Chapter 672: Welcome Home, Your House Is Burning By The Way
(MC POV)
Three days passed quickly and we were on board Elaria's ship ready to return home.
I'd thought the ship would have returned back to the Earthen Plane at least once during those three years but apparently without Elaria's biometric input, the ship is unable to jump. It's supposed to be an added security in case it gets hijacked but that also meant this ship full of people were stranded here for the last three years.
Good thing Luna was quite accommodating so there weren't any problems.
I thought Lilith would be following along as well but she said she needed to go inform her other siblings about my return so she left on the second day.
I still can't get over the fact that this was the girl who was worshiped by the Dark Sect. I wonder what they would say if they knew their goddess calls me 'daddy'?
Don't tell me, omniscience, I don't want to know.
"All status green, engaging jump drives in three, two, one!" One of the operators at the ships helm announced..
Elaria posed dramatically, "Hit it!"
The ship lurched forward and the scenery in front of the ship's windows changed in the blink of an eye.
Though it was obvious the place had changed quite a bit, I still recognised it as my hometown, except with more modernised houses and a building that looks suspiciously like a starship factory a short distance away.
"We're home, Onii-sama!" Elaria cheered, running up to hug me.
Hmmm... We really are... It feels so nostalgic to call this place home. Then again, I was spiritually away for several billion years after all.
We left the ship in transport shuttles that dropped us off at Elaria's mansion. I barely got off the shuttle when Mother and Odriana came running out of the house towards me in a sprint, leaving their servants behind.
Mother pulled both Elaria and I into a crushing hug, "Oh my dear darling son and daughter! Mama missed you so, so much!!"
Odriana joined in the hug from the other side, "Oh my cute little siblings! We always believed you'll both come back safe and sound!"
I struggled to pull my head out of my Mother's bosoms, "We're fine, Mother, sister. We were just stuck for a longer time than we thought we would."
Mother pulled my face back into her bosom to smother me, "Ahhhh~~ My cute, darling little boy! Mama was so worried!"
They continued to hug me for a good five minutes or so before finally letting go of me.
That reminds me... Mother had also called me a god during Guiying's coronation too. Funny how things come around, huh?
"Ara? It seems like my dear little boy picked up a few new wives?" Mother noted, looking at the group behind me.
Er... No, they aren't my wives, Mother... My disciples and lovers, yes, but not wives.
I gestured to the girl wearing the black gothic lolita dress, "Mother, this is Tsuki. She's my little sister from my previous life."
"Oya? Mama has another cute step daughter then? You're so cute!" Mother gushed.
I'm not sure if I should be glad that she didn't even question the 'other life' part.
Tsuki looked at me, "Aniue... Is she..."
I know what she was going to ask so I shook my head, "No, she's a good Mother to me. A million times better than those two poor excuses of parents."
She nodded before turning back to bow to my Mother, "Thank you for taking care of Aniue in this life. This is a debt I will never forget."
She's always quite serious when it comes to family stuff.
Mother went up to her and pulled her into a hug too, "Oh my sweet child. There is no debt for a mother to love her children. I can be your Mama too if you want~"
Tsuki said nothing but didn't reject her hug either.
I let them have a moment before moving next to the Matriarch of the other Plane, "This is Lunamaeniera Sharrow, the Queen and ruler of the other Plane that we were in, she's my... Well... Self-proclaimed wife. Beside her is her maid and right-hand woman, Rina."
Luna curtsied, "It is our honor to finally meet Husband's Reverend Mother. We hope that we weren't too presumptuous in naming ourselves your darling son's wife, but after we came to know him, no other man can move our hearts like he had."
"Oh? Ufufufu~ You have very good taste. It is obvious no other man can compare to our dear son~ You have my approval, but so do the rest of my dear boy's wives."
Mother... I'm not yet married, ok? Actually, where did you even get the idea that they are my wives?
Eh? Oh... Of course... It's normal for Mother to want me to get married and have grandchildren. The fact these girls love me and were close to me gives her enough reason to want us to be married.
Thanks, omniscience. Although I'm starting to wonder if I can switch you off since there's some things I'm better off not knowing...
I moved to the person who has the power to end the universe, "This is Iris. She's my... Err... Disciple from another life who came to find me."
Unexpectedly, Mother had narrowed her eyes dangerously at Iris, "Ara? My sweet, darling son... Don't tell Mama that this woman is also your wife candidate?"
Iris covered her mouth behind her fan, "Ara? You need not worry, human. Such mortal conventions are beneath my considerations. Married or not, I will remain by Master's side even when everything Ends."
Yes, thank you, Iris, very ominous indeed. I suppose it doesn't matter to you since you don't care about receiving Mother's approval anyway...
But the fact that Mother is glaring at Iris... Is this the Mother's intuition thing where she knew someone was hurting her child?
"Fufufu~ My darling boy's wives are all so interesting~" Mother chuckled, not at all fazed by Iris's words.
"Unnn... As expected of my little brother. You disappear for three years and come back with three new sister-in-laws for me. But to even bring another Queen here... I suppose little brother is prepared to take back your Heaven Sect?"
Putting aside the fact that she considered Tsuki as one of my wife candidates too...
"What do you mean by taking back my Heaven Sect?"
Odriana gasped, "Oh! Of course you don't know! You only just came back! Ummm... where do I start?"
Mother stepped forward and patted my head, "My sweet, sweet, boy. Mama is sorry that I couldn't take care of your Sect for you... A year after your disappearance, a really bad man told everyone that you had died and took over your Sect as the new Sect Master..."
My elder sister nodded, "No one believed him at first but he had somehow gotten hold of your personal storage ring... Even the most staunch of believers would start to doubt when another year passed without your reappearance... The fact that the portal in the Sanctuary had closed off as well further reinforced that possibility for us..."
"My personal storage ring?" I asked, looking down at my hand where my storage ring still sat on my finger.
"It must have been a fake," Odriana concluded. "But it was real enough that those not close to little brother believed it to be real."
"Who?"
"Unn... It's some dirty old man who was known as Elder Feng. I believe he used to be the Sect Master of Phoenix Sect?"
Upon hearing the name, my clothes tightened slightly, Xun Guan recognising him to be her former tormentor.
Well then... Seems like there's an old man who has decided he had enough of living. Time to go pay my house a visit.