It had been two days since everyone returned from the restricted zone. The former Blight Walkers were receiving the best available treatment after being rescued from their ordeal. Daily healing, therapy, and the works were all being used to in any way improve the victims’ current states.

  It was a tall order.

  Weeks of abuse at the hands of a psychopathic arsonist had done its toll on the unfortunate victims. They had all gone through trauma that was awful enough to turn them into Blight Walkers.

  Not everyone knew that though.

  Only the seven Starborn did. And they had all been sworn into secrecy by Arden.

  He was already involved in quite a lot of important things as of late. Thankfully, the most important secret was also the most esoteric, so only Arden, Vera, and Sya knew about the Archons. But the newest secret, that being Sya’s identity as a Blight Walker Starborn was something that had to be kept hidden no matter what.

  The Archons were something that no one seemed to know about, so if it was revealed that Arden was now an Archon, mild confusion would likely be the most prevalent reaction.

  But Sya?

  A Blight Walker who managed to become a Starborn was crazy enough but add in the fact that she could absorb the blight cores and blight essence from other Blighted, and she just became quite possibly the most important person on the planet.

  Arden, Sya, and Vera all thought about it.

  If Sya’s existence was exposed, she would undoubtedly be taken. They didn’t know if it would be for experimentation, research, or even just keeping her under house arrest to try to heal as many blighted as possible, but they all knew that it would be a hindrance.

  Separation was not going to happen again, even if it meant going against the world.

  Arden had already gone against the entire world once before, and he emerged the sole victor. And while he wasn’t really willing to destroy the world, the sentiment was still there.

  Arden was relaxing on an actual bed in an apartment in the residential complex of Miasma HQ, thankfully provided by Chorzo. Vera and Sya had been given a similar treatment as well, with special care given to Sya. Just like the others that they brought back from Yaan’s base out in the restricted zone, she too had some wounds that needed closing.

  Arden's and Vera’s presence had been something of a calming element for the newly awakened Sya. They represented a comfortable familiarity. They were the only people she was close to, and when they disappeared for a few months shortly before she was abducted, it left a void in her heart that was quickly replaced with fear by the forsaken prince of Miasma.

  Thankfully, Miasma already had a lot of reports about the missing women, so they were quickly able to reach out to the victims’ families. In less than a day, Miasma was swarming with the families who were finally able to see their lost sisters, daughters, and mothers.

  Arden was happy to see everyone reconnect, but he was still upset.

  Yaan escaped again.

  Everyone who wanted to know what happened to him had no answers. To the layman, Yaan was just another case of the disappearing Starborn case. Like what happened to Cirai’s branch of the Association, and then with her and Podren, and now Yaan.

  Arden didn’t believe that.

  He recognized that it could just be paranoia due to his repeated encounters with the Archons, but he was willing to bet that Domah pulled some strings to allow her agent to escape.

  Arden knew that Domah would prevent him from going after Yaan after their agreement, but he didn’t think that she would take him out of the equation completely.

  Doing so left Arden with a bad taste in his mouth.

  There were so many people who were denied justice with the intervention of Domah, and Arden, one of the few who knew the truth, wouldn’t be allowed to spill the information for fear of hostilities from the Archon of Submission.

  It was a rational decision, but he didn’t like it.

  Arden felt himself becoming tense with anger and guilt so he quickly began to circulate his biomass. Having already been healed of the few physical injuries he sustained before his fight with Domah, the circulation technique was more meditative than anything.

  He focused on the positives of what happened.

  There were no more Blight Walkers left in Yaan’s wake. Sya made sure of that.

  Despite all of the trauma that the women went through, none of it was sexual in nature, which was something that Arden considered a major win, considering what he knew about Yaan.

  Sya became a Starborn despite using the Spark of Paradox for something other than its original intent.

  He fought against an unfathomable enemy, again, and won, again.

  When Arden was in meditation, he heard a knock on the door, followed by Vera’s voice.

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  “Hey Arden, can I come in?”

  Arden’s angst disappeared as soon as he heard her voice. He smiled and ended his circulation.

  “Yeah, give me a second,” he responded, throwing himself off the bed.

  A few seconds later, he opened the door for his girlfriend and invited her in.

  “What’s up?” he asked as she joined him in his abode.

  Arden noted her light clothes clung to her, drenched in sweat. The words of the Status Administrator drifted in and out of his mind as he tried not to focus entirely on how pleasing to the eye she looked.

  “Room service is cleaning my place right now,” she answered. “Can I use your shower?”

  “Of course. My door is always open for you.”

  A teasing smile that both infatuated and annoyed Arden appeared on Vera’s face.

  “Oh? Anytime?”

  “Anytime.”

  “Even if you’re doing something unsavory?”

  “95% of what I do is unsavory these days.”

  Vera laughed. Just like every time he heard it, Arden wanted to hear it more.

  “I can’t deny that, mister Archon.”

  Arden blushed and looked away.

  “Can you please not call me that? It’s embarrassing.”

  “What about Lord of Evolution?”

  “Please stop,” he said, closing his eyes.

  He immediately felt Vera’s lips against his.

  He missed the feeling so, so much.

  “You really are quite cute,” she said, breaking away. Her hands found their way to his shoulders. “How is it that you can go from a confident fighter that wins bets against gods to a piece of putty in my hands?”

  “I wonder the same thing. You just have that effect on me.”

  “Do you dislike it?”

  “Why would I? The most attractive girl in the world is both my best friend and my girlfriend, and she likes having fun with me. Right now, I cannot be happier.”

  Vera went in for another kiss, and Arden graciously accepted. He had to hold back a moan when he felt her softly bite his lower lip.

  “I challenge that notion,” she said, taking in his pleasured face. “You’ve said for a long time that your mouth is one of your best qualities.”

  She sat down at the edge of his bed with a lustful smile. All thoughts of showering disappeared from the pair’s minds. They could shower after they were done.

  “It’s time for you to put your money where your mouth is.”

  *****

  Arden stared up at the ceiling as he was being cuddled by Vera who was softly snoring into him. Even when she was asleep, she was holding him to her chest.

  His mouth was sore.

  He had proven that his mouth was, in fact, one of his best features.

  The naked woman holding him with a blissful expression on her sleeping face could testify to that.

  Arden didn’t think that it would happen like this, but it didn’t take away from the experience at all. If anything, it only heightened it. To desire each other to such an intense degree that they both stopped what they were doing to go at it was something that Arden believed was the pinnacle of both love and lust. It was as sweet as it was hot.

  It was an unwritten rule of the slums that those who still had their virginity wouldn’t keep them for very long. A lot of people traded sexual favors for protection or a little bit of cash back in the slums.

  Arden was one of the few that remained chaste through everything in the slums.

  Until a few moments ago.

  He was still in a daze, but he was euphoric.

  Not in his wildest dreams did he ever think that the person who he helped to feed a few months ago would become someone this important to him. He thought that he would be fine so long as he had Sya.

  Oh, how wrong he was.

  Only a few months ago, he and Vera were complete strangers. If Cirai hadn’t asked him to get her some food, he would have been perfectly fine with leaving the stranger to her own devices. He wouldn’t have spared her a second thought, just like he did with damn near everyone else.

  Somehow, they became friends.

  Vera was the first to get involved with all of the weird things going on. She offered her help, just like Arden had, and they became friends, as she had with Sya.

  As they lived together, they all grew stronger together. Arden was able to learn so much more about the Starborn world thanks to her. It was thanks to her tutelage that they were able to clear a Stargate.

  Even though the teacher-student relationship was great, Arden felt that the friendship was the relationship that was more important between them. There were plenty of strong people to learn from, but he doubted that there would be anyone else willing to put up with all of the insanity that she had.

  For a while, it seemed like that was as far as their relationship would go.

  Between the Mausoleum of the Maverick’s running joke about him being a sub, something that he couldn’t really deny anymore, and her teaching him how to circulate stellar essence from a holding cell, Arden admitted that he enjoyed being teased by Vera.

  His mindset changed during his trial.

  During the journey to the Starlight Grove, before things went awry, he realized that he was in the process of falling for her. He didn’t know how or when he developed his feelings for her, just that he had.

  It was a scary realization for Arden. He realized that he wanted to be more than just friends, but he was also horrified that any action he took would ruin what they already had.

  It wasn’t until shortly after that that he found real fear.

  Another-Vera dying on top of him, as she admitted to him that she wanted to see him again. Arden being unable to fight back as the prince hung her body right above him for days. Inhabiting his ruined, dead body as nothing but a soul. Ending the world.

  He thought the world was crumbling around him when he got out of the trial. Guilt, pain, and fear gnawed at his soul. Finding out that two months had passed and Vera had still not completed her trial horrified him.

  Their reunion brought unfathomable ecstasy to the new Archon.

  He didn’t tell her about everything that had happened during the trial, but she told him that he didn’t have to. Whatever happened and whatever he was feeling, she would accept it.

  In the current day, Arden pulled himself further into Vera’s embrace.

  He reaffirmed what he realized the night that they reunited after their trials. He was no longer afraid to admit it. He was more afraid to let her go.

  He loved her.

  He put his arms around her. She was already holding him, but he wanted to hold her as well. As he did, he felt Vera’s hand on the back of his head, gently pulling his face into her chest.

  He pushed all the confusing and infuriating events of late out of his mind. They didn’t matter right now. Yaan didn’t matter. Domah didn’t matter. The other Archons didn’t matter.

  Right now, only Vera did.

  It only took a few seconds for his breathing to slow and for him to drift off to sleep in her warm embrace.

  Anyway, this was the last main chapter of Volume 1. There are still 3 more chapters that will be releasing this week, but they are epilogue chapters, tying up loose ends and creating new plot threads that we will follow in the future. If you want to finish up Volume 1 now, all three chapters are free and already uploaded on my Patreon. No membership is required for those chapters, but if you wanted to become a member I certainly wouldn't oppose it.