Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 319 Stand Down

"Now strip, or I will do it for you."

And once again, there was a deep silence dancing in the air as Dr. Dhani uttered those words. This time, however, it was a different sort of silence — not the one where everyone was fearing for their lives. Well, except for Rhys as he instinctively took a step back as Dr. Dhani started looking at him from head to toe.

"...Perhaps you should take a rest first, Dr. Dhani?" Rhys took in a small gulp.

"Nonsense," Dr. Dhani shook his head, "This is very light work for me — you saw me put a man that was cleaved in half together in the midst of battle, Mr. Wilder. This is nothing compared to that."

"I… also want Katarina to join in the party downstairs, and you too," Rhys reasoned, "Let's do it later, I also want the others to know the man who made Katarina whole again."

"Well, if you say so…" Dr. Dhani squinted his eyes before finally stepping away, "...I suppose it would also be a good time to catch up with an old friend."

"Old… friend?" Rhys, Ayesha, and Katarina all looked at each other as they watched the doctor head out of the room.

"Ms. Talia Talcott," Dr. Dhani scratched his beard while bursting out into a fit of laughter as he stepped out of the room, "I was a prisoner of her during the war."

"Ho… hohoho…" Ayesha quickly followed behind Dr. Dhani before glancing at Rhys, "...I can't miss this at all. This ought to be fun."

As for Katarina and Rhys, they just looked at each other before letting out a sigh and shaking their heads.

"Let's go?" Rhys reached out his hand to Katarina; Katarina, however, just jumped into his arms and embraced him.

"I… would have been fine without seeing again," Katarina's words were slightly muffled, "It would have meant that you would pay special attention to me more than the others."

"...It wouldn't have been alright with me," Rhys shook his head as he gently pulled away from Katarina; softly placing his hand on her cheek as he looked her in the eyes,

"Because it would mean I would never get to see your beautiful eyes again."

"...Ew," an awkward smile crawled onto Katarina's face as she forced out a chuckle as soon as she heard Rhys's words, "Where did you even learn to speak like that…?"

"The gorgons," Rhys sighed, "You don't like it?"

"Well… I don't know, it's cheesy," Katarina giggled, "But… I guess I don't necessarily not like it. What else have you learned, hm?"

Katarina then licked her lips before once again leaning closer to Rhys, this time actively pinning her large breasts on him, "I think we can spend a couple of minutes—"

"The two of you do know that I am here, right?"

"Eek!" Katarina could not help but just jump away from Rhys as Maria's head just suddenly emerged from Rhys's shadow, "What… what are you still doing here!?"

"Why would I be anywhere else?" Maria then climbed up and fully emerged from the shadow before quickly hugging Rhys from behind, "I am Rhys Wilder's shadow — I am always latched onto him…

…always, to the point that I know him more than you and it's not even close."

"Excuse me…?" Katarina raised an eyebrow, "I know him more than you."

"Okay, did you know that he lost 5 pounds in the last month?"

"What…? How do you even know what!?"

"You two…" Rhys could really only sigh as he removed Maria's hands from him,

"...Let's just join the others in the party."

***

"Drink, drink, drink, drink!"

"What… is happening here?"

Rhys, Katarina, and Maria joined the others downstairs, only to see a large crowd gathered into a circle — everyone was there.

Dominique and her gang, Edissa and the cenleons, Malenia and the gorgons, the high rankers of the just-disbanded Wilder's Harem guild, and of course, Lina and the others.

"Ah, Boss!" Dominique was the first to spot Rhys coming down the stairs, and she quickly rushed toward him while waving and flailing a bunch of cash in her hands, "You're too late, everyone's already placed their bets and a lot of them are already knocked down."

"Bets…?" Katarina raised an eyebrow as they joined the commotion, and there, right at the center of the crowd, was a combination of people that one would probably think would never gather together, not in a million lifetimes — but here they are.

Dr. Dhani and Talia, but the two were not fighting as Rhys expected. Margryth, and Agatha were also there — and perhaps the youngest one of them all was Malenia.

The five of them, currently in a heated drinking battle. And from the looks of it, Malenia was about to… fall. She did, she did fall — and beside her, Ayesha, Vicky, Edissa, and many others were also dead unconscious.

"There they are," Lina let out a very long and deep sigh as she approached Rhys; Olga was beside her, but she seemed incredibly wasted, "Believe it or not, the Russean was the first to fall."

"Ah, Rhys!" Olga then quickly wrapped her arms around Rhys's neck, not even caring about the looks she was getting, "Is… is it always this fun here?"

"...No," Rhys let out a sigh as he carefully placed his hand on Olga's back so that she wouldn't fall, "So… who's winning?"

"No idea," Lina shrugged, "As soon as I saw my aunt joining in, I backed out — but I don't think even she's going to win this."

"...That's cheating," Katarina sighed as she pointed at Dr. Dhani, "Our type is highly resistant to the effects of alcohol — I can't even imagine him, being one of the strongest healers in the world."

And soon, the next one to fall was Talia — leaving only Margryth, Agatha, and Dr. Dhani standing.

"Ugh…" Dr. Dhani, however, did not last long at all.

"How… did he even lose?" Katarina could not help but just blink a couple of times in disbelief. But alas, that was a mystery that will never be solved.

And so, only Margryth and Agatha were left.

"Ho… of course, the only one who is as horny as me is left standing," Margryth smirked as she looked at Agatha from head to toe before chugging an entire mug — how she was able to consume all of that without her stomach bursting, well, Rhys would never know.

"Is it just me… or is this nymph actually talking?" Agatha licked her lips as she also chugged an entire mug.

"I heard you were an expert in nymph behavior? I thought you would know," Margryth let out a small burp, "I can smell Rhys Wilder on you too — except for that male doctor, it would seem I am the only one who joined this merry competition that hasn't slept with him yet."

"...You're a Mother Nymph," Agatha blinked a couple of times, "Well, that should be interesting — I could help you and the Blackie get it on."

"Ho…?" Margryth squinted her eyes, "You're more accommodating than the one who has Hermes' blood."

"Their… conversation is turning a little personal," Katarina coughed as she saw the entire crowd cheering, "This is getting out of hand."

"Nah, I don't believe… but…" A small smile crawled on Lina's face as she sneakily grabbed her phone and started recording Agatha, "...I think that crazy woman's finally losing this."

And just as Lina predicted, Agatha could no longer drink another mug. But unlike the others who just dropped down unconscious, she climbed up on the table and pointed at Rhys,

"We're going to fuck so hard tonight, Blackie!" Agatha then poured the beer on her before grabbing Margryth's tiny arm and lifting her up in the air, "Maestro, music for the champion!"

And as soon as Agatha started shaking her wet hair, the loud music was started by Malenia's shrine maiden — who, despite the complete language barrier, was able to read the mood and started the music. How she was able to learn how to play the disc, well… it's just another one of the mysteries veiling the party.

"Ah, bollocks!" Lina quickly hid her phone, "I thought she was going to drop dead!"

"Are you really going to fuck her later, Rhys…?" Olga, who was also drunk, buried her face on Rhys's chest, "It should be me… I'll only be here for a month."

"Okay, okay…" Katarina then pried the two away from each other, "...I think you should lay down for now, Commander Olga."

Katarina and Lina then carried Olga away to the side to give her some air and water.

"So…" Maria then took this chance to once again cling beside Rhys, "Your new friend from Luzviminda is still waiting — should we tell him to stand down now since Dr. Dhani's confirmed a friendly?"

"Okay," Rhys turned to look at Dr. Dhani, who was already lifting himself up from the ground, "Tell him I'm going to ask another favor instead."