Chapter 137: Chapter 137: Dive under kotatsu to calm down
"..." Momonga stared a bit at Yasaka, who was currently in a traditional-looking Japanese futon with an ice-pack on her head, and it looked like she was steaming quite hard from fever while she was completely out cold. Streaks of sweat ran down her temple and her cheeks had flushed red from fever while her face was otherwise pale
'So, they already managed to build a fairly developed-looking half-a-city in my backyard, more or less… It's less than a hundred miles from my castle-estate, or Phenix castle-estate I suppose… I feel as if I've stepped into a edo-period village that somehow developed electricity and working plumbing…' Momonga had not been aware to what extent the Youkai faction had managed to develop the areas that had been temporarily leased to them. It looked like they, or rather Yasaka, had probably decided to make themselves homely and count on Momonga not evicting them from the land and sending them off to some more remote and barren location like the now-vacant Dragon Mountains. '...That being said, I'm not sure it'd be wise to have all of the yokai of power gathered in one place… Makes it easy for them to organize if Yasaka decides to stab me in the back, or if she gets coup'ed and the new ruler doesn't favor me as much… Well, it'd be pretty optimal if their 'capital' of sorts was in my lands as it'd be easy to arrange an 'accident' if needed, and I could have Yasaka send a group of them to the dragon mountains to rebuild the place and start farming the dragonfruit, eventually making a city out of it and spreading the Youkai across so that it's harder for them to organize themselves without our help… Hm, I'll have to ask her about it once she's fine…'
"Dadddy!" A weight landed on Momonga's stomach and he realized that Kunou, who had been until then beside Yasaka and had been wiping her face, had spotted Momonga and dive-hugged him. "You'll heal mommy? You've come to heal mommy, right? Everything's going to be alright! I knew you'd come!"
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Momonga reached to pat Kunou's head and she purred a bit in joy, all the while her fox-tails waved side-to-side like those of an excited puppy. 'Heh… Seeing Kunou acting cute helps after that… whatever that was… with Venelana… Hm… I wonder if Kunou is lonely? Millicas seems to be behaving well enough, perhaps she'd find him a fun playmate… However, that places Kunou in Grayfia's sphere of influence as she might be able to manipulate Kunou through Millicas. Alright, scratch that plan… Perhaps if I introduced her to Koneko and Asia?'
"Can you give me some space to work, Kunou-chan?" Momonga reached behind his back to grab a vial of black tears from his inventory, hiding the act out of habit more than necessity. "I'll see if this heals Yasaka."
"Oh- yeah! Of course!" Kunou hopped back and sat down beside Yasaka while gripping the front of her red miko-theme skirt in clear nervousness even if she was quite determined and hopeful as far as her expression was concerned.
Momonga reached to pat Kunou's head for a moment before leaning over Yasaka and drawing a few drops from the bottle of black tears, and putting them on her temple.
The tears absorbed themselves into Yasaka's temple… But had no visible effect. 'Huh. Hm… So, either that's not a physical affliction but mental or spiritual, or I didn't use enough tears…'
Momonga confirmed the situation with a few more drops that had no impact, and contemplated using a few drops of healing from his sole remaining YGGDRASIL healing potion but decided against it. 'Hm… So, if it's a mental affliction that bothers Yasaka, much like Sairaorg's mother Misla, should I try some, um, more arcane way of healing her?'
"Do you mean, turning her off and back on?" Ddraig supplied helpfully.
'...I think I should get Kunou out before I do that… She might not appreciate the sight…' Momonga had almost gotten the words to his lips to dismiss Kunou before he noticed that Yasaka was opening her mouth a bit.
No voice came from the sick kitsune woman, and the way she opened her mouth was more like a gasp for air than an attempt to formulate speech, but Momonga nonetheless heard something from her direction, alongside a swish of her nine tails that lifted her blankets up a bit- "Help… Kunou… keep…. safe…"
"Sure, no problem. I'll keep her safe." Momonga agreed easily, and it seemed almost as if Yasaka's body spasmed a bit, somehow making Momonga think that she heard what he said.
'Hm… Yasaka's a mother through and through… I feel a bit bad that I teased her about being a lewd mother back in that shower…' Momonga reached to stroke Yasaka's hair to calm her down, and it seemed to work as she passed out again almost as if she recognized Momonga's hand and allowed herself to lose consciousness in relief. And then Momonga got an idea.
'Ero-world has ero-methods… I should already know this, but I keep trying to use common sense to problems that require ero-sense.' Momonga reached down and kissed Yasaka, hoping that ero-world methods would result in Yasaka getting healed without Momonga needing to sacrifice his last healing potion on it. '...Hm, hm? I can actually feel the experience trickling in… So she feels this even if she's unconscious… Come to think of it, Kuroka gained experience, I think, when I did 'that' with her, so would me doing this to Yasaka also strengthen her?'
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There was a struggle in the Interdimensional Gap.
Hastur had snuffed out the sun of Amaterasu as soon as the Outer Being had breached the veil of the Interdimensional Gap, the King of Shepherds becoming an unwilling sacrificial sheep himself to sate the hunger of the Devourer.
A strange dragon had assaulted it as soon as the veil was breached, but that did not worry Hastur much- It was already aware of how the Devourer worked.
The terror of final death grasped the very existence of Hastur as the Outer Being fought for his existence, uncertain if destroying the strange dragon was something that the Devourer had sought to 'fatten it up', or if it was some sort of ploy, a skirmishing rabbit at the entrance of a deadly-calm forest that strung joyful sheep to it's branches, dancing on invisible strings and drawing unwary travelers and shepherds within the cover of the forest's leaves… Within their eternal graves, in the desolate and remote tomb-world.
Yet, even as indecision wracked Hastur's existence, it felt a tug.
It had devoured the existence of Amaterasu in an instant to snuff out her revealing light, and drawn from the invisible strings of power that connected the corrupted deity to the lost sheep bleating within the forest…
…And one of the strings began to tug back.
Hastur's existence froze still in abject terror of the realization that in it's panic, it had took the bait, it had swallowed the bait and the barbs within in a single bite, and now the forest was reeling in it's prey, dragging the Outer Being towards it on the invisible strings of souls.
Moreover, the bleakness that Hastur had tasted once before… It spread towards him along the invisible string, lazily and unhurriedly.
Hastur screamed in horror without a voice in the ethereal void of Interdimensional Gap and ejected, or rather vomited out the mess of spiritual energy, faith and memories that remained of Amaterasu out of the being that was 'Hastur', ejecting it as a mist-like substance to the non-existence of the Interdimensional Gap in much the same way a octopus ejected it's ink.
The strings were cut, allowing Hastur to dodge yet one more trap that the Devourer had laid on its forest, on its tomb-world…
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Ophis's anger passed all reason, all logic, and all terror that she might have felt from beholding the Outer Being in front of her.
She saw only red, red of blood, her own blood as Outer Beings could not bleed, the red of silence born from killing everyone and everything.
Even herself, if that was necessary for her to be in calm silence.
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Albion screamed in terror while Ophis used him as a dragon-shaped flyswatter against an Outer Being which was apparently fleeing in terror from the crazed Ouroboros Dragon, hoping against hope that chain-casting [Divide] could affect Hastur in any way.
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Yasaka's breathing turned from labored struggle to calm, almost serene sound, all the while Momonga kept the kiss going.
'...Figures that ero-methods worked the best in ero-world… Fine, fine. Fate or whatever, I'll do it, so stop taunting me… That goes for you too, Ddraig.'Momonga thought half in relief, half in exasperation, and motioned mentally for Ddraig to stop tilting his head in confusion at what was happening in the 'real world'.
"Well then… All's well that ends well?"
'Sure, fine…' Momonga realized that Yasaka had reached up with her arms and put them on his chest, clearly unsure what was happening and preparing to toss him off her… Only, it seemed that Yasaka recognized Momonga after a few seconds and refrained from pushing him off.
"I… I didn't think… I'd ever wake up… The pain, the… the…" Yasaka mumbled sleepily into the kiss, albeit as she woke up more she seemed to crumble spiritually, and Momonga leaned into the kiss to shut her up before she'd knock herself back into the coma.
Yasaka mumbled sleepily into the kiss and relaxed visibly, allowing her arms to slump down so that Momonga could get closer. He wrapped his arms around her waist and tied the kitsune's fluffy blanket tighter around her body. "Ah… touch me… I'm so cold… haa… Your hands… so warm… come… under the blanket… yes…"
The fox-tails swept from under the blanket and tied themselves around Momonga's waist and legs, preventing him from leaving even though the grip was more than a bit shaky, and he got the impression that Yasaka was feeling really weak and needed comfort.
However, before Momonga could get too much into it, he remembered that the two of them had an observer.
Said observer was swishing her tails from side to side like an excited puppy while her eyes had stars in them. "I knew! I knew daddy would be able to heal mommy! I was right in telling the maids to go tell daddy what was going on! And all it took was a kiss of true love!"
Kunou seemed to tittler on the spot in an excited frenzy for a moment, before she launched herself at Yasaka to squish her cheek against Yasaka's while her mood changed abruptly to that of frightened sobs. "It was so scary… Mommy…"
"Shh… Everything's… Alright…" Yasaka mumbled back to Kunou's ear. Momonga felt as if he was a third wheel and tried to detach himself from the pair, but Yasaka's tails effectively caged him in. "Momon… Once again I'm… in your debt…"
"It's alright. It's the least I could do for, umu, my wife." Momonga felt a bit awkward to refer to Yasaka that way, but nonetheless moved in to kiss Yasaka's temple while Kunou's sobs subsided and turned to calm purrs.
Yasaka pulled him instantly under the blankets while shivering quite hard, and Momonga hugged her to warm her up… And for once, he didn't consider it a political move to curry favor. '...With Kunou like this… It feels a bit like family… Haa, a family built on lies and political maneuvering. Sheesh… Kunou is not going to be happy once she learns at some point that I'm not actually her father…'
Something landed on Momonga's head and he glanced at it only to see that Yasaka had started to stroke his head while Kunou had tilted her head at him. "Daddy… Is everything alright? You look sad…"
"It's… nothing, just some stray thoughts. Don't worry about it. I'm glad that Yasaka is safe now- What happened?" Momonga dismissed the two's worries, even though Yasaka's head-stroking felt quite nice. It looked as if Yasaka could tell and kept stroking his head while tying her tails around him, clearly both to comfort him and also to draw heat from Momonga's exterior body heat as Yasaka's body under the blankets was quite cold and sweaty.
"I felt… I serve the Shinto Gods as their messenger and herald to the rest of my people, but… I felt Amaterasu, or what remained of her, get devoured by something foul. That foulness sapped strength from my soul, and… I feel as if that foulness was rejected from my body when you touched me. And now I can't feel Amaterasu's light anymore." Yasaka mumbled sleepily as it looked like the encounter was starting to tire the sick kitsune quite a bit. "Be careful… Momon… Whatever slew Amaterasu… it's old and powerful… It might… come after you…"
"Well, if that happens then I'll deal with it." Momonga used headstrong words even though internally he was starting to freak out a bit. 'Old and powerful? Like, something like the Maous? Sheesh, give me a break! Is this a shounen anime?! Do the enemies really have to grow stronger with each encounter?!'
The frustration and sudden fright threatened to overtake Momonga's self-control, but he wrangled the emotion back… Even though it was a closer call than he wanted to admit.
So, instead of worrying, he distracted himself by reaching with his arm to hug Yasaka and Kunou against his chest as the trio were on Yasaka's futon. "It's all right… I won't let either of you get hurt by it."
Yasaka let out a small, relieved sigh and her body grew still, followed by serene breathing as she allowed herself to fall asleep, tired by both the events just now and from her illness that, while no longer causing her to be in coma, had clearly exhausted her.
Kunou seemed to be waiting for something, and Momonga reached to kiss her temple as a good-night farewell before reaching to kiss Yasaka as well, this time on the temple as well as Suzuki Satoru's sensibilities were reinforced by Kunou's presence, and the feeling of wanting to protect her as while she wasn't his biological daughter, she did act the part.
Since the tails around Momonga's body were relentless in their grip, and since it was getting a bit late anyway, Momonga decided that he might as well have a nap. 'Haa… not to mention, Yasaka's and Kunou's tails are fluffy and comfortable… It feels good… I wonder if someone is making blankets from kitsune tails… Actually that would be pretty horrible… huooaaahh…'
Momonga dozed off.
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A figure skid across a frozen plain, and came to a stop as he struck his three blades against the ice and used them as ice-picks to stop his slide.
"Haa. Haa. Haa." Cocytus's breathing was a bit labored, but he was nowhere near done yet.
However…
"I'm starting to get a bit bored, you know? You should at least react when you get hurt." The invader clad in a corset and black dress seemed bored as she tossed Cocytus's ripped-off arm to the side, alongside the blade that it had held just moments ago.
"Pain. will. not. break. me." Cocytus answered simply while pulling off a simple, ethereal-looking blue bandage from his inventory and slapping it on the hole the loss of an arm had left in one of his shoulders, causing the hole to stop bleeding blue liquid. It was a temporary fix, and neither would it restore Cocytus's arm, but nonetheless the consumable allowed him to operate without a debuff from losing a limb.
"I can see that. Ah well. I was hoping that this would be interesting… Anyway, before I finish you off, tell me- Is this 'Supreme Being' of yours in here somewhere?" The woman reached to clean her ear with her pinky finger, clearly unimpressed by Cocytus's resolve in face of pain. "I'd like to see if he or she is living up to the hype. Beelzebub-kun hyped that thing up to be a really big scary end-of-times sorta thing, but so far I've only seen weaklings whose only redeeming trait is that they don't die instantly."
Cocytus calmed himself before the invader's words drove him into rage, well aware that surrendering to fury would disgrace his creator's memory by allowing himself to become vulnerable- The past events had taught him well. "If. the. Supreme. Being. decides. to. fight, you. would. lose. Of. this. I. am. certain."
"Tough words, cockroach-kun. Now then… Time to die~" The invader, Nyx, sing-songed and pulled her hand back with the fingers joined together as if she was planning to spear it right through Cocytus's body even as they were more than hundred feet apart.
Cocytus tensed up, ready for battle to continue…
"Hm… You did well, Cocytus-kun. Indeed, it is time for this… battle… to end." A voice came from somewhere in the blizzard of the Fifth Floor of Nazarick, and the blizzard cleared up in an instant.
The weather turned clear and clean, even if the sky was bleak and cast a bluish, cold shadow across the Floor and caused the snow to appear almost hypnotically white.
And the group that had approached Nyx and Cocytus under the cover of the blizzard and the sounds of battle came to view.
Albedo was clad in her battle-armor and wielding her bardiche.
Demiurge was adjusting his glasses while his smirk reached from ear to ear, even if it was clear that the demon was not in his element amidst the ice.
Shalltear was fanning herself while smirking at Nyx, completely unbothered by the cold.
Mare and Aura stood ready behind the group, and Cocytus saw that Aura had brought in a number of beasts with her even if all of them were keeping out of sight, hiding under the snow or behind black, sharp rocks protruding from the snow. Mare, meanwhile, had his staff up and looked determined if slightly shaky.
Above the group, Victim floated in seemingly uncaring manner, but the flying, gigantic fetus-Angel's eyes were keenly aimed at Nyx.
And in front of them all, was the Supreme Being himself in all his skeletal glory.
"...You've done well, Cocytus-san. Retreat for now, and rest. We'll need you when we deal with the next wave of intruders." Lord Issei spoke to Cocytus while the skeletal Overlord was clad in a black cloak that billowed with ethereal winds and on top of the cloak he wore heavy red armor. "...And you. Intruder-san. I am Issei, so please introduce yourself."
"...Issei, huh? What a boring name. Tell me, is this 'Supreme Being' somewhere around, or do I have to seriously comb through every nook and cranny of this place to get a proper fight and a toy to torment? Sheesh…"
"I have been called that, yes. And I've been called the 'Supreme Being' as well." Lord Issei seemed to sigh, and waved for Demiurge to calm down as he had opened his mouth in preparation for [Command Mantra] "Now, I believe that it is your turn to introduce yourself?"
"Haa… Seriously? I'm Nyx. And you're supposed to be the 'big bad' that caused Beelzebub and his devils to suffer a collective panic attack? Haa… I feel like a big fool for believing in a devil word… I should have known Beelzebub was talking out of his ass… He's probably ransacking the place for trinkets or something while I get saddled up with cleanup-duty…" Nyx seemed a bit frustrated as she eyed the Supreme Being up and down, and smirked in malice as she seemed to draw a conclusion. "Well, it's not like you're going to be able to defeat me anyway… I suppose I could do Beelzebub a favor and bring him your head, and then extort a bunch of favors from him…"
"Hm… When you say 'Beelzebub and his devils suffered a panic attack'... What exactly do you mean?" Lord Issei reached up with his hand… And began to scratch his chin in contemplation while the pair of red dots that made his eyes in empty eye-sockets brightened a bit. "I take it that you know of the devils?"
"Oh, I know all sorts of things… But anyway, time's a wastin and I have no desire to talk to things that are going to die anyway. Or should I say, die again, mr skeleton?" Nyx turned properly towards Lord Issei and lifted her hand in much the same way she had when she prepared to run it through Cocytus.
In response… Lord Issei began to walk towards Nyx at a calm, leisurely pace while motioning for the Guardians to stay put while he walked ahead. "You know, I'd prefer if we talked. But if you want to fight for real, then…"
Lord Issei's empty eye-sockets were lit with baleful red light. "...You're going to lose."
"Bring it." Nyx's face flashed with a malefic smile… And she disappeared from the spot.
Cocytus's face snapped to the side as he tried to keep up with the movement that was less a 'run' and more akin to Nyx materializing somewhere else like a shadow spontaneously turning corporeal, and saw…
Nyx's hand had reached for Lord Issei's neck, and…
Lord Issei had dodged by twisting his head to the side a bit.
In return… Lord Issei had reached for Nyx with his skeletal hands, and had groped Nyx's breasts.
The scene seemed to have frozen still. It looked like Nyx was unaware of what exactly had happened. Or rather, she couldn't believe what had happened.
"...You know, I think I'm a bit angry now." Nyx talked in a calm, matter-of-fact voice while addressing Lord Issei directly. "Die."
The second blow was struck by Nyx, this time as a blunt fist-blow landing directly on the center of Lord Issei's chest… And Cocytus heard a small 'pap' sound.
The invader's fist was resting against the skeletal ribcage, and the attack had failed. It had sounded almost like a toddler trying to swing at a wall, and it looked like Nyx's body was starting to become lethargic.
"Eh?" Nyx sounded surprised as the attack had failed to do anything to the skeletal lord.
And then she winced as Lord Issei's grip on her breast tightened.
"...Hm. Indeed, you were quite powerful. But you made a fatal mistake… Did you think your power was unshakable? That your breasts would not betray you?" Lord Issei's grasp tightened even more, all the while Nyx fell to her knees while her expression changed from arrogance to terror in an instant.
"What… are… you?" Nyx's arrogance broke in an instant, alongside her dress as Lord Issei tore his hands off her chest and caused the dress she wore to disintegrate around her.
"I am a protector… and avenger." Lord Issei's eyes flashed with baleful red light. "And the power of your breasts… Is mine."
Nyx's expression became vacant, and the naked, limp form flopped on her back on the snow.
Lord Issei lifted his hand to eye-level as if marveling at it, all the while a dark, shadow-like ooze began to form around his skeletal fingers. "...Hm… Indeed. Cocytus-san? Can I ask you to bring our guest back to the Frozen Prison? I'm fairly certain she won't be escaping it anytime soon in her current state…"
"...The. Frozen. Prison. was. destroyed. Nigredo. is. dead." Cocytus breathed out quietly.
Lord Issei froze still for a brief moment.
He turned around to look at Nyx's unconscious body. "...She did that?"
"Yes."
Lord Issei's body was unmoving as he stared at the unconscious invader… Until something let out a sharp sound, and Nyx's body spasmed.
The naked woman's arms and legs fell off in a geysir of blood.
"...Cocytus. I've changed my mind. Keep her alive for now… But once the other invaders have been dealt with, bring her to the Black Capsule. She'll learn the error of her ways there. And she'll tell us about everything she knows. Demiurge, see to that."
"It. shall. be. done."
"Yes, my lord." Demiurge bowed slightly.
"Now then… Let us prepare to repel the next wave of intruders."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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