Chapter 408: The Phoenixes" Fall

While everyone in that courtyard is confused after the Nature Spirit becomes a wooden doll and disappears, Lucien and his group have different reactions.

Laure is still shocked because of everything that has happened, but she realizes that they need time to talk, and now they are in front of thousands of people from the fox-clan.

Then she takes a bottle of wine with Clovis, shakes it, and splashes over Lucien and his wives. "Best wishes to this family!"

Lucien, still very curious about the last enigmatic words of the Nature Spirit, laughs while he is happy that Laure breaks that strange atmosphere. He does not believe that someone from the fox-clan wants to harm his group, but that is definitely not the best time to talk about such things.

Anne, Elsie, and most of Lucien"s wives laugh as they try to dodge the splash of wine. The fox-people laugh and applaud while everyone seems to be having a great time.

Laure gives Daisy a bottle of wine, and she also starts splas.h.i.+ng it over Rosy while trying to hold the urge to talk to Lucien about other things.

Neola gives troops a signal, and they take trays and bottles of wine from their storage treasures. Then half of them start serving everyone while the other half helps a group of fox-women to set up large tables around the stage quickly.

That group of cooks was already prepared, and with the help of Lucien"s troops, they quickly set up a banquet in that courtyard, with diverse meals to satisfy the ten thousand people there. And of course, thanks to Clovis, there will be plenty of drinks too.

Lucien feels that l.u.s.t, Envy, and Sloth are eager, certainly wanting to talk about the things the Nature Spirit has said. Pride and Eve are equally thoughtful, while Wrath and Donna are splas.h.i.+ng wine at each other.

He also wants to focus on healing Daisy and Helena as soon as possible, but at that very moment, he knows he has an obligation as a husband.

Most of his wives, especially the demi-human ones, are very happy and excited about the ceremony. They already received the "blessing" of the Nature Spirit in person, and now is the time to celebrate.

Fox-girls with violas, harps, and other musical instruments start playing lively melodies as they celebrate being together.

After kissing all his wives again, Lucien sits next to Eve at a large table in the courtyard center to eat some food. His body is almost entirely supplied by his demonic energies and life mana, but he still feels the need to eat food.

Upon taking a piece of deer from Eve"s plate, Lucien receives a smile from her, and Donna, sitting in front of them while devouring a lot of meat, laughs at them.

Besides Donna, Helena eats just a little salad while looking at Lucien and Eve with a strange expression. "You guys are so weird..."

The other girls start to sit at that table too because it was specially prepared for them and has s.p.a.ce for many people.

Laure sighs as she drinks a gla.s.s of wine. "I knew that this one was going to be the most incredible ceremony of all, but I didn"t expect to see... the Nature Spirit... I still can"t believe it."

"n.o.body expected that..." Sloth materializes her body in one of the chairs and comments.

l.u.s.t materializes her body on Lucien"s lap, getting jealous looks from his other wives and an upset look from Eve. "But other people certainly expected... that mysterious woman from Lucien"s dream and even his mother."

Lucien kisses l.u.s.t"s neck as he comments. "Speculation is not going to help us now... I"m more interested in the last thing she said."

"The Phoenix? I was also curious about that." Amelia comments as she also sits near Lucien while Sophia is talking to his other wives.

Upon hearing about the Phoenix, Daisy also sits at the table, right next to Helena. Lucien can see that she wants to talk about something since the Nature Spirit talked about that.

Sloth makes a kind expression. "The Phoenixes, the sun children... They are fantastic creatures."

"Majestic firebirds. They say they are literally raised from suns, but we don"t know much about them." l.u.s.t complements.

Pride materializes her body and does an upset and arrogant expression as always. "They are freaks that should never have existed."

Sloth shakes her head disapprovingly. "Don"t mind Pride. She hates Phoenixes for something that was not their fault."

"What is it?" Lucien asks Pride.

She quickly responds. "The G.o.ds used the Phoenixes to become so powerful, and some of them are even immortal now. That was why Aylin was unable to kill them."

"Do you mean that being deceived and slaughtered to the point of extinction means to help the G.o.ds?" l.u.s.t asks sarcastically.

"They were fools, and it had consequences for everyone. If they hadn"t existed or at least not trusted the G.o.ds, the universe could be at peace thanks to Aylin." Pride quickly responds.

l.u.s.t laugh sarcastically. "You can"t really believe that. Aylin"s t.i.tle was the Dragon Queen of War. Although she didn"t attack our people, it wasn"t because she wanted peace but because she was too busy fighting the G.o.ds."

Despite not understanding a lot of ancient history, Lucien literally lived inside Aylin for a few moments and understood the great pride she had for her race. So, he also thinks that she would only accept peace as long as all other races accepted them as the leading race.

Pride is about to respond to l.u.s.t as they seem to get more and more upset, so Lucien quickly turns l.u.s.t"s face to him and kisses her lips. "What exactly happened to the Phoenixes?"

"It was the Fire G.o.d..." She continues. "Despite winning, he was badly injured after a battle with dragons. Then a phoenix saw that and was attracted to his high fire mana."

l.u.s.t knows that she is not the best at telling stories, so she signals to Sloth, and she continues. "That phoenix helped the Fire G.o.d in a way... well, that"s similar to your methods. They had s.e.x a few times and felt their fire energies getting stronger because of that."

"Methods that do not require resource a.s.sistance are the most powerful that exist. So that phoenix, as well as the Fire G.o.d, saw great potential in their cooperation."

Sloth smiles at Lucien. "And well, you also know that it is almost impossible not to develop romantic feelings in such situations. That phoenix fell in love with the Fire G.o.d, and I"m sure he also liked her a lot."

"But not enough..." l.u.s.t comments with a sad expression. At first, she was also more interested in gaining power with Lucien than in their relations.h.i.+p. Still, she quickly discovered that the more she loves him, the more pleasure they have with each other, thus generating even more power.

"I think the love for his people was greater..." Sloth comments and continues. "That phoenix took the Fire G.o.d to a small world where her race lived far away from everyone. She wanted him to make her whole race stronger while they were all going to be his wives."

The girls can"t help but compare the Fire G.o.d with Lucien, but then they all smile while being sure that no man can be as amazing as their loved devil.

Sloth continues to tell the story. "I don"t think it has been easy or fast, but the Fire G.o.d managed to get the trust of many phoenixes. Although he couldn"t have them all, he certainly could have a great harem, or rather, an army of phoenixes loyal only to him."

"That first phoenix to met him loved him so much that she even told him all the secrets of her race. I"m not sure what those secrets were, but one of them, the most important of all, would change everything..."

Lucien and the other girls are very curious, so Sloth quickly explains. "All phoenixes were immortal beings. Their bodies could be injured and even get old, but they had an incredible natural regeneration, and when their bodies suffered a lot of damage, they exploded and were reborn from the ashes."

"In fact, it was all due to them having an immortal core in place of their hearts, that core kept their souls, memories, and characteristics, so the phoenixes could restart their lives without their previous power level, though."

Now it"s Lucien who can"t help comparing the phoenixes with the Sins because they are immortal beings who can restart their lives after their bodies stop working. But the Sins can do that due to using energy bodies while the phoenixes seem to be able to recreate their real bodies.

Sloth continues the story. "The Fire G.o.d could have wanted to keep with the phoenixes. Still, he was not just a G.o.d but a prince of the North Pantheon."

"Other G.o.ds went after him, and his sister, the Dark G.o.ddess, found that little world. As siblings, they loved and trusted each other, so the Fire G.o.d explained everything to her."

"The Dark G.o.ddess was impressed with everything about the phoenixes, especially their ability to be reborn. She started researching that and discovered that the phoenixes could give their immortal cores to other creatures, thus losing their lives forever and making that creature immortal as they were."

She makes a sad expression as she continues. "It is evident that the Dark G.o.ddess wanted a phoenix core. In fact, she wanted the core of every phoenix to turn her people and race into immortals."

"The Fire G.o.d refused to cooperate with her sister at first, but she is very influential... she is the Dark G.o.ddess because she can use every dark feeling in people"s hearts to control them."

"She convinced her brother that the phoenixes" cores were the only way to stop Aylin from destroying their race. And after she corrupted his heart, he helped her corrupt the phoenixes as well."

"Using mental tricks and illusions, the Dark G.o.ddess made the phoenixes think that the Fire G.o.d had been attacked and was about to die."

"His first wife didn"t think twice about trying to heal him like she did the first time. But the Dark G.o.ddess made it look like he was going to die no matter how the phoenixes tried to help him."

"And in one last desperate act, that phoenix took away her own core and gave it to Fire G.o.d, making him the first immortal G.o.d." Sloth makes a sad expression while Pride looks upset.

She continues. "The phoenixes were a very kind people, and they loved each other as one big family. Then another phoenix gave her core to that one, preventing her from dying."

"But other phoenixes couldn"t stand one of them dying, and another of them gave her core to that one, and so on many of them were giving their cores willingly, until it comes to their leader, who said that she would be the only one to die that day."

"They were really n.o.ble creatures..." Eve comments as Lucien and his wives think the same.

But Pride rolls her eyes while making a mocking expression. "That would be a n.o.ble act if they had really given their cores to other phoenixes."

Sloth quickly explains. "That was just an illusion created by the Dark G.o.ddess just as Sophia and I can create very realistic dreams. Actually, those phoenixes were giving their cores to the Fire G.o.d, who could keep them using fire mana."

"And then he gave those cores to many G.o.ds, who are now immortal due to the stupidity of those phoenixes." Pride comments.

So l.u.s.t also comments. "However, we already killed more than half of the immortal G.o.ds due to those cores by forcing them to take it off just like the phoenixes did."

Sloth nods. "Yes, my abilities are quite useful those times, but it is still challenging to deceive ancient and powerful G.o.ds."

"Anyway, that was supposed to be the end of the phoenixes, but many years later, some people claimed to see one of them still alive." She explains.

Lucien makes a thoughtful expression. "And the Nature Spirit said that she"s in the Blue Star... why did she tell us that? Does she want one of us to become immortal with her core?"

While the Sins wonder about that, Daisy speaks. "I don"t think so... actually I..."