Chapter 580: Get off my lawn [1/2]
At my call, seven {Portals} opened in front of me. Out of each one came one of my Sirens. They looked a little tired, but their eyes were all aglow with excitement.
I could feel it in their {Kindred} links. And unlike before, I welcomed their emotions and fused them with my own.
The Song of Sirens maneuver was simple in theory, but complex in execution. For one thing, it required an intricate series of steps.
First, the Sirens had to open doorways and connect with each other. Once they did, rather than going through the {Portal} they had set up, they would relocate to another position.
Lilly's {Portals} worked on a simple premise. The door would stay open until the person who called it passed through.
This meant that its use was normally quite limited, as the {Portal} would consume an incredible amount of stamina to keep it open.
The next limitation is that you cannot have more than two doors open at the same time.
The Sirens got around this by linking their {Portals} together as opposed to creating a second one of their own making. This workaround reduced the need of 14 doorways for 7 paths to just 7. Provided Bella connected two paths to her own.
Also, since [Beacon] was a {Program}, it had the same limitation as {Portal} while not affecting the actual {Fate}. Thus, each Siren could theoretically open four doors instead of just two. This all culminates in the Song of the Sirens.
This plan was basically just spamming {Portals} on the floor divisions.
The girls would all {Blink} to the opposite ends of the floor then spread out on the seven outer most points. Liv, Lilly, Robyn, and Jo were at the base of the floor, while Bella, Jas, and Aki were at the tip.
Using each other's visions, they then open doors to enter, but do not actually use them.
Song of the Sirens P1.jpg
They reposition to another area on foot, with one of them using {Beacon} to call the others to her position, opening a second set of doors.
At this point, the girls would already be feeling the strain of keeping both doors open. It is only with {Eat} that they could stave off exhaustion.
Song of the Sirens P2.jpg
With two sets of doors open, the girls still do not use any of them and move to a third position completely connecting the entire floor.
They then converge on one spot for the final time to connect all the doors to one single location. In this case, that spot will be right in front of me.
Song of the Sirens P3.jpg
With four sets of doors opened, any and all skills would now travel through the entire space because of the {Portals}. This meant that the land was basically sewn together by the spatial distortions.
And just as light and sound could pass through each of them, so could physical objects. This meant that any zombie on the floor could now reach my position by running through the {portals} instead of traversing the entire distance.
And since the last set of {Portals} were tightly spaced, we basically created an extremely effective kill zone.
From where I stood, I could feel the girls panting and wheezing. In addition to repeatedly using {Blink} to travel great distances, they had opened four {Portals}. That was exhausting. Still, I had to ask for more.
'Exa, is it possible to share stamina with the girls by kissing them?'
[Yes, my lord. It is. I can create it with a simple {Program}].
'Do it. {Day by day}.'
[Understood. {Program.} [Kiss of Vitality] created.]
I went to each of my girls and caressed their faces. They were covered in dirt, blood, and sweat. Yet they were more captivating to me than even the most gorgeous supermodels.
I tenderly grabbed their waists and kissed my harem.
They were all wide-eyed as they watched me express my affection for all the world to see. It was worth nothing that Connie's drone was already recording. But I didn't care. I wanted the world to know how much I adored these women.
I savored each Siren, drowning in pleasure. Contrary to their bloodthirsty appearance, they all meekly accepted my advances.
Through my lips, I sent vitality to my harem.
Although they were surprised, none of them complained in the slightest. Which was quite adorable due their true natures as extremely fierce women.
When I felt myself getting dizzy from the loss of stamina, I had Sunday revitalize my bodies. While I had my avatars drawn stamina from my main body like a well.
'{Regen}.' '[Divided We Stand]' x6
Perhaps because vitality was not meant to be shared like this, the [Kiss of Vitality] was extremely painful.
It was similar to the feeling of blood flowing out of one's body, but a hundred times worse. It was as if someone was raking coals through your veins and pulling them through your skin.
But I did not pull away from my girls; this much was necessary to answer their resolve to serve me.
As I shared with my girls, I felt their bodies return to normal for the moment. I wanted to do more, but my soul avatars were already shaking from the agony. Unable to continue, I immediately unsummoned them.
'{Day by Day}.'
The other six girls were sad as the John Smiths they were hugging suddenly disappeared. Sunday, who remained, was kissing Liv as the rest disappeared. I pulled away and noticed my blood covered {Kindred} pouting adorably.
I smiled as I caressed her face while addressing the other Sirens.
"My precious {Kindred}. Not now. They are coming. Please man the howitzers as planned. You have already prepared my stage. Please let me do my part."
"..."
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The girls all nodded wordlessly before separating from me. Echoes began to fill the air. It was the footsteps of over a million beings coming from the {Portals}. The Phantoms on the fortress must have felt them by now.
After all, they were quite close. Connie's drone was flying around, taking video of the {Portals} without a care in the world. I changed my mind to [Cyborg] and sent a digital transmission to the Graveyard reporter.
[Connie, are you ready?]
[We are, my lord. I started the moment you jumped off the ledge. The kiss with the Sirens was quite scandalous! I can cut that out if you prefer. But as for what you have to say. You may begin any time you are ready.]
Nodding, I turned toward the {Portals}, where the ground was already quaking. Since this was the only area with Phantoms, we were like the ultimate bait for these monsters.
I took a deep breath to calm down.
This was not what I wanted, nor what I had planned for my life. But I was here because of no one's choices but my own. And as such, the failure and the glory were solely mine to bear.
"{Limitless}."
I called upon my namesake {Kismet} again to refresh its duration.
A powerful wave of souls erupted from my body.
It was the equivalent of 10,000 zombies suddenly being defeated. A small whirlwind surrounded me, causing my suit to flutter wildly.
"{Never Alone}."
My cufflinks suddenly morphed into armlets that tightly wrapped around my forearms. A barrier of Blessing Energy distorted the air. Along with it a wave of calm washed over my soul as my Benevol cleansed me of malice.
I looked up and saw Connie's Skydio drone focused on me. Drawing a deep breath, I began my first speech as Lord of the 24th floor.
"You may not all know me, and that is fine. After all, I am just one of the many Reapers who volunteered for this piss poor excuse of a job we got.
"But that was before. Right now I am addressing everyone as people have been saying the strangest things about me. For one thing, I am not dead.
"I was just enjoying my honeymoon. But now I am back, and one of the tasks given to me by His Majesty the Invincible was to take command of the 24th floor. As an ally of North America, I wanted to introduce myself."