Ch. 109 – Look at All This

I really can’t deal with you right now, man... I’m overly tired of this, Rhys thought, the mental exhaustion crashing against him like a physical tide.

Yet, as much as his mind screamed in protest, he couldn’t deny the electric jolt of absolute ecstasy that ran straight up his spine. Dione was completely relentless down below, her movements smooth, rhythmic, and devastatingly thorough.

A small, familiar set of fiery horns bobbed up over the counter as Ging, the short tiefling husband of Seraphina, stumbled up to the bar holding a sloshing crystal glass. He had clearly spent the last hour becoming very intimate with the open bar.

Ging spluttered out a loud, booze-soaked laugh. "Well, as I live and breathe! If it isn’t the one and only—"

Oh, what the fuck... please don’t say it, you idiot, Rhys pleaded desperately in his head, clutching the wooden counter until his knuckles turned white.

"—the one and only, CUMIN! Ahahahahah! Cough! Hah... ugh, a ladyfinger came back up, I think."

This guy is completely plastered, Rhys thought with a brief wave of pity, despite the agonizing bad timing. Though... I guess that was kind of a good pun.

Below the sightline of the bar, Dione bucked her head, taking him in all the way to the root. Her tongue swirled expertly, her divine energy making every single cell in Rhys's lower half tingle with raw power.

I guess I’m being looked for? Or is this guy making a grocery list of things he needs to pick up from the store? Omen asked sarcastically, leaning lazily over the counter right next to the unsuspecting tiefling. The dark phantom let out a cruel, booming laugh and slapped its shadowy knee. Tell him he should add: "A wife that will actually let me touch her!"

Rhys refused to give the dark figure a response. He hated what the phantom was becoming—how detached, aggressive, and independent it felt.

"What brings you looking for me, Ging?" Rhys asked out loud, cutting directly to the point. You have to be direct with drunk people, he reminded himself pragmatically.

Dione smoothly took him in all the way again, her throat tightening in a rhythm that felt like an emphatic nod of agreement. Rhys let out a low, muffled grunt, but the heavily intoxicated tiefling didn't even notice.

Ging rested his elbows on the bar, slurring slightly as he began to rant. "I was just... talking to my wife, you know? After that dinner party we had at our house. Man, Seraphina set down all these crazy new rules for me to follow! She told me... she said I won't be able to touch her from now on. Or any other woman! Because it would be 'against our marriage' or whatever!"

Rhys did his absolute best to nod along and listen to the tiefling's domestic woes, but his brain was rapidly turning to mush as Dione kept bobbing up and down.

Suddenly, the ambient music in the grand ballroom shifted. The main lights dimmed into a moody twilight, and a pulsing, rhythmic beat began to echo through the venue's surround speakers. Someone had taken over the DJ stand at the far end of the floor—at the explicit request of Vespera.

So that’s where she just walked off to, Rhys realized, catching sight of the leopard-tailed villainess smirking near the soundboard. She really is good... I mean, BAD, Rhys quickly corrected himself.

You said what you said, the shadow sneered from the counter, reveling in the intoxicating wave of power pouring off Dione.

Ging leaned in closer, his big tiefling eyes looking up at Rhys with utter desperation. "Rhys, man... I really need your advice. You're a married guy, you always know what to do best. What do I even do here?"

Please... just don't, Rhys thought sadly, feeling a lump form in his throat. Nah, man... don't hit me with something that heavy now of all times! I can give you marital advice later!

Dione was utterly lost in her own euphoria now. As her head worked rhythmically down below, her very essence began to shift. The ancient, divine soul-bond wasn't just a physical act—it was an atmospheric event. Her latent, goddess-like power overflowed her body on a massive scale, radiating outward from beneath the bar.

Instantly, the air in the ballroom grew crisp and heavy with moisture. Millions of tiny, microscopic water droplets condensed in mid-air, floating and suspending themselves across the entire venue like frozen rain. As the vibrant disco lights from the DJ set cut through the room, the floating droplets caught the light, transforming the ballroom into a dazzling, glittering galaxy of night stars.

The entire crowd erupted into amazed cheers, completely mesmerized by the magical light show and entirely forgetting their hunger for a moment. Guests began clearing a circle in the center of the floor, pulling each other in to start dancing.

"Whoaaa..." Ging breathed out, staring at the suspended, glowing water droplets in absolute awe.

Damn right, kid! Omen barked beside him, grinning ear to ear. And there’s the pun right back at ya, goat-boy!

Rhys’s mind finally hit the absolute point of no return.

His vision blurred into pure white as he finished hard, pouring everything he had into Dione. Dione accepted every single drop, her throat tingling with divine magic as she swallowed it all down, completing the conduit.

Ging didn't notice a single thing. He simply took another slow sip of his drink, his eyes glued to the magical sky above as Rhys gripped the bar and completely let go, surrendering to the sensation. Below, Dione meticulously cleaned every last drop, her divine magic humming in satisfaction.

Ging finally turned his head back around, blinking heavily at Rhys. "Whoa... taking a little power nap there, Rhys? You’re all bent over the bar."

Rhys forced his lungs to take in air, slowly lifting his head. "Yeah... yeah, I’m good. Just... have been having some things going on with my power recently."

Ging’s goofy expression instantly melted into genuine, quiet concern. He remembered Rhys’s history—he knew what had happened in the past with Omen's volatile magic, and how Rhys had been forced to retire his hero persona for his own health.

"Yeah, man... I'm really sorry about that," Ging said softly, looking down at his drink. "I mean... you made something truly amazing out of your life though. Look at all this here."

Below the counter, Dione kept going, her soft lips dragging lightly against him and pulling Rhys’s attention straight back down. Rhys looked down beneath the bar while Ging looked away in deep thought.

"You can stop now..." Rhys whispered down at her.

Dione looked up at him, her eyes shining with pure, unadulterated devotion. But she was already visibly changed. Her skin held a luminous, pearlescent sheen, and her lips looked fuller, softer, and flushed with divine life.

Rhys’s jaw went completely slack as he stared at her transformation.

"No, I gotta let you know... it really wasn’t okay how I came at you earlier, Rhys," Ging spoke up, completely unaware of the silent exchange happening beneath his nose.

"What are you talking about?" Rhys asked, his mind fracturing as he tried to manage two entirely different conversations at once.

Before Ging could answer, the air behind the tiefling suddenly turned ice-cold.

A roaring, blood-red aura cut through the glittering water droplets like a crimson stain. Ariadne was marching toward the bar at an alarming, dangerous speed, her eyes locked dead on Rhys.