The world snapped back into focus with a jolt that sent my heart slamming against my ribs. One second, Calliope and I were tangled in her timeless domain. The next, we were back on the bridge platform, the Mana storm howling around us like a pissed-off tornado.
The Salt King was flying toward me. His minions, the hooded Salt Miners that looked like they had leprosy, were still pounding away at Princess's flickering barrier like nothing had happened. Catherine and Shala remained frozen in their salty cocoons.
Calliope stood beside me, her midnight gown back on. Her deep blue eyes met mine, and she gave me a subtle nod. "Go on, Teddy. Show them what a real Sugar Daddy can do."
My Sugar levels were climbing fast. I was already past a thousand and it was surging higher with every heartbeat, a heartbeat I could feel in my dick. I felt invincible. My muscles rippled under my skin.
As he headed toward me, the Salt King's mouth—it was hard to tell what was actually his mouth and what was just another of the Salt fissures on his skin—turned into a furious frown.
"Something has changed in you!"
"Oh, yeah?" I asked. "Want to try me out!?"
The Salt King abruptly stopped in mid-air.
"Miners!"
The pounding of the barrier stopped, and the Salt Miners turned their heads. My allies in the bubble huddled together. Princess could not relax entirely because of the bubble, but it looked like she didn't have to exert as much effort as she was giving before.
"Drain them both! Their Mana will make us gods!"
The Miners turned as one, hoods falling back to reveal more of those leprous faces. There were maybe a couple dozen or fewer of them left, some having been dispatched already by Damian and Seraphina. Where were they now?
The Miners charged, Salt shards forming in their hands like knives, others floating around their heads.
I didn't wait. Sugar Rush kicked in, time slowing to a crawl around me. The Mana storm's arcs of lightning hung suspended. I moved, technically faster than lightning, blurring across the platform.
The first Miner didn't even see me coming. I grabbed his extended arm, twisted it until it snapped, then drove my elbow into his throat. He burst into a cloud of Salt dust, robe collapsing empty to the deck.
Two more rushed in slow-mo. I ducked under a lazy swing, swept one's legs out from under him, and stomped down on his chest. He was dust. The second got a knee to the groin, his balls feeling like clumps of table salt before he exploded.
Quickly checking my status, my Sugar levels had dropped by a few hundred. I'd been using my Sugar, but not from a state of full capacity, and I wanted to make sure that I'd have enough to be able to take on the Salt King when it was time.
Time sped up a fraction as I dialed back Sugar Rush, conserving energy. The Miners were panicking. Their attacks were wild and desperate. One hurled a brine whip that I caught in mid-air, yanking him forward into my fist. Dust.
"Pathetic," I growled, echoing Calliope's earlier words. My cock twitched at the memory of her. Focus, Teddy. But damn, the power high was intoxicating.
I blurred through five more in a heartbeat: a headbutt that shattered a skull into granules, a kick that sent another flying off the platform and into the Mana storm. Their screams were like music to my ears.
The last few clustered together, trying to form a Salt barrier. I laughed. Time slowed more down again as I approached their wall, which was nothing compared to me at my speed. I destroyed it via a quickly identified weak spot using my GSP and then dismantled the rest of the Miners one by one. When I was done, all that was left was a pile of off-white robes.
The platform was clear. Damian and Seraphina stared at me, their jaws slack. They had come out from the other side of the central pillar. Damian was bleeding from a wound in his back, and it looked like Seraphina was tending to it.
Elaine's green eyes widened in a mix of pride and another emotion I didn't feel comfortable attributing to her yet. Princess dropped her barrier.
The Salt King continued to float, unfazed. "Impressive, boy. But minions are cheap. See how you handle a real king!"
He dove like a bloated meteor, fists glowing with corrosive energy. I met him head-on. Sugar Rush activated making his descent look like a slow fall. I sidestepped, grabbed his robe, and yanked him down hard. He slammed into the platform with a boom that shook the railing.
He rolled to his feet faster than I expected, swinging a bloated arm my way. It clipped my shoulder, the burn sucking at my skin like before, but with the Sugar now flowing freely through me I barely noticed it. I countered with a punch to his gut. My fist sank into bloated flesh. He grunted, staggering back.
"You think you can take me!?" he roared, summoning a whirlwind of Salt shards. They swirled around him like a tornado before being sent out as missiles.
At about halfway toward me they stopped and hung in the air like glittering ornaments. I wove through them effortlessly and gave a right hook to the Salt King's jaw that sent cracks spiderwebbing across his face.
"You... you're nothing with your whores!" he wheezed, backing toward the edge. Desperation widened his eyes. "Look at you, parading your freshly fucked little pets! Think that virgin cunt I can smell on you makes you special? I'll Salt those tight holes dry while you watch, and that fat cock of yours won't save them!"
"This fat cock of mine?"
I opened up my robe fully and exposed my cock. He seemed genuinely fearful.
"Get that thing away from me!"
I smiled. Calliope was right. He's afraid to touch my dick! Not that I'm not also afraid of him touching my dick, but luckily I wasn't going to have to.
I started stroking, eyes half-closed. I was imagining Calliope, and Catherine, and Shala, even Bridgid. Basically, I was doing everything I could to keep the attention focused on the women I've fucked rather than the bloated monster in front of me.
If Calliope was right about the second thing, I was about to end him right here and now.
"It's over, Cook," I said. "Or King. Whatever the hell you call yourself now."
He laughed. A broken and raspy sound. Then his hands shot out Salty tendrils.
Sugar Rush didn't activate.
The tendrils flew past me and wrapped around Catherine and Shala's frozen forms.
"Choose, Sugar Well!" he snarled, backing up and beginning to hover over the void. "Save your little sluts or finish me. You can't do both!"
He flung them out into the void. My heart froze.
Catherine... Shala...
The Salt King was already one foot into a rift in space he was probably using to escape.
I glanced back at Calliope, her eyes wide with rare fear.
What the hell do I do?