The Gamer Chapter 1599 – Chaotic Siblings (Patreon)

Metra’s head flew to the side.

Everyone froze.

It took a few moments to register that Ehtra had just slapped her sister with all the force she could muster. Metra herself blinked once. Her head remained in its turned position. The grey angel’s arm dropped.

‘Have to give it to her, I did not expect that one,’ John thought, primed and ready to jump in if the situation devolved.

The welcome back BBQ the harem greeted him with slowly returned to the necessary motions. Salamander turned the meat on the grill before it could char. Eliana put the ice cream in her mouth, lest it drip from the spoon. Rave stopped showing off how long she could balance on one hand and returned to a proper posture.

The First of Wrath honoured her name. Not by suddenly flying into a berserker rage, but by reining in the anger that reduced her slit pupils into barely visible lines. “Care to explain?” the blonde asked, slowly rolling her head.

“You should have been second.” Ehtra spat out. “We’re in this mess because it was you, not Seminaris, that was the first!” Metra’s hands clenched into tight fists. “She was always a better leader than you. Had it been her that had been handed the keys to Sargon’s grave, we would have marched out of the ruins of Akkad as a force the world would have had to reckon with! We would have found a king to carve out a new realm and guaranteed its prosperity as we had for hundreds of years before!”

First of Wrath and Hatred stared at each other, green eyes glowing with latent power. Both of them clenched weapons that had suddenly appeared in their hands. “And?” Metra asked.

“…That’s all you have to say?” Ehtra growled.

“I have a thousand things to say, but who the fuck cares about that right now,” the first Metracana growled and slammed the side of her fist against Ehtra’s chest. “Get that out, I’ll pummel you back into your place afterwards, you self-righteous cunt.”

“I hate you,” Ehtra hissed. “I hate you and your carefree attitude. I hate that you just go with the flow of things. I hate that you just walked away. I hate all of you for just walking away like the Two of Love did. We are the last vestiges of Akkad, Metra, when did we mourn?!”

“Akkad is not dead for as long as we are here to scout Sargon’s successor.”

Ehtra laughed. Loudly and desperately, she laughed. It was the first time that John heard such a sound from her and he did not like a single syllable in it. “You’d just be showing them a grave to rob.”

John did not move in time. The fist slammed into the side of Ehtra’s head at supersonic speed, catapulting the First of Hatred off the walls of the Palace. “METRA!” John shouted, with mouth and mind, but the Breaker of Armies was incessant with rage. Already, the grey-clad woman stormed after her sister. “Fuck my life, I really can’t predict that woman – Aclysia, Nathalia, help me with this. Eliana, think you are stable enough?”

“To hold down full power Mat? Fuck no, get moving!”

In the background, the impact of Ehtra in the moat created a geyser tall enough to be seen where they stood. John began running, Aclysia and Nathalia already in front of him. The rest of his women were moving along, ready to help if the opportunity arose, but otherwise staying back so they didn’t add to the chaos.

It was one thing if he deployed every last one of them in an assault on a vessel they wanted to destroy anyway. If his entire harem tried to pin two people of their own power down, the environmental damage to the Guild Hall would be massive.

John arrived at a scene that he would have loved to see as a book cover under other circumstances. The two fully armoured Metracana exchanged blows mid-air, one utilizing portals, the other her wings. Metra had the edge, despite her aerial disadvantage, and both of them were fighting around the lava goddess moving her winged, half-draconic form between them. Aclysia stood on the lake below, ready to encase anyone in ice when she got the chance.

‘Well, this will be interesting to explain to the press,’ John thought, shockwaves of exchanged blows washing over him. Pure Astrotium slammed against the Fusional edge of Rex Magnar. Mana screamed in the deep tones of a whirling chainsaw.

Metra twirled out of the way of Nathalia’s jaws, then landed an expert blow on Ehtra, catapulting the First of Hatred back into the lake. The sheer force of the impact pushed all water out of the area. Only when slamming into the foundations of the star fort did Ehtra come to a halt.

The lull was the opportunity they had waited for. Metra was there first, jumping through another portal. Aclysia and Nathalia adjusted the environment with rock and ice, preventing the water from flooding back in and muddling the situation up again. John was the last arrival, gliding down the sharp slope of the walls.

“How fucking dare you?!” Metra pointed the spike of Rex Magnar at her floored sister’s chest. “You can hurl every insult under the sun at me, First of Hatred, but I will NEVER allow anyone to rob Sargon’s grave! We’ll find his successor! That is our mission!”

“THAT IS YOUR MISSION!” Ehtra screamed back. “YOU WANTED A NEW KING OF AKKAD! I WANTED MY FAMILY BACK!”

The burning emerald in the visor of Metra’s helmet diminished in an instant. Bereft of her wrath, the first Metracana did not react in time to prevent her halberd getting knocked aside. Pushing herself off the wall with her wings, Ehtra was swiftly on her feet and slammed her fist into Metra’s face. The First of Wrath toppled over backwards, her sister jumping on top of her.

John shook his head when Nathalia sent him a questioning gaze. He had wanted to rein in the potential destruction and prevent overbearing violence. Nothing about the impotent way Ehtra’s fists drummed on Metra’s chest was overbearing.

“You left me!” Ehtra howled. “You all left me! One after another, you spread to the winds! Got enamoured with new ideas and new people! It was as if Akkad never even existed! Then they found me! Then she reclaimed me! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALL! WHY DID YOU BETRAY ME?! WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE ME SOONER?!”

“I DID NOT KNOW!” Metra screamed back. Her helmet snapped back, revealing the raw desperation on her face. She caught Ehtra’s fists and sat up. “I didn’t know you needed me! I did not know Mother Chaos had becom-“

“Why did you drag me out of there,” the First of Hatred sobbed. Her helmet parted in a series of metallic noises, revealing her face, wet with fresh tears. “Why… why couldn’t you let me be… why do I feel this way when I have so much reason to hate…?” Ehtra tilted her head, the streams changing their path. “Why don’t you? Why am I the only one like this?”

Metra put her arms around her sister, but all that did was make her sob harder. When she looked to John for help, the Gamer could only awkwardly scratch the back of his head. He had ideas on how to intervene in this situation, but no good ones. Metra was on her own for this one.

It was fortunate for her that Ehtra was not that helpless.

Clenching her teeth, the First of Hatred blinked away her tears. “This is disgraceful,” she hissed, at herself most of all. “I shouldn’t be like this. I can’t be like this. I’m Metracana.” Suddenly she tilted her head forwards. “I’m Metracana…” she repeated, staring into the eyes of her eldest sibling. “I will need… forever… to work through this.” For a moment, she hugged Metra back, then she pushed the blonde off herself. Both of them got up. “There is a part of me that will always hate you for what you did. For the kingdom you let die… but...” she grabbed Metra by the shoulder and shook, “…that’s my fault, isn’t it? For believing you would just understand what I need.”

“I was always the dense one,” Metra joked.

Ehtra mockingly pushed air out of her nose. “Can you underplay it any harder?” She wiped the remains of tears off her face. “I think your king candidate is serviceable, even if he’s refusing his calling.”

“Much obliged.”

“I think Tiamat needs every weapon we can find shoved down her throat, preferably the explosive ones.”

“I couldn’t fucking agree more.”

“I’ll rebuild Akkad.” The announcement struck Metra, but John grinned.

“What do you mean by that?” the First of Wrath asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like, do you need me to pull the cotton out of your ears?” Ehtra marched towards John, bowing her head once she reached him. “According to the principles and absurdities of your nation, I demand recompense for the work I do for you. I shall put it to good use. This land will look better with a couple of ziggurats.”

“Ehtra, why would you-“

“Because I don’t think what you’re trying to do will work,” Ehtra answered, “and because I’m not going to be alone again. A kingdom is a people of a culture under a monarch. You want to find one. I will shape the other.” The First of Hatred kept looking at John the entire time. “Will you allow me this?”

“As long as you operate within the laws and principles of Fusion, you can try your best. This will be your private endeavour, so…” He stopped himself, when Ehtra waved off.

“I won’t use your name in my efforts, Master,” she told him and turned away. “I’ll get to work immediately. You’re welcome to join me if you care, Sister.”

John couldn’t help but linger on the way she said ‘Master’.

__________________________________________________________________________

It didn’t take long for things to calm down. John didn’t even bother notifying anyone about what had happened. He figured the best way to sweep that little fight under the rug was to treat it like it had just been a casual spar and no one ever said ‘we just had a spar’ via press release channels. If anyone had questions, they would have to present them to him. Chances that they would were actually fairly slim.

Ehtra had gone… somewhere. John wasn’t quite sure what the First of Hatred was planning with her newfound determination, but he was happy enough to let her move along. The woman was abrasive but she wasn’t unreasonable. Whatever she was doing, he doubted it would do any permanent harm.

Metra remained a bit shaken by the event. Getting the kind of talking to she had would have turned anyone introspective, so she hung at the edge of the gathering and just concentrated on her food. Much like Ehtra, she was too mentally sturdy to let this drag her down for long, though.

“So, what’s next?” Rave eventually asked. “We ain’t got anything on our calendars until Max’s wedding, right?”

“Nothing with a definitive date, short of a few birthdays,” John agreed. “I’ll have to get the remaining Class Levels to get the Guild Hall upgrade, so we’re probably in for another grinding session or two.” He turned to Siena. “We also should finally rip off that bandaid.”

“…Let’s do that in the morning then,” the shadow spirit groaned. “How did you like being humiliated by a number of older men in sweaty armour?”

“Very funny,” John answered drily. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Awakening to new interests, are we?”

John rolled his eyes and patted his lap. The shadow spirit gracefully plopped down, wrapping her arms around his neck in the same motion. Soft curves pressed up against him, like an affectionate cat. “And how did you fare while I was away?”

“We sorted some stuff out about our growing numbers,” Rave told him. “Otherwise, we just did the usual.”

“You squashed my spider!” Claire complained.

“Ehtra squashed your spider.”

“That bitch!”

“I approved of it, though; you weren’t supposed to spy on me.”

“It would have been as if I was there the entire time! Now I have three days of memories without you.” Claire rushed over and wiggled her way into John’s lap as well, despite Siena’s protests. If ever there was a drawback to huge butts, it was that the two heavily bottom-endowed ladies filled up more space than there really was.

A curse that was a blessing, from John’s squish-exposed perspective.

“I’m making up for it,” Claire whispered, clinging to him under the shade of the umbrella.

“Reminder: you are expected to deliver tribute to the Mandate of Heaven early next month.”

“Yeah! Ya gotta put up a teleporter!”

“I do have that on my radar, it’s just not something we all have to be part of,” John told them and rolled his neck. “I’m going by air, so I’ll be gone for only a day.”

“And then unlimited Lulu access!” Rave shouted.

“Jane!” John chastised her.

“Worry not, my patriarch, I maintain watch,” Nightingale assured him.

“Thank you, Gale.” John gave her a thankful nod. “Well, then, I guess the shortlist of the coming week is: see the Mother of Shadows, Aclysia’s birthday, deliver tribute, kiss Lulu, lewd Lulu, love Lulu, get home, start grinding.”

“My birthday is not necessary to be celebrated,” the weaponized maid was swift to throw in.

“But I really want to,” John retorted.

“We gonna use it as a general maid appreciation day, okay?” Rave assured her, which did make Aclysia fall in line on the matter. The only area where that woman could be selfish was when it came to spending time with him. Her deliberate efforts on that matter were bearing fruit, considering she did not press herself against him to fuse with his clothing as Claire was currently doing – even if the black dragon maid did occasionally show a jealous glance.

“Any fucking chance we can take Lulu in during the grinding session?” Eliana wanted to know. “I want to get to know that cunt better. We just swept her in and most of us know her way less than we’d like to before we elevate her from temporary cocksleeve.”

“It’ll be difficult, but maybe we can arrange that…” John wondered. “I’ll talk with her about it.”