Chapter 171: The Midnight Conflict And The Impossible Mission!
Throughout the night, that information remained in Neve’s mind.
Maren is able to use dark magic. Well, the former Maren in this beastworld world. But this version of Maren, the one currently living in the beast world, did something different with his power.
Instead of using other beastmen’s life force the way some dark magic users might, Maren used his own life energy. He deliberately shared his own life force with his mother to make sure she could survive. According to what Popi had heard from Varek, Maren had been keeping his mother alive for years by sacrificing his own vitality.
That was a completely different kind of power. That was sacrifice. That was love in its purest form or maybe he was doing it for a different reason.
Neve turned his head and stared at Popi sleeping peacefully next to him, a small stone hovering in her hand. She was still practicing her telekinesis even in her sleep. Her power was becoming more natural.
A small smile tugged at Neve’s lips watching her.
He carefully pulled the stone from her hand so it would not roll away and hurt her. He tossed it gently away from where she was sleeping.
He sighed and closed his eyes to sleep, trying to find some rest after an exhausting day.
But then Skarr’s voice echoed in his head, loud and insistent.
"So, what are you going to do?" Skarr asked impatiently. "Are you finally going to let me kill Zyreth? Are you finally ready to accept my help?"
Neve furrowed his brows and tightened his eyes shut. He wanted to pretend he did not hear Skarr just say that. He wanted to ignore the voice in his head.
But Skarr would not let him rest.
"Should I just take over your body and do it myself?" Skarr said, his tone becoming aggressive. "It’s even my body originally. Why don’t I just take over and do what I want? Do you think staying here and watching you and those beastmen doing filthy things makes me feel good? Do you think I enjoy being trapped inside you?"
Neve immediately opened his eyes, frowning at the accusation.
"Don’t do that," Neve said firmly. "Do not take over my body. Do not do anything without my permission."
"Don’t do that? But it’s my body!" Skarr argued, his voice filled with frustration and rage. "Why don’t I just take over my body and do what I want? Why should I have to listen to you? You’re just living in my body. Why can’t I have control?"
"What do you want from me?" Neve asked, trying to reason with the dark magic user. "What will it take for you to stop pressuring me about this?"
"I need a new body," Skarr said bluntly. "I need to be free from being trapped inside you. I need to have my own form. And I want to be with a female. Someone like Popi. Someone strong and useful."
Neve’s eyes snapped open at that statement.
"There is no way on earth and whatever this world is called that I’m letting you lay your filthy fingers on Popi," Neve said coldly. His voice carried absolute conviction and protective fury.
Skarr was silent for a moment, but Neve doubted he had actually listened to what was just said. The dark magic user probably had his own plans regardless of Neve’s objections.
Neve just groaned and shut his eyes to sleep, trying to force himself to rest despite the turmoil in his mind.
.
.
The next morning, Neve went on with his usual day.
Popi was tired from her training and was still sleeping when Neve sneaked out to check on Maren’s mother. He was munching on some fruit as he walked when he noticed something.
Everyone was looking at him. Everyone was pointing at him. Everyone was whispering behind their hands.
He could tell he was being talked about. The rumors were spreading. The whispers were growing.
The three beastmen that had died in the forest yesterday could somehow be connected to him. That was probably what they were thinking about. That was what the whispers were saying.
He frowned and tightened his grip around the fruit when he remembered exactly who those bastards were. They had wanted to assault him. They had wanted to hurt him. They had wanted to do the same things to him that they had almost done to Popi.
He snapped his neck to the side, glaring hard at the gossiping beastmen with pure hatred in his eyes.
Those beastmen deserved whatever came for them. They deserved to die a thousand times over if possible. Neve could understand now why they were in the outcast territory. It was the perfect prison for them. Somewhere away from the other civilized beastmen. Somewhere isolated where their crimes could not harm others.
He ignored their stares and went straight to the hut where Maren’s mother was resting. He looked at the woman closely and folded his hands, making a decision.
"Since I’ve gotten Maren’s attention and support, I have to speed up her recovery," he said to himself, cracking his fingers to prepare for intensive treatment.
"So, you initially slowed her recovery?" Maren asked as he entered the hut.
Neve flinched as he looked toward the entrance. In that moment, he would have flinched and trembled if he did not know who Maren really was. But since Maren was on his side, Neve just turned to the shark king and waved a hand casually.
"Good morning," Neve said, trying to appear relaxed.
Maren smirked and lowered his head once in greeting.
"Morning," he said and walked past Neve to take a proper look at his mother’s face. His expression was tender as he gazed at her resting form.
"I thought if I slowed her treatment, I would get to spend more time talking with you," Neve explained. "I needed to gain your attention to convince you to help me and the others escape. And at the same time, I wanted to prevent any war that Zyreth was planning to start."
Maren nodded in understanding.
"Well, since you’re not going yet, you should still slow her treatment," Maren said.
Neve raised a brow, surprised by the suggestion.
"What? Why would you want me to slow it down?"
"Trust me, if my mother starts walking again and recovers completely, Zyreth would begin the war immediately," Maren explained. "He’s been planning for years. He doesn’t need any extra time for preparation. The moment he thinks your work is done, he’ll move forward with his revenge against Vaelthorn."
He looked away from his mother’s sleeping face.
"And also, I’m trying not to fail the mission given to me by the system," Maren said. "Multiple missions actually. I need to complete them all."
"What is your mission?" Neve asked curiously.
"Well, I have a bunch of them," Maren said, his expression becoming thoughtful. "Save my mother. Prevent the war between the tribes. And an incomplete mission that I can’t fully read. The system message got corrupted or something. All I can see is: Save everyone and ****** ** *****. The rest is just censored symbols."
Neve’s mind worked through the information.
"Save everyone?" Neve muttered. "What if there are really others from earth here? What if the mission is for you to find them and save them? Save them from what though? From who? I can’t figure out what the other part says either."
Maren nodded, clearly relieved that Neve understood his confusion.
"That’s what I thought too," Maren said. "What about you? What are your missions? What does the system want you to do?"
Neve took a deep breath before answering.
"Well," Neve said. "I have to bond with ten beastmen and somehow make them all my mates. Surprisingly, you are among those ten. And I also have a much bigger mission."
Maren’s eyes narrowed with curiosity.
"What kind of mission?"
"I have less than five years to build a tribe of two hundred people," Neve said quietly.
Maren burst into laughter at the absurdity of the statement.
"You came into this world as a gay?" Maren asked, finding humor in the situation.
"Well, no. I’ve always been one," Neve said. "But the system and this world is so keen on turning me into a man slut."
He shook his head at the ridiculousness of it all.
"And also, I have less than five years to complete this tribe mission. Do you understand how impossible that is?"
"Five years? That’s a long time and also..." Maren trailed off thoughtfully. "200? If I’m still in this world by then, I’ll join you. I’ll become part of your tribe. I’ll help you build it."
"No, not like that," Neve said and stroked his stomach gently. He lifted his shirt slightly to show the slight swell of his pregnant belly.
Maren’s eyes dropped to the stomach and his jaw dropped open.
"Don’t tell me..."
"Yes, I have to give birth to two hundred within five years," Neve said flatly. "That’s essentially the mission. Create two hundred people through my womb within a five-year timeframe."
"That’s a deathwish," Maren said, his voice filled with shock. "That’s practically impossible! No one’s body could handle that. You would tear apart from the inside. You would die from the strain."
Before Neve could open his mouth to respond, before he could explain the complexities of his situation, someone interrupted.
"Impossible?" a voice asked from the entrance.
Zyreth stepped into the hut, his presence immediately making the air feel heavy and dangerous.
The two of them suddenly froze as their eyes went straight to the snake king. Neve’s heart jumped into his throat. How much had Zyreth heard?
Zyreth tilted his head, a smirk playing at his lips.
"Let’s hear what is impossible," he said, his voice dripping with curiosity and a hint of threat.