Chapter 211 – The Resident Mad Artificer

Lilyth

Aki and Caeileera travelled to the Realm of Air along with Nyx and me. Ren would join us later after she finished helping her mom with the keep business for the day.

‘I am so sorry,’ my blue-haired lioness cried when I was back in my bed. ‘We should have never suggested you get involved with official business again.’

I waved her concerns away.

‘It is fine. At least, I will feel less guilty about staying in bed while you guys do things thanks to this.’

‘You should not feel guilty period,’ Caei said. ‘Not in the state you are in. In fact, I think you focus on recovering while we will focus on being doting wives.’

‘What about about the province?’

‘Fuck Ror-Bhyk,’ Aki spat. ‘You are the one who is the most important to us right now.’

And they really meant that. In the days that followed there wasn't a moment that at least one of my wives, usually Caei due to her high resistance to Elemental Contamination, wasn't with me. After a week, I was strong enough that Nyx deemed it safe for me to move to our house in Emerald Falls. There, Aki also became my permanent attendant, so when Wilhum showed up three weeks after my audience with the Bishop, I was ready enough to meet him.

Aki

‘Lady Malika!’ Lilyth, lounging on her own beanbag throne in her [Cloud Form] and Fluffy in her lap, said with a forced smile. ‘I was under the impression I told you to leave.’

‘I apologise, my Queen,’ Sav’s mom bowed her head, ‘but my Lord Husband insisted.

‘Is that so?’ My Jelly's eyes narrowed as she turned to my brother. ‘I must admire the balls here, Wilhum. Very few people would have the audacity to request an audience with someone they betrayed.’

‘I did what I thought was best for Ror-Bhyk,’ the noble said, proudly.

‘And how'd that go exactly? I don’t envy you, Wilhum. You had to pick a side and chose the wrong one. Still doesn't explain why the fuck you are wasting my time.’

‘I’m here to offer my services,’ he replied, sounding unsure.

‘With?’

‘Helping maintain the territory of the province, of course. Barons of Tyr-Mel and Fal-Mel don’t know you and might not consider you their proper liegelord.’

‘I advise you to choose your next words very carefully, Wilhum von Caiver,’ Lilyth said very coldly. ‘If you are about to suggest that you won’t start a civil war if I give you some sort of a synecure…’

Not waiting for an answer, she sighed and turned to the new Duchess of Tyr-Mel.

‘I think we have some house-cleaning to do in your Duchy, Kart.’

‘It would seem so, my Queen,’ the Spymaster seemed unhappy with the prospect.

With everything that was happening, she didn't have time to enjoy her new position.

‘A word in private then, please,’ my Jelly said. ‘Ireela, you too. Fluffy, keep an eye on them.’

The slime immediately changed his expression to an angry one and began to glare at our “guests”.

‘Lady Malika,’ Lilyth turned to Sav’s mom after she, Ireela and Kart returned. ‘Despite our previous differences, I still respect you, so after conferring with the Duchesses of Mer-Cas and Tyr-Mel, we have decided to name your son Zaiven the Count of Fal-Mel with you as his regent until he reaches the age of majority. There is one condition, though. You can probably guess what it is.’

‘I will ensure Wilhum will not bother you again,’ Malika nodded.

‘But-’ he began to protest but Malika shut him down with a glance.

‘Hush, Willie. The adults are talking.’

‘Thank you,’ Lilyth nodded. ‘I also hereby grant you the title of Countess and appoint you the provisional governor of the Duchy of Tyr-Mel until Kartyen can fully assume her position.’

Malika got to one knee and said:

‘Thank you, my Queen. Especially for my son.’

‘Rise then Countess Malika Ad… of Ror-Bhyk.’

Savri looked at Lilyth in surprise.

‘Later,’ I whispered to her.

Savri

I couldn't believe my ears when I listened to Lilyth's story after the five of us sat down in the Council Chamber.

‘You mean to tell me that I have been literally calling myself “the Betrayer” my entire life?!’ I asked after she was done.

‘Yes,’ the furball confirmed, stifling a cough. ‘Sorry for not telling you earlier but…’

I was mad, but I waved her apology away, as, frankly, I couldn't figure out how to break news like that myself.

Sorry. Your mom may be guilty of crimes against mortal beings from thousands of years ago.

‘Don’t sweat it. I am used to operating on a need-to-know basis, and I don’t think there was a good time for it anyway.’

‘Out of curiosity, why did you start using it as your last name?’

‘Some of the Old Guard were calling mom “Malika Adzhenair”, so I, you know… I just assumed that was our family name. Then, when I ended up in Paul’s world and had to fill out the forms, it became official. Oops.’

‘You should have seen some of the surnames I have seen back home. My favourite is probably Jakoktochce or “However one wants”.’

‘I suddenly feel less bad about “The Betrayer”. I am also now very curious about how it ties to what Nyx told me about Demons not being Fae.’

‘Huh,’ Lilyth muttered. ‘That explains something I was wondering about. The earliest images I have seen of Malika, or at least that's what I think those of her having a normal hair colour are, didn't take place in the Abyss. It was on Dwynveia, or some other “normal” world anyway.’

‘So… My mom was there when something about us changed. And it possibly ties to her being “The Betrayer”. There are also the Hellborn to consider. How do you come into this?’

Lilyth

‘Unfortunately, the only person with an answer to that question is presently dead,’ I sighed. ‘Once I have rested a bit more, I plan to go to the Realm of Shadow and ask, though I don't have the fuckingest where Ere stationed ‘Phone and Deirdee.’

‘You can always ask,’ the goddess laughed. ‘Though do bear in mind that if your masterplan for rescuing them is “find where they are in the Realm of Shadow and lead them out, it won't work. And Dain is in the Realm of Death, anyway, so you need to figure out how to get him out too.’

I am shocked you are so okay with us planning to do this.

‘It’s not like we didn't suggest it and, hey, rescuing people from the afterlife is a staple of both Terran AND Dwynveian mythologies. You wouldn't be the first ones to actually do it either, though don’t expect any help from us, as we have quite a betting pool going on what exactly you will choose to do. Toodles!’

‘Well… scratch one idea,’ Ren said after the link went dead.

‘Don’t you mean the only idea?’ I joked.

‘Oh, go fuck yourself,’ she flipped me off.

‘Not gonna join me, birdbrain?’

‘Should I leave the room?’ Sav asked, slightly amused. ‘I wouldn't try the table though. It is very uncomfortable.’

After a moment she realised what she had just said so she quickly added.

‘Or at least so I have heard.’

After washing our hands and incinerating the table we went to check with Malika whether she knew anything about breaking into the Land of the Dead, but, alas, she did not. We did get some more credible myth recommendations from her though.

After spending another week fooling around in the cabin I decided it was time for me to return to the palace and start exploring different avenues for “being useful”.

One very promising avenue was Magitek engineering. I had plenty of ideas for cool shit, but the more I looked into things the more I realised that it would take me months of study and experimentation to create anything more than simple gadgets.

A nice thing I discovered was that the creation of Mana Crystals was skill-adjacent to those Storm Crystals that Aki liked. I would treasure the expression on her face when I presented her with a forehead flashlight with a large heart-shaped Storm Crystal as the light source for her twentieth birthday for the rest of my life.

I didn't leave my other wives wanting either, Caei got a bracelet with a pentagram made from small Storm Crystals and Rennie got a bookmark with a bow.

I was also working on a secret project for our first wedding anniversary, but that one depended on another skill I was training in - magical shaping of metal. As this was pure Earth Arcana, and I had my other projects in the pipeline, I had to establish labs for myself in the Realms of Earth and Fire. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about costs as saving Dwynveia from the Blood earned me a lot of goodwill from the Old Gods. They even had portals installed for me so that I could travel between my labs at will.

One thing I had to admit was - [Metallokinesis] was insanely fun, especially when combined with Magnetic spells. It was also a supreme bit of irony that someone who literally got adopted by the Goddess of Air was going balls deep into Earth Arcana, but Nyx only encouraged it.

‘If you are having fun with it, it’s all that matters to me,’ she said.

It wasn't like I didn't learn other types of magic too. My grimoire had all of my old spells included, so I relearned them just in case, and once I started doing it a new section of the tome “unlocked” with a few Primaeval Arcana spells. There was a note attached.

For giving Persephone a chance

It was signed by “The King Who Commands The Ocean”.

I wonder what the history is between those two.

Between one of them - [Primaeval Shield], and some Fire Arcana I picked up I was able to create the first practical items for my party.

Savri

‘What’s that?’ I asked, looking at a wide flat-bottomed crescent-shaped metal thingie with a thin slit running along the ridge of the convex side.

She invited us to her lab in Nyx’s palace and the place was an absolute mess of mana crystals and various pieces of twisted metal. Funnily enough, Fluffy wearing a labcoat and eye protection goggles was there, apparently being Lilyth's assistant.

‘Put it on the ground and activate it,’ Lilyth said with a satisfied smile.

I followed her instructions and a curved magical barrier wide enough to cover two people emitted from the device.

‘Portable Shield Generator,’ Lilyth explained unnecessarily. ‘Right now those are one-use only and last about a minute. You can change mana crystals in them. I haven't figured out how to make rechargeable ones yet.’

The stupid furball looked guilty about that. I had no idea why. In fact…

‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ I said while tackle-hugging her and showering with kisses. ‘Those will be a game-changer. How many do you have?’

‘Two prototypes,’ the genius furball explained. ‘Let me activate the second one so you can test its durability.’

It survived three shots from my pistol, which was less than ideal, but a very good start.

We then moved to the Realm of Earth lab where we tested all sorts of weapons and spells against it, with Lilyth taking meticulous notes.

It was a very fun afternoon, though we had to cut it short because we had more ideas than the furball had Mana Crystals prepared.

‘I’ll start working on the next prototypes,’ Lilyth nodded and handed me the two we used for testing. ‘Keep them. Might prove useful. I’ll make some Crystals for them and send them over ASAP.’

‘Will you be able to make rings of protection?’ Aki asked.

‘Protective jewellery is on my list, yes. But I need to perfect the shield first.’

Aki smiled happily.

‘Anyway, that's not all!’ the furball smiled and waved us over to another table, containing four fist-sized round objects.

‘Breaching charges,’ she explained. ‘Crude ones, anyway.’

‘What’s a breaching charge?’ Ren asked.

‘Let me show you,’ Lilyth smiled and began the demonstration of another holy relic by turning a large pile of metal scrap on the floor into a two-centimetre thick wall.

She then grabbed one of the charges and gave it to Ren. ‘Stick the lower end to the wall,’ she pointed to a lens-looking side,’ using this...’

Lilyth handed Rennie a bottle of resin-like substance.

‘Will need to find better adhesive,’ she muttered.

After Ren followed her instructions, Lilyth told everyone to stand back and cover their ears.

‘Now activate it.’

We were rewarded with an explosion that blew a massive hole in the metal wall and singed the stone one a metre-behind.

‘Holy fuck!’ Rennie exclaimed once our ears stopped ringing.

‘Holy fuck.’ I agreed.

Lilyth picked up one of the other charges.

‘Inside there is a Medium’ish Fire-attuned Mana Crystal primed into a [Fire Bolt], and the casing is inscribed with simple [Trigger] and [Shatter] commands. Basically, activating those unleashes the entire mana stored inside of it as a massive explosion. Crude but effective.’

She then handed all three to Aki.

‘Why breaching charges though?’ I asked. ‘It is a weird blow-shit-up choice.’

‘They were a… by-product. A sort-of logical first step.’

‘To what?’

‘I have ideas,’ she said mysteriously. ‘The “technology” has many applications. Right now, I am working on developing pressure/impact triggers and mastering creating larger mana crystals.’

‘Does this mean… landmines?’ I asked.

‘Yup,’ Lilyth shrugged. ‘I could make them, but only if you specifically ask for them. I have… a certain distaste for those‘

‘Understandable. So I won’t ask.’

‘What’s a landmine?’ Aki asked.

‘You brought them up,’ the furball threw me under the bus. ‘You explain.’