The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 25: Celebrations And Spirits

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“Mama! Auntie! Wake up already! The banquet’s starting soon! Wake up! Come on! Come on, come on!”

The voice of little Hekita woke me up, and I found myself cuddling with both of my mates. We were sleeping on their comfortable bed made of fluffy beast leather and fur. I could hear the sound of music and drums outside and the laughter and voices of many people, along with the smell of delicious roasted meat.

“Okay, okay, we’re coming, honey,” I said, giving her a head pat. As I quickly covered my nude body, she didn’t seem to mind it. “Sweeties, wake up~” I slowly woke up my two lovers by kissing and scratching their long, fluffy ears.

“Hmm… Ah, AH!” Urbosa woke up rather rapidly. “Shit! Right, the banquet!”

“Ahhh… Scratch me there a bit more, my love." Merkite, in the other case, was enjoying my little scratching. “Yeah, right there, ooh."“Fufu, enough; let’s wake up already.” I quickly helped my slightly lazier mate stand up.

Indeed, while Urbosa was the more diligent of the two, Merkite was much lazier. She took a while to wake up; I helped her get dressed, and then we finally joined the banquet. My sister, mother, and even Felix was already with them, waiting for us.

“We’re here! Sorry for being late.” I apologized to the elders.

“Hohoho, I am sure you were busy! In our tribe, it is normal for us to show love for one another through all matters of physical contact. If you know what I mean, I hope you can get used to that.” The Elder lady smiled while giggling.

“A-ahaha, I honestly don’t mind it.” I smiled.

“She’s really good at it, elder.” Said Urbosa with a nod.

“Very good indeed.” Merkite agreed as well.

“Good! I suppose you’re indeed worthy of becoming a member of our tribe, Bing Xue. Now join us in our celebratory spiritual dance.” The Elder said.

“Spiritual dance, huh?” I looked at the people of the tribe dancing around a huge bonfire, wearing the bones and leather of the beasts they hunted.

For a moment, I thought it was simply a dance, but things became magical very quickly. An energy that I hadn’t seen before surged out of the people here, swirling around the bonfire as the dance kept going.

“The Spirits! The Beast Spirits are here!” Hekita clapped while moving around, imitating the dancers. “Look! Look!”

She pointed above the dancers. The colorful energies swirled and combined into a myriad of shapes and forms, enormous beings above the cosmos, the stars, glancing gently at their people. They had the shape of beasts. Yet they weren’t the Gods I had sensed before. They were something much more spiritual, much more mystical.

As the music intensified and the dance became even faster and more intense, the spirits of all shapes and sizes descended into smaller forms, dancing with the dancers and then flying around all of us. Sparkles of light cover our bodies, blessing us with fortune.

However, suddenly, as the dance continued, many of the people here noticed something. All of the spirits gathered around me, looking at me with both curiosity and wonder.

“Hello.” I smiled gently at them. “Don’t worry, I am not a threat. I will protect your people, I promise.”

The spirits sensed my sincerity almost immediately, wagging their tails. Some of them licked me, others patted my head, and a few only watched. Slowly, they returned to the dance, slowly dissipating into the skies and then disappearing. The dance ended, and everyone celebrated. The elders walked towards me.

“Incredible, it seems you’ve been chosen by the Divine Beast Spirits!” They said.

“Chosen?” I wondered.

“It means they want you to lead us to prosperity!” Said Merkite. “I’ve never seen this before! It said that it only happens when a new chief is chosen.”

"But please don’t feel forced; you don’t really need to be the chief.” Said Urbosa. “I’m sorry if it felt forceful, but it's not like the spirits are forcing you either.”

“Ah, well… I suppose I can think about it.” I said. “Thank you for choosing me, though.”

“Well! Shall the celebrations begin then? Let the banquet start! Eat, dance, love, and laugh!” Laughed the Elder lady. “Tonight, we celebrate the return of our beloved children and the new additions to our ever-growing family!”

“WOOOOOH!”

The beast people howled and roared in unison, celebrating our arrival with great joy and happiness. I’ve never felt like this before—to be welcomed by so many in such an honest and “wild” way. I was growing more and more fond of these people by the minute.

I sat down close to the bonfire with the rest of my family, now with three more additions to its numbers. Urbosa and Merkite sat right next to my left and right without letting me go anywhere. They served me roasted meat and their wine, which was an exquisite combination of fermented fruit juice and many aromatic herbs. It had a strong flavor and an even stronger aroma.

The roasted meat consisted of over ten different monsters they had hunted and a few of the cattle they kept. The cattle they had were rarely sacrificed to be eaten; they kept the ducks for their eggs, the cows for their milk, and the sheep for their wool.

The people of the Silver Moon Beast Tribe very much preferred to eat what they hunted instead. And from what I could detect, there was Giant Wild Boar Meat, Lesser Wyvern, Wrathful Bull, Fiery Bird, and Giant Catfishes. Monsters which are often qualified as D Rank or C Rank.

Although not everyone in the tribe was as strong as my two mates, they could combine their abilities and power together, hunting large prey in groups of over twenty hunters. Easily taking down C Rank Monsters with their amazing cooperation abilities.

“Is the wine good, honey?” Urbosa asked with a cute and motherly voice.

“It is really delicious, dear.” I smiled, kissing her cheeks. “But it becomes even tastier when someone as beautiful as you serve it to me.” I caressed her fluffy chin.

“Oh my, you’re so good with your words, honestly~ Fufu.” She felt slightly embarrassed.

“W-What about the meat?” Merkite was wagging her tail, also expecting praise.

“Really delicious; the flavor intensifies with a beauty like you by my side.” I smiled.

“A-Ahaha, then it’s good. I’m glad.” She blushed. “Tomorrow we’ll go hunt something together, and we’ll cook for you with what we hunted. It is the least we can do as your mates.”

“Well! If you want to spoil me a bit more, go ahead.” I feel in heaven right now. “But I’ll also help if possible. Although I haven’t decided if I should become or not your chief, there are a few things I could do to help improve the livelihood of your village.”

“Really?” Hekita wondered.

“Yep, but not until tomorrow; let’s just relax and enjoy the night.” I smiled.

As the night went by and my mates and Hekita joined the dance with the rest of their tribe, I had some time to talk with my mother and my sister about life and the recent events that had happened so far.

“It seems you’ve already found yourself something you couldn’t before.” My mother smiled. “I’m glad they love you, honey. Take good care of them, okay?”

“I will.” I nodded. “I am still learning the ins and outs of being in a relationship, though. It is easier than I imagined in some respects, but I fear that might be because those two are very carefree.”

“Yeah, other girls wouldn’t really like you having a second girlfriend.” Said my sister. “But I guess the people of this village are quite different.”

“A-Ah, yes, they are indeed.” I nodded, feeling slightly nervous. “I know it might not be seen well back on Earth, but I don’t particularly care about the opinions of lowly mortals.”

“Ah, well, I guess you never truly cared, huh?” Laughed my mother. “It’s fine. It’s good to have a daughter who is strong and doesn’t care about anything for once."

“Hey! What with that glare? I just am worried about social stuff, but yeah, I won’t care either.” Ruby shrugged. “Anyways, I just called Juan; I’ll be meeting him tomorrow in the Adventurer’s Guild. Can he join us here for the week?”

“Hm…” I sighed. “How about you just drop that man and find a new boyfriend here? Look at all the strong men around here. I don’t particularly like men, but I can recognize they seem attractive to straight women, right?”

“I don’t feel attracted to them, sis. They have the heads of dogs and cats…” My sister sighed.

"Ruby, that’s racist.” My mother said,.

“Ugh, okay, sorry... Big Sis doesn’t seem to mind it, though. Like, they’re full of hair!” She said.

“Yes! It is the best!” I nodded. “I love how fluffy and cute they are. I would spend all day caressing their black, soft fur.”

“Your sister just happens to be much more open-minded than you.” My mother glared at Ruby.

“Geh… Okay, you do you, I just prefer human beings. And Juan’s an alright boyfriend, perhaps the best one I’ve had so far. So I don’t want to ruin our relationship. He said he’s okay with coming here, and he’s even willing to spend a week with me in this rural area too.” Ruby said. “You know that I care for him, right? It’s not just that he’s good in bed."

“Hm, I can tell.” I nodded. “Okay, alright. Sorry for saying that before.” I gave her a head pat. “You may go to sleep then, dear.”

“I was already going to, not like I need your permission~,” She said, standing up. “Anyways, good night! Hey, don’t spend too much time drinking, though.”

“Yeah, bye!” I waved my hand.

“Good night, sweetie.” My mother waved her hand.

As we were left alone with my mother, I decided to ask her about life and how she had been doing. She told me a few of her experiences as a hunter, how hard it was for her to complete the tutorial, and more. Hearing about her hardships and the countless times she went through near-death experiences only made me more furious against the Tower and the Gods.

“I see… Well, I remember Ruby mentioning something about a boyfriend; do you have one?” I wondered.

“A-Ah! No, not really." She said. “She was just joking, though, but... Well, I did date someone. A woman, though…”

“Oh my.” I giggled. “I didn’t know my mother was…”

“I’ve always been bisexual; it's just that your dad never knew; none of you knew…” She sighed. “I was happy with him though, but now that it has been so long since he passed away, I feel like I want to start a new relationship, but it's hard to find someone. Really hard. It was just a one-night thing, and she didn’t really want to start anything either. I haven’t spoken with her since then.”

“I see… What was her name? I would like to know the one that broke my mother’s heart.” I smiled gently.

“Katherine, don’t you dare do anything weird! She’s Camilla, a friend from high school…” My mom sighed. “We were girlfriends before, but we broke up and never talked until just a couple of months ago.”

“Huh, I see... I had no idea you were like this, Mom; I can see why you accepted me being lesbian so quickly back then.” I giggled. “Well, Father was rather shocked at first, but after talking to him about it, he accepted it extremely quickly too.”

“Your father was always open-minded too, but I never thought it was necessary to tell him I was bisexual, not like I was ever going to cheat with a woman or something.” She shrugged. “But after his passing, things slowly changed... Maybe this is a bit embarrassing to talk with my own daughter, but I really want to experience more of my sexuality as a woman. Is it weird?”

“Of course it’s not, mom. I am the same! Imagine that I’ve been a virgin for eleven thousand years. You can’t believe how happy I felt when those two finally took that away.” I laughed out loud.

“Jesus, Katherine.” My mother laughed out loud as well. “Don’t say that out of nowhere!”

“Well, whatever. We are both adults now, right, Mom?” I winked at her. “Anyways, there’s a lot of “available” people in this tribe, so you should try to experiment more, no?”

“Hmmm… I don’t know what to think about their fur and appearance. But they do have good bodies, both men and women, so bulky. I like bulky people.” She nodded. “M-Maybe your mother will give herself a little fun, but for now, just go back with your girls; they’re calling for you over there.”

“Ah, right! Then, I shall go.” I said. “Have fun, Mother.”

I walked away as I enjoyed the dancing and celebrations with my friends and my new adoptive daughter. I was never good at dancing myself, but I think I did my best. We also ate even more, drank even more, kissed, hugged, and loved one another. Several other pairs of mates were doing something similar. This tribe was very open regarding that.

However, as the night continued, the celebrations finally ended, and everyone slowly started moving back to their houses. When I joined back with my mother while carrying Hekita asleep over my arms, I found her kissing with a silver-furred wolf girl.

“Hmm~ Ahhh, Catrina, you’re too intense…”

“Let’s go to my tent then; I will give you a good time. No compromises; let’s enjoy it together.”

“Uwaah! W-Well, if you really want to!”

I saw the strong wolf girl carry my mother away like a princess. She didn’t resist, and she seemed aroused by that. I suppose my mother will have the fun she wanted at the end, which is good for her.

“She’s sleeping like a little baby pup.” Urbosa giggled as I left Hekita sleeping in her bedroom.

“I guess so. Good night, little princess.” I kissed her on the forehead as we walked away.

And similarly to my mother earlier, I was not going to go to sleep yet.

“Shall we resume where we left off before we slept?” Asked Merkite, massaging my body and then greedily grasping my breasts.

“I believe you don’t mind if we do, right?” Urbosa smiled, licking my neck tenderly.

“I-I don’t mind at all... Let’s have fun together~”

Thankfully, I had endless stamina, so I could go on for hours without needing any rest.

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Within the depths of the Underworld of the World of Eclipse, where darkness and shadows enshrouded it all and where the Undead wandered freely, there was a castle. A black castle, full of deadly undead, and with a throne made of ghosts and bones.

Sitting above the throne, a Divine Figure remained in eternal silence, enshrouded in pure darkness, and whose hands were like those of skeletons. He had no face; his true body was merely an endless amount of darkness, a legion of billions of evil spirits.

A black hood covered his faceless face as two red dots shone within the darkness of his entire being. He was certainly neither a human nor an undead. He was a God.

Unlike the Goddess, he had no servants as loyal as Angelic Spirits, but it wasn’t as if he needed them; his red eyes could see through all darkness.

A blue orb projected what happened to his cult within Nexus City—rage slowly swelling within his entire being.

“Mortal… You don’t know... who you’re messing with…”

His eyes shone brightly as he pointed his claws towards another sphere to his left. In a second, divine power reached countless other disciples he had through the Radiant Continent.

“Now that my sister’s church is gone, this is the perfect opportunity for my cult to rise. If we can’t kill her, make sure to destroy that damned city and everything she holds dear.” Malefic laughter echoed within the underworld. Pitch-black portals slowly started to open over several areas of both the tower and outside of it.

“You will regret what you’ve done.”

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