment it broke free from the man’s restraints. 

BAM! (and no, this is not a ToG reference!)

The distracted Jayden was sent flying and crashed hard into the vertical cliff, close to where the hybrid and his two slaves were standing. Enraged, Ryujin growled loudly again and shook mountains before it directed a large Haki blast from his mouth toward the defenseless Prime Minister. Barely even able to move a finger, Jayden seemed to have resigned to fate. He could only let out a faint regretful smile before the blast hit him. At least, this way, he would be able to reunite with Reena. Maybe, his plan has worked out in the end.

Chapter 27

Being a Stringer was never his desire. It was not his choice to be born into the most politically powerful family in the Kingdom of Maeg. And yet, here he stood, leaning onto the brightly decorated wall of the large royal ballroom, as an apparent heir to the Stringer family. Apparently he would need to assume the leadership of the family soon enough since rumors about his father’s deteriorating health had always been the hot topic of conversation for the citizens living in the capital. Being crammed with all the intensive practical training required for the Stringer family’s heir after he graduated from the Royal Academy, he barely even had time to check on his father at their villa outside the capital. Each time he expressed such intention, he was quickly deterred by his own father, who insisted the fourteen years old to focus on his education instead of wasting time visiting the villa. Without his family, Jayden was alone and isolated in this large, crowded capital. At least, that was then. He had made a friend while staying in the care of the Royal family: Lance Atkinsor, the sixth prince. Ever since meeting one another, the two teenagers had always been inseparable. At least, that was until now. 

「Damn you, Lance!」Jayden muttered under his breath. 「I knew you pretended to be sick to get out of this party… Why do I have to be here, attending your fiance introduction party while you’re off somewhere...」

「What is it, son?」a figure approached Jayden.

「Huh?」Jayden turned to his side, only to see the one person he least expected. 「Your Majesty?? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be talking to the ambassadors?」

「Hahaha!」The king ruffled Jayden’s head. 「Nah, they just keep talking politics. I’m so tired of such talk. This is not a political party! I just want to introduce the girl who will marry our Lance and have fun with everyone. Too bad Lance caught a severe cold and cant be here in person though.」

Well, to be honest, any party held by the Royal family would be considered political . Jayden thought to himself. And also, Lance is freaking lying to you, Your Majesty. I bet he’s totally fine. 

「So, Jayden. I heard your father’s health is getting worse?」

「... That’s what I heard too. He would not let me visit but insisted that I continued my training instead.」

「That’s no good!」The king declared. 「If you want to visit him, then you should visit him. How about this? You can accompany me to your family villa tomorrow. That way your father will not scold you since you’re part of my entourage.」

「Really?」

「Of course!」

「Thank you, Your Majesty!」

「No problem at all, son!」Again, the king patted his head. Usually, he would hate anyone who did this to him, but the King was an exception. After all, he was just like another father figure for the young Jayden. 

 

「Now, I gotta talk to these people. Please excuse me!」Jayden nodded and smiled as he watched the King clumsily make his way to another group. Both the King and Lance have always been nice to the young man. And to be honest, thanks to them that he could continue to endure the harsh training he received, knowing that one day, he would be able to use all the knowledge he acquired to help the Royal family governing the land.

「What are you smiling at?」another figure had approached the teenager, without him realizing it.

「Nothing?」answered Jayden before he realized who he was talking to. The girl, donning an impressive golden dress and a large ribbon on her back, was the star of today’s party.「Oh, Lady Reena! Please excuse my rudeness.」Jayden bowed at the girl.

「... Hmm, you’re speaking much more formally with me than with the King, huh?」Pointed out by Reena. 「Shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, I’m just around your age. Let me guess, you’re fourteen, right?」

「... Yes, how do you know?」

「mmm….Hahahahaha!」Reena bursted out laughing. 「I was just pretending to guess. Of course I know your age. Everyone here does. After all, you’re the famous Jayden Stringer, who graduated top of the class at the Royal Academy at the age of 10… and that was four years ago!」

「I see.」Jayden nodded.

「You know, my parents always compare me to you.」Reena pouted 「Because of you, nothing I do can be considered ‘impressive’ in their eyes anymore.」

「...Is that so? I’m sorry? 」Jayden scratched his head.

「Well, dont worry, it’s not your fault. Though, just between me and you, can you tell me something that you’re not good at? That way, I can at least try to surpass you at something.」Reena leaned onto Jayden, causing the young teenager to briefly blush red once he took a sniff of her intoxicating perfume. 

「Uhmmm… I guess dancing?」Jayden discreetly inched away from her. 

「Really???」Reen was surprised. After all, dancing was the one thing all the aristocrats would be proficient at. 「I dont believe you!」

「Really… Trust me.」Jayden insisted.

「Hmm… Okay, then, let’s prove it!」Reena held onto Jayden’s hand, then led him to the balcony outside the ballroom. 「Let’s dance!」

「What? Here?」

「Yeah! If you’re really bad at dancing, it’d be bad if I make you dance in there in front of hundreds of people, right?」Reena grinned. 「Out here, it’s just you and me!」

And so, under the moonlight, orchestrated by the humming sounds of insects in the garden, Jayden was forced to awkwardly dance with the girl. “Dance” was probably not the right word, since all the future Prime Minister did was awkwardly moving around, being led by the skillful redhead girl. Yet, in that very moment, within Jayden, he could feel his first “doki doki” moment… An unfamiliar and endearing feeling washed over him as he watched his dance partner, her hands held tightly onto his, her face brightened up by the moonlight reflection from her two crystal earrings… 

「Yo Jay!」a voice whispered. 「What are you doing, dancing out here?」
And so, the brief dance session between the two came to an abrupt end as they directed their attention at the garden where the voice originated, only to be scared by what appeared as a head that popped through the thick shrub.

「Ahh!」Both screamed out until Jayden recognized the face. 「Wait, Lance? What are you doing there?」

「I just want to swing by to check out the party.」

「... You know that you should be in the party, right?」

「Ara ara!」Reena intensely glared at Lance. 「So this is the ‘charming’ prince Lance that left me alone in our party?」

「... Shit… Busted...」

---------------

Am I dead? Jayden weakly opened his eyes. The man could barely move a muscle as the intense pain had already eclipsed all of his five senses. He could not feel anything but the piercing aching in his muscles and body. As his blurry vision started to focus more and more, the Prime Minister finally realized he was laying on the ground, his body seemed to be covered in a faint blue flame. Strangely, it was not burning him at all. On the contrary, the pain and aching he was experiencing had been alleviated as he could feel many of his wounds were beginning to heal up.  Next to him was the teenager named Rowan, an attendant of Kibadios. Jayden could see droplets of sweat rolling from the healer’s forehead down onto his cheek as he tried his best to maintain his Flame of Restoration on him. Thanks to the flame, the fatal wound he sustained when crashing into the side of the cliff was closing off. 

「You’re finally awake?」Rowan asked.

「Why … are you… helping me?」Jayden asked.

「It’s not like I want to do it… Not after you tricked us like that. But it’s our master’s order to keep you alive.」Rowan explained. Though, he really just meant “keep you alive” and not “restore you to full health.” That’s why I have to maintain and control the output of my Flame of Restoration like this… such a pain! 「I’m just doing what he told me to do.」

「... Where’s… Kibadios?」Jayden tried to sit up, which thoroughly surprised Rowan. Judging from the severity of his wounds, it’s a miracle he was even alive before Rowan got a chance to tend his wounds.

「Dont move!」Advised Rowan. 「Our master is dealing with Ryujin now.」

「What?... How could he...」A loud rumble abruptly interrupted Jayden before he could finish his sentence.

「How’s master doing, Maia?」Rowan loudly asked the girl, who was intensely watching Kibadios fight on the side of the cliff.

「... Incredible...」The girl muttered as her attention was absorbed in the intense fight.

「MAIA!」Rowan screamed out anxiously.

「I’m sorry Rowan!」answered the girl. 「He’s fine. He’s actually doing much better than I would have thought.」

Just as Maia had observed, unlike the previous fight between Ryujin and Jayden, in which the dragon easily dominated the match, Ryujin unexpectedly found Kibadios, an individual who should be much weaker than Jayden in terms of raw power, an extremely difficult opponent to deal with. What set Kibadios and Jayden apart was experience and knowledge, both of which Kibadios had clearly surpassed the Prime Minister: Having raised a primal dragon from birth during his first reincarnation, the hybrid was exceptionally knowledgeable about the dragon’s strong and weak points. Being such a large creature in his dragon form, the Ryujin he was facing right now had one problem: extremely wide blindspots. That was why, instead of keeping his distance from the raging dragon like Jayden did, Kibadios decided to close in on the dragon as much as possible. With the six incubus wings flapping behind his back, the hybrid was no less agile than Jayden before as he easily glided around right from under Ryujin’s belly, preventing the dragon from spotting him, to the dragon’s head. 

「Here we go!」Kibadios yelled as he thrust his hand, along with his five sharp orge nails straight into the dragon’s head, cracking through its protective scales and penetrating deep into its flesh. Such an attack caused the dragon to growl and thrash violently around at first, but it strangely calmed down within a few seconds. 「The primordial flames, I call upon thy power to burn down the <Seed of Chaos> and cleanse the darkness from this creature’s mind.」

A small ember slowly grew from the hybrid’s shoulder and traveled down his arm and hand before bursting out in full force and almost enveloped the dragon’s whole head and Kibadios along with it. Still, there was no pain. Just like the Flame of Restoration by Rowan, HaoS’ flame did not burn either the hybrid or Ryujin. In fact, once the hybrid pulled his nails from Ryujin’s flesh, the wound closed up at an abnormal speed. The dragon’s unpredictable rage subsided without any notice, surprised all the witnesses from the cliff nearby. 

「... That man… Did he just destroy the <Seed of Chaos>?」Jayden was at a loss for word. 

「「... Master?」」

From the dragon’s head, the hybrid flew straight toward where his two slaves were waiting for him, leaving behind the dragon, who had started to coil around itself as if it was resting. Its eyes, which were filled with nothing but darkness like a bottomless abyss, had begun to clear up, revealing a clear blue color like a calm ocean. 

「Phew! That was tough.」Kibadios said.

「What did you do, Master?」Maia asked.

「What else? I burned away the source of its rage. The dragon so called Ryujin should be more reasonable now...」said Kibadios 「Though if it still wants to fight and continue its rampage, then I have to call forth <HaoS> to deal with it.」

「...How did you do it?」asked Jayden.  

「There’s nothing that <HaoS> can’t burn away!」declared the hybrid, before effortlessly summoning forth the primordial fire spirit right in front of the Prime Minister. Jayden’s jaw dropped down after witnessing the majestic Spirit emerging from behind the hybrid. 「Now then, let’s see if the dragon so called Ryujin still want to fight even if the <Seed of Chaos> that infected his mind has been burned away… or would he be rational enough to have a conversation.」The hybrid switched his attention to the dragon, his hand held tightly onto his scythe, which was now covered in flame. 

「THAT???」The dragon finally spoke his first word ever since being released from the seal,  his fins stood erected, shivering in excitement. 「THAT SPIRIT!」It was the clear, youthful male voice that escaped its mouth. 「... Zaeryn sama??」

What did he just say? 

Before the hybrid could react, Ryujin sprung himself toward the cliff where everyone was at. Caught surprised by the familiar name, by the time the hybrid realized what had happened, the dragon was already flying too close for him to dodge it in time. Strangely, the closer he got to the hybrid, Ryujin shrunk down smaller and smaller. As his size changed, so was his form. The creature, initially taking the form of a giant asian dragon, had now transformed into a man, wearing a japanese style clothing. His blue hair was tied up in a ponytail by a golden string. His eyebrows were thick, yet short. In place of a human ear, the man had two large fins, tugged behind his hair. Even after the transformation, his dragon tail still did not disappear. It protruded out of his pants, wagging around as he closed in and hugged the hybrid warmly.

「You’re...」The hybrid was still stunned after hearing his name when he was first reincarnated into this world thousands of years ago.

「You’ve finally come back to us, Zaeryn sama!!!」

「You’re… 」

「I know this day would come!」Ryujin was crying his tears of happiness.

「... Who the hell are you!!!」The hybrid yelled out, trying to detach himself from the teenage dragon’s clingy embrace, only to find the dragon’s snots had been sticking onto his clothes. By this time, Kibadios had already dismissed <HaoS> away. After all, maintaining <HaoS> in its active form took too much energy out of the hybrid and it was only necessary if he was in a pinch. Seeing how this creature was now hugging and crying, the hybrid doubt he would need to fight any further. 

「My name is Ryuu!」the dragon knelt down and bowed at the hybrid. 「I am the third head of the Ryujin clan and also its sole survivor. I have been waiting for your return for thousands of years, Zaeryn sama!」

「... The Ryujin clan? Dont tell me...」

「Yes, I am the grandson of Ryujin, the primal dragon who served you during your first reincarnation.」

「How did you know who I was?」

「Who else but Zaeryn sama that can command the primordial fire spirit?」Ryuu excitedly answered. 「I was told of your power ever since I was young by my father. We have always believed you would one day come back to this world. Besides, when you were burning away the <Seed of Chaos> that controlled my mind, I was able to get to see glimpses of your memories.」

 

「... I see...」Kibadios nodded. Glimpses of my memories, huh? Must have been HaoS’ doing . He was hesitant for a moment, but decided to continue on.「... and what happened to Ryujin after my passing?」

「Ryujin sama was killed by the Astral shortly after you passed away.」Ryuu clenched his fist. 「Our clan was able to hide from them for some thousands of years, patiently waiting for your return. But around two thousands years ago, they found out our location, my father was killed then.」

「I’m sorry, Ryuu-kun.」Kibadios patted the head of the kneeling dragon before pulling him up. 「Because of the connection with me, your whole family was eradicated.」

「Please, Zaeryn sama! It’s not your fault! It’s the Astrals that need to atone for the sins!」

Standing besides the hybrid, both Maia and Rowan were dumbfounded by the conversation. Although they could not get the whole picture, they clearly could tell there was an animosity between their master and the Astrals, the gods of this world. Before they could interrupt the conversation, it was the weakened Jayden that raised his voice first.

「Zaeryn? You’re Zaeryn, the Great Calamity that shook the world more than 10000 years ago?」A hint of dread could clearly be detected in the Prime Minister’s question. 

「... Was that how history was written?」Kibadios turned toward Jayden. 「... Hmm… You know why I wanted to keep you alive? It’s because you and I were the same: being used and toyed with my Adela and the Astrals. I was hoping that you would understand, at least partially, my pain and hatred for the Astrals and help assist me in my fight against them. I will show you the real history behind the event you called “Great Calamity,” or what I would consider the “Void Century” equivalent of this world. Once you learn the truth about this world and understand the meaning of your existence, I wonder if you will stand with me, or against me.」

Kibadios’ claws were now firmly embedded into the Prime Minister’s skull before he directly injected the fragments of his past lives into Jayden’s brain through the flow of his Haki.

「AHHHHH!!!!」Jayden could only screamed out as tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes the moment he experienced the hybrid’s past lives.

--------------

Ryuu's portrait:

Hair: based on various depiction of "Ranmaru" characters

Pose/Clothing: One of the Yosakoi dance performers.

=======

UPDATE ON A LATER DATE:

Drawn by ぴょんた

 ■HP→http://pyopic.tumblr.com ■Skeb→http://skeb.jp/@pyo_st ■SHOP→http://pyonta.booth.pm

 

Chapter 28: The meaning of existence.

「Kibadios! What happened here??」Kyles, one of the first people that arrived at the site where the battle between Ryujin and Jayden occurred, hurriedly ran toward the hybrid. 「Where’s Ryujin?」Following him, of course, was the princess Yllaner. Though soon afterward, almost everyone else that was present at the cave finally has made their way here. All except for Adela. 

「We were able to reseal Ryujin into this cube here.」Kibadios lied as he presented a bright cube filled with energy in front of everyone, which he had just prepared a few moments ago. 「Actually, it was Jayden who performed the sealing ritual. I only helped.」

「Jayden Stringer!」Thomas screamed at the exhausted Prime Minister, who just sat silently leaning against a large boulder. 「How dare you risk the lives of the people like that? This could have gone horribly wrong! In the end, you still could not defeat it. If you were unable to seal the primal dragon again, do you realize what catastrophe would have befallen the Maeg Kingdom? 」

「... But I did manage to seal it again… did I not?」Jayden faintly replied. It’s a miracle he could still talk with all his fatal injuries only half healed. 

「Jayden Stringer. You are under arrest by the authority of the royal decree!」A voice loudly announced. Suddenly surrounding the disgraced Prime Minister were several men dressed in black, their faces were fully covered with a plain white mask, their armbands bore the symbol of the royal crest. Are they like the Anbu of this kingdom? Kibadios thought. A man, dressed in a full regalia of the king of Maeg, soon walked next to the Prime Minister, his eyes looking at the injured man with empathy and sadness. 

「Lance… So your men were able to rescue you from your cell?」Jayden smiled at his childhood friend. 

「Do you even have to ask? You should know full well that there were numerous resistance groups within the palace that would spring to action the moment you left the capital to rescue me and restore the royal power. It was all within your calculation, wasnt it?」

「... I wonder...」Replied Jayden while being detained by the Anbu-looking men. 「It’s all over now. I have lost… everything.」

「... So… It was impossible, wasnt it? Your plan to resurrect Reena… It was all in vane?」

The new king asked Jayden but silence was the only reply he ever got. Soon enough, the heroes were arranged by Lance to come back to the City of Falas for a briefing that would explain everything that had happened. Meanwhile, the fake seal cube was taken by another Anbu for safe keeping. Of course they could not return it to the cave since it was destroyed when the real seal was broken. Kibadios wondered where they would take it to and whether they would ever discover the seal was a fake, but at this point, there was nothing he could do. On the way back to Falas, Ryan constantly bombarded Kibadios with countless apologies for not able to stay with his master when the cave collapsed. 

「Yeah, Ryan, Yllaner, and that maid that followed Jayden, what’s her name...」

「Adela.」Kibadios reminded Kyles.

「Yes, Adela! We were transported to the same location when the space within the cave compressed and collapsed. When we saw Ryujin and the intense battle it had with you guys from afar, we tried our best to quickly come to you but by the time we got there, it was all over.」

「That girl was with you guys?」

「Yes!」Ryan nodded. 「Though she quickly disappeared once we arrived at your location, Kibadios sama.」

「Apparently from what Jayden told me, she was the reason why he tried to resurrect Ryujin.」said Kibadios.

「What? Really?」Surprised Ryan.

「That makes sense why she disappeared soon after.」Yllaner nodded.

「Yeah.」

And so, the groups finally made it back to the city of Falas by the time the sun disappeared behind the western mountain ranges. Lance, the new king of Maeg, was supposed to brief the heroes about the whole affair concerning Jayden, but he elected to let all the groups back to their own cottages and rest for the night. After all, everyone was exhausted from the journey. Once arriving at their room after saying goodbye to Kyles and Yllaner, a familiar face eagerly greeted Kibadios.

「Zaeryn sama!」Ryuu giddily shouted, his reptilian tail was wagging as if he was a canine instead. 

「Who are you?」Ryan swiftly leapt in front of his master while holding out his sword defensively. 

「Wait, who ARE you??」Ryuu frowned. 「Zaeryn sama, why is there a lowlife hero coming with you here? He’s the Astrals’ pawn!」

「Who are you calling Zaeryn?」Ryan pointed his sword at the dragonoid man. 「Kibadios sama, please be careful! He’s clearly dangerous.」

Ahh… Man, I did not have time to explain to Ryan about Ryujin yet…

「Both of you, put away your weapons!」ordered Kibadios. 「Dont worry about him, Ryan. He is an acquaintance of mine. And Ryuu, Ryan kun here is a slave that I acquired some time ago. Even though he’s a hero, he is no Astrals’ pawn. He’s my toy!」... I think… Kibadios demonstrated his ownership over the hero as he pulled the hero backward into his embrace, his hand held onto the young hero’s chin to forcibly turn his mouth around for a passionate kiss. Once the kiss ended a few seconds later, Kibadios hand had already found its way down in front of Ryan’s hardening bulge and gave it a few gropes right in front of Ryuu’s surprised gaze. 

「Haahhaaa… Mas...ter」Ryan moaned while enjoying his master’s hands caressing his crotch. 「But… he’s dangerous… I… hahaaa」

「It’s fine, Ryan kun!」Maia interrupted the hero 「He’s also serving our Master.」

「Well, just not sexually.」added the hybrid while releasing Ryan from his arms.

「S….S….Sexually???」Ryuu’s face was already bright red from the display of eroticism in front of him, erupted with embarrassment once he pictured the obscene imagery of him being in Ryan’s position. 「Of … Of course not! I’m not worthy enough to be with Zaeryn sama! No no no!!!」Ryuu calmed down for a bit, then turned to the three slaves, with a special attention directed at the hero. 「And for a matter of fact, none of you guys are worthy enough to be with Zaeryn sama either!」

「Enough, Ryuu kun!」

「... Yes, Zaeryn sama...」The dragon begrudgingly backed down. Having been scolded by the hybrid, Ryuu’s fins on his head whimpered down. 

「But who is he? And why is he keep calling Kibadios ‘Zaeryn sama’? Doesnt he know that name is forbidden?」asked Ryan.

「... Because I am Zaeryn… or at least, I was.」Kibadios grimly said. 「and this young dragonoid man in front of you is the creature you called “Ryuujin”.」

「... What?」Ryan’s jaw dropped

「Master, I bet you’re tired. Why don't you go ahead and take a bath.」Rowan suggested. 「I’ll fill Ryan in the details.」

「... Okay.」Kibadios nodded, pulled Maia with him and headed to the bathroom. This was almost a routine for the three slaves that served the hybrid: whenever he was to take a bath, one of his slaves would strip down naked and help wash his back by first dousing their bodies in soap water then sliding their own bodies against the hybrids. Needless to say, most of the time, “taking a bath” would mean “let’s fuck.” Yet, today was different. The hybrid only took a few gropes at Maia’s perky breasts and curvy ass before the two quickly rinsed themselves with water and got out of the bathroom. After all, Kibadios knew he had a lot to explain to his three loyal slaves. He had put it off for a while now, ever since he acquired Rowan and Maia but now, with the inclusion of Ryuu in the group, he felt like he did owe his slaves some decent explanation. What they would choose to do after hearing his story, though, worried the hybrid. 

「Did you tell Ryan what happened back then?」

「Yes, master!」Rowan nodded.

「... I can see you have a lot of questions, Ryan.」Kibadios looked into his slave’s confused eyes. 「Save that for later. The two of you and Nu here should take a bath first. I promise I’ll explain anything. I will tell you about my past… and my purpose.」

Both nodded and took Nu with them into the bath before Kibadios turned to Ryuu.

「By the way, Ryuu kun, from now on, call me Kibadios. It seems like my past name had become somewhat of a taboo word now, calling me Zaeryn would just bring unwanted attention to us.」

「Sure, Za… Kibadios sama!」 obeyed Ryuu. 「... I have been meaning to ask… all the three low-life humans here are your slaves?」The dragon pointed at Maia, who was dutifully drying her master’s hair. 

「Yes, Ryuu dono!」Maia answered before her master could. 「Rowan and I, and even our village, were saved by Kibadios sama. Ever since then, we have promised to serve him however he wishes. Same with Ryan, who Kibadios sama saved from the goblins’ torments.」

「Goblins? Aren't they like weak creatures or did that change after my thousand years sleeping within the seal? How come he was caught by such lowly creatures?」

「He was tricked by one of his ex-party member.」explained the girl. 

「I see! So now you three are faithfully serving Zae...Kibadios sama?」Ryuu nodded, then added. 「Not that you three deserve to serve him .」

Maia simply nodded with a smile. Before long, both of the boys and the slime have finished washing themselves. Once they had come out, with their hairs still fully wet, Kibadios ordered his three slaves to stand in front of him while Ryuu sat on the chair not too far from where Kibadios’ group stood.

「Ryan, I have asked you before, but I want ask you again: what do you know about the Astrals?」

「They are the gods that created this world and protected its balance for millennia?」Ryan hesitantly answered.

「Tsk!」Ryuu was visibly annoyed at the answer.

「Calm down, Ryuu-kun.」

「Yes, Kibadios sama.」

「Now, if that was what you have been believed for your whole life, then I’ll tell you my side of the story.」Kibadios briefly sighed. This, for the hybrid, would be the moment of truth: would his self-professed loyal slaves stick with him or would they leave his side, all would be clear after he has told them his story. He knew, though, if they ever refused to be on his side, the only option he had was to eliminate them before they could alert the Astral. 「Like you all knew, I am a world traveler. However, unlike most others, instead of being transported, I was reborned as a baby in this world after my demise back on Earth.」

「Yes, as a half orge and half incubus?」Ryan was surprised since all of them have already known this part of the hybrid’s backstory.

「No. This was not my first reincarnation.」Kibadios looked at his hand. 「This was my third. During my first reincarnation, I was reborn as a pure-bred monster, or what you would have called a demihuman: I was born as a Tengu.」

「TENGU?」Ryan shouted, which jolted both Rowan and Maia. 「They were the legendary race that rebelled against the Astral and were exterminated during the holy war, along with the second demon emperor Zaeryn?」

「You filthy human! Shut your mouth! How dared you disrespected Zaeryn sama!」Ryuu was pissed but his outburst was stopped by Kibadios’ signal

「... Yes, I was born a Tengu, more than 10000 years ago, under the name Zaeryn.」Kibadios nodded. His nonchalant admission shocked the hero while the other two villagers, although were not too familiar with the legends of the past, still could still understand its implication. 「During the first 100 years, I lived and fought for the Astrals, for I was tricked by them into believing their stories. Just like you, I was led to believe that they were the guardians of this world and I was one of their chosen representatives. Since I was reincarnated into a powerful and long-live race and the fact that I wanted to live my life to the fullest and not have any regrets as I did back on earth, soon enough, I was as strong as an Astral. As gullible as I was, I helped them set up the Suikoden system, in which 108 individuals would be granted the <Seed of Heroes> and acted as their agents to protect the world order. I had, in fact, become the first Grand Chief of the Heroes Order… I wonder, does that position still exist?」

「Yes, Master.」Ryan nodded. 「The Grand Chief resides at the Divine Oracle. He is in charge of overlooking the Holy Runes.」

「The Holy Runes and The Star of Destiny, classifying the stronger heroes into 36 Heavenly Spirits and the weaker heroes into 72 Earthly Fiends, the strongest of the 36 Heavenly Spirits are called the Six Heroes… All of that! All of the fundamentals of the heroic system that supported this world since then was devised by me!」Kibadios continued. 「... and at one point, I was so proud of that. I continued on with my duty as the Grand Chief for a few hundreds years until the emergence of the demon emperor began to throw the world off balance. The world back then, was just as it is now, filled with individuals who claimed themselves to be demon lords. But for the longest time, no demon lords were able to dominate others. Until the appearance of Kadesha, the fallen Astral.」

「... What? The first demon emperor, Kadesha, was an Astral?」

「... So you know of her, huh?」Kibadios looked at Ryan. 「Yes, though she was no mere Astral… She was part of the Ennead, rulers of the Astral and the Modun realm. In fact, she was one of the strongest Astrals ever existed. That was, until she betrayed them, left the Realm of Modun and joined the ranks of the demon lords. With her power, it was understandable that she could easily bring all the demon lords into her camp. For the Astrals, that was unacceptable but there was nothing they could do…」

「Why? Aren’t the Astrals supposed to be the strongest beings in Esthar? Can’t they just deal with her?」Rowan innocently asked.

「You see, Astrals, in their original bodies, are extremely strong. But the immortality provided by the Realm of Modun had another effect on those cowards: they began to fear death. If their own bodies ventured out of the Realm of Modun, there is a chance they can be killed. Thus, since time immemorial, the Astrals have always been using Homunculi as their vessels when they wanted to come into this world. And that’s their disadvantage: by using homunculi, they cannot exercise their full power in Esthar.」Kibadios explained. 「They could not directly deal with Kadesha… at least, they were not willing to. And so, it was I, along with the current Six Heroes of that generation, were tasked with the mission: to defeat Kadesha. Knowing that our strength was insufficient, they let me borrow HaoS, the Primordial Fire Spirit. 」Kibadios suddenly stopped and laughed. 「That was their mistake! They gave me the very power that they feared! Hahahaaa!!! But anyways, I digressed. Once I received HaoS, the holy quest to deal with the first Demon Emperor started. Like any RPG, it was arduous. We lost many friends and comrades along the way. But finally, in the end, the four of us: Sylvia, Aspen, that bitch Adela, and I, were able to kill Kadesha」

「Wait, Adela?」Maia interrupted Kibadios’ story.

「Yes, she’s the very same Adela that was with the Prime Minister. She’s an Astral and her body is merely a lifeless homunculus.」Kibadios nodded, then continued. 「Anyways, in that joyous moment, when others were celebrating her death, only I paid attention to the words of her dying breath... To this moment, I could still vividly remember… She was neither begging for her life or cursing her own mortality in anguish. Instead she was smiling at me and prophetically warned me of my unimpeded doom under the hands of the Astrals and that she would leave the world in my hand… I should have known better.」Kibadios gripped his hand tightly in frustration as he remembered his past mistakes. 「Or maybe, on some levels, I did know better since I refused the Astrals’ offer to have the four of us join their ranks. Sylvia and I decided instead to live and start our family here in Esthar.」

「Was it Sylvia’s face that looks like Princess Yllaner?」Rowan asked. 

「More than just lookalike, I know that Yllaner is Sylvia’s reincarnation. 」

「... She was your… wife?」Maia hesitantly asked with a tiny hint of jealousy.

「Yes. Though that was in the past.」Kibadios shrugged. Maybe Kibadios was indeed still holding some feelings for Yllaner, but he knew better that Yllaner, despite being Sylvia’s reincarnation, was not Sylvia herself. After all, Katara did not hit on Korra although she’s Aang’s reincarnation, the hybrid often told himself. 

「What about Adela and Aspen?」Rowan asked.

「...Aspen and Adela also got married, though it was more of a political marriage than anything. After all, Aspen was the strongest hero and Adela was a heroic princess, the people… at least, the human yearned for them to get married since it signified the unions of their strongest representatives. Aspen had to give up the girl he loved for Adela, just because he believed what he was doing was the best course for humanity. As his best friend, I should have talked him out of it… I should have...」

「So both Adela and Aspen chose to become the Astrals?」Ryan asked.

「Yes, and Adela’s father, the King of Eberus. In fact, I have always believed Adela was an addon. She was not that strong, compared to Aspen and her father. After they left Esthar, I became concerned about Kadesha’s warning and began to look into the ruin of her castles in secret for clues.」Kibadios gave his three slaves a devious smile as he leaned into them.「Guess what I found? It took awhile but I finally discovered the secrets that the Astrals have been hiding. I found out the reason why Kadesha betrayed the Astrals. As a matter of fact, I uncovered the very meaning of life for every resident of this world.」

「What do you mean?」Ryan asked shakenly, afraid of the answer his master was going to give them. 

「Have you ever pondered about the meanings of life? Why were you born? What was your purpose in life? The answer, my dear Ryan kun, was that your life, and for that matter, all the lives in this world of Esthar, exist with the sole purpose: to ultimately become mere fertilizers for the Yggdrasil, the very holy tree of life that grants immortality for the Astrals in Modun. Every 5000 years or so, the Astrals would commence their “Harvest Festival” in which they would cleanse the world and kill off more than 95% of the world’s population. The souls they collected during the event would be fed to Yggdrasil, ensuring its survival. Hahaha, even the big bad Thanos would stop at 50%, while the Astrals would exterminate every lives in Esthar to near extinction.」

「... No way」

「That’s horrible...」

「How can that be?」

「Are you doubting Kibadios-sama’s word, you filthy human?」Ryuu angrily shouted. 

「No, of course not!」Ryan protested at the accusation. 「But, just ...」

「It’s shocking isnt it? To learn that you, your comrades, your countrymen, and your descendants, are merely livestocks that the Astrals raise in order to nourish their Yggdrasil.」Kibadios shrugged. 「But think about it, how much do you know about the past? Why, has this world been existing for hundreds of millennia, yet, the technology would not advance any further? That’s because civilization collapses once every 5000 years, setting the world’s progress back. Just like how the Bronze Age Collapse brought forth chaos on Earth, the Astral’s “Harvest Festival” sow unimaginable chaos here, in Esthar.」Kibadios raised his hand and caressed Ryan’s pale face. For the first time, the hero desperately wanted the story that his master told him was a lie since if it was true, then he and Kyles, and other heroes were nothing but tools for the devils. 「Ryan, why do you think the Astral loved the heroes system that I proposed to keep the world in balance?」

「I… I dont know...」

「That’s because the constant battles between heroes and demon lords, between humans and demihumans, between nation states... all these struggles and conflicts helped to advance the power of individuals living in Esthar and in the end, the stronger the livestocks and fertilizers, the stronger Yggdrasil would grow.」Explained the hybrid. 「That’s why, instead of getting rid of the demon lords altogether, the Astral prefers to maintain the balance instead. That way, neither the forces of “good” or “evil” would become complacent and grow weaker over time.」

「... I am sorry, Kibadios sama!」Tears almost escaped Ryan’s eyes. 「I have always been proud of my <Seed of Heroes>, but turn out, I was nothing but the Astrals’ slave.」

「Was!」Kibadios stressed, then pulled the confused hero into his lap.「You’re now my property! MY loyal slave! Aren't you?」

「Of course, master!」Ryan nodded. 

「So, the reason Kadesha turned against her own kind was because...」said Rowan

「Yes, she was sick of the atrocity the Astrals committed. By the time I learned the truth about her, it was too late.」

「... But then, what happened next?」Maia wanted to know more about her master’s story.

Kibadios turned to Maia. As he gazed at her, he began to tell her and the two other slaves what transpired next. Horrors filled their eyes and tears rolled down their cheeks while the hybrid continued to tell them the story of his past, how he became known as the second demon emperor, the leader of the rebellion against the Astrals, and how he was betrayed by Adela and Aspen. How Adela tortured him and initiated the “Harvest Festival,” forcing him to watch as his brethrens were killed off. How the Astrals turned nation states against nation states, encouraging humans to kill demihumans and even other humans. The whole world, within a few years after his imprisonment, had completely collapsed as hatred and despair enveloped the very land he spent hundreds of years to protect…

「And so, my second reincarnation as a demihuman conceived in a laboratory was brief. That lasted probably only a few months, until an accidental explosion ended my life there. I was not even old enough to gain access to HaoS and my other Spirits that locked inside myself.」Kibadios continued after a brief break. 「And I have told you guys about my current reincarnation, how my village was attacked by the very commander that was in charge of the laboratory during my second reincarnation. How, as an infant, I was let loose down the Kidan River. Soon after, I met the two of you.」The hybrid pointed at Maia and Rowan. 「Then Ryan here. As of now, like I have explained before, I want to take out my revenge on that commander first before I can take on the Astrals.」

「How can we deal with the Astrals? Aren’t they immortal?」asked Maia.

「I have my plans.」Kibadios glanced at Ryuu, the only individual who would probably know what the plan was. 「But like I said, I am still too weak compared to the Astrals. If I ever face one, the only way I can come out on top was to fuse with HaoS. But then, I know my current self does not have the power to contain HaoS power within myself for long… I would most likely be incinerated after 10 minutes. Summoning HaoS is merely a contingent plan.」

The hybrid finally stood up. As he faced his three slaves, with a demanding voice, he again wanted to confirm their loyalty. 「Now that you have known about my past, would you still stay with me and be my subservient slaves, or would you rebel and inform the Astrals about my existence?」

Without hesitation, the three knelt down onto the floor. 「「「Of course we would stay with you, Master! We are forever yours!」」」

「Please, Kibadios sama… If you don’t hate me for being a hero, a tool of the Astrals, I’d like to serve you for the rest of my life. 」

「GOOD!!」Kibadios loudly exclaimed then honestly confessed.「Had any of you dare to betray me, I’d have ended you here and now! After all, ‘I’d rather betray the world then let the world betray me.’ 」

「Kibadios sama! How can we trust their words!」Ryuu protested. 

「How?」Kibadios smiled. 「It’s easy. Strip for me, Maia, Ryan, Rowan!」Following their master’s command, their clothes quickly fell onto the ground, revealing their bare skins and the incubus crest that they all bore. 「They have been branded with my incubus crest. This is a low level slave crest. Although I cannot compel them to follow my commands, I can know when they lie to me. Since they did not feel any pain when they profess their loyalty to me, I know they did not lie to me.」

「... I see...」The dragonoid suddenly remembered 「... Would I need a crest like that too, Kibadios sama?」

「Hm...」The hybrid studied Ryuu, then smiled. 「Do you know how an incubus crest forms?」 

「No?」

「By having sex with an incubus, of course!」

「...huh? Se…. Sex?」Again, the innocent Ryuu’s face was bright red. 

「Hahaha!」Kibadios patted the dragonoid man. 「Dont worry. I dont need to cast a crest on you.」

「But, then, Kibadios sama would always be suspicious of me and my loyalty.」

「Hm, We will find a way.」Kibadios scratched his head. 「If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of sex, I can’t really force it on you. Especially since you’re Ryuujin’s grandson. I raised and treated Ryuujin like my son… that would make you my great-grandson?」Kibadios shuddered. 

That night, as Ryuu sat silently on the roof of the inn on top of the hybrid’s room, he could clearly hear the unending moans coming from Rowan, Ryan, and Maia’s mouth as Kibadios fucked them senselessly. Somehow, he was jealous of the attention the hybrid has been given to his three slaves.

「... But I dont mind being Zaeryn sama’s possession.」Ryuu muttered, his arms held tightly onto the slime monster. 「I just dont think I deserve to be with Zaeryn sama… but then neither do those filthy humans! Do you get what I’m saying, Nu?」

「Chii?」was the only response he got from the little monster.

Chapter 29: The reason

「Enjoying the wind, Kibadios?」Kyles patted Kibadios’ back. 

「Yes. I have never been on an airship before, let alone a royal one.」answered the hybrid, his arms leaned onto the airship’s balcony rails. 「As an incubus, I do possess wings, but enjoying the sky without having to use my wings is a much more pleasant experience.」

「I bet!」Kyles laughed, then paused for a moment before continuing. 「What do you think about the story King Lance told us?」

「What about it?」

「... I dont know.」Kyles looked up at the clear blue sky. 「Somehow, I feel sorry for the Prime Minister. He was misled into believing he could have resurrected his lover and it caused him to carry out such a reckless plan. I was thinking, if I were in his shoe, if something happened to Yllaner, would I have done something similar? Risking hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, just for a chance to have her back.」

Kibadios remained silent, giving the hero no answer. After all, he did not think Kyles ever expected an answer to such a rhetorical question like that. 「Whatever happens, just know that you can never resurrect dead people.」Kibadios finally replied. 「Just try your best to protect your loved ones, to protect Princess Yllaner.」

「Of course!」Kyles grinned. 「I’ll protect her with my life!」

「That’s reassuring.」Kibadios spoke faintly

「What’s that?」

「No, it’s nothing.」dismissed the hybrid.

「Kibadios dono!」a voice called out from inside the ship’s corridor.「I did not have a chance to apologize to you before.」

「For what?」Kibadios gave Thomas, the old hero, a cold look.

「For being disrespectful to you.」The hero confessed. 「My hatred for demihuman blurred my judgement of you. I have always believed all demihumans are up to no good, but without your assist dealing against Ryuujin, I’m sure the Kingdom of Maeg, no actually, for matter of fact, this whole region of the continent, would be plunged into chaos because of the Prime Minister.」

「...That was nothing.」answered Kibadios. 「After all, you did save my retainers before so I guess we’re even.」

「Hahaha! You’re too kind, Kibadios dono.」laughed the old man. 

「If you dont mind me asking though.」continued Kibadios 「What happened to you in the past?」

「Huh?」

「I heard some snippets about you from Kyles and how you lost your eyes to a demihuman, but I was just curious about the whole story.」

「Well...」Thomas was hesitant for a while. 「I guess it’s no harm to tell you and Kyles dono here. It’s not like it’s a secret. I used to foster a demihuman child. I raised him as my own but one day, he betrayed my trust and slaughtered innocent villagers out of rage. That’s when I confronted him and I lost my eyes in the process. Ever since then, I could never trust another demihuman. But you have proven me wrong, Kibadios dono!」

「Still, you’re not going to suddenly trust demihuman now, are you?」Kibadios smiled.

「You’re right! Not likely. You’re the exception, I guess.」

Ah, is it now? You have such a bad judgement, old man. It’s lucky you didn't lose your life yet, let alone your eyes.

「Anyways, I think we are going to approach Lorian soon. We should start preparing for the landing.」Kyles reminded the two.

「Of course! Please excuse me, Kyles dono, Kibadios dono.」Thomas nodded and walked back to his cabin.

「See!」Kyles nudged the hybrid. 「I told you Thomas dono is a good person at heart.」

「Yes. I guess you’re right...」

「Anyways, I’ll go and get ready with Yllaner. You should prepare for the landing also.」The hero waved goodbye, in which Kibadios only nodded. With his eyes, he could see far at the horizon, Lorian, the glorious capital of Maeg was coming into view. After all, this has been the second day since they boarded the airship. 

------------------

During the first day, the heroes and their companions were gathered together in front of the newly crowned king of Maeg in a small room within the  ship. The room was not technically small, but it was by no means considered big. Decorated with merely a small round table and a few chairs while the room’s wall was reinforced with thick iron, imbued with strong protective magics, the hybrid knew it clearly served as some sort of Situation Room equivalent for the royal airship. Small chatters between the heroes and their parties had come to an abrupt end as King Lance slowly made his way inside. The king, despite being a handsome man dressing an impeccable royal regalia, appeared pale with a dark complexion under his eyes. It seemed as though he had not had any good sleep for a while. Not that anyone would expect him to, not with all the upheaval that he and the royal family experienced recently. 

「Thank you for all coming here.」He gave a polite nod at the general direction where people gathered. 「The Kingdom of Maeg owes you a huge apology.」

「Let the bygone be bygones.」Thomas was the first to respond to the King’s greeting.「However, we would still want to hear the story about the Prime Minister.」

「Yes, That’d be the only thing the kingdom owes us.」Amber continued. 

「Indeed.」King Lance agreed. 「That is why you were all gathered here today. I bet you all have so many questions about what happened.」

「First of all, what of the Prime Minister now?」asked Kyles.

「He’s actually here on this airship, being transported back to Lorian to face justice.」answered King Lance.「I actually just had a conversation with him before coming here.」

「... So, why did he do such a reckless thing?」Amber curiously asked. 「Releasing a Catastrophe level threat from its seal.」

「You were saying something about a woman when you apprehended him, weren't you?」Thomas recalled.

「Yes, Reena.」King Lance sighed. 「She was my and Jayden’s closest friend.」

「Wait, if I remember correctly, she was your fiance, wasn't she?」Amber, a native hero from Maeg, seemed to have a revelation.

「Indeed she was. Although our engagement only lasted a few years, until her father committed treason against the Kingdom… or at least, that’s what written in the public records.」

「What do you mean? If I recalled, Viscount Frederick, along with the second prince, caused a small rebellion almost a decade ago, right?」said Amber. 

「... That was merely a cover story. In truth, it was a feud between my eldest brother and my second brother, who was fighting against one another for the throne. Viscount Frederick took the side of my second brother, but in the end, it was my eldest brother that won. As the results, Viscount Frederick was branded a traitor while my second brother was killed. His death was branded as a casualty of the rebellion.」

「... Where was your father, the former king, during all of this?」frowned Thomas.

「My father was never fit for the struggle in politics. With his soft nature, he was unable to stop the feud between his sons. Up until then, he was relying on the help of Jayden’s father, his best friend, to stabilize the situation within the Kingdom. Once Jayden’s father passed away, all hell broke loose.」

「I see.」

「We knew about the power vacuum created when the previous Prime Minister passed away, but I didn't know it was that bad.」Surprised Amber. 「... But then, I was only a teenager then. I doubt I could understand the Kingdom’s politics. Anyways, what happened to lady Reena after her father was executed?」

「Understanbly, our engagement was broken off, like I previously mentioned. At the time, I thought that was a good thing since both of us knew we were better off as friends. Her true love was Jayden, anyways.」King Lance smiled. 「She had been working as an officer in the army and after her father’s death, because Jayden had been cleverly pulling the strings behind the scene, she was able to keep her job. Everything was fine for her… and for their relationship to grow. At the time, I did not know the worst had yet to come.」

「What do you mean?」Kyles asked.

「Do you know about the great rebellion what shook our kingdom four years ago, Kyles dono?」

「I was not in the kingdom then, but everyone in the region knew about it.」

「Compared to the ‘Frederick Rebellion’, it was a huge conflict that was responsible for the death of most princes in the kingdom.」Amber told Kyles.

「Yes, only after the conflict did I become the designated heir to the throne. The rebellion claimed the lives of my four brothers…」

「If I’m not wrong, wasn’t the rebellion caused by...」

「Yes, my own brothers. That was why it devastated the royal family. Reena was killed in the conflict.」

「... I’m an outsider so would you mind telling me what happened?」Kibadios grimly asked the King. After all, the series of unfortunate events occurred in this kingdom seemed to be more than just coincidence, at least from the hybrid’s point of view.

「It all started when the princedoms of the third and fourth prince suddenly rebelled. Although they did not have many personal troops, the fact that the rebellions were led by royal members was damaging enough. Before the two princes could fully muster troops, my father dispatched his own personal delegates to the princedoms to convince and prevent them from fully rebelling against the central government. Accompanying the delegates was Reena’s regiment. During the negotiation, however, my eldest brother was impatient. So, without my father’s approval, he launched a surprise attack, easily took over one of the princedoms. That action, however, was the death sentence for the members of the delegate and Reena. My fourth brother quickly subdued Reena’s troops stationed in his land and openly rebelled against my father and eldest brother. He summarily executed her and the delegates.」King Lance’s voice slowly broke. 「... Their bodies... were displayed in the city’s common square for weeks until my eldest brother’s troops finally overran the city. Both Jayden and I were devastated when we learned of her death. Blaming my eldest brother for it, we convinced my father to punish him for his actions… That, however, was our mistake. My eldest brother, fearing that my father may strip him of his crown prince status, decided to lead his troops to attack the capital. Now, it was his turn to rebel. Many provincial governors sided with him, thinking that he would eventually be able to overthrow our father and take over the title of the King. Civil war engulfed our kingdom. Of course, I and many of my brothers stood up against my eldest brother. We began to launch a campaign to subdue the provincial governors. It ended in stalemate as we were able to overpower them… One of my brothers was even killed in one of the battles. The civil war, though, came to an abrupt end as Jayden, leading the royal army, was finally able to crush my eldest brother’s. Needless to say, Jayden quickly killed him without apprehending him back to the capital. With my eldest brother’s death, the civil war came to an end.」

「... and ever since then, Jayden has been trying to resurrect lady Reena?」Kibadios asked.

「I dont know when such an idea came to his head, but I know for sure, for the first few years after the war, Jayden merely drowned himself in work to forget about Reena. Only recently did he start to act strange. When my father, the former king’s health, finally deteriorated to the point of being bedridden, Jayden started to take over the royal’s power and authority. He even jailed me once I spoke out against him.」

「So, it was his turn to stage a coup.」Thomas pointed out.

「... Yes, though, he did not intend to truly take over the power.」Lance tried to defend his friend. 「He did not fully crush those who opposed him. He knew the moment he stepped out of the capital, the forces loyal to the royal family would take over the control and free me, yet he let them live.」

「... That does not exonerate him of his crime.」Argued Thomas. 「... but I wonder, in the end, what was he trying to accomplish by releasing Ryuujin, risking hundreds of thousands of lives like that? Both your majesty and Kibadios dono have been talking about resurrection?」

「He was trying to resurrect Lady Reena with primal dragon’s blood.」explained Kibadios. 「At least that’s what he told me. He was merely being tricked.」

「By who? How can such an intelligent man like him can be easily tricked like that?」asked Amber. 

「By the girl standing next to him before, she called herself Adela. She tricked him into believing that he could see his beloved again.」answered the hybrid. 「He is indeed gullible, but then, again, can any of us be sure that we would never fall for such trick, had it been the person who we love the most that died?」The meeting had ended soon afterward but it had seemed as though the Prime Minister’s story had struck a chord with the people who listened. 

After the conversation with Kyles and Thomas, Kibadios sighed as he walked back to his room. The story he was told the day before still bugged the hybrid. Too many coincidences , the hybrid thought to himself. It was as if the whole tragedy had been orchestrated by someone… The Astrals and Adela would be the prime suspect. The one thing that bothered Kibadios the most, though, was the fact that if everything was planned by Adela, then something was missing… If it was the Adela that he knew and hated, then things are not yet finished. The chain of events would not merely stop at releasing Ryuujin like that. They were still missing a ‘Grand finale.’ He knew Adela had not finished with her plan, yet. Something big is coming !

-------

「Ara ara!」 a feminine figure lightly stepped into the room located at the lowest level of the airship, blood dripped down from her hands. 「Who do we have here? Where is my handsome Prime Minister? All I could see now is a pathetic man with a broken spirit.」

 「... Why did you toy with me, Adela?」Jayden stood up. 「WHY DID YOU GIVE ME FALSE HOPE?」The man loudly screamed out from the top of his lung, his hands grabbed tightly onto the iron bars that enclosed around him.

「I did not force you to do anything. I merely gave you options. I thought you were always confident in the choice you made...」Adela smiled. 「At least, that’s what you told me before when you rejected me.」

「What?」Jayden was taken aback from the revelation. 

「Remember this face?」Adela’s homunculus vessel suddenly transformed into another beautiful figure, a somewhat familiar face that Jayden knew he had seen somewhere. 

「I used to be interested in you, Jayden.」Adela began to explain. 「Don’t you remember this face? In this appearance, I tried to make you mine, once. After all, I’d love to add you, a handsome and talented man, into my collection. But you rejected me. You HUMILIATED me! HOW DARE YOU, A MERE MORTAL??」

Jayden’s eyes widened as he remembered the girl standing in front of him as one of the many suitors he had rejected when he was young. What is this? All this just because…

「Hmm, I started to like that confused look of yours. But let me tell you something: Ever since you humiliated me, I have made sure you have to forever live your life in misery. Why did you think the conflict between the crown prince and the second prince started? Or why Viscount Frederick allying with the second prince? Why did the third and fourth prince decide to rebel? Who encouraged the crown prince to attack them?」Adela laughed maniacally. It’s so easy to influence people when they believe the Astrals are on their side . 「Yes, I was the driving force behind everything that happened to your beloved kingdom.」

「How dare you?」Jayden gritted his teeth.

「NO, HOW DARE YOU CHOOSE SOME WHORE OVER ME, ADELA? DO YOU KNOW WHO AM I??」Adela screamed back. 「That’s why I made sure that whore had to suffer. Hahaha! Do you know that once I got the fourth prince to capture the girl called Reena, she was begging for her life. So I treated her like a whore she was, and ordered that if she could please all the troops in the city, I’d let her go...」

「... Stop...」

「And so she got onto all four like a hungry bitch and started to suck their cocks willingly! Of course she could not please all 10000 men stationed there and gave up only after a few hundreds. She almost drowned in their cum though. A befitting end for a common whore!」

「STOP」

「You know, before her execution, when I told her the reason why she was being punished, she was begging for her life and confessing how she only wanted to use you! Poor bitch! She was hoping to marry you to get to a better station in life, only to be executed because of her association with you! She was begging to suck more cocks in exchange for her life, all the way until her last breath. You know what her last words were? “Please, fuck me! Treat me like a bitch, like a cattle! However you like! Please just dont kill me!” Hahaha such a pathe...」

「SHUT UP!!!」

「Ah, yes!」Adela sadistically touched her breasts and crotch. 「That face, the anguish face of someone who just learned the true nature of his lover. I think I’m falling in love with you all over again… But too bad, I won't take you with me even if you prostrate yourself and kiss my feet.」Adela suddenly thrust her hand forward across the iron bars and pierced the dejected Prime Minister’s heart. Just as she had planned, in addition to the fact that the power of Jayden’s <Seed of Heroes> was extremely weakened after the unsealing ritual, she had just played with his mind, further destroying his only chance at rejecting the <Seed of Chaos> she was now planting inside the man. In a short period of time, the seeds would transform him into one of the most menacing threats that this world has faced in the last hundreds of years. After all, she was planting enough seeds within him to make a forest. Jayden Stringer had two loves in his life: Reena and the Kingdom of Maeg. The man had just learned that because of him, Reena had lost her life. Now, Adela would force him to destroy his other love, Maeg, with his own hands.

「...D… DA… DAMN YOU… ASTRALS!」Jayden’s last words before his mind was fully corrupted caught Adela by surprise. How did he know ?

Updated on later date:
Adela drawn by Narita on Skeb.
I have included their link here:
https://skeb.jp/@narita__UxU

Chapter 30

The first thing they heard was a deafening explosion at the bottom of the airship, where Jayden was held as a prisoner. Following the blast, a concentrated miasma quickly spread throughout the ship. By the time the soldier responded, it was far too late. All they could see were pieces of the iron bars, remnants of what used to be Jayden’s cell. On the side of the room was a large hole ruptured through the reinforced hull, all without any sight of the Prime Minister. 

「 What happened? 」 Lance was one of the first arrived at the scene, along with a few of his trusted guards.

「 Your Majesty! It’s the Prime Minister! He has escaped. 」

「 No way, he has no reason to… 」

「 Your Majesty! Please come to the deck! 」 Another voice shouted from above.

「 What now… 」 Lance could feel the dread in his heart growing.

Lance hurriedly leapt through the stairs but soon found himself stood petrified, along with other heroes, once he reached the deck. Far in the distance, columns of dark smokes were rising from the Capital. Maybe it was merely his imagination, but he swore he could hear faint screaming and crying sounds of women and children mixed in the whirling sounds of the wind stream. The source of the attack could be traced back to a small figure floating on top of Lorian. From where the airship was at, the figure appeared as a tiny speck in the sky, yet, even from afar, everyone from the ship could feel the shockwaves from each of his attacks. It was clear the figure was conjuring up dark beams of energy, striking down the crowded streets of the capital as if it was crushing mere ants. 

「 Is that? 」

「 Jayden! 」 Kibadios concluded. 「 Looks like <Seed of Chaos> has sprouted within the Prime Minister, transforming him into such hideous creature. 」 Adela, I bet this is your doing , Kibadios clenched his fist. I should have seen this coming .

「 <Seed of Chaos>? But how? 」 Kyles shouted.

「 It matters not how! 」 Thomas called out to the young hero, his eyes were filled with horrors as he gazed at the creature. 「 The more important matter is that we need to stop him. I can tell, right now, the Prime Minister, or whatever he has become, is as powerful as a Celestial Threat! If we don’t stop him in time, I fear the entire population of Lorian will fall to his massacre. 」

「 Thomas dono is right! 」 Kyles nodded, then turned to the king. 「 Your Majesty, please accelerate the airship toward Lorian, we don’t have much time. 」

「 Right! The ship is severely damaged from the explosion, but I will see what we can do! 」 Lance nodded.

「 …. I will go ahead. 」 said the hybrid. 「 If I fly there on my own, I should be able to reach Lorian faster. I’ll see what I can do. 」

「 Thanks, Kibadios dono! 」 The king acknowledged the hybrid’s 

「Master! It’s too dangerous to go alone!」Rowan, along with Maia, held back their master’s arms. 

「That’s right!」Ryan agreed. 「If you want to go, at least bring us with you.」

「Well, I can, but bringing you guys would slow me down. I know what to do so I’ll be fine.」

「 Remember to be careful, Kibadios. 」 Seeing no chance of convincing the hybrid otherwise , Kyles reached out before he moved out. 「 That thing over there is close to a Celestial theat. Don’t try to engage with him before we arrive. 」

「 Of course! Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. 」 Nodded Kibadios then raised his wings and flew straight toward the capital, leaving his slaves anxiously looking from behind.

「Please be careful, Kibadios sama!」 Maia shouted.

 

As the hybrid got closer to the capital, he could feel a tremendous pressure exerted onto his body, even making someone as strong as him unable to take in deep breath. Celestial threat, the highest level of disturbance that could destroy the order of the world and plunge it into chaos, was swirling around the sky above the capital, wrecking havocs down below. 

「Judging from the amount of Haki flooding from the creature body, Adela must have planted within the Prime Minister more than ten  <Seed of Chaos>」said Kibadios to the faint figure gliding through the air to his right hand. 

「I’m actually amazed that he could take them and still stay alive.」The figure, who turned out to be Ryuu with his <Cloak_lvl8> activated, responded to his master. 「When a single <Seed of Chaos> grew within my body, the intense and constant pain almost killed me many times over. I’d hate to think of what the Prime Minister is feeling now.」

「Adela is truly despicable.」The hybrid frowned. 「We were going to have the Prime Minister helps us with our plan, but I doubt he could survive this transformation now.」

「... What do you want to do?」Ryuu and Kibadios, travelling at sub-sonic speed, finally arrived at the capital and landed next to a large stack of rubbles of what used to be the adventurer guild building.

「Not even you can fight against that thing now, can you? The only way we can stop this is to rely on HaoS...」said the hybrid. 「But then, that is out of question. I’m sure Adela is hiding nearby, enjoying her masterpiece. If she sees me summoning HaoS, she will know who I am.」

「... I seriously wonder even if Adela herself can fight against that thing on her own.」said Ryuu. 「It seems as though she has created a monster that even she cannot control.」

「That bitch, she always goes overboard. Our only option is to sit back and do nothing. Although I wanted to observe the transformed Prime Minister’s power up close,  it is never my intention to interfere.」

「That probably would be our best option right now.」Ryuu nodded. 「... Wait a minute, isnt that?」The dragonoid pointed at a small dust cloud that kept growing just a few blocks away.

「Ha! Yes, packs of monsters.」Kibadios noticed the monsters of various levels were now rampaging throughout the capital unimpeded since most of the guards were focusing their attention at the personification of death that was flying above the city.「It was probably another of Adela’s doings. With Jayden causing havocs from above while monsters sweeping through the streets below, this city is doom.」

「Please help us!!!」Before Kibadios and the dragonoid could hide away, a group of Lorian citizens dressed in disheveled clothes, called out to the hybrid while running to where the two stood.「You are adventurers right? There are level A monsters chasing behind us! Please, save us!」
Damn it, I should have put away the adventurer pendants I am wearing! Kibadios sighed. Oh well, it’s too late now. I can finish those monsters to gain some experience. As long as I don't have to deal with Jayden up in the sky, I should be good. 

「Fine! Fine!」Kibadios conjured his scythe in his hand, then jumped at the several Death Knight monsters past the group of humans. Just as expected of level A monsters, the Death Knight quickly blocked the hybrid’s slash with its large sabre while three others quickly surrounded him and were ready to strike at any moment. 「Although I’m not at my full strength, don’t underestimate me too much, you pathetic little monster!」The hybrid grinned before pressing the blade of his scythe downward at the Death Knight. Despite its best effort, the Death Knight soon found its sabre began to inch toward its skeleton body as it was unable to stop the hybrid’s scythe. Panicked, it shrieked loudly, signaling its friends to jump at Kibadios.
「I call upon thee, Damocles!」The hybrid whispered with a smile, uncaring of the three blades that were striking down at his body. Soon enough after his summoning, the menacing blades suddenly lost all of their momentum and stopped at midair, for the heads of the three Death Knights were cleanly cut off from their skeletal bodies. Their bones began to shatter into pieces while their bloodstained armours shrunk down into mere balls of rust. Behind where the three used to stand, now stood three lean cut armors. Asides from pure darkness, there was nothing inside their helmets but two glowing red orbs. One of their hands was holding onto slender swords while the other elegantly placed behind their backs. They were another of Kibadios’ familiar, <Damocles>, a set of three ghostly armors with a deadly sword skill, which had reminded him of Guilt, the Sword Legion from a game he used to play back on Earth. In fact, everything the hybrid knew about sword fighting, he had learned from these very familiars. Just like <HaoS>, these familiars were mysteriously reincarnated together with him, much to his surprise. 「Now, go play with your friends in the afterlife!」Kibadios’ scythe easily broke the Death Knight’s weapon, then slashed through the monster’s armor and divided it into two halves. 

「Kibadios sama! That was awesome!」Ryuu came closer to one of the <Damocles> and admired the hybrid’s summon. His eyes were filled with heart shapes like a kpop fangirl meeting BTS members. 「So this is the legendary Damocles? I have only heard stories about them.」

「... Stop being such a Bartolomeo, Ryuu kun! Now is not the time.」

「Is that you?… Kibadios dono!」The hybrid heard his name being called from afar. Once he turned his head, he recognized the familiar knight hurriedly approached. 

「Arch san?」The hybrid reluctantly greeted the knight. 

「Shouldn't you be ...at Falas? Where... are Ryan dono and others?」The knight was still trying to catch a deep breath.

「They’re on the royal airship  just a few miles from here. They should be able to reach the capital in 15 minutes or so.」Answered Kibadios. 「In case you dont know what’s going on...」The hybrid pointed at the dark creature flying above the city. 「That right there is the Prime Minister Jayden… or rather, was. Somehow, he got infected with <Seed of Chaos> when we transported him back here on the airship. Then he broke out of his cell and flew over here, started his whole carnage.」

「So His Majesty was able to stop the Prime Minister?」Arch, who belonged to the Royal faction that rescued Lance, sighed in relief before finally processing everything the hybrid had just told him 「Wait a minute? That’s the Prime Minister?」

「Was!」Again, Kibadios stressed. 「As of now, he’s nothing but a mindless creature whose sole purpose is to destroy everything in his path. The heroes and the new king will soon arrive and assist us in restraining it.」

「That’s great!」Arch nodded. Although he still had so many questions, he had elected not to question the hybrid any further and focused more on the situation at hand. 「Kibadios dono, can we ask you a favor?」

「What is it?」

「Can you help evacuate the citizens away from the capital?」Asked Arch before elaborated further. 「As of now, the royal guards are trying to keep the casualty at the minimum by fending off these waves of strange monsters. The royal mages are tasked with distracting that creature up there...」Arch looked up, only to see several mages get blown into pieces midair under the creature’s attack. 「We have opened all six of the city gates, allowing the citizens to escape from there. We dont know how long we can hold against the monster… and especially the creature from above. We would really appreciate it if you can help us guide the people to safety! 」

「Of course!」answered the hybrid,though deep inside, he was cursing his own luck for running into Arch. After all, he rather be observing the <Seed of Chaos> infected Prime Minister more than helping these humans, who he cared not whether they would live or die. 「Remember, don't try to confront that Celestial Threat before the heroes arrive」

「We will try our best!」Arch nodded, then turned back to the city center, ready to evacuate more people.「Sorry for everything that happened, Kibadios dono! Our kingdom really owes you and the other heroes a huge favor!」
「Dont worry about it!」Answered the hybrid. Actually, I fully intend to have your kingdom pay back its debt, Arch san. Kibadios thought to himself「Now, go! I’ll take care of these people.」

Arch nodded, then ran back to the thick waves of monsters. Watching the young, eager knight’s back, the hybrid wondered if he would ever see the knight alive the next time they meet. After all, in his experience, people like him would mostly die young while a weasel like the hybrid himself would tend to be able to live for much longer. Since he had nothing against the young knight, Kibadios truly wished him all the best. Ha, thought and prayers, my friend! Kibadios smirked, then turned his attention to the dozen people that he had agreed to help.
「Now, we’re going to head to the Southern gate. You guys better keep up to my pace. And remember, dont stray too far!」The shell shocked citizens merely nodded before they obediently followed the hybrid. 

「Kibadios sama?」

「Yes?」The hybrid turned to his dragonoid servant. 

「I think just now, I was able to detect a hint of Adela. Would you allow me to track her down?」

「... Can you deal with her on your own?」

「I dont know for sure, though she should be fairly weak considering she’s using a homunculus vessel.」

「... Dont confront her if you can’t guarantee the chance of victory. Also, dont let her know who you are!」

「With my current appearance, I can be considered a hybrid between lizardmen and human. I think she would not be able to tell.」

「Then go! Remember, the goal is not to kill her vessel, but to force her reign in that hideous creature she just created.」

「Sure master!」answered the dragonoid before he quickly vanished into thin air, right before dozens of astonishing gazes from the group of Lorian citizens.

Notes:

I'm writing really slow because works are piling up in my lab. Just saying. :)

Chapter 31

Notes:

Ive been writing this chapter for like 1.5-2 months, there're probably a lot of inconsistency.

「Ara ara.」Sitting at a deserted shop, a busty figure with long purple hair calmly sipped down her tea as she looked up at the menacing threat that has decimated almost a third of the capital. 「What do you think about this interesting development, Raz-kun? 」

「...I think the kingdom of Maeg is doom, Your Majesty.」Unlike the woman, the man, donning a white tunic-like cloak, was much more nervous about the whole situation. 「I dont think even you can take that thing down.」

「Wow, I’m kinda sad that you think so little of me, Raz-kun.」The woman leaned back onto the chair’s backrest while her hands leisurely placed behind her head. 

「Your majesty, I really think we should just get away from here as quickly as we can.」The man quickly rushed standing up and trying to convince his queen, though she would not budge an inch. 

「It’s truly a shame though. We had just formalized our relationship and got a good trade deal with Kingdom of Maeg, after so many years of negotiation. Too bad the kingdom would soon fall into ruin.」

「Our city-state is right next to the Kingdom of Maeg, we should hurry back and ramp up our defense. There’s a chance our city will be the next target for this Celestial Threat.」

「If you say so, would it not be better we deal with it here instead?」The woman finally hopped up, standing on her feet. The woman playfully formed a pair of imaginary glasses with her fingers and again gazed up at the miasma cloaked creature. 「From what I can tell, that thing is still growing. If we let it live, it’ll grow stronger over time.」

「What? Really?」The man clicked his tongue.

「... I want to stay here and observe things for a while. After all, aren’t you curious why such a creature appeared at Lorian all of a sudden? Besides, I’m starting to pick up hints of powerful individuals gathering around this city. Like I said, things are getting interesting, Raz-kun.」The woman, demon lord Gilga, slowly melted back down onto her chair, her hand lightly tapped onto the armrest, humming her favorite tune while Raz, the man accompanied her, was still hesitant about her decision to stay. Yet he knew better not to say anything otherwise and upset the very Celestial Threat he was serving.

…

「What do we have here?」Standing on the crowded hill outside the city, filled with panicking Lorian residents, a cloaked figure softly spoke to himself. 「This must have been Adela’s doing. That woman always goes overboard. I guess depending on how the situation evolves, if those demon lord class individuals in the city could not deal with it, I would have to help them… Damn the Astrals, always make my life miserable!... On another note, why the hell are these people keep gathering here instead of dispersing? Do they not know crowded places attract these <Seed of Chaos> infected creatures? Seriously, maybe I should just kill them all...」Before the man could further contemplate what to do, he soon noticed the large object in the sky. 「Ho? Isn't that the royal ship?」

…

「「「Thank you! Thank you so much!!!」」」The group, led by the hybrid, hurriedly expressing their gratitude before eagerly escaping the capital. With the royal guards having already secured the vicinity and created safe-zones around the gates by fending off the monsters, Kibadios’ duty of protecting the group soon ended as they reached their destination. A dozen guards quickly ordered the people following the hybrid to form a single line and orderly retreated outside of the city. Although these secured areas around the gates were efficiently set up by the guards, the hybrid had already noticed the high cost of soldier lives associated with them as hundreds of knight corpses could be found littered along the roads leading to the gate. Meanwhile, in the air, battalions of royal mages readily sacrificed dozens of their lives in suicidal charges to distract the <Seed of Chaos> creature every time they found its gaze had fixated to the gate areas. It seemed like they were all well trained. Considering that the king of this country has always been slacking off, like how I was told, this highly disciplinary force had to be due to Jayden’s training , Kibadios thought to himself before several loud screams caught his attention. What now? He thought.
「Those voices came from that direction?」Kibadios pointed his finger and asked the soldier who was standing closest to him.

「That’s the slave market!」replied the man. 「We have confirmed that everyone had been evacuated from that area. All that left were just about hundreds or so slaves that were trapped in their iron cages. Those must be their screams.」

「And you just left them there?」

「...They’re slaves! We are not going to waste any lives trying to save some mere slaves!」argued the man.「Besides, they were locked inside their cages and the traders had already evacuated with the keys. There’s nothing we could do!」
「...」Kibadios thought for a second before telling the soldier while running toward the direction of the slave market「I’ll go and take a look then!」
「But sir!!!」The soldier yelled out, trying to convince the hybrid otherwise yet he quickly gave up, given that Kibadios had already disappeared into the small alleyway.

Even though from the eyes of the soldiers guarding the gate, Kibadios’ selfless action seemed to have stemmed from his compassion, such thoughts were far from the truth. As the hybrid rushed to the marketplace, all he could think of was all the delicious half dead meals he would be able to devour with his skill if he was lucky enough to catch them right before dying. When he first visited the capital marketplace, he had already observed the countless different races being branded as slaves, along with the vast collections of different skill sets they all possessed. Even with his <Analysis lvl5> activated, there were some high level slaves that he could not discern their skills. The prospect of acquiring all those skills even gave Kibadios a semi as if he was Hisoka looking at Gon and Killua’s behinds. Although he had already devoured several individuals, he could only assimilate one skill from the elven archer and the command over Holy element from Corey the Hero. The efficiency of assimilation of a new skill via his <Devour> was far lower than that of Rimuru Tempest’s <Predator> so absorbing people into himself did not equate to gaining all of their skills. That just means I have to absorb more and more people , the hybrid thought to himself. M an, this is just like farming for weapons in Granblue. After a while, it will get tedious soon enough . By the time the hybrid reached the market, the whole common square was filled with packs of monsters, which was to be expected since there were no knights pushing them back. Just as he predicted, the majority of the slaves, which were either locked in their cages or chained into iron poles, had already been massacred by the monsters. The cages they were in did nothing to protect them as most were smashed open by several large mountain trolls. Since slaves were all branded with crests that limited their skills and power, most proved no match for the swarm of hideous monsters that kept flooding the marketplace despite their strength. 

「I guess I’m a bit late.」Kibadios clicked his tongue as he looked at the sea of half eaten bodies of the slaves. Still, the commotion at the far end of the market soon caught the hybrid’s attention. Stealthy jumping from one building structure to another to avoid the monster below, he finally noticed the source that attracted the monsters there. Down below, in a sea of bloody spiders-like creatures and goblins, stood a young boy with braided long white hair, his bang covered half of his face. His clothes were all tattered, revealing most of his lean muscles and six packs. Just from one look, the hybrid could tell the slave belonged to the ogre race, just like himself. Yet, strangely, instead of having either a tanned or white skin color like most orges, the young boy possessed a distinctly gray color. As the hybrid further examined him, he noticed the boy’s eyes were completely dark, with a glowing red pupil as if he was a ghoul like Ken Kaneki. Had anyone just taken one look at him, it would be understandable for them to think of the boy as some sort of demonic monsters. Is he a hybrid just like me ? What’s with his feral appearance ? Kibadios thought to himself. Although the boy was so close to escape the market and the gathering monsters, all hopes were lost for him as he found himself surrounded in every direction. His fists clenched tightly, ready to strike at any goblins or spiders that dared jumping at him. It seemed as though the monsters were weary of him too, since they were just standing around, looking for an opening once the boy lowered his guard. 

「GRRRUUHHHH!!」A loud roar caused the boy to turn around, only for his eyes to open wide open in despair as two large mountain trolls found their way toward him. Despite its enormous size, one of the trolls swiftly leapt forward and punched the boy on the side with all its might, sending the ogre boy flying. He braced himself for the impact of the fall, which he was sure would break most of his bones. Yet, strangely, he found himself being cushioned by some dark glob. Before he knew what had happened, the other troll was already running toward him in what was seemingly a body slam attack. The boy struggled to stand up but the fluidic glob made it impossible for him to get away before the troll would crush him to death. He finally crossed his arms in front, preparing for the worst. Yet, such impact never came as he realized the troll had already been cut in half before it could reach him.

「...」The boy looked around, puzzled but his attention quickly switched back to the surrounding monsters. Seeing one of their strongest kinds easily slid in half, the others soon began to back down. Not wasting such perfect opportunity, the boy hastily sprung ahead at full speed on his splintered bare feet, skillfully dodged the cowered monsters. Of course he was also curious of who had just saved him, but he knew better to not linger nor hesitate for he knew a few seconds could determine whether he could successfully escape or if he, just like the rest of his fellow slaves, would become the monsters’ food. His total concentration and quick action finally paid off as he finally broke through the monsters and made his escape into a small alleyway nearby. The boy briefly turned around for a final attempt at identifying who or what had just saved him but soon gave up. 

「Looks like he finally made it.」The hybrid, sitting atop of a nearby building, licking his lip as his eyes were glued onto the boy’s ass until he vanished away from the hybrid’s sight. 「I hope you’ll stay alive and grow into a fine young man some days. If you want to thank someone, you better thank the incubus blood in my vein for not willing to let a fine young specimen like you become food for monsters.」Kibadios stood up and did a quick stretch. 「Oh well, I was hoping that I could have devoured the slaves here but since they’re all dead, I guess I can’t help it. At least, I have discovered someone even more delicious.」 His gaze now switched to the menace flying above the city.「Now, I need to take a closer look at you, filthy creature.」

-----

「Your Majesty!!!」The royal knights outside the capital gathered around the airship once it had safely landed and greeted their newly crowned king. 

「Give me the latest update!」Lance demanded while walking down the stairs along with the other heroes.

「The creature just appeared out of nowhere and attacked the city. We are currently trying to evacuate the citizens from the capital while the Royal Mage Battalion is trying to distract the creature.」The old captain looked up to the sky above Lorian to notice only a few of the mages were left. 「But I’m afraid they would not last long.」

「Amber dono, Kyles dono, Ryan dono and I will try our best to deal with him」Thomas declared.「Hopefully we can buy you guys more time to finish the evacuation. 」The blind hero stood frozen for a brief moment, then continued. 「Try to disperse the citizens far away from the capital! <Seed of Chaos> infected individuals are supposed to be attracted by crowds, if the citizens are gathering on these hills, sooner or later, that thing will turn its attention here.」

「Yes sir!」The knight acknowledged Thomas’ command.

「Your Majesty, what are you doing?」The captain was surprised once he realized his king has just discarded his royal robes down onto the ground, revealing the adamantine armor underneath. 「Dont tell me you’re also thinking of fighting against that creature.」

「Of course!」Lance nodded. 「It’s a king’s duty to protect his citizens and his own palace.」

「Your Majesty, please don't be reckless! We should be getting you to safety instead!」

「Out of the question.」Lance picked up his sword from one of his retainers. 「Continue focus on the evacuation effort. Also, send out the distress signal to the Divine Oracle, letting them know of the situation and request reinforcements. We cannot afford to let this creature loose onto the world.」Lance clenched onto his sword. After all… That was Jayden…

  After finishing instructing the knights, Lance headed straight into the devastated capital without any reservation, accompanied by the heroes' parties. Although he wanted to spare all the manpowers for the evacuation, the captain had managed to persuade his king to let at least a dozen knights accompany him back into the city. The capital has always been the place where Lance spent all of his life, yet, it has become unrecognizable now. Gone was the rows of trees running along the main avenue. Gone was the hustling crowds. Gone was the festive air that had always enveloped the city. Replacing those, was, in fact, a devastating scene of death and destruction. Most of the buildings within the capital were reduced to rubbles. Underneath them, the king could hear faint sounds of people screaming for the help that might never come. The streets were now dyed in blood. The air was filled with a terrifying smell of burning flesh. The pack of heroes were given no time to prepare once they got into the capital since the creature quickly noticed their presence due to their holy aura. The creature growled loudly, sending shockwaves that knocked down the remaining mages before diving straight down at the group. 

「Watch out!」Thomas, who was the first to sense the incoming threat, shouted out. Aiming to counter it, the veteran hero swung his arm, throwing his harpoon at the creature. The weapon, which was enveloped by a veil of water, left swirling trails behind as if Tanjiro Kamado had just performed his breath of water technique. Still, such counterattack was futile for the creature easily caught the ever accelerating harpoon right before it smashed its head by clapping two of its four arms. Still, Thomas did not seem surprised as he wearily smiled since at the very least, he had successfully stopped the creature's momentum. 「Go!」

At his signal, the members from his party quickly climbed up to the partially destroyed buildings around the creature and surrounded it. Meanwhile, Kyles and Amber, each approached the creature from either side and delivered two simultaneous slashes aiming at its head. Still, with its other two free hands, the creature stopped Kyle’s sabre and Amber’s dagger with ease. Not letting such overpowered creature discourage them, both the heroes switched stance midair, holding onto their weapons as support while twisting their bodies around and landed two kicks straight at its head. Their legs, which were both covered in Holy aura, should have caused major damage to the creature; However, surprisingly, the creature was still unhurt for he had erected a thick layer of miasma to soften the attacks. It now released Thomas’ harpoon then punched the two heroes with its newly freed hands, sent them crashing straight into nearby buildings. Little did the creature knew, the two heroes’ reckless attacks were merely distraction since once it noticed Thomas’ party members, chanting rites to summon forth a seal enveloping the surrounding space, it was too late for any maneuvers. Like a fly stuck in a spider’s web, the creature found itself standing in the middle of a large watery net sprung up above its head. 

「<Sealing Technique: Water Prison>」Thomas called forth his attack as if he’s a jounin class ninja performing his jutsu from Naruto. At his command, the expansive net, casted by his party, wrapped around the creature, then quickly shrunk down, locking it in place. 

「<Thunder Fash>!」Screamed out Ryan, delivering his electric attack in hope for a decisive victory. Just like when he was fighting against Kibadios during the practice match, electrical orbs were summoned, then grew larger and larger as they launched themselves at the trapped creature. A huge explosion followed, casting up a large bowl of dust and debris. 

「Did we get it?」Thomas muttered. Silence followed since everyone held back their breath, anxiously awaiting for the moment the dust settled. Yet, once it did, their hopeful anticipations were crushed as the creature still stood upright. All those coordinated attacks had merely scratched its arms, letting a few of its black blood dripping down onto the ground. Its appearance has also changed as it morphed into a leaner figure. Still, with his sensory skill, Thomas could tell the creature had just evolved into a more perfect form, for its Haki level was now almost ten times than when the fight first started. 「Damn it!」

「<Defense Up>, <Awaken>, <Focus Mind>, <Acceleration>.」Kyles, who had just stood up from the rubbles, activated his skills.

「<Elemental Hype>, <Strength Amplification>」Amber activated her skills from the other side of the road.

「... I guess this is to be expected...」Thomas internally laughed at his own naivety. 「If that was all it took to take you down, you wouldnt be considered a Celestial Threat. Let’s do this!!!!」

The orge boy:

He's inspired by Usagi from Juuni Taisen (hair, eyes, face) , Pharzuph from Chain Chronicle game (gray skin, long hair), and Kamui from Gintama (Braided long hair)

Chapter 32

The hybrid, having already fully cloaked himself with his skill, focused his undivided attention at the unfolding battle between the heroes and chaos creature nearby. The creature of chaos, after having morphed into its evolved form, now possessed a lean dark exoskeleton that was impervious to most of the heroes’ attacks. Despite the slight reduction in its size, the creature had definitely become much deadlier as a mere swing of its sharpened long claws could easily slide several surrounding buildings in halves. Even Kyles, the strongest hero according to Kibadios’ estimation, was unable to keep up with the creature’s movement with his <Acceleration> skill already activated. For more than five minutes now, all he could do was to block the incoming attacks. One second, one tiny distraction was all it took for his body to be sliced apart by the dark menace standing in front of him. Although the creature has been focusing his attacks on Kyles, it had left no opening for the other heroes to take advantage of since it easily parried off the Amber and Thomas’ strikes. Judging from the way it responded to the two heroes’ movement, Kibadios deduced that it had to possess some sort of sensory skill, just like Thomas.

「... 」Kyles assessed the situation for a few seconds, then shouted. 「Ryan, cover for me!」

Ryan nodded, jumping toward the creature from behind his brother with electric sparks covered his whole body. 「How long do you need?」

「One minute!」answered Kyles. 

「Take your time, Kyles nii chan!」Ryan confidently grinned as he charged straight at the creature. 

「What is Kyles planning?」asked Amber. Both she and Floria have by now backed away to a safe distance to catch their breath. The fiery hero has been prodding the creature’s impeccable defense with her multi-elemental strikes, but to no avail. 

「He’s going to use his Arte.」

Ho? Kyles’ Arte takes that long to activate? Kibadios was amused. 

Having taken Kyles’ place, Ryan has just realized the incredible concentration it took for any individuals to block the creature’s attack. Spending just a few seconds replying to Amber was all it took for the creature to pass through the young hero’s defense. Shit, Ryan! Kibadios almost jumped out of his hiding place the moment he realized the creature had just closed in next to his slave, but the hybrid abruptly stopped once he noticed his other slave, Rowan, had just erected a barrier to protect the hero. 

SCCREEEEECCHHHH!!!

The creature’s claws clashed against the invisible protection wall, allowing Ryan a few precious seconds to jump backward before the barrier shattered into pieces. Frustrated, the creature took it out on the two other heroes as it swung around, kicking Amber crashing into the ground while almost cutting off Thomas’s arm had it not for the huge blast created by Maia from a far, distracting it. 

「It’s no use.」Maia panted. 「Nothing can injure that thing.」

「... If we can simultaneously attack it with our Arte… maybe it would work.」Lance commented.
Our? So I guess the King here also possesses an Arte or two. Kibadios deduced. It may be your best chance, but I doubt it would work…

「Let’s do this!」Kyles screamed out. Having a minute to calm his breath, the hero seemed to have revitalized. 「We will hit it with our best attack. Yllaner!」

「< Changxi Tears >」Yllaner, holding out her hands, released her Arte. 

Changxi Tears ?... Isnt that… Kibadios raised his eyebrows since he recognized the name. From above where the creature stood, a mirage of a full moon quickly appeared. Its light shone down onto it and paralyzed it for a moment. Its dark miasma filled with Chaos Haki shrunk down a bit under the seemingly holy light. 

「< Holy Blade Works >」Ryan was the next person to activate his Arte, summoning eight beams of swords, coated with Holy elements. 「Lightning Edition!」The young hero clenched his fist, creating eight long lightning chains connecting the swords to his hands. Asides from reducing the number of swords, these creative chains were the “fix” that Kibadios had suggested to his slave in order for him to gain more control of the holy swords,  now that he had been associated with the hybrid and Holy elements within him had somewhat rejected the hero.

「< Juuchi-Yosamu> < Yawarakai-Te >!」Amber faintly called forth her Arte, which took the form of two giant, floating japanese swords, one enveloped in burning flame while the other frozen in ice. According to the hybrid’s observation, the two swords were being remotely controlled by the two daggers she held in her hand.

「< Poseidon’s Rage >」Thomas’ eyes glowed as his Arte materialized. Taking a form of a swirling water vortex, the unique skill slowly elevated him up from below. By the time he finished, he was standing on top of the huge raging vortex, the water stream seemed to create concentric circular blades, readied to slide everything in its path. 

「< Dagor Dagorath >」Lance held up his sword in front of his face, his sharp eyes pierced straight at the creature who used to be his best friend. 「Stupid Jayden! I will beat you back to your senses.」
    Dagor Dagorath? Isnt that... The hybrid was amused at the Arte Lance just activated. In this world, the names of Artes were all uniquely predetermined by a mysterious system. Not even the hybrid, who was probably one of the most knowledgeable people in Esthar asides from the Astrals, would know who named the Artes. However, ever since his first reincarnation, he had already noticed the strange connections between this world’s Arte names and Earth. Battle of all Battles? That means Lance’s Arte has to be some sort of summoning skill then. Just as the hybrid’s deduction, several golden armored-clad humanoid spirits appeared floating in the space above the creature, each wielding different weapons yet there was one similarity between then: all were wearing an exact copy of the crown Lance currently had on his head, the symbol of Kingship of the Kingdom of Maeg. <Dagor Dagorath> huh? I’m pretty sure those spirits are Maeg’s past kings. So, The Arte is to call forth spirits of the previous kings? Man, why does this feel like a rip-off of Noctis and his move to defeat Ardyn? Kibadios soon discarded any concerns for copyrights as his attention quickly switched to the last person who still had not activated his Arte yet. Kyles… He requires a bit of time before he could use his Arte, I wonder what that will be.

「<Embodiment of the Azure Sky, Tengri>」Kyles, appearing calm as if in trance, called forth his Arte.
    Kyles… So you have been hiding such a powerful move. The hybrid let out a weary grin the moment he heard of the dark haired hero’s Arte. Although there were no official designations, during his first reincarnation, the hybrid himself had classified Arte’s nomenclatures into three main classes: the mythological, artifacts, and fictional class. Just like its classes implied, Arte could share the same names with some artifacts from Earth, such as Amber’s < JuuchiYosamu > and  < Yawarakai-Te > or fictional names like Ryan’s <Holy Blade Works>. It would be hard to assess the strength of one’s Arte by just their names if they belonged to these two groups. However, with the mythological class, the Arte’s name would serve as a clear indication of its power. In Kyles’ case, his Arte shared the same name with the deity of the highest authority within Turkic and Mongolian’s mythology, Tengri. Although the hybrid had never encountered anyone with such skill, it was clear to him the power that Kyles’ Arte would soon unleashed. Just as he predicted, the moment Kyles finished activating his Arte, the dark sky above Lorian rumbled with loud sounds before the dark clouds began to part, revealing the bright rays of sunlights that the evacuated citizens dearly missed. From all sides, a tremendous pressure suddenly wrapped around the unsuspected creature. Having already been weakened by the gentle light emitting from the moon mirage, the unexpected weight resulting from the change in pressure hit it all at once, quickly brought the seemingly invincible creature down onto its knee. The moment the creature’s hands reached the ground, the heroes sprung into action in an unspoken coordinated attack. First to land a direct hit at the creature was Amber. With her two floating giant swords, one burning in 10000 degree flame while the other covered in an ever growing sheet of ice, the female hero simultaneously struck the weakened Celestial Threat. The broad swing of the giant swords even brought down a few buildings in the vicinity, one of which was where the hybrid was hiding, forcing him to dodge it at the last minute. Although weakened, the creature was still able to catch the two strikes with his hands. Yet, unlike before where he was completely unharmed, the flame from Juuchi Yosamu engulfed his left side while the frozen blade of the Yawarakai-Te quickly spread upward from his right hand. Before he could process what happened or formulated a counter offensive plan, both Thomas’ Arte, which consisted of thousands of water crescent blades emitting from the vortex he was riding on, and Lance’s spirit ancestors, rained down their deadly attacks upon the paralyzed foe. Ryan, for his part, swirled the lightning chains around, directing the holy blades at the creature. Being unable to move away from the onslaughts, the celestial threat being had to take on the attack imbued with the most dangerous element head on. Ryan’s face brightened up the moment he felt the vibrations from the clear impacts his blades had on the creature’s dark armor shell.
    「ARGHH!!!! TAKE THIS!」Kyles, holding up his large sabre, charged straight at the creature. The hybrid already knew Kyles’ Arte was much more than the increased pressure he had just felt minutes ago and now, with this attack, he knew he was right. As the hero ran toward the beaten down creature, dozens of small bright orbs appeared around the man, then morphed into shapes of Golden Eagles while growing in size. Soon enough, there was almost a hundred or two of those Golden Eagle shaped lights flying around, circling the creature like a hungry flock of deadly aerial predators before swooping down at its prey the same moment Kyles’ heavy slash pierced through the creature’s cracked armor for good.
    Those lights… they’re made up of the purest forms of energy. Being hit by just one of them can send someone as strong as myself to the next life. Kyles’ Arte was able to grant those light sentient minds, taking the form of the eagles, allowing them to freely change the trajectories of their attacks’ projectiles. What more, there are more than hundreds of those attacks coming from all directions while the atmospheric pressure restricts the movement of his opponent. Seriously, even with my full strength, I wonder if I could take on such an attack and survive. The hybrid broke out in cold sweat imagining himself being at the receiving end of Kyles’ Arte. 

Just as the hybrid predicted, the impacts caused by <Tengri> was the final catalyst for the coordinated Arte attacks, resulting in a huge explosion enveloped the whole area, blowing most everyone away. Even Ryan, who knew of the possible destruction Kyles’ Arte would bring, was unexpectedly knocked off his feet from the ever growing shockwave. 

By the time the dust settled, only Kyles and Thomas were barely standing. Kyles’ giant sabre had found its way slashing through the creature’s flesh and crashed onto the ground. The celestial threat’s body, by now has been cleanly detached from his lower half and burned to crisp, slowly fell down on the side. Far away, the newly appointed king of Maeg slowly stood up, using the royal sword to support himself. His eyes were wide open at first, shocked at the gory scene of what’s left of his best friend’s body. Any hope he had of trying to revert Jayden’s transformation was gone. Tears started to well up in his eyes as the realization finally struck him hard. Relief, pain, and anguish soon took over the young king’s mind, his mouth muttered the Prime Minister’s name. 「... Jayden...」

「Ha…. Ha...」Kyles, the MVP of the attack, was barely even conscious. He was almost paralyzed, unable to move a muscle. Knowing the immense strain placed on his body after utilizing his Arte, both Yllaner and Ryan quickly made their way to the hero. 

「Amber, are you okay?」Floria rushed to the female hero. Too tired to speak out, Amber simply gave her a nodding smile.

「Did we win?」Thomas asked, crouching down

Something did not feel right… The hybrid assessed the situation from the shadow. What is this feeling?

    It did not take long for Kibadios’ premonition to be proven true. While the upper half body of the creature started to fade away into the blowing winds, the lower half started to twitch. By the time Kyles noticed the creature’s movement, it was too late. From the abruptly cut wound, the creature’s flesh started to swell up and emerged from the swollen flesh was its new upper half body. All of this happened in less than a few seconds, leaving no time for anyone at the scene to react. Once it fully regrew its body, the creature’s dark miasma raised up, curling into several dark, throbbing orbs before shooting out dozens of dark beams from it. Like Shin Godzilla and its god-like attack, the beams swirled around in all directions, vaporizing everything it touched. 

「Kyle! Yllaner!! Watch out!」Kyles mustered all his strength and threw himself at the elven princess and his younger brother, who were directly in the way of one of the slashing beams. 

「WHAT?」Thomas screamed out while trying to dodge several sliding beams directing at him. 「AHHH!!!」

「Your Majesty!」Several royal knights tried in vain to protect the king from the surprise attack, only to find their bodies cut into pieces, along with their adamantine class armor. 

「「... Master...」」Both Maia and Rowan could only softly call out for Kibadios as one of the beam easily broke through the young healer’s barrier. This is it… we’re sorry we could no longer be of use to you, Master.

Chapter 33: Prototype story

Notes:

So, I have written this when I first started grad school 5 years ago. This was even before all the fcked up porn fanfics I was writing. I thought I have lost them but turned out it got saved on my iCloud Drive. I don't plan to continue writing this but since I have written like 6 chapters and kinda ecstatic that I found them again, Imma post them here for fun since I'm kinda slacking off at writing lol

PLEASE READ THE NOTE FIRST!!!!

 

PLEASE READ THE NOTE FIRST!!!!

PLEASE READ THE NOTE FIRST!!!!

 

PLEASE READ THE NOTE FIRST!!!!

 

“So there are five Heavenly Lords in this world?” the kid asked

Nodded the Spirit.

“Who are they?”

“Well, there is The Wandering Lord Keyea, The Seeker Lord Eryne, The Dragon Lord Uhruk, The Holy Lord Aerius, and finally The Forest Lord Yreed.”

“Who came up with those name? They all sound really lame.” The kid giggled.

“Who knows.” Laughed the Spirit. “Their presence predated the existence of this world itself, I supposed one of the first beings named them like that and the names spread. It seems like they did not mind those names either.”

“Then where are they now?” The kid continued to ask question even though it has way passed his bedtime.

“They all live at various places around the world, though Lord Keyea never stays at the same place more than a few months.”

“So that’s why they call him the Wandering Lord?”
“Yeah. Now you should go to sleep.” The Spirit tucked in the kid.

“Grandpa!” The kid called out as the Spirit exited the room. “One day, I will go out of this cave and see the world with my own two eyes!”

“Well, then first you need to sleep and grow into a fine young man, wouldn’t you?” The Spirit smiled “Goodnight, Sion.”

“Goodnight, Grandpa.”

…

Spirits, the mysterious sixth being, whose existence still remained a legend to other races. They have existed ever since the creation of the first race by the five Lords. However, unlike the other five races who received the blessing of the Lords, spirits would just appeared out of thin air. Even among the five Lords, no one knew where spirits came from, they just knew spirits existed. Nonetheless, due to the lack of blessing from the Heavenly Lords, the spirits could not take physical forms. Instead, they manifested as a blob of magical energy, invisible to normal eyes. They have continued to wander around the world and take shelter in remote places, avoiding interaction with other beings.

“You finally finish putting that child to sleep, Adal?” A man asked the Spirit. “You have kept me waiting long enough in this tiny little guess room.”
“I’m sorry, but it seems like you have made yourself at home.” Answered Adal as he pointed out how the man was sitting comfortably on the large magic cushion while checking out Adal’s pottery figures.

“I’m just trying to make out this figure here, what is it supposed to be anyways?”

“I believe it’s a bear. Sion just made it this morning.”

“Did he now?” Surprised the man “But this figure retains so much Manas, I thought you made it for him.”
“I know, that child is indeed an Irregularity.” Said Adal proudly.  “Now then, what bring you here, Lord Keyea?”

The Wandering Lord Keyea, one of the five pillars of creation was now standing in front of Adal. Despite being one of the oldest beings in this world, with his untamed crimson hair and a ceaseless pale white skin, Keyea still looked as though he was in his twenties.  Even though he has known the Lord for four years now, Adal has never understood this charismatic figure others called Lord Keyea. Asides of the tremendous aura emitting from Keyea, the man has never shown even a portion of the authority that he held over this world. ‘The Wandering Lord’ was indeed a befitting name, Adal thought to himself, a Lord who cared not for power or glory.

“I just want to check up on the child.” Answered Keyea. “I have to say, his growth surprised me.”

“It’s a given” Adal poured Keyea a cup of tea, welcomed his unexpected guess. “You have not seen him for more than two years.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Keyea paused to take a sip, then continued. “I meant just in two years, the child’s aura has developed too much. Just be judging the Manas leftover in his pottery, one would have guess he’s a great mage or someone equivalent. If I show this around and ask people to guess the age of its maker, no one would get it right, even the other four Lords.” Keyea chuckled.

“That’s right.” Adal glared at Keyea. “The question is what would you do now that you have confirmed he is an ‘Irregularity’?”

“Now, now. You don’t have to ask me while emitting such a threatening aura.” Laughed Keyea. “I wouldn’t do anything really. But I just don’t want other Lords to know about his existence yet. He’s too young… or should I say too impressionable. If other Lords know about him, I’m afraid he would just end up being used, or worst, killed. You know us Lords don’t like to see other beings that can rival us walking around, especially that guy…”

“Don’t you worry about it. He’s still under my protection.” Adal stood up and left. “If you want to stay and meet him tomorrow, then there’s an extra guess room you can borrow. You can make yourself comfortable, my Lord.”

“Where are you going?”
“Outside. You know I don’t like taking physical form. Now that Sion has slept, it’s a perfect time for me to revert back to my spirit form.”

“Then please excuse my intrusion. I will have to stay the night.”

Keyea sat there on the floating cushion, silently enjoyed the special tea that Adal has just brew for him. That spirit seemed to have attached too much to the kid, I wonder if he has realized that himself. Under the dimming light illuminating from the small fireplace, Keyea’s crimson eyes glowed as he continued to ponder about the uncertain future that the kid would bring to this world. Maybe, just maybe, Sion would be the key that he seek.

…….

“Uncle!” Sion yelled out to Keyea, who has trailed behind after two hours of aimless exploration. “What’s taking you so long?”
Uncle? He hated people call him uncle. He has intentionally taken an appearance of a young man, and yet this kid still called him uncle? Can he not tell that I am supposed to look like someone in his early twenties? But seriously, that Adal has to accompany the kid when he goes on adventures like this every month? This is a torture, now I know why he happily let me supervised the kid. As Keyea was deep in thought of revenge against Adal once they returned back to the Cave of Origin, Sion shouted down from the top of a large boulder

“Hey Uncle, if you can’t keep up, I’ll just go on ahead!”

Insolent kid. Keyea snapped, then suddenly he levitated himself up to where Sion was. “Don’t you think I’m someone you can shake off, kid!”

“So you can use Magic huh? I thought so” Grinned Sion. “I can feel the Manas oozing out of you every second so I thought it was weird how you have not performed any Magic to keep up with me.”

“You were testing me, Kid?” Keyea asked, still floating with his leg crossed.

“Sort of.” Sion scratched his nose. “Grandpa usually had to utilize his Manas to keep up with me so this is normal speed for me, I guess. I just wondered if you really have to use Manas like Grandpa.”

“Hmm… Stand there, don’t move.” Ordered Keyea as he scanned the kid with his Inspection Eyes. Inspection Eyes was one of Keyea’s moves that can help him gathering all of the information of any objects or beings under his gaze. Keyea had intended to scan the kid earlier this morning, but was disrupted by Adal when he was asked to accompany Sion on his monthly adventure. With Sion’s unusual display of physical strength just now has again reminded the Lord to proceed collecting his much needed information.

Sion Manesyr

.

.

.

Gender: Undetermined (Substantial Male attributes detected)

Age: Undetermined (Approximated 8 in the world of Eathes)

Well, of course! Originally he’s not from Eathes anyways so these data are useless but I guess Male and 8 are the best approximation.

.

.

Physical Strength: A-

What the… but he’s only 8…

.

Manas Capacity: 70,000

Sorcerer Rating: A-

Magic Moves: 5

Intelligence Compatibility: 187

Skill: 2

Innate Ability: 107 (Unlocked: 3)

Acquired Ability: 1

Final Rating: A-

 

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Keyea almost shouted out his thought after finished scanning Sion. There was something seriously wrong with his scan: A- in physical strength for a kid? Manas Capacity of 70,000? Intelligence Compatibility of 187?... Was these information really of the kid? Keyea quickly scanned Sion again, yet the result remained unchanged.

“Uncle, something’s wrong?” Asked Sion. “You have the weirdest expression I have ever seen on your face.”

What kind of expressions was he displaying on his face right now, Keyea wondered. After all, the status he just obtained from Sion seemed to be misplaced. He understood Sion was by no mean a normal child, however, to have earned a rating of A- by his Inspection Eyes at such a young age was almost impossible. I wonder if Adal has known this beforehand, though he must have, considered how Sion was raised by him all this time.

“You are creeping me out he….” Sion’s remarks suddenly stopped short. It seemed like something has caught his attention.

“Why are you looking around for?” Asked Keyea

“There’s someone around. Sounds like they need help.”

“What? I don’t hear any- … Spirit Cry, huh?” Keyea was surprised since the wavelength of Spirit Cries were usually outside the normal hearing range of any being on Aethysar.

“Yeah, sounds like they are coming from over there.” Pointed Sion toward the shadowy woods laying ahead. “I’ll go and check them out.”

“Hey wait! Kid!” Yelled out Keyea as he failed to notice the instant levitation spell that Sion has casted on himself before his projection forward.

How did he do it? And the speed at which he moved too… It’s too fast! The surprises keep coming huh? Keyea grinned. It seemed like the infant he picked up 8 years ago has grown up perfectly. Despite his title as one of the Heavenly Lords, the horrid realization that he couldn’t keep up with Sion quickly struck him. His grin slowly faded and was replaced with a puzzled expression that he didn’t think he had. As he leaped further away from the edge of the forest, the wood has gradually become thicker, with the densely packed branches now has denied any tiny ray of sunlight to reach the ground. To reduce the risk of losing Sion’s trail, Keyea finally switched on his Absolute Perception, which enabled him to fully sense any living or nonliving being in the radius of 10 kilometers. Man, he’s kinda far ahead, though not much. It would be a shame if a Heavenly Lord like myself to lose track of a kid. After a few leaps here and there from branch to branch, Keyea finally caught up to Sion, who stood silently observing something within a hollow tree trunk.

“So what is it? Spirits?” Asked Keyea as he tried to look over Sion’s shoulder.

“They’re Spirits? But they look nothing like Grandpa.”

“Well, that’s a given since they are unnamed Spirits.”

“Unnamed Spirits? What’s that?”
“So Adal didn’t tell you?”
“Adal? Who’s that?”
Man this is tiring.

“Adal is your grandpa’s name, whose name was given by me.” Explained Keyea. “You see, Spirits are normally invisible to normal eyes, only a few extraordinary beings can see them. They are nothing but a concentrated flow of energy, well, sort of. I don’t even know the full story about Spirits. However, for Spirit to take physical form like you and me, it needs to have a name. The naming ritual requires someone with significant power and skill to grant a spirit a name, and through this, a connection will form between the Giver, who bestows a name, and the Receiver, who acquired a name. After the naming ritual, a Spirit will finally be able to take a physical form by stabilizing its energy.”
“So what purpose does the connection serve?”
“Telepathic communication. That, and the fact that life of the Spirit will come to an end once its Giver is dead. Because Spirits are immortal and prefer to live freely in isolation, they would usually oppose to anyone who want to name them. And since the naming ritual requires consent from both parties, you won’t find much named Spirit out there.”
“I see…” Sion now looked unsettlingly at the three fading Spirits. “So what’s wrong with them? It seems like their energy are fading away.”
“They are young spirits. I don’t know what happened to them but apparently they are dying. You can see their fickle auras are becoming volatile. Sion, you’re witnessing the death of Spirits.”
“Is there anything we can help?” Sion looked at Keyea, who showed no empathy at the Spirits.

“Well, this is nature, Sion. Not all Spirit survives and becomes ridiculously strong being like your grandpa. I guess naming them would help, though.” Keyea speculated as he inspected the Spirits. “Their aura are becoming too erratic, so there’s a chance once they receive names, it can be stabilized.”

“So can you name them? Like you did with Grandpa?” Pegged Sion.

“No.” Keyea answered coldly. “Life and dead are normal occurrence, even for Spirits. I don’t intend to meddle in with the nature of this world, just to save some Spirits.”

“How can you say that? You just have to give them names, is it too much to ask?” Shouted Sion, who was now on verge of crying.

“No matter how much you beg me, kid, I will never name them. Just accept the fact that they will disappear. You don’t even know them, why all the waterworks?”
“Fine!” Sion wiped away his tears. “Then teach me how to give them names, I will do it.”
“… Okay…”After a quick glance at the kid’s determined look, Keyea resigned. “I’ll teach you.”

Because he has vowed to never interfere with the flow of this world, Keyea would never give in to Sion’s begging alone. After all, if he taught the kid to save the Spirits, it would mean he indirectly affected Eathes. The only one time he ever broke his own vow was the moment he saved the abandoned Irregularity infant and asked Adal to look after him. That act alone was enough. He thought. That was more that enough. Unknown to Sion, since Keyea did not possess the normal emotions that Eathes beings do, any pleading or attempts at stirring compassion within his heart would prove futile. However, on another hand, currently presented to him was the perfect opportunity to test Sion’s limit: the naming ritual. Because the ability to detect presence of a spirit alone was already a testament to one’s power, the ability to bestow a name to Spirit is even rarer. Currently, the number of people who are able to become Givers can be counted on the fingertips so if Sion could somehow manage it, Keyea might be able to fully assess his potential. Even with Sion’s power, Keyea reckoned one name would be the most he could bestow. That meant two of the Spirit will disappear. Well, there’s nothing I can do.

“Here you go.” Keyea signaled Sion to carry the three Spirits to the center of the crudely drawn magic circle. “Bring them over.”

Sion hurriedly placed the Spirits down on the ground and traded a anxious look at Keyea. “So all I have to do is to recite the chanting?”
“Yea. Since the Spirits are barely conscious, I don’t think they can object to the naming ritual.”
“I am sorry, guys. I have to link your life to mine, it’s the only way.” Sion bowed down and apologized.

Such well behave kid, Adal taught him well. Keyea discreetly smiled while observing the kid’s ritual performance. As the Heavenly Lord continued to observe the process, however, his smile gradually faded, his jaw involuntarily dropped down. Seriously, I was not prepared to experience this much surprises in one day. In front of his wide opened eyes, the sheer quantity of aura emitted from the kid reminded Keyea of the very moment he stood in front of the Great Nigael falls’ water. The aura splashed against the erected barrier around the magic circle, then viciously swirled around Sion, created a vortex of Manas. Despite the fact that nothing could have escaped the barrier, Keyea still noticed the invisible shockwave resulted from the great vortex spreading outward, shook both the surrounding ground and atmosphere. Had Keyea not be cautious and applied extra Manas on his feet, he would have been knocked over and blown away. In the mid of the disturbance caused by his released aura, Sion stood still, his mouth chanted the naming ritual spell unceasingly as if nothing was out of the ordinary. His gaze fixated on the three fading spirits, who were now floating in mid-air, continuously absorbing the Manas released from Sion. The effect of the naming ritual was so evident that just after a few seconds, their conditions have stabilized, even though the naming was not over.

“…. And I hereby bequeath upon thou thy names: Aquila, Aoi, and An.”

The exhausted Sion finally concluded the ritual, yet strangely, the Spirits did not move an inch. After the final shred of Sion’s aura wrapped around them like cocoons, then slowly descended in front of him.

“Don’t worry. They are saved.” Keyea quickly approached the kid, dispelled any of doubts Sion might have over the success of the ritual. “Those are Spirit’s eggs. Because those Spirits were really young, they cannot absorb all of your aura just yet. These egg forms are helping them to adjust to their new power. They will hatch soon, don’t worry.”

Even though Keyea’s explanation was concise, Sion did not bother to listen. Or rather, he was too weak to comprehend anything that came out of Keyea’s mouth. The moment the kid heard the confirmation from Keyea that the Spirits were saved, his consciousness faded into darkness. For the rest of the day, all he could remember was the sensation of being carried back to his hub on the back of someone. Then there were some distant conversations, which Sion guessed was between his grandpa and Keyea but he could not make out what they were talking about from the gibberish that he heard. Enveloped by darkness, all Sion could do was to lay on his back motionlessly, resting. At some point, he could swear that he saw a pleasantly glowing light floating on top where he laid. Despite all his effort to raise up reaching for the light, he could not move a muscle. After some fruitless effort to get up, he resigned. His eyes now blatantly gazed at the pulsing light while his body enjoyed bathing under the soothing rays.

 

Chapter 1: The New Beginning

“Sion-chan, wake up! Today is our long awaited day!”

Is Aoi saying something? I wonder. What’s with him? It’s still too early in the morning; the sun is not even up yet. After all these years, I have developed a technique to be able to tell time even before I opened my eyes. The trick was to position my bed in a way that once the time comes, the first ray of sunlight would hit me right into the eyes. Of course there are some drawbacks to this strategy, such as my inability to prevent the sunlight shining onto my eyes on lazy days when I wanted some extra minutes of sleep, but it was just a compromise I had to deal with.  

“Wake up, Sion-chan. How long are you planning to sleep in?”
Huh? Even Aspen is telling me to wake up? Usually, he is the one always sleep in, I wonder what in the world could have woke him up before me.

“I bet he stayed up all night in anticipation for today and ended up sleeping late last night.”

… Ugh, does he just climb and sit on my stomach? What is this ‘anticipation’ Aquila talked about? …

CRAP!! I suddenly spring up from my bed and knock Aquila, causes him to roll down to the ground. Today is the day! How could I even forget about it? My freedom has come at last.

“Sorry, Aquila!” I hurriedly get out of bed and pull Aquila up.

“You’re finally up huh?” Aquila pats his head, checking for any bumps

“Yea, I couldn’t sleep last night. You know, too excited.” I stretch my arm while heading to the bathroom to take my ritual morning bath. After all, I cannot appear sloppy on my 17^th birthday.

As a matter of fact, today is not really my real birthday. Since I was adopted and raised by Adal, we have no idea when is my real birthday. Nonetheless, Adal has decided to mark the day he first met me as my birthday, not that I mind. To me, any day is equally special as long as I get to spend it with my loved ones.

Besides, today is not just my birthday.

No, if it’s just my birthday, I would not have this much anticipation.

Today is the day I will finally gain my freedom.

Today is the day I will be able to finally set foot out of the Plane of Origin.

‘Don’t be impatient, Sion. The outside world is dangerous. Once you reach your 17^th birthday, I promise I will let you go outside to explore the world.’ I still remember clearly what grandpa has been promising me, after all, he repeats this exact line every time I ask him to let me explore the world outside of the plane. All of my life, I have been restricted to this Plane of Origin, which according to grandpa, was where the first seeds of life in Aethysar sprouted.

To be honest, since this is no ordinary place so living in isolation here is not as primitive as it sounds. When the five Heavenly Lord first chose this place to sprout the seeds of life, they altered the interior of the Cave to be suitable for cultivating life. Through Space Alteration, they created an infinitely self-assembled world within the Cave that closely resembled the outside world: flowing rivers, dense forest, vast savanna, scorching deserts, snow-capped mountain ranges… When I was a kid, I used to think this is the world. Boy, was I wrong. Honestly, had grandpa did not confess to me about the existence of the outside world, I would have lived my whole life believing the interior of this Cave is all there was and ever will be.

Even after his confession, for the longest time, I thought he was just kidding, for there was no outsider being ever wandered into the cave. However, now I know it is expected since the Cave of Origin, the birthplace of all beings in Aethysar, is a fable existence for all of the races in this world. According to grandpa, the entrance to the Cave is protected by the strongest barrier, which was erected by the combined power of all five Heavenly Lords many millenniums ago. The barrier does not only act as an impregnable wall like most others but also affects the subconscious of any beings that drift within the proximity of the Cave, causing them to unintentionally walk away without ever discovering the cave. Even though grandpa did not explicitly tell me, but I reckon the barrier does not affect Spirits since there were some that have been entering inside the cave. One prime example would be the Trio: Aquila, Aoi, and An, who I found nice years ago. Well, all that speculation does not matter anymore since just in a few hours, I will check out the barrier by myself this time.

I giggle at the fact that I will soon be able to leave the cave as I enjoy the hot bath that Aoi just drew for me. Ahh…The temperature is just right… I wonder if the outside world would have these hot bathes because if not, I will miss them for sure.

“Sion-chan! What’s taking you so long?” Aoi barges in, holding my towel in his hand. “Here’s your towel. Dry yourself, Grandpa is waiting… along with An’s delicious birthday cake.”

“Okay, Im coming out.” Even though I want to enjoy the bath for a little while, An’s cake always takes priority. What follows are two hours of celebrations, eating, laughing, and of course, a brief moment of awkwardness during the time the trio sing happy birthday to me. Nonetheless, I still greatly appreciate it.

After a rushed cleaning up, the trio and I all go to our room and get the bags that we have prepared for weeks. The bags all contain our daily clothes, some dried food, and typical herbs. Despite for our 2 years of planned adventure, we travel light for grandpa has told us about a village that locates only 3 days away from where the Cave is. The plan is to stop there and resupply, thus our bags only have enough necessity for about a week worth. Well, when I say “our”, I mean An, Aoi, and I. The same thing cannot be said for Aquila’s, who has stuffed his bags with more than two and a half week worth of goods, resulting in an over-inflated bag that is twice the size of his body. That guy is always a worrywart.

“Isn’t that bag too big for you?” I ask, “If you keep on insisting to bring all that, at least let me help.”

“Nah it’s fine. I can do it.” Answer Aquila, despite his face is turning red from carrying the bag for just a few minutes.

Well, if you say so…

As we get out of the house, we find grandpa stands next to the miniature white fences that encompass the house, with his hands hold onto four little pouches.

“Well, I don’t want us to prolong this goodbye scene…” says grandpa right after he sees us, his eyes are getting red as if he is holding in tears.

“’cuz you’re going to cry?” Asks An teasingly.

“Shut up, An.” Grandpa quickly knocks his head, then hands over the pouches to me. “Here’s your money. Still remember what are they for?”
“Yea, grandpa.” I said, feeling annoyed at the fact that he still sees me as a kid… probably because of my stature. “You have explained everything to me more than ten times now, I’m not an idiot.”

“Well, you cannot be too careful.”

“We will send you updates about our trips regularly, so don’t you worry.”
“… and I will make sure he will not forget it.” Aquila assures grandpa.

“Goodbye Grandpa!” the four of us shouted out simultaneously as we walked away.

“… we gotta go now ‘cuz it seems like your tears are really on verge of busting out now.” Chimed in Aspen, which causes grandpa to cast a spatial distortion skill to knock on his head again. “..Ouch!...”
“Did you think you’re safe just because we’re out of his hand’s reach?” Laughs Aoi.

After walking for a while, I suddenly hear some echoes within my head: [Sion! Remember! Try not to take the bracelet off!]

“Ha. Grandpa is just like you, Aquila-chan. He just telepathically reminds to not take the bracelet off.”

“Well, he’s probably worried too much because you don’t look like a 17 years old,” Smirks Aquila. “Nor act like one.”

“I can’t do anything about my look since it’s this damn bracelet that is restricting my growth” I argue while swinging the bracelet around.

Ah, yes! The Restriction Bracelet of Keyea, a gift for my 13^th birthday by none other than the great Lord Keyea himself. Evidently, because both grandpa and I were exposed to my power and got accustomed to it, we didn’t realize that my power has grown exponentially ever since the time I named the trio. When Lord Keyea came to visit us during my 13^th birthday, he was so overcome by my presence that he could not mutter a word. After going through his bag, he suddenly took out an azure bracelet and checked for the engraved marking.

“This is it!” he nodded then handed it over to me. “Here’s your birthday present, kid.

Seriously, put this on! It will help to conceal your aura. Seeing you being oblivious to your aura is like seeing someone walking outside without knowing they’re naked. It’s embarrassing.”

What? What does that even mean? I thought. But then it’s the word of a Heavenly Lord so I just have to obey. For a while after wearing it, I noticed that I have not grown at all. Seeing how the trio began to grow taller than me each time we measured our height, a sense of panic kicked in and what followed was a period of my constant milk consumption. Morning. Afternoon. Evening. Repeated daily. I still remember how my blood was boiling when Lord Keyea visited us two years later and randomly mentioned the growth restriction side effect of the bracelet, which had been causing me to remain physically as a 13 years old as long as I wear it. I am getting mad just thinking about it so I better don’t.

As the sun reached its height, we finally arrive at the center of the Northern Forest. Seeing how Aquila is now practically panting under the weight of his oversized bag and the scotching heat of a mid-summer afternoon, we decide to take a break and recover our stamina by the huge tree trunk right ahead.

“Hey, I just notice!” An looks around after unloading his bags. “Isnt this the place where you performed the naming ritual for us years ago, Sion-chan?”

“Huh? Ah…It has changed a bit so I didn’t recognize it until you point it out. Look right over there! That is where Lord Keyea drew the circle.” I point to an open ground that is now covered with grass. “Not that there’s anything left to see though.”

“It still feels nostalgic though.” Aoi glances at the spot, smiling.

Since we have not visited the site for a few years now, a sense of nostalgia also hits me hard. Honestly, for the 8 years old me, the thought of having some trio to just intrude into my life was unthinkable, but somehow it still happened. Yet I have never once regretted my decision on that day. On the contrary, I feel blessed to have them with me. I still remember the moment I woke up after the naming ritual’s exhaustion, I was so surprised to see the three Spirit’s eggs lying next to me. From what Grandpa told me, Lord Keyea had carried all of us home after the ritual, and by ‘carried’, I don’t mean he physically carried me on his back nor held the three Spirit’s eggs with his arms. I have known him too well to know that it would be out of his character to waste such effort. By ‘carried’, I meant he just casually walked home, having us levitated along like some cheap packages that had been casted with Levitation Spell. Oh well, I held no hard feeling because if it was me, I would do the exact thing.

Afterward, for three days straight, my attention was solely spent on the three eggs: bathing, sleeping, eating, sleeping… everything I did, I did it with them along my side. I felt like an excited kid anticipated for his pets to hatch. Then on the fourth day, as I opened my eyes, they were there, all curiously stared at my sleepy face. Even though I was expecting three babies to come out of the eggs, in front of me were three kids approximately my age, all decorated their faces with huge grins.

“Good Morning, Master!” All three of them greeted me.

… Wait! Master? Why are they calling me ‘Master’? And the most important question: Who are they? It took me almost half an hour to fully awake and comprehend the whole situation. Apparently the spirit trio’s eggs had hatched during my sleep taken a physical forms based on my image, a Hominin. Due to being Spirits, they did not possess a gender but because they had modeled themselves after me, they exhibited many obvious male traits. Minus the genitalia, of course. Moreover, to show their appreciation for my help, they had selfishly decided to serve me as their master. Something I did not approve. After all, it was just too weird. For some reasons, Grandpa did not say anything during the whole situation but just casually enjoyed himself on the patio drinking his morning tea. Thankfully, after hours of convincing them not to call me master or treat me as one, I finally succeeded to have them settled to be my friends. Yes. Friends! Something that I had secretly desired for years. Having grandpa and the animals around to keep me company was indeed fun, but they were no ‘friend,’ or at least not the ‘friend’ that I had learned through books and fairy tales. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out their accommodations. Even though as Spirits, they do not need to sleep, they still preferred a bed for themselves. It seemed like they wanted to imitate whatever I do and apparently, my ‘sleep’ intrigued them. Their desire in becoming more like me also explained why unlike Grandpa, they have not reverted back to their spirit forms even once during their 9 years living with me. Well, I just hope they are not forcing themselves…

“Sion chan, what are you thinking?” Aquila’s question interrupts my thought. “It seems like you lost yourself in some deep thought there.”
“Are you thinking about the outside world?” guesses Aoi.

“Nah. I was actually thinking about the first day I met you guys.” I answers. “It was for sure hectic. I actually am really thankful for being able to meet you guys though.”

“Sion chan, that sounds really embarrassing!” blushes An. “Sometimes you really sound like an over-romantic old man.”

“Is that so?” I laugh

Despite the incoming effect of food coma, we quickly resume our journey after lunch. After all, I want to get out of the Cave as soon as possible. Thanks to An’s Ghost ability, which enables the user and any designated targets to past through physical objects, we are able to swiftly leap through the dense forest effortlessly.

“This is it.”  I look around “This would be the furthest from home that we have ever reached.”

The trio do not respond to my comment, but they all visibly wear huge grins on their faces. It looks like their thirst for adventures are on the same level as mine. This is a relief, I must admit, since I have always been harboring doubts about their commitments for this upcoming adventure. For years now, I have often been the one who initiates new explorations or adventures and the trio have always been following my lead. I would hate it if they are just forcing themselves to travel with me just because I saved them years ago. Let’s hope that is not the case here because I genuinely want them to have fun too.

Our paces have quickened. For we can feel it. The entrance. Grandpa has always told us how the entrance of the Cave is located at the end of the Northern Forest; however, because he has forbidden us to go beyond the forest boundary, we have never seen the entrance in person. You

will know it when you see it was all Grandpa told us before our departure. After we pass through a small stretch of the misty wasteland that lays just beyond the forest, we finally see it in person.  Now I understand why he did not bother to describe it to us: The entrance is too grand for words to describe. The fabled entrance! Although it looks nothing like one, we all can feel that this is it!

We speechlessly cast our gazes upon the gigantic earthen wall that seems to stretch indefinitely from east to west. The wall also pierces through the floating cloud above, making it impossible to estimate its height. Though I wonder if that is even possible since the wall may as well stretch infinitely toward the sky. Even though the wall is obviously made from earth, there is no vegetation growing or protruding out of it like those on cliffs. On a closer inspection, we notice small scripts written on all over the wall.

“The scripts seem to be some sort of spell.” Aquila observes. “They physically separate this Cave and the outside world.”
“What do you mean?” I ask

“That it’s wrong to call this place a Cave.” Answers Aquila. “This ‘Cave’ is just a portion of the real world that is sealed off by this enclosing wall and by the spells written on here. We were under the impression that we are living in a cave, like Grandpa has always told us, and that the sky, the rivers, the forest, or even the sun are nothing but illusions created by the Heavenly Lord to imitate the outside world. But in fact, this place and the outside world is one and the same. It’s just we are sealed off by this wall’s existence.”

“How do you know that? You can read these spells? They look like gibberish to me.”
“You cannot read them, Sion chan? We actually can.” Aoi said “The Heavenly Lord probably built this with the help from the ancient spirits so only we can read this?”

“Probably.” Agrees Aquila

“Hm, even if that is true, how would that help us getting out of here?” I ask while knocking on the wall trying to find an exit. “The spells on the wall just negate out An’s Ghost ability.”

“Then it’s lucky that you’re with us.” Aoi smiles. “For the spells here explain to us how to open the entrance.”

Without wasting no time, Aoi starts reciting the spell. Suddenly, the scripts begin to glow and then rearrange in some sort of order. Nonetheless, because the scripts cover all of the wall as far as I can see, the glowing scripts make it looks like the entire wall is shining. The moment Aoi finishes his chanting, the wall illuminates brightly one last time, then as the light disappears, so does the wall. And there I was, just standing there in disbelief. For a few minute, I do not move, not even an inch. My eyes are staring toward the grassland where we are. The dimming rays from the setting sun shine over the pasture, where a few animals are lazily grazing grass for their early dinner. This scenery is nothing new to me, for they also exist within “the Cave,” yet, it feels completely different.

“Did the spell help transporting us out here?” An looks around, trying to find any trace of the Cave of Origin.

“I think so.” Aoi is also confused. Apparently he knows how to recite the spell, yet does not fully understand its effect.

“Whatever! WE DID IT!” I yell from the bottom of my lung, startle the trio “WE ARE NOW AT THE OUTSIDE WORLD!”

“You’re right! Our adventure has just begun!” All three declare.

 

Chapter 2:

General Lakita furiously strode down the Main Hall. Her right hand gripped tightly onto her sword, her teeth ground hard as she thought about the event that has just transpired within the Throne Room. At a height of 2.2 meters in combination of her muscular built, Lakita was already intimidating figure with her usual demeanor, yet her anger further accentuated her menacing presence.

“Damn that Prime Minister!” Lakita muttered. “To relieve me of the post? Who the fuck does he think he is?”
“Lakita sama, please be mindful of your surroundings.” Her attendance, Timon timidly reminded his master as he hurriedly tried to keep up with the female general. “This is not a place to badmouth…”

“Shut up, Timon.” Lakita shot him a deadly glare. “I will say what the fuck I want. Do you think I am afraid of that scoundrel?”

“Of course not.” Timon answered.

“You’re damn right!” Lakita turned around, lifted Timon in midair, and then threw him into the crimson carriage that has been idly waiting for her return.

The attendance clenched his teeth to prevent himself from screaming, then quickly stood up and opened the carriage’s door for Lakita.

“I am sorry, Lakita sama.” Timon looked down and trembled in fear as Lakita walked by him

Inside the carriage, a man had already knelt down and welcomed the general’s return, his eyes never looked up from the floor. The man only wore a torn white pant, his azure hair was cut short, his hands were restrained with shackles that connected to his collar, a typical look for any slaves in the Kingdom of Kerma. His well-built upper body was covered in discolored bruises, a testament to his suffer under the general’s cruelty. After making herself comfortable on the cushion, the general crossed her leg then tapped her foot repeatedly on the young man’s head. Without any instruction from Lakita, the expressionless young man swiftly licked clean his mistress’s boot without any visibly signs of disgust on his face. To the young man whose mind was broken by Lakita, this is just another daily duties of his.

“Lakita sama, so what happened during the Royal Hearing?” asked Timon, who was now sitting on the cushion across the General.

“The King relieved me from the Eastern Subjugation Army post.” Answered Lakita grudgingly, her cheek rested on her fist.

“But how? Don’t you already have enough votes from the noblemen in the beginning? And with all the achievements you have gained during the previous war with the Eastern Rebels, there is no way they could have voted to remove you.”

“Who cares about the opinions of lowly noblemen when the King himself has decided to relieve

me of the duty? I do not know what that filthy Prime Minister has whispered to the King but it has swayed him. It was all over when I got there. The decision was already made! That scoundrel just wanted to summon me there and humiliated me.”

“But the King at least had to give you some reasons…”

“He was going on and on about all of my accomplishments during the war and how I had helped the Kingdom regained lost territories. He assigned me to the Military Affair Minister.”

Timon’s eyes widened. Did I hear it right? Timon thought. Did General Lakita just say she is appointed to the position of Military Affair Minister, who is in command of all the armies?

“Can you believe it!” The general shouted “Military Affair! That damn Prime Minister has deprived me of the thrill of battle and now placed me into some paper pusher position!”

Timon looked at his general, troubled.
“So…” Timon lingered “What will happen to the Eastern Subjugation Army?”
“General Marklane was assigned to the commander post. That damn old fart!”

Timon nodded but remained silent at Lakita’s remark. Choosing General Marklane was a wise choice, Timon thought, yet openly disagreeing with Lakita now was like asking for death sentence so it would be better for him to just go along with whatever the female general said. The remaining ride was filled with Lakita’s rants, most of which cannot be repeated in mixed company without risking capital punishments from the Royal Court. Timon, as usual, put up his his best façade as an intense listener, an ability that he has mastered since his first week in Lakita’s service.

As the carriage came to a complete stop at the general’s mansion, Timon sighed in relief at the fact that he would soon be free from this hellish experience. Right after the door opened, the broken slave swiftly exited, then knelt down to form a human stepping stone waiting for his sadistic master to descend. His blank expression suddenly changed. His face abruptly coated with agony as he felt the full weight of his master on his bareback. Even though this was not the first time he was used as a stepping tool, the painful sensation that he currently felt was amplified tenfold due to Lakita’s high heels, a choice of footwear that was rarely chosen by his master. Yet, his pain suddenly disappeared the moment Lakita stepped off him. There was no residue pain… In fact, he could felt nothing. All he could sense was the presence of darkness enveloped his lifeless body…

Timon widened his eyes as he looked at the General’s unsheathed blade. Right after she got off her broken slave, Lakita has swiftly unleashed her untamed fury onto the poor soul by slicing him into halves.

“Timon, clean up the mess.” Ordered the general coldly as she walked off toward the mansion’s entrance, without showing off even a hint of hesitation.

“This would be hard to clean up.” Thought Timon as he noticed how the General’s prized sword was now dripping blood trails along the way. Deep within him, he was surprised at his lack of

apathy for the slave. His reaction now was a stark contrast to how he was when he first entered Lakita’s service. Sometimes, he missed his old self, the old self that would at least felt a little emotion when witnessing a cold-blooded murder. After seeing Lakita off, Timon glanced at the lifeless dismembered body of the slave. The Great Commander of the Reiss Forrest’s Rebel was what the slave used to be known before his defeat at the hand of General Lakita. Now he’s just another victim of the sadistic Lakita, Timon thought. Maybe it's for the best after all, his suffering has ended much earlier than I have anticipated… I wonder if I ever will meet such end.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 “Sion, I am pretty sure we are lost.” Aquila looked around, only to find nothing but a vast grassland that ran along the distant horizon. It has only been four days since their grand exciting adventure began, yet their fleeting enthusiasm had soon vanished as they found themselves wandering aimlessly across an empty land with no sight of any civilization. For four days straight, the only living beings that kept them company were the herds of wild bison grazing on the pasture, along with occasional smaller burrowing mammals that hustled away as the gang crossed their paths.

“Weird… Gramps did tell us there should be a village located 2 days East of the entrance, yet here we are, four days later and getting nowhere.” Aspen shook his head.

“Let’s just camp here for the night.” Aoi suggested “There’s no point of continue searching with the sun already set.”

“At this point, we would run out of supply before reaching any settlements.” Said Sion as he pulled out the last piece of dried food from his bag.

“See! And you guys were asking why I packed too much food. Unforeseen circumstances like this is the reason why! We never know what would happen in the future so it is best to prepare for the worst. Especially on trips like this, which we don’t even have a concrete plan for…” Aquila rambled on with his lecture, which turned to gibberish after a while in the ears of the others. “… but anyways, I’m willing to share my food with you guys if you admit that I was right!”

“Aquila, you know that we have plenty of food source here right?”

“What are you talking about?” puzzled Aquilla by Aspen’s comment.
“Look around you.” Aspen gave Aquilla an evil smirk. “What do you see?”
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of eating those wild bison!”

“Exactly! I have been thinking about it ever since I saw these herds around the Entrance. If they were anything like those in the Cave, they would at least taste ten times more delicious than these dried food.” Aspen proclaimed while excitedly licking his lips. “In fact, why don’t we try to catch one now? I am so sick of our dried food already”
“But we still have our last piece of food though. Shouldn’t we finish them first? It would be really bad if we’re just wasting our food.” Aoi hesitated at the idea. “Maybe by tomorrow if we still can’t find any settlements…”
“But aren’t you sick of having these same food for the last four days? Just one of those bison would provide us with plenty of delicious grilled meat. Remember the one we had during our adventure in the Cave?”

Aoi shot a look at Sion asking for opinion as his own resolve was weaken by both Aspen’s temptation and his nonstop stomach’s growling. “What do you think, Sion?”
“I have to agree with Aspen for a change.” Sion, whose mind has wandered off to his own fantasy land filled with delicious grilled bison dishes, was brought back to reality by Aoi’s question. “I’m pretty sure we’re all sick of these food. After all, we have not expected to have to rely on them this long.”

“Argh! Fine!” Aquilla grudgingly agreed then whirled his food container around. “Who am I trying to kid here? I’m seriously sick of these craps too. Let’s have some meat tonight!”

At the very moment he received the approval from Aquilla, Aspen suddenly strode toward the herd, his eyes glanced around, trying to target the most deliciously looking bison he could find. After four days of observation, Aspen could tell that just like those who can be found within the Cave of Origin, the bison outside could be considered to be mild animals, who spend most of their time divided between sluggishly grazing the abundant vegetation and sleeping. During their trips, the gang was also able to witness a few quarrels between the bison, which usually ended up with the two aggressors fighting by ramming their bulging bodies against each other. Unlike those bison within the Cave and their enormous crimson horns however, the tiny horns found on the bison outside, which only marginally protruding out from their skulls, were insufficient to utilize as weapons. It seemed though in their fights, the bison here relied heavily on their colossal body mass and the momentum of their charges to bring their opponents down. But those fighting techniques were, of course, inadequate to protect themselves from Aspen the Spirit, who has spent years battling against the wild bison within the Cave and their lethal horns.

“Come forth, Sword of Tyr!” Aspen shouted as he grabbed onto his summoned sword. Measured at two meters, the Sword of Tyr, Aspen’s prized possession, was a colossal silvery single edge blade attached to a golden hilt that was twice the length of normal swords. Even though its size easily dwarfed that of its slender owner, Aspen, showing no sign of slowing down while carrying his sword, unexpectedly increased his pace toward his target. The whole herd, who were initially startled by Aspen’s yell, has now quickly reorganized themselves into a defensive formation with a few of its biggest individuals standing in front, aggressively trying to protect their young ones who were cowering behind.

Sweet! Just like I wanted. Aspen thought. Since his target has now stood in front of him and prepared to fight, he would not have to spend time to chase after it. The young Spirit jumped up as he closed his distance, then swung his sword down cutting his target in half within millisecond and crushed the ground underneath. His action left no time for the other bison to react. As the dust settled down, the brief battle was already over before it even started. By now, the other large bison began to back down and keep their distance from the Spirit.

“Now now…” Aoi appeared behind Aspen, releasing his murderous Aura toward the herd. “This one bison would produce plenty of meat for all four of us. I, Aoi the Spirit, personally promise we will not act aggressive and harm you guys again, so please back down. Or else we will force to deal with every single one of you guys.”

Even though the newcomer Spirit presented himself in a soft tone, his Aura has done much more damage than the overwhelming strength that Aspen just showcased. The entire herd has now knelt down hopelessly, closed their eyes as if they are accepting their eminent death. Seeing how he has successfully broke their mind, Aoi retracted his Aura then turned to Aspen.

“Lucky! I thought that we would have to fight the entire herds just like the ones in the Cave.”
“Well, your Aura even managed to suffocate me a bit so it’s natural for them to just back down. Quick thinking though! I was preparing to go all out.” Said Aspen while inspecting the bison. “I’m guessing just his thigh would be enough?”

“Yeah. I’ll freeze the rest of it and preserve for tomorrow portion.”

After Aspen finished chopping off sufficient meat with his sword, Aoi then raised his hand over the body, casting an iceberg enveloping the bison.

“That should do it.” Aoi then turned toward the rest of the herd. “We’ll be off. You guys can go back to your dinner, don’t mind us.”

As the two Spirits walked away, the bison started to stand up, looked at each other then at their dead member frozen in ice. Some broke away from the herd and moved toward the fallen bison, mooing as if they were trying to call out to their comrade frozen lifelessly within the ice…

“Isnt that sword an overkill?” Asked Sion as he welcomed back his friends, along with his much anticipated 15kg of meat.

“You never knew how dangerous these bison are though. I prefer an overkill than to be injured just for some dinner.” Laughed Aspen “Now is Aoi’s turn to cook this thing, though we are going to need some fire.”
“We already started one when you guys were hunting.” Aquilla pointed to the behind the rock close to where they stood. “Sion has also prepared the campsite.”

Since the gang did not have full kitchen equipment, they decided to pierce the bison thigh with some wooden sticks lying around and made a simple barbecue; however, with Aoi’s skill [Cook], their simple dinners always turned out to be delicious feasts.

“So what’s the plan, Sion?” Asked Aquilla after swallowed his first bite.

“I don’t know. I guess we will continue walking East. Since there should be a big kingdom lay past the forest, we will eventually hit a town somewhere on the way, wouldnt we?”

“Isnt that what Grandpa told us about the nonexistent village?”
“Yeah, but there are no choice. Walking East, West, North, or South would be the same if we don’t know our destination, so let’s stick with East for now. The only choice we have would be to walk back to the Cave… and that is something I do not want to do.”

“The outside world sure is huge huh?” remarked Aoi as he leaned back and gazed up to the starry sky. “At this pace it would take us about a month before we reach the forest, then probably another half a month before we get out of the forest to the Kerma Kingdom.”
“Yeah. It’s much vaster than the Cave.”

“Isnt that excited though?” said Sion enthusiastically. “Our whole life was spent within the Cave so being able to travel to the outside world like this, not knowing what is awaiting us is thrilling!”

“Well, technically, we did spend some time outside the Cave before.” Aspen corrected Sion.

“That doesn’t really count. You guys don’t even remember a thing prior to the naming.”

“Yeah… but thinking about it, isnt it a mystery? Not that it matters but I do want to find out what happened to us that made us so weak to the point that we had to take refuge in the Cave.” Said Aquilla

“Haha… that is kinda a farfetched dream, Aquilla. Let’s just forget about it.”
“Not that I’m obsessed with it, I’m just curious.”

“…. Hey guys, quiet!” Sion called to attention of his companions. “I can hear something approaching.”

“Something?”
“Yeah, gallops.” Sion stood up, activated his skill [Absolute Perception]. “They are approaching fast from the South… total of 53 people.”

“Wow, so we met 0 people in four days and now, just in one night, 53 decided to show up?” said Aspen while chewing.

“Guys, their Aura indicated that they are pissed.”

“Huh? At us? Or like in general?”
“Who knows. Guess we will find out soon enough, but let’s just hope they are not bandits, not that we have anything to steal.”
“So we’re not going to hide?” Asked Aoi

“Why? They would be our only contact in this world. I don’t want to wander another four days just to have a slim chance of meeting some people again.”

“Yeah!” Agreed Aquilla. “Besides, whoever they are, I’m sure we can take them on.”

It did not take a few minutes until the gang was able to visibly identify their mysterious group. Leading the group was a young man who rode triumphantly on the back of a three-headed chimera, one of the rarest and most untamed creature in Aion. At the moment his eyes met with Aspen’s, who was still busy finishing up his last piece of meat, the young man leaped into action, grabbed his spear then stood up perfectly balanced on top of the moving chimera. Judging the distance between himself and Aspen has been shorten enough, the man sprang forth, projected himself along with his spear toward Aspen. His incredible speed left the gang speechless, with no time to react. When Aspen finally noticed what has transpired, he already found himself in front of the tip of the spear. Even in the cool night wind, he could felt a sweat rolling down his chin. Before leaving the Cave, he was warned by Adal about the existence of many exceptional talents in the world of Aion that could be considered to be rival to Spirits’ power, yet his overwhelming victory against the bison just a few hour earlier has lowered his guard. That, and the fact that he was still busy chewing the last piece of his dinner of course. Nonetheless, Aspen understood that he has made a huge mistake for he was now under the mercy of some pissed off stranger.

“Don’t move a muscle.” Commanded the man, his eyes glanced sharply toward Sion, who has instinctively drawn out his blade. “Or you want to bet whether your response would be faster than mine? Waging your friend’s head?”

“Sorry, but his head is not up for wager.” Answered Sion.

Suddenly, the man dived back as he noticed a white Aura has already enveloped Aspen, formed a protective layer around the Spirit. He could easily tell that the Aura, which had just been released by Aoi, was impregnable, rendered his spear useless and stripped away the small advantage he had over the group.

“Who are you?” Asked the man. “Judging from your power, it’s impossible that you’re just regular thieves.”
“Thieves? Why would you think that we are thieves?” puzzled Aoi as he pulled in Aspen away from the man.

“Feigning innocence? Your friend is chewing on the evidence right there.”
“My dinner?”
“I mean our Tempest Bison meat. The domesticated bison that we, the Kimur Clan, raised and took care of.”
“Wait what?” Surprised Aquilla. “Those were not wild bison?”
“Why would these idiots think they were wild bison?” yelled the girl, who just arrived on horseback. “That is the worst excuse ever heard for vermin spies. Everyone knows wild bison have a distinct huge horn on their head.”
“Wait, we’re spies now?” asked the confused Sion, his hand still cautiously placed on his sword. “Am I the only one that is lost in this conversation?”

“Chief!!” Called out the group who has finally caught up with the man. “Did you need help catching them?”
“Get ready men! I think I will need all the help you can offer.” Ordered the chief. “I don’t think I can arrest these men all by myself.”
“Seriously, what the hell is going on?” Asked Aspen frustratingly, with the Sword of Tyr on his hand.

“As the Chief of the Kimur Clan, I hereby arrest you four for unlawfully killing and consuming the Tempest Bison, property of the Kimur Clan.”

“Hey sorry, but we seriously did not know they were domesticated cattle.” Sion tried to diffuse the situation. “We are just simple lost travelers…”
“Shut up, kid!” The girl cut off Sion. “Everyone in the Eastern hemisphere all know about the famous Tempest Bison and that they are raised by the Kimur Clan. It’s a basic knowledge that even a six years old child would still know so don’t pretend. Besides, I bet you guys are spies from the Kerma Kingdom, aren’t you?”
“We seriously do not know. But we won’t deny that we have killed your bison. We’re sorry.” Sion dismissed his sword away, signaled the three Spirit to lower their guard. “But trust me, we are no spies. We’re just simple travelers.”
“We are actually trying to find the town which were supposed to locate three days west of here but we couldn’t find any and we’re running out of supplies so we had to resort to killing the bison for food.” Chimed in Aoi.

“Arrest us for stealing your cattle if you must.” Said Sion hesitatingly.

“Fine” Answered the Chief, then signaled his men to apprehend the gang. “Take them in. We will transport them back to Paras and discuss their punishment.”
“Brother, are you sure?” Asked the girl. “If they are the Kingdom’s spies, we would be taking them right to our settlement.”
“We have no choice. Even if they are spies, it’s not like we can leave them roaming free in our territory… Besides, they are an odd group of people. Did you see how the three men all willingly listen to suggestions of a kid? I wonder why…” The chief stared at the gang as they were handcuffed and escorted toward the large wooden carriage. “Also, what terrified me is their power… they are too strong that even their presence give off a menacing air surrounding them.”
“I can tell.” The girl agreed. “To be honest, if they decided to fight, I don’t think all of us can take them on.”
“Yea, me neither…”

 

Chapter 3:

 

“Keyton sama!” The man hurriedly called out to his master

“Yes?” Answered the lord, who cloaked in a simple Kimur’s traditional clothes which consisted of a simple baggy pant and a large hand weaved fabric that covered his upper body. “Zegan! I did not expect you to return so soon. What news have you brought back from Kerma?”
“Well, I got both good and bad news. Which one do you prefer to hear first?”
“Let’s go with the good news first.”

“General Lakita has been removed from her post as the Commander of the Eastern Subjugation Army.” The man informed Keiton happily.

“How is that even possible?”

“Apparently it was due to the work of the Prime Minister. I do not know what transpired behind the scene, but from what I heard, after a Royal Hearing, Lakita was promoted to the post of Military Affair Minister that has been vacated for years since… you know.”

“Promotion?” Snorted Keyton. “I hardly think that blood thirsty vixen would think it’s a joyous occasion. But never mind what she thinks, I’m glad she’s not leading the Subjugation Army anymore. Maybe now we can exploit it somehow and launch our counter attacks…”
“I don’t think it’s possible.” Keiton got cut off as the man’s expression began to turn grave. “Here’s the bad news: General Marklane has been appointed to Lakita’s old post to become Commander of ESA.”

“What?” Shouted Keyton

“Yes. I’m afraid we are now in full blown crisis.”
“Zegan, send words out to the other four clan heads. We have to convene an emergency war meeting at the end of this week.”
“Yes my Lord. What about Hygos sama?”
“Hygos should be back from his inspection trip by then. I will personally let him know about the new development. Now, go!”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Here’s your breakfast, kid!” The foul mouthed girl threw a bag of bread into the carriage, which held the four of us since two weeks ago, when their group took us into custody for illegally killing one of their bison. “Go share it with your big bros!”

“How many times have I told you? I’m not a kid, nor are they my big brothers.” I complained about the same thing for the tenth time, but this girl just ignored it and walked away. Of course I knew that I was wasting my time trying to reason with her but then it was not like we have anything else to do while being transported in this carriage. There went my dream adventure!

“Sion, you should try these bread. They are different from the one we had yesterday.” Said Aspen

“I thought all bread are the same, I didn’t know there are more than one way to bake bread.” Exclaimed Aoi. “There are so many things we can learn from the outside world.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think we can learn much sitting here.” Aquilla munched on his portion.

“Maybe we should just walk away from here? It’s not like these people can stand a chance against the four of us.” Aspen suggested.

“That’s what I thought too. Honestly, I have wrecked my brain these past two weeks thinking of a strategy to fight against you four in case you ever attempt to escape, but it seems like I didn’t have to. So why don’t you try to escape?” curiously asked Hygos, the Chief of the Kimur Clan, who had slowed down his chimera from the front and now rode alongside with our carriage that stationed in the back of the caravan. Seriously, had others not referred to him as Chief, not in a million years could I have guessed that Hygos would be the leader of the Kimurians. Asides from the golden necklace that wrapped comfortably around his neck, there was nothing about him that stood out. And of course, being bossed around by his own little sister didn’t help either. At first I was surprised at how unimpressionable the casual Hygos was compare to the determined Hygos that confronted us two days ago, but apparently according to his rude sister, Hygos could only get serious when he was facing a threat. Weird guy. But hey, I am a guy that was raised by a Spirit and living with three different Spirit companions, who was I to judge.

“Because Adal would kill us if he learned that we stole someone’s cattle just because we’re sick of our food. And I would rather be punished by you guys than to face his wrath.” Shuddered Aquilla by the corner.

“This Adal guy is your adopted grandpa, isn’t he? He’s that strict?”

“We’re not saying that he’s strict but we’re just saying we preferred to be send to the Vortex of Hel than to face him after committing a crime.”

The conversation grew silent for a few minutes as Hygos’ faint laugh faded and his expression grew stern.

“To be honest, I want to believe your story. But I simply can’t.”

It seemed like the Chief finally got to speak his mind. I knew he would not waste his time with us just for small chit chat. Over the period of two weeks, we were questioned by the Chief and his men for our reasons of our presence in the Kimur territory. Apparently the Kimur, along with various Clans around Grassland and Forest Elven Tribe in the Great Forest of Yashan were in an active conflict with the Kerma Kingdom to the East and unfortunately, we being spies for the kingdom were the most logical explanation. Even though we knew it was a long shot, we tried to explain to him about the truth about how we were raised by an ancient Spirit and that we were residents within the Plane of Origin. But then it only made his men and his rude sister to burst out laughing. At the time, he was the only person to not ridicule us so I was hoping he would eventually accept our story. Still it seemed impossible for any sane person in Aion to believe that.

“Well, I don’t blame you.” I said, trying to be understandable to my captives and hoping that somehow that would put him into a more sympathetic mood.

“Then why don’t you remove your so called ‘restriction’?” casually asked Hygos while his eyes kept glaring sharply at me, as if he was studying my every reaction to his request. Of course I have told him about the bracelet that placed a restriction on my growth and power and all the trivial matters in attempt to make my story sounded convincing, but I drew the line at lifting my restriction. I have lifted it once during my training with Keyea and the result was terrifying so I did not plan to repeat that scenario again today. “Since your supposedly ‘Spirit’ friends cannot shed away their homunculus flesh and there is no way we can confirm the location of the Plane of Origin, the easiest way to convince me that every you have said was the truth is to revert yourself back to your original body. Y’know, since we are at war with the Kerma Kingdom, I am not too keen on having to spend time to oversee your trial and punishments. If you demonstrate that you are indeed restricted by that bracelet, then I may believe what you said and most likely would just set you free.”

“Sorry, but that’s the one thing Sion absolutely cannot do.” Aspen frowned upon Hygos’ request and answered before I had a chance. “and we don’t have the obligation to show you anything. If you want to set a trial and punish us for our crime, then so be it. Still, the only crime we committed was slaying of your bison. If you ever try to persecute us for being spies then you better prepare for a fight cuz we are not going down without one.”
Well, there went our chance to be in his good side. But Aspen was taking the words out of my mouth so it’s not like I could complain.

Hygos laughed, though it did not seem like he was mad at our blatant refusal. Somehow, I reckoned that he has believed our story, at least to some degree.

“Then I am sorry for asking. Anyhow, we are approaching the Kimur Polis. We should arrive sometimes later today. Until then, please remain in this here. I don’t mind you taking a stroll outside but please do so only under Reina’s supervision.” Hygos kicked his chimera, signaled for it to depart to the front of the caravan again. “Ah, by the way, if you are still hungry, please just let one of these men know, they will bring you more food.”
“Well, I guess that’s it.” Aspen laid back flatly on the wooden floor. “Let’s just wait for the sentence they are going to hand to us… what do you think it would be?”
“I asked Hygos and it seems that it depends whether if their council think that we’re spies or not. If they don’t think we’re spies, the highest sentence we may get is community service.”
“It’s not like I would be willingly accept their sentences to us for being spies, but what exactly is the punishment for being one?”

“We will be crucified while getting our eyes poked out…”
“That’s not too great…”
“… Yeah…”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Onii chan! You’re back! So were you able to get them to spit out any new information?”
“What do you think, Reina?”
“Same old?”
“Yeah, they wouldn’t want to take off that bracelet.”
“’Cuz they are lying to you. I don’t know why you would believe them even a little bit.”

“Gut feeling. Also, can you imagine any Kerman spies going around claiming they are Spirits in homunculus form or a seventeen years old man being constrained by magical bracelet?”

“What about treating them like some mentally unstable bunch?”
“Do they even seem like ones in your eyes?” Laughed Hygos.

“Yeah.” pouted the sister as she thought back of all the trouble the gang has brought to her during their two weeks trip. “But anyways, all jokes aside, I still don’t get why you are bringing them to the Main Polis. Spies or not, judging their power, they present a great potential threat to us and you’re bringing them right to our hometown.”

“What’s the alternative? Leaving a group you considered “a great threat” roaming around the grassland? I would rather know exactly where they are.”

“So what’s your plan for them after reaching the Polis?”

“I don’t know yet. But think about it…” Hygos smirked. “On the off chance if we can get them to join us, our war potential against the kingdom will grow exponentially”
“I seriously don’t get you sometimes, brother.” Complained the sister. “Are you a goofy push-over Chief or a calculating mastermind?”
“Probably a bit of both.” Chuckled Hygos.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Three hours have passed since our breakfast, I still sat quietly by a corner of the carriage, with Aoi leant on me sleepily and Aspen just laid there with his head on my lap, staring straight toward the clouded sky while conveniently using my lap as his cushion. Sometimes I wondered if they would ever realize they have been using a kid for their support these entire time. Only Aquilla, the most grown up among the three spirits, reclined lethargically to the corner while gazing off motionlessly to the changing distant land.

Still, truth to be told, I did not harbor any ill thoughts to our “captors”… well, the sister was probably an exception, but that was due to her personalities. Our experience with the Kimurians in general were rather a pleasant one. I did not know whether it was due to the Chief’s discretion, our willing surrender, or it was in their culture to begin with, but the Kimurians were remarkably nice to us. Water, food, accommodations, everything that we asked for, they would try their best to provide for us, as long as it was within reason. Also, we got to travel with them to see several of their settlements in the Grassland. Apparently this was one of the several caravans that set out from their capital to exchange goods among the many settlements. This would probably be an enjoyable trip if it was not for the restriction they placed on us. Though we were allowed to have some brief moments to travel outside under supervision, I wanted to be truly travelling out there and enjoying nature. Still I guessed we could somehow think of this like a free mode of transportation being offered to us?

In the span of three hours since our brief conversation with Hygos, the weather has rapidly transformed as the dark cloud from the West had gradually painted over the once clear sunny sky. During the trip, I have come to notice that the weather at Hyland was even more fickle than Aspen’s temperament. Apparently the root of this phenomenon was due to the irregular Flow of Magic that originated deep within the Yashan forest and swept through the land in an irregular pattern. Yet, the inhabitant of the Grassland had seemed to well adapt to the unstable weather. Each of the Kimurian all had with themselves various rain coats ready, which were weaved from the dried stem of their harvested wheat. The Flow of Magic did not only provide the much needed water supply to the supposedly arid landlocked territory but also provided it with the tremendous magical energy, which has been sustaining the land’s vegetation growth. However, ironically, the surplus of energy was also the reason for the scarce diversity of animal species, for only large mammals like the bison could withstand the tremendous amount of magic suspended in the atmosphere. Many earth burrowing species also thrived in the area by dwelling deep underground, only to resurface at night, when the magic layer was thinned out.

Even though it has started out with a light drizzle, the rain quickly transformed into a raging downpour to the point that it was hard to see even a few paces ahead of us. All I could see from the carriage window was a gray veil of water. To make the matter worse, the noise caused by the raindrops hitting the metal roof of the carriage was deafening enough that it even woke up Aoi, a deep sleeper than could only be woken up by kicking him off the bed. The rain lasted another fifteen minutes and then as fast as it came, the dark cloud suddenly disappeared into different direction, revealing the usual sunny sky.

“Don’t you find it strange? It was all sunny and dry when we were wandering around for days before, but now, the weather has become so fickle that we would not even know what it would be like ten minutes from now.” Commented Aoi while looking out through the window.

“Yeah, I noticed it too. Though it is probably because of the tremendous magic aura emitting from where we’re heading toward.  I guess it makes sense that the weather would be affected by such high amount of magic.”

“You can feel the magic flow?” an arrogantly familiar voice from outside the carriage asked us.   

“Isn’t it rude to eavesdrop our conversation, Lady Reina?” asked Aquilla sarcastically, stressing the word ‘lady’. “Your brother also jumped in our conversation some time ago. It seems like both you and your brother don’t have any regard for privacy.”

Of course calling Reina “Lady” was appropriate, for she was the younger sister to the Chief of the Kimur. Still, her manner was nothing but lady-like. Not only that, the clothes she wore was different than most of the other woman in the cavaran also. Whereas other females donned a feminine leather skirts along with slimming long-sleeve shirts that emphasized their body curves, Reina instead dressed in a pair of pant like that of her brother. With her shoulder length hair and her loose, sleeveless beige shirt, I have mistaken her for a man in many occasion during the night. Nonetheless, despite all that, she was not at all an unattractive person. On the contrary, her boyish charm has made her stand out among all the girls at her age within the caravan. Her fiery crimson hair, another trait that she shared with her brother, accentuated her deep emerald pupil while brightened up the captivating face she had. Had only if her personality was a little bit less unbearable, she would probably found herself drowning in attentions of the men.

“Prisoners don’t need privacy.” Declared the girl. “I have to keep tab on you in case you’re plotting something devious in this carriage.”

“How gullible are you if you think we would plot something out loud knowing that some nosy girl would probably be eavesdropping on us?”

The girl’s face quickly turned red at Aspen’s comment. She shook her head as if trying to get rid of the embarrassment.

“Stop trying to change the topic! Answer my question: can you really detect the flow of magic?” Reina asked curiously
“Yes.” Aoi nodded. “Us spirit can feel the magic in our surrounding… In fact, unlike you mortals who use their own Ka to cast a spell, whenever we perform magic, we are basically just channeling the environmental magic into our spells.”
“What? Really? I never know that… though that makes sense why most spirits seem to be able to cast infinite spells in stories I heard…” Reina was surprised at one of the most basic fact that I have learned for as long as I could remember. It seems there are many knowledge that I possessed that were uncommon in the outside world.

“Does it mean you are starting to believe that we are Spirits in Homonculus Skin?” Aoi hopefully asked

“What? No!” Reina was quickly reminded of the seemingly ridiculous story of us. “You are most likely just made stuff up.”

“Hey, if you don’t trust us, then stop asking us questions then just assume our answers are lies.” Aspen was pissed.

“I will treat everything you said as lies… at least for now. We will be able to check out your story back at the polis.”
“How can you even do that?”
“Ever heard of The Scale of Truth?”
“… No?” we all shook our heads.

“That is an item from the Librarium’s 108 Original Artifacts that our ancestors obtained long ago. It can judge whether you’re lying or not. It is in the possession of the Elders back at the Main Polis” Said Reina with pride.

“What’s Librarium’s 108 Original Artifacts?”

“Wait, you guys don’t know about the Librarium, the one place where all knowledge of the world is kept?”
“No, we do know what the Librarium is. We heard things about it from our Grandpa. We just don’t know what are the 108 Original Artifacts that you’re talking about.”

“Were you guys living in a cave or what?” Reina’s eyes widened

That was what we have been telling you for the past two weeks, all four of us thought but since it was pointless to argue with her, we did not even bother telling it to her face.

“Anyways,” Reina continued. “The 108 Original Artifacts are a collection of extremely powerful magical items from the ancient times. Each of the 108 items possesses powers that may considered to be at Arte level or even higher, though most of them were lost for more than a thousand years. Rumor has it that majority of the Original Artifacts belong in the Great Western Empire. Luckily, one of the artifact had found its way to us the Kimur tribe and we will use it to judge your story... So be prepare! You cannot lie to us anymore!”

“… But we have been telling the truth…” argued Aoi softly since he was too tired to repeat the same conversation of “we are really spirits” with Reina again

“So those Artifacts… who made them?” I was intrigued by the story.

“Oh, they were made by first generation of Grand Mages at the Librarium, the Ennead, or at least I was told.”
“I take it that they were extremely powerful individuals?”
“Yes. Apparently the first generation of Grand Mages were the strongest Magic Casters ever lived…”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Hygos loudly shouted from the front of the caravan, disrupting Reina’s story.

“What was that about?” Aspen asked as he stuck his head out of the window trying to see what the commotion was about.

“I sensed there were a few people just approached us a few seconds ago.” I tried to use my [Absolute Perception]. “It seems though there is at least one fairly powerful guy in that group. Hygos is currently talking to him now…Should we go and check?”

“Well, I am going to go check. You prisoners should just stay put!”

“We’re not prisoners. We’re just willingly accompanying you guys to clear our name.” declared Aspen. He quickly stood up, jumped out of the carriage, and leisurely walked toward where Hygos was, all the while ignoring Reina’s protest.

“Man, you should quiet down and try to act more like a lady.” He murmured.

It was fortunate that Reina did not hear that or else we would have another scene here, I thought. With Aquilla and Aoi soon followed after him, I figured I might as well. Once we arrived, Hygos was already surrounded with many of his men so it took a while for us to successfully sneak through the crowd. Instead of the usual smiley, easy going chief that we were accustomed to for the last few weeks, he has now donned a worrisome expression, his face paled like a white ghost. Standing in front of him was the guy that I had just previously sensed; his aura was similar to that of Hygos’ so I could easily tell his power was not to be underestimated. He looked to be in his late teens just like us, though I might be wrong. Just like the Kimur siblings, he possessed a fair looking face along with a distinct silvery azure hair that would probably make all the lady fall for him at first sight. Still, unlike the Kimurian people that surrounded him who all shared a similar tan, the guy’s complexion was flawlessly pale, even more than that of Aoi’s homunculus body.

“What’s Keyton nii san doing here?” Reina asked herself, troubled.

“You know him?” I nudged her then asked.

“Yeah. He’s from the polis. But I wonder what made him coming all the way here to meet with us.”

“If he’s from your village, why is he dressing differently?” Aquilla pointed out Keyton’s clothes, which unlike the Kimurian, was primarily made of a well-tailored shirt neatly tucked inside his plain trouser.

“Ever since the incidence, he’s just been staying in our village. We have been treated him as one of us though, since we all share a common enemy.” Answered Reina while striding to Hygos.

… that explains nothing about the man, I thought but did not want to keep on pressing and appeared too nosy.

Even though I did not know what transpired during the brief conversation between the two, I could easily see Reina’s usual sly face has abruptly turned ghastly, similar to that of her brother. Soon afterward, Hygos hurriedly got back on his chimera and galloped away with the new guy, leaving his sister back at the caravan.

“What’s up with them?” Aquilla asked.

“I don’t know what’s happening now but it seems Reina is now in charge?” I said, looking at Reina as she started to ordered other Kimurians around.
“You got that right!” Shouted Reina from her horse. “Now you four should go back to your carriage!”
“Hey Reina, where did Hygos go?” Aspen asked loudly but she just ignored and trotted quickly passed us to other people.

“The chief is heading back early.” Said some random Kimurian that I have probably only seen once or twice before. “Apparently there is a new development regarding the war situation with the Kerma Kingdom.”

“… I see…” I said softly to myself as the guy began to escort us back.

… War, huh? The outside world sure is a mess.

 

Chapter 4

 Disturbance in the Forest

The forest of Yashan has always been an enigma, even to its native inhabitants. Despite locating close to several aggressive states like that of the Kerma kingdom, its trademark untamed wilderness has provided Yashan all the protection it needed for thousands of years. Asides from the two Clans who self-proclaimed themselves the “Protector of Yashan”, the ancient forest itself had another mean of protection: Monsters! In a stark contrast with the peaceful Grassland to its East, lurking within the forest darkness were flocks of frightening monsters, most of which were distinct from those of low levels which can easily found in the outskirt of Kerma’s towns at night. They are the embodiments of evil, the remnants from the Lost Era when Aion was still submerged in Chaos. On average, the Yashan monsters belonged to the B- class threat, which could easily wipe out dozen platoons of soldiers. Both the Kerma kingdom to the west and the Qan Empire to the north have launched multiple expeditions within the past hundred years in order to tame the forest’s darkness and claim its riches for themselves. Yet, the forest has always prevailed.

That was until now.

“Is everything in order?”

“Affirmative, General Marklane. The preparation for the ritual is complete. If we maintain this pace, we would reach his location in half an hour.”

Without a single response, the general simply nodded. His stern expression remained unchanged ever since he stepped inside the forest boundary. Not that anyone could notice changes on his face anyways, for the general had always donned himself in a full-body golden armor. General Marklane’s renowned armor, also known as the King Suit, represented the highest military honor that can be bestowed to a soldier in Kerma. Even to the cold and unemotional man, who has cast away all worldly attachment, the general has always treasured the suit since it symbolized the unbreakable loyalty he held for the previous King of Kerma, Erwan II. Just like few other King Suits in existence, the armor was forged from the rare Adamantine Ore while infused with magic from the Librarium, effectively granted its owner an invulnerable protection. Due to the general’s [Absolute Perception] skill which allowed him to completely observe his entire vicinity, King Arwan II has personally designed the armor’s helmet to perfectly contour along Marklane’s head and fully covered his face without the need for any visor. This simple tweak has ultimately transformed Marklane into a moving fortress the very moment he wrapped himself in his King Suit.

Yet, the uneasiness sensation has failed to escape his mind, no matter how much he wanted it to begone. He could still feel his sweat gradually rolling down his cracked, aging cheek. More than ever, the general was glad none of his subordinates could see the distress that intermittently creeping through his face.

“My Lord.” His lieutenant, a man in his thirties with a silvery long hair, galloped his horse right next to Marklane’s. “It seemed that the Holy Crystals are working perfectly fine. We have not encountered a single monster since the afternoon.”

“Yes, I can tell. In fact there are four gremlins that have been lurking around along our route for a while now, but they were not able to approach us.”

“Only four? I would imagine there should have been more following our trail?”

“There was sixty just an hour ago. Many gave up pursuing us as we continued to march toward him.”

“I guess even the monsters are afraid of Yashan’s Menace.” The lieutenant gulped nervously.

“If you are terrified of him, you can always turn back, Keith.” The general briefly turned his head toward the lieutenant then looked back on the uncharted route in front.

“Turning back in this forest without the Crystal? Isn’t that like asking for a death penalty?” Chuckled the Lieutenant.

“Then I guess you have no choice but move forward with me. After all, I think my chance of success for this mission would drop to zero if you ever decide to desert.”

“Please my Lord, don’t even joke about it. I am your sword and your shield. My life is yours to spend.”

“That’s reassur…..”

Abruptly, a thunderous roar blasted off from the distance, sending many unsuspected animals in the area into a panic mode as they hurriedly ran right through the Kermanian company in a desperate attempt to get away from the roar’s source. The sound has also caused the four gremlins who have patiently been following the group to vanish without any traces. Even the lowly foot soldiers have now felt the change in the atmosphere that was triggered by the roar. There was no doubt in their mind that the Yashan’s Menace has awoken! While their instinct screamed for them to run away, they understood that the very moment they decided to turn their back to their general would be their last. The reason they were able to traverse deep inside Yashan was due to the Holy Crystal that continuously warded off the monsters so had they escaped into the dark forest behind them without the protection of the Crystal’s light, they would just become food for the hungry fiends. But it would not come to that, they reckoned, for they know the General would strike them down without mercy. They were trapped. They were doomed.

“ORDER! Our target has awakened! Every unit gets in position!” Marklane screamed loudly while trying to calm down his horse, then turned to his Lieutenant. “You know what to do, GO!”
Wasting no time, Keith sprung forth along with five of his men while struggled to ward off the tremendous aura emitting toward them.

Who would have thought he awoke right before our arrival… This is bad.

Due to the close proximity to the den of Yashan’s Menace and being constantly exposed to its sleeping aura, the trees in the surrounding were noticeably much less dense than other part of the ancient forest. This terrain is better than what I had expected, Marklane thought, we might be able to fight against him here after all. The priority here should be to calm down the soldiers… Despite the General’s command, his troops were still in complete disarray, a scene which Marklane would never expect to witness for only the most disciplined, elite soldiers were chosen for this mission. Yet, the situation was too much for any normal human being to behave rationally. Even Marklane himself, a forty years old veteran, could feel his heart rate elevated when bombarded with the aura from Yashan’s Menace.

“Who dared to disturb my slumber?” A deep voice echoed from above, resonated every person below with fear.

It’s too late to reform the troops now. Marklane quickly gave up on any attempt at rousing his men as he gazed up to the darken sky. Through the thick branches’ gaps overhead, he could now see glimpses of the monster slowly descended from heaven, its black wing widely spread out yet remained motionless. The Yashan Menace, one of the few dragonkind’s second generation, has now appeared in front of Marklane. Despite being covered with thick layers of dark impregnable scales, the dragon’s movement seemed to still retain its high flexibility. As his claw grasped onto the top branches, the dragon quickly flexed his wing, cutting down the majority of the surrounding trees and created an open field surrounding the troops. Of course there were many soldiers who became victims to the falling trees but Marklane has no time to worry about his subordinates. With his hand on the hilt of his sword, his ears felt deaf to the troops’ screaming, the general fixed his gaze onto the dragon glowing blue eyes while anticipating the dragon next move.

“Greeting, Yashan’s Menace, The Overlord of all Yashan’s Monster. I am Great General Marklane of the Kerma Kingdom…”
“What business do you have, freely traversing this land with your men as if it was yours to begin with?” The dragon cut off Marklane’s greeting by telepathically project his thoughts onto the men.

“I am here to hand you a proposal.”

“A proposal? Lesser beings like you came here to make a proposal with me? Nonsense!!”

“Hm, did I say ‘proposal’? My mistake. It was not really a proposal but more like a demand, you see…”
“A WHAT?” The dragon was now enraged by the general’s reply. His mouth flared up with blue flames as it tried to escape his crunching teeth.

“A de-mand” Marklane calmly enunciated “As I was saying, our king has expressed a keen interest in having you serve as a lap dog for the kingdom and boosting our military might, while spontaneously utilizing your power to put the forest under our control, once and for all. That is why I was dispatched here to acquire your service. What say you?”
The dragon was struck with disbelief as he remained still while trying to make sense of the situation. Did this puny human really just required my service? Me, a dragonkind?

Hahaha…. Hahahahaaaa!

The dragon suddenly broke the tense silence with his uncontrollable laughs. “You human are really funny, you know that?”

“Is this really a laughing matter, Yashan’s Menace?”

“No!” The dragon abruptly ended his maniac laugh as he swiftly executed an earth shattering slam onto Marklane. However, the reflex of the sixty something years old general has proved to be slightly faster than that of the dragons’ as he fell backward, dodging the strike effortlessly.

“You seemed too much of a hotheaded, Mr.Dragon.”

“I don’t have time to spend wasting it on rats like you. Maybe you lots can just off yourself and atone for your insolence.” The dragon did not have the patient to wait for the dust to settle down, his mouth briefly flared up with pure concentrated energy. Before the troops had time to react, Yashan’s Menace unleashed one of his ultimate attacks, [Dragon’s Breath], in hope that it would eradicate the pests standing in front of him once and for all.

[Dragon’s Breath] was what the civilized folks called the Skill. In general, the skill name referred to any form of deadly rays that were casted from a dragon’s mouth. However, due to the fact that most of the dragons spotted by the inhabitants of Aion were of the lowly fifth or sixth dragonkinds, the skill [Dragon’s Breath] were usually classified into different elemental attacks in form of fire, water, thunders… This was because the lower dragonkinds did not have the power to maintain the pure form of energy that was created within their body, thus the ray tended to degrade into elements that were best controlled by the dragons once it was casted. Yet, something was different with this attack from Yashan’s Menace, and Marklane could feel it. The General quickly noticed that the ray was still able to maintain its pure energy form as it fast approached the man and his routed troops. This is troublesome. The armor he donned was supposed to nullify most of elemental attack, but this attack was different. This was a pure blast of energy and on top of that, he was taking it head on since the discharge was too wide for him to dodge. I expected no less from a second generation dragonkind. The general firmly anchored his feet on the ground then coated his Ka around his body and sword as he protected himself from the incoming assaults. Even with the defense of his Ka and God-tier armor, Marklane could feel the impact of the blast vibrating against his every bones while the heat continued to build up within his confined suit. So even the insulation effect of the legendary Adamantine Ore was not enough… If this keeps up, I would die even before I can mount any counter attacks…

After a few seconds of which Marklane had thought to be hours, the pure blast of energy died down. Despite taking on the tremendous energy from the attack head on, his Adamantine armor and sword have proven to be sturdier than the dragon had expected. Still, the old General knelt down exhaustingly, his whole body leaned on his sword, shaking. Without the need to scan around, he understood that the blast had disintegrated all of his troops, even those who were busy running away have found no luck. All of the surrounding tree have also been burnt down to their roots, leaving the whole area an empty land, devoid of life.

“That alone was not enough to kill you?” The dragon was fully surprised at the resilience that the human in front of him demonstrated. “It has been a while since I last killed any human but I have to say, I don’t remember human being this troublesome. Was it because of that special armor you’re wearing? If I am not mistaken, that armor is made from Adamantine Ore?”
“Yes.” Answered Marklane while standing up and secretly casting some basic healing spells on himself. The man calmly assessed the situation, then continued. “Truth to be told, I did not think you would be this powerful either. I guess both of us were wrong.”

“I can’t tell you how wrong you are, human. You have not yet witness the full extent of my wrath. Let me teach you one last lesson before sending you to Hel: NEVER WAKE UP A SLEEPING DRAGON!” Yashan’s Menace then began to cast another [Dragon’s Breath] aiming directly at the weakened man. Yet, before the overconfident dragon was able to release the blast, Marklane swiftly tapped his foot on the ground and activated his most powerful Arte, [Vidar’s Vengeance]. Suddenly, from the recent scorched earth, patches of grass started to grow at an astonishing rate until the whole decimated area transformed into a green meadow. Then the earth rumbled and from it protruded thousands of vines. The vines, some as thick as the ancient trees’ barks that called Yashan Forest home, rapidly wrapped themselves around the confused Dragon’s mouth and effectively shut it off, preventing any blast to be cast. Still, Yashan’s Menace was not some dragons that mere vines could constraint. After a brief moment of struggle, the Dragon broke free of the ever-extending vines, flapped his wing and hurriedly escaped up to the sky. Yet there Marklane was, waiting for the Dragon while standing high on top of a wooden platform supported by his vines. With the sword on his hand, the old general sprung forward and stroke down the flying dragon with his Skill [1000XStrength], which greatly amplified the physical strength of its owner. Despite being caught by surprise, the dragon swiftly reacted, shielded himself from the incoming strike by wrapping his wings around his body in a nick of time. The blow still sent him crashing down the vines infested ground. There, the thick sea of thorny vines eagerly anticipate its incoming prey as they devoured the Dragon, dragging him deep under while constricting in attempt at crushing the dragon.  

As the battlefield became strangely quiet now that Yashan’s Menace was fully buried, the old General gazed down at his submerged adversary while attempting to cast a healing potion upon his gravely injured body. With its distinctly luminous turquoise color, “The God’s Tear” as it was called by the merchants, was one of the most potent potion anyone could get their hand on. Even within the entire Kerma Kingdom, there existed only a dozen of them and most were in possession of high tier generals. Of course with the expectation that he would eventually have to clash against a second kind dragon, Marklane has procured two potions prior to entering the Yashan Forest. He had wished to no waste it at an early stage of his operation but even his high endurance had it limit. Just at the moment it was cast, the potion quickly healed all of his visible injures as his open wounds immediately closed up as they came into contract with the healing liquid. Not a second later, the old general could feel his fractured arms had also recovered from the terrible state they were it. It is indeed a miracle potion, Marklane thought with a hint of regret using such a potent resource.

But Marklane’s triumph did not last long.

From beneath the sea of vines, the general noticed several rays of light emitting upward to the sky. Upon the contact with the ray, the vine suddenly withered away. Even with his power which granted him a total control over all the vines individually, the general could not manipulate them anymore. Those light has robbed all the life from the vines? The general thought to himself. Before he could make out what was happening, suddenly he saw it. Emerged from the sea of unresponsive vines, the enraged Dragon stood firmly on his bulging feet, his mouth already flared up with another [Dragon Breath]. Without any warning, the dragon again casted his powerful signature attack upon Marklane. Fortunately, with his recently healed body, the general swiftly dodged the shot by jumping off from his platform, then conjured several soft vines to wrap around and catch him as he approached the ground. However, unlike the last time, the dragon’s energy blast suddenly swept downward chasing after the general as he fell. Knowing that the protection from his vines alone would be insufficient to defend against the raging blast of pure energy, the general deliberately utilized his vines to toss himself away from the incoming attack then effortlessly landed on his feet and summoned the bulk of his vines to surround him. The vines, which had previously spread out and covered an area of more than 100 hectare, has rapidly pulled back and surrounded the general in a perfectly protected giant sphere.

And there it was, Marklane has finally resorted to [Vidar’s Vengeance]’s infamous ultimate form, which had taken lives of countless armies that dared to defy the general and ultimately earned him the nickname Marklane the Green Reaper. The general has now effectively transformed his sea of vines into a cohesive, colossal woody tentacle monster with him residing inside. Despite its size, the Ka infused tentacle vines which sprouted from the core were able to fluidly moving around, with some acted as supporting limbs while others just wiggled around into the air. Leaving no time for the Yashan’s Menace to comprehend the new development, Marklane projected his vines springing toward the dragon and aimed to capture it in one swoop. However, before they can reach the dragon, the vines again withered away after it approached to a certain distance away from the stilled dragon.
“[Hades Touch]” The dragon activated his Arte as he looked coldly down at the giant vine monster below. “It has been more than 1000 years since I last resorted to my Arte. And you’re the first human ever that was able to forced me to. Be proud…”
“[Hades Touch]?” Mumbled the general within the safety of his cocoons. “I have never heard of this Arte… How did it just effortlessly destroyed all my attack?”
Just as he finished his sentence, a moment of clarity swept over the old general. For the longest time, having perfected his [Absolute Perception] skill had made the general arrogant to the point that he has forgotten one of the most basic use of Ka. After a moment of self-reflection, Marklane focused the flow of his Ka toward his eyes, which he slowly opened up for the first time in years. From his Ka enhanced eyesight, the old general finally could see the invisible phantom floating atop, circling around Yashan’s Menace.

“An Elder Lich?” Marklane gulped. “I can’t believe he could perform a summoning Arte. This spells trouble…”

Before Marklane could formulate a counter offensive plan, the dragon quickly took the initiative as he dived downward to the colossal tentacle monster twice his size. Along with him, the Elder Lich, which was cloaked in black smoke, swung his scythe around, precisely cutting off the flow of Ka from attacking tentacles and dutifully protecting its master. Noticing his error, Marklane hastily manipulated his tentacle monster to jump back, avoiding the direct assault from the dragon.

“That was a quick response for such a gigantic creature.” Commended the dragon. “But that doesn’t matter. Your doom has been decided!”

“Hahaha…. HAHAHA…” Laughed Marklane hysterically despite being cornered by Yashan’s Menace. “You’re wrong, pest. This whole fight was not about who’s stronger.”

“What are you mumbling about?” puzzled the dragon as he readied his attacks.

“Obviously us human are not expected to be able to go head to head with an ancient being as you.” Said Marklane calmly, “But my purpose here is fulfilled.”

“Purpose?”
“To lure you out of your nest, of course.”

“My nest? What are you….” Yashan’s Menace shrieked. “DAMN YOU FILTHY HUMAN! HOW DARE YOU TRICK ME!!!”

The dragon suddenly knelt down painfully, his jaw wide opened as he tried to gasp for air. The burning sensation spread around his Adamantine-clad body. After a brief anguish struggle, the proud dragon fully collapsed to the ground, barely breathing. Since all its strength has disappeared, its Arte, [Hades Touch] also gradually faded away. Moment later, Marklane emerged from the creature’s core and slowly walked toward the half-conscious dragon.

“Swear your loyalty to me as my pet and I will relieve you of your pain.” A grin crept up the old general face as he was well aware of his victory.

“How... How did you … know…” The dragon could now only mustered few words. “Know about… my core…”

“It was all thanks to chance that I was able to discover a lost book regarding the dragonkind within the depth of the Librarium. It contained all the knowledge that I could ever dream of, including the information about the Dragon Core and the Sealing Ritual. Since the very beginning, this has been my objective. Some of my most trusted subordinates were able to slip out before you arrived. It took a while but with you being distracted by our battle, they were able to sneak into your nest and seal your heart away.” Marklane triumphantly touched its jaw, taunting the dragon. “So what say you? To die like a dog death here or swear your loyalty to me and to the Kingdom of Kerma?”
The dragon remained silent for a few seconds but then groaned loudly from the pain it currently experienced.

“… I….ARGHH!!! I SWEAR MY LOYALTY TO YOU! PLEASE STOP THIS!” The prideful dragon, whose moments ago was so close to triumphant, finally succumbed to the unrelenting waves of agony as his core was crushed from the distance.

“Good… You hear that, Keith?” mumbled Marklane.

“Loud and clear my lord.” Answered his lieutenant since the two had always been connected telepathically ever since the beginning. “I will release my grip on its core and cease its pain.”

“Good. Bring the core back to me.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Finally, the first step in our plan has succeeded. Marklane hurriedly squatted down on the ground and inactivated his Arte. The giant vine creature crumbled to the ground, then disappeared completely into thin air. The general breathed an air of relief as he glanced toward the now-dejected second-generation dragon kind. Now, onto our second step. The war will soon end… and my Kingdom will prosper even more…

 

 

Chapter 5: Kimurian Judgement

The Kimurian, just like other tribes living in Grassland, was originally nomadic people. Thus, their usual settlements tended to mostly make of several large tents that served as the meeting places for the tribal elders while the tribesmen were living in smaller tents surrounding the settlement’s center. On average, each polis housed approximately five hundred families, with the ten eldest members serving in the polis’ council, a legislative body that made most of the important decisions. Even though they have mostly abandoned the nomad lifestyle of their ancestors ever since the agriculture adoption, many of their poleis were planned so that they could easily uproot and move as the situation arose. However, Kasperia, the “Capital Polis” of the Kimurian tribe, was unlike any other of their settlements, or any settlements in the Grassland for that matter. Instead of temporary tents, Kasperia’s houses were built from sturdy woods while their rooftops were made from dry weeds that were supplied by the endless grass in the vicinity. It seemed like their capital was divided into five different zones: a commercial zone where all the market activities took place, an “industrial zone”, where most of the town blacksmiths and artisans resided, a residential zones contained most of Kimurian’s houses and their hospitality facilities, an agricultural zone located somewhat away from the other zones, where most of the city’s goods were stored, and finally, the fifth zone located in the middle of the city was simply called the “Center” by its citizens. Just like other Kimurian towns, the Center was where the elder councils took place, though a small training ground could also be found close by. For most of its establishment, Kasperia has never had a protective wall, though that has changed since the last Kerma’s incursions. Now the city was surrounded by several layers of wooden walls, measured more than 20 meters high with only three grand entrances.

“Open the door!” Commanded Reina right after her caravan reached the polis

“That’s one huge gate.” Commented Aspen.

“You four are not supposed to be here, get back to the carriage.”

“We have accompanied you this long, we are not going to escape just as we get to your destination.” Argued Aquilla.

“Yeah, we just want to look around. This is the first big city we have ever visited since getting out of the Plane.”

“Polis.”

“What?”
“We call our cities ‘Polis’, not ‘City’.”

 R5Isn’t it all the same? All four thought to themselves5o, though they simply nodded since at least it seemed like Reina has agreed for them to be outside so dthey did not want to turn her mood South.

“I see that you guys have erected elemental gfmagical barrier around the wall?” Aoi observed, referring to a few symbols written along the length of the wall.
“Yes. What’s the point of having a protective wall without magical barrier? They would be knocked out by magic casters’ spells in an instance.” ddi

“That’s true…”
“Though it’s interesting how you can tell it is elemental barrier just by looking at the scripts.”

“Well, Aoi is the best among us when it comes to Magic so it’s only natural that he could discern it right away.” Aquilla explained.

“Besides, most casters can only erect barriers to protect against elemental attacks anyways. Not many people can utilize a primal barrier. A special or conjuration barrier is almost nonexistence. So yeah, it’s just a simple process of elimination.” Aoi chimed in.

“…You’re right.” Reina agreed despite being thoroughly confused.

The brief conversation quickly stopped as the gate started to open up. Even though the gate did not appear too heavy, it took more than seven people from the inside to push the gear to pull the gate up due to the effect of the barrier.

“Welcome back Reina!” some folks from the inside quickly walked to and greeted Reina. “The Chief has gotten back about two hour ago and is now attending the gathering. Representatives from all four Grassland tribes are here. I don’t know who he was referring to buy the Chief ordered you to bring the four people you found to the Great Hall after you’re done putting the goods away.”
“Ah, that would be them right there…” Reina pointed to Sion’s group. “… who have been unceasingly looking around, weirdly excited… Man they are pissing me off! Why are they acting like some tourists even though they are brought here because they committed a crime?”

“Are you talking about us?” yelled out Sion from a far after he noticed Reina’s frustration aura.

“I don’t want to deal with them now. Let me take care of the caravan first. Tazero, can you escort them to the Center. I will bring them to the Great Hall later.”
“You got it!” Before Tazero could even agree to the request, Reina had already galloped away on her horse, leaving the man dumbfounded.

“What was that about?” Asked Sion, who just suddenly appeared behind the unsuspecting Kimurian.

“Hiyaaa!” shouted Tazero. “Hey kid, don’t give me a scare like that.”
Kid? Sion thought while looking at the man in front of him. He had a clean-shaven head, except for a strip of short spiky hair that ran from his forehead to the back of his head. Judging from his look, Sion would have guessed he was in his late twenties, or at most, early thirty, which was still not old enough to refer to himself as “kid”…

Shoot, I forgot. I’m in my restrained form. Sion quickly got reminded of his appearance… Damn you, Keyea!

“So the princess just asked me to take you guys to the Polis’ Center.” Explained Tazero. “She has to organize the goods we got from other poleis before she can show you to the Great Hall.”

“…I see.” Sion signaled the other three Spirits to come to him. “Guys, this guy here will escort us to the Center. We will hear our sentences there, I believe?”
“ Sentences? What did you do?” Asked Tazero while starting to lead the group to the Center.

“Illegally killing one of your bison for food.” Answered Aspen, the culprit.

“Ahh, the Chief would have already set you free if we’re not at war with Kerma. Now that we’re at war, our bison meats have become really valuable resources.” Explained the Kimurian. “Anyways, I’ll show you guys to the Center. Oh right! My name is Tazero. What are yours?”

“Name’s Sion. They are Aoi, Aspen, and Aquilla.”

“So where are you guys from? And what are you guys doing here?”

Oh man, here it goes again, Aspen yawned, we will tell the truth and he will never believe us. The whole fiasco again…

“OH! So you guys were living with Adal?” Tazero burst out laughing after listening to Aquilla’s story. “Of course no one would believe you and your story. Don’t blame them. But how’s Adal doing? All good I hope.”

“Wait wait wait… You believe us?”
“You know Adal?”

“Who’s this dude?”

“Yeah Yeah!” Tazero quickly replied before the questions piled up. “I know him. Adal actually saved me when I was a kid and got lost on my first hunting trip around twenty-five years ago. I came back with the story of meeting a spirit and no one would believe me so I just kept it to myself. I actually met up with him several times after that since he wanted to check up on me. Man, the last time I saw him would probably be six years ago. So how’s that old Spirit doing?”

“Still kicking around.” Answered Aspen. “I know he sometimes travelled outside of the Plane but I did not expect anyone to know him.”
“Well, he’s actually really well-known Spirit since he’s part of the Octad, but people just don’t know his name that’s all...”

“Wait a minute.” Aquilla interrupted. “This is great! If you can vouch for our story then maybe Hygos would believe us.”

Tazero momentarily paused for a bit, then glared at the gang, a faint smile crept over his face.
“I don’t think it is necessary.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Nothing. It’s just I don’t think you’re in that much trouble. Just lighten up and enjoy Kasperia. I don’t think Reina would be ready any time soon with all those goods so we have some time to kill. I can show you guys around before we go to the Center.” The Kimurian quickly dismissed Sion’s question.

“Sweet!” exclaimed Aspen, the simpleminded Spirit. It seemed like Sion still had some follow up questions but the offer from Tazero was too tempting for someone who thirsted for the outside world like him.

…Ah, whatever! Sion thought.

 

 

“…Our spies reported that Marklane had mobilized a small force and entered the Yashan Forest about two days ago, though we could not figure out his intention.” Keyton continued his report to the horror of the other four tribe representatives presented at the conference. “I don’t think that Marklane can cross the Yashan forest with just a few soldiers like that so I believe the most rational reason for him entering the Yashan forest would be to make contact with either of the Clans there.”

“Didn’t they already try to entice the two clans for more than a decade now?” A husky voice asked. “They have been adamantly refusing the kingdom’s offer of subordination.”

“Yes.” Answered Keyton. “But this is Marklane we are talking about. Unless he would get something in return, I doubt he would have made such move knowing it would be futile.”

“Are you implying the two Clans may betray us and allow the Kingdom’s safe passage through the Yashan Forest?” The owner of the voice now emerged from the shadow. Orobir the Anima, chief of the Futar Tribe, was a tall and muscular man standing at 2.5 meters high. However, his height was not the most impressionable feature of the man. Due to him being an Anima, a humanoid race that possesses distinct animal characterisitic, the Orobir’s head was that of a proud lion, with a full golden mane covered most of his shoulder.

“Yes, Master Orobir.” Nodded Keyton. “That is one of the possibilities.”

“Ridiculous.” refuted Orobor. “The two Clans are proud protectors of Yashan, you think they would lead the Kerma army through their sacred ground?”
“That is indeed unthinkable.” Answered Keyton calmly. “But once you try to rationalize Marklane’s action, it becomes the most likely answer. Besides, the size of his company suggested more of a diplomatic mission than anything else.”

“What about other possibilities that you referred to?” asked Hygos, who was sitting across the table.

“I could think of three possibilities. The two clans betraying us is one of them, and the most likely. The second possibility is that it is an assassination mission.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, that Marklane and his company would act as a mobile strike force that can quickly kill the leaders of the two Clans simultaneously and leave them leaderless and vulnerable to a new Kerma invasion.”

“That sounds impossible. They would be killed off by the Yashan monsters before they could reach the Clan’s settlement.” Argued Orobir.

“Not necessarily. From what I heard, the Kingdom has been trying to figure out a way to ward off the monsters. If it’s true that they have achieved such technology, this scenario is not something out of place.”

“…I see…” Nodded Orobir. “To think the Kingdom has advanced so much…”

“What about the last possibility, Lord Keyton?” asked the representative from the Iorim Tribe.

“It is an unthinkable one, but still plausible.” Keyton looked grimed. “It is that somehow the Kerma has obtained the power to eliminate the Yashan’s Menace. If that’s the case and if I were Marklane, I would proceed to kill Yashan’s Menace to prove Kerma’s dominance over the forest. That would most likely result in the two Clan submitted to the kingdom and the forest being annexed. After all, Yashan’s Menace is the overlord of the forest…”

“There is no way it would be the case.” Hygos got shaken from the thought of such scenario. “According to legend, Yashan’s Menace is a second generation Dragonkind, it’d be lucky to just survive an encounter with it, let alone fighting it…”

“That is why I believe the most likely reason is that Marklane is just somehow trying to turn the two Clans against us, diplomatically.”

“So despite what was his reason, the one most urgent action we need to take is to send someone to meet with the two forest Clans and verify Marklane’s intention with our own eyes and ears.” A representative from the Kanna Tribes concluded.

“I agree.” Orobir nodded. “But we cannot neglect our defense in the Southwest either. That is still the most logical direction where the Kerma can invade us. I will let my fellow tribesmen know about Marklane and double our defense effort.”

“Thank you, Lord Orobir.”

“With that being said.” Orobir continued, “Who shall we send to meet with the forest Clans?”

“My sister can lead a small company there.” Answered Hygos after a brief thinking. “Though, Master Orobir, I know this maybe too much to ask, I think it’d be better for you to accompany her since you are a close acquaintance with the Kannu Clan’s head.”
“No no, it’s fine. After all, I was going to ask you to let me come with Reina anyways. I need to meet with the Kannu Head face to face to confirm that he would not betray us…”

“So that’s it? Master Orobir and Lady Reina will be our delegates to the Yashan Forest?”

“Actually, I have some others in mind.” Hygos said, then gave Keyton a nod. “I actually met some interesting travelers on my way back here. I think they may be of help.”
“Travelers?” asked Orobir.

“Yes…. Travelers.”

Tazero’s tour of the city was over quick, or at least it was quick in accordance with my perception. Though I did not really have any complaints since it was pretty thorough. We got to see the main marketplace at the commercial quadrant where hundreds of people gathered for their daily shopping. The whole place was filled with noises from screaming merchants who were trying to advertise their products to stingy customers who spent hours just to haggle for a few coins off their purchases. It was such an eye-opening experience for the three Spirits and I since we never saw anything resembled such madness within the Plane. Probably the only times we saw anything that came close to it would be during the occasions when Gramps played some card games with the other four or five Spirits around New Year. The card game gathering always ended up with a shouting match between the attending Spirits, accusing each other of cheating. I did not know why but despite all the screaming, they always came back the next year for the same game…

After a brief tour of the market plaza, Tazero took us to the adjacent quadrant where all their blacksmiths located. Naturally it was a heaven for Aspen, a disciple of Keyea, who has been hopelessly obsessed with weapons. Even though their skills were far behind that of the Wanderer Lord, their designs were much more impressive. It took me some serious effort to pull the drooling Aspen away from some of the weapon shops. Despite our enthusiasm for the next stop, the sightseeing trip was cut short once Tazero realized how much time has passed when we were goofing around.

Situated on the top of a low hill, the Center consisted of only one huge building, or should I say, fort. In a stark contrast with their wooden houses in other zones, the fort which the Kimurians called the Center was built from perfectly carved white stones. The structure was fairly large, measured more than 1000 paces on each side, with a garrison tower at each corner. Yet, despite its size, I could only count around dozen or so small barred windows on its wall. I reckoned since they built this Center as the last line of defense for the polis, having windows would make it more vulnerable to the invaders.

The very moment we arrived to the Center, we were greeted with Reina’s loud complaints. After a brief exchange, Tazero hurriedly backed away from the little “princess” and ran away without even saying a word of goodbye to us.

“It seemed like we got him into trouble.” Observed Aquilla.

“…I feel bad for him, having to deal with Reina.”

“What did you lot say?” Reina turned around, fuming. “Seriously, I have waited here for more than half an hour just for you guys. Brother will scold me for sure. Hurry up, let’s go! The council is waiting.”
“What are we supposed to do?” I asked. “…Also, what’s the council for?”
“Just stay quiet and follow instruction.” Commanded Reina while pushing us toward the main entrance, which was full of abstract murals. A sun, a moon, the polis, and probably a dragon located at the corner in the mid of all the trees? That were all the objects I could identify. If I had to guess, I believed these murals were probably depicting the geography around Kasperia…

So there is a dragon around here?

I thought, but then it was not like I have time to ask the princess since she has been hurriedly escorting us through a maze of hallways, her mouth kept blabbing about the councils and how we should act in front of them. Even though I kind of phased out whatever she was saying after a while, at least I was able to comprehend the situation we were in. Apparently, the council that would soon oversee our trial was not the one that Reina has expected at all. Normally, we would be brought in front of the Kimurian Elders for questions; however, for some unknown reason that even Reina would not know, we were summoned to the Grassland’s Wartime Council, a collection of representatives from various tribes of Grassland. Judging from the ruckus earlier during the day, the new development in the war with the Kerma kingdom has probably caused the Grasslanders to be even more cautious of outsiders to the point that incidence involved a small group like us would draw attention of the inter-tribal council… Well, if that was the case, there was nothing I could do.

“We have arrived!” Reina sudden stop caused me to be sandwiched between her back and the trio behind me. “Are you guys ready?”
“It’s not like we have a choice, right?”

“No, you do not!! Now at least be in your best behavior!!!” It seemed like Aquilla’s comment has made the girl’s blood boiled. Her yelling echoed throughout the busy hallways, startled many who passed by.

“Ah, you’re finally here!” Hygos emerged from the Great Hall, most likely due to Reina’s yelling. “What took you guys so long?”
“You should ask these guys.” Reina leered at us.
“Now now…” Hygos tried to calm his sister, then turned to us. “Anyways, the four of you should come in now, the council is waiting.”

The Great Hall of the Kimurian, unlike their dark hallways, was brightly lit with Essence Stone dangling from the high ceiling. The room was constructed in a pentagonal shape, with a statue located at each corner in fully decorated armors. In the middle of the room, several figures all sit around a large round table, their eyes glared at us as we walked into the room. Before I could make a good observation, to our surprise the ground beneath us began to transform into a circular metal sheet, which slowly elevated up into the air.
“A scale?” Aquilla observed. The guy has already ready to unleash his power to break free from the force field that contained us, only to be stopped by Aoi.

“Is this the Scale of Truth that Reina was talking about?” Aoi looked around, only find ourselves being sealed in a confined space, standing on top of some sort of a plate of an equal beam scale. On the opposite plate laid a blue feather. For some strange reason, such a light object was able to balance the weight of us four.
“I don’t like the look of this. Should we break out?” Aquilla readied his attack.

“It’s fine.” I said, signaled for the three spirits to stand down. “Let’s see where this is going. I don’t want to add more charges to us. If this really is the Scale of Truth Reina was talking about, then this is a simple interrogation… Am I right, Lord Hygos?”
The Kimurian chief nodded. “So, Reina has told you guys about this Artifact? You know what it can do right?”
“Well, the little princess did not really explain to us in detail, but we could have guess, judging from its name.” I tapped my foot on the plate, testing its seal. “This so-called Artifact can judge whether the person is lying or not, correct?”

Again, Hygos simply nodded in agreement.

“Then ask your questions.” Said Aoi.

“Very well then. Let’s start from the beginning: Please tell us your name.” Hygos started off with a simple question.

“Sion. Sion Artis Ul Nyun Scarlen Pixiras.”
“Did he really say his full name like that with a straight face…” I could hear Aspen from behind.
“Shaddup!” I embarrassingly whispered at the gang. Of course, as an orphan, I would not have had a last name in the first place. Since I was complaining about the lack of a last name, Grandpa has told me to pick one for myself. Being just five at the time, I have chosen such long name, thinking it sounds somewhat cool… I regretted that now, but a man like me would never take back his word.

“Aoi. Aoi Artis Ul Nyun Scarlen Pixiras.” Now it’s Aoi’s turn. Since the three spirits were named by me, they had decided to take on my last name… But that agreement was before I even revealed to them what it was, now they had to live with my last name too. Still, unlike the other two, Aoi was not really that embarrassed though. “I’m a spirit.”
“Aspen. Aspen Artis Ul Nyun Scarlen Pixiras.” Aspen’s face was all red. “A spirit.”
“Aquilla. Aquilla Artis Ul Nyun Scarlen Pixiras.” Aquilla’s head turned away from the council, trying to hide the embarrassment. “Also, a spirit.”
Despite the comedic relief the council enjoyed, their expression grew stern the moment they realized we were telling the truth. I would not blame them since not that often you would be able to see a spirit, let alone three, in human flesh form.

“Sorry for doubting your claim before. But with your statement made before the Scale, no matter how ridiculous they are, we always have to accept them as the truth.” Hygos smiled. It seemed like he had already believed us even before this interrogation though.

“Then for the next question.” The handsome guy which intercepted the caravan earlier spoke up. “Are you guys spies from any other nations?”

“Nope.” Aspen answered in my stead.
“Then why did you enter Grassland?”
“Well, technically, we were always in Grassland, just in a different dimension.”

“Different dimension?”

“Yes, I believe the people of Aethysar called it The Cave of Origin?”
“What??” The murmuring between the council grew louder.

“You can tell we are not telling lies, can you not?” I asked, pointing my finger at the scale’s beam as I stared at Hygos and his buddies, looking for any reaction.

“Next question.” Despite the ongoing debates between the councils, the handsome guy continued without hesitation. “Why did you come out of the Cave of Origin?”
“To explore the world.” I answered in brief. After all, I had a feeling Hygos and the guy were not really interested in our answers. The one key question, which has confirmed we were not foreign agents, had already been asked.

“So why a human like yourself ended up living in the Cave of Origin, let alone accompanied by the three Spirits?” Hygos question was directing toward me.

“First, I don’t believe I am a human. Though I myself do not really know what race I am.”
“Really?” amused Hygos, “You do look like a human to me.”
“Beat me.” I shrugged. “But to answer your first question why I lived in the Cave: a spirit picked me up when I was abandoned as an infant and raised me. Since he made the Cave his residence, so did I.”

“I see.”
“To answer your second question.” Aspen interrupted “We stayed with Sion because he was the one who save us and gave us our names.”

“Huh?”
“We are like the bestest childhood friends. Right guys?” I asked the gang to back me up, yet I got no response as silence quickly enveloped the place.

“What is this ‘gave us our names’ that you spoke of?” Hygos’ buddy quickly followed up with more question.
“That’s none of your business.” Aspen scoffed while glaring angrily at the guy.

“That’s true. Since the scale has not determined anything you have said to be incorrect and most importantly, since you’re not spies from the kingdom, further interrogation is just a waste of time. ” Acknowledged Hygos. The Chief then clapped his hands and suddenly, the Scale vanished away, leaving us standing in front of the council’s table. “Now, let’s decide your punishment for the crime of killing our bison.”
Huh? That was quick. It’s like it was all just for show. Too be fair, that Hygos guy did not seem to take this hearing seriously from the beginning.

“Normally, for the crime of killing a bison, the perpetrators would be sentenced to community service, which involved manual labors at various locations throughout the Kasperia for two months.” Hygos calmly explained to us, then his expression suddenly changed as a devious smile crept up his face. “However, now knowing that the reason who committed such act was because you did not have much knowledge about the outside world, let alone Kimurian’s custom, I will offer you a better deal. You have a choice of accepting our normal punishment or this deal I am about to make.”
“Which is?” I curiously asked.

“I understand your group comprised of powerful individuals, with three being Spirits already. Why don’t you lend your strength to us?”
“As in fighting a war for you? Against whatever name that kingdom was?” I frowned

“… No.” Hygos flatly refuted my conjecture. “I simply asked of you to accompany and protect our upcoming diplomatic mission to the Clans in Yashan forest. I do not know if you have already had such knowledge, but Yashan forest is home to mid to high level monsters so traversing such place maybe dangerous. If you don’t mind, to commute your sentence, you can act as bodyguards to our people. Once the mission is over, so will your punishment. Furthermore, I believe such sentence would be in your favor since it will also fit in your ‘exploring the world’ agenda.”
“I see… So how long have you planned for this?” I asked, knowing that this sentence hearing facet was all in accordance to Hygos’ plan. He already believed in our story since the beginning and had always planned to utilize our power one way or another.

“What are you talking about? I have just thought of such compromise on the spot.” He lied, though he probably has fully known we would see through it.

“… We shall accept such offer then.” I replied, with Aoi, Aspen, and Aquilla all nodded along. “After all, it’s too tempting not to.”

“Great!!!” exclaimed Hygos. “Then we have a deal.”

“But just to be clear, our job is only to escort your group. We don’t plan to get ourselves into a war between you guys, one that has nothing to do with us.”

“Of course not.”

 

 

Chapter 6: Orobir the Anima

The hearing was over before the gang could even process what has transpired, but the outcome was clear: They have just been enlisted to be bodyguards for the upcoming Grassland diplomatic mission that would leave in two days. That was probably the best punishment for them since it was their intention to travel through Yashan toward Kerma in the first place. Still, the bitter taste of being manipulated by Hygos was a bit too much to swallow for the group, especially with the hot head spirit Aspen.

“… I feel used.” Aquilla sighed.

“There’s nothing we can do. At least the term was reasonable.” Aquilla flipped through the stack of contracts that were handed to them by Hygos. “We would each get paid 10 copper coins per day even though this was supposed to be a punishment. Also, we are given 2 hours break each day from the group, 3 meals a day, including snacks… And free healthcare if needed.”

“Healthcare?”

“Yeah, like free potions if we get injured.”

“What’s the point when Aoi can just heal us?” Aspen shook his head. “Besides, I doubt there’s anything in that forest that can even injure us.”
“I was told there’s a second-generation dragon resided within the forest though. It may spell trouble for us if we ever meet one.”

“Arghhh!!!” the depressed Reina, who has been silently guiding us back out finally broke down in frustration. “I cannot believe nii san ever asked you to accompany us!! Just what is he thinking!?”

“Well, you’re his sister, you should know better.”

Reina shot Sion a deadly glare for his comment yet refrained from saying anything, even though her mouth kept on murmuring endless complaints like an incantation. The very moment the entrance door was in sight, Reina abruptly turned around, her hand waving in the air.

“That’s the door. Just get out. Come back here at least before sundown and someone will show you to your sleeping quarter. Now I must go back and talk to Nii san.”
Without waiting for a single goodbye greeting, Reina just swiftly walked away and completely disappeared into the hallway’s dimming light.

“She must have really hated us.” Commented Aoi.

“Whatever…” Aspen shrugged “So now…”
“…What shall we do?”  Aquilla just took the words out of Aspen’s mouth.

“We have more than three hours until the sun sets. Maybe we should look around again? We didn’t have that much time to explore around before.” Suggested Sion.

“Let’s go back to the Industrial Zone!” Aspen’s eyes brightly shone. “There were still some shops that I was not able to visit.”
Grrrrrrrr….

The loud sound soon cut off the flow of conversation. The four boys looked at each other in silence as their stomach continued to rumble on.

“But time for a meal first?”
“… Yeaaah…” The three spirits replied in unison.

“You still have the coins Adal gave us, Aquilla?” Asked Aoi

“Yup.” Aquilla quickly checked his pocket. “According to Adal, we can exchange these for food, right?”
“It’s sure a convenience.”
“If I recall correctly, this would be an aeris coin, and hundred aerii equal one argenti coin such as this one… and one hundred argentii equal one aurum coin here…” Aquilla mumbled as he sorted through the money pocket which Adal has entrusted to him, the most responsible among the four.

“Don’t worry, I am pretty sure we will figure this out at the payment time.” Sion looked around “So where should we eat?”
“I smelled something really delicious when we were shown around the town. Let’s go there!”
“Okay, lead the way, Aspen!”

 

“I wonder why Hygos asked them to join us for the mission.” Asked Orobir as the Anima glared down at the four travelers from the guard tower. “I get it that they were telling the truth about their origin, but that does not mean we can trust them.”

“Hygos told me about them. According to him, had he acted rashly during their first encounter, he would not be alive right now. And since they are too powerful, he prefers to keep them by our side, especially because this would be their first experience with the outside world.” Answered Keyton.

“What do you mean?” The Futar chief looked puzzled.

“Think about it. Having spent their entire life within the Plane of Origin, as of right now, they are like white sheets of paper, knowing nothing about how the ways the outside world works. They are innocent… and let’s be frank, gullible. What do you think would happen if the Kingdom ever discover them?”
“… They will be manipulated by the Prime Minister and ended up helping them in their war against us.”
“That’s exactly what Hygos feared.”

“Even so…” Orobir paused for a second. “If Hygos really valued their strength, why did he not manipulate them into helping us against Kerma instead of just having them escorting our diplomatic mission?”

“Well, you know how Hygos is.” Keyton shook his head “Being such a big considerate jerk as he is, he would never be able to do it. He probably felt bad enough as of right now, having only forced those four helping us out with our mission. Did you know he even drew up a really well-thought contract with them?”
“Hahaha, that’s our Hygos alright.” Orobir laughed loudly. “But did you just called him “considerate jerk”? I guess that is the perfect way to describe him. You know, sometimes, I think it would be better for him to not be the Chief of the Kimur.”
“I know how you feel.” Keyton simply nodded in agreement, only to notice Orobir was no longer by his side. “Huh? Lord Orobir, where are you going?”
“I’ll head out for a bit. Hygos has constantly been praising their abilities since, I want to see them with my own eyes.”

“Uhmm… I do not think it would be a good idea.” Keyton’s eyebrows started twitching.
“Don’t worry, I will not cause much damage to your town.”
“…Much?”

“Phewww!!” Aspen shamelessly tapped on his inflated stomach, which now probably looked like he was five months pregnant… Pregnant from the dozen grilled beef skewers he just. “I’m so full I cannot move. Aquilla, can you just roll me back to the Industrial Zone, I don’t think I can even move a centimeter.”
“Why did you even ordered that many?” annoyed Aquilla. “You’re on your own.”
“But it was looking so delicious and you know my eyes are always too big for my stomach. It’s probably Keyea’s fault.”
“Why would it be his fault?” I asked, curious of what excuse would Aspen come up with.

“Well, he was the one who designed this homunculus body, wasn’t he? Maybe he messed up some link between the eyes and the stomach and…”
Wow, Aspen really was able to make up any story about virtually anything, though most of the time, they were just some nonsense blabbing, just as the one he’s sprouting right now.

“Sorry to stop your wonderful excuse, Aspen, but it’s time for us to go.” I stood up.

“Ahh..” It took a while, but the Aspen was finally able to stand upright. “Okay, let’s go!!!”

Since the shop we were at located right next to the Industrial District, after just taken a few steps, we soon again found ourselves drowned in the deafening

 

 

.... That's it. I was writing half of chapter 6, then shit just hit the fan (I failed one of my core class lol) and I forgot about it until I start this "regarding..." story. As you can see, a lot of ideas were recycled. :D

Chapter 34

「Adela, I assume?」The dragonoid stepped up toward the whistling Astral from behind while she nonchalantly enjoyed the masterpiece she had just created. Although this carnage was nothing compared to the Harvest Festival that would soon commence in a few years, she was still proud of her own work. The once composed Prime Minister, who rejected her advances, had been reduced to nothing but a mindless killing machine just as she wished. 

「Who wants to know?」Answered the Astral without even bothering to turn back.

「...」The dragonoid hesitated for a moment before speaking up. 「As per command of His Majesty, I’m here to bring you to justice.」

「Who?」Adela turned around, looking at Ryuu puzzlingly 「I didn't know there’s any demi-lizardman in the Royal Guards… although, somehow, i feel like i have felt your aura before.」

「Haha」Ryuu smirked. 「As if such a low life individual like you would know about my existence. You don't know me but I know the crimes you have committed. After all, Jayden dono had confessed to his majesty everything just the night before. You have three minutes to remove the <Seeds of Chaos> and turn the Prime Minister back to his old self.」

「And if I dont?」The Astral looked down at the dragonoid. 

「There’s nothing I can do...」Ryuu glared back at the woman. 「besides subjecting you to the most excruciatingly painful experience in your life!」

… Huh? The cunning Astral noticed an interesting clue in the man’s threat. 「I doubt that you c...」

Before she could finish her sentence, Ryuu released his unrestrained Haki, overwhelmed the overconfident Astral along with dozens of the monsters nearby, causing them to paralyze in fear. 「Seriously, who are you really?」Adela’s carefree expression quickly disappeared from her face, replacing it with an ice cold grim look.

「As I said, I am an agent of the Royal Family.」The dragonoid lied with a smile.

「Yeah, right!」Adela leapt forward. Within less than a second, she was standing right in front of Ryuu, her hand held tightly onto the thin elegant crystal sword that she had just materialized. Her sword slashed through the dragonoid in an instant, only for her to realize it was merely his afterimage that she was targeting. Ryuu had already taken a few steps back, elegantly dodged the Astral’s sword before he counterattacked, allowing the woman no time to respond. His hand, along with his sharp thick claws, already wrapped around the overconfident Astral’s beautiful face. The dragonoid tightened his grips as if wanting to crush her skull before slammed her head backward onto the concrete floor under their feet. Cracks started forming before the whole floor, along with the building they were in, shattered into pieces. As both were falling down onto the ground, Ryuu quickly retracted his arm and let the Astral escape for had he kept holding onto the woman, his arm would have been sliced clean off by her sword. 

Impressive . The dragonoid thought to himself. She was able to strike back despite being in such a predicament. I really cannot underestimate this bitch.  

As the dust settled, both Adela and Ryuu were standing still, a few feet apart from the other. Despite having received blows from Ryuu, most of the injury on her face had already been fully restored since the homunculus body she was in boasted the most healing capability among all the prototypes. Yet, having been humiliated, her face was burning red, rage took over the once graceful Astral.
「Who the fuck are you??」Screamed out Adela, her eyes glowed red. 「You’re not a hybrid lizardman! How can even my <Eye of Horus> not be able to discern your race?」

Of course. Although it’s a unique skill, given the difference in strength between myself and your homunculus avatar, it makes sense your skill cannot work on me… If you want to fight evenly against me, come at me with your real body, bitch! Ryuu smirked. 「Strange isnt it? But please note that I am under no obligation to answer your question. Now, return the Prime Minister back to his old self or I will mince you into pieces.」

「... You’re working with HIM, arent you?」Adela suddenly seemed to have an epiphany.  

「Him?」Ryuu jolted. Did she somehow figure it out?

「Ha, so pathetic. Whatever he’s trying to do these past 10000 years, a coward like him cannot stop us Astral.」Adela continued 「Even if he acquired toys as strong as you, he’s nothing but an an insect, lurking in the shadow of history, trying to topple us gods.」

… I dont think she’s talking about Kibadios sama. Ryuu tried to keep his calm. 「... I dont know whatever you’re talking about.」Answered the dragonoid honestly, though to the Astral, it appeared as if she had correctly deduced his master. 

「Fine!」Adela had already accepted the theory about the dragonoid’s origin in her head. 「Deny it all you want. If you want me to dispel the roots that have taken over Jayden’s mind, try me!」The young female Astral again raised her sword, ready to deal with the annoyance that just popped up out of nowhere in front of her. Yet, before either of the two could engage one another, the dark rays generated from the beaten down creature exploded and swirling around the whole vicinity of the capital city, reducing all remaining buildings into dust.
「... She’s gone?」Once the attack subsided, Ryuu thrust away the large piece of concrete that had fallen onto him.「... Damn it! She’s heading toward that <Seed of Chaos> creature!」The dragonoid clicked his tongue after taking a few moments to detect the Astral’s aura. At this rate, she will interfere with master!

---------

What had transpired in such a short amount of time was beyond what the hybrid intended. After instinctively saving his two slaves from the direct blast, what followed was a brief clash between the hybrid and the ever-evolving creature. While both of them traded attacks against the other, it was far from an even fight. Each blow Kibadios received was enough to kill the hybrid twice over, had he not skillfully deflected them away with his scythe in hand. By the time he could catch his breath, his hands were shaking uncontrollably as they tried their best to hold on the scythe’s long shaft. All of the heroes, along with their party members, were down. For Kyles’ part, the young hero was able to save both Yllaner and Ryan from the creature’s unexpected counterattack, though a falling steel pipe had already pierced through his lower chest. Having been tended by Ryan and Yllaner, the man was now barely conscious, let alone helping the hybrid pushing back the creature. His two slaves were a bit more helpful. Their faces brightened for a brief moment when they realized their master had saved them at the critical moment. Yet, anguish soon filled their heart once they realized what a predicament situation they have forced their beloved master into. Because of them, he was now fighting an existence that even the Six heroes would dread. 

「... I guess I have no choice now.」Kibadios said to himself before calling for Nu, who emerged from his shadow.「Nu! Take the people here to safety.」
「Chii!」The slime monster acknowledged the command, then jumped off from its master. Having inflated itself, the now humongous slime began to slide around the place, gobbled up the injured heroes and their party members inside its gluttonous belly. Normally, anything that got inside its stomach would soon be dissolved away by the extremely acidic condition; Yet, since its master had told it to carry them to safety, the slime skillfully modified its inner body, allowing the people that got sucked in not only air to breath, but also exposure to a small amount of restorative substance that slowly healed their injuries overtime.
The hybrid was expected to have everyone carried away to allow him the privacy to activate HaoS without having witnesses. Still, with so many people crammed inside its maximally stretched stomach, the slime understood that it could not have taken in Kyles, whose extent of the injury would clearly make it impossible for the man to be squeezed in together with others. 

「Chii! Chi Chi!」The slime signaled to the hybrid, promising its master it would come back later for Kyles before rolling its body away from the battlefield. 

「Well… I was hoping Nu would at least take Yllaner away, but I guess our elven princess here would never leave Kyles’ side so it’d be out of the question.」Kibadios briefly glanced at the fallen hero. However, that small distraction was all it took for the creature to bypass the hybrid’s defense and pierced its arm through his body. 「Fuck...」Kibadios muttered as blood filled his mouth. The hybrid quickly kicked the creature to project himself away, knowing the longer he stayed within the creature’s reach, the more disadvantage he would be in. 

「Kibadios sama!」Maia jumped forward to catch the falling hybrid, then crashed down onto the ground below. Her voice was trembling. 「Rowan, quick!」

「<Flame of Restoration>!」The healer hurriedly ran to his master and activated his skill, rewinding the time around hybrid’s wound. 

「Argh!」The hybrid stood up, wiped away his blood. He was going to thank his slaves for save him this time, but the creature’s sudden moment soon caught his attention. I won’t be distracted twice! 「Maia, Rowan, get away from here!」Kibadios commanded, while swinging his scythe to  block the incoming crescent slashes. The shockwave resulting from the clash though, was enough to send both of his slaves smashing into a large block of wall, knocking them out unconscious. By now, the creature seemed to have finished with its evolution. It had shredded its outer armor since its muscles have already contracted to become so lean and dense that not even Kibadios’ scythe could leave a scratch on its body. Its bat-like wings have also grown much larger, five times its body in fact. As the creature finally settled down onto the top of the last standing building in the capitol, its wings spread out menacingly like Ghidora’s before fighting against Godzilla. The hybrid knew that his last resort would be to call forth HaoS, but an appearance of a familiar figure behind the fallen rubbles not too far from where Kibadios stood threw his plan off the rail: Adela. 

Damn it… How did it come to this… Maybe… I should really leave these people behind and escape from here on my own… He took a glance at the unconscious Maia and Rowan laying on the ground, then to the worn out Ryan, who had now readied to jump to him and fight along his side. He then raised his arm and touched the healed wound on his stomach that Rowan had just risked his own life to treat him. Damn it! Let’s do this!

Having fully made up his resolve, the hybrid raised his scythe, pointing at the creature as it leaped down at him from the top of the Royal Tower.
「<HaoS>」Kibadios called out his summon’s name. 「The Primordial Spirit of Fire, come forth and fuse with me. Let’s end this battle right here right now!」

Kibadios had purposely decided to become one with HaoS right away, instead of summoning it in its own physical appearance for this was the only option in which he might ever hope to hide the existence of the Spirit from Adela’s prying eyes. Not that he had much chance since he knew Adela was most likely too smart to be deceived.
Regardless of his concern, HaoS soon came to its master’s aid, its ever glowing flames enveloped the hybrid’s body, then spread to the weapon he was holding. The flame began to grow ever brighter and larger. By the time HaoS finished, its flames had transformed into a giant blade, protruding out from the human sized scythe, which now looked like a mere hilt of an oversized sword. Knowing he could not maintain the fusion form for too long, Kibadios headed straight for the incoming creature, hoping for a quick and decisive clash before his mana would be exhausted. 

「...Ara ara...」Demon Lord Gilga, who has been carefully hidden on the side, was mesmerized by the power emitting from the hybrid-HaoS fusion form to the point she would forget to hide her presence. 「What do we have here?」

「... Sensei?」The hooded figure, one of the few who was observing the fight from the shadow, muttered in disbelief. 「That little monster?」

「Is… Is that HaoS?」Adela was unable to hide her trembling. 「...Zaeryn?」

Chapter 35

His eyes glowed ragingly red. His silky hair grew longer and flickered as an ember in the night. Despite the flame enveloping his bodies, his clothes were completely unburned. The hybrid jumped forward to take on the ever-evolving Celestial Threat creature. As the two clashed, his humongous flaming sword, made up of HaoS’ holy fire,  slammed directly onto the creature’s side. The creature initially was able to withstand the tremendous force of the slash for a few moments, until the flames started to swallow it up like a hungry shark devoured its prey. Even if he was fused with HaoS, Kibadios did not expect to best the creature at its peak power with such an attack. However, what he had hoped for, and successfully achieved, was for the purifying flame to make contact with the <Seed of Chaos> infected Prime Minister and cleansed the pitiful man from the dark influence of the seed. As the flame continued to burn the seemingly impervious creature, it shrieked loudly in agony, creating waves of sonic blast echoing throughout the capitol, strong enough to blast streams of dusts away from the vicinity. With its source of power, the <Seed of Chaos> was burning off, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Kibadios to finish off the creature, yet, the man briefly hesitated. The surprised Adela was standing silently nearby. Although she was dumbfounded by the new development, she still remained calm and appeared to focus her attention on the hybrid, watching every single movement of his. If he decided to continue his attack in the fusion form, he would be revealing more and more clues of his identity to the clever woman. But if he stopped now, the creature would most likely be able to recover in no time.
「Damn it, Kibadios! Think!」The hybrid urged himself. 

「That was beautiful!」A woman's voice spoke to him from behind. 「What is that form you’re in? These burning flames… somehow I feel like I have felt them before.」

… Of course, they are the primordial flames that made up this world. Kibadios thought, though he quickly turned his head to the woman next to him. The purple haired woman was tall, both taller and more muscular than most of the women that the hybrid has known. Heck, despite her beautiful face, she was even more masculine than most of the men in this world. Her unusual stature sort of reminded the hybrid of the female general from Chu in Kingdom, whose name he had already forgotten. Warily glaring at her, the hybrid finally spoke「Who are you?」

「My name is Gilga, Ruler of Uruk, and one of the four Great Demon Lords. You must have heard of me right?」She smiled down at Kibadios.

「That Demon Lord?」The hybrid was surprised. 「What does a Celestial Threat like yourself doing here?」

「Well, I was visiting Lorian on a diplomatic mission, but I guess the timing was unfortunate since I got caught in this whole crazy incident.」The woman moved even closer to the hybrid, her face was mere inches from Kibadios as she softly whispered to the guarded man.「Or maybe it’s fortunate since I get to meet someone as interesting as you here, at what I had always expected to be a mundane trip... I don't know why you’re hesitant to finish off the creature with your moves, dear. Are you also aware of the other two unusual individuals who have been observing this battle intensely all this time?」

Two?

「No answer, huh?」Gilga laughed out loud. 「I think  can take care of this, but you’ll owe me one.」

「... I dont know whatever you’re implying.」Kibadios frowned. 「But if you want to deal with the creature, please know that thing used to be the former Prime Minister of Maeg. 」「Ara ara...」Surprised the demon lord. 「So that is Jayden Stringer? Now now now, then I guess I have to handle that thing with care!」The woman stepped forward, her clothes started to erode away, leaving her completely naked. From her bare, smooth skin, a thick, viscous liquid began to ooze out, covering her whole body until at a certain point, her flesh had also turned transparent. She has undoubtedly taken on an appearance of a slime… No, she was already originally a slime to begin with. She has just merely reverted back to her true form. 

「... Hoh? A slime demon lord? How original.」Kibadios sarcastically commented while witnessing her transformation. Despite changing back into a slime, she still maintained the appearance of a beautiful woman. Though that was not to last since she quickly melted down into a large blob, then inflated her size and projected her whole body toward the recovering creature and gobbled it whole at a lightning speed. By the time the weakened creature realized what happened, it was already trapped within the demon lord’s slimy body. At first, it began to struggle, trying to slash its way out of the demon lord’s stomach. Still, all was in vain since none of its physical attacks managed to affect the demonic slime. Even its miasma was being absorbed into the demon lord’s own Haki while its energy blasts were quickly neutralized by the slime fluidic body before they could be projected. Although Kibadios knew the creature was extremely weakened by HaoS’ purifying flames, the feats of the demon lord’s performance was no joke. In less than five minutes, the showdown between the creature and those who risked their lives to fight against it came to an anti-climatic end as its body ceased to move around. With the potent force of the <Seed of Chaos> being extinguished, the creature slowly transformed back to the human named Jayden Stringer, floating naked within Demon Lord Gilga’s transparent body. The demonic slime tenderly pushed the unconscious Prime Minister out of her body before transforming back to the large woman. 

「Phew… That was much more taxing than I would have predicted.」Gilga wiped away the sweat on her forehand. 

「... How did you do it? You made it seem so easy. I don't think even I could revert the Prime Minister back, not after he got infected with so many <Seed of Chaos> like that. 」Kibadios, having reverted back to his old self and dismissed HaoS away after confirming Gilga’s victory, curiously asked the demon lord. 

「 Well, it was no easy tasks.」Gilga looked at the Prime Minister lying on the ground. 「Though, I can’t claim all of the credits. After all, this man’s willpower was what made it possible.」... Though did he just say “Not even I”? Who is this young man here?

「Gilga sama!!!」A man ran toward the demon lord, holding a large white cloak and hurriedly covered the woman. Not that she minded since she continued to ask the hybrid questions about his identity without caring for the fact that her breasts and private parts were still completely exposed since the cloak was merely wrapped on her shoulder. 

「Please, Gilga sama!」The attendant begged, disrupting the demon lord. 「At least cover yourself.」

「Why? Or else it would turn you on, Raz-kun?」Gilga teasingly traced her finger upward along the man’s slender neck, then sensually held his chin up. 「I don't mind sharing a bed with you tonight.」Her suggestive gestures completely knocked out the blushing man as his head exploded in embarrassment, having been forced to look straight at the woman’s bare breast.

「What a weirdo...」said Kibadios. The hybrid has already switched his attention to his two unconscious slaves and tended to their wounds.  

「Ara ara… Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black?」

「...」

------------------------------

「... What was that?」In an abandoned corner of the capital, Adela slammed her fist onto the broken wall. 「That was clearly HaoS, wasn’t it? It has not been spotted since that man was executed, why it just appeared here… Or was it really HaoS...」

「Of course that was HaoS.」The hooded figure appeared behind the distraught Astral. 「Even if it was not taking its physical form, there is no denying that it was HaoS. The question for you and the Astrals, though, is “Who is that hybrid?”」

「... What are you doing here? Lurking around like a pathetic cockroach.」Adela turned around, confronting the figure. 

「Don't talk down to me when your homunculus body does not possess the power to back your feisty spirit up, Princess.」The figure raised his arm, conjuring several iron chains to restrict the Astral’s movement.「Looks like your plan failed. Even if you planted so many <Seed of Chaos> within that Prime Minister, transforming him into a nascent Celestial Threat, this was all the havocs it could cause.」

「...It would have massacred the whole country had there been no intervention from that hybrid or that Irregularity .」Adela briefly struggled for a moment before giving up, knowing the limit of her power.

「... Yet, here we are. Your plan did fail due to the interventions that you were not able to foresee. Somehow, after 10000 years, this world has, once again, become interesting.」The hooded man swiftly decapitated the Astral’s head and held it close to his face, green blood dripped down from its freshly sliced off neck. 「Wouldn’t you agree, Princess?」Of course, there was no answer from the detached head since the homunculus body quickly turned into dust. 

「Sensei, welcome back!」The man looked at the direction where the hybrid was at. 「What was the solution that you have arrived at, I wonder…」

Updated on a later date:

Great Demon Lord Gilga of Uruk

ツシマ (PIXIV ID: 411873)

Millions thanks to them, who accepted my request and finished it in like a week (and at a kinda cheap rate, relatively speaking for the quality of the picture too... I feel bad since I didn't know they will put this much effort into it lol)

Chapter 36

「I am sorry that I was not able to meet with you sooner, Kibadios dono. I personally want to thank you for what you have done for us. Without you and demon lord Gilga, who knows what could have happened.」Lance placed his cup of tea down onto the table and greeted Kibadios the moment he walked in. The newly crowned king was sitting in a large temporarily constructed tent on the decimated palace ground. Unlike the decoratively majestic clothing that he was seen wearing when first meeting the hybrid, the king was now wearing a simple white shirt, a permanent exhausted look has been on his face ever since the incident a week ago.「... Or should I call you by your real name, Zaeryn dono? And please don't be on guard, with the spell being cast onto this tent, no one can listen to our conversion here.」

「...」Kibadios froze for a second before regaining his composure. 「Please call me Kibadios. The person named Zaeryn died eons ago. So, did Jayden tell you about my identity?」The hybrid sat down on the chair opposite the king. 

「Yes.」

「And you believe him.」

「Yes. I have never doubted anything he told me before… Ha! I guess that’s why it was so easy for him to trick me.」

「And what else did he tell you?」

「... He told me everything. About what he did, about who was behind it all, and most importantly, he asked me to help you with your goal」Lance let out a weary smile. 

「I understood why he agreed to help me. But why would he ask you?」Kibadios puzzled.

「He knows that I would never be able to decline his request...」Lance sighed. 「...given how much I loved him.」

「Love?」

「Say, Kibadios dono, do you know what it's like to grow up in royalty?」Lance turned to the hybrid.「... It’s suffocating. It’s miserable. And it’s lonely. Everyone around you was either out to get you or use you. Every new day is a new battlefield. At least that’s how I felt until I met him. The genius kid who underwent training for the Prime Minister position when he was merely 11 years old. Ever since our first meeting, unknowingly, he has saved me from the depth of despair just by being here with me.」

「Did he know of your feelings?」Kibadios was curious

「Probably on some level.」Lance admitted. 「But I knew we could never be together. After all, it is the duty of both the royalty members and head of the Stringer family to produce future heirs. I was just happy to be next to him. Eventually, Reena came to our lives and we became an inseparable trio. When I learned of Jayden’s feelings for her, I was happy for him. At least I think I did... I really don’t want to admit it, but the moment I learned of Reena’s death… the moment I learned that one of my best friend had died, amidst those anger feelings, I could felt a hint of relief.」

「Relief?」

「Yes, I was relieved that I would not lose Jayden, and that again, I would be his number one.」Lance looked as if he was ashamed of himself. 「Little did I know, that was the beginning of a nightmarish tragedy that both Jayden and I could never wake up from. Maybe, everything that happened were to be the punishments for my selfishness.」

「You’re only a human.」said Kibadios 「Not a saint. No one can ever get rid of their own ugly emotions, no matter how noble they believe they are. Why blame yourself for things that were out of your controls? You cannot change the past.」

「... I guess you're right.」Lance looked straight at the hybrid. 「Still, I can do something about the future. Back in his cell, when Jayden asked me to help you, I was hesitant. It was terrible what has happened, what the Astral has done to my Jayden, my citizens, and my kingdom. But it has helped me decide. I will help you, Kibadios dono. If what happened to this capital is nothing but a taste of the “harvest” to come, then I cannot sit back and do nothing.」

「You do know, though, that the outcome of my plan and the upcoming “Harvest” conducted by the Astrals will be the same. A majority of lives in Esthar will still perish.」

「... And that’s why it took me a week to come to this conclusion.」Lance confessed. 「But I realized that if your plan works, this era here would be the last time such an apocalyptic event would happen.」

「I see. You are telling me you’re willing to trade your own life, the lives of your citizens, the lives of most beings in Esthar for a future that you won't personally get to experience.」Kibadios confirmed. 「So tell me, was it because you believe it’s the right thing to do, or was it because you want to avenge for Jayden, someone you love?」

「I guess it’s a bit of both.」Lance smiled. 「Though I get what you’re saying. Vengeance is indeed a terrifying motivation force.」

「... Exactly.」Kibadios nodded. 「Nonetheless, I’m grateful for your assistance, King Lance of Maeg. I promise, together, we will destroy the false sense of superiority that the Astrals enjoy.」

「Thank you, Kibadios dono.」Lance nodded back. 「I don't want to keep you here for long. Please go and enjoy the festival outside. I will join them soon.」

------------------------

The Autumn Festival, one of Maeg’s four great celebrations, was always to be held on the last day of Fall. Its origin could be traced back to hundreds of years ago, when Maeg was first founded by the Atkinsor dynasty. Since Maeg used to be an agricultural kingdom, with the majority of its citizens participating in the planting and growing of their own food, the end of the harvest season in the Fall has always been a joyous occasion. The Festival was first held to celebrate farmers’ successful harvest and trade of their farm goods. In the beginning, the event usually lasted for the whole two weeks. Though, as Maeg became more and more industrialized, the length of the celebration has decreased to one week. Nonetheless, the same cannot be said of the intensity of the festive celebration. Usually, the streets of Lorian would be lit brightly up at night, with its citizens discarding away all their worryings while singing, dancing, shouting, eating, and enjoying their lives to the fullest in that short time. This year, though, the festival has taken on a new purpose: it served as a desperately needed emotional support for the citizens of Lorian. And so, despite the grieves, their Autumn Festival still took place as before, albeit on top of the piles of rubble and ruins that used to be the majestic city. 

Humans turn out to be more resilient than I give them credit for. I guess there’s a reason why they have always been the dominant species throughout the millennia, Kibadios thought to himself as he watched the group of Lorian citizens dancing their sorrow away around a large bonfire erected at what used to be the famous marketplace. Although people would normally gather in small groups and sit close to the central bonfire, the hybrid’s group has purposely chosen a secluded corner in the area to sit in isolation while observing the unexpectedly festive dances. After all, Kibadios has been elevated to some sort of a celebrity status within Lorian for having taken part in the battle against the <Seed of Chaos> infected creature so getting noticed by the citizens would be the last thing that he wanted. And yes, all they knew was that Kibadios took part in the battle and not that he was the one who dealt the decisive blow. The reason was because at the time Kibadios fused with HaoS, asides from people in his own travelling group and the unconscious Kyles, only Yllaner was around to witness his transformation and the subsequent fight. At his and Ryan’s request, although they did not give her a reason, Yllaner has agreed not to tell anyone about what she saw. 

「If even Ryan kun is asking me a favor to keep secrets about you, then I shall. After all, you did save us, Kibadios. But one day, I hope you can let me know what happened back then.」was all she said while holding onto Kyles’ hand, who laid unconscious on the bed.

 For the confused citizens, the story that Lance went with, was that the creature was being defeated by the Demon Lord Gilga single-handedly. Of course Gilga eagerly accepted the credit since it would help her city-state build an even friendlier relationship with not only the humans in the kingdom of Maeg but also in other kingdoms around the area. Though, at the time, during the closed door meeting between Gilga, Lance, and Kibadios himself, the demon lord shot the hybrid a seductive look after agreeing to the narrative the hybrid came up with and declared 「I guess you really do owe me a favor, Kibadios-kun.」

「So what did the king say during your private meeting, Master?」Maia walked up to the hybrid from behind, her soft voice brought him back to the present.

「That he knew everything about me.」Answered Kibadios.「... and that he promised to assist me in reaching my end goal.」

「Really? How did he know?」Rowan was surprised. 

「Apparently, Jayden told him when he was still locked in the cell on the airship.」

「Can we really trust him? Given how the situations are unraveling much faster than you have expected, could he be an Astral’s pawn?」

「What do you mean?」

「I mean, since there’s a chance Adela knew your identity when she saw you fused with HaoS, maybe she’s controlling the King from the shadow, making him appear to ally with us and gain your trust.」

「Haaaa...」

「I dont think so.」Kibadios shook his head.「I mean, there’s always that possibility, but still, I think I’ll believe him this time.」

「Why?」

「Well, it’s just the story that he poured his heart out to tell me, I don't think he’s lying.」

「We will follow your judgement, Master.」Maia agreed. 「But what are you going to do about Adela?」

「Haaaa...」

「Even if she knew who I was, I don't think we should be concerned about her telling the other Astrals about my existence.」Kibadios thought for a moment. 「Adela is extremely vindictive but that’s also one of her weaknesses. She always prefers to personally settle her conflict with others. She enjoys the excitement of breaking and destroying her opponents by her own hands. And so to that end, I can confidently predict that she will keep my identity a secret, all so that she can have me to herself, for her to toy with.」

「But that would still prove to be a problem though, right?」Maia was concerned. 「After all, she’s an Astral. Asides from Ryuu, not many of us can deal with her.」

「Not necessary.」Kibadios smiled. 「I’m a bit weary of having to deal with her scheme but currently, Ryuu isnt the only one who can match her power.」

「Haaaa...」The dejected dragonoid, who was sitting in his own self-imposed isolated corner of the camp, sighed for the third time.

「After my battle with the creature, I have leveled up quite a bit. Not to brag but I think I can evenly fight against Ryuu. If it’s a straight up one on one battle, I can definitely take her on.」Kibadios walked to where the curled up dragonoid sat and patted him gently. 「Again, Ryuu. It’s not your fault that she found out about me. Don’t keep blaming yourself.」

「But Kibadios sama...」Ryuu looked up at his master with his puppy eyes. 「I had her! If only I did not let she escape, she would not have seen your transformation.」

「Well, there’s nothing you can do right? So what’s the point of thinking about it.」

「That’s right, Ryuu kun.」Rowan patted him on his back. 「Besides, it’s also our fault that master had to call forth HaoS to protect us. Don't be too harsh on yourself.」

「Hmm...」Ryuu was still pouting, though it seemed as though he had cooled down a bit.

「That reminds me.」Kibadios turned to Rowan and Maia. 「You two should also have leveled up considerably, right?」

「「Of course!」」Both the slaves grinned proudly.

「That’s good! Soon enough, we have to deal with her coming after us. Keep up your trainings!」Kibadios nodded.

「Who’s coming after you, “enigma” kunnnn?」A familiar voice spoke up. 

「Gilga dono.」noted Kibadios. 「You should not have sneaked up on us like that.」

「Well, I was just walking by after having enjoyed such a delicious snack at the food stand on the other alley.」Gilga smiled. 「I didn't mean to eavesdrop, not that I have heard anything other that someone is after you.」

「That is already too much information.」Kibadios laughed.

「... Now now now, dont be stingy!」Gilga has already stepped right next to the hybrid and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, much to the annoyance of his two slaves and the sulking dragonoid.「I have already selflessly agreed to go with the story you and Lance concocted to hide your power from all those prying eyes of the public, at least you should tell me more about yourself, “enigma” kun. Who are you really?」

「Selflessly?」Kibadios laughed. 「Our fake story benefitted you greatly, Gilga dono. It is you who should thank me. And to answer your question, my name is Kibadios, a hybrid. Though I’m sure I have already told you this before.」

「Aw come on. That can’t be all that is.」said the demon lord. 「How did you get involved with Jayden kun? Why did Jayden kun get transformed into such a hideous creature? Who did that? Is that the same person who is after you? And again, who are you really, Kibadios kun? You can’t be just any hybrid. That spirit that you summoned was clearly no ordinary spirit either.」Gilga’s hand was now seductively sliding underneath the hybrid’s shirt, then she slowly pulled out Nu, who was hiding inside his clothes.「and more importantly, you tamed this thing.」

「Nu?」Kibadios annoyingly pushed Gilga’s hand away. 「How do you know it?」

「Is that its name now?」Gilga grabbed tightly onto the slimy monster. 「This is my offspring. Or my clone? I dont know what would be the technical term here, but it was born from my body. I released thousands of these across the world to gather intel on my behalf, but strangely, this slime here, although being born from my body, refused to tell me anything about you.」

「Chiii!」Nu seemed to struggle to break free from Gilga’s hand.

「It seems like it has grown much stronger too… and somehow, its link to myself has been severed.」

「Hmm, I guess that’s a given since instead of using the Haki you provided to it, Nu has been continuously absorbing my Haki instead. Since it has not utilized your Haki, your link to it has been disrupted.」Kibadios grabbed Gilga’s wrist, forcing her to release Nu back to his custody. 「I’m surprised though, that Nu was originally your spy… but too bad for you, it is now mine.」

「Yes. I can see that. Well, whatever.」Gilga shrugged. 「Sooner or later, I think I will get to know your whole story. I can’t wait for that day to come.」Gilga gave the hybrid a large bottle before walking away, toward the dancing crowd.「Consider this my gift. It’s an alcohol distilled in Uruk. It’s considered an Uruk specialty. You’re supposed to be wasted by the end of the Autumn Festival so what’s the better excuse to drink this? And tell your friend there to relax, I have no desire to fight him.」

「It’s alright, Ryuu. Control your Haki.」commanded Kibadios.

「But!」Ryuu was pissed but he obediently stood down… But she dared to touch your body, Kibadios sama! Ryuu was screaming in his head.

「Oh well, meeting the Celestial Threat demon lord was beyond my plan but I guess at least we still have a somewhat amicable relationship.」Kibadios noted once Gilga had disappeared into the crowd. 「Could you take her on, Ryuu?」

「... I would like to say yes, but truly, even I cannot gauge her power.」Ryuu honestly answered.

「Same here.」Kibadios agreed.

「I guess it’s best not to make her our enemy then.」Rowan concluded.

「Anyways, who wants some alcohol?」Kibadios picked up Gilga’s gift. 「Too bad Ryan is not here, but the four of us can share this! It has been a while since I had any drop of alcohol. Around 10000 years to be exact!」

「How can we know if there’s any poison in this?」Ryuu suspiciously asked.

「I can guarantee you there’s no poison in there.」Maia, the poison specialist, confirmed.

「Alright then! Let’s get in the festival’s “Hakuna Matata” spirit and try this Uruk’s specialty!」Kibadios smiled, to which all of his followers agreed, without knowing what “Hakuna Matata” even meant.

.

.

.

And so morning came. And apparently so did Kibadios, for the hybrid’s face has turned as white as Gintoki in episode 239. His erect cock was buried deep inside someone as usual, yet this time, something was different… well, this “someone” was different. It was neither Maia, Rowan, or Ryan. This person had a long reptilian tail protruding out from his perfectly round ass. Some of the glistening scales could be seen attached on his otherwise white smooth hips.

Shit! What did I do? Kibadios internally screamed as he slowly pulled his throbbing cock out of the naked man’s asshole.

「Ha… Ahhhh」A soft moaning sound escaped his mouth as he slowly opened his eyes. His face turned bright red as he looked at his master with uttermost adoration.「... Kibadios sama!」

 

Update on later date:

Jayden and Lance in their teenage years. Artist: Yakota (やこた) Pixiv ID: 5400014 (https://skeb.jp/@sg_uk_yako)

Notes:

I'm really trying to draw a sex scene based on some dj as a reference but I don't think I can finish it. Too bad because it'd be perfect as illustration for the next chapter... We'll see if I can do it.

Chapter 37

Notes:

POORRRNNN!!!!

「Hic...」

「Hicc...」

「Hiccc...」

One gulp. One gulp of alcohol was all it took to transform the mighty hybrid into a complete mess. His usual cold and calm expression has been replaced by a beet red oblivious one in mere seconds after he had his first taste of alcohol in this lifetime. Both Rowan and Maia were blinking wide in disbelief while Ryuu hurried next to his master to support the wobbling hybrid.

「Wait a minute...」Rowan’s eyebrows were twitching when he suddenly remembered the tiny detail that might explain the hybrid’s extreme low tolerance of alcohol. 「... Wasn’t master technically only 2 years old.」

「That’s right!」Maia gasped. 「Does it mean he would only have the tolerance of a 2 years old kid?」

「No way… right?」

「Ahhh~~~」Kibadios’ vision was swirling around, his face was wearing a silly smile that none of his slaves have seen before. 「Th--- Thanks, Ryuuuu tannnn! Man… Somehow I can’t even stand still.」

「Yo, alchemist girl! Are you sure there’s no poison in the alcohol?」Ryuu was worried.

「No, of course not! After all, we all drank some.」dismissed Maia.

「Ryuu kun… I think Master is just drunk.」Rowan walked to the hybrid and supported his other side. 

「Ahh, Rowan-tannn!」The hybrid’s face was brightened up the moment Rowan came to him. 「You’re so cute, my Rowan tan!」His hand quickly grabbed onto the guy’s ass.「Have I ever told you how cute you are? Hic…Wait, or do you prefer to be called handsome?」

Now, it was Rowan’s face to blush beet red. After all, aside from being excited about his power’s growth rate, his master rarely complimented or made any statements about his appearance before. Of course, the “Your asshole is so tight, Rowan! ” comment that Kibadios would usually make while fucking him silly did not carry the same weight as “How cute you are.” 「Either… Either is fine, master...」Rowan adorably muttered, completely forgetting the fact that his master’s hand was now playing with his ass as if they were in their own private room. 

「Master!」Maia walked hastily to the hybrid. 「Please watch your hand. We’re still out...」

Before Maia could finish her sentence, the hybrid leapt forward, his hands placed on either side of the alchemist’s face and gave the girl an unexpected deep french kiss. The girl quickly melted to the incubus’ kiss, her mind only cleared up once the hybrid released her from his embrace.

「D-Dont worry, Maiaaa tann! You’re cute … beautiful too! Hiccc. Did I ever tell.. Hiccc...you guys how much I love you guys?」Kibadios wobbled for a few seconds before his hand reached out to Ryuu. Somehow, the dragonoid looked a bit annoyed. Before the hybrid could say something, his consciousness quickly left him. 

「I’ll take Master back to his tent.」volunteered Ryuu. Not caring for the other two human’s replies, the dragonoid wrapped his master’s arm around his shoulder and led him back to the tent to sleep. 

「Thanks, Ryuu kun. Be careful」Maia nodded. 

「He seems upset.」Rowan noted once both Ryuu and Kibadios had walked away. 

「Of course he would.」smiled Maia. 「Imagine if Kibadios sama only pays intimate attention to Ryan chan and leaves you out, how would you feel? Especially for Ryuu kun, who has worshiped and devoted his life for Master for thousands of years, it’d be weird if he was fine with it.」

「You’re telling me Ryuu kun wants to be in Master’s harem? Now that you mentioned about it, he was a bit down when Master said there was no need for him to get the incubus crest too.」

「Yeah. Though if Ryuu wants to be part of Master’s harem, now would be his best chance since Master’s inhibition is completely gone. I wonder if he will join us and Ryan.」

「I don't mind sharing Master with him but I don't feel like he would take the initiative though.」Rowan wondered. 「Anyways, speaking of Ryan, is he still with the Princess?」

 「Yeah, last I talked to him, he was still looking after Kyles. I don't think there’s any progress on his recovery, even after he was taken care of by the royal doctors.」

「... You know that when Kyles suffered his injury, I was thinking of running over there to cast my <Flame of Restoration> on him.」Rowan’s face turned grim. 「Though, seeing how Master was dealing with the creature and knowing that I could only cast <Flame of Restoration> once every day, I hesitated. I couldn’t risk performing the skill on Kyles and left Master vulnerable. It turned out my judgement was right and that my skill was needed to save our Master. Still, I feel ashamed every time I face Ryan chan afterward… If only I was stronger.」

「Dont worry, Rowan」Maia gave the conflicting boy a comforting hug. 「I’m sure Ryan understands and he would do the same if he was in your position.」

-------------

The tent erected for the hybrid located next to the palace ground. It was large and decorated with a few royal emblems, befitting a place for a guest of honor of Maeg. Though, just like many other temporary tents constructed throughout the capital, there was not much inside but a simple bed.

「Easy… easy there, Kibadios sama!」Ryuu carefully placed his master down onto the bed. Once he was peacefully snoring in his sleep, the dragonoid slowly ran his hands along his beloved master’s face, up to his flowing hair. 「I wonder if you don't see me as your descendants, would you judge me to be good enough, just like the humans, to be part of your harem, Kibadios sama...」The dragonoid let out a faint smile, thinking of the “what if” scenario where he got to serve his master intimately in his head, before bowing down, letting his soft, full lips slightly touch the hybrid’s. Knowing he did not have the courage to embrace his master, Ryuu slowly stood up and turned around, intending to walk out of the tent and letting his master sleep through the night. Yet, his movement was restricted as he felt a hand grabbed onto his wrist. 

「Huh? Mas...」Ryuu was planning to turn to his master to ask whether he needed any assistance, but the hand quickly pulled the dragonoid backward, causing him to fall down. Though, it did not hurt at all… Rather, Ryuu found himself landed onto the hybrid’s soft embrace, his back fitted neatly against his master’s stomach while his master’s arms have already crossed around his body, hugging him tightly. In that intoxicated moment, having sat neatly on the hybrid’s laps, he could feel something rising from the hybrid’s crotch area and it’s not the Shield hero. Ryuu’s whole body was burning up and turning red as he realized his buttocks were now feeling his master’s raging boner. Despite him struggling to sit up for Ryuu believed he was unworthy of receiving his master’s “love”, his reptilian tails were betraying himself for it was wagging excitedly as a dog, then instinctively wrapped around Kibadios’ firm body. 

「Ryuuuu tannn!!!」Kibadios affectionately called out the dragon’s name as he slightly nipped his nape from behind. 「Stayyy hereeee with meeee! Why are you trying… hic… trying to get way from me? Do… Do you hateee me or what?」

「Of course not, Kibadios sama!」Ryuu quickly denied the hybrid’s suggestion. 「I just dont think I’m good enough to… you know...」

「What?」Kibadios hands had now pulled the top part of Ryuu’s traditional Japanese clothes down. Besides small batches of crystal-like scales on both sides of his curvy hip, Ryuu’s skin was as white and smooth as a young maiden. Even Maia might have been jealous of the smooth and softness of his body. 「What do you… you mean not good enough?? You’re...hic… You’re adorable, Ryuu tannn! Just like a little puppy! I could just eat you up~~!!!!」The drunk hybrid sniffed the back of Ryuu’s burning hot ears while playing rough with the dragonoid’s now exposed nipples, pushing, pulling, and twitching them, causing the young man to writhe in pleasure. 「Ahhh… Your breasts are so cuteeee! This is the… what’s it called… punishment! Yes, punishment for waking me up with a kiss and just left without doing what naturally comes next.」

「Haaa!!」Ryuu moaned out. 「I’m… I’m sorry, Master!... Hiiiii!!!!」Ryuu tried to suppress an unfamiliar high pitch voice that came out from his mouth.

「Huh?」Kibadios hands quickly moved down along Ryuu’s stomach, then slid inside his pants. 「Did you cum just from my touch, Ryuu tan??」asked the hybrid, though he did not need any confirmation as his hand was now wrapping around Ryuu’s erected, cum coated cock. 

「I’m sorry, Kibadios sama! Let me clean your hands.」

「What? Hicc.. I can clean them myself.」Kibadios dismissed Ryuu then licked the dragonoid’s cum right off his own hands. 「... Mmmm.. Delicioussss… Wanna try?」Again, not waiting for Ryuu’s response, the hybrid pulled his head closer then kissed the young man, dashing his wet tongue around his mouth and shared what was left of the dragonoid’s cum with him. The kiss went on for more than five minutes. By the end, Ryuu was reduced to nothing but a moaning mess. Kibadios creepily smiled, then pushed Ryuu down onto his bed while skillfully removing what was left of the young man’s disheveled clothes. His own clothes were next to be discarded. Soon enough, both men were equally naked. 「Now, let’s get started!」Kibadios declared, then rubbed his own throbbing cock onto Ryuu’s. Despite having cummed once, Ryuu’s 10 inches cock was now standing erected, pleasure coursing through his whole body as the cock of the being who he has been idolized since his childhood was now caressing his own. 

「Haa… Kibadios sama...」was all he could whisper before the hybrid swooped down for another kiss. With both his mouth and cock being toyed with by his master, it was not long until he came the second time, shooting much of his cum onto his torso, which the hybrid was, again, eager to lick away. While cleaning cum off Ryuu’s chest, Kibadios made sure to bite down at his breast, causing him to convulse several times as he felt the hybrid’s teeth sank down into his sensitive skin. By the time Kibadios finished, dozens of hickies and teeth marks were left throughout his once smooth skin. 「Ryuuu tannnn!!!」Kibadios stupidly smiled at the half conscious dragonoid lying beneath him. 「Let’s move onto the real thing!」

「Real… thing?」

「Yesshhh」Kibadios leaned down, sliding his body against Ryuu’s, then whispered into his ear.「You’ll love it, Ryuu tannn」

「Haa… I...」

With his two fingers, the hybrid inched closer to the dragonoid’s twitching hole. After slowly swirling around the entrance, causing his submissive follower to moan and squirm around, the hybrid finally inserted his fingers inside and spread his asshole wide open, letting a bit of his own cum to drip down along his crotch into the hole to act as lubricant. 

「Hiii!」

「Did I just find your prostate, Ryuu tan?」Smiled Kibadios as he licked off his servant’s sweat on his face. 

「Haaa… There!!!」Ryuu admitted. 

「Good!」Wasting no time, Kibadios hurriedly thrusted his rod straight inside the dragonoid’s dripping hole while Ryuu’s arms were now wrapping around his beloved master’s broad back. Thanks to having his reptilian tail, the dragonoid’s hungry asshole was already elevated at the perfect angle to receive the hybrid’s cock. One thrust was all it took for Ryuu to almost pass out from the unfamiliar intense pleasure that was coursing throughout his body. His toes curled up. His nails sank into the hybrid’s back. Along with his saliba, a high pitched shrieking sound found itself escaping from Ryuu’s mouth. His legs instinctively wrapped themselves around the hybrid’s ass, helping his master to pound his asshole. The drunk hybrid continued to fuck Ryuu into oblivions, his cum filled balls slammed hard into the dragonoid’s ass until he finally shoot his seed deep inside. Thinking it was almost over, the exhausted Ryuu was going to sit up, only to find the hybrid flipped his body around and continued to fuck him doggy style while his hands pulled and twitched his overstimulated nipples as if he was milking a cow. Fully giving in to the pain and pleasure his master was giving him, Ryuu’s consciousness slowly drifted away while a pink incubus crest began to take shape above his crotch…

「I AM SO SORRY, RYUU KUNN!」             「I AM SO SORRY, KIBADIOS SAMA!」

Both the master and the servant bowed down to each other as they woke up in the morning, fully aware of what they did during the night. For the hybrid, he had let his impulse take over his clouded mind and fucked someone who he considered his descendant while Ryuu was ashamed that he had given in to his lust and offered his unworthy body to his master, who he had always idolized as his god. 

「Wait… Why are you apologizing?」asked Kibadios

「Last night… I knew you’re not of a sound mind, yet, I was so happy that you wanted to fuck me to the point that I did not stop you… I should have known better!」

「What are you talking about...」Kibadios scratched his head, unable to look straight at the naked Ryuu.「Obviously I was in the wrong… I was so drunk that I pushed you down… Arghh!」

「... Am I really not good enough for you, Kibadios sama?」Ryuu timidly asked when seeing his master’s frustration.

「Huh? No, that’s not what I meant.」The hybrid quickly comforted the dragonoid once he noticed his naked servant was now on verge of crying.「 It’s just I’m supposed to be your elder. What would Ryuujin say if he finds down I’m fucking his grandson...Ahhh...」

「It’s my privilege to be of use to you, Master! And it’s my privilege to be able to satisfy your sexual urge too...」Ryuu looked up at Kibadios with his puppy eyes. 「I’m sure Ryuujin would be proud I was able to serve you… in however way you like.」

「...」Kibadios was now hugging Ryuu since the dragonoid had leaned into his embrace. Thinking for a brief moment, the hybrid continued 「Are you sure you’re fine with me doing you?」

「Of course master!」Ryuu nodded. 「As long as you need me, I’d do whatever you ask of me.」

「Then that settles it! Welcome to Master’s harem, Ryuu chan!」A feminine voice excitedly declared. 

「Maia?」Kibadios turned around, only to see Maia happily smile at him. 

「Goodmorning, master!」greeted the alchemist. 「I have drawn a bath for you. It’s in the tent next door. You should take a bath to wake you up from that hangover.」

Hangover? That’s right… Kibadios’ head was still heavy as fuck. 「Thanks, Ma...」Suddenly, just how he remembered what happened with Ryuu, he just remembered a faint memory relating to Rowan and Maia, about how he confessed to them how much he loved them. 「... Say, Maia… Did I say anything to you and Rowan last night?」

「Huh?」Maia pretended to look puzzling.「Like what? You were so drunk right after you took a sip of that alcohol that it almost knocked you out cold. We had Ryuu chan bring you here. When we came back, we realized you were having fun with Ryuu chan so we did not want to interfere.」Maia winked at the dragonoid.「After all, it’s his first time with Master.」

「Is that so?」Kibadios shook his head. Weird, I remembered something different but then it was so fuzzy, I don't know if it happened or not… 「Then forget it. Ryuu, wants to join me?」

「Not now, master...」Ryuu’s face was bright red once he realized he was looking at Kibadios naked.「I think if I see you naked anymore, I’d die of happiness… I’ll wash myself later. But, before you go, I just want to make sure… Is it really okay for me to be part of your harem?」

「... Yeah… If you’re fine with it. After all that happened yesterday, I need to take responsibility right?」

「Thanks Master!」Ryuu eagerly nodded, unable to hide his own excitement. Waiting until Kibadios left the tent, Ryuu turned to the alchemist girl. 「Why did you lie to master?」

「What?」

「About what he told you and Rowan when he was drunk.」

「Well, I think Master will feel really conflicted if he learns what he told us when he was drunk. After all, we are only his servants, his slaves who tried our best to serve him. He had only considered us as his tools, at least that’s how he wants us to feel. Let’s just pretend he did not say anything last night.」Maia gave Ryuu a smile.「Maybe, one day, when he’s more true to his heart, we will tell him.」

「...Uhm」

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited at later date:

Thanks to まくろ for their wonderful illustration.
Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@ashwing_makuro

Pixiv ID: 52006

They usually accept the request in less than a day and finish the picture in mere hours. They're by far the fastest illustrator I found :D (though the trade off is that their drawing is not as clean when zooming in to edit, but seriously, I can't tell just by looking at the picture on normal zoom.)

R18 WARNING!

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Notes:

One more epilogue chapter and that's it for this arc. :D
Comment your thought so far. I'd probably wouldn't respond but I'd love to hear what you think of the story so far.
It's funny cuz I never thought I'd go this far. If I didn't post it online, this story probably would end at chapter 6-7 just like my prototype story lol

Chapter 38

Since the majority of the capital was reduced to rubbles, the hybrid did not expect much hospitality, even if he was one of their honored guests. Yet, despite all of what happened, the royal court was still able to afford for their savior a large bathtub, placed in the middle of the tent next to the hybrid’s. He was now soaking himself in the warm water, half of his face submerged under the water as he thought back of what happened last night and how he had just added Ryuu into his ever growing harem. 

「I’m sorry Ryuujin...」Kibadios shook his head. 「Though just as I said, I’ll take full responsibility for Ryuu.」He spoke to himself. Though, what did that even mean, he wondered. Of course he did not see Ryuu as mere sex toys for him to relieve his sexual urge like he once did with the other three slaves, but did that mean Ryuu could be considered his ‘partner’. Once ? Kibadios suddenly realized. Did I really just think ‘once’ ? Splashing the bathtub water onto his face, letting his mind blank out for a moment, he continued his revelation. The question of ‘What do the three so-called slaves even mean to him’ soon occupied his thought. He had always assumed they meant nothing more than tools for him to satisfy his sexual needs. But then, if that was the case, he could have abandoned all of them to perish in the wrath of the chaos infected creature. He should have. After all, he had just gained Ryuu and Ryuu was clearly much stronger than Rowan, Maia, and Ryan combined. Having him alone should have been enough to continue carrying out his plan. Yet… Yet, why did he jump out from his hiding place just to rescue his two hapless slaves, who were supposed to be disposable? He knew saving them would perilize his whole plan for vengeance against the Astral, but at that moment, he just instinctively moved. Am I becoming more compassionate? Is it the residue morality from past lives that made me save them? But… I was content with watching those soldiers and citizens alike die in front of me… What then, are Rowan, Maia, and Ryan to me?

「Kibadios sama?」A voice called out to the hybrid, bringing him back from his deep thought. 「Mind if I join you?」

「Ryan?」Kibadios turned around. 「... Of course.」He nodded, noticing the young hero’s exhaustion. He and Yllaner have been watching over Kyles days and nights for a week now since the gravely wounded hero has yet made progress on his recovery. As Ryan slowly removed his worn out clothes, Kibadios’ cock began to rise up under the warm water. He had not fucked the young hero for a while given the circumstances, so now, seeing his naked body and his bare and perky pink nipples has caused the half incubus to be aroused again. 

「I’m sorry I have not been with you lately, Master.」Ryan acknowledged while getting into the tub. 

「It’s fine. How’s Kyles?」

「He still has yet to wake up. He did not respond to the treatments, either.」Answered Ryan worryingly. At the close distance, his master could easily see the dark circles under his eyes. 

「...Come here」Kibadios instinctively pulled Ryan into his embrace, surprising the hero and himself. Though he was going to end such an affectionate gesture, seeing how his slaves seemed to have already melted into his hug, the hybrid just kept it going. 「... Dont worry, Ryan. Your brother will be alright.」

「Thanks, Master!」Ryan wrapped his arms around the hybrid. 「...I miss you.」

「I know. I know.」

「I heard from Rowan chan that you had fun last night.」Ryan finally broke off the hug and smiled at his master.「Though it seems like you’re still not satisfied.」One of the hero’s hands was now moving down, caressing his master’s throbbing cock.「... Please fuck me, Master... I have not felt you inside me for so long...」Kibadios simply nodded, noticing how Ryan seemed to be on the verge of crying. Soon enough, the young hero was riding on his master’s cock while having his nipples sucked and bitten. Yet, both of them could feel the sex they were having was different from the wild nightly session they had before. Somehow, for the both of them, this moment somehow felt much more intimate than they ever had been with one another…

… This... is nice… 

-------------

The monk’s hands were shaking as he read the newspaper detailing the destruction of Lorian due to the appearance of the <Seed of Chaos> infected creature. This was a deja vu feeling for the monk since just a few weeks ago, it was the news about the untimely death of Corey, his sworn brother, that sent him into a state of total shock and denial. Though, as cunning as he was, he quickly realized the danger he was in. Knowing Corey was fixating on targeting the hybrid, Desmond knew that the mysterious death of the despicable hero could only mean Corey was killed by the hybrid group instead. Improbable but not impossible was the conclusion that he arrived at before hurriedly escaping from the capital. Although the chance that Kibadios discovered the connection between him and Corey was slim, as careful and distrustful as he was, Desmond knew that his so called sworn brother would have easily ratted him out to the hybrid for his own survival. Apparently, whatever attempt he had tried was unsuccessful but Desmond could not sit still knowing Kibadios could come for him any time. After some preparation, the deviant monk escaped from the capital the next day. 

「Damn, what’s with all the shit that's happening to this world. First was the threat of Ryuujin resurrection , then Corey somehow perished, and now this?」Desmond spoke to himself. 「... Ever since I met that hybrid, things are just getting crazier and crazier.」

「Interesting.」A female voice echoed around the room.「Tell me more about the hybrid.」

「Who’s there?」The monk screamed out panickingly. Ever since he made an enemy out of Kibadios, he had always been cautious about his own security and yet, somehow, someone was able to get close to him without being detected. 

「Tell me everything you know about the hybrid called Kibadios, Desmond.」commanded the woman, who slowly materialized in front of the pale faced monk. With just one glance, he could realize the huge gap of strength between him and the unknown figure. 「Tell me all you know about Zaeryn’s reincarnation!!!!」

「... Zaeryn?... Who?」

…

…

「I see… Like I thought, Ryan will be the key for my plan then.」The woman smirked while Desmond sat silently closeby. He barely dared to glance at her but the few moments he did, he could clearly notice the sinister look on her face. Somehow, it reminded the monk of his sworn brother.

-------------------

「Stupid Jayden.」The exhausted king knelt down next to the unconscious body of the former Prime Minister. Jayden Stringer, although somehow surviving the transformation that could make even Ryuu mad, has not woken up ever since the demon lord Gilga released him from her slimy body. 

「Your Majesty.」A voice called out to the king from behind. 「An envoy from the Oracle has come and asked to see you.」

「I see.」Lance turned around.「... How are you feeling now, Arche? You’re not pushing yourself too hard, aren't you?」He pointed at the knight’s missing arm. 

「Don’t worry, Your Majesty. This is nothing.」The knight shook off the king’s concern. He had lost his left arm while fighting against hordes of undead but it was well worth it in his mind, since thanks to him, more than a dozen families were able to escape unharm. After all, he could not be too ungrateful since most of his friends were not as fortunate as him, having lost their lives in the chaos. 「... The important question, though, is what are you going to tell the envoy? Most likely they will want to take Stringer dono into custody. We were able to conceal the Prime Minister’s crime from the public, since it would further destabilize the kingdom had the citizens learned of the coup and the deeds that he committed. But for sure we cannot hide his crimes from the Oracle.」

「... Yes. Still, the Oracle does not have the authority over us, a sovereign kingdom」Lance declared. 「But indeed, it will be a bother if we openly deny the Oracle’s request. That’s why I have decided to hide him. As of now, the fact that Jayden is still alive is only known to Demon Lord Gilga dono, Kibadios dono, you, and myself. I have talked to Gilga dono and Kibadios dono, and both have agreed to keep it a secret. 」

「They did?」Surprised Arche. 「I knew demon lord Gilga is fond of the Prime Minister, but how come even Kibadios dono agreed to it?」

「I guess he’s a bit sympathetic about Jayden’s past.」lied the King, since he did not want to let Arche know about the hybrid’s true identity or intention. 「With their cooperation, I will tell the envoy that Jayden had died after the <Seed of Chaos> was destroyed. That way, they will not press the issue further… You don't have any problem with that, do you, Arche?」

「... No.」The knight shook his head.「You know how much respect I had for Jayden dono. I and a lot of others might be against his coup, but we still view him with the highest regard. I don’t want him to fall into the Oracle’s hand either.」

「Good.」Lance nodded. 「Please let the envoy know I’ll meet with them in an hour.」

「Yes, Your Majesty!」

Notes:

End of the second arc.
Man, I did not think I'll get this far so I did not have the details of the third arc all planned out. As I'm thinking about the details though, I realize the third arc will be long since I want to wrap a lot of things up before Kibadios and his group reach his hometown.
Anyways, the next arc: Upheaval in the Vernys Forest!! Let's hope I can write it to conclusion as well.
Story structure so far:
Introductory Saga:
1st arc: Introductory arc
2nd arc: Kingdom of Maeg
3rd arc: Upheaval in the Vernys Forest
2nd Saga:
Blah blah blah.

Chapter 39: Volume 3: Prologue: "You must see with eyes unclouded by hypnotic charm"

Notes:

Anyways, I'm back!
Man, so busy with research so I didn't write anything lately.
Though recently, I read the yaoi series by Orukoa (the one with the two shotas). I read the first three chaps in English long time ago (They were adorable) but man, I didn't know there were continuation. I stupidly read the later chapters and man, I felt so down after chapter 12 (or 11... don't remember). (PS: I hate netorare but I love the mindbreak that usually accompany NTR... fck my twisted fetishes.) I don't know Jap but really, I've been feeling terrible since reading them so I decided to restart writing my series to forget about the trauma...

「Still no information on that bastard, huh?」Reuk asked the hybrid as he nonchalantly styled the visibly annoyed Fire Spirit’s hair. Being restricted to exist only within the void inside the hybrid’s mind, Reuk was extremely bored after having devoured all of the manga and anime that the hybrid had watched during his life back on Earth.
「No. Rowan and Maia have been going around the capital to gather more informations regarding Desmond, though nothing has come up. He must have escaped when he learned of Corey’s death before the capitol got decimated, knowing that we may come after him in the future.」

「I guess there’s nothing we can do.」Reuk sighed.

「Is this Desmond the one who destroyed your party?」The primordial spirit curiously asked.

「...Yes. Ryan, Sophia, and I… we all fell into this trap.」The elven archer frowned. Although he has been acting as a carefree spirit living inside Kibadios, his hatred for the monk did not wane one bit. 「Because of him, both Sophia and I were killed. The experience left Ryan devastated...」Reuk shot a questionable look at the hybrid 「Your master there helped him recovered somewhat, though I’m still mad at how he took advantage of Ryan’s shattered spirit at the time.」

「Ha. Nothing you can do, Reuk kun」Kibadios laughed audibly.

「I know!」pouted the archer. 「Speaking of Ryan, how is he holding up? He just lost us not too long ago and now, Kyles is also...」

「Not too well. Since Kyles did not show any improvement and responses to any treatment, Ryan has been feeling dejected lately… I’ve barely gottten any chance to pin him down and give him a good fuck for the last two months now since he always comes back late at night and leaves early to attend for Kyles.」

「...」Reuk gave the hybrid no reply, though he was fairly amused at the slow changes that the hybrid was going through. The old Kibadios would have just fucked Ryan whenever he liked without caring about what the hero has been going through. After all, Ryan was supposed to be nothing but a sex slave whose sole purpose was to serve the hybrid’s every need. I wonder if he notices it himself , the elf thought.

------

「You’re leaving?」Asked Kibadios after a soft kiss on the cheek gently awoke the sleeping hybrid in the middle of the conversation between him and Reuk. 

「Sorry to have woken you up, Master. And yes, I need to check on my brother. I bet princess Yllaner has been up all knight as usual so I need to be there to relieve her from watching over Kyles.」

「... You have to also take care of yourself, Ryan. You’ve lost weight.」reminded the hybrid while looking at the hero’s naked body as he put on his shirt. 

「No need to worry, Kibadios sama!」Ryan reassured his master with a forced smile and pounded his chest loudly.「I’m a hero after all. Though I’m sorry. Because of me, we have not been able to go to your village yet.」

「It’s fine. I’ve waited for more than a year, waiting for another few months is nothing. Let’s just hope that Kyles would recover.」Kibadios sat up, slowly turned aside the dragonoid who was still clinging tightly onto his master while sleeping. His gaze pierced sharply at the hero, then continued「Though, not that I’d like to see it happens but if he forever remains in that comatose state, would you be able to leave his side and come with me?」

「... I will come with you, master!」Answered Ryan after a few seconds of hesitation. 「I’ve been asking myself the same question ever since the incident and I have already come to the conclusion that I could never leave your side.」The hero, after finished getting dressed, leaned onto the hybrid and gave him a long, tender french kiss then lustfully slurped in the string of saliva once he broke off their kiss.「After all, I belong to you, Kibadios sama. I’m forever your property so I’ll go wherever you go.」

「I see.」Kibadios simply nodded.

「I’ll check back with you and the group during lunch time.」

「Okay.」

Ryan gently closed the door behind him and walked out the building they were staying at. It was still early in the morning, with the sun barely rising above the far off eastern hills. The first rays of light had just started to penetrate through the thick mist that enveloped the capital region. Given the early time, there were not many people on the street. Ryan could see a few scattered groups of merchants begin to unload their goods at the far off market. Their loud voices echoed throughout the street, which were often interrupted by the chirping sounds of a few flocks of birds flying overhead. In merely a few months, Lorian, the capital of Maeg, has sprung back to life. Of course, there were still piles of fallen rubbles laying around the once devastated city but compared to a few months ago, the city had transformed at an incredible speed. All thanks to the well-oil governmental machinery left behind by Prime Minister Stringer and its incredibly shrewd, newly crowned king. Lance Atkinsor, in fact, possessed an unparalleled talent that rivaled even his best friend, the former prime minister. He fully understood that once tragedy befell a nation and weakened it, external forces would race to extend their influence over such a nation through perceived aids. Instead of trying to fend off such meddling, Lance has allowed other nations to help rebuild Lorian. He especially pitted the Oracle against the powerful rising city state of Uruk: Since Uruk was founded by a demon lord, it has traditionally struggled to gain more recognition from the surrounding nations. Among the few friendly nations that it had, only Maeg, under Jayden Stringer’s leadership, has normalized all diplomatic ties with it. That was why Uruk had spared no expense trying to help Maeg to rebuild its capital and King Lance to stabilize his nascent rule. Lady Gilga of Uruk had sent an unbroken line of supplies and manpower to Lorian ever since she left the capital a few weeks after the incident. For her, this was the perfect opportunity to gain more influence within the country. Although Lance, on the surface, gratefully accepted the help that seemingly came with no string attached; he perfectly knew there was never a free lunch. The new king purposefully exaggerated Uruk’s help and involvement in the rebuilding of Lorian to the Oracle and its representatives. Just like Lance predicted, the Oracle quickly sent endless streams of craftsmen and builders to aid the Kingdom, fearing that if it did not extend its help, Maeg would soon be spiraling away from its sphere of influence. By carefully threading the needles and balancing the outside forces, Lance ensured that no one party would gain an outsized influence while his rule would be further cemented by showing the citizens how he was able to rebuild the capital at an incredible speed. Any dissenting voices against Lance from the unruly nobles soon dissipated as high-rise buildings started to appear once again in Lorian. The construction time was greatly reduced through runecraft brought forth by Uruk and mage-builders provided by the Oracle. Within the first week of reconstruction, the royal guesthouse was erected and finished, allowing the hybrid’s group to take residency within ever since. Soon enough, the palace finished construction within the first months, along with the crucial marketplace and rows of residential housing. 

「Haachoooo!!! Argh… I forgot my jacket back at the guesthouse.」Ryan mumbled to himself as he strided through the back alley that was a shortcut toward the palace, where Kyles rested. 

「Bless you, boy!」A familiar feminine voice called out to the hero.

「Thanks?」Replied the hero as he turned around to take a look at whoever that just spoke. His eyes soon widened in shock as he saw Adela stood right behind him, dressed in a dark, hooded cloak. 「Adela! What are you doing here?」Ryan quickly reached to his sword.

「... I see… 」Her eyes were glowing strangely as she studied the hero from head to bottom. 「Why did I not check you out before with my <Eyes of Horus>!」she blamed herself before closed in further toward Ryan. Before he could strike her, Adela had already placed her hand in front of his face, reciting some spell. A magic circle soon formed at where her hand was but soon broke into pieces once she stopped mumbling. Ryan suddenly stopped his movement, then fell down to his knee, his hand quickly covered his mouth as if he was trying not to vomit. 

「... What… What did you do to me? These memories… 」

「Welcome back, Ryan the hero!」Adela cheerfully clapped her hands. 「I merely dispelled the hypnotic charm that has been clouding your mind, placed on you by that hybrid, Kibadios. What? Why are you vomiting? Did he “take advantage” of you while you’re under his influence?」Adela leered down at the confused hero. Through her skill, she knew Ryan had the incubus crest on his body and she all knew too well what it meant. Though she could not see his face, she knew the teenager must have been horrified as he remembered everything that the hybrid has done to him. 

「Kibadios… sam...」Ryan stopped short of adding the respectful suffix like he always did when referring to his master, his face quickly turned as pale as a ghost.「KIBADIOS! How dare you!」Ryan’s scream echoed through the empty alleyway while the Astral smiled in satisfaction. Zaeryn… I’m coming for you .

Chapter 40: Adela's first moves.

The mythical realm where the Astral resided, Modun, existed in a plane of reality that was inaccessible to the mortals living in Esthar. Although the knowledge of its existence was fairly common back in Kibadios' first reincarnation, during this current timeline, not many inhabitants from Esthar knew about it. All because the Astrals preferred to keep it that way. After all, the Great Upheaval, a turbulent series of events that started with the capture of Kibadios’ first reincarnation, Zaeryn, and climaxed at the Ragnarok, the last battle of the Second Holy War, had forever scarred the mentality of the Astrals and the myth of their invincibility. During this time, the home of the Astrals, Modun, was almost breached by Zaeryn’s followers several times. One of the worst occasions was when 300 Daitengus who served under Zaeryn, fought their way against the Astrals’ homunculi all the way to the Gate of Modun. Had they had more support, they could have successfully invaded the Astral’s realm. After their victory at the end of the Second Holy War, the Astrals finally decided to sever any physical links between the Realm of Modun and the world of Esthar, out of fear that one day, the mortals might again rise up against their rules. This would mean that the only way that the Astrals could visit Esthar was through projecting their souls through their homunculi. Though, truth to be told, they did not mind the restriction since this was how they have always been travelling in between realms.

Although the Realm of Modun was infinitely vast, with most its terrains mirrored those that could be found on Earth or Esthar, ranging from bottomless canyons to towering mountains, from the ever-expanding grasslands to densely packed forests, the majority of the Astrals have made the expansive crescent-shaped floating island located at the center of Modun to be their home. The City of Immortals was built there to house the large population of Astral numbered almost 30000, with the most important complex of constructs being erected and elevated in midair through magic in a spiral shape. This complex housed all the governmental bodies of the Astrals and at its peak, a pair of massive pyramids were located. This pair of pyramids sat on top of one another, though the bottom one was inverted, with its pointed peak directed to the ground. Dubbed the “Lower Chamber”, this pyramid housed the legislative and executive branch while the pyramid on top, dubbed the “Upper Chamber”, housed the judicial branch and the Chosen Guards, an elite defense force that was responsible for the safety and security of the City of Immortals. The space wedged in between the two pyramids, called the Infinity Sphere, was made inaccessible for nearly all Astrals, saved for the Enneads and the Ennead Candidates. The Enneads, a group of the nine most powerful Astrals, acted as the supreme rulers of the Astrals, and in effect, the whole world of Esthar. It was said that each of their members could easily destroy half of the world if they were to go all out in their original bodies. That was why, the last time when one of their members had defected and rebelled, the only way for mortals to stand a chance in a fight against her was to give them the control of one of the Primordial Spirits... 

「My my!」Exclaimed one of the Astral, sitting comfortably on his levitating cushioned chair. The man was one of the 100 executors, members of the Astrals’ executive branch of government. As its name implied, the members of the executive office were responsible for monitoring and influencing events of the mortal world from the shadows. In short, they ensured that the will of the Astrals (of the Legislative Branch) were to be carried out faithfully. Each of the 100 executors were assigned their own “theater of command” so it was a surprise for the man since another executor he rarely saw just barged into his space. 「Lady Adela, to what do I owe the pleasure? 」

「 Otto !」Adela arrogantly called out the man’s name without a hint of respect. 「I need to take over your theater of the Vernys forest for a while.」

「Huh?」Otto raised his eyebrows in amusement.「What nonsense are you talking about, Lady Adela. You know full well that each of us is supposed to only work within our own region. Except for special directives from the legislative branch or the Enneads themselves, we are not supposed to allow others to meddle in our assigned theater. Besides, after the debacle of the Lorian Incidence that was caused by you, who knows what crazy things you’ll be doing to my theater if you were to have control over it.」

「What’s the big deal?」Adela dismissed the man’s concerns. 「With the Harvest getting so close, the more chaos we’re creating, the better. In the end, those people are nothing but fertilizers for our Yggdrasil. That is why the Legislatives and the Enneads did not saying anything about chaos that I made in my own theater of command.」 

「They turned a blind eye to your reckless actions because of the influence of your father, Adeus dono , the closest Astral to the seat of Ennead.」Otto glared back at the woman, his patient seemed to be running low. 「If I were you, I would be laying low for now. Why do you want to take over my area of responsibility anyways? It’s just a backward forest region.」

「... Do you know the individual named Yllaner from the forest?」

「What about her? Isn’t she supposed to be the daughter of the Elven Chief?」

「Yes. And did you know she’s Sylvia’s reincarnation?」
「Ho? She is?」Otto was amused. Although he has not never met Sylvia in person, he could never forget the name.

「I dont blame you for not knowing since you’ve only ascended to the rank of the Astrals almost 3000 years after the Second Holy War.」

「Yes, indeed… and the fact that my theater of operation spans more than just the Vernys forest and since those Elves do not worship us, we have almost no influence over them, just like we have no influence over the territories of the Yonko or the lawless Grasslanders.」Otto explained. 「My only duty concerning Vernys is to ensure they do not grow too powerful. It’s only natural I do not know all the details regarding all the inhabitants there.」

「 THAT IS NOT GOOD, OTTO KUN 」A calm yet authoritative voice suddenly entered the conversation. Realizing whose voice belonged to, Otto hurriedly sprung up from his chair, his body trembling in fear once the figure slowly approached him. The old man stood towering over the executor. His short-cut hair was completely gray yet his appearance was far from an old sickly man. Despite his white robe, Otto could clearly see his bulging muscles underneath the layer of clothes. Flying around the man were ten large lotus flowers, which the executor knew full well were parts of his ever-activated Arte < Kido Butai >. As the man looked down at him, Otto’s eyes nervously followed the movement of the lotuses since they had appeared to surround him. 

「Adeus dono! It’s an honor to have you here.」Otto greeted while gulping down his fear of the man.

「Likewise, Otto kun.」The man grimly nodded. 「and as I said, It’s not good that you have overlooked Sylvia’s reincarnation despite the fact that she has reborned into your theater of command for more than 20 years now.」

「But Adeus dono, there’s no way I would know it’s her.」argued the man. 

「So now that you know, what would you do?」

「... I should let the Enneads know about her existence?」

「Fool!」Adeus loudly declared.「That means that you willingly let them know about your screw up, having allowed her presence to go undetected for so long? I know you were not one of us during the Second Holy War, but you should know how dangerous she was, don't you?」

「Then… What should I do, Adeus dono?」Otto was visibly sweating.

「Let my daughter, Adela, handle this Yllaner matter.」Adeus leaned in and patted the cowering man on his shoulder. 「Once she has taken care of Sylvia’s reincarnation, we can report the resolution of this back to the Ennead. That way, they won’t be mad at you.」

「But… We’re not supposed to...」Otto was hesitant for a moment before he realized his shoulder was now being crushed by the man standing in front of him. I guess this is not for negotiation, he thought. 「... I’ll listen to your advice, Adeus dono.」The executor resigns to the pressure. 

「Good!」Adeus let go of the man’s shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. 「You made the correct choice, Otto kun.」Without saying anything more, both Adela and her father left the executor and walked away together, having already achieved their objective. It took Otto more than ten minutes before his heart beats returned to normal. He had never met Adeus face to face, and to be honest, he never wished to meet him like this. Even to Otto, an individual who was strong enough to have ascended to the rank of the Astrals, the former king of Eberus, Adeus, was in a completely different league. It was no wonder that he alone managed to repel all the 300 Daitengu that once assaulted the Realm’s gate. 

「Phew… I’m glad that was over.」Otto wiped away his sweat and moved back to his chair. 「... Though, what is that Adela planning to do?」

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「Thank you Father!」Adela excitedly hugged her father. 「Now that I can freely act within the Forest of Vernys, I can finally have my fun with that woman.」

「... Is there anything you’re hiding from me, Adela?」Adeus patted his daughter’s head.

「What? Of course not.」Adela lied, not wanting to have her father know about the existence of Kibadios since he was her marked prey. Her own marked prey.「Why do you ask?」

「No, nothing. Just checking.」Adeus replied.

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「So “Ryuujin” was not sealed away but has now assumed the identity of “Ryuu” and follows Zaeryn?」Adela smiled at the tons of confidential information that she has just now received from Ryan. 「and at his current level, he could summon <HaoS> for more than 20 minutes now. Asides from you, his two biggest weaknesses would be his other slaves… Good! Good! Good! All of these information will help me to deal with that monster, Ryan kun.」

「... Can we formulate our plan to deal with that hybrid in a way so that we would not harm Rowan kun and Maia chan, Adela sama?」Despite his raging eyes, Ryan hesitated.「They’re also victims of that crazy hybrid.」

「We can try...」Adela looked at Ryan with hungry eyes. Despite his youth, the hero undoubtedly could be considered a handsome individual… Maybe I will add him into my collection after this whole thing ends , thought the Astral. 「Provided they’re not interfering with my plan. Though, if I were you, I would not forgive them either. They were also responsible for helping the hybrid corrupting you.」Adela moved closer to Ryan and before he knew it, she placed one of her hands on his left cheek while tenderly kissing his right cheek. 

「Haa!」Ryan hurriedly pushed her away, then hugged himself while trembling.

「Aww, look at that. You’re now terrified of mere touches just because the hybrid has ruined you and your body.」comforted Adela, then licked her lips. 「Don't worry, after we’re done with Zaeryn, I’ll make sure to heal your emotional wounds too. Though, if you’re acting as my spy, you will have to continue to be used by that despicable hybrid every night… Can you really do it?」

「... I...」Ryan hesitated. 「... I can try… I dont know but for whatever reason, he rarely touched me lately. Still, even if I have to endure this, I want to do it! As a hero serving the Astrals, I can’t let this menace roam free like this.」

「I know right?」exclaimed Adela. 「He even concocted ridiculous stories slandering us Astral. That is why, with your help, we will eradicate him and take back the Primordial Spirit of Fire that was stolen from us. Let’s help the world to rid it of this Celestial Threat, Ryan chan.」

「I will do whatever to help, Adela sama!」

Chapter 41: Trivia Informations

Like the title said, these are trivia about terms/names I used. NOT A REAL CHAPTER

 

Kibadios: A character from Cluster by Clamp. I read it when I was in elementary school and thought it’s the coolest name ever… Still do! :D

Rowan: I was thinking of using the name “Ronan” from GrandChase or “Roan” from Grandia2, but then I decided to change it to Rowan.

Astrals: From Granblue Fantasy

Holy blade works: Unlimited Blade Works (duh)

Jagan: Skill from Midou Ban from Getbackers

HaoS: Clearly taken from Hao Asakura, so as the mythos of primordial spirits.

Ennead: Literally group of 9, though I specifically was inspired by Egyptian Mythology.

Nu: “Inu” lol

Shilna (Woof-elf clan Yllaner belongs to): named inspired by Silla (or Shilla), a korean kingdom

Modun: World tree from Mongolian mythology

Eyes of Horus: Egyptian mythology (duh!)

Yonko: One Piece (Of course)

Ryuujin: Dragon god from Japan mythology.

Esthar: A country from FF8

Freya: Norse Mythology

Suikoden: Suikoden series. Most of the structure regarding the hero system is from Suikoden.

Changxi Tears: Chinese mythology, though I was inspired by that skill by that brief moment where the Lunar Society attacked in Infinite Dendrogram.

< Juuchi-Yosamu> < Yawarakai-Te > : two famous Japanese blades

< Dagor Dagorath >: Battle of all Battles, Lord of the Rings mythology.

Kido Butai: Combined Carriers battle group used by Japan during WWII (the ones that bombed Pearl Harbor)

Chapter 42

Maia’s face was still beet red as she discreetly tried to fix her clothes while walking to the market to buy food for tonight’s meal. Although she did not have to cook, for the Royal Chef was always on standby, readily providing the hybrid’s party any feast they wanted, she had decided to personally do it since the hybrid had declared「Like I thought, the meals cooked by you are much more delicious, Maia.」She was visibly elated as she eagerly agree to prepare foods for her master, for just like the other three men in the group, dutifully serving her master was the one thing that gave Maia’s life a meaning. When she willingly left her hometown to travel with the hybrid, she had expected the journey to be full of obstacles and hardship, given how her master was an enigma with a mysterious goal. Such an impression was proven true the moment Kibadios revealed his identity to her and the gang, along with his ambitious goal for vengeance. Granted, she still did not know the full scope of the hybrid’s plan but she fully knew her future would not be kind to her. Not that she minded though, as long as she got to stay with her master, nothing else mattered. Yet, after the attack on the capital and the realization that both Rowan and her would most likely be nothing but a burden on their master, she was devastated. The same nightmare in which the hybrid would simply abandon her behind haunted her dreams of late, which was why Maia was so glad she could still be of use for the hybrid, even if it was merely to cook his favorite foods. 

Still, the past three months saw nothing but inaction from the hybrid since he was waiting to see if Kyles would recover. She knew soon enough, her master would continue his journey and she would experience even more unimaginable challenges, but for now, she wanted to cherish these domestic and peaceful moments with her master and her fellow slaves. Though, was “slaves” a right word now, she wondered, since unlike their first few months, her master has been fairly considerate to their feelings lately, especially after the incident with the <Seed of Chaos> infected Prime Minister. That was not to say there was no spontaneous moment of him initiating sex or forcing them down on all four, naked. For just a few minutes prior, in his moment of heat, Kibadios had just lifted her up with his strong arms and fucked her silly against the wall. Her body arched forward as the hybrid’s mouth and tongues played with her hypersensitive breast, sucking out her precious milk while slamming his cock against the inner wall of her pussy for almost fifteen minutes, sending her to climax twice. What changed, though, was the small gestures he made and the consideration he paid for their well-beings, just like how he rarely initiate sex with Ryan, knowing the hero was full of worries about his brother or just like the tender kiss he gave her before she left. Maia could not help but smile while thinking back to the kiss as the lingering feeling of her master’s lips could still be felt on hers. 

「Anyways, what shall I cook today!」Maia suddenly stopped then looked around once she reached the market. 

「Maia chan!」An old woman called out to the girl from one of the shops. 

「Ah, Ruth san!」greeted the girl. 「Good morning!」

「Good morning to you, Maia chan!」the old woman giddily nodded. 「Today we just received a fresh shipment of fish, do you want to have some?」

「It’s been a while since I have cooked any fish for Kibadios sama. Maybe I should.」smiled Maia, then browsed the goods.

「Kibadios dono is so lucky to have you cooking for him, Maia chan.」

「Thanks Ruth san. Though I only want to be of use to him.」Maia carefully selected the few freshest looking fish before handing them over to the shop owner. 「I will take these. How much would they be?」

「I’d like to say no charge for you and Kibadios sama’s party.」The old woman carefully placed the fish on packs of ice before wrapping them up. 「But I know you always insist to pay so let’s say, all of this for 10 copper coins.」

「That is too cheap, obaa san!」Maia frowned. 「That’s not enough to even cover your cost, I bet.」

「Hey now, since they’re for Kibadios dono, I’d gladly give them to you for free, Maia chan!」Ruth laughed 「After all, not only did he save me and my grandson during the disaster, he even helped to defeat that monstrous creature! There’s nothing that we can do to repay him.」

「Still, I insist!」Maia handed 40 copper coins to the old woman, forcing her to take them all. 「I hope this is enough, Ruth san.」

「No no! This is too much!」

「How about this, 10 coins are for the fish and the other 30 coins, I’m giving to Ken-kun to buy his favorite toys?」

「Haha. You’re too kind, Maia chan.」The old woman finally relented. 「Since there’s no way to convince you, I’ll accept them then. Say hi to Kibadios dono for me.」

「Sure, Ruth san. I’ll see you.」

Maia continued to walk around the market to buy more ingredients for another half an hour before deciding to come back with her basket full of goods, all of which were heavily discounted since most of the sellers at this market belonged to a group of citizens that were saved by Kibadios a few months back. Due to the stories that Lance came up with, Kibadios, the hybrid master of a hero, was now fairly famous among the people of Lorian so even if they were not personally saved by him, most treated him with respect. Still, not all of the attention paid to the hybrid was that of admiration though. Several groups of conservative nobles and adventures have begun to voice out their frustrations at the increasing influence of demihuman, such as the great demon lord Gilga and Kibadios, over the country.「All they did was jump in and take the credits! That monster was already being beaten back to a brink of defeat by the three heroes’ parties!」the group had argued. Their narratives were quickly rejected by both the surviving heroes, Amber and Thomas so even after three months of continuously promoting their fictitious stories, even with the unofficial backing of the Oracle, it still has not changed the public opinions. Due to the intense scrutiny from those factions, Maia has already gotten used to the occasional harassments from the lowly adventurers when she walked past the newly rebuilt guild building. Yet, today, a few of those adventurers had just made the biggest mistake in their lives as the men took advantage of the fact that both of Maia’s arms were busy holding onto the heavy bag of groceries and openly groped her ample ass. 

「Seriously, bae! Stop working and cooking for that opportunistic demi! Is that weakass demi threatening you to work for him? Come with us, we’ll protect you!」

「And introduce you to  “pleasure” you have never experienced!」another whistled.

The men have always been catcalling Maia or mocking the girl for serving the hybrid but their actions elicited no responses from her, given how it was beneath her. Emboldened by the perceived weakness from Maia, they continued to harass her but little did they know, they had just crossed the Rubicon. For a brief moment, Maia’s eyes turned blood red from rage. Her body was supposed to be devoted to her beloved Master, yet, the lowly adventurers had just defiled it with their dirty hands. Turning around, she quickly disguised her disgust and simply smiled at them, luring them with her angelic face to a back alley behind the guild building, littered with rubbles.

「So you’ve finally wanted to leave your pathetic master for us? Dont worry, we’ll treat you nicely!」One of the men laughed, not knowing soon he would be begging her for forgiveness. 

「You’ve led us here so we can fuck your brain out? Dont mind if I do!」Another rubbed his cock, which was already penting up inside his pant.

「... Shut up, you filthy trash.」Such words coming out from Maia’s beautiful mouth quickly surprised half a dozen men who followed her. 「How dare you touch me there? Only Kibadios sama is allowed to! Yet your filthy hands dared to taint my body?」

「HAAA???」The adventurers’s faces turned murderous. 「Bitch, what did you say?」

Before the men could draw out their weapon trying to intimidate the girl, Maia’s fingers were already held tightly onto two different vials. She quickly brought one up to her mouth, using her teeth to bite down and pull out the cork. From within the vial, a white layer of smoke flew out, then circling around the 6 men. Before they could realize what she had done, their body had already frozen in space, every of their muscles seemed to no longer respond to the control of their brain. Somehow, even their thoughts seemed to have shut down. They could see her standing in front of them talking but they could no longer comprehend her speech. They were conscious, but at the same time, unconscious. Their eyes pleaded to the girl to revert whatever she had done to them, though they could not form any sentence. After all, they could not even think. Another vial was opened with her teeth, though this one, the smoke stored inside was completely black. Again just like how it previously happened, the black smoke slowly flew toward them, then enveloped around them before it simultaneously ignited by the snap of Maia’s finger. The flame engulfed their bodies. Despite being subjected to an intense sensation of pain from being burnt alive, they could not utter even one word, let alone screaming, before their bodies turned into charred coal.

「Maia!」A familiar voice called out to the girl, jolted her for a brief moment.「What did you just do?」

「Ryan chan!」The girl hurriedly turned around before breathing out a sigh of relief, knowing it was just Ryan who caught her red handed, murdering half a dozen people. 「You scare me! Anyways, dont worry, they deserve it. They have been badmouthing Kibadios sama since forever. I’ve been repressing my anger but just now, some of them dared to grope me!」The girl pouted. 「I figured it’s better I get rid of them. I just can’t allow them to live after what they did, trying to taint Master’s property with their dirty hands like that. I figured they’re adventurers so it should be fine. After all, in their line of work, going missing is normal.」

「... But...」Ryan looked at the charred body while being lost for words. The once maiden, who was incapable of hurting mere insects just months ago, would be able to kill people in such a coldblooded manner. 

「Dont worry. Their bodies will crumble away soon… 3...2...1!」Maia happily snapped her finger, coinciding with the instant their body got reduced into ashes. If someone ever came to the back alley now, none would have guessed this was a scene of a murder. 「Anyways, I’m planning to have some fried fish for dinner, you’ll come back before dinner right?」

「I … dont know...」

「Like our master said, you have to take care of yourself. You’re getting so thin.」Maia patted Ryan’s hips. 「I’m sure Kyles wouldn’t want that. I’ll see you tonight at dinner, alright?」

「... Ok.」

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Maia had left for almost five minutes now, though Ryan was still standing at the back alley, his gaze fixated at the piles of dusts, most of which were already blown away by some strong gust. 

「Hahaha. You wanted to save her but look at her, she’s already been fully corrupted by the hybrid.」Adela approached from behind, then slowly caressed Ryan’s face with the back of her hand, causing him to twitch and step away. 「She just cruelly killed those adventurers without a second thought. Both her and Kibadios’ other slave could no longer be saved, my dear hero.」

「But, it’s not their faults!」Ryan argued. 「Please leave them out of this, for now… I can try to change them back. They’ve been held hostages by that hybrid for too long but there’s still hope for them.」

「Heh...」Adela sneered. 「As if you really believe it.」

「About the plan you had proposed, Adela sama...」Ryan turned around to look at the Astral. 「It won’t harm Yllaner sama, will it?」

「Of course not.」lied Adela, then sensually placed her hand on his dejected face. By now, he had already gotten used to her close affection, though she could still feel a slight reactionary twitch from him. Just a bit more, my boy. I’ll have you. She then continued.「I’m not going to deny the fact that she’ll be in danger, but how else would we be able to lure out that hybrid? We’ll use his fondness of her to our advantage. Remember what he did to you, he probably will soon put the princess under his charm and has his way with her. By using her as a centerpiece in our plan, although she’ll be placed in danger,  it would also make it easier for us to protect her. I’ll give you my word as an Astral. 」

「Thank you, Adela sama!」

Notes:

Woohoo! I'm cranking out chapters faster than I've ever been, despite being busy as fck... Guess this is how I try to escape my real life responsibility lol.
Btw, I'm looking for 1seme x multiple uke yaoi isekai... Can someone recommend me some stories? :3

Chapter 43: The news

「We have been sitting around doing nothing for a few months now, Kibadios sama.」noted the dragonoid while slurping the delicious noodle and its thick broth. Having sealed away for thousands of years, Ryuu was not able to enjoy any gourmet so he had decided to try out all the foods the capital of Maeg got to offer.「Should we start making our move? You were saying that before we deal with the Astrals, you want to settle the score with  the commander who attacked the Village you reincarnated into right? Why don't we do that now?」

「Master is worried about Ryan chan, Ryuu chan. That’s why he’s been waiting to see if Kyles recover.」Rowan, sitting opposite from the hybrid and the dragonoid, explained.

「Chan? Don't be too familiar with me, lowly human!」Despite having shared a bed with the other three humans in his group, Ryuu’s opinion of them has not changed one bit.「And seriously, it’d be better if this Kyles just dropped dead. That way, Kibadios sama may just have a chance to rekindle his relationship with Sylvia sama’s reincarnation. They are supposed to be together!」

「Shut it, Ryuu!」Kibadios gave Ryuu a light headslap from the back before continuing.「First of all, even though Rowan is younger than you, he’s still your “senpai in the sheet”, you should show him some respect. Secondly, I have no interest in having Yllaner joining me. How many times have I told you, Yllaner is not Sylvia. I really don't mind you worshiping her as Sylvia’s reincarnation, but as of right now, it’s better for her to live her life as “Yllaner”, the princess of the wood elf, rather than “Sylvia.” Besides, she doesn’t even remember her past life.」

「Buttt!」Ryuu dejectedly tried to argue but stopped short since Kibadios quickly agreed with his first suggestion.

「Though you’re right that we need to get going now.」Kibadios turned to Ryuu, gently rubbing the back of his head, where he had just hit him. 

「What made you change your mind now, Kibadios sama?」Rowan curiously asked.

「Just like Ryuu said, we can't afford to stay idle for too long. On top of that, earlier, Ryan just confirmed he would leave his brother behind and come with us.」

「I’m not surprised he would.」smiled Rowan. 

「He’s still under your hypnotic charm, right master? It makes sense that he would follow you until the end of time.」

「... If his decision is because of the hypnotic charm I placed on him, that begs the questions: firstly, has hypnotic skills advanced that much ever since my first reincarnation? Back 10000 years ago, hypnotic skills were only supposed to cloud one’s judgement, similarly to having gotten drunk. They’re usually not strong enough to dictate someone’s action.」

「And why would you care about that? That just means you are possessing a really strong skill as half incubus right?」

「Idiot!」Ryuu frowned. 「Master’s clearly worried about it because that means hypnotic skills can be used on us.」

「If that’s the case, then we have to be wary of those you can use mind control related skills.」Kibadios explained. 「though I’m more worried about the fact that if Ryan has been acting obediently just because of the hypnotic charm I placed on him, what will he do when it somehow got removed?」Kibadios turned grim. 

「... I have already made a promise with him.」Rowan told his master. 「that if one day, he ever turns his blade on us, I’ll deal with him. I will make sure he can never harm you, master.」

「With me staying beside Kibadios sama, he would not be able to do anything to our master… He’d be dead before he can draw his sword.」Ryuu quickly turned murderous, which caused the hybrid to hit him to calm him down once again.

「Stop suddenly releasing your Haki like that, Ryuu kun.」reminded the hybrid. 「Anyways, we just have to watch out for Ryan, just in case. But that settles it, we will leave this capital in a few days.」

「Ara ara~」A familiar voice approached the hybrid and his group from behind. 「And where are you planning to go, Kiba-chan?」

「How many times have I told you to stop calling me like that, demon lord dono?」Without turning around, Kibadios could tell the uninvited guest who intruded into his conversation was no other but Gilga. 「and I thought we have left Lorian a month ago?」

「I did!」Gilga pulled a chair to sit at the hybrid’s table. 「I just arrived here on another diplomatic mission.」

「Uruk must be running out of officials if its ruler has to make personal trips for every small diplomatic missions like this.」

「Don't be like that.」Gigla wrapped her arm around Kibadios’ shoulder, much to Ryuu and Rowan’s annoyance. 「I have made so much investment into the rebuilding of Lorian to improve our diplomatic ties, it’s only reasonable that I should come here frequently to check on the progress we made. Besides, I get to see you again, Kiba chan. Have you given another thought about my offer yet?」

「You know our master’s answer is still no!」Ryuu was irritated at how flirty Gilga’s been acting toward Kibadios. 「like if he would ever come work for you.」

「There you go, my answer is still no.」If anything, Kibadios would want to applaud the great demon lord’s persistence. Despite knowing nothing about the hybrid, she had asked him to work for her before she went back to Uruk three months ago. And ever since, whenever she visited Lorian, she had always made a point of hunting down the hybrid and convincing him, trying to turn a no into a yes. 

「Is that so? What about you Ryuu chan?」her gaze turned toward the dragonoid. Just like Kibadios, ever since their first meeting, Gilga had also paid special attention to his so-called attendant, Ryuu, whose power might one day rival her own.

「Not even in your dream.」

「Oh well, there’s always next time… So where are you planning to go now?」Despite her repeated attempts at recruiting the hybrid, she always seemed to easily drop the topic once Kibadios reaffirmed his answer.

「...」Kibadios thought for a moment before deciding to let the demon lord know. After all, he’s got no reason not to. 「We’ll be travelling up the Kuren river to settle some unfinished business. We’ll probably set out soon, in a few days.」

「Up the Kuren? Then that means you’ll be travelling close to my city-state then. Why don't you pay us a visit?」

「Maybe after I’m done.」

「...With what?」Gilga creepily smiled.

「Sorry, can’t disclose.」

「Well, I’m willing to help you with whatever you need, Kiba chan」

「So that I’d owe you some favor? No thanks.」

「You’ve already owed me a favor or two, Kiba-chan! For helping to deal with the Prime Minister and for keeping your summon, whatever that was, a secret. 」

「That’s true, huh? But still, I don't think I need your help. If I ever do, I’ll let you know.」

「Great!」Gilga excitedly clapped her hands before remembering something. 「By the way, if you’re travelling upstream of the Kuren, you’ll be traversing through the Vernys Forest right? Will you going with that elven princess, the former heir of the Shilna clan?」

「No? I dont have any intention to… and what do you mean by former?」
「Don’t you know? Interesting political events are happening there as we speak. Soon enough, the whole Vernys forest will be plunged into chaos.」

「What?」

「... You know what?」To much of Kibadios’ annoyance, Gilga ignored the hybrid’s question while studying him for a moment before an idea popped into her head. 「The favor you owe me, I think I know how you can pay me back!」

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「So you’re planning to leave for the Vernys Forest with Kyles dono, Princess Yllaner?」King Lance was surprised at Yllaner’s sudden decision as the two and Ryan met up in the newly rebuilt audience hall. 

「Yes. It’s been three months now and Kyles still did not respond to any treatment. I’m planning to take him back to my forest. We have a lot of skilled healers, ready to treat him. On top of that, we have the Spring of Healing, which hopefully can help with his wounds.」

「That’s true… But I thought no one but elven kinds are allowed to be in the Spring?」

「That’s the law, but I can use my authority as a princess to convince them… I can’t just sit around and do nothing.」Fears seemed to grow in Yllaner’s eyes, her body trembled as she thought of the unconscious Kyles. 

「Don’t worry, Yllaner sama. Nii chan will be fine.」consoled Ryan.

「If you have decided to leave, I’ll prepare the best carriage for you guys. I’m so sorry that our doctors could not help him.」

「No. Your help is much appreciated, Your Majesty...」Suddenly, an one-arm Royal Knight suddenly rushed into the hall and whispered something into Lance’s ears. The young king soon turned aghast at the news he just received. 

「Princess Yllaner!」Lance quickly called out to the Princess.「Arch just told me an urgent intelligence report about your Vernys Forest.」

「What is it?」

「Your brother, Prince Yllaes has apparently staged a coup against Lady Seoder’s rule. Currently, he’s taking over the control of the Shilna Clan」gulped the young King, who was still trying to process the news himself. 

「What?」Yllaner shouted.「How can that be? Turning against mother? Other tribes would definitely be against his action.」

「I’m afraid...」Lance looked at Yllaner, worryingly. 「the Great Confederation of the Vernys Forest is falling apart. Three of the other clans have already accepted his legitimacy, though in return, they wished to be treated as independent and equal partners with the Shilna clan instead of the current vassal status. The last remaining clan, the Fyeran, who’s opposing Prince Yllaes, is now under threat of being invaded by the Shilna’s forces.」

「... Foolish Onii san...」Yllaner clenched her fist.

Standing beside her, Ryan was eerily quiet. So the plan has begun , he thought to himself.

Chapter 44: World Map (incomplete)

Summary:

May change in detail in the future.
I had a world map in my mind but never draw it out, then I got introduced to wonderdraft and 30 dollars later, here we are :D
See that tiny border mark below Vernys Forest and north of Kingdom of Maeg, that's Uruk :D

Chapter 45

「What are you saying? Yllaes dono has taken over control of the Shilna clan?」Ryan was surprised when he first heard about the news from Adela, a few hours before King Lance and Princess Yllaner. 「How could that be? The Shilna clan never allowed a male heir to take over as the head.」

「Even I don’t know the reason why...」Lied Adela 「but we know that he did. Us Astrals never want to interfere with the mortals’ affair, but this time, it  would be the one exception. Soon enough, Princess Yllaner will clash with her brother for the control of the Shilna clan and the lordship over Vernys, we shall use this internal strife between the wood elf to lure Kibadios into our trap.」

「What do you mean?」

「As you know, this hybrid, reincarnator of the dreaded Zaeryn, had somehow stolen from us the Primordial Spirit of Fire, HaoS. I’ll be honest...」she paused for a moment. 「If he were to summon HaoS, there are not a lot of beings that can deal with it. Of all the heroes, only the Six could somehow hope to contain HaoS, provided all six of them work together. And as you know, getting the Six together is no simple task, especially in such a short timeframe. And time is something we can’t afford to waste, for that hybrid is growing stronger each day. Hence, to ensure he cannot call forth HaoS, we shall lure him into the trap that can temporarily seal his ability to summon skill and deal with him before he can escape.」Adela discreetly licked her lip has she thought of the sight of the defeated, powerless Zaeryn lying half dead on the ground under her feet.

「We can do that?」

「Yes. Of course we can. Though, since I have known his past life too well, it’s obvious that he’s a very cautious individual. If he, just for a moment, thought that he’s walking into a trap, our plan would fail. That’s why, we must use this upcoming wood elf conflict to cloud his judgement and distract him from our plan of sealing HaoS. 」explained the Astral.

「How can we be sure that he’ll be involved with the conflict?」Asked Ryan 「He told me he wanted to travel to his hometown to deal with the commander who killed him during his second reincarnation and attacked his village during his current lifetime, I don't think he will somehow get sucked into the conflict in the Vernys forest.」

「That is where you’re wrong, my dear Ryan. Princess Yllaner resembles his first love, it would not be easy for him to abandon her when she’s in need. Besides, this is where you will come into the picture: you will have to try to convince him to help Yllaner out. Don't worry, it’s not going to be that hard.」Adela noticed Ryan’s confused look.「No, don't get me wrong, it’s going to be easy not because he likes you and can’t turn down your request or anything. It’s merely because for him, this is only another chance for him to test his skills and level up… and we can’t have that. During his time as Zaeryn, at his full power, he caused the death of hundreds of millions of lives. We can’t let that repeat, can we, my dear Ryan?」

「I understand, Adela sama.」Ryan quickly remembered something and hesitated. 「Though, what about that Ryuu? He’s been sticking to that hybrid days and nights and he’s not someone we can easily deal with.」

「Dealing with that second generation dragon will be tricky.」agreed Adela. 「I may have some people that can deal with him, though, hopefully you can separate them before we temporarily seal away Kibadios’ ability to summon HaoS. Can you do this?」

「I’ll try my best, Adela sama.」Ryan determinedly responded.

「Good, Ryan chan! I know I can always rely you.」

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「So, from my eavesdropping, the news had already reached you, Lan-chan!」Back to the present, Gilga’s voice suddenly echoed throughout the chamber before she, along with the hybrid’s group, finally walked in the room while ignoring the guards’ attempt at stopping her. Her hands were holding onto the restless Nu, squeezing and playing with it ever since she had asked the hybrid to carry the little slime. 

「Gilga dono!」Lance greeted with slight annoyance. 「I did not know you have arrived… and also, how many time have I told you not to call me by that nickname.」

「Aww dont be like that~」dismissed the demon lord while slightly nodding at Yllaner. Evidently, both of them have known each other for a while now since the City-state of Uruk was located fairly close to the forest. 「Remember how happy you were when I called you Lan chan when you were a kid and visit my city together with our Jay-chan!」

「That was when I was a kid, Gilga dono.  Besides, I don't think we were ever “happy” when you called us those names, especially not Jayden.」argued Lance. 

… When he was a kid? Wait, how old is this Demon Lord again? Kibadios wondered. The tall, beautiful woman looked no older than a late twenties woman, yet it seemed as though she was much older than her look. Without being invited, the demon lord simply sat down to the large, fully polished wooden chair next to Yllaner, then turned to the Princess

「So, what are you planning to do now, Princess Yllaner?」She gave her an obligatory friendly smile. 

「Gilga dono! It’s good to see you again」Yllaner greeted her old acquaintance. The two had already known each other for years since the city-state of Uruk located only 3 days' travel from the edge of the Vernys forest. Being ruled over by both demihuman races, the forest and Uruk have always been maintaining a good relationship, one of the few precious, fully normalized diplomatic ties that the citystate had established under Gilga.「Thank you for asking. I had already planned to return to the Vernys forest, mostly to treat Kyles. The news about my brother only hastens my preparation.」

「... And what details have you learned from His Majesty here?」The demon lord curiously asked. 

「Lance dono has only informed me about my brother’s coup.」

「Our kingdom is still recovering so our intelligence is lacking. I’m sure Gilga dono would let us know the details regarding the situation, given how extensive her spy network is.」

「Yes, all thanks to slimes like this, who have been continuously gathering information for me from all over the world.」Gilga honestly admitted as she held Nu up. The slime was all tired after struggling to break free from her embrace to jump back to its current master.「Anyways, the whole situation concerning Vernys is mostly due to the meddling from the Yin Empire .」

「... So they still have not given up?」frowned Yllaner.

「Yin Empire?」Kibadios noticed a familiar name. Isn’t that where that commander came from, according to what Ryan told me before? The hybrid turned toward his slave, looking for a confirmation. Yet, Ryan seemed to not have noticed his master, his gaze fixated to a corner of the room, deep in thought… Ryan? 

「The Yin Empire has been trying to exert their influence onto the forest ever since the second emperor resumed their expanistic policy. Before I was kidnapped, my mother and I had dealt with them and their ambassadors. What did they do now?」

「They had whispered into your brother’s ears, promising to back him as a successor to Lady Seoder. Simultaneously, they lobbied for the other clans to break away from the confederation. It’s so obvious that they wanted to weaken the Vernys Forest forces before they swoop in and annex the forest by force. Sadly, the momentary benefits seem to have outweighed the long-term cost in the mind of your brother and the elders from the clans. As of now, the three clans have already fully supported your brother’s claim and all the clans are amassing their military forces to intimidate the Fyeran, the last remaining clan who rejects Yllaes. I’d say given the circumstances, the Fyeran would soon step back from their opposition. Once they do, that’d be the end of the Vernys Confederation.」

「... Princess Yllaner.」Lance was deep in thought for a while before calling out to his royal guest. 「You have my full support in this matter. If your brother succeeds in taking control over the Shilna Tribe and the great Vernys confederation is broken apart because of it, sooner or later, the empire will initiate a war to take over the forest. Truth to be told, if they ever succeed, our kingdom will share our border with them and in our current situation, being weakened by civil wars and catastrophe disasters, we will undoubtedly be their next target. I will dispatch ambassadors to the other tribes, trying to convince them to not abandon the confederation but without you and your mother returning to power, I fear there will be no future for Vernys forest.」

「I share your concerns too, Your Majesty.」Gilga nodded.「Everyone knows that aside from the Oracle and the Theocracy, the Yin Empire is second to none when it comes to descrimination against demihumans. Given that our city is made up of 80% demihuman and shares a border with the Vernys forest, I personally don't like to see them taking over the forest. However, this is still, first and foremost, your internal affair. As such, I regrettably cannot interfere and help you regardless how I feel about the matter, Princess.」

「I understand, Gilga dono.」Yllaner faintly smiled, then turned toward Lance. 「Your Majesty, I graciously accept your help. In fact, at this point, I’m afraid that without your backing, I would not be able to stand against my brother’s forces.」

There was a long silence that filled in the grim atmosphere. The audience hall was specifically designed for natural light to illuminate the room during the daytime and allow the dim moonlight to soak it during nighttime. Yet, at the moment the princess acknowledged her predicament, the shadows quickly enveloped the room as the sun found itself concealed behind a thick dark cloud, as if the world itself was agreeing to Yllaner’s ominous prediction of her future.

「Fear not, Princess.」Said Lance determinedly.「We will spare no expenses. Reinstate your mother and preventing the collapse of the Vernys Forest Confederation are of our best interest, after all.」

「Princess Yllaner! If possible, I’d like to help you through this crisis.」Ryan, who remained quiet for most of the conversation, loudly offered his assistance before turning to the hybrid. 「That is, if Kibadios… sama is willing to let me.」

「Of course. Though I can’t just let Ryan go alone. Our group is happy to lend you our strength.」Kibadios nodded after briefly being dumbstruck by Ryan’s sudden offer. He was supposed to help out Yllaner even before Ryan said anything, since that was the favor Gilga had asked him. Yet, the hybrid did not expect the hero to be assertive and made decisions on his own without consulting him first. Somehow, even his eyes have appeared much clearer than before. Was it just my imagination? The hybrid thought to himself.

「Having someone as strong as you are on my side is assuring, Kibadios dono.」Yllaner was elated.「I’m hoping I don’t appear too greedy in accepting your help.」

「No, no, I don’t mind.」Dismissed the hybrid. 

The meeting between the three royalties finally came to an end shortly after Yllaner suddenly remembered she had to return to Kyles’ side after having left him for more than two hours. As they left the room, Ryan hurriedly bid farewell to the princess before joining Kibadios to walk back to the guest house they were staying at. 

「I’m sorry, Kibadios sama, for offering to help the Princess before checking with you.」Ryan finally spoke.

「Yeah, what’s with that?」Ryuu was annoyed at the indiscretion. 「It’s lucky for you that our Master was already determined to go to Vernys Forest to assist Syl… Yllaner sama.」

「Huh? He did?」Surprised Ryan.

「Um Huh.」Rowan nodded. 「Before coming here, Gilga dono had already asked master to help the Princess.」

「Gilga dono did?」confused Ryan. 「But why didn’t she offer to help the princess back then?」

「She could not directly interfere because she did not want to risk having her name associated with either of the sides during this civil war in the Vernys forest. She’s a crafty demon lord.」Rowan shook his head. 「I’m sure she will eventually side with whoever emerges victorious from this contention to keep the Yin empire away from the forest. If she openly sided with Princess Yllaner and the princess lost, Prince Yllaes would never cooperate with her and the city-state of Uruk. And if the Shilna clan does not ally itself with Uruk, it stands no chance of winning a war against the Yin Empire on its own, if the empire ever wants to invade Vernys. On the other hand, if the princess emerges victorious and the confederation remains intact, the Yin empire would not be able to easily take over Vernys. Even if they try to invade, Gilga dono would immediately come to Vernys’ aid. Yllaner dono would have no reason to refuse. In short, it’s a win-win scenario for Gilga dono. Though, she seems to prefer the Princess to win since she secretly asked Master to assist her.」

「I see...」

「Ryan, let’s go somewhere and talk about how we should help the Princess. Ryuu and Rowan, you two can go ahead.」ordered Kibadios

「Huh? But we can discuss...」

「Just go… and take Nu with you」reiterated the hybrid before Rowan could finish his sentence, then signalling for the slime to jump off from his shadow into the dragonoid’s.

「「Yes, Master.」」 Both Ryuu and Rowan obediently nodded. Despite wanting to contribute and help their master, they reluctantly left the hybrid and the hero behind.

Chapter 46

 After having a discussion with Ryan regarding the upcoming mission of assisting Yllaner, the hybrid soon allowed his hero-slave to go back to taking care of Kyles. Just like Adela had correctly predicted, the hybrid did not seem to mind yet another detour to his goal of reaching his village. He was, in fact, looking forward to it. More foes to cut down means more experience , he thought to himself. He had leveled up greatly after fighting against Ryuu and the chaos infected-Prime Minister, but if he was to judge his progress, it was still far from what he had achieved during his first reincarnation. Granted, back then, it took him more than a hundred years to reach his pinnacle of strength, but now, he could not afford to wait since he knew the Harvest was approaching fast. If he were to use the great demon lord Gilga as a way to measure his power, one without the help of HaoS, he would not even last more than five minutes battling against her, much like how Carrion was when compared to either Millim or Guy. Was it my imagination or was she much stronger than some of the strongest individuals I have known during my time as Zaeryn? This was the question he has been asking himself for months now, after their first fateful meeting when she single-handedly subdued a weakened Creature of Chaos in front of his eyes. This was another reason he was weary of the great demon lord. He did not want to make her into his enemy, though on the other side, being subservient to her was also out of the question. There was a chance he had to deal with the demon lord when he carried out his plan to initiate the Harvest before the Astral could, but there was no point of worrying about it now.

「Kill him!」「Kill that filth!」「Kill that monster!」「Kill that little shit! He brought the calamity upon Lorian!」

The loud raging screams coming from a large gathering crowd jolted the hybrid from his deep thoughts about his future plan. Once he looked up, he realized he had strayed close toward the shadowy part of Lorian, where Arche had shown him during a reconstruction tour. The place had no official name since no one from the government wanted to acknowledge such lawless place existed within Lorian. It used to be located in the “slum” part of Lorian, but ever since the destruction of the capital, the “slum” had transformed into a field of trash and rubles. Even when most other parts of the capital have been actively rebuilt, none of the effort was put into rebuilding this place since Lance had intended to get rid of it for good. Sitting among the rubles and large, filthy smelling piles of garbage were equally filthy homeless and low-life criminals that called Lorian their home. Curious of what was happening, the hybrid skillfully jumped on top of a destroyed brick house, where he could observe the crowd without being noticed by them.
「... Isn’t that?」the hybrid eyes widened. A sense of deja vu soon hit him as he noticed the discolored, beaten up boy, chained in his slave collar being dragged to the middle of the crowd while the attendants mercilessly kicked and spat on him. Some even hurled small stones at the defenseless boy, bloodied his head and exposed body. Despite the abuse, which had caused one of his eyes to be swollen shut, his other dark eye with red pupil was still glaring defiantly at the crowd. Kibadios was surprised at first since given how the boy was able to fend of hordes of monsters a few months back, he should have been strong enough to take on all these people gathering here but he was soon reminded of the slave collar the boy was wearing, which would have prevented him from injuring any humans. That was probably how they caught him again after he escaped , the hybrid thought. Now that I have gotten a much better look at him, it’s no doubt he’s a mutant. 

「Yo!!! Thank you all for gathering today!」The man who dragged the boy finally spoke loudly to try to calm down the clamoring noises made by the crowd. 「Today is the day! Today, like we have promised, is the day we will finally execute this filthy mutant, which had attracted the Creature of Chaos to Lorian three months ago!」

… They still thought that mutants were born from Chaos’ miasma? 

「KILL HIM!!!」「If we let him live, we will be attacked by another <Seed of Chaos> infected creature!」「Fucking kill him now!」The crowd was riled up, most had already picked up several large rocks that would certainly kill the boy if they were thrown at him. 「Stone him to death!」

「Now, now, I can’t have this, can I?」Kibadios shook his head. 「I can’t let that little shit die after I have bothered to save him before. I guess I have to save him again this time.」

Before he could jump down onto the ground and confront the crowd; however, dozens of the Royal Knight timely showed up right before the execution was to be carried out. Detecting their presence, a few people from the crowd , which the hybrid correctly guessed to be wanted criminals, quickly sneaked away while most others were rounded up by the silvery armor cladded men. Leading the group was someone that the hybrid knew personally: Arche, the 1st Captain of the Royal Knight. 

「Arche san!」The hybrid jumped down and greeted the knight once he finally finished directing his subordinate to disperse most of the crowd. Some unlucky slow moving criminals were handcuffed and lead away under the order of the captain.「How come you’re here?」

「Kibadios dono!」Arche respectfully nodded at the hybrid. 「We are running an op to round up some criminals at large after the attack three months ago. We knew they would like to gather here today to carry out an execution of a mutant slave because they believe the slave caused the Chaos creature to attack Lorian.」

「Is that so? I’d thought they would try to hide rather than to attend some underground execution.」surprised the hybrid. 「I bet those criminals just want to feel better about themselves by punishing someone else like how inmates tend to beat up pedophiles in prisons back on earth.」

「Huh?」Arche donned a blank expression after hearing the hybrid’s mumbles. 「What are you talking about?」

「No nothing. Don't mind me.」

「That reminds me, what are you doing here, Kibadios dono? I thought you were still talking to His Majesty, Gilga dono, and Yllaner dono?」

「Oh, our conversation ended a while ago.  I was leaving and just lost in my thoughts when I stumbled upon this place. I heard some screaming noise so I wanted to check it out.」

「I see. I’m sorry for you to see such an unsightly crowd during your stay here in Lorian, Kibadios dono.」Arche was scratching his head with his one good arm while his prosthetic was still holding onto the hilt of his sword, ready for action like a well-trained knight.

「Don’t worry. It’s fine.」The hybrid’s attention soon focused on the half dead boy lying on the ground. 「... What are you going to do with him?」

「... Truth to be told, I actually don’t know.」hesitated Arche. 「On top of being a slave, he’s a mutant. I doubt there is a future for him, given how the people in this kingdom are extremely angry at mutants right now because they thought mutants were attracting the chaos creature to Lorian. I did not think he’d still be alive after all this either. I feel bad for him, but… maybe, ending him here would be the best for him.」Arche slid his sword out from his scabbard, though the hybrid could clearly see his hesitation for his hand was slightly shaking.

「I can take him in.」suggested the hybrid. 「I was actually planning to intervene before you guys show up… and good thing that you did too because I don't want to injure those human, not when I’m being targeted by the animosity of the Oracle and some of the adventurers for supposedly stealing away the contribution of the heroes during our battle against that Chaos Creature.」

「You would? Are you sure? After all, he’s a mutant. His power may go out of control any time...」

「I’m sure I’ll be able to handle him.」

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「Eto...」Maia was taken aback at the sight of a beaten up boy her master was levitating with magic in mid air as if he was a lost puppy. 「Who’s that, Master?」

「Rowan, can you help heal him?」asked Kibadios.

「Of… of course, master.」The teenager hurriedly walked to the hybrid and carried the half conscious boy away. 「Who is he? What happened to him?」

「He’s the slave that I saved a few months back during the attack on Lorian. I just coincidentally found him earlier, right before a mob was going to execute him for being a mutant.」explained the hybrid. 「Long story short, I kind of promised Arche I’ll look after him.」

「A mutant?」Maia was not familiar with the terminology, though it was expected since she had always been living in an isolated backwater village.

「Mutants are monsters, I mean, demihumans that were born with deviant characteristics that were not common for their races. One of the shared traits of mutants is the fact that they tend to accumulate and radiate Chaos miasma from their bodies, even without the presence of <Seed of Chaos> being planted in them. Because of being constantly subjected to Chaos miasma, they tend to go berserk once in a while, just like how the Prime Minister went berserk and destroyed this city.」Ryuu explained, though he paid no attention to the newcomer to his group. 「During my time, they were thought to be harbingers of evil. 」

「Yeah, they’re like shiny pokemon, but corrupted.」added the hybrid. 

「Shiny Pokemon?」

「No, nothing.」

「... Are you planning to add him into your harem, Master?」asked Ryuu while leaning against the backrest of the couch, studying the boy from head to toe.

「What? No.」denied Kibadios. The hybrid quickly looked at the boy, who was lying in a strangely erotic pose, covered with nothing but a thin sheet of white cloth on the floor while being treated by Rowan. Somehow, the erocity reminded the hybrid of a certain 7th prince from an isekai manga he read a long time ago. 「Don’t get me wrong. I obtained him as a slave but it’s just not for a sexual nature. After all, I have you guys to satisfy my need.」Somehow, Ryuu was filled with happiness at his master’s comment. 「It’s just if I did not take him in, Arche was going to end his life back then. That’d be a waste, especially after I bothered saving him before. I figured that if every badass needs a loli by his side so in place of a loli, I’d take in a shota.」

「「「Huh?」」」All three unisonly responded, fully confused. 

「Again, never mind. I was just using references of my first life back on Earth.」dismissed the hybrid. 「Though, I called him a shota but in fact, he’s older than me. I’m sure he’s either 6 or 7 years old. And it doesn’t matter if he’s a mutant, for an ogre hybrid like myself, he should have looked much older than an appearance of a kid like this. In short, technically, he should be considered a legal shota.」... Despite being a true shota shota if we take his age literally as a human’s age , the hybrid thought to himself. Man, this is confusing… 

「He’s an ogre hybrid?」asked Maia.「He doesn't look like one.」

「Yeah, he looks more like a Ghoul because of his discolored skin right?」agreed Kibadios. 「But no, since I’m also part ogre, I know for sure he’s an ogre hybrid. His other half should be some sort of beastman races.」

「... Rabbit race.」confirmed Rowan while treating him. 

「Huh? Really? You can tell? Though that probably explained his red pupils.」

「I wouldn’t be able to tell just from his appearance...」said Rowan. 「But no matter how you look at them, these seem like what are left of a pair of rabbit-like ears to me」The healer spread the boy’s hair apart on one side of his head, revealing a mutilated part of an ear. 

「That’s horrible!」cried out Maia.

「Hoh?」Ryuu paid some attention to the unconscious boy, not out of sympathy but curiosity since when it came to the dragonoid, the only person he would ever care for would be his one and only master, Kibadios.

「Hmm. I guess those slavers have done more than just beat him up.」The hybrid stared down at the boy. 「Anyways, I’ll leave him in your care, Rowan. I’ll go and take a bath for now.」

「I’ve drawn a bath for you, Master!」Ryuu excitedly pointed out, expecting to be able to wash the hybrid’s back since it was now his turn.「I’ll come with you.」

「I’m sorry Ryuu but I’d like some alone time to think」said the hybrid, causing the dragonoid’s ears and wagging tails to droop down disappointedly.「... I promise next time I’ll let you take a  bath with me.」Noticing the sadness in Ryuu’s expression, Kibadios quickly added while petting his head.

Although not taking a bath with one of his slaves and doing the “usual”, Kibadios was still taking a fairly long time before he emerged from the bathroom almost half an hour later while drying his hair with a thick, warm towel prepared for him by Ryuu. Once he got out, he noticed the boy was now resting on the sofa where Ryuu used to be, covered with a large blanket that covered most of his body, saved for part of his head. He was still as dirty and stinky as when Kibadios first picked him up from the ground, with his dirt hairs entangled into lumps; though there was nothing Rowan could have done about it since bathing him while he was severely injured was out of the question.

「How is he?」

「I have healed up all of his open wounds, fractured ribs and head. Though there are a lot of old injuries, which aren’t meant to be treated by healing magic so I asked Maia to synthesize some medicines for him to take.」Rowan looked at the boy with worrying eyes. 「But I don't think he’ll wake up for a while so I guess he can start taking Maia’s medicine tomorrow.」

「Good. Thanks, Rowan! You’re the best!」complimented Kibadios, causing his slave to go doki doki all of the sudden as he was filled with happiness and unable to respond to his master.

「So Master, about Yllaner sama’s situation, have you decided on our course of action?」Ryuu finally asked. 

「Huh?」

「Isn’t it why you need some time to think in the bath?」

「Right!」Kibadios nodded.「I have talked to Ryan and decided that we shall accompany Yllaner back to the Vernys Forest, just like the offer I made to her back in the audience chamber. Of course, we will try our best to help her but our main purpose is to protect her from any assassination attempts on her life instead of actively involve in the conflict.」

「But why?」Ryuu, a simpleton, was confused. 「I can just go out there and kill off her brother by myself. That should solve her problem.」

「It’s not that simple, Ryuu chan.」Before the hybrid could explain his thought, Rowan already interrupted. 「In the current situation, Yllaner sama is already being checkmated by her brother so killing her brother would solve nothing.」

「Interesting… why don't you explain more to us what do you mean by “killing her brother would solve nothing”?」Kibadios was amused at his slave’s comment while the dragonoid only gave the teenager a blank expression, not understanding any of his sayings.  

「Am I wrong?」Rowan was hesitant for a moment before elaborating further 「Isn't it kinda evident? Her brother’s goal is to assume control of the Shilna clan and the other three clans’ goals are to be independent of the Shilna clan, which they all have already achieved. Princess Yllaner’s goal, though, isn't just simply deposing her brother. If that’s the case, killing him would work. But her main goal is to return her mother back to be the head of the clan and preserve the confederation. The latter, though, is the tricky part. If she kills her brother through underhanded means, such as having Master or Ryuu chan do it, the other three clans would fervently oppose her until the end. They would see her as their dreaded overlord that kills their “liberator” and would soon destroy their new found independence. Instead of bowing to the Shilna clan again, they would most likely band together to fight against the Shilna and a full scale civil war would break out. And I’m sure that’s not something the Princess would like to see… not when the Yin Empire is looking for an opportunity to attack Vernys. On the other hand, since her brother’s goals have already been achieved, he can simply assassinate the princess and he would have won this conflict.」

「Rowan’s right.」Kibadios was pleasantly surprised at his slave’s insight. Before having heard his slave speak, he could not have imagined a teenage boy like Rowan, who spent most of his life in an isolated village, would have understood the complicated political predicament that Yllaner was facing right now. 「That is the reason why instead of acting as her sword, we’ll be her shield. She cannot simply rely on our strength to fight against her brother. She has to do it herself.」

「I see… But how can she deal with this mess without relying on our strength?」Asked Ryuu, concerningly.

「She’s Sylvia’s reincarnation, isn’t she? We’ll see.」smiled Kibadios since he was confident the Princess would emerge victorious.「To be honest, I know she most likely has a backup plan involving the Great Demon Lord Gilga… though I’m sure that’d only be her last resort.」

「Involving that Gilga?」

「Yes, though if she’s anything like Sylvia, I dont think she will need it.」

 

 

Btw this drawing from Arsh (Pixiv ID: 10489689) is how I imagine Ryuu's tail and ear would look (Fun fact: his collection of monster boys were also one of my inspiration for this harem)

 

Chapter 47

「So the Zaeryn isn't going to actively get involved in the conflict?」asked the Astral to confirm.

「No, he will be focusing on protecting Yllaner sama instead.」nodded Ryan. The hero hesitated for a bit before continuing on「... Adela sama… Since we’re on this topic regarding the princess, may I ask you a favor?」

「What is it?」

「Once we finish dealing with that hybrid, would you consider helping Princess Yllaner? I know the Astrals do no interfere with the affairs of mortals but this is Yllaner sama… she meant a lot to my brother and I.」

「Of course, my dear Ryan chan.」Adela skillfully hid her devious smile. 「Though like I have told you, for now, I will use her brother in order to lure Zaeryn into our trap, but I promise you, once I’m done with him, I’ll make sure to help the Princess to restore the Vernys Confederation. Having the Vernys Confederation united would help with the world harmony, something us Astrals are greatly concerning ourselves with.」

「Thank you, Adela sama!」Ryan gratefully nodded before realizing the Astral had suggestively closed in on him, her hand placed on his chest, pressing him against the wall with a kabedon move 「Adela sama?」Ryan was trembling, his face turned bright red.

「Though, it’d still be a favor I’m doing for you... What then, can you repay me with?」Adela slowly walked her finger along the cornered hero’s collar bone. 

「... I… I...」Ryan’s head was spinning, not knowing how to react to her advances.

「How about you pledge to serve me?」Adela suggested. 「Only the most esteemed heroes can directly serve a God. I’ll grant you permission to serve under me as an exception, what say you?」

「I don't dare to...」

「Don't be silly, Ryan chan」Adela licked her lip. Originally, she had not thought of Ryan as someone she wanted to possess but after spending some time with the outwardly obedient hero, it had strangely turned her on much more than she would have ever thought. She did not know if the time he spent with the hybrid had somehow broken the teenager into such a subservient person but she did not care much since it was not as if she would ever thank her nemesis for grooming a perfect toy for her. She just knew that once she has settled things with the hybrid, Ryan would definitely be in her collection. 「I’ll allow you the distinction of serving me. There’s no “dare or don't dare.” 」

「If that’s what you desire, Adela sama...」said the hero 「then I’ll dedicate my life into your service.」

「Good… I’m sure you’ll be devoting yourself to me and perform your duty as a hero admirably.」Adela rejoiced.

 

---------

 

A soft, whimpering noise could be faintly detected as the hero entered the dark royal guest house in the middle of the night. Strangely, instead of the hybrid’s bedroom, the noise was coming from one of the spare rooms, which was rarely being used since all four of his slaves, with Ryan included, had always adamantly fought to be able to sleep on the same bed as the hybrid. Of course, such sleeping arrangements had resulted in a rather cramped situation, even after the hybrid made some modification to make his bed the size of 2 queen beds. Having intimately living with the three other slaves (or rather, 2 slaves and 1 dragonoid servant, since Kibadios had never declared Ryuu his slave) for months, Ryan could easily tell who the moaning belonged to. Why is Ryuu staying in a different room? Ryan thought to himself. And why is he moaning in there? 

「Are you in here… Master?」Ryan slowly turned the doorknob then took a peek inside the dimly lit room, which was filled with a strong, familiar bodily fluid smell. Instead of the hybrid, the two occupants of the room turned out to be Rowan and Ryuu, though the dragonoid’s hands were tied behind his back, his eyes were blindfolded with what looked like Kibadios’ shadowy tentacles. Both of them were fully naked, their chiseled torsos were all coated with sticky cums and sweat, though Ryuu was in a much more compromised position, leaning against one end of the bed, his legs were spread wide open, revealing his raging hard cock. Just from one look, it could easily be deduced that the healer was actually in charge of the whole situation since he was leaning on top of the trembling dragonoid, licking off the rolling drop of sweat down his neck while his hands playfully flicked at Ryuu’s oversensitive nipples. Ryan could clearly see the dragonoid’s cock jerked violently at the same moment his nipples were played with before the healer’s hand finally inched downward, grabbed onto his “victim” cock and rubbed it hard.
「Hiiiiii!!!」Ryuu struggled, but somehow, it did not look like he truly wanted to escape Rowan’s sexual torments since if he did, Ryan did not believe those mere restraints could have stopped him
「Hey, Ryan!」Rowan finally noticed his fellow harem brother entered the room. He stopped playing with the dragonoid’s nipples and turned toward the hero, though his hand was still rhythmically rubbed the dragonoid’s cock.「Did you think Master is here because of Ryuu chan’s moanings? Master is still in his room. We’re just here because Master ordered me to discipline Ryuu chan a bit.」
「... Discipline him? But why?」
「Ahh… you see… there was a biting incident when master was fucking me.」Rowan touched the red bite mark on his shoulder. 「Ryuu chan was just a bit jealous. But considering how he has been acting, Master thought he needed some discipline since Master said he should be respecting me because I’m “his senpai in the sheet.” Also, Master said I should know how to sexually torture someone with pleasure since I was subjected to the same torture by Master after I… you know… tried like harm him way back then.」

「HAAAAA~~」Ryuu’s eyes were all teary now, though since it was a punishment sanctioned by Kibadios, the dragonoid did not dare to break away. 「Roow… Rowan…. See… Sennpaiiii… Pl… please… stopppp」
「... He does seem more docile.」Ryan remarked.
「I know!」Smiled Rowan happily before he turned to Ryuu.「I’m sorry Ryuu chan! Both you and me know Master said this punishment should last until you pass out from exhaustion. There’s nothing I can do.」
「You seem busy, Rowan. I won’t bother you anymore.」Ryan nodded.
「I know you’re eager to get to Master right? You should go to him, he’s waiting for you.」Not knowing the hero’s mind control was dispelled by Adela, Rowan grinned at Ryan and pointed him to their master’s room next door before switching his attention back to his adorable squirming kouhai. 

Ryan closed the door behind him, then stood silently with his hand already reached out to the doorknob leading to the hybrid’s room. He could feel his crotch area began to get warmer and warmer. Just as Adela had predicted before she let him go back to the hybrid, the incubus crest on his body would forcibly make him react to the scent of the caster, causing his his mind to crave for one and only one thing: sex with his master. So that’s why she did not worry about me returning back here and exhibiting questionable behaviors during night time activity , Ryan thought to himself before he finally opened the door. The pungent smell of the hybrid’s cum and sweat, mixed in with Maia, quickly penetrated the hero’s mind, working in tandem with the incubus crest down at his crotch, causing him to collapse down onto the floor from the phantom pleasure he was feeling. His mouth was salivating, his pupil were dilating, his heart was racing, his body was heating up to the point he just wanted to tear his clothes apart, stripped down naked, and jumped onto the bed with his master, who was busy fucking Maia’s brain out. The girl was already covered in his cum, her white smooth skin were filled with red hickies and bite marks. She was riding on his cock, facing the hybrid while he merely laid there comfortably, his hands tucked behind his head, admiring the full beauty emanating from the clothless girl. It seemed as though she had been pumping onto his cock with her tight pussy for quite a while now since the girl started to slow down the moment Ryan entered the room, then collapsed onto her master below, her breast pressed against his broad chest.
「Good thing you’re back, Ryan, cuz it seems like Maia has just reached her limit.」The hybrid caressed the exhausted girl’s head with one hand while groping her ass with another.
「I’m… I’m sorry I couldnt… couldnt last longer, Kibadios sama.」Maia faintly mumbled.
「Don’t worry.」smiled Kibadios. 「I was kinda rough on you. Just rest for now.」He then turned to the lingering hero.  「I guess it’s your turn to satisfy my lust, Ryan?」

Silence befell onto the room for a few seconds due to the hero’s hesitation before he faintly nodded「Of course, master!」
After discarding his clothes onto the floor, he got on the bed and crawled slowly toward the hybrid before his master reached out to one of his arms and pulled him closer for a deep french kiss. Their tongues danced with one another for a good minute before Ryan broke the kiss and inched back out.

「... What’s wrong?」Kibadios asked, his eyes seemed to pierce through the hero.「Are you too tired after looking after Kyles? If so, you can just sleep next to me.」

「No master!」Ryan shook his head. 「I’m fine. I just need some air… We can continue...」
「...」The hybrid said nothing and soon, the same night time scenery unfolded as he pinned down the hero onto his bed and mounted him like a hungry predator devouring its prey. He continued to fuck Ryan until a few hours before the sunrise, when he finally let his slave have his sleep. 

--------

In an undisclosed location, Adela sat comfortably on her soft chair. She took a sip of red wine after swirling the glass around before gazing out the window. The sun has started to rise beyond the distant horizon, signaling a start of a new day, a day closer to the destined moment when Zaeryn would be lying defeated under her feet. The Astrals, her father, and she were able to extinguish his threat ten thousands years ago and there was no reason history would not repeat again. No matter how much hatred Zaeryn was culturing within himself, it could not compare with the immense power and influence that the Astral has been exerting onto this world of Esthar. The Astrals were the gods of this world and whoever defied the gods would be destined to be squashed like a pathetic insect. Once again, you'll be stabbed in the back by the people you believe in, Zaeryn , Adela chuckled while thinking back to the events that transpired more than ten thousands ago, I thought you would have learned your lesson but here you are, making the same mistake of trusting people… Ryan, who she had helped dispelling the mind control spell that was casted on him, was an ideal pawn. She could not have asked for a more perfect man for the job to keep an eye out for the hybrid and his movement. He would lure the hybrid into her perfectly weaving webs of deceptions and at the opportune moment, when <HaoS> has been momentarily sealed off from the hybrid, the very pawn would sprung into action, stabbing him from behind, both figuratively and literally. It was fortunate for her that Ryan was a rather gullible individual, just like what Desmond had reported. It did not take much to convince the hero that everything sprouted from Zaeryn’s mouth was nonsense and that he only made it up to spread doubts in the mind of the followers of the Astrals. Though, objectively speaking, Adela knew his gullibleness was not the main reason why he readily accepted her explanation, it was faith. After all, most human civilizations that existed on Esthar worshiped the Astrals as their gods. Generations after generations, from the great-grandparents, grandparents, parents to childrens, grandchildrends, and great-grandchildren, they all grew up being taught they were followers of the Astrals, and that the words coming from the Astrals were absolute. Having been indoctrinated since birth, it was not a surprise that Ryan opted to believe Adela’s version of history without a hint of doubt, much like how the princes of the Kingdom of Maeg hastily followed Adela’s counsel and raised up in rebellions one after another. In the end, for the Astrals like her, humans, asides from being fertilizers for Yggdrasil, were merely toys for them to alleviate their boredom resulting from the blessing of immortality.

    Adela was confident in her plan. Sooner or later, the hybrid would fall . Though, Adela knew that was if nothing interfered with her plan. There was one additional unknown variable that could easily prevent her from crushing Zaeryn, and that was the very individual who decapitated her homunculus avatar just three months back. The very individual who lurked behind the shadow of history for millenia and whose existence was considered to be more dangerous than even the Great Demon Lords by the Ennead: Matelus King, the only disciple of Zaeryn. Even if the Enneads were to learn of Zaeryn’s reincarnation, seeking and destroying Matelus would still be the number one priority in their agenda. Considering that he was a mere coward nobody during the second holy war, it’s a surprise how much of a threat he had grown into , Adela thought to herself, I guess that’s another reason why I have to destroy Zaeryn right now, before he grew to be another thorn in our side. He was present when the hybrid summoned <HaoS> and he was the first to recognize his master’s reincarnation, even before Adela could convince herself of such possibility. But so far, he had made no attempts at contacting his Master, at least not that Ryan knew of. His intention regarding the master who taught him everything would remain as a big unknown for now, and there was no way Adela could know what he was planning to do next. Still, considering how the events transpired during the second holy war, Adela did not think Matelus would be on friendly terms with his Master, either. I just have to watch out for that man and adapt my plan, accordingly , Adela thought.

Chapter 48

「What sin have I committed?!!」The female beastman screamed in pure hatred as she pinned her young child down onto the ground, one of her hands gripped tightly against his slender neck, the other raised up in the air while holding onto a sharp knife. She did not seem to care for the toxic miasma exuded from the kid’s discolored skin, which has now slowly crept upward along her arm, at least, not anymore. Her murderous eyes coldly leered down at the youth, who struggled to lift the woman off his body.「Why have I been forced to give birth to such a monstrous being like you??」

「P...Ple..asee Hana… Mo...ther」The child called out in desperation to his once loving mother. 「S...st..oppp...」

「And that face of yours! Those two fucking horns! You’re looking more and more like that rapist father of yours! That filthy creature!!!」The woman yelled as tears of frustration streamed down her face.「If you have already chosen to look like him, then don’t take after me! I’ll fucking cut off your ears! You don't deserve them! You’re not my child… you’re not my child… you’re not my child...」As she continued to repeat the phrase, the woman finally swung the knife down to slash off his floppy ears.

「ARG… ARGGHHHHH!!!!」The young boy screamed out while being choked to death by his own mother.
Darkness took over… He did not know what happened, but he could feel his blood gushing out from his mutilated ear, rolling down both his slender cheeks… 

How long has he been sitting there in the corner of this tiny home? How long has he been gazing expressionlessly at the corpse lying dead in the middle of the room?

「Did you hear? Hana was killed by that cursed monster.」「I know! They found her dead body covered with claw marks, her throat was cut open.」「Told you! That’s her fault for giving birth then letting that cursed monster live.」「Where has that monster gone to?」「I heard he’s running off into the forest outside his home.」「We can’t just let him lurking in the forest, can we?」「No no no, of course not! The elders are gathering strong men to head to the forest to hunt him down and kill him.」「Thanks goodness! I don't think we can live in peace knowing he’s lurking around.」「Of course not!」

「... Cursed child… They are actively hunting for you. They want you dead for what you did to Hana… to your own mother. If you want to live, then run away from here. Next time we meet, I will not hesitate to end your life… After all… I don’t think I can ever forgive you...」

.

.

.

The boy suddenly opened his red eyes, which almost seemingly glowed in the darkness of the room. Cold sweat was dripping down from his swollen forehead. It has been six years now, but the same nightmare has been haunting his sleep ever since. It took the boy a few minutes to finally calm down and tried to recall what had happened. The last thing he remembered was having rocks thrown at him as his captors dragged his beaten up body to the execution ground. Yet, once he looked around, he was sure he had yet died. Given that he wasn't chained in a cell somewhere, that just meant one thing: someone had taken him in as a slave and for a mutant slave, living was even worse than dead. The only reason anyone would obtain mutant slaves was to torture them to death through experimenting on their bodies to look for the source of miasma. He had seen it first hand when he was locked in cages back in the slave shop, when customers, who usually dressed in researchers’ coats, would barge in, dragging the corpses of mutilated mutants to the slave shop owners and asked them to discard of the bodies by giving them some extra payments. Once he realized his slave collar was gone, the boy looked down at his naked body and checked for any sight of the dreaded slave crest, which was supposed to be more restrictive and permanent compared to the collar. Finding none, he knew he had to act now before his owners, whoever they were, would most likely come back and put the slave crest on his body… Kill ... and escape… the boy thought. His gaze now turned toward the rooms located at the end of the small hallway, where he could sense, with his beastman instinct, several dangerous individuals staying inside. The boy finally got off the couch he was sleeping for the past few hours and lightly walked toward the room in complete silence…

Although it was not yet morning, the hybrid has already woken up since he did not need much sleep, unlike his human slaves. But he opted to just lay there on his bed to think about his future plan, his arms wrapped around the tightly sleeping Ryan and Maia, his fingers were playfully swirling around their nipples, causing the two to lightly squirm around in their sleep. That was then, when the door slowly opened and a small shadow coated in murderous aura began to move across the room toward his bed. Before the boy could do anything though, Kibadios activated his skill < Demonic Abyss > that allowed him to materialize dark shadows, which soon reached out and grabbed onto the weakened boy’s ankle, then hung him upside down like a piece of meat at the market as the boy struggled to break free from the tentacle. 

「Yo kid! I know I’m irresistible but if you want to jump onto my bed and satisfy my sexual needs, at least buy me some dinner first.」The hybrid teased the clearly inferior attacker.

「What’s wrong?」Maia askes since the commotion woke up his two sleeping slaves.

「Nothing really.」The hybrid slowly got off the bed. 「I just caught a rat... 」He turned to the boy, the tentacle that held onto the boy’s ankle suddenly raised up, allowed the hybrid to look straight at the boy’s face. 「Maybe I should bath you first since you’re still rather filthy. I wouldn’t want you to dirty the sheet of my bed, kid」Again, he taunted the boy.

「Wait, who is that?」Ryan was surprised to see the mutant boy.

「I guess you didn't notice him when you got back, Ryan?」Kibadios concluded. 「I’ll go and get him clean, Maia can fill you in the details.」

Kibadios headed to the bathroom, dragging his shadowy tentacles and the kid along with him. Turning the light on, he simply filled the tub then threw the mutant straight into it while he himself got into the shower to stand under the streams of warm water and rinse his body. In the tub though, his tentacles began to act on its own to systematically cleanse the dirt off of the boy’s body. The boy has not been bathed in forever so it took much longer than the hybrid anticipated to get him clean. Of course, the fact that the boy was actively fighting against his invasive tentacles was not helping. By the time he got out of the shower, the boy was yet half cleaned, though he has ceased struggling and appeared exhausted since he has yet fully recovered from all his injuries. Kibadios just stood there, drying his hair with the clean towel as his tentacle continued to scrub off layers of dirt, sweat, and blood off of the boy. By now, the hybrid has finally taken a good look at the slave that he rescued, from the top of his head to his small, rounded balls attached to his uncut cock, down to his toenails. Since he’s a beastman hybrid, there turned out to be a really short layer of gray furs that covered most of his torso, starting from his collar bone down to his elbows and his knees. 

「Don’t struggle any further or you’ll risk injuring yourself, you little shit.」Kibadios warned since he noticed the boy has begun to start fighting back again. 「It’s not like going to harm you after rescuing you twice.」

His warning seemed to have worked, for the boy slowly stopped moving, his piercing eyes, which looked more intimidating than they should have since he did not have any eyebrows, turned to Kibadios questioningly.
「Good… You understand what I’m saying?」Kibadios put on his bathrobe. 「You’re not like a feral child who doesn’t understand intelligent speech, right?」The boy only nodded slightly, though it was hard for Kibadios to know what the boy was thinking since he has only been donning a poker face expression. Kibadios continued to wash and rinse the boy’s hair and furs for another fifteen minutes until he’s fully clean, before he simply dropped his used towel onto the boy’s head and ordered him to dry himself with it. Once they walked out the bathroom, the hybrid dressed in his bathrobe while the boy was still naked with only a towel covered his head, they were greeted with all four of the individuals who stayed at the guesthouse with the hybrid. Ryuu was fuming after he learned that the mutant child dared to ambush his master while the others all looked displeased. Since they were all covered in bodily fluids, after the hybrid ordered Ryuu to stand down, he told them to take a bath before they would all sit down for an introduction session. While his slaves were busying in the bathroom, the hybrid leisurely lying down on the couch while his gaze fixated on the mutant, who seemingly stood still with the towel on his head at one corner of the room, his own two red eyes were also reciprocatively gazing back at the hybrid. 

「Are you still afraid I’m going to kill you or something?」

「...」

「Are you curious why I rescued you and took you in?」

「...」

「Say, I’m just curious but why are you still looking like a kid? Given your age, you should look much older, at least as old as I am.」

「...」

「... Fine. You dont want to answer huh? Do you at least have a name?」

「...」

「Ha! My bad. Of course you don't.」The hybrid let out a brief laugh.「Do you want to have a name?」

The mutant twitched slightly at the question before reverting back to his emotionless self in seconds, as if he did not believe in the hybrid’s offer. Since mutants are creatures that attracted and emitted toxic miasma, similar to <Seed of Chaos>, since time immemorial, both human and demihuman, have been ostracizing them whenever there was one born in their community. Usually, mutant individuals would not be able to live for long since their parents would either kill them or leave them for death as newborns. Due to this, as people got accustomed to the fact that most mutants would die as nameless infants and so overtime, a superstition was born, stating that if someone named a mutant child, that person and the surrounding community would be cursed along with the child. Such myth had already existed during Kibadios’ first reincarnation and given how virtually nothing has changed in the way people treat mutants in the present day, he suspected the practice of not naming mutants would still have persisted. Of course, the boy could have already given himself a name, but most mutants Kibadios had met never did since what was the point? If they were ever lucky enough to survive into adulthood, they would be forced to be living in seclusion anyways, without interacting with anyone else and if they did not have to interact with anyone, what was the point of having a name.

「...Listen kid. I’m going to give you two choices: follow me and be of use to me, or escape and risk being caught by slave hunters again. Mutants like you will always be the prime targets for slave hunters. What is your choice?」

「...」The boy was now thoroughly confused. From the brief interaction with the mysterious hybrid, the boy knew he truly did not mean any harm since had he wanted to, the boy would have been dead the moment the dark tentacle got hold of him. But, asking the boy to follow him was an extremely peculiar request since everyone knew anyone staying in close contact with a mutant for a long period of time would undoubtedly be poisoned and driven mad. Even his once caring mother had fallen victim to his own miasma. 「... why… not afraid?」

「Ho?」Kibadios raised his eyebrows. 「Finally decided to talk? Had you remain silent for a bit longer, I’d just assume you don’t know how to speak the intelligent speech. But anyways, why should I be afraid of you?」

「Because … miasma...」The boy hesitated for a second, as if he was afraid the moment he revealed the reason, the hybrid would jump at him and try to kill him.

「What miasma?」The hybrid laughed. 「Are you still too sleepy even after I gave you such a long bath?」Although the mutant did not respond, Kibadios could see a big comic question mark forming on top of the boy’s head. 「Have you ever looked at yourself since you woke up earlier? Is there any miasma seeping out from your body now?」

「How?」The boy looked down at his hands, his eyes widened even more than usual as a sense of disbelief washed over his confusing mind. 「No miasma?」

「Of course not.」The hybrid proudly smiled. 「Before I took you back here, I have cleansed your miasma with my flame. You think Arch would let me take you back had I not got rid the miasma off of you? And the last thing I wanted would be to bring you little shit back here, only to have your miasma poisoned my Rowan and Maia. I had to cleanse it, though it’s only a temporary thing. I have to purify the miasma on you every once in a while… that is, if you decided to stay as my slave. If you want to leave, then so be it.」

「Slave?」

「Yes. Arch even gave me a slave collar to mark you as my property. That way, no one would try to hunt you again.」Kibadios nodded. 「So, kid, what’s your answer? Will you join me as my slave and have the problem regarding your miasma taken care of ? Or would you rather run off into the wild to retain your precious freedom? Answer me soon or my offer is off the table...5...4...3...2...1...」

「Stay!」The boy clenched his fist.

「Perfect! Then come here.」Ordered the hybrid. 「I need to put this collar on you.」

The boy gulped down, lingered where he stood for a few seconds before slowly moved to the sofa where the hybrid was lying. Once he got there, the hybrid had already stood up, standing towering over the small boy. Deep within him, the boy had a feeling that he had just made a deal with a devil, but it was too late for him to change his mind… not that he wanted to change his mind. This hybrid standing in front of him, whoever he was, was able to get rid of the curse he was born with, the very curse that caused him to kill his own mother. The boy did not know why the hybrid wanted him as a slave, but that mattered not anymore.

「There you go. Does it fit right?」asked the hybrid after he put the collar onto the boy, though he received no answer. 「Well, now that you’re officially my slave, let’s get you some clothes. Don't try to stay naked to tempt me.」He looked around, only to pull a neatly folded white shirt from a drawer and threw it at the mutant. 「Put that on.」He ordered, then proceeded to look for some small pants but he stopped once he realized his shirt was already long enough to cover the boy’s lower area. Although it was originally a shirt, now the oversized shirt looked more like a simple white dress once it was worn by the mutant. 

「... That would do it.」Commented Kibadios before walking to the kid again. 「So, do you have a name?」

The boy simply shook his head. The closest thing to a name he ever got was “Slave 455” designation on his tag while he was captured before.

 I figured , Kibadios thought.

「I’ll give you a name then!」declared the hybrid. 「Now that you’re with us, you need a name or else it’s going to be so inconvenient.」

「Name?」The boy looked up to the hybrid, somehow, even though his poker face did not show it, his heart was racing in anticipation.

「Let’s see… A Western name or a weeb name… I mean, you’re supposed to be half ogre and all, maybe a weeb name would fit more.」Kibadios talked to himself.「... What about… Yuusei? Does it work?」

「Yuusei?」His eyes brightened up, then he simply nodded. 「Yuusei...」

「Great!」The hybrid patted “Yuusei’s” head, then he gave the mutant a rather devious smile. 「Yuusei! Serve me well! From now on, you’ll be my secret weapon!」

Although he should be creeped out by his new Master’s smile and unknown intention, having gently touched by a warm hand, with his name being called, all he could feel was a nostalgic emotion that he had already forgotten for the past 6 years… what was it called again , he was trying to remember back to the blurry memories of the past, before his loving mother got poisoned by his miasma.

[[ No matter what people say… No matter what happened in the future… I love you, sweety...I’ll always love you…I hope I can give happy life, my dear dear child… ]] 

Happiness? He thought. Is this it? Something he had rarely felt before began to swell up in his eyes and streamed down his face… Tears ?

Chapter 49: Bonus: Picture of Kibadios

Summary:

I used the request feature on pixiv and got Hagane (Pixiv ID: 423292) to draw Kibadios for me :D I actually really like his (or her? lol Idk) clothing design cuz it's really incubus-like. All hail Kibadios sama!! :D

 

 

 

Chapter 50: Bonus: Yuusei's picture

Thanks to Pozon↓open (Pixiv ID: 16230371)

 

 

If things go well, I'll be able to commission pages depicting hot actions between Kibadios, Rowan and Ryan... But then I'll be running out of money so dont expect picture of Maia or Ryuu being professionally done anytime soon lol

Chapter 51

「So it’s all official.」Kibadios happily announced once all four members of his group had finished washing up, his hand placed on the mutant’s shoulder. 「From now on, Yuusei here will be joining us as my slave. Apparently he’s not able to speak fluently nor can he read or write so please be patient with him since technically, he can be considered to be your junior.」All four froze for a moment, each was filled with their own thoughts, which ranged from [I wonder what Master is thinking, letting his kid join us... what the hell can this malnourished mutant do for Master?] by Ryuu to [Even with his blank, expressionless face, he’s such an adorable kid… But I wonder if Master would ever take him in his harem?] by Maia, though it was Ryan who finally asked the obvious question out loud.

 「So...Is he going to join you in bed also, Kibadios sama?」

「What?」Taken aback at the question, Kibadios studied the rather cute looking boy, who was wearing an oversized shirt belonging to the hybrid, which gave off a boyfriend-shirt vibe that tempted the hybrid even more. Despite being deprived of food for god know how long, the boy’s small round furry ass, which sometimes would protrude out from the long shirt he was wearing, still looked delicious as any of his toys’.「... No? I mean, he’s older than me so technically he’s a legal shota but still… I don’t think?」

「No sleep alone? Master scared of dark?」Yuusei turned around and innocently asked the hybrid in broken speech since he did not know the reason why his new master would need to have others to sleep with him at night. 

「「Phh...Haahahaha!」」The group burst out laughing, while the hybrid leaned  onto the boy, hugged him tightly while falsely confessing. 「Yeah, yeahhh! I’m scared of the dark~ Can you help me, Yuusei kun?」Without a second thought, the  mutant simply nodded, all while maintaining his emotionless face. 

「No, it’s not that, Yuusei kun.」Rowan dismissed. 「Our Master is a half incubus so he has certain biological needs at night… basically he has been fu---」

「Shhh, Rowan chan!」Before he could explain, Maia already jumped forward to gag the healer. Despite looking a few years older, the 6 years old mutant was of the same age as her sister back in the village so Maia’s sisterhood had automatically kicked in, causing her to become overprotective of the boy.「Don't taint our Yuusei with such indecent explanations. He’s still a kid.」

「Despite how he looks, he’s actually older than me, Maia!」Kibadios refuted.「Given how he should have entered puberty like five years ago, I’m not surprised that he’s been masturbating to relieve himself, don't let his look deceive you and treat him as a child. I’m sure he was just kidding when he pretended not to know what we’re talking about.」

「... What’s “masturbating”?」asked Yuusei, doing a Shaft head tilt to turn to the hybrid who was sitting behind him.

「...」「...」「...」「...」

「... Master! I can’t let you taint our Yuusei kun any more than this!」Everyone was dumbstruck at the mutant’s innocent question. For her part, Maia finally leapt forward, embraced the mutant and covered his ears up, while pushing her beloved Master onto the side. 「Don't worry, Yuusei chan. Onee chan will protect your pure soul from our Master.」Kibadios, shoved to the side, was completely left in shock since his obedient toy had just done to him, though the hybrid quickly regained his composure and even let out a faint smile. I guess It’s good to see Maia still acts as an independent person rather than a mindless puppet , the hybrid thought. 

「So Yuusei kun, let me properly introduce you to these four. They’re Rowan, Maia, Ryan, and Ryuu. They are all my loyal retainers… among other things.」Kibadios sat back up, again patting Yuusei’s head. For one brief moment, the hybrid could have sworn he felt the boy lean his head back ever slightly into his hand as if he was seeking the warm contacts he has been deprived of for most of his life.「If you have any questions, just ask them. As my slave, I only require one thing from you: an unquestionable loyalty and obedience.」Kibadios looked down at the boy, then his gaze scanned over the other four, finally settled on Ryan. 「Understand?」

Yuusei simply nodded in acknowledgement before a loud growling noise originated from his own stomach quickly breaking the tense atmosphere of the room.

「Well, I guess you’re really hungry, huh kid?」

Again, Yuusei merely nodded.
「Since we have already agreed with Princess Yllaner that we’ll be accompanying her back to Vernys later today, I think it’s better for Maia to help us pack up instead of spending time cooking. We’ll be eating out today for a change. 」Suggested Kibadios. 「I’ll take Yuusei to find some shops for breakfast and make sure to bring back some.」

「That’s good with me.」Maia nodded

「Yeah, we can start now while you’re taking Yuusei out for breakfast... not that we have a lot to pack though.」said Rowan.
「... Master, if you don't mind, I’d like to go to my brother’s place.」asked Ryan.
「Ok. Make sure Yllaner gets some rest before our journey. I bet she’s dead tired.」

「Master! Can I come with you?」Ryuu was wagging his tail like a cute little puppy.

「Sure… If you want. I don't see why you can’t.」

「What, Ryuu chan~ You don't want to spend more alone time with me and Maia?」Rowan teasingly asked while leaning onto the dragonoid and sensually blew some air to the back of his ear, causing him to break in cold sweat, remembering the sexual teasing he was enduring just a few hours back. 

「No no no, Rowan senpai! That’s not what I mean.」Ryuu freaked out. 

「「「Senpai?」」」Maia, Ryan, and Kibadios did not fail to notice Ryuu’s respect suffix in his speech.

「Yeah, he agreed to call Maia chan, Ryan chan, and I “senpai,” per our agreement last night.」Rowan proudly grinned and explained to Kibadios.

「Really?」Kibadios was amused. 「I thought it would take more than just one night to get our Ryuu to treat you guys right.」Kibadios wrapped his arm around the dragonoid, then whispered into his ear. 「Did he do xxx, use xxx, twist xxx, then edge xxx, xxxx, xxxxxx? xxx..xxxx...xxxxxx?」Ryuu discreetly nodded to a few of his master’s questions and shook his head to some, while some triggered such intense memories that caused him to shudder in pleasure. 

「Then I guess he had yet to go “all out.”」Kibadios laughed while patting Ryuu. 「The only off-limit I told him was “no penetration.”」The hybrid explained while his hands slid inside the dragonoid’s sleeveless shirt and played with his erecting nipples.「Other than that, he could do to you everything I did to him before… and on top of that, he had to endure all of that continuously for like a week.」

「Really? A whole week? I’d probably die!」Ryuu turned to his “Rowan senpai,” shooting him a look full of admiration, which he rarely gave anyone but his master. 

「Yeahhh」Rowan scratched his head. 「I did deserve it though.」

「Afterward, I even fu--」Kibadios was going to continue to tell Ryuu the full story, though it was stopped short when a murderous aura emitting from Maia quickly shut him up

「Kibadios samaaa!!」Maia cried out. 「Please be discreet! Did you forget Yuusei chan is here?」

「My bad… Though like I said, Yuusei is actually older than me, maybe it’s time I teach him all of this.」

「Please don't!」Maia frowned disapprovingly.

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「... He sure does eat a lot.」Ryuu commented while watching Yuusei gobbled down plates and plates of food. The three had seated inside a shop rather close to the hybrid’s guesthouse, where he frequently visited for the last three months. The shop did not make the most delicious food in the city but it was one of the few that opened fairly early in the morning. On top of that, the fact that Yuusei’s stomach has been growling non-stop and caused him to instinctively glue onto the shop’s glass windows once he passed by it, peering inside while drooling uncontrollably had forced Kibadios to settle for the place. 

「Can’t blame him.」Kibadios leaned his cheek on his hand, smiling at the gluttonous mutant. 「Today is probably the first day in his life that he gets to eat so much food in a restaurant. Good thing this place is one of the few places that open fairly early in the morning… Stop picking the food directly with your hand, Yuusei!」Kibadios smacked the mutant on the head everytime he forgot his manner… which was rather most of the time.   

「You’re not eating now, Master?」

「Nah, I will eat later together with Maia and Rowan when we bring the food back to them. You can eat now with Yuusei if you want.」said Kibadios before noticing Ryuu was staring at him after he had made the comment. 「What? Is there anything you want to tell me?」

「No.」Ryuu shook his head. 「It’s just I felt like in the past three months, you have been getting… I don't know… softer toward the three of them?」

「Huh?」

「Maybe I’m wrong since I did not know exactly how you treated them before. I have only heard anecdotal stories they told me. Though in Ryan senpai’s case, I remember distinctly when we first met, you were treating him as your property, playing with him in front of me just to prove that he’s yours. But now, you have become much more considerate.」

「Is that so? I guess I have, haven’t I?」Kibadios did not want to lie to Ryuu or himself. In his current incarnation, in just a short amount of time, he had pretty much obtained everything every man was looking for in life: fame, money, sex, fulfillment… it would be so easy to just forget about his grudge and settle his life here in Lorian. Who would not have gone “soft” after living their lives in luxury for long? Kibadios thought to himself. Despite everything that happened, I’m still and have always been just “human”. Ha, if even Viltrumites could be transformed into loving and caring individuals after experiencing peace and happiness on Earth, for sure I’d not be immune from such temptation.

「You know, before being hunted down by the Astral to total extinction, our clan always believe you will come back to us, one way or another.」said Ryuu 「Though, ever since I was a kid, my father has warned me that given everything that had happened to you, he would not be surprised you’ll be back with us, but with your mind being filled with hatred and devoid of all emotions. He made me promise to follow you, no matter how much you have changed since your first reincarnation.」

「... I guess I have disappointed you then, Ryuu chan.」smiled Kibadios.

「What? No no no!!! That’s not what I mean...」Ryuu violently shook his head. 「How could I ever be disappointed in you, Master? I’d follow you no matter what. As a kid, I have always dreamed of one day, I’d be able to stand by you, fight alongside you, and serve you dutifully…for me to be sitting next to you like this, it’s just like a dream come true for me.」Ryuu was choking up 「Sorry, I’m rambling some cringy shits. I’m sure you don't...」

「Thanks, Ryuu chan!」Kibadios gently touched the dragonoid’s face with the back of his hand. 「I’m glad you’re with me.」
Before Ryuu even had time to inevitably burst into tears, his rare moment with Kibadios was stopped short by Yuusei, who was now slamming desperately onto the table, struggling to breath.

「...You’re eating too much too fast. Drink your water, Yuusei.」Kibadios slid him a glass of drink, which the mutant quickly took into his hand gulped down.

「Master, why did you take him in?」Ryuu curiously asked while looking at the boy. 

「I told you and the others, didn’t I? He’s my secret weapon.」Kibadios answered vaguely while smiling. 

「Huh? What do you mean?」

「... “A secret makes a hybrid, hybrid.”」answered Kibadios.

「What?」Ryuu was confused, not understanding the Detective Conan reference his master just made.

「Haha.」The hybrid laughed it off then turned to the mutant. 「So, you have been listening to our conversation, Yuusei?」

The boy stopped moving after taking a bite off of a fried chicken drumstick coated in sweet and sour sauce, looked at his master, then simply nodded. 

「Do you know what we have been talking about?」Kibadios asked, to which the mutant shook his head. 「Would you like to know?」Yuusei thought for a second, then again, shook his head. 「Good. As my slave, you don't need to know what’s going on. Just listen and obey my commands, understand? 」said the hybrid in a rather stern voice. 

「...」The boy was silent for a few seconds as if trying to process what Kibadios has just demanded, then answered 「Yuusei understands.」

「Good boy!」Kibadios ruffled his head like he was a cute pet before letting him continue eating. 

「Why are you not explaining to him what’s going on? You don't trust him?」asked Ryuu.

「Well, if he agrees to do whatever I command, then why bother him with such burdening knowledge? After all, I don't intend to...」Before he got to finish his sentence, both Ryuu and Kibadios tensed up and turned around 「Gilga dono, isn’t it a bit rude trying to eavesdrop onto others’ conversation?」

「Wow, how advanced are your sensory skills?」Gilga laughed while dispelling her own <Cloak_lvl10> skill, which let the demon lord erase her presence, aura, haki, or noises completely.

「If you don't want to be spotted next time...」Kibadios’s “cross-popping veins” were now visible on his annoyed face. 「Then don’t try to sneakily take some of Yuusei’s chicken drumsticks straight out of the bucket he’s eating!」Kibadios quickly raised his voice and unknowingly to be recorded into annals of history to be one of the few non-Great Demon Lords who dared to scream at Gilga’s face. Not that Gilga minded since she continued munching on the stolen food.

「Don’t blame me. These are one of the best in the city. 」She finally finished and threw the bones into the trash bucket sitting next to Yuusei. By now, once the mutant had realized what happened, he had started to guard his food more vigilantly by pulling it right next to him and shot Gilga an intense glare. His furs were all standing up while an angry growling sound could be heard coming from his mouth. Wow, he’s switching back to his animal instinct? Kibadios thought. I bet if even I were to reach my hand out into his bucket, I’ll be left with a bloody bite mark.

「Aww, dont worry, mutant! I won’t take your food anymore,  I’ll order my own bucket.」Gilga dismissed Yuusei’s defensive behaviors.

「You can tell he’s a mutant?」Ryuu was surprised.「Even I couldn’t tell, had I not known before that he’s one.」

「Shh, both of you. If people learn he’s one, we’ll be kicked out of here.」

「Sorry, master!」

「Well, I know a “clean” mutant, who does not give off miasma, fairly well so I know one when I see one.」explained Gilga while sitting down on a chair next to Kibadios. 「Though, in this slave case, I bet you’re the one you cleanse his miasma, right?」

「Uh huh.」Kibadios nodded.

「Through that weird fire that you used to restrain and cleanse our Jayden a few months ago, right?」

「Sorry, trade secret. Can’t tell you.」

「Aw dont be stingy! Just tell me, treat it as a payment for the favor you owed me.」

「We have already paid back that favor when we agreed to protect Yllaner sama for you, you ungrateful Demon Lord!」Ryuu quickly reminded Gilga. 「Why are you here anyways?」

「That’s right! I’m here because of that!」Gilga slapped her forehead. 「I was going to meet you at your guesthouse but I got distracted by the food. I was planning to get some chicken drumsticks to go but then turned out, you’re already here, Kibadios.」

「Why do you need to meet me?」Asked Kibadios. 

「To warn you about the “clean” mutant I was talking about.」Gilga’s face turned grim.

「「Who?」」Both Ryuu and Kibadios asked, while Yuusei has also started paying attention to the conversation since he realized the demon lord just mentioned something about a “clean” mutant.

「The weirdly self-proclaimed “Demon King of the Sixth Heaven,” the leader of the mercenary group Hyakki Yagyō , my contemporary, the Great Demon Lord Ashura 」explained Gilga. 「According to my latest intelligence, Yllaes has acquired the assistance of a few members from the Hyakki Yagyo, the group that was founded by the Great Demon Lord Ashura . I have yet received news that he will personally be working with Yllaes but naturally, the presence of the Hyakki Yagyo members aren’t a good sign for our Princess. Her chance of besting her brother has been reduced to almost 0.」

Chapter 52: The day before

Notes:

Sorry, still recuperating after surgery and having writer's block. Somehow I don't like how this chapter turns out but I'll keep it as it is cuz idk how to change it lol
After writing this story for like 2 years now, I realize I enjoy writing Kibadios story more than others. I always have trouble writing when Kibadios isn't the focus of the chapter lol.

「Great Demon Lord Ashura huh? Why would a great demon lord be working with some secluded faction within the forest?」Asked the hybrid.

「Well, he’s a founder of a mercenary group so he’ll work with whoever pays him the best. Though in this case, I’m sure money isn’t his goal.」

「Then what is?」

「The rare mineral called Orcan that can rarely be found anywhere else but deep within Vernys. It has a unique property of being able to neutralize the miasma emitted by mutants.」Explained Gilga.「Although Ashura doesn’t really need them, the majority of his followers do. For the Hyakki Yagyo, Orcan is more valuable than gold.」

「I didn’t know there existed such a mineral.」Surprised Kibadios since although he has been living for a long time and accumulated vast knowledge about this world, yet he has never heard of “Orcan”. Wait, did she say “majority of his followers? Does it mean most of the Hyakki Yagyo are mutants?

「If that’s the case...」asked Ryuu.「Why didn’t that Great Demon Lord just take over the forest and secure his source of Orcan, something that’s more valuable than gold to him?」

「That’d be because of me 」laughed Gilga while pointing her finger at her face.「You all know Vernys is located right next to my city state, Uruk, right? Although we, the Great Demon Lords, all belong to the same group, we are, first and foremost, rivals. You wouldn’t want your rival to take over a territory right next to yours, right? He knew if he was to turn Vernys into his turf, he would have to deal with me. And speaking from his personal experience, nothing good would come out of a conflict involving two Great Demon Lords. As long as he gets his supplies of Orcan, he’s good. Besides, for some reason, he does not care for territory, he’d rather be free and roaming around the land with his band of mercenaries. He once told me he had spent fifty years fighting battles after battles over territories, just to lose them all in a fleeting moment so now he has decided to live his life differently.」

… First her , then him ? Why does it feel like Esthar has become the setting for Drifters? Kibadios sighed after having guessed the identity of Ashura.

「... If he’s lending his help to Yllaner sama’s brother, then wouldn’t that mean the outcome has already been decided? No matter what, the princess and her forces cannot fight against a Great Demon Lord.」Ryuu concluded.

「Well, there are three main reasons we’re not throwing in the towel yet. Firstly, I have yet to hear that he would personally be there. All of the intelligence I have gathered only confirmed the fact that members of Hyakki Yagyo are there. Maybe Prince Yllaes only formed contracts with those particular individuals since Hyakki Yagyo members are allowed to work independently. Besides, my hunch tells me he’s not there personally. After all, if he is there, he’s risking a conflict with me if he’s not careful.」explained Gilga. 「Secondly, if Yllaes has Ashura, then Yllaner has you two. If you both were to take on Ashura head to head, I can’t guarantee who would come out on top,  don't sell yourself short… And thirdly, it’s princess Yllaner we’re talking about. I have no doubt she will overcome this trial and Vernys will emerge stronger and more united than ever.」 

「It seems like you have a lot of confidence in the Princess」Kibadios smiled. 

「Yes. 」She grinned devilishly.

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「What are you doing here, Princess? Aren’t you cold?」Kibadios approached Yllaner on the balcony of the airship that was carrying them toward Vernys. Even though there existed a magical barrier around the airship that helped regulate its temperature, given that they were flying high up during the middle of winter night, the ship’s deck was undoubtedly much more chilly than its interior. 

「Kibadios dono.」Yllaner politely nodded. 「Thank you for your concern. I just feel like I need some fresh air.」

「What you need is a good night's rest since we’ll be at Vernys by tomorrow morning…This is probably a stupid question, given how things are going, but how are you feeling, Yllaner dono?」Kibadios showed a rare genuine concern for the princess.

「...I’m scared. I’d be lying if I said anything otherwise.」The girl flashed a faint smile while raising her  slightly trembling hand in front of her.「For all my life, I have been trying my best to juggle my responsibility as the apparent heir of the Vernys Confederation and my love for Kyles. I wanted to have it all and at this very moment, I may be losing them both. Sometimes, I hope I’m just in a bad dream and the moment I wake up, I would find that everything would be okay... 」Yllaner turned to Kibadios after regaining her usual composure. 「I’m sorry. I should not have bothered you with my burden like that.  It’s just somehow, for some reason, I feel like I can express myself in front of you without any inhibition… as if we have known each other for a really long time.」

「No, no. I really don't mind.」Kibadios leaned his back onto the airship’s rail. 「Isn’t it better to have someone to talk to in these trying times?」

「I guess so.」Yllaner nodded.

「So, what is your master plan? Or if you would rather keep them a secret, you don’t have to let me know.」

「You know, Ryan trusted you with all his life and you have personally saved us all, it would be weird if I don't trust you enough to tell you my plan now.」Yllaner chuckled. 「My plan is simple enough, if I have to sum it all up in one word, it would be “Bait.”」

And so the Maeg Royal Airship, which had been ordered by Lance to take the princess back to Vernys Forest, continued to head North under the quiet starry sky toward the Fyeran territory, the only clan that was still holding out against Yllaes’ forces. The fate of the Vernys Confederation would be quickly decided in mere fourteen days from now. Despite the short duration of the conflict, this battle between the siblings was considered to be one of the most important events that has ever happened in the extensive history of the Vernys Confederation. The hybrid’s fate, though, would be decided in ten days, when his own mistake would lead to him experiencing grief for the first time during his current incarnation.

“The wheel of fate is turning...”

.

.

「Mother. Please eat something. At this rate, you will fall sick.」An elegant-looking elven man, wearing an elaborated oriental cloak, pleaded while kneeling on his knee. He looked up, but the woman did not bother to react. She just sat there, motionlessly gazing at the small windows on the wooden wall. 「Don’t be stubborn, mother! I have triumphed and in the end, I’ll show you I will lead the Vernys Forest to prosperity! Must I remind you, Yllaner abandoned us for a mere human man. She and her backward looking mindset can never rule over this forest.」

The elven stood up then walked out of the room frustratingly, his light eyebrows pressing against one another, one of his hands clenched into a fist while the other moved up and lightly touched a short scar on the right side of his face. 「Yllaner… Skyer, what’s the progress on rooting out Yllaner’s supporter from the council?」

「To date, we have arrested more than a dozen elders who dared to oppose you, my prince.」Another elven man emerged from the shadow, then walked behind Yllaes and reported to him. 「The rest seemed to have quiet down in their oppositions. At the current, I’d give it another week or two before the capital will fully be subjugated by our faction.」

「... And that’s two more weeks that anticipated, isnt it?」

「It can’t be helped. Princess Yllaner’s political machinery is extensive. Still, we can systematically unravel them here in our clan’s territories, but like I have told you, I’m more worried about the support she’s receiving from factions within the other three clans. Although all their leaders have all voiced support for your ascension, some within their own clans are against it. Since those clans are operating autonomously from us, there’s nothing we can do about it.」

「Just keep an eye out for them. I’m confident the other clan heads can take care of their own problems. They’re not too incompetent. Though, internal conflicts between those clans work out for us in the end, since after I have dealt with Yllaner and Fyeran, we shall turn our attention toward quickly unifying Vernys by force anyways.」Yllaes turned back to his right hand man.「How’s the mission to convince the Fyeran? I’d rather we flip their support before my sister arrives there.」  

「Our “representatives” have arrived to the Fyeran’s capital yesterday. From their report, it seemed like Easlyn dono is considering accepting your claim to the title of head of the Shilna clan.」

「I figured.」smirked Yllaes. 「No matter how loyal they are to my sister or mother, they should understand that they stand no chance in a fight against us. We just have to flex our forces in front of them just for them to run away, with their tail tucked in between their legs… Now is the time we have to show our strength and absolute power. Heed my order, Skyer. Execute every single sympathizer of my sister that you can find and hang their heads on the tree branches for all to witness in fear.」

「Understood, Yllaes sama!」The man bowed, before leaping backward and disappearing into the shadow.

The handsome elven prince strode toward a large, green mossy door, where he was greeted by the guards before they opened it up, leading him toward an open garden, which has been used for centuries as a gathering place for the clan elders to discuss their policy issues. Although it did not snow in Vernys, the cold weather of winter has prevented many of the vibrant colored flowers that usually decorated the garden from blooming. The gloomy atmosphere of the garden now has reflected well the overall mood of the meeting. The moment Yllaes entered, the faint murmuring chatterings quickly quieted down, all eyes, each with their own hidden emotions ranging from admiration to fear, glued on the usurper as he walked to the expansive tree located at one end of the garden, where the clan head would traditionally stand. 

「Thank you for coming here today. Let us discuss the issue regarding my foolish little sister coming back to Vernys.」

Chapter 53: The first day (1)

Notes:

I hope I doesn't need 14 chapters to cover all these 14 days lol. I don't plan to cover all of the days individually because most of them are just fillers anyways haha

「Ahhhhh!!!」SPLASH!

「Haaahaaaaaa… S… STOOPPP!!!」SPLASH!!

「Damn you and your barbaric nature, Skyer! I’ll see you in hell!」CRASH!!!

「Ha! That “thing” isn't even conscious, you wasted your time talking to “it”.」The monk giddily continued to execute more than two dozen captives jailed in the deepest dungeon underneath the extensive roots network of Saya, the capital “city” of the Shilna clan. The earthen wall of the narrow jail room was painted in red blood as Desmond went person to person, thrusting his hardened hand through their chests and crushing their beating hearts. Once the adrenaline has taken over his mind and body, the monk would start to crush their heads with his hands, all while laughing like a maniac. 

「Stop doing that. That prince wanted to hang their heads to scare off any potential supporter of Yllaner. If you keep crushing all those heads, how can we show them off?」Adela, sitting in the corner of the room, was yawning as she witnessed the gruesome execution.

「Sorry, my lady!」Desmond scratched his bald head, spreading blood around his own flesh. 「It’s been a while since I had this much fun. I would love to torture them more, though.」

「... Freak.」She declared.「What fun is there when playing with powerless and restrained preys? It's more fun when you see them struggle,  thinking they have a ray of hope, only to have those hopes get extinguished in front of their eyes. Your taste is just wrong, Desmond.」She turned and looked at the beaten up and restrained man with a soulless gaze that Desmond kept bringing along. To her, once her opponent has been defeated and their hope extinguished, there was no point in playing with them anymore. Still, despite their difference, Adela seemed to have taken a liking to the depraved monk. 

「Maybe I’ll try what you suggest some other time, my lady.」He grinned. 「Anyways, I’ll leave their heads intact… Can’t make the same promise about any other of their body parts though. You know how crazy I am when I get excited!」Desmond pointed to the corner of the room, where piles of young elven men's naked corpses were stacking up. They were all associated with the arrested elders and were brutally raped to death by Desmond the moment he took over as the chief warden under the secret authorization of Skyer. The mutilated corpses, some of which have their genitals or other body parts pulverized into minced meat and their tormentor’s cum leaking out from their loosen holes, began to stench up the place.

「I know. Whatever,  kill them all and get this over with. We will take our leave.」Adela signaled the motionless Skyer to leave with her. 「... and remember what I have told you. You’re part of my plan so get your act together.」

「You have provided me with so much entertainment, I’d die for you, my lady! You don't have to remind me twice.」

「Good… Doll , reactivate.」Adela ordered.

「Personality reactivated.」Skyer’s eyes suddenly cleared up. 「Adela sama. What is your command?」

.

.

.

「Yuusei.」

「Yuusei...」

「Yuusei!!!」

The young boy suddenly sprung up from his sleep, his hands, formed into claws like a true beastman, striked mercilessly at the person who just woke him up. After spending years in hiding and then being a captives, he had never experienced a wake up call that did not end in violence so his reaction was pretty hardwired into this subconsciousness. Though his attack was quickly neutralized as the hybrid, who had already anticipated such a move, would wrapped onto his wrist, while pinned the boy down onto the bed by grabbing tightly onto his face. 

「Still sleepy?」

「... Master?」The boy finally realized who was standing in front of him. 「Yuusei’s sorry.」

「Get up!」ordered Kibadios hurriedly. 「We have almost arrived at our destination. Though I’m sure things have turned sour. Get ready to fight for your life, Yuusei.」

「Understand.」The boy nodded. He looked around the room and saw his seniors were already standing ready, their hands wrapped around their weapons. He could hear someone shouting from outside the airship, though he could not make out what they were saying until he and his master reached the airship deck, where the princess stood surrounded by a few elven archers and forest eagles. The ship had come to a complete stop by now since more than thirty elven hawk riders were flying around and surrounded the ship, their bow strings were all pulled and aimed at the Princess.

「What’s the meaning of this?」Yllaner demanded an answer.

「Princess Yllaner. Please slowly descend down onto the ground. Easlyn sama wants to have a word with you.」

「... And he sent a platoon of highly trained hawk riders and great eagles to welcome me? I dont deserve such grandeur.」

「Please, Yllaner dono. Don't make a scene about our welcome, especially not on a royal Airship from the Kingdom of Maeg. We don’t want to damage other country’s properties, do we?」The elven captain warned while placing his hand on the Princess’ shoulder.

「Don't you worry. I have already told the ship captain to start descending the moment I spotted your soldiers.」Yllaner calmly told the Captain, then discretely shot a look at the hybrid, who was standing at the door leading to the cabin, having an elven arrow pointing at his head. 「If your men can make way for us, we’ll be landing soon.」

「Thank you, Yllaner sama.」The captain bowed. 「I am sorry but you have arrived here too late. The moment he obtained the backing from the Hyakki Yagyo, your brother has won this conflict and there’s nothing we can do.」

「... and what happened to Lord Uran ?」

「The young lord is adamantly refusing his grandfather’s wish of signing a non-aggression with your brother. Under Easlyn sama’s order, he has been put in jail since yesterday and his entourage is under home confinement since they may do something stupid, like rescuing you right now. I am sorry, Princess.」explained the captain. 

「... Is Easlyn dono going to hand me to my brother, then?」

「I do not know.」The captain shook his head. 「Though he specifically asked us not to harm you.」

「... Is that so? Then why are a few bloodthirsty people jumping onto the ship just now? I’m sure they’re aiming for my life.」Yllaner turned toward the bow of the airship, where three individuals, cloaked with black and white long coats on their shoulders, had just descended on the deck, their menacing look scared even the hard-trained elven soldiers. 「They’re… members of the Hyakki Yagyo and part of the diplomatic envoy that your brother sent here. Please don't be alar...」Before the captain could finish, a ray of black embers immediately flew toward the princess, then wrapped around her and violently ignited into a raging vortex of flame.「What?」The captain angrily turned toward the trio 「What the hell did you people do?」

「Eliminate someone our paymaster requested?」The female mutant, standing shorter than the other two, giddily answered while placing her arms behind her head relaxingly. 「The only reason we’ve been accompanying those Shilnan representatives here is to take care of the princess anyways.」

「You!」The captain quickly drew his bow against the three intruders, yet he soon froze in fear when one of the trio, a demi-human who carried a large scar running down his right eye, seemingly teleported next to the captain and frighteningly pressed his hand down against the elf’s shoulder, discouraged him from many rash actions. The demi-human looked like a man in his late twenties and was of average height, with short, chestnut-colored hair and tanned skin. Despite having a dominant scar on his fresh-face, he did not seem too intimidating outwardly, especially compared to the oversized mutant demihuman of the giant race he was accompanying. Yet, with one quick observation, Kibadios and his group could tell among the three, he was probably the most dangerous. By studying the man and his distinctive features, Kibadios could tell he belonged to the Yves race since he could clearly see his two additional eyes on the man’s forehead.

「Calm down.」He dismissed the tension. 「She’s still alive.」He raised his hand in front, then clenched it into a fist which suddenly caused the flame vortex to dissipate, revealing the princess unharmed. Protecting her was the invisible barriers that Rowan had quickly constructed, which was even able to insulate her from the extreme heat. 

「Princess, you’re alright?」The captain seemed relieved to see her standing unscathed, though his attention quickly turned to the hybrid’s group, who finally moved out from the cabin after effortlessly neutralizing every elven archer that had been pointing their arrows at them. Sliding on the ship’s wooden floor behind its master was the inflated Nu, who had gobbled the unconscious Kyles inside its stomach like his Master had instructed. Just like before, despite moving, the interior of the slime was gyroscopically stable so Kyles was able to lie still on his back. 

「Well, it seems like she has some strong bodyguards with her, Erik-senpai」The short mutant girl turned to the tanned Yves man. 「I wonder if they were hired by her or the new king of Maeg… My bet is on the king since I doubt she has that much spending money.」

「It’s better if you guys stand down and let us take care of the Princess. I don't like to see unnecessary victims. Our paymaster asked for the Princess and the Princess alone.」The towering mutant spoke. 

「I’m sorry, but she’s someone who’s very dear to me and my brother. I can’t simply let you guys harm her.」Ryan frowned, his sword was already sparkling with electricity. 

「As long as we’re here, we won’t let anything happen to the Princess.」Maia determinedly declared, vials of poisons were already wedged in between her fingers, ready to be discharged.

「What are we going to do, Master?」Ryuu asked. 「Should we just eliminate them all?」

「Good question. If possible, I’d like to not harm those mercenaries since they belong to a Great Demon Lord’s faction. It’s never wise to anger one.」Kibadios whispered. 「Can you transform into your dragon form?」

「Of course. But am I not supposed to hide the fact I’m a dragon?」

「... Not anymore.」

「Understood.」Ryuu loudly shouted. 「Get ready, everyone. We’ll get out of here.」

「Who allow you to?」From the captain’s position, Erik leapt forward and immediately closed the distance between him and the princess. Yet, before he could reach her, a large shadow claw had already wrapped around her for protection while another struck down at the advancing Yves, causing him to cautiously jump back. 「I guess you don't want to make it easy for us. Amaira, Baxley, stop standing there. Get busy!」

「Aye aye, Erik senpai!」The girl nodded

「Let’s try to keep the casualty to the minimum, Amaira.」The giant reminded the girl.

「Sometimes I think you’re too soft to be a mercenary, Baxley senpai.」Just as her small frame suggested, the mutant girl was extremely agile, to the point that even Kibadios’ <Arms of Darkness> would have trouble keeping up with her movements. The girl looked like she was only in her teens, her blond twintail hair was tied up high, which reminded the hybrid of Biscuit from HxH. Although the hybrid could tell she was a mutant, to the untrained eyes, she was able to significantly cleanse her miasma to the point that most could only identify her as a leopard Beastman due to her tail. Though, in place of black dots, her fur was decorated with white dots, which were visible in parts of her hands and most of legs since she was wearing a short dress. 

By now, despite the hybrid’s attempts at blocking her paths, she still was able to make her way toward Yllaner. Had he been able to focus on her 100%, he could have taken care of her extreme agility. However, half of his attention was diverted toward Erik, who simply stood still, with a few sparks of embers burning under his feet. Yet, Kibadios knew his inaction would quickly cease the moment the hybrid “forgot” about him and focused on Amaira. 

「3...2...1」Ryuu counted back before reverting his form back to that of an eastern dragon, though this time, he was able to control it so that he was not as large as a mountain like the last time he was under control of the <Seed of Chaos>. 「Yllaner sama and everyone, please get on my back!」

「That’s...」surprised Erik.

「A dragon?」Amaira frowned while trying to to stand firm against the gust of wind generated from Ryuu’s transformation.

「Hoh? I think we’re severely underpaid for this mission.」Baxley sighed.

「「「What?」」」The elven archers shouted. Some of the hawks were acting frantically after facing the dragon that was Ryuu, causing their riders to desperately rein them in. 

「Hang on tight, I’ll get us out of here.」Ryuu said before flying high along Kibadios, who had sprung his incubus wings and got up in the air before sliding forward through the fresh airstreams 

「I didn’t know Ryuu here is a dragonkind.」Yllaner was laughing excitedly. 「Kibadios dono, I know you’re a mysterious person, but to think you have a dragon as your follower...」

「Not so fast!」Erik was now also flying high in pursuing the group while most others were frozen in awe after witnessing the transformation. The embers underneath his feet were now burning bright and swirling into two large orbs, allowing him to freely fly like Nataku (Nezha). 「<Zhuque’s Claw>」From above, two small specs of flame started to grow into two giant fiery claws before swooping down at Ryuu.

「Shit.」Ryuu noted the attack, but with people sitting on his back, he could not have done much. 

「Keep going. I can block it, Ryuu chan!」Rowan shouted before erecting his barriers. Before they were fully formed, from the thick forest to their right, several large water crescent blades swung at the fiery claws and neutralized it before the group had to rely on Rowan’s protection. 

「What was that?」Maia asked.

「I have seen those attacks before...」Rowan noted. 「Where have I...」

「They’re really here.」Yllaner smiled in relief, knowing she now had more allies on her side. 

「You mean.」Ryan was surprised. He knew those signature attacks too but he did not know the person was here at Vernys.

「It’s Thomas dono.」Yllaner confirmed. 「Lance dono had told me before we set off that he had personally asked Thomas and Amber dono to assist me. Of course, at the time, we did not know whether they would agree but seeing those attacks, I’m sure at least Thomas dono is here.」

「Let’s get out of here first before trying to regroup with Thomas dono. Do you know anywhere we can hide around here?」Kibadios asked.
「Of course!」

 

「... Thomas...」Erik muttered in disgust before descending down onto the ground after his attack failed to stop the group.

「What now, Erik senpai?」Amaira looked excited. The job that she thought would be so boring had turned out to be much more fun than she had anticipated.

「We hunt her down.」replied Erik, then he turned to the group of Elven archers that had surrounded the three of them. 「Don’t try to stop us.」

「You!」The elven Captain ground his teeth.

「... Even if we catch up to them, can we even fight against that dragonkind?」asked Baxley.

「Remember, our goal isn't to fight against that creature. Our goal is to end the princess.」answered Erik.

Chapter 54: Trivial Racial Information (1)

Beastman: 

Lifespan: 40-150 years

Beastman is one of the most diverse races in Esthar. It is made up of more than 20 sub-races, such as: rabbit, lion, mermaid/merman, werewolf… They ranked 2nd in terms of total population and can be found living in almost all geographic locations, similar to humans. Many consider races such as Lizardmen and Skaern part of the Beastman race; however, that may not be the case since according to Zaeryn’s classification, one of the most distinctive characteristic of the Beastman race is the fact that they have three forms that they can morph into: human-looking form, half-human, half-beast form, and lastly, full-beast form. Beastman usually called themselves the Anima race, a term popularized by Zaeryn 10000 years ago because he has always been a fcking weeb and Beastman race reminded him of +Anima manga.

Yves: 

Lifespan: 70-100 years

Yves is one of the rarest races in Esthar. Their distinct characteristic is that they all possessed four eyes: two normal eyes and two smaller eyes located on top of their normal eyes on their forehead. Their eyes can help them see the flow of Haki and discern any weakness in their opponent’s attack. Therefore, members of the Yves race tend to be excellent fighters. Unfortunately, they are being hunted down for their eyes. This caused their population to significantly reduce to only about 10000 individuals.

Chapter 55: The first day (2)

With Kibadios flying by his side, the gang flew away from the airship aimlessly for about fifteen minutes on Ryuu’s back before he finally slowed down and allowed the group to disembark before transforming back into his humanoid form. Since they knew the three mercenaries would be tracking them down, flying on a huge, easily identifiable target was the least wise decision they could make.  

「Ryuu kun. I did not know you’re a dragonkin.」After checking on Kyles to ensure he was unharmed, Yllaner turned around and leaned in to take a closer look at the dragonoid.「...Forgive me for asking, but who are you really?」

「That’s...」Ryuu turned to his master, asking telepathically for Kibadios to help him out.

「You’re the “Ryuujin”, aren’t you?」Yllaner smiled.

「I’m...」

「Yes. How did you tell?」acknowledged Kibaidos, knowing that denying any further would be pointless.

「I’m fairly observant, Kibadios dono. Before, I did not know Ryuu kun here is a dragonkin so I wasn’t so sure but now that I know he’s one,  him being Ryuujin is the only logical explanation since after all, he only showed up by your side right after the Ryuujin incidence.」She chuckled. 「and then there’s that mysterious summoned spirit that was able to purify the miasma and take down the Prime Minister, which means you could also have cleaned off the miasma that radiated from the “Ryuujin” … and last but not least, if you want to hide the fact he’s not Ryuujin, maybe calling him a different name would help, haha..」

「You’re not afraid of me, Yllaner dono?」
「How come? You just saved me and carried me on your back all the way here.」Yllaner shook her head. 「If anything, I have to thank you. Having you, Kibadios dono, and everyone here is really assuring.」

「And you don’t have any question for me, Princess?」Kibadios grinned.

「I’m sure you will confide in me when you deem the timing is right.」

「Yllaner sama...」Ryan interrupted, his voice slightly shaking. 「Where should we go from now? It seems like our only ally had abandoned us.」

「I know.」Yllaner frowned.「But even so, I don't think the situation is as grim as I thought. Right now, we all have to get moving though, before they catch up to us.」

「But where are we going?」Maia asked. 「We can’t go to the Fyeran’s capital anymore, can we?」

「No, Maia chan. We’re going to our hideout to regroup with Thomas dono.」 

「Hideout? How do you know they’ll be there?」Rowan was curious.

「You see, Rowan kun.」Yllaner started to lead the way while explaining the whole situation to the group.「Like I have told you, before I left for Vernys, His Majesty had informed me that he had asked Thomas dono and Amber dono to help me in this conflict. If they agreed, they were told to come to Fyeran and await my arrival. Given the time, I’m sure they would have arrived here a few days ago, before the Clan decided to side with my brother and if that’s the case, they would have for sure met with Lord Uran.」

「Who’s Lord Uran?」Kibadios asked. 

「He’s the grandson of the head of the Fyeran Clan, Easlyn dono… He’s acting as my “spy” in the Clan.」

「Spy?」surprised the group, though only Kibadios, who knew her intimately from her previous incarnation, was acting casually.

「Yes. You see, I am the apparent heir to Shilna Clan Head and effectively, heir to the head of the Vernys Confederation, so for years, I have been acting behind the scene, building up my extensive network of like minded individuals and sympathizers to my vision of a strong and unified confederation. Since factions arguing for dissolution of the confederation and full autonomy have always existed in all of the Clans, it’s my job to keep them in check. To do so, I need to have influential “pawns” to act as my eyes and ears. Lord Uran is one of them and he’s also one of my most devoted supporters in the whole of Vernys Forest.」explained Yllaner. 「And had Thomas dono met with Lord Uran, then I’m sure he would be aware of the secret hideout location and that’s where we would be able to rendezvous.」

「But then why would Lord Uran ever disclose such important information to someone who is essentially an outsider?」asked the hybrid.

「Because after Kyles fell into a coma, I had written back to inform Lord Uran about my decision to stay in Lorian for a while. In that letter, I have also told him about Thomas and Amber dono and how we teamed up to deal with the Catastrophe Class creature. I also told him about you, Kibadios dono.」Yllaner gave the hybrid a warming smile. 「Given what I have told him about the group, I think Lord Uran would be able to trust Thomas dono… besides, Lord Uran is now in prison so it makes sense for him to entrust my safety in the hands of someone reliable. And that’s why I think Thomas dono was present back there to help us out. Of course, all of this are just my conjectures.」

「Pretty solid conjectures if you asked me.」Kibadios nodded.

「So where is this hideout, Yllaner sama?」asked Ryan. 「Are we close?」

「Actually, yes. It’s about half an hour walk from here. This “hideout” was an abandoned ritual site that no one uses anymore. Even in Fyeran, only the highest ranked individuals would probably have a chance of knowing it exists and asides from me, only Lord Uran and Lord Easlyn would know the exact location.」

「... So that clan head also knows?」Ryuu grew concerned. 「He had decided to betray you and side with your brother, Yllaner sama. Don’t you worry he will lead others to check out the place?」

「Dont worry about Lord Easlyn. He won’t do that.」

「What do you mean?」Ryuu was curious.

「He is an old mentor and a dear personal friend of my mother, I’m sure he won’t be leading the mercenaries to our hide out.」

「But he did side with your brother, didn’t he?」Just like Ryuu, Maia was also confused.

「What else could he do? Even if he’s loyal to us and the Vernys Confederation, even if he’s willing to die for the preservation of the forest, in the end, he’s still a Clan head that is responsible for hundreds of thousands of lives.」The elven princess sighed.「As leaders, sometimes, we can’t be selfish… Which is why... brother’s actions are despicable...」Yllaner’s voice was breaking up due to her anger.

「Yllaner sama...」Ryan faintly called out.

The group continued to follow the Princess deeper into the dimly lit forest. Vernys forest was much older than the forest Kibadios was dwelling in before, with the tree’s roots weaved deep into the land, mixing with one another into an unending matrix. It has been in existence for hundreds of millenia. Even during his first reincarnation as Zaeryn, the Vernys forest, at the time called a different name, was already ancient and covered a landmass almost 5 times its area at present days, much of which was cut down by the surrounding countries as they expanded. Just like the Amazon forest back on Earth, there were native inhabitants there 10000 years ago but their numbers were few. That seemed to have changed ever since a large population of the wood elf, then called merely “elf” migrated from the west due to the theocracy’s discrimination and made the forest their home some 2500 years ago. Because it is located right next to the largest inland mass of water called the Operon Sea, the forest was extremely wet and full of moisture, which allowed green mosses to thrive on the old tree barks and the forest ground. As the group walked through the uncharted path, Kibadios could easily detect countless of unseen animals lurking along them in the thick shadows, curiously and nervously studying the suspicious outsiders. At some points, a group of a dozen reindeer-like creatures, with giant antlers covered in red mosses, would hop out from behind a large tree. Its leader paused, then looked at the group, like how the Forest Spirit looked at Ashitaka, before he turned away and leapt forward on their predetermined path. The sudden intrusion quickly elicited a fiery response from the hybrid mutant, who would put up his guard and start hissing like a wild animal, his fingers formed into claw shapes, ready to strike. This unusual habit was because when he was hiding in the forest, he had to be vigilant against any other beings, whether they were wild hungry animals or merciless slavers, since had he let his guard down, he could either be attacked and eaten or caught. The group continued traversing further, with Kibadios intentionally walking at the back since he was busy controlling his shadow tentacles to carefully rearrange the fallen tree branches and withered leaves after they had walked past it so that they could not be tracked.

「Here we are!」Yllaner exclaimed while pulling a screen of thick vines to the side, revealing a large enclave. 「Our hidden rendezvous location!」

「「Wow...」」The group simultaneously made the same astonishing sound. And who could blame them since in front of their eyes was a large and unusually still lake. Its water was crystal clear, acting as a natural mirror that reflected the sunlight off of its surface. The access to the lake was blocked off from almost all of the directions due to thick tree trunks and rigid vines growing and expanding against one another. The only way to enter the lake vicinity was through the screen of soft vines that Yllaner had just led the group through. Kibadios reckoned that the best and possible the only way to notice the lake would be by flying over it. As he walked closer to the edge of the water, he noticed that the unusual silvery reflection emitted from the lake was not simply due to the sunlight above, but mainly because of the abundant small crystals that could be seen lying at the bottom and on the side of the lakes. Hovering above the water in groups were small fireflies, which either emitted bright green or cyan fluorescent lights, further transforming the lake into a beautiful and mystical place. In the middle of the lake was a small, circular landmark, where a large and lonely tree withered. Having arrived at their intended location, the group finally let down their guards for a few moments and started enjoying the scenery. Rowan and Ryan quickly walked around the lake and soon found themselves on the opposite side looking back at the entrance while Ryuu and Maia stayed close to Nu. Kibadios found himself sitting at the edge of the lake, hanging his feet down into the cold water to relax. Soon, without saying anything, Yuusei would slowly make his way toward the hybrid, then comfortably snuggled in between Kibadios’ laps like a house pet. 

… What is this sensation I’m feeling… it feels like the lake itself is calling out for me… Kibadios thought to himself as he leaned on the mutant sitting in front of him, his chin resting comfortably on the mutant’s head, though Yuusei did not seem to mind his master weighing down on him.

「Isn’t it wonderful?」Yllaner walked to Kibadios after spending some time caring for Kyles’ body. 「I personally think this place is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Too bad we’re not here for sight seeing.」

「“Suteki da ne…”」Kibadios spoke softly since what the Princess just said and this tranquil lake reminded him of the lake in Macalania Woods, except that this lake was much more brightly lit with sunlight. Maybe the lake where Mononoke nursed Ashitaka back to health was more like it , he thought.「Indeed it is… Even I did not know such place exist in this forest… 」

「Even you?」Yllaner noticed Kibadios again was speaking puzzlingly. 「... You’re just an enigma, aren’t you, Kibadios dono? 」

「Ha, you’re not the first person to tell me that.」

「Let me guest… Both Lance dono and Gilga dono had also claimed so?」

「Yes.」 Not Lance though, he already knew everything about me , Kibadios thought, but he rather kept that a secret.

「I can’t wait for the day you explain everything to me, if it ever comes.」

「I’m just curious, Yllaner dono. Why do you still trust me then? 」

「Because you’re strong?」Yllaner laughed. 「At this point, having you and Ryuu kun by my side is much better than not having you guys assisting me at all. I’m already backed into a corner, what else can I lose? But if you really want to know why I trust you even though I don't know anything about you, I guess there are two main reasons: First, it’s just a gut feeling. It’s funny because I rarely do anything by gut feeling but like I told you before, somehow, I feel like I have known you for a long time and that I can trust you with my life… probably because you saved me more than once already.」She laughed. 「I wonder, Kibadios dono, do you have that same feeling?」

「What feeling?」

「That we have known each other before?」

「... Truth to be told, yes, I do!」grinned Kibadios. 「That would explain my eagerness to help you, wouldn't it?」

「Hmm… Maybe we’re acquaintances in our past lives!」The princess teasingly suggested. 

「That’s probably it!」Although he knew it was true, Kibadios agreed in a joking manner. 「I didn’t know you believe in past lives, Princess.」

「Well, I don’t really but then how else we can explain this weird feeling, right?」

「Hahaha, true… and what’s the second reason?」

「That’d be because of Ryan.」Yllaner revealed.「During these past three months, seeing how Ryan kun was head over heel whenever I mentioned your name to him, I figured you can’t be a bad person.」

「... He was?」

「Yes. He kept going on and on about how great you were. It’s actually adorable.」Yllaner smiled. 「I’m not going to lie. At first, I was afraid you were just using him and somehow you tricked him to be part of your harem.」

… Shit, she did figure me out , Kibadios was sweating, wait, did she say… 「You know about my relationship with...」

「Yes, Maia chan, Rowan kun, and most likely, Ryuu kun, right?」Yllaner smiled.「I mean, just look at them, they all blushed beet red whenever I teased them with your name. If you guys want to hide it, I suggest better acting. But anyways, I really don’t mind the fact that Ryan had to share you with others, as long as he’s happy… and it seems to me he is truly happy.」The princess paused, chuckled to herself, then continued. 「You know, there’s one time I pointed out a visible hickey on his neck and he was exploding with embarrassment. Seeing how devoted he is to you, I have decided to place my trust in you, just like Ryan did.」

「Thank you, Yllaner dono. I really hope one day, I can tell you everything about me, but then, I really don’t want to burden you with such knowledge.」confessed Kibadios.

「That’s fine. I can wait. No matter what, I really appreciate your help… I know that you’re just here to protect me and you don’t want to insert yourself into his conflict, but if you don't mind, can I “borrow” Ryuu kun for one job?」

「Haha, of course, I don’t think he’ll mind. He’s the one who suggest we should just barge in and take care of your brother on our own, saving you the trouble.」

「Really? That’s nice of him but the job I’m thinking of only requires his presence and nothing more.」

「Who’s there?」Ryuu suddenly shouted the moment he heard rustling noises coming from the entrance, disrupting the conversation between  Yllaner and Kibadios.

「No need to worry! I’m here to help Princess Yllaner.」A man replied. 

「Oh.」Maia, who was close to the entrance, quickly recognized the person. 「Thomas dono. It’s really you…Amber dono and Floria dono too!」Behind Thomas was Amber and her partner, Floria.

「Hello Maia. It’s been a while.」Amber grinned and waved her hand.

「Thomas dono! Amber dono! Floria dono! I’m so glad you guys have come.」The princess rushed to greet the group.

「Please, Yllaner dono. After what Kyles dono did to protect us during the battle against the Prime Minister back in Lorian, even if I have to sacrifice this old man's life, I promise I’ll protect you from harm in his stead.」Thomas gave Yllaner a warm hug. 

「That’s right. During that moment when the creature released its deadly attack, it was Kyles dono’s Arte that saved us by flying around and reflecting the energy beams away… Had he not done it, maybe he would have been able to...」Amber’s voice started to break.

「Please don’t blame yourself, Amber dono.」The princess turned to the sleeping hero. 「I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to.」

「...Anyways, Yllaner dono. Please don't feel bad for us coming here.」Thomas’ warm face turned serious. 「 After all, thanks to this quest, I was finally able to find him.」

「Him?」

「Erik, my adopted son… and the person who gave me this.」Thomas reached up to the scar that mutilated his eyes. 「I guess this mission King Lance asked me to take has become a rather personal one, too.」

 

Notes:

Oh man, I'm on a roll! I have the next two chapters written too, but I'll look over before publishing them. I'd like to space them out instead of publishing all at once since having chapters in reserve means even if I slack off in the future, I can still publish chapters frequently lol

Chapter 56: Bonus: Picture of Gilga

Great Demon Lord Gilga of Uruk

ツシマ (PIXIV ID: 411873)

Millions thanks to them, who accepted my request and finished it in like a week (and at a kinda cheap rate, relatively speaking for the quality of the picture too... I feel bad since I didn't know they will put this much effort into it lol)

PS: I'm addicting to making requests on pixiv/skeb lol

Notes:

I'm trying to have a pic of Maia sexy time but the artist still has not accepted my request. I'd rather they straight up deny it so I can try with another artist but they haven't. >.>

Chapter 57: The rescue mission

The clock had moved past 12, signifying the start of a new day. The cold winter night was even slightly chillier when flying through the Vernys forest than it was when they were still in the territory of Maeg. On this particular night, since there was not a single veil of cloud that could be found overhead, Kibadios, Ryan, and Ryuu could clearly see the dark sky decorated with numerous flickering lights from the seas of far away stars. Sometimes, it was hard even for Kibadios to distinguish between the starlight and the natural lights emitted by swarms of insects, since they all appeared blended together when one looked far off into the distance at the horizon. Kibadios could have been flying on his own by the dragon’s side, but given Ryan was sitting on Ryuu’s back, Kibadios had opted to sit together with Ryan as well, with both him and Ryuu activating their <Cloak> skills to hide their presence. 

「Are you cold, Ryan chan?」Kibadios asked while wrapping his arms around the hero while sitting from behind and hugging him tight.

「... No, not really, Master.」answered the hero.

「That’s good cuz I kinda am. Can I use you to warm my hands?」The hybrid smirked and pretended to be cold to slide his hands deep inside Ryan’s pants and played with his warm, private part, much like what he did on the carriage during their trip toward Ryuu’s sealing place a few months back. Though this time, Ryan would quickly pull his master’s hand out, much to the hybrid’s annoyance. 

「What’s wrong, Ryan?」Kibadios held Ryan’s chin and turned his face around to look him into the eyes. 「It’s late at night and we’re flying up here, don’t tell me you still worry about any intrusive eyes that may witness I’m toying with you?」

「I’m sorry, Kibadios sama… I didn’t mean to」Ryan quickly apologized.

「Come on now, for the next few days, we’ll be camping in the woods together with the Princess, it’s not like I can fuck you guys whenever I want like before. I even had to take a bunch of heat suppressants to dial down my lust. The least you can do is to let me play with you like this when no one is looking.」Kibadios pulled Ryan back into his embrace and gave him a long, wet kiss while his hands roamed freely throughout the helpless hero’s body. Having his master toyed with him, his incubus mark finally kicked it, transforming him into a moaning mess. The pleasure he was experiencing from his erected cocks and nipples began to amplify over time and clouded his once clear mind. 「Here’s your punishment for daring to pull my hands away just now: I won’t let you cum for the next 15 minutes no matter how much you beg for it.」

「But Master, we have to be vigilant for the mission!」Ryan protested, though it did not cause the hybrid to change his mind one bit since one of his hands was already tightly wrapped around the hero’s cock shaft, disabling his ability to cum while his other hands rubbed hard on his uncut cock. Even though he was forced to be close to climax, he was ultimately unable to cum. The sensation caused Ryan to burst into tears and moaning, his drools dripping down onto Ryuu’s back. 「Master… I’m sorry… soorryyyy...sorr...please… pl...cum...」Ryan continued to mutter for a good fifteen minutes before Kibadios finally released his grip on the poor hero’s cock and allowed him to cum. 

「Haaaaa!!!」Ryan cried out in pleasure while shooting his thick load into the hybrid’s hand.

「Don’t you disobey me again, understand, Ryan chan?」Kibadios smiled deviously, then he slurped in all of his slave’s cum before licking off the trails of Ryan’s saliva and reached up to his mouth for a long kiss. Their tongues dashed and intertwined around one another, mixing Ryan’s cum and drools before both gulped down their share of the hero’s bodily fluid.

「I won’t, master...」Ryan admitted his mistake.

「Good.」Kibadios wiped his lips. 「Rest for a bit, Ryan chan. We won't be reaching Fyeran’s capital for another fifteen minutes so don't worry. I’m sure our rescue mission would go perfectly and we’ll extract Lord Uran out soon enough.」

「Yes, master.」Ryan nodded after fixing his clothes.

「...」 Yeahhh...I’m totally not jealous at all… Ryuu thought to himself as the event between his master and his “senpai'' transpired on his own back. The three of them have been setting out on a mission the Princess had asked them to earlier in the day and Ryuu would prefer to focus on it rather than letting his mind be consumed with jealousy...

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.

.

 

「So what should we do now, Yllaner dono?」asked Thomas after everyone had gathered together around Nu and the resting Kyles.

「First and foremost, we have to rescue Lord Uran. Afterward, we will raise a banner under my name and call everyone who is loyal to the Vernys Confederation to join us.」The Princess explained. 

「... So you’re planning to wage a war against your brother? I’m sorry but that’s just suicidal.」concluded the senior hero.

「I’m of the same opinion as Thomas dono. I have been briefed by King Lance’s messenger about the political situation in Vernys and the big picture of the conflict.」chimed in Amber. 「Maybe it’s not my place to say this but a full-scale civil war would probably be the least desired scenario here, Yllaner dono.」

「I understand your concerns.」Yllaner smiled. 「It was my fault since I did not make myself clear before.」She paused for a moment. 「Let’s be clear: I have no intention of ever fighting against my brother by waging wars. If I have to resort to pitched battles that may result in great losses to the forest’s total military might,  I’d rather let him take over the Shilna clan with our fighting forces intact. That way, we may have a chance against the Yin empire. What I’m proposing is merely to gather loyal soldiers to me and use me as bait to lure my brother. 」

「「What?」」Almost everyone except the hybrid, who had known her plan prior to this discussion, was surprised.

「You see, I will not be the person who decides the fate of the Vernys Confederation. That role  belonged to the four important spies I have in each of the clan.」

「 “Important spies”?」

「Yes. Like I have Kibadios dono, my extensive political network exists in not only the Shilna clan but also the other four great Clans. In each of them, I have found someone of importances, either potential heirs to the clan head or their close relatives, to act as my “spies.” They are individuals with the greatest talents who I can trust even with my life on the line. Normally, their purpose is to use their influence within the clans to promote the unity of the confederation and deal with anyone or any factions that actively undermine the confederation. However, at times like these, their jobs are to quickly take over the control of the clan from the current clan heads and to get rid of separatists within the clan, even if they have to stage a coup d'etat. I admit, that in itself is not an easy task, but I have specifically chosen them as my representatives and spies for this very moment. I believe I only need to present them with an opportune moment, they can accomplish their tasks.」explained Yllaner. 「Once they have taken over control of the respective clans, with the four clans united, even my brother should understand which way the wind is blowing. Only then can we force him to the negotiation table.」

Huh? Kibadios noticed an interesting point in the Princess’ plan..

「... so that’s why you wanted to present yourself and forces gather to you as baits for your brother and other clan heads, distracting them and allowing your spies to act decisively?」Rowan had quickly understood the princess’ goal.

「Yes. I have thought a lot about it and this is the only option where I can end this internal strife without risking depleting our military forces.」Yllaner nodded. 「After all, the Yin empire is just sitting at the border, ready to strike at any time. The last thing I want is to to fight my brothers through conventional means, battles after battles, only to damage our own military power and create excuses for them to intervene.」

「But that means even if one of your “spies” fail, your plan would unravel.」The sharp Rowan pointed out.

「What do you mean?」Amber turned to the healer, puzzling. 

「... I see...」Thomas slowly nodded. 「Rowan-kun is right. Say, if one of the four spies fail to secure the control of one the clan, it’s undoubtedly that clan would side with your brother instead of ever joining you.  That’d make it 3 clans vs 2 clans instead of 4 vs 1 and if that’s the case, the result would be a drawn out conflict that not even you can stop.」

「... Yes. And that’s the one risk I have to take.」Yllaner  acknowledged. 「Every decision made carries their own inherent risks. I can only trust that they will succeed.」

「I understand.」Thomas smiled. 「Knowing your plan, that makes sense why you want to rescue Lord  Uran right away. He’s the one that was supposed to take over the Fyeran Clan, am I right?」

「Yes.」

「He’s a fine young man. I’d be glad to help break him out of prison.」Thomas volunteered.

「Us too!」Amber and Floria nodded.

「Actually, if possible, I’d like to ask Kibadios dono and Ryuu dono to do it late tonight… I can come with you and show you the way.」

「Of course, we’d be happy to help, Princess. However, you coming with us is a big no no.」Kibadios shook his head. 「If this is a chess game,  you’re our king piece. It doesn't make sense to subject our king to such risk, does it?」

「Kibadios sama is right.」Ryan nodded. 「I have been to the Fyeran’s capital a few time, I can help guide the way.」

「I’d love to help  you guys, but if Yllaner dono stays here, I think most of us should stay here and protect her.」Thomas suggested.「Right now, not only the Fyeran’s forces are looking for her, even the Hyakki Yagyo is hunting her. And amongst those mercenaries, Erik is the most dangerous. It’s better to have a lot of people protecting the princess to ensure her safety.」

「Thank you, everyone.」Yllaner was grateful to all the help she was getting. 

.

.

.

 

The group descended onto the ground some 20 miles away from the edge of the Fyeran’s capital and traversed through the thick woods on their feet, though that did not take long since all three were able to leap and jump around like the ANBU on a mission. Aside from the primary goal, which was to rescue Lord Uran, the group understood that they had another implied objective, which was why Yllaner preferred to have them carry out the mission: to show Ryuu’s true form to the people of Fyeran and hopefully, the rumor about a dragon siding with the princess would spread throughout the wood, further bolstered the reputation of her future forces. 

「So that’s what you meant when you say you’d like to borrow his “presence.”」Kibadios recalled back the conversation with the Princess before they left for the Fyeran’s capital.

「Yes. Kibadios dono, I understand you have reservation about revealing Ryuu kun being  a dragon in front of others, especially Thomas dono and Amber dono; however, you should know that although a second generation dragon like Ryuu kun may be extremely rare, the dragon race isn’t that rare though. There are more than 1000 dragonkins currently living among the people and as a matter of fact, one of the Yin Empire’s 12 heavenly generals was supposed to be a dragonkin and in the eastern-most part of the continent, there even existed a kingdom ruled by a dynasty of dragonkin for thousands of years. I reckon besides Thomas dono and Amber dono, no one could have guest Ryuu here is the infamous “Ryuujin”, even if he shows his true form.」explained Yllaner. 「and I can convince them he’s not Ryuujin.」

「How?」

「There are many ways.」Yllaner paused to think for a second.「Though the easiest would be to lie and tell them Ryuu kun is an old acquaintance of mine, who just happens to swear his allegiance to you under some circumstances the moment he came to Lorian to find me. We can just be vague like that, I don't think either of them was the kind of person who would try to pry any further. With Ryan working under you, you were already a very mysterious individual in their view, I don't think knowing that a dragonkin is also working for you would change their thought of you much.」

「If that’s the case, then I don't mind.」

「Thank you, Kibadios dono… You’re truly kind… too kind to me, in fact, that I feel like I’m using you.」Yllaner was angry at herself.

「... Just think of it as me repaying my debt to you, Syl...Yllaner.」Kibadios quickly corrected himself.

「... I think I like the sound of it...」

「The sound of?」

「You just calling me Yllaner… It sounds more familiar and natural to me.」

「If you give permission, I can drop the honorific」

「That’s perfectly fine with me, as long as I get to call you “Kibadios.”」

「Then that’s a deal, Princess」

.

.

.

The Fyeran’s capital “city” was completely different from any settlements Kibadios had been to in the Kingdom of Maeg, mostly because instead of clearing the woods for building spaces, their houses were incorporated directly onto the humongous tree trunks. Since there was no protective wall marking the border of the settlement either, Kibadios and Ryuu were surprised when Ryan told them they had now entered the capital territory. According to Ryan, wood elf settlements usually had two different kinds of “pathways”: a ground and a hanging pathway. The ground pathway, as its name suggested, was built on the ground like the streets at any other places, though “built” was probably not the correct word here because instead of paving the roads with some kind of asphalt or crushed rocks, the so-called “roads” were just plain worn out dirty path on the ground that were marked by two parallel lines of small stones. The hanging paths were made of small wood planks tied together with strong, thick ropes, hanging across the tree branches to connect one treehouse to another. Because it was too early in the morning, most of the inhabitants were already soundly asleep in their bed as the trio lurked in the shadows, avoiding the few sentry guards and making their way toward Lord Uran’s prison cell. 

「Just like I thought, you guys would come here and rescue the young lord. I was hoping the princess is with you though.」A familiar voice spoke loudly once they reached the prison gate and caught the group off guard, a rare feat that not a lot could achieve. 「Where did you hide her?」

「Erik kun, right?」Kibadios grinned wearily. 「I was hoping to run into you… though, I was worried that you’re still out there, tracking the Princess. Give up your mission a bit early, don’t you think?」He taunted.

「We still have yet to give up, don't you worry.」The Yves sprung forward. This time, his hand was holding a burning longsword as a weapon, aiming at Ryan, who his eyes had concluded to be the weakest of the three. Of course, Ryan had already reacted to his attack by taking a defensive stance with his own sword, but before Erik’s blade could reach the hero, he had to come to a sudden stop and parry off the strike from a large scythe Kibadios had just conjured.

「Don’t you touch my properties without my permission.」The hybrid glared at the Yves, his purple eyes glowed menacingly in the dark. 「You guys go ahead and rescue Lord Uran. I’ll deal with him.」The hybrid ordered Ryan and Ryuu, to which they both acknowledged and left their master behind to deal with the mercenary.

Properties? Is that how he views that hero and the dragonkin? Who is he?「... Kid… 」Erik said calmly. 「You might have underestimated me.」

 

SURVEY TIME: I'm torn when deciding Kibadios' next harem members. If you can, please fill out survey here. I will go with whatever option has the highest vote. You can vote multiple times (I think) but please only vote once. I'll use the honor system and believe that you only vote once. :)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/62CN5BW

Notes:

Future illustrations to expect (the artists have already accepted these requests):
1. Explicit smexy time between Kibadios, Ryan, and Rowan (bath scene in Volume 2) expected by the end of the month
2. Adela
3. Explicit smexy time between Kibadios and Maia
4. Ryuu
5. Jayden and Lance
6. Ashura
7. Someone (I can't reveal cuz it'll spoil the story... kinda lol)
That's it. I've spent all my stimy money for these pictures. I really have to stop myself from requesting on skeb or pixiv now or I'll go bankrupt lol.

Chapter 58: The midnight fight

By now, due to the commotion, numerous elven soldiers had gathered at the Prison, either with their bows drawn or with poisonous small blades on their hands, two of their most favourite weapons. Still, they could not do much but stay on the sideline, observing the fight between Kibadios and Erik since with each clash, their Haki alone could have knocked some of the wood elves off their feet. The majority of the forces, though, had opted to chase after Ryan and Ryuu to ensure they could not rescue Uran from his cell. 

「Who are you, kid?」asked Erik. Despite having to jump from tree to tree while exchanging blows with Kibadios, the mercenary’s breathing rhythm remained as calm as a sleeping child, showing no hint of exhaustion. 「Why are you with the Princess? How come you would even consider a hero and a dragonkin to be your properties?」

「...I’m in no mood to answer your question.」Kibadios jumped up before using his whole weight to strike down at the man. 「but most importantly, I don't need to answer your questions!」Erik raised his sword up above his head, receiving the heavy strike head on instead of dodging to gauge the hybrid’s power. Much to his surprise, the strike was heavy enough to cause the large tree branch he was standing on to crack and fall down. Though, neither of them were falling, since Kibadios was able to fly using his incubus wing while two red orbs of fire were supporting Erik standing in midair.

「... You’re far stronger than I thought, kid.」Erik genuinely complimented Kibadios「As expected of a hybrid.」

「You too...」Kibadios smiled. 「In fact, if I’m correct, you seem to have surpassed your adopted father.」

 「You have met him?」Erik frowned at the mention of Thomas.

「Yes. He was hoping for a chance to deal with you during the course of this conflict...though, I personally don't think he could ever come out on top if he were to fight against you.」Kibadios shook his head

「Thanks for viewing me in such high esteem...」Grinned Erik. 「But flattery would not save you tonight.」The Yves focused all his strength in his arm before throwing his burning sword at mach speed toward the hybrid. Since he did not expect his opponent to part with his seemingly only weapon, the move startled Kibadios, who tried to slow down the burning sword projectile with his shadows to no avail. At last, right before the sword would undoubtedly pierce his heart, the hybrid elected to simply dodge it, though due to its speed and his initial hesitation, the sword was able to nick his left arm before it easily thrusted through several large trees and flew off into the distance.

「That hurts.」Kibadios touched his wound. 「But now, how are you going to fight without your weapon?」

「Who told you that I don't have any weapon left?」Erik raised his arm, his hand violently grabbed the empty air, though just in seconds, Kibadios could see what looked to be a burning lance appeared in his hand. Unlike the scythe that Kibadios conjured, using his dark shadow as material, the hybrid could easily tell the lance Erik was holding onto was made directly from his immense reserve of Haki and the flame that were burning under his feet. In short, this weapon he had did not truly possess a physical state. Made up of only flames and haki, technically, such a weapon could have taken the form of anything that Erik could think of: Lance, sword, sabre, axe…

He’s such a troublesome opponent. Kibadios thought before flapping his wings and flew high into the sky, beyond the reach of the surrounding trees that had been restricting his movements. Just like he had expected, the flame under Erik’s feet was also propelling the man upward, chasing after him. 

「<Zhuque’s Claw>」Erik quickly activated his skill aiming at the hybrid, preventing him from getting away any further. 

「<Arms of Darkness>」Retaliated Kibadios as his conjured shadow clashed violently against Erik’s skill, cancelling out one another. 

「<AllSeeing>」Erik activated his racial’s skill, which caused his two extra eyes to glow brightly in the dark, allowing him to quickly analyze the hybrid’s weaknesses. 「<MaxDef> <MaxAgi>」His skill began to take effect, boosting the Yves’ battle prowess before he finally activated his Arte. 「<Wings of Zhuque>」

Erik muttered lowly under his breath, but the presentation of his unique skill was as flashy as it has always been, especially under the darkness of the night, for behind his back, six large wings covered in blue flames emerged, illuminated almost 1/10 of the whole capital city of the Fyeran Clan. The two men flying still in place, staying opposite one another, Kibadios with his 6 dark incubus wings while Erik with his 6 flaming angelic wings resulted from his Arte. Just like Kamui vs Fuuma from X/1999, the bystander wood elves stood and looked up in awe as the two individuals, who had completely surpassed them in term of power, violently clashed above their settlement, sending ripple shockwaves that could be felt miles away. Since Erik already activated his skills and Arte, it was not a surprise that he has gained the upper hand. Thanks to his <AllSeeing> skill, with each of his thrust, Erik’s lance aimed precisely at every small openings in the hybrid’s movements, allowed it to evade the ever-present shadow that has been acting as his protective barrier, forcing him to parry them off physically with the handle of his scythe, most of which were too close for comfort.

Yep, as I thought, I can’t keep up with him without my summoned spirits. Kibadios thought to himself before flying backward away from Erik, hoping to create a distance between the two so that he would not be within range of the Yves' lance. 

「Let me try this skill out.」Kibadios raised his arm, his hand formed into a crude shape of a “gun”, with his index and middle finger pointing outward while his thumb upward. 「<DivineArrow>」

This new skill was essentially a mix between Reuk’s skill that he had obtained after devouring the near death elf and the affinity for the Holy element, which he gained after consuming Corey. An aura of holy element quickly formed into the shape of a large bow, with the hybrid’s fingers acting as the imaginary arrow. Erik was dumbstruck the moment he saw Kibadios utilize his skill, not because of the “bow” or “arrow” part, but because of the holy elements that he was able to imbue onto them. 

「Kid, how is this possible?」Erik wearily called out to the hybrid.「How can you, a demihuman hybrid, be in command of the holy element?」Granted, the “holy element” Kibadios possessed was not as strong as when they were used by the <Hero Class> individuals since it was not naturally his, but it was undoubtedly genuine. 「Who are you?」

「... The name is Kibadios… Got it memorized?」The hybrid jerked his arms, signalling the simultaneous release of the 10 holy arrows. Of course the Yves would quickly spring sideways to dodge the attack, but the arrow projectiles quickly adapted and altered, aiming at his new position like guided missiles. Seeing how it was futile to dodge, Erik finally decided to deal with those annoying arrows heads-on. The mercenary finally flapped his wings loudly, released thousands of small burning feathers, which quickly spread around where he flew, preventing the hybrid’s projected attacks from hitting him. As Erik had calculated, the arrows inadvertently hit the floating feathers, causing several fiery explosions to envelop him. Yet, once the smoke and fire cleared up, he was floating still, completely unharmed. 

「...」Kibadios simply remained. 「That’s not all your Arte can do, is it?」

「I wonder.」Erik smirked, then raised his hand up to the sky above. The scattered feathers began to spiral upward and gathered together into a large sphere. Before he could finalize his attack; however, a loud explosion down below momentarily distracted both combatants. From the ground, Kibadios could see Ryuu’s dragon form began to grow bigger and fly up to where he was. His back carried two individuals, one was Ryan, who was panting heavily but did not seem to have to suffer any injuries while the other, Kibadios guessed, should be Lord Uran. The elf was wearing high-class oriental looking clothes, similar to the Princess. The heir of the Fyeran Clan was clearly a bishounen type. His straight blond hair reached down past his shoulder, which perfectly complimented his handsome, well-defined face. To be honest, the elven lord unfortunately reminded the hybrid of “Fairy King Oberon,” though from everything Kibadios heard about him from the Princess, his character was 

「Master, we have gotten Lord Uran out.」Spoke Ryuu once he got close enough to the hybrid. 「It’s time for us to leave.」

「I was hoping to spar with him a bit more...」Kibadios turned to look at Erik.「Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Ryuu, blast him down. We can't let him tailing us back to our hideout.」

「Sure, Master!」Ryuu opened his mouth, releasing a concentrated beam of energy straight at the Yves, who quickly reacted by rearranging the sea of feathers above his head to form a barrier to block the attack. Needless to say, it was useless. Ryuu’s <DragonBeam> shattered the flaming wall made of Zhuque’s feather and blasted straight Erik, who coated himself with his immense Haki, his own wings wrapped around his body. Thanks to multiple layers of defense, despite being directly struck and sent crashing down onto the ground, Kibadios noticed the man slowly stood up once the dust settled, spitting out the blood in his mouth, then wiped off his lips. His eyes fixated onto the hybrid’s group as they disappeared beyond the horizon.

「Are you okay,  Ryan?」asked Kibadios concerningly

「I’m fine, Master. I just had a little problem dealing with that twintail girl.」explained Ryan. 「She ambushed me when Ryuu and I split off to find Lord Uran.」

「I wasn’t able to scan her with my skill so she’s for sure higher level than you, Ryan. It’s good that you were still able to fend her off. We can have Rowan take care of your wounds when we get back.」Kibadios patted his slave.

「These are mere scratches. Dont worry, Master.」dismissed the hero. 

「... and you’re Lord Uran, I presume?」Kibadios turned around and spoke to the elven man, whose face resembled the picture Yllaner had previously shown him. Of course, Kibadios had already scanned him with his <Analysis lv.7> skill to ensure the elf wasn’t an imposter. 

「Yes. And you guys are?」

「Name’s Kibadios. These two are my retainers, Ryan and Ryuu.」The hybrid introduced the group. 「But I’m sure you know of Ryan?」

「Yes, of course. I have known of him through Lady Yllaner. A hero and a dragonkin working under a hybrid...」Lord Uran calmly pointed out.「Lady Yllaner sure has made acquaintances with some interesting people, and good thing that she did too. With your help, I’m sure we’ll be able to deal with Lord Yllaes.」

「...I’m sorry but we do not intend to actively participate in this conflict. We’re only here to protect the Princess.」explained Kibadios.

「Really?」Uran thought for a second. 「Though, I’m sure merely your “presence” is enough to help the Princess.」

How sharp ! Kibadios was surprised by the young lord’s strategic mind, who seemed to have realized why Ryuu had transformed into a dragon and made such a flashy escape.

「Master, I was wondering.」Ryuu finally entered the conversation. 「Why did you go easy on that Erik guy? If you use your other skills or summons, you could have beat him, right?」

「Oh, I just want to gauge my strength without relying too much on my skills… Just to see how strong I have become after sparring with you for months, Ryuu chan.」answered Kibadios.

「I see! He’s not your average fighter, though. It’s amazing that you were able to keep up with him.」

「I know.」Kibadios grinned satisfactorily, though he could feel his cold sweat still lingered on his forehead. On the back, Ryan sat silently as he discreetly gazed at the hybrid… Soon ...

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The group arrived at the hidden lake just half past four. Just like before, they made their last half hour of journey on foot since any of the Fyeran scouts might easily track them to their destination had they flown on Ryuu all the way. Since it was early in the morning, once Kibadios made it back, his three slaves, along with Floria, were still soundly asleep. Only the two other heroes were awake and attentively guarding the princess, who was wiping Kyle’s unconscious dirty face with a wet towel she brought with her. 

「Yllaner!」called out Uran as he hurriedly walked toward the princess and Kyles. 「Thank the Forest Spirits you’re alright!」

「Uran!」Yllaner was laughing in relief the moment she saw her friend unharmed.「Are you okay? 」

「Of course!」The elven lord replied. 「You know me being imprisoned by my grandfather was just a farce. He has always been expecting  you to come to my aid.」Uran’s face turned grim as he looked at Kyles. 「How’s Kyles though? Is there any progress?」

「Unfortunately, no.」Yllaner frowned. 「Initially, I was hoping to take him to the Spring of Healing to see if it can do anything to treat him, but this whole thing with my brother happened and I have to deal with it first.」

「... I am not someone who is well-versed in the art of healing, but just by looking at his complexion, I'd say we need to get him to the spring sooner than later.」Uran held onto Kyles’ cold hand.

「I know… But we all know the Spring located in the Shilna territory, it’s not like we can take him there as we wish.」The princess caressed her beloved’s hair.「That’s why I have to quickly end this feud with my brother.」

「What is your next step, Yllaner?」

「I’m sure your territory in the Fyeran will welcome us with open arms, Uran?」

「Of course.」He nodded. 「My entourage in the capital was imprisoned together with me a few days ago but there is plenty of support that we can count on back in the territory that I personally governed. If you want to gather those who are loyal to the Vernys Confederation, then gathering them at my territory is the best option. It can act as our base of operation.」

「... Do you think lord Easlyn would attack us there?」

「He would not.」Uran confirmed. 「My territory boasts the strongest military forces in Fyeran so even if my grandfather wanted to, it would take him days to gather enough soldiers to be a threat to us. If you send out a rally call now to forces who are still loyal to the Vernys Confederation to gather there, by the time my grandfather finishes preparing, our number would also swell up to the point that the Fyeran military alone would not be able to overwhelm our potential forces. He would have no choice but to wait for Yllaes’ reinforcement… Though, personally, I know he would never willingly attack us on his  own since he has only been forced to side with your brother.」

「That’s good to hear. We can set out to your territory now and I’ll send out messages to all who would come to aid us on the way. We can’t waste any more time. My battle with my dear brother starts now.」Yllaner said determinedly. 

=================================

SAME ANNOUNCEMENT AS LAST CHAPTER, IF YOU HAVE ALREADY VOTED, IGNORE THIS AND THANK YOU :) : 

SURVEY TIME: I'm torn when deciding Kibadios' next harem members. If you can, please fill out survey here. I will go with whatever option has the highest vote. You can vote multiple times (I think) but please only vote once. I'll use the honor system and believe that you only vote once. :)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/62CN5BW

 

Notes:

To the few who follow this story, if you read it and spot any inconsistency or error, please comment and let me know lol
The plot has been steadily expanding and I'm no professional writers. In fact, I only write when inspiration hits (which is why I've been cranking out chapters lately) and that means I don't have "author's notes" or "First draft" or anything like that :3
I just write and write. Sometimes I went back and reread the chapters after they were published for months and realized all the plot holes/inconsistency and all the "Oh, did I mention that?" moments lol.
----
Also, I think I will publish the next 2 chapters or so all at the same time and I'll continue to update them in groups until the end of this arc, which will climax in like 4-5 chapters (but there will be lots of chapters after the climax to tie up loose ends). This "volume" is at least 50% longer than the first 2 :D
Cheers!

Chapter 59: Bonus: Picture of Adela's homunculus body

Notes:

Adela drawn by Narita on Skeb.
I have included their link here:
https://skeb.jp/@narita__UxU

Notes:

PS: the poll for next harem member will close soon since i need to start requesting their picture. As of now, at most 4 ppl prefer 1 male 1 female and 1 person prefers 2 identical females. :)

Chapter 60

In the home of Skyer back in the capital of Shilna, a naked girl giddily hummed a forgotten ancient tune as she stood under the warm shower, rinsing off the soap off her homunculus body’s long, thick hair. Once finished, she leisurely walked out from the bathroom completely naked, letting residue water droplet to roll down her nape, along her perky breasts before falling down onto the wooden floor. It took her some time to wrap a towel slowly around her head to dry off her hair before she sat down comfortably on the large couch placed in the middle of the guestroom. Despite Skyer being the highest ranking Shilna official, second only to the ambitious prince, due to the frugal nature of the wood elf race, his house was rather tiny compared to her numerous previous residences. If she did not have to be in Vernys to deal with the hybrid, she could have never imagined a day in which she had to live in such a dump.
「Well, at least everything has been progressing  nicely.」The former princess reassured herself. 

Unlike the last time when she was personally toying with the Prime Minister out in the open, the Astral had decided to stay in the shadows this time to hide her presence from the cautious hybrid since if he ever learned that Adela was in Vernys, her entire plan to lure him into her trap might fall apart before it started. Right now, with him focusing on protecting the princess and observing her struggle in this conflict, Adela believed her prey was too distracted to detect her meddling and she intended to keep it that way. Needless to say, converting his trusted slave into her spy has paid its dividend, for she could get constant updates on his whereabouts for her to alter her plans accordingly. After the <Mind Control> skill having cast on him was dispelled, the teenage hero held such a deep hatred against his supposed master that it did not take much for Adela to convince him with her fabricated stories about the origins of the second holy war or the incident regarding the Prime Minister. 

...「Hahaha! You believe his lie that he's only a few years old in this incarnation of his? He’s much older than he said, don't be gullible, my dear hero. He’s been trying to destroy the peace us Astral trying to maintain for years now.」

「You know, I’m sure he was the one orchestrated the attack on the village of his other two slaves.」

「It was all Zaeryn’s devious plans, acting behind the scene to manipulate the Prime Minister to unseal his dragonkin follower. I tried my best to stop it but since Astrals are not supposed to directly intervene with mortal affairs, even when I have infiltrated into the Prime Minister’s inner circle, my hands were tied.」

「In the end, he even secretly infected the Prime Minister and destroyed Lorian. Despite the possible punishments awaiting me in Modun, I was going to break the Astrals’ rules and directly assist the citizens of Maeg but “Ryuujin” confronted me. I’m sorry, Ryan kun. Had I been able to deal with Ryuujin sooner, I could have stopped the raging chaos-infected Prime Minister from injuring your brother.」

「Dont worry, my dear hero. With your help, I will make sure to stop the dreaded Zaeryn once and for all.」...

 

「Adela?」A voice called out to her from behind the couch, bringing her back from her reminiscence. 「How’s it going?」

「Father, you know you don't have to check in on me this often, right?」answered Adela without turning back. The large mirror on the wall of Skyer’s home had now transformed into a magical portal telepathically connected to the Modun Realm. 「Like I told you, I already have everything under control. Soon, I’ll drag that loser’s corpse back to the Ennead. You should just sit tight and enjoy.」

「... Remember, Adela, you’re dealing with Zaeryn, not just some random Irregularity.」Adeus spoke disapprovingly at his daughter’s dismissal of the danger that the hybrid posed. 「The plan that you devised to lure and seal away HaoS also carries some risks for you.」

「Don’t you worry, Father. With my trump card, I can't lose. If such a risk is what it takes to destroy that man, I’ll be glad to take it.」Adela grinned.「By the way, now that I have you here, have you prepared what I asked of you?」

「Yes… It’s not easy to deploy that man, but I can send him to you for 10 minutes. Afterward, he’ll be teleported back to the Modun Realm or else the Ennead would realize he’s gone.」

「That’s fine. If it’s him we’re talking about, 10 minutes are more than enough to neutralize that pathetic dragon. Besides, even if they realized he was transported outside of Modun, they’d understand why we need to use him when I bring back Zaeryn’s corpse. 」

「Then… When will you proceed with your plan?」

「Within days.」

「I see… Again, be careful, Adela.」

「You sound just like a broken record, father.」The female Astral dismissed her father’s concerns.

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The territory that Lord Uran governed located at the North East edge of the Vernys Forest, bordered with the Operon Sea on one side and the Kingdom of Maeg’s mountain ranges on the other. Being flanked by both impassable terrains provided the territory with a desperately needed protection since it could only be invaded from the Western front. Though, since they were merely supposed to act as bait, neither Yllaner or Uran had planned to fight off against the expected invasion army using the forces that were currently gathering at their territory. That was the reason why instead of having soldiers stationed within the largest settlement in the territory to defend it, those who heeded the Princess’ call of duty and travelled to Lord Uran’s territory were directed to assemble at the large barrack encampment that was constructed 50 miles outside the “city.” Observing the growing forces, Kibadios was impressed at the efficiency at which Yllaner was able to summon her loyalists using forest hawks as messengers and Lord Uran’s ability to house and feed them without a hint of chaotic hustle that one would have expected. It was apparent that both of the leaders had already prepared for this eventuality long in advance. Just how many contingency plans did Yllaner prepare? Kibadios asked himself as he stood on one of the hanging wooden trails that overlooked the encampment below. Just in two days, she has already gathered more than 3000 troops. Looking at them carefully, they aren't just wood elf huh? There are also beastmen, dryads, treekins, and even some humans. Vernys sure is diverse.

「I’m actually impressed!」admitted Maia, who was standing next to the hybrid.「Just in two days, the Princess has already gathered this many people. They must have really loved her.」

「It’s not really her that they love, it’s the Vernys forest.」corrected Kibadios 「Though, I’m sure they do hold her with high regards. They must believe she’s the only one who can save their unions.」

「... So this is “war”? Everyone I encountered all appeared restless.」Maia pointed it out

「...War? Not yet, this is merely the opening act.」Kibadios turned to his slave. 「I guess you have never witnessed war in person?」Maia simply shook her head. 「But Maeg did have civil war, right?」

「Yes, but Rowan and I have only been living within the boundary of our secluded village so we have never experienced the devastation of the civil war. If I recall correctly, we only were aware of it a few weeks before it ended. There was a big commotion at the time at the meeting hall since the adults were arguing what course of action they should have taken. But then, by the time we sent representatives to Syllia, the war was already over.」explained the girl. 「The closest we came to know about “war” was when our village was attacked.」

「In another word, your life has always been peaceful, right?」concluded Kibadios 「Be honest with me, Maia… Have you ever regretted leaving your village to come with me?」

「I’d be lying if I say I have never missed the life Rowan and I had back then.」Maia answered with all honesty. 「But I have never regretted the decision I made back then, Master. As long as I can be by your side, I’m already satisfied.」Maia leaned over and gave her master a tight hug, allowing her breasts to press against the hybrid’s arm.

「Uhem!」Amber made her presence clear, then greeted the hybrid with a friendly smile. Ever since the Ryuujin incident, the female hero had already warmed up to the hybrid despite him being a demihuman.「I’m sorry, am I interrupting you two?」

「Of course not Amber dono!」Maia’s face turned red while shaking her head. 

「Please know that I’d never want to disrupt your intimate moments.」Amber winked before reminded the two「 I’m not sure if you’re interested in coming but I just want to let you know the strategy meeting with the Princess is about to begin.」

「Right!」Nodded Kibadios 「Thanks for coming and getting me. Of course I’d like to attend and I wouldn't want to let the Princess wait for me, would I? Shall we go?」

「Sure.」

「Ehto… Where is Floria dono? Isnt she usually with you?」

「Oh… she’s...」Amber seemed unusually flustered while scratching her head. 「She’s not feeling well this morning so she’s resting now, ha… haha...」

「Is that so? I hope she’ll feel better soon.」Maia was oblivious to the hero’s reaction but her master was much more observant since just like Yllaner, his “gaydar” was also fairly sharp. I’m pretty sure they fucked last night until Floria is exhausted so she’s sleeping in right now… well, it’s not like I can judge them since Rowan is also lying on the bed, exhausted right now. Kibadios thought to himself, though of course, he did not push the matter any further. 

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The room was filled with an unusual silence once the messenger finished reporting the developments regarding the situation at the Fyeran Clan’s territory to Yllaes since no one wanted to be the first to speak in front of the fuming usurper. Knowing Yllaner had escaped with her life had already upset him enough and now, the news that forces from across Vernys have begun to gather around her infuriated the prince even more. His eyes were lit up like raging fire under the fluorescence light from the firefly lamps while his hand gripped tightly onto his chair’s armrest. 

「... We need to act now.」declared Yllaes. 「Before my sister’s forces have a chance to grow even further. How many troops has she got? 」

「There are 4000 troops provided by lord Uran and about 3000 have come to her aid so we’re looking at approximately 7000.」

「...and counting.」added Skyer, who was sitting next to the Prince.「At this rate, her forces would exceed 10000 in no time.」

「10000 huh?」Yllaes lightly tapped his finger onto the table, deep in thought for a few minutes before he looked around the table, checking the expression of half a dozen elven lords. 「Everyone here, heed my order: get your troops ready. Within 4 days, we shall match our army into Uran’s land and crush their forces.」Murmuring could be heard before one elven lord asked the obvious question.

「... Yllaes sama. Please reconsider. With the threat from the Yin empire, if we needlessly fight against one another, wasting our army strength, it will create an opportunity for them to attack us. Now that the Vernys Confederation is no more, we can’t rely on other Clans to come to our aid and repel the empire. 」

「Aren’t you  a bit of  a worrywart, Lord Iugo? Currently, the Yin empire is our ally right now.」

… It seems like the empire already bribed some of the council members. Damn you, Yin empire. You’re acting much faster and decisive than I would have thought. Yllaes discreetly leered at the lord who just spoke, though he knew better not to voice his suspicion since he still needed their forces… at least for now.

「Ho? Do you really trust the Empire that much? If so, then you’re either a simpleton or a double agent working for the Empire, Lord Yosun.」Laughed Iugo.

「How dare you!」the elven lord slammed his hand onto the table at the accusation.

「Stop bickering.」Commanded Yllaes, trying to diffuse the situation.「Now is not the time to argue among ourselves. Lord Iugo, what is your suggestion regarding my sister, then?」The prince turned to Iugo.

「Assassinate the Princess would certainly end this conflict without any further bloodshed.」he answered with the obvious option.

「That’s correct, but have you not just heard that Erik of the Hyakki Yagyo had failed or that a dragonkin and heroes are now protecting her? The presence of that strange dragon had instilled hope among her followers too...」The prince was getting irritated, both at the realization that the Yin empire had already extended its hands to influence the council and at the rather implausible objective Iugo just suggested .「Of course, we can always ask the great demon lord Ashura himself to deal with the dragonkin and the heroes, but convincing him to take the job is no easy task. It’d take weeks before we can know whether he accepts the mission. What if he doesn't? You know how strong Yllaner’s forces can grow in a few weeks? Sending out our armies and crush her right now, when her army is still small and unprepared, is the best course of action since it ensures the losses we suffer would be minimal due to the small scale of the conflict.」

「I see...」Again, the murmuring started to grow as the lords discussed among themselves.

「This is not up for debate. Just get your armies ready. In 3 days, we will set out with our troops to crush my little sister’s rebellion forces.」reminded Yllaes. 「Skyer, send messengers to the other Clans, asking for their help.」

「Asking for their help?」surprised the elven advisor. 「But you have already granted them their independence and dismissed their vassal statuses, I don't think they would agree to our request...」

「Of course they do.」intercepted Yllaes. 「They’re not our vassals anymore, but the existence of my sister and her forces, which aim to reestablish the Vernys Confederation, still pose a threat to their new found independence so of course, they would also want to crush her as much as we do.」

「I’ll send out our messengers right away.」Skyer acknowledged.

「Good. We need to end this quickly.」

 

Chapter 61

The Shilna Clan, just like the other four great clans that governed the vast Vernys Forest, operated in accordance with a political order that greatly resembled the feudal system in Middle Age Europe, in which various elven lords were granted permission from the Clan Head to administer and maintain military forces within their own domains. Although the main clan still controlled most of the lands and military forces, in time of need, it was expected that lesser elven lords who were subordinates to the main clan would have to contribute their forces to the cause. Outwardly, this system appeared fairly decentralized, yet, unlike most of the feudal lords of Europe, the glue that connected all of the Shilna lords together was through blood: these elven lords were all part of various branch families that can trace their lineage to the main Shilna Clan. Furthermore, to maintain its influence over the elven lords, the Shilna Clan would practice a tradition similar to that employed by the Fujiwara Clan in order to gain power over the Japanese Imperial Court during the Heian period: The main Shilna Clan would routinely marry off their own members to the branch family’s heads and give birth to the future heirs. The heirs, instead of growing up in their own territory, would be raised and educated at the main Clan’s territory instead, ensuring their fervent loyalty toward the clan. Through such arrangement, the cohesiveness of the Shilna Clan and its branch family was maintained for thousands of years and allowed Yllaes to summon the troops from the other elven lords with ease. 

The whole Shilna army, commanded by Yllaes along with his right hand man, Skyer,  had already been marching out from their territory for almost one whole day now. The army was divided into two main forces, with one commanded personally by Yllaes, along with his Five Forest Captains who he had handpicked specifically for their prowess and the other commanded by Skyer and his band of hired adventurers. Although Yllaes was not too impressed at the quality of the men, nor did he care much for those adventurers, Skyer had convinced him to bolster his forces with them. After all, more help was always appreciated. Unlike the troops from countries beyond the boundary of the forest, the army of the Shilna clan were made up of only the best of the best, with their individual skills far exceeding those of conscripted soldiers. This skillsets were made evident when the whole army was able to traverse through the thick forest at a pace of more than 100 miles a day. This was one of the reasons why the Shilna and the other four great clans were considered the guardians of the forest.

「WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!」screamed out Yllaes while sitting on his trodding elk. His sudden loud voice had startled both the elk and several rows of soldiers marching behind him. 

「... The three clans said although they are very interested in destroying the Princess… yet they can only send... less than 3000 troops.」The messenger’s voice was trembling. 

「And what are their reasons?」The prince clenched his teeth.

「Apparently, it’s because of the Kingdom of Maeg.」answered the messenger.

「Kingdom of Maeg?」

「They claimed that in the past few days, the Kingdom of Maeg has been mobilizing the majority of their forces to station just right outside the forest, along the clans’ borders. The kingdom’s forces exceeded 100,000 total and it looks like they have the intention to invade the territory belonging to the three clans so they could not afford to lend us much of their troops.」explained the messenger.

「...That’s ridiculous.」Yllaes easily saw through the ploy. 「Maeg does not have the capability to start a war with Vernys this soon after all the disasters and civil wars that have devastated their kingdom. This is nothing but Yllaner’s calculated ploy. 」

「Yllaner has already made her move, Yllaes.」The quiet elven woman, riding next to the Prince finally spoke her first words in a while. 「It’s not too late to stop this ridiculous conflict.」

「Mother, please just sit there and patiently wait for the day I crush Yllaner, repel the Yin empire and unify this whole Vernys under my rule. Then, you’ll know who’s the right choice to lead Vernys.」Yllaes politely responded before kicking his elk on its side, directing it to fast gallop forward, jumping through the networks of large tree roots on the ground. As he left her behind, ten of the guards quickly surrounded the woman, preventing her from ever trying to escape. Unlike Jayden, who wished for Lance to be rescued after he left, Yllaes had made sure to bring the former clan head with him in order to keep an eye out on her.

「... You guys don't have to be so vigilant.」The former clan head spoke softly to the men. 「I’m not going to run away… After all, it is my duty as their mother to watch their tragic conflict to the very end.」Since she barely ate in the last few weeks, even if she wanted to, she would still not have the strength to escape. The elegant she-elf simply looked straight forward to the far off distance, her eyes filled with sadness and sorrow for she knew, once this battle ended, one of her beloved children would perish.

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「Yllaner sama!」a messenger barged into the mossy tent, where a group of representatives for the Vernys Forest gathered. In the front of the tent sat Yllaner on her high wooden chair, with Uran standing by on her right. The messenger appeared as a black panther before transforming himself back into his half-beast appearance, knelt down before the Princess, and reported the newest intel he had gotten. 「Your brother, Lord Yllaes, had left Shilna’s territory with a force of more than 40000. He has expected to be substantially reinforced by the other clans, but each of the 3 clans have refused to send more than 3000 soldiers.」

「Great!」Yllaner was visibly excited. 

「Wait.」One of the Vernys representatives spoke out. 「Why did the other clan refused to send more troops?」

「Apparently it’s because they’re afraid of an invasion by the Kingdom of Maeg into their lands.」answered the beastman.

「Kingdom of Maeg?」

「Yes.」Yllaner confirmed. 「This is all thanks to King Lance. Although he was unable to directly lend troops to our cause since this is still first and foremost, an internal matter, I have asked him to move and station his troops just outside of the forest. Since the NAP was signed between Maeg and Vernys Confederation, the moment the confederation was dissolved, the NAP became ineffective. This means technically, Maeg may start a conflict with each of the three Clans if it wishes. Of course, King Lance is in no position to start a war, the presence of the Maegian troops along the forest border can still unnerve the three Clan Heads. I’m sure by now, the Clan Heads have been trying to communicate with Lance dono and extract his assurance to commit to the previously signed NAP. Lance dono had promised me to not meet with the three clans diplomats for at least the next 20 days.」

「That’s great!」An old dryad man exclaimed. 「We can always rely on the Princess at moments like this!」

「But still, our forces are barely reaching 12000. Prince Yllaes’ forces of 40000 alone can still decimate us. With the 3000 troops from each clan, along with the 15000 troops from the main Fyeran’s forces, their army of 64000 is more than 5 times our number.」One female elf pointed out. 

「We have already known we will be outnumbered even before we set out to come to her side.」One beastman loudly declared. 「So what if we’re outnumbered? Our valors alone will crush their army.」

「Let’s be realistic here. I admired your courage, Futar dono but we cannot win in a pitched battle, period.」Another dryad joined the conversation. 「 The only way for us to win is to fight through skirmishing.」

「Certainly not with that attitude.」The beastman laughed.

「No, Futar dono.」Yllaner calmly disagreed. 「Vyvee dono is correct. I have never expected to fight my brother directly. We shall only engage with my brother’s forces through skirmishes. Though, with your great talent and courage, I’d be glad to have you lead our vanguard.」Yllaner cunningly appealed to the man’s ego. 

「Leave it to me, my Princess!」Futar loudly hit his chest. 「I will not let you down.」

「Rowan chan, Rowan chan...」From the back of the tent, Maia whispered into the healer’s ear. 「I thought the Princess will not engage with her brother’s forces at all. Why she changed her mind now and planning for skirmishing battles?」

「... I don’t think she will.」Rowan studied the Princess’ expression. 「I think she’s trying to hide from these people gathered here the fact that it’s actually her spies from the three other clans who would end this war .」

「But why does she have to hide it from them?」

「Well, even if on the surface, they have all gathered here to help her, some of these people may turn out to be spies from Yllaes. Telling them everything about her plan is never a good idea.」answered the teenager.

「I see.」Maia nodded before broadly grinning. 「I’m glad that she trusted us enough to tell us then.」

「I know.」Rowan nodded, then knuckled.「Though maybe she has another plan that she didn't tell us yet.」  

「... I see. There’s another layer to the strategy of moving Maeg’s troops and preventing the three clans from contributing more to Yllaes’ forces.」A realization dawned on Kibadios, who has been analyzing the current situation, with his trusted pet slime resting comfortably on his head. 

「What do you mean?」Ryan turned to his master. The hero has rarely attended these meetings since he has been busy looking after Kyles in the princess’ stead. Yet today, knowing there would be a big development occurring, he has made sure to be here in person.

「She’s pulling a Kingdom’s Qin vs the 5 states coalition trick.」declared the hybrid, though his reference was understandably met with blank stares from Ryan. 「Sorry, what I meant is that by preventing the 3 Clans from sending their troops to help Yllaes, Yllaner had just placed her brother in an uncomfortable situation. You see, if all three Clans were able to send the majority of their troops to join up with Yllaes, the prince would not have to worry about any of the three Clans betraying him and attacking the Shilna territory while his main force was away. But now, since the majority of the 3 clans’ military forces are not under his supervision and still remain behind, there will always be the threat of them joining forces together and invading Shilna. After all, the major clans are no longer Shilna’s vassals nor part of the Vernys Confederation anymore. Of course, it’s only a low chance, but for sure it’s not zero. I’m sure Yllaes is dreading such a scenario. This is just like when Saitaku was able to convince Qi to withdraw from the Coalition and create the unknown variable that ultimately, making the coalition force collapsed… fictionally speaking.」

「I see.」nodded Ryan, before clarifying further.「Not the “Qin Qi” part but the part about the princess’ plan.」

It’s kinda genius, actually. Kibadios praised the Princess in his thoughts. Before this, due to Kyles’ condition, Yllaner had no choice but to settle this conflict quickly and get him to the Spring of Healing. She had no time to spare but Yllaes could afford to drag this conflict out for months. But now, she had even out the playing field, forcing a time constraint on her brother also. It’s now also imperative for him to finish this conflict quickly.

「... Not only that.」Kibadios continued to explain. 「By forcing the 3 Clans’ armies to stay behind, Yllaner is also preparing for the eventuality when her people finally take over the 3 clans' leadership. Had their armies joined Yllaes, even if her people successfully take control of the clan, it would mean nothing. They cannot help the princess in any way since the majority of their forces are with Yllaes. In fact, it would give Yllaes the excuse to invade the three clans with his combined army, easily overrun them...」

Oh, I see… Yllaner, so that’s how you think, Kibadios had another epiphany about the Princess’ strategy. Always looking out for the unity of the forest, aren’t you?

「So now, since most of their forces are still under their clans’ control, once the new leaderships take over, they can march their armies against Yllaes’, forcing him to surrender.」Ryan finally realized.

「Either that or they can invade Shilna’s territory, taking away the seat of power from Yllaes and return it to the Princess. Then, it’d be Yllaes who’s the rebel… or they can make other moves, their choices are many.」Kibadios continued to chill, sitting in the back of the tent with his slaves until a familiar name suddenly caught his attention.

「Leading the second army, approaching our encampment from the south, is, of course, Skyer, Yllaes’ right hand man. Though, to bolster his forces, they have hired a group of two dozen B-rank adventurers, leading by a man named Desmond.」

What? Both Kibadios and Ryan’s eyes widened at the mention of the familiar name. It took some time for Yllaner to finally realize where she had heard of the name. The princess’ gaze quickly turned to Ryan, who had stood up from his chair.

「... Do you … have any information on this Desmond guy?」Ryan’s voice was trembling.

「Apparently he’s a monk class. He’s not too famous in the adventurers circles so I dont have much information about him.」answered the messenger. 「All I know is that this band of adventurers are led by a monk named Desmond Kent.」

「Master!」Ryan turned to the hybrid. 「That’s him!」

「He finally showed up, huh?」Kibadios smiled.「It makes it convenient for us.」

「What are you talking about?」Amber, sitting some distance away, asked.

「He’s the member that betrayed Ryan’s party.」Answered the hybrid. 「Ryan and I have some personal business with him.」

「Really? But why is he here?」

「If I have to guess, just like how Yllaes had acquired the assistance from the Hyakki Yagyo, he had also hired the adventurers into his forces… I dont truly know why Desmond is part of Yllaes’ army, but knowing his whereabouts is good enough for me since we have been trying to track him down before coming with the Princess here.  」

「... Master… Can we… 」Ryan hesitated, his heart was racing. So, this is the trap that she said she has prepared.

「You dont even have to ask, Ryan chan!」Kibadios nodded before turning to the Princess.「Yllaner, I know I said I would not personally involve myself with this conflict but if you allow us, I’d like to take care of this Desmond. I made a promise with Ruek and I’d like to keep that promise. Ryuu will still be here, protecting you 24/7 in my stead.」

「Of course, Kibadios dono. I’m in no position to deny you and Ryan of this opportunity.」answered Yllaner.「Even if Ryuu wants to join you, I would not mind. Your assistance has been invaluable these past few days and I’m eternally grateful for that.」

「No no. I’m sure to deal with Desmond, just Ryan and I are enough. Right, Ryan?」

「...Y...yes… Of course, Kibadios sama...」answered Ryan.

「... Ryan chan?」Rowan muttered under his breath as he carefully studied the hero. 

Notes:

Final tally: 8 votes for 1male1female, 1 vote for 2 identical female. :D

Chapter 62: The 9th day (the porn chapter)

Notes:

A stand alone chapter, mostly hentai. Since it's mostly porn, I decided to post it here and attached a little sneak peak to a smexy scene some chapters in the future (probably at the end of this volume.)

Since he’s an important “guest” of Yllaner, Kibadios’ group has had the privilege of camping inside a large tent erected under a giant tree located some distance from the Princess’ tent. Of course, the living situation was not as glamorous as when he was living in Lorian, but this sort of privacy was all that the hybrid needed and it was much better than what the hybrid had expected. After all, having a private space meant he did not have to take heat suppressing pills as often anymore since he could now freely fuck his slaves. Though this time, it has mostly been Rowan and Maia who serviced the hybrid and attended to his nightly need since Ryuu had to spend time with the Princess 24/7 to protect her while Ryan was busy with taking care of Kyles. By now, since having to stay in the same tent as his master, Yuusei had gotten used to the nightly activity that Kibadios has been faithfully carrying out every day. At first, Maia was against having her master fuck her and Rowan in front of the mutant hybrid, who appeared no older than her own sister, but her protest soon turned into moanings as Kibadios simply ignored it and pinned her down onto the bed. Her only comfort was knowing that the pitch-dark environment inside the tent at night probably meant that at least the little Yuusei could not see what was going on. That was the reason she tried her best to contain her moanings, though that act turned Kibadios on even more and caused him to make it his personal mission to force his slave to make her sexy moans louder night after night, which simply sounded like music in his ears. 

 The delicious smell of breakfast quickly woke Kibadios up from his bed. As he slowly rose up and removed the thick blanket, he noticed that Rowan was still lying naked on top of his body, his slippery, twitching asshole was forced to spread wide open by the hybrid’s monstrous morning wood. Kibadios slowly turned around, placed the healer down onto the bed then slowly pulled his cock out, causing the teenager to moan in his sleep 「Master…. Haaa… It’s pressing...」Kibadios could hear Rowan muttering before giving the healer a kiss and finally stood up. Since he did not release his load inside the sleeping Rowan, his morning wood was still standing erect with precum leaking onto the ground. 

「What are you cooking?」asked Kibadios

「I’m just making soup with the rabbit Yuusei chan hunted for us last night.」answered Maia as she stirred up the boiling pot hanging over the small fire. 「... Speaking of rabbit meat, would it be weird for Yuusei chan to eat this? Does it count as some sort of cannibalism since he’s technically one half rabbit beastman?」

「 “That was a strange thing to ask.”」Kibadios quoted the Erwin meme. 「... It’s true that we have never had rabbit meat after he joined, but he would tell us already if he’s uncomfortable with it, wouldn’t he? Where is he, by the way?」

「It’s morning so he’s getting us some water for our bath.」Answered Maia.「You know Yuusei chan. Despite your seemingly unconcerned attitude toward the boy, he’s strangely attached to you, just like Ryuu chan, so he would do whatever you tell him to do. Since you asked him to hunt for some rabbit in the forest, he might have just done it even though he did not want to. If you asked him to eat this rabbit soup for breakfast, I’m pretty sure he would just eat it without complaining… Maybe I should cook something else for him?」 

「But you don't have time to cook another meal, though.」

「Huh? What are you talking about? I can easily...」Maia turned around to face her master, only to have his monstrous cock slammed onto her face. A long, sticky thread of precum stuck onto her beautiful face, connecting it to his slit. Despite having seen her master’s cock up close more than hundreds of times, her face was still turning bright red. 「You want to...」

「I ravaged Rowan too much last night so I don't want to ask him to take care of my morning wood again.」Kibadios was grinning deviously as he held onto his shaft and pressed his cock against her burning face. 「Would you mind?」

「... but Yuusei chan will come back soon.」Maia was hesitant, though she knew that her master’s question was merely rhetorical. Under her master’s gaze, Maia could not do anything but slowly opened up her mouth and took in his massive cock. She played with his round, heavy balls while skillfully swirling her wet and soft tongue around his sensitive tip. 

  「Let’s discard your clothes, Maia chan. I want to enjoy your naked body.」commanded Kibadios after a few minutes enjoying the girl slurping up his precum.

「Can we do it under the blanket at least? It’d be bad if Yuusei chan...」

「What about him? It’s just you and me now.」The hybrid pulled his slave up from kneeling in front of him and gave her a long, deep kiss. His tongue dominated hers, his intoxicated scent quickly sent the girl into a trance-like state as she finally gave in and wrapped her arms over his firm shoulder. Soon, pieces of her clothes fell down onto the ground one after the other, revealing her perky breasts. Her pussy was thoroughly soaked in her own fluid, twitching as if it wanted to devour the cock that was currently grinding against it. 

「Hmm… No matter how many times I try, I still could never get used to the taste of my own fluid.」complained Kibadios after he broke off the kiss, frowning while sticking his tongue out in disgust. 

「You love tasting the guys’ cum though right?」smiled Maia. 「I’m sure it’s just your imagination because your cum has the most delicious taste among everything that I have eaten, Master. 」

「I dont know.」Kibadios slowly gripped his hands into Maia’s naked, soft ass and lifted his slave up to the height at which her breasts were now facing his mouth. 「You have tasted your own milk right? They taste much more delicious to me.」The hybrid grinned broadly before sinking his teeth into her flesh, biting her erecting nipples hard then pulling on it. The sudden, yet intense pain and pleasure caused the girl to shriek loudly and climax, her pussy juice shot out, soaking the hybrid’s lower body. 

「Haahhhhh!!! Dont pull it too hard, Master!」She begged, to which the hybrid simply opened and released her left breast from his mouth, only to switch his attention to the right and repeated biting on her flesh again. 「Haaa!」Maia was cumming again for the second time in less than a minute, her fingers sunk into the hybrid’s naked back. Tears of pleasures overflowed from her eyes. 

「Maia chan, you know I have to at least stimulate your boobs this much for you to produce those delicious streams of milk.」Kibadios justified  his action before he finally sucked on his slave’s nipples once he realized her milk was finally coming out. Since he obviously had only one mouth sucking hard on her left boob, her right nipple was left out, with an uninterrupted stream of milk rolling down her soft white skin then dripping down onto the ground. 「Nothing cures my morning thirst better than your nutritious milk, Maia chan.」

「Th… Thanks… mas..ter! Hiiii!!」Maia’s words were now barely comprehensible. 

After enjoying his slave’s breast for a few minutes, though for Maia, it felt like hours since he kept sucking and biting down onto her sensitive breasts, switching from left to right once he realized her milk was being wasted on the side he was not sucking on, Kibadios finally summoned his shadow tentacle for assistance. Just like usual, the shadow would now support the exhausted Maia up in the air, her back leaning against Kibadios’ front. His hands were now playing with the girl’s nipples, which were both turning red from all the abuse of the hybrid’s unrestrictive bites. After all the flicking and twisting, the hybrid finally moved his hands to grab the girls’ breasts as a whole before squeezing it hard, enjoying the firm and perky feeling his slave’s breast had to offer. 

「Master… That’s not...」Maia’s consciousness suddenly registered an unusual feeling at her behind.

「Come to think of it, I have never used your asshole like I did with the others, huh? I just want to taste it this one time.」explained Kibadios while the shadow tentacle took its time to align the girl’s hole to the tip of his giant cock before he suddenly slammed it straight in, given that it was already thoroughly soaked with her pussy juice.

「Haaa!!!」Maia’s arms instinctively moved backward and wrapped around the hybrid’s neck, who was standing behind her as his cock thrust hard inside her asshole. Despite seeing how her master fucked the guys, Maia had never been fucked anally by Kibadios. At first, all she could feel was pain, much like when she first lost her virginity to her master. Yet, strangely, just a few thrust later, the pain began to be replaced by an unspeakable pleasure as her incubus mark glowed bright, corresponding with every time her master  pushed his cock inside her.

「Gosh! Your ass is so tight, Maia chan!!」complimented Kibadios while simultaneously squeezing both her boobs, causing her warm, tight inner walls to constrict around his cock even more. 「At this point, I don't think I can last very long.」

「Me toooooo!!!!」Maia screamed, though her voice soon gave out as she cummed violently at one of Kibadios’ thrust. Both her breasts shot out streams of milk while her pussy squirted out fluid as far as the drape that covered the entrance. 「Haaa!!! I’m cummingggg… Mas...ter…. Pleaseeee… Mastaaa… Stooppppp!!!」The girl begged in vain since Kibadios was so close to climax that he had pretty much ignored everything else that was happening, even if his slave was convulsing in waves of pleasure, her pussy juice would not stop shooting out.

「Master’s awake? Yuusei got water back.」The mutant hybrid innocently pushed the drape onto one side and entered the group’s tent, only to have Maia’s cum shot straight onto his emotionless face. 

「Haa… Yuu...」
「Huh?」Although he has yet cummed, Kibadios finally stopped thrusting his cock up Maia’s ass. 「... Well...」

「Yuusei chan… This is...」Maia’s mind finally cleared up, her hands quickly covering her drenching pussy and breasts. Maia did not know what to say. Usually, whenever Kibadios fucked her or Rowan in the tent, it would usually be at night or under the blanket in the morning so Yuusei would not be able to see much, but now, every inches of her body and her master’s were exposed to the “young” Yuusei. And worse, her fluid was now dripping down from the mutant’s face. 

「Yuusei gives Master and Maia nee san some times.」The boy simply stated before walking out of the tent, acting like nothing had happened.

「....」Maia was blinking hard. 「KIBADIOS SAMA! That’s why I asked you to get it done fast before Yuusei chan come back!」Her face was finally turning bright red.

「... Huh? What’s wrong?」The sleeping Rowan was awoken by Maia’s loud voice, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

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「... But I have yet cummed...」Kibadios spoke to himself in a sulking voice as he sat relaxingly inside the large, round wooden tube filled with water that Yuusei prepared. The mutant was sitting outside, pouring water over his head to wash away the soaps on his fur before quickly walking over to the hybrid and massaging his shoulder, a routine that Kibadios had established a few days back. And damn, she sure hits hard when she’s mad .

「Why Maia nee san mad at Master?」asked the mutant while he looked at a large swollen bump on Kibadios’ head that was left by the alchemist girl.

「Isn’t it obvious?」Kibadios leaned his head backward and rested it on the side of the tub, looking up at Yuusei standing outside. 「Cuz I fucked her in front of you out in the open and during the day too… You saw everything. Your face was even soaked with her cum. She yelled at me for “tainting” you.」explained the hybrid, though unlike Maia, he did not care for censoring the words he used in front of the mutant since again, the mutant was supposed to be well past his puberty. It was a mystery that he still looked like a child.

「But Master always fucks Maia nee san and Rowan nii san at night.」Unlike Maia and the others, Yuusei did not shy away from using profane words since his master did not, either.

「Well, she was saying at least at night, it was pitch-black so that you can’t see anything.」

「But Yuusei can see in dark.」

「What now?」Kibadios raised his eyebrows.

「Yuusei can see clear in dark. Yuusei can see Master fucks.」The mutant confirmed.

「... Well, did you really?... Well, don’t tell Maia that or she’ll get even madder.」

Yuusei simply nodded, before asking the hybrid. 「... Back then, Master said Master wants sleep with Yuusei… Master wants fuck Yuusei, too?」

「I’m an incubus, I want to fuck anyone that fits my taste.」Kibadios honestly answered while looking up at the mutant, recalling the lustful thought he had when he first rescued him from the horde of monster. 「So yes. I do. After all, in my eyes, you’re a cute little shit! I’m not pretending like I have any moral problem fucking you, Yuusei. In truth, you’re actually older than me. 」Kibadios grinned while raising his hands, reached up to the boy’s cheek and pinched it hard. For a brief moment, he swore he could see the mutant’s expressionless face suddenly blushed red, before turning back to his normal state. 「You actually have not told me: why are you looking like a kid anyways? At your age, you should be looking even older than Rowan or Ryan.」

「...」Yuusei gave Kibadios no answer, to which the hybrid did not press the matter any further.

「Fine. You don't have to tell me」Kibadios finally stood up from the tub and got out. 「Time for us to eat breakfast, then we’ll set out… By the way, you don’t mind eating rabbit, do you?」

「... Huh?」

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It has been decided that instead of waiting for Desmond and his army to reach Lord Uran’s territory for the hybrid to confront the man, the hybrid would set out and confront him. The reason was fairly straightforward: since if Kibadios were to take on Desmond, he would probably inadvertently have to deal with many elven troops under his command. This would certainly break his promise of not interfering with the elven conflict so his best option would be to act as independent agents and seeked out Desmond before the two armies met. That way, even if he were to decimate battalions of elven troops that travelled together with the monk, such incidence would be viewed as unfortunate casualties in his personal vendetta, instead of him acting on the Princess’ behalf. Though since he knew Yllaner would prefer to leave the troops of the Vernys Forest unharmed, he would most likely not outright target them. 

「Why can’t I go with you, Kibadios sama?」Ryuu was whining. For the dragonoid, being apart from his eternal master, even for a day, was excruciatingly painful. He was already feeling depressed these past few days for having to stay by Yllaner’s side almost 24/7, but now, knowing his master would leave him behind for at least two or three days, the dragonoid was almost breaking down mentally. He was visibly sobbing.

「You have to guard the Princess, remember?」reminded Kibadios. 「Sooner or later, Erik and his gang would aim for her life again. As things unfolded, the easiest way for this conflict to end is to eliminate Yllaner. The stake is never higher.」

「But...」Ryuu was pouting.

「If you stay and protect Yllaner, I promise I will treat you to whatever request you want once I come back.」Kibadios leaned in and whispered into the dragonoid’s ear, causing his expression to quickly brighten up.

「Really master?」He was grinning.

「Yes.」Kibadios suddenly french kissed his slave, dashing his tongue around before breaking it off, slurping in the string of saliva that connected their mouth. 「Let this kiss seal my promise to you.」The hybrid licked his lip.

「But still, I think we should come with you, Kibadios sama.」Maia was also agreeing with Ryuu.

「No, there’s no need.」dismissed Kibadios. 「Like I said, as of now, it’s even more dangerous here at the camp compared to going to deal with Desmond. If anything were to happen, we need you all to stay here to protect the Princess. As for Desmond, even Ryan alone is enough to take care of him so why the worries?」

「I...」

「It’s just we have never been away from you, Master.」Rowan explained. 「It’s an unnerving feeling.」

「Ha! Don’t worry too much.」Kibadios pinched Rowan’s face. 「I’m much stronger than you two and if I want to, I can even call on <HaoS>. Who could pose any threat to me? Just stay here and protect the Princess with Ryuu chan, Maia chan, and Nu!」

「Does that mean...」

「Yeah, I’ll take Yuusei with me.」Kibadios grabbed onto the hybrid mutant’s neck and raised him up like a true rabbit.

「... Ok… It’s not like anything we say would change your mind.」Maia relented. She was blushing once looking directly at the mutant, though her thoughts quickly focused on her paramount concerns, which was the well-being of the hybrid. 「Yuusei chan, Ryan chan, take good care of our master, okay?」

「Dont worry...」Ryan’s eyes suddenly looked much different, at least that was how Rowan perceived it when he turned to the hero. 「I will!」

Ryan’s reply was a fairly routine answer, yet somehow, Rowan could detect an ominous feeling in the hero’s tone… 

It’s not my imagination, is it? Rowan thought to himself.

 

 

R18 PIC WARNING!

R18 PIC WARNING!

R18 PIC WARNING!

R18 PIC WARNING!

 

Scene this chapter is mostly smut, it's only appropriate to include a sneak peak to a R18 scene in the future ( I dont know even when will I have this scene in the story, but for sure within this volume.) Actually, I just want to show you this because I spent like an hour trying to remove the censors lol I have so much respect to those chads uncensoring hentai and yaoi now. Also I made the balls bigger lol :D

 

 

 

Chapter 63: The 9th day (2)

「Maia chan, Ryuu chan...」Rowan finally spoke after having remained silent while walking by their sides back to the military encampment. 「I think I’ll be tailing our master after all.」

「What are you saying, Rowan senpai?」Ryuu had already gotten used to adding suffixes even without the presence of the hybrid. 「Master specifically asked us to stay here and protect Yllaner sama.」

「But I just can’t shake this feeling that something is going to happen to our Master… I know he’s only going to confront Desmond but somehow, it just doesn’t feel right.」Rowan stopped short of airing his suspicions about Ryan’s behaviour since it’s something that the healer did not want to admit to himself. 「... And I don’t mean any disrespect to Yllaner sama but even if Kibadios sama did ask us to stay here to protect the Princess, for me there is still nothing that’s more important than his safety. If I’m with him and anything were to happen, at least I know I can completely heal him back to health right away with <Flame of Restoration>… 」

Ryuu and Maia turned to one another and shared an understanding look before turning back to Rowan. 「If that’s what you feel...」

「Then just go, Senpai. Given your skill, I do feel better knowing you’re with him.」Ryuu grinned before flexing his muscle.「Besides, with I’m here guarding the Princess, no one would be able to harm her.」

「Chiii!」Nu was excitingly jumping up and down as if it, too, was agreeing with Rowan trailing behind Kibadios.

「Then I’ll leave the Princess to you guys.」Rowan nodded. 「And you too, Nu. Make sure you listen to Maia chan and Ryuu chan, okay?」

「Chii!」

「Rowan kun.」a voice called out to the healer from behind the tree. 「If you’re going after Kibadios, then take my elk. No other animal can gallop through this dense wood as fast as he can.」

「「「Princess Yllaner!」」」All three were surprised as she simply smiled at them. 

「Princess Yllaner… How long have you been here?」Rowan freaked out. He did not say anything offensive to the elven princess but he would still rather she did not hear what he just said.

「Dont worry, Rowan kun.」Yllaner dismissed the healer’s concerns.「You only spoke of how you feel and it’s only natural that to you, Kibadios’ safety is of the paramount concern. Truthfully, I also feel some uncertainty about Kibadios leaving with Ryan. That’s why I came here to see him off. Too bad I missed him.」

「What do you mean uncertainty?」asked Ryuu.

「... It just seems too convenience.」Yllaner’s troubling face somewhat unnerved the three and even Nu. 「Why suddenly this monk, who Kibadios and Ryan have been chasing after, would show up during our elven conflict? Because of me, Kibadios had to leave you guys here to ensure my safety instead of taking you all with him… I just feel as if someone is trying to lure him away. I hope this is just me being paranoid. But of course, Rowan-kun, if you want to go after Kibadios, you have my full support.」

「Thank you, Yllaner sama!」bowed the healer. 「I promise to come back with Master as soon as we have taken care of Desmond.」

「That’s good! And don’t worry about this elk. Once you have catched up with Kibadios, if you just release him, he will have a way to find his way back to me.」

Rowan soon said goodbye to the princess and the others before hopping onto the elk’s back and galloping straight into the deep dark forest. Since he knew how to ride a horse before, riding the Princess’ elk was not too different. The trick, he learned after a while, was simply letting the animal choose its path through the thick wood instead of actively controlling it through the harness. Still, despite being recommended by the Princess as the fastest riding option, Rowan knew that its pace was nowhere near the hybrid, who could easily leap from branch to branch with his shadow claws while carrying Yuusei. Although the hero could not replicate such moves, his  incredible inherent amount of Nen ( So I have finally decided to switch calling Haki to Nen. I have always wanted to use “Nen,” and my description of “Haki” back in beginning of vol 2 was even based on how “Nen” was kinda described “Since it was literally the life force of a person, everytime a person concentrated on their work, they used some of their Haki: from cooking, singing, sculpting… Haki was ubiquitous, whether the users were aware of it or not.” So yes, “Haki” → “Nen” from now on.) , along with strenuous daily practice, granted the young hero an incredible agility that allowed him to keep up with his master without breaking a sweat. The only way for the healer to catch up with his master would be to opt out of taking any break in order to close the distance.
「I’m sorry. I know you’ll be very tired once we catch up to those three but I can’t afford to stop and rest.」Rowan petted the elk. 「At this rate, we probably will reach them by the end of the day. Try your best, okay, Elk-san?」

… It’s not just me. Rowan thought to himself as he raced forward. Even the Princess has a bad feeling about this. 「If I ever betray Kibadios sama and stand against him, please deal with me. Kill me if you must. No matter what, I don't want to cause our master any trouble.」 The healer shook his head, trying to discard his bad thoughts from his mind. Why did I suddenly remember what Ryan asked of me back in the Ryuujin Cave?... Please… Rowan clenched his chest, dreaded the small chance that his suspicion would be proven correct. 

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With the sun starting to descend beyond the horizon, Kibadios finally decided to call it a day and camp out for the night. According to the Princess’ intelligence, his group should not have been too far away from where the Skyer’s army, and by extension, Desmond, would be resting. Because there were only merely 70 miles separating him and Desmond, Kibadios knew tomorrow would be the day he got to fulfill his promise to the nagging elven archer living inside him, once and for all. 

「... Just like the Princess told us, we had reached the river, then traveled upstream, going past the extremely strong current section of the river for about 5 miles. If her intuition is correct, which I assume it is since it’s Yllaner we’re talking about, then the army of which Desmond is attached to should be a little bit more than 60 miles upstream.」concluded Kibadios trying to look into the far off distance. In this part of the forest, there were much fewer trees than in other areas, yet, it was still impossible for the hybrid to detect any presence of an army in the direction he was looking at. 

「It’s good that we have this river to mark our destination. Without this natural marker on the map, I think we would have been lost.」smiled Ryan. 

「You’re right. 」Kibadios agreed. He had never been too great with direction, especially when he was in a vast forest like this. 「Anyways, let’s split our chore for tonight. I’ll get the fire going near the small hill over there and then gather some mushrooms. Yuusei, why don't you hunt something for us to eat for tonight? And Ryan, you can go fetch some water.」

「Sure, Master.」Replied Ryan, while Yuusei simply nodded. 

.

.

.

.

「Adela sama, the trap to lure Kibadios that you were talking about was Desmond?」Ryan’s hand clenched into a fist, his eyes were filled with anger as he met up with Adela at a cliff next to the river. 

「Yes.」Grinned the Astral. Just like she had commanded, Ryan had made sure to rendezvous with her one last time to ensure the operation to seal Kibadios’ summoning skill would go smoothly tomorrow. Of course, before this, Adela had not told the hero of what “bait” she had prepared, but the moment Ryan heard of Desmond’s presence, he knew without doubt the man was the “bait” that Adela had prepared. 「After I heard about your tragic story, I also wanted to hunt down the twisted man that betrayed your party. Though the moment I found him, I realized that instead of me ending his life right then, I can use him to attract Zaeryn’s attention since the hybrid pretended to profess that he would take revenge for your friend, Reuk. Pitting Zaeryn against Desmond, then we will swoop in and deal with him the moment he least expects. It’s just killing 2 birds with one stone.」

「... Thank you, Adela sama, for tracking down Desmond. I thought I could never find him again after failing to catch him back in Lorian.」Ryan bowed deeply at the Astral. 

「Don’t worry about it.」Adela waved her hand dismissively. 「By tomorrow, you’ll get your revenge on both Desmond and Kibadios. But remember, you should stay some distance away from the hybrid and have to quickly erect the barrier to seal off his ability to summon HaoS and other spirits at my signal, understand? Have you been practicing it?」

「Yes, Adela sama.」Ryan nodded. 「Since I was corrupted by that demihuman, my affinity for Holy element was reduced, but I guarantee you, I can maintain the barrier you taught me for more than an hour now.」

「Good, good. Then let’s talk about the details of the operation...」Adela grinned, though it quickly vanished as she noticed a rustling sound approaching.

「Ryan chan! What are you doing with her?」A familiar voice called out to the hero from the wood.

「Ro… Rowan?」Ryan’s eyes widened, his whole body froze in shock as he saw the worn out healer emerged. 「You’re… you’re not supposed to be here.」

「Answer me, Ryan. Why that despicable Astral is with you?」Unlike Ryan, Rowan’s glaring eyes held an unwavering conviction. Having spent intimate time with the hero for months, the healer could honestly admit that he loved Ryan just as much as he loved Maia. The hero was part of his “family”, of whom he would gladly die for. Yet, at this moment, his usual calm and caring demeanor had completely vanished, to be replaced with a burning rage, for he realized the hero had betrayed his trust. Worst of all, the hero had betrayed their master.  

「Ho? Despicable?」Adela was amused but before she could react, Rowan quickly boxed her within his invisible barriers. The healer knew he was dealing with an Astral so he could not afford to miss any opportunity to attack.

「Please listen to me, Rowan.」Ryan pleaded.「Stop attacking Adela sama! Kibadios is tricking you. Please, cooperate with us...」

「Shut up, Ryan!」Rowan screamed as his eyes welled up, knowing that he had lost the hero that he once loved.「I will deal with you after her!」He was no fighter so he knew that the only way for him to come out of his situation alive was to take the initiative and strike the Astral before she could attack. He had already boxed her in his barrier and the next step would be to press them together and crush her like the Priestess crushed the Goblin Lord from Goblin Slayer. 

「Deal with him later? Hahaha」Adela laughed maniacally.「How can you deal with him later when you’ll be dead?」The Astral slammed both her hands onto the side barriers, as if she was Whitebeard performing the ability of the Gura Gura no Mi. Though just like how the fictional pirate was able to crack the space around him, large cracks began to form on Rowan’s barriers before it shattered into pieces, letting her free.  

「Shit.」Rowan clicked his tongue.

「Let me play with you a bit, you lowlife!」Adela sprung forward, her Nen had concentrated around her hands and formed two sharp, invisible blades. Had Rowan still been a simple villager like he was half a year ago, his head would have been detached from his body right there. Yet, having been trained with Kibadios, the healer was able to swiftly dodged the Astral’s attack, though in no time, he had already been pushed to his limit. 

「Please, Adela sama! Please stop!」Ryan called out. 「I can convert him to help us. He’s only a victim of that hybrid.」

「Don’t be naive, Ryan chan. He’s been corrupted completely. If you let him live, he’ll alert the hybrid of our plan…. Got you!」Adela thrusted her hand forward, aiming for the healer’s heart the moment he intentionally left her an opening for an attack. 

「Please!」Ryan quickly jumped in front of Rowan, blocking the Astral’s lethal strike, irritating the woman. 「We can restrain him.」

「Ryan, how can you not trust our master?」Seeing that the hero was still caring for his safety, Rowan was hopeful he could convince and stop the hero from betraying the hybrid. 「She’s clearly using you, Ryan chan!」

「It’s my order as an Astral, kill him now.」Adela was tired of this charade.

「... Yes, Adela sama」Resigned Ryan. The hero quickly turned around, his killing intent was clear to Rowan, who instinctively jumped back to create some distance. Though, he quickly realized there was no more ground behind him but a deep raging river current. 

「I’m sorry, Rowan.」muttered Ryan. 「... you can curse me in your death, but there’s nothing I can do.」Catching the healer off guard, who was still trying to maintain his balance after being cornered, the hero quickly slashed his loving companions at lightning speed. 

「Ry...an...」After a brief second of disbelief, Rowan soon registered the attack. Pain numbed his body while his blood splattered onto the ground before he tumbled and fell down onto the river. 「...Master...」

「... Although I hope that day will never come, I will still make sure to stop you if your blade ever turns toward Kibadios sama…  」I’m sorry, Ryan chan. I’m simply too weak to fulfill my promise to you…

Ryan stood frozen at the edge of the cliff, looking after the disappearing body of Rowan as the raging current quickly buried and washed away both the teenager and his crimson blood trail in mere seconds. As his mind was still processing what had just happened, he soon felt an arm wrapped around his shoulder. 

「Aww, I know you want to save that pathetic human being...」Adela spoke in a condescending tone, 「 but like I said, he has already been fully corrupted by the hybrid. Lose those sorrowful eyes of yours. It’s not your fault. If you want to blame someone, it’d be Zaeryn. It’s that hybrid’s fault for corrupting that once innocent soul.」

「... You’re… ri...right… Adela… sama.」

「Now, let’s forget this little incidence and talk about the details of tomorrow’s mission.」Adela coldly smiled. 「...Now think about it, it is indeed unfortunate that the healer’s body was lost. I would have like to cut off his head and taunt Zaeryn tomorrow with it.」 

 .

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「Ryan chan!」Kibadios called out the moment he saw his slave.「What took you so long? Yuusei caught us two whole rabbits… and a large lizard…  I think I’ll call dib on the rabbit.」

「Lizard tasty.」recommended Yuusei, though Kibadios still gave the boy that Fry’s “Not sure if…” look since the hybrid was still debating whether to believe in the boy’s claim or not. 

「I’m sorry, Master.」Ryan held out the water bucket he had gathered, though his hand was shaking. In fact, his whole body was trembling.

「What’s wrong?」Kibadios stared at the hero.

「No… Nothing.」answered Ryan. 「I think it’s just a bit chilly.」      

「... Really?」Kibadios was doubtful since with Ryan’s Nen, he could easily buffer his body from the cold. 「... or are you worried about tomorrow?」

「Tomorrow?」

「Don’t worry about it. We will just swoop in, take care of business, then leave. By the end of it all, Desmond probably would wish he had never been born.」Kibadios turned to Yuusei. 「Right?」

Though not fully knowing what he was talking about, the mutant hybrid simply nodded to his master’s question.

 「Well, let’s have dinner then sleep early tonight…」Since Ryan was still slightly trembling, Kibadios decided to tease the hero.「Spooning only, okay? Since it’s a big day tomorrow, I don't want you to wake up feeling exhausted after being fucked by me all night long.」   

「... Thank you, Kibadios sama.」The hero tried to discreetly avert the hybrid’s gaze.

Notes:

I'll publish the conclusion to this story-line altogether. That means I probably won't be updating until the end of the month since I have to finish writing them first lol :)
... Man, we're not even close to the end of Vol3... this vol is much longer than I expected (>.>)
On a side note, does anyone know how Wattpad works? I have always hated it because of its messy interface/broad category and stupid search function (unless I've been using it wrong). But then I heard people praise it a lot. I tried to publish a few chapters of this story on there but I got no view at all (which makes sense cuz with the messy interface/broad category/crappy search, who can find this obscured and shitty fic lol) Or is there any trick to getting ppl read your fic on wattpad that I dont know about? O_O. Nonetheless, I still like posting on AO3 the most. :D

Chapter 64: Bonus: Ryuu's picture

This took longer than I expected (more than a month) but here we go :D

All credit goes to ぴょんた

 ■HP→http://pyopic.tumblr.com ■Skeb→http://skeb.jp/@pyo_st ■SHOP→http://pyonta.booth.pm

Chapter 65: The 10th day

Notes:

So I lied.
I'm going to revert back to the weekly/post as I write schedule because if not, I dont have to the pressure to write so I procrastinate a lot... I had already plan to finish the story arc about the fight vs Adela by now but I kept procrastinate because I keep thinking "Well, I set the deadline at the end of the month so no need to rush" and so I didnt write half as much as I would have like.
so here's a chapter. Probably I'll post 2 chapters a week until I finished with the Adela fight.

「What? You want me to attract that hybrid’s attention, Adela sama?」Desmond blankly stared at the beautiful Astral in disbelief. Ever since witnessing the hybrid’s prowess inside the deep, wet cave close to the town of Syllia, Desmond had made a promise to himself never to get close to that walking menace again. Once his sworn brother, the infamous hero, was confirmed dead after setting out to ambush the hybrid’s group, Desmond knew his decision to avoid the hybrid was correct. 「You’re kidding, aren’t you?」The monk was sweating. 

「No, of course I’m not.」smirked the girl. 「Though, to make it an enticing offer for you, who will probably be risking your life for the mission, I’ll make you a deal.」

「A deal?」Desmond was intrigued, though he did not know if there was any “deal” that would make him change his mind. 

「Yes. I know you’re lusting after that hero named Ryan.」Adela leaned closer to the monk. 「If you somehow can take down the hybrid during this mission, I promise I will make Ryan yours.」The Astral blatantly lied to Desmond’s face, since not in a million years would she willingly let someone else acquire a person who she had already deemed hers.

「Ryan kun, you say.」Desmond was intrigued. He was so close to being able to break and obtain the hero for himself. If not for the hybrid, Ryan would be kneeling naked next to him, licking his feet now instead of the same “maggot” he acquired more than a decade ago. 「But… still, that hybrid is bad news.」The monk still hesitated. There were so many things he did not know about the hybrid but he understood that for an Astral to personally want to eliminate a mere hybrid, that hybrid had to be dangerous.

「Then hire lots of people to help you. It’s easy to deal with someone who you know is coming for you. Though, it’s okay. I’m not forcing you to do it. As an Astral, I should not directly interfere with the affairs of the mortals but if needed, I can personally crush him myself.」

「... Will you be ensuring my safety during this mission then, Adela sama?」The monk appeared begging Adela for protection.

「... Fine, fine」lied the Astral.「I will be watching your back. If your life is ever in danger, I’ll make sure to intervene.」

「Then I’ll do it, Adela sama! 」Desmond was excited before he sinisterly continued asking 「... About the hybrid… Instead of killing him, can I break him and mold him into my perfect cocksleeve also? He does have a rather beautiful face…」

Ha? He wanted to break Zaeryn? Hahaha! In your dream, you little monk. Tormenting him is my job alone. Adela thought to herself, though she simply nodded and lied. 「Sure.」

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.

Up to this moment, everything had gone according to the Astral’s plan. Knowing that he would be acted as bait, the monk had hired more than two dozen veteran adventurers to protect and help him subjugate the hybrid. They were mostly B to B+ rank adventurers, with a few having obtained A- rank. The monk knew that individually, those adventurers would pose no threat to the threat that was Kibadios. Yet, he was confident that if they all gang up on the teenager, subjugating him was not an impossible task. Of course, hiring them was not cheap, but for Desmond, money was not the issue since he could easily “borrow” some from his crazy wealthy brother-in-arms, like he has been for years. Working her magic, Adela was able to have Desmonds and his group of adventurers involved in the civil conflict between the Shilna clan’s siblings, allowing his presence to be naturally discovered by the hybrid, who had taken the side of the young Princess. 

「Now that he knows you’re here, you just have to wait for his arrival.」Adela had warned him two days ago. Desmond was scared of the prospect of facing the hybrid again, yet, there was a part of him that was feeling strangely excited. Soon, I’ll have Ryan chan with me… Ahhh, breaking a hero class individual is just so tempting!!!

Yet, this currently unfolding outcome was not what the monk had envisioned, for in front of his eyes, his group of hired adventurers were being massacred, one by one falling victim to the hybrid’s merciless scythe.

「What are you guys doing?? Fucking kill him already! That’s what you were hired for!」Standing in the back, Desmond desperately screamed out from the top of his lungs. 

「...」One of the men gritted his teeth in frustration. 「That’s easy to say… But this fucker in front of us is strong as fuck. Dealing with him alone is troublesome enough, let alone that demihuman kid and the hero class teenager that are with him.」

「Desmond, you tricked us!」A female member of the group screamed. 「That man is much stronger than you have told us. Besides, you said nothing about that kid! That kid alone is enough to take on at least 4 of us.」

「I did not know about him!」Desmond yelled back. This is bad… This is really really bad. Desmond cursed his bad luck.「We still have numbers on our side. Just keep attacking, they cannot take all of us at once.」

「I can’t?」Kibadios licked his lips. His eyes glowed with murderous intent, which sent shivers down the adventurers’ spines.「Why don't you try me?」

「Damn you filthy monsters!」An old man belonging to the group shouted. Judging from his white cleric cloak, the hybrid could tell he was associated with either the Oracle or the theocracy, which certainly explained why he just called them “monsters.” 「You’re pretty arrogant for a low-life!」The man charged forward, his hand gripped tightly onto his staff, which seemed to be charging with some sort of energy attack. Though his trajectory soon stopped short since Yuusei had already intervened by landing a devastating kick on the side of his blind spot that sent him flying for a few meters away while coughing up blood on the ground. 

「Can’t touch Master!」The mutant warned as a sinister Nen emitted from his body. 

「You!」The old man swung his staff at the kid, chanting a spell that allowed the charged energy to be shot straight at the mutant. Though, the attack that he took pride in did not land a hit since Yuusei swiftly dodged it, leaving his mere afterimage behind. Before the old man could let out any sort of reaction, the mutant stomped his feet onto the ground, allowing him to come to a complete stop before changing his direction and launching himself at the man. The next thing he could register was the furry mutant’s claws grabbed around his ears, piercing through his skin while his face was subjected to a repeating thrust from the mutant’s knee. By the time Yuusei finished, the man was already dead, his ears were completely ripped from his head. 

「Anyone harms Master, Yuusei kills!」The mutant declared.

Despite seeing his servant mercilessly just kill someone by crushing his victim’s skull, Kibadios leisurely placed his hand behind the back of his head and whistled, his scythe had already vanished since he deemed Yuusei was enough to deal with these people. Only Ryan was taken aback to the development. Now the hero finally understood why Kibadios had taken Yuusei into the group: Yuusei was truly a killing machine. The kid did not care what was right or wrong. He merely listened to the command given to him by Kibadios as an automaton. But even more terrifying than that, he got the power to back up his threat. As a rabbit beastman, his speed surpassed even Kibadios or Ryuu while his ogre half provided him with an incredible amount of raw strength that could pulverize anyone who his attack came into contact with. Before, because of the restraint placed on him by the slave traders, all his skills were locked up and he was not able to use his physical attack to harm any human, to a point that a 6 years old kid could easily beat him up. However, when swarm of monsters attacked Lorian, Yuusei was able to escape and beat back the horde because despite not being able to access his skills, Yuusei was already physically powerful enough to deal with the monsters, which the restraints did not prevent him from harming. Of course, once he had successfully escaped, the mutant was again caught by humans. However, Kibadios had to be thanking those humans right now for thanks to them, he was able to obtain such an asset. 

「Damn it!」A large muscular man instinctively charged at the mutant, his hand was holding onto a butcher knife as a weapon. Yet again, the adventurers’ speed was proven inadequate since Yuusei quickly appeared in front of the man as if he had just teleported there. His claw reached out to the man’s arm before sinking his nails deep inside his flesh. The pain caused the man to scream out loudly while dropping his knife onto the ground. 

「Please…. Wai...」He was kneeling, begging for his life. Though his plea was cut short, since the mutant simply smashed his victim's skull with his own forehead. The man dropped dead instantly while the mutant again looked around, directing his attention to the remaining adventurers, his victim’s warm blood was now dripping down from his face. 

「What the...」

「We can’t win against them...」

「This is hopeless.」

The adventurers' spirits began to break, one by one. Though the despair seemed to be contagious at first, but soon, five individuals were still able to keep their calm. After analyzing the situation, one of them turned to Desmond.

「Well, this is kinda unexpected.」The tall man simply stated the obvious. 「Though, I should still be able to deal with them...」

「However」A middle aged woman continued. 「The fee you paid us for this job is not enough. If you don't increase our payment...」

「Then we’ll call it off.」A twin cladded in thick armor declared. 

「Wait wait wait!」Desmond panicked. 「You can’t just call it off.」

「What you paid us simply is not enough, though. We’re not risking our lives dealing with these two hybrids just for a mere 50000 silver coins.」The fat man complained. 「And then there’s the hero class right there.」

「For us to deal with such a threat, the pay is 5000 gold coins!」The middle aged woman bargained. 「If you don’t agree to that, then we’ll simply abort the mission right here and return the 10000 silver coins up front payment back to you」

「...」Desmond thought for a second. 「Fine! 5000 gold coins! Don’t let me down, you A rankers!」

「「Sweet!」」The twin giddily exclaimed. 

「Wow. Impressive.」Kibadios seemed to be unfazed 「A rank adventurers… That’s even higher rank than you currently are, right, Ryan chan?」

「... Yes, master.」he nodded.

「I wonder how each of them would taste like.」Kibadios licked his lips. His shadow began to grow larger. From the dark abyss below his feet, a larger, more threatening scythe emerged. 「Let’s get this party started, shall we?」

「Hahaha!」The tall man burst out laughing. 「Don’t be too over confident, young hybrid. You’re dealing with five veteran rank A adventurers here. Even an average hero would be nervous.」

「You lot!」The middle aged woman yelled at the other adventurers who cowarded away.「Don't just stand there and pee your pants. Provide us some backup!」

「「Obasan!」」The twin simultaneously called out 「「We don't need those pathetic people’s help. They’ll just drag us down. 」」

「Don’t call me oba-san, you freaks.」She cracked her neck.「I’m still young.」

「Well… Should we start?」The fat man confidently slapped his big belly. 「Let’s crush their arrogance by showing these demihumans the difference in power between us A rankers and them.」

「「Hihihi! Let’s do this!」」

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.

.

Desmond simply stood there, frozen. He tried to gather his thoughts, to calculate his next step but he simply could not do anything but gazing at the dead bodies that littered right in front of him. Among all the people he hired to deal with Kibadios, only five were still alive. The five A rank adventurers, who, just twenty minutes ago, were so confident in their power, were now lying half dead on the dirty ground. The fight was not a one sided slaughter, yet, gradually, all five were completely defeated while the hybrid barely received any wound. The middle aged woman’s ribs were all crushed, one of her legs was completely detached a few meters from her body. The fat man was now losing consciousness as his blood slowly soaked his head. Not too far from him was the tall man. Despite the fact that he was widely known among the adventurers within the Kingdom of Maeg as the “Impregnable” due to his incredible defensive skill, his face was completely mutilated after suffering continous punches from the mutant kid. The twin adventurers fared not much better since both were being held up by the hybrid’s grip on their necks. Their armors were completely shattered, blood gushed out from their bodies due to multiple large slashes caused by the hybrid’s weapon.

「... Pl...e...ase...」One of the twin struggled to speak 「Spa...ree...us...」

「We… have…. younger siblings… to care..for...」The other was crying.

「Really?」amused Kibadios. 「But how is that my problem? If I was defeated, beaten half dead by you guys, would you spare me? You accepted the job that monk over there offered, ready to kill me, did you think I also have someone I need to protect? Or that I also have a purpose in life? If you already were ready to kill someone as your job, then you should prepare to be killed yourself.」The merciless hybrid grinned from ear to ear, unaffected by his victims’ begging. 「Now, simply resign and embrace your death.」

His shadow began to branch out, swirling underneath the other three A rank adventurers while creeping up and covering the bodies of the twins he was holding up. 「Since you all fought bravely, I’ll be merciful and allow you guys a painless death.」As he finished, the three adventurers slowly sank into the abyss below them without much struggle while the twins’ bloody bodies were absorbed without leaving any traces of their existences behind. 「Not too bad.」The hybrid licked his lips, then wiped his mouth, signifying the end of his meal. 「Now, back to you, Desmond. I have thought about it and so, I’ll let you die under my Ryan chan’s hands.」

「Hiii!!!」The monk freaked out, turned around and called out to his benefactor. 「Adela sama!! Please!!! Help me!!!」

「Adela...」

「You silly monk.」The Astral quickly appeared in front of him, though, instead of relief, Desmond suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach.「Your usefulness ends here.」She pushed the monk aside with her knife plunged deep inside his flesh. Walking beside her was Skyer, along with four other exceptionally handsome individuals that Desmond had never seen before. Though, just like the second in command elf, each of the individuals was emitting a crazy strong aura that clearly overpowered even the A rank adventurers that he had hired.

「A..dela sama… Why?」Desmond looked up to the devious Astral from the ground.

「Like I said, I’m done with you.」Adela explained. 「And I had already promises my Ryan chan that I’ll take care of you after this.」

「You!!!」

「Ryan, barrier up!」commanded Adela, to which the hero simply recited some spell he had learned from her while raising his arms up. In no time, an expansive rectangular box, its five sides were made up of a series of octagon shapes, had already encased Adela and the hybrid within it while the hero stood firmly outside, concentrated in maintaining the Holy Barrier. Yuusei, at the last minute, was able to quickly jump out of the barrier.

「... Adela...It’s been too long.」Kibadios calmly smiled as he raised his hand up, feeling the essence of the barrier that he was trapped inside.「This is the Octagram Holy Wall, isn’t it?」

「...Yes」The Astral was taken aback, not at the hybrid’s familiarity with the barrier, but at his rather indifferent attitude. Why is he still calm, even after being betrayed by Ryan? 「... You...」

(Note: At this point, turn on FMA:B ending 4 and imagine in your head the song starts as the following events transpire, just like when General Grumman snapped his fan and laughed, signifying “the coolest ending of an episode ever”, according to the title of one youtube video lol)

「Heh, this barrier is just perfect.」Kibadios grinned. 「Ryan chan, until I say otherwise, under no circumstances should you dispel this barrier, understand?」

「Yes, Kibadios sama!」The hero nodded obediently. 「... Please… be careful...」

「What’s going on here?」Adela’s smile had already faded from her face. 「RYAN, CARE TO EXPLAIN?」

「He does not answer to you, Adela.」Kibadios raised his head and looked down at the confused and angered Astral as if she was a mere insect standing in front of his path. 「He’s my property. Of course he’ll be doing whatever I command.」

「... You!」

Chapter 66: Ryan's side of the story.

Notes:

I wrote this over the time course of one week and finished it almost a week ago. What I wanna say is: There maybe inconsistencies lol.

On that cold fateful morning back in Lorian, his hand was already firmly gripping onto his sword, yet before the hero could respond to the rotating magic circle which Adela had conjured up, it suddenly shattered in front of his eyes. His eyes widened as he could feel the constant cloudy fog in his mind had begun to clear up. The dissonance reality experienced by his old self and his new self resulting from the hybrid’s <Mind Control> skill caused an intense headache to the hero to the point he could swear his head would explode at any moment now. He quickly became disoriented as the vision in his eyes became blurry. The hero soon failed to keep his balance, his knees and hands collapsed onto the ground. Sweat started dripping down from his face.
… This… This… is real… This sensation… My head... Adela must have just removed Master’s <Mind Control> skill from my mind, I’m sure of it! Yet… It’s real… My feeling… My devotion to him has always been genuine! 

The hero spent a few seconds trying to process what had just happened, though he could not help but smile. Since the hero knew his master had placed a <Mind Control> on him when the hybrid first recovered him from the goblin cave, he had been afraid that one day, if somehow the control placed on his mind would vanish, he might discover that his feelings for the hybrid was nothing but a fabrication created by his master’s skill. But now, with his mind completely cleared of any manipulations, his love for Kibadios was still there. His devotion was still absolute. 

But, Adela is still right in front of me. Ryan quickly snapped back to the current situation. What should I do? Should I still attack her? There’s no telling if I can win against her and even if I do, it would not solve anything. This is merely her homunculus vessel. Time seemed to come to a complete stop as the hero’s mind raced to figure out what his next step should be. If Adela could remove master’s <Mind Control>, does she also have some sort of <Mind Control> skill that can turn me against master? I can’t let that happen. My best option right now should be… 

The hero raised his hand up to cover his mouth, while discreetly swirling his index deep in the back of his mouth. Soon enough, he was gagging due to the stimulation, allowing him to act as if he was vomiting from disgust. Since his face was looking down to the ground, the Astral could not tell he was merely acting.
「... What… What did you do to me? These memories… 」The hero pretended to be recovering from a long nightmare.

「Welcome back, Ryan the hero!」Adela cheerfully clapped her hands. 「I merely dispelled the hypnotic charm that has been clouding your mind, placed on you by that hybrid, Kibadios. What? Why are you vomiting? Did he “take advantage” of you while you’re under his influence?」The confident Astral drew her own conclusion from seeing Ryan’s reaction.

So she did believe that my feelings for master were just because of his skill! Ryan was relieved, though this meant he had to continue to act his part.「Kibadios… sam...KIBADIOS! How dare you!」

「Now now, my dear Ryan chan.」Adela walked up to the kneeling Ryan and pulled him up. Don't taint me with your touch! The hero was almost screaming at her, but he wisely held back, knowing that he now had successfully tricked her into believing that he abhorred his master. 「Since I have helped you regaining your true self, how about you help me by telling everything you know about the hybrid?」

Tell her everything? What should I tell her? If I don’t divulge anything about master, she would be suspicious.

Unlike Rowan’s sharp mind, Ryan had always been a straightforward, gullible individual who was unable to come up with any crafty plan on the spot. He quickly thought back on everything that had transpired, quickly processed what information was the most logical to give up. In the end, he decided to reveal to the Astral on how Kibadios had killed Corey, yet hid the fact that he had also absorbed the hero and gained access to the Holy Element. Since the dragonoid had confronted her during the chaos of the attack on Lorian, Ryan decided to tell her about Ryuu’s identity. Once being asked about HaoS and Kibadios’ ability to maintain its physical manifestation, Ryan simply lied.

「I believed he had enough power to keep HaoS active for 20 minutes or so...」The real answer was over an hour, since he had significantly leveled up fighting the Prime Minister and Ryuu, but the hero knew better not to give her the correct estimation. Adela was ecstatic at the seemingly reliable intelligences she was getting from Ryan, she could not hide her wide grinning face.

「... Can we formulate our plan to deal with that hybrid in a way so that we would not harm Rowan kun and Maia chan, Adela sama?」Ryan was clearly concerned that whatever scheme the Astral was thinking would hurt the other members of Kibadios’ harem. As of now, he was in the position to make sure the Astral would not harm them… at least, he could try to convince her so.「They’re also victims of that crazy hybrid.」

The hero tried his best to act in front of Adela, yet it was almost all for naught the moment she placed her hand on his face and leaned in to kiss him on his cheek, suggestively. Having being touched and kissed by someone that was not his master, and even worse, that someone was the Astral whom Kibadios despised, Ryan instinctively pushed her away. Had she paid attention to his eyes, she could easily have noticed his bloodlust at that brief moment. The hero trembled while hugging himself, his face turned downward to avoid the woman. 

「Aww, look at that. You’re now terrified of mere touches just because the hybrid has ruined you and your body.」Ryan was lucky that she totally had mistaken his reaction.

… I have to endure… for master… He thought.

And so, Adela began to disclose to the hero her plan to lure Kibadios into her trap. She was fairly self-absorbed in admiring her own well crafted plan involving plunging Vernys into chaos that she did not realize the hero was discreetly gritting his teeth in anger the entire time.

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「... But...」Ryan looked at the charred body while being lost for words. The once maiden, who was incapable of hurting mere insects just months ago, would be able to kill people in such a coldblooded manner. Still, it was even more terrifying that he found himself completely approved of what she just did. … Why am I completely fine with Maia chan’s seemingly lawless action?  He realized. Had I been in Maia chan’s shoes, I would have undoubtedly cut them down for the same reason too.

After Maia had left, Ryan just stood there, looking at the pile of ashes. He tried but in the end, he did not feel any empathy for the dead men. He finally realized he was not the same hero who fought to protect the world and justice before. Right now, his only priority was his beloved Master.

「Hahaha. You wanted to save her but look at her, she’s already been fully corrupted by the hybrid.」Adela approached from behind, then slowly caressed Ryan’s face with the back of her hand, causing him to twitch and step away. 「She just cruelly killed those adventurers without a second thought. Both her and Kibadios’ other slave could no longer be saved, my dear hero.」

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「Ryan, let’s go somewhere and talk about how we should help the Princess. Ryuu and Rowan, you two can go ahead.」ordered Kibadios. 

Now should be the good time to tell him everything that happened! I have to tell him about Adela. Ryan realized the opportunity the moment Ryuu and Rowan had left them alone. 

「What happened, Ryan?」Before he could say anything, Kibadios already seemed to notice some chances from the hero. 「You don't seem like your usual self.」

「Master...」The hero suddenly hesitated for a moment. If he were to tell his master that his <Mind control> has been removed, would his master still trust him like he did before? 「... This morning… I encountered Adela...」

「... and?」Kibadios did not seem to faze one bit. 

「She removed the <Mind Control> skill you had placed on me after you rescued me from the goblins.」confessed Ryan. 「Afterward, she recruited me to work with her on her plan to lure you into a trap and seal away your power to summon HaoS. In truth, this conflict in Vernys is also part of her scheme.」

「...」Ryan shyly looked at Kibadios, who still remained silent for a few minutes after the revelation. 

「Master, please don’t worry! Even without your <Mind control>, I still want to devote my life to you. I have tricked Adela into thinking that I’m on her side.」Ryan frantically explained in order to gain back the trust of his Master. 「We can use that to our advantage. We can exploit her weakness...」

「...」Kibadios closed his eyes, deep in thought for a moment before opening them up and glaring straight at the hero. 「If you are truly still loyal to me, then kill yourself, Ryan.」

「Huh?」The hero froze.

「Actually, instead of killing yourself, let me perform <Devour> on you. That way I may be able to gain your skills.」The hybrid shook his head, dismissing his previous command with a devious, seemingly unconcerning smile.

「What... do you mean… Master?」

「If your <Mind control> is already lifted and that you indeed met with Adela this morning, then there’s no way for me to know if you’re compromised or not.」explained Kibadios. 「This “confessing” scene may merely turn out to be some ploy that Adela thought up in order to lower my guard around you. I know she does not have any <Mind Control> skill but she might have someone else controlling you… Again, if what you said is true, then it’s better if I get rid of you right now, right here. Am I wrong?」

「... I… No… You’re… right.」Ryan was shaking.

「Rowan and Maia promised me their bodies if they were ever to die. That way, I may be able to obtain new skills and that they’ll forever be with me. If you still think of yourself as merely my property, just like when my <Mind Control> was still active, then letting me kill you with <Devour> should not be a problem, should it?」Kibadios’ hand reached out to the hero. Although his words were as cold as ice, the warmth of his touch on Ryan’s cheek caused the hero to lean more against it.

「... I understand, master. After all, since you saved me back then, I do owe you my life.」Strangely, Ryan quickly resigned his life with a smile. After all, the notion of being together with his Master for eternity after death seemed more of a reward than a punishment.「It is true I can never convince you that I’m not siding with Adela… If my death both put you at ease and may be able to help you gain new skills, then please go ahead. But please, be careful from now on, Master. Adela’s out there to get you. By absorbing me, maybe you should be able to see my memories of my encounter with her and come up with a plan against her.」By now, he could feel Kibadios’ shadow wrapped around his body, inching upward. Soon enough, it covered his whole body, leaving only his head untouched.

「... Master...」

「Yes?」

「Thank you for allowing me to be part of your life, even for just a few short months… and tell Rowan chan, Maia chan, and Nu that I loved them. Too bad I was not able to get along with Ryuu chan during our short time together but I’ll miss him. But most importantly… I love you, Master.」Ryan was crying, not from fear of death, but from fear of not being able to serve his master anymore. He was ready to be absorbed by his master, yet, the only sensation he now felt was his master’s wet kiss and a warm embrace around his body . Kibadios’ shadow quickly loosened, then retracted and disappeared completely, leaving the hero dumbstruck. Not that he could do anything since he was now melting deeply into his master’s lustful kiss that took his breath away. 

「Master… why?」Ryan was finally able to speak after Kibadios moved his mouth away. Though the hero was weakened by the unexpected kiss so much that he had to lean onto his master for support.

「That was just a test.」confessed Kibadios, his hand cupped the hero’s cheek. 「I just want to make sure you’re really still on my side.」

「Of course I am, master!」Ryan’s eyes teared up.

「I guess I should count myself lucky to be able to obtain such a good slave like you, Ryan.」Kibadios smirked.「So now, are you too scared and tired to discuss our plan on how to deal with Adela and the mess she caused in Vernys?」

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Ryan closed the door behind him, then stood silently with his hand already reaching out to the doorknob leading to the hybrid’s room. He hesitated for a moment, thinking of how he had let himself be sensually touched by Adela or how he had professed to dedicate his life for her. Although it was merely an act to convince the Astral of his supposed loyalty, he felt dirty. Before long, he could feel his crotch area beginning to get warmer and warmer. Just as Adela had predicted before she let him go back to the hybrid, the incubus crest on his body would forcibly make him react to the scent of the caster, causing his his mind to crave for one and only one thing: sex with his master… As his master’s cock thrust deep inside his hungry hole, his master’s arms embraced his naked, sweaty body, while his oversensitive nipples were played with by his master’s mouth, the hero knew he could not truly live without Kibadios. Instinctively, he also wrapped his arm around Kibadios’ warm body and hugged him tight while snuggling his nose at the hybrid’s nape, taking in his master’s scent.
It was his warmth that saved me inside that carriage months ago… Ryan recalled the nostalgic sensation. 「I’m really addicted to you, Master.」He whispered into the hybrid’s ear, which got the hybrid even more excited. 「... I really don’t mind that addiction of yours, Ryan chan.」His cock’s movement inside the hero’s asshole fastened, grinding against his sensitive flesh, sending him into endless waves of orgasm.

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「Oh, I just want to gauge my strength without relying too much on my skills… Just to see how strong I have become after sparring with you for months, Ryuu chan.」answered Kibadios after Ryuu had just asked him why the hybrid did not utilize any of his skills aside from the one he received from Reuk and the Holy Element. Little did he know that Kibadios was actually practice for his future encounter against Adela, where his 

「I see! He’s not your average fighter, though. It’s amazing that you were able to keep up with him.」

「I know.」Kibadios grinned satisfactorily, though he could feel his cold sweat still lingered on his forehead. I need to practice fighting without non-holy skill since the barrier that Ryan chan will trap me with is also acting as an area of effect spell that both buffs the Holy element while simultaneously debuffs any other elements.

 On the back, Ryan sat silently as he discreetly gazed at the hybrid… Soon… Master, are you ready?

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Kibadios had explicitly forbid Ryan from letting the other members know about the threat they were about to face. In short, according to the hybrid, disclosing the secret would not only endanger them, but also Kibadios and Ryan. The logic behind the hybrid’s reasons were simple: if Kibadios were to always be accompanied by Ryuu and others, Adela would have two options to choose from. One would be to keep following them from the shadows and continuing to wait for the opportune moment to strike. This only meant that Kibadios and his group had to be constantly vigilant against the threat that they knew not when would come. Her other option was to confront Kibadios and his group inside the forest of Vernys just as planned; however, in order to ensure her victory against the primal dragon that was Ryuu, she would have come and confronted them along with her most powerful “servant” and Kibadios’ old friend, Aspen . If that was the case, Kibadios would have no chance of winning. The best he could hope for was a draw by relying on HaoS. Therefore, in order to convince her into believing that she had the upper hand and the presence of Aspen was not needed, deceiving his own slaves was imperative.

「How can we know for sure she will not be relying on Aspen when confronting you?」

「Because Aspen is actually not hers to use.」Kibadios answered. 「... actually, I don’t know for sure. I don't even know why he betrayed me back then. But given Aspen has the power to rival even members of Ennead, I could only assume that it is not easy for her to deploy him. So if she thinks she has the upper hand against me, she most likely will not bring him along.」

However, since once Ryan activated the barrier, he had to actively maintain it and rendered himself completely vulnerable, it was important that someone needed to be there to protect him from any potential threat. That’s why Kibadios was deep in thought during his walk back from the palace after learning everything from Ryan. He had thought of having Nu acting as Ryan’s bodyguard but that may not be enough. Nu was extremely strong for a non-intelligent monster; however, its power was limited. That was when Kibadios stumbled upon the mutant hybrid.
「Yuusei! Serve me well! From now on, you’ll be my secret weapon!」he had declared back then. Everything was going according to Kibadios’ plan. That was, until Rowan appeared and interrupted Ryan’s meeting with Adela, just right before the destined day of confrontation.

「Ro… Rowan?」Ryan’s eyes widened, his whole body froze in shock as he saw the worn out healer emerge. What is he doing here? What should I do now? The hero’s mind raced to find a way to keep the healer out of this mess.「You’re… you’re not supposed to be here.」

Ryan continued to desperately come up with anything that could protect Rowan from Adela’s wrath. He tried to convince the healer to work with him, though he knew that could never work, for just like him, Rowan held uttermost devotion to their Master. Rowan chan’s really sharp… I should have acted better in front of him before… What can I do now??? Pleasee… This is all because of me! Ryan contemplated just kneeling down in front of Adela and begged her for Ryan’s life, yet doing so, he might make the Astral suspicious of his loyalty. If he acted out of line, Kibadios’ plan of dealing with Adela might just crumble right there. I can’t… Kibadios sama has to defeat Adela for him to gain leverage against the Enneads… I just can’t screw up his plan.

「It’s my order as an Astral, kill him now.」Left with no other choice, Ryan knew what he had to do. The moment he slashed Rowan with his sword, he could feel the healer’s torn flesh on his hands. He desperately wished for a miracle. He wanted to take Rowan’s place. Yet, all he could do was watch the healer’s lifeless body crushed under the strong current of the river. He had hoped that somehow, Rowan would be able to heal his wound in time, grabbed onto the thick tree roots that protruded from the river bank and escaped from there… Yet, that did not happen. Ryan cursed himself as Adela wrapped her hand around his shoulder.

I’m going to kill you, bitch! He thought of just thrusting his sword through her right there.

By the time he came back to his oblivious master, who was waiting for his bucket of water, he wanted to confess to the hybrid what he had done. However, he could not say a word, worrying that the hybrid’s clear mind might be clouded further by rage and their perfect plan to deal with Adela would collapse. He had to kill someone he considered to be his own family in order to ensure his master’s plan would come into fruition, if he had to bear this guilt for one more night, then so be it. He could always ask for his master’s punishment once Adela was taken care of.

Notes:

Phew! This plot twist was hard for me to pull off cuz I had to be careful to never write the narration from the viewpoint of Ryan the entire volume 3. It's the one thing I am really proud of in crafting, but then I'm not a good with original ideas so this plot twist is of course, a bit cliche lol.
also, Kudo to that one reader who was like "You wanna bet Ryan remembers everything?" in the comment. Of course, the person did not fully understand my limitation but still, at the time, I had to explain it carefully without revealing my plot twist... if you can even call it plot twist since it's so cliche lol.

Chapter 67

「... Since when...」Adela mumbled before bursting out in rage.「Since when did you betray me, you pathetic hero?」

「Betray? Ryan chan is mine. He was never on your side to begin with.」Kibadios smirked. 「You understand why he went along with your plan, right? It’s all so that we can get you to voluntarily enter this barrier. The Octagram Holy Wall, one of the barriers that only individuals possessing <Seed of Hero> can erect since the barrier would significantly buff the holy element while actively debuffing any other elements. Furthermore, the space within this barrier is completely isolated from the surrounding, meaning spirits cannot be summoned while the barrier is up.」

「...」Adela ground her teeth while gripping her hands tightly.

「However, since it is truly an isolated space, the reverse is also true: nothing can get out of this barrier… including your soul, which has been transferred into that homunculus body.」Kibadios calmly revealed Adela’s only weakness at the moment. Knowing that she would be vulnerable, her father, Adeus had explicitly warned her before; yet, the arrogant Astral merely ignored his concern. After all, since she had Ryan on her side, there was no risk to her whatsoever. 「... Is that what you were counting on? That if, by any small chance, you were to be defeated despite the huge advantage you possess inside this barrier, Ryan simply had to dispel it, allowing your soul to escape unharmed? In that scenario, the only outcome for our “fateful encounter” here would either be your total victory or at least, a “draw”, with you able to successfully retreat. But too bad for you, now, it’s me who enjoy the advantage that you thought you had: Either I win, or Ryan chan would dispel the barrier the moment you are to become victorious, allowing me to summon HaoS to settle our fight. Why don’t we bet on what would the outcome of our battle would be?」

「Ha...Haha… Hahaha!」The Astral maniacally laughed. 「Even if a miracle exists and you can kill off this homunculus body of mine, trapping my soul within this barrier, so what? You’ll have that failure of a hero maintain this barrier continuously for the rest of his life, just to trap me in here? I thought you’re a realistic individual, Zaeryn. At least your previous reincarnation was. Maybe having been betrayed by those who you trust the most and helplessly witnessing those who you love suffered in agony and perished had broken your mind? Doesn't matter though. I guess this round, the outcome would be a draw then. But remember, I’ll come back for you, my dear Zaeryn. By the time I finish with you, you’ll be wishing you had stayed dead.」

「Ho?」Kibadios smirked at her obvious taunts. 「I don't need Ryan chan to maintain the barrier indefinitely… he can’t even maintain it for more than 20 minutes, let alone “forever.” However, as long as your soul cannot escape this space, I have a way to trap it within me.」

「What?」Adela’s attitude quickly changed. 

「You see, if I can <devour> you and your soul, HaoS can trap and torment it within me… By then, “you’ll be wishing” I had straight up killed you instead of capturing your soul.」explained Kibadios.

「... That’s ridiculous.」Her eyes were twitching. 「... Doing so means you can’t be summoning HaoS ever again since the moment HaoS is summoned is the moment… your hold on my soul would be broken...」Despite the brave face she was showing, Adela had suddenly understood the high stake situation she was now in. 

「Yes.」nodded Kibadios. 「But I don’t really need to summon HaoS often though, do I? To be honest, the only time I would ever need HaoS’ assistance is if you Astrals come after me… And this is the interesting part, Adela. If you were one of the Enneads and learned that the soul of a member of the Astral had been trapped by HaoS within the reincarnation of Zaeryn, what would you do?」

「...」

「Sent out a rescue mission right away? Battling and forcing this current incarnation of Zaeryn to summon HaoS, therefore, break the soul of that Astral free?」Kibadios grinned. 「No, no, of course not. They will not care if your soul is suffering within me. The Enneads will simply elect not to touch me. Of course, they will keep tabs on my movements and activities, but remember, HaoS is a primordial spirit. Its mere existence can shake the balance of the world that you Astrals have carefully crafted. If trading your petty soul for the guarantee that I would never summon HaoS again, they’ll be gladly choose that option. Since you have discovered my existence, that means sooner or later, the Enneads would have too. That’s why, it’s important that I <devour> your soul right here right now, to guarantee that they will not directly come after me, at least for some times.」

「Ha… All of that scenario rests on the premise that you can fight and win against me in this barrier.」The brief hint of panic on her face had disappeared after she quickly analyzed the situation.「But how can you, when for all intent and purposes, only the Holy Element can actually work in here?」

「I would never choose to fight a battle with no chance of winning… you know that right?」Kibadios raised his arm and grabbed onto the newly conjured scythe. Though, unlike the past dark shadow scythes, this scythe was pure white, a faint Holy aura could be felt emitting from it. 「Ryan chan had told you I killed the hero named Corey right? But I guess he did not tell you I devoured him whole and gained the control of the Holy element?」

「...I have to admit.」Adela pulled out her twin turquoise colored chakrams, then let them go. Yet, the two weapons were still floating and rotating around her. 「I have completely underestimated you, Zaeryn. Nonetheless, gaining access to the Holy element does not mean you can defeat me, who was born with it… Besides, it’s not just me who you have to worry about.」The Astral pointed toward Ryan.「I was preparing them as backup to protect him, allowing that shitty hero to maintain this barrier as I crush you… but now, since my plan had crumbled...」Adela snapped her fingers, signalling for 3 more men to come out, surrounding Ryan and Yuusei. 

「I’ll just have them kill him and getting rid of this barrier altogether.」

「... They are “Dolls”, aren’t they?」Since he knew that just like Yllaner and her previous incarnation, Sylvia, Adela specialized in supporting roles so he was expecting she would bring other powerful assistants with her. However, this was just simply too many: within the barrier, there stood five Dolls, all possessing power that rivalled either Thomas or Amber while outside, there were three that could stand toe to toe against Ryan. 

「I see you still have such sharp eyes, Zaeryn.」grinned the Astral. 「Let’s see if your precious demihuman kid outside can do anything against those three Dolls out there.」

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「Yuusei chan,  watch out to your left!!!」Ryan screamed out but it was still too late as one of the three Dolls swiftly thrust his staff straight into the mutant’s side. The impact threw the boy a few meters to the side and left him with a broken rib. Despite the pain, the boy tried to stand up though before he could, he crossed his arms and raised them up above his head, blocking a downward strike from another Doll’s large staff. The tremendous force caused his knee to give up and collapsed onto the ground. Blood and sweat slowly blurred his eyes. His strength started to fade. He noticed the other doll was now approaching him, intending to finish the job while the third Doll leisurely walked toward Ryan with his sword in hand. Before meeting these individuals, Yuusei was proud of his raw strength and speed since thanks to them, he was able to live and survive in the wild for years after his mother died. He could easily take care of any of the slave hunters and their associated adventurers that came after him, only to be caught when he unwittingly fell into their trap. However, right now, every power he possessed was inadequate. Unlike those A rank adventurers, these people seemed to be on a league of their own. 

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「You think you can handle anyone who will be coming after Ryan?」

「...」The mutant thought for a few seconds. 「Yuusei will try. Yuusei strong.」He looked at his master determinedly with his big black eyes.

「The enemies will probably also be as strong as you are though… probably stronger.」Kibadios warned.「And most likely they’ll have numbers on their side. How do you think you can deal with them?」

「Keep punching and kicking?」

「Hopefully it’d work.」Kibadios laughed as he patted the mutant’s head. 「I mean, this is a huge gamble but there’s nothing I can do. The moment Ryan chan trapped me inside the barrier, you’re on your own… Just try your best, Yuusei. You’re my secret weapon so I know you’re strong… you’re probably stronger than even Ryan right now considering you’re a hybrid… Too bad you’re not in your grown up form. If you are, your strength and speed probably would at least triple.」

「... Yuusei can’t.」The mutant was saddened.

「Don’t worry. If you can’t, then you can’t. It’s not like I can force you to grow up overnight though.」Kibadios leaned close to the mutant’s face, causing the usually expressionless boy to blush. 「I wonder why you’re not growing up though… Hmmm.」

「...Yuusei… dont know.」He lied. 

「Oh well, that’s fine.」Kibadios stretched his arm. 「This fight against Adela is a long shot anyways. Just try your best. Once we’re done with this, whether successful or not, I’ll let you go free to live your life. With this Orcan mineral, I’m sure you can keep your miasma under control. I have even thought about it, if they allow you, it’s best that you join the Hyakki Yagyo since most of their members are mutants so you should probably feel right at home… That’s why we have been trying our best to not harm those 3 people from the mercenary group so that hopefully, there’s no problem for you joining them.」

「... Yuusei wants to stay with master!」

「...」Kibadios looked at the boy, who had grown so attached to him during their short time together. 「There are still a lot of things I have yet to tell you… It’s not like I don’t allow you to stay with me, Yuusei chan. However, the path I walk will eventually lead you to a life that is even more miserable than when you’re trapped in that slave market. It’s bad enough I pulled those three into it...」

「Yuusei still wants to...」

「Fine. I’m actually a selfish bastard.」Kibadios deviously grinned.「I will not turn away anyone who’s willing to serve me. Just get stronger, Yuusei, and be of use to me!」

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「Yuusei cannot lose...」The boy muttered under his breath, though . The Doll’s powerful weapon was still pressing the mutant downward as the other walked ever closer to him. He knew if he did not somehow find more power to deal with these people, he would soon be killed. Not only that, Ryan nii chan, who his master had tasked him to protect would undoubtedly be in danger. This whole well crafted plan of his master would come to naught, all because the mutant was weak. He has never been afraid of death before, yet, somehow, his heart began to tremble at the thought of dying, since that meant he could never feel his master’s touch anymore. He could not afford to let his master down. His master, who pulled him up from the deep abyss and granted him a new life. His master, who provided him with the warm touch that he had never experienced since his infancy. His master, who believed and trusted in his power. He wanted to be of use to his master, for that was now the meaning of his life; however, even if he were to muster all of his strength, he could not break free from the Doll’s strike, let alone dreaming of taking on and defeating all three. 

「Yuusei wants… Yuusei wants to make Master proud!!!」screamed out the mutant, his black eyes glared unblinkingly at the Doll right front of him as blood started to drip down from his eye slit.
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「Mama!」The young toddler awkwardly walked to his mother, his tiny hand held tightly onto several wild flowers he had just picked from the meadow close to his home. 「Look! Flowa!」

His innocent grin, though, soon disappeared as he saw his mother's face slowly turned pale as he approached. 「Ma?」

「Get away from me!」She screamed while pushing the kid onto the side. 「Your face… It looked just like him... Why are you turning into him?」The rabbitwoman held up her hands to her face as she cried, leaving her child dumbfounded. 

「Mama... 」The toddler also burst out crying. 「Sowwiee!!! Please dont cry!!」

His scream brought the woman back to reality as she realized what she had done. The miasma had started to corrode her mind and she knew it. But with her son still merely a few months old, she had to stay with him. She wanted to stay with him. 

「I’m sorry… I’m sorry, my child!」She embraced the boy despite knowing the miasma would affect her. 「Please don’t cry! That’s mama’s fault!」

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Turning into father? The dirty mutant looked down into the clear surface of a pond inside the forest he was staying after he had murdered his mother, his own reflection looking back at him. Can’t turn into father… Can’t grow up… He was shaking, remembering the dreadful look his mother was giving him. Can’t.

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「Yuusei don’t care anymore...」The mutant started to push up against the Doll’s staff. After a few seconds of deliberation that he felt like lasting hours, he had made up his mind「Yuusei will be useful to Master!!!」He screamed as the aura around him started to change while his muscles began to grow. Soon enough, his baggy clothes became tight since the boy had suddenly grown into a full fledged adult, matching his own age. His wavy hair had straightened up while his small fluffy rabbit tail had completely disappeared.

「... Is that...」Ryan was surprised at Yuusei’s transformation. 「Is that his “human form”? Actually, since he’s half ogre, that’d be his ogre form.」He concluded.

The man that Yuusei had grown into stood tall, almost a half a head taller than either Ryan or his master. Although he did not appear too muscular like when Gon turned into his adult self to deal with Pitou, the mutant’s strength had certainly increased to the point that the Doll could no longer keep him down. His Nen was now oozing out from his body, causing all of the three Dolls to take notice. 

「Activate skill.」said the mutant. 「<Berserker>!」

Yuusei's grown up, ogre form:

Thanks to 遊山しゃき, Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@syakiyusansyaki, Pixiv ID: 28326319,

Since I didn't specify how his eyes should look other than black with red pupil, this is their original, unedited drawing:

And this is without black eyes lol

 

Notes:

"I've only created this Yuusei character in detail for a few months and a half, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself." Me

Chapter 68: Bonus: Drunk sex (Porn picture_R18)

Thanks to まくろ for their wonderful illustration.
Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@ashwing_makuro

(I posted their skeb here but don't check it if you dont want to be spoiled for the scene between Kibadios and you-know-who in the near future chapter. I commissioned and they finished that like 2 weeks ago lol.)

Pixiv ID: 52006

They usually accept the request in less than a day and finish the picture in mere hours. They're by far the fastest illustrator I found :D (though the trade off is that their drawing is not as clean when zooming in to edit, but seriously, I can't tell just by looking at the picture on normal zoom.)

Anyways, this scene should be taken place during Ryuu's first time with Kibadios :3

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Notes:

Still waiting for the 2.5 pages manga I commissioned Hagane. I'll only bother him after June tho.

Chapter 69: Happy 69

Since this is not truly the 69th chapter of the story (because there are bonus chapters/proto-stories/trivials I posted) I decided to post just a sneak-peak of the 2.5 pages colored yaoi I commissioned. This is the last page (the .5). I have asked Hagane to add nipple onto Rowan so yeah, the fixed version will be updated together with the first 2 pages at the 10,000th hit. THIS SHOULD TAKE PLACE DURING THE 2nd VOLUME, THE PORN CHAPTER RIGHT AFTER DEALING WITH COREY.

Man, I really really like Hagane's art style. Also, I had asked him to redesign Rowan and Ryan so these are their "official" looks.

 

Notes:

PS: I planned to have completed the vs Adela story but I still could not finish it cuz I procrastinated lol

Chapter 70

Much like the Asur of the Warhammer world, the Astrals were an arrogant and proud race that looked down on the other inferior beings in Esthar. They lived comfortably in their own realm of reality, separated from the rest of the world, enjoyed their supposed immortality and deluded themselves into thinking they’re almighty gods. Yet, they were no true gods. Much like Melkor, who yearned for the Flame Imperishable from Illuvatar, the Astral yearned to possess the ability of “creation” in order to justify their claims to godhood. Nonetheless, no matter how powerful they believed they were, the gift of creation was never within their reach, for, they were no true gods. Delving deep into the research to create life, the Astral had stumbled upon the art of Homunculus Crafting and Soul Transferring, to which they have used to safely leave the Modun Realm to exert their influence over Esthar. Yet, the pinnacle of their research and prowess were neither of those techniques. It was the creation of “Dolls,” the closest “things”  to true lifeforms that they had ever created. On the surface, dolls acted just like any being: they cried, they laughed, they felt emotions as any other sentient beings… However, the moment an Astral commanded, the dolls would revert back to their original selves: automatons devoid of thoughts or emotions, who merely listened and obeyed orders given to them by their creators. Although dolls could grow up from children to adults like any other beings, they were inherently sterile so they could not produce offspring. That was the one flaw that truly separated them from being a genuine lifeform. The discovery and creation of Dolls by the Astral had proven their worth for during the Second Holy War, armies of Dolls were dispatched to deal with Zaeryn’s allies, resulting in the decimation of the Anti-Astral forces. The utilization of Dolls in the war, in addition to the Battle at the Heavenly Realm’s Gate, where the majority of the 300 Daitengu were either killed or injured by Adeus, marked the beginning to the end of the conflict more than 10000 years ago. Afterward, realizing the potentials of Dolls, the Astral began to use them as their spies, placing them strategically throughout the world, acting in place of their eyes and ears. Just like Skyer, some of the Dolls even achieved the job of high ranking officials, allowing the Astrals to further influence the course of Esthar history from the shadows.

Bam!
    One of the dolls fighting against Yuusei was sent flying by the awakened Yuusei’s kick, crashing and taking down a large tree with him. The grown up mutant’s attention quickly switched to the sword wielding doll, his feet swiftly turned to the direction of the doll before pressed down onto the ground and sprung forward, leaving a deep indentation behind on the ground. Realizing he was Yuusei’s target, the doll quickly erected more than ten parallel barriers in front of him to receive the mutant since he judged that going at the speed of sound, the mutant would not be able to change direction easily. Once he had crashed into the barriers and stopped dead in his tracks, the doll would use the opportunity to take him down. Yet, despite the barriers constructed being much sturdier than that of Rowan, the mutant easily crashed through all of them by concentrating his Nen into one single pressure point, before he chidoried through the unsuspected doll’s chest, his hand gripping tightly against the doll’s heart. This was Yuusei’s true strength, though one that he had yet fully mastered. However, thanks to his <Berserker> skill, Yuusei was able to place himself into “Autopilot” mode, much like when Shalnark took out the Chimera Ant in HxH. In this mode, although his mind could not think clearly, his strength and speed multiplied more than twenty-fold while his Nen reserve burst out like a breached dam. The autopilot mode would continue to be active until either his Nen ran out or his command, which was to <Take out these three and protect Ryan nii chan>, had been fulfilled. One drawback of such skill was that the user would not be able to think or react to any alterations to the battlefield, nor could he change the command midway. Had there been a fourth doll waiting on the side, as long as that doll did not touch Ryan, it could have easily walked up to Yuusei and killed him without breaking a sweat. Fortunately for Yuusei, these three were all the dolls that Adela had brought with her. 

This is bad… Why am I being cornered like this? Witnessing the events in front of her eyes transpired, the Astral had started to break into a sweat. Outside of the barrier, Adela had trusted her three dolls, who were all at least as strong as Ryan, to take care of the mutant and the hero to break her free. Yet, although they had initially gained the upper hand, they were soon pushed back once the mutant awakened. Now they were down to 2 vs 1, and judging from the fight, there was no hope for them to actually defeat the berserker mutant. Adela knew dealing with a hybrid was always a dangerous mission since hybrids, on their own, could fight evenly against some heroes due to them usually inheriting favorable traits and racial skills from both of their parents. However, as Adela stood back in the shadow and witnessed Yuusei fight against the adventurers, she had deemed he was not an issue then. Yet now, the same smol fighter had turned into a true monster, much like his beloved master. Was this within Zaeryn’s calculation? I was just assuming he did not pay attention to those two outside because he was merely a heartless man, but did he know that mutant kid would grow into his adult form? 

Things were not in her favor within the barrier either. The whole strategy rested on the assumption that all of his skills and attacks would be severely weakened due to the debuff, yet the opposite was true: His attacks, imbued in faint holy aura, which was amplified by the barrier’s effect, had steadfastly pushed back her five dolls. One of the weaknesses of Dolls was the fact that they could not possess the <Seed of Heroes> nor the ability to utilize the Holy aura. This shortcoming was the main reason why instead of using Dolls as heroes to counter Demon Lords, the hero system devised by Kibadios’ first reincarnation was still in place. Of course, the dolls’ inability to command over the Holy aura was supposed to not be a problem since Adela had expected Kibadios to be suffering from the debuff also. Yet, now, fighting against a full power Kibadios, even numbers did not help to tip the fight to their favor. 

「Haha...」Adela wearily laughed. 「As expected of Zaeryn’s reincarnation. Even if you’re not at your full strength, you’re still a pain.」

「...」Kibadios chose not to respond to her since he knew the Astral was merely trying to distract him from dealing with the dolls. Although he had an upper hand in the fight, even after ten minutes of fighting, he could not dispose of even one of the four attackers who had been exchanging blows with him, let alone getting to Adela, who had been protected by the fifth doll. Of the four, there was clearly one who stood above the others in terms of fighting capability: an elf doll dressed in a fancy aristocratic looking wood-elf clothes. Just like most elves, who preferred to fight from a distance, the man was holding onto his small crossbows, one on each hand. The arrows he used were not made from any metallic materials but from his own aura, which contained a toxic substance that would most likely outclass anything that Maia could synthesize. An Alchemist class , Kibadios deduced. How troublesome …

「I have to admit, you have changed a bit, Zaeryn.」Adela continued. 「Had it been the old you, you would not have mercilessly sacrificed someone who had been travelling with you, someone who cared for you deeply, just to convince me Ryan is on my side.」

「... What are you talking about?」answered Kibadios while dodging Skyer’s repeating arrows.

「Ha?」Adela quickly noticed something interesting. Ha… Maybe that was not planned then... 「Did you not know about your slave, Rowan? I forced your pathetic hero-slave to kill off that little pest, who was listening in to our conversation yesterday evening.」

「...」Kibadios did not say anything but a slight twitch on his face betrayed his indifferent acting. That’s why Ryan was acting strange last night?

「... I am sorry, Master… I...」Ryan admitted his crime, tears rolling down his cheek.

「Stay calm and focus on the barrier, Ryan...」The hybrid stoically commanded, though his own heart began to rage.

「Hahaha!」Adela laughed after she noticed Kibadios’ slight change of emotion.「That pest was slashed open with the shitty hero’s own sword. Blood splattered everywhere as he fell off into the raging river. I can’t get enough of the look on his dying face. He was probably cursing his luck, having met you. I wonder if he died of blood loss first or if he drowned… Dying from the excruciating pain from his open wound or from water in his lung… Both options sound terrible to me.」

「... Shut up, Adela. Do you think you can distract me by drawing up some emotions in me?」replied the hybrid, though his total concentration in the fight was still left intact despite the taunts. 「Let me guess, you also stirred up emotions in the Prime Minister like this, weakened his defeated mind before you were able to plant those seeds in him?」

「Of course!」A twisted smile quickly appeared on Adela’s already sinister face. 「I told him how the love of his life died while sucking cocks and begging to be spared… Of course, it didn’t happen that way since that bitch was still fiercely resisting until her last moment, despite being creampied by hundreds of men… Remembering her alone makes my blood boil. But still, the trick worked on the man’s already broken spirit. Though, in your case, I’m not lying. If you want to know how your slave died in agony, asked your other slave outside this barrier.」

「...」

「Anyways, the wait time is over, Zaeryn! Taste the despair! Ultimate Arte: <Horus’ Sky Domain>!!」Grinned Adela as she clapped her hands together. Suddenly, the whole space within the barrier began to distort, the blue sky expanded and soon swallowed the ground that Kibadios was standing on. The transformation left the hybrid finding himself standing in midair, though even if he was looking down, he could see nothing but an endless blue sky. <It’s my win now!> She declared

Damn it. I was planning to finish those dolls off before she can do this… The hybrid clicked his tongue. Adela’s <Horus’ Sky Domain> was not an offensive skill, yet, it could easily cause havocs once activated, befitting the classification of an Ultimate Arte. When <Horus’s Sky Domain> was active, the entire 1000km around the user would be transformed into nothing but the azure sky. Orientation such as east, west, north, south, up, down... meant nothing since everywhere was an endless expansion of the sky. Anyone who got caught up in this space would instantly lose their senses of touch, smell, taste, and hearing, even any sensory skill would be rendered useless. Their sight would still remain, but they could see nothing but an endless empty space. Even if they raised their hand up in front of them, they would not see their arm. Even if they look down, they would not see their feet, nor body. There was truly nothing “existed” within the space but an endless sky. For Kibadios to perceive an incoming attack, he had to direct the majority of his Nen toward his eyes, limiting its output on any offensive attacks he was planning at the moment. Despite such exhaustive countermeasures, this only allowed him to “see” outward at most about half a meter from his body, which greatly reduced the reaction time he had to any attack launching at him. This Ultimate Arte, acting in tandem with Adela’s weapons of choice, the flying twin chakrams, which could attack from any angles, would quickly end the lives of any opponents who were unfortunate enough to fight her. Though, for some average fighters, being trapped in this space without their senses for more than 10 minutes would be enough to cause them to go insane.

「... This fog inside means Adela has activated her Ultimate Arte, right?」Ryan worryingly stared into the opaque space in front of him. Though, the hero should have considered himself to be lucky, for had there been no barrier, the “Sky Domain” would have extended out, swallowing both Ryan and Yuusei in it.「Master, please be safe...」

Notes:

Btw, are their logic making sense? I tried to write it to make them as clear as possible but I'm always afraid the readers would not understand what's going on or why things are going the way they are lol... >.>

Chapter 71

BAMMM!! The last of the three doll’s heads had just crashed and smashed against the sturdy barrier wall, his blood splattered onto the ground as the mutant knelt down, exhausted. His aura began to dissipate since the condition he set out for his <Berserker> skill had just been fulfilled.
「Yuusei chan?」Although he could not move away from where he stood, Ryan called out to the mutant. 「Are you okay?」

「... Yes...」Yuusei dizzily stood up. 「Master?」

「He’s still inside.」Ryan turned around. 「... He’ll be fine… He has to be fine...」

「Hello there, you two!」An unfamiliar voice echoed throughout the wood. 「How’s Zaeryn doing? Ohhh, he’s dealing with Adela’s Ultimate Arte huh? Good thing that they are both trapped in an enclosed space then. In there, Adela’s skill isn’t as deadly as she thought it would be. “Shisou” sure is lucky.」

「Who are you?」Ryan quickly turned his attention toward the new intruder. Judging from his tone, he did not seem to be Adela’s servants; however, neither Ryan or Yuusei could lower their guards, for appearing in front of them was a being with power that clearly surpassed everyone they had come into contact with. In fact, the only time Ryan had felt this pressure was when his master had summoned HaoS.  Just who is he? The hero thought to himself as sweat started to roll down his cheeks…

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Adela Ignelas Velmer , the 27th crown princess of The Holy Kingdom of Eberus, the predecessor of the current Yronas Theocracy, was one of the few individuals during her time who was blessed with an Ultimate Arte, a type of unique skill that usually possessed a power to devastate countries. Yet, with all of her overconfidence and arrogance , she has never been a good fighter. The reason did not lie with her skill, but with her overreliance on it: With <Horus’ sky domain>, she could practically deprive her opponents of all of their senses, easily transforming them into fishes in a barrel, only to be killed by her holy imbued twin chakrams. Yet...

「... What an idiot.」Kibadios snickered. The moment Adela’s Ultimate Arte was activated, the hybrid had cleverly backed away, leaning his back against one side of the barrier, allowing him to narrow down the direction of any incoming attacks. Within this space, only Adela alone would have the ability to retain her senses. That meant she had practically rendered the dolls she brought with her useless. Of course, since their main purposes were to delay the hybrid and give her enough time to activate her skill, she did not feel like losing any fighting power on her side. Though, that was not how the hybrid viewed the current situation. Had he been in Adela’s shoes, he would have let the dolls fight himself for as long as they could afford to. Although he had the upper hand, it was clear that he still could not finish off even one of the dolls, let alone all of them. Had Adela let the dolls continue fighting, he would have exhausted his Nen so that even if he emerged victorious against the five dolls, the moment Adela activated her skill, it’d be game over since he would not have enough Nen to divert to his eyes, allowing him to see some distance away from where he stood. Arrogance and selfishness, that were Adela’s two biggest weaknesses so despite possessing an overpowering skill, she had never been able to utilize them to their fullest potential. She wanted to selfishly experience the joy of bringing down and destroying the hybrid on her own that she completely forgot the advantages she had. That was why she refused to have her father help her and that was the reason why she neutralized her own weapons called Dolls. 

Now, I have to watch out for her weapons. In this space, since we cannot sense anything, long range fighters were the only one that could pose a threat and among the five dolls, only that one elf who held onto the 2 crossbows had the ability to fight from long range. Kibadios calmly analyzed while paying attention to his immediate visible surroundings, watching out for any hint of attack.

Whooshh!!!! Although he could not hear the approaching chakram, the moment it flew inside his field of vision, the hybrid quickly reacted by parrying the swirling weapon with his scythe, his keen eyes dashed left and right like Madara fighting fodder ninjas during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

「Hmm? Haha!」Adela leisurely walked toward the guarded hybrid, though carefully stopped before she could enter the area that was visible to him. 「How long can you keep this up, Zaeryn? You and I both know how this will end: by directing a majority of your Nen to your eyes, you’ll be collapsing soon once it’s depleted. If you were still Zaeryn, I know you can keep this up for days. However, you’re now just a hybrid, I bet you wont be able to do this for more than 10 minutes.」

… 5 minutes top… Kibadios thought to himself. I need to finish this within 5 minutes or else I’m screwed. Releasing his scythe, Kibadios quickly raised his hands up, and two holy auras began to take shapes of two large bows, one on each hand. He had utilized this skill while fighting Erik, though since that night, he has been continuously refining and improving it. By now, each of his shots releases several different holy imbued arrows, allowing him to project countless attacks in all directions in front of him. His current strategy of shooting indiscriminately, was a prime example of why long range fighters enjoyed significant advantage when trapped inside this domain. Furthermore, because the domain was now severely restricted inside the barrier that Ryan constructed, there were not many places where the Astral could hide. Soon enough, she had to recall her weapons back to her hands to use them to ward off the dozens of shots coming her way. The other dolls were not too fortunate since one by one, they all succumbed to the hybrid’s attacks, without even knowing what had struck them. 

Only Skyer, who was witty enough to direct his Nen toward his eyes, were able to retaliate before perishing to his wounds by shooting his poisoned arrows at the direction where he perceived Kibadios’ attacks were coming from. Even though it started off as two normal arrows, those quickly morphed into two small serpent-like creatures since they were created from his own Arte. The serpents entered Kibadios’ field of vision, but unlike previous attacks, they could move freely so their trajectory quickly changed, avoiding the hybrid counters before wrapping their bodies around one of his arms and sinking their teeth inside his flesh.  Shit! Panicked for a brief moment, Kibadios quickly regained his composure before creating a thread from his Nen, swirling it around his arm before tightening it, preventing the poison from circulating his body any further… Tsk… I should have been more careful. Kibadios reprimanded himself before directing his arrows at the serpents’ heads and shot them at point-blank range, shattering them into dust. Though, fortunately for the hybrid, that one Arte attack was the last offense Skyer could ever launch at him before one of Kibadios’ arrows abruptly pierced through his head, ending the Doll’s life.
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「I am serious, Skyer!」Standing next to the high cliff within the vast territory of the Shilna, Yllaes screamed out into the wild scenery in front of him.「One day, I will assume the title of the clan head. I will destroy this outdated confederacy, only to then unify this forest under our rule and protect it with all our might! Soon enough, the empire will turn its eyes on us and unlike my baby sister, I am not foolish enough to think we can repel them while our own forest is fragmented into different states like this...」The prideful elven prince frowned.「However, if I continue to walk this path, even if I emerge victorious by the end, I will lose my baby sister… That’s why I need to know you will still be by my side, Skyer.」

「Yllaes sama… It was about 50 years ago that you saved me from falling off this very cliff during one of my hunts. Despite me being a lowly, nameless elf child, you took me into your care and treated me like your own family. I owed my life to you.」Skyer smiled. 「Of course I will stand by my side, no matter what.」

「Thank you, Skyer.」Yllaes wrapped his arm around the doll.「I have treated you not much different than how I treated Yllaner because I have always seen you as my little brother. Together, Skyer, we will protect this woodland realm, no matter the cost.」

… Whose memory is that? … Why does it feel so nostalgic?…Skyer? Is that my name?... Where am I?... Who am I?... What am I? My consciousness is vanishing?... But have I been conscious? Everything feels so fuzzy… I feel as if this is the end… Am I crying? … Yllaes… I am sorry I cannot fulfill my oath to you… But who is Yllaes?... and who am I? Skyer’s last thoughts were all a mess, for his memories as the individual named Skyer and his empty consciousness as a doll started to mix with one another. Though soon, the doll could feel nothing, for his homunculus body had ceased to operate… The doll and its alternative personality, Skyer of the Shilna Clan, was now no more.

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「Hahaha」laughed Adela. 「It seems like that useless doll was able to land a hit on you, Zaeryn! As an <Alchemist Class>, just being hit by one of his attack is dangerous enough, I bet you’ll fall sooner than I expected.」

「... I’ll end this right now, you filthy Astral.」Although Kibadios could not hear what Adela was saying, he knew the Astral must have been ecstatic seeing how he fell to one of her dolls’ attack. 「<Arms of Darkness: Modified version 1 and 2. >」The hybrid screamed out, his eyes were bloody red from all the burden caused by overexerting his Nen into this finisher move.

「... Wha..」

To deal with Adela and her Ultimate Arte, Kibadios had devised beforehand a move that could hurt her, even when he’s trapped within her domain. This move had two modifications to his <Arms of Darkness>: the first, obviously, would convert the natural affinity of the move to that of the Holy aura, allowing it to be amplified by Ryan’s barrier. The second modification would allow the <Arms of Darkness> to be activated at predetermined locations instead of right where the hybrid stood. To mark the locations where the skills would be activated, Kibadios had cleverly imbued the “markers” into his arrows. To the untrained eyes, Kibadios had merely fired his arrows at random, hoping to hit the dolls and Adela. In truth, with each of the arrows carrying the marker, Kibadios had simultaneously laid the groundwork for this final move against Adela. That meant one the skill was activated, from more than 200 locations throughout space within the barrier and Adela’s domains, countless sharp claws made up of the Holy element began to elongate and thrust blindly straight outward. The confused Adela was now much like someone who was trapped inside a magic box, awaiting the dozen swords to pierce through, she had nowhere to hide from Kibadios’ sudden attack. It did not matter how Kibadios did not have any of his senses inside the Astral’s domain, nor could he see far out, he just knew his attack would thoroughly “comb” through the limited space and hit Adela from all directions. The Astral could be lucky and ward off a few attacks but sooner or later, she would succumb.

「ARGHHH!!!」Kibadios finally heard the loud grunting noise, which meant her domain, which required total concentration, was broken. As his vision and other senses came back to him, he was now grinning from ear to ear, for his nemesis was now caught by more than 5 of the claws, each grabbing and squeezing her body tighter than the last. 「Damn you, Zaeryn! How dare you!」

「「Master!!!」」From outside of the barrier, both Ryan and Yuusei shouted out in relief.

「I finally got you, Adela.」Kibadios quickly dismissed hundreds of other arms and left only the five which had caught the Astral since he was now completely exhausted from the massive usage of his Nen and the poison consuming his arm. Kibadios signaled for the “arms” to squeeze the Astral even more, causing her to scream out in excruciating pain.「This is nothing, Adela. Soon enough, once I finish absorbing you and your soul, you would know true pain.」

「Fuck you, Zaeryn! You lowly, pathetic being!」Adela wanted to shout, but all she could afford to let out of her mouth was a whisper shriek. 「You better... release... me… or else...」

「Else what?」Kibadios smirked.

「My father… would hunt you… down!!!」

「Ha, let him come. That would save me the time to seek him out. After all, I intend to pay him back for all the pain he caused me.」Kibadios wiped off a small bloodstain on his mouth.

「Ha… Hahaha… Don’t worry… He’s already made his move.」Adela still struggled to break free from the hold. 「By now, I’m sure your precious Ryuu... has been taken care off by Aspen.」

「What??」Kibadios’ eyes widened in horror.

「You think we’ll let a primal dragon roaming free unchecked?」 Adela laughed, though her homunculus started to cough up more blood as Kibadios’ anger caused one of the claws to squeeze her even more, breaking her spine. 「ARGHH!! Ha… Hahaha… Zaeryn… no matter how you struggle… the end result will be the same… everyone who is close to you… will perish… First was that healer… then the dragon... You… should…just... stay… dead….」

「Shut up!」Kibadios screamed out as he activated his <Devour> 「Enjoy the endless torture on your soul, bitch!」The white “shadow” made up of the Holy element started to take shape of a wolf’s watery mouth before mercilessly flew straight at the restrained Astral’s head and bit it off, then ground up her “bones” with its sharp teeth before moving on and devoured her whole body, piece by piece, just like how Alucard disposed of Luke Valentine in the Hellsing Manor’s basement. Soon, after ensuring he had obtained the Astral’s soul within himself, Kibadios signaled for Ryan to remove the barrier, before collapsing moments later. Though, Yuusei, with his quick feet, was able to jump next to his master, preventing the hybrid from falling onto the ground. 

「Kibadios sama...」Yuusei called out to his master, his eyes were full of worries.

「... Looks like you’ve grown up.」Kibadios smiled at the boy. 「Thank you, Yuusei, for taking care of those three dolls and protecting Ryan in my stead.」The hybrid slowly tried to stand on his feet, though he still had to lean on the mutant for support.

「Master...」Now, it was Ryan’s turn as he ran to his master to support him. 「... I’m sorry… I… I killed...」

「Ryan… don’t worry...」Kibadios ruffled the hero’s blond hair as Ryan slightly leaned onto him, crying. With his eyes overflowed with tears and snots starting to come out of his nose, Ryan quickly reminded the hybrid of when they first met. 「I know Rowan chan… is not dead yet… He’s still alive, out there somewhere.」

「What?」

Clap clap clap… 「That was terrific, Shisou.」The man cloaked in a black hood walked toward the hybrid, who quickly turned defensive. 

What is that man doing here? Isn’t he the one who attacked Ryan and Maia’s village?... Though...this voice… I thought it was familiar… but...

Notes:

Finally done with the fight against Adela! :D
And sorry it's kinda abrupt. It's taxing me when I try to write fluid fight scenes (hence it's taking this long to finish this chapter) >.> so expect a lot of abrupt fight scenes like these, much like Juuni Taisen's fight: Not paying attention/make one mistake --> Bam! You're dead! (Kinda realistic that way, though haha)
... Sorry again >_<

Chapter 72: BONUS: BATHROOM SEX

Okay, I know I said I'd post this when I reach the 10000th hit, but then I realized Hagane had just posted these pics on July 4th (Happy July 4th! :D though I guess since he's from Taiwan so it'd be July 3rd) on his pixiv account (which I said it's fine for him to do lol) so of the small chance you guys be checking/looking at his pixiv, I'd just post the pics here so you won't be spoiled. We can think of this as celebrating the end of Adela's fight lol >.> (for those who check regularly, I have already posted the conclusion to the fight last chapter, this is a "double release" )

Artist: Of course, it's hagane (pixiv: 423292)

I vouched for his professionalism (he asked me in details how to draw the scenes AND finished right at the estimated time. I commissioned by paypaling him in advance so I really like it that he finishes it at the time he estimated :3) feel free to reach out to him, whether to commission through pixiv request (you have to turn your language to japanese to be able to request R18) or through his gmail (his gmail is listed in his pixiv profile)...  Disclaimer: I get no discount or anything vouching/advertising for him lol He doesnt even know about this fic or anything haha. I just really like his drawing style :3

ONE NOTE: I know I had description of Ryan and Rowan's hair somewhere (ryan having crimson hair, I know i said that somewhere) but since I asked Hagane to redesign them to however he sees fit, i'd stick with these designs for now. that means at some points, i'll go back and make sure all their description fit lol. This took place during "Chapter 22" labeled "Porn"

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Without further ado, these are my most satisfied commissions/scenes I'm most happy about :D.

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R18

R18

R18

Notes:

WRITER BLOCK... or something like that... I have all the plots ready but somehow just can't write. Will take a month or 1.5 month break... maybe I should switch back to writing porn for a bit....

Chapter 73: Bonus: Jayden and Lance

Jayden and Lance in their teenage years. This was one of my earliest commission but it took a while... though I really like how it turns out :3

Artist: Yakota (やこた) Pixiv ID: 5400014 (https://skeb.jp/@sg_uk_yako)

Also, I updated in the last bonus but I'm experiencing writer block so I'll go on hiatus x hiatus for like 1-1.5 month lol I may be switching to write straight up porn (possibly, not so sure... things aren't working great in my lab so maybe I should focus on my lab work instead haha)

 

Chapter 74: Bonus: Sexy time with Maia

Okay, I did not forget about the only girl (so far) in the harem. It's just the artist took a long time to finish this (2 months minus 2 days to be precised,) though it came out perfectly, much similar to my imagination on how the poses (I did specify them though lol)/expressions/atmosphere/character designs. This was the second most expensive request I made and one of my top 3 favorites so far :D

Artist: Flügel // ふりゅーげる

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@GUMI710

Pixiv ID: 14016789

 

These are just general poses of sexy times between Kibadios and Maia, no specific time and chapter. I'd say it's after he left an incubus mark on her. Why her incubus mark is different from Rowan and Ryan? Cuz they were drawn by different artists and I didnt have the reference of the marks for them lol but canonically in the story, let's go with a simple reason: male and female get different crest. :D

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Notes:

I'll start writing the next chap as soon as "unite and fight" event from GBF ends lol

Chapter 75: The man named Aspen Seigeran.

Notes:

Let's aim to finish this arc before November, which is totally doable, if I'm not lazy.

The South East territory of the forest has been continuously governed by the Hiki , one of the five great clans, even before the foundation of the Great Vernys Confederation more than 500 years ago. Unlike the other clans, the Hiki was uniquely different, for they were not of the proud wood elves race, but the dryads. The dryads of the Hiki Clan had made the Vernys Forest their home for more than a thousand years, long before the great migration event that led the woodelves to inhabit the land. Although appearing elegant and androgenous similar to the wood elf, the dryad indeed possessed a few distinct traits of their own. The male members of the dryad race would have thin layers of tree bark covering parts of their bodies, especially from their calves down to their heels, while the female dryad would have thin green vines protruding from parts of their bodies. They still all dressed in Eastern inspired clothing, similarly to their Vernys brethren, their clothes were noticeably much more revealing since they believed their bodies, much like the nature they worshiped, were not supposed to be hidden away. Their skin appeared to have a greenish tint, while their ears took the pointy shapes of leaves that shared similarities with Leafeon’s. 

「The current generation of the Shilna leaders are simply too extraordinary, don’t you think so?」A male dryad, spoke softly as he leaned back on his rugged wooden throne, his hand swirling around a glass of red wine, a specialty of the Hiki’s territory, a crescent smile decorated his shadowy face. 「Both Yllaner sama and her brother, Yllaes sama, are too talented for their own good. And when two such individuals are born in the same place and era, conflicts are bound to happen.」The dryad took a small sip, then looked down at the people kneeling in front of him, their hands tied behind their back while their eyes were still wide open in disbelief. Their clan head, or rather, former clan head, was mercilessly murdered just moments ago, his body laid lifelessly next to the throne, at the foot of his 12th son. 

「Why...」One of the restrained male dryad began to scream out, violently struggling in vain against the four surrounding guards, who had already locked the former crown prince in place with their staff. 「Why did you kill our father, Hunter?」

「...」Saying nothing, the male dryad put down his glasses onto the small table closeby before walking down the steps leading down from the throne. 「Because he was an incompetent fool… If he stays as the head of our clan, it would lead us to nothing but ruin.」The dryad squatted down in front of his eldest brother, his smile had yet disappeared 「You know what, don’t you? He resented being under the yolk of the Shilna. He resented having had to answer to the Shilna despite being the head of his own clan. He selfishly wanted to break free from the confederation, wanted to break free from the influence of the Shilna… You’re much smarter than he was, my dear brother. You must have known that his selfishness would lead our clan to ruin, haven’t you? Still, you did not try to stop him… not even once. You simply sat back, being content with just watching him selfishing destroying the foundation of the cooperation between the ruling clans of Vernys. Had you done something to stop him, I’d have been content with letting you replace our foolish father as the clan head. In fact, I’d have been glad to help you to take over the clan. Yet, you did nothing. Your considerate and timid nature had set this tragedy into motion, brother. You had forced me to do this...」

「... But he’s still our father!」screamed out the former crown prince. 「He might be foolish, he might be selfish, but he has never mistreated you… not even once! Yet, you mercilessly slit his throat without even blinking an eye… You’re nothing but a monster!」

「Yes, I am indeed a monster. 」acknowledged Hunter. 「But right now, this monster is what our clan needs in order to survive this upcoming turbulent time. If our father were to remain as the clan head, knowing how ambitious Yllaes is, sooner or later, we will be annexed into the Shilna completely. Either that or the fracturation of our forest’s confederation would allow those Yin dogs to overrun us. Father could only see the momentary gain but missed the big picture.」The usurper looked up straight into his brother’s eyes.「... I will take over as the clan head and I will protect it with my life, I promise, brother.」

「... Hahaha… and I guess you want to ask for my blessing before killing all of us… all of your brothers and sisters here?」The former crown prince understood the implication. Since Hunter had committed patricide to gain power, allowing any of his siblings to live would mean sowing seeds of even further dissidents and legitimacy crises in the future. 

「「「What? No! Hunter!」」」「Spare us!」「I swear my loyalty to you, Hunter!」「Please!!」「I’m your dear sister, Hunter!」

「...」Despite the pleas and begging from his siblings echoing in the chamber, the restrained crown prince remained stoic. He knew nothing he could do or say would sway his little brother. 「May the forest spirits protect our clan and the Vernys forest… But mark my word, Hunter, for I know the great forest spirits would sooner or later, judge and sentence you to a fate worse than death!」

「Hahaha, it seems like the great spirits have already deemed me worthy of the title of Clan Head, or else, my coup would not have been successful. Just rest now, brother. Time to leave all of your worries behind.」The male dryad simply waved his hand, signalling for the dozen guards to systematically behead his crying and screaming siblings. Once the executions were completed, he silently dismissed the guards from the room. The once rowdy audience hall was filled with nothing but silence. 

...「So, tell me, Hunter, which do you love more? Your awesome brother or our beloved clan?」

「Mmmmm...」The young dryad thought for a while as steam started to blow up from his head. 「I dont know… I can’t choose! I love both! But it doesn't really matter, does it? You will become the clan head in the future and for us, the Clan Head is the Clan and the Clan is the Clan Head, so either loving you or our clan does not make a difference.」

「Aww! But I’d still like it more if you said you loved me more, Hunter!」The young crown prince squeezed his little brother with a hug.

「Brother! When I grow up, I’ll be your right hand man. I will help you and our clan to protect our sacred forest!」declared the young Hunter.

「Really? I can’t wait.」

Hunter, the 12th clan head of the Hiki, sat alone on his throne, his hugging tightly onto the head of his unforgiving eldest brother as a cold darkness enveloped his surroundings. With the guards gone, he had already discarded his cruel facade, letting his tears freely streamed down his face. He was finally able to pick the answer to the prophetic choices that his older brother once asked, choosing the good of the clan over the tie to his own family. He knew this day would come the moment he agreed to work as one of Yllaner’s spies within the Hiki Clan. He knew, yet, he was not prepared to experience this pain.「... This… is already… a fate worse than death for me… brother...」

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「So, where is Ryuu kun?」asked the blind hero as he leaned back onto the wall behind him.

「You just missed him. It’s lunch time so his shift is over. Of course he’s taking his break with Maia somewhere just outside this barrack.」answered Amber. Both the heroes were now again sitting at the back of the crowded war room, watching over the Princess dealing with every new development that arose from this ever changing conflict. Since assassinating the Princess would be the quickest way to end the conflict, Thomas and Amber have been watching over her, alternating between themselves and the dragonoid in 12 hrs shifts.

「I see...」Thomas remained silent for a while, before continuing. 「Say, Amber dono. What’s your impression of him?」

「Of Ryuu kun? He’s an arrogant asshole, but he does have the strength to back it up.」admitted Amber with a chuckle. 「Though, I always find it amusing how despite being a powerful dragonkin, he was always getting defensive when being scolded by Kibadios dono for behaving badly. I guess the only people he truly respected were the Princess and Kibadios dono. He’s not behaving too bad in front of Kibadios’ other servants, either.」

「What about you, Floria dono?」The blind hero turned to Amber’s companion, who was standing close enough to the two to be able to listen in. Given the time they spent together, Amber and Floria had already explained to Thomas why Floria’s name was changed to “Natalie” when she was in the presence of Corey.

「He truly is arrogant like Amber said but I don't think too badly of him. Why do you ask?」

「 I have just been thinking about him and his alleged background that Yllaner dono had told us.」explained Thomas. 「These past few days, I have been walking around the barrack, asking these gathering soldiers about whether they know Ryuu kun had taken residence within the forest.」

「What did they say?」

「None knew about our mysterious Ryuu kun. Most were even surprised that the Princess had the backing of a dragonoid to begin with and the fact that she did had significantly tipped the balance of this conflict from it being a hopeless struggle to a somewhat 50/50 fight.」answered Thomas. 「I don’t think she told us the truth about Ryuu kun’s background.」

「It’s actually understandable. Dragonkins usually do not like to share their origin. No one even knows the background behind the only dragonkin member in the Yin Empire’s 12 heavenly generals. I heard that person just mysteriously showed up one day to claim the title of heavenly general a few hundreds years ago.」Amber turned to Thomas.

「That is true. But still, somehow, I have a strange feeling that I have felt Ryuu kun’s presence somewhere before. But for the life of me, I could never recall meeting a dragonkin.」

「You also think so?」Amber was surprised. 「Both Floria and I also felt his Nen was really familiar...」

「... That’s righ! I remember now! It feels like the aura we felt when we entered the Ryuujin’s cave a few months back, doesn it?」Floria finally realized, which shocked both Thomas and Amber.

「...」Thomas nodded. 「You’re right… But that means...」

「...」Amber remained silent before interjecting the older hero. 「I think we’re worrying too much about this. There’s no way Ryuu kun is related to Ryuujin.」

「... You’re right… “Ryuu” is just an ancient name for a dragon and I’m not too familiar with them to know for sure but maybe all dragonkins’ aura are somewhat similar to one another.」Thomas concluded. Though he seemed to have dropped the topic on the surface, he still clearly had doubts.  

「Besides, Ryuu kun is devotingly serving Kibadios dono now.」Amber discreetly studied Thomas’ expression.「and if it’s Kibadios dono trusts Ryuu kun enough, then I don't have any problem with him.」

「You seemed to have such a high opinion of Kibadios dono, Amber dono?」smiled Thomas.

「Well, he was one of our saviors, after all.」explained Amber. 「Though too bad the other one was a demon lord. The Great Demon Lord, no less… 」

「Yeah, you’re right… You know, I’m ashamed to admit, but I did not trust Kibadios dono even after the incident with the Prime Minister.」confessed Thomas. 「I thought he would definitely somehow profit from the fame he earned with the citizens of Lorian. But in the end, I was wrong and I realized my prejudice had gotten the better of me.」

「I don’t blame you, Thomas dono. Given your past, it’s only natural to...」Floria tactfully tugged the female hero’s shirt, stopping her from saying anything inconsiderate. 「I’m sorry, Thomas dono. I didn’t meant to...」

「Don’t worry, I dont mind.」The old man faintly smiled before turning expressionless, his eyes looked into the far off distance, thinking about the day he would clash again Erik.

BAMMM!!

「What was that?」Floria quickly stood up attentively.

「It’s coming from outside.」Thomas concluded. 「Sounds like… trees are being toppled over?」

「Enemy attack?」guessed Amber

「Most likely.」Thomas gripped tightly onto his harpoon and dashed out. 「You should stay here to watch over the Princess. I’ll check out the noise.」

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「Ryuu kun!!!」Maia screamed out in horror as the dragonoid was sent flying, puncturing through rows of giant trees before finally stopping after his fifth crash. The alchemist girl skillfully dodged the falling branches and trunks as she made her way toward Ryuu. 「Are you okay?」Her hand held out several high potions vials that she distilled herself.

「Maia senpai...」Ryuu struggled to get back on his feet. 「Please run away. He’s not someone we can deal with.」

「Who is he? Why is he attacking us?」asked the girl, who was thoroughly confused. The man dressed in fancy paladin armor had just suddenly appeared in the middle of their peaceful lunch before launching several attacks at Ryuu without saying a single word. With his right arm held onto an oversized sword while his left carried a large shield, the man left Ryuu no chance to counterattack, let alone Maia. Soon enough, the two found themselves cornered by the man’s presence. Even Ryuu seemed powerless standing in front of him. 

「I don’t know for sure… But the insignia on his shield… I know that insignia too well. It belonged to the Seigeran Family. 」

「Seigeran family?」

「They’re an extinct family now, but 10000 years ago, they were one of the 10 great families that worked closely with Zaeryn sama to build up the Suikoden heroic system.」explained Ryuu. 「One of its members, Aspen Seigeran, was a companion of Zaeryn sama… his closest ally who mysteriously betrayed him during the second holy war. He married Adela and joined the ranks of the Astral, becoming one of their tools. And I think I’m looking at that person right now… right, Aspen Seigeran, the strongest individual within the Paladin Class that has ever existed?」

「... It seems Ryuujin’s descendant is as truly sharp as he was.」The man smiled tenderly, without a hint of menace emitting from him. Yet, even a battle novice like Maia knew that just one wrong move, and both her and Ryuu would be cut down in no time.

Chapter 76

The young paladin appeared before them clad his whole body in a full elaborated adamantine armor, decorated with a distinct light blue chest piece in the shape of a horned wolf. His left arm carried an oversized shield that could easily cover his whole body while his right hand held onto a large sword. He had short, silky chestnut hair that contrasted with his light skin tone. His piercing eyes were distinctively different from any others Maia had met, for his large round pupils appeared in opal color, reflecting the sunlight from above, causing them to appear as if they were radiating light on their own. 

「I am sorry, Ryuu kun.」The paladin spoke softly in a caring voice. His handsome face showed sights of lingering regrets as he continued 「But your existence is a threat to this world’s balance. Both you and Zaeryn’s reincarnation have to be taken care of...」The man let out a sorrowful frown. 「...I have no other choice.」

「... Maia senpai...」Ryuu finally stood up on his still shaking feet. 「Please get away from here. I don't think I can even fight against him, let alone protecting you from this monstrous being. After all, he is one of the few individuals that could best even an Ennead in battle.」

「Ryuu kun, stop worrying about me!」scolded Maia frustratingly at the dragonoid. Unlike Ryan, Ryuu, and even Yuusei, both Maia and Rowan were just novice fighters. They might have been able to deal with some monsters under the trainings of the hybrid, but they still lacked the experiences required to truly fight proficiently… and they both knew that. She had cursed her incompetency over and over again whenever she relived the horrific moment her beloved master risked his life to protect the two of them back at Lorian. Henceforth, the once ignorant village girl had been training herself, days and nights, to be able to efficiently utilize her skills in battle to assist her master. Even if it cost the girl her life, she had promised herself to never let her master or anyone she loved to risk their lives in order to protect her once again. 「I’m not going anywhere! Whether you like it or not, I’ll stay here and we will defeat this guy together!」The alchemist determinedly declared. Several of her distilled chemical vials were already now kept tightly between her fingers.

「...」Ryuu was surprised at the girl’s reaction. Originally, he did not have much respect nor high opinions for these humans that his master had tamed, but now, he realized he might have been wrong. 「Maia senpai...」

「Please, young lady.」Aspen calmly reached out to Maia.「You better listen to Ryuu and walk away from here. I promise I will not harm you. I know Zaeryn has always been a pragmatic person, being able to convert countless people to his side, being able to have others pledge their lives to his cause… even I was once his devotee... but trust me, it’s better if you give up and get away from him. He may think he knows everything there is to know about this world, but if he were to have it his way, to break the balance of this world, nothing good will come out of it. You’re still not yet tangled deeply in this ironic fate of this world so stay away, or else, I regretfully have to end you, along with Ryuu kun.」

「TRY ME!」Maia was pissed. She might have been ignorant of everything about the world and its history, but she knew one thing: she would always be by her master’s side, even if the path he has chosen would lead to nothing but ruin. The alchemist effortlessly popped open the cork to one of her vials, allowing its gaseous content to diffuse out before morphing them into shapes of butterflies using her <Poison Manipulation> skill. The deadly butterfly shaped gas soon surrounded the motionless paladin before her snap ignited the chain reaction, causing all of them simultaneously busted in flame, swallowing the unimpressed Aspen into the burning inferno. 

… If this man is here, that means the Astral has begun to act and Master clearly is in danger. Maia thought to herself while watching her towering flames continue to burn unabated. Please be safe.  

「Maia senpai, I’m sorry for telling you to run away.」Ryuu walked up to the alchemist from behind, wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back for protection from the heat. 「You’re right, we will defeat him together.」The dragonoid grinned.

「Thanks, Ryuu chan.」The girl nodded.「He’s still alive in there, isn’t he? Even I could feel his presence.」

「Yes. Your attack is splendid but such an attack means nothing to him.」Ryuu glared straight at the dark silhouette, which has slowly been walking up to the edge of the flame storm. Just like Ryuu had predicted, Aspen appeared completely unharmed, his hair dancing to the gusty wind caused by the heat. 「I have never met with him personally but from all the hearsay I heard about him, he possessed an ultimate Arte called <Gluttony Overlord Beelzebub> that could absorb any attacks and transform them into his own. In short, if we’re attacking him randomly, we’re merely feeding him our power.」

「That is correct.」Aspen smiled. Plunging his oversized sword and shield down into the ground below, the ancient hero quickly demonstrated his power as he absorbed all the firestorm with one of his hands, then amplified and released it straight at the two standing in front of him with another hand. Though, the blast did not reach either Maia or Ryuu since the dragonoid had quickly conjured up his seven-branched spear and split the attack into two. 「...That weapon belonged to your grandfather, correct?」Aspen easily recognized the unique look of the spear.「But judging how you’re still using it as a spear, I guess Zaeryn had deem you not ready to utilize its secondary form.」

「Secondary form? What are you talking about?」

「Nothing.」dismissed Aspen. 「I’m just being nostalgic since I have not seen it in many millenia. Lady Maia, if you had decided to die as one of Zaeryn’s followers, I will not stop you. I will try to end both your life and Ryuu’s life as painlessly as possible.」

「No thanks!」Maia readied her attack. 「We don’t intend to die without Kibadios sama’s permission!」

「Hahaha!」Ryuu laughed. 「Well said, Maia senpai! Please back me up!」The dragonoid leapt forward with his spear in hand, swiftly closed his distance against Aspen before thrusting the weapon at an incomprehensible speed. Since Aspen could absorb any non physical attacks, simply straight up forcing him into close combat was the best strategy Ryuu could employ to counter him. Yet, despite the subsonic speed of the incoming attacks, the hero turned Astral could easily keep up with the dragonoid’s movement without breaking a sweat, dodging every attack aiming at him while his attention was never removed from Maia, who was looking for a chance to launch an attack of her own. From another two of her vials, thin purple layers of gases continuously leaked out, taking the form of two twin snakes. The gaseous snakes swirled around the defending hero. Whenever the snakes slithered to, the green batches of grass on the ground quickly withered due to their extreme corrosive property. Yet, much like how Chrollo took on Zeno Zoldyck while keeping distance from Silva Zoldyck during their fight at Yorknew Auction House, Aspen left no such opening for the girl to take advantage of despite busy having fend off Ryuu’s attacks. Their fighting experience was just too vastly different. To Aspen, even someone with fighting prowess like Ryuu was no more than a novice. 

Of course, the dragonoid easily noticed the huge gap in both strength and techniques between him and his opponents. What made it worse was the fact he could not use his deadly skills such as <Dragon Blast> and had to rely only on his physical attacks, all of which were parried away by Aspen with his bare hands. 
「You had good forms, Ryuu, but you left too many openings.」noted Aspen. 「I can’t really blame you since I bet you rarely have to rely on physical attacks like this most of the time, am I right?」Realizing his chance, Aspen quickly grabbed onto Ryuu’s wrist the moment the dragonoid attempted to slash his spear downward, preventing him from escaping.

「Shit!」Ryuu cursed, though it was too late. Aspen swiftly thrust his Nen imbued arm at the dragonoid’s torso, easily pierced through it. 「Haaa...」There was no blood splattered since dragon possessed no blood in their body, yet, a large amount of magicule (magic molecule,) which acted as the primal dragon’s “blood,”  soon gushed out from the large opened wound, leaving the weakened dragonoid collapsed onto the ground. 

「Ryuu chan!!!!」Maia called out as she hurriedly ran toward her half unconscious companion, though she was stopped dead in her tracks when Aspen quickly jumped in front of her, as fast as the speed of sound that made it looked like he was teleporting. 

「CCHIIII!!!!」From behind the Astral, the small slime, who had wandered off into the thick woodland vegetation after enjoying its lunch, had raced back to its owners the moment it sensed Aspen’s intimidating presence. It quickly jumped up and blasted its charged up energy beam directly at the ancient hero in order to force him to get away from Maia. Though, since it was not a physical attack, the beam was quickly absorbed into the man’s body the moment it touched his skin, leaving the slime puzzling. 

「You’re an interesting slime.」Smiled Aspen after turning around to face it. 「But in the end, you’re just a slime. If Ryuu could not do anything against me, how did you think you can?」The hero pointed his finger at the slime, before releasing the energy beam back at a greatly amplified power. One swipe of his finger was all it took to slide the defiant slime into two. 

「Noo!!! Nu chan!」Maia gritted her teeth. 「How dare you!」Raising both her hands up, the alchemist seemed to activate her skill, though she soon found the respectable amount of aura she exuded was completely swallowed up by that of Aspen as he finally paid his full attention to her. With just his gaze, Maia felt suffocated as her strength left her body. She was no expert in gauging one’s strength but she knew the power of the person standing in front of her far exceeded anyone else she had met, to the point it felt as if to him, the menace that was the Chaos infected Prime Minister was nothing but a small ant in his eyes. 

「Maia senpai… please… run...」The defeated Ryuu inched his tattered body closer to the Astral and grabbed his feet in a desperate yet clearly futile attempt to stop him from harming the village girl.

「...」Aspen merely looked down at the primal dragon with his pitiful eyes without saying anything before looking straight at Maia.「Don’t worry, Lady Maia… I will make sure your death is as painless as possible.」

「My my my… I can’t have that, can I?」A figure appeared behind Maia loudly declaring. 「She’s one of Shisou’s slaves. If she dies, Shisou will be sad… I think.」

「Who?」jolted Maia before turning around, only to see a man cloaked in dark hood, stood towering over her.「Who … are you...」

「What are you doing here?」Aspen frowned. 

「Stopping you from killing them, of course.」A crescent smile could be seen under the dark hood. 「Now that I’m here, I see we have three options: one, we fight to the death. Two, you go back to the Modun Realm and leave these people in my hand. Three, I make you go back to the Modun Realm and leave these people in my hand.」The hooded man’s eyes glowed as he made his threats.

「... If your master had made his presence known, you should follow his example.」Aspen noticed the presence of another, who hid themselves behind the shadow of a large tree.

「You’re a dangerous man, Aspen Seigeran. I had completely erased my presence and erased my very own existence, yet I cannot hide from you.」A white hair girl slowly stepped out into the open. She had a rather emotionless expression, yet her eyes were full of sadness and sorrow.

「...」Without saying a word, Aspen raised his hands, calling back his sword and shield, both of which flew straight back to where he stood. The confidence he had when dealing with Ryuu had completely vanished, now replaced with a rather cautious expression. 「... I choose the first option, Matelus kun.」

「Wrong!」The cloak figure declared, snapping his finger as a signal to the girl.「It’s actually the third!」

「Tsk!」Just like he had feared, Aspen soon found the space around him started to distort before being completely warped like a piece of fabric. He, himself, along with the surrounding space, was being pulled by the teenage girl into a singular dark hole before completely vanishing into thin air. 

「Too bad now is not the time for an all out war between us. Bye Aniki. Tell your Ennead masters I said hello!」The cloak figure waved. 

「Are you sure, Matelus?」The girl softly spoke after approaching him.「We could have take him on.」

「Now is not the time.」The man turned to the confused Maia. 「Had we fought for real, I dont think this little girl, the dragonoid, or the slime would have survived the clash.」

「... Who are you?」Maia gulped. From their conversation, at least she found comfort knowing the man and little girl did not mean them any harm. 

「Let’s put a pin on that. Shouldn’t you be taking care of Ryuu? Granted he’s a dragonoid so his healing factor is very potent, but he still has a hole on his torso.」The man pointed at the dragonoid, who lay lifelessly on the ground. 「And that slime too, it should have survived since Aspen missed its core, but you better look after it.」

「Nu?」Putting Ryuu’s head on her lap, the girl quickly administered full potion she synthesized on his wound before looking over where the slime was cut in half. Both of its pieces were now inching closer to one another and seemingly fused together into one whole again, much to Maia’s relief. 「Thank goodness you’re okay! The both of you!」The girl was unable to hold back her tears as she let out a big sigh of relief once she noticed Ryuu’s twitch. 「Thank you for sav...」Before she could say anything, they were gone. 

「Maia dono! What happened here?」Thomas was the first to reach the scene.

「We… we were attacked.」Maia was hesitant to answer for a brief moment since it’d be hard to explain to others what had transpired without spilling her master’s secret.

「What? How’s Ryuu dono?」Thomas noticed the dragonoid’s aura was diminishing. 「Who could have hurt him this bad?」

「... I… I dont know...」

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「And that was what transpired yesterday, Shisou.」reported Matelus to the hybrid.「You probably don’t have to worry about Aspen coming back. Since he knew I’m here, he will not be acting rashly.」

「How...」Kibadios was at a loss with everything he had learned. Though, the one fact that shocked him the most was the man standing in front of him right now. 「How can you still be alive?」

「I wonder.」The man grinned deviously. 

Notes:

So many things happened... I want to wrap this arc up soon but since there are so many storylines cramped in here, I just can't. Though, promise, we're close...ish to the end of the arc. I'll probably have an "arc 3.5" to properly conclude all the storylines.
PS: Is it getting confusing? I sure hope not. I mean, I introduced a lot of "mysteries" but I hope I did not make it confusing.

Chapter 77

A white butterfly fluttered its wings, elegantly flew past a few unsuspecting elven patrols before disappearing into the small opening windows of an elaborated treehouse covered with the leafless wisteria. The woody vines were not native to the Vernys forest itself but were a gift of friendship from the former Kingdom of Yue, a state that was conquered by the Yin Empire more than three decades earlier. It used to house the ambassador from the kingdom, yet ever since its demise, the place was given to the two esteemed guests which the Shilna clan had taken in: the last prince and princess of Yue, a pair of beautiful high elven twins, who also currently served as the High Shamans of the Confederation.

「What does it say, Onii sama?」A pink haired elven girl, appearing in her teenage years, asked after she heard the sound the butterfly made as it entered the house. Although her eyes were blind, her keen hearing sense was more than enough to make up for her disability. 

「Let me check.」Her brother, who appeared just as beautiful as she was, raised his hand, reached out and caught the butterfly, which quickly transformed into a small piece of paper.「It looks like there are upheavals in the other three clans. The forces loyal to the Princess had taken over and declared Yllaes dono an illegitimate head. They are readying their forces as we speak to counter Yllaes.」The elven teen looked clearly annoyed. 「What are they thinking? Woodland clans fighting against woodland clans? Don’t they know the Yin Empire is looking forward to the day our forces get exhausted and depleted? This is ridiculous.」

「...」The girl thought for a moment before trying to calm her hot tempered brother. 「I don’t think Yllaner dono would be acting this foolishly. She knows full well the threat of the Empire. If my guess is correct, the forces of the three Clans are not aiming to engage Yllaes dono’s host in an open battle.」

「Then what are they doing, mobilizing their forces right now? Besides, if they’re doing nothing, then Princess Yllaner will be the one who’s in danger. I heard she had a backing of a dragonkin for some reason but Yllaes dono right now has both numbers and the forces of the Hyakki Yagyo on his side...」The brother suddenly stopped saying anything more once he came to a sudden realization. 「Wait, then the forces of the Clans are planning to...」

「Yes.」The girl nodded slightly. 「They are aiming for the only leverage Yllaes dono has. Without it, Yllaes dono will undoubtedly be checkmated, despite having the entire forces of the Shilna military at his disposal.」

「Yllaes dono is such an idiot. Why did he rise up against the Princess.」The brother clicked his tongue. 「If he is content to serve under the princess once she takes over as clan head, the Shilna Clan and the Vernys Confederation both will be much stronger. As High Shamans, we’re not supposed to interfere with their internal affairs but I just can’t help but fear this conflict will mark the end for the confederation… Just like the civil war that caused the downfall of our Kingdom.」

「Don’t worry, Onii sama.」His sister slowly made her way to the elven teenager. 「Let’s have some faith in the Princess.」

「Yeah… Somehow, I feel like the climax to this conflict is approaching. We can only hope the outcome of their sibling rivalries will not weaken Vernys. Not when Yin Empire is salivating over the Vernys territory like a pack of hungry wolf.」

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「That appearance… you’re looking the same as you did 10000 years ago, Matelus. I should have recognized you the first time we met.」Kibadios raised his eyebrows. 

「Well, I don’t blame you, Shisou. After all, this organization XIII cloak hid my face pretty well.」Matelus grinned. By now, he had completely pulled his hood down, revealing a man in his thirties, filled with youthful energy and incredible life force, not like someone who was supposed to be in his 10000s. His eyes are piercingly blue, as vibrant as the last time Kibadios had seen him. His spiky dark hair, which resembled that of Shogo from Tensei shitara slime series, lacked a single gray strand of hair. Yet, for Kibadios, the one single thing that has changed about the star pupil he helped train was his demeanor. Gone was the timid genius he was once familiar with. Instead, standing in front of him, was a man exuded with confidence, mixed in with a hint of malevolence.「Besides, I was the one at fault here. I should have realized the cute hybrid monster was your reincarnation. Welcome back, Shisou.」

「... You still have yet answered my question: Why are you looking exactly the same as you did more than 10 millennia ago? This is not your reincarnation, isn’t it?」

「Ho? I thought you would be more concerned for your slave and Ryuu kun back in the encampment.」Matelus pointed out, which caused the hybrid to twitch slightly. Of course he was worried for those two, but right now, there were simply too many things happening simultaneously for him to process.

「You said they were fine?」Kibadios just wanted to confirm once again. 

「Well, our Ryuu kun got a hole on his body, but with his healing factor, he probably is fine. Bedridden for a few days, but fine regardless. That slime should recover in no time too. The girl was unharmed to begin with so no need to worry about her.」

「... Thank you, Matelus, for saving them.」Said Kibadios, though he still had some reservations about his student’s intention. 

「You’re very welcome, Shisou.」The man smiled, though, again, Kibadios could notice the feeling of uneasiness swelled up within him. 

「Master, what should we do?」Ryan remained silent for a while, finally deciding to speak up. Of course he indeed worried for Ryuu; however, as of this very moment, he was more interested in learning about Rowan’s safety. 「We still have to find Rowan chan... I...」Kibadios could feel the hero’s hands shaking. After all, he was the one who cut his own loved one down mercilessly without a single explanation.

「Like I said, Ryan, Rowan chan is still alive.」Kibadios tried to calm the hero down.「He made a contract to be my slave for perpetuity, consensually accepting my incubus crest onto his body. That crest links him to me in a way. Since I can still feel his presence, he’s not dead yet...」Kibadios somehow stopped in mid sentence, his eyebrows slightly frowned in worries, though he tried not to show it to the hero. 「He’s probably resting somewhere, recovering from his wounds.」

「Then we gotta look for him soon. He should not be far from here.」urged Ryan.

「Decision decision.」Matelus whistled, uncaring of his teacher’s blight.

… He’s definitely not the same Matelus I knew before . Concluded Kibadios. But it’s not as if someone is controlling him. What’s going on here? And why did he try to attack Rowan and Maia’s village? And what’s his purpose here?

「Ryan, calm down!」ordered Kibadios. By now, the hybrid had gained back enough strength to let go of Yuusei and stand on his own.「Instead of focusing on a single thing, you gotta look at the big picture. Yes, Rowan needs our help, but so does the Princess. With Ryuu, the strongest individual at the camp, got defeated, the Princess’ forces will undoubtedly become restive. She wanted to use his overwhelming presence to assure her followers victory but now, that has come back to bite her. The next few days are the most crucial part of the conflict. You have to go back to the encampment and protect her.」

「But, what about Rowan chan?」Ryan understood everything his master had just explained to him, but he could still not muster the determination to leave the healer behind.

「I will stay here and look for him. I cannot pinpoint his exact location, but at least, given my connection with him, I should have a better chance at finding him than you do.」Explained Kibadios.

「... I understand, Master.」The hero reluctantly nodded. 「Please find Rowan for me… I would not be able to look Maia in the eyes if something were to happen to him.」

「Dont worry. Just focus on protecting Yllaner.」ordered Kibadios. 「I will bring Rowan back with us.」His master gave the hero a confident grin, trying to reassure him one last time.

「Thank you, Kibadios sama.」acknowledged Ryan. 

「If you like, I can take him back to the camp.」Matelus volunteered.

「What do you mean?」

「I mean, this!」Matelus snapped his finger, causing a portal to appear right in front of Ryan. 「Just walk in there, Ryan kun. It’d take you to the encampment right away.」

「...」Kibadios carefully studied the warped space before allowing the hero to walk inside. 「Just do it, Ryan… Matelus isn’t our enemy.」 But, I don't think he’s on our side, either. The hybrid continued his sentence in his thoughts.

「I will await for your return, master, along with Yuusei chan and Rowan chan.」Ryan bowed respectfully before walking inside the portal. 「Thank you, Matelus dono.」

「Don’t worry about it, Ryan kun. I’m happy to help.」

「... If you’re happy to help, why did you not volunteer to protect Sylvia’s reincarnation?」pointed out Kibadios after Ryan had disappeared. 「And that portal, that is not merely created from a teleportation skill… that is a warp in the fabric of space itself. Tell me, Matelus, why are you still alive after 10000 years? How can you control space itself?... and most importantly, what are you really planning?」

「You’re as sharp as ever, Shisou」Matelus commended the hybrid.「But not sharp enough to realize that I’m not the one who controls this portal. This is her doing, not mine.」Matelus pointed at the space right next to him, which started to glitch out like the matrix before a girl appeared, catching the hybrid off guard. 

How? Even I cannot sense her? Kibadios’ eyes were wide open. Standing next to him, Yuusei suddenly put up his guard, for just as his master, he realized the girl was an entity that not in a million years would he wish to stand against.

「She is...」

「A secret.」Matelus smiled. 「And to answer your question, Shisou: why did I not protect that Princess myself? The answer is simple: I just don’t care if she lives or dies. In fact, I really don’t care for the outcome of this trivial conflict either. I was there, by chance, to protect your properties because I do owe you a lot so that’s the least I could do… I was hoping to have a talk with you, but it seems like you’re still busy worrying about your insignificant slave. I will postpone our real reunion to some time in the future. Once everything is settled, seek me out at the ruin under the lake. I’d like to know your “answer.”」Matelus bowed to his teacher, before both him and the girl started to spiral into the empty space much like how Obito disappeared using his sharingan. 「... Though, seeing how despite weakened so much by the poison, you still care so much for insignificant lives, I feel like our “answers” are just too different… to the point we may go against one another in the future.」Before completely disappearing into the vortex of space, the man gave his teacher a mysterious smile. 「Try your best to find that “Rowan kun,” Shisou. I’d hate it if he dies and I have to start all over again.」 

「... Matelus...」muttered Kibadios at his student’s ominous farewell. You know Rowan? … Was that why his village was attacked?

「Master okay?」Yuusei turned toward his master after hearing about the poison. 

「I can manage, don’t worry, Yuusei.」Kibadios patted his head, though unlike previous times, Yuusei was now standing taller than his master so the act felt kind of wrong to the hybrid. Still, Yuusei still seemed to like it so much that his small rabbit tail started to wag like a dog. 「Well, look at you, your clothes are too tight for your body… Kinda like Gon after he turned into an adult.」Kibadios smiled before his shadow appeared and spit out a pair of dark clothes.「Here, try to wear these. They’re clothes from one of those adventurers that I devoured. They should fit.」

The mutant simply nodded and put the clothes on as his master instructed. 「What now?」He asked. 「Looking for Rowan senpai?」

「Yes… Let’s go to the river’s bank. We have to hurry.」Kibadios frowned. 「I might have promised Ryan nothing bad will happen to Rowan, but truth to be told, Rowan might as well be at death’s door, lying half dead somewhere. If we’re not hurried, we may be too late.」

「What?」Yuusei was worried

「You see, if Rowan was conscious, he should be able to use the <Flame of Restoration> on himself before seeking me out and warning me about Ryan. But he did not, even though where we camped was not too far away. The only reason I could think of is that he was not able to recover right away using his skill…Damn that bitch!」Kibadios punched through the tree on his way, though his vision suddenly turned black for a moment as his body heated up. The poison is still circulating within my body… I dont have much time. Yet, the hybrid quickly brushed it up and acted as if nothing happened, for he knew if Yuusei were to know how badly beaten up his body was now, the mutant would urge him to go back to Maia. 

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The slew of bad news reached Yllaes all at the same time as his army encamped for the night, from the coup d'etat within the three clans to the death of Skyer. According to the report, the soldier did not know how had fought against his right hand man but his lifeless body was found in the middle of a gruesome massacre, where dozens of bodies, most of them were the low ranking adventurers that were hired and attached to the army, scattered around. As the Prince read the report, his close confidants could see bloody veins popped in his eyes, causing his tears to turn red. He did not have time to process his rage and sadness before the news of the three clans turning against him reached his ears. Before he set out with his army, he had calculated his chance of winning against his sister was more than 75%, yet now, it was him who got backed into the corner. 

「What should we do, Yllaes sama?」

「We have to turn around and protect our territory! The other three clans will attack us in the back!」One suggested.

「No, they will without doubt, match their armies here, combining with the Princess’ forces, and try to crush our forces directly, once and for all.」Another argued.

「Are you stupid? That would cause untold numbers of casualties. The princess will not allow that.」

「Shut up!」The Prince commanded. 「Let me think!」

「Report!」A messenger barged inside the tent, bearing an urgent message. 

「What now?」One of the Prince’s advisors asked.

「According to our spies, the dragonkin that sided with the Princess was gravely injured. We don’t know who was able to best him nor the extent of his injury, though. However, his defeat had caused the morale of the Princess’ army to plummet. The rumor circulated within the army was that the Great Demon Lord Ashura himself had taken out the dragonoid.」

「What? Ashura?」

「No way. I thought we did not have contract with him for such a mission?」

「Was it because Erik reported to him about the dragonkin’s presence that caused him to make his move?」

「...」Yllaes remained silent while his advisors argued among themselves. I still have a chance to win this. 「We will continue to march forward, until our enemies are destroyed.」The Prince finally declared. 

「But Yllaes sama, our home territory is under threat from the three clans right now.」One of the commanders reminded the Prince.

「So what?」Yllaes coldly asked.「You have lost sight of the reason why we set out in the first place. It’s to catch my sister. Even if the three clans were to attack our territories, it would take weeks, if not months, for them to penetrate deep and threaten our capital. By that time, we would have triumphed over Yllaner. If their figurehead is gone, who then, can unite the three clans? Once we’re done dealing with Yllaner, we will turn around and crush them. Though, if they learn my sister had perished, I’m sure they would have no choice but to accept me as the head of Vernys. After all, just like my dead sister, those who followed her and caused these coup d’etat knew better than to fight against our army and risk depleting the military might of the forest. In short, the only way for us to secure victory is to crush Yllaner before the three Clans can threaten our capital. It’s a race to see which one of us would achieve our objective first.」

「「「I see」」」Those who gathered nodded.

「Besides, our forces will grow stronger soon… by leap and bound.」

「What do you mean?」

「I have contacted Erik and secure further assistance from the Hyakki Yagyo: six of the 12 captains of Hyakki Yagyo will join and help us eliminate Yllaner herself.」

「What? Really?」The news was a shock for everyone. After all, rarely could someone secure a contract with just one of the captains, let alone six of them. The last time when the whole 12 captains, along with Ashura himself took up a contract, they were able to decimate a whole country into oblivion, gaining himself the title of a Great Demon Lord.

「Yes. My sister will fall, sooner or later.」declared Yllaes.

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As the commanders excused themselves to go back to their tents after a long discussion with Yllaes, the Prince simply sat back on his chair, exhausted. I’m surrounded by idiots , Yllaes thought as he lamented the fate that befell his right hand man. None of the commanders under him possessed the insight that Skyer did. Had he did not start this conflict, Skyer would still be alive right now. He had no doubt in his mind that the elven man’s death was due to Yllaner. To him, it was ironic how he had determined to sacrifice even his dearest sister in order to unify the forest under the rule of Shilna, only to have someone who he thought of as his own brother perished instead. Although he cursed his own incompetent for not able to select more capable individuals to serve under him like his sister did, he was rather luck that not even one of the commanders gathering at the meeting realized that the goal of the three Clans will not be the capital of Shilna, but the small territory with a garrison of less than 2000 men: The very land where the Orcan was being mined. Instead of the weeks and months as the time restraint the Prince had declared in front of the others, Yllaes had calculated that it would take the three clans no more than three days to attack and take over the mine. Once they did, he would definitely lose the support of the Hyakki Yagyo since the only reason the group took up the contract was to secure Orcan in the first place. And once the support of Hyakki Yagyo was lost, he’d be completely checkmated. If they knew the perilous situation we’re truly in, no doubt there would be mutiny. The prince surmised before reaching his hand up in the air and tried to grasp the victory that seemed to be moving away from him. This means I have to settle our feud within four days, before the news of the three clans’ success in taking over the mine reaches the front-line. Yllaner… I will not give up until the end.

 

 

So, based on the results from the poll surveyed a few months ago, people prefer to see a fraternal twin, one male, one female so here's a picture of the elven twins:

Artist: Nidu? I believe. Their account name is this 翡翠 てう. Pixiv ID: 4320508.

They were livestreaming when they drew the twin and it lasted 7 hours lol. I think they're a hidden talent because their style is extremely elegant, but many of their pixiv submissions did not have more than a few thousands view. Too bad I dont think they draw R18 cuz I would love to have them draw Kibadios ravages the twins. :3

Also, I have yet come up with a name for the twin. They'll most likely have chinese names (or chinese-japanese sounding name, much like "Yue" is both Japanese and Chinese. Fun fact, Yue is an actually state during Warring States Period... I digress haha.

 

 

Notes:

In case you did not notice:
(1) Kibadios is weakened and his body is getting hot
(2) It's only him and Yuusei, all alone in the wood...
We all know what's coming, don't we?

Chapter 78: Bonus: Rowan's first time

Anyways, this is a quick (relatively cheap) request I made because I realized technically, I don't have drawing of either Rowan or Ryan until the first few chapters of the second arc lol. So this is to "introduce" Rowan's look. This is supposed to take place during the time Kibadios first "claimed" Rowan.

Artist: メロン

Pixiv ID: 18209583

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@melon12346578

PS: If you're into reading yaoi fan fic, and you're into mind break, corruption, mind control, humiliation, and all the things that is too shameful to share with your family members (like me lol >.>) then I recommend Pixiv ID: 19467913 https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/19467913. He's writing fan fic that is set in the yaoi world created by LYMSS (You know, the one about the spider-like creature corrupted a SS class knight). I don't know Chinese but I used deepL to translate his writing and I gotta tell you, the translation was kinda good and making sense most of the time and most importantly, his porn writing is just sooo hot. His works easily ranked in the top 5 erotic stories I have read, and I did not even read it in its native tongue. Check his work out on pixiv! Can't recommend enough lol. But beware the genre, I know most may be turned off by it.... And if you know Chinese and willing to really translate it (or know anyone who is translating it, let me know cuz I really really really want to read it with proper translation :D

PSS: I hate censorship so much and I hope AO3 will never censor any pictures I posted here. I decided to post on Wattpad again but most of my commissioned drawings were R18 and got taken down. I'm so upset that I just delete the story there lol. I mean, I get why they do it, but still, I abhor censorship, of any kind.

Chapter 79: Horny night.

Notes:

Sorry for the late update. I was planning to update this at the beginning of the week but then certain world event happened that made me very very upset and unable to focus on writing. Also, everything (mostly workplace related) were just crazy this week and pissed me off. >.>
Anyways, here's another porn chapter. :3

WARNING: sex scenes involve shota... legal shota? idk.

「Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!」An injured man hurriedly escaped the scene of carnage. 「That dagger must have been crafted by some special runesmith. All of the potions I consumed still could not heal up the wound.」Desmond cursed his luck for getting involved with the hybrid in the first place. That fateful meeting at the outskirts of the small village had somehow led to a series of events that ruined his life. The one thing he focused on right now was to flee the forest since Kibadios might very well be chasing after him right at this moment. The chance of the hybrid surviving after a fight against an Astral was indeed slim, but as he was crawling away from the scene, he could tell the Astral was tricked by Ryan and walked right into their traps. At this point, Desmond could not rule out the chance of the hybrid emerging triumphant. Just who in the world was that hybrid? Desmond thought to himself as he dragged his feet through the thick wood. He could only hope to get away alive, never to see the hybrid, his group, or the Astral ever again.

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「...」Ryan looked down at his feet, trying to avert the alchemist’s horrified gaze after he had reported everything that happened the moment he got back to the camp. 「... I… I...am sorry… Maia chan… Because of me...」The guilt was eating him up inside, his cold sweat broke out as he anticipated the girl to scream at him for what he did to her childhood friend, and he knew he deserved it. Yet, he found himself at the receiving end of a warm embrace as the girl wrapped her still shaking arms around his trembling body.

「No, you have nothing to apologize for, Ryan chan. I’m the one who should be saying sorry to you.」The girl was holding back her tears since she knew had she been crying, the hero would feel even worse. 「We lived in our blissful ignorance while you carried such burdening tasks. You were not at fault here, Ryan chan. Thanks to you, Master was safe. I’m sure even Rowan would be glad to know how much you have done to protect our master.」Maia put her hands onto the hero’s face, pulling it closer to her own.「 Don't worry, I’m sure Master will find Rowan chan and bring him back to us. The six of us, and Nu chan, will all be together again.」

「Maia…」Ryan, who was still much of a cry baby, simply hugged the girl tightly before her reciprocal hug finally caused his tears to burst out. It did not take long for Maia tears to stream down her face. Master will bring Rowan chan back to us… The girl tried to convince herself. Ryuu, who was consciously laying on the small bed at a corner of the tent, simply gritted his teeth in frustration. He had promised to be his master’s sword, yet, he was not able to help him even once during this crisis. And now, he was reduced to a bedridden status after facing off against Aspen, forcing the hero to leave their master behind and go back to protect Yllaner. Just how useless am I! 

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「...Nothing!」The mutant hybrid shouted loudly to his master, who was searching for Rowan’s traces on the other bank of the river. The last sun ray of the day dimly faded away as the cold blanket of forest mist started to roll over the area. 

「We should rest, Yuusei.」Kibadios spread his wings, flying over the river and approached the mutant.「It’s getting cold...」The hybrid looked at the dripping wet teenager, his borrowed black shirt was now hugging tightly onto his slave’s slender yet well toned body. The mutant had been tirelessly swimming back and forth across various locations along the raging river to look for his senior. Any normal human would have collapsed from exhaustion hours ago, but since he was part ogre and part beastman, both races that possessed incredible amounts of stamina, Yuusei was able to endure such strenuous activities. Still, Kibadios could see that his slave was now clearly completely drained of energy. He knew the search for Rowan had to be postponed until the next day. Besides, within his own body, the poison resulting from one of the Doll’s attacks was still circulating within him despite his best effort in suppressing using his Nen. Constantly consuming his Nen to mitigate the effect of the poison has also exhausted the hybrid.
「But Rowan nii...」Yuusei was also concerned for the healer, though he stopped short the moment he noticed his master was breathing hard, his body seemed to be turning bright red. 「Master okay?」

「Yeah, don’t worry about me.」Kibadios grinned wearily, cold sweat ran down his forehead. 「I’ll gather some wood and start a fire. Can I ask you to hunt for our dinner?」

Yuusei nodded. Yet, the boy, or rather, the teenager, was reluctant to leave his master’s side. He recognized the symptom his master was exhibiting: face turning red, body burning up. He had experienced such a cold when he was young that left him bedridden for days, requiring his own mother to stay close by and take care of him. 「What are you looking at, Yuusei? I told you I’m fine.」Kibadios reassured the mutant.

Knowing his master did not want him to worry, Yuusei leapt forward and disappeared into the thick wood. Though unlike previous occasions, when he took his time looking for prey, the young mutant was now frantically searching for his dinner instead. He wanted to return to his Master as soon as possible. By the time he returned with a small wild boar struggling to escape his tight grip, he found his master sitting under a large tree, staring at a small crackling fire he must have just started. Though, his demeanor seemed different. The moment he noticed his slave coming back to him, his eyes seemed to glow under the fire like a hungry wolf who just found its prey.
「Master?」Yuusei called out.

「...」Kibadios remained silence for a moment before ordering his slave in broken speech. 「Get… away… from me… Yuusei… I… can’t… suppress...my heat...」The hybrid had been struggling to keep the poison within him in check, yet, as time passed, the combination of the poison and constantly consuming his Nen reserve had caused his metabolism to go berserk. His body temperature heated up, his mouth started to salivate as his sense of smell became sensitive to any extrastimuli. His cock, which should have remained tamed after taking the heat suppressant, started to stand erected with precum leaking out. This period of heat was worse than even the night when he raped both Maia and Rowan into submission. The moment the hybrid picked up the mutant’s scent, he just wanted to jump at the oblivious teenager, pin him down and ravage his body. The hybrid bit his teeth into his own flesh, mustered all his self control to restrain himself while warning his slave to stay away from him, knowing that had the mutant take one more step toward him, he would lose all of his inhibition.

「...」Yuusei slowly released the wild boar he caught, for he knew neither him nor his master would be eating anything tonight. 「Master… Let Yuusei help...」He slowly walked toward his master, knowing full well what it was that his master sought, for he had been staying close by to the hybrid everynight when he fucked Maia, Rowan, Ryan, and Ryuu into oblivion. Since his master did not allow him to join, the mutant simply laid there, under his blanket, listening to the sensual sounds the others made.

「I SAID YOU SHOULD RUN AWAY, YOU IDIOTIC SLAVE!!!」Kibadios suddenly jumped toward Yuusei, savagely pushed him down onto the forest ground. The mutant laid there, beneath his master, looking perfectly calm while Kibadios’ hands gripped the mutant’s wrists, his saliva and sweat dripping down onto the gray-skin mutant’s indifferent face. Even when his mind was clear, the hybrid had always wanted to fuck his cute mutant. Now, with his mind clouded by the intense sexual urge, he just wanted to rip his clothes off and thrust his dripping wet cock inside the teenager’s warm, tight hole. 「WITH THIS STUPID POISON IN ME, I DONT THINK I CAN CONTAIN MY HEAT ANYMORE! YOU SHOULD HAVE RUN AWAY WHEN I TOLD YOU TO!」

“ No matter how you struggle… the end result will be the same… everyone who is close to you… will perish… First was that healer… then the dragon... You… should…just... stay… dead….” Adela’s prophetic threat now echoed deep inside the hybrid’s mind. When he first reincarnated again into this world as a hybrid monster, he thought he had abandoned his emotions. He thought he had rid himself from worldly attachments, only devoted himself to carry out his vengeance against those who wronged him. On that fateful night, he selfishly obtained Rowan and Maia and forced them to walk the same ruinous path as him. Then it was Ryan, then Ryuu… Yet, now, when facing the pain of having to lose those he loved and those who loved him, Kibadios realized he was wrong. He should not have brought them into his life and that meant, no matter how much he wanted to fuck and turn Yuusei into his possession, the hybrid still desperately tried to fight against such urge. For a few seconds, his rationale came back, allowing him to loosen his grip on the mutant. 「... leave...」was the only word he could utter before he bit down onto his arm, trying to fight against his primal needs.

「Yuusei stay with Master.」The mutant declared. Not only had his master saved him twice, he had also given the mutant a new life. Ever since that night when he decided to pledge his allegiance to the hybrid, the mutant had decided to offer his master everything he possessed: his fighting talents, his devotions, his mind and body, his flesh, and his eternal love. For the mutant, just being next to his master, feeling his warmth, was already a blessing. Even if it would cost him his life, he would be gladly trading it to be with his master. 「Yuusei belong to Master.」The teenager raised his arms up and crossed them around the hybrid’s neck, tenderly pulling him downward onto his warm embrace. 

「... What an idiot slave I have acquired...」Kibadios realized he could no longer convince the mutant anything otherwise. His mind started to give in to the waves of lust and arousal he was experiencing. The hybrid tongue slowly licked up from the mutant’s collar bones toward his nape, before sucking and biting down just strong enough to leave a mark behind, causing Yuusei to moan out loud from a pleasure that he had never experienced before. The mutant had repressed his own growth, repressed his own biological needs for years until now, the combination of his sudden growth spurt, which on its own had unleashed an indescribable tingling sensation around his crotch since the morning, and the incubus hybrid’s overwhelming sexual pheromone, caused the young mutant to instantly lose his once clear mind to the unfamiliar euphoria. As for the hybrid, he had completely absorbed with lust that even if his slave was to kick him away and try to run away, he would undoubtedly be chasing after the teenager and mercilessly raping him. Nothing could have stopped what was to happen. His hands slowly caressed the mutant’s firm hips before sliding down along his waist, underneath his dark trouser, before finding them resting comfortably on his slave’s two soft mounds. His fingers and nail quickly found themselves sunk deeply into the mutant’s flesh as he tried to squeeze and play with the inexperienced teenager’s asses. His tongue, once finished playing with one of the slave’s bright red ears, was now assaulting his mouth. The mutant would try his best to open up his mouth, allowing his master’s tongue to dominate his own. He tried to hold his breath at first, yet he soon found himself out of air as his master’s tongue tirelessly swirled around his saliva filled mouth, playing with his tongue and teeth.

「Haa… Too much… Haaa… Not there… Master!!!」The moon was now hanging high over the starry sky, for it had been a few hours past midnight. Yet, the moaning and begging sounds sounds, mixed with slurping noises, continued to reverberate throughout the dark wood. Under the dimming flickers of nearly extinguished embers, the hybrid still fucked his half conscious slave’s asshole. At first, Kibadios would hurriedly thrust his raging cock deep inside the blushing slave, even though his slave was yet fully undressed. His mouth sucked on the slave’s nape, one of his hands played with the slave’s well endowed, rock hard cock while the other pinched and twisted his oversensitive nipples, causing the mutant to continuously shoot his cum all over ground, in what seemed to be his 100th climax. Although the hybrid quickly released his load, his cock still remained rigid as it remained inside Yuusei’s tightening hole, rhythmically pistoned in and out, grinding against the poor mutant’s prostate. By the start of the third hour, both the mutant and the hybrid were naked, their own bodies were slowly coated with a mixture of the cum and sweat. At some point, being unable to maintain his mature ogre form, the exhausted mutant unexpectedly reverted back into his furry shota form. The sudden transformation resulted in his asshole’s inner walls to tighten around his master’s monstrous cock. Needless to say, Kibadios quickly shot another load of his thick cum deep inside the shota. Had the hybrid been his normal self, he would have some reservation when fucking Yuusei in his rabbit beastman form. But his lust induced mind knew no such hesitation as he proceeded to plow his cock deep inside the boy. By now, due to his petite size, his stomach would get deformed everytime his master’s cock rammed inside his asshole, much like the girls from Asanagi’s hentai. As the first light of the new day began to shine through the wood, Kibadios’ heat finally subsided as he collapsed after shooting his last drops of cum inside the shota, whose stomach seemed to have bulged up. Unlike his Rowan nii chan, Ryan nii chan, or Maia nee chan, the mutant, despite being exhausted, was still conscious as he felt his master’s cock popped out from his asshole, allowing his cum to gush out of his hole. 

「Mas...ter...」Yuusei muttered while laying on top of his master’s chest. The boy tried to take a glimpse at his master’s face, hoping for the usual satisfied expression that he would have after fucking the others. Yet, the only expression that he could find was that of anguish and pain. 「Master?」Yuusei was now panicking. He was completely aroused by his master’s pheromone the entire night, with his mind drugged up that he could not realize that his master’s body was actually burning up, and that was certainly not merely from the “heat” he was experiencing. 「Master okay??」Yuusei sat up next to the naked hybrid, who appeared delirious. His usual piercing purple eyes were now turning somewhat opaque. 「Poison worse than Master thought?」The mutant deduced. Thousands of scenarios raced inside of Yuusei’s head, with some images of his master dying causing the mutant to tremble in fear. After a few seconds of hesitation, the mutant shook to clear his head before deciding to carry his master and race back to the campsite, where the alchemist girl would know best how to treat the hybrid, although knowing full well that would meant leaving the wounded healer behind.「Rowan nii chan… Yuusei sorry...」

 

PICTURE

 

R18 WARNING

 

 

 

 

 

So this was one of the very first R18 request/commission that got delivered. Funny how I thought I'd use it soon (hence why I had a preview of it a few months back) but it took like 2-2.5 months for me to actually reach the point in the story where I can unveil it. >.>

Hopefully you did not check the artist's skeb page and spoiled yourself lol But if you did, it was actually my bad >.>

Artist: Ashwing
https://skeb.jp/@ashwing_makuro

Image link: https://imgur.com/a/Qc2HVDD

Chapter 80: The 14 day (1)

「Matelus showed up?」Adeus was surprised at his son-in-law’s report. 

「Yes.」Aspen nodded. 「It seems like he had gotten stronger than the last time we faced off against him too. At this point, he will carry out his plan sooner or later. If he rescued Zaeryn’s followers, it’s not too farfetch to think he is trying to recruit his old teacher to participate in his scheme.」

「Why worry about Zaeryn? Adela is taking care of him as we speak.」

「You have put a lot of trust in her. But remember who she is facing. Zaeryn is not someone to be trifled with. I’m not surprised if we find her retreating back to this realm with her tail between her legs.」

「Seigeran!」Adeus intimidatingly released his extraordinary Nen. 「Watch your mouth. She is still your wife. Shouldn’t you be showing more concerns for her?」

「I couldn’t care less.」Aspen fired back. His calm, considerate demeanor quickly vanished from the ancient hero’s face . 「My only concern is to preserve the balance and the very existence of this world. Don’t you forget, I have never pledged my allegiance to either you,  Adela, or even the Ennead. My goal and purpose simply aligned with you Astrals.」Aspen glared at the man standing towering before him as their Nen battled one another for dominance. Had any other individual stepped inside the room, they would be instantly knocked out as if being hit with Conqueror Haki. 

「... Forget it.」Adeus finally backed down. 「Even if you don't have any faith in Adela, I still do. Without a doubt, she will end Zaeryn’s reincarnation.」declared the Astral, despite the easy feeling that kept lurking deep within his mind. 

「... Let’s hope so.」Aspen frowned at the idea that Zaeryn would once again suffer and perish in the vile woman’s hand. Why would you return, Zaeryn? The hero thought to himself.

.

.

.

「I know I can find you here.」A figure spoke as he slowly walked toward the high cliff, where a withered tree stood. 「Are you thinking about the upcoming conflict?」

「...」Another figure, who laid comfortably on top of one of the tree branches that reached out to the deep that ravine underneath , turned around but yet remained silent.

Where am I? Whose memory is this? Wait… Why did I know this scene in front of me is just a memory?

「You know what I’m going to miss?」The figure stretched his arm and his body. 「I’m going to miss tranquil nights such as the one we have now.」

「...Why?」

「What do you mean why? The cold breeze, the low humming sounds of the insects, the gentle moonlight, and the serenity. Aren’t you also trying to appreciate all of these right now? Isn’t that why you’re here being lazy instead of your headquarter?」
「... You know what i meant!!」The figure on the tree finally jumped down, standing right in front of the other one, his calm Nen aura quickly transformed into that of a raging beast. 「Why would you just willingly accept our fates?」

「What do you expect me to do?」The figure gave his friend a gentle smile. 「Much like you, despite how powerful I think I am, even I cannot go against the will of the Gods. We are merely their playthings and soon enough, our sufferings will be the source of their entertainment. It is a fate that we cannot hide from since we were created by them for this very purpose.」The figure swirled his hand at his irritated friend. Strangely enough, the friend suddenly disappeared into a layer of smoke as if he was merely a mirage. 「Though, let’s pause  our conversation right now because there’s someone peeking.」

    Wait? He knew I’m watching this? Just like Matelus… But, this time, I was not actively trying to peek into anyone’s mind… Why am I seeing this?

 

「Young man, it seems like you’re lost.」The figure clapped his hands together, causing the surrounding space to crack and shatter into pieces, revealing to Kibadios his true location, which was a dimension of pure whiteness. 

「This space.」The hybrid quickly recalled the familiar location.「This looks just like the place where I met with the Ennead when I was first reincarnated.」Kibadios turned to the gentle figure. 「Who are you?」

「What’s the point asking for my name?」He smiled. 「Even if I say “I’m Bob...unaga” or something, it would mean nothing to you, right? After all, my existence would have been erased from the history of this world, so telling you who am I is meaningless.」

「Erased from history?」Kibadios was surprised.「... You were talking about the Gods and being their playthings… So you’re also a victim of the Ennead?」 But to my knowledge, there has not been a Harvest Festival ever since the demise of my first reincarnation, does it mean he’s someone who lived way in the distant past, during the period of previous Harvest Festivals? Kibadios thought to himself.

「The Ennead? Who are they? A group of 9, huh? What an interesting name!」

「…You don’t know about the Ennead? But you were clearly saying something about the Gods.」Kibadios suddenly realized the tiny detail in the conversation he just eavesdropped. 「...Wait a minute, did you say you were created by the Gods?」

「?」The man simply gave Kibadios a confused smile.

「But you are not a Doll...」Kibadios could tell with his gut feeling. 「What’s going on here?」

「Well, I don’t know what is happening in the distant future… but I know one thing...」

「What?」

「That you’re not supposed to be here, reading my memory.」The man again clapped his hand. This time, Kibadios could clearly sense the incredible amount of Chaos Miasma imbued in his simple movement, enough to be able to dwarf that of Ryuu’s and the Prime Minister’s when they were infected with the seed. 「I’ll send you back where you belong. Bye bye, young man. Though, I don't know why, but I feel like we will be able to see each other again.」

「Wait a minute.」Kibadios called out to the man, yet, the tsunami of Chaos Miasma quickly drowned him, causing his consciousness to fade away. 

「Who are you?? Who did you mean when you said “The gods”???」Kibadios screamed out as he found himself suddenly sitting up from his familiar bed at the campside, sweats streamed down from his forehead to his neck, soaking a loose white shirt he was wearing. 「Where am I? 」As the hybrid tried to focus his mind and recall any recollection from the past few days, he suddenly felt a warm hug wrapped tightly around his neck.

「Kibadios sama!!!」The silver haired alchemist called out. Her eyes were slightly swollen from crying ever since the mutant brought the hybrid back, with the poison thoroughly circulated around his body. 「You're finally awake! How are you feeling? Damn it, I should not have hugged you like that! What was I thinking! Are you hurt anywhere? You should lay down and rest for now since I have yet extracted all the poison in you. No, actually, I should get you some water, your lips are all dried up… I… I...」

「Maia?」Kibadios pulled the trembling girl into his arms and calmed her down. Wait? I’m back to the camp? Why am I here? The poison must have knocked me out. 「I’m fine. I’m okay. Sorry for making you worry.」

「Master... I’m so … sorry... I was not... of any use to you.」The girl struggled to form a coherent sentence since she could not stop her tears from streaming down her cheek. 

「What are you talking about? It’s my own decision to not let you know what was going on. If you want to blame anyone, that’d be me.」The hybrid patted her head, trying to console her. Though, as his memories regarding the days before slowly started to come back to him, the hybrid twitched once he remembered his most important task before succumbing to the poison. 「Wait a minute, where’s Rowan? Were we able to find him?」

「... No. Yuusei chan hurriedly brought you back to us before you two could locate Rowan.」answered Maia. 

「...But I can still feel his connection to me.」Despite the bad news, Kibadios was sighing in relief. 「That means he’s still alive…」

「Really?」Maia’s face quickly brightened up. 

「How long have I been unconscious? I should go back and look for him.」

「No!」Maia pouted disapprovingly. 「You have just woken up from a three days coma. You’re still weak, there’s no way I’d let you go anywhere! If you can sense Rowan chan’s presence out there after this long, that must have meant he has at least recovered from the fatal injury Ryan chan told me about.」Maia explained. 「Besides… our utmost priority is your safety, Master. I’m sure Rowan would not want you to go look for him after just recovered somewhat.」

「Three days?」Surprised Kibadios. 「Wait, so what’s the status of the conflict? Where is the Princess now?」

「She has left the encampment, taking a few of her entourage as bodyguards.」answered Maia. 「Ryuu, Ryan, and even Yuusei have all reluctantly come with her, along with Amber, Floria, and Thomas dono. At first, they did not want to leave your side, but I convinced them that I should be able to take care of you and that had you been conscious, you would like them protecting Yllaner sama in your stead… Am I wrong?」Maia shyly looked at her master, afraid that she might have stepped out of bound in trying to speak for the hybrid. 

「No, no… that’s good that they’re with her.」Kibadios nodded before turning silent while thinking. 「... If Yllaner has left the encampment, then that must have meant her spies have successfully completed their tasks and the other three clans have again flipped to her side. Now, it’s just a race between her and her brother: whether Yllaes would be able to kill her and take over the Confederation or whether the three clans would come to her aid after taking over the control of the Orcan mine, effectively ended the contract between the Hyakki Yagyo and her brother.」

「... Yes… that’s exactly what she told me.」Maia was amazed at her master’s deduction.「She did not want the two forces to clash heads on, which might result in thousands of casualties. That’s why she decided to leave her soldiers behind, betting that her brother would also elect to ignore the army and aim straight for her. She purposely left her trace behind so that her brother would take the bait… Wait, what are you doing, Master?」Maia quickly turned around as she noticed her master had stepped off his bed and put his usual clothes back on. 「You should be resting right now.」

「I’m fine.」answered Kibadios. 「You have removed most of the poison inside me. I only detected some trace amounts of it left and I’m more than capable of handling them on my own. Right now, I need to come to Yllaner’s aid. I have a feeling that the decisive battle between the pair of siblings will be decided today. After I helped her, I will come back and look for Rowan… We will look for Rowan together.」

「But you’re still weak, Kibadios sama! You should not exert yourself too much.」Maia pleaded.

「I’m a hybrid of two races that are renowned for their vigor, Maia.」Smiled the hybrid. 「Besides, after single handedly defeating Adela, I’ve leveled up a bit. I’m much stronger than this slender half incubus body looks. Should I prove it by fucking you until you’ve fallen unconscious?」The hybrid pulled his property closer to him for a deep, wet kiss.

「Oh my.」A husky voiced figure entered the tent, disrupting the pair’s passionate kiss. 「I was just coming to check on Kibadios dono here, but it seemed like everything turned out okay.」

「Oh, I’m so sorry!」Maia quickly broke off the kiss then walked to the hybrid beastman, much to the hybrid’s annoyance. 「Yes, Kibadios had just woken up a few minutes ago. It’s all thanks to your help.」

「No no no, I did not do anything important. It’s all because of you taking care of him.」

「Maia… Who is this?」Kibadios carefully studied the beastman from head to toe. The short wavy hair wolf-like beastman was an obvious hybrid, for he possessed two extra arms on top of his normal arms, a distinctive trait of the Four-arms race. His two deep scars running down his left eyes were clearly his most distinct trait. Despite his low quality of detected Nen, there was something about the man that caused Kibadios to suddenly feel a chill running down his spine, the same feeling when he first faced Gilga, one of the Yonko.

「Oh, This is Kipposhi san.」Maia introduced the man to her master, oblivious of the implication of the name. 「He found Yuusei exhausted about fifty miles from the camp, trying to carry you back here so he decided to help him out. Without him, it’d take another day for Yuusei to bring you back to us.」

「... Maia… come back to me.」Kibadios grimly commanded.

「Huh? Is there something wrong, Master?」The girl reluctantly obeyed, before rushing to him once she realized her master might not be feeling well. 「Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?」

「No, that’s not it.」Kibadios quickly stepped in front of the girl, shielding her from the beastman hybrid.「 “Kipposhi san” huh? Isn’t it unusual to have your childhood name as your alias? Why are you here, Oda Nobunaga… or rather, Ashura of the Hyakki Yagyo, one of the Yonko? Are you aiming for the Princess’ life?」Kibadios shouted before projecting himself toward the unsuspecting hybrid with his readily conjured large scythe, trying to land the first strike.

“Kipposhi san” simply grinned, his disguised bloodlust was now at full display, causing the alchemist girl to freeze in place. 「I certainly did not expect you to uncover my identity this quick, fellow World Travellers!」

 

Picture of Ashura:

Artist: Urusai_nu? Idk

https://skeb.jp/@Urusai_nu

I commissioned this ages ago haha.

Really talented artist with a really cheap rate. :3
Fun fact: I gave them the complete artistic freedom to design "Ashura" since I really like their style, but I totally forgot to specify I like Ashura to be a "Humanoid" character instead of animal-like lol Hence, this is the result. Not complain though cuz it's totally my fault haha. The details and the style is actually really nice. And again, with really cheap rate! :D

 

 

Notes:

It's funny because I read the realist hero building a country isekai one just earlier this week and (Kinda spoiler alerted) the plot involving the general and rebellion is the exact plot I had planned for my "Prototype Story" that I posted sometime ago in this series lol. Right down to the fact that my character (the one I named Orobir, I think) and the general are both lion beastman. I mean, it's a cliche, but still, hahaha. It's a moo point though since I did not continue writing that "prototype story." The overall plot for this story is also a cliche (like I said, this story is an amalgam of all typical shounen manga/isekai out there) so let's hope it won't be scooped also lol.

Chapter 81: The 14th day (2)

Notes:

So sorry for the delay. Here's another chapter. Hopefully it's not too confusing. >.>
This takes me a while because I had to think of the character background/designs for the 6 captains, but then as I write, I realized most likely I won't describe them or their power in detail (except for the Vampire captain, kind of) until later chapters, when I quickly focus on some of the battles.

The Princess’s worried eyes fixated on her beloved hero while her trembling hand held tightly onto his cold, motionless wrist. Please, O’ Great Spirit of the Forest, please watch over Kyles… I just need some extra time. Please… 

「How’s brother, Yllaner sama?」The distraught Ryan whispered after entering the tent. 

「Even with all the elven medicine from Lord Uran, his body is getting colder...」answered Yllaner truthfully.「I just need a little bit more time… Just one more day...」

「You believe the decisive battle will be tomorrow?」

「Yes. If they will catch up to me, that is. If possible, I’d like to avoid fighting against my brother since time is on our side」answered the Princess. 「If my intel is correct, six of the Hyakki Yagyo captains have arrived to his aid so the chance of us winning against him is slim, especially Ryuu dono has just recovered while Kibadios is still unconscious… How is he, by the way? Is he getting better?」

「Yes, Yllaner sama.」nodded Ryan. 「Although he’s still unconscious, Maia told me she has extracted the majority of the poison within him. All of his vital signs are stabilizing too.」

「That’s good to hear.」The princess smiled, before continuing 「... Ryan kun, I know there are reasons why you can’t tell me who you and Kibadios were fighting against or who had attacked and overpowered Ryuu kun, but as the one who holds on her hands the lives of her followers and the fate of the confederation, I’d like to know what are the chances that we will face those individuals tomorrow, on top of the Hyakki Yagyo’s captains?」

「I...」Ryan hesitated. 「I believe there is only a slim to none chance the person who attacked Ryuu would resurface again.」Given that the ancient hero named Aspen was repelled by his master’s student, he doubted that person would try again to attack the dragonoid or his group, knowing that Matelus was watching over them. 「And about the person who Kibadios sama faced a few days ago, she had been taken care of so you don’t have to worry… I’m sorry, Yllaner sama, for making you worrying about these threats on top of your brother’s.」

「What are you talking about Ryan kun?」Yllaner smiled, placing both her hands on his cheeks and pinched it hard, dispelling his guilt. 「You’re just like Kyl chan, always worrying about others before yourself. I am more grateful to you and Kibadios, for having protected me ever since we left Lorian. Without you guys, I don’t think both Kyl chan and I would have survived long enough while having members of Hyakki Yagyo coming after my life.」The princess took off her hands, then cloaked herself in a thick, long sweater. 「Anyways, I have finished saying my goodbye to Kyl chan. It’s time we need to leave the encampment. If we wait until tomorrow morning, I’m afraid it’ll be too late.」

「Yes. We’re all ready, waiting for you outside, Yllaner sama.」Ryan replied. 

「... You’re sure it’s okay for Ryuu kun, Yuusei kun, and you accompanying me?」

「Yes. I’m not going to lie: Ryuu chan and Yuusei chan had their reservations given the condition of Kibadios sama but we know had he been conscious, he’d wanted to have us protecting you.」Answered Ryan with a thin smile. 「As for me, I know Nii san would not allow me to leave your side for even one second in these trying times, Yllaner sama.」

「Thank you, Ryan.」

.

.

.

「After leaving behind such obvious trace, you think we will not be able to catch up to you, Yllaner?」Yllaes coldly stared down at the Princess’ group from a high cliff, who had travelled away from her army, toward the great Operon sea, a giant inland lake located in the middle of the continent. Their back facing the Great lake, the group was truly cornered, in front of them stood Yllaes and his two most capable fighting commanders, Soen and Caen. The two cousins, trusted confidants of the Prince belonged to the dryad race, yet, with their towering size, some could easily mistake them for the giants. Yet, it was not them that caused Yllaner’s group to break into cold sweat but the six menaces that stood on their sides, each exuded a large quantity of Nen and murderous intent that Ryan swore could rivaled in the nascent Creature of Chaos that the Prime Minister had turned into a few months back. On top of the six individuals, the three familiar mercenaries were also accompanying their paymaster: Erik the Yves, Amaira the fighty loli, and the gentle giant Baxley. Though, unlike others who focused their attention at the defiant Princess, the Yves was fixating his gaze at the middle aged hero, his face filled with a sheer hatred that he had rarely shown to anyone, even to his deadly enemies. 

「Thomas...」「Erik...」Both of the men muttered one word under their breath before propelling themselves forward, their weapons clashing violently against one another, causing a shockwave that easily uprooted a few slender trees growing at the edge of the cliff. Although it was not their intention, their sudden attacks had also signified the all out assault between the Hyakki Yagyo’s captains and Yllaner’s group. Naturally, with both quantity and quality on his side, Yllaes’ force quickly gained the upper hand despite neither he nor the two dryads standing by his sides had yet made any move, for the Hyakki Yagyo’s forces alone were already overpowered. 

「Brother… Where’s mother? What did you do to her?」asked the princess calmly. She knew her brother would not have killed her, yet, her matter regarding mother’s safety still lingered in the back of her mind.

「Yllaner!」A familiar voice called out to her from behind Yllaes, being escorted by three wood elf maidens. 「Thanks the Spirits you’re still safe.」

「Mother!」called out to the Princess with a hint of relief. Just as she predicted, had Yllaes not killed their mother, he would be bringing her along, for leaving her back in Shilna or in the army currently camping almost a hundred miles away would be unwise, since it might give her a chance to retake power or the military forces had someone want to stage a coup against the Prince to reinstate his mother.. 「I’m safe! Please be patient, I will rescue you soon…」

「Rescue mother soon? How? What hope are you still clinging onto, Yllaner?」asked Yllaes. 「With each of the captains here being classified as S class Demon Lord in their own right, how do you think you and your followers can stand against them? Will Lord Futar and Lord Uran there enough to take on all 6 of the captains, once they finish with their current preys? 」The Prince pointed at the two attendants standing right next to Yllaner, his eyes as cold as ice.

「You there! Member of the Hyakki Yagyo!」Yllaner loudly called out, elected to ignore her brother’s taunt, choosing instead to negotiate directly with a man from the mercenary group who had yet to engage in a fight. 「Please stop assisting my brother! You are only working with him due to the Shilna possessing the newly discovered Orcan resources that you’re after, right? You may not know this but our forces have currently taken control over them, Yllaes can no longer make the payments that you seek!」

「...」The man dressed in Heian aristocrat clothing, donning a distinct tate-eboshi head gear, which strongly resembled Fujiwara no Sai even down to his long, silky black hair, simply remained silent. Instead of looking at the Princess, he was gazing upward onto the sky as if searching for something. 「... As I expected, his spies are here.」

「Please accept your defeat, Yllaner.」Yllaes finally jumped down the cliff, landing right in front of his sister, though both Futar and Uran were quick enough to leap in front of the Princess, protecting her from her own brother. 「Unless the delegation from the three clans timely come to your aid and confirm the Orcan are now in their possession, the Hyakki Yagyo will not break the contract. At least, that’s the promise they gave me.」

「What? This makes no sense!」The hothead Futar, who was just recently told about the princess’ brilliant plan of capturing the Orcan mine, was confused.「They know you may not be controlling the supply of Orcan anymore, yet they still agree to work for you?」

「... Yes. Just like how both my sister and I have our own reason to fight in this conflict, on top of securing our own survival, they also have their secondary goal on top of fighting as mercenaries.」answered Yllaes.「Why do you think they send half of their captains to participate in taking my sister down?」

「... Don't tell me...」Yllaner suddenly understood the implication. 

「Yes, as the Prince said.」The person from Hyakki Yagyo, who was just focusing on the sky above, suddenly appeared next to Yllaner. 「We have to demonstrate our overwhelming power to our scheming audiences.」

「「Get away from the Princess!!!」」Screamed out Futar and Uran while both of their fists were aimed at the mercenary. 

「The Yin Empire?」The Princess calmly deduced while jumping backward a few steps to get away from the man. She had solely viewed the Hyakki Yagyo as a group of trusted mercenaries, who would carry out their contract to the end as long as they were paid. However, when taken into the account of the big picture, it made sense why they would want to demonstrate their overwhelming power during this mission: to scare off the discriminatory Empire, who planned to make their move on the forest. To them, the worst case scenario would be the Empire able to acquire and monopolize the Orcan after conquering Vernys by taking advantage of their civil conflict. Since much like the Theocracy, they viewed demihumans and hybrids, a group that made up the majority of Hyakki Yagyo’s members, as enemies to be exterminated, if the Orcan resources fell into their possession, it would be kept out of the group’s reach.

「Correct!」answered the man who belonged to the Vampire race, pointing his fingers at the flock of circulating birds flying high above.「The Empire is very interested in the outcome of this conflict so naturally, they have sent their spies here, observing the fight between your highness and your brother. And since they are watching us, we, the Hyakki Yagyo, would have no choice by to demonstrate our full power in order to deter them from taking over this forest, where our precious Orcan is.」

So that’s why Yllaes was confident that he could repel the Yin Empire’s advances while simultaneously dealing with the other clans, crushing them into submission and unifying this forest once and for all under the Shilna clan… But, overly relying on the Hyakki Yagyo to thwart the advances of the Empire would sooner or later, transform this forest into nothing but Hyakki Yagyo’s vassal. The Princess finally realized her brother’s strategy. 「... So what you’re saying is that you don’t care whoever emerges victorious between us. To your Hyakki Yagyo, as long as the Empire can witness your group’s prowess in this conflict and stay out of this forest, along with the Orcan resources, you have achieved your end goal.」

「That’s right.」The Heinan aristocrat-looking vampire nodded. 「We know full well your forces may already occupy and control the supply of Orcan, but if we stand down now, we cannot show the Yin Empire this spectacular scenes, can we?」He raised his hands, gesturing to the chaotic scene unfolding around him as the Captains easily overwhelmed everyone except for Ryuu. 「But, also, you’re right that as a mercenary group, it does not make sense for us to continue fighting knowing that our paymaster over there cannot fulfill his promised goods. So our leader had decided that as long as official notice from the other clans had yet arrived, we would act as if we knew nothing about the situation regarding the Orcan mine. We are to continue to take the Prince’s side and go all out against your group. I’m sorry, Princess, but since our leader had made a decision, nothing you can say can change our mind.」

Tsk… Damn it… I made a mistake not taking into consideration the Hyakki Yagyo’s secondary objective… The Princess warrily glanced at the raging battlefields around her. If I can’t convince them to stop fighting for Yllaes, at this rate, Ryan and all others will be killed in no time.

「Now, do you understand?」asked Yllaes.「You cannot escape your fate, Yllaner… Though, if you resign your life now, I’ll make it as painless as possible and I’ll promise to spare everyone here. This is already your loss.」

「... I」Yllaner’s strategic mind, for the first time in a while, was numbed. 

「「Yllaner sama!」」Both Futar and Uran shouted. 「「Please don’t listen to him. We would be gladly to lay down our lives to ensure your safety!」」The elven lord and the beastman warrior quickly jumped forward attacking the confident Prince, Futar with his oversized battle ax while Uran with the alchemically imbued attack wrapped around his bare hands, which have now clenched into a claw shape. Though, before their attacks connected to the Prince’s body, they were both stopped in the middle of their tracks by the intervention of the dryad cousins, with their spears in their hands. 

「... By the look on your eyes, it seems as though you have made up your mind, sister.」noted the Prince of his sister’s change of demeanor after hearing her followers loudly profess their intention. 

「I will win in the end, brother. Your method of forcefully uniting the clans within this forest under the Shilna, will only lead to unnecessary suffering, while allowing external forces the chance to turn this holy homeland of ours into their playgrounds.」Yllaner shot the vampire a fierce look before glancing briefly above her head, where flocks of birds continue to observe the situation. 

「... You continue to make bad decisions one after the other, Yllaner. You could have save your followers’ lives, but now… you can join them in your eternal rest!」declared Yllaes, his eyes glowed red for a brief moment as an incredible amount of Nen began to envelop and enhance his body. The pressure exerted by his power even crushed the ground below his feet while tiny sparks of lightning began to appear around where he stood. 「Activate Arte: < Ba’al of the Heaven >.」

Ba’al?... So there’s no turning back, brother? One of us will perish here. Yllaner thought to herself before activating her own Arte. 「<Changxi Tears>」

Notes:

Roadmap for future chapters (So kind of spoilers, dont worry, nothing written here is finalized until I actually write out the chapter. Once I wrap up this arc, I'll post the half finished brainstorm of this arc, to show you how much I deviated from my original plan lol)
Anyways, in my head, there are 2 more chapters before the vs Yllaes mini arc ends (+1 dealing with Erik vs Thomas), then a few chapters before this 3rd arc end, then a few chapters for arc 3.5 (to wrap things up and set arc 4 into action) before Arc 4, which deals with Kibadios' village, then arc 5, which deals with something (And i really mean something because I dont know what yet lol), then arc 6, which deals with the Empire.

Chapter 82: The 14th day (3)

It was not long before the encampment’s dirty streets were filled with concerned soldiers, who quickly poured out from their hastily constructed tents due to the sudden tremors and shaking grounds underneath their feet, only to see their peers vacantly stared in disbelief as the intense battle between the half ogre, half incubus hybrid and the four arms wolf beastman raged on. The clashes between the hybrid’s signature black scythe and the beastman’s sturdy swords would inadvertently cause ripples propagated throughout the surrounding area, strong enough to knock several unsuspected soldiers to their knees. Unlike the beastman who fought unconcernedly with a broad grin on his face, the hybrid acted in a much more cautious behaviour, always quickly jumping back away from his opponent after one or two strikes since he did not know what the Yonko could be capable of. Maintaining a certain distance from him while studying and analyzing his power was a much better strategy, yet, despite the battle having been carried on for more than ten minutes, the hybrid was still unable to learn anything about his opponent’s power. In contrast with Kibadios’ attacks, which utilized both his Nen and his shadows in tandem, wrapping around his body and scythe, causing each of his scythe’s swings to become extremely deadly for they easily slid through rows of gigantic trees along his attacking path, the Yonko was able to merely utilize his Nen alone to easily block or parry off any attacks the hybrid threw at him. Kibadios could not risk getting close to him for a long period of time without knowing more about his possible <Artes>, or worse, <Ultimate Arte>; yet, backing away from him did not mean Kibadios could let his guard down, either, for  the Yonko could easily fire off a concentrated blast of mana from the guns he were holding on his other two hands. From the hybrid’s observation, the guns the Yonko was holding had so far produce two distinct types of attacks: one was a large beam of energy that took the Yonko a while to charge up, much similar to Ryuu’s <Dragon Blast>, which could easily erase half a mountain range from existence. Kibadios was lucky to be able to dodge such a blast, though the seemingly straight path of complete decimation that it left behind still unnerved the hybrid. Good thing he did not aim at the encampment behind us , Kibadios thought, though at times, he wondered whether the Yonko avoided the camp was truly due to their fortune or if he did consciously make sure his attack would not decimate those soldiers below. The second type of attack from his gun was not as powerful in magnitude, yet, it was much more tricky to dodge, for it would produce several small energy rays that seeked out to specifically strike at the hybrid. It took Kibadios much time and effort to completely dodge all of them once they were fired. Still, despite already overwhelming his opponent, the Yonko has yet to reveal a single skill, nor his own elemental affinity.

「So this is a power of a Yonko, huh?」said Kibadios before throwing his scythe up, freeing up his hands 「I call upon you, <Damocles>, <Aegis>!」
「Ho? You’re a summoner?」noted the Yonko. 「Come at me with your full strength, Kibadios the hybrid! I want to judge for myself whether you’re as good as she said!」

「She? Who told you about me?」 Was it Adela? There’s no way a Great Demon Lord is in cahoot with an Astral, is there? That can’t be… Most likely, it’d be Gilga… Kibadios deduced while the three spiritual swordsmen slowly materialized on his right hand while a large shield appeared on his left. One had to look carefully at the shield handle to be able to realize the shield was held up by a tiny creature dressed in complete Adamantine armor, only its two eyes, which looked like two blue fireballs, were visible. 

「Who else but that meddling Gilga would try to interfere with his conflict?」answered the Yonko. 

「What did she tell you about me?」asked the hybrid.

「That if I’m bored in the middle of carrying out my contract, I should seek you out for entertainment.」answered the Yonko honestly.「The moment I saw that mutant hybrid carried you on his back, I just knew that you’re the individual that hag was telling me about.」

Damn you, Gilga. You’re trying to use me as bait to get his attention in order to alleviate some burden from the Princess? Kibadios was annoyed. Though, as much as I hated being used, Gilga was correct in directing his attention toward me. He could easily end the Princess the moment he got to his camp, but most likely because he wanted to fight me, he had allowed the Princess to get away without harming her… But then, that also means he’s confident his mercenary group alone is enough to take down the Princess, even though she’s under the protection of several heroes and Ryuu… If that’s the case, I need to get to her side soon or else I’ll be too late… 「Sorry to disappoint you then.」

「Huh? Why?」

「Because I’m nowhere as strong as she made me out to be?」smiled Kibadios.「Especially since I’m unable to call on my trump card now.」

「So, you’re telling me you’re not at your peak condition yet?」Somehow, the Yonko seemed ecstatic. 「You’re telling me that you survived this long facing me despite not being in peak condition? Damn, you’re making me hard! This world is truly much more exciting than the sengoku period, isn’t it?」The excited Yonko quickly pointed two of his guns at the hybrid and simultaneously released the trigger, allowing the vast amount of energy being charged up to project themselves at Kibadios, evaporating everything in their path into nothingness. Still, unlike the other times, the hybrid did not move an inch from where he stood. Instead, he calmly reached out to the shield of the summon he called <Aegis>, allowing the summon to fuse with him. Now, his whole body cladded in a full impenetrable god-tier armor, his left hand carried the very shield that the summon was carrying before. 

「... You’re not dodging?」The beastman noticed the change in Kibadios’ fighting behavior. 「You’re not doing a Benkei, are we?」

Before the blast reached where he stood, Kibadios quickly raised the shield up in front of him, his gaze fixated on the incoming attack, without blinking even for a second. 「I can assure you I don't intend to die...<Absolute Protection>」Despite a direct hit, with the explosion resulting in enough force that blew away majority of the tents at the encampment, the Yonko could clearly see none of the attack had been able to reach his opponent, who stood firmly behind the glowing shield. A thin, partially invisible barrier could be seen enveloping the hybrid. 

「Go, <Damocles>. Claim his head for me!」ordered Kibadios. Soon enough, the three spiritual knights in full body armor leapt forth, aiming their sword at the confident Yonko. Though, before their weapons could reach their target, they were stopped short on their track. 

「Scarryyyy… You have any more tricks, Kibadios?」grinned the Yonko as two of his swords had somehow, within a blink of an eye, had effortlessly pierced through two of the spirit’s bodies, while the third spirit’s torso was blasted off by one of his guns. 

Fast… Too fast, in fact . Kibadios could feel cold sweat begin to roll down on his forehead. Has he just been toying with me since the beginning? Aside from using his Nen and raw physical strength, he has yet to show me any of his skills… The gap in power between us is simply still too much. 「Well, if you insist.」Kibadios warrily smiled before raising his right hand. 「<Damocles>, fusion!」His scythe quickly reappeared in his hand again, though this time, floating mid air next to the scythe, were the three swords belonging to his summon <Damocles.> 「...Let’s go for round 2?」

His summon did not disappear? The yonko noticed. 「Wooo, two fusions at once… By the Kami, it’s been a while since my penis has gotten this hard! I think you may be the one I’ve been looking for.」

「... Yea… I don't know what you meant, but please don't say something like that while looking straight at me with your dick already half mast. It does send a shiver down my spine.」Kibadios raised his eyebrows. 

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「<Dragon Breath>!!!」screamed out Ryuu his signature attack as the small magicule orbs began to aggregate into a large mass of energy in front of his mouth before being projected at the two Captains who have been able to fight toe to toe against him for the past few minutes.

「<Earth Wall>」The captain who belonged to the lizardman race quickly activated his skill, which raised up a giant wall made of the muddy ground beneath their feet. Though, unlike other earthen wall, this thick barrier was reinforced with the Lizardman’s own Nen, allowing it to withstand the enormous force of impact caused by Ryuu’s attack, only to sustain minor cracks.

「Damn it, not that again.」Ryuu clicked his tongue in frustration. The large, bulky lizardman, who had been assuming an extremely defensive stance, blocking most of the dragonoid attacks, has caused the dragonoid great frustration. 「I’ll fucking tear down that wall!」Declared Ryuu as he launched his lance forward. Despite his weapon of choice, the dragonoid’s class was, in fact, a <Telekinetic> class of the Range group. This class allowed him to control objects with his mind, though unlike many others in the same class who could control pretty much any inorganic items, Ryuu had put restrictions upon his own power, forcing him to only be able to control his seven-branch lance. Much like Nen users who placed constraints on their ability or limit break skills from JRPG that required special conditions to be met before using, this restriction greatly limited the ways he can utilize his power, though in return, it also greatly amplified its power. This appeared evident as his lance effortlessly pierced through the same reinforced earthen wall that could easily block off <Dragon Breath>, then violently broke it into pieces. Before the dust could settle, the Lizardman stealthily traversed through the falling rubbles before appearing in front of the unsuspecting dragonoid with his two great axes in hands. Although Ryuu was quick enough to block the twin attacks with his dragon scale covered arms, a hard kick quickly sent him flying across the surface of Operon Sea, before another captain with the appearance of a falcon beastman that greatly resembled the egyptian god Horus, swooped down from the air with a heavy punch. The impact was strong enough that it would send Ryuu crashing down to the bottom of the sea, displacing the water around him and creating an artificial circular wave of tsunami, much like when Master Goultard made an appearance to confront Rushu. 

「Damn it...」Ryuu’s patience has run low. He had tried his best to conceal his dragon appearance since Amber and Thomas were present in the area; however, it was clear that in his current form, he could only evenly fight against the two demon lord class individuals at best, let alone hoping to defeat them.「You’re making me really angry, you pests!」Ryuu growled loudly before finally deciding to transform into his dragon form before the displaced volume of water crashed down on him. 

「That’s his dragon form?」The lizardman captain’s hand started shaking for the first time in a while.

「It seems like we have awakened a raging natural disaster.」The falcon beastman, hoovering in the air above with his pair of wings, noted. 

Ryuu flew straight up into the air before swirling around, creating shock waves that attracted attentions of all the remaining captains, who have already thoroughly subjugated their respective opponents: Ryan was now lying unconscious on the shore of the lake, even the splashing of the turbulent waves could not wake him up. On the edge of the cliff, a Hyakki Yagyo captain that greatly resembled the human race more than any other demihuman, was grabbing the struggling Yuusei in his shota form by his neck with just one hand, while the other held onto the intact core of the pet slime, who has already been melting down into a puddle. His crimson hair covered his eyes like a generic hentai protagonist, his face was decorated with a sinister crescent smile before Ryuu’s dragon form finally caught his attention. Amber and her partner, Floria, did not fare much better for the female hero had already been backed into a corner while Floria was already knocked out. 

「Wow, what do we have here?」The female Yves captain who was dealing with Amber quickly noticed Ryuu’s transformation.「That’s not your average Dragon, is it?」

「That dragon...」Amber frowned. 「... is Ryuu kun?」

「COME AT ME, YOU LOW LIFE MERCENARIES!」Ryuu provoked the captains, trying to attract their attention. Although he was trying to help Ryan and others, he soon found himself in a perilous situation as all six of the captains’ animosity quickly turned to him. Half of the twelve captains, whose collective power were said to be able to decimate nations, were now directing at Ryuu and Ryuu alone. 

「You think you can take on all of us?」The vampire captain, dressed in Heian clothing, simply smiled. Yet, his eyes were filled with menace, his fingers held onto a stack of talisman paper. 

… That man looks like the designated leader of these captains… he’s a Runecrafter? Noticed Ryuu. Wait, wasn’t he dealing with Sylvia sama’s reincarnation? Is she safe? Ryuu quickly glanced at where Yllaner stood. The clash between Futar and Uran against the dryad cousins has been going on for a while without either of them gaining an upper hand. But what caught Ryuu’s attention was the clash between Yllaes, who had covered himself in black lightning, and a male figure. Wait, that’s not the Princess? Who?... Ahh!! That’s...How did he get here???

「Where are you looking at, dragon?」Shouted the vampire before launching a few pieces of his talismans. The harmless paper, inscribed with Rune magic, suddenly transformed into three threatening Kirins galloping straight at the distracted Ryuu. Yet, despite being unprepared, the attack still ultimately failed to reach him, for the seven-branch lance that Ryuu recalled back to his side swiftly pierced through all three Kirin, forcing them to dissipate into thin air. 

「Are you trying to probe my power with that attack? Not in a thousand years would such an attack reach me, Vampire.」declared Ryuu. The air around him began to feel heavy, causing a few of the captains to ditch their overconfident attitude. 「I am Ryuu, the last of the first generation dragons. I am Ryuu, a loyal servant of Kibadios sama. I am Ryuu, I am your death!!!!」

 

 

Thank you for Pozon (Pixiv ID: 16230371), who came up with a design for him. Who is this? It's the hentai protagonist captain, who beat up Yuusei. His name is Uri, btw

"I thought he's just another mob character, why he's gotten an illustration?"  Well, I wonder why...

PS: I actually altered his appearance a bit because in the original drawing from Pozon, it was meant to be how he'd appear later on (probably much later on)... no spoiler. Be warned, if you check Pozon's pixiv page, you'll spoil yourself on how he would look later on lol.

 

Notes:

I did a request for a fight scene between Ashura and Kibadios. I was hoping to have received it by now to post it together with this chapter, but I still have not gotten it yet lol I'll post it whenever it's available.

Chapter 83: The 14th day (4)

<Changxi Tears>, the Princess’ arte, was never meant to be used for direct confrontation. Much like Adela’s ultimate Arte, <Changxi Tears> was fundamentally a support skill. Anyone who was subjected to the dim light radiated from the moon shaped object conjured by the skill would experience an intangible force restricting their movements while constantly sucking up their Nen. Although the skill might prove effective against average fighters, individuals who possessed a vast quantity of Nen or who have strenuously trained their entire life would easily overcome it. One of such being was the one who stood before her now, with black sparks of lightning covered his whole body, not only to protect it from any incoming offense, but also act as an artificial enhancement that significantly boosted the stats of its user. Yllaes of the Shilna Clan, first born son of the former Shilna Clan Head, older brother of the apparent heir, the strongest being in the Vernys Confederation, was simply too powerful for Yllaner’s skill to subjugate. And the Princess knew this, for she quickly created a distance between themselves before drawing her large bow in hands.Although both her brother and she belonged to the <Ranger> class, the fighting styles of the two siblings were completely opposite from one another. Due to the overwhelmingly offensive capability of his Arte, Yllaes had solely focused on range attacks that imbued with crushing power, while Yllaner’s style was much less powerful yet extremely more tactical. That tactical focus though, was useless given the situation she was in: facing an enemy head to head. 

「You could have avoided this twisted fate, Yllaner. Yet, you chose to abandon our homeland to chase after Kyles」lamented her brother as several rays of black lightning emerged from his body before quickly striking toward his sister. Despite some of the lightning rays were stopped short on their tracks by the aura arrows the princess released from her bows, more than half had easily reached their intended destination before exploding loudly, enveloping the princess. 「...I tried my best to end this quickly. I hope you did not feel much pain from that. Just take your eternal rest, Yllaner. I promise I will shoulder the responsibility of uniting the Vernys Forest under the Shilna’s rule… my foolish sister.」

「Don’t worry, Yllaes sama.」A familiar voice called out to the confident prince before the dust settled, revealing the wavy black hair man, whose hand held tightly onto his trust great sword. 「I can assure you Yllaner did not feel any pain. After all, I had promised you to protect her from any harm, even if it came from you.」

「... Kyles...」Called out Yllaes.

「...」The Princess was still in disbelief, looking at her beloved standing right in front of her. 「Kyl chan...」

「Sorry, Yllaner, for being late.」The hero gave her a sincere smile before turning around and traded a menacing look at the Prince.「Yllaes sama, what is the meaning of this? Why would you raise your hands against Yllaner?」

「... because I’m just like her. 」Yllaes admitted 「Just like how she had chosen you over this forest, I have chosen to protect this forest over her.」

「What nonsense are you talking about?」Kyles frowned. 「You know Yllaner. She would never abandon Vernys.」

「You don’t understand, Kyles.」dismissed the Prince. 「The head of the Shilna is not just an empty title. It requires every fiber of your body to focus on the tasks of holding the confederation together while resisting the imminent encroachment of the Yin Empire. The clan head should never worry about anything but the fate of the clan and the forest. She knew that, yet she willingly chased after you.」

「Chasing after me?」Kyles turned around, only to see the Princess’s resolve seemed to waver, as if Yllaes had touched her nerve. 「I don’t know what happened here, in the territory of the Vernys Forest, nor do I know what’s going on between you and Yllaner...」The hero turned to face Yllaes.「But you’re wrong, Yllaes sama! Yllaner is not solely just the heir to the Clan. Despite how much you wish for her to be an emotionless being who could only dedicate and sacrifice her life for the forest, she’s still simply a girl with her own thoughts and desires. She’s not a soulless puppet or automaton with no feelings!」argued Kyles. 「Despite so, she’s still trying her best to bring forth the best future for this forest! Please, stop whatever that you’re doing, we can still...」

「It’s useless to convince me to stop, Kyles... Though, I guess it works out in the end since at least with you here, I can send both of you to the afterlife. You can keep my foolish little sister company then.」declared Yllaes, with his black lightnings formed into a sharp javelin in his hand. With all his might, the Prince violently projected the weapon made up entirely by his own lightning, aiming at the hero. Knowing if he dodged it, the attack would strike Yllaner, who was standing behind him, the hero bravely sprung forward. With his Arte already activated, several white birds made up of pure energy swirled around the hero before gliding straight at the lightning arrow, causing another huge explosion. Soon afterward, the hero swiftly emerged from the dusty cloud, the big sword in his hand determinedly crashed down at the elven Prince. Although missed, the attack crushed the ground beneath the Prince, causing large cracks to form before the ground itself crumbled, forcing Yllaes to levitate himself up onto the air with his lightning. 

「To think, the same child who chased after my shadow has grown this much.」commented Yllaes with a regretful tone. 「Had I been forceful enough and removed you from Yllaner’s life, things will not turn out like this.」

「Nii chan!」screamed out Yllaner as she released a few other arrows aiming at her brother. 「Everything that happened here was never Kyl chan’s fault! Don’t try to deflect your own mistakes onto others. This mess right here is caused by the stubbornness of both you and I. Kyl chan is simply a bystander caught in this.」

「... I guess you’re right...」agreed Yllaes while casually blocking the incoming arrows. 「But, just like how you cannot recall an arrow that has been released, I cannot stop now. Like I said before, Yllaner...」The Prince raised his arms, conjuring up countless lightning arrows pointing down at his two targets staying on the ground. 「By the end of this conflict, one of us will perish.」At his signal, the deadly arrows mercilessly rained onto Kyles and Yllaners. Though, knowing Kyles’ power, he knew, such an attack would not be able to end this battle. 

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The earth shattering confrontation between Kyles and Yllaes raged on for what seemed to be hours, with each other trading their signature attacks back and forth. By now, Kyles had also taken it to the sky, riding on the back of a large, white eagle that was made up of his holy aura while Yllaes still relied on his black lightning to levitate himself in the air. Despite being backed up by the Princess from the ground, little by little, the veteran hero slowly found himself fighting on the defensive as the Prince’s attack kept on overwhelming the man. 

「Kyles kun, why keeps up with this desperate struggle?」called out Yllaes though the hero simply remained silent, his eyes stayed vigilant, watching out for any hidden attacks. 「Judging from your sloppy swings, you could barely hold on to your sword. It’s a given since I heard from my spies that you fell into a coma after dealing with that Chaos infected creature back in Lorian after receiving a grave injury...」The Prince glanced at the hero’s rib, where a large stain of blood has been continuously soaking through his shirt for at least the last ten minutes. 「It’s a miracle that you’re still alive. Even if you’re in your peak condition, you could only at best fight me to a draw. What can you do now, standing so close at death’s door?」

「That does not matter, Yllaes sama...」Kyles wearily grinned, though his vision has started to get blurry. 「As long as I still draw breath, I will protect Yllaner with all my life.」

「... Is that so?」Yllaes nodded, flashes of long forgotten memories of him watching over his little sister playing with Kyles on the flower field starting to come back to the cold hearted man. 「... Your unwavering devotion to my sister...I think I just remember why I let you get so close to Yllaner although I knew better.」said Yllaes. 「Maybe, just like Yllaner said, everything is truly my fault.」Despite being a ranger class, who should have fought his opponent at a distance, the Prince suddenly closed his distance against the weakening hero, much to Kyles’ surprise. Both his hands were now cladded in black lightning, resembling Kakashi’s Chidori. With such speed and force, even if Kyles were to strike him with his sword, the elven prince would easily break the hero’s weapon with his bare hands. 「That means that I myself need to rectify that mistake by ending you right here, right now, Kyles!」screamed out Yllaes

「Stop it, Nii chan!!!」begged Yllaner as she released her arrows, though her brother easily dodged it while preparing to deliver his lethal strikes at the barely conscious hero.

「Tsk...」Frowned Kyles, knowing he got nothing to stop the Prince’s sudden attack.

CLANG! Before Yllaes knew it, his attack was stopped short before it reached the hero’s heart, for a small, semi invisible shield was now placed in front of him, blocking the deadly attack. 

「Who?」

「This is…?」

「It’s me, Kyles.」A familiar voice called out from behind.「Thank you for holding out this long… and sorry that I’m late.」

「Kibadios?」The hero turned around, only to see the hybrid in his incubus form, his two bat wings spread out intimidatingly. 

「Yes. You did well, Kyles. It’s over now.」The hybrid approached the hero before he finally collapsed onto Kibadios, knowing that with the hybrid here, Yllaner would be safe.

「Thanks… Kibadios...」Muttered Kyles. 

「An incubus-ogre hybrid… you’re one of Yllaner’s guards that I was informed about?」

「Indeed I am.」smiled the hybrid, then with one swing of his wing, creating a small shockwave that caused the Prince to back off. Taking the opportunity, Kibadios swiftly glided downward with the injured hero on his shoulder.

「Kyles!」The Princess hurriedly ran to the hybrid and carefully supported the hero off of Kibadios. 「Thank you Kibadios! I thought you were unconscious...」

「Yes, I was, but thankfully, I woke up in time.」smiled Kibadios before turning toward Yllaes. 「Don’t worry, Princess. For holding out this long, this is now you’re win!」

「What are you talking about?」Yllanes was confused. 「Be careful, Kibadios. My brother is just as strong as Kyles. And there are other Hyakki Yagyo’s captains to worry about. They were fighting against Ryuu kun...」Yllaner turned toward the place where the giant eastern dragon that was Ryuu used to be, only to find a calm, quiet scenery that greeted her. 「Wait.. Where are they?」

「... What is the meaning of this?」Yllaes finally descended down onto the ground. 「Why did the Hyakki Yagyo stopped fighting?」

「That’s why I said it’s all over.」grinned Kibadios. 「Ashura of the Hyakki Yagyo has decided to cease carrying out the contract with you, given that you are no longer able to “pay.”」

「... That’s preposterous!」shouted Yllaes. 「They had already knew the source of Orcan was taken over by Yllaner’s forces, yet they chose to fight in order to demonstrate their power to the Yin Empire’s spies. There’s no way they’d stop.」

「True.」Agreed Kibadios. 「Once a contract is formed, the Hyakki Yagyo would fight until the very end to fulfill such a contract… But the moment the Orcan mine was taken over, the original contract between you two was rendered invalid, since you’re no longer able to pay them. They did agree to help you deal with Yllaner after knowing the mine was no longer yours, but such a promise was not bound by a contract. It’s only oral promise between you and Ashura. Did he not tell you that if he does not feel like it anymore, he’d unilaterally end his support for you?」

「... He did.」

「Turn out, I was able to successfully make a deal with him and he agrees to finally stay out of the Vernys Conflict for good.」revealed Kibadios.

「How?」The Prince finally realized his only chance of winning over his little sister had slipped away from his grasp. 「How could you convince him?」

「Seriously, not in a million years would I enter into such a deal with that type of person...」Kibadios’ expression suddenly turned sour. 「But in the end, it’s the only way for him to end his meddling in Vernys Forest.」

「Kibadios?」Yllaner was also curious. 「What did you do?」

「Well, you see...」

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「What are you talking about, Maia senpai?」The dragon kin, who had finally transformed back into his humanoid form, was surprised at Maia’s appearance at the battlefield and her message to him. 「How can he...」

「It’s true, it’s true!」In front of him, Ashura was grinning ears to ears. 「Kibadios is such an interesting individual, I can’t help but convince him to agree.」

「You heard it right, Ryuu chan.」Maia was still reluctant.「For Ashura dono to withdraw his support for Yllaes, Kibadios sama has agreed to be Ashura dono’s sworn brother. That means he’s now part of the Hyakki Yagyo… Hyakki Yagyo’s second in command, in fact.」

「「There’s no way it’s true, right, Ashura sama?」」A few of the captains simultaneously voiced their doubts on what they were hearing.

「No no, she’s telling the truth. The interesting hybrid that Gilga mentioned is now officially our member.」

「But… How can it be? This must be a trap that yonko is luring us into, Maia senpai!」Ryuu glared at the giddy Ashura.

「...I don't know the details either, Ryuu chan… But at least Kibadios sama did not think it was a trap. I don't know what does it mean, but he was saying that Ashura dono is sincere in wanting him to be his sworn brother since Kibadios sama reckoned Ashura dono’s a Chuunibyou.」

「...What’s a Chuunibyou?」

Chapter 84: Bonus: Ryan's first time (R18)

Taken place during Chapter 10, this drawing's purpose is to introduce Ryan's look (because technically, I did not have any drawing of him until the bathroom sex scene lol).
It's a bit different from what I imagine the scene to be (I imagine Kibadios pins Ryan down and ravages him mercilessly) but I still like it cuz I really like the artist's style.
Artist: ロビン神父

Pixiv ID: 25474

PS: Like I said before, if you're interested in using pixiv to request R18 and facing the issue with the "Your request could not be sent because there are no payment methods that can be used for R-18 and R-18G requests in your region." problem, then just quickly change your language setting to Japanese and you should be able to pay for R18 requests. :3

 

 

R18

R18

R18

 

 

The next chapter is coming out soon. It's tragedy-centric so it takes a while lol >.> It's funny cuz I hate tragedy genre but given the setting and the theme of this story, I cannot not include tragedy.

Chapter 85: The days of the past

「Erik, dinner!」The fisherman sternly called out to the young teenager sitting absent-mindedly by the high cliff, his two slender legs hung down the edge, his eyes gazed down at the crashing waves beneath his feet. The 34 years old hero leered down at the demihuman child that his wife had rescued on the beach during that fateful stormy evening, his mind was filled with dark thoughts, clouding his judgement. Just one push… just one small push and I’ll permanently end this demihuman… Being a hero with a strong sense of justice, Thomas was never fond of demihumans. Granted, not all demihumans were irredeemably evil, yet, throughout the millennia of histories, there had always been countless demon lords borned from the demi-human races, waging wars and spreading devastation to the human lands. Even his native birthplace, the United Kingdoms of the Southern Coast, was subjected to years of harassment and looting from a group of up and coming demon lord class individuals. It was not until five years ago, when help from the Oracle arrived that it allowed him and other heroes in the region to finally wage a war to hunt down those barbaric demon lords. Had it not been for Helena, his beloved wife, who begged for him to take in the Yves child, not in a million years would he allow a demihuman into his household.

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「Why did you take a Yves back to our home?」Thomas still vividly remembered the disgust he had when his wife brought the kid to their home as the thunder storm wreaked havoc to the small coastal village.

「What’s wrong with you, Thomas? Don’t you see he’s injured? He must have been on that Yves shipwreck incident that everyone was talking about.」Helena tenderly wiped the kid’s bruised face.「He was probably stranded in the ocean for days… maybe weeks… I can’t just let him die without doing anything.」

「Why not? He’s a demihuman… They’re harbingers of evil.」

「Thomas Edinson, he’s just an innocent kid! Stop being a jerk and go get some warm towels over here!」Despite being a powerful hero class individual, the man still could not go against his dear wife when she was getting angry like this.

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... Just one push … His hand reached out to the unsuspected child, only to stop short when a voice of a young girl loudly called out to the two.「Papa!! Nii chan! What took you guys so long? Mum is waiting.」

「Yes yes. We’re coming!」Thomas nodded with a goofy smile, then turned to the teenager. 「Heard that, Erik? Don’t make Helena and Rita waiting.」

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「<Zhuque’s Vortex>!!!」Erik screamed out, activating his attack, which took the form of a large fiery tornado inched toward the blind hero. 

「<Poseidon’s Strike>!!!」Thomas counterattacked, calling forth several swirling streams of water that wrapped around the Yves’ attack and neutralized it. Since they were fighting near a vast body of water, the hero did not have to use his Nen much to generate the water necessary for his skill to activate. Yet, despite the seemingly overwhelming advantage, he was not able to land a single successful attack on his adopted son. 

「Huff… Huff… Huff...」

「You’re getting old, Thomas.」sneered Erik. 「Had you been in your prime, you probably would have kicked my ass by now, but look at you, you’re just an old man who could barely keep up with my attacks… And where are your group of lackeys? I thought you’re always with your men.」

「... I took this mission on my own. I have asked them to return home before traveling here」answered the old hero.

「Why? You should have asked them to help you out, maybe you’ll fare better then.」Erik was curious.

「Why have you not asked for your comrades’ help, then?」Laughed Thomas as he looked at Amaira and Baxley, who had elected to simply standby and observe their superior’s fight.「 Back when I learned from King Lance’s messenger that a Yves mercenary from the Hyakki Yagyo is taking on the contract to kill the Princess, I knew that person had to be you. I know it’s inevitable that the two of us will clash so I simply cannot let my friends get involved in the feud between us. I’m sure you have the same idea. It’s funny, we despise each other, yet, in some aspects, we’re just like real father and son duo.」

「... Shut up...」Erik moved forward before striking down at the old hero with his heavy sword, though the attack was quickly blocked by Thomas’ iron harpoon. The clash between them, along with their direct opposite elemental affinity, caused a sudden explosion of steam. Undeterred by the attack, Thomas concentrated his strength onto his arm, unexpectedly swung his harpoon and overcame the Yves, pushing him back away. Before Erik could find his footing, he could already notice streams of high speed water jets launched at him by the old hero’s skill.

「Damn you, old man! Where did you find such strength...」

 

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「Straighten your back!」Thomas sternly instructed before lightly hitting the young Erik with a wooden stick. Despite his dislike toward the sole demihuman living in the town, the young hero had still decided to train him in combat since he knew the boy would be the only person his wife and young daughter could rely on when he was unable to be with them during his missions. 「With such a weak stance, you will not be able to stand against a goblin, let alone any other higher threats that lurk beyond the town’s border. Remember, you should yearn to become stronger since you’ll be responsible for protecting Helena and Rita whenever I’m not around.」

「...」The teenager was annoyed at his adopted father, yet, a part of him was also grateful to the man for teaching him how to fight as a warrior. 

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「You’re leaving again, Thomas?」The elder worryingly asked the departing hero, trying to guilt him into staying.

「Yes, this is an important job from the adventure guild that was commissioned by the Oracle itself. You know I cannot say no.」Explained Thomas.

「But, because of the activity of that newly ascended Yonko, the monsters have been migrating to the vicinity and making nests outside of our town lately… I’m just afraid...」

「Don’t worry about them. They’re just lowly monsters, they pose no threat to . Besides, I’ve been continuously exterminating them for the whole week, I'm sure they will not dare to come close to the town for at least a month or two.」The young hero assured his mayor. 「Besides, Erik has become rather a proficient fighter after all my rigorous trainings, I’m sure you can make use of him to protect the peace of the town.」

「... I dont know...」The elder shook his head.「After all, he’s a demihuman. Sometimes, I wonder if the reason the monsters are gathering here is because of his presence.」

「Hahaha. You know demihuman are not mutants, they cannot attract monsters like that.」

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「What’s with the bruises?」asked Thomas when he saw the mutant sitting by the cliff after trying to seek for the teenager before his departure.「Don’t tell me you got hit by some low level monsters.」

「...」The Yves again simply remained silent.

「That’s not it, Papa!」The little girl stood up angrily. 「The older guys have ganged up on Nii chan earlier this morning! Nii chan did nothing wrong!」

「Rita, don’t worry. I’m fine. They’re weak so their punches did nothing to me.」The Yves tried to calm his adopted sister down, though the little girl’s anger was clearly not allayed. 

「... Did you hit them back?」asked Thomas.

「No! I already told you Nii chan did not do anything wrong!」The angry Rita almost cried out in tears.

「I see… That’s good. You’re a demihuman living in an extremely conservative town. It’s best that you don’t do anything rash.」said Thomas coldly. 「I’ll be gone for at least two months, don’t try to cause any trouble to your mother and sister.」

「Papa!」While the Yves simply stayed silent and clenched his fist tightly, Rita loudly called out to her father in frustration.

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「 Mother… Please… Stay… Stay with me!!!!」Erik screamed out in desperation as walls of fiery flames enveloped his family. His adopted mother laid lifelessly next to a burning wooden beam. He did not know how he mustered such strength, but he had finally been able to lift and shove the beam weighing down on top Helena away. Despite his badly burned hands, the teenager slowly pulled his mother away from the flame toward the middle of the room, where Rita was struggling to breathe. Although it was the only place in the building that the flames have yet spread to, the thick smoke trapped inside the place was enough to suffocate them to death.

「... E...ik..」Helena could barely speak since part of her lung was already crushed and burned. 「Ta..ke… Ri..a.. Sa..v.. er.. Get… out…」Each syllable she muttered caused her extreme pain, her eyes welled up with tears, though they would quickly evaporate into the thin air due to the intense heat.

「I’ll take both… of you out of her...e… Don’t worry. Mother!!!」Even until the present day, Erik could not recall how, but the next thing he remembered was him sitting exhausted outside the burning building under the stormy night, similar to the night his mother saved his life. On his back were his motionless little sister and what remained of his mother, with parts of her was already burned to crisp. The town folks were now gathered around him, all looking aghast at the scene. Erik’s mind was completely blank. He sat there, not able to move an inch as other older folks started to gather around his mom and sister. He did not know who said what, but he could vividly remember the murmurings uttered by the crowds of heartless strangers.

「Why are they in that building?」「It’s abandoned, wasn’t it?」「I think that filthy demihuman always played hide and seek with the little girl in that building.」「Really? But why did it catch fire?」「Maybe it’s because of lightning?」「Is that so?」「... Does this not look like the act of the Astrals? Maybe they wanted to help to cleanse this town of that filthy demihuman so they sent that lightning to burn him alive.」「It sure was a divine intervention.」「He has yet moved but he’s still alive there, right?」「Poor Helena and Rita, they both lost their lives just because of such a demihuman.」

… No… No… That’s not it… Erik thought to himself, his blurry sight quickly focused on the bunch of teenagers at the far corner of the mob. How dare they?? Rage suddenly erupted within the Yves the moment he saw the culprits of this tragedy unconcernedly chatting with one another. This had never been  an accident. It was those brats who hit him in the back of his head with an iron bar, knocking him out and locking him inside the abandoned building. It was them who doused the building with oil before setting it on fire, claiming to be doing the Astrals’ work. Rita, who saw everything and sneaked in, trying to save her beloved brother and Helena, who bravely entered a burning building after hearing her children’s cries for help, were all killed by them. Why… Why are they still alive, yet mother and Rita are gone? The Yves loudly screamed out threateningly before lunging forward at the brats, who briefly cowered in fear before realizing the demihuman was too exhausted to do anything to them 「I’ll kill you!... I’ll… fucking… kill you...」Erik continued to groan as consciousness left him.

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「I’m sorry, Thomas...」A man approached the expressionless hero, who stood frozen next to his wife and daughter’s tombstones.「But you should at least drink or eat something. It’s been days. If you keep this up, you’ll die.」

「...」The veteran hero gave no reply. 

「Yeah, stop torturing yourself, Tom chan.」An old woman, who has known him since birth, chimed in. 「There’s nothing you can do… If anything, it’s that cursed demihuman’s fault. Helena chan should just have left him to die on that beach years ago.」Thomas slightly twitched at the mentioning of Erik.

「Don’t worry about him, Thomas.」Another man, dressed in upper class garments, continued to reassure the broken hero. 「He’s been thrown in jail and will stay rotten in jail for what he did.」

「Shouldn’t we just execute him, though? He even tried to harm the mayor’s kids and kept muttering ‘I’ll kill you’.」The old woman suggested.

「I know, right? Letting him live may bring further disaster to this town...」

The despondent Thomas did not pay any attention to the people standing behind him as they continued to discuss what to do with his adopted son. At this point, to him, nothing mattered anymore. Soon, the people began to give up convincing him to take a break from blankly staring at his wife and daughter’s resting places and returned to their home as nighttime started to cloak the town in an unseasonably thick mist.

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「Ahhh!!!」

「Stopp!!!」

「Someone stop him!!」

「How did he ...」

「He fucking awakened his skill… Someone, stop him!!!」

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「Tom… Tom chan… Tho...masss」The old woman’s voice finally reached the hero, causing him to slowly turn around. The silence enveloped his previously empty mind suddenly shattered as his ears registered the loud, desperate screams and shrieking coming from his beloved town. A corner of the dark sky found itself lit up by an ever expanding storm of flames that engulfed more than half of his town. The crackling of burning woods, mixing with the cries of thousands of residents like a haunting choir, caused the hero’s eyes to widen in disbelief. In front of him, the old woman crawled on the ground, inched slowly toward her only hope, with blood gushing out from the open wound on her back. 

「Evelyn san!」Thomas rushed forward, supporting the dying woman. 「What happened?」

「It’s… him… That monster… He’s rampa..ging… plea...see… st..op him...」

「Don’t tell me.」Thomas’ heart raced. There could only be one person that she could be referring to. The hero desperately wished for it to not be true, yet, the moment he looked up to the rustling sound in front of him, any hope he had was dashed for he found Erik simply stood in front of him, his eyes were that of the wild monsters that made their nest some distant away from the town. On each of his bloody hands held onto several detached heads of the teenagers around the town, the same people who had destroyed his one and only family. 

「...What did you do, Erik?」Still recovering from the shock, Thomas calmly asked the demihuman he and his wife had adopted into their home years ago.

「They deserved it.」The Yves simply answered before throwing the heads in front of the two tombstones.「They were the reason why mother and Rita are dead.」

「What are you talking about?」

「They tried to kill me by setting the building on fire! Because of their reckless actions, mother and Rita are not here anymore...」

「... What… about the other town people?」Thomas looked down at the pale white corpse of Evelyn in his hand.「What about Evelyn?」

「... They’re all complicit… They all deserve to die.」

「You’re not a demihuman, Erik. You’re… a monster!!!」Thomas lurched forward. With a watery blade forming around his hand from his skill, the hero quickly slashed down at the demihuman without any hesitation, aiming to kill the teenager and ending the carnage he caused. Yet, thanks to all the training Thomas had given him, the Yves skillfully dodged the killstrike, though he was not fast enough to stay completely unharm. The sharp blade pierced part of his face, causing the teenager to cover his wound in agony.

「Thomas… You!」Erik groaned.

「How could you do this?」The hero screamed at his adopted son.「You not only killed those kids without any fair trial, you even killed innocent people of the town! You massacred them without mercy!」

「Trial? Fair? Ha… hahaha… Hahahahaa」

「What are you laughing about?」Thomas gritted his teeth.「Had I know this day would come, had I know you will bring death to Helena and Rita, bringing death to so many innocent lives, I’d have killed you on that day, you harbinger of evil!!!」

「You were not angry the moment you learned how your wife and child were killed, yet you’re angry that I kill those pathetic people in this town that deserve to die? Are you fucking kidding me, Thomas!!」Erik angrily shouted before jumping at his adopted father after taking out a small blade, which had suddenly ignited in flame. 「Just die, Thomas. You and your fucking sense of justice. You and your fucking hero responsibilities that made you blind to the injustice of this world! Just die and keep my mother and sister’s company!」

The hero was ready to receive the teenager’s attack, yet, his berating screams somehow caused Thomas to freeze in place. Am I truly blind?
SLAAASHHH!!! Just in one second of carelessness, the demihuman’s attack quickly sliced through both of his eyes, though not much blood was spilt since the flame on the knife quickly burned his flesh and closed the wound almost instantaneously.

「<Poseidon’s Wave>」The pain and confusion caused the grieving hero to inadvertently activate his Arte, materializing several columns of tsunami aiming at the Yves. With his eyes mutilated, Thomas could only hear the sounds of his waves crashing against the rows of trees before hitting the burning buildings inside the town, extinguishing the raging flames. The sound of his adopted son screaming in anger also caught his ears, though it soon became lower and lower as the waves carried him away into the far off distance. Whether it was because he feared him or not, Erik never came back to challenge the hero after the Arte attack. The wanted notices of the teenager were soon distributed to the surrounding towns, though the last time Thomas had heard news about the Yves, it was concerning him being spotted with the newly ascended Yonko, who called himself Ashura…

Notes:

Phew. I planned to wrap up Thomas v. Erik story arc (and their backstories) within one chapter but it's getting too long. I guess I'll wrap it up next chapter, along with the resolution to the vs Yllaes arc.

Chapter 86: Bonus: Kibadios vs Ashura

One of the few non-portrait drawing that is not R18. :3

Artist: Chameleonrock (very talented, though at this point, I always think all the people who I commissioned drawings from are talented lol)

Pixiv ID: 34637

I've decided to buy a new phone so I won't be (hopefully, it's so addicting) request/commissioning more drawings in the near future. Though I still have a few (I believe 2) more drawings that are still in the work, and 2 more character portraits that I have already received but have yet posted. one of the upcoming drawing is a bisexual R18 scene :3

 

Chapter 87: The 14th day (5)

「Hey Kibadios, What were you thinking? Why did you agree to his offer? He must be planning something!!」Reuk was screaming the moment the hybrid finally accepted the Yonko’s offer to join the Hyakki Yagyo and be his sworn brother. 

「Calm down, you perverted elf. What would you do, then? You’ve been living within me for long enough that you should know my limitations by now.」Kibadios indifferently replied.「I just cannot defeat him on my own without relying on HaoS. He clearly had achieved <Limit Break> and now is a <Transcendence> individual. In the end, you cannot expect anything less for someone who had claimed the title of Yonko. If I reject his offer, there is no way for us to stop him and his group from massacring Yllaner and everyone else.」Kibadios reasoned. 「Besides, despite how confident I am in my power, I’m not stupid. I don't tend to blindly engage in battles where I don't hold at least 50% chance of winning.」

「But why would he want you to be his sworn brother? He barely even knows you.」Argued Reuk. 「Maybe he’s trying to trick you into dropping your guards.」

「He does not need to.」dismissed Kibadios, pointing out the obvious. 「Although I have leveled up greatly after my battle with Adela, had he wanted to, he could still have killed me ten times over during our brief encounter just now.」

「That’s why I’m worried! Why did he not just kill you then? His actions just don’t make any sense.」

「It may seem so at first, but...」Kibadios paused for a moment.「... though I may be wrong, I think I might have an idea on what he was thinking.」

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「Senpai! Did you not hear what I said? The big boss told us to stand down. We are to take the Princess’ side now.」Amaira angrily screamed at her vice captain after several attempts at communication. Although the Yves had clearly heard every single word his subordinate was saying, he simply elected to ignore it, for he could never step back from this rare opportunity to end the life of the abhorrent man standing in front of him. Thomas seemed to share the same sentiment as his adopted son, since despite noticing Kibadios’ arrival and the end of the conflict, with Yllaes and his two bodyguards being surrounded by the mercenary group’s captains, the old hero still did not retreat from his fight. Kibadios dono, I don't know how you do it, but you had just performed a miracle. Just minutes ago, we were on the verge of annihilation. Thomas thought to himself.

「Are you sure you can afford to be distracted?」Erik quickly took the advantage of the hero’s carelessness and delivered a devastating strike with his burning sword. Although Thomas was able to hastily block it at the last moment before the swipe tore through his flesh, the sheer weight of the attack sent him flying a few feet away. … This is it… My role as Yllaner dono’s guard is no longer needed. The old, weakened hero suddenly shot the Yves with a determined look that even surprised the demihuman for a brief moment. Now, I just have to settle this age old feud between us.

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「Yeah yeah! And then, after I kicked that demi in the stomach, Ed here punched him so hard, he even felt onto the ground.」The mayor’s teenager son proudly recounted how he, along with his gang of followers, had “taught” the demihuman named Erik a lesson in front of half a dozen other kids in town. 

「Really??」「Did he cry? I bet he was cowering and begging for help!」「Man, I should have been there!」

「Don’t worry! I can take you guys with us next time I decide to fuck with him.」The teen donned a twisted grin, imagining what future afflictions he would put the young Yves through. 「The more the merrier! Tormenting the demi for sure would score us points with the Astrals! Maybe they would even give our village their blessings.」

「And why would you think that, Matt?」The mayor’s son quickly snapped back from indulging in  his perverse fantasy the moment he heard the familiar deep voice from behind him. Matt slowly turned around, only to see the tall, muscular hero standing towering over him, causing him to momentarily shudder in fear as he noticed the man’s frowning gaze.

 「Tho… Thomas san? You’re still here? I thought you have already set out for your mission?」

「I’m on my way...」calmly answered Thomas. 「Though, I just want to stop by and have a talk with you.」

「Have a talk with me? Why?」

「I just want to tell you to stop your childish bullying behavior, Matt. You and your friends have just hurt Erik this morning, did you not? Even if he is a demihuman, he did not do anything that warranted your harassments.」

「What are you talking about? Demihumans are disgusting. They are our enemies, aren’t they? You’re a hero who participated in the war against the Five Disasters that devastated our country, you should know how much atrocities the Demihumans have inflicted on our towns and cities. I just want to make Erik and his kind suffer for what they did.」

「Who are “they”?」

「What?」

「Despite living here for years now, Erik himself did not do anything wrong, did he? And none of the members of the Five Disasters was an Yves, so why are you directing your hatred toward him?」

「What are you talking about, Thomas san? Didn’t you also hate him? You don’t have to pretend to care about him, Helena san is not around, you know?」

「...Maybe… I’ve changed my mind.」Thomas softly muttered under his breath. His times training the young Yves, seeing his determination rekindled after strenuous sessions whenever Helena and Rita’s names were brought up as motivations for the kid, had caused the fisherman’s ice cold heart to melt.「Just listen to me: Don’t you ever come close to Erik or hurt him again. I’d make sure he would never hurt anyone in the village either.」Thomas firmly warned, causing the teenager to break out in cold sweat and slowly nodded… 

「... What was that?」Matt asked himself once  Thomas had left. 「There’s no way Thomas san would be soft on a fucking demi like that, right?」

「Did that demi fuck with his mind?」One of the kid suggested

「Huh?」

「Maybe he’s controlling Thomas san with his disgusting extra eyes or something?」

「I don’t think Yves can do that, can’t they?」

BAMM!! The loud sound of Matt’s fist slamming against the wooden wall quickly quieted down the conversation between the kids. 「...If that’s the case, then it settles.」

「Settles what?」One of the kids asked.

「If that Yves can control people, then for sure he’s controlling Helena san and Rita. Just think about it, who in their right mind would be harboring a demi in their homes? We cannot let him continue to exert his power over them anymore. We’ll fucking end that filthy Demi’s life and bring sanity back to Thomas san’s family!」

「You don’t mean...」

「Yeah… I got a plan.」

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After losing the two people he loved most in the world, the hero suffered through an empty life without a purpose. He had fought hard and dutifully carried out his missions as a hero for the betterment of his family, to ensure the tender smile of his wife would never fade away and the innocent laugh of his daughter to continue to echo throughout the town. Although he did not want to admit, at one point, he was also fighting for Erik’s sake. Yet, everything he held dear had shattered, leaving the man to feel as if he was standing in front of a bottomless abyss that creepily called  out to him. He just wanted for his life to end. The only thing that kept him going was his unwavering sense of justice, knowing that he owed it to this world to continue fighting as one of its heroes. Yet, the more he fought, the emptier he felt. Due to countless encounters with demihumans who yearned to become a demon lord, the hero began to revert back to his old self as his distrust toward demihuman continued to build. Only if Helena had never taken Erik back to our home, she and Rita would still be alive now , Thomas lamented. Only if demihumans never exist … Though, on the fateful day when the Catastrophe Class attacked Lorian, he finally realized his hatred toward demihuman was misplaced, for the city and entire region was saved, not thanks to him and his fellow heroes, but to Kibadios and the peculiar Yonko. Those powerful demihumans, who should have been viewed as the pinnacles of threats to the human’s peaceful ways of lives, ironically were their saviors. Was I wrong? Thomas kept reflecting, the last words that Erik had ever said to him began to reverberate inside his head… Erik … As his thoughts settled, the old hero finally realized one thing: he did not owe the world nor the Oracle anything. The only one person who he owed an apology to would be the demihuman that he had been despising for decades.  

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「Tired, old man?」Erik noticed Thomas’ slow movements, as if they were full of hesitation.

「... No, I can do this all day.」answered the hero.

「Drop the act. Both you and I know you don’t have much strength left.」Erik correctly deduced.「Let’s end this here and now!」

「... You’re right.」Thomas nodded before lunging himself straight forward, his hand gripped tightly onto his harpoon, which was imbued with small swirling streams of water as if he was Tanjirou, readying to cut down the isekai’ed Michael Jackson. 「Our feud has been going on long enough. It’s time for it to end.」

「You foolish old man! You think you can take me down with such a head-on attack like that?」Erik was pissed at how the old hero looked down at him. 「<Zhuque’s Piercing Slash>!!」

To counter Thomas, Erik activated his skill, allowing his sword to burst out in burning flame, ready to receive the hero’s attack. Yet, in that brief moment, the hero suddenly dropped his weapon down, confused the Yves for he was expecting another trap. Despite not having his weapon, the hero still charged straight at his opponent without changing his trajectory. 

「What are you planning, you fucking old man?」Erik screamed loudly. Though by the time he ended his sentence, Thomas was already standing in front of him. Yet, the experienced vice captain of the Hyakki Yagyo suddenly froze in place, unable to move an inch, for his sword had now pierced through his hated adopted father’s flesh. 

「... Wait..What… are you doing?」For the first time during the fight, Erik broke into cold sweat, not knowing what had just happened. Just seconds ago, the old hero was going to strike him down but now, he had discarded his trademark weapon and willingly flung himself into the demihuman’s open blade.

「... This is the end, Erik.」Thomas softly admitted.「Now that Kibadios dono is here... and the Princess is safe, I have … accomplished everything that I set out for...」Blood started to drip down from his trembling mouth. 「All that left is for me to settle this… stupid fight between us… and with my death, please consider it settled. Consider this as my atonement to you.」

「What the fuck are you talking about?」This was not how Erik imagined things would end. He had always thought about the moment he defeated the man who rejected him, who viewed him as nothing but a monster to be exterminated. He wanted to stand triumph and looked down at the miserable hero but this… this was not it.

「... I have always hated you as a demihuman, Erik...」Despite his mutilated eyes, the hero looked straight at the confused Yves. 「Yet… at times, I did love you as a son...」

「What … what are you rambling about, old man?」

「I… am sorry… Erik… 」Thomas knew he did not have to explain any of his actions to Erik, nonetheless, he still wanted to apologize to the Yves. He gathered all his strength to move his hand and reached out to the dumbfounded man’s cheek.「I’ll be keeping... Helena and Rita’s company... as you have always wanted,… son.」

「Stop messing with me, Thomas!!!」Erik screamed out as his adopted father’s body fell lifelessly onto his shoulder, passing away with a faint smile still on his face. He should have rejoiced at the passing of his hated enemy, he should have been proud to finally defeat the man who has always held him in such contempt for years, who falsely blamed him for the tragedy that befell on them all. Yet, all he felt was an expansive emptiness that consumed his once fiery heart, the same feeling he experienced when he held Helena and Rita’s unmoving body in his arms during that fateful stormy night.「... Thomas… In the end, you have won… 」The Yves noted as he realized the hero had successfully deprived him of the satisfaction he had always yearned for.

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「You did it, didn't you? 」Helena walked up to Thomas, who was watching his daughter innocently played with her adopted brother in the small meadow next to their home.

「Did what? What are you talking about?」

「You were the one cover Erik in his blanket, weren't you?」

「...No?」

「Oh, then I guess the blanket just flew out from our drawer and dropped on top of him as he sleeps then.」Helena sarcastically laughed. 「Somehow, this morning, he woke up and thanked me for it, although I did not do anything.」

「... I was just worried he would catch a cold and spread it to Rita.」Thomas embarrassingly came up with an excuse.

「Of course, of course.」His wife simply nodded in agreement as she leaned onto her husband, her eyes gazed at her two playful children. 「I'm glad you have finally accepted him after all these years, Thomas.」

「Accepting who?」The hero feinted ignorance.

「...I just wish our family can stay happy like this forever.」Smiled Helena.
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「Lay down your weapon, Soen, Caen.」Yllaes ordered the dryads, for he knew victory had completely vanished away from his grasp the moment the Hyakki Yagyo switched sides. No, it was even before that… Yllaner had already checkmated me days ago, the only reason I was able to advance this far was because of that Yonko’s whim, Yllaes thought to himself as he turned to the Princess. 「... This is my complete loss, Yllaner. Well play.」

「Nii chan...」Yllaner was going to reach out to her defeated brother, only to be stopped short by Uran 

「Please be vigilant, Princess.」The elven lord shook his head. For all her calculating personality, Yllaner was still soft with those she held dear.

「Ha, Uran is right.」Yllaes smiled.「Making one small mistake like rushing to me and I can still take your life, my dear sister.」His veiled threat was quickly met with prompt responses as three of the Hyakko Yagyo’s captains quickly raised their weapons against the elf. 

「We can’t let you harm our potential paymaster now, can we?」Ashura grinned. 

「Paymaster?」Kibadios asked.

「Yes, since technically, it’s thank to us that the Princess was able to end this bloodless civil war, we expected to be compensated with Orcan in full, in the same amount that her brother had promised us.」explained the Yonko, confident that any of his terms would be readily accepted by Yllaner for he and his force were now the Kingmakers in this conflict.

「We did not agree on that, did we?」Kibadios reminded Ashura.

「Don’t worry, Kibadios. I fully intend to buy the Hyakki Yagyo’s service, if that’s what it takes for them to stay out of this.」Yllaner turned to the mercenary group’s leader. 「I accept your proposal, Ashura dono.」

「Good! Nice doing business with you, Yllaner dono.」

「Likewise.」nodded Yllaner. 「Since everything has been settled, let's apprehend my brother back to our camp. I hope your forces can help with it?」

「Sure thing!」

「Kyl chan!」After making a deal with the Yonko, Yllaner quickly ran to her beloved hero with a bright smiling face, given that he had finally woke up from his coma.「Thanks the Spirits you’re alright...」Though, her face quickly turned pale as she reached out to hold onto the hero’s ice cold hands. Now, with all the hectic fights had settled down, she finally had a good chance to take a look at the hero’s face, only to see his expression was as white as a ghost, his eyes slowly turning opaque. 「Kyl chan, why are you so cold?」The Princess asked concerningly, only to struggle as the muscular man slowly fell into her embrace. 「Kyl chan!」

「Kyles?」Kibadios noticed the man’s Nen.

「... That hero… It’s a miracle that he could be standing here.」The second captain who dressed in Heinan clothing noted.「His life force had completely dried up. Had he been a regular person, he’d be dead by now.」

 

Notes:

Sorry for the late update. I've been busy lol.
And sorry for any grammatical errors or incomprehensible writings in my chapters. I usually write late at night and always finish/upload right before I sleep without proofreading haha. Just wanna bring this up cuz sometimes, I reread my chapters and I was like: fuck, errors and incomplete/confusing sentence structure everywhere... though it's not that my writing would improve if I write my stories in earlier in the day, either lol
Fun fact: The mother (clan head) was supposed to die shielding Yllaner from a final and surprise attack from her brother when I planned this out in my head but since I just killed off Thomas and this ending has become rather lengthy, I decided not to kill her off lol (that just shows you how much the story spontaneously changes compared to the storyline I have in my head lol)

Chapter 88

    The eagle elegantly glided through the darkening sky, skillfully twisted and turned its body against the headwind before flapping its wing, bringing its long journey to a complete stop in the midair. The first few raindrops began to fall down, signifying a start of a days-long rain that was common during the winter time. The eagle’s eyes leered downward at the bustling metropolis on the ground before swooping down, passing through several flying islands filled with oriental pagoda painted in a vibrant red color. The candle flames stored inside hundreds of red paper lanterns had already been extinguished by the strong gusty winds hours before the rain arrived. The long, waving red silk, hanging down from the long poles attached to the levitating building, violently fluttered in the air as if they were welcoming the eagle back from a long trip. The sharp-eyed aerial hunter quickly changed its flying path as it approached the ground and flew through the large, golden palace door that was decorated with two statues of a golden dragon on one side and a vermillion phoenix on the other. Despite it brazenly flying past the dozen guards, dressed in sturdy body armor from head to toe, standing at full attention, none seemed to respond to the intrusion, for they knew the bird was merely returning him to its master. 

「... You’re back, Yulai. How was it? Did Ylaes finally take over Shilna Clan for good?」The elegant, crimson haired, young man greeted the bird the moment he heard its talon touched the wooden window frame by his expansive room. Though, he still did not seem to pay attention to its presence since he elected to focus on reading a scroll of proposed edict that was composed by the imperial secretariat. 

「I brought back unpleasant news with me, Your Majesty.」The bird slowly transformed into a beautiful woman. Her long, black hair appeared as smooth as the black silky clothes she had donned on herself. Her eyes were like refined crystals, reflecting the flickering candle light in the room. 

「Ho?」The man placed down the scroll before raising his head to look at the beauty. Silence fell onto the room as the rain started to intensify outside the window. 「and what would it be?」The man softly asked.

「Ylaes had failed to secure Shilna and lost to his sister. The whole Vernys confederation force remains intact…」A series of loud thunder suddenly rumbled through the quiet atmosphere. 

「And?」The man noticed the woman in front of him has yet to give him her full report.

「And most likely, the Princess has successfully secured the contract from the Hyakki Yagyo, using the Orcan they possess as payment. That means, we cannot make any rash move against the Vernys forest or else we will face the wrath of a force belongs to a Yonko.」

「You think we cannot take on a Yonko with our imperial might?」asked the man for Yulai’s assessment.

「...From what I witnessed just a few days ago, if we muster all our forces, under the command of all the 12  heavenly generals, we may be able to crush the Yonko’s mercenary group and the Vernys forces, but we will pay a heavy price.」deduced Yulai. 「It simply is not worth it, given that you-know-who is making his move for a rebellion.」

「The Hyakki Yagyo… They are that powerful?」The man leaned back on his golden throne.

「Ashura is considered to be a Yonko for a reason, Your Majesty.」

「Ahhh...」The young emperor let out a big sigh before standing up and walking toward the black hair woman. 「Say, between that monster and I, who would come out victorious in a fight?」

「... I… I dare not to venture a guess, Your Majesty.」Yulai shuddered at the sinister Nen her Emperor was now releasing into the room. She braved through the cold winter sky, soaked in the cold winter rain without feeling a chill. Yet, right now, standing before her master, the tamed beastman could feel the cold murderous air emitting from the man, causing her to shiver in fear.

「Relax, Yulai...」The man softly padded Yulai’s shaking shoulder. 「It’s not your fault that my plan failed… I guess I should have done more to ensure Yllaes’ victory. Oh well, there is nothing we can do now. And don’t worry. I’m not stupid enough to pick a fight with a Yonko. But with Princess Yllaner’s victory, along with Hyakki Yagyo siding with the Vernys forest, I guess we have to shelf our plan of taking over the forest for now.」The emperor turned around to take a look at the large detailed map hanging behind his throne. 「That means the vast grassland would be now our priority. I guess it all works out in the end since once we establish our foothold there, we will be able to attack Vernys on its flank.」He concluded after studying the familiar map. 「Not bad… not bad at all.」

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Due to the decision made by the whimsical Yonko, the brief  civil war between the Shilna clan’s siblings was over before any bloodshed would occur. Though, the same fortune did not greet the two heroes who were involved in the conflict, for death had already claimed one of the hero’s lives while a certain doom was now awaiting the other. With all of his life force expended, the young hero had just days left before succumbing to his inevitable fate. As one of the captains had correctly observed, it was a miracle that Kyles was even able to stand up on his own, let alone participate in the fight. Despite knowing that exercising his power would inevitably lead to his death, the hero still chose to fight against Yllaes, if that meant his princess would be safe. Not even the fabled Spring of Healing could reverse the immense strains he put on his body and the Princess knew this the moment she reached out to his ice cold body. 

「It’s fine, Yllaner...」Kyles faintly smiled, wiping away tears from his beloved princess’ sorrowful face.「I’ve simply fulfilled the promise to dedicate my life to you… Seeing you here, standing in front of me, safe and sound, is enough.」

A long silence followed, with only the Princess’ soft, muffled sobbing noise could be heard as she leaned onto the hero, burying her crying face onto his muscular chest. Ryan, who had excitedly ran to greet his master, also bore witness to the scene. Knowing the fate that would befall onto his sworn brother, the young hero simply reached out to Kibadios and grabbed tightly onto his shirt while bravely held back his tears, for he knew this was what Kyles had chosen. He knew his brother was glad to sacrifice his life if he could protect the girl he loved the most, much like how he would trade his own life for that of his master…

「With the blessing of the Forest Spirits, Yllaner Elsa Shilna and Kyles Ios Ganz, may your souls be eternally intertwined with one another, on this day, and to the end of time.」pronounced Uran at the end of the outdoor ceremony as the few who gathered to witnessed the bittersweet wedding in the wood remained silent. The twilight scene was briefly illuminated by the last rays from the setting sun, accentuating the smiles of both the Princess and the Hero. The cold darkness of the night that quickly followed was soon banished away by the luminescent light that emitted from the mossy layers growing on top of the ancient tree barks, along with thousands of flying fireflies. Although marrying a non-elvenkind would be the highest taboo an heir of the Shilna could commit, none dared to voice their objection when Yllaner had declared she would wed the dying hero and live as his devoted wife during these last days of his life. Even the current head, Lady Seoder of the Shilna clan, did not say a single word against the unlikely union and decided to instead devote her all to take care of the Vernys Confederation in the aftermath of the civil conflict. Despite the mournful feeling that they all shared, the first kiss between Kyles and Yllaner as husband and wife was met with cheerful whistles and clapping sounds.

Good for you, Yllaner. You have found a perfect soulmate for your current lifetime . Kibadios simply smiled, being happy for the couple.

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The erotic sloshing sounds again filled the room belonged to Kibadios’ group as the hybrid released his pent up sexual tension for the third straight day. Holding the naked alchemist in his embrace, her sweating back leaned against his own well-toned abs, the hybrid let one of his hands roam free, caressing and exploring every temptatious curve on her body before resting on one of her breasts. He started by lifting up her underboob before grabbing and squeezing her whole firm mound while his index finger skillfully flicked her erected nipples then lightly pressed in downward, causing her to shriek in pleasure. Her lower half did not fare much better for her master had continuously thrust his unrestrained cock deep inside her moistened pussy. His raging cock easily hit the girl’s cervix, leaving a visible small bulge on her lower stomach. The hybrid continued to fuck her from behind, with the naked Yuusei, who was in his orge form, dutifully slurped in every sweat and cum leaking down to the back of his balls and the young hero focused on licking any part of his master’s exposed undershaft. The intense stimulations caused Maia to drift in and out of consciousness before the hybrid decided to change position. After dashing and swirling his tongue around inside the alchemist’s mouth, Kibadios finally broke off the passionate kiss before moving his salivating lips down onto the girl’s exposed breast and sunk his sharp teeth into the girl’s soft flesh, causing the girl to lactate uncontrollably, releasing streams of fresh milk to quench his thirst. 

「Kibadios sama… Haaaa… Pl...pleasee… st..ooppp..」Almost driven mad by the pleasure, the girl begged in vain for her master to stop. 「Hiiiii」A high pitched moan echoed throughout the room after Kibadios’ teeth lightly bit down onto her sensitive nipples before pulling it like a wild predator trying to tear apart its prey.

「What are you talking about, Maia?」Her master grinned, sweat rolled down his chin. 「You know you love me playing with your tits. Even if your mouth is being dishonest, your pussy cannot lie. Everytime I pull your nipples, your pussy’s walls always tighten around my cock!」

「It’s  just… I’m feeling... soooo good… It’s driving… me crazy!」answered Maia in the same rhythm of the thrusts of her master’s pounding. Her eyes finally rolled back as she experienced her fifth orgasm of the night, at the same time when her master released his thick load deep inside her. 

「Well, I guess our Maia’s finally reached her limit.」Kibadios pulled the girl in, gave her one last kiss for the night before slowly laying her down on the warm soft bed and letting her rest. 「Now it’s your turn, Yuusei, Ryan!」Their master slightly yanked the willing hero over to his side before pushing him down on top of the mutant. With their minds completely taken over by burning, lusting desires, the two naked teenagers, whose bodies were thoroughly coated in their own sweat and cums, instinctively rubbing their slippery, twitching cocks and nipples rubbed against one another.

「Master… Please… Yuusei needs your cock!」The mutant, who just a few days ago was oblivious to any sexual activity, was now unashamedly begging his master to fill his gaping hole. Although Kibadios was expecting Maia to react strongly when learning that the hybrid had already claimed the mutant’s body during his heat, the alchemist, turned out, was fairly receptive to adding the young Yuusei to their harem. Seeing how obedient and attached Yuusei was acting toward their shared master, along with the fact that he was rather adorable, the girl already knew it was only a matter of time that Kibadios would fuck him into oblivion.

「Kibadios sama… please fuck me firsttt!」chimed in Ryan. His hands already spread out his asscheeks, allowing Kibadios unrestricted access to his most private part.

「I don’t think I would ever get tired of this naughty scene.」The hybrid licked his lip before choosing to pound the young hero’s rosebud first. Of course, Yuusei was disappointed, though he knew full well the reason why. These past few days, his master had paid his Ryan nii chan the most attention in order to distract him from thinking about his brother and what he did to Rowan. Just like before, the hybrid grabbed tightly onto the hero’s V shaped hip before lunging forward, plunging his monster cock inside Ryan’s awaiting hole. After finding his rhythm, Kibadios fastened his pace. With each thrust, the hybrid purposely pounded hard at his slave’s prostate, giving him an unspeakable pleasure that seemingly fried his already mushed up brain. His hands slowly moved up along Ryan’s stomach, sliding all around his body at first before swirling around his pinkish areola. Using his indexes and thumbs, the hybrid would pinched and pulled hard on the hero’s oversensitive nipples every time his cock was deep inside the hero, stimulating the inside of his asshole even more. Despite the attention he paid to Ryan, Kibadios did not forget his newest harem member. The hybrid would let his saliva drool down onto Yuusei’s opened mouth before descending down and giving the mutant a long, hard kiss. His own shadow slowly extended out and crept up, wrapping itself around Yuusei’s muscular body.

「Master… Please fuck Yuusei!」The mutant whimpered.

「Don’t be impatient, Yuusei. Your turn would come soon.」Promised Kibadios.

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By the time Kibadios finished releasing his last batch of cum inside the mutant, the teenager had already reverted back into his beastman form due to the unceasing waves of pleasure that washed over his body, much similar to his first time with his master. All three, Maia, Ryan, and Yuusei, were sound asleep, uncaring of their master’s cum continuously dripping out from their holes. Kibadios carefully popped his cock out from the mutant’s ass before rolling him down onto the bed and walked out of the room after cloaking himself in a warm night shirt. Outside their room, the hybrid saw the dragonoid sitting down, guarding the place with undivided attention. Although Kibadios had assured his Ryuu that neither the Astrals or Aspen would act rashly and attack them at this time, the dragonoid was adamant in remaining vigilant. He did not disclose what he was thinking, but Kibadios could tell he was blaming himself for all the failures that their group had experienced, from the incident involved Rowan, Kibadios’ struggles against Adela and the poison, his defeat at the hand of Aspen, to the fact that he was unable to fulfill his duty to protect Yllaner, forcing Kyles to sacrifice what’s left of his life force to fight the last battle against Yllaes.

「It’s cold out here, Ryuu. Shouldn’t you come in with us?」Kibadios sat down next to the dragonoid.

「Master? You still have yet to fully recover. It’s still really early in the morning, you should stay inside the room.」Ryuu panicked. 

「I’ll only come back inside if you’re coming with me.」smiled Kibadios. 

「You don’t have to worry about me, Master! I’m a dragonkind, this cold doesn't mean anything to me. Besides, I have to stay out here to watch out for any threats. If the Astrals have already learned of your existence, they will undoubtedly act soon… who knows what they would do?」

「I have told you already, haven’t I? The Enneads will not touch me, at least not in the near future. You don’t have to worry too much about them.」

「... I know… But I just cannot take that chance.」frowned Ryuu.「Because of my inattentiveness, Rowan senpai is now missing and you had to face Adela alone. I just simply cannot afford to let my guard down anymore. You know, on that day Yuusei brought your unconscious body back to the camp, my heart almost stopped… No matter what, I will not let anything happen to you again.」

「Really, I don’t know why you blame yourself, Ryuu.」Kibadios reached out, placing his warm hands on the dragonoid’s cold cheeks.「You should be blaming me for everything that happened.」

「No! How could I...」

「It was me who decided to not let you guys know about my plan for Adela. I thought that I was protecting you but in the end, my plan backfired and now, it’s been days after I sent out most of my familiars to look for Rowan, we still cannot locate him...」Kibadios averted his eyes for a brief moment, out of guilt. Ha, it’s funny how back on earth, I was laughing at the God Emperor of Mankind’s stupidity for not letting his Primarchs sons know about his plan and now, here I am, making the same mistake, Kibadios thought to himself before continue「I’m the guilty one.」

「No, Master. I should be able to see through your plan… Rowan senpai did feel something was wrong, but I was completely oblivious. Sometimes I don’t even know if I deserve to be by your side.」

「... Is that why you have been avoiding me?」asked Kibadios.

「I...」

「Ryuu, listen here!」commanded Kibadios as he pulled the dragonoid into his embrace. 「It was not your fault that Rowan got injured. It was not your fault that I fell unconscious. It was not your fault that Kyles traded his life for Yllaner. You’re not responsible for any of that. I did not take you in by my side to exploit your power. I did not take you in by my side hoping I would be protected by you, or because of your unfathomable power. I simply want you to stay by my side because I need you. Not because you’re a first generation dragon but because you are simply you, Ryuu… Don’t try to punish yourself and keep your distance like this. I just need your presence next to me. That’s enough, Ryuu. 」

「Master…. MASTERRR!!!」The emotional dragonoid instantly burst out crying as he sprung forward, causing the hybrid to lose his balance and fell onto his back. Like a loyal dog, Ryuu emotionally rubbed his face against Kibadios’ body. 「I am sorry, Kibadios sama… I’m sorry… I will always be with you. I’ll forever be your sword and shield...」

「Haven’t you heard a single thing I was saying?」Kiabadios ruffled his dragon’s hair. 「What Sword and Shield? Sun and moon? Red and Blue? I just need you to be yourself.」

「Yes master...」Ryuu softly nodded.

Clop clop clop… Clop clop clop…

「Huh? Who would be riding here this early?」Kibadios was curious after hearing the galloping sounds getting closer and closer. The hybrid slowly pushed Ryuu to the side, then stood up and looked down over the viney rail of his guesthouse that was built up on a high tree branch. 「...Isn’t that Uran dono standing there? It’s not even four. Was he waiting for them? I wonder who they are.」Kibadios asked himself.
Down on the ground, an abnormally large elk with a gigantic antler stopped short in front of the elven lord, who respectfully bowed down, greeting a pair of pink haired elven twins, who dressed in formal oriental clothes. Both the elven twins reciprocated the greeting before the male elf got off the animal first before both him and Lord Uran would carefully assist his sister in dismounting. 

「Yue dono, Ren dono! Thank you for coming here on such short notice.」Uran warmly greeted them with a smile.「With you two here as the High Shamans of Vernys Confederation, we can finally carry out the crowning ceremony, proclaiming Princess Yllaner to be the next Shilna Clan Head.」

「Uran dono...」The girl spoke in a soft voice.「Are you sure it’s okay? Isn’t the Princess still with Kyles dono? These few days are the last time they can be together...」

「I know…It’s fine.」Uran turned grim. 「Today is probably the last day...」The elven lord stopped short of explicitly what he had deduced. 「It is imperative that Seoder dono step down and let the Princess ascend to the title of Clan Head as soon as possible to stabilize our recent political upheaval events. I know it’s cruel to force her back to the role of the leader of this forest so soon, given what she’s been going through but I had no choice. I have arranged to have the ceremony take place two days from now. I’ll inform her… after giving her a short time to grief.」

「I know it’s tough for her, but this is the best course of action for the Vernys Forest.」Ren nodded.

… So today is the last day huh? Ryan would be devastated… Maybe I should really do that to alleviate some of his pain ...

「Kibadios sama?」Ryuu called out to his master after seeing the hybrid seemed to lose in thought, after overheard the conversation between the elves below.

 

 

BONUS:

Drawing of the Yin Emperor:

Artist: じゅっさん

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@jussanekaki

 

 

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With the arc coming to an end, below are my rough draft of my ideas/rambles for vol 3. You will see how much things just spontaneously changed as I write lol (I did take out some plots that I will use in the future so feel free to read this without worrying about being spoiled  :3) :

Arc 3: The elf village

    Gate of Heaven: how to open 

    Desmond’s meeting with God. 

    Elf siblings added into harem

   

Chapter about Maia’s adventure.

    News about the coup of Yllaner’s brother reaches Yllaner. The elf decides to go back to the forest for 2 reason: defeat her brother and heal Kyles.

    Forest structure: 4 great clans, with yllaner’s clan the greatest. Yllaner’s brother was offered backing from the great holy kingdom of Placeholder to declare himself king of the forest. second strongest clan agrees because brother offers to release them from the central control, one of the clan agrees because Holy Kingdom threat, one of clan was forced to agree because others have already agreed. 

Revealed: All of this was because of Adela’s meddling. She took over scheme from another Astral who was responsible for this part of the world, thanks to her father’s influence. Desmond is helping her.

 

Kibadios group accompanying Yllaner to the forest. Adela found Ryan and “removes” his control.

On the way, Yllaner had a conversation with Kibadios. She knew she looked like someone dear to Kibadios. She felt somewhat similar. She asks if the hybrid would help her. He agrees but he wont be directly attacking because the Astral will notice him. She assures him that she will be the main person responsible, not him since that’s the only way the forest people will accept her return.

Yllaner reaches the forced clan, welcomed by the clan head (man.) They plan to rebel against brother. Introduce clan’s heir. The clan told them about the woman hangs out with brother. Kibadios deduces it’s Adela.

 

Kibadios left to second strongest clan, bringing Yllaner’s letter. Before reaching the capital, he was intercepted by the second strongest clan’s heir. The pragmatic heir agrees to help (reason the kingdom would without doubt taking over the forest once they’re done with the valley.) Breaking news: second strongest has prepared to capture Kibadios. News about yllaner in forced clan was leaked. Kibadios declared there’s a traitor among them. 

Before they could do anything, brother’s ambassador is approaching the forced clan, clan head decided to betray Yllaner, turning her over to her brother. Clan’s heir kill clan head, declare open rebellion against brother.           

Before brother could do anything, forced clan launched forces to preemptively attack the brother’s capital. Yllaner is leading the army. Kyles in cart with her.

Artist: 鮎田

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@Ayuksert2

Pixiv ID: 10285663

This is probably my second favorite R18 commission, right after the bathroom scene done by Hagane. :3

I couldnt figure out how to redraw the censor so I just leave them in >.>

Warning R18

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Notes:

PHEWW. THAT IS THE END OF VOLUME/ARC 3. We will start Volume/Arc 3.5 with the next chapter. Sorry for the wait. I spent last week at a conference so I could not write anything.
Also, in case you didn't notice (or don't know): my original plot for this volume was heavily inspired (euphemism for plagiarized lol) by the four stratocracies/Greater Turkiye arc from Shoukoku no Altair. A great political/alternative history/military shounen. highly recommended.

Chapter 89: Another Small Trivial/"Did you know?" chapter

Sorry I have not finished writing the next chapter yet. I'll be extremely busy these next 6 months because I've been in grad school for like (eternity) 6 years now and I'm desperately trying to wrap up my research to graduate lol. That means running experiments nonstop/writing and publishing papers... All the time consuming activities >.>

I'll probably publish 2 chapters per month... if not less. Sorry! (>.<)

Anyways, since I'm not publish a new chapter, I decided to do a quick trivial chapter again, explaining all the references I've used in Arc 3:

 

“Gilga”: If it’s not clear by now, Gilga is derived from Gilgamesh and her city state is Uruk, as in the Uruk from Mesopotamia. Gilga (a slime) represents/ is inspired by Rimuru and Uruk is equivalent to Tempest. Her flirting and cunning personality is inspired by Sinbad from Magi, who also founded a city state.

Yin Empire: Clearly inspired by Qin, who unified all 7 states during the Warring States period. Historically, the (probably) competent crown prince was deposed/killed by official/eunuch and Qin fell apart soon after the first emperor died but here, I decided to have the (ruthless and competent) crown prince (now 2nd emperor) took over Yin, setting up the conflict for this arc and the next 2-3 arcs. :3

Hyakki Yagyō: the night parade of one hundred demons

Ashura: Well, we’re all weebs here, no need to explain “Ashura.” As clearly implied, Ashura is Oda Nobunaga’s reincarnation. In this current world, he represents/is inspired by Rou from Re:Monsters. Hyakki Yagyo is equivalent to Parabellum. 

“Doll” (Like Skyer): inspired by “Dolls” from Darker than Black, who are supposed to not have any emotion and obediently follow commands given to them.

“Erik”: Okay, this is just a random name but I chose this name because I was into Hero x Erik from Dragon Quest XI lol

“Furthermore, to maintain its influence over the elven lords, the Shilna Clan would practice a tradition similar to that employed by the Fujiwara Clan in order to gain power over the Japanese Imperial Court during the Heian period: The main Shilna Clan would routinely marry off their own members to the branch family’s heads and give birth to the future heirs”: Interesting historical fact I learned from watching Linfamy’s youtube videos lol.

“She’s pulling a Kingdom’s Qin vs the 5 states coalition trick.”: said by Kibadios when he was explaining/analyzing Yllaner’s plan. Obviously a Kingdom (manga) reference. Highly recommended.

“Much like the Asur of the Warhammer world, the Astrals were an arrogant and proud race that looked down on the other inferior beings in Esthar.” :  Asur = Elf from Warhammer Fantasy Lore, who lived in a continent called Ulthuan, which is located in the middle of the ocean. They’re exactly as described here: arrogant and proud race lol.

Matelus: Derived from Maotelus, a character from Tales of Zesteria/Berseria.

God Emperor of Mankind: a Warhammer 40K lore reference

 

I'll probably publish the first chapter in Arc 3.5 next week.

Chapter 90: Volume 3.5: Prologue: The heavenly meeting

Summary:

YAY! The start of the next mini arc. Arc 3.5 Probably it will have around 4-5 chapters. Even though it's "3.5," there will be new important developments in this arc (I think... Again, my plot is really spontaneous so it's never a guarantee lol).

In the middle of the chamber, dimly lit with a cold blue light emitting from the large crystal hanging overhead, the large transcended man stood still, his hands firmly clenched into tight fists. His long fingernails pierced through the palm of his hands, causing his thick, red blood to slowly drip down onto the spotless, shiny floor beneath. 

「Adela… What happened?」His furrowed brows have been unmoved for minutes now as he looked worryingly at the sleeping body of his precious daughter, who lay peacefully inside a small clear pod. 「It has been days, yet your soul has yet returned...」

「My lord!」Another Astral suddenly appeared behind Adeus, reported in. 「According to the news Otto san had gathered, the civil conflict within the Vernys Forest had concluded a few days ago, with the force of the Princess triumphed over her brother.」

「What do you mean the Princess triumphed?」growled Adeus, his voice verberating loudly within the hollow chamber. Knowing his daughter, once she finished dealing with Zaeryn, the next person on her torment list would be Sylvia’s reincarnation. It was impossible for the Princess to emerge unharmed, let alone victorious if Adela was there to oversee the conflict. 「Adela would never let her win! Did Otto find out where my daughter is?」

「I asked him but I don't think he knows where the lady is, my Lord.」The messenger cowered in fear, knowing such an answer would enrage the Ennead Candidate even more. 

「HOW COULD HE NOT LOCATE HER?」Adeus screamed out in anger, the large lotus flowers floating around him began to stir up erratically. 「Each homunculus vessel is embedded with a Seer Stone, which continuously transmits signals back to the Modun, how can he be unable following such signal?」

「... That..」The man hesitated for a moment. 「Otto told me, for some reasons, the signal belonging to Adela sama’s vessel ceased to emit anything four days ago. But since Adela sama tends to turn off the Seer Stone function on her own, Otto did not think much about it.」

「Four days ago?」 That’s when she was supposed to face Zaeryn , Adeus’ cold heart started to race. 「Are you sure it was really four days ago?」Adeus asked again to confirm.

「Yes, sire...」

「Damn you, Zaeryn!」Adeus took another look at Adela’s sleeping body before stomping out of the chamber. 「What have you done!??」

「Where are you going, Adeus sama?」The man hurriedly followed his Lord.

「Vernys!」Adeus simply answered, before stopping dead on his track. 

「No, you don’t.」A husky voice disagreed.

「You’re coming with us to the Council of the Ennead, Adeus kun.」A woman quickly appeared in front of the fuming Astral, blocking his path,

「Get out of my way, Ereen 」Adeus stared down at the petite woman, dressed in a pink gothic dress that easily revealed half of her breast.

「This is not a suggestion, Adeus.」A man, owner of the husky voice, finally materialized next to the woman.「You have been summoned. The Enneads demand to know why you and that daughter of yours have been keeping Zaeryn’s reincarnation a secret.」

「What?」

「Don’t make a scene here, Adeus kun.」The man warned.

「Listen to Malus, Adeus kun. It’d be regrettable if you let this escalate into a fight… After all, a fight between Ennead Candidates like ourselves could easily decimate all the buildings in the vicinity.」Ereen simply smiled. 「I’m sure you don’t want that, given that the body of Adela chan is resting over there.」

「... What’s going here?」The messenger broke into cold sweat as he stood alone, witnessing the clash of Nen released by the three closest powers to the Enneads, unable to comprehend what had just transpired in front of his eyes.

.

.

.

The familiar empty space that filled with nothing but a complete whiteness had always stirred up a sense of uneasiness in the fearless Adeus. Such a feeling was not caused by currently being in the presence of the 7 members of the all powerful Enneads. It was something else entirely that the transcended man could not fathom. The location where he stood, the heart of the Modun realm, was clearly more than just an empty room. Calling it a “room” implied its definitive existence and this space was anything but “existing”: This whiteness was the result of an absence of existence, a manifestation of a bottomless void that devoured reality. Adeus still remembered ten millennia ago, the moment he first entered the space to gain an audience with the Enneads, he could feel his very own existence being actively erased. Ironically, any normal being, who was neither strong nor sensitive enough, would not be able to perceive the peculiarity associated with the white dimension. 

… Only 7 of them are here… Where did he go? Adeus noted of a missing Ennead.

「... You’re late.」said one of the figures with a long, white beard that fell down to his knees.

「My apology, Ozyan sama.」answered Ereen before all three of the Candidates dutifully knelt down on their knees and lowered their heads. 

「Oz, you’re too strict on the timing again.」The beautiful goddess, who was much like Ereen, had half of her ample breast exposed, quickly dismissed her peer’s scolding. 「They’re only a few minutes behind schedule.」

「Freya sama, you’re too kind…」Spoke Malus, though he still has yet dared to raise his head. 「but we shall take full responsibility for our tardiness.」

「Good that you understand the importance of being on time, Malus kun.」Ozyan gazed down at the kneeling man. 「After all, in this rush hours before the commencement of the “Harvest,” it is of the utter most importance that we have to be precise and efficient as possible, right down to the seconds…」

… Seriously, wouldn’t this nonsense reprimand also be a form of wasting time? The goddess thought to herself before intercepting Ozyan’s lecture.「Since time is of the essence, why don’t we start with the reason why we summon Adeus kun here? You all can raise your heads.」The Candidates quickly stood up on their feets after Freya had given them permission.「So, I’m sure Malus kun and Ereen kun have told you the reason why we called you here…」

「Yes, Freya sama.」nodded Adeus. 

「So tell us, Adeus kun」said another figure of the Enneads, who took the form of a young boy. 「Why have you and your daughter keep the news of Zaeryn’s reincarnation a secret from all of us here?」

「... News of the reincarnation of an insignificant failure like him is hardly worthy of your attention, Ea sama.」The Astral defiantly answered. 「We planned to quickly deal with him and simply present you with his head once everything had settled.」

「Insignificant failure?」Ea noted.「Is that how you view him?」

「Yes. He’s nothing more than a feral dog who once tried to rebel against us Astral.」

「I see…」nodded Ea.「And how have you and your daughter dealt with a failure like him? Where is his head now?」

「...」Adeus remained silent.

「SNAP OUT OF YOUR RIDICULOUS REASONING, ADEUS! HE’S A FAILURE?」screamed out Ea.「AS IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOURSELF! Just admit that you simply fucking indulged your daughter and her twisted fantasy as you always have, allowing her to act selfishly on her own to prey on that man you called “failure”, instead of alerting us of his return!」

「As a Candidate and the one who led the defense of the Modun’s gate against Zaeryn’s followers, you should already knew Zaeryn’s existence is an unprecedented threat to us Astral. The only other threat more urgent than him is none other than his own pupil of 10k years ago, Matelus…」Ozyan declared. 

「...And yet, you still let your daughter deal with him alone, simply because she wants to toy with his reincarnation, did you not?」Another of the Ennead asked.

「I let her take care of his reincarnation because I believe she will succeed.」denied the Ennead Candidate.

「Did you now?」snickered Ea.「And did you know what happened to her?」

「Do you know any idea where Adela is, Ea sama?」Adeus was eager to learn of any news regarding his daughter.

「I’ve personally traveled to Vernys with my Homunculus vessel and checked out what happened there…」Ea told Adeus.「It took some time but I’ve located the site where the battle between her and Zaeryn’s reincarnation took place. And there, I was able to peek into the past and observe their fight. Your daughter lost against the man you called a “failure,” Adeus. She underestimated him, much like you did and she paid for that failure with her soul.」

「... What… What are you saying?」

「Kibadios was able to devour her soul and sealed her inside him using <HaoS> power.」

「How… can it be?」Adeus’ heart raced. 「... Octagram Holy Wall? But that meant she was not able to escape before the barrier went down. But how can that be? The one who erected the barrier was acting under her command, she should have told him to dispel the barrier the moment she’s in trouble.」The man continued to talk to himself, trying to make sense of what had transpired.

「That hero named Ryan, of whom Adela believed was working for her, was in fact dutifully serving Zaeryn’s reincarnation instead. Because of her overconfidence, your daughter was tricked and she unwittingly walked into the trap. Now, her captured soul is now suffering within Zaeryn as we speak.」

「I’M GOING TO KILL THEM!!!」screamed out Adeus as the lotus suddenly floated erratically around his body.

「Oh no, you don’t.」Freya disagreed. 

「What?」Asked Adeus in a disrespectful tone. Since this matter concerned his precious daughter, in his eyes, anyone who dared to stop him would only be asking for trouble, even if that person was an Ennead themselves. 

「Watch your tone, Adeus kun!」warned Malus.

「... You don’t think we would just let you travel to Esthar, do you?」Another of the 7, who had been remaining silent during the exchange, finally spoke up. The old man dressed in a long, white tunic, stared down at the fuming Adeus.

「Vrag sama, please give me a chance to right my wrongs and deal with Zaeryn. I promise I will take care of this. 」

「You don’t understand, Adeus kun.」Freya gave Adeus a twisted smile.「There’s no need for us to deal with Zaeryn’s reincarnation… at least for now. Not when we have yet to deal with the urgent threat that Matelus’ posing.」

「What are you talking about, Freya sama?」Adeus could not believe what he had just heard. 「He is undoubtedly tormenting Adela at this very moment, how could we not…」

「Not that he could kill her.」Freya interrupted. 「Just let she suffer a bit more and think of it as her punishment.」

「What did you just say?」Adeus could not hide his murderous intent toward Freya, which elicited quick responses from Malus and Ereen as the two quickly teleported behind the man and pinned him down on his knee. Despite the scene and Adeus’ disrespect, the goddess simply continued.

「You don’t understand, Adeus. The only way that Zaeryn can prevent Adela’s soul from escaping is by actively using <HaoS> as “gatekeeper.” That means as long as Adela is trapped within him, he cannot summon <HaoS.> And if he cannot summon <HaoS>, then the threat he poses to us is already cut by more than half… Unlike Matelus and his primordial spirit of Earth.」

「... What are you implying?」

「Is it not clear enough? What we’re saying is that in order to prevent Zaeryn from utilizing <HaoS>, it is imperative that Adela’s soul stays trapped.」Ea answered.

「How dare you use my daughter like that?!!!」The unexpected Nen burst out from the man caught both of the other candidates off guard, causing them to take a few steps back, created an opening for the Adeus to spring upward and jumped onto Ea’s pedestal. 

「Contain your rage, Adeus.」Commanded Ea, who still appeared indifferent toward his subordinate’s transgression. 「One wrong move and everything you have worked toward these past ten millennia will crumble in front of your eyes.」

「... You」Before Adeus could say or do anything, the raging Astral suddenly found himself being forcibly teleported back to where he previously knelt down, next to Malus and Ereen.

「Like I said, think of these times when she suffers under Zaeryn as her fitting punishment for trying to conceal his reincarnation from us. But sooner or later, the Anathema will have to resort to <HaoS> and your daughter will be able to escape her imprisonment and return to her body in this realm… That is, if you decide against doing anything rash. If her father elected not to listen to my warning though, she may find out that her soul no longer has a real body to return to.」warned Freya in a grim tone.「... Do you understand… Adeus kun?」

「... Yes… Freya sama…」The Astral gritted his teeth and lowered his head. 

「Now, you also played a part in this, Adeus.」said Vrag. 「and we have thought of a good punishment that befitting your mishap.」

「... I am… obediently awaiting your judgment..」After Freya threatened to harm his daughter’s real body, the Astral had learned to carefully choose his words in front of 7 of the Enneads.

「 “Punishment” may not be the correct word here.」Vrag corrected himself.「It’s more of a task that we assign to you.」

「The sooner you complete it successfully, the sooner we may allow you to confront Zaeryn’s reincarnation and force him to summon <HaoS> in order to break free your daughter.」Motivated Freya.

「... And what task would it be?」asked Adeus.

「Dealing with some of the Irregularities that upset the balance of this world these past few crucial decades, right before the commencement of the Harvest.」Ea answered.

「You don’t mean…」

「Yes. You may want to start with eliminating that Great Demon Lord named Ashura. After all, I don’t like the fact that he had somehow befriended Zaeryn’s reincarnation.」

「It’s never wise for us to allow Irregularities to team up together… especially if one of them is the Anathema.」Ozyan noted. 「We rarely directly interfere with Esthar, and when was the last time that we directly took out a Yonko like this?  But I fear if we leave them alone, it will come back and haunt us in the future.」

「We’re already having a headache dealing with Matelus and his scheme, the last thing we want is having the Irregularities and their forces growing stronger than they are now.」

「... Though, if you think about it, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that so many Irregularities like the members of the Yonko are popping up in the same era like this… and on top of the fact that Zaeryn and Sylvia have both reincarnated now, right before we’re readying to start the Harvest.」Noted Ea. 

「It may be “her” doing. That’s why one of us has gone to meet with her to confirm.」

「... She’s such a wild card…」

 

Notes:

Probably will switch to writing porn a bit. Next chapter wont be out until next year or so.

Chapter 91: Seri the Eternal

    To the north of the Yin Empire existed a land that not in a million years would the second emperor dare to touch, despite the two nation states sharing a thin, short border. The land of Althea, was the mythical home of the High Elf race, who called themself the Seris, for they were the “Children of Seri.” Due to the unusual amount of “Flow of Magic” that circulated around their nation, despite being located in the far north, where the cold winds and snow would have certainly transformed the terrain into an inhospitable permafrost, the land of the High Elf strangely enjoyed a temperate climate, where almost three quarter of their territory was made of fertile green grassland. The ability to gather and bend the flow of magic to their will in order to terraform their land was nothing but a mere fraction of the High Elf’s power. Had they wished for it, they could exert their influence and dominate the world, bringing at least half of the continent under their heels. Yet, for countless millennia, the Seris remained uninterested in the changing outside world. Rather than choosing the path of conquest and domination, the residents of Althea devoted their attention to studying and mastering the Flow of Magic. A self-isolated superpower, that was what the outside world called them. Over the span of tens of thousands of years, some groups of High Elves had either been banished or decided to leave their homeland on their own volitions. The descendants of these elves slowly transform into the Royal Family of the extinguished Kingdom of Yue or the Wood Elf that occupied the Vernys Forest…

「... Your master should be expecting me.」A large man walked up to the elven guards, who stood motionlessly in front of the large gate that was built into the side of the Northern snowy mountain. The mountain range that soared to an unimaginable height in the northernmost territory of Althea was the only place where the Seris did not terraform, allowing the natural freezing cold climate to rage on year round. 

「Of course, Azragon dono of the Ennead.」Nodded the elven captain, who was dressed in silver armor. 「I shall lead you to Seri sama. Please follow me.」The door slowly opened, revealing a brightly lit hallway decorated with riches that rivaled even the heavenly realm of Modun or the fictitious Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The Ennead had visited the mythical citadel many times,yet as he walked along the hallway, he could not help but be awed by the countless ancient artifacts being displayed on the side. If any of these items were to fall into the hands of the other kingdoms in Esthar, he had no doubt that each and every artifact would be considered a national treasure. Yet, to the owner of this citadel, they were nothing but decorations. That was the extent of power and influence of the progenitor of the High Elves, Seri the Eternal. The only individual who even the Ennead would not dare to anger. The only individual who knew the real history of the world, of the days before the Ennead came into existence. The elven captain came to a quick stop as he stood at attention in front of a large wall at the end of the hallway, guarded by four elite elven troops in their bulky golden armor. 

「Captain Vyseran has brought our esteemed guest, Azragon of the Enneads, who wishes to have an audience with Seri sama. Please open the way to her Throne room.」reported the elven captain. The other four simply nodded before raising their hands and simultaneously casted a spell that opened a circular swirling warp right in front of the Astral. 

「Please go ahead, Azragon dono. Seri sama is waiting.」Vyseran stepped aside.

「A magic that is able to distort space… You high elves are impressive as always.」commented the Astral before he strided through the warp and vanished away in an instance. 

The other side of the portal led to an expansive brightly lit room seemingly made of reflective Mythril crystals, with a gigantic throne situated at the end of a high stairs. Sitting on top of the throne, crossing her two smooth, tender legs while her cheek leaned onto her right fist, the progenitor of the High Elven kind leered down at her guest, viewing the leader of the Astral as nothing but a toddler. Her bright, red hair was a deviant from the three usual hair colors of the elven kind: light blue, golden yellow, or silvery white. Stranger yet was her eyes, for they were completely black, filled with countless sprinkles of starry dots, much like the majestic night sky or that of Rei’s from Granblue Fantasy.

「Yo Az chan. Long time no see!」The elven girl smiled as she greeted her guest.「To what do I owe the pleasure of receiving an Astral today?」

「... Seri, how many times have I told you to quit calling me by that nickname?」Azragon turned visibly upset.

「By what? “Chan”? That’s just how people from Terra show their affection, Az chan.」Seri teasingly said. 「At least that’s what my star pupil taught me ten thousands years ago, before you guys destroyed him along with 99% of lives on Esthar.」

「I will not warn you a second time.」said the pissed off Astral, who slowly raised his arm in front of his body. Small flames began to pop up on top of his fingers before he curled them back into a fist, then flicked them out, sending the small flames flying at Seri. The five embers started to grow bigger and bigger as they traveled along their projectile before transforming into a raging inferno that could easily melt a one ton block of Adamantine metal into a pool of liquid in mere seconds. Despite the incoming scorching attack, Seri remained calm before she tapped her finger onto the handle of her throne. With just a small gesture and no audible incantation, the Flow of Magic began to move around turbulently, causing the temperature of the room to plummet and the five burning balls of fire stopped short on their tracks. Despite the intense heat that could be compared to a mini sun, ice crystals still quickly formed around them and before long, the Astral’s warning attacks were completely frozen in ice. Another tap by the elven girl sitting on the throne room caused the attack shattered into thousands pieces and fell onto the floor.

「Are you here to talk or to finally make an attempt on my life, Azragon?」Seri sternly asked, though she herself had also stepped back from provoking the Ennead any further, elected to call him by his formal name again.

「Attempt on your life? We both know that even my real body would struggle in a fight against you, let alone this piece of homunculus vessel that I’m possessing.」Azragon laughed. He might be an Enneads, one of the most powerful Astral but he knew his limit. After all, Seri was the reason why the Astral never dared to perform the “Harvest” on the High Elf population residing within Althea. 「Enough with the pleasantries. I’m here to talk about that star pupil of yours.」

「What about Zaeryn? Did you not kill him thousands of years ago?」

「... We did but we have just learned recently that he had reincarnated and is currently living on Esthar as an ogre-incubus hybrid.」answered the Astral.

「Oh, did he now?」Whistled Seri

「Let me be frank here…Is his reincarnation your work?」asked Azragon. 「He’s an Irregularity that showed up 10 thousands years ago, right before our last Harvest and now, he had again reappeared in this era, with all his memories of his past life intact…」

「Well, he’s an Irregularity, of course he would still retain his memories. And why are you asking as if I’m orchestrating something? Weren’t you guys the one who brought his soul into this world in the first place?」

「That was what we thought… at first.」Azragon glared at Seri.「But after our close call concerning his rebellion against us, Freya did some research regarding our summon ritual and guess what she found?」

「What?」

「The soul that was supposed to be summoned got swapped with Zaeryn’s soul, it’s as if somehow, his own soul had a greater affinity to Esthar… either that or someone messed with our ritual.」

「And the only person who could do that was me. Is that why you’re suspecting me of messing with you guys?」

「Indeed. Your transmigrating magic rivaled Freya’s summoning Ultimate Arte so it’s not unimaginable that you were able to affect the ritual. On top of that, you even took him in as your pupil and trained him as a spell caster despite the fact that you have not interacted with anyone from the outside world for tens of millennia. Aren’t all that too much of a coincidence?」

「... You want to know the real reason why I took him in?」Seri suddenly turned serious.

「...Yes.」Azragon could feel a droplet of sweat rolling down his forehead. If Seri was behind the incidents surrounding Zaeryn, that would mean she purposefully broke the non aggression pact between the High Elves and his people. If that was the case, then the ever-lasting balance that the Astral yearned for would be broken. Azragon froze in place, awaiting the answer from the High Elf progenitor.

「Ha… Hahaha… Fine! I will tell you!」The girl excitedly yelled before declaring 「It’s because of these!」The Astral quickly took a defensive stance for he noticed Seri had swung her hand outward as if she was casting a monstrous spell. Yet, to his surprise, the elven girl merely took out a small booklet that she hid on the side of her throne and showed it to him. 

「That’s…」

「Don’t you know? These things are called Manga!」Seri grinned. 「It’s a form of treasure that existed in Terra.」

「What?」Azragon’s eyes widened in disbelief.

「I don’t know if you remember, but 10 thousands years ago, Zaeryn once tried to seek an audience with me. After he persisted for almost 30 decades, I finally relented… wait… that does not sound right… Maybe it was 3 decades? I just have the hardest time keeping track of time. Anyways, when he met me, he personally begged me to teach him everything he needed to know about magic since he had already mastered his Nen and his Ultimate Artes. Imagine that. A mortal asking the first and greatest magic caster to teach him.」Seri laughed. 「Of course I denied his request. But then, fascinatingly, he had the audacity to propose to teach me anything he knew that I don’t in exchange for me to teach him magic. I tried to dazzle me with the so-called science of Terra: thermodynamics, transport phenomenon, biomechanics… Of course, I had all learned about them from prior Irregularity that you Astral brought to Esthar. But then, unexpectedly, he showed me something that I had never seen before, something that he bragged, only a selected few enlightened individuals on Terra would master: The treasure of Manga!!!」Seri excitedly revealed, much to the visibly disappointed Astral standing down below.

「... What?」

「Yes, the art of storytelling using drawing as a medium. I was hooked after he showed me this manga called Naruto, which he replicated from his memory… He happily showed me a few volumes, but then he stopped right after Orochimaru attacked the Leaf…. Man, I still remembered his smirking face when he proposed for me to teach him magic in exchange for the next volume…」Seri ground her teeth in annoyance.「I had no choice but to agree to his demand. I intended to teach him only some basics about magic, just long enough for me to finish reading Naruto, but then he got me hooked on this Manga called One-punch Man… By the end, he already learned everything he could from me and rose up to be my star pupil…」Seri leaned back and flipped through the worn pages. 「And that is why I took him under my wing.」

「Stop kidding me!」Azragon yelled. 「As if I believe your story」

「Trust me. That’s all there is to it. I still honored our pact and did not try to mess with you guys. After all, if we were to fight against one another, this world will probably be devastated beyond salvation.」Smiled Seri.「I don’t know why he got reincarnated again into this era. Just like how his soul got swapped with the other 10k years ago, the chance of him reincarnated now is low, but never 0. Maybe all of this is, truly, just a coincidence. If you don’t trust me, there’s nothing I can do to prove otherwise.」

「... Then just promise me to not see him again this time.」Azragon resigned. After all, there was nothing he could do to Seri. His trip to this mountainous region was merely to extract this exact promise from the first magic caster.「We will monitor his movement. If we see that he’s meeting with you, then don’t expect us to honor our N.A.P anymore. Even if it’d cost us dearly, we will make sure to wipe Althea off the map of Esthar.」

「... Such a menacing threat.」Seri licked her full, blood red lip. 「I will make sure to maintain my distance with Zaeryn’s reincarnation. It’s not like I have much attachment to my star pupil… I let him and all his loved ones died once before, did I not?」

「Indeed.」

.

.

.

The room has become much more quiet now that the Astral had left after extracting a guarantee from the Elven girl. Seri had switched her focus back to the volume of manga that she read countless of times these past 10k years. Though, the sound of the flipping pages was quickly disrupted by a voice that spoke to her from behind her throne. 

「I guess he finally left.」The man slowly came out of the shadow of Seri’s throne before looking around.「I have seen this many times but it still amazes me how advanced is your illusion magic, great master! Even one of the greatest Astral could not tell everything here is nothing but a mirage.」

「There’s a reason why I’m the greatest magic caster, Matelus kun.」Smiled Seri before using her hand to tear through the illusion like when Shinki revealed Aizen’s spying when the mastermind was still his lieutenant. Once the ripple in space finally dispelled her magic away, the image of the youthful Seri disappeared. On top of the throne now sat an immobilized and withered elven corpse, with half of the flesh on its face had melted away, much of its rib cage bone was exposed. The image of the very Seri that was conversing with Azragon suddenly reappeared at the foot of the high throne, her hand still held onto the manga she was reading. 

「I wonder what the Astral would think if they knew of your real body, great master.」Matelus leaped down, standing next to the younger image of Seri.

「Heh, if they see my real corpse-like body up there, they would falsely believe they may stand a chance of defeating me.」Seri laughed.「Hiding the deterioration of my body is not really for my benefit, but for theirs. If I were to give them some false hope, they may do something rash and foolish… I have no patience playing with those kids. I’m more interested in the monster that they kept hidden away… All the pieces that I put in place more than 10k years ago… Soon enough, whether it by your hands or Zaeryn’s, my goal will finally be fulfilled.」

「... Each of us has our own agenda… I wonder whose dream will be fulfilled in the end.」Matelus subtly reminded Seri of the divergence in their end goals.

「Only time will tell.」

Notes:

"Seri" <-->"Serie"
Progenitor of High Elf <--> High Elf who's head of Continental Magic Association
Greatest Spell Caster <--> Living grimoire
Sitting informally on a throne <--> Sitting informally on a chair
Yeah, my character is completely original, totall not a rip-off of Sousou no Frieren, trust me. :P

Chapter 92: The return of the pervert

The soft, melodious voice continued to fill the private chamber of the Shilna Clan’s next head. The room was still cloaked in a thin veil of darkness, with only a flickering light from the small candle illuminated part of the space, for the morning sun had yet to rise from the thick wood. On the marital bed shared between Yllaner and Kyles, the princess gently stroke the hero’s hair, who laid peacefully on her lap as she recounted the memories they shared during their childhood.

「... I still can recall that time we first met at your orphanage… that was my first time leaving the forest…」

「Do you still remember the time when I got lost in the woods close to the orphanage for days and you finally found me in the midst of the downpouring storm? I swear my heart skipped a beat the moment your hand reached out to me…」

「... and I couldn’t believe it when you “proposed” to me when we were at the meadow…」Yllaner chuckled as tears fell down her cheek. 

「... Thank you, for choosing me as your wife, my dearest husband…」Yllaner leaned down to kiss Kyles’ cold, motionless body on his lip.「without you, I could only become the cold, emotionless, and ruthless clan head that my brother wanted me to be… Thank you for helping me retain my own self, my hero.」Yllaner pulled Kyles into her embrace as she wept. 

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.

.

Ryan stood close to his master, his hand instinctively held onto his master’s sleeve as he bravely watched the funeral procession of his sworn brother. As dictated by the tradition of the wood elves, the funeral of a clan head’s consort would be carried out on the same day he passed away.  The cold body of the hero was laid on top of a pile of neatly stacked wood. Standing next to it was the Shilna’s princess, her hand held onto a small torch that was lit with a blue flame. After reciting the rites, Yllaner simply lowered her hand, allowing the flame from the torch to ignite the wooden stack. Since the flame was conjured by magic, it quickly engulfed the pyre in no time, burning intensely while swirling around like a raging vortex. Despite how it looked, the heat that was radiating from the flame was strangely soothing, leaving those in attendance in a trance-like state as they stood motionlessly in a show of respect to the hero who saved their Princess. 

「May the soul of Prince Consort Kyles Ios Ganz forever rest in peace!」The elven twins, who acted as Vernys’ High Shamans, loudly declared.

Suddenly, in the midst of the solemn silence, a soft melodious tune could be heard by the hybrid before he had noticed the Princess’ moving lips. The Hymn of the Spirits, a traditional folk song of the inhabitants of the Vernys Forest, depicted the tale of a fallen soldier soul, who had to to suffer during his lifetime before finding salvation and returned to the embrace of the Spirits after death. Due to its heretical belief, this very song would be a sacrilege to those who worship the Astrals as their gods, yet strangely, even Amber, a representative of the Gods, found herself standing quietly and fully absorbed in its sweet and mournful melody. 

「... Zaeryn, do you believe in the concept of soulmate?」Kibadios recalled the conversation he had with Sylvia as he looked at the Elven Princess and her devotion for Kyles. 

「...Why do you ask?」Zaeryn pulled Sylvia into his embrace.「You want to gloat to others that you have found yours since I’m your perfect husband?」The tengu grinned. 

「Haa, conceited much?」Sylvia pinched his cheek.「 That’s not where I’m going with this, but I guess it means you do believe in soulmate?」

「Ouch, I was just kidding. Though truth to be told, I think “soulmate” is a concept that was invented by shoujo mangaka to sell their manga.」answered Zaeryn.

「... You know I have no idea about the references that you keep using, right?」Sylvia was unimpressed. 「But still, I’m glad we share the same opinions…」

「Why do you ask?」Zaeryn was curious.

「I was just thinking about Aspen and how he’s going to marry Adela, someone he shares no chemistry with. The people of the kingdom believe they’re meant for each other but we all know better. It just makes me wonder about the concept of “soulmate” that many believe in.」

「If you don’t believe in soulmate, then what do you believe in, my dearest waifu?」Zaeryn hugged Sylvia tighter as the both of them leaned their backs against the large tree trunk while gazing at the starry sky above.

「I don’t know?」answered Sylvia truthfully.「... Now I think about it, maybe I do believe in soulmate, but just not the definition that others gave it.」

「So what’s your definition?」

「It’s not some predestined thing… it’s not something set in stone.」answered Sylvia. 「You’re undoubtedly my so-called “soulmate” now, but it’s not because we’re fated to end up together. Our feelings for one another is just something organic that develops and levels up over time until we obtain the “Soulmate” titles?」

「That’d mean if we somehow relive our lives like Relife or Tokyo Revengers, it’s not necessary that we will end up together?」

「... Again, I don't know what those references are but yes, I think there’s a great chance we won’t be husband and wife… There’d even be a chance you’ll end up with Aspen for all I know.」

「... I like that.」

「Huh? You like ending up with Aspen?」Sylvia raised her eyebrows. 

「No, I mean, I like the fact that us ending up together now is something special… something unique for this timeline…」Zaeryn squeezed his wife. 「Though, it means that if we ever reincarnate in the same era in the future, we may not end up together again.」

「That’s fine. As your wife now, I give permission for your reincarnated self to find your “soulmate”, you don’t have to worry about my feelings.」Sylvia grinned mischievously before leaning in and gave Zaeryn a long deep kiss.

「Same here! I promise I won’t be jealous if your reincarnated self find her own soulmate… or maybe “his” own… who knows what gender we will reincarnated into, if at all?」

「... Say… Do you think there’s a chance I'll reincarnate into a man and you into a woman and somehow we’ll end up together again? Or better yet, both you and I will end up together as two men!」Sylvia excitedly fantasized.

「...There’s no cure to your fujoshi disease, is there?」

Kibadios continued to gaze at the elven princess as he remembered the conversation he had with Yllaner’s past life. 「... I’m glad you found your soulmate, Sylvia’s reincarnation… and that you two were able to share a time together, no matter how brief it was. You really deserve this.」The hybrid muttered. 

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「Are you alright, Ryan?」Kibadios broke the silence once the group returned to their room after Kyles’ funeral.

「... I’m fine, Master.」Answered the hero, though the hybrid could see his slave discreetly wiped away his tears seconds before his answer.

「Ryan chan, it’s okay for you to cry.」Maia turned to console the hero since she knew how painful he must have felt for she had also experienced the loss of her mother in the past.「We’re all here for you!」

「Thank you, Maia chan, everyone. But truly, I’m fine. Now is not the time for my grief.」Ryan forced a smile on his face.「We still have to focus on finding Rowan chan!」

「... Before that, let me show you something that I think you’d like to see.」Kibadios called out to the hero after making up his mind.

「What is it, master?」Ryan curiously asked.

「This!」Kibadios clapped his hand before summoning something on the floor.

「This is!?」Maia widened her eyes.

「Why is she here?」Ryuu put up his guard the moment he realized just who had his master summoned. Next to him, Yuusei was also hissing like a feral animal.

「Master?」Ryan turned to Kibadios, though his hand had instinctively grabbed onto his sword.

「Don’t worry.」The hybrid quickly dismissed his slaves’ concerns. Pointing to the naked doll laying on the floor in front of them, he continued.「That’s not Adela. It’s just the soulless homunculus vessel that she used. I devoured it whole using my skill so it’s natural that I can summon it back.」

「But why would you want to bring it here?」Ryuu was confused.

「It’s a homunculus, there’s only one use for it.」answered Kibadios.「Well, probably two uses, though I’m not pathetic enough to use it as a sex doll. Anyways, I summon it here to make it into a vessel, just like how Adela did.」

「A vessel?」

「But for whom?」asked Ryan.

「Did you know that with my <Devour> skill, not only would I be able to consume one’s flesh, but also one’s soul? That’s how I was able to have a chance of gaining their skills.」answered Kibadios with a grin.「I’ve said before that there’s no way to bring the dead back to life, but those who were wholly consumed by me while still being alive are in a different category. Since I possess their souls, if I were to put their soul into his homunculus vessel, it’s no difference than “resurrecting” them.」

「But who would you…?」

「Master! You mean!」Among those who were present, it was Ryan who first understood what his master was hinting at.

「Yes. I’ll bring that annoying elf back.」smiled Kibadios before tenderly pinching Ryan’s cheek.「Hopefully this can lessen your pain a bit, my little hero.」The hybrid soon clapped his hand again before kneeling onto the floor as if he was trying to perform human transmutation like the Eric brothers. And just like what happened in Full Metal Alchemist, a magic circle suddenly appeared and glowed brightly on the floor before magic molecules circulated the room, then got absorbed into the lifeless homunculus female body. 

「Reuk, put down that volume of JJK and get out here!」Instead of some elegant chant, the hybrid simply screamed at the weeb elf’s soul, much to the surprise of others in the room. 

「Got it, got it! You don’t have to yell like that!」Unlike when Edward and Alphonse trying to resurrect their mother, the process of transferring Reuk’s soul into the homunculus was so seamless that by the time Reuk responded to Kibadios’ command, he had already found himself awakened inside the female body on the floor.「Huh? Wait a minute… This is…」The girl-Reuk slowly clenched then relaxed her fists several times, then looking around the room, her eyes blinking nonstop. 「Eh? This is the physical world?」Looking down onto her own naked body, Reuk’s face quickly turned bright red before blood slowly ran down her own nose.

「Welcome back, Reuk…」greeted Kibadios, though the hybrid soon felt irritated since Reuk clearly was not listening to a word he was saying.「Stop squeezing the breasts of that homunculus body, you fucking perverted elf!」

「Fine fine, you don’t have to yell.」 acknowledged Reuk before turning to the still frozen-in-shock hero.「Hey, Ryan?... guess I’m back?」

 

 

Commissioned artwork: Scene of Yllaner and Kyles.

Artist: Urusai_nu ?

https://skeb.jp/@Urusai_nu

 

 

Chapter 93: Bonus: Foursome at the end of vol 3

Happy 15000th hits! :D

 

Scene taken place at the end of volume 3 (Chapter 88)

Artist: 鮎田

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@Ayuksert2

Pixiv ID: 10285663

This is probably my second favorite R18 commission, right after the bathroom scene done by Hagane. :3

I couldnt figure out how to redraw the censor so I just leave them in >.>

 

 

 

Warning R18

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Chapter 94

「Seriously, I know that’s not Adela but seeing that face, I can’t help but get all defensive.」Said Ryuu while carefully studying the homunculus body, which was now inhabited by Reuk.

After having “resurrected” by Kibadios, it took Reuk a few minutes to fully regain the sensation of “his body” again. Instead of quickly getting some clothes to wear, the former elven archer elected to cloak herself in a large blanket, just enough to cover part of her body’s impressive breast, while giddily trying to get used to having a body in the physical world by walking around the room.

 「... You’re … really… Reuk?」Ryan had simply not believed that his deceased childhood friend was now summoned back into this world. 

「Of course I’m Reuk!」She grinned in the same manner that Reuk’s old body used to do.「What? You don’t believe me? Fine… How about I reveal something that only you and I know?」

「Something only us know?」

「Yeah, like how you wet your bed until you were ten!」Reuk spurted out, much to the hero’s embarrassment.

「Shut up! It’s not like you were any better!」Ryan’s face was all red.

「Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? Maia chan is standing right there! What would she think about me if she knew I used to be a bedwetter like you?」Reuk angrily pinched Ryan’s cheek. 

「You’re one to talk! Kibadios sama is just right there, too!」Retaliated Ryan with a cheek pinching attack of his own.

「... and they’re now fighting just like brothers. You really were able to bring Reuk back, Master.」Maia let out a light chuckle as she watched the fight raged on.

「...Oh, by the way, did I ever tell you that Reuk was always trying to take a peek when you’re naked from inside me, Maia?」Kibadios nonchalantly revealed the elf’s behavior to the alchemist as he slowly sat down onto a wooden chair, knowing full well what such revelation would lead to.

「...」Maia smile suddenly turned murderous as darkness descended onto the room they were in, much like when Gandalf angrily scolded Bilbo with “Do not take me for some conjurers of cheap tricks.” 「He did what?」

Noticing Maia’s threatening approach, the pair quickly stopped fighting, with Reuk cowered against the wooden wall, trying to think of an excuse while his best friend simply smirked from the side, knowing the bloodbath Reuk was to experience. 

「Maia… chan? I can explain… I can…Ryan, help me… Kibadios? Don’t you just stand there!... ARGHHHHH」Reuk screamed in desperation, though it elicited no response from anyone in the room since they, too, would not dare to come in between the angry Maia and her prey.

「Well, now that Reuk got the punishment he deserves, let’s get going!」After Maia finished “teaching” Reuk a lesson, Kibadios finally stood up and gave an order, though not one of them would understand.

「Go where, Master?」Yuusei tilted his head in confusion. 

「No, you, Ryuu, and Maia can stay here.」The hybrid ruffled the mutant’s head. 「This business only concerns Ryan and Reuk. I will come along with them, of course.」

「Concerning only us?」Ryan also did not know what Kibadios meant.

「... So, this is also the reason why you bring me back to the physical world?」The bloodied and poisoned Reuk grimmly asked since she had figured out what Kibadios wanted to do. A hint of anger could be heard from her usually cheerful voice.

「Yeah, partially.」nodded Kibadios.「I know I promised to seek revenge for you, but I figure you rather would like to do it yourself.」

「Revenge for Reuk kun?」Maia asked.「... Ah! You mean Desmond? Didn’t you say Adela had already killed him?」

「No, he’s still alive.」Kibadios shook his head.「He took advantage of the situation and crawled away like a maggot that he was. But I knew better so before I was trapped in Ryan’s barrier, I had already discreetly summoned a spirit to monitor him. Right now, he’s recovering from his wound, though I know exactly where he is. I figure Reuk and Ryan would like to personally take care of him, that’s why I let him live until now.」Explained the Hybrid. 「Also, I want to take Reuk away from here for some time. Since he now occupies the body of Adela, it’d be bad if either Amber or the Princess find “Adela” walking around in this wood elf settlement. I don’t even know how to explain to them about Reuk’s existence.」

「That makes sense.」Ryuu nodded.

「You’re right, Kibadios.」Reuk slowly stood up.「I’m itching to settle this.」

「... Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you, Master?」Ryuu asked worryingly.

「The situation of the Vernys forest has yet to fully settle. I heard from Lord Uran that they are planning to elevate Yllaner to the title of Shilna’s Clan Head soon, that’s why they have called the elven twins who acted as the Forest’s high shamans here, to conduct the ceremony. Anyways, until Yllaner successfully assume full control of Shilna and Vernys Confederation and quell any potential unrest, I’d like it better if you guys stay by her side.」

「I understand, Master…」

「Don’t be worried.」Kibadios made his way toward the dragonoid and pulled him in for a reassuring hug.「This is not like the time I departed to deal with Adela. There’s no risk involve this time, I promise, my adorable little dragon!」The hybrid’s hand reached out to Ryuu’s round, firm ass before giving it a squeeze then whispered into his ear.「I promise I’ll take care of you once I get back… to make up for our lack of intimacy these past few days.」

「I… I’ll be waiting for you, Master.」Ryuu timidly said while his face burned bright red and his cock slightly twitched in anticipation of his master’s pounding.

「That’s good.」Kibadios turned to Reuk and Ryan. 「Now, let’s go! And Reuk, make sure to hide your face as we walk out of here.」

「Sure! Sure!」She dismissed the hybrid concern, prepared to confidently walk out of the room before being stopped short by Yllaner.

「Reuk! You’re still fully naked!」
「... Ah… That’s right.」

「Master!」As Maia pulled Reuk to the side, trying to find some clothes that might fit her, Ryan discreetly tugged on Kibadios’ sleeve. 「... Thank you, Kibadios sama, for bringing Reuk back… I… I just can’t than…」

「It’s fine, my little hero-slave.」Grinned Kibadios before pulling Ryan in for a deep, wet kiss. 「Think of this as your reward for helping me deal with Adela… Besides, putting his soul into that homunculus body can help me get rid of his incessant ramblings while being inside me… HaoS is getting tired of him.」

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「... Ryan…」Reuk called out as both him and the hero effortlessly traversed through the dense forest by jumping through the tree branches like they were jounins from Naruto, while the hybrid leisurely flying up above, guiding them to Desmond’s location.

「Yes?」Ryan turned to the homunculus body.

「I have been meaning to ask…You know what Kibadios will do… you know that he plans to personally carry out the “Harvest”, eliminate 99% of lives and gather all the perish souls all by himself to deprive the Astrals of their source of fertilizer for Yggdrasil… you know that he will be no better than the Astrals themselves, yet you still chose to stand by his side?」Reuk awkwardly glanced at her childhood friend.

「... Yes.」It took the hero a few seconds, though his answer was without hesitation.

「And do you know that he pretty much does not care about the world? That his action did not stem from the desire to protect the future from further Astral’s meddling but from his own desire for vengeance? That just like the Astral, to him, the lives of those in Esthar are nothing but pawns in his grand chess game against them?」

「I may be naive but I fully understand the implication of his plan, Reuk. Yet, I still want to be by his side.」Ryan coldly declared.

「Even if he’s just another evil force? Even if he and the Astrals are nothing but two sides of the same coin?」Reuk raised her eyebrows.

「Yes… Don’t try to convince me to betray Kibadios sama, Reuk. I’m no longer a hero that cares about protecting the fabricated world balance that was maintained by the Astral. I’m now merely Kibadios’ loyal servant and no matter what happens in the future, I will always be by his side… Even if the path he’s walking would lead us all toward an impending doom.」

「You’ve changed, Ryan.」noted Reuk with a faint defeated smile.「I guess there’s no point in continuing this conversation… I wonder, though, if Kibadios ever order you to kill me, would you do it?」

「I…」

「Actually, you know what? You don’t have to answer. Whatever your answer is, it would either hurt my feelings or piss off your lovely hybrid master up there, haha.」Reuk laughed it off.「During my first few conversations with him after he absorbed me, I was adamant that you would stop him if you were ever to break free of this <Hypnosis>… I guess I was wrong.」

「Will you ever betray him then? Stab him in the back?」Ryan asked. 「Even if he’s the one who bring you back to this physical world, Reuk?」

「... I doubt that I can ever harm that monstrous hybrid you call “Master”, so don’t worry about it, Ryan.」Reuk smiled.「After having witnessed his past memories in person, I do sympathize with him… I just don’t think his plan is the right way to solve this.」

「Then what will you do?」

「Heh, if there’s something I learned after staying inside him for all this time, it’s that I can change his mind.」answered Reuk with a grin.「He wants to believe that he’s merely a cold blooded monster, but in truth, he cares about others more than he thinks he does. Granted, he was a cold asshole at first, but I’m pretty sure that was because he did not have any interaction with others for the first year of his current reincarnation. After he took in Rowan and Maia, then you, then Ryuu, then Yuusei, I think his supposed ice-cold feelings are melting down. That’s why he protected you guys against the Prime Minister and that’s why he’s frantically looking for Rowan right now.」Reuk pointed to her own body. 「And my existence is the prime example of how much he cares for you, even if he acts like he doesn’t. Such a tsundere. But I do hope that once he rekindles his feelings, he will rethink his plans. That’s why I will stay with him and hopefully, I can somehow convince him not to carry his genocide. And it’s not like I have any other choice since my existence is tied in with that jerk.」

「Don’t call my Master a jerk!」Ryan frowned.

「Aww, look who’s being so protective of his master.」teased Reuk.

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.

「Ouch!」The monk quickly touched his bandaged wound after angrily kicked the large pebble he found at his feet. 「It’s been more than a week, yet it still fucking hurts. Damn it!」Desmond slowly sat down on top of a rock next to the fire pit he made the night before. The degenerate monk had spent days trying to get out of the Forest after having been stabbed by the Astral, yet, due to his injury, he has yet to exit from the forest. The place where he made camp, on the top of a large cliff, laid almost 100 miles from the edge of the forest so it would take the man another few days to reach Maeg’s territory. He had hoped that the wound he received would start healing after he chucked down dozens of healing potions, yet, due to the nature of the blade, the wound still took forever to close up, which caused him to be delayed and still trapped in this god-forsaken forest, away from human towns that could help treating him more properly.「You fucking maggot! Is that soup ready yet?」Desmond frustratedly hurled a rock at the male slave who was preparing his food for him as order. The man, whose real name has not been called for more than a decade, shot his hated master with his bloodied eyes. Although Desmond was severely weakened, due to the slave collar the monk placed on him, the slave could not have attacked or harmed his master, even if he desperately wanted to. The one silver lining out fo the experience was the fact that due to his pain, the monk did not try to pin him down and mercilessly fuck him like usual, providing him with a slight window of relief that he could ever hoped for. Still, he knew this despicable master would soon recover and he would again bear the brunt of his anger. If there was one thing he learned during his suffering, it was that there was no happy ending that awaited him.

「Why would you worry about your meal, Desmond, if you’re going to die soon anyways?」A voice cheerfully asked.

「Wha…」Desmond jolted for he knew the owner of this voice. For the voice belonged to the nightmare that he was actively running away from. 「How are you still alive?」Desmond looked up to the sky, screaming as he saw the hybrid flapping his wings. On top of his shoulder stood a bird-looking spirit, whose feathers were covered in white blue frosts.

「Well well well, it takes a few days, but we finally catch up to you, Desmond.」A female emerged from the woods, walking alongside with a pissed off looking youth.

「What? Adela sama? Why are you here?」Desmond was confused. 「Why are you with that hybrid and Ryan? What’s going on?」

「I’m no Adela, Desmond.」Reuk cracked her finger. 「I merely borrowed this homunculus vessel.」

「What? Does it mean Adela sama lost?」The monk stood up while groaning in pain. 「Who are you?」

「I’m the one who recruited you to our little party a little more than year ago, don’t you remember me?」Reuk was smiling, yet, it was a sinister smile that quickly sent chills down the monk’s spine.

「Reuk!!!」Screamed out Desmond. 「How can it be?」

「I’ve been looking forward to our reunion for months, Desmond.」Reuk’s Arte, which took the form of a conjured elven bow made from Nen, slowly appeared on one of her arms.

「Wait a minute… Wait a minute!」the monk panicked, though his extensive shaking movements had caused his wound to bleed again. 「Arrghhh…Maggot!! Fight them off for me! I command you to protect your master with your life! 」He knew Hayden, the slave that he kept calling “Maggot” would not be able to fend off the three standing in front of him even if he was in his prime years ago, let alone when he had been transformed into nothing but a punching bag for years. Yet, the slave should be able to buy him sometimes, even at the cost of his life, for Desmond’s quick thinking mind to come up with an escape strategy.

「Ugh!」Although he did not want to, Hayden’s slave collar quickly reacted to Desmond’s command, forcing him to stood in front of Reuk and Ryan’s wrath.「... Kill… me.」The man slowly uttered the first human speech he ever said in years, his eyes seemed to have given up on life…

 

Chapter 95: Haden

Reuk sudden froze in place as she looked at the half naked man standing in front of her, his malnourished body filled with visible bruises resulted from Desmond’s torture for years. Despite his face had just been bloodied by the rock thrown at him, on top of countless other partially healed injuries, the thirty something years old slave still retained distinct handsome features that he once possessed in his youth. It was his eyes, though, that caught the attention of the former elf, for it was the same eyes that the elven archer had back in the dark, wet cave. The eyes that reflected nothing but a bottomless abyss, that seemingly screamed out for the world to put an end to their sufferings.

「Fuck you, Desmond!」Reuk angrily shouted. 「Release this man from your control!」

Haden tried to restrain his movement for a moment, yet, the command of his master quickly overcame his mind, forcing him to lurch forward at Reuk, aiming the small knife at the girl.

「Damn it!」Reuk clicked her tongue, trying to leap away from the attack.

「The poor man was asking for you to end him, why can’t you just oblige?」The smiling hybrid swooped down from midair like a hungry hawk hunting for prey. With the black oversized scythe on his hand, Kibadios swiftly swung it effortlessly at the weakened slave, creating a deadly arc that seemingly slided through the slave.

「Kibadios, you asshole!」Reuk screamed out angrily.「Why did you kill him?」The newly reanimated elf’s hand was trying to reach out to the hybrid and grab him by his shirt hoodies before Ryan quickly intervened.

「Reuk! Calm down! Master’s attack did not reach him. He was just aiming at the slave collar.」explained the hero. 

「Huh?」By the time Reuk realized what Kibadios did, Haden’s collar was already cut in half and had fallen down onto the hard ground. 「... I see…」

「Idiot elf!」The hybrid smirked. 「as if I’d waste my time killing people without a reason.」Kibadios glared down at the slave he just freed, who had already collapsed onto his knees after experiencing true freedom after being enslaved for almost fifteen years. 「... and if he really wants to die, he can do it himself.」

「Are you okay?」Reuk ran to Haden, trying to check out the slave’s countless injuries as she took out several potions from her pouch. Yet, despite having finally escaped from Desmond’s binding, the man simply sat there motionlessly as if he was still trying to process his own freedom.「Hey? Can you at least tell me your …name?」Reuk suddenly caught off guard the moment she noticed two lines of tears rolling down the man’s bruised cheeks. 

「... It’s okay now… You’re free… You’re free now… We will deal with Desmond.」Reuk consoled the man while slowly wrapping her arms around Haden to provide him with the warmth of another individual, for she knew full well from her personal experience what was going through his mind.

「Hiii!!!」shrieked the monk. 「Get away from me, you monster!!!」

「Ah, Déjà vu…」Kibadios slowly made his way to the monk.「I think your bro also had the same look on his face as he realized he’d finally met his doom.」

「You… You’re really the one who killed Corey?」Desmond asked and trembled in fear while just a few paces away, Haden’s eyes widened at the mention of the man who stole his life.

「... and why would that concern you? Are you going to help avenging him?」Kibadios grinned.

「Who the hell are you?... No, what the hell are you??」Pointing his finger at the dreaded hybrid, the monk has lost his mind by now.「Not only did you kill a 15 years veteran hero, you also defeated a member of the gods and stole her body!! It’s like you’re declaring war on the Oracle itself, just like members of the Yonko! You’re no mere demihuman!!」

Whooshhh! 

The blood spurted out from what left of his arm splattered across his horrified face. By the time he was able to process what had just happened, both his arms were sliced right off by Kibadios’ scythe. For a <Fighter> class like himself, who specialized in close combat, the lost of his arms would render him completely helpless. 「AHHHH!!!!」The man screamed in agony before losing his balance and fell to the ground. Knowing what would inadvertently come next, the monk broke down crying. 「Please, Kibadios… No Kibadios sama!!! Kibadios dono!!! Please spare me!」

「Spare you? Are you dreaming?」The hybrid was uninterested in the words of the half dead monk.「Why would I? But don’t worry, it’s not me who you should worry about. It’s Reuk.」Kibadios pointed at the former elf, who was slowly making her way toward them.

「Pleasseee, Reuk dono?」Desmond turned to the girl before turning toward his other former party member.「Please, Ryan dono? Please spare my life!!!」Begged the monk.「It was not my fault! Everything is Corey’s fault! He was the one who influenced me with his twisted mind and turned me into a monster… Noo… no… It’s not my fault… Please… Spare me!」

「Kibadios.」Reuk, whose expression was as cold as ice,  called out to the hybrid.「Remember Fukushuu o Koinegau Saikyou Yuusha wa, Yami no Chikara de Senmetsu Musou Suru?」

「... Fukushuu… Hmm.. Ah right? That revenge manga… Wow, you remember the whole Japanese title? That’s a mouthful, what a weeb… But yeah, what about it?」Kibadios was curious. He had a hunch of what Reuk was hinting at, though he rather had the former elf say it out loud. 

Reuk turned around to look at the abused Haden before continue「Let’s have Desmond have a taste of what that perverted merchant experienced.」

「Ho?」Kibadios was amused. 「... Fine, it’s rather befitting, wouldn’t you say?」The hybrid cracked his fingers while conjuring the dark shadow underneath his feet. 「Shall we begin?」

「Wait… what are you doing? Waitt… Wait a minute!!! Please don’ttttt…」was all Desmond could say before the nightmare that he could have never dreamed of descended upon his flesh. 「Ahhhhhh…」

By the time Kibadios and Reuk finished, even though he was still alive, Desmond’s bloodied,  mutilated body was barely moving. The witty, confident monk had transformed into nothing but a pile of minced flesh, with part of his genital being sliced clean off. Still, the gruesome scene elicited no visible disgust from any of the four other individuals, all of whom merely leered down at the near death monk as if they were looking at nothing but an insect.

「Let’s put an end to this.」declared Ryan coldly before slamming his sword down at the half dead man’s skull.「If you soul and Minerva’s (Did I ever name the priestess? I don't think I did, but lmk if she already had a name lol) ever cross path, remember to beg for her forgiveness!!」

Haden, who had merely sat immobile and watched over Desmond’s torture with a satisfactory smile on his face, slowly walked to the dead body. Despite the monk already lay dead on the ground, the former slave still angrily mustered all his strength to kick and stomp on his head before spit on his corpse.

「... Thank you…」Haden faintly muttered without looking directly at the hybrid nor the other two, before his attention turned to the high cliff. 

「So… With him finally dead… what will you be doing?」asked Reuk hesitantly. Although the former elf had just met the man, she still felt a strange connection to the severely abused slave, for she knew he also shared the same trauma she did when she was still “Reuk.” 「What… what are you doing?」Reuk called out to Haden, who had made his way to the edge of the cliff.

「... Thank you, strangers, for granting me my freedom…」The man bowed to the group before allowing himself to fall forward into the ravine below.「Sorry I’m late, Ariel, but  I’m finally coming for you.」

「Wait!!」Ryan called out.

「He’s really ending his life?」The unconcerned Kibadios realized. Among the three, it was Reuk who swiftly leaped forward and reached out to catch onto the former slave’s hand. 

「Are you crazy?」yelled Reuk, who tried her best to hold onto Haden.「You had just been freed from that perverted monk and yet, the first thing you want to do is to end your life?」

「... Please… Just let me go…」Haden begged Reuk.「My life is not worth saving… Desmond and his sworn brother, Corey, had taken everything from my life… my beloved fiance, my cherished comrades… At least, with my death, I’ll be closer to them.」

「STOP SPROUTING NONSENSE!!!」Reuk angrily screamed out with all her might as she struggled to pull the former slave up from the cliff. 「I know there’s nothing that can describe the tragedy that you have experienced. I know that it may appear to you that there is nothing left in the world that is worth living for. And so, in your mind, death may be the eternal rest that you have been longing for. But ask yourself this: Would your death make your fiance happy? Or would she rather see you retake your life and once again, live to the fullest? Carry on the memories of your loved ones and continue to live in their stead!!! Don’t you owe your fiance and comrades at least that much? 」

「... I…」Before he could reply, he could feel droplets of Reuk’s sweat and tears falling down onto his face. The former elf was frustrated. He knew exactly what the man was thinking, for at one time, he had also wished for Kibadios to end his suffering. Yet, only afterward that Reuk had realized how much previous “life” was after having spent his time living inside the hybrid and having the opportunity to live through Kibadios. Despite his foul mouth, Reuk was grateful to Kibadios for “resurrecting” him inside this homunculus body. Now, looking down at the abused slave, Reuk saw her own reflection within the man. She knew she had to save him… from his own depressed thinking.

「Ryan! Get over here and help me out!」Reuk called out to her friend, who hurriedly reached out to Haden’s hanging arm. 「Kibadios, you too! What are you doing? Can you not lend us a hand?」

「... Master?」Ryan noticed the hybrid had yet to bother to react.

「I gave him back his free will, yet he still wants do die, who am I to deny his death?」Kibadios slowly walked over, spreading his dark incubus wings unconcernedly. 「If he cannot appreciate his life, if he does not want to live to preserve the memories of those he loves, then so be it. Pathetic!」Kibadios leered down at the man as if he was Omniman and the former slave was the newly formed Guardian of the Globe. Before Reuk could open his mouth to yell at the hybrid for not being helpful, Kibadios continued. 「Still, answer me, nameless slave. Do the wish, the hope and dream of the people who you profess to love mean that little to you?」

「... What…」Haden was confused, though Reuk could see doubt begin to fill his eyes, whether it was due to what the former elf had said or because of what the hybrid was saying, she could not tell.

「If the roles were to reverse, and it was you who died while one of your comrades or your fiance had lived, would you have wished for them to continue living and hopefully be able to acquire some form of happiness in the future, or would you wish for them to die “to be with you”?」asked the hybrid.

「I… I would want them to continue on living, no matter what…」

「Then wouldn’t your loved ones also desire for you to be able to break free from your past nightmare and live your life how you see fit?」concluded Kibadios. 「Yet, due to your own weakness, you’d rather disregard their desires by ending your life.」

「... I」frowned Haden.

「So, now shall I help you ending your life or would you rather me pull you up?」 Kibadios looked down at the man and simply gave hima devilish grin.

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.

「I’m sorry, Reuk.」Haden leaned against the large boulder behind him while staring straight at the barely flickering fire that the former elf had helped ignite a few hours back.「How’s your arm now?」The former adventurer worryingly asked the girl since it looked like Reuk had dislocated her shoulder trying to hang on to him earlier in the day.

「What? Don’t worry about it! I told you, right? This is just a homunculus body so such injury means nothing to me.」Reuk swung her injured arm around, trying to prove that everything was fine.

「... Is that so?」The man sounded relieved

「... Hmm… Aren’t you going to ask me about that?」

「About what?」

「About why is this a homunculus body?」

「I… I just don’t feel like it’s something I should pry.」answered Haden honestly.「Though, I have seen that homunculus body before, when its owner met with Desmond a few months back.」

「and yet, you’re still not curious about what happened and why it’s now in Kibadios and my possession?」

「I think I could piece together the fragmented clues I have learned to, at least, know that Kibadios sama somehow was able to defeat that Astral. Though, like I said, I will not pry about it anymore… It’s not my place to.」

「If you know Kibadios attacked an Astral, aren’t you afraid of him? Wouldn’t he be considered a being of evil in your eyes?」asked Reuk while carefully studying the man’s facial expression. 

「Ha!」Haden let out a brief laugh.「After they brought their so-called Emissary to this world and allowed him to do what he did to my party and me, you think I would still worship the Astral, blindly follow their tenets and consider anyone who opposes them “evil?” On the contrary, Reuk! Knowing that Kibadios sama fought and defeated an Astral fills me with nothing but awe and admiration. That’s not to mention he was the one who killed that viled hero and his twisted sworn brother. Not only he freed me from Desmond’s control, his words also saved me in that moment…」Haden turned to the former elf, looking gratefully.「I owe my life to him, and you too. There’s no way I can consider him “evil.” If anything…」The man stopped for a moment, seemingly hesitated before continuing. 「if anything, I view him as a god… someone who had delivered me my salvation.」

… Just like I thought… Kibadios… Zaeryn… Just… who are you? Reuk remained quiet for a moment. 「... You know Kibadios really was not trying to save you? He was just saying what was on his mind at that moment. He might be getting softer toward those he knew intimately, but for a stranger like you, he really did not care whether if you lived or died.」

「... It seems like you… don’t like Kibadios sama?」noted Haden.

「No. Despite what I say, I actually like him.」answered Reuk without hesitation. 「Even though I knew everything about him, even though I knew the atrocity that he’s capable of, I’m still fond of him… Even though I know I should not be by his side, I could not find myself hating that man. That, is the peculiar feeling that I’m struggling to understand…」Reuk stared at the confused man.「You know what? I will tell you everything about the man named Kibadios and let you decide for yourself whether he’s still a god or devil reincarnate… I’m really curious what you’d choose. 」

Chapter 96: The newly acquired tool

At some distances away from where the other two were laid the hybrid half naked on the ground, his black pants lowered past his thigh while his arms neatly placed under his head. 

「Tired, Ryan?」smiled Kibadios, his eyes fixated on the handsome naked hero who tried his best to move up and down on the hybrid’s thick erected cock in a cowgirl position. Having been doing this for almost an hour, both fatigue and the continuous extreme pleasure had finally worn out the teenager. Before he could answer, Ryan slowly leaned his body down against Kibadios’ broad chest and rested his head on his master’s collar bone. 「... I’m sorry, Master. I think I’ve reached my limit.」

「Is that so? Then I guess it’s my turn!」The hybrid quickly sprung forth to a sitting upright position. The abrupt movement from Kibadios cause his cock to twitch hard inside the tightly squeezed asshole of his hero-slave, sending another waves of pleasure straight to the teenager’s brain, causing him to grind his teeth loudly while his arms wrapped tightly around his master’s neck and his two feet curled up in ecstasy. 「Haaa…」Ryan moaned, though it was quickly muffled with a sudden kiss from his master. Their tongues wrestled with one another, thoroughly mixing up their saliva before Kibadios decided to move his hungry mouth downward and stopped at his slave’s perked up nipples. 「Itadakimasu!」 Declared the hybrid before unilaterally sinking his teeth into the hero’s firm flesh, biting and sucking on one of the hero’s nipples while his lower half started to thrust hard inside the teenager’s twitching hole. The hybrid continued to play with his property for another half an hour before finally releasing his cumshot inside Ryan for the third time of the night. Yet, by then, the hero had fallen half unconscious from exhaustion, preventing him from experiencing the joy of receiving yet another load of his master’s fluid…

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.

.

「Kibadios sama!」Haden knelt down solemnly in front of the hybrid, who had just walked back to the firepit once the sun had again risen, signifying the start of a new day. 

「Huh?」The hybrid raised his eyebrows.「Do you know what’s going on with him?」Kibadios pointed at the former adventurer while looking at Reuk. 

「Last night, Reuk dono told me everything about you, Kibadios sama… no… Zaeryn sama.」

The hybrid leered down at the kneeling man. Though this development was not out of his expectation. 

「Did he? What a blabbering mouth idiot.」Kibadios turned to Reuk.「Why would you tell him that? Now that he knows who I used to be and my plan, I’d have to eliminate him right here, right now!」Without warning, the hybrid conjured up his scythe then swiftly swung it, aiming straight at the man’s exposed throat.

「Stop it, Kibadios!」Expected what the hybrid would do, Reuk quickly shot an arrow at the scythe’s blade, parried it out of the way.「Shouldn’t you at least wait to hear what he has to say?」

「...」Kibadios studied the man, who despite his attack, had not moved an inch from where he knelt. His wide open and determined eyes still looked up to the hybrid without blinking once. 「So, any last words?」

「...I know I may be an incapable human who would not be worth your time, Zaeryn sama… But if you allow, please let me stay by your side as your uttermost devotee.」The man prostrated down on the ground.「I’d like to serve you with my strength, to act as your disposable tool in your quest to fight against the Astrals to protect the future of this world.」

「 “Protect the future of this world”?」The hybrid could not contain his amusement. 「That is what you think I’m doing? Don’t make me laugh! I’m a selfish bastard and not that noble of a man that you think I am. My one and only goal is to bring down the Astrals, to inflict them with all the pain and agony that they have caused me. I care not about “the future of this world.” It’s true that this world would probably be able to break free from the eternal cycle of destruction and regeneration once I’m done dealing with the Astrals, but don’t mistake it to be my primary goal.」

「Even so, it does not matter, Zaeryn sama. Once I have learned the truth of this world from Reuk dono and of what you’re trying to do, I’ve decided to dedicate my life, the very second life that you and Reuk dono had granted me, to your cause.」Haden continued.「You and Reuk dono have told me to continue on living, to find a new purpose in life so now I have. I wish to be standing by your side, to face the despicable Astrals and make them atone for all the sins that they have committed…」

… So this really is the choice that Haden had chosen, even after I told him about Kibadios’ “Rumbling” plan that would see the majority of the population perish… Reuk thought to herself …It’s really not just me, then. Kibadios, just who are you? Your most impressive power is not that of your control over HaoS, or your magic prowess, or your critical thinking skill. Ever since your first reincarnation, the power that helped you throughout your journeys and in the end, the very power that rattled the Astrals, was in fact, your strange and unexplainable “charisma.” You’re not a main character in a shounen manga, who makes friends and allies using talk no jutsu, sprouting inspiring concepts like hope, dreams, and justice… And worse, in this current reincarnation, if anything, you’re like a villain who keeps fixating on vengeance and destruction. Yet, time and time again, people still flock to you, regardless of whether you walked the righteous path like you once did during your first reincarnation or if you’re descending toward death and destruction as you are in this lifetime… Even the innocent Ryan, who once could only think about helping others, is now blindly following your orders. Even I…  I know that it’s not your <Hypnosis> skill… But, then, just what is it that caused people to follow you? … Just what are you, Kibadios?

「How much of an idiot are you?」Kibadios grabbed the back of Haden’s short hair.「You have just broken free from the controlling yolk of one person and yet, you immediately pledge your life to another?」

「Unlike what happened with that filthy monk, this time, I voluntarily make my decision to follow you, Kibadios sama!」

「Is that so? What if I order you to let me fuck you like a piece of onahole like what Desmond did to you, huh?」The hybrid tested the man.

「... I…I…」Haden was suddenly struck with fear as his heart started racing while his body trembled uncontrollably. Flashes of unsavory memories replayed in his head, causing him to be unable to speak for a few seconds. 「If… if that’s what it takes for me to follow and serve you, I would be willing!」Despite a brief moment of fear and hesitation, the man quickly made up his mind. 

「... You probably have a few screws loose in your head…」Kibadios was surprised at Haden’s newly found determined look.「Fine, whatever, do as you wish!」He sighed.「Since you’re the blabbering idiot that roped him into this, he’ll be your responsibility, Reuk.」

「My responsibility? What are you talking about?」

「I mean that if he ever screws up… if he ever somehow betrays me, I’ll take it out on you.」

「What? Why would you!」

「It’s your fault for explaining everything to him.」The hybrid rolled his eyes. 「What were your name again?」

「Haden, Kibadios sama.」answered the man.

「Fine, Haden. There’s no walking back on your words, do you understand? From now on, your life belongs to me. You will act as I command. You will fight as I wish. And only in death would your duty end!」

「Of course, Kibadios sama!!」acknowledged Haden.

「... And don’t worry about me fucking you. It’s no fun playing with someone having PTSD like yourself. Besides, I’ve already had my toys to play with.」Kibadios’ hand quickly reached out and grabbed Ryan’s ass before giving it a slight squeeze.「Anyways, I’ll go hunt something for breakfast. Go and start a small fire in the meanwhile.」

「Yes, Kibadios sama.」

「Hmm… Not going to traumatize someone who’s already had PTSD, huh? I stand corrected, then. Maybe he does care for others, even if it’s just a little bit. I guess even though your master is mostly an ass, times like these, when he gets soft, do make him tolerable… Well, dare I say, likable.」Reuk walked next to Ryan. 「I wonder if Tsundere is a correct word to describe him.」

「That’s just how master is!」smiled the hero.

「Yo, Ryan, what are you doing? Come with me!」

「Yes, master! I’m sorry!」The teenager hurriedly ran to the hybrid’s side.「By the way, are we going back to Fyeran’s capital?」

「... You guys are.」answered Kibadios.

「Huh? What about you?」

「I have something else I have to do.」

「Are you trying to look for Rowan chan? If so, I’d join you!」

「No, I have my familiars looking for him. There’s no point for me to. It’s just that there’s someone I need to see.」

「Who?」

「My star pupil, of course!」

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.

The long forgotten lake, tugged deep inside the dense forest of the Fyeran, appeared strangely serene under the thin veil of moonlight. The beautiful scenery even captured the hybrid’s attention the moment he had just made it to the location. After studying the place again for a few minutes, Kibadios lowered his hand down to make contact with the lake’s surface. The last time when he was at the lake, he could feel a strange presence emitting from deep under the body of water and now, once again, he could feel it. This time, its presence was much clearer.

「There’s something at the bottom of this lake! Is this what Matelus referred to when he said “Ruin under the lake”?」Kibadios recalled the cryptic message his pupil left him with.「Fine then, I’ll see it for myself.」The hybrid did a quick stretch before diving straight into the lake, which turned out to be much deeper than he had expected. It took him a full four minutes to finally reach the bottom. He had expected to be completely submerged in darkness, for he knew the weak moonlight would not be able to penetrate this deep into the lake. Yet, in front of his eyes stood a large entrance protruded from the ground, with two large stones radiating a dim and strangely warm green light as if it was welcoming him to its lair.

… What is this structure? Kibadios studied the complex ancient symbols decorating the gate. To his surprise, his mind seemed to have recognized the symbols’ familiarity but for the life of him, he could not recall where he had seen them before. Using all his strength, the hybrid tried to push against the gate. He had expected the other side of the gate to be filled with the lake water, yet, once the gate started to open, he could see the space behind it was completely dry, filled with flickering lights emitting from the burning torches. How?

The hybrid slowly made his way inside the structure, only to realize that the reason water did not fill up the place despite it being submerged under the lake was because of the thin layer of barrier that was cast at the entrance, separating the body of water from its interior. 

「... This place… is ancient.」Kibadios looked around at the intricate carvings on the wall as he walked deeper into the corridor. 「Why does this feel so familiar to me?」
It did not take long before the corridor ended, leading the hybrid to a small atrium that was lit up with a large skylight. Its unique designs were similar to the one that Kibadios had seen back in the realm of the Astrals. 「This place belongs to those fuckers?」The hybrid asked himself before he noticed a statue erected in the middle of the place. The statue depicted a sternly looking man cladded in well crafted armor, his left hand held onto a large two bladed sword. Despite the residue preservation spell that the hybrid could detect, the statue was already partially broken down, yet, Kibadios could still recognize the man’s face. 

「Isn't that the man in my dream」The hybrid noted before turning to the left of the statue. There laid another circular base, much similar to the one which the current statue stood on. However, on this base, there stood nothing. Upon careful observation, Kibadios could tell there used to be another statue erected there; however, for some reason, it was probably shattered, leaving only a small trace of footprint behind. Kibadios knelt down the moment he noticed something being inscribed on the side of the base.
「These writings… They are written in the latin alphabets?」The hybrid easily recognized the once familiar writing system that he had used back on Earth. 「”...Tell us why, given Life, we are meant to die, helpless in our cries?” Isn’t this…」

 「Yes, that lament was carved there by an isekaied weeb much like yourself, Shisou. Or maybe he’s just an avid gamer, who knows.」A familiar voice spoke up from behind the hybrid.「I’ve been waiting for you since forever, but if you’re here, I guess things have finally settled down in the forest, haven’t they? Now is a good time for us to talk without interruption.」

「Matelus… What is this place?」Kibadios warily looked at his pupil. Standing next to him was the same mysterious girl who created the rift in the fabric of space itself. The ice-cold looking girl dressed in a white gothic style clothing, with their white hair being tied up into twintails that made her look rather cute. Yet, with just one look, Kibadios could tell if he and the girl were to go head to head against one another, without the assistance of HaoS, victory would be beyond his grasp at this current power level.

「It used to be a place to worship two individuals. One whose existence has been completely erased…」The hybrid twitched slightly at the slight headache that jolted his entire body. <...After all, my existence would have been erased from the history of this world, so telling you who am I is meaningless.> What is this? He thought to himself as he recalled the faint memory from his fragmented dream.「... and the other is this man… or rather, this being. The very being that would bring the end time to this world had he awakened from his slumber.」

 

ILLUSTRATION:

The mysterious girl who is with Matelus:

Artist:くれは (Kureha, though that person goes with the Romanji Kuleha in their email.)

Pixiv ID: 55682601

I requested and received this drawing ages ago lol ( in October) At the time, i thought I'd get to this point in the story within a month or so haha... Man at this rate, I'm never going to reach the ending of this story.

Notes:

Churning out chapters faster than I thought I would... all because Im so stressed and writing this story is a way for me to forget about my work/studies lol.

Chapter 97: Random sneak peek

I don't think I'll get to this R18 scene between Kibadios and Yuusei anytime soon but I just received 2 pages of R18 scenes between them and it's so adorable that I want to share a sneak peek of it lol

PS: Next R18 scene will be of Kibadios x the twins. I'm a bit disappointed about how it turned out, but it'll be good enough haha.

WARNING:

R18(ISH)

R18(ISH)

R18(ISH)

R18(ISH)

 

Chapter 98: The true history of the world _ By Matelus.

「What are you talking about? A being that would bring forth the endtime?」Kibadios frowned, not liking the ominous statement his pupil just made.

「Yes. He’s Kaernas the Gods Slayer , whose action condemned this world to its damnation.」answered Matelus.

「Gods Slayer?」Kibadios thought for a moment before speculated.「There were other individuals who fought against the Astrals before our time?」

「The Astrals?」Matelus raised his eyebrows. 「No no no… Both you and I know they’re not “gods”, no matter how much they’d like to delude themselves otherwise.」The man gazed into the eyes of the confused hybrid.「I’m talking about the True Gods, who created Esthar and the realm of Modun, along with 11 other planes of reality, their existences preceded time and space themselves…」The man quickly noticed his teacher’s confusing look.「You see, “in the grim darkness of the ancient past, there were only wars,” for the inhabitants of the 13 realms were created by the True Gods served no other purposes but to engage in an eternal conflict, for the tyrant Gods were bored and observing their creations struggled for their lives were the only entertainment that amused them.」Matelus touched the man’s statue covered in a thick layer of dust.「The forces of the 13 different realms were pitched against one another in a grand survival war game, with the losing side quickly finding themselves being erased from existence by the True Gods, much like what Zeno did to the losing Universes in the Tournament of Power. The scale of these series of conflicts were beyond your understanding… Simply said, for us, it was as if they were wars of the gods. This man here was one of the 13 Luminaries at the time, who led the inhabitants of the Modun in that endless conflict while his best friend, the nameless being, commanded the inhabitants of Esthar. As time went by, the world vs world tournament brackets continued to be narrowed down, with the losing Realms being eradicated from existence by the cruel Gods. In the second semi-final conflict, the forces of the two Realms, Modun and Esthar, were compelled to fight against one another for what seemed to be millennia. At times, the nameless man did seem to have overwhelmed Kaernas, yet, it was the Gods Slayer who finally claimed victory in the end. Although the Modun’s victory would mean they’d be spared from the True God’s wrath, it also meant the inhabitants of Esthar would be erased from existence. The True Gods started the process by quickly erasing any traces of the nameless being’s existence from all the realms. Still, before the Estharians were condemned to their death, Kaernas finally rebelled against his overlords and creators in a bid to protect his best friend’s people. Besides, he knew that the peace that he afforded to his people was only fleeting, for they soon would have to enter another 1000 years war against the last remaining realm in the final conflict.」

「... “The Gods Slayer”? Are you telling me he succeeded in killing his supposed omnipotent creators? What kind of nonsense fairy tale are you telling me, Matelus?」Kibadios doubtfully questioned the story his pupil has been telling him, yet, somehow, deep within the hybrid, he could feel a strangely intimate connection to events.

「Yes, Kaernas was able to overthrow the tyrannical rules of the True Gods because he somehow was able to obtain the source of power of the True Gods.」explained Matelus.

「The Gods’ source of power? What is it?」Kibadios was genuinely curious.

「... Despite the vast knowledge I have accumulated over the course of 10k years, I still don’t have the faintest idea what it was.」Matelus disappointedly answered.

「So… what happened next?」

「All should have been well for the inhabitants of the last three surviving realms the moment Kaernas vanquished the True Gods.」Matelus’ voice turned grim. 「Yet, before their demise, the dying Ancient Gods poured all their hatred and malice to put a curse on this world.」

「...A curse?」

「Yes. They wished for their treacherous creations to suffer the same fate they did, to be crushed into oblivion and reduced to ashes. Since they were beings with incomprehensive capabilities, so were their final wills. The hostility directed at the worlds on their deaths materialized into an endless horde of twisted and mutated daemons and monsters that overwhelmed the worlds, devouring them in their paths. In just a brief moment, the saviors of the worlds have also become their destroyer. Despite valiantly defending themselves from the literal incarnation of hell itself, the third realm and their inhabitants were quickly swallowed up by the raging daemons and monsters. To continue protect the 2 remaining worlds from total annihilation, Kaernas erected an impenetrable, permanent spatial barrier surrounding the Realm of Modun and the Land of Esthar while he himself stood guard at the small rift in space, the only place where the horde of hell could enter the two worlds. He continued to fight against the endless tide of daemons and monsters without breaks, yet, there were times when some creatures were able to get past Kaernas’ defense and successfully invaded the two worlds… Though, since their numbers were few, they were not existential threats. Still, the Gods Slayer did use the source of power he stole from the True Gods to create the Primordial Spirits to safeguard the fragile worlds within the barrier. Over time, these creatures devolved into what you and I considered “Monsters” of this world.」

「Does that mean this “Kaernas” is still fighting to protect this world?」asked the hybrid.「Did you not say he’s in a slumber?」

「Ah, you see, the tragic story did not end there.」Matelus raised his voice.「Up to this point, Kaernas, the great “hero”,  grand guardian of the two worlds, was still steadfast in his belief of shielding and protecting the people from their impending doom. Despite his exhaustion fighting against the endless foes that even he himself could not win against, he still stood tall against all the odds. Yet, tired of living in an eternal fear of being wiped out by their creators’ wrath, tired of the infrequent yet still dangerous incursion of hell upon their world, his own people began to change. Their hatred toward Kaernas began to grow, for in their eyes, he was the one who sentenced them to “death.” After the animosity built up, their anger finally burst open and they directed that anger toward the survivors from Esthar, who they believed were the cause of their leader’s rebellion against the True Gods,  to Kaernas’ own family members and to those he loved. What happened next, understandably, was a purge… a cruel, sadistic purge. That great cleansing, whose victims included Esthar’s native inhabitants, Kaernas’ family and his devout followers, could be considered the first “Harvest.” Of course, as you would have guessed, this was carried out by the Realm of Modun’s hardened warrior class, who would later be known as the original Astrals.」

「What?」surprised Kibadios

「Through this purge, they were hoping that it would calm the True Gods’ anger and somehow absolved them from Kaernas’ sin. In order to prove their devotion to the True Gods, they would try to inflict as much pain to their victims as possible before killing them and piling their corpses into mountains of flesh. For years, the two worlds transformed into hellscapes that were not too different from the realms that were devoured by the vindictive horde of hell. The few survivors of the purge hid themselves in the land of the High Elves in hope of avoiding the Astrals’ cleansing.」

「Wait, the High Elves?」

「Yes… Did your old teacher not tell you this secret, Shisou?」Matelus gave Kibadios a mysterious smile. 「Did she not tell you that she was one of the 13 Luminaries, a contemporary to Kaernas and the nameless being?」

「That old hag knew about this?」Kibadios could not believe his ears.「... Seri lived through this event?」

「Yes. She was the leader of the realm that was supposed to face off against the Modun in the final round. As her realm was run over by the True Gods’ wrath and her people all perished, Seri gathered all of their souls, then ran off to this land. While Kaernas fought off the horde, protecting the two remaining worlds, Seri secluded herself in the northern mountain range and spent years cloning new bodies for her people before reforging the connections between their souls and their flesh. Both you and I knew she was able to resurrect her people and started the race of High Elves anew. She cared not for the purge carried out by the original Astrals against others, but she would act if the Astral dared to invade the High Elves sovereignty in search of those who hid in their lands.」

「... Then, what happened next? What happened to Kaernas?」

「Since the man was fighting on the edge of the two worlds, it took a long time for him to learn of what happened to his loved ones and the atrocity the Astrals were committing… but the moment he did, his mind broke. Realizing that his sacrifices were all for naught, realizing that those who he fought to protect were either being massacred or committing the very act, Kaernas let his anger and hatred consume him, much like how his creators did eons ago. Instead of blocking the path, Kaernas would tear open the rift himself, allowing countless of daemons and monsters to flood the two worlds and end them once and for all.」

Kibadios suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.「... How… how did they stop him?」Knowing that both the Modun and Esthar were currently still existing, Kibadios could have guessed how the story ended. 

「Although Seri and the newly reborned High Elves could not agree with the Astrals' actions, they decided to team up with them to protect the last bastions of life. While Seri led the effort in the fight against the God Slayer himself, the High Elves, with all their magical might, took on the burden of fighting against the endless horde of hell. Knowing that the chance of her defeating the enraged Kaernas was slim, she taught the Astrals an ingenious sealing ritual: Giving them the seed of Yggdrasil, which she had saved from her dying realm, she taught them how to use the souls of those who perished in the great cleansing to act as its fertilizer, allowing it to quickly grow into a giant entity, whose its roots and branches would stretched through the two realms.」 Kibadios’ eyes widened in disbelief. 「Then, even in a brief moment, Seri was able to immobilize Kaernas, allowing Yggdrasil’s roots to enveloped the Gods Slayer. Half of the Yggdrasil’s ever expanding branch would reach out to the Modun Realm while the other half reached out to the rift in space. The magical sealing ritual would put Kaernas under an eternal slumber while continuously extracting his power, his mastery over space and time, to repair the world: Through utilizing Kaernas’ command over spatial element, the Yggdrasil sealed off the rift with its branches, preventing further incursion from the great devouring horde of hell. The Astrals, who entered into an agreement with Seri, decided to leave Esthar and make Modun their home. There, they channeled Kaernas’ command over temporal element to freeze the flow of time over the realm, effectively making themselves immortal…」

「You gotta be kidding me…」Kibadios’ body shook uncontrollably 「But then… that means…」

「Yes, the Great Harvest that the Astrals carried out every 10 thousands years, is indeed to maintain the great Yggdrasil. It may be for a selfish reason, to help extend their immortality by continuing to freeze the flow of time in the Realm of Modun. However, it is also to preserve the world and protect it from the cataclysmic event that would follow, had the great Yggdrasil die off, leaving the rift opened or reawakening Kaernas.」

「You’re lying, aren’t you?」Kibadios wanted to laugh it off, but he just could not.

「... Do you know why Aspen turned his back against you 10k years ago? That’s because he learned the real truth of this world.」explained Matelus as a twisted grin began to show on his face.「Now that you have also learned about it, don’t you feel powerless to stop what’s destined to happen, Shisou? Much like how Gol D. Roger could do nothing after discovering Laugh Tale? Your original goal, of carrying out the Ritual that awakening HaoS’ full power and “Rumbling” away 95% of the lives of people in Esthar, collecting those souls for yourself and deriving the Astrals of their fertilizer for Yggdrasil would undoubtedly kill the great tree and ended the Astrals’ immortality. It might provide you with a level playing field in a fight against the Astrals, taking out your vengeance on them; however, when Yggdrasil dies, your hope of  forever freeing the future world from being cultivated to be its fertilizer won’t be realized. The very act of destroying the tree of life just means not only you have doomed the Astrals, you have also doomed the future of this whole world as the rift would start to open up, allowing an endless incursion of hell to drown the two realms while the reawakened Kaernas would bring forth the endtime that not even Seri could stop… So, I’m curious, what’s your answer, Shisou?」

 

Notes:

Phew, I took me a while to write this because I did not know which part of the true history would I tell here and which part would I have to gloss over to fully explain in later story lol.
Also, This chapter is supposed to be longer and conclude the meeting between Kibadios and Matelus, to get into the scene in which Kibadios would be introduced and turned the twins into his harem, but it's 3am now and I think I'll stop here lol.
A game I plan to play will be released soon so I probably won't be writing new chapter until after Feb ends. Until then, see ya!
Also, is my explanation/story of the history of the world hard to follow? O_O I struggled to explain it while hiding some information to be revealed at later chapters lol

Chapter 99

Notes:

Luckily, the game that came out wasn't as addicting as I thought it would so here I am, with another chapter! :)

The long silence befell the chamber, amplifying the eerie sound of water droplets dripping down onto the concrete ground from the ceiling’s slight cracks. The flickering shadows of the three motionless individuals seemed to expand and contract as the torches' flames rhythmically flapped back and forth. 

「...」Kibadios took a small breath before opening his mouth, trying to say something before he stopped short. 「... Then what about you, Matelus?」Kibadios finally asked. 「If what you told me is true, what is your so-called “answer” to this dilemma? ... How did you learn of this secret history? And more importantly, how are you still alive, ageless after 10 thousands years? The “you” appeared in front of me is no illusion or cheap tricks, isn’t it? It’s truly your real flesh and bone.」

「Yes.」admitted Matelus.「You see, since your pupil is a coward, I survived the Great War and the subsequent Harvest by hiding from the forces of the Astral… I am sincerely sorry that I did not come to your aid at the time, Shisou. Even after Sylvia san personally sought me out and asked for my help… I cowardly ignored her plea, hoping that I can peacefully live out my days… After all, I did not ask to be reborn in this crazy world, nor to possess power that rivaled your own. I was just a normal college student living in the comfort of the 21st century. My cowardice led to the death of many of those whom I loved… Sheron…Alas… Tyros… Karen… But then, at the end of the Harvest, when I thought everything was over and that I could at least protect the one who I cherished the most, they cut her down right in front of my eyes…」

「... Aurola?」Kibadios simply asked with a painful expression.

「Yes.」Matelus nodded.「She spent years hating me for not joining in the war to help you, for allowing so many of our friends to die. Her hatred for the Astral was what led her to seek them out for revenge once she was old enough, only to be struck down by Azragon. In my rage and grief, I sought out your master, Seri the Eternal, and begged her to open a portal leading to the Modun realm. Since the heavenly gate was destroyed by Adeus during the war, aside from using portals that directly linked this world to the Modun, there was no other way that one could infiltrate the realm.」

「... and that loli obaasan did use magic to open a portal for you?」Kibadios was surprised. 

「She probably had her reason… she wanted me to find out about the hidden history.」Matelus explained.「and so, I did. As I lurked in the shadow of the Modun, I learned everything, all the secrets that Seri and the Astrals were hiding. At that moment, I came to a realization.」Matelus turned grim.「That, no one bears the fault for what happened to this world, for all the events that had transpired, from Kadesha’s betrayal of the Astrals, to the great holy war that was stirred up by your capture, to the Harvest carried out by the Astrals that witnessed the demise of majority of the inhabitants of Esthar… It’s not Seri’s fault, nor Kadesha’s, nor yours, nor even the Astrals. Everyone simply had arrived at different answers regarding the fate of this doomed world. They all acted in accordance to what they thought was necessary. And so, right then and there, I had also arrived at my own answer: to finally end the prolong suffering of this dying world and bring it to a fitting end.」

「You don’t mean…」horrified Kibadios.

「Yes. If someone… or something must bear the blame for all the tragedies that occurred, it’s the world itself. This world was supposed to be destroyed, to be swept away into the endless incarnation of the gods’ wrath… and I will make sure it won’t be able to escape its fate anymore.」Matelus solemnly declared. Despite such a ruthless statement, his companion’s expression was as stoic as ever, which indicated to the hybrid that she, too, must have known about Matelus’ intention. 「To achieve my goal, I know I need to act and put things into motion. That’s why I decided to steal a primordial spirit from under the Astrals’ noses, along with the primordial seeds for <Space> and <Time>.」

「What? You stole a Primordial Spirit?」Kibadios suddenly recalled Ryan had told him about how the Astrals had lost more than just one Primordial Spirit.「Wait a minute… primordial seeds for <Space> and <Time>?」The hybrid quickly pieced together all the information he had learned, then shot the girl standing next to Matelus with a puzzling look. 「Don’t tell me, that girl is…」

「Yes, she’s possessing the seed of <Space>.」admitted Matelus.「That’s why her skill would punctured the fabric of space itself, instead of merely relying on things like spatial magics and their <Portals.>」

… That would explain a lot , Kibadios thought to himself.「So, does it mean that you’re still looking like you did 10k years ago is because…」

「Yes.」interjected Matelus.「Her twin brother had possessed the Seed of <Time> and the fact that both this girl and I still look like we did 10 millennia ago was due to his intervention. The time that the two of us experienced was simply stopped. In short, we’re virtually immortal since the passage of time would not affect us. It’s something that the Astrals yearned for, yet could never achieve outside of the Realm of Modun.」

「... That’s impossible… for one to be able to activate such lasting and permanent skill, the repercussions must be severe.」Kibadios deduced. 

「Indeed… Activated such skill on the two of us was his last act, before he crumbled away from the tolls that the skill took.」Both Matelus and the girl briefly showed a hint of sadness.「But thanks to him, we now had all the time in the world to carry out our plan. It also allowed me to be able to meet you again, Shisou. “A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.”」

「... If the holder of the seed of <Time> had passed away, what happened to it, then?」asked Kibadios. 

「I’m glad you asked, Shisou.」Matelus grinned.「Much like the Astrals cultivating the inhabitants of Esthar, I needed to cultivate the primordial seed of <Time> since Soril had exhausted most of its power to stop the follow of time on us. That’s why I pulled a Madara and gave out the seed to individuals throughout history, allowing them to unknowingly replenish the Seed’s power. Of course, since I don’t want those individuals to attract the attention of others with their rare skills relating to <temporal> elements, I tend to choose those who lived in remote areas to nurture it. Had any of them become too well known for their peculiar skills, I simply ended their lives and retrieved the seed back… I believe, in this current era, I had entrusted the Seed to an infant I met in this remote village in Maeg… He grew up into such a fine young man. What was his name again?」

「Rowan.」The girl softly reminded Matelus, though such revelation caused the hybrid to widen his eyes.

「That’s right. The boy’s name was Rowan, your very so-called property, Shisou.」nodded Matelus before fixing his gaze at his old teacher, trying to study his reaction.

…That… would explain a lot… Kibadios acknowledged.「Is that why you sent that man to attack Rowan’s village?」

「Yes. I was trying to force the boy into a life or death situation so that he could awaken his dormant power. But funnily enough, even though you spoiled my plan, it worked out perfectly since you actually helped him to awaken it in the end.」smiled Matelus. 「Don’t worry, Shisou. I’ll let you have some fun with the boy before reclaiming him. After all, being with you would further help him develop the primordial seed’s power. Since you have acquired so many different toys who follow you around now, you won’t mind, will you?」With his provocative question met with silence from the hybrid, the man continued.「So, anyways, now it’s your turn to give me your answer… What would you do now, knowing that your action would also simply condemn this world to its destruction? Will you help me in achieving my dream of ending the suffering of this world then, Shisou?」Matelus seemed to be excited for a moment, anticipating his old teacher would take his side. 

「... What an idiotic dream that you’re yearning for, Matelus.」Kibadios outright refuted his pupil, causing the man’s jaw to drop down in disappointment. 「Your thinking is like that of a suicidal man, who simply resort to dying in order to eleviate his own pain and suffering. Are you really that weak?」

「Then what would you do? Continue your quest to deprive the Astrals’ of their sacrificial souls for Yggdrasil? Your action would also doom this world in the end.」Matelus irritatedly pointed out the fact.

「... I don’t know what I would do.」Kibadios casually admitted.「I’m only a person, you can’t reasonably expect me to come up with an answer for this conundrum at a moment’s notice as if I’m a main character in a shounen manga whose conviction is set in stone and always has an answer to argue back to the villain’s point of view. Heck, I’m still processing everything you have just told me. Though, one thing I know for sure: I will not actively seek to destroy it like what you’re doing.」

「Ha… Hahaha… I should not have expected anything less from my stubborn teacher.」Matelus shook his head.「Fine, I will patiently await your answer… I don’t mind if you continue on the path that you have set out, though. Let’s hope we will not be facing off against each other in the future, Shisou…」Matelus signaled to the girl, who swiftly opened a circular warp in space right behind them.「Until we meet again, my dear teacher.」

「... Matelus!」called out Kibadios.

「Yes?」The man turned around after half-walking into the portal. 

「One thing I need to warn you though: Rowan is mine and mine alone!」Kibadios solemnly declared, his unrestricted Nen aura swirling around his body like a raging vortex.「If you ever try to take him away from me, do not ask why I don’t show you any mercy.」

「... Is that so…」Matelus nodded then disappeared completely along with the girl, before the portal slowly closed off behind them. 

「... What’s my answer, huh?」Kibadios looked intensely at his shaking palm after his pupil finally left. For the first time in a while, the hybrid found his self doubt began to grow within him.

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「Matelus sama, you’re shaking.」The expressionless girl reached out, holding onto her companion’s arm. 

「Am I?」asked Matelus.「You see how mad my old teacher got, don’t you? He still has yet regained his former power, yet, he’s as scary as ever. Sometimes, I wonder, just who… or what is he?」

「... What do you mean?」

「Seri was the one who swapped his soul during the Astrals’ summoning ritual and brought him to this world. Since you have known her for a long time now, do you think she would just randomly bring some soul of some stranger to this world without a reason?」

「... No.」

「Exactly. She has yet confided in me her reason for bringing Shisou here, but considering the great impact he had already left on this world, I don’t think bringing him here is just another of Seri’s random acts… There’s something strange about him and his existence and only time can tell.」

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Unable to shake away the eerily familiar feeling he was experiencing, the hybrid spent some time studying the ancient temple underneath the hidden lake before reluctantly exited the place and swam up to the surface. As Kibadios emerged from the water, gasping for air, the hybrid quickly noticed the presence of two other individuals standing close by. Hastingly wiping away the water on his face, Kibadios slowly opened his eyes, only to realize that in front of him, at the shallow bank of the lake stood two naked elves, who were as surprised at his presence as he was at theirs. Under the dimming moonlight, he could still clearly see the glistening droplets of water rolling down the two  elvens’ smooth, soft skin. It took a moment before Kibadios recognized the pair, who were the twins that had just arrived at the Fyeran’s capital city on the same day he decided to leave and hunt for Desmond three moons ago. At the time, due to him being deep in thought about his decision of reanimating Adela’s homunculus body with Reuk’s soul that he could not appreciate their beautiful features but now, the hybrid found himself mesmerized by the twins’ fully exposed bodies. Both of them possessed sensual curves at their hips, with their light pinkish nipples stood perky in the cold water of the night. 

「Who… Aren’t you that hybrid that helped Yllaner dono?」The young elven teenager shot the Kibadios a horrified look before his supposed calmness evaporated into anger.「What the hell are you doing here?? How dare you!」It seemed as though both the boy and his sister had just finally processed what happened, for they swiftly used their arms to cover parts of their bodies. 

「Nii sama…」The girl turned to her brother, bearing a concerned look. 

「Don’t worry, Yue!」reassured the brother. 「I’ll take care of this!」Before Kibadios could think of his responses, the brother swiftly made his way toward the hybrid, his eyes burning with rage, his legs moving so elegantly through the body of water that it did not look like there was any resistance against his movement. In mere seconds, the male elf already stood right in front of the hybrid, before he swung his arm and aimed for the hybrid’s blank face. 

「Hey there, young elven shaman!」In the millisecond before the slap would slam against his face, Kibadios instantaneously reacted by reaching out and grabbing his would-be assailant's wrist, stopping the slap in mid air before it could hit him.「I’m sorry for my intrusion…」Kibadios leered at the young man’s flawless, tempting body. His incubus blood would have dictated him to simply pin the elf down and fuck him right at the moment, yet, he knew better and tried his best to show some restraints.「but there’s a pretty good explanation for this. Trust me, I didn't mean to peak on you and your sister over there.」

「You… You…」The brother’s body trembled uncontrollably in anger, much to the hybrid’s confusion. 「DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID, YOU IDIOT???」

「... What?」Kibadios tilted his head puzzling. 「What’s going on?」

Notes:

Fun fact: You would think the central plot line/revelation concerning Matelus and Rowan has always been established since the beginning of the story but no lol. Both and Primordial Spirit plot line was not in the story until I spontaneously decided to add the girl as a companion to Matelus when writing the chapter where Matelus saved Maia and co lol. That also meant that in my original setting, Matelus attacked the village for a completely different reason. Good thing everything still fits (without doing any major retcon) even though I completely changed the direction of the story concerning Matelus lol. That just shows sometimes how easily the story deviates from my original plot as I write hahaha.

Chapter 100: BONUS: 100th chapter

HAPPY 100th "CHAPTER"! (of course, since a lot of the chapters are bonuses/prototype story/trivial so it's not really 100th, but it's still something! :) )
Thank you for like 10 of you who's been following the crappy story I whipped up lol (And again, sorry for any inconsistency in my story, I don't write a brainstorm draft of the story>.>) I did not think I would invest in this story this much but here we are. Writing this has become a way for me to unwind my stress and frustration (especially now, with everything happening right now, both academically and globally.) I'll for sure continue this story for the foreseeable future and hopefully you guys won't find it boring. I'm guessing there are only like 10 people actively reading this, so imagine if only 1 stop reading, that's like 10% of my audience hahaha

By now, I think I have spent all my stimulus money (both State and Federal) and bonus money by opening new credit cards on requesting the pictures lol Any more pictures I commission in the future would be out of my own pocket so let's hope I'll be able to find a job right after my grad school :3 Regardless, I will for sure keep requesting (It's kinda addicting... like Gatcha lol)

 

Anyways, if you've been following since the beginning, have you realized Rowan, Ryan, and Maia don't have any normal portraits/pictures aside from their erotic ones? So, I've rectified it here. Of course, like with Hagane, I've given here complete artistic freedom in designing the clothing (I've just suggested to her how they should look) so I'm pretty sure I have to go back and correct some of my writing.

All Hail to the great Tsushima! (I was jumping in excitement when I saw she's (or he?) taking request again after so long. I've always like her art style since it's very clean and lively and the fact that she charged only 100 yen for her fanbox pages. I have no idea how to read japanese but it's always fun to follow her short manga posted there.)

Pixiv ID: 411873

 

I requested these just 3 days ago and she already finished drawing them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS haha

 

Chapter 101

SHREEET

The naked elven girl quickly conjured two paper talismans on her hand before mumbling an enchantment, causing the runes written on the papers to glow briefly in purple hue. The girl then projected the two pieces of paper at a pile of clothing lying neatly on top of a large boulder on the side of the lake. As the flying papers approached their destination, they suddenly transformed into two large eagles, fetched up the two pieces of clothing and flew back to the girl and her brother. Despite one of his hands being restrained by Kibadios, the elven brother swiftly reached out to his clothes and hastily wrapped it around his tempting naked body and covered up his soft skin.

「Release your hand, you idiot!」demanded the brother angrily. With his remaining free hand, the brother had already taken out a piece of talisman and aimed at Kibadios’ head. Although the hybrid had never been well-versed in runecraft, he could easily tell if he ever took the brother’s attack heads on, even he would be severely injured. 

「Wow, there!」Kibadios released his grab before jumping backward away from the brother. 「Can’t you calm your tits. Like I said, I didn't mean to take a peek at you two.」

「It doesn’t matter that you didn’t mean to!」Screamed out the brother.「What mattered was that you saw us naked! What’s worse, you dared to stop my slap!」

「Huh?」

「Yue dono, Ren dono?」Uran, the elven lord suddenly emerged from the thick hanging vines at the lake’s entrance, his hand raised up to cover his eyes. 「What’s going on? Are you two okay?」

「Lord Uran, we’re fine.」Ren, the male elf, quickly responded with a clear hint of anger in his voice.「We’re fully covered now, you can lower your hand.」

「Kibadios? What are you doing here?」Uran lowered his hand , though he was surprised once he noticed the hybrid standing close to Ren..

「Uran dono…」Yue, the female elf, slowly made her way toward the confused lord.「... Kibadios… dono… has just seen us… completely naked.」Explained the girl.

「What?!!!」

「And to make it worse, he had stopped my slap.」chimed in Ren, his fiery gaze fixated onto the hybrid.

「No way…」Now, even Uran was horrified, which puzzled the hybrid even more.

「Uran dono, can you explain what’s going on here?」Kibadios asked the young lord.「I just accidentally witnessed them bathing in the lake. This was completely unintentional on my part.」

「... I’m afraid it doesn’t matter, Kibadios dono.」The lord shook his head, unsure of what to do. 「According to the traditions of the Kingdom of Yue, the royal members are not allowed to be seen naked by anyone besides the other royal members.」

「Royal?」Kibadios raised his eyebrows.

「... If they are to be seen naked by someone, no matter the circumstances, they have to be married to that person within three days.」

「Who came up with such an idiotic tradition?」Kibadios could not believe what he had just heard, though his comment quickly drew anger from the last two members of Yue Royalty.

「Ren dono tried to nullify that by initiating a slap with his right hand, as dictated by Yue’s tradition…」Uran continued to explain. 「Yet, you swung your hand and grabbed  his wrist. That gesture meant that you rejected his attempt at nullification and challenged him and Yue dono to a duel.」

「What the… A duel?」

「Yes, the worse thing is that, in this duel, the only way for Yue dono and Ren dono to “win” is for them to kill you out right…」

「Seriously, who came up with these stupid traditions?」complained Kibadious.「This whole situation reeks of the first meeting between Yuuri and Wolfram in Kyou Kara Maou!」

「Stop calling our traditions stupid, you ignorant hybrid!」Ren glared at Kibadios.「If you want, I can end you right here, right now, instead of waiting until the day of the  duel.」

「This whole situation is not all my fault. What are you two doing here, anyways? Who would bathe at night in a lake?」

「They… they have to cleanse themselves in a large body of water before carrying out the coronation ritual for the princess’ coronation later tonight, Kibadios. Because the coronation will take place at the Fyeran’s capital, this lake is the only large body of water around. 」explained the young lord. 「This is getting troublesome…」

「You don’t have to worry, Uran dono.」Ren turned his back and walked away with a tightly clenched fist.「We have to go back and get ready for the event. Yue and I only need to finish him off during our duel and this all will be solved.」

「Ren dono…」Uran hesitantly called out to the high shaman.

「What if I win, Uran dono?」Kibadios asked the lord.

「... If you triumph in the duel, then not only Ren dono and Yue dono are to be wedded to you, they have to dutifully serve you as your faithful partners until the day they die.」

「Hmm… Is that so?」 That’s not too bad. The hybrid thought to himself. 

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「... And from this day henceforth, Yllaner Elsa Shilna, first born daughter of Lady Seoder Elsa Shilna, will ascend to the position of High Queen of the Shilna, and the Supreme Leader of the Vernys Confederation. 」Despite her usual soft spoken voices, Yue loudly proclaimed, as the crowning ceremony had finally come to an end. 

「If any of the four great Clan Heads would like to object to Queen Yllaner ascendancy, please speak your mind.」Ren continued while looking down at the four figures who stood on either side at the end of the wooden steps below. Naturally, none of the four newly enthroned Clan Heads would elicit any dissenting reply. 「... And so, we have consensus. Please raise, Queen Yllaner of the Shilna Clan.」The former princess, who was kneeling in front of the High Shaman twins, slowly stood up. 「Please, Lady Seoder, please present the Unity Crown.」Ren turned to his right hand.

The former queen of Shilna nodded from the side before slowly making her way toward the three, holding a leafy crown made from everlasting green vines, decorated with five different flowers representing the five Great Clans of the Forest. She made a smiling gesture and nodded respectfully at Ren and Yue, the High Shamans of the Confederation before solemnly placing the crown on top of her daughter’s lowering head.

「I’m sorry to have placed such a burden on you at such a young age, Yllaner.」Seoder whispered as she embraced her daughter. For the elven kind enjoy a long, extended life span compared to other beings, at 27 years old, the newly enthroned Queen of the Shilna would be the youngest to ever receive the title of Clean Head in the entire history of the forest. Her mother, Lady Seoder, only had ascended to the title herself when she was 87 years old, which was already considered too young for the role. Nonetheless, despite her age, none of the inhabitants of Vernys uttered any disapproving rumors, not after she had decisively destroyed the rebellions staged by her own brother with her own machination.

「Mother, please don’t worry.」replied Yllaner softly. 「I am no longer the little Yllan chan that you coddled years ago. I’m strong enough to take on this challenge.」

「... You’re right.」Seoder smiled.「... I should’ve said “Congratulations, Your Highness!”」

「Thank you, Mother.」The queen reciprocated her mother with a warm squeeze before letting her go and turned toward the forest participants below. 

「I know, our confederation had endured trying times recently.」Yllaner’s saddened eyes gazed down at the audiences.「... and I was… partially to blame. However, here, I stand before you, as the Queen of the Shilna Clan and the Supreme Leader of our beloved Confederation, not to lament in the tragedies of the past but to implore you to join with me and look forward to the future. In the shadow of this conflict stood the great Empire to our North, their gaze fixated on the territory of our forest. They were hoping that our forest would be embroiled in conflict, would be exhausted of manpower and will to fight so that they could swoop in and take over our beloved homeland with minimal efforts. However, thankfully, due to the diligence of the newly appointed Clan Heads who had tirelessly worked behind the scene to ensure the survival of the Confederation, our union still stands in unwavering support for one another. From now on, as the leader of the Confederation, I ask of you to lend me your strength and support, so that we can preserve our independence and unity, in the fight against the Yin Empire that has yet to come. For the Vernys Confederation! For the Great Forest Spirits! For the Vernys Confederation! For the Great Forest Spirits!」As Yllaner concluded her short speech, the fiery chant continued to grow as the ceremony participants bellow started to raise their hands and stomp their wooden spears onto the ground in excitement.

「... I gotta say, I thought Yllaner would be too devastated to give such arousing speech, or worse, to be unable to carry out this ceremony so soon after the death of her dear beloved.」One of the Clan head, a large elven man with his blond hair being braided behind his back, commented.「Turns out, she’s much stronger than I gave her credit for.」

「That’s why she’s our leader, Ferran.」Another Clan Head, whose extremely short stature was his sole distinct feature, smirked. With his hands raised up behind his head in a posture that was rather disrespectful for such a solemn ceremony, the elven man continued. 「Good think I made the correct bet to side with her. It works out much better than I would have hoped for.」

「Opportunistic as always, Elegas ?」Uran leered down at the man. Among all of the newly appointed Clan Head, only Elegas was the one person who he could never have gotten along with. Although he fully acknowledged the elf’s crafty and strategic mindset, he could never understand how could Yllaner place her trust in such a man who had openly declared he cared not for the so-called unity of the forest if it brought him no personal benefit. [It’s no doubt that he’s more capable than many of us, but that man is only out for himself. How can we ever rely on him in such a crucial moment like this?] Uran recalled the conversation with Yllaner not too long ago. [Every person has their own price for loyalty, Uran dono. How can we ever say Lord Elegas’ motive for siding with us, even if they’re in order to seek personal power and prestige, be any less meaningful than our desires for maintaining unity of the forest? I would rather work with someone whose motive I knew, rather than someone whose thought I could never read.] The Fyeran Clan Head let out a soft sigh before continued「...Know that I’m keeping an eye out on you. If you ever betray the forest and side with the Empire, I will the first person to come for your head.」

「Relax, Uran.」Elegas waved his hand dismissively. 「I’m no idiot like my foolish father. You know, the reason why he  agreed to Yllaes’ proposal was because a representative from the Empire had guaranteed that in the case Yllaes ever attack our territory, the Yin Empire will side with us and help us repel the Shilna. On top of that, they even threw in a rather lucrative trading offer with us too. My father's eyes were so clouded by greed that he could not realize the long term implication of such a deal… With the Empire breathing on our neck, for better or for worse, I’m forced to commit to preserving this Confederation, even if it means the head of our Hygos Clan would have to serve under the Shilna’s Queen. It’s better than being enslaved by the Yin Empire as they trample through our forest.」

「...Besides, if we’re to be subordinates to someone, I’d prefer that person to be Yllaner dono. She fully deserves our respect.」Hunter, the dryad Clan head of the Hiki, chimed in.

「Guess you’re right.」Elegas agreed.

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「「「Welcome back, Master!!!」」」Every member of Kibadios’ harem excitedly greeted him as they noticed their hybrid master had just walked through the door. Even Nu, the slime, was erratically jumping up and down on its elastic body, causing the boing boing sound to fill the room before deciding to land on top of its master’s head after its final jump, making a nest out of his dark purple hair as usual.

「Welcome back, Kibadios sama.」Hayden lowered his head.

「What took you so long?」Asked Reuk.「That hidden lake wasn’t that far away from here, right?」

「Yeah…」Kibadios absently nodded, his mind still full with the thoughts about Matelus’ story and the incident involving the elven twins he met.「You see…」Kibadios decided to tell his group what happened with the twins, though he elected not to tell them about Matelus yet, for even him would not know what to do with such information.

「「「What?」」」Again, everyone was shouting in unison after hearing what Kibadios had to say.

「This is bad, Kibadios.」Reuk, who knew the most about the High Shamans of the Forest, declared.「There’s no way you can get out of this. The High Shaman twins, Ren sama and Yue sama are the last royal members of the extinct Kingdom of Yue that existed 40 years ago, before it was conquered by the current Yin Empire. Although they serve as the forest’s high shamans, they strictly observe the traditions of their fallen kingdom so if it dictates that you have to fight in a duel to settle this incidence, you cannot really refuse it, no matter how you try.」

「Is that so?」Kibadios sat down at the chair before sipping a cup of tea that Maia had just poured for him. 「Well, it’s fine then. That just means they’ll be added into my harem and join you guys with me in bed.」Kibadios confidently smiled while looking at Maia and others.

「... Yuusei will have kouhais?」The mutant hybrid excitedly asked.

「Kouhai?」The question took Kibadios by surprised, though he quickly realized what his slave meant. Since Yuusei has been hanging out with Ryuu, the young mutant had learned about the hierarchy of the harem from the dragonoid himself and ever since he was subjected to erotic torture by Rowan that one night, the dragonoid had always been respectfully referring to those who join Kibadios’ harem before him as “Senpai” and those who joined after him as “Kouhai.” 「Ah yes, I guess?」The hybrid gently patted Yuusei’s head. 

「... But, did you not say it’s practically a duel to the death since the only way they can break free from their vow of marriage is to kill you, Kibadios sama?」Hayden raised his voice. 「Wouldn’t that be a problem?」

「You worried too much, Hayden kun!」Ryuu dismissively shook his head. Ever since the dragonoid met the former adventurer, he had been rather fond of him, for much like himself, Hayden had overtly expressed his uttermost devotion to his new hybrid master, treating him as if he was his new God. 「There’s no way Master would lose to them.」

「... Hmm… I’m not so sure.」Reuk disagreed.「As royal members of the Kingdom of Yue, Ren sama and Yue sama are experts in Runecraft. Currently, in the whole world, I’m sure they can be considered as two of the top 5 Runecraft users. It won’t be an easy fight if they go all out.」

「Runecraft huh? Back then, I had a close friend who was well-versed in Runecraft, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never master it.」recalled Kibadios. 「Oh well, no point in worrying about something that I can do nothing about. We’ll see which one of us would come out on top once we fight.」After taking the last sip, Kibadios slowly stood up then turned to the dragonoid and brushed his face .「I’m really tired now, I think we should just call it a night. I’m sorry, Ryuu. I know that I promise to reward you once I get back but I’d like to just sleep tonight.」

「That’s fine Master.」Ryuu tried his best to hide his disappointment. 「You should take care of yourself first and foremost… But… Can I just sleep next to you tonight? It’s just been a while since…」

「Of course.」Kibadios pulled him in for a deep, wet kiss, which made the dragonoid’s cock slightly twitch in his pants.

「Thanks, Master!」

「「「Goodnight, master.」」」said the others, though all of them shared the same worried look since they had never once seen their master refused sex before, no matter how tired he was. Although they could not tell the reason, none of them had missed their master’s troubled expression ever since he got back.

「Please rest well tonight, Kibadios sama」Hayden nodded as the hybrid walked past him to his chamber.

「... Hmm, what’s wrong with him?」Reuk, who had been living inside Kibadios for too long, had also noticed the hybrid’s peculiar manner.

「... I… don’t know. Did anything else happen? He didn’t tell us any details about his meeting with Matelus dono… I wonder if he really saw Matelus dono there at the hidden lake.」Ryan replied.

「Seriously, your master should really open up sometimes.」Reuk stated the obvious.

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[Now that you have also learned about it, don’t you feel powerless to stop what’s destined to happen, Shisou?]... [The very act of destroying the tree of life just means not only you have doomed the Astrals, you have also doomed the future of this whole world …] … [So, I’m curious, what’s your answer, Shisou?]...

The conversion he had with Matelus kept replaying over and over in his mind as he laid on his bed motionlessly, with Ryuu by his side. Since his current reincarnation, he had never felt so lost, knowing that his path for vengeance would undoubtedly doom the world. Yes, he was fine with sacrificing the majority of this world population in his quest against the Astrals, but completely destroying it, robbing it of its future would be a completely different story. Since his death under the hand of the Astrals ten thousands years ago, his fondness for humanity and many races that inhabited Esthar had indeed completely vanished, for most of them had opted to betray him and his followers the moment he needed them the most. Yet, why then, am I still hesitating? Kibadios asked himself. Why did I just not agree with Matelus and his quest to end this world once and for all? If this was me a year ago, would I have joined him? Kibadios seemed to have already realized the reason why he hesitated, since he slowly looked down at the dragonoid, who was sleeping soundly, leaning his body against the hybrid, with a satisfying smile donned on his face. Had he not met Rowan, Maia, and others… Had he not experienced the pain, the happiness, and the struggles of the people he encountered, his “answer” would probably be the same as Matelus’. 

「Master? You’re okay?」The hybrid’s loud sigh quickly woke the dragonoid up.

「Yeah, I’m good. Sorry for waking you up, Ryuu chan.」Kibadios warmly wrapped his arm around the dragonoid before pulling him closer into his embrace. 

「Kibadios sama…」Ryuu, despite his rashness, was still very tentative to his master’s emotion. 「You know we’re all here for you, Master. If there’s anything trouble you, please share it with us.」Ryuu tugged on his master’s night shirt.「I don’t want Master to suffer alone anymore.」

「...Thanks… Ryuu!」Kibadios was taken aback. 「... What if… what if my decisions… what if what I’m doing, turned out to be wrong?」In a moment of weakness, the hybrid seeked to confide in the dragonoid.

「What do you mean?」Ryuu looked at his master, puzzled.

 「... Nothing, never mind.」

「... Master, just know that, whatever you’ve decided on, whatever path you've chosen to walk, all of us will be next to you.」Ryuu knew it would be pointless trying to pry for more information from the hybrid, instead decided to just broadly reassure his master. 「...willingly, lovingly, and devotedly by your side.」

「... Right…」Kibadios simply acknowledged by squeezing the dragonoid with a warm hug. Before long, the two men slowly fell asleep, with Kibadios’ arm wrapped around Ryuu while the dragonoid’s tail around his master’s body.

 

 

Sneak Peek for next smut scene:

 

 

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Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter. My experiments are working so I've been focusing on that these past week haha. Also preparing for an interview :3
Also, who here remembers Kyou Kara Maou? lol That series was my first introduction to BL. I still remember feeling distinctly intrigued by the concept of MxM pair when I was in 5-6th grade and learned of the series the first time. (Man, I want my innocence back... >.>) Though I could never finish watching it. I didn't know why until I read isekai these past few years: The reason I cannot finish it because Yuuri is too soft lol. The resolution for the story arcs are always a letdown: "Oh, my enemy have tried every despicable means to try to kill me? I guess you can atone for it by being my friend." Man, I need my revenge and massacre for a satisfying conclusion lol

Chapter 102: Bonus: Kibadios

Notes:

Sneak Peek of the "cover" for next Saga, concerning Kibadios vs Yin Empire.

Chapter 103: <First part (Porny part)>

Ryuu lazily swung his arm around the spacious bed as the first ray of morning sun shone through the treehouse’s window. The dragonoid had expected to reach for his master’s warmth, yet, despite how long he tried, he could not find the hybrid anywhere.

「Master?」Ryuu slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself alone in the empty room.「Shit! Did master already wake up?」The dragonoid hastily looked around before his face was unable to hide his disappointment. 「But I was going to wake him up with a blowjob…」He pouted.

「Were you?」Ryuu’s expression quickly brightened up the moment he heard his master’s voice, who leisurely stepped in the room right after a long cold shower. With his body completely naked from top to bottom, except for a small towel hanging on his soaking wet hair, the sight of his master’s perfectly sculpted body caused the dragonoid’s eyes to glow in excitement, his gaze turned to his master’s half erected bare cock.「What a coincidence cuz I’m still pretty horny even after I had just done it with Maia in the shower.」Kibadios pointed to his horn in a poor attempt at making his pun.「Can you, Ryuu?」Now standing at the edge of the bed, his cock pointed straight at the dragonoid, who simply nodded, excitedly. 

「Of course, Kibadios sama!」The teenage-looking dragonoid grinned broadly before inched closer to the hybrid. Leaning his nose and mouth against his master’s full balls, Ryuu skillfully stuck his tongue out before thoroughly licking the hybrid’s thick, throbbing undershaft while his hand continued to tenderly massage the hybrid’s balls. Since Kibadios had just taken a bath, his cock no longer retained the distinct musky scent that Ryuu had been craving for the last few days, yet, the dragonoid could not help but kept salivating as he peeled back his master’s foreskin before slurping on his glands. 「I’m sorry for oversleeping, Kibadios sama… It’s just I felt so comfortable laying next to you.」Ryuu looked up at Kibadios as if he was pleading for forgiveness.

「That’s fine, Ryuu.」The hybrid patted his slave’s head.「Sleeping next to you was also refreshing for me too. And since we did not have a chance to reward you yesterday, I’ll make sure to send you to heaven this morning!」Kibadios grinned.「But first, it’s been a while since I last enjoyed that mouth of yours, Ryuu chan. Open it up for me?」

As the dragonoid obediently lowered his jaw and stuck out his tongue, awaiting his master’s thick cock, the hybrid’s hands reached out to grab his slave’s fins before violently thrusted his cock down Ryuu’s throat without mercy. Despite the initial gagging reaction, the dragonoid quickly got used to his master’s member, going as far as wrapping his own arms around Kibadios’ round ass to press it further against his face.

「Hurk… urkkk… Haaa…」was all the noises Ryuu could make as his master thrust his cock deep inside his tight, wet throat. His own cock was now fully erected, leaking precum as a faucet inside his own pants while his tail was still excitedly wagging back and forth like a happy puppy, who saviored the attention its owner was giving it. 

「Haaa!!」Kibadios let out an uncharacteristic moan as he finally released his thick load straight down Ryuu’s throat, though the sheer volume of his cum quickly gushed up and filled up the dragonoid’s mouth like he was a girl in a hentai dj. As his master slowly took out his cock, Ryuu carefully placed both his hands below his chin to catch any droplet of cum dripping down, then eagerly slurp them all up. 

「Your cum is delicious as always, Kibadios sama!」The dragonoid looked up, grinned at his master.

「... Take off your pants and strip down for me, Ryuu chan. Time to fill you up even more.」

Ryuu simply nodded, though while he pulled his pants down, the dragonoid decided to multitask and brought his mouth up to the hybrid’s lean chest, slowly licking off a few droplets of sweat before his mouth reached his master’s nipples. Lightly munched on Kibadios’ erected nipple with his soft lips, the dragonoid finally threw his pants on the side of the bed, revealing his own twitching, rock hard cock before peeling off his traditional shirt. Yet, before he could completely disclothe, Kibadios’ patience finally ran out. The hybrid reached out to the dragonoid and pull him up before rewarding him with a deep kiss that temporarily took his slave’s breath a way for a moment. 

「Where did you learn to pleasure me like that?」Asked Kibadios after breaking off the kiss.

「Did you like it, Master?」smiled Ryuu. 「Maia senpai taught me that. She said your nipples are rather sensitive.」

「Yeah, that was nice.」The hybrid nodded.「Though, talking about sensitive nipples, wouldn’t yours be on a completely different level?」

「Wha…」

Kibadios swiftly turned Ryuu around, letting the dragonoid’s back and ass lean against his own chest and erected cock. From behind, the hybrid’s arms wrapped around Ryuu’s firm body. His hands and fingers roamed around the moaning dragonoid’s breasts for a few seconds before settling on his pair of erected nipples. 

「Haaa… Master… Please…」

「Among all of us, even Maia included, you have the most sensitive nipples of all, Ryuu chan.」teased Kibadios. 「I bet I can even make you cum without fucking your ass or touching your cock.」

「Ahhhh…. Master~~ It feels so guuuuhhhh」Ryuu ground his teeth, tears of pleasure filled up his eyes as Kibadios kneaded his fingers around the dragonoid’s nipples, intermittently flicking them.「Staahhpppp Mastaa…. Im…. cummmingggggg!!!」He shrieked loudly before squirting his cum shot all over the bed laying in front of him.

「Hmmm, I wonder how you’d react if both your nipples and ass are stimulated at the same time…」Kibadios grinned before thrusting his cock directly up Ryuu’s tight asshole.

「It’s too muchhhh, Masssttaaaaa!!!!」Endless streams of cums sprung forth from the dragonoid’s sensitive cock, emptying his balls all in one go. Despite what he was saying, his body language was signaling something completely different for his tail slowly wrapped around Kibadios as if he did not want his master to take his cock out from his ass.

「Well, what else are you expecting?」Kibadios whispered into Ryuu’s ears.「Since I did not fuck you these past few days, I gotta make it up now by giving you the best fuck ever.」Though by this time, the dragonoid’s conscious was almost melting away, for him just keep repeatedly called out 「Master…」over and over again as Kibadios thrust deeper and deeper inside his ass…

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As the title of the chapter suggested, this is supposed to be only the first part of the chapter. I'm extremely busy these days so I decided to break this chapter up or else I won't be posting anything until early April lol.

 

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Smut scene:

 

Artist: <Redacted> The reason is because I requested this together with 2 other extremely smutty scenes in the (kinda) near future (beginning of the next volume) so I'd like to keep it secret. I promise I will include Artist's information on that chapter, when the 2 pages sex scenes will be posted.

 

R18

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Other variations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun sneak peek:

One of the two other scenes that I requested from the same artist will be looking like this situation here (Futago DK Choukyou ~Sensei, Otouto ni wa Te o Dasanaide... by Ayahara)

 

Chapter 104: <Second part>

Notes:

This was supposed to be published together with the first part in the same chapter lol.

The location chosen for the duel between the elven siblings and Kibadios sat close to the outskirt of the Fyeran’s Capital. The hybrid was told that this used to be a training ground for the wood elf soldier some years ago, though it had been abandoned for a while, allowing wild grasses to grow on the patchy field. Standing surrounding the field were members of the hybrid’s entourage, along with the leaders of the forest. Since this battle concerns a savior of the Vernys Confederation and its high shamans, all of the Clan Heads were there to witness the fight. The Shilna’s current Clan Head, who was just enthroned last night, was also in attendance. Sitting on her wooden throne, the elegant Yllaner has been donning a concerning looking that she could barely hide from others, since she knew there were nothing good could come out of this fight: Either the elven siblings, who she had always considered to be her older brother and sister, would kill off the hybrid, someone who was instrumental in saving the confederation, in bid to save their honor and purity, or that they would lose to him and relinquish the Shaman title to serve as members of his harem. Neither outcome was desirable to the new queen.

「I’m sorry, Ryan.」Yllaner spoke softly, slightly turned to the hero.「I tried to convince Ren nii sama and Yue nee sama to pretend as if nothing had happened, but they would not even bother to entertain such a notion. Their kingdom was completely destroyed and annexed by the Yin Empire, so for them, the traditions being passed on to them by their ancestors were the only thing that helped them to keep their identities. No matter what I say, they kept insist on having this duel against Kibadios.」

「Yllaner sama… It’s not your fault.」Ryan gently shook his head.「But still, please understand that if Kibadios is ever in peril, we will not hesitate to interfere, even if our opponents are the High Shaman of the Vernys Forest.」

「...」Yllaner said nothing, though she was surprised at her brother-in-law's veil threat. Ryan kun, it seems like you have really changed. You’re no longer that timid and gentle kid that kept worrying Kyles anymore.

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「So, that’s the hybrid that helped bring the conflict to a close by convincing the Yonko to stop backing Yllaes?」Elegas asked.

「Yes. Kibadios dono.」Uran nodded.「Apparently, he accepted Ashura’s request to become a member of The Hyakki Yagyo and be his right hand man.」

「Our High Shamans are trying to kill a Yonko’s right hand man? That does not sound good.」Elegas clicked his tongue.

 「Right hand man?」Ferran noted.「I know that Ashura is famous for being whimsical and unpredictable, but did he really just asked someone who he had never met before to be his right hand man, to be second in command of such a powerful force like the Hyakki Yagyo?」

「... I know, but that’s all I was told.」Uran concurred.「There’s no point in trying to make sense of such arrangement.」

「Someone who gained the loyalty of a dragonkind and the approval of a Yonko…」said Hunter.「I wonder how strong is he.」

「We will be able to see that soon, won’t we?」Elegas grinned.

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「Ryuu dono, don’t you want to be closer to our master?」Hayden turned to the dragonoid, who were both standing high up on a large tree branch far away from the field, along with Reuk.

「Kibadios sama will be fine. If anything were to happen, Maia senpai and others would immediately react in time. It’s better that I stay out here and monitor the situation as a whole. I’m more worried about the threat that may come from the Astrals than those two elves. Having a large field of vision allows me to protect Master better.」explained Ryuu.

「If I were you, Ryuu, I’d be more worried about Kibadios facing Ren and Yue sama.」Reuk commented.「They’re no walkover」

「... Neither is Kibadios sama.」said Ryuu.

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The fight quickly commenced without any warning the moment all three participants stepped foot into the field, with the pink haired elves quickly taking out their talismans, holding them in between their slender fingers. Yue, the female elf, mumbled some inaudible chant, conjuring up a pair of wings that were made up of thousands of small sheets of papers, much like Konan and her jutsu. With just a few flaps, the girl was elevated up in the air, her opaque green eyes gazed down at the hybrid. Unlike his sister who took up to the sky, her brother decided to stay on the ground and leap forward at the hybrid, rows of talismans floating in circles around his body. 

「I’ll end this quick and grant you a merciful death, you insolent hybrid!」Ren growled before raising his hand up in mid air, redirecting the floating talismans in front of his palm.「< 8 Elemental Gates >」Ren shouted. 「< Crimson Gate: Inferno >」

As he finished chanting, sparks of ember started to coalesce in front of the 8 trigrams that just appeared inside the talisman circle before projecting itself toward the hybrid at a point blank range.

This… This little elf is no joke. Kibadios grinned before clapping his hand like Edward Elric, erected his own firewall with a chantless defensive spell. Despite being hastily constructed, the firewall protecting Kibadios was gigantic, resembling that of the Calamity Wall ability used by Dark King Vearn from Dai no Daiboken. Since it was already made from fire, the wall easily absorbed the elven runecrafter’s attack. The new source of fire even invigorated it and caused it to burn brighter as a result.

 「It’s not wise to use fire attacks on me, Ren kun.」Kibadios teased. 「After all, fire is my primary elemental affinity… Along with shadow!」The hybrid lightly tapped his feet, causing dark spiky blades to protrude from the ground underneath their feet and launched themselves at the angry elf. Yet, much like how Kibadios was able to block Ren’s attack, the elven shaman was able to raise blocks of hardened mineral up from the ground to protect himself from the hybrid’s counterattack. 

「< Amethyst Gate: Terra firma >」Ren quickly picked out another talisman, using it as a conduit to enact his runecraft magic. 

CLANGGG!!!

The impact between numerous dark blades and the blocks of barriers resulted in loud, deafening sounds that vexed most of the people in attendance. Yet, neither Kibadios or Ren seemed to have been fazed by the exchange. By now, the hybrid had finally conjured up his trustworthy scythe while the shaman had already started with his next attack.

「If fire doesn’t work, then I’ll drown you with this.」screamed out Ren. Again, his two fingers grabbed onto a new piece of talisman, this time, the runes written on it appeared to glow in blue light. 「< Azure Gate: Ebb and Flow >」In contrast to what happened a few minutes ago, this time, instead of fire, droplets of water began to condense. Before long, streams of raging water formed into the shape of an eastern dragon, coiling around Ren, before roaring forward at the hybrid, seemingly wanting to devour him whole.

This is why it’s such a pain fighting against runecrafters . Kibadios thought to himself before jumping backward to create some distance between him and the incoming attack. For other classes aside from magic caster, their Nen could only be efficiently converted into the attacks imbued with the element that they have the most affinity with. Yet, for runecrafters, by using the runes as conduits, they can convert their Nen to almost any elemental attacks with minimal loss of efficiency. What’s worse, albeit they’re much less powerful, their runic attacks can be compared to Arte in some cases. Hmm, wait a minute, the older brother has been absorbing all my attention, but what about the little sister? The hybrid quickly glanced up at the floating pink haired girl, who seemed to be focused on her own chants. That’s… isn’t that runic symbols for summoning rituals, if I am not mistaken. Noted the hybrid at the floating runes around the girl. Well, I guess it’s time to take this fight seriously.

Grabbing tightly onto his scythe, instead of continuing backing away from the watery attack that took the form of a dragon, the hybrid changed course, bravely launching himself directly at the dragon’s mouth. With one swing, Kibadios skillfully split the dragon in half. Before he could celebrate, the watery body of the splintered dragon swirled around, forming into large orbs before shooting several high velocity jets at the hybrid.

SPLASSSHHH

「Chiiii!!!」The pet slime, who had just recovered from the fight against one of the Hyakki Yagyo captains a week ago, violently struggled to break free from Maia’s embrace the moment it saw the jets firing at its master. 

「Nu chan! Calm down.」Maia soothed the panicked slime.「Learn to believe in our Master, Nu chan. He’ll be fine.」

「Chii?」Despite what she just said, the girl was subconsciously squeezing the slime harder and harder as she watched the match between Kibadios and the elven shaman played out in front of her eyes.

「... Now, that was close!」Kibadios again donned a confident grin. As the dust settled, Ren was disappointed to see his opponent was still standing high, with none of the injury that he was expecting someone who took on the attack heads on to sustain. 「Too bad, but since I have fused with <Aegis>, you need to up the intensity of your attacks if you want it to reach me.」Declared Kibadios. Just in that nick of time, the hybrid was able to summon <Aegis> and fused with it, allowing his defense stat to rise to the roof.

「... You’re a summoner, not a magic caster?」Surprised Ren.「... Well, not that it matters since Yue has finally completed her ritual too.」The elf reciprocated Kibadios’ grin with a smirk of his own before looking up to his sister. 

「<23 Ancestor Gates: OPEN>」Yue finally spoke her first words since the fight started. Around her, 23 different portals began to appear. With the golden circles swirling around each portal, Kibadios swore this could be a reference to Avenger: Endgame part two if his fight against the two elves would ever be made into a live action movie. From beyond every portal, skeletons dressed in elaborated eastern clothing merged, each wore a distinct crown on their heads.

「... so, isn’t this something similar to Lance’s Arte?」Kibadios realized. 「Seriously, I know it’s a bit ironic for me to say this, but the power of you runecrafters is something just like a cheat code… Fay , just what incredible and annoying ability that you had invented!」

Chapter 105

「The hell is this ability?」Zaeryn was lost for words as he examined the devastating aftermath of the attack.

「Runecraft!」The elven girl excitedly answered, her face radiating with pride.

「Runecraft? What’s runecraft?」Zaeryn raised his eyebrows. He had lived for more than 70 years as a Tengu, mastered how to utilize Nen and Ultimate Arte, studied for 20 years under the Elven Progenitor in the art of Magic, yet, never once had he heard of this <Runecraft> ability.

「It’s something I just invented!」The girl grinned. Zaeryn looked at the scene again before turning to his side to look at the elf. The 100 years old elven girl, who despite being unable to wield magic itself, was in fact a genius scholar that fully elucidated everything there was to know about magic theory. Within the land of the High Elf, it was rumored that the girl’s theoretical knowledge of magic could rival that of Seri herself. Yet, never once would the Tengu imagine that one day, this petite elven girl would just invent some terrifying ability like this. 「Well, I can’t take all the credit cuz Seri sama did help me a bit, but still, I did put a lot of efforts to perfect this ability.」

「So… how does this Runecraft work, Fay?」

「Heheheee.」The girl scratched her nose.「You know how magical artifacts are crafted?」

「... Yes.」answered Zaeryn.「In short, what differentiates normal items from magical ones is that during the process of making magical items, the <Flow of Magics> are supposed to be bended and embedded into the items themselves by high level mages. The more skillful the mages are, the more <Flow of Magic> they can imbed into the items, making the artifacts more powerful」

「Exactly!」Exclaimed Fay. 「And my Runecrafts work with similar principles. By inscribing these small papers with certain ancient arcane symbols, I was able to use them as conduits to direct and store <Flow of Magic>, which can then be released at a later time, much like any magical attacks.」

「... So, you’re telling me, they’re just magics with extra steps.」

「Kind of. Though, give me some more time to develop it and I promise you, it will become much more flexible compared to magics.」The girl seemed confident with her assessment.「So? Want to become my humble disciple and learn Runecraft under my feet? I can teach you how to use it!」

「... There’s no need to learn it if I have already mastered Magic though, right?」

「Ehhh….」

Kibadios slowly opened his eyes after recalling the nostalgic memories of the past.「So, Kingdom of Yue… I had a hunch… but they really are your descendants, Fay?」The hybrid’s gaze turned toward the floating icy crystal that the sister had just called forth along with the 22 other skeleton shaped monarchs. Unlike the other, the person encased within the crystal was still in her flesh. With just one look, Kibadios could easily recognize the pink hair that was braided into twintails and the smooth, snow white skin that the first queen of Yue once possessed. 「Well, it looks like she’s not active yet. Let’s hope it stays that way. I gotta finish this before she wakes up.」

Taking no chances, the hybrid immediately spread his large pair of wings, causing shockwaves that reverberated throughout the field before springing himself upward at the emerging skeletons. His strong arm swung the scythe, the resulting slash cut through one of the summoned skeleton effortlessly, leaving behind burning dark flames that consumed it whole in seconds. 

「<Restored>!」Commanded Yue, which caused the shattered burnt ashes to aggregate and reform into the same skeleton again. Even its fancy clothes were fully intact. 

「... Wow, this Endo Tensei kind of Runecraft is really troublesome.」 Kibadios sighed. 「<Demonic Abyss>!」Shadow began to form around the young hybrid as his eyes glowed in a distinct shade of purple that caught everyone off guard. 

「<Enhancement>!」To counteract the hybrid’s Arte, Ren cladded his body with an enhancing talisman before leaped up to his opponent and delivered a swift downward kick that sent the hybrid crashing down onto the ground. Before he could emerge from the unsettled dusts, several of the 23 summoned skeletons swooped down with attacks of their own, aiming directly at the unprepared hybrid.

「It takes more than that to take me down.」The spiky shadows that wrapped around Kibadios suddenly expanded outward, preventing the skeletons from getting close to the hybrid. 「To be able to conjure up your ancestors like this must be taking a toll on you, right? At the rate at which your Nen is being consumed by these corpses to keep them materialized, I guess you will not have more than ten minutes before you collapse from exhaustion.」Kibadios looked up at Yue, who did not give him any response.

「We don’t need more than ten minutes to deal with you!」Ren screamed before launching two talismans at the hybrid at once. The attacks raced toward Kibadios at lightning speeds, though before they could land a hit on his body, the hybrid reciprocated by launching two shadow balls to intercept the attack in midair. As the two opposing strikes clashed against one another, a loud noise and shockwaves again covered the field. Knowing time was not on their side, the two siblings launched several continuous attacks, with Yue directing her ancestors, each possessing power that rivaled her own brother, to destroy the hybrid. Yet, after prolonged clashes that lasted more than five minutes, neither of the elven siblings were able to crack past the hybrid’s defense. Having more than half of her Nen reserve exhausted, Yue was now breathing loudly, and sweat started to roll down her face. … Should I try to unseal the First? The girl thought to herself.

Compared to the other ancestors that she currently fielded, the power of the founder of the Kingdom of Yue, the legendary Fay The Runecrafter, was on a completely different level. For if the mythical founding of the Kingdom of Yue was to be believed, the first queen of the kingdom rebelled and fought against Seri the Eternal, the progenitor of the High Elf for more than 3 days.  As a sign of Seri’s  acknowledgement of the First’s power, although the monarch was defeated in the end of their battle, Seri had decided not to end the original Runecrafter’s life but to simply banish her from the Land of the High Elf. Soon afterward, Fay was able to lead a group of High Elf and human in the land south of Althea to found the Kingdom of Yue that lasted for almost 10k years. As a testament to her immeasurable power, since her death, none of the subsequent monarchs or Yue’s royal members was able to summon the First Queen through Runecraft. Only Yue, the kingdom’s last elven princess, was able to call forth the large crystal which the First was entombed inside. The girl has tried multiple times to break the seal of the tomb, but she always found herself stopping short of the runic ritual. For in that very moment before the seal was supposed to be undone, she could feel that the repercussions from such an act might possibly kill her instantly. But now, I have no choice. Yue continued her thought. Kibadios dono is strong… He may not be able to counterattack now , but he understands that he does not need to, for we’re the ones under time constraints. As of right now, he’s simply conserving his energy, waiting for the moment my Nen runs out… When I am not able to maintain the <23 Ancestor Gates> open anymore, that’d be when he strikes back.

Ren knew this too, which caused the last elven prince to up the intensity of his attacks, which put much needless strain on his body. 

「<Void Gate>」「<Emerald Gate>」「<Light Gate>」Unlike previous attacks, Ren simultaneously performed three separate powerful Runes all at the same time from three directions, trying to block the hybrid from escaping. 「Haa…. Huff… Huff」The elf leaned down, pressed his hands on his slightly bent knees, trying to catch a moment of break after seeing the hybrid receive direct hits from his combo.

 「Nii sama, watch out!」Yue screamed as she directed the skeletons toward her brother for protection, yet, it was too late.
「Ren kun. Never let your guard down in a fight!」The familiar voice seemed to echo around him. Before he could respond, he had found himself at the receiving end of the hybrid’s punch that was cladded with his shadow. The resulting impact on his stomach sent the unsuspecting elf flying across the field.

「H… How?」Ren muttered.「My attacks got you.」

「You got Aizen’ed, Ren kun.」Kibadios smile before fending off the gathering skeletons.「It was my <Jagan_Evil Eyes>’s illusion. You were careful in the beginning, watching out for any tricks up my sleeve by directing Nen toward your eyes. However, once you started to act more rashly as time goes on, you lost the concentration of Nen on your eyes, making you blinded to my Illusionary skills.」Kibadios flew up, staying at the opposite of Yue.「Your sister, on the other hand, is immune to my skill due to her being blind. But once she was able to warn you, it was too late.」

「... It’s now or never…」Yue said under her breath as she realized the chance for winning has drastically reduced. 「Return to your rest, O great ancestors!」She commanded. Soon after, all 22 of the skeletons withered away, leaving only the body of the First Queen behind.

「Yuueee, no!! Don’t do it!」Ren tried his best to stand up, but he soon found the excruciating pain in his stomach unbearable, to the point that he struggled to stay conscious.「You’ll die if you try to release The First!」

「Even so… I can’t let Kibadios dono win, onii sama!」The girl took a deep breath before folded the talisman on her hand and slightly placed it in her mouth. Then, just like the short ritual that Natsume would perform to return the names back to the Yokai, the elven princess clapped her hand and focused all of her Nen into the Runes before trying to say something.

「Hey Yue.」Kibadios seemingly instantly transported next to the girl, held onto her hand tightly before softly spoke.「Don’t try to wake Fay. You’re not strong enough yet. This can literally kill you.」

「How… How do you know The First’s name?」surprised Yue, though with the ritual interrupted by Kibadios, the recoil quickly knocked her out. As she collapsed, the paper wings on her back started to scatter into the wind. Before long, the hybrid slowly descended onto the ground, his arms carried the unconscious elven girl.

「I guess, this is my win, Ren kun?」Kibadios asked, his shadow reached out and circled the weakened elven prince.

「Youu…」was all he could respond before he too, fell into slumber.

「Master! Are you okay?」Maia was the first to run to the hybrid.

「Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.」answered Kibadios.「You have some potions on hand right? I’m sure that elven boy needs some.」

「Of course, Master.」obeyed Maia. The alchemist knelt down to pour some of her highest grade potion into Ren’s mouth before turning to Yue.「What about her?」

「She’s not physically injured so don’t worry.」answered Kibadios. 「She just exhausted her Nen.」

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「So… that’s Kibadios the Hybrid.」said Hunter after intensely analyzing the battle.

「He’s stronger than what I’d have imagined, that’s for sure.」

「Enough to be considered a Hyakki Yagyo’s captain. No wonder Ashura recruited him.」

「... But, if you think about it, we have yet to see what he’s capable of, haven’t we?」Uran noticed.

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「Ooh la la.」The bushy redhead, whose hair already covered almost a third of his face, squatted down on a large tree branch not too far from the field.「I did not expect to witness such an interesting fight like this. Though, despite all this, Kibadios dono has yet revealed much about his power… Now I see why the Boss has taken a liking to that hybrid. Unlike most fighters, that guy’s fighting style is much more conservative and calculating. He analyzed everything there was to know about the elven twins’ attacks before formulating a plan that utilized just enough moves to successfully defeat them. I wonder if I can take him on.」

「In your dream!」The dragonoid appeared behind the Hyakki Yagyo member, his hand held tightly onto his weapon.「You’re part of that mercenary group, aren’t you? What are you doing here?」

「Hey there, dragon dude! The boss sent me here.」The young man stood up and turned around.「you know, to meet with Kibadios dono…」He looked at the murderous Nen exuded from Ryuu, which caused his hair to stand up, a feeling that he had not experienced for quite some time.「Now now now, we’re technically allies, can you stop giving me that look.」

「...Meet with him? For what?」

「Well, you see, I used to be the interim 12th captain, but now that Kibadios dono has joined the Hyakki Yagyo, the Boss wants him to ascend to the 12th captain spot and I was to serve as his vice captain. That’s why I’m here to have a discussion with him regarding that matter.」

「Then where is that Yonko guy now?」

「He’s still busy checking out the Orcan Mine. He’ll meet with Kibadios dono at a later date…」

 

 

Porn next chapter. Sneak Peek (R18, t his was one of my least satisfied request lol )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, I have now accumulated 5 pages of Kibadios x shota form Yuusei. Just have to wait for the appropriate time to add them into the story. But here's a full page sneak peek (R18). Artist redacted because I dont want you guys to check them out yet since all 5 pages are available on their Skeb page.

 

Chapter 106: NEW COVER FOR THE NEXT SAGA: THE RISE OF KIBADIOS

I was planning to wait until I finish this 3.5 arc (only a few more chapters) but then I saw we just got 200 kudos and 50 bookmarks so let's celebrate it! :D Artist: Tsushima (Pixiv ID: 411873, https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/411873)

 

 

Chapter 107: The porn chapter, feat. the Elven twins

Notes:

Why posting so many chapters all at once?
I'm trying to finish this Arc 3.5 and take a long hiatus until August lol
2-3 more to go.

「... I’m … sorry Yue…」Holding his sister’s warm hand, the brother softly whispered. The two shaman twins were now sitting side by side on the edge of a large bed in the middle of a dark room, with only fickle candle light illuminated part of the bed they were on. As per tradition dictated, both of the twins were fully naked without a single piece of clothes on their body, except for the red veil that covered their heads. 

「What’s there to be sorry about, Nii sama?」Yue smiled.「We both fought Kibadios dono to our fullest potential and we both lost… It’s just simple as that」

「But, if only I was being more cautious…」

「... Maybe it’s fate that we lost to him, Nii sama.」

「What do you mean?」

「Right when he stopped me from trying to unseal The First…」Yue hesitated for a moment as if she was trying to ascertain her own memory. 「... he did use The First’s name.」

「Use The First’s name?」Ren was surprised. 「You mean…」

「Yes. He called her “Faye.” The name that was purposefully erased by The First herself through her runecraft spell. The name that supposedly only us Royalty would know.」Yue continued.「... You remember the vow that we took when we were first told of The First’s name at the altar?」

「It can’t be him.」

「 “We, the descendants of Faye the First Runecrafter, the members of the Kingdom of Yue’s royal family, do solemnly swear, to offer our unconditional assistance to the one individual who can utter The First’s real name. We will be that person’s swords and shields, eyes and ears. We will stand by that person through any obstacles and trials. For we will fulfill the oath that was made, even in the face of death and destruction.” 」Yue recited

「But… Why him? Who is he? Why is The First expecting him?」

「Those are not something we can answer… Maybe Kibadios dono can tell us himself.」

「Tell you guys what?」Kibadios walked in and interrupted the twins’ conversation. Even though the hybrid knew that the twins were expected to be spending the night with him since they were now considered part of his harem, he did not expect to see them already fully naked, waiting on the edge of the bed. His gaze moved up and down the two elves’ bodies, admiring their snow white, silky smooth skins without any traces of defects. Given the cold winter night in the forest, the two pairs of pink nipples were almost fully erected. Kibadios’ cock twitched slightly as he leered down at their smooth, hairless private parts.

「Tell us how did you know The First’s name!」Ren turned to the door where the hybrid stood.

「Faye? What about her name?」surprised Kibadios.

「Her name is supposed to be erased from existence by The First’s special runecraft spell. No one but us, the royalties of Yue, would know of her name. No one but us can speak her name.」Explained Ren.

「Why would she do that?」confused Kibadios.

「... Because she expected that in the far future, long after her death, a special someone would appear and the royal members of the Kingdom of Yue are supposed to rally behind that person.」Yue calmly explained.「There’s a myth surrounding our Kingdom’s founding that is only passed down along the descendants of The First’s lineage. We personally did not want it to be true, but it stated that the only purpose for our kingdom’s existence is to await that special someone’s arrival and to help that special someone achieve their goal…」

「There’s no way that’s him!」Ren angrily denied.

「What’s your relation with The First? How did you know her name?」Unlike her brother, Yue was much more rational.

「...」Kibadios thought for a few seconds before approached both of them.「I’m not obligated to tell you two anything.」

「You!!」growled Ren.

「... One last chance though.」Kibadios warned. 「Since you’re descendants of Faye, I’ll give you two one last chance to back out of this. I’ve had a talk with Yllaner and she explained to me that in your tradition, as the winner of the duel, I have the right to claim you two, and I also have the right to expel you two from my harem if I deem you’re not good enough after the first night we spend together… If you want to, I can pretend to have fuck you two tonight and I’ll expel you first thing tomorrow morning.」

「You… Stop fucking kidding me!」Ren angrily stood up. 「On top of seeing us naked and forcing us into this situation, you now want us to live in shame as someone who have been rejected?」

「I see. So, I take it as you guys willingly decide to become mine. I’m a man, on top of being an incubus, I will not turn down any beauties like you two who practically beg to be fucked by me.」Kibadios smirked.

「Shut up with the vulgar talk and just get this over with!」demanded Ren.

「... Fine.」Kibadios reached out to the two red veils and swiftly pulled them down, revealing both of the twin’s blushing faces.「Now that the veil is off, I have finally seen every part of your naked body. You two officially belong to me and only me! Now, is it time you offer me your first kiss?」

「In your dream!」Ren refuted with his distinct scowling face, though he still could not hide his embarrassment.

「Huh? That’s weird. You’re willing to let me fuck you, yet draw a line at kissing?」

「... That’s not it, Kibadios sama.」Yue shook her head.「Now that our veils have been taken off, we officially belong to you… You can do anything to us since we’re yours, but the moment we initiate a kiss with you, that’s when we acknowledge our love to you. Such gesture cannot be forced onto us, even if you command us to.」

「I see.」Kibadios smiled and leaned toward Yue, his hand grabbed onto her face before he pressed his lips against hers. Soon enough, his wet tongue was able to find its way inside her warm mouth.

「Haaa」The girl moaned. She instinctively tried to push the hybrid out at first, but quickly stopped the moment she realized it was within his right to give her a kiss instead. The kiss continued for quite some time, allowing Kibadios to mix his saliva, which acted as aphrodisiac, with her own fluid. By the time he ended the kiss, a string of saliva could be seen arching downward, connecting her mouth with his.「Kiba…dios sama…」The girl muttered.

「That’s just a warm up, Yue.」The hybrid said before placing his hand onto the elven girl’s chest and slowly moved down onto her breast. The sensual touch, on top of the aphrodisiac fluid she just consumed, caused her hairless pussy to twitch before the girl finally squirted violently and wetted part of the bed where she stood.

「Stop torturing my sister!」Ren shouted, though this only caused the hybrid to switch his attention to the male elf. 

「Don’t be impatient, Ren. I won’t neglect you.」Kibadios grinned, provoking the elf even more. Once he saw the stimulants were now working on the sister, the hybrid turned to the brother, reaching his hand out to grab Ren’s jaw before squeezing it, forcing the elf to open his mouth. Once he did, Kibadios aligned his opened mouth on top of Ren, slowly allowing his saliva to drip down into the elf, a technique that he had used on his other harem members so many times. As his fluid built up inside the elf’s mouth to the perfect amount, the hybrid finally stopped and forced Ren to close his mouth and gulped down the mixture between his own saliva and that of the hybrid’s. The moment the mixture of fluid ran down passed his throat, Ren could feel the intense heat start to radiate from within his body. 

「See? That’s the feeling your sister is experiencing. It feels good, isn’t it? How can that be torturous?」Kibadios licked his lip before he noticed Ren’s ears, much like his sister, were twitching and blushing red, much like his hardening elven cock. 「Say, I was once told that Elves’ ears are one of the most sensitive parts of their bodies. Is it true?」Without waiting for the answer that he knew would probably not come from Ren’s mouth, Kibadios reached out to both of the former elven prince’s ears before rubbing them hard, mixing in with light flicks that caused Ren to shriek in pleasure.

「Haaa… Hiiiiiii」The elf squirmed around the bed, trying his best to subside the orgasmic release he was able to unleash.「S…STTOOPPPPP」The elf begged, though it was too late since his cock violently convulsed from the intense pleasure he was experiencing and shot out a thick, white stream of semen that covered most of his smooth, slender chest.

「... I take that as a yes.」Kibadios lowered his head, stuck out his tongue and slowly licked away the cum covering the elf’s nipple. Having his sensitive part stimulated even more, the elf could only moaned in ecstasy as Kibadios finally finished playing with them, pulling it with his teeth one last time before turning his attention back to the sister, who has regained some of her awareness.「Ren’s cum tastes as good as Ryan and others… though it’s a bit thick.」said Kibadios before wiping his mouth, then stood up and undressed himself before turning to Yue. The female elf, who was lying on the bed, had just regain awareness after being overcomed by waves of orgasm, opened her eyes to see Kibadios’ fully naked body, precum leaking from his raging hard cock as he reached out to the girl and pulled her up into his embrace. 

「I’ve tasted your brother, I guess it’s time I try yours.」Just as he finished his sentence, the hybrid mouth reached out to the former princess’ firm breast before sinking down his teeth, causing the concerned looking girl to react violently.

「Kibadios sama…」The girl tried her best to form a comprehensive speech. 「Please… don’t… bite…. Haaa… It feels… haa… feels… ahhhh」Her drenched pussy inched upward as another wave of orgasm washed over her trembling body.

「It’s not over yet, Yue. It’s only just started.」declared Kibadios. His hand quickly grabbed onto the girl’s thigh and raised it up, revealing her wide opened pussy.「If you’ve been cumming just from those slight touches, how will you fare when I thrust my cock inside you?」The hybrid teasingly aligned his cock right outside the girls’ pussy before sliding it back and forth.「Until you beg me to fuck you, I will just keep my cock outside like this.」Kibadios smirked.

「Pl..」Yue tried her best to restrain her noble self, yet, to no avail for her pussy now experienced an intense itch that she knew nothing but the hybrid’s enormous cock could scratch. 「Please… Kibadios sama… please… 」

「Fuck me with your cock.」Kibadios taught the girl.

「... please fuck me with your cock!」screamed Yue with a bright red face. 

「Much obliged!」Kibadios nodded before violently pumping his cock deep inside the girl’s virginal hole, causing her mind to shatter into pieces as the pleasure coursed through her body. As he continued to thrust back and forth, one of his hand, which temporarily rested on the girl’s stomach, began to travel upward before it freely grabbed her breast and giving her a continously sensual squeezing.

「Haa… Ahhhh… Ki…badios… sama… I’mm… 」After a while, the girl’s arms voluntarily grabbed around the hybrid, pulling him down closer to her. 「I’m cumming!!!! Please… stoppp thrusting!!!」The girl begged.

「Can’t do!」denied the hybrid.「I have yet cummed myself.」Kibadios leaned in for a kiss, which caused the girl’s inner pussy walls to wrap around his cock even more. 「Just a bit more!」The hybrid fastened his pace before one final thrust that shot his thick hybrid’s cum inside the girl’s uterus. The pair finally calmed down after Kibadios slowly pulled his still erected cock out of Yue’s pussy, allowing his own seeds to gush out from her crotch like a raging river. 

「It’s not over yet, Yue.」Kibadios lowered the exhausted elf down onto the bed, though she was barely responsive.「Hmm… your stamina is fairly low. Maia was able to keep up with me for a while during her first time. Oh well, It’s not fun when you’re not conscious, but there’s nothing I can do.」Kibadios shook his head before aiming his cock at the girl’s pussy again. Though before he could thrust in, he could feel someone grabbing him from behind.

「Stop doing it with my sister!」growled Ren. The former elven prince was shaking, his saliva drooling down from the effect of the hybrid’s biological aphrodisiac.「She’s exhausted! I will take her place!」

「... Fine!」Kibadios smiled, his eyes gazed down at the elf’s beet red cock, which was in desperate need of release.「Though, I wonder how long you can keep up with me, angry elf kun.」The hybrid dragged the elf up to the middle of the bed, before slamming him down on his stomach, letting his round, ample ass facing up toward him..

「Is there something you want to beg? If not, I’ll go back to Yue.」Kibadios teased the brother the same way he did with the sister.

「... Please… please fuck… fuck my asshole with your thick cock」Ren begrudingly said while spreading his asscheek apart.

「If you insist, angry elf kun!」Kibadios leapt forward, pushing his cock inside the elf’s warm, tight hole in one smooth motion. The sudden thrust caused the elf to shriek loudly, not from pain but pleasure. As the hybrid continued to piston his cock harder and harder against Ren’s asshole, hitting his prostate with every thrust and his hands stretched around to play with the elf’s sensitive nipples, the unspeakable pleasure intensified. The elf’s defiant, teary eyes look quickly was replaced with a dumb, euphoric expression as the hybrid continue to thrust his cock inside the elf’ asshole even after he has cummed inside it several time, causing a small bulge to appear on the elf’s otherwise flat, lean stomach.

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「For it to be your first time ever… it was not great, not terrible」declared Kibadios after the fucking session while leaning back against the sturdy bedhead. By now, the two elven twins were practically unconscious, cums leaking from their asses and pussy, with their reasoning minds shattered by the continuous pleasure Kibadios gave them. With the sister lying on his left and the brother on his right, Kibadios slightly pressed their heads against his still raging hard cock and to his amusement, the twin dazedly moved their mouth up and down, kissing and licking the cock that had fucked them into submission.

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「Ha!」Ren sprung up from the bed, breaking out in cold sweat. The elf slowly looked down at his naked body, only to find it to be coated in dried cum. 「... Last night was real…」

「Yes.」His sister, who had been awake for some time, confirmed. 「Kibadios sama had left for a bath a while ago. He said we should also take one once you’re up.」

「That fucker!」Ren clenched his fist.

「... Please, don’t be angry, Nii sama.」Yue smiled. 「I have thought about it and I think it’s fate.」

「Fate?」

「Yes. If Kibadios sama is truly the person who The First was waiting for, then it’s only natural for us, the last royal member of the Kingdom of Yue to serve him. Maybe it’s the reason why we were able to escape that massacre 20 years ago, when our kingdom fell. Maybe it’s the reason why Kibadios sama saw us naked two days ago at that lake in the night. Maybe it’s the reason we lost to him at the duel… Maybe, we are meant to serve him, to fulfill the oath of The First.」said Yue before stepping off the bed.

「But that pervert did all those things to you… and me.」

「Well, to be fair, he did offer to “free” us and we were the ones who refused.」Yue recalled. 「Like I said… maybe it’s all fated. Besides, he’s a half incubus. From everything we learn about what incubus race is capable of in bed, he’s pretty tame by comparison. I wonder if he was worried about us.」

「Ha.. As if!」Ren followed his sister. 「... But… maybe you’re right… Maybe, we are meant to be by his side. We need to make him spill the beans to us on why he knew The First’s name… Though, don’t try to make me addressing him obediently.」

「I never expect you to, Nii sama.」Yue chuckled.

 

 

 

 

Artist: mattai? Myyyy?

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@38myyyy

Pixiv ID: 3678533

I commissioned from the artist because I was hoping for a more primal/wild sex scene as a change of pace but it didn't turn out as I hope lol. I had to edit Yue's breast to make it look bigger lol.

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Chapter 108: Hiatus Until June (probably)

I wanted to finish this small arc before going on hiatus but I couldn't (only like 2-3 more chapters to go until the end of the arc >.<)
I'm extremely busy now so this series will go on hiatus until June.
Cya! :D

Chapter 109: Just another survey

Survey to decide who will be the 10th member of Kibadios' harem. Vote if you're interested.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WXKL3CH

Survey ended:

Chapter 110: Uri's Message

「So, I heard someone from the mercenary group is waiting to meet me?」Kibadios entered the guest room as he dried off his damp hair with a small towel placed over his head.

「That’s supposed to be me?」The redhead, who was sitting with his chest leaning against the chair’s backrest, pointed finger at himself.

「... Fukki, right?」

「Close. It’s Uri, your vice captain and direct subordinate.」The man introduced himself. 

「Subordinate?」 Kibadios chuckled before sitting down on the chair opposite his guest. 「Don’t you mean spy instead? You’re being sent here by Ashura to keep tabs on my activities, aren’t you?」

「No comment.」Uri smirked. 「... well, kidding asides, I’m here to relay the big boss’ message for you.」

「and why is he not here to tell Kibadios sama himself?」asked Ryan.

「Like I have told your friend over there, the big boss is still busy examining and setting up logistics to support the Orcan mining operation. He won’t be able to come and meet with you in person for a while.」

「Is that so?」nodded Kibadios.「so what message that he wanted you to tell me?」

「That since you’re now officially a member of the Hyakki Yagyo, being a captain no less, you’re needed for a mission at the Plain of Monas Kye.」

The Plain of Monas Kye ? Kibadios recalled the geography 101 lesson that Ryan gave him a few months back when he first tamed the hero. Isn’t that where my hometown is located? The hybrid turned to the hero for a quick telepathic confirmation, to which the hero simply nodded.

「We figured that since that’s where you’re heading, this mission is a perfect fit for you.」

「How did he know that’s where I’m heading to?」The hybrid curiously asked

「So that’s indeed your destination? Gilga dono’s guess was right, how about that.」

「Gilga?」

「Yup.」Uri nodded. 「Gilga dono just paid the big boss a friendly visit not too long ago. I don’t know the details of the conversation they had, but I bet you were one of the topics. With her extensive spy networks and the fact that most incubus settled and lived in the Plain of Monas Kye, Gilga dono figured that was where you’re heading.」

「How insolence!」Ryuu, who has been annoyed for a while since Uri let them know about the mission, finally spoke up.「Master is not someone that can be ordered around by the likes of you.」

「Grrrr…」Despite being a rabbit beastman, Yuusei, crouching next to Kibadios in his shota form, growled in agreement like a feline beastman.

「Calm down, guys.」The hybrid slightly ruffled the half beastman’s head. 「We do owe Ashura a favor for helping to end the conflict quickly. So, what’s the mission?」

「To eliminate the Lord Magistrate of Yongxi Province, Wei Shimin」answered the vice captain.

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Where…? ... Dark… Died? The infant demihuman’s thoughts were completely incoherent as he found himself in an unfamiliar location. Before he could do anything, he felt a large hand violently grabbed around his tiny, slender neck and lifted him up. 「Look at this new born demi! I think we have found our candidate.」

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「ARGHHHHH!!!!」The young demihuman screamed in vain as the surrounding researchers coldly dissected and then saw off his left arm, before trying to reattach it with a hideously mutated arm.

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「UHHMMMMMM.」The gagged young demihuman, already suffering in agony due to his rotting left arm,  struggled to break free of the iron chain before the woman slowly reached out to his right eyeball.

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「It seems like subject 312 is also a failure.」The head researcher, who wore a blood soaked lab coat with a distinct oriental design, quickly jotted down some notes as he walked by the half dead demihuman child. 「We were unable to create a chimera out of him.」

「Yeah, I had high hopes for him. He exhibited an extreme potential as a newborn since he was able to naturally control his Nen output within hours of being born.」The woman next to the head researcher noted. 

「Maybe we should have waited until he grew a bit older before trying those experiments on him.」

「Well, we can’t turn back time, can we? I’ll make sure to try experimenting on older subjects in the next batch.」The woman shrugged.「But I bet it’ll be hard to find someone with as much potential as him again.」

「So it’s a failure?」The large man, dressed in silver armor and a phoenix mask that covered the upper half of his face, suddenly appeared behind the two researchers.

「Commander Hou Yi!」The surprised pair hastily cowered away from the man.「I didn’t know you’d be here for an inspection?」

「Wei Shimin sama is a bit impatient with the progress you’re making so he sent me here.」Hou Yi replied, looking agitated.「It seems you’re still unable to create chimera species?」

「We’re close Hou Yi sama.」

「Yes!! Really close. Subject 312 here was able to survive for almost a week with all the implanted parts. He’s dying so it’s not really a success but we just need more testing subjects before we can perfect…」

「Then you’ll have more!」interrupted Hou Yi. The commander snapped his finger, signaling his men to drag in a dozen more demihumans in chains. 

「Thank you, Hou Yi sama!」The head researcher bowed. 「We will not disappoint you.」

「It’s not my wrath that you should be afraid of… It’s Wei Shimin sama’s」reminded the commander.「... So he’s a failure right? You’re done with him?」The man leered down at the half dead demihuman with eyes as cold as ice.

「Yes. We have gotten all of the useful data out of him.」

「Then you should just kill him…」The commander swiftly reached for the hilt of his blade, unsheathed it and slid off the suffering demihuman’s throat in one uninterrupted motion.「... throw him away, and make room for the other test subjects.」

「Of course, Hou Yi sama. Thank you for your assistance but you don’t have to dirty your hands like that. It’s beneath you.」

「...」

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「...」Kibadios remained silent for minutes. The sudden mention of the name unexpectedly brought forth the memories from his second reincarnation. His body grew cold as he recollected the suffering he endured as a lab specimen, unable to do anything, not even reforming connections with his eternal familiar spirits, for his captor kept drugging him since the moment of his birth. 

「Kibadios sama?」Maia slightly touched her master’s shoulder, bringing him back to the present.「Are you okay?」

「Did you say Wei Shimin?」asked Kibadios as he uncharacteristically ignored Maia’s question. 

「Yeah, Wei Shimin. Do you know him?」Uri tilted his head to the side in a curious manner.

「... Not personally.」Kibadios’ eyes glowed.「... Why are we after him?」The hybrid pried for more details.

「Because it’s one of the requests that we received from a demihuman’s town located within the Plain of Monas Kye. Currently, the Yin empire has been trying to attack and conquer the hundreds of settlements in Monas Kye, a stateless territory that is inhabited by most demihumans. The one leading such effort is the man named Wei Shimin… and he’s damn good at it too.」

「He is?」

「I’ve heard of him.」Ryan chimed in.「Like I’ve told you before, Master. The Yin empire is actively waging a campaign in Monas Kye territory. Technically, they have been aiming for the land decades ago, right after the Yin Kingdom was able to annex all 6 other states to form the Yin Empire. But much like many kingdoms and nation states before them, they were unable to tame the fiercely independent demihuman settlements that called the Plain their homeland. Their fortune suddenly changed, though, the moment Wei Shimin was appointed Lord Commander of the Southern Subjugation Army of the Yin Empire. With him at the helm of the army, the Yin Empire was able to methodically expand its territory into Monas Kye. Towns after towns fell to the Empire. In just three years, he was able to conquer half of the Plain, a feat that not even the Uronas Theocracy and its western allies could achieve despite them launching many crusades against the demihuman land over the past 100 years. 」

「... That is because just like his younger half brother, Wei Shimin is simply a monstrous beast… an avatar of a war god.」Ren begrudgingly declared just as he interrupted the conversation, walking in the room with Yue following right behind. 

「Done washing up? 」Kibadios turned to Ren.「You speak as though you know him personally, my cute little mate?」

「Who… Who’s your cute little mate?!!! Stop saying nonsense you perverted hybrid!」Ren blushed red as seeing Kibadios’ smug look triggered the memories of his concupiscent state from the last night.

「Please Kibadios sama, don’t tease my nii sama like that.」Yue smiled and respectively bowed at the hybrid. Her calm and collected manner stood in great contrast against her brother’s crude and abrasive personality.

「Okay, I’ll stop.」Kibadios smiled back at the girl, his eyes quickly studying the former princess’ expression before switching his focus back to her brother.「Anyways, did you really know that man personally?」

「... Yes.」frowned Ren.「He’s the one who burned down our capital city 32 years ago.」

「32 years ago?」Maia was surprised.「Eto… Ren…cha..san? How old are you? You don’t look like someone who’s older than 30 years old… or even 15 years old.」

「What are you talking about?」Ren annoyingly asked. 「We belong to the royal family of the Yue Kingdom. We’re pure blood High Elves whose lifespans typically last for more than 400 years. Despite how we look, we’re already 82 years old. How uneducated are you to not know even such basic knowledge about elvenkinds?」

「Oh… I didn’t know that… Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.」

Hmm… I just banged two 82 years olds… I mean, that’s like teenagers for elves but still, 82 years old… Oh well, who am I to talk? The combined age from my first and second life easily topped 300 years old so I guess fucking 82 years old are completely normal… But still, I’m sure there’s some sort of an Ishuzoku Reviewers conundrum here…Wait a minute, now that I think about it, Ryuu chan is like thousands of years old, isn’t he? Kibadios looked at Ryuu for a moment, though since the dragonoid had no idea what his master was thinking, he simply wagged his tails as he noticed his master’s gaze was fixated on him. Hmmmmm, so I’m in Stunk’s camp instead of Zel’s… Naturally!

「Anyways!」Kibadios shook off his weird train of thoughts and brought his attention back to the current conversation「Since you have fought me just yesterday and have seen this supposed terrifying Wei Shimin personally, who do you say would win in a fight?」

「Wei Shimin.」answered Ren without hesitation. 「,,, You both have a very conservative style of fighting, conserving your energy and fully studying your opponent before making any attack, but I just simply cannot imagine anyone can take down that monster in a fair fight.」

「Is that so…」nodded Kibadios.「So tell me, Uri, given how powerful and important this Wei Shimin individual is, why did Ashura accept such a request? Did the other party offer him a lot of money for it or what? Even so, I don’t see the case for a mercenary group to go out of their way to eliminate an important Yin Empire official.」

「Ah, you see, this is because the requester is an acquaintance of the Big Boss… Actually, he was the former 12th captain.」Uri scratched his cheek.

「Ho?」

Notes:

Still on my hiatus. But I had some free time to write up this chapter so i decided to post it. I won't promise another chapter, at least not until end of June, but if I ever finish the next chapter before end of June, I'll post it. :3
ALSO, I'll probably post the hot, steamy 5 yaoi manga pages of Kibadios x shota form Yuusei once we reach 20000 hits as a celebration, instead of waiting to post it at the chapter where the scene is supposed to take place. (and just a warning, there will probably less sex scenes as we enter the next arc because (1) this story is becoming plot heavy and (2) there are already so many sex scenes during this mini 3.5 arc lol

Chapter 111: BONUS: Kibadios x Yuusei (Shota form)

Happy 20k hits!

How you like the story so far? :D

I'm preparing something huge (Like seriously, super expensive) for 30k but idk if it would be finished in time lol

 

 

Artist: しゅりお

Pixiv ID: 225402

I love this artist! Their style is so cute. Also, they finish the request in mere days after accepted.

 

The 5 pages are a bit disjointed. This is cuz they were commissioned as 2 separate manga lol

Since I post it now, I probably won't be including the scenes in future chapters. Just think of this as a side bonus :3

 

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Chapter 112: The conversation

「I see…」The hybrid leaned back after listening to Uri’s story about the reason why Ashura accepted the mission.「Fine. I’ll take on this mission.」

「Really? That’s great, boss!」Uri exclaimed.「I’ll let the Big Boss know. He’ll be happy.」

「... So you’re an arrogant idiot, Kibadios?」Ren asked. 「You really think you can take him down?」

「I know I didn’t tell you and your sister yet, but it was my intention to travel to Monas Kye since that’s where I was born…」explained Kibadios.「I don’t know if it’s fate or not, but my village was attacked and massacred by this commander called Hou Yi, a subordinate of Wei Shimin. It was pure luck that I was able to escape the carnage at the time thanks to my mother’s sacrifice.」

「Hou Yi?」Ren turned to his sister.

「I’ve heard news of this man. I think it was rumored that he’s Wei Shimin’s right hand man despite him being only in his late twenties.」Yue recalled.

「Hmm, right hand man, huh? Anyways, I wanted to go back to see for myself what happened to the village… and I’ve already planned to take out my vengeance on those who are responsible for its destruction. Sooner or later, even without this mission being tasked to me, I’ll deal with this Wei Shimin regardless.」Kibadios turned murderous. To pay back for what you did to me in my last reincarnation and this reincarnation both , he thought.

「Even if this means it will pit you against the might of the Yin Empire?」Ren grimly asked.

「Ha. You think I care about such a small obstacle?」The hybrid dreadfully asked back. He couldn’t blame the elven siblings for not knowing he was already prepared to face the Astrals themselves in his quest for vengeance, let alone a mortal nation state.

「... Just who are you?」The former elven prince shuddered in fear for a moment.

「...」Ignored the question, Kibadios remained silent. 「Although, Uri, one thing I need to make clear: I will not leave Vernys before I find Rowan.」

「Rowan?」

「He’s one of us.」Ryan answered, sadness and guilt filled his heart. 

「so why is he not with you?」

「It’s just due to circumstances.」

「Is he in Vernys?」

「... I believe. Somewhere in Vernys. I have been trying to look for him but to no avail.」

「Hmm, It’s up to you, but if you can contact demon lord Gilga, you probably would want to ask for her help locating this Rowan. You and Gilga dono are acquaintances, right? Using her spy network of slimes, finding someone should be a piece of cake.」suggested Uri.

「Maybe I really should… even if it means I owe her a favor or two.」

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「How are you holding up, Yllaner?」Kibadios calmly asked with a genuine concerned look. Sitting across the hybrid was the new queen of the Shilna, who slowly sipped a few gulp of the herbal tea on her hand before placing the cup back on the small table in between them. More than a month had passed since the night she ascended the title of Clan Head, the former princess looked slightly thinner since the last time Kibadios had seen her.

「I’m getting used to it. Thanks to the other clan heads, things are actually settling down a bit over the last week or so.」Yllaner smiled.「With us preserving the confederation without spilling much of our blood, the Yin empire seems to be backing off for now. They have moved their troops away from our borders ever since my coronation. I’m not deluded enough to think they have completely given up on their desire to take over our forest though but as things have turned out, I don’t think they will attempt any hostile takeover in the near future…」

「That’s some good news.」

「But I don’t think it is something you’d like to celebrate though.」

「Ho? Why’s that?」

「Another reason they are backing off from Vernys is because they are focusing their sole attention on the Plain of Monas Kye at this very moment.」Yllaner explained.「On top of the fact that you’re dealing with the great Wei Shimin here, with such a build up in Yue forces under his control, I figure it’d even be harder for you to achieve your mission’s goal.」The princess, who was told of Kibadios’ mission, looked troubled.

「That’s true.」Kibadios nodded. 「But I think I can deal with it.」

「... Somehow I don’t doubt it.」The queen chuckled.「After all, you’re full of surprise… I still cannot believe you were able to add Yue nee chan and Ren nii chan into your ever expanding harem. Are they doing well?」

「Yeah… they’re adjusting. I gotta say, despite being twins, their personalities are like Yin and Yang. Just between you and me, I kinda like to tease Ren lately cuz I find his explosive temper a bit hilarious.」Kibadios smirked.「Though, Yue, on the other hand, is a bit hard to understand.」

「... You have also noticed?」Yllaner asked, her expression giving a hint of sadness.

「Yeah, it’s like she’s wearing a mask. Despite greeting and acting cordially to others, I feel like there always existed a strangely cold distance between that girl and those she interacted with.」

「...I know what you’re talking about..」Yllaner acknowledged.「When I was young, it was Yue nee and Ren nii chan who spent the most time taking care of me. Yet, despite how much she cared for me, pampered me when I was sick, cheered me up when I was down, I could never seem to gauge her true emotions nor could I affirm her affections for me, unlike Ren nii. When I was still a kid, I once asked Ren nii about it and he simply smiled and told me to let it bother me. Later on, my mother told me that apparently, when the capital of their kingdom fell to the Yin Empire, Yue nee chan’s beloved fiance had perished while defending it. The shock caused her to cry for days, which led her to lose her eyesights and ever since that time, Yue nee has always erected an invisible barrier between her and others, shielding her from ever forming a connection with others in order to prevent her from experiencing such heartache again.」

「Is that so?」Surprised Kibadios. 「She had a fiance huh? If I were her, I would be burning with vengeful thoughts against the Yin Empire, yet I could hardly sense any contempt shown on her face when the Empire is mentioned. Ren, on the other hand, I could read as an open book.」

「Ren nii chan has always been a passionate person.」Yllaner chuckled.「You know, although I’m a bit upset that you’re taking they away from me, I was also a bit relieved when they lost to you at the duel and was forced to join your harem.」

「How so?」

「Because everyone in your harem seems to love you very much so I was hoping your attention and care for them could somehow repair the emotional damage they experienced when their kingdom fell.」Yllaner paused.

「That's so? I can’t promise anything.」

「Hmm. Still, please remember to me, they’re still my beloved brother and sister so if you were to neglect or mistreat them, you have to answer to me.」Yllaner jokingly warned. 

「I’ll be careful!」Kibadios grinned before turning serious.「... Speaking of brother, what of Yllaes?」

「Mmmhmmm」Yllaner gagged for a brief moment, her slender hand lightly covering her mouth before answering.「... He’s been imprisoned ever since the conflict ended.」

「and what is your plan for him?」Kibadios studied the queen.

「It was the consensus that… he has to be put to death for what he has done.」The elven queen grimly answered.

「Can you really do it?」

「Huh?」

「I mean, he was never supposed to have fallen this low in the scenarios you had in your  head,  right?」Kibadios asked.「Even when you were cornered, at the lake when you were explaining your plans to others, did you not mention that your goal was to force him into the negotiation table instead of outright arresting him like how it turned out?」

「So you’ve noticed?」The girl faintly smiled.「Yes, in my plan, it was never my intention for it to turn out like this. I was hoping that he would stay behind and be protected by the Shilna army that he controlled. That way, he would hold some leverage over the other Clans of the forest, since none of us would wish for a  bloody conflict. I was hoping that the negotiation would result in an outcome where he’d be guaranteed his safety. Yet, on that day, he recklessly decided to leave his army behind and chased after me by himself, only to have allowed him to be neutralized like that. He lost the only leverage he had to ensure his life…」The princess seemed angry, though the hybrid could not tell whether it was toward her brother or herself.

「Despite being betrayed by him, you still love your brother that much?」asked Kibadios. Though, it was much a rhetorical question since he had already known the answer. For his Sylvia was much the same: the girl might be a calculating, ruthless person but to those she loved, she would devote everything, even her life, to ensure their well being and happiness. Kibadios had already noticed  that in the way she drew up her plan: the former princess had tried her best to guarantee that in this conflict, either she would emerge triumphant and the confederation would remain intact, or that her brother would be able to swiftly conquer the other Clans without much opposition, uniting all the forest under the Shilna rule. Kibadios had realized Yllaner’s discreet plan for the latter outcome when he was trying to explain the whole situation to Maia and the others back at the war council meeting: Had the 3 former clan heads, despite the threatening troops movement of the Maeg Kingdom, decided to lend Yllaes most of their soldiers in order to quickly crush Yllaner’s force, her whole plan would crumble since even if her spies were able to stage a coup d'etat in their respective clans, they would be sitting ducks for they would no long have the military forces to back up their power. This would allow Yllaes, who possessed the military forces of all the clans under his direct command, to claim casus belli against the usurpers and attack them after successfully dealing with Yllaner. In the chaos, it would not be hard to imagine how easy it would be for Yllaes to gobble up the territory of the other clans in his central command. Such was the intricacy of Yllaner’s plan, for she knew that it did not matter whether it would be her or her beloved brother who would emerge victorious, the forest would be united in the end, regardless.

「... He’s still my brother.」Yllaner simply smiled, a slight discomfort coursed through her body, forcing her hand to once again cover her gagging mouth.「... Enough about myself, let’s talk about you, Kibadios. I’ve been busy lately, having to deal with so many political intrigues, but I have yet to forget that there are so many questions I have for you, Mr. Riddle wrapped in a Mystery inside an Enigma. Not only my little brother in law, but now that Yue nee chan and Ren nii chan are to stay by your side, I really need to learn more about you right?」Yllaner grinned.

「Ah, yes, of course…」Kibadios nodded, though he had started to have some concern regarding her gagging reflexes. 「Are you feeling okay?」

「Yeah, don’t worry about it.」Yllaner dismissed.「I think I’m just a bit tired from having to carry out my mountains of duties lately.」The girl gave Kibadios a weary smile.

「You should really take care of yourself, Yllaner.」

「Things are getting calmer so I think I’ll be fine soon.」Yllaner laughed.「Now, back to your stories, Kibadios.」

「Yeah yeah, It’s not like I can avoid this topic. I know this conversation between you and me will come. Just know this, Yllaner: I will not disclose everything to you, but on the other hand, I will not lie to you, either.」Kibadios smiled.「So, what would you like to know?」

「First of all, who are you really? From Kyles’ and my point of view, you’re just a mysterious hybrid who one day showed up and got involved in our affairs, starting with helping Ryan, then dealing with the enraged Ryuujin and protecting us from the Chaos Creature that the Prime Minister turned into…」

「... My name is Kibadios and like what Ryan must have told you, I was born in a small village in Monas Kye. Unfortunately, before long, my village was attacked by a man named Hou Yi. In that moment of chaos, my mother let me loose down the Kidan River in hope that the current would take me far away from the Yin Empire’s raid… Afterward, thanks to me being a half-orge, who would normally grow up extremely fast, I was able to survive.」

「And soon after, you saved Maia chan and Rowan chan’s village?」

「Yes. Then we met Ryan’s party before Desmond betrayed them.」

「... I see.」Yllaner intensely listened.「Then, what’s your connection between you and “Ryuujin,” who goes by the name Ryuu now?」

「I kinda saved him by burning off the miasma chaos that infected his mind.」

「... But that’s not the reason he followed you, isn’t it?」Yllaner asked.

「You’re sharp. No, it’s not the only  reason why.」Kibadios admitted.「Though I cannot tell you the real connection between Ryuu and I.」

「... I know this may sound like a ridiculous question, but can you… remember your past lives?」Yllaner hesitantly asked.

「Huh? Why would you ask that?」Surprised Kibadios.

「A few reasons but the main one is because there is clearly a connection between you and Ryuu that you cannot tell me, yet you were just born not more than two years ago while Ryuu has been sealed off for thousands of years. For there to be a connection, that means it must have started in your past lives.」Yllaner deduced. 「I know it’s funny to think there is a “past life” but, when you think about it, in this world, there are existences of World Travelers, who came to this world through the will of the Astrals. It wouldn’t surprise me if there is something like “Reincarnators” as well. Besides, like I have told you before… deep down within me, I feel as if I have known you for a long long time, despite we just met recently.」Yllaner chuckled. 「And despite my distrusting personality, my instinct kept telling me to place my complete trust in you. Why is that? And why was it that you went out of your way to help me, someone who you have just known for a few months, even though it means submitting to the Yonko’s whim?」

「... Yes, I do remember my past lives.」acknowledged Kibadios.「But I cannot say anything more than that.」

「... Why does it not surprise me.」Yllaner faintly smiled. 「Why can’t you tell me more about it? Do I also have a past life? Were we friends?」

「I cannot say.」Kibadios shook his head.「The less you know, the better.」

「...Then, just answer this question truthfully, Kibadios.」Yllaner’s eyes suddenly turned serious. 「Was… the incident at the Capital of Maeg, where Jayden dono got turned into a chaos creature and attacked us,  caused by you?」

「No.」Kibadios flatly rejected it. 

「That’s so… I’m relieved.」Yllaner nodded, yet, the anger in her voice still did not disappear「Do you know who… or what’s behind it?」

「... I cannot say.」answered Kibadios.

BAM! The usually mild-mannered Yllaner frustratedly slammed her hand down the table, though Kibadios was unflinched. 「Why can’t you tell me? Don’t I deserve to know why Kyles was taken away from me, Kibadios?」

「I’m sorry, Yllaner. But even if you know the full story, there is nothing you can do now.」

「Then, will I ever … be able to learn the truth behind the incident?」The elven queen tried to calm herself.

「One day…」Kibadios’ gaze locked onto the girl’s eyes, which were frustratedly holding back tears.「One day, you will know the truth. Though once that day come, I don’t think you’d feel any better.」

「... I’ll judge that for myself.」Yllaner declared. 「And I’ll hold your word to it, Kibadios. That one day, everything will be revealed to me.」

The two continued to converse for another hour. However, Yllaner was unable to get much information out of the hybrid. At most, she could only ascertain that it was not the hybrid’s intention to peek at the elven twins on the fateful night and that his immediate goal is to deal with the Yin commander and Lord of the Yongxi Province.

「So, does Ryan know everything about you and your plans, Kibadios?」

「... Mostly. There’s something that I just learned recently that I’ve yet told anyone.」

「Hm… I see.」Yllaner stretched her arms.「If you refuse to tell me, there’s no way I can pry the information off of you. I’ll place my trust in Ryan to watch over you.」

「Thank you for your understanding… and sorry I cannot explain everything to you, Yllaner.」

「... No, I should be the one who says sorry.」Yllaner shook her head.「You have helped me so much, yet, I still forced you into this “interrogation.”」

「Don’t worry about it.」Kibadios waved his hand dismissively. Before he could say anything, Yllaner’s expression suddenly paled before she started to gag. The Queen hastily turned away and discreetly vomited into a small trash bowl that got placed next to the table they were at.

「Are you really okay, Yllaner?」Kibadios concerningly asked after rushing at the elven queen.

「Yeah. I’m just not feeling too well lately, but a bit of rest should do the trick.」The girl wiped her mouth.「Sorry for disgusting you, Kibadios.」

「... No, don’t worry about it… but Yllaner, do you think that… you’re pregnant?」Kibadios asked. The sudden realization quickly dawned on the queen, whose eyes started to widen in disbelief. 

「...Pregnant?」Yllaner blinked.

.

.

.

「Yllaner sama is pregnant??!?!?!」Ryan excitedly screamed the moment Kibadios relayed the information to the group.

「Yll chan is having a baby?」Yue turned to her brother, whose surprised reaction was not much different from the rest of the group.

「Yeah. She did a pregnancy test twice to confirm and it turned out, she’s indeed pregnant.」Kibadios smilingly nodded.「She experienced all the symptoms of pregnancy but she thought it was just because of the tons of works that she had to deal with.」

「I’m… I’m going to be an uncle?」Ryan could not hide his excitement.

「It seems so.」

「Hmm, what are the chances!」Ren commented.「It’s not that easy for a couple of different races to carry a hybrid. I guess Kyles and Yllaner’s union is actually blessed by the Spirits.」

「CHiii…. Chiiii!!!」Before the group could further discuss the news, a strange slime swiftly slid in the room through the small slit underneath the wooden door before bouncing excitedly in front of Kibadios.

「Huh?」

「Is that one of Gilga dono’s slimes?」Maia asked.「Why is it here?」

「Chii?? Chiii!!!」Having understood what the strange slime was communicating, Nu was now suddenly bouncing around also.

「... Don’t tell me…」Kibadios turned to the strange slime.「You found Rowan location?」

「Chii!!!」The strange slime nodded.

Notes:

Probably 1-2 more chapter and we'll conclude this arc. 3.5.
The next chapter will be probably a bit long, with porn in the latter 1/3 :3

Chapter 113: Rowan's return

The young human girl slowly rose up from her bed and sat dazedly for a moment to gather her thoughts before turning her slender legs sideways toward the edge and stepped off the bed. Despite the mild cold winter, the girl was only wearing a thin layer nightgown that was barely able to cover her ample breasts. Making her way toward the window, the farmer girl cheerfully hummed her favorite tunes, a morning ritual that she has always done since she was a little kid. Though, lately, there was one more reason for the girl to enjoy the new days. After unlocking the latch, the girl forcefully pushed the windows open to greet the new day, letting the cold morning air flow through every corner of her room. 

「What a great morning!」The girl excitedly proclaimed, her breast bounced on top of the window frame like how it was for the Cow Girl from Goblin Slayer.

「Ah, Good morning, Ava dono.」A voice greeted her back.

「Good mor…」Ava was going to reciprocate the greeting, yet, she stopped short for she had realized the lewdness of the night clothing she was wearing. Her face quickly turned beet red before she retreated back into the room and hid her almost naked body away from the window. Despite such embarrassing blunder, who could say it was her fault? For this morning ritual of hers had been imprinted in her mind for years before the boy came into her life. Usually, when she sprung the window open and greeted the new morning, no one would be sitting right outside her room to see her, saved for some uninterested cows who would lazily graze through a few patches of grass that still grew in the winter. 

「Are you okay, Ava dono?」The boy asked after seeing his benefactor rush back into the room. 

「Yes… Yes. Kibadios san, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you’re there.」The girl hastily apologized 「I’m sorry for my indecent appearance.」

「Indecent appearance?」The boy asked.「Don’t worry, Ava dono. I was tending to Izz chan over here so I didn’t see anything.」The boy pointed to the cow he was standing next to.

「Is… is that so?」Ava said. 「Thank goodness. Please wait there, Kibadios san, I’ll be right out to help you tending to the herd.」The girl hurriedly put on her usual farming clothes, washed up her face before rushing out to be with the boy. She could not hide her excitement when thinking of spending time with the mild mannered Kibadios too, since not only was he such a pleasant person to be with, but also because in this small border town, he was one of the few people who was actually in her age range. 

「I can’t believe you took care of all 20 of them this early!」The girl was astonished to learn that all of the cows have been thoroughly brushed, a job that was supposed to be hers. 「It must have taken you more than an hour to do this, when did you wake up?」

「I don’t know? Probably more than two hours ago?」The boy scratched his head.「I’m still a novice at this so it took me longer to go through all of them. I hope I did a good job though.」

「You did a great job!」Ava caressed the cow’s fur. 「Izz here is extremely picky, she would not even let my father brush her, let alone some stranger she’s just gotten to know for less than a month… yet, she seems to be so content with you.」

「Really? I didn’t have the impression that she’s that picky.」The boy turned and patted the cow.

「That’s because she likes you!」Ava smiled.「and you know you don’t have to do this right? Your wound had just fully healed not too long ago, I don’t think working so hard this early in the morning is good for your condition…」

「Thank you for worrying about me, Ava dono, but I feel fine.」The boy pounded his chest to show off his recovery with a grin.

「It’s actually impressive how fast you had recovered ever since we found you severely injured in the Vernys forest, Kibadios san.」Ava noted.「Have you remembered anything about your past?」

「... I still can’t recall anything.」The green haired boy hesitantly smiled.「Next time when you’re traveling into the Vernys forest, may I tag along? Hopefully when I see the location you found me in person, it would help with my memory.」

「Of course!」Ava nodded.「The next delivery trip is only two week away. For sure we’ll be passing by the small river we found you. But I’m sure my deduction was right and that you’re an adventurer that got hired to fight in the short civil conflict inside Vernys that ended just as soon as it began」

「... Maybe you’re right.」The boy twitched his head the moment he was reminded of the conflict.「Whenever you mentioned the battle between the current head of the Vernys Forest and her brother, some emotions within me always keep stirring up, as if I have some connection to it…」

「Yeah, I mean it’s the only logical conclusion.」Ava seemingly transformed into an Elizabethian era detective with a pipe on her hand, much like Chika Fujiwara.「Firstly, around this vicinity, our village is the only village that has trading relationships with the settlements inside Vernys. We would supply them with our dairy products and they would provide us with their herbal medicines. And unless you have some dealings with the inhabitants of Vernys like us, there’s almost no reason why you would find a human walking around the demihuman’s territory. Secondly, we heard that many human adventurers actually took part in the war, fighting on the side of the brother. Thirdly, there’s also the fact that we found you severely wounded around the climax of the war. With these facts put together, I’m 99% sure you’re one of the adventurers.」Ava seemed to be proud of her conclusion.

「... Yeah.」The boy nodded in agreement, though something still did not feel right.

「But even if that’s the case, isn’t it better if you…」Ava shyly touched her hair, her face turned into a shade of red. 「if you just stay here with us? Being an adventurer is hard and risky, you may even lose your life on any random day. Maybe it’s a blessing from the Astrals that you get to start your life anew?」

「Thank you for your concern, Ava dono.」The boy politely nodded.「But, I really want to regain my memory… as fast as I can. Somehow, I feel like there’s someone that I’m longing for… I want to be by that person’s side, no matter what.」

「Is that so?」Ava discreetly pouted since she did not like the idea that her crush might already have someone he held dear in his heart.

「Moooo!!!」The cows suddenly broke a brief moment of silence between the two.

「Ah, that’s right. I guess it’s time to take Izz chan and others to their usual place for their breakfast.」Said the girl before directing the herd to the small opened gate.「Would you mind accompany me, Kibadios san?」

「Of course not!」The boy hurriedly followed.

.

.

.

The usual place that Ava mentioned was not too far, located merely 20 minutes walk away from the barn. It’s a sizable green meadow that tugged neatly in between a small hot spring and a patch of sparse forest. Due to the presence of the heat from the hotspring, the grass was able to grow in the ever slightly wet ground even in the cold winter. As the cows slowly spread out to graze on their breakfast, both the boy and Ava settled comfortably on two large boulders near the warm body of water. 

「... So, Kibadios san, what would you do when you regain your memory?」Ava hesitantly asked.

「I don’t know.」The boy scratched his head.

「Will you leave this place?」

「Probably.」The boy nodded. 「Like I told you before, I feel like there’s someone that I’m longing for so if I ever regain my memory, I will probably set out to search for that person. Besides, I’ve bothered you and your family for so long now, I think that regardless, I should stop relying on your family’s generosity.」

「Please don’t say that, Kibadios san!」Ava dismissed the boy’s concern.「We’re happy to help you. And don’t you ever think that you’re a bother to us! We love having you here. Even my dad had told me that he loved having you around since you’ve been helping him with the works around the farm.」The girl paused for a moment, 「Though, I would understand that you’d like to leave to find that person…」

「Thank you, Ava dono.」The boy gently smiled. 「You and your family are truly kind people.」

「Kibadios san?」The girl called out.「Can you… can you drop the dono honorific? It just feels so distance when you referred to me as “Ava dono”.」

「Is that so? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Ava do…san.」

「Maybe just Ava is good enough?」

「If that’s what you prefer… Ava.」The girl’s face was now again blushing red, after hearing her crush calling her name in such a familiar manner. 

「Would you mind if I call you… Kibadios?」Ava asked.

「Of course. You can call me however you like.」

「And why do you want to call him my name?」A voice suddenly echoed from the wood close by, jolted both the boy and Ava. The sinister tone caused the girl to quickly stand up from her boulder while the boy quickly stepped forward in front of her. 

「Who are you?」Ava asked. She could clearly see the unfamiliar demihuman spreading his large black wings as he emerged from the forest.

「The name’s Kibadios.」The hybrid introduced himself, much to Ava’s confusion. 

「What?」

「... and I’m here to claim back my property, right, Rowan?」Kibadios tilted his head.

「Rowan?」Ava was thoroughly confused.「Kibadios, what is he talking about? Do you know that demihuman?」The girl’s eyes gazed up at Rowan’s face, though the healer was now standing frozen, his eyes widened as he himself gazed unblinkingly at the man standing in front of him. Broken fragments of memories continued to pierce his blank mind. The hybrid looked at the motionless Ryan before leering at the girl, who was brazen enough to cling onto his harem member. 

「Kibadios, we have to be careful. That demihuman may be bad news.」Ava tugged on Rowan, trying to pull him back away from the approaching hybrid, to no avail.「Kibadios!」

「Sorry I’m late.」Kibadios finally stood right in front of the shaking healer, whose tears began to trail down his cheeks.「But I’m finally here to pick you up, my cute little property!」The hybrid reached his hand behind Rowan’s head before gently pulling him forward into his embrace.

「...Master?... Master!!!」The warm touch from the hybrid acted as the final catalyst to trigger the healer’s memories, causing all his past to gush back to his now clear mind.「You’re safe!!!??」Rowan tightly wrapped his arms around his beloved master in reciprocation.

Ava stepped back away in disbelief since not once in her lifetime had she witnessed any human to display such emotion toward a demihuman. The Kingdom of Maeg might not actively discriminate against demihuman or enslave and kill them like the Theocracy, yet, such an intimate response was beyond comprehension. 

…“Master”? What did he mean by “Master”? The girl was alarmed.

「How silly.」Kibadios ruffled Rowan’s head, much like an owner who greeted his excited loyal dog after a long period apart.「I should be the one who asked you that. On top of the severe injury you received, we could not find any hint of your whereabouts for almost a month afterward, everyone was worried… I included.」Despite his arrogance and uncaring tone he had in the beginning, the hybrid was yet strangely honest as he held Rowan by his side.「Who would have thought that the reason you did not return to us was because you’d prefer staying with this busty cute girl.」Kibadios teased the healer. Although his tone was playful in nature, Rowan thought he had picked up a small hint of jealousy uncharacteristically coming from his Master.

「No, that’s not it, Kibadios sama!」Rowan quickly denied before turning back to Ava and introduced her to the hybrid. 「This girl here is Ava dono. Her father and she were the ones who found me unconscious in the Vernys forest and tended to my wound. It’s thanks to their goodwill and generosity that I survived. But unfortunately, I had lost my memory after the incident so I couldn’t return to you once I recovered… That’s right!!!」Rowan jolted「Kibadios sama, what happened to you??」Rowan hurriedly patted his master from top to bottom to check for any injuries.「Where’s Ryan chan? Adela was with him… Trap!… Plot!」His sentences were all jumbled up, much like his mind at the moment.

「Rowan chan!!!」By this time, Ryan rushed out from the forest after Kibadios, his face brightened up as he recognized the familiar face whose he had been longing for the last month. 「You’re really alive!!!」

「Ryan?」The healer was taken aback at the hero’s presence. Yet, his brief confusion quickly vanished the moment he recognized the figure who was following closely after Ryan. 「Adela!!! Master, be careful! Adela was working with Ryan chan…」Rowan instinctively stepped in front of his master to shield him from the perceived danger but Kibadios quickly pulled him back.

「Don’t worry about it, Rowan. That’s not the cursed Adela. It’s just a weeb occupying her homunculus vessel. I’ve already taken care of her.」Kibadios reassured the healer.

「... Huh?」

「... Kibadios… san?」Ava finally called out to Rowan’s attention.「Who’s this demihuman? Who are they?」The girl pointed at Ryan and Ruek.「Why are they calling you Rowan? Is that your name?」There were a dozen more questions she wanted to ask, but she settled with these for now.

「Ah, yes, Ava dono.」The healer turned to his benefactor.「Yes, I remembered everything now. My name is actually Rowan, and this man here is my Master, Kibadios sama.」

「... There… There is no way a demihuman would be your master!!」Ava was in a state of total disbelief. 「That demihuman looks like an incubus, Kiba… Rowan san! Did he put a spell to control your mind?? I’m sure that’s the case! He even called you property before. Please come back to your senses.」

「Ava dono, that’s not it. I’m still myself.」Rowan tried to convince the girl to no avail.

「<Hypnosis> really doesn’t work like that, young lady.」Kibadios raised his eyebrows. Why did people have the impression that a conscious mind could be easily controlled like how it was usually depicted in some hentai or yaoi back on Earth? If anything, <Hypnosis> is just a skill that targets one’s mental faculty. To fully control one’s actions like a puppet through skill is almost impossible… Case and point… Kibadios turned to look at the still visibly happy Ryan. 「If you don’t believe me, ask my other property over there. He can attest to you that <Hypnosis> only clouded his mind, but not fundamentally control his free will.」

Ryan simply nodded in rapid succession at his master’s statement.

「As if I can trust a word of a non elven kind demihuman like you!」the girl angrily retorted. 

「Stop insulting my master, Ava dono!」Rowan’s demeanor abruptly changed the moment Ava’s disrespectful sentence ended, causing the girl to freeze in disbelief. By now, she was more convinced than ever that her crush was fully being controlled by the demihuman in front of them, since she could never picture the kind hearted boy she knew acting this cold to her. 

「I don’t know who you are...」Ryan stepped up.「But I will not stand back to watch you berate our Master like this」

「Wow wow wow. Everyone, let’s calm down.」Ruek, the only one who’s not blindly loyal to you Kibadios, tried to diffuse the tension.「Maybe we can explain everything to her.」

Rowan, still uncomfortable with the homunculus body, shot the former elf a blank look that screamed “Who the fuck are you, really?”  

「Reuk’s right!」Kibadios grinned deviously since his “explanation” was most likely not what Reuk was expecting.

「Master?」Rowan was unsure what his master was planning, but he was soon reminded of the hybrid’s unorthodox behavior, for Kibadios simply pulled the healer closer to him, with his back pressed against his master’s chest. With one hand, the hybrid gently held onto Rowan’s chin before guiding his face toward his waiting lips. Wasting no time, Kibadios aggressively pressed his lips against Rowan’s, then forced his tongue inside his long lost harem member’s opening mouth. His hand slowly traced down along Rowan’s smooth neck before slid underneath the healer’s thick shirt that he was wearing. It took less than a second for the hybrid to finally reach Rowan’s warm breast before his fingers started to toy with the boy’s nipple. His other hand would first grab tightly onto Rowan’s well defined hourglass shaped hip before it, too, would creep downward inside the boy’s pants. 

「Mas…ter…」Rowan tried to lodge a weak protest since they were standing right in front of the farmer girl, yet his mind and body, which had longed for his master’s touch, quickly gave up on the idea. Any faint resistance he had soon evaporated as his body seemingly melted into his master. 

「You demihuman! Get away from Kib… Rowan san!!」Ava screamed.

「Give up, young lady! Rowan is mine and not in a million years would I be ntred by someone like you.」Kibadios broke his kiss to give a response to the girl, though the hybrid quickly felt Rowan’s lips against his own since the healer had now actively pulled his master’s back for another kiss. Trails of soft moaning sound did not fail to escape his mouth. After dashing his tongue inside Rowan’s, mixing up their saliva in a passionate kiss, the hybrid continued. 「Since you helped my cute Rowan when he was on the verge of death, I’ll grant you your happy ending… Even if it’s only an momentary illusion.」

「What are you talking about?」Ava raised her eyebrows in confusion before suddenly collapsed down onto the grassy ground. 

「Master? What did you do to Ava dono?」Rowan asked concerningly.

「I simply activated < Jagan_Evil Eyes > on her. Just like how you were before, that girl is now put in a dream-like state. Since she seems to be into you, I had allowed her to experience her whole life living with you as husband and wife in that dream world…」

「Wow, your <Jagan_Evil Eyes> skill is that strong? That’s no less impressive than when Itachi put his girlfriend under his genjutsu.」commented Ruek as she moved forward to look at the sleeping girl.

「No, not really. It only works because she was letting her guard down.」explained Kibadios. 「Anyways, now that we have found Rowan, let’s go back. Maia and others are waiting for our return back at the settlement.」

「What about her?」Ryan asked.

「She’ll wake up in no time. Though in her dream, it’d feel like decades.」Kibadios answered. 「Allowing her to experience her life with Rowan, that’s my gift to her… That, and not just outright kill her for lusting after my Rowan.」

「Are we sure it’s okay to just leave her like this?」Ruek asked.

「... It should be fine…This place is close to her home.」Rowan answered.「... It’s better that we leave now because judging from how she’s been reacting, I don’t think we can ever explain to her that I’m not under Master’s control.」

「Here!」Kibadios pulled out a small black box and handed it to Rowan. 「This is a recorder that I bought back in Lorian. You can use it to leave her a farewell message.」

「... Thanks, Kibadios sama.」Rowan was not the only one who was surprised by the hybrid’s thoughtful gesture.

「Then do it quickly, she will wake up soon.」Kibadios turned around and started to walk back into the forest, signaling both Ruek and Ryan to follow him.「Once finished, catch up with us. I’ll explain to you everything that had happened.」

「Yes, master!」Rowan nodded. 

「So, when did you get so soft, Kibadios?」Ruek teased the hybrid since she knew the old, vengeful Kibadios would not have cared for whether Rowan said farewell to his savior or not.

「Shut up, you weeb!」Kibadios rolled his eyes. 「Seriously, who referenced Naruto anymore?」

.

.

. 

「Izz chan, take care of Ava dono okay?」Rowan patted the cow after leaving the black box inside the girl’s hand. The boy turned around, looked at Ava one last time before bowing down.「I’m sorry, Ava. I hope you will be able to forget me and our time together this past month. And thank you for everything!」Once done, the healer hurriedly ran after his master into the light forest. 

「Done?」Kibadios asked after hearing Rowan’s steps approaching him from behind.

「Yes, Master!」Despite feeling emotional saying farewell, not only to Ava but to his peaceful life as some unnamed farmer, Rowan could not help but smile ear to ear as he looked longingly at his master.

「...」Kibadios simply patted Rowan’s head in silence, before uttering something in whisper that none of the other three could have heard.「... Sorry for taking away your life once again, Rowan…」... But, if what Matelus said about you was true, then it’s best that you stay by my side . 

.

.

.

The girl leaned against the large boulder behind her back, her red eyes simply looked toward the rustling forest as she listened to the voice from the recorder. The voice of her first crush continued to play, explaining to her his story, giving her thanks for everything she and her family have done for him. This feeling of emptiness was not what she was expecting when she woke up this morning. Somehow, she was given a chance to live with her crush as husband and wife for what seemed to be an eternity in that dream. Yet, she wondered if such experience was a gift or a curse. She had already calmed down now and after listening to the boy’s explanation, a small part of her seemed to have accepted the fact that the boy would never be hers, for his heart, mind, and body had already been claimed.

「Moooo.」The cow nudged her owner consolingly

「I know, Izz chan… I don’t think he would come back… 」

Notes:

I lied. 1 more chapter before the promised porn chapter. I planned to include the porn in this chapter but it's already getting too long. >.>

PS: Originally, I was planning to have Kibadios forced Rowan to kill the girl as a proof of loyalty, much like how when Sebas was ordered to kill Tuare in Overlord (then saved her with his restoration skill), but then I already feel bad for the girl, even without that scenario lol >.>
Also, we probably won't get to the end anytime soon (at this rate, probably 2-3 years? lol I'll be able to write more frequently after the end of November) but just last week, I have finally decided on what the final scene would be!!! :D
Now, I just have to come up with detailed plots for the next volume haha

Chapter 114: Sneak Peek of this year Christmas' gift

Lol, don't trust the title too much.

Anyhoo, this commissioning is what I have been mainly focus on: A full 20 manga pages of pure sex scenes ft Kibadios and the harem... It's a long term project that I request Hagane to work on and tentatively, it'll be finish by the end of the year.

Why tentatively? Because this all depends on my financial situation lol >.> If somehow I can't find a job at all after my graduation, then it'll be stopped short. Or if Hagane decides not to continue drawing this manga (I commissioned them 4 pages at a time) then it would also be stopped short.

I'm pretty sure the total cost of the whole 20 pages would be equal to the cost of all the money I have spent on all the requests I have made so far... so painful to spend such a sum... but on the other hand, we'll all get an epic fapping material.

Without much ado, I present you the two pages sneak peek (the rest won't be posted until I get all the pages from Hagane by the end of the year.)

Setting? A side story/alternate story where Kibadios does not have much to worry about but to enjoy his (sex) life with his harem (will only feature the harem members  on the cover poster I posted a few months back.) This takes place at a vacation home.

 

 

 

 

===========

Also, I'll continuously be busy up until the end of the year (to write my thesis and such) so I have decided to break up future chapters (after this small arc) into smaller parts so that I can post every week or two.

Chapter 115: The wheel of fate is turning

「This is why I hate it when that fucking manchild personally comes to Uruk to visit me. There are always collateral damages.」The great demon lord Gilga was fuming with anger, veins popping on her face as she strode down the large hallway littered with motionless bodies of her guards, blood red stains splattered across the two walls. The woman angrily slammed the large door at the end of the corridor wide open before screaming out「Seriously, Ashura! Attacking my men like this, are you planning to void the non aggression pact that we have agreed to?」

The large dome that Gilga entered was completely silent, which made her voice echo around even more. At the far side of the room was a levitating chair that served as Gilga’s throne whenever meetings of Uruk’s officials were convened. SWOOSSHHHH
The gold plated throne slowly spun around once Gilga finished walking up the stairs that led to it, revealing the hybrid great demon lord, who sat arrogantly with one of his legs up against the armrest

「Welcome back, Gilga!」Ashura greeted his contemporary, one of his hands raised up and covered half his face as he desperately tried to create an air of menace around himself.「Sorry for coming over unano… 」BOOINGG!

Before he could finish his sentence, his face was slammed against a squishy projectile that Gilga angrily threw at him, causing the seemingly dignified demon lord to uncharacteristically fall down from his high throne. 

「What the hell, bitch?」Ashura growled. 「I did not even finish my greeting! Stop throwing your slimes at me everytime we meet.」

「How about you stop acting like a child?」Gilga shouted back.「Knocking out all my men unconscious, then splashing all those red paints around my property as fake blood! Do you know how long it would take for my servants to clean them? Every single time! That’s why you’re banned from ever visiting my palace! Why are you keep doing it anyways?」

「Presentation!!!」Ashura stood up and answered with a grin before walking toward Gilga. 「I’m a Great Demon Lord, a member of the Yonko. It’s only natural that I need to make a grand entrance befitting my status wherever I show up. And what’s grander than having a corridor filled with corpses and bloody path that leads to my location?」

「... They’re not corpses. They’re only unconscious.」Gilga shook her head. 「and those stains aren’t even blood. They're just fucking red paint!!!」

「Well, would you rather I kill them for real?」Ashura asked.

「Try it and I’ll cut off your head!」Gilga angrily replied. 「Why are you here anyways?」

「... Just to have a face to face chat with an old friend.」Grinned Ashura.

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.

「So, you made him your so called “sworn brother”... your right hand man… and the captain of the 12 squad?」Gilga raised her eyebrows in amusement while carefully studying the Go board in front of her before slowly placing a black stone down .「That mysterious man named Kibadios? Really?」

「Stop with your acting, Gilga.」Unlike Gilga, who had to take her time, Ashura quickly countered Gilga’s move by placing down his white stone. 「Both you and I know that the other is trying to recruit him into our own forces. I just happened to acquire him before you. It’s my win this time.」

「... Is it?」Gilga’s piercing eyes are now gazing at her Go opponent, who sat just across her on the other side of the board. 「Or did I goad you into “acquiring” him, allowing me to carefully observe and learn of his mysterious intentions? Still, I must admit, I never thought you would give him, a complete stranger, such a position and power within the Hyakki Yagyo. Why would you do that?」

「Cuz he’s probably one of the few who’s capable of killing me. Heck, somehow, he even had a dragonkin serving under him.」answered Ashura.「Having the man close to my side without knowing what his goal is, without knowing what his next move would be, or if he would betray me at any moment… That makes life much more interesting, don’t you think?」

「... I could never understand you no matter how much I try, Ashura.」Gilga shook her head. 「 You know he might be a threat, yet, you purposely allowed him to get close to you… You don’t seem to treasure your life, do you?」

「No.」Ashura agreed.「What I treasure is not ‘life’, but the experiences in life. I would rather have a short but exciting and thrilling life than a boring long one. Even if it means I have to personally make it “exciting and thrilling” myself, then so be it.」The Yonko grinned ear to ear, though the grin abruptly disappeared as his consciousness briefly faded away for a second. 

「... What is it?」Gilga noticed the hybrid’s strange behavior.

「... Something “exciting and thrilling.”」Ashura ended his answer with a whistle while looking out at the distance beyond the windows on his right.

「What?」Gilga was confused.

「Enough about me and my “weird” life choices.」The Yonko intentionally tried to change the topic.「I’m more interested in learning of what you know about the upcoming clash between the Theocracy and that Overlord.」

「Ho? So you also know about that? News travel fast.」

「Are you kidding me? It’s not an every day event that 4 of The Six are summoned to lead a war against a Great Demon Lord. That grumpy, vengeful Overlord must have done something huge that caused the Theocracy reacted like that.」

「Well, his force simply has grown to the point that the Theocracy could not have ignored… especially when his territory is right next to theirs and his only purpose is to raze the capital of the Theocracy to the ground.」

「So, do you think he can withstand the Theocracy’s full might?」

「... and do you think the Theocracy can withstand his unwaning wrath?」Gilga asked with a smirk.

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「Ozyan sama… This is…」Malus, one of the three Ennead Candidates, hesitantly asked as his eyes kept gluing on the individual trapped inside a large glowing crystal like an amber. They had spent almost half an hour descending down a spiral floating crystal stairway that led to this chamber, during which Malus could feel the immense ominous Nen energy getting stronger with every step they took. Yet, strangely, as he currently stood in front of the source of the Nen energy, he felt nothing… More precisely, he could not feel anything because all his senses were overwhelmed due to the Nen emitting from the extraordinary being that was sealed in front of him 

「It’s he who is become death, the Gods killer, and destroyer of worlds…」Ozyan answered with a grim look.「 It’s Kaernas, the being who rebelled against the true Gods and doomed our worlds.」

Malus gulped while staring at the man, whose appearance was so life-like that it seemed as if he could suddenly move and walk out of the crystal any moment. 

「Why… Why did you bring me here, Ozyan sama?」Malus curiously asked.

「How long have you been an Ennead Candidate?」Without answering Malus, the old man instead asked.

「Since the very day that Kadesha sama betrayed us.」

「And why do you want to be part of the Ennead?」

「That’s…」The question took Malus by surprise.「... That’s because I want to repay my debt to you, Ozyan sama.」

「...」The old man remained stoic for a moment before speaking again.「The Ennead are the name we gave ourselves, the group of 9 most powerful Astrals who rule over the Modun with an iron fist, who maintain the balance of this world to ensure its survival… At least that’s what we professed. Yet, much like you, who have your own reason to want to become one of us, each of the 8 current members of the Enneads has their own goals and purposes. Some merely want to rule over others who they consider insignificant insects. Some want the freedom that only an Ennead member can enjoy. Some relish the prestige associated with the title. Some want to mold and shape the world in accordance with their own visions. Contrary to what others might be led to believe, us Enneads are not a monolithic body… Yet, every decision we made as a group need to be unanimous, which is why we appear to be extremely passive and slow to react to any changes to the world.」

「I fully understand the dilemma, Ozyan sama. That’s why I want to become one of you, in order to assist you to influence the whole of the Ennead as you wish.」Malus lowered his head.

「And do you know what am I wishing for?」

「I’m merely your pawn to move as you wish. It is not my place to try understanding your goals and desires, Ozyan sama.」

「... Touch the crystal, Malus kun.」ordered Ozyan. The Ennead Candidate showed a brief hint of hesitation before obeying the command of the old man. As he placed his trembling hand on the surface of the crystal, Malus froze in fear, an emotion that he did not know that he possessed. The power of which he could never comprehend assaulted his mind, overwhelmed his consciousness with an intense feeling of dread. The visions of catastrophic events that had transpired flooded his eyes before the possible unrealized ruination of the future took over, showing him what could happen if the individual standing in front of him would break free from his eternal seal.

「Haaa!」Malus withdrew his hand in mere seconds, though for the man, the fleeting moment seemed to last for eternity. 「What was that?」

「... Those are the visions that I want to prevent, even at the cost of hundreds of millions of innocent lives.」Ozyan’s voice was seemingly filled with a hint of sadness.「What you just sensed was merely Kaernas’ vengeful thoughts that leaked out from the crystal, Malus kun. Imagine what would happen if he actually breaks free from this seal… I may be one of the few in the Ennead, whose primary goal is to prevent the destruction of the two worlds. I brought you here today, in hope of trying to change your mind, Malus kun: Don’t try to become one of us just to repay your debt to me. Become one of us, in order to ensure this being, standing in front of you, to be forever sealed away within this crystal.」

「... Why me?」

「Because you’re one of the few who I can trust.」Ozyan answered. 

「What do you mean?」

「Like I said, most of the other Enneads do not care for this threat anymore.」Ozyan looked at the frozen Karnas.「 Some might have deluded themselves into thinking that the status quo would never be changed, for it had been continuously upheld for hundreds of thousands of years… Some, might actually actively trying to sabotage us.」

「What??」

「... Yes. I do not know if it’s true or not, but I fear, Kadesha would be not the last person who betray the Enneads and us Astrals.」Ozyan placed his hand on Malus’ shoulder.「The next few years will be a crucial moment for us, for we will commence the Harvest soon. Yet, the appearance of Zaeryn’s reincarnation, on top of the threat posed by his pupil, Matelus… and the uncertain motives of some of the Enneads members… I have a feeling that a great upheaval that may overshadow even the Second Great Holy War would soon engulf Esthar and Modun. That’s why I need you, Malus, to dedicate your body and soul, not to me, but to protect the worlds.」

Malus wanted to ask further, on why his master would believe some of the other Enneads members would be acting against the collective will of the Astrals, to turn treacherous against their own kinds like what Kadesha had done ten thousands years ago. Yet, he remained silent, for he knew Ozyan would not answer him. Ozyan would never divulge the reasonings for his thoughts, unless he deemed the time was right. And since the ancient Astral had yet elaborate more than what he had just said, Malus knew asking him would be futile.

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Sitting on the cliff next to the calm ocean beneath, the Yves slowly reached out to the two marble headstones erected in front of him.
“Here lie Helena Allysa Edinson and Rita Allysa Edinson. May the souls of a loving mother and her angelic daughter reach the Astrals’ Blessed Garden.”

「... You cleaned their headstones?」Erik asked, without turning back to face the woman who was approaching him.

「Yeah. Thomas san asked me to.」The woman answered.

「How could he ask you if he’s dead?」

「... He asked me for this favor a few days before his death.」Amber answered.

「What?」Erik’s eyebrows twitched. 

「He knew that regardless of how the conflict turns out, his battle against you would be his last.」Amber knelt down and placed the 7th white flower into the small vase sitting in front of Thomas’ headstone, which was erected next to his beloved wife and daughter’s grave. 「He asked me for a favor, saying that if Floria and I were to survive the battle, we should bring his ashes back to his hometown and bury him next to his wife and kid. Since he was never strong enough to even visit their graves once, and that the villagers had all abandoned the town years ago after the incidence, he knew that their graves would be covered in layers of dust so he asked me to clean them once I finished burying his ashes.」

「and you even stick around to carry out the sendoff ritual, placing one white flower in the vase daily for 7 days?」Erik asked.

「Yeah, he said he was not able to do it for his wife and kid, and it’s one of the things he regrets the most. So I figure I should do it now, both for him and his family. 」Amber answered.「... But the main reason why Floria and I stayed here for seven days was not just because we had to carry out the ritual. We’re waiting for you.」

「You want to kill me to avenge for his death?」Erik turned to face the hero, his expression still appeared stoic.

「Ha, no. That’s not it.」Amber denied.「Maybe it was your blade that pierced his body, but it was him who chose to end his life… I’m not some hero would indiscriminately target any demihuman so why should I try to kill you here?」

「... Because a Great Demon Lord would automatically be an enemy of the Astrals and since I serve under a Great Demon Lord, it would not be farfetched to think a hero like you, a representative and tool of the Astrals, would seek to eliminate me.」Erik reasoned.

「That may be true.」admitted Amber.「That is, if I think of myself as a tool that serves the Astrals.」

「Hoh?」

「I don’t blindly worship them. Having personally seen how the Astrals would turn blind eyes to the atrocities committed by those who serve them, I’m not too fond of following their commands without questions.」Amber answered.「As a hero, my main job is merely to serve humanity.」

「Such a heretical view. Are you sure that you’re even a hero?」Erik smirked.

「Without a doubt.」

「If that’s the case, then why are you waiting around for 7 days?」Erik asked.

「She’s waiting to give you this.」Floria walked up to the pair, carrying a rather large item wrapped up in white cloth.

「That’s…」

「It’s Thomas’ weapon.」said Amber.

「The Harpoon?」

「Yes.」Amber nodded.「He wanted you to have it.」

「Hahaha!」Erik laughed.「Why would I take a weapon of someone I hated the most in this world?」

「Because it’s also the weapon of your adopted father.」answered Amber before standing up. 「Floria, you can just leave it there. We have waited around to give it to him, it’s not up to us whether he would take it with him or not.」

「Where are you going?」Erik asked.

「I’ve been waiting around to fulfill my promise with a friend. Now that it’s done, I’ll resume my duty.」Amber answered before walking away.「If you don’t want the weapon, you can leave it by his grave. But answer me this: Do you really still hate him, or is the hatred you felt toward him just misplaced?」

「What?」Erik frowned.

「Why are you really here?」Amber turned around and asked.「To visit your adopted mother and sister’s graves? The graves that you have neglected for more than a decade? Or is it because this would be Thomas’ final resting place and you just want to face him one last time?... Only you can answer that question, Erik, adopted son of Thomas and Helena Edinson. 」

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Erik sat there, by the cliff as the sun finally set beyond the horizon. Up in the sky, a pair of seabirds glided down to their nest on the cliff while the waves clashed upon the rocks below. The demihuman poured alcohol into his cup, before pouring the remaining portion down onto the ground next to Thomas’ grave.

「We’ve never done this before… but here’s to our first and last drink together, you fucking old man.」

=========

I'm thinking of killing off Kibadios' harem members (for real) :3 Probably will post a poll on it in the future (since I just want what others may think about the matter.) Result of the poll may or may not influence my final decision but regardless, I won't reveal what I decide since it's a huge spoiler.

Also, you adorable *cough*sick*cough* people overwhelmingly voted for the 10th member to be a trap so a trap he will be!! lol Just last few weeks, I realize by choosing 10, the number of harem members would equal the Strawhat crews lol. And since the straw hat may gain 1 more member (I won't spoil it for you,) so if that 11th member join Luffy, I'll make sure Kibadios to have 11 members in his harem total (and whether some of them may die in the future or not, I can't promise lol)

Chapter 116: Poll about future of some harem members

Okay, you know how Maruyama created a poll and ask the Overlord readers whether to kill off Arche and when people voted to kill her off, he did in the light novel?

Similar to that, I just want to see what people think about this idea. Unlike him, I won't be following whatever option has the most votes. I will decide their fates on my own some time in the future and since I mostly improvise as I write, trust me when I say I really don't know whether any of the harem members would be killed off or not.

Anyways, vote here (up to 40 votes since I'm using the free version):

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/37DY2KK

 

==============

Updated at later date:
POLL CLOSES. In case you're interest how ppl vote:

And I have also decided 100% what will happen to them. :3

 

 

SNEAK PEEK OF THE NEXT CHAPTER:

R18

R18

R18

R18

R18

R18

R18

R18

R18

 

 

It may be taking a while for next chapter to be released since I was ambitious and I also commissioned the same artist to draw additional scenes with Kibadios x Ryuu and Ryan, but the deadline for that commission is like a month away. Hopefully it'll be delivered before the deadline so I can start writing the porn chapter (and it'd be the last porn chapter for a foreseeable future lol)

 

Chapter 117: The Harem time (Part1_PG13)

「Welcome back, Kibadios sama.」Haden bowed as he greeted the hybrid, along with Ryan and Rowan, who had just come back from visiting the new Queen of Shilna.「So, how was your meeting with Yllaner sama, Ryan dono?」The former adventurer noticed how the hero’s face was brimming with excitement, unlike the depressing air he was usually giving off before Rowan was found.

「It was great!!!」Ryan exclaimed.「I even got to touch her stomach to feel my nephew… or niece? But my bet is that it’s a boy. It’s an uncle’s tuition, you know?」

「You’re imagining things, Ryan.」Kibadios let out a weary smile since he had to listen to Ryan’s excited speculations all the way from the「There was barely even a bump for you to feel anything, let alone knowing the sex of the child.」

「I’m not joking, Kibadios sama!」Ryan turned to the hybrid, pouting.「I just know. There was definitely a connection between me and the child… I bet he’ll grow up to be a strong and handsome man, just like nii chan! Maybe this uncle Ryan can even teach him a fighting move or two.」

「Uncle Ryan huh? That just makes you sound so old, Ryan chan.」smiled Maia. The girl, along with Ryuu and Yuusei, were all staying back at the guest house.「How about you, Rowan chan? How was your meeting with the prin… queen? For the last month, she has been so worried about you to the point that she authorized more than a dozen first class scouts to search for any traces that you might have left behind.」

「Yeah… I felt bad knowing that she spent such effort to find me, thinking that I was in some grave danger while I merely lost my memory and just lived peacefully outside the forest.」Rowan scratched his head. Since Kibadios did not tell Yllaner about the confrontation between Adela and him, the princess was led to believe the healer was caught in an ambush by Desmond’s hired men.

「But all ends well.」Kibadios reassured the healer.「She wasn’t mad at you, she’s only glad that you came back unharmed. Little did she know that you’ve only been so mesmerized by the farm girl’s big breasts that you temporarily forget about your master.」Teased the hybrid.

「What? No, that’s not it, Kibadios sama! I swearrr!!」Rowan was flustered.

「Are you sure that you did not have a slightest feeling for her even once during the time you lost your memory? Normally, any guy would kill to be living with a girl like that.」Kibadios pressed his healer.

「Master, you should stop teasing Senpai like that! You know Rowan senpai’s only loyal to you and you alone.」Ryuu uncharacteristically spoke up against his master before protectively latching onto Rowan.

Hoh? Did the one person who has always been idolizing and agreeing with me just take Rowan’s side? Kibadios raised his eyebrows in amusement.

「Yeah」「Yeah」Both Ryan and Maia agreed. Even Yuusei was nodding his head in agreement.

「I know, I know.」Kibadios quickly relented before walking up to Rowan and pulled him in for a deep, wet kiss. 「I was just kidding, my little healer. Though, I’m actually curious: did you really not have a crush on that beautiful girl?」

「Toward Ava dono? No, of course not.」denied Rowan.「I mean, I think she was nice, but that’s all the impression I had on her.」

「Poor little girl. Even though it was so obvious that she fancied you.」Kibadios seemed rather happy.

「Ah, you’re back, Kibadios? Yue and Ren sama aren’t back yet right?」Ruek stuck her head out from the curtains that separate the hallway leading to the inner bedrooms of the guesthouse from the living room they were in.

「No, they’re still with Yllaner to discuss procedures regarding how to choose their successor to the position of High Shaman of the forest, now that they’ll be leaving the forest and coming with me. They said they’ll be back later tonight.」Kibadios replied.「But what are you doing inside the house anyways? You’re supposed to hide in the woods. It’ll be problematic if the twins see you. I don’t know if I can ever explain to Yllaner how a dead member of her tribe is now occupying a homunculus body.」

「I know they’re not here, that’s why I stayed inside the house. You can’t expect me to hide in the woods forever, can you?」

「Why not? Isn’t “wood” already in the name of your race?」Kibadios smirked.

「Ha, very funny.」Reuk shook her head.

「What are those papers you’re holding onto?」Kibadios noticed the stack of paper in the homunculus’ hand.

「Oh, these? They’re my products of boredom. Since I have nothing else to do, I’m trying to redraw all the manga that I have read from your memories.」Reuk seemed proud of herself as she showed off the manga pages to the group.

「Ah yeah. Reuk showed me her works before. She's a rather talented artist.」Haden nodded. 「Though, I have never seen arts being drawn in such medium before.」

「Those are called manga.」explained Kibadios. 「I used to have a skill that allowed me to replicate those manga from memories, much like Rimuru, but I don’t have it in this current reincarnation.」

… Who’s Rimuru? Everyone aside from Reuk was wondering the same question, though they figured the answer was not that important.

「No no no. That’s no fun. Another reason why I’m redrawing them from scratch is to practice making manga on my own.」said the former elven archer. 「I have decided: screw being an adventurer. I will be the first ever mangaka in this world!」

「... Fucking weeb.」Kibadios sighed.

「Hmm… No matter how hard I try, I could never get used to the idea that it’s Reuk kun who possesses that body now.」Rowan wearily studied Reuk from top to bottom, for what seemed like the 100th time. Not that Kibadios could fault him, since the last time he was facing the homunculus body, its former owner was ordering Ryan to kill him.「... But I thought you told us that  it’s impossible to resurrect anyone who has died, Kibadios sama? How come you were able to bring Reuk back?」

「I’m glad you asked, Rowan. Most people thought the fact that I could bring back Reuk means the author of our story has made a huge plot hole but let me explain to you, the concept of souls in this world.」Kibadios pulled a Gintama and broke the 4th wall. 「Khet, Sah, Ren, Ba, Ka, Ib, Shut, and last but not least, Sekhem. Do you know what those words are?」

All the people in the room looked at one another, sharing the same blank look. Even Ryuu was unfamiliar with the terms that Kibadios had just said. Though it was Haden who spoke up 「Khet, I think, is the physical body… and Sah… I think, was the “name”?」

「First guess was correct. Second, not so much. How did you know?」

「... My fiance used to serve Freya as her mortal servant so I have heard a bit about how souls work, given how the Astrals tend to transfer souls and sometimes bodies of “World Travelers” here to serve as heroes and act as their representatives.」explained the former adventurer, a hint of irritation could be felt in his tone.

「I see. Anyways, Khet indeed means “physical body”, Sah is the “Spiritual body”, Ren is the “identity”, Ba the “personality”, Ka is the “vital essence” or “life force”, Ib is the literal “heart”, Shut is the “shadow”, and Sekhem, the “power.”」Kibadios explained. 「They’re the fundamental essence of what makes a person a person. In other words, they’re parts of our souls. When the Astrals would inevitably perform the Harvest and purge the world, what they are after, or harvesting, are the Sah and Sekhem of each of us. When we use potion to recover our fatigue and injuries, it is Ka that we are trying to restore. Whenever you experience a feeling, that is thanks to your Ib. Everything that you experience, ever since you were an infant, up to the moment right before your death, is considered your Shadow, or Shut. Even your name, or Ren,  holds a strange power over you as a person. Each of those essences makes up our real self. As a reincarnator, who remembers all my past, the me standing here, my soul that exists in this very moment, is not the same as the soul I had when I was Zaeryn, for my body or Khet and my identity or Ren are not the same, considering how I was a Tengu then and an ogre-incubus hybrid now. All of that caused my Ba, or personality to slightly change as well.」Kibadios realized he had started to lose his audience.「What I meant to say, is that once a person die, even if their physical body or Khet, is kept intact and their spiritual body or Sah is trapped or still lingering around, all other parts of their souls would have instantly dissipated, making resurrecting someone from the death an impossible task.」Kibadios looked at Rowan before continuing… Unless, that person possesses the power over the fabric of time itself. 「But for Reuk, who I devoured whole using my skill, absorbing him inside myself, I was able to “resurrect” him since when I absorbed him into my body, I absorbed everything that made up his “soul”, from Khet to Sekhem.」

「I see.」Maia, along with others in the room, nodded.「But with him being “resurrected” into this homunculus body, does it mean his Khet is not the same?」

「Yeah, in a sense.」agreed Kibadios, before poking Reuk as if she was a strange alien.「That’s why this Reuk standing in front of us can be thought of as a different Reuk that grew up together with Ryan… Same-same, but different, but still same. That’s why I have always adamantly stressed that even if Yllaner is Sylvia’s reincarnation, they’re not the same people.」

「...Kibadios sama, forgive me for asking, but why, unlike Yllaner sama, you still retain your ‘Shadow’ into this life?」 Haden curiously brought up a mysterious detail about the hybrid’s lives.「I get that the first time you reincarnated into this world from Earth, you retain most of your “soul” because of the Astral’s doing… but how come you still possess the same Sah, Shut, and Sekhem in your second and third reincarnation?」

「Good question. I have no idea.」Kibadios shook his head.「... Though… I have some hypotheses. I guess we will find out the answer in the future.」

「Wait a minute, Kibadios.」Ryan seemed to recall something. 「If our souls are made up of those 7 essences, does it mean when Rowan chan lost his memory, he lost part of his soul?」

「You can say that. The Rowan living together with that busty farmer girl is not the same Rowan standing in front of us right now.」Kibadios nodded.

「Master, I was wondering…」This time it was Rowan who spoke up.「What would you do had my memory not come back?」

「Ah, if that’s the case…」Kibadios grinned lustfully. Before continuing his answer, he leapt toward the unsuspecting healer, then sensually wrapped his arms around the teenager, slid his hands inside Rowan’s loose pants and squeezed on the teenager’s firm, round ass. With their hardening cocks grinding against one another in a warm embrace while his ass being toyed around by his master, Rowan let out a brief soft moaning sound.「then I’d have fucked you over and over again. No matter how you would resist, I won’t stop until I tamed you into a docile slave like when I first met you. After all, you’re my property, Rowan.」

「That’s reassuring, Master.」Rowan licked his lip, his cock twitched like crazy as he imagined how his master would have ravaged his ass.「I was afraid you would abandon me.」

Man, I was trying to scare him… This is totally not the reaction I was expecting . Kibadios thought to himself.「You’re all excited, Rowan chan. When did you turn into such a cute slut?」

「You can’t blame Rowan chan, Master.」Maia came to the healer’s defense.「It’s been more than a month since he experienced your intense fuck. I’m sure he’s refraining himself from jumping you right now, especially since you did not fuck him last night but just held him as he slept.」

「He was all exhausted yesterday, that’s not my fault. I promise tonight, I’ll do all of you… and especially Rowan chan. I won’t let him sleep even for a minute.」Kibadios grinned. 「But that means I gotta stuff my stomach now and replenish my energy. I’ve never tried fucking all 7 people at a time before.」

… But you have been doing all 6 of your harem at a time this past month . Reuk thought to herself. As if 1 more would make such a difference.  

「I’ll prepare a meal for you right now, Master.」Said Maia.

「Yuusei helps Maia nee.」The mutant hybrid volunteered.

「Thanks, Yuu chan!」

「Ahhh, come with me, Haden. If we continue to stay here, we’d be like the…」The former elf counted the number of people in Kibadios’ harem on his fingers before continue.「...9th and 10th wheel. You can help me finishing these pages.」

「Are you sure you’re not just jealous of Kibadios sama, Reuk?」Haden gently smiled at her.

「... Only in the sense that he got to have 2 girls all to himself, one is the beautiful Maia while the other is Yue sama, no less.」Reuk admitted before walking away.「I really don’t care for the guys in his harem, I don’t swing that way.」

「Even when your body is now of a girl?」Haden curiously asked.

「Yeah… after all, all other essences of my souls are still the same.」

Notes:

The porn part will skip Kibadios x Yue/Maia and Ryuu since the last porn scene was with Ryuu already and I have already commissioned/received a R18 scene with kibadios x Yue/Maia so I'll reserve that pair for later porn.
The next chapter's release date will depend on when I receive the illustration of Kibadios x Ryan/Yuusei. At most a month from now.

Chapter 118: The Harem time (Part2_R18)

「Let’s see…」Kibadios sat on the bed, deep in thought, studying the 5 naked individuals standing right in front of him without a single piece of clothing on their bodies.「I’m going to start with Maia, Yue and Ryuu chan. 」Kibadios turned to the other two, who were standing next to one another.「Rowan and Ren chan, you two have to wait for a bit. Since you two have not really spent time together, now is a good time to get “acquainted”... Rowan, Don’t overdo it and scare our Ren, got it? 」

「Of course, Kibadios sama!」Rowan excitedly agreed, his cock twitched in anticipation of what’s coming next.

「Good!」Kibadios raised his hand, dark shadows began to emerge from the floor underneath the two ukes.「I hope this cocoon will help move things along! I’ll be right back.」

「Wait, what do you mean?」Ren was going to ask but before he knew it, the shadow had wrapped around him and Rowan, enclosing them inside a large, round space, with thick shadow tentacle encroached closer to his naked body.「Wait, damn it, you perverted hybrid!... Kibadios!!!」

「... That is?」Yue hesitantly asked.

「It’s just my shadow. Your brother and Rowan are trapped in there,  being edged and pleasured by countless tentacles as a warm up.」The hybrid answered before pulling the elven princess toward him for a quick embrace.「Don’t worry about him.」Kibadios grabbed both her cheeks and held her face in place.「You should focus only on me now, Yue, for you’re mine to enjoy.」

「... You’re right, Kibadios sama.」The girl smiled, though to the hybrid, her expression still seemed devoid of any emotion as usual.

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「Master, we’re back!」The door to Kibadios’ chamber swung open as Ryan and Yuusei excitedly walked in. 「Did you start without us, Master?」The hero scanned the room, which was now filled with sweat and bodily fluid.

「Yeah… I just finished with Yue, Maia, and Ryuu.」Kibadios turned to look at the three barely conscious harem members, who lay defeated on the bed soaking in his thick layer of semen.「How’s the training session?」

「It was great as usual.」Answered Ryan. The hero and Yuusei had promised to have a late night sparring contest with Yllaner’s royal guards a few days back, something that they both almost forgot before Maia reminded them just half an hour before they were supposed to meet with the guards. 「... But what’s with that shadowy cocoon?」

「Oh, Rowan and Ren are getting to know one another.」Kibadios answered, though his mouth was soon shut with a kiss from Yuusei. Unlike Ryan, the quiet mutant hybrid had cared for nothing but gone straight to greet his master with his mouth.

「Yuusei chan, I think we should take a shower first before getting in bed with Master.」Ryan pointed out how both of them were covered with sweat after the training session.

「That’s fine.」Kibadios dismissed.「I don’t mind.」The hybrid broke the kiss, then traced his mouth down Yuusei’s neck and started to lick away his sweat. The sensual feeling of his master’s tongue moving around his neck caused the mutant’s body to shake in anticipation while his cock began to stand up, forming a visible tent in his trouser.

「Yuusei …wants… Master’s cock!」The mutant panted.

「And don’t forget about me, master!」Ryan leaned against Kibadios’ right side while guiding Kibadios’ rough hand onto his similarly rock hard cock inside his pants.

「Of course not!」Kibadios grinned, then tossed both the boys down onto the waiting bed, with Ryan towering on top of Yuusei. The hybrid’s hands skillfully unbuttoned their pants, pulled them off, and threw them onto the ground before he stopped for a moment, admiring the unobstructed view right in front of him. With the bright moonlight shone through the glass window, illuminated the delicious looking pair laying defenselessly, Kibadios slowly licked his lips while leering down at his willing slaves’ twitching assholes. Without their pants covering their lower halves, their rock hard, precum leaking cocks, along with two pairs of full round balls, were now pressing against one another. 

「Master… Pleaseeee~」

「Don’t worry, I’ll pound you in no time.」Kibadios reassured Ryan.「But I’ll take care of Yuusei chan first. You’re his senpai, you should be able to patiently wait for a bit, right?」The hybrid quickly dipped his cock tip in and out of the mutant’s asshole, teasing him for a few seconds. 

「... Yes, master.」Ryan pouted in disappointment. 

「Haaaa」was all the sounds that Yuusei could make. Kibadios could see the mutant’s nipples were now also fully erected underneath his shirt.

「I’m going in~」Kibadios grinned widely before thrusting his thick cock inside Yuusei, sending a jolt of pleasure coursing through the boy’s oversensitive body. The mutant instinctively grabbed tightly onto the back of his senpai, his cock ground hard against the hero’s as his master continued to pump his own cock in and out of the boy’s asshole. With each thrust, Kibadios made sure to press hard against the mutant’s prostate, causing his inner wall to react and constrict, wrapped tightly around his master’s cock

「Haaaaa」Yuusei moaned in pleasure. 

「Your turn will come soon, okay,  Ryan chan?」Kibadios leaned down to whisper in the hero’s ear while his hands crept up underneath the hero’s shirt and played with his nipples. 

「This…haa… sensation…」Ryan tried to make his sentence coherent.「Even though… master’s cock has yet to fuck me…」the hero continued. 「But it feels like… your cock is inside meeee!!!」Being charged with an intense lust and his senses heightened, the hero was now feeling every thrust his master made inside Yuusei as if his own mind and the mutant had fused into one.

「Is that so? I didn’t even need to resort to my tentacle to fuck you both at once」Kibadios was amused.

「Ryan nii…」Yuusei called out before pulling the hero down for a passionate, breathless kiss. Their tongues danced around one another as their saliva was mixed around, all the while experiencing their master’s thick cock assaulting their gaping asshole.

「Let’s see if I can make you two cumming at the same time!!!」Kibadios excitedly declared.

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「Haaa~」Ren moaned loudly as a dozen shadow tentacles wrapped around his oversensitive bodies.「That… haaa… perverted hybrid…」His cock has been continuously massaged by a slimy dark tentacle that warmly wrapped around its thick shaft while a smaller shadowy thread, which has been blocking his cock slit and preventing the former elven prince from ejaculating, had started to penetrate his small urethra. The foreign sensation, a mix of intense pleasure and pain, caused Ren’s body to shake uncontrollably. 「Aaaahhhh… Hiiyyaaaa… How long has it been??? Can heeeee… just … come over and fuck…. Meeeee… instead of tormenting me… haaaa… with this perverted cocoon?」

「Don’t be hasty, Ren chan!」Rowan, similarly to the elf, was completely naked and coated in a slimy fluid secreted by Kibadios’ shadowy cocoon. Since he was ordered to “get acquantainted” with the pink haired elf, the healer has been playing and sucking on Ren’s perky nipples while arching his ass out, allowing a thick tentacle to play with his own asshole. 「I know you want to have a taste of our master’s cock, but we still have to wait for our turn.」Rowan bit down into Ren’s nipple.

「Haaa…  Stop it!」Ren protested, though he knew the healer would never listen to him. After all, the teenager was merely following their master’s order. 「You… know that’s not… what I mean.」

「I know, Ren chan.」Rowan smiled before standing up to face his elven harem brother and gave him a hug, allowing their nipples and cock to press against one another.「But sooner or later, you will fall for our master, both body and soul. After all, we belong to Master.」

「You…」Ren wanted to say something, to scream back at the seemingly brainwashed teenager in front of him, to deny that not in a million years would a noble elven prince like him would fall for such a perverted person. Yet, a part of him understood what the healer was talking about since for weeks now, his own body has begun to change after having been fucked by the hybrid senselessly every night. His body started to ache for the hybrid’s soft, sensual touch. His asshole would start to twitch at the very moment he recognized the hybrid’s faint musky scent. His arms would subconsciously wrap around the hybrid’s broad shoulder as his hole being pounded by the hybrid’s thick cock. It was not just his body, but his heart had started to react to the hybrid’s charismatic charms. 

「What you got there?」Ren recalled the night from just last week, when he caught the hybrid returning late to the guest house. 

「Something I think you and Yue would like.」Kibadios grinned.

「Yue’s tired so she went to sleep early. She’s staying with Maia tonight.」The elf scowled, not believing in his Master’s words.

「What a shame. Well, at least you’re here.」The hybrid released the small shadow barrier around his hand, setting dozens of fireflies free inside the room, with each fluorescing different colors of the rainbow. Ren’s eyes widened in astonishment, causing his scowling face to fade and quickly be replaced with a happy smile. 

「It’s not easy to catch all 7 types of fireflies during the winter time… How did you do it?」Ren curiously asked.

「Sorry, trade secret!」Kibadios grinned, not wishing to reveal to the tsundere elf that it was merely a coincidence that he just happened to stumble upon their gathering.

「... How did you know we love fireflies?」Ren suddenly realized this was not a random coincidence. 

「Weren’t the both of you mesmerized by them during Yllaner and Kyles’ ceremony?」Kibadios asked. 「You twins are just like Faye.」

「... So, you even know our ancestor that intimately?」Ren noticed.

「Maybe?」Kibadios whistled.

「Haaaaa」A tight squeeze on his cock brought the pink haired elf back from the reminiscence.

「Sorry, that takes a while.」Kibadios’ hands broke open the shadowy cocoon, setting both Ren and Rowan free from the tentacles. Since both of the teenagers (or at least teenage-looking in case of Ren) were exhausted from being assaulted by the hybrid’s tentacle, the two quickly fell onto the floor, panting. With a quick glance, Ren could see his sister lying exhausted next to Maia, their breasts leaned against one another. All the other harem members, from Yuusei to Ryuu, were similarly passing out on the large bed like Yue, their holes overflowing with Kibadios’ cum.「Now it’s your turn. I hope you two have gotten closer to each other, having both experienced the same pleasure together.」Kibadios smirked. 

「I sure hope so, Master.」Rowan timidly nodded. 

「... Just get this over with.」Ren defiantly responded, though his twitching cock and hole would certainly disagree with the elf’s tone.

「I see.」Kibadios leaned back, then signaled them both to come to him. 「Would you two crawl over here and suck my cock clean before we start our main course?」

「Youu…」Ren wanted to protest, but he found his body had obediently followed Kibadios’ order, much like Rowan next to him. Soon, they were both kneeling right in front of him, with Ren on his left while Rowan on his right. Without further instruction, the tranced-like healer, with a smile on his face and heart shapes in his eyes, eagerly stuck his tongue out and dutifully slurped away his Master’s leftover cum. Ren did not want to act in such submissive behavior, but the moment Kibadios’ scent reached his nose, a wave of pleasure suddenly coursed through his body while his mouth started to salivate. Having left with no other choice, the former elven prince slowly moved his mouth closer to his master’s cock. The pink haired elf took in a deep breath, allowing him to enjoy the lusty smell before his tongue licked away Kibadios’s sweat and cum. The two, kneeling on either side of their master’s fully erected cock, continued to lick and suck on it for a good ten minutes, fully cleaning away any traces of leftover cum.

「Good job!」Kibadios’ hand reached out to pat both their heads. Although Ren reacted with such a disdainful look on his face, somehow, against his wish, his heart raced with joy as the hybrid continued to ruffle his hair lovingly. Rowan, though, enjoyed every single second of this moment, for it has been so long since he got to service his beloved master’s cock. If there was ever a complaint, it would be that he had to share his master’s cock with another of his harem brothers. Though, it did not bother him that much since he knew it was his master’s wish that they both serve him together. 

「... Kibadios sama, I know this may be selfish of me, but can I have more time with your cock?」The kneeling Rowan looked up at his master with pleading eyes.「It’s just been so long since I got to suck it like this.」The healer leaned his face against the hybrid’s throbbing cock.

「I have no complaints there.」Kibadios nodded. 

「Thank you, Master!」Rowan was visibly excited as he eagerly opened his mouth and skillfully took Kibadios' entire cock down his throat before his head bobbed back and forth, trying to pump Kibadios’ cum into his waiting stomach without a single gag reflex while his hands were playing around with his master’s balls.

「Now, Ren chan!」Kibadios pulled the exhausted elf up, aligning the elf’s pink, trembling nipples to his mouth before creating a shadow o'ring around the elf’s cock, preventing him from cumming.「Until Rowan chan makes me cum, I’ll play with you. And as usual, you’re not allowed to cum until you beg me to shoot my load in your ass.」One of his hands played with the elf’s twitching hole in the back.

「... Fine!! Just get this over with.」Ren defiantly acknowledged. The elf has been experiencing foreplay like this, night after night so he knew what to expect. Though, to his surprise, what had normally lasted only ten minutes or so, now was lasting almost half an hour since Kibadios did not once climax. Around fifteen minutes into the act, the elf finally realized his mistake as the hybrid’s hand kept pumping the elf’s uncut cock, edging him closer and closer to climax but since the cock ring was still there, Ren was unable to release his frustration. While his cock was subjected to a torturous experience, his oversensitive nipples fared no better since the hybrid kept on sucking, biting and pulling on them. The intense pleasure seemed to have turned his brain into mush.

「Kibadios… please… let me cum…」Ren begged after being unable to endure the pleasure.

「Not yet, my little elf chan.」Kibadios teased, pulling him in for a kiss before continuing. 「I have yet to cum.」

「... Please, Kibadios… samaaa」panted Ren.

「... Fine. Man, I should stop being such a pushover.」said Kibadios sarcastically. With left hand, the hybrid violently grabbed onto Rowan’s hair to keep his head in place before thrusting his cock deep down to the back of the healer’s throat and finally shooting an uninterrupted stream of his thick cum down into Rowan’s stomach. At the same time, he released the o-ring that blocked Ren from cumming, allowing the elf to climax, ejaculating his cum all over the cum and sweat soaked bed.

「Sank yu fo yor cum, mastaaa…」Rowan smiled as his master’ cum overflowed his mouth and dripped down onto the ground.

「Now, both of you, onto the bed. Time for the next round.」Kibadios threw Ren and Rowan crashing onto the soft mattress. The elf was half unconscious, laying there motionless while the healer was all excited, his ass raised up into the air, his hands voluntarily spreading his asscheek apart, allowing his master unrestricted access to his tiny gaping hole.

「Please, Kibadios, fuck me first!」Rowan unashamedly begged.「My hole has been aching for your cock all this time.」

「Of course, my cute Rowan.」Like a hungry predator, Kibadios jumped toward the waiting healer. His cock, although had just cummed moments ago, was now standing up as thick and big as it has ever been. The humongous rod easily thrust passed Rowan’s entrance and deep inside the teenager’s body. The extreme familiar pleasurable sensation took over the healer’s body, causing him to shake in excitement. His body instinctively arched, raising his ass up even higher to make it easier for his master to thrust his cock deep inside him. With each slight movement, Kibadios’ rod ground against the healer’s sensitive inner flesh, causing him to cum repeatedly onto the bed.

「Mmasssstaaaaa…. Pleaseeee fuccckkk meeee… I miss your cockkkk….AHHHHH I MISSSS YOUU SOOO MUCHHHHH… 」Rowan cried in happiness as Kibadios played with his nipples. 

「...」Kibadios suddenly stopped for a moment.

「Master? What’s wrong?」Rowan concerningly asked.

「I’m gonna turn around, Rowan.」said Kibadios.
「Master?」Rowan was confused. He was now laying on his back, his naked body and face looked up onto the sweating hybrid who was on top of him.「Was my position not making you feel good?」The healer worryingly asked.

「... It’s not that.」Kibadios smiled.「... This way, I get to look at your face as I fuck you.」

「Master!!!」Rowan emotionally cried out, wrapping his arms around the hybrid’s neck and pulling him down for a deep kiss. Kibadios quickly resumed his pace, pumping his cock deep inside the healer as they both continued to swirl their tongues against one another. Once Kibadios finally cummed inside Rowan after fucking him for almost twenty minutes, the hybrid slowly pulled his cock out. Rowan wanted more, but he knew his master’s attention would now switch to the exhausted, naked elf laying next to them. 

「It’s your turn, Ren chan. I did not forget you.」Kibadios smiled.

「... I rather you did.」Said Ren, though a small part of him was slightly excited for what’s coming next.

As Kibadios lifted the elven prince’s legs up and fucked him mercilessly, Rowan quietly lied next to them with a content look on his face, knowing that his Master would again pay attention to him after giving his harem brother a good fuck. After all, his master did promise to not let him sleep for even a minute. Rowan licked his lips in anticipation. 

「Remember, Ren chan. I will not let you cum until you beg me… nicely.」Kibadios reminded Ren.

「... Kibadios… sama… please… fuck me!! I need your cock!」The elf reluctantly pleaded.

「Much obliged!」Grinned Kibadios.

 

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Once Kibadios finally released his final cumshot inside Rowan’s well-fucked asshole, the sun has begun to rise. Kibadios decided to rest his cock inside the healer’s hole, using it as a cocksheath as he laid on his side, hugging the barely conscious Rowan.

「I’m just curious, Rowan.」Kibadios softly spoke while his hands played with the healer’s nipples. 「Why did the girl called you “Kibadios”?」

「... It’s a bit embarrassing…」Rowan answered, his face was a bit red.「It’s because according to her, Kibadios is the first name that I spoke after I woke up. She just assumed that was my name and for my part, even though I had amnesia, my heart always felt at peace when I heard your name so somehow, I thought that was really my name.」

「...」Kibadios hugged the healer a bit tighter as his cock twitched inside the healer’s asshole. 「I’m sorry I did not come for you sooner, Rowan.」

「What are you talking about, Kibadios sama. It’s my fault for losing my memory. I promised to be with you until the end, yet, I almost abandoned you just because I could not remember you… I should be the one who’s sorry.」

「Regardless, you’re finally with me now.」Kibadios sniffed Rowan’s hair then gave him a slight kiss on his head. 「Just rest for now.」

「Yes, you too, Master!」Rowan contentedly smiled. 

… I wonder if you’re not a vessel for the <Primordial Seed of Time>, would I have allowed you to stay with that girl? Would I finally release you from my grasp and let you live the life of a Rune Factory protagonist? Kibadios thought as he embraced Rowan. Or am I a selfish asshole who would never let you be free… Promise to be with me until the end, huh? What would be my end, then…? 

 

 

Artist: よるげ

Pixiv ID: 74328649

He has a very reasonable rate and his work is delicious as ever (as you can see in the scenes below.) I really recommend him.

 

R18

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R18

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R18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alternative images for Ryan/Yuusei (w/ Dialogue). They are saying things similar to what I wrote in the story haha:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

Sorry this took so long. I just received the illustrations of Yuusei and Ryan like hours ago. Since I didn't write the scene and allowed the artist complete freedom on how to draw them, I had to wait until they delivered me the scenes so I can write it according to their drawings lol.

THERE WON'T BE CHAPTERS DEDICATED TO PORN LIKE THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME SINCE I WILL BE FOCUSING ON WRITING ME THESIS AND GRADUATING. There will be chapters coming out though but the next big R18 update would most likely be the side story comic I commissioned

Speaking of Rune Factory, just a few months ago, i learned that in rune factory 5, you can marry same sex partner. Man, once im done with school, ill play the shit out of that game lol

Chapter 119: Anouncement

I completely overestimate my ability to juggle writing my thesis, internship, and writing this story lol. Turns out my internship is very demanding/intense (i shouldve expected that lol) so i will completely stop writing this story until the end of November (so 3 monfhs hiatus)
Sorryyy!!!

Chapter 120

Notes:

I need to release my stress hence I spent some time writing this chapter lol. Last chapter of Volume 3.5 (funny I called it 3.5 but in truth, I think it's as long as volume 1 lol)
This conclude the first "saga" (volume 1+2+3+3.5). The first saga can be thought of as a really big introduction.
Next saga incoming, starting some time in December.

「Yo boss! You’re home?」Uri, the red head vice captain, barged in the guest house in the early hours of the morning, all excited since he learned that Kibadios had found the one he was looking for, which meant they could finally set out for Monas Kye. Although he was expecting some response, greeting him was complete silence as he screened the guest room before him.「Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping. It’s already 9 am. How lazy are you, danchou?」The vice captain aggressively made his way through the inner hallway toward the master bedroom, though a strange scent began to slow him down. The more the scent penetrated his nose, the more dizzy he became, his cock started to twitch slightly under his pants. 「... This is… Don’t tell me…」

「What’s up, Uri?」The door to the master bedroom swung open as the half naked Kibadios slowly walked out from the room. Wearing only his pants, his bare upper body was fully exposed, filled with tons of hickies and scratch marks on his back. Since he has yet taken shower, his dried cum, mixed with fluids from his harem, seemingly coated his whole body.「... Are you okay?」The hybrid asked since the vice captain was now weakly leaning against the wall, sweats covered his red beet face.「What’s with the blushing face? You’re a hybrid human-incubus right? So you should be getting used to seeing people half naked people…」

「Stay there, Danchou! Don’t come near me!」Uri cried out, before biting down his own arm to the point of bleeding in order for him to break out of the trance state he was in.「... Why… does it have to be you! What a hassle!」Uri hurriedly stepped back away from the hybrid before rushing out of the house without an explanation.

「... What’s with him?」asked Ryuu as he emerged from the room, along with the others.

「Who knows.」shrugged Kibadios.「Anyways, let’s take a bath together.」Kibadios grinned before pulling Maia toward him and effortlessly lifted her up and carried her to the adjacent bathroom like a bride. 

「... We will take one later.」Ren scowled. 

「Nonsense. We have enough room for everyone. Are you disobeying my order, Ren chan?」

「...」

「... Of course not, Kibadios sama.」Yue smiled lightly.「If that’s what you wish for, we will both oblige.」

The morning bath, although would take no more than 5 minutes individually, ended up lasting for more than an hour since Kibadios’ cock has again become “energetic.”

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「Hmm, okay. I have erected a barrier detecting any human movements in a 30 meter radius. This should give us some privacy.」said Kibadios.

「Master, why are we here?」Maia was the first to ask the hybrid after her and the others obediently followed him into the forest after the late breakfast. They all had a hunch that he wanted to discuss his future plan regarding the Astrals, since he specifically commanded both the elven siblings to stay back, but none dared to ask, seeing how serious Kibadios looked.

「Is it about the Astrals?」Reuk asked once both he and Haden (I think I have misspelled his name as “hayden” a few times haha) finally arrived separately to the secluded area deep in the thick wood.

「... Yes.」Kibadios nodded.「Before we set out to Monas Kye, I want to share with you all my intentions regarding the future conflict and the secret history that I learned a while back… I made a mistake of hiding my plans from all of you, forcing Ryan to shoulder all the responsibility and such secrecy almost killed Rowan… I’m sorry for my thoughtlessness.」Kibadios turned to the two teenagers who were both shocked at the vulnerability their Master displayed. For the first time since meeting him, this was the first time they have ever seen their master discarded his confidence and indifference attitude.

「... Kibadios」Reuk muttered. You have really changed .

「Stop blaming yourself, master!」Rowan was the first to speak up. 「This whole ordeal was all my fault. I was simply an idiot that almost foiled your plan.」The healer shot Ryan a sorrowful look. 「and my rash action even forced Ryan chan to attack me, making himself feel miserable for more than a month… I’m sorry, Master… I’m sorry, Ryan chan!」

「No, don’t say that, Rowan chan!」Ryan’s eyes were filled with tears.「You were only trying to fulfill your promise to me back in the Ryuujin cave.」

「Haa」Maia sighed「... Master, have you not realized it?」Maia spoke up with a smile.「Even if all of us here were to lose our lives for you and your cause, we would all gladly accept it.」

「Maia…」

「Maia senpai is right, Master.」It was now Ryuu’s turn to speak up.「Without you… without meeting you, none of us would be standing here right now. Rowan senpai and Maia senpai would probably be dead and their village, destroyed. Ryan senpai would be turned into Desmond’s plaything, just like Haden, experiencing a fate worse than death. With my mind infected with the <Seed of Chaos>, I myself would be mindlessly rampaging across this world even if I was somehow released from my seal. My little kouhai here, Yuusei chan, would most likely be killed by the slavers or angry mobs」Ryuu wrapped his arms around the mutant’s shoulder and pulled him in.

「Yuusei die for Master!」The mutant nodded in agreement.

「Is that so?」Kibadios gave the mutant a warm smile while tenderly ruffled his hair.「If that’s how you really feel, then don’t die, live for me instead, Yuusei chan.」

「Master.」Even the expressionless mutant seemed shocked witnessing his master’s gentleness.

「I’d be lying if I deny ever thinking of you all as simply my tools to use and discard, much like the God Emperor and his Primarchs.」Kibadios looked around.「But now, after having you by my side all this time, I’d be lying if I claim I care not for your lives and well being. You are too important to me.」

「「Kibadios sama!」」The group called out to their shared master in tears.

「I used to think that my reincarnation this time is for the sole purpose of destroying the Astrals no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice…Ha, and don’t get me wrong here 」Kibadios chuckled for a second. 「I’m not trying to defy the Astral because of some noble ideal or because I want to protect this world. After all, I’m no protagonist of a shounen manga. I wanted to destroy them, simply to quench my thirst for vengeance… for my own selfish desire. I was willing to eradicate the majority of lives on Esthar just to achieve my goal, just to mess with the Astral and bring them down once and for all… and I know you may hate me for saying this, but there were times in the past, when I would not hesitate to sacrifice any of you for that. But after having almost lost you three during the fight against the Chaos infected Prime Minister…」Kibadios turned to Rowan, Ryan, and Maia before walking  in front of the healer, gently pinching his soft cheek. 「the brief shock and fear when I learned from Matelus that Aspen almost killed Ryuu… then experiencing the time when I thought I had lost Rowan forever… the regret, the frustration, the feeling of hopelessness… It reminded me of the emotions I felt when I was still Zaeryn 10k years ago, when I was hopelessly watching my family and friends being cut down by the Astral… That was when I realized you all meant more to me than what I convinced myself to believe… I don’t want to lose any of you. I want you all to stay close by my side until the end… or at least, until my end.」

「Kibadios sama! We all possess this mark right?」Ryuu grinned while touching his lower stomach, where the incubus mark located.「This means that we all belong to you… our bodies, our souls, our everything, they all belong you to, Kibadios sama, so of course we will stay with you until the end.」

「Don’t say “the end”, Ryuu chan!」Maia frowned.「It sounds too ominous. It should be “forever,” shouldn’t it?」

「Ah, Maia senpai is right!」Ryuu blinked, realizing his mistake.

As Reuk kept on observing the conversation between Kibadios and his harem in amusement, the former elf could not help but let out a faint chuckle. She could still remember the first few days when she was absorbed into the hybrid, how cold and hateful the hybrid had appeared to her, declaring how Ryan would be forever his slave, how the hero would remain his tool to be used and discard. Granted, Kibadios was correct in declaring that Ryan would remain his, but Reuk bet not in a million years would the hybrid have guessed that he would genuinely care for the hero and others like he did now.

「So, what’s your plan now, Kibadios?」Reuk was the one who asked, since he was looking forward to Kibadios’ answer more than anyone around. 

「...First, let me tell you what Matelus told me a month ago.」Kibadios turned grim before he recounted the meeting with his disciple in the temple at the bottom of the lake. As Kibadios continued to speak, the group could not hide their shock and horror at learning the hidden history of the cursed world they lived in. The history that sounded so ridiculous that had they heard it from someone else other than Kibadios, they would dismiss it as a fantasy story written by a rather unimaginative author with too much time on their hands. The group remained silent, motionless for a while after Kibadios finished speaking, seemingly trying to process what they have just learned: their world is doomed, regardless of whether Kibadios could destroy the Astral or not.

「Originally, I planned to use HaoS to burn this world to ashes once I gain enough power to maintain him in the physical world for the whole duration of the ritual. By doing so, I will be able to kill off the majority of lives living in Esthar, depriving the Astral the ability to harvest their souls. I even got Lance to agree to shelter and protect me during the ritual.」Kibadios explained.「I figure most of those who are living now will be killed off by the Astral anyways once the Harvest starts, so whether dying by my hand or the Astrals, they would all end up with the same fate… If they were killed by me, then, at least, their death would lead to the destruction of the Yggdrasil and Astral’s immortality in the process, allowing me to gain a chance to fight them in a fair battle, killing as many of those self-proclaimed gods as I can before I perish…」Kibadios paused, knowing what he was going to say next would upset his harem.「... and even if I fail and I’m killed in the midst of battle against them, at least, I know they will not be able to regain their immortality ever again and eventually, those Astrals who survive will surely die sooner or later. Then, from the ashes of the old world, those who survive the ritual will continue to live on and rebuild the world, free from the shackles of the Astrals… Sort of like what happens at the end of Ragnarok in Norse Mythology…」

「... But now, if Master carries out the plan successfully…」Rowan spoke up. 「then it would also means the end of the world, since the destruction of Yggdrasil would result in Kaernas’ reawakening.」

「Yes. And according to Matelus, who yearns for the destruction of this world and this cycle of hatred, Kaernas will destroy this very reality we’re in.」Kibadios nodded. 

「... What the hell is this…」Reuk was shaken. 「Are we doomed, unable to do anything but to continue this endless cycle of destruction and rebirth?」

「I didn’t know anything about this…」Ryuu muttered.「... Are you telling me the Astrals and their endless cruelty are actually in the right? They’re actually the protectors that this world needs?」

「... “Right”?」Kibadios raised his eyebrows.「There’s no such thing as right or wrong, Ryuu chan. Everything is subjective. They are only “right” because they have always been the victors in these endless battles between them and those who challenged them.」

「... Kibadios sama.」This time, it was Haden who joined the conversation. 「... Then, have you yet arrived at the answer for this dilemma?」

「Matelus asked the same question. At the time, I did not have it ready for him. But now I have some time to think of what I will do next.」Kibadios paused and looked at Ryuu. 「It may not be the “right” answer, but in truth, I really don’t care. I will do what I want, whether it is “right” or not.」

「What have you decided?」Reuk stared at Kibadios.

「I’ve decided to pull an uno reverse card.」The hybrid grinned ear to ear, though just as usual, none would understand what he meant.

「You don’t mean…」gasped Reuk.

「Yes, since the beginning of time, the Astrals have turned the inhabitants of Esthar into the Yggdrasil’s fertilizers, preventing Kaernas awakening while prolonging their lifespan indefinitely. It may be true that what they do is necessary for the preservation of this world, but it doesn't mean it’s the only option.」Kibadios raised his hand up, sparking a small ember that morphed into the shape of Modun Realm before crushing it.「If fertilizers, as in souls, are always needed to nourish Yggdrasil, then why can’t it be paid by those arrogant Astrals? Why can’t we turn the table on them and harvest their lives instead? That, is my answer!」Kibadios declared.「I will crush those Enneads and turn their realm into nothing but a farm!」The hybrid’s anger seemed to rise as he continued.「I want to see the despair in their eyes as they experience the same fate that they have inflicted upon Esthar… and to this end, I know I can’t do it alone, no matter how strong I think I am. Hence, much like Bojji, I will create my own nation from scratch, building my own base of power before waging the last war against them. A war that will decide, whether Esthar will continue to live as livestock, or will Modun now be finally dragged down from their golden thrones.」

「... But that would only continue the cycle of hatred… even if you achieved your goal, ages from now, maybe some Astrals from the Realm of Modun that resents living under the yolk of Esthar’s oppression, would wage another war and flip the roles between the two realms again… an endless cycle… of war and death, much like the worlds existed during the time of the True Gods.」Reuk logically pointed out the flaw in Kibadios’ plan.

「That… is not my problem.」Kibadios nonchalantly dismissed the concern.「If I succeed in my plan of subjugating the Astrals and eons from now, some Astrals decide to rebel and wage another war to reverse their fortune, then so be it. They have the right to do so, much like how I, now, have the right to challenge the Astrals. After all, “might makes right.” My hatred is directed toward the Enneads and the Astrals who were present 10k years ago, not toward their descendants.You’re probably tired of hearing this, but I’m not some all-powerful shounen protagonists that can resolve all the problems plaguing their stories. There is no “right answer”… only “answer” that prevails in the end. Maybe Matelus’ answer will be it and that in the end, we will be destroyed by the God Killer Kaernas. Maybe the Astral’s answer will continue to be the correct choice, in which Esthar will continue to be enslaved to serve their needs. Maybe my answer will be realized. We will not know until we reach that final moment, won’t we? 」

「...」Haden knelt down. Among all of those surrounding Kibadios, his hatred toward the Astrals was second only to Kibadios.「I will serve you until my end, Kibadios sama.」

「And no matter what you do, Master, you will find all of us standing by your side.」Every single member of his harem also knelt down in front of the hybrid.

「Wow wow wow, peer pressure.」Reuk gave Kibadios a defeated smile before patting her chest.「Fine, count me in as a citizen of your so-called nation, Kibadios. Of all the options we have, I guess yours is the most sensible.」

「Yeah, act like you have a choice.」teased the hybrid.「You do know that you’re standing there in the homunculus body is all thanks to my binding ritual?」

「Can you not ruin my moment!?」complained Reuk.

「Now, Rowan, there’s something else I have to tell you.」Kibadios turned to the “healer.” 「It’s regarding your true power.」

「My power?」Rowan blinked blankly.

Far off in the distance, a butterfly fluttered its wings before shattering into thousands pieces of paper and floating away along the small breeze. 

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.

.

「... Zaeryn…」Yue softly spoke up moments after catching a small piece of paper on her hand.

「...Then it all makes sense now.」Ren sighed.「So… this is why the First built “it” within our Royal Chamber and why all of us with royal blood had to take that vow.」

「Us meeting Kibadios sama… is really fated to happen.」Yue concluded. 

「Yeah… since we’re the last of the royal blood…」Ren nodded. 

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.

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BAMMM!!! 

The hybrid beastman crashed down into the mountain, shattering half of it into rubble as the lone Astral descended down, examining the lifeless body covered in blood.

「If you want to blame someone for your misfortune, blame that so-called sworn brother of yours, Yonko.」The man cracked his neck. Although he had been in a battle that lasted more than half an hour, the man did not have a single scratch on his body.

 

Notes:

The "Christmas gift" is still on schedule, I've received 8 pages now (20pgs in total) :D

Chapter 121: WIP: Amber and Floria

Since I'm not writing, I want to occasionally post something. Here's a work in progress I requested on skeb for Amber and Floria. The artist has complete artistic freedom to draw them however she sees fit. I really like their designs! :D The finished drawing will be posted at later date (haven't received it yet. I stalked the artist's twitter and noticed this WIP post haha)

Fun fact: They were supposed to die during the 2nd volume fighting in the capital lol. I didn't kill them off so now I'll incorporate them in future volumes.

 

I'm helping to fight inflation in the US by not spending my hard earned money in the US but in Japan instead lol

Chapter 122: Bonus: Erik's party

Artist: Mikami (ミカミ)

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@MIKAMI_3up

Pixiv: 176656

 

Are they camping in a Grassland? Does it mean we're going to see them soon? Hmm

 

 

Sneak peek for Christmas comic:

R18

R18

R18

R18

 

 

 

R18

R18

R18

 

I'm pretty sure this will be the expression on your faces when you read the whole comic (at least I hope so lol I spent a ton on this):

 

 

 

 

Chapter 123: Bonus: Regarding that time Kibadios forgets that Ryuu chan is still a dragon despite his humanoid form

I'm trying to make this a thing, in which I would commission artists drawing a day to day scenario about the members of Kibadios' harem (Sorta like Slime dairy series lol)

If you have any scenario that you think would be fun to read as a short comic strip, feel free to suggest it. But then, again, commissioning/requesting more of these is still depending on my financial situation lol, until I ever win a lottery at least.

 

Without further ado (please ignore the grammar lol):

Artist: しゅりお

https://skeb.jp/@elsyuri1

 

 

 

Chapter 124: Volume 4_Prologue: The man named Nobunaga

「Hyaa!!」The kid screamed out, swinging his wooden katana sword upward, splashing the muddy water at the three charging kids, blinding their eyes before the kid himself counter attacked, taking down all three of his enemies at the same time. 「Muahahahahaaaa!! You’re a thousand years early, trying to take me down! Surrender now and I’ll spare…」

Bam!

A heavy blow hit his head from behind, interrupting the kid’s speech. 「Young master, what are you doing here?」The old man angrily asked.

「Hii!」The kid shuddered. 「Jii chan! How did you know I’m here?」

「Shibata dono saw you playing in this field when he was coming into the castle to meet with your father.」The old man answered.「Goodness, you’re Oda Nobunaga, the legitimate first born son of lord Oda Nobuhide, the future lord of Owari. Please act like it.」

「Mehh, that’s boring.」Nobunaga shook his head before coming over to the other three kids to help them stand up.「We only have one life, Masa jii san. Isn’t it better if we live the way we like rather than be forced to do something we don’t want?」

「... Haaa, what did I do wrong?」Hirate Masahide sighed. For his young lord, whose father’s nickname was “Tiger of Owari”, to be called “Fool of Owari” by the people, the old retainer could not help but wonder if he failed as the kid’s educator. 

「So, what did Shibata want with my father?」Nobunaga asked.

「They’re discussing the upcoming conflict with the Saito clan. It seems like the Viper of Mino is making his move.」

「That’s so?」Nobunaga frowned.「Seriously, I don’t know what father is thinking. If I were him, I would try my best to make peace with that old schemer and worry about the Imagawa instead. I know we just recently pushed back their army, but father was unable to press the advantage to unite Owari. Instead, he’s now stirring up things with the Saito… We’re not strong enough to fight multiple fronts like this. Between Saito Dosan and Imagawa Yoshimoto, it’s Yoshimoto that we have to be wary about since it’s obvious that he wants to extend his influence toward the capital and we’re in his way. Granted, Yoshimoto needs to be wary of the Takeda and the Hojo, but if by some miracle, if they ever enter an alliance or temporary non aggression pact, we’ll be screwed… Ahh, when will father ever learn!」The kid shook his head, though his disapproval look quickly turned sadistic.「Well, I guess all the mistakes father commits now, putting our clan at a disadvantage, only means it’d be more interesting for me to clean up the mess we’re in later on. 」

… Young lord… he’s only 9 years old, yet, his strategic mind clearly rivals that of Takeda Shingen or Uesugi Kenshin… But he keeps thinking of the nonstop fighting in Japan as nothing but a board game to satisfy his thirst for excitement. If he keeps acting like a fool like this, he’ll be wasting his potential. Masahide thought to himself.

「Ah, right, did you finally find the thing I asked for?」Nobunaga excitedly asked.

「No, it’s really hard to find one. I heard there are a lot of them in the far off domain of the Otomo, but around here, it’s really rare.」The old man shook his head.

「Tsk… I really want to see that weapon… that so called “gun.”」

.

.

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「Haaaa…」Nobunaga, now in his late teenage years, loudly yawned, breaking the depressing silent atmosphere of the funeral.

「... My lord!!! 」Masahide, fuming with anger, vehemently scolded the youth.「What are you doing? This is your father’s funeral, can’t you mind your manner just this one time? 」

「What’s the point, Jii chan?」Nobunaga slowly stood up before making his way out of the room.「Father’s dead. Whether I sit still, kneeling in front of his coffin for hours or should I yawn and make myself comfortable would not change the fact that he’s passed away. Sitting around here mourning is just a waste of time and effort. Enemies within and without are circling around us like hungry wolves, all jubilant to hear about my father’s passing. Shouldn’t it be wiser for us to prepare for the storm that’s approaching this Owari province?」

「... Young lord, how could you say such thing in front of Nobuhide sama’s body…」Masahide was shaking and watching in horror as the young lord whom he raised as his own simply left the funeral procession, unconcerned for carrying out the last duty of a son to his own father. 

「... Crying and mourning won’t bring him back, Jii chan.」

By the gods… I’ve utterly failed in my duty to raise Lord Nobunaga… I’ve failed you, my Lord. Masahide turned to the wooden coffin where his Lord was laid to rest. If Nobunaga sama continues to act like a deviant, no matter how much of a genius he is, no matter how much talent he has, he will never be able to command the respect of those who serve him… Even if it costs me my life, I will have to correct my mistakes… I have to set the young master on the right course.

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「Jii chan… 」The young lord held the lifeless body of Masahide. The warm, crimson red blood of his caretaker started to drip down his own hands as grief filled his heart, not unlike the moment he learned about his father’s passing.「... Why took such a drastic action like this…」Nobunaga clenched his fist before slowly reaching out to the sheet of paper that Masahide held onto, even in his death. The young lord slowly read the death letter written by the old man, every word echoed in his head. For a young man who was so sure of his action up until now, a sense of regret swept over him the moment he realized his very action had driven his beloved “Jii chan” to his death. 

「... Fine, Jii chan… I will not let your death be in vain.」Nobunaga declared, strangely with a smile on his crying face.「If you want me to wake up from my own fantasy, then I shall do so… I shall show you how I bring this country to its heel. Just watch me, Jii chan…」

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「Nobunaga sama, please, you have to escape from here! They’re breaching in here.」The young retainer panically urged his lord, who calmly swirled the hot cup of tea in front of him. His gaze quickly glanced at the burning castle gate and keeps down below before fixing his sight at the waving flag. Although there was no moonlight since it was just one day past the new moon, with the bright fire burning, the aging Nobunaga could clearly see the markings on the flags, indicating the forces of Akechi behind the attack. 

「... So, it’s that monkey Hashiba who would successfully overthrow my rule.」Nobunaga took a sip from his cup.

「Hideyoshi dono?」Ranmaru was puzzling.「What are you talking about, Nobunaga sama? We’re clearly under attack by that treacherous Akechi!」

「Ha, it would appear so, but that timid and coward man would not dare to launch this attack without someone else backing him up.」Nobunaga shook his head.「I’ve been telling you all these time, right, my cute little Ranmaru, that under me, there are only three people who could ever wish to turn against me and have a small chance of successfully topple my rule: Shibata Katsuie, Hashiba Hideyoshi, or Ieyasu Tokugawa. If Akechi’s rebellion here successfully kill me and my son, who do you think would be in a good position to do something about it? Akechi with his meager forces? Of course not, he didn’t realize this yet but he’ll be hunted down by my retainers and have no chance of winning against their forces. Among the three, Hashiba is the one who could easily take over control.」

「Why Hideyoshi sama?」

「Unlike Shibata and his fierce battle against the Uesugi, I’ve heard reports that his war against the Hojo is reaching a stalemate and there have not been a lot of actions happening at the Kanto plain. It’s not far-fetched to think he has entered a truce with him for some time now. If that’s the case, he can easily turn his force around, hunt down and crush Akechi in attempts to consolidate power and to prove himself as my successor. Ieyasu, though very crafty, possesses much weaker force. After my death, he can not do much but return to his domain to wait and see… Hashiba using Akechi to turn on me would really make sense since I’ve heard the two have been getting along really well recently. That monkey must have whispered something into this idiot’s ear.」

「Please stop talking as if you will die here, my lord. We have to get you to safety!」Ranmaru cried out.

「Exactly, father!!! I have prepared an escape route for you!」Nobutada barged in the room, sword in hand. 

「... Ha, it’s hopeless, son.」Nobunaga stood up and reached out for his sword.「Once Hashiba’s blade has reached me, there’s no way I can dodge it. But strangely, this very moment makes me so excited.」The warlord grinned.「A feeling that I have not experienced in years, not since the Imagawa’s march toward the capital, that’s for sure. To feel this alive, I even tried to manufacture such a predicament for myself when I allowed the Azai to stab me in the back and allied with the Asakura. Haaa.. This, is life!」Nobunaga raised both his arms, signaling Ranmaru to come over and help to dress him in his battle armor.「Ranmaru, Nobutada, how do you feel about joining me in my last battle?」

「Father… Even if it cost me my life,  I will get you to safety.」Said Nobutada

「My lord, no matter if it's this life or the next, you can always count on me to be by your side.」Ranmaru smiled. 

「... I guess, this life of mine wasn’t so boring after all.」Nobunaga said softly. Sorry,  Jii chan, I failed you in the end, but it was a good try right? 

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「Ashura sama…. Ashura sama….Nobunaga sama!!!」The orge poked the headless corpse laid in the middle of a pile of crushed rocks.「So, someone really was able to kill you this time, my lord?」The corpse suddenly turned into dust and scattered away into the blowing wind.

「Yeah!」The hybrid beastman walked up behind the orge.「It has been a while since one of “me” lost in a fight,  hasn’t it, Ran chan?」

「So, do you know who was responsible for your own murder, my lord?」the orge, who was Ranmaru’s reincarnation, curiously asked.

「Believe it or not…」Ashura stopped for a moment, allowing all the dust from his dead corpse to be reabsorbed into his own body, letting him scan through the information that the corpse possessed.「It’s one of the Astrals… I think he called himself Adeus.」

「Adeus… wasn’t that the name of a really important Astral?」

「An Ennead Candidate, I think.」Ashura tried to recall the information from his memory.

「Why would an Astral go after you, a Yonko?」Ranmaru was confused.「I thought the Astral almost never actively interfered with the mortal's affair? Isn’t that why they need the 6 Heroes to counter the Yonko threat?」

「You won’t believe this, but I think my new sworn brother has something to do with this.」Ashura grinned.

「That incubus hybrid?」Ranmaru the orge was surprised.「Who is he, really? Forcing the Astrals to personally take action.」

「... I don’t know. From my talk with Gilga, I don’t think she knows either.」Ashura shook his head.「But, things are really getting interesting.」

Artist: PP@skebリク受付中

https://skeb.jp/@IllustPp

Ember (Short hair) and Floria (Long hair) [ I forgot to specify that Ember should be a bit serious looking lol But I still like their designs.]

 

 

Ranmaru (His current reincarnation in Esthar):

Source: NovelAI

 

 

Notes:

I'm still alive lol!!! I hope people have not forgotten about this story (>.<)
And sorry if there's any discrepancy regarding Japanese history lol. I'm no Japanese but I do like Japanese History so I tried to make the "Flashback" as authentic as possible (I even make sure to check what phase of the moon was during Honnoji incident lol)
=================
Next update will probably be around Dec 10th, and from then, I will try to update it weekly (since I will soon be done with grad school! :D)
Also, I have secured a job! :D so commissioning artwork will continue (hopefully they won't rescind the job offer lol I keep reading about a few cases where people moved to a new place, only be told the offer was rescinded at the last moment... I sure hope that won't be me.) I aim to set aside around 2-3% of my pretax income for commission (and the yen is so weak right now) so we'll have one artwork per month or so lol (but of course, some months won't have any and some months will have 2-3.)

Chapter 125: Bonus: Aspen Seigeran/Zaeryn

I HAVE DISCOVERED GOLDDDD!!
Not really, but it'd really help my wallet lol. So, for the past month or so, I've learned of NovelAI but never tried it out since I was so busy. But now, I just messed around with it a bit and goddd, these randomly AI generated characters/drawings would save me so much money on commissioning characters/designs lol. Now, my commissions can sole be focused on R18 scenes.

PS: I really don't care what ppl think about AI generated pictures but I will 100% use them to generate character for this story! lol

So, here's how I picture Aspen Seigeran (specifically when he was still young) and how Zaeryn (Kibadios' first reincarnation) would look when he was young (prior to learning magic under Seri the Eternal)

Also, I updated last chapter to include Picture of Ranmaru :3

Source: NovelAI :D

 

Aspen:

 

Young Zaeryn:

 

 

Chapter 126: Chapter 122: The twins' resolves.

Chapter 92:

 

「...」

「...」

「...Hmm hmm mm…」Kibadios continued to hum, enjoying the current situation, his arms wrapped around the twins’ asses as both of them awkwardly sat on either side of the hybrid.
「....What do you think you are doing?」Ren asked.

「Huh? What are you talking about?」Kibadios was confused.「Since you guys want to talk to me in private, I figured the two of you want to have another round with me? I started with Yue last night, maybe this time I’ll start with you first, Ren chan.」

「Stop joking around!」Ren angrily yelled.「We’re not calling you here to have sex with you.」

「Aww, you’re not?」Kibadios teased the former elven prince. 

「You jest, Kibadios sama.」Yue chuckled before hopping off the hybrid’s thigh and stood on the wooden floor. The former princess respectfully bowed down to the man sitting on the bed before her, before continuing.「We’re asking to speak with you in private in regard to the revelation that we’ve just learned about you and your past.」

「What revelation?」Kibadios teasing tone dissipated since he could tell the twins were serious.

Yue effortlessly casted 6 talismans to all 4 walls, along with the ceiling and the floor. Unlike what Kibadios had used to detect living beings in the vicinity when he disclosed everything to the group in the wood, the barrier she constructed was an absolute barrier type, which would immediately shatter any living being or surveillance ability that may listen in on the conversation. Once finished, the girl continued 「That you’re Zaeryn sama’s reincarnation.」

「... You were listening in?」Somehow, Kibadios was not all that surprised at the fact that the twins had somehow eavesdropped on his conversation. 「wait, ...sama?」 The hybrid noticed the respectful honorific the elven girl used in her speech to refer to the supposed to be despised by the world, “Zaeryn”.「Shouldn’t you guys be disgusted knowing your innocence have been taken by such a despicable person, the ultimate enemy of Esthar?」

「... Ah yes, with all the way you toyed with our bodies, you’re despicable alright.」Ren shrugged.「But not because you’re Zaeryn sama’s reincarnation. The fact that you’re Zaeryn sama is probably the only reason we should tolerate you.」

「What do you mean?」

「I’m sure you know that we’re descendants of Faye the First, the exiled High Elf,  inventor of Runecraft, founder of the Yue Kingdom.」Yue spoke up.「Unlike most human nations surrounding us, or even the Kingdom of the Demihumans to the West of the continents or the stateless territory of Monas Kye, it’s us, and us alone, was told of the valor of your followers displayed during the Second Great Holy War, when they decided to rebel against the heaven to rescue you. I don’t know if it was because the tales were lost through time, or that Faye sama had deliberately hid the true reason for that war, which was because of the “Great Harvest” that you talked about, but regardless, for ten millennia, the royal family of our kingdom always knew the war that fought in your name was for a just cause.」

「... The myth and legend surrounding this great figure, Zaeryn sama, has been passed down the line of the Yue Royal Family for generations, starting from the First. Despite how the wider world views you, the Yue Royal Family, in fact, secretly hold you in reverence.」Ren continued.「Now it all makes sense… Why were you able to say the First’s real name… and why did we have to swear to serve the one who can say her name. She was waiting for you to return,  Zaeryn… sama.」

「But why did she know that I would return? Even I was surprised when I was reincarnated into this world again after my death.」Kibadios was confused, though he doubted that the twins would be able to answer his question.

「... We don’t know.」Yue shook her head.「But, now that we know about you and your supposed goal… to fight against the oppression of the Astrals, we have finally understood our purpose.」

「Your purpose?」

「Yes… If you recall, back then, during the Second Great Holy War, when the strongest of your kins, the 300 Dai-Tengu, breached the bridge that connect this world and the Astral’s realm, they fought against the Ennead Candidate named Adeus in front of the Heavenly Gate.」Yue softly explained. 「The battle resulted in the collapse of the gigantic gate, severing the main connection between Esthar and the Modun. Ever since then, for one to travel to Modun or vice versa, one has to rely on the power of the Astral, and even so, only one or two people can travel between the realms at any one time.」

「How did you know only one or two people can travel between the realms? Even I don’t know what’s the mechanism that allows the Astral to come to this world after the Gate was destroyed.」Kibadios was curious.

「That was the knowledge passed down to us by our ancestors. Though I bet it was the First who figured it out.」Ren answered.

「Faye huh? If it’s her, then I don’t doubt it.」Kibadios nodded slightly.「So what about it? Why do you guys bring up the destroyed gate?」

「Because the First was able to construct another Gate deep down under the Secret Vault of  our Palace.」Yue answered.

「WHAT?」even Kibadios was surprised at the new information the twins were telling him 「Faye reconstructed the fucking Heavenly Gate?」

「Indeed.」Ren nodded.「It’s completely closed and disconnected now so even the most powerful Astral wouldn’t know there’s an existing Gate leading to their realm. As the prince and princess of the Kingdom, we were taught at a very young age about how the Gate can only be opened using the blood of the Royal Family.」

「As members of the Royal Family, we were told about “Zaeryn”, “Second Great War”, “Protect and serve the one who speaks the First’s real name”, “the second Heavenly Gate”. We could not put things together since we never thought the person named Zaeryn would be reincarnated once again… But now, everything fits together. The First believed in you and your return, and she had tasked us to serve you, to open the Gate for you to take down the Astrals when needed… to protect this world. And so shall we.」Yue knelt down on her knees. Her brother, reluctant at first, but soon, he was also on his knees. 

「「As the last members of the Yue Royal Family, we shall fulfill the First’s oath and serve you dutifully until your wish is fulfilled, Kibadios sama.」」 

「...」Kibadios gazed at the determined looks on both the elven twins for  a brief moment before reaching out both his hands to tenderly pat on their heads 「I will accept your help, Yue chan, Ren chan. I’ve been thinking about how I can ever invade the Realm of the Astral, even if I can build up my forces on Esthar and here you are, offer me that solution… But, still, Faye is sometimes such a cruel person.」

「How dare you speak ill of the First, after all she had done for you?」Ren scowled.

「I know, it’s not my place to speak badly of her… She’s the best friend one could ever ask for.」Kibadios gave the elven prince a tender smile, one that he rarely showed.「But just to help me, she put a great burden on her own descendants. I really want your help… I really need your help, but… you and your sister, as Ren and Yue, should be able to live your lives freely as your own persons and not be forced to carry this great burdensome duty on you, being controlled like puppets just to fulfill the desires of your dead ancestor. I’ll let you two some time to think more about it before deciding whether you will join me in my quest against the Astrals or not. Just don’t do it because some dead ancestor forced you to. I know it’s rich coming from me but think for yourself and your own wants and needs.」

「...You…」Ren’s eyes widened. A slight doki doki sound could be heard echoing within his chest.

「If you two prefer, I can leave you here working as High Shaman for the Confederation instead of forcing you two to come with me. You two can still officially be in my harem without having to be by my side, right? It’s like a loophole in the system, where you’re not really being rejected by me like you fear, but you also don’t have to serve me and stay by my side.」Kibadios suggested.

「You misunderstood, Kibadios sama」Yue shook her head.「We do want to serve you. We’ve always admire you as Zaeryn, listening all the mythical tales and legends about you, it’s our honor to be able to fight by your side, much like how the First did.」Yue turned to Ren.「I’m sure onii sama is also thinking the same, since back when he was a kid, he had a really big cru…mmm」

「Stop speaking nonsense, Yue!」Ren quickly gagged his sister by covering her mouth with his hand.「But she’s right, don’t you doubt our resolve!」

「... Is that so… It’s my bad then.」

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「Why did you stop me mid sentence, nii sama!」Yue pouted. The hybrid had left the room, leaving only the twins back inside「Are you so ashamed of letting Kibadios sama know you had such a big crush on him as Zaeryn when you were a kid?」

「What crush? I just love the stories about his adventures that we were told about. Probably most of them are all made up anyways.」Ren was blushing. 

「“Yue chan, Zaeryn sama is sooo cool!” “Yue chan, did you hear story about Zaeryn sama during his trips to subjugate the Great Serpent of the Eastern Sea?” “Yue chan, Zaeryn sama this, Zaeryn sama that” “Yue chan, do you think I could ever end up with someone half as heroic as Zaeryn sama?”」Yue recalled all the time her brothers fantasized about the person named Zaeryn they were told about in stories.

「Stop it, Yuueee! Never let that pervert hybrid know I ever said those things. He will tease me to death!」Ren begged his sister.「Seriously, he’s nothing like how he was in the stories.」

「Really? Because I could tell the very moment your heart melted a bit looking at Kibadios sama just now.」Yue smiled.

「... I did not!」Ren pouted. 

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「Why not just deal with Zaeryn now?」One of the Ennead impatiently suggested.

「How? He possesses the Great Primordial Spirit of Fire.」Another chimed in.「It will not be easy to deal with it. If we become exhausted after dealing with him and the Primordial Spirit, then Matelus would undoubtedly attack us then…or worse, the third great power, Seri and the High  Elf, could make their moves. We’ve been in a Non Aggression Pact with her ever since she helped us seal away that man, but we could never ascertain her intention.」

「... But, on the other hand, if we allow him to grow stronger, then he will undoubtedly unleash the Third Great Holy War on us. What if Matelus uses that opportunity to join forces with him then? It’d be disaster!」

「Remember,  Zaeryn alone is not a problem… not a problem that we cannot handle, at least. What made him dangerous 10k years ago was the allies he had. That’s why we’re tasking Adeus to directly take out any possible ally he may make this time around.」

「... How’s Adeus doing, by the way?」

「He crushed a 3rd Ashura now, but that was only a copy.」

「That Great Demon Lord’s Arte is such a nuisance.」Another Ennead complained.「A skill that allows its user to simultaneously maintain 6 copies at any one time…Who would have thought. If we did not have such intel about him, we would be all confused now on why he keeps reappearing after all his deaths.」

「Does he have any Ultimate Skill?」

「... Not that we knew of. But given how he’s considered a Great Demon Lord, I don’t see why he doesn’t have one.」

「Tsk… The world is getting messier and here we are, with all our moves restricted by many contraints.」

「Check and balance…」

「... Indeed.」

A discreet smile briefly appeared on one of the Ennead’s faces before it dissipated away, leaving no trace behind. Not even Ozyan’s keen eyes could have caught that person’s amusing smile.

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「... No… noo… noooo」The red head screamed out in agony.「This can’t be happening!!」Uri looked down at the naked elf under him. Despite the prostitute’s heaving breasts, enticing the equally naked half incubus, the man was not at all turned on. His cock has been staying soft ever since he left Kibadios’ guesthouse in the morning and no amount of elven prostitutes could have made him arouse as he did when he had tasted the sweet scent of his captain.

「What’s wrong, Uri? Normally, you’d be all over me by now.」The girl teased. 

「... I can’t get it up…」Uri shook his head.「Who could have thought I’m an Omega!!! Actually, who could have thought the Captain is my fated pair???!!!」Uri cried out in frustration. 「Does this mean I can never get my “junior” up if it’s not with the Captain?」A dreadful realization dawned on the half incubus, half human vice captain.

Notes:

It's weird to say so since I am creating the characters and their personality but Ren is fast becoming one of my fav in the harem lol

Chapter 127: THIS IS IT! THE 20 PAGES PORN!!!

I was planning to wait until the 25th but screw it, today is the last day of my school life... 12 years of K-12 education, 5 years for bachelor degree, 6.5 years for PhD... it's all finally over!!!! NO MORE EXAMS, NO MORE STUDY, NO MORE ACADEMIC STRESS (unless I choose to do another Master in another field or MBA later in the future lol)
So, I figure I will post this 20 pages of porn as celebration of this moment, also the approaching 30k hits (had I been continuously writing instead of taking a break, we would probably be wayy over 30k views by now lol)

I have written the next chapter but I will wait until next week to post it so people have time appreciate this very expensive yaoi/hentai dj! :D

Setting: Some hotspring resort somewhere. It should be thought of as an alternate timeline where Kibadios and his harem can relax and have fun, instead of being on edge 24/7 lol. Also, originally, I planned to have Kibadios X Uri scene written by now, but since i went on hiatus, we didn't get there yet, so this dj would be the first time you see Kibadios x Uri and their dynamic (on bed). Uri is aggressive because he's a part incubus lol

Note: Ryuu should have a dragon tail. But since it's not too important, I didnt ask Hagane to add it back in.

I was planning to commission an big colored illustration where Kibadios and his harems sleeping soundly on bed, all naked, but it turns out to be soo expensive (for a 1 page drawing) and that I have planned to commission some smut granblue fanfic so I decided not to proceed with the colored illustration commission. >.>

 

Source: https://imgur.com/a/50yw354

Artist: Hagane (https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/423292) I only gave them the suggestions for the sex poses and imagine my surprise when I received their drawings and amazed at how they captured the dynamic between Kibadios and his harem perfectly :3

WARNING: HIDE YOUR SCREENS, SMUT SCENES INCOMING!!!

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LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE ENJOY!!!

 

 

Chapter 128: Omegaverse

Notes:

New week means new chapter posted! I hope the few days were enough for you to appreciate the dj.
In case anyone miss it, the 20 pages dj is posted in the last chapter.
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This chapter is long, but mostly dialogue heavy to advance the plot and build relationships. Real plot will happen next chapter.
I aim to have 1 chapter/week now. Hopefully I can keep to the schedule. But for now I have to focus writing porn for my other fanfic lol

「So, this really is Reuk kun?」Ren excitedly touched the homunculus body that the former elven archer was now occupying. Since Reuk had met with Yllaner many times, he was also an acquaintance to the shaman twins so the complete change in his appearance was tripping Ren. Yet, for the ever curious elf, the chance of examining a homunculus body was too tempting.

「Yeah, Ren sama. Please stop touching me like that, it tickles!」Reuk tried to hold back laughter. 

「Amazing. This really is a fable homunculus body that the Astrals use to travel to Esthar.」From the point of view of the former elven prince, who has been studying about constructing puppets with his talismans, the existence of Reuk and the homunculus body standing in front of him represents an incredible opportunity to advance his runecraft even further.

「...From everything you’ve told us, should Reuk kun really be using the same body as the person who was manipulating the Prime Minister Jayden?」Yue turned to Kibadios before voicing her concerns. 

「I know. If Yllaner ever meet him, it’d cause some misunderstanding so that’s why I have him hidden away, especially from her.」

「Hmm… If you want, I can use my runecraft to permanently alter the appearance of this homunculus body.」Ren suggested.

「You can really do that?」Kibadios was surprised.「I can change her appearance, but only through illusion so it’s not really a permanent solution.」

「Please don’t sell onii sama short, Master.」Yue softly spoke up.「There’s a reason why Nii sama is considered to be the First’s “reincarnation”. His fundamental understanding of Runecraft spells and their applications may be second only to the First herself.」

Really? But I thought Yue is the genius one since she was able to call forth Faye with her runecraft summon , Kibadios thought to himself.  

「... I can probably do it.」Ren answered the hybrid hesitantly. 「This would be the first time I ever attempt my Runecraft spell on a homunculus body though.」

「Then wouldn’t it be too risky for Reuk kun since if anything wrong happens to his vessel, he won’t be able to materialize.」Hayden voiced his concern.

「Do you trust me, Reuk kun?」asked the elven prince.

「... Let’s do it, Ren sama!」She smiled.「After all, I’m a bit tired of hiding from people all the time.」

「Okay then!」Ren took out his talismans and then chanted a spell. Countless pieces of papers began to materialize, floating in midair, swirling around the homunculus body like a vortex. Before long, all the talismans bound to Reuk, fully wrapped around his body as if he was a mummy just being excavated.「Just a few more minutes, Reuk kun.」The elven prince reassured Reuk before chanting further spells, activating the 1000 pieces of talismans all at once, breaking down the homunculus body down into individual atoms before rearranging and transform it back into a new form. The spell and reactions created a blinding light for a brief moment, before it dimmed down and vanished along with the pieces of papers, leaving Reuk's new naked body collapsing onto the floor. 

「Reuk kun, are you okay?」Hayden jumped forward and catched the elven archer midair.

「Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit dizzy.」Answered the teenager.

「... Wait, if you recreated Reuk’s body from scratch, why not make him a man?」Kibadios noticed the naked body being held by Hayden, despite being restructured into that of an elf,  was still a girl, with a rather ample pairs of perky breasts, not unlike his last form.

「It’s not easy changing the gender of the homunculus vessel.」explained Ren with a slight irritation. 「If you think you can do a better job, go ahead!」

「Don’t be mad, my cute little Ren chan. I wasn’t complaining, you did a really good job!」Kibadios walked up to the high shaman, then patted his head. Ren didn’t know if it was because he was exhausted performing a highly technical spell or not, but somehow, he felt rather happy that the hybrid had just praised him.「You should sit down and rest for a bit.」

「... Tha..」 Thanks, I’m fine. Ren wanted to respond to his master, but his tsundere nature made him stop short of his reply.「I know how to take care of myself, you don’t have to worry.」

「Of course I have to be worried. You’re mine now and it’s my job to take care of what's mine.」Kibadios grinned looking at him, causing the pinked haired elf to blush red.

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「Yo, boss? You’re not fucking and releasing shit ton of pheromones around this time, right?」 Uri stuck his head inside the front door, warily examining the surroundings before cautiously entering the guest house. Having ran away from Kibadios early in the morning, before unsuccessfully tried to release his pent up sex drive in a brothel establishment nearby, the vice captain finally made an appearance late at night, reemerging in front of Kibadios and his harem. 

「Pheromones? What pheromones?」The hybrid asked.

「You’re a hybrid incubus, don’t you know anything about pheromones?」Uri was surprised.

「Like my smell?」

「Maybe he’s saying you stink.」Ren, who was resting on a small chair after previously exhausting himself, smirked while sipping some warm milk, a habit which usually helped with his sleep. Though now that he was serving Kibadios, he knew he would not be sleeping anytime soon, not until he was thoroughly fucked. 

「Master smells good!」Yuusei declared. The young hybrid beastman was now in his shota form, leaning onto Kibadios and smelling the scent his master was giving off.「Yuusei likes.」

「No no no, pheromone, not smells. Wait a minute, don’t tell me you know nothing about your own biology?」Uri raised his eyebrow.

「Can’t say that I do.」Kibadios honestly responded.「I was let loose down the Kidan river when I was only a baby… no one taught me any basics about incubus biology.」 And that in my past lives, I did not really meet or befriend many succubus or incubus… Though I really don’t recall having been told about any pheromones from the few I know , Kibadios thought to himself.

「Not incubus biology, it’s more of a hybrid biology one.」Uri explained.「Man, who would have thought there’s a day where I have to teach my captain about the birds and the bees」

「What birds? Bees?」Maia, who was in the room listening to the conversation, was thoroughly confused while Kibadios noticed the interesting term his vice captain had just said. “The birds and the bees” huh? I don’t think it’s an expression from Esthar… Does it mean Uri here is… , Kibadios’ thought was disrupted by the vice captain’s explanation. 

「You see, for incubus hybrid , and incubus hybrid alone, there’s a secondary sex characteristic associate with them. Interestingly enough, most would live their live without caring even once about this secondary sex characteristic since it would almost never emerge and affect their lives. This secondary sex characteristic would only manifest if the conditions are perfectly met: it requires two triggers: first, the two incubus hybrids, who are a perfect match for each other, have to be in close proximity to one another. Secondly, either of the incubus hybrids has to just finish mating, allowing his pheromones to be secreted in excess. If the two conditions are met, the secondary sex characteristic would be revealed to the pair: one would be an omega and one would be an alpha. The omega would be instantly be put in heat once he smells the alpha’s pheromone… and… from… from there onward, the omega could only be mated with the alpha…That’s what us incubus hybrid called “fated pair”.」

「「「HUH???」」」The entire room shouted.

「Wait a minute… This morning?」Ryuu, after hearing the explanation and witnessing Uri’s strange behaviors, could easily put the stories together.「Does it mean you’re an Omega and Kibadios sama’s Fate Pair?」

「... Sadly yeah.」Uri nodded.「Seriously, what are the chances! But don’t worry Boss, as long as you’re not fucking, releasing your pheromone, I should not be put in heat and we will be fine.  I don’t intend to fuck my boss. No offense to you, since you’re clearly a very handsome man, Boss, but I love women!!! Besides, I don’t want to be tied down by some Fated Pair bullshit,  it’s my life and I want to live it however I see fit. For now, I only have to stay abstinent and figure out a way to fix this later… Hopefully I will find a solution to this soon cuz life without sex for an half incubus like me is not worth living」

“Live it however you see fit”, huh? Kibadios grinned.「I don’t know what Omegaverse I am living in right now, but I like you Uri!」

「Omegaverse?」Uri was confused, not understanding what his Boss meant.「But yeaaa… sorry Boss… I hate to turn you down but like I said…」

「That’s not what I meant.」Kibadios stood up from his chair.「What I meant is that I like how you are a free spirit that can’t even be tied down by basic biology needs. I think we will make a good team from now on… until whenever this Captain business runs its course and Ashura gets tired of me.」

「... Likewise, Boss.」Uri grinned back at the hybrid.「I think I’m gonna like working under you, at least for a time. There seems to be a curse that the position of the 13th Captain of Hyakki Yagyo would sooner or later be vacated, I hope your tenure would be long enough, Boss.」

「... Is that a threat, Uri kun?」Kibadios gave his Vice Captain a cold smile. 「Maybe you’ve realized that perhaps this fated pair business would be resolved if I, your Alpha, were to die?」 

「Huh?」Uri stared blankly at his boss, before clapping his hands, a eureka exclamation mark seemed to form on top of his head.「Ha! Maybe you’re right!」

「... Wait, did you not think that?」Now it was Kibadios’ turn to blankly stare back at Uri, his inner self screaming at himself for giving his Omega a hint.「Then why did you say something cryptic like that?」

「I was just stating a fact, Boss!」replied Uri.「But now that you gave me an idea… maybe you dying would help solve my problem.」

「Try it, you insolent fool!」Now, it was Ryuu’s menacing Nen that overwhelmed the Vice captain. 

「That’s not something to joke about, Uri dono.」Maia already readied her alchemy vials between her slender fingers while every single other harem member was on their guards. Even the elven twins had their talismans pulled out.

「Calm down everyone. We’re supposed to be on the same team. I’m sure Uri kun here meant me no harm… At least he should know better.」Kibadios was the one who defused the situation, though he did not pass over a chance to deliver Uri a veil threat.「Anyways, we’ve strayed off topic for a bit, but why are you here, Uri kun?」

「Oh right, I was going to tell you this morning… before things got sidetracked, but the Big Boss wants us to set out for Monas Kye soon… preferably within a day or so, now that you’ve found your precious.」Uri turned to look at Rowan.

「Fine, we set out tomorrow without any delay!」Kibadios declared. 

「Sweet!」Uri smiled. 「just fyi,we may be picking up some members on the way.」

「Some members?」

「Yeah, you’ve met them right? It’s Erik and his team. They belong to the 13 division.」

「Really? That “Nezha” guy?」

「And how many people are in this division?」Rowan asked.

「That’s it. The Boss here, I, Erik’s team, and you guys by association.」Uri revealed.「Like I said, the 13 division is a bit cursed… we just cannot seem to keep the 13th division operational hahaha. Before you’re joining us, the Big Boss was so close at closing down this division altogether.」

「Why is it cursed? Didn’t you say this mission was personally requested by the former 13th Captain?」Ryuu did not seem to like the fact that his Master was put in charge of something considered “cursed”.

「Right, you see…」

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「So this day has finally come.」Yllaner smiled at Kibadios.「and here I was hoping you can stay with us for a bit longer.」

「Thanks Yllaner. I really appreciate you and the Shilna’s hospitality this past month.」Kibadios turned to look at the elven twins.「And don’t worry about Yue chan and Ren chan, I won’t let them be in any danger as long as I’m around.」

「I’ll hold you to your word, Kibadios.」The queen chuckled.          

「We’re not kids, little princess… I mean, Yllaner sama.」Ren chimed in.「We don’t need anyone protecting us.」Ren walked up right in front of Yllaner before his hands reached out for her cold cheeks.「It’s you who should be taking care of yourself. On top of your duties as Shilna Queen, you’re going to be a mother soon.」

 「Ren nii chan…」Yllaner was now on the verge of crying.

「You’re a Queen now, Yll chan. A queen should not be showing weakness like this.」This time it was Yue who consoled Yllaner.「We’ll be fine.」

「I know, Yue nee chan.」The queen smiled, before springing her arms to pull both of the shaman twins into her warm embrace.「Please take care! I’ll miss you.」

「... We know.」Yue patted Yllane’s head.「We’ll miss you too, my little sister.」     

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Save for their camping time during the night, the group had been riding for seven consecutive days on the famous Fyeran elks that were gifted to the group by Yllaner since they were deemed the best transportation to traverse both the thick woods of the Vernys forest and the flat grassland of Monas Kye. Just as the princess predicted, by the end of the week, the hybrid’s group had finally made it to the grassland territory as they slowly noticed that the dense trees had started to recede behind their backs. In front of them, the flat plain filled with sparing patches of green grasses seemed to stretch infinitely to beyond the horizon. 

「So, this is it? We’ve arrived at Monas Kye?」Kibadios asked

「Yes, but we’re not at our destination yet. We have to travel a bit further into the territory since we’re supposed to rendezvous at a settlement near a small mountain range that way.」Uri pointed to the West.「But be careful. This whole area is considered active warzone and the forces of the Yin Empire are aiming to conquer that settlement.」

「What was its name again?」Reuk, who was introduced to Uri as the twin’s attendant, asked. 

「It’s the town of Alsen.」Uri answered.「It’s considered a stronghold of the demihuman living in Monas Kye. Since a lot of villages have been conquered and razed by the Yin Empire, naturally, Alsen is now filled with refugees.」

「And you said according to Ashura’s intel, the town would soon fall to the Yin Empire?」

「Yeah, within weeks.The Yin army has finally successfully isolated it.」

「Well, then let’s not waste any time.」Kibadios declared.「We still have a few hours before the sunset, we can travel a bit more.」

「That’s good. We’re now about a day and a half away from Alsen. At this pace, we should be able to reach the town two days from now.」

「And Erik’s team will meet us there?」Rowan asked

「Apparently so.」Uri nodded.「Two days ago, I received a letter from him, saying he’s making his way toward the town so we don’t have to meet up with him beforehand.」

「Is that so? Okay, let’s go!」

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「You’re still sitting guard out here, Reuk?」Rowan asked as he and Maia emerged from the large tent the group had constructed earlier in the late evening. Before sitting down, the two quickly glanced at another small tent placed almost two hundred feets away from the group, where Uri made his camp

「Don’t worry about the Vice Captain. He’s far away and sleeping now so he won’t be able to listen to our conversation. And yes, I don’t need to sleep ever since my consciousness got transferred into this body. I guess it’s like a daily reminder that I’m not truly an alive being anymore, haha」Reuk looked up from her drawing pad. The body that Reuk possessed was now that of a purple haired elven woman with rather ample breasts. Even though it was mid-winter, the former archer had chosen a revealing outfit that showed more than half of her chest, though since the homunculus body can easily regulate their body temperature, it was not really a problem for her.「What are you two doing out here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping next to your master?」

「We just couldn’t sleep so we decided to join you sitting out here for a while.」Both Rowan and Maia sat down onto a large log placed next to the flickering campfire.「Are you getting used to this new body yet?」

「Yeah, truth to be told, I don’t feel any difference between this body and Adela’s body.」Reuk answered, then looked at Rowan.「What about you? Have you fully recovered? You’re lucky that you even survived the wound Ryan gave you, despite falling into that gushing river.」 

「I’m at my 100% full strength now!」Rowan flexed his muscle, grinning.「I guess the reason I was able to survive is because I have yet to fulfill my duty as Master’s servant. Especially now that he had told me what power truly resided within me, I have to even work harder to be of use for him.」

「... Servant?」Reuk gave a faint smile.「You still think you guys are mere servants to him? That guy treasured you guys more than you thought… and maybe, even more than he thought.」

「You really think so?」Maia spoke up, happiness filled her innocent face.

「Yeah, I’ve been within him for long enough that I can tell.」Nodded Reuk.「Though, you two have been with him longer than any of us. You must have sensed his transformation too, right?」

「It’s in his eyes.」Rowan answered.「I still remember the first time we encountered Master on that fateful night, his eyes are just like those eyes of the hungry pack of monsters that chased after us… filled with rage and darkness, devoid of any other emotions. When he looked down at us at the moment he saved us, I thought it was death itself that was staring at me.」

「You’re right, he has really changed.」Maia agreed.「Sometimes, I wonder if we really deserve all the affection he has given us…If only there’s a way for us to get stronger and not be a liability to him and his plan to fight against the Astrals.」

「I know… 」Rowan reached out his hand toward the ember.「At this point, both Maia and I are nothing but burdens for him. Ryan chan, Ryuu chan, Yuusei chan, Ren chan, and Yue chan, they’re all powerful enough to help Master in his goals, but us… we were only regular people living in an isolated village. He said I possess this incredible power, but I just can’t seem to access it no matter how much I try!!」A hint of frustration could be detected in the healer’s voice.

「... Is that why you two couldn’t sleep and decided to stay out here for a chat?」Reuk empathetically asked.

「Yes.」The two harem members looked at each other before answering.

「Chiiii!!!」Nu, Kibadios’ pet slime suddenly jumped up onto Rowan’s head, stomping on it for a few seconds before jumping onto Maia’s lap.

「Haha」Reuk laughed.「I think Nu wants to say “Don’t have such foolish thoughts!”」

「Sorry Nu, did we wake you up?」Maia gently petted the slime on her lap.

「You two should listen to Nu.」Reuk continued.「You two think of yourselves as Kibadios’ burden? Please, on the contrary, you’re the two that helped Kibadios the most.」

「What do you mean?」

「Think about it, without meeting you two, I doubt Kibadios would transform back to the…」Reuk paused to think for an appropriate description.「”sorta caring” person that he is now. I genuinely believe that had his crazy pupil reconnected with him before he was able to get to know you two, he would have agreed to his crazy pupil’s plan to destroy this world once and for all. You two were the very catalysts that reignited his humanity.」

「... Thanks Reuk.」Rowan smiled.「I think talking to you really helped us find our purposes. We will continue to be Master’s guideposts.」

「And we will get stronger too!」Maia chimed in.「I want to get so strong to the point that I can challenge and take down that person!」

「That person?」Reuk curiously asked. 

「Yes. The possible person that is behind Master’s reincarnations.」Maia looked at Rowan

「Behind Kibadios’ reincarnation?」

「You see, it was just a hypothesis of mine.」Rowan, the sharpest member within Kibadios’ harem, explained.「Kibadios sama had been reincarnated three times, first during the First and Second Great Holy War, then a few years ago as a lab specimen within Wei Shimin’s laboratory, then now, as a hybrid named Kibadios. Unlike Yllaner dono’s reincarnation, who does not remember anything about her past life, Master retained every single aspect of his soul, except for his body. Two hypotheses may explain this: his reincarnation is due to one of his skills… the second, is that someone behind the scene, is forcing his reincarnations… someone is forcing him to fight against the Astrals again and again and again… even death would not save him from being a pawn to be used against the Astrals.」        

「Of course, both are just Rowan’s hypotheses, but, judging from everything tragedy that had befell onto Master, I feel like someone is really pulling the string and using him to fulfill their goal… and if that’s really the case, I want to be strong enough to fight against that person…」Anger was now clearly visible on Maia’s usually tender face. 「for they dare to force Master to fight their battles, inflicting such pain and sadness to him…」Maia clenched her fist.

「Calm down, Maia chan.」A familiar voice spoke up from behind the girl before a warm hand patted her head.「Anger doesn’t fit you.」

「Master!!」Both Rowan and Maia called out. Kibadios simply nodded before sitting in between his two harem members, wrapping his arms around them and pulled them in closer to him. 

「Chii!!!」Nu excitedly jumped onto Kibadios’ head, his usual nest. 

「You’re sharp, Rowan chan, for able to deduce that maybe someone is pulling the string behind the scene.」Kibadios praised the healer.「I, too, think that’s the case. I, much like Uri, don’t like to be living my life according to someone else’s control, but I think in this case, instead of hating the person who’s responsible for my many instances of reincarnation, I’d rather want to thank them… for allowing me more chances to take on the Astrals…」Kibadios turned to Maia before giving her a kiss onto her forehead.「So don’t be mad for me, Maia.」    

「Master…」

「He…. Hel…pp m…ee」A squeaky voice suddenly disrupted the conversation. The hybrid quickly stood up and walked to the side of the tent, where the voice seemed to originate from. To his surprise, laying on the ice cold ground was a small injured girl, wearing tattered clothes that barely covered her malnourished body, let alone providing warmth in the cold winter month.

「...Please…save… daddy…」The little girl seemed to show some relief when she looked up and saw the hybrid, though she soon passed out after the end of her cry for help.

「This is…」Kibadios frowned.

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「You lost track of him?」One of the Enneads screamed at the terrified low level Astral, who was kneeling in front of them.

「I’m sorry Ensey sama」The Astral kowtowed.「But all the spies we sent out to keep track of that hybrid’s movement were killed almost a week ago, when he finally left the forest.」

「... He killed them himself?」

「No, I doubt he could simultaneously killed that many spies.」Another of the Ennead dismissed the guess.「Maybe it’s his familiar summons?」

「You’re telling me that not only HaoS, but he still possess controls over all of his familiars, even after his reincarnation?」      

「If that’s the case, it makes sense why he was able to eliminate all our spies at once. After all, he could summon more than two dozens familiars at once, back when he was Zaeryn.」

「But if that’s the case, then it means aside from HaoS, he even retained his Ultimate Skill.」Ozyan deduced.

「... That is a possibility.」

「If that’s true… it’s going to be problematic」

「Yes… There’s a restriction on his Ultimate Skill… but that skill… that power… has the ability to directly interfere with our Harvest. 」     

「I know… an Ultimate Skill that we had never seen before he arrived here as Zaeryn, or after his death. Usually, it’s a person’s <Class> that influences that person’s skill… yet, for Zaeryn, due to him possessing that Ultimate Arte, he was reclassified from a <Warrior> to a <Summoner>. Why are there so much mysteries surrounding that man?」

「Rather, why does he keep interfering with our works?」Ozyan asked the more important questions.「It’s as if someone else keeps placing him on our path.」   

「...We can worry about that later, but the more urgent business is to locate him now.」 Freya reminded the group.「I suggest we keep track of Adeus instead. Since Adeus has an extensive spy networks via the countless homunculus that he personally molded and he would for sure be interested in Kibadios’ location because of his daughter, I believe we will be able to track Kibadios down if we follow Adeus’ movements.」

「...You think even if he knows Kibadios’ whereabout, he won’t tell us even if we ask?」

「I doubt that he will… He has no incentive to tell us where Kibadios is. To that man, we’re the reason his daughter’s soul is suffering within Kibadios so he’s in no obligation to tell us anything. He doesn’t care for our commands, nor his title as Ennead Candidates…That man cares only for his daughter.」   

「His love for that girl is the only reason why he can not yet be promoted to become one of us… One day, it may become his downfall.」 

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「Haaachooooo!!! Haachooo!!!」Seri rubbed her nose

「What’s wrong, Seri sama?」One of her attendants asked.「You’ve been sneezing nonstop in the past few minutes.」

「Ahh, who knows. Maybe someone is talking about me.」The progenitor of the High Elves grinned.   

 

 

 

Reuk's new body:

Source: NovelAI

 

Chapter 129: Mu

Notes:

Sorry for the late release. Things happen IRL >.>

「Looks like we have finally found them, Boss.」Discreetly hiding behind a large boulder in the field of unusually tall grass, Uri turned to Kibadios and whispered.「Just like the girl was saying, they are all Yin Empire’s soldiers. The group of demihuman in chains over there must be the prisoners the girl was talking about. There are several Yves males in the group, I wonder which one is her father」

「That’s not really important, isn’t it?」Kibadios pointed out.「All we have to do is to massacre those soldiers and rescue the group of prisoners. The girl can find her own father among them.」

「I guess you’re right.」

「Are you ready?」asked Kibadios

「At your command, Master!」The healer determinedly nodded.

「Ren and Yue?」

「Yes, Kibadios sama」The two nodded, though only Yue respectfully responded.

「This shouldn’t be hard.」Ryuu observed.「I can probably take out half of them with a flick of my tail, Master.」

「Here’s a lesson for you, Ryuu chan: Don’t you ever overestimate yourself. Always assuming your opponents have a trick or two up their sleeves and be over-prepared for any engagement like Ainz instead.」

「In case you’re wondering who Ainz is, Ryuu kun, he’s a character from a light novel back in Kibadios’ first live.」chimed in Reuk with a quick explanation. 

「I understand, Master.」    

「Good… Ready?」Kibadios looked at the group, all of whom simply nodded as a response. The only missing members in his entourage were Maia and Yuusei, who were tasked to stay back at the camp and continue taking care of the young Yves girl.「... Wait…」Kibadios suddenly halted the ambush. 

「... That guy…」Uri’s eyebrows were twitching the moment he noticed a androgynous looking shota, dressed in chinese clothing but with an unusually revealing short, walking toward the group of Yin soldiers.

「... is bad news.」Ryuu finished up Uri’s sentence.    

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「Yo, Boss, It’s probably not my place to say this, but I think she’s a bit too young for you.」Uri turned to Kibadios with a concerned look in the early hour of the morning, before the sun had risen from the east. Sitting in front of him, right next to the flickering campfire, was a shivering little Yves girl, who appeared no older than 5 years old. The girl was covered in a thick blanket that Maia had wrapped around her bruised body, her shaking hands held onto a small piece of bread that was given to her by Kibadios’ group. 「Not unless you want the FBI comes knocking on your door.」

BAM!!!

「Ouch! That hurts, Boss!」Uri sulkingly rubbed the pump on his head, where Kibadios had just hit him.

「Don’t assume the worst in me, Uri kun.」Kibadios complained.「I found her passing out next to our tent late last night so I took her in. She was muttering something about saving her dad?」

「Yes, please!!!」The moment she heard the word “dad”, it suddenly brought her back from her trance-like state.「Daddy was caught by the bad guys!! They beat me, daddy and all the others.」

「Bad guys?」

「Yeah! They’re Yin soldiers! Daddy said they’re the bad guys that attack our land. Daddy led the villagers to fight against them, but we were caught!  We tried to escape but they chased after us… Daddy sacrificed himself to cause a distraction so that I could run away. Now, they’re probably taking him to a faraway prison.」The girl cried.「All… because I… was clumsy… and I fell down…Please help Tina save daddy! 」  

「...」Kibadios remained in silence for a moment, not failing to recognize the similarity between her situation and his own more than a year ago. Though, the sympathy he felt alone was not enough for him to agree to her request. After all, it was not his job to help every single person he came across. 「Sorry, little girl, but we’re on a mission to Alsen. The situation there is desperate so we have no time to spare.」

「But… but they will kill daddy!」Tears now streamed out from all four eyes of the Yves child.

「The best I can do is bringing you along to Alsen. Hopefully there will be some orphanages there that can take you in.」Kibadios coldly implied the inevitability of her becoming an orphan. 

「What are you talking about, Kibadios?」Reuk scolded the hybrid as she sprung forward to console the sobbing child.「Why can’t we help her? The group of Yin soldiers should be close by anyways and with your power, rescuing her dad should be an easy task.」

「... Master…」Maia and the others in his harem pleadingly looked at the cold hybrid. Only Ryuu and Yuusei, the two who were completely apathetic to the plights of anyone but Kibadios, seemed to agree with whatever decision their Master had come up with. 「Can we do something about it?」 

「... Kibadios sama…」Haden called out to his master.「Why don’t we use this opportunity to gauge the strength of the Yin army?」

「Huh?」

「It’s inevitable that we will have to fight against them sooner or later since it’s our mission to eliminate Wei Shimin. This group of Yin soldiers, which should not number more than 500 men, should be the perfect practice for you. By clashing with them, we can estimate the typical power of the foot soldiers and thus, the difficulty of this mission.」The former adventurer suggested. Though he knew the reason he gave was not as sound as he wanted to be since it would be the commanders under Wei Shimin that they should be worried about, not a typical soldier, but this was the only reason he could think of in order to prod Kibadios into helping the girl.

「... Fine, then.」Haden expected his Master to dismiss his suggestion, yet the hybrid had agreed with it in the end, causing the man to wonder if  it was really him or the pleading eyes of his Master’s harem that caused the hybrid to change his mind.「Tina, give us more information about this group of Yin soldiers and your father’s whereabouts. If we cannot find them within one hour, we  will  proceed with our original plan to travel to Alsen.」 

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..

「Who’s there?」Before everyone could react to the young man’s presence, he had suddenly jumped on top of the large boulder, looking down at  Kibadios’ group with his glowing red eyes. Wearing rather revealing oriental clothes, the feminine boy had tanned skin, short black hair with two long sideburns that ran down to his shoulder.「... Mother?」The young man’s eyes widened as he looked at Kibadios. 

「Go!」Wasting no time, the hybrid signaled for everyone to disperse and proceed with the plan to rescue the group of demihuman that were caught by the Yin soldiers while Uri and he stayed back to deal with the one individual of whom he had deemed to be the most problematic.

「My my my, what do we have here?」The young man grinned deviously.「A rescue attempt?」

Uri, an experienced mercenary who had fought for his life countless times, sprung forward to close the distance between him and the young man without saying a single word. The half incubus directed his Nen toward his right arm before delivering his signature deadly punch at the young man’s face. Yet, the Yin soldier quickly reacted to the Vice Captain’s attack, raising his palm up to receive the earth shattering blow head on, before skillfully swirled his hand and body to redirect the strike downward at the boulder he was standing on, leaving his own body unharmed. Upon making contact, the force of Uri’s attack easily cracked the boulder into thousands pieces, causing a deafening sound that distracted most of the other Yin soldiers.

「Red hair covering eyes, an expert in close combat, most likely a <Grappler> class… You’re Uri of the Thirteenth Division, aren’t you? So that guy finally asked for more help from the Hyakki Yagyo, just like Hou Yi had predicted.」 

「Ho? You guys had expected us?」Uri grinned, though a small droplet of sweat could be seen rolling down his cheek, for he knew the person standing right in front of him was no push over.

「For quite some time.」The young man cracked his neck.「But who is the one standing behind you? That guy has been exerting so much pressure on me that made me unable to counterattack.」  

「Ah, that’s our new captain, Kibadios.」Uri introduced the hybrid to the young man.「What about you? Who are you?」

「... Ki…badios…」The man visibly reacted to learning the hybrid’s name while shedding a single drop of tear, a detail that did not escape Kibadios’ notice.「...My name? … Hou Yi called me “ One ”, though I go with the name “ Mu ”.」

「Mu, huh?」Kibadios finally spoke up.「That does not sound like an Yinese name. Why, then, are you working with the Yin soldiers?」

「Cuz I’m their “dog.”」Mu answered cryptically.

「Well, since we all have introduced ourselves, I guess pleasantries are over!」Uri stood back up after his failed strike, cracking his neck before readying for the clash. Kibadios, who stood right behind him, also conjured up his signature dark scythe. 

「I guess so.」Mu gazed at Kibadios as if he wanted to say something.「... < Yata No Kagami >」The tanned teenager elegantly called forth his Arte. As its name implied, the skill conjured up several floating mirrors surrounding both Uri and Kibadios. Before the two could react, cracks suddenly appeared, causing them to shatter into hundreds of sharp pieces, all being imbued in Mu’s Nen. The teenager raised his arm, directing the shards to shoot at his two well prepared opponents. 

「<Defense Up>, <Total Concentration>, <Enhanced Perception>, <Iron Claws>」Uri activated all the abilities which he deemed to be necessary to take on the projectiles head on before leaping forward. With his heightened perception, Uri skillfully dodged hundreds of the mirror shards, which acting as unstoppable bullets that could easily cut through his defense with ease.「Tsk…」Noticing another batch of incoming shards that he knew he could not have dodged given his position, Uri swung his fist forward, the pressure caused by his own Nen easily pulverized the attack into dust.「Next stop is your head, Mu!」Uri grinned confidently, again jumped to where Mu stood and initiated another devastating punch. Unlike the last time, when Mu was able to redirect the Vice Captain’s attack, this time Uri amped-up the output of his Nen, creating an incredible pressure that paralyzed the teenager for a moment. That brief second was all it took for his attack to land on Mu’s body; though instead of a splashing sound of crushed flesh that Uri was expecting, all he heard was the cracking sound of a breaking mirror. The Mu standing and receiving his attack suddenly turned into a mere reflection from one of his countless mirrors.

「Such reckless fighting style.」Mu reappeared from a mirror behind Uri, his hand held tightly onto a long crystal sword, which came swinging and aimed for the Vice Captain’s neck.

「<Arms of Darkness>!!!」Kibadios shouted, activating his skill, allowing for a large dark claw to swat away Mu and his attack. The sudden counterattack sent the teenager flying, though since he had quickly used his crystal sword to block the blow, he only sustained minor scratches the moment he landed again on his feet.「You’re okay, Uri?」

「Thank you, Boss!」The Vice Captain wearily grinned. 

「He had activated his Arte, if you don’t counteract it with your own Arte but just come swinging at him without a plan, you’re just asking for death.」Kibadios lectured his subordinate.

「Well… You see, Boss..」Uri scratched his head.「I don’t have an Arte…I have not yet awakened one.」

「Really? Yet, you made it to the position of Vice Captain?」

「Well, that’s the thing, Boss…」Kibadios could feel Uri’s eyes glowing under his bang. 「I’m just that strong without one!」The Vice Captain turned toward Mu.「Doesn’t matter if you’re hiding using your mirrors. All I have to do is to pulverize them all with my bare hands!」

The Vice Captain again ran head on toward Mu, knowing full well the man standing there might be just another doppelganger, but it mattered not.

「<Field of Death>!!」Mu jerked his arms up as he continued to utilize his Arte against Uri. This time, from underneath the Vice Captain’s feet, the ground suddenly turned into glass before the numerous sharp edged crystals spiked upward. The speed of such an attack would easily impale any incoming foes and tore apart their flesh, yet, instead of trying to jump up to dodge it, Uri simply unleashed his Nen imbued punch at the ground beneath. 

「Ha… Why does this fight remind me of Rock Lee vs Gaara?」Kibadios smiled as in front of him, an entire terrain was leveled and a large crater suddenly appeared as the result of Uri’s determined attack.「You’re an interesting individual, Uri.」  Standing from afar, even Mu now realized that although Uri’s fighting style was straight forward and at times, reckless, the Vice Captain indeed had the strength to make even him struggling in a fight. On top of that, there was Kibadios who has been simply witnessing their fight and exerting pressure that limited 

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The others in the group, as Kibadios had ordered, quickly took on the hundreds of Yin soldiers who were guarding the demihuman prisoners. Of course, the battle did not last for more than minutes, given how Ryuu was with them. Although the dragonkin was somewhat weakened compared to his peak due to the injury inflicted upon him by Aspen Seigeran, he was still undoubtedly the ace card that Kibadios possessed, much like how Diablo was for Rimuru. On top of that, the twin elves had also joined in the fight after erecting a barrier using their talisman, separating the prisoners from the soldiers to protect them. Rowan, as Kibadios instructed, rushed to heal all the injured demihumans, which were most of the group. Some of the demihuman was resisting the healer’s assistance at first since they often did not have good experience when it came to interacting with humans, but seeing the green haired teenager was treating their wounded, the resistance within the group quickly faded.

「Damn it! Is that a half breed lizardman? How the hell can we stop him?」One of the Yinese soldier screamed. Though being distracted by Ryuu’s power at this time was certainly not a good time since he was soon cut down by Ryan. The hero had come a long way since his time as a newbie hero, who had never even taken the life of a human being before meeting Kibadios. Now, even the hot blood of the human he just cut down splattered across his face, the hero was not flinching even once, since to him, he was merely executing his Master’s order. 

「I didn’t know you’re this good, Haden.」Reuk commented as she was fighting side by side with the former adventurer, who now had cut down more than a dozen soldiers with his own blood soaked sword. Since he was an former A+ rank adventurer, a young rising star who could have taken the promotion exam to S class had he not met Corey, his fighting skill surpassed that of many adventurers Reuk had met, despite him being locked up and abused for more than a decade. 

「Really? Though I think I’ve been getting a bit rusty!」Haden smiled, nodding at the impressed Reuk. 

「Damn it… If Lord Shimin can’t have these prisoners, then these demihuman should just dieeee!!!」The captain of the guards, who had realized they stood no chance against the ambush by Kibadios’ group, hurriedly took out a piece of talisman. 

「Wait… That’s…」The prodigious elven prince easily recognized the rune written on the piece of paper, before quickly glancing at the prisoners for a confirmation. As he suspected, all of them were wearing thick collars with Runecraft engraved on them, which can be activated to explode by the captain’s Runecraft Spell. Even if a barrier had been erected to protect them against physical harm, it would not be able to stop the ignition spell.

「DON’T YOU DARE!」A voice shouted out, before a large beastman sprung forth from the tall grass behind the captain. With the incredible strength of a beastman, the man grabbed onto the captain’s head before violently twisted it,  immediately killing the man and stop him from completing the Runecraft.

「Huh?」Ryuu, who had just killed off the last soldier within sight, turn toward the intruding beastman.「Who are you?」

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「Well… it seems like your group was able to rescue the prisoners in no time… If I remain here any longer, I’d just risk being surrounded.」Mu looked at the panting Uri. Despite multiple additional exchanges, neither of them had come out on top, though it was clear that Uri was becoming exhausted. 「I guess it’s time to take my leave… But don’t worry, I’m sure we will cross paths again.」Mu looked at Kibadios, his eyes filled with emotions that Kibadios could not discern: Hatred? Happiness? Sadness? Love?

「... Do I know you?」Kibadios genuinely asked.

「No, no of course you don’t, Brother!」Mu answered before shattering into thousands of mirror pieces and vanishing into thin air.

「Mu. Who’s that?」Kibadios was left wondering.   

 

Illustration of Mu:

Source: NovelAI

 

 

 

The beastman who kills the Yinese Captain:

Artist: Pozon

Pixiv ID: 16230371

Fun Fact: I commissioned this drawing long time ago (there are several more drawings that I received ages ago but have not posted yet) and this character was intended to be in Kibadios' harem (as I said, I wanted to include a "bara" harem member) but I don't feel like he fits so I recycle his character design and use it for this "beastman" character instead. 

 

 

Notes:

It's funny I posted the 20 pages on myreadingmanga and most people recognize this story as a "Webnovel" story and not AO3 story, even though AO3 is the main site I post the story (always post chapter on AO3 first) lol

Chapter 130

Notes:

A short chapter to set up things.

「Adeus sama, are you alright?」A beautiful yet emotionless woman approached the wounded Ennead Candidate.

「He’s learning.」Adeus leered down at the four arms beastman corpse beneath his feet.「...I cannot continue hunting down and fighting his copies like this. It seems as if he can experience everything his copies experience and he’s been adapting to my fighting style. When I fought his last copy, he was barely able to leave a scratch on me, but now, he finally wounded my arm. If I cannot kill all 6 of his copies all at once, I risk revealing more of my power to him and one day, he may even be able to pose a threat to me. I guess there’s a reason he’s one of the Yonko.」Adeus turned to the man standing next to him,「And what of Zaeryn?」 

「According to our spies, he had left the forest.」The man answered.「Should we take this chance to kill this “Yllaner”?」

「... There’s no point killing her.」said Adeus.「At this point, it seems that Zaeryn has not revealed anything to Sylvia reincarnation, so killing her would not benefit us. On the contrary, if us, the Astral, actively try to directly get involved in the affair of Esthar by killing her, it may lead to unpredictable consequences, much like a butterfly effect that led to the Second Great Holy War… Do we at least know Zaeryn’s current location?」

「Yes, Adeus sama. With the extensive network of informants you have built on Esthar, there’s no way we would lose track of the Anathema. He’s currently near the city of Alsen in Monas Kye.」

「... Monas Kye huh? That place has been your home for more than a decade and a half… Maryana, go and keep an eye out on his movement. Since you have lived there for a long time before returning to me, traversing the place should be no problem for you. Track Zaeryn down and keep me updated on his whereabouts at all time.」

「Yes, Adeus sama.」The emotionless homunculus bowed before disappearing into the thin air.

「What about you, Teacher? What are you going to do?」The man asked.

「...Waiting for the opportune moment.」Adeus answered cryptically, then turned to his disciple. 「And one more thing: remember to keep Zaeryn’s whereabouts a secret from the Ennead」

「... The Ennead? But…」The Astral, who occupied a homunculus vessel to travel to Esthar, was visibly shaken.

「But?」Adeus placed his hand on the Astral’s shoulder, exerting an intense pressure that would cause a normal human to go mad.

「... Nothing, teacher.」the terrified Astral gulped.「I understand.」

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「Daddy!!!」Tina excitedly jumped at her father as he, along with everyone in the group Kibadios rescued, walked slowly toward the camp. The weakened Yves, despite all the injuries that were inflicted on his muscular, sturdy body, still opened his arms widely to receive the crying girl. 

「I’m sorry, Tina!! You must have been so scared!」The Yves father hugged the little girl tightly within his embrace, patting her head consolingly. 

「I’m fine, Daddy! Maia nee chan took care of my wounds!!」Tina smiled, reassuring her father while pointing at the alchemist girl.

「... That human girl?」 The Yves hesitated for a moment, noticing Maia was not a demihuman, yet, the man quickly bowed.「Thank you, Maia dono!」

「Don’t worry about it, Kuron dono」Maia reciprocated the bow.

「You know my name?」The man was surprised.

「Of course.」Maia smiled.「Tina has been telling me so many stories about you. How you fought the Empire bravely, allowing most of the women and children in your clan to escape the Empire’s grasp.」

「But in the end, I’m still powerless. Because of me, Tina was caught by them and endured so much hardship these past few days.」Kuron gently touched his daughter’s cheek.「Had it not been for Kibadios sama, we would probably be all taken to the Laboratory… Who knows what fate awaits us there…」  

「The laboratory?」Kibadios walked up from behind after overhearing the conversation.「I see that man is still experimenting on demihuman.」 

「Ah, Kibadios dono.」Kuron nodded.「You knew about Li Shimin’s experimentation?」

「... Yes…」Memories of the tortures he received during his second reincarnation, as a lab species being experimented on, briefly filled the hybrid’s mind, causing him to shudder slightly. 「Though, all I know is that they they were trying to create chimeric creatures or something.」 

「Yes, rumor has it that Li Shimin was able to create functional, living chimeric soldiers from the Laboratory by extracting essence from the demihuman prisoners they captured.」Kuron said. 「Although I did not encounter any chimeric soldiers during my clash with them, I’ve heard from many refugees who have personally seen those abominations. A village only 5 days distance from here was believed to be wiped out by one of those chimera.」

「They succeeded?」Kibadios was amazed, since creating life was not an easy task.

「So it seems… You fought against that teenager who led the soldiers, right?」Kuron asked.

「Yeah, the tanned young man. What about him?」

「I did not hear it directly from him, but from all the conversations I overheard the soldiers were having, that young man was the “prototype” for the chimera.」

「”Prototype”? What does that even mean? He looks like human to me.」Kibadios was confused. Besides, why did he call me “Brother”? He was clearly taken aback at the mention of my name…    

「... I’m sorry but that’s all I know.」Kuron shook his head.

「Don’t worry about it, Kuron.」Kibadios patted the man’s shoulder.「Just take care of yourself and Tina here. She was really worried about you.」

「What next, Master?」Yuusei walked up to Kibadios in his adult form, awaiting his instructions.

「I’ve discussed this with Uri and others.」Kibadios explained.「Since most of the prisoners also want to get to Alsen because it’s the last stronghold of the demihuman in Eastern Monas Kye, it’s not like we can leave them here on their own. So I’ve decided to split up our group: Uri, Yue, Ryuu and I will travel ahead and get to Alsen without any delay. The rest, especially Rowan and Maia, will stay behind and travel with the group. That way, you two can help heal their injuries.」

「I understand, Master!」Maia, although was disappointed that she could not join Kibadios’ group, agreed without any hesitation since she understood the hybrid’s logic.

「... Can Yuusei come with Master?」The mutant hybrid asked while looking at his master with a big, wide eye.

「I understand that you want to come with me, Yuusei chan, but it’s important that you stay with Maia and others to protect them.」explained Kibadios.「We have wiped out all the Yin soldiers in the region, but who knows if more would come. So I need you to stay behind and be vigilant. Understand?」

「Yuusei understands.」The mutant nodded.

「Good! And don’t worry, we won’t be apart for too long, it should be two days at the most.」Kibadios leaned in to kiss the visibly saddened mutant on the cheek, causing his fluffy rabbit tail to wag back and forth.

「Kibadios dono!」A husky voice spoke from behind. 「Would you mind if I join your group? I really want to get to Alsen as soon as possible. There may be a slim chance my wife would be there.」The red head beastman could not hide his worrying expression.

「Sure, feel free to come with us.」Kibadios accepted.「I hope you can find your wife there, Falkor.」

「Master, this man here is?」Maia curiously asked

「This is Falkor, a beastman that helped us rescue the captives. He is in search of his missing wife, who vanished without a trace three weeks ago.」 explained Kibadios.「He was hoping that he could find her among the captives, but unfortunately, she wasn’t with them.」

「I’m so sorry to hear about your wife, Falkor san.」Maia empathetically looked at the worried beastman.「How do you know your wife may be at Alsen?」

「We were traveling there to take refuge from the Empire advances.」answered the beastman.「On our way there, we were ambushed by a group of scattered Yin soldiers. I stood my ground and fought them back, allowing my wife a chance to escape them. Once I finished off the last of the soldiers and tried to look for her, she was gone. She should not have gone too far, but I just could not find her.」Falkor frowned.「Since then, I’ve been hurrying toward Alsen, but on the way, I noticed a group of Yinese soldiers and their captives so I was worried that she was among them. I was trying to think of a way to break the captives free on my own. Thankfully, that was when Kibadios dono’s group sprang into action.」  

「So, you think she has headed to Alsen before you?」

「...Yes. Though, it’s not like Maryana to leave without leaving any clue behind.」

「There’s nothing you can do now, Falkor.」Kibadios consoled the man.「You just have to get to Alsen and look for her. Until then, excessive worries would bring you no good. At least, you did not see any evidence that the Empire soldiers have gotten to her.」

「Thanks, Kibadios… It’s still weird how her scent just disappeared suddenly…」Falkor clenched his fist in frustration.  

「... Just like how I was able to reunite with Tina here, I’m sure you will eventually find your wife, Falkor dono.」Kuron, who has been listening to the conversation, reassured the beastman with a faint smile.

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「Brother, are you sure?」A humanoid looking shota asked. At first glance, the young man would look like a beastman since he had fiery red fur and hair covered half his head. Yet, upon closer inspection, it could be easily noticed that the strange body he possessed was weirdly constructed.「Our older brother has stepped foot onto the Grassland?」

「Without doubt... he looked just like her, too. I was taken aback for a moment.」Mu nodded

「So our brother is alive, just like Mother wished for…」A muscular humanoid man, with a monstrous looking face and two large black wings noted.

「So what if he’s returned.」A monster-like girl with two red eyes smiled.「He should have stayed away from Monas Kye… Mother had given him a chance to live, yet he chose to return.」

「He was a mere infant when mother was caught. He probably doesn’t even have any memories about her.」The last of the monstrous looking individuals grinned while floating leisurely in midair. 

「But he knew his name is Kibadios.」Mu noted.

「Probably it was written on his bassinet.」The muscular humanoid man logically deduced. 「I wonder if his coming back is only a coincidence. After all, around here, if you’re a demihuman, Monas Kye would be the place to live… at least, that was the case before the Empire invaded this Grassland.」

「... What are you going to do, Brother?」The shota asked.

「End him.」Mu coldly answered.「Against Li Shimin, there’s no victory for the demihuman of Monas Kye… It’s better for Mother to live, continue her role and be ignorant of the fate that will befall on our older brother…」

「How cold~」The floating monster girl teased. 

「He is now with the Hyakki Yagyo so sooner or later, he will arrive here, at Alsen.」Mu stepped out of the military tent where the group was gathering.「Here, we shall put him out of his misery… He should have stayed somewhere far away. The moment he returned, he just wasted our beloved Mother’s effort to keep him safe.」

.

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「Hmm… there was definitely a fight here… yet, there’s no blood… no corpses left behind.」The man dressed in a long black suit looked around the woods before kneeling down next to the calm pond.「Hmm… whoever killed that useless Corey must be good, leaving no clue behind. That’s why the investigation team sent by the Oracle came back empty handed...hmm…」The man paused before suddenly warned「 Quit sneaking up on me from behind, will you? Who knows what unfortunate accidents may happen?」

「What can you do against me, Akaban?」Adeus towered over the man from behind.

「Who knows.」The man whistled before standing up and turned around to face a man that was a head taller than him. Unlike most others, the mortal facing the Ennead Candidate did not show an ounce of fear that plagued even the lower ranking Astrals.「Why did you pay me a visit, Adeus… sama?」   

「I have a job for you…」answered Adeus.

「Hoh?」  

「But you have to keep this a secret from the Oracle and even the Ennead.」

「Interesting… and what does the job entail?」Akaban licked his lips in anticipation.

「Making your way to Monas Kye and eliminate a demihuman named “Kibadios”」answered Adeus.

「You’re asking one of the Six to kill a mere demihuman?」Akaban grinned.

「He’ll surprise you.」Adeus assured the man.「If you succeed in killing him, then I’ll grant you a rematch.」

「... and I have to keep this job a secret to both the Oracle and your bosses?」

「Is that a problem?」Adeus leered down at the man.

「No. I don’t care for them… Though I hope you keep to your word and let me fight you again.」Akaban grinned.

「If you succeed, that is.」Adeus reminded the man.        

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Phew, lots of characters to introduce:

The "monster" brothers/sisters of Mu were envisioned as characters drawn by Arsh (again, one of the reason I wanted to write this years ago is because I wanted to create a harem of monsters for the MC, but things changed so now these monster characters aren't in the harem anymore lol). Since I can't commission Arsh for drawing of monsters, I wanted to give the link to the drawings here so you know how I envisioned them: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/75146312.

And again, since I didn't commission the drawings, I did the next best thing and novelAI generated them. These designs are not final. If I am able to commission artist (and if slim chance, Arsh himself) for portraits of these monster characters, then I will change them later. For now, they look like these:

Qwan, The humanoid looking shota (one of the most finalized design):

Eadur, The muscular humanoid man (the reason for his messed up face is because of NovelAI, but please bear with me and just convince yourself it's because he's a chimeric monster lol >.>)

Alaran, The monster-like girl with two red eyes:

Galahan, The floating monster girl:

 

Akaban:

Do you know Kuroudo Akabane (赤屍蔵人 Akabane Kurōdo)? This character is based on him, one of the most badass and intriguing character I've ever read in manga

Source: NovelAI

 

 

 

  

Chapter 131

「So, Zaeryn is at the Plain of Monas Kye, huh?」The pink-haired Astral, leisurely floating in the air, asked to reconfirm the information he just learned.

「Yes, Ayer sama.」The woman Astral, cloaked in white robe, timidly nodded. She has been in service of Ayer for more than five thousand years, yet, she could never get used to being in the presence of her Master.

「Does any other Ennead know about this?」

「I did not dare to report to them before getting your permission.」

「Good. Don’t let them know.」The feminine looking Ennead finally descended down. His soft, smooth bare feet gently stepped on the emerald marble floor, before slowly walking toward the grand entrance, ignoring the female Astral standing in front of him.「Zaeryn is mine and I don’t intend to let him fall into the hands of the other Enneads.」Ayer licked his upper lip, a sinister smile grew wider across his twisted face. 

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The settlement of Alsen, the greatest “city” of The Eastern Monas Kye, one of the last two bastions standing against the unstoppable forces of the Yin Empire, was surrounded by 7 small hills. On top of each hill stood large watch towers, all connected by a wide sturdy wall that has successfully protected the settlement for eons. In its long history of existence, it had been besieged more than a dozen times, yet not even the armies of the great crusades of the past, led by the forces of the distant Uronas Theocracry, could breach the wall. That was why along with its sister city to the West, Alsen stood as the beacon of hope for the denizens of Eastern Monas Kye. 

「The endgame is approaching.」The young orge man looked out beyond the wall protecting the crowded settlement.「Do you think your former subordinates would arrive here in time for the crucial battle, Teran?」

「... Can’t say.」The mutant ogre shrugged.「Though, even without the help of my former mercenary group, the Empire would still find it hard to subjugate us here. We all have a reason to fight them until the bitter end.」

「Of course, the majority of us here are refugees who have lost someone we hold dear because of the Empire’s aggression. Those Yinese soldiers will not emerge from this battle unharmed.」The orge turned to his companion.「I guess among us, you’re the most peculiar person here. A former notorious mercenary who devotes his all to fight for the survival of a place you hold no allegiance to.」

「You fight to avenge your lost wife and son. I fight to protect the peaceful life of someone I hold dear… It doesn’t matter what our reasons are. It only matters that we’re here now… I’m glad I’ll be fighting side by side with you, Kailos.」 

「Likewise, my friend.」Kailos grinned before unsheathed his flaming sword. With his gaze focused on the incoming burning projectile, the orge swung his sword, unleashing a fiery slash that pulverized the large rock into dust before it could crash into the wall.「Survive this battle and we shall share a drink tonight!」

Using trebuchets’ launches as signals for the start of the assault, the endless waves Yinese soldiers began to advance at the order of their commanders. Behind the staunch lines of the marching spearmen stood several platoons of magic casters, who have been continuously chanting spells of favorable wind, allowing their archer corps to let loose their arrows at the defending demihuman soldiers. 

「...Massacre those who are weak, enslave those who are strong and bring them back to the laboratory.」Hou Yi, the white hair young man, supreme commander of the army, declared. His cold eyes did not seem to hold any emotion as he looked at the clash between his men and the demihuman on the wall. Smell of blood, fire, and irons, along with the deafening screams and shouts, quickly filled the air of the battlefield. Yinese steel swords clashing against the sharp claws of the raging beastmen, whistling arrows blocked by the hastily constructed wooden shield of the defenders. 

「GGGGRRRRR!!!」On the Western wall, a loud roar ruptured the flow of the battle, sending the invading soldiers to a brief stunning horror. For the lion beastman standing in front of them, the commander of the Alsen forces, angrily transformed into a great white lion and leapt toward the Yinese forces, tearing them into shreds with his teeth and claws. His white fur and braided mane slowly dyed in the red blood of his enemies.「You filthy human! I will show you the bravery and power of the people of Monas Kye! I will show you why no outside power could conquer us for thousands of years! Come here! Come to your death!!!」

「... Nothing but meaningless ramblings.」Hou Yi dismissed the threat before stepping up to challenge the lion beastman. Before he could reach him, his advance was stopped by a flying spear aiming at his face. Any regular man would have been effortlessly pierced by such an attack, but Hou Yi easily caught the lightning fast spear with his bare hand.「Teran, former captain of the 13th division, we meet again.」The Yinese commander greeted the mutant ogre like an old friend, yet, his tone was nothing but. 

「Our battles have yet resulted in a winner, Hou Yi.」Teran jumped down from the high wall, crashing the ground beneath him before walking toward the guarded commander.

「We will soon find out, won’t we?」The Yinese drew out his large iron fan, similar to that which was used by Madara.

CRACCCKKKKK!!!!!

「What?? The Northern Wall has crumbled!」yelled one of the Alsen soldiers.

「How? How can a wall imbued with so much magic be breached at easily?」Another asked.

「I don’t know! What’s happening at the Northern side?」 

「...Tsk!」Teran clicked his tongue in frustration, knowing there’s nothing he could do to reinforce the Northern Wall since the presence of Hou Yi was now trapping him here. 

「Don’t worry, Teran, Ectharen. I’ll go there to keep things in check!」Kailos shouted to the ogre and the lion beastman before jumping on top of the wooden houses toward the direction of the crumbled wall.

「For our defense to be breached that easily… it must have been the work of chimeric corp.」Teran deduced.

「Indeed. 5 of the 12 chimera monsters we created are fighting over there. No amount of fighters you have can stop them when they’re together.」Hou Yi revealed.「Those slaves are our triumph card in this fight. This place will be burned to the ground, Teran. Just accept your fate.」

「...」

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「Ahh…」

「Haaa.. I… 」

 「Can’t…」

「My lung!」

The Alsen soldiers, all bleeding from their orifices, quickly dropped dead on the floor as Mu leisurely walked through the breach in the wall to enter the settlement. 「<Mirror Dust>」The young, tanned man activated his skill, allowing a thick layer of fine crystal particles to dissipate around him. With this skill, anyone who was stupid enough to rush at him would find themselves inhaling the sharp crystal particles inside their bodies. Once inside, the “mirror dust,” as Mu called it, would cut up the unsuspecting victims from within, instantly killing off many low level fighters. 「Hou Yi acting as a distraction while us, the mutant corps had to do the heavy lifting… That damn man always push us to the limit.」

「We’re their tools… their slaves, what can we do but following his order.」The muscular monster with a distorted face commented while his thick claws crushing the heads of two struggling soldiers. 

「Ara ara, these soldiers are weaker than I thought.」The red-eyed monster girl noted. Each step she took, sheets of ices began to form under her feet. The dark aura swirling around her spread out and grabbed onto the few soldiers who tried to surround her, then freezing them into ice sculptures.

「End their lives quickly.」The shota monster reminded.「After all, these are our mother’s people.」

「Abomination of creation!」Kailos angrily screamed before his blade slashed downward, pushing the layer of mirror dust to either side to create a path for him to get to Mu.「Don’t you dare think that you can take one step further into Alsen!」

「... Kailos.」Mu gazed at the orge. Our mother’s husband is finally here.

「Careful, brother.」The muscular monster warned Mu.「He’s also one of the individuals that Hou Yi singled out as dangerous being.」

「I know.」

「... and control your emotions.」The monster whispered.「We know we have to face him eventually…Mother had already believed he’s dead so him dying here under our hands would not make a difference. Besides, not like any of us will tell her about it.」

「What are you guys whispering about?」Kailos warily grinned.「Thinking of a strategy to fight me?」

「Strategy? No. We will simply overwhelm you with our power!」The monster girl with an eternal smiling face declared as her shadow, snake-like arms extended out, ready for an attack.

BAMMMM!!!

「What are you guys talking about?」The incubus hybrid crashed down from the sky with his dark scythe in hand, a confident grin decorated his face「Mu… and his friends? Mind if I join in? Good thing we did not arrive to Alsen too late.」

「That’s…」

「Kibadios!」

「Where did he come from? The sk…」The shota monster looked up, only to realize a large dragon was now circling above their head.「A dragon kin?」

「... So that man wasn’t a lizardman, but a dragon?」Mu was surprised. He had noticed the overwhelming presence of Ryuu back during his clash with the hybrid’s group, yet, he was only assuming Ryuu was a lizardman due to the tail. Not in a million years would he think his brother had a dragonkin companion following his order. 

Before the group of chimeric monsters and Mu could react, Ryuu began to fly away toward the other battlefields.

「<Ice Shards>!!!」The red-eyed monster girl wasted no time before launching her attack at Kibadios. 

「Chiii!!!」From his shadow, his loyal slime suddenly jumped up, expanded to twenty times its normal size and absorbed the large ice shards that were sent flying at its master. Once it dropped down to the ground, the sheer size of the slime caused the earth to shake for a bit.

「Brother… We meet again.」Mu smiled.「Just like I had predicted.」

「... Kiba… dios?」From behind the hybrid, the orge stood frozen in disbelief. Standing in front of him was a hybrid that bore an uncanny resemblance to his wife, whose name was that of his son, whom he thought had perished 5 years back. [Note: due to me not planning ahead, I said previously, Kibadios was only 1-2 years old. But thinking about it, i’d like to retcon it and make Kibadios ~5 years old. That meant he traveled around for ~ 4 years prior to meeting with Rowan and Maia in the first chapter… Sorry! Yuusei is still older than Kibadios… probably around 5-7 years old.]

「Huh?」Kibadios turned around. From above, when he was riding on Ryuu’s back, he did not notice the familiar appearance of the brave ogre facing the chimeric group, but now, once he got a chance to take a closer look at the man, there was no way he could not realize it.「Father? You’re alive?」 

 

 

 

Ayer (One of the Ennead)

Artist: あきまち

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@akmc0015

Pixiv: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/2376573

 

 

 

Teran, the mutant ogre:

Source: Novel AI

 

 

Hou Yi:
Source: NovelAI (Based on Total War: Warhammer 3 character designs)

 

 

 

Kuron, The Yves father:
Just got his picture delivered so here it is:

Artist: Musmoth@リク募集中

Pixiv: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/36428458

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

Do you know why both Kibadios' parents turned out to be alive? Cuz I got so tired of the dead/missing parents trope of shounen manga lol >.>
That being said, it doesnt guarantee that they will stay alive :3 (seriously, I really don't know if they would lol >.>)

Chapter 132

「How could this be? You’re really Kibadios?」Thousands of emotions ran through Kailos’ head as his face changed from the stern expression when confronting the chimeric siblings, to confusion, to hope, and finally to excitement as his eyes could clearly see the resemblance between Kibadios and his wife.

「...」Kibadios froze for a second, before letting out a faint smile.「Now isn’t a time for reunion, father.」

「So, this is our Brother that Mu was telling us about? Very flashy!」The muscular chimera loudly spoke up, before jumping at the hybrid. Although the distracted Kibadios was able to react in time, crossing his arms in front of his body to block the incoming punch, the sheer impact of the attack sent him crashing into the house standing almost 50 feet away, shattering it into rubble. 

「Kibadios!」Kailos worryingly shouted out before making his way to the hybrid. Yet, the ogre could barely make a few steps forward before his path was blocked by one of the chimera siblings. 

「Don’t worry, Kailos. We will make sure you join Brother in an eternal rest.」The red-eyed monster girl swung out her arm, which had now taken the shape of a silver scythe, decorated with snowy crystal. With one swing, the chimera created a large spiky ice sheet from thin air and launched it at her ogre opponent. 

「You bunch of monsters!」Ogre gritted his teeth. Kailos skillfully reacted to the attack by drawing out his sword. Much like Yamamoto from Bleach, the moment his sword was unsheathed, a hot red flame instantly engulfed the blade. With one of his slash, the flame was projected outward, easily cutting through and melting the icy attack.「Don’t you dare stand between me and my son!」The ogre immediately sent a follow- up attack directed at the red-eyed monster, intended to burn her into crisp flesh. Although she could see the attack incoming, the monster did not bother to move an inch away from where she stood.

「His elemental affinity is <Fire>, Alaran .」The shota monster jumped in front of the red-eyed monster girl, raising his arms up. Instead of possessing normal hands with fingers, his hands took the shape of two large jaws, both were now wide open and sucking in the scorching fiery attack into the seemingly endless dark abyss, not unlike Wind Tunnel of Miroku from Inuyasha.「He’s just a bad matchup for you.」 

「 Qwan … Are you trying to steal my prey?」Alaran leered down at the boy. 

「Stop being competitive for once, Alaran. If you want, we can join forces and take him out together.」The shota monster, Qwan, suggested. 

「Hoh? That sounds fun. When was the last time we fought together?」Alaran genuinely was excited.

「Some time last year, I guess.」Answered the shota monster as he effortlessly dodged Kailos’ continuing attacks, floating in the air like a weightless feather. 

「How long do you think it would take us to finish him?」Alaran grinned.

「Less than 5 minutes, I’d say.」

「Let’s do it!」Alaran declared. Yet, her excitement for the anticipated battle was disrupted as behind her, from underneath the rubble, a sinister aura could easily be sensed by all those who were present at the battlefield. Before long, a shockwave blasting the debris away, some of which were sent flying at the muscular chimera and the levitating monster girl staying close to him. 

「You two okay? Eadur ? Galahan ?」Mu rushed to his siblings. 

「It’d take more than a few flying bricks to hurt me.」 Eadur answered before crushing the debris he caught with his claw into dust.

「Since when were you such a worrywart, Mu?」Galahan teased. A shadow extended from her body, not unlike that of Kibadios, easily protected her.

「... Since, we’re facing him.」Mu could feel a drop of sweat rolling down his cheek. At the ominous warning of their brother, the two chimera suddenly turned to Kibadios, who was now emerging from the settling dust.「Our brother seems to be much more powerful than we have given him credit for. I guess there’s a reason why a dragonkin would work under him.」

In front of their eyes, Kibadios appeared completely unharmed. What caught their attention, though, was the fact that the hybrid had fully uncloaked his illusion and revealed his true self: His two ogre horns extended further outward from his forehead, while on his back, three pairs of dark, large wings were now fully visible, much like that of Belial or Sandalphon from GBF. The hybrid’s shadows slowly extended outward from where he stood, resembling Pride from Full Metal Alchemist, right down to the eeriness that his aura gave off. The hybrid raised his right arm, conjuring up a large scythe that was much longer and larger than his usual weapon. 

「Three pairs of wings…」Mu muttered.「Who could have thought that our Brother would be that special kind of Incubus.」  

「Now, who goes first?」Kibadios grinned.

Without audibly responding to Kibadios’ taunt, Mu summoned more than a dozen sharp crystal shards and projected them at the hybrid at an extremely high speed that if any regular person was witnessing the fight, they would not have realized what was going on. Strangely, instead of creating distance between himself and his opponents like he usually would, Kibadios simply ran forward. His shadow moved along with him, rising up from the ground and slashed away the attack Mu sent at him. Caught off guard by their brother’s initiative, the three chimera stood frozen for a moment, deliberating what to do next. In just that few seconds, Kibadios had somehow appeared in between Mu, Galahan, and Eadur before swinging his scythe around, aiming right at their necks. Reacting in a nick of time, all three barely parried off Kibadios attack before swiftly dashed away from the hybrid to create some breathing ground. Once they had gained back their composure, Eadur was the first one to counter attack as blue sparks of lightning coated his right claw, before he sprung forth, thrusting his arm at Kibadios like an unstoppable spear. 

「Wow, wow wow.」Kibadios grinned.「Did you intend to Chidori me? Too bad for you, but come forth <Aegis>」Much like when he was fighting Ashura, a shield suddenly dropped down in front of him, blocking Eadur’s attack.

CLANGGGGG!

「How…?」Eadur frowned and gazed at the shield that stopped his attack dead in its track.「There should not be any object in this world that can withstand my attack…」

「Eadur, get back!」Galahan ordered her brother, to which the muscular chimera obliged without question, since he knew what was coming next.

「<Gluttony Overlord Beelzebub>」  Called out Galahan to activate her Arte. The four floating black orbs surrounding her began to grow bigger and bigger, until each was of the size of a man’s height in diameter. The moment they stopped growing, a shrieking voice could be heard reverberating the battlefield before sinister mouths salivating drools suddenly appeared on them. Though, as their drools dropped down onto the ground, Kibadios could notice an extreme corrosion quickly occurring at the impact, eating deep into the earth.「<Thousands years of Erosion>」 Galahand clenched her fists, signaling the four hideous floating mouths to release their streams of fluid, which swirled around the hybrid. As the four streams combined into one and created an inescapable vortexing dome, locking the hybrid in the middle, Kibadios realized the reason why the chimera named Eadur had hurriedly backed off, for had he stayed behind, he would be easily dissolved into nothing as the extremely corrosive vortex zeroed in on where he stood. 

「Kibadios!!!」The hybrid could hear his father calling out in panic. 

「... Ha. I trust you won’t fail me, <Aegis>」Kibadios gently reached out to his smol summon, who had been hiding behind the shield and holding it up: A sapphire hedgehog. As he touched its cheek, a hint of sadness crossed his face. The summon chirped in acknowledgement before radiating a bright light, enveloping its master.

「... What’s that?」Eadur frowned. 「He’s…」 

As the vortex closed in on itself then disappeared, all the three siblings could see was a blob of light encircling their Brother. 

「Galahan’s Arte…」 The moment the light faded away, Mu could easily see Kibadios stood there, unharmed.「could not eat away that barrier? This is the first time it happens.」

Surrounding Kibadios were three different spiky shields made out of pure sapphire light, all remained intact despite the chimera’s attack.  

「Goodjob, <Aegis>」Kibadios complimented his summon before dismissing it away, for he was now going on the offensive.「<Gaia> <Damocles> <Silmarillion>」Kibadios called forth his summons, to which surprised all his foes, for none in recorded history, was able to command more than 2 summons at any moment. From the earthy ground emerged a weeping woman cloaked in simple earthy cloth. Each of her tears, once falling upon the ground, created a small tree on its track. From the endless sky, three large eagles flew down and rested upon Kibadios’ shoulders. On each of their heads embedded a large, shining crystal that gave off a soothing light not unlike the stars of the dark sky.「Sorry, but please lend me your power.」 Kibadios gave his summon a slight nod before charging at the three chimera.

「You’re kidding me…」Galahan sweated.「What are you, Brother?」

「Seems like we’re picking a fight with someone we shouldn’t have.」Eadur acknowledged.

「...」Mu was the only one who stayed silent.     

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「Wow wow, look at that.」Sitting on Ryuu’s back, Uri turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of Kibadios after the hybrid had finally let loose and went all out.「Who would have thought the Boss is an Incubus Overlord?」

「Incubus Overlord?」Yue asked.

「You see, within the race of incubus and succubus, 1 in a million chance, an individual will be born with 3 pairs of wings. That person is considered an <Incubus Overlord> or <Succubus Overlord> since they possessed the power and vitality comparable to thousands of incubus and succubus combined.」Uri explained.「Since our population is usually much less than 50k at any given generation, you can imagine that the appearance of an <Incubus Overlord> is extremely rare.」

「... Vitality of thousands, huh?」Yue muttered under her breath.「No wonder Kibadios sama has been so vigorous in bed.」

「Oh, and legend said that an <Incubus Overlord>’s cum tastes delicious and is very addicting.」Without any filter, Uri blurted out.「I wonder if that’s true.」      

「...」Yue remained silent, though her face had begun to turn slightly red.

「I can attest to that!」Ryuu agreed.「Anything belonging to Kibadios sama is addicting!」

「Really?」Uri smiled, before changing topic.「Anyhow, I’m off here! Yue chan, please proceed to do what the Boss asked of you. The outcome of this entire battle relies on you.」

「Of course, Uri dono.」Yue politely nodded.

「Off I go!」Uri waved his hand before letting himself fall off Ryuu’s back and crash landing onto the crowded battlefield below.

「Tsk, that guy, after daring to reject Master outright like that despite being Master’s Fated Pair, he kept calling you “Chan” this, “Chan” that, as if he’s that close to us and Kibadios sama.」Ryuu angrily said.

「You’re jealous, Ryuu dono?」Yue chuckled.

「What? Jealous of him? As if!」Ryuu denied, though deep down, he knew Yue’s comment hit rather close to home ever since he learned about Uri being his Master’s “Fated Pair.”「 Yue chan, please get off of me. You can fly by yourself, right?」The dragonoid’s tone suddenly changed.

「Understood!」Yue, without needing Ryuu to elaborate any further, hurriedly jumped off from the dragonoid before conjuring up two paper wings to help her land safely on the ground. 

「HYYYAAAA!!!」

Ryuu quickly transformed himself back to his humanoid form, readied his weapon to meet the surprise attack from below. 

CLANGG!!!

His spear clashed against a large hammer, but since he’s a dragon, he was strong enough to parry the heavy attack away. 

「A Dragonkin?」The woman studied Ryuu from head to tail while smiling with confidence.「Handsome face, rather strong too… I’ve decided! I’ll make you one of my concubines!」 

「... HAAA??」Ryuu’s disgust was rather obvious, though his expression soon filled with rage, since someone dared to claim making him, one of his Master’s harem members, into one of her concubines.「You have a death wish, woman?」 

 

 

 

The woman who attacked Ryuu:

Source: NovelAI (generated based off of a picture I found... sorry I already deleted that pic so I can't give source of.)

 

 

Notes:

I'm introducing so many characters that now I just can't keep tracks of >.>
fml.

Chapter 133

Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter >.<

「I’m sorry, Maia dono, if I had offended you before.」Kuron lowered his head as he approached the alchemist while carrying his daughter, who was sound asleep on his back

「Sorry? What do you mean, Kuron san?」Maia was confused.「and please, just call me Maia.」   

「About the disrespect I showed when we first met.」

「Disrespect?」Maia thought about their first meeting back in the early morning, before giving the Yves a smiling response.「You meant the uneasiness you felt? I would not blame you had you been outright hostile to me, Rowan chan, and Ryan chan. After all, we’re human. To you, the inhabitants of Monas Kye, who had fought against the 8 crusades initiated by the Theocracy for more than 200 years, then having to deal with the aggression from the Yin Empire, us humans bring nothing but death and destruction to your ways of life…I am  ashamed to admit it, but Rowan and I came from a small isolated village with backward ways of thinking and there were times when we both viewed demihumans with dread and disdain…」

「You were?」surprised Kuron before looking at Rowan, who was trying to heal the injured prisoners.「I would never have guessed it had you not told me. The two of you and Ryan dono have been so eager to help us.」

「Yes, that was before our Master saved us and our village.」The girl smiled, thinking back to the time they first met Kibadios and living blissfully in the forest.

「Really? Kibadios-dono did?」

「Yes, our village was suddenly under attack by the monsters out of nowhere and it was thank to Kibadios sama that the attack was repelled.」  

「Ha, Kibadios dono is really an interesting man, isn’t he? He’s like a heroic character in a story that would always show up and protect the weak and vulnerable.」 

「I don’t think he views himself as one though.」 A hint of sadness crossed her usual brightened expression.「but to us, he’s our savior, he’s the light that we follow, no matter what fate awaits us.」 

「Daddy…haaa… flower…」The young Yves girl was laughing in her sleep.

「It seems like Tina chan is dreaming of you, Kuron san.」Maia smiled.「I hope I don’t appear too nosy to ask this, but where’s Tina chan’s mom?」

「... She passed away a long time ago, right after she gave birth to Tina.」Answered Kuron.  

「I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…」

「Don’t worry about it, Maia.」Kuron dismissed the girl’s apology.「It’s only natural that you’re curious and you’ll learn about it sooner or later.」

「TERAN, YOU BASTARD!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??」A loud scream suddenly disrupted the pair’s conversation, causing them to freeze for a moment before both Maia and Kuron rushed toward the head of the moving group. As the alchemist girl arrived, she noticed their group had encountered another small group of refugees. One person from the other group, who appeared rather inebriated, was shouting with anger at Yuusei while being held back by a few other people in his group.

「What’s going on?」Maia asked.「Who’s Teran?」

「I don’t know.」Falkor, who had been staying with the head of the moving caravan, was equally confused.「We encountered this group of beastmen who came from a village from the South. Since they’re also trying to reach Alsen, we wanted to talk to them and figure out if we should travel there together but suddenly, this man was screaming at Yuusei, calling him “Teran”?」    

 「Yuusei chan, what’s happening?」Maia rushed to the mutant hybrid, who was now in his adult form.

「...」

「Eugene! Stop it! Can’t you see? He’s not Teran!」Another man, who was helping to hold back the screaming beastman, tried to convince him to calm down.「They just look alike, but this ogre here doesn’t have both his horns protruding out from his front forehead.」

「Haaa???」The drunk beastman leaned forward, trying to take a look at Yuusei more clearly. His eyes blinked fast for a few times, widened up, then tilted his head onto one side then the other. 「You’re not Teran? Then who the fuck are you?」

「...」Yuusei remained silent for a moment, his grim, expressionless face now appeared even grimmer.「Eugene… san…」

「Yuusei, you know this man?」Rowan, who had run toward the mutant hybrid, asked.

「...Eugene san… helped Yuusei once.」 

「「「Huh?」 」 」The members of Kibadios’ harem all looked surprised.

「.... You’re… Hana’s child?」The drunken beastman finally realized.

「What? That cursed mutant?」At the mention of  Yuusei’s mother, the other beastmen who suppressed Eugene seemed to also realize who they were looking at. 「It’s still alive?」

「Murderer!」「Cursed child!」「Murderer!!」The murmuring among the beastmen began to grow.   

 「Why…」The man mumbled.「Why do you still live, yet Hana perished… You should have died in the wild!」The man angrily threw a wine bottle at Yuusei, which shattered once it crashed against his emotionless face, before simply staggering away.

「What the hell is wrong with him?」Ren scowled, then turned to the mutant.「Are you okay, Yuusei?」

「... Yuusei?」Rowan reached out to the mutant, who remained rather motionless despite receiving the hit directly to his face. 

「Yuusei’s okay.」The mutant nodded.   

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「Hey yo! Boss!」 Uri crash landed close to the battlefield where Teran fought Hou Yi.「I brought the desperately needed reinforcement you’ve asked for. How you doing?」

「Been better!」Teran smirked, while parried Hou Yi’s downward slash.「That dragonkin is with you? I didn’t know there’s a dragonkin in the group.」

「Ah yes, it’s the new members.」Uri explained.「The new captain of the 13th division is fighting against a group of chimera at the Northern wall.」

「The Chimera corps is really there?」Teran clicked his tongue. No wonder the Northern Wall was breached . Though he was concerned, the ogre could do nothing since he has been focusing his all to the battle between himself and the Commander of the Yinese army.「Uri, go help your new captain! He won’t be able to take on all the individuals in the Chimera corps.」

「Don’t worry about him, Boss.」Uri shook his head.「My new Captain is a monster! In fact, he’s the Big Boss’ newly proclaimed sworn brother! Rather worrying about him…」The hybrid incubus glared at the opponent Teran was fighting against.「Should I join you and we both can take care of that person, whom I assumed to be Hou Yi?」

「I’m not going to stop you.」Teran smirked while pointing his glistening spear at Hou Yi.

「Two on one, huh?」The Commander commented.

「We’re mercenaries, not the honorable adventurers.」Teran pointed out.「I have no problem fighting an unfair fight.」

「Exactly!」Uri leapt forward. With his Nen concentrated in his arm, the hybrid incubus launched his bare-hand punch at Hou Yi, who quickly realized the immense force behind the attack and decided to block it using his Iron Fan. The impact of the clash was no less than that of California Smash move used by All Might so although the Yinese Commander was able to withstand it for a brief moment, he was sent flying almost 100 feet away from where he stood. 

「... Your punch seems weak, Uri.」Despite the incredible feat, Teran noticed his former vice captain was not at his peak.

「Sorry, Boss. Before I came here, I was kinda exhausted by a fight I had with one of the chimera individual.」explained Uri. Though, thank god that I was healed by Rowan. If not, I doubt that I can join this battle.

「Hm… If you’re not at your best, this fight will not be easy, even if it’s two against one.」Teran warned while keeping his attention focused on the clearly unharmed Hou Yi.「After dealing with that man there, we still have to fight against the attacking army… I hope we will survive this battle… Sorry to have drag you and your new captain into this.」

「Don’t worry about it, Boss.」Uri swiped his nose.「And it’s good that you have requested help, because now, Kibadios dono is here and if his plan succeed, we will no doubt triumph.」

「Kibadios?」

「Yea, that’s the new Captain’s name.」

   Same unique name as Kailos’ son, huh? I wonder how he would feel when he learns about the new captain. Teran thought to himself.「What’s his plan?」

 「This!」Uri pointed at the wall surrounding the settlement with a grin.  

「This is…」Teran quickly noticed something.

「Huh?」Hou Yi, who was slowly walking up to the two mercenaries, stopped dead in his track and looked at the wall behind him.「Runecraft barrier?」

「Exactly!」Uri grinned.「Coming here with us is Yue dono, former princess of the Yue Kingdom and a born genius Runecraft user. As per the boss’ instruction, she’s building a one way barrier to prevent the Yinese soldiers from pouring into the settlement. She’s our triumph card this time.」

Just as Uri explained, Yue was now summoning her ancestors in their skeleton forms, much like when she was fighting Kibadios a while back. And each ancestor, in turn, would hastily create a simple one way barrier, which allowed people who were trapped inside to easily escape while preventing anyone from breaking in. Since the Runecraft was only needed to fortify one side of the barrier, it took much less effort to erect and maintain the barrier, unlike the absolute defense that Rowan conjured. With more than two dozen ancestral skeletons working in tandem with Yue, the former princess was able to build a dome around the entire city like what the teachers of Hogwarts did to protect the school. Soon, the Yinese soldiers within the barrier slowly realized that fewer and fewer reinforcements had been coming to their aid, only to look back and notice that they were trapped inside while their comrades were trying their best to break through the invisible wall separating them. 

「This barrier would break the morale of our troops in no time if it’s not being taken care of soon.」Hou Yi quickly assessed the situation.「Did they say Yue hime is here? If it’s her, then constructing such a large barrier like this may not be out of the question… After all, she and her brother used to be that man’s teacher. What’s Wei Ying doing? She better deals with…」Hou Yi looked around, trying to locate the woman, though he soon noticed that she was now busy dealing with the dragonkin that brought Uri to the settlement.「Tsk… Even if that was a dragonkin who brought Teran’s reinforcement here, being able to go against Wei Ying is no easy task.」With Teran and Uri successfully keeping him busy, the new 13th captain pushing back the Chimera corps, and his triumph card, Wei Ying, appeared to struggle against a freaking dragonkin, Hou Yi soon realized his well crafted plan to conquer Alsen was now quickly disintegrating into thin air. The Commander dashed his pupil left and right to locate Yue’s location, for he knew that if she was to be taken out, the barrier would disappear and the balance of power would again be even out if his troops can continue their assault.「There!」The man screamed out, before ignoring both Teran and Uri to fly like a gusting wind after Yue, who he had briefly caught a sight of. 

「What are you doing here, Princess?」Hou Yi screamed out as he approached the concentrating Yue.「You should have kept hiding in the Vernys Forest with your brother!!!」

「Activate <5th Gate of Heaven>」Yue, despite putting most of her effort in reanimating her ancestors, was able to detect Hou Yi’s aura and set up a trap for him. The five talismans she threw out at the direction of the Commander formed into pentagram shape, before thin blue light connecting the five corners together. 

「Tsk!」Hou Yi, who had seen Runecraft being used on a regular basis, immediately recognized the danger he was in, swiftly swung his iron fan in front of him and took a defensive stance. The pentagram stopped right in front of his face before a large beam of energy would blast out straight at him at a point blank range, much like when Rayquaza hyperbeamed Deoxys in Destiny Deoxys movie. Unlike Deoxys, who was reduced to ashes, Hou Yi was able to block the attack with his fan, though the hit was strong enough that he was sent flying backward. 

「Haa… haaaa…」The Commander panted in pain. Parts of his armor were either shattered or melted off while his hands, which held onto the fan’s handle, were completely burned by the blast’ intense heat.  Normally, he would not have fallen for such an attack by any Runecrafter, but the rash action he took, under the pressure the two mercenaries and Yue’s barrier exerted,  had deprived him of his usual rational mind. 

「Seems like it’s actually my win this time, Hou Yi!」Having caught up to the Commander, Teran fiercely thrust his spear forward, aiming for the Commander’s head. Hou Yi’s eyes widened as he could clearly see the dangerous attack approached, yet, his body was too exhausted to react in time. Luckily for the Commander, Teran suddenly withdrew the strike and sprung backward away from Hou Yi. It was not until a few seconds later that Hou Yi could understand Teran’s action, for someone was sent crashing down onto the ground, exactly where Teran had stood just moments before. 

「Wei Ying?」Hou Yi could not contain his surprise, for in front of him, the famed dragonkin, a member of the 12 Heavenly General, found herself being pushed back by a furious looking male dragonkin.「Who could have given you such a hard time?」Hou Yi gazed upward toward the high sky, where he found Ryuu leering back down at him. 

「I don’t know, but I have found a new member for my harem! Just imagine, if I carry his child, our offspring would be the most powerful being in Esthar!」Wei Ying grinned. Although she was struggling against Ryuu, the fact that she was still standing and barely received any injury was a perfect attestment to her power, the source of her pride. The dragonkin turned to Hou Yi after reigning in her lust.「Look at you… all beaten up. That, plus the fact that our soldiers outside the barrier are unable to break through…」Wei Ying turned to the northern direction, where a great dust cloud could be seen where Kibadios was fighting against the Chimera. 「and the Chimera corps, one of the linchpin of this battle, are being held off at the Northern Gate… The gig is up, Hou Yi. Any hesitation you feel in accept this lost would only inflict more pain to our side.」

「... You’re right…」Hou Yi nodded before jumping onto the roof of a nearby building with the dragonkin. There, the Commander took out a small war horn and blew on it. Despite its size, the sound it made reverberated around the battlefield, acting as a clear signal for retreat and regroup. Once hearing the dreadful sound, the Yinese who had already stormed the settlement began to show despair. Most quickly abandoned the fight they were in and rushed back out of the settlement wall. Some, who were fighting on the wall, quickly gave up the fight and dropped their weapons, surrendering to the defenders as they watched their allies down below slowly withdraw away from the battlefield.   

「It’s time to leave, Hou Yi!」Wei Ying suddenly transformed into a large Western Dragon and allowed the Commander to hop on her back. 

「You think I will just let you leave in peace?」Ryuu growled.「After all the insolence you sprout about making me your mate?」

「.. Yes.」Hou Yi took out a large tube made out from bamboo, then unplugged the cap, letting a dark layer of smoke pour out of it.

「Be careful! That’s their Hell’s Pit.」Teran warned.

「What’s Hell’s Pit?」asked Ryuu. But his question was soon answered as emerged from the expansive smoke screen were waves of monsters, the worst of which were five wyverns cladded in shadow and flame.    

「It’s a sealing device that the Yin Empire used to capture wild monsters.」Teran explained.  

「Let’s go, Wei Ying!」Hou Yi commanded.

「You!」Ryuu wanted to chase after the fleeing commander, but he and the two mercenaries quickly found themselves to be surrounded by the monsters, who were all in an induced rage due to the drug they were fed back in the Laboratory before they were sealed. 「Tsk!」

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「That’s the signal for retreat!」 Galahan called out to her siblings, all of which were focusing all their attention at the dreadful hybrid. By now, Kibadios had fused with Gaia, one of his summons. Once in this fusion form, his body was partially cladded in earth and trees, which provided him a strangely absurd level of armor that was impervious to most attacks. Although Galahan’s Arte was able to corrode away some of the trees and ate away layers of earth at times, the hybrid’s could easily regenerate the earthen armor and the tree branches and leafy vines just quickly regrew to protect him. The other summon, <Silmarillion>, which was represented by three large eagles, would not fuse with him but fly around the hybrid like Prometheus and Hera flying around Big Mom. Since each eagle was a pure representation of Lightning, Wind, and Water, Kibadios could easily reach out to them and borrow their elemental affinity to incorporate it into his attack, transforming it into much more deadly strikes. From below, his native affinity, shadow and fire, would be transformed into a burning shadow claw, reaching out and attacking the Chimera like an automaton, not requiring Kibadios to control it. By his side, <Damocles>, the three summons that were represented by three floating iron armors, continuously swung their swords with elegance at the two overwhelmed Chimera, as if they were dancing in a ballroom. 

「Our attack failed?」Eadur asked. 

「It seems so.」Qwan answered before leaping upward to avoid a slash from Kibadios’ scythe, only to be greeted by one of <Damocles>’ attacks. Thankfully, Mu’s mirror was able to protect him in the nick of time. 

「... Able to use Shadow, Fire, Earth, Wood, Lightning, Wind, and Water in his attack…」Mu noted.「Not even counting the faint hint of <Holy Element>... WHAT is our brother?」

「But did you notice?」Qwan retreated and stood next to Mu.「Asides from <Shadow> and <Fire>, his control over the other elements is not perfect.」

「Yeah, I know… “Jack of all trade, master of none.” That perfectly described Kibadios’ power.」Mu noted.「But, it also makes him extremely dangerous because he would have a counter to any of his enemies’ attacks… Regardless, GUYS! IT’S TIME TO LEAVE!」Mu called out to his siblings as he noticed Hou Yi and Wei Ying flew over their heads, their gaze fixated on the overpowering Kibadios below.

「We know!」Answered the rest before they too, would back away from Kibadios. After fighting against the full power Kibadios for more than 15 minutes, although all five Chimera were exhausted and full of wounds, none was outright defeated. That was an outcome that Kibadios did not expect. 

The power of these Chimera was really something . Kibadios thought to himself

「Until next time, then.」Mu nodded.「Brother…」

「Leaving already?」Kibadios smiled. 「At least, tell me why you keep calling me your Brother?」   

「...」Mu looked at Kibadios with great sadness. 「Because we are all brought to this world by the same pitiful Mother.」   

「What?」Kibadios frowned. Though Mu and the group would not provide any further detail but quickly retreated, escaping beyond the wall and the barrier.「WHAT DO YOU MEAN?」Kibadios shouted.  

        

Chapter 134: Bonus: Mint Candy

Notes:

Happens during the trip from Vernys to Alsen (read left to right this time). Yllaner gave the group a bag of candy to enjoy on the road.
This is inspired by a comic strip drawn by Samwise: https://myreadingmanga.info/ssize-rs-mini-kingdom-hearts-dj-eng/

 

 

Chapter 135

Ectharen Logarth, the lion beastman, sat quietly on the side of the street, taking a well deserved break from the battle as the Alsen soldiers hurriedly carried away their injured comrades. His whole body and clothes were soaked in the blood of his enemies, transforming his handsome face to a more menacing look that scared even some of his men who walked by. 

「You alive, Ectharen?」Teran walked up to him from behind. 

「Yes. Against all of the odds.」Ectharen nodded.「I see that you’re unharmed too? How was your battle with Hou Yi?」
「Our fight still yielded no winner, like always」Teran grinned before sitting next to the beastman.「He retreated and left me with a bunch of monsters to take care of.」 

「Too bad, huh? And who are these people?」 Ectharen turned and studied the red haired man who accompanied Teran.    

「That’s Uri, an old acquaintance from my mercenary group.」 Teran introduced his former vice captain.「Those two over there are Ryuu and Yue. Just like Erik’s group, these people are associates of the Hyakki Yagyo.」 

「I see. They really came to our aid during the battle, huh. So what happened? Who constructed the barrier that forced Hou Yi into a retreat? Is that one of your doings, Uri?」The beastman asked.

「Of course not. You should thank our Yue dono for that.」Uri answered, pointing at the former elven princess.「Though, ultimately, it’d be Kibadios dono, our current 13th Captain of Hyakki Yagyo, who came up with the plan to break the siege utilizing Yue dono’s talent.」

「Kibadios? What a unique name your captain has,」Ectharen turned to Teran.「Isn’t Kibadios the same name as Kailos’ lost son?」

「That’s what I remember. Though it’s been a while since the last time he mentioned the names of his son and wife, since it’s still too painful for him.」Teran answered. 

「Your group is really something, you even have a dragonkin as a member.」Ectharen commended as he looked at Ryuu.

「Don’t associate me with the Hyakki Yagyo. I’m simply here because of Kibadios sama.」Ryuu finally spoke up.

「I'm sorry if I have offended you. This Kibadios person must be really incredible to be able to obtain your loyalty, Ryuu dono.」Ectharen nodded  

「Of c..」

「Of course!!!」Before Ryuu could agree, another had already loudly declared.「After all, my Kibadios single handedly took on all five Chimeras and emerged unharmed!」

「My…」

「... Kibadios?」Both Ryuu and Yue were surprised as they noticed a large stature orge walked steadily toward them, with Kibadios by his side. 

「Master!」Ryuu instinctively wagged his tail.

「Kibadios sama.」Yue greeted the hybrid. 

「Good job, both of you!」Kibadios caressed the dragonoid’s face which was brimming with happiness before patting Yue head.         

「My Kibadios?」Teran asked his friend. 

「Yes. This fine young man here is Kibadios, my one and only son. He looks just like his mother.」Answered Kailos with a grin, which was unusual since the ogre could rarely discard his grim expression.

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Kibadios leaned onto the crenellation on the fortified wall, looking outward to the expansive grassland as the first light of the new greeted him. His gaze fixated to the horizon as if he was longing for the sight of his harem members, who should be all arriving to the settlement today with the rest of the refugees. It was uncharacteristic for him to miss his group only one day after leaving them behind, but if the weird erotic dream he had about them just a few hours ago in his sleep was any indication, it just meant that his subconscious was really eager to see them in person again. Knowing that the gaze of the Astrals were now locked onto his every movement and sooner or later, they would be able to locate him despite his efforts to eliminate their spies, he was also worried about the chance that the others would be attacked by the Astrals’ forces. That was the reason he left behind two of his summons, who would follow to protect the group and if the worst was to happen, they were to quickly alert him of any dangers that may fall onto Rowan and the others so he could come to their aid. Given that no such distressing signal had gotten to him, he was confident that the group should have been fine, though seeing them arriving safely to the settlement would certainly be a much better assurance. Before Kibadios left the group to travel ahead to Alsen, part of him was debating whether it was such a good idea to leave many others behind, away from his protection, but the hybrid had quickly realized that sooner or later, to carry out his battle against the Astrals, he could never always be by their sides and that he would have to be separated from his beloved harem at one point or another in the future. No matter how much he cared for them, it was important for the group to know how to protect themselves and for him to learn to be apart from them. 

「Morning boss!」The familiar voice of Uri greeted him from behind.「How was your night?」

「Yue and Ryuu were both with me so yeah, it was energetic as usual.」Kibadios answered.

「That’s not what I meant. Don’t rub onto my face the fact that you can still have sex while I can’t even get my junior up. I hate being celibate.」Uri complained poutingly.

「Then you shouldn’t have asked me about my night.」shrugged Kibadios.

「I was asking about the conversation you have with that ogre… what’s his name… Kailos?」Uri clarified.

「Ah, yes.」Kibadios nodded.「He’s my father in this reincarnation. Why are you interested in our conversation?」  

「Did you… you know, tell him that you’re a reincarnator?」Uri asked.

「Yes. I feel like it’s something he has the right to know about… You know, the fact that his only son has memories of his past life.」Kibadios answered. Though, just like you, I did not tell him how this is my third reincarnation already. The hybrid thought to himself. 

「You really did?...」Uri was surprised.「I bet it wasn’t a pleasant conversation. When I came clean to my incubus mother about the memories of my past life, she was totally disgusted. She accused me of possessing the body of her son and destroyed “his” consciousness… Maybe she’s right. Maybe I did possess this body and devour the original soul that inhabited this body when he was first born… I don’t even know how this reincarnation business works. One day, I was struck by a car while crossing the street and the next thing I knew, I was held in the trembling embrace of a beautiful woman.」Uri opened up to Kibadios in an uncharacteristically vulnerable manner that Kibadios had never seen him show before. Although the half incubus was grinning, Kibadios could sense the sadness hidden behind his words. 

「... Wasn’t something similar happen to the protagonist of “The beginning after the end”?」Kibadios asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question since he did not expect Uri to know.

「Who knows. I’m not a weeb like you, boss!」Uri smiled. 

「In my case, it was much better than what I had anticipated.」Kibadios fondly recalled the conversation he had last evening.     

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「What do you mean? That you’re a reincarnator?」Kailos looked confusingly at the hybrid, who was trying to avert the ogre’s gaze. 

「Yes.」Kibadios nodded.「I’m sorry but I’m really a reincarnator. I don’t know if you have knowledge about “reincarnators” like me but it just means that I have perfect memories of my past life. Since I already possessed a matured cognitive function and remembered everything clearly the moment I was born, I easily recognized you as my father immediately after we met. I’d understand if you’re disgusted and mad at me…  after learning this…」  

「Why…」Kailos muttered, before audibly asked.「Why would it matter to me that you’re a reincarnator?」  

「Huh?」Kibadios blinked. He was expecting the worst, but Kailos’ reaction was certainly not what the hybrid had imagined.「Because… Your long lost son turns out to possess a whole other life, memories, feelings, and mind of a complete stranger?」

「It doesn't matter to me, Kibadios!」Kailos leaned in and hugged the stunned hybrid. 「In this life, in this world, you’re now my son. Your flesh and blood is the culmination of my love and Isis’. I thought I had lost you forever five years ago during that raid on our village but now, you miraculously appeared in front of me. It’s like all my prayers have been answered. How could I be mad at you for being a reincarnator? I know what a reincarnator is, Kibadios, and being one isn’t your fault. It should be me who thank you for being one, since having the mature cognitive functions must have been the reason you were able to survive as a baby after that night.」

「I…」

「If anything, you should be the one who is mad at me since I failed to protect you and Isis that night… Maybe, you even feel like I’m not worth it to be your father in this lifetime…」Kailos pulled Kibadios out to look straight at his face as he continued.「But please, give me a second chance to prove to you that I deserve to be your father, since you’re the only family I have now, Kibadios…」

The hybrid stood silently for a brief moment, unsure of how to respond since despite living through all of his lives, this was the first time he got to speak to a “father figure.” During his time living on Earth, since his dad had died just a few months after he was born, the only parent he had ever known his whole life was his weak mother, who had struggled with a chronic illness for her whole life. His first reincarnation was not any better since he was placed in an orphanage soon after his birth, growing up without neither father nor mother. His second reincarnation was a brief existence as a lab species so the concept of father was also alien to him. Only now, when Kailos held him tightly in his embrace, did Kibadios get to experience the love of a father, something that he never knew he would appreciate like this. 

「Please, father…」Kibadios gave the ogre a gentle smile.「It is me who’s lucky enough to have someone like you as a father…」

「Th… Thank you, Kibadios…」Kailos nodded.「I promise this time I will protect you from any harm, like a good father would… Though, seeing how you’re already a powerful [Incubus Overlord], I just hope I can keep up with you. Your mother, Isis, would be proud to know how much you have grown.」    

「Father, that reminds me, what do you know about what happened to mother that night?」Kibadios asked.

「When I ran after her, it was too late to save your mother. There at the bank of the river, all I could find was her splattered blood and weapons… I tried to travel along the river to find both you and your mother, but I could not find either of you. Given her injury and the blood loss, I believed she had perished and her body was carried off by the river to the sea.」Kailos gave Kibadios a sorrowful look. 

「... There’s a chance mother is alive.」Kibadios revealed to Kailos

「What???」The ogre jolted. 

「Did you remember hearing those Chimera calling me “Brother”? Before I left, i asked them why they’re calling me their brother and one of them told me that was because we all were born from the same mother.」Kibadios explained. 

「... You mean…」Kailos’ expression suddenly turned pale, hints of confusion took over before anger finally exploded from his face.「...What… Just what did they do to Isis!!!???」

「Father, please calm down.」Kibadios tried to allay the ogre’s wrath.「Under the current situation, despite the Yin army retreat, they’re still able to pose a threat to this city and they can return for another assault any day now. We have to put all of our effort to securing the safety of the city first before we can figure out what to do regarding mother.」  

「But…」Kailos gave Kibadios a look full of anguish.「if what you said is true and Isis is out there… She’s suffering as we speak.」

「... I know.」Kibadios clenched his fist.「But with the safety of this city still hanging by a thread, there’s nothing much we can do. Still, I promise you, retribution will come for them.」Kibadios coldly looked to the direction where Hou Yi and his army had retreated earlier in the day.   

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「I’m sorry to hear about your mother, Boss.」said Uri.「You still remember how was she like?」

「Of course.」Kibadios nodded.「Beautiful, lovingly, elegant yet fierce at times. Those five months when I was raised by her and my father as an infant were rather nice memories that I can’t forget. There are a lot of things happened in my past liv… life so it was nice to just live a peaceful life like that for once.」

「Haha, wanting to live a peaceful life yet now, you’re part of a mercenary group. Things aren’t really going your way huh, boss?」Uri teased. 

「No.」Kibadios let out a devious grin.「Things have gone rather smoothly for me… for now.」   

The two incubus hybrids continued to chat for a while, until the Sun had now fully risen up in the endless blue sky. Around 9 was when Kibadios finally noticed a small group of people appeared on the horizon. Since a quarter of the refugees were either elderly and young children, it took the group another half an hour for them to reach the settlement’s wall and unsurprisingly, all of Kibadios’ harem members were leading the group since they were all eager to reunite with him. From the distance, Kibadios could recognize Kuron holding Tina’s hand as the two walked next to Ren. The young girl was now all excited and happy. Her mood and expression completely contrasted with how Kibadios had found her just less than two days ago. Walking by Ryan was the beastman named Falkor. It seemed like he was carrying some young beastman boy on his shoulder, whom Kibadios later learned was an orphan who Falkor had befriended some time the day before. Since the beastman had always liked working and playing with kids despite being unable to conceive one with his missing wife, it did not take long for the young orphan to warm up to his caretaker.

「How was the trip, Ryan?」Kibadios jumped down from the high wall and landed right in front of the former hero as they got to the settlement’s wall.

「Everyone was fine, Master!」Ryan reported.「Rowan and Maia had treated most of the injured refugees by yesterday’s afternoon so we were able to pick up the pace and arrive here a bit earlier than planned. What about you, Master? Since I don’t see any Yinese soldiers around, I’m assuming we were able to life the siege?」He looked at part of the shattered wall.「Though, not without a fight, I bet.」

「Yeah, everything went according to plan here too. The Empire had retreated, though who knows when they would be ready for another assault.」Kibadios suddenly realized something as he observed the group of refugees.「Did the group get bigger?」

「Ah, that!」Reuk, who finally made her way to Kibadios, joined in the conversation.「That was because we picked up another group of refugee coming from some villages from the South.」       

「Is that so?」

「Kibadios sama…」Haden called out to his lord, then discreetly pointed at Yuusei, who were pulling apart from limbs to limbs by a group of unruly children who he were tasked to look after by Maia.「Maybe you should check up with Yuusei dono when you have time? He met with someone from the other refugee group and he’s been down ever since then.」

「Who did he meet?」

「We… don’t know. He just said it’s someone who helped him before.」Haden answered.

「I see. I’ll talk to him.」Kibadios agreed. 

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「Hmm, I knew it. It wasn't just my imagination.」Uri, still up on the wall, looked down at Yuusei below. 「Now that I’ve seen Teran again in person after years, that Yuusei is really looking like him, huh?」          

 

 

 

 

Ectharen Logarth (Source: NovelAI)

Note: Ignore his human ear lol

 

 

Notes:

Disclaimer: I did not read "the beginning after the end" but even I know about the terrible revelation between the reincarnated MC and his dad lol.

Also, are you wondering what Kibadios dreamed? What erotic dream that even caused him to deem "weird"? There's a drawing for that and it's something that I know some of you were asking for. Too bad such thing would only happen in dream. I have drawings already delivered but I'll wait until next week to post it since I've just posted some drawings right before this chapter.

Also, I've started doing my tax and let's hope Turbo Tax calculation is correct because if it is, then I can commission another "manga" with the tax refund :D

Chapter 136: Bonus: Kibadios' dream

This scene takes place early morning, before Kibadios and Uri's conversation on the wall (previous chapter.) This dream would be one of the only instances where you can see Kibadios being a bottom.

Artist: れいたくん

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@sugibasi_p

Notes on some details:

I have never told them about Yue having an incubus mark but somehow the artist added it. It looks similar to the one Hagane designed too. Makes me wonder if they saw Hagane's dj lol. But it is important to note that neither Yue or Ren possesses the incubus mark yet because they have not yet devoted their minds and bodies to Kibadios like the others. They have not yet completely fallen for Kibadios and they're still only serving him as an obligation for now.

Yuusei would never be smiling like that too lol but who cares about such details.

Also, Yue's breasts here are of the exact perfect size as how I imagined them to be lol. Her (and Maia's) breasts in Hagane's drawings are a bit too big, though Maia are supposed to have bigger breasts than Yue's haha.

 

 

 

Notes:

Also, not related to this story but I commissioned translation of this https://myreadingmanga.info/hamaki-suiryu-maousama-wa-yuusha-no-ken-de-midaretai-jp/
Hopefully the first 2 chapters will be released sometime in the future

Chapter 137

Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter. I've been busy trying to catch up to Death Mage. Hmm, some reincarnated MC, who reincarnated several time, suffered as a lab specimen in one of the reincarnation, then in the current reincarnation, his parents were killed and he was left to survive on his own as a toddler... I wonder why it sounds so familiar lol If you did not get it yet, Death Mage was also one of the isekai that inspired this story... god that was so long ago lol >.>

The old man dressed in a white cloak paused along the well-lit corridor to look out to the window for a moment, leering down at the bustling city of light underneath the ever floating fortress as the dark cloud started to gather above the region. Well within his view was the same old expansive Holy City of Yr, the eternal capital of the Yronas Theocracy that has stood as a beacon of hope for humanity for well over 5000 thousands years. As one of the 6 Cardinals, who spent almost every seconds living on the Wing of Faith, the humongous flying airship that hovered above Yr, Richard, who was in his 70s, has enjoyed this scenery of the city landscape for countless time, yet, somehow, whether it was because of the ominous dark sky or the unnerving feeling he has been experiencing, it seemed to him these peaceful days were coming to a close. 

「Richard sama?」The young Oracle guard, who has been following the Cardinal, called out to the old man to remind him.「The rest of the council is waiting for you.」  

「I know.」Richard nodded before turning around and walked toward the large golden door across the corridor, which was slowly opened by two Oracle servants.

「Richard, you’re late.」One of the Cardinals complained as Richard slowly nodded to greet his colleagues. The Oracle Guard who followed him quickly strode to his assigned position, which was right behind Richard’s seat. 

「Please excuse me.」Richard acknowledged.「Things are a bit hectic so it was not easy for me to drop everything to attend this meeting. Afterall, the war between us and that cursed Great Demon Lord had just ended… in a stalemate, again.」

「How are those two?」Another Cardinal asked.

「You’re asking about the Six? They’re fine. They just keep on complaining about our decision to retreat from the battle. The other two who were summoned for this war had already left Yr.」Richard answered.

「Ha, what were they complaining about? It was their fault to begin with. Due to their incompetence, they failed to kill that Overlord despite leading an army of 10k Oracle Elites to a war that we have prepared for well over two years.」An middle aged Cardinal with a bushy gray mustache angrily shouted. His scowling face made it look as if his two thick eyebrows were now fusing into one.       

「Maybe we should have allowed them to fight a bit more instead of withdrawing our forces?」A female Cardinal, whose face was filled with wrinkles, voiced her opinions.

「We can’t justify that. The casualty of the war was increasing at an alarming rate, especially during the last few days. Those were our elite forces, who we cannot easily replace like foot soldiers. In this war, we lost more than 400 of them. It’d take us years to replace such loss. Granted, the forces of that Overlord were also greatly damaged and had we prolonged the conflict, we may have been able to crush him once and for all… but then, we would be too exhausted to deal with any possible threat from the other 3 Yonkos. It’s just not worth it.」

「... Seriously, what’s wrong with this generation of Yonko? There were times when our forces could easily crush those who were foolish enough to claim the title of Yonko. But this lot… they’re just different.」

Creeekkk… The high door decorated with the symbol of the Oracle that stood opposite to the one Richard walked through slowly opened, causing all 6 of the Cardinals to hastily stand up. Their heads bowed low, awaiting the person who had convened this meeting to make his way toward their table.

 「Please relax.」The Divine One, the highest authority within the Oracle and supreme leader of the Yronas Theocracy, slowly made his way into the room. The complete silence atmosphere greatly amplified the echoes of his steps, to which all 6 Cardinals felt as if it rhymed with their trembling heartbeats. The man who ascended to the title of the Divine One five years ago possessed a youthful look that stood in contrast with the aging Cardinals, for he was merely in his thirties. His long silky dark hair was accentuated by the pair of eerie crimson eyes and the Mark of the Oracle engraved on his forehead, which some time would glow in the dark chamber, where the man would stay for most of his day to communicate directly with the Astrals in the Modun Realm.「and especially you, teacher. It’s been such a long time since we last converse. How have you been?」

「Your Highness.」Richard’s bow deepened.「I’ve been blessed with perfect health thanks to your and the Astrals’ blessing.」

「Ah, that’s great to hear.」The Divine One nodded and answered with a smile. Yet, despite his friendly gesture, all 6 Cardinals could perfectly perceive the intimidation aura the man was exuding.「Please sit.」The Divine One commanded with a soft voice and all the Cardinals obliged at once, settling down onto their seat around the giant oval table forged from Adamantite Ore.

「...」

「Your Highness… May we inquire for the reason you have convened this meeting?」One of the Cardinals spoke up after an awkward silence. 

「Is it… concerning the withdrawal from the battle against that Yonko?」Another asked with hesitance since he was responsible for the decision.

「Joseph dono… are you worrying that I would reprimand you for that?」The Divine One asked back with unblinking eyes.

「...I take full responsibility for my decision, Your Highness.」The Cardinal finally found his courage after a long pause.「Had we continued our war against the Overlord, all we could achieve in the end is a pyrrhic victory. I deemed that the trade off was not worth it to continue such a campaign. Though, if you were to admonish me for my decision, I will wholeheartedly accept your and the Astrals’ punishment.」

「Don’t you worry, Joseph dono.」The Divine One smiled.「Both the Enneads and I agreed that the decision you made was a correct one… no matter how regretful it was that we were unable to crush that cursed Yonko. But eventually, we will have another chance to destroy him once and for all… In fact, the Enneads were rather pleased that you have ordered the withdrawal much earlier than they had anticipated.」

「Really?」Joseph was visibly happy that his gods were happy with his work.

「Of course… for you see…」unlike the Cardinal’s gleeful expression, the Divine One’s was rather grim.「The Astrals had identified a new threat that may threaten the peaceful balance that we have tried to maintain for millenia.」

「What?」All 6 Cardinals shouted out uncharacteristically.

「The threat named Kibadios.」answered the Divine One.

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「Kibadios, these are the ones you told me about?」Kailos asked while looking at his son’s harem. He and Ectharen had come out to thoroughly screen the refugees before letting the group into the settlement. 

「Yes, father.」Kibadios nodded and introduced everyone to the ogre.「They’re all in my group… In fact, Yuusei, Ryan, Rowan, Maia, and Ren here are part of my harem.」

「「「... Master…」 」 」Rowan, Ryan, and Maia called out to Kibadios before glomping on him with tears in their eyes, since never before did they hear Kibadios refer to them as members of his harem… at least not directly in front of them.

「Haaa? What’s with you guys?」Kibadios tried to separate from their hugs, mostly because Maia’s perky breasts were pressing against his torso, which had made him instantly horny again.

「Father.」Yuusei, who did not care for what Kibadios called him, did not partake in the group glomping. Instead, he turned to Kailos and bowed down to show his respect, a gesture that Kibadios had taught him previously.

「Father?」Ren, the other harem member, raised his eyebrow.

「... Wait a minute…」Rowan suddenly realized.

「... Did Master just say…」Ryan chimed in.

「FATHERRR???」Maia turned to the ogre, who despite looking much taller and more muscular than her own Master, still did look a lot like the hybrid.

「Please to meet you all. I’m Kailos, Kibadios’ father.」The ogre introduced himself to the harem with a warm smile.「Instead of standing here, you guys should come into the settlement and take a break. I heard from Kibadios that you have been taking care of the refugee group since yesterday. I will make sure the Leaping Griffin Inn, the best lodging we have here, prepare a welcome feast for you guys.」

「... Father?」Rowan, Maia, and Ryan, who have known Kibadios for the longest, continued to mutter the question as they were led into the city. The other two were not much in shock, since Ryuu just simply accepted whatever Kibadios told him without question while Ren, frankly, did not care that much. Instead of inquiring more about this father figure, Ren was asking Kibadios about his twin’s welfare, to which Kibadios informed him that she was just too tired to come out after he fucked her for hours last night. 

「Don’t worry, I’ll let her rest today since you’re going to take her place anyways, right?」Kibadios smirked.

「Seriously, where do you find such vigor?」

「... Apparently, I was told I am an half-Incubus Overlord.」Kibadios answered.「I didn’t even know such sub-species would exist.」

「You’re a fabled Incubus Overlord?」Ren tilted his head.「... why am I not surprised…」The former elven prince sighed in defeat.

「Hey Kailos, you know where’s Ectharen?」Teran suddenly jumped down from roofs of the houses, crash landing in front of the ogre.

「He should be right outside the destroyed Western Gate, taking care of the refugees.」Answered Kailos.

「Got it!」Teran acknowledged before leaping toward where the lion beastman was. 

「He was scouting the Yinese army, wasn’t he?」Kibadios asked the ogre..

「Yeah… I wonder if Hou Yi has made any other move.」

「...」Yuusei simply looked after the mutant ogre that he had just met. 

「... That mutant…」Teran, in turn, turned around to take another look at Yuusei in his adult form, since he could feel a strange connection with him.                   

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「Huh? I thought the city is under siege?」a petite leopard beastman girl asked as her group slowly made their way to the crowded gathering in front of the rubbles that used to be the city gate, where all of the refugees were being screened.

「Judging from the damages, I’d say Alsen won the battle and forced the Yinese Army to lift the siege.」The Yves guessed. 

「If that’s the case, then it must have been the same army that camped 30 miles away from here, which we had to carefully sneak around last night.」The giant mercenary concluded.   

「Most likely.」The Yves nodded.「Now, where’s Teran? Let’s hope he did not die yet.」

「Haa, as if!」The giant laughed.「and it sounds like you’re still mad at him?」

「Of course!」The Yves scowled.「He took all of the 13th division members with him and almost got our division disbanded.」

「Let the bygone be bygones. We’re having a new captain now, who’s become our Boss’ blood brother, no less, so I’m sure our division will grow again.」The giant patted the Yves.

「I really don’t know why the Boss is thinking. He just took in that suspicious hybrid and made him his blood brother.」The leopard beastman girl complained.「I don’t know about you two, but you will not find me obeying the hybrid’s command.」

「I can see why the Boss is interested in him.」The Yves paused.「Though I agree, he won’t have my complete allegiance. That being said, I will give him chance to earn it.」

「Suspicious huh? Let’s be honest here, everyone in the Hyakki Yagyo are all “suspicious” people with murky pasts, yet the Boss took all of us in like a family.」The giant reminded the girl.「I’ll trust the Boss’ intuition.」

「Tssss」The girl pouted, though she knew she couldn’t refute the giant’s point.     

「Let’s pick up our pace.」suggested the Yves.「The sooner we give them the bad news about their “twin city” in the east, the better」         

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「We’re sorry for our improper manner earlier, Kailos sama!!」All three humans in Kibadios’ harem now bowed low, touching the table they were sitting around. 

「Since Kibadios sama told us what happened back at his village」Ryan turned to his Master. 「 We… just never imagine that you’re still… you know… alive.」

「That night I was separated from Kibadios and Isis, but still, against all of the odds, the men in the village and I fought on until dawn came. One by one, we were cut down and our numbers dwindled as we found ourselves outnumbered by more than 50 to 1. I didn’t remember when Hou Yi finally called off the attack and withdrew his troops but once my senses came back, I found myself standing on top of the lifeless corpses of friends and foes alike, all littered around the village.」Kailos explained, before turning to Kibadios with a regretful look.「I rushed to look for Kibadios and Isis, but all I could find was her splattered blood by the river bank… If only I continued to search for her!!!」Kailos’ eyes were burning up. 

「Father, we will find her and bring her back.」Kibadios declared.

「Wait, Master’s mother is also alive?」asked Maia.

「If what that Chimera named Mu said is to be believed.」Kibadios explained.「Then she’s still alive out there. Before he left, he told me we shared the same mother.」

「How can that be?」

… If Kibadios sama’s mother really gave birth to that Chimera, does it mean… Rowan thought to himself as he quickly realized the possibility of the unspeakable things that the mother of his master must have endured and why Kailos was filled with rage right now. 

「Do we have any idea where she is?」Ryuu asked.「If we do, then I can personally crash the place and bring the Lady back!」

「... If… if she really is the mother of those Chimera, then she must be in Wei Shimin’s secret laboratory.」Kailos guessed.「The problem is that we don’t know where it locates.」     

「That laboratory…」Kibadios muttered while shivering, for the hellish nightmare he experienced during his last life flashed back in his head.

「If there exists a laboratory where captured demihumans are regularly sent there for experiment, it’s more likely it is located somewhere in Monas Kye or at the border of Monas Kye and the Yin Empire, since it bet it’d be much more difficult to transport so many captives to a faraway place like the inner territory of the Yin Empire.」Rowan deduced.

「Rowan’s right.」Ren agreed. 「Besides, there’s another reason why such a laboratory controlled by Wei Shimin would locate in either the Southern Provinces of the Yin Empire or Monas Kye.」

「What is it?」Kibadios asked.

「It’s because the Southern Provinces are the domain of Wei Shimin.」Ren explained.「You see, the relationship between Wei Shimin and his half brother, the current emperor of the Yin Empire, has never been amicable. There are rumors that sooner or later, Wei Shimin would rebel to take the throne. Now, those Chimera, produced from the laboratory, is clearly Wei Shimin’s “slaves”, if what you have overheard them referring to themselves is true, Kailos dono.」Ren turned to Kailos.

「Yeah, they thought of themselves as “Hou Yi’s slaves”.」Kailos confirmed what he had heard them saying before charging at them during the battle just yesterday.

「Then that most likely means they’re exclusively Wei Shimin’s fighting force… and if my guess is correct, it’s a force that Wei Shimin is building up to be able to one day challenge his brother.」Ren continued.「If that’s the case, it’s only natural that he build such a laboratory within either his domain… or most likely, somewhere in the vastness of Monas Kye.」  

「Why most likely Monas Kye?」Ryuu cocked his head.

「Because despite it’s his domain, his land is still ultimately Yin Empire’s land and however small of the chance it is, there’s still a distinct possibility that his brother, the emperor, would send the imperial forces to take over the laboratory and all its research to use it against him.」Ren answered.「and since Monas Kye is a vast empty grassland, it’s easier to build a secret laboratory here, outside of his brother’s reach.」

「But if it’s really here, then it must have been built underground since no one in Monas Kye has ever discovered it.」suggested Rowan.

「or it’s being protected by concealing Runecraft or magic.」Ren added.「In short, it won’t be easy to find such a place.」

「... You have some really good people in their harem, Kibadios.」Kailos smiled, with a hint of pride in his son. 「They’re not only handsome and beautiful, but also strong and smart. I hope you’re treating them well.」

「I…」Kibadios was going to say something before being disrupted.

「You’re right! Those three are really human.」A lizardman confirmed after walking closer to Kibadios’ table.

「What the hell are human doing here?」His companion angrily asked.「They should be evicted from this town!」

「They’re with my son’s.」Kailos spoke up, glaring at the Lizardman.「Please mind your word.」

「Huh? Kailos dono?」The Lizardman finally noticed the ogre sitting in the corner.「I… I didn’t know they’re your… guests. But … why human?」

「You Lizardman!」Kibadios annoyingly called out the man, for he seemed to experience a de javu. Back in Lorian, they were also getting into an argument because the worthless adventurer was discriminating against him, now, it’s his harem members that were discriminated against. 「If you have any problem with those who belong to me, then you better confront me directly.」

「... Master…」All the three humans were moved by their master’s gesture.

「Please calm down, Master…」Ryan tried to sooth the hybrid.「Given how much pain Yin Empire, a human nation, is inflicting upon them, you can’t blame them for feeling irritated.」

「You’re the rumored Young Lord?」The Lizardman seemed to quickly back down after learning they were with Kailos.「...You’re the son of the House of the Horn’s Chief… and a savior of Alsen, please rethink your association with humans… they’re nothing but harbinger of destruction and suffering.」

「Thanks for your advice, but who I chose to keep me company is none of your concern.」Kibadios retorted, to which the Lizardman simply relented, nodded to acknowledge his respect to Kailos before leaving.

「Ha. I guess I was worried for no reason.」Kailos laughed. 

「Worried? About what?」asked Kibadios.

「About whether you’re treating your harem member well or not.」Kailos answered.

「Of course Master took great care of us, Kailos sama!」Maia defended her Master. 

「That’s good to know. You see, many in the incubus and succubus race do not care about who they’re with, since they mostly care about their own self interest and pleasure.」Kailos started to explain.「That’s why I was wondering if Kibadios has shown enough appreciation to you guys, his own harem. But, of course, there are the norms and there are the exceptions. In some cases, once an incubus or succubus truly falls in love with someone, they will devote their all to take care and protect them.」Kailos looked at Kibadios.「And seeing how Kibadios reacts when someone is bad mouthing you, I bet he falls to the latter category of incubus.」

「「「”Love”」」」The group was all blushing. 

「...It’s only natural for me to defend what’s mine.」Kibadios “tsunderely” denied.

「Ah, right.」Rowan turned to the hybrid.「Why did he call you Young Lord? And what’s the House of the Horn?」

「Ah」Kibadios looked at his father for a brief moment before turning back to the healer.「You see, turn out, my father is not only the Chief of our village, but he’s now also the Chief of the House of Horn, one of the great three Houses of the grassland that helped founded Alsen thousand years ago.」

「「「Wow…」」」The information surprised all of Kibadios’s harem members who had just arrived earlier, though as usual, such revelation meant nothing to Yuusei, who simply munched on the chicken wing. The group continued their conversations for a while, learning more about the city, Kailos, and their situation with the Yin Empire. Before long, a bird suddenly flew down onto Kailos spot from outside the window. The ogre, unfazed by the feathery intrusive guest, raised his hand up, allowing the bird, which looked much like an eagle but with a long, silky tail like that of a peacock, to grab its claws onto his clothed arm. Kailos took out the small paper missive attached to its feet and read it. 

「An urgent meeting was convened.」Kailos informed the group.「Kibadios, do you want to join in? As my son and one who helped lifting the seige, you’re of course invited.」

「I…」Kibadios was going to agree, before remembering something after looking at Yuusei.「Actually, I’ll stay here. You can fill me in the details later.」

「Of course.」Kailos nodded, then stood up.「Sorry, I guess those you longed for since yesterday had just arrived, I should leave you some time with them instead of stealing you away from them again.」The ogre teased.「Enjoy your stay here, everyone. Kibadios should be able to show you to your room. I hope you can have some rest to stay refresh.」

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「Why don’t you go with Kailos sama, Master?」Ryan asked. 

「Well, cuz, we need to have a little chat, right, my Yuusei?」Kibadios patted the mutant hybrid’s head.「So, what happened that made you look so down?」

 

 

City of Yr, Capital of Yronas + The flying fortress, where the meeting of the Cardinals and Divine One took place (NovelAI):

Notes:

Also, RIP ***** (whoever read Kingdom know what I am talking about). I knew this was coming but man...

Chapter 138: The King Candidate

Summary:

Again, sorry for the late chapter. I aim for 1 chapter a week but I keep failing lol >.>
On the other hand, the chapter is longer than the average haha

「Heh…」Reuk let out a mocking noise as she slurped in the strawberry cocktail that she had ordered from the bar at the inn. This choice of beverage was rather peculiar for the former elf since she was known for chugging down mugs after mugs of strong alcohol, only to be often stopped by Ryan once she was too drunk to sit right. Yet, after having his consciousness transferred into this homunculus vessel, Reuk’s taste had greatly changed since she could no longer tolerate the strong smell of hard liquor, now had to resort to drinking mere glasses of cocktails, which has certainly grown on her.

「What are you smirking at, Reuk?」Haden walked back to her booth, handing her another glass of cocktail that she had asked for. 

「Your “heartless” Master, of course.」Reuk smiled. The homunculus body Reuk possessed was clearly drunk, her face was now beet red.「Although he wanted to build his own kingdom and command his own forces, he opted not to come with his father to be involved in an important meeting with the top brass of this city… hic… which, I’m sure, would only help him in his ambition.」Reuk reached out for the new cocktail glass.「Instead, he stayed with Yuusei because the poor hybrid’s been feeling down.」

「From my time with Kibadios sama, I’ve learned something.」Haden sat down across from Reuk.

「and what was … hic…that?」 

「That Kibadios sama may truly be cold and heartless to those he considers strangers, but to those who he loves, he can be the most caring and compassionate. I think that was part of the reason why so many followed him during his first reincarnation millenia ago… and why we’re all serving him now.」

「You!」Reuk corrected the former adventurer.「You serve him. I’m just… hic… you know, coming with him.」

「Yeah, yeah, I know.」Nodded Haden with a smile before turning grim. 「Though, sometimes, I wonder… since the only things that helped him keep his humanity are his connections to Rowan, Maia and the others… if one day, something would ever happen to anyone in his beloved harem, which is not outside of the realm of possibility since the path we took will certainly lead us to the conflict against the Yin Empire, the Theocracy, and ultimately, the Astrals themselves… I wonder, what will happen to the last shred of his humanity by then.」

「...I don’t know… I try not to think about it. But there’s one thing I know.」Reuk seemed to have suddenly sobered up after listening to Haden’s ominous thoughts. 「That I certainly don’t want to be the one who incurs his wrath by hurting those he loves.」 

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「So, tell me, what happened during your trip here, Yuusei?」Kibadios asked the mutant hybrid, who had, by this time, transformed back into his shota form and snuggled into his master’s lap, his back leaned against the hybrid’s firm chest, after Kibadios signaled him to come over. From the snippets that the others have told him, all he knew was that Yuusei met someone from his past, who had previously helped him before, and that caused the adorable member of his harem to turn sorrowful. If Kibadios had to guess, it must have been because the meeting reminded the mutant hybrid of his past, which Kibadios had intentionally refrained from asking ever since his first meeting with the boy.

 

「...」Yuusei remained silent, not wanting to share his troubled past with his Master. After all, the crime of killing his own mother was not just a small infraction. The mutant hybrid was scared his master, the source of his light and happiness, would abandon him once he learned of his past.

「Fine.」Kibadios lowered his chin onto Yuusei’s soft hair, one of his hands cupped the small bulge in the hybrid beastman’s pants while the other reached out to the boy’s nipple through his dark shirt. Since Kibadios was now sitting in the corner of the booth, surrounded by his harem, none of the customers at the tavern could have noticed his erotic teasing of the mutant hybrid.「I won’t force you to tell me what happened, but as a punishment for keeping secrets from me, your punishment is to remain celibate until whenever you’re ready to tell me.」

「Master~」The young mutant cried out in moans. Of course, he did not know what celibate means, but he could infer it from his master’s tone. His heart sank as he realized Kibadios would not be touching him tonight, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, not until when he decided to tell his master the truth. Still, the half beastman remained tight lips, figuratively and literally since he was trying to suppress his moanings. Kibadios continued to play with Yuusei for a few minutes, to the point that the bulge in his pants has now become much more noticeable.

「Still don’t want to tell me?」Kibadios checked.

「...」Yuusei remained silent, though he jolted the moment he heard his master audibly sighed.

「Master… Please… What Yuusei did… Master will hate Yuusei.」

Contrary to the irritated mood that Yuusei had expected his master to be in, Kibadios gave the mutant hybrid a gentle smile as he lifted the boy up, turned him around and placed him back onto his lap. Yuusei was blushing red, fully conscious of the fact that his hard crotch was now grinding against Kibadios while his Master’s gaze was fixating on him. 

「Listen, Yuusei.」Kibadios spoke softly to the whimpering mutant hybrid. Any hints of the hybrid incubus’ sadistic and  ruthless side completely vanished as he looked straight into Yuusei's eyes and continued with a simple question.「First of all, I was only kidding when I said I’m not going to touch you until you tell me everything. There’s no way I can resist the temptation with you next to me like this.」Kibadios pulled Yuusei in for a deep, long kiss while his hands discreetly wrapped around both of the mutant hybrid’s buttocks and gave them a soft squeeze.「Did you realize that I never once have questioned you about your past?」

「Yuusei noticed.」The mutant hybrid nodded lightly.

「Do you know why?」Yuusei simply shook his head.「That’s because I hope one day, you would confide in me your past on your own. I don’t care for your past, for your present and future now all belong to me, Yuusei. But, if your past is haunting you, then I want to share that burden with you.」

「But Yuusei did horrible crime… with Yuusei’s own hands.」confessed the mutant hybrid. His eyes study every slight change in expression on his master’s face.

「Then it’s my duty as your master to share your guilt, Yuusei.」Kibadios smiled. Yuusei, in turn, stayed silent for a moment before nodding his head. Sitting around the booth, the group listened to Yuusei’s past attentively, their eyes welled up with tears as the boy recalled the traumatic experience his leaking miasma had brought to him and his mother. Before long, Yuusei finally told them about the fateful morning, when he accidentally killed his mother after she had fallen into madness, then how he was hiding in the forest nearby his house, before revealing how he was found by the same man who confronted him yesterday, and how the same man had allowed him to escape by lying to the other villagers, who were out hunting for him. 

「So that’s why meeting the man named Eugene reminded you of the past you want to forget, Yuusei chan?」Maia, by now, had pulled him into her embrace while patting his head. 

「... Yes.」The mutant hybrid simply nodded.

「... Yuusei chan.」Ryan reached out to the boy’s shaking hand.「We can’t even pretend to understand all the pain you must have gone through back then, but you are with us now, and we all love you. And don’t blame yourself for what happened to your mother since it’s not your fault. I’m sure she would not want you to be tormented with this guilt and knowing you’re under Master’s care now, she’d be happy that you have found a place that you can call home.」

「Ryan nii chan…」Tears rolled down Yuusei’s blushing cheek before he simply nodded. 

「Ryan’s right, Yuusei chan.」Kibadios ruffled the mutant hybrid’s hair.「The moment you agreed to give me your life back in Lorian, you’ve cast away your past. Your mother, in a way, had sacrificed her life for you. Don’t keep grieving the past and forget to live the life she granted to you.」

「Yuusei understood, Master.」The boy nodded.

「... But who’s this Teran that man mistook you for?」Seeing that Yuusei had started to make peace with his past, Ren asked the obvious question.

「Yuusei don’t know.」The mutant shook his head.「Yuusei never heard of him.」

「「「Teran?」」」Kibadios, Ryuu, and Yue asked, looking at one another. The hybrid gently raised the confused Yuusei up by his armpits as if he was a lost puppy, before looking at him from top to bottom. 

「He looks nothing like him in this form…」Kibadios noted.「But I can see the resemblance if he’s in his ogre form.」

「You’re right.」Ryuu  nodded in agreement.「How come we didn’t notice this before?」

「They’re eerily similar. It’s… it’s as if the author of this story was being a cheapskate, deciding not to commission artists to draw Teran and instead using Yuusei’s ogre form as an input image to generate Teran’s portrait on NovelAI.」Kibadios casually broke the fourth wall again. 

「But if Yuusei looks just like Teran as you say, does it mean…」Yue turned to Kibadios. Although she stopped short of her sentence, but Kibadios could easily infer what she wanted to say: that Teran is Yuusei’s biological father and that he had defiled Yuusei’s mother at some time in the past.

「Who’s this Teran, Master?」Rowan asked.「It seems like you three know who this Eugene guy was talking about.」

「Master?」Yuusei looked at his master, trying to find out the answer.

「There’s a guy named Teran here, in Alsen. And he really looks like Yuusei when he’s in his ogre form」Kibadios answered.「What’s more… Teran is actually the former Captain of the 13th division and the one issued the request to kill Wei Shimin to the Hyakki Yagyo」

「「「What?」」」The group shouted in disbelief.

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「So, you’re telling me, that Wei Shimin had really conquered the city of Ka’shinu ?」Ectharen finally broke the long silence in the war room. Every participant in the meeting remained silent, trying to process the news that the Yves’ group had just brought to them.

「’fraid so.」Erik leaning against the wall on the side of the room, simply nodded. 「That’s why it took us so long to get here from the Great Mountain Range of Laymanas . By the time we finished with our contract work in the West and received the mission requested by our former captain over here」 Erik pointed at Teran.「We made our way here to meet him. We intended to make Ka’shinu one of our stops, but unfortunately, we passed by the city, we saw the great city of the Grassland burning, the city gates were completely destroyed and the personal flag of Wei Shimin was hanging all over the walls. Most of the demihuman settlements between Ka’shinu and this city were also sacked and razed. We had to carefully sneak past the Yinese troops undetected, which was the reason why we’re late. Truth to be told, from what I have seen, I believe this city and what lay to the East of it, are the only parts of Monas Kye that are still relatively untouched by the Yin Empire, though I bet not for long, since Wei Shimin’s main army will undoubtedly direct its wrath here. Fighting against both the forces of Hou Yi, which only camped like 50 miles to the East of the city, and Wei Shimin’s main forces, I doubt this city stands a chance.」

「I’ve just come back from scouting out Hou Yi’s army.」Teran jumped in.「There’s no sign that they’re preparing for any immediate assaults. Now that we have information that Erik brought us, I’m sure they’re simply waiting for the main army to join them before trying to take this city a second time.」

「...Ka’shinu is an impregnable fortress built onto the slope of the dormant volcano on the edge of the Great Mountain Range. It has never been breached, ever since its founding. It was led by the Great Hero of Grasslander, Raen dono , who has never lost a battle… Yet, you’re telling me that it has fallen to Wei Shimin’s forces?」Kailos still could not believe what he was told.

「You can go there and check it out for yourself if you don’t believe what I said is true.」Erik annoyingly suggested since Kailos was implying that he and his group were lying about the fall of Ka’shinu.

「... That’s not my intention. I’m sorry if you felt as if I was doubting you, Erik dono.」Kailos denied. He indeed wanted to believe that such information was false and that Ka’shinu was still standing, but deep down, he knew better. 

「The communication between our city and Ku’shinu was severed for months due to Hou Yi’s blockade, still, we were hoping that Ku’shinu could repel the Yinese forces and come to our aid.」Ectharen explained to Erik.「But now, that hope is completely shattered and what’s coming for us is a tsunami of Yinese troops instead.」

「It appears to me that the only way for us to survive this upcoming onslaught」Another voice among the council spoke up. 「is to carry out the plan proposed by Teran: To eliminate the Southern Subjugation forces by chopping off its head.」

「Wei Shimin.」said Ectharen.「But what are our chances?」      

「Better than what we had anticipated, that’s for sure.」The demihuman finally emerged from the shadow casted down by the long crimson drape, revealing himself to be an Yves. Though, unlike most other Yves, the young man possessed two distinct colors: green pupils on his right eyes and red pupils on his left eyes while his ears were rather pointy, an indication of elven blood flowing within him.「Did the current captain of the 12th division not bring with him a dragonkin that could rival one of the 12 Great Generals of the Yin Empire, the dragonkin Wei Ying herself. What’s more, he was able to take on 5 Chimeras simultaneously, if what Kailos reported is to be believed. If we can carefully come up with a clever assassination plan, we may have a chance.」

「No way I will let my son take on such a dangerous mission!」Kailos protested. 

「But did you forget he’s the 12th captain, who is here specifically to eliminate Wei Shimin?」The Yves reminded Kailos.

「 Wylan dono is right.」Uri, the vice captain of the 12th division and Kibadios’ direct subordinate within Hyakki Yagyo, who was standing next to Teran while remaining silent for the entire meeting, suddenly interrupted the conversation.「Whether you like it or not, Kailos dono, the presence of the 12th division, which my boss, Kibadios, leads, is exactly for this purpose. One way or another, we will end Wei Shimin’s life.」

「Why do I hear my name?」Kibadios brazenly walked into the meeting with his usual confident smile. Though such expression quickly disappeared once his eyes fixated onto Teran. Walking by his side was Yuusei, who was still in his shota beastman form. Unlike Kibadios, the young mutant was completely devoid of any expression and only dutifully accompanied his Master as he was asked. 

「Kibadios? You have decided to join us?」Kailos asked.

「Yeah, since I heard Teran is here.」answered the hybrid. By now, Kibadios had also noticed Erik’s group, who were all standing close to Teran on the other side of the room.

「Teran?」

「Yo boss! Good timing!」Uri warmly greeted the hybrid.「It seems like your dad is not onboard with the idea of us taking on Wei Shimin. Can you somehow convince him?」

 「What do you mean he’s not onboard?」Forgetting the business he was going to have with Teran, Kibadios turned to his father.

「It’s just too dangerous!」Kailos explained.「You have no idea how terrifying Wei Shimin is, Kibadios. The chance of successfully assassinating him is less than 1%. How can I let you carry out this task? It’s like giving you a death sentence.」      

「Wasn’t you the one who originally advocated for this mission, along with Teran?」Wylan calmly reminded the ogre.

「That…」Kailos was flustered. The happiness he felt when meeting with Kibadios had completely caused him to forget the main reason why his son had come to his city.「That was before I know Kibadios would be the Captain of the 12th division.」

「Kailos…」Teran wanted to say something, but he remained silent for he knew how his dear friend felt since had he been in Kailos’s position, he would separately want to protect his newly reunited son too.

 「That’s irrelevant.」Erik coldly dismissed Kailos’ argument.「As a member of Hyakki Yagyo, it doesn't matter who we are, what our backgrounds and histories are, we are to carry out the agreed upon mission, even if the odds are stacked against us. As the new captain of the 12th division, it’s Kibadios’ duty to lead the mission to assassinate Wei Shimin.」

「Sure, I don’t mind.」Agreed Kibadios.「I have never said that I won’t do it, haven’t I?」The hybrid smirked at the mercenary Yves.

「As our captain, you can’t even if you want to.」Erik smiled back at Kibadios, though imaginary sparks could be seen projecting from their gazes.

「Now now now!」Uri tried his best to break the tension between Erik and his boss.「I know you two have fought one another before, but we all are allies now, aren’t we?」

「「Of course.」」Both agreed with a cold smile before Kibadios turned to Kailos.「Father, I know you have your concerns, but this is my decision. Beside, have some faith in your son!」Kibadios smiled. 

「... I…」Kailos was still struggling to accept the idea.

「Now that it’s been decided that the assassination plan is still on, let’s discuss the next topic.」Wylan quickly brought the attention of the whole room back to him. 

「Next topic?」Ectharen asked.

「Yes. Now that we’re back against the corner, facing the unstoppable might of Wei Shimin’s armies, do you know what we, as the last free Grasslanders, need?」The heterochromia Yves asked.

「What?」The lion beastman was unsure of the answer.

「A centralized leader.」Kibadios answered, depriving the Yves the chance to do so.「in a sense, a King. Am I wrong?」

「No, you’re not, Young Lord of the House of the Horns. In fact, you’re exactly right. 」Wylan smiled. 「The House of the Manes, House of the Eyes, and House of the Horns. The three great Houses had shared the duty of leading and protecting Alsen since the ages past but our authorities are all equal to one another. The leader of each of our Houses can only command the loyalties of their own House members. But now, we’re in an unprecedented crisis that, without a centralized leader that we all can follow and rally around, I fear our disunity will be our undoing. Hence, I propose we are to reinstate the position of “The King,” whose authority would reign over all of the Three Houses and the people of Alsen.」

「... But we have not had a “King” since the 6th crusade 700 years ago.」       

「Yes, and if you recall, thanks to Jander the Uniter, the first King of Alsen, us Grasslanders were able to repel the 5th and 6th crusade, despite being hard-pressed from all sides.」Wylan reminded the beastman.「One could have said that the situation we’re in now is 10 times more precarious.」

「...」The beastman thought for a moment.「I understand that we may really be in need for a King, but how can we choose one?」

「Much like how it was done 700 years ago, we will have the King Candidates take the Trial of Eor Dungeon. 」answered Wylan.「After all, the people of Monas Kye believe in strength the most. That’s what makes us resilient for thousands of years. I doubt they would willingly accept someone that we vote for on paper to be their “King”. For them to rally around that person, they need to prove their strength and prowess. If that’s the case, then what’s better than the Trial of Eor Dungeon.」

「How would we decide on the Candidates, then?」Kailos asked.

「Obviously the candidates need to be from our three Great Houses, since I doubt the members of the proud Great Houses would accept some random person as their “King” and follow their orders voluntarily.」Wylan suggested.

「...」Kailos thought for a moment, before declaring「I, Kailos of the Houses of the Horns, agreed to the proposal. I nominate my son, Kibadios as a King Candidate!」

「Father?」Kibadios turned to look at Kailos. Since he had aimed to create his own Kingdom to fight against the Astrals, being nominated to be the King of “whatever-remain-of” Monas Kye was not a bad development, but he had quickly realized Kailos’ intention in nominating him. 

「I, Wylan of the Houses of the Eyes, nominate myself as a King Candidate.」The Yves followed Kailos’ declaration.

「I, Ectharen of the House of the Manes, nominate myself as a King Candidate.」The beastman finally agreed.

「Now, Young Lord, do you accept your nomination?」Wylan smiled and asked the hybrid.

「...I do.」Kibadios nodded  

「Woohoo.」Uri cheered.「Boss being a King Candidate? This is a nice development!」

「Master…」Yuusei looked at his master.

「...」Erik remained silent, though he too, understood why Kailos had nominated Kibadios instead of himself.「Tsk… so that’s why he…」The scarred Yves clicked his tongue.

「Since we don’t have any time to spare, I will make an announcement to the people of Alsen and any free folks in Monas Kye about this development. We will have the trial two days from now.」said Wylan.「Anyone oppose this?」

「「No.」」Both Kailos and Ectharen answered.

「Good.」Wylan nodded.

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「Kibadios, you don’t mind I nominated you?」Kailos asked his son right after the meeting had adjourned. 

「Of course not. Being a King does sound fun.」Kibadios grinned.「Though, I know why you’re nominating me, Father.」

「... I see…」said the ogre.「I just can’t let you risk your life on such a suicide mission, Kibadios. I was hoping that if you become our King, then maybe the others will rethink sending you on such a mission, given how important you would be to us as a rallying point.」

「You gave me too little credit, Father.」Kibadios shook his head.「Like I said, in the end, it’s my decision whether to go on this mission or not, and I have chosen to do so. Even if I become the King, that would not change.」

「Kibadios…」

「Is that so?」Erik entered the conversation.「and here I thought you were trying to get out of the mission. Good thing to know our captain is not a scaredy cat.」

「Erik kun. Good to see you here.」Kibadios stuck his hand out.「I hope to work with you in this upcoming mission.」

「Likewise.」Erik reciprocated and shook the hybrid’s hand.

「Wow, even when they’re shaking hands, the sparks from their eyes are still fighting one another.」The mutant leopard beastman girl, Amaira, commented as she looked at both men.

「Come on, come on!」Uri wrapped his arms around Erik’s and Kibadios’ necks, pulling them closer.「We’re now a team, guys. At least act like one.」

「Fine fine, stop rubbing your face onto me!」Erik annoyingly said while trying to pull away from Uri.

「You know these guys, Kibadios?」Kailos asked his son.

「Yeah, I met and fought them a while ago in the Vernys forest.」explained Kibadios.

「Really?」Surprised the ogre.

「Kailos.」Teran called out to his friend while slowly walking toward him.「I’m sorry… I didn’t know this mission that I proposed would involve your son.」

「... It’s not your fault.」

「Teran!」Now finished with his abrupt business regarding his mission and King Candidate, Kibadios’ attention now switched back to the mutant ogre, which was the reason why he originally came to the meeting for.「We need to talk.」

「「「Huh?」 」 」All the people around the hybrid were confused.  

「About?」Asked Teran, while studying the smol emotionless mutant hybrid standing next to Kibadios.

「Did you know someone named “Hana”?」

「How? How did you know…」Teran frowned.

「Isn’t that…」Kailos quickly recognized the woman’s name.    .

 

 

 

Haden (AI):

He's not wearing clothes like this lol. He's now wearing a typical adventure clothes. This is just to show his scars. I had several images generated for Haden character, but this image was chosen solely because of the eyes. Since Haden has "Im-dead-inside" eyes so I think this fits. Too bad I had a plan for Haden so he will 100% not be include in Kibadios' harem. Though soon enough, I will have picture of another future member of Kibadios' harem posted... probably next chapter.

 

 

 

Wylan:

Artist: btaro732

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@btaro732

Pixiv ID: 3655808

Fun fact: I commissioned this drawing, hoping to use this character design as the bara member of Kibadios'  harem. Though I like how he looks, he's not buffed enough + I hate his sideburn and too lazy to fix it myself, so I decided to use this design for this Wylan character.

Sneek peak:
How "bara" the bara harem member will look like:

 

                                                   

Chapter 139: Teran and Hana

 「Yo lady! Don’t stray away too far from me. I won’t be able to protect you from Yinese soldiers’ ambushes if you’re not within my line of sight.」The mutant ogre complained as the rabbit beastwoman leapt swiftly from one dead grasslander to the other, hoping to find at least a few more survivors from the battle. The allied demihuman forces of Monas Kye were able to achieve a pyrrhic victory against the Yinese incursion this time. However, sustaining this level of loss of grasslander lives was clearly untenable, for soon enough, another Yinese army would appear beyond the horizon, while the depleted and injured natives could do nothing but retreat further back to the South.「Can’t you hear me, Hana?」The ogre shouted, before annoyingly followed after the rabbit beastwoman. 「Listen here, Lady! You’re not the only one I need to protect. Although your village and your brother were the one who hired me, there are like a dozen more in the medic corps that I need to watch out for. Don’t make my life any harder…. Seriously, the pay for this job is not worth the effort.」

「Hmmph」Hana tore the cloth bandage using her teeth, before carefully wrapping it around the bleeding body of a lucky survivor she found. Once done tightening it, the young woman angrily turned around to look at the mutant ogre.「Why did you accept this job then, Teran? I thought you did because you care about your own homeland.」

「I couldn’t care less about this place.」Teran shook his head.「If your homeland actively discriminated and persecuted you for being a mutant, would you care if it’s being conquered by some empire?」

「I…」Hana wanted to protest but even her would find it hard to refute his logic.

「I only accept this job because Ashura told me to take a vacation.」The mutant ogre explained.「Since this job is fairly easy and the duration of the contract is only for five months, I figured it’s a perfect job for me to take for now.」

「Our people are suffering and you think of this as a vacation?」Hana angrily asked. 

「Not my problem.」Teran grinned.「and in four more months, it won’t be.」The ogre whistled. 

「Hana!」Another beastman called out to the rabbit beastwoman as he rushed toward her.「Did you find any lucky survivor?」

「Just one.」Answered the young beastwoman.「Eugene, can you help carrying him back to our medical tent?」

「Of course, leave it to me!」The beastman flexed his bicep, then turned to the mutant ogre. 「You’re seriously not helping?」

「Again, it’s not in my job description.」Answered Teran.「The contract clearly stated my only job is to protect the medics.」

「Leave him be, Eugene.」said Hana.「You can’t cure his selfishness.」   

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「Ahhhhh!!! Help!!!」Hana called out in panic. The outpouring rain had caused her to lose her balance and slip down the deep ravine as she tried her best to pick the rare herb that grew on the edge.

「Hana?」Teran called out to her. Before the young beastwoman could process what had happened, she could feel a warm embrace wrapping around her body.「Stop doing dangerous things like this! Think about yourself for just one minute!」The ogre, alerted by Hana’s scream, had quickly jumped after her, hugging her tight to cushion her fall. Thanks to him projecting his Nen, the former 12th captain of Hyakki Yagyo was able to crash onto the bottom of the ravine with minimal injury. Still, the impact easily dislocated his shoulder joint.「Are you okay?」The ogre asked.

「I’m fine…」answered Hana in a daze. It took a brief moment for the young rabbit beastwoman to realize what had just happened.「Teran, your arm!!」

「It’s fine.」answered Teran.「... it just fell out its socket a bit.」

「Here!」Hana put the mutant ogre’s  one good arm around her shoulder, then slowly led him to rest under a large tree found near the cliff.「Let me look at your injury!」

「Ouch!」

「Sorry… Teran. This is all because of me.」Hana blamed herself.

「Heh, as long as you’re okay. After all, my job requires me to protect you.」

「Is that all?」

「Huh?」

「Is jumping after me just a job for you?」Hana asked with a hint of anger.

「...」The ogre remained silent

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「Teran!」The rabbit beastwoman made her way past the other injured soldiers, to the lone spot where the mercenary was laying.「Time to change your bandage.」Hana carefully wrapped a new cloth bandage around Teran’s torso after removing his old bloodied one.「It’s so unlike you, Teran.」The young beastwoman irritatedly commented

「What’s unlike me?」The ogre let out an exhausted smile.

「Being reckless to the point of seeking and clashing against Hou Yi himself.」Hana answered.「You know he’s Wei Shimin’s second in command, right? He’s not someone who you can just defeat outright, especially when he had his elite corps with him.」

「Heh, if you think my injury is bad, wait until you see the injury he sustained after fighting me.」Teran grinned. 

「Why would I care about his injury? It’s you who I…」Hana stopped short of finishing her sentence.

「Don’t blame him like that, Hana.」Ectharen, the leader of the House of the Mane, spoke up from behind the rabbit beastwoman.「He only fought Hou Yi because he knew the man’s route would lead him directly toward your group of medics. Had Teran not rushed ahead to intercept that cursed Hou Yi, you and your group would be annihilated.」

「I… I didn’t know.」Hana turned to Teran.  

「... I’m a mercenary. I just like fighting strong opponents, just as much as I like my money.」denied Teran.

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「Cheers!!!」The group of grasslanders loudly shouted, clanking their beer mugs together, as they celebrated their recent victory over the Yinese force.「Today, we vanquished those idiots! They should just learn their lessons, run back to their Empire with their tails between their legs!」

「Heh, it was just a battle, it’s not like they won the war」Teran, sitting alone in the corner, pointed out. 

「Don’t be a killjoy, Teran.」Ectharen gave the ogre a giant cup of a special strong wine, a specialty of the land .「Didn’t you also participate in the battle? Let’s celebrate with us.」

「I’m not saying no to some alcohol.」The ogre took only minutes to chug the whole mega-pint of wine.「This is good! Another one!」demanded Teran.

「...That was a really strong alcohol. It was supposed to be drunk in sips throughout the night.」explain Ectharen.

「Too late! Another one!」The clearly drunk Teran dismissed the beastman’s concerns, and continued to ask for the next mug to be delivered to him. The celebration continued long into the night, until most of the men had fallen asleep, hugging one another as their snores echoed around the town square.「Hic… Where’s Hana?」The drunk mercenary looked around, trying to find the woman, though the only one he could find was the drunk Eugene sleeping soundly near the large bonfire. 

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「Haaahhhh」Hana stretched her arms right after she entered her room. She had spent the whole evening taking care of the injured combatants from the most recent battle of which the Grasslanders had emerged victorious. The rabbit beastwoman slowly discarded her clothes, then lazily made her way toward the bathroom, where she could finally enjoy the warm late night shower. Since it was already late into the night, although she wanted to join in the party at the town square, she figured the men must have finished with it and given all the alcohol that were present, most likely all of them would have drunkenly passed out cold.

「Hana! Hic… Where… hic… are you?」A familiar male voice called out for her as she finally finished with her shower. 

「Teran? What are you doing here?」

「Come hic… and join me!」The mutant ogre demanded.「Everyone else has already passed out!」 

「Teran, I’m still taking a shower. Wait out there!」Hana hurriedly tried to dry her body.

「What? Hic… You’re in here?」The ogre busted opened the bathroom door, only to see the woman he had been having a special feeling for standing there naked, her pink nipples, perky breasts, shaved pussy were all fully visible in front of his eyes for a few seconds, before the young woman tried her best to use both of her hands to cover her body. Though, a few seconds were all it took for the drunken mercenary to be mesmerized by her beauty. His cock started to swell underneath his pants and his weakened inhibition due to the mega-pint of wines he had earlier was not helping him to restrain himself either. 

「Hana… You’re really beautiful.」Teran blurted out. The compliment caused the young rabbit beastwoman, who had been screaming at him to get out to finally freeze, unable to process it. Her blushing face was now of the beet red color and a smile could finally be seen on her frowning face. 

「What… what are you saying?」

「Be mine, Hana!」Teran lunged at her before picking her up. 

「Stop, Teran! Put me down!」Hana protested as Teran carried her naked body in his arms, walking out to the bedroom before throwing her down onto the bed. Before Hana could orient herself and sit up, she had found herself being pinned down by the drunken ogre. His hands held tightly onto her wrist as he moved on top of her, his enlarged cock was now grinding against her naked pussy. 

「Teran! Stop this! You’re not being yourself!」Although she shared the same feeling for Teran as he did for her, the young rabbit beastwoman did not want her first time with him to be because he was inebriated. Hana struggled to break free from his constraints. 

「... You… don’t want to be with me?」Teran asked in a vulnerable tone. Hana couldn’t tell if it was his tears or not since the room was not lit by any candle light, but she could feel droplets falling onto her face from his.「... I know… a mutant like me… can never be with… hic… someone… hic… like you」 

「Don’t be an idiot, Teran.」Hana wondered if it was because of the alcohol that caused Teran to be in such a vulnerable state. Although this was not how she pictured how they would get together, she knew she could not leave him alone tonight. The young beastwoman’s hands slowly reached out to the ogre’s face after he voluntarily let go of her wrist.「Of course I want to be with you, Teran. I don’t care if you’re a mutant or not. To me, you’re just Teran. To me, you’re just some man who I had fallen for, all this time.」Hana pulled Teran’s head down, letting it rest between her heaving breasts.

.

.

.

The night marked a new chapter for the relationship between the mutant ogre and the rabbit beastwoman. Soon enough, the unlikely couple was the talk of the entire grasslanders in the vicinity, much to the chagrin of Eugene, who has fancied Hana ever since they were children. Despite his 5-months contract finally ended, the ogre voluntarily extended it for a year and continued staying by Hana’s side to protect her and her medic corps. Even to this day, the brief time he spent with Hana was Teran’s most cherished memories that drastically changed his life. From the time when he laid his head onto Hana’s lap during a hot summer day to the nights when they showed their love under the dimming candle lights, the memories would pop up in his dream now and then. Of course, the brief happiness the couple experienced was not to last, for Hana would soon receive the news that her brother had perished in a Yinese raid, leaving her bedridden mother uncared for. This forced her to return to her village to take care of her grieving mother.

「Let her go!」Eugene confronted Teran alone outside the town at dusk.

「Huh? What the hell are you talking about?」Teran irritatedly snapped back.

「Now that Hana has to return to the village, are you planning to come with her? You know even if he hired you before, our villagers would never accept a mutant setting foot inside the village.」Eugene explained.「How do you think her already sick, grieving mother would react if she finds out her daughter, the only blood relative she has left, is going out with a mercenary, on top of being a mutant like yourself?」

「I…」Teran hesitated.

「Just let her go.」Eugene again suggested.「Don’t make her choose between you and her mother. I know I’ve lost her to you and it’s not my place to force you to do anything, but I just want you to think about how much pain you would put her through if you continued to be selfish. You were hired by her brother to protect her and the medic corps, now that your paymaster has passed away, maybe it’s time for you to finally have a reason to sever ties with this place… and Hana. 」 

.

.

.

「You’re a jerk, Teran!」Hana slapped the ogre hard across his face before turning around and walked away with tears flowing from her eyes after he suggested that they should break up.

「Are you sure this is what you wanted?」Having witnessed the fight, Ectharen asked from the shadow of the alley close to where Teran was standing. 

「Yeah… she’ll find her happiness with someone else.」Teran nodded.「I can’t make her choose between the only family member she had left and I.」

「What will you be doing now?」

「... I… I will join your fight.」Teran answered. 

「Huh?」Ectharen was unsure of what he had just heard.「Why would you?」

「If we can hold the Empire’s advances here… or even at Alsen further to the South, it would keep them away from her village.」explained Teran

「and how long are you planning to fight together with us?」

「Until we can repel the Yin empire from this land… so that she can live in safety.」

「You know Ashura the Yonko, your boss, would probably not allow you to do that.」Ectharen pointed out.

「Then I’ll resign from my post.」Teran smiled.「I thought at least you, of all people, would be thrilled that I join your force.」

「... I do. But… the reason… the circumstances of why you’re fighting with us… it’s just…」

「Don’t worry, Eskaren, it’s ultimately my decision.」

「.... What the hell, Teran! We fought side by side for almost a year and you still can’t remember my name? It’s Ectharen! ECTHAREN!」The beastman angrily reminded the mutant ogre.

Hana soon returned to her village to take care of her mother, but it didn't take long for her already bedridden mother to depart Esthar. It was then, in her grief, she finally learned she was pregnant with Yuusei and five months later, a new hybrid was born to this world. Unfortunately, just like his father, the newborn could easily be identified as a mutant, for his sclera was completely black and a faint layer of Chaos miasma was emitting from his body. Against the advice of the villagers, Hana adamantly decided to keep him instead of abandoning him in the woods to feed the monsters and wild animals.「It’s the proof of our love.」Hana explained to the concerned Eugene as she held tightly onto the newborn. 「No matter what, he’s my ultimate gift.」Her tears fell down onto his soft baby cheek. Yet, as the miasma continued to erode her sanity, any happy memories she had about mutant ogre would soon be twisted and warped. Even her memories of the special first time with Teran on that fateful night was turned into nothing but violence and struggles.

 

Hana (AI generated based on Yuusei's picture):

Ignore the human ears lol

Notes:

Short chapter. I planned to have Teran's past to be only half a chapter, but it turned out a bit long (for half a chapter), so I decided to make it a whole chapter.
Fun fact: all this Teran/Hana's backstory was all improvised as I write lol. When I wrote about Yuusei's backstory, I actually intended for his father to be a horrible person within Hyakki Yagyo that he'll beat up someday, but then later on, I changed my mind and decided to "retcon" it in a way that it didn't change the established facts that much.
In case you don't understand (because my writing sucks lol), later on, the miasma caused Hana's memories of the night when Teran forced her onto her bed to turn into something much darker, hence why she was later convinced that Teran raped her. This backstory would also explain why Yuusei's mother loved him so much in the beginning, before the miasma changed her.
I think I like this love stoy backstory more than the original backstory that I was planning to write (since it's subverting expectation a bit lol)
I plan to have a smut chapter soon (with illustrations) but I'm waiting for the illustrations. I was promised it would be delivered asap but the deadline for it is early May. We'll see :3

Chapter 140: Gyo

「Kibadios, how do you know about Hana?」Teran asked, before frantically looking around.「Where is she now? What is she doing? Is she here among the refugees?」

「... What’s the relationship between you and her?」asked Kibadios. In regarding to the former 13th captain of the Hyakki Yagyo, the hybrid had heard two completely different accounts: one from Uri, which explained how Teran turned his back to Hyakki Yagyo and Ashura, abruptly resigned from his post to fight to protect the land of the one he deeply loved. Yet, on the other hand, according to Yuusei’s fuzzy memories, he had recalled his mother lamented how his father had raped her and gotten her pregnant with the mutant hybrid. Her hatred for Teran had scarred the young Yuusei, resulting in him suppressing his own growth to avoid looking like his father. Since he had read so many manga and fictional stories where misunderstanding had led to rather terrible consequences, Kibadios figured it was better for him to just outright ask the mutant ogre himself. Kibadios knew it was not his place to give Teran any “judgment” since he himself was guilty of forcing him onto many of his harem members, but if Yuusei wanted to do something about it, then it’d be Kibadios’ duty as his master to back him up.

「... She and I… it’s complicated…」 Teran tried to avoid Kibadios’ piercing gaze, though his sight would find themselves voluntarily rested upon the mutant hybrid standing obediently next to Kibadios.「Is she here in Alsen?」

「Mother’s dead.」Yuusei finally spoke up.

「What?」Teran’s thrilled face quickly turned pale as he took his time to process what the mutant hybrid had just said.「... You’re lying… Who… who are you?」

「Yuusei.」he answered.「Mother killed by Yuusei.」

「Stop kidding me!」Teran growled before lunging forward and grabbed Yuusei by his shirt collar「It’s not funny! How can Hana be dead?」

「Yo, Teran, don’t be like that.」Uri, who has been observing from the side, tried to intervene. 

「Calm down, Teran.」Kibadios, in turn, grabbed onto Teran’s wrist tightly, dark shadow creeping up from his feet, forcing him to let Yuusei go. Seeing Teran’s reaction to the news of Hana’s death, the hybrid could tell the ogre’s feelings for Hana were genuine.「If what Yuusei’s mother told him was correct, then he’s most likely your son.」

「My son?」Teran looked at Yuusei again. Though the claim was rather ridiculous, he somehow knew it was the truth because ever since he first met the mutant hybrid hours ago, he had felt a strange connection with the boy.「Hana and I have a child?」

「Why would you be surprised? Did you not force yourself onto Yuusei’s mother?」Kibadios straight up asked Teran.

「Force myself onto her? I would never…」

「He would never do anything inappropriate to Hana.」Ectharen walked toward Kibadios after hearing the commotion from the gathering group.「He had sacrificed so much to protect her peace, do you think such a man could have force his way onto her?」The beastman turned to look at Yuusei.「He’s a mutant, just like his dad, isn’t it?」

「Yes, though I’ve been cleansing his Miasma everyday, so he’s clean.」

「You can do that? There’s so much more to you than meets the eyes, isn’t it, young master of House of the Horn?」Ectharen nodded with a smile before again turning toward Yuusei「... Knowing Hana and how much she loves Teran, it’s not impossible to think that she fought to keep this boy by her side, despite him being a mutant and constantly emitting miasma. If so, it’s most likely that her warped perception about Teran was because of the miasma poison she experienced.」

「... Mother was nice… but then mother tried to kill Yuusei.」The mutant hybrid explained, further confirmed the beastman’s theory that Yuusei miasma caused Hana to descend to madness and forget the time she spent with Teran.「... Yuusei fought back…」

「Hana is really dead?」Any sparks of life seemed to have left Teran’s hazy eyes. Teran wanted to be mad at Yuusei, but deep down, he knew the mutant hybrid was not at fault. If anything, it was him. Meeting and getting together with him was what ultimately killed the rabbit beastwoman that he loved so much.「It’s all my fault… I… Hana…」

「Teran…」Both Ectharen and Kailos called out to their distraught friend.

「Yuusei… You too… because of me not knowing anything, you’ve been suffering.」Teran’s trembling hands slowly reached out to his long lost son.「Please, for…forgive me.」

「Yuusei’s fine! Yuusei have Master! 」The mutant hybrid rudely shrugged off Teran before instinctively clinged onto Kibadios. His anger had transformed him into his ogre form, which further showed how much he looked like Teran.「Don’t you touch me! Because of you, mother give birth to Yuusei! Mother get sick! If mother don’t meet you, there no Yuusei and mother be fine!」The mutant hurriedly turned away from Teran and pulled Kibadios to come with him. The mutant’s action even surprised the incubus hybrid since he had never seen Yuusei acting spoiled like this. Ever since Kibadios picked him up, Yuusei always obediently followed the incubus hybrid like his shadow and never took initiative to dare to ask him to do anything. Yet, now, in his anger, the little mutant managed to pull and direct his master to come with him. Kibadios was going to say something, to ask the little mutant to stop and talk it out with Teran since he was, after all, still his father and given that he had done nothing wrong. However, Kibadios noticed this was one of the rare instances when Yuusei was showing some emotion. Seeing how he was on the verge of crying, Kibadios decided to come with him to calm him down first. A heart to heart talk with Teran could come later.

「... Yuusei…」Teran could do nothing but watch his young son walking away from him without glancing back.

.

.

.

「Have you calmed down yet?」asked Kibadios as he patted the young mutant’s head.

「...」Yuusei simply nodded. By now, both Kibadios and Yuusei were sitting by a large tree on the small hill looking over a small pond in the Northern side of the settlement.「Yuusei sorry, dragging Master like that.」

「It’s fine. I don’t mind running. It’s a good exercise, you know…」Kibadios smiled, then stayed silent for a while before deciding to continue.「You really hate Teran that much?」

「... If mother don’t meet him… Mother would still live.」Yuusei nodded as he reiterated. 

「That’s true.」Kibadios agreed, before pulling Yuusei onto his lap and hugged him from behind. Since he was now in his adult ogre form, his stature easily dwarfed his master as he sat on his lap, but the mutant did not seem to mind since he always loved to be able to sit on his master’s lap, regardless whether he be in his shota or adult form.「But if Teran never gets together with your mother, then that would mean you won’t be born, which in turn means you would not have met me. Would you still be fine with that?」

「NO!」Yuusei shouted.「Master is everything to Yuusei!」

「Also, think about it, had you not been born, you wouldn’t have been with me when I dealt with Adela. And had you not protected Ryan as he casted his barrier, I wouldn’t be able to emerge from that fight victorious and trapped her inside me. Then, you wouldn’t be able to fight Uri to buy some precious time for Princess Yllaner, either.」Kibadios noted.「You see what I meant? They say a butterfly flapping its wing can cause a hurricane, and if your wish came true, if Teran and your mother never got together and she never gave birth to you, it’s not farfetch to think I will be in much worse off situation.」

「Yuusei don’t want that.」The mutant turned around to look at his master.

「I know you think your life is cursed, and that you only brought death and misfortune to others as a mutant, but to me…」Kibadiso pinched Yuusei’s cheeks.「You brought nothing but goodluck… warmth and hope that I’ve missed too… So if anything, don’t blame Teran for what happened to your mother, since after all, you can never change the past. Aren’t you glad to learn that you were born out of love instead of hatred? Try to be thankful to him, Yuusei… At least I am, since without him, I won’t be meeting you, my cute little hybrid. 」

「Yuusei understands…」He reluctantly acknowledged.

「I know it’s hard. I’m not asking you to go over and hug him like a young child to his dad right away. But maybe gradually, you can change your opinions of him and get to know him better? After all, he’s your only blood relative left…」

「... Yuusei will try.」The mutant pouted.

「Good! 」Kibadios pulled the mutant down for a long deep kiss, swirling his tongue around every corner of the mutant’s mouth.「Since you said you’ll try, how about I reward you with some quality time tonight, huh?」The hybrid teased, which elicited rapid nods from the excited Yuusei.

「Ahem! Sorry to bother you, Young Lord, but Kailos sama is looking for you.」A husky voice called out to the hybrid.

「Huh?」Kibadios turned his focus from Yuusei toward the muscular man approaching him. 「Who are you?」

「The name is Gyo, Young Lord.」The orange haired man, who appeared to be in his late twenties, happily introduced himself.「I’m your father’s attendant.」

「Yves? Mutant Yves.」Yuusei, while still latching onto his Master, quickly took notice since it was assumed that any Yves should have at least been affiliated with the House of the Eyes instead of Kailos’ House.

「My father’s attendant? How did you find us?」Kibadios easily spotted the distinct third eye on Gyo’s forehead, along with red marks running around his well-sculpted buffy torso up onto his rugged face. 

「My mutated eye can do much more than just seeing like other normal eyes, Kibadios sama.」The Yves grinned, seemingly proud of his unique ability.「Kailos sama has been waiting for you.」

「For me? Why?」Kibadios slowly stood up as Yuusei reluctantly let go of his master.

「I heard you have been nominated to be a King Candidate. Kailos sama just wants to explain to you what the trial to become the King of Monas Kye entails.」Gyo explained.

「I see.」Kibadios nodded, while discreetly looking at Gyo’s firmly exposed pair of breasts that were soaked in sweat. The Yves must have been working hard on something before father asked him to look for me , Kibadios thought to himself. What’s this feeling? Why do I feel so horny? I just want to suck on those bara tiddies. I have not had this horny feeling ever since I saw Uri rush out of the guestroom back at Vernys.

「What’s wrong, Young Lord?」Tilting his head to one side, Gyo innocently asked as he noticed something has been bothering Kibadios. 

「... Ah, no, nothing.」Kibadios shook his head, trying to dissipate his erotic thoughts.「Please go ahead, Gyo, and show me where my father is.」

「Of course, Kibadios sama!」The muscular man smiled, not knowing that in the hybrid’s imaginative head, his naked body was being devoured by Kibadios’ cum dripping tentacles.

「Say, Gyo… san,」Kibadios added an honorific after a brief internal debate.「Why are you, an Yves, serving my dad? Shouldn’t you be part of the House of the Eyes instead?」

「Ahh, I guess it’s normal for you to wonder why.」Gyo scratched his head with a smile on his face, though Kibadios could sense a hint of sadness.「... You’ve met with Wylan, the head of House of the Eyes, right? He’s my cute little brother!」

「You’re his older brother? But you’re the Head of the House?」

「Well, yeah, but I was born as a mutant, so as an infant I was discarded by the former head, my father, since he didn’t want me tainting the reputation of the House.」Gyo explained.「Seth sama, your grandfather, actually took me in and raised me as part of his family after using Orcan to purify my miasma and keep its spread under control. Ever since then, I’ve been serving Seth sama to repay my debt to him. After he passed away in a battle with the Yin empire, I pledged my allegiance to your father.」

「I see. Although you were rejected by the House of the Eyes, you seem to have a really close relationship with your brother?」Kibadios asked since he was calling Wylan his “cute little brother” 

「Yeah.」Gyo smiled broadly.「Unlike my father, Wylan’ve always accepted me even though I’m a mutant. He got into a lot of arguments with the old man because he hated how I was treated by the House. When he was old enough, he even got a tattoo to match my mutation markings. Once my father died and he became the Head, he promptly asked if I wanted to return to the House. Of course I said no, since I don’t want to cause him any trouble with the other elder members of the House. Still, he’s like the best little brother anyone could have asked for.」

 Ha, such a brocon . Kibadios thought to himself.「So, say, between me and your brother, who are you rooting for to be King?」

「Haaa…」Gyo suddenly stopped as his face turned red from overthinking.「Arghhh, I don’t know. On one hand, you’re Kailos sama and Isis sama’s son, but on the other hand, it’s my adorable little brother we’re talking about…」Gyo’s head seemingly exploded with steam.「Argh, if I have to choose, I’d say I’ll be rooting for you, Young Lord.」

「Is that so? I don’t mind if you’re rooting for your brother though. But I guess It doesn’t really matter, since it will be me who will claim the title of King.」Kibadios confidently grinned.

「Ha, really?」Gyo smiled.「You know, your confidence and pride, reminded me of Seth sama. He was such a great leader. I’m sure you’ll be one too.」

「Pride, huh? I guess… Is that a euphemism for arrogance?」

「A bit.」Gyo honestly admitted.「Though, who says that it’s a bad thing? Sometimes, you have to be a bit prideful. It’s a quality that most great leaders possess.」

「Agree.」

.

.

.

「「「Master!」」」It did not take long for the three to arrive at the headquarters for the House of the Horns, where Kailos and the rest of Kibadios’ harem were waiting for him. 「And Yuusei too!」

「We heard everything from Kailos sama. How are you now, Yuusei?」Rowan asked the mutant.

「Yuusei good.」Answered the boy.「Sorry making Rowan nii chan and others worried.」

「We’re not, really, since we know Master was with you.」Ryan smiled.「But we’re glad that you’re feeling okay. If there’s anything you want to talk about, just come to us, okay?」

Yuusei simply nodded in acknowledgement. 

「And you, Master, you’ll be King of the demihuman at Monas Kye?」Ryuu asked excitedly.

「Not king.」corrected Ren, with a frown on his face as usual.「He’s a King Candidate. He has to take a trial, along with the other two candidates.」

「Potayto-potahto. Master would easily kick the other two candidates’ asses.」argued Ryuu. 

「But we don’t know what the trial is about, right?」Yue reminded the dragonoid. 

「Isn’t that why we’re here, father?」Kibadios asked Kailos.

「Yes. Let me explain to you what you have to do during the Trial of Eor Dungeon.」Kailos spoke up.

 

 

Gyo, the bara (second to last) harem member

Artist: nameko_hachikou

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@nameko_hachikou

 

There, that's it! You have been introduced to all the planned harem members. Though the last harem member had been introduced, he had yet been introduced in his final form.

 

PS:
Sorry for the late chapter. My firm recently encountered some financial difficulties and I was so sure I'd be laid off lol >.>But I survived! :D

Scared the shit out of me, which made me reassessing my habit of spending money on commissions lol >.> But on the other hand, I don't spend money on clothes, shoes and other things so I guess it balances out lol >.>

 

PPS:

I commissioned this yaoi scanlation so check it out: https://myreadingmanga.info/shikanari-akuyaku-reisoku-tensei-akogare-no-otomege-chara-o-kando-cheat-de-kanochi-kouryaku-1-eng/

The second chapter of that yaoi is currently being translated (as stated in the last page)

 

Regarding to the other scanlation that I commissioned (https://myreadingmanga.info/hamaki-suiryu-maousama-wa-yuusha-no-ken-de-midaretai-jp/), I think that guy just took my money and ran away w/ it >.> After I sent them the money via paypal, I've not received a single email from them. Not even to confirm they're working on it. Whatever. Good thing I only commissioned the first two chapters instead of the whole volume. Such waste of money.

Also, I discovered scanlate.io and I MTLed these two yaoi for fun. If you're allergic to badly translated yaoi/manga, don't read lol:

Knights of the noble Ottoman Empire should never be penis slaves: https://e-hentai.org/g/2526272/4be8cde9cb/

Prince x Emperor Erotic Manga: https://e-hentai.org/g/2527121/28ca7a9341/

 

 

Chapter 141: The porn chapter, again

Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter. i was waiting for a manga scene but the artist told me they cannot meet the deadline so I won't receive the drawings for another 2 weeks or so.
I wanted to make R18 scenes of interaction between male harem members, to make it a sort of "slice of life" chapter haha
Kibadios x (some) male members will be in manga form instead of writing.

Since the interval of my update is fairly long, I was told to make this character profile section for characters that I have only introduced a few time previously:
Falkor: red hair beastman that helped Kibadios took out the Yinese camp. He was looking for his wife. (chapter 129)
Maryana: Doll created by and served Adeus. Also... (Chapter 130)
Ayer: One of the Ennead that took special interest in Zaeryn. (Chapter 131)

「So we cannot accompany Master during the trial, huh?」Ryuu asked as the group finally approached the guesthouse that Kailos had prepared for them after enjoying dinner at his residence. By now, both Reuk and Haden had also parted ways with the hybrid’s group and went inside their own guesthouse, which was a block away.

「Well, that’s the rule for the Trial, there’s nothing we can do.」Maia reminded the dragonoid. 「Kailos dono said it himself, that Master could only take one member from the House of the Horn to help him during the trial and since we’re not part of the House, we’re not eligible.」

「Why would you guys be worried? It’s Kibadios we’re talking about.」Ren pointed at the hybrid who walked silently behind them, with Yue and Rowan by both his sides.「At his current strength, within Alsen, probably only Ryuu could rival him in terms of power. There’s no way the other two Heads could win.」

「It’s true… but still, I don’t like parting with Master.」Ryan pouted.

「Haaa? The trial only lasts at most three days. You guys should learn to be more independent from your perverted Master.」Ren stopped right in front of the guesthouse door, taking some time to unlock the door.

「It’s “our.”」Ryan corrected Ren with a smile on his face. 「Right, Master?」

「Finally!」exclaimed Kibadios the moment the door was unlocked. The hybrid effortlessly lifted Yue up in his arm, rushed to get in the house. His arm swiftly reached out and grabbed onto Maia’s, leading her to come with him straight into the bedroom.「Come with me, Maia!」

「Of course, Master!」The alchemist girl hurriedly complied.

「... He really couldn’t wait for another minute?」Ren raised his eyebrows.

「Have you guys noticed that Master has been a bit… erotically charged lately?」Ryan asked the group.

「You meant horny? Yeah.」Ren nodded.「Yue told me he spent almost two hours playing with her last night.」

「Uh huh.」Ryuu confirmed.「and that was after he’d fucked me for hours before that.」

「Do you think Master’s increased period of intense heat has something to do with the fact that Master found his fated pair partner?」Rowan deduced. 

「You meant Uri? Yeah, possibly.」Ryan agreed.

「... looks like, Master in pain during heat, lately」Yuusei spoke up.

「If Master is really in pain because of that fate pair nonsense, he should just pin down Uri and fuck him to release his pent up discomfort.」Suggested Ryuu.

「It seems like Master really is fond of Uri, maybe they should just bond. I doubt resisting this fated pair business is easy for Uri, either.」Ryan agreed.

「That’s the thing. Master is fond of Uri and his desire for “freedom.”」Rowan pointed out.「That’s why he didn’t want to do anything to him since mating with a fated partner will forever bond the omega to the alpha.」

「... You guys… speaking as if you have no problem your Master fucking someone else?」Ren asked.「Don’t you guys feel jealous, like at all?」

「Again, it’s “our.” And I’d be lying if I say I’m not jealous.」answered Ryuu after a brief thought.「But if it’s what Master wants or needs, I’ll 100% be fine with it. Much like when he took you and Yue chan into the harem.」Ryan, Rowan, and Yuusei all nodded in agreement.

「... You guys are such weirdos.」Ren shook his head.

「Why? Don’t tell me you’re jealous that Master may bring another member into the harem?」Ryan teased the elf.

「What?? As if!! Who cares about what that pervert does!」Ren blushed red.

「Aww, don’t be like that!」Rowan hugged Ren from behind, his chin leaned lazily onto the elf’s shoulder. His hands cupped Ren’s breast through his shirt and played with his nipples.「No matter who joins in Master’s harem, he would never neglect you, Ren chan.」

「Hnnn Ahhh.. Stop it, Rowan.」Ren tried to push the healer away.

「Don’t be shy! I only want to prep you and get you ready for Master.」Rowan grinned mischievously. 

「Speaking of getting ready, shouldn’t we be taking a bath and getting our bodies ready for Master?」Ryuu’s tail was wagging left and right as he imagined the pleasure he would soon feel when Kibadios embraced him again, just like last night.

「You’re right. Let’s go?」Ryan suggested.

「Let’s? There’s no us! Why would I be taking a bath with you guys? Just go ahead. I’ll take one after you’re done」Ren told the group.

「Don’t be shy, Ren chan!」Ryan teased.「You’re embarrassed that we’ll be naked in front of each other? We’ve done way more stuff to each other while being fucked by Master. Don’t let Ren chan escape, Rowan chan!」

「Of course not!」The healer was now holding tightly around Ren’s chest.「Ryuu chan! Come here and bring Ren chan to the bathroom!」

「You got it, Rowan senpai!」Ryuu effortlessly carried the struggling Ren on his shoulder and headed straight to the bathroom despite the elf’s protest.

「Let me down, Ryuu!!!」

「Not until we strip you naked, Ren chan!」Ryuu grinned.

「Ahh, I wonder when Ren chan will get used to being in Master’s harem.」Ryan sighed.

「It took me like a month… We gotta give him some time to adjust.」reminded Rowan.「You ready, Yuusei?」

「Yes.」The mutant hybrid nodded, then rushed after his senpais.

As soon as the five bishounens entered the fully bright spacious bathroom, pieces of their clothes, from their shirts, to their pants, and their undergarments, quickly found themselves being discarded onto the floor. The boys’ lean muscular bodies were now completely exposed to the hot steam in the bathroom, causing their smooth skin to appear glistering in the warm light. 

「Hyaa! Stop!」

「There you go!」exclaimed Ryuu while stripping off Ren’s clothes, until not a single piece of clothes was left attached to the elf.「Stop trying to cover your cock with your hand, Ren chan. We have already seen you naked countless of time.」

「Even so!」growled Ren, though he stopped short since he knew arguing about it would not help him one bit in this situation. The elf reluctantly moved his hands away and tried to relax.
SPLASH!

「It’s just a bath. A bath you share with those who serve Kibadios sama, just like you… with those who admire and adore him, just like you.」Ryuu poured a hot bucket of water over Ren’s head. 

「Admire and adore…」Ren muttered. He wanted to say “in your dream, why would I adore him?” yet, somehow, he felt that had he decided to really say that, he’d just be lying to himself.「Haa, whatever…」Ren let out a defeated smile.

「Next, it’s soap time!」Ryan reached out to Ren, with a bar of soap on his hand while Ryuu and Rowan eagerly jumped into the hot tub, creating another splash at the unimpressed Ren. 

「Soap? Wait! I can do it myself!」The elf embarrassedly pushed Ryan away.

「Don’t be like that. I’ll help scratching your back for you.」Ryan pulled Ren toward him before scrubbing the bar all over Ren’s slender body. The former hero inadvertently slid the soap bar across the elf’s sensitive pair of nipples, causing him to shiver and shrieked out in a feminine voice that he had not uttered outside of the bedroom. 

「Wow, have your nipples always been that sensitive, Ren chan?」Ryan was surprised.

「Of course not! But Kibadios kept sucking on it and it’s become like this lately!」

「Just one touch and your cock is already erected.」Ryan pointed at Ren’s crotch, before kneeling down and reaching his hand out to grab onto the hardening shaft.「and you’re already leaking precum too.」

「Stop touching my… my private part!」Ren angrily hit Ryan. 

「Really? Ren chan’s cock is already erected? I wonder if you can just cum from having your nipples being played with.」Seeing Ren was standing with his back facing the bathtub, Rowan realized an opportunity had just presented itself. The healer eagerly stood up from behind Ren and quickly wrapped his hand around to play with the elf’s nipples again. 

「Stop it Rowan!」Ren shrieked, though his scream quickly turned into moans as the healer continued to knead the elf’s soft nipples. His fingers skillfully pressed down, then flicked and swirled around Ren’s sensitive spots, each slight movement causing the elf’s legs to weaken and tremble in pleasure. Ren’s cock was now throbbing, swinging up and down and spraying strings of precum as Rowan continued to tease his elven harem brother without stop. Fortunately for the former elven prince, Rowan was soon distracted for a moment since Ryuu had now come up behind the healer, his eyes gazing at the round, smooth buttocks Rowan was presenting in front of his face. The dragonoid licked his lip lustfully, opened his mouth widely before biting down onto Rowan’s soft mound. 

「Hyaa! Ryuu chan?」Rowan turned his head around.「Why would you bite me?」

「Sorry, but it just looks so delicious! Besides, I’m only prepping you for Master to enjoy, senpai!」Ryuu answered with his tail wagging. The dragonoid spread the healer’s asscheeks apart, revealing his twitching pink hole. Ryuu quickly stuck his tongue out, digged his face in Rowan’s most private part and gave the healer an unforgettable rimjob. 

「Ryuu… Haaa… not there… not with your tongue like that!」Now, instead of Ren, it was Rowan who protested. Noticing the healer’s grip on his nipples were loosen, Ren took the opportunity to dash away from Rowan and falling into the concerning Yuusei’s embrace. 

「Ren nii chan okay?」Yuusei asked.

「Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks Yuusei.」

「Rowan nii chan, Ryan nii chan, Ryuu nii chan. Stop bullying Ren nii chan」Yuusei demanded.

「But we’re not… Hyaaaa~~」Rowan shivered as he felt Ryuu’s tongue pushing up against his asshole inner flesh.

「We’re not bullying Ren chan, Yuusei chan.」Ryan reassured the mutant.「We’re just prepping him for Kibadios sama. Think about it, Ren chan often just passes out as Master fucked him, before Master can release his thick cum in Ren chan’s ass. We know he’s really sensitive so we’re just trying to help him get used to the pleasure. That way, he’d last longer with Master. I’m sure Kibadios would like that!」

「It’s for Kibadios sama’s sake?」Yuusei reconfirmed.

「Yup.」Ryan nodded.「It’s for his enjoyment!」

「Ren nii chan, let’s try our best!」Hearing that everything they’ve been doing was just for Kibadios, the mutant hybrid was sold on the idea. Now, it was him who pinned Ren down onto the wet floor, his hand pressed and restrained Ren’s wrists above the elf’s head.

「Yuusei, not you too?」

「This is for Master’s sake, Ren nii chan.」Yuusei lowered his head down onto Ren’s collar bone, kissing it, then moved up to Ren’s neck.「Yuusei help Ren nii chan get used to pleasure.」

「Nooooo, this is too much~!」Ren complained as he felt Yuusei’s erect cock pressed against his own.

.

.

.

「Kibadios sama…」The naked Yue hesitantly called out to the hybrid with teary eyes.「This is…」

「You’re saying something, my cute Yue chan?」Her equally naked master, who sat on the edge of the bed, responded. Kibadios turned his head to the left, opened his mouth widely and enthusiastically chomped onto Maia’s perky ample breast, causing the smiling alchemist girl to let out a soft moan. The half incubus bit down onto her soft skin and started sucking on her nipple to enjoy the fresh stream of milk Maia was squirting. 

「Are you just that thirsty, Master?」Maia smiled, wrapping her arms around his head and pressing him further into her overstimulated breast.

「Of course, It’s been almost two days since I last enjoyed your delicious milk, Maia chan.」Kibadios continued on playing with Maia’s nipple using his teeth and tongue for another half a minute before releasing her breast from his mouth to answer the alchemist.「It’s delicious as always. Now, why don’t you…」Not needing her master to finish his instruction, Maia simply leaned in to give Kibadios a long, wet kiss, skillfully playing with her master’s tongue by gently nipping on it with her lips.

「Master, I miss your kiss so much!!」Maia exclaimed with blushing red cheeks. The simple kiss had caused her pussy juice to uncontrollably drip down her thighs. After having her nipple sucked on by Kibadios, the alchemist girl seemed to have been sent into a lustful frenzy, with her pure, innocent self being swiftly erased and transformed into a lascivious bitch in heat.

「Same here, Maia!」Kibadios reciprocated the kiss before commanding her to get down onto the floor on her knees. As Maia obliged her master’s request, Kibadios’ attention again turned to Yue.「Sorry, I didn’t mean to neglect you, my princess.」

「Master… Why aren’t you…」Yue shyly asked. 「inserting your cock in me?」The elven girl was frustrated since after Kibadios had hurriedly stripped down her clothes and positioned her to sit on his lap, the hybrid had only been sliding his rock hard enormous cock against her smooth, naked pussy without penetrating it. Worse was the way his hands have been playing with her small breasts, since he had purposefully made sure to not touch her over sensitive areolas and erect nipples.

「Because I’m still waiting for your consent, Yue chan.」Kibadios teased after sucking on her nape and left a clear red hickey behind on her white skin.「I noticed last night that ever since our first time, although you don’t complain about being fucked by me, you have not even asked for my cock even just once. So, I decided that I won’t touch your nipples or fuck your pussy until you ask me to.」The hybrid whispered into Yue’s blushing ear.「My cock will stay just outside your precious hole while enjoying the pleasure Maia’s mouth brings. If you need it, just let me know.」

「Ha… Kibadios sama… Hiii」Yue’s plead was cut short the moment she felt another sensation running through her exposed pussy: a wet, soft lick from Maia’s protruding tongue. As her master had instructed, the alchemist girl was now on her knee, kneeling in front of her beloved Master and the elven princess. Without needing any further command from the hybrid, Maia understood what her Master wanted and slowly reached out to his cock, which was soaked in Yue’s pussy juice. Maia attentively worshiped it with her mouth and tongue. One of her hands was now playing with her own nipple while the other treasured Kibadios’ heavy balls. Since Kibadios’ cock was just outside of Yue’s dripping hole, it was unavoidable that Maia’s tongue would sometimes brush against it. The alchemist girl continued to take in the monstrous cock in her mouth. Her Master’s precum, her own saliva, and Yue’s pussy juice soon overflowed from her opening mouth and dripped down along her neck to her trembling breasts. Noticing that after a while, the girl’s hand was now moving downward and played with her own wet cunt instead of her nipple, Kibadios raised his feet up and tugged on the girl’s hanging nipples in between his toes, causing Maia to let out some muffled moans since her mouth was still occupied with the hybrid’s cock. 

Haaa…. Hyaaa…. Noooo

The voices from the guesthouse’s bathroom caused Kibadios to look at its direction for a brief moment.「Huh? Isn’t that Ren’s voice? I wonder if the others are prepping him for me. I’d like to see him pinned down and teased by others… but then」Kibadios groped Yue’s breasts from below, teasing her by squeezing then pushing them up and down.「I think I’m content here too, be able to play with two beautiful girls like this.」Kibadios looked down at Maia.「You’re really good at blowjob, Maia chan. At this rate, I don’t think I can hold in my cum any more.」

「Master, please bless me with your seed!!」With her jaw opened wide, Maia grinned stupidly.

「Of course! This is your reward, Maia chan!」declared Kibadios. The hybrid now raised her legs up, wrapped them around Maia’s neck and pulled her violently toward his waiting cock. With Maia’s wide opening mouth, his cock easily thrust deep into the alchemist’ tight throat without a hint of resistance. As soon as it reached the deepest part of the girl’s throat, Kibadios finally ejaculated, letting his thick, white cum directing shooting down Maia’s throat. The act did not seem to bother the alchemist. In fact, Maia was cherishing every second of this moment as she herself was also cumming hard, squirting her pussy juice all over the flour. Since it was his first load, his ejaculation would last for almost half a minute. After letting the initial few shot down Maia’s throat, Kibadios backed his cock out slightly, allowing his cum to start filling Maia’s mouth. After her master finished climaxing, Maia’ cheeks were all puffing since the girl was holding most of the hybrid’s cum inside her mouth. Swirling her tongue around to relish its taste, Maia slowly stood up while leaning and grinding her sweating breasts against Yue’s. This caused the former princess to drown in further pleasure. The elven girl was opening her mouth a little bit, her lips trembled. It seemed the teases from both Kibadios and Maia had turned her brain into mush and she was ready to ask for her master’s cock. She obviously did not expect what happened next since Maia’s action soon caught her off guard. Without saying a word, Maia simply reached out to Yue’s blushing cheeks, pressing on them enough to open the exhausted elven girl’s mouth. Then, Maia leaned in, giving Yue a long kiss while ensuring the hybrid’s cum, which had accumulated inside her own mouth, would be shared to the former princess. 

「Doesn’t Master’ cum have the best taste in the world, Yue chan?」Maia backed out after almost a minute of kissing.

「Maia channn~~....」Yue cried out. The half incubus cum, which acted as a strong aphrodisiac, quickly paralyzed the girl’s body with an unspeakable sense of pleasure. 「... Master… Master, please fuck my lusting pussy with your thick, throbbing cock!!!!」Yue finally relented. 

「My cute Yue chan, do you know your cutest moments are when you’re begging me fucking you just like this?」Kibadios grinned and turned her head around for a kiss. Hearing Yue’s plea, Kibadios’ cock quickly sprung up to life and effortlessly thrust itself up Yue’s soaking pussy. Maia, too, did not remain passive on the side. The alchemist quickly lowered her head toward Yue’s nipples before biting down hard on one of them, causing Yue to jolt and arch her body. By now, the elven girl seemed to have melted into Kibadios’ embrace, having her pussy being pounded by his cock, her right nipple played by his hand while her left being munched on by Maia’s teasing teeth. Kibadios was also as excited as he could ever be since his wing was now sprouted from his back unconsciously. The hybrid continued to piston his cock against the elf’s tight pussy walls. After initially biting onto Yue’s breast, Maia was now being summoned to Kibadios’s side and having her own breast being bitten instead by the hybrid. The uncontrollable moanings and shriekings from the two girls, along with the sloshing sound created by Kibadios’ cock violating Yue’s hole, continued to echo around the room.

「Master, we’re ready for you!」Half an hour later, as Ryuu and the gang barged inside the room, Kibadios and the two girls had already changed position multiple times. By now, Yue was laying on the bed on her back, exhausted. Laying on top of her was Maia, whose pussy was pounded without any mercy. Each of Kibadios’ thrust caused both Maia and Yue’s nipples to grind against one another, causing both of the girls to continuously experience fleeting senses of orgasms.

「It seems you guys had fun in the bathroom?」Kibadios asked.

「I wouldn’t call it fun!」Ren denied. 

「Seeing all the hickeys on you, I guess you were… haaa… Ryan?」Kibadios stopped short in the middle of his sentence since he suddenly felt a nice sensation in his ass.

「Sorry Master…」The former hero had already made his way onto the bed and gave Kibadios a rimjob with his salivating tongue as he fucked Maia.「I thought you would like it?」

「I do, indeed.」Kibadios grinned, signaling Ryan to continue.「Now, come here, all of you!!! Let me love you all!!!」

「「「Yes, Master!!!」」」Even though Ren did not excitedly answer like the rest of the guys, he too, just like them, would quickly discard his bathrobe and step toward the hungry hybrid in his birthday suit. The night was still young.

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The doll named Maryana, who was personally created by Adeus more than 1000 years ago, silently lurked in the shadow of the nameless streets of Alsen. She was tasked by Adeus to keep an eye out for the hybrid so she had carefully hid her presence and tracked him down. The doll was now standing just a few blocks away from where Kibadios and his group were staying, trying to gather every small intelligence that would prove useful to her eternal master. 

「He’s staying with all of his harem members… while the other two are staying in a house nearby…」The doll mustered while writing down the details.

「Who’s there!!」A voice reverberated the dark, empty street.

「Tsk!」Not wanting to be discovered, the doll swiftly leaped away into the dark alley before disappearing into thin air.

「Was that the Empire’s spy?」The beastman kneeled down, studying the track left behind by Maryana.「But why… why does I feel like that suspicious person look so… familiar?」

「Falkor san, is there anything wrong?」The beastman’s night patrol companion rushed after him.

「There was someone here, lurking around. But that person escaped before I could catch them.」Falkor explained. After arriving at Alsen with Kibadios’ group and the refugee, Falkor, the beastman who helped Kibadios rescuing the group of Grasslander from Yinese Camp, had volunteered himself to be one of the night patrol, guarding the streets of Alsen.

「You think they could be from the Empire?」

「Most likely. Who else would be lurking around here like that?」Falkor nodded.

「If that’s the case, we better let Ectharen sama know.」

「... Yeah…」Falkor agreed, though before he left, he took another look at the direction where the infiltrator had escaped. Somehow, his gut feeling told him that he knew that person… very intimately.

.

.

.

「Ha, doesn’t that doll belong to Adeus?」Floating in midair, cloaked in <Cloak lvl10> skill, the highest level of disguise that would erase his own presence from most naked eyes and sensory skill, Ayer, or rather, the homunculus body of Ayer, arrogantly smiled. Although he was an Ennead, much like the other Astrals, he himself would travel to Esthar using his personal homunculus body. In this form, the pink hair Ennead still appeared rather feminine and donned the same clothes as he did in the Modun Realm, though his signature hair was now blond instead of pink as his original body. 「What are you planning to do, Adeus? But whatever you do, don’t you dare touching Zaeryn. He’s my prey… I can’t wait until the day of the trial…」Ayer licked his red lips.

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures:

Kibadios x Maia and Yue:
Artist: Ginsyu (https://skeb.jp/@shidareouka)

(I got this more than a year ago lol (2/22). That just tells you how slow I write... I show speed things up if I want to finish this story within 2 years >,<)

 

 

 

Maryana:
Novel AI:

 

 

Ayer in Homunculus body:

Artist: 364ing (https://skeb.jp/@364ing01)

 

 

Chapter 142: Bonus: Lance's dream

Since I don't have the scenes for Kibadios x some of the guys in the harem for the last porn chapter, I'll leave this 4 pages manga here. It's Lance's dream as he felt asleep next to Jayden.

Artist: 18号 (Skeb:https://skeb.jp/@kaijinr18go)

R18 Warning!!!!

R18 Warning!!!!

R18 Warning!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 143: The Flame of Restoration

Notes:

Turn out I'm still horny after the last porn chapter, hence the first 1/3 of the chapter lol >.>

The drunken ogre has been aimlessly wandering the empty street of Alsen for hours ever since leaving the House of the Mane. Seeing how intoxicated Teran was, Ectharen was hesitant to let his old friend walk home on his own, yet, under Teran’s own insistence, the beastman finally relented. Still, that was more than two hours ago. Although promised his friend he would head straight home, the ogre found himself unable to do such a simple task, for after learning what had happened to his beloved Hana and experiencing the hatred his own son directed at him, he wondered what, then, awaited him back at his cold, dark apartment. What, then, would he still be living and fighting for? 

「How pathetic am I?」Teran questioned himself before bust out laughing like a maniac.

「You!!!」A familiar voice screamed, abruptly disrupting Teran’s outburst.「It’s really you now, isn’t it, Teran!!! You cursed mutant!!!」

「You’re Euge…」Before Teran could respond, the man lunged with his knife in hand.

「Hana died because of you!」Eugen cried out.「Had she not met you, she’d still be here with us.」Although the ogre could easily dodge the attack, the mention of Hana caused him to freeze in place. A sharp pain quickly spread as he felt the piercing knife thrusted into his flesh torso. 

「... I… I didn’t mean to…」Teran frowned. His hand held onto his bleeding wound.

「Just die!!!」Eugene pulled his knife back before kicking the struggling orge down onto the pavement. Looking down at the orge, the man shed some tears remembering his beloved Hana before ending his own life with the same knife by slashing his throat open. Much like Teran, the man has been living for years in misery, not knowing what his purpose in life was, until this very night, when he had decided that the only reason he lived was to avenge Hana by killing the mercenary that indirectly led her to her death. 

「Eugene… you… maybe you’re right… Maybe death is what I deserve… but at least…」Teran struggled to stand up despite blood gushing out from his stomach wound.「at least… I want to die…somewhere close… to my son… This world should at least grant me such wish, right?」

.

.

.

 

The hybrid slowly opened his eyes after his warm, soft pillow that had been squirming around for another ten minutes or so. 

「Morning, Yuusei chan」Kibadios greeted the mutant hybrid that laid on his side next to him with a smile. Much like his other sisters and brothers in the harem, the mutant half-ogre’s smooth gray skin was fully covered in spots of red hickeys. One of his nipples was now currently being sucked on by his master while the other was kneaded by his master’s rough fingers. His master’s thick, erected cock had been parking inside Yuusei’s hole ever since he last released his load and fell asleep right afterward. Though, as morning came, his throbbing rod of flesh began to be reinvigorated again, grinding its shaft against Yuusei’s sensitive fleshy wall.

「Morning… Haaa…. Master!」Yuusei, who was still in his adult form, greeted the hybrid. 「How….haaa… Master’s….ahhh… sleep?」

「Thanks to you…」Kibadios paused his answer, pressed his mouth and sucked hard on Yuusei’s breast, then biting onto the mutant’s trembling nipple before letting it go. 「I slept very comfortably.」Kibadios slowly slid his cock out of Yuusei’s asshole before sitting up. Yuusei was going to follow his master, but Kibadios quickly pressed him down and kept him laying on top of the bed. 

「Master?」asked Yuusei, seeing how his master was now crawling on top of his body. Kibadios’ naked ass sat on the mutant’s chest, letting his thick cock dripping with precum resting on top of the mutant’s face. 

「Can you help me with my morning wood?」Kibadios asked.

「Of course!」Yuusei eagerly nodded before devoting all his attention to sniffing, licking and pleasuring his master’s cock. Though it was not long until Kibadios became more aggressive as his heat took over his sleepy mind. After telling Yuusei to open his mouth, the incubus hybrid leaned forward, abruptly thrust his oversized cock deep past the unsuspecting mutant’s lips. Although Yuusei has taken his Master’s cock inside his mouth many times, the mutant still instinctively gagged on the thick cock as he felt the tip of the cock penetrating the very back of his throat. 

「Haaa… Your mouth feels so gooooodddd, Yuu chan!!!」As if he had allowed his incubus instinct to take over, Kibadios’ hands were now grabbing Yuusei’s hair from behind his back and violently pressing the mutant’s head against his crotch. As his body spasmed, Yuusei’s cock slowly rose up and twitched crazily in midair, spurting out precum while his Master skullfucked him in a trance-like stage. 

CREEKKK…

「Kibadios sama, you’re awake?」Ryuu, who had woken up the earliest, walked into the room. The dragonoid had just taken his morning shower so he was completely naked, saved for the large towel wrapping around his hair. Seeing his Master, the dragonoid’s tail started to wag uncontrollably, spraying droplets of water all over the room.「Aww, you’re so lucky, Yuu chan. You get to taste Master’s cock first thing in the morning.」

Ryuu quickly made his way toward the two hybrids and lowered his mouth onto Yuusei’s twitching cock. With his senpai skillfully slurping away his precum, the dragonoid’s wet tongue swirling and wrapping around his cock while Kibadios slamming his cock down the mutant’s throat, it did not take long for Yuusei to finally climax, releasing his fresh cum inside Ryuu’s thirsty mouth. Knowing what his Master would like him to do, Ryuu stood up and pulled Kibadios in for a kiss, allowing him to share Yuusei’s hot cum with his Master. Although normally, it would take Kibadios at least fifteen minutes to climax, the intense heat he was under, in combination with Yuusei’s cum and tight throat, allowed the incubus hybrid to reach orgasm and shoot his loads down the mutant’s throat. This was somewhat fortunate for Yuusei, too, for the boy had almost reached his limit and almost passed out due to asphyxiation.

「Haaa…aa…. Thanks, Yuu chan.」Kibadios finally pulled his cock out of Yuusei’s throat, before bending down and kissed him on the cheek.「Sorry that it might have been too rough on you… It’s just… I was just in a zone…」

「Yuusei’s fine, Master.」The weakened boy shook his head.「Yuusei belongs to Master. Yuusei happy Master satisfied.」

「Still…」Kibadios caressed the mutant’s cheek.「I should have controlled myself better… How about I reward you with some pleasure in the shower?」

「Yeah, I was going to let you know that the bath I drew for you is ready, Master.」

「Perfect!」Kibadios pulled Ryuu in for another kiss.「Thank you, my Ryuu chan.」

「Hihi!」The dragonoid grinned proudly.

「Now, let’s go, Yuusei?」The hybrid stood up on the floor and carried Yuusei on his arm toward the adjacent bathroom.

「Morning, Ryuu chan!」As soon as Kibadios and Yuusei were out of the room, the naked former hero finally woke up from the commotion and greeted the dragonoid.

「Morning Senpai!」Ryuu reciprocated.

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「Big problem Bosssssuuuu!!!」Uri violently kicked the door down and rushed inside Kibadios’ house. Wrapped around the shoulder of the vice captain was the almost lifeless body of Teran. By now, the orge was looking as white as a ghost since he had lost almost half his blood.「Aren’t Maia and Rowan healers in your party?? Is there any way they can treat Teran?」

「Uri? What’s wrong?」Sitting on the sofa in the guestroom, Ren turned his head to the Vice captain, before realizing the half dead man Uri had just brought with him.「Wait, isn’t that Teran? Yuusei chan’s father? What happened?」

「I don’t know. I planned to come here to see the Boss but I found Teran lying unconscious outside. Someone must have ambushed him in the night.」Uri explained.「Where are Rowan or Maia?」

「What’s going on?」Kibadios, along with Yuusei, came out from the bathroom.

「Uri found Teran gravely injured just outside the house.」Ren informed his Master.

「Teran?」Yuusei twitched. Both him and Kibadios rushed to Uri to lay Teran down onto the sofa. The mutant ogre weakly grunted, opened his eyes for a moment to look at his son one last time.

「Yuu… seii…」Teran’s hands shakingly reached out to the shocked mutant hybrid.「This… is… not a dream… right? I’m… sorry… for everything I caused…」

「Teran…」Yuusei muttered.

「... Please… forgive me… and I hope you… can live your life as you… wish… with Kibadios… by your side.」With a smile on his face, Teran finally let out his last breath as his consciousness succumbed to darkness.

「「What’s going on?」」By now everyone had gathered around the sofa.

「He’s gone...」Uri sorrowfully declared.

「Teran… Father?」The sudden turn of events finally dawned on Yuusei. Just yesterday, he had unleashed his unjustified anger at the man, then decided to mend his relationship with the ogre after his Master had talked to him. Yet, now, it was all too late. Seeing his last living relative lying dead in front of his eyes, emotions that the mutant ogre has tried to suppress for years, ever since the death of his mother, began to resurface.

「Mas… Master…」Yuusei reached out to Kibadios in desperation.「Is there… is there anyway we can …」Yuusei wanted to say “revive him”, but having heard what Kibadios explained about life and death, the mutant knew too well such a feat was impossible. Yuusei’s body started to shake, regrets quickly overwhelmed his mind.

「...」Kibadios said nothing since he was deep in thought. The hybrid then turned to Rowan, who was trying to console Yuusei.「Maybe… if it’s Rowan…」

「What about me?」The “healer” turned around, looking at Kibadios puzzlingly.

「Remember what I told you before, Rowan chan. About your special ability and power?」Kibadios reminded the healer.「With your control over temporal elements, maybe… there’s a slim chance you may be able to bring him back if you can rewind the time he experienced.」

「You’re right… but I have never tried…」

「<Flame of Restoration>. Try <Flame of Restoration> on him. But the trick is that you have to be able to wind back time much further than just 30 minutes, since I doubt that reverting his body to the state he was in 30 minutes ago would change his fate… It needs to be at least a few hours, to when his wound was treatable.」

「... I understand, Master.」Rowan patted on Yuusei’s shoulder.「I will try my best to bring your father back, Yuusei chan!」

「Rowan nii chan…」

「Flame of Restoration? What’s that?」Uri, the only outsider in the group, obliviously asked.

「Ahh, my dear Vice Captain.」Kibadios creepingly placed his arm around Uri’s shoulder, pulling the Vice captain closer to him, before continued with a veiled threat.「Whatever you hear and see in this room just now… will never be revealed to the world, do you understand me?」

「Haa… I don’t know why you’re acting so threatening, Boss… but sure…」Uri sweated

「If you ever break this promise… I’ll turn you into my mate as a punishment.」Kibadios grinned.

「Man… I feel like I shouldn’t have come here this morning.」Uri nervously laughed.

「<FLAME OF RESTORATION>!!!!」Rowan raised his arm in front of the lifeless mutant ogre, before unleashing his power. A green flame slowly enveloped the man’s body, before burning brightly. Strangely, instead of the heat one would expect from such an intense flame like this, what emitting from the green flame was only a soothing warm air that refreshed everyone standing around Rowan.

「This is <Flame of Restoration>?」Ren asked

「This feeling… I can tell this ability is something really incredible.」The blind princess commented.

Most others were too mesmerized by the flame to be able to utter anything. At first, nothing seemed to happen to Teran, leading Kibadios to believe that such an attempt at reviving the dead was truly outside the realm of possibility just like he had thought, even for someone who possessed the <Seed of Time> like Rowan. Yet, suddenly, Yuusei was the first to notice a twitch from Teran’s finger, before the mutant ogre’s movement and grunt became clear.

「... I can’t believe it… Teran is… actually revived?」Uri was unsure of what was happening.

「This…」Ryuu excitedly spoke up.「this power of yours is incredible, Rowan senpai.」

「Ugghhh… haaa」

「Mmm….」Rowan jerked, trying to keep the flame alive. Droplets of sweat could be seen rolling down his cheeks and neck.

「Rowan chan… try your best to maintain the flame.」Kibadios encouraged the green haired teenager.

「I understand, Master…」Rowan nodded.

As the flame continued to burn, Teran continued to experience time flowing backward on his body. The orge was now fully conscious.「This is… I thought I… Arghh…」The open wound still prevented Teran from effectively communicating.

「More, Rowan… Just a bit more」Maia, who was studying the severity of the wound, encouraged Rowan to keep the flame burning, for she knew Rowan had not yet rewind time to the point she could treat Teran effectively.

「Rowan chan… you can do it.」Kibadios patted Rowan’s head. Knowing his Master believed in him, the healer burst through his limit and ignited the Flame ever brighter, leading to the time being reverted even faster than before. 

「Haa… I’m sorry but that’s the best I can do…」After keeping the flame burning for another minute, Rowan finally collapsed, which caused the Flame to be quickly extinguished. Thankfully, Teran was now in a state which could be effectively healed by Maia’s potions. 

「You did well, Rowan chan. Just rest for now.」Kibadios carried the half unconscious healer back to the bedroom. I can’t believe it… Rowan could really control Time, to the point he could bring back the dead by reverting the time they experience… This power is not of this world. If the Astrals know he possesses such power, they will undoubtedly come after him. Kibadios thought to himself.

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「I thought I had died.」Teran, now resting on a bed after being treated by Maia, spoke to his son.

「Rowan nii chan brought you back.」The mutant explained.「Don’t let others know」His tone turned threatening.

「Rowan? A member of Kibadios’ group?」Teran tried to recall the name.「He saved my life. If he doesn’t want others to know, of course I would not disclose it to anyone. Still, Kailos’ son is really something else, being able to gather such individuals around him, from the dragonoid named Ryuu to this Rowan.」

「Of course! Master’s the best!」

「Yuusei…」Teran looked at the mutant.「Can I take the fact that you’re here with me means you’ve forgiven me?」

「Master talked to Yuusei.」The mutant hybrid explained.「He told Yuusei that Yuusei should be grateful to you… without you, there no Yuusei… and Yuusei cannot meet Master and be with him.」

「I see…」Teran smiled in relief.「... Can I ask you something, Yuusei?」

「What?」

「Why do you speak in third person?」

「Yuusei’s the precious name Master gave.」The mutant explained the mystery that might or might not have perplexed a few readers of the web novel.「Yuusei want to use the name Master gave as much as possible.」

「Yeah… it’s a really nice name… You must love Kibadios a lot, huh?」

「Master’s Yuusei’s everything!!」The mutant exclaimed.

「... I’m glad…」Seeing how much Kailos’ son meant to his mutant son, Teran choked up for it reminded him how he felt about Hana.「that you found someone you love and can devote your life to, Yuusei.」

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「So, this is the Dungeon’s entrance.」Kailos pointed at the ginormous obelisk standing at the center of the settlement. After putting Rowan to rest and ensuring Teran was properly treated, Kibadios had left his house with Ryuu, Yue, and Ren to meet up with his father. The ogre had promised Kibadios yesterday to show him the Dungeon where the Trial would take place.

「Ho?」Kibadios studied the unusual obelisk. The hybrid could feel a strange aura emitting from it.

「Master… this place doesn’t feel right.」Ryuu could also feel it.

「... Nii sama… Why does this Dungeon…」

「Yeah, I know what you mean… it’s just like the constant presence we felt back at our Royal Palace.」

「Why is there a Dungeon right in the middle of Alsen?」Kibadios asked.

「Technically, it’s not that the Dungeon is in the middle of Alsen. Rather, it’s Alsen that was built around this Dungeon.」Kailos corrected.

「Really? But why?」

「Nobody knows… This settlement was founded a long time ago, so the real reason was certainly lost in time. But, I just assumed it’s because this Dungeon is located at the center of 7 hills so our ancestors just wanted to build a settlement around it and use the 7 hills as a natural barrier to protect it.」

「... Is it really the reason though…」Kibadios muttered.「Oh right, have you decided who would accompany me for this trial?」

「Is it going to be you, Kailos dono?」Ryuu asked

「No, unfortunately, with both the Heads of the other two houses participating, it’s better for me to stay here to protect Alsen just in case, instead of going with Kibadios into the Dungeon」Explained Kailos.「But don’t worry, I have asked someone really reliable to be your partner in this Trial.」

「And who will it be?」Kibadios asked.

「Oh, it’s gonna be me!」answered Gyo, in a totally not a reference to NSYNC’s song, even though it was kinda clear since this very chapter was released in May.

Chapter 144: Bonus: Kailos (Or Regarding that time Benimaru reincarnated into a trashy webnovel on archiveofourown)

Thank you Tsushima for such a terrific artwork. God, if only they accept drawing R18 stuffs.... >.<

Pixiv: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/108448395

 

Here's daddy Kailos:

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

I'll post next chapter at the end of month, since that's when I expect to receive some R18 scenes between Kibadios x male harem members

Chapter 145: The dungeon

Notes:

Sorry, the R18 comic won't be ready until mid June. The artist said they just experienced an earthquake.

Reminder Who's who:
It's been a while, so I gotta have this section:

Mu: The feminine, completely human looking chimera that fought Uri
Qwan: One of the Chimera.
Wei Ying: One of the 12 Heavenly General of Yin Empire. A dragon kin. Wants to make Ryuu hers.
Kuron: The Yves, father of Tina, who Kibadios rescued from the Yinese group.
Falkor: A beastman, looking for his wife.

「Mu nii sama… Mu nii sama… Muuu niii!!!」Qwan, the shota chimera with a fiery set of hair, shouted.

「Qwan?」The most normal looking chimera among the group slowly sat up, letting the thin blanket fall down onto the bed, revealing his tanned naked body.

「Did I interrupt your sweet dream, Mu?」The boy could notice the way Mu discreetly wiped away a rolling drop of tear from his cheek.

「 Does it matter?」

「What did you dream this time?」

「...」Mu remained silent as he put on his clothes.「About how our family would be like had our mother not been a captive of the Yin empire.」

「If that’s the case, we wouldn’t be born.」reminded Qwan.

「It’s just a dream… a fantasy. It doesn’t have to follow logic.」Mu smiled tenderly.

「In that dream, was Kailos our dad?」

「Uh huh.」

「And our big brother was there?」

「Yeah… how did you know?」

「I heard you call his name right before I woke you up… It must have been a nice dream.」Qwan walked with his chimera brother to the tent’s entrance.

「Indeed.」

「... Mu…」Qwan stopped.「What do you think about Big Brother? Maybe if it’s him…」

「Qwan, don’t let your hope up.」Mu quickly dismissed his brother.「No one can rescue us and mother from our fate… Sooner or later, the Yin empire would crush this place. Our big brother and his kins will perish. Given how he’s a rare demihuman with an incredible power, he might even face a fate worse than death when Wei Shimin finally catches him. It’s our job to end him quickly. That’s all we can do him.」

「...」

「Now, let’s go to the war room meeting. Hou Yi won’t be happy if we’re late.」

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「Wei Ying, you’re late!」Hou Yi sternly scolded the dragonkin Heavenly General who just casually walked into the meeting.

「So? Don’t be such a stickler for rules, Hou Yi. It’s just a meeting. Not like I’m late for the battle itself.」Wei Ying finally found her seat around the large circular table.

「... At least wipe the blood off your face.」

「Sorry, one of my mates wasn’t meeting my standard during sex so…」

「I don’t want to hear about your debauchery.」Hou Yi cut her off.

「Hey, I’m working hard to serve the Empire.」Wei Ying growled while sensually touching her stomach.「You should know what an asset any of my hypothetical offspring would be for the Empire?」

「The chance of you getting pregnant by those mates of yours is close to 0 since none of them are dragonoid.」Hou Yi pointed out.

「Which is why I keep trying.」Wei Ying shouted back.「Once I catch and tame that dragonkin appeared in Alsen, though…」The Heavenly General licked her lip before glancing at the group of chimera sitting across her seat.「With him as my obedient little mate, the chance for me to conceive another dragonoid baby would be much higher. And a few of my children would be enough to make your Chimera Corp obsolete.」

「That’s a lot of ifs I’m hearing, Wei Ying.」Another voice, emanating from the floating tetrahedron in the middle of the table, reminded the woman everything she said was simply hypothetical. A holographic picture of a young, feminine looking Yinese slowly appeared in front of the group. The red-haired man possessed a much more gentle look, in complete opposite to the fearsome reputation he had accumulated.

「Wei Shimin… I didn’t know you’re on the line.」Unlike the arrogant attitude she was showing to Hou Yi, Wei Ying was now much more reserved in her response.「... Anyways, How’s Ka’shinu?」The dragonoid tried to change the conversation.

「I expected more from them.」Wei Shimin answered.「We’re currently setting up a garrison here to put these demihuman in their place. In two days, my army and I will depart to join yours. Then, we will recommence our assault on Alsen and put an end to this campaign once and for all.」

「That’s it? I thought you’ll be more disappointed at your right hand man for not being able to capture the city on his first try.」The dragonoid smirked as she shot Hou Yi a look. 

「And what purpose does disappointment bring, Wei Ying? Does being disappointed in Hou Yi would help us capture the city any sooner?」Wei Shimin asked.「And speaking of disappointment, should I be disappointed in you too, since you were unable to neutralize the strange dragonkin?」

「I…」

「My lord…」Hou Yi finally spoke up.「Asides from appearance of the strange hybrid and the dragonkin, there’s one more person… and the barrier she constructed was the reason why he had to retreat, despite us being outnumbered them almost 3 to 1.」

「Who was that?」

「The former princess of the Kingdom of Yue and one of the two teachers of your brother, Yue dono.」

「What?」

「Currently, both her brother and she are traveling with the strange hybrid. Using her Runecraft, she was able to construct a one way barrier that blocked our soldiers from entering but allowed those who were inside to escape outside… Such large barrier almost immediately demoralized our troops.」

「Yue, huh?」The Supreme Commander paused for some time.「...Hou Yi, you are to send a messenger to the city of Alsen right now, letting them know that unless Yue were to accompany the messenger back to us, we will exterminate every single person living in Alsen the moment we take over the city, down to the last demihuman.」

「...」Hou Yi was hesitant of the idea since he doubted it would work.

「Yue has been staying inside the Forest of Vernys and outside of our reach all this time, but now she has suddenly shown up here… We have to do whatever it takes to convince her to come with us. 」

「... You want to use the princess as a gift to “convince” that person to side with you?」Wei Ying quickly deduced. 

「Exactly.」

「Heh… If you’re successful, we will both gain power and your brother, our emperor’s force will be depleted. Two birds with one stone. Maybe Lady Luck is really on your side.」

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「Ryuu chan, you have to take my place and protect this city for the next 2 days, understood?」said Kibadios. 

「Of course, Master. I will turn those Yinese invaders into minced meat if they try to attack us again. If you like, I can crash their camps right now and massacre everyone there, at your command.」Ryuu grinned, his tail was wagging nonstop.

「Ryuu chan, I know that you’re powerful, but do not underestimate your opponent.」Reminded Kibadios.「The enemy also has a dragonkin with them, on top of several chimera that all possess Arte. It’s never wise to attack your enemies without first thoroughly studying their strengths and weaknesses.」

「Kibadios sama, all of us will be here too. We will die defending this city before letting it fall into the Yin Empire’s hand.」Haden swore to his lord.

「Don’t worry about Hou Yi’s army for now, Kibadios.」Kailos chimed in.「We have been monitoring their movements and they’re still remaining idle at their camps for the past two days and showed no sight of any imminent plan for attack. I think they’re waiting for Wei Shimin’s army to join them, which would take at least another week for them to arrive.」Kailos looked at Yuusei.「Despite still recovering from his injury, Teran is out scouting their force right now. If there’s any new development, we will be warned in advance.」 

「Thanks, Father.」

「...So, the 3 King Candidates are finally all here with us...」With a shaking hand holding tightly onto her staff, an elderly woman slowly proclaimed. Despite her soft voice, the chatterings from the crowd gathering around the Dungeon quickly died down. 「Let us commence the Trial of the Eor Dungeon to select our next King, who will unite us and lead us through this trying time. As dictated by the Ancient Scrolls, each of the Founding Houses of the City of Alsen and Ka’shinu would offer their own candidates to take part in this Trial. Unfortunately, with the city of Ka’shinu  fallen to the hand of the Empire, none of their Candidates can be here today. That means only Lord Ectharen of the House of the Mane, Lord Wylan of the House of the Eyes, and Lord Kibadios of the House of the Horns, are eligible. Is there anyone here in Alsen that opposes them taking the Trial? 」

The crowd remained muted. The elderly woman paused for a minute, slowly looking left to right. After confirming that no protest was made, the woman held out a large orb.「The 3 King Candidates and their retainer who will accompany them, please step forward.」

Kibadios stepped up. The muscular Gyo, who was holding onto a large, heavy hammer, quickly followed the hybrid, since he was the one retainer that Kailos had recommended. As it turned out, Kibadios had previously made acquaintances of both the other King Candidates’ retainers since they were no other than Falkor, the beastman who helped Kibadios rescued the captives just a few days ago, and Kuron, the father of the Yves child named Tina. Apparently, during the past two days, Kibadios had learned that Falkor the beastman was actually a close friend of Ectheran, which was the reason why the beastman and his missing wife were trying to get to Alsen. Kuron the Yves, on the other hand, was Wylan and Gyo’s cousin. Haa, It’s like I’m a character in some fiction since every person you meet is related to every other person somehow , Kibadios thought to himself. Such coincidences like this would never happen in real life… statistically speaking.

「Since the dungeon’s entrance has been sealed, the only way for the six of you to enter is for the Candidates to place your hands onto this orb. The Candidates’ retainers are linked to their Lords through the unique silver rings that you were asked to wear. Once you enter the dungeon, it’s a race between the Candidates to reach the lowest level. There, you will have a chance to obtain the Proof of Kingship. According to what remained of the ancient records, the path to the destination is filled with horrors beyond your comprehension. They will test your power and you have to push your limits in order to survive and advance forward. But fear not, for even if you receive a fatal wound within the dungeon, the power of this Orb and the Rings you’re wearing will transport you back to this entrance, fully healed. But that also means you’re disqualified… May the Will of Zaeryn be on your side.」

Ha, what’s with this RPG save point system… The dungeon can only bring you back fully healed if you’re still alive or can it revive the participants?... Wait… why is this system so familiar? Right! This is just like Ramiris’ dungeon from Tensei shitara slime datta ken… This is just a coincidence, right? Kibadios thought to himself. Besides, the description of the “Proof of Kingship” is so vague. Though I’m sure it’s not their fault since father did say even the Elders and the Houses do not know what this “Proof of Kingship” is or how to obtain it once we arrive there. Of course, Kibadios did not fail to notice his name from the previous reincarnation was used to invoke a prayer, either. The hybrid had learned from his father that since the majority of the inhabitants of Monas Kye were demihumans and considered to be enemies of the Astral and the Oracle, it was natural for the demihuman to, in turn, worship the Archenemy of the Astral, Zaeryn. Contrary to most of the outside world, where his old name was a taboo, the use of his name in Monas Kye was ubiquitous. Though, as a sign of respect and reverence, no individuals in Monas Kye was to be named Zaeryn so his name would only be mentioned in prayers.

「「「We are ready!」」」The three Candidates declared before placing their hands onto the orb as instructed. 

「Goodluck to you, Wylan!」Gyo, despite being on Kibadios team, cheered for his brother.

「You too, nii ch… sama!」Wylan grinned.

「「Be careful Master!!!」」Kibadios’ harem all shouted, though their voices were drowned in a sea of exciting screams and cheers.

 

「Woohoo!」Uri also cheered among the crowd, then turned to his mercenary members「Yo, Erik, Baxley, Amaira, do you guys want to bet whether our Boss will become king?」

「I don’t tend to waste my money on betting.」Answered Erik.

「Hmm, sounds interesting!」Amaira, the leopard mutant beastman, seemed to be on board. 「5 silver coins saying he will」

「Really? I was going to bet 10 silver coins on Kibadios.」Baxley grinned.

「Wait… same here.」Uri tilted his head.「If all of us are betting on the Boss, that’s not going to wo….」WOOOSSHHHH

Suddenly, as the participants were transported into the sealed dungeon, Uri, the red head mercenary himself, was also sucked in together with Kibadios. The strange occurrence was not noticed by most people since all eyes were glued onto the stage in front. Only the members of Hyakki Yagyo, who standing next to the Vice captain, were left dumbfounded. 

「...Wait, where did he go?」Baxley asked.

「... Inside… the dungeon?」Erik guessed.

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.

.

The warping of space connecting the outside to the inside of the dungeon reminded Kibadios of the time when he and others were transported into Ryuuji Cave where Ryuu was sealed, albeit less vomit-inducing; it was a much smoother process in comparison. Yet, as he fell down the space, he could see a blob of red falling down together with him. 

BAMMM!!!

Kibadios quickly found himself crash-landed with his back onto the earthen floor of the dungeon. Though, before he could stand up, the blob of red appeared above him and just in seconds, landed on top of him. 

Shit, am I in a romcom anime or what? Kibadios asked a rhetorical question as he found Uri on top of him, crotch first right onto his face. The hybrid could clearly feel a soft bulge pressing against his mouth. Having his fated pair being so close to him in such a sensual pose, the hybrid’s mouth started to salivate, pulse of heat course through his body, though he tried his best to suppress them.

「Boss?」It took Uri a few seconds before he could realize he was sitting on top of Kibadios’ face.「Where am I?」The redhead hybrid turned his head left and right to look around.

「Kibadios sama? Are you alright?」Gyo, who crash landed in a much more dignified pose, rushed to his Lord.

「Yeah… I mphhhmm gu..ess.」Kibadios’ answer was somewhat muffled by Uri’s still unmoving crotch. The hybrid tried to move his head.「Yo, Uri, stop looking around and get off of my face?」

「Oh, shit! Right! Sorry Boss!」The redhead Vice captain hurriedly got away from the hybrid, his face was also blushing red since much like Kibadios, Uri, too, was fully aroused the moment he noticed his bulge was pressing against Kibadios. 

「So, now, why are you here?」Kibadios asked while trying to sit up.

「Uri dono? How could you enter the Dungeon?」Gyo asked the same thing.

「I don’t know.」The Vice captain shook his head.「At one point, there I was, standing next to Erik and the others trying to make a bet on whether you’ll be successful or not, then the next thing I know, as you and Gyo were transported into the Dungeon after touching the orb, I was also sucked in together with you guys.」

「You were transported inside the dungeon with me? I wonder if it’s because we're a fated pair so our biological signals were similar. This would cause the powerful spatial magic enacted by the orb to mistake us for one another and treat us as the same entity… That’s just my hypothesis, though.」Kibadios made a disclaimer.「Gyo, would Uri’s presence here cause us any problem, with regard to the fairness of the Trial?」

「I really don’t know.」Gyo shook his head. 「It’s best that Uri dono does not accompany or help us in any way though. Or else I can see the other Heads may protest the outcome of this Trial if you were to win the Kingship…」

「Boss!」Suddenly, Uri shouted out, followed by Gyo「Kibadios sama!」

「I know.」The hybrid was now fully aware of the threat surrounding them, for the ground began to rumble and crack. From the depth below, hundreds of giant black centipedes protruded out from the ground, with their leader appearing to be as large as the Elder Centipede from One-punch Man. 

「Shit, we’ve landed right in the middle of their nest?」Gyo asked, his grip on the hammer tightened. The Yves raised his arms up before mercilessly slammed his hammer down, smashing the head of an incoming centipede monster into pieces. In one flowing motion, Gyo flexed his muscle and swung his heavy weapon sideways, knocking another attacking arthropod monster and sending it flying.「Kibadios sama, we need to get out of here!」

「Shit… Shit… Shit!!」Since he was told not to help his Boss in anyways, the Vice Captain merely tried his best to agilely dodge the angry swarm of monsters launching at him without counterattackings.「Boss? Can I at least strike back at these pests?」

After transforming into his real form, with three pairs of incubus wings spreading wide, the hybrid was now fully ready to take on the humongous centipede and its horde.「I’ll take care of this.」Kibadios’ shadow spread out from where he stood, covering the ground beneath them in darkness and confused the aggressive arthropod monsters. Two small black disks quickly elevated Uri and Gyo midair while the sea of darkness under their feet slowly transformed into a sea of black flame. 

「<Hell Fire>」Kibadios grinned as he activated his skill. The swarm of angry arthropods shrieked loudly in agony before being burned to crisp due to the blazing flames engulfing their bodies.
「ARGHHHHH!!!」The centipede boss, which Kibadios’d guessed to be their mother, screamed out in hatred before swinging itself at the hybrid, its jaw wide open, ready to devour him whole. 

「Sorry, but I don’t want to waste my time on you.」Before it could reach him, the hybrid swung his large scythe, creating a crescent blade made of pure black flame. The attack slid past the monstrous centipede horizontally, easily bisected the monster into halves.

「... Wow… Kibadios sama… I guess the Head wasn’t just being a typical father when he was praising you non stop these past few days.」Gyo smiled, before turning to Uri.「Did you know your Captain is this powerful? Those were all A rank monsters, while that gigantic centipede must be a borderline S rank monsters, yet Kibadios sama dealt with it like it was a mere forest wolves.」

「...Yeahh…」Uri, of course, was aware of his boss’ prowess since he had personally  witnessed his boss fighting several times. On all those occasions, he was trying his best to suppress his bewilderment and admiration toward his boss for he knew there was a fine line between those feelings and the adoration that Kibadios’ group had for him. Yet, this time, as he looked up at the hybrid who was donning a confident grin, he felt as if he was mesmerized by Kibadios’ charming smile and charisma, to the point that suppressing such feeling was not longer an option.「My boss… is really something, right?」Uri agreed. Thanks to his bang, Gyo could not have noticed the Vice Captain blushing red.

「Now, let’s see where are we!」Kibadios descended down toward Uri and Gyo, ignoring the loud crash resulting from his foe’s bisected body.

「You really didn’t need me to accompany you, did you?」Gyo smiled.

「No, don’t think like that. I really appreciate your help, Gyo. Two people are always better than one.」Kibadios looked at Uri.「In this case, three. And Uri, if you don’t have to just dodge the monsters’ attacks. I’d much prefer you to fight back for real to protect yourself from the monsters in this dungeon, even if there’s a possibility that you fighting would jeopardize my chance. Afterall, unlike Gyo and I, we don’t know if this dungeon will transport you back if you receive a fatal wound. Your safety is more important than this title of Kingship…」Kibadios ruffled Uri’s hair, in the same manner that he usually did to his harem members.「I don’t want anyone to get hurt… just because of their association with me.」

「Boss…」Uri could hear a doki doki sound echoing inside his chest.

「Anyhow, where are we?」Kibadios looked down at the high cliff they’re currently on, only to witness the scene of unbelievable horror. Among the group, only Kibadios appeared unfazed while both Gyo and Uri were slightly shaking. And who could blame them, for the landscape below was filled with A-rank to S-rank monsters that battled each other in a pandemonium in the midst of the forest.

「What’s… with the monsters here?」Uri asked.

「Even if we drop Hou Yi’s entire army to this place, it would 100% be exterminated to the last man by these monsters.」Gyo noted.

「... True. This is the first time I see so many high class monsters gather in one location.」Kibadios agreed. It’s as if… someone placed them in here… artificially. But why? Who created this Dungeon? 「Those are death dragons!」Kibadios quickly looked up the moment he sensed a strong Nen aura approaching the group.「Quick, before they notice us, jump down this cliff and hide in those bushes below.」Kibadios suggested. Of course, he could deal with the pair of the death dragons with some effort, but if there’s an option to avoid needless battles, he’d choose that over any other options. Both Uri and Gyo hurriedly listened to the hybrid and leaped down to the ravine below before hastily hid within the thick green bush. The noise caused by the group did attract the dragons’ attention, yet, the smell of burnt arthropods caught the dragon’s interest even more since nothing could distract them from free food. The pair of dragons descended onto the cliff above, then sunk their big fangs into the dead centipedes’ flesh, devouring them in a frenzy.

「Phew, lucky us. Now, let’s go.」Kibadios pulled Uri and Gyo with him. 

「But where? We don’t know how to get to the lowest level of this dungeon, do we?」Uri asked.

「Well…」Kibadios was hesitant to spell out the obvious.「We want to go down, don’t we?」

「「Yeah?」」

「How can you go down below the ground in nature?」

「...」「...」Both Uri and Gyo looked at one another blankly.

「... It’s a cave! We need to look for caves that may lead us further down.」Kibadios explained the obvious.

「OHHH!!!」

Qwan: (Previously appeared as a NovelAI generated character)

Appeared some time back, one of the Chimera that fought Kibadios at Alsen

Artist: Urusai_nu (https://skeb.jp/@Urusai_nu/works/71)

 

 

Wei Shimin:
Artist: Emo (https://skeb.jp/@Emo37337640)

Notes:

Next chapter will be porn (probably...I think) ft Kibadios x Uri.
The sex scene will be a gif :3 I wonder if gif would work on AO3

Chapter 146: Bonus: Kibadios x Ren

Happy 40k hits (which this story achieved last week, I think)

This wasn't the one request that got delayed but since I receive it before the other one, i figure I should post it as a celebration for getting to 40k hit on here. The request got delayed won't be posted for some time. I will reserve it for later sex scene instead using it for the latest sex scene a 2 chapters back.

This request was a pleasant surprise, since I only expected like 3-4 pages max. The artist graced me with 10 pages at an extremely cheap price per page. There will be a brief scene next chapter that mentioned this R18 scene here, which happened during their time at the Vernys forest, right before they left for Monas Kye.

 

 

Artist: Kattamoru

Pixiv:https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/11156399

 

 

R18

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Chapter 147

Summary:

Sorry for the late chapter. I just can't seem to start a chapter (Is it writer block if technically when you start writing, you can continue writing for hours but you just can't seem to freaking start writing in the first place? lol)
Also, I estimated wrong. We won't have Kibadios x Uri scene until next chapter lol >.>

“Sweet dream, my little prince…” The young elf suddenly recalled the time when Kibadios discreetly kissed him after their exhausting intimate moment back at Vernys, right before they left for Alsen.

「You’re worried for Kibadios sama?」Yue softly spoke up as she approached her brother, who was quietly leaning back against the mossy wall, looking toward the middle of the empty square where the dungeon sat. 

「... As if, why would I?」

「Because you know there’s something weird about this dungeon… as if it’s an artificial gateway to a completely different dimension, much like the feeling we had when we stood in front of the gate the First made to physically connect this realm to Modun.」Yue answered.

「But if that’s the case, who constructed it? Why is it here and why was, as Kailos told us, Alsen built around it?」Ren frowned.「I just hope he’s not walking into a trap of or something.」

「Even if it’s a trap, I think Kibadios sama would still take on the Trial without hesitation, since he wanted to build his “Kingdom” here, where he was born, and the only way for him to achieve such title is to take on this trial.」Yue reminded Ren, before letting out an understanding smile「... You’ve really fallen head over heel for Kibadios sama, Nii sama.」

「What are you talking about? I’m not…」

「Says Nii sama, but you cannot hide from me the fact that Kibadios sama’s incubus mark had appeared on your body for quite a while now, indicated that you have completely devoted your mind and body to him.」

「... How… How did you know? I used a talisman to perfectly conceal it…」Ren was flusterring.

「Because just like you, I, too, am a genius when it comes to Runecraft.」Yue grinned.「But why did you try to hide it? You don’t want the other harem members know?」

「Yeah… but more importantly, I don’t want him to know!! I can just imagine his smirking face when he know how I feel about him…」

「Nii sama…」Yue looked straight at Ren with her blinded eyes, her eyebrows slightly raised in amusement.「Did you not know that Kibadios sama would for sure sense the very moment you receive the mark, since it connects the two of you together?」

「...」Ren stood frozen for a moment with a blank expression. Since the incubus race was almost like a mythical race due to their low population, everything the two elves learned about the incubus marks were from the books. Ren himself had read about the incubus mark functionality almost five decades ago so the elven prince had not been able to recall that tiny detail.「Damn it, I totally forgot about it!! Why the hell did he act like he didn’t know anything about my mark then?」

「To spare you the embarrassment, I guess?」Yue audibly let out a soft laugh.「I’m glad, Nii sama.」

「Glad?」

「That you have found your Lebenslangeschicksalsschatz.」said Yue flawlessly, using the incorrect composite German word that Zaeryn had taught Faye millennia ago as a joke.

「Turns out he’s a pervert who’s only thinking about sex 80% of the day.」Ren pouted. 「Who would have thought?」

「He’s an incubus in his teenage years, Nii sama. He just can’t help himself.」

「Maybe you’re right…」The elf looked at his younger sister sympathetically.「You were glad for me but what about you, Yue? ... Maybe it’s time for you to live your life and forget about…」

「Nii sama… 」Knowing what her brother was going to say, the former princess interrupted him.「I can devote my body to Kibadios sama, but you know I just can’t devote my heart to him, even though he was a great man. I do feel guilty every time I stand by his side… They said time would heal all wounds, but there still will be some scars that can never fade. It’s not something I can just decide to forget…」

「Ren sama, Yue sama. What are you guys still doing here?」Reuk shouted out to the pair as she and Haden made their way across the town square. Sitting on top of the man’s head was Nu, the slime that Kibadios had adopted as a pet. The slime had wanted to join him for the trial, but Kibadios had refused it so it was now laying depressingly, its body all partially melted away on top of Haden.

「Maia dono wants me to inform you that dinner is ready.」The former adventurer, who now has taken on the role of the hybrid’s servant, bowed respectfully at the twins. 

「Thanks for letting us know, Haden san.」Yue nodded.「Though, you don’t have to address us politely like that. We’re all Kibadios sama’ servants in the end. Same with you too, Reuk kun.」

「No, of course not, Yue sama. Compared to me, you and the others are much more important to Kibadios sama and are held in high regard by him. I’m merely his lowly servant.」Haden refused.

「Anyways, are you and Ren sama worried for Kibadios?」Reuk asked.「That guy is a beast, he’ll easily pass this trial, don’t you worry!」

「...You’re right」Ren nodded in agreement.「Let’s go back… I’m just worried about his heat. I hope with Maia’s medicine, he can at least last one night without sex.」

「You think he’ll seduce Gyo, Ren sama?」Reuk grinned mischievously. 

「Kibadios sama did seem to like Gyo kun.」Haden made an observation. 

「Oh well, there are already 7 people in his harem, even if Gyo join us, that wouldn’t really make any difference.」Ren complained.

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「Haa… haa… gaaaaa…」The sloshing noise echoed around the crystal cave.「This… feelllssss… sooooooo… gooooodddddd…. I… can’t… believe….your… cock… can…give… me…. Thiis… much… pleasure….. BOSSSSS!!!! I’ll be seriously addicted to it!!!!」

「Uri…」Kibadios, in his uncontrollable heat, reached out to his lieutenant’s sweating hip. How did we get here? The hybrid asked himself.

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The trio stealthily leapt through the thick jungle terrain that dominated the vast space within the dungeon. Even for Kibadios, dealing with this many high rank monsters was not an easy task. Worse than that, up on the high ground,  the hybrid had already identified more than five S class monsters that would have given him trouble in a fight. Several mid tier monsters have tried to attack the hybrid, but staying true to his purpose, all were smashed into smithereens by Gyo before they could pose a threat to his young Lord. The Yves, turned out, was extremely proficient at using his warhammer since he belonged to the <Blacksmith> class, which certainly explained why he was soaking in sweat when Kibadios first met him.

While traveling, Kibadios’s shadow spread out, trying to locate any hidden cave that might lead the group down to the second floor. So far, the hybrid had found three caves, with two that led them to a dead end while the third one led to a pit filled with slimy tentacles, which reminded the hybrid of the dozens of hentai he read during his time on Earth. 

「Not this one either.」Kibadios declared, before dashing toward the exit, followed by Uri and Gyo. 

「Maybe it’s not a cave that we should be looking for?」Gyo asked.

「What about bottom of a lake?」Kibadios suggested, since he personally did find an ancient entrance at the bottom of a lake just a while back.

「There’s no lake around here though.」Uri pointed out.

「I wonder how big this dungeon is. Even on the top of the cliff, we weren’t able to see its boundary.」

「It’s a warp space, I doubt that you can find where the dungeon begins or ends.」said Kibadios.

BAMMMMM!!

A crashing sound sent shockwaves around the area as if they had just experienced a small earthquake. From the direction of the sound, Kibadios and the group could see the frightened birds soaring upward to the sky, fleeing the source of the tremor.

「What’s there?」Uri asked.

Without waiting for Kibadios’ order, Gyo took the initiative and sprung up the branches, quickly reaching the top of the tree to scout ahead. 「Kibadios sama, it’s a Zombie Titan! It’s attacking something.」

「Zombie Titan? Isn’t it an S class monster that rarely attack people unless being provoked?」Kibadios recalled the information he had about the monster.

「Who would be stupid enough to provoke one?」Uri shook his head.

Titan… Titan… Wait a minute! Kibadios suddenly was reminded of something. The hybrid looked around his surroundings, then knelt down, placing his hand on the cold, dirty ground. So, it’s like that, huh?

「Let’s go there!」Kibadios sprung forward.

「Wait, shouldn’t we run to the opposite direction?」Uri hurriedly followed Kibadios.

「Uri’s right, Young Master.」Gyo landed onto the ground with a thud, then rushed after the hybrid.

「...Just trust me! I won’t let you down.」Kibadios answered with his usual confident grin, which caused both Uri and Gyo’s hearts to skip a beat.

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「Ectharen, you’re okay?」Falkor, the red head beastman scrambled toward the head of House of the Mane after striking the monster with enough force that he was able to topple it onto the ground.

「Yeah, its strike is powerful, but fortunately for us, it’s somewhat slow.」The lion beastman stood up, clenching his fists, which were protected by his trusty claw gauntlet made by Gyo. 

「We should retreat.」Falkor suggested.「Even if the both of us were to fight it here, it still won’t go down easily. On top of that, our fight may attract the attention of other monsters too.」

「... You’re right. But the Zombie Titan is pissed. It will undoubtedly chase after us. That can also cause enough unwanted attention.」

「Why is it mad at us though? It just charged and ambushed us all of the sudden.」

「Before it appeared, did you notice there were a few strange butterflies encircling us?」

「Yeah… You think there’s a connection between it and the butterflies?」

「Heh… Those butterflies are Wylan’s summons.」Ectharen explained.「That crafty kid lured the Zombie Titan to us. He wanted to use it to eliminate his competitors.」

「Wylan? I heard he’s a really shrewd head, but to think he stoop to such a level.」

「Hahaha!!!」Ectharen laughed.「What are you talking about, Falkor? This is fair play!!! We’re competing to be King, to be the one who leads everyone in Monas Kye to fight back against an impossible battle. We need someone like Wylan. Having him as one of the King Candidates gives me hope that we can still win this war.」

「Well, what do we have here? Falkor…」Kibadios called out from behind the two beastmen.

「and Ectharen dono?」Gyo continued.

「Yo!」Uri simply greeted the two as if it was natural that he’d be inside the dungeon.

「Huh? Isn’t that Uri kun? What are you doing here?」Falkor noticed the uninvited Candidate.

「Let’s talk about it later! Shouldn’t we be focused on the Zombie Titan for now?」Kibadios pointed at the giant that was striding toward the beastmen. 

「Let’s go!」Gyo excitedly jumped forward, followed by Kibadios. Uri, of course, was staying back and sitting lazily on the side, watching the four trial participants combine their power and easily take down the monster in less than five minutes. Since the Zombie Giant could slowly regenerate, Kibadios decided to use his <Devour> skill to absorb the half dead monster before it could recover. 

「Thanks, Kibadios!」Ectharen bowed at the hybrid in appreciation as the group quickly moved away from the battle scene.

「Yeah, without your help, it wouldn’t have been that easy for us to take it down like that.」Falkor agreed.「Though, at this very moment, we’re your rivals… maybe you shouldn’t have helped us.」

「If you didn’t take down the giant quickly, the ruckus will attract even more monsters or one of the few other S classes. I doubt you two could get out of that situation unharmed.」Kibadios turned back to look at the two.「We may be rivals, but you’re still my father’s friend. I cannot just walk away and leave you two in danger.」

「Even if we were to lose to the monsters, we will be simply transported to the dungeon entrance and be healed of all our wounds. It’s not like we will die.... Unlike Wylan, you’re too soft, Young Lord of the House of Horns.」Ectharen noted.

「Soft? No, don’t get me wrong.」Kibadios let out a twisted laugh.「First of all, even if we were told that we will be transported back and all our wounds healed as if nothing happened if we were to receive fatal wounds thanks to the ring we’re wearing, that doesn’t mean it’s true. After all, no one has taken this trial in centuries. Maybe such instruction was only hearsay… or maybe the rings don’t work anymore. Secondly, even if it works, you will still be mentally scarred by the near death experience. Who knows what sort of PTSD you will develop because of it? You’re a good friend with my dad, I doubt he’d be happy knowing you experience a fatal wound, regardless whether you’re fully healed or not. Lastly, It’s all about self-interest. Once I become King, you will serve as a general under me so it makes sense for me to protect my subordinate. I just want to make sure you will still be of use to me and Monas Kye」Kibadios smugly declared.

「... Hahaha!!! Very arrogance, Young Lord.」Ectharen laughed.「But… You do have the power to back it up. Seems like this Trial will be a competition between you and Wylan in the end.」

「Ehto… Anyways, so where are we going, Boss?」Uri asked since he noticed unlike earlier, Kibadios now seemed to have a specific place he was heading toward.

「Wait a minute, first of all, What are you doing here?」Ectharen asked.

「It seems that I got sucked in because I’m Kibadios’ fated pair, so the dungeon’s transportation magic system identified me as an extension of him.」Uri answered.「But don’t worry, I have not helped him in anyways during this Trial.」

「I see!!!」Ectharen nodded.「Fated pair huh? I’ve heard it exists in the succubus race, but this is the first time I’ve seen a pair in person. And don’t worry, I trust the young lord of the House of the Horns to be playing fair. I won’t be making a fuss to the fact that you’re with him.」The beastman turned to Gyo.「I don’t know if Wylan would share the same opinion, though.」

「... I can convince Wylan that Kibadios sama did not rely on Uri dono’s help.」said the mutant Yves, Wylan’s own brother, pumped his chest.

「...」Kibadios looked to Gyo as he suddenly realized the reason why his father had assigned the Yves instead of one of his ogre subordinates to assist him in this trial. It’s all because Father knows how ruthless and scheming Wylan can be, he purposely had Gyo come with me so that Wylan would be constrained in any of his hypothetical plot against me since it may also harm Gyo. I feel like Wylan can become a good friend with Yllaner… or mortal enemy since they think and scheme alike. 「...To your question, Uri, I don’t know where, but I know it’s a tree we’re looking for.」

「So, just like Ectharen, you have also noticed.」Falkor smiled. 

「Yeah, a bit late.」

「What do you mean?」Asked Gyo

「If you carefully study the giant trees around here, all of them look very similar. If you can sense their roots underground, you can tell that they are connected… They are all part of a singular tree, like Posidonia australis off of Australia coast or the Humongous Fungus in Oregon. That means there has to be something very special about the original Tree which all these vegetation sprung off of… like… I don’t know, entrance to the lower level of the dungeon.」

「That’s exactly my thought the moment I noticed these trees looks almost identical to one another.」Falkor nodded.「We determined the “Original Tree” should be somewhere ahead.」

「Despite the vibe you give off, I guess your intellect is really something, Falkor.」

「... Thanks for the… compliment?」Falkor laughed.「but did you not also notice that?」

「Ha…」Kibadios scratched his head and looked away. In his case, he only was reminded of the possibility that a large tree may contain a dark entrance to the level below due to the Zombie Titan. Zombie Titan, Attack of Titan, Attack on Titan’s ending scene, where a kid is seen walking toward a giant tree with a dark hollow trunk, Kibadios thought to himself. I cannot really tell him it was glimpses of my weeb memories that helped me figure it out… But, to be honest… This whole dungeon’s design is really familiar. Don’t tell me it’s her.

The group finally reached the “Original Tree” they were looking for and bravely entered the pit black entrance carved into the hollow trunk without a hint of hesitation. 

「Be careful. We don’t know if there’s any trap or monster waiting for us.」Kibadios warned.

「Yo boss, this dungeon…’s dungeon is so dark, I can’t really see anything!」Uri complained.

「Wait a minute…」Gyo put his hand into his pocket and took out a small tetrahedron. With his fingers, the mutant Yves twisted the crystal, causing it to emit a bright light that illuminated the dark corridor.

「What’s that thing?」Kibadios asked

「Isn’t that…」Uri studied the object in detail.「a dwarven invention?」

「Yeah. We got a few of them back in the Main House. Kailos dono gave me one in case I need it.」Gyo turned to his Young Lord.「I know you can create fire, but with this, you won’t need to expend your Nen on something so trivial.」

「Dwarves, huh? Or if Tolkien had not made a mistake in his manuscript, it’d be dwarfs.」Kibadios muttered.「I wonder if they’re still delving in the Great Mountain Range of Laymanas. 」

「Actually, we have not seen a single dwarf here in Monas Kye for more than a decade.」said Gyo solemnly.「Since we do have trading relations with them, we tried to send out many expeditions to Laymanas to look for them in their holds, but all we found were eerily empty dwarven settlements. They seemed to have disappeared into thin air. The last expedition we sent out was 7 years ago, right before the Empire attacked.」

「The dwarves went missing?」surprised Kibadios「What’s your thoughts on this, Ectharen?」The hybrid looked for the beastmen, but strangely, he found that the two members of House of the Manes had suddenly disappeared, much like the dwarves he was just told about. 「Falkor?」

「Weird! They were just next to us.」Gyo also frantically looked around.

「... Maybe there’s another spatial magic that separated them from us again, much like earlier when we got sucked into the dungeon?」Uri suggested.

「Maybe you’re right.」Kibadios nodded.「Nothing we can do but to move forward. After all, we’re supposed to take on this Trial challenge independently from one another. 」

Chapter 148: The fated pair

Notes:

Smut scene 2nd half. R18 illustration included

「How long have we been in the dungeon, I wonder? It’s all dark down here regardless of the time, but I feel like it’s already late into the night.」Uri asked as he leisurely walked across a long stone bridge, stepping on the corpses of dead monsters while his Boss and Gyo were busy dealing with the horde of cave goblins gushing at the group.「Boss, maybe we should call it a day and camp out for the night once we reach the other side.」

「Fine.」Kibadios nodded.「Seriously, you have not had to lift a finger fighting these monsters but you’re the first to ask for a break?」

「Of course. Life’s short.」Uri grinned.「You should know when you should just stop and enjoy the moment.」

「... What is he talking about?」Gyo smashed the head of the last goblin in this wave.「This is a race. If we slow down, the other may get to the lowest level of the dungeon before us and win the title of Kingship.」

「Ignore him.」Kibadios sighed.「Though he’s right. We need to rest and recuperate. Getting to the lowest level first, only to be exhausted would prove unwise.」

「As you wish, Young Master!」Gyo respectfully bowed. 

After the group reached the other side of the bridge and eliminated all the monsters in the vicinity, Kibadios finally sat down, leaning his back against a large broken boulder and enjoyed the small fire he had just lit up. He and Gyo had both brought some dried food along since they knew they knew the trial would last for three days; however, since Uri was sucked in along with them, the hybrid had to carefully divide the ration between them. 

「If worst comes to worst, we can always eat monster meat like they do in Dungeon Meshi, though I would not recommend eating goblin meat. They’re terrible.」Kibadios gulped down his pouch of water.

「Ehh…」The thought of eating goblin meat caused both Uri and Gyo to lose their appetite. 「You have eaten monster meat before, Boss?」

「Yeah, how do you think I survived after being let loose down the Kidan River?」Kibadios nodded.「Insect, animal, or even monster flesh, I have eaten them all… After such experience, foods cooked by Maia chan are like gourmet to me.」

「I’m sorry we did not look for you, Young Master!」Gyo lowered his head.「After all, Kailos sama thought you really had perished.」

「It’s fine. I don’t blame you.」Kibadios waved his hand dismissively.「Even if you tried, it’d probably be futile. Besides, things turned out alright. Both for me and for those I met afterward, so maybe it was best that you guys did not find me.」

The three continued to chat for a while, though soon enough, it’d be time for some sleep. Both Kibadios and Gyo had decided to sleep in shifts so that at least one person would be awake to watch out for any possible attack. Since the first shift would be Kibadios’ turn, the Yves was told to go to sleep first. Uri, though, could sleep the entire night if he wanted. Yet, for the omega half incubus, sleep did not come that easy for him. The vice captain just laid there, turning back and forth in discomfort. He did not request a break just because he was tired, but he knew as night time came, his heat would become more intense, distracting him to the point that simply walking straight would prove to be a hard task. 

「Can’t sleep, Uri?」Kibadios sitting on the edge, looking down at the deep abyss below, asked the Vice Captain after having noticed him fidgeting for more than 15 minutes.

「Yeah… B…osss… It’s… better … if you… stay far away from… meee」Uri struggled to speak.「Your scent…. Is… really… intoxicating….」

「Maybe this can help!」Kibadios stood up and jumped next to his laying Omega, then forced into his mouth a small pill.「This is a heat suppressing pill that Maia chan prepared for me. It should be easing your symptoms at bit.」

「Is… that why you’ve been feeling fine?」Uri sat up, looking at his Boss. 

「Not really. It helps, but I still feel very uncomfortable.」Kibadios answered.「Half of the work is done by my willpower. Without it, I’d be jumping on you by now.」

「Wow… it did help… that pill is very fast acting! Maia chan’s skill as an alchemist is really second to none!」Part of Uri’s heat was alleviated soon after gulping down Kibadios’ medicine. 「Good! Now you can probably go to sleep.」Kibadios walked back to the cliff.

「Well, since we’re both up, mind if I talk with you some more, Boss?」Uri asked.

「Sure. I don’t mind having others keeping my company.」said Kibadios.「But talk about what?」

「About how do you feel about being reincarnated as an incubus?」

「... Can’t complain.」

「Really?」Uri looked at Kibadios.「What about the fact that both you and I got bound together by this fated pair nonsense? I’m sure just like me, you’ve not been feeling … I don’t know… “complete” lately? Ever since our secondary sex characteristic emerged? Did that not bother you?」

「It does. But whose fault is that?」Kibadios smiled.「I’m perfectly comfortable with the idea of having sex with you. Everyone in my harem is fine with it too. It’s just that you don’t want to be bonded by this fated pair concept, right?」

「But…」

「Is the idea of doing it with me that revolting for you? Or maybe the fact that I have a harem disgust you?」Kibadios asked curiously.「Either way, it’d understand if that’s why you’re against doing it with me.」

「Not really… You having a harem isn’t a problem. After all, we’re not on earth where most people adhere to monogamy. And as an incubus, as long as I get to have sex, it’d be fine whether it’s with a male or a female…I’m not physically disgusted with the idea of having sex with you. With how attractive you look, sometimes, I feel like I maybe lusting after you…」

「Wow, how honest! Thanks for the compliment, Uri!」Kibadios grinned.

 「See!!!」Uri pointed at the hybrid. 「Just now, I feel like I can just pin you down on the spot!!... But I’ve always been a man, both in this life and previous life… and I’ve always been attracted to girls… This strong feeling I have for you… or any attraction I have for any other male, is just because I was reborn as a half incubus. I feel like if I ever give in to this urge and temptation, I won’t be “me” anymore but just an “incubus”. Besides, this fated pair thing is permanent. The moment I have sex with you, I am bonded to you and you alone… My freedom will be taken away.」

「... I see…」Kibadios nodded. The hybrid thought for a moment, before continued「What if you were reborn as a girl?」

「Huh?」

「Since you believe that the real “you” are attracted to only girls, do you think if you were reborn as a girl, you’d be doing other girls?」Kibadios asked.

「I… don’t know?」

「You want to know what is my view on this whole dissonance in identity between our lives thing?」

「What?」

「I subscribe to the school of thought that the “me” now is a completely different entity compare to the “me” in my past life, for many of the aspects of our souls, such as Shut and Ren, are no longer the same.」

「Shut and Ren? Shadow and Identity? Our life experience and our “names”?」Kibadios was surprised that Uri knew the aspects of the soul he was referring to.

「Yeah… I am now, the individual named Kibadios, is simply not the same as the one who lived back on Earth. Same to you. By letting the identity of the “you” who lived on Earth dictate how “Uri the Incubus” should live and act now, maybe you’re actually not actually living as “free” as you had thought you did. On the contrary, you’re being held back by an invisible chain, created by your past self.」

「Kibadios…」Underneath the Vice Captain’s bushy bang, his eyes widened as if he had just been enlightened by what his Boss had just said. 「... are you only saying all this to woo and convince me to have sex with you?」

「...Ehtoo…」Kibadios looked to the side, avoiding Uri’s look.「*whistle* Perhaps *whistle*」

「Ha… Hahaha!!!」Uri laughed.「Though maybe you’re onto something here!」Uri walked to his boss, reached out his hands to grab onto Kibadios’ face, directing and fixing his boss’ gaze onto his own.「Maybe, to live “freely” as “Uri”, I should be fucking your eyes out and enjoy every moment of it.」

「Wow… scary~」Kibadios teased.「And to answer your question, yes! I’m not going to lie that I’ve wanted to fuck you, to ravage you ever since we discovered our bond, Uri! Us finally having sex would fix both of our itches once and for all… but if you don’t want to, I will still try my best to suppress my desire.」

「... Boss… no Kibadios.」Uri swept his bang upward, allowing his bright, red eyes to look directly into the hybrid’s. The rhythmic beats of both the hybrid incubus’ hearts seemed to harmonize after a long silence. Instead of speaking to the hybrid as a subordinate to his supervisor, the half human half incubus was now speaking to Kibadios as a man to a man.「Please understand that even if we are to be bonded, I will not be just one of your harem members, who idolizes, obeys and listens to your every command. I will still be me, Uri of the Hyakki Yagyo. Would that be okay with you… my alpha?」

「I won’t complain!」Kibadios licked his lip before grinning from ear to ear.「Besides, I rather have this free-spirited, bratty “Uri” with me instead of just a docile and tamed mate.」

「Bratty? You really don’t know how to put your mate in the mood, huh Boss?」Uri leaned in with a seductive smile.

「Don’t try to hide it, my Uri.」Kibadios pulled the Vice Captain down for a long wet kiss. Both the incubi’ tongues frantically dashed and swirled around at first, before finally calming down.「Both you and I know that we’ve always been in the mood.」Kibadios hand slid under the Vice Captain’s black pant and groped his perfectly scoped ass.「For we are a fated pair.」

Uri quickly pushed Kibadios down onto the ground with a lusting smile. Any restraint, any metaphorical shackles he had placed on himself have now been discarded. The half human, half incubus hybrid lewdly ground his ass on top of Kibadios’ hardening cock. 

「This…」Uri muttered to himself. 

「You’re pretty aggressive for an omega, Uri.」Kibadios commented. The ogre hybrid’s hands reached out to Uri’s bare chests and latched onto his erected nipples. With just a slight twist, Kibadios easily “activated” Uri’s pleasure mode, causing the Vice Captain to shiver and collapse down onto Kibadios’ embrace.「You’ve always dressed so provocative, Uri. You know how much self-control I had, trying to hold back my urge whenever I see those beautiful, pink nipples of yours.」

「I just get hot really easily. Is it that weird to see a guy showing his chest?」Uri responded. 「Gyo doesn’t even wear a shirt.」

「But he’s a swordsmith, it’s normal for him to get used to not wearing a shirt, isn’t it?… Anyhows, at this very moment, I’m glad that you don’t cover your breasts.」Kibadios gently bit down onto Uri’s left nipple, sucking it for a brief moment. The hybrid ogre suddenly sprung upright and let Uri sit on his lap. The former red head top, who had only been tasting other women, was now a complete mess. Muffled moans slipped away from his lips each time Kibadios munched on his nipple. 

「Boss… Haaa… Stop biting my… nipples!」Uri protested.

「Fine! I should pay more attention to your raging boner too, I guess!」Kibadios skillfully pulled out the Vice Captain’s cock, pressing it against his own throbbing rod. 

「Heh! Just like I imagined. Your cock is huge!」Uri grinned.「I wonder which one of us would cum first.」The redhead incubus took the initiative and slid his cock up and down along Kibadios’ shaft. Both of the half incubi’ precum were oozing out from their twitching slits, mixing with one another before being coated on their own cocks with their warm and soft hands.

「Of course it’d be you, my Omega!」Kibadios smirked, trying hard to maintain his usual confident demeanor, a rather difficult task given the intense pleasure he received. He had fucked others in his harem countless times, but right now, experiencing this very act of foreplay with his Omega, his incubus fated pair, gave him an indescribable satisfaction that made him believe that he could climax at any moment now.

「You… underestimate me… Kibadios…As if I’d…」Uri defiantly dismissed Kibadios’ suggestion. Unfortunately, his cock clearly gave in before he could finish his sentence, since a stream of thick, turbid cum suddenly exploded from his cock. The Vice Captain quickly froze as a wave of fleshly pleasure coursed through his body. Unlike Kibadios, since he was an omega, ever since his secondary sex characteristic emerged more than a week ago, Uri was unable to release his load, not even when there was a naked, beautiful elven girl pinned down under him. The first orgasm he achieved, in a period seemed like eternity, nearly broke the human incubus. His eyes rolled back into his skull. His toes curled up while his nails latched onto Kibadios’ flesh. 「Haaaaaaaa…」

「Shhhh!!!」Kibadios leaned forward and shut down Uri’s moan with another kiss.「You don’t want to wake Gyo up, Uri…」The ogre hybrid pinned down his Vice Captain onto the ground. The exhausted redhead could barely register what was done to him since he was now in a trance. His hands being pressed down onto the ground above his head, his chest was heaving up and down, fully exposed to his Captain. His bang was now parted and swept upward, revealing his piercing eyes to Kibadios. Uri remained silent, yet his longing eyes seemed to ask Kibadios for more, which the ogre hybrid eagerly obliged.

「I… I can’t hold back any longer, Uri.」Said Kibadios. His hands swiftly removed Uri’s black pants.

「Ha… haaa… Such sensation!!! That’s my reward for finally give in and do it with my fated pair?」Uri rhetorically asked himself. With a greedy smile, the redhead wrapped his arms around Kibadios’ neck, his legs locked around Kibadios’ thigh, seemingly trapped the ogre hybrid in his embrace.「My alpha… Ravage me!!!! Let me experience a pleasure that I had never felt before!!」

「You…You don’t have to ask, Uri!!」Without any prep, the purple haired hybrid aggressively thrust his cock straight into Uri’s tight hole at the first try. Since Uri was an omega, his hole was already drenched with his own juice, allowing Kibadios’ giant cock to effortlessly penetrate deep inside. 「Haaaa… Your insides… they’re constricting around my cock!!」

「Ahhhh!!! More!!! Harder Kibadios!!! Haaaa」Demanded Uri.「I can’t believe… how good your cock feels!!!!」

「My slutty omega!」The hybrid turned Uri around, letting the Vice Captain’s back lean against his chest as he pumped his cock deep inside the Vice Captain’s hole from behind. Kibadios fastened his rhythm. One of his hands now slowly played with the redhead’s trembling nipples while the other rubbed the redhead’s cock as if he was trying to milk a cow. Uri was now unable to maintain his composure. His tongue stuck out like a dog in heat while his alpha’s cock continuously pressed around his sensitive inner walls. 

「Shit!... Haaa Your inside feels so good, Uri!!!」Kibadios frowned.「I’m cumming!! I’m cumming inside your virgin hole! I’ll feel it with my seed!!!」

「Do it, Kibadios!!」Uri screamed out, before realizing something. His body twitched and his voice became frantic.「Wait a …minute! Not inside!!! I’m an Omega…. there’s…. a chance I may get…. Pregnant!!!」

「Too late now!」Kibadios gave one final thrust, unable to take his cock out in time as his cum flushed deep inside Uri, filling up his hole. The hybrid smiled and kissed Uri on the cheek.「Don’t worry, since we’re different incubus hybrids, the chance of you getting pregnant probably isn’t that high.」

「Haaaa…」After experiencing the ecstasy Kibadios’ cum brought to him, Uri finally calm down.「Bosss!!!」The redhead Vice Captain whined.「Still, the chance isn’t zero!!」

「Sorry?」

「Tsk, if you cannot control your cock, then let me lead!」Uri was now taking charge, turning Kibadios around, laying on his back while he sat on Kibadios’ still rock-hard cock.「Round two?」

「...Of course.」Kibadios was taken aback since none of his harem members was this aggressive like Uri. Though, of course, the hybrid has never turned down offers for another round of sex. Usually, Kibadios only stopped fucking the members of his harem when he noticed they were exhausted. This time, since his partner was another half incubus, whose stamina should rival his own, Kibadios wondered if this mating session would ever end. The hybrid whistled, then his hand reached out to touch Uri’s blushing cheek.「You know… It’s such a shame. Your bang usually covers your eyes like a hentai protagonist, not a lot of people would see these beautiful eyes of yours.」

「...」Taken aback by Kibadios’ compliment, the Vice Captain froze for a moment, before letting out a genuine smile.「Isn’t that good? That way, only my alpha get to enjoy them.」

「... I’m honored, my omega.」

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… Young Master… I’m glad you get to finally bond with your fated pair, but… this is just too much!!! The Mutant Yves silently cried in the night as he laid there motionless, trying his best to not disturb the fun time Kibadios was having, all the while enduring the itch his hardened cock was giving him. It’s been an hour into my shift, but should I get up and interrupt the Young Master or should I just lay here?

 

 

 

Illustration (that I got like a year ago lol >.>)

R18 warning

R18 warning

NOTE: It's actually ANIMATED. Please go to: https://imgur.com/9Ck8dKT or https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/100269348 to watch the animation. Be warned that there's also SOUND

 

artist: https://skeb.jp/@kawaseme813

Pixiv ID: 253006

 

 

Chapter 149: Bonus: Ryan and Rowan

Happening right now, when Kibadios is in the dungeon

 

Artist: なな

Skeb:https://skeb.jp/@nana___a3

 

 

 

 

Chapter 150

In the dark empty space, a small ember floating around in the air as two individuals sat silently opposite one another. 

「How does she taste like?」The dark purple hair hybrid asked, his dark eyes reflected the flickering light. His chin leaned onto his palm. A broad, devilish smile could be seen as he enjoyed the scene in front of him

「Like shit!」HaoS, Kibadios, or rather, Zaeryn’s Primordial Spirit of Fire answered. On the usual featureless face of the fire spirit, a strangely large mouth appeared to chew on something, loudly crushing the bones before mixing it with the blood red flesh.「Bleehhhh!!!」The Spirit quickly spit out whatever food he was eating, vomiting it all over the dark ground.

「... Ple… assee… Stop…. Thiss… Zae…rynnnn… I… BEEEGGGG…. YOUUUUU!!!」The pile of vomit slowly came together, its flesh reglued to its bones. Slowly, a familiar face reemerged from the pile of her own chewed out body. The once mighty Astral, crawling toward Kibadios, bloody tears oozed out from her barely recognizable face. 

「Shut up, Adela!」The hybrid cold stomped his feet, crushing the Astral’s skull.「I told you, didn’t I? That you will experience a fate worse than death. Still waiting for your daddy to come here to save you, huh?」

「I… was wrong… pleaseeeee!!!」The Astral became frantic the moment she realized HaoS’ claws had again grabbed onto her leg and pulled her to him again.「Pleaseee Zaeryn… Zaeryn samaaaa!!! I WAS WRONG!!! PLEASEEEEE, DON’T…」

Her plea was stopped short again, for the soul of the former princess was again being gnawed on by the Primordial Spirit.

「AHHHHHHH!!!!」

「Ahhh, music to my ears!」Kibadios whistled coldly.

「Heh, good thing you have pushed Reuk’s soul out of here or else you will probably be hearing his complaint right now, Zae… Kibadios.」

「Yeah… You miss his presence, don’t you?」

「As if!!!」
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「...Sorry about last night, Gyo. We might have been too loud.」

「Don’t worry about it, Young Lord!」Gyo shyly looked away, trying to hide his blushing red face.「You two are both incubus hybrids and on top of that, you’re a fated pair… It seems natural that you two would… get together.」The Yves glanced at the snoring redhead his Young Lord was carrying on his back.「... Ehto, shouldn’t we wake him up? We’re still taking the Trial, it’d be hard on you if you have to carry him like this.」

「I was rough with him last night… and early this morning, just let him sleep.」

「If you want, I can carry him for you, Young Lord.」

「That’s fine. I’m his alpha, I gotta take some responsibility.」Kibadios smirked.

「But you won’t be able to fight at your full strength if you have to carry him like that.」

「Don’t worry, Gyo chan! I’m stronger than this incubus body looks.」assured Kibadios, though the use of “chan” certainly had caught Gyo off guard.

「Young Lord.」Gyo studied the hybrid from top to bottom, his usual gentle expression quickly turned solemn「You shouldn’t underestimate this trial… or my brother. I love my brother but I know that once he had set his goal for something, he would not hesitate to use any dirty tricks to achieve it. For a long time, ever since the first Yinese attack on our territories, he had aimed for this “King” position because he believed only he could lead our people to victory. He would stop at nothing in order to become our King. If you’re not careful, you may fall into his plot, just like how Ectharen dono did.」

「I see… that explains why he was eager to bring up this trial. But you’re forgetting one thing…」

「... that you’re Kibadios, a powerful incubus overlord?」Gyo smiled. He had been with his Young Lord long enough to know how arrogance the hybrid might appear sometimes. 

「No, that I have you with me.」Kibadios shot the mutant Yves with a trusting look.

「It’s true that when I’m with you, Wylan would not try to set some dangerous trap since he’d be afraid it’d hurt me, but still」

「No, I meant that you’re capable enough to protect me from any danger, regardless whether it’s your brother’s trap or not.」Kibadios explained.

「Young Lord!」Gyo was moved to tear after listening to Kibadios.「Seriously, you’re really our Lord’s son. The both of you can effortlessly command the respects and hearts of so many of those working for you.」

「I don’t know if I deserve your compliment, Gyo chan… but truly, you may be right about my father. The way he’s leading the House of the Horns, fighting in the frontline, jumping head first into dangers, it’s really inspiring.」The hybrid paused.「Though, I never had a chance to ask him… Though, from what I was told, he only came back to take charge at the Main House when my grandfather and uncle passed away. Why wasn’t he leading the House at Alsen from the beginning?」

「... I actually don’t know, Young Lord.」Gyo shook his head.「When Kailos sama turned 14, he said he wanted to leave the Main House and travel around Monas Kye in an adventure. He renounced all his titles and bid his father, your grandfather goodbye. I was surprised when he left. I remember asking him why he could easily reject position of power like that, he simply smiled and told me that power and responsibility would only bring misery and regrets and he would not waste this life for such role again.」

「Again?... Was my father a reincarnator?」Kibadios asked rhetorically. That would explain a lot why he wasn’t so surprised when I said I was one.

「That’s what I’ve been wondering ever since the first day I met him too! Sometimes, even when he was a kid, he spoke as if he was an old man」Gyo laughed.「He never admitted to being one, though. I feel like it was not my place to pry.」

「Yeah. If one does not want to share one’s past, I doubt you can force that person to talk about it.」

「... Speaking from experience, Young Lord? Aren’t you also a reincarnator?」Gyo gazed at him.

「No comment.」Kibadios grinned.「and now isn’t the time to talk about it.」The hybrid stood frozen while looking straight ahead, examining the giant chess board in front of his eyes.

「This is…」Gyo quickly noticed the gate behind the chess board. The mutant Yves hesitantly took a few steps forward, only to pause defensively the moment the other set of chess pieces on the side aggressively reacted to his movement. Each of the pieces were forged in Adamantine, one of the hardest materials a person could find in the Esthar. The intricate carving and molding, down to the facial features on each of the pieces, surely reminded Kibadios of the Hadlar’s Royal Guards from Dai no daiboken. 

「Woohoo, Boss! You’ve encountered a Harry Potter inspired obstacle.」

「I thought you were asleep, my omega.」Kibadios slowly put Uri down. 

「I was, until my Alpha openly flirted with another man in front of me.」The redhead stretched back and forth.

「Flirted?」

「Right, Gyo chaannnn?」Uri teased.

「Uri dono!!」Gyo was flustering.「I’m sure the Young Lord didn’t mean it in that way! Beside, I’m almost 30, Kibadios sama would not be interested in me when he already has you and others with him.」

「Hmm, and what if I would?」Kibadios sensually licked his lip.

「See! The Young Lord would never…. Wait… what???」Gyo was now blushing red from head to toe. The young muscular mutant Yves waved his hands around defensively, trying to process what Kibadios had just said. Such erratic movement caused the Yves to suddenly lose balance and fall forward. 

WOOOSSHHH!!! BANGGGG!

「You have to be more careful, Gyo chan!」Kibadios leapt forward to deflect a crystal arrow infused with Nen aimed at the Yves before he had the chance to stand back up.

「Sorry, Young Lord!」Gyo hurriedly assumed his defensive stance, with the large hammer by his side. 

「Yo, Gyo chann!」Uri called out.「Sorry I didn’t mean to tease you. In fact, I have no problem sharing your Young Lord with you. After the ravaging session last night, I doubt that I can satisfy him by myself even if I want to monopolize him.」Uri laughed.

「Uri dono… please stop teasing me!!」The innocent and clearly virgin Gyo begged. 

「Yeah, you’re distracting him, Uri chan」reminded Kibadios.

「Fine, fine.」Uri whistled nonchalantly. 「Though what are you going to do? Play chess?」

「You have to play chess and win in order to move forward?」Gyo was surprised that Uri was able to assess and understand what had to be done with just a glance, not knowing that he only knew because he was a reincarnator.

「Ha! You think I’d be doing a Harry Potter? Don’t be silly, Uri chan!」Kibadios summoned his scythe, which was now covered in black flame.「If anything, i’d do a Mash Burnedead!」

「The fuck is a Mash Burnedead?」Uri raised his eyebrows in confusion.

「Sorry, you’re not a weeb!」Kibadios quickly remembered.「What I meant is that I’ll just face all of my obstacles head on and crush them into pieces!!!」The hybrid leapt forward with a bloodlust grin. 

「I really couldn’t follow your conversation, Young Lord…」After regaining his composure, Gyo excitedly raised his hammer up before following right behind the hybrid.「But wait for me, Kibadios sama!!!」

At the moment Kibadios’ transgression was fully on display, the chess pieces, both from his side and the opposite direction moved simultaneously. From the other side of the chess board, the rooks unsheathed their crystal swords and jumped at the hybrid, while the ones on his side sprung forward with their spears in hands, targeting Gyo. Both the master and the servant abruptly stopped, swinging their weapons around to block and parry off the incoming attacks. Before they could react, the chess pieces from the second rows, from the Tower to the Queen and King pieces, launched themselves at the two. Each pieces possessed their own fighting style: the bishops pieces could certainly be classified as <Mage> class since they continuously countless of high-tier spells at the two while the knights, which could be classified as <Paladin>   fought the two intruders off on their horses. Their large, unbreakable shields easily block most of the counterattacks from either of the trial participants while each thrust from their lance projected a force that could pierce through a steel wall. 

「Yo boss… Each of those rooks can be considered an A rank adventurer while the other pieces are undoubtedly lower S rank…Maybe it was better if you just played the chess game like Ron did.」Uri nervously observed the fight.「Did you just forge ahead because you don’t know how to play chess?」

「Who would not …know… how to play chess!!」Kibadios shouted back while dodging the pieces’ attacks「... It’s just… I’m better at Go than Western chess…」The hybrid begrudgingly admitted. 

「Ha…」Uri smiled. 「and here, I thought my Alpha is perfect in every aspect. Turns out chess is one of his weakness.」

The battle continued on for quite sometimes, though bit by bit, Kibadios slowly gained the upper hand. First by taking out the rooks before making his way to the King, whose power, he estimated, was probably on par with Yuusei and Ryan combined. Needless to say, Gyo was not able to match his Young Lord’s prowess, but the Yves was still able to take down 10 pieces before being forced on his back foot. 

「I’m sorry, Kibadios sama.」Gyo ashamedly admitted his powerlessness the moment Kibadios stepped in front of him. 

「Don’t worry, Gyo chan. You’ve done more than enough.」Kibadios assured Gyo with a smile before taking on the remaining pieces all on his own. The hybrid and the slashes of his scythe blended with one another as if they were in a dance, no wasted movement or needless strike. 

「... Done!!!」Kibadios finally stomped his scythe’s handle on the head of the Queen piece after a protracted battle.「Now, we can continue ahead. The only good thing out of this stupid fight is that we know we’re heading the right direction… probably.」

「Woohoo! Good for you, Boss!」cheered Uri with a pair of improvised Pom Poms.

「Seems like you had fun while the two of us fight for our lives, Uri chan.」

「Yeah right Boss! It did not escape my notice that you have not even summoned your Spirits.」

「I heard from Kailos sama that you’re a summoner, Young Lord.」said Gyo.「But, ever since we entered the dungeon, you only fought in close combat… and your fighting style was really elegant too. Did you learn it from someone?」

Kibadios paused his step for a moment, before responding to the Yves. 「... I had good teachers.」

「...」Both Uri and Gyo remained silent, sensing the hybrid did not want to talk about it.

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.

.

「Let’s camp out here tonight!」Kibadios declared, standing on top of a gigantic red fungi, looking down at the swirling portal.「If RPGs had ever taught me something, it’s that our destination is just right beyond that portal. It only makes sense that we should rest and replenish our strength for now, right before the final “trial.”」

「Final trial?」Uri asked.

「Yeah. We figure if all three Candidates can reach the lowest level and there’s only one “Proof of Kingship,” then most likely we will have to fight one another. That’s what Kibadios sama meant by the “final trial.”」

「Three-ways fight huh? Fun!」

「It’s only three-ways if we all reach the last level.」Reminded Kibadios.

「I wonder if my brother has reached it… I’m not looking forward to fighting Kuron nii.」Gyo scratched his head when thinking about his cousin, who was now by his brother’s side, much like how he’s by Kibadios’ side.

「Why? He’s that strong?」

「Let’s just say both Wylan and I had never been able to best him even once.」Gyo confessed. 「The only reason he was caught by the Yin Empire was because they had Tina as a hostage.」

「Don’t worry, Gyo chan!」Kibadios patted the Yves’ broad back.「We got this!」

Little did Kibadios know, the greatest challenge he would find beyond the portal was neither Wylan or Kuron. He was about to face the greatest threat yet. A threat that would finally force him to reveal his true Ultimate Skill, something that he had not done ever since he had fallen into the Astral’s hands as Zaeryn a few millennia ago.

Notes:

A few more chapters and we'll be done with this volume (and we'll be around half way/or 40% through the story) :D

Chapter 151

「Chi! Chi! Chiii!!!」The slime erratically jumped around the guest house as a few of the residents slowly made their ways out from their shared bedroom.

「Morning, Nu chan.」With the mutant ogre having already reverted back to his shota form, the inflated size of the slime easily dwarfed Yuusei’s head as he greeted the bouncing ball.

「You’re up, Yuusei chan? Can you check on Ryan and Ren? I think they’re still sleeping like dead in there. We gotta have a quick breakfast before heading out to the dungeon. Today’s the last day of the trial so we have to be there to greet Master once he comes back. Even Nu’s been excited for a while now.」Unlike the others, both Maia and Yue were already up before sunrise. The alchemist girl was now finishing up the last set of pancakes while the former princess had already laid out all the plates and silverwares on the long wooden table. 

「Sorry, my brother isn’t a typical morning person.」Yue bowed apologetically at Maia.

「Well, at least you are! Thanks for all your help, Yue chan.」Maia held out a ladle before continuing.「Would you mind taste this for me?」

「Huh? Of course, Maia dono.」Agreed Yue.「Though I’m sure you don’t need me for this. Your cookings have always been delicious, even Master said so.」

「But remember, during the blind test last night, the others did say the food you seasoned tasted better.」Maia pouted.

「I’m sure they just exaggerated.」Yue took a sip of the soup.「Though in this case, I think it does need some more salt.」

「Thanks, Yue chan.」Maia smiled warmly, her gaze lingered on the former princess.「...I’m really glad you join Kibadios sama’s harem, Yue chan. For quite a while, I was the only girl in the group so I felt kind of lonely sometimes. But now, with you here, I have another girlfriend to talk to.」

「But I’m sure the others would always lend you an ear if you have any problem to discuss, Maia dono.」Yue was confused. 

「No, not that.」Maia shook her head.「I mean, talking to them is fine, but they’re all guys. There are something that only a fellow female would understand.」

「If that’s the case, please feel free to come to me with anything that bothers you, Maia dono. I will try my best to…」

「I do have one concern!」Maia quickly interrupted.「I noticed that whenever Master is not around, you always refer to me as “Maia dono” instead of “Maia chan.”」

「Ehto… Yes. I know Kibadios sama prefers to hear me calling you “Maia chan” so I tried to accommodate his preference.」Yue explained.「But I feel like it’s such a disrespectful thing to call you “chan” so I changed it to “dono” whenever Kibadios sama is not around. Is that not to your liking?」

「Of course not!」Maia reached out to hold Yue’s hands. 「It feels like there’s so much distance between us whenever you refer to me as “dono.” If you don’t like to call me Maia chan, then calling me Maia alone is also okay.」

「I see…」Yue smiled nodding.「Maia chan, if you really don’t mind, then I’ll call you Maia chan from now on, with or without Master’s presence.」

「That’s more like it!」The Alchemist grinned.「And it’s not just me. I’m sure the other guys also would love it if you don’t use “dono” honorific.」

「Hiiiii!!! Yuu chan, don’t bite my nipple like that!!!」Ren’s scream could be heard from the kitchen.

「Oh my, what happened in there?」Maia wondered.

「If I have to take a guess, Ren nii chan refused to wake up so Yuusei …chan just teased him a bit.」Yue chuckled.

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The dimension beyond the portal was that of darkness, though specks of flickering lights from a far decorated the endless blackness like stars on a night sky. The modest source of lights was enough to illuminate the large floating circular platform, seemingly made from some sort of reflective colorful crystal. 

「Ectharen dono.」Wylan greeted the beastman’s head as the four people stared at one another on the platform. 「and Fakor dono. I’m surprised you guys made it here before Kibadios dono and my brother.」Kuron, the buffed Yves towering next to his Head, simply bowed politely at the other two. 

「Why? You think your trap, luring the Zombie Giant toward us, would have worked?」The Head of the beastman clan laughed.「Actually, it’d have given us much more trouble had Kibadios dono and your brother did not come to our aid.」

「Gyo nii sama did?」Wylan was surprised.「Ha, I should have expected it. Nii sama is too nice for his own good.」

「You got that right.」

「You met with Kibadios dono too?」Letting their Lords conversing with one another, Kuron turned to Falkor.「How are he and Gyo doing?」

「They’re breezing through this trial as expected… especially Kibadios dono」answered the beastman.「We kinda got separated from them once we walked through the entrance at the giant tree. I’m sure they’re still heading here as we speak.」

「Haa… I guess I cannot expect anything less from Kibadios dono and Gyo kun… but seriously, I’m not looking forward to fighting them, one being my little cousin while the other being my savior.」

「We have no choice, don’t we?」Falkor looked up at the floating orb radiating light above their head. Although no instruction was given, all the participants implicitly understood that whatever was the “Proof of Kingship” would be encased in the orb. Since Wylan and Kuron were first to arrive at the destination, the duo had tried to claim the prize, only to realize that the orb was protected by an invisible barrier that could not be penetrated. 「Have you tried reaching for it?」

「We can’t. There seems to be a protection around it.」Kuron claimed. 

「...」Falkor stayed silent for a moment before seemingly realizing something as he noticed 6 small indents around the barrier.

「Did something dawn on you, Falkor dono?」Kuron smiled.「It seems like you have arrived at the same conclusion Wylan sama did.」The Yves suddenly released his tremendous Nen, creating a shockwave that scared even the cautious Beastman and his Lord.

「Ah, looks like Kuron’s ready for battle.」Ectharen jumped away from Wylan, his fingernails transformed into large claws, ready to shred his opponents into pieces. Falkor, too, swiftly retreated next to his Lord. The wolf beastman’s right hand was holding tightly onto a large dagger coated with his own Nen. 

「From what the exterior of the barrier up there suggested.」Wylan pointed up toward the ultimate prize of the trial.「... Those 6 small indents look like a perfect fit for our rings to be placed into them. I doubt that’s just a coincidence. So, Ectharen dono, Falkor dono, would you mind forfeit your rings to me?」

「Hahaha, Wylan dono, I’m afraid the only means for you to obtain these rings of ours is to take it from our dead bodies… literally.」Ectharen declared.

「... Kuron nii!」commanded Wylan. At the heeding of his Lord, the Yves stepped forward, the black tattoos on both his arms slowly spread out, covering his naked upper bodies in strange marks. Due to the immense Nen emitting, his brown hair spiked upward. The Yves clenched his fists and assumed an offensive martial stance, much like Akaza from Kimetsu no Yaiba. 

「<Agility> <Strength>」Kuron murmured, activating his Skills.

「Careful Falkor.」Warned Ectharen.「It’s Kuron the Black Flash we’re talking about.」

「Hahaha, I know, my Lord. I’ve heard of the legend of an Yves single handedly eliminated five whole platoon of Yinese troops, I’m not stupid enough to underestimate him.」 The red head beastman laughed.

「Sorry Ectharen dono, Falkor dono.」Kuron’s eyes glowed.「In order to extract a concession from Wylan sama that allowed me to not raise my hands against Kibadios dono, I’ve kinda promised him I’ll take care of the both of you. No hard feeling!」

The Yves sprung forward, though his movement was clearly too fast for either Ectharen or Falkor to follow since by the time they realized what had happened, Kuron had already appeared in between them. Beneath their feet, an eight trigram symbol had already surfaced by the time they noticed Kuron standing next to them. 

「Tsk!」was all Ectharen could utter before Kuron launched a barrage of attacks using his Nen coated fists. The Yves have always excelled in melee combat due to their extra sensory organs. Their eyes, much like that of the Hyuga clans, allowed them to easily identify any weak points on their opponents’ bodies. A high level Yves, though, could do much more damage in a fight since they could analyze the flow of their opponent’s Nen networks. Due to this advantage, if even one of their attacks landed on their opponent, it could easily disrupt the opponent’s Nen flow, rendering them too unstable to be utilized effectively. The white lion beastman quickly reacted to the series of punches, blocking and counter-attacking aiming at the Yves, though his speed was clearly not enough to match the “Black flash.” 

「Ectharen sama!」Falkor rushed in, aimed his short dagger at Kuron. Needless to say, the Yves easily dodged the attack before retaliating with his own, blasting the beastman a few paces back. Yet, this was all the break Ectharen needed for him to quickly create some distance between him and Kuron and catch his breath. If the Yves race was famous for their Hyuga-like racial skill, then the beastman was famous for their unimaginable endurance. Such power was utilized by Ectharen to partially negate Kuron’s punches, allowing himself to still be able to stand on his feet. Had he been a regular human, the man would be lying unconscious on the ground right now.

「I’m… fine.」The beastman wiped away droplets of blood on his lips, then briefly looked at Wylan. The Yves Head has still not made any move, as if he was fully content letting Kuron take care of both Ectharen and Falkor while he would preserve his strength in anticipation of Kibadios’ arrival.「... at least for now.」

Suddenly, the space above the four candidates suddenly ruptured, a glowing portal appeared to be swirling around. 

「... Kibadios dono and Nii sama are here already?」frowned Wylan. The Yves had wanted to take care of the House of the Manes candidates first before having to deal with the problematic hybrid, yet, time had run out for him. Strangely though, there was only one figure that emerged and dropped down onto the platform below. The figure took the appearance of an innocent blond young boy, yet, the moment the boy’s lips started to twitch and transform into a sidious grin, all four Candidates fully realized the unprecedented threat the boy posed.  

「Who are…」Wylan was first to react, though the young head was unable to finish his sentence. The moment he could process what had happened, thousands of sharp threats had wrapped around his body, constricted and cut into his flesh. The half conscious body then was strung up into the air. Hanging across him were the bloodied bodies of Kuron, Ectharen and Falkor, all of whom shared the same fate as him.

Even Kuron nii was not able to escape the threat with his speed… How could this be? Wylan thought. He had prepared for all the scenarios to deal with Ectharen and Kibadios, to be able to claim the proof of kingship to lead the last of his people to repel the invaders and reclaim their lands. Yet, not even once he would think of a scenario like this, where the four of them laid helplessly on what seemed to be an invisible web sprung up by the girly looking boy. 

「Who… are … you??」Wylan mustered the last of his strength.

「Shut up, you insect!」The boy coldly commanded as he looked around.「Guess Zaeryn is not here yet. Come on now, Zaeryn. Don’t make me wait.」In his homunculus body, Ayer, one of the almighty Ennead, sadistically smiled.

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「Kailos sama!!!」A retainer rushed toward the Head of the ogre clan, who was standing outside the dungeon, anxiously waiting for the conclusion of the trial and his son along with Kibadios’ group

「What’s going on?」Kailos parted from the conversation with Haden and Reuk to check on the messenger. 

「There’s an envoy from Hou Yi’s army approaching us.」reported the messenger.

「What? How many of them are there? What do they want?」

「I don’t know, There seemed to be just a small group of 5 people, two of them are members of the Chimera corps. Teran dono, along with the other members of Hyaki Yagyo had set out to intercept them.」

「... Prepare at least 100 elite soldiers! We will ride out to meet them. No matter how few in numbers they are, I will not let them enter the city.」

「Kailos dono, please let us join you.」Reuk and Haden volunteered. 

「Me too!」Ryuu chimed in.「Master would want me to be of an asset to you, Kailos sama.」

「Thanks! Let’s go!」

 

 

 

 

I know I had posted his picture before, but as a reminder, here's what Ayer's homunculus body looks like:

 

Chapter 152: Gyo vs Kuron and Wylan

Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter... Blame FF16!

「Ahh… this is boring~」The bored blond otokonoko systematically slaughtered through a sea of Demon Emperor’s followers. His strings died in blood-red spread out to the entire town located deep inside Kadesha’s territory, before effortlessly cutting through every monsters and humans worshiping the Demon Emperor in sight, bisecting even the A+ class raging three-headed lion chimera who led the vicious charge right at the group. The monster’s blood splattered straight onto the Ennead’s uninterested face elicited no response from the godly figure.

「...Ayer… sama…」The hero hesitantly wanted to put a stop to the maniac killing.「... This… isn’t right…」

「Leave him be, Aspen.」The princess, with a casual smile, held back the hero.「Just let Ayer sama enjoy this. They’re just some monsters… and some lackeys of Kadesha. They all deserve to die.」

「...」Sylvia, the light blue hair mage, simply gazed at the massacre without saying a single word.

Bamm!!!

A giant beam of burning fire crashed in front of the Ennead. From within the raging flame emerged a strong hand, firmly reached out to grab the slender wrist of the otokonoko.

「Stop this, Ayer sama!」Zaeryn was mad. The tengu had expected this bloodbath the moment he received a message from the other Enneads warning him that Ayer had decided to personally descend to Esthar in his homunculus body for a bit of “fresh air.”「It’s unbecoming of you.」

「Zaeryn… 」Ayer frowned.「Know your place. You’re just a mere Divine One. You dare touch an Ennead like me?」

「Yes, unless you cease this senseless massacre.」The tengu doubled down, pulling Ayer closer to him and sternly looked down at the petite Ennead. 

「Don’t think that you can tell me what to do now that you’re blessed with the Primordial Spirit of Fire <HaoS>」The Ennead violently ground his teeth. Several sharp strings formed in front of his face before projected outward at a speed of sound.

「Zae…!!!」Realizing the danger, Aspen called out to his dearest friend, though he quickly noticed the strings, which were created from the fine threads of the strongest metal found in both realms, Melkorium, simply melted away before it could reach the Tengu. 

「If you want to somehow ease your boredom…」Zaeryn growled.「then how about fighting me?」

「Hah?? You arrogant Tengu!!!」snapped Ayer. The Ennead maniacally laughed while sprinting toward the Tengu.

「Ahh… shit… here we go again…」Adela slowly backed away.「Why does this always happen whenever Ayer sama comes down here for a visit?」

「Adela, Sylvia, get out of here. You two won’t be able to withstand his fight….」Aspen warned.「I’ll make sure the innocent people here can escape.」

「...」Adela shot Aspen a glaring look.「They’re enemies, Aspen. They chose to follow and worship Kadesha, the disrupter of peace and destroyer of the fragile balance of the world.」

「Still, I cannot condemn them to death.」Aspen argued back.「Quick! Get out of here.」The hero looked toward the clashing of the titans just a few paces in front of his eyes.

「You think Ayer sama would actually kill Zaeryn this time? Zaeryn has pissed him off so many times before, maybe this would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.」Adela smiled as she walked away.

「... I don’t think so. In a sense, I feel like Ayer sama likes to piss Zaeryn off. Did you see his eyes? He was so bored while killing the people here, but his eyes brightened up the moment he saw Zaeryn arrive. Battling Zaeryn gives him joy. That’s probably the only reason why he targeted this place.」Sylvia deduced.

「One of the reasons…」corrected Adela.「No matter how you spin it… Ayer sama is still, in the end, a …」The princess hesitated.

「Psychopath? Sadist?」

「Ha, your word, not mine.」

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「Don’t be so anxious, Gyo chan! We got this!」assured Kibadios as the hybrid and his two companions dropped down from the portal. The moment the group entered the final room, where there was nothing but a large floating platform within an empty void, Kibadios was the first to realize the terror that was awaiting him. His demeanor quickly turned grim as he noticed the familiar threads around him.

「Yo, Zaeryn!」Ayer greeted the hybrid.「Or would you rather I call you Kibadios since that’s your name now?」

「「「What?」」」Before either Uri and Gyo could process what had happened and why all the other four candidates were tangled on a web of threads in midair, the mention of the forbidden name “Zaeryn” had attracted the attentions of all the demihuman present. Although the name “Zaeryn” wasn’t censored in Monas Kye like most other human countries, it was a name that no other demihuman dared to call themselves, since for them “Zaeryn” was almost, in a sense, a name of their godly protector.

「Ayer…」Kibadios quickly screened the area to check for the presence of any other Astrals.

「Don’t worry, Zaeryn. It’s just me here. Why would I share with the other Astrals your whereabouts? I certainly don’t want to have them snatch away my prey.」The otokonoko licked his lip. 

「Release them, Ayer… Or else…」

「Or else what? You will summon <HaoS> and release your hold on that stupid girl? Summon <HaoS> so that us Astral will be forced to deal with you with all our might?」Ayer smiled. 「You’re not that stupid, are you? After all, even if you’re to die here, you will be transported back to the real world, what’s the point of resorting to <HaoS> ?」Ayer had specifically chosen to confront the hybrid inside the dungeon, knowing precisely that for this reason, the hybrid wouldn’t be calling on <HaoS>, which to Ayer’s opinion, would make the fight between him and the hybrid much more boring. Another reason why the psychopathic Ennead chose this very moment, though, was that even if he were to kill Kibadios here, he would still get another chance at fighting and kill Kibadios again for a second time in the real world. The thought of getting to enjoy two all out battles against Zaeryn was enough for him to be giddy these past few days.

「... Kiba… dios sama… who’s that boy and what is he talking about? Why is he calling you Zaeryn?」Gyo was the first to ask the obvious question.

「The two of you, back down.」Kibadios muttered.「Situation has changed. He’s not someone you can take headon.」

「Who’s he?」Uri asked.

「... Ayer, one of the Ennead.」

「「WHAT???」」Whether or not the two believed Kibadios or not, both Uri and Gyo instinctively assumed defensive stance while surveying every movement of the girlish looking boy. 

「... Why did he call you “Zaeryn”, Young Lord?」

「...」Kibadios sighed. There’s no point hiding anything now, the hybrid thought to himself.「Because I am Zaeryn. Or rather, I’m a reincarnation of ‘Zaeryn’.」

「...」Wylan’s eyes widened, a ray of hope seemed to have lit up in his mind.「Kibadios… dono is Zaeryn sama’s reincarnation?」

「Kibadios dono…」

「Young Lord…」

「Hoh… I knew there’s something interesting about you, Boss.」Uri grinned. Although the claim sounded absurd, strangely, none doubted the hybrid’s word. The hybrid had now fully transformed into his combat form, with six wings sprung out from his back. His two horns protruded out even further. 

「Now, don’t get distracted. We can talk more about this later… Right now, just one small mistake can easily lead you to your death, Uri, since you don’t have protection from the rings.」

「How strong have you gotten in this incarnation, Zaeryn?」Ayer licked his upper lip. 「Don’t disappoint me…」The Ennead turned to Uri and Gyo.「And for these two pests… I’ll have these four deal with you.」

「「Huh?」」

「Uri!!!」「Nii chan!!!」「「Dodge!!!」」Both Wylan and Ectharen screamed the moment they realized their bodies were now moving on their own. The two Heads, along with their retainers, crash-landed right next to the Vice Captain and the Blacksmith. Thank to the pairs’ warnings, both Uri and Gyo were able to respond quickly enough to block the attacks. 

「Well well well, what do we have here? Ectharen?」Uri smiled. 

「Sorry, Uri dono… but I can’t control my movement.」The beastman quickly glanced at Falkor.「You too?」

「Yeah…」The red head wolf beastman answered.「It must be that kid’s ability. He’s controlling us through these threads.」

「Uri dono, no matter how we try, we cannot break free of his control.」said the lion beastman after mustering his entire remaining strength to simply move his arm, to no avail.「Please, fight us with the intention to kill!!」

「Huh?」

「We have these rings. We should be fine even if the injury we sustain is fatal. You on the other hand…」Ectharen explained.「Besides, I don’t want to be a burden to Zaeryn sama… Kibadios dono as he fights that Ennead kid. The sooner you finish with us, the sooner you can help Kibadios dono!」

「Understood.」Uri grinned. The Vice Captain has never backed away from a fight and deep down, he had always wanted to test his strength against these two beastman standing in front of him.「Let’s do this!」

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「Nii chan… I’m sorry!」Wylan frowned ashamedly. Floating above him was a giant butterfly fluttering its wings, greatly resembling Mothra.「I can’t control my body…」

「Silly little brother!」Gyo smiled tenderly.「Big brother is here. I’ll free both you and Kuron nii!」

「Beware, Gyo!」Kuron warned.「Wylan’s summon and my fighting style have a synergistic effect…」

「I know, Kuron nii.」nodded the mutant Yves, his eyes carefully studying the two standing before him before quickly glancing at his Young Lord, who was now facing the menace called Ayer. 

「Nii chan!」screamed out Wylan. The summoned butterfly now flapped its wings violently, releasing millions of fine pollens into the vicinity. Unlike Kuron, who’s acting as an unstoppable spear with an extreme offensive power and speed like the Raikage, Wylan was a perfect support. The summon he called forth utilized various types of pollens that can either boost the stats of anyone he chose, or caused debuffing status effects on his opponents. 

「Watch out, Gyo!」warned Kuron as he launched himself forward at subsonic speed. His Nen coated around his right arm, turning it into a weapon that could pierce through any armor.

「<Unlimited Blade Works>!」The mutant Yves’ eyes glowed. Since he had been slowed down by paralysis pollens, he did not even bother to dodge Kuron’s lightning fast attack. Instead, standing still, Gyo activated his Arte, instantly creating more than a dozen shields blocking the speeding Kuron. Unexpectedly, the first four shields were instantly shattered by the towering Yves, though by the 10th shield, his thrusting attack was completely stopped. The shockwave created by Kuron’s attack blasted away the field of pollen, allowing Gyo to finally move again. 

「Poison, nii chan!」Again, the Yves Head warned his brother the moment his summon attacked. 

「Thanks for letting me know, Wylan!」Gyo smiled as he dashed sideways, dodging the blob of poison flying toward him, though he quickly realized Kuron was already standing where he headed. The mutant Yves quickly twisted his body, swinging his hammer around, smashing it against Kuron’s supersonic punch. The crash between two caused an explosive blast, though with their strength equally matched, both Kuron’s fist and Gyo’s hammer were stopped in their tracks. Had this been a game, this moment would be when the game asked the player to smash the X button. Still, no matter how much they mustered their strength, both Kuron and Gyo was unable to thwart the other’s attack. 

「Gyo, look to your right!」Warned Kuron since he noticed that instinctively, his left hand was now coated in his thick Nen. While his other three fingers all curled inward, his middle and index finger stuck out, pressing against one another, creating an invisible sharp knife made from Nen aura. The Yves thrust his attack aiming at Gyo’s face. Luckily, thanks to the warning, the mutant Yves was able to barely shift his head, avoiding the lethal strike. Nonetheless, Gyo was not quick enough to avoid a deep nick on his face. The mutant Yves created some distance between him and his two opponents. He took a second to compose himself as blood dripped down from his wounded cheek. As the fight continued on, 2 vs 1, despite all his effort, Gyo could tell he was slowly being pushed back with each clash. No matter how much he tried, he could never match Kuron’s speed, not especially such speed was boosted by Wylan’s summon while his own agility was restricted by the pollen spread by the same summon.

Is this it? In the end, I still could not help the Young Lord when he needed me the most… Kailos sama…

「Gyo, I entrust Kibadios to your care for this trial. I know you won’t let me down.」Gyo recalled Kailos’ words to him as exhaustion took over his consciousness. 

「... I….」Gyo muttered while his body now simply instinctively tried to keep up with Kuron’s relentless attacks.

「Nii chan…」Wylan ground his teeth, helplessly witnessing his older brother succumb to a barrage of attacks from Kuron. 

「Gyo.. I’m sorry..」Kuron regrettably called out.

「... I… I… I cannot lose here!」The collapsing Gyo sprung back into beast mode, similar to Moubu during his fight against Kanmei in Kingdom.「I will not let Kailos sama down! I will not let you and Wylan down!」Gyo grinned at Kuron. 「and most importantly of all, I will not let Kibadios…no… Zaeryn sama down!!!! <Unlimited Blade Works>」Gyo again activated his Arte.「Iron Maiden!!!!」

For Gyo, who worked as a swordsmith, his Arte, <Unlimited Blade Works>, was simply a perfect match for him. The Arte worked by storing away the weapons he personally forged in a pocket dimension and only materialized them once Gyo activated it. Furthermore, each weapon that was made by Gyo had received part of his soul, allowing them to bond with the mutant Yves via the Arte. Now, Gyo had, for the first time, unloaded all of the weapons he had created ever since he first picked up his trusty hammer. The weapons rained down on the three Yves varied, ranging from thick, impermeable shields, lances, blades, to sickle chains, bows and arrows. 

「This is…」Both Kuron and Wylan looked around them. 

「You’re releasing all your weapons, Gyo? But why?」Kuron asked. 

「Because of this!」Gyo clenched his fists. The mountains of armaments began to float in midair, then aggregated to one another. Before long, a shape slowly formed from the combinations of all Gyo’s creations, resulting in a giant levitating Iron Maiden. 

「Nii chan, what’s that?」

「My trump card!」Gyo grinned while two droplets of blood rolled down his cheek from his widened eyes. It took all his power to fully activate <Unlimited Blade Works>, let alone manipulate each and individual weapons into the shape of the Iron Maiden using his own soul like this. The giant torture device opened his cage, then projecting out thousands of iron chains, aiming at both Wylan and Kuron. The Head of the House of the Eyes was able to escape the chain for only a moment before both him and his slow moving summon was caught and pulled inside the dark Iron Maiden. Kuron, though, was able to dodge the chains for quite some time. Yet, not even he can escape Gyo’s trap for long. Once a single chain was able to grab onto him, hundreds others followed, wrapping themselves around his body and dragging him inside the giant device together with his Lord.

「.... Now… I just need to…」Gyo panted. The mutant Yves knew the next step was to eliminate both Kuron and his little brother by collapsing the Iron Maiden inward. Yet, the thought of him personally “kill” those he loved was too much for him to think about, even if they were only supposed to be transported back to the outside world if they were to die here.

「<Eternal flame>」Before Gyo could enact his final move, his hybrid young lord had abruptly casted a magic spell that created a black flame swirling around the Iron Maiden.

「Kibadios sama?」

「You don’t have to kill them. Just have to… break the controlling threads! That spell of mine … should burn them off and free those two!」Kibadios screamed out to the Yves. Though he paid a heavy price for such distraction, since Ayer quickly blasted the hybrid, sending him crashing onto the ground. 

「You cannot afford to be distracted, Zaeryn.」Ayer grinned.

「Young Lord!!!」Gyo wanted to rush to Kibadios, though his strength finally gave out. The mutant Yves stumbled onto the ground. With his power completely exhausted, the Iron Maiden quickly fell apart, his weapons disappearing into thin air, back to the pocket dimension. Luckily, just as Kibadios had said, since the threads controlling Kuron and Wylan were burnt off, both the Yves were now free again. Unfortunately, without the threads controlling them, the two could also barely find any strength to move their bodies since they had previously received grievous wounds inflicted onto them by Ayer.「I… have to… help the Young Lord…」Gyo’s sight became blurry….

 

Chapter 153: Bonus: So, ever curious what happened when Yuusei tried to wake up Ryan and Ren?

Happened in Chapter 151

Artist: If it involves Yuusei, who else but elsyuri1 would be the artist? :)

Funny thing: I had to fix Ren's p**** cuz it looks funny in the original drawing lol

 

We're almost hitting 45k so consider this a gift :3

R18 warning

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Chapter 154: The Ultimate Arte

Notes:

If you miss it, there's a 3 pages soft porn posted on the chapter before this one.

With both Kibadios’ scythe and Ayer’s threads being thoroughly imbued in their own Nen, each clash between them creating a terrifying blast that sent shockwaves across the platform. Yet despite all his efforts, Kibadios was completely powerless in his fight against Ayer. That much was obvious during their uninterrupted exchanges, with none of his attacks could land on the Ennead while he struggled to fend off the endless sharp threads, resulting in him bleeding slowly as Ayer continued his relentless attacks. Although the Ennead was using Melkorium threads as weapons, much like Doflamingo, his movements greatly resembled that of Kazuki Fuuchouin from Getbackers instead, right down to the small catbells which he held in between his slender fingers to control the threads themselves. With a series of gracious gestures, Ayer simultaneously directed some of his threads to target the cornered hybrid while others formed a protective barrier around him. On his own, the otokonoko was already looking feminine enough but once combined with his fighting style, Ayer looked just like a beautiful performer who fully submerged in her own dance routine. Had it not been for the twisted grin on his face that betrayed his charming beauty, any man who fought him would have fallen for the Ennead’s elegance alone. 

「Tired already, Zaeryn? You should not have helped out your retainer just now. You could never recover from that blunder to take back the initiative in this fight… Despite being reincarnated, you’re still the same weak, pathetic man eons ago… Had you only realized that “friends” and “others” are only supposed to exist for your own sake, maybe you could have become great.」Ayer teased before crossing his arms into an X and manipulating all of his threads into one cohesive offense.「<Heavenly Judgement>!!!」The Ennead screamed, his eyes opened wide in anticipation of the bloodbath Kibadios was about to experience. By abandoning all his defense, Ayer was able to generate a giant yarn ball made entirely out of his threads floating above Kibadios’ head. From within the ball, streams and streams of Melkorium threads projected downward like an unending rainfall in the middle of a raging storm.

「<Aegis>!」Kibadios hurriedly summoned his spirit, which allowed a shield to appear above him in the nick of time. The hybrid sprung upward, taking Ayer’s attack head-on. Nonetheless, the sheer intensity of the “rain” was much more than the hybrid could have ever anticipated. Although the torrents of downpouring threads were not able to breakthrough his <Aegis>’s absolute defense, both the summoner and the hedgehog-like spirit were crushed down onto the ground like Omniman was crushed by the Hammer.

「Garrhhhh!」The hybrid coughed up blood as he tried to stand up after surviving Ayer’s powerful move.

「BOSSS!!!!」The hybrid heard Uri call out to him from behind. As he turned around, Uri was standing by his side, propping him up. 

「Where’s Ectharen and Falkor?」Kibadios asked

「I defeated them! I defeated them offscreen!」Uri grinned. Of course the fight wasn’t that easy for the Vice Captain as Kibadios easily noticed all the injuries he sustained, particularly on his bleeding hands.

「... Ha, we’re still in so much trouble, now is not a time for Rick and Morty reference.」Kibadios smiled. Looking at both the Beastman Head and his retainer lying exhausted on the side, their bodies broken free from Ayer’s controlling threads, it wasn’t hard for the hybrid to deduce that Uri had torn off the threads on the two by his own bare hands.「Get away from here, Uri. Amongst us, you’re the most vulnerable. If you die here, you’ll die for real!」

「Well…」Uri stepped forward.「It’s not like I can let my Boss, my Alpha no less, be killed here, even if you can respawn back in the world outside. Besides, even if I were to leave you here and run away, where can I go? We cannot leave this place until we clear it and if you all are defeated, this crazy ass Ennead would just come after me, no matter where I hide in this dungeon… If I am killed here, so be it. At least I get to experience something incredible these last two nights.」The Vice Captain grinned. 

「Wait, Uri! Don’t!」

「Shut up!」Ayer was suddenly irritated.「What’s with you people, fighting to protect your friends and those you love? Don’t make me puke! It’s survival of the fittest! Our own lives are what matter the most in this world! You should all trampl the others in order to live! To survive!!! No wonder you people just kept being slaughtered by us Astrals!」

「What’s with him?」Uri wondered.

「... Ayer…」Kibadios stared at the maddening Ennead.

「It all ends here, Zaeryn!」Declared Ayer.「I’ll kill you and everyone here. Then I’ll get back to the world outside and kill you for real… once and for all… I’ll turn you and those you love into my “friends”... my tools. Activate Ultimate Arte <Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris>. Resurrection Mode」

「Ayer, don’t you dare!」Kibadios ground his teeth. 

「This is…」Uri quickly noticed three dark circular blobs appearing on the ground. The blackness within each circle slowly rose up, forming into a humanoid shape. Suddenly, the black layer covering those humanoid shapes bursted open, revealing a familiar looking girl and two men standing behind her. 

「Wait a minute… isn’t that Princess… Queen Yllaner?」Uri was in disbelief. Although the skin tone of the girl was completely pale like a corpse, the Vice Captain could still easily notice the timeless beauty that resembled the Queen of the Wood. Before he could process what was happening, he soon noticed the two men standing behind her were wearing strange masks, a pair of dark, crow-like wings protruding out from their backs「Those two… they’re not beastman, aren’t they? Their aura… just felt completely different from any race I’ve seen.」

「They’re of the Tengu race.」Kibadios softly answered.「They’re two… of my… elite followers.」The hybrid’s voice was breaking up.「What… you’re seeing… are merely… their corpses.」

「What? That Ultimate Arte can control corpses?」Without needing Kibadios to explain much, the Vice Captain was able to deduce what had happened. 

「<Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris>, Ayer’s Ultimate Arte, possesses the power to “take life”

 and “grant life.” What you’re witnessing here, is his Resurrection Mode, or granting life… It’s an ironic name, though, since it doesn’t truly grant life. It merely makes a mockery of life by creating these perfect “Zombies.” Each of these zombies does not have a soul or a free will though. They’re merely vessels to contain the stolen power of those who the zombies are made from.」Kibadios paused.「As long as the Ultimate Arte is active and creating more zombie, Ayer cannot be killed since the skill technically “take” or borrow his life and divide it among the zombie in order to animate them. Not until all the zombies are killed or destroyed that you can harm Ayer again… In short, it’s an overpowered Ultimate Arte, befitting an Ennead… yet, when you think about it, it’s also ironic since due to this Ultimate Arte, Ayer, a holy Ennead, actually belongs to the unholy <Necromancer> class.」

「But since that zombie looks just like the queen, does that mean Yllaner is dead?」

「That’s not Yllaner… That’s Sylvia.」

「Who?」

「Ayer… you’ve crossed the line.」Kibadios stepped forward.

「And? What can you do about it?」The Ennead grinned. Without Ayer having to give a single command, all three of the zombie seemingly nodded as if they have received the Ennead’s instruction telepathically. The three swiftly leapt forward, with Sylvia’s zombie chanting something and creating two beams of light that shone right at Kibadios from above, easily paralyzed him. This was a copy of Yllaner, or rather, Sylvia’s own <Tears of Change>, which at its most powerful form, can effortlessly inflict status debuffs and drain away its opponents’ Nen.

Kibadios’ two elite guards, though, clearly possessed melee combat skill since their zombie quickly closed the distance between them and the hybrid while preparing their attacks.

「HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO MY WIFE AND MY FOLLOWERS?」Kibadios screamed from the top of his lungs. His wrath even sent chills down Uri's spine. Though part of the Vice Captain wondered if the chill he felt was really because of his Alpha’s wrath, or because of him learning about the existence of this “wife.” 「Activate Ultimate Arte…」

「You… you can really use your Ultimate Arte in this life too?」The expression on Ayer’s face was hard to decipher since it was partially excited and partially unnerved.「There’s no way right?... Activating it would most likely drain all your current Nen in an instant.」

「<Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami>」 Kibadios’ eyes glowed as if he had entered the Avatar State. Though, entering the Avatar State would be a fitting description for what was happening to Kibadios since even his voice has now seemed to be an amalgam of various entities from male to female. From behind him, two small birds flew out from his back before slowly growing into two giant phoenixes, one possessing blue feathers while the other pink. The sudden activation caused both the leaping Tengu Zombie to abort their attacks and jumped back a few steps.「「「AYER, YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR.」」」

「Tsk, he really can use it.」The confidence exuded from the Ennead quickly evaporated as he witnessed the activation of Kibadios’ Ultimate Arte.「An Ultimate Skill that can even interfere with our Harvest process, for it consumes and transforms the very souls of fallen individuals into Spirits, thus depriving us of the souls we need.」Ayer muttered.

It was hard for Ayer to openly admit it, but in a sense, the power of Kibadios’ Ultimate Arte could be considered superior to the Ennead’s, for unlike most of normal Spirits that can be summoned by a <Summoner> class, the Spirits created by <Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami> were immortal, in a sense that no matter how much fatal injury they received, they would not disappear. In fact, not too long ago, Ashura was the first in this era to notice such peculiarity since even after he pierced both of the knights summoned by <Damocles> while blasting a hole on the torso of the last one, none of the three Spirits disappeared as he had expected. Though, of course, just as Itachi had famously declared “Every jutsu has aweakness,” the same can be said for <Ultimate Arte>. Even the seemingly godly Ultimate Arte that Kibadios possessed would also have its own restriction: that it could not turn any souls into Spirits.  <Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami> could only do so with the consent of the fallen souls themselves, which meant that all of Kibadios’ Spirits were, in fact, at one point in the past, his dear comrades who willingly offered their souls after their death for the hybrid. Such a decision was permanent, for it meant their soul will forever be condemned to be part of  <Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami> and the prospect of an eternal rest after death, or a chance at reincarnation, were forever forfeited. That was the reason why each time Kibadios called forth his Spirits, a feeling of sadness and guilt slowly ate away his conscience… or whatever was left of his conscience. The first time Kibadios, or rather, Zaeryn, had activated the Ultimate Arte to take in the souls of the triplets knights, his own “teachers” who first taught him to fight in melee, he was reminded of Kurei Mori from Flame of Recca and the painful decision when the supposed heartless man made a decision to turn Kurenai into his flame. 

「Zaeryn, whether it’s this life or your previous life, you and your power have always been an enigma. But regardless, the outcome of your struggle will be the same.」Ayer raised his arms up.「In the end, you… this current incarnation of yours, will become my “friend.”」Ayer declared. Suddenly, a large, slithering shape slowly formed around the Ennead.

「Huh? What’s that?」Uri, who has been mesmerized by Kibadios’ power, suddenly was reminded of Ayer’s presence as he noticed the giant serpent slowly appeared out of thin air.「Wait a minute… Is that a dragon? Like Ryuu? But its Nen… this aura…」Uri ground his teeth. His wounded body seemed to be frozen in place from the sheer dread he was experiencing. For the second time in his life, just in mere minutes of each other, he experienced “despair.” 「It’s a first generation Dragonkin… zombie? And who’s standing on its head? Another tengu zombie?」

「「「「Ryuujin too? Just how many people I cared for were killed by you, Ayer?」」」」

「Can’t be helped. They were invading the Modun itself. The moment they dared to defy us Astrals, they signed their own death warrant.」Ayer tilted his head with a grin.「And here I thought you’ll be more interested in its rider… Your own zombie! ZOMBIE OF THE GREAT ZAERYN!!!!」At Ayer’s signal, all of his resurrected Zombie sprung forth, targeting the stationary Kibadios. The Zaeryn Zombie, despite still be considered to be Ayer’s trump card and the strongest Zombie in the group, was evidently unable to use a copy of <Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami>. Ayer could never figured out why since all of his zombies were all able to utilize copies of their own <Arte> or ever <Ultimate Arte>, but there was something different about Zaeryn’s <Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami>. He had meant to investigate that, but after 1000 years, the Ennead had given up on finding out the reason why. Not able to use his Ultimate Arte, though, did not the Zaeryn Zombie weaker than any of the other Zombie, for it could still use the Arte <Myrddin Emrys>, which allowed it to cast all magic spells without chanting. This meant Zaeryn Zombie could easily be classified as an SSS class mage since it could instantly project countless magic spells without stopping. Worse, combining magic spells that resulted in great synergistic effect could also be performed without spending any effort. In fact, unless the opponent was immune to magic, anyone who stood in front of Zaeryn Zombie would find themselves at the receiving end of an endless torrent of spells. 

Just as expected, while the two Tengu and Ryuujin Zombie closed their distance, Zaeryn Zombie moved his hands and instantly casted 10 consecutive Great Elemental magics, each blow had enough intensity to bring down a 10 stories building and reduce it to nothing. Yet, Kibadios simply floated still, with the two Phoenixes flying behind him. Since he had activated his Ultimate Arte, it allowed him to simultaneously fuse with all of his spirits instead of one by one as previously. Furthermore, each fusion form was now reaching its greatest potential in term of power, or rather, two times stronger than when he previously entered fusion mode without his Ultimate Arte. In short, instead of the “Jack of all trades, master of none” evaluation that the chimera gave him, Kibadios has turned into “Jack of all trades, master of all.” In his absolute barrier, an ability borrowed from <Aegis>, a spirit created from the soul of a young page hedgehog beastman who followed him at one point, could easily make Aspen and his absorption Arte blushed. 

「Tsk..」Ayer clicked his tongue.

「「「You know, Ayer, I have never shown you the full power of Izanagi and Izanami, did I?」」」asked Kibadios, again, in his echoing voice since multiple souls were now inhabiting his body. His hand flicked, creating a restrictive chain magic that wrapped around the two Tengu and the enormous Ryuujin Zombie. Of course, he knew it wouldn’t take long for the zombies to break free, but a few seconds were all he needed.

「Full power?」

「「「You probably wouldn’t know, but on earth, according to the legend, both Izanagi and Izanami were one of the primordial gods that were able to create other gods. That explained why here in Esther, this Ultimate Arte can create Spirits. But another part of the legend is that after showing how shitty of a husband he was, Izanagi went home and purified himself… 」」」

「... Purified?」Ayer raised his eyebrows.「You mean!?!??」

「「「Your hold on my body and those whom I love ends now!!!」」」Declared Kibadios before he signaled the blue Phoenix to flap its wings and release dozens of its feathers toward the group of Zombies. As Ayer had feared, the moment the feather touched the zombie, a bright light suddenly enveloped their discolored corpses. Before long, the light completely swallowed them, then dimmed away. Just as the light disappeared, so did the Zombie corpses they touched. 

「WHAT DID YOU DO?」Ayer growled. His threads sprung into action, slashing at the unimpressed Kibadios.

「 “Every jutsu has a weakness” and unlucky for you, the hard counter to your powerful Ultimate Arte is my own!!!」Kiabdios shouted. 「I merely purified your necromancy. “You have no power here.”」Kibadios imitated Saruman of many colors as he taunted the Ennead.

「Shut up, you weak pathetic mortal!」Ayer screamed at Kibadios. Unlike the calm and composed self he has shown, Ayer was now frantically targeting Kibadios, to the point that his usual elegant “dances” were now showing imperfection. Ayer weaved his threads together into two giant blades and sliced one downward and the other horizontally at the hybrid, though Kibadios simply slightly moved his position to mere centimeters away from where the slashes stroke, effortlessly dodged the attacks.

「Slow!」「Sloppy!」「Sad!」Kibadios taunted. As Ayer continued to launch another downward slash at Kiabdios, the hybrid finally stood form and block the attack with a new Arte that he only possessed in this reincarnation:  <Demonic Abyss >. From behind his back, two dark, shadow claws emerged to grab onto the blade made from Ayer’s threads. Had it been his usual  < Demonic Abyss>, Ayer’s blade would have easily cut through the shadowy claws. However, with the power of <Gaia>, a spirit created from the soul of a dying mother, the essence of wood and earth elemental were imbued in the shadow claws, further reinforced it. Once the claw successfully caught and stopped the blade, greenery vines quickly sprouted from the claws, growing and weaving itself into the matrix of the Melkorium threads. As the vine reached the Ennead’s fingers and catbells, the source where all the threads propagated from, the wood elemental suddenly disappeared. Replacing it was a shocking lightning ray that shocked the unsuspecting Ayer, causing him to shriek loudly.

「... I… cannot believe it.」Uri was fixated on the battle between his Boss and the Ennead.

「... It’s one…sided.」Wylan and Kuron, who had regained some consciousness, laid exhaustingly while watching the battle as spectators.

「Just few moments ago, Kibadios dono was at the mercy of that boy.」The bloodied Ectharen commented

「... Yeah.. but now…」Falkor grunted as he tried to twitch his broken arm.

「The young lord is overwhelming the Ennead.」Gyo could not help but proudly grinned. 

「YOUUUU!!!」Ayer mustered all his strength, pulling sea of threads to burry Kibadios 「<Ocean of Despair>.」

「「「It’s futile, Ayer… Unless you’re fighting me in your real body, there’s no way you can win!」」」Kibadios created a sphere made from the elemental powers of all his summons, before expanding it outward, pushing out and destroying all the threads that tried to bury him. 「「「This battle ends here!」」」

From the ground, ten shadow blades spiked upward, piercing the angry Ayer’s hands and feets while a current of electricity froze the agonized otokonoko in place as Kibadios slowly floated toward him.

「「「Are you satisfied, Ayer?」」」Kibadios asked, indifferently. 「「「Now, let me send you back to the Modun Realm.」」」

Kibadios’ shadow extended outward, forming into the shape like that of a shark’s mouth. The hybrid knew that even if Ayer was to be devoured by his skill, his soul would be able to escape, unlike Adela since there was no barrier trapping him. But by devouring his body, Kibadios could gain another doll body, which may become handy at some time. 

「Ha… Uh…」Before the hybrid could finish him, though, he realized he had reached his limit. His Ultimate Arte, as quickly as it appeared, suddenly vanished into thin air. Kibadios was now panting hard, blood dripping down from his eyes since he had overexerted himself trying to maintain the activation of <Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami> and other Arte, all at once. 

「Looks like you’re also spent, Kibadios.」Since its user was drained, the shadow spikes were also weakened enough that Ayer’s flexing and struggling was able to shatter them into pieces. Of course, the lightning trapping the otokonoko was also dispelled as Kibadios struggle to replenish his diminishing Nen. His body suddenly felt extremely hot. His joint ached. He swore he could see vapor burning off from his body as if he was entering Gear 2 of Gomu Gomu. 

「Huh?」Uri, the only one who could still move, rushed to his Captain.「Boss… what’s happening to… your body?」

「What?」Kibadios shakingly raised his hand to his face. It took a while for him to realize his hand seemed to look smaller than usual.「Wait a minute, why… does it feel like I drank APTX4869?」

「Haaa… haa… You’ve shrunk, Zaeryn.」The thoroughly beaten Ayer noted.「Aren’t you a hybrid in his reincarnation? Ogre and Incubus? It seems like you’re reverting back to the incubus form and since incubus aged slower than ogre, you’ve become younger.」

「Shit…」The shota-form Kibadios glared at Ayer, who could also barely move. Rather than entering Gear 2, it’s like I deactivated Gear 3 . Kibadios thought to himself.

「You’re okay, Boss?」Uri stood next to his Alpha, letting the incubus lean on him. 

「Yeah… but Ayer!!!」Kibadios frustratedly called out the Ennead

「Hahaha, it’s been a fun battle, Zaeryn.」The Ennead slightly moved his index finger, letting a single thread wrapped around his throat.「The next time I see you, I’ll end you!」Although Kibadios was paralyzed, the Ennead, too, was not in a state that could fight another battle, even if it was just against Uri. Thus, he opted to kill his doll body and allow his soul to return back to his real body. 

WHOOOSHHHH!!!

But before he could sever his own head, five thick chains abruptly sprung forth and hit his chest. Although he did not feel any pain, he could see the chains were now piercing through his flesh. Strangely, he could not move an inch. 

「Well well well, even if this is merely a homunculus body that you possess, getting this beaten up by Zaeryn who’s yet in his prime is still pretty embarrassing, Ayer.」Voice of a young girl echoed around the place. 

「This voice… I know this voice.」Kibadios grunted, tried to stand upright.

「What just happened?」Uri asked. It’s been a while since he has even comprehended what was happening.

「This voice… Damn you! It’s you, isn’t it? What did you do to me? Why the hell are you here? ANSWER ME!!! SERIIIIII!!!」

「Shhh…」The elven loli, the progenitor of the highelf, stepped out from the shadow. Though before he could say one more word, a golden capsule swiftly swallowed him whole and sealed him inside.「Don’t scream at your elder, Ayer.」Seri grinned.

 

 

 

 

 

Phew... Finally done with this climatic chapter. 2 more chapters (probably) and we'll be done with this volume. Next volume will deal with Wei Shimin. :3

It's funny cuz I didn't plan to have Ayer captured this soon. But because the story has been stretching out this long, I decided to skip some plotline and  capture him now. With his capture, the last harem member had been introduced! I still think the ratio between male:female is a bit skewed but then you guys chose the last harem member should be a trap lol.

Also, quick survey for those interested: Uke Kibadios, your thought?: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H62C775

 

 

<Progenitor of the Heaven, Izanagi and Izanami>
AI art

 

 

Kibadios' 100% incubus form:

Artist: loloRoyal_002

Skeb: https://skeb.jp/@loloRoyal_002

 

 

 

Seri (I'll update the first chapter when she appeared with this picture at a later time)

Source: AI (with some editing)

 

Chapter 155

「Who’s that little elven girl?」Uri disrespectfully pointed at Seri, who was slowly making her way toward Kibadios.

「That would be Seri the Eternal.」Answered Kibadios, unimpressed at the feat his former Master had just performed to seal Ayer’s homunculus body in a capsule. 「and most likely, the architect of this dungeon… am I right, Sensei?」

「「「What?」」」All others gasped.

「Hah, what a cute little form you have turned yourself into Zaeryn.」Seri smirked. The girl reached out her hands, wanting to pinch Kibadios’ fluffy shota’s cheeks, though her attempt was immediately interrupted by Uri. The human-incubus hybrid glared at the elf under his bushy bang, trying to ascertain the intention of this mysterious being. Despite acting bravely, the human hybrid couldn’t help but slightly shake his hands as shiver ran down his spines the moment he squatted the elven progenitor’s hands away from Kibadios. Of course, like many others, he had heard of the name “Seri”, but not in a million years would he have imagined that the presence of the ancient elf in person alone would have suffocated him. 

「Shhh… Let me have a chat with my star pupil, redhead omega chan?」Seri smiled.「And the five of you too.」The elf turned to look at the beaten up Yves and Beastmen. With one snap of her fingers, Seri activated an ancient magic. Suddenly, a layer of crystal radiating in green appeared and enveloped all the others except for Kibadios, freezing them in place in a flash. 

「... At least warn them before activating your healing magic, Seri.」Kibadios finally found enough strength to stand upright. Since Kibadios had studied under the elven progenitor for years, the hybrid easily realized the spell Seri unleashed wasn’t a malevolent one. On the contrary, in fact, the spell actually belonged to a healing type, which slowly recovering the wounds of anyone who was enveloped in the crystal, all the while protecting them from any external attack.「What do you want?」

「Heh, I thought you’d be more excited to see your master.」Seri teased.「You know I’m breaking the agreements in NAP with those Astrals right now just to see you. Let’s hope they won’t find out about this meeting. There’s a few reasons I’m here. First and foremost, it’s because I sensed Ayer here had snuck in this dungeon so I personally came here just to make sure he’s not too out of control. Turns out my assistance wasn’t needed.」

「Non Aggression Pact, huh?」Kibadios smirked.「Is that the same reason why you didn’t lift a finger when my people were massacred by the Astrals ten thousands years ago? When we needed your “assistance” the most?」

「... That was my blunder.」Seri suddenly confessed, leaving Kibadios unsure of what she meant.「You were captured by the Astrals before the War. It’s like playing chess with your King being checkmated since the start… You and your people had already lost even before the war began. It wasn’t supposed to turn out that way.」

「How, then, was it supposed to turn out?」Kibadios clenched his fist, visibly turned angry.「Were you trying to use me to topple the Astral? Are you the one who keeps causing me to reincarnate into this cursed world? What strings are you trying to pull, taking in Matelus? You must have known what he’s trying to do, don’t you?」

「...」The elf remained silent.「Too many questions, Zaeryn… or rather, Kibadios. First of all, you’re not my weapon to be used against the Astral, so don’t be angry about that!」Seri dismissively waved her hand, before turning serious again.「Rather, you’re my insurance.」

「Insurance?」Kibadios frowned.「What do you mean?」

「Secondly, yes, indeed I was the one who helped you reincarnate again and again into this world. I’m sorry that one of them was cut short. I didn’t have the means to precisely reincarnate your soul. Even I have my limits.」Seri clearly ignored Kibadios’ follow up question.「You don’t have to thank me.」

「Thank you?」

「Yeah, I figure you were glad to be reincarnated and to have another chance at taking out your vengeance against the Astral, after what they have done. Are you not?」Seri answered.「And for your last question, I took in Matelus because I pitied him and since he’s your student, that made me his grand-teacher, didn't it? And what he’s planning is not my problem.」

「What are you hiding from me, Seri? Why can I never get a straight answer from you?」Kibadios shook his head.「 Can you answer me this then: Why did you create this dungeon? What’s going on with this space? I’ve been feeling as if something is out there in the darkness, watching my every move.」Kibadios pointed toward  the expansive darkness surrounding the enormous levitating platform he was standing on 

「Hoh, you noticed? I did use a lot of inspiration that you once told me about when we were trying to design our dungeon in that… What was it again? That game you taught me? DnD?」Seri smiled.「Anyways, this space is special. There are only two more locations like this on Esthar and one more on Modun that are like it.」

「and what is it?」

「They’re the weakest points of the ever present barrier that protects the two worlds from the Tyrant Gods’ Curse.」Seri slammed her fist against the invisible wall, creating a crack in space as if she was Whitebeard. The crack slowly grew bigger before the whole darkness in front of Kibadios suddenly vanished, revealing the horde of endless Daemons partially materialized beyond the barrier.

「This… This is… Hell…」Kibadios shuddered at the once hidden pandemonium landscape before him. He had just fought Ayer, an Astral and one of the Ennead no less, but the sight of endless horde of mutated daemon, half melting, half infected flesh, on top of their clearly SS class strength, caused Kibadios to doubt his own eyesight. Fighting against one, two, or even a dozen of those Daemon creatures might be feasible, yet, the sheer endless amount of them was what disheartened the confident hybrid. 

「Yes.」Seri, with her finger, teared through the seemingly invincible barrier. Such a small puncture was enough for a single daemon to melt through the boundary as if it was made of liquid, before the puncture sealed itself shut. Once inside, the daemon quickly reformed itself into a full fledged menace. Its height was almost 5 times that of the muscular Kuron. Its fist alone was the size of the hybrid’s head. Its mouth was decorated with large fangs and dripping in a blood-like liquid. Its blood-red eyes reminded Kibadios of the Chaos-infected Prime Minister… in fact, its power alone would probably rival that of the very creature who leveled a whole city. Yet, beyond the boundary floating countless of these Daemons, on top of a dozen of gigantic serpents like Daemon squirming around as if they came straight out of Avenger the first movie.

「GRRHHHHH!!!!」The daemon launched itself at Seri without a single hesitation, though Seri continued to smile.

「This very scenery was what destroyed Aspen’s, your dearest friend, hope.」Seri raised her hand, casted a spell that froze the creature in icy crystal before snapping her finger, turning the ice, along with the daemon, into dust.「Seeing what awaited them beyond the two worlds, he knew he had no choice but to side with the Astrals in order to ensure this world continue to survive, even if such a method demands a great sacrifice.」Seri looked at the paled hybrid.「Your heart is racing…」

「Is this real… 」

「Yes.」The elf used her hands to cast a spell, allowing the darkness to reform and hide away the disturbing endless space beyond Esthar.「I created this dungeon to ensure no one can accidentally stumble upon this weak point of the barrier. Not that a lot of people would, but you can never be too careful. To protect this dungeon from disturbance, I helped in the founding of this city, and before long, this whole Monas Kye was transformed into a heaven for demi-human.」

「Then, you were the one who came up with this stupid trial?」Kibadios raised his eyebrows.

「Hey, don’t disparage my creation like that. And yes, I am!」Seri proudly pumped her chest before looking straight at the hybrid in front of her and letting out a grin「This whole city, this whole stateless gathering of demihuman in Monas Kye, this whole trial, this position of “King”, are, in a sense, my very creations. This is my gift to you.」

「Haah?」

「This empty throne was created in anticipation of your return, Zaeryn.」Seri’s grin continued to widen.「In a sense, you’re my “One-eye King”.」

「You created this whole competition facade for me?」Kibadios was shocked. Again, he couldn’t help but feel like he has been used by his own teacher as a pawn in a chess game.

「Yeah, this title of King of the Grassland was supposed to be only bestowed onto your reincarnation, but a few hundreds years ago, Monas Kye was so closed to being fully conquered by the Theorecracry’s crusade that its people desperately need a leader to unite them. That was when… what’s his face… Jander? I think, and his cohort took the trial and the Beastman was able to triumph in the end. After taking on the title of King, he was able to lead the Grasslanders to victory so all ended well.」The elf again snapped her finger. But this time, instead of shattering anything, her gesture only caused the healing crystals to disappear, allowing all others to emerge from their “cocoon” fully healed.

「Huh? What just happened?」Uri asked.

「Our wounds…」Ectharen examined his torso.

「disappeared?」Wylan finished his rival’s sentence.

「Now, I digress… though it’s because you’re asking too many questions Zaeryn. The second reason I came here is that as the creator of this dungeon, I’ve been asked by your ancestors to act as a spectator for this last trial: a three-ways battle to the “death” in order to gain the necessary keys to open the artifact that allows one to claim the title of King of Monas Kye.」Seri changed the topic.「To make it fair, I healed everyone here but Zaeryn since he needs to be nerfed a bit, am I right?」

… Tsk, Nerfing what? You clearly know that I’m exhausted and at my weakest within this lifetime. Kibadios clicked his tongue.

「Keys?」Uri curiously asked.

「It’s our rings.」Wylan stood up.

「Exactly, I won’t interfere in this fight.」Seri jumped backward, away from the group.「Have fun!」

「... You’re really Seri the Eternal, leader of the High Elves.」 Ectharen noted.

「So, the folktales about the connection between our people and Seri the Eternal was not just a made-up nursery?」Kuron asked.

「Uri, can you step aside?」Kibadios asked his Omega, which the Vice Captain reluctantly obliged.「Gyo, I don’t know how we’re going to do this, but I really need your help in this battle now.」

「Of course, Young Lord!!」The muscular Yves rushed to his liege, his hand held tightly onto his hammer.「Seri didn’t heal you? But you can barely stand.」Gyo whispered, trying not to alert the other participants of Kibadios’ obvious conditions.

「We’ll manage somehow.」

「...」

「...」

Both the Heads of the Yves House and the Beastman House shot each other a quick look, before nodding in agreement. The two stepped toward Kibadios and Gyo without saying a single word. Followed them were their retainers, both of whom were also silent just like their Lords. 

「Two against one huh? Things just keep getting worse, don’t they?」In his head, Kibadios frantically thought of a way for him to come out of this fight victorious. Though, with him still being in his shota form and his power almost completely drained, he doubted there was a way. 

Before both him and Gyo could react, the four other participants quickly stopped right in front of him and knelt down on their knees without a hint of hesitation. 

「This is?」Gyo was unsure of what just happened.

「Hoh?」Seri, standing on the side, smirked.

「We, the Heads of the House of the Eyes and the House of the Mane, willfully relinquish our claims to the title of King of Monas Kye.」Both Wylan and Ectharen spoke simultaneously. 「We hereby offer you our keys, under our own volition.」The four quickly removed their rings, put them onto their palm and presented them to Kibadios, all the while having their heads bowed deeply as a show of respect.

「Please, our King!」Wylan looked up. The shrewd Yves leader who once desperately tried to claim the title of King for his House, who resorted to underhanded methods, suddenly pleaded to the hybrid. Even Gyo, his own brother, was surprised at how his once prideful younger brother was now acting. And he knew it was genuine too, since Gyo could only see the feeling of reverence and admiration emitting from his brother and cousin’s longing eyes. 

「Please lead us through this trying period! Only you can bring us salvation!」Ectharen and Falkor, too, expressed the same feeling as his Yves rival.

「Ha, this is a first. The other candidates willingly give up their claims and forfeit the final battle.」Seri smiled. Despite what she was saying, it was clear that she had already expected such an outcome. 

「...」Kibadios was taken aback for a brief moment before letting down his guard and sat down onto the floating platform.「Are you guys sure?」

「「Yes, Zaeryn…」」Both Wylan and Ectharen looked at one another, before again nodding with a smile. 「「Yes, Kibadios sama. From now until our bodies return to the earth, we pledge our eternal servitudes to you. Both the House of the Eyes and the House of the Mane are for you to command.」」

Wow… who could have thought the trial would end like this. Uri thought to himself. Though, for the demihuman of the Grassland, Zaeryn is like their god… their ultimate protector. After learning the Boss is somehow the reincarnation of their god, it’s no wonder both Wyland and Ectharen would act like this.

「Fine!」A shadow reached out from Kibadios to retrieve the rings being presented.「I hope you guys won’t regret this.」

「「「「We would never!!!」」」」The four simultaneously declared.

The moment all the rings came under the possession of Kibadios, they all levitated in a circle while glowing in a golden light before flying up toward the rotating chest floating above them all. Once the rings slowly fitted themselves onto the circular indents on all 6 sides of the cube, it slowly descended before a bright light suddenly penetrated through the thick walls, seemingly dissolving them into nothing. Whatever was stored inside of the cube was now fully accessible. With the light started to dim down, the Proof of Kingship steadily became visible to all: a golden mask radiating in a thick, powerful Nen.

「A mask?」Uri muttered.

「That’s…」

「Just as I suspected.」Wylan whispered.

「Again, our nursery was right….」

「It’s…」

「Zaeryn sama’s death mask.」Gyo turned and looked at his Young Lord. 

「...」Kibadios remained silent, though it did not escape either Gyo or Uri’s notice that one of his fists was clenching hard.「Seri… what the hell… My death mask?」The hybrid was furious. He quickly reached out and violently grabbed the golden mask, ready to crush it into just another lump of gold. Though the moment he touched the mask, he quickly realized this was more than just a regular golden mask, for it contained a familiar aura left over from Runecraft.

「Ha, don’t be mad at me. That mask was not meant to be a mockery to your death. After all, it was made by Faye herself. Don’t you remember it’s our Elven tradition to create a death mask for those you love? She fought against the Astrals at the end of the second holy war, all just to get back your corpse. She failed of course, since Ayer was able to claim most of your corpse to create a mold for his zombie, but she was able to get back your head, at least. That’s why she made this mask and allowed it to be the “heirloom” for the demihuman of Grassland, who worship you as their god.」Seri explained.「In the end, she wanted you to have it… as a way for her to say sorry that she could not save you or your loved ones.」

「She knew I would come back… because she knew you would reincarnate me again… Why, Seri?」

「... Because I need you. But as you are now, just barely able to defeat Ayer in his Homunculus body, you’re not ready yet.」Seri cryptically answered.「One day, you will know what your purpose is, Zaeryn…」

「You think I would just do whatever you have planned for me?」Kibadios growled.「Be careful or I will treat you as just another Astral to be crush!」

「... That… is your decision to make.」Commented Seri in an uncharacteristically solemn manner.「All I could hope for is that you will do what’s right.」Though, just like many times before, the elven progenitor quickly switched back to her carefree attitude.「Though, for now, let me present you with a parting gift!」

The elf waved her hand, parting two halves of the capsule that had been used to capture the arrogant Ennead.

「Huh?」Kibadios noticed a strange accessory the Ennead was now wearing.

「Damn you, Seri!!! How dare you!!」The moment Ayer was free from the capsule, he was already screaming bloody, his hands desperately trying to tear open the collar on his neck. Since he was still being strangely pierced by Seri’s sealing magic, the Astral was still hanging midair as he struggled to break free.

「Heh. You see, there exist a few methods to trap a soul inside a homunculus vessel.That’s why not many Enneads decide to leave the Modun Realm, even if it’s via a homunculus vessel. And that’s why the moment Kadesha left the Modun and betrayed the Astrals, they had to asked for your help to take her down in this world of Esthar, Zaeryn.」Seri grinned.「Technically, it would be really hard for me to do what I did, sealing and trapping an Ennead in his vessel, but thanks to you, Ayer was exhausted and distracted. Now… He’s trapped. Worse for him, that collar is a special Runecraft made by Faye herself 9000 years ago. One of the most powerful Runecraft she ever created. Under the right condition, It can even force a soul of an Ennead into a contract…」

「Contract? You don’t mean…」

「Yes, it’s acting just like a slave contract…」Seri clapped her hand.「 Congratulations, Zaeryn. I just caught you a legendary Pokamon!!!.... Wait, or was it Pokomon? Pekomon?」

「... It’s Pokemon.」Kibadios corrected.

「A SLAVE CONTRACT?? NO!!! THIS CAN’T BE!!!」Ayer’s eyes were now filled with terror.

 

 

The Daemon:

AI Art

PS: I commissioned the author of The Titan Bride for some R18. Let's hope they will actually finish the commission and deliver haha.

 

I'm using Nijijourney and it generated such good designs/scenes (just look at this "Sorey kissing Mikleo in Tales of Zestiria" prompt I asked it to generate :D I mean, technically I don't think I've seen it ever generates the exact character but this is close enough lol ).

Again, sorry Artists, but I have not yet won a lottery and become rich to be able to commission every drawings that I need for this story >.>)

 

Chapter 156

「Hmm!!! HMMM!!!」Ayer struggled to scream out from the top of his lung, though with Kibadios’ small sheet of shadow wrapping around his mouth, it was not a surprise that “hmm” was all the sound he could audibly make.

「Enslaving an Ennead… Can Faye’s Runecraft really do it?」Kibadios was a bit suspicious. 

「Technically, no.」Answered Seri. 「But then, Ayer here isn’t technically an Ennead either, is he? He’s merely an Ennead soul residing in a homunculus body, which is why this collar works. If he was in his real body, the collar would be shattered into pieces already.」

「I see…」Kibadios nodded before turning toward the struggling otokonoko and gave him a ghoulish smile which easily sent chills down the trapped Ennead’s spine. 

「Now, with this slave collar on, you can give him 5 lasting commands, though I have to ask that one of them would be forbidding him from revealing what truly transpire within this dungeon to any outsiders.」Seri looked at the Astral.「After all, I am not supposed to be meeting with you, Zaeryn, let alone helping you tame an Ennead. If words get out, there will be war between the Astral and me… which would be a minor inconvenience for me.」

「Hah, so, what you’re telling me is that I can force you and the Astrals fighting one another and just sit back to enjoy the fallout?」Kibadios grinned devilishly.「Why shouldn’t I just let that happen?」

「Oh gosh! Why did I not think of that?」Seri rhetorically asked in a sarcastic tone.「You can totally do that, but trust me when I say that if the clash between us High Elves and the Astral ever happen without careful consideration, it could easily lead to the end of this world. Then, it’d just be Matelus who will be laughing since I was under the impression…」The Progenitor of the High elves turned to look at Uri 「... that now, just like eons ago, you have people you hold dear and want to protect at all cost so bringing this world to its probably deserving end, isn’t something you’d wish for.」

「... End of the world?」Ectharen whispered to Wylan. 

「... it’s probably not our place to ask, Ectharen.」Wylan carefully studied Kibadios’ companions, Gyo and Uri, though both gave off the same oblivious expression.

「Fine.」Kibadios turned to Ayer.「Heed my commands, Ayer! First, you are not to reveal what had transpired here and what Seri had done to anyone else. Second, you are not allowed to harm yourself or purposely get into dangerous situations without my explicit command… I will not allow you to kill yourself so your soul can return to the Modun」The hybrid grinned.「Third, you cannot harm me or any of my associates. Fourth, you have to always be truthful to me, obey me and fight for me. Fifth… you are to call me “Master” from now on.」

「Wow, you wasted one of your precious command on just making him calling you “Master?”」Seri asked

「Well, for him and his pride, that would probably be the worst command of the five, am I right, my lovely, unruly slave?」Kibadios could barely hide the devious smile from his face as he tore off the shadow that taped around Ayer’s mouth.

「You…」

「Answer my question.」

「Yes… Master.」Ayer tried to avert his eyes to hide from the Hybrid’s.

「That’s more like it.」

「Now, one last thing.」Seri raised both her arms.「Since you are now King of the Grasslanders and the rightful owner of this dungeon, you will get to unlock the remaining levels of this place.」

「Remaining levels?」Wylan asked.「There are more than 3 levels?」

「Of course!」Seri nodded.「This dungeon was created by me with the assistance of Faye, you think we would only max it out at 3 mere levels?」

「then how many levels are there total?」Asked Wylan, before the Yves realized he was talking to the great Progenitor herself. 「...Seri sama.」

「100 levels. Well, technically, 101, given that this place is supposed to be the last level」Seri discreetly winked at Kibadios, reminding him of what were lurking beyond the darkness.「but since this place is off-limit, there are 100 accessible levels.」

「100 levels?」Ectharen was surprised at the complexity of the dungeon.「There are really 100 levels? Not even the Great Dungeons of the Eastern lands can compare with the sheer amounts of level this place possesses. Heck, I don’t think the famous Astral Dungeon located in the theocracy can rival this.」

「Hah, of course! This dungeon is created by my own magic. You think those Astrals can compete with my magic?」Seri confidently patted her chest.「This place, can be thought of, as a Wonder of the World. Unlike during the trial, which this place was only supposed to be used as a coliseum for your fight to the death… that did not happen in the end anyways, in this fully unlocked form, as you descend down each level, the monsters and challenges you encountered would increase exponentially. Each level will have their own distinct environments, ranging from dark caves, to expansive grassland, to freezing tundra… you guys should give conquering it a try. Since the monsters would replenish themselves rather quickly… due to reasons」Seri turned to Kibadios, again trying to remind him of the fact that the strangely powerful monsters he encountered here were all born from the Essence of the God’s Curse that got leaked into this world.「you will be able to not only train yourself, but also to gather scarce and valuable loots, just make sure to not die, since without the rings, you won’t be able to be transported back to the real world.」

「... Seri sama!」called out Kuron.「If you share such connection with our people… would you please help us repelling the Yinese invaders from our land?」

「Ahh! That’s right! If it’s you and the forces of the High Elves, then those Yinese armies can definitely be defeated.」Ectharen’s eyes suddenly lit up.

「Hah. Like I said to your previous King hundreds of years ago, when he asked me the same question: This is your homeland. If you’re not fighting and giving your lives to protect it, then don’t expect others to. Besides, now that you have your new King, shouldn’t you place some trust in him?」

「Of course we believe in Zaeryn… Kibadios sama.」Ectharen flustered.「But…」

「Give it a rest, Ectharen dono. Seri wouldn’t lift a finger even if you kowtow and begged her while smashing your head onto the ground… Trust me, I know that my people tried before.」Kibadios glared at Seri, who was now stepping through a portal that her magic had just conjured. Even after everything his Teacher had done, Kibadios still could not know whether she could be considered truly an ally… or someone who just used him for whatever her ultimate end goal was. 

「...」Seri seemed to struggle to find parting words.

「...Before you leave, Seri…」Kibadios spoke up after a brief moment of hesitation.「Do you know Kaernas’ rival… and dearest friend? The one whose existence had been erased? 」

「... Why do you ask?」

「What’s my connection to that person?」Kibadios asked. After all, he could certainly put clues together much better than most of the shounen main characters do.  Just not long ago, right after he defeated Adela, he had a dream… or rather, “experience” a moment between Kaernas and a nameless man, whose overwhelming power could somehow transcend time and space for him to be able to detect the hybrid’s presence. If he had to guess, that person would be the one whose existence was deleted from the world… and if what Kiabdios “experienced” was truly a fragment of memories, then he’d somehow be related to either of the men in the memory: Kaernas or the Nameless man.

「... Who knows…」Seri smiled wearily.

「SERI!!! Remember this day! I will have my revenge!」Breaking the brief silence, Ayer ground his teeth loudly. 

「Ah, Ayer… Maybe by staying by Zaeryn’s side as his lowly slave, you’ll find your way… just like your poor mother had hoped that you would.」Seri waved goodbye with her back facing the Ennead, before vanishing completely.

「Don’t you dare mentioning that weak, pathetic woman in front of me」Ayer growled.「You ancient witch!!!」

「...」Kibadios simply remained silent as he watched Ayer raged.

「Welp. I don’t know what’s the history between you and that absurdly powerful elf, Boss, or between you and this trap… or between this trap and her for that matter.」Uri nonchalantly placed his hands behind his head while stretching his body leaning left and right.「But you’ve done it! You are now [King of the Grassland.]」As he finished his sentence, the Vice Captain quickly noticed all other Grasslanders were now dutifully kneeling down on their knees in front of Kibadios.

「「「Kibadios sama, we are at your commands!!!」」」The group declared. 

「Hmm, Wylan.」Kibadios thought for a brief moment before calling out to the Yves.「I have something I’d like your help.」

「Anything, Zaeryn… I mean, Kibadios sama!!!」Wylan’s face quickly brightened up when he realized he would be of use to his God King.

「Well, first of all, all of you here are to conceal the fact that I’m Zaeryn to outsiders. I will explain to you the details later tonight about my circumstances, but I’m sure you all know… To the Astrals and their followers, I’m an anathema…As a matter of fact, Ayer, did the Astrals reveal to any mortal that I’m Zaeryn reincarnation yet?」

「...」The blond Astral gritted his teeth, trying to stay silent, though the collar on his  neck quickly compelled the otokonoko to spit out an answer.「No! Not that I know of. When I left for the Modun, it’s still our policy to simply observe you for now… M.. M… Master.」

「I see.」Kibadios nodded.「So yes, do not let it slip out that I’m Zaeryn’s reincarnation. At least, not yet.」

「「「We understood, Kibadios sama!」」」

「Secondly, Wylan, the favor I want to ask of you is this:....」

.

.

.

Just like Kibadios’ harem, the people of Alsen have eagerly gathered around their town’s center, awaiting the coronation of their chosen King. Despite the grave situation they were facing, with their enemies gathering and preying upon their settlement, everyone who came to cheer for their leaders came with a smile on each of their faces. Soon enough, as the sun rose high up on the cloudless sky, the festive air became more apparent as the people continued to laugh and share gleeful conversations with one another. The orphan kids in the caravan that were under the care of Falkors for a brief day or two also showed up, excitedly chatting among themselves, betting whether if either “the cool hybrid brother” or the “warm, attentive beastman brother” would be their king. Of course, as kids, they did not realize that Falkor, their “warm and attentive beastman brother,” was technically not a King Candidate.

「So, we’ve been here since the morning… how do we know that someone had cleared the Trial?」Reuk asked as she leaned her breasts against the marble rail, looking toward the dungeon gate.

「I asked Kailos dono and he said the elders told him that once a King is chosen, supposedly, the entrance would be glowing in golden light.」Haden answered. 

「I see…」Reuk nodded.「So, like that?」The former Elf pointed toward the glowing dungeon entrance. The chattering quickly died down as all of those presence fixed their gaze toward the center of the town square. 

「Someone has earned the title of “the King”」Ren whispered.「Do you think it’d be Kibadios?」

「Of course! Neither of the other Heads can beat our Master, even if they team up.」Ryuu reminded the elf. 

「Ahh, but you can never know.」A familiar voice spoke up next to the dragonoid.

「Haa?? You think Master would lose to those two?」Ryuu was irritated, though as he turned to his side to confront whoever had just made such a comment, the dragonoid was taken aback at the appearance of someone he did not expect.「Ashura??」

「What are you doing here?」Ryan quickly unsheathed his sword since it was his instinct as a hero to always be vigilant when facing against a Great Demon Lord. 

「What are you guys doing? Raising your weapon against my Lord? Don’t you remember that technically, your Master has become my Lord’s sworn brother?」An ogre child, a reincarnation of the famous Ranmaru, dressed in full samurai clothes, scornfully reminded the group. Although Ashura appeared to completely let his guard down, the orge child standing next to him was already assuming an aggressive stance, preparing to strike back against anyone who would dare to attack his Lord.

「Ah, don’t be mad, Ranmaru. They’re just a bit awed by my intimidating aura.」Ashura grinned as he combed his hair backward with his hands.「But all of you, pay attention. You’re about to witness the coronation of the King of Grassland, an event that has not happened for hundreds of years.」

「Ashura sama, don’t just leave us behind like that!」Baxley breathed heavily as he, Amaira, and Erik rushed after Ashura.

「Ahh, I did not miss it yet!」Hurriedly arriving to the town square was Kailos.「... Kibadios」

「「「They’re here!!!!」」」The crowd busted into celebration as they noticed the 3 King Candidates, along with their retainers and Uri, suddenly reappeared in front of the dungeon. 「「「We finally have another King!! Who would it be??」」」

「....I’ve successfully come back with the Proof of Kingship, the mythical death mask of Zaeryn sama,  in hand!」declared the Yves while holding the golden death mask of Zaeryn.

「It’s…」「It’s!!!」

「Wylan sama!!!!」The House of Yves’ members were ecstatic as they learned their leader had apparently claimed the title that has been left empty for hundreds of years.

「So, Wylan sama was able to come out on top, huh?」The members from other Houses, though initially disappointed it wasn’t their own Candidates, still quickly cheered together with the rest of the town citizens. After all, although they belonged to different Houses, they all shared an unbreakable bond as natives of the Grassland. This very bond was the reason why, despite appearing fragmented, the people of Monas Kye were able to come together and fight off any invasions into their lands for millenia.「Wylan sama!! Wylan sama!!」

「What?? How can Master lose to that 4 eyes?」Ryuu couldn’t believe his eyes.

「Where’s Master, though?」Maia looked around, trying to find the adult version of Kibadios, but of course, she was looking in vain.

「Gyo dono is there.」Rowan pointed out.

「... Hmm, even Uri is there with them, as suspected.」Erik pointed out.

「But our Captain is nowhere to be seen.」Amaira, the leopard beastwoman, noted. 

「... Ehto… who’s that kid standing next to those two?」Ren asked, though deep down, he already had an inkling.

「Master!!!」Yuusei, being a half beastman, was the first to sniff out Kibadios’ scent. Since he, too, possessed two distinct racial forms, the mutant hybrid quickly deduced that his Master had most likely reverted back to his full incubus form since both his horns were replaced with a distinct incubus’ tail. He broke away from the crowd and rushed to his Master without a second thought. Of course, coming with him was Nu since he could recognize his Owner’s presence from miles away due to his unique Nen aura.

「Ahh, ahh, yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine Yuusei. You too, Nu. I’m surprised you realized who I am in this form.」Kibadios patted the mutant hybrid as the boy leaned in and rubbed his face against his master’s skin as a greeting while Nu popped up and down the incubus’ head.

「「「That’s Master?」」」His harem was shocked at their Master’s new appearance.

「Ho? Looks like my sworn brother got shrunken.」Ashura smiled, though his attention was more focusing on Wylan and the way he carefully held his golden mask on his hand, as if he was safe keeping it for someone, instead of triumphantly wearing it to assert his right to the Kingship, as most would have done since such a move would not only cement his ownership of such a valuable relics, but also boost the morale of the people since their newly crowned King could be considered as their god incarnate.

「Wylan…」Such peculiarity was also picked up by Kailos.「You’re really not going to wear it in front of the people here, huh? But why?」

「All hail Wylan sama, our new King!!!」One of the people shouted 

「All hail Wylan sama!!」

「Wylan sama will lead us to victory!!!」

「Wylan sama!!!」

.

.

.

「Kibadios sama, is this really okay…」Standing next to their true king, Wylan discreetly whispered to the hybrid.

「I don’t mind. Just enjoy the moment and act like a King, Wylan.」Kibadios whispered back. 「This is all according to my plan.」

「Understood, Your Majesty.」Wylan slightly nodded. 

「Master?」As the citizens of Alsen cheered and celebrated, Kibadios’ harem quickly rushed to him.「What happened? Why are you looking like this?」

「Yeah…」

「Gyo san?」「Uri san?」 Maia and Rowan turned to the other two, longing for an answer.

「Well, we encountered someone rather troublesome opponent within the dungeon and Kibadios sama exhausted himself fighting so at the end of the battle, he suddenly reverted to his incubus form. Since the race of Incubus aged a bit slower than Ogre… he pretty much turned into his younger form.」Gyo explained.

「But, who else could have push Kibadios sama that much?」Ryuu broke his intense embrace with his Master, only to ask the obvious question.

「Ah, nothing, just an arrogant Ennead.」Kibadios grinned.「I tamed him though. I’ll show him to you guys later.」

「「「「「WHAT???」」」」」 The group was completely shocked.

Standing not a few steps away from the group, Falkor’s eyes suddenly stretched wide open as he caught sight of a familiar person who blended in the large celebrating crowd.「That’s… Maryana?」Falkor already has been donning a rather elated expression ever since they got transported out from the dungeon, knowing that Monas Kye’s rightful King had finally been crowned by the mysterious leader of the High elves herself. Yet, the moment he noticed the sight of his missing wife, Falkor was elated beyond words. 「Maryana chann!! You’re really here?」Falkor grinned and vigorously waved at the strangely aloof woman standing guarded at the back of the crowd. Yet, to his surprise, the moment the woman noticed he was  trying to communicate with her, she suddenly vanished into thin air. 「Huh? Maryana?」Falkor  was taken aback at his wife’s strange behavior. As the crowd rushed toward the Heads of the Houses and especially Wylan, Falkor instead struggled to make his way through the mass to catch up with the disappeared woman. 

「That was…」Although swarmed with all the attentions from his harem, Kailos, and the House of the Horns’ members, and lastly the general public, Kibadios did not fail to notice  Falkor’s brief interaction with the disappearing woman. 

.

.

.

「Please report to Adeus sama that Zaeryn had gotten out of the dungeon. He seemed to have reverted into his Incubus form for some reason.」The doll personally created by Adeus, who had assumed the identity named Maryana for almost 10 years now, muttered into a transponder  as she quickly made her way down an empty street.

「Maryana!!」Falkor, who finally caught up to the doll, desperately called out.「You’re Maryana right? Why are you running away? Are you afraid that the people who would notice you’re not a demihuman? Don’t worry Maryana! They won’t discriminate against you. Come with me! Ectharen knew that you’re a human already. He can help us…」Since his wife was a human… or rather, unbeknownst to him, a doll being made into an appearance of a human,  obviously Falkor misunderstood that the woman was merely trying to hide her presence from the citizens of Alsen. 

「... Who are you?」Maryana, after being reactivated back to being a doll servant for Adeus,  had her memory of the time she spent with Falkor completely wiped out.

「What are you saying? You’re joking right?」Falkor tried to laugh, though he was unsure of what was going on.「That’s not funny, Maryana.」

「I don’t know you. But if you insist on following me, I have an order to eliminate anyone who gets in my way.」The woman monotonously replied. 

「Maryana, stop scaring me!」Falkor tried to reach out to the woman, though for her part, she had quickly responded by taking out a small dagger in her hand, ready to strike. 

BAMMM!!!

「Falkor san!」Ryuu crashed landed inbetween the husband and wife, with one hand wrapped tightly onto the red head beastman’s wrist, preventing him from advancing any further while the other hand pointing his lance toward the frozen doll.「Don’t. She’s not your wife… rather, not anymore. She’s clearly a doll spying on us.」

「A what?」

「...」Knowing she would not be able to fight against Ryuu, Maryana took out a dozen smoke bombs and threw them all onto the ground, creating enough distraction for her to slip away.  Of course Ryuu tried to catch up with her but as she retreated, the doll planted several more explosion traps along the escape route, which greatly hindered Ryuu’s effort.

「Tsk… Damn it. I lost her.」

「Ryuu dono!!!」Falkor, not understanding what had just happened, rushed after Ryuu. Thinking that Ryuu mistook her for the Yinese Empire’s spy, the beastman tried to clear the misunderstanding.「Please don’t hurt her!! She’s not a spy. She’s my wife, she meant no harm.」

「No, Falkor… You don’t understand.」The hybrid, who had finally arrived at the scene, spoke up from behind the beastman.「She’s our enemy.」

「Zae… Kibadios sama? What… do …you mean?」Falkor’s voice was trembling.

「I’ll explain everything tonight at the meeting of the Houses.」Kibadios declared.

Notes:

Okay, that's it for this arc.
I will take a 1-1.5 months break (epilogue of this arc and prologue of the next will probably be released together a month- a month and a half from now). Writing 2-3 chapters/ month on average was tough lol... especially when I mostly improvise as I write the details.
Fun fact: All I had to work with as I started this arc is the big plot: "Kibadios returns home, claims title of King" lol

Now, let's recap:
The immediate storylines that will (probably... maybe) be concluded next arc:
of the Chimera group, of Falkor and his wife, of Wei Shimin and his plans...
The briefly mentioned but still relevant storylines:
Disappearance of the dwarf, Ayer's past, One of the six hero who was goaded into dealing with Kibadios by Adeus

Warning: There will be tears!!!!... I think...

and there are tons other small storylines too haha... God... >.> This story is kinda becoming too big lol.

Also, I'll probably switch to writing yaoi fanfic in this 1-1.5 month break

Chapter 157: Bonus: Sketches of Kibadios x Ayer

... So I was being cheap and I found an artist on skeb with a style that I like and charged really cheap rate because they're more like sketches. I asked for a few scenes of Kibadios x Ayer and the scenes turned out really well (that I even boosted/pay extra after they delivered the pages because I thought the effort worth more than what i paid.)

But because they are sketches, the more I look at them, the more I feel like they're not good enough for what I pictured as first R18 scene between Kibadios and Ayer (even again, I think the artist was very talented.)

Anyways, long story short, I made another request with another artist that I think would make a better first Kibadios x Ayer R18 scenes. (I was being cheap and turned out I'd pay even more lol >.> story of my life.)

And since I won't be using these sketches, Imma post them here (As you would have expected, the first time between Kibadios x Ayer will be 100% rape that reminiscing Kibadios x Rowan and Maia (though in their case, they technically did consent, even though they didn't know that they did lol))

 

Artist: https://skeb.jp/@kstkTRPG

 

 

Chapter 158: Epilogue

Notes:

I'm back! :D
It's funny during this break, I actually went back and reread some of the chapters.... A lot of time, my grammar is horrendous and some other times, I actually forgot actual words in a sentence lol. Thanks for bearing with that. >.> The thing is that I could somehow only write at night... and when i'm sleepy, I just made tons of mistakes >.>

「Kibadios sama!!!」The group rushed to the smol incubus the moment he returned to the House of The Horns’s main residence, where his harem members were instructed to wait for him. 

「Welcome back, Kibadios sama.」Hayden bowed deeply as he greeted the hybrid, along with Reuk.

「Ryuu chan, what was that about?」Ryan asked the dragonoid, who was walking by their Master.「Where did both you and Master rush to in the middle of the celebration? Were you guys going after Falkor san?」

「We were chasing a spy… a doll created by the Astral.」Ryuu explained, before turning to Kibadios.「Unfortunately, I lost track of her, though.」

「An Astral’s spy?」Ren confirmed.「Then that means they have finally located you, Kibadios… sama.」The former prince again almost forgot to add an honorific to his Master’s name. 

「Yeah. But that’s not the only issue.」

「What do you mean?」

「As it turns out, the doll that was spying on us is Falkor’s missing wife, Maryana.」Revealed Ryuu. 

「「「Huh? How can it be?」」」

「... We’ve read this in the First’s journal.」Ren recalled.「The Astral planted their dolls in Esthar, living among the people to subtly manipulate and nudge us to act in the way that the Astrals wish. Many of the dolls are tasked to mingle and insert themselves into the ruling class of kingdoms and nations, but some of them are simply allowed to live normal lives among normal people like us, only to be reawakened into their doll mode if the needs arise. By doing this, the Astrals would have literally eyes and ears everywhere to spy on us.」

「We have read about this a long time ago when we discovered the First’s book in the Royal Library… but to us, they seemed to be nothing but fairy tales. But I guess it’s all true. 」

「So… Falkor san’s wife is one of those dolls?」frowned Maia.「 Was she only pretending to be with him to hide the fact she’s a doll? He was desperately worried about her though…」

「...Probably that’s not the case, Maia chan. According to what was written in the book, most of the time, the dolls wouldn’t even know they’re dolls. They merely live their lives as one of us, experience normal emotions as one of us, growing old as one of us. I’m sure the affection that doll had for Falkor san was real…」Yue gently placed her hand on the Alchemist’s shoulder.

「But that doesn’t matter anymore.」Ryuu pointed out.「Once dolls are being reawakened, they will be nothing but automatons that serve the will of their creators. So for all intents and purposes, Falkor’s wife, or rather, the body that possesses her personality and memories, is no more.」

「... That…that’s just too cruel.」Maia softly muttered.

「...But how did you know she’s a doll, Kibadios sama?」Hayden asked. Part of him probably wished that his Master had made a mistake, though he already knew such a chance was slim.

「Well, they have a… I don’t know… “special traces” of the Astral’s world lingering around them so it was easy for me to identify one. Though I don’t think I can ever describe those “special traces” for you guys to understand. Only those who has stepped foot into the Modun realm can describe it.」

「So, even Ryuu chan cannot tell?」Rowan turned to the dragonoid.

「Nope. I only obey Kibadios sama’s command, which was to chase after her.」Ryuu shook his head.

「Then, how do we know if someone we meet is a doll?」Rowan was clearly concerned.

「Well, even though there are dolls living among us, the chance of you ever coming across one is fairly low… and almost nonexistent around this area, since dolls can only be made in the form of a human. Though, you should be more cautious if you’re interacting with someone without any familial ties since dolls cannot reproduce.」

「Hmm, I guess among us, I would be suspected  the most for being a doll」Ryan pointed out since he was living in an orphanage for most of his life. 

「Not really since dolls cannot possess the <Seeds of Hero>. So you’re safe, Ryan.」Kibadios grinned. 「Just be vigilant, but don’t stress out too much about accidently allowing a doll approaching you.」

「So, did you tell Falkor about the revelation about his wife?」Reuk brought up the uncomfortable notion.

「Yeah, I had planned to tell him later, but he was adamant and kinda interrogated me on the spot about the fact that his wife is a doll…」

「Tsk, he was so disrespectful that I almost kicked his ass for raising his voice at Master.」Ryuu pouted.

「Can’t blame him, Ryuu chan. After all, that’s his wife.」

「What is he going to do about it, then?」Ren asked

「I don’t know. He just stayed silent, though I bet he would not simply let her be.」Kibadios shook his head.

「「...」」The group also remained silent for a brief moment, before Yuusei was the first to bring up the events that happened in the Dungeon.「Master hurts? What happened in Dungeon?」

「「「That’s right!」」」The group suddenly was now fully reminded that their beloved master now appeared as a smol incubus shota instead of the sexy confident hybrid in his teens.

「Ah, I’m fine, Yuu chan」Answered Kibadios as Yuusei systematically checked his master’s head, neck, shoulder, torso, thigh, and feet for any injury.「...I told you I’m fine, you don’t have to worry!」

「But what happened? You said you faced an Ennead in the dungeon? How is it possible?」Ryan asked.

「And you have turned into this shota incubus form… is this transformation permanent?」Ren fondly touched Kibadios’ soft cheek as if he really enjoyed Kibadios’ new form.

「You’re such a perv, Ren chan. Why do you want to know if it’s permanent? Are you afraid my junior had also shrunk?」The hybrid teased.「Don’t worry, Ren chan. I’ve already checked and my junior here is still at just over 1 maderaka in length. And just like Yuu chan, I will soon being able to control my forms and revert back to how I usually look.」

「「Maderaka?」」The group was confused, not knowing that Kibadios was referencing Benriya Saitou, Isekai ni iku. Among them, only Reuk had understood exactly what Kibadios was referencing, though he chose not to explain. 

「Why you! You’re the perverted one! Of course that’s not why I was asking!!」Ren angrily denied. 

「You misunderstood, Master.」His sister quickly explained.「Nii chan simply has always had a soft spot for kids so I think he just rather likes how adorable you look right now.」

「Oh, now I see! Is that why he seems to be fond of Yuusei?」Rowan quickly realized that among all of the harem members, Ren has always acted much more tolerably toward the young mutant hybrid.

「... I just can’t help it.」Ren pinched the unimpressed Yuusei’s cheeks.「Yuu chan is just so cute and innocent…」The former elven prince then leered at Kibadios.「Though his innocence has been totally destroyed by that perverted Master of ours over there.」

「I know how you feel, Ren chan!」It was Maia who now gently hugged the shota formed Yuusei.「But Yuu chan was really glad that our Master … bonded with him.」Maia carefully chose the right word, to which the mutant hybrid simply nodded in agreement.

「Okay okay, but can we get back to the incident in the dungeon?」Ryan reminded the group, who had somehow strayed away from the original topic again.

「Sure!」Kibadios nodded, before allowing his shadow to expand out before he reached down to pull something, or rather, someone out from below the darkness.「Say hello to my temperamental slave, Ayer!」

「Zaeryn! I’ll fucking kill you!」Still being chained by Faye’s collar, the captured Ennead growled.

「「「Just try it!」」」Even without knowing who the otokonoko was, Kibadios’ harem quickly bore their fangs, surrounded the Ennead and resolutely pointed their weapons at him, stopping him from approaching their Master any further.

「Kneel, Ayer」The hybrid commanded「Don't you guys worry. Ayer cannot harm me, no matter how much he wanted to.」Kibadios held the defiant Ennead chin up, letting the trap defiantly look up at him.「Let me tell you what happened in the Dungeon.」

.

.

.

「Haa….?」The young female attendant failed to utter a single word as she withered away on the crystal floor, struggling to breath.「I… did… as you commanded… I informed Ayer sama of … Zaeryn’s location.」

「Indeed. And so, you have served your purpose, Delia. Now that Ayer had fallen into the hands of Zaeryn, there will be no doubt that the other Enneads would investigate this matter. I can’t let them know that you were the one who told Ayer where to find the Anathema… or that I was behind all this.」The figure cloaked in white clothes smiled creepingly. 「You have ascended to this timeless realm of Modun and lived as an Astral for almost 1000 years, Delia. Time to rest… permanently.」

「.... Pleaseee…」Delia begged, though the person in front of her was now no longer paying her any attention but looking at the motionless real body of Ayer. The woman’s vision slowly turned blurry before darkness enveloped and welcomed her into its embrace. When the woman, a former hero, managed to ascend to the rank of the Astral more than 1000 years ago by forfeiting her ties to her loved ones in Esthar, she would have never imagined that one day, she would join the short list of Astrals who perished in this timeless realm.

「Sleeping so peacefully, huh, Ayer.」The figure leaned over the pod to touch the sleeping Ayer’s soft lips.「This trap I sprung for you would not have worked had you been a bit less cocky. Now, instead of having only 1 Ennead position to be filled, we will have 2. Things are getting exciting.」

.

.

.

「Adeus sama!」Maryana bowed down before the projected image of her Creator, who still appeared as stoic as ever. 

「What have you learned?」

「Zaeryn had partook in the Trial for the title of King of Monas Kye by entering the ancient dungeon. However, it appeared that he had failed since the Head of the House of the Eyes has emerged victorious and claimed the King title.」Maryana monotonously reported.「I believe something had occurred inside the dungeon during the trial because once they came out, Zaeryn had transformed into his incubus form instead of his usual hybrid form.」

「... Hmmm… Interesting.」Adeus noted.「Zaeryn reverted to a pure racial form? He must have exhausted his power, which usually causes hybrids like him to transform into either of their pure racial forms to recuperate. Although us Astral don’t have any record on this particular dungeon, at his estimated power level, I doubt there could be any monster living in there that he could not have handled… what could have pushed him to that extent?」

「... I don’t know, Adeus sama.」Maryana hesitated for a moment, before continuing her report.「... and also, due to my incompetent, Zaeryn had discovered that I was spying on him. I understand this is a grave blunder. I will accept any punishment you deem fit.」

「That’s unfortunate but it’s not the end of the world.」Adeus was certainly not as concerned about it as his doll would have thought.「Continue to stay close to the city and monitor him and his group. If we’re lucky, that Yinese prince will corner him just enough so that he will have to summon HaoS to get out of the situation… Either that, or Akaban will act as my blade. Regardless, I will make him use HaoS and release his hold on Adela… I will make him …suffer…」 Adeus clenched his fist while his eyes glowed in pure hatred.

「Also, Adeus sama.」Maryana suddenly remembered another detail she had forgotten to report.「I’ve also spotted Ashura in the crowd at Alsen.」

「Can you be sure if that’s him and not just a copy of him made from his Ultimate Arte?」

「... I do not know.」

「Keep an eye out on him. Though, unless we can locate all 6 of his clones to simultaneously eliminate them, there’s no point in engaging with that man.」Adeus noted.「An ambitious ultimate slime, a whimsical beastman hybrid, an enraged overlord, and the ancient fallen fairy… This generation of Yonko are such a pain. 」

.

.

.

「Yo Big Boss, so what are you doing here?」Uri loudly greeted Ashura with a grin while Erik and his group simply stood by, acknowledging their leader with simple nods.

「Bringing you this.」Ashura took out a small glowing necklace.

「Huh? What’s that?」

「What do you mean “ What’s that?”」Ranmaru, the child ogre frowned.「Didn’t you ask Ashura sama to help you with your fated pair problem? He actually set out to obtain this talisman for you.」

「Oh, Really? What does it do?」Uri leaned in to study the beautiful necklace further. 

「It’s a very rare artifact that suppresses your heat and actually allows you to have sex with people that are not your fated alpha.」Ashura explained.「At least that’s what it is supposed to do. It was mentioned in a very old book about incubii I found in the Great Library of Uruk.」

「Wow, and where did you find it?」

「... I stole it from the City of Uruk’s Royal Armory, hahahaha!!」Ashura laughed.

「Wow, Gilga dono would kill you if she finds out you stole her stuff… again.」Uri backed off from the necklace the moment he realized what his boss had done.「I really appreciate it, Boss, but it’s a bit late. I don’t need that anymore.」The hybrid incubus slowly unzipped his jacket and slightly pulled down his pants just enough for the incubus mark to be visible.

「Wait a minute! That’s…」Erik quickly noticed the glowing pink pattern. 

「An incubus mark?」Amaira asked.「Don’t tell me you’ve bonded with our Captain?」

「Just what had happened in that dungeon?」Baxley asked.「You’ve bonded with the Captain and on top of that, the captain came out all shrunken and such.」

「Ah… that’s a long story, but aside from the fact that the boss and I fucked, I don’t think I can tell you exactly what happened in there… At least not until he himself decides to tell you.」

「You… Even if Ashura sama commands you to?」Ranmaru asked.

「Within the Hyakki Yagyo, concepts such as “command” or “obey” don't exist, Ran.」Uri reminded the young ogre, before turning to Ashura.「But yes, even if the Big Boss asks me himself, I can’t answer.」

「Hm, I only have one question, Uri.」Ashura was amused.

「Which is?」

「I thought you’re against this fated pair bonding thing. Why did you finally decide to accept it?」

「Ahh… The captain is just a bit persuasive, I guess.」Uri smiled.「And don’t get me wrong. I’m not like the others in his obedient harem. It’s simply a friends with benefits thing. Despite his lack of big boobs, sex with him just felt much better than with any other girls.」

「Don’t be vulgar, Uri.」The blushing Amaira reprimanded her vice captain.「You’re in the presence of an innocent girl here.」

「Really? Innocent? Where?」

「Why you!」The angry mutant beastman simply knocked hard on the hybrid incubus’ head, which left a visible bump on him.

「Calm down, Amaira! I was just joking.」groaned Uri.

「Welllll, That’s that then.」Ashura stretched his arms.「If you don’t need this necklace anymore, I’ll just have Ran chan somehow discreetly returns it to the Armory without Gilga knowing.」

「Yeah…. Wait, why me?」Ranmaru whined.

「That’s because I know you will be able to sneak into Uruk and return it without any problem, Ran chan. After all, you’re my most dependable retainer.」The Yonko was clearly trying to trick the ogre to do his legworks, though the flattered loyal retainer simply blushed. 

「Ashura sama, you don’t have to praise me like that~ Such a task is nothing.」Ranmaru waved dismissively.「I won’t let you down!」

「「「Ran, just how gullible are you…」」」The group muttered.

「Huh?」The innocent Ranmaru turned to the group, not able to clearly hear what they had just said, though behind him, Ashura was desperately signaling for the others to shut up.

 

 

 

Sneak peek to the Kibadios x Gyo first sex scene (the second to last harem member, which will happen in probably a few chapters). Also, in case you're wondering, the artist just forgot to draw Kibadios' horns lol:

Chapter 159: Volume 4: Prologue_ An unexpected decision.

After the seemingly ever lasting celebration by the populace, the cheery festive mood had finally died down by the time the moon hung high on the dark, starless sky, as the people reluctantly returned to their houses, broad smiles still visibly clinged on the joyful faces. Under this desperate situation they found themselves in, the people of Alsen, or rather, the free people of the entire Grasslands, now suddenly found their small rays of hope, all thanks to the coronation of the new King. 

「Wylan sama, the young lord of the House of the Horns and his companions are here.」 In the middle of a tranquil garden located inside the House of the Horns’ main residence, the Alsen sentry reported to his newly crowned King and the two other Heads, before bowing and retreated to one side, allowing the group to walk up from behind him. With a nod from Wylan, the sentry simply took his leave since he fully understood that it was not his place to participate in such a meeting. 

「Kibadios sama!」Once the guard had finally left, the leaders of the 3 Houses quickly got away from their seats around a large round stone table and rushed to kneel down in front of the hybrid, who was still in his shota form. Their attendants, Kuron, Falkor, and Gyo, also quickly knelt down.

「Please stand up.」Ordered Kibadios, though any authoritative tone he possessed was rather overshadowed by the presence of a slime monster resting comfortably on his head. Before arriving at the meeting, Kibadios had been asked by his group if they could just carry Nu for him since having a monster latching on one’s head might have been unseemly for a monarch like himself. But given how he has been neglecting his pet because of how busy he was, the hybrid decided to just let Nu enjoy laying on him for the time being. After all, he really cared not for how the other Heads and his father might be perceiving him.「I assume they have told you everything, father?」

「Yes. Ectharen and Wylan dono had explained to me what happened.」Kailos glanced at the beautiful boy in chains standing by his son before his gaze reverting back to the hybrid.「.... You’re… really Zaeryn… sama?」There was a hint of doubt in the ogre’s voice, which Kibadios could not have blamed him for. 「Though I guess that’s not such an outrageous notion, given how you have a dragonkin following you around.」Kailos gave Ryuu a smile.

「Yes. I’m sorry I did not tell you before, but this reincarnation wasn’t my first. Rather, this is the third time that I’ve been reincarnated into this world.」Kibadios nodded.「But please, father, just like what you’ve said before: it doesn’t matter who I was, this life, I am Kibadios. I am your and mother’s son.」

「Kibadios…」Kailos gave his son a faint smile before reaching out to him for a tight embrace.「Thank you, Kibadios. Of course, in this lifetime, you’re still my precious son and I’m still your father. I should never have doubted it.」

「...」Kibadios froze for a second, then slowly reciprocated the ogre’s sudden hug.「No… Thank you… fa…dad.」

「Chi!!!」Seeing people around it was hugging, the slime was also excited, jumping up and down on Kibadios’ head before inflating itself to press against both its master and Kailos as if it was also trying to join in the emotional moment.

「Yeah, yeah, Nu. Of course you can join us.」Kailos smiled.

「Nu chan!」Maia reached out to pull the slime away from Kibadios.「Don’t ruin the moment.」

「Chii??」

「Anyways, since we’re all here, let me start by thanking the 3 Houses for accepting me as your leader.」Kibadios turned to Wylan and Ectharen.

「Please don’t say that, Kibadios sama!!! To us, you’re our god! If anything, it would be us who should be rejoiced at your return.」Brimming with excitement, the Yves Head grinned broadly. Although the demihuman inhabitants of Monas Kye all worshiped Zaeryn one way or another, the devotion of the House of the Eyes toward Kibadios’ first reincarnation was on a whole other level. 

「With you leading us, we now have hope of victory!」Ectharen declared. 

「Though, there’s still one thing I don’t understand.」Wylan tilted his head.「Why did you let the people think it was me who won the trial?」

「Let’s have a seat」Kibadios pointed at the round the table, waiting for the three other leaders to sit down before continue.「The reason is that my goal is still the same: I will carry out my duty and eliminate Wei Shimin and cause chaos upon the Yinese Army. We will seize that chaos and counterattack to take back our lands. And since I will be the arrow that aims at the Head of the Yinese forces, I’d like to have all of their attention be focused on someone else. And in this case, that someone else would be you, Wylan, the “King” of Monas Kye. I imagine the Wei Shimin would be closely watching every movement you make, which hopefully makes him blind to the threat that is posed by me.」

「You still want to personally take on Wei Shimin? That’s really dangerous! You’re our King now. You’re the one who we will all rally around, there’s no way we will let you carry out such a dangerous mission.」Kailos argued.

「Hmm, I would have agreed with you before, Kailos, but after witnessing the power our King possesses, I think he would be able to defeat Wei Shimin.」Ectharen smiled. 

「Yes, after all, he was able to go toe to toe against an Astral within the dungeon.」Wylan, along with the other three attendants, nodded. The ogre Head was still reluctant, but he knew there was nothing much he could say to convince the hybrid otherwise. 

Hmm… actually, I’m not too sure. After overexerting myself, I’m now in a withdrawal state that makes it impossible for me to activate my Ultimate Arte for quite some time. Kibadios thought though he decided to keep the secret to himself. But still, dealing with that man shouldn’t be impossible, given how much I have leveled up after my battle against Ayer.

「Worst comes to worst, I can always crush that Wei Shimin guy for you, Master.」Ryuu confidently pointed at himself. 

「Actually, no.」Kibadios shook his head.「If I’m the arrow that will pierce the Yin Empire’s forces, you’ll be our immovable shield that protects Alsen, our last stronghold.」

「Ahhh, I see.」The dragonoid nodded, before realizing something.「Wait, but does that mean I won’t be joining you?」

「Yeah, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine.」

「Butttt….」Ryuu whined.

「Listen to me, Ryuu chan, and I’ll make sure to reward you with something worthwhile.」Kibadios assured the dragonoid as he sensually licked his lip. 

「Okay, if I have to…」Despite the implicit promise of some intense fucks, Ryuu was still a bit dissatisfied that he would have to be parted from Kibadios for some time. 

「...」The three Heads looking at one another, before Kailos spoke up.「... There’s something I have yet to tell you, Kibadios. 」

「What was it?」

「Earlier today, an envoy from the Yin Empire arrived outside our gate. They gave us a proposal that if we were to agree to it, they will pull back their army and enter a ceasefire agreement with us for a year.」

「Hoh? And what did they want?」

「...」Kailos remained silent for a moment as if he was debating whether he should tell his son. 「.... They… They want to have an audience with the last Princess of the Kingdom of Yue.」

「THEY WANT WHAT?」Ren shouted angrily, his arm instinctively raised to cover his sister「Ha!! Tell them to fuck off!」

「Yeah!」Maia, along with other fellow harem members, nodded in agreement.

「That’s what I told them.」Kailos also agreed.「But they said they will let us deliberate on it for a week so their envoys are camping just outside the city. To ensure they’re not doing anything funny, I have Teran spying and monitoring their movement now. Although we have refused their proposal, I figure you should know about it, since you’re now our King.」

Unlike his harem’s explosive responses, Kibadios has remained eerily silent for a while, deep in thought. Such a reaction, or rather, lack of one, did not escape Yue’s notice. 

「Master, are you considering the offer?」Yue asked directly.「I don’t mind having an audience with Wei Shimin if it means we can earn some precious ceasefire time to organize ourselves and prepare for a counterattack.」

「What are you saying? That is out of the question!!」Ren quickly shot down the proposal.

「Nii sama, we have promised to devote our bodies and souls to Kibadios sama. Our ultimate fate is for Master to decide.」The sister reminded her brother. 

「But!」

「So, what’s the relationship between you and Wei Shimin? Did you not say he was the one who burned down your capital city?」Kibadios asked the obvious question.「The first thing that comes to my mind when he asks for you is that he wants to eliminate the last royal blood of the Kingdom of Yue. But then, why did he not ask for Ren?」

「Maybe he did not know I’m also here.」The former prince answered.「After all, didn’t you say his generals only saw Yue when she performed the ritual to cast the protective barrier.」

「Yeah, but seeing her here, it would only be natural to assume you’re also here since you guys have never stayed apart from one another, am I wrong?」

「That may be true…」Ren nodded, before realizing something. 「Wait a minute, you’re really planning to let Yue go to meet Wei Shimin?」

「Aside from witnessing his ruthless attack on our city, I have no connection with him personally.」Yue answered. 「Though… both Nii sama and I do have some connection with his brother, the emperor of the Yin empire since we’re technically his teachers once.」

「「「What?」」」

「Yeah, that was when he was a child some fifty odd years ago. Back then, despite the Yin Kingdom having already conquered two other kingdoms closest to it, our kingdoms still had some diplomatic ties so the Kingdom of Yin’s crown prince, now the second emperor of the Yin Empire, did come and stayed as an esteemed guest at our capital for a few years. During that time, we did teach him the… basic… of Runecraft.」

「But you did not interact with his brother, Wei Shimin?」

「No」

「Then what’s behind his desire to meet with Yue?」Kibadios asked rhetorically.

「It doesn’t matter, right?」Maia interrupted.「It doesn’t matter what his intention is, we simply cannot let Yue chan go to meet that man. It’s like letting her walk into a lion’s den.」

「...」Kibadios again, was deep in thought for a moment, then turned to the former princess with a guilty look.「Do you trust me, Yue chan?」

「Of course, Master.」The girl smiled.

「Thank you, my dear princess.」The hybrid finally reverted back to his confident self, a grin crossed his face.「Let’s agree to their proposal. We will let Yue chan go to have an audience with Wei Shimin in exchange for a ceasefire.」Declared Kibadios, to the surprise of all who were present.

Chapter 160

「HAHHH?? What do you mean we will agree to their proposal?」Ren scowled.

「That’s right, Master! I don’t know what the Yin Empire is looking for, asking for a meeting with Yue chan, but there’s nothing good that can come out of it.」Maia nodded while wrapping her arm around Yue. 「We should only entertain this offer if their Commander is to come to us, unarmed.」

「Master, what are you planning?」Unlike the rest, Rowan fully expected his Master to already have a plan in mind.

「Well, we want to take out Wei Shimin, right?」The group nodded. 

「But currently, we don’t know where he is, right?」The group also nodded.

「And on top of that, we don’t know where his supposed base of operation, the ‘laboratory’ is, correct?」

The group also nodded, though it was Rowan who suddenly realized what his Master was thinking about. 「Wait, so you meant to use the meeting between Yue chan and him as a way to determine the his location and location of the laboratory?」

「Yes.」Kibadios nodded. 「Technically speaking, as of right now, it’s really easy to get to him. We’re at war, so if anything, the moment he marches his army over here and joins up with Hou Yi’s army, he should be the one who leads the next assault on this city. If we wait until then, we can easily locate and assassinate him. But even if we do succeed, I fear we will forever be unable to locate the laboratory. Furthermore, the scenario of Alsen having to fend off a combined army is one of the least desirable, since it would result in a large casualty. However, if we agree to his proposal, it would be more likely that he would retreat toward his base of operation and carry out the meeting there.」

「But he would also equally likely stay at Ka’shinu, the city he had just conquered.」Ren asked.

「You’re right, but if I were him, I would not want to stay at a place where I had just decimated, where my army is still actively suppressing the guerrilla insurrections.」

「Why?」

「Because I cannot hold a good reception ceremony to welcome the princess that I want to meet with.」Kibadios answered.「Despite everything else, he’s still a Prince of a proud and ancient Yin Empire that has existed in one form or another for 1000 years, an empire full of traditions and ceremonies, if what you two have told me is correct.」The hybrid looked at Ren.「If we just judge the tone of the proposal, he did not command Yue chan to come to meet him. He merely suggests that she does. He could just intimidate her into meeting him by threatening to destroy Alsen. But on the contrary, he offered to enter a ceasefire with us in exchange for the meeting, indicating he wants us to think he’s treating Yue chan as an equal… Whether he would keep his promise regarding the ceasefire, that’s another question. Regardless, if they were to converse with one another as equals, I’m sure such a meeting between the prince and princess from another state would require a few preparations and elaborate ceremonies. Of course, maybe I’m wrong and he will only meet with Yue chan at Ka’shinu like Ren chan said. Even if that’s the case, comparing with killing him in the midst of a massive battle between his force and ours, this agreement would still allow us to kill him with minimal casualties being inflicted on the populace.」

「So… does it mean you will come with Yue?」Ren asked. After listening to his Master’s explanation, the former prince had calmed down a bit.

「Of course!」Kibadios cocked his head.「Did you really think I’d let my precious princess go  to the enemies alone?」

「Ha, I guess not.」A brief smile of relief appeared on Ren’s face. The former prince had slightly doubted the integrity of his Master when the hybrid easily agreed to the proposal that might put his sister in danger, but seeing how much Kibadios cared for his sister, Ren already felt a bit shameful. 

「You’ve worried too much, Nii sama.」Yue smiled.「Regardless of what Kibadios sama decides, it’s our job to carry out his will.」

Did you have that much faith in Kibadios… sama, Yue… Ren suddenly gave his twin sister a sorrowful look. Or rather, you just don’t care whatever’s going to happen to you anymore. Unlike me, your frozen heart has not been swayed by his charisma, hasn’t it, Yue….

「Using Yue dono to get to Wei Shimin and his base of operation?」Kailos thought for a moment.「You may be correct that this is the only chance, but there are so much risks involve, Kibadios.」

「Yeah, my King. If you’re only allowing this meeting because you’re worried about our safety, then don’t.」Ectharen spoke up.「Each and every inhabitant in Monas Kye is ready to fight and die for our freedom. Even if we are facing against the endless waves of Yin Empire soldiers, none of us would be backing down.」

「Ectharen dono is right, Your Majesty.」Wylan chimed in.「You don’t have to risk Yue dono’s safety just to protect us.」

「No, that’s not it. I do want to protect innocent lives here in Alsen…」Kibadios shook his head.「But did you not hear what I just said? I do have ulterior motives for trying to find Wei Shimin’s base since that’s most likely where my mother is being kept. I want to save my mother too.」Kibadios looked at Yue.「And Yue chan will never be in any danger, for I will be by her side.」

「That settles it!! Then we’re all going with Yue as her entourage?」Ryuu wagged his tail, as if he was a loyal dog waiting for his master’s command.

「No, not all of us.」Kibadios corrected the dragonoid.「In fact, it’d be just Yue chan and I. You all are to stay here and protect Alsen in my absent.」

「「「What??」」」The group shouted.

「What? You don’t trust me and my strength?」Kibadios smirked. 

「No, that’s not it… but it’s just that we don’t want to part from you, Master.」Ryan pouted. 

「Even to the point the point of disobeying my order?」Kibadios sternly asked.

「We… don’t dare to…」The group resigned.

「No matter what you say, I’ll come with Yue chan!」Maia stepped up. 「After all, she’s a princess going to a rather semi-official meeting with another Prince. She needs her lady in waiting accompany her, right Yue chan?」

「But it’d be dangerous Maia chan. You shouldn’t come with us.」

「Well, do you think you alone can satisfy our master’s nightly need, Yue chan?」Maia leaned in and whispered in her ear.「For sure you’ll need my help too.」

「...」Although Kibadios couldn’t hear what his alchemist girl just told Yue, he could kind of guess, seeing how Yue was turning a bit red.「Fine, then you can come with us, Maia chan.」

「Yay!」The girl celebrated. 

「...」From the opposite where Kibadios sat, the Horns and Eyes Heads looked at their own attendants, then they all nodded in agreement. 

「「Your Majesty」」Both Ectharen and Wylan called out.「Please let us contribute our strength to this mission.」

「Huh?」Kibadios was surprised. After all, carrying out assassination on Wei Shimin was supposed to be his own task. 

「I, Kuron」「And I, Falkor」Both spoke in unison. 「shall accompany Your Majesty as representatives from our respective Houses.」

「If that’s the case, then I, Gyo, shall come with Your Majesty as representative from the House of the Horns, too.」The swordsmith stepped up. His volunteer suddenly caused his younger brother to almost spring up in protest, though it seemed the Head of the Eyes fully understood that in these desperate hours, everyone was risking their own lives and it was not his place to deny his brother such a chance to fight for the freedom of Monas Kye. 

「Wow, now it’s getting crowded.」Kibadios noted.「But I won’t stop you guys.」The hybrid fully realized how stubborn those who just volunteered were just by looking into their determined eyes, so denying them their chance of participating in such a mission that would define the history of their homeland would probably not work.「You all will act as Yue’s guards in this meeting, understand?」

「Yes, Your Majesty!」

「... Then… what about you?」Kailos asked the obvious question.

「I won’t be acting as guards. I will not even be part of the official entourage.」Kibadios grinned.「Although I will accompany Yue, as an element of surprise, I will stay hidden and sneak into the meeting place.」

「Element of surprise, huh?」Kailos mumbled.

「Not only that, but to completely blindside Wei Shimin to my activity, we will also need to create diversions to distract his attentions: The members of the 12th division of Hyakki Yagyo will set out and continue to harass the Yin Empire’s supply lines, while you guys, the 3 Houses of Alsen, will have to act as if you were amassing your forces and about to strike out from Alsen, breaking the ceasefire at any time. Wylan will continue to act as the King of Alsen in my stead, trying to garner as much attention from Wei Shimin toward you as possible. That way, among these diversions, from the shadow, we can strike the decisive attack that would decapitate the head of this Yin Empire invasion forces.」

「We understood!!!」Three Heads bowed deeply, acknowledging their King’s command.

「... Kibadios 」Kailos hesitantly called out to his son.「Now that we have figured out what how to deal with the Yin Empire, can you now tell us, what’s an Astral, an Ennead, no less, doing here?」The ogre’s attention now turned to the chained otokonoko, who had remained silent throughout the whole conversation despite the obvious bitter and annoyed look on his face, most likely due to Kibadios’ command. 

「Haaa….」Kibadios took a long breath.「I was debating whether to reveal my story to you, Ectharen, and Wylan, but given how things are and how you all have discovered I’m Zaeryn’s reincarnation, I feel like I have no other choice.」

「Your Majesty! If you feel like it’s not our place to know, we’re perfectly content to be ignorant, until when we’re worthy enough for you to trust us.」Said Wylan.

「...No… regardless, I should let you know, since after we finish dealing with the Yin Empire, I want to ask for your help in dealing with the Astrals and their theocratic puppet state.」Said Kibadios grimly.

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「Adela, you’ve found Zaeryn?!!!」Adeus barged into his precious daughter’s bed chamber

「Father, how did you know?」Adela sprung upward from her bed, her hands held onto the sheet of blanket to cover her perky breasts. Laying motionlessly next to her was one of her toys, a former hero from 5000 years ago whom she had personally added into her collection after she had broken his mind by destroying his life back then, giving him no other options but to agree to become hers, a fate that almost fell onto the Prime Minister of Maeg himself.

「I have my means.」

「You freaking have your network of spies keeping an eyes on me on Esthar??!!」Adela growled.

「Of course I do! It’s only natural for a father to watch out for his only daughter.」Adeus reminded the girl. 「Did you force Otto to give you his executor privilege over the Vernys forest not only because you want to deal with Sylvia, but also because that’s where Zaeryn would be heading?」

「Yes, father.」Adela now had gotten off her bed, though the thin sheets still wrapped around her curvy body.「Why are you so concerned? Who do you think I am? You think I don’t have a plan to deal with both? Or do you not have any faith in me?」

「But it’s Zaeryn we’re talking about.」Adeus reminded his daughter.

「It’s Zaeryn’s reincarnation, actually. This is not really the powerful Zaeryn that could best even you 10000 years ago. His power now is only a fraction of what he used to possess. Besides, I’m holding all the initiative now. I even have someone planted by his side, ready to carry out my command. Father, just don’t you worry!! I will lure him into my trap, and slowly, I will crush him. I will prove to you that your daughter is much more formidable than what you’ve given her credits for.」

「... Fine, but you will take Aspen with you.」Knowing there’s nothing he could do to stop his overconfident daughter, the Ennead Candidate relented.

「Hah? Taking that useless man? For what?」

「No ifs or buts about it. At least with him protecting you, I’ll be more at ease.」

「.... Fine… Maybe I’ll use him to take care of that annoying dragonkin.」

「Dragonkin?」

「Yeah, Ryuujin’s grandson, apparently.」

「Ahh… Zaeryn had already obtained such a powerful follower. And in addition to <HaoS> too, which I’m certain he still has control over… He must be stopped now.」

「Soon, father. I will bring his head back to you.」

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「... Adela…」Adeus touched the soulless body of his daughter with the back of his hand. 「I should have stopped you… I’m sorry. Due to my incompetence, you’re suffering under the hand of that wretched man. But soon enough, I’ll free you.」

「Adeus sama, the Enneads have a summon for you.」

「Huh? What now?」

「... I heard it’s an emergency meeting regarding Ayer sama.」

「Ayer? What did that brat do now?」

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「Masterrrr~~~ You really wouldn’t let us come with you?」Ryan walked behind his shota master, his arms wrapped around the incubus’ neck to keep it warm in the winter night. Kibadios’ hand, in turn, was holding onto the leash that connected to the defiant Ayer’s collar.

「Yeah, did I not explain it? The entourage accompanying Yue chan is already getting big, if it gets too big, it’ll draw attention from Wei Shimin. Besides, I need you guys to stay here to protect Alsen in my stead.」Kibadios explained again, for the 100 times. After having told the Heads the true history of the world and his plan to battle against the Astrals, seeing the horrified expression the leaders and their attendants had, he thought it was in everyone’s best interest to adjourn the meeting in order for them to have some time processing all the information. 

「We will not let you down, Master!」Ryuu flexed his arm.

「And it’s true that if we have Ryuu here, Wei Shimin would be more wary of Alsen and most of his attention will be fixating on this place instead of Yue and her entourage.」Ren agreed with Kibadios decision.

「Ahh… actually, Reuk has to come with me.」Kibadios suddenly remembered.

「Huh? Me? Why?」The former elven archer asked. 

「Because your soul is linked to me, and then I link it to the homunculus body. If I get too far away from you, the whole connection would be severed. The farthest we can stay is probably around 50 miles.」

「Wait, really? I have to always stay by your side? Why didn’t you say that before?」Reuk complained.

「Well, you were already staying by my side, what was the point?」Kibadios shrugged.「But don’t worry, after 120 days occupying the homunculus body, your soul will be able to permanently link to it without me acting as conduit.」

「Is that so? That’s great! And here I thought I will have to stick with you forever」Reuk sighed in relief.

「What’s wrong with sticking to Master forever?」Ryan pouted. 

「Well, nothing for you. But for me, I’d rather stick to some cute girls.」Reuk smirked. 

「... With a body like that, I think you’re more likely to attract the guys, Reuk.」Haden pointed out.

「Ahh.. Don’t remind me, Haden.」

「Yooohooo!!! Boss!」From afar, standing right in front of his home was his trusty second in command.「I’ve been waiting!」

「Huh? Isn’t that Uri?」Maia squinted. 

「What is he doing here? Waiting for us?」Rowan asked

「Oh right, I forgot to tell you guys.」Kibadios hit his head with his hand.

「What, Master?」Ryuu asked

「I bonded with Uri during our time in the dungeon.」

「Oh, that’s only natural….」It took a moment for the dragonkin to process what his Master had just said. 「WAIT…」

「「「WHAT???」」」

 

 

Another sneak peek, this will probably occur after Kibadios x Gyo:

 

Kibadios x Ayer :

Notes:

Sorry but I was really sleepy when I wrote this. Hopefully I'm not making too many mistake. Gotta sleep now!
PS: About that flashback with Adeus and Adela, I've been meaning to have that flashback for more than a year now, after I realized there was a plothole/disconnection between when Adeus didn't know what Adela was up to (after she met with Otto) and when he was telling her to be careful when dealing with Kibadios at a later chapter lol >.>

Chapter 161

Notes:

Sorry for the late update but I make up for that by posting 2 pages yaoi at the end. The scenes will be written in the beginning of the next chapter.

「What do you mean you’ve bonded with that guy, Master??」Ryuu poked Uri’s head.

「It means exactly as it sounds. I fucked him when we were transported into the dungeon together.」Kibadios explained.

「And it was the best sex I have ever had!」Uri grinned. Much like his alpha, he did not try to tone down the vulgarity of his words.「So here I am for another booty call!」

「You incubus!」Ryuu aggressively shook the Vice Captain’s shoulder.「It’s no doubt that you tempted Master with your almost half-naked fashion, revealing your perky, pink nipples while Master is in his heat!」

「Hey hey hey, if anything, the Boss convinced me! Though I’m glad he did. Who knew you could experience such pleasure with your ass. No wonder you guys are all over him.」Uri pointed out.

「It has nothing to do with asses. It’s just that Master is that skilled with his magnificent cock!!」corrected Ryuu.

「Hey hey… even I would feel embarrassed by this conversation.」The normally composed Kibadios was blushing red as Ryuu and Uri openly discussed about his “son”. 「Why are we still standing out here in the cold? Let’s talk inside.」The hybrid led his group inside the house, with Uri quickly following them while whistling his favorite tunes, all giddy up at the prospect of getting to have sex with his Boss again. 

「So, I heard Ashura is here? Where is he staying now?」Kibadios comfortably sat down on the middle of the sofa, with Rowan and Ryuu quickly taking the spots to his left and right, much to Ryan and Yuusei’s disappointment since they, too, also wanted to sit next to their Master. The twins have elected to sit on the chairs by the tea table while Ryan leaned back against the wall by Reuk and Haden. Under Kibadios’ order, Ayer was to stand still  at the end of the sofa, awaiting for his next command as an obedient slave. Maia, for her part, acted as a welcoming host and prepared for Uri a small cup of warm chocolate milk.

「Thanks, Maia.」Uri nodded while blowing on the cup, before replying to the hybrid「The Big Boss is hanging out with Teran now. He said he’ll pay a visit to you tomorrow.」

「Tomorrow huh? My group and I are planning an expedition into the dungeon tomorrow though, so we won’t be here.」

「Explore the dungeon? Why? Did you not just clear the dungeon?」

「The dungeon we experienced can only be thought of as “Dungeon Lite” since at the time, it only had 3 accessible levels. Weren’t you there when Seri said she would open up the dungeon’s all 100 floors?」

「You’re right… But why do you have to explore it again?」

「Because it may help us win the war.」Kibadios cryptically answered with a smile.

「Win the war? I thought the only way for us to win is to kill Wei Shimin.」

「Yeah, but you can never have too many backup plans.」Kibadios lazily laid down, his head pressed against Rowan’s lap while his legs were now on top of Ryuu’s.

「What role would the dungeon play in this backup plan of yours, Boss?」Uri curiously asked

「Well you see」Rowan was going to answer Uri, though he was quickly interrupted by Ryuu,

「Are we sure that we should share our strategies with him?」

「Sure. Why not? After all, Uri is part of our group. Don’t let his playboy facade trick you. If you really doubt Uri’s sincere feeling for me, Ryuu, just know that back when I was exhausted battling against Ayer in the dungeon, when everything seemed to indicate my eventual demise was coming, Uri bravely stood up to protect me. He was going to face Ayer here, knowing that he had no hope of victory.」

「He did?」Ryuu studied the Vice Captain’s still smirking face. Although the powerful dragonkin viewed most mortal races beneath him, he still greatly respected anyone who’s related to his Master, such as Kailos, or those who devoted to serve him, like his harem brothers and sisters. Looking back, it was the absolute loyalty toward Kibadios that Maia had displayed while fighting against Aspen in Vernys Forest that changed his attitude toward the Alchemist. So naturally, hearing that the Vice Captain had risked his life to protect the hybrid has suddenly made the dragonkin to view him differently.「... Fine, if Master put his trust in you, then who am I to disagree.」

「Well, my Alpha was in danger, it felt wrong to not help him. But don’t worry, Ryuu chan! I’m not trying to take your rightful place in the Boss’ harem.」Uri waved dismissively「The Boss and I are simply friends with benefits… or something like that」

「Aw, we’re only friends with benefits? And here I was hoping for something more than that.」Kibadios smiled

「...」Uri could feel his heart skip a beat as he froze for a few seconds, mesmerized by Kibadios’ rare gentle expression.「You jest, Boss…」The Vice Captain finally managed to come up with a response, before trying to change the topic.「Anyhoo, so, what’s your plan for the dungeon?」

「Well you see」It was Rowan who spoke up, since he was the one who proposed it.「According to Master, the dungeon is like a pocket dimension that is made of dozens different terrains and habitats filled with countless Monsters that would spawn after a set interval.」Rowan conveniently left out the reason why, which was because at the 100th floor was the very tear in reality that connected this world to the ocean of malice, the very curse that was casted upon this world by the Original Gods.「My proposal is that: What if we can turn the dungeon into a training place where the soldiers of Alsen can enter to fight against the monsters to level up? Master and we are planning to explore it tomorrow to see if such an idea is feasible. If the monsters or the environments of the dungeon prove to be too powerful or too extreme, even in the first few floors, then it won’t be suitable for such a purpose. But if the challenge of the dungeon’s floors are lesser in the upper floors and increase as we start going down, then it can be the perfect training ground for our soldiers. They just have to be careful and not challenge the floors that they are not ready.」

「I see. It sounds like a good idea.」Uri nodded.

「In addition to that, we also want to determine whether Rowan’s skill can be casted on the entire dungeon itself.」Reuk added.

「Rowan’s skill?」Uri glanced at the healer.「You meant his peculiar control over the temporal element?」

「Yeah, you were here when he reverted the time Teran experienced, right?」Reuk nodded.「He possessed a rare ability to control time that someone or some object experienced. Thanks to having to push his limit trying to revert time on Teran, he’s much better than controlling his ability now, to the point that he can slow the time that something or someone experience, as long as it’s in a 20 feets radius.」

「Ho? So you’re not the only interesting one in your group, Boss?」Uri asked.「Controlling and stopping time huh? Who would have thought it’s possible. But the dungeon is huge, what can controlling time in a 20 feet radius do?」

「Well, as Reuk said, I can slow the flow of time in a small area for a short period. The hypothesis is that: What if I slow the time that is experienced by the pocket dimension within the dungeon?」

「Slowing time…」Uri muttered. 「... experienced? Wait, then that means…」

「Yes.」Rowan smiled.
「.... Sorry, I actually don’t know what it means. I was hoping you can finish that sentence.」admitted Uri.

「Hahaha!!!」Ryuu laughed.「Don’t worry, I didn’t understand what Rowan was proposing, either. But in short, if you slow the time which the dungeon is experienced, then technically, you can spend hours or days doing something in the dungeon, but in reality, since time flow much slower in area around you, the moment you step out of that time-stopping area, it would be like only minutes had passed. That means, if Rowan use his power on the dungeon, then people can enter it, training within it for days or months, but the moment they step outside, very little time would have passed at all.」

「Ohhh…. OOHHHHH. That’s an overpowered cheat code, Boss!」Uri looked at Kibadios.「But didn’t you say he can only cast it in a 20 feets radius? The dungeon is huge.」

「But it’s a pocket dimension. We think that if Rowan applies his power onto where the dungeon’s entrance is physically located, then he can slow the entire pocket dimension together.」Ryan explained. 

「I see…I see… you guys really are incredible.」Uri grinned.「Though, given that the Boss is actually the reincarnation of Zaeryn, whom all the demihumans are still worshiping after millenia, and that he actually enslaved an Astral over there, I guess I should not have been surprised.」

「... Aren’t you curious about my story, Uri?」Kibadios slowly sat up as he looked directly at his Vice Captain, awaiting his response.

「Can’t say that I am not. But I won’t pry, so don’t worry, Boss. I didn’t even tell the Big Boss that you’re Zaeryn’s reincarnation.」Uri lustfully licked his lips. 「After all, I’m more interested in your body.」

「You didn’t tell Ashura I’m Zaeryn reincarnation? Why not?」Kibadios asked

「I didn’t know if it’s my place to tell him your secret. Though, you being Zaeryn’s reincarnation would explain why an Astral is going after him. After all, he’s now Zaeryn’s “sworn brother.”」

「An astral is after him?」Kibadios quickly took interest in what Uri had just told him.

「Apparently so. The boss said his name is Adeus.」

「Ha… Hahahahaaa!!! The powerful ancient monarch has descended to Esthar as I thought he would.」Kibadios turned to Ayer and dispelled the magical gag in the otokonoko’s mouth, allowing him to speak again.「My dear slave, what is Adeus doing here? Why is he trying to kill Ashura?」

「...You’re his true target. He was enraged when he learned you had captured Adela’s soul using HaoS, but we forbade him from coming after you since we know that if you feel too cornered, you would release HaoS again, which would cause us some headache. We want to take some time to come up with a strategy to deal with you first. In the meantime, since Adeus had purposely hidden the information about your reincarnation from us, we wanted to punish him so we ordered him to eliminate a few potential thorns in our eyes. Needless to say, Ashura, one of the current Yonko, is one of them.」Ayer answered truthfully since he was under the slave crest’s influence. 

「I see… Ha, and our Ashura was able to survive in a fight against Adeus?」Kibadios asked rhetorically.

「The Big Boss is stronger than you think, my Alpha.」Uri reminded his Captain why Ashura was part of the Yonko, the four Great Demon Lords that could shake the world. 

「Doesn’t matter how strong he is. If Adeus is after him, sooner or later, he will be eliminated.」Ayer smirked, though his mouth was again quickly gagged by Kibadios’ magic.

「Eto…If Ashura dono is now being targeted by the Ennead, shouldn’t we… you know, at least tell him why he’s being targeted?」The ever gentle Maia quickly showed concern for the beastman hybrid, even if he was a Great Demon Lord. 

「I guess… it’s partially my fault.」Kibadios felt bad for a moment.

「Oh, don’t worry, Boss. The Big Boss “is lovin’ it.”」Noticing his Alpha’s guilty look, Uri quickly corrected his thinking.「The Big Boss always seeks excitement and unpredictability in his life, which was partially the reason why he forced you to join Hyakki Yagyo. It would not surprise me if he was secretly hoping for you to betray and rebel against him, in one way or another. That way he will get to battle against you and whatever plot you come up with.」

 「... What a weirdo…」Kibadios raised his eyebrows.

「Haha, I guess you’re right. Funnily enough, that’s how I thought of you when I first learned about you too.」Uri grinned.

「.... Uri chan.」Kibadios paused

「Huh?」

「I’ve decided to tell you everything about me… and about this world. After all, now you’ve associated with me and even dared to stand against an Ennead for me, I feel like I owe you at least this much.」Kibadios smiled. It took Kibadios a while to explain to Uri everything that had happened to him back when he was Zaeryn, and the real truth about the doomed world they were now living in. For his part, Uri simply remained uncharacteristically silent and intensely listened to his Alpha.

「Ahhh… I know getting reincarnated into this world has a catch, but still...」Uri laughed as he leaned back against the sofa, pressing his head onto the soft backrest. 「Getting a second chance to live in a world filled with magic and wonderful abilities like a game… Who could have thought this is not a “paradise” but a “hell”?」The incubus hybrid took a deep breath, then turned directly to Kibadios.「I’m in, Boss!」

「In?」

「Yeah, your plan. I’m down with your plan to turn the Astral and their Realm into the nourishment for Yggdrasil. Technically, that’s the only plan where we get to survive, isn’t it?」

「Probably. Unless you can come up with a different plan that can help us.」

「Well, what if I betray you to the Astrals and ask them nicely if I can become one of them like Adeus and his daughter did?」Uri joked.

「You… WHAT?」Ryan’s hand firmly grabbed tightly onto the Vice Captain’s shoulder from behind. Not only him, but every person in the room, with the exception of Ayer, quickly turned murderous. Even Reuk, who was the least fanatical about Kibadios, did not take such joke lightly.

「I kid, I kid!!!」Uri waved his hand.「I doubt those Astrals would ever let a demihuman hybrid like me join them anyways.」

「...」Kibadios quickly glanced at Ayer.「Who knows. But you’re free to choose to do whatever you want, though if you ever decide to side with the Astral, we will be enemies, my Omega.」

「Ahhh, I can’t have that, can I? After all, I’m hooked on you, my Alpha.」Uri grinned.「To the point that I have to seek you out for a booty call like this! And I totally don’t even mind if it’s your shota form, Boss.」

「Perv.」Kibadios smirked.「But, for real though, tonight is reserved for my lovely harem, who have been missing my touch for days now. Would you mind if we reschedule our mating for tomorrow morning?」The hybrid’s arms reached out to either of his side, grabbing onto Rowan and Ryuu’s slender hips and pulled them in closer to his own body. His hands then slowly slid under their shirts and playfully teased and kneaded their small trembling nipples.

「Haaa」「Mmmm」Both the dragonkin and the healer tried to suppress their moans.

「Awww, really?」

「Really! Unless you want to officially join my harem.」

「Damn you, Bossss. Don’t try to tempt me.」Uri whined then stood up and took his leave「 Fine, I’ll come back in the morning. Ahhhhhh~」

「Isn’t my Omega cute?」Kibadios smiled as he leered at Uri’s round ass encased in his tight jeans.

「I’m surprised.」Haden spoke up after Uri had left.「 Aside from a brief moment of disbelief, Uri san wasn’t too shaken by the information he just learned from Kibadios sama.」

「... That’s how most of the Mercenaries from Hyakki Yagyo are rumored to be.」Ren pointed out. 

「Huh? What do you mean?」Ryan asked.

「Hyakki Yagyo is famous for being a gathering of outcasts and rejects who have no families or loved ones, who only devote themselves to fighting and killing. They live freely without regrets. Even if the sky were to collapse onto them tomorrow, they would continue to fight on with a smile on their faces.」Ren explained what he had heard about the group. 

「Well, seeing how their Leader is Ashura, I don’t find it strange that one way or another, their members are somewhat kinda like him.」Kibadios agreed, before his mature attitude was finally fully eclipsed by his horniness.「Now, let’s take some late night baths and have some fun tonight!」

「「「Yes, Master!」」」

「Then we will take our leaves.」Haden bowed to Kibadios before both he and Reuk walked back to their own residence. 

「We will prep the bath!!」Ryuu excitedly stood up and rushed to the main bathroom, followed by others. Soon, only Kibadios and Ayer were left in the guestroom. The hybrid had once again released the gag from Ayer’s mouth, then commanded the Ennead to walk over and kneel down in front of him. 

「You have anything to say, Ayer?」Kibadios asked.

「You really planned to fight against us? It’s futile, Zaeryn. Regardless of how much you struggle, nothing will change. In the end, we will commence the Harvest and feed your souls to Yggdrasil.」Ayer scowled.

「Us?」Kibadios scoffed.「You think you will still be an Astral? A mighty Ennead?」

「What do you mean?」Ayer twitched

「I’m sure deep down, you know that the moment you’re enslaved by me, your life as an Ennead is over.」Kibadios patted Ayer’s head as if he was petting a dog.「You were turned into a slave by me, Ayer. Even if by some miracle, you were able to return to your real body, I doubt those Enneads would ever allow you, a former slave, to come back to their ranks and taint their prestige. Worse, maybe they would even cast you out from being an Astral… so you can return to your roots.」

「YOU!! What do you know about me?! YOU BETTER…」screamed Ayer, though his outrage was stopped short, for Kibadios suddenly grabbed him by his jaw, covering up his angry mouth. 

「Don’t you raise your voice, Ayer.」Kibadios leaned down, his face inches away from Ayer. 「I’m still enraged at the fact that you dared to turn Ryuujin’s body into one of your Zombies. Don’t make me get any more mad at you, or I will make you realize how much worse your fate can be… How much more I can still “taint” you and make sure you will forever be cast down from the Modun Realm.」Kibadios slowly released his grip, then traced his finger down Ayer’s soft neck to his revealing collarbone.「Remember that. I’ll remove this gag for now, but watch your mouth and make sure you don’t say anything out of place. You are now my slave, Ayer. Better start acting like one. Maybe I can teach you some humility and who knows…」Kibadios stopped short of what he was going to say and walked away toward the bathroom where his harem was waiting for him. 

「..... I’ll kill you… One day, I will kill you, Zaeryn…」Ayer ground his teeth.

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Ahhh, last night was crazy… Kibadios stirred on his bed as the chirping sounds from outside his window slowly woke him up. Since he had reverted to his pure incubus form, the lust he experienced as he ravaged his harem members last night was like nothing he had experienced before. The intensity of it alone made him felt as if he had transformed into some primal animals whose only instinct was to fuck his mate. For the first time in a while, he was actually exhausted after cumming more than a dozen times, filling every holes on every member of his harem. As consciousness came back to him, Kibadios began to open his eyes and noticed that his arm now appeared bigger than last night. Ohh, I guess I finally changed back to my default hybrid form… Wait a minute… this feeling… haaa… yes… As his senses became clearer, his ears finally picked up the slurping noise coming from below under his blanket. 

「Yuusei chan? Uri chan?」Kibadios removed the blanket that covered his lower half, only for him to see his cock was tightly grabbed onto by his lustful Vice Captain’s hand while both their tongues eagerly licked his thick glans, competing with one another for his leaking precum. 

「Hey, you’re finally awake, Boss…」Uri paused to suck a droplet of precum into his mouth.「Or rather, do you want me to call you “Master”? Ahh, your cock just twitched, “Master”! Being called “Master” turns you on huh? hehe 」

 

 

 

 

Porn!!!

Porn!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artist: https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/74328649

The dialogue is written by the artist himself haha. That's why you see that I had to add some additional dialogue in the text to justify why Uri would call Kibadios "Master"

 

 

 

Notes:

I feel like I must have made a lot of grammatical mistakes/plot mistakes in this chapter... but it's 2am now and I have work tomorrow... I'll revise any mistake tomorrow when I get back from work.

Also, did anyone with eagle eyes noticed that the Kibadios x Gyo scenes on posted on myreadingmanga because someone posted a compilation of all drawings done by the author? Lol

Chapter 162: Another R18 slice of life chapter

Notes:

I planned to have this whole R18 scenes to be the first half of a chapter, but it's getting long so I make it a whole chapter.

「Ayer san, can you hand me the seasoning sauce?」Maia deliberated after tasting the soup before asking the enslaved Ennead for a favor. Unsurprisingly, Ayer still leaned back against the corner of the kitchen without moving an inch.「I know you can hear me, Ayer san. Don’t make me use a “command” on you.」Of course, under normal circumstances, only the master of the slave, which in this case would be Kibadios, could give a command; however, since all of the hybrid’s harem members, except for Yue, had already formed a link with the hybrid via the incubus crest, they, too, could order Ayer to obey their words as if they were Kibadios himself. 

「Ha, then use your command.」Ayer clenched his fist.「I will not obey your words just because you asked, you mongrel!」

「You!!」Ryuu, despite having just walked in the room, dashed at Ayer, his hand grabbed onto the otokonoko’s slender neck, his eyes filled with hatred for standing right in front of him was the unrepentant Ennead who had taken his grandfather’s life.「You should know your place Ayer! Had it not been for the fact that this is merely your homunculus body, I would have snapped your neck!」

「Ryuu chan, calm down.」Maia lightly patted the dragonkin’s shoulder before ordering the Ennead.「By the grace of Kibadios sama, I command you to help me with preparing our breakfast.」

「... 」Ayer’s slave mark glowed then faded away in an instance, forcing him to move to get the bottle of salt kept in the draw.「Tsk. Just you see, whenever I break free from this curse, I’ll turn you all into my lifeless, soulless “friends”.」

「I still don’t know why Master can’t just torture him to make him suffer for his crime?」Ryuu asked.

「Don’t you see, Ryuu chan. For the high and mighty Ennead, Ayer san is suffering right now by just helping us with the mundane chores.」Said Maia as she reached out to receive the salt bottle.

「You say that… but Master is still soft on him. Master even reminded us not to hurt him」Ryuu glared at Ayer.

「Maybe he has his reasons.」Maia turned to Ayer and asked him innocently.「Ayer san, do you know why Master doesn’t seem to hate you as much as he does with Adela, despite everything you have done? 」

 「...」

「I take that as a no.」Maia smiled.「Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Master’s orders are our own commandments. And if he asks us not to harm you, then we won’t. Though if you ever try to hurt Master, don’t ask why we would become merciless.」Despite her innocence, Maia’s warnings revealed to the Ennead the sinister devotion she held for Kibadios.「Ah, Ryuu chan, is Kibadios sama up yet?」

「Well, I saw Yuusei chan and Uri both entered the bedroom, I bet even if he’s still asleep, he’d be waking up soon.」Answered Ryuu

「Yuu chan too? I’m sure Master satisfied him pretty thoroughly last night.」

「Heh, I reckon Yuu chan is just a bit jealous when it comes to Uri.」Ryan, who had just walked into the kitchen, soon joined in the conversation.

「Jealous?」Surprised Ryuu since he thought he would be the one who’s most jealous of others when it came to Kibadios’ attention.

「Yeah. Maybe competitive is a better word for it?  Was it not Uri who defeated Yuu chan back when we clashed with the Hyakki Yagyo Captains to save Yllaner sama?」Reminded Ryan

「Oh, you’re right!」Maia nodded「So having lost to Uri in the battlefield,  Yuu chan is trying to show Kibadios sama that he  is just as good as Uri in bed?」

「That’s my guess.」Laughed Ryan.

「Haha, that’s adorable.」

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Just as the former hero predicted, both the hybrids were pressing their blushing faces against Kibadios’ morning wood, their tongues stuck out, panting like animals in heat, carefully licking the throbbing cock in front of them. The drools from their salivating mouths mixed with Kibadios’ overflowing, soon dripped down along his cock. 

「Morning, Uri chan. I see that you wasted no time to get to my cock first thing in the morning.」The hybrid grinned. 

「Heh, that’s because you promised me last night. Do you know that I was too horny to sleep?」Uri pouted.「Can’t believe that I’ve lived long enough to be lusting over a man’s cock… yet, here I am!」Uri opened his mouth wide, then pressed it against his Captain’s glans as if he was trying to munch on it, though he was careful not to hurt his alpha with his teeth.

「I don’t mind you being lustful like this, though.」Kibadios patted Uri’s head, then turned to Yuusei.「And morning to you too, Yuu chan! I thought I paid a lot of attention to you last night, but I guess you still want more.」

「Morning, Master!」Yuusei nodded, then he, too, opened his jaw as much as he could.「Master can use Yuusei’s mouth.」

「Ahh, I feel like my cock is gonna bust. If you don’t mind, Yuusei chan!」Kibadios eagerly leapt forward, both his hands grabbed onto Yuusei’s ears, holding his head in place before thrusting his raging hard cock straight down the mutant hybrid’s throat. Even though this was like the 100th time his master shoved his cock in his mouth, Yuusei’s throat still instinctively constricted, tightly wrapped around Kibadios’ thick meat rod. Though knowing that his cute little Yuusei would still be fine, or rather, loving the sensation, Kibadios continued to pump his cock deeper and deeper inside the mutant hybrid’s drooling hole.

「Ahh, Yuu chan, at this rate, I’ll be cumming in no time!」Kibadios moaned.

「Aww, leave some of your cum for me, Boss!」Uri, who had been left sitting on the side, complained.「You can’t just get me addicted to your cum then not providing me with some.」

「Don’t worry, Uri chan. There are plenty more reserves for you.」The hybrid grinned.

「Sweet!」Uri excitedly claimed, though he quickly noticed the mutant hybrid, despite being skullfucked by his beloved master, still managed to glance at him at times with a strangely smug look. Of course, Uri has not failed to notice Yuusei’s combative manner, which did not really bother him that much. In fact, he was rather amused at the mutant hybrid’s behaviors. The red hair vice captain smirked mischievously, then crawled toward Yuusei. 

「Aww, Yuu chan, your erected cock is pressing against your pant.」Uri pointed out. His index finger sensually traced along Yuusei’s bulge, causing the mutant hybrid to squirm even more. 「Let me help you!」Uri grinned, then quickly pulled off the struggling boy’s pants, revealing his veiny, twitching cock that shot straight up into the air. 

「Ahh, that’s a nice idea. Uri chan, can you help Yuu chan to release his pent up frustration?」Kibadios asked. Of course, as Yuusei’s master, he, too, had noticed Yuusei’s combativeness directed at Uri so he figured that he could let the two hybrid ukes form a better bond during their moments in heat. 

「Hmm, I have not touch another cock except for yours and my own… but given how cute Yuu chan’s cock is, as if trying to beg me to play with it, I’ll make an exception!」The Vice captain whistled before using his hand to wrap around Yuusei’s shaft, then slowly peeled down his foreskin, revealing a pink glans soaking in precum. 

「Ahhhh… Haaaa」Yuusei moaned, trying to tell Uri to stop, though with his master’s cock in his mouth, the boy was barely able to make a sound. 

「Now, let me make you feel even better, Yuu chan~」Uri started out by slowly rubbing the mutant hybrid’s raging hard cock, then rhythmically increasing the pace.「Ahh, I can see your asshole twitching like crazy, Yuu chan… Huh?」The Vice Captain’s attention now focused solely on the boy’s hole since he noticed some fluid was already leaking out. With his finger, the incubus hybrid pressed against the boy’s asshole, spreading it wide open.「Ahh, I guess that’s my Alpha’s cum from last night. Wow, so much cum is gushing out! He must have emptied his ball in you.」

While Uri’s paid his attention on Yuusei’s hole, the mutant hybrid, having his asshole, mouth, throat, and cock all stimulated at the same time, suddenly reached climax. His body convulsed in pleasure as streams of his thick, white cum shot out from his cockslit, thoroughly soaking Uri’s face. Had he been the old Uri, he would have been freaked out having some male cum covering his soft skin. But ever since learning the pleasure he could received by fucking someone with the same sex, Uri simply blinked blankly and processed what just happened before wiping some of Yuusei’s cum off his face and slurped them all up. 「Hmm, the Boss’ cum tastes much better… but this is not bad.」Uri smirked.

「I’m cummingggg, Yuu chaannnn!!!」Kibadios shrieked, then moved his cock deeper Yuusei’s throat for a final thrust before releasing his fresh batch of cum down the boy’s throat, directly into his stomach.「Fucking your mouth in the morning is the best feeling in the world, Yuu chan.」Kibadios took his cock out, his last few streams of cum spred on top of the mutant hybrid’s half conscious face. He leaned down, licked off most of his cum off Yuusei, then gave the boy a long, deep kiss. Yuusei simply laid there, exhausted, allowing his master’s tongue to swirl around in his mouth, mixing up saliva and cum into a delicious morning drink.

「Boss, me next?」Uri grinned. 

「Of course.」Kibadios broke off the kiss to allow Yuusei to recover. His attention was now fully on his Omega. He reached out, grabbed Uri’s cheek and pressed it hard, forcing the Vice Captain to open his mouth.「I saved some of my fresh cum for you, my Omega!」Kibadios opened his own mouth on top of Uri, allowing Yuusei and his saliva, along with his fresh warm cum, to drip down slowly directly into the omega hybrid below. At the moment the first drop of cum touched his tongue, Uri swore he could feel his body shaking uncontrollably. Without needing any stimulation, his cock suddenly jerked upward before a string of white cum abruptly burst out from his cockslit. Haaaa… Just one drop of the Boss’ cum and I already climaxed… Man… I’m just too addicted to this taste! I know I love having sex since I’m an incubus… but this… it’s like I’m turning into a slut… oh well, at least I’m only a slut in front of the Boss. Uri thought to himself. The Vice Captain rose up, meeting Kibadios’ lips with his own. His arms instinctively wrapped around Kibadios neck while Kibadios’s hands slid down to grope the Omega’s firm ass. The two naked men, soaked in their own sweat and cum, were now fully absorbed in one another’s presence. Uri’s body leaned against his Alpha’s, their mouth continued to connect to one another as the Vice Captain fervently swirled his tongue inside his Alpha’s mouth, trying to suck up all of Kibadios’ essence. Meanwhile, Kibadios himself squeezed his Omega’s soft mounds, his fingers inched deeper and deeper inside his Omega’s hot, tight asshole that was soaked with his own omega fluid. 

「... Your harem members get to do this with you every night, Boss?」Uri finally broke his kiss to ask a question.

「Yeah. Without fucking them, I’d be too horny to sleep.」Kibadios answered honestly. 

「Haa… Now, I’m really jealous of them.」grinned Uri wearily.「They get to have you to themselves every night… to experience his unspeakable pleasure…」

「Then, why don’t you officially join my harem too?」asked Kibadios while caressing Uri’s half flaccid cock with the back of his hand, causing it to quickly rise up again despite the Vice Captain having just cummed minutes ago.

「Ahhh…」Uri pulled Kibadios closer and whispered into his ear.「You’re just a sly Alpha, Boss. You know that once I’m in heat like this, I would never be able to reject your offer. But that’s fine, I don’t care anymore. Being with you is just too addictive. If I get to experience this every night, it’s not a bad trade.」Uri licked his Alpha’s ear.「I’ll join your harem, Kiba chan. In return, promise to shower me with your love and let me experience this pleasure as much as I want!!!」

「Of course, Uri chan~」Kibadios pushed his Omega down onto the bed. His hands now slowly massaged the Omega’s firm breast, his finger intermittently pinched and kneaded Uri’s small pink nipples.

「Hiii!!!」Uri shrieked.「Stoppp, Bosssss…. Haaaa… Kiba channnn… Your fingerss… Not my nipples… Haaa」

「Are you going to cum just from me playing with your breast, Uri chan?」Kibadios leaned down to kiss his Omega, whose face was drenched with sweat and tears. 

「Something is not right….」Warned Uri.「Haaaaaaa!!!」Kibadios was expecting a string of cum to shoot out from Uri’s twitching cock. Instead, a stream of white milk started to gush out from his Omega’s squeezed nipples. 

「Ha? You… you’re lactating, Uri chan…」Surprised Kibadios. The hybrid momentarily froze, but soon regained his composure and pressed his thirsting lips onto Uri’s leaking nipples.「I guess you’re an omega, so it’s not too weird that you would be lactating like Maia chan. Let me check if it’s good.」

「Haa… This… I can’t believe I, a man, am leaking milk.」Uri sighed.「Wait… Bosss…. Your teethhhhh!!!」Uri soon squirmed again, for Kibadios was now sucking on his oversensitive nipples, sometimes biting down and pulling on it with his teeth. 

「Your milk tastes just as good as Maia chan’s, my Omega.」Kibadios grinned. 

「This is so embarrassing…」Uri covered his blushing face.

「Now, let’s get to the main course!」declared Kibadios. The incubus lifted his Omega’s legs up, pressing the Omega’s thighs against his own milk-soaked chest, his ankles now rested on Kibadios’ shoulder. The grinning Alpha eagerly spred Uri’s asscheek apart, revealing his twitching pink asshole that seemed to be asking for a cock to fill it.「Uri chan, Itadakimasu!!!」Kibadios pressed his cock against Uri’s hole. Without any further foreplay, the ogre hybrid simply thrust his cock deep inside Uri, causing his Omega to again shriek uncharacteristically. Kibadios soon found his rhythm, sliding his thick meat in and out of Uri’s tight hole, with each thrust causing his own balls to slap hard against Uri’s ass. 

「Bo… Kiba chan, kiss me!」Uri demanded. The Vice Captain wrapped his arms around Kibadios and pulled him down. 

「It’s not fair for you to act this cute, my Omega.」Kibadios smiled. As the two shared a deep, wet kiss, Kibadios’ cock continued to pump deep inside Uri’s constricting hole. The smell of their saliva, sweat, and cum mixed with one another, emanated around the room and woke the half- conscious Yuusei up. Since he was part beastman, Yuusei’s sense of smell was much keener than most others. The mutant hybrid crawled toward his hybrid master, pressing his nose against his sweating armpit. After a deep inhale to take in the scent of his master, Yuusei greedily stuck his tongue out, trying to lick and savor his Master’s sweat. 

「Yuu chan, I’m not forgetting you.」Kibadios smiled. With one hand, Kibadios pushed the mutant hybrid down onto the bed before grabbing his hand around the mutant hybrid’s hardening cock. As his own cock ravaged Uri, his hands played with Yuusei’s body, causing the boy to convulse in pleasure, especially when his fingers would find their way inside the mutant hybrid’s cum-filled asshole. 

「Ahhhh… Haaaa. I’m cumminggggg!!!」「Masttaaaa… Yuuseiiii cummiinnggggg!!」

Both his partner screamed out as his semen simultaneously burst out from their respective cocks, causing them to pant with their tongues sticking out from their mouths like some animals in heat. 

「I can never get tired of this sight.」Kibadios licked his lips, looking down at his two exhausted ukes. 

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.

「Nii sama… you’re awake, right?」Laying naked some distance away from Kibadios and his two ukes, Yue telepathically communicated with her twin, who was also pretending to sleep next to her. 

「Yeah… It seems like our master is not satisfied yet. If we were to sit up right now, 100% chance he would pull us into his embrace… After last night, my ass just cannot handle another fuck with him this soon.」Ren sweated. 

「... I know what you meant.」Yue smiled with her eyes closed. 

「Let’s just pretend to sleep a little more.」Ren decided.

「Ye…」

「I know you two are only pretending to sleep, Yue chan, Ren chan.」Kibadios, after had released his 3rd load inside Uri and fully exhausted the Vice Captain, made his way to the naked twins on his bed.「Don’t worry, I won’t ask more from you guys. I know I might have been too “eager” last night when doing it with you two.」

「Master… I’m sorry we faked sleeping.」Yue rose up from the bed, followed by Ren.

「But don’t blame us! You were like an animal last night!」Ren complained.「Look at Yue’s breasts. They’re still a bit red after you played with them for what seemed to be hours.」

「Sorry, Yue chan.」Kibadios leaned in and kissed the girl on her cheek.「Let all of us take our morning baths. I can massage your breasts with Maia’s soothing bath lotion. That should quickly make those red marks go away!」

「Hmm, at least you know to be considerate to us…」 Ren nodded, before realizing something. 「Wait a minute! You just want to play with her breasts while taking a bath!」

「Don’t worry, Ren chan! I won’t neglect your breasts. I’ll take good care of them too!」Kibadios got off the bed, then carried the naked Yue on his arm like a princess.

「That’s not issueeeeee!!!」blushed Ren. 

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「So, since everyone is here, I have an announcement!」Sitting at the dining table, the freshly showered Kibadios loudly declared.「Uri chan here has decided to join my harem! Please treat him kindly!」Kibadios patted the Vice Captain sitting to his right.

「Ah… I feel like I have some sort of post-nut clarity and I’m regretting my life choices… Oh well, whatever.」Uri bowed toward the rest of the harem members.「Please treat me well!」

「...」

「Huh? Why is no one surprised at this development?」Kibadios raised his eyebrows.

「So, who got it right?」Ryuu asked.「I bet 3 days.」

「I bet a week.」Ryan defeatedly mumbled. 

「I bet 5.」Ren responded as he indifferently gulped a spoonful of soup.

「I had 3.」Rowan answered.「Didn’t Maia bet it’d only take just one day?」

「Everyone, pays up!!!」The alchemist girl put her hand out with a broad grin on her face.「We bet 2 silver coins each!」

「Ahh… we should have known better.」Ryuu sighed as he handed his two silver coins to Maia.

「Wait, what’s this?」Kibadios blinked. 

「Well, Uri dono said he doesn’t want to be a member of your harem, but we all know that he would give up and decide to join at some point. Especially when he gets another taste of the pleasure he experiences when he’s with you. So they all bet when he would officially become your harem member, Master.」Yue explained. 

「... I see?」

「...」The quiet Yuusei finally turned to Uri and declared with a satisfied smirk.「Yuusei’s your senpai.」

「... What?」confused Uri. 

「Yeah… there’s that huh.」Kibadios explained to Uri.「When Ryuu joined us, I pointed out that those who were in my harem before him would be his senpais so he should listen to them. I guess Yuusei still remembers that.」

「Sorry, what’s senpai? Is that some sort of a weeb thing that I’m too normal to understand?」Uri asked. 

「Senior, it means senior.」answered Kibadios.

「I see…」Uri smiled then wrapped his arm around Yuusei’s neck and pulled him in.「Of course, Yuusei senpai! Please be kind to me!」

「Yuusei’s really a senpai…」The mutant seemed rather happy that Uri acknowledged his seniority.「Yuusei teach Uri pleasing Master!!!」

「Can’t wait!」Uri grinned.

Notes:

Officially 8 members, 2 more to go.
There probably won't be another dedicated R18 chapter in a while... but of course, there will always be some R18 actions every now and then, but not a full chapter

Chapter 163

Under the moonless sky, a pair of glowing eyes discretely studied the Yin Empire’s camp and their chimera emissaries, who have been gathered around the flickering ember ever since dinner. Of course, given the distance between them, the mutant ogre spy could not listen to the chimera’s conversation; but, on the other hand, it was not his job to eavesdrop. His only task was to keep an eye out on them to ensure they would not try any weird trick to infiltrate the already battered city. From the news that his comrades brought, he learned that a new king had been crowned to lead the city during their fight for survival. Still, he had no time to celebrate the news, since all his attention has been devoted to monitoring the Yinese chimeras ever since they showed up unannounced earlier, under the guise of negotiation. 

「Huh? This is…」Teran muttered. The orge raised his hand to catch the fallen flower petals that rained down on him.「Hello Ashura sama. You can never get rid of your love for epic entrances, I see.」The orge smiled. 

「First impression is everything, Teran!」Ashura emerged from the shadows. Staying true to his chuunibyu attitude, the Yonko's hand elegantly covered part of his face to create a perceived mysterious air surrounding him. Behind him stood his ever loyal attendant, Ranmaru the shota ogre, who continuously threw up the flower petals in the bamboo basket into the air to signify his master’s arrival.

「Long time no see, Boss.」Teran smiled.「How have you been?」

「It’s been great! I have an Astral chasing after me for a while now so things have been rather fun.」

「An Astral?」Teran raised his eyebrows. Although being part of the Yonko, both Ashura and Gilga were considered to be a low threat to human civilization since unlike the other two, they have always acted much more diplomatically toward human nations.「Why would an Astral be personally coming after you? I know you’re technically one of the archenemies, given that you’re a Great Demon Lord, but at most, it’d be the Theocracy that we have to worry about.」

「Well, I think they don’t like the idea of me getting close to my new sworn brother. The Astrals probably consider the threat level of us teaming up worths their attentions.」

「You and Kibadios dono? … I can see that. I have to say that man is a powerful enigma whose presence certainly would pique the Astral’s interest, much like an emerging Great Demon Lord.」Teran nodded. Not to mention the power and ability of his party members , the ogre recalled how he was brought back to life by Rowan’s power.「I bet his group alone would probably give the Hyakki Yagyo some hard time. I heard from Erik’s group that after fighting him, you decided to bring him into the Hyakki Yagyo? Was he really that good?」

「Yes.」Ashura grinned, before wrapping his arm around Teran.「Enough about me. What about you? How have you been? You’re spying on them?」Ashura pointed at the far off camp. 

「I’m just keeping track of their movement.」

「Hmm, this is the first time I’ve seen the fabled Chimeras in person.」Ashura touched his chin as he studied the group.「What do you think, Ranmaru?」

「They… are interesting.」The shota ogre turned his hands into a binocular shape, trying to focus his sight on the Chimeras.「I can perceive a great amount of Nen exuding from them, despite them being so far away. Each of them could probably fight evenly against our Captains or Vice Captains. The Yin Empire is just as powerful as the rumor has it.」

「There’s a reason why our Teran is struggling against them and most of the former 13th division members lost their lives fighting them」Ashura nodded.

「...」Teran twitched at the mention of his perished friends and subordinates.

「Don’t feel guilty, Teran.」Noticing the mutant ogre’s slight reaction, Ashura reminded the former Captain.「Even knowing that they have to fight against the powerful Yin Empire, they still decided to quit the Hyakki Yagyo and follow you on their own. After all, we, as members of the Hyakki Yagyo, are all responsible for our own fates, and to them, they chose to live, fight, and die by your side. I’m sure they’re not blaming you for anything. To them, you’re that important… too important, in fact, that once you left, I thought the 13th division would probably be disbanded since there were not that many left.」

「Seriously, Ashura sama, I thought you’d be mad at me for abandoning the Hyakki Yagyo and taking so many of the members with me.」Teran smiled wearily.

「Hahaha, I’m not that petty.」laughed Ashura.「I wanted to help you to deal with Wei Shimin. Trust me, I do. But I can’t personally get involved, since that would mean war between a Yonko and a great human nation state. Accepting your request and dispatching a few members here was all I could do. Though, in the end, sending Kibadios here was the right choice. Who could have thought he’s the Young Lord of the Ogre House.」

「Indeed. The presence and participation of Kibadios dono in this war is already making a difference. Without him, I’m afraid Alsen would have fallen.」

「Yeah. I can’t wait to see what he will do next.」

「... Is that why you’re here? To observe Kibadios?」

「Uh huh.」And to ask him a few questions regarding the Astrals, Ashura thought, though he did not say it out loud.

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.

「What are you thinking about, Teran sama?」A subordinate asked the mutant ogre, abruptly ending Teran’s reminiscing of the conversation he had with Ashura last night.

「Ah, Cain! I was just thinking about my chat with Ashura sama.」Teran answered.

「Haha, after so many years not personally seeing him in person, he’s still the same old whimsical boss as before.」Cain, a demihuman belonged to the giant race just like Baxley, noted. Much like Teran, he used to belong to the 13th division. And just like most other members, he had resigned from the group to come serve his boss in the fight against the Yin Empire.「You know, I was surprised that he still remembered my name, given how I only interacted with him once or twice before I left.」

「Is that so?」Teran smiled, before abruptly turned serious.「Who’s there?」

「Teran sama!」Another former member of the 13th division suddenly appeared from the shadows.「I bring news from the 3 Houses and Wylan dono.」

「What’s the message?」

「...」The man hesitated, as if he himself was doubting the content of the message.「They granted the Yin army’s request.」

「What?」Teran was surprised. 

「It’s been decided that we will allow Yue dono to come with them to have an audience with Wei Shimin. Apparently, Kailos dono will personally be here shortly to meet with those Chimeras.」

「...」Teran frowned. What are they planning?

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「So, senpai!」Uri called out to Yuusei teasingly.「What does it entail?」

「It?」Yuusei cocked his head.

「Being Kiba chan’s official harem member? What does that even mean?」Uri asked. 

「Maybe you can start by calling him Kibadios sama instead of “Kiba chan.”」Ryuu angrily pointed out. 

「Huh? That just sounds so distant.」Uri dismissed the suggestion.

「I don’t think Master cares what you call him.」Rowan chimed in.「Being his harem members means… always there to please him whenever he wants?」

「Hmm, I’m down. After all, that also means I get to experience the pleasure of his cock whenever I want!」Uri licked his lips.

「I thought Uri being recognized as Master’s official harem member just means that you get to join all of us at night?」It was now Maia’s turn to answer Uri’s question. 

「Yeah, and completely devote yourself to him, both body and soul.」Ryan leered at Uri.「Given your past behavior, it means that you may not even have a hint of lust for any other person except for Master. Even a naked girl standing in front of you should not cause you any arousal!」

「He’s already obsessed with Kibadios, you don’t have to worry about him cheating on him with some girl.」Ren placed his hands behind his head as he walked.

「How do you know?」Rowan asked. 

「This morning, we were all bathing together. Even though Yue was bathing completely naked in his presence, our Vice Captain here did not pay her any attention… not even once.」recalled Ren, to which Yuusei, too, simply nodded in agreement. 

「Yeah, I was surprised too, hahaha」Uri laughed.「The old me would be fixing my gaze on Yue chan the entire time we bathed together. But somehow, ever since we formed a bond, I don’t feel anything when looking at girls… or guys. Only when I look at the Boss. Only then would I feel the heat in my body.」

「Ahh… Why does it have to be him, who’s Master’s fated pair.」Ryuu sighed.

「Aww, don’t be like that, Ryuu chan.」Ryan ruffled the depressed dragonoid’s hair.「Master loves us all equally!」

「I know… but still. I don’t mind if it were you or anybody else… But Uri. He just doesn’t show Master any respect or reverence!」

「Do you really think your Master cares about that?」After remaining silent all this time, Reuk finally spoke up from behind Ryan.「I know for you, he’s like a god who you have always been worshiping, but in the end, regardless of his reincarnations, he’s still a person just like you and me. What he needs and wants are not your unwavering devotions or glorification but your companions, warmth, and love. If you and others keep treating him as a god, you may wound up isolating him in his own lonely world.」

「... Maybe… maybe you’re right.」Ryuu pouted.

「Master…」Ryan turned around to look at the hybrid, who was trailing behind the group. Noticing the former hero’s gaze, Kibadios simply gave him a tender smile.

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「I thought you have learned your lesson, but in the end, you’re still as foolish as you were 10k years ago.」Ayer, walking by his accursed Master’s side, commented after noticing Kibadios’ caring gaze at his own harem.

「Foolish?」

「Just like other mortals, you yearned for companionships. Did you not forget it was your own dear friend, Aspen, who betrayed you to us Astral? If you don’t learn from your past mistakes, history will just repeat itself. Sooner or later, fearing our wrath, someone close to you will again betray you, whether it be the citizens of this doomed city, its leaders, the Hyakki Yagyo, or even, your own harem members there.」Ayer smirked.「Before I got here, I thought you were merely using them as your disposable tools. But, if there’s one thing I learned this past day, it’s that you truly cared and loved your supposed “tools.” Such foolish emotion will be your downfall. I simply just have to wait and bid my time until then.」

「Why? Is that an advice? I’m so moved that my Ennead slave is worried for me.」Instead of being irritated by Ayer’s comment, Kibadios simply laughed.「It took me a while to realize, but if I no longer trust others out of fear that they may betray me, then you Astral would have partially won by destroying a part of me that makes me, “me.” Unlike you, I don’t want to let my past dictate how I live my current life. 」

「Unlike me? Don’t you act as if you know me!」Ayer frowned.「and isn’t it ironic that despite your claim of not letting the past dictates the present, you’re now devoting your entire life on seeking out vengeance against us Astral, all because of your past.」

「Ah, but you see.」Kibadios grabbed Ayer’s hair, pulling the Astral’s face closer to his own. In contrast to the gentleness he had just shown to Ryan, the hybrid’s expression became twisted, which for a moment scared even Ayer.「That’s where you’re wrong. It’s not the past that motivated me now. It’s the potential future that pushes me to move forward: The future in which my enemies, the arrogant Astrals, are all destroyed and suffered in agony. After all, I’m not a weakling who would have chosen to simply join my enemies in order to survive and gain more power, just because it’s an easier choice. 」

「You…」twitched Ayer.「What do you know…」

「More than you think I do.」Kibadios released his grip.「But all of that doesn’t matter now. For you, who have already fallen from grace, just wait in that dark, bottomless abyss. Stay there and question all the decisions you have made that led you to this point. I promise you that your “fellow” Astrals would soon join you there.」

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As the group finally arrived at the Dungeon, they were greeted by the familiar representatives of the three Houses: Gyo, Kuron, and Falkor. The last time Kibadios had seen them was just last night, when all three, along with their House Heads, were frozen in fear and confusion after they were just told about the history of the world 10k years ago by Kibadios. The hybrid had half expected them to still be reeling from the revelation, yet, the three people who greeted him donned such determined looks that made Kibadios doubt if they were the same guys he left alone last night.

「Kibadios sama.」Gyo bowed at the hybrid.「We were waiting for you.」

「How are you feeling?」Kibadios asked.「It seems like you all have made up your mind and found your answer to the question I asked before.」

「 “Join me and rebel against the Astrals or accept your fate and carry on your lives as that of livestocks.”」Kuron recited with a faint smile what Kibadios had told them before departing.「That wasn’t really a question, Your Ma… Kibadios sama.」The Yves father quickly corrected the way he addressed his King since to the public, it was Wylan who assumed the title of the King. 「But, it’s the slap in the face we desperately needed.」

「We are the proud warriors of Monas Kye. Our ancestors persevered against the constant threat from the theocracy’s crusades for hundreds of years and us against the Yin Empire’s invasions. It’s true that we were overwhelmed by what you’ve told us last night.」Gyo stepped up.「But when you think about it, the threats from the Astrals are nothing but just another obstacle that we need to overcome. 」

「If we all give up now and resign to fate, how can we face our ancestors and their sacrifice?」Falkor looked directly at Kibadios.「How can we face you, who have been suffering and fighting for our salvation?」

「Kibadios sama, we’re sorry that, even for a moment, we have acted as if we’ve given up all hope.」Kuron continued.「We owe it to our ancestors and you to continue the fight…」The slight gentle smile suddenly crossed his face.「and we owe it to the future generation, too. I will do whatever it takes to protect Tina and her future from the cruelty of the Astrals.」

「That’s great to hear!」Kibadios grinned.「And here I was afraid that my father was right.」

「Kailos sama? What did he say?」Gyo asked.

「Before I left him last night, he was just saying how it might not have been a good time to reveal all this to you. Given how we’re already in a desperate situation, he feared that this would push you all off a cliff and completely break your morale.」

「I see. It seems Kailos sama still underestimated us.」laughed Gyo.

「Kibadios sama…」Now, it was Falkor who spoke up. Unlike the other two, who were simply here to greet Kibadios and showed him their resolve, the beastman was here to ask Kibadios further questions on top of it.「... About Maryana… Is there anyways we can release the Astral’s hold on her and revert her back to who she was before?」The beastman nervously waited for an answer.

「...」Kibadios hesitated for a moment as he studied the beastman, who still held onto a glimmer of hope.「I don’t know. I don’t know of a way to break the control of an Astral over a doll he created… but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do. If anything, forcing the Astral who controls her to command her to “turn back to Maryana” would possibly work…」... But… Kibadios did not say the rest of the sentence out loud, seeing how Falkor’s face was already brightened up at the possibility that his wife would turn back to who she was.

「I see!! Then I will do just that! I’ll make whoever controls her revert her back to normal!」The beastman excitedly shouted.

… Normal?... No, her normal state is when she’s in a doll and obediently carries out her order, though. Kibadios thought. And we don’t even know who made her. 「...We’ll find a way, Falkor. Anyways, where’s my father and the other Heads?」

「Kailos sama is heading to the Chimera’s camp a few miles outside of the City to inform them about our decisions.」Answered Gyo.

「Wylan and Ectharen sama are already in the dungeon.」Kuron continued .「They said it’s unthinkable that our King would enter an unexplored dungeon without anyone scouting ahead, so they decided to do it themselves.」

「Haha, I appreciate it. But given that Ryuu will be with me, if there’s a threat that neither Ryuu and I can deal with, then they probably can’t, either.」Kibadios laughed, before turning to his healer.「Rowan chan, set up the barrier. We will test whether our hypothesis can work.」

「I’m on it!」The green haired teenager excitedly acknowledged as he raised his arms and focused his mind to conjure up a small barrier that perfectly encapsulated the circular dungeon entrance.

「... That’s… <Seed of Time>...」Ayer was taken aback. 「How did that guy possess it? Shouldn’t it be in Matelus’ hand?」

「Long story.」smirked Kibadios.「Try to maintain it as long as you can. If you’re exhausted, then just stop, take a break and wait for us.」The hybrid leaned in and kissed Rowan’s forehead. 「We will stay in there for 3 hours before coming out, though if your barrier to slow the time experienced by the pocket dimension inside the dungeon works, then from your perspective, we will return before the 3 hours are over.」

「I understand. Please be careful, Master!」Rowan nodded. 

「Of course!」Kibadios confidently walked past the entrance. 「Let’s go!」He commanded his group.

「Say hi to Wylan and Ectharen dono for us, Kibadios sama.」Kuron nodded, to which Kibadios simply waved to acknowledge it. 

「I wonder what’s this?」Gyo studied the barrier.

「The barrier slows the time experienced by the area encapsulated by it.」Rowan answered while concentrating still on his job.

「What? Really?」Surprised Gyo.「Controlling time… Kibadios sama’s followers are full of surprise, huh?」

「Falkor san… just now, you were asking something about Maryana?」Given that Kibadios had left, Kuron figured this was a good opportunity to ask.「Isn’t that your wife’s name? What’s this “doll” you’re talking about?」

「Huh?」Gyo turned his head. 「Your wife?」

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「Heh, that beastman is married to a doll?」asked Ayer as he walked by Kibabdios.「Why don’t you just tell him it’s hopeless.  “Command her to turn back”? As if it’s that easy for us Astral to relinquish our hold over a doll we made. Besides, if you ever kill that Astral, as you have planned to destroy us all, then she, too, will die the moment her creator’s dead. You should just tell him the truth that he’s better off forgetting about her.」

「Shut up, you stupid Ennead.」Kibadios hit the otokonoko on the head. 

 

 

 

God, I feel like things are moving too slow. I planned for this chapter to include Kibadios group's time in the dungeon, but it's already long enough.
Since I've introduced so many characters, I feel like I should flesh them out a bit. So, if you have a second or two, can you let me know how you feel about the pacing?
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TCCGJ5M
Also, according to the previous survey, 100% there will be moments involve Uke Kibadios (though not any time soon. I've already known when to include such scenes :D)

Chapter 164

「「Your Majesty!」」As Kibadios’ group got transported inside the dungeon, they were greeted by both Wylan and Ectharen, who dutifully knelt in front of their King.

「Good to see you both here.」Kibadios nodded.「I’m guessing this means you’ve made up your minds, just like the three others?」

The two looked at one another for a moment before Wylan finally responded.「I’m sorry we showed such shameful reactions last night, Kibadios sama. But we all have had time to process what you told us, and we’ve agreed to fight this battle by your side, even if it means the whole world and even the heavens are against us.」

「Don’t be too hard on yourself. Anyone who listened to my story all had the same dread and fearful look on their faces.」Kibadios pointed to the former hero.「You wouldn’t believe the look on Ryan’s face when he finally learned the truth about this world and how it completely shattered his whole worldview as a hero.」

「Master, please don’t remind me.」The blond teenager rubbed his head shyly.「In the end, I chose to be by your side, didn’t I?」

「Exactly.」Kibadios nodded.「It doesn’t matter if you hesitated or paralyzed by fear and doubt, because despite all that, if you still decide to stand up and fight, that’s all that matters. Even if we are to be crushed by the Astrals, we will still give them a war that they can never forget. A war that will scar them for all their lives. A war that made the one that happened 10k years ago seemed like a tiny conflict not worth mentioning.」

「... Zaeryn…」Standing from behind, Ayer could easily notice the hybrid’s murderous intent which caused even him to break a cold sweat. You’re truly our anathema…

「「We understand, Your Majesty!!!」」

「Now, before we can deal with those damn Astrals, we gotta deal with the Yin Empire first.」Kibadios looked around.「And this unexplored dungeon, a gift from Faye and my loli teacher, can be the key to our victory. Gyo and others said you two have gone ahead, how much have you explored the place?」

「We were able to clear the third floor of this dungeon within these two hour.」Ectharen answered. 「So far, the monsters we encountered can be classified as F-rank to C-rank, as according to the ranking system used by the adventure guild. 」

「I see… and you did not go further than the 3rd floor?」

「No. We thought that we should come back here and wait for your arrival.」Wylan shook his head. 

「I see.」

「But how can you move down to the next level?」Maia asked the obvious question since in front of her was simply a vast, endless land.

「Ah, you see, Maia dono, you wouldn’t be able to tell from the look of it but the dungeon floors are not infinite. There are spellcast… or rather, more precisely, runecrafts erected at the end of each floor to make it look as if there’s no end. The both of us have spent some time on the first floor and we noticed that it’s about the size of 10 Alsens at most. When you reach the limit of the floor, there’s a barrier that blocks your path. It seems like the floors all have circular shapes, or at least, the first 3 floors that we have explored. At the Westernmost, Easternmost, Sourthermost, and Northmost of the floor, there are warp portals that lead you to the next floor.」explained Ectharen.

「But, Your Majesty, since we have not charted this dungeon, maybe it’s better for you to come back at a later time, after we have spent some time surveying it in more detail first?」proposed Wylan.

「Why? For my safety?」Kibadios laughed.

「Don’t you two worry! When I’m here, no other monsters can touch Kibadios sama!」Ryuu pumped his chest. 

「But…」

「Just like Ryuu said, nothing will be able to harm all of us here.」Kibadios reassured the two Clan Heads.「I appreciate your concerns, but you can rest assured. Just leave the exploring and charting this dungeon to me!」Noticing the two’s hesitation, Kibadios added.「It’s your King’s command. Go back and deal with all the other problems Alsen is facing. Since you’re the Heads of the Houses, I’m sure there are tons other work for you to worry about.」

「「Yes, Your Majesty!」」Both relented, bowed to their King.

「Now, shall we start, Master?」Ryan stretched his arms.「I’m kinda excited now. This is the first time I’ve ever such a large and deep dungeon as this one.」

「Yeah. Let’s see how far we can get before having to head back.」Ren uncharacteristically grinned. The elven prince was also excited since he learned this was constructed by the first monarch of the Yue Kingdom. 

「Alright, let’s go!」Kibadios leapt forward.

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It did not take long for Kibadios’ group to reach the 10th floor since every member of his group was giving it their all, utilizing their unique abilities to slaughter through the monsters they encountered, from the one-horn hare, elemental slimes to hell wolves and dark skeletons. Although Kibadios was definitely the leader of the expedition, he did not bother to raise even a finger, since his harem, Reuk and Hayden spread out around and protected him as he simply walked forward without a care in the world. Even Maia, who was not a specialist in fighting, could easily deal with any monsters charging at her by unleashing upon them her unique vials of poisons, some paralyzing them by blocking their nervous system while others straight up melted their flesh away. If his harem members had been an adventure guild’s official party, even without counting Ryuu, they would have easily been considered a low to mid tier S-rank team. As they moved through the first 10 floors, Uri and Ryuu kept insisting on how boring it was for them to deal with such small fries, and for the first time, Ryuu realized that, maybe, just maybe, Uri wasn’t so bad, given how the Vice Captain did share the same thought as him. As he surveyed the vast upper floors of the dungeon, the hybrid donned a satisfied smile that puzzled many of his followers.

「What are you so happy about, Kibadios sama?」Hayden asked.

「I just really like what I’m seeing: a vast land, abundance of monsters, and more importantly…」Kibadios knelt down and touched the grass.「It’s arable since it has access to water from those streams and artificial mini sun…」

「I have to say: If this dungeon was really created by her, the First’s runecraft is just on another different level. Both Yue and I are considered geniuses within our generation, but we can never come close to this.」Ren admitted.

「Didn’t Master say the First also had Seri sama’s help in creating this place?」Yue reminded her brother. 

「At least that’s what she claimed.」Kibadios nodded.「But I’m not too surprised. Runecrafts and Magic are two of the most versatile powers in this world. For them, two of the most powerful Runecrafter and Spell Caster to build this mini-ecosystem from scratch is nothing out of the ordinary.」

「But, why do you care if it’s arable, Master?」Ryan asked.

「Because, it can certainly help turn Alsen into an impregnable fortress indefinitely.」Kibadios answered. 「Just think about it: If Alsen got invested on all sides and the siege lasts for years, unless we can break the siege, sooner or later, we will be forced into submission when our food and water run out. But with this dungeon, we can hunt monsters for meat, fetch water from the streams and rivers, and even cultivate this land for grains or rice. If we can prevent the walls being breached, we can technically holdout until the opportune moment to strike out at our enemies like Morgoth did to the Elves during the Dagor Bragollach.」

 

As they continued on and stepped foot on the 11th floor, though, the familiar grassland terrain disappeared and in its place, they found themselves in a thick forest, not unlike the one that Kibadios and Gyo had found themselves in during their trial, which suggested the first stage of his trial was somewhere among the 10s floor. Here, the monsters have become a bit tougher, though they still could not match his group’s power. Kibadios found it strange though since these monsters were not the one he encountered previously, though he reckoned the trials must have spawned many high level monsters specifically for the trial itself. The toughest opponents thus far would be the ten slithering basilisks they found on the 20th floor, guarding the entrance to the 21st floor, though they, too, were cut down in a blink of an eye. On the 20s floor, the environment again changed to those of a humid and wet swamp while the monsters clearly became stronger and more numerous. After fighting a dozen of crocodile shaped monsters, Kibadios noticed half of his group: Ryan, Maia, Reuk, Haden, and Yuusei, were already breathing hard. Of course, they could still keep moving, but having to fight countless monsters had taken a toll on their stamina. 

「Let’s head back!」Kibadios ordered.

「Already Master?」Ryuu, who was half soaked in monster blood, clearly had enough fun that he wanted to continue exploring.

「Well, it’s been a while. We should get back to the outside world and examine if our hypothesis regarding Rowan’s ability works or not.」The hybrid patted Ryan’s head, as if rewarding him for doing a good job fighting the monsters.「This Dungeon will always be here and we can always come back. Seeing the first 30 floors, I can already tell that this place can provide Alsen with a lot more than just a training ground… Maia! Watch out!」

The hybrid screamed out to the panting alchemist after detecting a threat by her location. Though before he could do anything, a large sword already flew past the startled girl, crashed and impaled into a large, mossy tree trunk a few paces away from her. At first, Maia couldn’t process what had just happened, but before long, a giant chameleon monster slowly being revealed as its purple blood dripped down onto the muddy ground, for the sword had easily pierced its body and pinned it onto the giant tree. 

「Being able to detect the Chameleos’s absolute concealment, your sensory skill is really something, Kibadios.」From the shadowy swamp, the four-arms beastman hybrid revealed himself to the group.

「Ho, isn’t that my dear sworn bro?」Kibadios smirked.「I heard you’ve come to Alsen and are around, but I didn’t think I would meet you here.」

「Yo Big Boss!!」Uri waved then turned to Kibadios.「Big Boss wanted to meet you so I told him you’ll be here. Shouldn’t I have?」

「Nah, I have no problem with him being here.」Kibadios shook his head.「How do you like our Dungeon?」

「So far, so boring.」Ashura yawned as he pulled his sword out from the tree.「I heard this dungeon would have 100 floors so although I’m not impressed by the monsters found here, I’m looking forward to those I found in the deeper levels.」

「Ashura… of the Yonko.」Ayer muttered.「Tsk… How useless is Adeus. 」

「Ho?」Ayer’s standout Nen quickly drew the Yonko’s attention. With his grinning face leaning close to the disgusted Ayer, Ashura asked.「And who’s this new cutie pie? And what’s with the collar? Looks nice on him.」

「P-tui」Seeing how Ashura, a Yonko who was clearly beneath him, dared to get too close to his face, the fallen Ennead angrily spat at him. What he did not expect, though, was that the Yonko could easily catch his saliva midair with his hand. The Hyakki Yagyo’s boss amusingly examined his hand, looked at Ayer again, grinned, then licked away the saliva trapped on his palm. 

「Eekkk!!」Ayer instinctively stepped away from the Yonko and instinctively hid behind Kibadios, the fair skin of his homunculus body tingled with goosebumps.

「Haha, as I thought, despite you possess a feminine look like my Ranmaru in his past life, his still tasted much better.」

「... Hentai…」Kibadios noted. 

「Yeah, and that’s coming from Kibadios. That said a lot.」Reuk nodded. 

「Well, with such a beautiful face, I don’t mind to taste more than just his saliva!」Ashura laughed.「Men or women, it doesn’t matter, as long as they look cute enough!」

「Hmm, now that I think about it, when it comes to satisfying their “sons”, both Kiba chan and the Big Boss’ attitudes are rather similar.」Uri smiled while putting his arms behind his head. 

「Too bad for you, bro, but he’s mine.」Kibadios pulled Ayer closer to him by his collar.「His body, his soul, his power, or even his unruly demeanor, all of him belong to me.」

「Don’t worry, Kibadios. I have no interest in other people’s men or women. After all, I’m not the reincarnation of that famous Cao Cao.」Ashura laughed. 「You guys are heading back? I was hoping to join you exploring this place.」

「Hmm, I’ll keep your company. You guys can turn around and get back to the surface. I’ll stay down here for another half day, though I’ll make sure to return before dinner.」The hybrid proposed to his group.「Though, if Rowan’s ability works, I may return earlier than that.」

「What? How can we leave you alone with this man here?」Ryuu protested.

「Don’t worry, I’ll keep Ayer with me.」Kibadios pointed at the otokonoko.「Just go back, Ryuu chan. Have some trust in me and my power.」

「... Fine, Master…」Since the hybrid was using his stern voice, even the stubborn dragonkin knew he needed to relent.「Please be careful.」

「Of course.」Kibadios leaned in to kiss Ryuu in the cheek, causing him to grin ear to ear.

「Bye bye! I’ll keep your Master safe!!」Ashura waved as the group reluctantly returned. Once they’ve walked far enough, the Yonko turned to Kibadios.「 “Keep Ayer with me”... are you really confident that he alone is enough to stop me, in the event that I were to fight you again like when we met the first time?」

「... Most likely he can help me subduing you. Don’t underestimate him just because of his look.」Kibadios smiled.

「...I can tell he’s strong…」Ashura studied Ayer from head to toes, much to the fallen Ennead’s annoyance.「But nah, I’d win.」

「... Haa」

「Huh? Why do you laugh? Don’t believe me?」Ashura tilted his head.

「It’s not that. You just reminded me of a character from a story that pretty much got bisected in the end after saying exactly that.」

「Scarryyy.」Ashura whistled.

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「HAHAHAHAAAA!!! The future sure is fun!!!」Ashura’s laugh echoed the cave as the three people mercilessly slaughtered through the groups of orcs and goblins that had made this floor their home.「You’re saying that Matsudaira outlived and outwitted Hideyoshi to finally claim the title of Shogun, then the imperial family took back power from the shogunate 200 years later? Despite all the upheavals, I guess it’s good Japan did not revert back to the Sengoku Jidai again, since that period was hell on earth.」

「Well, you know how the Three Kingdoms period was romanticized by later dynasties in China? You and your contemporaries were also of huge interest in modern Japan. There’s a lot of novels, manga, and anime written about you guys.」Kibadios, a former weeb, continued to explain to Ashura how he influenced Japan 400 years after his death. 

「Hohoho!!! I hope they accurately depict me and my majestic presence in their works!」The Yonko grinned.

「Well… Your depictions are all over the place.」

「What do you mean?」

「In Fate series, you’re a woman.」

「What?」

「In Nobunaga Concerto, you’re a timid lord who let a time traveler took your identities.」

「No way! Why would I?」

「I’m pretty sure there’s a yaoi where your Ranmaru is a time traveler who went back in time and met you.」

「What? How could that be! Ranmaru is Yoshinari’s son. How can he ever be a time traveler?」

「There’s also Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga, where you and your contemporaries all reincarnated as pet dogs and animals in the modern world.」Kibadios chuckled.「That was cute.」

「Haaa, your world sure has rather imaginative minds.」

「You meant our world.」Corrected Kibadios as he nonverbally casted an 5th tier spell that materialized a gushing jet of water that washed away most of the screaming orcs in front of them .「But yeah, due to being exposed to all those stories, believe it or not, I’m a fan of yours… actually, more of your “Oda Nobunaga” identity. Though I didn’t expect your real personality to be like that of a Chuunibyo. Good thing you’re reincarnated into this world, where overpower and fantasy elements exist.」

「Chuunibyo?」

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「... So I’ve been meaning to ask: Who’s he? How can you make an Astral your slave?」Standing on the scorching hot sands in the middle of an endless desert on the 61st floor, Ashura examined the busy otokonoko, who’s been dealing with group giant desert sandworms at the command of Kibadios. The trio has traversed through the 30s-50s floor without breaking a sweat, with Kibadios and Ashura spending much of their attention chatting with one another. However, as they entered the 60s floor, they could easily notice the sudden increase in the power level of the monsters found here. What made it worse was the intense heat that would accompany any desert terrains. The moment he stepped foot on the sand dunes, Kibadios quickly noticed the menaces lurking below their feets, which he tasked Ayer to help get rid of.

「How did you know he’s an Astral?」Kibadios asked.

「Because I’ve been chased by one. I know an Astral when I see one now. So tell me, my dearest sworn brother, who are you? You’re not just another World Traveller, are you?」

「I’m the Astrals’ worst nightmare. That’s all you need to know for now.」Kibadios greeted Ashura’s overwhelming display of his Nen with a calm smile.「That means associating with me would attract a lot of attention from the Astrals. If you want, you can make me your enemy. That way, you can probably stay on the Astral’s good side.」

「...」Ashura remained silent for a moment. 「hahahaHAHAAHAHAHAAA!!! I know getting to know you better was the correct decision, Kibadios!」

「Huh?」

「I’ve been so bored these past few years since nothing exciting has happened to me. At points, I was close to even disbanding the Hyakki Yagyo to find something more interesting to do. But now, you’re telling me that the Astrals would be coming after me because of my association with you? Man, I can’t wait to see how this thrilling story ends!!!」Ashura patted Kibadios on the back.

「It would end with all of you lying dead!」Ayer finally dropped down onto the sand after floating around, shredding the giant worms into pieces. 

「Is that so, my bro’s cute little Astral slave?」Ashura licked his lips.「We’ll see about that.」

「Don’t underestimate them, Ashura.」reminded Kibadios.「The person who’s coming after you is Adeus, one of the Ennead Candidates. Unlike most other Astrals, he always comes to Esthar with his real body, therefore, his power is not limited by the vessel he possesses, like that temperamental Ayer over there.」

「Ho? You’re saying that your little Astral slave isn’t even in his most powerful form? Astrals may be stronger than us on average, but for that little girly slave to possess such a power… Don’t tell me he’s an Ennead… the elites and leaders of all the Astrals?」

「Who knows.」Whistled Kibadios. 

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「Woohoo, things really got much better in the 60s floor, didn’t it?」Ashura smiled satisfyingly as he made his way out of the dungeon, together with Kibadios and Ayer. Although the hybrid only made it to the 63rd floor, he decided to turn back since he noticed it had already been a while. Besides, as he went deeper into the dungeon, he noticed that the size of the floors have become bigger on top of encountering stronger monsters, so it took exponentially longer to clear one floor. 

「That’s true. From the 1st to the 60th floor, the level of the monsters were not that high so that your average adventurers can totally clear them, but from the 61st floor on, it took some real talent for one to clear a floor.」Kibadios nodded.「Aren’t you impressed at how the dungeon was made, Ayer?」

「... 」Ayer frowned.「This is nothing. We Astrals can create a much more splendid dungeon.」

「Is that so.」smirked Kibadios.

「Master!!! Welcome back!!」Ryan waved as he noticed the hybrid had just emerged from the entrance.「Was everything fine?」

「Of course. We got down to the 63rd floor, but given how long we have stayed in there, I decided to head back out.」The hybrid look up at the still clearly sunny sky.「Though… Maybe we should have stayed longer. I expected to find a twilight sky, but it still looks rather early.」

「Huh? I swore we stayed there for like 8 hours. How come the sun is still high up? Has this gotten to do with the barrier I saw you erected around the dungeon, green haired boy?」

「Name’s Rowan!」The exhausted healer stood up after sitting down onto the ground and rested for like an hour. He quickly turned to his Master with puppy eyes.「Sorry Kibadios sama… I could only maintain the barrier for half an hour max. I’ve been trying to cast several barrier intermittently, but since I’ve exhausted my power, I could barely maintain it for just a few minutes.」

「No, don’t worry about it.」Kibadios patted Rowan’s head.「You’ve done well. We’ve confirmed that your skill works as intended, too. Good job!」The hybrid rubbed his cheek with his soft hand, which Rowan further leaned his face into, enjoying the praise his Master had just given him. 

「A barrier that messes with time… such interesting power!」exclaimed Ashura. 

「Kibadios sama.」Haden stepped up.「I was informed by Kailos dono that the meeting with the Chimera messengers will start at 4. You were asked to attend if you were to return from the dungeon before then.」

「What time is it now?」

「It’s 3.」

「Okay, let’s head back.」Kibadios turned to Ashura.「See ya! You can explore the dungeon or do whatever, but try not to get yourself killed by Adeus. I’ll start my “mission” soon, but before that, I’ll be around.」

「Sure. I’ll come to see you before you leave for the “mission.”」Ashura nodded, then looked at the dungeon.「Now, maybe I should spend more time in there after getting something to eat around here… Man, can’t wait to advance deeper.」

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「Now, as we have said previously, we and Kibadios dono agree to let Yue dono to come with you to meet Wei Shimin.」Wylan, who presumed the role of Alsen King, firmly stated while glaring at the hybrid named Mu standing in front of him.「That being said, we will have a few retainers coming along to serve and protect the princess.」

「Kibadios’ among one of them?」Ignoring Wylan’s eyes, Mu himself was fixating on the hybrid, who sat at the side reserved for the House of the Horns.

「Nope.」The hybrid shook his head.「... But Uri chan would be by Yue chan’s side and protect her in my stead.」

「... A Hyakki Yagyo member?」Qwan, the furry chimera, who stood by Mu’s left side, noted. 

「You’re telling me a member of the Hyakki Yagyo would accompany her and get to be in close contact with Wei Shimin?」Galahan, the floating chimera girl, asked.

「Yes.」Kibadios firmly confirmed.「Unless Wei Shimin’s afraid of some mere hybrid’s presence.」

「...」The sudden addition of Uri to Yue’s entourage did not seem to faze the leader of the Chimera’s corp.「I don’t think Wei Shimin will mind. Then we have an accord? Princess Yue would come with us to meet Wei Shimin and we will pause our attack on Alsen for the duration of the meeting, until Yue safely returns to you?」

「Yes. That’s the deal.」affirmed Wylan.

Chapter 165: The Yves consort

「Then we have an accord.」 Mu firmly stated while retrieving a talisman from his pocket. On the white rectangular paper was a blood-red mark that caught Ren's attention.

「Is that a Blood Rune?」 the former Elven prince asked.

「Quite perceptive, Ren dono,」 Mu smiled. 「Exactly. Since you've agreed to let Princess Yue come and meet Wei Shimin, he's willing to have this Blood Rune seal his promise of truce: 'If Wei Shimin and the forces under his command ever attack Alsen before Yue-dono returns to the town, his heart will be pierced with a thousand needles,'」 declared the chimera before letting the talisman float into the air. The marks on the paper suddenly glowed red before it burst into flame.

「Ren chan?」 Kibadios turned to the pink-haired elf.

「That's a Blood Rune, a pledge made by a skilled Runecrafter. In this case, the pledge is that he won't attack us for the duration of the meeting between him and Yue. Because it's sealed in blood, there's nothing that can break the pledge.」

「How do we even know that it's his blood?」 Wylan suspiciously asked.

「Blood Rune isn’t something an unskilled Runecrafter can perform.」 Yue explained.「Besides, the aura the Blood Rune gives off as it burns has a familiar, unique resonance of the Yin imperial family. We should be well acquainted with such an aura since we’ve taught his brother.」

 「We're in the clear?」 Mu smirked. The chimera briefly glanced at Kibadios, then walked out without discussing anything further.「In three days, we'll come back to take Yue-dono and her entourage to Wei Shimin.」 

「Your Majesty, what do you think?」 The moment Mu and his group were gone, Wylan quickly turned to Kibadios. 

「We have no other choice but to trust his word, do we?」 Kibadios shrugged.「But, I wonder, even though it's clearly a security risk, why did he not care that Uri-chan would join Yue-chan?」

 「It's either that he believes Wei Shimin would be able to take care of Uri-dono,」 Wylan hypothesized. 

「Or that he just doesn't care whether Wei Shimin lives or dies,」 Kailos finished Wylan’s thought.「After all, didn’t he say he and the other chimera are merely Wei Shimin’s slaves?」

 「... If somehow, we can turn him and the chimera into our allies,」 Kibadios muttered.

 「They're too unreliable, Kibadios,」 Kailos dismissed his son. 

「Perhaps...」

From there, the atmosphere in the war room was charged with a sense of urgency as the group delved into intricate discussions about their strategies for the impending crucial period. Time seemed to stretch, ticking away as they huddled around a large, battle-worn table strewn with maps and diagrams. The discourse touched on multifaceted aspects: the reinforcement of the city's defenses, the looming threat of Hou Yi and his encamped army mere miles away, and the intricate logistics of caring for the growing number of injured refugees flocking to Alsen. A decision slowly crystallized during the discussions: Yue, with her superior skills, would be tasked with resurrecting the colossal protective barrier enveloping the city upon her departure. Ren, skilled in maintenance, accepted the responsibility of upkeeping the barrier, though he did caution that he could only sustain it for a maximum of two weeks. However, this timeframe aligned with Kibadios's belief that the war's fate would be sealed by then, quelling any concerns about the barrier's duration. Regarding Hou Yi, Teran and his vigilant group found their purpose in monitoring the movements of the Yinese Army, delivering timely reports to the Three Heads. Kibadios seized the opportunity to inform the Heads about Rowan's extraordinary power and his proposal to transform the dungeon into a training ground for the soldiers under the Three Houses’ commands. The idea was met with excitement from the Heads, though Kibadios emphasized the absence of the protection granted during the trial, warning that real casualties could occur if soldiers weren't careful in the dungeon. He proposed a structured approach, with soldiers training in groups of ten, each group accompanied by at least two healers to minimize casualties. The initial training limit was set to the first ten floors, with progression to the 11-20th floors permitted only after the soldiers achieved at least level 20. After all, as Kibadios grimly reminded the group that any soldier lost in live training within the dungeon would be a soldier unable to defend Alsen when the time came. Hours drifted away as the discussion evolved. Finally, with a sense of satisfaction settling upon him, Kibadios decided to adjourn the meeting, concluding the intense deliberations that had consumed the ember lit chamber for hours.

 

「Ah, Kibadios, there’s one more thing」 Kailos called out to his son as the hybrid was able to leave the room.

「Yes?」 

The silence lingered in the air as Kailos hesitated before continuing, 「You see, there’s something else I want to ask you… It’s regarding your harem.」 He looked at Wylan, then turned back to the hybrid.

「「「About us?」」」 Three voices chimed in unison.

「No… it’s more like… whether you think it’s possible for you to welcome an additional member into your harem.」

「Huh?」 Kibadios turned his head, puzzled.

「You see, as per tradition, to ensure the lasting harmonious cooperation between the 3 Great Houses, the King of Alsen is supposed to take in at least 2 consorts that share the same race as that of the remaining two Houses. Since you’re from our House, that means at least a member of your harem should share the same race as the House of the Mane, and another should share the same race as the House of the Eyes.」 Kailos turned to Yuusei. 「As for a representative from the House of the Mane’s race, given how Yuusei is a half-ogre, half-beastman, he would be qualified as one. The other would be someone from the Yves race, which, clearly, none of your harem members are.」

「So you want me to find a Yves as a mate?」 Kibadios asked.

「Your Majesty, please don’t worry. We will make sure to find the perfect Yves partner for you. Being by your side and being of use to you would be that person’s blessing.」 Wylan bowed deeply.

「... But I don’t know them…」 Kibadios raised his eyebrows.

「Well, before we became yours, we were also practically strangers. What’s the big deal?」 Ren pointed out.

「Aww… I have to share the Boss with more people?」 Uri sighed.

「Well, given how 'energetic' Master is, shouldn’t you be thankful that we have an additional member in the harem to meet his needs?」 Ryuu asked.

「Hmm, you may be right… This morning really took a toll on me. My back still hurts.」The Vice Captain shifted around, trying to stretch his back.

「You guys are fine with it?」 Kibadios asked.

「Yes, I don’t think any of us would mind, right?」 Maia looked around; all of them simply shook their heads. 「There are already 8 of us, having 1 more member doesn’t make any difference.」

「You can find 2 more, make it 10 so it’s even!」Uri laughed.

「Besides, if it’s a tradition for Alsen, it’s not like we can decline.」Ryan pointed out

「No no, Ryan dono.」 Wylan hurriedly corrected. 「It may be a tradition, but if Kibadios sama doesn’t agree with it, we’re in no position to insist.」

「Hmmm…. Instead of you arranging someone for me, can I choose that person?」 Kibadios asked.

「Yes?」 Wylan hesitantly answered. 「Do you already have someone in mind? Of course, we need to make sure that person is a good fit for you and that they would willingly serve you.」

「Haha, I don’t think anyone would refuse to serve Kibadios sama, given how good looking he is on top of being our godly king!!」 Gyo, with a broad smile, patted Wylan on the back.

「You think so, Gyo?」 Kibadios smiled, to which Gyo hastily nodded. 「Then, would you do the honor of becoming my mate?」

「Of course!! Why do you even have to….」 The mutant Yves froze in mid-sentence as he finally processed what the hybrid had just asked. 「Wait, what??? Kibadios sama, you’re joking!」

「No, I’m not.」 The hybrid grinned. 「Instead of having to take someone into my harem who I know nothing about and who doesn’t know about my past, it’d be much easier to just have you be that person, wouldn’t it?」

「But… But…」 Gyo’s face turned beet red as he frantically waved his hands in embarrassment. 「With how bland I look compared to Ryan dono, Rowan dono, and others, there’s no way that you would find me attractive enough to be one of your harem members… besides, a mutant like me does not deserve to…」

「What are you talking about? Ever since the first time we met, I have already found you to be very cute, Gyo chan.」 Kibadios corrected, then pulled Yuusei, who was now in his shota form, closer to him and embraced him from behind. The hybrid leaned down to plant a tender kiss on the shota's cheek, continuing, 「And why would you being a mutant affect how I feel? Case and point: Yuu chan here has been in my harem for quite a while, hasn’t he? I’d accept it if you decline my offer because you have someone else who you fancy, or that you simply don’t want to, but if you think that you’re not worthy enough for me, then that is something I cannot accept.」

「I…I…」 Gyo's voice wavered, his eyes darting from Wylan to Kailos, both of whom greeted him with warm smiles. The weight of uncertainty lingered in the air as he continued, 「If you’re really generous enough to be content with taking someone like me into your harem, then it would be my honor, Young Lord.」 Gyo descended gracefully onto one knee, a silent pledge reflected in the depth of his gaze fixed on the Master who had just become the center of his universe.

A gentle air dashed over the room as Kibadios welcomed Gyo into his intimate circle. 「Welcome to my harem, Gyo chan. I promise to shower you with all my affection.」 Kibadios smiled, his touch tender as he caressed Gyo’s cheek. Leaning close to his ear, he added, 「And don’t worry, Gyo. I won’t rush you into my bed. I’ll wait until you’re fully mentally prepared.」

The subtle admission sent a fresh wave of crimson to Gyo's cheeks. 「Kibadios sama…」

「Nii chan…」 A few paces away, Wylan watched the scene unfold, a solitary tear slipping down his face.

「You're okay, Wylan?」 Ectharen, standing beside the Yves, asked softly.

「Yeah… It’s just… Given the curse inflicted upon Nii chan, I would have never imagined one day he would find his significant other who would look at him with nondiscriminating eyes. And certainly, I would have never imagined it’d be our king… our god, no less.」

「Haha, fate is truly hard to predict, isn’t it?」 The beastman patted Wylan’s back.

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In the dimly lit bed chamber, bathed in the flickering candles that cast shifting shadows across the wooden walls, Kibadios stirred on a sprawling, intricately crafted bed. As his eyes gradually parted in the subdued darkness, the view in front of him slowly came into focus. Beside him, nestled against his sculpted torso, lay the bare form of the alchemist, her back leaning into the warmth of his well-defined physique. One of Kibadios’ arms wrapped around her waist, gently cradling the curves of her form as it found a resting place on her soft, exposed abdomen while the other slid beneath her side just enough so his hand could wrap around and fondle her ample breast. His cock, still fully erect despite having climaxed in all 8 members of his harem earlier in the night, buried deep inside her cum-soaked pussy, enjoying the slight massage from the reflexive twitching of her fleshy folds. Kibadios gently leaned in, his lips brushing against the silvery strands of Maia's hair. As he drew closer, he savored the enchanting fragrance of eucalyptus coming from her, before slowly unsheathed his cock from her hole and carefully sat up while making sure not to disturb the alchemist’s well deserved rest. 

Thud… Thud… Thud… This sound… I guess he’s still awake since his body is just that of a doll, huh? This is just like that time 10000 years ago. With a sleeping robe draped over his well-toned physique, Kibadios made his way to the living room, drawn by the rhythmic thuds. Emerging from a narrow corridor, he immediately spotted his Ennead slave seated on the floor, back against the wall. Before him lay five rabbits—or more accurately, reanimated rabbits, unmistakably marked by the eerie traits of the undead. The dimly lit room unveiled a strangely uncharacteristic scene: the solitary figure of an Astral, his blond hair catching the sparse light, engaged in a peculiar play with his undead companions. The tranquil display resonated with Kibadios, reminiscent of a moment from his initial reincarnation, when Ayer had spontaneously joined his party for a fleeting period. Similar to the moment when Zaeryn first glimpsed him ten millennia ago, Kibadios once again observed the transformation of Astral's typically stern and arrogant expression into the strange visage of a joyful smile.

「You still have them, your undead rabbit “friends,” by your side even after all these years?」Kibadios broke the silence. 

「Zaeryn!」Ayer’s smile abruptly faded.「What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be indulging in excess with your obedient harem?」

「Sometimes I need a moment alone.」Kibadios settled into a seat opposite Ayer..「Though, at this moment, I’m here because I wanted to have a chat with you.」Kibadios petted the undead rabbit lying in front of him, though soon all five quickly turned to dust and faded away since Ayer had just dispelled his necromancy power.「... How… How was Ryuujin’s final moment?」

「Huh?」

「You were there, weren’t you? That’s why you were able to turn him into one of your undead.」Kibadios' eyes glowed, revealing a complex blend of sorrow and fury.

「... I ended his pathetic life.」Ayer smirked. 

「Be mindful of your choice of word, Ayer!!」Kibadios' trembling hand seized Ayer's delicate neck without mercy.

「Ackk…. Haa… Or what?... You… will… kill… meee??」Ayer could barely speak. 

「No, since you will escape my grasp if I ever end your life. But in place of death and freedom, I can make your life a living hell.」Kibadios slammed the Ennead against the wall.「Don’t try to taunt me like that, Ayer… I command you. Be honest and tell me how he died.」

「Tsk…」 The collar on Ayer's neck radiated, compelling him to adhere to his Master's directive. 「He single-handedly faced off against half of the God Knights and two of The Six Great Heroes during the climax of the Second Great Holy War. For three days and nights, they clashed without a decisive victor. When I arrived with Adela, the scales tipped as Ryuujin succumbed to Adela's Ultimate Skill. Deprived of his senses, even a Primal Dragon like him couldn't endure the onslaught. Ultimately, his body succumbed to the relentless assaults of the God Knights…」 Ayer paused momentarily, as if attempting to omit the concluding part of the tale he was compelled to retell. 「Adela wished to capture him alive and subject him to torment before your eyes. Anticipating the immense guilt you would feel, Ryuujin pleaded for death, though Adela denied him that mercy… In the end, I... granted… him …his wish, transforming him into one of my undead before he could be transported back to the Modun Realm.」 Ayer scowled, reluctant to admit he had, in his own way, done Kibadios a favor.

. .. Such a stubborn idiot to the end, huh Ryuujin… You shouldn’t have wasted your life like that. Kibadios whispered.「What was his last word? Would you still remember?」

「 ‘Sorry, Zaeryn sama. I failed you.’」Ayer answered without need for a command.

Haa… Kibadios closed his eyes. It is I who failed you, Ryuujin. Had I not been imprisoned, things wouldn’t turn out as bad as it would have. 「... Thanks, Ayer, for protecting Ryuujin’s dignity from that cursed Adela.」

「Ha, don’t thank me. I merely wanted to kill him and turn him into my undead. Much like what I will do to you in this reincarnation.」smirked Ayer.

「You know, we're both pretty terrible people, aren't we? I used to question why you seemed indifferent to the lives of others, but look at me now. Just like you, I've lost that humanity within me. I'm willing to sacrifice the entire world just to take you Astral down with me. I'm even ready to push those who respect, love, and worship me into a battle where the best outcome would still mean most of them dying.」 Kibadios admitted, his tone heavy with self-awareness. 「You had your reasons for distrusting those close to you, for refusing to form connections or feelings for mortal lives. I had my own reasons for the hatred I directed toward the Astrals. We're on opposite sides, yet so strangely similar. Maybe that's why I want to keep you by my side. If I can make you see the world through my eyes and redeem you for your past deeds, then maybe, just maybe, I can find redemption for what I've done... and what I'm about to do.」

「Zaeryn…」Ayer gazed at the vulnerable hybrid in front of him for a moment, before deciding to ask the burning question he had always been harboring.「You’ve been speaking as if you know me and my past… How did you…」

「Haa… You see, deep within the lair of Kadesha, the first “Demon Emperor,” there existed a secret chamber. After we ended her, I embarked on a quest to uncover the motivations behind her betrayal of your kind. That’s when I stumbled upon it. Within that chamber, there was a lone golden chest. Do you know what’s in it?」Seeing how Ayer stayed silent, Kibadios continued.「It’s her memories.」

「What?」The Ennead was surprised. 

「Before our confrontation, she extracted fragments of her memories and concealed them there, foreseeing the day I would unearth them. As I stood in the darkened chamber, a silent witness, I beheld the unfolding events of the Harvest, transpiring 20,000 years ago. A time when you relinquished your identity as a mere hybrid mortal, ascending to the revered status of an Astral and ultimately, an Ennead.」

「Zaeryn, how dare you!!!」Thin threads suddenly wrapped around Kibadios’ neck, though since the Ennead was still wearing the collar, he just couldn’t tightening the threads any further, for if he had, Kibadios’ head would be cut clean off. 

「... and that’s how I understand why you hold no regard for us mortals… why you harbor disdain for our kind… and why your trust extends only to your undead creations. Don’t worry, I won’t tell others about the past you longed to forget. It’s a secret between us, a master and his arrogant and tempestuous Ennead slave.」The hybrid offered Ayer a genuine smile.

Notes:

I finally tried/learn how to use ChatGPT to improve my writing and I love it. Of course, when I asked it to make my writing more descriptive, sometimes, it just generates something that I would never write in 1000 years. So my process of writing is now (1) write my chapter (2) ask ChatGPT to make it more descriptive and engaging, then (3) go in and fix the chatGPT generated correction/edits myself because, again, sometimes, it just writes something that just sounds too ... idk... literarily
I get that some people would probably hate me using AI, but I actually love it because now I can express the scene I picture but more clearly (since again, I'm not that good of a writer.) So I will use ChatGPT to improve my writing from now on.
PS: The way I use it, I just realize ChatGPT is like my editor now lol

Chapter 166

「... And that concludes my report.」stated Mu. 

「How dare you agree to them bringing a Hyakki Yagyo Vice Captain to Wei Shimin sama’s place?」Hou Yi thundered, slamming his hand emphatically onto the cold marble table before him, his anger palpable.

「He explicitly instructed us to employ any means and concessions necessary to bring the princess to him, unharmed」Mu retorted, shrugging nonchalantly as he calmly reminded the General.

「No, you've done well.」Beyond the projected screen sat the Supreme Commander of the Southern Subjugation Army on his levitating golden throne. As he occupied his royal seat, two sculpted dragon heads served as formidable armrests, their cold, metallic eyes mirroring the absolute authority of the second prince of the Yin empire. These fearsome dragon guardians seemed to coil protectively around the throne, their serpentine forms capturing the essence of power and dominance. The fearsome man appeared as stoic as ever, with his posture exuded regal poise, each movement deliberate and commanding. His gaze, sharp and piercing, surveyed the surroundings with a sense of authority that demanded immediate respect.「It is more important for us to get the princess than to worry about trivial matters such as a Hyakki Yagyo member… What about the hybrid who just took the title of the 13th Captain? He’s not coming?」

「No, he's the son of Kailos, the head of the Yves House. I highly doubt his dad would jeopardize his son’s life by escorting her into the lion's den. Not after they have just reunited.」

「Nevertheless, we must remain vigilant about those accompanying the girl.」Reminded Hou Yi.「This meeting presents one of the best opportunities for them to target Wei Shimin-sama directly.」

「Naturally.」Mu agreed. 

「You worry too much, Hou Yi. Those flies can never reach me.」Wei Shimin dismissed his right hand man’s concern. 「What matters the most is that we will obtain Yue and by using her as a leverage, we will be able to recruit that person to our side. That would mean us receiving the support of another Heavenly General while my brother losing his. Two birds with one stone.」

「You speak as if you have already pacified Monas Kye, Wei Shimin… sama」Mu spoke up. 「May I remind you as long as Monas Kye is still fighting us, we will not have the leisure of both continuing campaigning here while clashing against the Imperial Authority of your brother, the Emperor. Only when Monas Kye, a legendary territory that has not been conquered by any outside forces, completely crushed by you, would you be able to possibly claim the Mandate of Heaven and rebel against the emperor.」

「Of course I understand that, Mu.」Wei Shimin leaned forward, his hands pressed against one another.「Almost all Monas Kye has fallen into our hands, with only mere pockets of resistance and the weak, peaceful fringe of the Southernmost territory still has not been subjugated. The complete annexation of Monas Kye would only be a matter of time.」

「Alsen, the most powerful stronghold of the Grasslanders, is still there. On top of that, they have finally elected a King to lead them. The last time the Grasslanders got their King, they were able to push back the Crusaders completely off their land, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Underestimating them might not bode well for you.」

「...」Wei Shimin remained silent. He was a proud man who placed confidence in his scheme and power, but he wasn't an arrogant fool. Even though the chance of Alsen claiming the final triumph in this war was low, Wei Shimin understood it was never zero. 「You said their new King is Wylan?」

「Yes.」

「They’ve elected a very capable man, indeed. It’d be better for us if they had crowned Kailos, a man blinded by grief, or Ectharen, a beast blinded by rage. But Wylan… he is shrewd and calculating, a man perfect for the job.」Hou Yi noted.

「... But that doesn’t matter. Alsen will soon fall even if we don’t lift a finger.」Wei Shimin declared before turning to the General.「Have you finished doing what I asked of you, Hou Yi?」

「Of course, Wei Shimin sama. We have gathered more than 50000 prisoners of war: those too weak, too old, and too young for us to enslave or put into forced labor camps.」

「Good.」

「... What… are you planning?」Mu asked. The chimera was taken aback from the order, given how 50k people are not a small number. 

「The reason why the presence of a Monas Kye King would prove so threatening is because he can unite the fragmented Grasslanders into a dangerous, cohesive force. But before those demihumans of Monas Kye can gather and coalesce around their newly crowned King to find a ray of hope, I will make them realize their King is powerless. I will make sure to show them their so-called King cares not for the people of Monas Kye but his own Clan. Cracks will appear within their coalition of different Clans and sooner or later, the authority of this so-called “king” will evaporate.」

「Say, Mu, if you’re in Wylan’s shoe, what would you do if 50k refugees come to your besieged city to seek shelter?」

「I… wait, you don’t mean.」

「Exactly. Despite entering a truce, we did not promise to withdraw our troops or the territory we control. That means that Alsen is practically still being besieged by all sides. How much food do you think they have stored in the city? The city has a population of less than 40k people, if suddenly 50k people come to the city, begging the supposed King of the Grassland to help them, what would the king do? Turn them away? That’s what I would do, since for sure they will not have enough food, water, and space to take care of 50k dependents. But if that’s the case, the supposed “King of the Grasslanders,” would lose all of his legitimacy for he had decided to forsake his own people. He will never be able to unify Monas Kye inhabitants… or at least the remaining inhabitants, under his command, and if he can’t do that, then he poses no threat to us. Now, if he takes them in and we continue to place the embargo them, then his demise and the demise of Alsen, would come even sooner, for the 50k people he takes in would act as a locust plague that consumes Alsen from the inside.」

「... So, regardless, the last stronghold of Monas Kye will fall.」

「Exactly.」Wei Shimin smiled.

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「Let’s see… Hmm… Maia said she needs some eggs」Ren turned to the small shop at the corner of the crowded market.「Half a  dozen should probably be enough.」As Ren navigated the labyrinthine alleys of the crowded market, the air was thick with the scent of sizzling street food and the constant hum of bartering. The small shop at the corner beckoned, its display adorned with baskets of fresh produce and crates of eggs precariously stacked. As Ren approached, he noticed rows of refugees huddled on the edges, their weary eyes seemed to tell stories of displacement and hardship. As expected, the members of the Three Great Houses were already there to help distribute food and medicines, but given the sheer amount of people they had to take care of, their efforts seemed to be nothing but a drop in the bucket. Given Alsen is the last bastion in Monas Kye the Grasslanders still have control over, it makes sense why they keep taking refuge here. But… At this rate, with so many people assembled in one place, sanitation will become a problem. No, I guess that’d be the least of our problems. Keeping public order and the people well-fed would be the most pressing concern, Ren thought to himself.

「Aw, Ren-chan, you have not even gotten half of the items I asked.」Maia, holding a bag full of produce, appeared behind the elf as he asked the shopkeeper for the eggs he was tasked to buy.

「Huh, Maia?」Ren looked down at the full bag she was holding.「How can you be done with your shopping already?」

「And how can you not be done with yours? I only asked you to buy like 4 items, Ren-chan.」Maia pouted.

「Give me a break, Maia. It's hard to navigate these market streets. It’s like a maze. It took me like 10 minutes to figure out where I can buy the flour.」complained Ren.「Besides, I never had to personally go buy things at a market like this.」

「You’re right. I forgot you’re a pampered prince sometimes.」Maia teased.「Do you also have attendants to get you things when you were High Shaman at the Vernys forest, Ren-chan?」

「Yeah, so what?」Ren blushed red with embarrassment.

「Well, we're Kibadios' servants now. You just gotta learn how to do these chores.」Smiled Maia.

「I know, I know.」Nodded Ren.「That’s why I’m here to help you, am I not? After all, I do feel bad if I let you do all of the chores by yourself.」

「Well, I guess there’s a learning curve for everything. But I expect you to get at least half the items on the list within 10 minutes the next time we’re shopping.」

「Fine, fine. Once I get used to the layout of this place, it shouldn’t take that long.」

「Maia nee-chan!!!」A kid suddenly hugged the Alchemist from behind, interrupting their chat.

「Ah, Tina-chan!! How are you doing now?」Maia patted the grinning girl’s head.「What are you doing here? Where’s your dad?」

「I’m doing great, Maia nee-chan!!」

「And I’m right behind her, Maia dono.」Kuron emerged from the crowd.「Fancy running into you here and sorry if Tina startled you. You shouldn’t suddenly tackle people like that, Tina.」

「But that wasn’t a tackle. I was only hugging Maia nee-chan!」argued the girl with her dad before turning around.「What are you getting?」

「Oh, Ren-chan just helped me to get some eggs. Since Kibadios sama is going to leave for a while, we thought we can make his favorite dessert: a flan!」

「What’s flan? Wait, Kibadios sama is also leaving? My dad is going to leave for a while too, right, dad?」Tina asked her father.

「Yeah, I have something important to do. But Tina will be fine staying with Wylan nii-chan, right?」Kuron smiled tenderly at his daughter.

「Of course, I’m a big girl!」The kid pumped her chest.

「Yeah, Kibadios sama will leave with your dad to work on an important mission. If you’re feeling sad while your dad’s away, you can always come to play with me.」Maia reassured the girl.

「Really?」

「Of course. And I can teach you how to make a flan too. Apparently, it’s a special, delicious type of dessert that Kibadios sama taught me how to make before. It’s soft, sweet, and melt in your mouth as you take a bite.」

「Really???」Tina’s eyes brightened.「Are you going to make the flan for Kibadios sama now? Can I come and help? I really want to make Kibadios sama something to thank him for helping me and my dad!」

「Of course! Let’s surprise Kibadios sama, okay?」

「Yay!」The girl happily shouted. 「Wait, Maia nee chan, You said Kibadios sama taught you to make this Flan thing? Is he good at cooking?」

「Huh… Ehtoo…」Maia looked puzzled, then look back to Ren, who simply shrugged.「Actually, I don’t know. It’s a mystery. Master seems to know how to make everything. He even taught me new, exotic recipes. But I have never seen him personally cook anything… Aaah, I guess I would give anything just to eat something he cooks.」

「Maybe he can’t cook. That’s okay! My dad can’t cook, either. Anything he touched turned into black charcoal in the end!」

「Is that so?」laughed Maia.

「... Kuron…」Walking behind the two, Ren finally broke the silence as he turned to the Yves. 「Maybe you shouldn’t leave Tina like this, especially given how dangerous this mission may turn out. After all, Tina needs her dad.」

「...」The Yves remained silent for a moment.「Thank you for your concern, Ren dono. But because I know how important and dangerous this mission is, that’s why I volunteered. If we succeed in killing Wei Shimin and destroying the Yinese forces, then Tina will finally get to experience peace and true happiness. For her to keep smiling, I gotta contribute whatever I can in order to win back our peaceful life… Even if anything happens to me, as long as she can live, play, and laugh without having to fear for her life, I’m already content. One day, she will understand my choice.」

「... I understand. Sorry, I spoke out of line.」

「Not at all, Ren dono. I just hope you and others can keep Tina company while I’m gone.」

「Will do.」

 

.

.

.

「Nii san… Nii san…. Nii san!」Wylan called out to his brother, who was intensely looking at the various gems displayed on the shelves. 

「Ah, Wylan, what do you need?」Gyo turned to his younger brother, who has been trying to get his attention to no avail. 

「More like, what do YOU need?」The Yves Head concernedly asked.「You’ve been spacing out while looking at these gems for a while. Are you thinking about your upcoming union with Kibadios sama? Are you against the idea? Is that why you’ve been so absent minded today? And what are we even doing here, in this shop?」The Yves fired questions after questions at his brother.「You know, if you really don’t want to join Kibadios sama’s group, maybe we can ask him if it’s fine for you not to be the Yves representative in his harem.」

「What? No!!!」

「Huh?」Even Wylan was surprised at his brother’s vehement declination.

「I mean… Maybe I don’t look like it, but I’m really excited to serve the Young Lord.」admitted Gyo. 

「Really?」

「Yes… You see, I’ve always admired his confident manner since the first day he appeared before us. Or how despite the danger, he still fiercely argued that he should be the one who take on Wei Shimin, simply because it’s his duty to do so. And just these last two days, I’ve also come to admire how he shouldered the fate of not only Monas Kye, but the world all on his own… I just want to be by his side to share his burden. Just like you said, Wylan, it’s an honor for me to serve him. I just hope I’m good enough.」Explained Gyo. The mutant Yves paused for a moment, his face getting slightly red.「Besides, during the time we’re in the dungeon… I… I’d be ashamed to admit, but after witnessing the Young Lord and Uri dono’s… you know…nightly activity… I can’t help but imagine myself in Uri dono’s place.」

「... Is… is that so?」Even the usually serious Wylan was now also blushing. He would have never guessed there would be a day when his brother, who has always been devoting himself into smithing ever since he was picked up by the House of the Horns, would one day be fantasizing about satisfying his carnal desires.「But, why are we here?」

「I want to craft for the Young Lord something as my dowry to him. Maybe a vambrace? I’m looking for nice looking gems to put on them.」

「I see… Wait, if it’s dowry, then we, the House of the Eyes, should prepare it.」

「Did you forget, Wylan, I’ve not been a member of the House for a long time. The elders probably don’t want to have anything to do with me.」

「Who cares about those stupid elders!」argued Wylan.

「You’re the Head of the House, Wylan.」Gyo, a large grin crossed his face, patted his brother’s head.「You shouldn’t say something disrespectful like that to your elders. Truth to be told, I don’t care if I’m not part of the House. Just as long as I still have you, then I’m fine.」

「Nii san!!!」

「Besides, me making the dowry myself would make it more meaningful, right?」Gyo’s eyes finally rested on the perfect gems.「What about these amethysts? They share the Young Lord’s hair color.」

「I’m sure Kibadios sama will be happy with whatever you choose, Nii san.」smiled Wylan.

.

.

.

Having just finished with another round of exploration within the dungeon, Kibadios was certainly not in a very good mood. The initial excitement and anticipation he harbored for reaching the 100th floor had dwindled into a murky dissatisfaction. As he ascended beyond the 60th floor, the dungeon's challenges morphed into an exponential crescendo, leaving him to ponder if the first 60 floors had merely served as a preliminary trial.

Despite having Ryuu, Yue, and Uri accompanying him, the group encountered formidable impediments while navigating through the labyrinthine corridors of the 63rd and 64th floors. After a grueling four hours, Kibadios finally set foot on the 65th floor, only to be greeted by familiar faces from the Hyakki Yagyo: Erik, Amaira, and Baxley. The trio had dedicated themselves to exploring the dungeon since the previous evening, even going so far as to camp on the 50th floor overnight. Kibadios decided to join forces with the trio as they ventured onward, progressing through the challenges presented by the 66th floor. Two hours of relentless combat ensued, the group confronting high level monsters that tested the limits of their skills. Amidst the struggle, Kibadios took the opportunity to strategize with the trio regarding his plan to deliver a triumphant victory for Alsen in their battle against the Empire, outlining a plan for the trio to conduct "guerrilla warfare" against the entrenched Yinese Forces by attacking their supply routes. In this clandestine operation, Erik expressed confidence that it would be a cakewalk for his team.

「Do not try to engage them directly.」warned Kibadios.「Always prioritize your lives and withdraw if you ever face with large number of Yinese troops.」

「Aw, I never would have imagined you to be such a worrywart, Boss.」Amaira playfully teased her new Boss.「Don’t you worry! Even if there are a thousands Yinese troops, the three of us can take them on, right, Erik?」

「Depends on who we’re facing. If they’re general class troops, I doubt we can deal with more than 10 of them at a time.」Erik, adopting a logical stance, responded.

「Come on! Can you at least agree with me to make us sound cool?」complained Amaira.

「Now now, Amaira chan.」Baxley held back the angry mutant leopard beastman.「Erik was just saying what he thinks.」

「Hmm, Let’s get one thing straight here, I’m not really worried about you guys.」smirked Kibadios.「If I lose one of you guys to those no name soldiers, then it just means I lost one of my useful tools to use in this war. Instead of dying, I’d like to put you guys to better use.」

「「... Wow, boss…」」Both the giant and beastman commented.

「Hm, I think now I know why Ashura sama took a liking to you. That statement right there would be exactly what he would say to us. You two are basically two peas in a pod. No wonder why he made you our Captain.」Erik shook his head. 

「Ha, really? Say, Erik, now that I’m your boss, do you regret not trying harder to kill me back then during our clash?」grinned Kibadios.

「You kid, boss. I was totally outclassed back then, wasn’t I? Do you regret not killing me on that night cuz now you have to work with me?」Asked Erik.

「Nah, the more tools I have, the better.」Teased Kibadios.

「Ha, one of these days, maybe one of your tools will challenge you for the title of captain, boss.」Erik glared back, sparks flying between the two’s gazes.

「Ooohhh, cool! When that time comes, can I be the referee?」Amaira, fascinated by the dynamic, eagerly suggested.

「Now now now, we still have the Yin Empire to deal with. Now’s not the time to fight among one another.」The giant tried to break the friendly tension between his teammates.

「You know what? Once we crush the Yinese forces, I’ll give you a chance to take the title of Captain from me.」Promised Kibadios.

「 “Once we crush the Yinese”? If anything, I like your confidence, Kibadios… sama」Erik, amused by Kibadios's confidence, smiled and agreed,「You have a deal!」

「Hah? Just give up. There’s no chance you can best our Master in a fight.」Ryuu waved his hand. 

「You would never know until you actually try, right?」Erik looked at the hybrid. 「Boss?」

「Exactly!」agreed Kibadios.「Oh, by the way, do you know where’s your Big Boss?」

「Ashura sama? I think he’s ahead of us. He said he wants to be the first one to conquer this dungeon so I guess he should be at least on the 90s floor by now.」

「I see.」

Embarking on the second exploration of the dungeon, or technically the third, if one took into account the trial, Kibadios uncovered the intricacies of its design—crafted by Faye and his master to mimic a game. With each ascent to a new floor, a "save point" materialized, ensuring that upon returning the next day, one would be seamlessly transported to the last floor explored. This gaming feature proved particularly advantageous for the hybrid, sparing him the tedious necessity of starting from the first floor each time. The group invested another hour and a half to ascend to the 67th floor before deciding to retrace their steps, mindful of the encroaching lateness of the day. Despite Kibadios's initial intent to catch up with Ashura, the ticking clock led him to estimate that another day might be required to bridge the gap. 

Thanks to Rowan casting a barrier before Kibadios got in the dungeon, as he returned, again, the hybrid found that only two hours had passed on the outside world. This time, as proof of his growth, Rowan was able to maintain the barrier continuously for 1 and a half hours, almost three times longer than he had the day before. 

「I know you can do this, Rowan chan.」Kibadios patted the healer’s head as a reward for this extreme effort.

「I will try my best again to make it last longer, Master!!」Eager to exceed his Master’s expectations, Rowan declared with enthusiasm.

「Wow, just like Ashura sama said. That Rowan can really mess with the time we experienced inside the dungeon.」Amaira remarked. 

.

.

.

「Hmmm…. What is my adorable future harem member doing in a jewelry shop?」Kibadios asked as he hid on the pavement opposite the shop and discreetly spied on the two Yves brothers. On the way back, he had noticed Gyo and Wylan on the street but before he could call out to them, they had already entered a shop in a hurry. The owner, of course, was welcoming and greeting Wylan with open arms, given how they had all believed he was their King. Not one of the shopkeepers would interact with Gyo, though. Kibadios reckoned it was because they were discriminating against Yves since he was a mutant, but it did not seem to bother the older brother that much, since he kept intensely studying the collections of gems in front of him.  

「I wonder what they are saying about?」Rowan asked.

「This is a jewelry shop, right? Is Gyo buying gift for someone?」

「Who’s that guy?」Erik asked.

「He’s Master’s… I don't know…」Ryuu struggled to find a word to describe the relationship. He was thinking of “betrothed” or “fiance,” but those implied the person would have an equal standing to his Master, which Ryuu quickly dismissed, since to him, they were nothing but his Master’s servants.「He’ll be part of Master’s harem soon.」

「Huh? Soon?」

「It’s a “tradition” thing.」Uri smiled. Of course, he did not elaborate further since doing so would reveal Kibadios to be the true King of Monas Kye instead of Wylan.

「”Tradition” thing… Part of the Boss’s harem…. “Tradition” thing…」A lightbulb clicked inside Amaira’s head. Putting on detective attire with a cigar pipe, the girl embraced her newfound cosplaying role.「Let me guess, because he was already a servant of the House of the Horns, he was ordered by Kailos dono to join the Boss’ harem to take care of the Boss. He had no say in the matter, am I right?」

「「Huh? That’s  not quite… right…」」Ryuu, Uri, and Rowan simultaneously answered. 

「... Close enough…」Kibadios, though, agreed with the assessment.「Because technically, I was the one who proposed for him to join my harem. Maybe he does feel forced to just obey my wish because he did not want to upset me or my dad, whose family had taken him in and raised him since he was a kid?」

「Tsk tsk tsk, Boss, you know what you did?」Amaira clicked her tongue while shaking her head.

「No?... Yes?... Maybe?」Kibadios was unsure of what the girl meant.

「You see, I bet 10 copper coins that he already had a girlfriend!」Amaira confidently unveiled her deduction.

「「What?」」Ryuu and Rowan exclaimed in disbelief. 

「Yes. But because he felt obligated to join the Boss’ harem, he did not object to your proposal. But that means he has to break things off with his girlfriend, and that’s why he’s here, in this jewelry shop, trying to find the perfect parting gift for the girl!」Amaira confidently deduced.

「That’s… possible?」Kibadios, intrigued, turned to observe Gyo once again, musing.

「Wow, that’s a shoujo plot right there!!!」From behind the group, Reuk, along with Haden, suddenly appeared.「You… Amaira, am I right? Do you want to collab with me to write a shoujo manga?」

「The heck is a manga?」Amaira raised her eyebrows.

「...」Standing on the side, Erik seemed unimpressed, as if he also had to deal with Amaira’s rather imaginative mind for many times that he was almost certain none of what she deduced was correct.

「Master, where are you going?」Rowan called out to the hybrid as he realized Kibadios had decided to walk away.

「Back home? Gyo’ll be visiting us later tonight, right? We can always ask him then and if what Amaira said was right, then maybe we can call this whole things off.」

「But why? It’s a privilege for Gyo to serve you, Kibadios sama!」Ryuu argued.

「「Huh?」」Rowan and Reuk looked at one another. The two people who have known Kibadios for the longest were rather surprised at how much the hybrid has changed. After all, there were time when Kibadios would not care whether Gyo had a girlfriend or not. He would have taken Gyo’s willing consent as his final answer and pinned him down to consummate the relationship right then and there. After all, that exact scenario had happened to Rowan himself. The transformation in Kibadios's attitude, from one that would coldly assert his dominance to one being considerate to others' feelings, left them astonished.

Chapter 167: Kibadios x Gyo (R18)

Notes:

Happy New Year!!!
I thought I wouldn't get to Kibadios x Gyo soon, but I changed my mind. Now, expect Kibadios x Ayer by the end of this volume. :D

This is late, but here's the "cover page" for this volume, which Tsushima (Pixiv ID: 411873, https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/411873) drew for me for freeeeee!!!! I was ecstatic!!!! THEY'RE THE BEST!!!! I suggested that they should let me make a request on skeb so I can give them some money for their efforts but they refused (and they even finished it in like 3 days... sometimes I feel frustrated that they're not more popular on pixiv! Like how? Their style looks beautiful! Their story seems very interesting! And god, their R18 scenes look so erotic! I begged them to accept R18 commissions but they declined because they didn't think they would be able to capture the emotion/interaction correctly.... anyways, sorry, I digress)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

「Kibadios sama?」Gyo lightly knocked on Kibadios’s residence, awaiting his Young Lord’s answer.「I’m here as you’ve instructed.」

「Chii?」Instead of the hybrid or his harem, the mutant Yves noticed that it was Kibadios’ pet slime who opened the door. The gelatinous creature stretched its body upward, deftly gripping the door handle. 

「Ah, Nu chan?」The Yves gracefully leaned down to greet the slime.「Where’s your Master and others?」

「Chii!!」

「Gyo’s finally here? Let him in, Nu.」Kibadios's authoritative voice directed the slime, prompting it to slowly open the door further, inviting Yves into the abode.「Chii!」

The door revealed an unfolding scene that caught Yves off guard. Intoxicating aromas wafted through the air, accompanied by suggestive moans echoing from the living room. As Yves took it all in, a vivid blush crept across his face, realizing he had stumbled upon a rather intimate moment between Kibadios and his harem. The hybrid, in his fully naked form, sat leisurely on the large sofa. His hands grabbed tightly against Yue’s soft thighs from behind, lifting her legs up, pressing them against her tender breasts. His cock was now penetrating Yue’s watering pussy, making loud sloshing noises mixed together with her soft voice muttering such things as 「Master… No more… Not thereee…」. Of course, such pleading did not slow down Kibadios one bit as the hybrid continued to fuck his elven princess like a wild beast. Sitting on either of his side were Maia and Rowan, the two original harem members who he first collected half a year ago. The two were acting as if they were in trance, with black tentacles conjured by Kibadios wrapping around their cum soaked bodies and teasing their nipples. With her breasts being stimulated and played by her master’s shadow, the alchemist was lactating uncontrollably, squirting her thick milk all over the hybrid. After finishing kissing her, the hybrid directed his tentacles to lift the exhausted alchemist girl up, aligning her breasts to his mouth level. Wasting no time, Kibadios finally sunk his teeth into the girl’s bosoms, biting and sucking out the delicious milk his girl produced. On the other side, despite his cock being pumped by a suction cup created from the shadow, Rowan dutifully kissed and licked his Master’s slender neck, before moving his salivating mouth toward the hybrid’s pink, erect nipples.

Kneeling on the floor were the tsundere elven prince, Ren himself, Ryuu, and Ryan. All were equally naked as his Master, with the shadow tentacles thrusting in and out of their cum dripping assholes. Ryuu and Ryan were on either side of his Master’s crotch, sniffing and licking his heavy balls while Ren was kneeling in the middle, directly licking and slurping up his sister and Master’s fluid that dripped down from the hybrid’s thick shaft. Kibadios had always wanted the members of his harem to be as intimate with one another’s bodies as possible, as long as their holes remained exclusively his; still, he had some reservation when it came to Ren and Yue, given how they were twins. Yet, to his surprise, the twins seemed to not mind touching and getting close to each other's bodies. Kibadios was curious why they were comfortable with it so he had asked them directly and evidently, based on their explanation, the twins viewed their bodies not as individual entities but rather as an extension of each other due to their unique bond. This perspective explained their comfort in openly sharing and bathing together on the night Kibadios first encountered them. 

Not far from the group were the half conscious Uri and Yuusei, who had turned back to his beastman form. Naturally, both were also naked, with the shota laying on top of the Vice Captain, their semi-hard cock pressing against one another. The shota’s fur was completely covered in his Master’s thick cum, though such amount was nothing compared to the amount of cum that were now gushing out from the mutant hybrid and Vice Captain’s twitching assholes. From what Gyo could surmised, Kibadios must have started the fun with those two and drained them before moving on to the remaining harem members he was currently with right now. 

「Welcome, my …adorable…haa… Gyo chan.」Kibadios pulled away from Maia’s perky breast to greet the mutant Yves. With one final thrust, the hybrid finally released his cum deep inside Yue’s constricting pussy, before pulling his cock out. He slowly placed the half-conscious, panting  princess onto the soft sofa before giving the Yves his full attention.「I’m sorry, is this sight too unseemly to you?」

「... Of… of course not, Young Lord.」The Yves finally regained his composure.「You’re an incubus, an Overlord Incubus, no less. I understand this is just your natural instinct. The moment I’ve decided to accept the gracious offer to join your harem, I fully understood what I signed up for.」

「Is that so?」Kibadios smiled.「Then, would you mind helping me taking a bath?」

「If… if you permit me, Young Lord.」Gyo hurriedly nodded. 

As Kibadios strolled away, his shadowy tentacle leisurely retracted from the tender, hickey-laden skin of the rest of the harem, freeing them from the overwhelming deluge of pleasures in which they were immersed.   

「Ahh… Do you think Gyo san will really join us?」Ryan, seated on the floor with his head gently resting on Rowan's lap, asked

「I wonder.」was all Rowan said. 「 If Amaira's speculation proves accurate, it seems likely that Master would permit Gyo to find happiness with his significant other instead.」

「I know right!」Rowan nodded, before leaning down to kiss Ren, dashing his tongue around the elven prince’s mouth wantonly.

「What was that for?」Ren asked after he finally broke the kiss.

「I just think you’re cute.」Rowan teased.

「Don’t lie. You want to taste Kibadios’ cum, don’t you?」Ren easily saw through Rowan’s action.

「Yeaaa… I didn't get to gulp any of his cum this time.」Rowan whined.「I remember back in the good old days, Master would violently pump his loads inside my mouth. He didn’t even care whether it was choking or not. It felt terrible, but on the other hand, I got to savor every last drop of his cum.」

「Haha, you sound like an old man, Rowan.」Maia gently smiled as she caressed the exhausted elven princess’ hair, whose warm, naked body was pressing against her own.「But you’re right, that was when we were still living in the cave right and even before Ryan joined us… Now that I think about it, Master’s really getting soft.」

「Well, that’s like stating the obvious, Maia senpai. Because he knew Gyo would be coming over, he even started this whole hardcore mating session out of nowhere just to show him what he had signed up for when he agreed to join Master’s harem.」pointed out Ryuu.

「Wow… Even our simple minded Ryuu chan noticed what Master's intention was.」Surprised Rowan.

「Hehehe, of course…」It took a while for Ryuu to process what Rowan had just implied. 「Wait a minute, are you saying I’m an idiot, Rowan senpai??」

「He’s saying you’re the adorable airhead mascot of our group, Ryuu, and that’s a compliment.」smirked Ren.

「Mascot, huh? I like that!」grinned Ryuu as his tail started to wag.

Just as Ryuu had said, after bidding goodbye to Kuron and his young daughter, who was still fairly giddy since Kibadios had complimented on how good the flan she helped make, the hybrid promptly pulled his harem into a frenzy session of fucking for almost 2 hours nonstop as he waited for the mutant Yves, so of course, Gyo catching a glimpse of Kibadios’ aggressive night time activity was no coincidence. Currently, the two found themselves secluded in the expansive bathroom after Kibadios has just relieved Ayer, who had been tasked with preparing a bath, of his presence in the room. Kibadios simply sat down on a small stool, before ordering Gyo to wash his hair and back.

「Do you usually take a bath with your clothes on, Gyo chan?」asked Kibadios since he noticed the mutant Yves had yet to discard his clothes. 

「Of course not, Young Lord.」The man shook his head as his face slowly turned red.「But… my body is not as slender or beautiful as the others in your harem so I thought maybe I should not expose myself to you… at least, not until we’re in some dimly lit bedroom.」

「Strip!」Kibadios’s stern order jolted the Yves. It was as if he was a sub and his Young Lord was a dom in a dom/sub universe BL, the mutant felt compelled to obey his Master as he awkwardly unbuckled his large belts before pulling down his pants. Since he did not usually wear a shirt, the moment his pants dropped onto the wet floor, the mutant Yves’ body was now almost completely exposed, saved for a white loincloth that still covered his evidently erecting cock. 

「Would you still be conscious of your body if I were to tell you that I do enjoy the view of a handsome muscular man standing in front of me?」Kibadios smiled, his touch tender as he placed his hand against Gyo's blushing cheek, before skillfully tracing a path down his neck to his collarbones. The hybrid's hand lingered there briefly, savoring the moment, before continuing its journey southward. It caressed and pressed against Gyo's firm chest, exploring the contours, and then descended further to his well-defined eight-pack abs. With his other hand, the hybrid stealthily undid the seemingly frozen Yves’ loincloth and dropped the piece down onto the floor. By the time the mesmerized Gyo regained his composure, he had found himself completely naked in front of his Young Lord, his sensitive skin can feel the young hybrid’s warm hand lingering above his crotch. 

「...Kibadios… sama…」The Gyo muttered as he looked down, meeting his smiling Young Lord’s gaze. 

「Now, that’s better!」Kibadios suddenly withdrew his hand, then sat down on the small stool. 「Can you help washing my hair and back?」

「... Of course, Young Lord!」The grinning mutant Yves nodded in agreement, quickly maneuvering behind the hybrid's back. Gyo, with a sense of duty, wetted the hybrid's hair before skillfully applying shampoo and scratching his scalp. Then, just like how Kibadios’s hand played with his body just now, the Yves’ hand slowly moved down along Kibadios’ back before spreading the soap along. 

「Ah, that’s the spot.」Kibadios groaned as Gyo massaged his back.

「You sound like an old man, Young Lord.」The Yves smiled.

「I am. After all, this is my third reincarnation. Do you know how old I would be if I add up all the years that I have lived」

「Well, you’re in a healthy young man’s body now.」reminded Gyo with a smile.

「Hmm, then maybe I should be more like ~~ Gyaaaa~~ Ahhh~~ That’s~the~spot~~」Moaned Kibadios teasingly. 

「No, that’s not what I meant, Young Lord!!」Gyo shook his head.

「Haha, sorry, I just want to tease you.」Kibadios admitted. The hybrid paused for a moment as if he was hesitant to continue「Say, Gyo, as much as I just want to pin you down and make you mine, I gotta ask something: Do you have someone else that you hold dear?」

「Someone? Like my brother?」Gyo asked.

「No, like a significant other who you want to make your partner one day… As in a girlfriend? 」clarified Kibadios.

「Girlfriend? No, of course I…」

「You see, earlier in the day, I saw you shopping for some jewelry.」

「Ha? Kibadios sama saw that?」Gyo was embarrassed.

「Yeah. Who were you planning to buy the jewelry for?」

「That’s… I….」The Yves hesitated.

「I see… So I guess Amaira’s farfetch theory may be correct then.」

「Wait… Amaira dono from the Hyakki Yagyo? What’s her theory?」

「She guessed that because you had decided to join my harem to be an Yves representative, you were there at the store to buy some jewelry for a girl you cared deeply for, as a parting gift. Pretty much she was implying I netorared you from someone else.」

「Netorared? I don’t know what that meant but of course that’s not true, Young Lord!!! I don’t have any girlfriend, or boyfriend for that matter! In all my 25 years, I have never once thought I would end up with anyone, let alone having a girlfriend!! I’ve always devoted myself to smithing and I didn’t even have single indecent thought, not until the time I caught glimpses of you and Uri dono back in the Dungeon!!!」The Yves uncharacteristically raised his voice as he argued back, until he realized he had just revealed a bit too much at the end.

「So, does that mean you’ve had indecent thoughts about me the last few days?」Kibadios stood up and turned around with a smirk. Since he was enjoying Gyo’s sensual touch, the hybrid’s cock was now completely erected. With Kibadios standing facing the Yves while the Yves himself was kneeling down to wash his Young Lord’s back, Kibadios’ throbbing cock inadvertently swung as he turned, hitting the muscular smith straight into his face. Interestingly, such an accident did not elicit any fiery response from the Yves. Instead, the mutant Yves seemed to be mesmerized by his Young Lord’s powerful cock as all three of his eyes simply blinked while his gaze fixated onto the fleshy rod just inches away from his face. 

「... Yes, Kibadios sama…」Gyo shamedly admitted.

「Hm… But from what you said, you appeared so innocent previously. Maybe my incubus aura has been affecting your mind.」wondered Kibadios.

「No, Young Lord!!!」denied Gyo loudly.「Actually, I don’t know if it did, but I know I was happy when I learned you had eyes on me! And I was ecstatic when I learned that you would accept a mutant like me into your harem, to be by your side and serve you! I’m so honored I just wish that I live up to your expectation… and that I can help you shoulder the immense burden you’re carrying.」

「Is that so?」smiled Kibadios. His hand patted the Yves’ head before grabbing onto his short hair, pushing his head against his precum leaking cock.「I’m glad that’s how you felt, Gyo chan. Given the circumstances, I don’t think I can even hold back the urge to fuck you senselessly.」confessed the hybrid.「Would you mind officially becoming mine tonight, my adorable swordsmith?」

「Y… Yessss」moaned Gyo. The musky scent emitting from Kibadios’ cock was now invading the Yves’ nostrils, intoxicated his mind.

「Ah, first, let’s finish washing away these soap and get in the bath. Then, I’ll ravage you as promise.」Kibadios grinned.「Oh, I almost forgot. If Amaira was wrong, then what were you doing at that jewelry shop?」

「I… I wanted to find good gems to add onto a vambrace I’m making for you, Young Lord.」confessed Gyo.

「.. Ha… haha…hahaha.」Kibadios laughed.「I felt kinda stupid now. Though it’s good that I just asked you directly. Thank you, Gyo chan, I’m looking forward to my vambrace present.」The hybrid leaned down and kissed Gyo’s cheek, causing him to blush even more.

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「Haa….HAAAAAAA….KIBADIOS SAMA, PLEASE WAITTTTT!!!!」Gyo screamed out from the top of his lung as he collapsed down onto the floor on all four while Kibadios disregarded his plea and continued to thrust his raging hard cock deeper inside the Yves’ once tight, virgin asshole. 

The Yves’ body was now filled with red hickies, especially on his broad, muscular back since that was where the hybrid’s mouth had been playing with the most. For the past half an hour, Kibadios had Gyo sat in front of him inside the bathtub while his hands wrapped around his newest harem member’s body, roaming freely to explore every inch of the Yves’ beefing muscles. Still, as usual, Kibadios spent most of his time playing with the smith’s big, sensitive chest. His nails sometimes would sink into the man’s bulky flesh as he groped his breast. Some other time, his skillful finger would swirl around Gyo’s areolas before latching onto both his nipples, pulling and twisting it slightly, causing the mutant Yves to squirm in his Young Lord’s embrace. As Gyo twitched and moved around, he could clearly feel Kibadios’ cock grinding against his ass and lower back from underneath the water inside the bathtub, causing him to become more conscious of what was to come.

「I warned you earlier right, Gyo chan?」Holding tightly onto the Yves’ hips as he thrust his cock forward deep inside the man, Kibadios leaned forward against Gyo’s back and whispered into his ear.「Once I start, I cannot stop until the end.」

「But… This feelsss soooo goooddddddd!!!」Gyo bit his teeth, trying to suppress his loud moan as Kibadios continued to press his cock against the Yves’ prostate. By now, Kibadios was almost lying on top of Gyo like a feral animal, aggressively pumping his cock in and out the tight hole, enjoying the feeling of Gyo’s warm and wet inner flesh. With the intense pleasure that kept assaulting his head, it did not take long for Gyo to finally climax, shooting out loads of his cum all over the bathroom floor. Yet, such a climax was not the end of their mating session since Kibadios has yet to cum. The hybrid lifted the exhausted Yves up, then turned him around and placed him down onto the floor, before holding Gyo’s muscular thighs up, pressing his knees against his big breasts. In this position, Gyo’s private parts were completely exposed to his new Master, causing him to blush red as he noticed his own cock was still fully erected and bobbing up and down in rhythm with Kibadios’ thrusts.

「Don’t hide, Gyo chan!」ordered Kibadios when he noticed the Yves was trying to use his hands to cover his face.「I want to be able to look at your face, your neck, your breasts, your beefy muscles, your lusting cock and asshole… I want to see every parts of you as I release my load deep inside you for the first time ever!」

「Y… yes… Of course, Young Lord!」Gyo’s heart beat fast as he gazed back at his Master. The mutant Yves raised his arms and wrapped it around Kibadios’ neck, pulling him in to initiate a deep, long kiss.「Thank you for letting me serve you, Kibadios sama.」

 

 

 

Kibadios x Gyo Illustration:

Artist: ITKZ (Titan's Bride author)

They forgot Kibadios' horns lol. I actually imagine Kibadios would fuck Gyo while he's in his shota form, but I gave ITKZ the option of drawing Kibadios in his adult form and they chose to do so, hence why Kibadios we have this.

Many would probably have seen this scene in the ITKZ compilation dj postedon myreadingmanga, but there's nothing I can do about that haha.

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Chapter 168: Mini-Hiatus

Sorry, I will take a mini-hiatus until mid-late Feb. Planning to switch jobs so I'm doing a few interviews and a bit stressed out.
On the other hand, if I land the job I aim for, then maybe I'll have even more discretionary budget for commissioning :D (I just learned from Skeb's year-end review that I spent like 2k+ last year... lol >.>)

Chapter 169

Notes:

Welp, I'm back! :D
Job search is a btch and I failed 2 out of 3 interviews so far lol. But still, I'm back! I aim for 1 chapter per week (probably, realistically, 3 per month) so I can finish this arc by april/may.

Woken up by the gentle glow of the morning sun, the naked Gyo couldn't believe his eyes as he savored the calmly erotic scene unfolding before him. Laying next to him was his beloved master, who was instinctively sucking on his overstimulated left breast while still being half asleep. The events transpired last night still seemed too surreal to Gyo, as flashes of his first intimate moments between him and Kibadios played back in his mind. The hybrid was so energetic that after playing with Gyo’s virgin hole in the bathroom, he had carried the exhausted Yves back into the bedroom and continued fucking him senselessly for another hour or two. Around him and his Young Lord were the rest of the harem members, who made their ways onto the bed as Gyo laid half conscious after having experienced an endlessly intense pleasure gifted to him by Kibadios’ own cock. Gyo couldn’t help but recall just a few days ago, this hybrid who had laid claim on his life and devotion, was yet but a stranger to him… until that fateful first meeting…

Hmm, I wonder why Kailos sama specifically told me to look for the Young Lord , Gyo thought to himself. The answer revealed itself in a defining moment as Gyo spotted the hybrid from a distance. The mutant Yves widened his eyes in astonishment, fixating his gaze on the young hybrid who was leaning in and passionately kissing Yuusei's mouth. In all of Gyo's encounters, only a mere handful of people had demonstrated an indifference or tolerance to individuals afflicted with the mutant curse. Yet, he had met no one, except for the mysterious Young Lord standing in front of him, who would unabashedly display such lustful affection towards a mutant. Haaa… I guess the Young Lord is really something… What’s that feeling… Am I getting a bit jealous of that young mutant for having found someone who cares and accepts him despite his curse? Gyo shook his head and reprimanded himself. Don’t be such a petty person, Gyo!

As Gyo introduced himself to Kibadios, he couldn't help but notice the hybrid's eyes attentively studying his body. Unlike others who often couldn't conceal their disgust when faced with his defective traits, Kibadios' gaze was that of genuine curiosity. However, this seemingly innocent scrutiny swiftly took on an unexpectedly sensual quality. Even with Gyo's efforts to maintain a nonchalant demeanor, he couldn’t help but keenly feel the Young Lord's lingering gaze tracing over his collarbones, exposed breasts, and down to his firm, rounded buttocks. This marked the first time in Gyo's life that he found himself receiving such attention, causing a crimson blush to tinge his cheeks, though he tried his best to conceal it from the hybrid and his mutant companion…

「You’re up, Gyo chan?」Maia asked as she gradually rose from behind the mutant Yves. Like everyone else, the girl was entirely unclothed, her perky, hickey filled breasts were completely exposed in the morning sun. Despite being a mutant, Gyo was still a young man in his prime so such a sight would have caused indecent thoughts to fill his mind. Yet strangely, Gyo felt no such arousal. After all, ever since last night, the only one who could stir his lust would be the man who was now instinctively sucking and munching on his breast.「Hmm, and Master is still sleeping. Kibadios sama usually wakes up fairly early so it’s unusual to see him still laying on the bed at this hour.」

「Well, he was rather energetic last night.」Gyo smiled.「Maybe it’s best to let him sleep for a bit longer.」

「Morning!」Kibadios slowly opened his eyes before his mouth slowly let go of the Yves’ round nipple.「I’ve actually been up for a while now. I just can’t help but lay here and enjoy my newest harem member’s body.」The hybrid grinned as he sat up and climbed on top of Gyo’s muscular chest. His morning wood was now positioned so that the tip of his pink glans just slightly touched the mutant’s Yves’ soft lip.「So, after calming down from your lust, do you feel any hint of regret for joining my harem?」

「Of course not, Young Lord!」Gyo smiled back. The Yves tried to raise his head forward, grinding his face against his Master’s fleshy sword.

「That’s good to hear…」Kibadios grabbed Gyo’s short hair, then unceremoniously rammed his cock deep inside the Yves’ wide open mouth, reaching the back of his warm, tight throat.「Because now, having been able to get a taste of your body, I don’t think I can ever let you go.」The hybrid moaned before turning his head toward the alchemist girl. He reached out for a deep, wet kiss while one of his hands was now grabbing tightly onto the girl’s ample breast. Her Master gave it a few good squeezes, then his finger skillfully kneaded and played with the squirming girl’s nipples…

「YOOOOO BOSSSS~~~」Kibadios could only enjoy the pair for another five minutes before the redhead vice captain barged in and disrupted him. 

「What’s wrong, Uri chan?」The hybrid broke the kiss. 

「Look!!! Look at my nipples!」cried out Uri.「They’re lactating!!!」

「「「Huh?」」」All three of the naked people on the bed were completely surprised at the news. 

「This morning when I woke up, I felt my chest was a bit tight. Then as I took a shower and rubbed my nipples, milk just kept oozing out!」Uri leaned in and showed Kibadios the small stream of milk leaking out from his breast so of course, naturally, the hybrid simply stuck out his tongue and licked them up. 

「Hmm… Your milk is just as delicious as Maia’s.」noted Kibadios.

「Now’s not the time for that, Boss. What do I do? Why is this happening??」

「Ehto…」Still laying underneath his Master, Gyo decided to speak up.「Isn’t this a normal thing for a bottom male incubus? At least that’s what I read in a book at the city’s library when I was young.」

「What? Really?」blinked Uri. 

「Yeah, much like how Maia dono’s producing milk for the Young Lord the moment she completely became his, you’re lactating simply means you’re now 100% devoted to Kibadios sama.」explained Gyo.

「Ohhh…」Uri nodded. 「Wait, so how can I stop lactating? Why is milk still leaking from my nipples? Maia chan never lactates until she’s aroused and in presence of Kiba chan, right?」Maia simply nodded in affirmation.

「That’s because you’re an incubus so you’re just more sensitive… But according to that book I read, then there’s a way to stop the milk.」

「Really? Great! What is it?」

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「Wow, Uri, what’s with those?」Ashura, the Yonko who just returned from the dungeon expedition, pointed at the Vice Captain’s nipples. 

「.... Image change?」guessed Erik.

「.... It’s… it’s strangely erotic, Uri.」Amaira, the mutant beastwoman in Erik’s team, was almost blushing. 

「These! These are the bonding proof between me and the captain!」The unabashed Uri simply grinned as he exposed his chest even more to show off the presents Kibadios had just bought for him: a pair of nipple rings. 

「Hmm… I didn’t think you’re this much of a perv. You’re just like your older bro here.」Ashura leaned in and looked at Kibadios with a smirk.

「It’s not like that.」Kibadios waved his hand.「Since we’re a fated pair, apparently it’s a natural thing for the omega to produce milk after bonding. These rings are to prevent milk from constantly leaking out of my adorable Vice Captain’s breasts.」

「... M… milk?」Amaira was now fully blushing.

「Really Uri kun? You’re actually producing milk?」asked Baxley 

「Evidently!」

「Cool!」

「Wanna taste?」grinned Uri.

「What? No? …. No!」The giant race man deliberated for a moment before finally declined.

「As if I’ll let you drink my Uri chan’s precious milk.」Kibadios wrapped his arm around Uri from behind, then pull him back away from the others.「It’s exclusive mine.」

「So, you’re really a perv.」grinned Ashura. 

「Ha? Don’t you dare to look down on me. I know you men all fantasize about savoring the sweet taste of milk lactating from your partner’s breasts!」argued Kibadios.

「What? No… We… don’t?」Erik weakly denied as his face turned beet red. 

「Ha… HAAAAA???」Amaira, the poor lone girl in the group of men, finally freaked out as she realized what Kibadios said was true after she had a good look at the telling faces of the men around her.「Really??? Not you too, Senpai?」

「No! Of course not!」The Yves vehemently denied. 

「...Now now, we’re not here to discuss such a topic! We’re here to talk about the dungeon, remember」Ashura quickly tried to change the conversation.

「Fine. So, how was it? Were you able to get to the last floor?」Kibadios asked with genuine curiosity.

「Nope!」The mutant Yonko shook his head.

「... I see… The later floors are that hard?」

「No, it’s just really remarkably vast. I spent a whole day traversing the 90th floor without ever reaching the edge.」explained Ashura.「What’s more, the monsters I encountered there are rather interesting.」

「Interesting how?」Erik asked.

「First of all, they’re strong as fuck. Secondly, they’re rare monsters. For some of them, even I have not encountered before… they’re very… for lack of a better word, primal. There’s a monster that I’m fairly certain can be classified as a slime, but instead of the normal weak slime or the single elemental slime, that blob monster could change their elemental affiliation at will… needless to say, fighting it was a pain… It kinda reminds me of fighting against Gilga herself.」

That’s understandable, since according to both Matelus and Seri, the monsters existing in this world devolve from the primal monsters that materialized from the Tyrant Gods’ curse. If what Seri said is true and that the last, secret floor of the dungeon is the location of one of the weakest points along the world barrier that protects us from the curse and that periodically, a monster or two could pass through the barrier, then the closer we get to the last floor, the more powerful and unique monster we would encounter, Kibadios thought to himself, though this would be an information that he would rather not tell Ashura, at least not yet. 

「Well, I guess it’s time I have to leave now.」After listening to Ashura for a while, the hybrid finally stood up. 

「Where to?」

「I have a scheduled meeting with the 3 Houses.」

「Imma stay here and chat with the Big Boss for a while, Kiba chan.」smiled Uri. 

「Okay.」The hybrid looked at his Vice Captain, telepathically reminding the redhead hybrid not to reveal too much to Ashura regarding the true history.

「Another strategic meeting? For someone who’s not a leader of any of the Houses, he sure gets involved with them a lot huh?」Erik spoke to Uri after Kibadios had left. 

「... Can’t be helped. Not only he’s the House of the Horns’ Young Lord, he’s a crucial member for this assassination mission too.」Uri tried to avert the Yves’ gaze, not wanting to reveal to the others his Alpha had actually become the King of the Grasslanders. 

「Is that so?」Ashura smiled. His cheek was now leaning lazily onto his hand, his eyes studied the 13th division vice captain.「Be honest with me, your Big Boss, Uri. How much do you know about your alpha?」

「... Everything.」Uri sighed. He figured there was no way to lie to this Yonko who sat in front of him.「Probably? Who knows if there’s anything else he didn’t tell me.」

「Then, would you tell me? The only explanation I got from him was that he’s an enemy of the Astrals. It’d be nice to have more information that that.」

「Sorry, can’t.」

「What? He’s an enemy of the Astrals?」Amaira asked.

「He’s a mysterious, powerful demihuman, almost comparable in strength to a Yonko. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Astral had marked him as a person of interest. After all, 4 Yonkos are a headache enough for the Astrals, I doubt they would ever allow a fifth one to emerge.」Erik spoke up.

「If they do, then we have to change our name to Goko.」Ashura laughed.「Haa. But you, Uri, who could have thought the once free spirited incubus who believe so much in freedom is now chained to one person.」

「What can I say, Big Boss. My alpha is just too good in bed. I don’t mind being chained to him for all eternity」teased Uri with a grin.

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「Refugees?」Kibadios asked.

「Yes. The amount of refugees we’ve been accepting for the past three days have been rapidly increasing. Three days ago, there were 1000 people. Two days ago, there were 5000 people. And just yesterday, we received more than 7000. At this rate, our reserves will be consumed within just a week… maybe less.」Explained Ectharen.

「I’ve spoken to them.」The Yves Head leaned forward onto the large marble table.「Apparently they were released from the Yin Empire’s concentration camps and transported here under direct order of Wei Shimin himself. It’s clear what that sly human’s planning.」

「Rowan chan?」Ryuu, the most simpleminded member within Kibadios’ harem discreetly tilted toward the healer and whispered, hoping he could explain what was going on.

「They’re trying to use the refugees to starve us out… attempting to compel our surrender without the necessity of a direct military assault.」explained Rowan.

「Oh… Damn those guys! So that’s why they were fine with the non-aggression agreement for now.」frowned Ryuu.

「There's but one course of action left for us now: for the sake of Alsen, we must seal the city gate and deny entry to anyone seeking refuge.」Wylan declared with a heavy heart. Despite the profound understanding of the implications , that it meant condemning fellow Grasslanders to hunger and demise, the logical and unyielding part of his mind recognized this as the only viable choice, a harsh decision made in the pursuit of granting Alsen a fighting chance in this war.

「But they’re our people and we are their last hope!」The beastman, Head of the House of the Mane, angrily slammed his fist.

「... Ectharen…」muttered Kailos, who remained silent until now. The ogre wanted to speak out against the idea too, but on the other hand, he was wise enough not to let his emotion cloud his judgement.「Wylan is right… we simply cannot afford to take in any more refugees than what we already have.」

「Moreover, tomorrow, when Yue-dono departs, she'll have to raise the barrier, effectively sealing our city. With that barrier in place, entry to Alsen will be impossible for everyone」Wylan pointed out.「Ectharen, I share your pain and frustration, but if we continue to let them in, the city will fall. If that ever happens, then Grassland will truly be conquered.」

「Kibadios, what do you think?」Noticing how the hybrid has remained silent for a while, Kailos turned to his son. 

「We will continue to take in the refugees and provide them with food and shelters.」declared Kibadios. 

「...」「...」「...」The three Heads looked at one another before spoke up in unison.「「「We understood, Your Majesty!」」」Even for Wylan, who opposed such an idea, the word of his King was absolute.

「There are a few reasons why I chose to continue taking in the refugees. First of all, I am now King of all Grasslanders and we all plan to have every Grasslanders unite under this title of Kingship. If that’s the case, I cannot abandon my subjects in their most dire hours, or else, they will never believe or follow me in the future. If the worst ever happens and that even after I end Wei Shimin, we still have to deal with the Yin Empire forces in a protracted war, then it’s imperative that we can muster all the forces of Grassland to fight against them.」explained Kibadios.「Secondly, regarding sealing off Alsen to prevent any possible attack launching by the Empire, I don’t think it’s needed anymore so if that’s the case, we can still continue to take people inside the city.」

「Why don’t we need it anymore?」Ryan asked.

「Is it because you believe I alone can protect everyone?」Ryuu wagged his tail.

「Well, I’m sure you’ll be a great asset to us, Ryuu chan, but that’s not why.」Kibadios smiled while patting the dragonkin’s head.「Even after Wei Shimin used Runecraft to seal the promise of not attacking us, we still don’t fully trust his word and that’s why we planned the barrier. But given how he had now switched to using the refugees to take us down, we can almost be certain he truly cannot attack us for the duration of the meeting, just as the Runecraft seal indicated. So if that’s the case, then there’s no reason to erect the barrier.」

「But, what about the food and supplies for the people?」Haden, the former adventurer who was rescued by Kibadios, asked.

「We will “dungeon meshi” this problem!」grinned Kibadios

「Haa? You don’t mean…」Reuk gasped.

「We will move the refugees into the dungeon, then forage and hunt monsters for food! Given how the monsters inside the dungeon would be automatically replenished, that shouldn’t be a problem. The monsters on the first 10 floors are no different from the monster one can encounter in the Grassland wilderness, so safety shouldn’t be a problem either, as long as people don’t wander off alone.」Kibadios’ eyes glowed.「Wei Shimin had just made a grave mistake: in trying to force us into submission, he just provided us with so much of the manpower that we desperately need for any hypothetical clash in the future.」

「Well, his plan would have normally worked had it not been for the fact that the dungeon was now fully opened to us.」Reminded Kailos.

「True… I guess I have Faye and my old master to thank.」Kibadios nodded.「Though, with the great influx of people, make sure we screen all of them. It’s only natural for Wei Shimin to send his spies, hiding them amongst the refugees. Once they have been identified, you are to kill them all.」

「It will be taken care of, Your Majesty.」Wylan assured the hybrid.

「Good… our fight begins tomorrow.」Kibadios leaned back. 

 

 

How Uri would appear now (This is the original picture. A year/year and a half ago I had to edit his nipples cuz I don't want to spoil the nipple rings lol.):

 

Notes:

Man I used to hate the nipple rings look but now it's kinda a turn on... what am I going to change my mind about next? Tentacle porn? Please don't!!

Chapter 170

Notes:

I'M BACK BITCHESSS!!!
GOT BANNED FOR MORE THAN A MONTH JUST BECAUSE I WANT TO SPREAD GOOD/FAP-WORTHY EROTICA!!! FINE, I'LL KEEP THOSE STORIES TO MYSELF!!! >:(

I'm posting multiple chapters all at once, just fyi :3

The solitary figure, clad in a black suit, traversed the expansive grassland with deliberate steps. It has not yet been 8 in the morning, but since the man had woken up early in the predawn hours and walked a fairly long distance in the past few hours, he decided to finally take a break. Finding a sizable boulder, he settled upon it, producing a meager portion of dried provisions for sustenance. Despite the food's aged flavor, he consumed it without complaint, his hunger quelled by its mere presence. As long as it filled his stomach, he did not really care whether he was eating a gourmet dish or a ten days old leftover since in the end, it would just all turn into nutrients within his body. 「Haaa… I can’t wait…」he mused, a twisted smile playing upon his lips.

「You there!!!」A voice suddenly called out from behind him. Just from the sound of it, he could tell that voice belonged to a rather young man, but as he turned around, the young man turned out to be even younger since he barely even looked like a 12 years old human child. The child in front of his eye was that of a Four-Arms race, his trembling hands held onto a small blade that was shakily pointing toward the man. Standing behind him were 4 other kids, with the youngest looked barely 4 years old. All of them belonged to different demihuman races, but they all shared the same feature: that was, the clothes they were wearing were in complete tatters. Judging from their malnourished forms, the man reckoned they were orphan refugees trying to survive in this turbulent war.「Your provisions! Hand them over and leave!! We don’t want to hurt you!」

「Don’t even try to fight back!」barked the teenage Lizardman standing behind the young Four-Arm kid. Among the kids surrounding him, the Lizardman was the only one who held onto a real threatening weapon, which was a double headed ax, a traditional weapon of choice for his race. 

「Nii chann…」To the right of the young leader stood a young girl, who was most likely 3-4 years younger than him. The girl’s two left arms held tightly onto her brother as if she was trying to stop him from his thievery action. 「Can we not…」

「We’re starving!!」screamed the young Four-Arm kid. 「We have not had any meal for the past two days! We cannot even catch a rabbit!! If we’re not taking his food, we’ll die here before we can reach Alsen!」

「Are you all afraid of starving to death?」The man cloaked in black suit asked. But before he could receive an answer, he continued.「Don’t worry, I can help you.」

「Hah? Really?」The young girl's eyes sparkled with hope, casting a glance at her brother as if to say, 'See, we just needed to ask kindly.'

「Indeed. I shall grant you a swift demise, sparing you from suffering.」A few metallic scalpel suddenly appeared in between the man’s gloved fingers. Before the children could react, darkness enveloped them, silence reigning supreme. Complete darkness… complete silence.

Akaban, one of The Six Heroes, finally swallowed his last piece of breakfast food before descending from the boulder and set forth toward Alsen, where his quarry, Kibadios, awaited. After dealing with Kibadios, he was promised that he would be able to take on Adeus himself next. The prospect of a fight to the death against one of the fabled Ennead Candidate excited him to no end. As Akaban's silhouette vanished into the fading horizon, the blood of the children he left behind stained the very boulder upon which he had rested, their dismembered remains a grim testament to his passing.

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「Mother, we’re back…」Eadur and Alaran, the two chimera who once fought against Kibadios, sat down in front of a crystal pod brimming with a viscous green fluid. Inside the pod, a stunning succubus lay with her arms crossed, chained, and her eyes closed as though in a profound sleep. Despite her stillness, her long, silky purple hair gently drifted within the green fluid, accentuating her remarkable beauty.「We have finally met Big Brother… but at this rate, sooner or later, he and the rest of Monas Kye would have perished under Wei Shimin’s relentless assault.」

「We’re sorry, mother… There’s nothing we can do but to grant him a swift ending.」Alaran, usually a hot-headed woman, uncharacteristically spoke up in a tender voice. Her hand raised up and pressed against the cold glass that sealed the succubus. Before she could continue the one sided conversation, the fluid within the crystal began to glow brighter. 

「It seems like the next implant is almost ready. Soon, mother will have to carry another of our siblings within her womb.」Eadur noted. 

「Such is her fate… and such are our fates, too.」Alaran ground her teeth. 

「Just between you and me, after seeing how powerful our Big Brother was… sometimes, I wonder if he can somehow… you know… perform a miracle and put an end to our and mother’s predicament.」

「Hahaha… We’re his enemies, Eadur.」Alaran chuckled.「If he indeed has the ability of end something, more likely than not, it’d be our lives.」

「Well… probably that’s for the best. We are Wei Shimin’s weapons whom he’d cast upon the fiercest battlegrounds, we will die sooner or later anyways. Being killed by Big Brother’s hand is better than being killed by someone from the Yin Empire’s Heavenly Generals.」resigned Eadur. 

「Speak for yourself.」dismissed Alaran.「I’d rather live…I know, at least, that mother would want me to stay alive」 

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「They’re not here to see you off, Princess?」Asked Mu. The most human-like chimera looked around the area to only find Yue and the five people who were tasked to accompany her: Kuron, the muscular Yves father. Falkor, the abandoned beastman husband. Uri, the Yves blacksmith. Maia, the alchemist girl. And finally, the most problematic of them all, Uri, the Hyakki Yagyo 13th division’s Vice Captain. Apart from this select group, only Yue stood amidst the desolate pickup point just beyond Alsen's walls. Not a trace of the Heads of the Houses or Kibadios and his entourage could be seen—a deliberate maneuver orchestrated by Kibadios. Recognizing the necessity for secrecy in his accompaniment of Yue, Kibadios had planned their departure with meticulous precision. Had everyone were to come and say goodbye to the elven princess, it would have been obvious to Mu that only Kibadios was missing from the group and their attention would be greatly focused on the hybrid and his whereabouts. By ensuring that only Yue and her retinue were present during the send off, suspicions were effectively dispersed among those who were missing. Even Ren, Yue's own twin, was barred from bidding her farewell, further adding to the elaborate ruse.

「Of course, Kibadios sama and everyone else are simply too busy dealing with the influx of refugees.」Yue answered.「They don’t need to waste their time coming here. After all, I will be back here soon after my meeting with Wei Shimin… unless you’re planning something else?」Yue smiled cryptically.

「Of course not, my princess.」Mu bowed. 

「Good, then… ha… then let us depart.」The girl’s face was suddenly blushing red for a brief moment. 

「Yes… Wei Shimin is eagerly looking forward to see you.」

「Why?」

「... Who knows.」lied Mu.

Unbeknown to the chimera, lurking inside the elven girl’s shadow was the same hybrid that the chimera was looking for, though, at the very moment, the hybrid had completely transformed into his shota incubus form. This way, he could achieve complete mastery over the Shadow Elemental, which had a much greater affinity toward the discrete incubus race rather than the fiery ogre race. Once morphed into a shapeless shadow, Kibadios discreetly concealed himself beneath the layers of his elven princess's attire, similarly to how Luffy infiltrated the Impel Down by hiding inside Hancock. Though, just as Ren had warned his sister about, soon enough, the lustful hybrid slowly crept from the girl’s back to her front, sensually wrapped his shapeless form around the girl’s soft, bare flesh. As she walked toward the airship prepared to take her to Wei Shimin, Kibadios started to morph his shadowy form, wrapping himself around Yue’s firm breasts and wantonly playing with her nipples, causing her to let out a small shriek. 

「Master? Please stop… I can’t keep my composure in front of Mu if you continue to mess around like that.」whispered Yue under her breath.

「Sorry, Yue chan.」Kibadios replied back.「It’s just… your soft skin and intoxicating body scent kinda triggered my heat. I’ll try my best to hold back.」

「Ah, it seems like Yue chan is not feeling too well.」Noticed how the former princess was blushing, Maia quickly deduced what was happening underneath her clothes. The alchemist turned to Mu and demanded.「Please quickly show us to our quarter on the ship so Yue chan can rest for a bit… Or is it that you from Yin Empire do not know how to show some good hospitality?」

「Sure, the soldiers will lead you to your room soon. We will depart right after. It’d probably take us a day to get to Wei Shimin’s place.」Mu answered, then signaled to the crew to start preparing for lift off.

「Much appreciated~」Uri grinned.

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「Waitt… stopp!! I’m just a … AHHHH」Before the man could say one more word, a wave of talismans swirled around him, then wrapped themselves tightly around his body. The papers quickly constricted and squeezed the man’s flesh for a brief moment, simultaneously crushing his bones and suffocating him at the same time. Once finished, the talismans simply fell down onto the ground as if they were nothing but normal pieces of paper.

「That makes 16 people.」Ren sighed.「It seems like there are more spies than we anticipated.I wonder how many spies have the other groups identified.」

「Thanks for helping us out, Ren dono.」A group of Yves walked to the former elven prince. 「We can easily identify outsiders that tried to infiltrate our city by blending in with the refugees, but we simply do not have the manpower to take care of them. Having you here with us is a great help.」

「Don’t worry about it.」stretched Ren.「What really helps us are those eyes of your Yves race. I can’t believe they can be used to discern foes from friends.」

「These eyes can see the flow of Nen within a person, Ren dono.」explained the man.「And since a person’s Nen reflects their inner thought, it’d be rather easy to spot those who have sinister intentions. That’s why our king tasks us with rooting our these spies.」

… Technically, it was Kibadios sama who ordered it, Ren thought to himself. Tsk… I wonder if our horny Master made it safely on board the ship… Let’s just hope everything is going smoothly.  

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「Get more water over here!」Ordered Kailos.「And tell Noen, Jin, and Harry to pick up the pace. With so many people here, we can’t take forever to put up just a few tents.」

Within the once-forbidden Dungeon, the ogre Head swiftly directed his subordinates to relocate the people recently brought in by Alsen. Under the coordinated efforts of the three houses, more than 5000 refugees were efficiently moved into the dungeon's first floor in less than three hours. They were well aware that fully settling these individuals across the first ten floors would take several days. Nonetheless, as Kibadios had foreseen, by relocating the populace within the dungeon, Alsen successfully averted an imminent crisis. Amid the fertile environment of the initial ten floors, securing sustenance through hunting and gathering—activities ingrained in Grasslanders for millennia—became entirely feasible, despite the swelling population.

「We’re backkk!!!」Ryan shouted from a distance, accompanied by Haden, Rowan, and Yuusei, as they hauled two massive bison monsters behind them. The succulent meat from these creatures would undoubtedly provide sustenance for a sizable group of at least 50 individuals for several days. Hovering above them was Ryuu, assuming his majestic dragon form. True to his nature as an overachiever, the dragonkin effortlessly towed six large bison on his own, with Reuk casually perched on his back. Earlier, Ryan had made attempts to enlist Reuk's help in transporting the hunted game. However, the elven archer, now residing in a female body, declined, citing her reduced physical strength compared to her former self, a flimsy excuse to explain her laziness.

 「Fine, then you’re in charge of cooking them!」Ryan relented after failing to make Reuk help. 

「Sure. Chop chop! I’ll let you focus on taking these back to the camp!」grinned Reuk.

「Now that’s some good hunt!」exclaimed Kailos.「Cain, Sho, go ahead and help Ryan kun.」

「Yes, Kailos sama!」The two orges rushed to the former hero’s group.

「Where’s Ashura sama? Wasn’t he with you as you guys set out to hunt?」Teran, who was standing by his friend, also quickly rushed to his son to help him bring the heavy bison back.

「Yeah, but only for a while. He said he will make another attempt to reach the last floor.」Answered Haden. 

「He not come back for a week or so.」added Yuusei.

「I see… Well, I guess he did say he won’t interfere in this war between us and Wei Shimin.」Teran acknowledged.

「If he help, who you think win between him and Yin Empire?」Yuusei asked.

「I’d place my bet on him, but then, this is a war and war is unpredictable.」Teran reminded his son. 「... But anyways, are you mad at me for not accompanying Zae… Kibadios sama, Yuusei?」

「No, why?」Yuusei tilted his head in confusion. 

「Because I’m the one who requested the Hyakki Yagyo contract, inadvertently brought him into this mess, but then I am not there by his side during this crucial mission.」

「But it Master’s idea.」pointed out Yuusei.「and Master’s words is absolute.」

「Beside, you have your own role to play, don’t you, Teran dono?」Haden spoke up.

「Yeah, you’re the linchpin of our surveillance and spying missions.」Rowan, who overheard the conversation, agreed.「Master simply believes it’s better for you to be here protecting Alsen instead of coming with him. You don’t have to feel bad about it.」

「If anything, we should be the ones who are feeling bad and sulking since Master didn’t take us with him.」Ryan smiled. 「... He even took that Astral with him instead of us.」

「It can’t be helped, Ryan dono. Only Kibadios sama can control him. Leaving him here behind only serves as a distraction to Kibadios sama」explained Haden.

「I know, but still…」pouted Ryan.

「Teran sama!」A demihuman appeared behind the mutant ogre with the swiftness of a ninja. 「We’ve spotted someone lurking outside of Alsen.」

「Someone?」

「Yes, we positively confirmed that person is a <Hero Class>. A few of us are currently fighting them off now.」

「Let’s go!」Teran hurried away. 「Kailos, get your men ready! I will see if I can deal with the hero first, but if anything goes South, I would need backup.」

「Of course!!」Kailos shouted back

「Let us come with you, Teran dono!」Called out Ryan and Haden as they left the other behind.

「What’s wrong?」Ryuu, once dropping off the bison at the camp, turned back to his humanoid form and asked Rowan.

「...Trouble. Teran’s men said they are fighting a hero lurking outside of Alsen now.」Answered the healer. 

「Huh? Wei Shimin has already broken his promise? But he sealed it with Runecraft, if he and his forces were to attack Alsen, shouldn’t such violation of the oath kill him?」

「... Maybe that hero is not dispatched by Wei Shimin.」guessed Rowan.

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Clang!! CLANG!! CLANGGG!!!

The clash between the guards and the mysterious hero had not yet subsided when Teran reached the outskirts of Alsen. Several of Teran's men lay scattered around the battlefield, though most were only slightly injured. As a veteran fighter, Teran could discern that the wounds they received were purposefully inflicted to minimize harm. 

Strange… Does that hero mean us no harm? Teran wondered. Approaching the fray, he observed his three men struggling against relentless attacks from a single figure. Each movement of the intruder was precise and elegant, wielding a dagger in each hand to both defend and assail. Not far away, another group of his men contended with another assailant brandishing two sharp fans. The hero has another companion? The man thought to himself. 

「Who sent you here!?」shouted Teran, his spear thrusting toward the intruder's throat. As expected, the hero swiftly countered, parrying the attack while launching their own offensive. Instead of evading, Teran stood firm, knowing Ryan had his back, blocking the incoming strike with his sword. Glaring down at the assailant, Teran was surprised to find a pretty redhead girl.

「Huh? Amber san?」Ryan exclaimed, recognizing the hero.

「Ryan kun!」The girl smiled.「So you’re really here!」

「You know her, Ryan?」Teran inquired.. 

「Yes, her name is Amber. She’s our… friend.」Ryan replied, seeking confirmation from the girl.

「Where’s Kibadios? I’m here to bring news to him.」asked Ember.

「News? What news?」

Just a few paces away, Ember’s companion, who turned out to be Floria, had already clashed against Haden. Though, it did not take long until both participants suddenly froze in place.
「You’re…」

「Haden?」The girl called out

「Floria?」Haden’s rather faded eyes briefly regained their original color.

Chapter 171

Summary:

fyi, I'm posting multiple chapters all at once due to being banned for more than a month!

Floria… I’m sorry… Because I was weak, I was unable to protect you and the others.」Haden tenderly caressed the girl’s face.
「Haden, you know it’s not your fault!」Floria inched forward and pulled the stoic former slave into a warm hug.「After hopelessly witnessing Estel slowly dying from all the abuse, I’m just glad to learn that you’re alive! What… happened to… Ariel chan…?」The question hung in the air, heavy with apprehension, though Floria already sensed the answer that loomed before them.
「She passed away…」Haden murmured, his voice filled with sorrow as he fought to contain the tempest of emotions raging within. His fist clenched with such force that a single droplet of blood trickled down from his palm, a sign of the anguish that gripped his heart.「I was there right, watching her wither away, yet I could do nothing… I could do nothing…」
「Don’t blame yourself, Haden. It will do you no good.」consoled the girl.「At least it would quench your thirst for revenge knowing that Corey was killed, dying like a pathetic animal inside Maeg’s forest.!!」
「I know.」The former adventurer couldn’t hide his grin whenever he got reminded of the fate befallen onto the twisted hero.
「How do you know? Wait, more importantly, what are you doing here? Are you with Kibadios’ group.」Floria suddenly remembered to ask the obvious question.
「You see…」Haden began to recount the moment the hybrid had saved him from his suffering and selectively disclosed what had happened. He carefully hid the stories about the hybrid’s past lives and his motives, but freely admitted to the fact that the hybrid had personally slain both Corey and his sworn brother. In the end, all Floria could ascertain was that Kibadios had killed Corey and his band of mischieves when they ambushed Kibadios and his group. After the civil war in Vernys, Kibadios had also tracked down and killed Desmond. That was when he saved Haden and took him in as his loyal attendant.
「So you’re serving Kibadios now?」Floria asked
「Yes.」Haden nodded.「For everything he had done for me, I had pledged my complete loyalty to him… so I really hope you’re not here to cause him any trouble, Floria.」
「How could I… If anything, I owe him a debt.」Floria shook her head.
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「... So, why are you here, Ambe dono? I heard you’re an acquaintance of my son?」Kailos asked the hero. After the misunderstanding resulted in a brief clash, Teran had quickly apologized for his men’s brash action and invited the two women to come with him into the city. Of course, from his men’s point of view, it was well within their reasons for attacking the hero, given how technically, aside from those belonging to Kibadios group, given the wartime mentality, any suspicious human would warrant a fiery response from them, let alone a

human such as Amber.
「You’re Kibadios’ father? I can see the resemblance.」Amber studied the ogre.「Anyways, I understand that the Grasslanders are not that friendly with us human, yet, I can’t help but come here to warn Kibadios.」
「Warn Master? About what?」Rowan asked.
「About the decision made by the Oracle to declare you enemy of the Faith.」 Amber revealed. 「You see, during our time at the Vernys forest, the Oracle had dispatched inquisitors to examine the fate of Corey and his death. I don’t know what evidence they have gathered, but after an investigation, they claimed Kibadios had killed him and his group. Because of that, The Divine One had issued a warrant for Kibadios’ head… such a warrant was designated… as an SS rank. That means every heroes and adventurers will now set out to hunt for him.」
「An SS rank warrant?」Since Rowan was from a remote village, the teenager was ignorant of the implication. However, it was Ryan who turned visibly upset.
「That is the second highest warrant you can get.」explained Ryan.「To put it in perspective, there are only 4 higher warrants with higher rank of SSS, each targeted one of the Yonko. Obviously, those 4 warrants are merely symbolic since it is almost impossible to expect some adventurers or heroes to fight against a Yonko and survive. In fact, the SSS rank warrants issued by the Oracle for the Yonko are so out of touch that most just ignored them. That’s why Gilga was able to walk around the Kingdom of Maeg’s capital without even a single person dared to confront her. But the SS rank… those create an impression that fulfilling the warrant may be feasible…」
「Exactly, that means trouble for Kibadios since a lot of powerful individuals would aim for him.」Amber nodded.「...in order to collect the 3,000,000,000 gold coins.」
「Haa, they will be walking into their death.」Ryuu dismissed.
「... Even if it means some of The Six would now come for him?」Amber glared at the dragonoid.「If he deals with one, two more would come. If he deals with two, three more would come… and so on. That, is the weight of having been wanted by an SS rank warrant.」
「It’s as if the Oracle specifically assigned him the SS rank, knowing how much trouble it would bring Master.」Ryan noted.
「... Given that Monas Kye may soon fall to the Yin Empire, he won’t be safe here. Back in Maeg, given how Kibadios is considered a hero there, King Lance disputed the findings and issued a decree to invalidate the warrant, but I wouldn’t want to test his luck there. That means, the Vernys Forest is the only safe place for him.」Amber looked around.「Now, where is Kibadios? He should make his way back to Vernys Forest now!」
「... Forgive me for questioning this, Amber dono.」Kailos’ eyes glowed sharply.「But, if all the heroes and adventurers are after him, what makes you any different? Why are you so interested in my son’s whereabouts?」
「...」All the others remained silent, as if they, too, would like to know the answer.
「It’s because if it’s really true that Kibadios had killed Corey…」Amber paused.「Then he had earned my eternal gratitude.」
「Amber is right!」Floria walked into the meeting with Haden by her side.「I have always wanted to kill that trash, but the opportunity never arises. Even when I saw him standing in front of me, I had to swallow my hatred and let him walk away since he was needed by the Kingdom to prevent the complete revival of the mythical Second Generation Dragon that threatened the whole region.」Rowan and Ryan discreetly looked at Ryuu.「In the end, it was Kibadios kun who helped me exact vengeance on Corey. If there’s one thing I’m upset about, that’d be how Kibadios kun should have brought Corey’s head to me so I can smash it into pieces.」
「Corey's depravity was undeniable. Though I couldn't reconcile the idea of taking his life myself, given our shared roles as heroes, I understand why Kibadios kun felt compelled to kill him. If Kibadios kun hadn't intervened, it was only a matter of time before others sought to bring justice upon Corey.」explained Amber.「I could never blame Kibadios kun for what he did. That’s why I’m here to warn him about the warrant. So, where is he? He’s not here?」
「... He’s off working on a mission to end this war.」Kailos answered.
「If you can send a word to him, make sure to let him know that he’s in grave danger. Rumor has it that one of The Six had indicated to the Oracle that he would now take on the warrant and hunt Kibadios down.」
「One of The Six? Who?」Ryan pressed for more information.
「Akaban the Blood-soaked Surgeon.」answered Amber.
「... That maniac…」Even Kailos had heard of the name.
「Tsk.」Ryan clicked his tongue.「Unless Master releases all his restrictions… fighting that man would prove a difficult task. 」
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The Celestial Phoenix, a personal airship belonging to Wei Shimin that had earlier picked up his esteemed guest and her guards, slowly cruised through the cloudless night sky. Crafted with exquisite precision, its sleek hull bore intricate oriental designs that danced in harmony with the winds as it glided through the dark sky. Enchanted crystals embedded within its framework shimmered with an otherworldly luminescence, their ethereal glow casting a gentle radiance upon the surrounding clouds. Descending into the heart of the vessel, one would find themselves in the opulent interior, where the melding of magic and craftsmanship reached its zenith. Crimson silk tapestries adorned the walls, depicting scenes of mythical creatures and ancient battles between the Kingdom of Yin and 6 other former states that were now absorbed into the Yin Empire itself, while lanterns of softly glowing glass illuminated the passageways with a warm, inviting glow.
Nestled in a secluded section of the airship, away from the hustle and bustle of the main deck, lay the five rooms, each a sanctuary unto itself. Rich wooden panels adorned with intricate carvings framed the doorways, while delicate silk curtains whispered softly in the breeze. Within, the rooms exuded an aura of tranquility and refinement, furnished with plush cushions and intricately woven rugs. Each room bore its own unique charm, from the serene simplicity of a meditation chamber to the lavish indulgence of a private study, offering respite and solace amidst the boundless skies. Among the five rooms, Yue and Maia were to sleep in the largest quarter, with Uri, Gyo, Falkor, and Kuron each occupying the remaining 4. As per Yue’s request, Mu and others from the Yin Empire were to leave them alone for the duration of the trip. To make sure they were not wiretapped or surveyed by any hidden spells, equipment, or runecraft, Yue herself erected a total isolation barrier that blocked off any signals that could be transmitted to the outside. A physical knock on the door was the only means Mu can make contact with the group.
「Everything seems to be going well since it does not appear that they have detected my presence.」 Kibadios spoke, his slender form, now in his incubus shota guise, reclined against Yue's supple, bare chest. Both the hybrid and his princess luxuriated in the opulent depths of a grand bathtub, enveloped in the caress of steaming water. Outside the tub, upon an intricately carved wooden stool, Maia meticulously tended to her lustrous silver hair, which flowed like liquid silk down her back, each strand adorned with glistening droplets of water. Meanwhile, stationed just beyond the bathroom's threshold, stood Ayer, a reluctant sentinel, transported against his will into the ship via Kibadios' shadow pocket dimension. He begrudgingly maintained vigilance, scouring for any signs of intrusion that might breach Yue's protective barrier. 「Our strategy appears to be proceeding as planned. Once we confront Wei Shimin, do you intend to neutralize him immediately?」Yue asked
「Well, that’s going to be hard.」admitted Kibadios.「I didn’t want to alarm Ryuu and the others, but currently, I am far weaker than I was prior to my clash with Ayer.」
「Huh? What do you mean, Master?」Maia interjected, her attention now fully engaged.
「You see, after I exhausted all my Nen summoning my triumph card to fight against Ayer… or rather, his homunculus avatar, I will be unable to call upon my summons for at least ten days… so technically speaking, currently, I’m not a

individual. Rather, I will have to rely solely on my magic. That means I should now be classified as a

... and my

is weaker than my

」
「Why didn’t you tell us any sooner?」Maia concernedly asked.
「Cuz I knew you all would be making a fuss over that and probably would have convinced me to stay back. We can’t afford that. Not only do we have to deal with Wei Shimin in order to tip this war with the Yin Empire to our advantage, I really want to look for my “Mother” too… 」Kibadios admitted. 「I only spent a few fleeting days with her as a newborn, but she’s still my mother and I don’t want her to suffer.」
「I understand your sentiment, Master, but you should have told us. Maybe we could have taken Ryuu with us.」
「Indeed, which was why I brought Ayer with us.」Kibadios revealed.「Well, it’s true that only I can control him, but another reason I brought him is that I can use him as another of my triumph card, like sending out a legendary pokemon to take on the first gym leader. Though, using him would be our last resort.」
「Why is that, Master?」Yue asked.
「Because he’s now currently bound by Faye’s Runecraft.」Kibadios paused.「In this world, there is no such thing as absolute… at least, not to my knowledge. So, if Ayer can be controlled by Runecraft, that means his restraint can also somehow be broken by Runecraft or other means. Given how Ren and Yue have been telling me that Wei Shimin, much like his brother, is a genius practitioner of Runecraft, there’s a chance he may figure out a way to break the restraint, much like how Frieren was able to analyze Macht’s magic and neutralize it. Granted, the chance is extremely small, but if that ever happens, it will be the end of us.」
「I see… Was this Frieren your comrade?」nodded Maia
「Nah, she’s totally fictional, unlike us, but that scenario still counts.」Kibadios turned his gaze to Yue.「That’s why if possible, we need to prolong this meeting for days until I get back to my full power. That way, I can deal with Wei Shimin myself. Is that alright with you, Yue chan?」
「Of course, Master. Your wish is my command.」Yue affirmed with a gentle smile, prompting Kibadios to turn fully towards her, his expression softened by her unwavering loyalty. The hybrid pressed his small hand against the girl’s bare chest, before tracing it down her slender body and stopped right above her most private part.
「Yue chan, I appreciate the loyalty you’ve shown me.」Kibadios tenderly patted the girl’s head.「But my wish is simply my wish. You have to also take your safety into consideration. After all, I did promise Ren I’ll protect you.」
「Does it bother you that I have yet formed the incubus crest, Master?」Yue softly asked. The conversation now fully intrigued Maia, who had finally finished washing her hair.
「No, not really.」Kibadios shook his head.「On the contrary, I appreciate how much you have forced yourself to obey me and my words. Unlike others who have willingly given their bodies and hearts to me, even your adorable tsundere onii chan included, you have yet accepted me in your heart, still you have always been dutifully serving me.」Kibadios leaned in and gave Yue a soft kiss on her cheek, causing the girl to start blushing red.「Sometimes, I feel like I’m unworthy of your devotion.」
… Ara ara, Master’s like a completely different person now compared to his old self who took me and Rowan chan that night. Maia discreetly smiled.
「You’re wrong, Master.」Yue denied.「Much like Onii sama, I’ve always been admiring you and wishing to be of use to you since I was a child. It’s not your fault that I cannot give you my heart… It’s just…」
「I know.」Kibadios finally stepped out of the tub, before presenting his small hand out to assist Yue.「That man who had monopolized your love and your heart… he must have been an incredible man. I’d be lying if I said I’m not jealous of him.」
「Ren nii sama told you?」Yue hesitantly gazed at the shota, her faded iris cloaked with a guilty look. After all, although she had promised herself to her Master, deep within herself, her feelings still yearned for the man whom she truly loved.
「And Yllaner too.」Kibadios nodded.「So, what was his name? They have never told me, and I always felt like it wasn’t my place to ask.」
「... It’s Zaen.」Yue couldn’t help but smile as she spoke his name.「He was actually named after your first reincarnation, Kibadios sama.」
「I see… What kind of a person was he? 」Kibadios paused. 「Actually, you don’t have to answer that question if you don’t want to. It’s just that I figured you might have wanted to speak of him to someone else to keep your memories of him alive. And given how Yllaner and Ren kept avoiding speaking about him, I doubt you ever had a chance to do so with them… But then, maybe that’s just me. Maybe, for you, it would be too painful to do so.」
「...」The elven girl was taken aback for a brief moment, but she quickly regained her composure. After rinsing herself, Yue was now slowly drying her slender body with the prepared towel. 「If you permit, I can tell you more about Zaen, Master.」
「... Of course.」Kibadios nodded as Maia sat behind him and dried his hair.
「You’re too kind, Master.」Smiled Yue. The girl bent down to hug him, pressing his face against her naked breasts but of course, it was not a position that Kibadios would complain about.
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「Hou Yi sama! One of our supply caravans was ambushed again. All the transported goods were burnt or destroyed.」The messenger urgently reported to the visibly upset General.
「Ara ara, just like we have predicted, knowing that we cannot respond in kind to their harassment due to the oath sworn by our supreme commander, the Grasslanders are using this one-sided truce to actively sabotage our forces.」Wei Ying, the dragonkin and one of the 12 Heavenly Generals, sneeringly noted.「Though, according to Shimin chan’s prediction, shouldn’t Alsen already be crumbling from the inside due to the influx of refugees that we released onto them? It’s been days and they still seem to be doing well. What’s more, none of our spies were able to infiltrate the city so we’re completely blind to what’s going on beyond their wall.」
「... Since the enemies have people from the Yves race, it is understandable that our spies have trouble getting into the city…」Rationalized Hou Yi. Though… we were hoping that they cannot maintain their vigilance due to the pressure exerted by the sheer amount of those freed Grasslanders. What happened to the manufactured crisis? They cannot afford to feed all those people with their dwindling food stockpile, can they? 「How’s our own food situation?」After a quick internal thought, Hou Yi turned to the messenger.
「We should still have plenty of rations…」The messenger paused.「But the worrisome matter is that constant news about enemies’ attacks on our supplies have rattled our men. Given how we were pushed back during our initial assault, the morale of the men is already low to begin with. Some men are arguing for us to launch our attack against Alsen as a retaliation to raise morale.. 」
「... They are soldiers of the Great Wei Shimin’s Army. They should simply shut up and follow order.」Hou Yi frowned.「Assigned a few of the chimera to escort our remaining incoming supplies. More importantly, raise the vigilance among the troops. We need to make sure those Alsen’s demihuman cannot launch a surprise attack on our camp.」
「Yes, General!」
「So, how long do you think this would last?」Wei Ying, the dragonkin, smilingly asked.
「This?」
「This stalemate, that is. We originally hoped that the city wouldn’t be able to hold out for more than 3 days, but it seemed like they’re doing fine as if they have a way to feed those people and keep order… Moreover, if that’s the case, have you realized that Wei Shimin’s clever trick has actually backfired and now those demihuman have even more manpower to launch a counterattack at us.」
「Doesn’t matter. Once the meeting concludes and the princess is “returned” to Alsen, this whole charade will end anyways.」
「Let’s hope so… But do you think our Wei Shimin can really convince her?」
「Most likely. After all, if the stories we heard about the princess are true, given how much she loved that person, she would most likely accept our Lord’s offer.」
「But isn’t she and her brother currently serving a mysterious hybrid, the very hybrid who was responsible for lifting the siege over Alsen. Even my soon-to-be mate is serving him.」Wei Ying licked her lip.
「It’s true that he’s an unknown factor in this case, but regardless, you think she would choose a mere hybrid whom she’s just known for a few months over our offer? From what our spies in Vernys reported, the only reason why her brother and she are serving the hybrid was because of some old traditions from her vanquished kingdom. When presenting a choice, she will no doubt abandon him for her true love.」
「Let’s hope so.」whistled Wei Ying.
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「It’s been 3 days since we left, huh?」The shota Kibadios leaned against the spotless window, his chin resting comfortably on his hand. Meanwhile, kneeling on the ground next to him, Maia obediently licked and sucked on his erected cock, eagerly slurping up her Master’s precious precum.「We should be close to where Wei Shimin’s place, yet this airship showed no sign of trying to descend down.」
「You mongrel!」Angrily called out Ayer, who stood just a few paces away.「Why are you making watching this?」
「Why? You’re not happy with just watching? Do you want to come over and serve me, my Ayer “sama”?」smirked Kibadios.「Again, I’m making you watch to remind you that if you act out of lin
e, there are other “torturing methods” I can use to humiliate and make your suffer even more, Ayer “sama”.」
「Serving you like this is a blessing, Master!」Corrected Maia with a tranced-like smile.「Ayer simply doesn’t know what he’s missing.」
「As if!!」the otokonoko growled in response.
Kibadios was about to say something when an incredible sight emerged from the cloudy sky, quickly capturing his attention. 「Ha... I guess I was wrong. Wei Shimin’s place wasn’t some secretive complex built on the ground or underneath the earth... but rather... It's ‘Laputa’. 」
「Huh? What do you mean, Master?」 Maia stood up and joined Kibadios by the window. Like her Master, her eyes widened as the view of a floating oriental fortress became clearer, a breathtaking sight to behold. 「That’s….」

 

 

BTW, Akaban's picture was posted previously in "Chapter 130"

Chapter 172

Notes:

I'm posting multiple chapters all at once due to me being banned

In front of their eyes, nestled in the middle of a floating island, shrouded in layers of fading clouds, stood the enormous oriental fortress. The trees swayed gently, their lush canopies whispering secrets of centuries past, while a crystalline waterfall cascaded down moss-covered rocks. Against this backdrop of nature's majesty, the fortress rose, adorned with countless crimson lanterns that danced with every passing breeze, casting warm hues upon the intricate lattice work of its ancient architecture. In front of the fortress were two equally giant jade lions statues, weathered by time yet resolute in their duty, stood as sentinels before the imposing gate of the fortress. From the airship landing area at the edge of the floating island, a neatly paved road wound its way through the lush foliage, a slender ribbon of stone guiding travelers toward the fortress’s imposing gate like a silent beckoning. Along its edges, lanterns flickered, their gentle glow illuminating the path with an otherworldly allure.  On either side were the servants, draped in silk garments, standing in silent reverence along the path leading to the fortress gate. The men wore flowing robes of deep indigo or rich crimson, adorned with intricate embroidery. Their trousers were loose and comfortable, allowing for ease of movement as they attended to their duties. Completing their attire were ornate sashes tied around their waists, symbolizing status and dignity.  Meanwhile, the women's attire mirrored the grace and elegance of the surroundings, with dresses of silk in hues of emerald, sapphire, and amethyst. These robes cascaded in gentle folds, whispering secrets of ancient craftsmanship and timeless beauty. Elaborate floral motifs adorned the fabric, their delicate embroidery shimmering in the dappled sunlight. Over their dresses, they wore lightweight jackets with wide sleeves, offering both warmth and freedom of movement. Their hair was styled in intricate knots and adorned with ornamental hairpins, each one a work of art in its own right.    

「Wow… Who could have thought!」Whistled Uri, his head leaned back on his hands.

「What am I looking at?」Gyo was utterly captivated by the spectacle before him.

「How is this possible?」Kuron chimed in.

「A  flying fortress?」Falkor squinted, attempting to make sense of the mind-boggling scene unfolding before his eyes.

「That enormous entity… It’s neither born from magic nor Runecraft.」Although Yue’s eyes could not visibly observe the majestic floating fortress, her mastery of other sensory skills did allow her to detect the wonder that captivated the attention of her 4 other companions as they were enjoying the gentle caress of the winds on the airship’s deck.

「Yue chan, you’re also feeling it?」Maia asked. She had left Kibadios behind to come by Yue’s side after she had noticed the flying fortress, only to find her companions were all captivated by it, much like her and her Master. Yue simply nodded since she, too, was speechless.

「...Exactly.」Mu stepped up from behind them.「Welcome to Wei Shimin’s lair. The “mothership” that he personally brought into existence using his ever-lasting  <Ultimate  Skill>.」

「「「Did  you say ever-lasting <Ultimate Skill>?」」」The revelation surprised most of the guests.

「What is an ever-lasting <Ultimate Skill>?」Maia, who was not too familiar with the term, curiously inquired.

「Normally, you have to activate your <Arte> or its more powerful version, <Ultimate Skill> and there are time limits on how long you can maintain and control such power. Even for  someone as powerful as Kiba chan, he could only activate his <Ultimate Skill> for less than 10 minutes. However, as the name implies, an ever-lasting <Ultimate Skill> means that person can maintain their <Ultimate Skill> indefinitely and freely uses the power of their <Ultimate Skill> whenever you wish. 」Uri explained to the girl. 「You know how rare and powerful an <Ultimate Skill> can be, Maia chan? Within the ranks of <Ultimate Skills>, an ever-lasting <Ultimate Skill> is totally in a league of its own. If the chance of a person possessing an <Ultimate Skill> is 1:1,000,00, then the chance of someone possessing an ever-lasting <Ultimate Skill> is at least 1:200,000,000. In short… Wei Shimin is a beast!」

「Ho…」From the dark corner of the airship, with his <Cloak> skill activated to conceal Ayer and his own presence, Kibadios silently observed the situation.「An ever-lasting <Ultimate Skill> huh? Wei Shimin…perhaps, we have Adeus in the making here. 」

「Ha, As if. No matter how strong you think this Wei Shimin is, he cannot be compared against Adeus the Anomaly. Though, given the feat in front of my eyes, I have to admit, he may be close.」Ayer snickered. 「If he can control this floating piece of land with the fortress built on top of it, most likely it’s some sort of psychokinesis <Ultimate Skill>.」

「You Astral don’t have intelligence on him?」

「...」

「I command you to answer me as your Master, Ayer.」

「Tsk, maybe we do.」Ayer responded with irritation.「But it’s not my job to keep track of all these small fries.」

「Even if one day, one of these small fries may turn into another Anathema to your kind. I’m pretty sure I was once a small fry in your eyes.」smirked Kibadios.「Anyways, Ayer, come with me. We’ll infiltrate that land and check whether if my mother is still there.」

「...Why do you care so much for that woman? You knew her less than a week.」

「Yet, she’s still my mother and I owe my life to her.」Kibadios glanced at the enslaved Astral. 「I thought you, of all people, would know how it feels.」

「...」

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As the ship landed and Mu led the group down the ship’s staircase, Yue and the other found a group of officials dutifully awaiting her arrival. The men bowed deeply as she stepped off the ship, before one of them finally spoke.

「It is my honor to welcome you, Princess Yue of the Yue Kingdom, to The Celestial Island, residence of the Great Wei Shimin sama, Lord Magistrate of the Yongxi Province,  Lord Commander of the Southern Subjugation Army, and Prince of the Yin Empire.」

「I see that your Lord is not here. Does he think that this greeting ceremony is beneath him?」The former princess coldly inquired as if she was admonishing the official. There was a frigid edge to her inquiry, a stark departure from her usual demeanor of grace and diplomacy. Her eyes, once soft with understanding, now flashed with a steely resolve as she confronted the official with her accusation.

The old man’s eyebrows twitched, for in his eyes, she was merely a hostage, no one but a royal member family from a vanquished kingdom. Yet, as a seasoned diplomat, he simply brushed off her accusation. 「Of course not, Yue sama. But my Lord is a busy man so he could not make time for this occasion. Please get rested for today, Princess and tomorrow, my Lord would grace you with his presence during the banquet that we have prepared.」

「... and I shall grace him with mine.」Yue retorted as she coldly walked past the old man, followed by Maia and the rest of the group.

「...Tsk… What an arrogant girl.」The old man muttered under his breath as he looked at her from behind.

「Are you alright, Yue chan?」whispered Maia to the pink haired elven girl.

「... Yes, I’m fine, Maia chan… It’s just… seeing these Yin Empire’s emblems stirred up some emotion deep within me.」

「I know what you mean, Princess.」Gyo nodded.「For us, these flags represented nothing but hatred and aggression.」

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「You’re not going to go down there and greet the Princess, Wei Shimin… sama?」The figure asked.

「No.」The Lord Commander confirmed as he glared down at the airship from the high tower’s window.「You don’t understand. If I were one of those Grasslanders, this greeting would be the easiest way for them to assassinate me. Until I can study and assess the danger those who travel with the princess possess, it’s better for me to not appear directly in front of them to minimize the risk that they would have posed to me. 」

「I didn’t think you’re just a coward, Wei Shimin… sama.」The figure grinned.

「Coward? That’s fine if that’s how you think. I merely think of it as taking precautionary measurements. That’s why I survived hundreds of assassination attempts on my life.」

「Has it been hundreds already? Your brother is really relentless, huh?」

「... That thing… is not my brother.」frowned Wei Shimin.「... Well, it doesn’t matter. Soon enough, I will gain enough power to challenge that thing… the climatic battle is approaching. How’s the preparation?」

「Five days. It will be ready in 5 days.」

「Good.」

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「Master, please be careful!」Maia's voice rang with concern as she called out to the hybrid. Upon reaching their temporary residence, a modest pavilion adjacent to the fortress, they discovered the hybrid had already arrived and awaited their arrival. After ensuring the group had settled down, he decided  to bid them farewell momentarily, intent on exploring the vast fortress where his mother likely languished in captivity.

「I’m always being careful, Maia chan.」reassured Kibadios with a smile.「All I need are your goodbye kisses.」

「You sure you don’t want us to come with you, Kiba chan?」Uri asked.

「Nope. Just stay here and ensure Yue chan’s safety. I’ve already brought the trump card with me, right Ayer?」The hybrid stuck out his chin, awaiting his kisses, which Maia, Yue, Uri and Gyo eagerly offered him.  

「Tsk, just let’s go already.」Ayer angrily responded, knowing that he could not have refused Kibadios’ command.

「Tsk, you’re such a demanding slave.」The hybrid grinned.

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It did not take long for the silence to be dispelled as Kibadios and Ayer stealthily leapt through the dark corridors of the oriental fortress, skillfully avoiding the vigilant guards stationed along the way. 「... Those interactions… they truly are genuine?」Ayer hesitantly asked.

「What interactions?」

「The way you treat your so-called harem.」Ayer clarified.

「What do you think?」

「...」

「To me,  they’re really my precious treasures…」admitted Kibadios.「There were time when I treated them as nothing but my slaves, a means for me to relieve my pent up sexual frustration as an incubus hybrid… I know this is cliche to say, but they changed me. They gave me the motivation to fight, not only for revenge but to preserve… to protect my momentary happiness.」

「...」Ayer remained silent, trying to figure out why the man who he had sworn to personally eliminate would profess the feeling that he was supposed to hide deep within himself.「Like I said, no matter how you struggle, your ending is written in stone. Either you will perish by the hands of those you betrayed you, or by the hands of us Astral. You want to fight us? That’s a mere unattainable fantasy.」

「Have you ever tried? How do you know if you don’t try?」Kibadios questioned Ayer back.  「You’re free to switch teams and join me, Ayer. After all, among the Ennead, you’re not that bad…. Maybe it’s time to live that fantasy.」Kibadios glanced at the otokonoko.

「Dream on. The moment I break free of this cursed collar, it will be your nightmare! I will make sure to make you suffer for the humiliation you inflicted upon me.」Ayer ground his teeth.

「Well, until then, be a good guard dog for me, my Ennead slave chan.」 Kibadios provoked the Ennead.「Anyways, are we  moving the correct direction?」

「... If you don’t trust me, you’re free to turn back.」Ayer clicked his tongue. After all, Kibadios had commanded the otokonoko to activate his famed <Detection> skill to look for any clue that might lead to the whereabouts of his mother. Even among all the extraordinary individuals that Kiabdios had come across during his first reincarnation, Ayer was in a league of his own when it came to his detecting skill. As his Nen expanded to a 300 meter radius and with his skill activated, Ayer could sense even a mouse breathing in the corner of the building… and if he could sense a mouse, he could definitely isolate the presence of a succubus. 

「Don’t blame me for questioning since all you could ascertain is that you sense some demihuman presence.」

「There’s a limitation to my sensory skill!!! How the hell can you sense your “MOM” when I have never met her!」Ayer screamed, though such loud commotion quickly drew the attention of a few guards. 

「Did you hear that?」The guard looked around after rushing toward the dark hallway where both Ayer and Kibadios were just at. 

「... There’s no one here.」The guard walked to the end of the hallway and looked out of the woodframed window.「Unless there are intruders and they decided to jump out of the window, hahaha!」

「Must have been the wind, then…」The other guard shook his head. As both the guard finally walked away, Kibadios slowly emerged from the shadow that cast upon a side of the wall and pulled Ayer out with him. 

「Keep your voice down!」ordered Kibadios, whisperingly.

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「You’re sure this is it?」Kibadios questioned, standing before a formidable stone gate nestled deep within the fortress's basement.

「... All I could sense is that there’s a lone female demihuman behind this gate… though she’s not moving.」Ayer confirmed. 

「...Thanks…」Kibadios patted the otokonoko’s shoulder.「Ayer.」The deliberate use of the Ennead's name rather than referring to him as "my Ennead slave" was a gesture of respect and gratitude for the otokonoko’s efforts. It seemed that Ayer, too, noticed the significance of the choice of words, as he remained silent, refraining from any resentful retort to his supposed master. Soon, Kibadios pushed open the gate, revealing a windowless chamber steeped in ancient mystery. The air within was heavy with the scent of rust and dampness, tinged with a hint of decay.  Old, rusty chains hang from the ceiling while dim torchlight flickers sporadically, casting eerie shadows that dance across the worn stone floor. The floor itself is uneven, cracked with age, and strewn with debris from years of neglect. The walls stood bare, saved for one unadorned mirror that reflected the giant green pod that stood in the middle of the room. There, Kiabdios’ gaze fixated onto the woman that floated motionlessly within bubbling liquid. 

「Is that the one you’re seeking?」Ayer asked, though he had already kinda known the answer since the resemblance between Kibadios and the woman was uncanny.

「Yes, that’s her.」Kibadios nodded.「She looked just like how I remember.」

「...」Ayer glanced at the Runic symbol engraved on the pod.

「I’m here, Mother. I’m finally here.」Kibadios touched the pod.「It’s time to go home.」

「Not so fast, Brother!」A familiar voice called out to the hybrid, causing both him and Ayer to turn around, their attention focused on the ripple forming on  the mirror on the wall. 

「... Mu…」Kibadios readied for battle.

Chapter 173: The reason for the invitation

 

As the sun gradually set below the western Mountain Range of Laymanas, a loud knock on the door suddenly disrupted the conversation between the temporary residents of the small pavilion. 

「Maia dono?」Answering the door, Maia found the official who greeted her and the others waiting on the other side. The old man briefly looked Maia up and down with a pair of judging eyes before continuing. 「Please inform princess Yue that the banquet to honor her arrival is ready.」

「Of course.」Nodded the girl.

「We’ll be leaving now, Master.」Yue bid Kibadios goodbye after getting ready. Instead of her usual clothes, she was now dressed in her official royal dress, which mesmerized any onlookers with its blend of ancient allure and otherworldly grace. Layers of sumptuous fabric cascaded from the waist, shimmering with an ethereal glow. What caught Kibadios’ attention were the elaborate motifs crafted with meticulous detail depicting a pair of phoenixes showered in scattering cherry blossom petals, which reminded him of his own <Ultimate Skill>. Its sleeves billowed like clouds, trailing behind like wisps of moonlit mist, while accessories of ornate hairpins and bejeweled adornments added an unique hint of elegance.

「You look beautiful in this dress, Yue chan.」was all Kibadios could comment on as he caressed her lightly blushing cheek. The fresh wounds on his hands were still visible as proof of the fierce battle he had just fought in last night.

「Thank you, Master.」The girl smiled as her head instinctively leaned on her Master’s touch. 「Legend has it that this dress was designed by The First herself. I’m sure if that was the case, then she’d be happy to learn that you like it.」

「Well, I do like it but I think more than half of its allure is thanks to the pretty girl who wears it.」Kibadios grinned. Had this not been a mission that they were on, the hybrid reckoned he would already have pinned the girl down and fucked her senselessly right now. Despite the intense night he just had last night with his harem members, seeing the princess in this official royal dress had made him horny again. 

「Exactly, Yue chan!!」Maia excitedly agreed.「You look beautiful!! I’m sure Master is already having some indecent thoughts right at this moment.」The girl, who had known the hybrid the longest, shot her master with a mischievous grin. 「Right Master?」

「I’m always in the mood.」Kibadios admitted.「Though I know full well now is not the time. Anyways, I will watch over you guys from afar… Still, be careful!」

「「Of course Master!」」 

「「We will ensure the Princess’ safety, Your Majesty」」Kuron and Falkor promised. 

「Maybe if a chance arises, I can even kill Wei Shimin for you, Kiba chan.」Uri confidently pumped his chest. 

「No. Don’t do anything rash.」ordered Kibadios.

「... Fineee.」

「I’ll  make sure to reign in Uri chan, Young Lord.」Gyo ruffled the Vice Captain’s red hair.

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The long anticipated banquet did not disappoint since it was as grand as those that were being held by the Yinese Royal Court itself. There must have been more than 500 servants, dancers and musicians participating in the celebration. The group were seated onto one side of the Grand Hall, while sitting on the opposite were the people from Wei Shimin’s entourage themselves, with each of them exuded a menacing martial aura befitting vassals of the Great Commander. As a guest of honor, Yue was now sitting on an elevated platform at the end of the hall, right next to an empty seat, which the group all suspected to be reserved for Wei Shimin himself. In the middle of the hall, the dancers moved with grace and precision, their performances captivating both the Grasslander guests and Wei Shimin's entourage.  Despite the opulence surrounding them, there was an underlying tension in the air. The presence of Wei Shimin's vassals, each exuding a formidable martial aura, served as a constant reminder of the political intricacies at play. As the banquet commenced, the air was filled with the aroma of delicacies from across the Empire, enticing even the most disciplined of guests. Plates of exquisitely prepared dishes adorned the tables, each one a testament to the culinary prowess of the Empire's top chefs. From succulent meats to fragrant rice dishes, the banquet offered a feast fit for royalty. Among the group, Uri's lack of restraint stood out as he visibly struggled to contain his excitement at the sight and smell of the gourmet foods. His undisciplined demeanor provided a stark contrast to the composed facade of the others.  

Suddenly, the festive music stopped, allowing a suspenseful silence to envelope the room as a figure slowly made his way toward the front of the Hall. It was fairly easy to have guessed who the man was, since everyone aside from the Grasslander group hurriedly stood up and bowed deeply as the man walked past them. 

「Don’t try anything funny, Uri chan.」Gyo warned the Vice Captain, though such warning was definitely unneeded, for Uri had already found himself to be frozen in awe at the man’s presence.

「Ha, now that I see him in person, I doubt that I can even last for a few seconds if I challenge him head on.」Uri whispered to the swordsmith. 「I may be adventurous, but I’m not an idiot, Muscle-chan.」

「That man is truly a monster.」Falkor nodded in agreement. 

「Indeed… I could not find any openings as he walked by, despite the fact that he did not even spare us a glance.」Kuron, the Yves, who was specialized in analyzing his opponents with his extra pair of eyes, conceded.  

「Wei Shimin… dono… It is… a pleasure to finally meet you in person.」Yue spoke, her words laced with a subtle undercurrent of resentment. Much like the Princess, the man was dressed in a golden colored royal clothes. He had the appearance of a young and beautiful man, though his expression was rather sorrowful and melancholic.

「Yue dono, we finally met. I’ve been looking forward to this moment.」Wei Shimin inclined his head in acknowledgment, his expression solemn as he addressed her with equal formality.  With a courteous nod, he proceeded to take his seat beside her, extending a gesture of hospitality towards the girl. 「Please enjoy this party that was prepared specifically in your honor, Princess.」

Once he had situated, the man signaled for the banquet to resume. Despite the cheerful music and gleeful dance recommenced, the tension inside the room has not been quelled. Besides Uri, who unceremoniously devoured the food in front of him, everyone else was ever watchful as they slowly sampled the gourmet food presented in front of them. Yue was expecting Wei Shimin to quickly delve into the reason why he had invited her over, going as far as promising not to attack Alsen for the duration of the meeting. Yet, the man did not want to discuss such a topic yet since he continued to converse with her about other trivial matters. 

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「So, that’s Wei Shimin?」sneakily spied from afar on top of a curved roof, Ayer noted. 

「He does appear much younger than I expected. Didn’t that girl say he and his brother, the current emperor, were responsible for conquering her kingdom decades ago? Shouldn’t he look older?」

「Apparently he has elven blood flowing in him. Since the Kingdom of Yue and Yin were rather close for more than a millenia, the Yin kings of old, once or twice, took elven princesses to be their empresses. That’s why he looks rather young for his age.」

「... Look is one thing… but that man… Now that I see him in person, he really is dangerous.」Ayer observed.「and to think he was planning to perform “that” ritual. Haa, maybe there really is a chance you may perish fighting him, Zaeryn. I can’t wait.」

「You think?」Kibadios asked.「Though, you’re right to deem him to be dangerous. I was surprised to learn of his plan back then. I guess making chimera isn’t his only shady deed.」The hybrid paused for a moment.「...Now that I think about it, this is what you Astrals fear, isn’t it?」

「This?」Ayer raised his eyebrows.

「Yes, the advancement of mortal races’ power. 」Kibadios grinned.「Right at this moment, he’s trying to obtain a power that can be said to almost rival the Astrals with his upcoming “ritual.” Being the Astrals is stressful… You try to cultivate mortal races’ progress in order to ensure our souls are powerful enough to be harvested to nourish your Yggdrasil, yet, at the same time, you need to prevent individuals like him, or myself, from becoming too powerful. I pity you guys.」

「Stop your condescendence.」Ayer gritted his teeth.「Despite how close you think you are to us, you mortals are merely insects in our eyes.」

「We may be all insects, yet, a swarm of lowly locusts can still bring misery to all in their path.」Kibadios reminded the irritated Astral before focusing his gaze again at the high platform at the end of the room where Shimin and Yue sat. Rather, he was paying attention at one of the attendant behind the Yinese prince, who cloaked himself in a dark cloth.「That must be the one who’s preparing the ritual for Wei Shimin. Although it’s faint, he still has that scent.」

「Scent of the cursed race. I thought we eradicated them all when they rebelled against us.」Ayer looked down at the hybrid. 「You must be happy to know your kindred still survive until this age.」

「... Not if what we were told about them are true.」 The hybrid scowlfully noted.

「Hmm…」The enslaved Ennead said nothing.

「Say, Ayer… does it feel weird as you look at it?」

「Look at what?」

「Where Yue and Shimin are sitting.」

「... Now that you point it out… it feels like there’s an invisible screen.」

 「A barrier?」

「Who knows. If it’s a barrier constructed by the prince or the princess, then it’s most likely Runecraft, which is something I'm not familiar with.」Ayer leaned back on his arms, caring not for the safety of Kibadios’ group or whatever was transpiring.

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「Did you put it up?」Yue asked her counterpart as she calmly sipped the hot green tea in front of her.  「The illusionary screen, that is.」

「Yes. After all, I don’t want the others to hear what we’re saying. As of right now, with the barrier I have erected, your attendants and mine are simply hearing we chatting about trivial matters.」Wei Shimin turned his gaze toward the cloaked figure standing close to him.「Even he wouldn’t be able to listen in our conversation.」

「I’m well aware of this type of barrier, Wei Shimin dono. So, why did you invite me here?」Yue sternly asked. 

「I’ve always wanted to meet you but you have always been outside of our reach, staying inside the Vernys Forest and acting as their High Shaman ever since the Kingdom of Yue was annexed into our Empire.」Wei Shimin explained.「Imagine how happy I was when my spies told me you have finally left the forest.」

「That’s because as of right now I’m to serve my…」Yue paused for a moment, trying to figure out a word that best described what Kibadios was to her.「Kibadios sama. Since he had decided to travel back to his homeland, I have to accompany him.」

「Ah, yes, the strange, powerful hybrid. I was told of him.」Wei Shimin nodded.「With your help, he was able to repel my assault on the last bastion of Monas Kye. He’s a rather interesting individual… he and his kin,  trying desperately to struggle for survival, even knowing that they would all perish under the yolk of the empire in the end. As we speak, knowing that we cannot retaliate and attack their city due to the runecraft-binding oath I made, they even tried to use this opportunity to inflict damage onto my army by attacking our supplies.」

「You’re surprised? You should have known that the demihuman in Monas Kye are fiercely independent and resourceful. That’s why they have been able to survive for ages in the plain.」

「They’re just being nuisances. No more, no less.」Wei Shimin coldly replied.「Sooner or later, Alsen will fall. Your and your brother’s presence wouldn’t change anything, my princess. Once again, you will see the Yin army devour the last settlement that stands in our path, much like what happened to your capital years ago.」

「You!」the mild-tempered princess clenched her fist.

「That’s why, I want to propose to you an alternative.」

「What do you mean?」The girl was taken aback.

「Abandon the hybrid. Leave the soon to be vanquished people to their fate. Come and join me, Princess Yue.」For the first time, Wei Shimin turned and looked the elven girl straight into her faded eyes. 

「Is this a joke, Wei Shimin?」Yue was not amused.

「You hold no allegiance to the people of Monas Kye, why should you continue to help them?」The man asked.「Is it all because the hybrid wanted you to? He meant nothing to you, didn’t he? If what my spies told me are correct, the only reason why you followed him and left the forest was because he took a glimpse of your and your brother’s naked bodies… supposedly by chance. And because you lost to him in the following battle, you two were forced to serve him. Compelled by the obsolete tradition of your extinct kingdom.」

「... I’m disappointed. I thought you have something else to say, but is this all you want to say to me? I will not leave Kibadios sama’s side. You can waste your time trying to convince me otherwise, but I will not change my mind. My devotion to him is absolute.」Yue solemnly declared.

「... Why? Isn’t he just a stranger to you?」

「So what if he is? Besides, what gives you the impression that he is just a stranger to me? There are secrets that even your ever expanding spy network cannot report back to you.」smirked Yue. She knew that maybe she had said too much, but she could not help but wanted to belittle the man to sooth her hatred toward the Empire.

「I see… You seem to hold him in such high regard, Yue dono…」Wei Shimin still seemed unfazed by her unusual loyalty. 「Does your devotion toward this Kibadios even eclipse even that love and devotion you dedicated to Zuoen dono (NOTE: PREVIOUSLY, I USED CALLED HIM ZAEN, BUT I FINALLY DECIDED TO CHANGE HIS NAME INTO CHINESE SOUNDING NAME "ZUOEN")?」

「What did you say?」flinched Yue.

「I merely ask you whether you love this man named Kibadios more than you love Zuoen, the hero of your Kingdom.」smiled Wei Shimin. 

「Don’t you dare say Zuoen’s name!」Yue angrily shouted.

「Well… it seems like you’ve already answered the question.」Wei Shimin leaned forward, inching his face ever closer to the visibly upset elven princess.「What if I tell you that by joining with me, you will get to see your beloved again?」

「What nonsense are you sprouting?」

「How much do you know about Zuoen’s demise?」Wei Shimin asked. 

「He… he died at the Hangu Fortress, while trying to fend off your brother’s army.」Yue shakingly answered.

「What if I tell you that wasn’t the real story? What if I tell you he’s still alive?」

「How? It can’t be!」

「Ah, we have some time. Let me tell you the story of Zuoen, the hero of the Yue Kingdom, and the decision he had to make to protect you.」Wei Shimin leaned back onto his chair.「You knew how after our kingdom, Yin, had conquered the other five states, the Kingdom of Yue was the only state that remained unconquered. Despite the repeated warnings from Zuoen that sooner or later, Yin will turn our attention toward Yue and that your Kingdom should have helped the other states resisting us, your father, the King of Yue, adamantly refused to break the Yue-Yin alliance. And just as he had predicted, once we had conquered all the other states, we turned our army toward Yue. Still, what we thought would have been an easy campaign turned into a 5-years of brutal conflict that resulted in a stalemate, with Zuoen’s defiantly fought off multiple of our attempts to breach the fortress to enter Kingdom of Yue’s heartland. But Zuoen knew. He knew that no matter how long he could hold out for, in the end, the war of attrition would wear out the forces of your precious kingdom. Unless there was external intervention from other countries, Kingdom of Yue would succumb to our relentless attack. But such help never came. And so, one day, my dear brother, still a crowned prince at the time, approached him with a proposal: Zuoen was to lay down his weapon and join us. In exchange, we promised to leave you and your brother unharmed.」

「...You’re… lying」Yue was clearly shaken.

「After one week of deliberation, the hero of Yue Kingdom decided to take my dear brother’s offer, for his love for you outweighed his loyalty to the kingdom.」

「Shut up… Zuoen would never…」

「Oh, but you know what I said was true. After all, Kingdom of Yue’s cities and fortresses were designed by the First Queen herself, in a way that acted as a giant Rune that protected the kingdom. Using the cities as focal points that redirect the flow of energy of the ground to boost the power of the native inhabitants, if the invaders do not know when to attack which cities or focal points, then they cannot break apart the kingdom’s greatest barrier. For decades now, you thought that since my dear brother is a genius Runecraft user, he was able to figure out the pattern. But in reality, even he was unable to break the code. It was Zuoen who divulged the Yue Kingdom’s greatest secret to us. He allowed our army to swiftly take over your land, decimate your capital city, all to save your and your brother’s lives. Why do you think you were able to escape the encirclement around your Capital unharmed?」revealed Wei Shimin.「Afterward, he joined the ranks of my brother’s 12 heavenly generals, obediently serving him to ensure your safety.」

「Nonsense… You’re speaking nonsense… He would never betray our kingdom… he would never betray my father…」

「But he did. All because of his love for you.」The prince’s eyes glared down at the confused girl.「Right now, he’s nothing more than my brother’s puppet since if he were to betray my brother, he knew that my brother would immediately bring harm to you. That’s why, I offer you this deal: come to my side, join me and free Zuoen. Only I can protect you from our current emperor and only then can Zuoen dare to rebel against my brother.」Wei Shimin’s hand reached out, slightly touching the frozen princess’ silky hair. 「Together, we can defeat that thing that my brother had become and I promise, I will free you and Zuoen. Then, you two will finally have your happily ever after.」

「...」Yue desperately wanted to deny the story that came out of the twisted prince’s mouth, yet, deep within her heart, she knew the man was telling the truth.

「What’s there to think about? Abandon Kibadios, turn your back against those demihuman and join me. Does your fidelity toward this hybrid stranger really outweigh your love for Zuoen? 」

Does it? Yue thought to herself. But if Zuoen really did betray father… betray our people… allowing the Yin Empire to slaughter our innocent civilians… Can I really forgive it?

「... Fine. I’ll let you have some time to yourself to think about my offer. Five days. I don’t know if you have noticed, but this fortress is slowly heading toward Alsen.」Wei Shimin coldly revealed.「Once we’re there, I would have fulfilled my oath of not attacking the city until you’re “returned.” That also means Alsen will finally be extinguished as we launch our final assault. This fortress can do more than just floating. It possesses enough firepower that can reduce the city into ashes just by aerial bombardment. That is how we were able to destroy any one who dared to defy us and bring the inhabitants of Monas Kye to heel. Whether you accept my offer or not, the fate of Monas Kye and the demihuman living here is already set in stone… Princess.」

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「Are you okay, Yue chan?」Maia quickly noticed something was different with the princess since she has been remaining strangely silent as they all walked back to their pavilion residence after the end of the banquet 

「...」

「Yue chan?」

「Ah… yes… I’m fine…」Yue shook her head.「Sorry… I just don’t feel so well.」The girl gave Maia a faint smile. 

「You should rest as soon as we get back. Did you drink too much alcohol back then?」

「No, I barely touched it. I cannot handle alcohol well, Maia chan… I…」Yue admitted, her balance faltering as she leaned on her fellow harem sister.

「Yue chan, you’re burning hot!」The girl concernedly noted.

「We’re back.」Kuron pushed the gate open as Maia helped Yue walk inside the building. 

「Welcome back.」Kibadios was already there, waiting for the group in the dark, candleless room.「What’s wrong? 」

「I don’t know, Master, but I think Yue caught a cold.」explained Maia as she helped Yue to a seat.

「Yue chan’s sick? Were you already feeling unwell? You shouldn’t have overexerted yourself.」The hybrid rushed to her side.

「...Master…」Yue's voice was weak, and a solitary tear escaped her feverish gaze. She knew it wasn't a mere cold afflicting her but rather the turmoil within her troubled mind. She knew time was running out for her to make her impossible choice.

Chapter 174: Bonus: The night before Kibadios' departure (Part 1)

SOOO Apparently we've passed 60k view ~

Here's the first part of the dj I commissioned. The second part is still being worked on (by 03Hagane).

 

For this first part, the artist is https://skeb.jp/@Ayuksert2 (https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/10285663), please check out their awesome artworks

 

As implied in the first page, this dj took place before Kibadios left with Yue (so naturally, this dj will include everyone that got left behind.)

 

R18 warning!!!

R18 warning!!!

R18 warning!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

I envision for this year, the R18 scenes I commission will be limited (in term of scenes, probably not pages).
we will have another ~ 8-10 pages of dj (This part 2 won't be ready for a few months... at least), another 4 pages of dj depicting Kibadios x Ayer (That I have already received ages ago) and that's it. I'm trying to save money haha

Chapter 175: The battle for Monas Kye (Part 1)

The pink haired girl laid motionlessly on the bed for days, her thoughts cloaked in a dense fog, struggling to grasp the events swirling around her. Amidst the haze, she caught fragments of Maia and Kibadios' voices, their concern palpable yet indecipherable to her clouded mind. Though she longed to ease their worries, she lacked the strength to rouse from her delirium. Of the few moments when she could open her eyes, all she could see was her Master sitting by her side, days and nights. As she drifted in slumber, memories surged forth, a torrent sweeping her weary consciousness back to the haziness of her earliest recollections. Among them, a fleeting image emerged: her infant, tiny hand reaching out to a young elven boy, igniting his excitement. Whether such memories were real or mere illusions made up by her mind, she did not know. Yet, she recognized the boy’s innocent face, for it is that of her beloved betrothed. 

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「Zuoen, wait for me!!」Her brother excitedly called out as Zuoen and she laughed, enjoying the northern winds blowing over their heads. Despite barely even reaching 10 years old, the boy had already been able to summon a giant paper crane created from his Runecraft spell. The boy even taught Yue and Ren to perform the spell on their own. If Yue recalled correctly, these memories were that of their first flight, when she and Zuoen were carried off into the sky by the paper crane he called forth while Ren, too, summoned his own to chase after them. 

「Let’s race, Ren!! Yue and me against you. First to reach the peak of Mount Tai wins!」Zuoen shouted.

「You’re crazy, Zuoen! That’s too far away! Besides, Mount Tai is sacred! Only my father is allowed to climb it during the Feng and Shang sacrifice!」

「Who’s going to tell His Majesty? What? You’re scared?」teased Zuoen.

「What? As if!!」Ren angrily retorted.「See you two there!!」

「We’re really going to race against Ren nii sama, Zuoen nii?」Yue asked.

「Nah. I just want him to leave us alone for a bit. I guess my strategy works. Look at him flying off into the distance like that.」The boy grinned. 「I’d rather spend my time enjoying the calm scenery below with you, Yue chan.」

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「Zuoen of the Ying Clan, I hereby grant you the title of General.」The king, adorned in the royal crimson clothes, bestowed onto the kneeling young elven man with a golden quill. 

「I, Zuoen, humbly accept this honor. With the First's Spirit as my witness, I pledge to fulfill my duties as one of Yue's Generals with utmost honor, safeguarding this land and its people until my final breath. Should I ever betray this oath, may the First's Spirit strike me down.」

「I expected great accomplishment from you, the youngest ever General in the long history of the Kingdom.」The king slightly bent down and discreetly whispered into the young elven man’s ear.「And my future son-in-law. I entrust Yue in your hand.」

「Of course, Your Majesty.」smiled Zuoen. The man quickly glanced at the high balcony, where Yue was looking down at him, her eyes full of excitement and pride.

「Look at that, the youngest ever General.」Ren leaned toward Yue.「That gotta attract even more attention from beautiful court ladies than what he has already been receiving. You gotta watch your man more closely now.」

「He’s not like that, Ren nii!」Yue pouted.

「Well, it’s not strange for a General to take in multiple partners.」Ren shrugged. 

「I believe in Zuoen nii! Besides…」Yue hesitated for a moment.「Even if he were to fancy someone else… as long as his heart still has place for me, it’d be fine.」

「You’re fine being part of a harem? Though, I guess it’s better than being married off to some kings from other states.」Ren noted.「Leave it to your nii sama! I will accompany him days and nights to make sure no other girls get close to him.」

「You should really spend your time doing more productive things, Nii sama.」Yue chuckled.

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「Zuoen, you really have to go?」The princess softly asked.

「Yeah… I can’t help it. All the intel we’ve been receiving are pointing to the imminent invasion by the Kingdom of Yin. After all, among the northern states, we’re the last kingdom still standing. It’s only a matter of time until they turn their gaze upon our land. We have to reinforce the Hangu Fortress, preventing them from entering the heartland of our Kingdom.」Zuoen patted Yue’s soft hair. 「Wait for me, Yue chan. I’ve asked His Majesty and received his permission. Once I return from the frontline, I will finally take you as my bride.」The man leaned in, kissing the girl on her blushing cheek. 

「Please be safe, Zuoen」Not satisfied with a mere peck on the cheek, the girl boldly pulled her dearest fiance close for a passionate kiss, surprising the veteran General.

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「Ren, take Yue and get away from here!!」The young elven man commanded.

「There’s no way I will leave you behind, Nii sama!!」Ren screamed back, though his voice was drowned by the symphony of explosion, shouting, and crying sounds as their usually serene capital completely engulfed in flame while Yinese soldiers poured into the city, massacring indiscriminately everyone on their path.「You’re our crown prince! You’re the one who should take Yue with you and escape this place! I’ll act as your vanguard.」

「Exactly because I’m the crown prince, that’s why I should stay here and protect this land until the end. If this kingdom is extinguished, then I shall perish along with it. Remember, Ren, our Royal Family made two distinct oaths. One where we promise to protect the livelihood of our citizens while the other is to continue to fulfill the promise that the First had made. You have to escape this place and keep the royal line alive to not let the First’s Oath go unfulfilled. Please listen to me and take Yue with you.」The elven man smiled. He turned to look at his sister. Despite having lost her sight after crying for days and nights the moment she learned of Zuoen’s supposed demise, the girl was now standing out on the very same royal balcony where she once stood to celebrate her fiance’s ascension to the rank of General. Such joyous moments were now nothing but fading memories in her mind as she stood still, her face could feel the intense heat coming from dozens of raging fires that were spreading around the capital.「Besides, it has to be you, Ren. After what happened to Zuoen, Yue cannot afford to lose you. Please, take care of our dear sister.」

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Fragments of memories, of peaceful past and heart-wrenching moments, continued to flash in her mind. Her cherished memories of Zuoen, weaved in together with the time she spent serving Kibadios, played out in front of her eyes… If what Wei Shimin said was true… then she has to make a decision… If what Wei Shimin said was true… then… Suddenly, a glimpse of her forgotten memories surfaced: The moment when she felt her eldest brother clashed against a familiar aura of a Runecraft user. The very same moment when she sensed the aura of her brother dissipated into thin air. For years, she had believed the Runecraft user she had sensed that fought her brother would have been that of her pupil, the future second emperor of the Yin Empire, given how familiar the aura felt to her… but… what if, such familiarity was because that person was the one who taught her? What if… that person was…

「Zuoen!」cried out Yue as she finally woke up from her long slumber. The princess now found herself to be completely naked and with her Master staying by her side. Yet, unlike most previous times when she found herself unclothed, she could not sense even a hint of heat coming from Kibadios. Whether he was trying to actively suppress it, she did not know. All she knew was that the hybrid had been wiping her sweat soaked tender body with a warm cloth. She could feel his cool, wet hand move the towel down from her slender neck down to her bare breasts then to the rest of her warm body.

「... Master…」Yue’s weak hand reached out to her Master’s. 

「Yue chan!」Maia called out.

「Yue? You’re awake?」The hybrid could barely hide his excitement and relief. 

「Yes…」Yue whispered.「Sorry for making you looking after me, Kibadios sama.」

「Don’t worry about it. After all, I did promise Ren to keep you safe. He would literally kill me if something were to happen to you.」Laughed Kibadios.「How are you feeling now?」

「... I feel… I feel as if I have finally… made up my mind.」A single droplet of tears rolled down her cheek. 

「Huh?」The hybrid and Maia were both confused.

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「Everyone’s ready, my lord.」An ogre reported back to Kailos, who had donned his Clan armor dyed in a blood crimson color. The armor was crafted with a clear influence from the Sengoku Jidai, with a mask molded from a typical ogre protruding out from one of his shoulder pads. 

「Good. How are Ectharen and our King, Wylan?」

「Their divisions are also ready.」

「Good… Let’s set out, shall we? Give them no quarter! Fight as if your lives and the lives of your loved ones depend on it!!」ordered Kailos as an army of the last free people of the Grassland departed their final stronghold at predawn, for they knew the final battle that would dictate their fate would come the moment the sun rose. 

「TO BATTLEE!!!!」screamed the assembled men.

For days now, they have been getting reports back from Kibadios and as they have guessed, the truce that Wei Shimin signed with his blood was nothing but a ruse. According to the hybrid, if the floating island was to remain on its course, it would soon reach Alsen and fulfill Wei Shimin’s promise of not attacking the city until Yue “was returned” safely. The moment he reached Alsen, it was to be expected that the Yinese army that camped out a few leagues beyond the city wall would simultaneously launch their attack. That was why instead of waiting around for the inevitable battle, the three Clan Heads had decided to launch a surprise attack on their enemy encampment early on the fateful day, depriving their enemies of any advantages. For the past few days, the men had been trained days and nights inside the dungeon while the refugees recuperated. The plan Wei Shimin had for Alsen had now certainly backfired, with many of the refugees now joining in the fight for their freedom, allowing the troop numbers fighting under the banner of Alsen to swell to almost 40k. 

「Finally, we are back in action!」Ryuu grinned as he stretched his arms.

「Don’t be overconfident, Ryuu chan.」Ryan readied his sword.「Remember what Kibadios said: “Only a fool would blindly attack his opponents without having already planned out plan Z in his head.”」

「Of course, Ryan senpai. I just can’t help but be excited. We’ve been sitting on our asses for days now.」

「It can’t be helped. It’s not like we can attack the whole army without any reconnaissance or planning.」Rowan noted. 

「You guys really are going to clash against the Yin Army?」Sitting on the side, Ember asked. 「We’re left with no choice.」shrugged Rowan.「We’ve known this battle would come sooner or later. If you’re uncomfortable staying on the side of the demihumans, you can take your leave.」

「As if… Kibadios have saved our lives many times… The least I can do is to protect those he cares about.」Smiled Ember.「I may not join you guys in this battle but I will stay behind to protect the civilians.」

「Hmm, how do we know you’re not staying behind just to backstab us? After all, you’re a hero and a hero always sides with the human.」Ryuu blurted out.

「How can you say such a thing, Ryuu kun? Ember and I would never…」

「Well, at least that’s what the old me would have said.」Ryuu cut off Floria.「Given how you went out of your way to warn us about that Akaban and your connection with Haden, I doubt you would betray us.」

「Thank you, Ryuu dono.」It was Haden who spoke up.「Given how both Floria and I had lived through such betrayal under the hand of Corey and Desmond, I know she’s incapable of backstabbing anyone.」The former adventurer turned to Ember.「and since Ember was the one who saved Floria, I know she, too, cannot commit such atrocity.」

「Yeah, yeah, I know.」Ryuu nodded. 「I was just kinda teasing them.」

「Hmm, aren’t Ryan also a hero?」pointed out Ember with a smile. The hero did not seem to get upset despite what Ryuu had just accused her of.

「Huh? Ryan senpai? Of course… But… Senpai’s different!」Ryuu argued.

「Enough, Ryuu chan.」Rowan knocked on the dragonkin’s head, surprising even the hero and her companion. After all, it would be extremely rare to find someone who dared to hit the head of such a prideful race.「We really appreciate your help, Ember dono, Floria dono.」Rowan bowed.「Please keep Kibadios’ people safe.」

「Of course we will!」Nodded the girls.

「And don’t you forget, I’m also here! I’m not well versed in barriers like Yue but I can still erect some decent ones.」Ren spoke up. 

「Let’s all do our parts in the upcoming battle!」Ryan grinned.

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「So, you’re saying that Zuoen betrayed the kingdom to save yours and Ren chan’s lives?」Maia confirmed after listening to the princess’ story. 

「Allegedly. After all, it’s the crafty Wei Shimin we’re talking about. He might be trying to deceive Yue dono.」Reminded Kuron. 

「But, didn’t Yue chan say she believed his story?」Uri asked.

「... I don’t know… But I didn’t feel like Wei Shimin was lying. Besides… it’s… it’s actually something I believe …Zuoen… would do.」The girl hesitantly admitted. 

「Then you telling us this means you’ve decided not to take Wei Shimin’s offer?」Kibadios stared at the girl, carefully studied her every emotion.

「... Yes…」The princess stood up in front of her Master before bowing down.「As the last royal members of the Yue Kingdom, it is my duty to serve you, Kibadios sama…」

「What about as “Yue”?」The hybrid reached out and raised her chin up, forcing her to look straight at him.「What about as a girl who had devoted her heart to your dearly beloved instead of me? What is that girl’s decision?」

「Master…」Maia softly called out to the hybrid as if she wanted him to stop cornering Yue like this. 

「... If… If… If what Wei Shimin said was true… then… even I cannot…cannot forgive Zuoen for what he did… Betraying the trust of my father… my brothers… my people…」Yue struggled to form a comprehensive sentence. 「Even if my heart yearns to see him, my mind cannot allow it… Zuoen had made a grave misstep and committed an unforgivable sin. My feelings for him… doesn't matter anymore.」

「Is that the conclusion you have come to, Yue chan?」Kibadios’ stern voice suddenly turned soft.

「Yes.」

「Then, I, as your Master, shall personally grant him the appropriate judgment in your stead.」The hybrid pulled the princess into his tight embrace which burst into tears.「That way, you don’t have to deal with him and further wound your bleeding heart…」

「Master…. MASTER!!!!」The girl cried out, as if she was letting all the emotion she had bottled up within her burst out in the open. Tears overflowed from her eyes while her arms held tightly onto the hybrid’s back. Kibadios simply patted her head and let her vent out her repressed emotions, all the while whispering softly into her ears 「It’s okay, Yue chan… It’s okay… I’m here for you.」

「Zaeryn…」Standing in the back of the room witnessing the tender scene in front of his eyes, Ayer angrily clenched his fist.

「Your Majesty… 」After standing around for a while, it was Falkor who spoke up first.「I’m sorry but I’m afraid we’re running out of time. It’s almost time for Wei Shimin to undergo the ritual that you’ve told us about.」

「Yeah… I know, it’s already pre-dawn on the fifth day.」Kibadios nodded.「I guess it’s time for us to move out.」

「Master, I’m sorry that I wasted your time.」Yue finally broke away from Kibadios and wiped her tears.「Did you do anything else while… while I was bedridden?」

「Of course not!」Uri waved his hand.

「The Young Lord… I mean, His Majesty’s been taking care of you ever since you’ve fallen unconscious, Yue chan.」Gyo smiled.「We told him we can take turn to care for you, but he was adamant not to leave your side.」

「You guys don’t know, but Yue chan is a descendant of the High Elves, a race that is highly emotional. Their emotions can easily affect their well being. From the outside, it may look like Yue simply caught a cold, but in truth, it was clear that it’s her emotions that were becoming unstable and that is very dangerous for a high elf. That’s why I need to be by her side, just in case.」explained Kibadios. 

「Thank you, Master.」Yue gave the hybrid a genuine smile of appreciation, her hand instinctively reaching out to his own, which did not go unnoticed in Kibadios’ eyes.

「Now now now, what should we do?」Uri asked.「Simply crash the ritual?」

「We go with the same plan we had five days ago, when I first learned of what Wei Shimin was planning. We will divide into two groups: One group would go down to the basement and secure my mother while I and others confront Wei Shimin after he has gained his new power via performing the ritual. This is one of the few chances where I may be able to <Devour> him with my skill and possibly gain that power myself. The power that is antithetical to the Astral’s.」Kibadios grinned.

Tsk… Who could have thought Zaeryn would have a chance at gaining the same power that he himself, together with Aspen, had once crushed ten millennia ago? Ayer, the enslaved Ennead cursed. If he possesses that power, who knows how much of a threat he can pose to us Astral… Though if somehow, he’s defeated by Wei Shimin then it’d be perfect.

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The air trembled with the thunderous cacophony of explosions, shattering the pre-dawn stillness like a hammer against glass. The tightly packed encampment of Alsen quaked under the force of the demihuman onslaught, catching Hou Yi and the Yinese army off guard. What truly stunned Hou Yi, however, was the precise timing of the attack. It unfolded just as the Yin Empire prepared to unleash their own assault upon the city since they were expecting the arrival of their Supreme Commander with his formidable flying fortress. With ground forces poised for advance and aerial dominance assured, Hou Yi had anticipated Alsen's imminent fall within mere hours.

Yet, as his troops prepared for the impending attack on Alsen, from the depths of the early morning gloom, troops of the Three Great Clans from Alsen surged forth, bolstered by a wave of refugees who had mustered strength during the preceding days of respite. Although they were supposed to be exhausted refugees, they were first and foremost, demihuman inhabitants of Monas Kye. And much like how every citizen of Zou from One Piece could stand their ground against the Beast Pirate, the same could be said for the inhabitants of the Grasslands. They encircled the Yin forces with a ferocity that belied their fatigue, catching the Yinese off guard from all sides.  

In theory, such a coordinated counterattack should have been detected well in advance. Hou Yi had meticulously deployed outposts and spies to provide early warnings against any Grasslander retaliation. However, logistical complications stemming from relentless harassment by Erik and his band had forced Hou Yi to thin out his defensive network. Initially dismissed as mere nuisances, Erik's tactics had gradually eroded the Yin Empire's preparedness, leaving them vulnerable to Alsen's reprisal. Moreover, Alsen's special forces, under the personal command of Teran, Yuusei's father, had systematically dismantled the Yin spy network, leaving Hou Yi blind to the looming threat. Though Hou Yi harbored no illusions about the Grasslander's intentions, the sheer audacity of their full-scale assault so soon after the exhaustion of a week-long siege was a miscalculation he could ill afford. 

「Soldiers of the Great Yin Empire! Pick up your weapons and fight back!」ordered Hou Yi loudly.「Let those barbaric demihumans know the true power of The Great Southern Subjugation Army! Let’s put an end to their pathetic lives!」

Clangg!! Hou Yi could barely have time to parry off the katana slash aimed at his neck as he finished his sentence. 「You… Kailos of the House of the Horn!」Hou Yi gritted his teeth the moment he noticed the man standing in front of him.

「This is it, Hou Yi. We will put your ambition and the ambition of the Yin Empire to rest. We will show you why Monas Kye has always been a free land of us Demihumans!!!」growled the ogre.「We will crush your army here before you Master can come to your aid!」

「Huh? How do you know Wei Shimin sama is coming?」Hou Yi raised his eyebrows.

.

.

.

「Ahhh… to think we would be caught off guard.」The female dragonkin, one of the 12 Heavenly Generals, leisurely stepped out from her tent, a confident smile donned on her face.

「Wei Ying sama, please hellpppppp!!!」The foot soldier screamed out to Wei Ying, though she simply stood still, unconcernedly. Even if she wanted to help, it was simply too late since as soon as he finished his sentence, the soldier had realized that his torso was already pierced through by a sharp trident like spear. 

「Ara ara… You’re that dragonkin I was interested in.」Wei Ying grinned broadly, since the prey she singled out had just appeared in front of her eyes.

「Huh? Who are you again, small fry?」Ryuu cocked his head in confusion.

「Tsk.」Wei Ying was clearly irritated.「I’ll make you remember!」

Not too far away, Hou Yi and Kailos have been continuously clashing for a while, without either of them having come out on top. Though, as the Commander of the army fought off the Clan Leader while assessing the situation, he realized that the Grasslanders had clearly gained much intelligence regarding his army and his plan of initiating the second assault on Alsen. The timing of the Grasslanders’ attack was no fluke. 

「Don’t tell me we have a leak.」whispered Hou Yi under his breath.「But who… and how…」

「Ha, Hou Yi dono, it seems like you require some assistance.」A voice spoke up from inside a lone tent. Before Kailos could ascertain where the voice had come from, he quickly found 3 sharp scalpels already projected at him. Luckily, the ogre was able to dodge them at the last minute. But had it not been for his years of experience and quick reflex, his head would have been sliced through by the 3 scalpels already since they were cloaked with such sharp Nen layers that they had no problem pierce through any large boulder found across the vast Grassland. 

「Who…」

「You should certainly pay more attention while fighting…」the voice now came from behind Kailos.「An ogre huh? Are you that infamous “Kibadios”?」

「You!!」Kailos hastily turned around, then jumped back a few paces away from the menacing, well dressed man. 

「Akaban dono, the man you’re facing is Kailos, leader of the House of the Horn, a great clan of the Grassland.」answered Hou Yi. 

「Ahh… so you’re not Kibadios. Now, where is he? I’ve been here waiting for him for a few days now.」Disappointed the Hero. 

「You’re… Akaban, one of the Six?」Kailos could feel his hand shaking.

「Yes.」Nodded the hero before he moved forward, as fast as a flash. 「Now that pleasantries are over, if you still refuse to tell me where this Kibadios is, then please die!」Although it was a frontal attack, Akaban’s movement was simply too swift for Kailos to follow, all he could see was a blur. 

Chapter 176

Notes:

Sorrryyy!! I did not abandon this story. I was just sooo stressed out with my job, meeting the quarter's goals and all. Then trying to find an apartment closer to my job so I don't have to drive 4 hours a day, then I got sick for the past week...

Anyways, I wrote this chapter over the span of weeks. Hopefully I did not make too much mistakes/inconsistencies.

 

In July, expect this, but x7 pages (Which happens on the night right before the banquet... which is right after the events in this chapter lol. After setting everything in motion, Kibadios just fucks!): https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/118529754 (or https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/118529754). This is in complement to the Kibadios x harem members who remained dj that I'm currently commissioning (commissioning Hagane is SOOO EXPENSIVEEEE T__T)

Turning back the clock to a few days before the demihunan’s counter attack, the chain of events were set in motion after Kibadios had encountered the Chimera the moment he discovered his incubus mother encased within the laboratory pod. Before he could react, both Ayer and he were pulled inside Mu’s crystal dimension, where three other chimera were waiting for him. Yet, despite being outnumbered, the outcome of the battle was decided the moment Kibadios unleashed the enslaved Ennead onto the battlefield.

「... Haa…. ha…. Haaa… Brother… I knew you lied to us when you said you’ve been weakened. Despite your smaller incubus form, you’re still as strong as ever.」Mu laid defeated on the ground. Surrounding him were his chimera siblings, who were all restrained by Ayer’s razor sharp strings, locking them in mid air. Though, even without the restraints, the chimera could barely move their finger, let alone resist the two overwhelmingly powerful individuals standing in front of them. 「What’s …with your command over magic? Aren’t you… a <Summoner>?」

「Tsk, I’ve told you to watch out for him.」Ayer irritatedly scorned the chimera. Much like how the endo tensei-ed second Mizukage was during the war arc, Ayer has been continuously giving the chimera pointers on how to defeat him and Kibadios as he was forced for fight for the hybrid, yet, the result of the battle was pretty much what he had expected, with the chimera were completely crushed after a long, worn out battle.「Even without his command over the Spirits, he’s still one of Seri’s most powerful pupils. His command over magic is second only her… and maybe a few of the other High Elves.」

「Seri… the eternal?」Mu muttered. 「That High Elf progenitor? Who… are you… Kibadios?」

「Don’t kill them… yet, Ayer. And also, shut up for now.」Kibadios commanded the enslaved Ennead as he activated a healing magic spell and cast it on his bleeding arm before crouching down in front of Mu and violently grabbing his hair, anger flared up in his eyes.「Answer me, Chimera. What happened to my mother? Why is she being kept in that pod?」

「Haa… “OUR.”」Mu smirked.「Didn’t I tell you? You’re not the only one whom mother gave birth to, brother… All of us despicable chemira here are also her children…」The chimera paused as he tried to hide his anguish. 「At least, we all came from her womb.」

「... What do you mean?」

「You see, I don’t know what memories you can recall about that fateful day, but after setting you loose down the Kidan river, she was captured by the Yinese soldiers that were chasing after her. It was unfortunate that in that moment, Hou Yi arrived there just in time to stop the soldiers from killing her on the spot. Instead of having been granted a quick end, which would have been a much better outcome, Mother was taken back here to Wei Shimin’s laboratory, to be experimented on. That was when they realized that since she belongs to the rare succubus race, with her genetic makeup and physiology, she would be one of the best candidates to be used as a biological incubator to give birth to us. Their hunch was proven correct when they implanted me, a prototype chimera who possesses 97% genetic makeup of a human, into her womb. After carrying me for 3 months, she finally gave birth to me, the first successful chimera being to survive childbirth. Though that success sealed her fate. From that day forward, she was turned into a broodmother and her only role was to give birth to all of us. Most of the time, she is kept inside that pod, her body is constantly being rejuvenated by the elixir fluid she is submerged in to ensure her body is always at the peak condition when they implant a new chimera inside her. During the pregnancy period, she was forced into a half conscious state by the drug they’re feeding her. Only after she has successfully given birth would they release her from her pod, letting her taking care of us and forming a bond with us during our first few months after being born.」

「A bond? Why?」

「Don’t you know the concept of “imprinting”?」chuckled Eadur, the spider-like chimera, whose body was completely immobilized by Ayer’s strings. 「That’s one of the methods they use to control us. They biocrafted our chimeric mind and body in a way so that we would form a deep connection to the female who rears us in our first few months after being born. Knowing how much we love and care for Mother, they use her as a hostage, forcing us to obey their commands. Whether the feelings we hold for her are genuine or not doesn’t matter… In the end, we cannot allow them to harm the woman who gave birth and took care of us like we’re her own children.」

「If what you said is true, if you really love my mother, then why didn’t you just rebel against Wei Shimin? Why did you not try to save her? There are many of you, all possessing powerful Arte. If you were to turn against Wei Shimin all at once, not even him could come out of the rebellion unscathed.」

「Heh, he’s not an idiot. The moment we were born, he had already placed a seal into our hearts. If we were to lift even a finger against him, then our hearts would be pierced into thousands pieces…」Mu looked at Kibadios.「Tell me, brother, what should we have done? Even if we care not for our lives, if we were to turn against him and perish, he would deem the chimera project to be a failure and he would not have a use for our mother anymore… He would just end her life right there and then…」

「...Maybe… it would have been a better fate for her.」Kibadios clenched his fist.

「How could you say such a thing now, brother.」Galahan, another chimera subjugated by Ayer, shook her head.「Why do you think she tried her best to survive, even after knowing she would be turned into a chimera incubator, possibly for the rest of her life? Did you think she’s scared of dying that much? Or that her mind has been broken by Wei Shimin? No! She’s not a coward that’s afraid of death! She wanted to live, to have a tiny chance of ever seeing you again!」

「... It’s enough, Galahan… We're the vanquish. We have no right to argue with him.」Mu smiled.「I wasn’t convinced before, but after being thoroughly defeated by you…Maybe if it’s you, then mother would have a chance of breaking free from Wei Shimin. Take her and run as far as you can, away from Wei Shimin. You cannot win against him… Soon, he’d become even stronger than he is now… Just take her and leave Monas Kye. Mother would be thrilled to see you again… After all, that’s all she has been wishing for.」

「Before that, kill us!」Commanded Eadur. 

「...」

「Will you grant us mercy and end our miserable lives, brother? If you take Mother and escape, then you may have a chance at living peacefully in some far away land… but we’re bound to Wei Shimin. Sooner or later, he’d activate the Runecraft that enveloped our heart and kill us… This may sound cheesy, but between dying under his hand and dying under my estranged brother’s hand… I’d rather choose yours.」

「...」Kibadios looked down at the wounded Chimera under him. 「Hm, if you have already forfeit your lives, why don’t you give them to me?」Kibadios crouched down and leaned in closer to Mu.「I’ll give you a third choice, beside serving Wei Shimin or death: serve me! Be my sword and shield!」

「Haa, how delusional are you, Brother?」Eadur laughed loudly.「Did you not listen to what Mu had just told you? We cannot serve anyone by Wei Shimin. He holds our lives in his hand.」

「...」Unlike Eadur, Mu was looking directly into Kibadios’ greedy eyes as he extended the offer, and for the Chimera, Kibadios appeared as if he was the devil himself. Mu knew if he accepted the hybrid’s offer, he would just trade one Master to another, yet, whether it was due to Kibadios’ charisma or the ray of hope he presented in front of them, Mu couldn’t help but relented.「...If somehow you can break us free of Wei Shimin, then I shall pledge my life to you, brother.」

「Good…What about you guys?」Kibadios turned to the other Chimera.

「... We…」

.

.

.

「How?」The defeated chimera was now fully healed by Maia’s home brew elixir. What surprised them even more was that the Runecraft that bound their hearts ever since they first came to life were finally broken.「How can you remove Wei Shimin’s spell on us?」

「Wei Shimin is a very talented Runecrafter, but don’t you forget, I, too, am no slouch, either.」Yue smiled. 

After the Chimera agreed to Kibadios’ proposal, they were absorbed into the hybrid’s shadow and taken back to the pavilion. Just as he had suspected, since Wei Shimin’s control over the chimera was made from Runecraft, Yue was able to neutralize them after examining the complex spell for hours. There were times when Kibadios thought such an attempt was futile since Yue seemed to constantly don a concerned look on her face, but in the end, the genius princess was finally able to analyze and counteract Wei Shimin’s intricate Rune. 

「Good job, Yue chan.」The hybrid patted the girl’s head before whispering into her ear, causing the girl to blush red「Maybe I will reward you later tonight. After seeing you struggled for hours, I thought it was impossible to dispel the Rune.」Kibadios turned to Mu and his brother and gave them a mischievous grin.「And if we were unable to break Wei Shimin control over you guys, I were going to devour you all with my skill so at least, I get a chance of gaining some new power.」

「Ha, didn’t you forget that we’ve already resigned our lives to you. A threat like that doesn’t really scare us, Brother.」Eadur stretched his arms after he was fully recovered thanks to the elixir. 

「Well, Wei Shimin’s Runecraft was rather unique so it took me some time to figure out what to do. You see, unlike rigid magic and magic spells, Runecraft is much more flexible. To achieve an end goal via Runecraft, one can take many routes to get there. Just like how each person has their own writing style, each Runecrafters has their own logic in which they construct their Runes. For me to be able to undo a Restriction Rune like the one placed on them, I need to first understand the logic Wei Shimin used in order to construct his Rune… To be honest, it was a sheer luck that I was able to decipher it.」

「Sheer luck? Why is that?」

「Because his Runecraft is very similar to his brother, the current emperor of the Yin Empire. This was most likely because he was taught Runcraft by his brother and since I was his brother’s teacher, I was able to familiarize myself with the style.」Yue explained. 

「His brother taught him? I thought he and his brother’s relationship wasn’t in the best of term.」Uri pointed out. 

「Yeah, wasn’t it rumored that he is planning a rebellion against his brother?」Gyo recalled. 

「Yeah. After successfully performing the ritual and taking over Monas Kye, Wei Shimin was going to turn against the current Emperor… At least that’s what we were told.」Mu nodded. 

「I guess their relationship broke down at some point?」Falkor suggested. 

「Who knows. We can only guess.」Kuron shrugged. His attention quickly turned to the Chimera standing next to him.「Anyways, Kibadios sama, is it wise to trust them?」

「What? You’re afraid we’ll betray you guys to that cursed man?」Galahan scowled.「If you’re a dog who is chained to a pillar for the rest of your life while being mistreated, would you run away the moment you realize the chain is broken?」

「Depends. There is a small chance the dog would stay since staying bound to that one place is all it has ever known.」argued Kuron as he studied the Chimera’s reactions.

「YOU!」Galahan growled. 

「Hmm… You do have a point, Kuron.」Kibadios turned to Mu, who was strangely silent.「So, Mu, will you betray me now that I have helped you breaking free from Wei Shimin?」Kibadios let out an evil grin, his purple eyes glowed sinisterly as he studied the chimera’s response

 「... No.」

「See, my cute little brother said he won’t betray us.」Kibadios grinned. 「Let’s trust him for now.」

「...」The fact that Kibadios had just called Mu his brother did not escape the Chimera’s notice.

「If they ever turn on us, I’ll make sure they’ll experience a fate worse than that of being Wei Shimin’s dogs.」Kibadios’ tone turned sharply serious. 

「... I don’t doubt that, brother.」Mu sighed. 

「Hm… I guess that settled it then.」Uri smiled. The redhead Vice Captain quickly turned to the chimera group.「I’ve been dying to ask you: What was this “ritual” you guys have been mentioning?」

「That’s…」The chimera turned to one another, hesitated for a moment, before Eadur decided to explain.「What we’re about to tell you may sound like a make up story, but it’s true.」

「Hmm… You’ve gotten my attention.」Kibadios leaned forward. 

「Do you know about the mythical race called Tengu? The race that according to the myth, sided with Zaeryn during the Second Holy War and rebelled against the Astrals?」Eadur asked. 

「It rings a bell.」Kibadios’ expression quickly turned solemn. The remaining people in the group quickly shot one another a puzzled look. Since they all knew Kibadios was Zaeryn’s reincarnation and that the Tengu race was supposed to be wiped out eons ago, they were unsure of what Eadur was about to say. 

「As it turns out, that supposed extinct race is still around, lurking in the shadow of history.」Eadur revealed. 

「You liar!!!」Ayer angrily screamed.「As if us Astrals would let them live after what they did during the Second Holy War! We hunted them down! Every last one of them!」

「Astral?」Mu raised his eyebrows.

「Shut up, Ayer.」Commanded Kibadios.「You said the Tengu are still around? How do you know?」

「Because a Tengu has been staying by Wei Shimin’s side all this time.」Eadur, still confused by Ayer’s outburst, answered.「And according to what Wei Shimin told us, with the help of the Tengu, he’s planning to undergo a forbidden ritual to gain the power over the <Seed of Chaos>, and through it, transforming himself into the mythical <Daemon> race.」

「What did you say?!」Kibadios jerked.

「How did he know about the <Daemon>?」Ayer gritted his teeth.「What knowledge did that supposed Tengu teach him?」

「Master? What’s a <Daemon>?」Maia asked.「And what’s more important is that <Seed of Chaos>... Didn’t you tell us that what drove the Prime Minister crazy back in Lorian?」

「You know about the <Daemon>, Brother?」Mu curiously asked.

「Yes, more than you think.」Kibadios nodded, hesitantly.

「First of all, <Daemon> isn’t really a race, it’s more of a nationality.」corrected Ayer.「It’s a nation that our Zaeryn over there decimated years before he and his party took on Kadesha, the first <Demon Emperor>.」

「Zaeryn over there?」The Chimera were all shocked at the revelation. 

「Master decimated the whole nation?」Maia asked.

「I’ve read about this, though much of the book has degraded over millenia, but from what remained, I understood that this happened before the birth of Aspen the Hero… right, Master?」Yue recalled.

「You’re right… It was about 30 years before his birth.」Kibadios nodded. 「At the time, there’s a nation that made so much advancement in magical technology that they easily dominated half of the world at the time…」

「Woohoo, a powerful nation with advanced magic tech sounds like a final fantasy plot, Kiba chan.」Uri whistled.

「... Weeb!」

「Look who’s speaking! I’m a gamer, not a weeb!」smirked Uri.

「Ha, anyhow, as you would have guessed, soon enough, the nation launched a war against all remaining states on the continent. At the time, their goal was to unify the mortals to rebel against the Astrals.」Kibadios looked at Ayer.「An admirable goal that I totally failed to appreciate then… Though I may have agreed with their goal now, their motivation was completely unjustified. They reasoned that because they have become so powerful, it’s only natural for them to be the new gods of the land instead of the cowardly Astrals. To indicate their divine right to lord over others, the ruling class of the nation began to call themself the <Celestials> and they believed all others to be of lesser life forms. To us outsiders, we called them <Daemon>, for the magic technology had granted them mastery over the <Seed of Chaos>. They were able to deconstruct their bodies to the molecular level to allow their cells to consume the miasma that is usually associated with the <Seed of Chaos> infected individuals and convert that to a powerful form of Nen…」Kibadios paused for a moment since this reminiscing of the past suddenly reminded him of that nameless man who he had dreamed of once or twice. Wait a minute… Now think about it, was there a connection between him and that ancient nation? Would Ayer know? I have to interrogate him later.

「With our gracious assistance, the remaining nation states were able to fight back against the <Daemons> and push them back all the way to their capital. There, me in my homunculus body and Zaeryn fought against the man who proclaimed to be the <King of the Celestials>, crushing him like a pathetic bug he was, ending their futile rebellion.」Ayer continued.

「Like a pathetic bug? If I recall correctly, your body was badly damaged after the battle ended.」Smirked Kibadios.

「That’s because you slowed me down, you idiot!」growled Ayer.

「Sure sure.」

「Hmm… Ayer and Master are really acting as if they’re close friends huh? I guess that is to be expected since even if they’re enemies, they’ve known each other for a long time.」Maia noted. 

「Me being friends with this pathetic guy? Don’t kid yourself!」denied Ayer.

「...now he sounds just like nii sama.」

「Right! He totally has that tsundere attitude Master was teaching us about.」Maia nodded

「Tsundere? What?」Ayer raised his eyebrows, his 

「... Brother…」Mu was the first among the chimera to finally break the silence 「what the hell have you been saying? Zaeryn? Fighting the <Daemon>? Astrals helping you?」 

「Heh, long story. I’ll tell you all about it after we crush Wei Shimin… Actually… After I devour him.」

「Devour him?」

「Yes. Thanks for letting me know about his plan, Mu.」The hybrid instinctively reached out to pat the chimera’s head, much like he would normally do to his harem member. The gesture caused the chimera to freeze in place for a moment since the only other person who had ever patted him on his head was his mother, years ago when she was rearing him as a baby.「You see, I have the rare  <Devour>, an ogre racial skill that allows me to consume someone alive and have a chance at gaining their ability. Now imagine, if I can consume Wei Shimin and gain the ability to control <Seed of Chaos>, wouldn’t that be fun.」Kibadios turned to the enslaved Ennead.「I would certainly help in my fight against you guys, right, Ayer?」

「... You’re mad,  Zaeryn.」

「But, what about that mysterious Tengu?」Falkor, the beastman, reminded the hybrid. 「Wasn’t the Tengu your followers, Your Majesty? Maybe if we reach out to him, then we can plan this out better. If he learns that you’re Zaeryn’s reincarnation, he may willingly help us trapping Wei Shimin.」

「What if he’s not willing? We don’t know what his plan is, it’s too risky to approach him. And there’s no way for us to convince him I’m Zaeryn’s reincarnation, is there?」Kibadios explained. 「Furthermore, it’s been 10 millennia since my passing, who knows what the Tengu race is believing in anymore, even if they’re still lurking around in the shadow of this world. It’s better not to throw too much unknown to the equation.」

「I understand, Your Majesty.」Falkor nodded.

「Zaeryn’s reincarnation… Your Majesty…」Eadur, the spider-like chimera, spoke to himself. 「I think I’m starting to understand what’s going on with our Brother there. Perhaps, we are placing the winning bet right now, siding with him against Wei Shimin.」

「I’m starting to think so too」Galahan agreed.

Chapter 177: Ryan awakening

CLANG!!!

「Ho?」 Akaban's lips curled into a sinister smile as his swift attack, aimed directly at the young ogre Clan Head's throat, was deflected by an invisible barrier. This brief moment of confusion was all Kailos needed to leap backward, distancing himself from the bloodthirsty hero.

「Rowan-kun?」 Kailos asked, eyes never leaving Akaban. 「Was that you?」

「Yes, Kailos-dono!」 Rowan rushed to his Master's father from behind. 「I'm sorry I reacted too slow.」

「No, I'm amazed you could cast a barrier that quickly. Even I couldn't follow his movement at all.」 Kailos shook his head. 「Thanks, Rowan-kun. I owe you one.」

「Please, don't mention it, Kailos-dono. We're facing one of the Six Heroes here. We must work together to survive this battle.」

「Indeed... The fabled Six Heroes. Each one's power is said to rival an upper Catastrophe, or perhaps even a Celestial Class entity. His presence here has tipped the balance of this war in the Yin Empire's favor.」

Celestial Threat? Isn't Ryuu-chan considered a Celestial Threat too? Rowan glanced toward the other side of the battlefield, where Ryuu was locked in combat with another dragonkin. He's busy fighting… Didn't the intel say that the other dragonkin is a Heavenly General? If only he were free to help us with this guy.

「A barrier caster, huh?」 Akaban's bloodlust suddenly subsided, replaced by pure curiosity as he studied Rowan. 「You don't appear to be that strong, at least not compared to the ogre beside you. Yet, how were you able to predict my attack so precisely and erect a barrier so quickly?」 Akaban's eyes scanned Rowan from head to toe, seeking any hint of a worthy adversary. Despite his assessment that the young man's prowess posed no real threat, the swift construction of a protective barrier suggested hidden potential.

 

「Figure it out yourself!」 Rowan smirked. He couldn't reveal to his enemy that he commanded the temporal element, allowing him to slow down and manipulate time around himself to observe and counter his opponent's moves. This power had recently awakened within him, a result of pushing his limits and creating time bubbles around the dungeon to give the Grasslanders more time to recuperate and train for this decisive battle.

「Hmm… Maybe it was simply a fluke,」 commented Akaban. As he finished speaking, he discreetly swung his arm, sending four Nen-infused scalpels toward Rowan at subsonic speed. However, the small blades suddenly stopped short, half-piercing the thick barrier Rowan had just erected. 「Not only were you able to follow my movement, but you also created a barrier that stopped my Nen-infused attack, which can supposedly puncture through ten feet of concrete. Interesting.」 Akaban licked his lips.

 

「You don’t have the luxury to stand there and focus solely on Rowan kun, Akaban!」 Kailos, having gauged the hero’s strength and formulated a battle plan, leapt forward with his flaming sword in hand.

 

「I am well aware!」 Akaban smiled. He quickly reloaded his scalpels, placing them between his fingers like claws, and swung at the ogre. His attacks created a series of parallel slashes that pummeled Kailos, forcing him into a defensive stance.

 

「<Arte>,」 called a voice from behind Akaban. 「<Unlimited Blade Works>.」 The activation of the Arte move caused Akaban to turn around. What greeted him was ten different swords dropping down and floating around him, along with a yellow flash aimed directly at his heart. Swiftly, he raised his scalpels, effortlessly blocking the incoming blade. Before he could study his new opponent, the figure disappeared, leaving behind traces of faint lightning discharge. The figure reappeared to his right, grabbing another sword floating in midair, and attacked Akaban again from the side. Clang, clang, clang! The series of attacks continued as Akaban leisurely repelled them. Although none of the strikes were effective, for the first time since the clash began, Akaban found himself on the defensive as the figure kept teleporting from sword to sword, attacking him from all sides.

 

「Enough!! <Crimson Crucifixion>!」 shouted Akaban. Four giant crimson crosses made from dripping blood crashed down around the figure, trapping him. Dozens more formed from a layer of bloody mist, floating around before converging on his trapped opponent and exploding in a shower of blood.

 

「Ryan-chan!!!」 Rowan called out, worry evident in his voice.

 

As the dust settled, Akaban was surprised to find the yellow-haired teenager unharmed, surrounded by pieces of paper talismans that had protected him from the attack.

 

「That’s... Ren-chan’s?」 Rowan breathed a sigh of relief.

 

「Hoh... Why didn’t you create a barrier to protect him? It’s not like you couldn’t react in time.」 Akaban grinned as he realized Rowan’s weakness. 「Unless, you can’t continuously cast so many high-quality barriers in such a short timespan!」 To test his theory, Akaban launched himself at the green-haired teenager. As he had hypothesized, instead of protecting himself with a barrier, Rowan was taken aback and tried to dodge the attack.

 

「It’s a 4-on-1 fight! Don’t think you can ignore us all just to focus on Rowan-chan!」 Ren called out. The former elven prince created a Runic dragon and cast it upon Akaban, forcing him to halt his assault on Rowan and turn his attention toward the roaring, etheric dragon. Despite how ferocious Ren’s attack looked, with just a swing of his hand, Akaban bisected the dragon and dissipated the Runic attack into thin air.

 

「Ha, this is getting annoying,」Akaban cracked his neck. 「I guess it’s time to get serious.」 He allowed his Nen to emit unrestrained from his body, causing all four of his opponents to freeze in shock.

 

「That’s...」 Kailos muttered.

 

「One of the Six...」 Ryan gulped. Standing before him was the pinnacle of the <Hero> class, a position he had once hoped to achieve when he first embraced his role as a hero before the fateful meeting with his Master. Now, seeing one in person, he realized how unattainable that dream had always been. The power gap between him and a member of The Six was simply too great. Such pressure reminded him of the creature the Chaos-infected Prime Minister had turned into or when the Chaos-infected Ryuu was finally released from his seal. Simply put, there was no chance of victory.

…But, he and his harem brothers would stand and fight regardless, for they were his Master’s devoted tools. They had promised to assist Kibadios in his quest for vengeance against the Astral, if they could not overcome this opponent standing in front of them, they would all prove to be nothing but dead weights that held their Master back during the destined clash between them and the Astral. Ryan held tightly onto his sword as lightning sparks cloaked his body. With one swing of his attack, the electricity spread around the battlefield and splashed at Akaban, creating a loud explosion. As the dust settled, just as he had expected, the dreadful hero was still standing, his body experienced minimal damage. Ryan swept forward, thrust his sword downward. From behind, Kailos discreetly approached the hero before slashing his flaming sword upward. Both simultaneous attacks pincered Akaban in place. Still, the slashes never connected to the hero’s flesh as Kailos and Ryan had hoped for, since Akaban easily stopped both blades with his scalpels.

「<Blood Storm>」Grinned the hero. As soon as Akaban activated his skill, both Kailos and Ryan soon noticed hundreds of blood droplets started to form and suspended in midair around them. The droplets suddenly vibrated, before spreading themselves into sharp, thin sheets of blades and swirled around the black-suit maniac hero like a vortex. Although they knew not what their opponent’s ability was going to be, the two men instinctively leapt away from Akaban. Still, that was not enough since the radius of the vortex suddenly expanded, its sharp, bloody blades cut deep into the two retreating combatants' flesh. 

「Ughh!!」Moaned Ryan. The blond hero and his master’s father had escaped the worst possible outcome, yet, their injuries were fairly extensive causing the pair to fall down, rendering them unable to move back any further.

「<Flame of Restoration>」Rowan quickly clapped his hands, activating his Skill, calling forth a warm flame which suddenly engulfed the battered ogre and his harem brother, healing them up in no time.
「Rune of Power: Lion fist」Taking advantage of Akaban’s distraction as his attention was focusing on the other two, Ren teleported from behind the menacing hero and slammed him with a Rune infused punch. The Rune that the former elven prince invoked materialized as a large, etheric white lion head that covered his hands. In this form, just one punch from Ren could shatter a portion of a stone cliff. The elf was excited since he could feel an impact as he saw Akaban being pushed back due to his attack. Still, the earth shattering damage never materialized as the hero cladded in black suit stood tall despite receiving the attack at point blank.

SHRETTT

Just simply one swing of his arm, Akaban effortlessly shredded the runic lion glove before he closed in and delivered a swift kick in the elf’s chest, sending him flying and crashing into rows of trees some distance away. 

「Ren chan!!」Called out Rowan worryingly. 

「< Baihu Roar >!」In the midst of despair, from afar, Amaira, the mutant beastman growled, sending the shockwave aiming upon Akaban.

「< Xuanwu Crush >」Before Akaban could find his balance after being hit directly by Amaira’s sonic blast, Baxley activated his skill, summoning a humongous turtle shell crashing down onto Akaban. 

「< Wing of Zhuque >」Last to enter the battlefield was Erik, who called forth his Arte before joining in the fight. Unlike the last time when he fought against Kibadios, this time, the Yves had enough time to unleash one of his most powerful attacks. Erik floated up in the air with his burning phoenix wings, gathering up the embers in the shapes of feathers into a large fireball above his head. As more feathers gathered, the sphere became more and more enlarged, its color turned from orange to deep red as if it was filled with raging hot magma. Once ready, Erik raised his bare hand up, grabbing the gigantic burning sphere and dragged it downward, projecting it at Akaban, who was still trying to hold up Baxley’s attack. The impact caused by Erik’s Arte attack emitted a loud crashing sound, followed by intense heat waves that radiated from ground zero to around the battlefield. With his quick wit, Rowan hastily constructed a weak barrier around the attack to contain it, allowing Kailos, Ryan, Amaira, and Baxley to retreat back. Of course, due to the sheer power of the attack, Rowan’s barrier did not last for more than 20 seconds before it, too, was shattered into pieces. 

「 Rune of Destruction: 108 Hell Gates 」Screamed out Ren. The elf was now wrapping one of his arms around Rowan's shoulder to allow him to stand upright, while the other hand held onto a small glowing talisman. The moment he casted his Rune, 108 pieces of talismans suddenly appeared and surrounded Akaban before all shooting incredibly powerful black beams at the hero as the inferno fire created by Erik was still burning bright.

「Haa… haa… ha」Baxley's breaths came in ragged gasps as he struggled to inhale amidst the oppressive heatwave.「It doesn’t matter no matter how many times I witness this attack, the intense power always puts me in awe. On top of that, it seems like Ren kun had also casted another impressive attack in tandem with Erik’s…」

「Do you think it’s enough to end him?」Amaira stared at the burning hell in front of her. 

「I hope so, because if he survives such attacks, it means we’re screwed.」The giant laughed.

The mercenaries’ confident look soon turned despondent as the burning flame dissipated and the talisman scattered into dust. Despite generating enough heat that turned the stones around Akaban into glasses, the hero still stood high. The only damage one could observe was how his clothes were now completely charred, with some parts of it even seeming to melt into the hero’s flesh. 

「How did he survive that??」Amaira shouted. 

「...」Erik had descended behind his two companions, though he made no comment.

「It’s his Nen…」Ryan noted.「He coated his body with enough Nen to protect himself from our attacks.」

「But if it’s true… how much Nen can he really generate? I have never heard of someone who possesses enough Nen to use it as a protective defense like that… not against such powerful skills.」Kailos gulped. 

「That man… is not human…」Ren’s arm touched his bruised stomach.「That brief moment when he kicked me and our bodies connected… I could feel it… His Nen is almost limitless.」

「Ren chan… Don’t try to talk.」Rowan frowned as he tried his best to heal up the injured elf.

「Now, my turn, okay?」Akaban smiled. The man raised his scalpels up before dashing toward his still dazed opponents. In a blink of an eye, both Amaira and Baxley had already collapsed as blood splattered out from the slashes they received. Akaban was moving at such a speed that both of the mercenaries did not realize what had happened before they noticed their bleeding wounds. Erik, on the other hand, fared a bit better since he was able to clash against the hero for a brief moment before, he too, was abruptly defeated. His Arte, which took the shape of a pair of flaming phoenix wings, slowly faded as the Yves fell down from the air, his body was pierced deep by multiple scalpels. Dozens of slashes were soon inflicted onto Kailos and Ryan, since they too, were unable to keep up with the hero’s relentless attacks. As Akaban moved toward Rowan and Ren next, the healer tried to erect a barrier to stop the incoming threat, but with most of his strength spent on invoking <Flame of Restoration> to heal Kailos, Ryan, and then Ren, the teenager’s flimsy barrier was certainly not enough to block off Akaban. 

「Now now now…」Akaban stood in front of the two remaining foes, his hands each grabbing around each of the boy’s necks, crushing their windpipe.「A young man with the ability to keep up with my attack and another with incredible Runic ability… I had high hopes for you people. But in the end, just like most others, you all disappoint me. This fight was nothing but a waste of time.」

「Ahhh… Garrhhhh」

「You…aaahhh haaaa…」Ren struggled to breathe as both he and Rowan were lifted up from the ground by Akaban’s cold hand.

No, not again… The young man thought to himself as he mustered all his feeble strength to stand up and fight… I won’t let…

「Now, die…」Akaban squeezed his hands, causing his two victims to convulse in pain and agony.

「Ren chan… Rowan chan…Don’t…」Ryan finally could make some sound as his muttering became louder.「Don’t you dare hurt them!!!! Don’t you dare hurt my family!!!!!」Screamed out the exhausted blond hero, his consciousness seemed to disappear as rage took over his body and mind. Twice now, he was too powerless to protect those he loved, whether they were his party members or his brother. Since then, he had sworn to himself there would not be a third time, not when he was still alive.「Ultimate Arte <Code:04>!!」

「Huh? That rookie hero… Has he just awakened an Ultimate Arte?」Akaban was shocked, yet he could not hide a faint smile on his face. After all, for the battle crazed hero, the chance of fighting against someone possessing an Ultimate Arte was not that often. 「Code:04? What kind of Ultimate Arte is this?」Since Ryan’s awaken has completely attracted his attention, Akaban quickly threw away the half conscious Rowan and Ren on the side before finishing them off. 

「Now, little hero, let me see what are you capable of?」Grin Akaban before he, again, projected severals of his Nen infused scalpels at the blond teenager. His eyes turned wide open in astonishment, though, once he noticed his attacks had completely stopped midair, though not because of any invisible barrier or anything.「How?」

Just in the few seconds Akaban took to analyze what was happening, the scalpels’ blades suddenly turned around and aimed at him. His own attack was now flying off in his direction where he stood. It all happened so fast that before he could barely instinctively react by raising his hands up to block the blades, they had already pierced through his flesh. Normally, such attacks would not have affected him; however, since those blades were infused with his own Nen, it allowed them to easily penetrate the thin, yet seemingly infinite Nen layer that was coating his flesh and acting as a defense against any external attack. 

「Haa… ha… This…」Akaban pulled his scalpel pierced hand closer to his face as red warm liquid dripped down from his wound.「This is my blood?」Akaban grinned as a maniac. 「Ha… hahaha… My own blood… It’s been such a long time since I last bleed.」

「Not enough…. I need more…」Ryan used his sword to prop him up.「JUST DIEEE, AKABAN!!!」Rays of lightning suddenly struck down at Akaban from the cloudy sky. Had this attack been launched at the man moments ago, he would have shrugged it off, but now, with the metal scalpels that pierced his body used as conductors, electricity easily broke through his defense and directly made contact with his flesh, causing a loud explosion. Not giving Akaban any chance to counterattack, Ryan continued his assault, with small sparks starting to coalesce around all pieces of metals around the battlefield before they all slipped away and escaped from their confused owners’ hands. The swords, shields, halberds, all types of weapons floated up before flinging themselves at the black coat hero, who was already dropping down to his knee after receiving a direct lighting attack. Some of the weapons had appeared to finally plunge deep into his flesh while more and more flying off toward his unmoving body. In the end, a giant ball of metal weapons had enveloped the hero before they were being bent and condensed inward. As Ryan clenched his fist tighter and tighter, the giant pile of weapons slowly crumbled into a dense metal ball that entrapped Akaban inside. 

「This is Ryan chan’s Ultimate Arte?」Rowan leaned back.「What is it?」

「... It… it seems like he can control metals…」Ren, the more experienced fighter between the two, finally realized.「His Ultimate Arte granted him the power over Magnetism? It looks to me that because Akaban’s scalpels were made from metals, Ryan was able to control them and redirected them at the man. Such a counterattack caught him in a surprise, enough to wound him. Then, taking advantage of the blades that have already pierced through Akaban’s defense, Ryan followed up by attacking him with his Lightning elementals… and lastly, crushed him inside that … giant metal ball thing made by the weapons around here.」

「Did we win then?」Rowan couldn’t help but grin. 

「If Ryan really breached Akaban’s defense, then… maybe, we really have wo…」

BAMMMM

Before Ren could finish his sentence, the giant metal ball made from weapons suddenly shattered and exploded into pieces. In the middle, Akaban, who was still on his knee while being fully covered in his own blood, slowly stood up. 

「Impossible… He’s still alive…」

「Look at those injuries… any normal human being would have already died from the blood loss alone.」Rowan gritted his teeth in frustration.

「How?? Why won’t you die?」Ryan cried out. 

「Who knows. I wondered the same question many times before.」Akaban looked at his blood soaked hand as strips of blood were unnaturally floating and circling around him.「What’s your name again, Young man? Was it… Ryan?」

「None of your business. Why do you need to know?」The blond teenager, who was completely exhausted after overexerting himself, defiantly responded.

「Because you really caught my attention. No one has inflicted such injuries onto me like this for quite some time… No one has used my own weapons against me like you did. Granted, I merely caught off guard by your awakening of an Ultimate Arte, but it still counts.」Akaban wiped the blood off his face.「It’s just… 」

「Just?」

「Just too wasteful to kill you off now… Maybe giving sometimes, you may truly give me some entertainment in the future, little hero.」

「Haaa… it doesn’t matter if I die! I will not let you leave this battlefield unharmed. Not when you’re trying to go after Master!!!」grunted Ryan and he inched forward. 

「Ryan’s right!!!」Rowan and Ren stood up from behind Akaban.

「You have to step over our dead bodies if you want to …」Ren suddenly stopped short his sentence and looked up into the cloudy sky.「Yue?」

「Heh… Let’s postpone your death sentence here.」Akaban cracked his neck.「Because something even more interesting is disrupting our fight right now.」

All of the sudden, a large floating island abruptly broke through the layers of clouds that covered the morning sky as it seemingly fell through the sky as if it was a comet crashing down the earth.

「「「What’s… that?」」」All three of Kibadios’ harem members asked.

Notes:

Anyone knows what Code:04 is referencing? hehe

Chapter 178: Battle for Monas Kye (Part 4)

「Haa… ha…」The ogre panted softly as he and his son stood side by side, facing the Commander of the Army, Hou Yi, along with his two direct subordinates.「You’re okay, Yuusei?」The ogre concernedly asked. 

「...」The mutant hybrid, who was now in his ogre form, simply nodded. Much like his opponents, Hou Yi’s lieutenants, the boy’s body sustained a few bruises from his battle against them, but none appeared severe enough to cause a concern. Since it was a two on one fight, Yuusei found it hard to land a direct hit on either of the men since the other one had always perfectly distracted him in a timely manner. The two men seemed to be able to work with one another in a perfect synchronicity, even without any hints of communication during the whole fight, allowing them to both amplify their attack or defensive powers by covering each other's shortcomings. As frustrated as Yuusei was, little did he know that to his opponents, fighting him was one of the most infuriating experiences they have ever encountered. After all, the two lieutenants, nicknamed “The Death Reapers”,  were considered Hou Yi’s left and right hands. They alone were  responsible for the elimination of many individuals who dared to challenge or stand in the Yin Empire’s path of conquest. If Yuusei was to be ranked among their victims in terms of fighting strength, he would not even make the top 10 list. Yet, despite clashing for more than fifteen minutes, the pair could not land a single fatal blow on the mutant ogre and it did not take long for the pair to realize what was missing.

「You’ve noticed it, Haoran?」

「Yeah. The reason why we cannot quickly eliminate him already… It’s all because of his fighting style, isn’t it.」

What made the pair such deadly foes for those who fought against them was because they were expert fighters, who had learned, analyzed, and identified weaknesses of all the fighting styles and martial arts known to man. Whether their opponents were proficient in close combat, swordplay, spell casts, or rune craft, the two of them could always easily exploit the weakness and shortcoming in their fighting style and deliver the fatal blow. However, unlike all others, Yuusei had never learned how to fight from anyone. His fighting prowess was completely instinctual and wild as an animal, which was fitting since it had developed during the time he was surviving in the wild and had to fight off the countless monsters circling him, especially at night. Recently, he had briefly attempted to learn some real fighting moves from Uri, the very man who bested him during their first encounter, but could not get used to being constrained by Uri’s moveset. Such a decision to give up on learning actual martial art moves had turned out to be beneficial in the end, since sticking with his wild and unpredictable style was what prevented the two lieutenants unable to keep up with him, despite them already activating their Skills to further boost their power. 

「Teran, get away from here. Yuusei’s using it.」The mutant hybrid turned to his father. 

「But…」The ogre was unwilling to leave his son.

「Trust Yuusei…」The boy’s eyes glowed.「Yuusei’s strong because Yuusei can’t let Master down.」

「... Fine… Be careful, Yuusei.」Teran reluctantly agreed as his son simply nodded in acknowledgement.「Now, it’s still just you and me, Hou Yi!!!」The ogre shouted as he sprung forward, thrusting his spear at Hou Yi. Of course, the Commander was able to block the attack using his large Gunbai war fan, however, the attack still was able to push him further away from the Yuusei and the lieutenants’ battlefield. 

「Activate Arte 」Yuusei shot the two Yinese standing in front of him a feral look「 <Divine Beast Karion> 」

「What? That brat also possesses an Arte?」Haoran twitched.「Yichen, let’s end this quick with our own Artes」

「I know!」Yichen nodded. 「Arte < Amatsumara’s smite >」

Suddenly, Yuusei, who was still transforming after activating his Arte, found himself standing on a giant anvil as an equally gigantic hammer, enough to block out the sky from the mutant hybrid’s view, slammed down at him. BAMMM!!! The impact created a loud crash that reverberated throughout the battlefield, knocking even a few people down onto their knees. Yet, the victorious smirk on Yichen’s face quickly faded when he realized that somehow, the giant hammer and anvil had not yet made contact with one another. The reason was because the mutant hybrid, who was now coated in a thick layer of Nen, had raised his arms up to receive the tremendous impact resulting from the smite. With his Arte activated, the boy’s hair spiked up as if he was in a super Saiyan mode, his eyes turned blood red, his canine teeth seemed to have elongated. 

「Impossible! He survived that?」Yichen shouted in disbelief. 

「... His appearance… it’s like he has turned into a wild animal.」Haoran noted. 

Just as one of the lieutenants had observed, Yuusei’s Arte <Divine Beast Karion>, was in fact, an upgrade to his skill <Berserker>. Once activated, it transformed Yuusei into an individual that possessed the strength and power of a million beasts. Worse yet for the pair, the amplified strength and stamina Yuusei gained was in proportion to his Nen and since the mutant hybrid has been constantly receiving Kibadios’ vital fluid every night during their intimate moments, it had allowed Yuusei’s Nen to grow exponentially, further empowering his Arte transformation. The only downside to his Arte was that Yuusei would now be put into an autopilot mode and the boy would lose control of his body, much like how he was when he activated his skill <Berserker>. In this mode, he would still seek out his enemies and those who he sensed their hostility from; however, there were also chances in which he might attack an ally, which was why he had asked his father to get away from the scene.

Crack…. Cracks…

「No way… how can… his fists… break the hammer?」Yichen sweated. Not only Yuusei was able to stop the hammer, the impact caused cracks to form and quickly shatter the giant hammer into pieces, completely neutralizing the man’s Arte, his most powerful move.

「Arte…」Now it was Haoran’s turn.「<Goujian’s sword>」From above the sky, suddenly another gigantic weapon, this time in the form of a sword, dropped down at Yuusei. Despite the speed of the attack, the mutant hybrid effortlessly jumped out of the way, causing the sword to miss him and pierce through the anvil below instead, splitting the anvil into two.「Don’t you think that’s all!!!」Just as Haoran warned, several more giant swords flying down, aiming to crush Yuusei. But again, with how agile he was, constantly jumping from one place to another, all of Haoran’s attacks were proven fruitless. That was not to say his Arte was weak, since a single strike of his Arte normally could have squashed thousands of his enemy troops, causing a moral shock and might have just led to a complete collapse of the opposing army. However, since his opponent was Yuusei, he found himself helplessly outmatched since the mutant hybrid not only has been dodging the attacks from above, but also closing his distance and now appeared in front of him. 

「Damn you!!!」Haoran was going to react to Yuusei’s presence; however, it was already too late since the boy’s hands, with his strangely sharp nails that looked as if they were tiger claws, had grabbed onto the man’s head. The next second, Haoran found himself laid down onto the ground… no… that was not all… somehow, he could not feel anything… Before long, he could only feel a sharp pain in the back of his head. He wanted to react to it, yet he found his body simply disobeyed his will, for he could no longer control them… Then, everything faded to black.

「YOUU BRATT!!! HOW DARE YOU KILL HAORAN!!」Yichen, standing just mere feets away, angrily jumped toward Yuusei. Just in that one second after the mutant hybrid caught Haoran, he had mercilessly mashed his head down onto the ground, crushing it into minced meat. With his hand still smeared with blood and brain matter, Yuusei turned to his incoming foe, his eyes glowing blood red. With a speed beyond his enemy’s comprehension, both of Yuusei’s hands grabbed onto the man’s wrists, locking him in place before his wide open mouth ferociously bit directly at the man’s throat.

「Ahhh… haaa… haa… Ya… haaaa」With his vocal cord completely bitten off and blood gushed into his trachea, Yichen struggled to mutter a single word before he, too, succumbed to the sweet embrace of death. 

.

.

.

「Why such defiant, Teran?」Hou Yi asked amidst their fight.「You and your Grasslanders kept struggling like ants trying to escape being squashed by an elephant. You should just accept your fate. What can this surprise attack accomplish? You think a mere tens of thousands of men can win against us, hundreds of thousands strong force? We were caught off guard, but sooner or later, your surprised attack will fizzle out. Then, as Wei Shimin sama arrives, we would have “return” your princess back to you and we’re free to attack your last stronghold. I promise you, this time, we will not take slaves or prisoners… This time, Alsen will be the site of a genocide that makes all other genocides pale in comparison.」 

「Just keep dreaming.」Teran parried off Hou Yi’s attack.「By the time this battle ends, you’ll be nothing but a corpse lying on a battlefield.」

「Haa… Words of a dreamer.」Snickered Hou Yi.「Even among the ranks of our troops, the Chimera Corps alone can crush you insects into pieces. Just wait until they unleash… 」The Commander paused as a sudden realization had just crossed his mind. The man frantically looked around, noticed the absence of the 6 chimera that were supposed to be around the encampment.「What’s going on here?」He muttered to himself.

「What? It seems like you’re a bit concerned. Are you looking for your precious Chimera?」Teran smirked.「Don’t count on their help.」

「What do you mean? What did you do to them?」

「We didn’t do anything. They simply assisted us in this battle on their own free will.」

「What?」Just as he had learned of the revelation, across the battlefield, the Yinese troops suddenly erupted in panic. The deafening screams and cries became more and more hectic by the minutes as the once well disciplined soldiers were massacred by the thousands by familiar skills that used to be unleashed onto their enemies.「There’s no way… Those lab rats dared to betray us? That cannot be. They simply were incapable of…」Again, Hou Yi paused mid sentence as he spotted Ectharen, one of the 3 House Heads, fighting side by side with a member of the Chimera Corps at far off the distance.「Teran, WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE?」 

「... Ha… I guess The Grasslanders’ newly crowned King is just that amazing.」

「Wylan? There’s no way he could have flipped those lab rats.」

「Oh… Don’t you know? The King of the Grasslanders isn’t Wylan.」

「Hah?」

「I guess Kibadios was right. Given how weary you are of Wylan’s tactics and strategies, having you guys assumed it was he who had become King caused your attention to fixate on him, blinded you to other threats.」

「Kibadios?... The one that came to your city’s rescue? The one that Akaban dono is after? That hybrid? Don’t tell me he’s now the Grasslanders’ King?」

「... Yes. Indeed he is. And right now, his blade is aiming at your own “King.”」

「Wei Shimin sama?!!」Before Hou Yi could react, Teran sprung forward, resuming his attacks without elaborating any further.

.

.

.

BAM!!! The two dragonkins finally crashed down onto a grove filled with sparse old trees right next to the battlefield after a lengthy aerial battle. Despite having once dominated Wei Ying, the dragonkin of the Empire, during the entire battle just now, Ryuu has found himself to be on the defensive as the woman’s power seemed to have increased exponentially in such a short period of time. The moment he noticed Akaban’s presence, he had wanted to quickly crush the dragonkin female in front of him then join Kailos and the others to deal with the Hero, but 

「Ryuu, right? That’s all you can do? I was planning to tame you like I tame a wild dog, adding you into my harem collection but at this point… I don’t know. You’ve shown so much potential, don’t disappoint me or else I won’t let you lick my feet at night like a tamed little dog you are… or rather, going to be.」The dragonkin woman smirked as she pointed her weapon, a long battle hammer.

「Lick your foot? Don’t make me vomit!!!」Ryuu closed the distance, his unusual 7-branches lance truck down at his enemy, though it was easily blocked by her own hammer. Sensing danger, Ryuu quickly backed off instead of following up with another attack.「You… How did your power level just skyrocketed these past few days?」

「Heh, who said I was fighting you at my best during the siege?」Wei Ying smiled.「As one of the 12 Heavenly Generals, we have to learn to control our power, or else if we fight at our maximum strength, there might be a lot of unintended collateral damage on our side.」The woman glanced at a few dozens soldiers that rushed toward her from a far… Such bothersome, As if I need their assistance , Wei Ying thought to herself before continuing her monologue.「 But since I have acknowledged your potential, I’ve decided to take off my earrings that acted as my power suppressants, just to show you the real gap between us. I am the great Wei Ying, Master of the Azure Sky, Ruler of the Verdant Earth, Guardian of the Great Yin Empire!!! Know your place and kneel before me!! Given  how you’re a dragonkin and your rather decent power, come to me, prostrate in front of me and I will spare your life!」

「What a ridiculous fantasy!」Ryuu’s eyes widened in anger, his fist clenched onto his lance. 

「Tsk, I guess I have to discipline this dog a bit more before taking him in.」Wei Ying grinned. 「Arte < Geb’s Laughter >」

With her Arte activated, the earth beneath their feet trembled before large cracks formed, swallowing a few unsuspecting soldiers whole, causing them to scream out and beg for mercy from the uncaring Dragonkin General. For his part, since he was a dragonkin, Ryuu simply floated up into the sky to avoid the tremors. However, the ground suddenly shifted around, before a large part of the earth protruded out, taking the form of a giant Eastern dragon and flew straight at Ryuu with its mouth wide open. Leaving no time for him to react, with one single bite, the earthen dragon caught the dragonkin in its mouth, crushing him. 

「ARGHHHH!!!!」cried out Ryuu. The earthen dragon shifted again, his time, coiling itself around Ryuu tighter and tighter, then slamming itself and the trapped Ryuu down onto the ground. The impact caused all of the trees in the surrounding area to fall over, while most of the soldiers that foolishly ran to Wei Ying for assistance had perished in the attack as collaterals just like she complained. Only a few of them, numbered less than 10, survived the literal earth shattering <Arte>. The group, after having regained their composure, slowly cheered as they noticed their powerful general had effortlessly neutralized another dragonkin enemy.

The heavily injured Ryuu laid among the earth rubbles as Wei Ying slowly made her way toward him, her tongue sensually licking her lips. 

Damn it… Master was right… I should have listened to him . Ryuu thought drifted off to a recent memory of his chat with Kibadios just before he left. 

「Master, don’t worry about Rowan senpai and the others. With me here, I’ll protect them all in your stead.」Ryuu proudly hit his chest. Kibadios, though, remained silent as he examined Ryuu before his hand reached out to touch his chest. 

「You’re strong, but don’t be too overconfident, Ryuu chan. Overconfidence always lead to one’s downfall」

「But… I’m just stating the facts, Master. None of those small fries from the Empire could pose any threat to me anyways.」The dragonkin pouted. 

「Yes, it’s a fact that you’re strong, at this moment, much stronger than anyone here, except for probably Ayer and myself… and that weird ass Demon Lord who’s currently enjoying the Dungeon. But, that doesn’t mean you’ll stay the strongest forever. 」Kibadios gently explained「Remember, you’ve been sealed away for eons. As you were asleep within the seal, progress marches on. The inhabitants of this mortal world continue to learn and accumulate wisdom, experience, power.」 Much like how an Olympian from the 1900s cannot compete against the athletes in the modern time… or like how Qual’s deadly signature spell, Zoltraak, became a mere offensive spell for a typical mage after almost 100 years of progress, Kibadios thought to himself.「That was one of the reasons why the Astrals have to reset this world every so often because if they let the progress made by us mortals get out of control, we may one day be able to challenge them. Even I, after being reincarnated, had to hide inside the forest and gauge the power level of the human inhabitants around me before I could confidently set out on my journey for revenge. After all, this is not a game, there is no save point. Any battle we face, we place our lives on the line. There is no health bar either, so one small mistake can lead to a fatal injury that we can never recover from. Always treat all of your opponents as a threat and fight them with all your strength.」

「... I understand, Master, but…」Ryuu seemed to think about it for a while before voicing his thoughts. 

「I know. Your dragon core is damaged after the fight with Aspen, isn’t it?」

「You’ve noticed?」

「Of course… he pierced through your body with his arm, do you think I’m dumb enough to not examine your dragon core?」

「But when did you take a look at it?」Ryuu touched his chest.

「When you’re asleep, dummy!」laughed Kibadios as he ruffled the dragonkin’s hair. 「I’ve noticed you’ve been restraining your Nen after your encounter with him so I check the dragon core within your chest when you were sleeping soundly next to me.」

「Ahh… I see…」Ryuu scratched the back of his head.「But yeah… Since my core is damaged and has yet to recover, I have trouble controlling my enormous Nen reserve. I’m afraid I may randomly explode with my Nen output and harm others around me so I’ve been actively suppressing my Nen to avoid such a scenario. But I’ve been fighting with a suppressed Nen output ever since then and none has yet given me any trouble, even against that arrogant dragonkin from the Empire, so don’t you worry.」

「... I know, but promise me, never hesitate to unleash your true power. I was, once… and that led to my downfall during my first reincarnation.」

「But if Rowan senpai, Ryan senpai, and others are staying close to me…」

「Well, even if you go on a rampage with your Nen fully unleashed, the worst that can happen to them is that you knock them unconscious. Use your judgment… But as I said, never, ever, hesitate, even for just one second.」

「I understand, Master.」

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 「So? Have you decided to forsake that pathetic hybrid you call Master and make me your new Mistress?」Wei Ying’s lips curled into a grin as she taunted the trapped Ryuu.

「Don’t…You… DARE INSULT KIBADIOS SAMA!!!!」Screamed out the dragonkin. 「Come to me, Gungnir!」Hearing its master called out for its true name for the first time after he was broken free from the seal, the lance swiftly flew toward Ryuu, piercing through and breaking the earthen mound entrapping its Master into pieces. As Ryuu held onto the Lance, just as Kibadios had advised, the dragonkin fully unleashed his unstable Nen, causing the few remaining Yinese soldier to foam their mouth and pass out as if they were subjected to the conqueror’s haki. Thankfully, the battlefield between Ryuu and Wei Ying was far away from the other harem members so none of them were affected. 

「What’s… happening?」Wei Ying gulped as she looked up at the enraged Ryuu, floating in my air. The intense pressure from his Nen almost caused her to kneel down, but luckily, she still found her balance to withstood it. Slowly, the Nen’s pressure faded away, which elated Wei Ying, before her brief relief turned to apprehension the moment she understood why Ryuu’s Nen was disappearing. The reason was because much like Enma taking Zoro’s Haki, Gungnir, Ryuu’s lance, was devouring his Nen and morphing into its secondary, hidden form. The lance grew and grew into an oversized weapon; however, since blades were growing and elongated much faster than its shaft. Once it stopped morphing, the “lance” now looked like a giant 7-branched sword instead. 「Damn you… Foolish struggle of a foolish man!!!」Wei Ying clapped her hands, controlling the earth formation again with her skill. From the ground, 6 different earthen dragon’s jaws emerged and attacked Ryuu. However, unlike the last time, Ryuu was now ready.

「< Shichishito Slash >」Ryuu swung his oversized, ethereal sword around, shattering the incoming attacks back into dust. 

「How… that attack is not even an Arte, how could it compete with mine???」The female dragonkin angrily screamed out in frustration.

SHHREESSHHHH!

Before Wei Ying could comprehend what had just happened, another slash, at the speed hundred times the speed of sound, cut off her right arm that was holding onto her long hammer.

「Ha….what?.... AHHHHHH!!!!」cried out Wei Ying in tears. During her 300 years of existence, she had sustained a heavy injury only once, when she fought against her own younger sister. Even then, the pain seemed negligible compared to what she was experiencing now as blood gushing out from her flesh.

「Hmm, blood huh?」Ryuu leered down at her as if he was looking at a mere insect.「Dragon? Don’t make me laugh. You’re simply a hybrid with dragon ancestry, aren’t you? That’s why you have blood still flows within you.」

「What nonsense are you sprouting?」Wei Ying floated up to Ryuu’s level as she held tightly onto the large open wound at her shoulder.「Of course we have blood flowing within us!」

「Not if you're a true dragon.」shrugged Ryuu.

「True dragon? They’ve all died out ages ago!」Wei Ying paused… Wait a minute… why is he talking as if he’s a true… that cannot be…

「Pitiful trash… Claiming yourself to be a dragonkin without knowing how powerful a true dragonkin would be… Here, watch… spend these last moments of your life experiencing how terrifying a true dragonkin can be.」Ryuu shouted out 「Ultimate Skill < ???% >」

「Ultimate Skill? Don’t try to trick me! Even my sis…」 The woman paused.「 Even I don’t possess one, let alone a random dragonkin like you?!」Roared Wei Ying as she, too, unleashed her ultimate attack. The entire ground beneath them shook and moved fluidly around as if they were ocean. Then, the small “waves” gathered into a giant tsunami, rising up enveloping Ryuu. Suddenly, the “wave” stopped moving, despite Wei Ying having ensured the attack would be carried out until the very end. 

「What’s happening?」

「I took over control of this feeble tsunami of yours」Ryuu calmly explained. 

「Impossible! Even if you’re < Telekinetic > class, you cannot control all of these earth particles.」Wei Ying was puzzled. She had clashed against him for a while previously, enough for her to understand that the only object that Ryuu could control telepathically was his lance, which was why he sometimes used it as a projectile to aim at her during their battle.

「But with my Ultimate Skill activated, I can control everything within a 500 feet radius, as long as I have enough Nen to power it.」Ryuu squeezed his hand. The motion broke apart the continuous earthen waves around him and condense them into densely floating earth bullets, much like what Aang did when he was in the Avatar State when fighting Ozai.

「What did you do to my attack!!?」

「Return it back to you.」Ryuu flicked his finger, sending one single earth bullet flying toward Wei Ying at the speed of sound. The impact quickly shredded her remaining arm. 

「ARGHHHHH!!!! No… It can’t me…. What’s happening to me???」cried Wei Ying. The once ferocious general has now been rendered harmless… or rather, armless if you spoke french. Realizing her predicament, the proud Wei Ying began to beg.「Wait a minute… wait a minute!! I’m one of the great heavenly generals! If you let me leave, I can convince… no… I’ll make Wei Shimin stop his planned assault on Alsen, I’ll ensure the Grasslanders safety!!!」

「Why? Master will take care of this Wei Shimin anyways.」Ryuu coldly tilted his head. Having suffered under Wei Ying’s attack previously, the dragonkin was now trying to toy with her for just a bit longer.「Ah, right. Have I told you, that my Ultimate Skill even allow me to telepathically control organic matter, like the flesh of my opponent, as long as my Nen completely outclasses my opponent.」

「Huh…」Wei Ying found herself unable to move a single muscle, her body felt as if an invisible hand was now grabbing onto her flesh and squeezing it.「Please stop…AHHHHH…. STOPPPPP」The flesh on her left leg suddenly twisted around, causing her extreme pain before her right leg too, suffered the same fate. 「Please… have…mercyyyy…」With all her limbs either being cut off or twisted off of her, the heavenly general was now nothing but a piece of fleshy punching bag. 

「Die.」Ryuu’s hand reached out, then grabbed tightly, telepathically crushed Wei Ying, or rather, what was left of her, into a blood dripping ball of flesh.「... Deactivate.」Commanded Ryuu. His ultimate skill quickly vanished, returning him back to normal. What transpired was exactly why he rarely activated his ultimate skill, especially when his harem brothers and sisters were close by since he lost a bit of his conscience when the skill was activated.

「Now, I have to take care of the hero… Please, Rowan senpai, Ryan senpai, Yuu chan, Ren chan…. Please stay safe!」Ryuu rushed toward the sinister Nen energy he felt, where Akaban was at. Though, suddenly, the dragonkin stopped, then looked up into the morning sky as a giant floating island broke through the cloud.「What the hell is that?… Wait a minute, Is it falling down? But that direction, it’s falling toward Alsen 」

Notes:

It's almost a year... I should finish that KnY porn chapter... >.>

Chapter 179: Battle for Monas Kye (Part 5)

Notes:

I was trying to write 2 chapters worth of release, but then I decided to get back into FF14 again. I played it for a bit previously when Endwalker came out, but then I was busy with graduating, writing thesis, internship... so I dropped it. But now with Dawntrail release, I'm getting back into it again... hence I did not have time to write lol.

Anyways, I will (for sure this time) wrap up the porn dj first, then release the last chapter (long, long chapter) by the end of this month to wrap up the vs Wei Shimin arc.

Then I think I will probably release chapters in bulk ever few months or so, idk... because I'm pretty sure the few people who follow this story are getting upset at how slow the chapter releases are and they'd have already forgotten everything they read in the previous chapter, given the long gap between chapter releases lol

「This is… Lady Isis?」Maia asked with her low, soft voice as she watched Eadur slowly pulled the unconscious succubus out from the tank.「She’s beautiful… and she looks just like Master too.」

「Hah, it’s as if she’s his mother.」Alaran sarcastically noted before wiping the incubus clean with her towel and putting a black robe over her naked body.

「I’ve never seen her before, I just didn’t expect they look so alike.」Maia pouted. 

「That’s what I thought when we first faced off against Brother too.」Eadur agreed.

「I’ve been wondering…」Reuk finally spoke up. 「why were there no guards in front of the laboratory if she’s such an important tool for Wei Shimin?」

「That’s because he’s going to achieve the ultimate power with his ascension to become “Daemon.” Once his transformation is complete and he obtains the ultimate power, he wouldn’t need her as much as he did before.」explained Eadur.「Like Mu said before, right now, the role of every soldier on his floating island is to ensure the ritual to turn him into a Daemon would succeed. Besides… we, the members of the chimera corps, were supposed to be the guards that protect and ensure no one can come close to Mother.」

「Having you guys guarding Lady Isis? That doesn’t sound like a wise choice, does it?」Reuk noted. 

「On the contrary, it was. We wholeheartedly believed we could never break free from Wei Shimin so we had already resigned to our fate and dutifully guarded Mother. Even when Brother got here, we had fought tooth and nail against him.」Alaran reminded the former Elf.「It would take a miracle for someone to successfully convert us to fight against Wei Shimin.」

「And that miracle was the presence of Brother.」nodded Eadur.「You cannot really blame Wei Shimin for not taking the existence of Brother into his planning. No one could.」

「... I guess you’re right…It’s like Feldway can plan and plan for the world destruction for thousands years, but he could never imagine he’d be stopped by an ultimate slime.」Reuk recalled the plot of a manga he read from Kibadios’ memory.

「「What? Who?」」

「Nevermind, it’s not relevant.」dismissed Reuk.

「Haha. Reuk kun, you’re becoming more like Master.」Maia chuckled.「Noting references that no one would understand.」

Just as Kibadios’s plan, the group had split into two: the bigger group would come with him to face Wei Shimin while the other, which included Eadur, Alaran, Reuk, and Maia, would come and rescue his mother. He was worried that such a small group would not be enough, in case there were any troublesome developments, but Mu reassured his Brother, reminded him that the majority of the manpower would be devoted to protecting the ritual site so he should not have been worried about Eadur’s group. Although Kibadios had some reservation, it was Maia who convinced him, proudly bumped her chest and insisted that he should’ve placed his trust in her. The hybrid, now having reverted back to his hybrid form, paused for a moment, then pulled the Alchemist to him and gave her a kiss on the cheek.「Of course I believe in you. Stay safe, Maia chan!」

Just as he had predicted, the group that was sent to rescue Isis encountered no obstacle since the hallways and large part of the floating island was almost deserted. To the few sentries they found along the way, Maia skillfully put them to sleep with her poison before they could react. Thus, the mission was easily accomplished; however, Maia’s heart was still racing as she looked at the direction where the ritual was supposed to be carried out, where her Master would soon clash against the ascended Wei Shimin. 

「You’re worried for Kibadios, Maia?」Reuk easily noticed the girl’s uneasiness.

「Yeah… If what we’ve discussed was true, then Kibadios sama facing Wei Shimin is like he’s facing an Astral… I just…」

「It’s Kibadios we’re talking about. If he could somehow take down an Ennead, then facing an Astral is nothing to him.」Reuk reassured the girl.「He placed great trust in you, Maia chan. You should do the same for him.」

「... You’re right!」The girl smiled, though it quickly faded away as a large ominous aura suddenly burst up toward the air.「What is that?」
「The ritual… it’s begun.」Carrying his unconscious mother on his back, Eadur paused to look out at the window. 

「Master…」

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「You’re sure you’re feeling okay, Yue chan?」Kibadios turned to the elven girl. 

「I’m feeling much better now, thanks to you for taking care of me all these long nights, Master.」Yue nodded slightly with a faint smile on her face.

「Well, I did promise Ren to look after you. Man, at one point, I thought you fell sick because I was too rough with you and the others the night before… When I’m in my incubus form, I tend to… go overboard.」admitted Kibadios. 

「And that’s my duty to satisfy your lust, Master.」reminded the girl.「Did Ren nii chan and I not promise you our bodies and souls?」

「Yeah… you did.」Kibadios studied the girl for a brief moment. 「Is it me… or somehow you’ve changed a bit, Yue chan? You just appear more… resolute.」

「Change?」Yue stopped, then looked at her own hand, despite her blinded eyes.「Maybe you’re right. Maybe all I need was some closure...」

「What do you mean?」

「During my escape when the Yin soldiers invaded the imperial palace, I thought I felt a familiar aura emitting from the battlefield where my eldest brother was. It was such a faint aura that even Ren nii chan did not detect it, but to me, it was an aura that I was intimately familiar with.」

「Zouen’s?」

 「Perhaps… No… if what Wei Shimin said was true, then yes, it’d definitely be his.」Yue nodded. 「Soon after, my brother’s aura was extinguished. Deep within me, I was torn whether what I thought happened was true… whether Zouen had killed my brother. Ever since then, I’ve been in a state of uncertainty, no knowing the truth.」

「Why did you not confide in Ren chan?」

「I don’t know. Maybe I wasn’t sure that was truly Zouen’s aura? Maybe… part of me wanted to protect Zouen’s name, not wanting Ren nii chan knew how his childhood friend had betrayed us… I really don’t know. Maybe, I was hoping that I was wrong, and that if I don’t tell others about it and have people look into it, then I can stay wrong.」Yue shook her head.「But that’s all in the past now. It really was Zuoen’s presence that I felt that day… and most likely it was by his hand that my brother was fell. If that’s true, I want to meet him, face to face, to receive an answer from him. Possibly because I’ve made up my mind, that’s why you felt as if something had changed within me.」

「You’re stronger than I’ve given you credit for, Yue chan.」Kibadios patted the girl’s head. 「And possibly stronger than what Ren chan thought of you too. I should have expected it, given how much determination you demonstrated when you promised yourself to me.」

「... Well, you did best us fair and square in a 2 on 1 battle. 」Reminded Yue before continued with a smile and touched his face.「I bet you’re pretty handsome too, if you were able to make Nii chan fall head over heel for you. It wasn’t such a hard choice.」

「Huh?」blinked Kibadios since this would be the first time he had ever heard Yue praising him, or at least his look. 「You’re joking right, Yue chan?」

「Maybe?」The girl smiled before turned away to look toward the giant gate in front of her.「I guess we’re here.」

「「「Kibadios sama!」」」Falkor, Kuron, and Gyo were all kneeling down in front of the door, awaiting their lord’s arrival while Uri was simply waving his hand. 「Yahooo, Kiba chan! Everything is ready for your boss fight.」

Lying lifelessly around them were the guards that were supposed to protect the High Garden Gates, all were taken care of discreetly before them even allowed to utter a single scream. Of course, as Kibadios had expected, there was a thick barrier being constructed surrounding the High Garden, preventing anyone from infiltrating the ritual site. The only mean to break this particular barrier was to have someone from the inside, simultaneously cooperating with someone from the outside, to break it apart. Such an insider job was tasked upon Mu, who would quickly weaken the barrier the moment the ritual started to allow Yue to break it apart from without. 

「Hmm, and it looks like it’s begun.」Kibadios looked up into the sky as an ominous aura exuded from within the Garden.

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Wei Shimin was standing there, in the middle of a perfectly drawn transmutation circle as eight hooded figures knelt down around the perimeter, all mumbling some indecipherable chants.  Standing right outside the circle were a group of beat up and exhausted demihuman slaves. Though, instead of them standing on their own, it was as if they were propped up by the shadows wrapping around their bodies and merged with their flesh. The group of demihuman slaves, too chanted briefly, before their hands reached out to the swords that were placed onto their right. Each holding their own swords, brought them up to their neck. Some of the demihuman seemed to be conscious enough to realize what was about to happen and they tried their best to take back control of their bodies, though to no avail. 

「「「「It’s time for us to pay for our sins. Please, Zaeryn sama! We sacrifice our bodies for thee and seek our redemption. Please accept our offer and come back to us.  」」」」

The shadow shouted before all of them forced the blades onto their host bodies’ throats and quickly slit them open. As the bodies fell onto the floor and the blood flew out, gravity appeared to disappear as the stream of blood floated up, suspended in the air as it circled around the silent Wei Shimin. Next to offer their bodies were the 8 hooded figures as they quickly thrust their blades through their stomach. Mu, standing next to the Gate and far away from where the ritual happened, couldn’t see much, but he knew his task of eliminating the guards and breaking the seal from within was approaching. As the bodies disintegrated into dust, the sole hooded figure, who was once standing close to Wei Shimin during the banquet, stepped up. 

「Accept the souls of the fallen into your bodies, Wei Shimin.」A smile could be seen under his dark hood.「The souls of the daemons who went astray from the honorable path, yet still yearn for salvation after 10000 years. Take into you, the power of <Chaos> and conquer it, turning it into your own!」

「I know what to do.」was all Wei Shimin uttered before the transmutation circle glowed green. The floating stream of blood, mixed in with the fleshy dust particles, began to thicken and morph into a corrosive Chaos miasma. Then, with a single breath, the Prince inhaled all the sinister aura inside him, his eyes glowed red, his sclera slowly turned black as if he had turned into a mutant, similar to Yuusei’s appearance. From his crimson hair, a pair of razor sharp demon horns slowly protruded outward, completing his last transformation.

「Finally, a success. I knew you had the potential, Wei Shimin.」The hooded figure smiled. 

「Wait, stop him!」

「What is he doing?」

「Mu!!!」

The ruckus from afar grew louder and louder as scores of soldiers dropped dead onto the ground while Mu’s hand pressed against the glowing runic mark, signifying where the lynchpins of the barrier aggregated. 

「What are you doing, child?」The hooded figure, after having admired his creation, turned around and looked at Mu. 

「This!」Mu’s claws punctured the seal, breaking it apart. From behind the door, a loud crack could be heard before the giant barrier shattered into pieces and the door slowly swung open. 

「You filthy chimera slave, what is the meaning of this?」The old man, the same official who has previously guided Yue and her group, scowled.

「I just wanted to open the door for my Brother to meet you guys.」Mu smiled. 「Ah, also, I and my siblings quit being your lapdog, effectively immediately!」

「Brother?」The old man raised his eyebrow.

「...」The recently transformed Wei Shimin looked down from the altar he was standing on. His eyes locked onto Yue, who just walked through the gate.「Princess Yue, are you here to give the answer to my proposal?」

「In a way, yes.」Yue softly spoke up.「I’m here to tell you that I had promised my body and my soul to Kibadios sama. Even if he were to discard me away, I will forever remain loyal to him and him alone.」

「Kibadios… isn’t that name of the hybrid who broke Hou Yi’s siege on Alsen?」Wei Shimin recalled.「... I see… So does it mean you are here to turn down my offer?」

「No, I’m here to help Master bring you down!」declared Yue.

Chapter 180: Bonus: Shota Kibadios fucks his harem

It's summer, it's hot (at least for the northern hemisphere...) so what's better than enjoying some hot, steamy smexy scenes?

I've alluded to the time when incubus-form Kibadios fucked Maia, Yue, Uri, and Gyo on the first night when they arrived at Wei Shimin's place. Here are the actual scenes below. All thanks to shikanari (Pixiv ID: 9601016, skeb: https://skeb.jp/@Sknrojisan). There are some mistakes with small details but don't worry about it (such as at this time, Yue wouldn't have the incubus mark yet while Gyo would.)

Also, Kibadios is in his incubus form, so he's a bit hornier than usual, hence the toys and kinkier scenes (At least that's the in-lore reason. I pretty much just gave the artist completely artistic freedom on how to draw the scenes, as long as Kibadios is dominant and aggressive. These were actually commissioned at 2 separate time, so I had to rearrange the scenes for it to make more sense.)

Anyways....

R18

R18

R18

R18

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Notes:

I will probably finish the Luc's KnY arc next week, then focus on writing the last chapter for this story's current arc (this last chapter will probably be long...) Expect the chapter by the end of july

Chapter 181: The battle for Monas Kye (Final Season, pt1)

Notes:

Sorry for the longgg hiatus. Stuffs happened.
Anyways, I wanted to finish writing the rest of the arc and post them altogether, but it's been 2 months so let me post this final chapter (of the arc) in the style of AoT Final Season... as in multiple parts lol.
This fall (maybe on Christmas?), expect a Bonus: The night before Kibadios' departure (Part 2) drawn by 03Hagane.

「Such a pity…」Despite his words, Wei Shimin remained stoic, his expression was devoid of any indication of displeasure. 「And here I thought your love for Zuoen would help guide you to make the correction decision. But now it is inconsequential. Whether you will join me willingly or against your wish, in the end, I will have you as a leverage to earn Zuoen’s loyalty… Take the princess into custody. As for the rest… kill them all.」Wei Shimin leisurely sat down onto a dark throne coated with Chaos miasma that was conjured up from beneath the altar

Immediately after their lord’s order, the Yinese soldiers quickly surrounded the group of intruders, blocking off their only escape route. Though needless to say, escape was never an option. For Kibadios and his group,  there were only 2 outcomes: whether they would successfully assassinate Wei Shimin right here at this moment, or they would perish. There was no middle-ground.

「It looks like we’re heavily outnumbered.」Falkor readied his stance.

「Just as we had expected.」Kuron grinned nervously. As the adrenaline rushed over his body, the Yves briefly thought of his young daughter, wondering if he would come out of this battle in one piece, and if he could ever see that lovely smile of hers again. His doubt, though, dissipated as quickly as it had come to him as he looked to Kibadios’ unwavering back.

「You’re okay, Kuron nii?」The observant Gyo patted his cousin’s shoulder. 

「...Huh? Yeah… Thank you, Gyo!」

「Yo, Kiba chan, remind me again how long would you like us to hold them back for you to deal with Wei Shimin?」Uri’s eyes dashed from left to right, scanning and marking his targets.

「Huh? Holding them back? I was expecting you guys to wipe them out to the last man.」Kibadios replied teasingly before turning serious.「I was hoping for 15 minutes…」Kibadios looked up and studied the ascended Yinese commander, along with the advisor cloaked in a dark robe standing next to him.「Though… now that I get to have a closer look at him… this may take a while.」

「Brother…」Mu stepped up next to Kibadios.「I don’t know if this matters at all, but during the ritual, those “daemons”, who willingly sacrificed themselves and their possessed demihuman bodies, were mentioning something about seeking redemption and bring back “Zaeryn.”」

「Did they now?」Kibadios glared at the few dozen remaining daemons that stood around Wei Shimin as if they were his elite bodyguards.「It doesn’t matter. There can be no hesitation during a fight to the death, for one small mistake may cost us our lives. Anyone who dares stand in our way is our enemy. And you are to kill all of our enemies as I take out Wei Shimin.」

「Of course, Kibadios sama. Please take as much time as you need!」Gyo assured his beloved King.「We will take care of these nuisance for you.」

「Thanks, everyone!」Kibadios stepped forward.「And remember my order from before: You’re not allowed to die, got it?」

「「「Yes, Your Majesty!!」」」「Sure thing, my Alpha!」

「 “May take a while?” Yeah right… Despite being just a newborn Daemon, judging from the Chaos miasma he’s exuding, he’s much stronger than most of the Daemons you have ever faced. You’ll be lucky to come out of this fight in one piece.」Ayer scowled as he was compelled to advance alongside Kibadios.

「Well, that’s why I have you, right?」The hybrid pointed out.「This brings up memories huh? Remember the time we fought together against the Daemons at their Capital more than 10 thousands years ago, Ayer?」

「...You were slowing me down at the time.」Ayer clicked his tongue. Whether his mind played a trick on him, Kibadios did not know, but he thought he just caught a glimpse of an excited smile from the angry Astral. 

Click. The godly Yinese Prince snapped his fingers as his cheek leaned on his right fist, signaling for his soldiers to finally advance. Yet, in the midst of shouting and screaming from his enemies, Kibadios leisurely strode forward, unconcerned of the hostile enemies charging straight at him. Before the foot soldiers could have reached the hybrid, they were blasted away by Kuron and Falkor, who were guarding his sides while Gyo bravely took on those directly in front of his King. For his part, the intense fights that broke out around him did not once distract him from the menacing threat sitting above. Kibadios and Wei Shimin, the two Kings on the imaginary chess board, glared at one another as clashes between their pawns intensified. Unsurprisingly, the lowly yet numerous Yinese foot soldiers were swiftly taken out by Kibadios’ small yet elite force; however, the next wave of enemies proved themselves to be much more difficult to deal with compared to the first. 

Starting with a group of men dressed in neatly ironed garments reserved for high ranking civilian officials, countless talismans suddenly got conjured up and projected themselves toward the group, which were, in turn, repelled by Yue’s Runecraft spell. 

「You wretched woman! You dared to repay Wei Shimin sama’s kindness with your treachery!」The old official, the same man who guided the group when they first arrived, gritted his teeth in anger, the two talismans in his hands burning with black flames.

Hell Flames? Without seeing the attack with her eyes, Yue could clearly sense the heat and danger approaching. Even among high level Runecrafters, conjuring one Hell Flame attack was already considered a feat without equal, yet, the old man had already whipped up two of them simultaneously, demonstrating the unparalleled skills he possessed. Had he aimed the attack at others in the group, it would have been a fatal blow. However, since Yue was a Runecrafter without equal, the girl quickly threw out two sets of papers, which transformed themselves into dozens of colorful butterflies. The swarm supposedly flew straight at the flames as if they were heading toward their doom; yet the moment the two reached one another, the butterflies swiftly absorbed the flaming attacks into themselves, glowed brightly in their own distinct colors.

「What was that!!!? What did you do to my attacks!?」The old man angrily demanded an answer from the calm princess. 

「I simply return it to you!」revealed Yue as she clapped her hand. The butterflies suddenly stopped glowing, their wings now burned with the same black flames that they had absorbed. With Yue’s signals, the butterflies glided straight at the momentarily confused old man, immolating him within a burning vortex. Yet, the princess did not lower her guard, for she knew that although he appeared as if the man had perished, it was soon revealed that he had protected himself with a strong barrier that was just erected moments before the flaming butterflies could get to him. 

「So, you’re really the last princess of the ruined kingdom, the genius girl who stood at the pinnacle of Runecraft itself, just like in the legend, huh? Truth to be told, if anything, the stories about you and your brother have really underestimated your ability.」Admitted the old official. 「But so what? There’s no mountain that man cannot climb! Here and now, I will show you that the mastery over Runecraft does not only belong to your elvenkind!」The old man clapped his hands together, calling forth a wall of talismans that glowed red with runic scriptures. Each piece of paper emitting a Nen aura that rivaled that of 100 men combined, indicating their potential power. 

「You…」Yue frowned. The girl had not expected someone like him, a human who possessed a limited lifespan, was able to perform a spell that would take an average Runecraft practitioner more than 50 years to master.「To think there are people in the Empire who can perform such a feat.」The former princess quickly enacted a counter move, calling forth swirling stacks of talismans that formed into the shape of a dragon coiling around where she stood.「But…etch in your memory, agent of the Imperial Throne, I am Yue Bel-Yshola, the last princess of the Yue Kingdom, direct descendant of The First, faithful servant of Kibadios sama. If you think you can contend against me in the art of Runecraft, then you better wake up from your wishful dream!」The usually calm and gentle Yue uncharacteristically declared her superiority over the old man, with pride weaved into each of your words. Such was the hidden hatred she felt toward the Empire. Though, it was apparent for the old man that her claim was not coming from her arrogance, for she could clearly back up remarks with an overwhelming power. 

As the clash between 2 Runecrafters raged on, the native Grasslanders trio found themselves being pushed back by a group of female agents, whose movements were so elegant that one could mistake their deadly strikes as if they were dancing. In fact, it was Gyo who had first noticed they were the same group of dancers who performed during the banquet a few days ago. Their silky and soft dancing ribbons, which once unfurled and swirled around like a stream of water that responded to the beautiful performers, has now transformed into extended sharp blades that could slice the three Grasslanders in halves had they not been careful. 

「What’s with these women?」Kuron stepped back to create some distance.

「Watch out! They are the Crimson Peony, a group of elite assassins that serve directly under Wei Shimin as his bodyguards.」Mu explained as he created a crystal shield in front to block off an incoming blade.「You see, Wei Shimin is a very cautious person to the point that he had never exposed himself to any danger since he always had these elite guards hiding in the shadows and coming to his rescue if the situation ever turned dire. 」

「Haa, now I understand why I had felt so uneasy watching their dance back then.」Kuron broke a sweat as he barely dodged an attack aimed at his throat.「Turns out they’re all S class assassins! Defeating them here isn’t a simple task, huh?」

「Well, we don’t have to defeat them, Kuron dono.」Falkor leapt away from the women, his back leaned against Kuron.「All we have to do is to prevent them coming to the aid of their Master.」

「Exactly!」Gyo finally landed a blow on one of the assassins’ body. Although he exerted enough force to incapacitate a grown man, his attack merely knocked the woman back a few steps. Despite her coughing up some blood, she quickly regained her balance and readied her counter attack. 

「Be careful and don’t underestimate them.」Mu warned.「Each of them at least possessed a few combat skills, with some even possessing an Arte. One small distraction and you’ll end up dead!」

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「What do we have here?」The cloaked figure glared down at both Kibadios and Ayer as his dark feathery wings spread wide, carrying him onto the sky above.「An incubus and… a human?」The figure hesitated as he studied Ayer more carefully. Where did I know him from? 

「That’s not just an incubus.」corrected Wei Shimin.「One of them called him “Kibadios”, which means he’s the hybrid that broke the siege on Alsen… He’s actually an ogre-incubus hybrid.」The newly ascended Lord paused to think for a moment. But, didn’t those Grasslanders also call him “Your Majesty”? Hmm…

「No matter who they are!」One of the shadowy daemon, possessing a demihuman Grasslander spoke up.「How dare he interrupt this momentous occasion, when we are so close to create the perfect vessel to bring back Zaeryn sama to us?」The daemon angrily declared, his sinister Nen aura oozed out from his possessed body, his face twisted with contorted expression that would make even the infamous Yelena proud. 

「Death! Death! Death!」The daemons chanted in unison, before being disrupted by Ayer’s laugh.

「Hahaha!!! Vessel for Zaeryn? What idiot came up with that idea?! And what kind of idiots would actually believe in such fantasy? Isn’t it ironic that you’re trying to “bring back Zaeryn” while the man is standing in front of you all this time?」

「What did you just…」The cloaked figure appeared taken aback at Ayer’s suggestion. Though before he could finish his sentence, he was already hit with a large beam of energy casted by the unimpressed Kibadios.

「Hahaha, you have no chill as always, Zaeryn.」Ayer couldn’t help but burst out laughing. 「You couldn’t even let the guy finish?」

「Why, we’re in a battle, not a debate competition.」Kibadios cocked his head. 

「Outrageous! Kill him!!」Despite taking the attack head-on, the man was still floating in midair undisturbed, only his cloak had been burned to ashes. Underneath the black cloth was a man wearing a tengu mask with long silky black hair and two large flapping black wings. His hands clenched tightly in anger as he ordered the daemons below to advance forward. 

… That was… a chantless spell… Sitting on his throne, Wei Shimin had quickly analyzed Kibadios’ attack. Had anyone else witnessed such move, they would have thought that Kibadios had resorted to a <Skill> to cast such devastating beam, yet, the Lord Commander had picked up the slight instability of the Flow of Magic surrounding Kibadios to conclude that he had resorted to spellcraft instead of <Skill>. What troubled Wei Shimin, though, was the fact that it was a chantless spell. Such ability represented the pinnacle of the <Mage Class>’s prowess that few ever achieved, yet the hybrid seemed to have effortlessly performed such a feat without breaking a sweat . Zaeryn? The one next to him did call him “Zaeryn”, did he not… How can this be…

「Ayer, protect me!」ordered Kibadios. 

「Tsk…」The Ennead frustratedly clicked his tongue since he knew he could not go against the hybrid’s command.「Heh, then you don’t mind I kill them all?」The otokonoko taunted, knowing these “enemies” in front of them were supposed to be their allies since they openly worshiped Kibadios’ previous reincarnation.

「... No. They’re our enemies now.」Kibadios glanced at him.「Just focus on staying alive.」

「Huh?」Ayer was taken aback at Kibadios’ concern, before he dismissed it, believing that Kibadios most likely just wanted to keep his soul bound to his current homunculus body to experience this humiliating experience of being his slave.「Shut up and watch as I kill your worshipers, Zaeryn.」The otokonoko whipped out his strings, his deadly gaze now casted over the daemons and the angry tengu who leapt at him. 

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「Who are you?」Wei Shimin looked down at the hybrid who was calmly advancing forward. 

「The name’s Kibadios. Long lost son of Kailos and Isis, the succubus who you had kidnapped and performed despicable experiments on…」Kibadios answered. 「... The true king of the Grasslanders, and most importantly, the one who will claim your life!」As Kibadios moved his hand, an ice sheet started to grow and encased the motionless Wei Shimin within its icy crystal prison. 

「Delusional.」Wei Shimin finally spoke, shattering the freezing spell into dusty particles with his Miasma energy.「Now that I’ve ascended and obtained absolute power, your struggle is simply meaningless. You might have had a chance at claiming my life before,  but you’re one step too late.」Wei Shimin finally stood up, the dark miasma following his path. With one simple swing of his hand, the miasma spread forth, turning into a giant dark blade that sliced toward Kibadios. Fortunately, the attack never connected since the hybrid swiftly casted a reflecting spell that parried off the slash away. Although Wei Shimin seemed to barely have put any effort on the move, the redirected slash was powerful enough to slice through the adjacent grand palace much like Zoro’ Flying Dragon Blaze cleaved through the giant horn on Oganishima.

「Hoh…」Wei Shimin nodded. Now that I get a good look at his move, it really is a chantless spell. Didn’t Mu and others report to me that he was most likely a <Summoner>?

「Hah… I’m not so sure about that. I’d be worried for my life if I were you.」Kibadios, unfazed by the attack, floated up, not via his wings as usual but by levitation magic. Wei Shimin, too, rose up in the air to match the hybrid. The two men gazed intensely at one another, their minds constructed countless possible battles inside their heads. 

「How could you perform chantless spells?」Wei Shimin asked calmly.「I have met my fair share of powerful individuals belonging to the <Mage> Class, but to be able to cast spells without chanting… I’m sure I can count those individuals on one hand.」

「Then you’ll be surprised with what I can do next.」declared Kibadios. Unexpectedly, the hybrid did indeed start to chant. But what came out of his mouth was echoes and reverberation of countless chants, all weaved into one single attack. Knowing what to expect, Wei Shimin clicked his tongue before conjuring hundreds of talismans to his side and imbued them with the Chaos miasma that he controlled.

 「Don’t you dare think I will give you enough time to finish this cataclysm spell!」declared Wei Shimin loudly. His calm demeanor had completely vanished as he hastily launched himself, along with his thousands of satellites, each brimming with dark energy to the point that the space around them seemed to warp as they flew by. 

「Time to finish?」Kibadios grinned.「I think you’ve misunderstood. I’ve already finished casting it. This is just a bit of cherry on top.」

Suddenly, two gigantic magic circles materialized both above and below Wei Shimin, before a series of circles began to appear on top of one another, each radiating different fundamental elements. This was Kibadios’ <Spell Weaving>, an ultimate attacking move of a <Mage>. Normally, a spell could only be imbued with a single elemental affinity; however, by weaving the different spells together, more than one element could be combined into a single spell. Such attack was called <Cataclysm Spell>, which could only be casted by the most powerful mages. Even among the High Elves, who were loved by the Flow of Magic and possessed great affinity for spellcraft, such a feat was uncommon. Yet, the Cataclysm spell unfolding in front of Wei Shimin’s eyes, though, were weaved with all 10 Elemental affinity: Fire, Earth, Water, Metal, Wood, Lightning, Wind, Light, Shadow, and even the elusive Holy element that Kibadios was able to obtain from devouring Corey way back. Such was Kibadios’ mastery over magic after studying for 30 years under Seri, a mastery that would most likely make Lloyd from Tensei Shitara Dai Nana Ouji Dattanode, Kimamani Majutsu wo Kiwamemasu blushed.

「<Cataclysm spell: Nuclear magic>」Kibadios grinned. This was the hybrid’s ultimate attack. Unlike the Bleach captains and villains who reserved their Bankai or their most devastating attacks until the end, giving their opponents time to grow stronger and endangering their own lives, Kibadios held a different belief. He was convinced that every moment an adversary remained standing was a threat to his own life and the lives of those he cherished. That was especially true now that the hybrid was facing an opponent that had just unlocked a new godly power that could only grow stronger as the fight went on as he better adapted to his newfound ability. As a result, Kibadios wasted no time in unleashing his most powerful spell, hoping to land the finishing strike before Wei Shimin could even react. Realizing what was happening, the Yinese Prince abruptly retracted all his talismans to surround himself as a shield as the explosion engulfed his whole body in seconds. The blast was just like its namesake, a nuclear explosion, blowing several guards of Wei Shimin off their feet. Those remained standing, included Kibadios’ allies, were struggling to stand upright and breath for the intense heat from the explosion suddenly evaporated all the moisture in the air as if Genryusai Yamamoto’s Bankai had just been activated. 

「... This… is His Majesty’s…power?」Kuron raised his hand up, trying his best to block out the intense heat wave bombarding his face.

「The sensation I felt earlier… that was movement of the Flow of Magic, right?」Mu recalled the gushing Flow of Magic he felt just before Kibadios activated his spell.「I thought Brother was a summoner, how come he’s this powerful when it comes to Magic?」

「Incredible… So, Kibadios sama did really study under Seri the Eternal, just like he told us.」Kibadios once told Gyo and others in his harem about how he studied under Seri and that how he knew her, yet, Gyo had no idea the extend of Kibadios’ command over magic was this absolute.

「... How is this possible? Damn it! Wei Shimin had just ascended. Can he withstand such devastation…」The tengu, Ayer’s opponent, was dumbfounded as he witnessed his masterpiece work, Wei Shimin, being consumed by the explosion. Such small distraction was enough for the former Ennead to gain an upper hand and entrapped the tengu within his threads.

「If I were you, I’d not try to break free.」Ayer warned with a wicked smile.「Who knows in the struggle, my threads may just slice you up into pieces.」

「You…」grunted the Tengu.「Haha, why aren’t you panicking? If the explosion continue to spread, it’d engulf all of us.」He concernedly pointed out.

「Huh? Who do you think Zaeryn is? As if he cannot control the output of his own spell.」Ayer confidently noted Kibadios’ mastery, unconcerned about the incoming blast spreading his way.

Just as the Ennead had predicted, the spell that had erupted from Kibadios began to spiral outward, its ferocious flames threatening to engulf both allies and adversaries alike. With a swift and decisive motion, Kibadios extended his hands as though he were molding an unseen force, pressing the energy inward with concentrated precision. Gradually, the expansive blast began to contract, the raging inferno now confined to the area where Wei Shimin had stood. Kibadios' mastery over the spell was absolute; in a heartbeat, the searing heat of the flames gave way to the crisp, biting chill of the winter winds, leaving behind a stark contrast between the lingering warmth of destruction and the cold serenity of the season.

「Ha… haaa…」Kibadios panted faintly.「Did that do the trick?」He whispered to himself as he examined the aftermath of his Nuclear magic. Unexpectedly, the multicolored flames suddenly warped away, replaced by the growing dark miasma. From within the throbbing dark blob, Wei Shimin stepped out, his right arm and face were both burnt to crisp. Yet, the miasma slowly crept up onto his body, covered his injured skin, then absorbed into his body, quickly reconstructed his burn marks. 

「Unbelievable…」

「He survived that?」Uri discreetly pinched his cheek in disbelief to confirm if everything was still real.

「Hahaha, just as I thought. Wei Shimin… He’s truly the perfect vessel.」The restrained tengu grinned. 「You all are toasted」

「Hmm…」Ayer simply studied the Yinese prince without making any comment.

The reemergence of Wei Shimin from the ashes was all it took for his subordinates to become reinvigorated again as they rallied for a second charge, catching Kibadios’ followers off guard. 

「Damn it!」Kuron cursed as he received a heavy blow from his opponent, causing him to back step back. Before he could react, another from the assassin troupe had already gotten behind him, readied to strike the finishing attack. 

「<Arte>」The woman began to activate her unique skill; however, before she could finish, her head was sliced cleanly off at the mouth. 

「What was that?」Kuron looked down at the lifeless corpse before his attention was switched back to the opponent standing in front of him. Yet, to his surprise, the woman was already trapped in a web of threads before being sliced up into pieces.「It was you, Ayer? What are you doing here? If you have already neutralized your opponent, you should rush to His Majesty and assist him!」

「Shut up! As if I want to help you insect out. I’m just following the damn command he gave me last night.」Ayer frowned. 

「What command?」Falkor, the burly beastman, joined the conversation as he fought off the 2 assassins ganging up on him.

「To protect you all.」Ayer clicked his tongue. 「Despite everything that has happened, he’s still too soft. That’s why he will never be able to challenge us Astrals.」

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「Now, that was unexpected.」Wei Shimin, having fully recovered despite taking the ultimate magic directly heads on, cocked his head.「You’re much stronger than I have given you credit for, hybrid. How about you join me?」

「Huh?」

「If you give up your pointless struggle, join me and present the princess as a gesture of obedience, I’ll let you and these people, who are foolish enough to join you, live.」Wei Shimin suggested.「After all, I am in need of strong people like you to take down my brother… or at least what’s left of him.」

「Hahaha. After all the atrocity you’ve done to my people and to my own mother, you think I’d forgive you and join you just like that?」Kibadios laughed. 

「Why not? Do you not treasure your life?」

「If I cannot defeat you, if I cannot overcome this mere bump in the road, then I will never be able to achieve my goal to bring the Astral down… and if I cannot drag those arrogant gods down from their thrones, then, what’s the point of living?」Kibadios grinned as he slowly transformed back from his incubus form to his usual hybrid form. He had maintained his incubus form since as a demonic race, he’d have gained much better control over magic; however, seeing that even his strongest magic couldn’t bring Wei Shimin down, the hybrid knew he had to resort to a close combat battle, in which his ogre half would do much better.

「You planned to take on the Astrals? Don’t be absurd. I guess there’s no way I can convince a delusional demihuman like you. Such a pity that I have to kill a great war potential.」Wei Shimin suddenly disappeared, before reappearing right in front of Kibadios and kicking him hard, sending the hybrid crashing into the side of the citadel. 「Playtime is over!」

「Exactly!」Kibadios laughed maniacally as he sprung forth and retaliated. The two godly individuals clashed against one another, trading blows back and forth, sending shockwaves across the flying islands as if they were the Warrior of Light and Lyse in FFXIV Stormblood trailer. With his right hand, Kibadios grabbed onto his black scythe tightly and continuously pressed the attack against Wei Shimin while his left hand commanded over magic, trying to neutralize the dozens of floating talisman and runecraft attacks Wei Shimin was able to conjure. The fight continued on for what seemed to be hours due to the sheer amount of attacks and counter-attacks being traded between the two combatants. Yet, step by step, Kibadios was clearly being pushed back by Wei Shimin’s bottomless reserve of miasma that kept oozing out from his body. 

BAMM!!

Wei Shimin struck Kibadios down onto the ground, shattering the marble floor beneath where they floated. The exhausted hybrid still was able to stand up, yet, his injured legs were visibly shaking.

「Damn these guys! I need to get to Kibadios sama!」Gyo desperately tried to shake off his opponent to rush to his king, yet to no avail since despite receiving fatal injuries, the assassins kept fighting on, a testament to their devotion toward Wei Shimin. 

「Why isn’t the Boss calling his Summons? What about that Ultimate Skill that was able to defeat Ayer?」Uri concernedly called out.

「You fools. You guys don’t even know that he’s unable to utilize his <Summoner>’s skillset.」Ayer rolled his eyes. 

「What do you mean?」Falkor demanded an answer.

「<Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami> isn’t your typical Ultimate Arte. It possesses power that can bring down gods like us, of course it would have put enormous strain on Zaeryn’s body… especially his current body, which is nowhere near his peak 10k years ago. It’s a miracle that he could still fight like that right now, let alone calling forth his Summons.」explained Ayer to the horror of Kibadios’ followers. Though, if he were to unleash <HaoS> the Primordial of Fire… , Ayer entertained the thought.

「What? Then we have to help him out!」Cried out Falkor.

「Ayer, stop worrying about us! Go to him!」Kuron commanded.

「Don’t be silly. I’m under no obligation to listen to you.」Ayer smirked.「He commanded me to protect you all first and foremost, and that’s what I’d do… You can’t blame me if he’s killed. I simply followed his damn command.」Ayer quickly glanced at the battle between the princess and the old official, which had finally concluded with her emerging victorious, though other runecrafter officials had started to take her on, denying her of any chance of coming to her Master’s aid.

「Damn you, Ayer!!!」Gyo shouted angrily.

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「Why can you just not accept your fate?」Wei Shimin slammed Kibadios’s scythe with a concentrated miasma attack that was enough to shatter a mountain range, yet, Kibadios was strong enough to stop it fully before neutralizing it with his lightning imbued offensive magic.「You cannot defeat me! You and your countrymen should cease this senseless defiant and welcome death as your salvation to this hellish reality you’re living in.」

「Accept my fate? Hahaha, what’s there to accept? After all, fate is something you mold with your two hands, with the decisions you make in life.」Kibadios snapped back.「And right now, since I have decided to kill you and so your death is the only “fate” I will accept!」The hybrid swung back his cracking scythe, though it was quickly caught in the thick chaos miasma floating around Wei Shimin. 

「... Pitiful.」The Prince gazed down at Kibadios’ determined eyes.「You’re like a frog in a well, unable to comprehend the difference between our power.」Despite what he said, Wei Shimin has been feeling increasingly frustrated at how Kibadios was able to contend with him, despite he having gained the power over Chaotic energy and transcended into a being that even the Astral may fear.「Fine fine fine!!! I will put an end to this farce!!! Arte… <Laputa>... deactivated!」

「Arte?」Kibadios quickly processed what Wei Shimin had just muttered.「Wait a minute, deactivated?」

「Yes. I merely am gathering back all my Nen spent in maintaining my Arte.」Wei Shimin glared at the hybrid. 「I will show you my full, undivided power. I will show you… despair!」

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「Huh? What’s happening? What’s with the rumbling?」Falkor, with his beastman instinct, was the first to notice something was wrong.

「Don’t tell me…」Mu frowned.「Wei Shimin had just deactivated his Arte. He wanted to gather all his power to crush brother once and for all!」

「Deactivated his Arte?」Kuron just wanted to confirm if he heard it right. After all, it would have made more sense if Wei Shimin was supposed to activate his Arte instead.

「Hmm?」Even Ayer was interested in hearing the explanation. 

「You see, the source of Wei Shimin’s power isn’t just coming from his mastery over Runecraft. He’s one of the few individuals who possess an ever-activated Arte, named <Laputa>.」

「Ever-activated? What does it do?」Uri asked as he dodged several incoming attacks. 

「You’re standing on it.」Mu pointed downward.「Despite consuming a tremendous amount of Nen, <Laputa> isn’t suited for combat. With it activated, it allows Wei Shimin to levitate anything that is made up of earth. This whole floating fortress can only fly due to Wei Shimin’s power.」

「What? I thought it’s flying using Runecraft?」Surprised Uri. 

「No, it’s all Wei Shimin’s. Despite not being an offensive Arte, due to his creativity, Wei Shimin had turned it into a deadly floating fortress. With aerial supremacy, he was able to unload barrages of firepower onto settlements below. That’s how he was able to destroy any resistance to his conquest with ease. Of course, like I said, maintaining control over something this big is exhaustive and draining his power, which is a testament to his Nen reserve. But now, if he had just deactivated it, all the Nen diverted to the skill will be coursing through his body instead… At this rate, brother is in trouble. Brother could hardly keep up with him, now that Wei Shimin had gained back his full power, brother will have no chance of winning」

「Kibadios sama!」Gyo wanted to rush to his King, yet waves of the assassins troupe have made it impossible.

「 Wait a minute, if there’s nothing keeping this floating island… floating… then does it mean…」Kuron was hesitant to finish his sentence. 

「Yes… this island is slowly crashing down… and since we were heading toward Alsen, at this rate, this island will crash down and destroy the city!」warned Mu.

「... Zaeryn…」Ayer silently observed the battle between the hybrid and Wei Shimin entering its climax.

Chapter 182: The battle for Monas Kye (Final Season, final part)

Notes:

There will be an epilogue for this arc, but this is it for now.... GOSH, I'M FINALLY FREE!!!! I've been promising myself not to play ff14 until I finish w this chapter. So tomorrow, time for me to delve back to ff14 lol
Also, probably there'll be a lot of inconsistency... that's something I cannot avoid since I write this over a really long period of time... >.> sowwie.
Also, we're officially half way there, I think? Let's just hope I commit to this story enough to write it until the end... man that'd be something. Also, 100% Kibadios x Ayer scene next arc/volume. I've received drawings for that scene like 1-1.5 year ago lol >.>
Also, dj of "The night before Kibadios' departure part 2 ft Rowan, Ryan, and Ren" (pt1 ft. Ryuu and Yuusei, remember?) will probably be ready some time in November... should I just post it then or should I wait until Christmas? lol

The deafening sounds of clashes between Wei Shimin and Kibadios intensified by the seconds after the Yinese Prince had regained his Nen and finally reached his full power. Despite Kibadios’ valiant effort, the battle greatly shifted toward the prince’s favor as he pummeled the hybrid on the ground with series of attacks, combining his Nen, Chaos miasma, and talismans into deadly strikes that Kibadios’ defense was slowly broken down. Of course, none of the attacks was able to deliver the crushing blow Wei Shimin was hoping for, but on the other hand, they were enough to slowly exhaust the still recovering hybrid. Had Kibadios been able to tap into his <Summoner> class’ skills in tandem with his magic, he might have been able to fight somewhat on an equal footing with the transcended Wei Shimin; however, as of right now, with Wei Shimin’s power rivaling that of Ayer’s, the fight was all but decided. Fortunately for the hybrid, as the floating island slowly descended down, breaking through the thick layer of clouds beneath it, the scenes of the final battle between the Yinese forces and the demihuman quickly distracted Wei Shimin for a few seconds, enough for Kibadios to break free from his onslaught and retreated to a few paces away from the intrigued Yinese Prince

「... Haa. I see you insects are still clinging onto your desperate hope of overcoming our army.」Wei Shimin spoke up while glaring down at the expansive battlefield on the ground beneath the floating island, where the last of free demihumans were clashing against the invaders who conquered their homelands.「Answer me this: how could they still possess the will to continue the fight then, when they realized you have failed in your mission to kill me, or more importantly, that this island will crash onto Alsen and destroy everything and everyone they hold dear, robbing them their very reason to resist.」

Just as Wei Shimin predicted, the tide of the battle on the surface below quickly shifted. For the Grasslanders, the momentary bewilderment the demihuman had experienced was quickly replaced with a sense of dread for they noticed that if the island continued descending downward on its path, it would have easily landed on top of Alsen, the place where all of their families currently resided. Panic ensued as hundreds to Grasslanders began to abandon their battles and rushed back to the city. Even the 3 Heads of the Great Houses were unsure of what strategic steps to take, since even if they were to withdraw back to the city, they could not do anything to stop the gigantic island. 

「Haden… What is that thing? It is heading toward us.」Floria, who was standing on top of the city wall, turned to her old companion. Since the girl and her hero companion were not a party in this war and they were both human , the pair were uncomfortable with the idea of joining the demihuman’s raid on the Yinese Army. Still, the girls did sympathize with the plight the once peaceful demihumans experienced so instead of leaving them, they had volunteered to stay behind and protect the city’s residents with Haden. Yet, not in a million years would they have expected that a floating island would be crash-landing onto where they stood. 

「I know…」Haden turned around and looked down at the panicking demihumans.「We don’t have enough time, but we gotta direct the people into the dungeon. That maybe the only safe place we can hide!」

「...< Juuchi-Yosamu > < Yawarakai-Te >」Amber quickly activated her Arte.「Haden, go ahead and evacuate people! I will try my best to stop it!」With her giant twin blades, the girl projected them at the looming island above them, which were only a few miles away and getting closer by the minutes. As the blades hit the side of the floating island, Amber telepathically pushed it back using her conjured Arte’s blades, though her effort only slightly slowed down the approaching doom.「Damn it!! It is too big. I cannot stop it…」Amber glanced down at the crowded street below her, where the sea of people, both old and young, rushed toward the center of the city where the gate of the dungeon’s located. 「ARGHHH!!!!」Amber mustered all her strength, knowing if she failed, thousands of innocent lives would be crushed to death.

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BAMM!! SHRETTTT!!!

Up on the floating island, Wei Shimin’s attention now finally had reverted back to dealing with the exhausted hybrid. Both of the men conjured up darkness to fight against their opponent, though for Kibadios, it’d be his Shadow while for Wei Shimin, the bottomless darkness enveloping him was made up of the Chaos Miasma that would easily consume Kibadios’ own shadow. Finally, the miasma, or rather, Wei Shimin had found a weak spot that he could exploit and he finally pierced Kibadios down onto the ground with his countless sharp arrows, as if he was Imu trying to kill Cobra and Sabo. To prevent Kibadios from escaping, four large talismans were casted onto his four limbs, holding him back in place.

「For the crime of daring to stand up against the Great Yinese Army, I, Wei Shimin, sentence you to death!!」The transcended man raised one of his hands up, gathering a large orb of dark miasma that continued to grow bigger and bigger. The Chaos ball finally stopped growing as it ballooned up to an eighth the size of the island itself. Down below, Kibadios struggled in vain to break free from the restraint, since he knew if the attack was to make a direct impact on him, he’d be vaporized to dust. 

「Kibadios sama!!!!」「Boss!!!」He could hear his followers screamed out in desperation, though on the contrary, he hoped that they would not reach him in time since they, too, would be killed together with him if they received the attack at point blank like this. 

「...」Ayer, unlike the others, remained silent, though his hand was clenching hard. He was recalling the time when Kibadios had ordered him to protect the others instead of joining him in the battle. You were soft as always, Zaeryn… Why would you want to prioritize the lives of these people over your own? That’s why you always lose…. Damn it!

「DIEEE!!!」Wei Shimin elegantly swung the concentrated chaos miasma attack downward as if he was GF Diablo from FF8, aiming at Kibadios below. 

Do I really have to release <HaoS> or … Kibadios’s thought was racing inside his head. Before he could respond, thousands of threads suddenly were weaved in front of him, creating an impregnable defense against the miasma ball. As the giant ball crashed onto the barrier, a loud shockwave spread across the battlefield. Even though it was supposed to be an absolute defense, the thread was quickly consumed by the miasma, though the energy stored within the attack was also diminished, or at least diminished enough for Ayer’s Nen imbued threads to finally slash it up into pieces, neutralizing it as if Saitama neutralized the asteroid. That was to say, the pieces of the giant attack rained down onto the ground below, turning the battlefield into a hellish landscape. Fortunately enough, all the Kibadios’ followers, along with their beloved King and Master, were unharmed. 

「...How come you didn’t call out to me?」Ayer coldly asked

「Cuz I know you’d come to my aid at your own volition?」Kibadios grinned. 

「... I should have let that attack kill you!」

「Then why did you come over? 」Kibadios finally broke free from Wei Shimin’s restraint, though he had sustained serious injuries in his stomach and arms by the Prince’s miasma arrows.

「Because in that split second, I realized that I want to be the one who kills you instead!」Ayer growled. 「So I will not let you die an easy death like that! You have to suffer under my torment.」

「Hahaaa… Really? And here I thought you missed fighting beside me like the good old time.」Teased Kibadios. 

「Shut up you half dead loser!」Ayer snapped back.「Focus on him. Even if we both fight together, there’s a chance we’d lose to him because of this stupid thing restraining my power.」The former Ennead angrily grabbed his collar. 

「We don’t know until we try.」Kibadios glanced at Uri and the others to confirm they were safe. He’d wanted Ayer to protect them, but at this point, it was clear that he alone would not have been able to defeat the transcended Wei Shimin so Ayer’s assistance was pretty much required.

「Really? Still do not give up? Do you not care for what is about to happen?」Wei Shimin glanced at the city down below, terrified screams of its inhabitants have been audible to him for quite some time. Despite her effort using her Arte to block the descending island, Amber could barely slow down the advance of their impending doom.「Soon enough, this island will crush your last stronghold and end this pathetic last stand.」

「I think you misunderstand. It’s not that I don’t care about Alsen. It’s more that I believe in my followers below. They will stop you from destroying the city.」Kibadios proudly responded. 

「What can they…」Before he could finish his sentence, the whole island suddenly shook violently before it seemed to stop… or rather, the whole island seemed to stop dead in its tracks. 

「Master!!!」A voice echoed through the air. Coiling below the descending island was Ryuu in his full second generation dragon form, which was as tall as a small mountain itself. Unlike previous occasions, to be able to carry the entire island on his back, Ryuu had removed all the restrictions he usually put on himself when transforming, allowing him to assume the majestic form of a purebred second generation dragon. 「Is everyone safe? I got this cover so please don’t worry about the city anymore, Master!」

「Ryuu!!!」Kibadios excitedly called out to his beloved harem member. 

「Woohoo, Ryuu chan! We’re fine!」screamed out Uri.「Got a few assassins and highly trained soldiers to deal with, but it’s nothing we can’t handle, haha!」

「... What’s this… From one surprise to the next…」Wei Shimin gritted his teeth. Even a stoic man like him could not hide the frustration caused. 「Not only that this girl here who just protected you is no doubt strong enough to take on multiple Heavenly Generals all at once, there’s also the dragonkin… The presence of this dragonkin easily dwarfed that of most other living dragons… it’s as if he is on a completely level… it’s as if he’s a second generation dragonkin. But if so, why is he calling a mere hybrid like you “Master”? Just, what are you, Kibadios?!???」

「Heh, he just called you a girl, Ayer.」Kibadios ignored the Yinese Prince while teasing the former Ennead.

「I will kill him!!!」Ayer shouted before angrily jumping toward the man, hundreds of fine, sharp threads springing forth with him. With dozens of deadly swings, slicing his Nen imbued threads around, Ayer was able to shred countless of Wei Shimin’s floating talismans. Meanwhile, Kibadios also backed up his Ennead slave, invoking spells that conjured two large fire and icy serpents, coiling around Ayer to protect him before springing forth, clashing head on against Wei Shimin’s runic phoenixes and caused several deafening explosions. 

「Heed my order!」The visibly frustrated Wei Shimin called out to his minions as he fought off against both Kibadios and Ayer simultaneously.「Disengage from your battles and target Alsen’s people down below instead! Kill all in your path, leave none alive!」The man understood that for him to gain the upperhand in this 2v1 fight, he had to sufficiently distract Kibadios enough for him to exploit the hybrid’s weakness.

「「「Yes, my Lord!!」」」The group of highly skilled fighters acknowledged their Master’s command and leapt away from their respective opponents. 

「「「Understand, The Promised One!」」」The group of daemons separately answered Wei Shimin. Like automatons without a single emotion, both Yinese special forces and the Daemon retreated, before jumping off the island down toward the defenseless city. 

「Everyone, chase after those guys!! Don’t let them hurt anyone down there!」

「But…」Gyo hesitated. He understood the reason for why the hybrid issued the order, yet, he desperately wanted to stay and fight by his Lord’s side. 

「I’ll be fine!」Kibadios assured the group.

「Let’s go, Gyo!」Kuron patted his cousin’s shoulder.「We have to believe in Kibadios sama!」Of course, his trust in the hybrid was a part of it, but most importantly, the Yves’ heart was racing, for he knew his young daughter was vulnerable to the incoming assault targeted at the city.

POOFFFF. 「Everyone, get on!」Yue called out to the group.

Utilizing her Runecraft, the princess quickly summoned several paper birds made up of talismans, which the group hastily hopped on to chase after their opponents. As he flew past his Captain, Uri loudly shouted. 

「Yo, Kiba chan! I know it’s tough but try not to die okay? I’ve just found my alpha and got to experience indescribable pleasure during sex. I don’t think I can ever go back to having sex with some random strangers like before so if you die here, it’d be a problem for me!」

「Haha, don’t worry, my cute Omega. I will not lose!」declared Kibadios, much to the annoyance of Wei Shimin, who was fending off Ayer’s consecutive attacks.

 「That’s what I wanna hear!」Uri raised his fist up in acknowledgement as he flew down toward the panicking city.

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「「「「「ARTE!!!」」」」」Before Wei Shimin could take advantage of Kibadios’ distraction, several mirrors dropped down to the Yinese Prince’s levitated level and emerged from those mirrors were the members of Chimera Corps that were familiar to Kibadios since they were the four chimeras that participated in the Alsen siege: Alaran, Galahan, Eadur, and Qwan, along with their leader and the owner of the mirrors, Mu. It took the others some time to get their “Mother” to safety, but once they had ensured she was safe, the Chimeras quickly rushed back to aid their brothers, Mu and Kibadios in their fight. Although they were able to catch their former “owner” by surprise, the ascended Yinese Prince’s defense was able to block off most of the Chimera’s Artes. Unfortunately for him, following up those attacks was Ayer’s own <Heavenly Judgement>, which rained down deadly threads at the already weakened defense. Finally, as the miasma protecting Wei Shimin shattered from the onslaught, a few of the threads finally sliced downward and slashed through the prince’s face, splattering his blood around like when Seifer injured Squall in FF8’s trailer. 

「I see that your blood is still red.」Ayer smirked.「I guess your transformation has yet to reach its final form. Unlike the one Zaeryn and I faced 10k years ago, you’re still weak.」

「... You’re righ.」Wei Shimin nodded as he calmly looked at his hand.「I guess deep down, I still wanted to hold on to my humanity… That’s what makes me weak. In the end, sentiment is not something easily discarded. But thanks to you, I finally understand it now. To be able to gain the power that can put an end to my dear brother, I have to … give up everything… to finally free my dear brother from the prison within his mind… For him, any price is worth it.」

「What are you tal…」Ayer stopped short as he realized what was happening. In front of his eyes, the miasma surrounding Wei Shimin suddenly got absorbed into the Yinese prince through all of his orifices. The man writhed in pain, his body began to morph much like what happened to the Kingdom of Maeg’s Prime Minister. However, unlike Jayden Stringer, whose whole body transformed into that of a monster, Wei Shimin’s body still retained his human form, saved for the addition of a dark exoskeleton surrounding his flesh. His fingernails turned sharp and blackened while three dark horns started to protrude out of his skull. From his back emerged another set of muscular arms, resembling that of Sukuna. 

「Hahaha… he’s finally all in.」Despite being restrained, the Tengu was enjoying the sight of Wei Shimin’s evolution.「Now, show me your potential, Wei Shimin.」 Though, his glance quickly fixated on the hybrid as an unwelcoming thought crossed his mind. That guy did just say Zaeryn and 10k years ago… it’s as if…

「Focus on taking him out now!!」Ayer commanded the group of Chimeras who surrounded Wei Shimin. 

「We know!!」Eadur lunged forward, along with his brothers and sister, aiming to leave Wei Shimin no time to respond. Yet, the prince easily dodged all of their simultaneous attacks, before countering with mere punches. Nonetheless, each of his punches was packed with enough force to shatter a mountain. The moment his attack connected, it sent the Chimeras flying.

「That’s all you can do?」Wei Shimin grimly asked.

Ayer clenched his hand and swung his threads at his enemy in a form of dozens sharp slashes. 「Don’t be arrogant, ant. If it’s not for this stupid collar restricting my Ultimate Arte, you’ll be dead by now. I will show you why the likes of you will always be extinguished by us Astral.」Despite his rhetoric, the Yinese prince was able to parry off his deadly attacks. Though the collateral damages resulting from the deflected attacks were able to leave deep scars on the surroundings, a testament of how powerful Ayer’s threads were supposed to be.

「Buy me five minutes, Ayer.」whispered Kibadios.「I feel as if my power is returning. Just give me a bit more time and I can call forth my summons again.」

「Heh, maybe I will kill this abomination before you even get a chance to do a thing.」Ayer grinned.「you’re just as useless as you were 10k years ago when we faced those Daemons.」

「Ha, I think there’s something wrong with your memory. Getting old?」

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「Ahhh!!! Get away from me!!! Get…」The woman’s scream suddenly stopped short as her head was cleanly cut off by one of the Daemons. Since the formless, shadowy daemon possessed the bodies of demihumans that were caught by the Yinese, their sudden presence did not trigger panics among Alsen’s citizens… at least not at first. It did not take long, though, for the Grasslanders to realize those possessed bodies were no longer their fellow countrymen but mere walking corpses controlled by shadowy entities. The massacre quickly spread as both the Yinese and the Daemons spread out and looked for more victims. 

「Please… stoppp!!!」A brave young Yves boy bravely stood in front of his younger brothers and sisters, shielding them with his shaking arms from the approaching Yinese special force. 「Everyone, at my signal, run!」The boy turned to his younger siblings and whispered. Since they were orphaned by the war, the young Yves kids standing behind him were all he had left, and despite his fear, he knew he would fight tooth and nail, protecting them to the end, even if it meant walking straight toward his death. If his death meant that his siblings had a chance to escape, it was a trade worth doing. 「NOW!」He screamed out as he prepared to rush toward the enemy walking toward him. 

BAMMM!! 

「Huh?」The kid was in shock as he looked in front of him, toward the sudden crash. 「Falkor san!!!」The kid cried out in relief. After all, Falkor was the one in charge of taking care of the orphans like him ever since he and his siblings arrived to Alsen along with the other refugees.

「Ah, I guess I was just in time. Haune, get your brothers and sisters out of here. I’ll take care of this.」Falkor, who had just crash landed, commanded the cowering group of kids.「You were ready to fight to protect your brothers and sisters there, weren’t you? You really are a brave young man!」Falkor smiled reassuringly.

「Falkor san!! Thank you!!! Thank you for coming back to us!!!」Haune hurriedly nodded before leading his siblings away.「Please be safe, Falkor san!」

「Of course!」The beastman nodded. If Mariana and I ever had kids, they’d be around the same age, wouldn’t they? Falkor thought to himself, before turning around and faced his approaching enemy.

Starting with Falkor, soon enough, all of Kibadios’ group finally landed on the ground and quickly tracked down their opponents and stopped them from committing further bloodshed. The initial shock caused by Yinese forces infiltrating the city was quickly contained as Haden, Floria, and Erik’s group quickly joined the fight. Amber, after seeing that the floating island was stopped by Ryuu, had turned her attention toward helping the unarmed citizens. Despite the uneasiness she felt, having witnessed Ryuu’s full-power dragon form that reminded her of the Chaos infected “Ryuujin” she once encountered, Amber decided to focus on protecting the innocent people in front of her eyes. Even Nu, Kibadios’ pet, was now joining the fight as it inflated itself into a giant slime and took on multiple opponents at once. Little by little, the initial panic and chaos caused by Wei Shimin’s releasing his special forces onto the city was alleviated as reinforcements, such as Erik and his group, arrived one after another to deal with the newly developed threats.

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「Hahhhh」Ayer felt a pain course through his body as one of Wei Shimin’s kick finally landed directed onto his sturdy stomach. With his left arm being held back by the prince’s right hand, the former Ennead could not even get away to safety. Instead, he was preparing to protect himself from the incoming sharp claws that could easily pierce through his slender Homunculus’ body. Damn it, my thread is not thick enough to stop his claws. Huh? That’s… Ayer noticed a small glowing hedgehog had just appeared right in front of him, safely blocked off the piercing thrust. 「<Aegis>?」

「What…」the confused prince still tried to process what had just stopped him from ending the otokonoko’s life.「A summon?」

「<Gaia> <Damocles>!」The ground below quickly grew and enveloped Wei Shimin within it before 3 ghostly knights dropped down and pierced through the newly created earthen mound with their ethereal rapiers, though the fact that a loud “Clang” sound and none of the strikes was able to thrust deeply as they should have indicated that Wei Shimin’s exoskeleton had successfully protected him from the sneak attack. Giving his two enemies no time to think, Wei Shimin quickly slashed the mound that had entombed him into pieces with his talisman and readied to strike back. Still, since he was not just fighting against Ayer and Kibadios, but also the 5 Chimeras, it was unsurprising that it was his own 5 former “slaves” that greeted him with barrages of attacks the moment he escaped his trap. Like Kaido on the rooftop of Onagishima, Wei Shimin had to fight nonstop against all 7 highly skilled opponents. Frustratingly for him, he was never allowed the opportunity to finish off any of the 7, since they quickly rotated, allowing the injured ones to rest while the remaining engaged in the battle. As time passed, it was clear that despite attaining the ultimate power he was hoping for, he was still unable to dominate the fight, for both Kibadios and Ayer were abnormally powerful enemies. 

「At this rate, it’s a stalemate. Neither us or him could come out on top.」Qwan clicked his tongue, before jumping into close combat again. 

「... Brother…」Mu, still heavily injured, tried to catch his breath while speaking to Kibadios standing next to him.「If this continues, we will lose. I didn’t want to resort to this but I have a plan. Please listen to me…」The Chimera calmly disclosed his winning strategy, but instead of receiving it with a relieving expression, Kibadios was taken aback at the suggestion. 

「Are you crazy, Mu?」Yelled Kibadios.

「Get ready, Brother. I will give you a chance to take Wei Shimin down.」Mu confidently grinned before jumping forward, charging at his ascended former Master without waiting for another response from the hybrid. Clapping his hand together, Mu created several mirrors surrounding Wei Shimin and trapped him inside, much like what Haku did to Sasuke and Naruto. 

「This pathetic attempt of yours will not work, Mu. You and your kinds foolishly dared to rebel against me, you should have known there would only be one single outcome from such decision: death!」The Yinese prince calmly stated, his eyes dashed around, examining the simultaneous appearance of Mu on the mirrors. The fine, sharp diamond dust started to fill the space around him, yet, inhaling it did not seem to cause any injury to his internal organs. By just simply raising his hand and releasing the Chaos miasma alone, he was able to damage the so-called prison around him, leaving large cracks on the mirrors. Knowing he did not have much time left, Mu leapt out, swinging a long crystal sword at the indifferent man standing in the middle. Though as expected, Wei Shimin easily catched the sword in midair with his mere hand, before thrusting his other hand through Mu’s stomach, piercing his flesh. 

「Haaaa」Despite coughing up blood, the first Chimera still wore a confident smile on his face. 「I’ve always known… I will never be able to… experience a peaceful end. But, it truly puts a smile on my face… knowing my death… will bring you down, Wei Shimin.」The chimera hardened his fingers with sharp crystals before plunging them directly into his own chest, much to Wei Shimin’s surprise.

「What are you doing?」

「Haaa… When I decided to… turn against you…」Mu ripped his own beating heart out and showed his confused opponent.「 I’ve asked our mad scientist, Soren , for a favor: implanting …a Nen bomb on my second heart… that can be… triggered… the moment it stops… beating… 」Without a hint of hesitation, Mu crushed the heart with his own hand, releasing the Nen energy that he has been feeding for the past few days. Since Wei Shimin was able to withstand Nuclear magic casted by Kibadios, the man was unperturbed at first. That was, until he realized what the surrounding mirrors were truly for: to be able to concentrate and amplify the explosion directed at him.

「Damn you, Mu!!!」An uncharacteristic scream escaped the man’s mouth as he spent his miasma controlling the explosion and minimizing its damage. Despite his best effort, Mu’s last trap was able to detonate and its energy reverberated around the mirror prison he constructed for a few seconds until the mirrors was shattered into pieces. Thanks to both Wei Shimin’s effort and Mu’s mirrors, despite the intense energy it released, the explosion radius of the Nen bomb was not able to reach the others, who were in a state of shock.

The first Chimera was casted aside by Wei Shimin, lying down unmoving on the ground. His beautiful face and body was completely burned and charred by the explosion, most of his flesh seemed to melt away. The man was no longer breathing, his remaining heart did not utter a single beat. In fact, most of his organs were completely shut off. Miraculously, or rather, because of his Chimera’s physiology, Mu was still barely alive. Despite both his eyes being completely vaporized, the Chimera was still able to perceive Wei Shimin’s presence by his sensory skill and he knew the man had sustained a nontrivial injury. Content with his accomplishment, Mu’s consciousness drifted back to the past…

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「Mother, I’m back…」Mu greeted Isis. The succubus was holding the infant Qwan, born just a few days ago, in her arm as she leant against the window frame.

「Ah…」Isis noticed a few injuries on Mu’s body after a quick glance.「I’m glad you survived, Mu.」The mother walked to the Chimera and gently touched a fresh scar on his shoulder.

「... I’ve wiped out yet another settlement.」confessed Mu.

「... I know… After all, you’re just a weapon for that man. When he sent you out, it was only for the sole purpose of destruction. I don’t blame you, Mu… If anything, I’m the one who should bear your sins.」Isis wrapped her hand around Mu’s cheek.

「Mother… Have you ever thought about ending everything?」Mu softly asked.「You don’t have to live to suffer this world. You don’t have to live to see your own offsprings destroying everything you hold dear. I… I can muster the courage… to help you put an end to this hellish experience.」

「I… I don’t want to die yet, Mu…」Isis cried.「I know it’s selfish of me, but I want to live. Even though my husband is dead, Kibadios was able to escape the massacre. I know Kibadios is alive. He’s out there somewhere. I want to see him all grown up. I want to hold him in my arm, to embrace him once again. As long as I live, there’s a chance that I will see him again. There’s a chance, no matter how small it is… Knowing that, I cannot… I cannot give up. I’m sorry, Mu. Because of my selfish desire to live, I agreed to Wei Shimin’s demand. I brought you and your siblings into this world… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…」

「What are you talking about, Mother. If it wasn’t you, Wei Shimin would, one way or another, find another way to bring us to this world. I’m just glad I was born to such a loving mother.」Mu wrapped his arms around Isis, holding her tightly in an attempt to ease her guilt. By now, he knew that her husband, Kailos, had not died, but he and the others chose not to tell her. Knowing he was still alive would only make her relive the grief when Kailos inevitably met his fate in the future. As for this brother, this reason that kept Isis clinging to a false hope, Mu’s feeling was conflicted. It was unsurprising that he harbored jealousy, mixed with a hint of contempt toward this “Kibadios” individual. After all, Isis couldn’t stop talking about him, and he was the reason she clung to this false hope.. Yet, it was undeniable that deep down, he felt some affection toward this person, for this mother of his kept tempting him with a fantasy of a perfect world where they would live happily and peacefully together in the same household. Where this older, protective brother would be there for him, broke bread with him, fought with him, grown ill, grown old like Emet Selch and the sundered people. 

“Kibadios”, huh? It’s too bad… I won’t be able to ever experience that… I wish I had more time to get to know you, Brother. I wonder what kind of expression mother would have when she sees you… Mu thought to himself, before his consciousness finally dissipated into the void and the 8 parts that made up his soul were gathered up by a pair of phoenixes.

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「「「Mu!!」」」The Chimeras all called out to their oldest brother.

「Hah, this may be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for.」Ayer, obviously unmoved by Mu’s sacrifice, decided to capitalize on the moment.「Don’t stand around like idiots! Unleash your strongest attacks at him or we will lose our chance at victory!」

The still grieving Chimeras were irked by Ayer’s attitude, though they quickly called forth their Arte, aiming directly at the still recovering Wei Shimin since they did not want to let Mu’s death to be in vain. Exhausting his Miasma and Nen to protect himself from the close range explosion, the ascended Wei Shimin was now taking 4 entire Arte-class attacks in his weakened stage. His exoskeleton was finally shattered for the first time, before Ayer’s threads pierced through his arms and legs, locking him in place.

「Zaeryn, do your job!」Called out Ayer.

「Come Forth… <Kagami>」Kibadios elevated himself, clapped his hand and summoned his latest Spirit, the incarnation of Mu. Although Kibadios still couldn’t utilize the full power of his Ultimate Arte, he could still tap into its power to gather the essences of Mu’s souls and convert it into a Spirit. A large, pointy solid crystal quickly emerged from behind Kibadios. Encased within was a beautiful man resembling Mu. One significant difference was that the Spirit within the crystal was sparkling as if he was Edward Cullen in sunlight. The spirit finally moved, shattering the crystal into pieces before both it and Kibadios raised their arms up, gathering the broken crystal into a giant floating, elongated octahedron. With a swing of an arm, Kibadios and the Spirit projected the sharp attack down at the restricted Wei Shimin below. The dozens of giant crystals crashed down, with enough force that it broke even the earthy ground below. The attack was powerful enough to shatter part of the island’s foundation and sent Wei Shimin flying down toward Alsen. Knowing such an attack was not enough to end him, Kibadios glided down, following Wei Shimin. By the time the dust settled, a large crater had already formed on the ground, with the heavily injured Wei Shimin struggling to stand up. His whole left arm was torn off by one of the sharp crystals while another had already pierced through his stomach. The Yinese prince shook his head, trying to regain his senses. But before he could process what had just happened, Kibadios had already closed onto him with three eagles flying by his side. Such was <Silmarillion>, one of his Summons. Much like previously when he fought against the Chimera, Kibadios reached out to one of the Eagle Spirits, borrowing the Lightning affinity and imbued it into this right hand before punching the disoriented Wei Shimin. His left hand, already imbued with the Wind affinity from the second Eagle Spirit, delivered an uppercut that sent Wei Shimin flying upward. 

「<Kagami>」Again, Kibadios relied on his latest Summon to erect a crystal pike that skewered the ascended prince as he was falling down. 

「AHHHH!!!」Wei Shimin cried out.

「Wei Shimin sama!!!」Since they were down in Alsen now, a few of Wei Shimin’s followers, who were in the vicinity, rushed toward their master. 

「Oh no, you don’t. I want to see how this ends.」A familiar voice spoke up from the shadow as several shotguns were heard echoing around. In a blink of an eye, all those who rushed to Wei Shimin’s aid were dropping dead from a large hole in their chests.「I just got out of the Dungeon and look at this delicious battle I just stumbled upon.」The beastman hybrid licked his furry lip as he simply remained in the dark and observed Kibadios’ barrages of attacks aiming at Wei Shimin.

「<Nuclear Bust>」Exhausting the last strength he could muster, Kibadios finally ended the battle with the same spellcast that started it, albeit in a weaker version. Despite it being “weaker”, the devastation was still evident as the blast knocked down several rows of housing around them. 

Just as Kibadios expected, as the contained spellcast died down, Wei Shimin was still alive, though barely. His Chaos Miasma gathered around him, trying to heal up his injury as he struggled to break the crystal pike that impaled him, just like when the Attack Titan fighting the Warhammer Titan. And just like in the show, such attempts yielded no result. Now fully exhausted, Kibadios knelt down onto the ground, then his shadow began to expand and creep toward Wei Shimin. 

「Hoh… You’re really doing it, Zaeryn?」Ayer, who had just descended down onto Alsen, witnessed the scene while breaking some sweat, for he knew, if Zaeryn, or rather, Kibadios, ever obtained the power of Chaos, he would pose an even bigger threat to the Astrals than he already did. Of course, <Devour> only gave the user a very small chance of gaining the power of their victim; however, a small chance did not mean zero.  

「Stop…. STOP!!!!」The once high and mighty Wei Shimin struggled as he understood what was going to happen. After all, he, too, had fought and killed countless of ogres, with some possessing the same <Devour> skill. Though, for the ogre who did not possess Shadow affinity, the utilization of the skill was much more unsightly since they had to actually eat their victim. With Kibadios’s shadow, though, the shadow had now form a mouth and slowly opened wide as it swallowed the angry Yinese prince whole.

「IT CAN’T BE!!! I’VE ACHIEVED THE HIGHEST POWER!! I CANNOT LOSE HERE!!!」Wei Shimin yelled out in desperation. 「I still have to free my brother!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!」The loud scream echoed within the shadow that encompassed him before disappeared completely, along with the ascended prince.

「Haaa… AHHHHH!!!!」Qwan, who had just arrived with his siblings, screamed out in excitement. 「We did it!!! We did it!!!」

「He’s gone…」Alaran couldn’t help but grin broadly. 「He’s GONE!!!!」

「Finally… we’re free?」Eadur couldn’t believe his eyes.

「Mu… You see this?」Galahan looked at the fading Spirit that was once her brother.「We’ve won.」

With Wei Shimin finally devoured, the last pieces of his power that kept the floating island together finally dissipated, causing the island to finally fall into pieces. The earth debris rained down right outside Alsen, creating a large mountain right next to the city. With the island crumbled, Ryuu was able to transform back into his humanoid form and rushed to his beloved Master.

「Kibadios sama!!」Ryuu held the half conscious hybrid in his arm.「I’m sorry I couldn’t come to your aid, Master!! I’m sorry I was so useless!!」The man was crying, his dragon’s ears drooped down like a hurt puppy.

「Don’t be an idiot, Ryuu chan. If it weren’t for you, Alsen would be no more.」Kibadios weakly patted the dragonkin’s head.「Thank you, for protecting it in my stead.」

「Boss!!! You’ve made it!!」It was now Uri’s turn to rush to his Alpha, though soon enough, the area was filled with Alsen’s citizens and other Kibadios’ followers.

Haa… That was close… Kibadios thought to himself. When he set out to deal with Wei Shimin, not in a million years would he thought the battle would turn out like this. Had it not been for Mu’s sacrifice to suddenly turn the tide of the battle, Kibadios might have to call forth <HaoS> to defeat Wei Shimin. That was an option he never wanted to resort to since if he did, he, and Alsen, and the whole Monas Kye would have to face the unrestrained might of the Astral Realm since he knew they would never allow a Primordial Spirit to be freely summoned. The Astrals would have immediately snubbed him out right away, no matter the cost, and currently, he knew his force was not yet ready to take on the Astral directly.

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「Damn it… To think Wei Shimin would really be defeated despite having ascended.」The Tengu, who was captured by Ayer, had taken advantage of the chaos in the later stage of the battle to break free from his threads and escaped. Now, floating from afar, he observed the aftermath of the battle, countless thoughts running through his head.「That Kibadios… Is he really Zaeryn’s reincarnation? If not, why would that “Ayer” guy keep calling him “Zaeryn.” And what’s with this “Ayer” character, who shared the same name with one of the Ennead… Is there a chance that he’s… Damn it.. Damn it all… This is getting too complicated. But I need to rush back and inform her about this development… If that hybrid is really Zaeryn’s reincarnation, then he would come to us Tengu sooner or later.」The man clenched his fist.「Our ancestors followed him and we were almost eradicated by the Astrals, we cannot let such a tragedy repeat again… I have to let her know!!」

Notes:

Well, in case you don't remember, I promised some sobbing tragedy in this arc/volume (like 1.5 year ago when we first started it) but turn out it didn't happen this volume. But idk, I feel like Mu's story is sad enough?

Chapter 183: Volume 4: Epilogue

Notes:

Well, that takes a while. I was too anxious before the US election to be able to write... then there's a layoff scare at my work too...
Then the election fucking happened... Good news! Seeing the results, I'm trying to completely detach myself from real life (and real life's news) so I've been writing (and reading) a lot. I'd rather let myself be emerged in my own fictional world (and other fictional worlds) than to be reminded of the filth who's going to be my next president and his corrupted, incompetent cabinets. That just means I'll probably crank out chapters more consistently now. If you told the 20 years old me that one day, I'd be so upset because of politics/election, the 20 years old me would probably laughed in your face... but here we are.

Funny thing, I was upset on the election night and I emailed Hagane, asking if they've finished the last few pages of the 16 pages porn I commissioned so that I'd have something to cheer myself up. Turned out, they were upset too since the outcome of US election affect Taiwan and their issues too. But anyways, I was told they had some dj event coming up in december so they've been focusing on that instead of drawing my last 4 pages... SOOOO it won't be ready until late Dec. Maybe it can be another Christmas present, just like the first dj that got posted 2 years ago haha.

The sleepy Kibadios slowly opened his eyes. It has been a while since he was last exhausted like this, though it was to be expected, given how last night went. Laying on top of him was the still sleeping Maia, her bare breast pushed against his own while her exposed pussy hungrily wrapped around her Master’s thick morning wood ever since he last flooded it with his thick cum just a few hours ago. 

「Ah, you’re awake, Master?」Rowan stepped out of the bathroom with a warm smile while drying his hair. His naked body was still soaking wet. Droplets of water slowly slid down his collar bones and glistened in the morning light as it trailed sensuously along his well toned chest and stomach.「With how energetic you were last night… well, just earlier, actually」Rowan corrected himself, since the hybrid did not finish fucking the last member of his harem since less than two hours ago.「You should have slept for just a bit longer.」

「Shh..」Kibadios gestured for the healer to lower his voice, not wanting to wake Maia up. The hybrid slowly turned around, placing the girl on their gigantic bed before pulling his throbbing cock out from her twitching pussy.「I don’t need to sleep that much.」Kibadios whispered, reminding the teenager.「I’m feeling much more refreshed. Though I guess the same cannot be said for Maia. We should let her sleep.」Kibadios caressed her girl’s silvery hair.「She deserved it.」

Just as Kibadios noted, the alchemist girl indeed deserved her well-earned rest. After all, just a week ago, while Kibadios struggled against Wei Shimin, Maia and Reuk were valiantly fighting back against a strange woman donning a wolf-shape hood. Apparently the woman had suddenly appeared right after the Chimera left and had intended to snatch away the comatose Isis, whose safety was entrusted onto Maia and Reuk. The battle between them lasted for quite some time, for despite combining their power, neither Maia nor Reuk could outright defeat the woman. Since it was a stalemate and the emotionless woman could not win against her opponents either, she simply backed away and disappeared into thin air, though not before she delivered a kick that sent Maia flying. Judging from the description, Kibadios had speculated the woman would be Maryana, the very same Maryana that Falkor was searching for. If that was the case, it meant she was following them ever since they departed to meet Wei Shimin. Kibadios did not believe Maryana knew who Isis was. The most likely reason why she was trying to kidnap Isis was because she had noticed she was looked after and protected by Kibadios’ trusted attendants, which meant she was someone who was important to him… a weakness that Adeus could have exploited. 

「... Haaa… Master~~~」Maia’s moaning in her sleep quickly brought the hybrid back. He simply smiled as he looked down at the sleeping alchemist, then leaned down and lightly kissed her cheek. 

「Just rest, Maia.」Kibadios whispered. Since it took the girl almost a week to recover from the fight, she did not get to have sex with her beloved Master during the recuperation period. Needless to say, she was rather feral last night, when she finally got to taste her Master’s cock after so long. 

「Let me take care of that for you, Master!」Rowan knelt down at the edge of the bed and stuck his salivating pink tongue out in anticipation.

「You’re sure? You’ve just taken a bath, haven’t you? You’re going to get dirty again.」

「Dirty? Nothing is dirt if it’s coming from you, Master.」The green-haired teenager eagerly leaned in, pressing his cheek against the hybrid’s hot cock that was coated with cum, heart-shape pupils imprinted in his eyes. Much like Maia, most of his harem were withheld from having sex since they were all recovering from their injuries, and Rowan was clearly not an exception. Despite having climaxed more than five times last night, the teenager was still lusting for his Master’s seed first thing in the morning, his nose slowly inhaling the manly scent his Master’s cock giving off. 

「Well, if you insist.」Kibadios grabbed Rowan’s thick hair and unceremoniously thrusted his cock deep inside the healer’s throat. 

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It has been exactly one week since Wei Shimin’s defeat, and the city was buzzing with new life. Children played festive games in the streets, celebrating the hard-won victory with laughter that echoed through the alleys. Meanwhile, adults were hard at work, reconstructing the damaged settlement. The steady rhythm of hammers and saws filled the air, mingling with the scent of fresh timber and the murmur of hopeful voices. There was a sense of resilience in every corner, a determination to rebuild not only the city but also the lives touched by the recent turmoil. Of course, not everyone was participating in the reconstruction effort since almost half of Alsen’s manpower has been devoted to chasing down the routed Yinese Army and liberating the occupied lands. 

Back then during the decisive battle, by simply noticing Wei Shimin’s floating fortress approaching Alsen, the army under his second-in-command, General Hou Yi, was able to rally amid their fight against the Grasslanders’ sudden ambush. Almost 10k of them had broken through the encirclement and were eagerly heading toward Alsen as they planned to assist their Supreme Commander in subjugating the last free stronghold of Monas Kye. Yet, that very eagerness was what sealed their fate, for the moment they realized Wei Shimin was defeated and his presence completely vanished, they had all lost their will to fight and fallen easily into the Grasslander forces. The larger bulk of the army, fortunately, was able to hastily retreat in shambles. Due to the sheer size of the main Yinese forces, Ectharen and the other Heads of Houses came into an agreement that there was no chance they could completely eradicate them in one swoop so they purposely let them routed off while they redirected their attention toward cutting off the escape route of the advanced 10k troops. 

「Are you sure we should let them flee just like this?」Ectharen asked

「You think we can really kill or capture them all with our meager numbers? Despite winning, we’re still heavily outnumbered. If you ever try to cut off their retreat and force them to fight for survival, I fear it’ll be us who will be decimated.」

「Yeah, just let them go. They are now leaderless, scattered in a strange, unforgiving land without a reliable food supply. They’re as good as dead.」Teran agreed. Despite being heavily injured during his battle against Hou Yi, he was able to emerge victorious, long at last.

After returning to Alsen and regrouping, it was decided the next day that Ectharen would lead a force of more than 25k Grassland soldiers relentlessly chasing down the unorganized retreating Yinese force, haunting their every step. After all, they could not let this opportunity pass, for if they allow the Empire to dispatch new sets of military leaders to take charge of the Subjugation Army, it would make the campaign to liberate occupied lands much harder. 

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「「「CHEERSSS!!!」」」The Grasslanders gathered in the main plaza just outside the Dungeon's entrance, loudly cheering as they clashed their jugs of alcohol together and drank hastily to quench their thirst. In contrast to their predicament just a week ago, from the children to the elderly, everyone was grinning from ear to ear, wrapping their arms around each other’s shoulders, rocking back and forth around the large bonfire they had just piled up during the early evening. On an elevated wooden podium, with Yuusei obediently sitting on his lap in his smol beastman form, Kibadios leaned back against his chair and smiled while observing his people celebrating their surreal victory against the Empire. Wylan, the brocon, was now sitting on the side of the plaza, enjoying a conversation with his dear brother while Falkor, the young devoted beastman husband, gleefully flexing his arms, allowing a pair of young toddlers he had rescued back during Wei Shimin’s attack hanging on his muscular biceps. Kibadios’s eyes dashed around, watching a group of old men belonging to the Ogre, Yves, Four-Arms races bickering over which of the alcohol they brewed tasted the best while their wives simply shook their heads in disapproval. His attention was soon redirected toward a group of young men surrounded and cheered loudly as the girls happily danced around to their heart's content. Kibadios suddenly felt a cold chill running through his spine as he noticed among the beautiful beastman girls, there was a single, large muscular female lizardman sensually shaking her sturdy hip and winking at him the moment she noticed he was looking toward their direction. 

「Did that lizardman girl caught your fancy, Master?」Ryan, who was sitting next to his master, jokingly asked. The remark caused the hybrid to spit out his nonalcoholic drink and coughed loudly as the alcohol clearly went in the wrong pipe.

「Of course not!!」Denied Kibadios.「I mean… I may be a furry」The hybrid looked at Yuusei, who was still calmly munching on his food.「but for sure I’m not a scalie!」

「Furry? Scalie?」The former hero tilted his head.

「Is Ryan here bothering you, Master?」The clearly drunk Rowan leaned in, his face was already beet red. Apparently, before coming over to his seat, he was pulled into the argument between the drunk old men and forced to be an arbiter to their question of “Who brewed the best alcohol?”, forcing him to drink all of the different alcohol they offered.「Don’t worry, as his senpai, I will make sure he regrets teasing you!!! Hicccc」Rowan turned around, quickly caught Ryan’s wrists and pinned him down onto the platform. His cold hand slowly slid under the former hero’s shirt before his fingers finally found their targets. 

「Wait a minute!!! Just how drunk are you, Rowan chan!!! Stopp!!! We’re still outside!」protested Ryan.「Haaahhhh~~~」

「As much as I’d like to see Ryan chan crying and begging.」Kibadios pulled Rowan back by his collar.「He’s right. We’re in public, Rowan chan.」

「But, Master~~」

「Here, Rowan chan!」Maia flicked a red pill that she had prepared in case her Master got drunk again, straight into Rowan’s opening mouth.「That should help you sober up.」

「Huh?」Before he could process what had just happened, the effect of the miracle pill suddenly kicked in, instantly clearing the healer’s head.「Wow… Thanks, Maia chan… I feel great.」

「Well, you better stand to the side and prepare.」Warned Maia.

「Prepare for what?」Asked Rowan, though before she could answer, the healer quickly rushed toward the backstage. 「Bleehhhhh.」

「Wait, what was that?」Kibadios asked

「The pill I gave him could instantly block the toxic effect of the alcohol in his body, but that’s only for a moment. So to make it a more permanent solution, I decided to formulate it together with a vomit inducing pill to help removing the alcohol from the body.」answered Maia.「Don’t worry, he should feel much better once he’s done throwing up.」

「There, there!」Ren tenderly patted Rowan’s back as the teenager continued to throw up. 

「... Yeah… I don’t think the pill is as helpful as you think it is, Maia chan. He looks much more miserable than simply having a hungover.」

「But… but… It’s only temporary!」

As the party continued on, Kibadios finally noticed, among the crowd, Erik and his group sitting on the far side of the plaza, calmly enjoying the food and drinks, with Teran seeming to have just joined them for the evening. 

「Hm, that reminds me.」Kibadios turned to his Vice Captain, who was gorging a large grilled drumstick into his mouth with his left hand while his right was holding onto an oversized beer mug.「Where’s Ashura? I have not seen him today.」The hybrid asked. The leader of the Hyakki Yagyo has been loitering around the city ever since he reemerged from the Dungeon a week ago, exactly at the moment when the city was attacked. Even when the hybrid’s attention had been solely focusing on dealing with Wei Shimin, he could still feel the presence of Ashura and how he was helping by taking care of Wei Shimin’s elite soldiers. 

「Who knows.」Uri shook his head.「By now, you should know the Big Boss is just as fickle as the wind. One day you see him, the next day you don’t. There’s a chance he may just disappear for years before popping up right in front of you once you’re least expected, rudely asking you to take on an impossible task of helping your new boss to assassinate an important prince…」Uri pouted. 

「Speaking from personal experience?」laughed Kibadios. 

「Yup. By the way, did you ever ask him if he had conquered the dungeon?」

「Apparently he gave up on the 95th floor… at least that’s what he told me.」
「Gave up?」

「Yeah, he said it just got too boring for him.」

「Haha, the man just hates grinding? And he was excited in the beginning. See what I told you? Fickle as the wind!」

The festive celebration continued for a while before the chattering noise quickly died down as three representatives from the Great Houses slowly made his way toward Kibadios. For the Yves, it was obvious their young lord, Wylan. For the Beastman, it was Falkor, since Ectharen was appointed by Kibadios to lead the men chasing after the retreating Yinese Army. As for the Ogre, since Kailos was attending Isis and staying by her bedside, his second in command, a tall muscular female ogre named Alanna was the representative. The three looked at one another and nodded, then Wylan finally spoke up, his voice echoed around the plaza.

「By now, as you’ve been told, during the Trial of Eor Dungeon, it was Kibadios sama who had truly bested us, the other King Candidates, to claim the Kingship over Alsen, and by extent, to all over Monas Kye. Much like the First King of Monas Kye, Jander the Great, who united the tribes and expelled the crusaders from our land hundreds of years ago, under Kibadios sama’s brilliant guidance, we were able to again repel the invaders from our land. It was he who had come up with an idea of using me as a decoy to attract Wei Shimin’s attention while he volunteered to carry out a mission to strike directly at the head of our enemy forces. During the climax of the battle, I’m sure many of you have personally seen him bravely take on the transcended Wei Shimin. Not only had he devoted his all to protect us and our city, he was also the person who finally dealt Wei Shimin the fatal blow, ending his tyranny over our land once and for all!」Wylan passionately declared with a constant grin on his face.「Without him, Alsen would have already fallen. Monas Kye would have already been conquered. He is…」Wylan paused. 「he is the salvation that the Great Zaeryn sama had bestowed upon us. Today, as we celebrate the defeat of the Yinese Southern Subjugation Army, I’d like to proclaim Kibadios sama as our one and only King!!! If you wish to object, then step forward, or else, from now on, promise your lives to Kibadios sama, for he will lead us to a new golden age!!!」

「... Kibadios sama!!!」The brief silence was quickly broken by the spontaneous shoutings from the crowd. 「Long live Kibadios sama!!! King of the untamed Grasslanders!!!!」「Kibadios sama!!」「YAAAYYY!!!!!!」

Pleased with the reactions he received, Wylan turned around toward Kibadios and knelt down on his knee. 

「The Great House of the Eyes.」

「The Great House of the Horns.」

「The Great House of the Manes.」

「「「Pledge our undying allegiance to you, Kibadios sama!」」」

「Yay! Kibadios sama’s number one!!」Tina excitedly yelled, before the little Yves girl’s father, Kuron, hastily stopped her from ruining such a solemn moment. The endearing interruption, though, elicited laughter and chuckle from everyone present. 

「I, Kibadios, humbly accept this honor.」Kibadios stood up, raised his hand to calm the excited crowd.「However, there’s one thing I want to point out: It is not you who should pledge your allegiance to me, but it is I, as your King, am offering my dedication and devotion to you, to protect you from the unrelenting threats, both the known and the unknown. To achieve that peace we yearn for, to cast off the yoke of the oppressors that have restrained us since time immemorial, I respectfully ask you to lend me your strength and to place your trust in me. Together, we will emerge victorious!!!」

To most of the people standing below, Kibadios’ speech seemed to be directed at those outside invaders like the Yin Empire or the Theocracy and their crusades; however, for those who Kibadios had shared the true history, they all understood what their king… no, their god, had just referenced. 

「We will stand with you, Kibadios. Resolutely. Until our victory!」Exclaimed Wylan.

「To Kibadios sama!!!」

As the crowd erupted, Ayer, who has been sitting still, unimpressed with his surrounding, lowly muttered.「No matter what era you’re in, you can always arouse the burning flame within your followers… This is why you’re always our greatest enemy.」

「Your Majesty! As your first act as our King, it is time for you to pass judgment onto our hated foe. Bring him out!」Wylan demanded.

From the back of the plaza, the people quickly parted into two, allowing the guards to escort the chained Hou Yi, the feared general that had terrorized the grassland for years. Despite being defeated and restrained, the man still exuded a strange air of gravitas that unnerved some of the Grasslanders. It was not long until a small rock was projected and landed onto his face. Then it was the left over food, then cutleries. Despite being reprimanded and told to stop by the guard, the projectiles did not decrease. Finally, Hou Yi was forced to kneel in front of Kibadios, his shoulder pressed down by two large wooden staves. From afar, sitting on the roof of a building, Amber, the female hero, stoically stared down at the scene, observing what Kibadios would decide to do next. 

「Hm… Hou Yi, right? For the crime that you have committed against the inhabitants of Monas Kye, you are sentenced to death.」Kibadios calmly declared, which elicited a loud cheer from the crowd.「Still, despite nothing you say can sway this decision, if you wish to sprout any defense for your indefensible crime, I’m willing to listen.」

「...」Hou Yi stared at Kibadios for a moment before finally speak his first words ever since his capture.「I served Wei Shimin sama as his loyal dog. I obeyed his command and faithfully carried out his order. Nothing more, nothing less. There’s no need for me to justify my deeds. We fought and we lost. If my lord has already passed on, then it’s my duty to follow him.」

「Kill him!!!」「Flay him!!」「Feed him to the wolves!!!」「Beat him up to death!」

The fury of those who suffered under him grew louder and louder. Such cries did not affect Haden, who had suffered the cruelty of a sadist for such a long time that he fully understood the emotions the Grasslanders were feeling. However, Rowan, Maia, and Ryan, though, had started to feel a bit uncomfortable.

「So be it.」Kibadios nodded before his shadow suddenly rose up, its razor-sharp teeth bit down, bisecting him into halves before devouring his whole body. Since Hou Yi was the one who ended his miserable second reincarnation, Kibadios wanted to reciprocate the “favor” by quickly ending his life instead of torturing him to death like the crowd demanded. 「I’ve elected to devour him. That way, there’s a chance I may be able to gain his skill. That way, even in death, he can still serve us.」Kibadios explained.「Now, for our next order of business, I’d like to introduce you to some people.」

「Huh? Who?」The crowd murmured.

「Come out here.」From the shadows, a few familiar people stepped out into the flickering light of the bonfire.

「They’re…」「The Chimera corps?」

「Yes, they’re the feared Chimera that once served Wei Shimin, albeit against their will. Without their help, I would not have been able to defeat Wei Shimin, our archenemy. From now on, I’d like them to join us to rebuild Alsen and Monas Kye.」Kibadios explained. The hybrid looked at the group of 7 Chimera, with 4 of them being the same 4 who had fought against him together with Mu previously while the other 3 were new faces who Kibadios had only met after the defeat of Wei Shimin. Apparently, they did help out on the battlefield, fighting against the Yinese troop alongside the Grasslanders.

「...But…」

「They killed my father!!!」A young lizardman screamed out.

「How can we accept them into our ranks after everything they did, Kibadios sama?」

「I knew this would be」

「They… They killed my brother!!」Another, this time an Yves, called out. Much like before with Hou Yi, the man threw a rock at Eadur. Though the spider-like Chimera flinched, fully expecting the rock to hit him, it never landed, for Kibadios quickly leapt forward and shielded him, letting it land onto his chest instead.

「Master!!」Ryuu anxiously reached out to the hybrid.

「It’s fine, Ryuu. Stay back.」Kibadios stopped the dragonkin.「Please… I fully understand your anger. I’m not going to ask you to forgive their sins; however, I’d like to ask you to instead direct your anger toward me… their oldest brother. Let me carry their sins on my back.」

「...Bro… ther…」Alahan, one of the female Chimera, muttered.

「Big brother…」Qwan, the chimera shota, who was one of the first Chimera who had believed in Kibadios, anxiously spoke up. 

「They were born from my mother and so that made them my half brothers and sisters.  Much like you, they, too, suffered under Wei Shimin, yet, they were forced to serve him. With my own mother, who they all cherished and revered, being kept as a hostage, they have no choice but to obey his commands.」Kibadios looked back at the Chimera, then turned toward the crowd.「 I understand how unreasonable I’m sounding right now, but I hope you will give them a second chance… a chance to atone for their sins.」

「... Kibadios sama…」The crowd murmured. 

「But… how can we trust them after all this?」An Yves asked.

「I will take full responsibility for their actions. If they ever turn their blades against us, I will personally take care of them myself.」Kibadios sternly announced.

None of the Chimera reacted to Kibadios’ statement, as if they had accepted such a declaration was not unexpected. Though it was Wylan who finally spoke up, dispelling the concerns of the people.「I understand you have decided to place complete trust in them, who you considered your brothers and sisters; however, it does not seem everyone gathered here shares that sentiment. To them, the Chimera will always be considered dangerous enemies. To assuage their distrust, how about in exchange for us taking them in, they’d promise to form a slave contract to you, my King? That way, we will be sure they will never be able to betray us.」

「I…」

「I don’t see a problem with that.」 Eadur quickly cut off Kibadios. 「We did promise to serve you, did we not? If forming a slave contract with you would calm these people down, then I don’t mind.」

「Haah, Wylan and his cunning mind again.」On the side, Kuron, Wylan’s cousin, leaned toward Gyo with a weary smile.「Isn’t that Yves one of his guards? I bet he was the one who planted him there in order to create the chance to offer such proposal to Kibadios sama.」

「It’s understandable. No matter how much I like them, it’s still better for us to have a way to prevent them from ever backstabbing us, right? Wylan just had to do whatever he had to in order to protect Kibadios sama and this land we all call home.」

「I know… I wasn’t complaining. Rather, I feel bad that he’s one of the few who has to embrace the darkness and shoulder such responsibility.」Kuron nodded.

It took some time for the enslavement ritual to be complete, but the moment the slave crest finally appeared on the Chimera’s body, signifying the indestructible bond between them and Kibadios, an ogre messenger hastily ran toward the hybrid and whispered something into his ear. 

「What? My mother has woke up?!!」

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「That looks like a rather festive party inside the city, Ashura. It’s not like you to sneak out here to enjoy solitude.」The man dressed in a tattered black suit smiled.

「What solitude? I just want to come here to make sure you’re not thinking of attacking and disrupt their celebration.」The Yonko grinned back.「All things considered, us demihuman gotta be wary when the gaze of one of the Six Heroes is upon us.」

「I told you before, didn’t I? That I will not be attacking this Kibadios.」

「Of course not. Cuz if you do, you have to deal with me, hahaha!!」Ashura laughed out loud 

「Tempting as that offer sounds, I’d pass. Fighting you isn’t that fun… Unless, you are to combine all your copies into one and fight me seriously for real.」Akaban threw a scalpel at the Yonko, which was easily deflected. 

「Not gonna happen…」Ashura shook his head.「Though, if you’re not here for Kibadios, then what are you doing?」

「I’d like to keep tab on my new prey.」

「New prey?」

「Yes, he’s still weak, but he has potential. After all, it’s not often that I got injured that badly from a fight.」

「Poor Ryan. Being marked by such a twisted person like you is never a good thing. There’s no way he can win against you in a fight, no matter how much stronger he becomes.」Ashura shook his head.「How can you ever win against someone who cannot die…」

「I’d like to know too… this concept of “death”… I just cannot imagine it.」

Notes:

Up next. Kibadios' building a kingdom.
If you don't want (very general) spoiler, then stop, but here's my planned arc:

 

Short Kingdom building arc
Tengu Arc
Yin Empire arc
Final War arc (this may be long and may be split into 2 arcs)
.... let's hope I finish this story before the next presidential election.... or that I don't abandon it. :D

Chapter 184: Prologue: Disturbance in heaven

Notes:

Woohoo, sorry for the late update. I'm currently in Japan for vacation so I didn't have time/did want to write. But since it's been 2+ week since last update, i want to wrap up this prologue that I've been writing on/off for 2+ week now.

Modun, realm of the gods, was a place of breathtaking majesty. Vast expanses of emerald-green meadows stretched endlessly, dotted with crystalline flowers that sparkled as if kissed by stardust. The atmosphere, saturated with dense magicules (magical molecules), gave rise to colossal floating islands that drifted lazily in the sky—a mundane sight here, though a miraculous rarity in the mortal realm. Each island was a world of its own. Some bore lush forests with towering trees whose leaves shimmered in gold and silver; others cradled crystalline lakes that mirrored the sky’s shifting hues. Snow-capped peaks pierced through the clouds, and rivers of liquid light wove through the terrain, their soft currents humming with a melody only the soul could hear. These rivers cascaded off the edges of the islands, transforming into ethereal veils of mist that blanketed the vegetation below.

At the heart of one such floating crescent-shaped island stood the mythical Teotihuacan, the City of Immortals, home to the majority of the Astral. Its streets were paved with shimmering opal, glowing faintly with every step, as though the ground itself welcomed each visitor. Towering crystalline buildings stretched skyward, their refractive surfaces scattering light into dancing rainbows. The city’s architecture defied mortal comprehension—arches floated unsupported in midair, and spiraling towers twisted like constellations frozen in time. Some edifices bore intricate carvings of cryptic symbols, their meanings lost even to the most learned scholars. Others resonated softly with a celestial harmony, blending seamlessly with the ambient melody of the realm. Teotihuacan was not merely a city; it was a testament to the Astrals’ absolute power over mortals.

Or at least, it had been.

Now, half the city was engulfed in flames. Dark smoke spiraled upward from crumbling buildings, choking the once-proud Astral inhabitants. Corpses of monstrous invaders littered the streets, their grotesque forms an amalgamation of insect and beast. Veins of bio-luminescent flesh pulsed faintly beneath jagged exoskeletons, casting an eerie green glow that hinted at the primal energy that once drove them. Their lifeless, insectoid eyes still glimmered faintly, and serrated maws, dripping with toxic, corrosive saliva, left scars on the crystalline streets. Patrolling the ruins, the God Knights—the Astrals’ elite peacekeepers—methodically pierced the corpses with their long spears, ensuring none were left alive. Their once-pristine white uniforms were now marred with streaks of purple and green from the creatures’ foul blood.

「Is that the last of them?」asked a tall and sturdy man who looked to be in his mid 40s, his commanding presence marking him as the squad leader.

「Yes, Sir! At least, as far as we could find. Do you think any of them escaped into the surrounding lands?」

「That’s not our concern. The Chosen Guards have already been dispatched by the Ennead to track and hunt them down. Our orders are to ensure that none of these monsters remain alive within the city limits,」the officer replied, his voice steady yet tinged with unease. He cast his gaze over the ravaged cityscape. 「...To think Teotihuacan would suffer such devastation. It’s unthinkable. Not even Zaeryn’s forces at the height of the Second Great Holy War inflicted this much damage.」

「There’s nothing we can do,」another knight muttered bitterly. 「Who could have predicted Matelus and that girl would succeed in opening a portal connecting Modun directly to the Void? They allowed the True Gods’ Wrath to pour into our realm. I heard the girl possessed the <Seed of Space>, but even so, this is the first time such a feat has been achieved.」

The officer’s expression darkened. 「Indeed... That man, a thorn in the side of us Astrals for so long, has finally become strong enough to threaten us. And now, his old master, Zaeryn, has been reincarnated into Esthar as well.」 He sighed heavily, his tone somber as he concluded, 「There are millennia where nothing happens, and there are years when millennia happen. It seems we are living in such a time. As the shield of our people, we have to keep being vigilant!」

「「Yes, sir!!」」

The commander’s gaze once again lingered on the monster’s carcass, unable to discard a feeling of uneasiness. I’ve been around since forever, yet I have never seen these types of monsters from the Void before… To be able to take down several God Knights, they were undoubtedly much stronger than the others that we have fought against ages ago… It’s… it’s as if the monsters conjured up by True God’s Wrath in the Void are evolving…

 

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「So how’s your injury, Ozyan?」The beautiful Freya asked as she laid comfortably on her side across a floating fluffy white smoke. Despite her relaxed demeanor, the atmosphere within this gathering between the Enneads was unusually heavy, as if the very air had thickened under the weight of unspoken words.

「It was nothing but a scratch.」Ozyan, one of the Ennead, answered.「It's been a while since I last fought someone, I’ve merely gotten rusty for a bit. Good thing that I was able to deploy our newest weapon just in time.」The old man turned to look at an emotionless figure standing right by his side. The figure possessed a beautiful face, with their long, purple floating around their body as if it was in a zero gravity environment. 

「You really went ahead and turned his flesh-and-blood body into the perfect homunculus.」Freya floated to the figure and gently touched his soft face.「Our poor Ayer. He’s now no more than a terrifying weapon that serves us and our purposes.」

「What else can he expect? He had made a great blunder, somehow gotten defeated by Zaeryn and got trapped in his homunculus body, forced to become his slave. Even if somehow his soul could break free from his homunculus body and return back to Modun, there’s no way he could still retain his Ennead status after such humiliation. His mere existence is now a stain on our name」An Ennead, who was the same man previously travelled to the High Elf territory to meet with Seri, spoke up.「It’s only reasonable for us to turn his soulless body into something more useful.」 

「You’re right, Azragon. Though one has to wonder… how did he even get enslaved like that?」Freya smiled. 「It’s hard to think that he’d lose to Zaeryn, even if he was to unleash <HaoS>」

「That’s the topic for a different time, Freya」Ea  admonished his contemporaries.「We’re not gathering here to discuss Ayer. We have a more pressing matter to worry about.」

「 After all, this is the first time ever that our enemy has been able to breach the inner sanctuary. That man, Matelus, was right there! Standing in front of Kaernas!! Had it not been for Ozyan, he might have been able to break the seal and plunge this world into Chaos!」Ensey, one of the oldest appearance among the Ennead, angrily recounted the horror that transpired five days ago, when a sudden tear in space brought the cosmic horrors upon their blessed land. As countless of un-devolved monsters poured through the portal, wrecked havoc, and temporarily distracted the Astrals, deep in the sealed chamber, Matelus and a loli girl leisurely descended down the seemingly infinite dark stair. 

「So, this is Kaernas.」The second he reached his destination, Matelus could feel a cold sweat running down his forehead as he endured a tremendous sinister Nen aura emitting from the man trapped inside the crystal tomb. 「Despite being unconscious and sealed away, his mere presence exerts such dread. A being that can bring an End Time to this wretched world. So, Alanna, do you think you can break this seal by creating a rift in space to set him free?」Matelus briefly touched the crystal in front of him before instinctively withdrawing his hand as if his body had just been electrified.「... The sheer aura…」Matelus muttered.

「I doubt it.」The girl softly spoke.「Despite how close he looks to us, this crystal seems to warp the air around it, creating an infinite space between where we stand and where his body is. If I cannot comprehend or identify the other end of the space I try to connect, my power wouldn’t work… and I’m sure I cannot comprehend infinity.」 “... yet”, she thought to herself, though Matelus would already have inferred that from her tone.

「Hmm…」

「Don’t even think about it, Matelus.」Ozyan, one of the Ennead that was most concerned about Kaernas and the prospect of him breaking free, suddenly appeared behind the sneaky man and his loli assistant who had infiltrated the realm uninvited. 

「Damn, I was hoping the incursions of True God’s Wrath would distract you sufficiently enough for me to study this seal in a more comprehensive manner.」Matelus shook his head.「Despite our preparation, I don’t think I can take on an Ennead…」Matelus cracked his finger. 「... and come out unscratched.」

「You’ve grown a bit… overconfident, insect!」Ozyan unleashed his Nen, which quickly overwhelmed his opponents.「Ultimate Arte <Kali Ma’s Embrace>」

「Seeing how it’s 2 vs 1, you’re wasting no time and going right in for the kill, I see」Matelus wearily smiled.「then I shall oblige. <Primordial of Earth, Bunjil>, come forth.」

「2 vs 1? You’re mistaken. Unfortunately for you, I’ve just finished with my little project and perfected my control over the strongest “Automaton.” This battle is actually a 2 vs 2」

「Ultimate Arte <Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris>」A cold, emotionless voice spoke up from behind Matelus and Alanna. 

「Ayer is also here?」Matelus quickly turned around, though the soulless appearance of the otokonoko made the man wonder if the feminine looking teenager is the same frenzy and unstable Ayer he’d had the unpleasantness of meeting. 「Alanna, be on your guard! We’re dealing with 2 Enneads here.」

「Understood!」

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「So, those two really could really stand against you and Ayer… or rather, Ayer’s body in a fight?」Ea wanted to confirm. Not only him, all other Enneads were equally shocked after listening to the details of the battle that had transpired.

「Indeed. At least for a brief while before they decided to retreat. Matelus’ mastery over Bunjil has clearly improved since the last time we’ve dealt with him to the point that he’s no less threatening than his teacher at his peak 10k years ago.」

「That’s why I’ve warned you all to seek him out, end his pathetic existence, and take back the Primordial of Earth that he’d stolen from us! Look at what your indecisiveness has done.」Ea angrily aired his frustration.

「I share your opinion, Ea, but it’s not like we’ve done nothing in these past 10k years. We’ve been continuously seeking him out, but such a task is not easy when his companion commands mastery over the spatial element. It’s not unthinkable that they had created their own pocket dimension that exists in parallel to Modun and Esthar and hid there.」Ozyan stroked his long, white beard calmly.「... No, such a scenario is very likely. She was even able to tear a rift in space, allowing The True Gods’ Wrath to invade our world.」

「Such a fearsome ability.」Freya nodded.「Though, it’s clear that there’s a limit to her ability. After all, there was only one small rift that opened for a short period of time, and no additional rifts have formed ever since then. That tells us she does not possess the power to create a large rupture in space nor can she use such power repeatedly… or else, we would have been overwhelmed.」

「Regardless, given what had just happened, it’s clear we have to focus our attention on Matelus for the foreseeable future in order to extinguish this threat once and for all.」Ensey declared, to which all the others simply nodded in agreement.「It’s good that in the hour of need, we’ve finally been able to replenish our ranks with two new members to replace the traitorous Kadesha and the foolish Ayer. Right, Ereen… and Malus?」

「「Exactly.」」Two pairs of keen eyes glowed brightly in response to Ensey’s mention. Ereen, as the second female member and a replacement for Kadesha’s seat within the Ennead, was sitting on the pedestal that has been left empty for millennia while Malus had taken Ayer’s usual position within the assembly.

「... Though, I understand that we have to channel our energy into annihilate Matelus. But what about Zaeryn?」Malus asked the obvious question.

「It’s true that with the Harvest coming up, we cannot afford to leave Zaeryn to grow into a threat that he posed to us 10k years ago. That’s why we will let the Oracle and those mortals deal with him… for now. Besides, your old contemporary, Adeus, was assigned the task of monitoring Zaeryn. When we’re ready, we will fully unleash him and everything the mortals can muster onto Zaeryn and his growing base of power in Monas Kye in one decisive strike to snuff him and his resistance out.」Ensey explained. 

「Yes. We cannot yet allow the Oracle to directly confront him because the Oracle still needs some time to lick their wounds after the conflict against that Yonko. Once they recover though, we will act. We will not make the same mistake twice, allowing Zaeryn to grow much stronger.」Azragon further elaborated.

「Even if it means Zaeryn will call forth the Primordial of Fire, a power that can shake the world?」

「That’s why Adeus is there. If it were him, I believe he can contain <HaoS>’ power… though it may cost him his life. But I’m sure he’ll gladly do it, since it means he’ll free his daughter’s soul.」

「Aw, how’s the Mighty has fallen. With his power and accomplishment, he would certainly have been able to become one of us. Now, he’ll be nothing but a possible sacrificial pawn. All because he let the love for that daughter of his clouded his judgement.」Freya shook her head. Though her comment certainly caught the two new Ennead’s attention, since it implied that he was better than them. The two discreetly looked at one another, before their gaze quickly dashed back at the assembly.

「No, rather, in retrospect, it was wise for us to deny him the seat, since his daughter will always be his weakness.」Ozyan corrected.

「... True.」

Chapter 185: BONUS: The night before Kibadios' departure pt2

Notes:

I just got the last 4 pages from Hagane like 3 hours ago and I spent 2 freaking hours to edit and add dialogues lol after these rough editting, I wonder how long does it take for the scanlators to actually clean and typeset >.>
Anyhow, apparently Hagane sent the last 4 pages of this dj to me before Christmas, but the email was never delivered. I was curious cuz they promised me to draw it in december, but I didnt want to bother them too much during the end of year break lol.

This is the continuation of pt1, which was drawn by https://skeb.jp/@Ayuksert2.

This part, though, was drawn by 03HAGANE.

Also, idk but the last few pages where Kibadios fucks Ryan and played with Ren's ass appear really erotic to me. I love them!!!

Anyways,

 

Note at a later time: Somehow Imgur said there's some violation in the image and they deleted it. But you can go to https://bato.to/chapter/3161711 to read the whole thing

 

 

 

 

R18 warning!!!

R18 warning!!!

R18 warning!!!

R18 warning!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R18 warning!!!

R18 warning!!!

R18 warning!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I promise I'll finish 2 arcs (more like 1.5 arcs) this year! .... maybe...

Chapter 186: "On"

Notes:

I planned to make this chapter longer, but I guess this is enough.
I'll try to update the next chapter this week (since they are supposed to be one biiiggg chapter lol)

Kibadios had quickly rushed to his mother’s chamber the moment he heard the news, yet, as of now, the hybrid was hesitant as his hand lingered in front of the door, unsure how should he introduce himself to her. 

「Kibadios sama? Is there something wrong?」Maia asked.

「It’s… it’s just… I don’t know what to say to her.」Kibadios confessed.「She doesn’t “know” me… worse yet, she doesn’t know I’m a reincarnator… in a sense, I’m just some guy who occupies her son’s body… I…」

「What idiotic things you’re sprouting. In this life, you’re her flesh and blood.」Surprisingly, it wasn’t one of Kibadios’ harem who put a stop to the hybrid’s unravelling. Rather, it was Ayer, who scowfully reminded his “Master” the unrefutable fact that he might have momentarily forgotten. 「Besides, if it weren’t for you, she’d still be trapped in that laboratory pod, being used as nothing but a broodmother to create more Chimera. Even if you’re some stranger, you’re still the one who rescued her!」

Although all others were caught off guard by Ayer’s remark, since none had expected their hated enemy to be the one cheering their master up, Kibadios simply acknowledged the former Ennead’s comment with a faint smile. With his doubt dissipated, Kibadios inched his hand toward the door, though, before he could reach it, the door suddenly swung open from the inside, hitting the unsuspected hybrid in the face. 

「I don’t know who just said that, but I agree with her, Kibadios!」A figure with a lively feminine voice sprung forth from the room and ran into the hybrid, who was still busy rubbing his forehead.「... You’ve grown so much in these 5 years, my little Kibadios.」The woman tenderly pulled Kibadios into her warm embrace, pressing the hybrid’s blushing face into her ample bosom. 

「... Little Kibadios?」The hybrid’s harem looked at one another and tried to suppress their smile since ever since they’ve known him, they have never heard of their cold, ruthless Master being referred to as “Little Kibadios.” What’s more, the way he was acting embarrassed in front of his long lost mother was just like any rebellious teenager would behave in front of their moms.

「That pretty girl is right.」Isis looked at Ayer, who was exceedingly annoyed since he was mistaken for a girl, both due to his voice and stature.「 It doesn’t matter who you were in your previous lives. To me, you’re my precious, adorable son, whom I’ve longed to reunite. I pray for this very moment every single second that I’m awake. I miss you and your father so much these past five years, Kibadios.」The woman’s hand gently patted her boy’s head.「In your other lifetimes, you might have been someone else’s child, but right now, in this moment, you’re my son.」The incubus reiterated as she tried to hold back her tears. 「Don’t be silly, worrying about how I think of you just because you’re a reincarnator. You’re not my first encounter with a reincarnator, right, dear?」Isis shot Kailos a mischievous look. 

「Right… right.」The ogre simply nodded.

She’s already known about my past? So father did just tell her then. And what’s with the implication? Father’s a reincarnator too ? Kibadios thought to himself, though such revelation was not too far-fetched since he was already told of this possibility before. Why did he not disclose this to me before?

「I understand, Mother. Anyways, I’m glad you’ve recovered.」Kibadios finally was able to pull himself away from Isis.「Though you’ve lost so much weight. You look so much thinner now than the last time I’ve seen you… I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything back then. I couldn’t protect you that night.」

「Stop. Blaming. Yourself!」Isis lightly tapped her hands against Kibadios’ cheeks.「You were just a baby, then! Just a baby who could barely walk! If you weren’t a reincarnator, I’m sure you would not have remembered a thing. I’m just glad that you were able to escape… and live… It doesn’t matter how much I suffer, I would do it all over again, if it means you get to live and grow up to such a fine young man, Kibadios!」

「Yeah… Oh right, my younger brothers and sisters are here too.」The hybrid suddenly remembered the group of Chimera, who were following closely right behind him when they heard Isis had woken up. Although they were all eager just moments ago, they seemed to have discreetly stood on the side now, as if they were trying to hide from her.

「Younger brothers and sisters? …Right…」Isis slowly walked to the Chimera, whose hearts were racing fast. To them, this was the moment of truth. This was the moment they would find out whether the affection their “mother” showed them previously was genuine or not. Deep inside their hearts, there was always a small doubt that the care and love she displayed toward them was nothing but a facade to win over their hearts and loyalty. To the Chimera, such a thought was evidently understandable since who in their right mind would give the monsters they were forced to give birth to any affections at all.

「I’m so sorry, my poor children!」Much like how she treated Kibadios, the incubus pulled the group of still visibly unprepared Chimera in for a hug.「I heard from Kailos what transpired during my sleep… how you teamed up with Kibadios… and how Mu had to sacrifice himself to bring Wei Shimin down, all for my sake. I’m sorry for being such a useless mother.」

「Don’t say that, Mother!」Alaran, one of the Chimera girl, dismissed the succubus’ guilt.「Had it not been for you, none of us would be standing here… and for sure, none of us could have found the will to live when we were forced under Wei Shimin’s yoke.」

「Well, maybe not Soren, but he’s a madman among us so he doesn’t count.」Eadur corrected Alaran, though he was quickly hit in the head by Galahan, the other female Chimera. 

「Shut up, Eadur. You’re ruining the mood.」

「Soren had also defected from Wei Shimin? He’s here?」

「Yeah… without him and his bomb that he planted inside Mu’s heart, we might not have won against Wei Shimin.」Eadur nodded.「He’s now taking residence inside the Dungeon since he wants to set his laboratory up in a secluded place. Against our advice, Brother had allowed him to roam free in there all on his own.」

「I see… so everyone’s here. My family is all here.」Isis couldn’t help but grin broadly as tears streamed down her face.「Our nightmare is over!」

「「「Mother…」」」The succubus’ children, with Kibadios included, gently comforted her. 

「... How peculiar.」Maia spoke up softly as Kibadios’ harem stood on the side while witnessing his uncharacteristically gentle side.「Our Master’s behavior is completely different when he’s in front of Isis sama. Gone is his cold and confident self. He’s now acting just like a typical child to his mother.」

「He has a soft spot for motherly figures, don’t you guys know that?」Reuk, who was standing next to Ryan, asked. 

「What do you mean?」

「I guess he never spoke with you about the fine details of his past lives… well, especially his first life. Before he came to this world and reincarnated as Zaeryn, his mother back on the world called “Earth” died while protecting him in an accident when he was a kid. During his first reincarnation, his “second” mother died during childbirth so he had lived in an orphanage without knowing a mother's warmth his whole life. His second reincarnation as a laboratory species could barely be considered an experience… And in this life, he was able to see his mother, Isis sama and experienced her love for the first few months of his life, so he grew very attached to her. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s acting like a typical well behaved children in front their mothers 」Reuk explained. Since she had lived inside Kibadios’ for quite some time and witnessed all his memories, the elf had also learned of private information about the hybrid that no one else had known… of course, except for the one being who had known him the longest.

「Heh. You guys prided yourself as your Master’s companions, yet, you knew nothing about him.」Ayer laughed.「He lets you guys surround him and worship him, yet he's still so isolated and alone.」

「You!!」Ryan wanted to argue back, but couldn’t since he knew that Ayer was right.

「What? I bet you don’t even know the most basic thing about him, such as why has he become so powerful during his life as “Zaeryn”, or what drove him to seek out and spend time with Seri to learn mastering magic or studying martial arts despite his Class being a <Summoner>?」Ayer’s question received no response from the harem「...No? Ha! Just as I thought.」

「What are you guys talking about?」The conversation between Ayer and the others was quickly disrupted as Kibadios’ attention turned back to them.「What did you do, Ayer?」

「Nothing.」Ayer smirked.

「Don’t do or say something disrespectful to my people.」warned the hybrid.

「Tsk.」Ayer simply clicked his  tongue

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The darkness gradually receded, revealing an empty space around the hybrid as he slowly opened his eyes. It  has been a week since he obtained this power, but this would be the first time he was able to contain it in his hand: the Chaos Miasma, the key source of power which Wei Shimin yearned for and that of which the Daemon Race had used in order to threaten the world 10k years ago.

「Look at you. Not only have you mastered Nen and Magic, now,  you have even learned how to control [On].」

「[On]? Is this what you call it? In our era, we simply refer to it  as  “Chaos Miasma.”」Kibadios clenched his hand and extinguished the small source of “On” emitting from his palm before looking up at the familiar man. Since defeating Wei Shimin, Kibadios has been having the same dream every night, in which he just stood there in an empty space, opposite of a dark silhouette covered in Chaos Miasma that seemed to be saying something, but he could never decipher it. As he gained more control over “Chaos Miasma”, the silhouette became clearer and clearer. The miasma covered the figure slowly dissipated day after day, until it was revealed the man standing in front of him was no other than Kaernas’ unnamed companion, whom Kibadios had met once before in his cryptic dream.This revelation, however, was not a surprise for Kibadios, since he had always suspected it was him.「...Finally, you’ve revealed yourself to me.」

「What are you talking about? I’ve always been here. It’s you who couldn’t comprehend me until now.」The man smiled.「Now that we are finally able to communicate… Nice to meet you, again.」

Again? Kibadios thought to himself.「You remembered me from my previous dream?」

「Who said it’s “your” dream? To me, you were the one who entered mine.」

「Your dream?... 」Kibadios was taken aback. Of course, from his perspective, this was his dream and the man was an uninvited guess; however, the opposite might be true too. That he was the one who entered the man’s dream.「... Are our dreams connected then?」

「Well, you tell me, man from the future.」
「... How did you know I’m from the future?」

「Well, I have not met you before, yet, your soul bears a strangely familiar blessing of mine, although it seems very faint. For it to happen, it must mean you come from the future, at a point in time where I had met you and granted you my blessing.」The man explained.

What’s with this Venat and Warrior of Light situation we have here? Kibadios thought to himself before speaking up.「Trust me, I have never met you before. But I guess you’re right about me “coming from the future.”」

「Cool! I wonder how much further in the future do you live compared to my time… 100 years? 1000 years? 5000 years?」

「I don’t know, but it’s long enough that any traces linked to the existence of you and Kaernas have all but disappeared.」

「Is that so…」The man studied Kibadios from head to toe.「If a sentientkind like you still exists in that far off future, then it must mean we would have been able to do it in the end. We would have been able to take down the True Gods.」The man’s eyes brightened up as a single teardrop rolled down his cheek.

「... Taking down the True Gods? So you’re really that man, the man who was erased from history. What’s your name?」

「Ah, how rude of me. It’s [ ]. What’s yours, young man?」

「It’s Kibadios… but… what was yours again? I just couldn’t hear it.」

「Huh? It’s [ ].」Again, Kibadios was unable to catch the man’s name despite the volume of the man’s voice being perfectly reasonable.「Judging from your expression, I bet you couldn’t hear my name, could you? Maybe it was sealed away by the True Gods. Was that what you meant by erased by history? If that’s the price I have to pay for rebelling against my creators, then so be it. As long as my people are able to survive long into the future,  any price is worth it.」

「About that…」Kibadios hesitated.「I don’t think it’s the True Gods who sealed your name. Would you like to a rambling of a stranger from the future?」

「Please entertain me.」The man nodded, eager to hear what the world has evolved to after eons have passed since his time. Yet, his expression quickly turned grim as Kibadios recounted the story he was told. Of how the man and Kaernas were able to topple the True Gods, yet unable to stop the incarnate of their collective hatred from destroying their worlds. Of how Kaernas was betrayed and decided to become the Ender of the world as a retribution to those who took everything he loved away from him…

「... So that group formed the Ennead that you spoke of at the last time we met.」The man nodded. Interestingly, he had quickly regained his composure after listening to the hybrid. 

「Now that you’ve known everything… Help me answer these questions that’ve been on my mind since the first time we met: Why you? Who am “I”? What is this connection between you and me ? This blessing you’re speaking of. Do you have anything to do with the fact that I was kept in this loop of reincarnation?」

「... I don’t know.」The man shook his head.

「Given how I was seemingly forced to be reincarnated in this world and my connection to you, is there any chance I am your reincarnation too? Seri was so cryptic about it that frustrated me to no end! I just want to know… what…what is my purpose? Why me?」

「Fufufu, why do you think you’re my reincarnation?」The man smiled.「If things transpired just as you said, then most likely my very soul was destroyed. I don’t think you’re me. Though, with all the things Seri’s doing, creating a power base for you to stand up to these Astrals, I think you’re right in believing all of your reincarnation weren’t just random chance, either.」

「... You’re so useless.」Kibadios retorted.

「Ouch…」The man patted the back of his head.「Though, I’ll tell you something: as of right now, you’re a very unique existence… at least in your current timeline. Not because you’ve been reincarnated and retained your memories for so many times, but because of this.」The man held his hand up and conjured a thick swirling Chaos Miasma, or rather On, energy.

「On?」

「Yes. You see, back then… or rather, in my timeline, the people from my world can all utilize On as our energy, as opposed to Nen that was used by Kaernas’ people or Wind of Magic that was controlled by Seri’s.」

「What? It’s equivalent to Nen?」

「Yes. Though after listening to your story, it makes sense why the utilization of On has all but disappeared. After the genocide committed by the Astrals, I bet the knowledge to use On was lost. Those lucky few who survived the cleansing would pass down their recessive genes that possess great affinity toward On to their descendants. Yet, as the gene became diluted in the population, in rare cases, individuals that received both the recessive genes would emerge. And they would be known as “Mutants.”」The man hypothesized.「You see, unlike Nen, On is dangerous if one cannot control it well. If Nen is like receiving energy from the Sun, then On is like trying to unleash energy stored in a raging tempest. Unless you do it right and in moderation, it would result in untold devastation… For those who possess the genes, yet unable to control their own On, then they’ll be a walking disaster. What’s worse for you and your generation is that you were not exposed to On at all. You spent your entire life living with Nen, if you were to be exposed to On, you would think it’s a sinister power that can destroy lives…」The man paused to think for a moment before continued.「In a sense, you’d be right. But Nen, On, and magic are just three sides of the same Triangle…Think about it this way: For you, air is essential to life and if you were to be drowned in water, you’ll die. But for the fish, the opposite is true. It’s just a matter of perspective.」

「Why are you telling all of this?」

「It’s because for you to have a chance against Kaernas, if… or rather, when he’s free from his seal… for you to be able to protect those whom you love, then you need to know how to utilize “On.” You’re probably the only person in your current timeline who can use all three sources of power. Only then could you have a chance.」

「Why me?! What is everything on my shoulder?」Kibadios was annoyed.

「... I don’t know. But if Seri was in on it, then I’m sure she has her reason. There’s a reason she chose you. I just have to believe.」The man shook his head. 

「If this conversation isn’t just my imagination. If you’re really Kaernas’ contemporary, then maybe you can change the course of history by doing something different? How did you, or Kaernas, defeat the True Gods? Knowing what you know, you can find another way so that this whole thing would not have happened.」

「I’m afraid I have no choice… Sorry… I’m just too weak.」The man looked at Kibadios apologetically. 

「What do you mean by too weak?」

「I’ll help you with “On.” I guess, this is my small contribution to protect this future world of yours. Please, I beg you… Stop Kaernas. My cowardice has condemned him to his fate… Assisting you confront him is my atonement.」Before Kibadios could have reacted, the man’s finger was already pointed straight into the hybrid’s forehead as if he was Itachi and the hybrid was Sasuke. An intense headache coursed through Kibadios as he felt his whole body burning up with On. 

「What did… you just do?」Kibadios panted. His flesh slowly turned into miasma and dissipated away. He wanted to stay, to continue speaking with the man to learn more; however, despite all his will power, he couldn’t stop his body from simply disappearing into thin air.

「I forcefully unblock all 72 On gates within your body using my own On. You were able to gain a small control over it these past 7 days, but after this, you should have gained a great mastery over it… Goodluck, Kibadios kun.」

「Youuu!!!」The hybrid quickly sprung up, only found himself naked, sweating profusely in the middle of the night. 

「Ummm? Master, are you okay?」Rowan, who was lying naked on top of the hybrid, was also awoken by his master’s sudden movement.

「Sorry for waking you up, Rowan chan.」Kibadios patted the healer’s green hair, though he couldn’t hide his slight shaking from his keen eye slave.

「Did you have a nightmare, Master?」Rowan held Kibadios’s hand to his chest, allowing his Master to feel his slave’s warmth. 

「Yeah… I’m sorry, I think I’d like to go for a walk.」Kibadios whispered.

「I’ll come with you, Master.」Rowan thought back to days ago, when Ayer was teasing them about not being able to know or share the hybrid’s burden.

「You sure?」

「Yes. I’d like to hear about your dream.」

「I don’t want to bother you with such trivial…」

「It’s not a bother!」Rowan quickly dismissed Kibadios’ response, much to the hybrid’s surprise.「I belong to you… I’m your servant, I’m your slave, Master. I want to be able to know everything about you. I want to be someone you can depend on, someone you can confide in about your deepest worries and burdens… I… I…」

「I get it, Rowan chan.」Kibadios wiped away the healer’s frustrated tears.「Would you mind coming with me on a midnight walk?」

「Of course, Master!」Rowan beamed with enthusiasm. 

.

.

.

「Hmm… I wanted to come with Master and hear about his dream, too!」Ryuu opened up his eyes the moment Kibadios and Rowan stepped out of the room. 

「Nah, it’s Rowan’s turn this time. After all, he’s the one who woke up first.」Maia smiled, her eyes were still closed, pretending to sleep.

「You just missed your chance, Ryuu chan.」Ryan turned over and hugged the dragonkin to console him.「In the end, it doesn’t matter right? As long as any of us is there to be with Master when he needs us the most, then it’s all good. This time, it’s Rowan chan, maybe next time it’s gonna be you.」

「I know, I know, senpai.」

 

Notes:

In case you have not noticed, "On" is the opposite of "Nen" in Hxh, also (from The Last Mission movie)

Chapter 187: Night talks

After leaving their room, the two had decided to walk to the small garden within the House of the Horn’s residence for some fresh air. Upon Rowan’s insistence, the hybrid had finally relented and told him everything that transpired in his dream, even though part of him did not want to bother the teenager with such unnecessary burden.

「I see, so in the end, you still didn’t learn anything new except for the story behind the origin of Chaos Miasma… or rather, On, and the mutants from this person.」Rowan touched his chin as he tried to process what Kibadios had just told him.「But from his words, it seems like we can establish that even he believes Seri was instrumental in keeping your reincarnations within this world.」

「Um huh.」Kibadios nodded.「Which is not really a surprise to us since if what she said back in the Trial was true, then she and Faye had prepared this “empty throne” for me, allowing me to build up my power base in Monas Kye.」

「But what I don’t like is that fact he acts as if it is your duty to face off against Kaernas!」Rowan frowned.「Who is he to force such an impossible task upon your shoulder! Planning to deal with the Astrals alone is already causing us a headache.」The healer raised his voice in frustration. 

Kibadios simply patted the teenager to calm him down.「You don’t have to be all worked up about it, Rowan chan. If anything, I should be glad that man has stabilized and fully unlocked my access to On so that I can use it when in need… such as when Kaernas’ free from his seal.」

「Why are you saying it as if it’s an inevitability? There’s no guarantee he will ever be released, right? After all, the seal’s been intact for eons.」

「Well, the difference between this era and the eons prior is that now, there’s a scheming man who yearns to release Kaernas and bring the End Time to this world.」reminded the hybrid.

「You’re talking about Matelus? But he’s unable to do anything in these past 10k years.」

「... that we or the Astral are aware of.」corrected Kibadios.「Hatred is something you can never underestimate, Rowan. Hatred had driven him to seek to destroy this world and the Astrals along with it. It’s not that he’s been unable. Rather, more likely than not, he’s been patiently working in the shadow of history, planning to strike. Sooner or later, something will happen. We cannot rule out the possibility that he’ll be successful in unleashing Kaernas onto this world. Funnily enough, I might have joined him in seeking the destruction of this world if I had met him before you, Maia, and the others.」

「Meeting us really changed you, huh, Master?」Rowan smiled before continuing「Was it for the better?」

「Huh?」

「I mean…」Rowan’s voice became shaken. 「Would… would it have been… better for you if you did not save us that night? Are we a… a distraction to you and your quest for vengeance? … or worse, an unnecessary burden…」

「What made you think that? Is it because of Ayer? Don’t let what he said get to you.」The hybrid pulled Rowan closer to him, allowing the healer to sit face to face on his lap, and gently pinched the emotional teenager’s cheek.「I know I cannot stress this enough… but I’m glad I’ve met you and Maia that night. I’m a half incubus so I hope my instinctual lust for you guys did not make you think I only want you guys for your bodies… Well… I did say that a lot back then, so I don’t blame you if that’s what you think, but…」Kibadios paused, looked directly at Rowan. His hand reached out, pressing the teenager’s forehead against his own before whispered softly.「You should know that you guys are my treasures.」

「... Master…」The boy couldn’t contain his tears as he wrapped his arms around his Master’s neck. His face blushed red while his heart was racing faster by the minute. Not because he had just realized that with the positions they were in, his own cock was now pressing against his Master’s, but because of the confession his Master had just made. Of course, the sharp Rowan was not oblivious to his Master’s feeling, but rarely ever would Kibadios display such vulnerability to him or any of his harem brothers and sisters.「...」

… Wait a minute… Why the fuck does this remind me of situations where the girl would simply reply “Thank you” to some guy’s “I love you”? Kibadios was internally screaming to himself as he impatiently awaited Rowan’s additional responses; though the hybrid quickly realized that the teenager was simply too emotional to be able to finish his sentence. 

「...It’s just simply not fair.」Rowan finally spoke up as he was brimming with happiness.「Just when I thought we couldn’t fall for you any more that we already had, you just have to prove me wrong. For us, you’re our ultimate treasure, too… I love you so much, Master, so please, as we have asked a thousand times before, let us share your burden and please allow us to learn every intimate detail about you, every thoughts and desires that you share not with anyone else. Ayer might have just tried to be spiteful, but he spoke the truth. Sometimes, I’m kinda jealous of Ayer… and especially Reuk, given how intimately they knows the real you, Master.」

「You know, it’s not your fault. It’s mostly my mine, really, for I never share much about my past to you and the others, not because I don’t trust you, but more often than not, it’s simply because I don’t like to recall my past that was filled with regrets…」The hybrid ruffled Rowan’s head.「But I don’t want to have any regrets when it comes to you guys either. I’ll try to be more open from now on, is that okay?」

「Of course!!」The teenager nodded in excitement like a puppy receiving his snacks.「Hmmm, then, can I test this new open policy with a question, Master?」

「and what’s that?」

「Since we were mentioning him, what’s your plan for Ayer? You acted as if you wanted to torment him; but you’re rather fond of him, aren’t you? Why don’t you hate him as much as the other Astrals?」

「Because even though he’s a spoiled brat, he’s different than the other Astrals.」

「How’s that?」

「It’s because he’s not originally an Ennead, or even an Astral.」revealed Kibadios.「Technically speaking, he’s a hybrid just like me.」

「Wait a minute… You’re implying he’s a demihuman? How could the Astrals, who preach human supremacy, allowed a demihuman to become one of them?」

「Well, you must understand that while it’s true the Astral does favor humans, technically they didn’t outright discriminate against the demihuman until 10k years ago, when the demihuman rebelled against them in order to save me. As for Ayer, even though he forged the homunculus vessel he’s inhabiting now in a form of a human, his original body is that of a hybrid: a human and kitsune hybrid.」

「Kitsune? Isnt’t that the race of 9-tails fox in the myth? Much like the Tengu, I thought they’re extinct.」

「Are they? I didn’t know that, but then it doesn’t surprise me if they are since I was told that they played a huge role in helping the Tengu attack the Heavenly Gate… But Ayer’s story started much much earlier than 10k years ago. According to the memories passed down from Kadesha, the first “Great Demon Lord”, he was born just a few years before the Harvest of his era commenced. His mother was an extremely beautiful kitsune while his father was a low-rank Astral.」

「An Astral? Can an Astral be in a relationship with a mortal?」

「Not really. That’s why it’s a problem. During the initial phase of the Harvest, his father helped hiding him and his mother, ensuring they can survive the genocide. However, the Astrals soon learned that the father had committed a sin and ordered him to hunt down his own family, to which he complied. Despite how much she loved his father, Ayer’s mother stood her ground and fought him off, eventually killed him in the process, allowing the two to escape.」

「Killed him? Like truly kill him? Shouldn’t he be using his homunculus vessel?」

「Nope. As the punishment, he was forced to hunt down his family using his true body.」

「I see… then what happened next?」

「The mother and son got to live in peace for another few years as the Harvest continued to be carried out. By the end, as the Harvest came to an end, they thought they’d finally be able to survive… that’s when they were betrayed by those who were close to them. As it turned out, the Astral never stopped looking for them since they knew of Ayer’s existence. As a hybrid between someone from a powerful demihuman race and an Astral, he had the potential to become stronger than either of his parents. That was someone the Astral cannot allow to live. Just when they thought they could now live in peace, the Astral came for them due to the information they received from those the pair of mother and son considered family. In that battle, Ayer’s mother finally perished, though that became the trigger that allowed Ayer to unlock his Ultimate Skill. In the end, he was able to destroy all the homunculus bodies, saved for one: Kadesha, one of the Ennead herself. Though instead of killing him, due to his potential, Kadesha brought him back to the Modun. There, she convinced the others to let her train him to become an Astral. Normally, such a request would be denied immediately by the other Enneads, but once they see his power, they finally relented. That just tells you how truly monstrous he can be. If he had come here in his own true body, then we would have stood no chance. Even if I were to fight against him using <HaoS>, the outcome of the battle might not be certain.」

「...」Rowan gulped. He knew Ayer was terrifying, but given how the otokonoko was bested by his Master, the teenager had certainly underestimated the enslaved Astral quite a bit.「But given what the Astrals did, why did Ayer decided to become one of them?」

「You have to ask him. Though given that refusing the offer would mean certain death, it was probably not that much of a hard choice for him. What’s more, he would have loathed the mortals who sold him and his mother out so by becoming an Astral, he would have power over them. Those are the possible reasons why, but I never asked him. He probably wouldn’t tell me unless I commanded him to.」

「I see… so that’s why you said he was different. You don’t hate him as much as the other Astrals because he shares your pain.」Rowan noted.

「...」

「Hm… then wouldn’t it be better if somehow you can truly convert him to our cause instead of controlling him like a puppet?」

「Convert him? I doubt that I can. He’s really prideful. He had to “submit” once when he decided to become an Astral, I don’t see him switches again to our side.」

「Then, do you lust for him, Master?」Rowan grinned. 

「Lust? 」

「I’ve seen how you’ve looked at him. At time, when you’re looking at him, the fire in your eyes are burning as passionately as when you’re exploring our naked bodies at night.」

「Well, there’s no point in denying… Yeah, in this lifetime, when I’m much more sexually open, given how I’m a half-incubus, I do find him tempting.」admitted the hybrid

「Then why don’t you just force him down against his will?」asked Rowan.

「... And you’re fine with that?」

「As long as that’s what you desire, you will not find me, or any of us, opposed to the idea.」Rowan shook his head.「Though, it’s nice how you’re taking our feelings into consideration, Master.」

「Don’t you have a jealous bone in your body?」Kibadios poked the teenager’s rib, tickling him. 

「Ahaha. Stop~ Master!」Rowan squirmed around.

「Well, your feelings might have been one of the reasons, but I guess, given the rivalry between Ayer and I, I’d like to see him begging for me and my cock to ravage him instead of having to resort to the slave contract.」Kibadios confessed. 

「If that’s the case, why not putting him under your <Jagan_Evil Eyes>, having him experience all the pleasures in that illusion world once in a while, slowly breaking him until he’s at your feet and begging for your cock for real?」The innocent look on the teenager’s face had completely disappeared, replaced by a devious smile.

「...Hahaha, you really scare me sometimes, Rowan chan.」Kibadios laughed then licked his lips.「Thanks for the advice though. I may just do it.」

「Glad I can help!」

「Kibadios?」A familiar voice called out to him, causing both the hybrid and Rowan to turn toward the garden’s door.「I thought I heard your voice, what are you doing out here this late at night… or rather, early this morning?」

「Ah, father. I have not seen you …」 The haggard look his father was donning right now quickly caught the hybrid off guard. He just has not seen the ogre for only a week, yet, the once muscular and youthful man was now appearing as if he had aged another ten years. Dark circles appeared beneath his eyes while his vitality seemed to have been wrung out of his body. 「Are you okay??」

「Ah, yeah… I just got up to get some water.」Nodded the ogre. 

「Kailos sama, you look… horrible.」Rowan noted.「Is taking care of Isis sama wearing you out so much, my Lord? If you don’t mind, we can help!」

「I’ve just visited her two days ago. I thought mother had almost completely recovered.」

「Huh? Oh, don’t worry about it. As an incubus, Isis is much more resilient than most others so she has already regained most of her strength… Maybe a bit too much, haha.」Kailos awkwardly scratched his face.

「Huh?」Rowan cocked his head quizzically.

「...」The hybrid raised his eyebrows and was puzzled for one second before he finally realized what his father meant.「Wait, wait wait… you can stop. You don’t have to share any more details on this matter. At least not in front of your son. I’m so sorry for asking.」

「What are you talking about, Master?」Rowan's eyes widened in surprise, but it didn’t take long before he caught on to what the other two were discussing since looking at his Master’s pointy ears quickly reminded the healer of his Master’s race, the very same race that the hybrid shared with his mother.「Ohh… It must have been rough for you, Kailos sama.」Rowan shot the ogre an understanding look since he, too, understood how much spending time with a lustful incubus, or rather, in Kailos’ case, a succubus, could be. The situation would be worse for Kailos too, given how intense their passionate love making session would be since they were apart for so long… That, and the fact that unlike his Master, who had a whole harem to help take care of his need, Kailos was all on his own when it came to Isis. Rowan shivered at the thought of having to satisfy his Master’s insatiable lust alone, since the unspeakable pleasure and exhaustion would definitely drive him mad.

「Haha… I guess you’d understand my predicament, huh, Rowan kun.」Kailos laughed nervously.「Not that I’m complaining.」

「Good to know?」Kibadios shook his head, trying to shake off the image of his parents being together.「Anyways, father, ever since mother woke up, I’ve not seen you around to ask you directly, but are you a World Traveller too?」

「...」Kailos remained silent for a moment as if he was trying to figure out how to avoid the question before finally deciding to confront his son’s question.「Yes. I am one.」

「Is that so? I guess you don’t want to talk about it since you didn’t tell me before.」

「I’m sorry, Kibadios. I should have told you after you’ve disclosed everything about your past lives… but just like you, the life I had back then wasn’t something I’d like to recall.」

「It wasn’t something Master’d like to talk about either, but he still told you about it, right, Kailos sama? I think it was wrong of you to withhold such information from Master!」

「Rowan chan!」

「No, Kibadios, he’s right.」Kailos shook his head.「I was clearly in the wrong. In case you’re still curious, unlike you who were born in a later era, I was born in the hundreds, maybe even a thousand years in the past, to a wealthy noble family back in my previous life. I was a young and ambitious man back then, and when our kingdom entered a period of turmoil, my siblings and I convinced my father to rebel and seize the country from our incompetent monarch. In the end, my father had succeeded in taking over the country and establishing a new dynasty. Yet, that was when everything went wrong. My beloved older brothers, who used to be my closest of friends, began to fear me, seeing me as a threat. My eldest brother, the crown prince, detested me as I racked up accomplishments… My ambitious and arrogant self wasn’t in the right, either, since I, too, viewed them as those with lesser talents and unprepared for the task of rebuilding the new kingdom. Soon enough, our rivalry spiraled out of control to the point that it could only end with either of us dead. So, I decisively acted by ambushing my brothers’entourage…」Kailos bit his lips.「and I killed them… I killed my own brothers. At the time, I convinced myself that I was acting for the greater good since our new kingdom might just collapse again, plunging the realm into chaos, if my incompetent brother was to ascend the throne after our father. But truth to be told, my desire for the throne was probably part of the reason why I acted so decisively, too. To escape punishment for what I have done, I soon marched my army into the palace and forced my own father to abdicate the throne to me.」

「... I’ve heard that story before. By any chance, you’re…」

「To compensate for my wrong doings, to convince myself what I did was necessary, I tried my best to rule the kingdom benevolently and bring prosperity to the realm. I pacified the barbarians, expanded our borders, and brought the stability that our people desperately needed. I thought I was doing a good job but of course, karma caught up with me as my own sons were fighting and plotting against one another behind my back… In the end, as I entered my death bed, I realized, despite everything I’ve done, despite everything I’ve accomplished, it wasn’t worth it. As death embraced my consciousness, I wished I could have a do-over. I wish I had not been so hungry for power and had just enjoyed my peaceful life with my family. That’s all I need.」

「... So that’s why you initially renounced your title as one of the Young Lords of the House of the Horn and lived in a secluded village with mother instead. It wasn’t until the Yin empire attacked our village, after your father and brother was slain, that you returned to the House of the Horns and took your place as the Head of the House.」

「Yes. I thought if I were to stay, my thirst for power would ruin everything again in this second life. So I bid my father and brother goodbye and embarked on an adventure to explore the realm instead. That’s when I met your mother.」Kailos nodded.

「... I’m sorry for making you remember the memories you’ve been trying so hard to forget.」

「No, no. I should grow up and not let my past keep haunting me like that. You were being completely honest with me about your past. As your father, I should at least do the same thing.」

「If you don’t mind me asking, father… For someone who had held the Mandate of Heaven in your previous life, how do you feel about me being King of this land?」

「Hahaha, Mandate of Heaven. That’s a term I’ve not heard in quite some time.」Kailos laughed.「If you’re worried about me, Kibadios, just don’t. I no longer want to hold such power in my hand anymore. Back in my previous life, when I was reading a translated book about the ancient kingdom in the far western lands, I learned of a figure called Hystaspes.」

「Hystaspes?」

「Apparently he’s a general of this kingdom. His situation resonated with me since his family, too, rose up and rebelled against his King. But in his case, it was his son who led the fight and eventually ascended the throne. He was simply content with supporting his son from the shadows. I think I can be a good Hystaspes in this lifetime.」The ogre grinned happily.

「Thank you, father. To be able to fight this battle against the world, I’ll definitely need your help.」

「Leave it to me!」Kailos pumped his chest.「Your wish is my command, my little monarch!」

「I’m not that little baby that you once remember anymore, father.」Kibadios laughed.

「In our eyes, you’re always that baby, right, Kai chan?」Isis suddenly appeared behind her husband. Staying true to her succubus nature, Isis was dressed in a thin layer of clothing, revealing her hypnotic curves that even caught the attention of Rowan. Had the teenager not been claimed by his Master, he would have been blushing red right now seeing the alluring succubus in person, especially with the intoxicating scent exuding from her body. 

「Isis, what are you doing out here?」

「Well, my husband said he’ll be right back after getting some drinks. Yet, I waited and waited in that empty room and he has not yet returned. Maybe he’s getting tired of my body?」Isis teased the ogre.

「What? No! Of course not! How could I ever…」

「Great!! Then let’s head back, hubby!」Isis grinned happily before turning to Kibadios.「I’ll see you tomorrow, Kibadios?」

「... Yeah.」

「Bye, Kibadios. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow too.」

「I doubt it, my hubby! You’re always exhausted afterward, too tired to even move a finger after we’re done.」reminded his wife. 

「Yeah… ha… haha.」Kailos disappeared into the shadow of the hallway, though with Isis walking by his side, it was as if he was an innocent rabbit being dragged back into a wolf’ den.

「... So this was why she let me sleep in my own room even as a baby back then.」Kibadios finally spoke up after trying to process what had just happened.

「Your mother’s a succubus, Master. Much like you, I’m sure her libido is always high.」Rowan paused for a moment.「She appeared like a sweet, young girl most of the time, I was surprised at this forceful transformation too… Though… does that kind of transformation remind you of someone?」

「Huh? Someone? Who?」

「... Like Maia chan when she’s mad…」Rowan pointed out, followed by a long awkward silence as the two simply blinked and looked at one another.

Notes:

10 points for griffindor if you know who Kailos' supposed to be in his past life. :D

Chapter 188: Ayer's "dream"

「Damn you, Zaeryn! What the fuck are you trying to do?」Ayer angrily shouted as he struggled to break free from the rope that wrapped tightly around his wrists. He did not know how it happened, but the moment his consciousness came back, he had found himself stripped naked, his slender arms tied behind his back as Kibadios sat imposingly on the large bed right in front of him, his eyes leered at Ayer’s tempting body.

「Kneel down, Ayer… chan.」Kibadios smiled.「Even though this is your homunculus body, you still fashioned it in the form of your real body… snow white skin…」The hybrid traced his index finger down from Ayer’s collar bone.「... pink, tender nipples.」His finger swirled around the Ennead’s areola. 「... flat stomach with not a single trace of fat…」His hand now moved to Ayer’s behind and firmly grabbed his perfect mound.「And your ass are the perfect size for my hand. After listening to Rowan chan, I’ve decided: I’ll break you and turn you into a mindless fucktoy, Ayer chan.」 

「Don’t call me “chan” like I’m one of your pets!」protested the former Ennead angrily, though compelled by his Master’s command, the otokonoko slowly lowered himself in front of that man whom he once proclaimed his toy. 

「Lick it!」Ayer’s heart raced the moment he realized his body was now acting on its own, obeying Kibadios’ order. The Ennead’s feminine face leaned closer to the hybrid’s throbbing cock as his face was blushing beet red. The boy stuck out his trembling tongue and pressed it against his Master’s veiny flesh rod. Instead of disgust, Ayer was surprised to realize he was actually enjoying the musky scent of Kibadios’ cock to the point that he began to salivate like a dog in heat. 

How… He didn’t command me to feel anything… It’s not possible for him to command me to feel anything! Yet, why do I feel so happy pleasuring his cock! Ayer internally screamed inside in his head.

「Now, open wide!」Ordered Kiabdios before the hybrid violently thrust his cock deep inside Ayer’s throat, causing the teenage body to convulse. His gagging reflex kicked in, constricting his throat and mouth around his Master’s cock. He has been alive for hundreds of millennia, yet, this was the first time he experienced such a sensation. While Ayer was struggling for breath, Kibadios simply enjoyed the pleasure the former Ennead’s mouth was giving him as he grabbed the otokonoko hair from behind, forcing his head down his cock. It did not take long for Kibadios finally gave in and released his thick load directly down Ayer’s throat. As he pulled his cock out of the feminine teenager’s mouth, a single thread of saliva and cum was left behind, connecting the boy’s trembling lips to his still erected rod. Ayer was thoroughly humiliated, tears swelled up in his eyes.

「How dare you… Zaeryn… How dare you humiliate me like this?」Ayer growled.

「It’s not over yet, Ayer chan.」Kibadios grinned.「Get up here. Let me enjoy your body and mark it mine.」

Before he could barely recover, Ayer again found himself completely helpless as Kibadios threw him onto the bed then climbed on top of him. The hybrid’s thick cock purposely grinded against his own, causing him to squirm around as the unspeakable pleasure behind to course through his body. When he first met the hybrid’s reincarnation 10k years ago, he had decided to add the man named Zaeryn into his collection of toys, marking the still gullible man his own property for eternity. Yet, 10k years later, the situation had completely reversed as the otokonoko found himself struggling underneath Zaeryn’s reincarnation, trying desperately to break free from his control. It was all in vain, though, for the moment Kibadios’ firm hands grabbed onto his slender hips, Ayer knew it was over as the hybrid’s cock skillfully found its way to his twitching hole. The incubus hybrid teased the former Ennead for a few seconds as he lightly pressed his cock tip against the Ennead’s rosebud, before finally shoved it deep inside the otokonoko’s body. The thick cock easily penetrated Ayer’s entrance hole without a single hint of resistance before finally grinding against his inner flesh. 

「Stop, Zaeryn!!! Haaa… ahhhh」Ayer angrily called out to his Master’s former name, though two or three syllable sentences were all he could mutter before moans filled his salivating mouth「Not there… haaaa… NOOO, TOO DEEEEEEPPPP」Ayer arched his body, trying to escape from the indescribable pleasure his enemy’s cock was granting him. With all his sexual experience, Kibadios quickly realized that he had just found the Otokonoko’s weak spot, his prostate. The incubus hybrid grinded his cock against Ayer’s special spot, leaving the feminine Ennead to writhe in ecstasy. As Kibadios looked down at the once high and mighty Ennead, he couldn’t help but notice the teenager’s defenseless pink nipples completely exposed.

「Wait…ahhh… Zaeryn… what are… haaa… you doing? Don’t…」begged Ayer, though it was proven to be too late as Kibadios’ mouth had already descended down, landing on top of his nipple. The hybrid quickly bit the twitching nub then grinded it between his teeth. 「Haaaa」

「Just like Rowan chan and the others, your hole just tightened the moment I tease your cute little nipple, Ayer chan.」Kibadios noticed Ayer’s own cock had already exploded with cum spreading around his slender stomach.「I guess the pleasure has proven too much for you. Your body is burning up.」

Ayer should have hated being pinned under Kibadios and humiliated like this, yet, part of him was certainly enjoying the ecstasy Kibadios brought upon his flesh. At times, he was rather thankful that his arms were tied behind his back, or else he might have just instinctively wrapped them around the hybrid as his brain seemed to have melted. After what seemed to be hours, the incubus hybrid turned Ayer around, holding onto his chain before humping him like he was nothing but a dog in heat. It took another half an hour for Kibadios finally released his first load deep inside Ayer’s asshole, flooding it with his cum. 

It’s finally over… if it lasts just a bit longer, the pleasure would have driven me crazy. Ayer breathed a sigh of relief but it was not for long, since he quickly noticed Kibadios’ cock was still throbbing hard. I should be hating this… But this pleasure… And why… why does I feel like if it’s him then…

「You think just releasing one load would have calmed me down, Ayer chan?」Kibadios smirked. 「Why do you think I spend hours every night with the others?」

「No… don’t tell me…」For the first time, fear has taken over Ayer as he tried to get away from Kibadios, leaving a trail of cum behind as it continuously leaked out from his stuffed hole. 

「The night is young, my “toy”.」Kibadios declared as he grabbed the Ennead’s ankle and pulled him back into his embrace. 

「No, Zaeryn!! You’ll break me!!! Anymore than this, you’ll break me!!!」Ayer desperately called out to his Master. Yet, his angry shouting was again quickly replaced with endless moans as Kibadios continued to fuck him senselessly while leaving dozen of red bite marks on top of his snow white skin. By the time Kibadios finished with him, Ayer was almost completely unconscious, though his mouth continued to mutter curses at the hybrid. 

「Heh… How does my lowly “mortal cock” feel, Ayer “sama”?」Kibadios teased.

.

.

.

「HAAA!!!」Ayer quickly woke up from his dream, his body was still burning up, sweat covered his fine, smooth skin.「What was that?」

「Had a nice dream, Ayer?」Kibadios asked. His glare was directed at the homunculus’ tent underneath his pants.「Maybe we were a bit noisy last night and that caused you some inappropriate dreams?」

「... As if…」Ayer tried to deny, though the twitching cock in his pants was not cooperating. 

「Then what’s this?」Kibadios’ hand unceremoniously grabbed the former Ennead’s lower part.

「You… You’ve done something to me… haven’t you?」

「Maybe? Maybe not… Try not to fall for the pleasure within your dream then come and beg me for my cock irl, Ayer… “chan.”」

「Doesn’t matter what you’re trying to do, Zaeryn. I would never… succumb to your trick.」

「Or so you said. I wonder if your mind will remain sane after experiencing such pleasure time after time. After all, Rowan chan and Maia chan weren’t able to when we first met. Anyhoo, putting such trivial matters aside, it’s time for us to head to the dungeon. Come with me… Or do you need me to help you out with that first?」Kibadios pointed his finger at Ayer’s pants.

「I swear when I break free of this Rune, I’ll freaking kill you, Zaeryn.」Ayer blushed.

.

.

.

「Wow… look at all these specimens… They’re not alive, are they?」Ryan’s hand pressed against a laboratory pod containing a floating horned wolf inside.

「So many of them. They are all monsters found here at Monas Kye.」Gyo leaned closer to examine the contents of the pods.

「Keep your hand off of my properties, fallen hero… and you too, mutant!」An irritated voice warned both the teenager and the blacksmith.「Do you know how long it takes me to collect them all? If you contaminate my samples, it’d take forever to find their replacements.」

「Shut up, Soren. Your specimen are in their enclosed containers, how can they even contaminate it?」Alahan, one of the female Chimeras who swore loyalty to Kibadios, knocked on the clear glass panel. 

「... Are those… human and demihuman?」Maia’s face turned pale, her eyes widened. In front of her were several pods, one with a floating skeleton, another with a floating Lizardmen, while the last one contained a human corpse, with his skull completely opened up, revealing part of his brain covered in needles, resembling Pokkle’s ultimate fate. The girl quickly covered her mouth, trying to contain her urge to vomit.

「Yes. The lizardmen and the skeleton were an old collection while the man over there is a gift I got from our esteemed brother over here.」Soren grinned murderously. Soren the Mad Scientist, the one who was instrumental to taking down Wei Shimin, took the appearance of a young boy wearing a white lab coat. Though, upon closer inspection, one could easily tell there was something wrong with him, for his mouth stretched across his whole face, revealing a set of white, sharp teeth as if he’s a Kuchisake-onna. From the neck down, his torso was devoid of flesh, allowing his skeleton to be fully exposed.「He was one of the elite guards under Wei Shimin’s command. He was one of the few who were caught alive.」 The boy turned the skull of a reptile sitting on his head to the side as he spoke.

「Not just any elite guard. He was their commander. If Hou Yi was Wei Shimin’s right hand, then he’d be considered his left.」Alahan added.

「That makes this specimen even rarer.」Soren licked his lips.「I’ve known him for years. Who could have known I would finally have obtained his body for my research. I know siding with you was the correct decision… Brother…」

「Seriously Kiba nii, you shouldn’t trust this guy right here.」Alahan shook her head.「Why did you agree to not placing a slave crest on him? Among all of us, he’s the one who’d most likely betray you at the first sight of trouble.」

「It’s your fault for willingly letting them turn you into a slave again, Alahan. Don’t be jealous of my freedom.」Soren dismissed the chimera girl’s suggestion.「I’ve just broken free from Wei Shimin’s grasp. Do you think I’d let some stranger turn me into a slave a second time?」

「Stranger? I thought you just called me “Brother” before?」Kibadios grinned. 

「Titles mean nothing, “brother”. Whether calling you “brother” or “Kibadios”, it’s all just a form of communication. Just like how it doesn’t mean anything when I referred to the woman who gave birth to me as “Mother.”」

This was the second time Kibadios had carefully studied the enigmatic Mad Scientist. Soren was the second chimeric offspring born to his mother, following Mu. However, unlike his siblings, he lacked the same devotion to Isis. According to Mu, Soren had personally operated on his own brain, physically removing the neuron responsible for the Mother Imprint, seeing it as an obstacle to his pursuit of knowledge. Before Yue removed the Rune from his heart—just like the other chimera—he had been incapable of betraying Wei Shimin, as doing so would have triggered the curse and stopped his heart instantly. Yet even after being freed, Soren did not immediately join the coup. He took his time to deliberate, and it was during this period that Kibadios made him an irresistible offer: if he sided with the hybrid, he would be granted permission to experiment on humans—specifically, Yinese soldiers. This proposal quickly won over the mad chimera. Despite his exceptional talent, which had earned him free rein over Wei Shimin’s clandestine research programs, he had been strictly prohibited from conducting experiments on humans, limited instead to demihumans and monsters. The prospect of unrestricted human experimentation was all it took to secure his allegiance. 

「Whatever suits you, Soren.」Kibadios shrugged before deliberately placed his hand on the chimera’s shoulder.「But remember, although I’m not placing a slave crest on you, if I sense even a hint of betrayal, or if you ever hurt anyone in this land with your experiments, I will destroy you. Understand?」

「Naturally.」Alahan nodded in agreement. 

「I know.」Soren twitched.「Now, what about him? Can I hurt him? He’s a homunculus vessel right? And an enemy that you caught? I would love to do some experiments on him, dissecting those flesh to learn more about that synthetic body. It can help us construct the perfect bodies for those formless followers of yours .」The chimera pointed at Ayer.

「Sorry, but he’s mine.」Kibadios wrapped his arm around the former Ennead’s shoulder.「He belongs to me so don’t you dare touch him.」

「...Tsk.」Ayer simply clicked his tongue, though he couldn’t hide his cheeks slightly blushed red at Kibadios’ action.

「Hmm… I guess Kibadios sama’s just doing it subconsciously.」Haden noted. 

「Doing what subconsciously?」Ryan asked.

「His manner unintentionally tends to draw people to him. Like just now, he selfishly declared Ayer is his, but it also implied his protectiveness toward those he cares for. A small detail that Ayer definitely did not miss.」

「If Ayer is not careful, he may just fall for Kibadios like how you guys did, Ryan.」Reuk shook her head. 「Seriously, he’s the Kanki of this world.」

「Kanki?」

「He’s a character from a manga in Kibadios sama’s original world. From the outside, he can be considered an evil monster who brings death and destruction to his enemies and bystanders alike. But for those who followed him, he brought hope, protection, and a sense of belonging.」Haden, who has been acting as mangaka assistant to Reuk, explained to Ryan.

「I see. What happens to that character in the end?」

「...」

「... A suitable ending.」Reuk answered cryptically.

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.

After checking in on Soren and his lab, Kibadios and his entire entourage—his harem members, Ayer, Haden, and Reuk—set off toward the 100th floor. With the lab nestled deep within the cave system on the 45th floor, they were technically already halfway there. However, in practice, the real challenge was just beginning. The monsters beyond the 50th floor were far stronger than those above, turning what seemed like a straightforward journey into a grueling trial. Kibadios knew the trek would be difficult, which was precisely why he brought everyone along. Their help in battling the relentless dungeon creatures was certainly useful, but more than that, this was a test, for he needed to gauge their combat abilities firsthand. After all, if they were truly going to stand beside him in his rebellion against the Astrals, sooner or later, they would have to fight for their lives. 

The outcome of the battle brought great satisfaction to Kibadios. In a short period, he had witnessed astonishing growth in his harem's combat abilities. Ryan, who had awakened an Ultimate Arte during his clash with one of The Six, was not the only one to make significant strides. Under Uri’s guidance, Yuusei’s fighting style had become far more refined and deadly. What surprised Kibadios the most, however, were Rowan and Maia—once considered noncombatants. Watching them effortlessly take down a pair of massive Earth and Fire Worms was rather surprising. Only a year ago, they had been powerless villagers pleading for his help. Who would have thought they’d come this far? Kibadios smirked. With Ayer and Ryuu accompanying them, it took only a day to reach the 80th level before they decided to set up camp for the night.

To grant his Master some privacy, Haden pitched a tent for himself and Reuk at a slight distance from Kibadios and his harem. However, the unabashed moans and gasps resulted from the half incubus’ nightly activity still carried through the air to them. The next morning, they resumed their descent, but with increasingly formidable monsters inhabiting these lower levels, they had only managed to reach the 85th floor by nightfall. Kibadios was unfazed by the slower progress, as he had anticipated the adventure to last at least a week. As long as they could rest and recuperate each night, conquering the dungeon remained feasible. What concerned both him and Ayer, however, was the sudden inability of Ayer to activate his <Ultimate Arte: Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris>, which they had just noticed earlier in the evening.

「So, what happened? Why couldn’t you use your Ultimate Arte earlier?」Kibadios questioned, sitting across from Ayer in the middle of the night.

「How should I know…」Ayer frowned. His evasive response did not satisfy the hybrid, who could tell he was hiding something.

「Should I command you to tell me what you’re thinking?」

「... Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris is not my original Ultimate Arte.」The otokonoko finally relented, knowing full well that if he tried to withhold information, Kibadios would simply compel him to reveal with a command.「It was a gifted Ultimate Arte.」

「Gifted Ultimate Arte? What do you mean?」

「When someone ascends to become an Ennead, they receive one of the strongest Ultimate Artes as proof of their divinity—an Ultimate Arte from the God Series. In my case, that was Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris.」 A hint of panic crept into Ayer’s voice. 「... I don’t know… I really don’t know why I can’t use it anymore…」

「If you can no longer activate it, does that mean the gift has been revoked?」Kibadios proposed the most logical explanation, one that Ayer had likely been dreading.

「No way!! I am still an Ennead!! They can’t do that to me!」Ayer vehemently denied the possibility.

「Like I’ve been saying—do you really think they’d let you remain an Ennead? The moment you were enslaved and forced to serve me, I’d wager they expelled you from their ranks… at least, that is, if they act how I expect them to.」

「No… No way!!! How dare they?! If they truly did that, they’ll be dead when I return to my original body!!!」Ayer shook his head in disbelief.

「Well, you can believe whatever you want. It’s not like I can convince you otherwise.」 Kibadios shrugged and rose to return to his sleeping harem. 「Even if you’ve lost one of your Ultimate Artes, you can still use your original one, can’t you?」

「...」Ayer stared at the hybrid.「How… do you know about my other Ultimate Arte?」

「Of course. A Master must know everything about his slave.」 Kibadios grinned.

Despite the powerful foes blocking their ways,thanks to their perseverance, the group finally stood in front of the giant obelisk erected at the middle of the 100th floor, marking their final destination.

「This is it? This is the lowest point of the dungeon? Somehow I was expecting more.」Ryan spoke up as he looked up to the Obelisk.

「... Kinda disappointed, huh?」Uri nodded. 

「It’s like you went on an adventure looking for the One Piece, only to be told the One Piece was the adventure you had along the way.」Reuk noted. 

「...」Kibadios looked at Ren, who was rather focusing on the carved symbols on the Obelisk.「Anything? Ren chan?」

「These… are ancient Runic scripts.」revealed the former elven prince. 

「Are you sure, Nii sama?」Since her eyes were blind, Yue couldn’t tell.

「Yeah… You’d be much better at deciphering them than me, Yue, if only you can still read it… I’m not too sure, but I think…」Ren took out a small knife then cut his palm, allowing his blood to flow out before pressing his hand against the side of the Obelisk.「It asks for Kingdom of Yue’s royal blood.」

「If Seri was telling the truth and this whole place was constructed by her and Faye, it wouldn’t surprise me.」

「「「Huh?」」」The group finally felt the tremors that grew beneath their feet. Soon enough, a glowing light began to ooze out from the ground, enveloping everyone. By the time it dissipated away, the group had also vanished. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the super super late update. I've been busy playing Pokemon Violet. I love the teal mask DLC!!! All thanks to my adorable Kieran! He's so smol that I gotta focus on playing through the game just to be able to crush his hope and dream lol. Looking forward to exchanging applin with him~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artist: 二狂猥之介

Pixiv ID: 84444638

 

Warning: R18!!!

R18!!!

R18!!!

R18!!!

R18!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

I got the Kibadios x Ayer pages in Oct 2023!!! lol

Also, because it was so long ago, what I planned for Kibadios x Ayer's first time has changed. That's why these scenes are supposed to be Kibadios' illusion imposed upon Ayer's mind. We will have an official, real moment of Kibadios x Ayer later.

Chapter 189: The "Dungeon Master"

「Where are we?」 「What just happened?」 「...That was transportation magic, wasn’t it?」 Yue spoke up, her voice steady despite the sudden shift.

「Yeah, most likely. The trigger must have been my blood,」 Ren nodded, stepping toward the floating tablet at the center of the platform. Ancient runes pulsed across its surface, casting an eerie glow. 「A spell combining both Runecraft and Magic.」

「That makes sense, considering this place was built by Faye and her master, Seri,」 Kibadios added, his sharp gaze sweeping the surroundings.

Gyo's brow furrowed as realization struck. 「Wait a minute. Isn’t this the place where we ended up after the trial, Kibadios-sama?」

Uri looked up, his eyes narrowing at the shimmering lights dotting the endless dark expanse above. 「And those lights...」

Kibadios exhaled, crossing his arms. 「So, this is the deepest level of the Dungeon... and the closest to the world beyond.」

Maia turned to him, puzzled. 「The world beyond? What do you mean?」

「I told you before, didn’t I, Maia-chan? Our world is encased within an ever-present barrier, separating us from the etheric void outside—a place where eldritch horrors endlessly mutate and hunger to consume everything.」 Kibadios reached out and dispelled the illusion magic surrounding them. The serene starry sky wavered and shattered, revealing a vast, endless chasm of writhing darkness.

From beyond the barrier, a seething mass of horrors churned in the abyss. Amorphous, ever-shifting entities twisted together, birthing grotesque new forms with each movement. Gaping maws emerged where no heads should be, and unblinking eyes stared from flesh that should not exist. Countless limbs—some too many, some too few—extended and retracted like searching tendrils. The shifting nightmare began to coalesce, the chaos converging into a single, titanic, lidless eye that burned with seething malice. An overwhelming pressure crushed the air around them as the abyss itself seemed to take notice, judging, hungering.

Then—

「Oh? Where am I now? And would you look at this wonderful hellscape?」

A voice, casual yet amused, echoed behind them.

Uri whirled around. 「Huh? That voice... Big Boss?!」

Grinning back at him was Ashura, his massive frame relaxed, arms folded.

「Ashura?」 Kibadios narrowed his eyes. 「How did you get here?」

「You tell me. Last thing I remember, I was napping near that strange obelisk,」 Ashura said, scratching his head. 「I figured you'd conquer the dungeon and reach the 100th floor eventually, so I waited a few days to rub it in your face that I got here first. But I never expected... this.」 He glanced up at the massive eye looming above.

Kibadios exchanged a glance with Yue, who looked equally stunned. Ashura had been here all along? Yue, despite her blindness, could sense auras better than anyone—yet even she had failed to notice him. That meant he had concealed his presence perfectly, even while asleep. No wonder he was considered one of the Yonko.

Ashura let out a low whistle. 「So, what’s the deal with this place? If that barrier ever cracks and those things pour in, we're screwed. Not even I can take on that many of them.」 His casual tone belied the sharp glint in his eyes as he assessed the situation. Then, his gaze flickered to Kibadios, and his expression darkened. 「You seem to know a lot about this. So tell me, bro—what exactly are you planning? Are you trying to unleash this hellscape onto our world?」

Before anyone could react, Ashura lunged. In an instant, his massive blade cleaved downward, aiming to bisect Kibadios where he stood.

「Tsk, you idiotic tyrant!」 Kibadios snarled, his scythe flashing as he intercepted the strike just in time. Ashura’s blade barely grazed his hair as their weapons clashed, sending shockwaves rippling through the chamber.

「Because it’s more interesting that way!」 Ashura grinned, eyes blazing with excitement.

「You just want an excuse to fight, don’t you?!」 Kibadios growled, pushing back against the beastman’s strength.

「Guilty.」 Ashura laughed. 「It’s been too long since we last fought. I’m itching for more!」

「You two idiots!」 Ayer snapped, his strings shooting out and yanking them apart. 「If you keep this up, you’ll break the barrier!」

Ashura tilted his head. 「Huh? If the barrier is strong enough to keep those things out, it should be strong enough to withstand our fight.」

「That’s not how it works,」 Yue interjected, her voice firm. 「The barrier is designed to withstand external attacks, but it’s vulnerable from the inside. If you two keep this up, you’ll tear this whole place apart.」

Gyo frowned. 「But didn’t Ayer and the Young Lord go all out when they fought during the trial?」

Ayer sighed. 「That’s because I reinforced the barrier before you arrived.」

A tense silence followed before Ashura finally smirked, turning toward Uri. 「Well, well. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I think you and I need to have a little chat, Brother.」 His sharp eyes flicked between Uri and Kibadios. 「There’s something you’ve been hiding from me, isn’t there?」

Uri scratched his head awkwardly. 「Well...」

Kibadios exhaled. 「Fine. No point in hiding things now that you’ve seen all this.」 He gestured to the abyss. 「You deserve an explanation.」

And with that, the truth finally began to unfold.

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「...I… I can’t believe it…」Ashura buried his face in his palm, his shoulders trembling as silent tears streamed down his cheek.

「What? Are you seriously crying, Big Boss?」Uri blinked in disbelief. 「I mean, I know this is a lot to take in, but crying? That’s a bit…」

「I AM CRYING BECAUSE I’M SO DAMN EXCITED, URI!」Ashura suddenly bellowed, his booming voice echoing through the chamber. 「This world… it’s so much more fascinating than our old one! Don’t you see it? The possibilities, the chaos, the thrill—」

「I think there’s something seriously wrong with his head,」Ryuu muttered, leaning toward Maia, who merely nodded in silent agreement.

「Hey, Uri, exactly how long have you known about this ‘Harvest’ thing?」Ashura’s four muscular arms suddenly wrapped around the Vice Captain, gripping his shoulders as he interrogated him. Uri flinched, instinctively trying to squirm away.

「Ehh… the whole thing? Maybe… a day or so after the Trial? Kiba-chan explained everything to me then.」

「That long ago?! And you didn’t think to tell me?!」Ashura’s golden eyes gleamed with a dangerous intensity.

「I mean… it’s Kiba-chan’s secret. I didn’t know if it was my place to spill the beans.」

「Hey, Ashura, don’t blame my mate for this,」Kibadios interjected coolly. 「He had no obligation to tell you.」

Ashura clicked his tongue. 「Actually, he did.」 He straightened up, crossing his arms. 「Our mercenary group might seem lax, with everyone free to take whatever jobs they like, but there’s one ironclad rule—the members of Hyakki Yagyō must report any important intelligence they come across during their missions.」 A smug grin tugged at his lips. 「Never underestimate my network, Uri. It’s just as good as Gilga’s. No—wait.」 His eyes suddenly widened in realization. 「If even she doesn’t know about this… does that mean my intelligence network is actually superior to hers?」 His grin turned wicked. 「Heh. I can’t wait to rub it in her face.」

「Shhh! Can you guys keep quiet for a second?! I need to concentrate!」Ren snapped, his fingers furiously tracing runic symbols on the surface of the ancient stone tablet before him. Unlike the others, he had remained focused throughout the Yonko’s boisterous outburst, his mind fully engaged in deciphering the artifact’s secrets.

A tense silence fell over the group. Then—

「Aha! Done!」 Ren’s eyes gleamed as he completed the final stroke of his counter-Runespell. With a sharp crack , the tablet’s outer stone shell split apart, fragments crumbling away to reveal the sleek, glowing rectangle concealed within. The entire group took a step back in surprise as the luminescent surface expanded outward, forming a translucent blue panel that hovered in the air.

「That… looks like a giant keyboard,」 Uri muttered, narrowing his eyes at the unfamiliar interface. Unlike ordinary scripts, runic symbols pulsed across the surface, shifting and rearranging themselves.

「Wait, weren’t we in a fantasy world? When the hell did we get transported into a sci-fi setting?!」

Before anyone could react further, several glowing holograms materialized. One displayed a detailed map of the dungeon, its 100 layers clearly visible. Others revealed surveillance feeds, granting them a real-time view of various dungeon levels.

「Kibadios-sama, come over here,」 Ren gestured, his tone measured. 「Try placing your hand here.」

Kibadios obliged, pressing his palm against the floating console.

「 BEEP. Unauthorized personnel detected. 」

A cold, robotic voice echoed through the chamber. The group instinctively tensed, their eyes darting around in alarm.

「Tsk, as I thought,」 Ren muttered. He reached forward and placed his own hand on the panel.

「 Master Faye’s descendant detected. Registering individual as Lord of the Dungeon… Registration complete. 」

The group exchanged glances.

「What… just happened?」 Haden broke the silence.

Ren exhaled, rolling his shoulders. 「Exactly what it sounded like. The dungeon’s control system has recognized me as its new master.」 He turned toward Kibadios. 「I tried to have it register you, but since you’re neither a direct descendant of the First nor a Runecrafter, the system rejected you.」

Ryuu’s eyes lit up. 「Wait. Lord of the Dungeon? That sounds badass! What does it do?!」

Yuusei, standing beside him, nodded enthusiastically.

Ren smirked. 「It means I can control the dungeon however I want. I can grant access to specific levels, hide or rearrange them, change their biomes, forcibly expel people… basically, I own this place now.」

Ashura let out a low whistle. 「Damn. Just having access to the dungeon was already a ridiculous advantage, as we saw during the siege. But now that you control it? That’s just unfair.」

「Exactly,」 Kibadios mused. 「Especially for our efforts to rebuild Monas Kye. The dungeon contains a wealth of renewable resources—monster parts, raw materials. Before, people had to clear each level to advance, but with Ren’s authority, we can streamline the process.」

Ashura’s expression turned contemplative. 「If you’re talking resources… then sending experienced teams to Levels 61 to 70 would be a smart move.」

Rowan frowned. 「Wait, but aren’t those just desert biomes? There’s nothing but endless sand there.」

「Yeah, just giant sandworms,」 Maia added with a shudder. 「Didn’t Ryan-chan almost get swallowed by one?」

Ryan grinned, flexing his muscles. 「Pff, I would’ve just cut my way out.」

Kibadios shook his head. 「No, Ashura’s right. Those sandworms are valuable. Do you know what the rarest crafting material in this world is?」

「Mithril?」 Maia guessed.

「That’s valuable, yes. But in terms of smithing material?」

Gyo, the group’s master craftsman, immediately caught on. 「Aetherium. It’s the physical manifestation of condensed magic flow—far rarer than any metal.」

Kibadios nodded. 「Exactly. And do you know where it comes from?」

Gyo hesitated. 「It doesn’t have a fixed deposit, unlike other ores. It just appears in high-magic areas, but most people go their whole lives without seeing one.」

Kibadios smirked. 「That’s true. But there is a reliable way to obtain it. Among the sandworms, some possess every elemental affinity. We fought one before. 10,000 years ago, about 5% of the population belonged to that rare type. They don’t just consume animals or monsters—they ingest ambient magic itself. And through their unique digestive system…」

Gyo’s eyes widened. 「Wait. Are you telling me…?!」

Kibadios chuckled. 「Yep. Their bodies refine magic into Aetherium… which is then excreted as droppings.」

A heavy silence followed.

Maia cringed. 「Ew.」

Gyo, however, was practically shaking with excitement. 「If that’s true, then with Ren’s authority, we can send extraction teams straight to those levels and harvest Aetherium directly!」

Ashura grinned. 「You do realize what this means, right? With control over this dungeon, your city is set to become the most powerful force in the world.」

Yue murmured, 「Even after her death… the First is still helping us prepare for war against the Astrals.」

Kibadios turned to Ashura. 「Hmm back to our previous discussion, now that you know the truth about the history of this world and what the Astrals are about to do… what will you do?」

A sinister smirk spread across the Yonko’s face. 「Hmm. Maybe I’ll kill you, take your head to the Astrals, and ask if I can join them?」

「「「It’s not funny.」」」

Kibadios' group glared at Ashura, their muscles tensing as they instinctively readied for battle. The air grew heavy with unspoken threats, crackling like a storm on the verge of breaking.

Uri let out an awkward chuckle, stepping between them in an attempt to defuse the situation. 「Yo, Ashura-sama, maybe don’t joke like that in front of Kiba-chan’s people? They’re not exactly the type to laugh it off.」

The Yonko tilted his head, feigning innocence. 「Joke? Who said I was joking? Isn’t that the most obvious option?」 His grin widened, sharp teeth glinting under the dim dungeon light.

Kibadios took a slow step forward, unfazed by the underlying threat. His violet eyes gleamed with quiet confidence, the amethyst hue burning like an untamed flame. 「You’re right. It is the most obvious option.」 He stopped just inches away from the towering beastman, a smirk playing at his lips. 「But it’s also the most boring one. If you really want excitement, why not do something more interesting? Join me. Fight back against impossible odds. Seek out the thrill you’ve been yearning for… Aniki. 」

Ashura blinked, momentarily caught off guard before breaking into laughter. 「Tch. It’s no fun teasing you at all! At least pretend to sweat when I threaten you! You’re ruining my image as a Yonko.」 He let out a sigh, shaking his head. 「Fine, fine. I’ll play along. But in exchange, we’re taking 15% of your Aetherium output. I wanna forge some ridiculously powerful weapons for my crew.」

Kibadios’ smirk didn’t waver. 「5%.」

Ashura arched an eyebrow. 「13%.」

「7%.」

「12%.」

「12%,」 Kibadios countered, his tone sharp, 「but Hyakki Yagyō is responsible for providing escort teams to our extraction squads to ensure their safety in the desert.」

Ashura’s grin stretched even wider. 「Heh. Deal! 」 He extended a hand, and Kibadios met it in a firm shake.

「Nice doing business with you, Bro!」

「Likewise.」

As Ashura pulled back, a mischievous glint flickered in his eye. 「Oh, right. Since you are a Captain in the Hyakki Yagyō, I think it’s only fair that you personally handle the escorting duties for your extraction teams.」 His smirk was downright devilish.

A vein twitched on Kibadios’ forehead.

「...Go die.」

With zero hesitation, he crushed the Yonko’s hand in his grip.

「OW! I kid! I kid!!」 Ashura yelped, frantically shaking his hand to relieve the pain.

 

Notes:

Idk since when but chatgpt has really improved as a light novel editor this time around. it changes my writing structure and makes it resembles LN a lot more. I like it.

Chapter 190: The failed mission

Just as its name implied, Fengyun, the great Celestial Palace of the Yin empire, floated high above the Capital City of Guangming, sometimes hidden behind a veil of thinly swirling clouds. Much like the Forbidden City, the floating city of jade and gold was the beating heart of the great empire, where all of the central authority coalesced. Soaring watchtowers with sweeping emerald roofs pierced the heavens littered along the city’s edge, their gilded eaves adorned with intricate carvings of dragons and phoenixes, while banners of crimson and sapphire flutter in the wind, inscribed with sacred calligraphy. Bridges of glistening crystal arc over cascading waterfalls that tumble from the island’s edge, vanishing into the sky below, creating a translucent layer of mist that perpetually wrapped around the bustling Capital City. 

Nestled deep inside the expansive Celestial Palace was the Jade Qilin Pavillion, a sanctum where the fate of nations was woven and destinies of millions unsuspecting citizens were decided. Its vast walls of obsidian and jade were inscribed with the wisdom of the past, the golden calligraphy shimmering like liquid fire under the glow of floating crimson lanterns. At the chamber’s center stood an enormous circular table carved from a single piece of enchanted stone, its surface a living model of the empire and its surrounding realms: mountain ranges Layamas rose like jagged spires, rivers like the Kidan meandered like a swirling dragon. 

On one side of the table sat twelve intricately carved chairs, eleven of which were occupied. On the other, upon a throne of celestial jade, sat the Yin Emperor. Regal and composed, he cast a sharp glance across his hastily convened Heavenly Generals—his handpicked elite—before finally speaking.

「So, I assume by now, the news of my foolish brother’s death and the collapse of his conquest of Monas Kye has reached your ears.」The youthful-looking Emperor leaned forward, his voice even.

「What? That groundless rumor is true?」a woman asked, her brows raised.

「How could that be? Wei Shimin-sama’s Subjugation Army had nearly taken all of Monas Kye—only Alsen remained. What happened at the siege that turned the tide?」another voice demanded, disbelief thick in the air.

「Heh. Rumor has it some members of the Hyakki Yagyō were involved. Still, unless the Yonko himself intervened, I can't imagine our adorable Shimin losing,」an old man mused, leaning forward, seemingly the eldest of the group.

「Indeed. He was defeated by one of the Hyakki Yagyō’s captains who joined the war effort,」the Emperor nodded.

「Hoh?」

「His name is Kibadios. A rather intriguing hybrid, he’s drawn some... unwanted attention—even from the Oracle themselves.」The old man in the first seat finally spoke, his voice as dry and brittle as parchment. He leaned forward, his hunched figure tense like a drawn bow. His face, long and narrow, bore a nose so sharply pointed it looked carved from bone, casting shadows over thin, twitching lips.
「He first emerged in the Kingdom of Maeg, just before the rumored resurrection of the Ryujin. He played a part in resealing the dragon and became entangled in the incident at Maeg’s capital. After that, he traveled to the Forest of Vernys, where he supported the Princess during the brief civil war. Lastly, he appeared in Alsen, where he shattered the siege meticulously constructed by Hou Yi—and claimed the life of our esteemed Prince in the process.」

As expected of the First Seat, the Spy Master known as “The Rat,” the report was delivered with practiced precision, tracing Kibadios' journey from the moment he emerged onto the world stage.

「...And what do you mean by ‘unwanted attention from the Oracle’?」another asked.

「He’s believed to have killed Corey—a Hero who had taken residence in Maeg. At least, that’s the conclusion the Oracle reached. They've issued a bounty on his head,」The Rat replied.

「Hmm... What an interesting fellow,」a woman murmured thoughtfully.

「I don’t care what’s going on with an insignificant hybrid. What I care about is what will happen to our Southern Campaign now that Wei Shimin-sama is dead!」a deep voice rang out. 「Your Majesty mentioned a ‘collapse’? What’s the situation on the ground?」

「The Grasslanders have launched a series of counterattacks from Alsen, forcing our Subjugation Army into retreat. Within mere weeks, the demihumans have reclaimed most of the territory Shimin had conquered. The Army is now withdrawing to Ka’shinu—another stronghold previously taken—but the Grasslanders have cut off the escape route. The Subjugation Army is trapped.」

「How could the infamous SSA be pushed back that easily?」

「For better or worse, the SSA lives and dies by its commander. With Wei Shimin-sama at the helm, they were invincible. But without him—and with Hou Yi and other top commanders dead—they’ve crumbled.」

「Wasn’t 'The Snake' assigned to that army as an observer? As a Heavenly General, she should be able to restore order and mount a counterattack.」

「Apparently, my sister died in the battle as well,」spoke a new voice. “The Dragon,” one of the most powerful among the Heavenly Generals, had until now remained silent.
「Besides, what could a weakling like her do? She was nothing but a fraud who used our clan’s influence to secure her seat among the Twelve.」

「Ouch. Isn’t that a bit harsh? Heh.」

「So then, Your Majesty, are we to assume this meeting is about launching a second invasion of Monas Kye and relieving the SSA at Ka’shinu?」The Rat narrowed his eyes at the Emperor.

「No. We currently lack sufficient intel. We don’t know the full extent of the Hyakki Yagyō’s involvement in Monas Kye.」The Emperor’s gaze shifted toward The Rat.
「We’ve confirmed the 13th Division was involved. But whether that was solely because their captain—this Kibadios—accepted the contract independently, or if Ashura himself sanctioned it, remains unknown. Given their decentralized structure, both are possible. If Ashura did intervene directly, then launching a second assault would be tantamount to declaring war on one of the Yonko.」

「But if Ashura is now claiming Monas Kye as his turf, shouldn't that give us more reason to strike sooner rather than later?」

「Indeed. But not without proper preparation,」the Emperor said coolly. 「Ashura may not look it, but he’s dangerous. There’s a reason he’s regarded as a Yonko, equal even to Gilga.」

「Then what about the trapped SSA?」

「That’s why you’re here. I have a task for you: bring back the SSA. Now that my foolish brother is gone—what was his is now mine.」

「Didn’t expect Your Majesty to care so much about a few tens of thousands of soldiers,」a man smirked.

「What I care about is acquiring the Awakened among them,」the Emperor corrected.

As his words implied, in this world of might and magic, a handful of exceptional individuals could tip the balance of entire wars. Gathering those Awakened was more valuable than an army. Much like Rudra, who once threw troops into Tempest not caring if 99% perished so long as a few returned awakened with unique skills, the Yinese Emperor shared a similar mindset. Just as Ryan once awakened his Ultimate Arte in a desperate fight against Akaban, it was reasonable to assume some in the SSA had also awakened, clawing their way to survival against the relentless Grasslanders.

「Hmm!!」Suddenly, one of the Heavenly Generals stood and turned to leave—unshaken, unafraid.

「Where are you going?」a deep voice asked sternly.

「As one of the Twelve, my duty is to protect the capital. I have no obligation to deal with the Grasslanders—or the Hyakki Yagyō,」the youthful voice replied.

「...」The Emperor glanced at The Rat, who gave a silent nod.

「Are you sure?」The old Spy Master spoke, voice calm. 「Even if I told you that, during his time in the Vernys Forest, this Kibadios forcibly dominated a pair of beautiful twins—defiled their bodies, turned them into obedient little pets? According to my sources, they now follow him like loyal slaves.」

「Huh?」The young man’s ears twitched.

「What were their names again...? Ah yes—Ren and Yue. The last royal heirs of the Yue Kingdom.」

「WHAT. DID. YOU. JUST. SAY?」In a blink, the blue-haired elf was upon the old man, his hand transformed into a massive talon of reinforced paper talismans, its sharpened claws pressed to the old man’s forehead.

「Don’t be rash, traitor of the Yue Kingdom,」the old man said with a smirk. As the claw reached his head, so too had his poison-coated finger found the elf’s throat. The two stood locked in a deadly stalemate.「Now, only if you calm yourself... I can tell you everything I know about your precious princess.」

.

.

.

「How long do we have to stand around here for?」a girl whispered, her voice laced with irritation as she glanced at the handsome man beside her.

「Be patient, Karen. We have to wait for Eugene and Candice’s reconnaissance. We need their report before moving in for the kill,」the man replied calmly. His emerald eyes swept the horizon, sharp and calculating. Behind them, their comrades—three seasoned adventurers—stood in grim silence, their eyes scanning the terrain like hawks.

Perched atop a wind-swept hill just outside the border of Alsen, the group lay in wait. They were none other than the famed S-rank adventurer party, the S rank party《Blades of the Dawning Sun》consisted of six elite A-rank fighters led by one man who stood at the peak of humanity’s martial hierarchy. Their leader, Aaron, a red-haired S class swordsman, known not just for his skill but also his unwavering resolve, stepped back and leaned against a weathered boulder, letting the cold rock ground his focus.

「Don’t let your guard down,」he warned, voice low but stern. 「We’re in enemy territory. Demihumans are everywhere. With their grudge against the Yin Empire, I doubt they'd welcome any human, let alone armed ones, sneaking around their doorstep.」

「Can’t be helped,」another man grunted, resting a large greatsword against his shoulder. 「Our target, Kibadios, is hiding in that city.」

「Exactly. We wait for the recon team, hit the hybrid hard, take his head, and vanish before anyone knows we were here. Clean. Precise. No mistakes,」Aaron reminded them.

「Ahh… I can already see it. The bounty we’ll get from the Oracle could set us for life. You and Karen could finally settle down, have that wedding.」One of the men chuckled, rubbing his hands together as greed glittered in his eyes. 「Who knew killing the one who took out Corey the Hero would be so profitable?」

「S-Shut up! Who said anything about marrying him?!」Karen snapped, cheeks tinged crimson.

「「Hahaha!」」The group erupted into laughter, the tension briefly broken as Aaron scratched his head, trying to calm the flustered girl.

Then—like the wind shifting before a storm—the air changed.

「...Well then… who said you insects would leave here alive?」a voice slithered from the shadows, smooth and venomous.

Figures emerged from the darkness, cloaked in long hoods that fluttered like torn flags in the night breeze. Silent as phantoms, they had surrounded the group without a whisper.

One stepped forward, revealing the face of a bald, aged man with a crooked sneer.

「You’re… Pat? From《Whisper of Ruin》?」Aaron narrowed his eyes.

「That’s another S-rank party, right? Are they after Kibadios too?」Karen asked, tense.

「If so, there's no need for conflict. We can split the reward. Fighting each other now would only sabotage our chances,」one of Aaron’s men reasoned, trying to defuse the moment.

But the man in front tilted his head unnaturally. A slow, twisted grin crawled across his face.

「Pat? Oh… you mean this man?」he said, tapping his own chest mockingly.

Confusion rippled through the adventurers. Then came a whisper from their healer, eyes wide with fear.

「Aaron… there’s something wrong with him. I… I can’t sense his Nen. Not even a drop. He shouldn’t be able to stand, let alone speak…」

The old man's body twitched as a black tendril oozed from under his robes, spiraling up to entwine his face.

「This man is dead… well, almost. I’m merely borrowing his body.」

「Dead?! Then what are you?!」

「This fool and his party attempted to slay our God. We merely returned the favor,」the shadow replied. With a flick of the wrist, two dark objects flew through the air—thudding at Aaron’s feet.

Time slowed. The metallic scent of blood hit first. Then came the sight.

「EUGENE!! CANDICE!!!」Karen screamed, her voice cracking as she collapsed to her knees, eyes locked on the severed heads of their comrades.

「How DARE you!!!」Aaron roared, unsheathing his sword in one swift, furious motion.

The fight that followed was short-lived but merciless. One by one, the members of the Blades of the Dawning Sun fell. No matter how deadly their attacks, the shadows simply slipped out of each ruined host and latched onto another waiting mannequin.

Minutes passed like lifetimes. When the dust settled, only Aaron and Karen remained.

「Karen… I’ll hold them off. You must run,」Aaron whispered, barely upright.

「No! I won’t leave you!」

「Damn it, Karen!! You still have Silas and Liliana! Who will protect them if you die here for nothing?!」

Karen’s breath hitched at the mention of her siblings. Tears welled up as her will crumbled.

「But… I can’t lose you too… Aaron…!」

「Go, Karen… don’t let our deaths be in vain.」He smiled, though his body trembled. Then, he turned toward the monsters and charged.

「Aaron!!!」Karen screamed—but her feet moved before her heart could resist. She vanished into the darkness, hot tears blurring her path.

「...Please live, Karen…」Aaron whispered one last time.

. . .

Karen ran. Her legs screamed, her chest heaved, but still she pressed forward. Behind her, the sound of steel clashing and cries of battle faded… until a cold stab of pain pierced her chest.

She knew. Somewhere deep in her soul, she knew—the moment he died.

She had known him since childhood. The two had set out to become adventurers together ten years ago, when she was only fifteen. The first few years were grueling, filled with failure and hardship, but they clawed their way up the ranks bit by bit. Slowly, more companions joined their small party. Just last year, they had finally achieved the decorated S-rank designation. She remembered the night they celebrated like there was no tomorrow—how Aaron ended up puking all his lavish dinner by the end of it while she patted his back, laughing along with the others. Silas and Liliana, her two adorable siblings, had been worried sick, never having seen Aaron that drunk. Those were happy days, glowing and distant like stars—yet now, they felt like they belonged to another lifetime. What had gone so wrong? she asked herself, biting back a sob, fearful that even the sound of her sorrow might alert the shadowy creatures hunting her through the dark.

Now, all of it felt like a distant dream.

「Found her,」a low voice whispered through the brush.

A pair of crimson eyes glinted in the dark. Falkor of the House of the Mane, a beastman with wolf-like features, crouched like a predator ready to pounce.

The red head wolf-beastman’s eyes shone in the dark as he followed the girl’s every movement. The beastman, Falkor of the House of the Mane, has been actively keeping eyes on Alsen’s outskirt ever since Kibadios assigned him to the Intelligence Team. Of course, he has been doing this dutifully because of his loyalty toward the hybrid. However, another reason for him to diligently carry out his assignment was because he had hoped to be able to catch his missing wife, Maryana. Despite his keen sense of smell and sight, he has yet to spot any trace of the homunculus.

「I’ll deal with her,」a voice responded through his magical earpiece—a recent invention of Soren the Mad Scientist.

「Is this too much for you, Falkor-dono?」asked Haden, his quiet companion for the night.

「Too much?」Falkor blinked. 「No. She chose her fate when she came for our King.」

「Still… you’re always so kind to the orphans. You seem like someone who cherishes life.」

「That’s different,」Falkor said softly. 「My wife and I could never have children… so I spoil those kids. But kindness does not mean weakness. In Monas Kye, we were raised to survive. To crush those who threaten our own.」

「What about you?」he added. 「Would you spare her, if you were still that young, wide-eyed adventurer?」

Haden paused, then shook his head.

「No. Not anymore. Anyone who raises a hand against my Master... will face my wrath.」

. . .

「Why run?」a voice echoed like death itself. 「The moment you entered Monas Kye, you sealed your fate.」

Karen turned. There stood a boy—no, not a boy. Something else.

A Chimera.

「I won’t let anyone who threatens my brother live,」Qwan growled.

「What… are you?」Karen breathed, fear gripping her.

「Qwan. A chimera,」he replied, his golden eyes glowing. 「Any last words?」

「...Go to hell, you demihuman abomination!」she spat, fury and sorrow entwined.

. . .

「Qwan-sama, is it done?」asked a mannequin, stepping forward with inhuman grace.

Qwan stared at the girl’s corpse, his expression unreadable.

「Yeah. Take her body to Soren. He might find some use for it.」

「Understood.」

As the mannequin dragged her lifeless form away, Qwan remained still, staring into the abyss of the night.

I never imagined I’d still be working with those shadows after betraying Wei Shimin… Descendants of Daemons, pledging loyalty not to him… but to Brother.

...No, to Zaeryn.

 

All pics are AI-made:

The Rat:

The "Traitor of Yue Kingdom":

 

Blades of the Dawning Sun: (Yes, I know it's missing 1 person, but it's hard to have AI make group picture... i think? I dont use it/research it enough to know)

https://imgur.com/88AbX5b

Notes:

Sorry for the long delay. Again, real life things.
Heh, I planned to have more events in this chapter, but then I decided to dedicate half a chapter for a throwaway NPC's story cuz I want to remind you guys of Foresight's fate from Overlord.

 

ALSO, 1000+ KUDOS? I haven't checked AO3 in like 2 weeks and I was surprised to see we're accumulating more than 1000 kudo now! I actually commissioned a Kibadios x Gyo/Yuusei manga, planning to have it posted sometime wayyy in the future when I write chapter that includes the scene... but now that we're at 1k kudo, I'll post it next week (that means there won't be in-story scene about it, though)

Chapter 191: Bonus R18: Regarding that time Kibadios was a bit horny during a random afternoon

 

I asked for 3-4 pages... I got 8!!!!
I just love these artists so much!!!!!

 

Anyways, I planned to write these scenes out within the story itself, but then I noticed we've reached 1k kudos so I want to post this to mark such milestone.
Note: The story is supposed to take place during these time in Alsen, before the next chapter. Gyo is just working on his smithing, with Yuusei volunteers to help him, but Kibadios has another idea for them.

 

Artist: Japosn

Pixiv ID: 103745141

Their DLsite: https://ci-en.dlsite.com/creator/26444

 

R18 warning!
R18 warning!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 192

「Hmm…」Kibadios’ ear twitched as the faint sound of clashing metals from Alsen’s outskirt awoke the hybrid in the middle of the tranquil night. As usual, he was lying on his side, spooning the naked Maia. One of his arms wrapped around her slender body, his hand rested comfortably on the girl’s firm, hickies covered breast. As the hybrid lightly kissed Maia’s silvery hair, his fingers pinched the girl’s soft pink nipples, causing her to moan slightly in her sleep. Down below, her pussy instinctively twitched, letting her Master’s cum slowly dripped out of her private part. Kibadios finally sat up and looked around his surroundings to find most of his harem members lying naked around him on his unusually large bed, though it was clear that two of them were missing. He swiftly made his way to the edge of the bed, making sure he did not disturb any of his harem members’ sleep. There, he found Yuusei and Gyo sleeping together. The two did not join him earlier in the night, since he had just fucked them senselessly earlier in the afternoon. Seeing Gyo’s fully erect cock despite being soundly asleep, Kibadios couldn’t help but gently grab onto it and rubbed it a few times, causing Gyo to squirm around and mutter softly. Kibadios has seen his adorable Gyo’s cock more than a dozen times now, but he could not help but admire the thick, full shaft that the muscular blacksmith possessed. Had Gyo not been born a mutant, certainly he could have been courted by countless girls in the settlement given his handsome, clean shaven look and a rather well-endowed cock. But now, Gyo has fully been converted into become part of his harem, this throbbing vein wrapped meatstick that was meant to be ravaging a girl’s watering pussy, had turned into nothing but a toy for the hybrid’s amusement. Kibadios let out a devious smile, leaned down to kiss the blacksmith’s forehead, before getting off the bed. As he walked out the door, the hybrid quickly glanced at the corner of the room, where Ayer slept, curling up into a ball like a sad puppy. Although Kibadios indeed felt a hint of pity when he looked at the otokonoko, he could not help but notice the air of erotica emitting from the trap, as he was now moaning in his sleep. After being subjected to Kibadios’ <Jagan, Evil Eyes> skill almost daily, having experienced a lifetime of pleasure brought to him via such realistic illusions, the former Ennead was now constantly dreaming about it every time he closed his eyes. At this very moment, his cute little cock was clearly erected underneath his tight short as he continued to dream about Kibadios fucking him, drowning him in ecstasy. 

You’ve lasted much longer than I had anticipated, Ayer… That pride of yours is truly something. Kibadios thought to himself. 

.

.

.

「I see the rumor about him is still keeping you up at night, Yue?」Ren, dressed in nothing but a thin, silky sleepwear that clung loosely to his lean figure, leaned against the wooden rail, gazing out over the moonlit grasslands stretching endlessly before them.

「How could it not?」Yue, clad in a similarly delicate and revealing nightdress, stood beside her brother. The moonlight cast a silver sheen across her pale skin, her expression heavy with melancholy.

「But it might’ve all been a lie. A trap laid by Wei Shimin to lure you in. There’s no way Zouen would betray our Kingdom…」Ren's voice faltered as he spoke the words, clinging to hope as much as denial.

「...Nii-sama, we’ve been together since birth. You don’t have to pretend with me.」
Yue turned to face him, her eyes searching his. 「You know it too, don’t you? Deep down, you’ve already accepted that it isn’t impossible. It doesn’t matter how deeply Zouen loved the Kingdom. It doesn’t matter how valiantly he fought. I was still his weakness. Always. And if it meant saving me, I believe… he would’ve sacrificed everything. Even the Kingdom.」
She paused, the weight of her memories bearing down on her. 「Back then, when the capital burned… when our elder brother fell… you felt his presence, didn’t you?」

「...You sensed it too?」Ren turned to her sharply, the air between them growing taut.

Yue nodded, her voice trembling. 「Yes. I didn’t say anything before… because I didn’t want to believe it. But I knew. It was him.」

「...If he really did betray us—if he was the reason our Kingdom fell—then as its last surviving prince, I’ll be the one to face him. I’ll take that burden on myself. I won’t let you suffer, Yue.」
Ren's tone was resolute, but behind his calm eyes swirled pain—the kind only those who had loved and lost could understand.

「...Kibadios-sama said the same thing.」A faint smile curled Yue’s lips, subtle and serene, as if the mere mention of their Master's name was enough to soothe the storm in her heart.

「He did?」

「Un. But…」 She looked up at the stars, her voice firm. 「I’ve made my choice. This isn’t a burden you need to carry alone, Nii-sama. I’m royalty too. I’m part of this Kingdom. If the time comes… then it’s a fight I must face as well.」

Ren reached out, gently patting her silver hair. 「You’ve grown strong, Yue.」

「I had to.」 She paused.

「Have you told Kibadios-sama about your thoughts?」

「I did. But… he still worries.」

「Naturally. Have you noticed? Ever since Wei Shimin's defeat, he hasn’t involved you in his nightly activities. I think… he’s trying to be gentle with you, knowing how torn you feel about Zouen.」Ren pointed out.

「I noticed that too. Poor Maia. She’s the only other girl in the harem besides me… she’s had to bear the full brunt of Master’s lust.」Yue chuckled lightly, her voice tinged with mischief. 「You know… I think I kind of miss his touch.」

Ren blinked, clearly caught off guard. 「Wait… did you actually fall for him? Even a little?」

「Did you now, Yue-chan?」The teasing voice interrupted their conversation like a gust of midnight wind. Kibadios appeared behind them without a sound—his presence overwhelming, his expression playful. One hand slid effortlessly around Yue’s slender waist, the other boldly cupped Ren’s firm ass, fingers sinking in with practiced ease.

「Huh?! What are you doing up?!」Ren flinched.

「I could ask the same thing. But I simply can’t sleep without my two adorable naked elven twins at my sides.」The hybrid grinned. 「Now, what’s really keeping you up? Still troubled by Zouen’s betrayal?」

「...」The twins exchanged a glance before Yue spoke, her voice low.

「Yes. We're still… trying to process it. I’m sorry, Kibadios-sama. I know I’ve been distant. I’ve neglected your physical needs, even though you’ve been so patient.」

「There’s no need to apologize.」Kibadios gently shook his head. 「I know what betrayal feels like…」

「You’re speaking of Aspen…」 Ren whispered. 「So he really did betray you?」

「He did. But your case is different. Zouen didn’t betray you directly. He betrayed your Kingdom, yes… but for your sake. That kind of betrayal leaves behind a different kind of wound. One harder to hate.」

「No…」 Yue’s voice tightened. 「It’s the same.」She stared ahead, eyes gleaming with restrained sorrow. 「Our Kingdom was our family, our people, our home. If Zouen turned his back on all that, no matter the reason… it’s unforgivable.」

「Even if he thought it was for us… he should have known better.」Ren clenched his fists.

「We’ll have to face the Empire sooner or later.」 Kibadios’s voice turned serious. 「If Zouen stands among them… I’ll handle him for you, Yue-chan.」

「Thank you, Kibadios-sama.」Yue turned to him, her eyes burning with quiet fire. 「But if that moment comes… it’s my battle to fight.」

「It’s our fight.」Ren corrected her with a soft smile.

「Hmm… maybe I underestimated your resolve, Yue-chan.」Kibadios ruffled her hair gently—and to his surprise, Yue leaned into his hand ever so slightly, her usual cool demeanor melting just a little beneath his touch. Before he could remark on it, he felt a soft tug on his shirt from behind.

「What is it, Ren-chan?」The hybrid looked over his shoulder to see the flustered elven prince staring up at him, lips slightly parted, eyes conflicted.

「Don’t tell me you’re jealous of your sister now?」Kibadios teased—and this time, he was dead-on.

「Wh-what?! Don’t be ridiculous!」Ren flailed, instinctively swinging his arm in protest—only for his fist to accidentally strike something soft.

BAM.

「Oof—!」Kibadios recoiled, blood trickling from his nose.

「K-Kibadios-sama?! I-I didn’t mean to—!!」

「Nii-sama…」Yue giggled. 「If you keep acting like a tsundere, Kibadios-sama might actually get tired of you one day.」

「B-but…!!」

「It’s fine. It’s fine.」Kibadios chuckled as he wiped away the blood, then pulled Ren into a firm, warm embrace. 「This is just how my Ren-chan is. I don’t mind at all. In fact… I kind of love it.」His voice dropped into a sensual murmur. 「I know you love me too. You’ve softened so much since we first met. I can tell.」

「I… I…」The elf blushed furiously, trying to form a coherent protest—but it was too late. Kibadios’s hands had already slid down again, groping Ren’s round, pillowy ass with shameless affection.

「W-wait… why do I feel something poking me…?」

「Because you look far too enticing in that sheer little nightgown.」Kibadios leaned in, planting a kiss on Ren’s cheek while his fingers traced the outline of a sensitive nipple beneath the thin fabric. 「Look at these delicious red bite marks I left on your body. Barely even hidden… Were you tempting me, Ren-chan?」

「Tsk…」Ren turned away with a scowl, his ears burning. 「You were the one who picked our clothes, you pervert!」Yet despite his words, a soft moan escaped his lips—sweet, breathy, involuntary.

 

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「「「Heave ho! Heave ho!」」」
A chorus of determined voices rang out as a group of demihumans hauled up a massive wooden frame. The skeleton of a new tavern slowly took shape—rising from the ruins of one that had been leveled in the recent battle. The city of Alsen, once a somber husk of hope clinging to life, now buzzed with activity.

After crushing Wei Shimin’s forces, the demihumans of Monas Kye wasted no time. With resilience in their hearts and calloused hands, they threw themselves into a massive reconstruction effort. From giggling children to stooped elders, everyone pitched in however they could. And though the work was grueling, wide smiles and bright eyes shone on every face.

Their newly crowned king, Kibadios, had departed two days prior to lead a campaign to liberate Monas Kye’s final stronghold. But even in his absence, the people pressed on—driven not by command, but by conviction. Not a single soul dared to slack off.

「Here’s your water!」Tina, Kuran’s spirited daughter, darted between workers with a heavy clay pitcher in her arms. Too young for the heavy lifting, she found her own way to contribute.

「Thank you, Tina-chan!」A four-armed demihuman gratefully downed the offered glass in seconds.

「You’re a life-saver!」Another worker gave the girl a playful pat on the head.

「Teehee!」Tina beamed and dashed off again, wobbling slightly under the weight of the pitcher. Eventually, she reached a familiar blond-haired figure resting near the outskirts of the site.

「Ayer-sama, you’ve been working hard. Would you like some water?」

Ayer, the former Ennead, stood with arms crossed and silver threads coiling at his feet like lazy serpents. Though Kibadios had left the city, he’d ordered Ayer to stay behind—to aid in reconstruction and act as Alsen’s protector. With a slave collar bound tight around his neck, Ayer had no choice but to obey commands like “help out when you can” and “protect Alsen in my place.” Naturally, he resented every moment of it. His perpetual scowl and icy demeanor scared off most of the townsfolk. Only Tina dared to approach him with any regularity.

「Don’t get friendly with me, you filthy mortal,」he snapped, narrowing his eyes.

Unfazed, Tina tilted her head.「Huh? Filthy? But I just took a shower...」She sniffed her sleeve, genuinely puzzled.

「…Just go away, you idiot!」He flicked his hand in annoyance.「If it weren’t for this cursed collar, I’d tear you apart for your ignorance.」

「...Fine… but I’ll leave your water here, Ayer-sama.」She set the glass down with a pout and turned to leave.

But before she could get far—

「Tina-chan! Watch out!!」A shout echoed across the site. From directly above, a bundle of unsecured lumber slipped free and came crashing down toward the girl.

「AHHH!!」Tina’s eyes widened in terror. Her legs locked up, refusing to move. She clenched her eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

「Tsk.」With a sudden crash, the boards hit something—but not the girl. Gasps erupted as workers rushed over, expecting the worst. Instead, they found Tina trembling, completely unharmed. A pair of arms had wrapped tightly around her, shielding her from the falling debris.

One arm was thrown up, intercepting the impact. The other clutched her tiny frame against a slender torso.

「A…Ayer-sama?」Tears spilled from Tina’s eyes as snot bubbled from her nose. The sight made Ayer grimace.

「Shut up! Stop getting your disgusting fluids all over me!」He shoved the lumber aside and immediately stepped away from her.

「F... fank yu fur safing meee...」Tina’s voice wobbled through her clogged nose.

「Tsk. You lot! Get over here and clean up this mess!」Ayer barked the order at nearby workers before storming off. He headed straight for a water basin and began scrubbing his arm, where a few splinters had grazed the skin.Water splashed across his face.

「What the hell was that…? Why did I save her...? Was that—Zaeryn’s command...?」His muttering was interrupted by a cold voice behind him.

「You’re getting soft, Ayer.」The former Ennead spun around. A man cloaked in white stood just a few paces behind him, lips curled into a mocking smile.

「Or are you going to claim the collar made you do it?」

「What are you doing here?!」Ayer’s eyes widened.「Wait—if you’re here, then break this collar! Free me!」

「Why would I? I’m only here to deliver some news: you’ve been expelled from the Astral Realm.」The man glanced around, his smirk widening.「That, and maybe raze this city… just to piss Zaeryn off.」

「Azragon, you bastard! Stop spouting nonsense and help me!」

「You don’t get to command me, hybrid.」Azragon’s eyes gleamed.「Know your place. Especially now that you're no longer one of us. Surely you noticed when your Ultimate Arte,〈Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris〉, was revoked?」

Ayer’s hands trembled.「You… You’re lying…」

「Not at all. In fact, your original body’s been repurposed. It's a weapon now. Wanna see?」
Azragon snapped his fingers.

Before Ayer, his true body—slender, graceful, and inhumanly beautiful—manifested like a cruel joke. It stood still, lifeless and obedient.

All the hope Ayer had clung to, all the denial he’d wrapped around himself... crumbled.

「Kill him.」Azragon commanded.「Then we can wipe this dump off the map.」

「AZRAGON, YOU FUCKER!!!」
Ayer screamed, threads flaring out like blades. If he was going down, then he’d damn well drag Azragon with him—even if it was just a homunculus.

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The horde of the Grasslanders swept swiftly through the plain of Monas Kye, creating a storm of dust clouds at a breakneck speed that surprised even seasoned adventurers like Ember and Floria. Thousands of riders, mounted on a mixture of native beasts such as demigryphs, giant wolves, and wildebeests, poured in from every freed corner of the land, joining the forces that had set out from Alsen to finally crush the remnant Yinese forces retreating toward Ka’shinu. Leading the native Grasslander army, now numbering in the thousands, was Kibadios, riding atop his peculiar slime pet, which had morphed into the shape of a fearsome demigryph—though it still retained its translucent body. Four of his usual retainers—Uri, Ren, Yue, and Ryuu—followed closely behind. Unlike before, when his entire harem accompanied him wherever he went, the hybrid had instructed the others to stay behind and help out. Among those who remained, Rowan was continuing his mastery over <Seed of Time> by casting a barrier around the Dungeon. Gyo, as the best smith in the city, led the Alsen rebuilding efforts alongside Yuusei. Meanwhile, Ryan assisted Maia with treating wounded refugees. Uri was supposed to stay behind as well, but given how unpredictable his heat period could be, it was decided he would accompany his alpha.

「You know you’ve been glaring at Kibadios-sama for a while now, Amber-san?」Haden, who was riding next to Amber and Floria, noted.

「Is it that obvious?」The female hero smiled.「I just can’t help but be in awe of him. Never in a million years would I have guessed that the strange hybrid who showed up out of nowhere back in Lorian would one day lead an army of demihumans large enough to threaten any one kingdom in the region.」

「I can understand your astonishment. Kibadios-sama somehow easily draws people to him and his cause,」Haden nodded.

「And now I see why they say Monas Kye is unconquerable. The Grasslands may be home to hundreds of independent and fragmented tribes, towns, and cities, but once they rally under a single banner, they become almost an unstoppable force. And these are the very same people who were nearly conquered and enslaved to the last man and woman. Yet, their spirit remains unbroken. The moment the tide turns, they quickly muster what courage—and manpower—they have left to join their newly crowned king in fighting for their homeland.」

「Is that why you’re accompanying him, Amber-dono?」Reuk, the former elven archer who now possessed a modified homunculus body of Adela, asked.「You’re trying to make sure Kibadios doesn’t direct this newfound power toward any human kingdom nearby?」

「Yes,」Amber admitted.「If he ever does such a thing, I will turn my blades against him. Granted, I will most likely fail and perish if I challenge him, but at least my conscience will remain clean.」

「Hahaha, I like you, Amber-dono!」Reuk laughed.「And that’s the very conscience that convinced you to betray the Oracle and warn Kibadios about his bounty, huh?」

「...」

「You do know that by informing our Master, you’ll undoubtedly be denounced as a traitor?」Haden asked.「This may be Monas Kye, the land of the demihuman, where the Oracle has extremely limited reach, but with their extensive network, they will learn about your misdeed sooner or later. And once they do...」

「Amber knew!」Floria declared.「She knew, yet she still decided to warn him—because it was the right thing to do!」

「Yeah... I’m tired of doing things by the book,」Amber smiled.「In the eyes of the Oracle, I may be a traitor, but I will still stand and fight for humanity, regardless.」

「Fight for humanity? Then what if Kibadios-sama massacres the Yinese soldiers to the very last man? Will you do nothing?」

「I don’t condone it,」Amber frowned.「But this is warfare. Once a man picks up a weapon and decides to fight, he accepts the consequences. I hope Kibadios reconsiders, but it is within his right to kill those who have killed and enslaved countless of his people.」

「...That’s good to hear,」Haden smiled faintly.「Then at least, you won’t make an enemy out of Kibadios-sama—yet.」

「So... does that mean he really intends to...」Floria hesitated.

「...Yes,」answered Haden. Or worse, he thought, though he did not say it aloud. There was a high chance some would be sent to Soren, but since Soren’s laboratory was supposed to be a state secret, Haden disclosed nothing more.

.

.

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By the third day, Kibadios’ army had caught up with Ectharen’s, and together they marched toward Ka’shinu—the last occupied Grasslander stronghold. The following morning, a scout brought interesting news to Kibadios: before the remnants of Wei Shimin’s army reached the city, a rebellion had broken out two days prior when news of Wei Shimin’s defeat reached Ka’shinu. The native Grasslanders successfully expelled the Yinese garrison and retook their city—fortunate, as this meant they could not be used as hostages. However, at this very moment, the retreating Yinese army was laying siege to the depleted and exhausted Ka’shinu, knowing that taking the population hostage was their only chance to negotiate a ceasefire and secure safe passage back to the Yin Empire.

「Let’s pick up the pace!」Kibadios raised his arm.「We have to crush them before they enter Ka’shinu!」

「「「OOOHHHH!!!」」」The hybrid’s order was met with a thunderous roar as the entire army raced toward their destination.

By noon, the vanguard, two thousand strong and led by Kibadios, reached the beleaguered city. Like Theoden leading the Rohirrim to the Pelennor Fields, or Yontawa leading the Mountain Tribes to save Sai, Kibadios was relieved to see the city still standing. The crumbling city walls were riddled with openings, yet the adamant Lizardmen—one of the two great Clans ruling the fortress city—held firm, blocking the Yinese from breaching the city. Their fallen comrades formed grotesque barricades that hindered the invaders. Despite being outnumbered, Ka’shinu still held, thanks to the Lizardmen’s valor and the Harpies’ aerial supremacy. With wings and razor-sharp claws, the Harpies struck from above, tearing through enemy ranks and darting away before retaliation. Normally, mages and rune-crafters would have countered this—but many had already perished alongside Wei Shimin at Alsen. Still, Kibadios’ keen senses identified several exceptional fighters among the remaining Yinese. Some had already broken through the defensive perimeter—and given more time, would surely overrun Ka’shinu.

「But not on my watch.」Kibadios declared, pointing forward.「Charge!!」

The hybrid turned to Ryuu.「You know what to do.」

「Of course, Master!」Ryuu grinned, jumped off his mount, transformed into his full dragon form, and lunged forward. As Kibadios predicted, Ryuu’s appearance instantly drew the attention of both the Yinese and Ka’shinu forces.

「Fight!! Fight for your lives!!」One Yinese commander shouted, his cry snapping his men out of shock and rekindling their crumbling morale. Knowing their only hope for survival lay beyond Ka’shinu’s walls, the soldiers fought with desperation.

「It’s not enough, huh?」Kibadios scowled.「Do it, Ryuu.」

The dragonkin opened his massive jaws, a concentrated sphere of Nen energy forming within. 「DRAGON BREATH!」The energy beam burst forth, sweeping across the battlefield and vaporizing hundreds in an instant. A deafening silence followed, as allies and enemies alike stood paralyzed by awe.

Clang…CLANG…CLANG!!!

Weapons dropped across the field. Whatever hope the Yinese soldiers clung to had evaporated in the scorching aftermath of Ryuu’s blast. Just as the Grasslanders reached the enemy lines, they halted, seeing the foe already broken.

「Give up struggling, and I will grant you a merciful end.」Kibadios’ calm voice carried far, despite not being raised.「...」「...」「... Please…」「... Please spare us!」Desperate cries grew louder.

「Where is your dignity, O soldiers of the great Yin Empire?」an old man’s voice suddenly echoed. From the blue sky, countless birds swooped down—but as they approached, it became clear they were made of talisman paper.

「This is...」「Instant transportation rune,」Yue and Ren recognized the technique. As the birds struck the ground, they unfolded into a massive dodecagram. In an instant, eleven figures appeared at each point of the 12-pointed star, their presence exuding immense power—enough to alarm even veteran Clan Heads like Ectharen and Wylan.

「Don’t tell me... it’s them...」Ectharen muttered.

「Quick, spread out! Protect our flanks and watch for ambushes!」Wylan commanded, ever cautious. The 11 were none other than the infamous 12 Heavenly Generals. The worst-case scenario would be getting flanked by Yinese reinforcements—just like Ramsay Gordon in the Battle of the Bastards.

「Heh. Don’t be too alarmed, Wylan,」The Rat, who knew all the Grasslander leaders by face, sneered.「We’re the only reinforcements the Empire sent. The Emperor does not wish to escalate things further. He has agreed to a truce and ordered our forces to retreat.」

「Hmm. Who said your cornered army is allowed to leave intact?」Ectharen growled.

「We did. All eleven of us,」said another old man, more regal than the Rat. His gaze turned to Kibadios—the strongest among the Grasslanders and likely their new King.「Withdraw, and so will we. Stand and fight, and we will all perish here.」

「Master, we can take them!」Ryuu hovered beside Kibadios.

「Can you?」a woman snarled. She leapt into the air and transformed into a colossal western dragon with wings vast enough to shroud a mountain. Unlike her sister, “The Snake,” whom Ryuu had defeated easily, “The Dragon” radiated power equal to Ryuu’s own.

「...」Kibadios said nothing. I thought I had a good grasp of their power based on Ryuu’s account, but I clearly underestimated them... 'Stand and fight, then we all perish.' What a troublesome bunch.

「Yo, boss, what’s the plan? I don’t think we’ll come out unscathed if we fight. This feels like facing all of Hyakki Yagyo’s captains at once,」Uri muttered.

「Fine. I accept your proposal,」Kibadios declared.

「Wise,」the regal old man nodded.「Men of the Yin Empire, lower your weapons. We are going home.」

「Hmm,」Ryuu returned to his humanoid form and stood beside Kibadios.「Do you think it was the right choice, Kibadios-sama?」

「We’re not ready for this fight,」Kibadios admitted.「There’s nothing we can do.」

「But I’ll be taking them with me!」Another Heavenly General interrupted. Two large runic claws made of paper talismans materialized and seized the elven twins.

「「Ugh!」」Caught off guard, the siblings were immobilized.

Notes:

Welp, sorry I have not posted new chapter in a hot minute... but I have good excuse: I finally got laid off~ lol (>.>) I dodged layoff like I dodged Covid, but much like Covid, I finally got it after 2.5 years working lol (well, it was like 1 year w Covid haha) Good thing I've seen it coming so I've been aggressively saving and yes, that meant I commissioned less. As of right now, I only 1 more commission that I did not post... which will come soon. It's Kibadios x Ayer... for real this time.

Anyways, I thought getting laid off would allow me to write more, but I've been so distracted that every time I start writing, I switched to LinkedIn to look for job posting instead lol >.>
Well, I don't blame you for giving up on this story, given my inconsistent updates but yea, nothing I can do. Writing is hard :( and now it's extra hard that I'm distracted.
How the fuck can Mangaka releases weekly updates?

Chapter 193: Yue's heart (R18)

Notes:

Phew. After like 2 years, Yue finally, truly becomes Kibadios'.
Sorry Kouen, you're a character born just to be NTRed. >.>

I really really want to commission scenes of Kibadios x Ren+Yue in this chapter... but I'm jobless now so yeah... not gonna happen.
Also, if I get isekaied now, would my story be "Jobless reincarnation" lol

「What are you trying to do?」Kibadios asked firmly, his eyes glaring at the blue-haired elf standing among the 11 Heavenly Generals. The two massive claws restraining Ren and Yue crumbled into nothingness as twin flaming phoenixes materialized, shielding the twins with radiant wings of searing flame.

「What…」
「Are those… summons…?」
「Heh, he’s really something… this Kibadios.」Even the Heavenly Generals, so proud and mighty, were momentarily shaken at the sight of Kibadios’ Ultimate Arte: <Progenitor of the Heavens, Izanagi and Izanami>. The atmosphere thickened with oppressive weight, Nen pressure cascading down like an invisible storm, forcing the elite warriors to brace themselves just to remain upright.

「Do you think that would intimidate me, you hybrid?!」Kouen snarled, projecting himself forward with reckless speed.「Give me back Ren and Yue-chan! They don’t belong to you!!」

「Oh, but we do, in both body and mind!」Ren shot back, leaping before his Master and erecting a shimmering Runic barrier to intercept Kouen’s charge. Yet, the blue-haired elf’s sharpened hand—like a blade forged from his very wrath—pierced through the defensive ward, halting mere centimeters from Ren’s chest.
But Ren didn’t flinch. He knew it would happen. He expected it. After all, the one attacking him was none other than Kouen—the Runecraft genius who once even taught him.「So it’s really you, Kouen… You’re still alive… Then it’s true, what Wei Shimin told Yue…」The pink-haired elf grimaced, pain rippling across his gentle features.

「Ren… I…」Kouen’s shame boiled over, unable to meet the eyes of his once closest companion.

「Kouen!! How could you?!」Yue’s anguished cry echoed across the battlefield, tears glistening down her cheeks. The talisman gripped in her trembling hand burned with unspent power, yet… she couldn’t bring herself to activate it—not against him.

「Yue-chan… Ugh!」Kouen’s words caught in his throat, cut short as Kibadios’ foot, empowered by ogre-like Nen strength, collided with his ribs. The impact was thunderous. Kouen’s body flew like a broken doll, crashing into Ka’shinu’s shattered city wall, sending cracks sprawling through the ancient stone.
Had it been any other soldier, their body would’ve been reduced to pulp. But Kouen rose again, coughing blood but defiantly brushing off the debris on his cloak.

「Despite the ceasefire, your side initiates conflict. Does this mean you wish for annihilation here and now?」Kibadios’ voice was colder than death, his Izanagi and Izanami perched upon his shoulders like silent harbingers of divine retribution. Chaos Miasma— On —began seeping upward from his shadow, curling up his left arm in black tendrils, while purified Nen coiled around his right, a balance of destruction and order.

「...」From behind, Ember’s eyes twitched as she watched Kibadios effortlessly command that forbidden power.

「...Chaos Miasma, huh? So Wei Shimin-dono did succeed… only to be <Devoured> by you.」The Rat muttered, barely audible beneath his breath.

「Calm yourself, O King of the Demihumans. Kouen will receive proper punishment for attempting to steal what is yours.」The regal old man—the Tiger—stepped forward as four Heavenly Generals moved in, restraining Kouen before he could escalate further.「You too, should restrain yourself. Otherwise, this field will turn into a graveyard.」

「…Fine.」Kibadios narrowed his eyes, dismissing Izanagi and Izanami with a thought.

「Good.」The Tiger nodded.「We will take our leave. One of us will remain to oversee our Southern Subjugation Army’s retreat—」

「Next time, Demihuman, I’ll crush you.」Kouen’s glare burned with venom as he whispered, 「Don’t you dare touch Ren and Yue-chan… I’ll save them.」

.

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「So, were you able to gauge the hybrid’s strength?」The Tiger asked, leading the retreating Heavenly Generals, with only the Pig left behind to handle logistics. The moment they returned to the grand marble steps of the Celestial Palace Fengyun via Kouen’s special Transportation Runecraft, a messenger was already there, informing them that they had just been summoned for another audience with the Emperor. Only this time, they were warned that he would not be alone.「Wasn’t that why you violated the ceasefire and attacked him?」

「Ha! Knowing Kouen, I bet he just snapped after seeing his beloved stolen by a hybrid.」The Rat snickered with his sharp tongue.

「Say that again, Rat, and I’ll gut you.」Kouen growled, but then turned his attention back to the leader.「I couldn’t gauge his strength at all… or rather, it felt like his potential was… bottomless. It’s like I was standing on the edge of a fathomless ocean.」

「The hell does that mean?」The Rabbit frowned.

「Ask a fisherman how vast the sea is, and he’ll only shake his head.」

「You’re saying he’s that strong?」The Rat scowled.

「If I had to bet… Had we just fought back then, it’d be a mutual destruction at best.」

「Even with Longyin there?」

「Yes. Even if she’s not busy dealing with that dragonkin, we might be all perished if we had fought then.」

「Ho…」The Tiger rubbed his beard, thoughtful.「So my hunch was correct. No wonder Wei Shimin-sama lost.」

「And now… thanks to that loss, the hybrid was able to gain mastery over Chaos Miasma itself.」The Rat added darkly.

「Was… Wei Shimin-sama researching something that forbidden?」The Dog murmured uneasily.

「…」The Rat remained silent. After all, access to such information was a privilege that not even other Heavenly Generals had the right to know. If he were to divulge any more than that, he would undoubtedly be receiving his Emperor’s wrath. 

「Hmm…」The Tiger suddenly stopped, gaze narrowing at a peculiar group gathered at the entrance to the Celestial Chamber.

「Those people are…」The Monkey’s eyes followed.

「The Oracle’s envoy.」The Rat confirmed with a grim smile.「It appears that’s who our Emperor is meeting with.」

「We’re not supposed to be very friendly with the Oracle from beyond the mountain range, are we?」The Rooster blinked.

「Not after we conquered the other states despite the Oracle’s intervention a few decades ago.」The Goat added.

「For them to come here… and for His Majesty to welcome them like this. It has to be in regard to the newly crowned King of the Grasslanders, Kibadios.」The Tiger deduced.

「Heh… Things are getting interesting.」The Rat smirked.

 

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「I see. So our King, Kibadios-sama here, is the Young Lord of the House of the Horn?」Teczok’s reptilian eyes narrowed slightly as he carefully studied the hybrid from head to toe, his thick arms crossed over his broad chest. After a moment of silent assessment, the lizardman nodded firmly.「I can see it. He really does resemble Kailos-dono.」

「Indeed… such a handsome young man.」Celaena agreed, brushing back a lock of her long, silver hair, her wings softly rustling behind her in approval. There was a gentle warmth in her tone.

The atmosphere inside the House of the Scales’ grand residence was heavy with both reverence and lingering tension. Everyone present now sat around the large wooden banquet table, warmed by the soft glow of enchanted crystal lamps. A quiet feast had been prepared, but few were eating. There was something far more important at hand.

Wylan had already taken the opportunity to formally introduce Kibadios to the two remaining Heads of the Great Houses. He explained, with deliberate care, how the hybrid had defeated both himself and Ectharen during the Trial, earning the Kingship of Monas Kye.
Of course, as expected, he tactfully omitted any mention of Ayer, the Astrals, or the fact that Kibadios was Zaeryn reincarnated. Those were not stories for anyone else to tell—not unless Kibadios himself chose to do so.

「Teczok-dono, Celaena-dono,」Ectharen finally broke the silence, his deep, baritone voice echoing across the long dining hall, 「Are you two… content with Kibadios-sama’s claim to the throne of Monas Kye?」

「Huh? Of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be?」Celaena tilted her head, genuinely surprised by the question.

「I mean…」Ectharen glanced away awkwardly, scratching at the fur on his jaw.「The Trial was supposed to include representatives from your Houses. Since circumstances prevented that, I wasn’t sure whether you would fully accept the result.」

「True…」Celaena admitted softly.「It was impossible for us to participate, yet fate has brought us a ruler anyway—a ruler who stood before the Heavenly Generals themselves and led us to reclaim our land. Doesn’t that simply mean… the Kingship was never meant to belong to either of our Houses? Right, Teczok-dono?」She smiled toward her companion.

「Hahaha!!」Teczok suddenly burst out laughing, his booming voice echoing off the stone walls.「I won’t lie to you. When I first heard that someone had claimed the Kingship during the Trial without the participation of our House, I was not too happy. We lizardmen… we believe in strength, plain and simple. Might make right. Why should I bow to someone I’ve never met?」He leaned forward slightly, his gaze glimmering with intensity.「But the moment I saw Kibadios-sama unleash his power against the Heavenly Generals… I knew I was a fool for doubting his power. I stood there watching, thinking—‘Even if I had participated, I wouldn’t have lasted a second against that.’」With a grin, he then gestured broadly to the other side of the room, where Kibadios’ companions sat casually enjoying the food and drink.「Besides, just look at who follows him. None of us could match that kind of gravitas. Among them, a dragonkin powerful enough to rival Longyin herself! What more proof do we need?」

「He’s right.」Celaena added, folding her arms beneath her ample chest.「By every measure, Kibadios-sama is already far above any of us. Honestly… it’s almost like we’re sitting in the presence of a reincarnated god.」Her words made both Wylan and Ectharen exchange a glance, neither speaking, but clearly both thinking of the same truth neither dared reveal.

「Hmm…」Finally, Kibadios broke his silence, his purple eyes drifting sharply over the assembled leaders.「If that’s already your impression of me… perhaps I should indulge you with a story. Heads of the Two Great Houses, will you grant me your patience for a rather long tale?」

「「Kibadios-sama…?」」Both Teczok and Celaena straightened slightly, surprised by the hybrid’s sudden invitation.

And so he spoke. For the next half hour, Kibadios laid bare the truth of his life, his origin, his death, and his reincarnations. He spoke of Zaeryn. Of the Astrals. Of the ancient burdens and the endless battles that awaited them in the future ahead. By the end of it, Teczok’s massive jaw hung slightly open, disbelief painted across his reptilian features. Celaena pressed her fingers to her lips, pale and speechless, as if the wind had been knocked from her lungs.

Kibadios rose slowly, standing before them with outstretched hand.「So… House of the Scales, House of the Wings—will you lend your strength to me? I cannot promise you glory. Only hardship. Only war. Only the faintest chance of survival.」

For a moment, the two leaders hesitated—not out of doubt, but from the sheer weight of what was being asked of them. They exchanged a glance with Wylan and Ectharen, as if seeking silent confirmation. Both men nodded. The hybrid’s words were no deception. Right then and there, both Teczok and Celaena dropped to their knees, as if struck by divine judgment, tears welling in the corners of their eyes.

「Kibadios-sama… no… Zaeryn-sama ...」Celaena whispered, her voice trembling with overwhelming reverence.「Our lives were saved by you. Our people’s lives were saved by you. Everything we have… everything we are… belongs to you now.」

「You shouldn’t have carried this burden alone!」Teczok bellowed, his normally rough voice cracking with raw emotion.「Let us bear it with you! For the lizardmen of Monas Kye, fighting alongside Zaeryn himself is the greatest honor our people could ever receive!」Of all the demihuman races in Monas Kye, the lizardmen were the most devout in their ancient worship of Zaeryn. To fight at his side was not simply duty—it was salvation .

「Thank you, Teczok. Celaena.」Kibadios smiled faintly, a rare, soft light flickering in his eyes.「But… please. Call me Kibadios. Zaeryn did fail, and he had died. As Kibadios , I will seize victory in this second battle against the Astrals. This time… we will win.」

「「We understand… Kibadios-sama—our one true King!!」」they echoed together, voices ringing in unwavering unity.

The conversation and meal with the two Heads continued for a while longer, most of it shifting toward practical discussions—namely, how Alsen could assist Ka’shinu in recovering from its catastrophic devastation. Knowing full well the urgency of the situation, Kibadios had already anticipated the need for food and medical supplies before the liberation began. As they spoke, crates of aid were being unloaded throughout the city, distributed to the native inhabitants by his men. Naturally, with Kailos’ exceptional mastery over logistics, a new caravan route connecting Alsen and Ka’shinu had already been established, ensuring a steady flow of provisions and essential goods to the beleaguered fortress city. Though it was a temporary solution, it was an efficient one—designed to alleviate the people’s immediate suffering. Of course, Ren and Yue, not content with relying solely on such a method, had already proposed an alternative means of linking the two cities—one far superior to a mere caravan trail. Yet, that plan would take considerable time and resources to realize. Soon, the Heads bid their farewell to Kibadios and his harem as they excused themselves for the night, leaving the hybrid alone with his mates. 

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「Ughhh!!」 Kibadios grunted as his thick cock throbbed and released a gushing stream of hot cum deep into Uri’s tight, clenching hole. The sensation sent waves of ecstasy through both of their bodies.

「Kiba channnn, your seeds are filling my stomach and it feels so good!!」 The naked vice captain, sprawled on the sweat-drenched bed, pulled his alpha down for a deep, passionate kiss. His legs wrapped tightly around Kibadios’ waist, drawing him closer, as their firm chests pressed against each other. The friction of their sensitive nipples sent jolts of pleasure through their bodies, heightening the intensity of their connection.

「And it looks like you’re loving every drop of it, huh, my adorable omega?」 Kibadios finally broke the kiss, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he gazed at Uri’s blissful, ahegao expression. Slowly, he withdrew his thick, glistening cock from Uri’s quivering asshole.

「Of course!」 Uri’s heart-shaped eyes, filled with desire, met Kibadios’ gaze. 「It’s not my fault for enjoying my alpha’s exceptionally delicious cum. It’s literally built into my genetic makeup.」

「Oh? You’re only enjoying my fucks just due to your genetic, huh?」 Kibadios smirked, his hands roaming over Uri’s sensitive body. 「Shouldn’t you give me some credit for spending time developing your whole body to become like this?」 His fingers wrapped around Uri’s still-hard cock, teasing the foreskin with tantalizing strokes. Uri squirmed beneath his touch, his breath hitching as Kibadios’ fingers trailed down his shaft, past his balls, and followed the crack of his ass until they pressed against his pink, twitching hole. With two fingers, Kibadios stretched Uri’s ass, allowing more of his cum to leak out. He scooped up a fingerful and dripped it into Uri’s waiting, hungry mouth. 「How does my cum taste, Uri chan?」

「Fine fine fine. Kiba chan’s the best for turning my body into a slutty mess, okay?」 Uri grinned after swallowing his Alpha’s warm, salty cum. Once again, the redhead vice captain wrapped his arm around Kibadios’ neck and pulled him down for another deep, hungry kiss. 「And your cum tastes the best, just as usual, my alpha chan~」

「... You’re simply too sexy, you know that, Uri chan?」 Kibadios admitted, his voice low and husky with desire.

「Well, being a half incubus helps with that.」

After thoroughly indulging himself in the pleasures of Uri and Ryuu’s bodies, the hybrid finally rose from the disheveled bed, leaving his two beloved ukes sprawled naked in blissful exhaustion, soft snores escaping their parted lips. Their flushed, satisfied forms were illuminated faintly by the moonlight seeping through the curtains, a testament to the night’s fervent activities. Kibadios, however, had no intention of resting just yet. Stretching languidly, he made his way toward the bathroom to wash off the lingering traces of passion. Yet, before he could reach the door, the gentle sound of water cascading echoed softly through the corridor. Judging by the faint voices of two people conversing softly from afar, it could only be the twins. Kibadios hadn’t invited Yue and Ren to partake in tonight’s usual indulgences—not because he didn’t desire them, but because he understood the turmoil in their hearts. After all, it hadn’t even been a full day since their unexpected reunion with Kouen. He could imagine their minds must still be spiraling in a storm of conflicting emotions.

「Can I join you two, Ren-chan, Yue-chan?」Kibadios’ soft voice echoed through the mist-filled room as he stepped past the wooden sliding door, the faint, flickering light glimmering against his well-toned body.

「Huh? Of course, Kibadios-sama.」Ren turned gracefully, water cascading down his collarbone before falling lower over his soft, supple skin.「Are you already done with Uri-chan and Ryuu-chan? I didn’t realize we were taking that long…」

「Well, I kept things a bit brief tonight,」Kibadios replied with a lopsided smirk, his gaze now shifting toward the other figure in the steam. Yue stood in the falling water, her sakura colored hair clinging around her exposed shoulders and the gentle curves of her breasts. The droplets glided down the smooth slopes of her back, highlighting her delicate frame, as she awkwardly bowed her head upon noticing his gaze.

「Kibadios-sama…」 Yue’s soft voice greeted her Master. 「I… I’m so sorry for what happened earlier. I promised I would stand firm… that I would confront Kouen myself if that time ever came… but when it truly mattered, I… I couldn’t even lift my hand. I… froze.」Her fists clenched faintly at her sides, trembling beneath the flowing water.

「Don’t be so harsh on yourself.」 Kibadios’ tone dropped into a gentle murmur as he stepped closer, his hand reaching out to trace along Yue’s bare arm. His fingers glided slowly down the delicate curve of her shoulder, water sliding around his knuckles as he pressed his palm softly against her trembling frame. Her soft, porcelain skin was slick beneath his touch. The former elven princess flinched at the sensation, but did not recoil—only leaning instinctively into his body’s heat.「You’re not weak for hesitating, Yue-chan.」His lips brushed against the shell of her ear, voice a husky whisper now. 「Kouen… wasn’t just someone you know. He was your first love. Of course it’s hard to raise your hand against the man you once wanted to spend a lifetime with. 」His fingers softly touched her face and raised her chin up, allowing for her faded eyes to look straight into his.「But next time, when that hesitation grips your heart again, I’ll be there, by your side. So if you ever wish so, you can rely on me.」Kibadios placed a kiss on Yue’s forehead.「For I’m your Master.」

「Kibadios-sama…」 The girl whispered. Now more than ever, the warmth pouring from his body was not simply physical—it was overwhelming, enveloping her, cradling her in an intimacy that went beyond mere flesh. It nurtured the parts of her torn self inflicted by Kouen’s betrayal, filling the hollowness with something steady. Something real. For the first time since Kibadios had claimed her that night, Yue felt herself—truly—being held . Not just by his arms, but by the entirety of his being.

「Master… Well… that was really beautiful, though it’d be much more so if you weren’t sporting that massive, throbbing cock.」 Ren laughed softly as he leaned in closer to the hybrid. His hand reached out, teasingly tracing Kibadios’ hot, thick cock. As Ren’s fingers lightly grazed the length of Kibadios’ cock, he felt it twitch beneath his touch, growing even harder. 

「I can’t help it.」 Kibadios shrugged, his voice laced with desire. 「Two of my harem members are standing naked in front of me. One beautifully alluring, one devastatingly handsome. Add to that the fact that I’m a half incubus, and it’s a wonder I can even think straight.」

「Did you always have such a silver tongue, Kibadios sama?」Smirked Ren, who could not help but blushing red at his compliment. 

「I merely state facts. Though, joking aside, I won’t make you guys pleasuring me tonight. I’m sure you’d like to be left alone to have some time to yourselves.」

「... No Master!」Now, it was Yue’s turn to lean forward, pressing her firm, naked breast against his own bare chest.「Please, indulge me tonight with your love… I need it.」

「Yue chan…」Kibadios was taken aback by the former princess’ request, since unlike Maia and the others, she almost never initiated intimacy. The hybrid turned to Ren, who simply nodded with a faint smile. 

「Please claim us, Kibadios sama.」Unlike his usual tsundere self, the elven prince again had completely given himself to his lust for the hybrid.

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Kibadios’ hand slipped downward from her chin, caressing along her trembling throat, down to the subtle swell of her firm breasts. There, it lingered around her pink nipple. His finger circled around her alluring pink areola for a while before latching onto her rising left nipple and pinched it lightly, allowing the girl to experience a mix of pleasure and arousing pain. After playing with the girl’s little nubs, his fingers moved on, finally got past her slim waist, and sunk into her soft, round asscheek, pulling her naked form flush against his hardened, imposing frame.

「Tonight, right here and now, I’ll help you forget everything else, Yue chan.」Kibadios whispered in her blushing ear.「Just focus yourself on me」Without waiting for permission, he captured Yue’s lips, the kiss not gentle, but full of aggression. It seemed as though having both the twins asking for his touch had turned on his incubus switch. The heat of his mouth devoured hers, demanding her submission, her surrender. For a heartbeat, she gasped against him, breath hitching in shock at his sudden forwardness—but almost immediately after, her hands clutched his broad shoulders, and she melted into him, lips parting willingly, her soft tongue timidly meeting his with desperate hunger.

「Nnnh… K-Kibadios-sama…」she whimpered against his lips, her knees weakening beneath the weight of his desire pressing against her.

「Yue-chan…」Ren’s soft, melodic voice murmured from behind. The other elf had silently closed the distance, his elegant naked form pressing up behind Yue’s trembling body, sandwiching her gently between himself and their Master, pushing her further closer to the lustful half incubus.「Isn’t it wonderful…? Being held by Master like this…? It’s been a while for you, hasn’t it?」A shiver of heat coursed through her veins. Her heart pounded wildly—not with shame, but with a familiar desire.

「Ren nii sama…」she whispered, feeling his breath against her neck. 

「Since you asked for it… Serve me, both of you.」Kibadios commanded at last, his voice thick with desire. His hand tangled in Yue’s damp hair, gently tilting her head to expose her throat to his hungry gaze. Without hesitation, Ren sank to his knees before him. His delicate fingers wrapped around Kibadios’ already hard, throbbing shaft, the tip dripping with thick precum. Slowly, reverently, Ren pressed a kiss against the thick length, his pink tongue darting out to trace along the vein beneath it.

「Uhmmm, Kibadios sama’s cock…」he whispered with adoration, before wrapping his lips fully around the head, sucking softly, teasingly, sending jolts of pleasure upward through Kibadios’ spine.

「Hah…」Kibadios growled lowly in approval, one hand gripping Ren’s hair, the other sliding down to squeeze and play with Yue’s supple breast. 「Good boy…」

Yue, now panting softly, flushed and breathless, stared at the sight of her beloved twin servicing their Master with such shameless devotion. And the heat pooling in her belly only grew hotter. Every part of her—the guilt, the hesitation—burned away beneath that blazing hunger. 

「Master, I… I want to…」she gasped softly, leaning into Kibadios’ touch.

「Then why don’t you join Ren chan?」Kibadios whispered against her ear. 

The former elven princess slowly dropped to her knees beside her brother, the wetness of her pale thighs pressing into the cold tiles below. Without hesitation, she leaned forward, her lips pressing against the base of Kibadios’ cock, opposite of Ren, her pink tongue tracing upward in slow, careful motions, meeting her brother’s halfway. Their tongues briefly brushed, sending sparks between them as they both looked up into Kibadios’ burning gaze.

「Good. Both of you—together.」Yue and Ren, two beautiful elves, side by side, their lips and tongues working in harmony to pleasure their Master, each movement of theirs driven by love, lust, and utter submission. Yue’s conflicting feelings were gone. Her mind now was filled with a single feeling: a raw desire— wanting to be owned, to be taken , to be his completely.

「You two… are just… too good at this…」Kibadios murmured, his hands tangled in their wet, silken hair as the two elven twins lovingly worshiped him beneath the falling water. After a while, Kibadios finally tipped Yue’s head back so her lips parted on instinct. His other hand rested on Ren’s head, guiding the elven prince’s mouth to take in his big, throbbing cock whole. The hybrid continued thrust back and forth, savored the way the pink-haired elf’s throat instinctively flexed around his cock. And then, without warning, he climaxed, pouring streams of his thick cum directly down Ren’s esophagus. The elven boy convulsed briefly by reflex, though soon enough, he had gotten used to his Master’s cock unleashing his seed down his throat. As Kibadios finally pulled his cock out, the last few drops of his cum filled up Ren’s mouth. 

「Don’t be selfish, okay, Ren chan? Why don’t you share it with your little sister?」

Ren obeyed without hesitation, turning toward his sister. Their lips met—at first a gentle press, then deepening into something heated, tangled, almost desperate. Yue gasped softly into the kiss but didn’t resist, instead, she tilted her head to receive every drop of their Master’s cum that her brother offered. When the kiss broke, both twins looked up at him, cheeks flushed, lips wet, eyes glassy with devotion and the lingering haze of lust. 

「Yue chan, why don’t you come over here and sit on my laps?」Kibadios called the girl over after he himself had sat on a small shower stool. The girl, enchanted by Kibadios’ aphrodisiac-like cum, obediently followed his command. The girl sat down on her master with her back leaning against his chest, her own dripping pussy grinding against his erect cock. Kibadios wasted no time to start enjoying the girl's body. His arm quickly wrapped around her slender waist from behind, then his hand moved up, palmed her breasts, squeezing and kneading the soft, yielding flesh, his fingers digging into her meaty parts, marking her as his. Her breasts were not as big as Maia, but still a perfect size that fit neatly in his hands.「Fuck, It’s been a while since I last enjoyed them. Your tits are simply perfect, Yue chan」 he growled, his voice thick with lust. 「I could play with them all day.」
Yue moaned, her back arching, offering herself to him. 「Please, Kibadios-sama… Your hands… so strong… Please indulge me more…」The girl begged, to which he simply obliged, pinching her nipples between his fingers, rolling and twisting them, feeling them harden even more under his touch. Yue gasped, her body jerking at the sharp, pleasurable pain. 

「Ren chan, what are you standing over there for? Come here!」The elf, who had been watching from the side, perked up the moment he heard Kibadios called out to him. Although he tried to not appear too eager, he still hastily moved toward his Master, his erect cock swayed around as he walked. Kibadios’ hands never left Yue’s body as he leaned to the side where Ren stood, taking one of Ren’s nipples into his mouth whole, sucking hard and biting gently, marking the sensitive flesh. Ren gasped, his body jerking at the sudden, intense sensation. Even though Kibadios’ hands were already rough on Yue’s breasts, his mouth was playing with Ren’s nipple even harder. After a while, Kibadios released Ren’s nipple with a wet pop, a cruel smirk on his face as he looked up at Ren, whose nipple was now a swollen, red mark, a clear sign of Kibadios’ possession. He turned his attention back to Yue, turning her around to face him this time. His hands and mouth worked in tandem to drive her wild, his fingers now pinching and pulling at one of her nipples while his mouth sucking and biting the other breast, leaving marks all over her sensitive flesh. Kibadios pulled Ren down, letting him sit on his lap next to his drooling sister. With the siblings right in front of him, the hybrid grinned before enjoying the thoroughly aroused twins’ bodies all at once. The half incubus turned his head and took Ren’s nipple into his mouth, sucking and biting with the same force, while his hands never stopping their torment of Yue’s breasts. Ren’s moans filled the air, a symphony of pleasure and pain, his body pressing against Kibios’s chest, his hard cock leaking precum, leaving a trail on Kibadios’ stomach.

「You like that, don’t you, my little slut?」 Kibadios murmured against Ren’s nipple, his voice a low, husky growl.「You like it when I mark you, claim you as mine.」
Ren could only nod slightly, his body trembling with pleasure, his hips bucking involuntarily, seeking friction against Kibadios’ hard body. Kibadios released Ren’s nipple, his teeth grazing the sensitive flesh, leaving another mark. He sat back, his chest heaving, his cock throbbing and leaking precum, a wicked grin on his face as he looked at the twins, both marked and breathing heavily, their bodies flush with arousal and need.

「Now, let’s see how many marks I can leave on these perfect bodies,」 Kibadios murmured, as he pulled Yue closer, his mouth capturing hers in a deep, hungry kiss, his hands already moving to explore every inch of her body, while Ren watched, his cock throbbing, eager for his turn. The foreplay lasted for what seemed to be hours, until red marks thoroughly covered the twin’s snow white skin. Kibadios stood up, his powerful body rising from the bath chair with ease. He reached down, his large hands grasping Yue’s soft, wet thighs, lifting her effortlessly. Her back pressed against his chest, her body molding to his as he supported her weight. He positioned his cock, the thick, hard length teasing her sensitive folds, rubbing against her clit with deliberate, torturous strokes. The head of his cock glistened with precum, leaving a trail of wetness on her inner thighs as he slid up and down, coating himself in her arousal. Yue moaned, her body writhing against him, seeking more friction, more of him. 

「You want my cock, don’t you, Yue chan？」 Kibadios growled against her ear, his voice a low, husky rumble that sent shivers down her spine. 「If you don’t say it, I won’t know what to do」

「Yes, Kibadios sama…」 Yue could only nod, her breath coming in short, desperate gasps, her body trembling with anticipation and need. 「Please fuck me with your magnificent cock!! Mark me with your seed and turn me completely yours!!」The girl finally screamed out. It might have been because of the aphrodisiac cum lacing her body, or because of the warm embrace she felt, leaning onto her Master’s torso, but right now, in her mind, there was only one person that mattered: her beloved Master, her Kibadios sama.

Kibadios smiled, then aligned his cock with her entrance, the head pressing against her wet, ready flesh. With a single, powerful thrust, he sheathed himself inside her, filling her completely, stretching her to her limits. Yue cried out, her inner muscles squeezing and releasing, trying to accommodate his size.

「Ahh…! K-Kibadios-sama…!」 Her voice was a breathless moan, a mix of pleasure and pain as he began to move, his hips snapping forward, his cock pumping in and out of her pussy with deep, powerful strokes. The water sloshed around them, the sound mixing with their moans and the wet, slapping noise of their bodies coming together. Ren, watching from the side, his cock hard and leaking precum, knelt down in front of Kibadios. He leaned in, his tongue sticking out to lick the base of Kibadios’ shaft, tasting the mix of his Master’s own precum and Yue’s wetness. He took Kibadios’ balls into his mouth, sucking and licking. Kibadios groaned, his hips snapping forward, his cock pumping in and out of Yue’s pussy, his balls drawing up tight as Ren’s mouth and hands worked their magic. 

「Fuck, your inside feels so good, Yue chan」 he grunted, his voice a low, guttural growl. 「Your pussy is squeezing my cock, milking me.」Yue could only moan in response, her body convulsing with pleasure, her inner muscles clenching and unclenching around his cock, drawing him in deeper, holding him tighter. Kibadios’ orgasm built, his body tensing, his cock swelling inside Yue. With a final, powerful thrust, he came, his seed spilling deep inside her, marking her as his, claiming her completely. He held her tight, his arms wrapping around her, his body shuddering with the force of his release, his cock pulsing and jerking inside her as he filled her with his hot, sticky cum. Down below, Ren pressed his head against where Kibadios’ cock and Yue’s pussy connected, dutifully slurping up Kibadios’ cum that started to slowly leak out.

As he came down from his high, Kibadios gently placed Yue on the wet floor, her body trembling, her eyes glazed with pleasure and satisfaction. He turned his attention to Ren, a wicked grin on his face as he pushed the young elf down, his body pressing against his well fucked twin, his cock grinding against her stomach. Ren turned his head briefly to look at Kibadios, his eyes filled with lust and devotion, his body trembling with anticipation. Kibadios reached down, his fingers teasing Ren’s ass, circling his entrance, preparing him for what was to come. He coated his fingers with the mix of Yue’s pussy juices and his own cum, using it as lubrication as he pushed two fingers into Ren’s tight hole, scissoring them to stretch him wide.

「Now it’s your turn, Ren.」 Kibadios declared. 「Every part of you belongs to me.」
Ren nodded, arched his ass up, offering himself to Kibadios. Kibadios positioned his cock, the head pressing against Ren’s tight, twitching hole. With a single, powerful thrust, he sheathed himself inside Ren, filling him completely, stretching him wide. Ren cried out, his body clenching around Kibadios’ cock. Kibadios began to move,his cock pumping in and out of Ren’s ass, his balls slapping against Ren’s flesh. He reached down, his hands squeezing and pulling at Ren’s nipples, twisting and rolling them between his fingers. Noticing that the girl lying beneath her brother was now regaining consciousness, Kibadios leaned down, capturing Yue’s lips in a deep, hungry kiss, his tongue invading her mouth with the same possessive force as his cock invaded Ren’s ass. The sensation of his cock in Ren’s ass, combined with the taste and feel of Yue’s warm mouth, sent waves of pleasure crashing through Kibadios, heightening his arousal to new heights. Then, unexpectedly, Kibadios completely pulled his cock out of Ren’s hungry hole and stuffed it deep inside Yue’s pussy, pushing his own thick cum out of her hole. For the next half hour, Kibadios alternated between Ren’s ass and Yue’s pussy, his cock moving from one to the other, stretching and filling them both, claiming them completely. At times, he would pull out of Ren’s ass, the wet, sucking noise of his withdrawal mixing with the slapping of flesh as he thrust into Yue’s pussy. Then he would pull out of Yue, his cock glistening with her juices, and thrust back into Ren’s ass, the tight, hot grip of Ren’s hole milking his cock, drawing out his pleasure. Soon, Kibadios’ body tensed, his orgasm building, his balls drawing up tight as he fucked Ren’s ass with one final deep, powerful stroke, his cock swole and exploded with cum inside the pink haired elf. 

「I’m going to fill your ass, Ren. Mark you as mine.」
Ren nodded, as Kibadios came, his seed spilling deep inside Ren. The hybrid finally collapsed on top of Ren, his body slick with sweat, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his hands still gently squeezing Yue’s breasts, his fingers lightly teasing her nipples. The three of them lay there, a tangle of limbs and satisfaction, their bodies boneless and spent, their minds a haze of pleasure and contentment, the water lapping gently against their skin, soothing and cooling their overheated bodies.

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「God, that was really something.」Ren exhaled softly, running a towel through his damp hair as he walked slowly by Kibadios back to their bed. All three of them were still completely naked, with the exhausted Yue now being carried by her Master in his arms. Ren’s gaze lingered on her sleeping face. The tension that had haunted her mind for weeks was finally gone, washed away by exhaustion, pleasure, and—most of all—comfort. She looked whole for the first time in a long while.「I haven’t seen her sleep this peacefully since…」 Ren’s voice dropped to a near whisper, eyes softening. 「Since she learned of Kouen’s betrayal.」He lifted his gaze to meet Kibadios’, no hesitation, only quiet gratitude beneath the lingering flush of their earlier intimacy. 

「Thank you, Kibadios sama. For being there by her side. She needed it.」

「You’re making me feel bad, Ren chan. I really didn’t do anything but fucked her so roughly… I just let my incubus desire take over myself like that.」Kibadios glanced down at the sleeping girl in his arms.

「And yet… she didn’t resist it. She welcomed it… even needed it.」Ren reminded the hybrid. 「And I just know she really appreciates you being there for her.」The twin brother looked at his sister’s naked body, raised his eyebrows after he noticed something before letting out a faint smile.「And it seems it really shows.」Ren gestured at Yue’s womb, where a faint incubus mark slowly appeared on her white, smooth skin, indicating Yue had finally accepted Kibadios, not just with her body, but also with her heart.

「Hoh? I never expected this day would come.」Kibadios smiled.「And you really don’t have to thank me, Ren chan. It’s only natural that I’ll be there for her. She’s mine. And what’s mine… I protect.」

「... It’s really unfair how cool you sound sometimes, Kibadios sama.」Ren pouted.

「What? Only sometimes?」

「Yeah, cuz most of the other times, it’s just horniness.」Ren teased his master… His beloved Master.

Chapter 194: Ayer vs Azragon, the battle of the gods

Notes:

Again, I spent most of the time on LinkedIn/Indeed instead of writing lol >.>
Also, thanks ChatGPT. I wrote the fight scene between Ayer and Azragon, but thanks to its edit, it looks much better!!
Also, also, I'm thinking of using ChatGPT to reedit early chapters... and maybe I'll compile them into some volumes to publish on Amazon, earning a few cents lol

「I see, so Yue-chan finally opened up her heart to you, huh, Kiba-chan?」Uri grinned as he looked at the hybrid.

「Apparently so. There was definitely a change in her last night. I even saw the incubus mark begin to form on her body.」Kibadios leaned forward, pressing his warm hand onto Uri’s firm stomach before slowly gliding it downward, caressing his lower abdomen—where his own bright red incubus mark was located.「Though unlike yours, hers is still faint.」

「Hm, I guess she’s not quite as addicted to your cum as I am.」Uri pulled his Alpha into a long, wet kiss that left both their cocks stiffening beneath their clothes. Yet, since they were still fully dressed and out in the open, neither pushed things any further.

「Tch, you’re no fun to tease. I was hoping you'd at least get a little flustered. If anyone else were in your place, they’d be blushing bright red by now.」Kibadios confessed with a playful smirk.

「Heh, I guess I’m just too much of an incubus.」Uri licked the mixed saliva off his lips and gave Kibadios a lustful smile.「Just a bit too shameless.」

「Well, that’s fine. I love seeing you just being yourself.」Kibadios pinched his Vice Captain’s cheek affectionately before turning his attention to Ryuu, who was sitting only a short distance away.

…Tsk. I tried to keep my composure, but you sure know how to make your mate’s heart go all doki-doki, Kiba-chan. Uri thought, consciously turning his face away to hide the growing redness in his cheeks.

「Anyway, what did you want to ask me about, Ryuu-chan?」Kibadios directed the question to the dragonkin, who had seemed preoccupied ever since Kibadios brought up Yue’s transformation the night before.

「Oh, it's just… I still don’t understand, Kibadios-sama. Why did you let those Heavenly Generals leave unscathed like that? They were all there together—it was the perfect opportunity to wipe them out in one move.」

「Don’t be hasty, Ryuu. We know nothing about the enemy. Charging in without a plan would’ve been reckless. Tell me, could you have handled their dragonkin hybrid by yourself?」

「That dragon-human hybrid? She looked tough, sure—but from what I saw, she’s probably the strongest among them. I could’ve dealt with her while you, Uri-chan, and the others handled the rest of the Heavenly Generals.」

「“Probably” is the keyword. What if they’re hiding their true strength? That old man—their leader—was no fool. Despite being a Heavenly General, one of the most powerful figures in his land, he didn’t underestimate us. With just a glance, he could tell that if a battle broke out, there would’ve been heavy casualties… on both sides. We must always be wary of those who act with calm and reason.」Kibadios explained with measured seriousness.

「Besides, Kibadios’ primary objective at the time was to liberate the people of Ku’shina and gain their trust. Fighting a needless battle would’ve led to unnecessary bloodshed, hurting the very people he intended to protect. Right, Kibadios-dono?」a familiar voice chimed in from behind.

「You're exactly right, Amber-dono.」Kibadios nodded.「Letting them go was the most logical choice. Still… we’ve been waiting for you for a while now, Amber-dono. Why did you call me out here so early in the morning?」

「Well, sorry about that. Floria’s not a morning person.」

「Yeah, yeah, blame it on me. You do realize you only woke up a few minutes before I did, right?」The girl pouted, clearly used to Amber’s antics.

「Yup. I still woke up before you!」Amber grinned proudly before facing Kibadios.「Anyway… it’s nothing too complicated. I just want to ask you something: would you fight me? One-on-one. With everything you’ve got.」

「「Huh?」」Both Reuk and Haden, who had accompanied Amber, stared at her in shock. Floria, however, remained expressionless—suggesting Amber had already confided in her beforehand.

「Why? I don’t see any reason for us to fight. Do you want to train or something?」

「No, it’s not that.」Amber shook her head.「I’ll be completely honest, Kibadios. From my perspective—as a hero—you’re extremely suspicious. You’re an unbelievably powerful hybrid who suddenly appeared just as a major crisis struck the Kingdom of Maeg. You helped subjugate the resurrected Ryuujin, played a key role in defending the capital from the Chaotic creature that Prime Minister Stringer became… and after that, a dragonkin conveniently showed up at your side. Instead of being corrupted by Chaos Miasma like everyone else, you mastered it. Allegedly because you used <Devour> on Wei Shimin, who had spent years researching that very power… But if you were in my shoes, would you really believe all those events were just coincidence?」The chestnut-haired hero gazed intensely at the hybrid, waiting for an answer that never came.「...I bet you wouldn’t. It’s too convenient.」

「...If you distrust me so much, why did you warn me about the bounty?」Kibadios asked calmly.「And more than that, you didn’t even try to do it in secret. You openly helped us fight Wei Shimin, and just now, you joined us in liberating Ku’shina. You know the Yin Empire will report your actions to the Oracle, effectively ending your life as a ‘Hero.’」

「Because, even though the hero in me keeps screaming that I should confront you, should stop you… the other me—the adventurer Amber—trusts you.」Amber admitted.「Haaah… It may not have been obvious, but I was raised by a father who devoted his life to the Oracle and its doctrine of absolute justice. From the moment I discovered I possessed the <Hero Seed>, I tried to become the textbook definition of a model hero. Even after my worldview shattered upon learning what Corey did to Floria… I still clung to the Oracle’s teachings. I forced myself to suppress the rage I felt when I saw him again… just because heroes weren’t supposed to fight one another.」She shot Floria a guilty glance.「What’s worse, I forced that worldview onto Floria. She had to endure it—to act like everything was fine—while staring her tormentor in the eye. When I learned Corey had died… I felt relieved. That’s when I knew I had been wrong. My black-and-white view of the world was flawed. I regretted not being the one to end his life… to avenge Floria’s suffering with my own hands.」

「Amber-chan… Don’t be too hard on yourself.」Floria gently reached for her companion’s arm.

「...Then we—and the rest of Lorian—were saved by you, a hybrid. And by Gilga, a Yonko, no less. Thomas told me the story of Erik, of the bond between a human and a demihuman. That’s when I decided I needed to change—to atone for my past prejudices. When the Oracle issued the bounty, King Lance approached me. He asked me to warn you. I knew then that I stood at a crossroads. If I refused, I’d be clinging to the same old, misguided path. If I accepted, I’d be turning my back on everything the Oracle stood for.」

「And you chose the latter... I’m grateful, truly. But then, why challenge me now?」

「Like I said, you’re a man full of enigmas, Kibadios. There’s something you’re hiding—something you must have told King Lance. I saw it in his eyes when he asked me to find you. There was no doubt, no hesitation. He trusted you completely. And as a king, he knew that by siding with you over the Oracle, he was placing the lives of his people in your hands. And still, he chose you. I trust you too, Kibadios. But… there’s a part of me that won’t stop doubting. So I want you to kill it—to kill the <Hero> inside me. To show it that even if I were to turn against you now, to try and assassinate you for that bounty… I’d never stand a chance.」Amber declared, her eyes unwavering.

「Hah?」

「I want to fight you with everything I have. Right now, I probably can’t even scratch you. But I want to feel that defeat. I want you to crush my hero’s pride.」Amber’s gaze locked onto the hybrid.

「Even if it means you might die?」Kibadios asked, his voice turning grave.

「What do you mean, Kibadios-dono?」Floria looked toward Amber, clearly alarmed. But Amber simply nodded.

「We could have a friendly spar… but would that really be enough to 'kill' her hero ego? I doubt it. Even if I win, the hero part of her would keep seeking a rematch. Amber knows that. That’s why she asked me to fight with all my power—so her hero self can taste true despair. But if I go all out, I can’t guarantee her safety.」

「That’s fine.」Amber turned to Floria.「I need this.」

「...Fine. But don’t you dare die on me, Amber-chan!! If you do, I’ll kill you to death!」Floria half-joked, fully aware her words wouldn’t change her companion’s resolve.

「Haa… Fighting against a “hero,” huh? I really need to get used to this.」Kibadios sighed under his breath, before unleashing his Nen and On, flooding the air around them with sheer pressure.

「Ready whenever you are, Amber!」

「Damn… I might actually die in this fight, huh?」Amber gulped, then drew her twin daggers, slipping into her stance.

.

.

.

The ground trembled with residual aura. Dust settled slowly and silence returned to the field—broken only by the faint, ragged breaths of a girl collapsed on the ground.

Amber lay there, sprawled on her back, her chest heaving. Blood trickled from a deep gash on her side, and her once-pristine armor was now cracked and scorched, pierced in places where Kibadios’ devastating attacks had landed. Her twin daggers had long been knocked from her grasp, now embedded halfway into the dirt several meters away.

Her body was broken, and her spirit—her pride—had already been crushed.

「Amber-chan!!」Floria’s cry echoed as she rushed forward, sliding down to her knees beside her partner. Without hesitation, she pressed her glowing hands against Amber’s wounds, channeling healing magic. 「H-Hang on! I’ll stop the bleeding—just stay with me!」

Amber coughed, spitting out a bit of blood before weakly smiling. 「Heh… Floria… You’re crying again.」

「I’m not!!」Floria snapped through gritted teeth, though tears stained her cheeks.「You idiot… You really were ready to die, weren’t you?!」

「...I told you I needed this.」Amber turned her eyes toward the tall figure now standing above her—Kibadios, whose aura had finally begun to settle. His expression was unreadable, his breath calm, but his shirt was torn and blood-speckled, evidence that even Amber’s desperate efforts had left their mark.

「You held back at the very last moment… didn’t you?」Amber asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

「...Only enough to keep you alive.」Kibadios replied. 「But you got your wish. That part of you—the hero clinging to absolutes—is gone now, isn’t it?」

Amber’s fingers trembled as they slowly curled into a fist over her heart. 「It is… You were overwhelming. I’ve never… I’ve never felt so helpless. No amount of training, no title, no divine seed… none of it mattered.」

「Then your ego has been defeated.」

「Yeah…」She gave a weak chuckle, then winced from the pain. 「But strangely, I don’t feel empty.」

「Because now, you’re free.」Kibadios knelt beside her.「You no longer need to be a ‘hero’ bound by someone else’s doctrine. From here on… you choose who you want to be.」

Amber’s eyes shimmered—not with tears, but clarity. 「Thank you… Kibadios.」

Floria wiped her own cheeks as her healing continued. 「...You two really scared the hell out of me.」

「Sorry, Floria…」Amber chuckled again, weaker this time.「But I think… I finally get it now. What kind of strength I want to chase. Not strength to judge… but to protect.」

「Good.」Kibadios rose, the wind catching his tattered cloak as he looked to the horizon. 「Rest now. You’ve earned it.」

Amber closed her eyes, her hand still resting over her heart as Floria continued to mend her broken body. But even in her exhaustion, the smallest of smiles lingered on her lips—because for the first time in years, she felt free.

「Kibadios sama, we have a problem…」Ren rushed to Kibadios, though the scene caused him to pause for a moment.「Huh? What happened here? Did Yue chan and I miss something?」Since both Yue and Ren were exhausted from the late night sex with Kibadios, the hybrid had allowed for them to sleep in a bit more, though now, both the siblings were donning an urgent look as they approached their Master.

「Ah, it’s nothing. I only “helped” Amber out for a bit.」Kibadios shook his head.「But what’s the problem?」

「Right! It’s news we just got from Alsen.」Ren reported.「According to a messenger, Alsen was attacked by two powerful individuals soon after we left」

「What? Was it from the Empire?」Ryuu asked.

「Don’t worry too much about it, Ryuu. It doesn’t matter if the Empire tries something behind our backs. I’d planned for such contingency, that’s why I left Ayer behind. There’s no threat from the Empire that he cannot deal with.」Kibadios tried to calm the dragonkin.

「It doesn’t appear that they’re from the Empire.」Ren hesitated for a moment. 「The messenger said he didn’t know who the two people were, but he did say Ayer had called one of them “Azragon.”」

「Azragon? Isn’t that the name of…」Haden twitched. After all, for someone like him, whose girlfriend used to serve as servants of the Oracle, he could never forget that name.

「One of the Ennead.」Yue nodded.

「So what happened afterward? Was there any casualty?」Kibadios grimly asked.

「You see, according to the messenger…」

.

.

.

「Die, Azragon, you fucker!」Ayer roared and leaped forward. With a sweeping motion of his arm, thousands of silver threads rained down from the heavens like a raging storm, aiming straight for Azragon—and the body that once belonged to Ayer himself.

「<Ruler of the Underworld, Osiris>」Hearing his own voice—his own lips—invoked the Ultimate Arte stopped Ayer cold for a split second. Of course, in this world, the possession of the same Ultimate Arte could not coexist. Authority over Osiris clearly had been stripped from him and transferred to his old body, which explained why he had been unable to use the Ultimate Arte lately. Realizing what was about to be summoned, Ayer’s eyes narrowed. Instantly, he redirected his threads, shifting from offense to defense. From a widening abyss that opened beneath the ground, a corpse rose—its wings outstretched with unnatural grace, soulless eyes flickering open to lock directly onto Ayer.

「...Zaeryn…」The name left Ayer’s lips, his voice tight with alarm. 

「Ayer, what’s going on!?」Kailos’s voice cut through the chaos as he, Rowan, and Ryan arrived on the scene before anyone else, drawn by the intense pressure radiating from the field. All three came to an abrupt stop as their gazes locked onto the reanimated Tengu before them.

「A Tengu?」 Kailos asked, brow furrowed. He eyed the lifeless being and the feminine looking teenager standing near it.

「Not just any Tengu… That's the zombie body of your god, Zaeryn.」Ayer’s voice was strained. 「And the one controlling it... is my former body, turned into a soulless automaton by those damn Enneads.」

「Then the man standing over there…」

「Exactly. Azragon. An Ennead.」

「What the—!?」Kailos freaked out. It was only natural—after all, one of the gods of this world now stood as his enemy.

「Listen, you won’t be able to handle either of them. Zaeryn’s corpse may lack his Ultimate Arte, but he’s still one of the strongest spellcasters—second only to Seri. If you want to defeat him, you must aim for my original body!」

「But aren’t you an Ennead too? Wouldn’t fighting your original body be just as dangerous?」 Ryan asked, his voice tense.

「Not now. The drawback of my Ultimate Arte is that the stronger the resurrected corpse, the more power is drained from the host. To summon Zaeryn—whose strength once rivaled mine—the automaton would be under extreme strain. It’s practically immobile. Strike it down, and Zaeryn will fall!」

「Even if it means you can never return to your body?」 Rowan asked quietly.

「Don’t be stupid. That body isn’t mine anymore. If that’s the case, I’d rather destroy it than let it be used by those filthy Astrals!!」Ayer’s furious cry shook the battlefield.

The clash reignited. Ayer lunged at Azragon, silvery threads dancing like blades around him. Meanwhile, Kailos, Ryan, and Rowan took on the reanimated Zaeryn and the automaton. Just as Ayer had warned, even the three of them combined were no match. Zaeryn’s lifeless form, guided by overwhelming power, chanted silently—his magic unleashing volleys of elemental destruction. Rowan tried conjuring a barrier, but the force behind each spell shattered it like glass. Fireballs the size of boulders exploded across the battlefield, their intense heat forcing the trio to retreat.

SNAP!!
A sharp sound pierced the chaos. With a flick of his fingers, Zaeryn’s magic changed—fire giving way to ice. The ground instantly froze beneath their feet, locking them in place.

「Shit!!」 Ryan cursed, struggling to move.

「Don’t fret, Ryan-chan!」Rowan’s eyes gleamed. A hidden glyph activated beneath him, and with a subtle gesture, time reversed around their feet. The ice receded in seconds, freeing them. Having practiced his control over time just as his Master asked, Rowan’s had become fairly competent at utilizing it during battles like this.

「We can’t even get near Ayer’s original body!」 Ryan panted.

「To think… Zaeryn was this powerful…」 Kailos muttered.

「And technically, this isn’t even his peak form…」 Rowan added with a weary smile.

「「「You guys need help?」」」Three voices rang out in unison as reinforcements arrived.

「Maia! Yuusei! Gyo!」 Ryan called to his harem companions.

「Teran!」 Kailos’s eyes lit up as he spotted his old friend, standing behind the automaton. 「Don’t bother with the Tengu! Target the motionless one!」

「Understood!」Despite not yet being briefed on what was going on, Teran simply dashed forward, targeting Ayer’s original body. Unfortunately,  a wall of ice, clearly a spell casted by Zaeryn zombie, erupted between him and his target, blocking the path.

「Shouldn’t we assist Ayer with the one he’s fighting?」 Gyo asked, unsure.

「I doubt we could interfere with their battle…」 Ryan answered grimly. 「It’s like watching gods clash.」And he wasn’t exaggerating. Ayer and Azragon’s duel had moved into the air. Every blow of Azragon’s flaming sword launched a tsunami of inferno fire, while Ayer’s silver threads sliced through them like divine razors. The resulting shockwaves alone were enough to send grown men flying.

「When was the last time we fought, huh, Ayer?」Azragon grinned mid-air, his flames crackling.

「We never did. You forget—we Enneads were forbidden from fighting each other.」Ayer’s expression was cold.

「 “We”? You’re no longer an Astral, let alone an Ennead, Ayer.」Azragon’s grin widened. 「And that’s perfect. I’ve always wanted to beat the shit out of you—a hybrid fool pretending to be one of us. Let me show you what despair truly feels like.」

Snap.

With another snap of his fingers, the sky turned crimson. The very air distorted, suffocating heat spreading like a tide.

「…Tsk. If I don’t end this soon, we’ll all perish.」Ayer clenched his jaw. His gaze hardened, much like his resolve.「 Ultimate Arte: <Endsinger> 」

「Hah? You’d actually invoke that one? I thought it was tied too deeply to your dead mother’s memory.」Azragon’s smirk faltered, taking a cautious step back.

「Shut up, Azragon.」Ayer’s voice was resolute. Orbs of radiant light began swirling around his body, then burst apart into particles. 「It’s too late for you now. It’s my win.」 When the light cleared, he stood transformed. Gone were his usual clothes. In their place was an elegant oriental dress, long silken veils flowing like wind-drawn banners around him. A delicate fox mask obscured the upper half of his face, adding an eerie grace to his androgynous features.「I will destroy this homunculus body of yours, here and now!!!」

The moment Ayer’s form transformed, silence blanketed the battlefield. His flowing oriental gown shimmered in the distorted sky—countless veils danced around him, trailing in slow, hypnotic arcs, their movement as fluid as water yet sharp as blades. Then—
TING… A note echoed.

Ayer raised his hand, and from the glimmering air above his palm, a Koto materialized—long, lacquered black wood and thread-thin silver wires. As his fingers gently plucked its strings, the sound itself shimmered into form. The note struck the sky like a bell toll—soft, elegant... and devastating.

BOOM!

Azragon was blasted backward through the air, caught off guard by the sudden force behind a single solitary tone. The pressure split the clouds, slicing the wind itself.

「What the hell is this!?」 Azragon snarled, catching himself midair, his flaming sword burning wildly in his grip. 「Sound-based attacks?!」But there was no time to regroup. Ayer’s veils spread. The androgynous figure moved his hands through the air, and the silken threads around him, knitted themselves into silky sheets, surged forward—not toward Azragon, but around him. The world trembled. The sky cracked like a mirror as the veils twisted, wrapped, and sealed the space around Azragon and Ayer himself in a spiral of woven silk. The battlefield vanished.

Now, the two stood alone—inside a hauntingly beautiful fabric dimension . There was no ground, no sky. Only veils—layered and endless, flowing in every direction like an ocean of suspended cloth, their textures glinting under soft ambient light that came from nowhere and everywhere at once. The air was heavy, every breath humming with the vibration of sound.

Azragon blinked. His sword flickered.「Tch… I can’t feel my connection to my Ultimate Arte anymore…. Is it sealed?」 His brows furrowed. 「Damn this freakish space!」

「This is the realm of <Endsinger>, Azragon.」Ayer’s voice echoed from all directions, overlapping, each tone a different note. 「Here, my threads weave reality, and sound becomes the blade that sings your requiem.」

He plucked another note.

SHOOM!

A spiraling shockwave erupted from the Koto, swirling into forms of thousand ethereal blades, striking Azragon with a force that bent his body midair. His cloak was shredded into pieces as he skidded back—though the space had no ground, the threads beneath him acted as one, repelling him like a trampoline of divine force. Azragon growled, sword blazing brighter. He swung it in a wide arc, sending a burning crescent forward.

But the flames dissipated—swallowed whole by the melodious yet deafening tune radiating from the Koto before they could even touch Ayer. Frustrated, Azragon lunged, dashing forward in a blur of speed. His sword lashed out.

CLANG—!!

A web of silver threads intercepted the blade. Ayer didn't flinch. He plucked three more notes in quick succession.

TIN—TAN—TON—!!

Each note triggered a violent ripple. One thread lanced through the air like a spear, grazing Azragon’s arm. Another exploded in a sonic boom, knocking him into a floating veil that immediately wrapped around his leg like a serpent.

「What!? Let go of me—!!」

But Ayer was merciless. His fingers danced across the Koto strings, each note sending a devastating effect across the realm. A wall of sound crushed down from above, a sonic blade slashed horizontally through the space, and one veil unraveled into a cyclone of shreds that cut like obsidian knives. Azragon gritted his teeth, slashing furiously, each movement raw and primal. The flaming blade clashed against invisible walls of force, igniting the air, yet finding no target. Ayer hovered effortlessly, divine and serene.

「Do you hear it now, Azragon? Your screams, your panting, your desperate struggle? It’s all out of tune.」He strummed a chilling high note— KIIIIIN! The veils around him shimmered, their edges glowing with a strange dark-lilac hue. In an instant, they twisted and converged into a lance—cloth and sound entwined—before hurtling straight toward Azragon’s heart. The Ennead barely managed to dodge; the projectile sliced deep into his flesh.

「GRAAAHHH!!!」 Azragon howled. Blood sprayed across the silken space, painting the realm in streaks of crimson. Yet still, he refused to fall. With a defiant roar, he slammed his sword into one of the floating veils, incinerating it with sheer martial force.

「Don’t underestimate us Ennead, Ayer,」 he snarled. 「So what if you’ve sealed off my Ultimate Arte with this weird pocket dimension? We weren’t made gods of this world because of our Ultimate Artes. We were already gods—long before we ever obtained one.」

As his voice echoed through the woven space, Azragon’s body began to ignite, flames licking his limbs. Scorching heat radiated outward, setting the surrounding veils ablaze. Across from him, Ayer narrowed his eyes. His expression turned grim. He strummed again—this time, a mournful series of minor chords, like wind chimes echoing over a battlefield grave.

Despite maintaining the upper hand for most of the fight, Ayer still couldn’t finish his foe. Azragon had begun adapting to his attacks, the damage he took growing less and less with each strike.

Tsk… We’re running out of time. Ayer clicked his tongue. His plan had been to swiftly defeat Azragon and return to support the others against the Zaeryn zombie. But the Ennead’s stubborn resistance had already derailed that hope. Outside this space, Kibadios’ harem, along with Kailos and Teran, are on their last legs. So what!? They’re mere mongrels. Why should I care? I accounted for the likelihood they’d perish in this battle…

「I’m leaving them in your hands, Ayer. Please protect them well, okay?」Ayer recalled Kibadios’ words to him before leaving. Was it even a command…? Ayer asked himself.

Please protect them well, okay?
Please protect them well, okay?
Please protect them well, okay?

「GRRR!!! What a useless bunch!」Ayer screamed in frustration, his voice echoing through the enclosed dimension. With a snap of his fingers, the fabric walls of his world began to unravel. The woven veils peeled back, collapsing the pocket dimension and releasing both him and Azragon. The otokonoko descended like a comet onto the battlefield.

TING. TANG. TONGGG…
His fingers danced across the Koto strings, weaving a furious melody that surged outward. The tune radiated through the air, neutralizing every offensive spell the zombie had cast.

「「「Ayer?!」」」The others cried out, stunned. None of them had expected the cold, calculating Ayer to abandon his advantage mid-battle to aid them.

「Hah, what happened to the cold-blooded Ayer I used to know?」Azragon smirked from above, eyes glinting. 「But thanks to your stumble, this is now my win. Activate Ultimate Arte—」

「Well well well, what do we have here?」
「You tell me, Ashura. I came here at your invitation, yet I was greeted with such an ugly sight.」Two voices cut him off. Azragon froze mid-sentence. He recognized them instantly.
Ashura and Gilga. Two of the Yonko. Two of the greatest threats to the Harvest.

「...What are the two Yonko doing here?」 Azragon asked.

「Sightseeing?」 Gilga replied, smiling.
「Hmm… you guys seem strong. Wanna entertain me?」Ashura grinned devilishly, ignoring the question entirely.

Azragon’s mind raced. Dealing with Ayer alone was manageable… but now, with these two here—if I stay, even if I win, they might still destroy the automaton, especially in its vulnerable state… His eyes flicked toward the motionless body that originally belonged to Ayer. After a moment, he stepped back.「Fine. I guess now’s not the time. I’ll take my leave. Sooner or later, we’ll deal with you and your leader.」

A brief sigh of relief rippled through Rowan’s group.

「Though, let’s kill one of you as a warning.」Azragon raised his hand, fingers curled into the shape of a gun. A flash—then a ray of concentrated heat shot toward Rowan. The healer flinched. He conjured a barrier reflexively, but like before—like with Zaeryn—the shield shattered instantly. Rowan tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. Whether due to fear or sheer speed of the death ray, the result was the same. Fuck…
In that blink of a moment, he felt a nudge. No—a hard shove. Before he could process what had happened, he found himself on the ground, a few feet away from where he once stood. Ayer had taken his place. The ray pierced straight through the heart of his homunculus body.

Ugh… It was the only sound Ayer could muster before the heat consumed him. His body ignited, flames devouring him until nothing but ash remained.

Azragon’s smirk deepened. With his task completed, his body and that of Ayer’s original form—vanished into thin air. With the necromantic source gone, the reanimated corpse of Zaeryn slowly crumbled to dust.

「「「AYER!!!」」」

Notes:

Btw, As it's implied in this chapter, Ayer IS a half Astral and half Nine-tail fox. That's why he appears so androgynous (since he has a lot of his mother's gene.) His Ultimate Arte,

(FF14... HIGHER OH HIGHERRRRRR) is similar to/an upgrade to his Mother's Arte, which allows him to control sound and song, using them as attack. And of course, his pocket dimension, built from his long veils, is a ripoff of Senjumaru's Bankai. His use Koto is inspired by a lot of things, but one of the main inspiration was the two blind men/martial artists from Kungfu Hustle.

Chapter 195

Inside her room, surrounded with shiny clear walls and a crystal dome, Freya reclined atop her throne—an ornate seat shaped like a swirling cumulus. The Ennead tilted her head, one leg crossed over the other, the corners of her lips curled in casual amusement.「So? The job’s done?」

Azragon sat nearby, arms resting on his own chair.「Yeah,」He replied with a faint smile.「Ayer’s homunculus vessel was reduced to nothing but ash before I left.」A flicker of disappointment danced across his face as he continued.「Though, I didn’t get the chance to raze the city, our Zaeryn’s little pet project.」

Freya raised an elegant brow.「I see… Was it any trouble?」

Azragon’s expression darkened slightly.「His Ultimate Arte was a real pain,」The Ennead admitted, his voice tinged with annoyance.「Somehow, it locked me out of accessing my own Ultimate Arte, leaving me nearly powerless during the battle. Had he not been distracted out of concern for Zaeryn’s pawns… I might have lost.」

Freya’s fingers danced idly along the armrest of her throne, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.「Ah… That. I recall Kadesha mentioning something about it during one of our little chats, back before her betrayal. Apparently, your Arte wasn’t technically sealed inside that distorted realm. What really hindered you was his “music”—a disruptive resonance that interferes with your senses and clouds your focus, almost like a <Hypnosis> spell.」

Azragon arched an eyebrow, a trace of irritation surfacing.「Hoh? And why, pray tell, didn’t you bother warning me of this peculiar little skill beforehand?」

Freya gave a languid shrug, her voice airy and dismissive.「How should I remember every minor detail? That conversation with Kadesha happened more than ten millennia ago.」Before Azragon could press further, she tilted her head, her hair spilling over her shoulder like molten silk.「Anyway, so what kept you from leveling Kibadios’ city?」

Azragon exhaled through his nose.「Two of the Yonko appeared. Unexpectedly.」His tone turned matter-of-fact.「Fighting both of them in my temporary homunculus body would’ve been… less than ideal. And I didn’t want Ayer the Automaton, our latest triumph card, to sustain damage before our final confrontation with Matelus. So, I withdrew.」A slow grin curled across his lips.「Still, I achieved what I came for: I incinerated Ayer. Reduced him to nothing…」 But… Why do I still have this weird feeling, as if I’ve missed something important during that battle? Flashes of the fight ran through Azragon’s mind, though the Ennead quickly dismissed his concern as him being paranoid.

Freya pouted, puffing her cheeks just slightly.「See~? That’s why I told you to take me instead of our precious new toy.」

「It couldn’t be helped. I wanted to witness it myself—the look in Ayer’s eyes when he realizes his original body has been turned into a lifeless puppet for us to command.」Azragon gave a low chuckle.

「Haha, you’re wicked, Az,」Freya laughed, the sound light and melodious, though her gaze turned contemplative.「Still… It’s troubling. The Yonko gathering around Zaeryn like this… We’ve been trying to prevent that very scenario, which is why we tasked Adeus with eliminating them. What the hell is he even doing?」

「That man’s definitely planning something… something big.」Azragon leaned against the backrest as he pondered. His tone dropped, becoming sharper, colder.「We told him we’d forgive his and his daughter’s failure only if he eliminates all four Yonko. But Ashura… Ashura is a nightmare. Killing all six of his copies at once is a nearly impossible task. Adeus knows it too. He’s likely already given up on that path.」He turned to Freya, eyes gleaming.「So, put yourself in his position. What would you do next?」

Freya’s lips parted slightly as realization dawned.「...Go after Zaeryn instead. If he succeeds in killing Zaeryn, eliminate the thorn in our eyes, we’d have no choice but to forgive him.」

「Exactly,」Azragon said with quiet certainty.「Last I heard, he’s lurking somewhere within the Yin Empire, scheming. I’d wager he’s assembling the strength and tools necessary to eliminate both Zaeryn and <HaoS> in one strike. Permanently.」He paused, his voice turning solemn.「It makes sense. He has to make it count. If he fails—if Zaeryn gets the chance to unleash <HaoS> again—Us Ennead will not only excommunicate him and his pathetic daughter, we’d erase them from existence.」

Freya gave a small sigh, her smile tinged with cruelty.「Poor Adeus… He doesn’t even realize that no matter how hard he tries, no matter how cleverly he plots, he was never going to join our ranks. Not with that foolish girl still breathing, acting as a distraction to his devotion toward our cause..」She tilted her head back, gazing into the infinite heavens above.「Since the very beginning, being an Ennead Candidate was just a mirage—a carrot we dangled before him to keep him running in circles.」

「Exactly.」

「By the way, Az, I think it was rather fortunate that those Yonko appeared when they did. It spared you from razing Zaeryn’s city.」

Azragon raised a brow, curious. 「Oh? And why would that be?」

「Because maybe, just maybe, such an act could’ve provoked him into releasing <HaoS> right then and there.」 Freya’s voice was light, but there was an unmistakable weight behind her words.

Azragon chuckled softly, resting his chin on his knuckles. 「He’s not a fool. He must know that he’s still “Kibadios” and not “Zaeryn”. His current strength pales in comparison to what it once was. He’s nowhere near capable of wielding <HaoS> to its full extent. If he were to unleash it now, he’d be painting a target on his back—a target we wouldn’t ignore, even with Matelus occupying our attention. That’s just how dangerous the existence of a free Primordial Elemental is to us… and to this world.」

「Who knows. If he were to suffer the anguish of losing someone dear to him, he might just lose control.」 Freya tilted her head, her voice trailing into a thoughtful hum. 「Just maybe.」

「Well, if he’s still letting emotions cloud his judgment like that, then just maybe, he’s not as much of a threat as we thought.」 Azragon smirked, but his eyes glinted with caution. 「Anyway, our more immediate concern is figuring out Ashura and Gilga’s true intentions.」He leaned back, fingers drumming lightly on the chair’s edge.「The Yonko rarely involve themselves in one another’s affairs. Historically, they’ve acted independently, which worked in our favor—less chance of them forming alliances. But Ashura and Gilga have always had… a closeness. Now that Ashura has sworn brotherhood with Kibadios, it’s only a matter of time before Gilga gets drawn in as well. If we allow their bond to deepen, the threat they pose could exceed our calculations.」

「Let’s hope Adeus, the Oracle, and the Yin Empire can strike the decisive blow before that happens.」 Freya gave a small shrug, her tone aloof, but Azragon caught the edge in her voice.

He fell quiet for a moment, then asked in a low tone, 「…Freya, don’t you feel frustrated?」

「What do you mean?」She blinked, caught off guard.

「We should’ve been able to eliminate Zaeryn’s reincarnation the moment we became aware of him. And yet, our hands are tied because of Matelus.」Azragon’s voice grew darker, more bitter. 「Worse still, the Yonko—the very antagonistic force we allowed to exist to cultivate humanity’s power through conflict and foster their reliance on our divine authority—have now become a severe headache. These four… They’re leaps and bounds stronger than any generation before them.」

「What are you implying?」 Freya asked, a shadow flickering behind her gaze.

「Doesn’t it feel like we’re dancing to someone else’s tune?」

She chuckled—a rich, teasing sound—but it rang hollow.「Haha, that’s not like you, Az. A member of the Ennead, who’s helped orchestrate the world’s fate for hundreds of millennia, sounding like a disillusioned puppet.」 Her laughter faded, replaced by a pensive silence. 「But… I understand what you mean.」

Azragon narrowed his eyes. 「Is it Seri’s doing?」

「…That would be troubling, yes, but not beyond our control. Still… Have you ever considered that it might be someone else? Someone much more… dreadful?」Freya folded her arms, thinking. 

Azragon’s gaze sharpened. 「Kaernas?」

Freya didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze drifted upward, and with one slender finger, she pointed toward the unseen heavens.「Higher.」

The breath caught in Azragon’s throat. 「You don’t mean…」

「One of “The True Gods”, perhaps.」

「Impossible!」 he snapped, half rising from his throne. 「They’re all dead! Kaernas slaughtered them—we witnessed it with our own eyes!」

「I’m only accounting for the worst possible scenario.」 Freya’s voice remained calm, even soothing. 「Don’t let it rattle you too much.」

Azragon said nothing, his thoughts spiraling in wary silence.

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Upon arriving in Alsen atop Ryuu’s back, Kibadios wasted no time. The moment the dragonkin landed, the hybrid king leapt down and, uncharacteristically, brushed past the line of servants eagerly welcoming his return. His usually composed expression was clouded with urgency. He made a beeline for a certain familiar room within his residence.

「Rowan!!」he called out.「Are you okay???」

His panic wasn’t unfounded. According to the report, Ayer had been reduced to ash—sacrificing himself to protect Rowan. But the healer, eager to return the favor, had acted immediately. Ignoring the risk, Rowan had activated his skill, <Seed of Time>, to desperately reverse the time around the slain former Ennead. Unlike the time he saved Teran, where he only needed to rewind the temporal flow around a small, localized area, which was the ogre’s fatal wound, this situation demanded something far more dangerous. Ayer's entire body had been destroyed. To undo that, Rowan had to widen his spell’s area of effect to encompass a whole body. Even though the ex-Ennead was petite, the difference in scale was astronomical. Rowan had to multiply the spell’s radius by hundreds of times. Yet he had succeeded.

Guided by discipline and the training Kibadios had pushed him through by slowing down the time within the Dungeon, Rowan manipulated the flow of time with precision, reassembling Ayer’s dissipated body, second by second. But the toll was steep. As Ayer gasped back to life, Rowan’s Nen had already reached its limit. His vision blurred, his limbs trembling, the healer had clung to consciousness just long enough to see his savior draw breath—before collapsing, utterly drained. By the time the news reached Kibadios, all he had been told was that Rowan had fallen into a coma.

「Master?!」a startled voice cut through the heavy quiet.

Kibadios froze in the doorway. Inside the room, Rowan sat upright in bed, his green hair tousled from sleep, a spoonful of porridge halfway to his mouth. His cheeks puffed out as he blinked at the incubus hybrid, clearly caught mid-bite. Seated at his left was Maia, cradling the bowl with gentle hands. The momentary silence was broken by the soft clink of the spoon against ceramic.「You’re back? You should have told us—we would’ve come out to greet you.」

Kibadios didn’t answer right away. Instead, he rushed to the bedside and began patting Rowan’s shoulders, arms, chest, checking every inch of the boy’s frail frame.「How are you feeling?」he asked, brows furrowed. 「I was told you were in a coma.」

「As you can see, I’m fine, Master.」Rowan smiled weakly, flexing his arm in a half-hearted show of strength. A soft grunt escaped his lips.「...Well, mostly fine. Sorry if I made you worry.」

「Yeah, right, fine .」Maia huffed, puffing her cheeks in frustration.「Rowan’s been asleep for days . He just woke up this morning! We were all worried sick!」

「Don’t try to play it cool, Rowan-chan!」Ryan chimed in from the opposite side of the bed, his usual cheer dampened by concern.「You were completely out of Nen after reviving Ayer. Nen is literally our life force! It’s a miracle you’re still alive at all.」

「Ryan’s right.」Kibadios nodded gravely.「Don’t you ever do something so reckless again. Understood?」Despite the harshness of his words, his touch was gentle as he brushed his fingers along Rowan’s pale cheek.

「I know what I did wasn’t exactly wise…」Rowan muttered, gaze dropping for a moment.「But if I’d hesitated even for a few seconds, Ayer might’ve been beyond saving.」He lifted his eyes again, locking them with Kibadios’.「And I know you’d be devastated if that happened. You really cared for him, didn’t you?」

Kibadios paused, lips pressed into a thin line.「Well… yes.」He let the truth settle in the space between them.「But I worry about you , too.」

That admission took Rowan by surprise. He blinked, as if not quite believing the uncharacteristic honesty coming from his Master’s mouth. Then, slowly, a quiet smile curled at the corner of his lips.「...I’m sorry, Master. I’ll be more careful next time. I promise.」

His words were genuine, but even now, his limbs were slow to move. As the conversation settled, he reached for the bowl Maia held, trying to spoon another bite of porridge into his mouth—but his hand trembled halfway up. Maia sighed, gently taking the bowl back.「Just let me feed you, idiot.」

「I can do it myself…」Rowan muttered, but didn’t resist when she tucked the spoon between his lips.

「You say that, but you’re sweating just from sitting up,」Ryan commented, his hand explored Rowan’s frail body.「Should I get a bucket in case he passes out mid-chew?」

「Please don’t talk about me like I’m dying.」Rowan groaned.

Kibadios, who had been silently watching, let out a soft chuckle. Seriously, from his point of view, had Rowan been the main character in his own light novel, then probably Ryan and Maia would have been the healer’s own little harem. It certainly reminds me of Kirito x Eugeo/Alice… or maybe Eren x Armin/Mikasa? The hybrid pondered for a brief moment before he pulled a chair closer to the bedside and finally sat down.「Rest. Eat. No spellcasting. No training.」His tone was firm again.「Just focus on recovering. I’ll stay here for a while.」

Rowan blinked.「You will?」

「Of course.」There was something gentle in the way Kibadios said it—something Rowan didn’t hear often. He felt warmth rise in his chest, slow and healing. By now, he had already taken the bowl from Maia’s hand and personally hand-fed the recovering healer with a spoonful of warm porridge 

「…Then, maybe… just for a little while, I’ll really take it easy.」

「Rowan-chan, how are you feeling now? I heard the Young Lord has returned?」The door swung open as Gyo and Yuusei stepped briskly into the room, their footsteps heavy with urgency.「Oh, Kibadios-sama, you’re already here.」

「Yeah, I just got back,」Kibadios replied, rising slightly from his seat beside Rowan. His eyes narrowed.「Where have you two been?」

「We were returning from the Dungeon, specifically Soren's lab,」Gyo explained.「I was checking the integrity of the containment locks we set up to restrain Ayer… though, between us, if he really wanted to escape, I doubt those locks would hold. The man's a former Ennead—he’s dangerous.」

Kibadios frowned.「Wait, what do you mean by 'restrain Ayer'? Why was he locked up? And why would he break out?」

Gyo exchanged a look with Yuusei before answering.「Because Ayer’s no longer wearing the collar.」Gyo reached into his bag and pulled out the object in question—a dark metal band etched with familiar suppression runes. It dangled in his hand, looking oddly lifeless without its host.「This is the one he wore ever since his defeat at the trial. It dropped off when his body was incinerated and turned into ash.」

「What?」Kibadios’ voice dropped cold.

Gyo nodded grimly.「Rowan’s revival spell worked—he rewound time acting on Ayer’s body, but since the collar had already detached and wasn’t part of the original body, it didn’t come back to latch around his neck.」

Ryan added,「We realized it immediately after Ayer woke up. He’s completely unbound now—no magical restriction forcing him to obey you or preventing him from harming any of us. So before anything could happen, we locked him up inside Soren’s lab for everyone's safety. Soren assured us that the special cell he was already making should be able to isolate Ayer」

Kibadios fell silent, eyes darkening.

Rowan stirred slightly in bed, guilt flickering behind his tired eyes.「I didn’t even think of that… I was just focused on bringing him back. I’m sorry, Master.」

「Don’t worry, Rowan. It’s been days and Ayer’s still staying there, not harming anyone yet so I guess the cell really worked.」

「Yuusei doubts it works.」The hybrid mutant, who was in his adult form now, shook his head. 

「Yeah. Like I said, I’m sure Ayer can destroy the locks and the cell any time he wants… but, I feel like his mind was completely broken after the battle. He… he just sat there, muttering something incoherence.」Gyo revealed.

「... So what really happened on the day of the attack?」Kibadios frowned, eager to learn what had transpired.

.

.

.

「So that’s the entire story!」Ryan finally concluded, his voice carrying a mix of frustration and weariness after recounting everything he knew. His hands were clenched on his knees, knuckles pale.

Kibadios leaned back slightly, the shadows from the window tracing sharp lines across his face. 「Azragon attacked this city… using Ayer’s true body as nothing more than an automaton weapon, huh?」 His tongue clicked against his teeth in irritation. 「Damn those Ennead. They’ve started moving—just as I feared. Still… it’s fortunate none of you suffered serious injury after facing Azragon and… Ayer’s real body.」

「Yeah,」Maia said, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. 「It’s all thanks to Ashura and Gilga’s timely arrival that Azragon retreated.」

Kibadios’ brows furrowed, his gaze sharpening. 「Why did Ashura bring someone as powerful as her here without telling me first? I mean, I’m glad it worked out, but honestly, having two Yonkos walking freely in Alsen is nothing to take lightly.」 His tone was calm, but there was an unmistakable edge to it. 「Do you know where they are now?」

「Master’s and Yuusei’s father are welcoming them at main residence,」Yuusei replied without hesitation.

「I see.」

A heavy silence briefly fell over the room. Ryan glanced around at the others, then lowered his eyes before meeting his Master’s gaze with a guilty expression. 「We’re sorry, Master. Despite our vows to help you achieve vengeance against the Astrals, we were completely helpless when facing them.」

Maia nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. 「I know what you meant, Ryan-chan. The gap between us is so vast… I can’t even picture our attacks reaching them, let alone doing anything meaningful.」

Yuusei’s voice was barely above a murmur. 「Yuusei tried… but Yuusei failed.」 His head dipped, shoulders sagging in shame.

Uri, sprawled lazily in his chair, waved a hand dismissively. 「Ho, it’s a given they’re that strong. You were up against two of the Enneads—the gods of this world.」 He tilted his head with a smirk. 「Well, technically one god and an automaton made from an ex-Ennead, but you get my point. Can’t really blame yourselves too much.」

「Uri-chan’s right,」Kibadios said, his tone softening. 「Look on the bright side: you came out of the battle alive. That, in itself, is already something not many can claim.」 He leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing in an almost nostalgic glint. 「Not to brag too much, but you actually fought “Zaeryn”—one of the strongest magecrafters this world has ever seen. You think I’m good with magic now as Kibadios, but what I wield today is only a fraction of the magical power I once had as “Zaeryn.”」

Uri’s ears perked up, eyes widening. 「What? Really? But you were able to use chantless Nuclear Magic back when we fought Wei Shimin!」

Kibadios chuckled lowly. 「Yes, but that’s nowhere near the talent I once possessed. When I was “Zaeryn,” I was of the Tengu race—a race famed for their magical prowess, second only to the High Elves. Back then, I could cast Altar Magic on my own… in the middle of a battle.」

「「「What?」」」Uri, Ryan, and Gyo shouted in perfect unison, eyes going wide at the impossible claim.

Ren and Ryuu, who already knew some of Zaeryn’s exploits, simply exchanged a knowing glance and nodded.

Uri leaned forward until his nose nearly touched his Alpha’s. 「Really, Kiba-chan? You’re not lying?」

「Tsk. Who do you think our Master is?」Ryuu snapped back, glaring at Uri.

Ryan, still trying to process the revelation, shook his head. 「But… Altar Magic is the ultimate form of magecraft. Spells that require multiple powerful mages working through rituals for days before they can be activated.」 His voice carried the weight of an Adventurer’s—and a hero’s—firsthand knowledge.

Kibadios shrugged as if it were trivial. 「It’s not that big of a deal. Seri could cast several at once as her morning exercise. Besides, in the land of the High Elves, a few could do it too… ten thousand years ago.」 He turned to Ren. 「Faye, though she wasn’t much for magic, could perform a special Runecraft equal in power to an Altar Magic.」

His gaze swept back over his companions, voice firm. 「All that’s to say that ‘Zaeryn’—or rather, my zombie form—was unbelievably strong. Surviving an encounter like that is already proof of your own strength. So don’t feel bad.」 He reached out and tenderly patted Ryan’s head, causing his cheeks to flush faintly at the gesture, but before he could say anything, Reuk’s voice cut in.

「…Speaking of feeling bad, what are you going to do with Ayer now, Kibadios?」 The former elven archer had followed Kibadios back to Alsen since she could not exist too far way from her “creator”. Though her question was indeed due to pure curiosity, there was also an undertone of mischief—perhaps an attempt to disrupt the lovestruck look Ryan was giving his Master after being praised.

「... Ayer huh? I’ll go see him later.」Kibadios declared.

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「Hmm… I don’t know. There’s gotta be more to the story, right?」Gilga’s eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms, the faint glint of suspicion sharp as a blade. She leaned back slightly in her chair, her towering frame radiating the kind of casual dominance that made even seasoned warriors uncomfortable. 「Why would an Ennead personally come all the way here just to pick a fight with you guys?」

「Ehto…」Kailos’ deep voice hesitated. His gaze instinctively flicked toward Teran, then to Ashura, as if silently asking for backup. The air in the room felt heavier. Since Kibadios had not revealed every detail to Gilga, the ogre knew well it wasn’t his place to speak out of turn. So, with the subtle stiffness of someone weaving around a dangerous truth, he feigned ignorance. 「We don’t know why the Astrals are interested in this city. But… considering we’re a city full of demihumans, it’s only natural for us to draw their ire.」

「Is that so?」Gilga’s gaze sharpened into a piercing stare, her presence alone feeling like a weight pressing down on Kailos’ shoulders. 「You’re sure it’s not because of that hybrid king of yours?」

「Huh? What did Ashura-dono tell you?」Teran’s brow furrowed as he turned to his former boss. Ashura, however, simply shook his head with a half-smirk.

「What? I told her everything I know: that somehow my cute sworn bro turned out to be the heir of the House of the Horn, conquered the dungeon trial, claimed kingship, and then led you lot to victory over the Yin Empire’s forces.」Ashura let out an easy laugh, though there was a subtle edge to it—one born from carefully tiptoeing around the truth that Kibadios was Zaeryn’s reincarnation and had a personal grudge with the Astrals. 「I only brought her here to show her the incredible dungeon. It’s certainly one of a kind.」

「...Ashura-dono, I get that you’re technically my son… or rather, our King’s sworn brother, but inviting another head of state to our city without informing our King is not exactly… considerate.」Kailos’ voice carried the firmness of a man used to command, even if he knew Ashura could crush him with little effort.

「That’s what I told him. I asked him to get Kibadios to invite me personally, but he kept insisting it was fine.」Gilga gave an exaggerated shrug. Her lips curved into a sly smile. 「Though I guess it worked out perfectly—thanks to this idiot’s impulsiveness, we managed to scare off the Ennead, didn’t we?」

「...It is as you say, Gilga-dono.」Kailos finally nodded, his posture relaxing just slightly. 「I understand you came to visit our unique dungeon, but for that, we still need our King’s permission before allowing entry.」

「Can’t I just brute force my way in?」Gilga’s smirk widened as a faint pulse of her Nen rolled off her like a heatwave, freezing both Kailos and Teran in place for a heartbeat. Her grin softened just enough to show she was teasing. 「Haha, I kid. I get it. So… when can I meet Kibadios? I haven’t seen him since he left Lorian. I still owe him thanks for helping during the Woodelf civil war. I was right to ask him to support the princess. Without him, that beautiful forest bordering my land would’ve either fallen into Ashura’s hands or the Empire’s… though honestly, I’m not sure which is worse.」

「Hey, hey. I had no interest in taking over that forest. I told you, didn’t I? I’m only after the Orcan Mine.」

「Yeah, yeah. As if I’d trust a Yonko’s word.」

「...So… are they like friends? Or enemies?」Kailos whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Teran, his voice low enough to avoid carrying across the room.

「‘Frienemies’ is probably the perfect word for it.」Teran replied without looking away from the scene.

「I see…」

Gilga, ignoring their side chatter, leaned forward slightly. 「Well, Kailos-dono, besides my interest in the dungeon, I’ve got another reason for being here. Now that the whole of Monas Kye is unified under the leadership of the new King, I’d like to formally open diplomatic ties. It was hard to do before—Monas Kye used to be little more than a patchwork of clans and small towns. But now, with Kibadios as the crowned ruler, I’d say the days of a fractured Monas Kye are over. What do you say?」

「Of course we’d be glad to open diplomacy with you, Gilga-dono. But such a decision cannot come from me—it must come from our King. We will inform him of your intentions.」Kailos dipped his head respectfully.

「No need, I’m already here, Father.」A familiar voice rang from the doorway. Kibadios stepped into the chamber, his stride unhurried yet confident, as if the whole world had been waiting for him. He had just come from checking in with Rowan and the others, but his attention was now fixed on the towering figure across the room. 「Hey there, Gilga. Long time no see.」

「...Kibadios.」Gilga’s lips curved into a smile, one part fondness, one part challenge.

Notes:

Yes, Altar Magic was taken directly from 7th prince (man, I love that I got 2nd season right away. Can't wait for the next 2 arcs to get animated... Sure hope they do!)
Also, I will be in Japan for the entire September!! This would be my longest vacation ever... I mean, I'm unemployed, so better spend the time wisely, rather than just sulking at home haha

Chapter 196: Kibadios and Ayer

「Sugoiiii!!! Seriously, this dungeon is huge. These caves from level 40-50 alone could be considered a whole dungeon by themselves.」Gilga excitedly shouted.「I totally get why you’re obsessed with this place, Ashura.」The Yonko’s slimy tentacles swiftly extended outward before wrapping around the fleeing monsters, instantly digesting and absorbing them into her body.「And these monsters are rather strong too. If this were to be examined by the Adventurer Guild, I bet they will assign these caves A rank difficulty.」

「Hmm, Adventurer Guild, huh. Haden, quick question—what exactly does the Adventurer’s Guild do these days?」Kibadios turned to Haden, who had accompanied him in this dungeon expedition since all of his harems were busy with other chores.

「Same thing they’ve always done—sponsor dungeon exploration, issue quests based on whatever the clients request. Escort missions, monster exterminations, gathering rare herbs—you name it」Haden, a former adventurer, explained.「But lately… I heard they’ve been expanding into the business of offering bounty hunting contracts. You know—wanted criminals, dangerous rogue mages, that sort of thing.」

「Or, a dangerous hybrid who killed a hero like myself」smiled Kibadios.「That reminds me: have we caught any new groups that dared to come here to collect bounty on my head?」

「No, I’ve checked with our Anbu forces and apparently, Blades of the Dawning Sun were the last.」Haden shook his head.「Maybe the news of several S-rank adventurer groups all disappeared in Monas Kye scared away any potential bounty hunters. Of course, we will remain vigilant.」

「I thought S-rank parties should be fairly strong, but it seems like they gave us no trouble at all?」

「Ah… It seems like there’s some misconceptions that you have there, Kibadios sama. I guess Ryan and Ruek didn’t explain to you yet, but you should understand how the Adventurer Guild’s rankings actually work—especially the whole ‘S-rank’ mess.」

「Mess?」Kibadios arched an eyebrow.

「Well, the thing is, most people hear ‘S-rank party’ and think they’re looking at the cream of the crop—unstoppable, legendary heroes. The reality’s… not quite so shiny.」Haden shook his head.「You see, an S-rank party can be made up of nothing but A-rank adventurers. Get more than five of them together, work as a unit, and after clearing a few tough missions, the party may be advanced to an S-rank party.」

「So they’re not actually S-rank themselves, just… collectively powerful.」

「Yes. A group of A-ranks can push their way into S-rank territory, but that doesn’t make them as dangerous as a true S-rank individual . That’s why some of those S-rank parties end up weaker than outsiders expect.」

「So, those we need to watch out for are…」

「The S-rank individuals, without a doubt.」Haden leaned forward, voice lowering as if imparting a secret.「These are the ones who, alone, can take on an S-rank mission and come back breathing. They don’t need four comrades to cover their backs. When they walk into a room, people notice. Frankly, they’re the real pillars of the Guild’s power. Without them, most of those so-called ‘S-rank parties’ would crumble in the face of a real catastrophe.」

「I see.」

「All of the Six Heroes belong to the S-rank. That just tells you what level of power S-rankers possess.」

「So, Akaban, the one who Ryan faced during the battle back then, was an S-rank, huh?」Of course, Kibadios was made aware of the former hero’s clash against Akaban during the decisive battle. The hybrid has been keeping an eye out for any sight of the dreaded man dressed in black suit, yet, according to Haden and the Intelligence Bureau, they did not detect any hint of his presence these past few days.「If we were to clash against the Yin Empire and the Theocracy, do you think the Adventurer Guilds will side with them?」

「Honestly, it’s hard to tell.」Haden shook his head.「The Adventurer Guilds are fairly decentralized, so my bet is that the branches in those countries would most likely be against us. But those in neutral countries may not. It also depends on the individual adventurers in those Guilds too.」

「Hm, regardless, we probably have to take them into our calculation.」Kibadios declared.

「As you wish.」

「Hey, Gilga! I have some other matters I have to take care of, so I’ll take my leave. Haden here will accompany you in this Dungeon in my stead.」

「Okie!」The Yonko acknowledged, before quickly switching her attention back to cave exploration.「Heheh, now, our Kibadios would know how busy it is to lead a country. He can finally share my pain!」

「What pain? You delegated all your work to your subordinates. Case and point: you’re here, having fun while they’re still back home, working their asses off.」Ashura shrugged.

「Haaa? Look who’s speaking. And what contract are you currently working on, at this very moment again?」Gilga shot back at Ashura, who, just like her, was simply enjoying his time having fun in Alsen Dungeon.「While let me remind you that unlike you, I’m here officially to negotiate with Kibadios. I’m only exploring this dungeon after I had successfully accomplished the task I set out for!」

Just as Gilga had said, the Yonko and Kibadios had concluded their meeting a day earlier discussing a myriad of diplomatic matters, from sovereignty recognition to trade and defense. To begin with, Uruk, the city-state founded by Gilga, would formally recognize Monas Kye as a distinct and unified nation under the rule of Kibadios. At first glance, such recognition might seem a trivial matter, yet when it came from a city powerful enough to rival even the Empire, it carried undeniable weight. Overnight, Kibadios’s claim to kingship was legitimized upon the world stage. Of course, both the wood elves of Vernys Forest and the Kingdom of Maeg were expected to follow with their own acknowledgements soon enough. But by moving first, Gilga had secured for herself the most generous of rewards: Uruk would receive preferential treatment in the export of Aetherium mined from the Dungeon, while Alsen and Ka’shinu would open their markets to Uruk’s merchants. Monas Kye, for its part, pledged to guarantee the safety of Uruk’s caravans as they crossed the vast grasslands. In return, Uruk offered what Monas Kye sorely lacked—raw materials and skilled manpower for reconstruction. Just as Uruk had once helped rebuild Lorian, the capital of Maeg, so too would its artisans and laborers now be dispatched to restore Monas Kye’s shattered towns and cities.

Culturally, the two leaders agreed to establish embassies within each other’s capitals. Though modest in scale, these diplomatic missions would serve as bridges, facilitating dialogue, fostering trust, and allowing ideas to flow freely between their nations. Finally, the matter of defense was raised. With Monas Kye and the Empire bound only by a fragile truce, Uruk refrained from promising an outright military alliance. Yet Gilga did not hide her willingness to sign a mutual defense pact, provided Monas Kye secured a lasting peace with the Empire first. Even Ashura raised an eyebrow at this suggestion. Uruk, since its founding, had never entered such an agreement with any kingdom in the region. But considering that all those kingdoms were ruled by humans, her reluctance until now was perhaps unsurprising. The real reason, however, was far more personal. For Gilga, having Kibadios, an individual of extraordinary power, on her side was worth any risk such a pact might bring. Yet to Kibadios, her intentions were transparent. Gilga was not merely seeking strength; she was seeking balance. Despite being Monas Kye’s king, Kibadios remained a member of Hyakki Yagyō, and thus, in a sense, part of Ashura’s camp. By aligning him with Uruk as well, Gilga hoped to tip the scales. If conflict ever erupted between the two Yonko, Kibadios might be persuaded into neutrality rather than forced to Ashura’s side. For Kibadios, however, even the prospect of such an alliance was more than he could have hoped for. Should Uruk formally pledge itself as a defensive partner, the Empire would be forced to reconsider any ambitions of invasion they might be entertaining. The informal meeting between the two sovereigns ended with a firm handshake. Ashura, ever the mediator, simply laughed and clapped them both on the back, remarking with satisfaction that everything had gone far smoother than expected, and all thanks to his guiding hand.

.

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.

「Welcome back, Zaeryn-sama.」Several humans knelt as the hybrid approached the entrance of Soren’s laboratory, just after he had bid farewell to the two Yonko. The sight itself was strange, humans gathering in such numbers within a demihuman city was rare enough, but what unsettled the air further was what revealed itself upon closer look. From their eyes, mouths, and nostrils leaked faint ribbons of shadow, writhing and twisting as though the darkness within them could never be contained. They were the ANBU, the latest followers to swear themselves to Kibadios after the battle against Wei Shimin. Their origins, however, were anything but ordinary. These men and women were the descendants of the Daemons, the very accursed race whom Zaeryn and Aspen had fought ten thousand years ago for their crimes against the Astrals, and for their attempt to seize dominion over the world through the power of On. By all logic, these descendants should have borne only hatred toward Zaeryn, the destroyer of their progenitors. And yet, paradoxically, they knelt now as his most zealous devotees.

「...And why is it that these people worship Master?」 Days earlier, Maia had asked the obvious question, when the Daemons had first prostrated themselves before the hybrid, after he had proven his identity as Zaeryn’s reincarnation by unveiling his Ultimate Arte. 「Shouldn’t they despise Master for what you did to their ancestor?」

「…」 Kibadios had remained silent then, weighing whether the truth of the Daemons ought to come from his lips, or from the very ones kneeling at his feet.

「Haa, of course they would worship him like a god. After all, we were the ones who freed them from the yoke of their overlords, and Zaeryn was the very reason they even survived.」 Ayer, who had fought in that ancient war, had spoken with a bitter edge.

「Well, you see…」 Reuk had stepped in, for he had glimpsed Zaeryn’s memories firsthand when he dwelled within Kibadios. 「The people we call Daemons were once the citizens of a flourishing city-state, more than ten millennia past. Though small, the city was rich and powerful, ruled by a triumvirate. Yet excess wealth and power dulled their judgment, and they craved more. By some means, they unearthed a way to seize dominion over Chaos—or rather, over what we now learn is On. Believing On to be their key to ascendancy, the triumvirate enacted a terrible ritual. Their entire citizenry was transformed into Daemons—beings who breathed, generated, and embodied On itself. But in doing so, the rulers shackled their people’s minds, stripping away all their freewill. From then on, the Daemon army, composed of their enslaved citizens, marched blindly toward world conquest.」 Reuk’s eyes had turned toward Kibadios. 「That was when Zaeryn and Aspen’s party, alongside Ayer as the Astrals’ representative, and Faye as the High Elves’ representative, had battled the Daemons and their rulers. One by one, the triumvirate had fallen, and with their deaths, the Daemons’ free will returned. But the ritual had bound their lives to those of their masters. With the rulers gone, the Daemons too had been doomed to perish. Everyone had believed it for the best—their miasma was so toxic it dwarfed that of any mutant, their very existence a threat to the world. But Zaeryn… he alone had stood against that judgment. He had argued that it was not their sin, but the Astrals’, or rather, their gods’ failure, that had damned them. In the end, his words had swayed Seri and the Ennead. Through a new ritual devised by Seri herself, Zaeryn had severed their bond to the rulers, and then」 Reuk’s tone had grown heavy. 「...he had used his own blood to purify their miasma, weakening its toxicity until it resembled no more than a mutant’s. That miracle had come to be called Zaeryn’s Blessing.」

「In short, the Daemons lived because of Zaeryn’s hand. Yet when he needed them most… they vanished.」

「When Master needed them? You mean during the time he was imprisoned by the Astrals?」 Ryuu had asked.

「Exactly.」 Ayer’s gaze had hardened on the kneeling figures. 「When Sylvia called for rebellion, many had risen against us. Yet the Daemons had not answered. They feared that if they once again defied the Astrals, they would be condemned to death a second time. Those cowards thought their silence and compliance would spare them. But in abandoning Zaeryn to his fate, they signed their own death warrant. For the moment Zaeryn was finally executed, Zaeryn’s Blessing faded away. The tether that held their miasma at bay dissolved. Their flesh melted from their bones, leaving only formless masses of Chaos Miasma. Their numbers dwindled, retreating into the shadows of the world. I had believed them all extinct. Who would have thought some still endured… like this.」

「…We’re sorry, Zaeryn-sama…」The leader’s voice had trembled, his head pressed so low against the stone floor it had seemed he wished to vanish into it.「No words of ours could redeem the betrayal of our ancestors. No vow could erase the blood they spilled or the trust they shattered. Yet we—cursed children of their sin—had borne ten thousand years of shame and hardship, enduring only so that we might crawl before you now.」 He had raised his head just enough for his darkened eyes to meet Kibadios’, and from them had poured streams of ink-like tears, rolling down his face in silent trails.「We pledge what little we are, what lives remain to us, to your cause. Please, Zaeryn-sama, allow us the chance to serve you. Let us be faithful, unworthy tools, to be discarded the moment our usefulness fades. We were born of sin. Only by dying in your name may we grasp even the faintest glimmer of absolution.」 Behind him, the rest of the Daemon envoys had bowed even deeper, their shoulders trembling, their tears joining the leader.

「What sin?」 Kibadios’ voice had cut through the silent air, his violet gaze sweeping over them, burning away the trembling words they had offered. 「What have you done? Or your parents? Or their parents before them? Nothing. You have carried chains forged by ghosts, and those ghosts had long since turned to dust. Why did you come crawling to me as though their sins were carved into your flesh?」 The leader had dared not raise his head, but Kibadios had stepped forward, lowering himself enough to place a firm hand on the man’s shoulder. His touch had been neither gentle nor cruel—only grounding, a weight that demanded the man listen.

「I am not the kind of person who condemned children for the crimes of their ancestors.」 His tone had softened, though it still had carried a strength like steel beneath velvet. 「If you wish to fight for me, then fight. I would not deny your allegiance—I need every ally I can gather if I were to stand against the Astrals. But make no mistake—your service should not be some pitiful offering of expiation.」 The Daemon’s tears had dripped onto Kibadios’ hand. The hybrid had tightened his grip slightly, forcing the leader to look up into his eyes. 「Listen carefully. Fighting for me would not grant you the absolution you craved… because you were never damned to begin with. The weight you carried was a phantom, nothing more. Stand. If you wish to fight, do so with pride, not as slaves of a long, forgotten, dead sin.」

The Daemons had stirred, uncertain, exchanging glances. Their leader’s lips had trembled as though new words were trying to form, yet he had only knelt there, shaken by the conviction in Kibadios’ voice.

「Yes, we will stand by your side, Zaeryn-sama!!」 The leader had finally found the courage to stand and look his Master in the eyes. Soon, the rest of the Daemons had followed.

「Good.」 Kibadios had smiled. 「And please call me Kibadios, since that’s who you will be pledging your allegiance to.」 Soon afterward, the hybrid had assigned the Daemons to the role of spies and shadow soldiers, who were to protect him from the darkness. Since Daemons were now mostly just formless, dark shadows, they had needed to possess the bodies and flesh of other people. Back when they had been in service of Wei Shimin, they had been ordered to possess the bodies of near-death demihuman prisoners. However, once they served under Kibadios, the hybrid had asked them to take over the bodies of Yinese soldiers instead. That way, there would not be much friction between them and the rest of the demihumans in Monas Kye. Kibadios had been curious as to why they had served Wei Shimin before, but all he had been told was that the Daemons had been found by the elusive Tengu Tribes in the western mountain range. Much like the Daemons, most had thought that the Tengu would also have been wiped out a long time ago, but now, according to the Daemons, there was concrete evidence they were still around. Strangely, once the Tengu had found the Daemons, they had instructed them to work toward reviving Zaeryn. The Tengu had deemed that Wei Shimin would have been the perfect vessel for “Zaeryn’s” revival, which was why the Daemons had dutifully served him, helping him pursue the ascension he sought. The story had not made much sense to Kibadios, since reviving someone in that manner was not something that could be done. Yet the Tengu had convinced the Daemons otherwise. If that was the case, then either the Tengu had been misled, or they had misled the Daemons themselves. Either way, Kibadios knew this would be an issue he would have to deal with once he reestablished contact with the Tengu in the future.

「We’ve failed you, Kibadios-sama.」 Back in the present, the leader of the Daemons gravely admitted. 「We let the Astral… an Ennead, no less, infiltrate and cause harm to Alsen. Even if you were to erase our existence now, we would not protest.」

「Yeah, that was not great. But what could you do against him?」 Kibadios shook his head. 「I’m not here to reprimand you guys. Don’t worry about it too much, but you just have to be vigilant.」

「We understand, Kibadios-sama.」

「Now, can you lead me to where Ayer is.」

「Of course.」

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.

The former Ennead simply sat there, motionless for days on end. The locks on his cell, hidden deep within the underbelly of Soren’s laboratory, were elaborate contraptions of metal and magic, but Kibadios doubted they would have stopped him had he truly wished to leave. The truth was far simpler—Ayer had not tried. Instead of lashing out at the same people who had once enslaved him, he had simply followed them into confinement after Rowan’s reckless resurrection a few days prior. There he remained, a husk of himself, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees, forehead buried against them, as though seeking to hide from a world that had abandoned him.

「...You’ve returned, Zaeryn.」His voice was muffled, thin.

「Yeah. It seems like you’ve seen better days.」

「Ha, said the one who enslaved me.」Ayer finally lifted his head. His once-radiant features were shadowed with exhaustion, yet he still managed a crooked smirk.

「You should have seen it coming, shouldn’t you? That they would strip you of your power after your stumble.」Kibadios sat cross-legged before him, close enough that Ayer could have lunged and torn him apart if he so wished. Without the collar, nothing physically bound the Ennead. Yet the hybrid showed no fear.

「Perhaps.」Ayer’s hand darted out, seizing Kibadios by the collar. His grip trembled, not with strength, but with years of unspent grief.「You finally achieved one of your goals, Zaeryn. You humiliated me… and now, you get to witness my demise. Does it bring you any satisfaction?」

The hybrid said nothing.

「Kill me, Zaeryn!」Ayer snarled, his voice cracking.「Since you’re the one who caused my misery, it’s only fitting that you see it through to the end. You’ve won.」

「...Rowan chan would kill me in turn if I did that. After all, he risked his life to resurrect you, Ayer.」Kibadios’s hand lifted, gentle, and closed over Ayer’s. He did not pry it away, but held it steady.「And you’re wrong. Whether in my past life or this one, I never longed for your death. I wanted to save you.」

「Haha… save me? You, a mere irregularity, wanted to save me, an Ennead… a god? Save me from what??」Ayer’s laugh was brittle, breaking halfway into a growl.

「From your own delusion!」Kibadios’s sudden shout reverberated against the obsidian walls.「I’ve known you too long, Ayer. I’ve seen you rage against the world, lashing out blindly at everyone, everything. For the longest time I couldn’t understand. But when I saw your past—when I witnessed the memories you carried—I finally did. I understood your pain, your anger… and most of all, I understood that all you ever wanted was a place to belong.」

Ayer’s lips trembled.「...I…」

「You thought you belonged among mortals, among your kin. Yet they betrayed you, and your mother paid the price. In your despair, you turned your eyes to the Astrals, deluding yourself that their power, their station, would fill the emptiness. But it didn’t. Even as you reached for the pinnacle, even as they molded you into their weapon, you felt nothing. That’s why you raged. That’s why you broke.」

「...No… I…」

「They discarded you as well. Just as mortals did. Just as all of them always did.」

Ayer’s smirk collapsed, his eyes glistening with a storm he could no longer hold back. His voice cracked into a scream.「Then tell me, Zaeryn!! Tell me!!! Where do I belong in this forsaken world?! Do I even have a place?!」

「You belong to me!!」Kibadios roared, leaning forward, seizing the broken god in his arms. The force of it left Ayer stunned, frozen in that embrace.「Join me, Ayer. For I will never abandon you.」

「Zaeryn…」The name fell from his lips not as a curse, but a plea. His arms, trembling, did not push away. Kibadios’s hand rose, cupping his cheek. His voice softened.「Together, we can watch this world burn…  or at least that’s what the old me would have said, that’s what I once wanted, guided only by hatred for the Astrals. But then Maia and Rowan came into my life. Then Ryan, Ryuu, Yuusei. Ren and Yue. Uri and Gyo. One after another, they gave me a place. A reason to fight, not just for vengeance, but for something precious. And I want you to be part of that, Ayer. Join me, you’ll be mine, much like I’ll be yours.」

Ayer’s eyes narrowed, his breath uneven.「...Haha… How do I know you’re any different, Zaeryn? How do I know you won’t discard me once I’ve outlived my usefulness… or when you find a new toy to play with?」Kibadios expected resistance from the otokonoko. Instead, he heard hesitation—fragile, almost hopeful.

「New toy?」

「Heh. Isn’t that how you gathered your harem? You’re half incubus, after all.」Kibadios stared at him a moment, then leaned in without another word. Their lips met—unexpected, startling. Ayer’s eyes widened, then fluttered shut as resistance bled away into something dangerously close to surrender.

When they finally parted, Kibadios whispered, firm and clear:「I promise… you will be the last to join my harem, the last to be my mate. If I ever betray this promise, Ayer… you can kill me yourself.」

「...Zaeryn…」

「It’s Kibadios, actually.」The hybrid smiled faintly, thumb brushing Ayer’s tear-streaked cheek.

Notes:

AND THAT'S WHY KIBADIOS' HAREM WILL END WITH 10 PEOPLE!! WITH AYER JOINING, I THINK WE'VE REACHED THE HALF WAY MAKR (OR A BIT MORE THAN HALF WAY).
Okay, I was planning for porn this chapter, but looks like I won't make it.
Porn next chapter for sure. (along with R18 dj of Kibadios x Ayer, for real this time, think of it as celebration for 90k hits). But the bad news is that I will be traveling to Japan soon (and for the whole month... if I'm unemployed, I'd rather be unemployed in Japan lol) so idk when the next chapter will come out. Think of it as a small hiatus.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Regarding that time I reincarnated, betrayed, reincarnated, and reincarnated again into a heartless villain to build a harem and exact revenge...