Chapter 148: The Hollow Crown [1]
Morning light filtered softly through the curtains.
Klein woke up first and slowly blinked.
The first thing he felt was the warm weight on top of him and the tight, wet heat of flesh wrapped around his cock.
A low, involuntary breath left his lips as he felt something warm and soft slowly clenching around his cock even in sleep, creating a gentle sucking pull with every subtle shift of her body.
He glanced down.
Cynthia was lying completely naked on top of him, her long white hair spilled messily across his chest and the pillow.
Her soft breasts were pressed against him, and his cock was still buried deep inside her pussy.
Even while asleep, her inner walls fluttered faintly around him, creating that constant, slow suction he felt upon waking.
Klein shifted slightly beneath her.
Cynthia’s eyebrows furrowed faintly, then her eyes fluttered open.
For a second she simply blinked, still half-asleep, before the feeling of his cock filling her fully surfaced.
A slow, lazy smile curved her lips.
She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the side of his neck, humming quietly against his skin.
"Morning..."
Without waiting for a reply, she braced her hands lightly on his chest and rolled her hips.
The slow grind made his cock slide deeper inside her before dragging back along her wet walls.
A quiet moan slipped from her throat as she did it again, "Nn... still so hard..."
"Haa... Cyn, wait-"
Cynthia adjusted her knees on either side of his hips and began to ride him.
She rolled her hips, letting almost his entire cock slip out before she sank back down, taking his cock to the hilt with a soft, wet sound.
Her bare breasts swayed gently with each motion as she looked down at him with half-lidded eyes.
"Aaangh... that’s nice..."
Klein’s hands settled on her bare waist, feeling the smooth flex of her body as she moved on top of him "I just woke up and..."
His words trailed off as another slow roll of her hips made his cock sink deeper.
She leaned down and dragged her tongue slowly across his cheek in a lazy lick.
"Isn’t this what you guys call morning wood or something...?" she murmured against his skin.
"Waking up already hard... and conveniently still inside me."
She punctuated the words with another grind, letting his cock drag along her inner walls before she sank back down to the hilt.
A soft, breathy moan slipped from her throat as she did it.
"Aaangh... feels like it got even bigger after twitching like that."
Cynthia sat up a little straighter, resting her hands on his chest for balance, and began riding him.
Her bare breasts swayed with each bounce while her white hair fell messily around her shoulders as she looked down at him.
"Besides..." she continued between soft moans, "you didn’t pull out last night. So this is really your own fault."
His hands slid lower from her waist and cupped her ass "if it’s my fault, then I guess I should finish it."
---
Standing under the warm spray of the shower, Klein looked down at his own body.
Faint bite marks and nail scratches dotted his shoulders and the upper part of his chest.
The water ran over the marks, making some of them stand out more clearly against his skin.
Cynthia was standing in front of him, rubbing a thick lather of soap between her hands, and began washing him without any particular hurry.
Her palms slid over his chest first, smoothing the soap across the bite marks, then down his arms and along his sides.
"You look like you lost a fight," she murmured with a satisfied smile on her lips as she soaped his abdomen.
Klein let out a chuckle "And whose fault do you think it is..."
When her hands reached his waist, her eyes dropped.
His cock was already half-hard, and Cynthia’s smile widened slightly.
Without a word she sank to her knees on the wet tiles.
She scooped more soap into her hands and deliberately smoothed it across the full curves of her bare breasts, coating the dark skin until it was slick.
Then she cupped both breasts, pressed them together around his cock, and began to move.
The soapy, soft flesh enveloped his dick completely.
Cynthia squeezed her breasts tightly around his cock and slid them up and down.
"Haa..."
Water continued to rain down over her white hair and bare back while she kept the steady pace.
Klein’s hand settled lightly on the top of her head "That’s a...lot better."
---
Standing in the hallway near the front door, Klein adjusted the last of his clothes.
Arwen stepped up behind him without a word.
She took the jacket from his hand and held it open, waiting for him to slip his arms through the sleeves.
Once it settled on his shoulders, she smoothed the fabric down with both hands, checking the collar and the front as if making sure everything sat properly.
When she finished, she turned him to face her.
Then she rose onto her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
Klein returned it without hesitation.
When she pulled back, her hands remained lightly on the front of his jacket.
"Good luck on that Tower," she said quietly. "Don’t get careless. Come back in one piece."
Klein met her eyes and gave a short nod.
"I will."
---
The private plane touched down smoothly on the remote airstrip.
When the cabin door opened and the stairs lowered, Klein stepped out into the cool morning air.
The sky was still pale, and a light wind tugged at his jacket as he descended.
A black car was already parked a short distance away with engine idling quietly.
Evelyne stood beside it.
She was wearing a tailored dark coat over a simple blouse and pants while her long crimson hair was tied back loosely so it wouldn’t catch in the wind.
The moment she saw him, she pushed off from the car and walked forward without hesitation.
Klein barely had time to fully step onto the tarmac before she closed the remaining distance and wrapped her arms around him.
Evelyne pressed herself against his chest, resting her hand between his shoulder blades while her other hand settled at the back of his neck.
"Good morning," she murmured against his shoulder.
Klein’s hands settled lightly on her waist in return.
"Morning."
She gave his arm one last brief squeeze, then turned and opened the passenger door for him.
"Come on. The Tower entrance isn’t far from here, but the roads get rough closer to the site."
Klein slid into the seat. Evelyne closed the door, walked around to the driver’s side, and got in.
The car pulled away from the airstrip a moment later, the tires crunching softly over the gravel before finding the paved road that led toward the distant silhouette of [The Hollow Crown Tower] rising against the horizon.
Evelyne kept one hand on the wheel while she occasionally glanced at him in the corner of her eye.
Klein watched her for a moment in silence.
A few strands of her long crimson hair slipped free from the loose ponytail and were brushing against the side of her neck with every small movement of the car.
Without saying anything, he reached over and gently caught one of those strands between his fingers before tucking it behind her ear.
Evelyne’s hands tightened slightly on the wheel.
"I liked your hair better the way it was during the date," Klein muttered, still looking at her.
"Loose. It suited you more than the ponytail."
A faint red flush bloomed across Evelyne’s cheeks.
She kept her eyes on the road, yet the blush spread quickly toward the tips of her ears.
His fingers brushed along the side of her neck before he rested his arm against the seat again.
Evelyne’s blush deepened. She cleared her throat softly and adjusted her grip on the steering wheel.
"...I’ll keep that in mind," she muttered, still not looking directly at him.
---
They soon reached the designated entry zone.
The landscape opened into a wide, reinforced clearing that had been converted into an official Tower site.
[The Hollow Crown Tower] was an enormous black structure that seemed to pierce the clouds.
To the right of the main approach there was a massive vertical leaderboard.
At the very top, there was the highest verified achievement...
1st - Shun Ming - 32nd Floor
Below that, the rankings dropped off sharply, and most names stopped in the teens or low twenties.
Very few people had managed to push beyond the twentieth floor.
Further ahead, a crowd had already gathered at the base of the Tower.
Some were fellow Arbiters waiting for their turn or watching others enter.
Others were clearly civilians and supporters.
There were also several people carrying professional cameras and recording equipment, most likely media crews, drawn by the reputation of the Hollow Crown and the chance to capture footage of high-profile entries or unexpected breakthroughs.
Evelyne brought the car to a stop at the designated drop-off point and switched off the engine.
She glanced toward the leaderboard, "Shun Ming’s record is still holding. Thirty-two floors. No one’s broken it in the last five years."
Klein stepped out of the car with a smile on his face "Well, good news, today it will be broken."