Gacha Kingdom Building

As the night crept in, the forest grew darker. Each passing minute brought a harsher, colder air.

Mia had easily turned the tables on Kiki and Fenya.

Her speed and strength forced the two girls to play catch-up. Even when fighting together, they couldn’t find an opening, and slowly, Mia wore them out.

Not only that, the Gift that Mia inherited from her mother was a perfect counter against Kiki’s.

The phantom strikes were the only way she had to damage Mia, but with my healing, those only boosted her stats even more while also resetting the timer of her first Gift.

Worse yet, Fenya’s ability to explode things from within barely worked against living beings, especially those with high defense.

If not for my shoulder injury, Mia and I would have defeated them before the sun had set.

Fenya: "Tch..."

She clicked her tongue.

While Mia and Kiki traded blows, her eyes darted around, fiercely studying the battlefield.

After her eyes landed on me, Fenya turned her back and disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

Kiki: "Agh! Fenya! You coward! Shpineless! Eek!"

Her frustration was so strong that she found the strength necessary to push Mia back.

She tried to retreat, but before she could take a single step into the forest, I trapped her feet in a prison of stone filled with thick ice spikes that impaled her ankles.

Loud, painful screams echoed as she kicked the stone prison.

The ice skewered her feet, exposing raw skin, but I couldn’t feed the stone enough mana, and she managed to break free.

Miwen: "Don’t let the other one escape, Mia."

Mia hesitated, seemingly worried about my condition.

However, seeing the smile on my face, she let out a resigned sigh and nodded. A second later, she raced into the forest to chase after Fenya.

If Fenya intended to separate us, her plan had worked beautifully.

But if she thought I’d stand no chance against Kiki on my own, she’d be in for a surprise.

Kiki: "Are you dumb?! Without that girl, you’re weak!"

With the injury on her leg, she was too slow to chase after Mia.

Even though it still didn’t compare to what she’d done to my shoulders, we were on more even grounds.

I could see her coming my way, flinching from the pain.

Her fist missed my face by a centimeter.

Mine did not miss hers.

Miwen: "Funny. I was thinking the same about you."

My punch left her cheek burning red, with blood dripping from a small cut.

However, my words seemed to have hurt her way more, as from then on, she stared daggers at me.

Fur slowly spread from the rosetted patterns on her body.

Her nails grew bigger and sharper, resembling claws now more than ever.

She slightly arched her back forward, her frame growing larger, heavier, and more beastlike.

Even her tail became thick enough that whenever it’d land on the ground, a loud thud would echo.

Kiki: "I’m gonna end this now so I can go teach a lesson to Fenya and that wolf!"

She spoke incredibly fast, almost jumping from one word to the next.

Her palms pressed against the ground; she leaped forward, straight at me.

The ground behind her feet cracked, a boom resonating in my ears as she approached.

Moments away from reaching me, Kiki changed directions, avoiding the greatsword that I got from the [Weapons Banner].

I could only see a blur as she hopped from tree to tree in search of an opening.

Once she had found one, she crossed her arms in an X-pattern, striking with her claws.

I managed to turn just in time.

The various cuts of her claws chipped the sword, but before she could attack again, I activated its effect, sending its blade toward her like a guillotine.

Even after she retreated from the clash, I felt the blade resonate, as if it was still being attacked.

It suddenly burst into steel fragments, only the weight of the hilt left in my hand.

While it looked like Fenya’s ability, I could tell this was only a side effect.

That feeling of the blade trembling was the truly important part.

It felt the same as when she first hit it.

Like she’d done it again.

Miwen: "It’s not exactly a phantom strike, right? It feels more like... A double-tap?"

Her eyebrows briefly rose, her eyes wide open.

It only took her a fraction of a second to notice and fix her expression, but even her best poker face told a detailed story.

I took a step forward, and sure enough, the ground ceded before my feet.

Exactly in the spot she’d kicked it to retreat from the guillotine sword.

The energy seemed to have been much stronger than when she avoided me, and I could feel a trace of mana coming from her.

Still, I leaped above the hole, charging toward her.

Kiki spread her arms, seemingly confident she could take me down when I was barehanded.

When a new sword appeared from thin air, she instinctively raised her guard.

Just in time to deflect the blade and gain enough momentum to push me back.

Kiki: "How did you know!?"

Nearby bushes and leaves shook at her shout.

She threw a childish tantrum, stomping the ground.

It’d be cute, if not for how suffocating the air around her felt.

I could feel it from the way she breathed.

She was holding back, clinging on to her consciousness by a thread.

Miwen: "It’s a good trick. But you showed it one too many times."

It was hard to figure out all of the mechanics. The way she managed to cut me when I was with Lily without ever touching me was especially mysterious.

But other than that, her attacks seemed to leave a shadow she could trigger whenever she wanted to reenact the same strike.

It was how she kept mauling my shoulder while I regenerated it, even after shaking her away.

And how she broke the sword even after putting distance between us.

Miwen: "It’s a pretty good Gift. But it’s a little wasted on someone like you, don’t you think?"

I shrugged, a teasing smile plastered over my face.

Even though I only meant to provoke her a little, Kiki seemed very easily offended.

A small tear welled up in her eye, and to hide it, she lowered her gaze.

I almost felt bad for her, but the rough breath escaping her mouth didn’t give me the confidence to approach her and apologize.

She bent forward, her feet pulled back and her tail rising behind her.

Her hands sank onto the ground and, a moment later, they covered my face.

I felt a tree trunk shatter behind my back.

Then another.

And then a third.

She slammed through the trees, only stopping to pound me into the ground.

The impact blew the air from my lungs, and as it did...

She triggered the double tap, the shadow of her last attack pounding me while, at the same time, she punched my stomach.

Kiki: "Sue’ender!"

She bit her tongue, but it wasn’t as cute as before.

Her body was getting so out of control that blood dripped from her injured tongue.

Those words seemed to be the last speck of sanity left in her.

Kiki looked more like an animal than a person, her eyes completely fixed on me like I was her prey.

Miwen: "You shouldn’t beastify if you can only push it that far..."

It was a skill Mia trained her entire life to master.

Almost every day, without fail.

I was always messing with her for that, but seeing Kiki lose control made me realize just how much discipline this ability demanded.

Unfortunately, Kiki wasn’t there yet.

My palms ran over the dirt.

Pillars of stone sprawled from both sides, aimed at her head.

She stood up and swiftly stopped them with both hands, her feet hovering over my chest.

Before she could stomp on me, the roots of a tree warped around my arm, pulling me away from her.

At the same time, blades rained from the sky and the stone pillars extended to bind her arm.

As expected, she broke free in an instant, the blades stuck on the ground before us like needles.

Miwen: "The lightning cracks. The fire bursts. The wind howls..."

With [Sword Magic] and [Lightning Magic] being advanced types of magic, this was the absolute limit combination of magic I could use.

Four elements.

If I were alone, that’d be it.

Miwen: "The elements whisper... This blade spells your end."

A five-sentence chant using four different types of magic.

That would be enough to get me a passing mark from Elizabeth and Beatrice, even if the power still didn’t compare to theirs.

However, seeing how I needed to share the burden with a clone, they’d probably fail me anyway.

Still, it was enough to coat my blade with more magic than I should be able to control.

Kiki burst forward, almost mindlessly.

Her fangs appeared before my eyes, and I stepped back.

She tried to gouge me with her claws, but I slashed them off.

Miwen: "Sorry, but it’s getting too late to play. I’m taking you seriously now."

Bolts of lightning fell from the sky, hammering her above.

Despite her injured leg, she was faster than me after her beastification.

However, her attacks were dull.

I could tell what she was planning.

Or rather, how much she wasn’t planning.

Her double taps became predictable.

Worse, they became a detriment.

Every time she met the blade, she’d be burned from within, struck by lightning, cut by the wind trailing the dagger.

My technique still didn’t measure up to Cassandra’s, but the daggers I forged through my [Sword Magic] were the perfect shape, the perfect weight.

I felt my way through the battle, sliding past her defenses, letting the blades dance.

Without a sane mind to control her Gift, even the attack she used to hurt me when I protected Lily became easy to decipher.

She slashed the air with her claws from a distance, sending multiple cuts my way.

Like she could extend the range of the double tap.

Once I understood it, I could dodge it.

With the opening she gave me, I slashed under her chest.

A pillar of flames burst from within her, the heat alone burning the ground.

Miwen: "The double-taps are not so fun when they happen to you, huh?"

The fur on her body started receding back to the rosette patterns.

Her hands discharged the electricity running through her body, her claws noticeably smaller.

The wind cut deeper into her stomach; she screamed in pain as the blood drenched her hands.

Finally, she returned to her normal size.

The exhaustion and injuries almost made her fall to the ground, but I caught her by the hair, pulling Kiki closer.

The steel of my blade gently touched her neck.

Miwen: "Surrender."

It took her a second to answer.

Kiki: "...Ish not wasted on me..."

She had a crying voice, almost sobbing.

I released her hair, letting her face the ground.

That way, she could cry without risking being noticed.

After a minute had passed, snow briefly fell from the sky.

It only lasted for a few seconds before Mia returned to me.

To my surprise, Fenya was obediently following behind her.

Miwen: "...What happened?"

Mia’s lips curled into a smug smile, her fangs showing.

She even puffed her chest a little.

Mia: "I showed her the gap between us, and she surrendered."

Seeing that Fenya didn’t refute Mia’s words, Kiki hissed at her.

Kiki: "He hasn’t taken my badge! We can still fight! Coward!"

She had hidden it surprisingly well.

I’d have to search her, and I knew Mia would eventually return and misunderstand if she saw me pinning down a naked girl.

Fenya: "True. But I have a better proposal. We can end this without fighting and killing each other..."

Mia’s gaze met mine, and she nodded her head.

Miwen: "Go on."

I needed their badges to reach the next phase of the Divine Event; however, I was also interested in the continent they came from, now that it was attached to Earth.

If I could make them my citizens, we’d have great guides if we ever decided to visit.

I’d rather not use the badges to force them, though.

There was a chance their effects would only last as long as the Divine Event itself, or even just this phase alone.

After that, even if I gave them the lowest [Roles] and a set of [Orders], I’d be stuck with two dangerous, unloyal citizens.

It wasn’t something I could risk while my girls were still vulnerable and recovering.

Fenya: "You’re familiar with the beastkin’s marriage tradition, right? If you can defeat Kiki and me, we’ll be your mates. But if you lose, you have to obey us."

I looked at Mia, but her face flushed red, and she avoided my eyes.

Mia: "She was annoying me too much..."

She whispered under her breath.

Meanwhile, Fenya walked toward Kiki and me, squatting before her friend.

Fenya: "What do you say?"

Kiki lifted her head slightly, her fangs showing.

Even though I pinned her down, she almost recovered enough strength to free herself.

Kiki: "You’re crazy! I’ll be everyone’s laughing stock if I make a man this weak my mate!"

She squirmed under me, still unable to shake me off.

Fenya: "It’s the only way we can save ourselves, idiot. Besides, it’ll be two on one, and he’s injured. He can’t win."

Her lips curled into a provocative smile as she spoke, staring into my eyes.

I answered with a friendly smile of my own.

Mia had taught me how seriously beastwomen took their marriage proposals, and the deal Fenya offered worked wonders for me.

Fenya: "Unless... The little girl is scared she’ll lose?"

She stood up and walked toward a nearby tree, her back turned to us.

Kiki: "I’m not a little girl, and I’m not scared, either!"

Fenya: "Mm-Mhm."

I could feel Kiki’s heartbeat accelerating.

Fenya’s words had pushed Kiki’s buttons even harder than my earlier provocation.

Kiki: "Fine! I’ll defeat him, and then I’ll laugh at you for losing!"

Fenya: "We’ll see about that."

She was absolutely right.

We were going to see about that.

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