She slowly lifted her head. Those eyes that were usually filled with cold sharpness now brimmed with conflict, confusion, and a trace of curiosity mixed with temptation.
Looking at the handsome face before her, feeling his domineering yet gentle presence...
"I..." She parted her lips, the words "I'm willing" almost escaping.
"Alright, Mature, stop pressuring her." Cloud saw the moment was ripe and released Vice's hand, giving her an easy out. "Give her some time to figure things out on her own."
However, Mature's next move left even Cloud stunned.
She suddenly reached out and gave Vice's shapely rear a firm slap.
"What's there to think about? The night is young, and opportunity knocks but once!" Mature winked at her, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper with an air of "this is all I can do for you, sister." "My Lord's prowess isn't limited to the battlefield, you know~ I guarantee you'll be... utterly addicted, craving more~"
With that, she actually pushed the still-dazed Vice directly into Cloud's arms!
"Tonight... we sisters shall serve our Lord together!"
Cloud: "..."
Vice: "!!!"
This was a "buy one, get one free" deal with "mandatory bundling"?
...
The hotel suite seemed to shrink around them as Vice stumbled into Cloud's embrace. Her usual cold composure cracked as she felt the solid warmth of his chest against her back, his arms instinctively steadying her.
"Mature, you—" Vice's protest died in her throat when Cloud's breath brushed against her ear.
"You can still leave," he murmured, though his hands made no move to release her. "I don't force anyone."
That simple statement, so different from what she'd expected, made something in Vice's chest tighten. For 1,800 years, the Hakkesshu had served Orochi without question. No one had ever offered her a choice.
Mature draped herself against Cloud's other side, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on his shoulder. "Don't be cruel, my Lord. Can't you see she's already decided?"
Vice's crimson eyes met Cloud's golden ones. The power of the Orochi bloodline that flowed through her veins—the same power that had always felt like chains—now hummed with an entirely different resonance. His Chaos Divine Bloodline called to something deep within her, something that had nothing to do with duty or destiny.
"I..." Vice swallowed, her pride warring with desire. "I won't beg."
Cloud's laugh was low, appreciative. "I wouldn't expect you to."
He turned her in his arms, one hand tilting her chin up while the other splayed across the small of her back. When their lips met, Vice felt the last of her resistance crumble. This wasn't submission—it was surrender to something she'd secretly wanted from the moment his power had overwhelmed hers.
Mature's hands were already working at the fastenings of Vice's dress. "Relax, sister. Let me show you what true devotion feels like."
The massive bed seemed to swallow them whole as Cloud guided both women down onto silk sheets. Vice gasped as Mature's lips traced her collarbone while Cloud's hands explored territory no one had claimed in centuries.
"The feared 'Death' of the Hakkesshu," Cloud murmured against her throat, "trembling in my arms. If Orochi could see you now..."
"Don't—" Vice's sharp retort dissolved into a moan as he found a particularly sensitive spot. "Don't mock me."
"Who's mocking?" His golden eyes blazed with genuine desire. "I'm admiring."
What followed was a battle of a different sort—one fought with lips and hands and breathless gasps. Mature proved an enthusiastic instructor, guiding Vice through pleasures she'd denied herself for millennia. Cloud played them both like instruments, drawing symphonies from bodies that had known only violence.
Vice discovered that the man called "Divine Son" had earned his title in more ways than one. His Chaos Divine Bloodline resonated with hers in ways that transcended the physical, each peak of pleasure accompanied by waves of pure power that left her gasping and greedy for more.
When Mature suggested they work together to "properly welcome" their Lord, Vice found herself agreeing without hesitation. Pride seemed like such a distant concept when Cloud was looking at her like that—like she was precious, powerful, and utterly desirable.
The night stretched on. Hours blurred into a haze of tangled limbs and whispered words and sensations Vice had never imagined possible. Each time she thought she'd reached her limit, Cloud proved her wrong. Each time she felt her control slipping, Mature was there to catch her and drag her deeper.
By the time exhaustion finally claimed them, Vice understood why Mature had surrendered so completely. This wasn't defeat—it was liberation.
Cloud pulled both women close as dawn began to lighten the sky. Vice, pressed against his chest, felt his heartbeat steady and strong. For the first time in eighteen centuries, she felt something like peace.
"Still thinking about leaving?" he asked, his voice drowsy but amused.
Vice's answer was to press closer, hiding her face against his neck. Behind her, Mature's satisfied laugh was all the commentary needed.
...
The next morning, when Cloud awoke refreshed on that enormous luxury bed capable of accommodating seven or eight people, two exquisite beauties lay sprawled beside him, their sleeping faces adorably innocent.
Last night's "battle" had been exceptionally intense.
In the end, under the "absolute dominance" of Cloud, the wielder of Ultimate Power, Vice had gone from initial resistance, to reluctant acceptance, to complete surrender.
[DING! Congratulations, Host, on successfully conquering target Vice! Special Bond unlocked: Bound by Life and Death!]
[Dual Cultivation BUFF settled! Through deep exchange with Vice, Host has successfully obtained the Complete Divine Tribe Blood (Vice's Power of Death)!]
[Bloodline fusion initiating... Fusion successful!]
[Your Chaos Divine Bloodline has successfully absorbed the Origin of Death! Divine Evolution Progress significantly increased!]
[Current Divine Evolution Progress: 40%!]
[System Sass Time: Host, you're truly a Time Management Master! One hand on 'Beast,' one hand on 'Death'—you've practically cornered the market on Hakkesshu beauties! Suggestion: consider forming a Hakkesshu idol group. Call it O.R.O.C.H.I.8. Guaranteed to top the charts and go viral worldwide!]
"Not bad, not bad. Another step forward." Cloud nodded with satisfaction.
He could feel his understanding of the "Law of Death" deepening.
Now, with a mere thought, he could make a blooming flower instantly wither and decay.
Just then, Mature stirred awake.
She opened her eyes, saw Cloud, and immediately wrapped around him like an octopus, her voice lazy and seductive: "My Lord... good morning..."
"Enough clinging. Time to talk business." Cloud tweaked her pert nose and peeled her off himself.
At the mention of business, Mature's expression turned serious.
"My Lord." She sat up on the bed, the silken sheets sliding down to reveal expansive spring scenery.
The air still held a lingering trace of ambiguous fragrance.
Vice, the one called "Death" among the Hakkesshu—known for her brutality and coldness—had ultimately chosen to... "join what you can't beat."
Of course, this particular "joining" had been somewhat... in-depth.
"My Lord..." Mature's voice dripped with allure, "Now Vice and I are both your most loyal servants. What's your plan going forward?"
Cloud stroked her silky golden hair, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
"Of course I have one." He gazed out the window as if piercing the vast distance to see the darkness stirring in hidden corners around the world. "It's time... to meet the rest of your companions."
Mature nodded. "According to the resonance between our bloodlines, Earth's will has been fluctuating more intensely lately. Yashiro Nanakase, the Heavenly King of the Parched Earth; Shermie, the Heavenly King of the Raging Lightning; and Chris, the Heavenly King of Flames—these three members of the Four Heavenly Kings are approaching the critical point of awakening. They'll... awaken soon."
"Excellent." The corner of Cloud's mouth curved into the smile of a hunter spotting prey. "Saves me from hunting them down one by one. Once they awaken, you two will build the bridge. I'm going to throw them... a rather unique welcoming party."
A larger-scale "defection" plan targeting the core members of the Hakkesshu was already taking shape in Cloud's mind.
He understood well that Orochi's terror lay not just in its world-ending power, but in this group of loyal, formidable "Hakkesshu" under its command.
If he could pry this ultimate "trump card army" over to his side ahead of time...
Then when Orochi awakened, it would find that of its eight capable generals, seven were holding "Cloud is the GOAT" fan signs, while the eighth (Goenitz) was locked in his personal rehabilitation facility undergoing ideological reform...
Just imagining that scene was enough to send Orochi's blood pressure through the roof, right?
After handling the Hakkesshu matters, Cloud delegated the specific defection work to Mature and Vice—his "golden sleeper agents"—and returned to Kusanagi Castle in Japan.
His purpose here was simple: troop training.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"