Lust Knight

Somewhere in the South Sea, southeast of the Black Sea Riders Island.

The Sea Devil literally continues to fly over the waters while Daisy uses as many wind crystals as possible so that the ship's magic sails generate wind waves, and Madelyn continues forcing her body beyond her limits to generate even more wind waves.

Lucien's wives don't even talk as they are too focused on rescuing him. And their dedication touches Maya's heart, making her wonder what kind of person Lucien is to leave so many women that way.

The Phoenixes have always been extremely gentle and naive creatures, which turned out to be their downfall. And Maya, as the last of her species, tries to be as smart as possible to survive, which ends up making her very suspicious. Well, not long suspicious to see that she had been living alongside one of the seven deadly sins for two months.

And given how the Phoenixes died, Maya can't help but fear that Lucien is like the Fire God, a greedy man who is deceiving good women for his own benefit.

Intending to find out more about him before facing a fucking Leviathan to save him, she goes to the Sea Devil's magic core room, where Daisy and other girls are feeding magic crystals to the ship.

Maya feels a wave of hot air hit her body as she enters that room, where the atmosphere is very hot due to the Sea Devil's magical core.

As she is a Phoenix, she feels much comfortable in that climate, but the other girls are sweating a lot. Yet, none of them seem to care about that, and they could stay there for years if it's to help Lucien.

Rose and her mother are the ones who are suffering the most from that heat, as Vampires prefer cold climates. Daisy is also extremely pale as she hasn't had a blood drink for two days.

She wanted to use the excuse that she hadn't brought bottles of blood to drink Lucien's blood, but she couldn't imagine it would end that way.

Yet, Daisy can feel the life mana of Lucien and Sophia inside her Blood Nascent, keeping her body well, which makes her like Lucien even more. [He keeps helping me even when he's the one who needs help the most...]

"Daisy?" Maya speaks in a friendly tone. "Your name is Daisy, right?"

"Yes." She nods while wondering what Maya is doing there.

Maya notices the girls' curious expressions and quickly pulls out a big greenish-white crystal from her storage bracelet. "I figured you'd need more wind crystals since you're always keeping the ship at full speed..."

Daisy takes the wind crystals Maya is giving her. "I'm really grateful for this. Every second is crucial so we can help Lucien as quickly as possible."

Maya makes a thoughtful expression. "Since I've met your group, I've heard a lot about this Lucien guy… I wonder what makes him so special."

"Well, I think he's the most remarkable person I've ever met..." Daisy comments as she passes the wind crystals to Rose.

"Many people can be remarkable in our lives, yet..." Maya makes a dubious expression. "You girls seem very eager to reach the Leviathan, one of the most powerful and scary creatures in the whole universe."

"..." Daisy and the other girls continue to feed the Sea Devil's core with wind crystals without showing any reaction to Maya's words.

So she continues. "Maybe you girls don't understand yet that the chances of us dying is far greater than any success in rescuing that guy. Well, the great demons and I aren't really going to die, but you girls are just going to throw your lives away."

"That's what you think!" Daisy responds in an annoyed tone. "I can't speak for other girls, but I owe my life to Lucien. He not only healed me when no one else could, but he also gave me a new purpose to live on. So if I have to die to save him or along with him, I'm fine with that."

"Mm." Rose and the other girls nod, agreeing with Daisy's words.

Maya is even more curious about Lucien and his relationship with his wives. "You must love your husband very much because most people are actually not willing to pay a life debt with their own lives."

"Of course, I lov-" Daisy starts to tell the truth that comes from her heart, but she quickly stops as Rose looks at her with a thoughtful expression.

She slightly blushes as she shakes her head. "He's not my husband... I'm just his mother-in-law."

Maya is confused as she can swear she sees the same sparkles in Daisy's eyes that she sees in those other women's eyes when they talk about Lucien. [She is clearly in love with him, I'm sure.]

[And if all these women love him that much, even his mother-in-law... he must really be someone special...] Maya can't remember knowing or even hearing about such a good man, which makes her still doubt whether Lucien is really special or a fake.

"I see..." Maya gently smiles. "I won't bother you anymore. And if you need anything, just talk to me."

"Thank you." Daisy realizes that Maya's intentions are good. In fact, anyone can see that she is really a good person who does not have any corruption in her pure heart. That actually makes her look naive and even silly most of the time.

Maya walks out of that room, and Rose immediately looks at her mother with a fake upset expression because she's not really mad. "Mom!! You can't even hide it anymore, don't you??"

Daisy can't help but laugh at Rose's expression, but then her expression turns sad. "I... I just got used to having him around, and now..."

Rose's look also turns sad, and she takes Daisy's hand. "And now it feels like a nightmare to be away from him... I can't blame you for that because I feel the same way."

The other girls in the room are also sad and then approach Daisy to comfort her. Angela puts her hand on her shoulder. "We all feel that way... this is the kind of thing that can make us even more united because only together can we get through this painful moment."

"Mm." Daisy smiles at the girls as she thinks about Lucien again. That's another gift he gave her, a real family.

----------------------------

As she walks through the corridors of the Sea Devil, Maya also continues to think about Lucien. [The fall of the Phoenixes also started like that... with women loving a man that much...]

[People underestimate love's capability to destroy lives...] She can't help but feel sorry for Lucien's wives because she doesn't really believe they can save him from the Leviathan.

As soon as she gets on the deck, what she sees are more women so worried about Lucien.

Madelyn's arms tremble as she continues to hold Cassidy and Mia's hands to use all the wind mana they have.

Maggie's eyes are dry as she hasn't blinked them for several hours because she just looks in all directions, trying to find anything that could lead them to Lucien.

Ko is hoarse as she keeps roaring, trying to communicate with Lucien or her mother.

Maya looks at Eve and her sisters together and realizes that Naomi's look is the same as other women's, which leaves her perplexed. [It's not possible!! How is she so worried about someone she doesn't even know??]

A part of Maya's mind tries to warn her that there is something wrong with that situation. But her pure, kind, and very naive heart obviously has other explanations for Naomi's attitude.

[Did she sympathize with these poor women's situation?] Maya smiles as she is proud of Naomi as a mother is proud of their children. [I was right to take her to my home... there is a lot of goodness in her heart.]

Maya approaches them and hugs Naomi tightly with her warm arms. "You are really precious, my dear!"

Naomi smiles shyly as her sisters and the sins feel sorry for Maya as they know that Gluttony's real intention is to devour the silly bird's energy.

While hugging her' good daughter,' Maya looks at Eve and Pride. "Do you think we're near to that place already?"

"I'm not sure... everything looks the same here, a big blue horizon," Eve responds.

"We'll know when we're near the portal." Pride comments.

Sloth materializes her body beside them to speak. "Sophia is trying to feel his presence."

Maya makes a thoughtful expression. "Oh yes, I remember you saying that the girls could feel when he was near around..."

"I think Sophia can feel him at greater distances because of the bonds they shares, especially the child." Sloth explains.

"THE CHILD???" Naomi can't help but exclaim, shocked by that revelation.

Maya is again confused, both by Naomi's overreaction and by the fact that a child gives someone the ability to feel another person at great distances.

Before the girls can respond, Naomi looks at Eve with an incredulous expression. "You can't be serious, right? There's no way she's pregnant with Luci's child..."

"Naomi, what's wrong with you?" Maya asks in a concerned tone.

"It's just… hmmm…" She thinks of something quickly. "She's his sister! That is so crazy..."

[Crazy???] Eve thinks as she looks at Naomi with an annoyed expression. [Wasn't that what you suggested to me a few years ago???]

Naomi can tell from Eve's look what she wants to say. And well, she really thought Lucien should be the only man in his sisters' lives, but let alone the fact that Gluttony said that they couldn't get pregnant after the soul contract, Lucien getting Sophia pregnant that quickly is pretty shocking.

"Well, that's not really weird." Maya comments. "I mean, incest isn't common in most places, but in troubled families, many times the siblings can only depend on each other, and that sort of thing ends up happening."

"I guess so..." Naomi remembers all the times her father made her and her siblings' lives a true hell and realizes that it makes sense for them to love each other so much. [Well, Sophia certainly loves Lucien more...]

It may not be right to say that Sophia loves Lucien more than his other wives, but their bonds are certainly older and more profound.

And for that reason, after meditating for an hour on her floating pillow, she can finally feel him thousands of miles away.

"That way!" She points northwest, precisely toward the Black Sea Riders Island.

"Are you sure?" Maggie asks because she knows that's not the direction they originally came from.

Sophia nods while smiling. "Yes, I can feel he's there… and he's fine."

"Amazing..." Maya thinks aloud and then makes a thoughtful expression. "Well, northwest is where Black Sea Riders' territory is, so I think they're in trouble if there's a Leviathan at their home."

"Whatever, we're going there!" Eve comments, and Scarlett changes the course, taking the Sea Devil northwest and Lucien's wives back to him.