“Ah,” Nox released a sigh as a plate of some sort of steamed rainbow skinned fish was placed in front of himself, but soon gasped at what was placed in front of his Aunt Shauu. A large, roasted boar. His eyes popped at the sight, and she grinned down at himself. One that was a knowing grin full of bemusement at the child who stared with envy towards the feast nearby.

Here, she ripped off a piece of meat from one of the legs, and plopped it down upon the fish which was so elegantly decorated for the child's pleasure. Whereupon Nox released a, “Thank you, Aunty Shauu,” and tore into the meat voraciously whilst his tails wiggled with elation.

On the opposite side of the table, however, Sia glared at her fellow Chosen, who shrugged and ignored her whilst chowing down on her meal. Thus leading to the skeletal Wolfwoman to puff up her imaginary cheeks and turned towards her Goddess with pleading eyes. Unfortunately for herself, Sarah was preoccupied with poking at her grilled steak and multi coloured vegetables, awaiting the answer to her inquiry from Brutus. Of whom sat back with his arms crossed and metallic skull tilted back as he contemplated the answer.

For it was one that was known to all throughout the Pantheon and its worlds, that the Ageless despised the term “harem”, but did not stop those who wished to pursue this form of mating. In which case, he slowly turned back towards his Lord's wife with not an answer, but his own inquiry, “Which book sparked this question, Sarah?”

The Wolfwoman flinched from the unforeseen from her husband's most loyal servant, and frowned whilst replying with, “The Devil King.” What was most odd about this statement, however, was the silence which came from the two Chosen and Brutus himself, leaving both mother and son perplexed, but with mixed reactions. As Nox's ears were perked from intrigue, whilst his mother's were hugging her head as though she were in trouble.

However, what came next was not what she expected, as she believed a scolding from someone who should be beneath her was to arise. Which also caused her colours to become muted. “Ah,” chuckled Brutus, “A classic which is difficult to find.”

“W-what?” stammered the Goddess, her colours spinning with confusion.

“That Story, my dear,” he leaned in a little closer across the table, “is not something you should speak of in the open.”

“Why?” Her eyes grew suspicious as her confusion became more prominent.

“Becuff,” chimed in Shauu with a full mouth, but was forced to swallow after a glare from Sia. Afterwards, she spoke aloud with, “Because it speaks of our Lord's truths, and people don't really want to hear about it.”

“Instead,” followed Sia as she turned slowly towards her Goddess, “people just want to listen to the made up and exaggerated stories flittering around the Pantheon. No one wants to know that-” She got up suddenly, and placed her skeletal hands over Nox's ears to shut out what she was to say next. Whereas the other pair lightly patted at his attempt to free himself from her grip. “As I was saying, no one wants to know what he truly was in the past.”

“A monster,” Brutus held up a single digit whilst his skeletal hands were held clasp in front of him with elbows on the table. At this point, Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it with a snap as he continued with, “He still is one today, don't get me wrong, but you'll not see that side of him anytime soon.”

“Why not?”

“Muu,” came a grumpy noise from Nox, his tails swishing with irritation, as he was lifted into the air by Shauu, who also held up a leg of the boar in front of him as the pair left the room.

Upon his departure from the area, Sarah repeated the question once more, leaving Sia to answer with, “Because that's his work, and he doesn't want to show it off to those who are not on the receiving end.”

“Precisely,” Brutus bobbed his head slowly, “Regardless, you wished to know why he despises 'harems', but I must ask. How far into the story are you to inquire such a thing?”

“Um... the Goblins? It's at the beginning and after he met you,” she pointed towards the Lich King, who stared at her with a detached jaw. After which, he slowly clamped it shut, and openly laughed at her accusation. For which Sia soon joined in, leaving the Wolfwoman to become flustered, as her colours swirled hotly and her tail twitched under her dress.

“My dear,” laughter still echoed from his voice, “He did not meet myself, nor will he until much later in the Story. Instead he met... Well, he met someone who won't matter until later. Regardless,” his eyes flared for a brief moment as he recollected his memories for a moment, “if it is the first Goblins, then he more than likely met a Harem Hero party, and not a harem in its literal sense.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, well...” He paused, unsure of his next words, which led to the Chosen to continue.

“Do you know what a 'harem' actually is?” When Sarah shook her head, she continued with, “Okay, a harem is a separate part of a household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants. Not only this, but it is often women sharing a polygamous man, or a group of females sharing a single mate.”

“Correct,” chimed in Brutus with another single digit raised, “However, what you should be asking is not about this sort of harem, as he doesn't mind them as much as those of whom are considered as Harem Heroes.”

“What's the difference?”

“The difference, my dear Sarah, is the fact that our Lord's first life was of a world full of them. For you see,” Brutus stood up and slowly paced back and forth between the table and door, “His previous life, as you well know, was of him being a Wordsmith upon his world. Another word is Writer or an Author of Books.”

“A profession exalted into Noble status,” Sia's eyes flared once, showing her elation.

“Quite right, Sia, but in any case, from his past he's read and witnessed as the world's writers took hold of the concept of Harem Heroes and pushed it into an area of perversion, as he called it. No longer did the word 'Harem' mean anything beyond having those who are protagonists either desiring only a group of females following themselves, or gained one by accident whilst being unaware of it. The latter was so commonplace, he would oftentimes become quite frustrated and actively avoided those stories.

“Now, there were also types of stories where a lone female would gather a harem of males, and though he found them distasteful, was not so openly against them.”

“This is also the reason why he won't take more than one wife, as the concept of having more than one significant other to share his seed with causes him no end of confusion. Which is why he gives those confusing and long winded explanations as he does.” Sia shrugged her shoulders, along with giving a gesture of unknowing.

Sarah frowned at this explanation, “But what he did to the women-”

“Ah,” Brutus held up another digit as he sat back down, “Here, let me...” His hand reached up and slid into the open air, a feat which caused the Goddess's eyes to widen, but spoke nothing of it. Instead, she watched as his wrist bobbed and weaved his hand inside for a time before retracting it.

What came out, however, was something which reeked of Miasma, one that wilted everything it came in contact. Such as the open air, which gave off the scent of death, and the table it was reverently placed upon appeared as though it were alive and desired to retreat from the offending book. Even Sia recoiled from it, desiring nothing more than to retreat, but stayed due to her Lady being in the room. From the corner of the room came the rattling of armour, as the Legionaries quaked in their boots. Whereas Sarah herself also quaked with a fear she had never felt before, as it felt as though the Miasma desired to devour her very being, and would have if not for the Lich King.

Of whom gripped the offending item and sent an electrical current of reds and golds into the gas, leading to the women to clamp down upon their ears or ear holes as they felt, rather than heard, a scream which shook them to their core. If they were outside of their separated dining room in the restaurant, they would have known that the entirety of the city felt the same scream. Whereupon the guards were mobilised in order to find where this originated, and when such a force moved, so did the city. For they were a people who acted as one, and would feed a child if it was hungry, give succor to those who were considered undesirables, and keep the elderly company even if they still had family within the region.

However, Brutus, Sarah, and Sia knew none of this. Instead, the women felt as though if the other had flesh upon his face, he'd be frowning down upon that which was in his grip. Of which slowly formed that of a book very similar to what Sarah had been reading, except that it was dirty, tattered, and held a mask that was something else. Something which had formed itself into the image of a horned skull that was a mixture of an Ogre's and a Basilisk's.

This image sent a chill down Sarah's spine, especially when she noted a pair of glowing red eyes slowly stirring within its sockets. As well as the gold letterings below which spelled out “The Devil King”.

“W-what?” her voice gasped out the moment she read those three words.

“Hmm?” Brutus's eyes flickered as he turned towards her, then, after following her own gaze, chuckled with pity, “This is the result of knowing the truth of our Lord, Sarah.” Slowly, and with great care, he opened the Story to the beginning. Here, he scanned the pages quickly, flipping through them with dexterous ease, until he found the section he so desired.

“Here it is,” his voice grew light just as the book was closed shut and replaced back inside the pocket within the air. After which, both Wolfwomen released a sigh of relief, glanced at one another, and gave a soft giggle. “Now then,” his voice caused the pair to flinch and turn back towards his position, where they were met with his grinning skull that they could tell was also grinning with imaginary flesh, “you wish to understand why he did what he did to those... Humans?” His voice sneered as he forced himself to speak the name of those he felt above. For his God had long since eradicated such a race from their Pantheon, claiming them to be nothing more than pests who could not live with other races. Even going so far as to purge them from all worlds that were integrated into his Pantheon, or removing those who stood in his way then the race itself.

“As you both know, He despises the race. From their greed and envy, down to their desire to control everything that is not theirs. Well,” his head tilted towards the left, and Sarah felt a wry grin spreading upon the invisible flesh of the Lich King's face, “he won't reach that level of contempt until much later in the story.

“Regardless, I guess you can call it 'Revenge' against those who were a part of a system he so despises.”

“Revenge?” frowned the Goddess, “They didn't do anything, but live as they chose.”

“Correct,” agreed Brutus, but soon held up another digit in order to quell anymore words from his Lord's wife, “However, they unknowingly moved into the eyes of our Lord who did not much care for their presence. Not only this, but they were of a Harem Hero party, one that was still fresh in his mind. This reminded him of his hatred for the idea of such a group, and decided to remove their presence in the most brutal way possible.”

“Goblins,” the frown of the Wolfwoman grew deeper.

“Yes,” the Lich King's head bobbed once, “We believe it was to teach them to not pursue such a group in their next life, but that is mere speculation.” His shoulders shrugged as he stood tall and slowly walked over to her side in order to offer his hand towards herself, “We should go, especially since you've finished your meal.”

“Huh?” she blinked slowly and looked down, “No I... haven't...” The plate that contained her meal was only coated in juices and crumbs, which led to her furrowing her brows as she squinted towards both the Chosen and her husband's most loyal servant, “When did I-?”

“Come on, Sarah,” Sia's light tone filled the room as she hoisted the Goddess to her feet, and dragged her towards the door which led to the outside, “We've so much to show you out... side... Huh?” The lights in her eyes flared and flickered with confusion, as outside was full of 50 of Necropolis's guards in their magickally infused riot gear. Their shields were raised and inscribed with runes that reduced both magickal and physical damage to almost nil, whilst they each carried mithril spears pointed towards the door.

“Uh... What's going on?” wondered aloud Brutus as he appeared behind the women, his own lights flickering with confusion.