Chapter 97: A new source of energy

"Not all of them."

Meira quickly shook her head.

"But a large portion of pure-blooded humanity strongly opposed the fusion process. Some feared Succubi, some were disgusted by them, and others believed that as long as Succubi needed men to cultivate, men naturally deserved to stand above them."

"So they eventually left?"

"Many of them did."

Meira nodded.

"Both men and women. Those who refused to undergo fusion, refused to live under the Contract system, or simply could not accept the new society all migrated to distant regions. Wars, monsters, and natural disasters were appearing constantly back then, severing many lines of communication, so even I don’t know exactly how the process unfolded."

She frowned slightly.

"My memories of that period are extremely chaotic. Gen.0, battles, treatment, relocation... There were some years when I couldn’t even remember exactly where I had been."

Erik gently stroked her hair.

"What about Jacob?"

"He traveled with a group of humans to a city in the far north."

"Is that where he lives now?"

"Probably."

Meira raised her head slightly.

"All I know is that it’s very far from Silver Moon. As for what their society is like now, I have no idea. The Contract between Jacob and me existed for far too long, but we had almost no actual contact."

Erik nodded slightly.

That also explained why there were human women without Succubus bloodlines around Jacob.

After thinking for a while longer, he asked:

"What about the new energy source he mentioned?"

Meira shook her head.

"I don’t know."

"Aren’t you worried?"

"I am."

Her answer surprised Erik slightly.

Meira sat up straighter, and the spoiled expression from earlier faded somewhat.

"If Jacob is truly preparing for war, I’ll have people investigate. The northern region is too far away, so information will be difficult to obtain, but it isn’t completely beyond our reach."

She looked at Erik.

"I’ll also accelerate the construction of our outposts, stockpile resources, and prepare our military forces. I have no intention of sitting here and waiting for someone to attack us."

Erik smiled.

That was the Meira he knew.

But immediately after saying that, she shifted forward, straddled Erik’s lap, and wrapped both arms around his neck.

"However..."

"Hmm?"

"Jacob is gone now."

"I noticed."

"So I don’t want to waste the time I have with Master thinking about him."

Meira pressed her forehead against Erik’s. They were so close that the tips of their noses lightly touched. She stared directly into his eyes, without the slightest trace of playfulness.

"I lost many years to a Contract I never wanted."

Her hand slowly caressed Erik’s jaw.

"For many years, I lived as though that were normal because everyone around me told me the first generation had a responsibility to bear. They said a Contract should be upheld until death once it had been signed. They said it was the price we had to pay for the world to continue existing."

Her fingers stopped against his cheek.

"Only now do I realize how much time I wasted."

Erik remained silent.

Meira smiled very softly.

"So from now on, every day belongs to me."

She leaned closer and placed a light kiss on the corner of Erik’s lips.

"I want to spend them with the man I love."

Her second kiss landed on his lips, just as gentle as the first. Meira did not continue. Instead, she rested her cheek against Erik’s shoulder, wrapped her arms around him, and allowed her soft, mature body to relax completely in his embrace.

Erik gently tightened his arm around her waist.

Meira immediately smiled.

"Master."

"What now?"

"Don’t frown."

"I’m thinking."

"You’re not allowed."

Erik: "..."

"Look at your little dog."

Erik lowered his gaze.

Meira had already raised her face and was waiting for him. Her green eyes curved into crescents, and her cheeks were still slightly flushed from the kisses. Yet her expression was so cheerful that Erik genuinely found it difficult to continue thinking about Jacob.

Erik finally laughed.

"All right."

His hand returned to her head.

Meira immediately looked satisfied.

...

More than twenty thousand kilometers away.

Inside a chamber buried deep underground, hundreds of magical lines engraved across the walls simultaneously went dark.

Jacob opened his eyes.

His body jerked violently, and blood immediately surged into his throat, but he forcibly swallowed it back down. More than half the crystals surrounding the magic array had shattered. Several had even been reduced directly to powder by the overwhelming backlash of energy.

"That bitch..."

Jacob braced one hand against the stone floor, his breathing heavy.

He had only intended to use the causal trace left behind by the Gen.0 Contract to determine Meira’s current condition. He had never expected her not only to detect the projection but also to launch a counterattack through their connection.

More importantly, there were the elements.

Jacob stared at his hand. The memory of how easily Meira had stolen Fire and Wind from him still made his face twitch.

"How is that possible...?"

His current abilities had been cultivated for decades. Even if part of them had originally come from the resonance of their Contract, Jacob had long since regarded them as his own power.

But before Meira, it was as though none of it had ever truly belonged to him.

Jacob gritted his teeth and stood.

The stone door ahead opened automatically. More than twenty people were already waiting outside, both men and women. Unlike Silver Moon, most of the women here possessed no Succubus horns, wings, or tails, and the fluctuations of their mana bore completely different characteristics.

Emily was the first to approach.

"How did it go?"

Jacob walked straight past her.

"Arrogant."

Everyone immediately exchanged glances.

Jacob stopped in the center of the great hall and said coldly:

"Those Succubi have forgotten who they once relied upon to survive the early era. They think that clinging to those useless men in the safe zones gives them the right to cast aside the people who helped them build the Contract system."

A middle-aged man immediately frowned.

"I said long ago that we should never have allowed them to develop freely."

Another woman said coldly:

"Those Succubi care only about lust. They can be loyal to one man today, then find someone else tomorrow."

The image of Meira lying in Erik’s arms flashed through Jacob’s mind, reigniting his fury.

"Exactly."

Curses quickly filled the great hall. Some called Succubi defective products of the new era. Others claimed they had seized too much territory and too many resources. A few directly declared that the entire Contract system should have been abolished a century ago.

Jacob allowed them to continue for a while before raising one hand.

The great hall immediately fell silent.

"In the near future, some of you may feel your Contracts beginning to weaken."

Several people’s expressions immediately changed.

Jacob continued:

"Meira may not be the last. Once news spreads that she voluntarily broke her Contract and survived, other Succubi will begin believing they can do the same."

A man near the front frowned.

"Then what should we do?"

Jacob looked at him, and the corners of his lips slowly curved upward.

"We don’t need to do anything."

Everyone paused.

Jacob raised his hand, and the spatial bracelet around his wrist flashed. A black metal box appeared and was placed on the stone table in the center of the hall.

"Because soon, we won’t need Contracts anymore."

Click.

The box opened.

Inside was a single crystal fragment no larger than a finger. It emitted neither light nor mana, but the moment the box opened, the space surrounding the fragment immediately warped slightly, as though the object did not completely belong to this world.

Emily frowned.

"What is that?"

"Proof."

Jacob looked at the crystal fragment.

"Long ago, God Rahapt left behind a prophecy. The world we see is not the entirety of reality. It is merely one plane among countless others layered over one another."

No one spoke.

Jacob slowly brought one finger toward the crystal.

"For the past century, we have always believed that the only way to continue cultivating was to adapt to this world’s new laws or rely upon the Succubus system. But if the laws here are no longer suitable..."

He smiled.

"...then why not draw energy from somewhere else?"

A man immediately shot to his feet.

"You found another plane?"

"Not entirely."

Jacob shook his head.

"But we’ve made contact with it."

His fingertip touched the protective glass surrounding the crystal.

"This was pulled from the rift connecting two planes. It is neither mana nor any element we have encountered before, but men can absorb it."

The atmosphere inside the great hall immediately changed.

"Without Succubi?"

Someone asked.

Jacob looked at him.

"Without them."

Smiles quickly appeared across many faces.

One man laughed.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Jacob did not laugh with him.

"We still can’t open a gate."

The room immediately fell silent.

"The magic array requires a type of matter that has completely adapted to the laws of this world to serve as a medium. We have tested monsters, elemental crystals, and many other materials, but none of them have been effective enough."

Emily slowly understood.

"Succubi?"

Jacob looked at her.

"More precisely..."

A cold smile appeared on his lips.

"...Succubus blood."