Vol 5 Chapter 40: Back To The North

"Are you sure we're going to make it through this?!"

"Absolutely! Why don't you try to have more faith in your God?!"

"I don't worship your Heavenly Dragon nor you!"

"Too bad! It is your destiny to be our Hero after all!"

That night, Ars and Milicis were having quite the argument.

What about you might ask? Well, it really was nothing big. Ars was simply concerned whether their little dingy boat would make it to the storm or not.

Oh yes, they were now enveloped in a massive storm in the middle of the ocean, with Ars barely hanging on as he paddled the boat through the waves. Thunder crashed over and over around them, deafening their ears thoroughly. They had to yell at each other even though they were sitting right in front of one another.

The Saint, Catherine, who had her body piloted by Milicis, remained unfazed even though many times the boat she rode on nearly tipped over. Ars, on the other hand, did all the busy work, rowing left and right, trying to keep the boat balanced as it challenged the tall waves and violent winds it had to brave.

And then, he saw it—a wave as tall as a mountain heading in their direction.

"Tch, are you kidding me?!"

Realizing there was no way the boat could survive against it, he stood up and drew his sword.

In a single horizontal slash, he cut the wave into two. And again, and again, and again, until the wave was no more.

With a huff, he sat back down, resuming his rowing with a grumpy look.

All the while Milicis had a little smile on her face.

ᅠ

Hours later, the storm died down. They had returned back to calm waters.

They were both drenched from head to toe. And with no privacy to change, they were stuck in their wet, soggy clothes.

Unfortunately, since Milicis wore white robes, it meant that the fabric turned ever so slightly translucent, granting Ars the sight of her purple silken bra and panties.

He quickly averted his look, blushing in the process.

How odd… Normally, he wouldn't react in such a way. He only liked Sara after all.

And yet, seeing that forbidden sight, his heart fluttered.

Could it be that he—

Before he could answer that question, he sensed movements from the water around them. Anticipating a sea creature or two, he swiftly stood up and drew his sword once more.

Only to find that their boat had been surrounded by seafolks.

"Human! You broke your pact with our kind! Do you have anything to say for yourself before we sink your feeble floatation device?"

The one who spoke was a fishman. He stood on the water's surface as if it was land, aiming his trident towards them. The other seafolk looked like him too with the exception of one or two mermaids who had a more pleasing look. In total, there were about fifty of them.

He remembered what his village teacher taught him all those years ago. Humanity is forbidden to cross the seas except at certain routes determined by their pact with the seafolk. It was another reason why he was against this foolhardy plan.

He had no choice. He had to kill them all before they sank the boat.

"Now now, no need to resort to violence."

To his surprise, the Saint decided to stand up and answer the fishman's question.

With a calm and confident smile on her face, she continued.

"I am Milicis, the Servant of the Heavenly Dragon. And he is Ars, the Chosen Hero. We're here on a crusade against evil. So if you would be so kind, please let us pass."

"Milicis? Ha! Don't make me laugh! She perished a millenia—aaahhhh!"

A divine light emanated from Milicis' body, sending fear to every one of the seafolk.

Ars too was affected. It was enough to make him kneel and lower his head.

A goddess. It was the only word that could describe the existence in front of him.

Only once the light receded, Ars regained his senses.

But for the seafolk, well, they already swam away, returning back to the depths they came from.

"What… what was that?!" Ars asked, gasping for breath.

"A little display of the divine presence of the Heavenly Dragon." Milicis smiled. "Ever since I was chosen to be His Saint, I too shared His Divine Glory."

Ars could only nod in silence. Sure enough, even without that light, he could feel something different about her presence. Something… inhuman.

His gaze landed on her purple panties. Shaking his head, he looked away and returned back to rowing the boat.

A divine existence… yet so very human as well…

Perhaps back then… she and her companions… they were no different than your average adventurers…

With those melancholic thoughts, Ars looked up to the clear night sky.

ᅠ

ᅠ

Hugo

"Say aaaaaa…"

"Aaaaa…"

I closed my mouth, munching on the grape Felicia offered.

It was the first night after we left the city. After dinner, Sherry decided to give Theo and the others some training, leaving Felicia and I on her own. I was about to follow them but the buxom mage immediately pushed me inside our tent before giving me a deep kiss.

In the end, we had a quick sex before we had the chat she wanted. Laying down on the carpet we brought (Dimensional Storage really is useful), with her feeding me fruits, we had our chat.

"So, I told you before that I grabbed some books off the library in that flying fortress, right? Well, I've finished reading them all now. And I figure you would want to know what I learned from them." She smiled seductively as she took my hand and placed it on her bare chest.

"Really?" I smiled, giving it a squeeze. "What do you learn then?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just the way the world works in the previous Cycle."

I raised my eyebrows. "Before the Hero and the Demon Lord?"

"Yes. Let me tell you all about it. While you're having fun with my chest." She winked.

The world was apparently a lot different in the Fourth Cycle as her book dubbed it. For starters, humans couldn't use magic the way we could today. There were no magic rankings, magic schools, magic books, and even magic chants. And anyone with the potential to use magic was shunned and discriminated against, thanks to how volatile their powers were. A child could accidentally cast a fireball and burn their house down for example.

"So, that elf came from that era? But she wasn't a high elf, was she? How could she live that long?" I asked.

The answer was horrifyingly simple.

Her own people had cast her out. And in the process, they cut some of her ears, leaving her a normal elf instead.

For what reason? Merely entering the forbidden library of the high elves without permission. Felicia didn't say anything more specific other than that.

And after that, she suffered in the human world, as elves were discriminated against for being magic-using devil-spawns. The human world at the time worshiped not the Heavenly Dragon but a Human God King named Sigurd. His empire stretched through the two human continents and both his legionaries and his priests were always on the hunt for magic users.

As for how the demons were back in that era, well, nothing much really changed. Apparently the Demon Continent doesn't change much through the Cycles.

Eventually, she decided to collect all the knowledge and wisdom of the world, just to satisfy her own curiosity. And that led to her becoming the first Demon Lord of Wisdom.

"Hold on, does that mean she was around when the Demon God appeared?" I asked.

Felicia nodded. "Her books did indeed speak of him. But instead of helping him in his war, she decided to hide herself instead. She didn't like conflict, thinking it was foolish."

"I thought the Demon God could control all demons and force them to obey his commands." I replied.

"Perhaps our knowledge in that department is limited." She sighed. "It's really a shame that I can't read all the books in that library. I would love to spend weeks, no, months researching all the knowledge she had gathered."

"Heh, you really are a bookworm, aren't you, Felicia?" I smiled, patting her head.

Giggling, she rolled over and stood up, giving me the perfect view of her womanhood from down below. She then bent down, putting her hands on her knees as she smiled towards me.

"Milord, I have a request."

ᅠ

After we dressed up, we exited the tent. With her staff in hand, she walked to the middle of the camp.

Tapping the flat end of her stick, she called upon the two corpses she had bound with her necromantic spell—the former Demon Lord of Wisdom and the perverted orc that tried to violate her.

Oh yes, Felicia told me all about him. Just like your typical orc, he was as perverted as they came. He was the guy Victoria was supposed to be married to. Thank God he didn't actually get to take her virginity thanks to the help of her fey mother and her subordinate.

You might think I would be furious learning about it. Which I was, back when Felicia first told me about it. But at this point, I was just proud that Felicia was able to handle him before he could actually do the deed. He used this cloak that could hide his presence almost perfectly and the only reason Felicia was aware of his presence was because Felicia could sense the subtle magic emanating from it. She said it was because of me teaching her how to do it. I'd say it was because of her own natural talent in it.

Sadly, the cloak's effect deteriorated the moment the fabric was sullied by any kind of stain. And since it got the orc's blood all over it, it would take Felicia some time before it could be used again. She couldn't just make more of it since the fabric came from the special silk the arachne weaved. You know, the one I killed.

Aah, it would be perfect for my purposes… I can use it to lift up skirts or pull down pants of girls in public and no one would know the better! And of course, I can use it to peek at girls' taking baths as well!

As for doing what the orc wanted to do to Felicia, well, Felicia probably would like it… but definitely not Sherry…

"What do you want?" The elf's cold voice woke me up from my perverted thoughts.

"To free you." Felicia smiled. "Your service is no longer required."

The elf opened her mouth only for nothing to come out. "Free… me?"

"Yes. I'm not like those evil necromancers that would use you as a tool forever. No. I think you deserve to rest along with your beloved Balthazar."

Speaking of Balthazar, I actually was a bit concerned that we couldn't remember exactly how we defeated him. I knew I blasted him with that giant white-laser thingy but I didn't think I defeated him with it.

Afterwards, Titania made her appearance and we just couldn't remember anything that happened while she was there. Only some vague remembrance of her helping us take him down.

Did we really kill him? Or did the fairy queen do something else to him? We certainly didn't find his body.

Victoria herself couldn't remember since she had lost her fairy half. And we were pretty sure that loss was caused by the fairy queen as well. Maybe she rejected her or something?

The dark-haired elf eyed Felicia with a suspicious look. She didn't believe she would do this out of the goodness of her heart. Not in the slightest.

"You know it'd be better for you and your husband there for me to stay around, right? I can help you in your fights. And the knowledge I have is unparalleled. If you release me now you'll never—"

"I don't care. Milord and I are not selfish. We might be willing to fight and kill for the sake of our family but that doesn't mean there isn't a line we won't cross."

"She's right." I smiled. "Felicia here is no longer the obsessive necromancer she was before. She's now my kind hearted and beautiful wife. And when she asked me to release you, I could only oblige."

I ended my speech by wrapping my arms around Felicia's waist, earning a surprised yelp and a blush from her.

Seeing this, the elf's expression turned to disgust. And sadness. As well as envy at the same time.

"If only…" she whispered under her breath, looking away. "If only I can be like that with him…"

"Fine!" She looked back at us. "Return me to dust! You really are naive, Felicia Myne, Hugo Greenwood. With your opponent, you'll need all the help you can get."

Felicia began to chant, tendrils of shadows spreading where she stood towards the elf.

"Don't worry." I told the elf. "I'll protect her and the others with my life. Your help would not be necessary."

The last thing I saw was her shaking her head before her body turned into ash.

Before it was scattered away by the gentle hands of the night wind.

Rest in peace, Adele Naturia. Thank you, for helping Felicia out.

After a few moments of silence, Felicia let out a relieved sigh, before looking towards the other corpse that still remained.

"What do we do with him, MIlord?" She asked me with a smirk.

I shrugged, smirking back. "I think you can keep him a little while longer."

"Very well then." She tapped her staff. "Off to the storage to you." Dark tendrils jutted out of the ground, dragging the corpse back into the shadows.

"So you're back being a necromancer. Normally I would criticize you for it but after what I just saw I think you can be trusted with it."

Out of nowhere Myrilla appeared. Walking with her staff, she gave Felicia a judgmental look.

Wait, has she been watching us all this time? Maybe from inside her tent?

"Anything for Milord." Felicia smiled. "Without her help, we could've lost back then."

"...I suppose you have a point. Anything for him."

She glanced at me, her sharp eyes drilling into my brain.

She wasn't as intimidating as before though, ever since that… incident. That lewd face of hers was her true self, hidden behind all that seriousness.

It was actually really cute.

"Idiot." Her cheeks reddened. Heh, that's what you get for reading my mind! "Stop fooling around and train like the others! You want to master that attack, don't you? The one that can ignore anti-magic properties?"

Oh yeah I did tell her about that laser. That snake couldn't devour it like it could with my other spells.

"I'll go with you." Myrilla continued. "I need to do some training as well."

"While you two have your fun, I'll read some more of that skeleton's book." Felicia chimed in. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not the kind of wife that can't handle any woman being up close with my beloved. I trust you two after all." She winked.

"Hmph, don't be silly," Myrilla snorted. "We'll just train and nothing more."

Let's just hope there aren't going to be any lewd accidents then!

ᅠ

After grabbing my staff, we decided to do our training in a separate place from Sherry and the others. While they went to the hill northeast of the camp, we went south instead, towards a single barren tree. Arriving there, we stood side by side, though with enough space so our spells wouldn't hit each other.

"Oh yeah, what spell are you training, Myrilla?" I asked with a smile.

"Your spell." She glanced at me. "I wish to cast your Boom Cannon. Unfortunately, even after you told me how it works, my control isn't as good as yours so I've been unable to do it."

Oh yeah, I did do that some months ago when she asked about it.

"Really? But you have that wind automata spell. Shouldn't you possess a good enough spell control to be able to use that?"

"No." She looked at me again. "The two spells worked differently. Here, let me show you."

She aimed her right palm forward. Closing her eyes, she formed a wind sphere on the tip of said palm.

Only for it to dissipate soon after with a loud pop.

"I see the problem." I smiled. "You need to reinforce the barrier between the vacuum side and the high-pressure side."

"Reinforce the barrier? I suppose I can do that. But that would lessen the strength of the spell."

"Nonono, you misunderstood. The barrier isn't a rigid wall. It should be more like a membrane, elastic like rubber. No, scratch that. That's a bad comparison."

I couldn't explain to her that it's based on the membrane of a cell. She wouldn't understand what a cell is!

"A cell?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Just another world stuff that's too complicated for me to explain," I answered.

"Then allow me to read your mind on the topic instead."

She narrowed her eyes as her antennas lit up. I focused my mind on the concept of a cell, trying not to think about anything else.

After an agonizing five minutes, she stopped, before shaking her head.

"Your knowledge… it is beyond my understanding. Unfortunately, I am not as smart as your redheaded wife."

Noticing the sadness in her voice, I quickly replied, "No no no, it's not your fault! My world's science is just a lot more advanced than this world! It's normal that you cannot understand!"

She stared at me for a few moments before looking away,

"You're a kind young man, Hugo Greenwood. Just like your father. No wonder so many women are attracted to you."

Huh? Where did that come from?

"You keep to your own training. I'll stick to mine. I'll be a poor excuse of a Wind Mage if I cannot replicate your spell after knowing this much about it."

"Good luck then! For both of us!" I grinned.

And that was how I spent the rest of the night training in magic with Myrilla. I didn't manage to replicate the laser spell and she couldn't replicate my spell either. We agreed to do it every night from that day on until we could.

Of course, Sherry and Felicia weren't exactly happy with this arrangement, especially the former. Knowing what happened between us, it was only natural that they would grow suspicious. But, they quickly understood that it was necessary for us both to grow stronger. All of us needed to be stronger in fact.

Still, it also meant that I had no time to have sexy fun times with them both, since I'd be really tired and sleepy afterwards. To my surprise, they were just as addicted to sex as me. And here I thought women were supposed to have lower libido than men. The way we solved that was me taking a break one night every week from my training with Myrilla, to the latter's displeasure.

I wanted to get stronger. But I wouldn't want to abandon my cute and beautiful wives in the process either.

The training continued for weeks as we made our way north. The spell unfortunately proved to be quite difficult for me to master. I managed to create small lasers here and there but the size and power were nothing compared to the one I fired at the Demon Lord. I knew how it worked. You pretty much just concentrate all your raw mana into a beam of destruction. The problem was that concentrating raw mana was extremely difficult, especially at the amount you needed to create the laser. By my estimation, you would need ten, no, a hundred more times the normal amount of raw mana per square volume that flowed freely through your body. If you were not careful, you could faint from stopping the flow of raw mana to the rest of your body.

As for Myrilla, she slowly got better and better at casting my spell. Until one night, she actually managed to fire the spell.

But not without her robes being the casualty as her control of the whiplash from the immense force was still too poor.

She stood there blushing under the moonlight, covering her bare chest with one hand and her panties with the other.

"Pervert." She exclaimed, staring at the tent on my pants.

"It's not my fault you can't control the whiplash." I shrugged with a grin.

I ended up escorting her back to camp, with me getting a view of her cute butt from behind all the way. Those tight black panties of hers—they were just too lewd! And yes, Felicia and Sherry grilled me about it later but it was completely worth it!

After that night, she never messed up the spell that badly though. Which was both a good thing (for her mastery of the spell) and a bad thing (for my perversion). I was just not that much of the lucky pervert type, I suppose.

And then there was Victoria, who was also training every night (and morning) under Sherry's tutelage.

She quickly discovered several things about her swordsmanship.  One, it sucked. Two, she was talented in neither the Lancelot Style or the Gallahad Style, possessing neither the strength nor the speed necessary for them.

Three, she was actually really, really good at using a greatshield.

One night, Sherry, frustrated by her lack of progress, decided to give her all sorts of weapons made out of her hair. Maces, axes, lances, spears, you name it, it was there. And that included a greatshield as well.

As for how we knew Victoria was good at using it, Sherry threw rocks the same size as her towards her. And to her surprise, she didn't topple over. She remained firm on her spot, absorbing every hit with her shield.

She then asked her if it was the first time she ever wielded a greatshield. She answered with a yes. "Shields are not cool, you see! Heroes use swords! That's why I chose to use a rapier." She proclaimed.

And so, from that day on, Sherry trained her in the way of the shield, despite her lacking the knowledge in using one. As such, the training was rudimentary. It was simply lessons in blocking attacks from all sorts of angles, crashing the shield into the opponent, and general endurance training of running around holding her heavy shield, which she needed since Sherry's shield is far lighter than normal shield, being made out of hair and all.

If only we had a proper shield mentor, her talent would be able to blossom even more.

ᅠ

We passed through a couple of cities on our way north and the news of Balthazar's fall spread even faster than we could travel. When the locals realized we were the ones responsible, they would either sing our praises or cower off to the shadows, depending whether they were pro-Balthazar or not. Thankfully, most of the time, no one seemed to realize the golden-haired mage the tales spoke of was me. They probably thought I was too young or something.

And speaking of that, I turned 16 the other day. Just one more year until I could be considered an adult back in my old world.

And yet, I already slept with two gorgeous girls almost every day here! Heh, my old self would die from jealousy for sure!

Our destination, by the way, wasn't the port town of Ul'nemo. No, we were going back to Arborea. The reason? I wanted to meet with Xaela once again. She had to know about the Goddess' plan on raising her own Demon God. And on top of that, I wanted to meet with Victoria's family as well. Give them a "good talking to", so to speak. Felicia agreed, saying that for Victoria to move on, she had to slap them one by one before spitting on their faces. Figuratively speaking.

The girl herself agreed. Now that she had resolved herself to become part of our family, she wanted to inform her mother and sister face to face, instead of just giving them a letter or not informing them at all.

Before we reached the city, however, we had a stop at a small demon village named Veneril. There was nothing special about the place, just an enclave of a handful of demons. Though apparently it was a village founded by freed demon slaves, either runaways or slaves that were fortunate enough to be freed by their human masters. Ultimately, it was just a convenient place for us to rest since the moon was up and we were all starving.

Little did I know that the very next morning, I would learn of a revelation that shook me to my core.

"Milord, Sherry and I—we're pregnant."

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A/N:

It begins!

I welcome any ideas regarding Hugo's future kids.