"What's the point of exposing our territory?" asked Kaito.
"Your territory," corrected Kaguya, "and the reason is simple: you underestimate yourself. Right now, no one on the server can defeat you. We better make sure they know.
If you show off and fail, you look ridiculous; if you don't show off and don't fail, you just achieve something. But if you show off and don't fail, then you are declaring your authority."
"You need to teach me those things," Kaito sighed.
"Of course, another time." Kaguya smiled with that expression that made it clear it wouldn't be easy to learn from her. A shiver ran down Kaito's spine, and he decided to change the subject.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready" replied Koneko, bringing Mashiro with her, surprisingly tidy for someone who had just awakened. Mashiro only nodded with a brief "hmm."
Kaito approached Koneko and wrapped an arm around her before kissing her.
"I'll leave you in charge while I'm gone."
"Of course." Koneko smiled as she waved goodbye.
The time had come, and the four of them disappeared from the place.
They suddenly appeared in a vast plain of perfectly trimmed green grass. Within seconds, forty-eight arenas about six hundred by six hundred feet rose from the ground, and hundreds of thousands of people materialized around Kaito at the same time.
"Incredible…"
"It's the first time I've seen so many Lords."
"Why do I feel like I'm the ugliest one here?"
The buzz filled the air. Kaito noticed something, extended his hand, and tapped Mashiro's forehead with a finger.
"Oow!" she protested, exaggerating.
"Don't exaggerate," said Kaito, looking at his own hand. "Looks like they restricted our strength. Must be to prevent chaos."
Looking around, he realized no one came within a five-meter radius. He wondered why until he heard murmurs.
"Is it him?"
"It must be. Looks like him."
"Yeah… and that's Shinigami, so no doubt."
Despite the comments, no one dared to approach. Kaito ignored them. He was about to sit down when Hayasaka spoke.
"Lucifer-sama, excuse me for a moment."
From her own shadow, she produced a round table, an immaculate white tablecloth, three elegant chairs with red cushions, and a complete tea set with sweets in the center. All with polished movements, as if she had done it a thousand times.
"Now, Black-sama, Lucifer-sama, White-sama, you may sit."
The place fell silent at the scene. Kaguya, used to this, was the only one not surprised, but she did not sit until Kaito did.
"And you?" he asked, looking at her.
"As a maid, my duty is to remain beside my master" Hayasaka replied, unflinching.
"Then I order you to sit beside your master."
"Do you really think you can…" Kaguya began, teasing.
"Understood." Hayasaka pulled another chair and sat beside her.
"Clearly you already had that ready," Kaito thought.
"Hayasaka, you…" Kaguya tried.
"They were orders, I must obey," Hayasaka replied, leaving Kaguya speechless. "By the way, these pastries were made by my mother. You should try them, Kaguya-sama." She offered one with total naturalness.
Kaito stopped paying attention to their strange dynamic and instead looked at the newcomer who had approached.
He was a young man, 1.72 meters tall, straight black hair a little messy, dark gray eyes almost black, soft, almost androgynous features. He approached with a serene look.
"Lucifer" he greeted.
Kaito observed him for a second before smiling.
"Kirito. It's been a while."
Since the last time, they had traded a few times, so they could be considered acquaintances.
Beside him was a beautiful brown-haired woman. Kaito noticed her presence, and Kirito spoke:
"This is Asuna. She's very powerful."
Asuna bowed respectfully.
"She is… well…" Kirito blushed slightly.
"It's fine, I understand," Kaito interrupted.
"Understand what…?" Kirito was confused for a moment.
"Let's not talk about that. What brings you here?"
"Well, I just didn't have anything in particular to do, so I decided to visit."
Although Kirito said it lightly, Kaito sensed another reason. After a moment, he guessed it.
"What about your companions from last time?" he asked cautiously.
Kirito hesitated, but Asuna intervened.
"It was my fault. Kirito fought with them for siding with me, which ended up isolating him among the Lords near his territory."
Kirito shook his head.
"Not really. Even without Asuna, it would have happened. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"So, will you tell me what happened?"
"Right." Kirito sighed. "Basically, I fought with my group out of jealousy. Even though I joined them, there was never a real connection. Our territories were close, so we formed an alliance, and with my strength, I ended up as leader… but the envy never stopped. Both men and women excluded anyone who stood out, whether by power or talent. I endured for convenience, but in the end, I couldn't. Asuna was just the trigger."
"You came to ask for my help?" Kaito guessed.
Kirito smiled wryly.
"Am I that easy to read, huh? What do you want in return?"
"Kirito, we know each other. We are not friends, but you should know what I want."
"Of course I know."
At that moment, a notification appeared before Kaito:
[Lord Kirito surrenders to you]
[Lord Asuna surrenders to you]
[You are in a special event; the process will continue once finished.]
Kaito was not surprised that the system delayed the procedure, but he was surprised by how easily Kirito surrendered.
"That easy?"
"We couldn't defeat you anyway," Kirito replied. "My goal is to reach the top. If for that I have to follow you, I will."
Kaito turned to Asuna.
"And you?"
"Kirito is right. We cannot defeat you, and you will only get stronger. It's better to join now, before becoming just one more among thousands of subordinates." She smiled. "Also… I want to follow Kirito."
"So you thought it through." Kaito nodded. "In that case, welcome aboard."
After that, Kirito and Asuna said goodbye, but Kaito invited them to stay. Both looked at the table; Kaito guessed their thoughts.
"Hayasaka."
"Yes." She pulled out two more chairs and placed them as if it were nothing.
"I knew you had more," Kaito commented.
Hayasaka shrugged.
The conversation livened up. Half an hour later, a voice interrupted the atmosphere.
"Ma-shi-ro!" someone shouted while running.
In a second, he was beside her, hugging her.
"I missed you!"
Mashiro, used to this, continued eating her pastry.
"I saw you this morning."
"Yes, but it's the first time we meet inside Gaia. Isn't it great? Now I can see your skills!"
"I don't want to," she replied sharply. "If you want to see skills, ask Ka… Lucifer."
The newcomer tensed immediately, as if realizing the danger. She looked at Kaito and spoke in an almost robotic voice.
"Ah… hello. I am Mi… Misaki. Yes, that is my Lord name. I am Ma… White's senpai. Please, don't kill me."
"Alright." Kaito dismissed it. "I'm Lucifer, but as a friend of Mashiro, you can call me Kaito. Nice to meet you."
His kind tone calmed her. Within seconds, Misaki relaxed and joined the conversation naturally.
The peace, however, lasted only a moment before another interruption broke the atmosphere.
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Something to say about the Ben 10 world, first of all, forget what I said earlier about not being able to introduce Gwen. Gwen is in the story. I want to make it clear that I didn't force her in; it was actually a coincidence. Without spoiling too much, I had already planned for there to be a certain enemy that's impossible to defeat, so they'd have to use a specific method. Then, while writing, I realized that same method also works perfectly as an excuse to bring Gwen into the story.
Now, the important part, a question: a comment, or maybe more, I'm not really sure. I was told to add Attea to the harem. Personally, I like the idea; I like her design, personality, and lore. However, I know some people might not like her due to her non-human features, so I decided to ask here before taking any action.
Something to note is that later on, if people agree to introduce her, with the naming and evolution system from Tensura (I don't consider this a spoiler, since the protagonist travels between worlds, so most of you probably already guessed that Tensura is among the safer ones to visit, along with others like Marvel, DC, Naruto, etc...) she'll change a bit. Only her amphibian skin would turn into human-like skin; the rest of her traits like her eyes, skin color, tongue, etc., would stay the same.
Also, this decision will affect whether I bring in similar characters in the future.
So, to summarize:
Should Attea join the protagonist's harem, yes or no?
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)