Chapter 37
Simone and the rest of Bran's harem, as she considered them, were still fighting Eve as she put on a massive show of wrecking her own sect trying to get to them.
There was little she could do to those that Simone was bent on protecting. Whenever Eve lashed out, Simone had a barrier in place or was already healing her target, who only bounced back from the attack to come back even harder.
"Eve, come fight me!" Simone shouted across the field.
Eve, nearly driven mad with pain, spun on her. She shrieked as she ran directly towards Simone with the desperate vengeance of someone who badly needed release.
Simone chuckled, then squashed her humor, given how serious the fight was becoming.
Eve launched herself across the space between them, landing and punching a barrier in front of Simone hard enough to blow the ground away. Only that which was protected by the shield remained.
The woman’s eyes were feral with a crazed light blossoming behind them. Green cracks still spread throughout her body like she had more energy than she could contain.
If Simone didn’t miss her mark, though, they were less open than they’d been before, but only barely.
Eve was powerful, with most of her stats over twenty thousand. She was well-rounded rather than a specialist, but then again, with a large enough population of people to draw strength from, she likely ended up with such an even distribution.
“I. Will. End. You,” Eve said with a ragged breath and pulled out a spear that she drove into the barrier before Simone.
It rippled with pearlescent light but held against Eve’s strike.
“Grumpy when in pain? I bet your time of the month is a bitch,” Simone said with a sweet smile.
It was really a shame that Eve had turned out to be so rotten.
She was hot, and if she hadn’t gone so far, perhaps Simone could have tamed and trained her into something that Bran would eventually accept.
Eve howled, and her palm clapped the barrier, the center of it glowing bright with the cracks spreading out and swelling to the point it almost looked like her hand was about to explode as whatever skill she unleashed rocked the barrier.
Merlin’s shadows leapt up and tried to drive themselves into Eve, only for the wild woman to jump back like a jet plane taking flight, complete with the woosh of air as she ripped her way through it.
Simone fired a Heartbreaker after Eve, and the pink beam in the shape of a heart let out a thump as it ripped through three trees and hit Eve, knocking the woman off course from her intended landing.
“She’s tough.” Merlin appeared beside Simone.
“We can scratch her, but she seems to have some solid regeneration.” Circe appeared.
All of the ladies collapsed back into Simone’s barrier in what would seem to be an impromptu strategy session.
Then again, they needed it. Eve was even double the stats of Winnie. Though they were working together, she was a tough nut to crack.
“My spirit stat completely outscales her,” Simone said. “She’s also just far too mobile. Heartbreaker is my best offensive ability, and it has an obvious tell before it attacks.”
“We need to hold her down then,” Almeria offered. “At the very least, you’re able to protect us all.”
“Maybe we could hold her here until Bran gets back?” Nyx asked.
The rest of the group turned on her with a frown.
“I don’t need Bran to solve my problems.” Gloria crossed her arms.
“We should finish this as a surprise for him, dear.” Simone smiled at Nyx sweetly.
“He trusted us with this side. We owe it to him to squash this problem first,” Winnie said, only for Venthra to nod firmly at her words.
Ah, those two were coming along nicely. Winnie was a romantic at heart; Simone just needed to give her and Bran enough time, and she was certain he’d add her formally to the fold.
Venthra, on the other hand, had gone through a nice transformation while here.
Something about spending time with the Mul Branova had chipped away at the walls she’d put up.
Yes, Simone would shove her hip-deep in the Mul Branova when she got the time.
Her thoughts were shattered when a spear fired out of the jungle and hit the barrier hard enough that it sparked and warped ever so slightly inward under the force of the spear.
Eve appeared with a flying kick that hit the back of her spear, driving it into the barrier even farther.
Simone dropped all her thoughts and clasped her hands in prayer. “Oh, Lord Bran, protect us,” she intoned as the barrier snapped back into place and flung Eve off as the wretched woman stood there panting while glaring at the rest of them.
“You cannot win.” Eve growled and held her head.
Wracking Pain was a bitch and a half. That the woman had regained some semblance of intelligence under the pain was concerning. Then again, the human body was adaptable.
Simone fired another Heartbreaker, but the moment it glowed in front of her, just a heartbeat of a charge-up was enough for Eve to dart to the side, and the spell ripped through the air harmlessly.
From behind her, the other fired their spells from the safety of her barrier.
Eve was wild, jumping about constantly before darting in and attacking the barrier with attack after attack, hoping to wear Simone down.
However, as Simone fought, she suddenly felt her spirit tick up once. Then it went up again, and again, as it continued climbing. Simone frowned, wondering what Bran was doing, and then it occurred to her that the only thing he might be doing to cause this many increases in his spirit as he fought.
Looking at the cracked skin on Eve and knowing the Demon Lord had been in a similar situation, Simone opened her mouth in sudden understanding. Bran was using the Soul Absorption Arts.
"Winnie, hold her down!" Simone shouted and pulled out one of the many talismans she'd collected from Bran in the time they'd been together.
All in, she probably had somewhere in the tens of thousands of his inscriptions lying around in her spatial ring.
Thankfully, they didn't take up that much space.
Though she was loath to use one of her precious collections. Sometimes when Bran made a stack of them, she’d sneak one or two of whatever talisman he was preparing for herself.
“My pleasure.” Winnie darted out of the barrier, her icy scythe in hand.
Eve was like a hungry hawk having seen a rabbit leave its den and swooped down with deadly speed.
Winnie spun, ice swirling up around her, the air filling with frost as Eve reached her.
Shadows, light, and purple fire wreathed Winnie to block the attack, sputtering out as Eve’s attack dissipated.
Almeria was there, half-dragon, and grabbed Eve from behind, holding both of her arms. Water cascaded off both of them, freezing instantly, causing Eve’s eyes to go wide.
The wild woman struggled, only for shadows to join Almeria in holding her, and a curse bled over the ground, causing the ground to crack with their weight.
“I’ll make you a bitch in heat.” Winnie growled, and her skin glowed with inscriptions as Eve’s eyes rolled up into the back of her head as her tongue lolled out.
“With me,” Simone said, rushing across the space.
Merlin knew what she wanted and simply teleported them across the distance.
Even then, energy poured off Eve in sharp, ragged waves.
Simone didn’t bother, rushing forward and healing all of them.
Nyx took up a position at her side, bow faced outward, while Circe floated overhead, and Venthra followed like a shadow.
Simone hadn’t told any of them what she was doing, but they had all rushed from the shelter of the barrier to protect her.
Well, all of them but Gloria, who stood back with crossed arms, half watching them and the other half the forest that stood outside of the destruction of the fight.
Simone managed to reach Eve, and she grasped onto her hair before plastering the talisman to her forehead and head-butting her.
Simone was instantly teleported to a space between their souls.
Bran would know which one they were actually in.
Simone, however, didn't think it really mattered.
She concentrated on what she wanted the space to be and slammed the idea home with enough force that the space their minds were in warped and twisted to Simone's desire, rather than Eve's.
The space quickly cleared. It was a massive temple with rose-gold statues of Bran covering every inch of it, and Eve was chained to an altar at the dais.
"Bitch, you should have never tried to take my man," Simone said with venomous accusation.
Eve glared, apparently having done this before. The pain was fading from her, and clarity entered her eyes as she realized her situation. Oh, did this cancel Wracking Pain? Or was it simply a physical effect that wasn’t present here?
"You," she said, leveling an accusatory finger at Simone.
"Yes, me." Simone wanted to hurry this along so she could remove the problem before Bran returned. "I do hope you're more articulate in the future." Simone wasn't above taunting the woman while she finished smashing her down.
The massive Bran statues moved in closer to Eve. Each and every one of them was sculpted to immaculate perfection, showing off Bran's incredible physique. Simone squealed slightly at how well done they were before she cleared her throat.
"Right. If you want Bran, he's right here," Simone said, waving at the statues.
Eve twisted and threw out her power, but the statues of Bran simply blocked her attempts with their golden hands, squashing Eve's ability as blood began to run down their shoulders, forming a crimson cape as it poured down around them and slowly began to fill the temple under their feet.
Millions of indistinct Mul Branova appeared all around them, bowing and chanting, giving Bran their strength.
"You cannot defeat him. You cannot defeat us, Eve," Simone said, and the blood welled up to the shackled Eve and lapped hungrily at her feet.
Energy shot from Eve through the blood, evaporating some and blasting into the Mul Branova, but a Bran statue stopped it short, only for it to kneel and hold her arm while another did the same on the other side.
She thrashed hard enough that there was a concussive force that rippled through the blood now filling the temple.
Simone wasn't even certain the woman knew how to battle in the soul.
Eve was using her abilities as if she were in a fight out in the real world. But Simone's spirit, along with her absolute certainty in Bran's strength, gave her projections immense power that easily deflected Eve's attempts at freedom.
"What is this?" Eve shrieked, pulling at her restraints.
"You are giving your power back to the world through blood," Simone answered as the Mul Branova continued to chant, and the massive golden Brans laid Eve out on the altar. "In Bran's name, I declare you a sacrifice for his strength and his people."
Blood welled up from the temple, quickly consuming Eve.
That was largely symbolic, as the statues pulled her down and ripped her apart.
The green lines etched throughout her form became the cracks by which the blood seeped and dissolved her, the pieces quickly sinking into the rising tide of blood.
The millions of Mul Branova opened their mouths, taking in the green flecks as a small offering.
Simone felt her own strength ripple and rise before she pouted.
"I'm not going to get any spirit from this," she said and then concentrated, trying to drive it elsewhere.
She wasn't sure technically how to control the flow of power, but she also didn't want to leave the massive bounty of Eve's stats on the table.
She really wanted to consume the woman and use her for Bran's strength.
***
Outside, Winnie and the rest of the women stopped fighting the second Simone head-butted Eve. Eve and Simone fell down, Eve on her knees, with Simone barely supporting her. They nearly face-planted but knelt propped against each other, their foreheads still connected as if by glue.
They all closed in around her, backs to Simone and Eve, with absolute trust in her as their eyes watched the silent jungle, wary for any attacks.
Then, in what was less than a minute of them positioned like that, Simone's eyes fluttered open, and Eve's body dissolved, consumed by the system.
"And that is why you don't fuck with Simone," Winnie stated in a far too peppy tone.
"Yeah," Merlin said, drawing out the word. "What did you do to her?"
Simone turned to her, a brilliant and reverent smile on her face.
"She nearly ruined all of my plans with Bran.
If she had continued to push so hard, he would have pulled back and not taken any more women.
" Simone pouted before a devious smile flashed across her face.
"So I ate her soul. Yum." Simone licked her lips and rubbed her stomach.
Even Merlin was hesitant after that display.
"There's a reason you're the head wife"—Gloria nodded—"and it's not just because it's otherwise exhausting."
"It's not so bad," Simone said. "And if the candidates turn out badly and don't take no for an answer, then I just get to eat them!" Simone burped and covered her mouth daintily.