Xialdre woke up on the ocean shore, hearing birds flying above him. The sound of the water played gently as Xialdre stood up. Looking around, he noticed a seagull beside him, gazing at him. Next to the seagull lay a fish as big as a house, dead on the shore. The sunlight shone on the grains of sand, illuminating them like crystals.
"This fish might have caught the explosion, which is why it's here," Xialdre muttered to himself.
Xialdre summoned a portal in the air, a pocket dimension, and threw the girls out of it. Immediately, Asabe jumped into his arms, tears streaming down her face. Xyrene walked over and hugged him as well.
"Master, you're alive!" Asabe exclaimed as Rain also jumped into Xialdre, making him fall to the ground.
"They were so worried about you, Xialdre," Natalia pointed out.
"That was expected, anyway," Xialdre responded.
"Not really," Furina commented.
Xialdre sat up and saw Alisha, Alixian, Yuri, Lily, and Elara standing a distance away. Tailin came close and hugged Xialdre, saying, "Xialdre, we want to have a discussion with you."
Xialdre sighed and stood up. "Those who want to stay, go behind me. Those who do not, stand in front of me."
"Are you going to deny our desire?" Lily asked.
"Stand in front of me if you wish to leave; those who wish to stay, stand behind me," Xialdre repeated.
The girls standing behind Xialdre were Isayao, Clementine, Natalia, Asabe, Rain, Xyrene, Furina, and Emiko. In front stood Alisha, Alixian, Tailin, Lily, Elara, and Yuri. Meanwhile, Arisawa lay on the ground unconscious, though still breathing.
A brief silence passed as the atmosphere grew tense. Xialdre gazed at the girls in front of him. "Why do you want to leave?" he asked.
"I want to rule the Satalias Continent," Alisha responded confidently.
"Why, because your father is now dead?" Xialdre questioned.
"What are you talking about?" Tailin interrupted.
Xialdre gazed at Xyrene. "Did you really think I'd save your father from that explosion?"
"Right…" Tailin fell silent, turning her head down.
"I want to rule as the queen since I'm royalty. I shouldn't be a slave," Alisha pointed out.
"How about you, Tailin?" Xialdre asked.
"Well, since I've finished my goal of traveling across the world, I'd like to become royalty again and return to my mother's," Tailin commented.
"Your parents are dead, all of them," Xialdre revealed.
"What… What is this charade?" Alixian interrupted.
"My mom is dead… How?" Tailin asked, tears falling from her eyes.
"I guess the strong storm created a fog that prevented you from seeing that your parents were in that bloodbath," Xialdre exclaimed.
"Don't screw with me!" Alixian blurted out.
"You're lying, right? Please tell me you're joking!" Tailin pleaded.
"I'm not. To be more precise, they died in very horrible ways," Xialdre responded calmly, his face expressionless and cold toward the girls in front of him.
"Tell us you're lying!" Alixian yelled.
Xialdre shifted his gaze from Tailin to Alixian. "Why should I? I'm telling the truth."
"No, no, they can't be dead," Tailin and Alixian's eyes watered rapidly.
Alisha sighed. "He's telling the truth, though that shouldn't be our fault," she commented.
"I ripped Stella apart by her legs, grabbing her hand and feet with tentacles and forcing her body to be torn apart," Xyrene exclaimed, her expression darkening.
"I burned Shion's face," Asabe revealed, her face darkening as well.
"I'm the one who killed Snow," Yuri exclaimed.
Tailin and Alixian stared at her with death glares, and Yuri felt fear emanating from her body.
"Anyways, Elara and Lily, why are you leaving?" Xialdre questioned.
"I want to live on as an adventurer. My religion is Fillianese, and it doesn't support polygamy," Lily explained.
"And I'm just going along with my daughter," Elara exclaimed.
"I see. How about you, Yuri? Why do you want to leave?" Xialdre asked.
"I have bad memories of being a slave, and I hate being with so many people," Yuri exclaimed.
"I see. I guess that's all of your reasons then," Xialdre said. "Fine, go."
Xialdre flicked his finger and broke the slave contract immediately. He realized he had never contracted Tailin as a slave. Sighing, he flicked his finger again, summoning three portals and a pocket domain, giving each of them a bag of fifty gold coins.
"The first portal should lead to the interior castle of the Satalias Continent on the northern side, where Avias should be ruling," Xialdre explained.
"The second should lead to a peaceful forest within the Satalias Continent, where few people venture. It's the perfect place for a peaceful life."
"The third portal should lead to Alisha and Tailin's ruled country, the perfect start if you both, Elara and Lily, want to become adventurers."
"As you can see, I've prepared for this moment and knew this time would eventually come. I've been lying to you, saying I wouldn't let you out of my grasp. But I don't want to force anyone to stay as my slave. I'm sorry for everything I've done," Xialdre exclaimed.
"Xialdre, you shouldn't worry. We will stay with you forever," Natalia exclaimed.
Xialdre sighed and noticed Alisha's eyes watering. "Alisha, why are you crying?" he asked.
"Well, the moment I've forgiven you is probably now, from the moment you tortured me. I love you, Xialdre, but I cannot stay with you," Alisha exclaimed.
With that, Alisha entered the portal. Alixian and Tailin glared at Xialdre maniacally as they entered the portal silently, without goodbyes.
"Xialdre, thanks for saving me from Daniel's grasp. I'm very sorry for this selfish request. I owe you my life," Yuri said before entering the portal.
"Xialdre, thanks for saving both of us from Zereth's grasp and for showing us the outside of the Elven territory. We're very sorry we have to leave you immediately," Elara commented before going inside the portal.
Xialdre remained unfazed by their emotional goodbyes as Lily was the last to enter.
"Xialdre, thanks for saving my mother and me. Just know, I'm coming after you for saving us in such a horrible way, by turning us into slaves," Lily exclaimed before entering.
And with that, all the portals closed as Xialdre remained standing. The atmosphere was quiet, with the shore's waves creating sounds and birds flying above them.
"Are you okay, Master?" Asabe asked, thinking he might be grieving over almost half of the girls abandoning him.
"Master, we're very sorry for their sudden abandonment," Furina commented.
"Master, please don't worry. We will stay by your side forever," Natalia added.
Xialdre turned around toward the girls who stayed, noticing their worried faces. As the girls saw Xialdre's face, they noticed it had returned to its normal, expressionless state.
Natalia hugged Xialdre, pressing her body against his, and Asabe, along with Rain and Xyrene, hugged him as well. Then Clementine and Isayao joined in, followed by Emiko and Furina. The girls were trying to console Xialdre for this big loss, but he felt nothing from their comfort and didn't care about the fact that almost half of his slaves had abandoned him.
"I'm still the same as ever—cold and unrepairable. Despite making progress by smiling once or twice, I'm still far from actually having emotions again," Xialdre said to himself. "To be honest, I'm the one who removed my emotions, and I don't regret it. If I had emotions, I probably wouldn't have gone this far. Emotions are weaknesses. If you can smile, that means your guard isn't always up. I can't imagine having emotions again because I literally deleted them."
"But then why did I manage to smile? It's unquestionably confusing, as I, an Alpha Omega, deleted them out of existence. The most plausible answer is that Arisawa is filling my emotions back. She's a seraphim, an angel capable of enduring the presence of a full-on Creator, someone who can fight a god with ease."
"Goddess Fillia, God Lizen, God Aljheos, Goddess Milia, Goddess Mary, Goddess Sora, Goddess Elaina, God Hades, God Zeus, God Poseidon, God Prometheus, God Mars, God Venus, God Susanoo, Goddess Amaterasu, Goddess Athena, Goddess Artemis, Goddess Freya, and others. There are many more gods and goddesses surrounding the globe. Though many are just cults and made up, the ones I mentioned are the true gods."
"These gods and goddesses are the caretakers of the entire Earth, each powerful enough to challenge demon lords, but some are as weak as normal adventurers. Though none of these gods can challenge a seraphim, the strongest angel among the people of Elohim Adonai, the creator of the heavens and Earth. Adonai, who is also my best friend," Xialdre exclaimed.
"Master!" Clementine yelled out.
"Hm?"
Arisawa coughed, and Clementine pointed directly at her. Xialdre shifted his eyes toward Arisawa, and the girls stopped hugging him.
Arisawa sat up, feeling nauseous and with a headache. She looked around, seeing the girls and Xialdre standing as she heard the birds flying above and the cold breeze and water waves.
"Eh! How long have I been unconscious?" Arisawa asked.
"For about a couple of hours now," Xialdre responded.
As Arisawa stood up, she walked slowly toward Xialdre, looking around and realizing almost half of the girls were missing.
"Did we get separated from the others by accident?" Arisawa asked.
"No, they left on their own," Xialdre replied.
"Eh, and you let them?" Arisawa pressed.
"Yeah."
"Are you leaving too?" Natalia asked.
"Me? How can I leave Xialdre anyway?" Arisawa questioned.
"I can teleport you back to the Satalias Continent, where your siblings decided to go," Xialdre revealed.
"I'm good. Besides, my only goal in life is to serve under you, Xialdre," Arisawa revealed.
"Why?" Xialdre pressed.
"That's because Elohim Adonai told me to do so," Arisawa explained.
"Adonai? You mean the other Alpha Omega?" Xyrene questioned.
"Yeah. I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore that I am a seraphim, right, Xialdre?" Arisawa said.
"Right," Xialdre responded.
"To be honest, I was quite shocked when Xialdre and I first met in the Satalias Continent. He immediately noticed I was a seraphim," Arisawa replied. "I'm quite shocked, knowing at that time Xialdre was in downgrade mode, only being two fragments out of his original seventeen fragments form."
"Before Elohim lost his memories, he sent me to protect you and offer my life to you, Xialdre. It's like I'm a toy being handed to another person, permanently stuck with him. I don't mind since I was created to seduce and make Xialdre my lord forever. I'll do anything he asks, even if it kills me."
"That's my story, anyway. That is the reason I've been in every one of Xialdre's lives and have always been his wife. I was the first to take away his virginity in every life and have always been the one and only wife. Though in this life, the original life and the core of all his other lives, I realized I'm not his first wife and will not be the only one," Arisawa concluded.
"That's quite the story you have there," Xialdre exclaimed.
"*Fufu* I love you, Lord Xialdre," Arisawa confessed.
"That means you will stay with us?" Natalia asked, her face lighting up.
"Of course," Arisawa responded.
Natalia ran towards her and jumped, hugging Arisawa on the spot. The rest of the girls laughed as the two fell to the ground, with Arisawa hugging Natalia back.
"Geez, Natalia, how did you even survive that explosion magic?" Arisawa questioned.
"I used barrier magic just in time," Natalia responded.
"That's impressive," Arisawa replied.
"I'm sorry for making you worry," Natalia said.
"I'm fine now," Arisawa assured.