The Woods of Shadowfen went dead silent.
Twenty elite Imperial Bounty Hunters, clad in reinforced steel plate and armed with crossbows and enchanted halberds, stood frozen in the mud.
At their head, the B-Rank Commander slowly took a step back, his sword arm shaking violently. He looked at Valeska, whose six-foot-two obsidian frame was radiating black, crackling flames. Then he looked at Lilith, whose reptilian golden eyes were pulsing with dark purple void-fire.
"T-Two Calamity entities..." the Commander whispered, his voice cracking with sheer terror. "Wasn’t there only one of them?!"
"Fufufu..." Lilith purred, twirling her massive, double-bladed void scythe with one hand. "Look at them, Valeska. They’re trembling like little rodents. May I slice their limbs off one by one?"
Valeska didn’t even look at Lilith. She stepped past her, her six-foot black greatsword igniting in pitch-black fire. "I told you, void witch. I was here first. These insects are mine to incinerate."
"Oh? Is the Ashen Monarch greedy?" Lilith giggled, her spade-tipped succubus tail flickering playfully behind her. "Why don’t we share, then? First one to kill ten gets to break the master’s left leg tonight~"
"Hey!" I yelled from behind them, leaning against a tree. "Excuse me! I’m standing right here! Neither of you is breaking my legs!"
Both six-foot-tall disaster maidens ignored me completely.
The B-Rank Commander’s face turned pale. "R-RETREAT! ALL UNITS, FALL BACK TO THE CAPITAL—"
"Too slow~" Lilith purred.
She didn’t even run. She simply swung her void scythe through the air.
SWOOSH—CRACK!
A crescent-shaped wave of purple void energy tore through the rain, severing the trees, the mud, and the front ten bounty hunters in a single horizontal flash. Space itself seemed to warp where the blade passed, dissolving their armor and weapons into nothingness before they could even scream.
"My turn," Valeska growled.
Valeska slammed her boot into the ground, unleashing a wave of black kinetic fire that swept across the remaining ten soldiers.
BOOM!
The explosive heat detonated against their shields. The Commander and his men were instantly blown apart, their burnt armor flying across the forest in a cloud of ash.
In less than three seconds, the entire twenty-man elite bounty hunter squad was completely erased from the face of the earth.
[System Notice: Combat Assistance Recognized!]
[Max Aether Capacity Increased: 520 -> 600!]
[WARNING: Maintaining TWO Calamity-Rank Entities Drains Aether at 2X Speed!]
[Current Aether Pool: 60 / 600 (Draining Rapidly...)]
The moment the fight ended, the heavy energy drain hit me like a runaway freight train. My vision went blurry, my lungs seized, and my knees slammed into the mud.
"Gah...!" I wheezed, clutching my chest.
Maintaining one SSS-tier disaster summon was hard enough. Sustaining two of them at the same time was like trying to power a city grid with a AA battery.
"Fufufu, look at that," Lilith purred, gliding over to me with a dark, predatory smile. She leaned down, her dragon horns almost touching my forehead as she reached out a single razor-sharp fingernail toward my throat. "The little master is already out of juice. Should I carve a little hole in his neck and drink his remaining soul essence?"
"Touch him and I will sever your arm, witch," Valeska snarled, stepping between us and pointing her burning greatsword directly at Lilith’s face.
"My, my. So defensive," Lilith giggled, her golden eyes narrowing. "Are you hoarding him all for yourself, Valeska? Or are you afraid that if I touch him, he’ll like me better?"
"He is my vessel!" Valeska roared, her visor burning an apocalyptic red. "His soul is tethered to mine!"
"So is mine" Lilith contorted.
While the two six-foot-tall disaster maidens were busy locking weapons and glaring daggers at each other three inches above my head, I forced myself to stand up.
’If I pass out now, they’re gonna turn this forest into a crater fighting over my corpse.’
I stepped right between them.
"Both of you... shut up for a second," I wheezed.
Valeska’s visor flared red. "Mind your place, insect—"
Lilith smirked. "Fufufu, the little human wants to speak—"
I didn’t let either of them finish. I activated my innate attribute and reached out with both hands at the exact same time.
My left hand grabbed Valeska’s exposed, pale waist right above her hip-guard.
My right hand grabbed Lilith’s soft, sensitive dragon-tail right below the spade tip.
[Innate Trait: [Somatic Overload Lv. 1] Activated!]
[DUAL SENSORY OVERLOAD ENGAGED!]
BZZZZZZT!
A massive, concentrated double-burst of purple Aether erupted from my palms directly into both of their bodies simultaneously.
"Ah...!" Valeska let out a sharp, breathless gasp, her knees instantly buckling.
"A-Ahn~?!" Lilith let out a high-pitched, shuddering squeak, her double-bladed scythe slipping from her hand and clattering into the mud.
The terrifying, world-ending aura radiating from both disaster entities completely collapsed in a split second.
Valeska’s featureless visor instantly flared from a dark, murderous red into a blinding, flustered pink. She stumbled back against an oak tree, clutching her waist, her armored shoulders shiver-shivering as fast, shallow moans escaped her lips.
Lilith collapsed onto her hands and knees in the mud right beside me. Her spade-tipped tail was twitching uncontrollably, her golden reptilian eyes rolled back, and her face flushed a deep, burning crimson as she panted for air.
"Y-You... degenerate... human...!" Valeska gasped, her voice trembling so hard she could barely speak. "How... how dare you... touch both of us...!"
"F-Fufufu..." Lilith wheezed from the mud, her dragon horns sparking with weak, erratic purple static. "W-What is this... disgusting... pleasurable magic...? My body... won’t move..."
I stood between them, taking deep breaths as the System notifications flooded my vision.
[Entities ’Valeska’ and ’Lilith’ Experienced Dual Sensory Overload!]
[Valeska Receptivity: +5% (Total: 25%)]
[Lilith Receptivity: +15% (Total: 15%)]
[Aether Pool Fully Restored (+540)!]
[Max Aether Capacity Increased: 600 -> 750!]
My Aether pool surged back to full capacity, expanding all the way to 750. The intense exhaustion vanished, replaced by a fresh wave of energy coursing through my veins.
"Told you," I said, wiping a spot of rain from my cheek as I looked down at them. "As long as you’re tethered to me, you follow my rules."
Valeska glared at me through her pink visor, her teeth gritted so hard I could hear them grinding.
Lilith lay in the mud, her spade tail still twitching, looking up at me through her long black hair with a mix of shock, embarrassment, and a terrifyingly dark spark of interest in her golden eyes.
"You’re going to pay for this, little master..." Lilith purred weakly, though her cheeks were still burning red. "I’m definitely... going to break you..."
"Yeah, yeah. Add it to the tab," I chuckled, adjusting my jacket.
I pulled up my System HUD to check our location.
[Main Quest: Escape to Oakhaven]
Current Location: Edge of Shadowfen Woods
Distance to Oakhaven: 3 Leagues
Max Aether Capacity: 750 / 1000
Progress to 3rd Calamity-Tier Villainess Unlock: 750 / 1000 Aether (75%)
Through the thinning fog at the edge of the forest, the distant, chaotic lights of a massive, walled city appeared against the night sky.
Spikes, iron gates, and roaring bonfires marked the perimeter of Oakhaven—the lawless city where criminals, dark mages, and outcast mercenaries ruled the streets.
"Alright, ladies," I said, looking back at the two SSS-tier disaster maidens who were finally recovering their breath. "There’s our new home. Let’s go see what kind of trouble we can cause."