Dumbfounded, Sarah didn’t know what to say—her sister-in-law and sister sat on constructed stone seats arranged around a mana fueled bonfire—one was drinking wine that smelled like a disgustingly potent brew, while the other chewed absentmindedly on some salty sardines. Looking further around them, she saw both of their teams scattered throughout the cave—all appearing remarkably calm as they slept, played cards, or ate and chatted as if they were in some secret tavern. Though a few of them looked terrified, most likely the administrators.

  “What’s up!”

  The first to notice Sarah’s arrival was Lorient, her cheeks bright red with a crooked, intoxicated smile. She wore their typical uniform of half-plate armor, though hers offered significantly less protection because of her aggressive and agile fighting style.

  “At least I’m not alone anymore,” Linuel sighed heavily, nodding in Sarah’s direction while shooting a clearly annoyed glance at Lorient. “I thought I would go crazy if I had to hear another story from her damned travels.”

  Sarah nodded toward them both, utterly exhausted from their frantic escape, and rammed her massive shield deep into the ground with a resounding clang. “What are you two doing here?” She strolled toward them while signaling that her team could relax their guard.

  Lorient was the first to respond, her [Energy] swirling masterfully like a miniature tornado on the improvised stone table, chipping away a few pieces of rock. “Oh, you know, rain and such—absolutely shitty weather out there,” she chuckled while casually dissipating the energy tornado. “What kind of stupid question is that? Hehehe!”

  Sarah rolled her eyes while walking past the other soldiers, who nodded respectfully toward her in greeting—orders explicitly forbade bowing during operations to prevent identification of nobility and further assassination attempts. “I’m obviously not asking why you fled from Moth... the Lady’s destructive rampage,” she said exhaustedly, approaching close enough for the stone beneath her feet to rise in response to her whispered incantation, forming a crude but usable seat. “I’m asking why you were outside at all in the first place.”

  Lorient narrowed her eyes, barely able to sit upright, but before she could formulate a response, Linuel answered for her. “Your wonderful fiancé wanted us to have a little diplomatic chat with that skank from the Essence Alliance.”

  Sarah settled onto her conjured stone seat while retrieving several potions from her spatial bag. “Both of you were assigned to this?”

  “Both? Hihihi,” Lorient took another substantial swig from her bottle and pointed toward a shadowy corner of the cave as drops of the drink spilled from her mouth. “All three of us, actually!”

  Following her gesture, Sarah spotted Makol sitting alone in the corner—his head resting on his knees, only looking up to acknowledge her presence with a deeply unenthusiastic nod. Sarah knew that the night-elf was the one who had protected and used Klepto for some plot they had been running. While Sarah would have preferred to see him executed, Alexander had offered him an alternative path—forgiveness. There was no punishment or redemption, but Makol had become a walking corpse, living in constant fear of retribution.

  ‘Alex,’ Sarah frowned inwardly, remembering the heated arguments they’d had about this decision and how Alexander had insisted it was the optimal course of action. ‘Another one of his insane political plots.’ While Lorient officially led the Stripe of Hope, she was still too inexperienced to command universal respect and trust, even though she was liked and adored. As such, already established figures like Makol were still necessary—he remained beloved by many of their people, and executing him would have created more problems than it solved. Alexander intended to use Makol as a demonstration of mercy, a strategy that had worked but remained dangerously volatile in Sarah’s opinion—a quick and sharp swing against the neck would’ve solved it.

  “What are YOU doing out here?” Sarah was pulled back from her contemplations by Lorient’s slurred question, delivered with the grin of a complete degenerate as she leaned forward like some kind of street thug.

  Sarah inhaled and exhaled deeply, focusing on not becoming irritated. “I was conducting a reconnaissance mission...” She explained how their mother had suddenly vanished, instructing them to flee immediately, only for the massive destruction to begin mere minutes later.

  Linuel sighed, her body relaxing slightly with relief. “I know exactly how insane those fights can become,” she said—a quiet acknowledgment that there had been battles where entire regions were simply obliterated.

  There had been a recent incident where Pomerian from the Feather-Paw household and Bartholomew from the Silver-Tail household had engaged in combat, completely leveling a remote region to the ground. The aftermath had created a bizarre feud between the two houses that eventually required the Count himself to intervene directly.

  “Bah!” Lorient suddenly slammed her wine bottle against the stone table, her expression shifting to one of pure annoyance. “They’re all just ancient monsters who’ve had decades to accumulate that kind of power! Look at us—we’ve barely had enough time to control our [Energy] properly, and now we’re expected to compete with THEM? Complete bullshit—” She paused abruptly, glancing to one side. “Sorry about the language, Larry.”

  Larry was sound asleep and didn’t stir—he was an oxkin with remarkable tolerance for loud conversations.

  She looked back at the others. “Now, where was I?”

  Linuel buried her face in her hands, clearly reaching her limit. “Just… shut up already.”

  Lorient leaned forward aggressively, her face contorting into that of a street gang leader. “Huh? Wanna take this outside?!”

  Linuel snapped to her feet in response. “I swear I’ll kill you, you insufferable bitch, if you don’t stop annoying me right now!”

  Lorient followed suit, swaying dangerously as she tried to stand straight. “Go fuck yourself! Let’s settle this! Right. Now.”

  “So,” Sarah looked between them both, unable to believe that Alexander had made such a questionable decision. “You two are on a diplomatic mission? Seriously?”

  Lorient and Linuel weren’t exactly what anyone would describe as diplomatic material. Certainly, Lorient was leading the Stripe of Hope, but she still couldn’t properly administer the territory. Alexander had been forced to dispatch multiple administrative specialists to assist her, while Linuel... she was essentially dead weight. Narsiz loved her deeply, so the family had grudgingly accepted her presence, but there wasn’t much meaningful work for her to do. Her only redeeming quality was her ability to wield the traditional [Wild Demonic Energy] in the style of the Nine-Fire household, and she was reasonably competent with it. Beyond that, she was a glorified personal bodyguard who seemed to relish that position, apparently hoping to coast comfortably for the foreseeable future, especially since Narsiz had no prospect or interest in becoming the heir.

  Linuel whirled around sharply, her eyes blazing with fury. “What exactly do you want me to say?! My darling asked me to handle this because his workload has only increased thanks to your precious little shrimp of a fiancé! Fuck Alex!”

  Everyone around them immediately fixed her with expressions of notable distaste—Alexander was extraordinarily popular and beloved among the common soldiers and subjects. This was actually the first time they had been forced to postpone military enlistments because they simply lacked the resources to train everyone who wanted to serve, and Alexander remained clear that he had no need for meat shields.

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  Lorient sat back down, waving her hand toward the gathered soldiers in a calming gesture. “Everyone relax! She’s just frustrated because she can’t be with my adorable little brother right now~” Her voice took on a sickeningly sweet, mocking tone.

  Linuel also resumed her seat, nodding apologetically toward Sarah. “I’m sorry for that outburst,” she sighed in obvious frustration. “It’s true, though—I miss Narsi’s scent.” Her nose twitched ever so slightly.

  Sarah shrugged nonchalantly, sipping from a healing potion while retrieving some of the colorful gruel rations from her pack. “One year at most and this campaign will be finished,” she said, breaking off a piece of the stone she was sitting on and transforming it into a crude spoon. “We already control one-third of the territory, and the capital won’t even be our responsibility to handle.”

  Because of the presence of extremely dangerous individuals, Alexander would not take part in the final assault on the capital. He would simply provide logistical support from a safe distance. Inside the capital of Pure-Steam Island, there were multiple fighters at the [First Conjecture] and higher—power levels far beyond Alexander’s capabilities and too dangerous for him to approach. For the final push, a Dame from the Essence Alliance would lead the assault, together with two other operatives from the Eros Alliance who were loyal followers of Lavafist.

  “How boring!” Lorient sighed dramatically, clearly disappointed by this news—even though it wasn’t new. “What about earning proper merits? The honor of personally decapitating their leader!”

  “Right.” Sarah’s lips curved into a slight smile. “Aren’t you going through the same torture as me just to catch up?”

  Like Sarah, Lorient had also deliberately halted her progression at [Tier 3], placing the same restrictive curse upon herself to focus on fundamental training. Fortunately, once she returned to Kratikal, she would be able to strengthen herself at ludicrous speeds.

  ‘I still have to reach Mama’s level,’ Sarah swallowed thoughtfully, a full spoonful of the gruel, her stomach twisting into a knot as her thoughts ventured into darker territory.

  Sarah knew that her mother had reached [Tier 4] and was on the cusp of [Tier 5]—something she had deliberately suppressed for decades to focus on optimizing her body to devastating effect. In this state, one could only improve their [Attributes], [Proficiency], and gain new [Skills] through pure effort.

  To many observers, what they were doing might seem unnecessarily self-limiting—deliberately stopping all natural progression just to strengthen themselves through arduous training. But it was actually an incredible privilege. Once someone reached the [First Conjecture], all possible advancement paths would become available to them. If you needed a stronger body or a more brilliant mind but hadn’t developed those qualities beforehand, such paths would simply remain inaccessible. As such, if someone had the opportunity to create better odds for themselves and potentially prepare for superior advancement routes, they would absolutely seize it.

  ‘I wish... Alex would be less... like himself,’ Sarah’s thoughts wandered into territory she found disgusting to visit, but the pressure of surpassing everyone, even her Fenrir-like fiancé, was overwhelming.

  Whatever talents Sarah possessed, Alexander seemed to counter with something revolutionary, raising the stakes to an entirely new level—rubbing metals together to create electricity, ripping through every [Energy] with a single thought and some pieces of diamond and metal, or becoming a completely different person when addressing subjects. She had the wrong [Divinity Line] and lacked the raw talent—all she could do was to reach a level far above Alexander’s to be seen as a proper Grand Beastlady—a challenge she increasingly disliked.

  “Sarah,” Linuel’s voice snapped her back to the present. “Are you feeling alright? You seem quite distracted tonight.”

  Sarah nibbled thoughtfully on her bland gruel, shrugging in response. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

  It was a complete lie... partly. Aside from the constant pressure, Sarah actually felt fantastic. ‘Was I really that restless before?’ She tried to analyze her recent behavior, only to feel warmth spreading across her face as realization dawned. ‘Damn it, Alex.’ For the past several weeks, Sarah and Alexander had developed a peculiar ritual before sleep—biting. She would bite him first, absorbing and neutralizing all the accumulated stress from his day, while he would follow and take away all her pent-up lust and frustration. It was undeniably bizarre, but she found she could easily cope with his underlying emotional burdens while he could simply shrug off her more intense feelings.

  As a result, she felt calm and centered, could fall asleep easily, and wake up completely refreshed the next day. Alexander, on the other hand, became a little... more eccentric than before. She had discovered him screaming at his own anatomy on one memorable occasion, hurling creative insults at his male parts, but she had chosen to ignore the incident. She suspected what they were doing might be inappropriate, but it genuinely helped them both function better. The only consideration was that they needed to cease this practice before mating season so Sarah could properly develop her [Lust Control] skill.

  “She’s obviously missing the little bastard,” Lorient announced loudly, practically shouting the observation directly at Sarah’s face. “Lover’s quarrel, perhaps?”

  Sarah didn’t dignify that with a direct response, instead offering a snarky half-smile. “No particular reason. Why? Are the rates at your usual brothels getting too expensive for your budget?”

  Sarah locked eyes with Lorient in a teasing stare-down. Lorient couldn’t seem to find anyone suitable to serve as her fiancé, though this was more the norm than an exception in their generation. The gender ratio, especially among their age group, was heavily skewed toward females, and those who could secure a semi-decent partner used rather forceful methods to ensure they stayed with them.

  The additional problem was that Lorient’s standards were insanely high—she wanted someone with aptitude comparable to Alexander or their father, both of whom could be considered genuine powerhouses and prodigies. Since those weren’t exactly common, she had developed a habit of frequent visits to Wolfsteeth’s red-light district, where she could engage the services of skilled professionals who knew exactly what they were doing.

  Lorient rolled her eyes dismissively. “Oh, please,” she took another sip from her bottle, her frustration clearly visible beneath a creeping, teasing smile. “Aren’t you the unfortunate one who’s going to dry up completely in a couple of weeks? Hehe, will Alex even be okay if you decide to get busy with someone else during that time?”

  Sarah felt a vein throb in annoyance. “We’ve promised each other that we’re the only ones for each other, and no other whores will be included in our relationship, no matter what.”

  Jealousy wasn’t exclusively Sarah’s problem—Alexander struggled with it as well. She had initiated many serious conversations that stretched on for hours, trying to understand him better and ensure he wouldn’t transform into some kind of whore himself. She would rather wait the full five to six years for him to reach maturity than be more “open-minded,” as he diplomatically phrased it. But it was always endearing how he himself grew anxious about the possibility that she might lose control and seek out the first available male during her first proper mating season.

  ‘We really don’t know each other as well as we should,’ Sarah’s thoughts drifted as Lorient returned to annoying Linuel about Narsiz. Their trust in each other remained quite fragile, and only now were they beginning to truly understand each other—their dreams, hopes, fears, and vulnerabilities. This had also become something of a ritual, talking for a few minutes before they began their nightly biting sessions.

  But for her, the more she witnessed the sensitive side of him—hidden behind all the manic ambition and his “head-through-the-wall” attitude—the deeper she fell in love with him. It was perfectly fine with her if he only revealed this vulnerable side to her alone. ‘Tonight is going to be wonderful—’

  “It’s stopped!” One of their sentries suddenly called out through the cave, waking everyone and causing them to look between Lorient and Sarah, who held essentially equivalent ranks in the military hierarchy and needed to decide their next course of action.

  Lorient immediately used her [Energy] to dispel her alcoholic buzz, nodding toward Sarah to take command of the situation. “Understood.” Sarah stood and walked casually to retrieve her massive shield, lifting it with an audible metallic clank. “We’ll return to base camp as quickly as possible.”

  While Sarah’s instinct was to check on her mother first, that would be tantamount to suicide. Whoever had created such devastating residual [Energy] could eliminate their entire group effortlessly. Their primary objective was to report the situation and retreat immediately.

  “Let’s move out.” After a few minutes when everyone was ready, she announced their departure, walking toward the cave opening while observing that the barrier she had created was now tinted scarlet. As she dispelled it, she realized the barrier had barely any structural integrity left.

  With everyone behind her, Sarah stepped casually outside, only to suddenly sense a massive shadow floating toward their position. “What the—”

  Before she could complete her sentence, brilliant light blazed around them, accompanied by a sound like righteous indignation given voice. “Mortals,” the light resolved into the silhouette of a giant bird hovering menacingly above them. “I have come to take your lives.”

  ‘This is not good at all.’

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