"Okay okay, let's...start again before i get anymore lost" Barbatos sighed, feeling his shoulders hunch as the more information Lyra gave him...the more crazy this place sounded.
"What part? The one about men being weak and unable to defend themselves and require a strong monster girl to take care of them, or that we thrive off of spirit energy from men and the best way to get it is through sex" the wolf girl said withouyt a hint of shame.
Yeah...our resident gunbreaker was already feeling a major headache and it was only mid morning.
Walking around the next set of trees, the white haired warrior looked up, watching as the trees above them swayed in the soft breeze. While this place was insane, it had a nice feeling to the athear that flowed through the air itself.
Not as concentrated as back home but it was calm, without the constant primals breaking their way into the mortal realm the aether was able to keep a more calm presence around the world. A truly wonderful thing really.
"Let's start with the whale spirit energy, use monster girls need it to survive?" he asked, glancing back at the wolf girl as she smiled at him in return, her tail swishing from side to side as a faint blush crossed her cheeks.
"Not really, but it gives us a major boost in strength and when it comes directly from our husbands" she paused there, eyeing the gunbreaker with a fanged smirk. "It becomes a more potent source of energy to keep us going for longer" she finished suggestively as Barbatos shook his head before continuing down the trail ahead of them.
He really wasn't going to get used to how open this woman was...but she was better company than that weird voice in his head. Hearing faint whispers wasn't anything new for the chosen warrior but….why did this one have to keep suggesting different ways to sleep with Lyra.
He wasn't that easy.
At least buy him dinner first gosh.
"Ignoring that" Lyra gave a soft whine and a cute pout at his words. "Are all men really that weak?" he asked, gaining a thoughtful look from the young women.
"Well...not really all men, my momma taught me and my sisters that men were weak and needed to be protected and cared for, my dad was kinda of a wimp so the advice kinda stuck" she explained, earning a slow nod from Barbatos. "But since i've set out on my own, i've heard tales of men from one of the order cities being able to hold off some lower monsters until a hero came to save them, but for the most part men are weaker" she finished as she gave the white haired man a side longed look.
"Which is why i'm confused on how you got so strong" she added as the gunbreaker smirked back at her.
"I'll tell ya about some of the stuff i've done over dinner when we make camp," he said, getting a happy nod from the girl as she practically skipped past him through the trees. "So what's the stuff with this durella chick and her faction?" he asked, his boots crunching on some of the loose branches as the hint of a tree line started to edge closer to them.
"She's the fourth born of queen lilith the demon lord" Lyra replied looking back at the man as she shook her hips to try and get his attention. Only to see the gunbreaker was more interested moving forward and out of the trees than taking her from behind.
Oh she was going to get him, that was a promise!
"The radical faction is one of the more popular armies for single monster girls, they raid large human cities, taking any man they can as their husbands and corrupting the women to become monster girls and further grow their ranks" the werewolf continued as Barbatos raised an eyebrow at her.
"You know alot about this stuff huh?" he spoke as the girl looked proud of herself.
"Of course I do, I was going to go join them to find a nice cute mate for myself" she said, smiling proudly as the gunbreaker gave her an odd look. "I don't need to do that anymore but I was learning as much as I could when in green demon realms and trading some stuff for supplies" she added as Barbatos shook his head.
"Okay, not going to get into how wrong that is, so where are we heading anyway, you said there was a village nearby but not what kind?" Barbatos asked, moving through the trees as he came to the end of the forest edge.
Peering down the hills of grasslands, the gunbreaker spotted a decently large village nestled within the bottom of the valley, not close enough to see anyone but the signs of people moving around were there at least.
"This is the village of West End, the closest village that connects the forest here to the elven woods ahead of us," Lyra explained, standing beside the boy as she eyed his free hand. Glancing down at her pawed claw as she slowly reached to take his hand in hers.
Only for the man to start walking down the hill, Lyras eyes folding back against her head with a sad whine.
"What's the village like?" Barbatos asked, watching as dark shapes flew through the sky above them as they walked closer to the village. The shapes vaguely looked like winged women...hopefully none of them knew Garuda...that wouldn't be pretty to find out.
"Its a green realm village, so very monster friendly, you'll find some single girls looking for you and some more looking to whisk you away into the night...not like i'll allow them to get my mate" Lyra explained, finishing her statement with a growl as Barbatos raised an eyebrow at her.
She does realise he crippled her in their one sided fight right? Best not think about it...to peer into a woman's mind is a path laid with madness.
Before the duo could get any closer, they were stopped as a trio of winged women descended down towards them, the three looking like triplets as they all shared the same cute faces and hairstyles, the only difference is that their hair colour was a slightly different shade and their wings on their arms had different coloured trips to their feathers.
"Hi, who are you cutie?" the red headed harpie girl asked, stepping forward as she got in really close to Barbatos personal space. Only to be pushed back by Lyra as she growled at the girl.
Behind her, Barabtos felt a pair of talons run along her shoulders as the orange haired girl looked over his shoulder.
"I lovvvveee you coat mister, wonder what it would look like on my nests floor?" said she batted her eyes flirtishly at him.
"Hay! get away from him!" Lyra growled, twisting to face the girl as Barbatos slowly edged away from the four women.
"Awww but he's single right, I don't smell anything between you two so...I want him" the red haired harpy said with a wide smile as Barabtos found himself sighing at their odd argument.
"Can i just get to the village and sit down for like a minute?" he muttered as the third of the trio rested their talon on his shoulder.
"While those 3 argue, why don't I show you around?" the blonde haired harpy said with a soft smile on her face. "My husband is working in the fields today so I have some free time to show around a newcomer" she added as the gunbreaker smiled gratefully at her.
"That would be amazing, so, what's the deal with those two?" he asked, throwing a thumb back towards the other two harpies arguing with Lyra. luckily it seemed they had not come to blows...yet.
"Not many single guys walk around a demon realm and stay single for long, so my sisters are always on the lookout for a nice husband to grab" the blonde women explained before her eyes fell onto the white haired mans attire and more importantly the orinatal styled single gunblade resting on the harness on his back.
"You look ready to take on anything, any reason why you need a sword?" she asked as Barabatos smirked at the women.
"Can I get a name before I talk about my job?" he replied with a laugh as the women blushed i9n embarrassment from being caught out.
"Sorry about that, I'm Popi, my sisters are Papi and Hapi, I know our mother was very creative when it came to us" she said as the man raised an eyebrow at their names.
"I'm Barbatos, gunbreaker for hire and all around handyman for anyone that needs something taken care of" the man said with a smile as Popi smirked at him.
"Careful with those words, I know a few girls that could use a handyman for their personal needs" Popi replied with a smirk as the white haired man scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Coming through the gate of the village, Barabtos found his eyes wandering to the street vendors decorating the alleyways, monster girls of numerous species milling about in peace.
Some of them turning their attention to stare directly at him with giggles and smirks making a way to their faces.
Why….are all these women so attractive!
"Wow, haven't seen a village this nice since i last visited Gardinia" Barbatos mused as he looked at the various food stalls as the two of them walked by.
"Our little village is one of the first stops towards the more concentrated demon realms of the region, a hub of travels and newly married couples making their way inland to really experience how a monster girl would live" Popi explained with pride.
"That's nice" Barbatos said, feeling his smile strain slightly at the thought of how most of these couples came to be married in the first place.
This wasn't his world but damn how things worked here was kinda messed up on so many levels.
But that was a train of thought for later.
Before the two could get any further, they heard the sound of someone bounding towards them before Barbtos found himself tackled to the ground by a grey furred blurr. Unable to even shout in surprise as he found his face engulfed in the werewolves sizable bust.
"Hubby, why did you leave!" Lyra yelled, drawing more attention to the group as Papi and Hapi landed beside their sister, watching with frowns as the man they wanted to claim was being suffocated by the werewolf before them.
"If you two are done arguing with the women, get back into patrolling the skies, we are still on lookout for the elven guests that are to be heading this way for a trade run remember?" Popi said as her two sisters whined at her words. Grumbling to themselves as they took to the skies, promising to find the white haired man later.
"Oh god I can breathe!" Barbatos yelled, taking a big breath of air as Lyra finally released him from his prison of fur. Climbing to his feet, Barbatos turned his attention back to Popi as Lyra gave her a narrow eyed look.
"Anyway, back to the tour, there's an inn there if you and your...partner want to get a room for your stay In West End" the harpy explained, gesturing towards the large tavern-like building they were approaching. "The inn keep is an old high orc and some of her girls who haven't gone off to join other orc tribes work to keep the place going" she added as the three of them passed by the door.
Barbatos just caught a glimpse of the green skinned women working at the bar, an older looking woman standing behind the counter as she spotted him looking into the door. With a wink, the older orc raised her glass to the Gunbreaker as Barabtos was tempted to go and get a drink, the place looked nice.
Only to be dragged away from the tavern by an irate Lyra, Popi finding is highly amusing as she followed the two up the street and towards the more open courtyards.
"Something going on?" Barbatos asked, looking towards guards that were posted around the courtyard and street entrances. It seemed like a lot more than what was needed for this kind of village.
"Just some extra postings around the village, we have some Elven guests arriving from one of the closers towns, they don't particularly like monster in general but trade agreements between towns out here is a must" Popi explained as the numerous succubi and harpie guards were positioned around the vantage points...looking rather board with it all.
"Giving away information again Popi '' a new voice spoke as the three turned to see a blkack haired woman approaching them. "So who is this, you trying to get one of your sisters wed off?" she asked, eyeing the white haired man with a smile.
The woman was a succubus, grey blue skin, a devilishly sly smirk on her blackened lips as her ruby eyes looked Barbatos up and down, her gaze settling on the gunblade handle sticking over his shoulder as her expression shifted to confusion for a second.
"Just showing these two around for a bit, not much else to do until the Elves get here" Popi replied as the woman shook her head with a small sigh.
"Don't remind me, they will be arriving soon and then I'm going to be stuck arguing with them for hours about road protection and how we are corrupting the lands and blah blah blah" the succubus said with an exaggerated gesture of annoyance. "So what's your name boy, I'm Mileena the mayor of this quaint little village" Milena introduced as she held a hand out to him.
"Names Barbatos, gunbreaker mercenary" the man replied, shaking the woman's hand firmly with a wide smile.
"Mercenary, you got an adventurer's licence then?" Mileena asked as Barbatos scratched the back of his head with an awkward sigh.
"I do but I don't think it'll apply to this region" he replied showing the eorzea styled guild card he had been given from the adventurers guild back home. He hadn't needed to show that thing in years since he was well known around the world as the warrior of light.
"Might what to get yourself over to the adventurers college in Visorhold, don't want to get arrested for taking on quests without permission" Mileena said, making Lyra perk up behind them.
"Oh yeah! The college helps train anyone and everyone to learn how to take on dungeons and other quests that townsfolk give out. But don't they have an issue with male adventurers?" she asked as Barabtos raised an eyebrow at that particular piece of information.
"Your husband looks strong enough to handle it honey" the succubus replied as Lyra found herself blushing at the older woman's words. I mean they weren't properly together but….she was going to have that ass no matter what!
Before they could continue their conversation, a small ring echoed throughout the courtyard as Mileena let her shoulders slump at what was to come.
"Here we go, Popi get to the front gate and have my assistant welcome the Elves into the town, you two, stay out of trouble and we can speak later" she said, unfolding her wings and taking flight towards the larger building on the other side of the courtyard.
"Back to work I guess, have fun In West End you two, if you head to the tavern tell em Popi sent ya, the old orc will give you both a nice meal and drink on me" the harpy explained, taking flight in the opposite direction and leaving the werewolf and Gunbreaker to themselves.
"So...drink?" Barbatos asked, gesturing back towards the tavern they had passed as Lyra smiled excitedly at him, taki9ng his arm between hers and practically dragging him off towards the doors.
As our hero was getting used to his new surroundings, a familiar set of blazing ember eyes looked down upon the village from the trees, the beings hulking mass barley being hidden before the trees as a few of the branches caught fire from just brushing against its molten scaled skin.
A demonic grunt rumbled from the beings through, turning away from the village and shambling through the trees, its red hot claws carelessly scorching the nearby barks as it moved.
Its eyes narrowing with a flaming hatred at the sight of that pathetic mortal once again.
It would have its revenge once the white haired boy was impaled upon its flaming pike, his cries of agony being music to the monster's ears as it ripped his head from his shoulders.
Yes, Ifrit the primal of fire was going to enjoy scratching this mortal village to the ground, reducing it all to ashes as the beginning of its new empire in this strange realm.
And it would start with that boy's head on its pike as a trophy for all to bear witness to.
Oh it could already taste victory.
Soon...this flame will see the first of many primals showing them just how small they were to them.