A few more days had passed since Samael’s return to the world.
It was a random afternoon in Ravens Grave, and the guild’s main hall had its usual atmosphere of conversation and activity.
Most of the mbers were scattered throughout the room, so seated at the tables while others stood near the windows or leaned against the walls.
Kayden and Innis sat together near one of the corners, speaking in hushed tones that no one else could quite make out.
Their heads were close together as they whispered back and forth, and after a mont, both of them stood simultaneously.
Kayden glanced around the room briefly before gesturing toward the door leading upstairs. Innis nodded, and together they began walking toward the exit.
They were heading for the training room.
But before they could reach the doorway, Piers’ voice rang out from across the hall.
"Use an actual room this ti."
Both Kayden and Innis froze mid-step.
Piers sat at one of the tables with a knowing smirk on his face as he looked directly at them.
"You’re preventing those who want to use the training room for actual training from being able to train," he added pointedly.
Innis’s face turned bright red almost instantly. Her eyes widened in mortification as she turned her head away, unable to et anyone’s gaze.
Kayden’s own eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth to respond but couldn’t seem to find the words.
So the guild knew?
He had thought they’d been discreet and careful as it seed like an off ti to be falling in love.
But apparently not careful enough.
After a mont of silence, Kayden finally managed to speak.
"How did you know?" he asked, though his voice ca out in low tones.
Fred, who had been seated beside the Vice captain let out a loud laugh and waved one hand dismissively.
"Oh please, We know all."
Several other guild mbers chuckled at that, though most of them tried to hide their amusent behind their hands or by turning away.
Kayden felt his own face heating up now as embarrassnt washed over him.
Innis looked like she wanted nothing more than for the floor to open up beneath her and swallow her whole.
Without saying another word, Kayden grabbed Innis’s hand gently and pulled her toward the stairs leading up to the second floor, this ti to any room but the training one.
The sound of muffled laughter followed them as they disappeared from view.
—
anwhile, in Aiden’s room upstairs, he stood alone near the window as he stared blankly at the city beyond.
His mind was elsewhere.
It had been seven days now since Samael’s return to the world.
And yet... nothing had happened.
No invasion. No attack whatsoever from Samael or his forces.
Aiden couldn’t understand it. He had expected an imdiate assault on Dragonhold or the dragons.
So kind of retaliation or show of force to announce his presence.
It gnawed at him, this uncertainty and waiting for sothing that refused to co.
After another mont of staring out into nothingness, Aiden finally spoke.
"System, why haven’t I gotten a quest yet? One that boosts finally to Dragon King?"
A translucent screen appeared before him almost imdiately:
[A Quest Will Be Given Soon]
[Or It May Be Rewarded To The Host Under The Right Circumstances]
Aiden sighed heavily and shook his head.
For another long mont after that, he said nothing, before finally speaking again.
"I’m scared...."
"I’m scared of not knowing how the battle between us, the dragons and Samael, would go."
He thought back to that battle against Dravion who had only been possessed by the demon king, and then that one ti when it felt like he, samael, was there.
[The System Understands]
[But Fighting Him Has Beco Inevitable and Only After You Do Will You Have Hope For A Better Tomorrow]
He let out another sigh and nodded to himself.
"Yeah."
The screen faded away monts later, leaving him alone once more with his thoughts.
After a while, Aiden decided to do sothing he’d been doing routinely.
A check on his wives.
He closed his eyes briefly and thought of them. Laela and Arianna.
As The Axis, all it took was that single thought for their imagery to form clearly within his mind’s eye.
They were in the sa open field where they’d been earlier that week. But this ti... Rin stood at the center of their small group with sothing in her hands.
A sword made of steel magic.
It glead brightly in the sunlight as Rin held it up triumphantly above her head with both hands gripping its hilt tightly.
Laela and Arianna were cheering loudly around her, clapping their hands together as they celebrated Rin’s success.
Rin had finally done it. She’d cast her first spell.
Aiden smiled as he watched them celebrate together.
"Good job, Rin," he whispered to himself.
The image of their imdiate surroundings was visible by a few ters to Aiden, and nearby, Aeris and Katherine were locked in what appeared to be a fierce spar with each other.
Their movents were fast and precise, with each strike t by an equally skilled counter.
Katherine wielded her red sword while Aeris moved with her twin blades.
The Captain lunged forward with a diagonal slash aid at Aeris’s shoulder, but Aeris sidestepped smoothly and brought one of her blades up to parry while simultaneously swinging the other toward Katherine’s midsection.
Katherine spun away from the incoming strike and spun on her heel, bringing her red sword around in a wide horizontal arc.
Aeris ducked beneath it and rolled forward, coming up behind Katherine before launching a rapid series of strikes that forced the captain backward several steps.
Elena was also standing off to the corner continuously casting the goddess embrace spell on them both, just in case one of them got wounded.
Aiden watched with so intrigue as the exchange continued. Aeris matched every pace against Katherine.
It was genuinely impressive.
After a mont, Aiden said to himself:
"I forget how good the Amazon is with the blade."
——
Back in Eden, Lilith walked through a long corridor with an annoyed look on her face.
Her footsteps echoed as she moved toward a large hall at the end of the passage.
Behind her, Samael followed at a much slower pace. He wore short-sleeved clothing that looked almost casual compared to his usual attire, and his expression remained calm and unbothered as he walked beside her.
When they reached the entrance to the hall, Lilith stopped abruptly.
Inside were her remaining Archon children gathered together in what appeared to be so sort of informal assembly.
Each of them wore expressions ranging from frustration to outright annoyance as they spoke among themselves in hushed tones.
The mont Lilith stepped through the doorway, all conversation ceased imdiately, and every head turned toward her at once.
Lilith’s eyes narrowed as she looked between them all before speaking sharply:
"What is this?" she demanded. "If I rember correctly, I put an end to this sort of gathering."
Thera stepped forward and t her mother’s gaze directly without flinching.
"This is not a gathering as council," she said firmly. "But as concerned inhabitants of this city."
She paused briefly before continuing:
"We’ve tried to turn a blind eye when you brought him here," Thera said, gesturing toward Samael who had now entered the hall behind Lilith and stood watching them all calmly from a few paces away.
"Despite everything we know about him," Thera continued, with her voice growing sharper now. "The very being that could be our own undoing as gods... and now you bring people from the pit into Eden as well?"
She gestured around herself. "This is not their place, Mother!"
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