Around the outskirts of the Great Forest, on the balcony of a spacious house built among the trees, five won sat around a wooden table.
The house was not very tall, and from up there it was possible to observe a group of several children scattered across the land below — so were playing with a massive Ebony Wolf, others were enthusiastically fighting among themselves, while a few were simply chatting.
The won watched the scene as they talked.
"Honestly... to think that annoying cockroach would be caught by a bunch of brats!" Therese complained.
She was one of the mbers of the upper ranks of the current Iron Legion, commander of a battalion responsible for a large city in the Kingdom.
Although she was not particularly strong in direct combat — being only Advanced-level — her leadership abilities were undeniable.
Few generals were as competent when it ca to commanding troops or ensuring the security of an entire region.
Of course, part of that success was due to Therese being the second wife of Taes, the Commander of the Legion.
That granted her opportunities to prove her competence — opportunities that not everyone received to the sa extent. Even so, she lived up to every single one of them.
As a mber of the upper ranks, Therese was one of many people who knew well how difficult it was to capture Lothair McFarlane.
For years, he had been in the Kingdom’s sights. Slippery as a snake, the leader of the True Order always seed to be one step ahead.
His organization was behind assassinations, acts of vandalism, and the destruction of important locations.
Many mbers of the Order were captured, but over ti, they learned and beca increasingly difficult to track down.
It was a thorn embedded in the flesh of the Kingdom. Hard to remove and always causing trouble.
And now, the leader of the True Order had been killed by a seven-year-old boy.
Alright, he was the son of the Beast God — but still, it was a bit ridiculous.
Perseus was lucky to be the first to face him directly. And, by coincidence, that was also his only specialty: frontal combat.
Possessing the Laplace Factor and being at the Advanced level of the Beast God Style, he ended up defeating the experienced Lothair, who was already injured after fighting Aurora and the other children.
"Well, it’s not like killing this Lothair ends the True Order, right?" Lilia comnted.
Therese sighed.
"That’s true... but still, losing their main spokesperson will be a heavy blow."
Ghislaine, who was watching one of the fights among the children below, comnted:
"Either way, it was a welco stroke of luck. We’re going to enter a turbulent phase very soon. It’s better if there are no internal nuisances, since we don’t know what might happen."
She then turned her gaze to a red-haired woman sitting at the table.
"And your husband, Hilda?" she asked. "Have you managed to convince him to move?"
Hilda sighed, clearly tired.
"More or less... I an, I’ve already said we’ll be safer here and all that, but he’s very cowardly..."
Lilia nodded in agreent.
"You can understand his side, right? Imagine finding out, out of nowhere, that you have a long-lost stepdaughter... and that she’s the Sword God."
The other four won laughed.
Those five lived very different daily lives, but thanks to teleportation circles, they had a reliable ans of transportation and could gather from ti to ti.
Zenith worked as a healer in a hospital in the Great Forest.
Lilia taught the Water God Style at a dojo and, in her free ti, acted as a babysitter for Rygar’s family.
Therese was a General of the Iron Legion.
Hilda was currently an adventurer, but visited Eris frequently since her first visit years ago.
And finally, there was Ghislaine — who, besides taking care of her children, was one of the strongest in the Kingdom and frequently went on missions.
"Well," Hilda continued, "he does seem more willing to co than before. He ntioned sothing about not wanting to prevent Eris from eting her younger sister."
After leaving the nobility and marrying again, Hilda had another daughter, who had already turned three. She still lived in the Basherant Duchy, which ant that Eris had never t her sister.
"Speaking of children..." Zenith began, before casting an exasperated glance at her sister. "How many more children do you intend to have?"
Therese coughed, visibly embarrassed.
During the ti she had been married to Taes, she had already had three children — although two of them were twins, born at the sa ti.
And, just a few days earlier, it had been confird that she was pregnant again.
Ghislaine smiled.
"I heard Rygar encouraged Taes to have many children, sothing about passing on a strong lineage. It also seems that Lisa forbade Taes from taking a third wife..."
Lilia nodded.
"They’re not wrong. The Kingdom of Gaia is already very strong, but it will only truly beco consolidated when the next generation inherits this legacy."
Therese, wanting to change the subject, turned to Lilia.
"And that guy who trains with you, Lilia?"
Lilia did her best to look confused.
"Hm? What about him?"
"Heh, playing dumb!" Therese teased. "He’s already Advanced-level in the Water God Style. Why would he keep training there if he weren’t interested in you?"
"He’s far too young for ," Lilia quickly denied.
Ghislaine looked at her suggestively.
"Didn’t Aisha use Rejuvenation Magic on you? In my opinion, you look even younger than him."
Of the five won, only Lilia and Zenith were not married at the mont. Zenith had already said she did not intend to marry again anyti soon, but Lilia had never said the sa.
Because of that, the others kept teasing her, while she tried to explain herself and change the subject.
anwhile, among the trees of the Great Forest, an epic war was unfolding — commanded by Generals Aurora and Perseus.
---
POV: Diana Adoldia
The sky is beautiful today.
A few white clouds scattered about, a clear blue stretching as far as the eye can see, sotis covering the sun for brief monts, but letting the light through most of the ti.
The sky is sothing mysterious — and one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen. It is always changing. It can be pink at sunset, blue without clouds, rainy or stormy, orange at dawn.
It can hold stars, it can hold the sun and the moon. Its vastness is unknown, and its contents are never fully understood by anyone.
Once, I asked my dad how the sky worked.
Now, you might say that was a stupid question — after all, how could anyone know sothing like that? But I was the firstborn of the Beast God.
My dad was widely recognized for knowing things that, normally, no one would know.
For so reason, he beca exceptionally excited when I asked that question. I think that was because I almost never asked anything.
He was ready to explain to , enthusiastically, how the sky worked!
But, in the middle of his words — as he spoke about refraction of light, gravity, and other things — he began to question himself.
How did the sky work?
It seed that only by speaking out loud and observing, he realized that the sky was very different from what he rembered.
Thinking back now, it was very funny. That was the first ti I truly laughed. And one of the only tis I saw my dad so shocked.
Well... I suppose not knowing also has its own charm. As my elf mom once told , sotis not fully understanding sothing makes it even more appealing and mysterious.
I still don’t understand the sky. But it remains fascinating.
I was pulled from those thoughts when a blade aid for my throat, trying to catch off guard. It was very fast.
But honestly, fighting against these people, I would probably never be hit for real. There was always a warning in my mind when I beca a target. It was impossible for them to strike in a conventional way.
My dad said that this was a sign of my talent for the Beast God Style.
I deflected my opponent’s sword smoothly and counterattacked with Flow, sending his blade flying away and forcing his knee to bend at an unnatural angle.
I chose to learn the Water God Style, contrary to the fact that I seed more talented in the Beast God Style.
The reason was quite simple — I didn’t want to keep running around.
The Water God Style was perfect: you stayed still, and the opponent ca to you.
How wonderful.
That was when I rembered where I was.
Right... Aurora and Perseus had started their little gas again.
The one I had defeated was Kody Dedoldia, disciple of the red mom. He was lying on the ground, holding the knee that looked broken, but still stared at defiantly.
Everyone else watched with a mix of shock, admiration, and fear.
Was this supposed to be impressive?
It made sense to . Kody still couldn’t use the Longsword of Light, only its inferior version, the Longsword of Silence.
I possessed the Laplace Factor and excellent mastery of Flow. Basically, the only advantage he had over was size, which gave him greater reach.
But by actively entering his range, that advantage disappeared.
I won.
Even so, everyone seed more surprised than they should have been.
"Hahaha! Surrender, Aurora!" Perseus shouted. "Diana has already defeated your trump card! What are you going to do now?!"
Right... those two were still arguing.
Aurora could teleport and use magic freely, but Perseus was far more skilled in close combat.
In fact, the fact that he was so good at it was one of the only reasons I trained.
I can’t let him get too far ahead. Knowing Perseus, if he beca much stronger than , I would end up becoming one of his subordinates.
That would be boring.
So I always try to maintain a high level — sothing he can’t easily surpass.
Anyway, those two had been arguing for as long as I could rember.
Will our younger siblings also join this ss when they learn how to fight? It’ll get even more confusing.
"Don’t celebrate victory too early!" Aurora retorted. "Who said Kody was my only card up my sleeve?!"
Well, who’s celebrating victory too early now?
Upon hearing that, I imdiately knew she had sothing else. It couldn’t be Nel — he was never able to get past .
So that left only sothing external. Sothing I had never seen and wasn’t prepared for.
That was when I heard an audible crack.
I turned with newly found urgency, dodging to the side — but it wasn’t enough.
A thick bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the sky, striking .
Or, at least, that’s what I thought.
A thunderous boom echoed throughout the clearing. Debris and rocks flew in all directions.
The next thing I rember was being carried like a sack of potatoes by my beast mom, Ghislaine.
Skoll had protected Nel and Iris from the debris. The other children were farther away and were not hit.
My mom set down.
When the lightning fell and mom intervened, everyone stopped fighting.
She spoke, calm as always:
"Romira. Aurora."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aurora flinch upon hearing mom’s tone. Despite being the calst among our mothers, she was definitely not lenient.
I saw another child approach and imdiately recognized her. A spiraling purple horn on her forehead, wheat-colored hair, wearing the standard uniform of Star Rise Academy.
Romira Landon, of the Landon Demon Clan.
She was an informal disciple of Miss Aisha and had studied at Star Rise Academy since she was very young.
So she was the one who cast the lightning?
Impressive.
The children gradually gathered. Romira and Aurora stood in front of Ghislaine.
"First," my mom said, "congratulations on becoming a King-Level Mage, Romira. How old are you again?"
The girl beca shy for a mont, but also seed happy.
"I’m nine, Miss Ghislaine."
Ghislaine nodded.
"Now... I believe Aisha has taught you about the rules when using King and Saint-level Magic. Or did she not?"
Romira lowered her head and cast a discreet glance at Aurora, saying nothing, clearly expecting punishnt.
Aurora cleared her throat.
"Ahem... actually, it was , mom. I was the one who convinced her to use it..."
She looked away, whistling nonchalantly. To , it was obvious that Aurora was trying to take advantage of beast mom’s benevolence to escape.
But the next words surprised her.
"Very well. I’ll leave this for Eris to handle. For now, you two are grounded."
Aurora was first shocked. Then, terrified.
She was about to beg for rcy, but mom continued:
"As for you, Romira, I’ll tell Aisha about this. Settle it with her."
She then concluded:
"Everyone, except Romira and Aurora, may go. Have fun."
Without saying anything else, mom returned to the tree house, where her friends were.
A small satisfaction filled my chest.
But I showed nothing outwardly.
If nothing goes wrong, that ans I can now do nothing.
I began looking for a good tree to take a nap.
But then I glanced sideways at Perseus, who was talking to his followers like a champion, and thought about the earlier fight.
He seed faster lately.
I guess it’s better to close that gap before anything else.
I picked up my wooden sword and went alone to a clearing.
To relax in the most efficient way possible, the ideal is to be strong enough that no one can force you to do anything.
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