‘I suppose gods do not have to listen to the usual rules.’

  Rykard gazed up at the st of the three bridges overhead. They were fundamentally unimpressive. Massive things of grey stone, a simple arch making up the foundation. It was the kind of structure any fledgling empire could build across a broad river and then forget about to fall into functioning disrepair. More of a design choice by Nocturne.

  While the structure and the distance they covered was hardly impressive, it was what they span across that was notable. Each of the three bridges spanned over the bck stone grid that separated individual Hexagons. It was the first time Rykard had seen this happen. In all other cases, anything in that gap was not transported over.

  “Could you have pced one of these structures on the border?” Rykard asked.

  Subana did as cocksleeves do and slowly glided up his shaft. When her golden lips left his cock behind, it did so with a loud pop. The sound was closely followed by a thirsty gasp. The stackylim yearned to get her throat stuffed some more. As, Rykard had asked a question, so Tess got to take over for the moment.

  “For a structure to be exempt from the clip detection of the Grid pathways, it must simply be elevated at least fifteen metres above the floor of the Grid,” she answered. “It is not difficult, but it also is rarely worth the effort.”

  The second her expnation was complete, the absolute nymphomaniac dove back down, to shower what of his cock was not covered by Tess’ mouth with kisses.

  “What would occur were someone to stand on or live in a house existing in this border area?” Miyo asked. The first of the harem sat across the table from Rykard. While every bit as naked as the other two, the vixen elected not to kneel when she was showing. That and she was too interested in the books that she was reading.

  A half day after departure, Rykard had decided to take a short step and snoop around an outcropping of the gargantuan library. He had elected to take some books with him while he was at it. Really, it was all about the books. The carriage generated all kinds of luxuries, but it could not provide them with creative entertainment.

  Two of the twenty books the king had made off with fell into that category. The remaining 18 were an odd mixture of crafting guide, journal, religious texts, encyclopedias and whatever else one could think of. He had taken twenty from hundreds out of a shelf among dozens from a building among thousands. There had to be millions of books inside the library.

  Subana had assured Nocturne would not mind a few of her books being borrowed.

  Poking her head up again, the shortstack answered. “In such a case, the person and their home would be nudged up to 100 metres to be settled in a way that’s not obstructive to the ndscape.”

  “Interesting,” Miyo hummed. “Return to serving your Master.”

  “It is my pleasure and privilege!” Subana excimed. Tess chose that moment to let his cock glide from her lips. Subana hastily sheathed the entire length of it in her throat. It was such a swift and enthusiastic gesture that it reminded Rykard of a hungry chipmunk.

  For all of her usual elegance, sometimes it was very clear who had crafted Helenn.

  Tess licked the sticky mixture of precum and saliva from her bck lips. “How are we time wise?”

  “Miyo,” Rykard delegated the task to his redheaded harem queen. He was too busy grabbing Subana by her adorable little horns and thrusting up into her mouth. She came first. Twice. Then his seed surged down his shaft and into her stomach.

  Unfazed, aroused if anything, Miyo provided the expnation. “Assuming they have simirly fast modes of travel as we do, which is itself unlikely, the quickest another Contestant should arrive at the Divine Gateway is two to three days.” The redhead flipped a page of her book, reading even as she spoke. “Under that base assumption, the game will begin 10 days after the initial announcement. That would be 24th of Decaha. At our current speed, which Starlight can keep without rest, I would assume it will take us four more days to make it to the closest Divine Gateway.”

  “So we will arrive te on the 20th,” Tess stated in her dry tone.

  “Indeed. Even if I am off by several days in my assumptions, we should be there well before it actually begins.”

  Hand on the back of Subana’s little head, Rykard returned to the conversation. “Even if we are te, this Divine Gate allows us to participate. We will be fine.”

  “You just want to attend to see Maliande again,” Miyo pointed out.

  “Who? Oh, the pair of thighs.” The joke made Tess chuckle. Rykard gazed off into the distance. ‘Not sure if it would be smart to rope her in right now even if I could. I just added three women to the harem… perhaps I should know some restraint.’ “Teasing the brat will be entertaining. If there is any Contestant I wish to see right now, it is Altana.”

  “What will you do if Loran shows his face?” Miyo asked.

  Rykard grinned dangerously. “Nothing - unless I feel like it.”

  “Alluringly unpredictable,” his woman purred. She did ever appreciate his power. “A good deterrent, which we may need.”

  “I can stab the dwarves myself,” Tess assured.

  “You can,” Rykard agreed, “but as your king, your problems are my problems and as your man, I make sure you have no problems.”

  “...I am reminded why I decided to go to you,” the gothic thief drawled and took over blowjob duty from Subana.

  It looked to be a long and very entertaining ride.

  ____________________________________________________________________

  They arrived exactly on schedule.

  The Divine Entrance was the same as the light. Three steps worth of golden soil separated the edge of the Grid from a gargantuan teleportation field. It beamed divine light into the sky, an overt signal that was is ready to be used. In its entirety, it was a monument to divine power and glorious in its simplicity.

  “Shall we?” he asked and pced a hand on Miyo’s softly swollen belly. “All five of us?”

  “All five of us,” Miyo whispered tenderly and smiled first down at her growing child, then at the two haremettes with them. Subana smiled back, while Tess blushed. The gothic thief was not used to such a motherly expression, it seemed. It made the vixen giggle. “You will be giving my daughter a half-sibling before long.”

  “It won’t stay at one,” Tess drawled.

  They did not continue the banter. Rykard took the first step and all of them focused on what was ahead. Miyo was in their centre. Not only was she the only pregnant haremette around, by combat prowess she was also by far the weakest of them all. Between a god’s chosen, a literal goddess and Rykard, a woman with a thin divine bloodline had little to offer.

  ‘Perhaps I ought to make it a priority to empower my queen,’ Rykard thought as he entered the radiance. ‘Then again, her authority is not based on power but merit.’ The light around him reached a peak and then they were in a new nd. ‘A thought for ter.’

  Unlike st time, they were not pced in their own private apartment. The group instead found themselves in a house. It was the upper floor, as a nearby window betrayed. Carriages were rolling by. Busy sounds echoed from the street. The walls were pster, stone and cement, the windows crystal gss framed by dark wood and heavy curtains. From the windowsills to the tall vases that stood on the marble flooring, everything was expensive.

  “Ah, a new Contestant has arrived,” a melodic, male voice greeted them. It belonged to a butler. Not just a butler, but the essence of the craft. Advanced in age yet fluid of motion, the silver-haired maid bowed before them. His suit was finely tailored, his hands covered by white gloves, and he spoke in a manner both pleasing and neutral. “May I show you to your rooms?”

  “Go ahead,” Rykard answered with all of the certainty of a king. The butler turned around and stepped into the adjacent corridor. “Your name, servant?”

  “I am simply the Butler, sir,” he answered. “I have been created by the gods for this specific event.”

  ‘Interesting,’ Rykard thought and continued down the hallway.

  The Butler stopped by a door at the end of the corridor. “This chamber should meet your demands,” he spoke and gestured inside.

  Strutting confidently, Rykard entered and found himself in a luxurious living room. The rge windows and balcony, accessible via door, faced a rge garden. A long couch and armchairs were arranged around a personal firepce. A bookshelf offered a selection of fiction novels. Two doors in the back lead to a satisfyingly spacious bedroom and a bathroom worthy of Rykard’s desires.

  “A royal dwelling,” Miyo commented.

  “It’ll do,” Tess drawled sarcastically. “Barely.”

  The Butler chuckled, as any proper butler would. “To further inform you of the events at py: this house and I are provided by the gods. However, the world around you is not. You find yourself in the city of Arameses on the world Trustus. You can leave the house whenever you want and the gods guarantee that it will remain standing. If you wish to help or damage the locals in any way, you have your free will. You can go as far as you want to. Know only that you will be teleported back once the Divine Game is over.”

  “Is this some kind of test?” Rykard asked out loud. “An opportunity for us to mindlessly rampage if we so desire?”

  “Perhaps,” the Butler shrugged his shoulder. “If it is, I was impnted with no such knowledge. Perhaps your divine companion knows more?”

  “If I had knowledge of the details of this Divine Game, I had to surrender it before descending,” Subana informed.

  “Then you must live with the uncertainty for some more days - three of them, to be exact. Our first guests arrived on the third day. Therefore, we will begin at midnight on the tenth day since the announcement.”

  “Midnight exactly?”

  The Butler smiled mischievously. “In a fashion.”

  Tess spoke up. “How many other Contestants are there right now?”

  “Three other Contestants have arrived with their retinue. That is the final point: the upper floor has the guest rooms, which are magically isoted from one another. You will not hear what happens in the other rooms, nor can you enter another Contestant’s area uninvited. To mingle, simply come downstairs.” The Butler lowered his head. “I hope that answers all of your questions for now.”

  “It does,” Rykard confirmed.

  “Very well. If you have need of me, you will find a handbell in practically every room. Simply ring it and I will knock on the door within the second.”

  A literal second, most likely, given the magical origin of the man. “Then you are dismissed, leave us to our talks.”

  The Butler nodded and walked out the door. The group moved towards the Couch. Rykard was tempted to order his submissives to strip immediately. However, there was a talk to be had. “If there are three other Contestants around already, the chances the dwarves are here is decent,” Miyo spoke to the immediate topic.

  “So you should hide me?” Tess asked.

  “Depending on what our king wishes to achieve,” Miyo answered with a shrug. “It is his choice.”

  “We could also elect to stay up here,” Subana provided the other options, “or leave through the balcony and explore the city. It is not every day you get to explore another world.” She smiled. “Whatever choice our Master makes, I am sure it will be the best one!”

  “We will meet them,” he decided and got up. “Whatever happens, I will take care of it.”

  The group around nodded and then they left the chamber. The way downstairs was easily found. One long staircase let them descend into a hall - and presented them immediately with one of their fellow inhabitants of the mansion.

  To say she was clothed would have been an overstatement. Her red skin was covered by three pieces of bck leather. One was a corset, clinging tight to her narrow midriff and covering her tits while pushing up the medium size in an overtly sexual manner. The second was a pair of thigh highs, squishing in the thick extensions of her wide hips at the rim. Last was a thong whose taut strings were pulled all the way up to her pelvis. The little triangle between her spread legs was just enough to hide her cunt but not enough to keep her smooth shave state a secret.

  The woman was alluring beyond her attire. Her skin was shiny, as if she had just left the bath. In a gradient, the red transitioned to bck down her arms, to then return to crimson on her digits, to then again return to bck for her sharp nails. Her lips were just as bck, curved into a fanged smile that reached her blue eyes.

  She was a tiefling, that much was immediately obvious, but there was something overtly unusual to her: rather than horns, this demonspawn had a pair of cat ears. They sprouted bck from her equally dark hair. While the ears remained bck from base to tips, the strands all around them turned pink halfway to her shoulders. Part of the wild mane crossed between her eyes, giving her a fully dishevelled feeling.

  “Yo!” she greeted, casually raising a hand from the armrest of the expensive chair she was seated in. “So you’re that Rykard guy that Loran keeps yapping about?”

  “Allegedly,” Rykard drawled. His sarcasm made the feline tiefling chuckle. “And your name?”

  “Name’s Punk or ya can call me Hellcat. Either works for me,” the tiefling grinned. “Been sitting here all day hoping one of ya Contestants would come down.” A spade-tipped tail rose for a moment from the cover of the chair’s armrest. It disappeared again a moment ter, audible flopping against the side of the furniture. “Happy that that worked.”

  “You speak like you’re not one of the Contestants,” Miyo analysed.

  “Yeah, I’m here with my dad,” Punk cleared her throat, then shouted. “YO, DAD! GET YOUR BITCH ASS OVER HERE! THE FUN GUY IS HERE!”

  “I HAVE GOOD EARS, PUNK, YOU DON’T NEED TO SHOUT!” A voice from the neighbouring room responded. The cnking of gss preceded the appearance of the speaker.

  Every bit as red as his daughter, the older tiefling stepped into the room. Older did not count for much here, his advanced age manifesting only in a silver element to his long, wavy red hair. His face was smooth, as was the rest of his skin, stretching over defined muscles. Demonic body markings covered the whole of him. Only a small harness and tight pants covered him.

  Above a confident grin sat blue eyes - entirely blue eyes. Sclera and irises were one and the pupils were a lighter shade of blue. The eyes glowed softly even in the artificial light of the room. A pair of horns grew from his forehead. One was nicely swung, the other broken below the tip.

  The tiefling raised a bottle he was holding to his lips and ripped the cork out with his teeth. After taking a deep swing, he first offered the bottle to Rykard then, when he refused, to his daughter, who drank without hesitation. “Name’s Lord, Rave Lord,” he introduced himself. “Welcome to my personal hell,” he stretched out his arms and gestured at the quiet and luxurious room. “Hopefully ya will spice things up!”

  “Just gotta wait for Loran to get here and throw a bitch fit,” Punk joked and handed the bottle back. The long tail of her feather spped on the ground in an amused fashion.

  “I am quite collected, I assure you.” Loran chose that moment to step around the corner. His eyes met that of Rykard for a brief moment, before he respectfully lowered his head. “King Rykard,” he greeted.

  “First Minister, it is so good to see you!” Rykard spoke overly enthusiastically. “And I see you have brought someone with you?”

  A second man had stepped into the room behind Loran. He had remnants of red hair atop his head that fused with a mass of blue crystals that apparently sprouted from the back of his skull. His eyes were either covered by goggles or had been repced by them. Despite those oddities, he looked all around handsome. His greyish blue beard was well trimmed, his light skin tone unmarred by age.

  The man wore a heavy… armour? Rykard was not quite certain. It had many metal ptes, but not enough to qualify for protection. Bits of complicated artifice were visible at pces and a heavy metal backpack peeked over his shoulders. Crystals glowed all over the armour-esque contraption. Underneath, he wore simple grey, baggy clothes.

  “This is Cryo,” Loran introduced readily.

  “Cryo the Crystal Genius,” the man insisted, his tone haughty. Despite that, he walked across and offered his hand as equals. “Pleasure to make the acquaintance. I am head of the Great Workshop. We are located-”

  “To the north-east, right?” Rykard interrupted with a knowing grin. SInce he and Loran had come together and the diplomat had headed straight for that area, the guess was easily made. The artificer nodded and the king turned his gaze back to Lord. “That makes you the head of the faction to my south-east?”

  “The Endless Rave, indeed,” the tiefling answered readily and took another swig. “Now, how about-”

  “Honoured guests, another Contestant has arrived!” the Butler announced from upstairs.

  “Man, it’s an exciting day!” Punk ughed.