NOVEL NEXT Chapter 452: War Endless
War Endless. The words hit him like a truck—pun intended, considering his previous life experience with trucks.
'Well, shit,' Pyris thought, his mind racing. 'Of course there's a War Endless. Because why wouldn't there be?'
He already knew Endlesses were like the final bosses of concepts—Moon, Lust, and apparently War too. They weren't limited to just a few either, but they weren't as common as gods. Think of them as the ultra-rare SSR cards of existence.
"God of War. War Endless! Makes perfect sense!" he muttered under his breath. "Wars are literally everywhere. I mean, come on—show me one existence without conflict and I'll show you a boring-ass story nobody wants to read."
It was just like how Lust was too massive a concept for any single god to handle, so Lilith existed as the Endless of Lust. So, there was a War Endless. But here's the kicker—Moon Endless was self-made.
She literally bootstrapped herself into being an Endless.
'Did the War Endless pull the same thing? 'cause that would make that Endless freaking powerful' Pyris wondered, feeling a chill run down his spine. 'Because self-made beings are always the most dangerous ones. They're like those overpowered protagonists who started from nothing and became gods through sheer willpower and plot armor. And this is an Endless who embodies war itself. That makes them dangerous.'
But that was a rabbit hole for another day. Right now, he had bigger problems—like why the hell was some supposedly weak vampire from the Dracula house connected to beings like Endlesses?
'What does she know? What doesn't she know? And more importantly—is the War Endless chilling in the Godly Realms or causing chaos somewhere else?'
Lost in his thoughts, Pyris didn't realize he'd reached the banquet until the sound of laughter snapped him back to reality.
'Oops. Main character spacing out again,' he thought with a wry smile.
He kept his presence low-key—because nothing said "I'm plotting something" like dramatically announcing your arrival—and just watched from afar. His smile widened as he spotted his harem—I mean, his beloved women—scattered around the room like beautiful flowers in a garden he'd somehow managed to cultivate.
'Damn, I'm good,' he thought smugly.
At the main table, his mother Emberly was holding court alongside Zara, Astrid, and Nysa. Next to them, his other women were living their best lives—Alexa was laughing it up with Zalaria Serenova, the Chosen One of the Mortal Realm (because of course she was a Chosen One, this was that kind of story), while Alera sat there eating with the expression of someone who'd rather be anywhere else.
"That muscle-head," Pyris chuckled, watching Alera demolish her food with the enthusiasm of a necromancer who'd rather be raising the dead than making small talk.
'My necromancer girlfriend hates social gatherings. Honestly, relatable,' he thought. 'She's probably counting down the minutes until we can go back to real adventuring and she can go back to her comfort zone of death and destruction.'
Emilia and Madeline were laughing together—apparently they were hitting it off better than he'd expected. They were chatting with his big sister Anastasia and Aurelia, plus Rose, who despite being a maid, carried herself with the dignity of family.
Because that's what she was, and anyone who had a problem with it could take it up with House Obsidian's legendary hospitality.
'Translation: they'd get destroyed,' Pyris thought with satisfaction.
All his women were at the long table—a beautiful sight that made his heart warm and his ego purr like a satisfied cat. The female leaders were trying to carry conversations while uncomfortably watching Alera eat like she was in a speed-eating competition.
Every time they stared too long, she'd shoot them glares that made them look away faster than NPCs avoiding eye contact with the final boss.
'That's my girl,' Pyris thought proudly. 'Alera's death stare is legendary. If I didn't have my Eyes and connection to death itself, I'd probably be shitting myself too.'
Moonveil, Ammit, and others were there too, with Elsa sitting next to the Demon Empress—who most people called Calamity, because apparently everyone in this world had dramatic titles.
Pyris's eyes scanned the room like he was reading a character roster, cataloging all the important players.
At another table, his eyes met hers—Valerie. The vampire princess looked at him and smirked softly, and he smiled back as she mouthed "I miss you."
'Cute,' he thought, his smile widening. 'Even vampire princesses get clingy.'
Next to her sat her brother Ragna—Pyris's first enemy in this realm, now more of a yapping rival. Then there was their big brother, the crown prince, looking appropriately crown prince-y.
Lekiza, Kaelion, and Alexander sat together—the three most publicly known royals of the Human Empire, basically the poster children for 'we're important and we want everyone to know it.'
The twin elves were there too, next to Selene, who kept their not-so-serene energy of Time and Space in check like she was casually holding back the universe.
'Selene's not exactly royal, but her influence runs deeper than most of these actual royals,' Pyris mused. 'Plus, she's stronger than most of them combined. Gotta love overpowered side characters.'
Then there was Drakon, the Crown Prince of the Dragon Empire, sitting there like he owned the place—which, considering his heritage, he kind of did. Unlike the other royals who were busy flaunting their status like peacocks, Drakon carried himself with the vibe of someone who'd rather be doing literally anything else.
'Spoiled prince on the surface, dangerous and calculating underneath,' Pyris thought, studying the dragon prince. When Pyris told him about his father's involvement with gods, he wasn't even surprised. Just said he wanted nothing to do with gods who only wanted to rule and trample mortals.
That reaction had impressed Pyris. Most people would be either terrified or excited about divine connections, but Drakon? He'd been like "nah, I'm good, thanks."
'Makes me wonder what he knows that others don't,' Pyris thought. 'Either way, he's entered my "males I can actually tolerate" list, right next to Song and Abbadon, Jasper and Zaranrel.'
Jasper and Zaranrel were sitting among the royals too—definitely his mother's doing, making sure House Obsidian's influence was properly represented.
But the real storm cloud of the royal table was the Crown Prince of the demons, known only as Cataclysm. Because apparently, subtlety wasn't a strong suit in the demon nobility.
'Most powerful of all the royals, even including Selene,' Pyris noted.
Dangerous as hell, and even at the academy, nobody knows much about him. Spends most of his time training or with his woman, Temptation—who's also Liez's sister, because this world loves its interconnected relationships.
Pyris was still enjoying his mental catalog of all the beautiful royals when he felt it—a shift in the atmosphere that made his metaphysical hackles rise.
'Oh, what now?' he thought, his eyes immediately darting to the table of male leaders.
There they were—Dracula looking appropriately vampiric, the Elf Emperor being all ethereal and mysterious, the Dragon Emperor whose eyes kept wandering to Astrid (because of course they did), and the Emperor of the Chaos Demons just... watching everything like he was filing it away for later.
Next to Zolo Vallen of the Aether Dominion, the Human Emperor was starting to stand up.
'And there it is,' Pyris thought, his amusement turning to irritation. 'The plot thickens.'
He'd had the whole room wrapped in his presence—a neat trick he'd picked up—so he felt the shift before the emperor even moved. He knew exactly what the man was trying to do.
'Despite our earlier confrontation, this persistent bastard hasn't given up on using Alexa as his way into House Obsidian,' Pyris realized, his eyes narrowing.
The Human Emperor was making a beeline for Alexa, probably planning to have a "father-daughter chat" that was really just another attempt at political maneuvering.
'Bold move, considering where we are,' Pyris thought. 'Alexa's strong enough to shut him down without my help, and Mom would probably step in before I even had to do anything, but...'
He paused, a slow smile spreading across his face.
'Isn't it time I made my entrance? After all, what's the point of being the main character if you don't occasionally remind everyone why you're the main character?'
The Human Emperor was about to learn why messing with House Obsidian's people was a very, very bad idea.
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Author's Note: Oh snap! The Human Emperor is about to make a move on Alexa! But our boy Pyris is watching everything unfold. Will he intervene? Will there be drama? Will someone get absolutely destroyed at a fancy banquet?