Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

909 - Utter Depravity

Ensconced in the demiplane that he’d made, Lex’s trans-temporal sense had given him a sudden awareness right before he’d begun casting his summoning spell.

It hadn’t been like when he’d suddenly realized that taking Solvei with him to confront Adagio would have been catastrophic. Nor had it been the grim certainty that breaking his soul-bond to Mei Li would injure her in ways that were both severe and irreparable.

Instead, just before he’d activated his spell, he’d registered only a single sensation:

Significance.

What he was doing now, he knew with absolute certainty, would be something that he’d look back on for a very, very long time. Likely the rest of his life, which was now eternal.

It had been enough to give him pause.

Seeing the future, beyond the six-second foresight that he was always using now, didn’t actually involve “seeing” anything at all. Rather, it was more like suddenly remembering something, albeit the memory was of events which hadn’t actually happened yet. And in some cases, the memory wasn’t one of full sensory impressions, but simply emotional reactions; other times it was bits of specific information, but without details or salient data.

But his glimpses into the future had never been so completely lacking in context as this one was.

Lex knew that he’d look back on what he was about to do for the rest of his life...but he had no idea why.

Would it be with deep regret, cursing himself and wishing he hadn’t done this? Or would it lead to some sort of unexpected windfall that would serve him well for a long time to come? It could have been one just as easily as the other.

Or it could have been neither. It was entirely possible that the significance of this was entirely personal, rather than being related to his plans. Given the nature of Adagio’s creditors, maybe he’d simply be inclined to reminisce about a thoroughly satisfying series of conquests.

Ultimately, there was no way to know, which meant that particular insight about the future was useless. Certainly, it was no reason to alter his plans.

Resolved to see his current course of action through, Lex had performed the summons, stretching his powers to their limit to call all seven owners of the names Kara had told him at once...

---

...and now, having finished with Adagio’s creditors, Lex had to wonder if the reason for his premonition of significance had already made itself clear.

I am going to give you one chance to explain yourself, he hissed as soon as he felt the communion spell take effect, now calm enough that he was able to hold back from the torrent of castigation that came to mind. One. And if I don’t like what I hear, then you can forget about our deal.

And in his mind, Kara gave a throaty chuckle. Wow. You know, for a guy who just had one of the most epic orgies I’ve seen in some time, I really thought you’d be a little more relaxed afterward.

Her answer made Lex clench his teeth, his indignation rising. You were watching?!

Are you kidding me? snickered Kara. You do know that I’m a sex goddess, right? I can’t not sense major events related to my purview – emphasis on the “perv” – so long as they happen within a world where I’m worshiped, or within the vicinity of some aspect of my power, which includes my temples, my priests, and, oh yeah, people who have my blessing.

Would that be the blessing you gave me before, manipulating my love life? seethed Lex. Or the new one that I just found out you gave me?!

“Just found out”? scoffed the love goddess. I’m not sure you can say that after three hundred and eighty-nine hours of non-stop hardcore rutting, stud. I mean, you figured out what was happening pretty early on, but I don’t remember you being too upset to continue.

Lex fought back a surge of embarrassment – both at the pointed reminder of the excessive debauchery he’d partaken in, and at having been spied on – feeling his calm fracture. I don’t want another blessing from you, you meddlesome bitch! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!

Sorry not sorry, babe. You know how it goes: the blessings of the gods aren’t something mortals – or titans, for that matter – get a say in. We pass them out, and you deal with it. Besides, I figured it would go great with how you made a demiplanar love nest where time flows four times faster than normal. That’s the titan equivalent of buying a keg of beer and a box of condoms, you know: it sends a message that you’re going to go paint the town – or at least the town whores – white, so yeah, your divine wing-mare was there for the assist. You’re welcome.

I’m ending our communion now, announced Lex icily.

Oh stop with the melodrama, would you? Her amusement finally falling away, Kara heaved a sigh. Look, you had every advantage going into this, except one: you were outnumbered. Even with limitless stamina, personal instruction from me, and unbreachable defenses against every trick in the book – ranging from simple pheromones and pressure point manipulation to being involuntarily shapechanged – you still had the classic problem of one pole for almost two dozen holes.

She paused for a moment before her voice devolved back into childish giggling. Well, I guess that wasn’t exactly the case, was it? I have to say, I was really glad to see you use that erotimorphic spell I gave you! The look on that genie princess’s face when she realized she was about to get both of her cherries popped at once was hilarious! But details aside, yeah, you needed to have a way to satisfy all of those whores at once, especially after they summoned reinforcements.

Lex resisted the urge to wince at that, glancing back at the central part of the demiplane.

The place wasn’t very large, only about the size of a town hall, and completely lacking in amenities or creature comforts. To the untrained eye, it was nothing but a large, empty, nondescript room, with no doors, windows, or furniture of any kind.

But the owners of any such eyes, Lex felt certain, would have cared less about the lack of furnishings than they would the legion of thoroughly-violated girls sprawled across the place.

From one end to the other, taking up virtually all of the floor space, was a tangled mass of female flesh. Humanoid, quadrupedal, tauric, and numerous other body types were sprawled out, either unconscious or staring dazedly at nothing in the aftermath of his using them. All were naked, their skin, fur, feathers, and scales having nothing but a mixture of his and their fluids to cover them, leaving the range of feminine curves – from petite to gratuitous in the extreme – completely bare to his perusal.

And since I knew you’d probably be put off by any of the major form-changing stuff, continued Kara, which is a real shame since tentacles are sooo much fun – and mass autoreplication is...let’s just say that it’s almost always more trouble than it’s worth – I gave you a different blessing, and voila! You were able to give your undivided attention to each and every slut here! No rest breaks, no tagging out, no one being neglected; they were all yours all the time!

Which did me no good at all, spat Lex. None of them had Adagio’s soul! They didn’t even know that she’d died!

Yeah, that surprised me too, murmured Kara, her voice turning unusually pensive. I was sure one of them snatched her. But I know lies when I hear them, and they weren’t lying about not having that little skank stashed away somewhere.

Do you have her? demanded Lex.

I told you, babe, she never once prayed to me.

That’s not a denial that she’s in your possession, noted Lex. And while I don’t think the daemons have her, the fact that they can steal souls they have no legitimate claim to means that others can also. And if none of these slatterns have her, you’re the only one left who’d care about abducting Adagio’s soul.

I get where you’re coming from, insisted Kara. Really, I do. I’d be suspicious of me too. But I promise you, if I had her, I’d strap her into a harness and deliver her to you wearing nothing but gift wrapping and a ball gag. Kind of like what you did to that dragoness. But I don’t have her, stud. Neither do any of my faithful. And I haven’t made any arrangements with any outside parties to snatch her either. I swear to, well, me.

Then. Where. Is. She?!

I don’t know, babe. But does it really matter? I mean, I still want to see her punished for betraying me, and I know you’re all about having all three layers of your Siren sister sandwich, but look at the bigger picture. What, and who, you’ve done here is just as big a victory as defeating Kryonex. Bigger, even.

Kara’s words were enough to push Adagio to the edge of Lex’s thoughts, recalling his premonition about the significance of what he’d just done. In what way?

Right, I almost forgot that when I gave you those names before, you cut me off before I could tell you just who they were, noted Kara, her voice wry. So how about we take a little inventory of your hoes, shall we?

Lex scowled, but didn’t object. For all that he was still upset about not finding a lead about Adagio, he had to admit that it was a relief no longer being at war with himself. The beast that comprised his instincts was thoroughly satisfied, no longer trying to overwhelm his reasoning. If anything, he felt more relaxed than he had in some time...or would have, if the entire reason he’d done this hadn’t gone unfulfilled. It was an unwelcome reminder that something always seemed to go wrong, souring the entire experience.

Hopefully Kara was right that there was something he’d be able to salvage from this, beyond simply satisfying an urge that he should have been able to control in the first place.

Now, normally I’d change into a pencil skirt, button-up blouse, and glasses for this part, but since we’re audio-only, just imagine I’m dressed up like a naughty teacher. Now, before we begin today’s lesson, can you tell me what those seven sluts I named before all have in common? Besides the obvious I mean?

Lex snorted, finding the answer to be obvious.

They’re all weaklings.

Correct!

Sighing inwardly, Lex waited for Kara to move on.

That Adagio’s creditors weren’t powerful enough to cause him concern had been something he’d suspected for some time now. That was because, unlike how he’d shown the Night Mare a new world full of ponies just waiting to be converted to her religion, Adagio had – as far as he’d been able to tell after speaking with Kara and Nenet – offered her patrons nothing but grandiloquent promises that she’d been transparently unable to fulfill. “Give me aristeia, and I’ll attack a demigod, steal some of his blood, and use it to make a powerful artifact. Then I’ll use that to take even more power, and pay you back on your initial investment with interest,” had been her pitch.

It had been, in other words, an obvious scam.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to call it madness, since Adagio had apparently believed her own hype, at least to the point of actually attacking Kryonex. Even so, anyone who had a halfway decent understanding of aristeia and divinity should have known that the Siren was making promises she’d never be able to fulfill. Regardless of her best efforts, she’d been destined to fail.

Aristeia alone wasn’t enough to stand up to a demigod. It hadn’t even been enough to stand up to him. The fact that she’d managed to injure Kryonex at all – likely through surprise and using her army of daemons and her children as decoys, followed by a swift retreat before the demigod could will her out of existence – had represented the very most that Adagio had been able to accomplish, and although she’d been planning on using the stolen godsblood to construct an artifact, Lex had serious doubts that such a thing (if she’d even been able to complete it in time) would have saved her from divine retaliation.

Even presuming that she’d showcased the annihilating sphere to her creditors to prove that she was serious, anyone who wasn’t an idiot would have realized that if she had such a powerful weapon already – one capable of killing Kryonex on its own – she shouldn’t have needed aristeia anyway. It was like going into debt to buy toothpicks when you already owned a sword: completely unnecessary in terms of preparing for a fight.

But the most suspicious thing of all had been how her agreements had apparently lacked any enforcement mechanism. His own bargain with the Night Mare had meant that she’d claim his soul after death, whether he succeeded or failed in his task. But Adagio had – from what he’d been able to tell – no such provision in her deals. Short of either sending an envoy, or personally appearing to collect what they were owed, her sponsors had no way of making her pay back what she owed them, something that should have been even more problematic if she’d succeeded in gaining divine power.

In short, only a complete fool would have agreed to the deal Adagio was offering.

Or someone who was utterly desperate.

And desperation was the hallmark of weakness.

That was why Lex hadn’t hesitated at summoning all of them at once. For all that he’d suspected them of having generous amounts of aristeia – rightly so, as it turned out – he’d also been confident that they were no real threat to him, even as a group. And once they’d confirmed that, they’d been quick to shift the encounter to a contest of sexuality rather than violence.

Lex had been more than happy to oblige them.

As I know you know, the category of beings that people call titans is a political designation more than anything else, continued Kara. In order to be a titan, you can’t just be a creature who has no innate mortality but can’t draw strength from worship, otherwise every piddly little lich and minor demon would be called titans. Rather, a titan is an immortal but not divine creature who’s gained enough influence – of any sort – to be notable in divine politics. And while combat ability can play a big role in that, it’s not the only sort of influence to be had.

I don’t need a lecture on the nature of power, retorted Lex, thinking back to the conversation he’d had with Sanguine Disposition on this subject not so long ago. Least of all from you. Get to the point.

To his mild surprise, Kara didn’t make a teasing comment or lewd innuendo, instead complying with his demand.

These tramps – not those fluffers they summoned for help, but the seven whose names I told you – are all lesser titans. Not because they’re great fighters, or because they have impressive amounts of magic, but because they’re some of the hottest chicks in the multiverse. That gives them connections, but it’s also backed them into corners, which is something you can take advantage of. Another pause, and then her playful lilt was back. I mean, even more than you’ve already taken advantage of them.

That was enough to make Lex arch a brow, ignoring the last part. In what regard?

I’m glad you asked, snickered Kara. Let’s get down to the juicy deets...

Author's Note:

Having bested Adagio's creditors, Lex finds out that none of them have the Siren's soul!

Where has she disappeared to? And what does Kara mean about Lex being able to exploit those "lesser titans"?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

I wonder if the Dragoness is the biggest polyglot?

If these are Adagios creditors, in that she has gained singular abilities at least from each in turn, would that work with Lex claiming any or all of them as Followers, a core Titan pantheon, a pantitanon? and then claiming capabilities and magical abilities himself, then seeing which would be improved or enhanced by cross ability mixing that they wouldnt do themselves?

He also now has the capability of starting up his own personal hammerspace extraplanar resource farm?

At a ratio of 4 to one, Solvie Nenet and MeiLi have been getting worked over by Burley for 4 days now but Lex has been too distracted to realise? He is going to go totally space when he blames Kara for that as well?

[Alzrius]

11808918 To clear things up, the time that Lex has spent in his demiplane is just slightly more than sixteen days, which at a 4:1 passage of time is four days otherwise, which is meant to be understood as the same four days that Solvei, Nenet, and Mei Li have been waiting for him to come back...which is right when Burly shows up (and the elves are looking for him), rather than four days after the huge earth pony's appearance. In other words, this is what's happening at about the same time Burly makes his appearance.

As for how Lex can supposedly exploit all of those girls he just, er, subjugated, that remains to be seen. Given that she's referencing political connections, it's probably going to be an instance of who they know, rather than what they can do, but I suppose we'll just have to wait to find out.

[SliverKing]

Damn, was really hopping that Adagio was with them but I guess that Adagio's secret benefactor might have tied down her soul...

Is it weird that I want Lex to find Adagio mostly so that the sisters are all together? ..... Its probably weird.....
I mean I get that from what we have seen that they mostly had a toxic family dynamic but I don't know. Maybe if you take Dagi down a peg, they might complement each other and be stronger for it. Or maybe I am just a sucker for bother/sister and sister/sister dynamics lol.

Well anyhooter, since I cannot physically like this story more than once every damn chapter. Please accept this Scootaloo =

[Not so New Brony]

Huh, would have thought that one of them would have Adagio's soul though I didn't expect that they'd be completely unaware of her death. On the bright side, the beast is satisfied and has calmed down...for now and Lex has 'subjugated' some lesser titans so even if they or their entourage are no match for Lex physically speaking, their connections as Kara put it might be put to use to locate Adagio.

Still, I do have to wonder how they weren't aware of Adagio's death given their dealings with the siren. Either they really were betting on Adagio keeping her end of the bargain or they did have a way to keep track of Adagio's status but it was blocked and were fed the magical equivalent of a video loop on a security camera.

SilverKing bringing up Adagio's benefactor makes me wonder if they're the reason for this. Though speaking of them, I wonder how Adagio's puppet is doing...Hmm, wonder if the Adagio that Lex encountered was the puppet instead. I mean, if the puppet serving Illiana was convincing enough to fool everyone...

[Alzrius]

11809420 That Adagio had a certain someone that she was communicating with is something Lex hasn't stumbled onto yet. If he had, he'd likely be treating that individual as suspect numero uno, but so far they've managed to completely stay away from the spotlight. Still, I doubt he's given up, so perhaps he'll unearth them eventually.

If he does manage to locate Adagio and bring her back, I agree that it'd be interesting to see her dynamic with Sonata and Aria once all three are back together.

And thanks for the Scoots! Much appreciated!

[Alzrius]

11809561 The implication seems to be that the lesser titans simply weren't capable of creating/sustaining the sort of metaphysical ties that would let them know Adagio's status, much less be able to automatically reap her soul upon her death. We still don't know much about who they are or what they can do, but if they're less powerful than Lex, and he's only capable of forming bonds via the Charismata, it's not out of the question that the ladies he just "subjugated" aren't able to do so at all. Or at least, that's the presumption.

As for the puppet of Adagio that's currently living out her place in Iliana's army, we have no idea. Lex isn't even aware that it exists, though if he did I suspect he'd immediately head for it to see if it can be used to try and track down the genuine article. As it is, we know that Grisela's puppets were able to keep operating after her death, so we can make an educated guess that Adagio's is still doing its thing, possibly unaware of anything that's happened.