The group of guards and heroes sat around a room, having a heated discussion

"How the hell did you let them escape?" the captain of the guard yelled

"They suddenly... I don't know, healed and powered up. They knocked us all out with one blow" Archie said

"I thought you fought them and eventually captured them?" the captain asked

"They were... having seizures earlier and was unconscious and seemingly paralyzed when we captured them" William said

"That must mean they have some sort of weakness! Find out what it is!" he yelled

"It's Ashley" Melissa suddenly appeared, covered in dried blood and wearing a dress ripped to shreds revealing her bloody underwear

"Melissa! What happened to you? You disappeared during the battle and we couldn't find you" Archie said

Melissa was a S Rank, even though she was a support mage. She also was their class president and thus held their respect

"Their weakness... is Ashley. Anything that happens to him, they receive the pain too" she said, placing together everything she saw

"What? Ashley? You saw him? Why didn't he come back?" Tiffany asked

"He..he's blind.. and mute. He can only see through his... demon.. his companions. He saw something through the winged.. uh.. woman's eyes" Melissa said, not revealing what happened to his genitals

"That... that can't be" Tiffany stammered, knowing that the winged lady burst in after she had sex with Michael

"He... he said..his heart has always belonged to you, Tiffany, and you broke him" Melissa said, not revealing that he said it to apologize to her for not giving her a chance to be with him. Melissa looked away and recomposed herself

"No.. that... " Tiffany teared up, knowing that if Ashley could see through that demon's eyes, he would have seen her, caught in the act

"It's a lie Tiffany. Those demons were controlling him. I'm sure of it" William said, knowing that he's been fucking Tiffany behind Ashley's back the whole time

"You.. you know where they are hiding?" the captain asked sternly

"They are no longer there. They came to rescue.. Ashley.. and me and left. We had fallen inside a... crypt or tomb and could not get out" Melissa said and explained that she had stumbled across Ashley's body during the battle

"That... that probably is the Legendary Crypt of Blood. You found it?" a local mage asked

"I think so. Why is it called the Crypt of Blood?" Melissa asked

"I don't know. Only that a legendary monster who drinks and controls blood is buried there" the mage said

Melissa instantly thought of the woman that Ashley freed

"Take us there! That might be the source of the beast horde" the captain said

--

Melissa had a quick shower to wash off all the dirt and Ashley's blood , then changing to a new clothes before leading them to the cave she found.

Indeed there were a multitude of monsters in the Crypt of Blood, and Tiffany fought especially desperately, killing monsters

"Ashley!" she shouted over and over, attracting even more monsters

Melissa cast spells strengthening Tiffany and the other high rankers

She saw the tunnel she fell into with Ashley, but didn't tell anyone about it

They were wasting their time anyway. Ashley, his companions and the vampire woman was gone

Over the week, they attacked the crypt over and over, and lost over a hundred soldiers and another 4 classmates

Eventually they were forced to gave up, identifying and recognizing another uncompleted ancient dungeon

Even Tiffany was forced to give up after receiving severe injuries

--

Ashley, Medusa and Lilith sat naked in a natural hot spring in the mountains, with Lilith on his left and Medusa on his right side

Medusa and Lilith were in their human form as both of them cleaned his body from all his dried blood

"This is partially your fault, you know. Come out" Medusa suddenly said

Part of the steam from the pool, which was actually mist, converged and transformed to the woman Ashley freed

"I am Medusa, and these are Ashley and Lilith" Medusa said

"I'm Selene. Something.... or... someone was calling to me" Selene said, looking at the two naked woman warily

"He's called you?" Medusa asked in surprise

Ashley had not said anything mentally to anyone after he freed Selene

In fact, his action was like committing suicide of his ego, after suddenly awakening and seeing Tiffany through Lilith's eyes

And that of course brought his memory back to what Lilith witnessed, and all the times she behaved suspiciously when they were living together

He figured that with the gold bonds from Medusa and Lilith, his life as he knew it was over. Selene's bonds was the final straw that would kill him

But what it did was make the situation worse as he experienced the pain without dying

Now, he couldn't eat or drink, hastening his death!

What would happen to Medusa, Lilith or Selene?

He didn't care. They were strangers that he saved anyway.

Furthermore, they were demonesses and probably didn't have the same feelings and values as humans

While his mind didn't break this time, but he gave up on himself, on his ego and wanted to waste away

Fortunately, Medusa and Lilith realized that by feeding, he got fed too

And Selene feasting on blood also contributed to his sustenance!

But he remained silent, depressed at his situation

"You are free to join us" Lilith said

Selene hesitated for a while, but didn't want to show fear of them and her clothes vanished in the mist as she entered the hot spring with them

"What happened to him?" Selene asked as she sat waist deep in the water

"We are what happed to him" Lilith said

"These entrapped me for centuries.." Medusa said, tapping on the golden bonds on his eyes and wrists with her fingers

".. and these were mine" Lilith said, tapping her finger on the golden bands on his groin and chest

"Presumably, these are yours" Medusa said, pointing to his mouth and ankles

They felt it attach to Ashley, even though they weren't there when Ashley freed her

"Yes... he freed me as well" Selene nodded

"Who was it that imprisoned you? Alesh? Murtugh?" Lilith asked

"No, it was Ranni" Selene said

"Is he a God too?" Lilith asked

"You don't know of Ranni? Yes indeed he is a God" Selene said

They've never heard of each other's jailor's name, only that they were gods. Perhaps they were even the same god who put them in golden bonds

"You.. probably have been imprisoned for a long time and have nowhere to go. You can join us, if you want, or go your own way once you satisfy your curiosity" Medusa said

"You're just... protecting him?" Selene asked

"We have to" Lilith said, pulling his left nipple ring

Selene flinched before she understood what she was implying

"Then I'll stay... for now" Selene said, rubbing her left nipple

They discussed their timelines of their imprisonment, and found that they've been imprisoned so long, they couldn't even figure which era or epoch they were from

The current calendar based on the founding of the empire was recorded, as was the calendar system before, they don't know what came before, which order or whose. And they certainly haven't heard of each other's time 

As for Ashley, he sat there like a corpse

He watched the women talk and look at each other silently, no longer recognizing himself as a separate person

When he gave up on his ego, he lived through their senses, and became Medusa, Lilith and Selene independently

He no longer had a sense of self, he no longer painstakingly maintained his penis as if fell off and wouldn't reattach

This of course concerned Lilith who thought it was important, but Medusa thought it was best anyway since it was useless as a sex organ now

However, Selene decided to maintain it, as she had control over blood

She regularly pumped it with blood to keep it alive and sucked out blood when necessary

--

Over the next month Ashley looked better even though he couldn't eat or drink, and couldn't produce waste because of his new bonds

As Lilith fucked to absorb lifeforce, Selene suck blood, or Medusa eat, the strength was transferred to Ashley

Their their health became his health too

Although he could see through their eyes and tell them what to say, he couldn't control them as they had powerful personalities

But little by little, his personality was influencing them

As demons, they never understood our could feel thankful, feel guilt or even anguish

They felt thankful like a wild animal, who would be grateful with you, but will kill and eat you at the first oppurtunity

But somehow they felt genuinely thankful and indebted to him, felt guilty for him taking their pain, and even his anguish from being cheated on 

In fact, Lilith absolutely despised her for what she did to Ashley, and for chopping off her wings, horns and nipples, even messing up her pussy. She had planned to return to take revenge, but somehow something planted in her by Ashley prevented her from doing so

In return, they learned to control his healing abilities at least to effect his own body

While they were powerful mages in their own right and can cast healing spells, their powers couldn't do anything to him since he was bound by the golden bonds

But by being able to control his powers, they could maintain his body 

With his injuries from the bonds, he had already healed his wounds over his bonds

The flesh in his eyeballs, mouth and in the hole in his perineum has healed over the golden spikes and has stopped bleeding

As usual, they argued on what to do with him

 Selene wanted to bury him in a coffin since he didn't need to be fed manually

Medusa agreed but wanted him to be close by, just in case, like a lich's phylactery

Lilith was the most emotional and disagreed and preferred him next to her as a good luck charm

Finally, they agreed on keeping him suspended in the carriage, since they were continuing to travel and laying low

He was suspended in the air by his chains, which moved him as little as possible, making him look like a puppet if one looked inside 

They didn't want him jerking as that would move the bonds impaled in him, and that would hurt them too

Medusa and Lilith certainly experienced what would happen if Ashley is severely injured and close to death, and how it affected them

Each had ruled over nations at some point in their lives, they could do so again but didn't. They didn't want to get bound by whichever god again, and stayed hidden, moving village to village, city to city

They travelled the world, leaving Petra behind as they grew accustomed to this new world together