Rykard felt his eye twitch. All of this was just so… pathetic.

  At the edge of his consciousness, the Conjuration Realm rubbed against his apprehensiveness. Thoughtlessly, he reached in and pulled. Whatever the other dimension suggested, he was just going to run with it.

  “Hey, say somethiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!” The corpulent elf took a half step forward. His foot nded on a new surface, one that was in motion. To keep his bance, he had to take another step forward. He stumbled, almost fell, and was forced to take a third step. The ground under his feet kept on moving, circling around an axis.

  Rykard had summoned some kind of ft bug creature. Its back was the ground the elf now ran on, its head extended into two antennae that he held onto for dear life. Huffing and puffing, the elf tried his best to keep standing. He gnced over his shoulder, looking for an escape, but found a pair of stingers there.

  “EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the elf was now sprinting. The tread under his feet just spun faster. There was no escaping this fate.

  Rykard’s keen eyes picked up simir shouts from outside. Taking a moment to let the fat elf wallow in his misery, the king peeked outside. To his amusement, he found that he had summoned simir bugs under the feet of everyone who had been surrounding the building in a wide radius. The hostile crowd was being transformed into a sweaty, non-threatening mess.

  Laughing smugly, he went back into the building, past the sprinting guards, and returned to the elf. “See, this is impressive,” he said. He didn’t even know how exactly he had done this. Like the cosmic stag, this was an instance of his instincts guiding his esoteric might more than his mind did. Granted, this was less impressive in its manifestation.

  “Stop… stop please… I can’t…”

  “That’s what you tell yourself every day while you choke on cheesecake, isn’t it?” Rykard pointed out. “I can’t run! My poor knees!”

  “I have…”

  “Yes, yes,” Rykard waved off. He gave the bug a mental command to decrease the speed. The corpulent knife-ear slowed to a sustainable pace. “I am king Rykard of New Eden, the Contestant who summoned this Dual Hexagon. Who am I speaking too?”

  “B-buldoril,” the elf introduced himself.

  ‘Really? Boulder-il? The joke writes itself,’ Rykard thought. “What do you and your people provide?”

  “We are… master enchanters! Our magic does everything!”

  “Everything? Can you reshape pnts to triple their yield?”

  “Wha- Whew… oof… huff…” Buldoril was trying to keep his breath steady. “What would we need the filthy feathered alchemy for when we can just enchant the soil to grow crops thrice as fast!”

  ‘Right, so that’s the racial animus confirmed again,’ Rykard thought. ‘Do I even bother to drill deeper or do I cut my losses?’

  Rykard took one more look at what was the leader of this sorry heap. They checked the technologically advanced box, he had to give the gods credit there. Beyond that, they were unworthy of his time and certainly of the girls he brought with him.

  “You’ll hear from me again when I have it in me to care about you,” Rykard stated and turned around.

  “W-wait! This thing… turn this thing off!”

  “Oh, yes, thank you for reminding me.” Rykard smirked over his shoulder and lifted the limiter he had pced on the treadmill bug. Back to sprinting, the rotund elf tried desperately to stay away from the stinger.

  They wouldn’t even harm the elf if he did fall off, but as long as he did not know that the deterrent was quite real.

  Rykard left him and the rest of the crowd running. Little legs under the turning treads allowed the bugs to skitter around even as the men atop were running to save their lives. A neat corridor formed, letting the king and his exclusively female company walk away. “Not quite worthy of your girls, I would say.”

  “What, no, absolutely worthy,” Lyvia drawled sarcastically. “Who doesn’t want to marry sausage rolls?”

  Helenn broke out into loud ughter and the entire army moved back south.

  “How do elves even get this fat?” Tena asked. “Or this pale? Do they never go outside? Disgraceful.”

  “They will be a difficult popution to handle,” Mena added.

  “I think they’ll know better than to question me after that,” Rykard stated. “If nothing else, when they get to stop running, they’ll have to realize that power I wield. Either they go full rebellion or they’ll stay nice and quiet.” He looked over his shoulder. “But I definitely should be more careful with the word ‘loyal’.”

  “When do they get to stop running anyway?” Tena asked. “Please tell me it’s when they get thin.”

  “It’s when they can’t anymore. The bugs will disappear once they are genuinely out of energy. I doubt they’ll eat less tomorrow though.”

  Back south, the journey took them.

  “We are doing so much nothing,” Helenn compined on the path. “It’s like we are doing all of this stuff to do so much more nothing and its sooooo arduous!”

  “It is in the nature of deployments,” Lyvia stated.

  “No one ever tells civilians that the two most important skills of the average soldier is marching fast and staying in formation,” Rykard weighed in. “The most feared armies are always those that are where you don’t want them earlier than you expected.” He rolled his neck. “That being said, maybe I should look into some kind of permanent steed.”

  Finding a method of transportation that was reliable was difficult for a man like Rykard. For one, whatever he ended up with, be it a beast of burden or a mechanical solution, needed to be capable of crossing long distances without maintenance. In the case of an animal, it needed to be able to subsist off conjured food and water alone, which was too intense in magic for a great many creatures.

  The solution also needed to actually be faster than Rykard. If he pushed himself, he could outsprint a horse and certainly had more endurance than one on long distances.

  There was a reason why Rykard most relied on conjuring carriages. It was actually the best he had on hand for the time being. In the future, alternative solutions would have to be found though. Even if it had only been accessible to the nobility, a portal network had been erected in the Troyk Empire. No reason not to replicate this here once he had the necessary mages and mana crystals for the task.

  They were greeted at the gate by the soldiers and Udunan. The commander greeted Rykard with a straightened back and a furrowed brow. That was all the signs the king needed. “Something the matter?” he asked.

  “My brother saw it fit to invite the local leaders to speak to you. One of them has answered.”

  “Isn’t that good?” Rykard asked.

  “We should take them hostage right now. It’d make things a lot smoother.” Udunan shook his head. Regardless of his opinion, the military leader sent one of his men to give Tochnan the message of Rykard’s return. A few minutes of heads-up was just good courtesy. “How has the diplomacy with the elves gone?” His voice swung with a grim certainty that he already knew the answer. “You were gone for a short time.”

  “I gave them a run for it,” Rykard joked, then recounted the tale of what had happened.

  Udunan ughed throughout the tale. In the end, he even lost a bit of posture to a coughing fit. “Laid on a bit thick, amusing as it is,” he stated.

  Rykard smugly smiled, hands in his pockets, and shrugged. “I have no need to lie, I am that awesome.”

  “Your expertise is evident,” Udunan gave on that point and straightened back up, his charmingly rough voice back to an even tone. “However, summoning several hundred of those bugs in an area you couldn’t even see? That’s a bit much.”

  In passing, Rykard patted the man’s shoulder. “You’ll know better than to doubt me in due time.”

  The utter certainty the sovereign presented that in did make the crossbreed hesitate for one moment. Swiftly, he caught up, and the two entered the fort. “Are you still doubting what I said?”

  “I never doubted you as much as I wanted to test my alternatives. Only a fool listens to one scout alone.” Rykard shot the commander an apologetic gnce. “For what it is worth, the elves are every bit as bad as you made them out to be. Are all of them fat?”

  “Are they not where you come from?” Udunan asked.

  “Look at me!” Tena shouted from behind them. The commander turned around and did. “This is what elves are supposed to look like! Lean!” She smacked her abs. “Mean!” she flexed her arm. “Fucking machine!” She shouted and squeezed Mena’s boobs.

  “You… are an elf?” Udunan asked, an eyebrow raised. “Excuse the confusion, I have never heard of elves being capable of tanning.”

  “Sister,” Mena mumbled and wiggled her way out of the kneading of the redhead. Upon hearing the title, the commander raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. If he had opinions regarding sisterly loving, he wisely kept them to himself. “Tey’s grace has not touched this world. What you think of general elves, we generally call high elves… although, for your particur locals I would… contest that adjective.”

  “The only thing those guys are high on is their own farts,” Tena stated.

  Rykard ughed at the crudeness of the redhead. “Can I expect the leader I am about to talk to be as bad?”

  “No, for the most part,” Udunan stated. “The fenrisians do not like the angels, but they hate the elves. The angels do not like the fenrisians, but they hate the elves. They’ve typically used their long lifespans to get one up on everyone else.”

  “Don’t the angels also live very long lives?” Rykard asked.

  “Should they?”

  “Uhm, yes?” Helenn weighed in. “Like, really, really long lives. We’re divine emissaries, silly!”

  “Nothing divine about these wings,” Udunan said, spreading his white-feathered limbs.

  “Ah, truly alchemical angels,” Rykard realized immediately.

  “Booo! That makes you not angels, that just makes you like… humans with a bit of dove spliced in or something!” Helenn commented. “You’re dove people or sea gull people or… I don’t even know! Gimme a sample.”

  Rykard held his enthusiastic cherub back with one hand. “We don’t even have the proper time nor facilities to analyze if we did get a sample,” he told her. “Besides, he’d be a poor one, being a crossbreed and all of that.”

  The cherub relented easily and Ryrd put her under his arm, like a bundle of wheat he was carrying to the market.

  The soldier Udunan had sent earlier awaited them in front of an open door. Rykard turned a corner and entered, scanning the room as he walked. To project dominance, he did not look at the ambassador at first, instead heading for the chair opposite of him. Only when he was seated, Helenn now pced in his p, one of her huge tits serving as his pything, did he care to check.

  What he saw put him into a much better mood regarding the chances of this Hexagon. The man was handsome, a trimmed beard running from his sideburns along the hard line of his chin. His hair was long, brown, and disheveled in a way that only carefully brushed hair could be. His build, average in its dimensions, was covered by expensive, well-kept clothing. A fusion of armour and work clothes, something within the fur-trimmed outfit constantly ticked away with the sound of turning gears. A pair of wolf ears made it clear which of the two factions was here.

  Brown eyes mustered Rykard and Rykard smiled back.

  “I’m Ousten, I speak for the fenrisians. Tochnan says you bring a dream of unity?” The wolf man gestured at the diplomatic sibling.

  “I bring a dose of reality.” Those were much more sobering words and words that were found with a raised eyebrow. Rykard took it as a sign of intrigue. “I do not know about the state of your world beyond what has been told to me, but the fact of the matter is that your adherence to your race above all is… counterproductive. Do not misunderstand that as me saying you have not been wronged or as me saying that there is never a pce to unify, unquestionably, against a common threat. You have been and there is - but that time is not now. Now, I sit before you. I am the world that is coming knocking.”

  “So you are here to threaten us?” Ousten asked.

  “I don’t need to threaten you,” Rykard stated pragmatically. “I have 100 trained women with me. I have 900 more where they came from. I have several more Hexagons across the sea. Most importantly, I have myself.”

  The wolf man suddenly gripped the edge of the table. A casual release of Rykard’s magical presence had made Ousten sway in his chair as if he was aboard a ship in a raging storm. It only sted a split second.

  “A dose of reality,” Rykard reiterated. “A fact that you now find yourself in my world. There are no nations behind you, no utility in hating each other to the point of feuds. Whatever I do, whether I conquer you or have your people settle in different areas of my new realm, I cannot have you loathe each other in a way that brings instability to my realm. Therefore…”

  Rykard trailed off. Moments passed, then seconds, then nearly a minute.

  “...Therefore…” Ousten spoke up. “...it is either unity from inside or unity from outside, those are your only choices.”

  “I see we understand each other.” Rykard casually pulled the white cloth that covered Helenn’s breasts down. The bare tits drew Ousten’s eyes, as they did that of any other man (and most women) in the room. They were too shapely, too round, not to, and they were all for the king and the king along to sink his fingers into.

  “Master,” Helenn cooed, wiggling her juicy derriere in his p.

  “This is still no threat, just a pragmatic recounting,” Rykard continued on. “You’re all men. I have women. In fact, I have an entire city of monster girls that urged me to summon a Hexagon containing only men. Your three choices are die out, join me, or fight for a chance to… let’s call them struggle snuggles. Lyvia, do you think that will end well for them?”

  “No,” the admiral answered and pced a cwed hand on the backrest of Rykard’s chair.

  “Reality dictated the terms of this engagement, and it’s not giving you a lot of wiggle room.”

  Ousten considered the words long and hard, then sighed. “Look, you obviously hold all the cards. I can make that case to my people… but I don’t think you’ll have as easy a time with the fat fucks to the north and the feather-heads to the east.”

  “Perhaps… perhaps not,” Rykard readily admitted. “What is important here is whether or not you submit. If things go hot, will you accept my authority, join a struggle against me, or stand on your own?”

  “I… submit,” the wolf man answered with a long sigh. He gred at Tochnan, who let out a relieved breath. “I have no love for being governed by outside tyrants.” His eyes wandered back to Rykard. “We have scouted out that the nds to the west appear to be empty. You say we could settle there?”

  “Potentially, but I’m not fool enough to let your three camps isote in different corners of my realm to become a problem ter. We will solve this now.” A mewling moan from Helenn interrupted his speech for a second. “Do me the favour and return to your people, share your decision with them.”

  Ousten nodded and got up. “I’ll do that immediately. No need to draw this out.”

  “Gd we understand each other.” Rykard waited for a second after the wolf man had left the room. “Lyvia, I want you to have two of your subordinates suggest to him that they tag along. Make sure it is an offer… and do tell them they can do what they want if they fancy him.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Lyvia stated and left the room as well.

  Rykard’s attention shifted to Tochnan. “Well, I must say I’m pleased. After the elves, I was certain I was going with your brother’s pn - now I have at least one of the local factions on my side.”

  “Yes, there is hope!” the crossbreed was swift to agree.

  “Getting one is the easy part,” Udunan joined in a sobering tone. “It’s when you want two of them to work together that things get difficult.”

  “Brother we are living proof that the races of Machisma can work together!”

  “We are living proof that there are reasonable individuals - and not a whole lot of them,” Udunan pushed back.

  Another moan by Helenn interrupted the two older men. Neither could help but watch the shortstack go through her near-orgasmic quivers. “This one is mine,” Rykard stated, a warning undertone in his cheerful voice. They could have their gnces, but to desire her was his right alone.

  Tochnan cleared his throat, Udunan closed his eyes.

  Rykard decided to leave Helenn right there, on the edge, and pulled her dress back up. Moaning from disappointment and the tingles that accompanied a submissive like her because of it, the cherub of Subana remained where she was. “Now, I regard the elves as low priority. I can try to convince them again ter. Only the angels remain to be contacted… can I expect their leader to show up?”

  “We haven’t had word from them,” Tochnan stated. “But! They might come ter.”