Chapter 22

Several people hurried forward to help him up-some went to fetch a water flask, some checked his breathing, some anxiously called his name.

Just as everyone was in a fluster, Mima Karyotori suddenly opened his eyes.

Deep in his pupils, a fleeting dark red gleam swept past.

He slowly sat up, his gaze sweeping over the concerned faces around him. He was silent for a moment, then spoke a single sentence:

"Begin the operation."

Over the next few days, Kongoukaku enjoyed a rare peace.

On the streets, though the residents were still discussing the giant serpent and the god that had appeared that day, the rhythm of life had gradually returned to normal.

And within that mansion, the scene was entirely different.

These past few days, Saint Dio had been "training" Ayame.

From the initial clumsiness and stiffness, the agony of being unable to bear it, to gradually adapting and enduring it, and then beginning to taste pleasure in it-Ayame's transformation could be called rapid.

Her body seemed to have been thoroughly awakened by Saint Dio, and she had begun to grow dependent on this sensation she had never experienced before-one could even say addicted.

Today was the first time Ayame tried being on top.

Before this, she had always been pinned beneath Saint Dio, passively enduring that storm-like impact, with even the rhythm of her breathing controlled by him.

But today, Saint Dio had rarely given her a chance to take the initiative.

Ayame straddled his waist and abdomen, both hands braced against her own chest, kneading those two soft white rabbits, twisting her hips clumsily and awkwardly.

Her movements were still very unskilled, the rhythm sometimes fast and sometimes slow, the angle not quite right either, but she had clearly become immersed in it-eyes glazed, cheeks flushed, gasps spilling continuously from her mouth.

"More... more..."

She murmured in a low voice, the amplitude of her hip movements growing larger and larger, the speed faster and faster.

Saint Dio lay leisurely beneath her, watching this young lady who only days ago had been shy and reserved, now sunk in desire beyond saving, and a playful curve hooked at the corner of his mouth.

He reached out and gently stroked the smooth inner side of Ayame's thigh, feeling the fine layer of sweat and the faintly trembling skin.

Yet at this moment, Kongoukaku was undergoing an unprecedented upheaval.

One after another, armored steam trains came from different directions, belching black smoke, emitting heavy rumbling sounds, slowly pulling into Kongoukaku's platform.

These trains came from the various surrounding station cities-some loaded with refugees, some carrying supplies and weapons, and some carriages covered in Kabane claw marks and bloodstains, clearly having gone through brutal fighting during their escape.

The samurai on the platform busily directed the dispatching, guiding batch after batch of refugees off the trains and settling them into temporary shelter areas opened up in the city.

Kongoukaku's streets were packed with people dragging families along, faces full of fear; children's crying, adults' shouting, and samurai's barking all intertwined, plunging the entire fortress into chaos and clamor.

The surge in population quickly exceeded Kongoukaku's carrying capacity. The open spaces and plazas on both sides of the streets were filled with temporary tents, and the air was thick with the stench of sweat, restlessness, and unease.

Munechika Shikishima personally rushed to the platform and met with the overseers and representatives who had fled from the various station cities.

From the mouths of these dust-covered, weary-faced people, he learned information that made his heart tremble with fear.

All the station cities had been attacked by large-scale Kabane overnight.

Some station cities fell that very day; the survivors fought desperately to escape, drifting to the next station city, only to find that the next one had also been breached at the same time.

They could only head north, converging toward the last station city that had not yet fallen-Kongoukaku.

Munechika Shikishima returned to his study, spread out the map, and circled the fallen station cities one by one with a pen.

As the red circles grew more and more numerous, a chilling pattern gradually emerged.

These fallen station cities, from the outer ring to the center, were like a giant net slowly drawing closed, advancing layer by layer, and ultimately all pointing to the same center.

Kongoukaku.

This was absolutely not an ordinary Kabane attack.

Those monsters were fierce, but they had never shown this kind of organized, planned offensive pattern.

Someone had to be manipulating this behind the scenes-a mastermind plotting it all.

And the other side's goal was clearly to drive all the surviving population into Kongoukaku and wipe them out in one sweep.

Although it was still unknown what the enemy's ultimate objective was, one thing was already imminent-Kongoukaku could not hold out much longer.

This fortress was an industrial station city centered on heavy industry like iron manufacturing and steam engines, with extremely limited agricultural output. Although the warehouses stored a certain amount of emergency grain, that had originally been meant only to feed Kongoukaku's own residents.

Now that a population several times the original had poured in all at once, those grain reserves could last three days at most.

After three days, even if the Kabane did not come to attack, hunger would spark riots.

By then, Kongoukaku would collapse from within.

Chapter 34: Ayame: If It Came Out on the Spot...

Munechika Shikishima relayed this news to the overseers who had fled from the other station cities.

These figures who had once each ruled their own domains and held power in their own hands-after hearing this analysis, their faces grew uglier one after another.

They were all clever people and naturally understood what the current situation meant.

Kongoukaku was already humanity's last stronghold.

If this place fell too, then human civilization on this land would truly reach its end.

Munechika Shikishima took a deep breath. He knew that at this point, they had to ask that god to act.

He gathered all the station city overseers, and the group marched in a grand procession to the gate of the mansion where Saint Dio resided.

After coming to a stop at the entrance, Munechika Shikishima, without a word, knelt straight down, both hands braced on the ground, forehead pressed to the earth, and in the most respectful dogeza posture, said loudly: "Munechika Shikishima humbly requests an audience with the god!"

The other overseers exchanged glances, their faces written with astonishment and bewilderment.

They looked at Munechika Shikishima's posture of devotion bordering on servility, then at the two tall figures standing at the mansion gate like iron towers-Sandersonia and Marigold stood with arms crossed like two door gods guarding the entrance, looking down at them from above.

The oppressive feeling brought by their nearly three-meter height made even these overseers who usually ordered people about with arrogance lower their heads.

Though full of reluctance in their hearts, under Munechika Shikishima's insistence and the gaze of those two tall figures, these overseers had no choice but to kneel as well.

After all, they were refugees now, living under others' roofs, with no right to be picky.

Sandersonia glanced down at them and said expressionlessly: "Wait here. I'll go report." With that, she turned and walked into the mansion.

She came to the courtyard and found Stussy leaning against the corridor, flipping through a book taken from the shelf, and reported the situation outside in a low voice.

Stussy did not even look up, merely saying lightly: "Let them wait. Let them stew for a while."

Sandersonia nodded, turned back to the gate, and announced expressionlessly to the kneeling crowd: "The god is busy. Wait here."

With that, she said no more and resumed her door-god posture.

And so, the group of station city overseers led by Munechika Shikishima knelt stiffly at the mansion gate, under the afternoon sun, waiting for an audience with that god.

Hancock sat on a branch of a large tree in the courtyard, her slender legs swinging gently in the air, watching through the gaps in the foliage those neatly kneeling figures outside the gate, and muttered: "There sure are a lot of people outside..."

Stussy appeared beside her at some point, also leaning against the trunk, and gave a light laugh: "They're all here to beg Lord Saint Dio to act." She looked Hancock up and down, then changed the subject: "Speaking of which, Hancock, you seem to have gotten prettier lately. Even I feel a little moved looking at you."

Hancock, hearing this, proudly flipped her long black hair: "But of course."

The sun moved slowly across the sky, its scorching rays pouring down without reservation.

The foreheads of the kneeling crowd outside the gate continuously seeped bean-sized beads of sweat, sliding down their cheeks, dripping onto the dry ground, and quickly evaporating away.

Some began to shift their bodies impatiently, some muttered complaints about whether Munechika Shikishima had something wrong with his head, but seeing Munechika Shikishima's motionless, unwavering posture, they could only grit their teeth and continue enduring.

Actually, Saint Dio was not deliberately leaving them hanging.

It was just that when he was in the middle of something, he greatly disliked being disturbed.

In the room, Ayame was, after all, an inexperienced novice. After being on top for only a short while, her legs went weak, her waist ached, and her whole body went limp. She collapsed panting onto Saint Dio's chest, unable to move anymore.

Seeing that she was done for, Saint Dio had to finish things himself.

He sat up, supported Ayame's buttocks with both hands, and lifted her whole body up.

Ayame's legs instinctively clamped around his waist. Saint Dio took the opportunity to hook her feet over his shoulders, folding her entire body and hanging her on himself like an ornament.

Holding her like this, he strode to the window.

Looking out from the second-floor window, one could clearly see those neatly kneeling figures at the mansion gate.

But Ayame at this moment had no attention to spare for observing the situation outside. She only felt herself being entered to an unprecedented depth, her whole body as if about to be pierced through, her consciousness floating and sinking in the waves of pleasure.

"You may go in now."

Sandersonia's voice was like a great pardon to the crowd who had knelt outside for so long.

They scrambled up from the ground one after another. Some, having knelt too long, had numb knees and staggered a few steps before steadying themselves, but no one bothered to complain-they hurriedly followed Munechika Shikishima inside, filing through the mansion's main gate.

Arriving in the great hall, the crowd found it empty. That white-haired god had clearly not yet come out.

Though they had to wait again, it was much better than being scorched by the sun outside. Everyone found seats, some wiping sweat from their foreheads, some talking in low voices, some nervously rubbing their fingers, waiting for that god's arrival.

In the bedroom, Ayame had lost count of how many times she had climaxed; she only knew that every impact made her squirt out a stream of clear fluid, and the bedsheet was already soaked through in a large patch.

She could only stick out her tongue, lick her dry lips, eyes glazed, unconscious murmurs spilling from her mouth.

Finally, a scalding torrent filled her deepest depths.

Ayame's body suddenly tensed, she threw her head back and let out a drawn-out whimper, then went completely limp, hanging on Saint Dio's body, without the strength to move even a finger.

Saint Dio rose from the bed, casually pulled a white outer robe over himself, tied the belt, and tucked Jörmungandr at his back. He glanced back at Ayame still limp on the bed and said flatly: "Time to go out."

Ayame struggled to prop up her upper body and asked blankly: "Go... where?"

Saint Dio had already reached the door and tossed back a sentence without turning his head: "For humanity's future."

With that, he pulled open the door and walked out, with no intention of waiting for her.

Ayame was stunned for a moment, then had to grit her teeth, prop up her body that had been nearly shaken apart, and hurriedly find her clothes to put on. She did not even have time to wipe the liquid still flowing on her thighs-she just threw on her dress haphazardly and limped after him.

In the great hall, the waiting crowd saw that white figure emerge from the inner chamber and all rose to their feet, kneeling in unison.

Munechika Shikishima knelt at the very front, forehead to the ground, posture submissive.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his daughter walking out behind Saint Dio, saw that her gait was noticeably awkward and her steps unsteady, and Munechika Shikishima understood immediately.

These past few days Ayame had not returned to the residence, staying the whole time in this god's mansion-what would happen was naturally clear to him. And this was exactly what he had hoped for.

Saint Dio walked to the main seat at the head of the hall and sat down unhurriedly, one hand on the armrest, body leaning slightly back, his gaze calmly sweeping over the kneeling crowd below.

Ayame came to stand at his side, hands folded in front of her, trying hard to make her posture look natural.

But she could still feel that viscous liquid slowly sliding down her skin along the inner side of her thighs, making her involuntarily press her legs together slightly.

Fortunately, today she wore a long skirt, the hem falling to her ankles, able to cover everything.

Otherwise, if people saw milky white liquid flowing down her thighs, the scene would have been far too embarrassing.

Chapter 35: Invasion ### Munechika Shikishima knelt prostrate on the ground and reported the current grim situation to Saint Dio in full detail.

After he finished speaking, he pressed his forehead to the ground, waiting for that god's reply.

Saint Dio listened, was silent for a moment, then lightly spat out a sentence: "Understood. I will act."

Having obtained this promise, a great boulder in Munechika Shikishima's heart finally settled.

He bowed deeply once more, then led those overseers out of the hall to continue dealing with the mountain of refugee resettlement problems.

Ayame stood at Saint Dio's side, listening to the news her father reported, and her heart could not help but tighten as well.

She turned to look at Saint Dio's calm, water-like profile. Though still somewhat worried, what she felt was more an inexplicable sense of reassurance.

She had personally experienced this god's "power"-it was indeed a force that made one both afraid and dependent.

Fierce indeed-every time he left her belly bloated.

After a busy day, the refugees were finally preliminarily settled.

Though the conditions were crude, at least they had shelter from wind and rain, and basic food and water had been distributed.

Though Kongoukaku's streets were still crowded, order was barely maintained.

Night fell, the moonlight hazy.

A small figure took advantage of the darkness and quietly slipped onto the city wall.