Jeanne d'Arc Alter feigned boredom at Kay's crude efforts while slyly stepping in as his sparring partner, and Medusa quietly built a bond by easing Kay's knotted muscles with her unique massage techniques.
And Tamamo launched an outright love offensive on Kay.
"Master~ I hand-washed your training clothes today. Please take in the scent that's dripping with my sincerity and love!"
As the days wore on…
"Milord! I've presented you with a nutritionally rich grilled eel so you can enjoy it after training! Now, start from the tail—say 'Ah~'!"
She grew bolder.
"Milord! The nights are cold. Use this plush fox tail as your blanket… Oh my, why is your hand on my thigh… kyah!"
Tamamo hovered by Kay's side from dawn until just before sleep, constantly swishing her tail.
Her perfect beauty, gentle aegyo, and subtle skinship shook the rational core of hot-blooded Kay with every move.
Of course, each time, the Queen of the Demonic Realm would thrust her spear forward in a fierce interruption.
But recently, there'd been a subtle shift in Scáthach's attitude.
Scáthach stood alone on the ramparts, looking down under the ashen sky at Kay and Tamamo, side by side as they prepped ingredients.
"That vixen… she's even taken to sprawled out on Kay's lap now."
Scáthach frowned. Normally, she would have hurled [Gáe Bolg] to pin that fox tail to the wall.
Yet she relaxed her grip on her spear.
'I belong to this Abyssal Realm. Someday he'll return to Britain, and I can't go with him.'
Bitterness flickered in Scáthach's red eyes.
For centuries of lonely solitude, the warmth of an ordinary man like Kay was unbearably sweet—something she'd want by her side forever.
Yet she would not be selfish. No—because she loved Kay's steadfast convictions, she could not cling to him.
Kay must return to Britain to protect the family he loves.
On that perilous path, someone had to accompany him. Someone must serve in her stead.
'That vixen fox may disgust me… but the deeper a Master-Servant bond grows, the stronger their power. If I want to entrust Kay's back on Britain's battlefield, perhaps I should just let her fall head over heels…'
Scáthach sighed and gently stroked her lower abdomen.
'That doesn't mean I'll hand him over without a fight.'
Scáthach was a sorceress of unmatched sanctity even in Celtic myth. Her body transcended human limits, so despite countless nights with Kay, she could not conceive easily.
Even though Kay was no seedless melon.
He wasn't infertile nor impotent. On the contrary, he was superb seed—but Scáthach's constitution made it difficult.
"…Time is running out. Before he returns to Britain, I will ensure I bear his bloodline in my womb."
Scáthach's eyes burned with a fierce resolve.
She decided to feign ignorance of Kay and Tamamo's flirting. Instead, at night she would research new Abyssal Realm-style techniques to completely exhaust him.
With Scáthach's tacit permission—or at least her passive tolerance—Tamamo's love offensive careened forward like a carriage with broken brakes.
"Master~ Lady Scáthach has gone off to the hot springs alone. Isn't now the perfect chance for just the two of us to spend some intimate time?"
Tamamo sprang onto Kay's back and hugged him from behind.
Her ample bosom pressed warmly against Kay's broad back, and two soft fox ears tickled his cheeks.
"Hey, Tamamo! I'm cooking here! Watch out for the oil splatter!"
Kay twisted in panic, but Tamamo clung on like a barnacle.
"Oh my, my skin scoffs at a little oil. But Master, your heartbeat is so loud. You argue with your mouth, yet your body betrays you, huh? Ufufu."
Tamamo whispered sweetly in Kay's ear, exhaling warm breath.
Kay's nape flushed bright red.
The truth was, Kay had been on the brink of madness for weeks. A peerless beauty teasing him with her tail from morning until night—there's a limit to staying stoic.
Besides, after intense nightly battles with Scáthach, his body had grown to savor such encounters.
Resisting desire now felt more agonizing than giving in.
"Ta-Tamamo. If you cross the line one more time…"
"Cross the line? What will you do? Eat this Tamamo whole? Oh, that's exactly what I've been hoping for! Come on, pounce on me on this fluffy tail!"
Tamamo loosened her apron, closed her eyes, and pouted her lips.
The legendary beauty said to topple nations now lay defenseless, seducing him outright.
"You… wanton beast… really…!"
At last, Kay's patience snapped.
He flung the ladle aside, grabbed Tamamo's slender waist, lifted her, and headed straight for his private chamber.
"Kyah!"
"You provoked me first. Scáthach may claim the right to a concubine, but tossing that line at me and messing with my mind is one thing."
Kay breathed heavily like a beast as he mounted Tamamo.
"Ufufu… I'll have to brag to her later about how blissfully I satisfied Master."
Tamamo wrapped her arms around Kay's neck, as if she'd been waiting for this moment.
And so their first union began.
Though Tamamo was famed as a legendary yokai enchantress, she was in truth a devoted wife yearning to serve only one man.
"Ugh… Ah, Mi-, Milord…♡"
Kay's large, rough hands stroked her sensitive fox ears and tail, sending Tamamo shivering with sweet moans.
She tried to seductively lead the dance, but Kay's overwhelming physicality and endurance left her helplessly at his mercy.
"Milord, haaang♡ Wa-, wait… It's too big… I feel like I'll break…♡ Ugh!"
Tamamo's confident face moments ago twisted into tear-stained agony.
The smooth, romantic union she'd imagined was far from reality. Kay's technique and stamina—honed through nightly battles with Scáthach—had forged him into the spearhead of Britain.
"You asked me to devour you first. I won't stop until your tail breaks."
Kay bit her milky-white nape and thrust upward.
The cry of the vixen's defeat echoed through the room.
"Aah! Milord♡ Master! Uwaah… Mi-, mi-kooooong♡!!"
Tamamo, nearly losing herself to waves of pleasure, clawed at Kay's solid back and clung tightly.
Her long-awaited partner at last.
When the overwhelming heat and love she'd yearned for filled her body, tears of joy streamed down as she gave herself wholly to Kay.
"…Oh, my waist."
At dawn the next morning, Kay staggered to his feet.
By his side lay Tamamo, her tail curled around his body, sleeping with the happiest expression imaginable.
"You're awake, you beastly brute."
A chilly voice.
Kay turned and saw Scáthach standing with her arms crossed, looking down at them.
"Uh… Scáthach! I—it's not what it looks like… She provoked me first…"
Kay broke into a cold sweat trying to explain, but Scáthach snorted.
"No need for excuses. I permitted it. But… I will not let my husband's vigor be drained by that vulgar vixen."
Scáthach slammed [Gáe Bolg] onto the floor with a thud and smiled seductively.
"Kay. Until you depart for Britain, I have resolved to bear your child. So each night, I will squeeze you dry. I shall take every last drop of your seed so that fox shall never dare approach you again."
"…What? A child?"
Kay's pupils trembled.
At that sound, Tamamo awoke, rubbed her eyes, pricked her ears, and understood the situation immediately.
"Oh my! A declaration of pregnancy? Isn't that too selfish of you as the principal wife? I want to bear Master's child too! I'll give birth to a little fox daughter and live happily ever after with Milord~"
"You shall stay crushed in silence. Your delicate womb cannot compete with Ulster's womb."
"Oh? But I was the one who received Master's abundant love last night. The real contest begins now!"
The two women's murderous gazes clashed again in midair.
Kay wiped the cold sweat from his back as he found himself caught between them.
"…Can't I just go back to Britain right now?"
Mediocre Kay's life in the Abyssal Realm had gone beyond getting stronger—it had become a life-or-death survival game.
Medusa, who'd been secretly watching it all, spoke up.
"Servants aren't supposed to get pregnant, you know. Well, maybe with the [Primordial Rune] it could be possible."
She licked her lips. "Still, proper conjugal relations are quite useful for mana supply. I'm hungry for mana, too."
She pondered visiting Kay's dreams that very night.
"What's with them?"
Meanwhile, Jeanne d'Arc Alter, still clueless about the situation, had shown up asking for a meal.