Chapter 216 – Marquess of Hell

Lilyth - Day 3 - 118 Days Remain

I had trouble sleeping at night. The realisation that by agreeing to Ere’s request, I have overcomplicated my life even further was… too much for me, so the next morning, I sought out Nyxie. The goddess was still in her bed, apparently enjoying a bit of a lie-in.

‘What’s up?’ she asked after inviting me inside.

‘Mom, I think I fucked up,’ I simply said, trying my best to control my voice and emotions.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked, getting deadly serious.

I explained to her the job offer I got from Ere, and well… how I realised that it was too much for me. The whole situation I was in was too much for me. Ere and Phoebe, my party, Ror-Bhyk… I didn’t think I could take it anymore.

‘Then don’t,’ my mom simply said. ‘I was wondering when you would break again. At least you caught yourself beforehand. Let me get Ere. Believe me, she will be understanding.’

And… she was.

‘It saddens me you didn’t come to me with this first,’ she shook her head after I repeated to her what I told my mom, ‘but I understand. I mean, I am part of the problem.’

‘I think we can deal with the easier item first,’ Nyx said. ‘Your rule in Ror-Bhyk. I would say you should abdicate, but it won’t work anymore. It would cause too much chaos. Ireela’s rule stems from you.’

My heart sank.

‘You can make her your regent, though,’ mom continued. ‘You are in poor health, I think all can agree about that, so until you recover, she will be in charge. I can get you a pair of magic mirrors so that she will be able to contact you… or call for help. A pair of portal prisms, too.’

‘I’d like that,’ I nodded in thanks, stifling an upcoming cough.

‘Now… as for the other issue, and I use singular here deliberately,’ Ere said. ‘You basically exist in two “worlds” right now. The first is your party, and the second is Phoebe and me. And so long as you don’t choose, you will be unhappy. And you should choose your party.’

Wait… WHAT?

‘I think all three of us can see that you will be MISERABLE here,’ Nyxie smiled grimly. ‘Sitting on your ass while your sisters-in-arms are risking their lives? Especially since the reason for your staying back home is… well… aforementioned health issues.’

‘Sooner or later, you will start to resent me and Phoebe for being “stuck with us”,’ Ereshkigal sighed. ‘And I don’t want that, and you probably don’t want that too.’

‘I don’t,’ I confirmed. ‘But what the fuck do I do, though? There is no good solution.’

‘What do you want to do?’

‘I want to be with my friends. I would do anything to be able to do that.’

‘Your willingness to sign blank cheques will never cease to amaze me,’ Ere laughed. ‘But… the deal I am about to offer you is a generous one. Give up your ability to turn into my avatar; you can't use it without dying anyway, and I will grant you two abilities that will let you mitigate some of your limitations. I’ll even throw in a title for you. How does being a Marquess of Hell sound?’

‘Pretty metal, but I have to wonder what the catch is?’

‘There isn't one.’

‘Will my sword and [Eyes of Death] continue to work?’

‘Yes.’

‘What about you and Phoebe?’

‘We will be waiting for your return. Nyxie, Irmen and our mom agreed to help me to take care of her while I take care of work.’

‘They must think of me a coward,’ I said sadly.

‘No. We have one ironclad rule - if one of us ends up in a relationship with a mortal, we let you guys set the pace. Nyxie's relationship with Sav works the same way. Expecting one of you to leave your old life behind just because of us would be unreasonable. Particularly since one of the reasons for your debacle is the airhead there giving you something she shouldn't have. At least not without warning you.’

‘Phoebe is still one of the best things to have happened to me in this godforsaken world.’

‘I am glad you say that, sweetie,’ Ere smiled. ‘Your wanting to be in her life and mine speaks volumes of you. But… I am immortal, so she is, and if you want, so can you be. We have an eternity to be together, so you shouldn't let it distract you from your more… immediate concerns. I will be waiting for you, however long it takes.’

‘Then… I agree,’ I said without hesitation. ‘I will call you and Phoebe every day, though.’

‘Thank you,’ my beloved goddess smiled and kissed me on the cheek.

Aki - Day 3 - 118 Days Remain

Our jaunt through the forest was surprisingly fun. It almost felt like a day trip. Caei and Ren were holding hands, Sav and Phosi were locked in conversation, and Deirdee and Persephone also had easy familiarity around each other.

Me? I was playing fetch with Veenaya, who, despite it being nearly a year, still remained puppy-sized. Irmen assured me it was normal for the lumizu, but I couldn't help but wonder.

Suddenly, our idyllic walk was interrupted by Lilyth appearing right before us, slightly in the air, but quickly floating down. A few bags appeared next to her.

‘What the fuck?!’ Sav shouted, and we all rushed to embrace our missing friend.

‘You sure you are up to it?’ the medic asked after Lilyth finished explaining.

‘No. But ultimately, I’ll take struggling a bit over sitting depressed at home.’

‘Fair. We’ll do our best to adjust our pace to you. What about combat?’

Lilyth took out a slightly boxy black gun with embroidered shiny pink skulls on the barrel.

‘A belated engagement gift from Ere’, she explained.

‘What about melee?’

‘Take a swing at me.’

‘I always knew you were a masochist, Lilyth, but this one… umm…’

‘Humour me.’

Sav shrugged and threw a haymaker with her metal arm. Instead of connecting with Lilyth's body, the punch went right through it, causing it to disperse into a smoky shadow.

‘[Shadow Form],’ Lilyth explained and began circling around Sav, the lower half of her body still made of darkness.

‘Okay,’ the medic said, impressed. ‘That works. What about your inability to run?’

In lieu of answering, Lilyth just stepped on Sav’s shadow and… sank into it.

‘Cool!’ I shouted, causing Lilyth to reemerge out of mine and hug me.

‘[Hide in Shadow],’ Lilyth said. ‘If need be, I can… become someone's extra passenger. I won't be able to do it for long, both abilities eat mana like crazy, but in case of an emergency, I have options.’

Sav was satisfied with the explanation as she simply hugged Lilyth.

‘Welcome back, Furball,’ she said. ‘This shitshow wouldn't have been the same without you.’

I think we all shared that sentiment.

We helped Lilyth carry her luggage back to the inn, something she specifically requested because one of the bags contained a hastily-put-together mobile workshop. Per her explanation, it would let her make mana crystals and some consumables on the go. She also wanted to store some “stuff she was still fiddling with”.

The innkeeper was shocked to see Lilyth suddenly appear on the island, but she simply said she wouldn't be calling herself the Witch Queen without magic being involved, and while we didn't visit Julbar during our tour of Ror-Bhyk, there weren't that many horny Kitsune around so the man didn't have trouble believing that the Queen herself was now in his establishment.

He wanted to give her a separate room, but Lilyth quickly shut him down:

‘Those are my friends you would be throwing out, di… my good Innkeeper.’

Would you look at that? Someone is actually learning diplomacy.

Lilyth - Day 3 - 118 Days

It was late afternoon by the time we found the entrance to the cave of the River Goddess in a tree-covered hillside.

I just hope Ere won't be jealous that I am looking into the caves of other goddesses.

The only thing we found inside said cavern, however, were skeletons of several members of the Red Masks.

The question is whether she left voluntarily or not.

I relayed my findings to my party, qualifying my report by stating I was way too inexperienced with the [Remote Eye] spell, particularly the way it distorted vision, to be fully sure I didn't miss anything.

‘Let’s get a closer look then’, Sav ordered.

We were using the cave as a training opportunity for me to stay in the back and monitor the situation. For that purpose, I had conjured three [Remote Eyes], one for the cave and the other to scan the area around us and would be using [Mental Contact] to communicate.

Aki agreed to become my babysitter for this operation. This was something Sav insisted upon, as there was a good chance that under pressure, I would be too distracted to notice someone sneaking up on me, which was a valid point.

As I discovered then, my blue-haired lioness hasn't been idle in the time I was busy with Ere and Phoebe and got herself some tattoos and was proud to show some of them off. Specifically, a tramp stamp of some flowers I didn't recognise, a butterfly in an area I wouldn't be able to examine for now and some fire runes on her left upper arm.

Hopefully they don’t say something stupid like “Chicken Tikka Masala - 4.99”, “We accept Vandarian Express cards here” or “Ask me for a good time”. Not that she isn’t one, but there isn’t a need to advertise that. So, me doth thinketh it would be prudent to ask someone independent to translate.

‘They are so pretty,’ I said, ignoring my reservations. ‘Might have to get some of my own.’

‘I can take you to the tattoo artist Caei, and I visited in the Realm of Air,’ she explained.

‘Sounds like a fun family trip.’

Anywho, in the future, when we had less time to screw around and once I managed to get the image to display on some magical doodad my babysitter would also serve as a decent second pair of eyes.

Developing said thingamabob would have to be the priority for me, as switching between the “cameras” made me want to vomit from the constant changes in perspective in my brain. So, to give my labyrinth a break, I took control of one of the external [Remote Eyes] and began to examine the surrounding area. It paid off, as I spotted a small bramble-covered ravine hidden between bushes… and…

Sav, I reached out to the medic.

‘Sup?’

Found another cave.