The Bait of the Great Mother
Athena straddled Geum Taeyang, bouncing with wild abandon as she pouted and whined. “Hnnngh…! Haah! Tell me! I’m dying to know… hnnngh!”
Slap-slap-slap! Thrust-thrust! Squish! Thrust-thrust!
Even while drowning in pleasure, Athena acted like a desperate puppy that needed to pee. She was far too curious about the trap Geum Taeyang had mentioned for Leona.
“Hey. We’re having sex right now. Focus on your husband’s cock instead of daydreaming. Do you want to be punished?”
Smack!♥ Smack!♥
“Hnnngh! Haah! I-I’m feeling your cock plenty…! Hnnngh! But you’re already spanking me… haaah! Haah!”
Geum Taeyang smacked Athena’s rear again, annoyed by her lack of focus. Yet the strike was filled with affection rather than anger. Instead of reflecting, Athena only grew more spoiled and coquettish.
She had every right to feel sulky. During the Mohican unification campaign, Geum Taeyang had shared almost everything with her—except anything related to Leona. It stung.
Of course I can’t tell her. Leona is something I have to handle with my gamer knowledge alone.
Geum Taeyang wanted to explain, but he couldn’t. He was a transmigrator in a world from a game he used to play. The trap was built on that knowledge. Revealing it would only lead to endless questions, so he stayed silent.
“Fine. I’ll give you a hint.”
He grabbed Athena’s hips firmly.
“Since I can’t finish this cleanly by myself anyway.”
Shake—! Shake—! Shake—! Squish! Squish! Squish!
“Haaah! Hnnngh! Haaah! H-hint…? Hnnngh!”
He rocked her hips back and forth, thoroughly savoring her dripping core while her anxious mind demanded answers.
“The hint is… the Great Mother.”
After that, the keyword Geum Taeyang gave Athena for capturing Leona Bayern was none other than the Great Mother of the Mohican tribe—Athena’s own mother and Geum Taeyang’s milf wife, Sophia Barbara.
Step. Step. Step.
One evening, beneath a sky so dark that even moonlight barely reached the ground, several footsteps moved gracefully through the dense forest path.
Whoosh—!
A bird suddenly took flight, letting a sliver of moonlight illuminate the figures. Their uniforms were unmistakably navy blue.
“Commander Leona. With all due respect, perhaps you should reconsider even now.”
They wore the uniforms of the mercenary autonomous state of Tuyranos.
“What do you mean?”
Leona flicked her dark-purple ponytail and answered coolly.
“The ruins near the Gaia Tribe are currently the most likely candidate for the prophesied location, but they are also the most dangerous. At the very least, we should wait until we confirm that the Great Khan is away before approaching.”
The two people following Leona were her trusted subordinates—the same ones who had encountered Geum Taeyang’s group before. They were essentially her right and left hands. The adjutant on her right was Daimon; the secretary on her left was Marie.
“If we only move when it’s completely safe and the Great Khan is gone, how are we supposed to find any clues? Do we have that much time to spare? Get a grip, Daimon. This is the chance for our homeland to rise again. If we miss this, we may never get another opportunity.”
“But…”
“Your excessive caution right now is more likely to get us discovered than anything else.”
“M-my apologies, Commander.”
Just as Geum Taeyang had said, even though the situation had changed, Leona could not abandon this mission. Tuyranos had once been a brilliant island kingdom with rich culture and power. After a massive volcanic eruption sank their island, they had spent over a hundred years as a despised mercenary state, surviving by scavenging scraps. Leona wanted to end that humiliating existence and build a proper nation. This mission might be their final chance.
If the Memphis Kingdom rises as the prophecy foretold and rivals the Darmina Empire, then we too will finally have a place where we can wield real power. Memphis desperately needs allies right now.
Memphis had interpreted the prophecy as a sign that something capable of shaking the continent’s balance would appear. They intended to seize it and take hegemony from the Darmina Empire. Though powerful, Memphis was deeply unpopular and had almost no allies. Knowing this, they had given Tuyranos a hint: if Tuyranos found the prophesied object, Memphis would grant them territory to establish a proper nation.
“Remember, Daimon, Marie. You know better than anyone what kind of humiliation awaits when you have no land to stand on.”
“Understood, Commander. We will follow you.”
When her father Werner Bayern had essentially sold her to Antoine as a fiancée, Leona had accepted it in silence. Even when her disgusting fiancé forced her into vile missions, she had carried them out without complaint. If it reduced the threats to her people while they lived as a mere autonomous state, Leona Bayern could endure being called a hyena and doing dirty mercenary work with an unchanging expression. She did it so her subordinates and citizens would never have to suffer anything worse.
That was why, even though the mission had become far more difficult, she refused to let go of hope.
“The lights of the Gaia Tribe village are coming into view. That means the ancient ruins should be around here. This distance feels right.”
The Gaia Tribe village appeared in the distance. Leona’s group stopped. What they sought was the Elhazard Ruins.
“Even with our darkness-trained vision, it’s not easy to find, Commander. The forest in this area is unusually dense.”
“Yeah. This is going to take a while.”
All three were assassins. As expected of their class, they possessed many skills useful for ambushes, mostly involving black magic. Right now they were using the skill Beast’s Eye to scout without needing mana stones.
“Hm?”
Leona suddenly stopped.
“What is it, Lady Leona? A trap?”
Marie immediately mentioned traps, but their prior investigation had confirmed this area was not where the Mohicans set traps.
Mother’s necklace is reacting.
Hum—! Hum—! Hum—!
The pendant necklace belonging to Leona’s mother, Beatrice, hidden beneath her uniform, was emitting a strange glow.
From Leona’s expression, it was clear she had not expected this to happen.
Over there. The necklace is reacting to something over there!
But that wasn’t what mattered. Her instincts were screaming. This was definitely something extraordinary.
“Follow me, Daimon, Marie. This way.”
“Did you find it?”
“Probably.”
Leona immediately led her subordinates toward the location where Beatrice’s necklace was reacting.
“Amazing, Commander! You found the ancient ruins near the Gaia Tribe!”
After walking roughly three hundred meters, the three finally discovered the Elhazard Ruins.
“No. This isn’t the real thing. The truly important part is over there.”
While Daimon and Marie marveled at the main building, Leona looked toward the empty lot beside it.
“Are you referring to that stone gate, Commander?”
She was not. The empty lot was no longer empty. An ancient spell had been lifted, revealing the stone structure leading into the Morion Square in perfect clarity.
“It’s open.”
“It’s inside. Whatever is reacting with my necklace.”
“Your mother’s necklace?”
“Yes. I don’t know why, but it’s reacting. And the feeling I’m getting is clear. This is it. Today, we will find what the prophecy pointed to.”
Moreover, as if all secrets were being laid bare, the massive stone gate stood wide open.
“You two wait here. I’m confident, but caution is still necessary. Who knows? It might be a trap-filled secret chamber.”
“In that case, allow me to go first.”
“No. That’s what the leader is for. If I fall, Daimon goes next, then Marie. No matter what happens, we must find it.”
Leona decided to enter first, as she always did.
“Please be careful, Lady Leona.”
“I will.”
Step. Step. Step.
Leona descended one step at a time into the stone chamber.
It’s not a maze.
Unlike when Geum Taeyang had entered, no mana-stone lights illuminated the path like a runway. It was likely another effect of the ancient magic. Despite her cool exterior, Leona advanced with extreme caution, using Beast’s Eye to scan every corner. Her conclusion was that this did not seem like a space filled with traps.
But I feel some kind of presence…?
The incomprehensible patterns carved everywhere proved the building was extremely ancient. Yet she could sense people. Perhaps the Mohicans had passed through, but the presence she felt was stronger than that.
An opportunity has come. I can’t hesitate. If it isn’t a trap, I’ll kill whoever’s inside and take it.
Leona’s instincts about the prophesied object grew stronger. With such a feeling, she would never back down.
So this was the place!!
In the end, Leona’s bold advance bore fruit.
I can tell at a glance! That mineral glowing even in the darkness! That must be the transcendent thing the prophecy spoke of!
Just like Athena before her, Leona could see the beautiful sight of the special mineral Morion covering the walls and ceiling of the underground plaza through the light created by Beast’s Eye.
She had found it. The key to restoring Tuyranos to its former glory. The means to escape the wretched life of a mercenary state.
Just as Leona’s heart swelled with joy—
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Sudden applause echoed from an additional cave in the corner of the plaza. Then—
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Mana-stone lights lit up all at once throughout the plaza.
As expected… someone had already claimed it.
Leona instantly took a combat stance, facing the small cave in the corner from which the applause had come, her guard raised to the maximum.
“I must commend your sharp intuition.”
The owner of the applause was—
“And I must applaud your ability to set up this entire scheme. It makes me want to clap.”
—the Great Khan of the Mohican tribe and chieftain of the Gaia Tribe.
“I also applaud your unchanging nature, Leona.”
It was Geum Taeyang, the man who had once considered Leona Bayern his favorite character.
“You’re… the Mohican Great Khan, Geum Taeyang?”
Leona, normally extremely cynical, could not hide her shock at the sudden appearance of Geum Taeyang.
It was a trap! He knew we were coming!
It was a trap. Somehow, Geum Taeyang had known Leona’s group would come here.
Leona reached behind her back and pulled something from her sleeve. A mana-stone communicator. She pressed the button rapidly.
“Pressing the alarm won’t help, Leona. Daimon and Marie have already been subdued by my companions and taken away.”
Of course Geum Taeyang knew. Leona was his favorite. He knew everything.
“How the hell did you—Daimon and Marie too?!”
Leona was stunned. She had never even told the names Daimon and Marie to the Bacara Tribe. How did this Mohican Great Khan know?
Tch! No response! So he really did take them down…?
When no reply came from Daimon’s side, Leona’s expression hardened further.
“I just received a response from this side. Subjugation is complete and they’re being taken to the tribe.”
Geum Taeyang read every change in his favorite’s expression and responded accordingly. In his left hand appeared an identical mana-stone communicator to the one Leona used. The response light she had been desperately hoping for was glowing on it.
He had also obtained this device through Jasmine’s merchant group.
“Damn it!”
Whoosh!
Having grasped the full situation, Leona turned to rescue her captured subordinates.
“Running away, Leona Bayern?”
Geum Taeyang provoked her as if it were only natural.
“Showing your back to this handsome, well-built Mohican barbarian man?”
It was as if he knew some deeply intimate and stimulating secret of hers.
Leona froze. The provocation had worked. She stopped and turned back around.
“If you defeat me, there’s no one left in our tribe who can stop you. In other words, winning here means you save your companions and claim this plaza.”
Crack! Crack!
Geum Taeyang loosened his body, clearly anticipating a proper fight.
“How refreshingly straightforward…”
Shhhk…!
Leona’s eyes gleamed with killing intent as she turned fully.
“I’ll cut off your head, dismember your limbs, and scatter them in the air.”
Flash—!
A purple barrier manifested at her right side.