Chapter 40: They Had a Talk. Kind off?
A gentle pulse of vibrating space enveloped the group.
In an instant, they vanished from the ruined throne hall of Floor 20, replaced by the familiar grandeur of the central meeting chamber deep within Eden’s Vault.
Mother (Adrazelle) was already seated at the head of the long obsidian table, her veiled form radiating calm authority.
Hyun-woo was still half-naked and covered in dried blood and black ichor.
Vespera remained firmly glued to his side. She was completely naked, her massive breasts pressed possessively against his chest and arm, one arm wrapped like a vise around his waist. She looked ready to slaughter anyone who stepped too close to her new savior.
Ebonara was on his other side. Her eight gem-like eyes had gone dangerously dark, swirling with a pitch-black, obsessive void. Her claws lightly traced Hyun-woo’s uninjured arm, as if silently mapping her territory. Every time she glanced at Vespera, her venomous tail arched higher, dripping green acid that sizzled against the stone floor.
She was practically vibrating with the urge to rip the dragoness's throat out for touching her cutie pie. But to avoid upsetting him, she forced herself to hold back.
The three Gorgon sisters stood close behind.
Adrazelle’s veiled head tilted slightly. “It appears you have gained a new… companion.” She was trying very hard not to say the word 'pet.'
Vespera lifted her chin with queenly grace, her six golden eyes gleaming with absolute, fanatical devotion. “Indeed. This man is my consort. He hath shattered the Tower’s vile chains, and in return, I have bound my very soul to him. I will burn the world to cinders if he but asks it of me.”
Ebonara’s breath hitched into a terrifying, low hiss. “Consort?” she whispered, her voice dripping with pure, yandere madness. “You’ve known him for five minutes, you overgrown lizard. He is mine. Move your hands, or I will peel your scales off one by one.”
Stheno’s patience snapped. A hot, possessive flush crept up her neck, and her golden snake-hair writhed aggressively. “That’s enough of this bullshit,” she growled, her own emerging obsession bubbling to the surface. "Nobody gets to just claim him like some prize!"
Except me, of course, she added mentally.
She marched forward, grabbed Vespera by the bare shoulders, and yanked hard with both hands.
With a grunt of effort, Stheno successfully pried the dragoness off Hyun-woo. She immediately stepped between them, her golden tail flicking threateningly as if guarding a treasure she hadn't quite admitted she owned.
Medusa’s golden eyes narrowed into slits, the petrifying light flaring dangerously in her gaze. She didn't shout like Stheno, but the temperature around her plummeted. "Keep your distance, dragon," Medusa warned, her voice a deadly calm that betrayed a dark, creeping possessiveness. "He doesn't belong to you."
The moment she was separated from Hyun-woo, Vespera’s fierce, regal composure shattered entirely.
Her six golden eyes widened, and large tears immediately welled up before spilling down her flawless midnight cheeks.
“…How cruel,” Vespera whispered, her voice trembling with ancient sorrow. “I have only just tasted true freedom… and his warmth… and you would rip me away so heartlessly? I cannot survive the cold without my consort!”
She stood there naked, looking heartbreakingly vulnerable despite her majestic bearing, her tears flowing freely.
Hyun-woo blinked. Wait, is she actually crying? he thought, letting out a small, bewildered laugh.
He couldn’t help it; the sheer absurdity of this terrifying Floor Boss crying like a kicked puppy after being pried off him was just too much.
On the other hand, Ebonara, Stheno, and Medusa simply stared at the weeping dragoness with cold, murderously unimpressed gazes.
Ebonara crossed her arms, her eyes still pitch-black. “Fake tears. If you don't stop, I'll give you a real reason to cry.” She really didn’t like this sussy lizard.
Stheno snorted, crossing her arms defensively. “Cry harder, lizard.”
Medusa’s golden eyes remained icy, her snakes hissing softly in agreement. “Agreed. Cry harder, bitch.”
Only Euryale looked like a normal person trapped in a madhouse.
Her emerald snake-hair wilted slightly as she watched the tears continue falling, glancing between her insanely possessive sisters, the terrifyingly jealous Arachne, and the crying dragoness.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, she let out a long, exasperated sigh, stepped forward, and gently placed a hand on Vespera’s arm.
“Hey… it’s alright,” Euryale muttered, sounding embarrassed and completely exhausted by her family's antics. “They’re just being ridiculously possessive. You can… stick close to him again if you want. You just have to get their permission first.”
Vespera sniffled dramatically, shooting the other three a wounded look before immediately latching back onto Hyun-woo’s side, burying her face against his shoulder like her life depended on it. Of course, she completely ignored everything Euryale had just said.
Adrazelle let out a long, exhausted sigh. “Enough theatrics. Hyun-woo, give me the short version of what happened inside the Tower.” Every time he was here, there was always something absurd going on. She had to cut to the chase.
Still chuckling softly, Hyun-woo patted Vespera’s bare back while she clung to him like superglue and began explaining.
“I got pulled into the rift and dropped into a monster wasteland. Fought nonstop for I don’t know how many days until I reached the throne hall. Battled Vespera—she’s ridiculously strong. She even went full Ancient Black Dragon form. But I was able to beat her. After I won, the Tower tried to rebind her with divine chains. I broke every last one. Then these four showed up right as things were settling.”
“Settling looked a lot like her trying to merge her body with yours,” Ebonara said coldly. Her claws dug slightly into Hyun-woo's other arm, a clear warning. But what a dilemma—she couldn't actually do anything without upsetting him.
Vespera, still teary-eyed but now safely attached to Hyun-woo again, replied in her regal, devoted tone, “It was a most effective method to ensure my savior never leaves my side.”
Adrazelle raised a hand, materializing clean black robes for everyone. “All of you are dismissed. Rest. Recover. The outside world is still in chaos. Euryale—stay behind. I want the full details from your perspective. Because clearly, the rest of them have lost their minds.”
As the group began to leave, Ebonara kept a vise-like grip on Hyun-woo's right arm, her eyes daring anyone to challenge her. Stheno walked dangerously close behind him, her golden tail occasionally brushing his ankle, while Medusa flanked the rear, her petrifying gaze locked onto Vespera's back.
Euryale lingered for a moment, giving the dragoness one last awkward pat on the back before turning to Adrazelle.
Hyun-woo, still quite shocked, was half-dragged out by his newest, extremely devoted Sovereign on one side, and his terrifyingly jealous yandere scorpion on the other.
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The soft glow of the large television filled the cozy first-floor lounge of the Gorgon treehouse.
This side of the treehouse belonged to Euryale. True to her otaku heritage, she had filled her room with things she knew she would never truly need: stacks of light novels, colorful anime figurines, and shelves packed with Blu-rays for every genre imaginable, contrasting hilariously with the magical living-wood walls.
Hyun-woo, now freshly showered and wearing comfortable new black sweatpants and a loose gray hoodie he had bought back in Pearland, was sprawled on the massive moss-covered sofa. A controller rested comfortably in his hands.
Beside him, Euryale sat cross-legged, wearing an oversized black shirt that barely reached her thighs. Her long, thick emerald tail was curled lazily behind her, acting as a makeshift backrest.
Her snake-hair, however, was anything but calm. Two of the smaller snakes were literally backseat gaming, stretching out toward the screen and hissing aggressively every time the boss launched an attack.
“Die already, you cheap, hitbox-abusing bastard!” Euryale growled, her thumbs flying across the controller as her character unleashed a frantic, sloppy combo.
Hyun-woo laughed around a mouthful of chips, leaning slightly against her shoulder. “You’re getting way too into this. It’s a tutorial boss, Euryale. It’s literally designed for toddlers.”
“Shut up! This thing moves like it has a personal vendetta against me!” she snapped, though the corners of her lips were twitching upward. After the absolute, blood-soaked chaos of the last few days, yelling at a bunch of pixels was surprisingly therapeutic.
Hyun-woo ignored her outburst and looked around the room. “You know, I never would have guessed that you were an otaku.”
She ignored him, too engrossed in the game.
She had set up the new BRX console just twenty minutes ago. The room smelled faintly of snacks and the sweet, soothing floral scent that always lingered in the treehouse.
Then, from the floor below—the shared living area where the others had gathered—the muffled voices started drifting upward.
At first, it was just low, tense conversation. Then—
CRACK. THUMP.
The floorboards vibrated. Euryale paused the game for a second, her ears twitching. All of her snake-hair suddenly turned to stare at the floor. Hyun-woo raised an eyebrow, a potato chip halfway to his mouth.
“...What was that?”
Euryale shrugged, popping a chip into her own mouth. “Probably Stheno suplexing the new girl. Unpause it.”
The voices grew louder, carrying easily through the thick living wood.
Vespera’s regal, ancient tone echoed first, vibrating with majestic indignation: “—and I shall not tolerate such barbaric disrespect! I am an Ancient Sovereign! I demand proper recognition of my station as Consort!”
Ebonara’s voice cut in sharply, dripping with unhinged, yandere venom. “Recognition?! You were crying like a kicked hatchling five minutes ago when Stheno pulled you off him! The only thing I recognize is that you’re breathing my cutie pie's air, you overgrown gecko!”
Another THUMP, followed by the distinct sound of heavy wooden furniture scraping violently across the floor.
Stheno laughed, loud and mocking. “Hah! Look at the 'Sovereign' acting all high and mighty now! Ten minutes ago she was leaking tears everywhere. ‘Ohhh, it’s so cold without his warmth!’ Pathetic lizard.”
“I-I was not leaking!” Vespera’s voice cracked, her regal composure instantly shattering into a defensive squeak. “My eyes were merely… performing an ancient draconic cleansing ritual! You brute!”
Medusa’s cooler voice joined in, sounding incredibly exhausted and thoroughly done. “Stheno, put down the coffee table. Ebonara, stop drooling acid on my Persian rug. And all of you, stop destroying my house. If you want to murder each other over the human, take it out to the courtyard.”
Hyun-woo stared at the ceiling, trying and failing to suppress a massive grin. “They’re really going at it down there…”
Euryale snorted, aggressively button-mashing again to resume her boss fight. “Let them. It’s Darwinism at work. Whoever survives gets to do the dishes.”
A loud crash echoed from below, followed by Vespera’s deeply offended shout: “Unhand my tail, you psychotic scorpion! That is an affront to my royal personage!”
“You were rubbing your massive tits all over his arm earlier!” Ebonara roared back, her voice echoing with terrifying, obsessive rage. “I saw you trying to scent him! I’ll peel your scales off and make him a pair of boots!”
“Try it, bug! I will burn you to—ow! OW! My hair! Stheno, release my hair!”
BANG. CRASH. HISS.
Hyun-woo winced as a small cloud of dust fell from the ceiling onto his controller. “Should we… maybe go check on them? Medusa sounded pretty mad about the rug.”
Euryale didn’t even blink, her eyes glued to the TV. “Nope. They’ll sort it out. Or they’ll burn the tree down and we die. Either way, I’m not moving until I beat this stupid boss.”
Hyun-woo chuckled, completely desensitized to the madness, and leaned back, sitting shoulder to shoulder with her. “You know, for someone who supposedly hated the human world at first, you’re getting really comfortable with video games.”
“Shut up and drop some heals, idiot,” Euryale grumbled, her cheeks dusting with a faint pink.
Downstairs, the argument descended into absolute slapstick chaos.
“He loves me more anyway!” Vespera wailed, her voice fully transitioning from 'Ancient Terror' to 'Crying Middle-Schooler'. “Waaaaah! You are all bullies! I am going up there to tell Consort Hyun-woo!”
“IF YOU TAKE ONE STEP UP THOSE STAIRS I WILL FEED YOU YOUR OWN HORNS!” Ebonara shrieked.
“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME!” Stheno bellowed.
Hyun-woo shook his head with a fond, exasperated smile, ignoring the sound of what was definitely a priceless vase shattering on the floor below, along with the sound of Medusa grabbing both her sister and Ebonara. While He ignore/d it after that just focused back on the TV screen.
“Peace and quiet,” he muttered sarcastically, mashing the heal button.
Euryale smirked as she pressed a power-up. “Trust me. This is peace and quiet compared to the last few days.”
“True.”
And he didn’t argue.
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