I must admit, ever since coming to this world, this was probably the only experience he felt was actually quite decent.
A faint sound of footsteps came from behind, treading in wooden clogs with a hesitant and reluctant pace.
Saint Dio did not look back.
He could tell whose footsteps those were.
After a moment, a slightly trembling voice came from behind: "God..."
Saint Dio still did not look back, only saying indantly and coolly: "You've come? Perfect, come help me scrub my back."
Ayame froze for a second, her gaze sweeping around the surroundings, but she saw no bathing tools whatsoever-no towels, no brushes, nothing at all.
She stood in place, somewhat at a loss, not knowing what to do.
"If there are no tools," Saint Dio's voice came again, instructing, "use your body."
Ayame's cheeks instantly burned even redder.
She stood by the edge of the bath, hesitating for a long time, before finally taking a deep breath and with trembling hands untying the sash at her waist.
The dress slipped down her smooth skin, revealing her slender and well-proportioned body.
She lifted her fair leg, tentatively stepping into the hot spring. The warm water enveloped her calves, making her unable to help letting out a soft intake of breath.
Afterward, Ayame walked step by step behind Saint Dio, then bit her lip and slowly pressed herself against him.
Her soft chest pressed tightly against Saint Dio's broad back, the sensation of skin-on-skin contact making her whole body tremble.
She began to awkwardly move her body back and forth, rubbing and sliding the softness of her chest against his spine.
The movement was clumsy and shy, yet carried a unique, untainted charm.
Saint Dio closed his eyes, feeling those two soft presences like little steamed buns gently sliding across his spine from behind.
That sensation was completely different from Stussy's pair of full, almost exaggeratedly lush mounds.
Stussy's were like ripe peaches, full and juicy, whereas Ayame's were more like tender young fruit freshly forming on springtime branches-small and firm, carrying an untried resilience.
As the friction continued, Saint Dio could feel those two tiny hardened peaks gradually growing firmer, lightly grazing against his spine and bringing a wave of numbness.
The corner of his mouth curved slightly.
Though far inferior to Stussy and Hancock in terms of scale and technique, this small, cute type, changed out for a different flavor every once in a while, certainly had its own distinct appeal.
Chapter 32: Do What You Want, When You Want
Amidst the swirling mist of the hot spring, Saint Dio's holy sword stood proudly erect, urgently in need of tasting blood.
And Ayame, who was behind him, was naturally and inevitably chosen to become that sword's scabbard.
A short while later, Ayame had already been brought onto the bed inside the room.
She curled her body up, her hands tightly gripping the bedding beneath her, her gaze looking somewhat flusteredly at Saint Dio standing beside the bed.
The moonlight spilled through the window lattice onto his bare upper body, outlining that powerful physique.
Broad shoulders, a solid chest, well-defined abdominal muscles, and that member standing tall.
Ayame's heart pounded like a beating drum.
Although she had mentally prepared herself and knew what her coming tonight meant, when this moment truly arrived, she still felt a flurry of panic and helplessness.
Too fast... She hadn't even had time to build her mental defenses...
However, Saint Dio was never a person who would cater to the other's emotions.
He did what he wanted, when he wanted; how could there be so many twists and turns?
In his view, Ayame being able to receive his favor was her fortune, and she should instead be thanking him in return.
He leaned down, his tall body pressing directly down upon her.
"So heavy..."
Ayame only felt a thick wall of flesh press down, that weight making her almost unable to breathe.
Standing one meter eighty tall and pressing down upon her slender body, the sense of oppression it brought was very real.
She subconsciously reached out her hands, wrapping them around Saint Dio's back, her fingertips lightly clutching his solid back muscles.
Then-
Ayame abruptly widened her eyes.
At this moment, the moonlight in the courtyard was like water, spilling into a peaceful tranquility.
Stussy was standing in the center of the open space, instructing Mumei in the Six Powers technique of "Soru".
She patiently broke down the movement essentials, explaining how to instantly burst forth with immense foot-stomping power and how to achieve high-speed movement under the reaction force.
Mumei listened intently, nodding from time to time, her eyes filled with a eager-to-try radiance.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the courtyard, Hancock was sparring with the two sisters, Sandersonia and Marigold.
The figures of the three intersected and shifted in the moonlight, the sounds of punches and kicks colliding rising one after another.
Hancock was attempting to integrate the abilities of the Love-Love Fruit into her martial arts, her every kick carrying a faint force of allure that exposed flaws in her opponent the moment they were distracted.
Sandersonia and Marigold mainly practiced controlling their Devil Fruits in their hybrid beast-human forms, possessing both the agile and rapid movement of the human state while also combining the strength control and scaly defense of the snake form. The coordination between the two was becoming increasingly tacit.
Right at this moment, from the direction of Saint Dio's bedroom, a shrill, miserable scream rang out.
"Ah-!"
Mumei abruptly stopped her movements, turning her head to look toward the direction the sound came from, her brows furrowing slightly: "This sound... is it Big Sister Ayame? Did she run into some danger?"
She instinctively wanted to rush over to check out the situation, but was stopped by Stussy, who reached out and blocked her path.
"Rest assured, there's no danger." Stussy said with a smile, stating in a relaxed tone, "It's the Master disciplining her."
"Disciplining?" Mumei tilted her head, clearly not quite understanding the meaning of that word.
She was still young and possessed only a hazy, half-understood state of knowledge regarding the affairs of men and women, knowing only that since Stussy said there was no danger, then it must truly be without danger.
Seeing that she was no longer pursuing the question, Stussy smoothly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, Mumei, that 'Elder Brother' you mentioned earlier... could you tell me more about him?"
The moment she heard the words "Elder Brother," Mumei's eyes instantly lit up.
She immediately perked up, enthusiastically introducing her elder brother to Stussy-how formidable he was, how gentle he was, how he had saved her from the attack of the Kabane, and how he had taught her the techniques of combat.
Between her words, they were entirely filled with the adoration and reliance of a young girl toward someone she worshiped.
While smiling and listening, Stussy calculated inwardly, figuring this was yet another existence that could be utilized and controlled.
Even so, despite Stussy's poise, her sharp hearing was still able to capture the ceaseless movements traveling from the direction of the bedroom.
Ayame's intermittent whimpers and suppressed gasps, alongside the creaking sounds produced by the violent shaking of the bed.
She muttered inwardly to herself: The Master really is something... being so harsh to her on the very first time, not knowing how to cherish jade and pity flowers at all.
Meanwhile, inside the bedroom, the bed was shaking violently, as if it could be shaken apart at any moment.
The sheets had already been stained with a patch of bright red blood, resembling plum blossoms blooming upon snow.
Ayame grabbed tightly onto Saint Dio's back, her fingernails sinking deeply into his flesh and leaving behind lines of reddish nail marks.
Her eye sockets welled up with tears, her vision blurring due to the intense impact, and her mouth could only emit broken gasps, unable to even speak a complete sentence.
Too agonizing...
Her legs were firmly grabbed by Saint Dio and completely unable to close, her entire body like a lone skiff in a storm, only able to let that violent power master her rise and fall.
She could no longer distinguish whether her present sensations were pain or pleasure; perhaps they were intertwined, blending into a feeling she had never experienced before.
Yet this was her first time experiencing this sensation of being thoroughly stretched open and completely filled.
Painful yet blissful.
Clearly, this sensation would not easily end.
The night was already deep, the moonlight spilling through the window lattice into the courtyard, all things silent and still, save for the creaking of the bed and the suppressed gasps of the woman in Saint Dio's bedroom, which still echoed continuously in the night.
In the courtyard, Mumei yawned and rubbed her slightly aching eyes.
She was, after all, still a child; having experienced so many things during the day and practiced the Six Powers with Stussy for a long time, drowsiness surged up at this moment, and her eyelids were already beginning to droop.
"Big Sister Stussy, I'm sleepy, I'll head back to sleep first." Mumei bade farewell to Stussy, her footsteps somewhat unsteady as she walked toward her own room.
Stussy smiled and watched her leave, only withdrawing her gaze once that small figure disappeared at the end of the corridor. She glanced up toward the direction of Saint Dio's bedroom, listening to the commotion that showed no signs of stopping, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
Hopefully the Master wouldn't break the little girl.
Immediately afterward, her form transformed into a flock of bats, taking flight with a flutter into the night sky.
The flock of bats re-condensed into Stussy's figure high in the upper air, those wide bat wings unfurling behind her to carry her gliding beneath the moonlight.
She looked down and surveyed the sleeping Kongoukaku below.
Those reconnaissance bats converted using Kabane blood during the day had now successively returned.
They spread out in all directions along the railway lines, flying past one Station City after another.
In some Station Cities, lights still burned brightly, and people lived tenaciously under the threat of the Kabane; other Station Cities had already turned into ruins, with collapsed city walls and shattered iron gates, leaving only Kabane wandering amidst the broken walls and remnants.
Those bats transmitted all the information seen along the way back into Stussy's mind through blood resonance, giving her a clear grasp of the situation across the entire world.
More importantly, she had found the traces of the "Elder Brother" whom Mumei had spoken of.
Mima Karyotori.
That man who existed like a hero in Mumei's heart, that young commander who led the private armed force "Hunters" dedicated to hunting Kabane and possessed immense prestige among the common people.
Through the bats' reconnaissance, Stussy had roughly grasped his location and movements.
Her target for this trip was him.
This world needed a villain, an enemy capable of making the people feel fear so that they would rely on and revere "God" all the more.
And Mima Karyotori was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate to play that role.
The corner of Stussy's mouth curled into a cold smile in the night breeze.
She adjusted the angle of her wings and glided silently toward the direction where Mima Karyotori was located.
Chapter 33: Rapid Progress, the Fall of the Station City
The night was as thick as ink. Outside the ruins of an abandoned Station City, a campfire crackled in the evening breeze, its orange-red firelight illuminating Mima Karyotori's youthful face.
He sat upon a piece of shattered rock, grasping a short spear in his hand with its muzzle pointed downward, his gaze fixed upon the leaping flames as if pondering something.
The other members of the Hunters were scattered around; some were checking equipment, some were maintaining perimeter watch, and others were dozing against the walls.
The days of continuous combat had exhausted everyone, and having managed to find a relatively safe place to rest and recuperate, everyone seized the time to recover their physical strength.
However, Mima Karyotori's brow remained slightly furrowed.
He always felt that tonight's atmosphere was somewhat wrong, as if something were peering at them from the shadows. That feeling of being watched was faint and elusive, yet refused to dissipate.
He suddenly whipped his head around, raising the short spear in his hand in an instant to aim the muzzle at the darkness behind him.
"...No one?"
Behind him was completely empty, with only a few withered trees swaying their bare branches in the night wind.
Mima Karyotori slowly lowered his spear and let out a gentle breath, his tensed nerves relaxing slightly; it was probably just an illusion generated by days of continuous combat.
Just as he prepared to return the spear to his waist-
A sharp, stinging pain came from his neck. He slapped his hand abruptly against his neck, his fingertips brushing against a furry object.
He grabbed it down and, by the faint light of the campfire, saw clearly that it was a bat-pitch-black all over, with only a pair of eyes glowing an eerie red in the darkness.
Mima Karyotori's pupils contracted slightly, and just as he was about to smash the bat fiercely onto the ground, a strong wave of dizziness surged like a tide, instantly drowning out all of his consciousness.
His body swayed, the short spear in his hand slipped and fell to the ground, and his entire body pitched forward, collapsing to the earth with a heavy thud.
That bat wriggled free from his grasp, flapped its wings and flew into the darkness, landing upon the hand of a figure hidden within the shadows, whereupon it melted into a single drop of blood and vanished upon that person's fair fingertips.
The corner of the figure's mouth in the shadows curved slightly, and then their entire body transformed into countless bats like a shattered mirror, taking flight with a rustle and dissipating into the night.
"Lord Mima! Lord Mima!"
The members of the Hunters heard the commotion and crowded around one another. Upon seeing Mima Karyotori collapsed on the ground, a wave of panic immediately ensued.
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