Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities

Chapter 158: Oh My Gosh!

Now, her crimson eyes shimmered with an interest Martin had never seen from her before.

She wanted to know him personally, not as the tank, not as the party leader, and not as a convenient future asset, but as Martin.

The feeling reminded him of the intimate moment he had shared with NukEncore, but only in the way a blade and a fireball were both dangerous. NukEncore burned bright, playful, and shameless, striking him head on with heat he could not ignore. Kill Clause felt colder, slower, and heavier, like a blade sliding under his chin while the hand holding it quietly asked whether he trusted her.

Martin’s throat tightened.

For one dangerous second, he wondered how much of the real woman was hiding behind Kill Clause.

Off to the side, Crimson Halo licked her lips. Her eyes widened, not with fear, but with the manic excitement of a woman who had just discovered a secret romance route hidden beneath a boss arena.

Exciting! So exciting!

She pressed one hand near her cheek while the other twirled the end of her drill.

This is not teasing or strategy. This is Cassandra Selfmore, the cold tyrant herself, showing raw interest in a man. A man! Martin, of all people!

Her breathing grew a little too eager.

Ah, no movie director could ever write a better script! The cruel queen lowers her gaze upon the honest tank, while the honest tank does not understand the danger. The fire girl has already marked him, but the battlefield is no longer Cascade Valley. It is love, desire, and possession!

Crimson Halo nearly shivered.

What truly happened between them? What did I miss? Gosh, I want to know. No, I need to know!

Chaosgraphy slowly turned her head toward her older sister with an expression dead enough to bury a battlefield.

"You’re panting like a dog in heat," Chaosgraphy said. "Want a second elbow to the lake?"

Crimson Halo immediately straightened, as if she had not been seconds away from drooling over someone else’s romantic tension, and twirled her drill with elegant offense.

"Please, don’t say such a vulgar thing when everyone’s listening. Keep some class, my dear little sister."

"I already told Martin you behave like a retard at times."

Crimson Halo gasped as if shot through the heart.

"You’re too deep into the villainess aura! How could you?!"

Chaosgraphy stared at her.

"You were breathing like a broken steam engine."

"That was artistic excitement."

"That was degeneracy."

"That was appreciation for complex interpersonal drama!"

"That was you being a creep."

While the sisters bickered, NukEncore felt something twist in her chest.

At first, she did not understand it, which only made the feeling more annoying.

She was smiling. She was still NukEncore: bright, loud, cute, shameless, and absolutely capable of dragging Martin’s attention back to herself whenever she wanted. Kill Clause’s smile should not have bothered her. That calm, confident woman leaning toward Martin should not have made her fingers curl against Ao Tenshin’s shell. Martin looking at Kill Clause for one second too long should not have sparked something hot and ugly beneath her ribs.

But it did.

NukEncore kept smiling, though the corners of her mouth tightened. Her eyes moved from Kill Clause’s crimson gaze to Martin’s face, then to the arm pressing beneath Kill Clause’s heavy chest, then back to Martin again.

Her brain had not found the word yet, but her body already had: danger. Not monster danger, and not raid danger either. This was worse than both.

Woman danger.

NukEncore crawled across Ao Tenshin’s shell toward Martin and tried to make it look casual. Nothing about it looked casual. Her movements were too quick, her smile too bright, and her body too obviously determined to insert itself back into Martin’s field of view.

Ao Tenshin, meanwhile, continued gliding peacefully across the lake, completely unaware that her shell had become the site of a quiet territorial dispute between beautiful women with terrible impulse control.

NukEncore stopped close to Martin and butted in.

"Soooo, what do you think the guild can do now that we own Cascade Valley?!"

Her voice came out louder than she intended, and she noticed only after everyone looked at her.

For half a second, NukEncore froze.

Then she smiled harder.

Martin looked at her a little longer than the question required.

Her usual brightness was still there: the playful curve of her lips, the shameless sparkle in her eyes, and the adorable confidence that made her seem like she could get away with anything as long as she laughed loudly enough afterward. Beneath it, though, something had tightened.

Her voice had jumped too high, and she had crawled over to him with the urgency of someone pretending she was not urgent at all. Martin understood enough to know this was not really about Cascade Valley.

What made it difficult was how badly he wanted to understand more.

After everything that had happened between them, part of him wanted to ask her directly. He wanted to catch her by the wrist before she slipped back behind jokes, fireballs, and that shameless smile of hers. He wanted to know whether the thing flashing in her eyes was really what he thought it was.

But Ao Tenshin’s shell was full of people, and NukEncore was still looking at him like she wanted him to answer the question, not expose the feeling behind it.

So Martin followed her lead.

"Hmmm." He looked toward the valley around them, giving her the answer she had asked for while keeping her reaction tucked carefully in the back of his mind. "The Dark Force has been purified, but it hasn’t disappeared. It should still keep producing monsters across Cascade Valley, only now it’s part of our territory’s ecosystem. I think we’ll have some territory owner bonuses we can capitalize on! And you know..."

His voice steadied as he spoke. He was not escaping into gameplay. He was using a language he understood when emotions became too crowded.

Systems, territory bonuses, monster production, and guild logistics were familiar ground. Useful ground. They gave him a way to hold the moment together without forcing NukEncore to reveal more than she wanted to reveal in front of everyone.

Then Martin looked over at Ao Tenshin.

She had been enjoying the slow ride across the lake all this time, her huge body floating with ridiculous peace, her sapphire eyes calm, and her shell broad enough to carry the entire party like a moving island.

Adorable, proud, and completely at home, she looked as if Cascade Valley had been designed specifically to become her personal bathtub, kingdom, and vacation home all at once.

"Given her size, this is the best place for her," Martin said with a chuckle. "I’m happy we actually claimed it."

NukEncore’s smile finally relaxed for real.

"Angel already claimed this place for herself. Sucks to be Cassandra," she said with a laugh.

Martin laughed as well.

Kill Clause only raised an eyebrow.

Crimson Halo’s eyes sparkled again, and Chaosgraphy noticed with a sigh.

Ao Tenshin continued across the lake in peaceful ignorance, carrying a party that had somehow become much more dangerous than the monsters waiting in Cascade Valley.