บท 281: A Big Change

"AHN! AHN! AHN!"

In the silence of the night following the duel, a sonorous moan rang out continuously as a beautiful back haired woman bounced on the hips of her lover and master, a small pile of questionable items sitting nearby. They were the usual toys that made an appearance along with Tio at night, or were on her at all times anyways. For that particular night however they decided to dispense with the usual cables, clamps, candles, whips, and various other toys that he and Akeno tended to use on her, instead the two were simply engaged raw carnal pleasure, save for the pure black gem one could occasionally see between her bouncing butt cheeks. Alex was grinning like crazy as he watched the black haired beauty bounce, her breasts bouncing like mad while her face and body glistened wth beads of sweat, her insides tightening and squeezing with each movement. The ride continued until both reached their respective climaxes, and Tio felt as if her insides were going to burst after Alex sprayed the third load of the night into her womb, which, combined with his entire length inside of her, allowed one to see a slight bulge in her abdomen. As the two caught their breath Alex said while smirking,

"Maybe I should have molten magma shoved up your childhood friend's ass more often since it seems to turn you on so much." Tio smiled and replied through her continued panting,

"That was not the reason, it was watching my master dominate others while also proclaiming that none shall have this one so possessively. This one could barely keep mine excitement in until we has't some privacy." Alex smiled at her explanation and pulled her down for a kiss, prompting a battle of the tongues while she continued grinding her hips down below. This went on until a sudden force removed Tio from his lap, separating their lips and causing his member to leave her insides with a small "pop", allowing the fluids trapped within to flow freely. Alex looked over to see an annoyed Shia, who immediately hopped onto his lap in Tio's place while saying,

"Geez you two! We can only wait our turn for so long you know! How long did you plan to make us wait?" Alex could only smile bitterly as she seized his still hard rod, and the cool air he could feel on it was replaced with Shia's hot and steamy insides, accompanied by a satisfied groan as she finally got what she had been waiting patiently for. Before he could say anything Yue joined them by grabbing his head, and turning it so that she could also steal his lips for herself before saying,

"...Our turn..." Alex smirked and replied,

"Sorry, I was just giving Tio a bit of extra attention since today was about meeting her family." Both girls nodded in understanding as that was the same reason why they waited so long before intervening, but after three rounds they had waited long enough, and were ready for their turn. Shia then began her own ride, while Yue pushed his head back and straddled his head to give him a different pair of lips to use his mouth on. Alex didn't hesitate, and immediately dragonfied his tongue before it pierced her lower lips, making the vampire princess gasp as her insides were thoroughly explored by it. Meanwhile on the side Tio wasn't showing any signs of being annoyed that her time was interrupted, instead her panting had seemed to increase as she asked herself,

"Haa, haa, is this neglect or abandonment play? Oh this one doesn't care anymore!"

***

Meanwhile in the dead of the night, a certain silver haired maid was missing out on all the fun due to her having her own agenda as she sat in a different room, enjoying the tea served to her by an elderly looking woman with dark green hair, who was also wearing a maid outfit. As she sipped her tea the woman, Venri, said,

"I hope it is to your liking madam." Grayfia smiled and said,

"It is delicious, and I appreciate you being willing to talk to me even though it is so late." Venri shook her head and stated,

"It is my honor to have one of the people that helped defeat the hated God to visit me, and this also gives me a chance to thank you for looking after my lady all this time." Grayfia smiled at that, and said,

"Actually that is what I wished to come talk to you about, when we leave the world would you be interested in joining us with Tio?" Venri was silent at Grayfia's offer for a few seconds, before replying,

"Though I would love the chance to stay with my lady, would your master be willing, and would you truly have a place for an old maid like myself?" Grayfia nodded and stated,

"Of course Alex would most likely accept, and we would be most welcoming to someone who has as much experience as yourself. Truth be told, though we have quite a few maids under our service, none of them have truly been trained due to various circumstances, and so having someone to help teach and guide them would be a great boon." Venri was silent for several seconds as she thought about Grayfia's offer, before ultimately nodding her head while saying,

"I'll have to talk to lord Adul in the morning, but if he'll let me go then I'll more than happy to join you and my lady, as long as there is life in these old bones." Grayfia then frowned as she hadn't thought about a such a thing, as old age wasn't a real concept to most Devils, before saying after several moments,

"If you don't mind, I believe there is a way remedy such a thing if you'd allow me to try." Venri was silent for several minutes at the second offer, as she especially didn't expect to hear such a thing, before finally answering-

***

Adul stood at the edge of their island watching the waves crash against the shore in what little moonlight there was, facing the direction of the mainland. Though he didn't outright distrust what they had been told, he had just dispatched several of his people to investigate for themselves what the situation on the mainland was, as well as thinking back on what had happened that day. In all honesty it was too much to take in that their old enemy, the murderers of their people as well as his son and daughter-in-law, were gone; as well as the changes to his granddaughter and the people she had brought back with her. However, Adul smiled when he thought back on how happy she seemed now while surrounded by several people who cared about her, while also knowing that those he had met were just the tip of the iceberg. His reminiscing was interrupted when a certain someone walked up next to him and also started watching the waves.

"Have they gone to the mainland then?" Kartos asked him silently.

"Yes, they should return in a matter of days, and hopefully their reports will confirm what Tio and her companions told us." Kartos nodded and was silent for several more seconds as Adul continued watching the waves, before saying,

"I don't know what type of magic they used, but physically Ristan has made a full recovery already from... what happened earlier. Mentally however, it'll probably take a while, even just earlier he reacted and broke down to something right as he seemed to be recovering." Adul nodded silently before eventually saying,

"I hate to say it, but perhaps now he'll think twice before acting out in such a way, though what happened to him was too extreme." Adul knew Ristan had been acting unrestrained for quite a while due to his feelings for Tio, to the point where he was even trying to force others to back down from courting her. The only reason he had ignored it was due to the fact that he thought Ristan would mellow out if he managed to beat Tio in a fight and court her, and that Tio herself would focus less on revenge if she was married. Smiling bitterly at how things turned out, Adul continued watching watching the waves while reliving what had happened in his mind.

***

The next morning everyone gathered once more for breakfast, each having gotten a minimal amount of sleep for various reasons. On Alex's right side was Tio, who was happily playing the part of newly weds instead of a slave and her master due to the fact that they were around her family, and on his left was now immensely satisfied Yue and Shia, while Ophis sat in his lap and Bova was standing attentively behind them. While waiting for their breakfast to arrive they were making small talk with Adul who was sitting across from them. Yue for one was glad to have finally met the noble dragonmen she greatly admired, and Adul as well was pleased to meet her and learn that Yue idolized them and their ideals, as even on their island they had heard of the powerful vampire princess Aletia.

"Breakfast is served." A voice called, grabbing everyone's attention suddenly. They all turned towards the speaker, but were then dumbfounded by what they saw. In the lead with Alex, Yue, shia, and Ophis's plates was of course Grayfia, but everyone's attention was on the one behind her.

"I have your breakfast lord, and it may have been a while lady, but I have prepared your favorites to celebrate your return." Though she spoke to them, neither Adul nor Tio said anything as they took in the person before them, before Tio hesitantly uttered,

"V-Venri?!" The woman before them smiled elegantly before curtsying politely and stating,

"Yes my lady, it is indeed me." Even as she confirmed it, Tio couldn't believe the person in front of her was the same Venri that raised and attended to her for her entire life. The Venri she knew was elderly like her grandfather, even though her hair hadn't lost any of its vibrant color, and gave off the aura of a kind nanny or grandmother; the Venri in front of her now however was young and rejuvenated, there was a more pronounced spring in her step to show her younger appearance wasn't just for show, and she now exuded an aura of sex appeal and motherhood. Without saying anything else, Venri walked forward with a light sway to her hips and set the plates down in front of Tio and her grandfather, before moving to the side to wait patiently for them to finish eating. Though it took them a while due to neither being able to take their eyes off of the transformed maid, Tio and Adul eventually managed to finish their meal before she moved in to take their plates. As she did so however Grayfia signaled for her to stop, and said,

"I'll take these, Venri would you talk to lord Adul and my lord about our discussion last night?" Though she was slightly nervous to, it didn't show on Venri's face as she replied "of course", and left Grayfia to her work while she turned back to the still dumbfounded Adul and Tio. After taking a breath to steady herself, Venri said,

"My lord, last night I received an offer to accompany lady Tio to her new home in order to continue attending to her and her new family there, and I would like to accept." Though it took minute, Adul seemed to finally understand what she was saying and asked,

"I-is this "transformation" related to your request?" Venri nodded and explained,

"Yes, last night madam Grayfia offered to use a type of magic known as "Regeneration magic" to restore me to my youth as part of her request." As she spoke Adul nodded his head slowly as if in understanding, before stating,

"So, you wish to follow Tio when she leaves us?" Pointedly deciding not to focus on the other thing, Adul brought up what Venri's original request was, to which she nodded her head enthusiastically. Adul was about to answer, but then Alex spoke up,

"Actually, I was thinking something similar, except not just Venri." Everyone was surprised at what he said, before Adul asked,

"Pardon me?" Alex shrugged, and explained,

"I was going to ask if a few members of the dragon race were interested in relocating to Asora, though not everyone since they'll most likely be needed to help keep the peace here. I also hoped you'd be one of them Adul, so that Tio could still see her only other family even after we leave, just think of it a form of retirement." Adul was about to immediately refuse since the dragonmen in Tortus needed him, but before he could do so he caught sight of Tio staring at him intently with wide eyes full of hopeful expectations. Finally he said,

"I'll think about it. There's still quite a bit of work to do here for me, and there's the conference to think about." Alex smiled but let the matter lay for the moment, as there was still several months before they moved on for Adul to make his decision. Though he and Tio were still in awe of Venri's transformation, they then went on to discuss various things as well as plans for the upcoming conference.

***

Meanwhile around Tortus, as Alex hoped word was spreading of Ehito's demise. As it had been several days since he left for the dragonmen's island, the word had already spread far and wide as more people helped to spread it when they heard about it. By this point the entire continent was almost entirely composed of worshippers of the Goddess Gabriel, largely due to the actions of Alex and co, as well as the effects of the occasional 'Devils Charm' during their travels. As the word spread some people filled the pubs to celebrate, while other filled the streets to celebrate with friends and neighbors, something they never would've considered before learning of Gabriel's beliefs.

Not all were happy though, as the very few remaining worshippers of Ehito gathered in dark corners, alleys, and sewers to discuss what their next move would be. They too spread the word, but theirs was instead a call for a gathering to prepare. Though they were believers in Ehito they didn't care about things such as differences in race now, they only cared about restoring the belief in the one true God, and casting down the false Goddess and champion. They spread the word, so that all lingering believers of Ehito, regardless of race, could gather and pool their strength against the might of the champion and his allies, and restore the world to its previous state.

Away from them however, and even in some cases away from the celebrations, were those who truly believed in the Goddess with their all. While around the continent cheers and toasts were raised towards the Goddess and her champion, women of all races were kneeling in their homes, their hands clasped together in prayer as they whispered,

"Please let there be peace now, for my children...."

"Please, let my son grow up without having to fight a pointless war...."

"Please, let my daughters not know the same fear I grew up with, of being enslaved by the humans or demon race..."

""""Please, protect my children.....""""

All around the continent, regardless of race, millions of mothers were kneeling and praying to the Goddess, the Mother of all, for her protection, that their children may live peacefully in the days to come. They prayed that their children may live without the fear of invasion, of being conscripted into the army, that they wouldn't grow up only to die in combat like so many of their husbands and fathers. normally such a thing would be unheard of, but with the Goddess being the "Mother of all", who called for peace more than anyone else, then maybe, just maybe she would hear their prayers.

As for the "Goddess" herself however, she was sitting in a comfy chair with a good book open in front of her. Though Gabriel hadn't done much reading in her long life that wasn't official reports or documents, she was now doing so due to large amount of free time she suddenly had for the first time in her life. As she thought about it she started rubbing her still growing belly with one of her hands, a content smile spreading across her face as she eagerly anticipated what was to come.

"Do you need anything Gabriel?" A voice suddenly asked, stirring her from her stupor. Gabriel smiled at Ravel who had just entered the room, and replied,

"Maybe just a cup of tea? I just had breakfast so I'm otherwise alright for now." Ravel nodded and said someone into an earpiece she was wearing, more than likely telling someone to bring her tea. As Gabriel was the first of Alex's women to be expecting his child, they were all doing everything they could to make her comfortable, and to ensure that she had everything she might need. This was why mere minutes after Ravel telling her, Nyx appeared with a cup and platter in her hands, only to suddenly drop it with a clatter.

"Nyx! What did you do?!" Ravel demanded, stirring Nyx from the stupor she entered when she saw Gabriel. Though she didn't usually care for being talked to in such a way, the Goddess of night and darkness ignored it and muttered somewhat distractedly,

"Sorry, I'll get another..." She then practically fled the room while Ravel went to start cleaning the cup and spilled tea, her heart hammering in her chest.

"I'm not seeing things, am I?" She asked herself in confusion as she recalled what just happened, how when she entered the room she could sense a small amount of divine power coming from Gabriel.