Chapter 863 – Love and Statecraft 9 – Dance: A little entertainment

Chapter 863 – Love and Statecraft 9 – Dance: A little entertainment

The group was much diminished, when they ascended to the next level. The Lord of Pontis had brought no staff with him, Amalia only a single female advisor and Ria, who was eligible due to Maximillian’s victory, was on her own as well. John brought the entirety of his harem with him and Romulus was escorted by Sol, Luna and Rodaclam, so they weren’t entirely without additional elements. From the over fifty people they had been for the last two floors, they were down to about twenty. The servants that had brought drinks also stayed behind.

They found new people on that fourth floor, however. On a circular platform fashioned from a polished, red stone, they sported red suits, elevating both them and their location from the otherwise white and golden hall. They stood out even more thanks to their instruments: a piano and violins, all fashioned from an auburn wood. In them, John finally found the source of the music he had heard all evening.

Their tune grew a little bit louder when they noticed the people pouring into the room. They must have been starved for an audience, bored out of their minds as they played for several hours. One of them was a dwarf, going by stature and beard, the other two elves, albeit one with much shorter ears than the other. The Gamer’s interest in the musicians was small, as he stepped along the ring that made up the space between the central elevation and the walls. Quickly he realized how much smaller this floor was.

The indents that had existed on the previous two floors had been replaced by a complete ring, diminishing the size of the room considerably. There were doors, placed at equal distance from one another. Between them were extremely thick windows. Looking outside through them was impossible, and what little light shone through them, John wasn’t certain came from the outside. Tinted glass that thick would have broken sunlight down to nothing. It was more likely that there was some sort of light source embedded within.

“A simple little breather, before I unveil my gifts to you, Lydia,” Romulus declared, while shedding the shape of the giant. The awe-inspiring, middle-aged man, whose hard face, raw size and presence commanded authority and respect was replaced with a much younger, much smaller figure. A late twenties man, with a strong tan and of such beauty that he may have set the ideals for civilization at large. Perhaps the reverse was true and Romulus had attained this form inspired by those ideals. Either way, he changed his flesh in less than a minute, now standing only as tall as Sol did.

Where his physical presence was diminished, his green eyes remained a warning to anyone that would underestimate him. Beyond that, perhaps because John knew of the true power of this man, the Gamer felt the magical force of the Apex. It led him to believe that this more compact form was, indeed, Romulus at his peak performance. A scary insinuation, given that John had seen him and Thana tear open the walls of Rome’s arena with their sheer might.

A remarkable thought was that he would get to that level himself. He was creeping closer day by day.

“A dance,” Romulus spoke, his voice still deep but more youthful. “A simple enjoyment of movement. No worries, no politics, no trials and no games, let us just be with love, enjoyment or both.” He offered his hand to Sol who quickly took it. Leading by example, the emperor stepped further forward, past Amalia and Ria.

The two seemed somewhat perplexed, as they had likely never seen Romulus outside of his imposing regular form. ‘Then again, I don’t know if this isn’t his regular form and the giant is just for public appearances,’ the Gamer thought as he looked to Lydia. “Do you mind if we bury our strategic rivalry for a dance, queen of Rex Germaniae?”

“I suppose I can stomach contact with you for the necessary duration,” Lydia retorted with a straight face, the laughter only showing within her grey-blue eyes. From being hooked into his arm, she swiftly transitioned to having her hand in his. His other wandered to her hips, pulled her closer than was necessary and grabbed her butt a bit tighter than appropriate. Clicking her tongue, Lydia warned him without speaking a word, while putting her left arm around his side.

They swayed together on the spot for several seconds, getting accustomed to the tune they had only listened to in the faint background up until now. The melody, the rhythm, they listened for the repetitions in both and then, when John was certain they had it, he took the lead. A step was taken, then another one, all in service of a simple sequence that carried them a few metres along the circle. It ended in a turn around their own axis and was then repeated.

After a couple of times, John became emboldened. They had danced with greater complexity before, there was no need to keep it simple today. From a straightforward sequence, their movements evolved to a flowing band of spontaneous steps, sways and twirls. Romulus had said this was to be a matter of simple entertainment and John found it incredibly entertaining to keep challenging Lydia to follow his lead.

The queen repaid him by, on the completion of their first round, forcing him to stop and pressing her lips on his in a swift movement. Surprised but trained to please, John accommodated her with glee. While their tongues intertwined and he felt the softness of her perfect, red lips, their dancing posture was replaced by a wild embrace that hinted at the desire to undress. Sliding over the smooth fabric of her dress, John felt her curves, even copped a feel of her breasts. Barely, he managed to keep himself from pulling at her skirt and unveil her juicy ass. Equally difficult was it to not claw into her hair and ruin that adorned braid of hers.

Lydia faced none of these issues, gripping his short hair and sliding the other hand into his pants. Indulged in the sweet, metallic taste of her lips and the smell of citrus that enveloped her, the Gamer shivered with delight. Her hand wrapped around his cock and squeezed. Their breathing accelerated until they suddenly realized again where they were. Their lips slowly separated.

“It seems I lost my capability for prolonged public appearances,” Lydia panted, while pulling her hands out of his pants. Being discreet would have netted her nothing, everyone who could see it already had. That the crowd still around consisted only of people that wouldn’t mock her for this behaviour was likely a large part of the reason she had dropped her guard like this in the first place. Even Suel, although John could understand Lydia’s general distaste for the man, was not the type to be offended by perverted displays. “At least when you are around me.”

“I guess I should apologize for being so damn sexy,” John joked in response.

“No, you should not. This is entirely a failing on my part,” the queen of steel responded in an overly serious fashion. Looking down at her hand, she saw the glistening of a sticky liquid on her fingertips. “...If you would excuse me for a second, my love, I require to go to the bathroom,” she told him and then walked off.

Undine was next, showing a different kind of uncertainty. It was obvious she didn’t mind being seen; for a woman that spent the majority of the time naked, that would have been somewhat odd. However, her slime nature put her at a bit of a disadvantage in this social situation. Walking was something she had learned well enough, but dancing had a level of intricacy she wasn’t used to.

Not minding in the slightest, John pulled the attractive, black haired form of the abysstide elemental against his chest. Her bountiful bosom squished against him when he started a very slow waltz. He took the time to carefully guide her through every movement. Theirs was by far the longest turn around the centre, but John didn’t mind. Watching the goth-like woman struggle and stumble to keep up with him had a beauty in its own. On his side, he kept challenging her to more complicated steps, as she became more secure with the basic ones. At the end of the round, she had at least gotten used to the slow steps.

From Undine to Siena, the contrast was stark. The moonshade elemental’s naturally high-heeled feet created a steady staccato of sure steps as she took hold of John and immediately forced him into a high-speed chase of a dance. Smiling sadistically while he attempted to keep up, Siena kept upping the tempo. His struggle only she felt in the way he held onto her. Every time before he could lose his balance or otherwise make a fool out of himself, she suddenly switched to a series of easy steps to allow him to regain his composure.

John knew he was being toyed with and did his best to retake the lead. That only fired Siena up further. She was too fast, too graceful, to be overtaken by him. When they had made their full round, he felt more frustration than anything else. The challenge of getting to be the lead at some point excited him.

Before he could dwell on it, however, Sylph stormed into his arms and took him for a wild journey. Theirs was not a dance. The arcvolt elemental never landed for more than a few steps at a time. Enthusiastically, she flew in circles around him like a whimsical fairy, pulling him along with her moods. She laughed and so did he, while his sense of balance faded and his feet just followed along with her. Sometimes they stood, sometimes they ran, sometimes he had to jump. It wasn’t elegant in the traditional sense. It did somehow follow the rhythm set by the music.

Worked up by that wild exchange, Salamander was the perfect follow-up. Escalating things back to the levels Metra had earlier risen the dance to, the apocalypse elemental once more had John tango. With less aggression and more lust, Salamander and John were getting as heated as they could without outright undressing each other.

He embraced her from behind. His arms pressed into her colossal tits. The squishiness spilled past the strips of her dress, her nipples barely hidden when he backed away. Her tail wrapped around his waist, she pulled him back when she turned around, hair flying and chest jiggling mad. A fiery reunion, John stretched his neck to kiss the slightly taller woman. The taste of her oily saliva on his tongue, sweet and smoky. Then a renewed separation. She ran two steps from him. Let him catch her hand and pull her back. His hands travelled down her flat midriff and down to her meaty thighs. Salamander’s luscious body was a wonder to behold. The heat radiating from her agitated him to do more. He grabbed her tits and she moaned. She pushed him back with a smirk.

“Not quite yet,” she reminded him.

“You don’t make it easy for me to remember,” John returned with a wink and then turned to suddenly grab Eliza.

“Fuck that, nooo!” she complained, while John put his hand on her back and pulled her along. He only laughed at her little struggle and soon she just let him have his will. Forced she may have been, but Eliza was quick on the uptake. Furiously blushing and following his lead perfectly, she suffered through their simple round. All the time she was adorable and, had she not been so far down, John would have kissed her like the other ones. As it was, he couldn’t without him bowing down breaking their rhythm.

Finding the perfect solution, John suddenly took hold of her entirely and lifted her off the floor. With superhuman strength, he tossed her two metres into the air. He caught her in such a fashion that her legs parted around his hips and her face was now in front of his. With insatiable greed, he leaned forwards and claimed her lips, while carrying her back to the starting position.

Once there, he put her back down. Against her initial refusal, he barely got her to let go. The dance she may have disliked, but to him she was very much attached. John had one more girl to take for a ride, however.

“No,” Scarlett said, arms crossed.

“You will not be the only one who doesn’t dance with me,” John stated and made a demanding gesture.

Not budging, Scarlett only raised her chin. “I mean it, I won’t dance. I have no idea how to and I’m already struggling with these heels.”

John sighed and stepped closer. “I’ve shown you a lot of things more interesting than money, Scarlett, I won’t stop today,” he whispered into her ear. Slowly but firmly, he moved to separate the lock of her arms. With a little nibble to her earlobe and some time dedicated, he got his will. With a little bit of firmness, he could break the stubbornness of the technomancer through the submissive side of hers he had reserved for himself.

True enough, Scarlett struggled through the dance, even more than Undine had. They took it very slow and sometimes they paused so John could give her advice. “Don’t look at your feet.” “Rely on me.” “Think of us as one unit.” And so on. Particularly that last advice helped her and by the end of their round, she didn’t cling onto him with quite as much force as she had at the start.



They stopped and the dances were done.