It began with a scent.
Sweet. Floral. Sinful.
Like roses blooming in blood.
Kaito was mid-training with Lilix and Ravyn when it hit them—a wind from nowhere, carrying perfume that curled around the senses like a silk noose.
Lilix froze, blades clattering to the ground.
Ravyn's pupils dilated. "That smell…"
Aya burst onto the field, face pale. "There's someone in the sky."
They all looked up.
She hovered above the palace gates—
Red hair cascading in waves, skin gleaming like polished dusk, and breasts barely concealed behind vines that pulsed like they were alive.
A living garden of temptation.
And her voice—oh, that voice—
> "So this is the legendary Kaito Tanaka. Mmm… cute. But sloppy."
She floated downward, slow and deliberate.
The ground beneath her bloomed in roses—black, red, violet—each petal pulsing with raw sexual magic.
Seraphina stepped forward. "Identify yourself."
The woman licked her lips.
> "I am Velhara, Queen of the Crimson Bloom. Harem Mistress of the 7th World. Wielder of the Scarlet Eden Core. And I'm here… to challenge you."
---
Kaito stood firm, the Seed humming inside him.
He didn't blink. "Challenge me for what?"
Velhara's grin widened. "Your crown. Your girls. Your scent."
She stepped closer. "I've ruled harems long before you ever moaned your first name. I was chosen by the gods—not as a mistake. As perfection."
Her gaze swept over the others.
Her power flowed toward them—like a heatwave of seduction.
Lilix shuddered.
Celestia gasped, biting her lip.
Even the goddess exhaled softly, eyes darkening.
Velhara's aura wrapped around them like vines.
> "Tell me, Kaito… how well do you know your girls? Enough to keep them… when they're offered more?"
She raised a hand.
Thorns pierced the ground.
From them emerged mirror versions of Kaito's harem—each twisted, wild, seduced by Velhara's influence.
> "Each of them will face a temptation designed just for them. If they break, they're mine."
Aya raised her sword. "We'd never betray him."
Velhara smiled gently.
> "Oh, sweet girl. You don't have to betray him… just want me more."
---
Kaito moved—fast, furious, ready to strike.
But Velhara was already gone—vanished in a swirl of rose petals.
Only her voice remained:
> "Come to the Garden of Crimson, Kaito. If you dare."
Lilix opened her eyes—and the palace was gone.
She stood in a bed of velvet.
Literally—red velvet spread beneath her feet like living fabric, soft and warm, curling gently around her ankles like teasing tongues. The air was heavy with perfume—floral, spicy, sweet—almost intoxicating.
She looked down.
Her body was naked. Bare. Flushed.
But not cold.
The air caressed her skin like a lover's breath.
Her blades—gone.
No leather straps. No weapons. No armor.
Only her.
---
A voice echoed, sensual and low:
> "You've spent your life taking lives, haven't you, Lilix? You were forged in fear. Molded to kill. Loved only for your usefulness."
Velhara appeared, lounging atop a throne made entirely of living vines and blooming roses. Her gown slid open at the thigh, revealing smooth caramel skin and a glowing red sigil on her pelvis—similar to Kaito's, but shaped like a blooming flower.
> "Let me show you a world where you don't have to kneel to be loved."
With a snap of her fingers, the landscape shifted.
---
Suddenly, Lilix stood in a luxurious chamber.
The walls glowed soft pink and violet. Silken curtains danced to music only they could hear. The scent of nectar and sweat hung in the air.
And from the far side—
A woman approached.
She looked like Lilix. But softer. Fuller. Her lips curved into a relaxed smile. Her body? Untouched by combat. Curves untouched by fear. Her thighs jiggled slightly with each step, and her eyes were warm—not calculating.
> "This is you," Velhara whispered. "The you that never had to kill. Never had to be sharp."
---
The mirror-Lilix stepped forward, naked and glowing.
She cupped the assassin's cheek, softly.
Lilix flinched.
But the touch was… gentle.
The other Lilix leaned in, kissing her collarbone.
"You don't need chains to be loved," she whispered. "You don't have to be used."
The words hit her like arrows. Not because they were false—but because they felt possible.
> "Kaito commands you," Velhara said. "But I would worship you."
---
A bed rose from the floor.
Velhara sat at the edge, legs crossed, smiling.
> "Come, Lilix. Let me make you mine. You don't have to kneel. You don't have to obey. You just have to feel."
Lilix's body ached.
Her thighs trembled.
She wanted… warmth.
A place to collapse.
Not to serve.
To be held.
The mirror version knelt before her, kissing her thighs, slow and soft, hands massaging her hips.
Lilix bit her lip, gasping.
> "He made you a weapon. I'll make you a woman again."
---
But then—
Another voice.
Quiet. Rough.
Familiar.
> "You were never just a weapon."
Lilix turned—eyes wide.
Kaito stood in the doorway.
Not glowing. Not commanding.
Just there.
Wounded. Honest.
> "You've always had a choice. You could've left me. But you stayed. Not because I demanded it. Because you believed in us."
---
The mirror-Lilix turned. Her smile cracked. Her hands slid away.
The room began to shake.
Velhara frowned. "No… she's not ready."
But Lilix stepped back.
Away from the clone.
Toward the man who saw the blood on her hands and still kissed them.
She walked naked, barefoot, and trembling into Kaito's arms.
She didn't kneel.
She didn't offer herself.
She just looked into his eyes and whispered:
> "I choose you. Again."
And Kaito kissed her—deep, slow, full of need.
Their bodies pressed together as the illusion burned.
---
They collapsed into the real world, panting.
Lilix clutched him, nails digging into his back.
"Don't let her do this to the others," she whispered. "She knows our cracks. She'll try to fill them."
Kaito's jaw clenched.
"She'll fail."
Celestia blinked—and found herself not in the palace chapel… but in a cathedral of crimson.
Stained glass windows towered around her, each one etched not with saints or gods—but scenes of lovers entwined, flesh on flesh, golden fluids dripping from altars and mouths open in sacred cries.
The altar before her… was a bed.
Not cold marble—but satin, deep red, shaped like a blossom.
And kneeling at its edge was Velhara. Dressed in nothing but sheer veils, her hands clasped together in mock prayer, her breasts pressing forward with every breath.
> "Welcome, Celestia," she whispered, voice like honey sliding over candlelight. "To the temple you never had."
Celestia stood frozen, her white gown glowing softly against the crimson shadows. Her staff was gone. Her shoes… gone. Her purity ring shattered at her feet.
"What is this place?" she breathed.
Velhara rose slowly, hips swaying with divine arrogance.
> "A chapel of truth. A church where no desire is punished. Where moaning for him isn't sinful, it's sacred."
She circled Celestia, fingers brushing the curve of her hip.
> "You've screamed his name, haven't you? In the dark. Alone. Wet between the thighs, begging in whispers for permission to feel."
Celestia gasped—her knees weakening. "No—"
"Don't lie," Velhara said gently. "You've touched yourself after his kisses. After he held your hand. After he told you he believed in you. And every time, you cried for forgiveness after."
A mirror formed before them.
It showed her.
Celestia—fingers trembling—kneeling on her prayer mat, hidden in the chapel, robes lifted. Moaning. Crying. Whispering Kaito's name with every shameful thrust.
She dropped to her knees in real time. "Stop…"
Velhara knelt beside her, pulling the priestess into a soft, sinful embrace.
> "You don't have to repent anymore. You just have to accept that pleasure is divine."
---
Suddenly, the walls melted away.
Celestia now lay upon the altar-bed, stripped bare, wrapped in silk vines that pulsed with warmth.
Velhara stood at the foot, arms outstretched.
> "Call him," she whispered. "Say his name. Invite him into this temple."
Celestia bit her lip. Her thighs trembled. Her fingers slid over her belly, up to her breast—where the ache was unbearable.
She moaned—softly.
> "Kai… to…"
---
He appeared.
Naked. Radiant. Not summoned… but drawn by her voice.
Kaito stood at the altar's edge, breathless, stunned.
She reached for him.
But it wasn't truly her.
Not yet.
It was a version of her made by Velhara's power.
Soft. Wanting. Desperate to serve.
She whispered, "Take me. Show me I'm not cursed to be alone. Prove to me I'm allowed to be loved."
---
He climbed onto the bed.
Not rough.
Gentle.
He kissed her—not like a prize, but a partner.
She gasped, weeping, as his hands explored her—slow, reverent, sacred.
When he entered her, she didn't scream.
She prayed.
Every moan a benediction.
Every thrust a sermon.
Her climax? A resurrection.
---
And then—her real self, watching—screamed.
> "No! That's not love—that's ease! That's a lie!"
Velhara turned, eyes wide.
Celestia stepped forward, face flushed, tears on her cheeks.
"I don't want a god who takes me without cost. I want Kaito. The one who sees the guilt, the fear… and stays."
She touched her chest—where the pain always lived.
> "He doesn't erase my shame. He holds it."
---
The illusion cracked. The bed burst into light.
Velhara growled, pulling back as petals burned in divine fire.
Celestia collapsed forward—falling not onto velvet, but into Kaito's arms.
Real. Present. Warm.
He held her tightly.
"You're not dirty," he whispered. "You never were."
She sobbed into his shoulder. "Don't let her take the others…"
"I won't."