Chapter 195: ATLANTEANS REQUEST
The shadow veil finally dissolved under Aaron’s command after days of unrelenting pleasure, the dark shroud fading like mist under a rising sun, leaving the starry void exposed once more. Aaron wore a contended smile on his face, his crimson eyes gleaming with a satisfied glow, his body humming with the afterglow of ecstasy shared across his unified forms.
"Monster," Alice muttered weakly, her voice a faint whisper laced with exhaustion, her limbs heavy as lead against the soft, ethereal bedding conjured from shadows. She wasn’t the only one drained completely; lying side by side with her, equally spent, were Bluestar and Rose, their chests rising and falling in shallow breaths, their skin flushed and glistening under the faint cosmic light filtering through the dissipating veil.
"You all get some rest," Aaron informed them, his tone gentle yet commanding, a rare softness edging his words as he gazed upon his wives with a mix of affection and pride. "I have some business to finish."
"Business? Seems our family is about to grow larger," Rose said, a knowing smile curving her lips despite her fatigue, her eyes sparkling with teasing insight as she propped herself up slightly, her golden hair tousled in disarray.
Aaron refrained from saying anything, his expression unreadable as he time-stepped away, the fabric of space folding around him in a silent ripple, leaving his wives behind in the tranquil aftermath.
"Let’s go get some rest," Alice forced out, her voice strained but resolute, summoning the last of her strength as a rift tore open behind them, a swirling portal of shimmering energy that pulsed with the sanctuary’s protective magic. They all entered through the rift, the familiar warmth of the sanctuary enveloping them like a comforting embrace, its vast landscapes stretching out in serene invitation.
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Aaron materialized back in Atlantis, the underwater city’s halls now vibrant with renewed life, the bioluminescent glow casting a serene azure hue over the coral spires and crystal domes. "My Lord, you are back. Thank you for your patience," Ashley rose from her throne, her movements graceful and fluid, offering a deep bow the very moment she saw him, her cerulean hair cascading like ocean waves, her sea-green eyes reflecting a mix of deference and subtle calculation.
"Hmm," Aaron nodded his head, taking a glance at the surroundings, his piercing gaze sweeping over the transformed landscape. In over a year, compressed into mere days by his temporal mastery, the once broken Atlantis had shifted from the gloomy, shattered atmosphere Aaron had left it in to a bustling utopia once more. The air thrummed with the harmonious sounds of merfolk laughter and activity, schools of vibrant fish weaving through restored gardens of kelp and anemones, the planet’s scars nowhere to be found, replaced by a thriving harmony that spoke of resilient revival.
"Did your plan work?" Aaron asked, going straight to the point, his voice a low rumble that echoed through the grand hall, cutting through the ambient hum of the city.
"Yes, my Lord. Better than I would have expected. The people are willing to have you rule them. But, forgive me, my Lord. They have a request in order to accept you wholeheartedly. I worry that their request may annoy you," Ashley said, her face adopting a humble and guilty look, her posture shrinking slightly as if bracing for disapproval, though her eyes held a flicker of strategic hope.
"What’s the request?" Aaron inquired, his tone neutral but probing, his crimson eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that seemed to pierce through her facade.
"They swear to offer you their loyalty, only if you will take me as your wife, my Lord," Ashley said, her face plastered with innocence, her voice soft and demure, yet laced with an undercurrent of calculated ambition that hung in the water like a subtle current.
"Will you look at that?" Aaron thought, seeing through Ashley’s motive with effortless clarity, his mind dissecting her ploy like a master strategist reviewing a battlefield. Once more, he found himself impressed by the bold thinking of Ashley, her cunning a sharp contrast to her ethereal beauty, a mermaid who wielded words as weapons in the depths of diplomacy.
[Two manipulators marrying each other? This world is about to end]
"I thought you were dead," Aaron jabbed at his system, his internal voice laced with mock annoyance, the ethereal interface flickering in his mind like a distant star.
[Were you expecting me to spectate in your moment of passion?]
"I wish you never opened your mouth."
[Well. I don’t have one, idiot]
"My Lord?" Ashley said, noticing Aaron spacing out, her voice pulling him back to the present. She stared at Aaron, trying to suppress her fear, her tail twitching subtly beneath her composed exterior. She had decided to take a gamble to receive better treatment for her people, one that she didn’t know if it would backfire or not, as she didn’t have much knowledge on Aaron, his godlike aura an enigma that both terrified and intrigued her.
"I will consider your people’s proposition at a later date. You will have to merit being my consort," Aaron said to her, his words deliberate and unyielding, a challenge thrown like a gauntlet. He didn’t want to make things easy for the young mermaid, and more than anything, there was no way he was going to allow her to manipulate him, his resolve as firm as the ocean’s depths.
"Thank you, my Lord, for the opportunity," Ashley bowed in gratitude, her relief evident in the subtle relaxation of her shoulders, though she knew to not press further and risk incurring Aaron’s wrath, her mind already plotting the next careful step.
Aaron nodded his head, pleased she understood what he entailed, his crimson eyes conveying a silent warning that lingered in the air like an unspoken storm.
"Prepare your people. I will be opening portals all around the planet to transport each and every one of them to my empire," Aaron informed Ashley, his voice commanding, the words resonating with the weight of inevitable change.
"Yes, my Lord," Ashley nodded, moving to complete the task given to her, her form gliding away with purposeful grace, her tail propelling her through the water in a ripple of blue scales.
Aaron created several portals, swirling vortices of energy that shimmered like gateways to another realm, transporting the merfolk temporarily to one of the planets within the sanctuary—vast, verdant worlds teeming with life—until he devoured the core of Atlantis, its pulsating essence absorbed into his being with a surge of raw power.
With Atlantis’s core devoured, another world was created in the sanctuary, the sanctuary expanding even more, its boundaries stretching like an ever-growing cosmos, new horizons of land and sea forming in a cascade of creation.
"On to the next," Aaron muttered, his voice a low growl of determination, opening a rift from the sanctuary to Planet Astrid, believing Edmond should be done conquering his world, the portal’s energy humming with anticipation.