93 Chapter 82: The Kyou Kara Maou Situation
SHREEET
The naked elven girl quickly conjured two paper talismans on her hand before mumbling an enchantment, causing the runes written on the papers to glow briefly in purple hue. The girl then projected the two pieces of paper at a pile of clothing lying neatly on top of a large boulder on the side of the lake. As the flying papers approached their destination, they suddenly transformed into two large eagles, fetched up the two pieces of clothing and flew back to the girl and her brother. Despite one of his hands being restrained by Kibadios, the elven brother swiftly reached out to his clothes and hastily wrapped it around his tempting naked body and covered up his soft skin.
「Release your hand, you idiot!」demanded the brother angrily. With his remaining free hand, the brother had already taken out a piece of talisman and aimed at Kibadios' head. Although the hybrid had never been well-versed in runecraft, he could easily tell if he ever took the brother's attack heads on, even he would be severely injured.
「Wow, there!」Kibadios released his grab before jumping backward away from the brother. 「Can't you calm your tits. Like I said, I didn't mean to take a peek at you two.」
「It doesn't matter that you didn't mean to!」Screamed out the brother.「What mattered was that you saw us naked! What's worse, you dared to stop my slap!」
「Huh?」
「Yue dono, Ren dono?」Uran, the elven lord suddenly emerged from the thick hanging vines at the lake's entrance, his hand raised up to cover his eyes. 「What's going on? Are you two okay?」
「Lord Uran, we're fine.」Ren, the male elf, quickly responded with a clear hint of anger in his voice.「We're fully covered now, you can lower your hand.」
「Kibadios? What are you doing here?」Uran lowered his hand , though he was surprised once he noticed the hybrid standing close to Ren..
「Uran dono…」Yue, the female elf, slowly made her way toward the confused lord.「... Kibadios… dono… has just seen us… completely naked.」Explained the girl.
「What?!!!」
「And to make it worse, he had stopped my slap.」chimed in Ren, his fiery gaze fixated onto the hybrid.
「No way…」Now, even Uran was horrified, which puzzled the hybrid even more.
「Uran dono, can you explain what's going on here?」Kibadios asked the young lord.「I just accidentally witnessed them bathing in the lake. This was completely unintentional on my part.」
「... I'm afraid it doesn't matter, Kibadios dono.」The lord shook his head, unsure of what to do. 「According to the traditions of the Kingdom of Yue, the royal members are not allowed to be seen naked by anyone besides the other royal members.」
「Royal?」Kibadios raised his eyebrows.
「... If they are to be seen naked by someone, no matter the circumstances, they have to be married to that person within three days.」
「Who came up with such an idiotic tradition?」Kibadios could not believe what he had just heard, though his comment quickly drew anger from the last two members of Yue Royalty.
「Ren dono tried to nullify that by initiating a slap with his right hand, as dictated by Yue's tradition…」Uran continued to explain. 「Yet, you swung your hand and grabbed his wrist. That gesture meant that you rejected his attempt at nullification and challenged him and Yue dono to a duel.」
「What the… A duel?」
「Yes, the worse thing is that, in this duel, the only way for Yue dono and Ren dono to "win" is for them to kill you out right…」
「Seriously, who came up with these stupid traditions?」complained Kibadious.「This whole situation reeks of the first meeting between Yuuri and Wolfram in Kyou Kara Maou!」
「Stop calling our traditions stupid, you ignorant hybrid!」Ren glared at Kibadios.「If you want, I can end you right here, right now, instead of waiting until the day of the duel.」
「This whole situation is not all my fault. What are you two doing here, anyways? Who would bathe at night in a lake?」
「They… they have to cleanse themselves in a large body of water before carrying out the coronation ritual for the princess' coronation later tonight, Kibadios. Because the coronation will take place at the Fyeran's capital, this lake is the only large body of water around. 」explained the young lord. 「This is getting troublesome…」
「You don't have to worry, Uran dono.」Ren turned his back and walked away with a tightly clenched fist.「We have to go back and get ready for the event. Yue and I only need to finish him off during our duel and this all will be solved.」
「Ren dono…」Uran hesitantly called out to the high shaman.
「What if I win, Uran dono?」Kibadios asked the lord.
「... If you triumph in the duel, then not only Ren dono and Yue dono are to be wedded to you, they have to dutifully serve you as your faithful partners until the day they die.」
「Hmm… Is that so?」 That's not too bad. The hybrid thought to himself.
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「... And from this day henceforth, Yllaner Elsa Shilna, first born daughter of Lady Seoder Elsa Shilna, will ascend to the position of High Queen of the Shilna, and the Supreme Leader of the Vernys Confederation. 」Despite her usual soft spoken voices, Yue loudly proclaimed, as the crowning ceremony had finally come to an end.
「If any of the four great Clan Heads would like to object to Queen Yllaner ascendancy, please speak your mind.」Ren continued while looking down at the four figures who stood on either side at the end of the wooden steps below. Naturally, none of the four newly enthroned Clan Heads would elicit any dissenting reply. 「... And so, we have consensus. Please raise, Queen Yllaner of the Shilna Clan.」The former princess, who was kneeling in front of the High Shaman twins, slowly stood up. 「Please, Lady Seoder, please present the Unity Crown.」Ren turned to his right hand.
The former queen of Shilna nodded from the side before slowly making her way toward the three, holding a leafy crown made from everlasting green vines, decorated with five different flowers representing the five Great Clans of the Forest. She made a smiling gesture and nodded respectfully at Ren and Yue, the High Shamans of the Confederation before solemnly placing the crown on top of her daughter's lowering head.
「I'm sorry to have placed such a burden on you at such a young age, Yllaner.」Seoder whispered as she embraced her daughter. For the elven kind enjoy a long, extended life span compared to other beings, at 27 years old, the newly enthroned Queen of the Shilna would be the youngest to ever receive the title of Clean Head in the entire history of the forest. Her mother, Lady Seoder, only had ascended to the title herself when she was 87 years old, which was already considered too young for the role. Nonetheless, despite her age, none of the inhabitants of Vernys uttered any disapproving rumors, not after she had decisively destroyed the rebellions staged by her own brother with her own machination.
「Mother, please don't worry.」replied Yllaner softly. 「I am no longer the little Yllan chan that you coddled years ago. I'm strong enough to take on this challenge.」
「... You're right.」Seoder smiled.「... I should've said "Congratulations, Your Highness!"」
「Thank you, Mother.」The queen reciprocated her mother with a warm squeeze before letting her go and turned toward the forest participants below.
「I know, our confederation had endured trying times recently.」Yllaner's saddened eyes gazed down at the audiences.「... and I was… partially to blame. However, here, I stand before you, as the Queen of the Shilna Clan and the Supreme Leader of our beloved Confederation, not to lament in the tragedies of the past but to implore you to join with me and look forward to the future. In the shadow of this conflict stood the great Empire to our North, their gaze fixated on the territory of our forest. They were hoping that our forest would be embroiled in conflict, would be exhausted of manpower and will to fight so that they could swoop in and take over our beloved homeland with minimal efforts. However, thankfully, due to the diligence of the newly appointed Clan Heads who had tirelessly worked behind the scene to ensure the survival of the Confederation, our union still stands in unwavering support for one another. From now on, as the leader of the Confederation, I ask of you to lend me your strength and support, so that we can preserve our independence and unity, in the fight against the Yin Empire that has yet to come. For the Vernys Confederation! For the Great Forest Spirits! For the Vernys Confederation! For the Great Forest Spirits!」As Yllaner concluded her short speech, the fiery chant continued to grow as the ceremony participants bellow started to raise their hands and stomp their wooden spears onto the ground in excitement.
「... I gotta say, I thought Yllaner would be too devastated to give such arousing speech, or worse, to be unable to carry out this ceremony so soon after the death of her dear beloved.」One of the Clan head, a large elven man with his blond hair being braided behind his back, commented.「Turns out, she's much stronger than I gave her credit for.」
「That's why she's our leader, Ferran.」Another Clan Head, whose extremely short stature was his sole distinct feature, smirked. With his hands raised up behind his head in a posture that was rather disrespectful for such a solemn ceremony, the elven man continued. 「Good think I made the correct bet to side with her. It works out much better than I would have hoped for.」
「Opportunistic as always, Elegas ?」Uran leered down at the man. Among all of the newly appointed Clan Head, only Elegas was the one person who he could never have gotten along with. Although he fully acknowledged the elf's crafty and strategic mindset, he could never understand how could Yllaner place her trust in such a man who had openly declared he cared not for the so-called unity of the forest if it brought him no personal benefit. [It's no doubt that he's more capable than many of us, but that man is only out for himself. How can we ever rely on him in such a crucial moment like this?] Uran recalled the conversation with Yllaner not too long ago. [Every person has their own price for loyalty, Uran dono. How can we ever say Lord Elegas' motive for siding with us, even if they're in order to seek personal power and prestige, be any less meaningful than our desires for maintaining unity of the forest? I would rather work with someone whose motive I knew, rather than someone whose thought I could never read.] The Fyeran Clan Head let out a soft sigh before continued「...Know that I'm keeping an eye out on you. If you ever betray the forest and side with the Empire, I will the first person to come for your head.」
「Relax, Uran.」Elegas waved his hand dismissively. 「I'm no idiot like my foolish father. You know, the reason why he agreed to Yllaes' proposal was because a representative from the Empire had guaranteed that in the case Yllaes ever attack our territory, the Yin Empire will side with us and help us repel the Shilna. On top of that, they even threw in a rather lucrative trading offer with us too. My father's eyes were so clouded by greed that he could not realize the long term implication of such a deal… With the Empire breathing on our neck, for better or for worse, I'm forced to commit to preserving this Confederation, even if it means the head of our Hygos Clan would have to serve under the Shilna's Queen. It's better than being enslaved by the Yin Empire as they trample through our forest.」
「...Besides, if we're to be subordinates to someone, I'd prefer that person to be Yllaner dono. She fully deserves our respect.」Hunter, the dryad Clan head of the Hiki, chimed in.
「Guess you're right.」Elegas agreed.
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「「「Welcome back, Master!!!」」」Every member of Kibadios' harem excitedly greeted him as they noticed their hybrid master had just walked through the door. Even Nu, the slime, was erratically jumping up and down on its elastic body, causing the boing boing sound to fill the room before deciding to land on top of its master's head after its final jump, making a nest out of his dark purple hair as usual.
「Welcome back, Kibadios sama.」Hayden lowered his head.
「What took you so long?」Asked Reuk.「That hidden lake wasn't that far away from here, right?」
「Yeah…」Kibadios absently nodded, his mind still full with the thoughts about Matelus' story and the incident involving the elven twins he met.「You see…」Kibadios decided to tell his group what happened with the twins, though he elected not to tell them about Matelus yet, for even him would not know what to do with such information.
「「「What?」」」Again, everyone was shouting in unison after hearing what Kibadios had to say.
「This is bad, Kibadios.」Reuk, who knew the most about the High Shamans of the Forest, declared.「There's no way you can get out of this. The High Shaman twins, Ren sama and Yue sama are the last royal members of the extinct Kingdom of Yue that existed 40 years ago, before it was conquered by the current Yin Empire. Although they serve as the forest's high shamans, they strictly observe the traditions of their fallen kingdom so if it dictates that you have to fight in a duel to settle this incidence, you cannot really refuse it, no matter how you try.」
「Is that so?」Kibadios sat down at the chair before sipping a cup of tea that Maia had just poured for him. 「Well, it's fine then. That just means they'll be added into my harem and join you guys with me in bed.」Kibadios confidently smiled while looking at Maia and others.
「... Yuusei will have kouhais?」The mutant hybrid excitedly asked.
「Kouhai?」The question took Kibadios by surprised, though he quickly realized what his slave meant. Since Yuusei has been hanging out with Ryuu, the young mutant had learned about the hierarchy of the harem from the dragonoid himself and ever since he was subjected to erotic torture by Rowan that one night, the dragonoid had always been respectfully referring to those who join Kibadios' harem before him as "Senpai" and those who joined after him as "Kouhai." 「Ah yes, I guess?」The hybrid gently patted Yuusei's head.
「... But, did you not say it's practically a duel to the death since the only way they can break free from their vow of marriage is to kill you, Kibadios sama?」Hayden raised his voice. 「Wouldn't that be a problem?」
「You worried too much, Hayden kun!」Ryuu dismissively shook his head. Ever since the dragonoid met the former adventurer, he had been rather fond of him, for much like himself, Hayden had overtly expressed his uttermost devotion to his new hybrid master, treating him as if he was his new God. 「There's no way Master would lose to them.」
「... Hmm… I'm not so sure.」Reuk disagreed.「As royal members of the Kingdom of Yue, Ren sama and Yue sama are experts in Runecraft. Currently, in the whole world, I'm sure they can be considered as two of the top 5 Runecraft users. It won't be an easy fight if they go all out.」
「Runecraft huh? Back then, I had a close friend who was well-versed in Runecraft, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never master it.」recalled Kibadios. 「Oh well, no point in worrying about something that I can do nothing about. We'll see which one of us would come out on top once we fight.」After taking the last sip, Kibadios slowly stood up then turned to the dragonoid and brushed his face .「I'm really tired now, I think we should just call it a night. I'm sorry, Ryuu. I know that I promise to reward you once I get back but I'd like to just sleep tonight.」
「That's fine Master.」Ryuu tried his best to hide his disappointment. 「You should take care of yourself first and foremost… But… Can I just sleep next to you tonight? It's just been a while since…」
「Of course.」Kibadios pulled him in for a deep, wet kiss, which made the dragonoid's cock slightly twitch in his pants.
「Thanks, Master!」
「「「Goodnight, master.」」」said the others, though all of them shared the same worried look since they had never once seen their master refused sex before, no matter how tired he was. Although they could not tell the reason, none of them had missed their master's troubled expression ever since he got back.
「Please rest well tonight, Kibadios sama」Hayden nodded as the hybrid walked past him to his chamber.
「... Hmm, what's wrong with him?」Reuk, who had been living inside Kibadios for too long, had also noticed the hybrid's peculiar manner.
「... I… don't know. Did anything else happen? He didn't tell us any details about his meeting with Matelus dono… I wonder if he really saw Matelus dono there at the hidden lake.」Ryan replied.
「Seriously, your master should really open up sometimes.」Reuk stated the obvious.
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[Now that you have also learned about it, don't you feel powerless to stop what's destined to happen, Shisou?]... [The very act of destroying the tree of life just means not only you have doomed the Astrals, you have also doomed the future of this whole world …] … [So, I'm curious, what's your answer, Shisou?]...
The conversion he had with Matelus kept replaying over and over in his mind as he laid on his bed motionlessly, with Ryuu by his side. Since his current reincarnation, he had never felt so lost, knowing that his path for vengeance would undoubtedly doom the world. Yes, he was fine with sacrificing the majority of this world population in his quest against the Astrals, but completely destroying it, robbing it of its future would be a completely different story. Since his death under the hand of the Astrals ten thousands years ago, his fondness for humanity and many races that inhabited Esthar had indeed completely vanished, for most of them had opted to betray him and his followers the moment he needed them the most. Yet, why then, am I still hesitating? Kibadios asked himself. Why did I just not agree with Matelus and his quest to end this world once and for all? If this was me a year ago, would I have joined him? Kibadios seemed to have already realized the reason why he hesitated, since he slowly looked down at the dragonoid, who was sleeping soundly, leaning his body against the hybrid, with a satisfying smile donned on his face. Had he not met Rowan, Maia, and others… Had he not experienced the pain, the happiness, and the struggles of the people he encountered, his "answer" would probably be the same as Matelus'.
「Master? You're okay?」The hybrid's loud sigh quickly woke the dragonoid up.
「Yeah, I'm good. Sorry for waking you up, Ryuu chan.」Kibadios warmly wrapped his arm around the dragonoid before pulling him closer into his embrace.
「Kibadios sama…」Ryuu, despite his rashness, was still very tentative to his master's emotion. 「You know we're all here for you, Master. If there's anything trouble you, please share it with us.」Ryuu tugged on his master's night shirt.「I don't want Master to suffer alone anymore.」
「...Thanks… Ryuu!」Kibadios was taken aback. 「... What if… what if my decisions… what if what I'm doing, turned out to be wrong?」In a moment of weakness, the hybrid seeked to confide in the dragonoid.
「What do you mean?」Ryuu looked at his master, puzzled.
「... Nothing, never mind.」
「... Master, just know that, whatever you've decided on, whatever path you've chosen to walk, all of us will be next to you.」Ryuu knew it would be pointless trying to pry for more information from the hybrid, instead decided to just broadly reassure his master. 「...willingly, lovingly, and devotedly by your side.」
「... Right…」Kibadios simply acknowledged by squeezing the dragonoid with a warm hug. Before long, the two men slowly fell asleep, with Kibadios' arm wrapped around Ryuu while the dragonoid's tail around his master's body.
