Echoes of the Past

After letting his thoughts wander for the better part of twenty minutes, Paul decided to ask a question that had been on his mind since Kishirika's unexpected appearance, questioning, "What's with the bodysuit? Didn't like the clothes I purchased for you...?"

Instead of immediately responding to Paul's question, Kishirika climbed atop his lap. Paul exhaled through his nose as she did so, but he made no attempts to stop her. There was a good chance they would be spending the next three years together, so, as per usual, he had decided to just go with the flow.

After making herself comfortable, Kishirika adopted a shark-toothed smile as she remarked, "Humans are always so quick to adapt. A few hours ago, you could barely even look at me. Now I'm straddling you, and you're just accepting it without batting an eye..."

"..."

Deciding not to press Paul too much, Kishirika punctuated her statement with a snicker before answering, "Thanks to our engagement, I was able to enter my castle for the first time in five centuries. For that, you have my gratitude."

Adopting a marginally more severe expression, Kishirika interrupted Paul's response by saying, "Unfortunately, I could only gain access to the main hall and my private quarters. The throne room and armory are guarded by Magic Armor and Anti-Magic Golems, so we'll need a substantial amount of firepower if we want to break through. As for this outfit...tell me, what do you know about the Fighting God Armor...?"

Since he had already revealed far more meaningful secrets, Paul saw no reason to foot around the issue, answering, "If I'm not mistaken, it was created by the 'original' Laplace as a weapon. I've yet to see it in action, but I know it can alter its form to suit its user and that it draws upon their Mana and vitality to sustain itself..."

Narrowing her eyes, Kishirika mused, "Good grief...the more I hear you reveal secrets you have no right knowing, the more I want to crack open your head and peer at your thoughts..."

Shaking such thoughts from her mind, Kishirika went on to say, "You're half-right. The Fighting God Armor, also known as the Golden Armor, was developed by the 'original' Laplace. However, it wasn't initially intended to be used as a weapon. After the death and subsequent sealing of Necross Lacross, we no longer had the means to mass-produce Goseki Stone, the material used to construct Fort Necross and my castle..."

Reaching her hand into her mouth, Paul was reminded that Kishirika was anything but ordinary as she seemingly reached into her stomach to pull out a tiny lump of golden metal. She snickered in response to the look on his face but didn't linger on it as she held up the globule of golden metal, kneading it between her thumb and index finger as she explained, "This is actually a Slime, albeit one that was produced artificially. I'm sure you've heard of Metal Slimes, right? The ones that occasionally appear in mines with rich mineral veins...?"

With Paul nodding his head, Kishirika inserted a thread of Mana into the lump of shimmering gold, shaping it into various key-like shapes as she explained, "This was initially intended to be a self-repairing material that was resistant to both physical and magical attacks. It can freely change shape depending on the will of its user, so, to prevent people from using it as a weapon, Laplace gave it the property of absorbing Mana and draining the life force of the user..."

Before Kishirika could continue any further, Paul furrowed his brows and asked, "Okay, so why did you have a piece of it inside you...?"

"Uh..."

Realizing how her actions could be misconstrued, a few beads of sweat appeared on Kishirika's brow as she said, "Don't misunderstand. I wasn't trying to scheme against you or anything. Badi gave it to me shortly after my revival. I use it to escape prison cells and break into places protected by physical locks."

Exhaling through his nose, Paul closed his eyes and asked, "Let me guess. You forgot it was still in your stomach...?"

Scratching the back of her head, Kishirika laughed nervously instead of answering Paul outright. She couldn't bring herself to admit that it had, in fact, slipped her mind...

Deciding to deflect back to the previous topic, Kishirika said, "Anyways, where were we? I believe we were talking about the Golden Armor and the reason I'm wearing this outfit?"

Seeing no reason to press the matter further, Paul nodded his head and replied, "Something like that."

Regaining her toothy grin, Kishirika elected to continue where she left off, stating, "It was Badi who first proposed using the metal to outfit members of the Immortal Demon Tribe. Laplace reluctantly agreed, so he began to develop prototypes based on ancient Dwarven technology. When I found out what he was working on, I nagged him to create a suit of armor for my personal use. That's where this outfit comes in."

While pulling at the remarkably elastic fabric of her plugsuit, Kishirika's smile widened as she explained, "Though I possess a form of immortality, it's nowhere near as perverse as that of the Immortal Demon Tribe. This garment is designed to restrict the amount of skin exposed to the metal at any given moment. Unfortunately, while I was able to recover my armor, I passed out the moment I attempted to start it up. Bwahahahahaha~!"

"..."

Undaunted by the deadpan expression on Paul's face, Kishirika shrugged her shoulders and said, "Every time I develop a new pair of Demon Eyes, my reserves take a hit. Since I didn't have anyone actively helping me out, I had no choice but to develop my current sets of eyes just to survive. Cut me some slack, okay?"

Recalling that Kishirika had spent at least three hundred years wandering around on her own, and that was just her current life, Paul exhaled a sigh and adopted an apologetic expression. Before he could even think to say he was sorry, however, Kishirika rolled her eyes and said, "I don't need your pity. If you really want to help me out, close your eyes, pretend I'm your favorite woman and shoot a few out in my butt. We might not be able to use my front until you defeat Badi, but my back door is always open."

Though he did close his eyes, Paul only did so to exhale through his nose. Afterward, he opened them to stare into Kishirika's as he replied, "I need time...even having you sit on my lap is already stressing me out more than you can imagine..."

Furrowing her brows, Kishirika resisted the urge to ask why. Instead, she reminded him, "I need your seed to accelerate my growth, and you need to have sex with me if you want to absorb my essence. With your unique ability, you should be doing everything you can to absorb the essence of as many notable individuals as possible. Trust me when I say everything would be for naught if you died before reaching your full potential..."

As someone that had died dozens of times, Kishirika was something of an expert on the subject of wasted potential. She was also afraid that Badi or Hitogami would conspire to kill Paul before she could enjoy her newfound freedom, so even if she had to reduce herself to behaving like a common harlot, she was determined to help her newly acquired fiance increase his strength before their inevitable encounter.

Unbeknownst to Kishirika, her words reminded Paul of the substantial burden he carried on his shoulders. He really didn't want to admit it, but there was a considerable amount of truth contained in Kishirika's words. If he ended up dying just because he was unwilling to accept power that was practically being handed to him, he was far from the only person that would pay the price...

Just as Paul was seriously considering doing Kishirika in the butt, Atofe kicked open the double doors at the end of the hall, shouting, "I'm back! Did you miss me!?" at the top of her lungs.

Since she could tell that Paul was teetering on the edge, Kishirika couldn't help clicking her tongue as she half-turned to shout, "You damned muscle head! Couldn't you have come back just a few minutes later!?"

Ignoring Kishirika's remark, Atofe made her way over to the throne in broad, confident strides as she said, "I informed my men that your lady friends were off-limits. Anyone that attempts to lay a hand on them will have to answer to me, so you shouldn't have to worry too much."

Having reached the foot of the throne, Atofe frustrated Kishirika further by grabbing the violet-haired Demoness's horn and abruptly tossing her to the side. She still hadn't forgiven Kishirika for her prolonged absence, so until the former Empress had proven her worth, Atofe had no intention of deferring to her.

Though she was uninjured by Atofe tossing her to the side, Kishirika flared up and shouted, "You blue-skinned ingrate! Just who do you think you're tossing-"

Seeing Atofe pull aside her panties to sit on Paul's cock, Kishirika's words trailed off, her brow twitching violently as her former friend gazed back at her with a teasing smile and narrowed eyes.

Averting her eyes from Kishirika, Atofe looked up at Paul, her arms linked around his neck as she said, "I also told them you'd be training under me these next three years. However, my lessons don't come free. You'll need to 'earn' them by doing me favors, providing me gifts, or letting me get off with your body. Do we have an agreement?"

Without waiting for Paul's response, Atofe began rocking her hips with a confident grin on her face. Her inner walls began to twist and contract as she did, compelling Paul to clench his teeth and hold her waist in a futile attempt to prevent her from moving.

Interrupting Atofe's crack at an accord, Kishirika yanked the blue-skinned Demoness's silvery-white hair with enough force to jerk her head back as she growled, "You had your turn. Piss off...!"

Leaving Paul with a stupefied expression on his face, Kishirika punctuated her words by flinging Atofe by her hair. He knew Kishirika was significantly more powerful than a human, capable of lifting hundreds of kilograms, but he never expected to see her ragdoll someone like Atofe...

Adding to Paul's incredulity, Atofe climbed to her feet and departed the hall without so much as a word of retaliation. Her zombie-like movements made it apparent that Kishirika had done 'something,' so his body tensed when the impish Demoness turned toward him with hazy purple eyes and yellow, heart-shaped pupils.

Noticing Paul's reaction, Kishirika closed her eyes and exhaled a sigh as she said, "Relax. Demon Eyes of Affection can only affect one person at a time. I need two just to confuse Atofe, so I couldn't use them against you even if I wanted to..."

Opening her eyes, Kishirika stared directly at Paul as she added, "Besides, you're the one that granted me freedom. I'm not going to compromise our developing relationship by trying to control you against your will. I may be a Demon, but I'm not a monster..."

Exhaling through his nose, Paul sat a little straighter and said, "Atofe isn't going to be happy when she regains her senses..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Kishirika adopted a confident smile as she said, "Let me worry about that. For now, let's continue where we left off. Don't pretend you weren't about to give in. You're ten thousand years too young to try and pull one over on me."

Instead of immediately refuting Kishirika's words, Paul gave her immature figure a once over, his expression diminishing as he did so. It didn't help that Kishirika reacted by half-turning and giving her butt, accentuated by her formfitting outfit, a few playful smacks...

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