Paladin 4: Chapter 51 (Patreon)

Darren’s eyes blazed with determination, and his boy was flush with his newfound power. Countless obstacles had barred his path, yet he overcame them. Did his mother ever think he would make it this far? Did his father?

At the very least, Kalaziel probably didn’t.

He ascended the narrow stairs back to the rest of Laura’s manner. He’d already depleted the Demonic Aura reserves she’d built up in this room, so it would be useless to him.

“I’m back,” he called out down the hall. He’d check her workshop outside if Laura wasn’t in her cabin. But he needn’t have bothered. He heard some girlish giggling down the hall just as he emerged.

Laura was in the other room playing games with someone, and the mechanical lilt in the other girl’s voice told him just who it was.

“You can’t start at level 100. That’s cheating!” Laura protested.

“I am the Dungeon Queen! All dungeons should be run by me, not some stupid demon lord!” the Dungeon Queen replied.

Laura sighed.

Darren poked around the corner to find Laura sitting in a cozy chair. Next to her was a familiar box. It was the precious game system that the Dungeon Queen had begged him not to leave behind. It seemed Laura got that working too.

Two cables came out of the box. One went to a controller in Laura’s hand, and the other vanished inside a crystalline loop studded with the strange copper designs he’d seen on many ancient items of power.

“Oh, you’re up! I just finished an hour ago.” Laura hit a button, pausing the game. She stood and waved to the pillow on which the strange crystal loop was sitting. “Darren, meet Dungeon Queen in her new housing. I thought a crown would be spiffy, so I made your quasi-genus loci into that.”

Darren bent over, leaning above the crystal loop. He picked it up, and it felt as light as a feather. Despite how light it was, though, he could sense the power within it.

Even his monstrous strength would struggle to break this item, handcrafted by the Lady of Darkness. It was a one-of-a-kind creation meant especially for him.

“It’s beautiful,” Darren said.

“Don’t you mean she’s beautiful?” The Dungeon Queen asked from within the loop.

“Sorry,” Darren said. He figured he would be talking to his crown a lot going forward. People were going to think he was crazy.

“Well, quit blue-balling me and put me on!” the Dungeon Queen asked, voice full of excitement. “Laura told me about my new primary directives. To discover your favorite foods and report them to her!”

Laura coughed.

“Oh, sorry. That was my secret directive. I’m supposed to manage the Divine Aura emanating from your area of the Sacred Seas and funnel it to you so you can use it to enhance the rest of your abilities,” the Dungeon Queen corrected. “Yep. I’m glad you chose me for this task. Imagine how boring that earlier copy of me would have been. All beep! Boop! Your Divine Aura quota has been fulfilled. Now entering sleep mode...”

The Dungeon Queen laughed, and Darren found himself smiling along.

“Just place the crown on your head, and the bonding process should begin,” Laura said. She grabbed it from his hands and stood on the tips of her toes to try to get it over Darren’s brows, though in the end, Darren had to bend over for her to reach his head. “Ha! A perfect fit. Do I have a good eye for sizes or what?”

“Yep, his head fits me perfectly!” the Dungeon Queen announced as she settled onto Darren’s brow. “I can get nice and comfy here.”

While the Dungeon Queen made a noise of contentment, Laura looked Darren up and down. He felt her eyes on him as she studied the jump in power he’d gotten from reaching the Sixth Order.

“I see my little spa served you well,” Laura said with a smile. “It looks like you managed to reach the Sixth Order after all. What aspect?”

“Vengeance.”

Laura’s eyebrows rose. “That’s a fearsome one. Perhaps you should be a demon with an aspect like that.”

Darren let out a small snort.

“Oh, I’m just playing. If you were hanging around the Seven Hells full-time, none of the lesser demons would ever be able to sleep. There are quite a few stories about you these days, you know.” Laura covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

While they spoke, the loop around Darren’s brow grew warmer. He heard a few grunts of concentration from the Dungeon Queen, so whatever she was doing was hard and getting harder.

Darren and Laura both offered what help they could, but the Dungeon Queen completed the task on her own. Eventually, Darren was greeted with a message from his sigil.

You have bonded a quasi-genus loci! You can now access Divine Aura from your domain. All your powers are dramatically enhanced when fighting near or within your domain. In addition, you will receive dramatically reduced debuffs when fighting a foe possessing a genus locus.

Be sure to travel the full scope of your domain regularly to maintain full control over it.

Note: Because you wield a quasi-genus loci, your increase in powers will be limited. To unlock the full potential of your domain and reach the Seventh Order, you must upgrade your genus loci.

Darren wasn’t worried about upgrading his new genus loci. When the time came, he could probably use his Limitless Evolution skill on it just like he did with everything else. But for now, it would let him match the power Kalaziel would have gained by bonding the Heavenly Throne.

He’d finally caught up to Kalaziel in power. If there was ever a time Darren was ready to face him, it was now. It was time for their final battle.

***

Darren left Laura and the lower levels of the Seven Hells with all haste. He had to travel the entire width and breadth of the Sacred Seas to complete the initialization and bonding process for his new genus loci. Thankfully, the journey would take him hours instead of years between his tremendous speed, his newly upgraded boots, and his extra bodies.

So he walked the surface. His footsteps took him past the towering mountains of Limedeep and the salty seas beyond them. He roamed over the great forests of Eastwood and the Northern Trade Union. He walked over the brilliant white cliffs of Whiteguard and the sandy shores of the Blackwind Empire.

Through it all, Darren felt a building sense of belonging. This realm was his to care for and his to call home. The Dungeon Queen agreed.

“Wow, the sky is a lot bluer than I imagined! I always thought that was just the lighting in video games. And look, I can even see the moon! I didn’t know the moon was real!”

“The moon is real,” Darren confirmed. He, too, had been impressed by the sky when he first emerged from his long stay in the Seven Hells.

“I’d like to stay and admire the view a little longer, but the bonding process is complete. We now have tenuous control over the Divine Aura throughout the Sacred Seas.”

“Then it is time to return to the Heavens.”

Darren had gotten a few messages from Asuriel through Cassandra. She was still in Calabor, though recent troubles had driven her away from their apartment and into hiding. Apparently, the Protectors had been disbanded. Now Order of the Rod goons were patrolling the streets of the very heavens themselves in search of her and anyone else who might be opposed to Kalaziel’s plans.

He worried for her, but Asuriel could be resourceful in her own way. He still would have rushed to help, but he wasn’t sure he knew how to. Asuriel was far more at home in the Heavens than he was, so if she said she was somewhere safe, he figured he’d just have to trust her judgment.

Meanwhile, Horon was busy gathering what protectors they could and resisting the advances of Kalaizel’s forces. Horon had lost his fight with Kalaziel before. Now that Kalaziel was bonding the Heavenly Throne and had become even more powerful, the Prime Saint of Honor knew he stood no chance against him. A new player returning to the board would turn the tide against the Prime Saint of Valor. Someone like Darren.

He returned to the capital of the Blackwind Empire, where he’d made his entrance before. He planned to cut a new Dimensional Rift and make his way into the Heavens. Then he would reunite with Asuriel and Horon and plan their next move.

But when he arrived in the Blackwind Empire, he already found it busy with activity. It looked like an entire army camped outside the city. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that was exactly what it was.

More than that, it was one of his armies. They carried his banner and everything. He even spotted the flags of the Order of the Rose among them.

He touched down in his usual spot in the city, hoping to talk with Cassandra and get a message through her mental link to Asuriel. He’d need her exact location and any information she’d gathered about the current situation before he took his troops into the heavens.

“Lady Cassandra is in the castle, your imperial highness!” A guard saluted when he asked. The man gazed at Darren with an expression of awe that he was being addressed directly. However, it was more than the look of a guardsman speaking to his emperor. He looked at Darren like he’d just met his god in the flesh.

He followed the guard’s directions and found himself in the garden cabin Thalia gave to him to avoid waking the palace staff every night. The lights were on, and he figured Cassandra was waiting for him.

“I’m back.” He swung the cabin door open and entered. He heard doors deeper within the manor swing open, followed moments later by the soft pad of several sets of bare feet.

Sasha was the first to arrive, followed a moment later by Thalia. He hadn’t expected his empress to spend time in his cabin when she had her own royal bed chambers, but he supposed she wanted to see her old friend Cassandra.

Sasha smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him tight. “We missed you, Darren. I hear you’ve had one adventure after another without us.”

“Whiteguard is finally back in order,” Thalia said. “And we’ll have a good harvest here in the Blackwind Empire.”

Darren wrapped his arms around the both of them. “I missed you both. But I need to talk to Cassandra soon to get a message to Ashe. Where is she?”

Thalia blushed. “Morning sickness.”

But moments later, the woman staggered out of the cabin, rushing forward to pull Darren into a tight embrace.

“Husband, you’re back!” Cassandra buried her cheek in his chest. Darren picked her up and kissed the center of her forehead. His eyes turned to her belly, and he realized he could see a small bump.

Looking with eyes that saw Divine Aura, he could see a tiny spirit deep within Cassandra’s womb. It was their first child.

“Hello to you as well.” Darren rested his hand on Cassandra’s belly, and for a moment, he thought he sensed a response.

Cassandra rubbed her own belly proudly. “Boy or girl, this baby is a hungry one. I’ve been eating nonstop for the past week!”

Sasha laughed. “It’s true. You should have seen her put away half a wild bore. For a while, we thought she was just getting fat!”

Cassandra pouted, but her expression lifted to a smile when Darren laughed. He came to the true purpose of his visit a moment later.

“Cassandra, I need you to get a message to Asuriel. Tell her we’re on our way.”

Cassandra nodded, and the other faces around him turned serious.

“You mean, it’s time?” Sasha asked, voice full of anxious anticipation.

Darren nodded. “I have reached the Sixth Order. If there was a time to fight Kalaziel, it is now.”

“Understood. I’ll tell the troops.”

“Troops?” Darren asked. He’d originally planned to check in quickly and be gone as fast as he’d arrived. But the looks of all three devoted women around him darkened, and he knew they’d read his mind.

“We won’t let you go off to war alone, Darren,” Sasha said, stepping forward to wrap her hand in his. “I swore to fight by your side and plan to do just that. Even if you try to give me the slip.”

Thalia nodded in agreement and placed a hand on Darren’s waist. “You’ve done so much for the people of the Sacred Seas. It’s about time they did something for you in return. The armies of the Blackwind Empire will march with you.”

“As will the Order of the Rose,” Sasha added.

“And Limedeep. Callum’s waiting outside with the tents.” Cassandra ran her hand along Darren’s arm. “Besides. You’re going to be a father soon. So you can’t just go running off to fight demons and angels without telling anyone.”

“That’s right, Darren,” Thalia said. “You’re an emperor now. You have responsibilities. And even more importantly, you have our hearts. So we’ll give you our strength as we’re able, every step of the way.”

Darren cupped Cassandra’s chin fondly. “You’re right, all of you. We’ll go together.”

“Whew.” Sasha wiped the sweat from her brow. “You know, I was worried we would have to drag you to bed to convince you. Of course, that was Thalia’s plan.”

Thalia laughed. “Actually, it was Cassandra’s. But I’m sure she planned on dragging our love back to bed regardless of what he said to us.”

“Hey! Well... I guess you’re right.” Cassandra shrugged. Then she turned her beaming smile on Darren and started pulling on his wrist."

Darren ran his hand through his hair along the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. “There is actually a new skill I want to test.”

And then he told them about how he’d upgraded Lover’s Gift into Fates Intertwined. Being able to switch places instantly with any of his lovers would make him much more confident of their safety on a battlefield. The help it would grant to reach the next order would be most useful if applied immediately.

What followed was a long and noisy night, the last one he would spend in the Blackwind Empire. Sasha sent word to his forces, and they all made their way to Whiteguard with all haste.

Fates Intertwined went into effect immediately. Thalia, the weakest of the group, was the first to reach a threshold. Darren elevated her to archpriestess the moment he thought she was ready.

Sasha followed after and became the second human to reach the Fifth Order, and like Darren, she’d done so as a paladin.

Cassandra followed next and became the first-ever champion priestess. Darren was a little worried for the baby growing inside of her, but the unborn child made it through the transformation none the worse for wear. In fact, Darren suspected they would grow up a little stronger because of it. In fact, he has the distinct impression that he’d gone through the same thing inside his mother when she became an archpriestess before he was born.

Introducing Ashe to their group was awkward at first. She was his woman now and deserved to be treated as such. No matter her past as a demon, she’d earned her place among them.

“Hi again, everyone...” Ashe blushed as she wrung her hands together awkwardly.

They moved their nonstop marathon lovemaking session to his palace in Whiteguard when they learned that Morgana had finally finished her community service and was now a free woman again.

“I have served my debt to society and am a changed woman!” Morgana announced upon her return. “Now, where’s my reward?”

“Congratulations, Morgana. You didn’t escape. You were a very good girl.”

Morgana preened under Darren’s praise. She ducked beneath his hand and placed her head in his palm, shoving Cassandra aside to make room under Darren’s shoulder for herself.

“No more running around the city pretending to be a crocodile monster?” Darren asked.

“Well...” Morgana trailed off. “Uh, anyway, I met some cool guys and girls here in Whiteguard. Did you know they have a thieves guild here? Imagine that, a guild for thieves! They weren’t particularly pious, so most made it through the cleansing just fine. But they can get you anything you want if you ask them! They said they’re willing to serve their new king however they can. Isn’t that cool?”

“Very cool.”

“So...” Morgana nuzzled against him. “Reward?”

Darren chuckled and tossed her on the bed, where Cassandra, Morgana, Sasha, and even Ashe were all waiting.

Shortly after that, Morgana became the Sacred Sea’s first Champion Cleric.

By then, nearly a week had passed, and the last of Darren’s forces were gathering in Whiteguard. Before, he’d planned to cut open a Dimensional Rift on his own. But now that he would have an entire army at his back, he decided on a much more direct approach. His armies would march up the same mountainside the Order of the Rod had used to flee into the heavens.

With several of his companions at the fifth order and himself firmly in the sixth, his forces stood an even better chance at battling the forces of the Heavens than when this same army had confronted the depths of the Seven Hells.

Callum approached to inform Darren that his armies had gathered and were awaiting his orders for the assault. He had enough supplies to outfit the entire army twice over in bags of holding distributed among the troops. They’d tested his personal Realmvault and found that he could produce simple porridge indefinitely. It was plain eating, but the fact that he could produce as much of it as he wanted meant that his men would never grow hungry.

He did the same for knives, swords, boots, and all the odds and ends an army might need. More than one commander had remarked that this was the best-outfitted force the Sacred Seas had ever seen. Even without the overwhelming power of so many fourth orders among them, good logistics were a sort of magic all on their own, and it was showing in the troop morale.

Not only that, but many of these men and women had followed Darren into the depths of the Seven Hells themselves. The thought of marching into the Heavens didn’t scare them one bit.

To his surprise, the captain of his royal guards in Whiteguard, Captain Emilia, was the one to fetch him when the time came. She was dressed in ceremonial armor, even shinier than what she’d worn when he first met her. When she announced his arrival, he realized why she was the one to come get him.

“Make way for the king! Make way for his imperial highness! King of Whiteguard, Limedeep, Salsroth, Overlord of the Eastwood Kingdom, Guardian of the Northern Trade Union, and Emperor of the Blackwind Empire!” Darren thought she was done at that, but Captain Emilia wasn’t anywhere close to finished. “Conqueror of the Seven Hells, slayer of the Archdemons, dragon bane, and foe to evil everywhere! Scourge of the undead, savoir of--“

Darren held up a hand. “Darren will do. Sir, if you must.”

Captain Emilia went quiet, and the moment she did so, the troops cheered. Under Darren’s banner, they had fought and conquered again and again, and they planned to do so once more.

“Speech!” One called from the crowd. With a wave of his hand, Darren tried to brush off the request, but the expectant gazes of the crowd compelled him to gather a few words.

“Brothers, sisters, warriors,” he began. “We march upon the heavens to battle Kalaziel. Know no fear or doubt. Trust in your training, skills, and friends. Stand firm and follow close behind me.”

Silence filled the air momentarily, and Darren flapped his wings as he soared to the top of the mountain stairway. But as he departed, he heard the raucous cheering mount and the sound of thousands of footsteps marching in unison.

The armies of humanity were storming the gates of the Heavens, and they were determined to let nothing stand in their way.

<Note>

So apparently, everyone who publishes NSFW content needs to verify they are over 18, but there seems to be some issue with them rolling out the software to verify creator age on the backend.

So... if this page gets locked unexpectedly, that's what happened and I'll work to get it back online soon!