Chapter 95

I received a devastating attack. It had taken my breath away and left me without any energy. Every second I tried to hold on a little longer, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

“Mm! Mmnnnlllm… mmmmnnn…”

“Um… should we do something, Nya?” Olivia asked.

“Do you want to get between him and his mother? That woman is crazy.” Saria snorted.

“Some battles must be fought on your own.” Bala agreed.

It seemed like I wouldn’t be getting any assistance from the other women in my life, who had left me for dead. Thus, I could only summon up whatever strength I had, grabbing onto the queen’s chest. She wasn’t nearly as large as my mother. It seemed like when she had the option of making a new body for her human self, she had given it a larger chest. When she had merged back together, she hadn’t been able to keep mother’s impressive physique. Although the queen had a fairy-like charm and beauty that could be enough to topple nations, she still had some insecurities.

Still, my only choice was to grab onto that chest and twist. My fingers twisted and pulled on her nipples, doing my best to resist the damage I was receiving. Finally, just as I felt like I would faint, the woman relented and pulled back.

“Mmmaaahhnnn… D-david, not so rough!” She chastised me as she broke off her kiss, a blush on her cheeks.

Although she had told me to stop, she didn’t resist at all even as my hands remained on her chest. I kept my hands there just in case I needed to keep her off of me again.

“Aren’t you the one being a bit aggressive?” I asked as I tried to regain my breath.

“Hmph! Isn’t it because I missed you so much that I had to give it all to you?”

“Didn’t I already take it all early?” I asked, and then broke into a couch when I realized the other girls were staring at me. “I mean, I wasn’t sure if my performance took hold.”

Her expression turned from pouty to amused. “Oh, you don’t need to worry. You were able to get the job done. Mommy is now pregnant.”

“Tsk!” Olivia made a vexed noise.

“Should have known!” Lucilla added.

My sisters shot me scathing looks. It was starting to make my face hot. I may have had a thick skin, but it still had its limits.

“You still had me strung up…” I coughed awkwardly.

“Do you think it’s so simple? I had to act the proper part given the situation. Even my faery would turn against me if they thought I was compromised by a devil. Besides, I sent that old bitty to take care of things, didn’t I?”

“Baba?”

“She’s a grand magus. She’s more suited for dealing with another grand magus anyway. They might as well all wipe each other out. This is not a world where gods should meddle anymore. Haven’t they already done enough?

If the gods didn’t meddle, then I never would have been brought to this world. I decided that wasn’t something I needed to mention at that particular moment, especially to the queen who had our lives in her hands.

“Alright, so you are released from the controls of the celestials,” I concluded. “What do we do then?”

“The plan hasn’t changed.” The queen waved her hand. “You still must acquire your final two sisters. Only when all of you are together can you return to the human realm and take the throne without resistance.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” I responded bitterly. “The faery will likely claim I used some devilish charm on them, and that they do not possess any free will.”

Aurica gave a thoughtful nod. “Yes, that is a trick the celestials may attempt. I don’t guarantee that it will be simple, but you still have to try.”

“Naturally.” I nodded. “Alright, so should we escape through the underground path?”

Aurica shook her head. “I wasn’t lying before. You are already in the celestial’s detection range. Their senses are locked on all of us. Escape would be extremely difficult. Once they arrive at the palace, escape will become impossible.”

“It’s dawn… the celestials will be arriving any moment,” Lucilla spoke uncertainly, holding tightly to her daughter.

“Then… teleportation?” I thought back to the other method the queen discussed.

She nodded. “I will send you directly to Kurcaci. The dwarves are a closed-off people, but with the help of the princess sent there, you just might be able to get them to come out of their mountain and recognize the threat falling on this world.”

I wasn’t even certain I could recognize the threat that was coming. Naturally, the celestials were my enemy, and the devils were probably a danger as well. However, it didn’t feel like that was it. I had to unite the kingdoms for something else, and uniting people over a vague threat was much harder to do. Yet, I had a feeling that if I didn’t do it, by the time the threat showed itself, it’d be too late.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen sister Arwen. There is no telling how she’ll react.” Lucilla declared.

“Either way, she may be our only chance.” Olivia nodded.

“Well, time is short. I will begin the ceremony immediately.” The queen took a step back, and only then did my hands leave her chest.

I felt a bit of regret like it might be the last time I got to feel them. That was ridiculous though. The queen was an outlaw now. She’d be coming with us, right? That’s when I realized that she never said she’d come. Would she remain behind, pretending to be the queen? Would she be able to control them? I opened my mouth, but Aurica seemed to have known I was going to say something.

“David, you will just have to trust me here.” She spoke quietly. “I know I’ve given you no good reason to do so, but I am no longer under their control. I will not betray you.”

I blinked. I hadn’t considered that she was still under their control. If that was the case, then what was the point of any of this? She could have just snapped her fingers and put us back in prison. There was no reason to trap us since she had us right where she wanted us. That’s why I chose to believe in her. Yet, it seemed like Aurica had her doubts. She wasn’t confident that I trusted her anymore, especially after everything she had done.

Did I believe in her? At that point, I still didn’t see this woman as my mother. I still thought of her as Aurica or the queen. Mother was a separate entity in my mind, even though she had combined to make this woman. I hadn’t been fair to her. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I gave Aurica my most reassuring smile.

“I believe in you, Mother.”

It was enough to put a smile on the woman’s face. With that, she raised her hands and I could feel the power of magic. The hair raised on my arms as static electricity filled the air. Then, Aurica began to move. She waved her hands this way and that, and anywhere she pointed immediately sizzled as runes were burned into the very ground. When she had prepared a powerful spell before, she had used paint to draw the symbols everywhere. She didn’t have the time for such an act anymore and so she forcefully created the runes by desecrating this place.

The once beautiful and scenic courtyard was slowly burned away, replaced by harsh-looking magical symbols and ominously glowing runes. It was hard to notice such a thing though, as the woman herself was the literal queen of faeries, and as she wrote upon the ground, walls, and even the sky… she moved in a fluid-like motion that gave the impression of dancing. Her movements were hypnotic and beautiful, filled with grace and poise. As we became surrounded by some kind of abstract spatial magic far more complex than anything I had ever learned, all of our eyes were on the dancing fairy, whose steps glided through the air finer than any ballet dancer.

It was hard to say how much time passed as she worked, but it was clear by the sweat beading on her face that she was doing an incredible amount of work. The spells overlaid with more spells, becoming increasingly more complex until I became cross-eyed and stopped trying to even attempt to understand anything about it. Her beauty seemed to overtake the day, and soon she was the only thing that could be seen other than the layers of spells.

The ground began to fall away, and the air around us started to shimmer. It was at that moment there was a booming voice.

“Aurica! You dare!”

Such a powerful spell as one that would carry us to the other side of the continent couldn’t be done in the palace without notice. A booming voice erupted, causing every heart to tighten, and then there was a thud as we were struck with some kind of powerful magical cudgel. The runes around us started to crack.

Through that crack, I could feel malevolent energy. It fell across me, an energy that felt beyond belief. The girls fell to their knees, and even Aster was bearing her teeth, returning to her dragon-form as the relentless power beat down, demanding subservience.

“I-it’s the Celestials!” Lucilla shouted out, forced into a kneeling position as she tried to fight against a will that overtook her own.

That was right, this wasn’t being done with magic, but will. I circulated the will within myself. The force weakened, but only enough that I could keep my feet. Bala seemed to have figured out the trick as well, but she was dividing her will between herself and my daughter so that she wasn’t crushed under such power.

“Traitors and devils!” The awe-inspiring voice boomed through the crack. “Surrender now and accept god’s will!”

“What… do you know… of god’s will?” I demanded through gritted teeth.

“Devil prince… what arrogance…” The will targeted and pushed down on the group seemingly became focused on me.

The others let out gasps of relief, but I felt an impossible pressure. I had thought an angry grand magus was difficult, but these celestials were something else. My hand hovered just above the ground, but I had yet to fall to my knees. Something about kneeling for these fake gods didn’t appeal to me.

“Arrogance?” I asked, forcing the words out with a pained breath. “Who has become arrogant? You act like gods, but you are only facsimiles created to fill out the purpose of a dying race. You’ve turned your back on gods and man long ago!”

“Blasphemy!”

“Heretic!”

“You’re the heretic!” I snapped back. “Why don’t you sense me for a second? Where do you think I came from? Who do you think brought me here?”

I wasn’t expecting them to listen to my words. I was mostly trying to delay them. The queen was desperately repairing the damage caused by the celestials and completing the spell. They couldn’t have reached the palace already, or they would have been able to break the spell. They were that powerful. They were only able to interfere with it to a certain extent from wherever they were. That thought was even more terrifying. They were much stronger than I had even imagined.

It wasn’t that the celestials were more powerful than the grand magus or the faery queen. Rather, the true source of their power was their unity. There were several of them. Was it several dozen, several hundred? I had no clue, but I could feel that they were all working together and in tandem. I only realized it upon meeting them. The celestials weren’t a race, they were a construct? They had all molded themselves together, linking into a hive mind.

When the voice spoke, I was hearing a single celestial, but all of the celestials. I could even hear the multi-toned voice as if a dozen people were speaking at the same time and with the same pitch and inflections. Their power came in their wiliness to forsake individuality. This is what they wanted when they sought goodness. There would be no conflict because every voice and thought would be the same. It was absolute and complete control, even in themselves. It was no wonder their will could overwhelm other beings since it was the combined will and mana of an entire race turned into a single consciousness.

There was a brief silence after my words, but then I felt an amplification of rage. “You… impossible! Kill him! Die, blasphemer!”

I had thought the pressure on me was already unbearable, but it suddenly sharpened even more. It no longer sought to make me submit. It had become as sharp as a knife, and it was bearing down. Exposing that I was summoned by their god had been a last-ditch effort. I had been hoping to confuse them, or perhaps sew discord and shatter their consciousness, but unfortunately, they weren’t so easily distracted. Their response was instead to kill me immediately. I could feel their will entering me like life, seeking to grab my heart and crush the life out of it.  The sight around me darkened, and the last look of the girls all looking tearfully my way disappeared.

Just as I felt like my heart might explode, the pressure stopped, and my sight slowly returned. Standing in front of me was the queen. She looked down at me with a gentle smile.

“Faery queen! Do you wish to get in our way? We made you! We own you! You have one last chance. Destroy the devil prince and return as our tool.” The voice erupted angrily.

Her smile grew slightly more, and she reached behind her belt and pulled out a dagger. The other girls let out gasps, but they were helpless to move under the pressure of the celestials. They sounded more like devils though, their whispers targeting the faery queen’s ears, promising her forgiveness if she but submitted.

“So, it’s come to this?” I asked, feeling bitter and helpless.

“This was always how it was going to end,” Aurica responded sadly with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, my love. I just have one last thing to say.”

“What?” I asked.

“When you see her, let her know I will always love you more.” A cruel smile formed on her lips as she lifted the dagger.

“Huh?”

“After all, I’ll do this!” She slammed the dagger into her own heart.

My eyes widened, but a blinding light erupted around me. Pure mana leaked out into the world, overwhelming anything that celestials could do. The crack in the spell instantly closed, and the spell took hold. I felt a flighty feeling inside me as my body was being teleported away. Dimly, I could see Aurica break away, her body being burned to force the spell to take. The light continued to grow and the last thing I could hear was a haunting howl.

“Noooooooooo! You can’t escape us! We’ll meet again, Devil Prince!”

After that, there was only light, but it disappeared nearly as quickly as it came. I collapsed to the ground finally, and I could hear thuds as various other people collapsed nearby. As I gasped for breath, I tried to get a bearing on my surroundings. We were lying in the grace outdoors. It was still dark where we were, but the dawn was approaching. There were mountains, and based on the slope of the ground, we were sitting on the slope of some mountain.

“Ahhh… I thought I was going to die…” I heard Moar’s voice come out.

He wasn’t a will user or a magic-user, and he had to face the full brunt of the will of the celestials. Once again, the old bodyguard had exceeded my expectations.

“That was… mom…” Lucilla spoke up, her voice shaky.

“She…she… killed herself,” Olivia added.

Memory of the last thing the queen had done came crashing home. She hadn’t attacked me. She had never intended to attack me. Instead, she had used herself as a blood sacrifice. She had cracked open her mana, in much the way she claimed to do with the faery when creating a future brood. She had used herself to power the spell. Her sacrifice was far too powerful, and the celestials were helpless to stop it.

In the end, the queen had sacrificed herself again to save me. That was two times she had done such a thing. No matter what had happened later with her imprisoning and betraying me, my feelings for the woman were concrete. She had given everything to me. She had given her body, her soul, and finally her life.

“Mother… she was-”

“Right here!” Two large pillows slammed into my face.

I fell as I was smothered in softness. I used the nearly learned nipple twist technique to finally free myself of my prison, and a beautiful woman finally pulled back. She let out a cry, shooting me a tearful painful look while covering her chest.

“Baby, can’t you be gentler with mommy? Ah! But if you want to be rough, I don’t mind.” She lowered her hand, revealing her breasts with two obvious hard nubs pointing out through the thin material covering her. “Please, continue.”

“Mom?”

“It’s… her?” Lucilla asked in wonder.

Lucilla and Olivia were just starting to tear up over the loss of their mother, only to see her sitting right in front of them. However, her awe-inspiring nature had been replaced with something motherly. Her fairy-like grace and blonde hair were gone, let alone her wings. This was a human woman, a doppelganger. No, this was part of my mother, the part she had cut away for me before sacrificing the rest.

“Aurica must have known this would happen. She’d always be a liability, a risk of being controlled by the celestials, so she destroyed the part of herself that was at risk.” I predicted.

“Booo… you didn’t take what she said seriously, did you?” Mom demanded.

“Huh?”

She pulled a knife from her belt. “I love you more! I’ll show you!”

“W-wait!”

I grabbed the knife as mom tried to show her undying, or perhaps her dying, love for me. My sisters could only watch with blank looks, not sure how to handle this return to the status quo. Just when their mother had gone out in a beautiful and heartfelt way, she left this little bit of herself to haunt them. Saria sniffed, turning away as if this was to be expected. Meanwhile, Aster and Isabella held each other and watched as Mom went from trying to stab herself to trying to molest me, and likely learning things they shouldn’t in the process!

Suffice it to say that the next leg of our journey started on a strange foot.