by Jason Hale
The ten high-level True Knights shot toward the duo at close to the speed of sound. But seeing their incoming forms, Konnor was unafraid. He extended his right hand and muttered.
"Ecstasy Clouds."
Pink colored clouds rose from his fingertips and shot toward the assailants. The eunuchs among them felt nothing, but the remaining five ladies immediately dropped limp onto the ground with their pupils dilated.
The cloud then spread toward the Grand Knight court ladies, and they too soon collapsed in the very same fashion.
"What the hell is going on?"
Seeing their companions and leaders collapsing without any form of damage or resistance, the eunuchs were too shocked to carry on with their attacks. Meanwhile, Daphne's attendants were taken aback.
"Hahahaha!"
The downed women then began giggling and wriggling on the ground with their faces showcasing soaring euphoria, causing even more confusion within the gathered individuals/
"A wise man once said that there was nothing more dreadful than a woman's fury. I disagree. If there is anything in this world I will never dread, it is a woman's fury."
Konnor complacently said and caused Ilaina's forehead to further crease.
He then pounced onto the eunuchs at close to twice the speed of sound.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM *BAM* BAM*
And sent them crashing into the opposite walls with a violent series of punches.
Chapter 16 - The Fog Thickens
The eunuchs' chests were marked with the firm imprint of Konnor's fists. Blood dripped from the corners of their lips, and their unconscious but still breathing bodies remained encased within the walls.
Now the only active presence of the assailants were the palace women that still foolishly giggled on the ground. Konnor entered the system and checked his exp count which had gone from 3515 all the way to 124015. As a second step Grand Knight of extraordinary beauty, Freya had brought 80000 exp while the three virgin priestesses had added a total of 40500.
Konnor exchanged 9000 exp for a programmable high-grade True Spatial Pouch with ten thousand square meters of space and set it up into a five stories tall twenty-first-century style white luxury mansion occupying a thousand square meters, a garden, and a massive swimming pool.
He then created a basement set up in jail cells and exited the system with an exp count of 115015.
Konnor tossed the spatial pouch into the air, causing it to fly over the defeated assailants, swallow them within, and group them in the jail cells.
Meanwhile, Daphne's personal attendants were staring slack-jawed while wondering where the lady found such a fierce creature.
"Is he lady Ilaina's secret lover?"
"It must be so!"
"Only such a handsome and outstanding man is worthy of the lady."
They concluded out loud, causing Konnor to feel even more self-satisfied and Ilaina to lose her composure.
"Come on, don't be shy. Keep praising me. It is only right for the outstanding to be praised. Go, go, go…"
He inwardly thought while adopting the stance of an expert.
"Who is whose secret lover? That scoundrel has nothing to do with me!"
Ilaina roared while aiming her quivering finger at Konnor's complacent face.
"Hum, hum. How could you say that? We've already done so many deeds together that calling you my wife wouldn't be exaggerated."
Those shameless words took Daphne's attendants aback.
"The deed has already been done? Then doesn't that mean…?"
"I didn't think lady Ilaina would be so brazen."
"I'm afraid Count Wolfgang is not going to take this kindly."
"What can he do? In any case without his son, lady Ilaina will have to soon carry on the bloodline. Might as well start now."
Ilaina was assaulted by phantasmal blows, staggered, and almost fell onto the ground.
Konnor silently recorded the merits of those attendants to make sure he could properly thank them in the future.
But now it was time to return to seriousness.
Ilaina stepped toward the attendants to ask about Daphne's condition and was relieved to know that the assassins had not managed to get to her.
"Now do you still think that the Holy Consort is not the one behind this?"
Asked Ilaina while leading the way toward Daphne's chambers. The news of her father's recent deeds had shocked her to the core of her soul, and although her relationship with that elder half-brother of hers was no good, she still felt sorry for him who in the end only wanted to defend his mother's dignity.
Her father had gone too far.
"On the contrary, I'm now convinced this has nothing to do with the Holy Consort."
"Huh?"
They had just reached the doorstep when Konnor said those words that caused Ilaina to blankly stare at him.
"Your father's move might have looked rash, but in fact its sharpness is terrifying. He not only disposed of the main pawn the Holy Consort had prepared within his house, and thus removed a concealed threat, but also drastically increased your status and value within the consort's eyes."
Although not adept of political machinations, Ilaina was a sharp woman and quickly understood what he meant.
"Before I was the illegitimate daughter of Wolfgang Kracht. Although that status is not negligible, it wields no true significance or implication. Now I am the heir to the Kracht name. If anything was to happen to me…"
"Yes, it would be an offense again the entire Uradel house of Kracht and its allies. Thus, if the Holy Consort is really a woman of wisdom and vision, I have no doubt this has nothing to do with her."
Konnor concluded in her stead.
"But…the people dispatched are all closely related to her."
"That is the confusing part. It can only mean two things. There is someone in the Holy Consort's entourage with a high enough position to make decisions in her name, who either tried to escalate the contradictions between Else's and Count Wolfgang or was genuinely angered and only wished to blindly strike back at him."
"We can get more information by interrogating Freya and the rest, but there is one thing that makes no sense. Those court ladies earlier were certain of the Holy Consort's fury. Has if they had personally witnessed it…"
"That is impossible. Most do not know this, but aside the emperor and her closest relatives, no one has ever seen the Holy Consort's face. And since she broke through the Holy Knight Rank decades ago, she has been cultivating in seclusion. All her orders are sent through proxies."
Ilaina replied to his confusion.
"What? That being the case, how do you know she's the empire's number one beauty?"
"Because man or woman, every single person that's been in her presence says the one same thing. "A transcendent beauty that holds no rival under the blue sky!""
"…"
The system was right. He had never been in the presence of the Holy Consort. The woman who had ordered the previous body's owner canned to death must have been her proxy.
Faidra and Aliki had been swindled, and for some reason, Konnor was starting to think that there was more to this story than mere lust.
...
Meanwhile, within the Holy Consort's palace, a blue-haired woman was walking in circles. If Konnor were here, he would have recognized her as the one that had his predecessor canned to death.
"Why have they not returned yet? They should have completed their tasks by now. Or did something happen to them? But how could that be?"
But as she pondered the reasons for the delay, golden light flashed within the room, and the riveting silhouette of a masked woman appeared in front of her.
Seeing that woman, the blue-haired lady immediately fell on her knees.
"Greetings your grace!"
The holy consort's glance fell on the kneeling woman and caused her to be overtaken by dread.
"Again? What is this, the second time?"
Droplets of sweat trickled on the la
dy's forehead while her entire body shook.
"Your grace has given me full authority to handle matters of political nature while your grace focuses on breaking through the next step. So, I…"
"So you had Wolfgang Kracht's only bloodline, the girl whose value has just skyrocketed, assassinated?"
The holy consort's tranquil tone only caused more dread within the blue-haired lady's unsteady heart.
"I know this may look rash, but if Wolfgang Kracht dares destroy his son for the sake of opposing your grace, then it is very likely that he wouldn't mind abandoning his daughter should the need arise. That being the case, why not push him into making the first move? He is not aware of the depth of our forces and thinks his faction can contend with us when we have more than enough resources to crush him."
"Fool. Wolfgang's threat doesn't stem from himself but from house Kvass at his back. They have always been looking for an opportunity to push him into all-out war with me. And you've almost given them that opportunity. I can only imagine how Thorwald Kvass would have mocked me…should you have been successful."
House Kvass was one of the three princely houses of the Holy Flame Empire. But unlike the other two, they were a junior house of the Von Juras, the imperial family!
And their head, Sovereign Prince Thorwald Kvass was not only a saint but also the Holy Empress' father!
"Your grace I…"
"Do you know why you're still breathing?"
"Because your grace is…"
"Because I remember your family's sacrifice to save my life. I remember your father's warm blood on my face. That is why I forgave you before. That is why I also forgive you now. But there will be no third time."
Though she spoke calmly, her voice carried an irresistible force that commanded obedience and reverence.
"Your grace I…understand."
After the last debacle, she had only barely escaped with her life and was eager to make some contribution to redeem herself. Who would have thought that in haste, she would only worsen her situation?
Chapter 17 - Awakening the Sleeping Beauty
Led by Ilaina, Konnor stepped inside Daphne's chambers. Despite her status of imperial consort, her room was plainly decorated, which made Konnor assume that just like Ilaina she was more on the reserved end.
On the queen-sized bed, the figure of a pale green haired woman could be seen. She was of slender built with long eyelashes and a perfectly carved, Greek goddess-like figure that left no room for nitpicking.
But with the seriousness of the situation, Konnor didn't have time to appreciate her beauty. Ilaina stepped toward Daphne with one of the two True Spirit Restauration pills in her hand and unceremoniously forced it down her throat.
In a heartbeat, the pill dissolved within her system, causing dark blue light to envelop her body and attack the seal affecting her mind. At the same time, Ilaina swallowed the other pill and sat cross-legged to restore her spiritual power.
"I didn't have a chance to obtain my cultivation method and physique until now. Let's get to that."
"Finally! I have a vacation to take!"
Said the exasperated system.
Konnor entered the system to cash in his cultivation method reward. He was now a fourth step Grand Knight and sixth step True Priest. That combined with his incubus bloodline gave him great potential for both the martial and spiritual paths.
But while browsing through the many Grand Level cultivation methods, he was dissatisfied. There were many excellent cultivation methods available, but none that fit his requirements. And he was about to switch to the physique category when he spotted a certain method near the end of the Grand level list.
"Hundred Flowers Scripture: High-grade Grand Martial and Spiritual dual cultivation method.
Description: Dual cultivation is often looked down on as a fast but unsteady road to power. The creator of this scripture aimed to remedy that by forging a method allowing the user to simultaneously cultivate the martial and spiritual paths to perfection through dual cultivation.
Sexual intercourse done through the use of the Hundred Flowers Scripture also enables the user to spiritually connect with his partner and maximize the benefits obtained by both.
Special Abilities: Perfect Energy Foundation<>Extreme Speed<>Empowered Senses<>Empowered Regeneration Abilities<>Light, Lightning and Nature Triple Affinity.
Upgradable Four Times.
Creator: Taltus, fourth king of hell, lord of lust, ruler of all sex demons."
A perfect fit!
Without hesitation, Konnor picked that cultivation method, causing the mnemonic to fly and appear within his mind.
He then turned his gaze toward the physique category which brimmed with many appealing techniques. However, only one could snatch his attention.
"Grand Primal Physique: Dual cultivation physique that maximizes the benefits of dual cultivation for both sides. The higher the gap in power, the more benefits the lower one receives.
Special Ability: 50% bonus in strength and 100% bonus in resilience.
"
This physique would be of paramount importance for training his army of beauties.
As far as the system was concerned, the end game was to establish a harem of ten thousand goddesses. Konnor didn't believe he could actually go out and swindle ten thousand goddesses into his harem to fit the requirement.
What he could do, however, was to train them all from scratch. The picture of Jasime then flashed within his mind, and although it had only been a few days since their encounter, he was eager to "bring her into the fold." So to speak…
He then exited the system and sat cross-legged formally start cultivating. As the owner of the system, Konnor didn't need to spend time in comprehending the mnemonics and could directly start his cultivation.
White light burst from his body, flower petals emerged from within and danced around his form while pinkish mist sprang from his pores.
Rapidly, his unsteady sky-blue streams of spiritual energy were refined with his muscles and bones being tempered and brought to a state of absolute perfection.
His shoulders grew broader, and his abs were toned to perfection while his height went from 1.78 meters to a full 1.85 meters with his entire body brimming with power and masculinity. This was the merit of the Grand Primal Physique being activated.
Thirty minutes of silent cultivation passed in a heartbeat. But Daphne and Ilaina had yet to complete their recuperation.
Konnor now had an important decision to make.
Whether or not to upgrade his bloodline?
As seen in the system beforehand, although the pureblooded incubus bloodline was of the Arch Rank and cost five hundred thousand exp, The upgrade from half to pureblooded incubus only required fifty thousand exp. With that upgrade, his power over women and fighting abilities overall were likely to soar to a terrifying level.
At the very least, he believed that below the Transcendent Rank, there was no woman he wouldn't be able to subjugate and that within the Grand Rank, men would also have to surrender their lives.
But with that great boost in power came an even greater risk. Wasn't the likelihood of his bloodline being exposed going to rise?
But as he pondered what to do, the system's voice echoed within his mind.
"You don't have to be worried. Contrary to popular belief and other demonic races, the purer the blood, the harder it is to detect incubi. Pureblooded incubi, in particular, are masters of deception. Your transformation skill will be able to trick anyone below the Holy Rank while your demonic energy signature will only be visible if you lose control of yourself…like you did before."
"So hurry up and let me go on my vacation!"
"Aren't you a robot? What kind of vacation can you take?"
"Sleeping is my vacation! All those crazy women screaming in your hands are driving me crazy! Fuck! Why did Happiness God not give me a mute button? This is outrageous!"
"Can a system go crazy?"
Konnor
was starting to think that the system was getting more "human" by the second. Perhaps one day he would pop out of his head with a body of his own!
But having been reassured by him, he no longer had any hesitation and traded the required fifty-thousand exp to upgrade his bloodline rank to pureblooded incubus. His exp count then dropped to 65015.