Raising A Few Wives in a Beast Apocalypse-Chapter 396: One day

Inside Lisa’s office...

"Mmmhn...Arg" Lisa was writhing on the ground in pain with black earth energy bombarding everywhere.

The walls and probably most of the fortress, possibly all of it would have been destroyed if Muku hadn’t contained Lisa’s energy in an invisible cube as big as the room.

Her eyes had turned blood-red from the pain and change happening in her body. The change occurred from deep within her mana core. Which was one of the most fragile and delicate organs of an Evolver. So the pain she was going through was simply unimaginable to those who hadn’t gone through it.

Muku looked at her worriedly from the side a little bit as he wondered whether it was really a good thing to make her prolong her suffering.

But then again, it was her life, so it was best to leave the decision to her. And so, he stepped forward...

"Umm, Lisa. I know you’re in pain and honestly, I feel bad for saying something that will likely prolong the pain but still. I’m sure you’d appreciate me saying it... Anyway, what you’re going through right now is actually a very rare, class upgrade process. That’s right, your very class is improving from Epic to who knows what. You can possibly even go up to Pseudo-Legendary. However, there’s one issue. For that to happen, you must hold on for as long as you can. With that said, I’ll get out of your way and let you decide..." Muku said what he wanted to say, and turned to leave.

Grab!

He suddenly felt a strong hand grab his leg. He didn’t panic though, after all, it was obvious who did it in a room with only two people...

"How long... How long should I hold on to reach Pseudo-Legendary?" Lisa spoke in a rough and intense voice as she suppressed the pain to ask.

She needed to know. After all, anyone could tell that what she was experiencing might be painful, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. So, if it could propel her to the peak of the world... She’d definitely do everything in her power to make sure that was the case.

For that reason, she had to know how long she had to hold out for...

"I don’t..." Muku wanted to say he didn’t know when a mature, feminine voice interrupted.

"One day... If you can hold on for one day. You won’t be as weak as you were in your past life. You won’t have to run away when things really get dangerous. You won’t take ages to advance. You won’t be stuck at R6 like all those Epic classes you saw. Just one day to change your fate. Now tell me. Will you last?" The voice sounded.

It was calm yet passionate in how it addressed Lisa.

"Yes. I will do it. One day is nothing to change my fate. I refuse to be a side character in other people’s lives!" Lisa replied as her grip on Muku’s leg tightened.

Of course, it didn’t hurt Muku at all. But it did hurt Lisa herself as her hand began bleeding. This showed just how resolute she was.

Before Muku came, she was close to giving up. Her consciousness was already close to fading into the blackness. But now, she was wide awake.

The pain didn’t decrease, it was as excruciating as before, but she refused to let it get to her anymore.

She let go of Muku’s leg and sat upright. She then got into a meditative position. No sound escaped her mouth from then on. But it was clear that she was holding it all back from how tightly she bit down on her lip to the point blood was coming out.

Muku quietly got out of the room and let her face the tribulation. Honestly, even if she fails to reach the target...which honestly felt too long considering how she was close to giving up after just thirty minutes or so... He would forever respect her.

....

On the fortress wall...

"Now where were we?" Mrs C asked.

"Alternate timeline..." Muku replied simply...

"Oh, right. Like I said before. Those aren’t really important or significant in any way... At least not to the main timeline. Which is this one? So did you really want to know?" Mrs C asked.

"Yes. If you didn’t say Lisa was from one of those alternates, maybe I wouldn’t care but she is. And I want to understand her more" Muku replied.

"Hehe. Already interested in our new wife are we?" Mrs C teased.

"Yes. Very interested" Muku agreed with her with a calm expression.

"Tsk. It’s not fun when you don’t get flustered or bothered, but whatever. If you want to know, I’ll tell you... Alternate timelines are exactly what the name implies. They are an infinite collection of what could have happened in the current timeline. A gathering of "what ifs", like what if you died young, what if you weren’t so lustful and such..." Mrs C began explaining.

"Hey! What does it seem like you’re just cursing me in those examples?!... Just tell me about Lisa’s "what if" that’s the only one that matters and I get the gist of the rest, so there’s no need to go deep. Oh and, I’d like to know how she came here since you said that the timelines couldn’t affect this one..." Muku replied in the way she was hoping he would.

Which honestly, he did purposefully so that she’s pleased and doesn’t skimp on details. Of course, he directed her towards what he wanted to know while he was at it...

"Well, that girl’s timeline is one of the most brutal ones... As I said, it’s mostly your fault. You didn’t directly do anything to her. But for certain reasons I won’t say, you lost control and destroyed over ninety percent of the creatures there, humans included. After that, your bloodline consumed you completely and you exploded. The explosion made most of the planet uninhabitable. But on the bright side, it did stop the invasion. Because the point of it all was mostly gone... Anyway, that doesn’t matter for now. What matters is that, on the little land that was left. Competition was tough and our Lisa here died as a result of a clash between two powerhouses while covering the retreat of a comrade... So, instead of saying she’s a different Lisa, compared to the one from this timeline. It’s more appropriate to say, she’s a version changed by tough times..." Mrs C explained.

"Hmm. So that’s what happened. And I won’t bother asking what you withheld since I know better by now... But you didn’t tell me how she made it here..." Muku replied.

He wanted to know why he’d go berserk and die so horribly. But she didn’t say, so asking was pointless.

And it seemed she had almost revealed something important about the apocalypse before casually steering away as usual. Dealing with her was certainly tiring with how secretive she could be.

And honestly, it felt like she was doing it on purpose. Which she probably was. But even then, she was way more knowledgeable than Iris. So she was indispensable.

Also unlike Iris who was bound by mystical forces in what she could review. Mrs C wasn’t bound by anything apart from her own mood. As she said many times before, she only withheld information to keep things interesting.

But when it was necessary to speak, she would. Plus, she was trustworthy when compared to the mostly unwilling Iris. So the pros outweighed the cons.

"Oh, that... I happened to be browsing through timelines for fun during the time. And well, I felt rather emotional. So I have given her a chance... I created a reincarnation gacha for her. It had over a thousand possibilities... To keep the game fun. I left it all up to her luck. So I didn’t check where she ended up. It’s only fate that we met here and you are involved with her too..." Mrs C replied.

"Sigh. So that’s why you were so spirited when speaking with her before. It’s because you gave her this chance. And don’t think I’ll believe you for a second that this is all fate. I’m certain that you twisted the so-called "fate" to make sure that she and I met... But then again... We didn’t know each other back then so... How?" Muku refused to believe that Mrs C was as clean as she was saying she was.

But then, as he said, they hadn’t established their, mother-son relationship yet when Lisa came over from the other timeline so...

"That’s simple actually. While you didn’t know we would meet. I did. Cough I mean. It’s fate like I said before. And no one can control fate. It’s that mystical!" Mrs C practically shot herself in the leg.

"Tsk. Says the lady who plays with fate all day, every day. Do you think what you did..." browsing through timelines" which is absurd on its own and giving a poor soul so many options. And I doubt randos can add people to the so-called main timeline. I mean, I always knew you were absurd and I’m not surprised but please don’t try to insult my intelligence by hiding behind fate" Muku refused to take it lying down.

If she was going to do something like what she did, at the very least, she should acknowledge it!

"Tsk, fine. I might have done a few things. But in my defence. It was all for you, one way or the other. And don’t overthink it. I’m only involved with Lisa a little bit. The rest of the girls have nothing to do with me" Mrs C relented.

"Good that you acknowledged it" Muku replied in a pleased manner.

It was rare for his mother to give in after all...