My Wives Are A Divine Hive Mind-Chapter 42: Recuperation

The air beyond the sealed Xenorealm was heavy with the silence of the aftermath.

No one said a word for several minutes. Samael stood still, eyes cast toward where the portal had once hung like an open wound, preparing in case that the Xenos planned to blast through the seal from the other side.

When the Xenos of the Xenorealm decided to pass through the gate and invade Fathomi, the Void Hunter Association referred to it as a False Banquet.

A False Banquet was quite a danger on its own. Not only that Fathomi would get tainted and might start to apply a foreign rule that it saw from the other side, but the Xenos would also become the inhabitants of Fathomi, which means that they would acquire all of the benefits of being a Fathomi’s inhabitants.

The Xenos would acquire their own Well of the Soul, they would also become ageless and devoid of time entropy. A certain type of Xenos might take advantage of this and become much stronger than they were supposed to be.

"...They aren’t pursuing us," Samael sighed in relief.

"Finally..."

Kivas sat with her back against a support beam, breathing steadily. Azulus laid nearby, wrapped in her own fatigue, eyes half-lidded but awake.

Time passed slowly until Azulus stirred.

She sat up with minimal grace, her body still drained but her will clicking back into place.

"I’m no longer limp," Azulus said, standing with effort and walking toward the storage recess hidden within the wall behind the outpost that had established near the entrance of the Xenorealm.

Her fingers traced a sigil onto the surface, pulling a lock of air and force into alignment. A space pulsed and then unraveled, revealing the cache—hidden by a spatial fold, just as promised.

The interior shimmered with dimensional layering, like looking into a room that existed in overlapping slices of reality.

Inside were all the exotic resources and objects they’d managed to recover before the Xenos had struck.

Kivas stood beside Samael as Azulus began laying out everything they had brought back.

From semi-translucent plant fibers laced with natural filament that glowed when wrapped in skin or cloth to a moss that absorbed ambient sound and vibration.

A dense, pulsating fungal growth that produced low-level regenerative aura, a semi-sapient goo that hardened under pressure, a durable unknown material extracted from the floating islands themselves, and tons of many more.

Kivas and Samael decided to help as they began to sort the collection of Curio items retrieved from across the isles inside the Xenorelm

Mirror of the Unspoken Edge, a circular glass artifact that reflects not image, but potential movement, Common tier.

Pendulum of the Inner Star, a swinging talisman that reveals hidden rooms or space, Common tier.

Hollow Scepter of Delay, a baton that delays one’s perception of time for up to five seconds, once per cycle of night, Rare tier.

Box of Levitating Ash, self-fueling combustion core used, usable for all sorts of things, Rare tier.

Heartglass Reservoir, gem-like canister that absorbs blood essence for later deployment in healing or offense, Rare tier.

Tome of Inverted Memory, a blank book that writes your dreams and battles with Nightmares into it, Rare tier.

Lantern of Never-Dark, provides ambient light that reveals illusions, enchantments, or psychic residue, Rare tier.

Polished Fang of Rhetak, a dagger made out of an unknown beast-god, amplifies fear-induced attributes, Noble tier.

Halo Ember Coin, single-use charm that nullifies death for five seconds by isolating the soul in a side-plane, reusable with one day cooldown, Noble tier.

Tetherhook Arrowhead, arrowhead that returns to the soul-equipped owner’s hand once lodged in a target. And extract some of the target’s attributes temporarily, Rare tier.

Dustscroll of the Howling Lexicon, a scroll that unleashes a psychic scream capable of breaking morale, Rare tier.

Breather Mask of the Null Mist, allows inhalation and filtration of almost any toxic, cursed, or magical gas, or even conceptual poison, Exotic tier.

Cloak Thread of the First Hunter, a partial wearable that extremely improves Strength and Speed on the first five minutes whenever the wearer encounters a dangerous situation, or at a minimum, when the body is put into a state of fight or flight, Exotic tier.

Frozen Orb of Echoing Impact, it holds one violent moment in stasis, capable of being unleashed later for a powerful and devastating blast of chaos, Exotic tier.

And lastly, a Soulcall Whisper Bell, rings silently unless the owner is in utter danger a minute into the future, Exotic tier.

Kivas began organizing the piles. Samael assisted without comment, helping her separate the materials from the Curios, noting their magical signatures, and assessing condition.

When it was all accounted for, Azulus sat cross-legged, drawing a mental line through the loot. "We got a lot more than I expected. Especially for an expedition of seven that lasted just under six hours."

"Not to mention, a distortion also already happened on the outside, a couple of hours ago" Samael added. "Another distortion will be arriving soon."

Kivas stared at the pile of loot, her expression caught between excitement and exhaustion. "Yeah, but... only three of us made it back."

Azulus nodded slowly. "That’s why your cut will be larger." She leaned back, elbows on the broken stone. "I won’t be taking much. I only need a selection of the exotic materials to sell to the Void Hunter Association. And most importantly, I’ll be submitting a full report and log to Karasu."

Kivas blinked. "You’re not taking any of the Curios?"

Azulus shook her head. "Information is my currency. And the Karasu Association values first-contact data extremely highly. A fresh Xenorealm, its ecosystem, loot spectrum, emergent hazards. Not to mention, my worth to the guild. That alone will grant me a positive return.

Samael folded her arms. "A strategic approach. The intangible often outweighs the tangible."

Kivas smiled faintly, her fingers brushing over her hair. "Then I guess this... is a net win."

The words tasted bitter.

"Azulus. How many people have you lost before?" Kivas looked up again. "This is my first expedition, and it reminded me of a bitter experience that was eternally lodged into my mind..."

Azulus tilted her head to the side, thinking, her expression calm as ever. "Too many to count." She paused and gazed at Kivas’ troubled face. "Void Hunter work has the highest mortality rate of any sanctioned profession across most of any human civilization. Sometimes even higher than field necromancy."

Kivas absorbed the words in silence. But at the same time, quite curious on how there was a topic of necromancy insinuated to be a legal work of a society.

"I stopped pretending I could save everyone," Azulus added. "But I will always try. That’s all I can do. And I’m grateful when anyone, or at least one of them survives. Like today."

Azulus’ emotion barely change but there was this gentleness in her words that almost made it felt like she was smiling when saying that.

Before the weight of that could linger too long, the air shimmered with familiar pulses.

Across the horizon, the soundless waves of distortion began rearranging the topography again.

It was silent and barely visible, but it was happening. Ridges collapsed and reformed, valleys split into new canyons, distant trees twisted upward into columns. The world shuffled itself in silence, reshaping.

Azulus pulled her Void Hunter Tag and held it out. "Time to re-check our surroundings. The spiritual coordinate function will tell you the nearest Guild."

Kivas did the same. A soft resonance spread through her arm as the tag synced with the new geospatial configuration.

The words Solvish Chapter, Solvish Keep Bastion floated into her vision. The name remained, but the distance metric had shifted.

"Still our closest," Kivas said, "but... it’s farther than before."

"Not unusual," Samael said. "Fathomi folds upon itself like it is breathing."

Azulus nodded. "The world is remade each time it breathes."

Samael stood up, "I’ll be on the night watch. You two should sleep and clear out your Nightmares before they stack up to the point of unmanageable."

"I actually prefer if they stack up," Azulus raised her hand, giving her reason. "Remember the skill you saw back then? It becomes more accurate and powerful the more hostile entities within my periphery, translate that to the Nightmare reaping, and you get what I mean."

"We’ll be on the night watch then."

Kivas also raised her hand. "I don’t feel sleepy!"

"You don’t have any reasonable objection," Samael said. "You’ve stacked too many Nightmares without clearing them. The more you carry, the harder the next harvest becomes."

"I’m fine—"

Samael walked over, seized her by the hand and tugged.

Kivas squirmed in protest, but the next thing she knew, she was pulled into Samael’s lap. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Her head rested on the soft curvature of her partner’s thighs.

"I said you’re sleeping," Samael said, brushing her hair back. "You’re not needed to stay awake."

Kivas chuckled under her breath. "You can’t just—"

"I can. I will."

Samael began humming softly.

The tune wove around the quiet, a subtle lullaby threading through the open air.

A soft and gentle melody, wrapped under a beautiful intent.

Kivas’s eyelids grew heavier the longer she heard it. She reached up blindly and caught Samael’s hand. "Thanks... for this."

Samael didn’t answer, but her hum continued.

Within moments, Kivas’ breath slowed and deepened.

Azulus, nearby, gave a faint groan.

Samael glanced over.

Azulus had fallen asleep mid-sitting posture, her body leaned against a crate, her expression undisturbed.

Samael exhaled.