A platform appeared on the far side of the crater. The four of us stepped on it while I explained what the Time Crown did.
“You mean time really froze?” Esme asked.
I nodded. “It did indeed. I was the only one who could move in those five seconds.”
The platform began its descent. I was excited to see what the next floor would be like. Hopefully it was more scenic and fun than the volcano floor.
“That sounds so overpowered,” Tara said. “You could literally do anything, to anyone, in those five seconds.”
“Exactly.” I pounded my fist. “I wonder if Adam has an ability as powerful.”
“You should ask Ruby,” Maria said. “I’m sure she’d tell you.”
I hadn’t met with Ruby since bringing her here. I wanted to give her time to adjust. But tonight we’d have to talk.
“Our new abilities are spectacular!” Tara said. “The way you turned into an ice golem and sliced that disgusting worm open from within was just godly!”
“Yeah!” Maria giggled. “When it swallowed you, I can’t lie, I was terrified.”
“I knew Remy would be fine.” Esme crossed her arms and smirked. “He let it swallow him, obviously.”
“Did you all see that weird god with the octopus face?” I asked.
They all nodded.
“What was weird about it?” Esme said. “Looks like any old god to me.”
Of course Cthulhu would be the standard version of a god to the people here. This world was a battle ground between the Deep Ones and the Outer Gods, after all.
The platform stopped. We stepped into a long hallway lit by glowing blue vines. It made everyone’s skin shimmer with an ethereal blue hue.
“This makes me a bit uneasy,” I said. “Let’s find a fast travel point and get home.”
“Yeah, we don’t have any mana,” Maria added.
“We could always use a soul cabin,” Esme said.
“Nah.” I conjured my red sword and picked up the pace. “I’d rather spend the night at the onsen. Need to talk to Ruby.”
Light appeared at the end of the hallway. It leaked out of the sides of a wooden door.
I put my hand on the golden handle and pushed it open.
It was like looking through a portal into another world. The landscape that appeared resembled the moon, with a dark, starless sky. We stepped through the door onto gray, sandy soil.
Some sort of structure loomed ahead. It looked like a medieval fortress, except the walls were crumbling and covered in vines.
“Weird place,” I said.
Mountains also shone in the distance. A dried up river snaked between the mountains and the fortress.
“Another desolate land,” Esme said. “Is there anything left that’s full of life?”
“I found the fast travel point!” Maria exclaimed.
I turned to see Tara and Maria running toward a floating blue orb.
They were casted in shadow. I looked up to see a winged creature that resembled a teradactyl with a spiky head, diving right at them.
“Tara! Maria!” I dashed forward, conjured my red sword, and leaped in the air. I sliced the creature in two as it swooped down toward them.
Shadows erupted. It rained soulcores. At least twenty. All I heard was patter-patter as they hit the ground.
“Fast thinking,” Esme said. “That high agility is really paying off.”
“Collect the soulcores and let’s get out of here.” I landed at Tara’s side.
“Sorry for being so careless,” Tara said. “Really didn’t see it, for some reason.”
“We’re all just tired.” Esme patted Tara’s back. “A good rest is what we need.”
“Agreed!” Maria exclaimed as she bent down to pick up a soulcore, revealing her white lace panties.
The three of us gathered the soulcores, then used the blue orb to fast travel to the onsen.
I soaked in the pools for a bit, then went to find Ruby. She was at the overlook that could only be accessed through the illusory wall in the temple. Sherry had told her about it.
The view was as striking as ever. The ruined villages nestled in the forest looked gorgeous beneath the starlight.
Ruby smiled when she saw me, though she had trouble looking me in the eyes. The poor girl was obviously still ashamed of what she’d done.
I needed to reassure her that we weren’t like the heartless bastards she’d worked for, all her life. That we believed in second chances, forgiveness, and redemption.
I sat next to her and took her hand. It was soft on the outside, but rough and dry where her palms were, probably from hard work.
“Ruby, I meant what I said. I’m going to take care of you.”
“How can you all trust me so easily?”
“Because I know you won’t sell us out again. Because I’m going to remove the hold they have over you.”
“How?”
“Take me to your village.”
“You really want to go there?”
I nodded. “I’m going to bring them under my protection.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’d do that for me?”
I stuck my hand in my soul storage and took out two bridging orbs.
I held them up to show Ruby. “See these? I’m going to make two doors between our onsen and your village. That will allow someone from the village to travel here to alert me in case there’s any danger. And then I’ll use the second door to get to your village to protect them from said danger.”
Hope shimmered in her gorgeous brown eyes. “Like a temporary fast travel point.”
“Exactly.”
“But you’ve never even met my people. Why would you be so eager to protect them?”
I caressed her moist cheek. She’d been crying before I got here.
“Because I care about you. And that means I care about what you care about.”
She still seemed stuck in her disbelief. I suppose I’d have to show her what I meant.
“So will you take me?” I asked.
“Of course. But you were out fighting monsters the whole day. You should rest.”
I shook my head. “If I want to rule this island, I can’t make that excuse. Sherry and Ayla are well-rested, so I’ll bring them. The four of us will go to your village. If your people agree to come under my protection, everything will be as I described. And even if they don’t…” I squeezed her hand lightly. “I’m still going to find a way to protect them, just in case Adam or Alfonso or Leric or whoever tries something underhanded to get at you.”
Tears streamed from Ruby’s eyes. She hugged me and rested her chin on my shoulder.
“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered.
“We all deserve to be cared for, Ruby.”
“I just never imagined someone would ever fight for me.”
I kissed her forehead. We could talk more later.
It was time to go to the overworld.
The four of us teleported to the overworld and got in the rollercoaster car. I drove. Ruby sat in the passenger’s seat and guided me.
We had to drive past the resort, though I made sure to keep away from it. Still, the sight of those villas brought back fond memories. I’d deflowered Esme and Ayla, there. Fun times.
I hoped to fill this island with many wonderful memories, for all of us. And by all of us, I didn’t only mean my harem. I wanted the people here to prosper, too. Ruby’s village would become my territory. My first claim in the overworld. They would fare far better under my protection than the prince’s.
“I’m just saying…” Ayla poked her head forward. She and Sherry were sitting in the seats behind Ruby and me. “There must be a better way to do it than using two bridging orbs.”
I hadn’t been listening to her conversation with Sherry and Ruby. I’d been a bit too absorbed in steering the car and admiring the scenery.
“Oh?” I said, now interested. “And what way would that be, Ayla?”
“How about placing a fast travel point inside the village?”
I rubbed the stubble on my chin. “You know… that does sound a lot better. But I’ve never been able to move a fast travel point, nor would I know where to get another one.”
“There must be a way,” Sherry said. “Someone had to put them there, right?”
True enough. Someone, or something, perhaps, since it was a god who’d unlocked my fast travel ability.
“I’ll ask the Soulful Doll later.” I pressed down on the accelerator a tad. There was still a ways to go. “She might know how to do it. For now, we’ll use the orange orbs.”
Ayla tapped Ruby’s shoulder. “So, Ruby, how long has it been since you went home?”
“A few months. I go home maybe twice a year.”
“You must miss your family,” Sherry said.
“Very much. I hope they’re all well.”
Ruby wasn’t a curseborn, so her family hadn’t disowned her. Surprising that being a pleasure girl meant you had a higher status than being an element-wielding magic user. Cultures can be so strange, sometimes.
After twenty minutes of speeding across hills and plains, a settlement came into view. Like the others I’d seen outside Port City, it consisted of a few shoddy hovels alongside pens for farm animals. The way Ruby’s eyes lit up, though, you’d think it was Tokyo or perhaps London, not that I’d ever been to either cities. I wasn’t very well traveled back on Earth. I intended to be the most well-traveled man to ever inhabit this world, though.
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A platform appeared on the far side of the crater. The four of us stepped on it while I explained what the Time Crown did.
“You mean time really froze?” Esme asked.
I nodded. “It did indeed. I was the only one who could move in those five seconds.”
The platform began its descent. I was excited to see what the next floor would be like. Hopefully it was more scenic and fun than the volcano floor.
“That sounds so overpowered,” Tara said. “You could literally do anything, to anyone, in those five seconds.”
“Exactly.” I pounded my fist. “I wonder if Adam has an ability as powerful.”
“You should ask Ruby,” Maria said. “I’m sure she’d tell you.”
I hadn’t met with Ruby since bringing her here. I wanted to give her time to adjust. But tonight we’d have to talk.
“Our new abilities are spectacular!” Tara said. “The way you turned into an ice golem and sliced that disgusting worm open from within was just godly!”
“Yeah!” Maria giggled. “When it swallowed you, I can’t lie, I was terrified.”
“I knew Remy would be fine.” Esme crossed her arms and smirked. “He let it swallow him, obviously.”
“Did you all see that weird god with the octopus face?” I asked.
They all nodded.
“What was weird about it?” Esme said. “Looks like any old god to me.”
Of course Cthulhu would be the standard version of a god to the people here. This world was a battle ground between the Deep Ones and the Outer Gods, after all.
The platform stopped. We stepped into a long hallway lit by glowing blue vines. It made everyone’s skin shimmer with an ethereal blue hue.
“This makes me a bit uneasy,” I said. “Let’s find a fast travel point and get home.”
“Yeah, we don’t have any mana,” Maria added.
“We could always use a soul cabin,” Esme said.
“Nah.” I conjured my red sword and picked up the pace. “I’d rather spend the night at the onsen. Need to talk to Ruby.”
Light appeared at the end of the hallway. It leaked out of the sides of a wooden door.
I put my hand on the golden handle and pushed it open.
It was like looking through a portal into another world. The landscape that appeared resembled the moon, with a dark, starless sky. We stepped through the door onto gray, sandy soil.
Some sort of structure loomed ahead. It looked like a medieval fortress, except the walls were crumbling and covered in vines.
“Weird place,” I said.
Mountains also shone in the distance. A dried up river snaked between the mountains and the fortress.
“Another desolate land,” Esme said. “Is there anything left that’s full of life?”
“I found the fast travel point!” Maria exclaimed.
I turned to see Tara and Maria running toward a floating blue orb.
They were casted in shadow. I looked up to see a winged creature that resembled a teradactyl with a spiky head, diving right at them.
“Tara! Maria!” I dashed forward, conjured my red sword, and leaped in the air. I sliced the creature in two as it swooped down toward them.
Shadows erupted. It rained soulcores. At least twenty. All I heard was patter-patter as they hit the ground.
“Fast thinking,” Esme said. “That high agility is really paying off.”
“Collect the soulcores and let’s get out of here.” I landed at Tara’s side.
“Sorry for being so careless,” Tara said. “Really didn’t see it, for some reason.”
“We’re all just tired.” Esme patted Tara’s back. “A good rest is what we need.”
“Agreed!” Maria exclaimed as she bent down to pick up a soulcore, revealing her white lace panties.
The three of us gathered the soulcores, then used the blue orb to fast travel to the onsen.
I soaked in the pools for a bit, then went to find Ruby. She was at the overlook that could only be accessed through the illusory wall in the temple. Sherry had told her about it.
The view was as striking as ever. The ruined villages nestled in the forest looked gorgeous beneath the starlight.
Ruby smiled when she saw me, though she had trouble looking me in the eyes. The poor girl was obviously still ashamed of what she’d done.
I needed to reassure her that we weren’t like the heartless bastards she’d worked for, all her life. That we believed in second chances, forgiveness, and redemption.
I sat next to her and took her hand. It was soft on the outside, but rough and dry where her palms were, probably from hard work.
“Ruby, I meant what I said. I’m going to take care of you.”
“How can you all trust me so easily?”
“Because I know you won’t sell us out again. Because I’m going to remove the hold they have over you.”
“How?”
“Take me to your village.”
“You really want to go there?”
I nodded. “I’m going to bring them under my protection.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’d do that for me?”
I stuck my hand in my soul storage and took out two bridging orbs.
I held them up to show Ruby. “See these? I’m going to make two doors between our onsen and your village. That will allow someone from the village to travel here to alert me in case there’s any danger. And then I’ll use the second door to get to your village to protect them from said danger.”
Hope shimmered in her gorgeous brown eyes. “Like a temporary fast travel point.”
“Exactly.”
“But you’ve never even met my people. Why would you be so eager to protect them?”
I caressed her moist cheek. She’d been crying before I got here.
“Because I care about you. And that means I care about what you care about.”
She still seemed stuck in her disbelief. I suppose I’d have to show her what I meant.
“So will you take me?” I asked.
“Of course. But you were out fighting monsters the whole day. You should rest.”
I shook my head. “If I want to rule this island, I can’t make that excuse. Sherry and Ayla are well-rested, so I’ll bring them. The four of us will go to your village. If your people agree to come under my protection, everything will be as I described. And even if they don’t…” I squeezed her hand lightly. “I’m still going to find a way to protect them, just in case Adam or Alfonso or Leric or whoever tries something underhanded to get at you.”
Tears streamed from Ruby’s eyes. She hugged me and rested her chin on my shoulder.
“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered.
“We all deserve to be cared for, Ruby.”
“I just never imagined someone would ever fight for me.”
I kissed her forehead. We could talk more later.
It was time to go to the overworld.
The four of us teleported to the overworld and got in the rollercoaster car. I drove. Ruby sat in the passenger’s seat and guided me.
We had to drive past the resort, though I made sure to keep away from it. Still, the sight of those villas brought back fond memories. I’d deflowered Esme and Ayla, there. Fun times.
I hoped to fill this island with many wonderful memories, for all of us. And by all of us, I didn’t only mean my harem. I wanted the people here to prosper, too. Ruby’s village would become my territory. My first claim in the overworld. They would fare far better under my protection than the prince’s.
“I’m just saying…” Ayla poked her head forward. She and Sherry were sitting in the seats behind Ruby and me. “There must be a better way to do it than using two bridging orbs.”
I hadn’t been listening to her conversation with Sherry and Ruby. I’d been a bit too absorbed in steering the car and admiring the scenery.
“Oh?” I said, now interested. “And what way would that be, Ayla?”
“How about placing a fast travel point inside the village?”
I rubbed the stubble on my chin. “You know… that does sound a lot better. But I’ve never been able to move a fast travel point, nor would I know where to get another one.”
“There must be a way,” Sherry said. “Someone had to put them there, right?”
True enough. Someone, or something, perhaps, since it was a god who’d unlocked my fast travel ability.
“I’ll ask the Soulful Doll later.” I pressed down on the accelerator a tad. There was still a ways to go. “She might know how to do it. For now, we’ll use the orange orbs.”
Ayla tapped Ruby’s shoulder. “So, Ruby, how long has it been since you went home?”
“A few months. I go home maybe twice a year.”
“You must miss your family,” Sherry said.
“Very much. I hope they’re all well.”
Ruby wasn’t a curseborn, so her family hadn’t disowned her. Surprising that being a pleasure girl meant you had a higher status than being an element-wielding magic user. Cultures can be so strange, sometimes.
After twenty minutes of speeding across hills and plains, a settlement came into view. Like the others I’d seen outside Port City, it consisted of a few shoddy hovels alongside pens for farm animals. The way Ruby’s eyes lit up, though, you’d think it was Tokyo or perhaps London, not that I’d ever been to either cities. I wasn’t very well traveled back on Earth. I intended to be the most well-traveled man to ever inhabit this world, though.
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