Nothing seemed to be going right for Roimeldor. Despite being the immortal Hollyhock Caste leader of the Soul Reapers, he couldn’t seem to catch a break in achieving his goals on either of the pnets he had set their forces on. Ever since making that bsted vow with the Renseres, things just kept going downhill.

  If things kept going sideways for him, then he would need to get directly involved and that had many risks. Even the cost of just existing in a lower Caste area and needing to supplement with either Hollyhock Mana Bits or slowly drain his mana and increase the risks to his limited immortality were risky on its own, let alone triggering the intervention of gods or Progenitors.

  While Hollyhock Casters couldn’t die from aging and were resilient to the extreme, they could still be killed. That wasn’t as concerning a risk to his people with their technology to capture souls in transit and reconstruct a physical body for them. However, those magical devices required a Hollyhock Caster to operate, and it cost them more resources the higher Caste the soul was.

  Almost a third of their forces were currently trapped on Erythros, which amounted to a few dozen Hollyhocks, over a thousand Roses, and tens of thousands of the lower three Castes. He tried bancing deployments to ensure a win, but also to give their own people the challenges they needed to cultivate their Castes. If those numbers weren’t enough for a targeted zone to win without risking divine intervention, Caged monsters helped make up the difference.

  Most Hollyhocks had been given their own Citadel Ship to house those under their command. Dividing their forces into squads made it easier to manage and delegate responsibilities. Each Citadel Ship was composed of a mix of job divisions, and was a city in its own right. Roimeldor’s own ship led them all, however, and was where the Soul Garden resided. It was the oldest and strongest ship in the fleet and he guarded it fiercely.

  Frankly, he didn’t fully trust his Caste peers with his own immortal survival. Not all of them were the types of people who would rather take over his position of authority for the power trip rather than further their organization’s mission. However, a few of them were, and he hadn’t sted this long by not being cautious. Patience and precision had been his best assets in his endeavor of exploring the cosmos, and he wasn’t about to toss them aside when things started going poorly.

  Roimeldor watched the pnet with twin moons and a small ring of green-tinted debris circling its equator that might have once belonged to a comet or shattered moon. From the rge windowed wall of his office, he contempted all these various things along with the movement of his forces, the concurrent skirmishes currently taking pce on the surface, and awaited the reports for the subsequent harvests.

  He was almost tempted to pray to the Creator Trinity that this time, this reality, this pnet, would have the one thing he had been searching the st few millennia for… or was it eons now? Time was an odd thing and practically impossible for him to accurately keep track of across realities, but surely it had been over an eon by his homeworld’s standards.

  Roimeldor didn’t pray, though. He knew the Trinity wouldn’t answer, even if they could know every thought he had. That just wasn’t how those particur beings worked without their Emanations to think and act for them, and tracking one of those down was even more of an impossible endeavor. Instead, he waited, watched, and strategized.

  Asyamil entered, dressed in the usual bck body armor most of their people wore, himself included, but they both currently cked the glossy helmet that could simply reappear at the press of a button. She didn’t announce herself and promptly went to his side as he gave the familiar command, “Reaping report.”

  “We’ve collected another 56,377 souls from Makera, but still no sign of Naira,” the tall elf said.

  He felt the wave of disappointment despite trying to convince himself to stop hoping in the first pce. That small, tiny sliver of hope was the only thing keeping him going, though, so he asked, “Notable conflict updates?”

  “Fire Four Squad has run into interference from the Queens of Lona Laress in the northwestern quadrant,” his Second-in-Command continued, “Water Two Squad, which was reassigned to Tulim in the northeastern quadrant, has reported that their arms were triggered and the locals have discovered them. They are requesting permission to advance before a defense can be mounted.”

  “Discovered? Did they mess up the aural detection negators?”

  “No, sir. It was a physical ground discovery,” she stated, hesitating a moment before adding, “The sensors picked up the presence of a Wayfarer with a lot of Divinity affecting their aura signature.”

  Roimeldor clenched his jaw as he growled, “Another Wayfarer?”

  “Yes, sir. Only Daisy Caste, but the amount of Divine influence is concerning and would expin how they discovered our location.”

  He contempted a moment longer, debating on just biting the bullet and going down to the surface to take care of these annoyances on his own. The Abyssal Dragoon was still down there somewhere after having completely derailed his pns on Erythros, but the appearance of another Wayfarer was disconcerting and entirely too coincidental that he didn’t want to leave the potential threat. Almost a million souls awaited… a million chances for him to find Naira.

  “Sir?” Asyamil prompted.

  “Call for the advance on Tulim. Burn them to the ground. Show them fear.”

  She looked up at him with a questioning expression and hesitantly said, “Sir, I know things haven’t been going exactly as we hoped, but we don’t want those we reap to be completely traumatized by—”

  “These infantile Wayfarers are a threat we cannot afford half-measures on. Remember the few we tried trusting before? The majority seem to get it into their heads that they are above everyone around them and that every world will bend to their whims simply because they exist in it. I will not let them gain more power and support in an attempt to destroy everything we’ve worked for. I will reap every soul who dares to stand in our way.”

  Asyamil bowed her head and softly replied, “Yes, Commander. It will be as you order.”

  Phoenix was happy to find her friends alive and well a few days after she had awoken and they made it back to the city. Rayna and Saiya both crushed her in a furry hug of tails, the twins gushing about her cute green curl. The full group reunion wasn’t very long, however, as they all wanted to get a few things done in town before being given their next mission. The AOA and Ducal government had been frantically organizing a counter-assault on the discovered army before the enemy decided to mobilize against them.

  The duchy-wide Call-to-Arms being announced at the fort cities was causing Adventurers to return en masse to the Capital. Everyone was putting aside the remote monster-culling missions for the more immediate direct threat against the specific cities of Tulimeir and Suoja, which was located at the southern end of the Razorteeth mountains. They assumed the Soul Reapers were after the Reality Rift below the capital but didn’t want to leave the nearby fortress town completely unguarded.

  Rayna was adamant about going shopping for supplies and a Spirit Gem before the confrontation, and Saiya wanted to visit the Temple of the Traveler, though crified that she was still ruminating on the idea.

  Dazien and Uriel both wanted to check in on the temple of the Parent and the children there, hoping to reassure the young ones and make sure the clergy were prepared for the upcoming conflict.

  Phoenix opted to join the men as she had enjoyed her previous visits and thought she might be of more use there. She had been a couple of times now, and the small Lilly had become quite attached to Ta. She figured a quick check-in would be a nice break from all the fighting and monsters she had been dealing with tely.

  She couldn’t stop the smile from overtaking her face as they approached, and the usual scrambling of children rushing the Adventurers, who were orphans like them, occurred. Dazien would turn up the Shiny charm to eleven at this point, and she wasn’t entirely sure if he was even aware of it since it was just a part of who he was. It was kind of amazing to her to see how well he dealt with the overwhelming swarm of rugrats with such grace and humor.

  Even Uriel was smiling at the sight, his ember eyes never leaving Dazien. He stood back slightly, but still greeted the kids that approached him. Uriel’s visitors seemed to be the quieter ones, shyly tugging on his tunic and causing him to squat down to speak with them better.

  “King!” Brent called from across the yard as the young teen waved them forward towards the temple entrance, “High Priestess Deserin wants you to see her in her office!”

  Dazien’s smile only faltered for a moment as he called back, “Be right there!”

  Then he told the others, “Well, you heard him, my loyal subjects, time for the King to hear the council of the divine. Time to return to your duties. Make sure to clean up those toys from the pyground!”

  Phoenix snorted at the nagging and wondered if Dazien had been taking notes from Paul tely about being a dad on top of the aura training they had been doing together.

  There was a collective groan followed by a cheer as Rex manifested beside Dazien in a shower of golden glitter before leading the swarm toward the open area to clean and py. The giant Royal Raksha looked even more massive as the children climbed over him, spoiling him with pets and squeals of ughter.

  She ughed along with them at the sight of the chaos and contempted staying in the yard to wait for them when Uriel surprised her by taking her hand, saying with a shy smile, “I have something I want to show you.”

  He led her around the building to a smaller side entrance to the decently sized temple and up a floor into what appeared to be a kitchen that was already busy with a few cooks, “Uriel! Have you come to assist with the lunch rush?” one of the middle-aged runeforged asked, elbow deep in flour and kneading dough.

  “Sorry, Priest Henry. We’re just stopping by to check on the litter,” he crified with a shake of his head, “Has Jennica been taking care of them while I’ve been gone?”

  “Of course, I have!” a young feminine voice growled from across the room, and Phoenix saw a fierce-looking teenage girl who oddly reminded her of her best friend back on Earth with the straight hair that cut sharply at the jawline and lean muscles on dispy with the tank top.

  “Unlike somebody we know, I don’t just abandon the kids depending on me,” Jennica added with a gre that could stab.

  The human girl set that unyielding gaze on her then, looking Phoenix up and down as though she were a mere pest that had dared to infest their home, “Who the fu—”

  “Language, Jen,” Uriel preemptively interrupted, “You know how the priests get on about that while living here.”

  “Which is utter siva sh—”

  “Jen. You know the little ones pick it up and don’t understand how to use them properly.”

  The girl rolled her eyes at Uriel but corrected, “Who’s the girl?”

  “This is Phoenix. I’m sure the others have told you about her.”

  Jennica shifted uncomfortably and muttered, “Maybe. Some nonsense about a Princess, but it’s not like it means anything.”

  Uriel frowned, “Is that what you pn to tell Dazien when he sees you again?”

  The teen, who was likely on the lower end of that range, jut her chin forward and said stubbornly, “Yeah, I will. He’s too old to keep pying pretend like that. Priestess Yua keeps saying he needs to grow up and quit fooling around.”

  Uriel’s frown deepened as he said, “I know we’ve mentioned it before, but you shouldn’t just accept whatever someone else says if you don’t fully understand why they say it. That’s the case when it comes to Yua.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He gave a huff and shook his head, “Don’t worry about it for now, I’ll expin more when you’re older.”

  Jennica crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance, “You know I hate when you say that like it’s an answer. It’s almost like I shouldn’t accept it ‘cause I don’t understand why you say it.”

  “Why don’t you just help me show Phoenix the pups?” Uriel asked, making his attempt to redirect obvious.

  The girl sighed, but nodded, and turned to lead them.

  Phoenix couldn’t help the excitement rising inside at the idea of puppies, and puppies were exactly what she got, but they were obviously avals instead of the Earth-kind she was more accustomed to seeing on TV. They were currently being contained in a rge pantry that had all the lower shelves emptied of items to allow room for the pups to wander.

  Uriel lifted one of the husky-looking balls of fluff that had rounded shards of ice protruding from various pces of the white and gray fur which had snow falling from it with every shake and scratch. They all had bright blue eyes and barked happily at the appearance of Uriel.

  “These are Frolves,” he said, handing the chilly furball to her, “They’re avals domesticated from Snolves.”

  She snorted a ugh, “Love the name,” she managed to say sarcastically before the pup attacked her face with its tongue, “Oh, ew, come on now. Not the mouth!”

  Uriel burst out ughing before quickly calming himself, shaking his head as he attempted to also calm the pup down with a strong hand on its head, “You need to be firm with them, or they’ll walk all over you.”

  “Some kind of alpha dominance thing?” she asked.

  “You’re familiar with the behavior?”

  “We have just regur wolves and dogs, but they probably act simir. These elemental kinds are new, though.” She gnced down at the frosty-looking pup with two tails and saw the resembnce to the monsters she was often forced to sughter. They had the same sharp teeth and cws that would snap at her as soon as look at her, and she wondered just how “domesticated” these variants were.

  When the little furball suddenly stared at her and growled, she felt her panic soar, and Uriel quickly lifted the pup from her arms and scolded it, “None of that now, you be good.”

  As he pced the pup back with its siblings he expined over his shoulder, “You can’t show them fear, otherwise they won’t trust you. They’re very sensitive to the smell of it.”

  “The smell? I thought that was just like a saying,” she said nervously.

  Uriel shook his head, “No, it’s definitely a thing,” and she was suddenly reminded about his Passive Perception ability being scent-based.

  “Do I smell afraid?” Phoenix asked, lifting a hand to sniff at.

  Uriel chuckled, “Not enough that I can smell it through the Silencer.”

  That was when Phoenix noticed Jennica staring at her in utter disbelief. She reflexively looked over herself to see what was wrong and asked, “What is it?”

  “You made Senesh ugh,” the teen said in awe, “Like, loudly, with the whole chest, and not just that tiny chuckle he does once in a while.”

  It was Uriel’s turn to roll his eyes as he said, “I’ve ughed before. The earrings don’t shut me down all the time. Just when things get a bit too extreme.”

  “You’ve never ughed around us,” Jennica stated adamantly, “Not like that. Not even when milk came out of Brent’s nose that one time.”

  “Well, that was just gross,” Uriel retorted, as he sat on the floor to wrangle puppies more.

  Jennica promptly turned on her, both hands on either hip, and procimed, “You know King and Senesh love each other very much, right?”

  That caught her completely off guard, and she could only think of asking, “What?”

  “Yup,” Jennica confirmed, proceeding to clear up the curiosity that had been lingering in the back of her mind, “I caught them kissing in the kitchen one time.”

  “Jen, you know it’s impolite to kiss and tell,” Uriel lightly scolded.

  “I wasn’t the one kissing!”

  “It’s impolite to tattle as well,” Dazien said from the doorway that led into the pantry they were currently in from the main kitchen.

  “Maybe don’t do that stuff in the kitchen then! It’s unsanitary!” Jennica retorted in disgust, causing Phoenix to snort a ugh, but she continued to address Dazien, “Anyways, my point is that by going along with your crazy idea of being an Adventurer, she’s putting both of you in equal danger.”

  “Um, I don’t think not joining their party would have stopped Daze,” Phoenix muttered, remembering how persistent he had been.

  “It wouldn’t have. He’s pretty driven about accomplishing his goals,” Uriel agreed.

  “We’ve talked about this before, Jen,” Dazien said as he moved closer to help his partner with the pups, “Adventurer first before I can properly aim for becoming a king. Besides, I’m the Defender, remember? I’m fairly hard to kill.”

  “But not impossible,” she muttered forlornly, “It’s just that, if you or Senesh dies, the other will die too. Then everyone will be sad and forgotten. You two are the only ones who still visit us regurly and actually care.”

  “Please tell me Dazien or Uriel didn’t make some insane Oathbond as a teenager to protect the other with his life,” she asked the girl, suddenly worried about crazy teenagers making stupid promises and losing both of her friends at the same time.

  Jennica snorted a ugh, “Okay, that does sound like something they’d do, but I meant the other will obviously die of a broken heart.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Dazien said firmly.

  “It might,” Uriel interjected, looking up at his partner with a grin, “I don’t know if I’d want to keep living without you. I might simply shrivel up like a flower without water.”

  “You’re not helping.” He sighed before turning to Phoenix and adding, “And just so you know, most teenagers can’t make an Oathbond. You have to be at least Crystal Caste to make them.”

  “Look at you trying to change the subject,” Phoenix replied in exaggerated praise.

  “I think she’s onto your tricks, Daze,” Uriel chuckled.

  Dazien rubbed at a temple before turning back to the younger teenager, “Listen, Jen, you know how much I pn and prepare for things, right?” he said, pcing a hand on her shoulder, “Well, part of those pns and preparation was getting the best team together that can survive and thrive. Phoenix is an amazing Adventurer, and she’s even Chosen by the gods. There’s no way they’d let anything happen to her, right?”

  “I am very good at surviving what seems like inevitable death,” she confirmed with a grin.

  “See? So even if one of us gets hurt, we’re always there to pick each other back up and make sure everyone gets home.”

  “Which gods?” Jennica asked with narrowed eyes.

  “Some of the most powerful ones,” Dazien said with a broad smile, “Warrior, Schor, Cultivator, Traveler, Rebel…” he paused, then tacked on quietly, “Hero.”

  The teen gave a loud groan and whined, “But heroes always die in the end! It’s like their destiny!”

  “But everyone else is saved right?” Phoenix prompted.

  Jennica hesitated then reluctantly admitted, “I mean… yeah, that’s why they’re the hero.”

  Phoenix smiled, looking at her two friends then promising the young girl that so obviously cared about them, “Well… then trust me when I say that I’ll make sure these two get home no matter what.”