Lortell flew towards the nine-tailed fox. Below, there were several human and barbarian soldiers trying to distract and subdue the giant creature.
"Aim!" a commander shouted.
"Now shoot!" he ordered.
Many human guards were not awakened, but they had the latest tech weapons, like rifles filled with mana bullets. They shot towards the nine-tailed fox.
At the same time, the barbarians threw their spears and aimed their arrows at the beast.
Even with all their combined attacks, the spears couldn't pierce its phantom-like body. The arrows broke the moment they touched its fur. As for the mana bullets, they dissolved the instant they made contact.
"HOWWWWWLLLL..."
The nine-tailed fox howled, a sound so powerful it was enough to make the soldiers bend to their knees and press their palms against their ears in sheer pain.
Then, the nine-tailed fox opened its giant mouth. A strange, swirling energy formed inside as it prepared to shoot out another beam.
"We're done for!" the guards cried out, closing their eyes in despair. They were ready to be disintegrated into dust at any moment.
But then—a blood shield.
A layer of circular, crimson shields appeared in front of them out of nowhere.
BAM!
The beam directly thrashed against the shield. The ground crumbled, and the surroundings melted from the intense heat. But despite that, the ones inside the shield were completely unharmed.
One by one, they slowly opened their eyes. It was as if a god had descended from the heavens to save them. But as they looked up, they saw it wasn't a god, but a goddess.
Lortell stood at the very front with a confident smile. "You all should feel lucky, I'm in a great mood right now!" she said before launching herself back into the air towards the nine-tailed fox.
"At first glance, she definitely seems more troublesome than an S-rank monster, but only because of her raw strength and destructive power!" Lortell thought to herself, analyzing the situation.
Lortell had dealt with several S-rank monsters before. Compared to them, Alice right now didn't even have the natural instincts of an S-rank monster. Although no matter how you look at it, S-rank monsters are quite intelligent. They also know how to use their powers strategically, Except anomalies.
But right now, this nine-tailed fox was in a rampage. It was just a tough body without a mind controlling it, acting on pure destructive instinct.
Lortell flew in a graceful arc. She looked at the upper half of Alice's body sticking out of the nine-tailed fox's forehead.
"A clear weakness!" She sighed to herself as she flew directly towards its forehead.
SWING! SLASH!
The nine-tailed fox swung its massive claws several times, but Lortell easily dodged each one without any issue and arrived at its forehead.
"Time to wake up!" she said, pulling her hand back and then—
SLAP!
She gave Alice's face a tight slap.
Alice's eyelids moved a little, but she didn't fully wake up.
"Here's one more!" Lortell pulled her hand back and slapped her once more, this time even harder.
This time, the moment the slap landed, the nine-tailed fox let out a strong howl of pain, and Alice's eyes snapped open at once.
"Pant!... Pant!..." She panted heavily, inhaling and exhaling loudly, as if she had just woken up from a terrifying nightmare.
Alice's eyelids moved back and forth, and then she looked at the front. Her eyes widened the moment she saw Lortell right in front of her.
"M-miss Lortell, we were just passing by!" she said before passing out once again.
But this time, the moment she passed out, the nine-tailed fox disintegrated into the air slowly, like purple or violet dust in the wind. Alice's body fell limply towards the ground.
Lortell immediately caught her and landed gently on the ground. The surrounding area was so silent that even the sound of leaves moving could easily be heard. The giant fox had disappeared out of nowhere, leaving only destruction in its wake.
At the same time, Esdeath, Maruti, and Kailith reached there.
"It's already over?" Maruti said, looking at Lortell who had just landed on the ground.
Alice was clearly naked from head to toe, but not that Lortell cared anyways. She calmly walked towards them and handed the unconscious Alice over to Maruti.
Maruti took Alice and hung her over her shoulder lightly.
"It seems we need to move out. We can't stay here anymore!" Lortell said, looking at Esdeath.
It wasn't just about the house being destroyed; Lortell could easily restore it using her magic. It was because Alucard now knew about the location. He would definitely try new attempts to kill Lortell, and that would definitely be a problem.
"Yes, but where?" Esdeath asked.
"At my palace. Meldia is also there. She would take care of any unnecessary hurdles!" Lortell answered calmly.
Esdeath didn't say anything and just nodded, trusting her completely.
She turned towards Maruti and said, "You're going back right? Send Selene back!"
"Yeah, I'll be going then. What a waste of a day!" Maruti waved her hand, turning around.
She was still a bit upset with how Esdeath had switched sides with Lortell, but she also felt stupid. She had long known how down bad of a simp Esdeath was for Lortell. It was kinda obvious that she would take Lortell's side no matter what.
Alice's body hung loose as Maruti walked away, carrying her on her shoulder. Kailith followed her from behind.
"I got a new problem now. What if Alice ends up destroying my house by turning into that giant fox once again? Should I kick her out?" Maruti said, half-joking and half-serious.
"I don't know about destroying it by transformation, but she would definitely destroy it if you kick her out!" Kailith replied with a deep yawn.
"Hmm... you've gotten smarter!" Maruti replied, genuinely impressed with her words.
Meanwhile, Lortell and Esdeath watched them go away.
"I should take some important things from home. Selene will also be back by then!" Esdeath said.
Lortell nodded. "Yes, let me help you as well!"
They both turned around, walking together towards their broken home.
Although it was quite a bit weird since Esdeath was walking around at night in a swimsuit, especially since the closest river was three kilometres away.
"Do you wanna hear the secret right now?" Esdeath asked, looking up at Lortell.
But Lortell shook her head. "No, you said you would tell me. That was enough," she said softly, her voice gentle.
"It was already a bizarre day. We'll talk about it tomorrow!" she added with a knowing smile, squeezing Esdeath's hand reassuringly.
*****
By the time Lortell, Esdeath, and Selene went to Lortell's palace, it was already midnight.
Lortell had a quick conversation with Meldia about the situation. There was no problem with them living there out of nowhere, since it was a palace, not a house. Not to forget, it was Lortell's palace. Her personal room, with a master bed that perfectly fitted her height, was already present there.
One more personal room was given to Selene to live there from now on. She accepted it quite happily since this room was a lot bigger than her old room.
Despite how things were just a few hours ago, Lortell and Esdeath slept together happily, like there was no disagreement between them in the first place.
Soon, the golden light of morning shone through the large windows of the bedroom, waking Lortell up. She sat up and found herself alone in the bed. Esdeath had already woken up. Lortell stretched her limbs and stood up, thinking about what to do first in the morning.
But before she could choose between brushing her teeth or taking a bath, there were three firm knocks on the door.
"Come in!" Lortell replied, her voice still a bit sleepy.
The door opened, and Meldia entered with her head slightly lowered. "My lady, a few important guests have come," she said.
She added 'important' on purpose so that Lortell would give proper attention to her words.
Lortell quietly yawned and rolled her eyes. "Is refusing an option?" Lortell asked, a hint of playfulness in her voice.
"I don't think so," Meldia replied lightly.
Lortell sighed once again. "Let's go then. I hope it doesn't ruin my morning!" she said, taking the lead as she walked out of the bedroom.
Meldia followed Lortell as she walked downstairs and arrived in the main hall of the palace. She saw a few barbarians standing in the hall. The way they wore their clothes and carried shining weapons certainly indicated that they were not ordinary barbarians.
Although Lortell didn't know most of them, she certainly knew the tallest man there: Mourya, the new king of the Anastasia kingdom, or more accurately, half of the Anastasia kingdom.
"Lord Mourya, what made you come here?" Lortell said with a welcoming smile as she went downstairs.
They both looked at each other in the eyes. Mourya might be the only person in the entire kingdom who surpassed Lortell in terms of height.
But before Mourya or his subordinates could say anything, Lortell interrupted once again.
"Ohh... How rude of me. You came as guests, yet I didn't even show a bit of courtesy!" Lortell added, her tone warm and friendly.
"Come with me. We can talk while having breakfast!" Lortell said. She turned around, giving them no choice to refuse or say anything.
"Meldia, breakfast is ready, right? Lead the way!" she ordered.
Meldia nodded immediately. Mourya was about to refuse, but then he sighed and gave up on the idea.
They followed Meldia to the dining table. There were a bunch of dishes laid on the table. Of course, all of them were light dishes with tea, since it was only breakfast, not some party food.
Lortell also sat down in her seat, just watching them have a sip of tea.
"Why aren't you having anything?" Mourya asked, his deep voice rumbling.
"I just woke up. You all can enjoy!" she said with a light smile.
But after a pause, she added, "There isn't any poison in it!"
"Poison doesn't work on me!" Mourya added as he took another sip of tea without any fear.
Lortell didn't say anything back. Instead, she went straight to the subject. "So, what made you come here?"
Mourya didn't say anything. Instead, he looked at one of his subordinates. The subordinate realized it was his cue and immediately stopped drinking tea and started speaking.
"About last night, was the destruction caused by you?" he said, his voice direct and accusatory.
Lortell shook her head without any change in her expression. "Of course not. Why would I?"
"Well, several people have talked about a woman with a similar appearance to yours. Also, there were some guards killed by blood-related methods, and then there was a reported appearance of a giant fox!" he explained, shortening the topic to get straight to the point.
Lortell shook her head once again, her gaze unwavering. "It wasn't me. It was a Dracula. His name is Alucard. I'm pretty sure you know of him; he's quite a popular criminal. If you want to give me any credit, give me credit for saving people. I'm pretty sure that by the time your king would have arrived, the destruction would have been a lot more!" she said with complete confidence, not showing any weakness at all.
"And why did you come there last night?" the subordinate asked back, trying to poke a hole in her story.
"I don't know. Ask him!" Lortell replied nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.
At this point, the subordinate didn't know what to say anymore, so he just stayed quiet and drank his tea once again.
But then Mourya spoke up, his deep voice commanding attention. "Forget about last night. What have you thought of our offer? Are you going to join us?"
"Well..." Lortell finally found a question quite difficult to answer.
She had been ignoring their letters each time, but now she was face to face with Mourya himself.
"I haven't thought much about it. For now, I'm neutral, for sure!" Lortell's lips slightly twitched as she replied, carefully choosing her words.
"It's good to be neutral, but it would be a whole lot better if you join us. Especially since you are living here. In a way, this land is your motherland," Mourya spoke, his tone persuasive.
"Of course, I'm not planning to bring you to my side with just emotions!" he added with a hearty chuckle.
"Look, I have no desire to conquer any further. But I also fear that humans, especially the people of the Republic, will try to conquer our land in the future!" he started explaining, his voice turning serious and sincere.
"Not to forget, I'm not sure if future generations of barbarians will have S-rank like me. My daughters are quite capable, but they are hot-blooded like I was in my younger days, especially the elder one who was supposed to be my successor!" he added, a hint of fatherly concern in his voice.
"That's why, if we shake hands and conquer the rest of the kingdom together, I'm willing to give that half of the kingdom to you without asking anything in return!" he proposed his incredible offer.
Lortell chuckled immediately. "There's nothing free except me and my wife's love for each other!" she answered, a playful but firm smile on her face.
Mourya nodded, respecting her response. "It is pretty close to free. Once we conqueror , You just need to announce and sign an agreement that you or your future generations will always be our ally. In short, a peace treaty!"
Lortell didn't say anything for a few seconds. Although she had no desire to be a queen, she wanted to show that she was giving his words enough serious thought.
She nodded to herself and thought for a few more moments, her expression unreadable.
"I need some time. I'll give it some serious thought!" she finally said, her voice calm and measured.