QT: Against My Will-Chapter 657 - 3.22 - But At What Cost?
Tyrion has been staying with Lissandra’s group for a month now. Laura and Aria were nowhere to be seen after the lake incident. Lissandra became his savior, and he felt obligated to repay her for her kindness.
Her harem of males were a devoted bunch, always at her beck and call. Tyrion, who didn’t want to share, would have to defeat them to claim Lissandra for himself.
However, he knew that Lissandra would despise him, if he were to do that. It was something Bing Shi had tried to cram into his thick skull from day one.
He would be no different from Laura and Aria if he were to force his affection onto Lissandra. The same females Lissandra saved him from.
It would be a vicious cycle.
Bing Shi would often tease him that Laura and Aria were his match. They had the same mentality as him, so why would he not choose them as his mates?
He wouldn’t have to share them with anyone, and he would have their undying love and devotion.
Some things were hard to be appreciated until they were lost. He thought he would have been satisfied with them gone from his life, but he felt emptier than ever before.
Nobody hugged him to sleep anymore, nobody would braid his hair anymore. Nobody would try to talk his ear off and annoy him to the point he would snap at them.
They would do it all over again the next day, no matter how many times he lashed out at them, chasing after him like he was the only male in the world.
And now that they were not in his face 24/7 he realized just how much he had grown used to their presence.
His eyes began to sting, and he tried to blink away the tears that threatened to spill.
"Hey, what’s wrong?" Lissandra asked, noticing that something wasn’t right with Tyrion. He was spacing out, his expression was growing more distant by the second.
She caressed his cheek gently and then moved her fingers up to wipe away the single tear that rolled down his cheek.
Tyrion flinched slightly and looked at her. She was beautiful and kind, everything any male could wish for. But she wasn’t his, she belonged to others.
"I need more time," he said, not ready to be a part of her family yet.
Lissandra nodded understandingly and got up, "I understand. If there’s anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to ask," she said with a gentle tone.
"Thank you," he replied, smiling weakly at her retreating back. He watched them surround the fire and talk about trivial matters.
Lissandra tried to include him in the conversation, but it wasn’t working out. He was a loner, he didn’t know how to socialize. The only person he ever spoke with was Bing Shi when he courted her and Laura and Aria when he chased them away.
He stood up, releasing his wings and leaping into the sky. The group watched in shock as they didn’t recognize the species of beastman he was, not expecting him to be a winged one.
Lissandra especially, had her eyes wide in awe. One might think that she wanted him even more now.
Tyrion flew across the sky, looking down below. The forest stretched far and wide, with occasional clearings and small villages. A particular clearing made him pause in his tracks and he descended into the trees.
In the middle of it, a large stone was being carved into the shape of a female sitting on a high pillar and looking over the beastmen working below. She had no facial features yet, but the sense of familiarity washed over him.
The head sculptor was none other than Ru Quan. His eyes were focused on the stone, his hands working swiftly. Dana, the female, who disappeared as fast as she appeared in the sheep village was also there.
She was watching the sculpture come to life from the sidelines, sitting on top of what seemed like a cage.
Tyrion widened his eyes when he saw Laura and Aria inside the cage. The females were tied up, tired and exhausted. It looked like they had been kidnapped by the group of savage beastmen.
’What’s going on?’ he asked himself as he drew closer. He could see the beastmen were setting up stakes and piling up dry branches.
Dai An noticed his presence and turned her head in his direction. She looked like a completely different person from the previous times he had seen her.
There was a strange aura surrounding her that sent shivers down his spine and somewhere in between, he sensed his mate. It didn’t make sense. He already had one mate and that was Bing Shi, but the pull towards Dai An was getting stronger and stronger.
His heart rate increased rapidly and he approached her instinctively as if drawn by an invisible force.
Dai An smiled as she brought forth his soulmate. The soul was terrified of Tyrion but she soothed it, calming it down.
Tyrion was in a daze, his eyes glazed over as if hypnotized, but what she did next broke his trance.
"Bring the sacrifice and the offerings!" Dai An shouted to the beastmen below, and they scrambled to obey, dragging the cage to the stake, "They shall burn at the stake, and our god shall be pleased."
Tyrion flew towards them. "No," he shouted when Ru Quan obscured his path, landing on the cage to pick up Dai An.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Tyrion questioned in a low growl as Ru Quan kicked him in the abdomen, the force sending him flying, "Ugh!"
Laura and Aria woke up from a haze, and began to panic. They tried to escape, begging and screaming for help, "No! Please, don’t do this! Let us go!"
Dai An ignored them, "The god wills it, and so it shall be done."
"Have you gone mad?!" Tyrion yelled in rage, "This is not you!"
"Everyone you hold dear is going to die, one after another," Dai An said coldly, and Tyrion’s blood ran cold, "There will be nothing left for you to love in this world. You will feel nothing and no one."
The beastmen pushed the cage inside the campfire and pulled more branches over it. They were savage beastmen and hated females to their core, so when Dai An offered them the chance to burn some as a sacrifice to their new god, they were more than eager to comply.
"Ahhh! Noooo, please, help us!" Laura and Aria screamed in horror from inside the pile. The fire was soon lit, and smoke was starting to fill the area, "Nooo, please, let us out!"
Tyrion fought with his all, but Ru Quan had his own set of skills, and was keeping him in check.
Dai An was right beside them, smiling at the whole scene, and laughing in his face.
"Feel what I’ve felt. Suffer and never know a moment of peace," she said, adding more salt to his wound, "You shall never escape from my wrath, no matter how far you run."
She made up some words based on the feelings the soul had passed on to Bing Shi. Something had hurt it, and it wanted to destroy everything that had wronged it.
"STOP!!!" Tyrion roared in anguish, "Stop this! STOP THIS!!!" he shouted desperately, "I will do whatever you want, just stop!"
"Too late," Dai An said cruelly as the soulmate bond between them slowly broke into pieces.
The females were screaming, crying in pain, painting a picture of pure hell.
Tyrion collapsed on the ground, his heart broken, and tears flowed down his cheeks, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.
[Main mission: Mend Tyrion’s soul. Reward: +20000p. COMPLETED. Host can leave this world.]
His soul had moved on from its old obsessions with its soulmate, and he could no longer feel the connection that once bound them together.
But at what cost?
╔═══ Author’s note ════╗
Btw, Laura and Aria are alive and chilling inside their space. No employees were hurt in the process. 🤣
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