[Nightmare]

[A/N: At some point, editing mistakes will increase if they haven't already. I'm still uncontracted.]

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Kylon fidgeted his thumb-like claws on the left side of each paw while panning the wagon.

"So cute…." Marie whispered to Riley.

Riley nodded with a joyous expression.

Charlotte was grinning at him.

Helix was sitting in front of him silently.

Kylon's eyes glided to the left nervously.

The gold streaks in his reddish-orange fur glistened in the sunlight from his sweating.

After five more seconds of awkward silence, Helix sighed.

"Tell us the reason you're here, Yakuza."

Kylon's eyes widened.

Helix scoffed lightly and turned away to express his annoyance.

He didn't want to play games.

"You know why we're on our way back to the Capital." Helix asserted confidently.

"So why are you thinking through social strategies to break the news to me?"

Kylon's eyes glazed over.

"I…." He began cautiously.

"Kylon, was it?" Riley asked.

Kylon snapped out of his daze and turned his head to the sweet voice near him.

"Y-Yes." He stuttered.

Riley gave him a gentle smile, thawing his nervousness.

"You can speak to us. After everything Helix has been through, he's used to bad news."

Marie and Charlotte giggled.

Kylon gave the ladies a look that said, [how can you be so casual about that?]

"Please don't understand, Kylon." Riley said with a sweet voice.

"We do not enjoy that reality, nor do we wish to come back."

Kylon gave her a bitter-sweet smile.

"We're just saying that you can speak to us in a forward manner."

"We'd prefer it." Marie nodded.

Charlotte gave him a nod.

Kylon looked over to Helix hesitantly.

"Go ahead, Kylon. We're not going to eat you." Helix chuckled.

After Helix's [partially] respectable answer, the cat puffed out its cheeks.

The young women giggled after they saw his expression.

Kylon blushed in embarrassment.

"Ahem." Helix coughed.

He didn't want to wait for the cat to recover naturally.

Helix didn't hate Kylon, but he didn't want to help his abductor or interact with him more than necessary.

The only reason he was being polite was that the cat was sent as a sacrifice.

Kylon gave Helix a wry smile and then began.

"The… alliance you ladies set up…."

Marie frowned, and the others followed.

"It's shaky at best. At your slow stages of growth, there have been major swings in power caused by the monster hunts." Kylon explained nervously.

"You cannot choose what enemy level comes out of the Zion forest.

So some people have made major gains.

There might be another bid for the top cultivator spot as a result."

Everyone gave each other wry smiles.

Marie gave Helix a regretful expression.

"I… thought I did better setting things up, Helix…."

Helix gave her a gentle smile and embraced her downtrodden face with his hand.

She blushed lightly and gazed at him with her vibrant green eyes.

"One month of work resulted in seven weeks of peace…." He chuckled.

"During this critical time, that's a Christmas miracle. You did amazing, Marie."

Marie blushed, and Charlotte and Riley giggled.

Helix turned back to Kylon.

"Situation aside, are you seizing this opportunity to have these beautiful ladies create a more permanent solution?

Or is there something else weighing you down?" He asked.

Kylon looked to the floor with a depressed gaze.

"Tyrene's intel…." He began hesitantly.

Helix nodded.

"We've taken it very seriously, so we've requested help from an allied nation.

The country is named Thyme, and we've recently learned…."

The group looked at one another.

"They have [cultivators], as we call them. Earthians." Kylon sighed.

"Haaaaaaaaaah." Helix scoffed with an exasperated expression.

Marie and Riley looked at each other with worried expressions.

Charlotte laced her fingers behind the back of her head and leaned back.

She was ready to start eating popcorn.

"What's their maturity?" Helix asked with a demanding tone.

Kylon jolted in surprise.

He was lost in his thoughts.

"They… the magic…."

Helix snapped his fingers, causing the nervous cat to jump again.

"T-They arrived the same day you did." Kylon stuttered.

"Hah. Haha…." Helix chuckled in disbelief.

"What… I…. Hahahahaha!"

He burst into laughter, drawing the attention and bewildered expressions of the others in the wagon.

Even the driver looked back to ensure everything was okay.

"You… hahaha… so fucked… hahahaha!"

Everyone exchanged nervous expressions.

Even Charlotte was taken aback.

Kylon prepared to gnash his fangs but paused and panned the wagon.

The women had worried expressions on their faces.

He could tell that Helix's behavior was abnormal and not a good sign.

Helix cupped his hands over his face, and his laughter was cut off.

He leaned back and ran his fingers through his silky black hair.

"Helix…." Marie whispered.

She could see the pure stress written over his face.

While they enjoyed their trip, the first week was rough for him and Marie.

They didn't think he couldn't take any more bad news.

Helix shook his head in her direction to partially dispel her worries.

"Yakuza." Helix called out after a minute of silence.

"... Yes." Kylon replied indignantly.

"How mature have the super otakus become?" Helix asked with a serious expression.

He sent a devastating gaze into Kylon's direction.

The cat swallowed when he felt the young man's gaze burrowing into his soul.

He felt his pitch-black eyes would suck him in like a black hole.

"Many are very mature…." Kylon replied nervously.

"H-However, the cultivator culture and quest to become the protagonist are double-edged swords.

No one can grow up completely as a result."

Helix chuckled bitterly.

"That's true. On a scale of one to five, where ten is [very likely], and zero is [no chance], what is the possibility we can hide the cultivator laws?"

Everyone in the wagon moved their eyes around, trying to figure out Helix's fuzzy statement.

"Hah! Hahahahaha!" Charlotte cried.

"Heh. Haha." Marie chuckled.

"That's…." Riley giggled.

Kylon stared at everyone's laughing expressions with confusion written on his face.

"Did I… miss something?

Your scale confused me." He asked nervously.

He couldn't think clearly.

As a result, he couldn't remember what Helix said.

"On a scale of [no chance] to [coin flip], how likely is it?" Helix replied while giving Kylon a wry smile.

"Ah! I see…." Kylon replied.

"Uh… Not… very likely. Even if…."

"Things get violent."

Helix finished Kylon's statement.

"No one has enough force overwhelming enough to enact the law and keep it in place." He explained to the curious gazes.

Marie nodded in understanding, and Charlotte and Riley nodded in abstract understanding.

"That's… not entirely true…." Kylon whispered.

Helix's eyes widened.

After thinking about it for a moment, he burst into a flurry of chuckles.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked.

Marie and Riley turned their attention to him.

Helix ran his fingers through his hair again.

"Atlas." He chuckled.

A wave of understanding washed over everyone.

"Yes…." Kylon replied with a low, bitter growl.

"Sounds about right." Charlotte chuckled.

"I agree." Riley seconded.

Marie closed her eyes with a bitter-sweet smile.

"He… wanted to travel with us." Marie explained.

"However, he agreed to stay around for another month to ensure that the leaders had backup support."

Helix smiled.

"That's more than Alzeria could ask for." He whispered with a slight smile.

Kylon huffed and turned his head.

"So does he just watch with a bored expression and dodges people's attempts to constrain him?" Helix chuckled.

"Yes." Kylon replied bitterly.

"He always waits until things are convenient—"

"Yo!" A voice called out.

Everyone in the wagon turned to the driver's location.

A person hopped onto the cart suddenly, scaring the driver.

"It's been awhile."

A young man with light brown hair and blue sunglasses panned the wagon's occupants.

"Been a while, Atlas." Helix chuckled.

"Atlas!" Charlotte cried.

"Hey, Atlas." Marie sighed.

"Hello, it's been a bit." Riley said sweetly.

"Hey… Atlas." Kylon growled.

"Long time no see, Yakuza Cat." Atlas said with a wide grin.

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