Chapter 148 – Alkir’s Program

Chapter 148 – Alkir’s Program

The tomes House Okt had purchased pertaining to blood magic were… great.  The same could be said for necromancy, and Trey found himself soaking up information as the days went on in their library as he let his minions Ezdeath and Sithis run the show.  Napoleon had a very large hand in the scheming too, as that little rat of an imp was incredibly smart and often caught many of the things the others missed – or came up with unique ideas that they hadn’t thought of as they planned to abduct and enslave the heads of households with the other noble houses within Zekul.

The first plan of action thus far was to throw a banquet for all of House Okt’s closest allies with the promise of delicacies they hadn’t ever tasted before: fairies.  The invitations had gotten rather eager replies, and 8 of the 11 households told them that they’d be attending the banquet within the next week.

It hadn’t taken much honestly.  Napoleon had simply asked what a good enticing platter may be for the other vampires, and Lady Okt had told them.  They didn’t really have fairies, but that little tidbit wasn’t important.

The lantern beside him flickered briefly as Trey turned the page on the book of necromantic theory, and he looked over to the other side of the moderately sized study to where Taen was also deep into a book of his own.  “So when you create ghouls, you keep the soul intact and bind their bodies with regenerative death magic that also repels natural life force through the… Aeonsea concept?”

Taen nodded.  “You got it bud.  The Aeonsea concept works like a filter through the veil, and when you mess with it – you can form a link inbetween.  This means their bodies partially regenerate, but instead of life force it uses death mana.”

“But demons can’t use death mana because they are naturally opposed to it?” Trey pressed to make sure he got it right, furrowing his brows and staring at the page that described the process of ghoul making.

Taen nodded.  “Same thing with Fae, or faries, the angelic species, spree, and anything else that are naturally magic-attuned.”

“Got it.”

Trey glanced up to where the numerous books lining these shelves lay neatly tucked away in this corner of the manor, and looked out the window where a great view of the rest of the underground city was on display.  In the distance, bonfires where Aktovan was sacrificing slaves and even some vampires to her god Tilukt could be seen with smoke rising into the darkness above through holes in the cavern’s top.  “Isn’t that odd…”

“What’s odd?” Taen said, peering up over the rim of his thick tome with a snort.  “The sacrifices she’s making?”

Trey nodded with a frown.  “Tilukt obviously knows we are here.  He gave House Okt a blessing and enabled them to summon another small army of vampires from the core worlds of the Labyrinth… Yet he does not answer Aktovan’s prayers.  She hasn’t received any guidance on where we are or what we are doing, despite his knowledge of us.  Isn’t she supposed to be a numen chosen and blessed by him in the past?”

Taen scowled, then slowly nodded with a growing look of confusion to match Trey’s own.  “Yes.  That is odd.  Maybe ask Eleknar about it?”

Trey didn’t even have to ask, and the symbiote abruptly shifted Trey’s face to that of a devil’s features in the blink of an eye.  Red streaks of power spiderwebbed out from Trey’s eyes, and the void essence let out a low hum of amusement before speaking through his rows of sharp obsidian teeth.  “Tilukt is invested in our ascendance as well, though he also has named Aktovan as the numen presiding over this unholy city of his.  He is testing both us… and Aktovan and Trey, to see which prevails.  On one hand, Aktovan has been a loyal servant of his for many millenia… while on the other hand, Trey represents something the infernal crowns have been wanting for far longer than that.  The Vatosis Inferna… is supposed to be a messiah to the demons, but a beacon to the undead.  The legends and prophets have said that the Vatosis Inferna will be a binding might to hold the two warring factions together across the expanse of the universe, if he survives.  What they do not say is whether or not he WILL survive, and everything hinges on just how far Trey can push himself.  Tilukt is watching us… seeing if we can overcome this obstacle and how we fare against one as powerful as Aktovan before he gives us his support.  Even then I doubt he’ll outright support us like Alkir does, but other than Omastein – sire of devils – the other Infernal Crowns are very intensely watching Trey’s progress to see if they should throw their weight behind him.  Or kill him.”

“Why would Omastein not want to support Trey if he’s supposed to be a messiah for demonkind and the undead?”

“Because as my heir, Trey has become Alkir’s servant and partner.  If Trey becomes all he is meant to be, Omastein’s influence will pale in comparison to Alkirs – and they are bitter enemies.”  Eleknar chuckled at the thought, a deep sinister one as his eyes flashed crimson.  “I interested to see where this all goes.”

And just like that, Eleknar disappeared… leaving Trey’s normal, more human but still slightly demonic features in his place.

Taen pooched his lips.  “It’s quite odd you know, talking to one of the greater evils like that on a conversational basis.”

Trey scratched his head.  “Who?  Me?  Or Eleknar?”

“Uh… I meant Eleknar, but I guess you count too.  You don’t seem nearly as evil as Eleknar does though.  I get the chills just talking to him… You?  I just get big dick energy from you.”

“What’s big dick energy?”

Taen gave him a look.  “Surely you know what big dick energy is.”

Trey shook his head.

“It’s someone with relaxed confidence in themselves, I suppose.”  Taen flipped the page of his tome and moved on to whatever the next subject of his book had for him.  “Though you can be a bit of a ruthless asshole sometimes.  Just sayin.”

Trey chuckled, looking one more time to the bonfires in the distance within the main city square as crowds cheered and hollered to echo across the enormous cavern.  “Yeah.  I suppose I am kind of an asshole.”

A creak of the door alerted Trey to the presence of Ikt, and the shadow fiend slipped inside the room with a bow Trey’s way.  The white, porcelain mask portrayed no emotions as the fiend straightened, and wisps of black energy radiated off his body and ‘clothes’ at a steady rate.  “I have information pertaining to the numen that you would be interested in hearing, and I have finished my series of interrogations with both Lord and Lady Okt.  They have nothing left to give me in terms of information.”

“You made doubly sure of this?” Trey asked as he put the book he’d been reading down on a nightstand and turned his body to face the demon.  “Contracts are great and all, but there are definitely loopholes that one can hide behind.”

“I am sure.” Ikt stated confidently as he clasped his hands behind his back.  “The information I do have is rather helpful… but a little concerning.  Aktovan is a foe to be reckoned with… and these stories I have for you may cause you to reconsider a direct approach.”

Taen coughed, stood up, and placed his own book down with a yawn.  “Yeah, I’m out of here guys.  I forgot Maltetious wanted me to meet her about half an hour ago, she’s gonna be pissed.”

Trey gave Taen a fist bump and the necromancer was about to leave the room, when he turned and shot Trey another look.

“By the way, are you and Rivia… dating now?  Like truly dating?”

Trey smirked.  “And how in the world would you have known that?”

Taen gave him a long sly smile, shrugging slowly.  “Oh, you know how girls get when they’re excited.  Telling the entire god damn cult about it and all.  Ezdeath was downright jealous, I’ll have you know.”

“She wasn’t angry about it I hope?” Trey pressed, concerned.

Taen shook his head.  “Ezdeath and Rivia are good friends now.  I doubt something like that’ll cause problems.  Anyways, I was just curious.  See you later man!  Oh and Ikt, drop by the room sometime.  I found an artifact in the Okt basement I’d like you to take a look at.  Anyways, cheerio!”

***

Two hours later and Trey knocked on Maltetious’ door in the Okt manor for the second time, but a little louder than the first try in order to let himself be heard over the rambunctious sex she was having with her three champions.

The poor guys were basically her own version of what Trey had, but was a reverse harem instead.  And smaller.  However it didn’t bother Trey too much… as he was sure it couldn’t be THAT bad.  Taen seemed pretty happy most of the time, while Trey didn’t really talk to Michael or Chris much - but he could assume from what Taen said that it wasn’t horrible.  Plus, Maltetious was a smoking hot blonde bombshell.  So it wasn’t as if they were being forced to do things they likely wouldn’t have done otherwise.

Or so Trey hoped.

The loud moans and grunts continued, but a moment later Trey saw the door open with a creak - no doubt to hinges needing to be oiled - and beheld Chris.  The blonde man wore a long hippie-style haircut down to his shoulders, and he was currently handcuffed - much to Trey’s amusement.

Though Trey could certainly appreciate the idea as he’d done it numerous times in his own sex life.

“Is… Maltetious available?” Trey asked from the hallway decorated with paintings while folding his arms as Rivia leaned her head against his shoulder, gazing up at him with glistening eyes.  Rivia had continued to look at him that way ever since yesterday when he’d told her that he had real feelings for her too, and the two of them had been almost inseparable ever since.

Chris saw who it was and immediately swung the door fully open - unashamed of his naked body and beckoned Trey in.  “Yeah she can talk if it’s you.  Her orders specifically state that you’re the exception to the rule when it comes to bothering her during her alone time.  Come on in.”

The paladin gave Trey a friendly shoe-in and closed the door behind the demon lord and his culn priestess before turning back to the bed, where Maltetious was currently riding Taen while aggressively choking him and being obnoxiously loud as she enjoyed herself.

Michael was passed out on the ground, a bottle of liquor in one hand.

“Hey Rivia!  Hi Trey!” Izumi called out from a table further to the left of the large room, where she was sitting with Itunu - the African earthborn man, and Aiko - the other Japanese woman.  They were playing cards like nothing out of the ordinary was going on, and Trey was a little bit taken aback to find Izumi there truth be told.

He scratched his head, pausing his trek inwards and ignoring the romp on the bed to his right.  “Izumi?  What are you doing here?”

“Just catching up with Aiko!” Izumi stated sweetly as she folded her hand of cards and got up to come over and hug him.  Then she hugged Rivia in turn, smiling at the demoness as she looked Rivia over.  “You look stunning today!  Are those new robes?”

Rivia smiled sweetly back, twirling once in the form-fitting sky-blue robes she’d procured.  “Yes, I took them from Lady Okt’s personal wardrobe.  She has quite a collection, and Ezdeath and I both went all out on looting it.”

Izumi raised an eyebrow.  “Really… What does Lady Okt think about her… new position?”

Rivia snorted.  “She isn’t taking it well.  But that is to be expected of the conquered.  The freed slaves though… They are fawning all over Trey.  Have you met any of them since we released them from the pit?”

Izumi’s smile widened and she beamed at both of them with an intensity befitting of an angel.  “I’m so happy you chose to release them from the pit Trey.  It made my heart warm, seeing their expressions like that when they were told they’re no longer to be made into food.”

“Well as long as they don’t do anything stupid and obey the rules and stick to the designated areas…” Trey muttered under his breath.  He was actually a little bit worried about letting them out this early, but He couldn’t deny Izumi her request.  Ashe had already combed through the ranks of the slaves and had created five more thralls before going into seclusion for meditation to acquire her new subclass, the assassin-summoner combination.  Ashe had told him that she’d speak to him on the details when acquisition was complete, but until then she’d said she agreed with Izumi that the slaves - though not necessarily freed from his rule, should at least be let out and treated better.

He turned to where Maltetious was grunting and aggressively twerking on top of her necromancer as Taen’s face began to turn blue under her choking grip.  “Poor guy’s gonna die of suffocation before too long.”

Izumi shrugged.  “It’s already happened once today, she’ll just bring him back again.  She literally gets off on torturing them or killing them, it’s a little much for me personally… but she treats them really nice whenever they’re not having sex I guess.  Just an odd kink.”

“Odd kink is one way to put it.  Is she that skilled in resurrection magic?”

“Yeah.  It’s pretty neat actually.  Rivia has that ritual, which is great, but Maltetious can full on resurrect someone multiple times throughout a day.  She is a numen, after all.”

Maltetious’ group was a rather small one, especially compared to Agnude’s.  Her armies had once spanned the continent and kingdoms of these lands in great numbers, but holy wars between the two numen had resulted in a near genocide of her people.  The result was when she finally broke out of the prison Agnude had constructed for her, she’d had to start back from scratch… and almost all of what she now commanded resided in this room.  Taen, Chris, Michael, Aiko, and Itunu.  There were also a couple hundred carnivorous beasts she had under control called Territh, but they were a ways away and the hunting packs would take a while to get here - far later than when they’d need the creatures for the battle of Zekul.  Trey could only hope they’d get here before the All Spirit merged worlds though… as from what he’d heard, these Territh were rather fearsome creatures and breeding them could result in a significant addition to his forces now that Maltetious owed her allegiance to Trey and his dark goddess.

*CRACK*

Maltetious’ glutes contracted as she slapped Taen across the face, hard, letting him gasp as his restraints to the bedposts creaked under tension.  She let out a high pitched yelp, shuddered, and stopped moving in the next instant with a look of euphoria overcoming her while she quivered.  “Ah… That was nice…”

The numen bent down, kissed Taen rather passionately, and turned around to startle herself as she found Trey and Rivia suddenly there.  “Oh!  My emperor…”

Maltetious quickly bowed, getting to one knee and making a show of it as her athletic body glistened with sweat in the light of the numerous lanterns around the room.  Her long blonde hair trailed down to brush against the floor, and she looked up curiously a moment later.  “What brings you to my quarters?  Is everything ok?”

“Definitely.” Trey smiled back politely as he pulled Rivia in close to him by the waist.  “I just wanted to drop by and talk to you about what you know on Aktovan.  The vampiric numen.  After having Ikt interrogate Lord and Lady Okt for the last few days, I’ve come upon some very disturbing news… and wanted to clarify these things with you, as I’ve heard you have a history with Aktovan.  You may rise, by the way.”

Maltetious immediately got to her feet.  “Of course, Vatosis Inferna.  I would be more than willing to share what I know.”

She snapped her fingers and her white sunday dress appeared on her visage, the one she almost always wore as she adjusted her posture to the normal, haughty arrogance she often portrayed and walked into an adjacent room through an open doorless archway - beckoning Trey to follow her.

Trey and Rivia waved to the others as they turned the corner, coming into what had once been a private dining room.  It was still splendidly decorated, though the tables had been pushed off to the sides and a series of large objects Trey could only describe as either similar to or exactly the same as bean-bag chairs had replaced them in the center of the room.

Maltetious flopped into one of the bean-bag chairs, and Trey laughed as he sat in his own - very impressed to find out how comfortable they were as Rivia disregarded taking her own seat in favor of snuggling up to Trey in the chair of his choosing and wrapping an arm around his chest.

“So what would you like to know?” Maltetious asked a moment later as she took out a comb and began brushing her hair out.

Trey yawned, covering his mouth with one hand as his fangs briefly extended - then retracted back into his mouth.  “Hmmm.  Well, I’ll cut to the chase to save us some time.  Lord and Lady Okt essentially have told me that Aktovan has single handedly crushed enemy armies, has nearly ascended into godhood hearself numerous times - only barely failing each time, and has been titled as a champion of one of the other infernal crowns to receive a very important blessing.  This blessing apparently won’t allow her to die a natural death, and may make her almost immortal in the truest sense of the word.  Do you know anything about this?”

Maltetious kept brushing out her hair, but made eye contact and frowned.  “Yes, I know something of it.  Tilukt, Bringer of Plagues and one of the primary gods of the undead has blessed Aktovan.  Alkir has made a bold move coming to take this city in her name, and she knows it… Tilukt has not only blessed Aktovan, but the city as a whole.”

The numen set down her brush, crossed her long tanned legs, and sunk back into the chair even deeper with a sigh of relief.  “I have seen her in battle once, and she is stronger than either Agnude or I - but only in this place.  Her power is limited outside of Zekul, but inside the city… she is far more powerful than a normal Numen.  It is some kind of boundary blessing that Tilukt cast - a give and take effect.  By limiting her power elsewhere, he can vastly increase it within a select area.  This is why Aktovan rarely leaves the city, but fear not… I believe we can beat her.”

“You truly do?” Trey pressed on anxiously.  “At what cost?”

Maltetious nodded.  “I do… but there will certainly be deaths for it.  Likely a high price.”

“What are the odds of me taking her on by myself?”

“Possible, but unlikely.  Even in your given state, as long as she remains within the city she will have reached new heights beyond what a normal numen can muster.”

“Then what is your suggestion?”

She shrugged.  “Take the strongest of us with you when you engage her and try to keep the fighting secluded to another area.  Agnude, myself, Ezdeath, Sithis, and you.  The rest would certainly help, but if you are trying to avoid casualties then the others need to stay away from her during the battle.”

Trey raised an eyebrow.  “Will Agnude be here to help in the fight?”

“Alkir has demanded it.” Maltetious said flatly.  “Alkir has not told you of this?”

Trey shook his head.  “I did not ask, I just assumed that since he wasn’t here he wouldn’t be coming.  He’s been a bit hands off lately, and has even stopped talking to us altogether ever since I turned Silvara and Carol into thralls.  He may have denounced them, but he certainly wasn’t happy with what I did.”

Maltetious gave a low-key scoff of disgust as her lip curled.  “Agnude is an idiot, do not pay him any heed.  He will do what he is told, or Alkir will destroy him.  In some ways I hope he chooses to go against the pact he made so that I can personally tear his heart out… but it is what it is.  He cleansed these lands of my peoples, holy artifacts and temples… yet you don’t see me complaining about it now that I serve an elder god and a greater purpose.  By the way, has Alkir’s experiments yielded any fruit yet?”

“Uh… No.  You’re talking about the ones being performed on Carol by Ikt?”

Maltetious nodded excitedly.

Trey shrugged.  “No idea.  I let Ikt do his thing and leave him alone mostly.  I know he’s doing something… but I’m not entirely sure what that is.  I occasionally hear screaming as he does things to her in his room - but whenever I check in on him he’s always removing body parts and sewing her back up.  He’s performing these weird surgeries and whenever I ask what he’s up to he simply says: ‘Performing the will of the goddess.’  I don’t push for more details and have told him to just let me know what the results are when he gets them.”

The blonde numen rolled her eyes and placed a hand over her face.  “Men.  You’re all the same.  Ugh…”

She leaned forward and adjusted her posture to give Trey a better look at her breasts - though it was likely unintentional.  “So you really don’t know?”

“What the experiments are about?  No.  Has Alkir told you?”

Maltetious nodded.  “For Eleknar’s Heir with direct access to Alkir, I’m rather surprised you’re so lackadaisical about these things.  You should really ask her more questions.  She’s trying to breed you for your power.  Surely, your priestess would know about this.”

Trey glanced down at Rivia who nodded in turn.  “You knew about her experiments??  What does Maltetious mean by that, and what does that have to do with Carol?”

Rivia let out a content sigh, burying her face deeper into the crook of his arm with a yawn of her own.  “Your soul type is an incredibly rare match with Eleknar, but this bond with Eleknar is also why you have so much sex yet fail to produce any offspring.  Having bonded to Eleknar, you now are passing on the power of not only yourself - but also of the void essence.  It is hard to find other souls able to take on such a burden, but your cousin appears to have the same kind of lineage - and she’s also female which tweaks the soul slightly.  Alkir is experimenting with Carol’s body AND soul in order to replicate patterns she can imprint on us.”

“Us?”

“Your harem.” Rivia clarified.  “Once Alkir finds the correct patterns of mana lines and soul construction, she’ll be able to distribute these patterns to alter us - allowing you to breed with us and create children.  These children will then not only have some of Eleknar’s powers, but will also likely have many of your own as the Vatosis Inferna.  She is hoping to breed a new line of warriors for the future, to raise them up as champions of her cause that can support you in the millenia to follow.”

Trey’s lips pooched.  “How interesting.”

Maltetious rolled her eyes again with a huff, but winked his way.  “So you really didn’t know after all.  Typical man.  Do you realize what this means for you though?”

Trey stared blankly back at her.  “Is there something else I’m missing?”

Maltetious raised an eyebrow.  “Of all the heirs Eleknar has ever had, only a very small handful of offspring have ever been produced.  All of them turned out to be vastly powerful demon lords of their own accord, one or two of which are still alive and thought to be hiding in the void after the genocide the angels unleashed against your unholy capital city of Necranoc many thousands of years ago.  But creating those offspring was so infrequent that it was almost nonexistent in comparison to the eons Eleknar has been around.  However… they’ve never had an almost identical soul lineage to compare like they can with yours - and using Carol as a guinea pig to experiment on without risk of damaging you leads us to the conclusion that although Carol may be permanently damaged after this is all said and done: You will likely find yourself as the most suitable bachelor in all of the void and hells.  Perhaps even amongst the undead empires as well, for those that can breed.  Would I be right in saying that, Rivia?”

Rivia eagerly nodded with an amused grin.  “And to think I’m the one who has his heart… but yes, Maltetious is right.  You will likely have many, many demon lords and lord of the undead from the female variety throwing themselves at you to try and obtain your power for their offspring.  No doubt it will be used by Alkir as a means to woo other infernal forces into servitude that would otherwise not risk banding with Eleknar after his relatively recent fall from power.”

Trey frowned.  “Yeah I think I talked about this to Alkir and Eleknar earlier in very brief detail, but didn’t realize this was what she had in mind for the experiments.  So I’ll be going from unable to have kids at all, to suddenly being able to impregnate whoever I want as long as they have these soul-patterns Alkir comes up with?”

“That’s the idea, but there is a catch.” Maltetious said calmly.  “I’m quite surprised you haven’t heard of this.  Everyone in your inner circle even knows about it.  Ashe speaks to Izumi about it often, actually.  The girls in your harem do too.  Everyone except you seems to know.”

Trey glanced back down at Rivia for confirmation, and she nodded her head.  “Wow.  Really?  Everyone knows?  That’s kinda fucked that I haven’t been told yet.”

Rivia giggled.  “They didn’t talk to you about it because they don’t want you thinking they view you as ‘a piece of meat to buy off the shelf.’  Those were Ashe’s words.”

Trey’s expression changed to that of confusion.  “Ashe said that?  Why would Ashe and Izumi be talking about that?  Why… You’re saying she used that in reference to herself?  Ashe likes women.”

Maltetious gave him a blank stare.  “Do you think Ashe wants to go her entire life not wanting children of her own though?  As soon as Alkir is done with the soul patterns, you’re going to become a hot commodity even for women like Ashe.  She may not be attracted to you, but who wouldn’t want their kids to grow up with amazingly profound powers and political connections like the ones provided by being fathered by you?”

“She called you, and I quote: ‘a potential but ugly and overpowered sperm donor.’” Rivia mused with a grin.  “Izumi is in on this as well, she already talked about it with Bann since they’ve been secretly dating for a little while now.  Bann can’t have kids, he’s a eunuch, and would like a child to raise as his own with her if they get serious enough.”

Trey blinked.  “Are you being serious?”

Maltetious nodded.  “I modified my deal with Alkir recently to include this in the pact, but I’ll be having a child with you as well.  One that I will be able to raise personally and outside of obligations the other children might have - which is why I’m slightly irritated you haven’t been made aware of this yet.  I thought you knew.  Anyways… if all else fails and the experiments with Carol’s soul fails, Alkir has already planned to divide it up into 31 different and stabilized pieces.  This is the backup plan only though, and we hope to keep Carol alive for future experiments as well.  The 31 pieces would be equivalent to the patterns she is trying to replicate, but instead of leaving Carol alive - she’d have to carve them out of Carol’s soul to achieve this.  Instead of unlimited options, you’d only have 31 of them.  It’s a 50/50 shot right now as to whether or not the experiments will find full success, or only have partial success.  If they fail in the grand scheme of things though, and Alkir has to divide Carol’s soul into 31 pattern pieces, you’ll have to distribute the 31 patterns to the women you’ll want to breed with forever.  If those women are killed, the patterns with them will be lost for good.  I suggest you take into consideration who you’d want to breed with just in case, as they’ll be the super-charged baby making factories that you can’t really deviate from over the rest of your unnaturally long life over the eternities.  Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself here… but this is a very real possibility.”

There was a long, long silence after that.  Then Trey cleared his throat, crossed his legs, and let out an exhale.  “This is a lot to wrap my head around.  So Carol is likely going to be left crippled, physically or mentally, maybe both… OR she’s going to have her soul carved up into 31 pieces if Ikt and Alkir can’t get these experiments to work to their satisfaction and I’ll have to choose 31 women to breed with to make these little whippersnapper powerhouses instead of doing it with just anyone.”

“Correct.” Maltetoius nodded.

“And you said Ashe has been talking about this with Izumi… Are you REALLY saying they have a lot in this like you do?  Ashe and Izumi have been nothing but friends to me.  That’d be really weird…”

Maltetious spread her hands out to either side with a sly smile.  “Yes.  Again, I’m surprised no one has spoken to you of this, but Alkir came to us personally to speak to us in length about this exact thing.  Izumi and Ashe have already agreed to it.  I have agreed to it.  Then the other women you’ve been mating with recently have Rivia, Ezdeath, Telipe, Silvara, Lady Okt, Telipe, Juila, Piggy, and Rusoe.  That makes… 12, unless you don’t want to include some of them and hold off on choosing.  You can ask her yourself to clarify my words, but Alkir wants you to start breeding with us as soon as possible - repeatedly too.  The faster we can create the children she desires, the more powerful her faction becomes in the long run.  Alkir is on the back foot after numerous defeats at the hands of the angels and some of the other Infernal Crowns over the past hundred thousand years, and this will be a grand opportunity for her to reclaim much of her lost power.  She talked about whatever children you choose to raise personally may be left with you, but the children that you sire and cannot find the time to nurture properly will be taken in by her and adopted into families of her followers elsewhere to raise as royalty.  If it is up to her, she’d likely have an army of those little brats.  Still, if it happens that way then you’ll want to save some of the spots for political gain.”

Trey couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  Turning in his seat, he called out to the other room rather loudly.  “Izumi!  You there!?”

A few seconds later and Izumi poked her head around the corner, with her usual happy smile in line with things as if nothing was out of the ordinary.  “Yes?  You called?”

“Is what Maltetious saying true?”

Izumi looked innocent and confused.  “What’s she saying?”

“She’s saying you and Ashe both told Alkir you’d participate in this ‘breeding program’ Alkir has lined up for me.”

Immediately Izumi’s face went a bright red, and there was a very long pause.  She slowly turned and glared at Maltetious as her fists clenched, and completely avoided eye contact with Trey in the meantime.  “You- You weren’t supposed to tell him that yet!  Damn it Maltetious!”

Izumi looked like she was on the verge of tears, and she quickly left the room without another word - slamming the front door behind her as she went.

Trey just gaped after her, not knowing what to think, do or say after the flat out admission as Maltetious smugly eyed him from across the room like a sow in heat.

“Don’t look at me like that!  I’m not an object!” Trey said with a scowl as he got up and huffed.  “God damn thirsty ass women, always wanting the D.”

Rivia snorted her amusement and stifled a reply, as did Maltetious a split second later.

“Ugh.” Trey said with a huff as he walked out of the room.  “I’ve got to find Izumi before she has a mental breakdown and tell her it’s ok.  More than that, I just want to make sure she wasn’t forced or coerced into this, because that’s something Alkir would definitely do.  I’ll be right back.”

Rivia called out to him as he left, like a lightbulb had went off in her head.. “OH! Trey, I almost forgot! Rusoe should be birthing her spiderlings later today… she’s been having contractions! Ezdeath likely will have them sometime after that tomorrow!”

Trey turned, going pale. Back when he’d first gotten his ‘Legs of the Spider King’ from his arachnid evolution, he’d impregnated Osi, Nothel, Rusoe and Ezdeath all in one go – sewing spider sacks into their wombs that would hatch days later. The battle event for the All Spirit had thrown all that out of proportion, and today would definitely be the day Rusoe was due.  “FUCK! I had completely forgotten! Damn it, is Rusoe doing ok!?”

Rivia gave a sheepish laugh and scratched her head. “Uh… Maybe? She’s in her room and Telipe has been taking care of her, but she didn’t want to bother you until lit was over. I thought I’d let you know just in case you wanted to go see the results for yourself!”

Trey nodded. Depending on what the results were like, he had an entire coven to work with as potential spiderling incubators. Hopefully the results were what he hoped for, as they had a battle coming up whenever Yastiel finally made her way and reached the city within the week.