—Cole POV—
Leaving three of them to plan their strategy, I called it a night since I knew the villains weren't stupid enough to leave a trail of their crimes lying around the office. Digging into their financial records and property assets would take some time, which would be my plan for tomorrow since the Pussycats were taking the day off to train in the mountains. Taking a quick shower, I plopped into bed and quickly looked at my phone. Seeing a text from Rumi and Fuyumi, Rumi was inviting me to dinner tomorrow night and Fuyumi was telling me about an upcoming field trip the school was taking to the zoo.
"I am not sure if Eri will ask you to come, but I think it would be a good idea for you to come with us.", Fuyumi texted, "She is still worried about asking too much from you. I can't imagine how rough she had it before meeting you."
"When is the field trip? I can take the day off to spend with her at the zoo.", I replied, "Unlike your father, I prioritize my family before work."
"I know you may not like him, but he is actually a good person beneath his rough personality.", she said.
Knowing she still saw some good in him, I didn't bother pushing the subject further. After receiving the date from her, I added it to my calendar so I wouldn't forget it. The trip was next week so that worked out perfectly for me.
'It will take some time, but Eri will eventually realize that I would do anything for her.', I thought as I said my phone to the side.
Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh as I let myself fall asleep. A few moments after I drifted off, the world around me started swirling around me. Thinking that I was about to have a run-in with that bastard Reincarnation Deity, I readied myself to land the first blow straight into his fucking face. As the world finally stabilized, the surroundings came into focus revealing a place I was unfamiliar with.
"Great…did that jackass just send me off to a seventh world now?! You fucking jackass, I had a cute daughter back there that I am supposed to take care of!", I shouted out assuming he was listening, "I thought ahead this time, and I am going to go back one or-"
"Ahem…I know you don't like the God of Reincarnation, but you look really weird shouting into the air when he isn't watching.", a feminine voice giggled.
Turning around, I saw many familiar faces sitting around a table with tea and sweets. Holding back their laughter, the wives I thought I'd never see again looked amused by my threats. Immediately thinking that we were rejoined in the afterlife, I asked how I died.
"You didn't die, you are asleep back in your sixth world. It's about time you did too, your wives have been nagging us for a while now.", a skinny woman with a divine aura remarked, "You are in your astral body, bringing you here directly would have caused a lot of problems."
"Ah…", I replied having had out-of-body experiences before throughout my training.
The brutal martial arts training I went through strengthened my mind, body, and spirit to a razor's edge. I didn't initially think you could get hurt in this state, but my master certainly delivered quite a lot of painful punishments on me. Recovery was difficult as no healing magic or potions could help heal wounds in a spiritual body.
"I am honestly surprised you didn't know it right off the bat.", the curvy divine woman beside her snickered.
"Having been in this state many times, it doesn't feel that abnormal for me. It's part of the reason I don't have trouble changing into my elemental forms.", I stated, "That explains my situation, but what about my wives…did that son of bitch hurt my family after taking me away? They look like they haven't aged a day since I last saw them."
"No, the thing is we-", the skinny woman started to say as my wives started to get up from their seats.
Seeing my Echidna wife Vivian coil up, I knew what was about to happen. Seeing the others get ready to tackle me too, my question was going to have to wait for later. Launching herself at me, Vivian was quick to coil around me as she hugged me tightly. My other wives quickly dogpiled on top of her to express themselves as well. Showering me with hugs and kisses, they started to bombard me with thousands of questions all at once.
Even though most of them just wanted to talk, there were a few that had other ideas.
"Hehe, it's been a while for you so you need a refresher course!", Luna giggled trying to take my shirt off.
"Uh…you do know that I can't sleep with you in this form right? I am pure energy in this state, I am sorry.", I replied disappointed as well.
Looking at me with disappointment, they weren't happy to hear that answer. Telling me that I owed them when we had a chance to meet in person again, I was happy to oblige them. Seeing their smiling faces all around me again, if it wasn't for Eri and a few others back on earth…I would have been fine dying and coming here to join them.
"I don't know how you all managed to do it…but I am grateful beyond words to see all of you alive and healthy. You have no idea how much I suffered knowing that when I one day could return to our worlds, I would walk into an empty home. All these years, I thought I would never again get to see my beautiful wives.", I choked up placing my hand on Eve the Snow Elf's cheek, "I would have given everything up to stay with you all. Having all the power in the world doesn't fill the void in my heart where you should be."
Squeezing me tighter, they started crying on me with warm smiles on their faces.
"I am home again.", I said softly as I patted Luna on the head, "It's good to have you all back with me again."
Though the mood was getting good…the gawkers soured the mood completely. Hearing several sniffles coming from the table, we all looked back to see what was going on.
"He…he is so sweet to them!!", the skinny woman sobbed.
"I know, why can't the men up here be like that!!", the other woman cried, wiping her tears up.
"...can't you give us some space?", Sapphire growled in annoyance, "It's been over three hundred years for him since he has seen some of us!".
"Of course, we can step out for a…wait a minute this is my room!", the skinny woman huffed.
Asking my wives to introduce me to the two women, since I hadn't the faintest idea who they were, my wives helped me stand up before motioning to them.
"This is the Goddess of Love.", Luna said motioning to the skinny woman, "And this is the Goddess of Fertility."
Hearing the term God used, instinctively I summoned my Hero and Demon King swords. I had terrible luck with deities so I wanted to kill them before they became a pain in my ass. It didn't occur to me that they were deities because they were not different from Aska who was a Kyubi. Sure they may have had a bit more divinity, but Aska wasn't the most powerful Kyubi I knew. Her mother was probably on par with them in terms of the quality of their divinity.
"Hold on a minute!", the Goddess of Love shrieked, "We aren't your enemy, please put those away!"
"I swear if you are trying to use my wives as hostages, I will fucking put your head on a pike!", I said in a dark tone.
"David please calm down!", Eve pleaded, "They are the reason we can see you now, so please don't kill them."
Begrudgingly putting my swords away, I took a seat at the table with my wives. Plopping themselves on my lap Gearna the Dwarf and Clover the Halfling made themselves comfortable, just like they always had. Ignoring the envious stares from the other women, they sipped on their tea without saying a word.
"So why did you bring my wives here?", I questioned wrapping my arms around the two women on my lap like I usually would.
"Simply put, the worlds you have visited are collapsing at an alarming rate and your unique titles are partially to blame for that. Using your Hero title as an example, when you left Alestar no one could become a Hero to replace you since you never died. As a result, the world started to collapse on itself within twenty-five years after your departure. Without a neutral party to maintain the peace you brought, old grudges quickly flared up and the world was plunged into yet another Great War.", the Goddess of Love explained, "Same goes for your other worlds, with no Sage, Holy Paladin, Demon King, or Blessed King they all fall apart very quickly after you leave."
Understanding what they were saying, I was confused then about how my wives were still alive. Looking at each of them again to confirm if they were injured in any way, my lovely green haired High Elf wife from my second life Esmeralda spoke up.
"Dear, you should know that there is more than just us here. Aside from the little ones, some other people want to meet you." She told me, "Rebecca, please bring your siblings out here."
Hearing people enter the room behind me, I saw several dozen individuals come out of a side room. Seeing the crests of many nations I knew on their armor, I looked up at their faces and froze. I could see distinct features about them that they shared with my wives and me meaning…they were our children. Seeing my old journal in the hands of a green-haired Half Elf, everything clicked.
"You finished my research and found the other worlds I went to…", I remarked as I slowly stood up.
"Hello Dad…", Rebecca meekly said with a smile.
Walking over to them, I looked them over with pain in my heart. They wore many scars from hard-fought battles…battles that I should have been the one to resolve. Our children had tried to take up my mantle to solve the world's problems but were unable to do so. Handing me letters from their mothers, the ones that had gone through the downfalls of each world, I trembled as I held them.
"Our families told us to make sure you got these if we ever saw you.", one of the men told me, "Grandma talked about you a lot before she died…"
Realizing that they weren't just our children, my heart broke. Keeping myself together, I asked for a moment to read over the letters. Taking a seat in the side room, I began reading through each letter. Reading about the horrors that became of each world I lived on, guilt began welling up inside me. Had I told the God of Reincarnation about this…there was a chance that these worlds wouldn't have suffered.
'They went through hell to preserve the world we built…never once giving up hope I would return.', I thought.
Having included many photos of themselves with our children, the pain of missing them growing up became too much for me. Starting to cry, as I looked at our children's major life events, the full extent of what I lost came into view. I should have had far more time with them than I did, and many of them suffered gruesome deaths because I wasn't there to protect them.
"I have a second chance to do right by all of them. This time come hell or high water that bastard won't take them from me!", I growled holding the photos of my family.
Glancing over my shoulder at the cribs, I calmed myself down before walking over to see my infant children.