Reincarnated With The Strongest System
chapter-1212

(Disclaimer: Very minor R-18 Scenes. You can read this part without problems.)

"Just as you foretold, the Heir of Darkness did send his army to the City of Alabaster," Lira said with a smirk. "Unfortunately, what waited for him was an empty city, and the full might of the Holy Order of Light and Hestia Academy.

"We placed traps inside the houses, and when Felix's army appeared, the destruction crystals were detonated. If not for the protection of the two Pseudo-Gods in their army, we would have wiped out more than half of their forces… hey! Are you listening?!"

Lira lightly pulled on William's ears, which made the latter pull his fangs out of Ephemera's right breast. A bit of blood streamed down from the wound and made its way down to Ephemera's belly button.

"I'm listening," William replied before licking the blood from Ephemera's chest, and kissed the wound to heal it. "Such a waste."

The Half-Elf licked the trail of blood, making Ephemera's body shudder. Once all traces of blood had been dealt with, he pulled Ephemera's head to his chest, allowing her to rest.

"So, what happened next?" William asked. "Since the Holy Order was there, it meant that the Pseudo-Gods under the Pope's command also made their move, right?"

"Of course," Lira replied with a smug expression on her face. "It was three versus two, so we naturally won the battle."

"Three?"

"Hestia Academy also has one Pseudo-God in their ranks. If not for Ahriman's intervention, we would have definitely crippled the Demon Army. His Avatar was enough to fend off all of our combined attacks, and give Felix and his minions time to return to the portal they opened and escape."

"Interesting," William commented as he stroked Ephemera's head, making the latter close her eyes in contentment. "So, Hestia Academy also had their own Pseudo-God. In total, Felix has Four Pseudo-Gods, The Holy Order has four, and Hestia Academy has one. But, you said Ahriman's Avatar appeared, right? How strong is it?"

Ephemera, who had her eyes closed, lightly caressed William's chest with her right hand before answering his question.

"Very strong," Ephemera answered. "I thought that having one more Pseudo-God would make a difference, but Ahriman's Avatar single-handedly blocked our Pseudo-Gods attacks. If his Avatar can do that much, I don't know what the real body can do once he regains his powers."

Lira nodded her head in agreement. That incident also came as a shock to her. Despite their preparations, they only managed to wipe out a quarter of the Demonic Army, and allow the Heir of Darkness to slip through the net they had prepared for his capture.

"The Pope didn't expect Ahriman to have this kind of Trump Card," Lira stated. "Although we had very little casualties, the fact still remained that we didn't manage to gain the upper hand in that faceoff."

William frowned. He knew that Gods could use avatars to descend, but it carried a lot of restrictions. The Supreme Pontifex of Deus was an avatar of her Goddess, and even she couldn't descend into that avatar and unleash her full powers.

The Primordial Goddess said that the highest power she could unleash in the world of Hestia was only at the peak of the Demigod Rank. More than that and she would receive a backlash, which was something she didn't want to happen.

"I'm sure that Ahriman can't use that Avatar very often," William replied. "I'm sure he has paid a hefty price for it. If my hunch is correct, the Demon Army will pause their plans of expansion until Ahriman has recovered his strength.

"However, you can be sure that the moment they made their move, it means that the God of Darkness and Chaos has gathered enough Divinity to use his Avatar again."

Ephemera and Lira nodded in agreement. Their Pope also said the same thing, so right now, the Alliance was having a high-leveled meeting. Their agenda was whether or not to attack the Demon Army in the Kingdom of Zabia, even though they had to pay countless lives to wipe Felix's army from the Central Continent.

Lira laid down beside William, and rested her head on his shoulder. She then placed her hand over the Obsidian gem on William's chest, and lightly tapped on its surface with her fingers.

"What are your plans?" Lira inquired. "Don't tell me you plan to wait until Felix's Army, the Alliance, as well as the Holy Order of Light, cause mutual destruction against each other before making your move?"

William didn't answer right away, instead he just simply held the two ladies by his side, whose naked bodies were pressed against his own.

"I will wait for a month or two before making my move," William answered. He decided that it would be best to let Lira and Ephemera know that he didn't plan on setting foot on the Central Continent for the time being.

To his surprise, both girls didn't question why he planned to wait for a month or two before taking action. They just simply held unto him, seeking the warmth that was emanating from his body.

"Lira, Ephemera, no matter what happens, don't let Felix catch you," William said as he pulled the two Virtuous Ladies closer to him.

"I won't let him touch me. I only belong to you."

"Don't worry. I'd rather die than let myself be captured by him."

William pinched Ephemera's backside, which made the latter gasp in pain because he didn't approve of what she had in mind.

"Don't say the words die, or dying so casually," William said with a serious expression on his face. "You and Lira still need to help me achieve my goals. Both of you are not allowed to die."

"O-Okay," Ephemera replied after being chastised by the Half-Elf's whose naughty hand had started to squeeze her backside. "I'm sorry."

"Heh~ Even Ephemera knows when to back down," Lira said in a teasing manner. "This is the first time I've seen you compromise."

"Shut up."

"Heh~"

William continued to ask the two girls about the Demon Army, in addition to the general trend of the Central Continent. He also asked about the status of the Alliance, and their plans to counter Felix's ability to send his army anywhere in the continent.

Their talks lasted for an hour, and after that, the two ladies asked William for their reward, which resulted in the three of them spending a whole day inside the Sea-Side Villa.

The next day, William returned to the real world, and bid goodbye to a reluctant Lira and a subdued Ephemera.

"Don't try to contact me," William replied. "I will be the one to initiate the contact, and we will use the safest method to do it."

Lira and Ephemera nodded their heads as they placed their hands over their lower abdomen, where William's crest resided on their bodies. He had marked both of them as his women when he took their chastity, and was using this means to communicate with them.

Just as William was about to leave, he glanced at a certain direction and frowned.

"Come out," William ordered. "Or do you want me to force you to come out?"

"I-I knew it!" a little girl with long-silver hair and blue eyes materialized out of thin air and pointed at Lira and Ephemera in an accusing manner. "You are colluding with this fiend!"

"Cherry?" Lira asked with a frown. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmp! The two of you have been acting suspicious, so I decided to follow the two of you when you left the Palace of Light," Cherry replied. "I'll tell the Pope about this!"

William glanced at Ephemera who had a worried look on her face before asking his question.

"Who is this little girl?" William asked.

Ephemera sighed before answering William's question. "She is Cherry. The youngest of all of the Virtues and she holds the Virtue of Charity. If I remember correctly, she just turned eleven this year."

"Oh?" William shifted his attention back on the little girl whose body had started to disappear from their sights. "She's a bit stupid, isn't she?"

"A bit," Lira replied with a complicated look on her face. "Please, don't hurt her. She's still a child."

William nodded as he waved his hand. "Okay."

A minute later a yelp of pain was heard in the surroundings before the Virtuous Lady of Charity appeared after she was hit in the head by William's Air Bullet.

"Y-You fiend! How dare you hurt me?" Cherry shouted with tears in her eyes. "I'll tell the Pope about you! Wuwuwuwu!"

Lira and Ephemera covered both of their faces with their hands because Cherry was too pitiful to look at. All the Virtues treated the little girl as their little sister, and she had been spoiled by them to the point that she was always protected from getting hurt.

Perhaps, William's attack was the only time she felt true pain in her life, which made the little girl cry like the little girl that she was.

"Should we just silence her?" William asked as dark energy radiated from his body. "I don't intend to leave any witnesses behind."

Cherry immediately backed away in fear, while Lira and Ephemera held onto William, trying to convince him that they should leave the handling of their little sister to them. They were afraid that if they left the little girl in the Half-Elf's hands, she would become a broken doll, deprived of everything she once had in her life.