The Corrupter's crown shivered, three fragments falling like guilty stars. His ribs flared, not with triumph, but with strain; the silence he commanded cracked around the edges. For the first time since he had stepped from the seam, he faltered.
Then he withdrew. Not vanishing—pulling threads back into himself, crown dimming to an ember of black fire. He did not flee, but retreated two paces and let the ridge exhale. The hunger of shadows slackened.
The hoop of Nia's ward held. Barely. Villagers gasped at the sudden absence of weight and fell to their knees, some weeping, some simply staring at the sky as if remembering it existed.
Andy lowered the Oathblade. The steel pulsed once, bright as a vein of ore struck in darkness, and then dulled. His aura dimmed, Tier II folding back inside him like a cloak removed after battle. He tasted blood at the corner of his mouth, and his shoulder still burned with the cold bite.
Nia stumbled against him. Her staff slipped back into the Shared Inventory with a hiss of light, leaving her hands empty. She pressed her forehead against his chest, breath ragged, sweat dripping down the curve of her jaw. "We… held."
Aurelia laughed hoarsely, one dagger still in her hand, the other fading back into storage. She leaned her whole body against his back, chin on his shoulder, breath hot and shameless. "We did more than hold. We made him bleed."
Andy wrapped his arms around them both—not to protect, but to anchor. "We bought time."
The system chose that moment to intrude, voice almost reverent.
[Constellation Sync — Orion]
Nia ⭐ 99% | Aurelia ⭐ 98%
Tier III Progress: 78%
Bond Saturation: High
Recommendation: Rest cycle → Stabilization through intimacy
The words landed heavy. Not a command—an invitation.
The villagers, sensing reprieve, began ushering one another away from the hoop, dragging carts, murmuring prayers. They looked back once, twice, but did not intrude on the three who still stood in the center of the circle.
Andy guided both women toward the inn. The Lantern Rest waited at the ridge's edge, windows glowing faint, innkeeper wide-eyed at the sight of them. "New room, sir—"
Aurelia's grin cut the offer. "No need." She waved it away with a flick of her wrist, possessive and smug. "We share."
Nia's nostrils flared, but she said nothing. Only pressed closer against Andy's side, as if to remind both of them whose pulse had reached him first.
Their room upstairs was already warm with lamp-light. The bed was too small for three. That had never been an obstacle.
Weapons and items blinked away into the Shared Inventory, a cascade of quiet chimes—daggers, staff, Oathblade, even Andy's battered coat. What remained was skin and breath and the ache of victory bought dearly.
Aurelia was first to press him down into the mattress, lips quick and demanding, laugh spilling into his mouth as she straddled him. Nia followed, slower, sliding onto the bed from the other side, hands tracing his chest, possessive but tender.
Rivalry smoldered in their glances over him. One teasing, one commanding, neither willing to yield. They took turns—touch for touch, kiss for kiss, each escalation met and doubled. Andy was no spectator; he answered them both, steady as the ridge, fierce as the blade.
Clothes were shed like vows too heavy to keep—Aurelia's tunic torn loose with her own impatient hand, Nia's robe falling in a whisper of fabric. Skin met skin, slick with sweat and the lingering heat of aura, the taste of salt and smoke in every kiss.
The room filled with the sound of breath, laughter, soft cries muffled against his shoulder or swallowed against lips. The mattress groaned. The lamp burned lower.
The system chimed again, shameless, counting their pulse as if it were skill.
[Bond Pulse ↑↑]
Nia ⭐ 100% | Aurelia ⭐ 99%
Tier III Progress: 92%
Shared Resonance: Saturated
Note: Prolonged intimacy accelerates stabilization
They did not stop after once. Or twice. Aurelia demanded more, Nia refused to yield, Andy answered until his body was language made flesh. The night turned into a long braid of desire, rivalry, surrender, and union. They collapsed, rose, found each other again, until exhaustion became its own kind of victory.
By dawn, sweat-soaked sheets clung to them, and neither woman had moved far from his side. Nia's hand rested over his heart as if guarding it; Aurelia's leg draped across his thigh like a flag planted in conquest.
The system sang one last time before silence, like a scribe closing the record of a night that had rewritten their bond.
[Constellation Sync — Orion]
Nia ⭐ 100% | Aurelia ⭐ 100%
Tier III Progress: 100%
Status: Orion Constellation — Tier III Unlocked
New Skill: Shared Resonance Form (Unlocked)
Reward: Core Fragment ×2
Andy opened his eyes to the first light of morning. His arms were full, his body aching, his aura heavy with new strength. Outside, the ridge waited, but inside, for one long, merciful moment, he was complete.