Temporal Pearls

"What about consent?" Seth asked as he tried to understand Redop's flawed view.

"You have consented the moment you came to this world. I have interviewed all of them and they affirmed that they are here for adventure and thrill and they are immortal as they will revive and I have confirmed that. So, we provide them with sweet dreams using Dream Tree in exchange, they help us with energy!"

Redop explained patiently.

Seth was speechless, he wished to ask more but he just noticed this guy was a psychopath that feels no remorse as he thinks his views were white and valid without immoral action about them.

"What about the chief? Did he agree?"

Redop smiled and said, "Yes, at first. But the chief and I are different. I'm a Listener of the Valley while he is the Vocalist. I Hear things while he can Command things. Together we are terrifying but apart, he is stronger and more influential. I hide behind Shaman and he poses as me.

After the plan, the Shaman took 30 of you and used them, leaving the bare minimum I needed. That's why the chief regretted his decision and his wife woke him up from my charm and he realized he agreed to something against his values!"

"I don't understand?"

Redop sighed and said, "I listened to him command the Valley. But commanding and listening have negative effects. He commands a lot and I found a way to influence him through his negativity…." He became silent as people in red gowns and veils walked from a two-story house.

"Your bride is here!"

"Why marriage?" Seth panicked.

"That will be the only way for her not to die. Killing that thing wasn't enough. She needs to be bound by the force that killed that thing. And that was you!"

The small figure amidst the progression was the bride. Seth's heart beats strongly, wondering how valid the game marriage is.

"What do you need of her?" Seth asked.

"She may be able to crack you. And also, with the power of another sanctuary, she will be able to leave this Valley. You see… we red people are tethered here. But you have made it possible to meet the condition for her to be free!"

"I will kill you in your sleep!" A small soft groantal voice said. It was the bride.

"Why do you hate him so much? Daughter. He is soon to be your husband. Show him respect!"

The little girl was silent now but her anger and hatred toward seth were unquenchable

"Why do you hate him?" Another elder asked. She didn't answer but her mother said, "She smells crodo from his body!"

"It's his armour. From the looks of it, some master craftsmen have merged his attire with crodo hide" another elder explained.

The bride sat before the red tree and Seth's body walked and sat before her, facing her. Seth was cursing hundreds of times per second in his mind.

"You have survived the Red Realm chase till you make the Red Valley Champion chase you. And then you survived the cacophony of wailing that even I almost got lost in them and you also refused my temptation. Later you find the most suitable flower that grants you a unique aspect that you were able to use just minutes after assimilation. All that indicates that there is a latent power in you.

Agree to the marriage and let us tap into it and I will let your siblings go?"

Seth was able to move his head and he looked at the pitiful people dying on the tree. But what if he switches places with them? He is no hero or saviour.

"Hmm. No! I can't trust you!"

"It doesn't matter. Your agreement will only make things fast and less painful. That's all."

"Mantle of Slavery!"

A rusted chain sprang from the ground and formed a rusted collar around Redop and he was pulled to the ground.

"Free me!" Seth commanded. In an instant, Seth's body freed as the red shadow left his shadow, at the same time.

"Active Aura!"

Seth's heart beat faster and his Aura Blood flowed in the vessels. A pale sticky substance came out of Seth's body and boosted his body strength at the same time, his exertion pointed to the full.

His staff, which was in someone's hand, pulled to him, he unsheathed it and was about to move when Redop's wife reacted. She was about to move when a flash of something and an explosion happened in another part of the town.

That distraction allowed him to redirect his blade to the tree and it extended fast and pierce it to another side. Then it broadened wide enough to split the tree's trunk.

"Wow! You can enslave someone for five seconds. That was scary!" Redop said amused. Seth looked around and found that all that happened was fake.

His hand held nothing and he didn't even move.

"I hate to trick my son-in-law but you see, I need to know what grand plan you might be hiding. Now I know." Redop said. "Proceed with the wedding!"

Seth knew for sure that wasn't Redop's ability. But then it belongs to someone among the people around. Seth's body shivered as he looked at the five elders around. Now that he was paying attention, all of them seem scarier than Redop himself.

"Sascile Redone, a traveller and otherworlder, you have come to our land from other lands and brought items of prosperity for us. You have freed a pure soul that has suffered for three years due to a terrible curse we all bear."

One of the elders in a flowing red robe announced solemnly.

"You have earned the respect of the Chief by not attacking his citizens despite their aggressiveness!"

The second elder announced.

Seth was having a Deja Vu. It was as if he have been through this before. But where?

"You have taken the blow and anger of Redop's ire while your action was good and sincere!"

The third elder announced.

"You also have earned the respect of the Red Valley Guadian and obtained a minor gift from his farm."

The fourth elder sad.

"We the people of Red Valley are generous and we repay kindness with kindness. Sascile Redone we hereby married our daughter to you as a token of our gratitude and recognition of you being one of us…"

A red rope appeared on Seth's neck and wrapped around the neck of the bride. She was still behind her thick red veil.

"This marriage is witnessed by the members of our town, Red Valley and Gawee Continent. We prayed for it to be blessed by all forces and borough prosperity to us."

This was eerily similar to when Abuhe Vulcan forced him to exchange Temporal Pearl with three items. Seth remembered.

Ding!

[You are undergoing an undeniable wedding with one of the Aboriginals of Red Valley! Refusal is impossible]

[It's the will of Red Valley]

"Marrying the daughter of Listener of the Valley is a great Feat and Fortunate thing. As she is Royalty with the Blood of the First Ancestors and the Red Dragon of JA. For that reason, the Dowry will as well be Abundant and Demanding!"

The elders said in unison!

[You will have to pay Dowry to have the right to touch your Bride and have right over her property?]

Seth, with his weak mindset, when it came to the new situation he had never been in before, began to cry.

Yes, tears flowed down his eyes, he want nothing but hide behind his strong sister. But now, he was trapped in a game, while a forceful wedding was taking place.

Bride was supposed to cry but now it was the Groom! What a shameful act!

"Redop Irik, what dowry do you demand from your Son-in-law?"

Seth felt his heart grip as the word son-in-law was uttered.

"I wished for my daughter to have a healthy and beautiful physique and...!"

'Wish?' Seth wonders, 'isn't he going to demand something like a treasure or an action but how can I make his wish come true!'

Suddenly, the red veil covering the bride came off and a weird gruesome humanoid monster was presented before him.

The Bride's face was flat like feet but wide like flank. Her mouth was meaty like butt two-halves. Not to mention her noses were just holes and her eyes were round like wide coins with no lid

Her hands were long with six joints and three fingers, on each elbow joint had a long red bone protruding. Her chest was flat. Lollies would have killed themselves if they were compared to her.

Her back has protruded red backbones that wiggle with every move she makes. Then a long tail wrapped around her legs which supported them to walk.

The legs, just like the hands, have six joints and bones protruding from them. However, strangely enough, her pupils were not red but green.