Back in the Mermaid army, Lucien's powers are increasingly outlandish, as is his control over his demonic energy, and that is clear as the girls who receive his 'benefits' return to their positions several times stronger than they were a few minutes ago.
Such a boost could certainly change the course of entire wars, but the next battle is right around the corner, and only a few dozen girls have received Lucien's boost while hundreds of thousands just wait and follow near the great magic turtle.
Yet, Lucien doesn't mind taking time out to rest and tease Saria. Even if he doesn't need to rest physically, his mental health needs a break.
Well, at least that was the plan, but just as he started to play with the cute Mermaid Princess, a scandalous Naga Princess burst through the magic barrier.
"Lucien! Lucien!!!" Kamala screams his name in an agitated tone, but then she notices his and Saria's closeness, which leaves her with mixed emotions. "Luci-"
If that were any other woman, it would be fine, but Lucien knows that Kalama is very jealous of Saria, so he tries to shift her focus to what brought her there, and of course, he is very curious to know what she has to say; if that was a bad thing, his wives would have mentally contacted him, so it shouldn't be a real problem.
"What happened??" He quickly asks, but without stopping to hug Saria. Although he doesn't want to create problems in the current situation, he won't hide his feelings either.
And as expected, Kamala ignores his question and shoots Saria a hostile look. "What are you doing, naughty Mermaid?!?! I can't believe I trusted you!!!"
Saria is a millennium-old woman, but Kamala's attitude added to that whole situation, makes her lose some reason. Due to the high excitement of being with Lucien, her body acts on impulse, and she hides behind him as if she's just been caught doing something very wrong.
Lucien finds that reaction really cute, but he focuses on Kamala. "What happened??"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Kamala has something urgent to tell Lucien, so she uses all her will to suppress the jealousy and gets right to the point. "You have to see it!"
She speaks quickly and flies towards the other girls in the sky. Lucien instantly follows her and the barrier opens naturally, revealing to him a distant illuminated horizon.
It's still midday, but because of the dark clouds all around, the world is much darker than light; that way, the golden lights to the north can be seen even thousands of miles away.
"It's her!" Lucien can't help but exclaim as he finds the golden lights on the horizon a beautiful sight. Of course, everyone knows that those are Maya's flames.
The glow of that light reflects in his eyes and matches the very gold of his dragon soul, and the girls can't help but notice how impressed he is with that.
Well, everyone is impressed by Maya's power, but Eve and Pride look at each other as they share the same concern. Due to Pride's powers, they have a better understanding of how Lucien is respecting the Phoenix more and more.
Respect alone wouldn't stop him from using Maya's life to save his sisters, but they understand him well enough to know that the more he respects a woman, the more likely he is to develop intense romantic feelings for her.
"Yes, they got there faster than I expected, and Maya is already working her magic." Pride comments in a neutral tone.
"Look!" Claire points to the sky with a happy expression as she notices the dark clouds quickly vanishing over the northern horizon.
Everyone notices the dark clouds rapidly fading just above a particular region, but other clouds that should be hundreds of miles away from that area begin to move strangely.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"She did it!" Kamala is very happy with that victory.
"That easy?" Lucien also wants to see that as a big win, but he feels that Lust and the other Sins aren't optimistic at all.
Greed's eyes lose their natural golden glow as she watches the dark clouds everywhere begin to move eastward in a specific direction. "This isn't about Maya's flames..."
Saria gets very concerned as the storm seems to be fully focused on heading toward the capital of the Mermaid Kingdom. And Lust's next words make her even more nervous. "Tyrion is making his final move."
"He knows he can't attack the whole Mermaid Kingdom with Maya here..." Claire comments. "So, the bastard will attack the Mermaid Capital with full forces while Maya and Nea are in the north."
"How long until Tyrion's forces arrive in the capital?" Lucien asks the Sins.
The Sins watch the dark clouds as they wonder, and Greed is the first to respond. "Not less than a day."
"We can't say for sure." Lust comments. "Based on the storm's current speed, one part might get there sooner, but the whole thing will really need at least a full day to do that. Also, Tyrion will need a few more hours to teleport more monsters and possibly a large army."
Lucien looks at Saria. "How long does it take Nea to reach there?"
"Less than two days usually..." She can't hide her nervousness. "But I don't have enough understanding of that human ship to be sure."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"I see..." He understands that even if Nea's group travels faster, they couldn't reach the Mermaid Capital before Tyrion's forces due to their current position. Then he asks about their group. "What about us?"
He got his answer just based on Saria's sad expression. "We alone could do it in one day, but with such a large army..."
Everyone understands that their hands are tied, and when no one seems to have a plan, Kamala tries to lighten the tense atmosphere. "But Tyrion still can't win, right? In wars, it's natural to lose some cities to win in the end."
Saria feels like thousands of ice blades pierce her heart just by imagining the beautiful Mermaid Capital falling and its thousands of citizens being brutalized by Tyrion's evil forces.
But then all negative feelings are banished from her heart when she feels Lucien hold her hand and emanate hope and warm emotions into her body.
"We're not going to lose any cities in this war," Lucien speaks with a determined tone.
Saria can't stop her lips from curling into a sweet smile as she feels how determined Lucien is to protect her people.
Everyone can see how much he cares for the Mermaids, but Greed looks upset and disappointed. "Determination alone does not win wars, idiot kids. How are you going to win if your troops can't get there in time to fight???"
"The main army will keep up the pace, but I'll go ahead with all the troops I can boost." Lucien quickly explains his new plan. "A small group can get there in time if we do our best."
"Oh??" Greed still doesn't look satisfied. "So, great lord of war and sex, could you tell me how many troops have been boosted enough?"
"He's doing the best he can! And this is much more than anyone else could do!!" Saria speaks before Lucien can respond.
The other girls sigh, and Kamala speaks in a sad tone. "Only thirty groups of ten each."
"Three hundred women?" Greed claps her hands. "That's awesome for sure, but it's still three hundred troops in an army of three hundred thousand... so what's the plan? Boost another three hundred, and then with six hundred women, you'll hold off an army of millions of Nagas plus who knows how many monsters???"
Greed's words may seem like unwarranted taunts and insults, but she's actually worried that Lucien will put himself and his sisters in a suicidal situation.
"She means this plan is no good, brother," Claire speaks in an anxious tone.
"Yes, that's bad…" Lucien sighs as he continues to hold Saria's hand. "We're going to have losses, lots of losses... but I bet these soldiers are willing to give their lives to protect their people. And I know we can at least hold Tyrion's forces until Nea and Maya arrive."
"Bullshit..." Greed shakes her head in disapproval.
"Don't you like my plan??" Lucien asks sarcastically and quickly continues. "So give me a better plan, and I'll follow you."
"I don't have a better plan!!" She yells at him.
Lucien holds back his emotions as he knows Greed doesn't want to harm him and his family. "Yeah, looks like nobody has..."
"Actually, I have." Lust comments as her lips curl into a naughty smile, and a purple glow appears in her eyes.
