After the scream - 900 million universes remaining
In the lounge, the conversations resumed their course after Jason's announcement. Servers brought various types of drinks to the Monarchs. There was, of course, Eternity, but also different exotic wines and liqueurs from all Universes. The toxins in these had long ceased to influence the various Monarchs, yet they remained an important part of the norm within Promise. Just as it was customary to see Monarchs appear inside Promise in elegantly simple attire, most discussions took place over a glass of Eternity.
'Even if some don't seem to care about these norms,' thought Gaël, observing two newly arrived Monarchs.
The first was a man who had chosen to wear a simple white t-shirt and brown canvas pants for the occasion. The most disturbing thing was perhaps what he had forgotten to wear. Indeed, he walked the marble floors of Promise barefoot. Yet, no Monarch was surprised by his attire. He didn't seem to need elegant clothes to express his charm because his entire aura literally exuded a charisma that was on a completely different level from the other Monarchs.
He had magnificent green eyes that seemed to captivate everyone who looked at them and a smile that seemed to have the power to warm hearts and the room. His moderately long jet-black hair contrasted perfectly with his eyes, exuding an irresistible air of mystery.
The second Monarch was a succubus. If one could still believe that the man had forgotten to wear his shoes, one might think she had forgotten to wear her clothes.
When she entered the room, all the Monarchs, whether men, women, or Singularities, had curiously counted the surface area these clothes covered on her body.
They communicated telepathically as if they were still young adolescents sharing gossip.
'I have a result with a precision of 1,248,907 decimal places. Does anyone have a more precise result?' a woman's voice resonated in Gaël's head.
'I have a precision of only 567,203 here, so I won't be much help, unfortunately,' added a Singularity with an enchanting voice.
After several seconds of back-and-forth to determine who had achieved the best precision, the rough voice of a dragon resounded:
'Zhang Shi, could you give us the exact result to see if today is the day of a new record?'
All discussions stopped as if awaiting the verdict.
'It is indeed a new record.'
To keep track of this new record, he sent telepathically to the other Monarchs a number that seemed to stretch to infinity, so indecent was Zhang Shi's precision.
Despite the new record, some Monarchs were still disappointed because the first digit before the decimal point was always the same.
Of course, she could go below this threshold, but the question remained whether she could do so while maintaining the image of "decency" she self-proclaimed. For most Monarchs, decency had long been left behind.
Yet none of them reproached her. All Monarchs had their eccentricities, and only the Director could forbid them on hotel grounds.
These two Monarchs had arrived from two different entrances and were advancing towards each other in a straight line. Gaël's only problem was that he was at their meeting point. When they reached his level, he greeted them politely before slipping away to observe the spectacle a few meters away with Zhang Shi and his daughter.
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She began to passionately comment on the face-off between the two Monarchs:
"On my right, Nyxara, Monarch of pleasure, who just broke her own record, whose harem has seen significant expansion over the last millennium thanks to her extremely advanced mastery of her laws. She looks proudly at her eternal rival even though they don't have the same clientele, so maybe, just maybe, there shouldn't be any rivalry between these two. But that's a question not to think about now if we don't want to miss any of this confrontation because on my left we have Magnus, Monarch of desire, whose harem has also exploded thanks to his divine hands and massages renowned across all universes! The initiative seems to be with Magnus as he will be the first to attack today!" Aurore announced, lowering her voice as if she didn't want the two Monarchs to hear her. But unfortunately for her, they could easily hear her because their ears could pick up what was being said a few meters away, but unfortunately for them, with Zhang Shi and Gaël by her side, each of their words could make their existence a bit more fragile.
"Why did you choose to wear something so indecent today?" he asked Nyxara.
"My outfit is perfectly decent as usual, and you talk a lot for someone who didn't even wear shoes for the event."
"Anyway, there are no new Monarchs, so what's the point? Most of the ones present have already declined my multiple invitations, and I don't think my clothes will change anything. Do you really think you can seduce Gaël, for example, by coming dressed like that?"
"The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Have you forgotten that eternals and mortals are also attending the auction?"
"I think you're the one who forgot they won't be able to see us because we will be above their heads and they won't be able to see us."
As an awkward silence began to settle in the room, all the Monarchs listening to their conversation because they were the main source of entertainment at these events, Nyxara decided to counterattack:
"How many people are in your harem?"
"98,236,147,223,690,105,472."
"That's unfortunate because my harem has one more."
"Two women just joined, so I believe my harem is larger than yours."
"Only two new members? Mine just welcomed at least fifty new ones."
"Fifty? Don't make me laugh. Mine just signed at least a hundred new members!"
"Only! Mine…"
At this point, all the Monarchs began to lose interest in the conversation. Each took turns inventing increasingly colossal numbers, and when one wanted to visit the other's harem to count the members, the answer was always a no, followed by an exhaustive list of increasingly improbable reasons to justify it.
Seeing the fight tending to end on this disappointing note, Aurore raised her hand and asked:
"So if I understand correctly, Nyxara, you wore that outfit for absolutely nothing because neither the eternals nor the mortals will be able to admire you?"
All the Monarchs turned to Nyxara to hear her answer.
"Well, I just need to ask the Director for permission to appear before the mortals and immortals," she replied after a short reflection, a hint of courage appearing in her eyes.
Courage that was short-lived because Jason announced:
"They have arrived."
And the Director entered the room.