‘How I have missed the casual eroticisms of my four walls,’ John thought. Expertly prepared bacon and eggs filled his stomach (which somehow had the room to spare despite this being his second breakfast). Under the table, Sylph, Undine and Beatrice were sharing his dick. Aclysia and Momo were behind him rubbing his shoulders.

The situation could have only been more enjoyable had there not been the distant cloud of doom over his thoughts. And if Lydia had been there. As announced, she had taken a trip back home to get her affairs in order and then return.

“Alright,” John raised his voice, loud enough to make the other chatter around the table cease and even the wet slurps under the table halt for the moment. “Who can we call upon?”

Momo responded first, “There’s the obvious: Fusion’s members. If we take the elite along, we’ll get a force that can at the very least compete with the remaining Archdukes. Chemilia and Ted would definitely come along and maybe we can even have Elu tag along. Then there’s the members outside the core military, like Alice and the elites of the Lake Alliance.”

“Alice could take care of a monarch on her own,” John hummed.

“If I may, the Order of the Golden Rose would be certain to aid you.” Lorelei stood up, probably out of habit, as she continued in an official tone. “Although our charge is this world, our primary mission is to punish the wicked that would violate the innocents’ safety. Necromancy is an aberration to us. A world under its sway must be purified. The honoured Warden and the Lord Protector are at your call.”

“Do you have the authority to decide that?” John asked.

“I discussed your current whereabouts with the honoured Warden as Scarlett and I were researching the conditions of my eventual blindness. The necessary arrangements have been made,” Lorelei revealed.

“Moi-moi would be a lot of help.”

“Indeed, she would, as would William and his knights,” John hummed. They were putting together a coalition not just of the kind of people that could defeat the Monarchs, but also the Ironborn below them. The numbers that could do little against Arkeidos would still succeed in keeping their back’s safe.

“Have you considered some kind of open letter?” Lee suggested. “I know it’s kind of cringe to have faith in humanity and all that, but you have reach, so if you explained the entirety of the situation to the world, you might attract a few dozen people willing to help.”

“It’s… not the worst… idea…” John’s words were slow and hesitating. Explaining the entirety of the situation would open him up for global ridicule. Even if he framed the situation with Claire in the most neutral terms possible, he had a playboy reputation that would make everyone at least speculate about what was really going on.

There were other drawbacks to that path. To start with, he would reveal his capacity to visit other Kingdoms to the entire world. What kind of drawback came with that, he did not know. Cautiousness was just his natural inclination. It may be that parties he owed favours would ask that he take them to other worlds.

Favours were another such drawback. While he was certain that there were some people who would answer that open letter only because it was the right thing to do, many more would do it to say they had aided the Gamer in his time of need. When nations, or guilds effectively taking the place of nations, were involved, morality all too often took a step back in favour of calculation. Those with the resources to spare would send a contingent of capable fighters, in the level 100 to 200 range, to assist. Great powers had always influenced each other through ‘volunteers’, ‘foreign legions’ and ‘gifts’.

John had only gotten himself in one massive debt in his life and that one had him travel to another continent and fight in a tournament over the rule of a country he had no stake in. That one had fundamentally been a cheap way to repay that debt, considering his life was never in danger. Of course, a bunch of other things had happened, to put it mildly.

None of the debts he would accrue during this would compare to that one, because the power dynamic was different. The relative value of what he was provided then and what he could be provided with now had a gargantuan gap between them. Further, John no longer had the same individual freedom to meddle in other guilds like that. Whatever favours he owed would be called in the form of beneficial trade agreements, political support, public endorsements, or a variety of other things.

Was he willing to get his hands dirty in the realm of politics to maximize his chances to free Claire and the Iron Domain?

“…Scarlett, you have the best understanding here of international relations. Can you draft an open letter?”

The redhead crossed her arms and stared at him. “Are you absolutely fucking certain?”

“Each ally of whatever origin we have on the field lowers the chances that we suffer casualties.” The Gamer caressed Sylph’s pretty head. Slowly, as to not disturb the discussion, she and the other two women under the table kept covering his dick with licks and kisses. “Maybe I’ll have to support some people that I find terrible down the line, but whoever I aid will not be as horrible as Arkeidos or losing someone I care for. It is, as they say, the lesser of two evils.”

“Alright then.” Scarlett stretched, the circuity in her red eyes flaring up as she connected to the internet. “Let’s hope the short timeframe works to your advantage. Governments are horribly inefficient when it comes to delivering quickly. In three days, you might only get convinced individuals to come along – however many that will be.”

“Any one is better than none,” John hummed and leaned back. “Any news on Nightingale?”

“Still nothing,” Scarlett responded.

At this point, John seriously had to wonder where the harpy goddess was. She was someone with personal investment in his victory. Although her combat strength was on the lower side for a god, she was still a god. Her ability to suppress senses was enough to at least delay a powerful enemy.

Eventually he would get his answer to what happened to her. “Who else?” he asked.

“What about Romulus?” Rave threw out there.

“What about Romulus indeed,” John mumbled, having been churning on that question the entire time. The Apex would have not just tilted but completely imbalanced the odds into John’s favour. Even his Stats were lower than those of Jevaine in her overpowered state, but the emperor of the old world had his own subjects he could have taken along. Sol and Luna were only the tip of that iceberg. “The problem is that Fusion is in the Illuminati’s sphere, so we are somewhat antagonistic to the Sons of Rome and that-“ The door opened with a slight click and Lydia, wearing nothing but the kind of lingerie that revealed everything, entered. “-You have fantastic timing these days, you know that?”

“My ministers were quick to inform me of the opposite. It is fortunate that the past two weeks of uninterrupted work have appeased their bureaucratic desires,” Lydia responded. After a quick march towards the table and sitting down on the chair that Aclysia presented to her later, she continued, “What is it I arrived timely for, my love?”

“We were wondering whether or not we could ask for Romulus’ assistance in this.”

“I can tell you for a fact that the Apex himself will not be available within the next three days.” A simple yet demanding gesture was answered immediately by Aclysia marching towards the kitchen and retrieving a meticulously prepared tea set. An ice-cube landed in the cup before the beverage that followed. Not even Lydia could appreciate tea at this heat. After a sip, she continued, “Romulus has made it his personal mission to tour the newly acquired areas in eastern Europe. He will not halt this task to aid you in a personal affair.”

“I don’t really need him to come personally, he has enough forces that he could send in his stead,” the Gamer said. “I can bring 250 people with me, excluding you girls. The real question is whether it is politically feasible to indebt myself to Romulus, since I’m aligned with the Horned Rat.”

Lydia quietly pondered for a few seconds, as did everyone else. It was Siena who broke the silence. “Just indulge yourself and ask for aid,” she stated. “The only complication that can come of this has to do with you not returning exactly what he wants. You give your word, not your soul.”

“I’d like my word to hold weight,” John returned.

“Then become powerful enough that neither the Horned Rat nor Romulus could make a move without considering your stance,” Siena waved off. It wasn’t quite that simple, but she also wasn’t wrong. “Let us be clear: you already owe Romulus for how he handled Thana’s first emergence.”

John sighed and resigned himself to that fact. “Lydia, the message will reach him in time if you deliver it,” he said to the queen. Displeased, she placed her cup on the table. “Sorry to send you out again immediately after you returned.”

“It is upsetting, yet it is also the nature of these affairs,” Lydia said and got up. She walked towards the door she had come from and left it open. Her voice could be heard from the entrance area, “I will not lie on your behalf, my love. Romulus will know that this is not something he will stand to greatly benefit from.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She stepped back into the room, her pants back on. In the process of buttoning up her shirt, she asked, “Can you provide me with a summary of events I may present to him?”

“We’re writing an open letter requesting assistance from any goodie-two-shoes out there,” Scarlett informed the metal mage, whose forehead turned into a great number of wrinkles. “Yeah, no holds fucking barred and all that. I’ll send it to you and you can answer the guy’s questions.”

“I suppose so. I’ll see it done.” Lydia raised her hand, fingers wiggling demandingly. Pulling away from the worshipping tongues, the Gamer walked over and gave her a goodbye kiss. It was less passionate than usual, as they had to keep their distance to prevent his dick from making contact with her clean clothes. “I will be back by tomorrow,” she assured. “Do you have a date for this final assault?”

“The morning of Friday the 29th,” John responded. It was Monday the 26th of March 2019. Those three days were the maximum he was willing to gamble on. “Thank you, my love.”

“You will repay me with a date,” she decided for him and then was on her way.

John returned to the table, where he was greeted by three wide open mouths. Tongues hanging out, Undine, Sylph and Beatrice all offered him the choice to go further than licks and kisses. Although the Gamer tried his best not to have favourites, his hand found its way to one of Beatrice’s smooth horns. The long, dextrous tongue of the draconic maid, the sharp teeth, they tickled his love for the supernatural. The trio shuffled their positions around, so Beatrice was at the centre, gobbling up the entirety of his shaft while the other two worshipped his balls.

“Anyone else come to mind?” he asked, his voice straining with the pleasure building up.

Nia’s arms appeared around his neck suddenly. Pale and slender, they wrapped around him. Her chin rested on the top of his head. “You know who.” Her tone was mildly chiding, swinging with a faint sense of the old tonal inability.

The Gamer groaned, not because of the expert blowjob, but because she was absolutely right. “Alright then… Momo, Jane, Lorelei, I’d like it if you three could drum up whoever of our military and members is strong enough and willing to join. Aclysia, Beatrice, prepare the Palace’s guest rooms for early arrivals. Create new ones if you need to. We’re asking for their help, they should wait somewhere comfortable… plus, we have a reputation to uphold. Scarlett, I’ll leave the public letter to you. Also tell me if Nightingale finally does answer.”

“Sure. Swing by my place later, I need to give you the new Mandala Sphere.”@@novelbin@@

The Gamer nodded strongly, before feeling his enthusiasm leave his body. He distracted himself momentarily with the climax welling up. Even the surge of cum down Beatrice’s throat did not manage to fully distract him from the awfulness he knew he would have to deal with. When his climax ebbed away, he had nothing to say but the fateful words.