Day 131 Post-Impact
The descent into the caldera took most of the morning.
What had looked like a simple bowl from the ridge revealed itself to be a labyrinth of volcanic formations, hot springs, and ancient construction. Pathways had been carved into the stone millennia ago, worn smooth by countless feet that had walked them in pilgrimage or reverence. Steam rose from vents along the route, creating a perpetual mist that made the ruins appear and disappear like ghosts.
"These structures predate anything in our historical records," Yuki said, her voice hushed with academic wonder as they passed beneath an archway carved with symbols that seemed to shift when viewed directly. Her tablet was recording everything, ice crystals forming unconsciously around her hands as her excitement grew. "The architectural style doesn't match any known civilization. Either this was built by the entity itself, or by a people we have no record of."
"Three thousand years is a long time," Jade observed, her purple-streaked hair plastered to her face from the humidity. "Plenty of civilizations could have risen and fallen without leaving traces we'd recognize."
The entity's presence grew stronger with every step downward. It wasn't oppressive - more like a weight settling on their shoulders, a constant reminder that they were entering territory that belonged to something ancient and powerful. The land itself seemed to respond to their passage, steam vents quieting as they approached and resuming their hissing once they'd passed.
Elena moved like a shadow through the mist, her powers working overtime to scout ahead. "Clear so far. Whatever lives here, it's not hostile. At least not to us."
"It knows why we're here," Sarnav said. "The Covenant protects us as much as it will protect it."
They reached the central temple complex by midday.
The structures rose from the volcanic rock like something grown rather than built - towers and domes and connecting bridges that flowed organically from one to the next. Obsidian walls reflected the weak sunlight filtering through the mist, and windows of some crystalline substance glowed with faint inner light. At the center stood what could only be the ritual site: a circular platform surrounded by standing stones, each carved with the same shifting symbols they'd seen throughout their descent.
"This is it," Yuki breathed, already moving toward the platform with her tablet raised. "The energy convergence is exactly as the texts described. Volcanic thermal power, ambient awakening energy, and something else - something older. This is where the Covenant will be sealed."
The entity manifested as they explored, its avatar appearing between two of the standing stones without warning or fanfare. The middle-aged Indonesian man looked somehow more solid here, more real, as if proximity to its place of power gave it greater substance.
"Seal Warden." Its ancient eyes swept over the group, lingering briefly on each wife before returning to Sarnav. "You have come. As promised."
"As promised."
"The ritual will take place at dawn tomorrow. The alignment of thermal and celestial energies will be optimal then." The avatar gestured toward one of the larger structures. "You may rest in the old quarters. They have not been used in three millennia, but they remain... comfortable."
"Thank you."
The entity's avatar flickered, then solidified again. Something almost like uncertainty crossed its features - an expression that seemed foreign to a being of such age and power.
"I have waited a very long time for this," it said quietly. "Longer than your civilization has existed. Longer than the forests that now cover this land. I had... begun to lose hope that justice would ever come."
"It's coming. Tomorrow."
The avatar smiled - a small, genuine expression that transformed its ancient face into something almost human. "Yes. Tomorrow."
It vanished, leaving only the weight of its presence behind.
The old quarters were, as promised, surprisingly comfortable.
Whatever civilization had built these structures had understood the value of shelter. Rooms with actual beds - stone frames with surprisingly intact padding made from some preserved fiber - surrounded a central common area. Hot springs had been channeled to provide warmth and running water. It was primitive by pre-Impact standards, but luxurious compared to their camps of the past few days.
The team settled in, each processing the magnitude of what tomorrow would bring. Jade immediately began setting up equipment, determined to maintain her surveillance link with Harmony even this deep in the caldera. Yuki disappeared into one of the smaller chambers to review the ritual protocols one final time. Elena prowled the perimeter, unable to relax even in relative safety.
Jiyeon found Sarnav in one of the temple chambers, staring up at the broken ceiling where moonlight streamed through ancient stonework.
"You should be resting," he said without turning. "Tomorrow will be demanding."
"I could say the same to you, jagiya." She moved to stand beside him, her long legs elegant even in travel-worn clothes. The moonlight caught her face, highlighting the perfect bone structure that had made her an idol, the sharp intelligent eyes that had made her so much more. "I tried to sleep. Couldn't."
"Nervous?"
"Me? Never." But her voice wavered slightly, and she didn't meet his eyes. "Kim Jiyeon doesn't get nervous. She's always composed. Always in control. Always perfect."
"Jiyeon."
She laughed, a brittle sound that cracked at the edges. "Okay. Fine. Yes. I'm terrified." She finally looked at him, and he saw something vulnerable beneath her idol's mask - something she rarely let anyone see. "Tomorrow you're going to perform a ritual with an ancient being that could kill you with a thought if it wanted to. And I have to stand there and watch and be useless because my power is charm and what good is charm against something that old?"
"You're not useless."
"I'm the least powerful person here. Elena could shadow-step you to safety. Yuki understands the ritual. Jade can track everything happening. I can just... look pretty and convince people to like me." Her hands clenched at her sides. "Some contribution."
He turned to face her fully, cupping her face in his hands. "You're here because I need you here. Not your power. You. When I look at you, I remember what I'm fighting for. What I'm building. You ground me, Jiyeon. You make me feel human when everything else makes me feel like some kind of cultivation protagonist."
"Jagiya..." Her composure cracked further, tears threatening at the corners of her eyes. "You can't say things like that. I'll ruin my makeup."
"You're not wearing makeup."
"I know. That's the problem." But she was smiling now, watery and genuine. "How do you always know what to say?"
"I don't. I just say what's true."
She kissed him, soft at first, then deeper. Her hands slid up his chest, gripping his shoulders, pulling him closer. When she spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper.
"I need you tonight, dongsaeng. Not because I'm scared. Not because of tomorrow. Because I love you and I want to feel close to you. Is that... is that okay?"
"It's more than okay, noona."
The word made her shiver, her whole body responding to the honorific that reversed their dynamic. She was older, technically, but in this moment she needed him to take care of her. Needed to not be the perfect idol, the composed seductress, the competitive wife always fighting for position.
He led her to a raised stone platform where ancient cushions had somehow survived the millennia. Moonlight poured through the broken ceiling, turning the chamber into something magical - a sanctuary within a sanctum.
"Let me worship you," he said, lowering her onto the cushions. "Like you deserve."
"Jagiya, you don't have to-"
"I want to."
He undressed her slowly, reverently, peeling away travel-worn layers to reveal the body beneath. Her 32DD breasts rose and fell with quickening breath, her slim waist and toned abs testament to years of idol training. Her long legs seemed to go on forever in the moonlight, her skin luminous against the dark stone.
"Beautiful," he murmured, and she flushed.
"You've seen me naked before."
"And you're beautiful every time."
He kissed down her body, taking his time, savoring her responses. She gasped when his mouth found her breasts, arching into the sensation. Her nipples hardened under his tongue, and she moaned his name.
"Please... you know what I need first..."
He did. He kissed lower, across her flat stomach, along the curve of her hip, until he reached the apex of her thighs. She was already wet, her arousal glistening in the moonlight, and she spread her legs eagerly as he settled between them.
The first touch of his tongue made her cry out, her hands flying to his hair. "Yes! Jagiya, yes, right there!"
He worked her with lips and tongue, learning her responses all over again, building her pleasure with patient dedication. She needed this - needed to be taken care of, to be worshipped, to feel valued for more than her power or her beauty. He gave her everything he had.
"Your tongue feels so good... I've been thinking about this for days... joha, joha, just like that..."
He slid two fingers inside her while his mouth worked her clit, and she screamed. Her pussy clenched around him, her hips bucking against his face, her whole body trembling.
"I'm going to cum! Don't stop, please don't stop, I'm so close!"
He sucked her clit into his mouth, fingers curling to find her spot, and she shattered. Her orgasm crashed through her in waves, Korean spilling from her lips in an incoherent stream, her thighs clamping around his head as she rode out the pleasure.
"Joha! Joha joha joha! Still cumming!"
When the tremors finally subsided, she pulled him up her body with desperate hands. "Inside me. Now. Please, I need to feel you."
He positioned himself at her entrance, her wetness making the slide easy. When he pushed inside, she moaned and wrapped her legs around him, pulling him deep.
"Yes... fill me up, dongsaeng... make your noona feel good..."
He made love to her in the moonlit sanctum, their bodies moving together in ancient rhythms. She clung to him, her nails digging into his shoulders, her moans echoing off stone walls that had seen countless rituals over thousands of years. But none quite like this.
"Harder... I want to feel you tomorrow... want to remember this when you're performing the ritual..."
He obliged, driving deeper, feeling her pussy grip him with every thrust. Her 32DD breasts pressed against his chest, her long legs locked around his waist, her whole body arching to meet him.
"I love you," she gasped. "I love you so much it scares me. Promise you'll come back to me tomorrow. Promise."
"I promise."
"Say it again."
"I promise I'll come back to you. To all of you. Nothing is going to take me away from my wives."
She came again with those words, her body convulsing around him, tears streaming down her face - not from sadness but from overwhelming emotion. Through the bond, he felt her love like a physical force, and it pushed him over the edge.
He spilled inside her as she continued to shake, both of them crying out in the ancient chamber, their pleasure echoing through halls that hadn't heard such sounds in three thousand years.
"Saranghae," she whispered afterward, curled against him on the ancient cushions. I love you in Korean - the most intimate form. "Whatever happens tomorrow, remember that. Your noona loves you."
"I love you too." He kissed her forehead. "My competitive, beautiful, secretly vulnerable noona."
"I'm not vulnerable. I'm just... temporarily emotional."
"Of course."
"Shut up and hold me."
He did, until she fell asleep in his arms, her idol's mask fully restored in peaceful slumber.
[HARMONY POINTS: +900][BOND WITH KIM JIYEON: DEEPENED][KIM JIYEON: C+ → B- ADVANCEMENT][CHARM ABILITY: ENHANCED - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE]
Dawn would bring the ritual. Dawn would bring change.
But for tonight, in the heart of an ancient sanctum, surrounded by his wives, Sarnav allowed himself to simply be present. To feel the weight of what they'd built together. To remember why all of this mattered.
Tomorrow, he would face an entity that had waited three thousand years for justice.
Tonight, he held the woman he loved and let that be enough.
[DAY 131]
[SARNAV: S-RANK (HARMONY SOVEREIGN - FIRST STAGE)][PROGRESS TO SECOND STAGE: 54%]
[WIFE CULTIVATION STATUS][1. NISHA - C+ | 2. ISHANI - C+ | 3. ANANYA - C+][4. MINJI - C | 5. JADE - B- | 6. SANA - B-][7. JIYEON - B- | 8. SERENA - B- | 9. ZARA - B-][10. ELENA - S | 11. YUKI - C-]
[EXPEDITION STATUS: ARRIVED AT CALDERA][RITUAL SITE: CONFIRMED][RITUAL TIME: DAWN TOMORROW][ENTITY STATUS: READY]
[SEAL INTEGRITY: 89.8%]
[WIVES BONDED: 11/32]