Harem Tournament of Champions

'I couldn't possibly share that part of my silly idea.' Layla shook her head and let out a sigh.

Inhaling and exhaling, she forced a smile. "It was stupid to consider that."

She had been torn by her love for music and martial arts, and being chosen as one of Hisha's harem was testimony to her unique prowess.

Flipping back her white hair, she walked back to the rest who had taken their position at the bed.

Darcia cleared her throat and smiled at Hisha, "we were all wondering..."

All attention was drawn to Darcia with a questioning look by the remaining harem–we?

Ignoring their signals and reluctance to be called out with her, she harrumphed and focused her attention on Hisha.

"Go on." Hisha urged her to continue.

"How was that demoness selected? She doesn't act like the rest of us." Darcia unintentionally said with spite at the thought of Alta crossing her thoughts.

Hisha had wanted to burst into laughter.

'Even I don't know how she was selected, but I could tell she was among a selected few personally chosen by the original host.'

With the tribal chief kept in the dark about Alta could only mean that the original host had been discreet in a few of his plans.

The fact that even he still hasn't gotten the majority of the original host's memory or HTC deliberately ignoring questions out of his jurisdiction until he could access those memories was frustrating.

"What is the distinguishing factor between the way you all act aside from your race, personality and abilities?" Hisha questioned with a raise of his brows.

"How do you view a psychopathic lunatic who's out for blood?!"

"Are you talking about the vampire tribe?" Hisha countered with a smirk.

With the description, he could only think of the despicable tribal chief's race.

The others burst into laughter at Hisha's witty response and were glad that he wasn't taking the matter too seriously as they had imagined it to be.

Darcia hissed at the comment, given that her race was considered an outcast to the vampire tribe.

'They were the ones who had caused our bloodline to be this way, why do we have to suffer the consequences?!' She looked down in despair, hurt by Hisha making her recall her heritage.

"No?" Hisha questioned even though he knew the answer, it was best to quell their desire to revolt against the one who could end their existence in their current progress.

Letting out a sigh, Darcia shook her head and calmly responded. "I had referred to the succubus, and somehow it isn't secret anymore."

"Darcia!" One of the harems hissed at her words hinting at something they had wished to stay hidden from Hisha.

Darcia rolled her eyes, feeling much more confident to speak on the issue, they had made it clear they weren't part of what she had wished to say.

'Now you look like you want me to shut up?! Too sad!'

"What's not a secret?" Hisha inquired, looking suspiciously to his side when he noticed Darcia intentionally avoiding the hard glares at her by the others.

As soon as Hisha looked to his side to have a clearer picture of the rest, they all put up a stoic faces and avoided eye contact.

[The news must have been so secretive that they turn away guiltily]

'Thanks for pointing that out.' Hisha reasoned sarcastically.

"Most of us–with them included..." Darcia paused, pointing at every single one of the harem members beside him.

They all pretended as though she had cursed them, dodging her finger of accusation.

"... we all thought it was rather suspicious and unfair to all of us who strive to win your admiration, yet she had gotten away with that despicable thing she had done!" Darcia spat with spite.

[She does have a point]

If Hisha could glare at a personified version of HTC, he would have obliterated its head first.

He had been given a stupid task to copulate with Alta and gain her submission, the celestials had rather placed a curse on him and hindered his ability to give out the punishment he knew the other harem desired.

Yet, despite all of this, he had overlooked what she had done to contain lots of casualties.

'Would you just shut it?!' Hisha's brows twitched with burning fury against his system, he was done being discarded by his system whenever a point was made, being treated almost as though he was ignorant about what he was going through.

"Would you have preferred if she had killed a lot more if I hadn't arrived?" Hisha reasoned, internally facepalming because none could see the bigger picture.

There were just a selected few who could match up with Alta's aggression and come out unscathed.

Darcia was stunned by his reasoning, taken aback by his stoic expression. "Would you have permitted us to ambush and kill one another, my lord?"

There was a collective gasp coming from the others who took his silence as a confirmation.

"Indisputably not, I would never encourage that sort of action." Hisha blatantly turned down the idea.

Adamant on getting the truth out of the box, Layla cut in immediately. "Does that mean only Alta could pull on one of those dishonorary actions and get away with it?"

Darcia's face lit up at the support she had gotten from Layla, giving a nod of appreciation.

"She has been disciplined and wouldn't engage in such acts," Hisha assured, hoping not to sound biased about the discussion.

[Wrong move, host. What sort of discipline are we talking about?!]

HTC snickered at the sort of response its host could give if asked that question by any of his harem members

Before anyone could question his method, he continued. "The last tournament is a testament to that, while everyone had killed their opponents, Alta didn't."

Narrowing their eyes, the room instantly fell quiet as they all contemplated what he had said.

It was true that they had all been shocked by the way Alta had handled Zui.

"You had tamed her so easily?" Meretrix 02-11 had her mouth gaped open at the information.

"Make her submissive is more like it." Hisha modified the wording.

[Keep going, you're almost done with the task]

[Natural conversation with Darcia in progress]

Hisha's mood instantly elevated with the news of his natural conversation with a single harem member was almost complete.

His attention was solely on Darcia, eager to get the rare item promised as a reward.

Beckoning her to return to his side, he caressed her shoulder which confused the heck out of her.

'What's gotten into him?!' She thought as she tried to nestle in his arms.

"Could you all tell me a bit about yourselves?" Hisha smiled, wanting to prolong the discussion further, in hopes of knowing a bit of their background history and getting Darcia to interact more with him.

Layla clapped her hands and squealed as all harem members joined in the fun.

"Lord Hisha it would be of great privilege if we know a bit of your prestigious life outside rulership."

'What the hell?! That wasn't part of the bargain.' Hisha backed up as he watched all eyes focused squarely on him with mischievous grins.

*****

Meanwhile,

Outside the door of Meretrix 02,

Kritz had been standing out, keeping watch for intruders, after what Hisha had related to him on what had gone wrong with his sanity, he realized there was a lot for him to learn from Lord Hisha.

'I would never allow anyone to use my weakness to their advantage!' He vowed as his red eyes glowed while staring down the hallway.

Whoosh!

His eyes followed the strange sound and his canines protruded and so did his claws.

Taking a sniff of the air, he frowned at the putrid smell that forced him to take a step back.

Clak!

Clak!

The sound of something approaching caused him to put up his guard, ready to prevent the further approach of the figure.

"Come out of the shadows, and stop being a coward!" He threatened with a hiss.

A series of cackled laughter could be heard from the other side as the movement stopped.

Kritz growled as he watched a wooden leg bring out its tip so he could understand the unlikely situation he was in.

Even though Kritz was confident in his abilities, he was also puzzled as to how this strange creature or deceptive work of someone against their supreme ruler, got into the citadel.

"Aren't you scared of what you might see once I come out of the dark?" The eerie voice questioned.

Unfazed by the taunts from the strange individual, Kritz prepared for an attack. "How about you show yourself and see what I think about your mistake in stepping a foot into the citadel?!"

*****

A/N

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