NTR: Stealing wives in Another World-Chapter 135: Not so friendly

The first thing Allen felt was the throbbing in the back of his neck. Like someone had jabbed him with a harpoon filled with caffeine and regret.

"Ughhh... what now..." he groaned, trying to move—only to find his arms bound behind him and his body lashed to a thick, moss-covered pole. Great. A pole. Always a pole.

He cracked one eye open and blinked against the faint, pulsing glow of underwater crystals embedded in the cavern walls. The place was damp, humid, and weirdly warm. Definitely not the turtle village. Definitely not a five-star spa, either.

And... where was Lunari?

"Lunari?" he rasped.

A familiar giggle echoed from nearby.

"Ehe\~ I found a shiny rock! It looks like a boob!"

Allen jerked his head toward the sound—and there she was.

Lunari was floating in a shallow pool that looked like it had been dug straight into the stone floor, splashing around like a goldfish on bath salts. Her wet hair clung to her cheeks, her tail swishing lazily behind her. She had absolutely no idea they were still in danger.

Surrounding the pond, however... was a small crowd of tall figures.

Dark-scaled. Tail-swinging. Slitted eyes glowing faintly amber in the cave’s light. Their bodies were lean and reptilian, covered in armor made from volcanic rock and bone, and some had sharp fins cresting their heads like mohawks. They looked like a weird fusion of gladiators and Komodo dragons—and every single one of them was watching Lunari like she was an alien soap opera.

Or dinner.

"Lizard people," Allen muttered under his breath. "Of course it’s lizard people. Can’t even get kidnapped by normal fish."

He tugged at the ropes, but they were made of something fibrous and slippery, almost like seaweed reinforced with sinew. No dice. For now.

Lunari didn’t even notice him. She splashed water at one of the lizard guards like it was a game. "Heyy~ this water’s warm! Are you guys heaters or something?"

One of the lizardfolk tilted his head, clicking his tongue like a bird. Another hissed, gesturing toward Allen with a clawed hand. Whatever language they spoke, it was made of snarls, clicks, and sharp, guttural tones.

Allen narrowed his eyes. "Right... tribal fish-dragons with an eye for dumb mermaids and one very unlucky human. Fantastic."

As he tested the ropes again, he noticed something else—carvings. The pole he was tied to wasn’t just random wood. It was carved with ancient runes, pulsing faintly. Ritualistic. Definitely magical.

This wasn’t just a kidnapping.

It was a ritual.

And Allen had the sinking suspicion he was on the menu.

The air in the cavern shifted—denser, heavier, like it had swallowed a grudge that spanned generations.

Allen caught the low thud of approaching footsteps, and the tension in the air twisted tight as wire. From the shadows deeper in the cave, three hulking figures emerged—easily a foot taller than Allen, broad-shouldered, tails trailing behind them like muscular serpents. Their black scales gleamed with a faint oil-slick shimmer, and their reptilian eyes glowed faintly red in the low light.

Lizardmen.

But adult lizardmen. And the ones that had been surrounding Lunari earlier—now looking comically smaller in comparison—were suddenly retreating with chirps and hisses.

"...Great," Allen muttered. "So I’ve been getting side-eyed by the daycare class. Now the dads are here."

The tallest of the three stepped forward, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air like a predator. His jaw cracked open slightly, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. The air around him almost vibrated with hate.

Allen opened his mouth to speak—but before a single word could escape, the lizardman’s tail lashed out like a whip.

CRACK!

The pole he was tied to snapped clean in half, sending Allen crashing to the cave floor with a grunt.

"Ow! Hey, what the—!?" Allen gasped, trying to roll over as the dust settled.

The lizardman bent down, grabbed Allen by the collar like he was plucking a crab out of a trap, and hoisted him up with one arm.

"You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve showing your face down here, human scum."

Allen coughed, blinking. "Scum? Bro, I didn’t even do anything—!"

"You’re a human," another snarled, stepping up behind the first. His arms were crossed, thick with muscle and glistening scales. "That’s all that matters."

Allen winced as he was slammed against the half-broken pole again. "Okay—rude. Also, kinda racist."

"Racist?" The third lizardman barked a harsh, joyless laugh. "You want to talk about racism? You want to talk about how your kind caged our children? Hunted our women like sport? How they butchered the peace treaties and dumped poison in our breeding pools?"

The first one snarled, his eyes inches from Allen’s. "You humans don’t get to cry about fairness. Not after what your filth has done to beastkin."

Allen gritted his teeth. "I’m not those humans. I’ve literally been—"

"Save your breath, shit-blood," the second interrupted. "Your words are as worthless as your kin’s promises. All honey on the tongue until it’s time to stab us in the back."

The accusations came like hammers.

"Forced our children into labor camps."

"Fed our elderly to monsters for sport."

"Cut off our tails for souvenirs."

Allen felt his pulse spike. His heart thudded as he looked into their eyes—those burning pits of fury—and realized there was nothing he could say that would matter. He could shout until his lungs collapsed. He could swear he’d never harmed a beastkin, never enslaved or tortured anyone—but to them?

He was just another human.

"I’m not your enemy," he said, quieter this time. "I don’t stand with any of that. I fight against it."

The third lizardman stepped closer. "Words. Just words. All of you say the same things. ’Oh, I’m different. I’m not like the others.’ Then why is she with you?"

He pointed a clawed finger toward Lunari, who was still giggling softly in the water, now stacking mossy stones on her tail. The childlike innocence on her face was so oblivious it almost hurt to look at.

"Why does a mermaid cling to a human? What spell did you cast on her?"

"Spell?" Allen scowled. "I saved her, you bastards. She would’ve died if I hadn’t stopped the Abyss Cradle from sacrificing her. That thing wanted her soul!"

But they weren’t listening. His voice was crashing against a wall of generational trauma, of ancient betrayal soaked deep into the bones of their culture.

"Liar."

"Deceiver."

"Humans don’t save. They claim. You think we haven’t seen your kind do this before? Find a beastkin, pretend to be her friend, then turn her into a bedwarmer? Into a slave?"

"I’m not—!" Allen tried, but the tallest one clamped a clawed hand around his throat and squeezed. Not tight enough to kill—just enough to silence.

"Here’s what we see, human: a thief and a liar with a brainless mermaid wrapped around his cock."

Allen’s eyes flared with fury. "Don’t you fucking talk about her like that."

The lizardman bared his fangs, but there was a moment—just a flicker—of something behind the rage. Surprise? Disbelief? Maybe just the fact Allen had barked back instead of begging.

"You’re lucky she’s unharmed," the second growled. "If she had a single bruise, we’d have peeled your skin off and fed it to the hatchlings."

"She’s not a victim," Allen said hoarsely, still catching his breath. "She’s... she’s herself. A weirdo, yeah, but free. I didn’t put her in a cage—I got her out of one."

Silence lingered.

Heavy. Mistrustful. Thick enough to taste.

The tallest lizardman finally dropped Allen to the ground. "Doesn’t matter. You’re still a human. And the tribe will decide what to do with you."

Allen coughed, rubbing his throat. "Gee. Can’t wait to hear that discussion."

Behind them, Lunari held up a mossy stone shaped vaguely like a dick. "Hehe~ Look, Allen! It’s got a mushroom head!"

Allen groaned. "Perfect timing, Lunari..."

The lizardmen looked between the two of them—Allen battered and bleeding, Lunari still giggling without a care in the world.

And they did hesitate.

Only for a second.

But it was there.

The stone floor scraped against Allen’s back as the lizardmen dragged him across the cavern, his boots leaving streaks of red behind. Each jolt sent hot lances of pain shooting through his ribs, but his limbs were too heavy to fight, too numb to resist.

His head lolled to the side. The blurry shape of Lunari still floated in the little pond nearby, now humming softly and completely unaware of the grim scene unfolding behind her. Her tail flicked in lazy swirls, and she waved a moss-covered hand at a lizardling who chirped back excitedly.

Allen’s vision tilted again as he was slammed against another pole—this one rougher, crueler. Thick vines wrapped around his wrists and chest, dug into raw skin. One lizardman knelt beside him, sniffed, and hissed.

"He’s bleeding too much," the lizardman growled.

"Don’t let him die," another barked. "Apply the herb. We need to torture him more. Make him pay for what the humans have done."

Allen’s eyes fluttered as cold fingers smeared something wet and stinging against the gash on his shoulder. It burned like fire, made him grit his teeth and choke back a groan—but he couldn’t stop the darkness that swam at the edge of his vision.

"Can’t die yet..." he mumbled, but it was a whisper even he barely heard.

"Save your breath, human," the tallest of the lizardmen sneered, standing over him. "You’ll be screaming soon enough."

A fresh wave of nausea crashed over Allen. His head sagged forward, chest heaving as the warmth of his blood soaked into the stone beneath him. Every heartbeat felt heavier. Slower.

Lunari’s voice echoed faintly across the cavern. "Allen~? You’re not playing anymore? I found a pebble shaped like a butt—!"

Her words warped and faded, like water rushing over his ears.

Allen exhaled once, shakily.

Then, everything went black.

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