My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

Chapter 1511

My blade arm met the lioness’s sword, sparks rising as we exchanged several blows. With my strength back, I was able to more than keep my own. I still suffered from some of the problems I had always suffered from though. I had always learned to fight with quick and vicious attacks, while Alysia typically delivered slow and brutal attacks. Alysia and I had fought alongside each other for a bit now, and we were slowly learning to match each other’s fighting style. I had thought that soul merging would close the gap between these differences, but rather it seemed to only magnify them.

While soul bonded, I possessed the knowledge of her fighting forms and skills. This wasn’t like just the general advantage of my status combined with hers, but something entirely different. It was a blending of ourselves, creating something new. Unfortunately, what she had didn’t quite match my style, and I frequently found them at ends with what I wanted to do. When I tried to pull one, I didn’t feel quite like I grasped it. It was like I could read the words, but I was dyslexic and kept mixing them up. As a result, I felt somewhat stiff with my movements.

It was only for this reason that I wasn’t able to defeat the lioness quickly. I was shocked by my power increase joining with Alysia. It was clear that we were more than the sum of the parts. By blending, our power created an additive effect that pushed the lioness back again and again. Where was Alysia’s consciousness? It seemed to have gone dormant, or perhaps it was better to say it was intricately interwoven throughout my thoughts. That was some of the reason I was stiff, as her thoughts would try to move my body in ways I wasn’t used to moving.

However, I understood the clear power and strength of soul bonding. I launched several attacks at the lioness queen, and she found herself being pushed back again and again. It was near to the point where I was fighting with the girls on the front line. Seeing their Master doing well, there was a sudden surge of confidence, and the other girls fought harder as well, driving back the enemy, even though they outnumbered us. It only proved that while King Roth had more women, mine were superior.

“First… was I wrong for trusting in you?” King Roth’s voice seemed to cut through the battlefield.

An ugly expression crossed over the lioness queen’s face. I charged at her with an X-slash, but she leaped back. At that moment, her body exploded with power, and her face began to grow more feline in appearance. Long claws formed from her hands, and her hair grew a bit on her face. She had gone into the beast form. This was her last option. All I needed to do was survive this, and then I would be able to defeat her. Once she fell, the other girls would fall just as quickly.

I put all of my power into my attack. I needed to use everything I had in this one. I compounded powers from both Alysia and myself. I felt a strange feeling for a moment, a kind of pulling feeling. I ignored it. I was going to use my extreme speed to counter and then attack. The disorder grew. The lioness was preparing for her attack at the same time. The two of us began to charge each other. I felt a pulling at my soul, causing pain.

I struck out, but the slugginess hit me like a meteorite. Before I could even realize what was happening, I was flying back. I slammed into the ground a fair distance away, nearly returning to where I had started.

“Master!” I heard one of the girls cry, but they all became too consumed to do anything more.

I heard the clatter of a sword, and I looked to the side to see my sword arm land a distance away. It wasn’t just my sword arm… it was my sword. She had cut off my arm, and Alysia along with it!

Chapter 1512

“Hahahaha…” A laugh bellowed out as I painfully grabbed the stump that was now bleeding profusely. “Well done, Deek. Well done.”

My attempt to Power Bestowal had shut off, but that didn’t mean I regained my strength. I had been emptying all of myself into the girls for far too long, and now I barely had enough strength to get to my knees. I downed a water of life just so I could cure myself. That meant that all of the girls were suddenly weakened, and their fight that had started advanced had turned just as quickly. They were now being overwhelmed and pushed back.

The blade arm a distance from me turned into Alysia, as well as my severed arm lying next to her. She was on the ground, coughing up blood. She looked nearly as bad as I felt.

“I’m sorry… Master…” She croaked, barely able to lift her head.

“I-it’s okay…” I tried to reassure her. “It looks like we’re out of options.”

“A soul bind? How quaint.” King Roth’s mocking voice broke out. “Someone should have warned you that such a skill is impossible to accomplish. You might be able to bind fragments of the soul to yourself but to bind an entire living soul is impossible. Everyone had a will of their own, and any such attempt always quickly led to disaster. To do a successful soul bind, two people would need to be completely in tune, their wills, desires, and minds would need to become as one. Such a thing is impossible. I’ve tried it, even going so far as to groom a child from birth to think and act completely submissive to my will, and yet it still failed. What hoped did you ever think you had?”

His words hit me with a bitter feeling. I didn’t have room to argue. I had known that every time I had attempted to move my soul toward another, there had been some kind of repulsive force at the last second. I had tried to force it with a skill, and when I had needed it most it had failed. That’s why everything had felt off and awkward. Alysia and I had been two wills fighting against each other as much as we fought the lioness.

“You forced me to bring out my beast form for the second time. I have to say, it has been interesting seeing you struggle.” She responded casually as she began to approach me once again with that predatory stride. “I hope you understand now that your methods are insufficient. You don’t have the right to call yourself a harem master.”

“I never pretended I was anything that I’m not.” I spat out as I held my missing arm, barely having the strength to move. “I’m not a harem master or a slave master. I’m not a hero or dungeon master. I’m just a man, and I will die to protect my women. Selena, now!”

“Master!” She squawked.

Selena flew into the lioness from the side. She had been in hiding and waiting. My codeword had been ‘it looks like we’re out of options’, and so she pulled out the orb and tossed it to me before attacking the lioness.

I lifted the orb in my only good hand. It started to glow as I began to cast the spell. “All of you, escape!”

“Master! No!” The girls gave stunned looks as the fighting seemed too slow.

I couldn’t let them die with me. I would eject them from the dungeon at the last minute. That wouldn’t guarantee their survival, but they had a chance. As for me, my soul would burn, and King Roth would die.

“No!” For the first time, King Roth looked startled. “Slave Order! Get that orb away from him!”

The Lioness Queen let out a scream as if she was in pain, but then she went wild, kicking Selena away as she was still flapping around trying to block her. She threw a knife at me. I tried to dodge, but it struck my hand and the orb went flying away. My spell was broken just like that. I had just needed another twenty seconds, but King Roth’s brutal decisiveness had caused the Lioness Queen to act somewhat rashly.

The speed she had acted had put some kind of backlash, and her beast form disappeared and she ended up coughing blood up, but a moment later, she shot me an insolent glare. The orb had rolled somewhere in the brush, but I had used the last of my mana trying to ignite my soul, and I no longer had an ounce of energy left.

“You are right about one thing, Deek Deekson.” She snarled. “You will die!”

She lunged at me, raising her blade and sending it down. As the blade descended, I realized the end had finally come. Perhaps I did fail.

Boom!

Something slammed between the lioness and me with a massive force. Lighting struck down, and the lioness was forced to abort her attack and jump back, narrowly avoiding being struck. She stumbled slightly back in surprise. As the dust cleared, I looked to see a long spear embedded into the ground. A cloaked form was balanced on the very end of the spear, facing the lioness. That’s when I saw a long striped tail wag across my vision, just managing to tickle my nose.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Master.”

That voice was unmistakable. “Lydia…”

Chapter 1513

For the first time, a look of fear appeared on King Roth’s face. “A-a tigerkin?”

Lydia peeled back her hood and then grabbed the spear, swing around it until she was back on the ground level. Lydia wasn’t the black cat I had seen in the underground fighting ring. This was the proper Lydia. If them was anything different, she somehow seemed even more radiant and beautiful than I remembered. Her hair was also more vibrant. The streaks of black were much darker now, and the orange was brighter too.

“Lydia!”

“It’s Lydia.”

“About time.”

All of the girls excitedly spoke, and the fighting had seemingly paused for a moment.

“You… I recognize you…” The lioness frowned. “Aren’t you that Catgirl of Doom?”

“Ah!” Lydia put her hands on her cheeks. “Don’t say that name, it’s super embarrassing!”

“A tigress…” King Roth let out a chuckle. “You almost worried me. Such an enemy won’t change anything. You may have scared me trying to destroy your dungeon like that, Deek, but you forget. I’ve seen my demise, and it won’t be by you. No, I’ve passed my demise! I’ve overcome the lore that binds-”

“You talk too much.” Lydia cut him off. “If you’re going to stay in the back, you might as well be quiet.”

The lionesses’ mouth’s almost fell open. Lydia had casually insulted King Roth, something none of the other girls had dared to ever do. He wore a frightening grin on his face, his eyes bulging.

“Hehe… I see… First, deal with this woman. Bring her to me so I can put her in her proper place.”

“Hmph… I was very disappointed I didn’t get the chance to defeat you in the ring. I’m pleased to know I’ll still be able to put you under my foot.”

“Uh… who are you?” She blinked.

“Y-you…”

In two sentences, she had managed to piss off both the lioness queen and King Roth. One could be forgiven for thinking this was a talent of hers.

“I… don’t understand. King Roth assassinated you…” I finally spoke.

“A failed assassination.” A voice spoke just right of me.

I turned in shock to see the underground kingpin standing there casually. How long had he been there?

“You!” King Roth roared. “I should have known that if my assassin’s failed, you were somehow involved. Are you planning on getting involved, Dirage?”

“Not at all!” The man raised his hands. “As a member of the dungeon master council, getting in a dispute between two rival dungeon masters is against the rules. However, my disciple here insisted on coming to be by her master, despite my protests. She has chosen this method, and I swear by my dungeon that whatever befalls her because of this choice is her own to reap.”

“I won’t regret anything, sensei!” Lydia puffed out her cheeks and shot back.

King Roth gave a nod, but I was still desperately trying to follow the situation. The dungeon master’s name was Dirage. He was part of the dungeon master council? He was Lydia’s sensei?

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Oh! That’s right!” Lydia declared. “Master, remember I said I went out to find a proper teacher? I found one! This is Sensei Dirage!”

“Dirage… like the city and the Great Labyrinth?”

“Well, they were named after me,” Dirage said casually.

I was having trouble processing all of this so suddenly, but that was when a thought came to me. “You told me the Lydia I knew was dead!”

“I lied.”

“You…”

“I ran into your slave as the assassins were upon her. I helped her dispatch of them on a whim. When she saw my talent, she begged me to help her become stronger for her Master. So, I started to train her. However, your bond had broken, and it caused her significant distraction. In the end, I decided to cut her soul in two.”

“Why would you do that?” I demanded.

“Several reasons. First off, I was able to create a version of her distraction-free. One worked on her skills and techniques by fighting nonstop, the other worked on her stamina and mental strength. Of course, you met the version of her who had been infected with miasma…”

“Why infect half of her with miasm… oh…” I figured it out before I finished the question.

“What, why did he do that?” Celeste couldn’t help but ask.

“A god soul,” I responded. “To give her a god soul.”