1376 What are you waiting for?
"You will only be spending time with her, not the rest of them."
Faustina declared.
"What...?"
It wasn't just Nux, his women couldn't believe what they were hearing as well.
"What do you mean?"
Of course, the first one to react was Amaya. The black-haired woman narrowed her eyes as she glared at the Progenitor. Faustina, however, completely ignored her gaze and glanced at the dazed Nux.
"You will be entering Lilith's Illusion soon, Nux. You need to start preparing for that."
Nux narrowed his eyes and Faustina continued.
"You do not plan to mate with any of your women you will see inside the Illusion, correct?" Faustina questioned.
Nux nodded without hesitation, "They are not real."
Faustina stared at the man in front of her for a while, then, she nodded, "Then you would need to spend 10,000 years inside a world where you won't be mating with your wives, a mere hundred years shouldn't trouble you.
Honestly, I wanted you to not mate with any of your women, however, seeing their expressions, I can tell how important it is for you people and didn't wish to take away her reward.
After all, forming a Law isn't a minor achievement. An achievement like this should be rewarded properly."
Faustina explained her reasoning. The rest of the women frowned when they heard her words, however, after thinking about it, they turned silent.
10,000 years without being able to have sex... none of them could imagine such a life. Of course, not having sex in general wasn't a problem, for them, sex was a way to connect with each other. Since they all have been working hard to raise their strength, they couldn't be together as frequently as they used to, therefore, more than sex, spending time together with each other was more important.
Just imagining spending 10,000 years alone was...
It was no different than a nightmare.
However, since a Progenitor's Blood was on the line, the women knew Nux wouldn't back down from the challenge. After all, he was a man who would happily jump to his death if it meant that his wives would benefit from it, not that they would ever let him do it.
"It doesn't matter."
While all the women were thinking about this, Nux spoke up. Then, he glanced at Faustina and, "A mere illusion wouldn't make a difference. I spend time with my wives because I want to, inside that illusion, I wouldn't want to spend time with a bunch of fakes.
I will miss my wives, yes, however, knowing that I have no way to meet them and only have some fake alternates available, I would just sit back and wait for the stupid illusion to be over."
Nux was confident.
Faustina however, just shook her head,
"As much as I want to believe you, my child, I still cannot underestimate a being I know for millions of years. Just consider it your mother being paranoid and follow her arrangement, even if it doesn't benefit you in the illusion, having enough self-control will help in the future. After all, the uncertainty the future holds is unpredictable."
Faustina replied and Nux couldn't help but frown,
"But I do not want to control my self-control..."
When it came to his wives and him being dependent on them, for others, it may sound like a glaring weakness, but for Nux, it was the source of his strength.
If he was doing everything he was doing for his wives, then what's the point of forcing himself to stay away from them? Wasn't he doing all of this to stay with them in the first place?
Nux found such actions contradictory.
His addiction to his wives, he didn't want to lose it.
That would be no different than losing a piece of his self.
"..."
Faustina stared at her son in silence.
For some reason, she could understand what he was thinking and right now, she was having a hard time convincing him.
She wanted the best for her child but at the same time, she didn't wish to force him to do anything, after all, she knew there was still a barrier between them.
But suddenly, Faustina received an unexpected support,
"Lady Faustina is right."
Everyone turned towards the source of the voice and couldn't help but widen their eyes in surprise when they realized Allura was the one who said those words.
The succubus then looked into Nux's eyes and,
"Spending 10,000 years inside the Illusion won't be simple, Nux. You need to prepare. I do not want you to be in a worse state than when you turned into Incomplete Incubus."
The 50 years he spent in Waranal.
Allura still recalled the look in Nux's eyes when he returned and saw them. Sure, his Blood was affecting him back then, however, 50 years was a small time when compared to 10,000 years. Allura feared the worst and to prevent that, if she had to spend a few decades away from her husband, she would willingly do so... no matter how hard it was.
"..."
Seeing the determined look on her sister's face, the rest of the women turned silent and started thinking as well.
Just like Allura, they didn't forget the time Nux received the Primordial Blood, his state horrified them to the core. They couldn't lose him. Not to a mere illusion cast by a woman who believes everything should follow her arrangement.
Seeing the look in his wives' eyes, Nux tilted his head and,
"So what? You want me to stay away from my wives till I enter the illusion?" he questioned as he glared at Faustina.
"Well, not until you enter the illusion, since, as Vyriana said, your wives would be allowed to enter Solitude's End once they break through and become Divine Stage Cultivators. Once that happens, you wouldn't be alone and..."
Faustina then glanced at the women who were looking at her with their eyes shining intently, then, she smiled, "It would act as a great motivator for them as well, no?"
"But that would defeat the entire purpose of this decision?"
Suddenly, Melia spoke with a frown on her face. The rest turned towards her and the Vampire questioned, "If you are going to let them get close to him anyways, then what's the point of keeping us away?"
Melia wasn't a dreamer, she approached things in a practical manner and since she knew she was lagging far behind in this race, she could tell that Divine Stage was decades, if not centuries away from her. Heck, she couldn't even choose her Path yet, she was making improvements, however, they were slow, and she didn't know how much more time she would need to form her Law.
Unlike Astaria and the others, who might break through anytime now, she would still need hundreds of years. Of course, it was selfish of her to think that way, however, she still didn't like how Faustina's plan seemed to be keeping her away from her husband.
Faustina glanced at the Vampire, then, she chuckled,
"How long do you think it would take them to break through?" She questioned as she pointed at Astaria and Amaya.
Melia glanced at the two monsters and before she could come up with an answer, Faustina answered her own question, "100 years."
Melia tilted her head and the Progenitor just smiled,
"Even considering their Monstrous talents, they would still need at least a century to become a Divine Stage Cultivator, considering they are cultivating in Waranal, it would mean they would still need 4 Yrniel Years, that is 400 years for him.
At the rate you people are going, you have higher chances of spending time together with him than them.
I am not being unfair, girl. I am simply giving you all a reason to speed yourself up. The opportunity you all received was the same from the start. Rather, I would even argue that you had a better start than any of them, so don't act like a victim here."
Faustina then looked into Melia's eyes and,
"Step up, Vampire.
You are being left behind here and it is no one's fault but your own."
"..."
Melia didn't know how to respond.
She glanced at her sisters and started thinking. What the Progenitor said was correct, she had a better start compared to all these women, yet... she was still left behind.
Melia couldn't help but clench her fists when she realized it.
Nux, who noticed her emotions wanted to go to her, he, however, was grabbed by Amaya, who shook her head.
Nux narrowed his eyes however, seeing Amaya nodding at him, he decided to hold back and let the Progenitor continue.
"It is time you introspect, Vampire.
Understand where things went wrong and...
Seek external help if you think you need it."
Faustina gave a hint before she quickly turned towards Nux and,
"What are you waiting for?
Do you not wish to spend time with the Dragon? I wouldn't mind if you d-"
Before the woman could complete her words, Nux had already disappeared together with Ember.
The progenitor smiled.
