~ Chapter 126: Aftermath ~

[Zoreya’s point of view]

It was strange that even though I was one of those Dankyun had wronged when he was alive, I didn’t feel the anger or hate for him as I once did. These feelings had slowly faded away ever since my fate was intertwined with that of my husband’s.

As a High Apostle, I was the closest to Melkuth among all of my Apostle Sisters, but at the same time, I was also the farthest. I prayed to him daily and not even once forgot about my training, but unlike before, my god didn’t send me on strange errands all over the world. There was only one thing he told me to do: stay with Illsyore.

It wasn’t strange to think that some of the priests and maybe even other Apostles came to believe that I had broken my oath with Melkuth and because of that I was banished to never interfere in the acts of judgment he passed on. This, however, couldn’t be farther from the truth.

By staying together with Illsyore not only was I preventing an unjust war, but I was also keeping one of the most powerful beings on these three continents in check. All of us sister-wives knew that our husband would NEVER raise his hand at us out of anger. He was kind man with a big heart, but this didn’t mean he was naive.

Illsyore loved to play the fool’s role while inside thinking of countless ways to overturn a situation. I saw many merchants and nobles play in his hand because of this act. The same thing happened now with the Supremes from Teslov Kingdom. After all, what sort of man would invite his enemies for tea like this? Only a fool would do so.

Yet, the plan was simple. He asked me to cast a powerful barrier around this area although he knew that I would not let any attack reach the city even without it. He asked Shanteya to serve us tea and snacks after she displayed her ability. Then he asked Nanya and Ayuseya to fight against Dankyun alone. Tamara was also here, hidden from their sight.

Illsyore made these draconians think they still held the upper hand only to have them realize the cold hard truth that they could never defeat even one of us. Then this fact was further strengthened by Ayuseya’s display of an Over Supreme skill.

These three draconians were like Beginner Rank Adventurers trying to defeat a full party of Supremes.

As I watched the battle between Dankyun and Ayuseya, I tried to see if there was any regret lingering in my heart. I was looking for the feeling of regret of not having the chance to defeat this draconian on my own, but there was no such thing. I was calm and didn’t mind who ended his life.

My god didn’t try to prevent Dankyun’s death, and even when I remembered what he did to me in the past, how he robbed me of my family, in a way, I was thankful to him. In his blind rage and desire for power, not only did he pushed Illsyore to become what he was today, but also made it possible indirectly for me to meet with this wonderful man and become his wife.

Thinking back, if Dankyun never set my orphanage on fire, I wouldn’t have ever met Melkuth and Illsyore later on. I would have lived a simple life, probably becoming the wife of a simple farmer. True, my escape from the orphanage was nothing short of a miracle, but in the end, that event led me to become the woman I was today.

The same could be said about Ayuseya and Nanya, who also indirectly led to Shanteya arriving at Fellyore. Dankyun forced the draconian princess to flee to the Allasn Continent, and he also triggered Nanya’s meeting with the one known as Tuberculus, who would later come to build both Fellyore Academy and Illsyore’s Dungeon Core.

It was strange, but when I thought about it this way, I could not help but thank Dankyun in my mind. Maybe things would have worked out in the same way in the end, but this wasn’t something I would be willing to bet on just so I can have my revenge against this draconian.

Actually, could there be a better revenge than actually showing him that I have succeeded in finding happiness, that I have found a husband who loved and cherished me, that I have even gained the approval of the gods to be with him? When thinking about it that way, Dankyun may have tried to kill me, he may have tried to destroy our lives, but he failed so miserably even the god of failures had pity on him.

While Nanya and Ayuseya were fighting against him, Shanteya walked up to me with an expression of worry on her face.

“Are you alright?” she asked me.

They all knew of my past with Dankyun, so she was most likely wondering if I didn’t hold any regrets about not joining the fight.

“I’m happy.” I replied and showed her my smile “I have you and the others as sister-wives. I have Illsyore as my husband. I have a life and a job I like. I even have a god who favors me. What’s more I could ask for?” I told her.

“A child.” she replied and then winked at me.

I blinked surprised.

A child? Yes... maybe I do want to have a child. Despite being a human woman over 100 years old, Illsyore granted me the youth of my body in its twenties. It wouldn’t be bad, would it? To become a mother? I thought.

[Illsyore’s point of view]

After Ayuseya’s display of the Over Supreme skill, Blue, Red, and Green here didn’t say a word. They remained seated and stared down at their cups. They realized that whatever advantage they thought they had over me was nothing but a feeble illusion.

“I’ll be right back.” I said as I got up from my chair.

“I’ll keep your seat warm.” Nanya said as she sat down.

I flew up towards Ayuseya, who was still floating in the same spot, smiling gently, and looking up at the sky. She appeared to be uninjured and at peace with what just happened. After dealing the final blow to that draconian, she was finally able to let go of her past.

“Are you alright?” I asked her as I took her hand into mine.

“Never better, my love.” she replied and then looked into my eyes.

Before I could say another word, she pulled me closer to her and then stole my lips in a passionate kiss. I did not pull back and accepted her into my arms, but this moment didn’t escalate to something naughtier. We were not alone here, and I didn’t want stranger eyes to fall upon us.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” she asked me as two tears gently fell down her cheeks.

Those weren’t tears of sadness but of happiness, of relief.

“Yes.” I nodded “I can’t sense his life sign anymore.” I told her.

“Good... Good... That’s good.” she nodded a few times and then kissed me again.

A few moments later, we returned to the table where everyone else was waiting for us.

I looked at the three draconians who now knew they couldn’t even dare or dream to go against us. If they did, their death would be swift, but it was debatable if painless as well.

“Are you going to kill us?” asked Red.

“That depends wholly on you.” I replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Illsy, sorry to bother you, but I will be heading back home together with Ayuseya.” said Nanya.

“Sure thing. I’ll meet you there once I’m done here.” I replied with a smile and then turned my attention towards the three draconians. With a serious look in my eyes, I told them “Behave like normal visitors on my islands, and I won’t touch a hair on your heads. Kill, rape, or attack anyone here, and I won’t show any mercy. On this island neither Adventurer nor Noble Ranks matter. If you haven’t noticed, the Emperor of Paramanium himself is one of my guests. That’s why I said that I had no fear of a puny Kingdom like Teslov. Now you also know that I have the strength to back up my claims.”

This time, they took my words seriously. They knew what would happen if they tried to disobey me.

“Now, before I go and leave you to enjoy the facilities of my island, I want to know what your mission here was.” I asked them.

“Such a thing is...” Red tried to say something, but Shanteya interfered.

“A very generous gift of information considering the fact that you tried to sneak here as you did and also brought someone like that bug here.”

All three of them flinched when they heard her sharp words that cut like knife.

“We apologize. We didn’t know.” Red bowed his head.

“If you wish for us to forgive you, you will tell us your mission, right?” she asked again.

“By the way, think carefully before you answer. We can tell a lie from the truth.” I warned them.

“Yes.” Red nodded and then looked at his companions.

None of them was against telling us about their mission.

“We were sent here by the Teslov Elder Council in order to find out as much as we could about you and your wives. We were also told, if possible, to interfere with the well-being of those living here by either sabotaging their facilities or killing certain individuals we deemed critical in the production process of goods here. Lastly, I was ordered to give a message of warning to Ayuseya Pleyades from his Majesty, the King.” Red revealed his mission.

“Oho~ Is that so? Sabotage and assassination, is that it? Hm~ This Elder Council seems like it wants to know how it is to flay someone alive, doesn’t it?” Shanteya said with a smile that sent shivers down their spine.

“I want to hear that message or read it if it’s a letter.” I said.

“Sure, here it is.” Red replied and took it out of his Storage Crystal.

I grabbed the message and began to read it.

To my soon to be wife,

Your brother and future husband demands that you return to Teslov at once! If you dare to disobey me again, I shall have no choice but to order these elites to bring you back by force! You probably already noticed that there are some things happening on your island, right? People are maybe dying or getting poisoned. Well, they are all low-birth ants that failed to rise to the level of a powerful draconian like me!

Oh, don’t worry about our younger sister, I made sure she’s being care for. She is expected to lay her first egg soon! I can’t wait to see my firstborn.

When I finished reading it, a sense of disgust overwhelmed me, and I wanted to puke.

“This... thing is your King?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Red replied with a nod.

“I see... Well, don’t you dare follow those orders or you will be met with the same fate as Dankyun, maybe worse. You are all Supremes, so I doubt that Council of Elders or whatever is going to do anything to you for disobeying your orders. Just tell them that I found out as soon as you dropped anchor, which is true, and that you were unable to complete your mission. I’m just going to give you a small warning if by chance you are thinking of deceiving me. I can feel and know who died where and in what circumstances. Thus, if any of you will try to kill anyone, I will personally come over and rip your spine out.” I said, showing them clearly that this was no joke.

Red looked at Blue then at Green. They nodded to each other.

“We understand. We won’t follow our orders and report that we have been discovered before even stepping on the island.” Red said with a nod.

“Good! It seems you do have a smart head on your shoulders.” I said narrowing my eyes at him.

“And I would like to keep it like that, sir.” he replied.

“Good. You know your way back. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and see how my wives are doing.” I told them and then got up from the table.

Zoreya changed the status of the barrier around the charred area and made it impenetrable from the other side as well. This way, no curious passerby would accidentally step into that hell zone. The three draconian Supremes were left where they were and went back to my house together with my other wives.

“Nya~ There was no need for me to step in.” Tamara said as she ran up to us.

“For now, it appears so. I’m going to keep my eye on them just in case.” I told her.

“They are weak.” Shanteya said.

“But I think Dankyun could have defeated them.” pointed out Zoreya.

True, that draconian, surprisingly, was far more powerful than he was back at Fellyore Academy. His speed, Magic Armor, and strength were all on par with the most powerful Supremes out there. He wasn’t at Over Supreme level yet, but if he would have fought against me before I left for the Boss Island, chances were I wouldn’t be able to win no matter what I did.

[Brakhian’s point of view]

“What in the name of all the gods did we just witness?” Varidan asked as he whipped his blue tail in the air.

“I don’t know...” I replied as I stared at the field that just moments ago was covered by a raging fire.

That explosion... That power... How could the former princess of Teslov be capable of something like that? I wondered.

“Boss, are we really going to give up on our mission here?” Ashavar asked me.

“Do you think any of us could defeat even one of them?” I asked him in a serious tone of voice.

He didn’t reply. The answer was as clear as day. Even if we drugged or poisoned them, they would still be able to hold the upper hand against us.

“Then don’t ask stupid questions. We’re going to head back to the town and look at what was built there. We’ll draw a map of this place, but that’s it. No touching the civilians, no attacking anyone even if they were the ones who started it. This isn’t a place we can just mess around with.” I ordered them.

“Brakhian, I’m not that stupid, especially after I saw what that woman was capable of. She didn’t even bother to wear armor or use a weapon...” Varidan said as he looked back towards the black field.

Indeed, they wore nothing but rags and yet they won without much trouble.

“What we witnessed wasn’t a duel but an execution. They didn’t even show what they were truly capable of.” Ashavar said.

“Yes... an execution.” I nodded.

This was an undeniable fact.

[Ayuseya’s point of view]

When we arrived home, Nanya went to take a shower, and I took a seat on the couch. My whole body felt stiff after that battle, and I could still see the moment when I unleashed [Wrath of the Ageless Gods] upon Dankyun. He didn’t stand a chance, and nothing was left of him, only a smoking crater as proof of the devastation I caused.

It was no biggie, Illsy could restore that place in less than an hour.

As I leaned back on the couch, I looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh.

This battle... that kill... Was that really me? I wondered.

I never used this attack to kill anyone before. I mostly launched it at open areas or against powerful monsters. Dankyun was the first to die because of it, and for some reason, this very thought made me feel complete.

A smile floated on my lips, and I closed my eyes. I allowed myself to fall prey to this relaxing feeling that simply overwhelmed me.

I probably fell asleep because when I opened my eyes, I was using Illsy’s lap as a pillow.

“Ayuseya? Are you awake? How are you feeling?” my husband asked in a worried tone of voice.

“Now that you are here... better.” I replied and then closed my eyes and snuggled closer to him.

“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have let you fight?” Illsy said in an apologetic tone of voice.

“Don’t be silly, my love. I’m just a bit overtaken by how much I wanted to beat up Dankyun.” I told him.

“Is that so? That’s good then... I’m glad you feel better.” he said and then gently stroked my head.

My husband was a man with a kind and gentle heart. He was someone I could rely on and who would always worry about my well-being. He was someone who would never think about harming and always try to make me feel better. He was a man who never forced me to do as he pleased and always encouraged me to reach out for my dreams.

In this world, a man described like this would appear to others as weak or naive, but in fact, if he wanted to, he could be one of the scariest men out there... I could easily find a million reasons to run away from a man like Dankyun, but I would just as easily find a million other reasons to jump in Illsyore’s embrace. I loved him. I loved my husband who was both kind to me and merciless to those who wished to harm me...

“Illsy...” I looked up into his eyes.

“Yes?” he asked me with a soft smile.

I held his hand into mine and then told him “Stay with me tonight...”

“Sure.”

“But this time, I want you to bless me with a child as well...” I spoke the words that laid heavy on my heart and then reached up to take his lips.