Ch 363: Mana’s big mistake.

"…and so, Nikita and Edie are both going to join your harem." declared Minaho.

"I see. Nikita, Edie, what do you think about it?" asked Noah.

"We met Shuiruo earlier before she left for her shift, and I asked her what is was like being in your harem." shrugged Edie. "It sounds like she's having fun, so sign me up!"

Noah smiled gently, thinking about her. Edie was pretty with her clear blue eyes, long blonde hair, and tanned skin, and she possessed a degree of perception that bordered on the supernatural. She could tell whenever someone was lying and anticipate an enemy's movements by watching their muscles start contracting. That made her a fiendishly good melee fighter, and she could easily kill someone with her bare hands.

Nikita, another blue-eyed blonde, but with a fairer skin, only shrugged. "Cordelia thinks you will take good care of us, and I trust her."

Noah nodded. Since Cordelia and Kyoko were now back together, Cordelia had decided that she didn't need or have time for her pets anymore. And Kyoko had apparently suggested this solution to her.

This was quite cold-hearted from Cordelia. But then again, she had named Edie after the E and D letters, standing for Erectile Dysfunction, as some kind of sick joke. Which was one reason Noah was not interested in Cordelia herself despite her attractive looks.

"I'll be glad to have you both as part of my family." smiled Noah. "Cordelia's losses will be my gains."

"Great. So where are we moving in?" asked Edie. "The Kuromori manor here, your house in Tokyo, or that white palace Rin mentioned?"

"I do not want to impose on Minaho, so it's a choice between…"

"This mansion is yours, Noah." cut in Minaho. "I am going to be your sex slave soon, and my assets will be added to your own. Or are you going to reject me?"

"There's no way I'd reject you. You have made your decision, then?" asked Noah with a soft voice.

"I can't imagine finding a better man, and I still want at least one child." nodded Minaho. "And I have reached out to Fuuka, Hidemi, and some of the others. I only told them about Ren Nagano, but… let's just say that your harem will gain more than a handful of former prostitutes. You will not reject them either, right? They, too, have been isolated from their families. They suffer from loneliness and can't find someone who would accept them."

"…I'll be honest and say I was hoping for this outcome when I chose to involve myself with you." nodded Noah. "Because I am greedy and lustful and have no self-control. Or so my goddess tells me."

[And your Goddess is right.] chuckled Lilith in his head.

"You could say that for most men." nodded Minaho. "They just do not have harems because they aren't honest about their desires, fear social consequences, and have physical limitations restraining their lust. None of those apply to you. How long will they remain unconscious?"

Minaho gestured toward Nei, Misuzu and Katsuko. The three young women were sitting on the sofa and armchair with their eyes closed, having just signed Soul Contracts.

"Just a few more minutes." shrugged Noah. "The duration tends to take more time as I grow stronger and get more to share with them."

There was a knock on the door, and Rin, now wearing a black skirt and her emblematic red top with a cross logo on its front, entered the living room with a satisfied smile. Ruriko and Yoshiko were following her, also looking satisfied.

"That was great! Thanks for your credit card, Noah." said Rin with a smug expression. Noticing the curious expressions of Edie and Nikita, she shrugged. "It's been over two years since my last shopping trip. I didn't realize until now how much I missed it... I'm Rin Tohsaka. Nice to meet you."

"Hello. I am Nikita Gorbachev." nodded Nikita.

"Hi. I'm Edie. We're both joining Noah's harem."

"Welcome to the family." nodded Rin. "It's a big one and everyone is easy to get along with, so you'll have many friends soon."

"Thank you." nodded Nikita.

"I've bought that thing too." said Rin to Noah as she took from her spatial ring a box containing a new blue-colored terminal for Mystic Moon. She opened it immediately and took the bangle before putting it on her left wrist.

"You will have a late start, but I'm confident in your abilities, Rin." smiled Noah. "Within a month, you'll be head and shoulders above the crowd. "Within two, I might have to defend my place from you in the rankings."

"You can bet on that." grinned Rin.

"Yes. But first, I want you to meet Luo Hao." smiled Noah.

"You mentioned her earlier." nodded Rin. "How strong is she, compared to Scathach?"

"How about you find out yourself?" grinned Noah. "I'm about to give her a visit, and I want you to come."

"There goes my vacations." complained Rin for a second before she smiled.  "I'm up for it. I don't think it can be any worse that training with Scathach."

"Luo Hao is a strict teacher, but not to that extent." confirmed Noah.

Since he had sparred with Luo Hao several times by now, and was training with Scathach every night, Noah had a good idea on how the two monsters compared.

Scathach was a bit like his own Martial Arts skill. She possessed a degree of mastery with everything, and could imitate just about any technique after seeing it just once. When facing other Heroic Spirits, she could defeat most Sabers after turning her Gae Bolg into a sword and most Archers when transforming it into a bow. Moreover, she also benefited from Noah's enhancements.

At the current time, she stood well above Luo Hao, and was without a doubt the strongest member of Noah's faction.

And yet, Noah had a hunch that Luo Hao would eventually exceed Scathach in unarmed combat, maybe even swordsmanship.

There were two reasons for his guess. The first was that Luo Hao had trained and trained relentlessly to reach her current peak. Her skills had become muscle memory and instincts long ago, earned by hundreds of thousands, millions of repetitions.

Scathach had also trained a lot during her lifetime, of course, but mainly in the use of her spear. Her abilities regarding swordsmanship and bare-handed combat mostly came from the Wisdom of Dun Scaith she received when she became a Divine Spirit.

It was a little like the difference between a plumber with twenty years of experience, and a more recent one following a manual. Even if the manual didn't contain any error and covered all edge cases, the older plumber would still be the one you call.

And the second reason, which he was starting to discover after his spars with Luo Hao, was that Ki was quite different from Mana.

Both used the same 'Origin' that allowed Noah to use both, which was why he had initially assumed that they were just two different ways to achieve the same outcome. But he was wrong.

Mana was more malleable, more 'programmable' than Ki, and he could replicate anything Ki did using Mana.

The reverse, however, wasn't actually true.

Ki couldn't be used to create complex, standalone spells like arrays.

Ki was ridiculously difficult to use to power any offensive spell more complicated than a direct transfer of energy like a lightning bolt or a fire ball.

It was like trying to redirect a river through a series of artificial curves. The river wanted to follow gravity, and the water would eventually erode its way back to its original course.

However, Ki was significantly better than mana for 'internal' and 'simple' uses, like body reinforcement.

He was sure that he had only scratched the surface about the use of Ki, but he lacked time to do proper research and testing.

Which was why he decided to have Luo Hao sign a Soul Contract today. His Soul Shard inside her Soul Space would be able to do several hundreds of hours' worth of either training or research with her every day.

Nei was the first to wake up, and she blinked.

"Wow. I can even see the specks of dust in the air."

"You'll get used to it." smiled Noah.

"Yes. And you look even more handsome! Hehe, I can't wait to fly!"

"Try not to let people see it, or they might mistake you for a Spirit. Let's not trigger a panic today." smiled Noah. Mentioning spirits made him think about the two girls from DEM in the basement, and he decided to start dealing with them after Luo Hao.

"Spoilsport." smiled Nei before turning to Minaho. "You should sign a contract with him, too. It feels great!"

"Soon." nodded Minaho. "I am not in too much of a hurry."

"A contract?" asked Nikita.

"Yes. That's how Noah can share his abilities with others." nodded Nei. "You sign a contract where you offer him your loyalty, and voilà! You're immune to bullets, can understand and write in all languages, can heal just about anything, and teleport around."

"You also have a system and must do daily exercise to become stronger." nodded Noah.

"I have? How do you… Oh! …That's so cool! It looks like I'm in a video game." started Nei before her status screen appeared before her eyes.

Noah chuckled at her reaction, and Misuzu woke up. She stood and used Shunpo to close the distance instantly and hug him, laughing with joy.

…

"Ah! My so-called master comes to visit me at last." snorted Luo Hao.

"Sorry about that, I've been quite busy." said Noah with an apologetic smile.

When he teleported to Luo Hao with Rin and Nei, Luo Hao had been scolding a few students from the College about their lack of efforts. She sent them away the instant he appeared with Rin in tow.

"When can I stop teaching those students? Aside from a handful who might be qualified to become gatekeepers, they are wasting my time."

"You can stop now if you wish." nodded Noah as he gestured to Rin. "Luo Hao, this is Rin Tohsaka, one of my stronger lovers. She got killed in battle, and I revived her this morning."

"Oh." replied Luo Hao as she started examining Rin with interest.

"Nice to meet you. I heard Noah mention you several times." nodded Rin.

"I can tell from a glance that you are an experienced martial artist. How strong is the one who defeated you?"

"He's an immature brat who unfortunately possesses immense magic power and has reached a fairly high level in several martial arts." shrugged Rin. "He killed me in what was the magic equivalent of a low-yield nuclear explosion…"

For a minute, Rin related her fight against Shadow. When she was done, Luo Hao nodded in slight disappointment.

"So in the end, you do not really know how skilled Shadow is as an actual martial artist, since he only used his special abilities in various ways."

"That's right."

"And I assume you do not intend to just kill him?" asked Luo Hao as he turned to Noah.

"It would be a waste, and there's this divine drug I can procure that can turn a man into a woman." replied Noah with a thin smile. "And you can assume Shadow's training will be quite… humiliating. Anyway, I intend to deal with him myself, but I need to train more to guarantee victory, which is why I'm giving higher priority to training with you."

"Good." nodded Luo Hao. "Since circumstances have forced me to serve you, I should make sure my master is the strongest, bar none. It will be less humiliating for me."

"Have the girls told you about Soul Contracts? You will need a drop of blood to sign it." asked Noah as he created a Slave Contract.

"Shuiruo did." nodded Luo Hao as she took it and started to read.

"…You could have made better terms." frowned Luo Hao.

"You should know by now that I treat my slaves well, and those reflect the power balance in our relationship with honesty." shrugged Noah with a glance at the mark around Luo Hao's neck.

Ever decisive, Luo Hao nodded and used a nail to cut her right index, then pressed it on the contract, making it disappear in a burst of blue flames.

Noah stopped closer, ready to catch her as she was about to lose consciousness… but Luo Hao didn't. She just stood there, her gaze growing unfocused.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Rin, confused.

"I can feel changes happening in my body, and my Ki reserves are slowly expanding." said Luo Hao as her gaze sharpened. "But I think I can stay awake."

"You'd be the first to manage that." said Noah, impressed once again by this woman. Common sense just didn't apply to her.

"Once the process is complete, every night, my Soul Shard and you will spend the equivalent of ten days in your Soul Space. We will use that time to spar, or for me to do more than scratch the surface where Ki is concerned. In particular, I have high hopes regarding the new Pulse Rune, and its potential in movement techniques."

"Shunpo is a good technique, yes." nodded Luo Hao. "But I do not think it represents the absolute peak."

Then she looked at Noah, and her smile was... ferocious.

"When this transformation is over, I want to spar with you. The real you, not your Soul Shard. After I gain the same advantages and blessings you had back then, I will avenge my defeat!"

Noah winced, and Rin laughed.

"…Guess I'm in for a painful afternoon." said Noah as he decided on a proper location. One of his Sanctuaries would do.

"You too, Rin. I want to know how strong you are."

"Fine. I'm curious about it, too." nodded Rin.

…

"Still nothing?" asked Iris as soon as Marco entered her office.

"I am very sorry, Ojou-sama." sighed Marco. "We found a few more traces of fighting in the western and northern districts. Significant amounts of blood splatters on the northern one. Their locations suggest that several parties were running toward the capital's outskirts, and others were chasing after them."

Iris had spent most of the morning running around like a headless chicken.

She had been woken in the middle of the night by a great noise, as well as a bright, purple-tinted light brightly illuminating the whole city. Iris barely had time to reach her window and look up, seeing the fading light high in the sky.

She had dressed herself, then taken command of a few squads of guards to investigate, and the news they brought weren't good. The female dorm in the Academy had been attacked, part of its outer wall cut away, and with more windows shattered, the glass fragments on the inside pointing to a forceful entry.

Two warehouses by the river had been damaged with holes in their walls, and smaller signs of a fight having occurred had been found in other parts of the city. But so far, they had not found a single body or participant.

But the important thing was that Alexia was missing, and so was every member of Valhalla!

Iris had mobilized almost all the guards in the capital to start a thorough search of the city, including the sewers, and was prepared to lead it, but had been recalled half an hour ago.

The king, her father, had thought that with one of his two daughters missing, he couldn't risk something happening to the other.

Iris slumped down her chair with a heavy sigh.

"Keep searching, Carlos." commanded Iris. "We only stop when we are certain Alexia isn't in the capital anymore, and…"

"That won't be necessary." interrupted a voice, and Iris suddenly sat straighter, her right hand flying to the hilt of her sword when someone appeared in the far corner of the room. A woman with long, light purple hair, dressed in a black and purple outfit.

"My name is Medusa. I am Sakura's Servant, and part of Valhalla." nodded the woman. "I came to deliver a letter from Alexia."

"How did you… No, that's not important, how is Alexia? Is she safe? Where is she?" asked Iris.

"Alexia is unharmed. But her safety relies on her location being secret, so I won't reveal it even to you. You might be captured and tortured for information… Here." said Medusa, a letter suddenly in her hand as she walked closer.

Iris quickly took it and opened the letter. With Marco keeping a vigilant eye on Medusa, she started to read.

"Iris-nee-sama, Father.

"Chisato advised me to include a reference to at least one of our common memories, so you would know for certain that this isn't written by an impostor or under coercion. Last year, when I lost during the competition, I was quite depressed. When I was alone with Iris-nee-sama in the changing room, she told me she liked my fencing style."

"With this out of the way, I will explain our current situation. Valhalla made contact with some members of Shadow Garden two nights ago while they were hunting for the members of the Cult of Diablos killing civilians and framing Shadow Garden for it. This led to Shadow Garden inviting Valhalla to formal talks last night in that warehouse by the river, to clarify our respective positions. Valhalla only planned for both organizations to keep out of each other's ways for the time being, maybe even exchange information to help each other against the Cult."

"But Shadow Garden's invitation was an ambush. Their motives are not very clear, but we believe their leader, Shadow, has an ego so big that he won't tolerate the existence of another organization that could rival Shadow Garden's power."

"We fought and managed to escape. We already regrouped in a secret location far from the capital, and we will stay hidden while we train, recruit more members, and take careful steps against Shadow Garden. I can't tell you about our plans, in case this letter ends in Shadow Garden's hands."

"That's the gist of it. I am safe, and I have strong teachers helping me become stronger. We plan to return when more members of Valhalla enter our world to subdue Shadow Garden. It may take a while, though, possibly over a year."

"This is important, DO NOT try to go against Shadow Garden. Shadow, as well as Alpha, Shadow Garden's vice-leader, are both much stronger than you are, Iris-nee-sama."

"You should also expect more letters from me. If Medusa is willing to deliver them, I will try to write you at least once a month."

"I will miss you, Iris-nee-sama, Father."

"Alexia."

"I have another letter to deliver to Claire Kagenou, then I will visit you again. If you wish to write a letter to Alexia, I will deliver it." said Medusa when Iris looked up at her.

"Thank you. But how did you manage to enter this office without us noticing?"

"It is a bit complicated." smiled Medusa. "To simplify a lot, I was famous enough during my life as a mortal to leave a legend behind, and an advanced Magecraft ritual revived the object of that legend. I am both a living human, and a ghost. I will return soon."

Before Iris could ask any more questions, Medusa seemed to dissolve into a mass of blue particles who dissipated in an instant.

…

Cid Kagenou waved goodbye to his friends Skel and Po, and opened the door to his room.

He wasn't surprised to see Alpha waiting for him, dressed in a white shirt and white skirt, white socks and brown leather shoes.

"Hey, Alpha." nodded Cid.

"Shadow. How was your day?"

"Half of the lessons were cancelled." shrugged Cid as he unceremoniously lay down on the bed. "The Academy is in a ruckus after the Second Princess disappeared and those guys didn't show up."

Alpha nodded, troubled, and knelt in front of the bed. She gently took Cid's shoes off his feet, neatly placed them near the foot of the bed, then climbed on it before removing Cid's tie.

"…I am sorry, Shadow." said Alpha with a sad sigh. "Last night ended in failure, and that is my fault. I severely underestimated them"

"Have you found traces of Epsilon?"

"No. I have spread word to the other cities and almost the entirety of Shadow Garden is searching for her. But so far, we haven't found any clue of her location."

"I'm sure she's fine." shrugged Cid. "You heard what they said about themselves. They do not seem to be the kind to torture their prisoners. They are probably trying to convince her to join their side. And we will find them soon."

"Then they are wasting their time. There is no chance of her switching sides to them." nodded Alpha. "Epsilon's loyalty is unshakable… Shadow, are you able to heal broken bones? Several of our members were injured last night. None of it is life-threatening, but…"

"I can heal even missing limbs. Bring them to Mitsugoshi HQ tonight, and I will heal them." nodded Cid.

"Thank you, Shadow." smiled Alpha. "I will…"

She suddenly stopped speaking and looked at the door for an instant, before jumping off the bed. With another graceful leap, she jumped through the open window, her outfit changing to her usual black and gold bodysuit.

Two seconds later, the door opened, and Claire entered.

"Hey, Cid." nodded Claire.

"Nee-san, you should really learn to knock on the door before you enter my room." complained Cid. "And why is a girl inside a boys' dorm? That's against the rules."

"I do not knock because you would just run off through the window." replied Claire with a deadpan expression. "And I paid the manager. I told him I'm your sister, so nothing improper was going to happen."

In an instant of sheer hypocrisy, Cid mentally cursed at the greedy manager.

"Cid, I want you to stay away from the Academy during the next few days."

"Huh? Why? Is it because Princess Alexia was attacked? I'm a nobody. No one is going to target me."

"It's not that, at least, not directly. But I received a letter from Alexia. She said she's fine. She wasn't kidnapped or anything, but she had to leave for a while."

"Oh? Does the letter say where she went?" asked Cid, thinking furiously. They had to know that Claire might speak to her little brother, so there was a high chance that any location they gave would be a trap.

"No, they said they're going to remain hidden for some time, because they have been attacked by those guys who call themselves Shadow Garden. Don't go out at night either, Cid. It is becoming dangerous. And the Academy is going to be very dangerous for a while, which is why I'm going to babysit you."

"I don't need a babysitter, Nee-san." frowned Cid. "Just tell me why I shouldn't go there, and I'll behave, I promise."

"…I don't believe you, but there's no harm in telling you either. The letter says that the Cult of Diablos is going to attack the academy very soon, to recover some artifact from the Ancient Era that was retrieved from their base in the sewers. It is currently being studied by some talented bookworm. And it seems that the Cult will use another artifact that absorbs the magic power of everyone in the vicinity, except those who have been attuned to it. And once fully charged, it will release it all explosively. Those scums intend to kill everyone at the academy to cover their theft."

"That's terrible! What are the guards going to do about it?" asked Cid.

"…Nothing." sighed Claire. "I haven't told them about this. The letter specifically said that warning them would only endanger the guards, that even Iris wouldn't be able to face the Cult's local leader. Instead, Alexia believes those Shadow Garden guys will deal with the Cult and protect the students."

"…I understand. I'll stay in the dorm or visit other parts of the city for the next few days." nodded Cid, and Claire eyed him with suspicion.

Then she sighed in defeat, aware that in the end, Cid would do whatever he wanted. At least, she believed him smart enough to take her warning seriously. He wouldn't go to the academy until the Cult's members were stopped.

"If you go visit the other districts of the capital, make sure to bring your friends with you, or you'll get lost. Again. And I'll end up searching half of the city before I find you. Again."

"Yeah, sure." sighed Cid.

"…It's really a pity those girls are gone. I wanted them to teach me their trick to find people no matter where they hid... With it, you wouldn't be able to disappear on me anymore."

Cid's face twitched, and Claire's smile widened as she saw his reaction. She had managed to get a rise out of him for once.

It took another ten minutes for him to convince Claire to leave. When she did, Alpha reentered through the window.

"Did you hear everything, Alpha?"

"I did." nodded Alpha. "Should we secure the artifact now?"

"Not right now. We will wait until the Cult of Diablos makes its move. Reinforce the surveillance around Iris and my sister. If they are receiving more letters, it will give us a chance to locate their base."

"Understood, Shadow. I'll get on it right away." nodded Alpha.

…

Noah felt quite ragged after the sound trashing Luo Hao gave him, but he wasn't unsatisfied. It really was when he had to fight under pressure that he made the most progress.

Rin too had gone through the wringer, but earned a very positive evaluation, with Luo Hao deciding to make a disciple out of her, rather than a door guardian.

In Luo Hao's world view, there were basically three categories of people. Herself and her disciples, those good enough to be her servants, and the rest who were not worth paying attention to.

Noah himself, as well as special existences like Spirits and the Legatus Legionis, were special cases not belonging to any of those categories.

Leaving Rin in Luo Hao's hands for the rest of the day, Noah returned to his home in Tokyo.

Shuiruo was away, spending time with her parents, and Liliana had gone touring various hospitals.

Shuiruo was still refusing to reveal her identity, but now openly admitted acting on Noah's instructions.

Now that Noah had a comfortable number of subordinates available, he decided to start asserting his faction's authority. He intended to start with humanitarian actions only for now, to generate goodwill among the citizens from all nations. Later would come the pressure to various governments, gentle at first, then more forceful wherever needed.

With both Shuiruo and Liliana gone, and Kurumi in the dorm, there were only him and the two girls in the basement.

Noah smiled as he walked down the stairs and entered the dungeon.

Mana and Artemisia both looked at him through the bars of their cells as he approached. Mana, with her caramel brown eyes and long blue hair in a ponytail, was the smallest of the two. Artemisia had light blue eyes and long blonde hair, with a hairstyle similar to Asuna's.

He could see a hint of anxiety on both of their faces, which they promptly masked by defiant glares. They weren't gagged or bound, as Liliana and Shuiruo had judged it unnecessary after the first day, and Noah had not objected. Although their current state was going to change very soon.

"Hi, Artemisia, Mana." smiled Noah. "It's been a week now. And I now have the time to deal with you two. Have you reflected on your actions?"

"Fuck you!" spat Mana.

"What she said." shrugged Artemisia.

"I see…" nodded Noah. "I guess expecting the contrary would be unrealistic. Kurumi told me she visited you a few times. You still think she's a monster about to rampage?"

"You are just trying to trick us into betraying our country." glared Artemisia. "Spirits are smart. They can lie whenever it benefits them."

"As you said, Spirits are smart." nodded Noah. "So what benefit would they gain from slaughtering random people? Why would they make more enemies than necessary?"

Mana and Artemisia both looked at him in disbelief.

"You're trying to gaslight us!" glared Artemisia. "All the previous cases ended with Spirits rampaging! All of them!"

"Really?" asked Noah while rolling his eyes. "All the previous cases? Did Kurumi come out of my butt? Have you even considered things from their perspectives? Here they come into an empty city, with no memories of who or what they are, and their first interactions with other people are with soldiers trying to kill them or Magic-Knights trying to enslave them."

"What would you do in their shoes? Is it really a wonder that they would resort to violence to defend themselves? And there's more to it, things that you do not know."

Noah was thinking about that first Spirit, Mio, who had transformed both Kurumi and Kotori into Spirits.

"I don't have to listen to that crap." snorted Mana. "If you want to torture us, do it already. But I'm starting to think you're too much of a coward to get on with it. You must be small down there."

Noah's lie detection ability triggered, and studying her expression, he saw the desperate calculation she was trying to hide under her contempt. Noah understood what Mana was trying to do.

She expected him to rape them. She was hoping that insulting him would make him too angry to be in the mood for sex. It was a dangerous gamble, as Noah might react in the opposite direction, and rape them more violently instead.

"Let's start with you, then." nodded Noah as he walked to the door of her cell and unlocked it.

Mana stood bravely as he entered the cell, and Noah's smile disappeared as he saw the muscles of her throat start to move.

"You better…" started Noah, but it was too late, as Mana spat, aiming at his face.

Her saliva was intercepted by a Light Shield, and Noah sighed.

"Big mistake." said Noah as he forcibly turned her around and grabbed her wrists, then put a pair of hinged cuffs from his inventory. "Disobedience and rebellion, I can accept. Those are normal reactions. Verbal abuse, I don't really care. Even escape attempts wouldn't really get you punished."

"Do your worst, you fucking bastard!"

"But spitting, that is one of my hangups." continued Noah. "That and insulting or hurting my girls are the few things guaranteed to make me angry. You are going to regret this, Mana."

Mana twisted her body, turned her head toward him, and tried to spit at him again.

Noah was done putting the cuffs on her and grabbed her ponytail to forcibly turn her head away, making her groan in pain.

Noah created a few safety scissors made of hardened light and cut away the sleeveless leotard Mana wore.

She struggled and shouted, but it was useless, and in seconds, she was naked.

He pinned her face-first against the nearest wall, then created a special gag. a black leather panel with a side locking strap, to which was attacked a ball made of red foam rubber.

A ball that appeared far too large for her small mouth.

She saw it from the corner of her eyes, and froze in disbelief.

"This… This is far too big!" exclaimed Mana.

"It can be compressed, and we will make it fit, one way or another."

Predictably, Mana clamped her mouth shut when Noah presented the huge rubber ball to her mouth, and Noah clamped her nose. After a few seconds, she gasped, and Noah proceeded to stuff the foam ball into her mouth.

It took some doing. He was right when he told her that it could be compressed, and it required Noah to pinch the ball with his fingers to help get it past her teeth. After some efforts, and a lot of grunts from her part, the ball was fully in, and the leather pressed against her lower face. Noah pulled the straps tight, then used a small padlock on the buckle.

It was surely very uncomfortable, and Mana would soon be in great pain if the gag wasn't imbued with a slow regeneration property. He didn't want to damage the tendons of her jaws.

Noah removed the cuffs, and as she stepped away from him, her hands shooting up to the back of her head, instantly finding the padlock and trying to remove it.

"MMpggrhoo!!" shouted Mana while glaring daggers at him, half in outrage and half in frustration.

Noah only smiled as he created the next piece of Mana's torment. A golem-type, dark blue latex bodysuit.

"You will wear this." said Noah. "The neck can stretch wide enough for you to slip in. Or do you prefer being naked?"

Mana, reminded of her current nakedness, hesitated for a second as her arms reflexively moved to cover her crotch and breasts, before angrily stepping closer and grabbing the suit. She grunted angrily while pointing to the door of the cell, and Noah shook his head.

"No, I am going to stay and watch."

Mana froze, then took a deep breath, realizing that her anger would only fuel his fun.

She sat on the bed and inserted her left leg into the suit, trying to get it on as fast as possible.

Being a golem, the suit subtly helped by removing the need for any lube and suppressing the creases, but Mana was too distracted, angry, and scared to notice.

Once done, Mana once again glared et him while covering her breasts and crotch.

Noah nodded and created next item.

"Turn around, and hands behind your back"

Mana reluctantly obeyed, and Noah positioned her arms up between her shoulder plates slipped the black leather, modified box-type armbinder over them and started fastening the straps.

Noah was binding her arms in a way that was not as strenuous as a reverse prayer, but also stricter than a simple box-tie. When he was done, Mana's hands were pressed against the opposite shoulder plates, similar to a classic mummy posture, but with her arms crossing on the back rather than the front.

"Mphis fthith mprillii phephirhifphi?" protested Mana as he tightened every strap one more notch.

"Necessary? No, but you told me to do my worst, remember?" replied Noah. "This isn't actually the most strenuous way to bind your arms, so count your blessings. Next are your legs."

Noah created a legbinder, a large leather restraint that would cover her legs from ankles to crotch, keeping them tightly together. This model was slightly different from most, in that it had separate, padded ankle cuffs. He laced it tight, keeping her legs pressed against each other, and fastened the half dozen leather straps running down its length.

"Now, let's start your training, Mana." smiled Mana as he picked her up.

Mana looked at him in deep suspicion. She had feared being raped, but the bodysuit and the leg restraint hinted at something very different, and she didn't like at all the word 'training'.

Lastly, Noah fastened a wide black leather collar around Mana's neck and locked it. The collar also featured a slow regeneration feature, and she was going to need it.

When he carried her out of her cell, they became visible from Artemisia's cell, and she stared at the leather and latex-covered form in Noah's arms.

She had expected something along those lines from hearing the sounds, but it was still a shock to see Mana looking like this.

"W-What are you going to do to her?" asked Artemisia.

"Mana has gone out of her way to antagonize me, so I have decided to train her as a masochist slave." said Noah.

"You what?"

Noah ignored her for now and walked to a corner of the basement, where he set Mana under a chain hanging from the ceiling. Noah fetched a remote to the motor and lowered the chain, then fastened Mana's ankle cuffs to it.

She glowered furiously as the chain went up, pulling her, and when Noah stopped it, she hung upside down, her head forty centimeters above ground.

Noah created another golem, this one shaped like a female android wearing a maid outfit.

"What is your command, creator?" asked the golem.

"This girl is in dire need of a spanking. You will spank her once every five seconds, alternating between each butt cheek. Start with weak spanks for calibration."

"Mphro! fphaepht!" protested Mana.

"Understood, Creator."

The golem lifted its right hand, and brought it down fast on Mana's left butt.

She squealed in outrage.

"A bit stronger, and use your other hand to keep her facing the rest of the room." said Noah, and the golem nodded.

It spanked Mana again, and Noah, judging the strength from the way Mana's flesh deformed under the blow and the sway of her body, nodded in satisfaction before touching Mana's crotch.

"Your training as a masochist starts now, Mana." smiled Noah as he took a step back. "Each time you receive a spank, the crotch part of your suit will vibrate for three seconds. The gag and the collar are enhanced so you won't get sore no matter how long it lasts, and little by little, your subconscious will start to associate the spanking with the pleasure you will feel from the vibrations. We'll repeat similar training until you find being spanked arousing. Then we'll move on to flogging, then cropping, and eventually whipping. It will take time, but we'll make a splendid masochist slave out of you."

"Mmphrr…iiii!!!" protested Mana before the next spank made her squeal again, her eyes bulging.

"And now, your turn, Artemisia." nodded Noah as he turned away from Mana and the golem.

"You… You monster!" gasped Artemisia.

"This is actually pretty mild, as far as torture goes. Surely you expected worse. Eventually, she will like being treated this way." shrugged Noah as he entered her cell. "And you, too, need to learn your place."

"My place?"

"You attacked my friend Kurumi, an innocent girl who hadn't done anything aside from warning me about DEM's participation in that attempt to enslave me. You tried to enslave her. It is only fair that you end up as a slave. My slave."

"But since you haven't yet gone out of your way to make me angry, I won't train you as a masochist. Remove your leotard, Artemisia. I have something else for you to wear."

"Something like what Mana is wearing?"

"Similar, yet different." nodded Noah.

Artemisia knew she had no choice, and she reluctantly started to strip.

Minutes later, she was wondering if she wouldn't have preferred trading places with Mana after all.

Artemisia was facing her, her legs spread by a metal bar, her upper body bent almost to horizontal, and her arms bound behind her back and pulled up by a chain on the ceiling. Noah had dressed her entirely in light blue leather, with thigh-high ballet boots, corset, collar, blue ball gag, and armbinder.

Artemisia could only watch Mana squirm as she was spanked, while Noah was behind her, his hands gently rubbing her ass and crotch, bringing her unwanted pleasure. She could already feel her body starting to go into heat.

"Artemisia, this will go on until you beg me to fill your pussy with my cock." said Noah. "Once you do, I will give you the orgasm you will crave by then. And only after this will Mana's spanking stop."

Artemisia grunted into her gag in despair. She could see no way out of it, and she knew that between the pleasure and the desire to help Mana, she would eventually break.

Noah had barely been at it for a few minutes, listening to one girl's squeals and another's lustful pants, when his phone vibrated. The call came from Chisato.

Noah decided to accept the call here and then. But it wasn't Chisato.

"Master… Oh, are we interrupting? Are you perhaps doing something interesting with Nee-san?" asked Sakura as she heard the background noises. Mana and Artemisia were making a lot of noise, trying to call for help.

"Not Rin, but I am starting to train a new pair of slaves." nodded Noah. "What can I do for you, Sakura?"

"Please activate the video feature. Epsilon is willing to swear her obedience."

"I see." nodded Noah as he pressed the button, and Sakura's face appeared. She field of view quickly changed to saw a naked Epsilon covered in sweat, her head hanging down, looking utterly exhausted and barely conscious.

She kept mumbling words like 'please' or 'no more'.

From her state, Noah guessed that Sakura and the others had used the time compression of the Sanctuary, because he would be very surprised if she could change so much in only the six or so hours that happened since his last call.

"As expected, Epsilon was a tough nut to crack. She lasted almost two full days!" praised Sakura.

she gently lifted Epsilon's head to make her face the camera.

"Now is your chance, Epsilon." said Sakura with a motherly voice, and Noah nodded, activating the verbal version of his Soul Contract.

"Epsilon, are you willing to become my slave and obey my orders?"

"…I… Y-Yes, please… I can't stand… it anymore!" pleaded Epsilon with the frantic expression of a damned soul being offered an escape from hell.

The Soul Contract activated successfully, and Noah nodded.

"Thank you. This is done. Good job, Sakura."

"Thank you, Master. Although Alexia also participated, so I hope you'll reward her next time." smiled Sakura. "How do you want us to train her, after we give her the orgasms she just earned and let her rest?"

"…Keep her captive, but pause her training for now, please. I want for my shard to have a good talk with her before we resume her training."

"Understood. You look busy on your side, so I will call back later."

"Thank you. Later, Sakura. I'll tell Rin you called."

"Thank you. Later, Master." nodded Sakura as she hung up.

"Sorry for the interruption, Artemisia." smiled Noah as his ministrations resumed.

…

Epsilon opened her eyes, then shuddered as her memories flooded back.

She remembered the patient, endless torment inflicted by Sakura and Alexia. Even now, she felt like they still had their hands on her body. Her cheeks flushed in shame as she remembered her breaking, agreeing to become Noah's slave, and the all-consuming orgasm that followed. She had lost consciousness then.

She looked around, and blinked as she recognized the guest house in the Kagenou household that had become Shadow Garden's home and first base. The furniture, the alchemy set on the desk, everything hit her with nostalgia.

She looked down on her body and saw that she was wearing her slime suit. Its appearance brought her comfort.

"That's a cozy place." said a voice behind her, and Epsilon turned with a whirl, a part of her suit turning into a slime sword.

Noah stopped the blade cold with an extended finger. He was dressed in the same black and gold uniform she had come to associate with Valhalla.

"You will never attack me again, Epsilon, nor will you try to harm a member of my faction."

Epsilon's eyes widened as she retracted her blade and tried to slash at him again, but her body wouldn't move. She tried again and again, and realized with a sick feeling that she couldn't disobey him.

"You… how did you… why are we here?"

"We are currently inside your head, and you are sleeping in the real world." explained Noah as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Someone's Soul Space typically represents a part of their personality. I guess that this place is what you consider the most to be your 'home'.

"You aren't really Noah, then? You are this Soul Shard Sakura mentioned?"

"That is correct." nodded Noah. "But while this body you see isn't real, that doesn't mean I am not the real Noah. Our memories are synchronized. It's a bit complicated, but I received this ability as a gift because my harem had grown too large for me to spend decent amount of time with each of my girls, and the Goddess I serve took pity on them."

Epsilon sighed as she took a chair in the corner, far from him.

"So we are going to meet here every time I fall asleep?"

"That is correct." nodded Noah.

"…And you will molest me, and worse, every time?"

"I'm trying to reduce the amount of sex I have these days. Come sit on my lap, Epsilon."

"N-No, please!" protested Epsilon as her body moved against her will, and she sat across his lap.

"Don't worry, we're not doing anything more for a while." said Noah as he put an arm around her waist.

"For a while? That's not exactly reassuring! I still feel their hands doing… those things to me!" protested Epsilon, and Noah nodded.

"Yes, I guess they really made you go through a lot." nodded Noah with a sympathetic tone. "If it can make you feel a bit better, this was likely the worst part of your training. Everything should be easier now."

"Why are you sympathetic all of a sudden when you ordered them to kidnap members of Shadow Garden? Wait, is this the good guard, bad guard routine you're trying to pull on me?" asked Epsilon, willing for her body to leave his lap, but it didn't respond to her.

"I suppose there is some truth to that." nodded Noah. "Now that you have agreed to a Soul Contract with me, I am here to stay. And I get to decide what happens there, and for how long. So, it is also in your best interest for us to get along. I also figured that you must have a lot of questions, Epsilon. What did Sakura and the others tell you about Valhalla, and what we do?"

Epsilon thought about it for a moment, then relaxed a little. No matter what she thought about Noah and his methods, gathering information about her captors was always useful, and he was trying to look like a good guy, he probably wouldn't just push her down.

"The Cult of Diablos only exists in this world, right?" frowned Epsilon.

"As far as I am aware, yes. Although Diablos itself could be said to have some otherworldly origins."

"What do you mean?"

"A long time ago in your world, before everyone even heard of Diablos, an anomaly occurred. For a short time, a breach connecting your world with another happened, and a strange monster entered your world."

"I do not know how it died, but some humans from your world recovered its corpse and started studying it. Those researchers were the first members of what later became the Cult of Diablos. Have your own research on them upturned anything about their origins?"

"…We recovered a few hints about their past, but we mostly focused on their present activities, not their origins, and the Cult keeps a tight, compartmentalized structure." replied Epsilon, not really wanting to give him any usable information.

"That they do. Back in those early days, the researchers noticed that even dead, the monster's body conserved an extraordinary vitality. From it, they concluded that piercing its secrets might one day result in them reaching immortality, and their greed for it twisted whatever morals they still possessed. They did a lot of experiments."

"One of those consisted of injecting some of the monster's blood into the bodies of kids they had captured as test subjects. Most died. Some survived, but with severe health issues."

"One single human girl didn't die or appear to suffer any negative consequences from it. Rather, she developed some strange but powerful abilities. In particular, blood manipulation. I am speaking about Aurora, who later became known both as a Saint, and as the Witch of Calamity."

"The Witch of Calamity? I seem to have heard of her…" frowned Epsilon. She was sure she heard that name, and recently. And then it hit her.

"Wait, you mentioned Aurora and blood manipulation when you suggested going to Lindwurm! You said she was sealed away and that she might need a new body."

"That's right, this is the Aurora we're talking about." smiled Noah. "But there is more to it. I said Aurora had some strange abilities. She broke free of the Cult's control, or at least that is what I suspect, because otherwise some of the things I know wouldn't make sense, and she started experimenting with her own power, maybe to understand it better, maybe to master it completely and test its limits."

"I am not clear on the details. What I do know is that she eventually created a second body with a monstruous form, and this other body became known as the Demon Lord Diablos. Or maybe it is her original body who mutated. Like I said, I am not sure."

"You're saying that Aurora is Diablos?!" exclaimed Epsilon, astonished.

"Yes." nodded Noah. "Aurora studied magic power and became very proficient at it, far exceeding Cid's level. Not in raw quantity, but in the way it could be used. For example, one of her specialties is Magic Mimicry. She can replicate any magic after seeing it just once, and probably is the most knowledgeable person regarding what you call Ancient Era's technology."

"Back to the Cult, and what I'm about to say is guaranteed to shock you." smiled Noah. "Surely you wouldn't think those guys would just accept seeing Aurora, their most promising ticket to immortality, live free from their influence?"

"…No, they wouldn't. What did they do?"

"They had taken samples of Aurora's blood before she escaped, containing cells from the original monster that had somehow stabilized inside Aurora's body, and injected it into a large number of test subjects, older kids. Their goal was to create an army of super soldiers they would use to recapture Aurora."

"Again, most died. But three of those kids survived and became much stronger. An elf, a therianthrope, and a human, all of them girls. Can you guess their names?"

"I don't know."

"The Three Heroes." smiled Noah.

"But Oliver, the Elf Hero, and Freya, the Human Hero, were both men." protested Epsilon.

"No, all three were girls. The Cult of Diablos manipulated historical records to make people believe Oliver and Freya were men."

Epsilon stared at him, aghast at the momentous implications. Then she frowned a she noticed him enjoy her expression.

"And you are one of the Elf Hero, Olivier's descendants. Just like every member of Shadow Garden besides Shadow himself is one of the Heroes' descendants. Actually, no, Cid and Claire have magic power as well, so they too must descend from Freya."

"Your own magic power's origins can be traced all the way back to Aurora... I am even wondering if magic power existed in your world at all, before that otherworldly monster came."

"…But if Aurora is Diablos, why are you trying to free her? Isn't she very dangerous?"

"Aurora is a good person." shrugged Noah. "And I think my girls won't free her without demanding for her to first sign a Soul Contract with me. Even if she wants to spread chaos, I can simply order her to behave. But we have strayed quite far from your original question. The Cult only exists in your world."

"The Three Heroes, were they working for the Cult, then?" frowned Epsilon.

"At the time, yes. And they succeeded in destroying Diablos's body and sealing Aurora. But I do not think they were bad people. Maybe they were coerced or manipulated in some manner."

"But the important lesson to learn from this tale is that the Cult of Diablos isn't just a group of crazy people wanting to bring back the Demon Lord Diablos to have it conquer the world or some other nonsense." said Noah. "It is a well-organized group of powerful people seeking immortality, and ready to do anything to reach it."

"But that ritual they did in the sewers under the capital that other day?"

"That ritual was done by low-ranked members of the Cult. Their goal was to get promoted within its hierarchy. Do you think the core members of the Cult would tell the truth to their disposable pawns? They have better operational security than that."

"Yes, it makes sense." nodded Epsilon.

Then she almost flinched as she realized that she had completely lost her vigilance, despite being aware that he was playing a good guard routine. He was far too good at this!

"…If the Cult is only present in this world, then, why did Valhalla come here?" asked Epsilon, determined to keep her guard up this time.

"…It's a long story." nodded Noah. "Would you like a drink?"

"A drink?"

"We're in what I call your Soul Space, which is a bit like a dream. Here, we can drink or eat anything we want, however much we want, and we won't grow fat in the real world or anything."

"Hum…" hesitated Epsilon.

"Here, try this." smiled Noah as a glass filled with a pink liquid appeared in his hand. She took the glass and watched it carefully. She could see very small bubbles form in the bottom and float to the surface, forming lines.

"This drink comes from another world, and is a kind of wine typically used for celebrations. Give it a try."

Noah had another glass filled with the same pink wine in hand and drank a bit of it.

Epsilon warily tasted it, wondering is there would be aphrodisiacs of something else inside. The taste was… quite strange, but she didn't dislike it.

"Those small bubbles, how are they formed?"

"You know that wine is grape juice that experienced fermentation, right? The sugar in the juice slowly turns into alcohol."

"Yes."

"When this wine was put into bottles, it was kept sealed for a long time, and a second fermentation occurred. Or maybe the first wasn't finished when it was bottled. That fermentation slowly produced gas, but since the bottle was sealed, the gas had nowhere to go, so it dissolved back into the wine. The bubbles are the slow release of the gas that occurs after the bottle is opened. Don't worry, that gas isn't dangerous, at least not in such minute quantities."

"…I understand."

"So, back to the reason Valhalla entered your world." sighed Noah. "I guess I should start from the very beginning, the reason I created Valhalla in the first place…"

"Close to five years ago, I was just a normal human leading a mundane life. Someone with no special abilities, living in a world with no magic power. I worked as an accountant in a large company, similar to Mitsugoshi, but about ten times bigger. Do you have accountants in your world?"

"Those who count money to determine how much you earned exactly, and how much you must give to the Kingdom as taxes?" asked Epsilon.

"Exactly. I was one of those, until the day when I accidentally walked into an invisible breach, something I guess was similar to that phenomenon who let that monster into your world."

Noah snapped his fingers, and suddenly, on the opposite wall appeared the same black device that Epsilon had seen used by Chisato and the others to contact Noah and Rin.

"You're going to contact someone? But we're in my... soul space?" frowned Epsilon, confused.

"That device is called a Television, or TV for short, but it is only a tool to project images and sounds. Earlier, it was actually the smaller device in Chisato's possession, a smartphone,  that allowed us to communicate, and the images and sounds received by the smartphone were relayed to the TV."

Noah suddenly has a small black device similar to Chisato's in his hand, and she understood. Such small device, easily to transport and conceal, was quite wondrous.

"…I see."

"You'll be familiar with it over time, because every member of Valhalla have their own smartphone. But I created a TV here to show you some of my memories. Starting shortly before I walked into that breach, and my meeting with Lilith."

Epsilon nodded, and watched with interest at what she saw on the screen. The point of view was from a person walking toward a kind of flattened, metal, horseless carriage. And when that person was still a few meters away from it, the scenery was suddenly different. A ground covered with yellow carpet, long cylindrical lights on the ceiling producing a soft hum, and yellow walls whose locations didn't appear to make sense.

"There is this urban legend in my world, about what is called the Backrooms." explained Noah. "A bit like ghost stories. That legend says that if you step into the wrong place, you can accidentally leave the world and end up in the Backrooms. A nightmarish, nonsensical maze larger than the Midgar Kingdom, and that's only is you consider the first level. The Backrooms are said to have many different levels, each with their own dangers. And that stepping back is almost always impossible. I know, because I tried backtracking many, many times."

"The only way to survive the Backrooms is to find another breach that may or may not be impossible to detect before you step into it. And there's no guarantee that what you'll find on the other side will be your own world, or even something that you can survive. Maybe you would exit high in the air, only to fall to your doom."

"But you managed to survive."

"I got lucky." nodded Noah. "I remembered from the urban legends that there were creatures prowling in the backrooms, which is why I removed my shoes to reduce the noise, and I cautiously started to explore it. I probably spent at least fifteen hours in the Backrooms, probably the most stressful episode of my life. But let's skip to the end, when I heard the sounds of a beach."

Epsilon nodded as the scene on the screen changed, and she heard the unmistakable sound of waves crashing on a beach, and the black, skeletal thing that pursued Noah, and his fall into the ocean.

"Purple plants? This place must not be in my world." frowned Epsilon.

"It isn't." nodded Noah.

Epsilon saw his meeting with those beautiful women whose language she didn't understand, and the incredible beauty with red eyes and silver hair who appeared in front of him.

"Lilith is a goddess." said Noah. "Your world, as well as mine, and the world that otherworldly monster came from, all of them were created by Lilith or by one of her peers. Her power is immeasurable. To her, reviving mortals is a trivial thing. Elevating mortals to a demi-god or quarter-god status, granting them immortality and great power, is nothing much."

"I will not show you my memories of the conversation that followed. Things were said that are meant to remain private between me and my goddess. But I agreed to serve her, and in return, she made me one of her Champions. I am one of the ones she sends to solve major crises happening in the worlds she created, and once those crises are solved, my role reverts to supervising a small number of worlds, to nip future crises in the bud."

"In short, I rule over several worlds, and will do so for eternity. But since this represents an enormous amount of work, and Soul Shards aside, I can only be at any one place at any given time, I have created my own organization to help me, Valhalla. After raking in a number of achievements, I received permission to share with my subordinates some of my powers, as well as my endless lifespan."

"You are immortal, then?" frowned Epsilon.

"That is correct." nodded Noah. "And it is quite ironic that you, who fights the Cult of Diablos, is about to receive the very thing they tried to gain for over a thousand years."

"I guess it is, assuming you're not lying… Sakura and the others didn't tell me anything about being immortal." frowned Epsilon. "They didn't tell me much at all, aside from forcing me to accept being your slave."

"Maybe they were getting tired of mentioning it to every new girl." shrugged Noah. "They have recruited a lot of people over the last few years."

"How big is Valhalla?"

"The number increases almost every day, and I stopped bothering to try to keep an exact count. Last time I checked, just a bit over forty thousand."

"Forty…!" gasped Epsilon. "And in… just a few years?"

"Yes. I know, it's a lot." smiled Noah. "And almost every single one of them had a Soul Shard of mine. It's a wonder I don't go mad during the memory synchronization every day. Anyway, now that you understand Valhalla's general purpose, we need to speak about the world Rin and Sakura are from, because it is related to the reason Valhalla entered your own."

Epsilon listened carefully as Noah spoke about a world where something called Magecraft was practiced in secret, about the Chaldea research station, the sabotage by Lev Lainur Flauros and the world-wide ritual, and the fragmentation of the world's surface. About Solomon's 72 Demonic Pillars, and their intent.

Epsilon paled as Noah used the TV to give her a visual representation of what he thought would happen, of her world being swallowed by a gigantic tsunami of flames and burning rocks that would destroy everything so completely that the world would become uninhabitable.

Even Shadow, for all his strength, would be powerless in the face of such catastrophe!

"Now you understand why I mentioned earlier that our mission was more important than taking vengeance for Rin's death." sighed Noah. "But you do not need to worry about this. We have time, and we already saved about two thirds of the worlds under threat. Yours will be no different."

"…I see." sighed Epsilon. "I almost wish you never told me about the Demonic Pillar, and at the same time, I feel like I needed to know."

"It will be fine, your world will not be destroyed." said Noah as he patted her back. "I trust in my girls' capabilities. Even if they somehow were to fail, Chaldea will send another team. They will not do anything to attract attention to themselves, then kill Solomon's demon when it is located. Even if that strategy were to also fail, Lilith or another of her peers will take action to prevent this world's destruction. They won't be happy about it, but they aren't going to let hundreds of millions of innocents die."

Epsilon nodded, and finished her drink. It really wasn't bad, now that she was getting more used to its peculiar taste. Noah seemed to notice some regret on her face, as the glass was suddenly filled again. The surprise almost made her drop it.

"Eheh, I look forward to seeing how you react to various foods and drinks from other worlds. Don't drink too much, however. You can actually get drunk in your Soul Space. It doesn't make much sense, but I saw it happen."

"…That's fair, I guess." nodded Epsilon. "But how do you know so much about my world in the first place?"

Noah drew a line of yellow light in the air. "Let's say this line represents the past, and its end here is the present. The past is always single by nature, and even the Gods can't change it."

Three dozen lines sprang from the end Noah had defined as the present. "But the future, is infinite. The Gods can make predictions about which is more likely to happen, due to their long experience watching people and events, and they can peer into some of those future timelines. Lilith has allowed me to peer a little into one of the timelines that would have occurred if none of Solomon's demons had entered your world, including some of the past. That future is not meant to be, but from it, I still got a lot of useful information. I am going to show you the same things I showed Alexia. You're not going to like some of it."

Epsilon nodded, suddenly a little anxious.

On the TV screen was displayed the life of a human youth in a world that clearly wasn't hers, and it only took her a short while to recognize the boy as Shadow.

"Chisato claimed that Shadow had memories from his previous life. Is that it?"

"Yes."

The scenes progressed one after another, but Epsilon's mood soured as she heard the thoughts behind the young Shadow when Alpha first regained consciousness after he healed her, and he lied to her.

"This can't be! How could he know about the curse affecting the Three Heroes' descendants and the Cult of Diablos, if he made that up on the spot?"

"Who knows?" shrugged Noah. "Maybe it was just blind luck? Maybe some God decided it would be funny to push things in that direction and whispered into his ear? Whatever the case, next time you meet Alpha, you can ask her about this moment, and the exact words that were said. If she remembers clearly, she will confirm everything happened exactly like this."

Epsilon didn't say anything, and the scenes resumed. The TV showed Shadow randomly throw a slime knife at a map during the incident with her sister's kidnapping, somehow pinpointing her location accurately, by chance? Then his arrival in the academy, his fake confession to Alexia, and her surprising acceptance. Alexia's kidnapping, Shadow killing Zenon using Atomic, and the murderers framing Shadow Garden. Their leader, turning out to be an official from the Academy, and their plot to kill every student and recover an artifact seized from the base in the sewers.

"I am going to trust Shadow Garden to deal with this one." shrugged Noah. "After discussing it with Rin, we agreed that coming this close to Shadow was too risky."

"I understand." nodded Epsilon.

"I know about more schemes from the Cult, but I won't show them to you at this time, just like I didn't show Alexia. You already got the gist of it just by listening during the previous meeting. The Oriana Kingdom, Lindwurm, and Lawless city."

Epsilon fell into a contemplative state for a while, and Noah seemed content with giving her time to process what she had just seen.

She couldn't reconcile what she knew about Shadow, and what Noah had shown her.

"What about Shadow Garden?" asked Epsilon to distract herself. "From what you told me, you want to get your hands on us so that we become this world's overseers in your name even after Sakura and the others leave for the next world on their list."

"That is the plan, yes." nodded Noah. "But if I'm being honest, that wasn't the most important part for me, just a convenient benefit. My real motive is in your girls, not in what you do for this world."

"What do you mean by that?" frowned Epsilon.

"I mean that you are all beautiful, interesting girls, and I want you by my side. I want to learn more about you and nurture our relationship until you see me not just as your master, but also as your life partner." said Noah.

Epsilon's mouth opened, and closed. She knew she was beautiful, but as a member of Shadow Garden, she always kept her distances with males other than Shadow, and she wasn't used to such honest declarations of interest.

"My heart is already taken." finally said Epsilon.

"I am aware, and it is such a pity." nodded Noah. "Deep inside, you must be aware that Shadow will never see you as a woman, right?"

"He will, one day!" denied Epsilon, her face heating up.

"Epsilon, I sympathize with you." sighed Noah. "I know it's a painful subject for you, but it won't be healthy to live in denial. You'll only end up wasting your best years. You have seen the strength of Shadow's obsession, how he decided to devote everything to the idea of being the Eminence in the Shadows. You have seen how he devoted every moment, every single aspect of his life to pursue it."

"And this has consumed him."

"…Consumed… him?" asked Epsilon.

"This level of obsession can only be called a form of madness, and it stunted his mental growth. Even now, though he has the body of a young adult and nearly four decades of lived experience, his mind is still that of a child, and he acts with little care about consequences or how his actions affect others. He will remain this way until someone crushes his delusions and forces him to abandon it."

"No, you're lying!" instantly denied Epsilon. "He isn't mad! He…"

"You've seen him kill Zenon while destroying hundreds of buildings, Epsilon." gently cut it Noah. "Those buildings weren't evacuated ahead of time. And Shadow could easily have dealt with a small fry like Zenon without using Atomic. Are you going to deny that? Can you call what he did in this timeline anything but the actions of a madman?"

Epsilon wanted to protest, but she couldn't find the right words. Rather, she couldn't find a justification.

And what did that say about herself and the other members of Shadow Garden? In the images Noah had just displayed, they had watched in awe, feeling happiness at the demonstration of Shadow's power.

Epsilon knew that she, her real self, would have reacted the same way. This wasn't a case of Noah lying about it.

But why did none of them seem to care about the civilians that would have died in that explosion?

Why did she not care?

But as she looked down in embarrassment, her gaze focused on her right arm, and she remembered her despair when it had turned into a mass of tumors.

"E-Even so, he saved me when everyone else had abandoned me. Do you know what it is like, to have your own family exile you and grieve your passing while you are still alive?"

"I don't." sighed Noah. "As I said before, I understand why you and the other girls of Shadow Garden are so loyal to him."

Epsilon slowly nodded. "Even if the only thing I can do is help him be happy, I am fine with it."

"You are not fine with it." replied Noah. "Valhalla members can detect lies, so do not bother. But convincing you today wasn't a realistic goal anyway, so I won't insist… And I will tell you this since you may be misunderstanding something. Even after what he did to Rin, I do not intend to kill Shadow."

"You don't?" asked Epsilon, surprised. "Even though he killed Rin? Even though you plan to do all those spiteful things to him?"

"I don't. Oh, I will make his life hell for a while. He made me pay a heavy price to revive Rin, so I want some payback, and Rin will probably want to vent as well. But we won't kill him. What I will do is procure a divine drug and force him to swallow it, turning him into a woman."

Epsilon gasped in shock and outrage as she tried to imagine Shadow as a girl.

"Don't you dare even think of it!"

"I wonder, would he even object to it if I mentioned that strong females have an easier time remaining in the shadows? That they are being underestimated more often? Anyway, once he becomes a woman, he will undergo training to become obedient and enjoy submission. Then, Shadow will be happy to be part of Valhalla. Isn't that much better than killing him?"

Epsilon really regretted her inability to attack him. his throat seemed so vulnerable right now. And from the slight smirk on his face, he seemed to know what she was thinking, too.

"How long will I have to suffer your presence?" asked Epsilon with a sigh of defeat. "I need some real sleep to endure whatever Sakura and Alexia will do to me tomorrow."

"They won't do much. You may not remember clearly since you were rather out of it, but I asked them to pause your training for a short while. And I am going to spend a few days in your company before I let this session end."

"A few days?! Are you somehow going to keep me asleep all this time?"

"I did mention that I controlled things in your Soul Space." smiled Noah. "This includes, to some extent, our perception of time. We can easily spend a week's worth of time in there, and less than a night will have occurred in your world. Something my Soul Shards inside Scathach, Luo Hao, Okita and Medusa are abusing right now to receive a lot of training. Very painful training, in Scathach's case."

"…What an absurd ability." sighed Epsilon.

"By the time I face Shadow, his enormous magic power will be the only advantage he has over me, and I have a few major tricks up my sleeve as well. I think I could probably defeat him right now, but I believe in being prepared... Epsilon, how about you teach me how to play piano?"

"Piano?" blinked Epsilon, nonplussed at the sudden request.

"Yes." smiled Noah. "I always found it an interesting instrument, but never had the time or opportunity to indulge. Shadow taught you how to play it, right? With my augmented intellect and dexterity, it probably won't be long before I can reach a decent level."

"…Alright?" nodded Epsilon. It wouldn't hurt Shadow Garden in any way to teach him piano, and it was certainly a better use of her time than to think about what he said about Shadow.