Chapter 345: Troublesome Harem

Ophelia's gaze conveyed nothing but the deep, insatiable desire she had suppressed for Ryan for so long.

And as their tongues touched, intertwined in a passionate, wet kiss that quickly raised the temperature in the gloom, their fragile moment of intimacy was brutally interrupted.

The dense dome of magical darkness surrounding them and isolating them from the rest of the world suddenly vanished in a deafening explosion.

Thick smoke, stone dust, and heavy debris flew everywhere, filling the master bedroom with absolute chaos that made the floor shake beneath the bed. The cold mountain wind suddenly rushed into the room, hitting their bare skin.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Helen screamed at the top of her lungs, bursting into the room with her sword drawn. Her eyes blazed with fury at the compromising scene on the bed.

"I should be asking you that. What the hell are you doing destroying my room, Helen?" Ryan immediately questioned.

The human king pulled away from Ophelia, completely bewildered and annoyed by the violent intrusion into his private chambers just as he was finally managing to relax.

"Whoa, Ryan, why the hell is that woman in your bed?" Karol demanded, entering behind the swordswoman and tapping her staff against the floor.

"Well, I really didn't think you'd be able to break my darkness barrier," Ophelia said in an extremely casual tone, breaking the tense silence.

The demon queen didn't seem to care in the slightest that all the warriors of Kowarre were standing there seeing her naked. Unfazed and without showing a single trace of embarrassment, she slowly stood up on the mattress and used her own manifestation of darkness to cover her body like an elegant black dress, hiding her curves from their hostile glares.

"Hah, don't underestimate Karol's power to weaken external magic by absorbing its mana," Mirian said with a proud smile, lowering her bow after seeing there was no real threat in Ryan's bed.

Karol nodded, looking very satisfied with her own tactical performance to ruin the intruder's moment.

"Once that dark wall was weakened by the brat's magic, breaking it by force was very easy for us," Lise said from the end of the hallway, brushing the dust off her shoulders.

Alicia and Irina, who had also joined the ambush, nodded in agreement, backing up the flawless teamwork they had executed to bring down the darkness barrier.

"Lady Ophelia, why are you here? I really didn't think you two had this kind of intimate relationship," Beatrice commented, looking genuinely bewildered by the situation.

"Hey Ryan, since when are you on such good terms with that demon queen?" Helen asked, squeezing the hilt of her sword due to the intense jealousy gnawing at her chest.

"That's enough," Ryan ordered in a firm, authoritative voice.

He stood up on the bed, not caring in the slightest about his own nakedness. As he straightened up, the intense cold wind from outside hit his face, making him turn his head to the left.

"What the hell?" Ryan exclaimed, his eyes widening.

The main wall of his large room was completely destroyed. A massive hole of broken stone made the entire snowy exterior of the castle visible. The winter drafts were freezing his room in a matter of seconds.

"I'm so sorry, Ryan, but that dark thing just wouldn't break no matter how much we attacked it, so that castle wall broke because of Helen's brute force when she tried to get in," Mirian immediately excused herself, pointing at her companion to deflect the blame for the property damage.

"Hey Mirian! Stop accusing me in front of him," Helen defended herself, turning red with embarrassment and anger.

"She's a warrior without a single ounce of delicacy," Lise added, looking mockingly at the irate swordswoman.

"What a scandalous scene you're all making. You'd better go back the way you came. Can't you see we're in the middle of an important private meeting between demon kings?" Ophelia added with a malicious smile, adding fuel to the fire to provoke the girls.

"No way!" Irina, Alicia, and Chloe shouted in unison, flatly refusing to leave them alone in that room again.

"Hahaha, relax. I only came all the way here because Ryan himself personally asked me to," Ophelia said, shrugging with feigned innocence.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, but he didn't tell you to show up hiding in his room, you homewrecking succubus," Helen pointed an accusing finger, completely losing her patience at the white-haired woman's arrogant attitude.

While the argument escalated, at one edge of the bed, Karol was crouching, inspecting the remains of the stone floor that had survived the explosion.

"So this is where she was hiding," Karol said aloud, touching a complex and tiny runic circle painted on the room's floor with her small fingers.

And with a single quick swipe of her staff, the mage erased it completely, destroying the magical link.

"Hey! Don't erase that," Ophelia immediately warned, losing her casual smile upon seeing her shortcut destroyed.

"Too late," Karol replied with a wide, sadistic smile, sticking her tongue out to mock the powerful demon queen's frustration.

"Alright, enough of this uproar. I want all of you to wait for me down in the main courtyard immediately. There's something very important I want to show you before we continue with our plans," Ryan said, standing firmly on the freezing stone floor to impose order amidst the chaos.

"But young master, I think you're already showing us a bit too much of yourself right now," Lise added in a very mocking tone.

The dragoness shamelessly lowered her gaze and stared with obvious desire right at his crotch, taking in the human king's partially erect member in front of everyone present.

Realizing the situation, Chloe stood in a corner with her eyes covered by both hands, though her curious and completely flushed gaze clearly peeked through her parted fingers.

Ryan shot the dragoness a sharp, warning glare.

"Stop joking around. All of you, go to the courtyard right now. That's an order," Ryan declared sternly, nipping any further teasing in the bud.

"Yes," they all said in unison, and finally obeyed, leaving the trashed bedroom one by one.

Ophelia was the first to leave. After retrieving the clothes scattered across the floor, she gave Ryan one last conspiratorial look and vanished from the room, melting into her own fog of darkness.

'The castle has barely been built and this group of idiots already destroyed it,' Ryan thought with a heavy sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose at the thought of the upcoming repairs he would have to order from his builders.

Resigned, he walked to the bathroom and quickly washed himself with cold water. Then he dressed in his usual combat clothes, adjusted his belt, and walked down the hallways until he reached the spacious snowy courtyard where all his warriors were waiting for him in total silence.

"Alright, it will be much easier to explain my next plan if you all see it for yourselves," Ryan said as he stood in front of them.

"What do you have in mind?" Ophelia asked.

Ryan didn't answer; he reached into his coat and pulled out an ancient relic that gave off a soft magical glow.

By channeling his mana into the object, the relic activated, opening a bright interspatial portal that revealed the landscape of the ancient hidden elf village.

"Enter," Ryan ordered, pointing at the vortex of light with authority.