DNA Extraction Pod

"Unfortunately, while the Lukalu people were brilliant, and their understanding of the physical body had reached an incredible level, their understanding of the soul was unfortunately limited."

"The Aleph Empire has dabbled with clones since we first found this technology, yet all the clones we created were incapable of cultivation, much to our confusion."

"Ultimately, we realized this was because these clones had no 'souls' and it was naturally impossible to cultivate without one."

"So are you trying to create a clone of me?" Minos finally spoke up, preferring to have a clone of himself if it meant Lilia would leave him alone.

"Of course not, after all, how could a clone compare to my beloved Minos? Rather I just want your DNA." Lilia giggled.

"My DNA?" Minos questioned.

"You didn't let me finish. While clones were considered failures by our standards, the DNA Extraction Pod wasn't completely useless, and as long as you took that DNA and allowed it to be nurtured in a human womb, you'd be left with a normal baby."

"In a way, this is just a more complicated way of reproducing normally. Rather than the man emptying his seed into a woman directly, the seed is 'extracted' from him via his DNA, then implanted into the woman. Cool stuff, huh?" Lilia laughed.

"So you're trying to get my DNA so you can have my child?" Minos said, though he was secretly repulsed by Lilia's methods.

"Bingo!" Lilia said, still holding a gentle smile, as if she hadn't just said something crazy.

"And why exactly are you telling me all this?"

"Isn't it only natural to tell the father that he's about to have a child? Besides, I know how smart you are, I could never keep this a secret for long."

"One more question, why didn't you just force me like last time." Minos asked, though he naturally preferred this method, regardless of how strange it was.

"I thought it through, and you're right, some lines shouldn't be crossed."

"This is already crossing the line." Minos couldn't help but whisper.

"What did you say? You want to just do it the traditional way?" Lilia said.

"No no no, you misheard me." Minos said as he waved his hands.

"Good! Then let's get this over with, it's about to start." Lilia giggled.

Minos wanted to argue some more, but before he could, a needle suddenly descended from the pod ceiling.

He attempted to avoid it, but Lilia gripped him in place, letting the needle submerge into his skin before extracting his blood.

The procedure was fast, and soon enough the pink mist was siphoned out of the pod, the glass doors reopening.

Minos rubbed his arm, still sore from the needle, as he watched Lilia tinkering with the machine.

With a few button presses, the machine started whirring. While it was getting to work, Lilia found an empty vial and prepared it.

Minos could only watch on as Lilia prepared his DNA, wanting to stop her but knowing he couldn't.

"You should know that it's impossible for a child to make our relationship possible. After everything you've done to me, the truth is, I hate you." Minos said coldly.

"It's okay, I'll just tell my father that a man got me pregnant and then abandoned me. I wonder what he'd do about that."

"You think your father would accept such a child?" Minos asked.

"If it was anyone else, then probably not, but for me, his favorite and most talented daughter, of course!" Lilia laughed.

"A child will make everything different. My father will be forced to accept you, making our otherwise impossible relationship, possible!" Lilia continued.

As the two were talking, the machine finally stopped, but just as Lilia was preparing to get the DNA, the machine flashed red, a Lukalu text forming across the screen.

"Failure? Impossible!" Lilia shouted as she saw the red flash.

"I suppose some things just aren't meant to be." Minos couldn't help but laugh from the side.

"Guess we'll just have to do it the normal way, lucky me." Lilia giggled, causing Minos's smile to immediately disappear.

"What about not crossing the line?" Minos said, as he slowly inched backwards.

"How can the line compare to love? Don't force me Minos, there's no need to make this any more difficult than it has to be." Lilia said, slowly pushing Minos into a corner.

"Hel-" Minos was about to shout, but again, Lilia sealed his mouth with her Nux, forcing him into silence.

As she stepped up in front of Minos, she took a pill out from her spatial ring before forcing it down his mouth.

"Don't worry, that pill isn't anything dangerous, just a Lust Fire Pill, capable of turning even the most rational person into a lust fueled beast. It's a good thing I always travel with an assortment of pills, just in case." Lilia giggled.

Feeling the pill unravel in his stomach, Minos wanted to fight the effects, but it was clearly beyond his level, and soon enough, he felt a tremendous heat building up in his waist.

His eyes went red as the effects of the pill traveled through his body, eventually reaching his brain, turning his world black.

What happened next went without words, Lilia's loud moans chiming through the room as she enjoyed Minos's brutish hands, tossing her about and ravaging her body.

By the time Minos woke up, his memories were in a complete blank, the last half hour being a mystery to him.

But seeing Lilia lying beside him naked, a smile on her face and a small puddle of blood underneath her waist, it was clear what just happened.

It was hard to say how he felt in this moment, but both guilt and shame would be the first words to come to mind.

Despite knowing it was Lilia who had forced him, he still felt like he had betrayed Tinka in a way, his heart dropping as he wondered what she would think once he told her.

He had no plans of keeping this a secret, and he had no doubt that Tinka would forgive him, but he still couldn't shake off this feeling of disgust.

At this point, he didn't even hate Lilia anymore, he just felt nothing towards her. He wanted her to vanish from his life and never come back, and for the shame of today to leave with her.

But he knew that was impossible, not to mention Lilia may be pregnant, which would just further make disconnecting from her unlikely.

In the case she was pregnant, he had no idea what to do. Should he be a father and raise the child, or just abandon the two of them and try to get as far away as possible?

Holding tightly onto his pounding head, Minos felt incredibly overwhelmed, feeling insecure for the first time in ages.

He normally always had a sense of confidence and optimism, as if everything would turn out okay, but suddenly, he felt hopeless, not sure what to do next.

"Awake?" Lilia asked, knocking Minos out of his reveries.

"Why? Why did you do this…" He couldn't help ask, his voice low.

"Because, it's the only way we could be together. Don't you see, I did it for us!" Lilia said, as she hugged Minos tightly.

"Don't do that, we both know my desires were of no relevance to you. I made it clear a hundred times that I don't love you, and I don't want a relationship, but you refused to listen."

"I'm sorry." Lilia whispered.

"You're not sorry, you never were sorry. Can you please just leave me alone? I need space to think." Minos said.

"Okay…" Lilia said, for the first time actually listening to Minos's words, putting her clothes back on before leaving him in the room by himself.

With Lilia gone, Minos also stood back up, cleaning up quickly before tossing his robe on. Sitting cross-legged, he took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

Minos was no stranger to suffering, and among the things he had experienced, this was actually on the bottom of his chart.

So after only a moment of contemplation, he resolved his will, standing back up with a straight spine as an aura of confidence once again emanated off him.

He wasn't going to blame himself for something he had no control over, and as long as he had a clear conscience, there was nothing to feel guilty about.

As for how he would treat Lilia, he would make it clear that he still wanted nothing to do with her, as for if she had a child, that was a problem for the future.

His goal was still the same, remove the blood mark as soon as possible and leave Lilia far behind.

Soon enough, Minos was back to the way he was before the event happened, leaving the room and entering the center chamber as if nothing had happened.

He saw Lilia standing there beside the old man, the two chatting, but he ignored her, instead heading towards Potin.

"Why do you smell like blood?" Potin couldn't help but ask.

"The room had something sharp, accidentally cut myself, but I should be fine." Minos lied, but Potin naturally didn't think twice about such an answer.

It seemed Lilia gave the old man a similar answer, but from the way he was eyeing Minos, it was clear he was aware that something else had happened, but he was smart enough to know the affairs of his Highness was none of his business.