Chapter 126: She's Actually My…
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In Ranefer's defense, she lost against Ai last time because she was careless and did not expect a seemingly normal human to hide such great divine power. It also couldn't be considered a real loss since they didn't fight, Ranefer just gave up as she feared that I would rather help my mother than her in a serious fight.
This time, however, she was comfortable—too comfortable with me, that she was sure I would never let her die in a serious fight. So while she wasn't going all out, she wasn't pulling her punches.
– Boom!
The sun's light opposed its flare as they clashed and exploded against one another, a cataclysmic beauty painted on the blue canvas above our heads. I chewed on my lips as I wondered what to do, thinking how to salvage this situation.
Truthfully, I can't stop them. Not the both of them together, anyway. Ranefer's been stronger than me since the day I cured her curse, and even as an Overlord, I couldn't surpass her power. That's why I branded the slave tattoo on her, but that only stopped her from hurting me, it wasn't designed to make her listen to all my commands.
As for Ai, she's the one who's mad at me. She wouldn't listen to me even more. And although I defended Ranefer with logic just now, Ai's the stronger one between the two of them. This was simply a bad match-up for the Phenex. Not only was Ai the Goddess of Light at this moment, she still had her new base powers.
She was a mini Supergirl with the power of the sun—she wasn't weak.
In an elongated fight, Ranefer will end up injured and cry back home.
While that would be funny, she was a reliable ally at this point, I didn't want her to get hurt for no reason. I wondered what I should do right now… and soon decided.
I closed my eyes, and the world stilled. I called upon the [Time Icon] which let out a loud chime as it manifested in the sky, leaving the world purple and frozen. While in Overlord my spirit was strong enough to not let the Icon crush me as it happened back in Underlord, I couldn't keep this up for long.
It required too much willpower to use it in a real fight too. After all, time wasn't a weak subject. But the few seconds it did provide was enough. I leaped to the sky and grabbed the devil woman who was frozen in the air by her waist and landed back to the ground just as the Icon vanished.
The world regained its color, and there was a momentary confusion. Ai's head shot around in search of Ranefer and she found me, keeping Ranefer protected behind me.
"Aqua! You bastard! Brat! Let her fight her battle, I'll beat you up too if you dare stand in front of me!" she pointed a finger and threatened me, the Light Goddess' personality was already in effect.
Ranefer was ready to return to the fight anytime, but she giggled and laughed behind me instead. It amused her to see me protect her, "Aww, my knight in shining armor. I am blushing."
"You better shut the fuck up before I fuck you up." I shot her a glare that made her flinch as I looked back at Ai. "Mom, let it be. She's just like that, don't let her get to you."
"It's not her, you fool. Didn't you just admit that you sucked her- you sucked her nipples and drank her milk! You bastard son!" her glare intensified.
What, did she feel a threat to her role that my sugar mommy was getting closer and closer to the 'mom' identity? Insane.
I didn't step down, I frowned, "Mom, I think you're forgetting that I'm old enough to sleep around a little. She clearly doesn't mind, it's all consensual, just drop this."
Ai opened her mouth, but by the time I finished my first sentence, her mouth was closed once again. She stared at me, her expression suddenly unreadable, before she let out a sigh and lowered to the ground.
With a snap of her finger, the reality of this ruined neighborhood shattered like glass, and we found ourselves back in our living room. Ai dropped her outfit, returning to her normal self, and turned around to walk away.
She added as she left, "See her off… when she wants to leave." Saying so, she left me and Ranefer be.
I tilted my head as I sensed a brooding feeling, unable to quite pinpoint it. Even after eons, sometimes I return to this question when I'm dealing with women.
Did I do something wrong or what?
* * *
"Call me again, ummah~!" Ranefer leaned in and kissed me on the lips as she backed off and waved at me. A red circle of magic swirled under her feet and she was swiftly teleported out of here.
I cleaned my lips with a thumb and looked to my side. We stood just behind the door, and Shoko was staring at me with a shy expression, blushing at seeing me kiss. While Yuzuru was glaring at me in her sister's stead; Ruby was doing the same.
Mem-Cho was shaking her head, and Kana pretended not to care as she looked to the side. Only Asia was tilting her head in confusion, unsure why the room's mood was so solemn, and thankfully Ai wasn't here.
"We'll leave then," Shoko said, "See you later, Aqua."
"Uh, yes, bye." I helped open the door and waved at her as she nodded and walked away with her sister. I was supposed to test out Yuzuru's Iron Rank's strength but it didn't seem like a good time.
"Be better, Aqua," Mem walked up to me, tip-toeing to leave a kiss on my cheek, and walked out.
Kana shot me a last glare and followed suit.
Left alone, I ignored the solemn mood that had filled the room just earlier and turned to Ruby who now stared at me blankly, hiding her glare. I ignored her and looked at Asia. I could take her to the gym and spar but…
"Go rest, Asia." I decided and said, "Ruby, you go rest too. Or do whatever you want. I need to talk to Mom, don't disturb us." I said and Asia nodded. Ruby didn't even bother with a nod and both of them walked away.
I left them be and walked up to find Ai.
…..
She was cooking dinner in the kitchen, wearing a blank expression as she moved the pan to flip the omelet. The air sizzled with a scene of delicacy, but her mind was in another place entirely.
Otherwise, she would have noticed when I walked up to her and hugged her from behind. Only when her back rested against my chest did she come to her senses.
"...What do you need, Aqua?" She asked softly, without trying to push me away or anything.
"Tomorrow is Sunday, you know?" I said. "Do you remember the promise?"
"...Sorry, I'm busy," she replied. "I have some meetings to attend tomorrow. We can do it at another time."
Since when did she ever put her meetings on a higher priority than her children? She was obviously dissatisfied with me.
"You know, Ranefer isn't my sugar mom," I said. "She's a liar."
"Surely. But why are you telling me that all of a sudden? It's not as if it matters to me. You're old enough to make your own choices. You're older than me, even." She said in a bitter tone and returned her focus to cooking.
I stayed silent for a minute, hugging her softly, yet it felt awkward. At one point, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and held it in front of her. A picture was visible on it, of a purple slave tattoo glimmering under someone's navel.
"...." as someone in the entertainment, she recognized the tattoo. It was quite famous, even if, unlike the ones she knew, she was the real deal. A real sex slave tattoo.
"It's weird to admit to you like this, but I saved her life but feared that she'd want to take my life later. So I prepared that tattoo as a counterattack. I happened to be right as she attacked me the next morning, and only because of the tattoo did I not end up dead." I told my mom. "So, no, she is not my sugar mom. She likes to pretend she is, to have a higher standing since it surely is better than people knowing she's my slave. That's why I said not to let her get to you, she's a terrible liar."
"...." Ai stayed silent and then looked up at me with glinting eyes. "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Well, you always lie to me."
"I could never. And yes, really."
She tried to keep her expression in check but a smile bloomed on her face anyway. She looked back at the cooking. "It's still weird, Aqua, that you have a sex slave, but sure I'll ignore that part. Mom would have been really mad and sad if you got yourself an actual sugar mom."
How do you ignore that part? She cared more about me having a sugar mommy than me owning sex slaves? How cute.
"You don't worry about that," I tightened my hug and kissed her nape. She gulped once and said nothing. "I would never do anything to make you mad."
"Sure you wouldn't,"
"Don't be sarcastic."
She looked up at me and smiled. "I can never be sarcastic with my Aqua."
"Whoa, 'my Aqua'?" my hands gently ran above her belly as I said.
"Mhm, of course," she put her arms up and around my neck, causing her body to be pushed against mine. "As your mother I hold the most liberty over you, so can't I say that?"
"Of course you can," my left hand paused to wrap around her waist, while my right slowly traveled up. It went between her chest, feeling the soft flesh, and grabbed her chin to lock it up. I looked down at her rosy lips while my hand caressed her neck. "You're allowed to call me anything and also do anything to me."
"Don't…"
"Nope."
She said 'don't' and yet she was clearly wanting this. Why else would she hold me like this? Her surface-level resistance was cute, but it couldn't stop me.
I leaned in, pushing my lips into hers, as she closed her eyes and gave in to the kiss. She squirmed in my grasp as I pushed my crotch against her ass and held her body tightly close to me. My tongue explored her oral depth, leaving her moaning into my mouth.
"S-stop~ ahn…" At one point, she pushed my face back, an intense blush on her face. "Or I'll get mad…"
"Alright," I kissed her on the nose. "I am a bit sad that our date was canceled though. When's the next day?"
She went back to the dish, "Tomorrow."
"Hm? I thought you-"
"I said tomorrow."
"Ah, I see."
* * *
I woke up early in the morning and got refreshed. Ruby hadn't been sleeping with me after returning from the beach, she was sleeping with Ai, so when Ai woke up in her room, Ruby did the same.
We came down to the living room fully dressed, having already decided not to eat breakfast here, but the others of the house were also here by then.
"Hey, why can't I go~?!" Ruby whined as she hugged Ai and shot me a glare. "Why won't he take me, mama~ talk to him!"
"Uh, Ruby…" Ai was at a loss for words, and it made me smile in amusement seeing her unwilling to take a third person with us, even if that was Ruby.
I looked at Ai and the outfit she wore. She looked… beautiful in that. Sensually hot, in the black leather biker fit she wore. It was wrapped around her curves tightly, emphasizing her already bombshell body even further.
I couldn't look for long since Ruby was right there, so I decided to enjoy it later. For now, I looked at Ruby.
"Quit crying, Ruby, how can three people sit on the bike? I told you I'll watch the Ryan Gosling film with you tomorrow, don't feel left out." I said and she groaned.
"You guys are leaving me out, uwaha~!" She shed crocodile tears that we ignored and looked around the room at the others.
Tsubasa, Asia, and Blue were there. The first girl met my eyes and smiled, "Where will you be driving today? The places we went to?" Naturally, she remembered our bike date three months ago.
"I'll see, probably not," I said and looked at Asia. "Are you feeling alright now? You might sense weird changes in your body, if something bothered you, just ask Blue or Tsubasa about it."
On the side, Blue yelled in affirmation, but Ruby's protest shadowed her words. "Huh, why didn't you mention my name? I can help her too!"
"Um…" I looked away, "Anyways, take care of the house. We'll be back soon. By tomorrow, I think. Enjoy."
Under groans from Ruby, Ai and I went to the garage to pull out the bike. She sat behind me, her chest pressed against my back, as the engine thrummed and we sped out of the neighborhood.
Our bike date began.
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