For a second, Lucien's vision blurs, and he feels a bit nauseous; then, when he notices it, he's already elsewhere, still beside Kamala.
That looks like a big room, and Its walls and floor are made of a smooth stone type with a beautiful jade-green color. He can only see that because strange magical plants light up the place.
There is minimal furniture in the place, and they are made of dark wood, while in the center of the room, there is a large round pool and a smaller round platform in Its center at a few inches inside the water. Strangely, that platform seems to be made of a fluffy material like a bed mattress.
"It's my bedroom..." Lucien hears Kamala's voice in a shy tone as he feels her take his hand.
He gently caresses the back of her hand with his fingers as he smiles. "Looks like a nice bedroom."
She giggles. "You must be finding it weird, don't you? Well, for us Nagas, a good bedroom just needs a big pool."
"I see..." Lucien looks into Kamala's eyes, and although he doesn't see real malice, he can't be naive either. "I don't know why you brought me here, but there has to be a selfish motive, right?"
Kamala gets ashamed and starts to stutter. "I... it's not that... Lucien... I just..."
"That creature is manipulating me, and I can't do anything about it right now, but..." His eyes start to glow golden as his majestic draconic aura makes Kamala feel like a small ant in front of a giant dragon.
He continues. "So either you're plotting against me along with her-"
"I'm not planning anything against you! I swear on everything I love the most!!!" She quickly interrupts him as she speaks honestly.
'She seems to be telling the truth.' Lust comments in Lucien's mind.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})'That's what it looks like...' He comments.
Lucien truly believes Kamala's intentions aren't evil, but he's sure she wants something from him. "So, if you and your people are not with the Leviathan, you are now her targets or part of her manipulations."
"Do not worry." She speaks in a confident tone. "That creature cannot harm us here. Our city is protected by a barrier like the one in my necklace, but much more powerful. My mother used to say that only a Primordial could damage this barrier as it was given to us by another Primordial."
'Why would a Primordial give them such treasure?' Lust shares her thoughts with Lucien.
'If it's really like that, why would the Leviathan send us here?' He responds with another question.
'That's really weird-' Lust starts to speak but then suddenly stops, and Lucien can feel that she got apprehensive.
'Lust???' Lucien gets worried too.
Since they arrived at that place, Lust has been using her magic sense to analyze all creatures within several miles; then, she finds someone very powerful.
'There's someone from the early Cosmic Realm near!' She explains. 'There shouldn't be such a person among a race like this, so that is really strange.'
'What kind of person is it?' Lucien asks.
'A male Naga, about nineteen hundred years... I think he is Kamala's father.' Lust responds.
'Nineteen hundred years? Doesn't that make him too young for someone so powerful?' Lucien asks. 'I mean, Helena is talented and older than him, but not even in her peak she was any close to the Cosmic Realm.'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})'Exactly!' Lust comments and then gets even more shocked as she continues to analyze the body of that male Naga. 'He has many different talents and affinities... there are a lot of energies within his body... he's... like you!?'
'Like me?' Lucien wonders what kind of person that guy is like.
As he thinks, Kamala is confused by his thoughtful look. Then she runs her fingers on his hand. "Lucien? Are you okay?"
"Oh..." He looks at her. "Yeah, I was just wondering where you're taking me next."
She holds his hand tightly and starts to lead him towards the door. "Come on; I'll take you to my mom; she may know more about the Leviathan."
Lucien just follows Kamala as they exit down the hallway of what appears to be a huge building. She moves smoothly across the stone floor, wiggling her tail in a very sensual way.
They soon see other Nagas there, including male ones, which have snake tails similar to Kamala's. However, their upper bodies are quite different from each other, as are humans and other demi-humans.
Every Naga that Lucien sees along the way has two types of clothing, simple .fabric clothing that only covers their upper body or green armor that covers almost their entire bodies, including part of their tail.
But not even those who wear simple clothes or the armors have clothes as luxurious as those of Kamala. They also don't have ornaments like jewelry and bows in their hair and tail like her.
'Guards and servants...' Lust comments in Lucien's mind as she reports to him the power of anyone above the Sky Realm.
Lucien also notices that Kamala doesn't even look at the other Naga, and they bow their heads whenever they pass by them.
And, of course, they get shocked to see Lucien. However, they try to contain their emotions, and he also notices strange expressions on their faces.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})'The usual royalty treatment.' Lust comments.
'I'm not sure...' Lucien responds. 'They don't seem to be afraid of her but pity.'
That doesn't make sense, but Lust pays attention to the servants and actually sees them looking at Lucien with amazed expressions and Kamala with sorry and sad expressions.
Lucien knows that he has to be careful as he doesn't know where he is or what the situation of those people is, so he speaks to Kamala in a casual tone. "What kind of woman is your mom?"
Kamala is happy that Lucien breaks the strange mood generated by the expressions of the other Nagas. "My mother is an incredible and kind woman! She is the most knowledgeable person among our people, and it is thanks to her that our race improves every day."
"Oh, is she that wise?" Lucien comments in an impressed tone. But actually, he thinks Kamala is exaggerating a bit.
"She is." But Kamala answers in a confident tone. "Well, it's natural for the oldest person of a race also to be the most experienced and wise of them, right? But my mother would be the smartest person here even if there is another Naga older than her."
"Is she really the oldest person in your people?" Lucien can't help but be surprised by that, especially after Lust said that the man who's supposed to be Kamala's father is nineteen hundred years old.
Kamala nods and smiles with a proud expression. "She's three thousand six hundred and two years old... But she doesn't look old at all."
'She must be in the Cosmic Realm too!' Lust comments in Lucien's mind.
"She must be very powerful…" Lucien comments in an impressed tone.
"Yes, she would be the first Naga to arrive in the Cosmic Realm..." Kamala starts to speak in a proud tone, but she quickly becomes sad. "Let's not talk about that right now."
Lucien doesn't need to have a soul contract with Kamala to realize she got really sad, which makes him very curious about her mother.
So he shares his thoughts with Lust. 'Looks like there's something wrong with her mother.'
'Yes...' Lust responds. 'The strangest thing is that a woman who should have reached the Cosmic Realm didn't do it, but her husband, a guy half her age, did.'
As Lucien and Lust wonder about Kamala's family, she leads him to a large open courtyard, and then he notices that they are inside a huge translucent dome.
"Wow..." He comments, impressed with that amazing place. That dome protects what looks like a castle from the water, and Lucien can even see several other buildings protected by domes far away as well as buildings that are submerged in water without being protected by domes.
The water looks dark there, but everything is lit by magical plants of different sizes. Lust reports to Lucien that they are thousands of miles below the surface of the sea, but those plants generate enough oxygen for him to feel no difference.
While Lucien stops to appreciate the beauty of that place, Kamala appreciates the view of his face. "Beautiful, don't you think?"
"Indeed." He agrees.
"Few people of other races were able to see the beauty of the Naga Kingdom." She comments as she continues to hold his hand as it makes her feel so good.
"It must be hard for other people to walk around without being able to breathe underwater." He comments.
She smiles. "Yes, but we have a rare herb that allows other races to breathe underwater."
"Really?" At the same time Lucien asks, Lust confirms in his mind that it's true.
"Yep." Kamala nods. "I don't have it with me right now, but my mom does, so I can go get it with her, or can you hold your breath until we get there?"
'You could also use Envy's energy to modify your body to breathe underwater.' Lust comments in Lucien's mind. 'But now you're out of that demonic energy and away from Envy and Amelia.'
Lucien can't help but feel weak away from his wives. His original demonic energy and soul energy keep getting stronger, but without his wives' energies, his abilities are severely limited.
"Where is your mother?" He asks Kamala.
She points to a giant castle inside a dome about six miles away. "That is the royal castle, my parents' house."
The stronger a person is, the better their body is, of course. So normally, an Earth Realm person can go about five minutes without breathing, but Lucien can go about an hour without breathing due to his life mana.
But due to the current situation, he just nods. "I think so."
"Alright," Kamala responds. "But if you think you need oxygen, let me know, and then we can get into a nearby dome."
"Ok." He smiles at her, and then they walk toward the dome wall.
Kamala passes through the dome as if it doesn't exist, and then Lucien follows her, also passing through the dome wall, which has a watery texture and only blocks the seawater.
In the water again, Kamala is like a fish, able to smoothly move while Lucien has to keep moving his legs and wings to swim.
People above the Sky Realm, as well as people with great control over their mana, can move freely through the water; however, their speed is significantly reduced while the aquatic races get even faster surrounded by water.
Lucien also notices that the water in that place looks different from anything he's ever seen. He feels a heavy pressure over his body, and that is normal due to how deep in the sea they are.
"You are so strong!" Kamala comments as she swims around Lucien. That pressure should be enough to kill Mortal Realm people from other races, while Earth Realm people should at least feel uncomfortable, but he looks completely relaxed.
He smiles and then pulls her into his arms before kissing her lips, making her feel so good and safe again.
Meanwhile, Lust pays attention to all Nagas inside that dome to get any information. But they don't make any comments and are just silent with pitying expressions. Well, some of them smile when they see Kamala kissing Lucien, but most of them still look sad.
[What's wrong with these people?] She wonders.
