***The World***

***Seria***

“… and that’s pretty much how the mission went. I used the king’s remains to create a reversed succubus attraction spell, which means that anyone who sees the remains will be so abhorred that they have to flee the room. The place will give anyone who enters it the creeps until the components rot away. Unless they find someone who can dispel the enchantment, which is unlikely,” Karin finishes her explanation as she sorts through the cards in her hands. “I mean, the spell isn’t perfect, but to dispel the effect, most mortal enchanters would have to get close to the source, and that’s unlikely.”

“Don’t be so humble. You did great work on your first mission.” Ashley waves her hand. “Everyone, you must watch the footage later. Our little Karin is quite the artist. It’s your turn, by the way.” The succubus looks at me and combs her fingers through her hair.

Nodding, I look through my cards and consider my next move. I managed to deliver the report in time, so two days later the four of us finally got together for a girls meeting. Karin also just returned from her mission after she escaped from enemy territory.

Taking a look at Ashley’s side of the playing field, I judge her current board-state to pose no threat. She has a few creatures and artefacts, but nothing that looks especially threatening. I untap my cards, then draw. “You know. That neutral country was probably the only reason why the world is still in peace. Without strong leadership, it’s very likely for the city officials to fall apart. We should prepare for the possibility that some of their civilians will just flee over the border.”

My draw is a mere land, so I grimace after taking a look at Willow’s side of the table. She has only one enchantment on the playing field, but it’s a good one. Worse, she is still sitting on most of her life-points because nobody managed to attack her successfully. Every time someone attempted a shot at her, she had some way at hand to prevent the damage, either by destroying the attacking creature or by using some combat-trick.

“We know, but it would have happened sooner or later,” Ashley admits. “To be honest, I don’t think this war can be avoided, so it’s better that we fire the first shot. If the plan succeeds and the government decides to lean in the Empire’s direction, we may even be able to save a large part of the civilian population. It would certainly be better for them to be counted towards either of the two sides, instead of being caught in the middle.”

I nod and gesture for Karin to take her turn. “Go, girl. You better find something against Willow’s Bargain, or we will have a bad time once she untaps.”

Karin narrows her eyes and leans over to read Willow’s card. Willow and I are just in the process of teaching the others our traditional game, so we decided to have some fun with our most broken decks. Her eyes widen when she reads the card. “It costs six mana and you can pay one life to draw a card? That’s O.P.! Oh, but you have to skip your draw step.”

“Who cares? She can draw half her deck next turn.” Ashley picks her nose in a rather unladylike manner, studying her own hand for a solution. “You better use that magical eye of yours, Karin. Or that next turn will get nasty. I could draw some cards next turn, trying to search for an answer.”

Yeah, she will most likely draw her combo and kill all of us before Ashley gets to do that. Aw, if I had kept that counterspell up when she played the Bargain. I could have lengthened the game by a few turns at least. Maybe it’s better that way. The others won’t learn to keep up their answers if we instruct them on every little detail.

Karin purses her lips and looks through the cards in her hand. “I don’t think that I have something. Willow took away my disenchant before she played that enchantment.”

Yep, she did that because she wanted to keep it in play. Discard spells which allow you to look at the opponent’s hand are quite powerful if the person in question knows how and when to use them. She targeted Karin because neither Ashley nor I play the right colours to have a solid answer against an enchantment.

“And don’t act like my twenty-sided eye is almighty, Ashley. It only allows me to see possibilities, which doesn’t help much if I am unfamiliar with the game’s rules.” She caresses the top of her library with her fingers and draws a card. “Ha! Top deck! That’s what you are supposed to say when you draw the solution. Am I right?”

Slamming her hand down, she smiles victoriously, revealing a white knight in shining armour. “Protection from black! Let’s see how Willow deals with that when her whole deck is black!” The girl nods and taps the required mana.

“Uuh! Nice card,” Ashley compliments. “I am sure he will save you with his white steed.”

I facepalm. Teaching those two the game might take a little longer than I thought it would. Willow’s Bargain won’t give a shit about a single creature with protection when she gets access to her whole deck.

“Your turn.” Karin gestures smugly for Willow to take her turn and the elemental smiles. Then she gets going.

“Untap, and I pay twenty-five life to draw twenty-five cards!”

I watch, a little bored, as she counts the cards into her hand and starts sorting them. This will be a long turn, which will decide whether she will win or lose.

She taps down her lands, generating tons of mana for her spells. “Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Sacrificial Altar. I play ‘Skirg’ and discard all those cards for mana...”

Now it gets complicated as she starts adding the numbers.

Pursing my lips, I study my hand. The only remaining possibility to win this is for Willow to make a mistake.

“Twenty-eight mana. Down to twenty-five for playing the ‘Will’ for graveyard interaction. Nets me back up to fifty-two mana. I play Mirari to copy Drain Life on you, Karin. You lose thirty life and I gain thirty. Then I draw the rest of my library, which brings me back down to ten. Now I can discard all those cards for mana.” Her expression turning smug, she turns to Ashley. “The copied Drain Life is for you, Ashley.”

The succubus furrows her forehead as she tries to follow what Willow is doing with her cards, from her graveyard, and exiling them in the process. Adding the numbers, the succubus takes her time to follow Willows actions. “But that kills both of us! Show me that card which allows you to play cards from your graveyard. Who designed this shit? You can essentially do what you want once you have all three of those cards in play!”

“Yep. My whole deck is about assembling this combo. And brings me back up to sixty life! Thank you very much.” Still smiling, she turns her attention to me. “Torment of Hailfire on you. For thirty!” She starts giggling madly as I lean forward to read the card. I wondered what she would use on me with her ‘Drain Life’ already used up.

“Repeat the following process X times...” Either discard a card, or lose three life, or sacrifice a permanent. I shake my head. She found another stupid card for her Black Ritual deck. I wonder where she got it from. Is it from Ascathon’s collection?

“Nope. Force of Will.” I reveal the counterspell, which I get to cast for free if I pay one life and discard a card. It’s sad that I have to discard my epic planeswalker for that, but better that than to die on the spot.

Willow stops laughing and furrows her forehead. Her eyes wander from her now diminished hand to her empty deck. She is still sitting on a ton of life, but what use is that if you have no more cards to play and are tapped out? “Why didn’t you counter me sooner!? I could have played more carefully!”

“I only had this one counterspell. Maybe I would have countered the Bargain if I weren’t tapped out at that point. But I didn’t want to discard and get even more card-disadvantage. Now you forced me to. Thankfully, you got so full of yourself that you had to use up all your resources. Thanks for killing yourself, and for the win.” I grin.

“Ooh.” Karin rubs her temple. “I think this game is just too complicated for me… there are so many rules, and all of them can change with a card. I see how it’s useful to teach young magicians the basics, given the mana system. Isn’t this just what Ascathon likes? Are you sure that we shouldn’t invite-”

Both, Willow and I jump up.

“No!” “Never!”

Karin shrinks back in her seat. “Whoa, guys. Don’t crucify me. It was just a suggestion.”

“This is the women’s only evening,” I explain. “And you have no actual clue about the freakout party Ascathon would throw if he finds out that we are playing MtG without him. He is a damn cultist when it comes to this game. Playing with him is no fun. No fun at all!”

“A really, really bad idea,” Willow replies quickly. “I don’t know what he would do if he finds out that I took some cards from his collection.”

I gasp. “You did what!?”

“Just a Necropolis and a Pit, that’s all. He will never realize that he doesn’t have the full playset. The cards in his ring binders are all stacked on top of each other, so even if he has a nostalgic day and goes looking through them, he won’t find out,” Willow babbles.

I huff. “You should have just told me. We could have gone and raided some version of earth for the cards you need.”

“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise to you! And I can’t exactly move between dimensions on my own,” the elemental complains.

Ashley leans forward. “So, you were talking about the ‘Power Nine’ earlier. Which dimension do I have to go to in order to get those?”

***The World***

***Ascathon***

A cold shudder runs down my spine, and I have to sneeze as something tickles the inside of my nose. Someone must be talking about me. Where are the others? Then I remember that it’s that day of the month when all the women in my life take a hike for the hills.

“Maybe I should consider changing back,” I mumble, but quickly get rid of the thought.

After rubbing my nose, I return my attention to my minions, king Luxley and the religious leader of the Order of Chaos, Barnabus. After a decade, I finally bothered to remember his name.

Both of my servants aged over the years, but they are still holding up. It’s always the same with mortals. Just when you finally decide to remember their names, they are about to croak. I hope that I get at least seven or eight decades of service out of them.

Ashley is such a dear for organizing that harem of former maids for Luxley, so we certainly won’t run out of heirs.

“… so the diplomatic relationships between us and the Alliance are breaking down. They know that we were responsible for the assassination, but they are too afraid to move openly against us. The mere fact that we managed to follow their spy’s trail is enough for them to hesitate,” Luxley finishes his explanation of the recent developments.

“I don’t get why they don’t just declare war on us. It’s not like there are any other great powers who could have a decisive influence on the outcome of the war,” Barnabus grumbles.

“They are afraid that we could have some sort of proof. Whatever they say, if they start the war and we are able to provide their more pragmatic factions with the information that their leadership was plotting this from the beginning, it might cause some internal conflicts which could weaken them in the long run.” Luxley rubs his hands together. “There are always dissidents who use great ideals to weaken those in power.”

The leader of the Order of Chaos harrumphs. “Whatever. We are ready! Once those infidels take one step across the border, we will bathe them in their own blood. No mercy for those who violate our territory. Their weeping women can have the heads of their husbands in a box.”

I sigh audibly after listening to their bickering. “Do whatever you want. Just make sure not to waste my efforts. If it turns out that giving your scholars all that knowledge was in vain, I won’t be very pleased.”

Feeling tired, I excuse myself from the king and his bloodthirsty battle priest. The war should begin any day now and it’s likely to be a very bloody and long affair.

Scratching my cheek, I follow a pathway back to my workshop but can’t summon the will to work on one of my projects. After arduous testing, I finally decided to plant Inglorium directly on the Nexus Point next to the planet’s core. With that long-term project launched, I feel a little uncertain about what to do next.

It’s a little aggravating to have so many resources without the knowledge of what to do with them. I could always spend more time on the problem with the World Enchantment, but the more research I do, the clearer it gets that there is no solution without sacrifices. Sacrifices which I am not willing to make at the moment.

Well, if nothing else, then it’s time that I have at my hands. Giving myself one day of vacation certainly won’t change the world. Right?

Whistling, I stroll towards the room where I store my cards, a hobby I like pursuing no matter the reincarnation. Before I became a god, I had to reinvent the game in every world I visited, but now that I can jump across the dimensions with a mere thought, it’s no problem to get myself some original cards. I may even visit some version of earth to get the latest set!

Arriving at the hobby-room, I enter and open one of the cabinets, retrieving one of the many binders in which I store the rarer cards. Humming, I begin looking through the cards with the intention of building some funny deck and to test it.

That’s when the door opens and I find Willow standing in the door-frame. She is clothed in simple jeans and a shirt, a real stay at home attire if I compare it to her usual clothes. “Willow, do you need something?”

She steels her expression into a smile and straightens her backs, entering the room with long, sauntering steps. “Yes. I was looking for you.” She smiles and reaches for my shirt, pulling me down to kiss me full on the lips while she rubs her hips against mine.

Furrowing my forehead, I try to think of a reason for her aggressiveness while I hold onto her waist.

Reaching down, she closes the binder and pushes it aside, then she positions herself in front of the table while she fiddles with my trousers. “It’s been a while, and all those succubi are hogging your time. It feels like you are failing to pay me the attention I deserve.”

“Oh? I don’t remember you being so aggressive, Willow. You know that I am not the guy for that kind of relationship.” Yeah, at least not if there is no real feeling of companionship involved.

Getting rid of her own trousers, she turns around and captures my erection between her legs while she guides my hands to her perfect assets. Something tells me that there must be a reason for such an aggressive behaviour, but then she starts grinding her backside against me and I groan involuntarily.

Even after having it done with a succubus, I have to admit that this woman has skills.

“Yes!” Leaning forward, she rocks back and forth until she curves her back just right. Pushing herself back, she captures me inside her. Having almost forgotten how good she feels, I push her down onto the table and hold her hips in position as I start moving.

***The World***

***Ashley***

“That’s so unfair!” I whisper while I gnaw on my fingernail and watch the pair as I peek around the doorframe’s corner. “The minx gets to have fun while we have to watch! Why didn’t she say that her plan of distraction involves fucking his brains out? I would have been the better choice for that.”

“Sh! What if he hears us?” Seria asks from above me. “He would certainly get suspicious if he found out that we were in his hobby-room!”

“I think my Obfuscation Charm is going to hold.” Karin clears her throat. “Ahem, and Willow is doing quite the job at keeping him distracted.”

“Still,” I complain. “She just went and took all the fun!”

“Master is probably getting off on it,” Karin grumbles. “The thought of getting caught is likely giving her a thrill. She is that kind of person. Probably being watched is another kick for her.”

What? Willow is that kind of gal? Why did I never notice? She is playing nice and meek all the time when I am around. Damn it! I am really getting old.

“Who would have known that he'd be done with king Luxley that quickly,” Seria grumbles. “Almost caught us in the act.”

“Oh,” I chuckle. “He at least caught one of us in the act.”

“That’s dirty, Ashley,” Karin reprimands me, sticking to her strange sense of morals.

“I think Willow has his full attention,” I whisper. “Should we try putting those cards back into the binder?” And if he notices, I could try to turn this into a fivesome. Though, Karin and Seria probably won't go for that kind of fun.

“Not yet,” Seria grumbles. “Let Willow get a little roughed up until she manages to get him out of that room. It was her stupid idea to take the cards in the first place. The least she can do is to pay him a lease for borrowing. I really hope he decides to use that amulet until she is out of stamina points! That will teach her a lesson.”

“Okay.” I better make it a rule to never make Seria angry. The woman has the mentality of a succubus.