***Training Planet 893302, Void Zone***

***Angrod***

I try my best to get my chin out of the way of the fist which passes by like in a time-lapse, knowing perfectly well that not getting hit is only half the deal.

Then a shock wave of displaced air smacks me right in the face and I get blown backwards, doing a cartwheel in mid-air before I penetrate a hill with the force of a small nuke. Earth is displaced and thrown in all directions before I manage to right myself and take control of the overthrown debris.

“Haaah!” I forcefully pull the dispersing hill back into place, trying to bury my opponent who followed right in the wake of my trajectory.

Of course, passing through rock is only slightly more of a hindrance than walking through water to Celes – which makes my effort not much more than a smokescreen.

I charge to meet her right when she explodes out of the earth, landing my hand right on her chest to unleash a force spell at point-blank range.

My wife’s eyes widen when the air is forced out of her lungs and her momentum is brought instantly to a halt. Her crystal armour saves her from further injury, but there is no doubt that I landed a major blow.

“Gah!” She manages to gather herself and grabs my hand and lower arm with both hands, holding onto me while bringing up her left leg.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” I bring my other hand around and cast a relatively simple barrier, grinning like mad about this newest trick of mine.

Celes’s eyes widen when her leg decelerates before it is flung right in the other direction, forcing her to twist and to return the kick by swinging over to the other side only to be met with the same effect.

“Warped Space!” I explain when she tries again. “Doesn’t matter how strong you are. It turns everything with harmful force behind it right the other way. I came up with it especially to counter brute-strength types like you.”

“Cheater!” She does something with her mouth, exhaling a green gas right into my face!

“Wah!” I reel back and use the force barrier to decrease the friction on my armoured arm, slipping right out of her grasp. Damn lucky that the mask of my newest organic enchantment has an air filtration function.

The only problem is… that gas apparently wasn’t poison.

“Paint!?”

I try to wipe whatever Celes used on me off my mask to get my vision back, only to have my hands stuck to the mask.

“Glue!? How could this possibly be so strong!?”

My hands won’t come off and something hits me in the stomach, almost causing me to puke. Fat chance that would go well with my mask on.

There is a moment of weightlessness before I feel myself skittering across the ground like some thrown away ragdoll before I use a pathway, careful to transport only myself and my belongings.

Celes’s sticky-paint is left behind as I relocate myself a few hundred metres upwards, leaving me once more with free sight of… boobs?

I stumble right into her embrace, feeling strong legs wrap around my torso.

Didn’t we specify that grappling is forbidden?

Reaching up, I manage to grab her by the horns to pull her off of me, but only manage to force her head back.

“Not the horns!” she complains. “I just had them manicured!”

“Should have thought about that before proposing a training session!” I retort while we fall towards the earth. “What’s with the naughty technique!? If you are going to use that on an enemy I am going to be seriously angry!”

“You groped my chest first!” she screams as we impact the ground and start rolling down a mountainside – our sparking auras protecting us from serious injuries while we create a trail of molten magma.

“I’ll bite a nipple!” I threaten, hoping that will get her off of me.

“I’ll use my tail!” she threatens right back! But she pulls back, giving me the chance to turn us around. I end up riding her down the hillside, my wife screaming murder all the way while trying her hardest to break me like a twig.

Thank the multiverse that a fully released aura at least allows me to fight… err, well. Fighting Celes on equal footing in close combat is impossible, but at least I am not instantly turned into red paste colouring the rocky wasteland which was unfortunate enough to serve as our training ground.

Our impasse is interrupted when we impact a ledge right before a steep cliff, luck allowing me to slip her arms aside and to push her torso away from me. I fully release my aura, using it to enhance my strength as snow is vaporized all around us. And then I finally manage to pin her beneath me.

“I win!” I proclaim quickly, knowing very well that managing such a feat isn’t an everyday event. Normally, I have to rely on wearing her down with ranged attacks while I try to stay out of reach.

Celes crosses her arms and smiles while grinding her hips against me, squeezing me with her thighs. “Are you sure that I am the one who is caught?”

I clench my teeth and place both hands on her knees, pushing with all my considerable might.

“Honey? You are turning red. Don’t embarrass yourself.” She pretends to yawn. “Your upper body strength might be superior to mine when you go all out, but that doesn’t count for my legs. Nor does it help you without the proper technique.”

“Fine!” I admit. “It’s a draw then, although it should be my win because we agreed on not using clingy techniques. Or do you want me to use dirty tricks?”

“Ah, no.” She sighs. “Not in the mood right now. I just wanted to go all out for once. Tanja bailed on me when I suggested a training session.”

I purse my lips and turn my attention to the grand view of a wasted landscape with craters and deep ridges which were scraped into the earth as if some giant reached down to carve a trench into his sandbox. The destruction goes on and on, and far away on the horizon is actually a rising mushroom cloud.

If this planet had been habited, we would have killed countless mortals by laying waste to one of the smaller continents. It was a good idea to bring some dead rocks without intelligent life forms to our Void Zone. The setting allows our people to train in a combat situation that’s as close to reality as possible.

“Ah, I don’t know, dear,” I reply. “I think we can do worse if we put our minds to it. The last time we had a real fight, we almost completely annihilated a planet.”

“Back then we actually tried to kill each other,” she smirks.

I return my full attention to her, intending to win this battle. So I unsummon my mask and settle down on top of Celes and start kissing her neck while pulling her hips against me. “Are you sure that you don’t want to change the rules?”

She groans and tilts her head a little further to the side. “I didn’t intend to, but you are doing a good job in pleading your case.”

I smile against her skin and buck my hips, knowing very well that Celes has as much sexual energy as I do. Maybe even more. Decades have passed, but thanks to our ascension our bodies are still in peak condition and will stay that way unless outside forces change that.

“F- fine!” She finally growls, losing it. “But I get to be on top!”

We roll around and pieces of amour and clothes go flying until there is nothing else to get rid of.

“I love private training planets!” I hiss while allowing her to sit on top, grinding her wet portal to heaven against me. Closing my eyes, I hold onto her hips with one hand while cupping one breast with the other. “The one to come first loses?”

She gasps when I squeeze her. “It’s already my win!” Moaning, she leans forward into my hand and tilts her hips just right. When she slides forth and back, her entrance lines up with me and takes me to the hilt.

“That’s- certainly-” Then she starts riding me like a demon, quickly forcing me to think of anything to stave off the inevitable as her hips rise and fall as if she wants to break me! “…something- I- don’t get to- do with others!”

“I won’t- lose!” I hiss, sure that if I had been the one who moves, I would have already lost the bet.

That’s when we notice the beeping of an incoming call. Somewhere among our haphazardly discarded clothes, a handy with interdimensional connection is announcing its presence.

“Yours?” I ask, hoping that she would slow down. Celes has the tendency to switch her ringtones around like others their underwear. There is no way to tell what it is going to be tomorrow.

“Yes,” she replies while biting her lip. “Important one judging from the tone, but I couldn’t care less right now.”

“Take it,” I suggest.

“Move it or you lose it,” she growls, reminding me of the special physique that’s unique to the Chimeran succubus. Then she smiles. “But I know a technique that’s sure to make this quick!”

She leans back, taking hold of my ankles before bringing forth her legs in a splendid display of flexibility to clamp my head between her calves. After sighing in satisfaction, she starts riding me like on a sled, stirring me around inside her with expert precision.

I honestly can’t say having any regrets about losing our special battle only two minutes later.

***The Crystal City***

***Celes***

“I need help! Immediately!” The god goes to his knees before us, pleading for assistance in a most unusual manner for an ascended being.

It makes me glad that I decided to finish off my husband quickly, allowing us to return to our throne room in the Crystal City. Going wild once in a while isn’t so bad.

According to Warden's call, this man arrived only a few minutes ago, screaming bloody murder in an attempt to get help as quickly as possible. The guards wouldn’t have listened to a single lunatic, but Warden has all the time in the world to listen to people. The AI finally decided that this matter is important enough to be brought before us.

The man was guided to the throne room instead of being thrown into a cell.

He has blue hair and looks like an elf, although the ears are a little longer than I am used to. His presence feels a little dim for an ascended being, but it is possible that he is properly suppressing his aura.

“I would suggest for you to gather your thoughts first. Please explain the situation properly,” I advice, trying to keep my voice smooth and even to calm him down. “Warden only mentioned that the ‘enemy’ was found?”

“Ah, yes. I am Evenguar,” he introduces himself while speaking fast. “I am the god of a small world at the fringe between former Council space and the Higher Planes. I never had any problems with anyone and I am happy with taking care of my world.”

I nod and mentally classify him as a gardener, an ascended being who prefers to stay among mortals. There are many deities of this type, especially among the younger generations who have sentimental connections to their origins or a past life.

He continues, “I never saw the need for joining any of these new big communities. But a few days ago, something like demons appeared on my world. At first, I didn't pay much attention to them. I thought they were just some new kind of prank which a neighbouring god played on me. Or the failed experiment of some archmage.”

Evenguar takes a breath. “But then the demons became more and more aggressive. They destroyed whole cities on my world and plagued the mortals like nothing before. I could no longer ignore the matter and took a closer look at those entities. Thankfully, I realized in time that they aren't just a mere prank! They are eating the souls of the mortals they kill. I tried to stop them, but they turned out to be a serious danger even to me.”

The deity rolls up the left sleeve of his green tunic and shows us a blackened bite-mark on his upper arm. The flesh is oozing some black matter and looks necrotic.

“I never encountered something like this before! I slew the monsters by the dozens, but their numbers don't decline. The wound they inflicted on me doesn’t heal. I am at the end of my wits, short of cleansing my world completely. The mortals have no chance against these beings and I would rather kill them all than see their souls eaten.” He bows down to us again. “I know that I have no right to ask this of you, but I hoped that someone from the big societies would help me. I can't save my world alone.”

I stand up and walk towards Evenguar. “Show me that wound.”

Evenguar does as instructed and I hold his hand in mine while trying to feel for his energy. Something is blocking his energy channels while turning his own mana against him.

Angrod joins my side, placing his palm on the man’s forehead. “His soul is weakened. It looks like he fought the demons to his limits.” He grunts in realization. “It’s the same as with the others. A part of his soul is injured as if something tried to take a bite out of him.”

“That wound looks like it was inflicted by a familiar of the great Calamity,” Warden’s voice echoes through the throne room.

“I thought they can't create more of them without a connection to their main body,” I grumble at the unforeseen turn of events. Are those creatures trying to flood the multiverse with soul-eating monsters?

“As far as I know, the familiars of the great Calamity aren't able to create offspring. Back when the Ascended fought them, they needed a connection to their origin, the first. We already assumed that one or more familiars of the Calamity survived the hunt. Given how much time it had it's possible that it learned how to reproduce,” the AI concludes gravely.

Angrod grinds his teeth at the new situation. “We have to contain this outbreak at all costs. We will send the Nomad with Evenguar to his world and try to save it if we can. Inform everyone of this new turn of events.”

“They are informed,” Warden replies.

He turns to look at me. “Should we go and hunt a few monsters? I need some new test subjects anyway.”

I smile. “There is no better training than real-life combat.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Evenguar suddenly hugs my waist but gets pulled away by the guards. Unconcerned, he wriggles in their grasp while thanking us.

This fellow is creepy… although I probably shouldn't complain about deities who actually care about their mortals.

I don't know what he expected us to do. Did he think we would look away while soul-eating demons rampage through the multiverse?

Angrod raises his hand to shoo the guards away. “Don't thank us too early, Evenguar. We have yet to learn what we are dealing with. If worse comes to worst, we may have to destroy your world.”

Evenguar drops his head. “I already prepared myself for that scenario when I came here.”

Just how bad is it on his world? In any case, “Evenguar, come here and make sure to suppress your aura. We have to take care of that wound or you might turn into one of those creatures. You are infected with… something. I have to do some research before I can tell what it is.”

The deity comes a little closer, frowning. “Shouldn’t I go to the healers?”

I blink. “Are you seriously denying the help of one of the greatest soul-mages and an alchemist like myself?”

Angrod presses his lips together. “Do we really have to help him? The healers can surely-”

I raise my hand to stop him. “It’s just his arm, and I personally want to take a look at this new form of attack. For that, I need a working specimen. It’s fortunate that you can easily heal some small scratches while taking care of the man’s soul. I’ll take care of extracting the sample and further studies.”

My husband clears his throat and places a hand on Evenguar’s shoulder. “Kneel down and stretch out your arm. This should be over quick.”

“Aeh…” Evenguar stutters but does as told while Angrod holds onto the man’s shoulder – his hands glowing white with healing magic.

I smile at the lesser deity to reassure him that everything will be fine. At the same time, I gather energy in my hand, concentrating it in preparation. Then I chop down with the edge of my flat hand before Evenguar can realize what was about to happen.

The ‘sample’ comes loose without a problem and I catch it. “All done! Angrod, I’ll take a pathway to my laboratory while you fix up Evenguar.”

“Mah-” Evenguar gapes at his arm in my hands like a fish on land, then at his stump which is spurting blood.

I wince, feeling with the man for having to go through such a traumatic experience. But it’s better if an amputee isn’t told beforehand what’s going to happen.

“You know,” Angrod tries to point out. “The healers would have...”

“I know.” I sigh and look at my man. “But people have to learn that you don’t just walk up to a royal of the Chimerans and touch them without repercussions. What if someone lays hands on our children? It's better if word gets around now.”

The situation finally sinks into Evenguar’s mind. “Mah arm!”