Alternative title: Myriad Freaks strikes again!
A truly necessary and very important chapter for the plot. Trust me!
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A few days earlier...
"Alright, I'd say we can set up camp here," Sunny said, turning to Cassie beside him.
"Yeah, good idea. I'm exhausted," she replied, her voice heavy with fatigue.
Sunny and Cassie had just reached a secure peak to spend the night before the dark sea swelled to swallow the labyrinth below. Now, they were simply waiting for the dawn.
He immediately summoned his [Travel Bag], pulling out their single sleeping bag for the night. Cassie, meanwhile, was already busy preparing dinner. It was genuinely surprising how rapidly her spatial awareness had improved. Thanks to the Memory he had lent her—the crystal monocle currently resting over her right eye—she had adapted to navigating her sightless world in record time.
Once the sleeping bag was laid out, Sunny glanced to his left. Myriad Shade was silently observing the dark horizon, an air of profound mystery cloaking her. There was something decidedly odd about his beautiful shadow lately. Over the past few days, she had been wearing an unusually pensive expression.
'Hmm... curious. She's never acted like this before. Thene is usually so lively and proactive,' Sunny mused. 'This is the first time I've seen her so quiet and lost in thought.'
That prompted a lingering doubt: were shadow creatures even capable of human-like cognition, or did their minds operate on a completely alien wavelength? And if they did reason differently, what kind of logic did they actually follow?
It was rather ironic that he didn't know the answers to these fundamental questions, considering he was a [Shadowspawn] himself.
'Whatever... now's not the time to dwell on it,' he decided, shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts.
Shortly after, he and Cassie sat down to eat. The roasted meat of the Carapace Scavenger they had hunted earlier was tough, rubbery, and incredibly bland. The lack of spices or condiments made it a chore to chew, but beggars couldn't be choosers; it was the only viable diet their current environment provided.
Once they finished their meager meal, they meticulously buried the leftover bones and smothered the tiny campfire they had built to cook the meat. They had to ensure no stray Nightmare Creatures would be drawn in by the scent of food or the faint glow of embers during the night.
"Go ahead and get some sleep, Cas. I'm going to stay up a bit longer; I need to let this digest," Sunny told her.
"Okay," Cassie nodded. She slipped under the heavy covers without a word of protest and fell asleep almost the second her head hit the makeshift pillow. She was thoroughly exhausted from surviving yet another grueling day in this death zone.
Watching her settle in and disappear beneath the blankets, Sunny shifted into a cross-legged position, resting his hands in a lotus mudra before his stomach. It was time to practice his essence circulation.
Soul Serpent's [Shadow Guide] seamlessly activated. He felt the intricate, snake-like tattoo begin to slither across his skin beneath his armor. And then...
'Huh?'
Sunny blinked his eyes open. He found Thene positioned directly in front of him, staring back with intense, curious eyes. She was resting on her knees, leaning forward. A wicked, playful smile—one that barely concealed a very specific intent—danced in her obsidian-gem eyes. The plunging neckline of her shadowy dress seemed suspiciously lower than usual. Sunny quickly realized the straps had been intentionally slid off her shoulders, leaving her collarbones bare as her long, silky hair blew freely in the wind like a river of dark ink.
'Uh-oh.'
Sunny suddenly felt a sharp shiver race down his spine, coupled with a strange, heavy flush of heat that made his breath hitch. Thene was close. Suspiciously close.
Myriad Shade's skin was dark and flawlessly smooth, her physique simultaneously slender and lushly curved, making her look like a breathtaking masterpiece sculpted from the purest, velvety darkness. Her generous chest was full and heavy, the dangerously loose neckline of her bodice now hanging so low it barely preserved her modesty. Being a shadow, she had no natural scent, leaving only the briny tang of the dark sea to fill his lungs as his gaze inevitably drifted from her enchanting face down to her plump, inviting lips.
With her hands and knees planted on the cold stone, arching her back ever so slightly, Thene began to slowly crawl toward him. She closed the already minuscule distance between them, seductively placing one hand in front of the other with feline grace.
Seeing this, Sunny shook his head nervously. 'No, no, no, no, no! Cassie is literally right here! We can't!' he panicked internally, shooting a desperate sideways glance at the blind seer, who was fast asleep just a few feet away.
Unfortunately, Thene wasn't taking no for an answer.
Before he could utter a single word, their lips met—or rather, collided. Myriad Shade threw herself directly into his arms, wrapping her own affectionately around his waist and pressing her delicate, slender body tightly against him.
Sunny's eyes widened. Panic hijacked his mind as their tongues intertwined in a sinful dance. Deep down, a part of him was already cursing the thickness of his [Puppeteer's Shroud] for preventing him from fully feeling her softness.
Thud.
His back hit the ground. 'Please, Cassie, don't wake up now!' He shot another fleeting glance at the blind girl, finding her—to his immense relief—still fast asleep.
Sunny was forced flat on his back against the hard stone while Thene continued to kiss him passionately, holding nothing back as her tongue explored the inside of his mouth. He was rapidly losing all resistance. His hands instinctively found her hips, a pleasant, heavy heat rising from his lower abdomen.
Feeling his blood rushing southward and his manhood beginning to swell, Sunny made the only logical decision available to him at that moment: 'You know what? To hell with it.'
Returning her relentless kisses, he dismissed his armor in a cascade of white sparks. Suddenly, his bare skin was caught between the cold, jagged rock beneath him and her warm, soft body pressing down from above.
'By the dead Gods, I hope she doesn't wake up!'
Sunny thought, his eyes darting toward Cassie's sleeping bag yet again. All the while, his tongue was deep in Thene's mouth, his hands gripping her hips as her soft curves pressed heavily into him. Their now completely exposed lower halves rubbed flush against each other. The intoxicating blend of physical pleasure and the sheer, terrifying embarrassment of the situation made his face burn violently crimson.
Thene finally broke the kiss. Pushing herself up with both arms, she looked down at him for a second, a sly, hungry smirk playing on her lips.
'What are you doing?' Sunny asked mentally. A sharp shiver ran down his spine, accompanied by the freezing night wind caressing his bare skin.
Without a word, she lowered herself and wrapped her large, plush breasts around his fully erect, throbbing manhood, eager to alleviate his aching tension.
"Gh..."
Sunny had to swallow hard, throwing his head back and squeezing his eyes shut to stifle a groan. He was instantly overwhelmed by the sensation of absolute softness enveloping his visibly twitching shaft. His blood boiled in his veins. Glancing down, he saw Myriad Shade kneeling over him, her hands squeezing her heavy, luscious breasts together. She trapped his member tightly between her plush mounds, leaving only the very tip exposed, and began sliding them up and down in a torturously slow, repetitive rhythm, sending electric jolts of pleasure straight to his core with every stroke.
It wasn't the first time she had serviced him like this, but this time was entirely different. Between being completely exposed in a lethal death zone, the omnipresent danger surrounding them, and the terrifying risk of Cassie waking up and hearing them, Sunny's arousal was pushed into overdrive. And from the look in Thene's eyes, she was riding the exact same adrenaline high.
'I'm done for. Gods! I am so done for,' he thought in sheer panic.
Unfazed, Myriad Shade relentlessly continued to rub his hard length between her cleavage. The freezing night wind biting at his skin only served to heighten the scorching heat of his erection trapped in her warm grip. Lifting his head slightly while swallowing his moans, Sunny was blessed with the sight of Thene's taut nipples crowning her squeezed breasts as they moved rhythmically up and down. The exposed tip of his manhood occasionally brushed against her plump lips.
'No... no, no, no, no!'
"Gnnh!"
Finally, the combined thrill and sheer physical pleasure became too much. Sunny reached his peak.
The moment a bead of pre-cum leaked from his tip, Thene took his glans into her mouth, swallowing his entire release. Sunny gritted his teeth hard, his back arching off the stone as her breasts and mouth worked in tandem, sucking him dry to the very last drop.
Schlick. Schlick.
"Haa... haa..."
Thene continued to stroke his cock with her cleavage, using her enchanting, soft lips to tease the sensitive tip while Sunny desperately tried to catch his breath.
He shot another frantic glance to his left, exhaling a massive sigh of relief. Cassie was still asleep.
'Thank Gods... she's asleep. She didn't notice a thing.'
Then, Thene finally released him. His sensitive shaft instantly twitched as the cold wind hit his slick skin. She shifted her position, straddling him. Grabbing his rigid member with one hand, she slowly lowered her hips, guiding him straight into her depths, which had grown incredibly slick and wet while she worked her chest.
'Here we go again.'
Sunny, having lost all will to resist, was immediately engulfed by the familiar, mind-melting pleasure of sliding inside her core. He was slowly swallowed and encased in the scalding, tight grip of her walls. Standing over his knees, Myriad Shade began to ride him, rolling her hips in slow, deliberate, rhythmic circles.
'Aah... we're never going to stop at this rate!'
Tired of just being on the receiving end, and feeling his mind start to blank out once more, Sunny gathered his resolve and pulled his torso up. Caught between blinding arousal and the sheer terror of getting caught, he grabbed Thene by the hips and shoved his tongue down her throat, effectively muffling his moans with her mouth as he sat up on the rock with her straddling his lap. In this seated position, he could penetrate her much deeper.
It didn't take long for both of them to reach the edge. Sunny unloaded everything deep inside her, his essence coating her walls and filling her warm womb with his thick, hot seed. He bit her lip to stifle his own groan, feeling her incredibly soft body and heavy breasts pressing flush against his chest.
'It's over. Please, tell me we're done!'
She pulled back and looked at him, her lips curling into a wicked smile. Sunny swallowed hard. His body betrayed him; still buried deep inside her, his cock remained fully erect, throbbing vividly against her innards. Thene had only just begun.
'Oh, shi—'
The night stretched on. The two of them made love for hours while Cassie remained fast asleep, entirely oblivious to the wild, sinful display happening mere feet away from her.
When she finally woke up the next morning, she informed Sunny that she had received a vision regarding a Bright Castle.
And Sunny—wide awake but thoroughly drained from the arduous night, with a stark naked Myriad Shade still draped lazily over his chest—merely nodded. He prayed with every fiber of his being that Cassie wouldn't immediately summon her crystal monocle to enhance her spatial perception, desperate to prevent her from noticing the sticky mess he and Thene had made of their campsite that night.