I looked at the group of people that emerged from the woods. Their numbers were small, only reaching ten... or rather nine, given how the only one that I could recognize, Ackhart, appeared to be covered in sealing formations.
I pulled Mia closer into my embrace, looking at the newcomers with a small smirk.
"Before we start killing each other," I said, "how about you guys sit down and listen to what the fuck is actually going on right now?" I suggested, feeling proud for never dropping my Mage's Tower.
The fact that I never lowered this spell of mine came from a simple and perverted wish to feel Mia even more, even if it meant doing so strictly on the mana level. Yet, as it turned out, this slight perversion and longing of mine made me fully prepared for an attack even before it came.
For a moment, the elders of the sect were frozen in place, stunned by my unexpected suggestion.
And this was just the window of opportunity that I was looking for.
Before anyone could react, I took a step forward... Only to sit down by the flame and pull Mia right on my lap.
"First off, release Ackhart," I ordered casually, refusing to look anywhere else but right into Mia's eyes.
"Do you even have the slightest..." the leader of the group attempted to say something.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't consider two things.
First, he was well within the sphere of influence of my Mage's Tower. And secondly, I didn't like his tone.
'Disturb,' I thought, calling forth the one ability that I was usually pretty hesitant to use.
Normally, outside of my Mage's Tower, this spell would allow me to throw my opponent off. But just like my bolts and wardens, once cast within the sphere of influence of my Mage's Tower, this spell evolved.
There were no fireworks. No blood splattered on everyone present. While I could easily make it do so, I didn't want to spoil Mia's beauty with the rotten blood of those fuckers.
That's why, instead of going for the theatrics, I simply stopped the heart of the elders' leader before turning his brain into mincemeat.
"Are you comfortable?" I asked, refusing to move my eyes away from Mia's face. And that question of mine was well in order, given how my boner continued to poke her delicate flesh from below.
"I couldn't find a more divine seat," Mia replied with a gentle smile as she rested her head on my chest and closed her eyes. Then, just as a small, cheeky smile appeared on her lips, she started to lightly move her hips around, griding down on the tent that I couldn't help but pitch right away.
Thump.
The sound of the elder's body falling to the ground went right by my ears.
"Antrall!" one of the elders shouted, finally noticing the problem with the leader of their group.
"I guess we really should get ourselves a room," I muttered, playfully poking my finger into Mia's breast.
But I couldn't really focus on enjoying my long-awaited reunion with a bunch of clucking chickens right behind my back.
Yet, before I could as much as turn my head or even retreat my finger, Mia pushed herself forward, pressing her breast against my hand as she leaned over my ear. "I don't really mind where you will take me. I just want to be with you," she whispered in a sweet voice.
I wouldn't dare to call myself a man if my hardon didn't tingle when those words penetrated deep into my mind.
Unable to stop myself, I looked at Mia's face... Only to notice a satisfied smile on her lips as she returned to her previous position, only to start wiggling her hips once again.
"He is dead," another elder gave his diagnosis. Even though I didn't even bother to look through my Mage's Tower, I could tell they all turned to look at me.
"I think I told you guys to release Ackhart," I reminded them, still refusing to move my eyes away from Mia while doing my utmost not to soil my pants.
To be fair, Mia didn't even need to grind her hips on me to get me going. Just her presence, right in my arms, was enough to stimulate me more than even the most intense porn I watched back in my former life.
"Release him!" the same elder that noticed Antrall's death before now shouted his order.
Now that I showed them their place, they clearly weren't going to cross me.
"This world is so damn simple," I muttered, raising my hand to rub its outer side against Mia's cheek. Entrapped in the deep void of her eyes, I couldn't even bother to look at the result of my quick attack.
"Isn't it?" Mia echoed my words, gracing me with yet another lovely smile of hers.
'Damn, there is something wrong with our relationship,' I thought, finally able to pinpoint the one thing that always bugged me.
I was just too damn attracted to her. Unless it had something to do with mana or the rules of this world, then wasn't our mutual draw to the other way stronger than what one would normally experience?
Yet, as curious as this aspect of our relationship was, I wasn't going to waste my time thinking it through.
"Arthur..." Ackart muttered when all his seals were undone. "Why did you... You knew who I was, and you still..." he attempted to say something twice, only to look at the faces of the other elders and turn silent.
"I did it because it matters not anymore," I spoke, finally allowing myself some rest from Mia's playfulness by closing my eyes and leaning my head to the back. "You were a double agent working for the true royals. Here, your secret is revealed," I said to Ackhart's dismay.
Thankfully, this man knew enough about me to realize that I wasn't simply trying to fuck him over.
"Why?" he asked shortly in a voice that demanded the answer rather than just asking for it. But contrary to the elder that dared to use an arrogant voice towards me before, he actually deserved an answer in my eyes.
"Because it doesn't matter anymore," I replied before opening up my eyes and looking at the girl by the fire who had already told us how she felt like a third wheel. "Would you mind repeating what you told me to them?"
In theory, I could explain everything to them. I could tell them how this world was about to change. How the mana ecosystem of this world was about to get wrecked by an entire continent-worth of foreign mana of different kind that would soon come to this world in the form of the violet meteors.
But with Mia on my lap grinding down on my boner while smiling playfully...
How could I be as heartless as to bother with those idiots?
"How much should I tell them?" the girl asked while intentionally refusing to look at the lovely-dovely two of us.
"Just tell them the truth," I replied, glancing over at the girl only to move my eyes right back at Mia. "Tell them what's going to happen to this world."