Training with Sona goes the same as it did last week. We haven't told Sona about me knocking Momo up yet, Momo wants to wait until she can do a test, a magical one, confirming the conception before we tell Sona. I'm not sure why, but I'm okay procrastinating that conversation for another day or two.

Momo does show off her new ability though, creating powerful barriers in an instant. She can only have one at a time, but they can get fairly large and none of the enemies we fight are even able to put a dent in them. She fights from the back, so I'm okay with her participating. She definitely seems to move less though, and her hand kept going to her stomach. I don't think anyone else notices though, distracted as they are by combat and Momo's new powers.

Sona does grill me a bit about the power, and I tell her the truth. I explain that it was a rare item, the downsides to her power, the enchanted item I made to counteract those downsides, and how Momo had made her own decision on it. Left unsaid was why I had given it to her, but that didn't really need to be said. I was going to give it to her soon either way, the pregnancy was just a good time to do it.

Speaking of enchanted items, I handed out the Student's Pendants to Sona's entire peerage, and it really helps boost their leveling speed. Almost all of them are above level 100 now, and the few that aren't are just a couple levels away. With their quickly growing strength and Momo's new barriers, they were able to get to floor 30 of the Colosseum and beat the boss there. The last fight was hard though. 40 might not be possible right now.

Still, we walk out with a lot of progress made. I have a new skill courtesy of reaching level 62 with my Lightbearer class.

[Channel Solar-Light] - Level 1(0%)
Channel Solar-Light through your body or through an object

I'm excited to try this one out. If I'm right, this is the skill I need to recreate the Golden Gun Hunter ability. I could try maybe making a gun out of Solar-Light, but I'm pretty sure infusion is how they do it according to the lore.

I also got some nice loot. A gacha token, a couple more scrolls, a wand, a spear that could extend that I immediately disenchanted, and a bunch of junk weapons I immediately sold back for Hunie. I also got a few heart crystals and a crystal that increased my STR by 15. But there was one more really nice item. A Major Sterility Potion.

The timing on that was perfect. It wasn't until this morning that I realized I could have given Momo the fertility potion and I'd still be able to have sex with other girls. So getting a potion that made me sterile again was very welcome and I immediately downed it, making me not have to worry about accidental pregnancies for a month.

I really need to find a way to make that potion. There's no reason I can't, [Alchemy] is maxed out. I just need to find the right ingredients. I haven't been able to dedicate much time to figuring it out though.

With my new sterility potion, I invite Momo, Sona, Ruruko, and Tomoe to join me in the baths after training. To my delight, Sona barely hesitates at all, really only being surprised that Tomoe is going to join us. Her corruption is going well, I'll have to contact Serafall soon.

After fooling around with them and cleaning up, I gear up. My plan for today is to use another one of my treasure maps and find whatever it's detailing. I pull the three I still have left out and look over them and one, in particular, catches my eye.

Beloved cup of the holy Son
Sought by many, found by none.
But with my guidance, you shall not fail
To find the Lord's most Holy Grail.

In the land descent from Rome
Is where the Grail calls home.
Held by those hidden in mist,
the ones who upon blood subsist.

Find the faction led by men,
And then the one with all the power.
Hidden far above his den
Locked away atop the tower.

The Holy Grail is certainly a tempting treasure, though I'm not sure what form it will take here in DxD. I don't remember watching or reading anything about it in my previous life, so I'm flying blind here. Thankfully the riddle lays it out pretty clearly.

The Grail is in Romania, being held by the Tepes clan. I don't think the 'land descent of Rome' line would have made much sense to me on its own, but the following lines pretty clearly state that the patriarchal vampires are the ones that have the Grail, and I already know that they live in Romania from research on the supernatural factions I've been doing lately.

And it's not surprising that the head of the Tepes is the one with the Grail. I'd be surprised if it was in Tepes territory but not his hands. I guess it could have been hidden somewhere, lying undiscovered. But it made more sense for King Tepes to have it in his treasury. A grin breaks out over my face. And I wonder what sorts of other things he has in his vault?

It doesn't take long for me to [Void Travel] to Romania. I didn't have any spots marked there, but by this point, I'm pretty fast at finding a place with [Void Sight] and I can teleport straight there once I do find it. The sun is just starting to rise here, which is perfect. The vampires should be going to sleep right about now if they haven't already. That should make things easier.

Finding where the Tepes faction is takes longer, but it's not difficult. I just had to find the magical barriers that cover the place with mist and keep the mundane people out. It's a pretty large chunk of Romania that is protected like that, enough for me to find two very distinct cities located on opposite sides of a mountain from each other.

It takes some scouting with [Void Sight] to determine which one is the Tepes faction, but again, it isn't too hard. I watch the citizens of one of the cities for a while. I was right in that they were headed to bed or asleep at this time of day, but that's only true for most of them, and I see enough to determine that the women are definitely in power there.

Which means that one is the Carmilla faction's city, and the other one is the Tepes. Still using [Void Sight] I look around for the biggest and fanciest home, and I find it quickly. It's a pretty standard Gothic castle, tall and built of stone. Stained glass is prominent and so are the gargoyles lining the roofs.

From there I look up and find the tallest tower. There are a few towers, but it's the central one that stands the tallest, and it's there that I focus on first. The tower itself is thick, with a spiral staircase running around the inside of the wall, and it has several floors of circular rooms. Most of them seem to be storage rooms and workshops, which strikes me as odd until I see the layers of dust. These are rooms that aren't used often.

Except for the one at the very top, where instead of a vault or an armory or anything like that, I find a simple bedroom. And in that bedroom was a young woman with blonde hair and red eyes who is staring longingly out the window and at the rising sun.

I look around the room more, but nothing stands out as a vault or a hiding spot, and the only magic I can find is in the girl and the door. Is the girl the Holy Grail? No, more likely is that the Holy Grail here is a Sacred Gear. There are several artifacts related to Jesus and God that are Sacred Gears, the Holy Grail being one of them makes sense.

What doesn't make as much sense is a vampire wielding it. Only humans are given Sacred Gears. But as I watch the girl, who shows no signs of moving from the window even as the sun peeks over the mountains and bathes her in light, I understand a little better. This girl must be a dhampir, half-vampire half-human, just like Gasper.

Well, it's not the glittering gold and magical artifacts I was hoping for, but this isn't so bad either. She's beautiful, and if she has a powerful Sacred Gear, I want her. Though there are problems. Mostly that kidnapping the girl that is almost certainly King Tepe's daughter, seeing as she's living in his castle, is almost certainly going to piss him off. And sure, stealing his stuff would have done the same as well, but I could pretend I didn't steal that. I can't do that with an actual person.

Though 'kidnapping' probably isn't the right term. The door to her room is magically locked from the outside, her room is barely furnished, she looks unhappy, and I remember what Rias and Gasper told me about how dhampirs are seen by full-blooded vampires. She's most likely the bastard daughter of the king and is treated poorly, Sacred Gear or not. If they even know she has it.

So it wouldn't be kidnapping, not if I can convince her. It would be rescuing. It would still piss off the Tepes most likely, but honestly? I kind of didn't care. Maybe it was how I recently cleared the Vampire themed dungeon, but they just don't feel like a threat.

Mind made up to make this girl mine, I [Void Travel] straight into her bedroom, ignoring the wards that are set up to prevent that kind of thing. The girl doesn't see me and is watching the sunrise out the window. I silently sit down on a chair on the other side of the room and take a relaxed position.

"You've got a pretty good view of it from up here," I say, causing the girl to yelp and spin around, hand clutching her chest.

"W-w-w-w-what?!" she exclaims. "W-who?! When?!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," I lie. I remained sitting in a comfortable and relaxed position. "I just saw you up here all by yourself and thought I'd drop in for a chat."

First Impressions perk activated
+25 Affection with Valerie Tepes

She seems to collect herself a little bit, but she's still wary of me and looking at me with suspicion. "Who are you? Does my father know you're here?"

"He doesn't," I reply. "He has no idea who I even am. My name is Axton, but you probably haven't heard of me. What's yours?"

She looks a little confused, like she doesn't fully know how to respond to me, but her wariness is slowly fading. "I'm Valerie Tepes," she says. "How did you get here then?"

"I snuck in," I reply easily. "You see, while it's not something I do often, every now and then I like to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, maybe steal some valuables. I came hoping to find some precious treasure." I grin at her. "I didn't expect to happen upon a young woman, but your beauty makes gold look like trash, so I thought I'd stop by and chat. And maybe see if you would like to be stolen away."

She blushes. "Wait wait wait," she says. "One thing at a time. You- you're a thief?"

"Sometimes," I reply. "I wouldn't say it's my primary occupation, but I'm pretty good at it."

"And you came to rob my father," she continues.

"I wanted to see if the King of Vampires had anything good," I answer. "But before I could track down a vault or treasure room, I saw you, and your beauty made me forget about searching for gold or magical artifacts."

"And th-that!" she says, pointing with a flushed face. "I'm not that beautiful, so I know you're lying to me!"

I shake my head sadly. "You may not see it, but you are definitely very attractive." She looks like a vampire princess, but with a soft and kind face. She's wearing simple clothes, but with them on you can tell her figure is nice and curvy, though her boobs are fairly modest by DxD standards. And she has red eyes, which I'm a big fan of.

She just blushes more, so I continue. "In truth, I'm not after valuables or money. I heard Tepes had something rare, so I came searching for it to see if he did. But that doesn't matter, I'm much more interested in the dhampir damsel in distress locked away at the top of this tower."

She seems to wilt a little. "Oh, so you know I'm a dhampir?"

"Well, you're voluntarily standing in sunlight as you watch the sunrise, so you're not a full-blooded vampire," I reply. "I assumed you're King Tepe's dhampir daughter, locked away here because vampires are scared of dhampirs and so treat them like trash."

She frowned. "Scared of us?"

"Of course," I say. "You have all of their strengths but you can move around in the day without issue, and you can be born with Sacred Gears." I pretend not to notice she stiffens slightly at that, but I do make note of it. "They'll never admit that, and many of them probably haven't even managed to put enough thought into it to realize it themselves, but it's almost certainly the reason. In fact, I know of another dhampir that was exiled because they were scared of him."

She looks at me sharply then. "Who?! What was his name?!"

Wait, did she know Gasper? No, what am I saying? Of course she does. This is another dhampir, a pretty girl, from the same faction and also had a powerful Sacred Gear, or so I assume. They're probably childhood friends or half-siblings on their mother's side or something.

"Gasper Vladi?" I say, acting confused. "I think he said he was from the Tepes as well."

She falls to her knees, slumping in relief. "He did it then, he got out."

"Well, mostly," I say. "I'm guessing you two knew each other?" She nods. "He managed to get out but...he was attacked and died." Her eyes widen in horror. "But it's fine! He was resurrected by being reincarnated as a Devil."

She places a hand over her chest. "Oh. That's...good. I think?" She looks up at me. "Is...is he happy?"

I smile. "Yeah, he's pretty happy. He's a little scared of the world, but he has friends and hobbies and he even goes to school. Technically."

+14 Affection with Valerie Tepes
For confirming her only friend's well-being

I stand up and walk over to her, and she doesn't shy away, she just looks at me questioningly. I kneel in front of where she's on the ground and hold my hand out to her. "What do you say to coming with me? I've got a really big house you can live in, and you'll have as much freedom as you want. Gasper will be there, we're friends. Kuoh is a nice town, and hell, I could probably get you enrolled in school if you want."

She looks up at me, hope in her eyes. "I could...live a normal life? With Gaspi?"

I smile at her. "Absolutely."

+7 Affection with Valerie Tepes
For promising her the life she's always wanted

She beams and takes my hand. I stand up, pulling her to her feet as well. "Let me grab a few things."

I nod. "Sure. No one knows I'm here, and no one is approaching. You have at least a few minutes."

She nods and grabs a bag and starts putting things in it. Mostly clothes and a few books. "So what was the thing you heard my father had that you came looking for?" she asks as she packs.

She's pretty trusting, isn't she? Also pretty uncaring that I came here to rob her dad. But, based on her being locked up, she probably doesn't like him much. "I heard he had the Holy Grail," I tell her honestly, making a point not to pay attention to her as she freezes in place. "Not sure if it's true, but I figured I'd look into it. I also have no idea what it does, but it's probably pretty useful."

She starts packing again, moving slower now. "Why did you want it?" she asks carefully.

I shrug. "Nothing in particular really. Like I said, I don't even know what it does, I just came to get it on a whim. I don't really mind leaving without it." Not that I would be, but she didn't seem to realize I knew the truth.

I see her take a deep breath out of the corner of my eye before she turns to face me. "You won't have to," she declares. "I have the Holy Grail. My Sacred Gear is the Sephiroth Graal."

"Aaah, so it's a Sacred Gear," I say out loud. "I was wondering how a vampire king got his hands on it."

"Can I ask where you heard that rumor of him having it?" she asks. "I mean, no one should even know I have it. I've been careful not to use it much, especially not when it could be noticed. As far as I know, no one else knows I have it."

"Magic," I explain vaguely. "Or rather, an aspect of my abilities. No, I don't have a Sacred Gear myself, but I do have strange abilities, and one of them is that sometimes I get information I'm not supposed to have. This was one of those, though it seems it was incomplete."

"I see," she replies. "So umm...what now?"

"Have you finished packing?" I ask. She shakes her head. "Well, the coast is still clear, so finish that and we'll be on our way. Your Sacred Gear doesn't change anything, our deal is the same. If you want help figuring it out, I'd be glad to help, but no, I'm not going to force you to use it or anything. What you do with it is up to you."

"R-really? But it's the Holy Grail! It's a Longinus!" she protests.

I shrug. "I offered you a place to stay so you can get out of here and reconnect to an old friend. You're an adult, you can make your own decisions about how you use that. I'm sure it's very powerful and useful, but I'm not the controlling type."

Mostly untrue, but this way earns her loyalty, and hopefully her love. I prefer having people want to help me out of their own desires rather than try to force them through some other means.

Valerie's shoulders slump as she relaxes. "I- thank you, Axton."

"Of course," I say. "Now, finish packing and we can be on our way." She nods and goes back to stuffing her bag. As she does, I pull a Super Heart Crystal out of my inventory and use it to increase her Affection to get her above that 50 mark.

+20 Affection with Valerie Tepes

Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Valerie Tepes
[Half-n-Half] - Increases Affection gain with those that are half-human half another species by 20%

Nice. At this rate, she'll be mine in no time, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing her look up at me with her lips wrapped around my dick. I'm starting to get aroused just thinking about it, so I push it out of my mind. No need to rush. I can use Gasper's obsession with me to help her along.

"I think I'm done," Valerie says. Her backpack is stuffed to the brim, and looking around the room, there doesn't seem to be much left besides a few articles of clothes.

I nod. "Great. Then take my hand and I'll teleport us out of here."

She grabs my hand, and this time I have [Touch of Pleasure] activated on a low level. I want to associate touching me with feeling good. "Teleport?" she asks. "But the wards-"

"Are not a problem for someone like me," I cut her off. "Are you ready? It can be a bit disconcerting." She nods, and I step backward, pulling her with me through the Void as we appear in my entrance hall.

Her eyes widen as she looks around. "Wow! That was so quick! Where are we now?"

"Kuoh, Japan," I tell her. "Specifically, this is my home. I can set you up in a bedroom, but I figured the first thing you'd want to do is see Gasper."

Her attention shoots back to me as she nods. "Can I?"

"Sure, lemme call Rias, the Devil who reincarnated him. I'll ask her to bring him over."

She beams. "I can't wait!"

Valerie puts her stuff down and continues to look around the room as I call Rias.

"Axton!" she picks up. "It's been a while since I last saw you."

"Sorry about that, I've been pretty busy lately," I reply.

"Oh don't worry about it, Atsuko and Aika have been telling me about how much you run around and how many things you have going on, I understand. Congratulations on your new business, by the way. Everyone I know in the Underworld has been talking about it non-stop."

"Thank you, business is doing great already. Let me know if you put in an order, I'll give you a special discount."

"I'll make sure to do so. It would be silly to not accept an offer like that. But I'm assuming you didn't call just to catch up. What can I do for you?"

"Do you recognize the name Valerie Tepes?"

"Of course, that was the name of Gasper's friend when he was a child before he was driven out. He speaks of her very fondly. Why?"

"Because she's in my house, as my guest, and she wants to see Gasper."

"...Axton, how is she in your house? She's the dhampir daughter of King Tepes, there's no way he'd let her leave."

"I'd be very surprised if he knew she was missing by now, we only just got back to my home a few seconds before I called you."

"Did you kidnap her Axton?!"

"She's an adult, I think," I look over at her and she nods. "Yes, she is, and she wanted to come, so it's not kidnapping. If anything, I rescued her. I saw her locked up in a tower, popped in for a chat, discovered that she knew Gasper, and I invited her to come live with me. Simple as that."

"And why were you anywhere near Tepes territory?! That's all the way in Romania for Satan's sake!"

"Rias I take girls across the world for casual dates, I can teleport across the globe with a thought. Distance isn't really that important of a factor. As for why, I heard a rumor, the details of which don't really matter."

I hear her sigh heavily over the phone. "The Tepes are going to be furious with you when they find out."

"I'll deal with that when it becomes an issue. Don't worry, I don't expect you or Sona to protect me. I have plans in progress."

"Fine, fine, so long as you understand," Rias says, sounding tired. "I'll bring him right over, I'm sure he'll agree to leave to see her. And I think Koneko has already gotten him to visit your place once already."

Huh, must have been while I was out. "Sounds good, we'll wait for you in the entrance hall." After we say our goodbyes I hang up and turn to Valerie. "He'll be here soon. Full disclosure, he's a bit of a shut-in. He's scared of the outside world and scared of accidentally hurting others with his Sacred Gear."

"Oh," she says. "That's not surprising, considering his life before he escaped. But I was hoping he was doing better."

I place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He is, a bit. We've been trying to help. And I'm hoping you can help more."

She smiles at me and nods. "I'll drag him to all sorts of places!"

"That's the spirit," I reply. "They'll be here soon. Do you want to change before they get here?"

She looks down and realizes she's dressed in a pair of pajamas. "I probably should," she replies sheepishly.

I point to a door. "Go through that door and the first door on the right is a private sitting room that you can lock from the inside. You can get changed there." She nods and heads that way with her bag. Of course, I peek as she changes, and her figure is just as nice as I thought it was. Her skin is smooth and pale and she's curvy in a way that's appealing to the eye.

She changes quickly and arrives back in the entrance hall right as I feel a pulse of magic indicating that Rias and Gasper have just teleported in. Not even a moment later Gasper comes bursting through the door. "Valerie!" he calls out as he nearly slams into her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug that she returns. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Neither did I, I didn't even know if you made it out," Valerie replies. "No one would tell me anything. I've spent years wondering what happened to you."

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you," Gasper says. "It was really hard getting out, even with your help. And once I did get out, I didn't have any way of getting in touch."

Valerie shakes her head. "No, it's okay, I get it. Axton told me how you died and were reincarnated, I'm just glad you're safe."

I feel Gasper's nervousness skyrocket as he remembers I'm here. He breaks off his hug with Valerie and turns to me. "O-oh, right. I'm s-so sorry Axton, I didn't mean to ignore you." He bows deeply. "Thank you for rescuing Valerie!"

+11 Affection with Gasper Vladi
For rescuing his oldest friend

Rias enters the room and silently stands next to me, watching things. "It's no problem Gasper, I understand perfectly. And it was a coincidence I saved her, though if you had asked me, I would have done it sooner." Rias shoots me a look at that, but I ignore her. "Gasper, you've been here before, right?" He nods slowly. "Could you do me a favor and show her around?"

"Okay," he agrees.

"Take her to the bedrooms first, so she can pick an empty room," I say. "Valerie, you can pick any room you want. Just place your stuff in there to claim it, I'll inform my staff to accommodate anything you need."

Valerie approaches me and gives me a hug, one which I return. "Thank you so much, I mean it."

I pat her back gently. "You're welcome," I say. "Now go have fun catching up with Gasper, we can talk anytime you want." She nods as she steps back. Gasper takes her hand and Rias and I watch as the two of them head deeper into the mansion.

"I'll admit, I was surprised you'd risk angering the Tepes faction like this, but seeing Gasper that happy makes me think that maybe it was worth the risk," Rias says after they've gone.

"It's the main reason I brought her back," I reply. "That and my desire to help pretty girls."

Rias rolls her eyes, but she smiles as well. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you." She looks at where they've gone. "This will be good for him I think. He already looks happier than I've ever seen him." She shakes her head. "You don't mind me leaving him here for today, right?"

"Nah, he could even move in if he wanted," I reply. "I've got plenty of room after all. There's no problem if he sticks around or stays the night catching up with her. I'll keep an eye on them too, make sure nothing happens."

She sighs. "It seems like half my Peerage is already spending many of their nights here, maybe I should just make it official."

I shrug. "You're welcome to, I'd love to have you, and it's a safe place."

"I'll think about it," she replies. "In the meantime, I need to go discuss things with Akeno." She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later Axton."

"You're welcome anytime," I reply with a grin. She doesn't seem fully ready to admit it, but oh man does she have feelings for me. I think about inviting her for some fun, but unfortunately, I have some business to work on. What Rias said earlier was right, my business is booming, and even with Ravel's help, that means I have a lot I need to do.

After Rias leaves, I tell Sakuya and Wilhelm about my new guest and then head to my office to catch up on some work. Mostly going over how many of each potion we still have in stock, how fast each kind is selling, and putting together a list of ingredients I need to order to replenish my stock.

As I'm working I pick up Mittelt walking by my office door, headed somewhere else. I also notice something else that makes me grin. I use [Sound Domain] to stop her and call her into my office.

"Close the door behind you and come here," I say as she enters the room. She feels nervous but also a little aroused. She does as I tell her though and I look her over. "Lift your skirt," I order her.

She does so, showing me her lacy blank panties, identical to the ones I had her give me when I caught her eavesdropping. The ones I never gave back. I look back up at her face. "Why are you wearing panties?"

She blinks at the unexpected question. "Sir?"

"Last Monday I took your panties as punishment," I explain. "I never said you could have them back. So why are you wearing panties?"

She pauses. "That...wasn't just for that day?"

I sigh. "No, it wasn't. The punishment was your loss of panty privileges. Lower your skirt and take those off."

She sheepishly follows my orders, that mix of shame and arousal clear in her emotions. Once again she hands me a pair of panties and once again I stash them into my inventory.

"I think failure to understand and follow orders necessitates another punishment, wouldn't you agree?" I ask her with a teasing smile.

She swallows. "Yes sir," she replies obediently.

"Let's see…" I muse, pretending to think it over even though I've already decided on her punishment. "When did you put your panties on again?"

"Tuesday morning," she answers.

"Not Monday night?" I ask.

She blushes. "I...I sleep nude anyway. There was no point."

"I see," I say, not bothering to hide my grin. "So Tuesday morning you put on your uniform, panties included. And you've done so every day, believing that your punishment was over." She nods. "Well, it was a misunderstanding, so I won't punish you too harshly."

The declaration of her getting off easily causes her to feel a mixture of relief and disappointment. "Thank you, sir," she says.

"I just think the punishment should fit the offense," I reply. "So I want you to lift your skirt for me again and keep it lifted up until I count to five. One second of exposing yourself to me for every day you wore panties without permission seems fair, no?"

She stiffens slightly, but her arousal spikes. I'm crossing a slight line here, advancing our little game to the next stage. And it sets the tone for things to come, that I would keep pushing a little further each time. And I can tell she also realizes this.

"Perfectly fair sir," she says, her voice only a little strained. She reaches and once again lifts her skirt, and this time there are no panties to prevent me from seeing everything.

"One," I say as I take a good look. I've actually seen her naked already, I frequently check on everyone in the house with [Void Sight], and therefore I've seen her in the shower and asleep.

But it's not about me seeing, it's about her being aware of me looking at her. She wants to be punished and she's getting off on this.

"Two."

Her crotch is cleanly shaven. Or maybe she just doesn't grow hair? Her body is rather petite, and I know Angels, including the Fallen ones, don't grow and have been the same since they were made. It's possible that she was made smooth and never grew pubic hair.

"Three."

There's not much to say about the rest of her pussy though. It's fairly normal, nothing outstanding or special about it. Though it is slowly dripping with arousal, the result of it running down her inner thigh.

"Four."

I'm definitely taking more than a second between each count, but she hasn't complained yet. I'm not sure she even notices. So I make sure to drag the last one out a very long time, eyes lecherously locked onto her nudity as she trembles with barely contained excitement.

"Five," I finally say after what amounted to several seconds. I look back to her face, which is flushed. "You can lower your skirt now."

She does so, moving neither quickly nor slowly. "Is that all you need from me sir?" she asks as she squirms in place.

"Just two more quick things," I reply. "First, I'll be performing random checks to make sure you aren't wearing panties." She nods. "Second, for accepting your punishment so well, I'll give you a small reward. You can take a thirty-minute break from work to relieve yourself. It's obvious you're feeling a little pent up."

+8 Affection with Mittelt
For being the most fun boss she's ever had

"Thank you, sir," she says with a curtsy. One that almost exposes her again, but doesn't quite get high enough.

"You're dismissed," I tell her. "Go have some fun and then get back to whatever you were doing."

She nods and quickly leaves the room. I watch her as she runs down the halls and to a nearby bathroom which she locks herself in. In moments she's sitting on the toilet furiously fingering herself as she calls out my name.

Dammit, that's too hot for me to ignore. I send a quick text and I don't have to wait long for Kyu to appear. "Your booty call has arrived!" Kyu announces as she barges in.

"Mittelt is currently in the bathroom a little ways away masturbating furiously while thinking about me," I explain. "And I'm horny as fuck now."

Kyu nods understandingly. "Say no more, I got you. Just make sure you keep watching her with that skill so I can watch too. And turn that Touch of Pleasure skill way up."

"Deal," I say and I put all of my clothes into my inventory. Kyu strips as well and kneels between my legs. She pulls the polymorph phallus, the dildo that looks and feels like my dick, out of my inventory and props it up against the ground before lowering herself on it. I shudder as I feel the phantom sensation of entering Kyu, and then again as she wraps her lips around my real cock. I can feel myself in two of Kyu's holes, and it's a wonderful feeling.

Kyu, the expert that she is, brings me to my first orgasm in just a few minutes, which nicely coincides with Mittelt's first orgasm. I feel my hungry need dissipate after my first orgasm, but I don't see a reason to stop. Kyu and Mittelt certainly don't as they keep going. Though Kyu does slow down her movements some.

It occurs to me that not only would this be a perfect chance to use a heart crystal on Mittelt, while she's masturbating, but also that I have a lot of them that I could use. I meant to before, but it keeps slipping my mind.

So I place one hand on Kyu's head, gently guiding her motions as she bobs her head up and down my cock, and with the other, I look through my relationships and use some Heart Crystals.

+5 Affection for Tsubaki Shinra
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Tsubaki Shinra
[Bespectacled Beauties] - Increases Affection gain with glasses wearers by 20%

+10 Affection with Reya Kusuka

+10 Affection with Tsubasa Yura
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Tsubasa Shinra
[She's a Bro and a Ho] - Increases Affection gain with tomboys by 20%

+10 Affection with Raynare

+20 Affection with Azazel
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Azazel
[Better in Black] - Increases Affection gain with Fallen by 20%

+15 Affection with Grayfia Lucifuge
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Grayfia Lucifuge
[Call me Master] - Increases Affection gain with maids by 20%

+10 Affection with Michael

+10 Affection with Sakuya Izayoi
Perk upgraded for 50 Affection with Sakuya Izayoi
[Call me Master] - Increases Affection gain with maids by 40%

+10 Affection with Mittelt
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Mittelt
[Doll-like Charm] - Increases Affection gain with those who dress in goth lolita clothes by 20%

+10 Affection with Yubelluna

+10 Affection with Mihae

+15 Affection with Siris
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Siris
[#1 Boss] - Increases Affection gain with your employees by 20%

+20 Affection with Griselda Quarta

+15 Affection with Xenovia Quarta
Perk upgraded for 50 Affection with Xenovia Quarta
[Way of the Blade] - Increases Affection gain with those who use swords by 40%

+15 Affection with Irina

Holy shit I've been sitting on these for too long. Six new Affection boosting perks, one of which was upgraded already, and an older one also upgraded.

Kyu looks up at me, slightly annoyed that I'm distracted while she's servicing me. I grin apologetically before I switch my attention back to her and to watching Mittelt. Seconds before I cum I change the flavor to candy, giving Kyu a sweet treat as an apology.

She swallows it all, satisfaction emanating from her. Pleasing Kyu was simple. After my orgasm finishes Kyu finally removes my dick from her mouth and looks up at me. "I hope you know I'm not going anywhere. I've been waiting for ages to get fucked over your desk, and I'm not leaving until you go soft."

I grin. "There's a reason I called you and not another girl," I reply, standing up. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

A couple hours later, after I filled Kyu up to the brim and she had left satisfied, I'm still sitting in my office, redoing some of the paperwork that had gotten covered in bodily fluids or just crumpled up.

I sense someone surprising approach my door as I work. "Come in," I say right before they knock, causing them to jump in surprise. I allow myself a small satisfied grin before they open the door and enter. "What can I do for you Gasper?" I ask.

Gasper is looking at the floor and wringing his hands. He's very clearly nervous and embarrassed but also determined. I wonder what this could be. His Affection is pretty high now, almost max.

"Could- could I ask for a favor?" he asks. "I know I'm not really in a place to do that since you just saved Valerie but-"

"Name it," I tell him. "You're a friend Gasper, if I can help you out, I will."

He blushes. "Th-that potion. The one you offered me the other day. Is that offer...still open?"

I suppress the massive grin that wants to break out on my face and pull a Genderbend potion out of my inventory and hold it up. "Do you mean this one?"

He nods. "I-I've been thinking about it a lot. And I talked to Valerie about it. And I think I do want it. I think I've wanted it for a long time."

I place it on the far side of my desk, close to him. "You're welcome to it. It's not permanent, another one can change you back if you change your mind. But I approve. I wasn't lying when I said you'd make a cute girl. You practically are already."

His blush deepens, but [Empathy] tells me he likes hearing the compliment. Wordlessly he grabs the vial and stiffens his shoulders as he looks at it. I can feel his indecisiveness as he hesitates to take that final step, but I just silently watch him. I don't need to prod him on, if he got this far he'll do it, he just needs to take a moment to brace himself.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, he quickly musters up his courage, opens the vial, and downs the potion. I watch with curiosity, not having seen the potion at work before. It's not exciting though. There's no flash of light or obscuring mist or anything. I just see his body shift as it changes shape under his clothes. It happens in a second too, if I blinked I would have missed most of it.

Gasper starts running her hands over her body, feeling the changes. Honestly, there aren't many. At a casual glance she looks exactly the same. But there are two slight bumps on her chest. Damn, she's even smaller than Koneko. Not by much, but it's not like there's a lot of room between Koneko and 'nothing at all'. And I can't see it with my eyes, but [Void Detect] shows a lack of bulge in her panties.

"How do you feel?" I ask. "I assume it worked?"

"I-I think so," she says. Is her voice higher pitched? No, not really. The potion didn't need to work very hard, did it? "It definitely worked down there, I could feel that change. But my chest…"

"Don't worry, all boobs are good boobs, the size doesn't matter," I reassure her.

She blushes but nods, accepting my words. And then finally I see what I was hoping I would.

+9 Affection with Gasper Vladi

Perk rewarded for 100 Affection with Gasper Vladi
[Balor's Gift] - Increases your perception of time while in Void Form, causing the world to seem to move in slow motion.

Interesting. I expected something to do with time manipulation, but I didn't expect it to be tied to my Void Form. Is it because of Gasper, or because of the System trying to balance things?

I'm distracted from trying to figure it out by Gasper slowly walking around my desk to stand next to me. Her nervousness from earlier is back but I pretend not to notice. Still, I suspect I have a general idea of what's about to happen, so I activate [Touch of Pleasure].

"I- um. I just- I wanted to say thank you," she stammers. "For everything." Just like earlier, she screws up her courage, closes her eyes, and quickly leans forward to give me a quick kiss on the lips before she runs away and out of my office.

I smile. That turned out better than I let myself hope. Today's been a productive day for sure. I glance at the clock, and it's not that late, but a quick check shows most of my current harem in my bedroom. Not all of them fit on the bed, some are on the couch or just standing talking to each other. Though Atsuko is definitely doing more than just talking to Momo.

I quickly finish up the paperwork I was working on and leave the rest for tomorrow. I need to step in before Atsuko gets things started without me. I'd hate to miss out on the fun.

I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling of Ravel scrubbing my back, using her ample boobs rather than a sponge. We just finished training, having rushed through the Hardmode forest dungeon. I didn't get much in the way of loot, just the standard heart crystals, crafting materials, potions, and trash weapons that I sold for Hunie. But I did get my first Void-Light skill.

[Conjure Void-Light] - Level 1(0%)
Draw on the Light and convert it to Void

Despite my plethora of other Void skills, I'm excited to play with this one. I want to see what I can do with more control over the Void than I've had up until now. Before now all I've been able to do is use very specific Void skills that I can do very little to change their shape. But the Void-Light skills should give me much more control and room to experiment.

I'm drawn back to the moment by two figures approaching the bathroom Ravel and I are in. We came here for our post-training debrief, which is mostly just an excuse for some alone time with Ravel. The other girls are bathing in a different area. Except these two have decided to come join us. Though I should have expected this honestly.

The door to the bathroom opens, and Ravel and I both look to see two very naked catgirls, Ni and Li.

"Axtooooon~," Ni calls out as they approach us.

"We're tired of waiting," Li follows up. They position themselves on either side of me and cling to my arms, their boobs wrapping around them.

"Won't you please play with us?" Ni asks, looking up at me with sad eyes.

"Girls-" Ravel starts to admonish them, but I cut her off.

"It's fine," I tell her. "I did promise after all." The twins' eyes sparkle with delight. "Ravel why don't you go ahead and get in the bath ahead of us while I play with these two naughty kittens?"

"Yes sir," she replies as she gets up, rinses herself off, and gets into the bath.

I activate my normal array of lewd skills and turn my attention to the two cat girls who have now positioned themselves on my lap, each of them straddling my leg so that I can feel their pussies on my leg. Both of them look at me hungrily.

"You won't regret making time for us," Li purrs as she wraps a hand around my already erect cock.

"Let these two naughty kitties show you what they can do," Ni purrs as she also grabs my dick, her hand positioned right above her sister's. The two of them start moving in perfect sync, simultaneously giving me a handjob as Li leans in and kisses me.

Her kiss is playful and sexy, her tongue darting into my mouth to tease me before retreating and encouraging me to reciprocate. After a few moments of making out with Li, she pulls back and Ni takes her turn kissing me. Ni's kiss is more hungry and needy.

As they alternate kissing me and they keep jacking me off, my hands reach up to start groping their tits. Ni and Li are decently sized, just big enough so that I can sink my hands into their softness. Both of the girls moan as I grope them. They start moving their hips, grinding their crotches into my leg.

A few minutes later I grunt into Li's mouth as I cum, shooting my load onto the bathroom floor.

"Aww, what a waste," Ni pouts as Li pulls back.

"We wanted to taste your cream~," Li teases.

"Oh, you'll have plenty of chances to do so," I reply. "We're not nearly done here yet."

The two of them grin and we reposition ourselves. Ni lays on her back on the bathroom floor and Li lays face down on top of her. I position myself between their legs and appreciate the view of their dripping entrances pressing against each other.

I line myself up and push my dick between them, their lower lips wrapping around the top and bottom of my member. They moan lightly and in harmony as I grind against them.

I don't waste time and I immediately start thrusting, fucking the space between them. I can feel my dick on their sopping entrances, feel it brush past their hardened clits, and finally press against their stomachs, a layer of softness over hardened muscle.

They continue to moan, no longer in harmony, until Ni pulls Li into a kiss, and they start making out as I thrust. That only gets me hornier and I start thrusting faster and faster, the sound of flesh slapping together echoing through the room as I pound them.

They stop kissing when they cum, both crying out in ecstasy as their lower bodies spasm and shudder. I thrust a few more times and then cum as well, covering their bellies with my seed.

I don't wait to give them time to recover though. I immediately pull back, line myself up with Ni, and push my length into her in one go. She cries out, surprised, but it turns into a long moan very quickly.

Li pouts. "No fair!"

"Just wait your turn little kitten, I'll get to you next," I tell her as I start to thrust into Ni. "Why don't you give your sister something to do with her mouth?"

"Ooh, good thinking boss," Li says. She turns around so her crotch is above Ni's face and sits on it. Ni eagerly starts licking at her twin's cunt, causing Li to moan. I was thinking more along the lines of kissing her again, but this is even better.

I lean forward and kiss Li again as I thrust into Ni. I'm no stranger to sex with multiple girls, but the fact that they're twin catgirls who are more than willing to play with each other as well makes this entire scenario that much better.

I climax a few minutes later, grunting into Li's mouth as I fill Ni's insides with my cum. Ni tightens around me as I do and she orgasms from the feeling of me cumming inside of her.

I pull out of her and break my kiss with Li. "Time to swap, it's Li's turn," I say. They obey and in seconds Li is lying face up on the ground and Ni is on her knees next to her. Ni captures Li's lips with her own even as she presents her rear to me, her pussy lips framed by her toned legs.

I push my dick into Li, causing the girl to let out a muffled moan, and I accept Ni's offer and push two fingers into her, causing another muffled moan.

Their makeout session only gets more sloppy as I please the both of them. Li's breasts bounce up and down as I fuck her, one of them held in place as her sister starts groping her as they kiss. My fingers pump into Ni and I quickly find the spot that makes her react the strongest and focus on it hard.

Their kisses are interrupted by each of them letting out little mewls of pleasure as I work my magic on them, and I bring them to orgasm twice in the time it takes me to cum. I thrust deep into Li as I fill her up just as much as I did her sister.

As the twins take a minute to recover themselves I turn to face Ravel with a grin on my face. She's been watching us since the very beginning, and when I started fucking Ni she started fingering herself, her arousal skyrocketing.

"Now that I think about it, I don't see any reason you can't join us as well Ravel," I say. I wanted a chance to have fun with just Ni and Li, but now that I've done that it doesn't feel right to leave her out of it like this. "What do you say, girls?"

Ni purrs and Li smiles. "Come on Ravel, come play with us," Li says while beckoning her over.

Ravel only hesitates for an instant before she gets out of the bath and walks over to us. All three of us watch her, eyes roaming over her body as she does so.

"Move over Li, it's Ravel's turn," I tell the cat girl still laying on the ground. She nods and gets up enough for Ravel to lay down. Ravel is already breathing heavily and is extremely aroused. I smile down at her before I insert myself and indulge in her fiery hot insides.

Ni and Li position themselves on either side of Ravel and focus on her as I fuck her. Ni focuses on her boobs, taking the nipple of one of them into her mouth and playing with the other one using her fingers. Li goes lower and licks her clit as my dick thrusts into her. Both are fully focused on making Ravel feel as good as possible, and Ravel's moans show just how well it's working.

That's when I use [Link Sensations], using it to transmit what Ravel is feeling to both of the other girls. They moan out and arch their backs as they feel the phantom sensation of my dick thrusting into them.

Li moves away from Ravel's crotch and instead kneels next to me, clinging to me as I thrust into her King and kissing every inch of skin she can reach. With each thrust, she mewls slightly in pleasure. Ni moves up from Ravel's nipple and starts moaning into her mouth as they make out. Ravel doesn't hesitate at all and eagerly returns the kiss.

I continue to pound into Ravel's hot snatch, my actions getting rougher as my own arousal increases because of the sound of all three of them moaning and the girl-on-girl kissing happening in front of me.

Ravel is the first time cum, and the two catgirls follow behind her by only a few heartbeats, all three of them spasming and crying out in high-pitched voices even as I keep fucking them through their orgasm. I move rapidly, so close to my own climax, and with one final thrust, I bury my dick deep into Ravel and put a load inside of her as well.

Ni and Li shiver as they feel the phantom sensations of my cumming inside of them, but Ravel just melts in sheer pleasure, relaxing completely.

We take a moment to catch our breath, but not all of us are so patient. Li climbs over Ravel, her rear pointed at me. "My turn next!" Ni insists, and I grin. This is the best life I could have asked for.

+14 Affection with Ni
+14 Affection with Li
For finally 'playing' with them and exceeding expectations

Atsuko, Yua, Tara, and I are in my training room and are both dressed in our full gear. In addition, Atsuko has one of my Student's Pendants on, mostly so it's ready to pull her back here if her health drops too low. Half the other enchantments she already has.

Yua and Tara are also in enchanted gear that I made for them, and I've taught Tara [Void Sight], [Void Travel], and [Fade] using [Mentor]. Her Affection had shot up to 46 when I had done so, for making her stronger, and I used a heart crystal to push that to 56.

Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Tara
[Arachno-Friend] - Increases Affection gain with spiders by 20%

"Before we do this, let me go over it one more time, because without a doubt this is a risky situation," I tell Atsuko and she nods. "I have an item that will bring me to a place that is like my training dungeons, but also not like them." I have a few actually, I had gotten one when Asia and I had cleared the hard mode vampire dungeon.

"Once we enter we can't leave until we clear it. There's no way of telling how hard it will be. It could be super easy, or it could be super dangerous, or anywhere in between." I don't think it'll actually be too dangerous. My mobility and skills make it so I'm confident I can make sure we at least survive any situation. I've stocked up on all sorts of potions too, just in case.

"So we're going to be going in completely blind?" she asks.

"Maybe," I reply. "But there is an upside. Due to reasons that would take too long to explain right now, I might be able to recognize where we are. If I do recognize it I'll likely also know a lot of information about it, so I'll be able to shed some light on what to expect."

"But only after we get there," Atsuko says.

"Yeah," I confirm. "Right now it's a complete mystery. But if we're lucky it'll offer you enough of a challenge to push you past that wall."

"And if it doesn't?" she asks.

"I have backup ideas," I answer, and she nods.

She hefts her ax, the red and gold Scindo Prime that I enchanted for her. "In that case, I'm ready when you are."

In response, I take out a Special Dungeon Key. I have no idea which one it is, they all went into the same stack in my inventory. I don't think it matters. But I am surprised to find it's an actual key, an old-fashioned brass one. I take Atsuko's hand and I turn the key in midair.

I half expect a door to open, but instead, the two of us disappear and reappear somewhere else, even smoother than [Void Travel]. It's a little disconcerting, especially since we went from the large concrete room of my training room to what can only be described as a ruined city.

"Holy shit," Atsuko murmured. "Do you recognize this place?"

"Not immediately, it's a little too generic," I reply. "Lots of places could have a ruined city. Let me look around for signs or something."

I cast around with [Void Detect] and [Void Sight]. While I do, Atsuko raises her ax and looks around as well. She's a little nervous but also excited. Yua is just excited, two wands in her hand as she jumps around and looks at everything. Tara is also poking around, but she's being much more careful and hesitant about it.

I don't see much of any use though. The signs are in Japanese, which narrows it down a little but not much. But there aren't any enemies- no wait, there are a few a little outside of my range.

"Atsuko," I reply. "I haven't figured out where we are yet, but there are three monsters about 150 meters uh, let's call directly in front of us North, so they'd be to our North-West."

"I'm not going to remember which direction is north," Atsuko replies bluntly. "Ahead and to the left though, got it. Do you want me to get them?"

"Not yet, let me finish scouting," I reply. The monsters in question are...standing around talking? They seem to be intelligent, but each one is definitely not human. One is some sort of bird-reptile hybrid, another is just a giant mole, and the third looks like a trashcan with arms and legs.

I frown. Not a lot of places have monsters like that, but I'm having trouble remembering the ones that do. So I turn my attention back to the signs. This time I cast my sight to the edge of the city. The chances of finding a sign within the city that names it is low. But highways and city lines should have signs with the city name on them.

Sure enough, I find a road with a sign above it, and I curse when I read it.

'Welcome to Z-City'

"What is it?" Atsuko asks.

"I found out where we are," I reply. The world of One Punch Man. "Bad news is that how dangerous this place is can be hard to nail down. Some threats we might face just aren't threats. But there could potentially be some scary motherfuckers here."

I note that my [Void Sight] can't go very far beyond the city limits. And that's mostly because nothing exists there. There's a line drawn around the city that, as you approach it, the sky beyond seems to grow dark, and there's an impenetrable wall there, one that reminds me of the edges of the dungeons. So this is just a part of the One Punch Man world? A single city sliced off from the rest?

"Any good news?" she asks.

"We should be able to handle anything but the biggest threats so long as we're careful," I say. "Go ahead and start boosting though, go up to nine boosts."

"Got it," she replies as the gauntlet of the Boosted Gear appears on her hand. I keep looking around. For a dungeon, this place seems suspiciously sparse. But then I see something shoot into the air in the distance. I direct my sight to that part of the city and quickly find where all the monsters are. They're all swarming around a single figure who is fending them off.

"Atsuko, we need to go right now, there's someone still alive here," I reply and hold out my hand. She takes it without hesitation and after my familiar climb back onto me I [Void Travel] us to a nearby rooftop. "Atsuko, finish boosting and then start slaying monsters," I instruct her. "Yua stay close to me, focus on controlling the terrain. Tara, I want you to remain on my back and hold back, for now. We'll be moving quickly."

After they all nod in agreement I dive off the side of the building, [Void Beam] lancing out to cut swathes of monsters in half as I fall. I take a moment to look closer at the figure and realize who it is. Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror, the most powerful telekinetic I've ever seen. I watch as she waves her hand and a ring of force cuts through the majority of the monsters around her. Maybe I didn't need to come rushing in to help her?

No, looking closer I can see bags under her eyes, and her clothes are practically non-existent. I can clearly see her ribs, and she's trembling. How long has she been fighting like this to end up in that state?

I take the chance to spam [Void Collapse] a dozen times. Their force pulls in monsters which only increase their size, and entire sections of the monster army are eradicated. Some of the bigger ones resist the pull and look up at me with bloodlust.

I hit the ground with a loud crack as the already ruined pavement is further reduced to rubble, but I don't stay there for long. Arc-Light crackles over my body and I leap at the nearest threat before it can react, my hands covered in darkness as I use [Void Drain] to steal the monster's HP and MP.

A few seconds later Atsuko comes crashing down with an even louder sound, her ax splitting another monster in half.

Between the three of us, the horde of monsters is reduced to nothing in less than a minute. Tatsumaki notices us during the fight, of course, I see her look at us warily, but she smoothly transitions to fighting as a group. She's not a professional hero for nothing.

It's only when the last monster is slain that she turns her attention to us. "Who are you? How did you get here?" she asks sharply.

I raise my hands in surrender. "We're not monsters, we're people," I say. "The how is a little more complicated, but I'm Axton and this is Atsuko." I look over at Atsuko who is definitely not paying attention to anything that's being said and is checking out the near-naked Tatsumaki. "The kitten and the spider are my familiars, Yua and Tara." The two of them wave at Tatsumaki, causing her to narrow her eyes slightly at them.

First Impressions Perk Activated
+25 Affection with Tatsumaki

Good, 25 Affection right off the bat should help. She's still looking at us suspiciously, but not nearly as much as she was before.

"I'd be glad to answer how, but that's a longer answer. Maybe we should go somewhere not covered in monster blood and guts?" I propose.

"They'll fade away in a few minutes anyway, but fine," she says as green energy encompasses my body and I feel myself being lifted along with my familiars. "I'm bringing us there though, to a place of my choosing."

I nod. "That's fine with me, we just got here." I look over at Atsuko, who doesn't really seem to care that she's been telekinetically picked up and is just continuing to ogle Tatsumaki. Not that I can really blame her. Despite her short stature, Tatsumaki has the figure of a beautiful woman, and I've been abusing [Void Sight] to get a good look myself.

We don't travel far. She brings us to a building a street over that's mostly intact. She carefully lowers us into the hole in the roof before releasing us from her power. We're in what looks like the hallway of an apartment complex, with rows of homes stacked together.

"This way," she says, floating down the hallway. We dutifully follow her down the hall, down a flight of stairs, down another hall, and then into a room.

It's obvious at first glance that this is her home. There's not much, but it's cleaner than the other rooms, and it looks more lived-in than ruined.

"I have a spare set of clothes, if you want them," I offer.

"I don't really care," Tatsumaki says. "I lost my modesty a long time ago."

"Well I don't really mind, but the offer is open," I reply with a shrug. "But that does bring me to my first question. How long have you been here?"

She narrows her eyes at me. "What do you mean 'here'? And I'm the one with the questions!"

I raise my hands again. "I have some answers, but I'm missing some pieces. Help me fill in a couple blanks and I should be able to explain it better."

She glares at me for a moment longer before sighing and looking away. "I don't know how long I've been here, not for sure. The sun doesn't move in the sky, and none of the clocks still work. The waves of monsters come once every hour though, and it took me a long time before I started tracking them. But it's been at least 18 months."

Holy shit that was a long time. "When do you sleep?" Atsuko asks.

She shrugs. "There's an hour between every wave of monsters. I wipe them out in a few minutes and spend the rest of the time eating, sleeping, or preparing."

"So, full disclosure, I know who you are and I know how powerful you are," I start. "And I have to ask. Is there a reason you haven't flattened this entire city and turned it into a blender?"

She glares at me again. "Your questions really piss me off. Fine, let me explain. I responded to a Dragon Level threat in Z-City. There were a few other A-rank and B-rank heroes that responded, but they were weaklings and they got killed by the swarm of monsters that came out from underground. Before I managed to kill them all something went...wrong."

I think I was starting to piece things together and I open my mouth to ask a question, but Tatsumaki glares at me and I close my mouth again. It can wait.

"I lost connection to the Hero Association and I couldn't break buildings or anything anymore," she continues. "I could do surface-level damage, but a couple inches into anything was indestructible. More than that, I couldn't escape from the city. The world just ends outside the city borders and I couldn't break through."

She looks away. "While I was trying to get out, most of the remaining heroes died from the first wave of monsters. And since then I've been stuck here, fighting for my life and scavenging what I need. I'm starting to run out of food though." She turns back to me, fire in her eyes. "Now I want you to explain what you know, how you got here, and how do we get out?"

"I don't have all the answers, but I can tell you that you're trapped in a pocket dimension," I reply. "I don't know why, how, or who. But I can tell you that there are a bunch of these. One last question?" She glared at me, but didn't say no. "Do you recognize the name Saitama? Caped Baldy? Genos?"

"I've never heard of any of those people," she replies. "Why?"

I grimace. "Due to certain circumstances, I have knowledge of hundreds of different worlds. I know of yours as well, that's how I recognized you. But Saitama and Genos are important parts of your world. If they don't exist...then they probably got killed. Did an alien attack recently?"

"Do you mean the freak with the ship that bombed A-City?" she asked. "Yeah, he did. He spouted a lot of crap before I managed to tear him to pieces."

I sigh. "Then this is a timeline where they don't appear," I reply. "I can't say for certain, but if I had to guess…this timeline was doomed so it was grabbed and repurposed into one of these pocket spaces. The fact that you were caught inside was bad luck."

"A doomed timeline?" Tatsumaki asks, fists clenched. "Knowledge of a hundred worlds? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Surely you've heard of the Multiverse Theory right?" I ask. She nods angrily. "Well, that's more or less correct. There are infinite worlds out there. I know of one that's very like yours, but Saitama was there to prevent the worst from happening. Without him...well, it happened."

"Bullshit, I'm still here!" Tatsumaki shouts. "There's nothing I can't handle!"

"Could you handle another 18 months of this?" I ask, causing her to pause.

She clicks her tongue and looks away. "And this Saitama guy could?"

"He probably would have punched his way out of the pocket dimension and back home within an hour most likely," I reply. That only seems to piss her off more though. "Look, I don't know that for certain though. It might have had nothing to do with that, I don't know why these places exist. Only that I can travel to them, sometimes, but I can't leave until I clear a certain condition."

"So you came here with your girlfriend to what? Sightsee?" she spits out.

"To train actually," I reply. "I didn't expect to find any people in one of these, though this is my first one like this, so I didn't have much info to work off of."

"Whatever, I don't care anymore," she says grumpily. "So, how do we get out?"

"Well, first off, 'getting out' doesn't mean you get to go home, I think," I say, causing her to glare at me again. "The only exit out of here would be back with us, and the world we're from is nothing like yours. I might be able to find a path to your homeworld at some point in the future, but I can't promise that I will."

"Fine whatever. I just want out of this hellhole," she agrees. This time I'm the suspicious one. She agreed to that far too easily. But I'll leave it for later.

"Second, I'm uh… I'm not completely sure?" I say. I can feel her anger rising and I raise my hands again. "I have a general idea. Most likely there's a boss monster we have to kill."

"What, like a fucking video game?" Tatsumaki scoffed.

"Yeah actually," Atsuko says. "They're normally kinda game-like."

Tatsumaki narrows her eyes. "I thought you said this was your first one."

I sigh. "I've been to places that are sort of similar, but they're artificial, they're not ripped from another world. And I can enter and leave them as I please, unlike this one that I can only enter once, I can't leave until I 'clear' it, and has an actual person in it that I recognize."

"So it's those other ones that are game-like," Tatsumaki clarifies.

"Yep!" Atsuko replies. "We use them to train!"

"Is your world dangerous, to need such training?" Tatsumaki asks.

"Not in the same way as yours," I reply. "There aren't any monster attacks and things are mostly at peace right now. But it's an uneasy peace, and the top players would at least rival you in strength. Hell, a few of them are probably stronger." Though that's only because her stats are so unbalanced.

Tatsumaki
Level: 3,403
Race: Human
HP: 2,960
MP: 727,200
SP: 1,120
CON: 148
STR: 56
DEX: 89
INT: 14,544
WIS: 8,547
CHA: 412
LUK: 101

They make sense though. She's an extremely powerful esper, but she's a mostly normal human outside of that. Which means she has by far the highest single stat I've seen, eclipsing even Sakuya's, but her level is lower than Grayfia. Though I've stopped putting much stock into levels.

She narrows her eyes at me. "Once again you're claiming to know how strong I am."

I chuckle. "Well, you could call me a fan I guess? I think you're badass, and I've always liked telekinesis. So seeing you in action, the most powerful telekinetic I've seen in any world, was really fun."

"In any world?" she asks, surprised. Then she shakes her head violently. "No, never mind, of course I'm the best. So let's go kill this boss or whatever."

"Actually, if I can make a suggestion?" I stop her. "I've got some good quality food I can give you, and we can take care of a few waves no problem. It would actually be good for our training. That way you can get a hot meal and a few hours of sleep. I don't know how strong the boss will be, and having you rested up in case it's too much for us would put me at ease." Her MP is only at a third of its max, but it's refilling fast enough that it'll be filled within a couple hours of rest.

I can feel equal levels of frustration and relief from her. "Fine," she grumbles. "It would be nice to sleep for more than thirty minutes I guess. Gimme that food you promised, and the clothes too."

I ignore the temptation to roll my eyes and just smile and hand her the Clean and Comfortable Outfit I got from the gacha a while back. Atsuko pouts as Tatsumaki dresses. My little pervert is so easy to read. Once Tatsumaki is dressed, I hand her a bunch of food I have in my inventory.

"I've never seen anything like that," she comments as she watches me pull things from thin air. "Is that technology, or an ability?"

"An ability of mine," I reply. "A sort of pocket space. Food stays hot inside it and as far as I can tell it has infinite space inside of it."

"Useful," she replies, but her attention is already on the food, the aroma of which is filling the room quickly. I can see her fingers twitch, but she holds herself back. I realize her pride won't let her devour the food like she craves to do.

"Why don't we give you some privacy? So you can eat and sleep. Atsuko and I will start preparing for the next wave outside."

"Whatever," Tatsumaki says. "Just do it around here, they always attack wherever I'm at."

"Sure thing," I reply. "Come on Atsuko."

"See ya in a bit!" Atsuko says as we leave. Once we're in the hallway she leans in towards me. "Axton, I'm so lost right now. I have no idea what's going on."

I chuckle. "Come on, let's get back to the rooftop, I'll explain there." I turn to my familiars. "You two start laying traps around the building. The next wave should be here in about forty minutes."

"Got it!" "Sure thing Papa!"

Once they're gone, the two of them having teleported to the street below, I teleport Atsuko and me to the top of the building and look down. Sure enough, I can see Tatsumaki hungrily devouring the food I left her, desperately shoving the food in her mouth. I look away, not wanting to intrude on a moment like that.

+12 Affection with Tatsumaki
For the first good food she's had in 18 months

I sit down on the edge of the roof, my legs dangling, and I pat the spot next to me. "Come and sit with me. We have time before the next wave. I'll tell you the story of this world."

She does just that, putting her ax in soul storage and sitting next to me, pressed up against me, and I began to tell her the story of a bald guy who just wanted to be a hero for fun.

Four waves of monsters and a lot of XP later, Tatsumaki wakes up and finds Atsuko and I cleaning up the remains of the last wave. Yua and Tara are resting, but Atsuko and I have stamina to spare. I almost wish she had remained sleeping longer, we've made terrific progress.

Axton
Level: 390
Class: Lightbearer(90/100)[12%]
HP: 121,500 (9,234 per second)
MP: 177,240 (15,243 per second)
SP: 138,540 (10,529 per second)
CON: 1925(2025)
STR: 2209(2309)
DEX: 2389(2489)
INT: 2432(2532)
WIS: 2313(2413)
CHA: 1401(1501)
LUK: 1878(1978)

[Shape Void-Light] - Level 13(57%)
Shape conjured Void-Light with your will

[Channel Void-Light] - Level 6(94%)
Channel Void-Light through your body or through an object

My own progress is mostly just in levels, but they're very appreciated. The two new skills are nice too, and I'm glad I was able to get them so quickly.

I'm not the only one who leveled up a ton though. Yua actually hit 250 partway into the third wave where she stopped again, hitting another level cap and earning me another stone to evolve her. I used it on her while we waited for the fourth wave and she changed into a race called 'Child of Bast'. She grew to be about four feet tall but otherwise looked pretty much the same as she did before, though she said that running on all fours was harder now.

Tara still needs a lot more XP before she evolves though. She blew past level 100 a long time ago and is now level 164. Still, her stats are much higher now and she's a lot more confident.

Atsuko also gained a lot of levels and is just one level shy of level 200. But she hasn't struggled yet. The enemies we've fought so far just aren't strong enough to push her to her limit. I'm hoping the boss will be different though.

Tatsumaki comes floating down. The bags under her eyes have lessened a bit, and she doesn't seem as quite on edge. "Your cat got bigger," she comments.

"Well, we did come here for training," I reply. "Yua had a breakthrough and was able to evolve. And I'm very proud of her. Even if I can't carry her as easily now."

"Jeez Papa," Yua comments. "I'm not a baby anymore, I can walk and fly and teleport just fine by myself."

I shake my head dramatically. "They grow up so fast you know? You need to cherish the moments that you have."

"Papaaaaaa," Yua complains in embarrassment. Atsuko smiles and Tara snickers, which is a strange sound for a spider to make.

"Whatever," Tatsumaki dismisses. "I'm rested up enough and ready to get out of here. Let's go before the next wave starts."

"About that, I'm not sure where to go," I reply.

"I do," she replies simply, somewhat devoid of emotion. "Where the monsters initially broke out. There's a set of doors that I could never get open or dig through or around. If there's a 'boss', it's past those doors."

I nod. That seems pretty likely. I'm also now understanding the point of the dungeon, to spend hours searching the city, periodically being attacked by monsters, with no clues on where to go. It's pretty brutal. Thankfully Tatsumaki is here to guide us.

"Then, by all means, lead the way," I tell her, and she nods. She flies off and Atsuko and I extend our own wings and follow her. Yua and Tara fly behind us, relying on the enchantments I put in their gear to do so. Tatsumaki gives us a strange look but doesn't stop or comment. Instead, she speeds up, making us work to keep up with her.

It only takes a few minutes to reach our destination, a massive hole in the ground that leads to a tunnel. So maybe not as hard to find as I thought. We take it slow as we travel down the tunnel, gently spiraling as we go.

"I thought you said you were humans," Tatsumaki comments as she looks at our wings. We're going slow enough that conversation isn't too much of a hassle.

"I said we were people," I correct. "We used to be humans until recently. I'm still mostly human, but I've modified myself to add in some other races. She's a human that's been turned into a Devil. Not as bad as it sounds, they're a human-like race in the world we came from, and she agreed to it after being asked."

"...your world is weird," she comments, causing me to laugh. She turns her attention back to where we're going. "This is it, we're here."

I had noticed it already with [Void Detect], and now I could see it with my own eyes. A massive set of iron doors a hundred feet tall stood in front of us. I could tell that the walls were all indestructible like the rest of the dungeon was. The only way through is to get it open.

"So we just gotta get those doors open?" Atsuko asks. "But how?"

"Something's happening," I say, drawing their attention to the door. It ripples like liquid, and a massive creature made of metal steps out of it. It's bipedal with massive arms and a faceless head and it's at least thirty feet tall.

"I AM THE GATEKEEPER," it bellows. "IF YOU SEEK THE MONSTER KING, YOU MUST FIRST DEFEAT ME."

Tatsumaki raises her hand, surely ready to crush it, but I raise a hand in front of her. She shoots me a glare but I ignore her and look at Atsuko.

"Atsuko?" I say, getting her attention. She looks at me, and she doesn't look concerned at all. Mostly ready to go and curious about what I want. "This one is all yours, okay?"

She grins, but her eyes grow determined rather than excited. "You think I can take him?"

"No idea, go find out," I reply. "We're not gonna back you up though. It's time to sink or swim."

"Got it," she says with a nod. "Hear that Ddraig? You ready?"

"Yes, partner! Show that creature the might of the Red Dragon Empress!" I hear Ddraig call out, and Atsuko rockets towards the metal golem, and they start to fight in earnest. The rest of us stand back a little, watching the fight.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Tatsumaki shouts at me as Atsuko's ax tears into the metal of the golem.

"Helping her grow," I reply casually.

"I thought she was your lover, you should be protecting her!" Tatsumaki continues.

"I can't be everywhere at once, and she wants to be strong," I reply, not letting my annoyance show. "She has amazing potential, but she's hit a wall recently. So she came to me and asked me to help push her past that wall. And it's not going to happen if I coddle her."

"Oh, so you just don't care if she's in danger then?" Tatsumaki snarls. "So long as she gets strong, it doesn't matter if she nearly dies doing it?"

"Shut the fuck up," I snap, surprising her. "Of course I care, but I already said it, didn't I? I can't be everywhere at once, and this was her choice. If I had my way this wouldn't be necessary. But there are storms coming, and she needs to be ready for whatever I can't handle."

"Then that just means you're not good enough," she fires back, not losing any of her anger. "You push yourself, not her."

"Yeah?" I say, my anger rising. "And how'd that work out with Fubuki?"

I'm not aware of any movement. One second I'm standing next to Tatsumaki, the next pain shoots through my entire body as I'm slammed into the wall by her telekinetic force. Shit, that took half my HP off.

-8 Affection with Tatsumaki
For touching a nerve

Tatsumaki floats towards me, murder in her eyes. I might have let my tongue get a little carried away. Atsuko hasn't noticed, she's still fighting. I can't move my body at all, all I can do is watch as she approaches me. Yua and Tara notice for certain. Thankfully they weren't perched on me. I mentally communicate to both of them, telling them not to worry and to not interfere. I don't think either of them likes it, but they trust me to handle it.

"Don't you dare say her name," Tatsumaki hisses. "You don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" I choke out, the pressure on my throat making it a little hard to speak. "Tornado of Terror, the overprotective big sister. How could she ever grow when you coddled her so much?" I'm probably not helping my situation by talking like this, but I figure that seeing it through will be better than trying to get out of it.

The pressure on me increases. "She didn't need to grow, she didn't need to be a hero in the first place!"

"How could she not, when she saw how amazing you were?" I ask. "An esper just like you, but never as good as you, not in anything. She was stuck in your shadow, and all she wanted was out of it."

"You- you don't know that!" Tatsumaki shouts, but she doesn't seem sure of herself. "You couldn't possibly know that!"

"I have 'knowledge of a hundred worlds', remember?" I ask. "Fubuki has an inferiority complex, and you're to blame."

"Shut. Up." She orders me through gritted teeth.

"Who knows, maybe without you being there to baby her, she might be kicking ass by now back in your world," I point out.

The wall next to me shatters and cracks as Tatsumaki's telekinesis slams into it. Tiny slivers of stone slam into my face from the force, and if I thought Tatsumaki was angry before, that was nothing compared to her face now.

For a moment, I fear that I fucked up, that my big mouth finally got me into a situation I can't talk myself out of. But right as I start to panic, I notice something with [Empathy]. Anger isn't the only emotion she's feeling, there's also a deep sadness that is quickly rising and overtaking the anger. I look at her with wide eyes and spot tears in her eyes, and dread washes over me.

"What happened to Fubuki?" I ask in a quiet voice.

"I thought you were all-knowing, asshole," Tatsumaki fires back, but the energy that fueled her rage is dying down. "Well, you were wrong. She got trapped in here too. She was one of the heroes that responded."

"So she…" I start to ask, but I'm afraid to put it into words.

"No," Tatsumaki says with a shake of her head. "No, she didn't die when I was looking for a way out. She was the only one that survived, I rushed back as soon as I realized she was in danger."

"What happened to her?" I ask, confused.

The force pinning me to the wall disappears and I slide a couple feet down to the ground. Tatsumaki crosses her arms and looks away, but her trembling is clear to see and tears stream silently down her face. Yua and Tara still look concerned, but I keep them back. It was dicey for a moment, but I have the situation under control again.

"I- I don't know," Tatsumaki admits. "It didn't take us long to figure out we were cut off from the rest of the world. One of the first things I tried to do was break through it by force." She clenches her hands around her arms, nails denting her flesh. "It really pissed me off when you said that Saitama guy would just punch his way out. Even with all my power focused on a point a nanometer wide I couldn't break this space open. Not by myself."

"Fubuki helped you then?" I ask.

"Shut up," she snaps, but there's no heat to it. "I didn't let her at first, but when I didn't get any results I agreed." Tatsumaki grimaces. "That's my biggest regret." Tatsumaki's quiet for a moment and I take the chance to check on Atsuko. She's doing fine. Or rather, she's not doing badly. She's not making any progress though, her ax only doing superficial damage to the golem.

"Fubuki's powers weren't very strong," Tatsumaki continues. "But they reacted synergistically to mine. The two of us working together could produce results stronger than the sum of our parts. So we tried, we both focused a drill of telekinetic force on the barrier around this city. And that's when it happened. She just...disappeared."

I blink. I expected some sort of backlash, but… "Did it work then?" I ask.

"I don't know," she admits in a frustrated tone. "That's the best-case scenario, right? Unless that bullshit about the doomed timeline was real. But all I know is she was there one second, then she wasn't and the drill fell apart and I was by myself."

My mind races. This Special Dungeon has so far been one surprise after another. But this was the biggest one of them all. "There are four possibilities I can think of," I say. "First, that she did indeed get out and appeared back in your world, sans you. Second, she got out, but she appeared in the Void."

Tatsumaki glanced at me. "The Void?" she asks.

"The Void has a lot of names, but it's the space between worlds," I explain. "Not really technically a 'space', you can't really map it to the three spatial dimensions that we perceive, and even time can be fucky. But it's what separates worlds from each other. This place should be a little bubble, floating freely inside the Void. That's what the others are at least."

"And if she did?" Tatsumaki asks.

I grimace. "It's not guaranteed, but living things aren't meant to be in the Void. It's not a place that they can survive."

Tatsumaki's expression darkens at that. "And the other two possibilities?"

"The worst of the two remaining possibilities is...well is that she just died, torn apart on the atomic level by the backlash of what you two were doing." Tatsumaki glares at me, anger rising again, and I raise my hands. I'm doing that a lot today. "If it makes you feel better, I consider this the least likely possibility. But I don't think it can be discounted."

"It can, trust me," she replies. "Even by accident, I could never hurt her."

"Alright alright, I'll take your word for it," I reply. I'm not willing to fight her on it. "In that case, the last possibility is still that she escaped here but…" I trail off. "Look, I can't be certain. I barely know how this works. But like I said earlier, I know for a fact that there are multiple places like this, special pocket dimensions that work like this one. They may be 'arranged' in a way that they share walls. Like cells."

"You're saying she might have left this one and entered one of those," Tatsumaki concludes. "H-how bad would that be?"

"It's...it's hard to say," I reply. "If it was you? I'd say there would be a very good chance of you conquering wherever you ended up in short order. But someone on her level?" I shrug. "There are places she could end up where she'd be fine, and places just as bad, if not worse, than your own world."

Her face twists in anger. "Then that's no help at all!" she yells, anger once again rising.

"It's your best shot at seeing her again," I reply. "Look, getting access to these places isn't easy. But I promise I'll look for her in every one of them that I can."

She pauses. "...do you really think she might be in one of those places?"

"I won't sugarcoat it," I reply. "She might, but with how little information I have, it's just as likely as the other two options. But looking is all I can do until I find a way back to your world." If traveling to her world is even possible. No, it might take time, but I'm a Gamer. Anything is possible.

+12 Affection with Tatsumaki
For giving her hope

"Fine," she says, looking away and wiping away her tears. "I still think what you're doing here with your girlfriend is irresponsible."

"She's doing fine so far," I say. "Besides, despite what I said to her, I'll jump in if it looks like she's in any actual danger of dying."

She scoffs. "Of course you will, you hypocrite."

"It's a matter of moderation," I reply smoothly. "I'm not gonna jump in if she gets a scratch. She's tough, she can handle a lot. But neither will I let her die." Kronika's Gem is charged and in my hand, ready to be used.

"You say she's doing fine, but we're going to be here all day at this rate," Tatsumaki comments as she watches Atsuko. "Or until she slips up."

Tatsumaki is right, Atsuko isn't making any progress. The golem is covered in slightly rusted cuts, but none of them reach deep enough to do real damage.

"Atsuko!" I shout, using [Sound Domain] to make sure she hears me. "What's the problem? Talk it through!"

"I can't get past its armor!" She shouts back. "And-" she's cut off as the golem backhands her, sending her flying ten feet back, but she keeps her footing and doesn't take too much damage. "And he hits like a truck! I need a bigger weapon!"

I sigh. Fine, I'll give her a hint. "Ddraig! What the fuck are you doing? How the hell is she meant to unlock your abilities if you don't tell her what they are? She should have what she needs!"

"What are you- Ah, I see," I hear him say. I tune him out as I hear Ddraig explaining things to Atsuko.

"Ddraig?" Tatsumaki asks.

"In our world humans have a chance of being born with something called a Sacred Gear," I explain. "Some of the more powerful ones are made of the soul of a powerful creature. Ddraig is the Dragon that was used to make Atsuko's Sacred Gear."

She's quiet for a moment. "Your world is really weird."

I roll my eyes. "And the talking trashcan monster I saw earlier isn't?"

"Shut up," she says, and I laugh. Things got scary between us for a second, but we talked it out. Knowing what I know now, I never would have pressed that point about Fubuki. It's one thing to call her out on her over-protective tendencies, but with Fubuki's fate unknown, and with that being partially Tatsumaki's fault, I can see why it's such a sore point.

"Boosted Gear: Gift!" Atsuko yells out. The gauntlet on her hand shines as it changes shape, and the ax she was swinging grows to be ten times its size and cleaves the golem in half. I grin. Not only did she unlock it, but she managed to use it to do more than just boost its base power, she boosted the size instead. Not an easy thing to do, but Atsuko should have unlocked this ability ages ago.

The bisected golem fell to the ground, lifeless. With a loud groaning noise, the massive iron doors started to open.

"See?" I say to Tatsumaki as we approach the door. "She pushed herself and she got stronger, that's a new ability she unlocked."

"You've made your point," Tatsumaki growls.

"Fine fine, I got it, shutting up about it now," I reply. No need to push it anymore. "Good job Atsuko," I say as we get closer to her.

"I did it!" she exclaims. Then she frowns, looking at her ax. "Uhh, how do I make this smaller now?"

"It will return to normal when you start Boosting again," Ddraig answers. "Or on its own shortly."

"Oh okay, I'll just do that then," she replies. The Boosted Gear yells out as she starts boosting again, and her ax returns to normal size.

"Now, the upsides and downsides," I start lecturing as she gets back to her maximum sustainable boosts. "Upside is that you can transfer your boosts to anyone or anything. You can give them to us, or you can do as you just did to boost the properties of something. The utility that it offers is invaluable. The downside is that you have to build those boosts up, and you lose them when you gift them and have to build them up again. You have to be careful not to leave yourself open when you use it."

"Got it," she says with a nod. I use [Observe] on her real quick. She's level 204 now, she earned quite a bit of XP for defeating the boss.

"Girl," Tatsumaki says to Atsuko.

"Atsuko," she replies.

Tatsumaki pauses. "Atsuko," she concedes.

"Yeah?" Atsuko asks with a smile on her face.

"When we get to the boss, this Monster King, use this Gift ability on me," Tatsumaki orders. "It will make me stronger, right? I'll crush the boss immediately."

Atsuko looks at me and I shrug. Our goal of unlocking the next ability for Atsuko was achieved. If Tatsumaki wants to blitz the boss, I don't mind. She shrugs as well and turns back to Tatsumaki. "Alright, sure."

[Void Detect] picks up something on the edge of my range. "Looks like we have more than just the boss to deal with. More monsters are incoming."

Tatsumaki sighs. "Let's just deal with this quickly, I want to get out of here."

The five of us work as a team to clear the monsters as we progress deeper into the cave. They're tougher than the ones above ground, but between the help of Tatsumaki and the leveling we've done, they're manageable.

The boss is kind of anti-climactic. Oh, the Monster King himself is impressive, a massive dragon almost as big as the Ender Dragon with slate-gray scales and a fiery red mouth. But Atsuko gives Tatsumaki her boosts and in seconds the boss is crushed into a small sphere, and then further crushed. And then more. By the end of it, all that's left is a superheated bit of condensed material the size of a marble.

Special Dungeon Clear!

Skill rewarded!
[Telekinesis] - Level 1(0%)
Create force and control objects using just your mind.

Exiting Special Dungeon in 60 seconds.

"Alright, that's it, we're leaving in just under a minute," I say. "Anything you want from your home Tatsumaki? I can teleport up there and grab it."

She shakes her head. "There's nothing of sentimental value there. Just a few scraps of food."

I nod and turn my attention to the marble left behind by Tatsumaki's brutal killing of the boss.

Condensed Monster King
The flesh and bone of the Monster King, compressed by a powerful telekinetic.

Huh. Neat. I stash it in my inventory. I'm not sure what I'll use it for, but it might be useful as a crafting ingredient or something.

There's not really anything else of value here, so I take the two girls by the hand, with Tara on my back and Yua, now too big for my shoulder, holding on to my leg. And when the time runs out, all of us vanish from the special dungeon and reappear in the training room.

I glance at the time and then outside. "It's already dark outside," I tell Atsuko. "You're probably expected home soon, it's a school night."

"Aww dammit," Atsuko grumbled. "It's fine, I'll just fly home. I'll see you guys later! It was nice to meet you Tatsumaki!" Atsuko rushes out, heading for the exit. I mentally prod at Yua and Tara and both of them teleport

"Where are we?" Tatsumaki as the two of us are left alone.

"This is the room I use for sparring and training," I explain as I lead us out. "It also doubles as a shelter, though I haven't needed to use it like that yet. It's in the basement of my mansion."

She raises an eyebrow. "How does a kid like you get a mansion?"

"Well, for one, land isn't at a premium like it is for you back home," I reply. "This world has thousands of cities, not just a couple dozen. Second, by being very powerful and very useful to other powerful people. I have a monopoly on magical potions. Or close enough at least."

Tatsumaki is silent for a moment. "It doesn't feel real," she says eventually. "I feel like this is a crazy dream, or I'm finally dead and this is some bizarre afterlife."

"That's not surprising considering what you've been through," I reply. "I can't imagine it's going to be easy to recover. But there's no rush. I have so many spare bedrooms that it's not even funny, and if you need anything I have a team of maids you can rely on. For now? Just rest. We'll slowly get you used to a normal life again, one day at a time."

She's quiet for a moment. "Alright, fine," she says. "Not like I have any other choice, not really. But a proper bed does sound nice." She grimaces. "And a shower."

I decide not to comment on that last one and instead lead her to a bedroom with its own bathroom she could use. She immediately sheds her clothes, uncaring that I haven't left the room yet, and enters the bathroom to clean up.

+6 Affection with Tatsumaki
For bringing her back to civilization

That puts her at 47 Affection, the perfect range for a Heart Crystal. I figure I might as well go all-in on someone important and powerful like Tatsumaki and use a Super Heart Crystal to push her all the way to 67.

Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Tatsumaki
[Legal Loli Lover] - Increases Affection gain with adult women with small figures by 20%

I make sure to tell Sakuya and Wilhelm about our latest guest while she showers, informing both of them of her otherworldly nature and how she'll need to be educated on what this world is like.

After that, I teleport into my Alchemy room and start making new potions. A lot of my time has been going into doing that but it's important work and it's making me a lot of money. While I automate the ones I need the most of, I also start making some by hand.

I spend a couple hours like that, just relaxing as I work. The Special Dungeon was a lot more intense than I thought it would be and it's nice to just lose myself in some simple work.

[Void Detect] picks up a flash of Void behind me, and as I turn I see Ophis suddenly appear.

"You've gotten stronger," Ophis comments as she looks me up and down.

I relax. People suddenly teleporting into my home makes me jumpy, but I don't mind talking to Ophis a bit. I hope to drag her to my side after all. "I had a pretty good weekend, got a lot of training done."

"You told the truth," she states, confusing me for a second.

"You mean when I said that if you give me time I can get a lot stronger?" She nods. "Well yeah, there's no reason to lie about that."

"Many do," she replies shortly.

"Fair," I say with a shrug. "But I'm not like them."

+12 Affection with Ophis
For proving yourself reliable

She nods in agreement. "Your cookies were good, thank you."

"I'm glad you liked them," I reply. "I have more if you want?" She nods again and I pull a plate out of my inventory and hand them over. They disappear in a flash of Void, though I can't tell where they've gone. I guess she's saving them for later?

"I have a gift too," she replies. "For the cookies, and for telling the truth."

New Trait added!
[Blessing of Ophis] - Void Form is now more powerful and costs less.

"You...blessed me?" I ask, confused. Is that something she could do? I think it was just the thing with the snakes?

She nods. "You are very compatible with me," she says. I'm not sure if it's meant to be an explanation or not though.

"I see," I reply. Well, it's a pretty good boon. "Thank you Ophis, I won't let you down."

She nods. "Good." And without even saying goodbye, she disappears in another flash of Void. Is that what it's going to be like with her? Her randomly appearing and then leaving just as abruptly? I sigh. It probably is. I'll have to stock up on cookies.

I look at the time and it's later than I realize. I start cleaning up my [Alchemy] stuff when I notice something with [Void Detect]. Speaking of troublesome legal lolis, it seems like Tatsumaki is wandering the halls.

I quickly clean up and then I [Void Travel] near her. I don't want to appear right next to her for fear of being thrown through a wall because I spooked her. She turns her head towards me anyways, watching as I round the corner. She can sense me then? Interesting.

"I'm surprised you're not asleep right now, all things considered," I say as I approach her. I note with interest that she's also completely naked, even though she's standing in front of a large window that looks out to the rest of Kuoh.

She looks away from me and back to the view in front of her with a small huff. "I can't sleep," she admits. "I'm too restless. My body isn't used to sleeping for more than an hour."

Ah. "I have a potion that could put you to sleep, but it wouldn't keep you asleep for long," I say.

She shakes her head. "It's fine, I just need to adjust."

"Speaking of adjusting, can I ask about your clothes? Or rather, your lack of them?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Clothes feel weird now, I don't like them. Why? You don't have a problem with me going around naked, do you?"

"Not at all, you're free to dress as much or as little as you want in this house," I reply.

She snorts. "Not surprising. I talked to one of your maids earlier. She told me all about your harem and your tendencies."

I shrug. "It's not a secret. I'm a lustful and loving guy."

"I'm sure," she says with a hint of sarcasm.

"Out of curiosity, which maid was it?" I ask.

"Why, so you can punish them?" Tatsumaki asks.

I sigh. "No, I don't mind that they told you. What, I was going to keep that a secret? Not only would that be impossible, but it would imply I'm ashamed of it. I'm not. Polygamy isn't unusual here among certain circles. I was just curious."

She looks at me from the corner of her eye for a moment before turning back to look out the window again. "The one with the black hair. She didn't seem to like you."

Ah. "Raynare," I reply. "Now I'm a little afraid she might have painted a bad picture of me. You're right in that she doesn't like me very much."

"She says you tricked her," Tatsumaki comments.

"That's more or less true, though it lacks context," I reply. "While following orders from a traitorous higher up, she tried to kill me, almost causing a political incident. Her chosen method was to seduce me and kill me when I lowered my guard during sex. Unfortunately for her, I knew she was going to try to kill me, so I reversed her ambush on her. I captured her, and when her backup arrived I told them to surrender. Two of them didn't, so they died. The last one did surrender though, that's another one of my maids, Mittelt. She's the blonde one about your size."

"So you captured them and turned them into maids?" Tatsumaki asks.

"No, I turned them back over to their leader," I reply. "And then he decided to punish them for following orders they knew they shouldn't have by having them work as my maids. But they're also spying on me and are how I communicate with their leader."

"That's…" she starts but trails off, lost for words.

"Politics," I finish for her. "Weird and supernatural politics."

"Does the other one hate you as well?" she asks.

"No, she's been fine," I reply. "She...enjoys the power dynamic. And she likes that I indulge her preferences."

Tatsumaki rolls her eyes. "You don't need to pretty up the language for me," she says. "She's kinky and you have some sort of roleplay going on with her."

I laugh. "Yeah, pretty much. We're still in the early stages of it though."

"Are you going to rope Raynare into your little games too?" Tatsumaki asks.

"No, I don't think she's interested," I reply.

"Well, at least you have that much restraint," she comments a little dryly. "Though not enough that you won't stop ogling me."

"Do you want me to stop?" I ask. She's right, after all, I have been. "I was under the impression that you didn't mind, and you have a beautiful body."

She rolls her eyes. "I was a hero that flew around and wore a high-legged dress without wearing panties. No, I don't care if you look. Though if this is you putting your moves on me, save it. I'm not interested."

I shrug. "Understandable, but no, that was just me stating my opinion in response to what you said. I think you're beautiful, you're naked, and I'm a known pervert, so I'm going to do a bit of respectful ogling."

She snorts. "Respectful ogling, that's a new one."

I chuckle as well but don't reply and we fall into a comfortable silence.

"...what do I do now?" Tatsumaki asks.

I sigh. "I don't know. This world doesn't need a hero, not in the same sense as what you were. There are powerful beings who want to sow chaos and destruction though-"

"No," she cuts me off and shakes her head. "No, I'm done fighting. If this world doesn't need heroes, then I'm retiring. I've had enough fighting to last me a lifetime."

I shrug. "Okay, that's fine. Honestly, you don't have to do anything. You can stay here as long as you want and do whatever, and there's no one else to tell you what to do. I'd be fine with you even lazing about all day."

She doesn't reply, so I continue. "Look, there's no rush. You are fresh out of a traumatic experience. You can't ignore the effects it's had on you. Just take your time, adjust, think about what you want to do. If you want to be productive, just ask me, I'm sure I can find something you can help with. If you want to be lazy, be lazy. If you want to do something different each day that's fine too. I'm here to help with whatever you want."

"...why?" she asks. "This is a bit much for doing it out of the kindness of your heart."

I shrug. "Is it? I'm filthy rich and powerful in my own right. I respect you a lot. There's not much I think you'd be likely to ask for that would be difficult for me to provide, save for...Fubuki. But I'll work on that, I promise. Anything else? It costs me nothing." And I really want her in my harem. She's too sexy and too powerful to pass up.

"...fine, I guess I'll decide later," she replies. She turns away from the window and floats down the hallway. "I'm going to bed again."

"Sleep well," I tell her. "And I'm available if you need anything."

She doesn't reply and just floats away and around the corner. I sigh and look back out the window. It's going to be hard to get her out of her funk, but what I said to her is just as true for me. There's no rush, she just needs to adjust.

I turn away from the window and head to my bedroom as well. My girls are waiting for me.

-Bonus Scene-

Hibiki took a deep breath to settle her nerves. Today she'd finally given in and decided to use the Devil summoning pamphlet to call a Devil. She had no other choice. The dreams hadn't stopped and the need to know what was going on was keeping her up at night. She didn't think it was worth giving up her soul over but even confirming that it worked would be something. And she could always just not make a deal...hopefully.

She had prepared as best she could, though she had no idea what she should prepare for. Her windows were closed and the curtains drawn. She lit the candles she had in case the power went out. She made a circle with salt that she kind of regretted because she knew it was going to be hell to try to clean up later. She also managed to dig up a cross a relative had given her once and had it hidden in her pocket. And finally, Aria was locked out of her room for her protection. Not that the kitten cared, she just napped in a sunbeam. It was a nice Sunday afternoon after all.

She took another shaky break, stood right in front of the salt circle, and picked up the pamphlet. She had been avoiding touching it directly in case she accidentally summoned a Devil, but now was the time to do it. She held it in front of her and thought really hard about wanting to find out the truth about her neighbor.

She flinched in surprise as a bright light appeared on her floor, and her eyes widened as that bright light turned into a magic circle that looked a lot like the one on the pamphlet, which was also glowing. She scrambled back and when the circle stopped growing it disappeared, leaving behind a person. But not the sort of person she expected.

The girl in front of her was...well she looked like your average high school girl. She wore big glasses and had her brown hair in braids. She was dressed in a casual outfit, a tank top, and a simple skirt. She looked kinda familiar, but she was also pretty plain, so it was hard to be sure. Did the summoning circle mess up? Did she summon a teenage girl instead of a Devil?

"One Devil at your service!" the girl said with a confident smirk. Hibiki sees the girl's eyes flick over the salt circle and the candles before focusing back on her. "What can I do to help?"

"Y-you're a Devil?" Hibiki asked, internally cursing at her stuttering.

"Yep!" the girl responded cheerily. "Don't worry, I get doubted a lot. People expect red skin, horns, or just something more supernatural. All I've got are these." A pair of leathery black wings suddenly expand from her back, causing Hibiki's eyes to widen. "Yeah, that usually convinces people. So what's up?"

"What- what will it cost me?" Hibiki asked, nervous.

"That depends on what you want," the Devil girl explained. "Don't worry, we don't take souls or anything like that. Devils stopped doing that millennia ago. Prices vary but are usually material goods or services. Usually not money though. Ask me what you need done and I'll be able to calculate a personalized price for you using an app on my phone."

An app? "I didn't expect you to be so...modern," Hibiki commented.

"I'm glad we are though," the girl replied. "It'd be a real pain figuring it out if it wasn't. So what do you need help with? Boy troubles? Parent troubles? Bullies? Girl troubles?"

"Nothing like that!" Hibiki protested before pausing. "Okay, maybe you could call it boy troubles. But it's weirder than that. It's...supernatural. It's why I called a Devil instead of a private investigator."

The girl's eyes sparkled. "Ooh, interesting. Tell me more."

Hibiki sighed. "I used to live in a different apartment. When I was living there a guy moved into the room next to me. A high school boy, but he was living by himself. And within a few days, he started bringing girls back to his apartment and would have sex with them. Loudly. The walls between our rooms were pretty thin so I heard it pretty clearly."

The girl nodded, a smile still on her face. "A common problem in apartments like that."

"Well, it wasn't too much of a problem. I umm…" Hibiki trailed off.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the girl said. "I'm a Devil, there's no judgment here."

"It's still embarrassing to say…" Hibiki replied. "But umm. I kinda liked it. I'd listen in and...use it as inspiration."

"Hot," the girl said, causing Hibiki to blush.

"Anyways, not long after that started happening, I started dreaming about him. And when I say dreaming, I mean the most realistic dreams I've ever had. And they don't fade away, I still remember most of them pretty clearly. Again, I didn't mind too much. I used them as inspiration too, for my art. I drew out the scenes I dream and it's really helped with my popularity.

The girl tilted her head. "Aren't you a little young to be posting that kind of thing online?"

Hibiki frowned, annoyed. "I'm twenty-two," she countered grumpily.

The girl chuckled awkwardly. "Ah haha. Sorry about that, my bad. Okay, so you dreamed about the dude. Is that the supernatural bit?"

"No, or I didn't think it was at the time," Hibiki continued. "I thought that was...well I thought it was just making me horny. It wasn't that strange. Even when I moved out of that apartment and I moved in here and the dreams continued I didn't think it was that strange. But then other weird stuff started happening."

Hibiki got up and made her way to the window and opened the curtain. The girl followed her, casually stepping over the salt circle much to Hibiki's annoyance. But she pushed that aside and pointed to the mansion visible from there. "It started when that got built over the course of a few days. I tried complaining about the noise, but no one knew what I was talking about, they said it had been perfectly quiet."

The Devil girl was still smiling, but now she looked more amused than anything. Was she not taking her seriously?

"Then the week after that I heard a crashing noise from there. When I went to look, I saw what looked like a spaceship of some kind crashed into the backyard. And a second later that old neighbor, the one I've been dreaming about, appeared on top of it."

"That is definitely supernatural," the girl agreed with a nod, still grinning. "Anything else?"

"A naked woman with pink hair and fairy wings also appeared," Hibiki continued. "I tried to take pictures and video, but they all showed a normal backyard. And then the next morning it was gone, though the grass was still messed up from where it was."

"I see," the girl responds. "Okay, I think I get the gist. You want me to look into this dude? Figure out what's up with him, and why you're still dreaming of him?"

Hibiki nods. "That's all I want. I just need to know. Not knowing is driving me crazy. I- I don't even necessarily want the dreams to stop. They're great for my art. I just can't keep living like this."

"I can do that, but before I get started, I need a couple things," the girl said with a smile. "First, can I see some of your art? Specifically, the ones modeled after your dreams."

"Sure, I guess," Hibiki replied as she woke up her computer. "I don't know how I feel about showing a high school girl porn though."

The girl in question rolled her eyes. "Please, I wouldn't be surprised if I follow you already. Plus, I'm a Devil."

Hibiki shrugged. It wasn't like she hadn't looked at porn in high school. Hell, she started back in middle school. She pulled up her most recent completed drawing, a simple scene where the man was having sex with her on an office desk.

"Ooh, that's some good stuff, and very detailed," the girl praised. "I don't think I follow you though, I don't recognize the style. I'll look you up later. But it's awfully brave of you to draw yourself as the heroine."

Hibiki blushed. "Most people don't know it's me, I call her an OC. But it's me in the dreams, so it's me in the drawings."

"That makes sense I guess," the girl responded. She looked at Hibiki. "One last question. Do you know the guy's name?"

She nodded. "I don't know his last name, but I uhh. I heard his given name plenty through the walls." The Devil girl chuckled at that. "His name is Axton. He's a foreigner, I think."

"I see," the girl replied with a grin. "Ah, sorry, I just realized I never introduced myself. I'm Aika, and don't you worry. I'll help you get to the bottom of this in no time flat."

P atreon: p atreon com / shiftysword

Axton's Character Sheet: tinyurl com / axton-cs

Shifty's Discord Server: discord .gg/mdsXyMhTEt

Announcement: If you haven't seen it already, I started a spin-off story called "Villain of the Void", featuring not-Axton in a timeline where Kyu didn't find him in the Void, someone else did, and he started in Worm with a much weaker system. It's fun, it's darker and more serious, and I'm pretty excited for it. But don't worry, this is still my main priority, I really want to finish it.

AN: Axton's luck with his rolls is insane. That Sterility potion? 100% random, it's just one of the drops he can get. And boy did he get it right when he needed it most. Because, as many of you pointed out, yes it was dumb for him to drink it instead of Momo. That was 100% just me being dumb and not thinking about that option. But it's fine. Axton has his dumbass moments sometimes. I was just going to have him not have sex in the meantime, I didn't have any planned for Saturday anyway. But then he got the Sterility potion so I threw some in anyway.

Axton getting Valerie like this is something I've had planned since I came up with the idea for the Treasure Maps, which is well before I planned stuff out and before I read the novels. I just wanted another dhampir waifu and the Affection increase for Gasper. I had barely looked at her wiki entry. So Axton has no idea what he's set off by grabbing her now, before Marius starts using her for his experiments. Planning that and then discovering how much that screws up the future plot as I read the novels was amusing.

Also, in terms of Valerie's personality. This is a Valerie that we didn't get to see in the books. This is before Marius discovered what her Sacred Gear was and forced her to overuse it. She's barely touched it so far. So she's a bit more lively than we see in canon.

Gasper is finally genderbent! Honestly wouldn't have bothered with it, he was so girly that the official art treated him the same as the girls with his chest always been covered, but Axton's not gonna fuck anyone with a dick. Sorry not sorry if you don't like genderbending, I've made it pretty clear that I'm okay with it and that's where I intended to go with things from the very beginning. Don't bother sending me your complaints about it though, I'm tired of hearing them.

Tatsumaki is here! You guys have no idea how long I've been anticipating her arrival. She's the entire reason I added the Special Dungeons in the first place, just as an interesting way to get her because I didn't want to do everything through companion gems. Especially OP girls like her. But Tatsumaki is great so I couldn't not include her. Interactions with her will be spread out throughout the story instead of coming to a head quickly and her joining the harem instantly.

As you can see, she's pretty heavily altered by her experience. She won't be a powerhouse or an "I win" button for Axton despite his strength. Though we are approaching the point where I'm going to pivot from strength-based conflicts to another form of intrigue, so how OP his companions are doesn't matter much. Also, I'm firmly on the "Tatsumaki doesn't wear panties" side of the train. I know King saw them in the webcomic, but with the way Murata draws her, it's literally impossible for her to. And I like Murata's art of her a lot.

And another Hibiki scene to wrap it all off. We're getting pretty close to her introduction to the harem. Don't worry, her scenes won't stop at that, though they may become less frequent. She's a lot of fun to write and I have more plans for her in the future.