"Send her back to the city... what else can we do?" Al whispered. "What do you think?"
"Do you not desire her?"
Alina asked in return, making Al's face turn a brilliant, burning red.
"No, that's not it!"
"How can you even talk about 'desire' like that!"
Al scrambled to defend himself: "She is my... well... she is my mother, technically?"
Al's voice trailed off, losing all confidence as he spoke.
Seeing the Centigor's indifferent expression, he added:
"In short, I do care about her, but it's the care... the care a child has for a parent!"
Al paused, his voice rising: "It's only natural for a child to feel close to their mother."
Al didn't have the heart to admit he had been eyeing her body from the very start.
Now, he was stuck in a dramatic mess where his intended "waifu" had become his biological mother...
Wait, was this the Oedipus complex?
He didn't want to think about it, but he was indeed an "illegitimate son" born of a "violated will."
His situation was worse than any youth raised under the socialized systems of his past life.
He had felt a wave of relief learning from Alina that he wasn't Zhakun's spawn.
Otherwise, he'd be carrying the burden of patricide and maternal obsession on his very first day in this world.
"Isn't that just a form of love?" The Centigor found his hesitation strange.
"To challenge the leader and inherit everything they own—I thought you would do the same. You don't seem the type."
"She is my blood-related, biological mother..." Al feebly countered the Centigor's worldview.
"Exactly. Inheriting everything includes the mates, doesn't it?"
"?!"
Were tribal ethics really this intense?
Forget going to the civilized world; he might as well just stay in the tribe until he died!
Al realized that in this world, family trees were more like circles—ancestors and descendants mixing freely.
He thought of the famous Elven mother-son and father-daughter scandals.
But Al couldn't cross that mental hurdle yet.
If they were both just faceless tribals, maybe he'd "follow the local customs."
But this was a woman who screamed "Sigmar!" and almost killed him.
She could solo a Wrath-Gor with a dagger right after giving birth.
He was terrified of "domestic violence" if he tried anything.
He couldn't exactly have Alina standing guard next to the bed during sex, could he?
"Just leave it. Send her back to the human world."
As he said it, his heart felt a twinge of bitterness.
With his current status and the state of this world, Al clearly couldn't live as a normal human.
"Tsk, what a hassle."
The Centigor curled her lip. She didn't mind the journey.
She mainly wanted to see how the boy planned to conquer a woman who was his superior in both status and strength.
He could kill Zhakun, yet he was chased into a pathetic flight by a weakened woman.
"Forget it. I'm going for a run."
Suddenly, Al was nearly thrown off the Centigor's back as she took off like a bolt of rolling thunder.
The boy felt like he was on a shipwreck in the middle of a super-earthquake, caught in a whirlpool storm.
And he was the only sailor on board.
Al had to press his body flat against her, not caring if Alina got angry.
He clung to her waist for dear life, wrapping his arms around her muscular, powerful midsection.
The Centigor carried him through forests, across plains, and over hills.
She dragged her massive hammer behind her, the weight carving a long, winding scar into the earth as she ran.
The ride lasted only a short while, but to Al, it felt more grueling than his battle with Zhakun.
Fortunately, he hadn't eaten or even had milk since he was born.
Otherwise, he would have definitely vomited everything up.
Alina stopped on a small hillside, gazing at the distant, jagged mountain peaks.
Her expression was dazed, lost in some private thought.
A Great Eagle soared above them, casting a small shadow on the ground.
Al looked up and realized it was actually a massive Griffon.
The beast tilted its head, spared the centaur and the boy a single glance, and flew toward the mountains.
Alina continued to stare into the distance, so Al decided to just admire the scenery.
"I used to come here often," Alina suddenly spoke.
"Back then, I didn't have a clear faith. I just stayed with the others."
"We stayed away from Zhakun and his Bray-Screechers, and away from the shrines of the World-Shepherd."
She reminisced about her past.
"I dueled many in the tribe because I loved the feeling of victory and the process of battle."
Alina paused. Al expected a deep story of old wounds, but the tone shifted abruptly.
"What was that chief's name... whatever, I forgot. That old bastard said he'd tame me and make me his wife."
"He was too old, and he wasn't strong enough. I didn't even use a weapon to duel him."
"I snatched his spear, castrated him with it, and then I killed him."
Al felt a cold chill run down his spine.
The Centigor turned her head and rubbed his hair, saying half-jokingly:
"Just like what you did to Zhakun."
"After that, everyone started to fear me. I killed Greenskins, and they whispered. I killed Trolls, monsters..."
"A pack of useless trash. Without me, they wouldn't even know how many times they would have died!"
Alina was still bitter about the ostracization she suffered in the Revelers tribe.
It seemed she wasn't just the "mindless, violent, and arrogant" warrior Thal and the others thought she was.
If the tribe had been welcoming when she was young and rebellious, she might have stayed as their greatest champion.
"Though, looking back, crushing their skulls and spines after winning really was a bit pointless," the Centigor mused, her words terrifying.
"It was too slow, and it made my hooves hurt. Every time I finished, I had to soak in the river to make them feel better."
"At first, I thought it was fun, made me look powerful. But when I kept doing it, they accused me of worshiping Khorne!"
The Centigor gritted her teeth, her exotic face twisted with lingering resentment.
"I didn't see any Khornates in the tribe, so I thought there must be many Chaos followers in the human world."
"Later I found out those guys rarely walk the mortal realm. They show up, kill everyone, and vanish."
"So I taught myself. Just like the tribe prays to the World-Shepherd, I prayed to the Blood God."
"And finally, the Great Mother of Rage, the Blood God, actually answered me!"
Does your Blood God even have genders? Al thought.
It was too strange. Khorne definitely existed, but what was this "Blood Mother" business?
Did Khaine get a gender-swap?
"The Blood Mother granted me her favor. I offered victory and glory, and she gave me more power."
"The last time I prayed to her..."
The Centigor stopped. She lifted Al from her back and set him down by her legs.
The two figures—one towering and equine, one small and human—stood together.
He tried to look up at her, but his view was blocked by her massive, swaying breasts, so he had to shuffle a few steps to the right.
"I prayed to the Blood Mother to give me a child."
Alina reached out and pulled the drifting Al back to her, pressing him against her warm, muscular thigh.
"?" Al didn't understand. What did that have to do with...
"!"
A sudden jolt of realization hit him as he thought of a terrifying possibility.
The Centigor looked down at the trembling boy.
In a strange tone, half-talking to herself and half-addressing him, she continued:
"Actually, what I wanted was a husband. But I've never met a man who could defeat me."
"There was a human knight from the north who was strong, but his horse was weak."
"When I was about to behead him, the Blood Mother told me to let him go, so I did."
"Besides, most of the strong ones are too old. I don't like them."
"Finally, I decided to pray to the Blood Mother: Give me a child of my own. I will raise him."
"Even if he isn't strong, I can accept it. And when the time is right, I will marry him."
Al felt ice in his veins despite the warmth of the Centigor's skin.
"The Blood Mother rejected my prayer."
Al let out half a breath of relief, but the Centigor's next sentence shattered his soul.
"But she said her own child was about to be born. As my mission and my reward, I would be responsible for raising this child."
"And in the future, I could consider whether to become the wife of her son."
Al stood there like a statue, frozen in shock.
The Centigor grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up, eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose.
Her fiery eyes held a complex mix of emotions. She actually looked a bit shy.
"I thought the God-child would be someone very strong, or very violent. I didn't know if I'd like him."
"But if you're just... a bit strange, but very young, and very..."
She blushed, clearly not used to giving compliments.
"Cute. Anyway, if it's like this, I don't hate it... I quite like you."
"You have no father, and that woman cannot raise you. So from now on, I will be your half-mother and... your future wife."
Alina didn't look like a hammer-wielding champion of Chaos anymore.
She looked like a bashful "uma-musume," declaring absolute sovereignty over her pasture.
Al unconsciously hugged the Centigor's thigh, his face blank as flashes of "Monster Girl Encyclopedia" and "Centaur Breeding" crossed his mind.
Wait!
My heart actually skipped a beat!
Al's brain was a mess. He felt like he was in a monster-girl RPG rather than Warhammer.
He didn't even realize Alina had put him back on her back and was trotting slowly back to the tribe.
Having poured her heart out, the Centigor seemed to be in high spirits.
She carried Al across streams and through groves, even picking some wild fruit for him to eat.
He finally had the "mother-son" relationship he had craved, but it wasn't how he imagined it.
The relationship was too bizarre—the speed of his growth, the nature of the parties involved...
And the "mother" had four legs.
[How do you like my gift, my child?]
A voice, seductive and multifaceted—as if a thousand beautiful women were whispering in his ear at once—echoed in Al's mind.
The boy shivered violently.
Even "that place" between his legs began to react again!
Al immediately recognized where he had heard this voice before.
[Remember, only Mama gives you the most.]