Erza had allowed her training to slip, she understood that well after she saw how Cass had outpaced her. The pair of them had been struggling together on the uppermost floors, but Erza realized too late that she had failed to properly take advantage of her training opportunities. This was why she had fallen behind, no matter what Loki had said. The goddess was far too kind, simply hugging her and telling her that it was alright, her scores were very good, it was simply that Cass and the rest were growing too fast.

The falna worked by strain, but she had not been pushing herself. Since it was standard procedure to not delve below the fourth floor until one had gained at least a G in their basic abilities, and Erza even now had a mere H in her highest, she had allowed herself to be hobbled. But she was stronger than an ordinary Level One, and she didn't have to worry about abandoning Cass to work alone. She practically burst down onto the fifth floor - with Cass's agreement, of course - and the two of them immediately set themselves against the killer ants that so dominated the floor.

They were dangerous creatures, of course. She found her blade often sticking between blows, forcing her to Requip. Cass managed well with her own carefully targeted piercing strikes, her fingers digging directly into the weak points of the ants' armor. Together, they were a whirlwind of destruction across the fifth floor. At the third hour of their mission, Erza began to feel the burn of her body from the constant exertion, a pleasant hum that told her that she was doing well. By the eighth, Cass was drenched in sweat, occasionally grasping her clothing to paw at her face with it. The girl was like her, a true, dedicated warrior, and she was clearly starting from a lower beginning. It brought a tear to her eyes, to see her strive so hard, and she could hardly hold her higher stats against her.

Nevertheless, part of a proper workout routine was breaks. Of course, the pair of them had paused twice to enjoy some of the food they had brought down with them, but by this point, it was clear to Erza that Cass needed a proper break. "Let's return to the surface, Cass," she said, clasping her comrade's shoulder. "We do need to meet Syr for our date!"

Cass's expression shifted at that, but after a second or two, she simply smiled. "Okay," she said, in that laconic way of speaking she had. Erza began to march back towards the surface; on their way, they killed a few goblins and kobolds that mindlessly and fruitlessly threw themselves against the pair. Their sacks were overloaded with magic stones, gathering them all up being quite the chore - Noriko's value as a party member, revealed yet again! - and they dropped them off at the guild in exchange for valis before heading to the Hostess of Fertility.

It was not the first time they had come, of course. Cass never seemed fully comfortable, but she also never let Erza go alone, so Erza had to assume that Cass truly wished to visit the Hostess of Fertility, but could not bring herself out of her shell. She did her best to encourage her training partner to do so, primarily by attempting to help her pick out new outfits, such as a sexy dress, or a sexy skirt, or a sexy top, but every time, Cass would simply default back to her same old long-sleeved and loose clothing. Erza knew it would be impossible for her to change her ways without also changing her clothes, but she accepted Cass's shyness.

The two sat down in their now-standard booth to enjoy the fruits of a day's labor in the Dungeon: copious amounts of delicious food. No doubt having already anticipated their arrival, Syr shortly emerged from the kitchen with a massive cake - so reliable were the pair of them that she did not even have to order! More food was brought out, of course, a wide variety of tasty dishes, which Erza and Cass immediately set about devouring hungrily.

"Is it good?" Syr asked, sounding hopeful.

"It's delicious," Erza replied, after swallowing what was in her mouth.

"I'm glad to hear that," Syr said, with a beatific smile on her lips. Her gaze shortly turned to Cass, who simply mutely met it with her own. "Is it good for you?"

"It's nice," Cass agreed.

Syr clasped her hands together happily. "Oh! I know you fight with your hands, but that must be really hard, in the Dungeon. One of the adventurers who comes by here from time to time, well, I asked him and he happened to have some old gauntlets that he's since replaced. Don't worry, I didn't have to do anything naughty to get them," she said, with a warm, affectionate smile. "I was hoping to give them to you?" She gave Cass a bit of a puppy dog pout.

Cass distrusted Syr, saying that she normally said things that were true, but not how she implied, and Cass didn't know what the true meanings were. Despite this, Syr had always been kind and giving with the pair of them, so Erza chose to trust in her intentions. If Erza had not already been equipped with the most excellent varieties of swords and armors, she was sure that Syr would have done just the same for her as she had done for Cass. Syr truly was a kind friend - the only person she knew who was more into hugs than Syr was Loki. She even outstripped Noriko, who was quite the fierce cuddler.

"Thanks," Cass said softly, with a small nod. Syr practically beamed in response, all but bouncing on her feet.

"I'll go get them, then, I was keeping them on a high shelf in the back. We wouldn't want anybody to steal them," Syr explained, hurriedly rushing off to the back to fetch the items in question.

Cass frowned at her receding back. "She didn't think... they would be stolen..."

"Of course not. This is the Hostess of Fertility. There are many strong women here who could prevent any thieves," Erza said.

* * *

"I don't mean... like that..." Cass tried to explain. Erza listened to her intently, but she trusted Syr. It wasn't like Syr had evil intentions - she wanted the pair of them to like her, and perhaps to... do things, with her - but she was hiding big, important things from her and Erza. "She says things... that are true... but... she's hiding... important things..."

"Everyone has their secrets. We will just have to hold out until she shares hers with us as friends," Erza said.

"It's not... like that..." Cass fidgeted in her chair. She had a tough time expressing herself at the best of times. She knew she was right about Syr, that it wasn't... some innocent thing. It was important. Dangerous. "She's hiding it... because she thinks we'll like her... less... but she's not ashamed..."

Erza frowned at that for a moment, placing one hand in front of her mouth as she thought it over. "Perhaps she is simply grievously in debt!" Erza offered by way of theory.

Cass just shook her head. "It's not..." she trailed off as Syr wandered back out of the back room, lugging two large, heavy gauntlets and thumping them down on the table.

"Here you are, Cass," Syr said, with a bright smile. "Two gauntlets. They should help! I think?" She added. She didn't think. She knew. The uncertainty was affected to... hide experience? Knowledge?

"Are you... an adventurer?" Cass asked.

"Hm? Me? No," she said, letting out an awkward laugh, but she was being sincere. "It's so impressive, how brave you adventurers are, risking your lives like that, throwing yourselves into danger... I'm just a homebody! Always here or in my room, pretty much! Well, a couple other places too," she said, poking her cheek awkwardly, then curling her lips up into a smile.

"Did you... used to be one?" Cass could definitely tell this subject was closer to the truth...

"Me, an adventurer?" Syr laughed, shaking her head. "I really couldn't." There was just the tiniest tinge of something there, some little joke that Cass didn't get, like she was hiding the truth in a lie or vice versa. "You know, if you want to talk to a former adventurer, I could go get you one," Syr said, straightening up with a grin, having just figured out something great. "Let me go get her!"

Syr pretty much vanished at that point, rushing towards the back room. When she emerged, she was pushing out a thin elf with short blonde hair and the unmistakable posture of a warrior. There wasn't the hint of muscle, but there was plenty of hint of power in how she moved and held herself. "Syr said that you wished to speak to someone about adventuring?"

Cass just quietly nodded. She hadn't, actually, and Syr knew as much, but if someone else was speaking to her, then she could at least defer dealing with Syr. Or trying to keep Erza from being tricked by Syr... she was very easy to trick. "What... level are you?"

"I was Level Four at the time of my retirement from the Dungeon. My falna has not been updated since," she said, in a quiet voice. There was some tension to her as she recounted the fact, but it was a more familiar one, of personal shame rather than anything like... whatever Syr was hiding. "I have only heard of you from Syr, so I would guess that you are still Level One?" Cass nodded. "What would you like to know?"

Cass did not have any questions that immediately came to mind. She understood the monsters of the Dungeon quite well... "Erza?" Cass prompted, looking over at her dining partner, who was currently wolfing down yet more cake.

Ryu simply tilted her head over to the redhead, who swallowed. There was a moment's tension, as Erza gathered up the will to ask a question that was genuinely important to her. Then she spoke. "Is it true that H103 is a perfectly fine high stat after a month of going to the Dungeon?" She seemed almost on the verge of tears.

Ryu blinked twice. "That is a very good high stat," she said, with a nod. "My own high stat was less than half that, after my first month as an adventurer."

Erza let out a sigh of relief at that. "I am glad to hear it," she said. "I was truly worried that I was falling behind. I have rededicated myself to my training, and I won't stop now," she said, with a rapid nod, seemingly mostly to herself, "but thank you for your reassurances."

"If you are rising at that rate, I am concerned that pushing yourself further would result in your death," Ryu said. "It is important to always have an aim when you adventure."

"My aim is to become stronger, of course," Erza said.

Cass smiled at that. Erza was very dedicated to exercise and practice. She even thought of sex as an opportunity for more practice, building up her ability to hold out and to handle rough treatment. That thought made Cass blush slightly and duck her head.

"How can I rightly say I am pushing myself hard enough when Cass is growing far faster than me?" Erza asked rhetorically.

Ryu blinked twice at that. More than Ryu turned their heads towards Cass, who blushed and ducked her head for an entirely different reason. The bar was full of adventurers, who could hear their conversation. "If you are training that harshly, you are lucky to be alive."

Cass let out a small laugh at that, then grimly shook her head. "I'm not... lucky..."

Ryu must have seen something of herself in Cass, because she straightened up, looking interested in speaking to her. "May I join the two of you for-"

She was interrupted by the sound of a truly massive explosion, and when Cass turned to face it, there was a seemingly endless pillar of light, extending up into the sky all the way to the heavens.

* * *

————— had not exactly taken her time, once Zanis and Soma were alone in the room together. She had fired two subsonic rounds out of a suppressed rifle directly into Soma's head from behind, making sure the angle was such that it blew straight through the god's brains. She had proceeded to whip her gun around on Zanis a moment later, firing three shots directly into his skull, compensating for the recoil so perfectly that they were lined up horizontally on his face. She was completely prepared to burn the whole room to ash with a flamethrower to obscure the cause of their deaths.

The gods in heaven were more attentive than she'd anticipated, however - or, rather, the activation of Soma's own Arcanum as his body died was what attracted their attention. If she'd known she was coming to Danmachi, she would have memorized that kind of trivial detail, but instead she had to bodily fling herself out the balcony as she saw the force gathering, hitting the ground and quickly letting her Essence cloak her from sight, before any of the (former) Soma familia members noticed her.

At the least, the explosion seemed to have completely vaporized Soma, Zanis, and the room in which Soma most often worked. It even would probably obscure the fact that someone had murdered Soma. That was an unpleasant thought. She frowned as she looked at the scene. She had even brought a scent bag along, planning to use it to hide any lingering trace of her scent from the scene. Well... why not? She didn't have the bloodhound nose of a chienthrope, perhaps there was a lingering scent. She tossed it away, pulling the string as it went towards what was once the god of the Soma familia's office, and was now a ruin without a roof. It could serve as a tiny calling card.

The destruction did seem quite limited in scope, at least. She didn't want to hurt some poor Soma addicts who had done nothing wrong but be tricked into entering the Soma familia. She had seen enough to know that Zanis ran the place with an iron fist, and Soma was completely indifferent to the suffering of his familia. Zanis had even agreed to sell her Liliruca as a sex slave - that had been the proof she'd needed to truly affirm that he deserved to die.

She looked up at the sky, the grandiose pillar of light slowly fading. It wasn't as fun a kill as she had hoped. She had gotten a fraction of a second to see the look on Zanis's face, as she appeared seemingly from nowhere and trained her rifle on him. No... ah... thinking about that look in his eyes, the way they widened; her bullet striking right through his forehead, making a hole, then a second, then a third; it was exciting.

Too exciting for her to contain it. She was wet. She was drooling. The heat that burned in her cheeks, in her loins, it could only be fulfilled one way - Drake would have to rape her again and again until she was satisfied. Or perhaps he'd whore her out to some other man, maybe give her vaginal defloration away like it didn't even matter to him. She quickened her pace back towards the Twilight Manor, shrouded in an impenetrable nothingness as she was; others passed her by with no sign of recognition of her presence.

* * *

I was lying in our bedroom after another date with Noriko. We didn't really do too much, to be honest - the dates were almost perfunctory, and I was starting to wonder if Noriko would have preferred just starting with the sex, rather than go through the motions of walking around, looking at the sights, eating, buying the occasional trinket... I guess I was just a really boring guy. She did like listening to me tell her all about things on the history of Earth. I'd just finished reading the History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucidydes, before my transfer, so I could relate plenty of interesting stories and dialogues from that while they were still fresh in my memory.

Any feeling of inadequacy as a lover caused by the overfocus on sex was short-circuited when Noriko began to wetly swallow around my cock, simply pressing her face down into my pelvis, her hair brushing up against my bare skin as she worked me over. Her tongue slithered back and forth on my dick, and she let out a lewd moan as she came in that position, her juices spraying out all over the bed.

Fuck, it was always hot seeing that, the way she'd spontaneously orgasm during oral sex. Her eyes would cross lewdly, a bit of spittle running out over her lower lip, and she'd just smother herself in my pelvis.

It was then that the door to the room burst open, Julia instantly starting to strip, not even caring about the naked autist in my groin - or bothering to properly close the door behind her, just letting it lazily swing shut after a second or two. Once she was naked, she fell to her knees at the side of the bed, clearly extremely aroused - worryingly so, given what kind of person she was. "Goshujinsama," she whined, "goshujinsama, I need your cock in me, I need to feel you," she breathed out, as her fingers dashed down for her wet cunt, spreading her pussy wide to show it off when she caught my gaze flicking down there.

Noriko finished her orgasm and peeled herself up off my cock, looking over at Julia as she gently wiped her mouth. "You have already ejaculated in me twice, and our date was very nice. However, Bitch has interrupted us, and deserves to be punished for her impropriety."

"As long as I get goshujinsama's cock," Julia said, her eyes hazy with lust.

Now, having a beautiful naked black girl kneeling by the bed, and a similarly beautiful petite not-Japanese girl staring down at her imperiously was definitely a sexy sight... and put me in the mind of various things from Julia's original work. Namely, the way she would submit to (and enjoy) sex with other women, despite being entirely heterosexual. I didn't really have it in me to do denial play with her when she had actually come to me for sex - I guess I'm just too much of a nice guy.

"Alright, Bitch, get up on the bed," I told her, and she immediately leapt up. I grabbed Noriko and gently placed her at the head of the bed, easily putting her petite body down so her back rested against the headboard. She was completely naked, some of my semen gently leaking out of her pussy. "Now, eat out Noriko, since you broke up her fun time sucking my cock," I ordered.

Julia didn't even hesitate: she dove forward, her mouth soon pressed up against the other girl's sex, wetly lapping at her pussy. I got up behind Julia, my cock still coated in Noriko's copious amount of saliva, and angled myself up against her puckered asshole. I took a deep breath, briefly groping her naked butt cheeks, then pushed inside her sphincter, making her whole body twitch and jerk beneath me. I could see her playing with herself, despite not having permission - I decided to pretend not to notice. "Now, masturbate, bitch. Masturbate as you're forced to eat out another woman and take my cock in your ass, despite being a virgin and straight," I ordered.

Julia moaned and jerked a little at my lewd and degrading talk, her ass seeming to tighten around my cock as she did so. I could hear her lapping at Noriko's sex, see her face buried in between the smaller girl's pale thighs, the dark black of her hair and the ivory pallor of Noriko's own skin creating an extremely lewd and sexy contrast. "Goshujinsama's cum," I could hear her slur out into Noriko's pussy, seeming entranced with the taste.

"Yes, that is my darling's ejaculate," Noriko declared proudly, patting Julia on the head. "That is because he came inside of my pussy twice today. He has not come inside of your pussy even once over your entire lifetime, has he?" Julia quietly shook her head, shivering in pleasure, and I could feel as both her lapping and her masturbation became more intense. "That is because you, are, infinitely, worse, than me," she panted out, her fingers starting to claw at the back of Julia's head with intensity, as Julia just kept on working.

I decided to join in, as I fucked Julia's ass. She certainly didn't seem to mind this angle of dirty talk, after all. "Noriko is right. One divided by zero is infinity, you know. What's fifty divided by zero?"

"An even, larger, infinity," Noriko concluded, before coming. Some of her juices sprayed into Julia's face; some splattered past it, or onto her chin or shoulders or into her hair; Julia just jerked as I kept on fucking her ass, my balls slapping at her cunt as she let Noriko spray cherry-strawberry pussy juices all over her features. I was glad that Noriko had a good tasting pussy, at least. Even knowing she was into the degradation, I still wanted Julia to enjoy herself eating Noriko out, rather than just getting off on the disgust/degradation/humiliation aspect.

"That's right. Noriko is an extremely cute, sweet, good girl, while you are a lewd bitch onahole, fit only for fucking." I reached forward, sliding my hand up her dark skin, enjoying the smooth feeling of it, before finally slipping my fingers around her neck. There was still a certain trepidation, even if by this point I'd intentionally choked her at least a dozen times, as I tightened my grip around her throat. She immediately came, spasming beneath me as I kept up the asphyxiation. Wet sputtering noises apparently brought Noriko quite a bit of pleasure, because she had started to buck her hips against Julia's face, just grinding her into her pussy in an extremely sexy show.

"Perhaps, ah, since she is, a lewd bitch, onahole, you could, ahn," Noriko said, as she twitched frantically atop Julia, "bind her, up, and just, leave, her, here, and we could, use her," Noriko sputtered as she came, losing her train of thought, so I caught it.

"We could just tie her up and use her as an onahole whenever we felt like," I said, gripping Julia's throat and tugging her up out of Noriko's cunt. She was spasming lightly in her own mini-orgasm, her blue eyes swirling around in her skull as she looked dimly up at me. "What do you think, bitch? Would you like to be used that way?"

"Yes, goshujins- khhh," she was cut off as I tightened my grip on her throat.

"Tell Noriko first," I corrected her. "Beg her to use you like that," I ordered.

"Joousama, please, tie me up, and use me as your masturbation aid, make me eat out your pussy even though I'm straight," Julia said, her voice wild with lust. "You and goshujinsama can use me at your convenience, and just leave me lying on the bed or floor when you're done," she panted out.

"Very well. I will go along with this," Noriko said, before I unceremoniously stuffed Julia right back into her pussy. I could hear the noisy licks and laps going at overtime. "Ah, you will make, a very good, masturbation, toy, if you continue to lick, like that," Noriko said, her pink nipples perky, her porcelain skin growing lightly slick with sweat, her cheeks beginning to heat into an ephemeral pink.

"You're a fucktoy," I told Julia, as I pounded her, occasionally tensing my fingers around her throat. "An onahole. A bitch. All, fucking, mine," I breathed out, groaning as I intensified my pace rapidly, just slamming away at her tight asshole. "If I decided never to fuck you in your pussy - you'd just never get fucked, isn't that right?" Julia nodded and moaned, then suddenly shook her head. I used my grip on her throat to yank her up. "What did you shake your head for, bitch? Is it because you're so stupid?" My fingers tightened on her throat, and saliva dribbled out of her mouth as she limply tried to respond before I released her.

"No, goshujinsama," she said, "it's because if you decided never to fuck me in my pussy, you might still loan my cunt out to other men, to demonstrate just how little my virginity matters to you." All the while, her hands were busy in her cunt, my cock busy in her ass - and she came at the end of the sentence, perhaps to the thought of me whoring her out.

There was zero chance of that ever happening, but Julia was a sex freak with basically every imaginable fetish, and I wound up coming alongside her a few seconds later, just letting my cum out in her asshole with a long groan. When I was finished inside her, I pulled out, shifting my attention up to Noriko. "Actually, I think she's better this way," I told her, and Noriko blinked owlishly, tilting her head to one side. "After all, if she was tied up all day, we'd have to feed her and take care of her, like a pet or a flower. This way, she takes care of herself, and earns money that we can spend. Right, bitch?" I asked.

Julia nodded limply, perfectly glad to give me money. Or at least, perfectly glad to say that she'd give me money in the heat of an intense sex act. I don't doubt she'd buy anything important I wanted or needed, but I was less sure she was into the "take over my finances" domination/submission aspect. In any case, I just pet her.

"May I return to fellating you, now that you have satisfied Bitch?" Noriko prompted.

"I'm not satisfied," Julia panted. "I need more, goshujinsama, joousama," she said.

Noriko very slightly frowned, then grabbed Julia's head and stuck her back in her pussy. "You may have anal sex with her, or oral sex with me," Noriko suggested, opening her mouth wide and invitingly.

Hentalian asses were clean, though, unlike even App 5 Abyssal asses. I wasn't super sure how she'd feel about me going ass-to-mouth in reality, so I got back behind Julia. "Sorry," I said, as I saw the small look of sadness on Noriko's face. "Bitch's asshole is really fucking dirty, isn't that right, Bitch?" I slapped her ass, and she nodded rapidly in Noriko's cunt; the next second, I slammed my cock into her ass, making her gurgle wetly into Noriko. "I don't want you to have to taste it. Maybe I'll make her clean it off with her mouth later, then you can suck me off again? I really love your blowjobs," I told Noriko, which made her cheeks light up, a wan smile on her lips as her hands both simply held the back of Julia's head tightly.

"Thank you, darling. We could begin with fellatio next time we have sex, instead of vaginal, so that you can enjoy them even more."

"Fuck, don't tempt me," I breathed out, as I rammed into Julia's asshole.

Noriko tilted her head to one side, her owl eyes staring at me in curiosity. "Why should I not tempt you to enjoy fellatio?"

"Because I might wind up never fucking your pussy again," I explained, Julia faintly moaning at that, perhaps imagining herself in that position.

"That is alright. If you prefer fellatio to vaginal sex, then I would be happy to only perform fellatio. Both are very pleasurable for me, and I wish to make them approximately as pleasurable for you."

"Trust me, you're great both ways," I said. I leaned forward over Julia for her, meeting my lips with Noriko's in short order, my cutest little girlfriend's tongue immediately finding its way to the exact same spot behind my gums as it always did, rubbing at it and making goosebumps run across my spine. As our tongues danced in one another's mouths, Julia came; Noriko wound up coming shortly thereafter, spraying another fresh splatter of juice all over Julia's face.

I wound up fucking Julia's ass for quite some time. She was apparently really, really fucking horny.

Knowing the sorts of things that made Julia horny... well, it'd probably be fine.