Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 231 Barred

"Are any of you ready!? How much fur do I need to shed for all of you to move!? We've already wasted time just waiting for all of you! You, old man, you're holding everyone down!"

"Edissa... he's still your father. You don't need to be so—"

"Shut up, we're no longer tribesmen!"

Rhys thought that Edissa had already moved on from her father just giving her away as a Bond since they had been talking a lot during the time they were fixing the prison, but it would seem that was not the case at all.

Edissa still clearly holds a grudge.

"We will leave once another one of my furs flies away from my body, anyone still not ready will be left behind!"

These cenleons, they have a lot of pride and more to spare. Rhys has already noticed it ever since meeting them — but as long as it doesn't involve their death, they are incredibly stubborn. Maha and some of them still clearly have not recovered at all from the whiplash of the gravity shift, and yet they forced themselves to stand up on their paws.

As for Rhys, he did not really bother much about them as his chronic overthinking tendencies were coming back to him. He already promised himself and Aethelblac that he won't pursue any of the gods' bullshit and that it didn't concern him — his only mission was to make sure no one would be above him and abuse him anymore.

And yet, right now, Edissa's words repeated in his mind.

King Aethelblac told him that the true enemies were the gods, Arachnea told him something similar, and now Edissa was just confirming all of it.

If the gods truly were playing with them... then doesn't that mean that all of his suffering was because of them?

They sent the monsters to the Surface, and then impregnated the humans with their seed in order for them to fight back — and according to Edissa, they all did that just for entertainment...

...and as punishment for the humans' sins. What sins?

For the population of the Underworld, the Surface was Hell...

...and that they were originally from the Underworld.

"...No," Rhys then whispered to himself and shook his head, "It doesn't matter."

"Did you say something, Rhys?"

And before Rhys could start talking to himself, Edissa tapped him on the shoulder,

"The others are ready to leave. Are you—!!!"

And before Edissa could finish her words, Rhys suddenly grabbed her hand before just leaping above her and sitting on top of her feline body.

"Wha—" Edissa quickly lost strength in her legs and dropped to the ground; her face, turning incredibly red.

"Oh... I'm sorry," Rhys quickly jumped down and stood in front of Edissa, "Are you still weak from the gravity shift?"

"N...No!" Edissa quickly shook her head, "Stop—stop going on top of me, Rhys! I'm not a centaur who would let a bipedal bond on top of me, nor a horse for that matter! Stop doing that!"

"We should just continue on with our journey. I think that would be the best for everyone so we can get you home as fast as possible."

"What...?" Edissa quickly walked beside Rhys, "But we just ran more than a hundred kilometers at full speed, Rhys. We need to rest."

"Rest? Obviously not," Rhys let out a small chuckle as he continued to move closer to Meelo; looking him in the eyes as his voice turned deep, "Since all of you have the energy to chat with your lungs, then you have the energy to run."

Unfortunately for everyone there, Rhys spent more than a month as a drill instructor in the Underworld Corps — and perhaps the most terrifying one since he literally couldn't get tired.

"So... Arise, kittens," Rhys chuckled, "We have a long road ahead of us."

"You think we'll just follow your ord—!!!"

And before Meelo could finish his words, Rhys grabbed him by the cheeks and squeezed his jaw tight,

"Yes. Yes, you will."

One might consider this bullying, and Rhys not being better than the people he hated — but it wasn't. It was obvious that Meelo and the other cenleons wished for his harm, he was already being amicable by not framing their murder here and now.

"If you don't run, then I suppose you're the weakest of the pride."

And as soon as Rhys said those words, it was almost as if the eyes of the cenleons lit up as they all hid their water bottles and stood up; not even waiting for the others as they started running again.

Edissa, who saw this, could not help but just cover her face in shame.

"We... we truly aren't the smarter species, are we?" Edissa asked.

"Collectively, perhaps," Rhys shrugged, "But individually, I assure you — there are a lot of dumb humans. Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Hm?"

"Run."

"...Right."

And after almost an entire day, Rhys and the cenleons finally arrived at their destination. And surprisingly, without encountering any troubles. There were monsters, but the group did not really bother and just continued their pace.

Most of the cenleons quickly just dropped or fainted while holding their heart as soon as they reached the so-called city — well, Rhys was assuming that it was a city, but he could not really see anything since it was covered by a large gate, and an even taller wall.

Rhys would have liked to already see the inside, but...

"Don't, he's with us!"

"Why is this human not tied up!? And which tribe are you from!?"

The city wasn't letting them enter.