Paladin 4: Chapter 47

Much to Darren’s excitement, there was a horde of robot monsters on the other side of the door. He was starting to get used to fighting these machine things. They were tough, but tearing them apart with the strength in his arms and dodging their heavy blows with nothing but skill and reflexes was exhilarating. He wanted more practice fighting against foes who weren’t demons, so fighting these things was just what he needed.

Darren found that if he avoided resorting to his abilities or his legendary swords too much, he could draw the fighting out a little longer and hone some of the new techniques he’d been practicing. He found his mind going back to his battles in the Heavens, especially that last one against Kalaziel.

Only one of them would remain in the Sacred Seas when all this was finished. The other would be either dead or fleeing for their life. Darren intended to be the one who survived. To do that, he would have to beat Kalaziel once and for all.

Darren reviewed every stroke of the Prime Saint’s sword inscribed forever into his memories. He fought as though listening to a tune in his head and remembering every beat. He saw Kalaziel’s face inscribed on every machine he destroyed, and with each foe defeated, he refined his movements and his skills that were much closer to defeating his hated foe once and for all.

There were two more rooms of robots to battle, and by now, Ashe simply hung back while Darren had his fun. But all good things had to end sooner or later, and eventually, they came to another puzzle room.

“I’ll get you this time!” The Dungeon Queen shouted, voice filled with eager anticipation. “This puzzle is called the Hole of Glory!” Darren must stand on one side of it, while Ashe will stand on the other. The two of you must work as a team to find the solution.

Darren and Ashe walked over to the wall in the center of the room. There was a hole about waist-high for Darren, and he could see Ashe kneeling on the other side.

“There’s something in there,” Darren said, poking his finger through the hole. A hidden mechanism clicked into place, and the door on the other side of the room swung open.

“Darren, you solved the Hole of Glory!” Ashe jumped up and clapped her hands in congratulations.

Darren glanced at his finger, shrugging in surprise. “Looks like I did.”

“Damn it! I shouldn’t have used a pair of simple pressure plates...” The Dungeon Queen cursed. “I need to build something a bit tougher... I know. Let’s see if Ashe can escape Saint Andrew’s Cross!”

“What is this Andrew the Prime Saint of?” Darren asked.

It turned out Prime Saint Andrew was the Prime Saint of black leather restraints. Some quick thinking by Darren allowed Ashe to break her own wrists to slip out of the bonds, then heal with the help of some of his Fountain of Youth Water.

The next few puzzles all followed the same pattern, and Darren and Ashe started progressing through the dungeon a little faster as they got the hang of things.

“If that map of the power plant facility I saw earlier is correct, we should be getting closer to the heart of the dungeon,” Ashe said.

“I think you are correct.” Darren was in agreement, but more because the Dungeon Queens’ complaints had gotten louder and more desperate with every room they completed. She seemed like she was on the verge of breaking down.

He wasn’t sure how such an emotional being could have come from a subsystem that belonged to the Omniscient Codex. The powerful Seventh Order knowledge spirit he had met there seemed utterly unflappable, no matter the situation. This Dungeon Queen seemed to be driven entirely by her desire to see him and Ashe have sex.

Before long, they made it to what Ashe believed to be the final door between them and the core room. It was a big hunk of steel, twice as thick as anything before it. The passing of years had left some rust on it, but the sheer mass of the door still meant it was a formidable barrier. If not for the lack of any sort of magic emanating from the barrier, it would have been an even stronger door than the one that guarded the Heavengrace family vault in Whiteguard.

“Oh, come on!” The Dungeon Queen groaned. “I give up! If you don’t have sex, I’m not opening the doors to my core room!”

“That’s not a puzzle,” Darren replied.

“Yeah, it is! It’s put on a good show for the Dungeon Queen, or you don’t get squat!”

Darren took out Inevitability. He hefted it in his hand, then eyed the doors before him. They were made of metal with a big wheel in the center. They looked a lot tougher than the other doors they’d made their way through, but unlike most of the puzzle rooms, he could tell exactly where he was supposed to cut with this door. Given a bit of time, he could hack his way through.

He moved closer to the door to do just that, but the Dungeon Queen sensed his plan. “Oh no, you don’t! You’re not breaking through this puzzle with brute force. Having sex is the only way through!”

“You can’t stop me,” Darren replied.

The Dungeon Queen laughed. “Oh, but I can. Do you know what a nuclear reactor is? I can tell by the look on your face that you don’t. But that’s what powers the city of Angelless, and I’m in control of this one. But with a few commands from me and I can turn this nuclear reactor into a nuclear bomb!”

Darren blinked, still holding his sword.

“Darren, a nuclear bomb is very bad,” Ashe said.

“I have survived many big explosions,” Darren replied. No matter how large this nuclear bomb was, he had other bodies in the Sacred Seas to jump to, though he likely could erect enough Divine Energy Construct barriers to save the one he was wearing.

“Not like this, you haven’t,” Ashe replied. “Nuclear explosions are very bad. They poison the soil in all directions, so most living things that walk across them die.”

The Omniscient Codex probably wouldn’t be happy about that, so Darren finally relented.

“There is no alternative, Ashe,” Darren said, still holding his sword aloft.

“Uhm... but... what she said...” Ashe placed a hand on Darren’s chest. “Why can’t...”

Darren blinked down at her, waiting for the words to come out.

“That’s to say... d-do you not find me attractive?” Ashe asked meekly. “In the bath, and then again with all the other rooms...” Tears came to Ashe’s eyes.

Darren went to one knee. “You are very beautiful, Ashe. And I would love to have you in my life forever.”

“Then...?”

Darren shook his head. “I grow attached to my women. And if we go there, I will grow attached to you. I will want you by my side forever.”

Ashe blushed. “That doesn’t sound like such a bad fate.”

But Darren shook his head again. “You are bound to Melancholy. You can not make your own choice until you have your body back.”

Ashe pouted.

Outside, the Dungeon Queen pouted. “Boo! Lame! Where is the sex? I told you I’m going to blow this whole place up if you don’t have sex!”

Darren turned to the nearest speaker. “Our affairs are our own, Dungeon Queen. Respect that.”

The Dungeon Queen let out a wordless grumble.

Darren hefted Inevitability again, tugging on Darren’s sleeve.

“...shouldn’t I decide that?” She asked.

Darren glanced back at her, and Ashe gathered her voice.

“I should be the one to decide if I’m fit to make decisions!” Ashe said. “And I say I’m ready to decide now!”

Darren frowned. “I didn’t think of that.”

He was about to protest more, but Ashe stopped him with a kiss. And unlike all the times before, this time, she was the one who kissed him.

“Ooh! Is it happening? I think it’s happening! Hold on, let me record this for my--“

Darren waved his hand, and a square box of Divine Energy enveloped them, surrounding the entire room. The hazy glow blocked out all light from the outside and muffled the Dungeon Queen’s voice until it was just a muffled whisper.

“We don’t need a voyeur,” Darren replied. “And she never said we had to let her watch.”

Ashe poked Darren’s nose. “Strong, handsome, dedicated, and sometimes smart, too.”

Darren pulled away from Ashe for a moment. “Are you sure about this? Weren’t you the Prime Saint of Purity?”

Ashe shushed Darren. “I was sure a long time ago.”

She kissed him again.

He felt her hand crawl under his shirt and begin working it free.

“I’ve been thinking about this since we first met,” Ashe whispered.

“When I helped restore you to your original form?” Darren asked.

Ashe giggled. “No. When I saw you stealing Cassandra and Morgana away. They were supposed to be sacrifices for me. But then you appeared, and the Prime Sin of Corruption found herself corrupted by lustful thoughts...”

“Oh?” Hearing her explain her former thoughts as a Prime Sin put his last encounter with her in a different light. “What kind of thoughts?”

“Let me show you,” Ashe whispered in Darren’s ear. She pulled his shirt off the rest of the way and tossed it aside. A moment later, she did the same with her own.

“I wanted to be with you. I wanted to touch you. I wanted to feel you,” Ashe continued. She grabbed his rough hands and wrapped them around her tight waist. “I wanted to be close to you.”

“I like having you near me,” Darren admitted. As soon as he started, more words tumbled out one after another. “You’re talented. You know how to fight and use Divine Aura. My journeys away from home are less lonely because of you.

“Oh... you!” Ashe kissed him again. Then her hands roamed toward his belt.

“Wait,” Darren said.

“I don’t want to wait anymore!” Ashe whispered. “Screw Cassandra and her stupid rules. I’m not in love with her. I’m in love with you.”

She undid the buckle of his pants and, with one swift tug, tossed the leather strip on the ground beside him.

The feel of her bare thighs pressing against his waist lit a fire in his heart. If things continued this way much longer, Darren couldn’t help himself.

“Ashe...” He said. “I...”

“I want to be yours,” Ashe said. “I am yours. I’ve seen what you do with Cassandra, Morgana, and all the others. So please, do the same with me.”

As she spoke, she reached into his pants and grasped his hardening cock. She gave it a few quick tugs, quickly bringing it to full hardness. Her technique was reminiscent of Cassandra’s, and he recognized her hand in teaching Ashe.

“Ashe...” Darren said, his voice cracking. “This is your last chance to back out.”

In response, Ashe slid to her knees and gave the head of his cock a wet kiss.

“I’m in love with you,” she said. “And I want you to take me.”

Darren leaned back and let Ashe run her lips up and down his manhood. His cock twitched in her mouth, and she moaned softly.

He ran his hand through her hair and along her neck. She looked up at him through long lashes and adoring eyes.

She reached up with her free hand to meet Darren’s, and she guided his fingers to wrap around her hair tighter. He moved his hand in rhythm with her bobbing head, and she enjoyed the possessive feeling of his hand on her head.

That thrilled him all the more, making him hold her tighter. And in turn, Ashe bobbed faster and happier when she realized she was doing a good job.

But Darren didn’t plan to lay claim to Ashe with a mere blowjob. When his shaft was as stiff as it could get and stretched Ashe’s jaw to its fullest, he pulled himself free.

Ashe was uncertain when he freed himself, but now Darren planned to take the lead. He flicked his hand and pulled a blanket and a pile of pillows from his Inventory, and laid Ashe down on top of them.

With a flick of his wrist, he pulled the rest of her clothes off, leaving her completely naked as she stretched before him.

“You’re mine now,” Darren whispered.

“I know. And I love it,” Ashe replied. She reached for his cock, positioning the head toward her entrance between her thighs. His immense size would have terrified a normal woman, but Ashe was unintimidated. This wasn’t even her true body, just a projection of her soul within Melancholy.

Darren pushed himself inside. She was so wet he had to fight to go in slowly. He felt her clenching tight around her like she was pulling him in.

While he let her get used to his tremendous size, he cupped her modest breasts in his hands, flicking his thumb across her hard nipples. Ashe’s breaths came quick and anxious.

“Are you alright?” Darren asked.

“Yes!” Ashe moaned, pushing herself further down along his cock. He filled her completely, stretching her walls. “Heaven’s above. I didn’t think I’d be able to feel anything without a real body!”

Darren chuckled. “I take it you were wrong?”

“Mhm!” Ashe mumbled with her lip clenched between her teeth.

“Then let’s try this.” Darren generated hundreds of tendrils of Divine Energy Constructs, picking Ashe up off the pile of pillows.

The Divine Aura flicked across her skin, nipping and lapping at every inch of her, sensitive or not. Ashe widened her eyes at all the many sensations. Darren wasn’t sure how much of them got through to Ashe through whatever ability she was using to create her body, but he could tell her startled reactions were genuine.

One of her arms vanished momentarily, and Darren realized she was struggling to hold her body together among all the sensations. He eased up on her a little, at least until the focus returned to her eyes.

Then he started thrusting, and those same eyes rolled up into the back of her head.

Time passed swiftly while the two of them concerned themselves only with carnal pleasures and the exploration of one another’s bodies. Darren brought all his experience to bear, since he was fairly certain this was Ashe’s first time with a man in all her thousands of years of life.

Whatever Cassandra had taught her must have been very comprehensive, though, because she was as prepared as any woman could be. He had to fight to hold off from finishing early and spilling his seed all over his chest.

Eventually, the two of them were tiring, even with their superhuman stamina. Darren remembered he needed to save some strength for any battles yet to come. They still had to confront the Dungeon Queen, after all.

So he finished while plunged deep inside Ashe, filling her with his seed and power, just as he had for Cassandra, Morgana, Thalia, and all his other companions. He wasn’t sure if it was something Ashe could use, but it would be useful just in case.

When they were done, Ashe lay squirming in his arms while he rested on the pillows.

“I...” Ashe began. Darren waited for her to speak. “I love you, Darren.”

Darren gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.