NOVEL NEXT 3.59: Post-Coital Clarity
Over the next several hours, the four of us took turns enjoying each other fully. While Gehenna brought me to an earth-shattering climax with her tongue and fingers, Nialla and Em held each other close as they whispered words of love to one another. My gorgeous fiancée took full advantage of her newfound ability to order me around without my demonic instincts getting in the way, and continued our little Domme/sub play from earlier. Gehenna seemed intent on making Nialla cum over and over and over until the poor girl was barely conscious, and once everyone was sufficiently recovered, the three of my demon wives triple-teamed me to bring me countless mind-shattering orgasms. After the three of them allowed me to descend from the orbital heights of ecstasy, we all collapsed back against the pillows in a heap. Once we stopped giggling at our tangle of limbs and sweaty bodies, we adjusted ourselves so that Gehenna was resting with her head against my chest, Nialla had one leg draped over mine while her head was resting in Emelia’s lap. The adorable catgirl was purring loudly while Em played with her blue and white hair, and my own fingers ran through Gehenna’s golden locks as she traced the figures tattooed onto my skin with her fingertips.
As the post-coital haze we had settled into started to dwindle, I found myself replaying the day’s events and wondering what our next steps should be. Gehenna, being as perceptive as ever, stared up at me with concern.
“What is on your mind, my love?”
I gently kissed Gehenna’s forehead before leaning my head back against the pillows and letting out a long sigh.
“Today has me questioning a lot of things… Like… becoming Empress. Or… This PvP event we’re planning. I don’t know what’s the best course of action now that the entire system has decided to gang up on me. I’m worried that every time we go to do a dungeon run we’ll end up in another fight for our lives that results in several clan members being stuck at level 1 for a day. “
“I am actually quite confident that will not happen. At least any time soon. By my count, this unsuccessful ambush cost them what I anticipate is a large portion of their higher leveled forces. You and your clan took out, at best guess, nearly 800 archangels. Not to mention the likely destruction of a Soul Titan.”
Nialla turned to look at Gehenna at the mention of the Soul Titan.
“Is that what that big-ass armored dude with laser eyes was called? That thing was insane. Not only was it immune to pretty much everything we threw at it, but it was also stupid fast and even more deadly. If Emmy hadn’t frozen his joints I’d hate to think how much more deadly it would have been.”
“The fact Emelia was able to affect it at all is a testament to the strength of her magic power. Soul Titans are generally immune to all but the strongest attacks. Even most World Tier abilities are not enough to bring one down. The combination of nigh indestructible armor along with the resilience of hundreds of bound archangel souls makes for a truly terrifying weapon. The fact no one was killed by it is truly astounding, and speaks volumes about the strength of your clan, Allie.”
“It is your clan too, Gehenna. From the moment you asked to join I already considered you a member.”
I saw Em open her character menu and then close it after pressing a few buttons.
“There. Gehenna, I am officially inviting you to join Lost and the Damned.”
Gehenna lifted one of her hands off my arm and opened her own menu. After what I assumed was her accepting the invite, she closed her menu and beamed up at me.
“I am happy to count myself as one of your clan members, Allie. I never thought that when I first laid eyes on you that I would find myself with not only the love of my life, but also a loving family.”
Nialla grabbed Gehenna’s hand and squeezed it gently while I pulled my blonde demon wife tighter against my body. After we all let out small sighs of happiness, Gehenna turned her golden-eyed gaze back on me.
“I believe it will be some time before the angels choose to mount any kind of attack against you. I doubt they fear any direct retaliation, but I am confident they will take defensive measures while recouping their losses. In my opinion, you should use this time to strengthen your clan, both in number and in power. While increasing your own power is important, it should have been more than obvious that we would not have triumphed had you not had the assistance of your clan members. As the future empress, you need to have an army at your back if you plan to defend yourself against any who would seek to harm you or your clan. Now that I am part of your clan, I will see about moving some of my guards here for an added layer of protection.”
Hana materialized suddenly beside the bed and I had to fight against my reflexes to not strike at the sudden appearance.
“Forgive my interruption, and for eavesdropping… But I actually have a suggestion in that regard, Gehenna. You have your own castle, yes?”
“I do.”
“Since obtaining control of the clan castle, I have come to the realization that I can control more than just the placement of the rooms. I am even able to make it so that we could, in theory, move the castle to another location. I followed this logic as I considered possible locations that would be more favorable, when I came to a rather interesting conclusion. Once Allexus either became Empress and corrupted you, or you joined our clan, the next logical step would be to combine the resources our clan has with the resources you have, Gehenna. Crafting materials, gold, soldiers… but most importantly… a more centralized location for the entire clan and a symbol of authority for the empress. If we were to relocate our clan castle to the same location as yours, Gehenna, we could combine the two buildings into one enormous fortress worthy of both the powerful Lost and the Damned clan and the Empress of Demons.”
Gehenna sat up on the bed and looked thoughtfully up at Hana. The yellow and black eyed demon woman only slightly glanced down at the blonde demon’s naked body before staring intently into her eyes.
“If we devised a method of teleporting the entire castle to the same location as mine, you would be able to take control of it in the same manner that you do with this one?”
“I believe so. I have quite a few menu options designed for adding more structures to what’s already available, so I would assume that would apply to any previously constructed buildings that are nearby. I suggest we teleport a smaller structure close to this castle first to see if my idea is viable. If it proves successful, we can use a variance of your own teleportation magic to move this castle next to yours. From there, the only thing I would need is suggestions for what you want the new structure to look like.”
Gehenna nodded slowly and then looked from Hana over to me.
“I am not against combining my own personal resources with those of the clans, but I would not feel comfortable with the clan taking possession of anything specifically owned by my empire. Until you become the empress, it would be in our best interest to keep the politics separate from the clan. Once you do claim my throne, you could name the clan as your own personal army in service to the crown with you at its head as both clan leader and Empress.”
I considered both what Hana and Gehenna had said and nodded my head slowly.
“I like that idea. I think moving would also make it that much harder for our enemies to locate us, and it gives us the opportunity to vastly increase our defensive strength. As far as becoming empress though…”
I frowned at Gehenna slightly before furrowing my brows and continuing.
“Right now I think it would be best if I hold off. With everything that’s happened, I don’t need the added responsibility of running an empire in addition to dealing with getting our clan to where it needs to be. I’m not saying I won’t do it, I just think it might be best to focus my efforts elsewhere until I feel the clan is self-sufficient enough that I can divert my focus away from it.”
The gorgeous blonde demon surprised me by grinning widely. I knew that she had already been hesitant to give me her crown just yet, but I hadn’t expected her to be happy with the decision to hold off.
“I believe that is a wise decision, Allie. I will continue to use my power as Empress to protect you and my empire, while you focus on building your forces and growing stronger as a whole.”
I was about to say something about the PvP event until a question that had been nagging the back of my mind bubbled to the surface.
“Hana… how long were you eavesdropping?”
The Korean woman blinked her eyes several times as her cheeks took on a slightly rosy hue. I could tell she was debating on the best way to get out of answering me, but also knew that I would simply summon her to my side and force the answer out of her one way or the other. Emelia spared Hana from having to answer when she suddenly spoke up.
“I, for one, am not bothered by the idea of Hana watching while we fucked. What about you guys?”
Nialla shook her head and gave Hana a wide toothy grin. Gehenna simply adopted an amused expression as she smiled at Hana, and I just rolled my eyes and shrugged.
“I guess you’re off the hook for now, Hana. But we will certainly talk more about your voyeurism during our next allotted time slot to maintain your efficiency.”
Hana blushed profusely as she nodded her head, and without another word, she disappeared. I chuckled softly as Gehenna laid back down and returned to her previous position on my chest. I kissed her forehead again before laying out everything that I was thinking.
“OK… so… priority number one is recruiting more members. I think we need to get several more crafters; lower level ones who could sort of apprentice under Kyra. While she could work on the high quality pieces, having a large clan will require more gear and constant maintenance. Instead of her devoting all her time to making normal grade gear and doing basic repairs, other less skilled crafters could handle that so she can focus on better training them and crafting custom pieces for higher level clan members. I won’t go into full details, but Kyra also suggested finding some sort of gatherer who specializes in harvesting all types of crafting materials.”
When I felt Gehenna nod her head against my chest, and heard murmurs of agreement from Em and Nialla, I grinned to myself as I pictured a massive armory full of all sorts of epic gear. The idea of having a ton of crafters constantly working to make stuff for the clan would go a long ways in helping us get more gold, gear up our clan better, and foster relationships with other players who potentially bought our gear. While I had initially wanted to keep the clan small... I was getting more and more excited about growing our numbers.