The beach (105)

Gabriel wiped the sweat from his brow, the afternoon sun bearing down on the battlefield. Well, the volleyball court. But the way things were going, it might as well have been another war zone.

On one side, he and Mila Rose stood tall. Frankly, any duo that included him was bound to be busted.

On the other, Sun-Sun and Apacci, who were no slouches themselves. The rule was simple: no Hollow abilities—just pure, unfiltered physical strength.

And these women? Yeah, they were strong.

He never knew playing volleyball could ever be that deep, and he never knew that Mila Rose did not accept failure. She was moving like a prime volleyball player, not letting any ball pass by her.

She truly was speed.

Even diving on the sand to save a ball.

"Ha! That all you got?!" Apacci taunted, wiping sweat off her forehead. She was already panting, but her competitive spirit was nowhere close to breaking.

Sun-Sun smirked as she served, sending the ball flying over. "I think you're the one struggling, dear~."

Gabriel locked eyes with the incoming ball and grinned. "Mine."

He leaped, reaching heights that shouldn't have been humanly possible, and with one devastating spike—

BOOM!

The ball rocketed downward, exploding into the sand just inches away from Sun-Sun's desperate dive. The game was over. Gabriel and Mila Rose had won.

Mila Rose let out a triumphant cheer, jumping into the air. "YES! Suck it, losers!" She turned to Gabriel with a wide grin, pumping her fist. "We did it!"

Then, in her excitement, she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his torso in a victorious hug.

Her very sweaty, very muscular body was now pressed firmly against his.

Neat. Though he wasn't horny like that, he could tell that she was probably physically the strongest out of the three of them.

Sun-Sun was better with ranged attacks, and Apacci sat somewhere in the middle, but she was the most agile and the fastest. So there was that.

As a deer, she was very good at running away, especially with the eye ability she was gifted. It basically allowed her to see a wider range of motion around them without needing to directly focus on it.

This was coupled with an increased ability to notice subtle changes in their surroundings, such as rustling leaves, faint sounds, or even the slight shift in weight of someone nearby.

Mila Rose had the predator eye, which basically allowed her to lock onto a single target with intense focus, ignoring all other distractions. Her senses became hyper-attuned to the target, allowing for pinpoint accuracy and lightning-fast reactions. However, this intense focus came at a cost—the user's peripheral vision was severely narrowed, making them vulnerable to attacks from other directions.

And Sun-Sun basically got the ability to "see" heat signatures. She could perceive temperature differences, allowing her to detect hidden objects, creatures, or even people based on the heat they emitted.

Shit he could do—well, giving out eye abilities like candy. As for his eyes, they were perfect already, no need for upgrades. They would keep getting better the more he learned.

Now back to the muscle chocolate lady holding him.

Mila Rose blinked, seemingly only now realizing how close she was. But instead of pulling away, she just shrugged. "What? I'm hugging my teammate. What's wrong with that?"

Sun-Sun, as always, saw the opportunity for mischief. "Oh my, so this is how you celebrate with men, Mila Rose? How forward of you~."

Mila Rose's nose scrunched up. "Shut up! I'm not flirting, damn it!"

Sun-Sun giggled, clearly enjoying her flustered reaction. "So innocent~."

Wow, Sun-Sun just loved messing around with them. They were about to have a whole fight already.

Ceros were being charged.

"Sun-Sun, that's enough teasing, okay?" he said, getting close, offering her a light peck on the lips.

She froze.

Her usually smug expression cracked, her golden eyes blinking rapidly as if trying to process what had just happened.

Apacci and Mila Rose? Straight-up staring.

"You..." Sun-Sun touched her lips. "You actually did that... publicly?"

She was a bit stunned, as if she never really expected him to do this publicly—as in, never kiss her like that in public. She was playing the role of the secret mistress quite well, if she said so herself.

Mila Rose, still stuck on the kiss, frowned in thought. "Wait. I thought Lady Harribel was your wife? Why are you kissing her?"

Gabriel casually took a sip of his drink. "She is my wife. But Sun-Sun is my concubine."

Mila Rose blinked. Once. Twice. Processing...

Apacci, meanwhile, choked on her drink. "I'M SORRY, WHAT?!"

Huh. When did she have time to grab a drink? His eyes went to the cooler nearby... hm, yeah, that about explained it.

Mila Rose rubbed her chin, still thinking. "So... wait. Does that mean we're also part of that group? I don't remember signing up for this..." Truly the one thing going through this muscular woman's head.

Gabriel gave her a knowing smile. "That's up to you. I'm not forcing anyone. Sun-Sun came out of her own free will." He wasn't lying—snake woman wanted it herself.

Sun-Sun, finally recovering, chuckled and gave a small nod. "That's true~." She was quite analytical when she wasn't in her flirty mood, which was why she managed info, recon, kept everything in check, and made sure everything made sense.

Mila Rose narrowed her eyes at her. "You really don't mind sharing a man?"

Sun-Sun's smile was unreadable. "Hmmm~. Not when the man in question is him."

Gabriel exhaled, waving a dismissive hand. "Enough of this. We're here to relax. Just enjoy the vacation. You all worked hard—you deserve it."

He was not here for relationship problems.

That seemed to settle things. For now, at least.

As the evening rolled in, Gabriel found himself lounging in a chair, taking slow sips of his drink while watching the others enjoy themselves.

At the moment, he was tending to both Sun-Sun and Harribel, his hands skillfully working over their backs, rubbing in sunscreen while they lay face down.

Sun-Sun hummed contentedly, stretching like a cat. "Mmm~. You're surprisingly good at this."

Harribel, on the other hand, was simply enjoying the moment in serene silence.

Meanwhile, Apacci, Mila Rose, and the rest of the girls were still swimming, occasionally splashing water at each other or racing to see who was fastest.

Yeah, it wasn't a bad idea to have the whole area to themselves. This was nice. This felt nice. He quite enjoyed it.

He knew when he got back, it was back to kingdom shit once more, but oh well, he could enjoy this blissful existence for now.

A/N