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Anyway, enjoy the chap!!
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"Seven Sins Commanders?"
"Yes, Young Master"
"What do you know about them?"
"They're the seven strongest warriors of the Demon Empire, Milord. They represent the seven great races: the Vampires, the Beastmen, the Dark Angels, the Orcs, the Merfolk, the Draconians and the Behemoths"
"Draconians you say? Aren't they extinct?"
"Young Master, these Draconians only carry a fraction of the Dragon Blood. These Draconians cannot even shapeshift in a dragon and can only execute a slight amount of the prowess that once was the Draconian Race. But, even though they can't be compared to the real deal, they are not weak at all"
"I see..."
I put my hand on my chin as I pondered about the information I just received.
"Hiruyis"
Hiruyis, who had been kneeling down all the while responded immediately: "Yes, Young Master"
"Since I can't fully trust you yet, I'll put a slave mark on you. Do you oppose that?"
Hiruyis' eyes flashed with a hint of distress, but that soon disappeared and was replaced by a firm look:" No, Young Master. Please do as you see fit".
"Alright", I said as I waved my hand and activated [Enslave].
A bright red mark appeared on Hiruyis' right arm." Young Master, please command me in any way"
"Fine. First of all, wear this", I threw a magic cloak towards him," Second, do you have any base nearby?"
"No, My Lord, I was transported here using Space Magic from a place about 200km (124 miles) from here"
"I see..."
This was quite the problem. Bringing him in the city would be dangerous while letting him stay here when he's only for 50% recovered would likely result to his death. Even bringing him to Calluado would be quite dangerous, since Girax would receive the information about Hiruyis' stay as well. One couldn't underestimate the information gathering network of the Adventurer Guild. Then, I finally had an idea, although I didn't know if it would work.
"Aristasia, come on out", I said in a plain voice.
Suddenly, a dark, gas-like substance came out of my abdomen. The weird gas started to form, and not long after, the figure of Spider Queen Aristasia came out (If you don't remember her, see chapter 10). Aristasia had an extremely happy look on her face. "Husband, you called me out!"
Husband? I was momentarily stunned but quickly regained my composure: "Aristasia, it's been a while. I'm pleasantly surprised you could come here."
She hurriedly moved her eight legs and hugged me tightly:" Husband, I'm so glad you called me! After the dungeon collapsed, I was scared you'd forget me!" Because she was quite large, she picked me up from the ground and put me in her chest. Because I was surprised, I was unable to stop her from putting my head in her breasts, trying to choke me.
Silently, I grabbed her wrists, forcefully opened her arms and jumped back down. I didn't really mind her actions, but I had to at least uphold my honour towards Hiruyis. I took a glance at him, but saw all hope was lost. My honour was already a sinking ship.
"Aristasia, how's the situation in the dungeon?", I diverted my attention to the Arachnea.
"Hmmm~", she said with an apologetic look on her face," After the dungeon started to break apart, I've migrated to your body. All my kinsmen died though, since they couldn't protect themselves..."
Her face turned sad.
"Don't worry about it, you'll have a family again in no time", I tried to comfort her.
It took me only one line of Aristasia to realise my mistake.
"Then, Husband, you'll help me right? That's the duty of a man after all! But, I hope you're in peak condition, I want lots of kinsmen, all right?"
While saying that, she moved her hand to her chest, clearly to unbutton the small, leather vest she was wearing. Seeing that, I flashed forward in a panic and grabbed her hand.
"Aristasia, please don't"
"Why not? Is it because of the other guy? I can just kill him you know, no worries", she replied with a smile on her face.
"Don't do that either"
"Mmmm~ Husband, why are you so difficult to understand?"
"Just... just don't move and do as I say", I said with a tired voice.
"Hehehehe, trying to dominate me, huh? You don't need to do it in such a rounda-"
"Aristasia, stop joking! I need your help, so shut up and answer my questions!", I lashed out.
She seemed a bit taken aback by my approach, but finally did as she was told.
"Fine. Hiruyis, this is Spider Queen Aristasia. Aristasia, Bajang Prince Hiruyis", I introduced them.
They merely nodded since they didn't know each other.
"Aristasia, first question. Why do you keep calling me your husband? When did we get married?"
"Husband, don't tell me you forgot?! I bit you and transferred a part of my soul to you and as such completed our wedding ceremony! How can you forget?! It was so beautiful, so romantic, so-"
The rest of her enthusiastic talks didn't reach me anymore. The hell? How can we be married? Shouldn't there have been some sort of notification, like with Maria?
"Aristasia, how can we be married, it isn't even said so on my [Status]"
"Since you haven't received the blessing of the Spider God, you haven't been fully recognised as the Spider King. But take a look at your Title..."
Surprised at her remark, I opened my [Status].
"What now?"
"Hehehe~, husband, you're so silly. You're this strong and you don't even know basic stuff like this? You just have to press it!"
Aristasia seemed rather pleased by showing off her knowledge to me. I couldn't help but think her behaviour looked like Maria's when she got hold of her favourite skewered meat.
Ignoring her for now, I pressed the [Spider King] Title. Immediately after, a screen with extra information appeared.
{Spider King:
Title given to the person acknowledged by the Spider Queen and is equal to a marrying certificate. After receiving the Spider God's blessing, the Title gets elevated to [Spider Emperor]. The Spider Queen will receive the Title [Spider Empress].
Additional effects: Can command all spiders and Arachnea of a lower level }
My mood immediately turned sullen. She was indeed right. Looks like I have two wives as of now. I turned towards Aristasia:" You were right. Looks like you're indeed my wife."
Although my voice was rather flat, Aristasia looked elated as she began to laugh:" Hehehehe~, I knew it! I knew it! I knew you'd accept me!! Now that you know, shouldn't you start to take responsibility as my husband?!"
Her hands once again moved towards her chest to take off her vest.
"No! No! No! Wait a sec!", I hastily moved forward to once again stop her.
Contrary to the first time I stopped her, tears started to appear in the corners of her eyes.
"Mmm~, husband, why... why're you so mean? I... I... I just want to..."
Her voice got quite shaky and eventually quieted down.
Not knowing what to do, I decided to hug her. Her large body had shrunk down and I was now able to hug her tightly. When she felt I held her in my arms, she was startled for a second before digging her head in my chest and softly speaking while sobbing:"
I.. I just... want my family.. back... they're all gone and... I wasn't able to.. to.. do anything. They... they just.. left me and ... I can't... forget how they... they called for.. for my help when they.. when they..."
Her sobbing gradually grew louder and right now she was genuinely crying. Her tears soaked my shirt, but I didn't mind and just quietly let her cry.
My heart couldn't help but tear up a little seeing that she just wanted to have a family again. So, I tried to comfort her:" Aristasia, my wife", I said, although it felt quite weird," Don't cry. You have been very, very brave for holding on these past few days alone. I'm really proud of you"
Aristasia's teary face turned up when she heard my words:" R-really...?"
"Yes, I really am. And I know you just want to have a family, so why... why don't you join mine?"
I knew this'd likely stir up some trouble with Ilya, but seeing her sad face, I was unable to just let her be and not help her.
A small smile appeared on her tear-stained face, which made her have some sort of fairy-like appearance:" Husband, that.. I'd be glad... to..."
She once again put her head in my chest, but the heavy, depressed feeling she had a while ago had disappeared and was replaced by small laughs in between the sobs.
After a couple of minutes, Aristasia had finally calmed down and used her arms to wipe her face. Then, she obediently stood at my side with a faint smile on her face.
"Well then...", I said sighing. I originally wasn't planning on taking Aristasia with me, but let her hide together with Hiruyis in the forest. After some quick thinking, I found a solution, well, I hoped so.
"Aristasia", I turned to face her.
"Yes, husband", she softly replied. Seems like her elated and hyperactive behaviour from before was just a façade. (AN: System Notification: Player Toru has tamed Aristasia ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )
"Can you morph into a more human-like shape?"
Aristasia's smile grew a bit bigger:" Nnn~, I can do that, but if I do, I might end up without clothes, so can I kill the Bajan? He doesn't need to see"
Looks like she really didn't like Hiruyis, although I didn't know why. Hearing her words, Hiruyis' eyes contracted for a split second, but once again assumed like nothing had happened. He patiently waited for my answer, accepting the fact I held his life in my hands.
"No need", I said to her," He has great value, so try not to harm him. Also, I'll just use some magic to blind him and distort sound"
"That's fine as well", Aristasia answered. She had really become obedient.
"Hiruyis, this'll just be for a moment", I said while waving my hand.
"I understand", he replied, before his eyes turned glassy as if his soul had just left his mind.
"Husband..."
Aristasia's soft but attractive voice rang out and I quickly looked at her. Seeing my immediate reacting, her cheeks turned red and her eyes avoided mine.
"Then.. then.. I'll... start"
Her voice was almost unable to hear. Then, she formed two hand seals and closed her eyes. Slowly, a white light spread on her body and completely enveloped her. In the bright light, I was just able to see the large spider body shrinking while the hazy figure of six poles retracted in her body.
Then, slowly, the light once again wore off. And what I saw then, stunned me.
In front of me, a voluptuous young woman stood in front of me. Her skin was whiter than milk; her slender legs were long and ended in two beautiful feet. Her hands looked like they were made from porcelain while her nails were like polished diamonds. Her arms lead to a perfectly proportioned upper body. Her breasts weren't big but were gorgeously round and full. But what astonished me the most was her face. On top of a slender neck, a somewhat sharp but refined face was carved out. Her lips had a full, red colour and were just opened slightly to reveal a perfect row of white teeth. Her hair, which had a dark-blue colour had more volume and looked glossy now, making it look as if it was a waving ocean. These waves of soft hair covered her shoulders and reached up to the middle of her back. But, aside from all this, the most astonishing feat were her eyes. Those eyes, which were originally pitch-black, were now filled with countless of bright, little specks, like a beautiful night sky. The black in her eyes would also occasionally slowly change into a dark-blue mist, or a light-green wave of light.
The only thing that made one know she wasn't human, were the two rows of three small, black pearls imbedded in her skin above her eyes, like she had eight eyes.
Seeing how I stared at her naked body, she uttered a soft scream, which was extremely alluring and hurriedly covered up her body with her hands:" Husband, don't... don't stare like that..."
I turned my head and stared at a random point in an embarassed way. I swiftly took some clothes from my [Item Box] and held them out for Aristasia who took them and started to get dressed:" Euhm.. I don't know if the size is going to be alright, so... euh.. we'll go buy some things later, okay?"
"Okay~", she replied in a soft but happy tone.
"I'm done now, husband"
Hearing she was done, I turned my head back and saw the clothes, which originally belonged to Ilya, fit her quite well. She wore a simple, long shirt, and short, black pants fastened with a belt. On her feet, she wore a pair of short, black boots. Apparently Aristasia's and Ilya's sizes were about the same.
I also deactivated the magic locking Hiruyis. When he saw the beauty in front of him, his mouth fell open and stayed that way for an entire 10 seconds. I couldn't blame him though, this kind of transformation was kind of unbelievable. Although she was quite pretty when she was a spider, she was still a spider, and that fact made her look quite terrifying. But now, she was like a fairy who descended from Heaven.
"Ahem", I coughed once to fix Aristasia's and Hiruyis' attention on me," The plan is as followed; Aristasia, my wife, I need you to stay in this forest with Hiryis for about half a day. Then, I'll act like you're my friends from my country and I'll get you into the city. This plan is simple, but I think it's highly likely it'll work. Any comments on this?"
"But husband, do I really need to stay with this animal? I don't want to, I want to stay with youuu~", Aristasia pleaded while hugging my arm. The soft sensation on my arm really distracted me.
"Aristasia, my wife, it's important you do as I say. We still need this country to give us some benefits, so we can't be discovered to be demons right now, do you understand?"
She pouted, but still agreed:" Fine, but I need husband to give me lots and lots of gifts to reward me for my benevolence of staying with this animal"
"If you can protect and hide him 'till tomorrow, I'll reward you", I answered.
Hearing my promise, she giggled like a spoiled child who just got a nice present:" Hihihihi~, husband, you'll need to keep that promise~"
"Yeah, yeah", I said and gave her a disguise cloak as well. I felt like these cloaks became our trademark.
"Go hide in the forest now!! I'll be back in half a day!", I said while opening a hole in the wind barrier.
Aristasia and Hiruyis left, but Aristasia turned back every two steps to wave and smile at me. Ugh, I sighed, I hope they'll be alright... Especially Hiruyis, I have a feeling Aristasia will bully him.
Finally, I took down the barrier and returned to the city. Looking around while I was walking, I saw not a simple person had gone down to the battlefield, even though more than 10 minutes had ended since the slaughter had ended.
Before I even got close to the city walls, Ilya's voice was transmitted to me.
"Toru, what happened down there?"
Her voice sounded slightly worried.
"I just met with someone, we'll pick them up tomorrow", I answered vaguely.
Sensing I wouldn't disclose any other information, Ilya changed subjects:
"You should come back quickly, it's bedtime for Maria but she doesn't want to sleep without having seen you"
I laughed," Don't worry, I'll be back in a minute"
I quickly accelerated towards the two familiar figures on the city ramparts and landed right in front of them.
"Daddy, you're back!!!"
Maria's cute voice rang out.
I picked her up and teasingly pinched her cheeck:" I heard you didn't want to go to bed when mommy told you so?"
"Daddy, it's just that I missed you!"
Hearing her honest reply, I smiled:"
It's alright for once then. But next time, do as mommy says, alright"
"Okay~"