Blake stood at the end of his inner realm and looked back at the green grass and blue skies that could be seen from all directions and smiled. "It was rough, but I did it…. Now then….."
His gaze fell on the mountain of bones that rose high into the sky, and walked over to it. "This is what is left of your power. Since you invaded my body, I will borrow this."
Blake placed his hand on the pile of bones and imagined it being sucked into his body. At the same time, the bones began to liquefy and merge into the palm of his hand. The whole process was very fast, and in a matter of seconds, the entire pile that rose to the sky was gone leaving nothing but a grassy field behind. Blake felt his head eyes growing heavy once more, and before he knew it, he passed out.
"Lillia, you said he was waking up, right? Why are his eyes still closed?" Noa's eyes were all puffy from crying, but she did not care. She could now hold Blake's hand once more, which gave her some reassurance, but at the same time, she still couldn't help but worry that Blake had yet to wake up.
Lillia smiled as she said: "He will wake up soon. His body is still undergoing the process of merging with the soul devouring poison."
"Sister Lillia, since things are going to work out, can you explain why the soul devouring poison will make him immune to poisons?" Tina had been confused all this time, but she did not care too much about it because of Blake's condition but now that she could breathe a sigh of relief and knew he was no longer in danger, she decided to take this chance to get a better understanding as to what the soul devouring poison truly is.
"It is a kind of poison that uses the souls of many along with ten of thousands of types of poisons brewed together using forbidden death magic. Death magic deals with the dead. There used to be a group of necromancers that used death magic for good, but slowly they somehow became corrupted by this magic and began mass murdering entire cities and towns. It was a group of many different races, but they all had a single feature that made them stand out, and that was their grayish skin and white hair. They looked dead themselves. This group, due to the type of magic they wielded, created the soul devouring poison. But, what I do not get is that necromancers should have died out during the purge. No one should be able to know how to make such poison unless…." Lillia paused and fell into deep thought. She really could not figure this out since most of those who were involved in the purge had died long ago.
"It is something that will need to be looked into, but the main point is, is that because of how it is made, there have been a few incidents that actually sprang up when this poison was used. Some people did not die from it and actually recovered in full health and gained poison immunity. No poison could harm them anymore because they had merged with the poison, allowing them to repel any poison weaker than it. And even to this day, I believe there is no poison that is stronger than this…." Lillia explained. "I myself do not know how one can defeat the poison on their own. I only know it is possible, and it is the only cure to the poison because this poison has no antidote."
"I see… but to think such a poison was used to try to kill Sister Noa…. Sister Noa, do you think this is your brother's doing?" Tina asked. Deep down, she wanted to run to the elves and find Noa's brother and tear him to shreds, but she couldn't, she was pregnant, and most importantly, at this time, she was too weak.
"Most likely. We will find out later when we make that bitch talk!" Noa felt much more relaxed now, and now her anger was being directed toward the person who started all of this. She wanted to find answers, but she still needed to wait on Blake.
Bret, who had been listening to everything while sitting to the side, understood one thing. Blake had overcome almost certain death. His eyes then fell on the elf girl who was still pressing her forehead against the ground. And sighed. He got up, walked over to her, and knelt down next to her. "Girl…. Take this from someone who knows Blake pretty well… He will not Blame you. He is not that kind of person. Otherwise, none of us here would put so much faith in him. So stand up, and when he wakes up, just apologize then if you must."
Even though what Bret was saying was correct, Rin did not budge. She was determined to continue in this position until Blake woke up as a means of atoning for her sins. She had no other way since her Princess did not seem willing to punish her.
"Bret, just leave her be," Faana spoke up. "Elves are quite stubborn, and when they decide on something, it will take a lot to change their minds."
Bret frowned and stood up. He scratched his head before shrugging and walking over to look over the girl's shoulders. As he did, Blake's eyes began to flutter before fully opening up. He yawned slightly before saying. "Now that is an experience I never want to go through again…."
"Blake!!!" Blake's body was quickly covered in female bodies as they all jumped on him and hugged him. Just seeing this caused Bret to curse before walking out of the room. "Damn, bastard seems to be doing just fine!"
He did not go very far. He only walked outside to give the girls some time and leaned against the wall. He also let out a sigh of relief. After all, he wished he could have reacted a bit faster, then Blake would not have needed to suffer, and neither would his wives. "I really need to get me a wife…. Or two… or three…. Fuck it how ever many wives Blake has, I will double it!"
Back inside the room, the girls soaked Blake's body with tears as he sighed. "Sorry…"
"No! I should be the one who says sorry!" Noa cried out. "Because of me, you were put in harm's way again!"
"It's fine. You did nothing wrong. Even if I had to relive that same situation over and over, I would still make the same choice, whether it was you or any one of you girls. I would gladly give my life to protect you." Blake might not want to die, but if it meant protecting those he cared about, he would sacrifice himself if there was no other choice.
"You are really…." Noa's tears rolled down her cheek as she smiled. She then leaned over and kissed Blake's lips. "Don't scare me anymore."
"I say Sister Noa gets full punishment tonight!" Erica suggested with a big grin on her lips.
"I second that!" Sam nodded in agreement. Tina also raised her hand, which was quickly followed by Lillia. Noa looked at her sisters and knew she could not escape. This meant she would be teased until no end while Blake pounded her. She wondered if her sisters knew that this was no punishment for her!
"Hey, can I join!?" Faana asked curiously. She wanted to know what this punishment thing was.
Anna blushed as she pulled Faana away. "It's best if you wait until you know more about the world."
"Oh? But why? It seems like it might be fun." Faana liked having fun!
Anna sighed and looked up at Lillia, who nodded her head. Only then did Anna blush as she leaned over and whispered into Faana's ear. "Oh!! Oh….. o…. I-I a-am no-not ready for that…." Faana's whole face was red as she awkwardly laughed and changed the subject as she asked what was for dinner. Those were things she should have learned a long time ago, but since she had no one to explain such things, she only knew about it but not the details.
After the girls got their fill of Blake, Blake finally sat up, and his eyes focused on the elf girl pressing her forehead against the ground. "What is Rin doing?"
"She said she is atoning for her sins. She will not move until you forgive her." Tina explained.
"But what did she do wrong that needed to be forgiven?" Blake was very confused. He did not think Rin did something that was worth being punished for. When Rin heard these words, she felt confused as to why Blake was confused.
"It's because she did not believe you. If she had listened to your words and had been more careful about the people around her, this would not have happened." Noa decided to explain in more detail.
"Ahh…. But she still did nothing wrong. She was protective of Noa, which I respect, and of her own people, which I also respect. So, in other words, while there was a bad egg, and maybe things were not checked properly, she was doing things I would have done as well. So there is no need for an apology, so please raise your head. You are Noa's people, which means you are now my people as well. Please look after my wife."
<strong>--An) Check out my Fantasy Carnival entry: Alantina Online: The Greatest Sword Mage Reborn As A Weak NPC--</strong>