Chapter 145 - The Aqua Stigma

"Behold, the [Aqua Stigma]." 

"Oh, thanks...?"

Before I knew it, the Water Spirit appeared, carved the [Aqua Stigma] into my chest, and vanished.

What the hell? Is this becoming a standard chore now? Has the event gotten lazy? I literally just heard that the Water Spirit lived in this cave a second ago.

Maybe giving out stigma for the fourth time has turned into assembly-line work. I can't tell if the Water Spirit is just exceptionally casual or if the process has simply lost its luster.

Regardless, a fourth stigma now glows on my chest. The red [Pyro Stigma], the golden [Earth Stigma], the green [Air Stigma], and the deep blue [Aqua Stigma].

...My chest looks like a gaming PC.

"To gather four Spirit Stigma... you’re even more of a monster than I thought, kid."

Dakifa, the Dwarf, spoke with a teasing lilt.

We’re both dressed now—exploration mode (or sex mode) having concluded—but the moment I remember that her canal is currently filled to the brim with my seed, I start getting hard again.

"It’s no wonder Gangastra was killed without being able to lift a finger. No matter how vicious his skills were, he was still just a human. There’s no way a man can stand against a threat that is nature itself." 

"Hahaha...!" 

"I guess with that much power, you can have everything exactly your way. Including making my daughter spread her legs for you."

Dakifa’s cold, sideways stare has been stinging for a while now. She seems quite pissed that I laid hands on her flesh and blood. She doesn't seem to care in the slightest that she was ravished herself, but mention her daughter and she's all "Queen of Fury." Is this the maternal instinct at work?

"I didn't force her. When Septekifa and I were flirting, I only had one stigma..." 

"One is plenty! A single Spirit Stigma can topple a nation—you should know that better than anyone!"

True enough.

"But Septekifa has an stigma too. She was recognized by the Earth Spirit along with me." 

"Are you serious?!"

I meant it as small talk, but she bit onto that information with unexpected intensity.

"My daughter... recognized by a Spirit?! The Earth Spirit?! Kh... kuhuhuhu... kuhahahaha...!" 

"W-what’s wrong?"

I flinched. That sudden, leaking laughter was genuinely creepy. Scary, even.

"I mean, why wouldn't I laugh? The Spirit Stigma that Gangastra sought and sought... and ultimately failed to obtain... my daughter has it!!"

So she’s laughing because she’s happy?

"When my daughter was barely ten years old, she was forced to fight Gangastra. She was beaten to a pulp and branded a 'useless failure' by the Niosebuk royalty. It was an unfair match. She has a production-type 'Divine Calling', like a proper Dwarf. She isn’t the type to shine in a head-on brawl." 

"Right." 

"If you give that girl the right equipment and environment, she’s ten times more useful than a battle-idiot like Gangastra. If they had put her in the right position, Niosebuk would be the ruler of the world by now!" 

"That would have been a bit of a problem for me, though...?" 

"Anyway, Niosebuk is a moronic nation that deserves to rot. 'Survival of the fittest'? Give me a break. That might work for brainless beasts, but humans are more complex; you need more than just raw power! They relied on the Dwarven Kingdom because they actually needed our technology, and yet they acted so high and mighty... idiots!"

She’s venting hard. It’s not hard to imagine the massive burden she carried just to survive in Niosebuk. Some environments force you to become twisted and warped just to stay alive. I hope that, at the very least, she can enjoy herself freely when we’re having sex.

"Sigh... well, it looks like I have even less reason to be here now. Found the Water Spirit way too easily. The King and Gangastra—the ones I was supposed to report to—are gone. And on top of that, someone went and smashed the 'Material Jail' that I spent my life inventing...!" 

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

I didn't smash it. I just put a little crack in it. The Spirit inside did the rest of the smashing.

"I’m heading straight back to the Dwarven Kingdom. I’m not going back to the Niosebuk capital." 

"Are you sure? All alone...?" 

"Don't underestimate me. I might have been a helpless little princess when I was first taken hostage, but I’ve been weathered by the storms of this world. Traveling the high roads from town to town will be a cakewalk compared to this wasteland." 

"I guess so..."

Honestly, if she can handle herself in these mountains alone, human civilization must be like Level 1 of an action game to her. I had a "tragic" image of her as a hostage princess, but she's hardy enough to blow that preconception away. She’s a Dwarf, after all, and she’s a mother. Her "attributes" are so varied they're practically fighting for airtime.

"Besides, you have more important things to deal with than me. Niosebuk isn't completely destroyed yet."

She had a point.

"...You mean Gangastra's rivals?" 

"Don't underestimate them just because they were ranked lower than that idiot Third Prince. Gangastra was like the personification of Niosebuk—he worshipped nothing but power. He was strong, but that made him easy to handle. You get that, don't you?" 

"Yeah, I guess."

No matter how much power a beast has, it's easy to control if it lacks wisdom. Like a wild animal in a circus being made to perform tricks by a human far weaker than itself.

"That's why I sided with him after the King died. A fool who only believes in strength is easy to manipulate, and since strength was all he had, he had to rely on my technology. Especially if he wanted to capture Spirits and take their power." 

"Haha...!" 

"But not everyone in Niosebuk is a fool. It’s a major power, for better or worse; it has all kinds of talent. You need to be particularly careful of the Fourth Princess, Shinseniza."

That was the name that had come up as the second favorite back when Gangastra was the top contender. Apparently, she’d conspired with the Sixth Prince to hold her own against the "almighty" Gangastra. Based on that, I didn't think the fight would be harder than the one with the Prince, but...

"She is a born conspirator. Her mind is always spinning with plots, birthing new schemes and strategies one after another. Building conspiracies is her entire reason for living."

Well, I heard the same from Tamagushi...

"That Fourth Princess has secured the Sixth Prince—the one the late scumbag King actually favored most. If Gangastra was a brainless beast, Shinseniza is a human who knows how to handle every weapon and military asset. Remember, kid: sometimes a human is far more terrifying than a beast."

I nodded sincerely at Dakifa’s warning.

"If you want to crush Niosebuk, the Fourth Princess is an enemy you can't bypass. If you fight her the same way you fought Gangastra, she'll pull the rug right out from under you. And there's one more..." 

"?"

It seemed her warnings weren't over.

"Aside from the Fourth Princess, there’s another person in Niosebuk you shouldn't let your guard down around. Someone who officially withdrew from the succession race and is just watching from the sidelines, but nobody knows what she’s actually thinking. Depending on her move, the whole situation could flip. In a way, she’s more troublesome than the Fourth Princess." 

"And who is that...?" 

"Keep a close eye on her movements. The Eighth Princess of Niosebuk... Tamagushi!"

Ah, she’s fine. Tamagushi is currently my cute, precious little flesh-toy.

I parted ways with Dakifa right there and headed back to the Niosebuk capital.

The next task was to crush the allied forces of the Fourth Princess and the Sixth Prince. Even if they were "lower tier" compared to Gangastra, the fact that they’ve claimed their faction means they have the will to take the throne.

Based on the stories, the Fourth Princess is the one pulling the strings. Will she take the throne herself, or will she set up the Sixth Prince as a puppet king? Either way, if a King is crowned, the Niosebuk I worked so hard to push to the brink will find its second wind. That would be the definition of a half-baked job.

To make everything I've done so far mean something, I have to smash the final enemy.

With that in mind, I flew back to the capital—literally.

As the city came into view, I witnessed something completely unexpected.

"What the...!?"

Because I was flying with the power of the Wind Spirit, I could see it clearly from my bird's-eye view. A massive army, kicking up a storm of dust across the flat plains—an intimidating force just by its presence. It was a grand march of what looked like thousands of soldiers.

They were heading straight for the Niosebuk capital.

An army was closing in on the city. There was still a distance to cover, so it would take some time to arrive, but with nothing in their way, they would surely reach it. If anyone could move an army that size in this situation...

"The rumored Fourth Princess with the Sixth Prince...!?"

I didn't think they’d move this fast! Close call, close call. I thought I could just find Dakifa and come right back, but it's a tight squeeze.

I don't care if the capital itself gets leveled, but that place is currently packed with women I’ve "claimed," starting with Tamagushi. The women from the detention facility, the concubines from the Inner Palace... I will absolutely not allow them to be harmed.

Just as I was getting fired up to either incinerate the unruly beast-soldiers on the spot, bury them in the earth, wash them away with a flood, or blow them away with a tornado... right before I could act...

"Wait! Please wait, Sir Sao!!"

A voice shouted for me to stop. I turned around to see a strange figure flying through the sky toward me.

It was a person in armor. But the armor had a wide-open chest and a bare navel—not exactly a look designed for protection. There’s only one person I know who wears "ero-armor" clearly designed for "defeat-and-ravish" scenarios. It was the Priestess-Princess, Tamagushi, utilizing her [Valkyrie] class skills.

"Oh, if it isn't the 'dangerous and troublesome' Eighth Princess." 

"What was that for?!"

So that armor has flight capabilities too? Figures, since she's a [Valkyrie].

"What do you mean 'wait'? That army is clearly heading for the capital, isn't it? If I don't wipe them out here, the cuties back in the city are in danger...!" 

"Does anyone even say 'cuties' anymore?"

Whatever. Point is, the safety of the women is my top priority. If danger is approaching, basic protocol says to eliminate it first!

"Calm down. That army is led by the Fourth Princess of Niosebuk, Lady Shinseniza." "I knew it!!" 

"However, this is not a hostile action. A formal notice was sent in advance. Therefore, we must receive them with proper etiquette. If we don't, we become the villains." 

"'We'...!?"

I thought I was just an interloper, but I'm being treated as one of the parties involved? ...Actually, I guess it’s a bit late for that.

"Sister Shinseniza is demanding the surrender of the Niosebuk capital. Word of Gangastra's defeat and death has already reached her. I don't know how she gathers her intelligence, but she’s certainly quick on the draw...!"

True. They say those who control information control the world; for a reputed conspirator like the Fourth Princess, it’s a solid move.

"This is her play. Now that Gangastra is dead, the current capital is 'empty.' She claims that she and the Sixth Prince are the most fit to become the next monarchs and take over, so we should accept them quietly... or so she says." 

"What kind of logic is that?"

She couldn't even decide which one of them is the next King before sending the notice? Still, making a formal appointment in advance is a surprisingly effective offensive move. If they follow etiquette and visit properly, you can't just drive them away without cause.

It’s actually easier to deal with them if they just charge in arrogantly.

"Well, whatever. If they're enemies, I'll just smash them in the end anyway. No matter how cleverly they play it, that's how it ends." 

"That... might not be so easy...!"

I tilted my head at Tamagushi's anxious expression. The Fourth Princess, the master schemer. The first move from this enemy—someone quite exceptional within Niosebuk—was truly insidious.

"The notice stated one more thing. The Fourth Princess's faction has entered into an official alliance with Queen Laevateinn of the Reniosegra Kingdom. Your homeland, Sir Sao. If she is an ally of your country, we can no longer fight her."

Prev            TOC            Next