Deep inside the 730th Plateau, a land where night never falls and blood rained, a massive fortress city was rooted into the ground. Its buildings and ramparts stretched out for kilometers, covered in a red vein-like pattern growing from the surrounding vegetation.
A swarm of large creatures resembling bats bred with bears flew far above the outer city. On its way, one of them veered off course and landed atop the tallest tower of the central castle. While licking its fur like a cat, its dark eyes looked down at the open courtyard below.
In its eyes, a woman lying down amidst a field of crimson grass was reflected. Her long and wavy white hair decorated the soil like flowing water. Though her eyes were closed, her lashes glowed with the moonlight. Her skin was pale, her dress minimalistic, and her figure sensually modest.
The aerial monster could tell she noticed its presence. But it wasn't afraid. Conversely, when the large door leading to this courtyard was opened, it looked over once and agitatedly flew off.
"I have called for you weeks ago," the woman articulately opened her mouth, showing a glimpse of her sharp fangs. Her eyelids fluttered open and her blood-red irises gleamed in contact with the ambient light. "You are late."
"General should have told you," a second female voice replied to the vampire. The source slowly walked out of the shadows, revealing a rose-tinted skin bit by bit. "We are not allies. You have no right to request anything."
The newcomer stopped a few meters away. With nothing more than a yellow tunic around her waist, they were half-naked. With flesh that looked like ceramic, her upper body was a doll-like construct meant to imitate the charm of a human woman.
She had hair like leather and eyes like amber. She was barefooted, and the visible part of her legs had a strangely organic sheen in contrast with what lay above. Last but not least, from beneath her cloth, one could see a demon-like tail lazily skimming the ground.
This creature was both horrific and inexplicably alluring, as if a succubus out of nightmares.
The vampire was silent. She softly tapped the grass with her hands and floated back to her feet as if pulled up by something. She turned her head halfway to look at her visitor.
"This is the first time I see you… why is it not the smiling fool as usual?"
"Roias is busy with other things," the unnerving woman replied. "You can call me Malkas."
"I see…" The white-haired woman slowly began to pace in a circle. "Do you know about the Myth Council's initiative to storm my territory?"
"We do."
"I am supposedly part of a weapon against your Empress," Nesslyria hummed. "Is that true?"
"It is of no consequence," Malkas retorted. "Our Empress will not be defeated."
"Is that so? Then I suppose you are not here to kill me," the vampire queen smiled sweetly. "How should I interpret this visit? Are you here to help?"
"According to General's estimation… you have no chance of winning," the Abyss Téras stated.
Nesslyria paused her steps.
"Your forces are substantial, but far from enough to survive the Myth Council's decree. Of course, you still have some use, so helping you is not out of the question. However… the timing does not align with our plans," Malkas' eyes literally rotated as she spoke. "The Scorpions have confirmed that Azheim is planning to raid you within five days; too early for us to allocate any resource."
The vampire queen silently narrowed her eyes.
"But we can give you a chance…" The Téras extended her hand, dark miasma pooling in her palm and spilling out like mist. "The question is; are you willing to be one with us?"
"…"
For a moment, Nesslyria was silent. "Hm..." Then, she abruptly began to hum a melody. She spun on her feet, making her black and red dress sway.
At the same time, red clouds swirled in the sky of the Plateau.
"You know, I've heard that weapon can be completed without taking my life," she remarked with a sing-song tone and continued to dance with the wind. "Temat was always so noble. He surely is going to accept. As for Stocslke…" She smirked. "That idiot is already my slave."
Malkas' round eyes turned to ellipses as she waited patiently.
"Aah…" She sighed. "But I have made too many enemies. A shame," Nesslyria chuckled and raised her arms to the sky. On cue, rain began to fall. It was red and thick; exactly like blood.
The queen allowed her skin, her hair, and her dress to be stained by every drop. She looked up and closed her eyes. Then, the clouds began to emit light of their own. The upper ramparts of the castle were slowly illuminated under a red hue.
Hundreds… thousands of bats drinking the blood of countless inert bodies, hung by the neck, yet all of them with their eyes open, shaking and visibly alive.
"But that is not how we are, is it?" Nesslyria smiled brightly as the blood dripped from her.
Malkas' gaze was dispassionate as she watched the macabre dance.
"We chase; we charm; we savor; we take. How can you be a vampire if you bow down to strength and give in? We are creatures of pleasure. And our pleasure cannot be stopped."
Nesslyria stopped moving. With her face barely discernible under all the blood, her grin pierced through magnificently. "Of course, my dear. We are with you. For that is the path of pleasure. You can tell me; what do you truly want for me?"
If the Abyss Téras felt anything from her words, she didn't show it.
"It is nothing complicated. You were merely our first choice," she revealed. "Open a Gate for us."
"Mhm. Where to?"
"The Eonian Plateau."
* * *
In the underground territory of the 5th Plateau, a despairing wail resounded.
"No… how could I?!" Fiora dropped to her knees with crocodile tears. Bizarrely, she was wearing a fully personalized maid outfit as if it was the most normal thing ever.
Rakna stared at her with a blank look.
"Master went alone to such an important gathering… while I was asleep! I didn't even notice the invitation! I thought it was a useless notification! I'm a failure of a maid!"
"…more importantly," the therian heartlessly ignored her repentance. "Who even gave you those clothes?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, looking to the side where Oz was standing.
"Please do not even try to look at me," the wolf responded curtly. The poor thing seemed like he had gone through tortuous character development in the past weeks dealing with her. There was no sign of deference in his tone; only defeat.
Rakna wordlessly projected his gaze to the living room's couch and met Kara's gleeful eyes. With her chin resting on her hand, she smirked and flashed a victory sign.
"…why?"
"It sounded funny," the vixen giggled.
"Well, she looks cute in it, at least," Kaelith said as she approached him. "Anyway! Welcome back, wolfy," she hugged him happily and he reciprocated with an amused smile. "Dad briefly told me about what happened. Oh, and did you manage to convince Temat?"
Rakna shook his head. "No, I invited him here for tomorrow."
"Hm? Why is that?"
"Because I'm leaving it to Hans and Kara."
"Ouch," Kaelith grimaced. "Do you want to traumatize the poor man?"
"Kae, sweetie! That's not nice!" Kara pouted. "You should be defending me and saying how your dear mother is nothing like that cranky child. I am a very pleasant business partner," she put her hand over her heart.
Kaelith gazed back at her mother. "No."
"…I'm a failure of a parent," Kara sniffed as she joined Fiora in her depression.
Oz watched them, a headache coming. 'They're all absolutely insane…' He complained internally.
A short moment later, the front door opened and Ramsa stepped in alongside Higure. The latter zeroed onto Rakna as soon as she saw him. "Hey!" She greeted with her usual energy. "Looks like you brought back the little one, huh?" She commented, her ears twitching.
"Shaa!" Pronos poked his head out with a mellow, cute hiss.
"Oh. And back to one head too," the lioness chuckled.
Ramsa's expression softened as she watched. No matter how many times she experienced it, the peace of this household made her feel content in ways she could have never imagined.
Though, she also turned toward Rakna with a tinge of worry. "I heard there was an incident that involved your friend. Was everything all right?"
Rakna smiled reassuringly. "Yes. Nothing too bad happened. Allan is already recovering. In fact, he might even be training with his Guild Leader at the moment."
"That's good to hear," the goddess nodded.
"What about you? Is the Partition Rune working well?" Rakna asked.
"Yes. Amazingly well," Ramsa glanced over her shoulder as if checking her back. "I never thought it possible to seal my Divinity and simultaneously feel freer. Your runes are wonderful."
"That I know," he snorted. "Ever since integrating the Original Language, Transmutation, and my personal theory of 'Rune Stars', it transformed into the modulation knob of all my skillset. Which reminds me; here."
He tossed a Unification Skill Card to everyone except Ramsa and Oz.
Kaelith's eyes sparkled. "I knew it was going to be quite the skill… but it's better than I expected. Although it might be unrealistic for this to handle skills as powerful as Nirvanas or Ultimates, it's a valuable asset."
"Are you sure you should give one to me?" Kara asked with pursed lips. "I am no slouch, but I am far from being the most useful in a fight, especially considering the talents in your guild."
"Just take it," Rakna huffed. "Whatever can make you safer is something I'd want."
The vixen closed her mouth and for once, a blush threatened to overcome her.
"Wolfy, I feel like you sometimes pamper my mom a bit too much," Kaelith blankly said.
"Well, she does work hard for Harvest," he shrugged.
"Ah...! About that," Kara clung to the new topic. "Azheim contacted me about the preparations for the raid on Nesslyria; he asked for our cooperation and said the operation would begin as soon as we could provide enough Transpiths. I was tasked to inform you about it."
"He's asking for Transpiths?" Kaelith furrowed his eyebrows. "What kind?"
"Healing, shelter, food, equipment, and…" The older woman made a wry smile. "Big guns." Her tone sounded almost sarcastic as she said it.
"Gaelius has been working on creating Eion Nukes after I told him the basics of it," Rakna said in her stead and Kaelith choked in surprise. "He has completed the blueprint for it."
"How destructive are we talking about here?" Higure asked. "And how costly?"
"Respectively; insane and dirt-cheap," Kara let out a hollow laugh. "We could make a hundred of those every day. With a thousand, we could raze Black Steel to the ground as long as nothing was done to stop it."
The girls fell silent.
Rakna kneaded his forehead. "Yes… we're going to have to put a lid on that for public markets. It is also prudent to keep an eye on everyone in the company who has a hand in making them."
"Already doing that," Kara nodded. "I commissioned the Racoons for it. Fin is a trustworthy man and now that the Scorpions are gone, his Branch is the best we have for covert operations. All his subordinates are highly trained and tight-lipped."
"Good job, as always," the therian commented and she puffed her chest in pride.
"Of course."
"So, when will Azheim sound the horn you think?"
Kara lowered her head in thought. "There's nothing official but… roughly five days, I'd say. There is also the fact that the Church is highly supportive of this move. They intend to send out Isael of all people for it. They say we should expedite things with his support and not leave Nesslyria any chance to retaliate."
"Then it should be just in time for us to clear the Chintamani Lord."
"What?" Kaelith's ears perked up in surprise. "Did Credo give you a date?"
"Two days."
"That old coot…" The vixen facepalmed. "How last-minute can one be?"
"Well, he could have told us in the morning like last time."
Kaelith rolled her eyes. "Right. That did happen. But it was a private test, not a Dungeon that will most likely be harder than anything we've ever done."
"Who are you bringing with you for this?" Ramsa asked with a scowl. She did not like the idea of him going to such a dangerous place, but she understood she couldn't always stop him.
"Since Hans is not coming, only Kaelith, Lana, Flavia, and Lilith are definitive. I need to ask Ceres before including her, and that's about everyone I want to bring directly to the Dungeon."
Higure frowned. "Those choices aside, didn't you only ask for four slots from Ensis?"
"I did," Rakna smiled. "But no one said it's all I had."
"…?"
"But with that said," the therian followed up. "Higure, would you come with me today? I want to go somewhere with you."