Chapter 104 Lifespan Cut Short
Forming into small letters, Hisha watched as they formed the very thing he was lacking–submission, loyalty, and honesty.
He stared in horror as Hisha called back the paper, pretending as though he was contemplating it once more with a humming sound.
All the while, Alta glared daggers at him and had her eyes glow so he knew of her intentions.
Mich's sweat dropped as he looked away to avoid her never changing gaze.
For the first time, Melody had a small smile on her face as she watched him struggle to maintain his composure.
Turning the paper so Mich could understand what he was being shown, Hisha forced him to his knees only by his glare.
"Now tell me, why does it say you lack these two essential attributes?" Hisha thundered.
With trembling hands, Mich clutched onto his pants and mustered enough courage to speak in his defense.
"I don't need to know." Hisha cut him off again, clicking his tongue, placing his thumb on the signature right corner, he made a blood stamp extracted from the tiny jabs just as it had been for Mich.
As it hovered once more, it was set up in flames.
"It's settled, you will reap the benefit of the contract."
Mich felt an overwhelming energy wash over him and almost instantly the pain he had felt vanished but his initial happiness was cut short when he felt his breath strain and his heartbeat quicken.
"It would ease up in a bit," Hisha assured with a grin.
True to his words, Mich felt a sense of relief moments after and was too stunned to speak.
Taking the initiative to explain, he leaned forward. "What just happened was an augmentation given to you in exchange for your loyalty and submission."
Mich stared at his palm which was seething of Sux before it vanished as soon as it came, a stranger to the new development.
"If you do maintain your quota, you will have access to the augmentation and the pain that was caused by the mermaid is nullified. It's quite embarrassing if my tribal chiefs are too weak to protect even their people..."
Hisha swirled his fingers as a miniature tornado grew on his finger. The boredom was getting to him and all he could do was sigh and shake his head.
Mich had understood his sentiment after the last visit from their overlord and how he was quick to spot the loopholes in their tribe's security.
The word of Hisha defeating the one behind the attacks had spread wide among the merfolks and had caused a stir of rumors.
"I thank you, my lord, for such keen insight and assistance." Mich gave a slight bow.
Pushing back against the backrest, Hisha needed to stress the importance of what Mich had unknowingly signed.
"If you do fail to live by the traits you lack, your life span would be cut short by a month, you would know when you feel a 5-second sharp pain in your crotch."
In front of Hisha was displayed the translucent screen of the life expectancy of Mich.
[2667 years, 11 months, 5 days]
Mich coughed at the life-threatening message and had a double take on what that could mean for him. "My lord, I have not..."
A sharp pain shot through his crotch and rocked his body as he coughed out a bit of blood.
[2667 years, 10 months, 5 days]
"Did I forget to mention the blood part?" Hisha sarcastically commented.
Melody watched with wide eyes as her master's plan was going a little too well.
Alta grinned with satisfaction and didn't bother hiding her mood from the Merchief.
"Now that you can know when you are lacking these very traits, I have faith that you would carry out your task more efficiently!"
'What the hell did I do?' Mich stared at the floor in horror.
"You are free to do as you like to the mermaid, she's of no use to me." He waved his hand.
Mich gave a final bow as he glared at Melody–she was the cause of what he was going through.
It felt more like he had sold his life to a devil–in exchange for a much more powerful augmented body with his full health restored but at a cost.
'My plans, my motives?!' He thought with his heart sinking in despair.
[I apologize for what would happen to you in a few hours]
Melody gave a nod, accepting her fate, as long as he could get his plans in place, she was more than happy to sacrifice herself once more.
Mich had just wanted to reach out to Melody's hair when he was stopped by Hisha's voice.
"If I were you, I wouldn't be that foolish." He warned with a chuckle.
Mich looked back at Hisha, confused by his words but also doubtful.
Alta's lips curved upwards, finally understanding the relationship between the three of them and how he had just fallen right into the trap of her lord.
In a bid to spite him, Alta sat down on Hisha and had her ass perk up and her chin on his shoulder blade.
Hisha chuckled and shook his head at her tactics, clearing his throat before speaking. "Do you think it was easy to capture your escapee? If you had not learned from the previous attack, then you deserve what you got!"
Mich was stunned at his words and stiffly turned his head to look at the cuff on her hands which glowed due to her mood of Melody.
He wondered why he didn't pick up on it earlier, noticing a pink shimmer on the cuff as was the chain linking them.
"If her chains were to turn fiery red, there's a high chance she breaks loose and her odd ability gets the best of you. If you can manage to keep her stable while carrying out your plans you are safe." Hisha explained.
Melody looked at Hisha in confusion, this wasn't part of their plans and he was changing it to suit her situation.
[I can't let him get away with torturing you since you aren't needed to get him back to his original strength]
Mich had his fists clenched by his side, disturbed by the news but also grateful that he had been warned off making a huge mistake.
Letting out a sigh, he materialized water bubbles that engulfed Melody, fizz began to cloud the bubble until it covered the whole bubble.
Trying to connect to Melody's visual interface, he was cut off after he got a view of her blurry vision and came into the darkness.
'What do you think he's doing? It couldn't be, could it?'
[It's a possibility, host]
Hisha restrained himself from asking what he had done to her and only nodded his head in acknowledgment of Mich's actions.
[44:29:08]
He stared at the timer and hoped it could go by faster and put an end to her misery.
"May you live long, my lord." Mich praised.
'To experience death somehow, so my misery is lifted!' He completed in his thoughts.
To his dismay, he felt a sharp pain in his crotch but did well to hide the pain.
[2667 years, 9 months, 5 days]
'Alas, his thoughts would be his downfall except he fully changes from being a fish brain!' Hisha hid a smirk by kissing Alta's shoulder, trailing till he chose to bury his face in her cleavage.
[Exp+5]
'Ha! She also loves it.' Hisha thought with pride when she held onto his head and bit down on her lip to stifle a moan.
Pulling away before he could be engulfed by his lustful tendencies stirred up by her, he tilted his head to the side to have a better view of Mich.
"Is there a problem, Mich?" Hisha pretended to be concerned about him.
"As I should be, thanks to your assistance, my lord." Mich forced a smile and requested to leave.
Creak!
The doors were opened, allowing his exit.
As soon as the door shut, he was surprised by a kiss from Alta.
Breaking it off as soon as she did, he wasn't going to be overpowered by a succubus, and as sure as the sky not going to let her influence him in his crucial period.
Leaning forward, Alta purred in his ear before dropping the bomb of her discovery. "She isn't necessarily one of your harems but someone you created to do your bidding, right, my lord?"
Temporarily frozen in shock at how easy it was for her to deduce it just like Kritz, he gritted his teeth and had to think of a way out of the awkward situation.
"How about we make a deal?" Hisha whispered back, confident his plan would work.
[Exp+2]
"What deal?!" Alta beamed with rekindled excitement.
*****
A/N
¶ Any idea on what Mich would do with Melody?
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