Dread Sovereign: Monster Girl Harem

Chapter 12 12: Half-Orc's Bliss

?He felt the air pushing against his face as his body plummeted to the ground, his axe held above his head with both hands gripping tight, neither goblin reacting to his sudden jump.

Raven's body slammed forward, crushing the left goblin warrior into a thick, green meat paste with a sickening crunch and splatter.

"Ugh!" His hands trembled from feeling the goblin's snapping bones as the hammer edge of his axe crushed the goblin.

His body almost bounced up from the momentum of the blow; he saw the goblin warrior to his right turning to face him, its sword lifting as it tried to slash his unguarded flank.

Bang!

Raven's huge left hand shot out, twisting his body with bulging muscles, crashing into the goblin's face before the sheer power pressed its head against the stone wall behind.

He could see its skull visibly squeezing from the power and weight of his body, crushing the goblin as its eyes became bloody and dull.

It seemed unaware, almost like he was trapped in a dream, as Raven stabbed the goblin's chest with the spear at the end of his axe's shaft.

Woosh!

Raven's ears began to flicker; the sound of the two archers releasing their arrows sounded, able to locate their position with sound as they whistled through the air towards his body.

'Hmph!'

He grabbed the dying goblin's body, tearing it from the spear's blade.

Swoosh!

Clutter!

His head tilted to the side the moment before the crude arrow with a dark iron tip, seeming to be covered with filthy mess and goop, while his strange plated tail slapped the other arrow from the air, snapping it into pieces and throwing it to the floor.

'Eh? When did I have a tail!?' Raven thought momentarily before grabbing the goblin's corpse in his left hand, twisting his body and rushing towards the goblins opposite him.

Currently, he was on the ground floor, with a long narrow path blocked by walls on either side, with steps to the exit portal and a second chest straight ahead of him.

But on either side of the wall was an elevated platform with archers standing on either side.

Creak!

He watched as the left side of goblins began to draw their bows; the right side had already fired their first volley and was watching him with their disgusting black eyes filled with puss and filth.

Raven disliked their crooked and mocking smiles, brown teeth with broken tusks; lowering his body, he tightened the muscles in his legs, aiming for the readying left archers.

"Gigigi!" He heard an archer from the right side clamour while the left side seemed to feel pressured, their bows shaking visibly as the huge orc approached them.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

The goblins released their crude arrows, sneaky and evil eyes watching his every movement.

However, Raven was calmer than he expected, maybe a side-effect of becoming a chimaera, but he found himself able to reflect and think more clearly.

He still felt fear, but the only ideas that dominated his mind were to achieve victory and the method to do so; pain and fear were distant and faint.

As he focused his mind, a strange feeling began to form, it was like a fluid that bubbled and surged in his lower body and slowly moved towards his limbs, muscles and organs.

Raven could feel a strange power filling his body.

The rapidly approaching arrows slowed slightly, allowing him to lean backwards, tighten his left arm's muscles and toss the goblin corpse into their line of sight.

"Phew...!"

Instantly he began to rush forward, eyes locked onto the platform's edge; he suddenly burst forwards as two arrows smashed into the wall just where he was standing a moment ago, narrowly missing by a hair.

His strange power began to skyrocket as black mist forming sharp tendrils began to slither and protrude from his body, wrapping around the axe he held tightly before leaping into the air.

"Hup!"

Crunch!

Raven's heavy body leapt into the air as the goblin corpse slammed into the archer's knocking them back as their quiver's rattled, his left hand grasping the ledge, muscles in his arm throbbing, bulging as thick red veins were visible from his almond skin.

"Fucking, pull through! Feel the burn!!!" He screamed, tossing himself onto the ledge, a slight ache coming from his left shoulder.

His body began to spin vertically; with a black flash of light, Raven used [Shadow Strike] his axe cleaving both goblins in half.

Swish! Stamina -0.5 Wisdom -0.1

The foul shadow energy melted their skin, absorbing their flesh as it passed through their waists, sending their upper bodies and broken bows down onto the lower floor. In contrast, their lower halves just bubbled and vanished into a dirty pool of purple slime.

"Gigigi!"

"Gagaga!"

Two voices, like laughing, entered his ears, still panting from the attack as he felt more exhausted from this attack with a faint stinging pain in his head.

[Killed 2 Goblin Archers]

Gained 0 EXP

Gained 40 Credits

[Killed 2 Goblin Warriors]

Gained 0 EXP

Gained 40 Credits

"Haa..... Haa... what are these fucker's laughing at?"

Raven shook his head, limbering his body as he still felt a little pain in his left shoulder; the jump was too far for him to make; there was no cover and more than 300 metres to sprint to the platform's end.

'Fuck...'

He looked at his mother's axe, the damaged blade and glinting metal that shone in the dark torchlight. Then his eyes looked at the goblins, mocking him as their bows were almost fully drawn, the oozing crude arrows pointing towards him.

'Mother, forgive thine son, for thou art about to sin!'

Step!

Raven stepped back, the bows now fully dawn, his eyes narrowed, twisting his body like a long-distance thrower, holding the axe with both hands and his waist.

Step! Step! Step!

A slow run-up, followed by rapid steps as his body began to release the heavy axe, his neck, arms and chest all tense with his muscles bulging and used to the maximum as he lunged forward, tossing his mother's axe, which began to hurl through the air rapidly, spinning like a ripsaw through the air with a deep, violent howl.

Woosh!

"Ugh!"

Raven couldn't afford to dodge; the axe, like a chainsaw, tore into the bodies of the goblins, both of them too stupid to stand apart as his mother's axe ripped them apart; with the momentum too strong, it smashed into the wall with bright sparks, penetrating the stone like it was soft flesh and hanging in the air as the shaft wobbled.

Meanwhile, a crude arrow penetrated his left shoulder, the wound instantly burning and stinging like hell as he felt a throbbing sensation when the sticky tip pierced him.

"Fucking goblins!" He cried out as the other arrow crashed into the ground near his feet, luckily missing as the wooden arrow clattered and snapped in the distance.

[Killed 2 Goblin Archers]

Gained 0 EXP

Gained 40 Credits

The last message caused his body to slump to the ground; combat was finally over, yet he still had to rush over to the other pillar, his mother's axe now half penetrating the stone walls of the dungeon.

"She would kick my ass for sure..."

With heavy breaths, Raven took a moment to rest, sitting on the edge of the platform, his eyes wandering the bright room thanks to his dark vision; while checking the total gains so far; his heart feeling a sense of delight and joy.

He looked at the arrow inside his shoulder, thick blood oozing from the wound, causing him to grimace in pain and irritation.

'Do I have to remove it... so troublesome...'

Grasping the arrow with his right hand, he twisted the arrow with a snap; Raven wasn't taught how to remove arrows, likely because his mother didn't consider them an issue, as her skin could take a blade and would be fine.

"Ugh!"

He sighed in pain as blood began to pool from his arm. A thick and disgusting smell of rotting flesh caused him to panic; looking at his shoulder, though, he was stunned.

A pool of vile blood formed at his feet, bubbling and stinking of decaying flesh, which began sizzling on the stone flooring, but his arm was completely different.

The almond skin and red flesh began to heal the moment the arrow was removed rapidly; all the disgusting black blood and infection were spewed out, like his body rejected the venom and filth, rapidly healing before his eyes until the skin was soft and smooth like he'd never been shot!

'Strange... but cool!' Raven thought, slowly making his way through the dungeon's empty room, collecting his mother's axe, now with a few more scratches along the blade, the hammer also with a blunted part that needed maintenance.

Raven was a little irritated about it costing money, but since it was his mother's, why not take care of it until he could afford his custom weapon?

He walked towards the treasure chest, his eyes watching for surprise attacks or hidden secret monsters.

"I wonder what's in this chest.... but hey... another mural? Is it the same Manticore one? Hmm.... no... she looks similar, but it's different!"

Suddenly Raven focused all his attention on the wall, starting from the far left, as he traced along the slightly weathered and more gloomy tale painted onto the walls, which caused him to feel a sense of sadness.

Killing her captor's abs and escaping into the darkness a second, more brutal type of manticore.

Unlike the previous mural, where the female manticore was welcomed like a goddess, this one showed her being captured, tortured and experiencing hell as she slowly weakened, unable to drain any essence.

Raven somehow could feel a connection to this woman; he felt sorrow for her plight, the despair he imagined she might feel.

The images seemed to pass the time; her hair was short in the first image, now down to her ankles, but mottled and filled with knots.

Slowly it seemed she became dull to the pain and suffering she endured until the third row of images showed a huge picture of her face close up, with an eerie smile.

The following pictures below were of her using the drain ability that manticores usually used on one partner, but she was using it on all around her, draining them to death with a twisted smile on her lips.

The final image was another closeup of the manticore surrounded by darkness, her golden eyes and sharp white teeth the only colour visible.

Raven felt he could feel her watching his movements; like a snake, she hid in the darkness as before his very eyes, the final image started to grow distant.

Her figure vanished into the darkness!

Only the words: "I've waited for you for so long. My precious hero, come to save me!" Now visible in large writing.

Immediately, the dungeon shook slightly before the black chest he had avoided opened, slamming the lid open just like before; a strange gemstone hovered, the pattern different, and the colour was black, not purple!

"Oh shit... Here we go again!" Raven mumbled, preparing to catch the stone as it shot towards him.

'If the nice inheritance was so violent than this one... won't I die for real!?'

But his fear was betrayed; the black stone with a broken heart and the sorrowful figure of the manticore that vanished into darkness as a young girl painted in the centre floated towards him gently.

"Eh? What's going on!?" He thought, confused by the utter difference in events.

Its cold surface began to stroke along his flesh, from his abs to his muscular arms around his body like a lover separated from her beloved for a long....long time.

Raven's mind stopped him from swatting it away, sending danger signals if he rejected it or treated this stone like the villagers did the female.

Finally, after it seemed to have touched his entire body, the strange sensation left his skin feeling smoother and tingling but not unpleasant.

The black stone seemed to have a faint pink glow, only the slightest pink on the image of the young girl, but it was there! Like a cloud, the stone fluttered over to his face before hovering close to his lips, the eyes of the woman on the large stone looking into his.

Brilliant gold met neon blue.

Raven stared at the stone for what felt like hours; his body began to feel hot, not a bad sensation, but it was like his entire body was seeking this stone, maybe related to the precious stone.

He couldn't be sure, but a lapse in his mind and thoughts caused him to lean forward; kissing the stone gently, a strange sensation filled him.

It was like kissing a real woman's lips!

After his kiss, the stone began to melt into a sweet, black fluid. He felt it was similar to strawberry or raspberry as it entered his mouth, gently permeating through his body, as Raven felt only warmth, a sense of rapture as if every inch of his body began to feel complete...

He did not fall unconscious this time; he felt more aware and awake as the sudden voice sounded in his mind, like when killing monsters.

[Accepted The Forsaken Manticore's Last Wish]

"Huh!? When did I do that!? What...Someone... Hey!?"

The Twelve Gates of Bliss Has Been Completed and restored to its true name.

[The Twelve Gates of Blissful Domination]

"Oi! Why does it sound so eerie and evil now!?"

[...]

Raven was left silent as his body felt pleasant like his muscles were massaged by an eastern lady walking along his back.

"It feels kinda nice... Lower.... crack my lower back...!"

The pleasant cracking of his spine caused him to let out grunts, forced to sit on the weathered throne beside the pedestal as the changes in his body seemed to take a little longer.

'Damn... Who is that woman... does that mean the bureau wasn't wrong... and they are looking for that manticore? Not Lilth's bloodline?'

He tried to think deeper, but the pleasant feeling overwhelmed him, almost close to causing him to experience his first climax outside of sexual intercourse.