Some minutes later. A portal appeared next to Victor, and out of it came Aphrodite, who immediately jumped and hugged Victor, followed by Rhea and Alexios. "Darling, I didn't expect you to ask for my help so quickly." Victor chuckled gently, "We're in a very...peculiar situation." "Oh? Tell me what happened." Victor nodded and explained what he saw, then Jeanne joined in and presented her assumptions to the two Goddesses. A few minutes after finishing the explanation, Aphrodite spoke: "First, show me what the three Gods looked like." Victor nodded and made three Ice sculptures. "Interesting, the Eastern God can be called a subordinate of the Underworld, but at the same time, he can also be called the Shinigami, or God of Death. That is an occupational position; someone can always replace him as long as the Shinto King of Hell declares it." "The Egyptian God is Anubis, quite a troublesome guy." "The last is a Celtic God, Taranis, a God of Thunder." "...God of Thunder? Are you sure, Aphrodite?" "Yes." "Strange because when I looked at this man, I felt like I was looking at an Angel of Death. It didn't feel like when I saw Thor or Zeus." "...That's weird. The only thing I can think of is that he somehow acquired a Death Divinity... But even if he did, it shouldn't have been that strong, the Celtic Pantheon might not have a big Hell like the Seven Great Pantheons, but they still have a Hell, and I'm sure Taranis is not part of it." "Not to mention that the Celtic Pantheon is not part of the Great Pantheons that have a Ruler, consequently not having a God of Death under their command. For Taranis to have such a strong Divinity of Death..." "Something must have happened." In each sphere of influence on the planet, there were several Pantheons, but only a chosen few could be included in the Seven Great Pantheons. To be recognized as one of these, the Pantheon needed to have a large enough Hell with a flow of Souls large enough so that this Hell garnered the interest of the Judges of the Abyss. If this condition were met, the Judges of the Abyss would place this Hell as part of the System created by the Primordial Entities when the allocations for Hell occur. A Ruler will be born in that Hell, and consequently, a God of Death, who helps the Ruler manage Souls, will also be born. That way, the Pantheon will be recognized as a Pantheon with a Heaven, and a Hell, automatically making it one of the 'important' Pantheons. Yes, the Gods of Death are direct subordinates of the Ruler, making them one of the agents of the Judges of the Abyss to a lesser extent, who aid and assist the Ruler of their Pantheon's Hell when trouble with Souls arises. For example, for Souls that did not follow their natural course and were trapped on Earth for whatever reason, the God of Death of their respective Pantheons or their minions would go directly to that Soul to see what happened. Simply stated, they are the agents that ensure the System created by the Primordial Entities works. After all, the Soul was an essential part of the maintenance and progression of Life in the Universe. "Well, let's not think about that now. Alexios, can you create a portal to that Dimension?" "Hmm..." Alexios looked where Victor was pointing. He opened his eyes, and just like Victor's eyes, he could see a Dimension there, but in Alexios' case, his eyes were more connected to the fabric of Space and Time. "Easy, the Dimension is full of holes. Whichever retard made this, they didn't do a very good job. They focused too much on defense against attacks and ignored defenses against infiltrations." A portal appeared in front of the group. "This portal will take you to the Dimension. Once you're there, getting out shouldn't be a problem. The retard who made this didn't put any countermeasures in place for Supernatural Beings wanting to leave the Dimension and just prevented Humans from doing so." "Whoa. I don't think I've ever seen Alexios curse at someone so much before.' Victor chuckled internally: 'I think he doesn't like a job done poorly.' "Let's finish this matter soon and go back home," Victor said as he jumped into the portal. The girls soon followed Victor, except for Scathach, who stayed behind. "Alexios, why are you being so cooperative?" "... King's orders. Not to mention he is also my son-in-law." Scathach snorted, "At least you're honest with the main motive." "I didn't lie when I said that him being my son-in-law is one of the reasons I helped him." "But you moved because it's mostly Vlad's orders, right?" "..." Alexios fell silent, and that silence was the answer Scathach wanted. "Unofficially, Vlad is helping Victor because he saw he is the King of Hell now, right?" Alexios sighed: "Lady Scathach knows him very well. My King has many faults, and the greatest of them is that he is a King before he is an individual." "Well, I expected that. Now that Victor is the King of Hell, he will want to stay on our good side so that in the future, he can ask for some help in the war he intends to wage." "Regardless of the King's attitude, Lord Victor would go to war whether he wanted to or not. He has a knack for getting into trouble, and the war will drag in individuals like Clan Adrastella. Lord Victor will not stand by and watch." "And Vlad knows that, right?" "Yes. " "Haabh... Seriously, that old man needs to relax more. Isn't that Snow Clan woman helping him?" "She is, but... Unfortunately, this is another flaw of my King. He doesn't listen to anyone most of the time, not even me, who is his 'adviser'." "..."" Scathach was silent, as she had nothing to say. After all, it was true. "If anyone could make Vlad listen, it would be Victor, or his oldest friend, the owner of The Limbo Prison." "Oh, Victor? Why do you think he can do that?" "He did it the other time, during the Ophis incident." Alexios declared. "It may not seem like it, but Vlad only listens to those he considers his equal. And reluctantly, he sees Victor that way now." "Diablo and Victor's fight impacted him a lot, huh...." Scathach could understand that feeling very well. She still got wet when she thought about how much Power was inside Victor's body. 'Calm down, Scathach.' She took a deep breath: 'It's not the time yet. I'll have my fight, but only when both of us are at our best.' Scathach still didn't feel that she had reached her limit. Having someone like Victor around helped her immensely to refocus on her training. After all, now she also had a solid goal. Taking a deep breath, she managed to calm down and declared: "Honestly, Vlad should just get some Succubi, or Sex Goddesses, and get lost in an orgy. That old man is way too high-strung." Alexios gasped when he heard what Scathach said as he looked at the woman with a disbelieving expression. "What?" "Nothing... I just never thought I'd hear those words from your mouth." "That's what happens when you live with Natashia, Agnes, Maria, Violet, Morgana, and to a lesser extent, Leona and Roberta. They are women who don't have a filter." "That seems to be complicated..." "You get used to it over time, and they aren't like that most of the time. Just when something that upsets them occurs. Me, Aphrodite, Jeanne, Ruby, and Sasha are keeping them from saying things like that straight so that our children in the future won't be influenced." "...Are you already thinking about that?" "It's a natural concern, considering that it wouldn't be strange for one of the girls to suddenly turn up pregnant." "Ugh, should I be worried about my daughter?" "Believe me; your greatest concern should be whether Victor will spoil Natalia too much." "Really...?" "You have no idea how much that man values Natalia, do you?" Scathach looked at Alexios with an amused expression. "Well, she is an Alioth. He would be foolish-." "Wrong, Alexios." "Huh?" "Victor doesn't value Natalia just because she's an Alioth. It's because of who Natalia is. Just like Kaguya and Violet, Natalia was one of the first women he encountered when he became a Noble Vampire, and she's been with Victor since the beginning." "...Oh." Alexios opened his eyes in realization. "That is quite illuminating... Thanks for telling me that, Scathach." "No problem." Scathach spoke, then jumped into the portal as she said: "Stay tuned to the communicator. We'll contact you to return to Nightingale at any time." "Okay. " "Hmm? You took your time, Scathach. What was it?" "I just wanted to talk to Alexios about something." "Oh... Vlad, I presume?" "Yeah, did you notice too?" "Of course, the old man has gotten more 'gentle' these days." Victor laughed. "It would be hard not to notice, wouldn't it?" Scathach laughed. "Indeed." Victor looked back at the village. The two were looking at the village from afar atop a tree. "Where is the group?" "Oda went to look for evidence that New Dawn was here. As a Master Assassin, he is the best at that kind of work." "Rhea, Jeanne, and Aphrodite went to do Divine 'things' to understand what was going on in the village." "Morgana went to explore the island. Apparently, a set of caves is hidden under the island; the location is on the beach, and she was interested in that, so she went to explore." "... That means we're alone..." "Oh?" Victor looked into Scathach's beautiful face, "Aren't you insatiable, My War Maiden?" "Smooth words." She snorted, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction when she heard him speak those cheesy titles: "And I'm not a War Maiden." "You are to me." Victor smiled gently. Scathach bit her lip and took a deep breath, her eyes turning blood red, and desire burned inside her. "Haah ..." Exhaling all of her hot air, she spoke, "Why do you have to be so desirable? Curse Aphrodite for giving you that Blessing." She grumbled at the end. "Fufufu, even without the Blessing of Beauty, Master, I would have you in the end." Victor gently enveloped Scathach in a hug. "Oh? You sure are arrogant." "It's not arrogance; I'm merely stating a fact." "..." Scathach smiled at Victor's confidence, one of the things she loved so much about him. "Do you remember when we first trained?" "How could I forget?" "Do you remember how we acted with each other without caring about anything? An effect caused by living several months in close proximity to each other?" "Obviously." "From that moment, I had decided I wanted you for myself; my goal was to become stronger to claim you... And because of that, I am so strong now." Scathach took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart, but it was just impossible. The scent of Victor, the words he knew she was enjoying hearing, the heartfelt feelings, it was just too intoxicating and devastating for Scathach. "You were ahead of me before. Now, I'm ahead of you..." Victor lifted her chin. Scathach looked into those Draconian violet eyes. Even though he had changed, she could still see the features that she always liked, and no matter how much he changed, Victor would still be Victor at his core. "Now it's your turn to try to catch up with me." He kissed her. It was a gentle, passionate kiss that expressed all of Victor's overwhelming feelings for Scathach. A few minutes passed, and the couple just stood there enjoying each other's presence as they explored each other's mouths. But unfortunately, good things never last forever, and they had to part ways. Scathach was a flushed mess, and her breathing was utterly messed up. Her face was a little red with excitement, and her eyes glittered with desire. For Victor, this was a memory he would always cherish. She was stunning right now. "... Don't get cocky, Victor," she growled. "Just because you're a little ahead of me doesn't mean I won't catch up if you let your guard down." Then, her heart pounding with the feeling of challenge, she declared confidently: "You won't have me that easy, Victor." "Good, because I like a challenge. I will have you at your best and only at your best." He gently caressed her cheek: "I will not wait for you or let my guard down, Scathach." He smiled. "TI would not be satisfied if you had done otherwise." The two stared at each other for a few seconds, both with the same predatory smile, and then they attacked each other again. Scathach jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist as Victor grabbed Scathach's butt and waist and leaned her back against the tree trunk. They both knew. They knew it was each other's desire, and Scathach could no longer live without Victor, nor could Victor live without her. The 'competition' the two had with each other wasn't as simple as a duel. Instead, they had the clash of each other's warring natures battling for dominance. They desired each other, they had sex with each other, they fought with each other, and at the same time, they supported, and they complemented each other. It was an endless game they loved to play, a game that nurtured their feelings of growing stronger, of searching for a rival and a partner who understood them, of possessing each other. This was an eternal game of dominance, fun, love, and desire. Scathach and Victor had a complex yet simple relationship, a relationship that only the two of them could understand, and even if he tried to explain it to someone else, the others wouldn't be able to understand. Probably only those who had a similar nature to Victor and Scathach could understand them. As the saying goes, only an insane person can understand another insane person. As their mouths dueled, trying to dominate each other, in the back of Scathach's head, an unconscious thought was going on: 'I think it's time to invest more time training in Runes to achieve it. Training in a standard way won't be enough. After all, my man is anything but normal.’ Edited By: Davo 2138, IsUnavailable If you want to support me so that I can pay artists to illustrate the characters in my novel, visit my patreon: Patreon.com/ VictorWeismann More characters images in: https: //discord.gg/4FETZAf