“The hell did I mean with two faces?” he mumbled, chewing on scrambled eggs and the small pieces of bacon within it. Since Aclysia was still closely monitoring his nutrition intake, the second breakfast he got was much like the first. With some added bits and bobs here to help with refilling his stomach acid. The necessity of all this was questionable, given Gamer’s Body, but John did at least imagine that he felt better when he ate what his weaponized maid recommended. Could have been pure placebo. “Did the skin become its own entity? Will I meet two different main aspects of the Lorylim?”

He already knew that the Lorylim had a hivemind but also that it was far from unified. Every encounter that John had with them, particularly the first manifestation of Izha, had them as a babbling mess that spent a lot of time arguing with themselves. It stood to reason, then, that there were more and less influential personalities in the network. Izha was likely one of the most influential personalities. From the translated binary that had appeared on the Observe windows, which had been a pain to remember and type in manually, he knew that Izha was or had been a man. Which meant, most likely, that humans could become part of the Lorylim collective. It could also have been that the Lorylim were fundamentally human and created by some strange experiments.

‘I really hope that’s not the right answer,’ the Gamer thought. ‘I don’t want to go through the motions of exterminating them all only to find out they can be recreated by some asshole in his basement. Huh, now that’s something I and the Golden Rose could agree on.’

The Lorylim as a ‘race’ were something whose genocide John was pretty sure was justified, as would be making sure any sort of research into the matter had to be stomped out as soon as possible. If some sort of benevolent personality surfaced within the hivemind, he might have to change his mind about all of that. Keeping that possibility open, as to not get possessed by an absolute conviction, he continued his second breakfast.

‘Who could the two faces be?’ He had his guesses, based on what either looked like. The flesh appeared to have been in the process of mutating (perhaps ‘breaking’ was more accurate) into a form similar to the Avatar of Izha that had greeted them after Salamander did her intended corruption. The hull had an entirely different appearance. Less corrupted but no less changed. Although the mycelium had originated from the flesh, it had centred around the armour. There were a number of possibilities that came to mind for that entity, but he wasn’t certain enough about any of them to make the definitive call.

There was one he regarded as the most likely. Based on interactions had in the past and that it had struck Jeremiah in particular. Although John was only convinced it was the Art Eater based on the metal shell. It was yet a possibility that he was wrong about that. Regardless, assuming he was correct, the name he arrived at was Tiamat. The goddess of chaos, vanquished by Gaia personally during the Tower of Babel incident.

The Lorylim had displayed a knack for talking to Metra specifically in certain ways, and if it was Jeremiah, then the origin of his sudden and intense corruption would be the bite he had taken out of the First of Wrath. A bite that had contained, among other things, traces of Tiamat’s scales.

“That leaves open a rather large ‘how’ though,” the Gamer mumbled. The ‘how’ was so large that, although the evidence pointed towards the theory being correct, John didn’t want to call it a solid one. He had witnessed Gaia eradicating someone from existence before. If the supreme deity let entities that she personally removed become part of some giant, deeply malevolent collective, then John had a load of questions about her methods.

It would also mean that Metra was a massive security risk. Through their mental connection, the Gamer was very certain that the woman herself was not corrupted. She was loyal to him, by the conditions of their pact, her love and her lust to be the warrior (and sex slave, in his specific case) of a strong leader. The question was rather if there was some sort of switch the Lorylim could flip at any point. Best case, the Lorylim only got this opening because the materials were removed from Metra’s body. Worst case, every single Metracana was a remote detonation bomb.

His mind started to drift away from the questions he had and onto the implications of specific possibilities. The easiest sign that he wouldn’t get anything else out of thinking about this at the moment.

‘Well, if there is anything good about this, it’s that Jeremiah is probably in a whole lot of pain right now,’ he thought and closed that mental chapter. The Art Eater was a dead man walking anyway at this point, being both someone that had stolen something from John and a traitor. The former could be barely forgiven if proper amendments were made in time, but he had no patience for the latter. Traitors were the scum of the earth.

Scraping the remainders of food off the plate, the Gamer looked up. His mumblings had gone ignored, the girls not wanting to interrupt his thought process. They were nakedly spread throughout the small room and occasionally sent a glance his way. Not worried or concerned, they had lost reason to be either shortly after they had left the tournament hall, just curious when he was finished brooding.

Which was right about now. “Alright,” he declared, pushing the plate to the side to show that he was done with it. Aclysia was already moving in to retrieve it. “I’m going to recharge my batteries for the rest of the day. So, it’s time to relax and…” He barely had said the word ‘relax’ when a window popped up in front of him.

“…Gaia, how about you give me a new Quest for the tournament, instead of Achievements out of nowhere?” he complained out loud. There was no answer. “Stuff like this is exactly why I sass you back all the time, big-booty goddess,” he grumbled

“You have my appreciation, firm butted idol of the world,” he thanked the heavens and shifted attention to the room. “Anyway, I was thinking we should go through the nice and innocent group exercise that is fulfilling the Lover Boy Class Challenges.” He would have wanted to do that anyway, but now he had to hit one that could fit on whatever Florida would throw at him tomorrow.

The odd date request aside, basically all Lover Boy level ups were based on fucking in certain ways. Lasting a certain duration, teasing the girls in definitive ways, sometimes having sex in awkward situations including bossfights and such things. A lot of those Challenges COULD have been difficult, had he not possessed a large harem. Whenever there were Challenges that required a large number of girls or fetishes on the niche or extreme side of things, he had the luxury to sort things out in a way that made it enjoyable for everyone. No need to search for partners that would agree with what he had to do. On the time axis, since desyncing with Jack was now a thing, he didn’t have to worry at all.

Which reminded John that he could now literally spend all day fucking and still work without issue. A quality of life improvement that was incalculable in its benefit. Not only for the obvious reason of that being an incredibly joyful lifestyle, but also because it made maxing out the benefit from Experience of Love even easier. He hadn’t missed a single day since getting it, but it was still nice to have it be basically guaranteed.

As for why John wanted to clear the Class Challenges, that was also thanks to Experience of Love. Although he hadn’t grinded in regular Instant Dungeons recently, he still got a level every two days and tomorrow he would hit 250. At that point, he could get Lover Boy to level 9. It was exciting to be so close to maxing out another Class. Just another 20 days of fucking around (literally) and he would have it. That was without any fighting, which he would still do once he got back home.

“Sounds great,” Rave danced over to him, “what’re we starting with?”

John looked between her legs. At the moment, his clean-shaven girlfriend was dry. As much as they hit the perverted lifestyle, they couldn’t all be excited all the time, just because they were naked the majority of the time. “I’m feeling like getting some dessert, so get on the table.”

“As you say, tiger,” his girlfriend purred.

_______________________________________________________________________

“…and that’s what’s happening in Florida right now,” the other side of John’s consciousness reported. The summarization wasn’t in favour of the blonde berserker currently bobbing her head in his lap. Metra had been surprised when John described the vision he had gotten to her, but had decided that it was either a coincidence or not worth thinking too much about until it actually happened.

“I’ve gotten old enough to take prophecies with a grain of salt,” was all she had to say about the matter. Attending to his needs was evidently more interesting than overthinking things. That was his speciality anyway. Letting his left hand guide her movements under the table made more sense for both of them.

The report was instead meant for the person on the other side of the phone he was holding in his right. “It seems you are in another eventful stretch of your life,” Lydia’s voice echoed in his ear. She was sounding as controlled as ever, but he knew she was smiling by the tone. The soft piano music in the background meant that she was alone, practicing her powers by lowering the metal keys. It had gotten more intricate recently.

“Like it’s greatly different for you,” John laughed. “I’ve read the articles that have been published about you recently.”

Although it had taken a few days, courtesy of Lydia’s bureaucratic lifestyle, eventually she had appeared before the public with her improved curves and everything. She may have been able to somewhat hide the change, had the queen worn her clothes in a more conservative fashion. This had not happened. Instead, she kept the upper parts of her shirt unbuttoned, like she had done around John, revealing a fair bit of cleavage. It did little to compromise her general image, the uniform and stern behaviour was all the same, but that only emphasized the importance of those few buttons.

The press had gotten wild over things. Having a more attractive monarch was always a thing people appreciated, it was some sort of national pride thing. How this transformation was possible, however, was the greater question on everyone’s lips. Especially since a considerable increase in her strength was noted soon thereafter, as the queen attended a traditional tournament and participated as a guest of honour. That Lydia had stagnated in power hadn’t been widely known, but the rapid expansion was unusual, even in the Abyss.

Theories ranged from her having secretly found out how to do a second fusing, something impossible as half-elementals couldn’t form a new contract, to her having removed a limiter she had always kept on herself for an unknown reason. There were some more valid theories, some of which even skirted close to the truth.

After getting John’s approval, Lydia held an interview where she told everyone of his involvement. She didn’t say how exactly he raised her capacity or by how much, although she was honest in the training method used. They had relied on outside information themselves for that bit, so there was no harm in spelling it out.

That had been about a week ago and the press was still reporting on it. Granted, it was a pretty eventless time at the moment, but it was an odd thing to get hung up on. John very much enjoyed that there were rumours going around that sleeping with him allowed women to get more beautiful and stronger. He debunked it in a public announcement of his own, but the rumour still stuck.

“That’s hardly exciting news, the people are simply bored,” Lydia declared. “I cannot fathom why they made the decision to blow this out of proportion in such a way.”

“But you’re enjoying it,” John pointed out. “There’s no way you went on stage showing off your bigger boobs and thought nobody would notice. You’re too smart for that. Same for you showing off that you’re stronger now in that tournament.”

“I certainly did want to demonstrate that I had improved physically,” Lydia conceded immediately. “When it comes to my shirt, I simply do not feel comfortable anymore if everything is tightly wrapped up. It gets sweaty and I don’t like the way it feels when I breathe.”

“What, is it difficult?” John wondered. “That sounds like you would need new shirts.”

“I acquired new clothes, that’s not the issue.” The metal mage sounded a bit annoyed at the assumption he had made. “I can breathe without issue, it simply doesn’t feel correct if I don’t have a bit of room.”

“I suppose that’s a thing I just can’t get without having boobs myself,” John guessed. “Must be like the problem guys have with the balls sticking to the legs or otherwise flopping around unpleasantly.”

“It could be like that, the reference is difficult to make, seeing that neither of us possesses both.”

“We could ask a transvestite or a really fat man.”

Lydia chuckled. “I don’t think that will be reliable data in either way.” There was a small pause, the scratching of a pen over a piece of paper accompanied by the peaceful melody in the background. “Regardless of my logical reasoning, it is certainly true that I enjoy showing what our association has gotten me. As much as I would like to claim that I’m not a vain person, showing that I’m now one of the most attractive women on the face of the planet does appeal to the same base parts of me that brought me into your arms.”

“You should listen to those base parts more often, they seem to know what you should do with your life,” the Gamer said.

“Relinquish my titles immediately, forego all my duties, accept your offer to become part of Fusion and see whether or not my discipline can find application in aiding you in your cause and raising our children does sound pleasant,” Lydia admitted without a moment’s hesitation. Then she cleared her throat. He could practically hear her blush. “And although I think that lifestyle would be fulfilling, I still want to serve what my grandfather protected. At this point in time, such base desires must be denied.”

“Sounds like you’re willing to leave the throne behind at some point though,” John pointed out.

“As it stands right now, me abdicating at some point is a foregone conclusion,” the queen of Rex Germaniae said like it was not a big deal. Which it wasn’t, as she explained. “Assuming that our love continues to thrive, which no fibre of my heart doubts, and you will continue to level that Lover Boy Class, which a tingle in that brand you put upon me tells me you will do, guaranteed, I will eventually reach that realm of Romulus. While I might follow his example and your ideal and become an eternal figurehead, I have no intention of actually ruling for several millennia. Especially not if the current configuration of powers persists and my position here might put me at odds with you at some point.”

“So, once you feel like you served your guild and fulfilled all designs you had for it, you would resign and come to live with me forever?” The Idea was exciting. It would take decades, most likely, but it was wonderful to hear regardless.

“I think the path of a housewife has the same, if not more, potential at fulfilling my personal desires as being a ruler. Therefore, yes, once all is said and done, I shall try my hand at that.”

“Housewife, eh? I’m not sure Aclysia will concede any of the housework to you. She’ll fight tooth and nail to do as much as she can herself.”

“Given the size of your estate, I’ll find something to do. If it’s not chores, then I’ll just take lead over your several personally owned buildings.” A short rustle of paper interrupted what she was saying. “I might turn from the official ruler of one country into the unofficial one of another. As long as it occupies me during the times we aren’t together, I feel that won’t be a problem. I also notice that you haven’t raised any objections to the ‘wife’ part.”

“I’m going to marry all of you in some fashion at some point,” the Gamer confirmed with a happy tingle on his skin. “I’m sure not all of the girls want a ring or a ceremony, but I’m willing to give both to all of you. Just as long as we understand that Jane gets the first of both.”

“Hmm, I do not envy your position of picking the order of proposals afterwards,” Lydia let him know. “I will certainly become moody if you let me wait for too long. I’d also have to put it into our marriage contract somewhere that it would be matrilineal.”

“We could join last names,” John jokingly suggested. “Lydia Augusta the Fourth of House Hohenzollern-Newman, rolls off the tongue without any issue.”

“Perhaps if your name was Neumann, I would consider it, but this mixture of English and German irks me. Regardless, this is about my children’s claim to my own inheritance.”

“That’s not particularly meritocratic of you,” he pointed out.

“The nobility has its value in providing a social frame that’s hard to shake. It’s their arrogance and belief to be of higher standard that needs to be kept in check.”

“You and Marie agree on that topic.”

“Ah yes, the French candidate. How did she receive my improvements?” Lydia sounded like she was suppressing a series of chuckles. “I try to not engage in such brattish behaviour as complaining about another woman, but knowing her repeated riffs on her superior looks, I do wonder what she said.”

“Would you say she looks better than you?”

“She used to have a more pleasing appearance than me, I will admit. She has been born with more attractive curves, albeit that gap has closed. Do you care for answering my question?”

“Well, not a lot I can tell you there. I had tea with her yesterday, but you didn’t come up. I’m still trying to help her over her arrogance issues, so I think she is staying clear of the topic in case she upsets me.”

“A smart decision on her part, I would say,” Lydia declared and they shifted to another topic.

The Gamer was talking to his gorgeous girls on both locations and was also having his fair bit of fun with their bodies, be it Metra’s throat, Rave’s ass or whatever other hole he wanted to claim.