The hero and the army would return in a few days, and the advance notice had reached Peter Errama's ears. Reluctantly, Edmund ordered Peter to proceed with the attack on the Demon Lord Karras. Edmund thought about his new ability.
The clone. The clone needed a human sacrifice, that would be fairly easy. He had so many captives as a lord of a province that he could easily use any of them.
But what was the use of the clone?
The very fact that the clone is a human, meant the power was meant to approach the heroines, since, it could act around the hero without raising any suspicion.
The next question then, was whether he wanted his clone to be male, or female? If male, he could use it to seduce the girls directly. If female, he could use his clone to assault the hero directly, thus pushing the rest of the girls to him. He wasn't sure he could pull off a seductive female. The idea of imagining himself as female and throwing himself at the hero somehow didn't appeal to him. Therefore, the only option left was to create a male clone.
But he couldn't create the clone here in Errama. He didn't have the sacrifice needed, or the facilities. The creation of a clone involved a magical ceremony, and this was way too close to the hero for comfort. He'd have to return back to Natar.
***
Hannah watched as Kiara walked out the next morning. With all the residual lust energies dispersed, she couldn't help but a level of clear-headedness she didn't have before this.
"Are you alright?" Hannah asked, concerned.
Kiara nodded, and answered with a friendliness that was long missing. "I'm fine. I had a rough time yesterday. Apologies for that."
"Phew. Good. The hero should be on the way back." Hannah said. "I can feel him coming closer." It'll be a few more days before they return, together with the Sodenterland, Northengard and Natarian forces.
The knight looked at Hannah briefly. She knew that Hannah's gift partly involved some kind of linkage to the hero, so this wasn't too unusual. "The soldiers seem tense yesterday, not sure whether it was me, or just the coming attack."
The tank naturally noticed. "Probably you. You're a ball of flames yesterday."
"Ah." Kiara sighed. "My bad, then."
"Yeah. What's up with that?" Hannah probed, sensing that Kiara was probably ready to talk.
Kiara paused a while, ordered a coffee for her morning drink, and then looked at Hannah seriously. A look that the tank noticed.
"Shit. It's serious. I'm all ears." Hannah straightened herself. "What is it?"
"-I'm thinking of leaving the party after this attack."
Hannah froze. "-what. Are you serious?"
"Yes. I- I need to talk to my mom, and also the Count of Natar, but yeah. I've mostly decided that I'm going to leave."
"Woman, you can't drop shit like that on me." Hannah said, nearly fumbling off her chair. "You need to talk to Aman about it. Like- I don't know-"
Kiara shook her head. "It's not something that's going to be solved. My family needs money. I had hoped that by working with the hero I'd get that money, but-"
Hannah froze. She had long suspected that Kiara wanted a piece of that hero's prize, but Kiara was usually more subtle about it. This was the first time she heard Kiara admitting to financial problems. Yet, over the past few weeks, Hannah thought Kiara had moved on from that-
"-the real prize, I suppose, is the King's reward at the end of all this." Kiara answered. "If there is one."
"It's all about money?" Hannah countered. "Despite all the fights we've been through together?"
Kiara paused, realizing this would heavily affect how they viewed her. "My family is in debt, Hannah. Deep- deep debt. In the hundreds of thousands."
The heroine was shocked by the sum. "-what."
"I know." The knight gave out a long sigh. "I found out about it recently too. So, the best way forward is to work with those who can help me with my family's debt."
"-that Count you mentioned?"
Kiara felt her nether regions twitch at the mention of the man that claimed her. But she nodded. "Yes. He's rich, and he's offered me a good deal. One that I've been thinking about all this time."
Hannah sighed. "If it's what makes most sense for you, I guess it can't be helped. Talk to Aman, at least. I'm sure he'll try to promise you something?"
Kiara nodded. "Sure."
***
Edmund followed Nysta into the old prayer halls. Since that night, she's been coming here to pray.
Though she was heavily in the mood for sex, the next day all she felt was guilt.
Guilt for giving into her bodily desires.
Guilt for lusting after the hero.
"Oh goddess, I have succumbed to the sin of the flesh."
Edmund once again transformed into a small rat and prayed. He waited.
"I've let my needs get to my head."
He decided to just state it upfront, sounding like a spirit. "I'm not the goddess, just an old spirit. But why are you trying to control your needs?"
"Because our needs are- are bad. It makes us do things that are sin."
"Why do needs lead to sins?" Edmund asked, and Nysta paused.
"Because-" She wasn't sure why, either. "Because we are supposed to rise above our needs?"
"Why?"
"Because that is what our goddesses wants us to do."
"Are you sure that's what your goddess wants you to do?"
"It's what the scriptures say-"
"Look around you. Look at your party. What does your goddesses' actions tell you about what they want?"
Nysta stewed, as she realized the party really was the hero's little harem. She blushed at the thought. "Our goddesses-"
"Do you believe that the goddesses' permit their faithful, their chosen, to behave wrongly?"
"No." Nysta answered firmly.
"Do you believe in their hidden hand? That all things are the goddesses' will." Edmund was fairly familiar with the churches' teachings.
"Yes." Nysta answered, reciting her own old pledges to the goddesses.
"If these are all plans of the goddesses, what is it that they've planned for you girls?" Edmund's questions were naturally leading her along a path. If she took it. Nysta sat. She didn't answer for a while, her mind trying to wrap her head around the question. Did the goddesses really want to see who would win in a dating interview with the hero?
Really?
"There are more pious, more faithful men. There are many good people, good women and men more suited to receive the goddesses' blessings. And yet they chose so many young, beautiful women to accompany a young, good looking, powerful man, to defeat the demons?" Edmund felt he was a little on the nose there, and it was a repeat of the sentence he said the last time he spoke to her this way.
But he had to hammer it in.
Nysta's energies swirled within her, as the realization dawned on her. "it's- It's alright to desire the hero. The goddesses want us to desire him."
He waited.
"There's nothing wrong with our desires. The goddesses knew this would happen." Nysta relaxed, and then she smiled. "Thank you, strange spirit! I have not sinned! This is all the goddesses' plan!"
What if Nysta ended up turning into a yandere hellbent on going after the hero? Would the hero be able to reject her? Imagine if she ended up trying to rape him, and was only barely stopped by the others! It could get to the point where she gets locked up for her own good, and then escapes. The extreme character changes might cause some to suspect demon interfere, but in reality it would mostly be her own doing. She could actually become an ally the MC so that he could seduce all the rivals, and then she could have the hero to herself. Of course the hero would need to be weak enough for her to control, so she would also try to sabotage any sources of power before he can reach them. So maybe try and murder most of the demon lords before he can.
Basically my crazy idea is that she turns into a villainess in her own right. The MC doesn't actually corrupt her into his own harem, but instead starts her on a different path to darkness.
I like it *wink*
Nice idea
Even Edmund looks at her and be like... "Yeah... I ain't touching that level of crazy. Might have overdone it a bit with this one. Oh, well."
An idea for the clone would be to create a copy of the hero, and then send it to the party for help. It would reveal that it knows it is a clone, and some vague information about the hero and his life, but little else. The clone would then insist on joining the party as it wouldn't be safe on its own thank to being a copy of the hero. Someone created him, and likely doesn't want the clone roaming free just yet. Even if the clone lack the combat abilities of the other party member it could perform support tasks like managing lodging, or party accounting.
The point would be to have a permanent spy following the party as the clone would never try to sabotage things. Additionally the clone would be more sexually open and assertive to provide contrast for how lame the hero is acting.
A secondary use would be to force the party into a moral conundrum. The clone is no overt threat, yet might be part of a plan to subvert them somehow. Would they kill it immediately and effectively unprovoked, thus acting in an unheroic manner? Would they be divided on how to act? Would they allow the clone into the party and watch it like a hawk for betrayal that never comes (the whole point of never actively sabotaging the party)? The stress of having to deal with a potential mole would cause fractures in the party, and could cause further tension if some of the party members start to trust the clone a bit ("oh no, suchandsuch is being manipulated by the evil clone" or "that bit*h was clearly a plant too").
goddamn you genius.
@HaremFantasies a hero clone could draw the goddess attention to the party, the fact they already have a replacement knight is proof enough that it is already happening, a clone would easily make em accelerate the plot to strengthen the hero.
@shinikage However if he plays his cards right he could imply that the clone wasn't necessarily made by demons. With bit of intimate knowledge, it could be hinted that the goddess was the clone's actual creator, or at least someone from the church wanting a backup in case the hero dies. The idea is to sow confusion and doubt over who is the villains or heroes.
If the clone fails to make a successful infiltration it could just be terminated in a matter that would cause the greatest psychological damage. For example if they decide to have him locked up somewhere for his own safety have him brutally murdered in a manner that hints at an inside job, and in such a way that it appears someone is making an example of him for defecting. The point being to guilt trip the party for leaving the clone. Another option would be to publicly leak that the clone is the real hero, and then have a large scale demon (preferably by demons not under the MC's control) attack whose aim is to kill who they think is the real hero in hiding.
@SuperBort he cant clone the hero skills or the goddess blessings rather than letting him stay around the party is more likely that they would send him back to the church for investigation from the higher echelons and the goddess themselves, is a too high profile move for the series style, the only way it would work plotwise is that the author dumbed down everyone intelligence.