Adam asked, a little confused as to what Echidna was getting at.
To which she responded, doubling down, even.
"I informed you a couple of months ago, didn’t I? To unlock the full power of Typhon within the Codex, you must completely seduce your sisters to get the key. You may have piqued their interest, but it’s not happening fast enough."
"I don’t think I catch your drift. What do you mean it is not fast enough? My relationship with Minerva has been progressing pretty well if I do say so myself, we even sleep together naked, at least when it is bed time."
"Have you fucked her yet?"
"She still sees me as a child."
"Exactly. And whose fault is that?!"
To which Adam defended himself.
"I mean, come on...they found me as a human baby. Naturally, they raised me like one to some extent. Can you really blame them? Unlike other Monster’s they have human ethics to a degree...kinda."
Echidna tripled down on him.
"I feel like I’m being targeted here."
"You’re not being targeted. If anything, I care for you more than anyone else, in more ways than one. Still, Minerva is the easiest of the bunch to seduce. That girl is a virgin, and even with her near-omnipotence within the Dream of Monsterkind, she is terrible with men. The closest she ever came to a relationship was with another Monster Lord. And even then, the bastard cheated on her, ran his mouth claiming he was sleeping with her daily, when in truth, he wasn’t. That is the reason Minerva came to hate men who pursue her."
She paused, then added.
"But honestly, everyone in the Shinso House, myself included, has our own issues with men. Believe it or not, that is how this house was founded. A group of women who were all screwed over by some man, and weird enough we were also Shinso existences. For me, it was the death of my husband. For Minerva, it was the Monster Lord of Space. For Rakasha, it was her own father. And for Priscilla... she is a little different, but her misfortunes all began the moment she committed Diablory by consuming the soul of her own brother."
Hearing this Adam was surprised, as he said.
"Wait, wait, wait... Back all the way fucking back. Who is the Monster Lord of Space."
Adam’s irritation flared, his desire burning through his voice, prompting Echidna to comment.
"Don’t even think about it, boy. Only a Lord can defeat another Lord. Or something of equal standing, like a Demon King, a Seraph, or a Horseman. Or maybe something even higher... like a Setting User."
Echidna made clear, causing Adam to bite his lips, and grind his teeth in annoyance.
Still she had a point.
"Sigh, fine, I understand... I won’t go after the Monster Lord of Space... Not yet atleast."
Echidna responded back while at this moment entering the cave, going towards the blue light up ahead.
Echidna said, folding her arms with a heavy sigh.
"Just know that I need you to speed up the seduction process. For Typhon’s chosen heir, you’re moving at a snail’s pace in the bitch department. Honestly, Little Typhon, you should’ve had at least three members in your harem by now my disappointment is immeasurable."
She clicked her tongue, disappointed.
"Your constitution is practically made for inheriting his power. It’s perfect in every way imaginable. And here you are, playing house is some romance drama. Lock the fuck in boy."
Adam scratched the back of his head, unsure what to say to defend his game, still he voice his thoughts.
"What even counts as successful seduction for Monsters anyway?"
She replied flatly, then leaned forward, her expression growing more serious by the second.
"But that alone isn’t enough. To fully seduce a monster woman, to truly bind her to you...you have to make her your mate."
"But Minerva already considers me her mate though."
Adam replied, slightly confused.
Not seeing the full scope of the problem here.
Echidna rolled her eyes as she replied.
"More like play-play mate. That virgin knows damn well, a Monster only becomes another Monster’s true mate after the dicking... and the baking."
Adam paused, finally catching on to where this was going.
"You mean, to really make Minerva my mate, I have to...
He trailed off, but before he could finish, Echidna cut in with a calm, yet pointed, voice.
"Yes. Direct impregnation."
She stepped forward, arms folded, her tone matter-of-fact.
"I govern that aspect as the Monster Lord of Fertility. I made that law when my husband died. To help increase and decrease the population at the same time. A monster can’t be impregnated by another monster unless they recognize them as a true mate. That is how the law of Kinship works here, because that is how I have it set up."
She continued, unflinching.
"So yes, only mates can impregnate mates. And if someone else wants to become that person’s mate, they must challenge the existing one for the right."
"It applies both ways too."
"Male or female. So when monsters fight for cheeks and glizzy... it’s quite literal."
She tilted her head, smirking slightly.
"If the meat’s claimed, the only way to claim it back is through a fight to the death, or until you forfeit the right. Assuming you catch my drift."
She said without flinching a word.
Adam’s voice cracked in disbelief.
"Wait, wait... So you’re telling me... I have to impregnate all five of them to unlock the remaining doors of the Codex?"
Echidna confirmed with a smirk.
"Like I said before, your body has evolved to the point where you can manually shift your age to suit the intended level of maturity. You’re physically more than capable."
"I mean, I can do that, sure... it’s just...
"I don’t want to hear it, get to dicking ASAP."
He said in a defeated tone.
"I just think romance first is good is all."
"Mid take, but I honestly don’t give a fuck."
Echidna said bluntly, waving her hand dismissively at the idea itself.
"The Monster World is already considered a full-blown Netorae carnival, what with how fanatically we treat bloodlines, heritage, and mating rites. Every clan, every noble house, every Lord, hell, even the lowliest of Monsterkind, in some shape or form takes lineage seriously, almost religiously. It’s all about securing power through progeny, legacy through mating, and dominance through who seeds we take and give."
She glanced at Adam, expression sharp, but full with something heavier beneath the bravado she was upholding.
"And yet here you are. The chosen inheritor of Typhon, my apostle no less. And yet little Typhon, your dragging your feet like some shy schoolboy in a rom-com. Before anything serious goes down, you need to seriously level up your game. Can you even imagine it? The next Typhon... getting cucked. Cucked, Adam."
She clicked her tongue, eyes narrowing, causing Adam to fall back, as he said to himself.
’I am down bad, and like erotic shit, but my god she is even worse than me.’
He said to himself while Echidna finish her lecture.
"Tsk. You know how that would make me look out there? In front of the other Lords? The Primals? The Pantheon? Do you have any idea how much shit I’d eat for that? I might as well burn this entire damned world to ash if that happens. Just purge every last monster’s fertility, make the whole species impotent out of spite. Maybe even revoke the right to create Metahumans altogether. I swear, I’d make it biologically impossible for them to even have wet dreams...Minerva be damned."
Adam blinked in disbelief, trying to keep up. His eyebrows arched, this was clearly a crash out on her part.
But as he listen to her rant.
What he heard actually took him by suprise l.
"Wait... You did that? You’re the one who made Metahuman procreation even possible?"
Echidna shrugged, brushing some of her snake hair behind her ear.
"The Metahuman part? Yeah, that was me."
She admitted with a faint smirk.
"I designed that entire genetic branch from the ground up. The whole reproductive system, the energy merging, hybrid stabilization, comparability, it was all part of a long-term invasion plan I had back in the day. I wanted a way for monsters to interbreed with humans seamlessly, to slowly inject our traits into their bloodline across generations. So we can one day take control of the human world, but easier said than done."
She exhaled, crossing her arms, expression souring just a bit.
"But it turned out to be a hell of a lot harder than I anticipated. Because a certain someone, annoyingly clever figured out how to bypass my safeguards. Created an entire chain of offspring without triggering my failsafes. Someone who knew exactly what I was doing, and precisely how to go around it. Normally that’s not possible without having a Setting in your disposal worst case scenario, or higher power of Fertility than me."
Adam didn’t need her to say a name. He already felt the chill crawl up his spine, as he could guess who that thorn in her side was.
Echidna’s expression darkened, but she didn’t speak. She didn’t have to. The silence was confirmation enough.
However she said what she needed to say.
As such she change the conversation by saying.
"Once you open the third door and master the abilities inside, from doors one through three, you’ll be powerful enough to take on any of the current Monster Lords... except for the Antediluvian Lords. Don’t you want to become a Monster Lord one day?"
"I mean... is that even possible?"
Echidna answered, her tone leaving no room for doubt.
"The title of Monster Lord is passed down, either willingly from the current holder to a chosen heir after death or willing retirement, or by force if someone even manage to defeat or kills them. So if you want to get revenge for Minerva against Space. You need to become a Lord or God, or anything with that level of control over an Aspect. After all The Monster Lord of Space is ranked eighth among the Thirteen, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that means he is weak. The guy is basically omnipresent, and to a degree, hell like all other Monster Lord too omniscient as well."
"Omniscient? Seriously!?"
Adam asked, and Echidna responded.
"Not in every domain."
"He can’t see inside the sealed territories or inner domains of the other Lords, as he made an oat to the king to not do so. But outside of those? He is a monster. He can literally erase your presence from the space you occupy on a conceptual level mind you. Just by existing, you’re taking up space. And every inch of space is his domain. He holds absolute dominion over it."
She looked directly at Adam, gaze unwavering.
"He exists, and doesn’t exist, simultaneously in every timeline of the Monster World like the other Lords, his true form is Space that exist within the Monster World. Beating him without becoming a Lord yourself first? Close to impossible boy. So whip your cuck out and start making babies to get those keys, the earlier the better."