The city no longer scread.
From the citadel's open gallery, Leonhardt watched the smoke drift lower, lazier—like the city had finally exhaled. The fires had mostly died down. Only a few embers clung to the far outer wards, and the ash-stained wind no longer carried the scent of burning skin.
Zafira stood beside him, arms folded, her golden eyes half-lidded as if bored. But she wasn't, because when close to Leonhardt, it was impossible.
She was watching everything.
Her wings fluttered each ti she t his glance, letting her long tail coil around his, as she struggled to deal with his changes.
An Incubus and Succubus that engaged in sexual acts beca bonded... though they were yet to go further since he transford because of her embarrassnt.
At the centre of the table, a blue gemstone pulsed softly. Mounted in a spider-silver fra, it hovered just above a scrying plate, displaying a shifting mosaic of images: goblins unloading stone bricks, humans scrubbing blood from stairs, smiths lting down old noble crests for scrap.
It was the creation of a new city. Not restored. Rewritten.
Lina bowed her head, her white priestess garb now touched with soot at the hem. She didn't clean it.
"This morning, three workshops opened in the northern sector," she said, voice reverent. "Trade with the outer villages has resud. Eight humans volunteered for the militia. Two already asked to convert."
"To what?" Leonhardt asked absently.
"To us," Lina said, smiling.
Zafira let out a small sound, sothing between amusent and pride. "They want to kneel. They just need sowhere to fall."
Leonhardt's eyes shifted between the two won before he asked.
"What do they kneel for?"
"You!" The pair of won responded with a bright voice.
Leonhardt reached toward the crystal and let it shift again.
He saw the outer wards—new signs, hand-painted in three languages. Embervale. Trade Quarter. Curfew Line. Goblins and humans walked the sa streets. Not together. Not yet.
But they weren't killing each other.
Griv stepped forward, gloves spotless, silver tray in one hand.
"Morning report, Sire," he said. "The corpses have all been removed. The stench? Almost tolerable."
Leonhardt sipped from the cup Griv handed him.
"Almost."
He then tapped his white marble throne and nodded.
"Griv, you can use 5,000 DP to clean the city," Leonhardt said calmly, tapping the armrest of the white marble throne. "Make the slums sowhere even nobles wouldn't mind living. I don't want filth in my city."
He exhaled slowly, fingers resting on his chin.
"Darkness is fine... but filth belongs to the old world. If they've chosen , then I'll raise them like my own children."
"How noble," Zafira muttered, golden eyes sharp as she sipped from a ruby-stemd glass. Her lips curled. "Pity so of your children are already playing house without you."
Leonhardt didn't turn.
"Speak plainly, Zafira."
"The Crimson Hawks," she said, tone cold. "Your little rcenary group. The one you left to Erina and those two perverts."
Behind her casual tone, jealousy simred.
"You an the ones stabilizing the south while I ta the basin?"
She pouted, wings shifting with frustration. "They're drawing eyes. Especially Asuka. She's not subtle."
Lina cleared her throat delicately, stepping between the tension.
"My King," she began, bowing her head, "the churches have fully withdrawn. Their cathedrals lie abandoned. Many forr believers now worship the fla tree instead. We've begun reissuing the tithe system, but under Embervale Law—based on rit and public good, not lineage or family na."
"Good," Leonhardt murmured.
Zafira rolled her eyes, muttering sothing about "overachieving human girls" under her breath.
"Any unrest?"
"Only the usual," Lina replied. "A few nobles refusing to relinquish old symbols. One attempted to restore the rcian crest last night."
"And?"
"Gobbolas shot it off his rooftop. His head too, I believe."
Leonhardt's smile was slight.
The crystal flashed again, shifting to a quiet forest trail beyond Embervale's southern border.
A camp ca into view—canvas stretched between charred trees, dark elf scouts moving through the brush. The fla tree's light didn't reach this far.
Erina's figure ca into focus.
Hair bound in a simple braid, her priestess robes now shortened and dirt-stained. Her fingers clutched a sword, unfamiliar and awkward. But her eyes—sharp and determined.
Leonhardt leaned forward.
"Show more."
——
Erina POV
——
The camp slled like firewood, moss, and sothing older—like wild earth clinging to every breath. Erina wiped her palms on her thigh wraps, then checked the blade strapped to her hip. Still clean. Still unused.
She hated that.
Behind her, a snort echoed under the canvas.
"You're holding that like a kitchen knife," Asuka muttered, rolling onto her side in Leonhardt's bedroll—because of course she'd brought it. "If a bandit shows up, don't expect to peel him for you."
"I can handle it," Erina said, quieter than intended.
Sylvie didn't comnt. She just adjusted the collar of her shirt, which hung slightly open to reveal pale skin marked faintly by Leonhardt's teeth. The marks hadn't faded. She didn't try to hide them.
"Mm. I miss the warmth," Sylvie said, voice soft, mist curling from her lips with every word. "This air is too dry. And not nearly enough of his heat..."
Asuka stretched, her brown skin gleaming with sweat, eyes narrowed. "I keep dreaming about it, you know."
Erina stiffened.
"His mouth. His hands. The way his cock—"
"Enough!" she snapped, face burning. "He's not… we're not…"
"You didn't moan like that for not," Asuka teased.
Sylvie tilted her head, her cool eyes thoughtful. "You gripped his back pretty tight when he pulled your legs over his shoulders."
Erina covered her ears.
'Why does it always co to sex!?'
The very ntion of Leonhardt caused Erina's body to throb, the scent of his breath, a faint musk that drove her brain mad with lust and desire. If he were to ask... then her body would surrender to him in a heartbeat.
'Leonhardt... I hate you!'
She hated how hot her skin felt. How tight her chest beca when she rembered the pressure inside her, the way his body moved—unshaken, unrciful. She hated that the thought of it still made her legs press together without thinking.
She was supposed to be pure. A Saintess.
But all she could think about was the curved shape of his cock and how it felt when it hit—
No.
Focus.
She gripped the blade again, her knuckles pale.
"Let's just finish the mission," she said. "The scouts said the dark elves have a local contact waiting. Once we et them, we move."
Asuka whistled.
"Still trying to pray the cock out of your mind, huh?"
"I will cut you."
Sylvie's soft laugh echoed behind them.
The trees lood ahead, twisting, darker, older than the ones back ho.
Erina didn't look back.
She had to move forward.
Even if his touch still echoed inside her.
The woods were wrong.
That was Erina's first thought as they crossed beneath the black-limbed trees. The air shifted—thicker, heavier. Like sothing crawled along her skin with every step. Magic clung to the roots. Hunger clung to the leaves.
They reached the stone arch in silence.
A weathered crescent carved from obsidian, etched in runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. Sothing ancient slept beneath it—and was starting to wake.
Then a voice called out.
"Too slow."
They turned as one.
She stood on a branch just above the arch—one leg bent, the other stretched out lazily, like she'd been watching for hours.
Long violet hair spilt over her shoulder, tied loosely at the ends. Erald eyes stared down at them, sharp and narrowed. Her lean, muscular body was wrapped in black leather and spider silk—tight across her thighs, modest in the chest, yet undeniably erotic in how unbothered she looked by her naked skin.
Asuka tensed, hand on her sword. "That the contact?"
"Don't act so stupid, Lizard, we've t many tis."
"She's dark elf," Sylvie said softly, frost condensing on her collar. "And strong."
The woman dropped from the tree and landed without a sound.
"I'm Nyxara," she said, eyes flicking across the group before locking on Erina. "We've not had the chance to speak much, you must be Erina... Hmm..."
"W-What?"
Erina's voice trembled as the dark elf wrapped around her and sniffed her neck, before pulling back. "Tsk... no wonder he wants to fuck you."
Erina swallowed. "We were sent to—"
"I know why you're here," Nyxara cut in. She took a step forward. "You sll like him."
Erina froze. "W-what?"
Nyxara tilted her head. "Our master." Her eyes narrowed. "Tasted you, didn't he?"
Asuka coughed. "That's none of your—"
"Did he cum in your mouth?" Nyxara asked Erina directly, voice flat. "Or sowhere deeper?"
Erina's face went red, then pale.
Sylvie sighed. "She's direct," she said, almost admiringly.
Nyxara didn't react to the label. She just kept walking until she was inches from Erina. She leaned in, voice low.
"If he marked you, then you're under my inspection and a rival. I don't share easily."
Erina stumbled back, flushed and furious.
Nyxara turned to the others.
"There are slavers at our western ridge. Poison-using trash. If you want our trust, you help us crush them."
Asuka grinned. "Now we're talking."
Sylvie nodded. "Lead the way."
Erina's heart still pounded.
Nyxara's gaze lingered a little too long before she turned.
"My Lord chose you. Let's see if you deserve to follow him."
The woods swallowed her figure as she walked.
And Erina, fists clenched, followed.
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