The next day Ashton had a rough blueprint of Nirvana in his hands. Nora had tried to remember as many details as possible about the kingdom from when she was there. Mera used this information to draw a rough city plan; the map she made was enough for Ashton to get to work.
The only issue was, how were to going to cross half the planet and get to Nirvana?
If Ashton had his ship, it would only be a matter of minutes, but it could take days now. More importantly, the portal connectivity between the nations and Nirvana had been severed soon after the undead took over most of Lycania.
In hindsight, it was more of a strategic move than anything else. Even if the werewolves were to accuse the undead of causing this catastrophe, they would innocently point towards the closed portals. If they wanted to take over the nation, why won't they take advantage of their situation and invade through the portals?
"We don't need portals, do we?" Ashton mumbled while lying in bed, "The Giholo ships should be able to carry us."
"What about the fuel?" While playing with Ashton's hair, Anna replied, "Those ships have been dry for months. Also, some of them have been scrapped to use against the undead, and I doubt they'd be in working condition."
"Ricochet is an expert when it comes to these things. I once saw him and Kass chatting enthusiastically about ships before we left. Maybe he could help."
"Maybe, you need to start living in the moment for a while."
Anna stood up with her hands behind her head. Her naked body was in full display, making Ashton smile like a complete moron. Saying he was mesmerised by her was quite an understatement.
Brushing her hair aside, Anna leaned in and whispered in Ashton's ear, "Happy birthday, love. How does it feel to be of the 'age'?"
"You tell me, you've been eighteen for a couple of months now," Ashton replied before pulling Anna in for a kiss.
"Alright, I'll start washing up. You're invited as usual." Anna turned around and winked.
Her body was so slim and toned; it was no surprise all the men kept drooling over her. Her porcelain white skin resembled the snow covering Livan. It looked immaculate, without a single blemish or flaw on its surface.
[You are one lucky bastard.]
'Tell me something I don't know. Also, you can stop drooling now.'
[Ahem, since it's your birthday, I, too, have prepared a gift for you.]
'Let me guess, you did what I asked of you?' Ashton smirked, 'You know you can't call that a gift.'
[You ungrateful brat! Fine, I'll think of something else. But now, it's time to visit Beelzebub.]
Ashton sighed, left the bed and began working out.
'I'm not sure about this, Asta.'
Last night, before getting busy with Anna, the two men sharing one brain chatted with each other. Ashton was by far stronger than Beelzebub now; as such, there was no point in keeping him a prisoner inside Raphael's domain.
Also, Ashton had planned to make the gluttonous bastard do some work for him since killing a Xyran wasn't an option. The question was, how would Ashton convince him?
[First, stop calling me that. Second, I share your concern, but Beelzebub can be an asset. Both politically and warfare-wise. He might be an ass, but there's no denying his capabilities when it comes to warfare.]
'Have any idea about his status?'
[Considering this is the longest time I have left someone in Raphael's domain, I'm confident one of two scenarios will unfold if you enter the domain now.]
'Beelzebub would either go berserk on me or-'
[Think of you as a hallucination. Pretty sure his head wouldn't be in place after being left alone for months with nothing to do. Honestly, I'd be surprised if he showed any emotion towards you or me for that fact.]
"Let's get it over with."
Ashton finished with pull-ups and quietly covered up. Prisoner or not, he wasn't going in front of a man with his dragon in full view. Once done, Astaroth allowed access to Raphael, and both of them went to greet Beelzebub in his 'prison'.
Ashton opened his eyes and found himself lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. The room was dimly lit and still, oddly still. Had he not been aware, he'd thought he was alone in the room.
Suddenly, the sound of rattling chains broke the silence of the room. Ashton turned around, and there he was.
Beelzebub was in the same position as Ashton remembered him. There wasn't a part of his body that hadn't been chained to the domain itself, making escape impossible.
The Xyran appeared tired, his swollen eyes lifelessly staring at the floor, helpless to do anything. Ashton felt sorry for the man for a moment but quickly pushed the thought out of his head.
Slowly walking up to Beelzebub, Ashton noticed the rage and humiliation the Xyran had felt after his defeat was nowhere to be found. Beelzebub had been turned into a shell of the person Ashton had fought with a couple of years ago.
"Why are you here?" He weakly mumbled, "To make fun of your prisoner? To rub salt-"
Beelzebub frantically stared at Ashton, but then the look on his face changed.
"You... how did you-"
"I got stronger," Ashton shrugged, "Raphael, lose the chains for a moment, please."
Raphael did as he was told, and following a loud clang, Beelzebub was free from his restraints.
"What do you want?" Beelzebub asked while rubbing his wrists to ease the blood flow.
"You're being oddly courteous," Ashton raised an eyebrow.
"Did you expect me to attack you as soon as you dropped the shackles?" Beelzebub shook his head, "I don't know what that bastard Astaroth has been telling you, but I'm not stupid enough to attack you here."
"Since neither of us is interested in idle chatter, I'll get to the point." Ashton mumbled, "How would you like to become a werewolf hybrid and work with me?"