NTR: Stealing wives in Another World
Chapter 133: A voice

Chapter 133: A voice

The Abyss Cradle pulsed with ancient hunger, its voice deep and layered with whispers that didn’t belong in this world.

"SACRIFICE. GIVE THE MERMAID."

Lunari, bless her bubbly little soul, peeked out from behind Allen’s back, blinking with those wide blue eyes. "Ooooh... is it talking about me? That’s sooo creepy-cool~."

Allen reached back and patted her head. "Yeah, it wants to eat you, goldfish. Try not to look so flattered."

She giggled and did a little spin behind him like she was showing off. "But I’m all soft and squishy! Why would it want meeee~?"

The ground rumbled like a belly growling.

"SHE IS THE KEY. HER LIFE UNLOCKS POWER UNMATCHED."

Allen didn’t budge. He just popped his knuckles and yawned. "Okay, but like... what kind of unmatched power? Are we talking fireballs or like... bottomless lasagna?"

The pressure slammed into him again—deeper, heavier, colder. Lunari let out a squeaky "eep!" and clung to his waist like a floating pool toy.

But Allen didn’t move.

He just said, cool and casual:

"She’s mine. I’m not giving her to you."

The cave fell silent.

The air ripped.

And then—whoosh—reality folded like a napkin.

Allen found himself standing in a void of black velvet, thick with smoke and shadows. It was like someone turned off the world and lit a single cigarette.

From that smoke, she stepped forward.

The Avatar of the Abyss Cradle.

She wasn’t just hot. She was apocalyptic. Built like sin. Curves of smoky perfection, glowing eyes, and lips that looked like they could talk you into war or bed—maybe both. She dripped sensuality with every step, every sway.

"Allen," she purred, her voice like ten women whispering in unison. "You refuse the Cradle’s offering. But perhaps... I can offer something better."

She snapped her fingers.

Reality shimmered.

Suddenly she was inches from him, fingers on his chest, breath like midnight wine brushing his neck.

"Power... pleasure... purpose," she cooed. "You could burn the sky, Allen. You could enslave gods. Just let the girl go."

Allen blinked, dazed. Her scent was in his head. Her touch was inside his bones. His brain was foggy, fuzzy, like he’d chugged a dozen dream potions.

"I mean..." he mumbled, pupils dilating, "that does sound kinda cool..."

Her smoky hand cupped his jaw, drawing him closer. Her lips brushed his.

"You know you want it..."

CRACK.

A sudden SNAP of fingers echoed through the Mind Palace like a gunshot.

And then—

WHAM!

A fist made of blinding golden light collided with the smoke woman’s face, snapping her head sideways like a ragdoll. She staggered, stunned, her perfect illusion cracking.

Allen blinked, the daze vanishing like smoke in the wind.

"What the f—?"

He turned.

Standing beside him was a woman made entirely of pure light. No features, no face—just radiant curves, flowing hair of white fire, and a presence so fierce it made the shadows retreat.

She didn’t say a word.

She just pointed at the Avatar of the Abyss Cradle.

Judgment.

Rage.

Silent, holy wrath.

The smoke woman snarled, recovering. "You filthy light-coddling whore! You dare interrupt?!"

The light woman tilted her head slightly.

She dared.

The smoke surged forward.

Light clenched its fist.

BOOM.

A shockwave of divine fury and smoky corruption clashed in the Mind Palace, sending spirals of chaos across the black sky. They fought with no words—just impact after impact. Smoke claws slashed. Light blades flared. Every punch was a scream, every clash a shattering hymn of destruction.

Allen? He stood back, holding his arms up like, "I’m not involved!" as the mindscape literally exploded around him.

Then—

FWOOOM.

The light woman drove her radiant fist into the heart of the Cradle’s Avatar, punching so hard the entire Mind Palace cracked like glass. Smoke shrieked, imploding, unraveling into mist.

The last thing the Abyss Avatar screamed was: "SLUTTTTTTTTTTTT—!!"

And then—

SHATTER.

The Mind Palace collapsed like a bad dream.

Allen’s eyes snapped open.

He was back in the cave.

Lunari was floating next to him, still holding onto his waist, blinking innocently. "Waaah, welcome back! You spaced out for like... seven seconds! That’s like, forever in mermaid time\~."

Allen exhaled slowly.

The Cradle was silent. No pressure. No voices. No demands.

Just a smoldering, cracked altar and a faint sparkle of light vanishing from the air like a fading promise.

"...Okay," Allen muttered, rubbing his head. "So I almost got seduced by a smoke demon, then rescued by a radiant kung-fu angel, and now I’m back with my goldfish girlfriend who thinks time is fake."

Lunari gasped, "Wait—you have a goldfish girlfriend?! Is she hot?!"

Allen stared at her.

"...It’s you, Lunari."

"Ohhhhhhh\~" she blushed. "Teehee~! I forgot my own lore again!"

He facepalmed.

But deep inside, he smiled.

Because yeah... she was his.

And nothing—not gods, not cradles, not even thicc smoky temptresses—was gonna take her away.

Allen stared at Lunari, who was now twirling like a dolphin mid-air, giggling to herself and poking at invisible sparkles.

"...Okay," he said flatly, pointing a finger at her. "Why the hell are you talking like an airhead?"

She paused mid-spin, blinking at him with big, round, clueless eyes.

"Ehh?" she tilted her head. "What’s an airhead? Is that like a fish with wings? Ooooh! I wanna see one! Can we go find it? Can we can we—?!"

Allen held up a hand like he was physically trying to block the stupid. "No. Stop. Just—how are you even functioning? Did your brain get replaced with seafoam?!"

Lunari gasped, placing her hands on her cheeks. "Wait... did it?! Is there seafoam in my brain?! That would explain soooo much..."

Allen groaned and rubbed his temples like he was trying to knead the nonsense out of existence.

That’s when he felt it.

A voice, deep in his mind.

Clear. Feminine. Calm. Not Lunari. And definitely not the sultry smoke-bitch from the Cradle.

<She is touched by the Cradle’s poison>

He froze. "Who said that?"

<The Abyss Cradle laced her mind with its venom. It began the unraveling. She was chosen as its sacrifice>

Allen turned and looked behind him.

Where the twisted black altar once pulsed with shadowy tendrils and whispers, now there was nothing but rubble. Smoke curled up from broken obsidian stones and shattered glyphs, all reduced to cracked, crumbling ruin. He was standing right on top of it.

The Abyss Cradle had been destroyed.

"Wait... If the damn thing’s gone..." Allen turned back to Lunari, who was humming "bubble bubble fishy wishy" while braiding her wet hair with a stick. "Why the hell is she still acting like this?"

There was a pause in his head.

Then the voice answered:

<Because the poison is not simply magic. It is a binding. A soul-meld. It latches to thought and lingers past the death of its origin>

Allen’s jaw clenched. "So what—you’re telling me she’s stuck like this? Even though the Cradle’s dead?"

<It is a mind-and-soul binding. It will only fade when the infected dies>

The words hit him like a punch to the gut.

Lunari popped up behind him and placed a crown made of moss, seaweed, and some unidentifiable wet goop on his head.

"I dub thee~" she declared, "King of the Squishy Squish!"

He didn’t even react.

"...That’s it?" he muttered, not to her, but to the voice. "No way to fix her? No ritual? No curse-breaking spell? I just let her slowly dissolve from the inside out?"

<Not dissolve. Drift. Her soul is still hers. But her thoughts are clouded. The Cradle hollowed her out so she would walk smiling into her end>

Allen looked at her again.

And damn it, she was still smiling.

Still twirling. Still beaming at him with that sweet, dumb look like everything was fine.

But something in her eyes flickered.

Faint.

Like a candlelight barely peeking through a fog.

"...Can I stop it?" he asked quietly. "Can I pull her back?"

The voice seemed to hesitate.

<Perhaps. If she remembers who she is... if you anchor her. You are the one she followed. The one who rejected the Cradle’s deal. That resistance still echoes within her>

Allen reached out and gently held her chin, guiding her face to his. "Hey," he said softly. "You’re still in there, right? The real Lunari."

She blinked slowly.

Then—for just one second—her expression changed. The fog cleared.

"...Allen?" she whispered.

Then it vanished. The haze slammed back into place like a curtain dropping. She giggled.

"Waaaah, you’re soooo close~ Are we gonna kiss? Ooooh! My tummy just did a fish flip!"

Allen gave a weak smile.

"No," he said, brushing a thumb over her cheek. "Not yet."

He stood up and looked down at the broken ruins beneath his feet—the shattered corpse of the Abyss Cradle, its whispers silenced forever.

"You tried to eat her soul," he growled. "You failed."

He took Lunari’s hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

"You lost."

The voice inside his mind echoed one last time:

<The Cradle is gone. But the poison lives on. Hold her close, Allen. Remind her who she is... before the poison convinces her she never was>

He nodded slowly.

Gripping Lunari’s hand tighter, he whispered, "Then let’s give that poison something to choke on."