– PoV: Quinlan –
With the assistance of my Assassin class and its wonderful spells, namely [Stealth] and [Backstab], and with the aid of my super-talented rogue lover, we managed to make our way into the main mansion. There were some sneaky, cleverly placed defensive artifacts along the way, but with her unnatural senses, she somehow knew of their existence before we triggered them.
Soon after we stepped in alarms began ringing, but it was all too late already. “[Warp Gate]” I intoned while pointing at a wall, and soon the visage of my gorgeous samurai waltzing through confidently welcomed my eyes. The rest of the high-tier combatants of the Ascendants followed close behind her.
<Are we really in the middle of the enemy’s home…?> Cedric asked with sheer disbelief. As a blade master who lacked in strategical intellect, he always had to cut his way through the enemy defenses before reaching his target. Now he just… had to take a step into the swirling door and he was already at his goal…? He hasn’t even met a single enemy yet! It would take some time for him to adjust to his new reality.
<Don’t start blasting, Plump Fox.> Aurora ordered, evidently stealing the moniker I cooked up for the traitorous redhead woman.
<Hmph. I can use small-scale concentrated attacks, you know? Like the one which – to my greatest misery and sorrow – had failed to end your monster daddy.>
<Slap yourself, bitch.> My platinum-haired plump beauty ordered in a cold tone. With the assistance of my mighty [Subjugation] spell, it was not hard to set up a slave hierarchy. For now, it was very simple. My lovers, Seraphiel and Kaelira enjoyed the benefits of having the right to lord over the rest. It was just another one of the myriad of benefits the spell had over [Slave Contract]. With the archaic version only the master could order his slaves around, he couldn’t bestow this right on others.
As for the order my alchemist issued, it was delivered swiftly and without resistance as Selene involuntarily brought her palm up to her mask and lay a good smack on it. She was not at all happy but knew that speaking back would only make things worse.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at my amber-eyed lover. She likely thought that I wasn’t listening in on their conversation, or was just too angry that she forgot to care. Naturally, I’d long since known that she was much more than a needy woman who pretended to be a little girl to earn my pampering. I had no reason to ruin her fun so I played along, ignoring the obvious signs that she was a shrewd woman. It’s not like her actions of more or less begging for my caressing were false, not at all, just that there was more to her than she let on.
Anyhow.
<Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time we get a move on.> I interjected, grabbing everyone’s attention.
We were only at the entrance of the large, multi-floored building. I would’ve liked us to sneak closer to the boss’ room before summoning my warriors, but the alarm going off made me think otherwise. Now we had to climb to the summit, so to speak.
Only after a couple of encounters it become evident that going in a massive group was redundant. <Kaelira, take Cedric, Selene, and Abudha with you and go in the other direction. Don’t let anyone escape. Keep me informed of your situation.>
<Yes, Young Lord!> She accepted my words with a salute. Her army days had clearly left their mark on her.
While this member distribution left the two groups rather unbalanced, I wanted to keep my lovers in sight so that I could protect them. As for Lyra, she came along with us for two reasons.
One, with Kaelira going to the second team, sending another tanker would be ineffective. She could be much better utilized in our group.
Second, I decided to make the pink-haired beauty the final member of my permanent combat group. We desperately needed a frontline tanker who would let Ayame and Lucille enjoy wreaking havoc on the enemy’s flanks without having to take the brunt of their offense. This would also allow Seraphiel to be more sparing with her mana expenditure and healing spells, instead acting more as our offensive ranger than healer.
I could’ve had Kaelira take this spot, but she was a Phenom candidate. I planned to have her join the Consortium as my equal so that I would have more members on the inside with not only a strong voice but also enjoying the Consortium’s support. As the leader I will have to finance all my other subordinates and their growth, so if the syndicate could take the mantle and chip in, that would be much appreciated.
Now I just had to find her a good team of Heralds, since running around with five rangers as she’d been doing thus far was a big no-go for me. They were perfect to protect my home since it was surrounded by hundreds of miles of forest biome, so they would be the sentinels protecting the outskirts and the eager caretakers of the Geim.
Cedric and Selene would likely get their team spots refilled by their rich parents, so Abudha was the only one left whom I had to provide some subordinates for. Well, the last round will be an individual tournament, so it was not urgent to do so.
“Ah! Please, spare me!” A guy shouted just before Lucille’s bloodthirsty axe was lodged deep into his shoulder blades, nearly splitting him apart.
<Curb your gleeful sadism, would you? We are meant to take ones like these home with us.> Sera chided the Berserker classed woman, but we all knew it was useless. The caramel-haired beauty was impossible to stop once she got rolling, plus she could defend her actions.
<You know my axe gets sharper the more blood it sheds, right? I simply have no other choice but to murder so that I can ramp up its effects before we clash with the big shots.> Her reasoning was solid but we all knew it was just an excuse for her worrying habits.
I couldn’t help but wonder what expression Mavena, Lucille’s daughter, would have on her face if she saw her mother in action. Lucille transitioned from an innkeeper’s wife to a horrifying Berserker as seamlessly as if she’d been born for this.
“[Magic Arrow]” Sera cast her spell as she shot a dude in the back as he was doing his best to run away from us. <Hmm…> was all she replied to the woman’s earlier claims with as much doubt evident in her tone as she could bring forth.
“[Vertical Slash]” Ayame intoned her basic Samurai class ability as she split a guard perfectly in half.
More and more opposition was erected to stop our advance, so taking them prisoner was no longer a safe approach to the situation.
However, a few seconds after her kill the oriental bombshell froze. Yes, completely. She paused and refused to move. It took her a short bit to muster enough brain power to ask what was on her mind. <Quinlan… Would you care to explain why I’m earning so much XP…? As if… I had a 3X experience gain multiplier like a certain primordial someone?>