SSV4 Chapter 32 (Patreon)

The side of the city where I’d been fighting the titan was clear; the presence of such a terrifying monster had caused any townspeople to quickly try to move away.

I raked my power outside the city, smashing and crushing the forest along with the monsters present.

There was no need to hold back at that point. It was a fight to save the city.

Monsters flew above the city, and I focused on each of them in turn, popping them like grapes.

“Master!” Stella flew up to me. “We have the puppy; it’s so cute and sleepy. You’ll love it.”

I snorted. “We also need to deal with the monsters.” But I did feel better that they’d found the puppy.

“Yup. But you are here now.” She flew next to me. “You’ll take care of the big ones.”

I raised a brow, but the ground shook and a long giant form emerged amid a cloud of dust from one side of the city. It took out a flying super and dive back down towards the ground. “Oh.”

The creature covered itself in a dust cloud as it attacked, but its long body and many legs identified it as some sort of giant centipede.

Two hooks of kinetic force shot out from me, catching the giant centipede and ripping it from the ground as it tried to submerge itself again.

The bugger tried to squirm and escape, but I sent two more hooks into the front section as I pulled it out. I was trying to be gentle, because it had just swallowed a flying New Haven muta and they might still be alive.

Lifting the centipede high, I ripped its head off and then tore a giant rent in its hard carapace before cracking it open like a hot dog bun.

Stella clapped excitedly. “Master is the bestest. I can’t wait for you to go crush the bitch in Point City and be like ‘kneel and worship me’ to the masses.”

I rolled my eyes, also knowing what kind of worship Stella had in mind.

My power rippled through the broken monster, and I plucked out a handful of people before setting them before the temple.

It still stood; Daeva was hovering over it, crushing monsters left and right. She was able to keep up, but there were so many monsters.

“Did you see anyone with big guns causing problems in the city?” I asked.

“How’d you know about the big guns?” Stella looked at me in shock. “They were guarding the puppy in a big hole.”

I snorted, knowing exactly where the Fenris Wolf’s puppy was. They’d brought it down into the cavern that we had explored. “Good. They are dead and you are okay?”

“Yeah, but those guns hurt.” She rubbed her chest where there was a tear in her toga. “But I’m tough.”

“Good. Let’s not let anything else happen to you. I can’t lose my goddess of lust. If I did, how would I find more perfect women for my harem? I’d probably make a mess.” I teased as I made six beads of destruction and blew through the wilds around the city.

“Exactly!” Stella threw her hands up. “Thank you for understanding.”

I chuckled and targeted clouds of monsters in the air with my beams. It seemed that my presence had caused the flying supers to get out of the air and out of my way.

With them grounded, I could really let loose and clear the skies above the city, raking beams into the wilds and stemming the tide of monsters.

“Let’s get down there. I’d like to make sure the puppy is secure.”

“I got it.” Stella scooped me up in a princess carry with the biggest grin on her face as she flew us. She was moving slower than I could go, but I let her so I could focus on identifying monsters down below and killing them with quick jabs of kinetic energy.

She flew over the building, and I saw a Stella sized entrance to the building and widened it for the two of us. It looked like she had cannonballed through.

“Thanks master.” Stella flew us into the hole I’d made in the floor from my last visit. “Fluffy, Honey, it’s me and master!” Stella shouted loud enough for my ears to ring.

“Miles.” Pollen smiled and waved next to a few flood lights that were lighting up the cavern. Her other hand was on one of the rail guns.

Vaash was next to her with a gun across her chest. “God King. This puppy is the one?”

It was about the size of a sedan curled up and sleeping. Its power was bright and extended outside its small body.

“Yeah. I think this is the titan’s pup. Roach used it to lure the titan here.” I frowned as Stella put me down and bound over to pet it. “Careful.”

“It’s so cute though.” Stella hugged it.

“It is also quite powerful, and we don’t know its power.” I pointed out.

Stella hugged it protectively. “Don’t say that about Cerby.” She glared at me.

I was at a loss for words. “Stella, we can’t keep it.”

She gasped. “Miles Matherson. We are keeping this puppy. He needs a loving home.” She gave me the most pitiful look she could manage.

“There’s really not anywhere else we could put it.” Vaash pointed out. “The thing has slept through Stella’s manhandling and through gunfire. Pretty sure it just sleeps.”

I frowned at the puppy. Roach had managed to bring it into the city safely, and the Fenris Wolf had stayed in Valley City protecting it for years. Did it really just sleep?

“For now, we’ll keep an eye on it to protect it and everyone else.” I decided.

“Yay!” Stella cheered and bounded over to me with a giant hug. “I’m going to train it really really good, Master. Fluffy will help too, isn’t that right?”

Vaash’s brows shot up in surprise. “Uh… sure?”

“We have to train it really well so that Master lets us keep it.” Stella whispered in a not so quiet voice.

“Come on. Let’s get back up there and deal with the aftermath.” I grabbed the three of them and the puppy with my power and lifted us out of the cavern.

The whole time, the puppy just slept soundly.

Very strange.

Anytime I saw a monster along our path, it died immediately.

I winced once though; my shoulder was still messed up from fighting the titan.

Stella caught the wince immediately. “Master, you didn’t say you were hurt.” Stella grabbed me. “Stop straining. I can do all of this. You need to go and lay down.”

“Stella.” I deadpanned. “I fought off a titan and only hurt my shoulder.”

“You didn’t kill it?” Pollen twitched and looked around.

“Nope, it made a distraction and ran, but I’m actively protecting us from it. It’s one of the reasons I’ll keep the puppy with me, so that if it comes back it’ll attack me and I can fight it.” I ran a hand through the puppy’s extremely soft fur.

I didn’t want to enjoy petting the puppy as much as I did. It was soft, and after all the intensity of the battle, it felt nice. I gave it a second pet.

“Master likes the puppy.” Stella grinned from ear to ear. “I should have thought of this sooner.”

“Hush you.” I teased as I squished another monster, but they were thinning out.

The citizens of New Haven were no pushovers, and the monsters that remained were being driven out of ruined homes and slaughtered.

I was feeling excessive as I carried my four passengers and brought us over to the temple where Daeva was floating victoriously with a large ring of dead monsters laid out about a hundred yards out from the temple.

People were sheltering in the temple and slowly were starting to creep back out.

“Things are mostly handled. The titan fled, and most of the monsters are taken care of. But be careful. Monsters could still be lurking or hiding in the rubble.” I gave the warning loudly enough for Daeva and the citizens sheltering under it to hear.

Daeva’s eyes locked on the puppy that was with me. “Is that it?”

“Yes. It’s his new puppy.” Stella wrapped her arms around the dog. “His name is Cerby.”

Daeva relaxed and shook her head. It seemed she wasn’t going to fight Stella for the dog, even though I knew she wanted the puppy for herself. “Everyone, move in groups, let's work to fix things.”

She floated down to meet me at the front of the temple.

“Pollen, can you watch the temple?” I used the name and it made Stella grin. “Stella and Vaash are about to be put to work.” The grin faded quickly.

Pollen laughed. “Yes, I can make sure things are fine. Have fun Stella.”

My goddess of lust was pouting. “What kind of work?” She had a slight edge of hope.

“We are going to help everyone rebuild. Put those big muscles of yours to work. Let’s start with Frankie’s mill and the farms.” I waved her forward to follow the mass of people leaving the temple.

One benefit would be that everybody could eat monsters for the next several days.

“Frankie is fun.” Stella skipped behind me. “But I don’t really think she’s interested.”

I rolled my eyes as Stella shifted back out of her battle mode.

It is hopeless, my fated, to expect anything else from her.

I know, and I wouldn’t try to stop her. She’s perfect even if there are more women being thrown at me than I could handle.

As long as you keep time for me, my fated, everything will be okay.

I chuckled at the horror show that would happen if I ever ignored Mona. She stayed silent, which reinforced it further as we reached Frankies with the puppy floating behind me.

Her front door was much larger; there was a giant hole where it used to be.

But all around the mill, there were a large number of monsters dead without a scratch on them. But there was water still pooling in their mouths and around their bodies.

“Frankie?” I called, not wanting to drown on dry land.

“Oh, it’s the new God King.” Frankie leaned against the broken wall. “Does that mean things are done?”

“Most of them. I can’t promise there isn’t a small one lurking here or there.” I looked at the hole in her wall and lifted the bricks up, stacking those that were still whole and sorting the other ones over to float in the air beside the puppy.

“What’s the dog for?” Frankie asked, coming closer to see it.

“It’s a wolf. Well, the Fenris Wolf’s puppy. It was how someone lured the titan here.” I started to grind all the broken bricks up and mix in a little water before starting to form them again and accelerate the drying process.

I did the same with the mortar, though it required some extreme heat to reactivate any of the bonding agents.

Stella and Vaash carried out rubble from inside and moved some of the bodies away from the hole while I worked.

Frankie just had her signature smirk as she tried to help move things, but Stella had her wait on the side.

My energetic helper had plenty of strength to move anything that needed moving.

Stacking up the bricks again, I slathered the mortar in between, building up her wall again.

“He’s pretty nifty.” Frankie watched.

“Oh yeah. Just wait to see what he does with the monsters.” Stella bounced on the balls of her feet.

“Want me to vaporize them?” I asked.

“No! You’re going to make puppy chow for Cerby!” Stella gave me an exasperated gesture at the sleeping monster. “I mean, you have to feed our dog. If you can’t take care of a dog in this relationship, how are we going to have kids?”

I could barely follow Stella’s logic, but I understood where to start.

While my mind went on autopilot and stacked bricks sloppily into mortar, I lifted up the pile of corpses that the girls had made.

Stella clapped excitedly and bounded over to the sleeping pup. “He’s going to make the best food ever for you.” She whispered to the pup, stroking its fur.

I wasn’t sure about making dog food, but I liked a challenge. I spun the monster corpses and ground them to a mush, making sure that even stray hairs or chitinous carapace were completely ground down.

Then I pressed it into a solid square block and cranked up the heat, watching as it all cooked into a lump. Then I kept at it, squeezing any moisture from it and using the heat to drive it out as steam.

It condensed pretty easily and dried into a block of kibble about ten feet by ten feet. So much of the bodies had been moisture.

“Oh. I want to feed him!” Stella stood not-so-patiently by the block.

I cut off a handful of cubes from the corner. “Here.”

“Cerby, your mother has food for you.” Stella shoved it in the sleeping monster's face.

“Careful, I warned her.” But she didn’t heed me.

Cerby’s nose wiggled and it licked the kibble out of her hand in one stroke of its tongue. It seemed more like an automatic response than anything to me.

But Stella was thrilled and bounded back over to the block of kibble and held out her hand as she pressed her lips, trying not to smile.

“Last one. We’ll bring the block back to the temple and you should only feed him during our meals.” If I didn’t set ground rules, I was pretty sure this block would be gone by morning and Cerby would be a chunky puppy under Stella’s care.

“Of course, Master. But he’s our puppy and I want to love him.” She grinned as I put another handful of kibble into her hand.

Stella fed Cerby only one or two pieces at a time though. I was thankful she made the food last while I focused on finishing up Frankie’s wall and door.

“Now, why didn’t we just have you copy your power onto someone?” Frankie asked as I finished.

“I can’t copy my power. All of yours are in a fixed state that I can copy, but mine keeps changing.” I had already realized that problem when I saw my power during the monster fruit trial.

“Huh.” Frankie looked at her new wall again. “Shame. But thanks for the fix. I’m going to get working on what I have. You going down to the farms next?”

“That was the goal. Making sure that everyone has food a week from now was my first priority.” I admitted.

She nodded with pursed lips and ducked inside.

Frankie was just a no-nonsense kind of person.

“Alright, we’ll drop this block off and I’ll get to work on the farms. Stella, Vaash, why don’t you help everyone with clearing the streets and getting things set up? I’ll be back up in an hour, and I can help start rebuilding things once everything is clear.”

Stella snapped a salute, before her eyes drifted off to Cerby.

“Sorry, he stays with me just in case the Fenris Wolf comes back for him.” I couldn’t let anyone else have that burden. I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to Stella just because I chose to indulge her. For now, the puppy was mine.

And I had other problems to figure out. We’d stopped Roach’s immediate plan, but we still needed to root him out.

AN - I think I'm finishing this book up @ 39 Chapters. It's a big boi.