Reunion Pt. 3

Traveling throughout the castle, Lisa excitedly filled Exedra in on everything he'd missed in their time apart.

She expressed her difficulties in mastering lightning body, learning to use spear type weapons and even her discovery of a noble dragon's pride.

She was proudest of her mastery over lightning body, as it was incredibly difficult and painful to fully master but she accomplished it all the same.

Exedra immediately noticed how much Lisa had changed.

Her steps that were previously shy and small were now regal and confident.

Her entire presence radiated a nobility that could be felt even if one wasn't a dragon.

While she was still his loving wife, she no longer had any doubts about herself or whether she deserved to stay at his side.

Her new mindset was that she deserved everything she desired.

There was no exception.

If she wanted it, she would take it.

That was the right of the strong, and now it was her right as well.

That is what it means to have the pride of a noble dragon.

As the group walked through the castle, Exedra frowned when he realized they were heading toward an area of the castle he hardly frequented.

He was so unfamiliar with the current path, he was being led completely by Lisa toward their destination.

Arriving at a giant metal door at the end of a dark hallway, Exedra finally couldn't hold in his curiosity any further and finally asked the burning question. "What room is this?"

Lisa was seemingly in deep thought over how to answer that question as she rubbed her chin with a cute expression. "Well I guess it's her lab now?"

"Huh?"

Chuckling, Lisa decided it was better to just show her husband and she quickly opened the heavy metal door.

Screechh!!!

As the giant metal door creaked open, the entire group was assailed with the thick scent of poison and the rotting smell of death.

Seras and Exedra immediately felt their bodies tense up.

Walking through the door, Exedra flinched when he got a surprise message from the system.

< The Blessing of Maliketh, The First Abyss King, is now in effect.

- The longer you remain in death's miasma, the greater your temporary stat boost.

- 1-15 minutes : All stats +1,500

- 16-30 minutes : All stats + 5,000

- 31-45 minutes : All stats + 10,000

- 1 hour : All stats are doubled.

Almost immediately, Exedra could feel strength trickling into his body.

Seras of course noticed this change, but was much too distracted by the sight in front of her to care.

Chained to the walls all around them, were the bodies of several men.

While some were already dead, a few were still alive and looked to be in the worst pain imaginable.

Their bodies were all in various grotesque conditions, but their one common denominator was that all of their vocal cords were cut.

Exedra turned to see how Mira was handling this scene, only to see her stroking the black cat in her arms and not paying her surroundings any mind.

At the end of the room, standing beside a metal table with a man strapped to it, was Lailah who appeared to be closely examining the coloration of foam leaking from her subject's mouth.

Suddenly, a large red cobra slithered out from a dark corner and stared at the group.

Apophis stared at the group for a moment before his gaze shifted towards his mother who was once again muttering something under her breath and scribbling furiously in one of her notebooks.

'Mother, we have guests.'

"Hm?" Lailah's head snapped upwards and her heart skipped a beat as her eyes landed on her husband whom she was finally seeing after several months.

"You're back!" After her brain temporarily froze, Lailah sprinted toward Exedra and dove directly into his arms.

In a rare moment of boldness, Lailah promptly grabbed her husband by the face and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Can you guys find another way to greet eachother!!?" Seras was a second away from bursting a vein in her forehead.

Seeing that the couple was ignoring her, her frustration grew even more. 'These damn horndogs!!'

"You know, I wanted to thank you…" Lisa suddenly turned to Seras and looked at her with eyes full of gratitude.

"Eh? What the hell for?" Seras was completely taken aback.

"You may not have done it of your own volition, but you sincerely trained my husband with everything you have. I can tell just by looking at him just how strong he's become. You've given him the strength to better defend our family and I couldn't be more grateful."

As Lisa's words of gratitude sank in, Seras stared at the woman like she'd grown a second head.

Didn't she know she was conspiring to steal her husband? How could she still thank her despite that?

Isn't she a noble dragon? How could she be so humble and sincere?

Seras' mind was flooded with questions.

As she stared at this warm and sincere woman in front of her that wasn't even half her age, she started to feel like maybe just maybe… she wasn't this woman's match.

Seras wasn't sure what exactly it was but this woman in front of her possessed something the centuries had long since taken from her.

"Ahem, well I am quite the wonderful teacher… but I would be remiss if I did not give some of the credit to his immense talent. " Gradually her voice began to trail off.

"Fufufu, that may be, but if there is any way for me to repay you please let me know." Lisa gave Seras a warm and enchanting smile.

"Really?? I'd like to borrow him for a night then!"

"Over my dead body, you flat chested bitch." Lisa's smile never broke as she swiftly rejected Seras' request.

"Why you little-"

As Lisa and Seras continued their pointless argument, Exedra and Lailah finally broke their kiss and he was able to get a good look at his wife.

Even with splotches of blood on her dress, she still looked absolutely radiant and her smile of pure joy only elevated her beauty.

Checking to make sure Seras was distracted, Lailah mouthed three simple words to Exedra.

'I did it.'

Exedra's joy multiplied when he realized yet another one of his wives had evolved while he was away.

'Analyze.'

< Lailah Izanami Draven>

< Status : Happy

< Race: Animus Witch

< Age : 19

< Times Evolved: 1

< Health: 57,000

< Strength : 14,080

< Endurance : 12,711

< Agility: 15,130

< Mana : 50,000

Exedra blinked several times reading his wife's stats.

While most of her stats were low, her mana pool was tremendous.

It was almost double his!

"My wife is amazing." Exedra planted another kiss on his wife's forehead before he pulled her in for a hug.

"But what is all of this?" He finally asked about their morbid surroundings and Lailah immediately stiffened.

"This.." Lailah took a deep breath before she looked into her husband's eyes. "This is my strength."

Lailah then proceeded to explain the circumstances that led to her making the dungeon her laboratory and how all of these men ended up here.

The entire time she was explaining her aura was flickering rapidly, an indication of how nervous she was feeling.

"So… what do you think?" After she finished her explanation, she waited to see her husband's reaction with baited breath.

Exedra could only smile bitterly when he saw his wife's state.

'Just what kind of man does she think I am?'

"I'm glad you found something to make you strong my love." He smiled.

With that, Lailah unknowingly breathed a sigh of relief as a huge burden was just lifted from her shoulders.

Even if her mother in law told her that her son wouldn't care, there was still a small part of her that would always be worried.

"S-so does that mean I can show you my research?" Lailah's eyes became as big as saucers and Exedra couldn't help but think she was terribly adorable like this.

"Of course you can."

Lailah hurriedly retrieved her notebook from the table and proceeded to give Exedra a crash course in everything she'd discovered since she'd began.

-

"So, where is Bekka?" Exedra finally asked about his missing wife when they'd left Lailah's lab.

He was very curious to see how she'd been doing after their time apart and he desperately missed the feeling of having all of his wives by his side.

When Lailah and Lisa heard his question, they both gave eachother hopeless smiles before they informed him of her whereabouts.

"Well she's…"