Delusion

"That blasted son of a whore! I'll see him, and every single one of those women reduced to slaves...!"

After recovering from the severe beating Paul had given him, the obese Merchant, better known as Dalon Eudigrass, immediately reported him to the soldiers responsible for Sharia's protection. Unfortunately, while they would intervene in ongoing disputes, they had absolutely no obligation to track down and hold people accountable for altercations that occurred in private. They may have acted if Paul and his group had trashed the store or killed a bunch of people, but they had merely beaten up Dalon and a few of his bodyguards.

Dissatisfied with the response of the town guard, Dalon reached out to his connections in the Sharian underground to obtain information on Paul and his group. He didn't know Paul's name, but there was no way the criminal underworld would ignore someone sauntering about in expensive clothing and an entourage of beautiful women following after him.

Since the town guard was unwilling to act at his behest, Dalon decided to place a hit on Paul and his entourage. However, instead of asking them to be killed, he wanted Paul's Party captured and branded as slaves. He had always hated handsome and muscular men for trying too hard, so once he got his hands on Paul, Dalon intended to have his arms and legs drawn off by horses before healing him up and forcing him to couple with a bunch of livestock to survive. All the while, he would be there with Paul's women, forcing them to serve him unless they wanted to witness their former man being butchered like a pig.

Enchanted by his own delusions, Dalon failed to notice a strange rippling spreading across the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room he was waiting in. It was the fire spontaneously going out in the hearth that brought him back to his senses, his multi-layered gaining several additional layers as he adopted an angry glower and bellowed, "What's the meaning of this!? Someone get in here and stoke the bloody hearth...!"

Pushing himself to his feet with a tremendous amount of effort, Dalon was about to depart the room when a faint but familiar thud reached his large-lobed ears. When he turned both his head and body to get a better look, he could see a large gold coin glistening within the extinguished fireplace.

"What in the blazes...?"

Walking towards the hearth, Dalon was about to grab the fire poker when several more thuds and a few metallic chimes forced his attention back to the hearth. There, he saw several additional gold coins raining down from the chimney, quickly forming a small pile just as someone knocked on the door, asking, "Master Dalon, may I enter?"

Recognizing the voice as his contact with the underground, the pupils of Dalon's beady green eyes contracted to fine points as he shouted, "Wait a moment! I'm in the middle of something...!"

Fearing that his contact might get greedy upon witnessing dozens, if not hundreds of gold coins pouring in from the chimney, Dalon removed one of his many coats to create a makeshift rucksack. Before he could locate something to extract the gold coins safely, however, another loud knock broke his concentration.

Interrupting whatever the person on the other side of the door wanted to say, Dalon bellowed, "I said give me a bloody moment, you mangey cur! If you're in that much of a hurry, then away with you...!"

Reasoning he could treat any minor burns using Healing Magic, Dalon threw caution to the wind as he began scooping out handfuls of gold coins from the hearth. They were much hotter than he anticipated, but their texture and weight within his hands brought an avaricious smile to Dalon's face as he continued to scoop up more and more gold coins...

Just as Dalon was about to remove another layer of his clothes to try and catch the gold coins pouring from the chimney, the door to his room burst open to reveal his informant and several horrified servants.

"Dalon!? Have you completely lost your senses, you beer-bellied fool!?"

Clutching the gold coins to his chest, Dalon screamed, "It's mine! It's all mine! Get out...!"

Ignoring Dalon's shout, one of the servants stepped forward to strike him with a Water Ball. When he did, Dalon's expression became incomparably fierce as he extended his left hand towards the group and shouted, "Let the great protection of fire be on the place thou seekest! I call forth the bold heat of a torch here and now! Fireball...!"

Stepping forward to cut the cannonball-sized sphere of flame in two, the informant from the underground shouted, "He's been bewitched! Quickly! Douse the flames and knock the bastard unconscious...!"

Countermanding the man's orders, Dalon screamed, "Kill this traitorous bastard...!" in a commanding tone. Nearly all of his servants were marked with Slave Crests, so unless they wished to suffer an excruciating amount of pain, they were compelled to obey his orders.

"You moth-"

Before the informant could curse Dalon, one of the slave-turned-servants behind him promptly smashed a vase into the back of his head. It wasn't enough to knock the man out, but it was more than enough to create a window of opportunity for the other slaves and servants to beat and kick him to death. All while their master watched on from afar, his flesh hissing and searing away as he clung to several pieces of fiery timber...

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Watching as Dalon's shop slowly burned despite the efforts of several people to extinguish it, Lynette's brilliant purple eyes, hidden behind a pure white mask, didn't so much as waver. Dalon had been on her list of potential targets for quite some time. The moment Ghislaine informed her about what had transpired earlier that day, Dalon's numbered days had been reduced to hours.

Noticing Lynette perched atop a roof, one of the soldiers assisting with the fire pointed her out, shouting, "It's the Hoodwink Killer! Don't let them get away...!"

Instead of immediately running away, Lynette performed a theater bow before squatting down and leaping impossibly high into the sky. From the perspective of others, she had taken flight, her figure ascending at a rate nearly impossible for the eye to follow. In actuality, the version of her that had rocketed into the sky was an illusion. The real Lynette was standing in the crowd of bystanders that had gathered to witness the blaze from afar, her expression and eyes as impassive as the mask her alter ego typically wore...

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Hearing the fire bells ringing in the distance, Paul's almost machine-like movements gradually slowed as he raised his body from the petite, blue-haired girl pinned beneath him. When he did, the tensions in Xiangling's body immediately relaxed, her chest heaving as she went slacker than a marionette with its strings cut.

Returning his attention to the loveable blunette, an ostensibly apologetic smile developed across Paul's face as he asked, "Was I too rough...?"

Though her amber eyes were completely unfocused, Xiangling still had enough mental clarity to shake her head and lazily drone, "No...you were great..." as her body continued to twitch against her will.

"Mmm..."

Grabbing Xiangling's knees, Paul was tempted to push them up to her shoulders and give her another good dicking but quickly decided against it. Xiangling had attained her second Constellation, but she hadn't trained that much over the past couple of years. Her strength and stamina were a lot higher than the average person's, but three to four hours of passionate fucking were pretty much her limit.

Extricating himself from the petite blunette's fiery depths, a perk of her affinity with the Pyro Element, Paul laid next to Xiangling before caressing her Pyro Conversion Seal and asking, "Have I ever told you how beautiful you look in the afterglow of our lovemaking...?"

Though it was partially due to his Demon Eyes of X-Ray Vision allowing him to see a broader spectrum than ordinary people, Paul really did think Xiangling looked even more beautiful after a good dicking. Her skin would radiate a faint but noticeable red glow, and if he stared into the depths of her amber eyes, it was possible to make out tiny flakes of Pyro Elemental Energy blinking in and out of existence...

Too tired to speak, Xiangling just rolled toward Paul and nestled closer to him. She knew it wouldn't be long before their time alone came to an end, so she wanted to cherish it as much as possible.

Pulling the noticeably warmer girl into his embrace, Paul planted a kiss on Xiangling's head before combing his fingers through the longer strands of her blue hair. She kept most of her hair pretty short, but, much like Ganyu, Xiangling had a long tuft of hair that extended past the small of her back. It was what allowed her to tie up her hair into two tiny, bow-like braids, a style she persistently sported in remembrance of her mother...

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"I'm not sure how long we'll be gone, but I can't imagine it taking longer than a week."

As Paul had already explained his intentions the previous day, Amalie just nodded her head before handing him a large basket filled with bread and cheese. Esme, however, chimed, "Can Esme come with, nya? Esme wants to see outside, nya~!"

Before Amalie could shut her daughter down, Paul beat her to the punch, ruffling the excitable cat girl's hair as he stated, "You can go outside when you graduate from the Academy. Until then, be a good daughter and help your mother around the house. If she goes into labor, she only has you to rely on to send for help."

Though she was a little disappointed she couldn't go outside and play, Esme didn't try to argue with Paul. Her mother had told her multiple times to listen to everything he said, so she just nodded her head and declared, "Esme is a good daughter, nya~!"

After offering a soft chuckle, Paul retracted his hand from Esme's head and said, "Great. Then we'll be sure to bring back plenty of presents. If I find out you slacked off though...no presents for Esme."

With one of the most betrayed looks Paul had ever seen on a young girl's face, Esme startled before insisting, "Esme is a good girl, nya! Super good girl, nya!"

Chuckling a second time, Paul pulled his hand from the panicked cat girl and said, "I have no doubts. Because of that, I prepared this in advance."

Pulling out a tiny bag of hard candies, Paul passed them to wide-eyed Esme as he added, "Make sure to share them with your friends, okay? The goodest of girls would never try to keep everything for themselves."

Furrowing her brows, Esme wanted to protest because most of the other children had actively bullied her. There were a few she was friendly with, but they stopped playing with her once her daddy disappeared. However, since Paul was telling her to share, Esme decided she would at least try to be friendly with those her mother hired to help clean the bakery.

"Okay...nya..."

Feeling a little guilty after seeing Esme in such low spirits, Paul's smile became wry as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a second bag of candy, stating, "These you don't have to share..."

Regaining her usual vigor, Esme promptly snatched the second bag of candies before performing a merry jig and singing, "Nyahahaha~! Uncle Paul is the greatest, nya~!"

Though he took exception to being referred to as an uncle, Paul just offered another soft chuckle before nodding toward Amalie and saying, "Take care of yourself. And see you in a few days."

Restraining the urge to bow, Amalie returned a polite nod of her own as she said, "May the Spirit of the Beast God bless you and your companions during your hunt..."

Hearing her mother's words, Esme decided to offer some of her own, happily shouting, "Good luck, Uncle Nya~!"

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