Beyond SSS-Rank After Getting The God System

Carl stepped through the portal through which Danielle had absconded with Lydia, finding himself in a deserted region of Faylorn, backed by the familiar crackling of the portal closing.

"Carl, out!"

"Like hell I'm leaving Danielle! I'm sorry if this isn't what you guys wanted, but she just nearly worked all the hospital staff to death, I want to make sure she can be herself."

"Don't be stupid Carl, no one is just going to accept a demon walking about!"

"You're the stupid one, we have plenty of things worse than a diluted demon running about. This isn't the committee anymore, she doesn't need to worry about acceptance, did you all forget about the fact Grandma walks about, not to mention the new vampires, the dragons, Majesty?"

"This is different Carl!"

"Well at least I know how you managed to keep up with Klaire, you just stonewalled her with stubbornness." Carl mumbled, knowing he was going to pay for it later. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not willing to let her keep doing this to herself, so she needs to face the fact she doesn't need to hide it anymore."

"Carl, I'm warning you, leave."

"Tiamutael, put them in front of me." They appeared in front of him and inside a small barrier he had created. "Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be, you grabbed her as a friend then got enthralled by her immediately didn't you."

Danielle groaned as her head cleared. "Carl, you're going to pay for that stubborn comment later, but help her."

"I intend to, gotta pay her back somehow..." Carl knelt down and asked Danielle to disrupt her soul, then snagged a peace when it became detached. "...Healy, can you come out please, we need you to help your mum."

The jellyfish emerged from the pocket of Lydia's white coat, then Carl activated the skill to modify them, adding the piece of Lydia's soul to the mix. "Hopefully this works for now at least, I don't want to use the laws until I know how it won't have side-effects. Sorry Danielle, can I use you as a guinea pig? We need to be sure."

"I don't mind, if it helps her."

Carl withdrew the barrier. "Now, Healy, control her pheromone output. Total neutralisation until directed otherwise."

Healy latched on to Lydia, whose wings, horns and tail fully sprouted instantly. Her condition was hard to evaluate, she appeared unconscious but nothing to leave her in that state had happened.

"Carl, I'm not under her influence, did it work?"

"Can't say until she starts moving, what even happened?"

"Don't be mad, but Leanna conditioned her with a kind of pause button. A keyword that shuts her down for a while, unfortunately it doesn't stop her producing the damn pheromones."

"I can't believe mum did something like that, is that why she had Lydia locked in her room for a month?"

"Yes, it was unpleasant."

"Well, is there a phrase to wake her up?"

Danielle nodded, then spoke the word and woke her up, her eyes flickering and looking around in a stupor. "Daniell? Carl? Where are we? I feel strange."

"Don't forget Healy, thanks to them, your pheromones are under control."

"Under..." As she began to reply her tail whipped in front of her, long and slender like a leather whip. "...Carl! You need to leave! Go now!"

"Sorry Lydia, your horns, wings and tail are all on display. Have you noticed Danielle isn't under your influence right now though? I mixed Healy with a bit of your soul and gave it a self-control skill."

"Carl! That's!..."

"Lydia, we all love you. I know I crossed a line, but we couldn't turn a blind eye this time, you nearly worked your team to death. You need to stop repressing this, you're being ridiculous."

"What the hell would you know!? We aren't all lucky enough that our curse changes into something we can tolerate."

"Lydia, you're being really horrible. I didn't know you had such a low opinion of everyone, sure I can marry the heir to Faylorn and date a celestial fox, but I can't look past the nature of the woman who saved me?"

"You're not the only one here Carl. Just because you don't care, doesn't mean others won't."

Sensing the argument going the same way, Carl realised that Danielle was actually just arguing on Lydia's behalf.

"You know what, I'm not going to argue. Your choice, want me to change it all? I can use the law of divinity to neutralise your succubus heritage completely, if you hate being a hybrid so much I'd rather you be human than a hypocrite."

Danielle tried to mediate a little, but very quickly realised this was the two most stubborn people she knew going head to head.

"How am I a hypocrite exactly?"

"How!? Let me think, you spent all that time fighting for hybrids to be accepted, just so you could hate being one. I'll be sure to tell them how I can "purify" them too."

"It's not like that, you brat!"

"How so? Everyone has things they don't like about themselves, I solved the issue and you're still not happy. Why don't you come with me and join the variants? Sure they'll love using you as a poster child for pure-blood supremacy."

"He has a point Lydia... I understand not liking the uncontrollable bits, but why be so stubborn about it? Carl pointed out earlier that species is hardly an issue, people even go and check on Majesty to make sure she isn't lonely."

Carl blinked in shock and looked at her. "Really? Doesn't she have more company than anyone?"

"Not helping Carl..."

"Look, you don't know what it's like. My own body tells me, screams at me to be something I don't want to be. Do you have any idea what it means to hate yourself one way or another?"

"Yeah, I mean, duh. I'm a human, you know, the species that made life difficult for everyone I care about, oh and I might be the son of the one who decided to treat all of creation as characters in a game."

It was clear from Lydia's reaction that she had admitted her defeat to herself, but she was going to insist on fighting anyway.

"Oh, so because you have a few genuine tough things to deal with that means no one else can?"

"No, you can have your tough thing to deal with if you want, but if you choose it while I'm dangling several resolutions in front of you..."

"You know you're going to turn into the committee if you keep trying to force things like this."

"I know, so I'd much rather have you around to keep me in line. Do you have any idea how oblivious I can be? Danielle, can you make sure she's okay please? She might need some new clothes to accommodate the extra bits."

"Alysse will be able to make something I'm sure, though getting her to focus might be more difficult than calming Lydia was."

"Carl, I'll give it a chance, but if Healy can't keep me under control I'm done."

"No you aren't, this is just your apology, I can't believe you hid yourself from me and Klaire like that... We love you like family and you didn't have a shred of faith in us. To make it worse you insisted on helping, was it to make us feel like we owed you? Just hedging your bets if the truth ever got out?

I'm sorry for taking a piece of your soul and modifying Healy without permission, but what you did was worse, you decided to treat everyone like the committee. Could you not trust me because I'm human? Did you regret sending me to live with Leanna?"

Lydia curled up into a ball and sank. "You're right, I didn't think for a second you wouldn't care and I did regret sending you to her a few times. I literally saved the human's hope for a decent future they don't deserve."

"You didn't save anyone's future, I'm not going to forget all the harm the human supremacists have done to everyone, I'm pissed I had to hate myself for all that time too. I'm giving the species a future, but the people of it are on their own and have to choose."

"Wow, you really like twisting the knife, don't you? Just go Carl, you should go help Kyubi, she didn't seem right."

"Hell no! Klaire's occupying her and I want no part in whatever they're doing and I'm taking you back to apologise to everyone with me. I should have noticed something was up, from now on all facilities need to check in regularly. Now come on."

Carl turned and tried to see the hospital with his farsight, managing to find it by what felt to him like pure chance. 'Now just need to open a portal, I done it by accident that time, I just did it without thinking...'

Carl took a deep breath, turning back and asking them if they're ready before just turning back to where he saw it and stepping forward, a portal bursting into life as he focused into it as though the ward was right in front of him.

"I see, so a portal is just the perspective made real by divinity..." He said to himself as he stepped through and appeared next to the others, who had stayed to watch the staff.