The portal opened directly in the settlement's main courtyard—the same place Satou had departed from what felt like a lifetime ago, though it had only been a few hours.

The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the earth-formed buildings. The settlement was transitioning into evening routines—goblins and orcs finishing their day's work.

The moment he stepped through, a bell began ringing. The lookout had spotted the portal, was alerting everyone that their chief had returned.

Within seconds, doors burst open. People came running from every direction—the same crowd that had greeted him earlier, but this time with a different energy. Not just relief, but desperate need to know.

Did the chief win? Countless questions started coming out from everyone

Satou stood there as the crowd formed around him, his transformed appearance still drawing some nervous glances, his presence radiating power that made the air feel heavy. But this time, people pushed past that initial discomfort, needing answers more than they needed safety.

Urgak was the first to reach him, his single eye scanning Satou for injuries. "Well?"

"It's done," Satou said simply. "Richard Clay is defeated. I'm still the seventh-seat demon lord, provisional status maintained. And Chronus..." a dark smile crossed his features, "...won't be interfering again anytime soon."

The orc chieftain studied him for a long moment, then nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Then we celebrate tonight. A feast to honor our chief's victory and his official recognition by the demon lord council."

"Urgak, you don't have to—" said Satou but was cut short by urgak.

"Yes, I do," Urgak interrupted firmly. "The people need this. They've been tense since you left for the arena. They need to see you victorious, need to celebrate, need to release all that accumulated fear. Let them have this, Chief."

Satou looked around at the crowd—goblins, orcs, all of them watching him with expressions ranging from relief to joy to something like awe. They'd believed in him, had faith that he'd return, and now he had.

"Alright," Satou agreed. "A feast. But modest—we have a long year ahead and need to conserve resources."

"Modest," Urgak repeated with a grin. "I'll make sure the cooks know."

Kelvin pushed through the crowd, and this time his embrace was more controlled—he'd learned not to try tackling his transformed big brother. "You did it! I knew you would! Was Richard Clay really as dangerous as everyone said? Did you use that awesome sword? Did Chronus actually try to interfere? Tell me everything!"

"Later," Satou promised, ruffling Kelvin's hair. "Right now I need to—"

He stopped mid-sentence, his enhanced senses picking up two very distinct presences approaching from different directions.

Lyra was coming from the administrative building, her walk measured and professional despite the clear emotion in her eyes.

Jessica was emerging from the healing hall, her steps less certain, as if she wasn't sure she had the right to approach with everyone watching.

The crowd seemed to sense something significant was happening. People began backing away slightly, creating space, giving their chief room for what was clearly going to be a personal moment.

Satou walked forward, and both women stopped, standing about ten feet apart from each other, both watching him with barely contained emotion.

He stopped between them, his heart suddenly pounding harder than it had facing Richard Clay. This was a different kind of challenge—not combat, but something more complex and infinitely more important.

"I'm home," Satou said, looking between them. "And I kept my promise. I came back to both of you."

The words were simple, but their meaning was clear to anyone paying attention. Both of you. Not one or the other. Both.

Lyra's professional mask cracked first. She ran forward, closing the distance and throwing her arms around Satou's neck with completely uncharacteristic public emotion. "You absolute idiot! You reckless, wonderful, impossible idiot! Do you have any idea how terrifying it was watching through Cassius's communication updates? Hearing that Chronus interfered? That you demanded to strike him? That you made him kneel?"

"You heard about that already?" Satou asked, surprised.

"Loki sent word ahead," Lyra said, pulling back to look at him, tears streaming down her face but a smile on her lips. "He wanted us to know you won spectacularly before you arrived. Said you attacked a demon lord and survived to tell about it. Said you're probably the most audacious being he's met in a thousand years."

She pulled him down into a kiss—deep, passionate, completely inappropriate for public display and entirely genuine. When she pulled back, she was laughing and crying simultaneously.

"Don't ever do that again," she said. "Don't ever make me wait wondering if you're going to survive. My heart can't take it."

"I can't promise that," Satou said honestly. "Being a demon lord means facing threats. But I can promise I'll always fight to come back to you."

He turned slightly, extending his other arm toward Jessica, who was still standing there watching with an expression of heartbreaking hope.

"Both of you," Satou repeated, making sure everyone heard. Making sure there was no ambiguity. "I'm coming back to both of you. That's not changing."

Jessica's face crumpled. She made a small sound half sob, half laugh and ran forward, joining the embrace. She was smaller than Lyra, fitting under Satou's arm perfectly, her face pressed against his chest.

"I was so scared," Jessica whispered. "I thought you were going to die and I'd never get to tell you ,never get to actually be with you—never get to—"

"I'm here," Satou interrupted gently. "And I'm not going anywhere."

He held both women, one arm around each, and felt something settle in his chest. Something that had been uncertain and anxious was now solid and right.

The crowd around them was reacting in various ways. Some looked surprised—the settlement's chief publicly embracing two women wasn't exactly traditional. Others looked knowing, as if they'd suspected something like this was developing.

Urgak just grunted with satisfaction. "About time you three figured that out. We've been placing bets on when you'd make it official."

"You what?" Lyra pulled back, her administrator's tone emerging through her emotional state.

Author Note:

Who wanna see a date happen between Jessica and Satou ❤️,please drop a comment if you wanna , and also you can also tell me what you like and didn't like about the recent arc ,your review will help me progress as an author ,arigatou

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