Chapter 41: Fragments of the Fox
Yuki leaned back into the soft chair with a satisfied smile. Two fluffy tails rested against her shoulders.
One carried a faint pink hue, while the other was as clear and pure as flowing water. They gently rubbed against her as she narrowed her eyes in contentment.
"Wow. Master is finally taking the matter of taming her husband into her own hands," the pink tail laughed. "When you meet him, let’s drain him dry, Master. With your mouth~"
"Sister, you’re so horny..." the youngest tail muttered, sounding completely flustered.
"Am I?" Seduction asked innocently.
Yuki’s lips slowly curled upward. The moment they saw that smile, both tails froze.
They knew that expression.
Whenever their master smiled like that, someone was about to become the victim of one of her absurd plans.
The two tails shivered.
Who was the unlucky one this time?
"My strength will be sealed into the nine of you," Yuki said calmly. "And I will participate as an Adept Mage."
Silence.
Then both tails nearly jumped out of their fur. "Absolutely not, Master!" they shouted at the same time.
Yuki had the ability to distribute her strength among her nine tails and create physical bodies for them.
If those bodies were destroyed, the power would simply return to her.
But if her real body was destroyed...
The consequences would be completely different.
Her power would disappear, and her soul would suffer severe damage, forcing her into a deep sleep until she recovered.
Normally, that was not a concern. There wasn’t a single mage in this world capable of harming her true body.
But sealing away her power and walking around as a mere Adept Mage?
That was madness.
"Why do you have to seal your powers, Master?" the youngest tail asked anxiously. "It’s fine if you want to participate. Just hide your strength. Why go this far?"
Yuki gently closed her eyes.
"I performed a divination," she said softly. "A catastrophe will befall me. Something so terrible that... I may want to kill myself."
The room became silent.
"But..." A soft smile appeared on her face. "He will help me."
The playful tone vanished from Seduction’s voice. "If something that dangerous is going to happen, shouldn’t you face it at full strength?" she asked seriously.
The youngest tail immediately nodded in agreement.
Yuki rested her chin on her hand and smiled dreamily.
"But wouldn’t it be more sensational if I were a damsel in distress and he were a knight in shining armor?"
She sighed happily. "I really want to experience what it feels like to be rescued."
The two tails froze in midair.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
They turned to stare at each other. Then they looked back at Yuki.
"Master..." they asked in unison. "Don’t tell us you’re a masochist..."
A deep blush spread across Yuki’s cheeks as her lips parted. Her breathing quickened and she appeared to be someone out of breath.
But this someone was enjoying being choked.
The answer was obvious. The two tails felt their world collapse. Their master’s wild fantasies had awakened because of a man.
What was that human even?
And what about them?
They were the poor, innocent, virgin tails who had stayed beside their master for countless years. Now they were about to become third wheels in some strange and kinky romance.
"What’s kinky about it?" Yuki frowned. "I’m merely interested in draining his lifespan, you know. It’s not easy for an Origin Nine-Tailed Fox to give up her virginity, even if he’s someone special in my recovery."
Seduction and the Youngest Tail instantly deflated.
"Ohhhhh..." they sighed together, sounding genuinely disappointed.
Yuki narrowed her eyes.
"What?" she asked slowly. "Did my virgin tails actually want to get ’railed’ by a man?"
"If Master allows it~" Seduction replied without a hint of shame.
"If... if I become an adult..." the Youngest Tail added with an embarrassed nod.
A smile appeared on Yuki’s lips. It never reached her eyes.
"How about that man?" she asked softly.
Her voice was gentle.
Too gentle.
The two tails froze.
"M-Mm, I think I’m still not an adult..." the Youngest Tail blurted out before immediately lowering her tip.
"Haha... I’ve suddenly remembered how much I enjoy being single..." Seduction laughed awkwardly as she slowly collapsed behind Yuki’s chair.
Yuki nodded thoughtfully.
"True. Now that I think about it, I don’t want to share my juice box."
She rested her chin on her hand and smiled.
"So the offer is no longer valid."
"He’s for me alone to dry out~"
*
* *
"Achoo!" Rhys rubbed his nose and frowned. "Who the hell is badmouthing me? It has to be that idiot from the street..."
He grumbled as he sat cross-legged on his bed.
It had been three weeks. Three weeks of nonstop farming. Finally, it was time to check his harvest.
A grin slowly spread across his face as he summoned his lifespan status.
[CurrentLifespan:8Years∣322,146,884,684Days( 882.04MillionYears)]
"Holy fuck..." Rhys swallowed hard.
He had enough lifespan to cast thirty-two Archmage spells. And that was assuming he used actual Archmage spells.
With the Crown of Force, he could produce power equal to, or even beyond, an Archmage spell as long as his conviction was strong enough.
He stared at the status screen for several seconds. Had he really become one of the strongest people in this world already?
The image of the fake sect master suddenly appeared in his mind.
"System," he asked quietly, "how strong is she? Can I beat her?"
The system remained silent for a moment. Then the familiar voice echoed in his mind.
[That depends. She is too strange. I am certain she does not originate from the Systemverse. Her strength is both immeasurable and constantly changing. At one moment, she appeared comparable to Mother. At another, she appeared to be an ordinary Initiate Mage. However, one thing is certain: she is injured. And she is dying.]
"Dying?"
The word slipped out before Rhys could stop himself. A dull ache spread through his chest. He frowned.
Why?
He barely knew her. They had never interacted. He certainly was attracted to her. But it wasn’t love.
So why did hearing that make him feel so uncomfortable? Rhys kept those thoughts to himself. He didn’t want the system getting the wrong idea.
His mind drifted to the words spoken by the Celestial Origin.
Was there really some unknown connection between him and that woman?
He didn’t know. But one thing was certain.
What he felt wasn’t lust. And it wasn’t love either.
The system continued.
[She is surviving by devouring the lifespan of others. Her body has already become irreversibly corrupted. At this rate, she will eventually lose her sanity. Fortunately, she is strong enough that such a thing should be impossible.
Unless someone gains control over her consciousness...]
Rhys froze.
The territory core of the Eighth Peak flashed through his mind.
"Wait," he said slowly. "You mean the nine tails?"
[Correct. The nine tails are fragments of her consciousness. It appears she has already unchained two of them. Unless all nine consciousness fragments are reunited with her true body, they will continue to exist independently. They possess separate personalities and identities. However, they are ultimately nothing more than divided aspects of her original self.]
Rhys felt a chill crawl down his spine.
"So if someone gains control over those consciousness fragments..."
The system fell silent for a brief moment. Then it answered.
[They would gain control over her. Such a thing is impossible to happen to her. You don’t have to worry...]
Yet, he couldn’t help but feel worried...
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