Primordial Villain with a Slave Harem

Chapter 1165: Nothing like Morgana

Quinlan glanced down at her with one brow arching. His tone was dry and playful.

”I thought you were only interested in fermenting in poison baths.”

He expected outrage. Sharp denial. A venomous retort. That was how most women would react, after all.

But instead... her lips curved into something sly. Her battered, bloodstained face carried an elegance in that grin, as though she were unfazed by her ruin.

”The baths are not indulgence. They are to keep me in peak form for moments that matter.”

Her eyes sparkled brightly even through exhaustion. ”Moments such as striking down a member of the Scarlet Lilies...” Then her gaze lifted to the saber in his hand, to the living shadow within it.

”Or learning about something as intoxicatingly rare as the only Necromaner acknowledged by the thing that made that announcement. The Primordial Villain... I want to learn all his secrets... I want to dissect his entire being... I feel curiosity bubbling in me so strong I never knew possible.”

Quinlan instantly stiffened.

Danger.

A full shudder ran down his spine, with his entire body seizing for an instant as though every nerve inside him screamed at once in alarm.

It was absurd. The woman in his arms was half-dead, her body broken and leaking blood like a faulty barrel. Yet despite that... he felt in mortal danger.

After all, there was already one turbo-strong woman in this world who wanted to dissect him in her laboratory, to peel apart the mysteries of his existence piece by piece. He didn’t need a second one.

But before he could let the thought settle, before he could so much as finish the dreadful train of thought...

Her fingers stirred.

A pale, trembling hand lifted, and with all the casual elegance of a queen swatting away a servant’s insolence, she pressed her fingertip lightly against his lips.

It was not a harsh gesture. There were no attempts at being domineering.

No, it was just a quiet motion, a command spoken without words: don’t you even dare finish that thought.

Her eyes, visibly exhausted yet unwavering, met his.

”I...” she whispered with a silken voice, ”am nothing like Morgana.”

Her finger lingered on his lips. ”Despite what my reputation might imply, I do not study by carving flesh. I do not tear apart what I wish to understand, only that which I don’t want to continue existing. No...”

Her voice dropped into a velvety murmur, already half unconscious. ”I learn by experience... by watching... by tasting the truth for myself...”

Her finger dragged on his mouth before falling limply.

”You truly are different, aren’t you?” Quinlan mused as he brought his own finger to his lips, still struggling greatly to grasp what this woman truly was about.

Her words had hit him much harder than he expected.

’Not mere curiosity, not mere madness, but obsession wrapped in grace, a fascination that didn’t just want my power explained. It wanted to feel it, to breathe it, to live inside it...’

His expression turned wry for a moment. ”How troublesome.”

”What is...”

The wryness only increased. ”... I thought you were already out cold.”

Her tired eyes found him once again. But now, there was an inquisitiveness in them that Quinlan knew all too well.

His women looked at him similarly when he said something they didn’t quite appreciate. ”What is troublesome?”

”...”

Quinlan let the silence hang.

His gaze lingered on her, studying her face, the pallor of her bloodstained skin, and, most important of all, those eyes.

Even dulled by fatigue, her irises gleamed a bewitching shade of violet, sharp and unreadable, yet soft enough to draw him in against reason. There was only one word Quinlan could use to describe them.

Mesmerizing.

He sighed before answering. It was a quiet, heavy sound that carried more weight than words could.

”Everything in my life is troublesome.”

Her lips curled upward into a little smirk at that. It was a small, tired smile that tugged at their corners. Amusement danced in her purple eyes as if she’d just caught him red-handed.

It was almost... cute.

Then her eyelids lowered. Purple faded away beneath soft lashes until her breathing evened out again.

Quinlan was left staring down at her.

And what struck him wasn’t her ruined body or the faint perfume of iron and poison clinging to her skin; it was the trust. She had given him her utmost trust in this moment without hesitation.

He could touch her wherever and however he desired. He could strip her of a woman’s dignity. He could cut her throat, claim the richest XP boon of his life, and add a soul soldier to his arsenal powerful enough to shift whole wars.

Yet she slept. Peaceful. Serene.

’Mesmerizing... not just in body, but in spirit.’

And he realized with a weight that pressed oddly on his chest:

She wasn’t the only one curious.

He wanted to understand her, too.

For a rare moment, his expression softened. A tender silence surrounded them.

Then he exhaled and turned away from the skies above, where Lilith and the four living members of the Scarlet Lilies remained.

He decided not to give chase.

He had his reasons, and they stacked neatly in his mind.

Black Fang was dying in his arms.

His own side was torn open from Lilith’s previous slash.

His mana reserves scraped bottom and so did Vex’s, and beyond that, his body was also heavy with exhaustion. A combatant’s sole resource was not just Mana and Health, the numbers that were tracked by the systemic interface. He had stamina to consider as well, he couldn’t continue fighting endlessly even if his mana were to be somehow magically limitless. He wasn’t a video game character, but a living, breathing being.

The next reason on his list was that Scar’s soul had already been secured, strengthening his hand. Lilith was a mighty woman who seemed about to snap right now. She and Jallen were still at near full strength, killing more would be incredibly difficult under their watch.

Frankly, it was already a miracle they got away with killing Scar.

And perhaps most importantly... he knew the danger of facing a cornered beast.

Even if Void was spent and her tethers faltered, even if they plummeted toward the earth, forcing a final clash in this state would be a major risk. A wounded animal was always most dangerous when it had nothing left to lose.A single good slash from Lilith was all it took, and Quinlan wasn’t sure he can keep getting away with being within the striking range of a woman at her level.

Quinlan did not want to gamble unless the stakes were life or death.

Today, they were not. He would meet his enemies again, at full strength.

Was it a bad decision? Did he make a cowardly choice?

Quinlan didn’t know, but what he knew was that he didn’t wish to risk it all for the victory. He wanted to return Black Fang to Vex and then hold his girls close. He was already on path to become incredibly powerful. A few more levels and he might just be able to face Lilith without having to rely on others or the environment to help him.

Time was on his side.

Within mere seconds, his feet landed on the ground, and he spent the last of his mana reserves to summon a [Warp Gate] leading inside the stronghold.

...

Author: I saw your comments yesterday about hoping for more bloodshed... Did I disappoint? 🙁

To me, it made logical sense for Quinlan to retreat, but I understand if you thought this was lackluster. Anyhow, it is what it is. I don’t want to change my decision to appease my readers no matter how adorable you all are.

The novel is not done just yet, there’s a lot more Chapters left for Quinlan to shine.

In fact... The confrontation itself might not be over just yet either...