I [Heal] Alissa's ears while everyone on deck looks up, anxiously waiting for the Leviathan to appear, but it doesn't. After a few seconds, we activate the [Fly] gem again, and I summon five wind elementals so that we can return to the Carrier as fast as possible.
"Gih," Gify chirps. The Leviathan isn't coming after us.
I sigh in relief and pull Yunia's helmet off her head, then I take out a pillow from my "Items" and set it under her so that she can rest.
I sit down beside her and caress her head while she sleeps. The wounded Celestial Horns come over to us, and Ciel [Heal]s them. Paraaone thanks her and lands beside Hana. Kurii stores the used [Divine Lance] and waits while Nohopu and Hihiriwa argue about going back.
Yunia wakes up a minute later, and I smile warmly at her, proud of what she accomplished. "Good day, sleeping beauty. I'm proud of you," I whisper.
She looks at me blankly, then closes her eyes and says silent. I see a hint of a blush creeping up her long elven ears.
The sniffer approaches Hana and asks, "Excuse me, I've noticed some faint traces of mana coming from all of you for a while. You're using [Blessing Magic], aren't you?"
She raises her eyebrows in surprise and answers, "Oh? Yeah, you can see the wisps of magic if you look closely. Then there's this." She takes off one of her gloves, revealing the colorful ethereal prism of [Rainbow Crystal] on the back of her hand.
"O~h…" The winged soldiers turn their attention to her and coo in wonder.
"Isn't the Celestial Horns' armor enchanted with [Blessing Magic], too?" One of them asks.
Paraaone nods and answers, "That's right. Though ours are much stronger than theirs, I can say that their Blessings are still pretty good."
Hana starts to show off [Wind Armor] and [Rainbow Shield] to them by playing with a knife and a [Fireball].
"It doesn't look like much, but they'll certainly reduce the damage if we're hit," she comments.
A large Wasp arrives to take Kurii back to the Floater, so she takes off her helmet and stops in front of us to say her goodbyes.
"It was an honor fighting alongside you, Ryders. Our infiltration was a complete success because we could rely on you," she says with a vigorous voice, then quickly bows to us, making her beagle ears flop adorably.
"Your teleportation spell is extremely useful, and it'll certainly inspire our mages to study [Space Magic] a lot more," Oritiki comments.
I stand up and give Kurii a short bow as I say, "It was an honor to fight alongside you, too. You Chimeras have some very impressive and equally frightening weapons."
A subtle smile appears on her thin lips as she says, "Destructive [Light Magic] is actually very simple, you just need a lot of mana to power it, but that explosive spell your mage used is also quite frightening." She glances at Roxanne, who smiles proudly.
"I can only say that our race might be a bit too focused on Light and [Wind Magic]," Oritiki comments and smiles wryly.
"Perhaps… Anyway, we should go. Until next time," Kurii says and waves, then she and the sniffer leave on the Wasp while the winged soldiers follow them.
"Perhaps I should switch my focus to Kurii. Plenty of women would be swayed after being swept off their feet the way she was," Alissa comments with a mischievous tone.
"Well, she is a bit cute," I reply and shrug internally.
Aoi stalks closer with a toothy smile on her face, and I already know what she wants. "Wolfy, can I eat the Hobgoblins?" She innocently asks.
I pull out a long tainted cloth used for dismantling and drop the six Hobgoblin corpses I'd stored previously.
"Have fun," I say, then I get up and use [Telekinesis] to carefully carry Yunia in my arms, and she looks at me in surprise. "I'm just taking you to bed so that you can rest properly," I whisper to her with a gentle smile.
"Thank you," she whispers a response.
One of the Horns seems a bit horrified at seeing Aoi eat the entire head of a Hobgoblin, skull and all. She seems to enjoy loudly snapping their bones and makes sure they can all clearly hear the crunching sounds of her chewing. Ciel smiles wryly, both she and the rest of the girls are already used to seeing this.
When Kurii returns to the bridge, Nohopu finally relents and accepts not attacking the albino, then the three Horns that were wounded retire to the Floater, and things quiet down as we make our way to meet up with the Carrier again.
Night falls, and the white mist becomes so dark that the atmosphere gains a strong gloomy mood.
I ask Oritiki for some privacy, and she sends the two male Horns away so that - we can be as loud as we want during our bath.
-
"Well, that was entertaining," Oritiki comments, then she pulls - her hand out of her armor and licks her fingers. "Though, I'd prefer to - have my men with me while I listen," she adds with a wry smile.
We wave as she leaves, and another pair of Horns arrives to replace her. We're a bit too tired to make something from scratch for dinner, so we pull out some leftovers and have a varied meal.
Alissa and I start the first watch, and the girls get to sleep early to preserve their energy. I take over at the ship's controls to allow Jarn to have some time to mold herself since she's having a bit of a problem with the smaller details. She can make precise adjustments, but not at a small enough scale to properly mold a face, though I'm now able to see hints of Yunia's thin lines forming.
After a while, she stops to avoid draining herself, and I realign her soul with her body, then we let the golems fly while we cuddle on the bridge. The Horns aren't paying any attention to us, so Alissa subtly guides my down -.
After a while, Oritiki comes back, and we wake up Roxanne and Hana for the second watch.
Today is the 19th.
-
I spend a few minutes longer getting up because I wake up feeling weird. I open up my "Status" and notice that I gained [Godly Language] with 2 points. I think that my will to not learn [Godly Language] was finally overridden after abusing my Gift so heavily. It's a good thing that we're aiming to become nobility because I don't want to show the skills on my ID to anyone ever again.
Alissa increased her [Bow Use] and [Illusion Magic] by 1 (now 31 and 1+9).
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Roxanne increased her [Water Magic] by 1 (now 30).
Lina increased her [Cursing Magic] by 2 (now 8+7).
Yunia leveled up to 44. She increased her [Spirit Magic] and [Weaverism] by 1 (now 16 and 24).
It's a bit chilly today, so we have some not-carrot not-ginger soup with bread to warm us up.
Ciel checks up on Paraaone to see if he or the other two Horns need any more healing, but Ciel's [Heal] was perfect yesterday, so they're all fine.
We meet up with the Carrier an hour later, and then the Floater recharges the fleet.
"Once we're past the mist, we'll resume the Gull lessons," Hukarere says calmly, then she swallows heavily as she remembers how it usually goes-.
"Aihopu and I will make sure to fill you - again," I say to the bird with a smirk and gently caress it with my soul touch. Hukarere shivers, then she stops sharing its sense of touch to prevent herself from getting aroused.
"Did you enjoy sharing her?" Alissa asks through [Bind].
"Not really. It's pretty gay to have two men - with the same woman, but it made her happy, so I guess I'm fine? I wouldn't do it with anyone else, though," I reply and shrug internally.
Alissa smiles internally. "So, now you know how we feel. Although, at least I have learned to enjoy the 'gayness.'"
"Well, I'm never going to share any of you just on principle."
"To be honest, we don't need it. Wolfy changed us. I don't really feel like - having other men anymore, they always seem so boring in comparison to him," Hana joins in.
"No other man could ever make such a gross and obscene - toy like Wolfy can, I'm completely satisfied," Roxanne adds and sighs wistfully.
"Other men are… scary," Lina comments.
"They're weak," Aoi finishes, her mature double voice making her sound stern.
"What about Ciel and Yunia? What do they think about this?" I ask while smiling internally.
"Ciel might leave you for a Scylla male, or maybe a cute female," Roxanne immediately responds in a cheeky tone.
"Ciel would never do that," Lina defends her.
"Don't joke about this," Alissa chastises Roxanne, and we all hear her giggling evilly in our minds.
"Anyway, what about Yunia?" I ask.
"She's a - sex slave. You don't have to worry about her," Roxanne answers.
"She's also very loyal," Hana adds.
"She had a fiancé before Wolfy, but she strikes me as the type that would always do the 'right' thing… well, the 'right thing' for a noble," Alissa adds.
"She's a good person, though she's too proud to let it show," Lina comments. We all focus on Lina, making her flinch from the sudden attention. "That's just what I've perceived, I haven't talked with her enough to know for sure…" She adds.
"Well, she's not wrong. She is a good person," Roxanne agrees.
"Wow, you're being kind to her?" Hana asks with an internal smirk.
"Being a 'good person' isn't mutually exclusive with being a - sex slave," Roxanne casually responds.
Hana gives us an internal knowing look. "Yep, I was just waiting for it."
The fleet makes its way back to the Looping Winds. The Chimeras will deal with the fortress another day. It's hardly mobile, and it would be better to gather all the Horns to clear it instead of using average troops that would likely take casualties.
We drop from code orange to code yellow, so only Paraaone remains on our deck while the other Horns go back to the Floater to rest.
We don't do much over the morning as we just try to settle our nerves. The albino is still out there, and it still has thirty Kite Dragons left to harass us with. We'll have to fight it again sooner or later.
We reach the Looping Winds an hour after lunch. The Floater can't explore too far ahead since it needs to be close enough to react to an attack in time, so the fleet will stay together. A few Wasps land on the Winch to ensure a faster response for any encounters, and our ship is directed to the rearguard to cover it.
Aoi convinces Alissa and me to practice moving our mana organ together. It's likely to be beneficial for us to have three brains connected together and focused on the same task. Alissa's skill moves her mana organ without her input, but she still has the deepest insight into how to do it.
It seems that Aoi has a better affinity for this method of training than I do. It makes sense since I'm usually the one controlling them with [Bind] while they rarely try to control me, though they do like to peek into my thoughts.
Aoi is so good at it that she manages to actually push her mana organ out of her body. This means she can use a basic soul touch, which she promptly tests out on me.
I feel like I grew a new - toy and that someone's - playing with it, but it's just Aoi's soul penetrating my arm. My dragonator arms itself, but I force it back down again, then I give Aoi's head a hand chop because just a finger flick wouldn't be enough.
"Can I use this when I want to milk you?" Aoi asks innocently.
"Okay, but make sure that the situation is appropriate before you do," I answer.
She looks around, then turns to me and says, "I think right now is appropriate."
The only Horn here is Paraaone, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind. Lina and Hana are teaching him how to play cards, so he even has his back turned to us.
I sigh and relent, "Just once, we need to continue our practice."
Alissa unbuttons my pants and pulls it out for me.
I focus on cautiously syncing my mind with Aoi and Alissa so that they can control me while they push their mana organs out of their bodies.
I surrender my will to Alissa, then she takes control of both of us and transforms into a fox. My body and soul try to copy her, but I don't succeed. However, my mana organ starts to move and stretch, then the barrier between our minds weakens, and I have to stop her; otherwise, we'd start "fusing" again.
"It seems that this won't be so easy," I say and smile wryly.
"I'm happy that our minds try to 'fuse,' but yes, this is inconvenient," she responds with a nod.
As the sun sets, the mist starts to thin, and our field of view expands. Hihiriwa and Nohopu have a lively discussion about going back to search for the albino, but it would be impossible to find it with just the troops we have, and we need to stop soon to rest for the night, so they decide to leave the mist first.
Soon after night falls, the mist suddenly ends, and we see what awaits us ahead: dark circles of the purest black pepper the sky. They don't reflect any light, absorbing everything around them and warping the light that escapes in a peculiar way, creating a beautiful kaleidoscope of the lights of the starry sky, but for me, it's a chilling warning. They're Dark Voids, the black holes of this world. There must be thousands of them, but the Looping Winds has been perfectly set up, so it reveals a safe path for us to follow.
The bridges of the Carrier and the Floater suddenly burst with action, and code red is sounded. We all immediately leave the smokey highway and park beside it, then the Wasps and the Horns take off and start to form up.
Far ahead of us, a large white flame is suddenly lit, making it bright enough for me to see our enemies: the scarred albino, the remaining thirty Kite Dragons carrying Hobgoblin mages, and a small swarm of Dragolites and Harpies.
The Winch holds in position above the Carrier, and they both turn their broadsides to face the monsters.
A standoff sets in as the two sides simply stare at each other for several long minutes. The Kite Dragons aren't attacking, so there's no rush for us to engage.
The white flames of the albino die down, and it seems like it's losing the motivation to fight.
Its mouth opens slightly, revealing its multiple rows of teeth perfect for shredding. Then it lets out a long, sorrowful howl, which gradually increases in intensity until it turns into a loud roar. The Kite Dragons join in, and the cacophony of dragonic howls hurts our ears.
We aren't intimidated, but the crew of the other ships could be.
After the howling ends, the flames of the albino light up again, becoming taller and brighter than before.
It suddenly darts towards us, and the rest of the monsters quickly follow.
"Oritiki, take care of the Kite Dragons. Nohopu, Ryders, take care of the albino," Hihiriwa calmly orders.
The Kite Dragons fire off Frost Orbs that are all deflected. However, they don't stop, continuing to charge towards us, and quickly getting into range of the Trinity Cannons.
The Carrier and the Winch fire their broadsides. The Floater turns on its propellers and charges the albino head-on. We follow after them a second later, but it takes a while for us to engage the Leviathan because our ship is too slow to keep up.
The monsters completely ignore everything else and just try to swarm the Carrier, but their corpses rain from the sky as everyone fires at will.
We bait the albino into using its mirror spell, then we focus on breaking it apart repeatedly. It slaps us away like a whip, but it doesn't seem to be trying to do anything besides waste our mana reserves.
The Hobgoblin mages start to cast spells upon the Carrier, but only a handful of them complete their casts, and even then, they're immediately interrupted.
The Carrier flickers its [Wind Shield] so that it can still fire, but that allows some monsters to sneak through. The winged soldiers engage them while the guards in the gunnery rooms stop anything that tries to disable the Cannons.
The albino's reactions start to slow down, and we manage to wound it with [Beam]. Nohopu seizes the chance and starts to aim at its fins, ruining them one by one.
The monsters resort to a suicide attack, trying to get past the Carrier's shields at all costs, but they're quickly thinned out, and their attack fizzles into nothing.
The Horns turn to the albino, and multiple [Beam]s start to penetrate its body, peppering it with burns.
The Leviathan slows down even more as all of its remaining fins are seared away, then its morale seems to falter.
Nohopu breaks its mirror apart again with the Floater, then slams it against the Leviathan's face.
"DII~E!" He roars as he activates [Discharge] and [Beam] at the same time. The albino is too weak to dodge, and its face gets completely consumed by the light.
The monster roars in pain, but it quickly dies down. Its body twitches, then it goes limp and plummets into the infinite below, its menacing head now nothing more than a lump of smouldering coal.
"You are now level 36."