Both twins stopped in their tracks, looking at Thomas with wide eyes.

  “Master, what did you say ?”

  “The commander is a familiar.”

  The two boys looked at each other, sharing a silent conversation, then Tira finally exhaled.

  “Simon Lefayre, the commander of the knight order, is a familiar ? I don’t know if I should be happy or worried…”

  Tari scratched his head with a resigned pout.

  “It’s not as if he can quit his job and come live with us until you repair all the artifacts, the king relies on him a lot… But it expins why he was so powerful, being favored by the flow. Well, I guess we’ll worry about it ter, we need to get to the artifact before it gets dark to avoid the cursed monsters.”

  Thomas nodded and turned back to look into the clearing. The battle was still going on, with screams and the sound of metal cshing against cws and bones. Simon, the commander, with his delicate features and round cheeks, was still fighting with energy, pushing back the hordes of beasts without a problem. Thomas tried to take his eyes away from him, but it was difficult. He was just so bright and lovely. How could a man so small hold a sword ?

  At this moment, as if noticing the gaze on him, Simon turned around and his gaze met Thomas’. Both stood still, as if frozen in time. The strange feeling was growing in Thomas’ chest, screaming at him to go to the knight. It made him feel sick.

  ‘Stop pying with my feelings, fucking game ! Only Bael is in my heart.’

  He bit the inside of his cheek to gain the strength to move and followed the twins deeper in the woods. He wouldn’t be pyed by this game. He had only one objective in mind : Getting stronger to go back to Hell and save Bael. Nothing would stand in his way.

  They walked longer, the sun starting to set in the sky, and Thomas’ weak body hurting horribly. Even if he had two gods’ power, exercising on a stomach that had been empty for more than a week was difficult. Hopefully, Tari turned to smile at him.

  “The artifact is just ahead ! We’ll reach it soon !”

  But at this instant, they heard a low growl shaking the ground.

  ‘You two boys are walking red fgs !’

  Thomas cursed under his breath and looked at nearby bushes that were shaking. Soon, a creature emerged. It was something bck with fangs and cws, almost like a wolf except it had scales and six legs. The head was contorting at a weird angle, growling as the red eyes were rolling in their orbits. It was grotesque, disgusting, and the sight was enough to send shivers down Thomas’ spine.

  “Don’t worry master, we’ll protect you !”

  The twins jumped in front of him, changing into strange beasts as pale pink light escaped their bodies. Thomas was doing his best to stay calm, but the situation was so chaotic and terrifying that he couldn’t help but shake. He didn’t even know how to fight. He knew a few spells to use with his demonic power since he had learned them to protect Bael from Mariane, but he had never actually used any.

  “Stay back, I will take care of it !”

  The commander appeared suddenly from the bushes, his sword unsheathed and his blue hair swaying in the air as he ran to the monster. And all made sense to Thomas.

  ‘It’s a game event where he saves me from a monster and our romance blooms. Everything is just too perfect. He has no reason to be here so far from the battlefield, and it makes no sense for us to be attacked so close to the artifact. Nothing makes sense logically unless it’s because of the storyline.’

  Thomas stopped shaking as he realized once again that he was in a game. Nothing bad could happen to him, he could never die. Because there is no dead screen in a harem dating game. The goal is to fuck, not to fight. So why would there be a fight ? There was only one reason : To make the romance bloom. But Thomas had no intention to follow the will of the game.

  ‘I’m not a damsel in distress. The only one who will forever be allowed to protect me and carry me in his arms is Bael. All the others can go fuck off !’

  And he took a step forward, shoving the twins apart as if they were mere bdes of grass, walking towards the knight who was standing in front of the beast, ready to fight.

  “I told you to stay back ! I will…”

  But Simon couldn’t finish. Earlier, he had seen a mysterious man in strange clothes, all dressed in dark, and his heart started beating with a feeling he had never felt before. It had pushed him to leave his knights and follow him in the woods, if only by curiosity. Then he saw the beast, the danger, and before he could think, he was ready to fight to protect this mysterious figure. But now the man had disappeared. In front of him was something different from the cursed beasts or the two flow users that were accompanying him. It was something that felt foreign, alien to this world. Two big antlers had grown out of his long bck hair, as two pairs of webbed wings had sprouted from his back. His clothes were moving and shifting, as if they were made of water, changing to a strange armor with padded ptes he had never seen before. Simon had no idea what he was looking at, but it felt dangerously beautiful.

  With a fp of his wings, Thomas flew over the beast as a magic circle was appearing on his snout. Fmes surged at his head, setting fire to his skin and roasting the creature from the inside, underneath his scales. The monster screamed in pain and flung his long tail at Thomas, hitting him in the stomach and sending him to crash into a nearby tree. But the man got up immediately, his breathing ragged but overall alright thanks to the two gods’ power.

  “Never heard of bulletproof vest, fucker ?”

  He fpped his wings again, chanting another spell that sprouted spikes off the ground that impaled the monster who shrieked in terror and agony. With his st forces, it breaked the spikes and jumped towards Thomas, using his cws to try and cut the man in two. However, it made a dull sound and the beast fell on the soil, breathing its st breath. After making sure it was dead, Thomas nded safely on the ground and reverted back to his normal form, with his hoodie and sweatpants.

  “I made carbon fiber underneath too, what did you think ?”

  He snorted at the creature’s body and turned to the other men who were all watching him with wide eyes. The twins seemed especially surprised.

  “M… Master ? What was that ?”

  “Do you know how to fight ?”

  Even Simon was at a loss of words, looking at him in silence. Thomas took his eyes off him with great difficulty and started walking again in the direction of the artifact, trying his hardest to ignore him.

  ‘I was a bit too heated earlier, so I didn’t think about it, but now isn’t the situation reversed compared to the original storyline ? I protected him from a monster, technically, so won’t he fall in love with me ? That would be a problem…’

  He sighed and changed his train of thoughts.

  ‘I never actually used demonic power so I used two big spells in a row without thinking, but now I’m out of source. It will take at least a full day to recharge. I get the appeal of the flow, as long as you do the circution, you have an infinite supply. It’s like entering a dungeon with your bag full of mana potions, it’s really useful and practical. But you must be ready to do the circution at all times.’

  Thomas bit his lips. If he wanted to become more powerful, he needed to make use of both the flow and the demonic power, together if possible. He didn’t know yet if both sources were compatible and could be used simultaneously, but it was necessary. And it meant trying a lot. So, of course, a lot of circution.

  At this moment, while he was deep in thought, Tira ran to him with a big smile.

  “The commander agreed to accompany us to the artifact !”

  Thomas turned with his brows furrowed and met Simon’s gaze. The knight replied by waving his hands with an embarrassed look.

  “It’s only to repay you. I’m going to escort you to the artifact and then I’ll be on my way.”

  Thomas sighed.

  ‘I guess the circution to repair the artifact will be with him, then.’

  Now that he thought about it, yes, he needed to do a circution to supply the artifact with essence. Thomas immediately stiffened, his hands starting to shake. It would be his first time, if he excluded the times it wasn’t consensual. His first time of his own will, and it wasn’t with Bael. How cruel could the universe be ?