Building harem town 6, p.24
Building Harem Town 6, page 24
Then I switched over to Nieva’s cave, and as I did so, a message appeared on my interface.
New God Quest: Destroy Ethan
Reward Upon Quest Completion: Convert a new priestess
I felt a phantom smirk as I studied the words, and a new sense of determination washed over me.
It was confirmed. I had a new god to kill.
And a new woman to gain.
Chapter 15
Nieva was leaning against the stone pillar, and she pulled at a purple curl as she hummed to herself quietly. She was staring at the wall and looked like she was lost in her thoughts. Her icy eyes were narrowed in a determined scowl, and she tapped her foot impatiently.
Her wings rustled behind her, and I couldn’t wait to see them spread out across the sky.
“Hey,” I said gently, and she didn’t even flinch.
“Jack.” Nieva grinned. “It’s a relief to hear your voice and not… his.”
She wrinkled her nose as she shuddered, and then her whole body seemed to relax.
“I was worried about you,” I said. “We just took down a cyclops, and I wanted to make sure Ethan hadn’t taken any of his anger out on you.”
“A cyclops?” The Dragon Queen asked. “Is that what that noise was? It sounded like someone had cut down a giant tree. One that screamed.”
“Ethan was around right before it happened,” I said. “Then, to nobody’s shock, he vanished just as we started to fight.”
“Well, he isn’t here,” Nieva sighed. “He was for a while, during the fight, from what I could hear. He was going on and on about loyalty and submission. Apparently my dragon-men have displeased him. Honestly, I didn’t listen to it all, but he was furious.”
“That’s probably my fault,” I said. “He wants to form an alliance with me, and I said no.”
The Dragon Queen snorted, and a smirk spread over her beautiful face.
“Where did he go?” I asked. “Surely not back to the mermaids? He seemed to be humiliated enough from the last rejection.”
“I think he’s on the hunt for a new woman,” Nieva said. “To replace the mermaid that shot him down. He doesn’t seem to have much of a plan, but the fact that you have four priestesses seems to have riled him up. I think he assumes he will just find a devoted priestess wandering around the land looking for him.”
“Unlikely,” I chuckled. “I can see why he’s got his sights set on a Dragon Queen. Are there even other women of your species out there?”
“There are.” Nieva nodded. “My people like to form relatively small communities, and there are always few women living amongst the men. I just ended up as the head of the boys’ club.”
“Rare and headstrong,” I said. “Ethan really thinks he won the jackpot with you. But if that gives you time to rest, then I’m all for it. I’ll let you sleep. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Wait!” Nieva said hurriedly as she sat up straight. “Jack, can you stay for a while?”
“Of course,” I said. “I would love to, is everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” Nieva said. “It’s just… lonely here. Your voice is so comforting.”
“He could have tried a little harder with the accommodations, too,” I observed. “If he was trying to convert you to be a priestess, surely treating you like one would be a good first step.”
“He’s an idiot,” Nieva said. “Sometimes I daydream about him walking in, and I leap up and slice open his throat with a blade. I know I couldn’t really kill a god, but it’s satisfying to think about it.”
She grinned as she spoke, and I could tell that the dragon-woman had a dark, bloody streak to her.
It was hot as hell.
“Is that too gruesome?” she asked. “Sorry, I’ll tone it down a bit.”
“Don’t you dare,” I laughed. “Let out the bloody, furious thoughts. We need those to fuel you when we take down the fucker.”
“Tell me about the fight,” Nieva said eagerly. “How did you kill the cyclops?”
“It was a group effort,” I said. “But eventually, I came down into my body and stabbed it in the eye with my sword.”
“In the eye?” she gasped. “I bet that was gruesome!”
“It was gross,” I chuckled. “But it blinded the bastard, so I jumped onto its chest and slashed its throat to finish it off.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “Sounds like a total bloodbath.”
I couldn’t help laughing at her fascination with all things gory, and I reckoned if she was on Earth, she would be a serious goth chick or horror movie nut.
“I have a feeling you’re not shy in battle,” I said. “I’m so excited to see you in full flying action.”
“I miss flying so much,” she groaned. “That feeling of soaring over the world never gets old. I have some other… skills, too, that can help.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked. “Like what?”
“I’m not sure I should say.” Nieva grinned. “What do I get in return for telling you?”
She played with her hair as she spoke and shifted so that her dress rode down slightly and showed off more of her cleavage. The Dragon Queen was driving me wild at this point, and I was certain she knew what she was doing. She tilted her head to the side so that her white scales shone upward, and her pale green legs slowly crossed in front of her.
Fuck, this had to be a view Ethan had never been blessed with before.
“What would you like?” I purred, and Nieva laughed as she bit her bottom lip a bit.
“Hmm,” she mused. “Maybe a promise that you’ll not leave. When I’m free, we can still talk.”
“Agreed,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere. Now tell me about those powers!”
“Okay.” She smiled. “Well, when I fly I can tear right up into the clouds and make them rain ice.”
“Woah!” I laughed. “That sounds deadly.”
“It is,” she agreed. “That’s why it can only be done with extreme caution. Depending on the cloud, it can be very dangerous. So I need to make sure it’s timed just right over the enemy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “How are your physical fighting skills?”
“Ask the man who tried to attack my dragons,” Nieva said. “Back before all this Ethan stuff, a traveling man tried to sneak in to cut off one of their horns to sell.”
“Where is he now?” I asked.
“Buried under a tree somewhere.” Nieva smirked. “He didn’t even hear me coming.”
“So don’t mess with Nieva’s dragons,” I chuckled. “That’s the important rule to remember.”
“That’s right,” she laughed as well. “Never underestimate what a queen will do for her people.”
It was clear that Nieva was devoted to her dragons and people, and I was continuously impressed at how fiercely she would defend them. Seeing her come alive with laughter made me forget for a second that she was stuck in Ethan’s cave, and I kept picturing how her skin would feel against mine. I wondered if her scales were soft or rough, and I could just imagine slowly stroking the curve of her hips.
Then she yawned, and I could see that she still had dark circles under her sparkling eyes.
“You should rest,” I said gently. “Every second you can sleep is going to help charge you up for our battle.”
“I know.” She nodded. “I should take every chance I can get when he’s away. Who knows what kind of foul mood he’ll be in when he gets back here?”
“I’ll be back,” I said. “I’ll always make sure that you’re safe.”
The Dragon Queen smiled and tucked her purple hair behind her ears. I wanted to stay longer, but she needed to rest. Unlike Ethan, I knew that her safety and comfort were more important than my wishes.
“Goodnight, Jack.” She smiled.
“Goodnight, Nieva.” I said.
I stayed for a moment as she shuffled back onto the stone pillar and rested her head against it. Her icy eyes fluttered before she closed them, and her breathing slowed down as she quickly drifted off.
There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to destroy Ethan, and Nieva would never have to interact with that fucking slimeball again.
I thought about what he had said when he was trying to form an alliance with me. His interface had clearly given him a completely different quest from mine, and I wondered if this would ever change, or if he’d keep trying to recruit me into his ranks until the very end.
I switched back to the orcs’ cave to find everyone sitting around the fire. The priestesses and elves were sipping on tea, and Lurk sat poking the fire with a stick.
“I’m back,” I said. “Nieva’s safe. It seems that Ethan has gone off on a quest to find another priestess.”
“I’m so glad she’s okay!” Penelope said. “Another priestess? Where?”
“He apparently doesn’t have much of a plan,” I sighed. “It seems like he’s just searching his land for someone.”
“What a plan,” Celeste scoffed. “We filled everyone in on the cyclops fight.”
“It sounded terrifying.” Grez nodded. “I’ve never seen a cyclops before. It seems that Ethan has a lot of awful creatures in his hills.”
“How are we meant to prepare for them?” Aleia asked. “What if he has things we’ve never even heard of?”
“We’ll be ready,” I said firmly. “We already are. I know what you’re all capable of, and there is no way in hell that Ethan has fighters as skilled as all of you. The dragons are now our secret weapon, too, and Ethan will be saving them for his big finale, I’m guessing.”
“But they won’t listen to him.” Nicola grinned. “Because the gorgeous Dragon Queen is on our side!”
“Exactly,” I said. “And so are the men. It is weird that they can still speak with Ethan, but that was what happened with the orcs and Luke, too.”
“Yes,” Lurk grunted. “When we started to follow Jack, we could still hear Luke. You cannot deny the existence of a god once you know of him, but Luke had no patience. He stopped badgering us pretty quick once he realized he’d lost our loyalty entirely.”
“I wonder if Ethan will realize he’s lost the dragon-men…” Aleia murmured with a frown.
“He doesn’t seem to know yet,” I replied, but the notion did make me wonder.
I remembered that when the orcs were starting to follow me, the only information I could see on my interface about them was from my devotional map. It never showed how many other gods they were speaking with, or anything that could hint at their loyalties to anyone else. Only their faith as it pertained to me.
I figured that Ethan’s interface would be similar in that way, and it meant that he wouldn’t be able to tell the dragon folk were becoming my true followers. Maybe he’d see their devotion waning, if he bothered to check his map, but it was the perfect setup, and it made me wonder once again what exactly was controlling all of this.
The interface, our godly powers, our quests… something had to be governing it all.
Whatever it was seemed to take a lot into account, and I was dying to know what the strange balance of powers depended on. It couldn’t be random. Some gods could apparently possess their followers, like Luke possessed his imps. Some could strip beings of their magical abilities, like both Luke and Ethan had proved. But then guys like me were gifted with hours-long orgies and multiple devoted priestesses.
There had to be some means of deciding who was worthy of which powers and rewards, and I appreciated this fact.
Especially when it came to the women in this world.
I could also appreciate the fact that a god who was “known” to exist could always be heard if they wanted to be. The dragon-men would always be able to hear Ethan, but there was clearly a hitch to this. Being heard didn’t mean a god could keep his followers. So if a god didn’t lead his followers well and pay close attention, he’d never know who was actually devoted to whom.
And this meant gods like me, who wanted to play into this with some strategy, could literally keep followers working for them in secret. I could prepare them for a massive battle, without another idiot god even realizing it.
Which made it fun as hell, from where I was sitting.
A lot like a game.
“I think I’m going to head off to bed,” Myra yawned.
“Good idea,” I said as I quickly refocused. “Before you go, I just wanted to check that the shield worked okay for you? You didn’t run into any problems?”
“It was amazing.” She grinned. “It just felt so safe, and we could still see and hear everything around us perfectly.”
“Great,” I said. “It’s good to know we have more tricks up our sleeves than Ethan could ever dream of.”
“You are the superior god,” Grez laughed as he stood up. “I’m surprised Ethan wants to ally with you rather than try to stop you! I suppose he knows how pointless it is to try.”
The elves waved goodnight and headed off into their section of the caves. Lurk and the priestesses started to put the fire out, and my thoughts drifted back to what Grez had said.
It really was odd that Ethan’s quest was the complete opposite of mine.
Another thing that made me curious about how this all worked.
Could it have something to do with what Luke had said before I killed him? The asshole, e-boy of a god had claimed that everyone wanted to beat me. That I was the one everyone was after.
It was insane to think that I could somehow be the almighty god in this world. I couldn’t even comprehend how that would be possible. I was just Jack. Or at least, I used to be. I still didn’t know how I’d become a god, and there were a million questions that nobody seemed to be able to answer.
Those questions would just have to wait. Ethan was a slimy coward, but he was a much bigger threat than anything I had faced before. His followers might not be as loyal as mine, but they were brutal, bloodthirsty creatures, and I had no idea how many were under Ethan’s control.
The women said goodnight to Lurk and headed off to their cave for the night. I checked my God Vision and scanned the area to make sure Ethan wasn’t trying to sneak any of his creatures into the caves. There were several orcs on guard duty around the caves, and it looked like Lurk had really upped the security.
The forest was full of life as the nocturnal creatures came out, but there weren’t any signs of Ethan’s army.
There was a steady stream of smoke over at the dragon-men’s valley, and I could imagine that the smell they were dealing with from the cyclops’ body was enough to put anything off approaching.
I was so proud of how my followers had fought today, and it was still sinking in that I had actually taken down a cyclops.
A nearby owl hooted loudly, and I watched as the on-duty orcs switched over with a new team. They grunted briefly at each other and then got on with their shifts. I wished that Nieva had someone outside her door to make sure Ethan couldn’t get in, and I decided to quickly check on her again.
I switched to the cave and found her fast asleep against the pillar. Her horns sparkled in the darkness, and her head had dropped forward to rest on her chest. It looked like she was having restless dreams, and she kept twitching and muttering in her sleep.
I wished she was one of my priestesses more than ever so that I could visit her dream, and I thought about what I would do if I was there with her.
Then I was shocked when there was a familiar flash of light, and I found myself standing in the shadows of Nieva’s cavern.
What the hell?
It took a second to realize that I was inside her dream, and I wasn’t the only one visiting.
The Dragon Queen was on her feet in the middle of the room, and she had her back to me as she faced Ethan. The blond god didn’t react to my presence, and it was clear that he couldn’t see me as he strode up and down the cave.
I shifted further into the shadows, and I tried not to gawk as I was once again baffled by the shit a god could achieve in this world.
“Then you’ll really see it properly,” Ethan drawled. “You’ll realize just how powerful I am when Jack vanishes into the abyss.”
“The abyss?” Nieva said coolly. “You think you’re able to send a being like him into the abyss?”
I couldn’t help grinning at her unimpressed, patronizing tone. Despite the power that Ethan had, she didn’t seem to be bowing down to his attempts at showing off.
He flashed her an angry glare and then covered it up with a sickening grin.
“My dear,” he laughed. “You like to act so tough, don’t you? But you don’t fool me, I know that you just need a powerful man’s touch to settle you down.”
“Settle me down?” The dragon-woman snorted. “I’m chained up in a cave. How much more settled do you think you can get me? I don’t want your touch, and I never will.”
She suddenly spat, and a small shower of sharp icicles flew out of her mouth just like the dragons. I grinned from ear to ear at the sight, but Ethan leapt back and then flushed red as he pushed his blond hair back.
“My priestess,” he hissed. “That’s not how you treat your god. Remember what we talked about before? How many other ways we could occupy ourselves together… Don’t pretend you aren’t yearning for exactly the same thing as me.”
I felt my skin crawl as he took a step toward her, and his eyes roamed up and down her beautiful body. This wasn’t right. Ethan shouldn’t be able to use Nieva’s dreams for his little power play. According to her, he’d never been able to actually touch her here, and I didn’t know how far his powers could take him in the dreamscape. Clearly, not as far as mine could, but I didn’t care to find out exactly how this worked right now.
The Dragon Queen had flinched as he advanced, and I knew I had to stop this. I was filled with fury and wanted nothing more than to put my blade right between Ethan’s eyes.
I couldn’t let him know that Nieva was my follower, though, and so I couldn’t interfere with the dream. I had to play this smarter than that, and I quickly left Nieva’s dream in a flash of light and found myself back in my god form as she twitched and whimpered in her sleep below.
