A hard shell collided with it, knocking the monster onto its side, and I looked up to see it was a crab shell. Amabie had managed to pull the shell off the crab-woman, and now spun to heave the body at the centipede monsters as they almost overcame me.

  “Jump!” she shouted, and I ran and leaped into the water, sinking and feeling her grab me, pulling me along. We were going down, deeper and deeper, and a shimmer showed at the bottom. A portal.

  But hands had a hold of me, and I turned to see an octopus woman. Thick armor covered her shoulders and heart, though her small breasts and abs were bare.

  I thrust out to make my sword appear, and while it cut through flesh, she knocked it aside and suddenly had her tentacles around me, pulling me in toward her sharp teeth. She had my hands twisted; no chance of summoning the blade like that. All I could think to try was my vibration power, combined with my fast water movement. The vibration caused the octopus woman to shake and curl up, her grip loosening on me, and I tried to push off; no luck, so I got her again with the vibration. This time, she let go completely, leaning back with her chest out, and her expression made it very clear why she’d let go—she was in the middle of an orgasm. Colored liquid and little eggs shot out, but by then I was gone, darting through the water to catch up with Amabie.

  She caught me by the arm, and together we vanished through the portal. We came out the other side into a very different experience—warm water, bubbles rising from fissures in the rock below. Sort of like an onsen, I thought. Amabie took me by the hand and pulled me to the surface, where I hauled myself up and out.

  Milrae was at my side a second later, then Basty. Devasla came next, warming me with a pass of her hand that also dried me, as she’d done on previous occasions.

  “Are you okay?” Milrae asked, first in my direction, then she turned to Amabie for an answer.

  “We made it, anyway,” Amabie said. “Oh, but nobody joke about his shrunken weenie, he gets sensitive about that.”

  “What?” I protested, but looked down to see the scale armor was in place, and what it protected was certainly not shrunken. My laugh was one of relief in part for that, but more so at being back with the others.

  I pushed myself up, taking in my surroundings. We were on a rocky plateau, beyond us the smoke rising from what was left of the fortress.

  “Did we do that?” I asked.

  Milrae shook her head. “Maybe Thunderbird?”

  I breathed deep, thinking of Ahlaksiz and how she and Bloodsong had to return home. That sucked. Suiko trapped. Kinara was out there alone, as was Jalee. Maybe with the enemy, but otherwise likely alone.

  “Wait, can someone explain what’s going on here?” Milrae asked and flicked at my dick with one of her claws. It clinked as it would on metal, and I felt nothing.

  “Check it out,” I said, and made the scales vanish.

  “Oh, that’s a neat trick.” This time, she merely moved my limp dick from side to side. She had never touched it with her claw, and the sensation was rather odd.

  “An early birthday present from Amabie,” I said with a grin.

  “Wait, when’s your birthday?” Koharu asked.

  “We can talk about it later,” I replied, pushing myself up and making the armor return—better safe than sorry. “And all of yours as well. None of that matters if we fail here.”

  15

  “You’re sure they weren’t in there?” I asked, referring to the fortress.

  “After you tore it apart, we did as much of a search as we could,” Milrae replied. “Wherever they’d taken those two, they weren’t in the fortress anymore. As for Randi, still no sign.”

  “But there were a bunch of those metal trappers up against a wall of the cliff,” Koharu pointed out. “I think we should check that out.”

  I nodded. “Anything’s better than nothing.”

  “And… Lizzy?” Milrae asked.

  Guilt instantly hit me as I remembered snippets of what had happened. Avoiding her gaze, I turned to the nearby mountains. “Last I saw of her was at the peak of a mountain or hill. Would you be able to quickly check…?”

  “Who?” Amabie asked.

  “Suiko, of course.”

  They all stared at me in silence, and I remembered that she wasn’t there.

  “Right, sorry…” I ran a hand through my damp hair. “We have to find her, too. You didn’t find that thing that absorbed her? Or the hunter who had it?”

  “We think the hunter who took her got away,” Koharu said.

  I shook my head, horrified. This was worse than I thought.

  “Don’t be so distraught,” a voice said, and we all spun to see a figure standing on a tree branch above us, on the other side of a drop-off. She didn’t hold onto anything for balance, but simply stood there, one hand on a sword hilt, the other tucked into her belt that held a smooth, white pistol. Her armor was similar to that of a hunter’s, but her helmet was white with three lines down the center.

  “Who are you?” I asked. I took a step toward her, hand out and ready to summon the sword, but she held up her palm, slowly shaking her head.

  “Trust me, you’d regret that. As for who I am, let’s just say that you and yours have caused grief to one of my temples today. I came to see who it was and decide whether I should kill you.” Her eyes roamed over me, then each of my companions. “I think not. You might prove useful, should you decide to join me.”

  “Join…?” I guffawed. “Not going to happen.”

  She shook her head, slowly. “I’ll give you another chance, and if you fail to excite me, you’ll either die a simple death or be added to the feast. That one, I’ll leave up to fate. For now, do consider my offer. You’d make a cute little team of hunters… Well, some of you.”

  Without another word, she turned and leaped, bounding off through the trees, and soon out of sight.

  We stared at that spot for a bit until I finally turned and said, “Who the hell was that?”

  “No idea,” Milrae said. “Although she looks familiar.”

  “I know who she is,” Void said, stepping out of the tree line behind us.

  “Where the fuck were you?” Koharu demanded, getting up and moving toward her. It hit me that I hadn’t even thought about Void, though her being with us gave me more confidence.

  “Finding your little friend, for one,” Void said, and she nodded to where Lizzy came stumbling out from the woods. The woman’s arms and neck were lined with cuts and blood, her eyes on the ground, not looking up as she joined us.

  I took a step toward her, but she pulled back. When I reached out, about to ask if she was okay, she muttered, “Stay the fuck away.”

  I frowned, turned to see the others nearby, and ran a hand over my face. As I looked at the others, I noticed how they all avoided eye contact with me. Milrae was the only one who met my gaze, and there was curious anger there.

  “Focus,” Void said. “You’ve just been invited by the woman many here have spent their whole lives avoiding. A top general among the hunters, and the one they call Master Huntress, or in some circles, Galeva, but I doubt that’s her real name. If it is, she’s not from here, as it does no good to use it on her. She works for the queen, or deity, I mentioned.”

  “Unless she’s found a way to break the link between a name and the power it holds,” Milrae said.

  “That’s not possible.”

  Milrae scrunched her nose and shrugged.

  “Regardless, we have work to do, don’t we,” I said. While I was glad my rash move had gotten us out of the sticky situation in the fortress, I felt bad that Suiko had been captured. In part, it seemed to be my fault. The others agreed, and we moved from that spot to somewhere more out of sight, though I had no doubt Galeva would be able to spy on us if she so desired.

  Devasla got a fire going for the rest of us, and all were checking on me, making sure I wasn’t hurt. More than that, it seemed they were trying to find out if I was mentally all there or not. Even I started to wonder if the mask had left behind any residual effects.

  Speaking of the mask, it was a shame I’d lost it. I remembered pulling it off with Amabie, then the fighting had started. After that, it vanished.

  Or so I thought until I got my satchel back. There it was, right next to the sun disks.

  “Ferris?” Void said, and she motioned me over. “We don’t have much time, by my guess. Rally the others—it’s time we find the general’s feast and rescue your friend.”

  “You know where we’re going?”

  “I have a guess.”

  “We need more than that.”

  She smiled. “It’s a good guess.”

  With a sigh, I eyed Lizzy, who was still hunched over, staring at the ground. “I agree, but first, give me a few minutes.”

  She followed my gaze and nodded. “Something isn’t right there. See what you can do.”

  I headed over to Lizzy, kneeling at her side. “Can I get a moment?”

  “For what.”

  “To talk.”

  Her eyes rose to meet mine, and she nodded. We stood, stepping out of the comfort of the fire’s warmth, and went over to a nearby tree. She wrapped her arms around herself, but whether it was to protect herself from the cold or me, it was hard to tell.

  “Listen, if I did something—”

  “No.” She put a hand up, then turned, shaking her head. “It wasn’t you. It was Akame.”

  “Sorry?”

  Lizzy took a deep breath, then turned back to me. “I know what she’s capable of, and I was there. When she took over, both of us lost control, and whatever happened, it wasn’t us, exactly.”

  “Still…” My eyes moved down her body, going momentarily to her dark nipples, then the smooth curve of her breasts. I knew she saw me looking, but that didn’t stop me. As I did, I was brought back to memories of what had happened—feeling her ass pounding against my hips, her pussy clenching around my cock as it engorged then unleashed inside of her.

  She took a sudden breath, hand to her mouth, and our eyes met.

  “I have to tell the others,” I said.

  “Now?”

  Considering, I shook my head. “No, but when we get the team together again. This isn’t something I can or want to hide.”

  She nodded, eyes creasing in worry. “And if they want to tear me apart?”

  “I won’t let them.”

  She nodded, and now it was her turn to let her eyes wander over me, likely as similar memories went through her mind.

  “I want you,” she muttered.

  “Don’t say that.”

  “I can’t help it. It’s like, it was wild, insane, and… all I can think about is how you felt when you were cumming in me. How I want to throw you down, take your cock in my mouth, and—”

  Clearing of a throat interrupted, and she turned. There was Milrae, arms folded, staring at her aghast.

  “Excuse me?” Milrae said.

  “I…” Lizzy looked like she was about to break down crying.

  It was time to tell at least Milrae.

  “She’s only talking,” I said, and motioned Lizzy to the fire.

  “Talking about a cock that doesn’t belong to her.” Milrae took a step toward the woman, baring her teeth. “While I’m right here, no less.”

  I shooed Lizzy again, then motioned Milrae over to the side of the fire with Koharu and Amabie. Devasla saw us joining, so moseyed over as well. While Lizzy and Void sat on one side of the fire, both watching us curiously, I conveyed to my team what I remembered happening while under the effects of Akame.

  “That’s not an issue,” Amabie said.

  “Right. You weren’t yourself, couldn’t control it,” Koharu added.

  Milrae simply glared at Lizzy.

  “And if I said… if I was curious what you all thought about making her more officially part of the group?” I asked.

  They all faced me then. I gulped.

  “I don’t see the problem,” Koharu said, and Amabie shrugged.

  “Making me look like the bad guy,” Milrae growled, and let out a sigh. “Fine, whatever. Why should I care?”

  “What makes you feel that way?” Koharu asked. “I mean, clearly you have an issue with it. But… why?”

  Milrae frowned, looked thoughtful, then laughed. “You know, I have no idea. Maybe it’s a possessive thing?”

  “But you share him with us,” Koharu said.

  “Beats me.”

  “Ladies, it doesn’t matter anyway,” I said, standing and glancing up the hill, then at our surroundings. “It’s not something I’d want fully discussed without the others with us. I only bring it up here so that you know I’m not holding anything from you. Right now, however, they need us. So as long as nobody wants to slap me or—I don’t know, I’d recommend we get a move on.”

  Koharu stood and slapped me right across the face, then grinned. “That was fun, thanks!”

  “I thought you were okay with it,” I protested.

  “Oh.” She pouted. “Was the slap supposed to be punishment? I took it as an invitation to have some fun before we took off, nothing more.”

  My jaw dropped, but I chuckled, nodded, and said, “I’ll be more clear next time. Shall we?”

  After quick bathroom breaks then putting out the fire with dirt, I took a moment to consider upgrades. Focusing on my inner energy and connecting as they’d shown me, I pushed my latest upgrades equally toward speed, defense, and strength, and even upgraded the sword. Clearly, that was going to come in handier and handier in the days ahead. What was sweet was, when I summoned it, the upgraded blade felt lightweight, and when I made a chopping motion, it glowed. Wanting to test it out, I brought it down on a log, only to see the blade burst with flame as it hit, cleaving through, and leaving the log in two. Badass!

  With that out of the way, we continued. We had a feast to disrupt and some monster girls to save, after all.

  16

  Void was our guide again, a fact I couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of unease over. But she had retrieved Lizzy, so I had to try and push aside my worries. At the thought of Lizzy, again I was dragged back to brief glimpses of what I was starting to think of as “fucking while under the influence of the mask,” or FWUTIOTM. Okay, it didn’t exactly flow off the tongue. As a word, it could grow on me. “Fwutiotm’s fault.” Better than thinking of myself as the one to blame.

  Devasla’s heat was a bonus that kept me close to her, so as we walked, I petted Basty, did my best to ignore the piercing pain on my feet, and glanced up at her.

  “Yes?” she asked.

  “We never talk much, you and I.” I shrugged. “Like, what exactly does a giant Ifrit girl like yourself enjoy?”

  She glanced over at me, then around as if I could be talking to someone else before scoffing. “What the fuck’s really on your mind?”

  “Hey, now I’m curious.”

  “I like kicking the shit out of my opponents, warming you up when you’re cold, and eating fucking banana splits—or might, if I had any idea what they were. Lizzy mentioned one earlier, and I like the sound of the name.”

  “Ah, it’s ice cream on a banana. The banana is split, and there’s usually whipped cream and a cherry.”

  She frowned. “So, it’s a sexual thing?”

  “No. Well, it could be, but… no.”

  “Huh, sounds less cool that way. Now your turn—what’s really on your mind?”

  She had my number. “I met Akame.”

  The whole party stopped.

  “You kind of failed to mention that earlier,” Lizzy said.

  “Did I?” I ran a hand through my hair, glad to feel that it was dry. “Well, yeah, we met. She stood right in front of me, well, kind of in a reflection as if I was her, then wasn’t.”

  “Keep moving,” Void said, the only one not particularly interested in this line of discussion.

  We did, but they wanted to know the whole story. This time I added that part, doing my best to recollect the whole ordeal. When I was done, Lizzy had the chills.

  “You realize that’s not supposed to happen?” she said. “I mean, Randi or one of the others might know better, but actually having a conversation with Akame? Nope.”

  Milrae shrugged, and the others didn’t seem to know enough about it. I’d have to ask Ahlaksiz or Randi when given the chance. Or… if?

  “What if we can’t find Randi?” I asked, eyeing Lizzy. “I’d hate to have brought her here only to leave her behind when we go back.”

  “At least in your version of worry, we get to go back,” she countered, then laughed. “Relax, Randi has a tracker on me. When she wants to find us, she will.”

  “Hold the front door. You didn’t mention a tracker before.”

  “Well, we’re trying to find her, not the other way around. What good does it do us to think about her tracker on me?”

  “For one,” Koharu said, considering, “it means we know she either isn’t trying to find us or can’t, for whatever reason.”

  “On the topic of trackers, are we not worried about those trapper metal things up here?” I asked, remembering how they supposedly had the ability to locate monsters.

  “I wouldn’t think so, no,” Void answered. “Up in the hills, or these hills, to be precise, there’s no need.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Monsters would have to be foolish to wander into the hunter’s back yard. And yet, here we are.” She grinned with a glance back. “Foolish.”

  A couple of nervous chuckles followed, but I had frozen in my tracks, eyeing a clump of blue plants.

  “Everyone, give me a minute,” I said, then pulled Basty down, approaching the plant.

  “You’re going to do it?” Amabie asked.

  “We need them back. At least for my feet, I think this would be smart.”

  “Can’t Amabie do that scale thing over the rest of you, though?” Koharu asked, referring to the scale armor I now wore over my crotch.

  I glanced at Amabie, but she stared back with a nervous frown.