(MC POV)
I was still trying to figure out why Mei Bian thought it was a good idea to antagonize me again with that stunt when Mother came back with a satisfied look on her face.
I was going to ask her how it went but Mother pulled me into a hug before I could do so.
"Oh my poor, poor baby, how you've suffered so much!"
"Ungff… Mo… Mother?"
She patted my head, "My sweet, there is no need for you to shoulder everything yourself. Mama is here now."
"Unnn… Did something happen with Mei Bian?"
Mother smiled at me, "Don't worry about her, my sweet, sweet son. I've taught her the error of her ways, she will not bother you again."
"What about her… Travel companions?"
"Mama will take care of them too. Does my baby boy want an ice cream?"
I grinned, "In this weather?"
"No reason not to enjoy one~ I have your favourite strawberry flavoured ones too~"
She's definitely my Mother alright.
"Alright, you convinced me. But let's get some for my disciples as well. I'll need to give them the headache pills for their hangovers too."
Yeah, I think they suffered enough. It's supposed to be a vacation for us after all, so there's no need for them to suffer more than necessary to get the point across.
So I followed Mother back to the dining area and had ice cream with my dear cute disciples, the deal with Mei Bian already long forgotten.
Hey, hot springs time with my disciples is more important, ok?
*
-Meanwhile-
(Benjamin POV) [MC's tentacle face monster]
"No! No! Please! Please don't put that in me! No! I don't want to turn into a monster!!"
I floated up towards the restrained human with a tadpole pinched in between my fingers.
He tried his best to wiggle free of his bindings but the steel chains that held him to the dungeon's walls did not budge even an inch.
I reached out to him and used my telekinesis to shut his mouth, forcefully turning his head to face me when he tried to look away.
I guided the tadpole to his eye and watched it latch onto his eyelid before slipping underneath it where it will start to consume his brain. We should be getting a new kin after a week or so.
Two of my kin came up and used their telekinesis to bring the human away, dropping him into the cell where he will remain until he expires.
"Is that the last one?" I asked telepathically.
"Yes. He's the last of those bandits we took from our raids suitable for our purposes."
"Hmm… Monitor them, make sure they–"
I stopped myself, sensing a wave of energy similar to psionic force coming from the direction of our entrance hall.
That meant someone was trying to forcefully enter the Sanctuary despite the teleportation barriers active.
I immediately sent out a telepathic wave to everyone I could, alerting them of the danger before teleporting myself there. It is unfortunate that I'm the only one of my kin that could planeswalk the moment.
Just as I materialised myself there, a spark appeared above the teleportation platform before exploding into a cloud of smoke, covering the entire area.
I swiped my hand in an arc, pushing the smoke away to reveal a young girl standing on top of the platform.
Right at that moment, the ones I had warned of the intrusion appeared through the doorway, all armed and ready to defend our home.
"Ookk no oonmebak?" The girl muttered, frowning down at us. "Athwias on nauei aw koodda?!"
Not understanding the girl's words at all, I tried to reach into her mind to attempt a telepathic communication.
Unfortunately, that seemed to trigger her as her face turned into one of rage the moment she felt my mental prod.
The feeling similar to getting tackled hit me from the front, throwing me back and away from her.
Sensing her hostility, the rest of my companions surged forward, all of them intent on taking down the intruder.
Stephanie sent her undead skeleton knights forward, their obsidian shields raised up high in a shield charge. Behind them was Theodore, the leader of our Orcs, rallying his brethren and charging with their giant battleaxes.
All the way at the back of the charge was Jack, the Beholder, his eyes lighting up in preparation of unleashing a Technique on her.
The intruder raised her hand at them, materialising a yellow orb the size of an apple in front of her palm.
Before any of us could react, a golden beam had shot out from the ball, engulfing everything and everyone in its golden blaze.
As quickly as it had appeared, the beam dematerialised to reveal none of my comrades were left.
I felt great displeasure in seeing that.
They aren't dead of course, not while we still worship Divine One and receive his blessing, but seeing my own comrades perishing like that isn't nice either.
I focused all of my psionic strength and threw it against her, aiming to overwhelm her mental defenses and cripple her.
She turned and glared at me.
That was all I knew before I felt my entire body explode in pain.
The pain almost brought me to my knees, but the thought of myself kneeling to someone other than Divine One prevented me from doing so.
Forcing myself back on my feet with my psionic strength, I looked up to face the intruder with narrowed eyes.
"Suhaan, oonmebak. Nauei koodda?" She growled.
Is she mocking me?
How pathetic of me… To allow the Sanctuary that Divine One had granted us be defiled so easily…
I shall redeem myself with your death!
I raised my hand at her, the intruder stepping to the side in an attempt to avoid my psionic blast.
Unfortunately for her, it was never aimed at her.
My energy opened a rift behind her and Thomas appeared from within the portal, his arm poised in the air for a punch.
Our Behemoth smashed his fist down on top of the girl without mercy, punching her into the ground.
She gasped out in pain from the surprise attack, not even having time to cry out before Thomas smashed his other fist down on her.
Thomas continually rained down blow after blow, making sure she never got the chance to stand back up or even to fight back.
After a good minute of him just punching the ground, I called out, "Thomas, that's enough."
"Not… Yet… Still… Can… Go… On!" Thomas roared, obviously just as upset as I was that Divine One's Sanctuary was broken into.
"No… The intruder already left," I told him.
Thomas stopped abruptly, letting the dust settle to see he had indeed been punching at nothing.
"How?" He growled.
"Must have been a failsafe Technique of some sort that teleports her out when she activates it. It took me a while to notice it as well."
"Damn… So Sanctuary has been breached… Should we tell Divine One?"
"No… At least not yet. I'll consult with Akari and Shiori first, they will decide what to do. In the meantime, we should strengthen the barrier, make sure that this doesn't happen again."
"Right, I'll leave that to you then. Barriers were never my strong suit anyway. I'll see if I can ask Sarah if she and her sisters could stand guard here," Thomas waved, leaving the hall through one of the doors.
I turned back to look at the teleportation platform where the intruder had appeared.
Just who was that girl?
