I woke early, slipping out of bed and leaving my wife snoring softly, exhausted and naked from the heat of the night.
I planted a lingering kiss on her forehead—a silent goodbye—before dressing and opening a Dimensional Door before any of the new citizens, the elfs noticed l was leaving.
With a step, I left my realm behind and returned to the real world, back in Eldoria.
The streets were ghost-town quiet. The sun was still hours from breaching the horizon, leaving the city draped in pre-dawn indigo.
"Tama. Are you there?" I muttered.
Almost instantly, a shadow detached itself from a nearby alley. Tama materialized, a glowing black crown hovering ethereally over her head.
Over the weeks following the apocalypse, she and Rin had been piecing together the puzzle of the black catfolk.
They had discovered the lore of her ancestors and the truth of why she had been chosen to break the cycle of persecution and racism between normal people and black folks.
It was the work of a fallen god of reincarnation, Moriel, an ancient enemy of her bloodline obsessed with the "ultimate creation."
He believed that such power could only be harvested from the black catfolk. He was the real leader and founder behind the Revolutionaries, the one who had kidnapped and experimented on Tama's people to find an heir to the "Black One's" power.
And now, he needed a vessel strong enough to possess while he fought the one with the Black One's Power, Tama.
And the ultimate vessel he needed happened to be me.
"Any new intel?" I asked, my voice low.
"Yes," Tama replied. "My shadowlings have confirmed that Moriel, this rogue god has finally chosen a temporal host. He has settled on Tanaka Genzai."
A cold twist hit my stomach. "You mean... the man behind Genzai Innovations?"
"Yes, Master."
"Alright," I said, hardening my gaze. "Then we end this now."
I tried to sound confident, but a seed of doubt took root. Genzai wasn't just a man; he was an icon, and if my hunch was right, he was also a reincanatorlike me.
He was respected globally for inventing gadgets that felt dangerously familiar—mana-scripts that functioned like laptops and mana-phantom chariots that were essentially cars that worked on mana instead of fuel or electricity like in my past life.
Nobody really knew the limit of Genzai's inventions in this world. If he had developed some dangerous weapons from earth,.for example, guns or something else equally deadly, then he would surely be hard to deal with.
I pushed the fear aside. I couldn't look hesitant in front of Tama, and I wouldn't let this monster roam free—not when I had children on the way.
I want them to grow up in a world that is safe, both in my realm and this one. So l would protect this world that many of my wives hold memories of, no matter what!
"He is in the Shangani Kingdom," Tama said. "The largest and most religious territory in the land. Are you prepared?"
"You don't have to ask me twice."
I summoned Rex. He surged out of my shadow, a massive beast the size of a cow but rippling with lots of muscle. I hopped onto his back and pulled Tama up in front of me.
Since Tama hadn't visited Shangani before, she couldn't use her shadow-teleportation and obviously, my Dimentional door was out of the question.
We had to rely on Rex. He was faster than any horse, capable of leaping through the air to bypass traditional roads.
We cut through jagged mountain passes and monster-infested thickets, clearing any threats that dared cross our path.
At night, we used a wind shield for protection. Maintaining it cost me "Pleasure Points," which I replenished through intimacy with Tama, our bond deepening with every mile traveled.
By the dawn of the fifth day, the air changed. We were nearing the kingdom of Shangani.
We made our final camp in the fringe of a dense forest while Rex rested after running through the day while patiently waiting for me to finish cooking.
As I stirred a pot of beef stew over the fire, Tama spoke softly beside me.
"Master... thank you."
I blinked, looking up from the steam. "For what?"
"Everything." She offered a fragile smile. "Since I met you, my life has finally had light. You were the sun in my darkness."
"Don't get sentimental on me now, Tama," I teased, though my heart warmed. "What's this about?"
"Just... if this god is too strong... if I don't make it... I want you to know how grateful I am."
I set the spoon aside and pulled her into my arms. "Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let a fallen god or anyone else take you away. I'll protect you with everything I have."
She looked up at me, her eyes shimmering with love and admiration.
Without putting much thought, she closed her eyes, leaned toward my face and pressed her lips to mine.
The kiss was desperate and passionate; in that moment, I felt a connection to her more profound than ever before.
I wanted to make her feel special, to erase her fear, and to show her how much l really cared.
My hands moved to her waist, pulling her against me as her breath hitched, both of us getting hot for each other, almost about to take out each other's clothes.
However, the moment was shattered by a loud, aggressive sizzle. Rex let out a low, annoyed snarl from the shadows. He wasn't about to let us burn the stew he'd been waiting for.
We broke apart, chuckling breathlessly, and returned to the meal. Exhaustion eventually claimed us, and we fell asleep in each other's arms, too tired for anything more than the comfort of a heartbeat.
As the first rays of the sun pierced the canopy, Rex's voice rang in my head through telepathy.
"Master! Wake up! Shangani Kingdom is just over the ridge. I can sense it."
I woke Tama, we mounted Rex, and rode straight toward the enemy's gates.
TBC
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