The tethers pulled the cultists into a mass of bodies. That mass of bodies turned into a black goop from which even more tentacles sprouted.
“Of all things, it’s another giant fucking ooze,” I said. “I am beyond fucking sick of them.”
“Maybe it drops chocolate?” Maria replied.
The cultists had become one with what they worshiped. Whoever this ooze god was, I didn’t like the fact that it existed in the same dimension as me.
I flung a lightning orb at it. The orb hit the ooze, and a small shadow bled off it.
“It’s weak to holy,” Maria said, her spectacles now on.
I conjured my holy claws. “Fuck. That means I have to get near it.”
“Wait,” Olana said. “Remy, I can feel my new ability.”
Our tether appeared. It flowed mana into me. All of a sudden, my claws lengthened, each now the size of a sword. Then they shot off my hands and homed in on the ooze.
As if they had a life of their own, the claws slashed at the ooze, doing incredible damage to it, judging by the size of the shadows. After about twenty seconds, the claws vanished.
“Pretty damn cool,” I said. The fact that Olana had weapon skills and healing in her kit really showed her potential as a jack-of-all-trades.
The Shadow Ooze roared with fury. Tentacles with hands at the ends shot out of its body. One of the hands came toward Esme. It was so fast, she couldn’t dodge it, even with her high agility.
It captured her.
“Fuck!” Esme screamed. The hand squeezed her.
She turned into an Ice Golem and burst free, causing the hand to explode into shadows.
Esme returned to my side. “My mana is spent.”
“Go back to the fast travel point. Your work is done here, my love.”
She shook her head. “I can still be useful. I can still use items to help the party.”
“All right. But stay in the back.”
More hands shot out of the Shadow Ooze. As they surged toward us, I shadow stepped to get close and swipe at them with my holy claws. I ripped most of the tentacled hands to shreds, but one managed to swat me and send me flying backward.
Both Maria and Olana healed me immediately.
“Let Maria focus on healing,” I said to Olana. “I’m going to need your mana for attacking.” I used Flying Claws. Once again, my claws grew to ten times their size, then shot off my hands.
They ripped so many shadows off the Shadow Ooze that it roared once again.
Meanwhile, the curseborn women I was trying to save had run to the edges of courtyard. To my shock, some of them were launching ranged attacks at the Shadow Ooze. I noticed lightning arrows, fireballs, and ice meteors. So many cool abilities, all helping to take down this fucking monstrosity.
Two hands burst out of the giant ooze’s body. One went for Maria and the other surged toward Olana.
The two girls weren’t fast enough. The dark hands ensnared them both.
I used my Time Crown to freeze time. In the five seconds it gave me, I only managed to cut Maria free, since she was nearest to me.
“Help!” Olana screamed. She clawed at the hand, but her attacks didn’t do enough damage.
The hand pulled her toward the ooze’s disgusting body. I ran and leaped as fast as I could in chase.
My tether with Esme appeared. It pulsed with a soothing blue light and flowed ice mana into me.
Wait, Esme was out of mana, so how was this even happening?
A portal opened in the sky above the Shadow Ooze. Through the portal, I could see a frozen planet. Orbiting that planet was a giant spear, formed from the bluest ice. The ice spear surged away from the planet, through the portal, and into our world. It smashed into the Shadow Ooze, impaling it with the force of a nuclear bomb.
The Shadow Ooze exploded. The bodies of the cultists that had formed it flew across the courtyard, limbs tangled together. It was a disgusting and gruesome scene.
Olana landed on her feet. Maria healed her. I watched as Esme fell to the ground and fainted.
“My love,” I said as soon as I came to her side. “Are you all right?”
She was barely able to open her eyes. “Feeling… so… weak…”
She’d just summoned a giant spear from another planet, so I wasn’t surprised.
“Maria, Olana,” I called. “Help Esme home while I check on the curseborn.”
The girls nodded. They helped get Esme back on her feet. I made a fast travel point – my last one on cooldown – and the three of them teleported away.
I approached the curseborn women. There were too many to count. Over a hundred, at least. And yes, they were all incredibly beautiful. So many different hair and eye colors, body shapes, skin tones, and varieties of clothing. These women must’ve been hand selected by Prince Rohan from across Lumaria. Even after so many days in captivity, they were all so utterly gorgeous.
“I am King Remy,” I said. “You’re safe now.” I gestured to the fast travel point. “I’ve given you all permission to use that to teleport to my sanctuary. My wives will help you all get healed and rested.”
A tall, shapely brunette approached me. “You’re the man who beheaded Rohan.”
“Yes. That was me. I did what I had to do.”
They didn’t seem too pleased about it.
“You put us all in danger,” the brunette said. “At least with Rohan protecting us, we were safe. Fed. Clothed. We had a roof over our heads.”
“And you’ll still have all those things,” I replied. “You have absolutely nothing to fear, or lose, now that I’m in charge.”
A short redhead came forward. “He did just rescue us. Maybe we can trust him.”
A curvy white-haired woman approached me. Her outfit was entirely see-through. “He saved our lives. I say we give him a chance, at least.”
“He’s a murderer,” the brunette replied. “And a rabble-rouser. I heard he’s trying to start a war with Emperor Dukas!”
“That’s not true,” I said. “Emperor Dukas and I have entered into an alliance. I am to marry his daughter, Samantha, who is also a curseborn like you all.”
The brunette’s eyes widened. She had such lovely, long eyelashes. “Are you telling the truth?”
“Let’s discuss this somewhere safer.” I gestured once more to the fast travel point. “It took me days to get through this dungeon and find you all. If I was as callous as some of you claim, why would I risk my life and the lives of my wives like that?”
That seemed to convince them. They began walking toward the floating blue orb.
Suddenly, the sky flashed. A beam of light struck the courtyard near my fast travel point. It was utterly blinding, and I had to shield my eyes.
When I opened them, the fast travel point was gone. Also, a barrier stretched around the courtyard, trapping us all.
You cannot depart, said a voice from the heavens. We have been summoned by our disciples, and though they are no more, we are eternal. We shall sup on you, and grow more powerful thereby.
We all looked to the heavens. A creature emerged from a vortex in space. It had so many heads and eyes and tentacles, all on a bulbous, misshapen body. It had mouths all over its form, too, each with ridged teeth. The way those mouths salivated showed its hunger.
We are the one you have feared, it said. We are the manifestation of all your terrors.
I knew, instinctively, what I was looking at. “Shadowsoul.”
You have slain some of the tethers that bound us, but now we shall devour you all, and grow more powerful thereby.
It was such a disgusting mass of ugly. Worse than an ooze, for sure. In fact, you could even call it the god of all oozes.
“I’m going to kill you, you fuck.” I raised a fist in the air. Then I realized: all my wives were in Whispering Waters. I had no power with which to fight it. Aside from my red lightblade, which couldn’t be relied upon to fell a god, I was defenseless.
The curseborn women around me screamed as the Shadowsoul descended toward us. We all backed away as far as we could as it hovered above the plaza.
I couldn’t make another fast travel point since I had no more on cooldown. I could, however, make a soul cabin, but no way would the hundred or so curseborn women all be able to fit.
The soul island! I could take us all to Filia’s island!
I grabbed the orb that formed the entrance to the island from my soul storage, then tossed it on the ground.
“Everyone, into the door!” I shouted as the orange mist solidified into a glowing entrance.
The tethers pulled the cultists into a mass of bodies. That mass of bodies turned into a black goop from which even more tentacles sprouted.
“Of all things, it’s another giant fucking ooze,” I said. “I am beyond fucking sick of them.”
“Maybe it drops chocolate?” Maria replied.
The cultists had become one with what they worshiped. Whoever this ooze god was, I didn’t like the fact that it existed in the same dimension as me.
I flung a lightning orb at it. The orb hit the ooze, and a small shadow bled off it.
“It’s weak to holy,” Maria said, her spectacles now on.
I conjured my holy claws. “Fuck. That means I have to get near it.”
“Wait,” Olana said. “Remy, I can feel my new ability.”
Our tether appeared. It flowed mana into me. All of a sudden, my claws lengthened, each now the size of a sword. Then they shot off my hands and homed in on the ooze.
As if they had a life of their own, the claws slashed at the ooze, doing incredible damage to it, judging by the size of the shadows. After about twenty seconds, the claws vanished.
“Pretty damn cool,” I said. The fact that Olana had weapon skills and healing in her kit really showed her potential as a jack-of-all-trades.
The Shadow Ooze roared with fury. Tentacles with hands at the ends shot out of its body. One of the hands came toward Esme. It was so fast, she couldn’t dodge it, even with her high agility.
It captured her.
“Fuck!” Esme screamed. The hand squeezed her.
She turned into an Ice Golem and burst free, causing the hand to explode into shadows.
Esme returned to my side. “My mana is spent.”
“Go back to the fast travel point. Your work is done here, my love.”
She shook her head. “I can still be useful. I can still use items to help the party.”
“All right. But stay in the back.”
More hands shot out of the Shadow Ooze. As they surged toward us, I shadow stepped to get close and swipe at them with my holy claws. I ripped most of the tentacled hands to shreds, but one managed to swat me and send me flying backward.
Both Maria and Olana healed me immediately.
“Let Maria focus on healing,” I said to Olana. “I’m going to need your mana for attacking.” I used Flying Claws. Once again, my claws grew to ten times their size, then shot off my hands.
They ripped so many shadows off the Shadow Ooze that it roared once again.
Meanwhile, the curseborn women I was trying to save had run to the edges of courtyard. To my shock, some of them were launching ranged attacks at the Shadow Ooze. I noticed lightning arrows, fireballs, and ice meteors. So many cool abilities, all helping to take down this fucking monstrosity.
Two hands burst out of the giant ooze’s body. One went for Maria and the other surged toward Olana.
The two girls weren’t fast enough. The dark hands ensnared them both.
I used my Time Crown to freeze time. In the five seconds it gave me, I only managed to cut Maria free, since she was nearest to me.
“Help!” Olana screamed. She clawed at the hand, but her attacks didn’t do enough damage.
The hand pulled her toward the ooze’s disgusting body. I ran and leaped as fast as I could in chase.
My tether with Esme appeared. It pulsed with a soothing blue light and flowed ice mana into me.
Wait, Esme was out of mana, so how was this even happening?
A portal opened in the sky above the Shadow Ooze. Through the portal, I could see a frozen planet. Orbiting that planet was a giant spear, formed from the bluest ice. The ice spear surged away from the planet, through the portal, and into our world. It smashed into the Shadow Ooze, impaling it with the force of a nuclear bomb.
The Shadow Ooze exploded. The bodies of the cultists that had formed it flew across the courtyard, limbs tangled together. It was a disgusting and gruesome scene.
Olana landed on her feet. Maria healed her. I watched as Esme fell to the ground and fainted.
“My love,” I said as soon as I came to her side. “Are you all right?”
She was barely able to open her eyes. “Feeling… so… weak…”
She’d just summoned a giant spear from another planet, so I wasn’t surprised.
“Maria, Olana,” I called. “Help Esme home while I check on the curseborn.”
The girls nodded. They helped get Esme back on her feet. I made a fast travel point – my last one on cooldown – and the three of them teleported away.
I approached the curseborn women. There were too many to count. Over a hundred, at least. And yes, they were all incredibly beautiful. So many different hair and eye colors, body shapes, skin tones, and varieties of clothing. These women must’ve been hand selected by Prince Rohan from across Lumaria. Even after so many days in captivity, they were all so utterly gorgeous.
“I am King Remy,” I said. “You’re safe now.” I gestured to the fast travel point. “I’ve given you all permission to use that to teleport to my sanctuary. My wives will help you all get healed and rested.”
A tall, shapely brunette approached me. “You’re the man who beheaded Rohan.”
“Yes. That was me. I did what I had to do.”
They didn’t seem too pleased about it.
“You put us all in danger,” the brunette said. “At least with Rohan protecting us, we were safe. Fed. Clothed. We had a roof over our heads.”
“And you’ll still have all those things,” I replied. “You have absolutely nothing to fear, or lose, now that I’m in charge.”
A short redhead came forward. “He did just rescue us. Maybe we can trust him.”
A curvy white-haired woman approached me. Her outfit was entirely see-through. “He saved our lives. I say we give him a chance, at least.”
“He’s a murderer,” the brunette replied. “And a rabble-rouser. I heard he’s trying to start a war with Emperor Dukas!”
“That’s not true,” I said. “Emperor Dukas and I have entered into an alliance. I am to marry his daughter, Samantha, who is also a curseborn like you all.”
The brunette’s eyes widened. She had such lovely, long eyelashes. “Are you telling the truth?”
“Let’s discuss this somewhere safer.” I gestured once more to the fast travel point. “It took me days to get through this dungeon and find you all. If I was as callous as some of you claim, why would I risk my life and the lives of my wives like that?”
That seemed to convince them. They began walking toward the floating blue orb.
Suddenly, the sky flashed. A beam of light struck the courtyard near my fast travel point. It was utterly blinding, and I had to shield my eyes.
When I opened them, the fast travel point was gone. Also, a barrier stretched around the courtyard, trapping us all.
You cannot depart, said a voice from the heavens. We have been summoned by our disciples, and though they are no more, we are eternal. We shall sup on you, and grow more powerful thereby.
We all looked to the heavens. A creature emerged from a vortex in space. It had so many heads and eyes and tentacles, all on a bulbous, misshapen body. It had mouths all over its form, too, each with ridged teeth. The way those mouths salivated showed its hunger.
We are the one you have feared, it said. We are the manifestation of all your terrors.
I knew, instinctively, what I was looking at. “Shadowsoul.”
You have slain some of the tethers that bound us, but now we shall devour you all, and grow more powerful thereby.
It was such a disgusting mass of ugly. Worse than an ooze, for sure. In fact, you could even call it the god of all oozes.
“I’m going to kill you, you fuck.” I raised a fist in the air. Then I realized: all my wives were in Whispering Waters. I had no power with which to fight it. Aside from my red lightblade, which couldn’t be relied upon to fell a god, I was defenseless.
The curseborn women around me screamed as the Shadowsoul descended toward us. We all backed away as far as we could as it hovered above the plaza.
I couldn’t make another fast travel point since I had no more on cooldown. I could, however, make a soul cabin, but no way would the hundred or so curseborn women all be able to fit.
The soul island! I could take us all to Filia’s island!
I grabbed the orb that formed the entrance to the island from my soul storage, then tossed it on the ground.
“Everyone, into the door!” I shouted as the orange mist solidified into a glowing entrance.
