Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 231 Barred

"Are any of you ready!? How much fur do I need to shed for all of you to move!? We've already wasted time just waiting for all of you! You, old man, you're holding everyone down!"

"Edissa… he's still your father. You don't need to be so—"

"Shut up, we're no longer tribesmen!"

Rhys thought that Edissa had already moved on from her father just giving her away as a Bond since they had been talking a lot during the time they were fixing the prison, but it would seem that was not the case at all.

Edissa still clearly holds a grudge.

"We will leave once another one of my furs flies away from my body, anyone still not ready will be left behind!"

These cenleons, they have a lot of pride and more to spare. Rhys has already noticed it ever since meeting them — but as long as it doesn't involve their death, they are incredibly stubborn. Maha and some of them still clearly have not recovered at all from the whiplash of the gravity shift, and yet they forced themselves to stand up on their paws.

As for Rhys, he did not really bother much about them as his chronic overthinking tendencies were coming back to him. He already promised himself and Aethelblac that he won't pursue any of the gods' bullshit and that it didn't concern him — his only mission was to make sure no one would be above him and abuse him anymore.

And yet, right now, Edissa's words repeated in his mind.

King Aethelblac told him that the true enemies were the gods, Arachnea told him something similar, and now Edissa was just confirming all of it.

If the gods truly were playing with them… then doesn't that mean that all of his suffering was because of them?

They sent the monsters to the Surface, and then impregnated the humans with their seed in order for them to fight back — and according to Edissa, they all did that just for entertainment…

…and as punishment for the humans' sins. What sins?

For the population of the Underworld, the Surface was Hell…

…and that they were originally from the Underworld.

"...No," Rhys then whispered to himself and shook his head, "It doesn't matter."

"Did you say something, Rhys?"

And before Rhys could start talking to himself, Edissa tapped him on the shoulder,

"The others are ready to leave. Are you—!!!"

And before Edissa could finish her words, Rhys suddenly grabbed her hand before just leaping above her and sitting on top of her feline body.

"Wha—" Edissa quickly lost strength in her legs and dropped to the ground; her face, turning incredibly red.

"Oh… I'm sorry," Rhys quickly jumped down and stood in front of Edissa, "Are you still weak from the gravity shift?"

"N…No!" Edissa quickly shook her head, "Stop—stop going on top of me, Rhys! I'm not a centaur who would let a bipedal bond on top of me, nor a horse for that matter! Stop doing that!"

"...You mean I can't ride you?"

"I'm not a horse!" Edissa covered her face, "We… only our mate is allowed to go on top of us! It… it literally leaves us weak and vulnerable."

"You have the same weak point as a cat?" Rhys slightly leaned away as he looked at Edissa from head to toe before looking behind her waist, at the part where her human body and feline body began to merge, "...But that's not your neck."

And as soon as Edissa heard that, she quickly covered her neck from Rhys.

"Wh…what are you going to do!?"

"Nothing…" Rhys squinted his eyes; his thoughts, doing deeper into a rabbit hole as he started to think how exactly he would mate with Edissa when the time came. He was sure that, unlike Arachnae, Edissa was not able to separate herself from her feline body since she wasn't exactly a god.

Once again, Rhys's morality and ethics were being challenged.

"Why…" Edissa, who was about to stand up, once again quickly lowered her hind leg as she noticed Rhys suddenly looking at her behind, "...I am your Bond, not your mate!"

"I wasn't thinking of anything like that," Rhys quickly said while shaking his head, "If the others have recovered, then let's not waste any time."

"R… right," Edissa's tail started to flail as her ears stood up. And as they did so, the other cenleons all started to move. At first, they were only walking, but as their lag finally completely dissipated, Edissa and the others started running — and they were fast, incredibly so. If it wasn't for Ayesha's ability and his unlimited stamina, he would have probably been left behind by them.

They weren't only fast, they were agile too. As soon as they reached a Forest region, Edissa and the others opted to move above the trees; leaping from one branch to the next; how they were able to stand on the thin branches despite their heavy weight, Rhys could really only guess.

One thing Rhys did notice, however… was that they were traversing the harder path on purpose.

"I think it's best if we slow down, everyone!" Edissa raised her voice, but Maha and the others did not really listen to her at all as they just continued to run through the trees. Edissa then turned to look at Rhys to see how he was doing, only to see him just also casually leaping from tree to tree.

Unlike them, however, Rhys was practically causing a storm of leaves to drop as every tree he leaped upon swayed from the sheer force of his kick,

"Are… you not tired, Rhys?"

"Ask me again in a few hours," Rhys only smiled at Edissa.

"I'm sorry…" Edissa sighed as she followed Rhys's rhythm, "...It is obvious they are making it hard for you."

"It's fine," Rhys shook his head, "The faster I get back to the Surface, the better anyway… We should just run to the city without stopping."

Another hour had passed, and the cenleons finally stopped running as soon as they were out of the Forest Region. Most of them were already breathing through their mouths, and the hot Desert region they now found themselves in did not help at all.

"That human…" Meelo grabbed the bottle of water his friend was drinking and chugged it while glaring at Rhys, "...I swear, I will have him killed as soon as we get to Nahisha."

"...Why don't you just give it up?" His friend snatched the bottle from him, "The humans that we've met so far on the Surface are completely different from the ones we're eating — there's something wrong with them. Why are they so strong…?"

"Who cares? They're still food," Meelo's fangs started to show themselves as a growl almost escaped his lips, "And they should remain our food. Once we reach the city, I will—"

"Since you're so excited to reach the city,"

And before Meelo could finish his words, Rhys suddenly turned his head toward him and started approaching,

"We should just continue on with our journey. I think that would be the best for everyone so we can get you home as fast as possible."

"What…?" Edissa quickly walked beside Rhys, "But we just ran more than a hundred kilometers at full speed, Rhys. We need to rest."

"Rest? Obviously not," Rhys let out a small chuckle as he continued to move closer to Meelo; looking him in the eyes as his voice turned deep, "Since all of you have the energy to chat with your lungs, then you have the energy to run."

Unfortunately for everyone there, Rhys spent more than a month as a drill instructor in the Underworld Corps — and perhaps the most terrifying one since he literally couldn't get tired.

"So… Arise, kittens," Rhys chuckled, "We have a long road ahead of us."

"You think we'll just follow your ord—!!!"

And before Meelo could finish his words, Rhys grabbed him by the cheeks and squeezed his jaw tight,

"Yes. Yes, you will."

One might consider this bullying, and Rhys not being better than the people he hated — but it wasn't. It was obvious that Meelo and the other cenleons wished for his harm, he was already being amicable by not framing their murder here and now.

"If you don't run, then I suppose you're the weakest of the pride."

And as soon as Rhys said those words, it was almost as if the eyes of the cenleons lit up as they all hid their water bottles and stood up; not even waiting for the others as they started running again.

Edissa, who saw this, could not help but just cover her face in shame.

"We… we truly aren't the smarter species, are we?" Edissa asked.

"Collectively, perhaps," Rhys shrugged, "But individually, I assure you — there are a lot of dumb humans. Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Hm?"

"Run."

"...Right."

And after almost an entire day, Rhys and the cenleons finally arrived at their destination. And surprisingly, without encountering any troubles. There were monsters, but the group did not really bother and just continued their pace.

Most of the cenleons quickly just dropped or fainted while holding their heart as soon as they reached the so-called city — well, Rhys was assuming that it was a city, but he could not really see anything since it was covered by a large gate, and an even taller wall.

Rhys would have liked to already see the inside, but…

"Don't, he's with us!"

"Why is this human not tied up!? And which tribe are you from!?"

The city wasn't letting them enter.