Towery

"Good! Then I'll believe you, but you've got to help my Master fight for the Crystalize Eternalus Lotus ten times as hard!"

"I'll fight till my last breath." Minos swore.

"And you'll also have to play with me at least once a week- No, twice a week!"

"No problem."

"And I also want candy, one cherry-lolly a day!"

"One a day? Aren't you afraid of rotting your teeth out?" Minos said, his fatherly instincts activating without him even noticing.

"Don't worry, my teeth are strong enough to chomp through steel, what can a little sugar do?" Towery said while showing off her white-as-snow teeth.

"Alright then, anything else?"

"Hmm, let me think… Oh yeah, I also want to learn how to draw!"

"I'll teach you myself."

"You can draw?" Towery asked curiously.

"I've got some experience."

"Awesome! Then that's everything!"

"Good, then let's begin the transfer. Minos, go ahead and put a drop of your heart blood on Towery's forehead tattoo." Nine explained.

Nodding, Minos bit hard into his thumb before gathering a drop of golden blood from his heart, funneling it to the tip of his finger.

While Towery looked apprehensive at first, she managed to calm down with a few supportive words from Minos, his Heart Path acting passively in his every word.

With her completely settled, Minos imprinted his thumb on her forehead, causing his blood to be rapidly absorbed.

Almost instantly, Minos felt an inseparable connection with Towery, as if he could sense her even if the heavens themselves tried to separate the two.

Even more interestingly, he could hear Towery's every thought, sense her every emotion, which was quite strange.

Fortunately he could turn that off with a thought, giving her some privacy and not being constantly assaulted by her every thought.

'Hello, can you hear me?' Towery 'said' though she was only speaking with her thoughts.

'Loud and clear.' Minos thought, able to return his own thoughts back as he desired, creating telepathic communication between the two.

And this communication could exist as long as that 'sense' existed, meaning the two could talk even if they were separated by massive distances.

'Heheh, isn't this fun?' Towery thought with a giggle.

'It is pretty interesting.' Minos returned, a smile forming on his face.

"What are you two gossiping about?" Nine asked with a smile, noticing Towery's gigglish expression.

As Towery's former master, he was naturally aware of the ability to telepathically communicate, but now that he was no longer her master, he couldn't hear anything.

"Nothing Master, just talking." Towery giggled again, still calling Nine master even though Minos had officially become her new master.

Minos naturally didn't mind this, after all he had just become her master whereas Nine had been her master for who knows how long. Not to mention he was the one who nurtured and created her, so in a way he was also her father.

"I hope you can take good care of her, Minos."

"I'll protect her with my life." Minos swore as he looked towards Towery, her appearance overlapping with Rinka's for a split second before vanishing.

"Then I have nothing more to say." Nine smiled, his soul becoming more and more illusory before he disappeared completely.

Connecting with Towery's senses, Minos could feel that Nine had entered a deep hibernation deep within her core, relying on the constant influx of Nux to keep him alive.

"Master's gone back to sleep…" Towery said with some sadness, tears beginning to well up in her eyes again.

"Don't cry, I promise I'll bring him back, then you'll be able to spend another lifetime with him."

"Really?"

"I've never told a lie." Minos smiled.

"Heheh, okay!" Towery giggled.

"Well everyone's still waiting for me outside, so I've got to go now, but I'll come check in on you when I can."

"No need, Towery can come with you!"

"What do you mean?"

"Like this!" Towery said, her words immediately causing the entire tower to begin shaking vigorously once more.

Before Minos knew it, he was expelled from the tower, but the loud roar of movement behind him caused his head to immediately snap backwards.

There he saw the Nine-Tailed Tower moving erratically, causing it to slowly rip itself out from its foundation.

Before he knew it, the entire tower was detached from the earth, levitating a few inches into the sky.

At the same time, it began shrinking rapidly, turning from a massive tower into a small pendant, which gently floated into Minos's hand.

'Now you can carry me with you.' Towery's voice said in his head, Minos was still shocked by the transformation.

Naturally he wasn't the only one shocked, the entire crowd also going crazy at the strange sight they had just witnessed.

The Nine-Tailed Tower had been standing there for about as long as the Cat Kingdom itself had existed, so no one was even aware it had this ability.

Not to mention this was the second time Minos had taken a core relic of the Cat Kingdom, the first time being when he acquired the Cat-Eyed Gem.

At this point no one doubted that Minos was personally chosen by the Nine-Tailed Emperor, after all he had already acquired two of his most precious treasures.

The only thing left was his kingdom itself, and with Minos placing first in all three challenges, it went without saying that that would soon belong to him as well.

Seeing all this, Ryold stepped down from the sky, a wide smile forming on his face as he looked down at Minos.

However, what shocked everyone was that the second Ryold's feet touched the ground, he immediately took a knee towards Minos.

"From now on, you're the new King of our kingdom. Everyone, kneel, and welcome your new lord!" Ryold spoke, his voice reaching every corner of the vast kingdom.

With the Cat-People's hierarchical nature, they immediately took a knee as well, their hearts filled with reverence as they looked towards Minos, who seemed to be shining at this moment.

Even the other royals began kneeling, aware that no one could escape their submission towards the king, no matter their position.

Asumi was the first to do so, likely because of her relationship with Minos, but with her going down, the others instantly followed.

The only one still standing was the now former king, just looking upon Minos with a satisfied smile, glad his investment had paid off.

Watching as everyone kneeled towards him, Minos felt a little weird, having never experienced something like this before.

While he had experienced similar kinds of reverence back in the Aleph Empire, it was never so direct, especially considering his identity was a secret that entire time.

But here he was faced with the worship face on, their fanatic eyes all looking towards him, filling him with a sense of duty.

From now on these were his people, and it would be his job to protect them and make their lives better.

Fortunately he had plenty of experience in that regard, so he wasn't worried he'd let them down.

"Everyone, stand." Minos said, his gentle voice managing to reach every ear.

Hearing his words, the crowds immediately rose, but they were still looking towards him, waiting for his next word.

Looking around at the crowd that was like a vast wave surrounding from all sides, Minos took a deep breath before speaking once more.

"The truth is, I'm no native to this land, in fact these past few months have been the first time I've ever even stepped into the Cat Kingdom." Minos said honestly, though his words didn't surprise the crowd too much, after all such news had already spread.

"While my time here has been short, I've noticed a few things I'm not too fond of, things that I swore to change if I ever had the power to do so."

"Our vast kingdom seems flawless on the surface, paved with silver and filled with gold, but there are flaws, deep ones…"

"The way we treat some of our brethren because of their supposed bloodline inferiority, it honestly sickens me."

"The way we force them into the slums, never allowing them to see the light of day. And why? Because they are a little weaker than the others?"