~ Chapter 116: Opportunity ~

[Zertan's point of view]

It has been so many years since Fellyore became nothing more than a distant memory, yet in all this time, I did all I could to survive and find a home for myself and my wife. With her being a dryad, it was not easy to get people to accept it, I had to hide her true nature even from my own family when I arrived in Paramanium.

Thinking back, I hoped I could earn their acceptance in some way, but every time I told them a story which contained a couple of lovers who were of different species, the look in their eyes was one filled with disgust. They called those people traitors to their own kind, and if they were human, a disgrace to mankind.

It made it hard for me to wrap my head around how they ended up like this, but my wife only had to look around their town and speak to their neighbors to understand that it was the fault human supremacy indoctrination.

In my opinion, it was a foolish belief.

What good was there to have mankind become the enemy of all the other species? It was nonsense, pure and absolute nonsense.

While thinking about this, I was escorted by Illsyore back to his camp where the rest of his companions were waiting for us. This Godlike Dungeon Lord was the last person I was expecting to meet on this side of the world, especially since it was well known how much the humans in Paramanium loved to destroy newly born Dungeons. This was also why they never destroyed their spawning circles.

When talking with him, I noticed that he had a rather carefree attitude and did not release a drop of killing intent. He was the same back when he was still in the form of a Dungeon Core who maintained Fellyore Academy. This being said, Illsyore had always been one of the strangest members of his kind.

For me, this strange and friendly behavior of his was the most intriguing thing about him. The fact that he surpassed a number 3000 on the Dungeon Detection Stone or that he had five wives already wasn't that much of a shocker. The world was filled with unknown secrets, and maybe he just stumbled onto one of them which allowed him to jump to that number.

“Zertan, you said that you were on this continent on family business?” he asked me as we approached the northern gates of Ilia Port City.

Illsyore took out three silver coins and prepared to offer them to the guards as tax.

“Yes. My younger brother got married, and the Adventurers Guild sent me his invitation. Initially, I didn't want to go, but El'zavara convinced me in the end. She thought that maybe, because they were our family, they would come to accept her.” I then let out a sigh and looked down at the ground in front of me.

“It didn't turn out too well, did it?” he asked.

“No.” I shook my head.

“They were nice... if you were human, but when Zertan told them stories of couples like us whom we met back on Sorone and Allasn, they didn't know how to spit out more curses towards them.” El'zavara spoke in a sad tone of voice.

“I'm sorry...” I said as I gently took her hand and looked into her charming eyes.

“They didn't discover her, did they?” he asked me, showing a concerned look on his face.

“No, I made sure they didn't.” I shook my head. “Besides, even if they did, I planned to leave as quickly as we could and if they dared stand in my way, I was going to beat them up without mercy. No matter how much of their blood flows through my veins, I wasn't going to let it be the price for my love towards my wife!” I declared proudly.

“I completely understand you, Zertan!” he smiled and gave me a pat on the back “I wouldn't trade my wives for anything in the world!” he laughed.

While passing through the gates, we remained quiet so as to not attract unwanted attention, however, something was wrong.

The moment one of the guards saw us, he quickly left. My gut instinct was telling me that something was up.

Not long afterwards, El'zavara whispered “The plants are restless...”

As a dryad, her connection with the plants was one of the subtle, they spoke to her, and she could speak back. No words were necessary in their conversation for with a single touch of a leaf or a rustle of the foliage, it was enough to send her an entire novel worth of words.

Thanks to this keen connection of hers with Mother Nature, I was able to reach unbelievable heights in the realm of herbology and alchemy, yet it always worried me when she said those words.

Every time the plants were restless, they were trying to tell her that there was something dangerous heading our way. It was strange that Illsyore was not seen as a danger towards us by them. Earlier today, the plants only told her that a powerful entity was approaching this port, that was it.

“Are we in danger?” I asked.

“I don't know, the plants are telling me that some humans in the city have started to release their killing intent... It's not directed at us.” she replied.

“Then at whom?” I asked.

She did not answer, but her gaze, which landed on Illsyore's back, told me that he was the one who was targeted.

I waited until after we left the gates and were far enough from the soldiers.

“Illsyore, is there someone targeting you?” I asked cautiously.

“Hm?” he blinked surprised and looked back at me. “No one as far as I am aware of, why?” he asked tilting his head to the left.

“Well...” I stopped and looked towards my wife. She nodded once and then I let out a sigh “El'zavara just received a piece of disturbing information.”

“Disturbing? How so?” he narrowed his eyes and changed his expression to a serious one.

“There are multiple individuals within the city's walls who are emitting powerful killing intent aimed at you.” I told him.

“Killing intent? Hm...” he rubbed his chin and then lifted his hand up and shouted “500 meters range Colly Tos!”

In that moment five pair of panties appeared above him. One of them was white with a bit of lace, one had blue stripes and a hole at the back, one was red with a very sexy design, and two of them were black and could have only been bought with the express purpose of enticing the mind of a man.

El'zavara stepped in front of me and glared at me the moment she saw me staring too much.

I showed her a wry smile.

“Well... they are all here.” Illsyore said to himself as if he was determining the result of a complex equation.

“ILLSY!!!” a powerful shout was heard from somewhere within the forest and a deadly wave of killing intent washed over the area.

The moment that dreadful feeling reached us, the birds flew away, the rabbits hid in their burrows and the Dayuks fled with their tail between their legs, yelping like little pups. Whatever Illsyore did, he awakened a monster.

Then... out of nowhere... an anvil came flying and struck the Dungeon right in the back of his head, making him do several loops in the air before falling face first on the ground. It was such an unbelievable scene that I even forgot to worry about his safety. Actually, I didn't even hear the crack of his Magic Armor or his noggin for that matter.

“Where are you, you no good husband of mine?!” shouted a woman as she stomped towards us.

She was a beautiful woman with long black hair, dark eyes, and a pointy tail. Her clawed hands and spiked armor coupled with the oppressing pressure she let out immediately made me understand that she was not a woman to be messed around with.

When our eyes met, I gulped and stepped in front of El'zavara. It was an instinctive reaction, although I knew that if I were to get hit by a single punch of hers, I would be meeting Tuberculus on the other side.

Honestly, I did not want the face of that old pervert to be the first thing I would see there.

“Huh? Who are you?” the woman asked as she made a frown.

“Erm... Eh... Zertan... no last name... and the one behind me is my wife...” I stuttered while trying hard not to let it be seen that my legs were shaking.

Although I was Godlike Rank Adventurer, I was nowhere near as brave as others in this profession. Most of my battles took place among potions and piles of research notes. El'zavara, however, was a woman who could easily take down an entire pack of rabid Dayuks.

“Zertan?” she blinked surprised and then the powerful killing intent vanished.

“Huh?” I opened my mouth like an idiot, not understanding what exactly happened just then.

“Ugh... I'm alive... Thank you.” Illsyore made his presence announced.

The woman narrowed her eyes at him and then lifted her arm up and fifty anvils fell on top of the poor Dungeon. One of the other, they flowed down like a wave. I simply looked at how a powerful Dungeon with a number of over 3300 was buried under an avalanche of anvils that popped out of this air. I said nothing and did not dare to say anything.

“Illsy, what was the bright idea of using that idiotic spell?!” she asked as she stomped furiously on the piled of anvils, causing them to sink further into the ground.

What insane power... I thought.

“Ugh... But I was told someone was directing killing intent at me... So... Ugh... Stop stomping me!” he complained.

The woman pulled back to let him talk, and the man got out from under the pile of anvils like I would from under a pile of fluffy pillows.

What unthinkable endurance... They are definitely in the High Godlike or at least Supreme Ranks. No, a Dungeon with a number 3348 on the Dungeon Detection Stone should be way past a Supreme. I thought.

“As I said, Zertan told me that his wife felt killing intent aimed at me, and I thought that...” he said as he dusted off his clothes.

“You thought what?” she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Well... that I needed to make sure you were around and... erm... that maybe you were the one aiming the killing intent at me because you thought I was trying to flirt with some unknown woman?” he showed a wry smile.

That doesn't make any sense... I thought and the woman repeated my words.

“Well... now that I think about it, it doesn't really make any sense, does it?” he began to laugh.

The woman let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Just admit that you missed us and used this idiotic spell to check if we reached the camp or not. You just used that killing intent nonsense as an excuse to cast it, didn't you?” she said as she began to gather the pairs of panties on the ground.

“Erm... nooo?” Illsyore replied while looking away.

“I can't believe that because of something as idiotic as this, you let your cute and fragile wives suffer from the cold breeze!” the woman retorted.

Illsyore narrowed his eyes at her when he heard this.

If she was his wife, I couldn't see how 'fragile' fit into her description. Besides, she was wearing leg armor not a skirt.

“Yeah... fragile.” he muttered.

She tossed him a glare and then turned her gaze at me. I flinched.

“It's been a while Zertan! How are you doing?” she asked with a smile.

“Erm, do I know you?” I asked a bit confused.

“It's me! The cute and lovely Nanya!” she pointed at herself and showed us a bright smile.

“Cute, I agree, but where does 'lovely' come into play?” Illsyore retorted and ended up getting slapped over the face by her tail.

The Dungeon flew towards some bushes as a result of that strike, yet even now I didn't hear the crack of his Magic Armor, which let me to believe that all of this was just their way of 'playing around'.

Still, if there's one thing I know, never doubt the self-compliments your wife makes. No matter how far away from reality they are... I thought as I remembered the time when I too fell into this trap.

Sleeping on the floor for one week was not fun, especially after I caught a cold.

“It's been a while, teacher Nanya.” I said with small smile.

“Indeed, it's been a while! And who is she? I can sense that she's hiding behind an illusion.” Nanya said with a calm smile while gathering the anvils on the ground.

She was reabsorbing them, probably to use them as ammunition later on.

“Oh, yes, indeed.” El'zavara nodded with a flushed expression. “I'm using an illusion to hide my true self... I'm a dryad.” she replied.

“Dryad?” she blinked surprised and then she looked at me with narrowed eyes.

Why do I feel like she is judging me? What is so wrong with marrying a dryad?! Dryads are cute too! I retorted in my mind.

“Yes, I'm a dryad.” El'zavara replied with a smile.

“Alright, then let us head back to our camp. Ayuseya just arrived with Shanteya. We were all both surprised when a certain pervert snatched our panties.” she then tossed a glare at Illsyore, who pretend to whistle in the wind.

“Sigh... Well, I guess he found using that idiotic spell to be an effective way to check up on us... Although, that broken spell still targets only us for some reason even when it's effective range isn't restricted to his Dungeon Territory anymore...” she said and pinched Illsyore's cheek.

“OW! OW! OW!” he cried.

After a few minutes, we arrived at the camp, and I was surprised to see that everyone who gathered there was, by all means, acting like one big family.

While Illsyore apologized to his wives for using that spell on them, I watched from a distance how the other people in this camp behaved. There were by far at least fifty slaves, enough to form a small village. They all looked like they had been properly cared for and except for a few, they were all in a happy and healthy state. Among them, the only ones without a slave collar were a draconian woman and a human blonde woman. From what I could hear, they were telling them about the rules they had to listen to.

To the side, I saw a big carriage made from metal, but there were no horses around, which made me wonder if by chance Illsyore was the one who was pulling it. Of course, I did not rule out the possibility of having monsters pulling it. Given the fact that he was a Dungeon, maybe this was the most plausible option.

Either way, I got a warm feeling from looking at this scene. It did not seem like anyone was forced to do anything they wanted to despite being slaves. As for Illsyore and his wives, they had the aura of a big family. Sure, they were a bit mad at him for using that spell, but it was at the same level as a mother who was scolding her child for sneaking away an apple from the table or for coming back home with dirty boots.

“I apologize, we kept you waiting.” Ayuseya told me as she came over and then looked back at Illsyore who was made to give everyone a shoulder massage as 'punishment'.

“No worries, I was actually quite surprised to meet you all again. You have... changed.” I said as I looked over at the children playing around the fire.

“Yes, we did. These past years have not been easy on either of us. So, I understand that you are married now and wish to join Illsyore's Magic Academy?” she asked me with a gentle smile.

“Yes. As long as you can provide us with a home, a stable income, and... no discrimination towards a dryad or different species couples, I would be willing to teach at your academy.” I told her with a nod.

“Knowing your skill, a King's court would be more welcoming. Why haven't you tried to get a job there?” she asked.

“That was the first thing I tried, but they all asked me to get rid of El'zavara, so I refused.” I sighed and shook my head “I then tried to find employment at various academies, but because of what happened back at Fellyore, I was branded immediately as a no-good teacher. The only option left was to travel around the world in search of a safe haven for us. So far, we have lived by acting as adventurers. I'm a Godlike now!” I showed her a smile.

“Is that so? Congratulations on your improvement. As for our academy, you will not have to worry about discrimination. As you can see, all of Illsyore's wives belong to a different species.” she said and pointed at him.

The Dungeon Lord was currently scratching his head, wondering how he should proceed about massaging the blonde woman who was covered in plate armor. Her name was Zoreya if I wasn't mistake. It was similar to the name of a renowned Apostle of Melkuth I heard legends about while traveling through Sorone.

“I'm just going to put this out there, but all of the slaves you see here are going to be either teachers or students of the academy. They are the first generation, so you can expect them to be released of their slavery conditions. Of course, I can assure you that each and every one of them was enslaved only because of a debt or some other unfortunate accident. Not one of them is a killer.” she pointed out.

“I will keep that in mind.” I nodded.

El'zavara placed her hand on my shoulder and then said in a low volume “Zertan, the forest whispers again... A big group of armed men are approaching this camp.”

“Armed men? Soldiers or adventurers?” Ayuseya asked immediately, narrowing her eyes at her.

“I don't know. It could be either.” she replied shaking her head slowly.

“I understand. We'll be in charge of the defense so please stand back and wait near Savannah over there. Don't worry, she's a Supreme. She'll make sure no harm comes to you.” she told me.

“A Supreme? Here? That's impressive.” I nodded as I walked towards the pretty woman.

“It's not that impressive, Illsy and the rest of us are Over Supremes, after all.” she told me with a warm smile.

Over Supreme? I thought.

This was the very first time I heard of this term.

[Illsyore's point of view]

I got scolded... Sigh...

Well, I thought that using Colly Tos as a locator spell was quite good, and it worked too! I got five pairs of panties, so they were here! The spell confirmed this. More so, I had a feeling some of them were thinking of new ways to entice me, especially Nanya. Her pair was very enticing.

Anyway, as punishment, if you can call it that, I had to give all of them a shoulder massage, but just when I was about to take off Zoreya's shoulder armor, Ayuseya let me know that an armed group was approaching our little camp.

“Can't we tell them to wait? I want to see my wife's expression after I take off part of her armor and massage her shoulders! Hehe!” I smiled.

The High Apostle looked away embarrassed, but she did not get off the chair.

“It can wait, Illsy. For now, we should take care of these insects before they cause any serious trouble.” Ayuseya advised me.

“True to that... Sigh...” I rubbed the back of my neck and Zoreya got off her chair.

“I didn't get a turn, nya~” Tamara complained.

“Me neither.” said Shanteya and let out a sigh.

“In that case, let's kill them fast so I can get my massage, nya~!” the cat declared.

I had no complaints about this suggestion, although, if possible, I didn't want to kill them.

Then, about ten minutes later, a group of heavily armed soldiers and adventures appeared before our camp. A noble dressed in fancy clothes walked in front of them and looked at us as though we were insects he was about to squash. It wasn't a very friendly expression.

The noble stopped at about one meter away from his troops and took out a scroll.

“Ahem, the Emperor has declared that Illsyore Deus is the enemy of the Paramanium Empire and shall be hereby executed! All attempts to aid him will result in the banishment from the empire or death of that said individual! However, in case of conditional surrender, we are free to enslave Illsyore Deus and his companions, whereas the non-humans can be sold immediately to the highest bidder.” he announced.

“Sooo, all conditions are so bad it makes me feel like the Emperor is an idiot.” I said scratching my head.

“Insulting the crown is a capital offense!” he declared.

“And your point is? Who's going to take me down? That batch of clowns?” I asked raising an eyebrow and pointing at the troops behind him.

All of this felt like a deja vu.

“Of course! These are the finest soldiers Port Ilia has to offer, while these other fellows are contracted adventurers, all of Emperor and Godlike rank!” he declared with a smug look on his face.

“Mhm... Oi! You bunch in the back, you see the blonde human woman over there?” I asked pointing at Savannah.

“Yeah, she's a nice piece!” one said.

“You want to trade her? I don't mind going a few rounds with her! Hehe!” another swine declared.

“Yeah, well... She's a Supreme. The six of us here are also Supremes.” I said and pointed at myself and then at my wives.

Shanteya was standing behind us for now. She was to step back a bit further if things got messy.

“You bunch of idiots think you can tackle a Supreme?” Nanya asked and showed them a smirk as well as her sharp claws.

“Supreme? I've never heard anything about that!” one of them said.

Immediately, the adventurers pulled back, realizing that this battle was far beyond their abilities. In this line of work, few were the fools who dared challenge a Supreme. While there were some in each city, it did not mean that all those present here were the same.

“My party is out as well! You don't have enough gold to pay for my life!” another adventurer declared.

Immediately, only three parties remained and the soldiers who couldn't leave because of the fact that they were ordered to stay.

“Those fools will be punished once I return to the city! It should be known that this man is just bluffing! How can they be all Supremes? That's preposterous!” he declared.

True, normally, someone of such a prestigious rank became well known quite easily. It was in the country's interest to keep at hand as much info about them as possible. What this noble didn't know though was that if the Emperor truly mobilized the army against me, then certainly his little group of gold diggers wasn't going to be any match for me.

Yet, no matter where one went, there would always be those who couldn't tell the difference between their made-up fantasies and the real life. Fortunately, the adventurers were usually taught the hard way how to treasure their life, of which they had only one.

“All of you! Attack!” the noble ordered.

I smirked. “Zoreya, please.” I said as I extended my Dungeon Territory to include all of these buffoons.

“Understood!” she stepped forward and lifted her shield at eye level.

Charged up with both Magic and Divine Energy, she aimed at the group in front of her.

The emblem on the shield was that of Melkuth the God of War. As such, it should have been clear that they were standing against one of his representatives, however, the foolish mortals before us knew not of such matters.

“FOR MELKUTH!” she shouted, and the power of her shield was released.

This attack was, by all accounts, a shield bash. It was a simple shield bash released at full power.

The power of the magic slammed into the front row of soldiers and adventurers and sent them flying into the men behind them. They all came tumbling down on the ground, groaning and not knowing what just happened.

“W-What?” the noble looked at me confused.

I smiled.

“Earth Spike Trap. Magic Armor Ignore Enchant.” I said and then focused my Magic Energy into the ground below them.

In the next moment, the entire group was impaled by sharp spears of earth, however, with the exception of the noble, the group of soldiers was left alive. They were screaming in pain and cursing, but instead of receiving a spike to the heart, they got one in the arm or the leg.

“With the noble out of the way, you have no need to take his orders anymore. I understand that you were forced to obey him, but now that he was gone you have no reason to do so. We will leave this place, and you will have the perfect excuse of not following us. Your injuries shouldn't be that grave, but they are enough to...” before I could finish, one of the soldiers shot a fireball at me, but it was repelled by Zoreya's shield.

Nanya jumped forward and used her claws on him. The man had no choice in that moment but to give up his life.

“As I was going to say, if you try to resist like your friend did here, I will kill you.” I showed them a gentle smile and tilted my head to the left a little.