My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

Chapter 1484

“Why should I bring you to my lord?” the lioness queen asked.

I blinked, a bit surprised that she’d ask such a question. “To speak with him?”

“Unless you’re surrendering to us, I see no reason to get within a dozen miles of my lore.” She scoffed.

“I have an offer for him that he can’t refuse,” I responded.

“Why should I bother when I could just take you right here?” She took a threatening step forward.

The girls around me immediately responded. Shao pulled out her knives, Celeste flew into the air to gain a vantage point, while Terra stepped forward, and Miki’s tails began to glow with spiritual power. The lioness playfully lifted her hands, appearing more amused than frightened. The other lionesses surrounding us didn’t make a move.

“Oh, my…” She smirked. “So, is this them? You’re so-called harem? Only four?”

“There are more of us!” Celeste cried out defensively.

“Oh, but they couldn’t be bothered to protect their Master, even when he’s in such a perilous situation.”

“They have their duties, and we have ours.” I cut in. “If you attack, you won’t be able to keep me here.”

“Maybe…” She shrugged. “Maybe not. From my side, the rumors of you being the next big harem master have left me disappointed. I see no one here worthy of being anything more than a toy for my lord.”

“Are you looking to die?” Shao shouted with a red face.

The lioness gave her a dismissive look. “If I were to die, it wouldn’t be behind a filthy demon like you.”

“What did you say?” Shao started to move forward, but I brought out my hand and grabbed her arm to stop her.

The lioness’s face only became more mocking. “You have to even physically restrain your harem to keep them under control. No command. No order. It is pathetic.”

“First, enough of this. Our lord has already said to accept any envoy the Chalm Lord sent to beg for safety.”

A flash of irritation appeared on the lioness’s face as she shot a look at another woman. I was surprised to see this woman wasn’t a lioness at all. She wore a long robe that exposed some cleavage and had a pointed hat on her head. If she reminded me of anyone, it would be Siti. That led me to theorize that she must be a magician. More than that, she was human.

“Second, don’t overstep yourself.” The lioness’s voice contained an edge of danger.

The other woman wasn’t phased at all, nearly giving a tilt of her head. “I would never think to lose my place. Third through Tenth are all held by your pride of lionesses. However, I’m merely reminding you that it is always my lord who leads us all, not you.”

“First, Second, Third? What’s with that?” Miki whispered.

“It is our names.” The lioness addressed them. “When we give ourselves to our lord, we shed our names as part of our devotion. His most loyal and his favored are given numbers, a measure of our position in his heart.”

“Of course, as a lionkin himself, my lord has a predisposition toward lionesses.” Second broke in, causing the leader named First to grimace. “However, perhaps I’ve started to change his disposition.”

“Watch your place, Second.”

“Always…” She smiled.

“And I thought we had problems,” Shao whispered.

First’s expression became even darker before she gestured. “Go! We will lead you to my lord. He will be the one to decide your fates!”

Chapter 1485

We were led through the woods a distance away. I could see the red all around me as we walked among enemies, but I saw us quickly approaching an area where there was no red. No, that wasn’t right. It was another map dead zone. King Roth was cautious and had set up a perimeter where I couldn’t map or portal to him. This would make it more difficult to launch an assassination attempt if I had even considered such an act.

I wish I knew how people did that. Bernice hadn’t known how the enchantment was placed on the palace. She wasn’t responsible for it, and she didn’t even know what I was talking about when I mentioned it. Unless someone used some kind of skill that required using mana to feel out the location, they’d never even know when such a thing was being done. For a former swordsman like her, it wasn’t even something she’d notice.

It wasn’t long until we walked out into a clearing though, and sitting in the middle of it on a throne seemingly constructed in the middle of the woods was King Roth. I recognized him from the recording in Matty’s dungeon. He was lying back in his chair casually, and there was one woman on one side who was rubbing his feet, while another gave him grapes. Yet a third woman was waving a leaf, giving him a pleasant breeze. It wasn’t even particularly hot, and no one was wearing a tropical outfit, but he could have fooled me. Despite we were in the middle of a war, he looked to me like he was vacationing.

When he noticed us walking up, still surrounded by a dozen lionesses, First and Second leading the way, he remained in his lax condition, not even sitting up to meet me. When we reached close enough to his chair, two women put spears in a cross in front of us, cutting us off from First and Second, who continued forward a few steps before falling to their knees.

“My lord, it’s that nuisance Deek. He’s come to speak with you.” First declared.

It irked me slightly that she didn’t even address me as a lord. Usually, I might have worried I was greeting a bit full of myself, but in this situation, I wanted respect, and I knew I wasn’t getting it. I was usually a calm guy which usually didn’t fret the bad stuff. I’ve been known to let bandits go, forgiven the church, kept a demon lord alive, and spared multiple dungeon bosses. It really took a lot to get under my skin, but King Roth was already on my list for what he did to Astria, and the list was only growing longer.

“Deek… deek…” He tapped the arm of his chair like he was trying to remember. “Oh, right! That’s the one that we’re fighting right now. I heard his name as that silly fairy screamed it as she begged for mercy.”

“What?” Celeste cried out.

“Yes… she kept saying things like Deek would come to save her, but he never did. Watching the light leave her eyes was quite fun.”

“You… bastard!” Celeste suddenly shrank and flew forward.

“Celeste, no!” I shouted.

However, it was too late. She flew past the guards, and moving at the speed only Celeste could, she charged King Roth. At first, it looked like she was about to strike him brutally. He hadn’t moved to defend himself at all. She grew back to full size in mid-motion. However, just as she reached him, she stopped. It took a moment to realize that he had one of his hands around her throat and the other one on her wrist. In her hand was the malacrum dagger. She had taken it without my knowledge, and she had been trying to stab him with it!

Chapter 1486

As the scene settled, First had jumped up, but she was only half way to King Roth before Celeste was caught. Celeste struggled helplessly in his grip. If she could have shrunken back down, she would have. That only meant that he had some way of controlling that. She was trapped in his hand, and I had a feeling that I couldn’t take her away unharmed if he didn’t allow it.

The rest of my girls hadn’t had time to react, but as they ran up to me, ready to plunge forward, the lionesses made a barricade in front of us, all holding out their weapons menacingly. I held up my arms, keeping the girls from continuing forward, and waited. King Roth had made any other move, and I knew this wasn’t the time to upset him. He finally looked behind the fairy, his eyes specifically jumping to First.

“You allowed someone to get close to me,” he said.

The second had a triumphant grin on her face, but she quickly hid it by lowering her head. First began to turn red.

“Sh-she moved so fast… I was on my knees before you. I didn’t think-”

“That’s correct.” He responded. “You didn’t think. You brought several armed people before me. You assumed they wouldn’t dare try to attack me, that they would dare try to kill me. Hehe… however, I know how I’m supposed to die, and it won’t be at the hands of some childish fairy, nor will it be with a pathetic dagger like this.”

He reached out and grabbed the dagger, ripping it from her hand even while continuing to hold her by the neck.

“Leave her alone!” Miki couldn’t stop herself from yelling.

King Roth ignored her, instead of looking at me. “Do you think malacrum can hurt me?”

“You have a god soul.” I nearly sighed it out.

It was pretty obvious at this point that he would. He would have been as immune to silvthril or malacrum as me.

“You really should put your women on a leash. They are untamed and willful.” He snorted.

“It’s not her fault. Astria is her mother.” I didn’t know why I said that, but it came out before I could help myself.

“Hmmm… I don’t blame her.” He responded. “You are the Harem Master. The actions of a harem reflect upon their lord. If you were a proper man, then they would assuredly be proper women.”

The woman behind me pushed forward slightly. I could hear them grinding their teeth, but they were fortunately smart enough to realize that in this situation, any outburst would only be proving him right in his words. Putting aside my thoughts on the seeming sexism of the situation, I was their leader and they were following me. If they went and did things without my permission, it would be me to blame. I had to take responsibility for their actions.

“I am sorry for her outburst.” I lowered my head as much as it pained me. “It was not my attention to attempt you harm with this meeting.”

I heard noises of surprise and protest behind me, but I didn’t pay the girls any mind at this moment. My hand was balled into a fist, but I still had to wait. King Roth snorted, and then he looked up at the Celeste finally, who had been kicking and fighting helplessly the entire time. Since her body was made of mana, she didn’t have breathing issues and wasn’t in danger, but if he broke her neck, she would die like anyone else.

“I suppose I should show you a proper punishment!” King Roth declared.