The Duel Arena
Seated in an empty spot in Eden’s Angel, I observed the women while sipping from my glass. “They’re already quite intoxicated by the pheromones.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Ruya asked.
“It won’t cause any health problems. They’ll just be frustrated, that’s all.”
At that moment, the Blackmen who had entered the dining hall began approaching the female members of the delegation, striking up conversations. Communicating through translation magic rings, they led the women upstairs one by one. Watching the scene, Ruya remarked, “So Blackmen really are similar to dark-skinned humans.”
“Looks like they’ve already started their work.”
“Work?”
“They’re taming the delegation’s women into Queens. Once they take them to their rooms, they’ll have intense sex until the women submit completely.”
Women who submit and become Queens will serve as Eden’s influence within the delegation. Considering that, Kyubey unnie deliberately arranged for them to stay in a lodging run by Queens and extended the negotiation period. As expected, she’s quite skilled at this.
“Are Blackmen really that impressive? Tch.” Ruya licked her lips, her eyes slightly glazed as she stared at the stairs the Blackmen had ascended.
“Now, now. Absolutely not. Oppa made me promise.”
“Ugh… It’s already been weeks. I can’t hold it in anymore.”
“I’ll take care of you after we eat.”
I ended up staying up all night relieving Ruya’s pent-up desires. A few days later, I lay on the bed in the lodging, examining my womb. The fetus was receiving nutrients and vital energy through the uterine core, which functioned as a condensed mass of essence, growing at an astonishing rate. In just a few days, the fetus had developed enough for its head and body to be distinguishable, its tiny heart pulsing rapidly and radiating strong vitality. Seeing new life growing inside me made it feel even more precious.
My child, yet so lovable.
But isn’t this growth abnormally fast for early pregnancy? It’s nearly ten times the normal rate. At this speed, birth will happen in about a month.
Indeed. It’s also absorbing essence at an incredible pace. Will there be any problems?
Cell division is rapid, but outwardly it appears to be developing normally. A typical human woman’s body couldn’t withstand the physical changes from such rapid growth, but Miss’s body is a specially engineered maternal model. It should handle it just fine.
Mini Las was circling the tiny fetus attached to the uterine wall, observing it with apparent curiosity. It seemed Las was deliberately channeling more essence to it.
I need to prepare more essence for the baby to consume. First, I’ll absorb the essence stored in Ruya’s yin crest, then find other sources.
Thanks to you, I’ll obtain my body sooner than expected.
Mother, shall I adjust the growth rate of the other siblings to one month as well?
No, keep it at the planned ten months. Prioritizing stability seems best.
Understood. Then I’ll maintain the plan of one production cycle per year.
Despite the unexpected variable of essence, the bioroid production plan appeared to be proceeding without modification. As I gazed endlessly at the fetal heartbeat, Elisa spoke.
Miss, leave your body to the AI and come inside.
Huh? Why?
Quickly.
Okay.
Following Elisa’s command, I activated the AI, confirmed my body rising from the bed, and entered the mental space. There, Elisa and Elsa were conducting research in a lab cluttered with papers, smoking heavily.
“I’m here. Why did you call me?”
“We’re going to test the newly created programs and upgraded versions to be installed in the bioroids.”
“Just stay still, unnie.”
The moment Elisa tapped the holographic keyboard, my consciousness vanished.
Occasionally serving as a test subject while absorbing Ruya’s essence to supplement the fetus’s nourishment, I visited various acquaintances. I met Isabel, who worked at Eden National Science Research Institute, caught up with her, and heard about the anti-Eden faction including Red Mask. Red Mask had been quietly eliminated by a spy Isabel had bribed, and the anti-Eden forces had scattered after losing their central figure and the justification of overthrowing Eden. Meanwhile, she was recruiting capable talents as researchers. Stella, the shadowy figure behind the Merchant Guild, was staying at her mansion raising her first child while pregnant with her second, still living happily as a family with the three gentlemen. After playing with her first child, the new-generation Abaddon symbiote, we parted ways. Surprisingly, Kate unnie was also pregnant. With her belly noticeably protruding, she was spending happy days under the devoted protection of Lyana unnie and her Blackman master. When I suggested to Lyana unnie, who envied Kate unnie for carrying her beloved master’s child, that she transfer into a bioroid, she refused, saying her master who loved her as an android came first. Then, taking Ruya with me, I finally began exploring the underground city.
The elevator to the underground city was far cleaner and better decorated than before. Now an undisputed top tourist attraction of Eden, the underground city was called the residence of angels and the heaven of sex, bustling with tourists from around the world. The streets, bright and glamorous enough to make one forget it was underground, overflowed with laughing men and women. People staggering drunk even in broad daylight were being embraced by angels who clung to them seductively, heading into hotels. Angels who barely covered their nipples and private parts danced through the streets, and masked people wandered in outfits far more revealing than anything imaginable above ground. No one objected; instead, people occasionally haggled over prices on the spot. Ruya, who had been distracted by the sights, spotted a male tourist haggling with a masked female tourist in front of a motel and asked in confusion, “Is it okay for ordinary people to openly engage in prostitution like that?”
“In the underground city, all adult prostitution is legal. Foreigners are no exception.”
“Won’t that reduce Eden’s revenue?”
“Tourist prostitutes also consume goods and services while staying and eating here. There’s no need to interfere with their earnings.”
Originally, tourists who prostitute themselves purely for money are extremely rare. Female tourists, finding it harder to relieve their sexual desires compared to male tourists, turn to prostitution as a secondary option. Ruya and I were walking the streets, but no men approached us. That made sense—surrounded by women flaunting their figures, we, fully dressed with veils covering our heads, clearly didn’t look like prostitutes.
“Gwangnam would love it here.”
“Oppa is devoted to his family, so he probably wouldn’t touch other women.”
Even before having a family, Oppa was conservative enough to rarely visit brothels. After becoming the head of a household, he had never once looked at another woman outside the family.
“He’s conservative despite being open-minded.”
“Madam wants to increase the number of concubines, though.”
“Even if he’s away for work, there won’t be a shortage of concubines to serve, and the more women to bear children, the better.”
Ruya’s values had certainly changed a lot. Before becoming Oppa’s concubine, she held typical monogamous views, but now she spoke like this.
“Still, it’s nice that he cherishes us that much, isn’t it?”
“I like that too.”
She nodded, her face flushed as she thought of Oppa. After getting our hair done at a famous salon among the angels and enjoying various snacks made from dairy cow milk while sightseeing, we arrived at the duel arena.
“A duel arena? What kind of duels are we talking about?” Ruya asked, licking her milk ice cream. Her light green hair was adorned with various flower decorations, as if she were carrying a small garden on her head.
“Exactly as it sounds—a place where people duel to determine victory or defeat.”
“Like a martial arts match. Sounds fun.”
The spectator seats surrounding the wide central arena were already filled with numerous spectators holding betting slips with matchups and player information. As soon as we found seats, the duels seemed to begin, with the broadcast booth lighting up amid flashy music.
“Oh, looks like it’s starting just in time.”
“Let’s see… The upcoming duel is between a female player from Xenuma and a male player from Tarykin.”
“Huh? Not same-sex, but a man and a woman fighting?”
“According to the guide written here, they’ve adjusted the weight classes to balance it out.”
“No matter how much they adjust the weight classes, how can a woman beat a man?”
“You’ll understand when you see it.”
Just then, the players entered amid introductions. Holding swords and shields and wearing anti-injury fencing uniforms, they clearly differed in height and build.
“See? The woman is more than a fist taller than the man.”
“His build is like a bear. And they’re fighting with weapons?”
“Of course. Do they ever duel bare-handed here?”
“Cultural differences, I see.”
The duel, starting with loud cheers, proceeded fiercely. The sharp clashing of swords and shields rang out piercingly over the spectators’ roars. Even though it was a duel between a man and a woman, the tension from their near-equal fight due to the weight class difference was palpable. The female fencer seemed to gain the upper hand by crossing her shield and sword to disarm her opponent, but with both hands occupied, the male fencer’s shield struck her exposed abdomen, sending her crashing down. The female fencer, hit in the lower abdomen, slowed from the shock to her vital point and, under the male fencer’s follow-up attacks, dropped her sword and shield, losing the match.
Ruya, who had been watching the duel with clenched fists, looked at the fallen female fencer with pity and said, “Ah, what a shame!”
“Exposing her abdomen was the decisive mistake.”
“Her gamble was good, but she lacked the strength to follow through and got countered.”
At that moment, the man sitting next to us suddenly interjected, “That’s a common mistake female fencers make! They try to force techniques with inferior physical abilities and end up getting hit!”
“Wouldn’t it have been different if she’d executed the technique before her strength waned? The male fencer deliberately dragged it out to exhaust her.”
“This is a duel. You have to fight strategically!”
Somehow, a verbal sparring match began between the spectator and Ruya. From what I overheard, it was about the male fencer’s intentional stamina drain being excessive versus that being normal in a duel, both premised on women’s physical abilities being inferior to men’s.
“Even with the weight class lowered to match them, she still lost. Women should just stick to housework.”
“It’s true their physical abilities are inferior, but telling them to only do housework is too much. Women can work just fine, you know?”
“Hah~ Prostitutes are definitely needed, though. How about you stop doing unproductive things like a nun and sell your body here instead?”
“I’m not a nun, I’m a married woman.”
“Even better! Another man’s wife tastes sweeter!”
Analyzing the man’s accent, appearance, and clothing, he seemed to be from western Tarykin. Even in Tarykin, a country with slavery, a class system, and male chauvinism as the norm, the western region was notorious for the most extreme attitudes. Come to think of it, I wondered how the socialist revolution was progressing. Even when I left Tarykin, it had been like a boiling pot with the lid barely held down—had nothing happened yet? Leaving the man who kept treating us like prostitutes behind, we exited the duel arena. Ruya, grumbling about being told to sell her body as a married woman, instructed me, “Master, when you sell your body, you must get Madam’s permission first. Got it?”
“No, why do both Madam and you assume I’ll be prostituting myself? It’s a bit unfair.”
“Because when it’s time to offer a woman for the family’s sake, there’s no one better than Master.”
“Offer a woman?” I asked, not understanding the phrase.
“Madam must have been impressed by how you obtained the dragon’s backing last time. She’s planning to use Master to firmly reel in high-ranking influential figures when the need arises to build connections.”
“Ah, because the fascination eye hypnosis leaves almost no trace. It would certainly be useful.”
Scientific examinations wouldn’t detect it, of course, and only a minuscule amount of essence would remain deep in the brain, making it hard to catch even with magical scans. Even if detected, it was close enough to spirit power that suspicion was unlikely. Thinking about it, succubi could probably do almost anything in human society if they set their minds to it. Ruya nodded in agreement with my words.
“And since she’s an expert who can subjugate anyone through sex, it’ll naturally proceed only under Madam’s direct orders, without Sir knowing.”
“Still, she’s not using me right away.”
“You’re also Sir’s concubine. No matter how much Madam she is, she can’t treat you carelessly. She probably won’t act unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
I didn’t know what Madam’s goal was, but if it was for the family, I had no particular objection to being used.