"YOU ESCAPED from the tower, Brother?"

"Yes," Kalel said to Auro. Right now, he was seated on a tree's branch while talking to his brother using a communication device. It was the type of a spirit stone that would only work if fed by his blood. He and Auro chose that kind of communication device to make sure that it wouldn't be used by other people. Only the two of them knew how to make it work after all. "I'm currently at Mount Sola. I accompanied Soleil Rosenberg here to meet the other Beast Gods."

"The Beast Gods?" Auro, who had always been fascinated with gods, asked in an excited voice. "You mean you're currently with the Red Phoenix, the Blue Dragon, and the Golden Tiger?"

"Yes," he said. "But I will be returning to the tower tomorrow morning. Who knows what your father would do if I wasn't there to keep him in check?"

"Brother, you have to return just to keep an eye on the king," his younger brother said. "I'm winning the war. Thanks to my triumph, our territory is expanding. It won't take long before our kingdom becomes an empire."

Ah, yes.

King Aleo was a greedy man. He wanted to extend his territory and turn Kale Kingdom into an empire soon. And he was using Auro to achieve his ambition.

"The king won't kill me because he needs me to build the empire that he has always dreamed of," Auro assured him. "And Brother, I'm not that weak to be killed by assassins. Do you not trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you," he said. "I'm just worried. After all, you're my one and only brother in this world."

He remembered his past life, and he also remembered that he spent most of it in isolation.

Because his parents were both gods, he was born different. He didn't even have friends until he met Soleil Rosenberg in the Lumira Temple. Unfortunately, they were only able to spend a short time together before the two of them decided to be reborn as humans.

"I know that you're worried about me, Brother," Auro said in a gentle voice. "But I'm also worried about you. I don't want you to be locked up in that tower anymore. Now that I'm strong enough to protect myself, I want you to live your life freely."

He smiled at his brother's kind words.

Ah, right. This is the main reason why I wanted to be reborn as a human.

He had always craved connection. It wasn't like he chose to be lonely in his past life after all. Being the son of the Moon God and a hated minor god made people around him avoid him. And since he grew up in isolation, he didn't learn how to make connections to other people.

It was a shame that he only got to meet Soleil Rosenberg in the past after he decided to be reborn as a human instead of ascending to the heavens. But he was glad that he was able to meet her again in this lifetime.

Soleil is still as interesting as before.

He wanted to stay with her. But…

"I can live my life freely once you've safely returned to the kingdom, Auro," he said. He felt a protest in his chest, but he ignored it. "And I can't leave our little sister alone. She's at the age where the greedy king could marry her off into some rich family."

As devastating as it was, their stupid kingdom allowed girls as young as six years old to be married or sold off into rich families.

It was one of their customs that Auro vowed to break once he becomes the king.

And for that reason, he was willing to do everything to help his brother ascend the throne. If he had to start a coup, he would do it for Auro.

"Brother, are you sure about that?" Auro asked worriedly. Although he didn't like making his younger brother worried, he would admit that it still felt nice that Auro was concerned about him. "I don't want you to continue living a miserable life for me. And about Elaine, I made sure that she's well-protected so you don't have to worry about her."

"Let's talk about this again once you've returned," he said, his tone more serious now because he felt another presence watching his move. "I have to say goodbye now."

"Oh," Auro said. He sounded surprised. But then, he probably realized that someone joined him so he didn't ask anymore. "Take care, Brother."

"You, too."

After that, he cut off the line, hiding the spirit stone in his body like how he would absorb his Mana, then looked down.

As expected, it was Saint Alec Forrester.

"What are you doing here?" Kalel asked him coldly. "Do you have business with me?"

"I apologize for interrupting your private time, Lord Kalel," Alec Forrester said with a shy smile on his face while scratching his cheek. "Lady Rosenberg mentioned to me a while ago that you have a curse that prohibits you from using your mind control ability. Do you mind if I purify it for you?"

"Can you do it?"

He laughed softly. "Although I'm weak at other aspects, I'm pretty confident with my divine powers, Lord Kalel. I've already gauged placed on you earlier. I can purify it."

"Great," he said, then he jumped off from the tree to stand in front of the saint. "Do it now. I need to get rid of this curse before I return to the kingdom."

"It won't be a problem, my lord," the saint said, then he blinked as if he was confused. "I apologize for asking but will you really leave Lady Rosenberg?"

He raised a brow at that question. "And what do you mean by that?"

"I thought you were going to accompany her until you get rid of all the Crades that terrorize the continent," His Holiness said. "Lady Rosenberg is looking forward to working with you. She even lied to her clan just to meet you."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, confused. "I thought she was asked by their Sun Priestess to "rescue" me and meet the other Beast Gods?"

The saint laughed softly while shaking his head. "It's true that the Sun Priestess asked Lady Rosenberg to welcome the return of the Beast Gods. But the Sun Priestess never asked her to come to Kale Kingdom to rescue you. It was the young lady's volition to come and save you, Lord Kalel."

His brows furrowed because he still couldn't understand what was going through Soleil's mind. "Why would she do that? I never asked for her help."

"I guess Lady Rosenberg wants to be with you."

"Huh?"

Alec Forrester bit his lower lip, looking guilty all of a sudden. "It appears that I have said too much," he said, then he laughed awkwardly at his own mistake. "Lord Kalel, can you forget what I've said just now?"

Kalel rolled his eyes. "Just purify my curse, Alec Forrester."

***

"WHY ARE you going to our nation first instead of going back to your village?" Soleil asked Elis Ripperton while they were taking a stroll in the forest that surrounded the shrine. Well, to be honest, she escaped the shrine while her brother was treating Ainsworth's wounds. She was searching for Kalel when Elis joined her. She had no choice but to lie and say that she was just taking a walk for fresh air. "Your descendants are waiting for you, dummy. Aren't you excited to meet them?"

Just like Ainsworth, Elis Ripperton also left an heir before he ascended the heavens.

Her Brother Winchell, on the other, wasn't required by their clan to leave an heir. After all, the gods promised their clan that they would return her to them once she was reborn. Thus, she got to live as Soleil Rosenberg again.

And since her brother was a Beast God now, she became the heiress of their clan.

That means the task of having an heir is mine now.

"Are you really asking because you don't know?" Elis Ripperton asked, then he stood in front of her, forcing her to stop walking. "Soleil, you're now the leader of your clan."

"Yes, that I am," she said, then she looked up at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "What does it have to do with our conversation?"

"You're at the age where you need to have a husband and an heir," the Blue Dragon said bluntly. "I'm saying that I want to be your husband, and the one to give you an heir."

She laughed because she thought it was a lame joke. But when Elis Ripperton remained serious, she stopped laughing and got serious as well. "Are you serious, Elis?"

"I am," Elis Ripperton said. "Soleil, will you marry me?"

"I'm sorry but no," Soleil turned him down right away. She thought it would be crueler to prolong her answer when she knew in her heart that she would say 'no' anyway. "Elis, you're not my type."

***

"GREETINGS, Your Majesty," Auro Moonchester greeted the "king" before him, then he politely smiled at him. "How was your meal?"

Gruger, the king of human-like Crades, smiled while wiping the blood off his mouth with a white handkerchief. "The humans that you brought today were high quality, Auro."

"They were excellent!" Ingham, the "queen" seated beside Gruger, exclaimed happily. "The meat of the ladies you brought as my dinner was very tender, Auro." She gently touched her face with her hands. "I can feel their vigor doing nice things on my skin."

He smiled, satisfied that the royals of the human-like Crades were delighted with the dinner that he provided for them.

When he looked at the long table in front of him, only the blood of the humans that he served them remained. Not even a piece of bone was left. It was the first time that Gruger and Ingham consumed humans without leaving anything for their servants.

It seems like serving them the royals of this country is worth it.

Yes, the humans that he served Gruger and Ingham were the royal family members of the country that he just invaded. Their castle was now the "lair" of the human-like Crades.

"How do I look, Auro?" Ingham, as vain as ever, asked him excitedly. "Do I look more of a human now?"

"You told us that the more we consume high-quality humans, the more we'd look like them," Gruger added, a satisfied smile plastered on his face. "Is it working?"

Yes, it was working.

Gruger and Ingham both possessed golden hair and green eyes in different shades (darker for Gruger, and lighter for Ingham). They had pale complexion, and bodies that were considered desirable by human standards. They were just a little bit taller than average humans.

But other than that, they looked very human now that it was hard even for him to imagine what they looked like before they evolved.

No one would mistake them as Crades anymore.

Helping them escape the lair while they were in the middle of evolution was worth it. Even though he had to sacrifice his former squad just to feed the king, the queen, and the heirs of the "royal family" of the human-like Crades, he had no regrets.

After all, he needed these Crades to gain more power.

Power against the Beast Gods sent back on earth just to kill him.

"Both of His Majesty and Her Majesty look beautiful," Auro said, smiling at the two to make them feel superior even more. "I believe that you will be more attractive and more powerful if I serve you the so-called Beast Gods next time."

***

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