The Capital Burns

For the first time in her life, Min Jiyou felt her heart race because of another person.

It was similar to the flutter she got from reading romance novels, and yet the depth of it was something else entirely.

Oh my. Am I really falling for the Hero...?

She had no choice but to admit it. The Hero's seed was taking root inside her. And her body, which had only ever been forced into things she never wanted, was finally craving Lashu.

My body wants him. My heart wants him. And more than anything, I want him to handle me roughly. Am I some kind of pervert...?

The image of herself being treated roughly by Lashu flashed through her mind, and Min Jiyou's face flushed so hard it felt ready to burst. Then she bowed her head, hoping the day she could tangle her body with his — roughly — would come soon.

After that, I called more of the women over and we enjoyed a soak in the hot spring. Surprisingly, it stayed pretty tame.

I figured they'd jump me the second they saw me. Unexpected.

The women grew noticeably closer as they soaked together. The ones who shared that common ground of being MILFs especially so.

"I never wanted to bear that human garbage's child. He even said if I had a kid, we should name it Xia Jinping the Second."

"Oh my god, that's horrifying. If it were the Hero's child, that would be a different story, ohoho♥"

"Ahaha, I'd want Lashu's kid too♥"

"Don't get the wrong idea, any of you. Is Lashu your toy? If anyone's having Lashu's child, it's me first. Not you. Hehe."

Auntie fired that off like she was settling the pecking order on the spot. The mood among the women sank for a moment.

Yeah, I'd seen this coming. This was exactly why an orgy in the hot spring wasn't happening.

It was all about keeping each other in check. Strip me out of the conversation and these women would probably get along just fine — genuinely friendly, even. But the second you drop Lashu Leonhart into the mix? Instantly, you get this.

The whole North-versus-South Korea thing was adorable compared to this.

I was sitting at the center of a powder keg that could blow at any second. Or maybe I was the powder keg.

And through it all, the women kept throwing hawk-eyed looks my way. The second they spotted an opening, they were going to take it. Which, honestly, just made me more nervous.

"Haaah, enough of that, all of you. Here, take this."

"We put in some work!"

Fieri and Dinora came in carrying food and drinks to the spring. Just like that, our unplanned hot-spring party turned into a full banquet, and we were able to loosen up around each other.

Min Jiyou carefully started talking about herself. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Everyone grew somber, thinking about how hard her life had been. Aki understood better than anyone.

"I get it. I was kidnapped by someone who wasn't even a lord."

"Oh my, really?"

"I was under mind control, so I don't remember the worst of what they did to me very clearly. But it was truly awful."

"Hhk, Aki...!"

Aki and Min Jiyou threw their arms around each other. And because they were naked, well — I could see everything.

Ohhh...!

A feast of taut, colliding mounds of breast as they held each other. And below, two pussy slits nestled in pubic hair that had gone just damp enough from the water.

Now that's what I call a majestic sight!

My mouth went dry. My whole body felt like it was heating up.

I lost track of time spending it with the women. When I finally wanted to rest, I left them behind and ducked into a random room in the mansion.

A place this ripe for sex, and somehow there's no sex. These heroines are so stacked this whole building might blow apart.

Hell, the island itself might blow apart.

I lay down on the bed. Something soft and deeply comfortable wrapped around my whole body. Sleep nearly took me, but I just barely fought it off.

Maybe I should step outside for a bit.

I had no idea how many hours it had been since I got here. We'd been going at it that hard.

I changed into different clothes and stepped out of the ring.

A faint shimmer. Wind rushed past.

I was back on the hill path where I'd been with Min Jiyou. Early evening.

The capital spread out clearly below the slope.

"Peaceful."

A whistle of air — then BOOM! KRA-KOOM! Flames roared up.

I hadn't even said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"all clear." The words had barely left my mouth before explosions started going off everywhere. Blast after blast, each one on a serious scale, and people started screaming.

"Gyaaaaah!"

"Kyaaaaah!"

Buildings collapsed. The streets turned into a slaughterhouse. A peaceful early evening had become a cauldron of chaos.

What the hell? What is this all of a sudden?

Curious, I drifted up into the air and looked down. A crowd of people was suddenly marching through the streets, shouting.

"Cardinal James, we shall recite your sins!"

"The true blight! The true heretic!"

"How can a man who only worships himself ever serve the Lord?!"

Voices condemning James started in one place, then spread, until the whole city was howling. I had the picture now.

So Limani finally made his move?

Faster than I'd expected. For an incompetent bastard who only ever led with his appetites, anyway.

The whole city was a mess — a complete shitshow. They said they were condemning James, so why the hell were they bombing random places?

Inn first. My stuff's still there.

I headed for the inn in a hurry. Running through the streets, I could see the chaos unfolding. People were scrambling in every direction.

"It's a terrorist attack, a terrorist attack! Get out of here!"

"What the hell are the guards doing? Don't they even patrol?!"

"I heard the Academy nearby got hit — so what, we're just supposed to die here?!"

"Mommy, Mommyyyy!"

It was so loud I could barely think. I got to my room, loaded everything onto the carriage, and sent it all into the ring.

For now, I'd watch how this played out. I needed to see whether Limani could actually see this through.

I could just duck back into the ring right now, but how this situation develops is the real question.

I shook my head as I headed back toward the hill path. Smoke was rising from every direction, and a harsh, acrid stench was swallowing the air. Here and there, charred corpses were starting to pile up, one and two at a time.

Limani, you insane bastard. You were supposed to hit James, not spray-and-pray the whole damn city. Fucking cultists.

Wanting any kind of decency from these people had been my mistake. But this was still way too much. I was freshly reminded that cultists were garbage you shouldn't even share a table with.

The far side of the capital should be safer, right? In that case—!

Might as well try out the new title I'd just gotten. I drew Dawn Guardian.

I sent Dawn flying into the air and hopped on. My stance was a little sloppy at first, but I found my balance and stood up straight.

The wind howled. Dawn split the atmosphere and shot toward the high sky. I was flying at a speed that casually blew past the sound barrier, and I couldn't help grinning.

Huh. Doing something I'd only ever read about in those immortal-cultivator novels, for real. That's actually insane.

The awe just came out of me. I tried a bunch of things, steering Dawn remotely. First, direction.

"Whoosh — whip!"

Dawn bent exactly the way I wanted. And that wasn't all.

Head for the clock tower.

My memory became a navigation system, and the sword flew there on its own.

Next, speed control.

"A little slower."

A low, rolling hum. The wind slamming into me as I flew eased from a gale into a tailwind.

"Fast again."

The gale came roaring back. This title was genuinely wild.

Who knew beating Xia Jinping would get me something like this. Titles are the best! Should I upgrade it?

I dumped a whole forty thousand points into it, but the effect was insane. In that instant, I had literally become a Sword Saint straight out of a xianxia novel.

Man, feeding it points is so satisfying. Ahhh.

I crossed the river like that and arrived at my destination, the clock tower — the tallest landmark in the capital aside from the Imperial Palace itself. I climbed to the very top and took in the situation. The cultists were trying to run the show here too.

"We denounce the Cardinal who wears a false mask!"

"James is a heretic! A heretic!"

"You said faith comes first, so how could you assassinate the Cult Leader?!"

What is the Cult Leader, a king? Throwing around the word "regicide" and everything.

There were people trying to drive James out, and people trying to protect him.

"Cardinal James is the Messiah himself!"

"The Lord's incarnation is Cardinal James! You filthy heretics!"

"Let Cardinal James do whatever he wants!"

A suffocating standoff between lunatics and swine. Both sides started clashing all over the capital — and then it stopped being just shouting.

A rush of air. An explosion. Steel rang on steel. Something crunched.

Fighting broke out across the city. Everything from simple fistfights to full-on combat with actual weapons. A real variety pack of violence. And a fair number of people who didn't even look like believers were mixed in.

Mercenaries, obviously. Whether it's James or Limani, they both came prepared. These deranged cardinal sons of bitches.

All I could do was swear. I'd heard Those Who Recite Sins were huge, and that was no exaggeration. From up here alone I could see the flames of war burning in more than twenty places.

"Not like I can just sit still either. My blood's boiling."

I pulled out the limited-edition item I'd gotten as a reward earlier and started pumping my stats.

I need at least a slight edge over a full Knight!

I burned through a decent chunk of points and pushed myself to level 70. Out of nowhere, Dawn Guardian erupted with light — bright enough that from the ground below, it probably looked like a star.

Oh, I jumped a bunch of levels and it unlocked the next effect right away? I'm actually excited for this!

Holy shit. Invulnerability? Just that one effect alone made Dawn Guardian basically the greatest holy sword of all time.

How the hell did my father even use this thing?

I was still just spitting out awe when I finally spotted the capital guards moving in. I knew it was because of the Academy, but damn, they got here fast.

The problem was, their arrival just made the melee even messier. What we needed now was a variable big ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough to flip the whole board.

"Hear me, my beloved brothers and sisters!"

Limani took the stage first. He advanced down the street with a crowd of cardinals and believers at his back.

"James has assassinated our Cult Leader! What a cruel tragedy this is! And on top of that, he spreads the false claim that the Cult Leader was martyred at the hands of some nameless hero!"

That's me he's talking about. Not bad.

"I could not stand by and watch this unfold. The Lord has spoken: those who have sinned shall have everything torn from them, from the tongue to the toes! I shall now take upon myself the great burden of Those Who Recite Sins! I shall devote myself to the world!"

"Ohh, Cardinal Limani!"

"He shines! He is the light itself!"

"We never knew the Cardinal's true nobility! You are truly great, Cardinal! Waaaaaah!"

The believers following him all exploded into a frenzy at once. A parade of genuine lunatics.

What, so he CAN pull it off when he wants to?

He should've done this from the start. Limani led his pack down the street, looking every bit the triumphant conqueror. At this rate, it really looked like he was going to swallow Those Who Recite Sins whole.

"Bloom and scatter."

Huh? What was that?

I flinched and turned my head. It was a middle-aged man's voice I'd definitely never heard before. And yet it rang out as clearly as if it had come from right behind me.

I was about to look for the source when screams erupted below.

"Uwaaaaagh!"

The people who'd been about to stand against James shattered in a single instant, like broken pieces of a mirror. That alone was horrifying enough — and then they slowly transformed into flower petals and scattered on the wind.

Like beautiful pale-pink cherry blossoms. They drifted away in every direction, and the guards who'd been standing by to restore order just stared, dumbfounded.

"Huh? What just happened?"

"There were people here... right?"

"No, there were hundreds of them. Where did they all...? Was that illusion magic?"

They looked around, but there was nothing to find. No — this wasn't illusion magic. This was real. Even I could barely believe my own eyes.

How the hell? Hundreds of people just vanished in a single instant? Wait. That thing—

"Heh-heh-heh-heh. You primitive things."

On the opposite side from where Limani had been standing, a man who looked like a cardinal appeared. Swept-back salt-and-pepper hair, pale blue eyes, skin as pallid as a corpse.

"To crawl up against me, James Moonshiner. And you don't even know I'm the Messiah!"

He let out a continuous stream of mad laughter. The ring on his finger was glowing with an ominous light.

What the hell is that?

James was definitely a non-combatant. So if he was the one who'd just done that — more precisely, didn't that mean he had some kind of item that let him do it?

Right in the middle of this critical moment, a message popped up.

My mind snapped back in an instant. Time to head back. I kept my eyes locked on James until the very end as I returned to the world inside the ring.

All the while, I never stopped thinking about how I was going to fight him.