WINCHELL didn't want to thaw Elis Ripperton after he heard what the bastard did to his precious little sister, but he had to.

Unfortunately, killing the Blue Dragon would only put Soleil in a tight position. She was chosen as the Beast Priestess and was tasked to deal with the Crades to protect the human race. According to the heavens, Soleil could only defeat the monstrous race if she had the four Beast Gods on her side.

The heavens were unforgiving to "chosen" people that failed their task. He didn't want to think what they might do to his precious little sister if she failed to gather the four Beast Gods.

You should be grateful that you still have your use, Elis Ripperton.

His thoughts were disrupted when the ice that covered the bastard Blue Dragon finally melted.

"Where's the Black Serpent?" Elis Ripperton snarled as soon as he was thawed. "I'll kill that bastard–"

The Blue Dragon wasn't able to finish his sentence when all of a sudden, Ainsworth came out of nowhere.

They only realized he was there when the ground shook hard.

Then, without warning, the little tiger punched Elis Ripperton in the face. That was a surprising move from Ainsworth. His signature style of fighting was mauling his enemies like a little tiger that he was.

The fact that Ainsworth punched Elis Ripperton (who dropped on the ground instantly) meant that the former was really angry.

"Pull that kind of move on Sister Soleil again and I'll kill you for real," Ainsworth, crouched like a predator ready to pound on its prey, warned Elis Ripperton. "How dare you hurt her?"

"It was a match," Elis Ripperton reasoned, then he stood up while wiping the blood off the side of his mouth with the back of his hand. "I challenged her to a match where if I win, she will marry me."

"There's no way Sister Soleil will agree to that stupid match!" the little tiger snarled. "Stop forcing yourself on her, Elis Ripperton!"

The Blue Dragon glared at Ainsworth with the intention of attacking.

"Stop," Winchell warned Elis Ripperton. His oozing bloodlust was enough to make Ainsworth and Elis Ripperton freeze on their tracks. It was ironic that he had the fire Mana. But his bloodlust could be colder than the Black Serpent's once he was mad. "I'll only say this once so you better listen carefully." When the Blue Dragon and the Golden Tiger stood properly in front of him, only then did he continue. "For the sake of Soleil, we can't have a fall-out until she fulfills her mission as the Beast Priestess." He turned to Elis Ripperton. "I will only let this slide once, Blue Dragon. The next time you try to lay a hand on my sister, I will quit as a Beast God and kill you."

Elis Ripperton let out a sigh. "I won't do it again. I'm just trying to help Soleil. She's at the age where your clan wants her to get married and have an heir, isn't she?"

Ainsworth growled at the Blue Dragon. "You just never learn, do you?"

"Elis Ripperton, you don't have to worry about that," Winchell said coldly. "Soleil is the leader of the clan because I'm not here. But now that I have returned, the responsibility of leaving an heir lies on me." He turned his back on his fellow Beast Gods. "If I have to have a child to the person chosen by the clan for Soleil to have her freedom, I'll do it," he said. "I'll do it so that my little sister can marry the man that she loves."

***

"YOU'RE really reckless."

Soleil pouted when Kalel scolded her. "I didn't know that you were there because I didn't notice your presence," she explained. "If I had known I was already safe, I wouldn't have stabbed my leg."

Because of what she did, she was now sitting on a rock while Alec Forrester was treating the wound on her leg. Since it was her who stabbed herself, she did quite a number on her poor leg, thus the saint had to use his divine power.

"Sorry," Kalel, seated next to her while watching Alec Forrester with an annoyed look on his face for some reason, said. "I reacted too late. If only I was able to stop you from hurting yourself, that saint wouldn't have to touch your leg like that."

Ah, so that was the reason why Kalel was glaring at Alec Forrester.

She felt her cheeks burn from embarrassment, but she couldn't also stop herself from giggling when she realized that Kalel was probably jealous.

Alec Forrester cleared his throat before he spoke. "Lord Kalel, I'm not "touching" Lady Rosenberg's leg," he explained in an awkward voice. "The divine energy coming out of my palm prevents us from having any sort of skin contact. And my intention is to purely heal the young lady's wound. So please stop glaring at me like I'm a fiend."

"You should have said it sooner," Kalel said, then he turned to her and caught her looking at him. It seemed to surprise him, thus avoiding her gaze. "Sleep once you're done getting treated. I will watch over you and make sure that the Blue Dragon wouldn't be able to get near you."

She smiled when she noticed that his ears were red. "Stay here with me, Lord Kalel. Please?"

He paused for a while before he spoke. "Alright."

Her smile grew bigger. "Can I lean my head on your shoulder, Lord Kalel?"

"Do whatever you want."

Soleil smiled, then she gently laid her head on Kalel's shoulder. Although she wasn't bothered by the warm climate in the desert, it still felt nice to be this close to his cool body. "Thank you for keeping me cold, Lord Kalel."

"That sounds strange," Kalel mumbled, then it seemed like he decreased his body temperature to cool her even more. "You really have a weird way with words, Soleil."

***

"CAN WE really feast on the people of Kale Kingdom?"

"Of course," Auro said as a response to Gruger, the king of human-like Crades. He was still in the dining hall with the "royals." The king and queen were having desserts from the blood of the people that they just ate. They invited him to join but he politely declined. Thus, he remained standing in front of them. "I will open the gates to our kingdom. You'll be free to eat anyone or anything that you want in there."

"Even your own family?" Ingham, the queen, asked while licking her lips. The gluttonous queen just had dinner. But it seemed like the thought of feasting on nobles and royals of Kale Kingdom made her hungry again. "I heard that you have a little sister, Auro Moonchester. I like eating the flesh of young and beautiful maidens, you know." She touched her cheek while her frenzied eyes glowed dangerously. "I want to know what a little princess tastes like."

"My little sister's name is Elaine," he said graciously. "She's pretty useless so you can have her, my queen."

The queen laughed like a maniac while clapping her hands. "This is what I love about you, Auro Moonchester."

He just smiled politely.

"Is it really okay to give your little sister to my dear wife as food?" Gruger asked him. The queen complained, but the king ignored his wife. "How about the second phase of our experiment? I seriously thought that you're going to use your little sister to mate with Harred, our oldest son."

The next phase of their experiment was breeding a human to an evolved Crades. They wanted to know what kind of being the two different races would produce.

"Aside from the fact that it would take a long while before my little sister grows up, I don't think she's fit to endure the experiment. She's very weak even for a human," he explained to the king. "The one I have in mind is probably the strongest woman in the whole continent. We can use her for the experiment without her dying on the process."

"Interesting," the king said. "May I know who this woman is?"

His smile grew bigger. "She's called Soleil Rosenberg."

"Rosenberg," Gruger and Ingham said at the same time, obviously displeased upon hearing the infamous name within the monstrous race.

"That clan has been exterminating our poor clan since time immemorial," the queen complained.

"Wouldn't that make it more interesting?" he asked with a smile. "Soleil Rosenberg is the current leader of their clan. Can you imagine how her people would feel if they find out that she's carrying the child of their enemies in her womb?"

The royals fell silent for a while, then they laughed maniacally.

"That would be a perfect revenge, indeed," Gruger said while nodding his head in satisfaction. "But we can't kill her, right?"

"You can't kill her," he said firmly. "Soleil Rosenberg is more valuable when she's alive. That's why we can't even let her kill herself."

It was partially true.

But the real reason why he didn't want to kill Soleil Rosenberg was the fact that their lives were tied together. That meant if Soleil Rosenberg died, he would die, too. And vice-versa.

Of course, he couldn't let anyone else know that.

After all, it was a secret between him and the Plane.

There's a reason why Soleil Rosenberg and I were born the same year.

"When can we meet our future daughter-in-law?" the king asked sarcastically.

"I'm sure Soleil Rosenberg will appear as soon as we begin attacking the kingdom," he said. "After all, I heard that she gathered the Beast Gods for the purpose of wiping out the Crades clan."

Ingham laughed once again. "Instead of wiping us out, that Rosenberg lady would actually help our family grow bigger!"

He smiled and nodded as a response to the queen.

"Auro Moonchester, tell me," Gruger said, then he sipped the human blood in his wine glass before he continued. "Why are you helping the Crades invade your own race?"

"I don't really have a deep reason for doing this," Auro said, and he was being genuine. It was true that there were other reasons why he was following orders from someone that he was indebted to. But to be honest, the only reason why he stuck with the plan was that he didn't have any motive to oppose it. Moreover, he didn't want to spend his life acting like a good brother to Kalel. That game was starting to get boring. "It's just that the peace in this continent is making me bored."

***

"NO!"

Soleil flinched when all of a sudden, Alec Forrester screamed in his sleep.

Right now, they were sleeping inside the shrine when the saint suddenly screamed. Since she was the closest to him (and the Beast Gods weren't really sleeping), she got up and gently shook Alec's shoulder.

Alec Forrester suddenly got up, and he was covered with sweat while catching his breath. "The Kale Kingdom is going to be attacked by a herd of Crades soon."

"What?" Kalel Moonchester, the real son of Kale Kingdom, asked in an understably worried voice. "When will it happen?"

The saint turned to the Black Serpent before he responded. "According to my vision, it will happen a month from now," he explained. "The Royal Capital will soon turn into a battlefield. But strangely enough, I didn't see any different kind of Crades in my prophecy."

"It doesn't matter what kind of Crades would attack the kingdom," Soleil declared. She wasn't being arrogant this time. She just simply wanted to assure Kalel that she would do everything in her power to help him protect Kale Kingdom. "We just have to protect the kingdom and its people, right?"

***

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