V7.C18 Mysterious chains, Guilt
After Miledi fell unconscious, she opened her eyes, only to have her vision filled with white.
The floor, the sky, the walls, even the clothes she wore on her body, everything was pure white.
“Wait! Miledi-chan is back in her body!?”
She quickly examined her body, and this reaffirmed her speculation about her death, and this seemed to be her afterlife.
When she shifted her gaze to the front, her eyes widened. Seven ethereal figures stood there. She could hardly make out their features, but that was enough.
Enough to identify them. For they were the comrades she recruited.
The comrades who helped her in her selfish yet selfless mission to bring a smile on everyone’s face.
Warm tears flooded her vision as her eyes tried to pierce the veil of the figure standing in the foremost center. She was undoubtedly the woman who changed her life, Belta.
Her foot was about to step forward; however, she halted, remembering her last memory.
She shook her head with closed eyes. “I want to go with you… but that idiot will blame himself for my death even if it's not his fault. It was my selfishness to fall for him. My desire to wait for him… My hopeless wish to be with him… I don’t wish to see a kind man like him have regrets and carry this guilt throughout his life.”
“That this Miledi-chan cannot do!”
Belta’s figure nodded and stepped back. Her hands unconsciously tried to reach out to her, but suddenly, the space in the sky warped and twisted sinisterly. The next moment, several chains emerged from the spatial gate.
They were clad in pitch-black, the polar opposite of this holy place as if attempting to ruin her sacred reunion.
Her body shook with fear when the chains viciously charged at her.
The fear came directly from her soul. She found it hard to suppress it even with all of her willpower.
Her eyes unconsciously shut tight when the chains were about to reach her.
*Clang!*
She snapped open her eyes from the sudden noise and an unbelievable scene in her eyes. “What!?”
Several pairs of brilliant chains formed a barrier to intercept the black chains. Miledi looked closer to discover several cracks hidden under its blinding light.
The white chains gave her a feeling as if they were part of her own body. Miledi wished for them to shift a bit, and the chains moved.
“What is going on here?”
Unfortunately, nobody was here to clear her confusion.
The black chains tried to force its way to her, which caused the cracks to enlarge until,
*Snap!*
An unimaginable pain ran through her body, draining the blood from her face. The chains coiled around her and imprisoned her body.
However, instead of pain, the chains gave her warmth. Only then she realized what these chains meant.
‘Are these chains related to him?’
She thought as her consciousness became hazier. The last thing she witnessed was her fellow liberators waving their hands with a smile as if bidding farewell to her before she blacked out.
---
Leo finally finished creating a new body for Miledi. He touched the ring on the finger of her former body.
“Soul Taker.”
This time, the ring briefly shone with a blue light. A smile touched his face as he took the ring and put it on the slender ring finger of Miledi. The wide ring enchanted with the concept [A ring for everyone], shrunk, and fitted her perfectly.
He poured a bit of his mana inside the ring.
“Soul Call.”
Heeding his call, an ethereal figure emerged from the ring and disappeared into Miledi’s new body.
“Assimilate.”
The last step to integrate the soul and body into one.
He covered her body with a blanket and sat on the ground, waiting for her to wake up.
(Don’t. She will stay dormant for at least a day or two.)
‘Why?’
(Her soul was damaged. But, as her soul is linked with yours, she will recover far quicker.)
‘Thanks…’
(Don’t worry, it’s my duty as God- It’s nothing.)
He was about to retort, but the guilt of forcing a woman into becoming his slave came crashing down on him.
‘Master! Is everything alright!?’
‘Leo, what made you feel so guilty?”
‘...Leo, I'm coming over.’
The series of questions by Hearst, Eri and Yue surprised him, and a warmth overflowed his heart.
‘I’m fine. Just wait for me in Erisen.’
‘Nn.’
He carefully put his hands below Miledi’s legs and back and picked her up in a princess carry. He silently cast Divine existence, the instant teleportation spell, and teleported to Erisen.
---
Remia’s house, living room.
The room appeared rather lively with Shea, Irene, and Tio chatting on one sofa while Remia, Eri, and Shizuku lazed on the opposite one.
The topic they were discussing was the new church built on the grounds of the Holy Church, the place more than 6000 meters above in the mountains, and at the same time, now they were working on building a small branch in every nation.
“Can you think of Leo’s reaction to his new church?” Eri said and giggled.
“Eri, you sure love to tease Leo,” Shizuku remarked, but her mind couldn't help but think back to the time in Edelsel, and a chuckle escaped her lips. “You should have seen him during the talk with Tio-san’s grandfather. He was escaping reality, and Myu-chan, she innocently murdered her papa’s heart with a cute smile.”
Tio covered her mouth and giggled. “That hath to be the most embarrassing moment in Goshujin-sama’s life.”
“Damn, now I want to see it.” Eri grinned. “Or I can take Yue there to record that moment with spirit magic.”
“Jeez, girls. Stop looking for those kinds of things. Leo-san is already worried about Maria-san.”
“Enough about that.” Irene shifted a bit and rested her head on Tio’s thighs. “Tio, when are you going to sleep with Leo? I'm amazed you can endure for so long with these crazy instincts.”
Shea’s bunny ears waved around as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. The instincts remind her of the last day, where she ended up forcing Leo for sex.
“Yeah, Tio still hasn't tasted the prowess of the fierce beast.”
Tio’s lazy eyes opened wide as her fair cheeks visibly reddened. While brushing Irene’s hair, she replied, “I-I was thinking of going to Goshujin-sama tonight.”
Shizuku shrugged at her friends being so open about sex. But sharing the same man, things like these were bound to happen. She could tell from their attitude that all or most of them must have shared the same bed at some point. She also wanted to lose her virginity, but the maiden inside her always awakened at the wrong time.
Eri pushed her glasses and eyed the group. “All of us women with evil pieces are somehow going through a strange change. Take Shea-chan, for example, a Haulia isn't supposed to go into the mating season, but she did, and she surprisingly lasted the longest at sixty-nine minutes breaking Yue's record of fifty-five minutes.”
Shea flinched before she buried her face in Tio’s lap. Her bunny ears swaying about in shame.
Eri paused when she noticed a complicated look in Shizuku’s eyes. As the first wife, she felt it was her responsibility to look after other girls.
“Shizu, are you sure about spending your whole life with Leo?”
The others also gazed at Shizuku as if probing her for an answer with their eyes. Shizuku straightened her back in a dignified manner. “Isn’t it obvious that I'll desire to spend my life with the man I love?”
Her confident filled voice made others nod in appreciation, including Eri.
“Dear is rather lucky for having so many devoted wives.” Remia thought out loud with a gentle smile, and then suddenly, her face winced in shock.
She wasn't the only one. Everyone except Shizuku had a similar shocked expression as they felt the heavy and complicated feelings coming from their connection with Leo.
Shea quickly got up from Tio’s lap. “Something bad happened…”
Eri quickly used the telepathy skill enchanted on the necklace around her neck.
Shizuku’s inquisitive gaze traveled across the room draped in deathly silence. Just as she opened her mouth to ask, she felt mana gathering in the room.
At that moment, the space in the room rippled and warped into a spatial gate. From it, Hearst, Yue, and Lulu appeared.
“Leo is coming,” Yue said, her brows drew together in a deep frown.
Shizuku let out a sigh of relief at this. For a moment, she thought something terrible happened to him.
Right then, another gate opened, and the man in question walked out of it, holding a blonde girl in a princess carry.
Irene’s eyes with surprise as her fingers pointed at the woman. “Leo, isn't that Miledi!?”
Leo nodded with a bitter smile and carefully positioned Miledi on the sofa.
“Yes, she is Miledi…”
