Chapter 233 - By His Side
Lucien left the purple world portal at his troops" camp at 9:30 am.
Wearing his updated armor, he flapped his wings and felt no discomfort. Rebecca did an incredible job making the chest piece even though it"s only made out of super-resistant leather, then she enchanted it using the new tools from her new workshop.
His onyx horns shone, which added to his beautiful red hair, devilishly perfect face, and a provocative smile that made the hearts of his female troops beat faster from excitement, causes most males to feel indignant.
Lorelai couldn"t contain her smile when she remembered the "extra" boost she received during the night. In fact, everyone could see that she is increasingly standing out among the troops and receiving more attention from Lucien.
Also, added to her natural charisma, Lorelai is also developing her leaders.h.i.+p abilities, which make her more and more loved and admired by the other girls who think it makes sense for her to receive more attention from Lucien for being so incredible.
Lucien"s wives like to play a strange game where they wonder who will be the next woman to enter their "family core." And right now, Lorelai is one of the women who has the most votes. They don"t bet money, but things like more time with Lucien, the right to wash his back in the bath, or to sit on his lap during meals on certain days.
Another thing about Lorelai is that she never tries to get Lucien"s attention directly in a forced way like most of his other troops. She uses subtle means to try to seduce him during her general training, and especially during private training sessions, where he teaches her to master her skills with the black Katana he gave her as a gift.
So when Lorelai approached him now, Lucien knew that she has something important to say.
Still, she would not miss the opportunity to show her affection to him.
"Good morning, Master!" Lorelai greeted Lucien with a bright smile on her beautiful face.
Lucien smiled and brought his lips to her ear, making Lorelai very excited and even a little embarra.s.sed.
"Good morning, Lorelai," Lucien spoke tenderly and kissed quickly, but affectionately on her sweet lips.
For a moment, Lorelai forgot about everything and just enjoyed Lucien"s kiss, but she quickly focused again and started to explain what she has to report.
"Master... I brought a group of scouts to the coast as you ordered, and we saw some big sh.i.p.s to the south. There are approximately ten of them, staying less than two hundred meters away from the beach."
Lucien made a thoughtful expression. "I didn"t see any sh.i.p.s yesterday... Amelia seems to have some tricks."
L.u.s.t, who had already materialized her body alongside Lucien, couldn"t help commenting. "Smart move. She can use the sh.i.p.s to move troops on our flank and use her mages there to bomb us from another angle."
As they would be fighting on the beach, Amelia having sh.i.p.s means that her troops will be able to use a part of the battlefield that Lucien"s troops cannot, well, not with conventional means.
Lucien couldn"t help but smile. "Envy must already know that Angela has water/ice affinity, but she doesn"t know about Marie and Lena, who are not much weaker than their mother now."
Neola, who is part of the group of women that left the portal, asked. "But they are the base of our magical defenses. Isn"t that a problem?"
Lucien strokes her face. "Now we have a lot of wizards and mages in our troops. They can handle magical attacks from enemies long enough for Angela to deal with the sh.i.p.s. After defeating the sh.i.p.s, she can focus on our defense"s again. The troops can keep switching out groups of mages so they don"t get too exhausted while supporting Angela."
All of the girls nodded, agreeing with Lucien. Angela and other girls who are still at home getting ready would also agree.
Then Lucien looked at Neola, Kylee, and Lorelai. "Let everyone know to get ready. Send someone to tell Alden too. We don"t have much time."
Before Lucien could tell Scarlett and Olivia to prepare the mercenaries and adventurers, Lorelai quickly said. "Everyone is already ready, waiting for your orders, Master."
Lucien couldn"t help being surprised, and Lorelai quickly explained. "The girls were unable to sleep after... our night training. Everyone is looking forward to fighting alongside you, Master, especially after knowing how you rewarded us for the last battle."
Lorelai continued to explain. "As everyone was warned of the time agreed for the battle, Alden also got his group ready. So he spoke to the mercenaries and adventurers who had also rested well during the day. Now everyone is on the beach, ready to fight."
Lucien quickly focused his senses and noticed that really everyone is at the beach. The last women of his troops are moving there as well.
"I thought it would be more difficult to deal with the adventurers..." Lucien couldn"t help but think out loud.
Lorelai quickly comment. "Master is such an incredible, powerful, and wise king. There is no reason for people to want to create problems."
Some of Lucien"s wives couldn"t help laughing. They certainly find him very incredible, but that is just one more reason for many men to be jealous and create problems. Still, they know the real reason why everyone is behaving.
"Brutal, scary, and authoritative... That"s why they won"t create trouble. No one wants to disobey the devil." L.u.s.t proudly commented. She loves every part of Lucien"s personality.
Ca.s.sidy was the first to nod in agreement with L.u.s.t"s words. She had so many problems before because her enemies didn"t fear her like they do Lucien.
"Well, if everyone is ready, let"s go," Lucien spoke before heading towards the beach with his troops and wives.
Arriving at the beach, Lucien saw his female troops in an organized formation. Rebecca"s group of blacksmith apprentices used the last few weeks to focus entirely on creating black armor just like Lucien"s original six hundred troops.
The troops armor is black, just not made from black steel like the armor Lucien and his wives have, but they are very well made with the best materials that Lucien has now.
Behind the group of women in black armor are Lucien"s male troops. They also painted their armor black. The armor is originally from the Light Empire soldiers.
On one side of Lucien"s six hundred male troops is the group of two thousand mercenaries, and on the other side, is the group of two thousand adventurers.
Although Olivia and Scarlett prefer to fight near Lucien, they understand that it is very good for the morale of mercenaries and adventurers to follow their lead.
Plus, it is perfect that Lucien can give orders to them immediately by having mental communication with one of his wives leading the groups, and of course, Olivia and Scarlett are the most suitable for this task.
While Lucien gave the last orders to everyone and prepared to go to the battlefield, he opened the portal of the purple world since all of his wives are ready and want to be at his side in front of his army.
Lucien was surprised to see Rebecca and Madelyn leave the portal wearing black steel armor like his other wives, and leaving only the cute young Kara at home.
Her relations.h.i.+p with them is still in development, and although Rebecca said she would fight alongside Lucien if he wants it, she still seemed to be uncertain about actually fighting.
But Madelyn made it clear that she would be too afraid to fight, especially against the scary Light Empire soldiers.
"You don"t have to do this. You know that, right?" Lucien spoke as he approached them.
Rebecca smiled as she spun a big warhammer in her hands. "I"m already your wife, and everyone can see that. Although I"m grateful that we are developing our relations.h.i.+p slowly, I have the duty and honor to fight by your side, hubby."
Her words were bold, but Rebecca still blushed when Lucien kissed her in front of everyone.
Madelyn looked anxious and embarra.s.sed, but actually, she is sure that nothing bad will happen to her while Lucien protects her.
When he smiled affectionately at her, she quickly hugged him and hid her face in his chest. "I... I"m a little afraid, but I also want to partic.i.p.ate in this, not just to get revenge, but also to be by your side... beside my husband."
Lucien couldn"t help but smile and hug Madelyn tightly. So he placed her on Oya before mounting behind her. "We have to go, or Amelia will come after us."
As Lucien seems to have reached an agreement with Oya where he is mounting her whenever possible, Lucien"s wives came to an agreement of not having to walk beside him, but also still to be by his side.
That is, with the help of Angela, Rose, Lena, and Marie, who, like other powerful mages near or above the Mortal Realm, can create solid surfaces with their magical affinities and move them in the air.
Rose created a large flat rock while Angela, Marie, and Lena created flat surfaces of ice for them, and Lucien"s other wives stand on top of it.
While this is a method for Lucien"s wives to not have to walk below him while he is mounted on Oya, it will also be how they move in combat from now on.
The girl"s mana is now enough for them to be able to stay in the air for several hours without it hindering them from using their magic to attack the enemy group or defend Lucien"s troops and themself.
Plus, this way, they can help Lucien"s other wives who don"t have really good mobility like Angela taking Ca.s.sidy across the battlefield quickly, or Rose keeping Neola, Ghilanna, and a small group of archers in the air, flanking their enemies.
So most of Lucien"s wives got on the four floating surfaces made by the mage girls. Lena invited Lorelai to join the girls on her ice surface, and since Lucien didn"t mind that, Lorelai quickly accepted the offer.
Still, four girls did not immediately join the women on the floating surfaces. L.u.s.t, Astrid, Aria, and Ella, as well as Lucien, have the incredible and enviable ability to fly.
L.u.s.t could always fly because she has total control over her body that is made from demonic energy, but Astrid, Aria, and Ella had to train a lot in the purple world to be able to actually fly, and although they have not yet mastered this ability, they are already able to fly at a certain distance, at a moderate speed, but only for an hour before they get tired.
Astrid has small wings like L.u.s.t"s, so she flies by magic and needs to increase her power to improve her flight. But Aria and Ella really do have very light bodies and large feathers that allow them to fly. Still, they need to strengthen their bodies to fly faster and for longer.
And Lucien, of course, can fly because of his big and powerful wings create mighty waves of wind, but L.u.s.t also said that his wings are magical and from the moment he learns to control this, he will be able to keep himself in the air even if he only flaps his wings slowly as she and Astrid do.
He spent a small part of the journey training his flight, and although he can already fly, he still can"t control his wings perfectly. Still, he intends to incorporate flight during combat.
So the group headed to the battlefield. Lucien, with Madelyn wrapped in his arms, mounted on Oya in her expanded size. And at his side, four beautiful women flying with wings and many others on top of the floating surfaces of stone and ice.
The incredible scene surprised all of the men and women in the mercenary and adventurer groups.
Lucien"s female troops could not help dreaming of one day being on the floating surfaces besides him, or rather, in his arms like Madelyn. But for now, everyone is delighted to follow him as his troops and their morale for the battle can"t get any better.
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