The heart of Skyhold trembled with anticipation.
Liam stood before the sub-core vault, deep beneath the ruined plaza. The chamber glowed faintly with system energy, a slow pulse that mirrored the tension in his chest. Every wall was etched with ancient glyphs, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. The air was thick with heat, not from the desert above, but from something more primal.
His wives stood around him... Aisha, Kaelithra, Elyra, Naia, Ice Queen, and Rena. Each one alert. Each one ready. But it wasn't just combat tension that filled the space.
It was him.
The Overlord.
> [System Alert] Sub-Core Sync: Ready Required: Bonded Participants (Minimum 3) Warning: Emotional and Physical Resonance Necessary
The text hovered in his vision. Liam exhaled slowly, turning to face them. His eyes lingered a little longer than necessary on the curve of Elyra's waist, the slow rise and fall of Aisha's chest, the glint in Kaelithra's eyes that was always more than just bloodlust.
"This won't be easy," Liam said. "The system needs... more than just proximity."
Naia stepped forward, head tilted, a faint smile playing on her lips. "It wants connection. Craves it. It wants us to burn a little."
"We've burned before," Kaelithra said, brushing her fingers against Liam's arm. "Why stop now?"
Rena laughed quietly. "You think you can handle all of us like this again? We're synced. You touch one, we all feel it."
Liam's throat tightened. He felt their bond like threads woven through his skin, tugging, heating, stirring old promises and newer temptations.
Aisha's voice was low. "Let us in. All of us. Don't resist."
They stepped closer. Heat swirled around them, invisible but tangible. Ice Queen's breath chilled the space behind him, even as Elyra's warmth pressed in from the front. Naia's fingers brushed his shoulder, trailing faint sparks.
> [System Update] Bond Pressure: Peaking Emotional Sync: Acceptable Threshold Passed Initiating Sub-Core Access
The room brightened.
Glyphs along the floor ignited, forming a ring that encircled them. The sub-core pedestal rose slowly, its surface splitting open to reveal a floating shard... a black crystal veined with molten red lines.
"Touch it together," Naia whispered.
They did.
Fingers brushed. Skin met skin. Liam's hand was the last, laid over the crystal, his wives' hands layered beneath his.
Light exploded through the chamber.
> [Sub-Core Activation: Success] Relic Bond: Linked to Overlord Voss Temporary Buff: All Bonded Wives – Enhanced Stats, Increased Sync Zone Lock Broken: Markus's Control Disrupted Foreign Bond Fracture: Detected
Liam's eyes snapped open. The power pulsed through him, but that wasn't all. He felt her.
The woman in silk.
Somewhere in Skyhold, she shuddered... as if her link to Markus had just cracked.
---
Above them, the ruins howled.
Markus stood in the citadel tower, hands gripping the edge of a broken balcony. His two bonded women flanked him. The one cloaked in feathers knelt, grimacing as her bond shivered violently. Her face flushed red...
"He triggered the core," she gasped.
Markus growled. "Then we end this before he rips more from me."
Behind him, in the dark, something stirred.
> [System Override: Beast Lock Released] Summoning: Corrupted Warlord's Hound
---
Back in the vault, Liam exhaled hard.
His knees threatened to buckle. Not from exhaustion. From the intensity of the bond flare.
Rena caught him.
"You always try to carry everything alone," she murmured, brushing hair from his eyes. "Let us bear it too."
Kaelithra leaned in, voice sultry. "You've awakened more than just a relic, Liam. You woke us."
Elyra pulled him up with a smirk. "When this is over, you're not getting a moment's peace."
He grinned, the heat between them lingering.
Then the tower above rumbled.
Aisha's eyes went sharp. "We're not alone."
The system chimed once more.
> [Final Trial Initiated] Enemy Summon Detected Combat Trial Begins: 10 Minutes
Liam raised his blade.
"Then let's finish this."
And claim everything Skyhold dared to hide.... maybe even the women.
---
They gathered beneath the fractured dome of Skyhold's central plaza, the sky a swirl of crimson and silver above them. The sub-core pulsed faintly beneath the broken stone, embedded in a circular dais that shimmered with system-encoded glyphs.
Liam stood at its center, his wives surrounding him in a protective circle. Dust clung to their armor. Blood painted the edges of their blades. And yet none of them looked tired.
They looked hungry.
> [System Alert]
Bond Sync: Peak Level Achieved (Active Wives: 6)
Sub-Core Activation Ready
Relic Synchronization Possible
Warning: Elevated Bond Pressure Detected
The system's voice echoed faintly, as if even it was hesitant to interrupt what was about to unfold.
"I've never seen a core like this," Naia murmured, kneeling beside the platform. Her fingers hovered above the glyphs, tracing their energy trails. "It's alive."
Aisha stepped forward, eyes glowing. "Not alive. Responsive. It wants something."
"Us," Elyra said, resting her bow against her shoulder. "It wants all of us."
Liam felt it too. The pull wasn't just magical... it was physical. A heat rising from within the stone, coiling around them. The air was thick with power. With desire.
Kaelithra didn't wait. She stepped behind Liam, her arms sliding around his waist, chin resting on his shoulder.
"You know the system's watching," she whispered against his ear. "It wants to see how far we'll go for power."
Rena moved to his side, her armor half-unbuckled from the last skirmish, lips bruised from a fight. "Then let it watch."
Elyra's laugh was low, sultry. "We're already bound to him. Why not give the relic a reason to obey?"
Ice Queen said nothing, but she stepped forward, hands brushing Liam's chest. Her eyes burned colder than the air, but her touch was warm.
> [System Notification]
Sub-Core Response: Engaging Sync Pulse
Vital Surge Detected / Emotional Resonance Elevated
Compatibility Status: Overlord Priority Achieved
Activating…
The dais pulsed beneath their feet.
The entire ruin lit up.
Liam's breath caught as power surged through him... raw, euphoric, and impossibly intimate. Every bond resonated at once, every heartbeat syncing. The air throbbed with heat and tension.
And they were still pressing closer.
Aisha's lips brushed his throat. "You lead us to war. But you never let us have you."
Naia's voice was a whisper. "The relic isn't the only thing that wants to be claimed."
He met their eyes... six of them, each one already his, yet still daring him to take more.
He didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
His hand slid around Rena's waist, drawing her in, while the others closed the circle tighter. Heat built. The system pulsed. The sub-core erupted in light as their bonds deepened...
... not through combat this time, but through submission, desire, and absolute sync.
> [System Alert]
Core Sync Achieved – Full Activation
Territory Claimed: Skyhold Ruins
Bond Strength: Intensified
Overlord Vitality: Enhanced
Reward: Elite Skill Unlocked – Sovereign Command
New Zone Detected: Zone 17 – Cradle of Storms
Warning: Foreign Signal Intercepted – Overlord Markus Status: Locked / Withdrawing
Conflict Trial: Concluded
They collapsed around Liam, breathless, flushed, but victorious.
Skyhold was his.
And his wives… were far from satisfied.