Flegra sat on a large tree root outside her home, her arms folded over her lap while Pronos stared at the wooden cabin cut off from the world by a coating of blue flames, muting out all sounds and repelling disturbances.
"The little fox is determined to not be interrupted," the old woman chuckled to herself. "I would not be able to break through her Pure Flames even if I wanted to."
"I am brutally out of my depth here…" Shin-Woo muttered as he leaned on a tree nearby and Flegra eyed him curiously.
"What's wrong, mysterious boy?"
"I'm still computing what's going on. Unlocking powers through sex… I feel like I've been dumped into an erotic novel," he said with a shake of his head. 'Though... I guess me being a regressor is even worse,' he thought wryly.
"Anything imaginable is conceivable, young man," Flegra replied with a chuckle. "I have witnessed far more bizarre roads to power or survival. Lust is a common one; all emotions are powerful in their own right and more than capable of fueling strength one way or another."
Shin-Woo lowered his eyes. "I suppose…" He whispered before falling silent.
The old woman glanced back at the flames afterward and looked down at her left hand, where an intricate scar could be faintly observed on its back. "…still, the Sage of The Crystal Mountain, huh?" She mouthed inaudibly. "What an unexpected time to hear about him once again."
She gazed at her scar for a short while and for a brief moment, her vision grayed and her hand was suddenly bleeding profusely. She looked up and saw an absurdly elegant man smiling at her amid snow and diamond.
"What is your wish, Dear Guest?"
Flegra was jolted out of her reminiscence when a sudden burst of malevolent energy managed to pierce through Kaelith's Pure Flames. She turned to her house and saw an amalgamated pillar of four distinct kinds of sinister mana.
She subtly shielded her face with her hand as a small gust of wind fluttered the grass and leaves of the forest. The demonic energy turned dark and purple as it ascended, before abruptly breaking apart and scattering thousands of tiny obsidian shards into the sky. They were so weightless that they fell like snow whilst glittering from the dappled sunlight.
"Well… this is a rare sight," Flegra remarked as she opened her hand to catch some of the crystals in her palm. She observed them as they seemed to have discarded their self-sustaining proprieties and turned to dust. "It isn't every day that you see demonic force be so… beautiful."
Shin-Woo imitated her and inspected the obsidian in muted interest.
Soon after, Pronos abruptly perked up and a resounding howl echoed in the forest. It was followed by several more from all directions. The cries of wolves spread throughout the Plateau for miles and despite being the first, they were not the only ones.
The Dreorins inhabiting the First Plateau soon joined in, roaring and shaking the earth. Birds sang in chorus and the cries of small creatures merged into one.
Flegra widened her eyes at the commotion around her and stared at her house. "They are… crying out for him? Unprompted? It's as if—"
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Ding!
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❮ ◈ ❯
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This is a System Missive! We repeat. This is a System Missive! ||
The Host, Rakna Xiorra, has awakened as the Legendary Beast Emperor. ||
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We repeat. ||
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The Host, Rakna Xiorra, has awakened as the Legendary Beast Emperor. For having accomplished the feat of awakening as a Duple Emperor and acquiring the unprecedented title to command all Beasts, he will be given special privileges. All affiliated organizations are required to pay their respects. ||
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Survive well, Hosts. ||
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❮ ◈ ❯
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Shin-Woo was the first to react by choking on nothing but air. "There's no way…!"
"—goodness me…" Flegra gaped at the System window and Pronos did something akin to a happy dance for some reason. At the same time, the Pure Flames of Kaelith enlarged and a great amount of divinity was mixed in with it. "What is going in there?"
At this point, the elderly woman was unable to decide what to put her attention on. "One thing is for sure… they are not coming out of there any time soon…" She couldn't help but mutter once the realization set in that her house would be off-limits for a while.
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* * *
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Came the evening, the sun was setting down on the First Plateau and there was now a much bigger group of people waiting in front of Flegra's house.
"I don't wanna be that guy but…" Allan groaned as he lazily lay down in the grass. "I'm pretty sure they just fucking went to sleep at this point, all cuddly and shit. We know Rak's fine, so why don't we just… go back to our own comfy beds?"
His complaining was acknowledged by no one, not even Akronis. His Soul Beast normally would have taken any chance to mock him, but the damn bat merely chortled at him. He sighed miserably and Marie knocked on his head admonishingly.
"Well, take it this way; we are curious," a cybernetic voice sounded from behind him and he sat up to glance at the colorfully clothed clown who was waiting along with them.
Gray had made the time to come after the System Missive had engendered genuine media chaos across all Plateaus. Lilia had also tagged along. The quiet and reserved woman was standing to the side, typically ever so silent since her arrival.
"Curious about what?" Allan asked back to the cyborg.
The robotic face of the clown displayed a round smile. "Many things. Beast Emperor? Now that is something that must be inquired about. But if what she…" He glanced at Flegra. "Has explained to us is true, then Rakna is not just a curiosity; he is a potential almighty being. I don't know about you, but I believe that to be enough of a reason to be concerned," he said sarcastically.
"Right… that," Allan blanked. "To be honest, you all lost me around the middle of that conversation about that Philosopher stuff. I couldn't care less about what kind of ridiculous things Rak gets up to," the blond admitted and turned back to the wooden cabin. "But…" He grinned. "I actually don't mind waiting if I get to make fun of him for having had a threesome for a whole afternoon."
"Tch, I still can't believe Nyx beat me to it," Higure grumbled, her chin resting on her hands as she sat on a large rock. She pouted in annoyance, "Kaelith; I can understand. But Nyx? Really?"
"Oh? Jealous much, cat?" Kara smirked whilst sipping a cup of wine. "As I said, your barbaric self does not hold a candle to my little Kae. And clearly, to the lovely goddess as well. At least, she has an endearing charm, unlike you."
The lioness' eye twitched. "Shut up, you damn fox. It's just a matter of luck, okay?" She huffed. "She was just in the right place at the right time…" Kara chuckled and Higure rolled her eyes. She then turned toward Flavia. "What about you, Flav? You're not mad?"
The Chaos Witch snickered as if she had just been told a joke. "Unlike you, Higure, chasing for his chastity was never my main goal," she replied jokily and the lioness deadpanned at her. "But I am indeed the one who knew him the longest… admittedly, I am a bit offended," she shrugged with a smile. "Sadly, time alone isn't enough. I never had the chance. But if they did, I'm happy for them. It's as simple as that."
"You and your senselessly good-natured personality…" Higure mumbled and Flavia flashed her a smile that managed to chill her spine.
"I'm not sure good-natured is the right word for me," the Chaos Witch declared without her voice or tone changing even a single bit. Meanwhile, Cuniya, trapped inside her soul, almost laughed at the hilarity of such a statement.
"Focus on the bright side," the sluggish voice of Natsu resounded. The Celestial Blaze was hanging from Evelyn's shoulder when everyone turned toward him. He yawned and tilted his head, "Think about it. If My Lord does it once, the chances of him doing it again are exponentially higher. From now on, it's a matter of opportunity."
Silence reigned for a moment as they seemed to process his words, and he was the one who broke it afterward as well. "At least, that's what my mistress over here is hoping," he added with a plain delivery and it took a moment for Evelyn to catch up with what he had said.
The succubus' face flushed red in the blink of an eye, especially when Higure sent her an insidious smirk. She grabbed her newly contracted Soul Beast and shook him. "W-what are you saying?! I-I didn't, okay?! O-our link is just not stable yet, all right?! That's it! It was just--!"
"Sto--! Ow! Fine!" Natsu croaked out in between swings. "I understand! So-- Ow! Stop!"
Meanwhile, spectating from the sidelines, Shin-Woo couldn't help but sigh at the shenanigans of these people. "This is a straight-up harem…" He deadpanned.
Similarly, Gray hummed to himself as he watched the group. He twirled his cane and smiled. "I will say… this little performance alone is worth the trip. Our new member is quite the popular man, isn't he?" He joked quietly and Lilia tilted her head in response.
She glanced at the bickering lioness and vixen, the embarrassed succubus, and the serene witch, and couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Cute," she said simply and the clown cackled.
"I knew you would see it my way," he jested and followed up.
"Makes sense."
Gray was about to agree on reflex but noticed something wrong with the wording. He blinked and turned toward her. "Wait… you mean cute, as in all of this is a cute shitshow, or you mean that our little Emperor is cute and that it makes sense?"
"Yes," she replied and he sweatdropped.
"Excuse me, but… you're not really helping me there," he uttered and she expressionlessly looked at him before focusing on the wooden house again. "I'll never understand you…" Gray sighed and on cue, he heard the Pure Flames that surrounded the house being extinguished.
He turned around and everyone else stopped talking to stare at it. The flames had been weak for a while now, but never quite gone.
Allan grunted and stood up. "About damn time," he huffed and stretched his back. "But I swear to god if they are actually asleep…" He grumbled and instantly straightened in attention when they heard the sound of the door opening.
With bubbling curiosity, they all watched as someone exited. And as they hoped, it was Rakna who stepped out. They took a moment to take in the new mana dyeing that affected his hair and fur.
It was a somewhat peaceful black color, neither too dark nor bright, and was spotted by countless glimmering dots of purple that shone like stars. Aside from that, his demeanor was the same as ever, and despite his expression being sharper than usual, they also felt like it was warmer.
"…the clown's here," the therian spoke up first as he noticed Gray in the back, who waved back in mock happiness, like an excited fan in front of their idol. "What a way to ruin my mood so early in the morning…"
The cyborg rolled his eyes. "It is the evening, my friend. How captivated were you inside there for you not to realize that?"
Rakna blinked and looked up through the trees' foliage. Eye of Symphony slowly spun in his eye socket, as if it was also having a hard time waking up. "Uh… never mind."
"So… um, how do you feel?" Allan asked awkwardly.
"I honestly wish I had a proper answer to that," the therian snorted as he fixed his messy hair. "In fact, I'm more scared of the backlog of System messages I have than my physical health."
"Oh, yes, it reminds me," Gray raised his voice and bowed exaggeratedly. "I offer my greetings to the Legendary Beast Emperor; all hail His name."
The therian looked at him weirdly before the implication hit him. "Fuck," he cursed immediately and the clown started laughing.
Meanwhile, Higure rubbed her chin in thought and approached Rakna. She looked him over from top to bottom and squinted, "I'm sad now… I was hoping you'd be a bit embarrassed coming out of there with all of us waiting. At least, I'd get that. But of course, you don't care… You're squeaky clean, as well. Nothing to tease you about," she said with a disappointed sigh.
"The perks of my body, I guess," Rakna shrugged. "And Allegro never creases," he added proudly.
"That's just cheating…" The lioness groused but quickly grinned. "By the way, I'm next, right? It's not fair you took Nyx first, but I'm willing to forgive you if I'm next. Soon, preferably."
The therian surprisingly smiled at her but she didn't break composure in the slightest. "You would forgive me, huh?" He snickered. "How is it not fair anyway?"
"I was the first to ask to mate. I should have priority!" She crossed her arms defiantly.
"What flawless logic; you impress me, Higure."
"Oi, don't think you can escape this with sarcasm," the lioness glared at him. But before she could say anything else, she was pushed out of the way by Kara.
"Right, right, who cares about the cat," the vixen shooshed her and beamed. "So, Rara, I really want to ask the juicy questions, but I'll hold back. For now, how are Kae and Nyx faring?" She asked with an impish smile and it grew even happier when she saw him look away.
It wasn't quite a blush, but it was very close to it from her perspective.
"They're inside… sleeping—"
"Ah! I knew it!" Allan's interjection rang but Rakna continued uninterrupted.
"—on the bed..." He paused momentarily and cleared his throat. "Hugging each other," the therian finished and Kara's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She literally had stars in her eyes.
She pulled a camera out of nowhere and cackled like a mad woman. "I'll be right back. Please don't wait for me to continue your chat," she declared and ran inside Flegra's home.
Soon after, everyone outside heard a muffled squeal of delight, as if some young girl had just come across the most adorable gossip topic she had ever seen in her life.
"All right, while she does that," Rakna resumed as if nothing was wrong. "Any questions?"
"I have one," Gray raised his hand like a student at school.
The therian groaned and closed his eyes, already regretting having asked. "Clown… go ahead."
"So, while you had sex, did you shapeshi—"
"Shut up, or I strangle you with your bow tie."