Hello, it's been a while.
I'm here to apologize, since I didn't have internet yesterday, so I couldn't write anything, and today I've been quite busy, so this chapter will be a bit short, but I prefer that to not posting anything at all.
Another thing I want to mention is that, due to some personal issues—creative differences between my past and present selves—I'll be speeding up this part of the story a bit. I had originally planned for Dante to travel through the Lostbelt and things like that, but I still have about four more arcs to write, and I don't want to take years to finish them, so I decided to scrap that idea. Not to mention, I've also committed to fixing the One Piece arc, which I'll do after I finish this one.
That's all I wanted to say, and I hope you understand my point of view. I don't want to rush everything like I did in the previous arc; I won't make that mistake again, but I did decide to discard some ideas to avoid making this longer.
With nothing more to add, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dante's POV
The moment he opened his eyes, the room's brightness was momentarily blinding.
"Ugh, turn off the light," I complained, wrapping myself in the bedsheet like a caterpillar, grumbling about my miserable life.
"If I turn off the light, Euri won't be able to read anymore," Kiss-shot's voice reached me.
At that moment, I lifted him up, revealing only my torso, since I was naked, only to see Europa a few feet away with a book, smiling.
"Good morning, Dante, I'm glad you're recovering well. You haven't left your room for two days, so I came to see how you were," Zeus's current, and perhaps temporary, concubine said kindly.
Truthfully, my fight with that samurai, who logically had to be Musashi Miyamoto, or at least some version of her from the vast multiverse, ended two days ago.
After that, Kiss-shot locked me in this room, away from the sunlight, so I could heal. But since I was exhausted both physically and mentally, I needed to rest my mind as well.
"Now that you're awake, I don't know if it would be a bother to open the windows, since it smells strange in here," Europa remarked, getting up and looking at Kiss-shot.
She looked away, somewhat embarrassed.
I just stared at this with a blank expression, only to realize that the room still had a strong smell of sex.
On the second day of my rest, I woke up feeling well enough to talk to Kiss-shot, and before I knew it, we were touching each other. One thing led to another, and we spent the entire day locked in a trance.
"Why did you let her into the room if it stinks?" I asked my wife telepathically, incredulously.
"She just showed up here out of nowhere, and with her kindness and innocence, I couldn't refuse. And since I was still resting, she didn't want to open the windows so as not to disturb you," she explained, sounding a little embarrassed.
All I could do was sigh.
"No need, let's go to the kitchen so I can make breakfast; I hope you like waakye," I asked Europa.
"What's that?" she asked, to which I could only shake my head.
"Food," I said simply, leaving the room and heading towards the kitchen of this refuge.
...
While they finished seasoning the vegetables and cutting the hard-boiled eggs, I couldn't help but glance at the table where Kiss-shot and Europa were talking.
That reminded me of the conversation I'd had with Kiss-shot when I woke up after my recovery.
*Flashback*
As I groaned in bed, I felt someone stroking my face and hair.
"I see my Sleeping Beauty is finally waking up," I said to Kiss-shot, noticing his smile, a mixture of relief and concern on his face.
"So you're a prince? I don't believe it. From here, you look more like a succubus than anything," he replied, grabbing my head, which still ached a little.
Without thinking, I looked at my chest, which was completely unscarred. I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing vampiric abilities are—the ability to regenerate any wound, any missing part, and transform it into nothing. It was truly a miracle.
"Can't I be both at the same time?" the vampire pouted.
"In that case, be Barbie; that way you can be whatever you want to be," I scoffed, trying to get up, but a sharp pain shot through my chest, forcing me to collapse back onto the bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked, looking at my condition.
"I think something regenerated in a position it shouldn't have been," I said, pointing to my ribs.
"Hmm, I see that. There's no other way," she replied, raising her hand and, without thinking, plunging it into my ribs, making blood start to flow.
"Hey, can't you be more careful?" I complained, feeling Kiss-shot adjust her little bits to prevent them from rubbing against and damaging my organs.
After a minute, she withdrew her hand, and the hole she'd made began to regenerate at lightning speed.
"Ugh," I relaxed in bed, letting the sheets tighten around me. Having super regeneration doesn't mean you don't feel pain.
"What a little sissy you are. No wonder I'm the man in this relationship," Kiss-shot mocked.
No longer feeling that sharp pain in my body and hearing her taunts, without thinking, I grabbed her, and, turning her over, she ended up beneath me as I held her.
"Yeah, I'll have to prove my manhood then," she declared, and began to kiss her neck passionately.
She didn't say anything, just grabbed my head and hugged me.
Meanwhile, with one hand I held both her wrists and with the other I began to massage her breasts.
Kiss-shot started moaning occasionally as I tried to leave marks on her body, but her vampiric regeneration made everything I did useless.
Just as I was about to continue undressing her, Kiss-shot leaned close to my ear and whispered,
"It's a shame Euri isn't here to keep us company." At those words, my mind went blank.
"Euri?" he asked, incredulous.
"Euri, Europa, is a nickname we both came up with for her name," the vampire said proudly and happily.
"And why would she have to be here?" he asked, somewhat confused.
"Hmm? Didn't you like her? Did you want to steal her from Zeus and make him suffer more?" she questioned, making me let go of her and sit down on the bed.
She noticed the change in the atmosphere and also got up from the bed, looking at me, confused.
"So I give off that vibe, huh?" I concluded, hearing my wife's words.
"Well, not really. I thought you liked me and wanted me to join this big harem I was creating," she explained, to which I could only sigh and run a hand over my face.
"I've told you a thousand times that I never intended to have a harem," she said somewhat listlessly.
"Saying it is one thing, but doing it is another; you might say you don't want a harem, but the truth is, you already have one." She countered, to which I could only look at her, unable to deny it, since it would be hypocritical to say it was a lie, and I wouldn't deny Medusa, Aoko, and Nagao either.
"Anyway, getting back to the point, the truth is, I do like Europe, but that's one thing, and wanting her in my 'harem' is another," I said, making air quotes with my hands. "Liking someone is one thing, but loving someone, wanting to spend the rest of my life with them, is another; for me, they're two different things."
Kiss-shot opened her mouth at that moment, then closed it, finally letting out the words she had been thinking.
"But she likes you," she told me.
"Are you sure?" I asked, to which I received no answer. "I'm sure it's her and not something to do with the remains of Europa."
Silence again.
I could only sigh again.
"Look, I like Europa. I like her a lot, enough to want someone so pure, kind, and noble to get a better option than me." Those words surprised Kiss-shot. "I think she deserves to be loved by someone and to love only one person. The five of us accepted this harem relationship, but I feel like Europa is different after enduring that affectionless relationship she has with Zeus right now."
Kiss-shot, upon hearing my words, simply looked down, somewhat dejected.
"Then I'm going to have to part ways with my friend." Her words struck me straight to the heart; I couldn't bear to see her sad, so I hugged her.
"Don't worry, I have a plan; when the time comes, I'll take her out of here and bring her with us to the new universe where you can be friends while she finds her own happiness there," I reassured her.
"Really?" the vampire asked, sounding a little more cheerful.
"I promise," I confirmed, giving her a kiss on the lips.
That affectionate kiss quickly transformed into a passionate one. We both fell back onto the bed as we undressed.
*End of flashback.*
Returning to the present, I thought about how to keep that promise. There were several ways, but only one depended solely on me and Kiss-shot, but for that, I would have to talk to Wodine.
Since I left this Lostbelt, we hadn't communicated; the last I heard from him was when he asked me to prove my strength before the gods.
I also remembered how I had threatened Artemis; I remember that at that moment my heart ached a little, but after remembering that it wasn't the truth, or at least not for me, I calmed down.
With two trays of food, I arrived at the table, leaving one for Europa and one for myself.
"Bon appétit," I said, setting down the plate of food so Europa could only look at the unfamiliar rice and beans.
"It smells delicious," she exclaimed excitedly, starting to eat. It tasted delicious too.
At her compliments, I could only smile.
"When someone cooks with love, the food always tastes delicious," I commented, to which Europa instinctively blushed slightly.
At that moment, I felt Kiss-shot squeeze my side.
"Ow," I complained, looking at her.
"You have your wife by your side and you're flirting with another woman right in front of her, what a cheater," she teased.
"Sorry, it was just a habit," I apologized with a genuine smile as I watched Kiss-shot get up.
I placed the breakfast plate on the table and sat down so my wife could settle into my arms, wrapping them around me.
At that moment, I saw a flicker of jealousy and sadness cross Europa's eyes, only to vanish as she continued eating elegantly.
Kiss-shot and I looked into each other's eyes.
"You noticed, didn't you?" I asked her mentally.
"Yes, that didn't look natural at all; it must be what you said," she concluded, sounding somewhat disheartened. "And I, who did see that I was truly in love with you, was planning to convince you to add her to the harem."
At the vampire's complaints, I rolled my eyes. I'd see what the goddess Hera would do with the rest of them in Europa in due time; for now, I couldn't do anything.
I just said I'd wait for the final day to act; in the meantime, I would simply rest for now.
...
"How long has it been?" I said, walking with my hands in my pockets, looking around, unmoved.
"I see you're still alive; what a shame," Castor said, watching me from not far away while Pollux ate an apple, keeping a close eye on me, wondering if I was going to do anything to his dear brother for his provocations.
"Huh? Did they say something?" I asked, looking around as if they weren't there, wiping the sting of hatred with a finger.
"You're making fun of me," Castor said, somewhat irritated, starting to walk toward me, but at that moment, Pollux grabbed his wrist.
He looked at her, and she shook her head, knowing he'd just clicked his.
"Well done, Pollux, control your rabid dog," I mocked, starting to walk away.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sister put the brother in a wrestling hold to stop him from running toward me.
Before, she wouldn't have stopped him, but seeing my earlier display of skill, she restrained him.
I simply ignored this and walked over to Wodine, who was holding an astrological artifact and had several mathematical calculations scattered on various papers.
I just raised an eyebrow to look at him.
"Are you trying to advance her sorcery further?" I asked.
At my question, Wodine looked at me in confusion before giving me a smile.
"Sometimes I forget that you're a sorcerer too," he said with a touch of humor.
"Hmm, I studied with Hecate a long time ago; I even competed with Circe back in her day, but, as usual, I always won," I puffed out my chest, remembering the time when I still lived in Hades' castle.
Kirschtaria just shook his head, placed the artifact on the corner of the table, and looked back at his papers.
As the seconds ticked by, he stared at me intently, and I already knew what he was going to ask.
"You can see what I'm missing, can't you, with those eyes?" Hearing that, he just smiled.
"I can try, but it won't be free," I said, and he turned serious.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Let me change classes whenever I want, and in return, I'll help you finish your research."