NOVEL NEXT Chapter 403: Beware of the snake
Damon swiped the translucent map open with a flick of his hand, the crimson-tinged interface hovering in front of him. Most of the dark faction continent was a solid sheet of misty grey, veiled in system fog. They will not be revealed until stepped upon. That's how the system worked.
The only visible area was the small stretch of coastline where they had just arrived, a jagged sliver of black beach curving against the blood-red sea. Even that lacked detail. No towns, no markers, no roads. Just a faint system tag: Coastal Region – Uncharted.
"Tch. Figures. The system's being stingy with the information. All we know is that we're somewhere along the coast, and even that doesn't help much.
While Damon had a general idea about the dark faction continent, he was also out of his depth when it came to more specific regional details. They had to explore a little to at least unlock the shape of the map so that they could see where exactly they were.
The few achievements he would get while doing this would be a sweet bonus. Instead of simply relaxing on the beach like this, he decided to work on this.
"Alright," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet. "Beach day's over. We've got work to do." He walked over to the group, who were still busy fighting with the crustaceans. "Are you guys good here, or do you need me to stay?"
Kate smacked the nearest crab with a flare of crimson light, its shell cracking like brittle glass. She spun her staff once, flicking blood from the tip, and shot Damon an incredulous look. "Do you hear yourself? 'Do you need me to stay?' Damon, these are oversized appetizers. We've got this."
Mark grunted, ripping one of the Demonblood Crabas in half with his bare hands, his titan bloodline-forged muscles gleaming under the unnatural sky. "She's right. This isn't even a warm-up. Go do your scouting."
His voice was calm, but his competitive glances at Kaelthorn suggested he was more interested in keeping his personal kill count higher than anything else. It looked like the two of them had some sort of competition going on between them.
Damon chuckled in amusement. "Fine. Just message me on the group chat if you guys need me. I will be here in 3 minutes at max. Blood Gate should be faster here." He turned around to leave when Kate called him once again.
"Hey, wait. Take this snake girl with you."
"Huh? You mean, Erin?"
Kate's eyes twitched. "Yes, Erin."
Damon raised a brow at Kate, a smirk tugging at his lips. "What, you don't trust me to wander off alone?"
"Yes, you big goofy idiot. At least take one backup with you."
Damon chuckled and did not say anything. Naturally, Erin was more than happy to accompany him. The two of them then started walking back to the beach. It would be easier to map the land using the coastline as a reference.
They had barely walked a few feet when Erin quickly made sure to cling to Damon's side.
Mark saw this and then glanced at Kate briefly before minding his own business and working on his kill count.
Kate would have snapped at him, but even she too was busy staring at the stunningly beautiful woman who was now practically wrapped around her boyfriend.
"My lady. If you don't mind me saying… You should be careful with that snake." Ellora walked over closer to her. Clearly, she was also not pleased with what she was seeing.
"You might be the harem queen at the moment, but that snake is a cunning and hungry creature," Ellora finished, laced with disdain. She was not going to miss this wonderful opportunity to take that snake down a peg.
"Not hungry for food, hungry for position. For status. For our Lord. She hides it well behind servitude, but I can feel the ambition leaking off her aura. If you don't watch her closely, she'll coil around him tighter than her tail ever could."
Kate's jaw clenched, her crimson eyes locked on Damon's retreating figure as Erin clung to his arm like a prized trophy. "Tell me something I don't already know," she muttered. "Wait. What? What the fuck do you mean by harem?"
"My lady. Surely, you can't tell me you don't know what a harem is?" Ellora tilted her head, genuinely confused.
"A harem. A circle of women bound to a single man, competing for his favor, his attention… his love. Wives, concubines, and servants. In ancient blood courts, it was a symbol of power. A king's strength wasn't measured only by his armies, but by the strength of the women who surrounded him."
Kate's face turned unsightly. "Thank you for explaining the obvious. I meant that Damon would never ever be into something like that. You don't know what you are talking about."
Ellora smiled. "Of course, my lady. I can see that my Lord only has eyes for you. But… My lady, forgive me for being blunt. Our Lord is not an ordinary man. He's not a simple husband or lover. He is climbing toward the throne of darkness itself."
"And men like him… they rarely walk alone. Even if he is not interested, women will throw themselves at him just like that snake. Women who are plenty willing to share him with others. Someone might actually use it against you to steal your position right from underneath you."
"I see." Kate blankly nodded as she continued watching Erin walk away with Damon. She wanted to tell off the slutty vampire witch for being a busybody, but at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to ignore her words.
What if Ellora was right? What if she couldn't keep up? What if her place at Damon's side wasn't as unshakable as she thought? Would she have to share him with others? What if he asks her to? Was she ready to do something like that?
Such a concept was completely foreign to the modern world, but their world was changing. What if that idiot's expectations changed along with it?
Kate shook her head. She did not want to think about all these things. "Let her try," she muttered, crimson eyes narrowing on Erin's retreating figure.
"If she thinks she can take him from me, she'll regret it." She clenched his fists as she started killing off the crabs at a faster pace. She was not going to lag behind.