The person who said time healed all wounds clearly didn’t think a day was long enough. And for something like the situation between Kokan, his family, and Erin, you’d probably need a couple of months, if not years. The four were up late last night talking around the kitchen table, though about half the time was spent in silence. To make whatever adjustment slightly easier, Kokan and his wife slept on the floor with Irisa to give Erin their bed.  

She refused a few times, of course, but they all insisted she needed the chance to have some gainful rest. Lei was sleeping in her arms, not Niva's, so I made a slime clone of myself to give to the cyclops.  

It wasn’t even 5 AM, but I was awake and occupying myself with Sekh’s delicious boobs. I sucked on them all night while she warmed my cock, which was strange enough, but we loved it. Even now, I was working my three tongues the best they could to fill her with pleasure from both sides. And my four hands were gripping her ass like no tomorrow, which she liked a lot. In her sleep, she moaned lightly, causing my hips to slowly gyrate back and forth.   

I developed a system to use my shapeshifting to its full advantage when having sex. When pulling out, I lengthened myself while keeping the tip in place until I was back at 12 inches, with 6" being outside. When it was time to thrust in, I did the opposite, where I shrunk myself on purpose once all 6” were in, but to Sekh, it felt like there was much more. Really, it was perfect.  

The best of both worlds without any pain provides the most pleasure for us.  

I sucked even harder, my hips picking up the pace just slightly. I hugged Sekh tighter, the pressure in my penis starting to build. To last longer, I decided to do long, slow thrusts aimed at her most sensitive spots. After lavishing over her body for months, our regular lovemaking meant we knew everything about the other’s body. There were no secrets left to uncover. I pulled out moments before I was about to cum because I didn’t want this to end.  

After giving her nipples one last kiss, I rolled over to the top, then moved my hands up and down her exquisite chest. I leaned in close, pressing my lips to hers while our nipples touched. It was a lewd kiss—especially since she was still asleep. I grabbed my dick and rubbed it against her moist entrance, playfully teasing her drenching cunt even more as a tongue appeared from the tip of my cock. It was fat, thick, and incredibly wet, and her sweet taste traveled to my tastebuds. Sekh’s breathing increased, her panting fueling my erection as her face took on slight blush. Massaging her breast, I thrust forward just a bit, spreading her open and continuing until I had nothing else to give.  

My hands slid down to her waist, and I pumped. Her breasts started to jiggle, bouncing back and forth as if they were inviting me to play. The tongue still attached to my dick wiggled insistently, brushing firmly against her soft, squelching inner folds. Suddenly, both of her hands reached up, and I filled their emptiness with mine and pressed them back to the bed.  

“Ahhhh~~~ Ahhhh~~~~ My liege~~~~ MMMmmmmm~~~~” Sekh moaned in her sleep, her mouth slightly agape as her tongue ventured out. If she was dreaming, it was probably about this. That pink thing was so erotic looking... So wet and moist... I welcomed it with my tongue, and we shared something sloppy and sexy for what felt like minutes, our tongues never going back into our mouths because even in her dreamy state, she couldn’t get enough of it. Sucking on her tongue pushed me over the edge, and I grunted, moving into a kiss as my cum flowed deep within her pussy.  

“MMMnnn~~~~~ It’s...amazing~~~~~ Feels so good~~~,” she said in her sleep, looking as cute as ever.  

I shot out six or seven thick, long ropes, eventually becoming flaccid while still inside her.   

Another thing about being part slime was that the cleanup was almost nonexistent. I just morphed my penis into its slimy state and stashed the semen threatening to ooze out in [Storage]. Once outside, I could toss it in the garbage.  

But even as we made love last night, Sekh wanted it to be messy and hot. Especially when she was in the mood and couldn’t stand it. She even wanted me to come on her face after jerking me off. Since I was too horny, I just licked her sweet lips and tasted my own ejaculation, pushing her to the bed while slowly licking her entire body with twenty tongues that branched off the twenty vines I produced. 

Upon transforming the slime back into a penis, I gave Sekh another precious kiss and licked her lips affectionately. I rolled back over and hugged her tightly for a few minutes before getting up and going to the bath. The water was empty, but I had acquired a spell called [Water Spring], which I learned from assimilating Tivid’s corpse. Basically, I took mana and converted it into water. It was like a hosepipe with a medium flowing rate, so after filling the tub and getting it nice and warm, I slipped in and relaxed. Instantly, my mind went to Sekh. 

Then the erection came. 

Jerking off was fine, but I wanted my lovely little Lionfolk. But waking her up? Sekh needed her sleep, so I created a clone with her appearance and embraced it. From experience, I knew my replicas could talk. They could even react, but this one I made was having trouble vocalizing. When my body had a chance to grow accustomed to the thousands of SP I spent, my clones would probably be way more life-like and full of emotion.   

“Do you think you can suck it?” I asked Clone!Sekh. With a nod, she kissed my forehead and ran her tongue down my body. She spent a lot of time on my shaft before wrapping her cute lips around the head. There, her tongue did the rest, and I rubbed her ears and massaged her pussy with my foot as I enjoyed this blissful time.   

“I’m about to cum... Swallow it... I want you to drink it.” Clone!Sekh nodded, then deepthroated me, which was a problem because I was at my original length. Portions of her body reverted to slime to accommodate the girthy cock, and I felt the semen flow endlessly into her throat. Her arms wrapped around my thighs, continuing to tickle the shaft with her tongue until I’d emptied my balls in her mouth. Her translucent skin turned a forest green. Clone!Sekh kept my love’s overall form, but her body became more like slime. 

It’s...so warm... My cock feels like it’s melting like butter... 

 I closed my eyes and almost drifted to sleep before I heard footsteps. Clicking my tongue, the door to the bathroom swung open, and Clone!Sekh vanished a moment later... 

But not before I heard a loud, disappointing sigh. 

“Escaped from your crystal, huh?” I asked Primrose. She pushed her hair out of her eyes with a huff, her entire body looking as human as ever.  

But it was really wood. 

Ignoring me, she entered the bath and stared at my face, a scowl plastered on hers. 

Silence was a virtue, I suppose, but that was broken about five minutes later. “Guess you didn’t even have the decency to wait until she was awake? You fuck her when she’s asleep, then you fuck...that? Do you not know shame? You’re a debaucherous existence—”  

“We both consented to it. Sekh’s woken me up many times like that, and she’s asked me to do the same. She also gave me explicit permission to have sex with a clone of her whenever I want. We never had the chance to feel a physical connection to anyone before. In that regard, we're each other's first. It doesn’t involve you, so keep your nose out of it,” I replied, cutting her off.  

Upset, she splashed the water with her hand, the warm liquid dripping through her slender fingers. A second later, her voice changed as she asked me something. “Why didn’t you kill me? I... I attacked you. I tried to kill you. I wanted nothing more than to see you die like the monster you are. But you... You didn’t do anything. Why?”  

“Because I had no reason. I’m a woman of logical thinking. I just killed 24 people in cold blood. There was a chance you’d be upset, and I took that into account. You’re an emotional spirit. I figured something like this would happen. Maybe if you drew blood, I’d have done something. But you were so weak you couldn’t even break the skin. You hurt yourself more than you hurt me, didn’t you?”  

“I...” Primrose clenched her teeth and formed two fists. “I don’t think I’ll ever not hate you. You’re despicable. Brutal. Murderous. A threat to the natural order I belong to. You're a villain to heroes all over the world. Whatever dies should stay dead. They shouldn’t come back as monsters like you. It’s just in my nature to find you vile and disgusting... But my Master... You saved her life when I was foolish and wasn’t thinking straight... I—”  

“We don’t have to see eye-to-eye on everything. Or even anything. Just don’t do anything to betray this group again, and we won’t have any problems. You know what I can do, and now I can do even more after assimilating Oswell’s group. And no, I won’t get rid of my thread around your core. Once I grow stronger, I'll reinforce it. Don't think of it as me stopping you from killing yourself, even if it is that, but me offering some added protection. It’s a gift. Niva’s known you for less than a week, yet she’s attached to you. For her sake, you’ll be under my protection if you stay in line. Oh, and thanks for helping Erin with her injuries. I’ve come to care for her, so...” I stepped out of the bath and retrieved a towel to dry off. Primrose asked about my past, but I didn’t respond as I walked out of the bathroom to find comfort in the arms of a sleepy Lionfolk. 

I suddenly wanted to embrace her. 

Hopefully, I gave Primrose some shit to think about, but a villain? A fitting descriptor for someone with my desire to destroy Cridia. 

---

During a fish-centric breakfast, my wings were the talk of the table. Everyone was sitting at the table and staring at them, comparing them to Tilde’s. Well, everyone except Erin, who was still asleep. No one wanted to disturb the first bit of restful slumber she’d gotten in weeks. I had the AI keeping an eye on her, though.  

When I brought up [Song Magic] and [Flight], I also pulled out my flute and explained that I could play a song as a proxy. I probably needed time to practice to ensure it was all in sync with the same notes played each time, but Kokan said that would work. He looked a little bit better, I suppose. Though the hints of sadness still clouded his mind with a whirlwind of thoughts.  

I brought up how to use [Drain] to give Erin her adult horns, but there were mixed reactions. Irisa thought that was too much for Erin, but Ichiha and Kokan entertained the idea longer than I thought. It was up to Erin, though. She emerged from her room about 20 minutes later dressed in a pair of green pajamas that used to belong to Irisa when she was that size. Her feet shuffled along the floor. Lei was in her arms, and she stroked the slime's jelly-like body.  

Her violet eyes were still red and raw from the crying. She whispered a quiet thank you when Irisa brought her a plate of baked fish and a cup of water. She picked at her food like a bird with an unsteady hand while I turned to Sekh and apologized. She asked what for, and I said I didn’t think we could have our date. She noted an apology wasn’t needed, then took my hand and placed it on her head. I still promised to make up for it, though. Ichiha put a hand to her cheek and probably reminisced about the past or something. Irisa looked slightly sad, but I wholly planned on having a date with her. In fact, I asked for her one, which immediately brightened her mood. She almost leapt over the table to hug me, lifting me from my chair and spinning me around in her embrace.  

“Is...” Erin suddenly whispered, causing us all to turn to her. “Is this fine?”  

“You’re welcome here, Erin. This can be your home, and we can be your family. That’s only if you want, too, however. Regardless of your choice, I’ll never let you be alone.”  

“Then...” She hugged Lei a little tighter. “I thought about...it in my dreams. If you don’t truly hate me... I promise to be a good girl... I don’t want to...be by myself... I’m scared...” Erin’s choked whispers halted her voice, but her new mother and father quickly rushed to her side and hugged her, displaying physical proof to back up their words.   

It was a cute moment. Niva and Primrose were brought to tears, and even Tilde wiped her eyes with her forearm. Irisa soon hugged her half-sister. It was a gentle way to close out this moment. But even with that said, it would still take more than one day for it to sink in. However, there was no understating of just how genuine their words and actions were.   

As we continued breakfast, I brought up the whole horn issue, but Erin apologized and asked for more time to think about it. I said that was fine. We chatted about the chimera. Taking Kokan’s advice, I shared the chimera’s location with Irisa and the others, which meant I had to explain some things to Erin and Primrose. An obvious consequence of that was exposing my chimerism to the tearful Catfolk.  

“I’ve heard stories when I was younger. How scary and frightening they can be...” Erin said. “But you saved me... Thank you, Lady Springfield.”  

“You aren’t scared?” I asked, reverting my wings without playing my flute. She said she was. The floating words—her mind couldn’t process it. While I murdered, she always thought my gun was to turn on her. I apologized for putting that fear in her heart, then said that was never my intention. I explained that I couldn’t let those 11 slaves live because if they could murder and rape and get caught for it, they could do it again. Those other slaves I let leave were just common thieves.   

I left off Henri and his siblings. I just wanted them off my mind and away from my thoughts.   

I could’ve killed them, but I want them to suffer. 

---

A few hours later, I was in the backyard with Kokan. Sekh and Irisa were out there, and Niva, Prim, Ichiha, Tilde, and Erin were inside having a little chat. Dressed in the armor Irisa made for me, I spun Kronto around my hands and settled into an experienced stance. Kokan whistled and said I looked much more imposing.  

“That’s because I am. Oswell’s group? If they were the slightest bit resistant to poison, I probably wouldn’t have pulled off what I did. But I need to fight. I still need to get stronger.”  

With focus, my body became enveloped in a soft glow, which manifested a partly see-through suit of armor. 

That was [Mana Armor]. 

Or a beginner’s version of it. 

It was like I wore an extra layer of armor, making it much tougher to pierce my skin. But it was mana hungry. I could only sustain it for about two minutes before being winded, and Kokan said most people used it only around their vital areas.  

With the lecture over, I dashed towards him with my spear down low. Stabbing Kronto into the ground to bring me to a halt, I ducked low and swung my leg, my arms pressing down on my spear, as Vamire did, to sweep Kokan off his legs.  

"Nnnrg! That's a good strike! I felt that!" Kokan exclaimed, enduring the attack and bringing down the spear I gave him. [Danger Sense] was a passive skill and was always active, and it worked by giving me a tingling sensation whenever danger was approaching. Without even looking, I backflipped backwards and stood on my spear's side. Balancing on a staff was Vamire's party trick-- something he showed me multiple times to impress me. My senses tingled again, and Kokan was right on me with a quick thrust.  

I ducked and blocked the strike, then replied with a masterful execution of the Iron Tree Stance's basics, combining them as Vamire did. 

Kokan parried it all, replying with an overhead downward slim, which I swatted with a [Mana Armor] reinforced arm. 

I blocked it, then counterattacked with an overhead downward slam, which was parried. It then turned into a flurry of attacks from both of us as we disregarded the Iron Tree Stance and focused on sheer speed. Before, I couldn’t even see them, but now everything was as clear as priceless crystals. The clashing of metal on metal produced vibrant sparks. The battle-hungry grin on my face matched the one on Kokan’s. He went for a sudden punch, but I ducked under it, danced my spear behind my back, and clocked him in the ribs. 

Nothing broke, but he responded, in turn, with an even faster thrust that pierced my shoulder. The strike was followable, yet he completely destroyed my [Mana Armor,] shattering it apart like colorless snowflakes. Grunting through the pain, I healed that wound and continued a barrage that even Irisa had trouble seeing.  

We both pushed ourselves to the limit, and I felt myself growing as a fighter with every blow. These matches ended with wounds on both, instead of just me.  

But I had yet to win. Perhaps if I fought with Kronto's abilities, I could've turned the tide, but they were noisy. Attention was the last thing we needed, but it wasn't an excuse. I knew, more than anyone, the limits to my power. If anything, this proved Kokan was a monstrous fighter. He focused on books and history, but if he spent time seriously training his muscled body... 

He'd be an outstanding combatant. 

When it was time to take a break, I called for Sekh, and she leapt at the chance to fight. We agreed on no skills, and it was honestly a fun time. Her skill with the mace improved leaps and bounds, and she always had that shield to deflect and counter my attacks in ways I didn’t realize were possible. I tried to go for a thrust, but she parried it, which was fine. But when I dodged her attack, she knew exactly where I was going to go, how I was going to do it, and just how fast it was going to take. And once I was on the defense, she let loose a rapid barrage of mace and shield strikes. 

Her swipes and slams weren’t fast enough to be invisible, but it was just the power held in them. My hands and arms took a beating each time I blocked something, but I always couldn’t recover the damage because she would follow it up with her shield in an effortless combo that made it look like she was dancing. Everything flowed together in one conjoined unit like a beautiful painting, which given her prior nature as an enemy of this world, didn’t exactly fit.  

But she just had all that experience. After spending close to 800 SP and gaining the strength, magic, and bodily increases that came with purchasing skills, she was a force to be reckoned with.   

Oh, Sekh didn't have to wait an adjustment period to use her newfound power. Her eternally reincarnating soul compensated her body and picked up the slack. 

Even as I laid on my back, my armor ripped to shreds from our latest, most intense bout, I could do nothing but look up at her beautiful face with love and adoration.  

“I’m... still not a match, huh? One day, Sekh, I’ll give you the fight you want.”  

She helped me stand, then kissed my lips as her hands poked my face. “You always win when we’re in bed, you know. I fall victim to your love every time.”  

Before I could return the kiss, Irisa hollered out the window and said dinner was ready. 

---

For the next few days, things remained as they were. Erin was growing more comfortable in this situation. She was still crying at night, though. During her sleep, not when awake. It woke Ichiha up, and she only stopped it by giving a grieving, destitute girl the love only a mother could offer. I knew. I was spying on them, though I didn’t mean to.  

“I’ll love you as if you were my own daughter, sweetie,” Ichiha said, holding Erin close to her. Her hand softly petted her head. “You’re scared. Anyone would be. But you’re not to blame for anything. You’re our family now, and we’ll protect you. Family, huh? I wonder if it’s about time... Do we even have time?”  

I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I wondered if it was about getting pregnant with a second child. According to Tilde, most humanoid races in the world had a pregnancy that lasted for 40 weeks, which was the same as humans. It differed when it came to elves, especially High Elves, because it sometimes took years for them to have a few days to have a period of fertility. Even then, it was rare for High Elves to get pregnant. The chances were well below 0.050%, so I suppose they were called High Blessings for a reason. Suppose it was also strenuous to evolve into a High Elf. 

Or a Dark Elf, for that matter.   

But other than sparring with Kokan and Sekh, spending time with Irisa and Erin, and helping Primrose with Niva’s therapy, I spent most nights thinking about how to get us out of this situation.  

And on the third night? An idea finally came to me. It was one that posed the least amount of risk, even though my clones would be doing the work.  I thought about taking Gloria’s form with a clone and demanding the end to this farce, but that wouldn’t work. And if I was a regular person, that would be even more suspicious because the soldiers were on edge.   

I decided I needed to bring my enemies to their enemy, but there had to be concrete evidence. The bastard was currently resting with a skill called [Chimeric Hibernation], which formed a tough outer shell around its body while rooting them to the spot. After the first fight, it made its way through Ria and found safety in the collapsed basement of a destroyed building. But without any proof, I was positive they wouldn’t believe me. If anything, they would probably kill my clone on the spot because they might think it was a trap.  Even if I used their copied appearance data to convince them, my time watching Bellerophon told me they were deadly serious about everything. There weren't any examples of anyone skirting the rules or cutting corners.   

The chimera’s hideout was too small for anything other than a mouse to get through, so I created and sent a Clone!Rat that way.   

When it arrived thirty minutes later, the chimera’s defenses were tougher than I thought. This rat was pathetically weak, but transfiguring a small hand with Yaekira's dagger attached to the end still wasn’t enough to pierce it. Since that didn’t work, I tried to move it. It was rooted like the Eagle Yew and wouldn’t budge a single inch.   

But even if something was durable, it didn’t mean it was indestructible. Hitting something enough times would eventually cause it to show signs of damage. And I just needed a piece big enough to act as proof. I told the AI to monitor the clone after giving it a simple order of 'attack until something breaks off. Heal yourself if need be.’  

But to be safe, I woke Tilde and had her confirm something. While under the effects of [Chimeric Hibernation], you weren't aware of the outside world. It was solely designed to be an emergency defensive skill a chimera used when on the verge of death when they had no other options. Thanking her, Tilde kissed me on the cheek, groggily telling me to not do anything stupid or dangerous, and quickly returned to her slumber.   

I returned to Sekh’s embrace and continued to brainstorm about my situation. I did think about using my poisoning skills, but every Bellerophon soldier had a jewel embedded in their bodies with a few basic resistances. And poison was one of them. Even then, they were patrolling with four soldiers in a unit. The soldiers constantly communicated with each other for the entire time. It would be impossible to take one out and take their place, especially with a clone at half of my strength.   

If I was too hasty, I would hint at there possibly being two or three chimeras prowling around Ria.   

It was a very explosive situation. Making the wrong move would be akin to setting off a powder keg with stupidity.    

Besides, there had been multiple riots over the last few days.   

The barrier over the city meant nothing was imported or exported. There were roving bands of Bellerophon soldiers searching all hours of the day. It wasn’t rare for someone to throw rocks at them, which turned into a fight. We were doing fine with water because of the well and my [Water Spring]. For food? My clones were on fishing duty because they knew the exact spot of each fish, thanks to my map’s search function. Whatever they stored or assimilated was passed to me. 

We all had turned into hermits, though. Never leaving the house on account of safety. No one tried to bother us, which was nice.  

But it was fun if you disregarded the barrier and loose chimera. Having these close-knit days did wonders for Erin’s mental health. Over the days, she slightly became more cheerful and a little bit more smiley. Irisa was always talking and playing tic-tac-toe with her, Ichiha offered to teach her how to cook, and Kokan even took the webs I spun for him and taught her how to weave them into bandages. Anything to get her mind off the obvious.  

If this continued for much longer, there was a chance I would have to take care of this myself using my full power—with no clones. If I used my Divine Skill, freedom wasn’t impossible. I had to be wary, though, since even 20 nearly caused me to turn into a mindless monster back in Sekh’s dungeon. That was why it always remained at either 5 or 0.  

But would it work for me? When I was on death's door, and those shitty goblins were about to rape me, the power it gave me at Wrath 15 was almost nothing. The voice said I wasn't worth its efforts and decided to leave me for dead. 

Which begged the question... 

Could I even rely on it? 

If I couldn't use it when I needed it, why the fuck did I acquire it after spending countless years suffering in the void? It was the one reason I remained sane, so why forsake me? 

It just didn't make a lick of sense, but I didn't know how to demand answers. Tilde, Sekh, nor the AI could help me, and Kokan apologized for his lack of knowledge of Divine Skills.  

Even asking outright or in my mind failed to bring me closer to the truth, leading the AI to almost think itself to insanity to help. I was afraid something awful would happen, so I ordered it to stop.