It was early afternoon, and sharp cnking sounds resonated throughout the fortress repeatedly, followed by the buzzing echo of electricity.

  “Tsk, you became harder again!” Poli rotated his wrist, holding the sword shimmering in soft blue light as it was spewing sparks, while Zern was standing before him, only wearing his shorts, blocking.

  His entire body was covered in a shining, metallic luster as if he were a steel statue. Even his hair and eyes were silvery, solid as ever. Every time Poli hit him, he was covered with hot red sword strikes, but his form didn't budge, dispersing Poli's electricity, forcing the markings to slowly cool down, disappearing as his skin regenerated. Seeing that Poli had stopped, he also exhaled, letting himself return to a normal human appearance.

  “Still, it’s not enough. I need my full energy to be put behind it to hold up against your sword. I can only sustain it for 5 minutes, tops.”

  “But you know this sword of mine is not made from normal materials.” Poli shrugged, looking at his sword that never once needed to be sharpened, nor was it ever chipped, no matter what he hit with it.

  “Yes, and we saw demon folk block it with their bodies... yet it's fine.”

  “True. Anyway, against human weapons, you are probably invulnerable.” He ughed as he sheathed his sword.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Isha came up, throwing a wet towel against Zern’s face. “How’s your wound?”

  “Completely healed. No problems.” He spped the scar on his abdomen, which was slowly fading, soon being nothing more than a memory.

  “Good to hear!” Ren came up to them while Rem followed her closely, now wearing a small, white-brown leather outfit simir to theirs. “We have orders.” Ren continued, looking back at Leinor, who was catching up to the group.

  “Where are we going next?” Poli asked.

  “We are to meet with another Fairy tribe," Leinor expined, "Rem will be our main point of contact. Word got out, and one of our outposts was contacted by them. My Eldest Brother left in advance to verify their presence, and his letter arrived this morning. It’s legit. He already made contact.”

  “I’ll work hard!” Rem added happily.

  “Everyone should get ready." Ren added, "We will be on our way by daybreak. Any questions?”

  Nobody said anything, just nodded, which made Ren smile as she asked Rem to go and take a letter to her father. After she left, everyone knew she still had something to say... It was evident from her eyes that the only reason for sending Rem away was that it was something confidential.

  “It’s not the fairies, is it?” Isha sighed.

  “That part was true. But there is more... We are being pyed as the bait.”

  “I fucking knew it!” Isha held her temple with a helpless expression.

  “The Intelligence Agency lost a few men but discovered which tribe is searching and eliminating every presence of ours they come across." Ren continued, "They are a bunch of apes. We are leading them to a predesignated point. And when we searched for a spot... we discovered a fairy vilge where we wanted to set the ambush. It’s a valley, northeast of here.” Ren expined as she unfolded a small map showing the topography. “It’s surrounded by three hills, covered in thick vegetation. We have pnned to establish an 'outpost' there and make it appear as if we had people stationed down in the valley. Our main objective was to bury the monkeys as they enter, but we found out fairies poputed it...”

  “How many?” Zern asked.

  “Around two hundred,” Leinor answered with a shrug.

  “Ouch…” Poli smacked his lips, looking at the duo.

  “Yes..." Ren agreed, "Prince Feynor has arrived at the scene, starting the negotiation to move them, but the fairies understandably are still not too trusting of us. We go there with Rem and make them leave. Preferably as soon as possible!”

  "What about the bait part?” Zern asked.

  “We will act as the scouting party for the garrison. We must make it look like we are to stay in the valley, and that way, we will lure the monkeys in.” Leinor continued, already knowing the whole pn.

  “Sounds dangerous. I like it!” Poli grinned, smacking his lips.

  “Hah!” Ren smirked at his sword. “Stop it, maverick! We are not going there to fight. The intel says they are composed of only evolved warriors, numbering around two dozen. We would be no match...”

  “Double Fuck…” Isha cursed, looking more and more annoyed.

  “Our job is not to fight but to lead!" Ren repeated, "We will maintain a safe distance and leave enough traces so they can follow us. The main force of the battle will comprise the Emperor, my Father, and my Mother at the helm.”

  The announcement stunned everyone except Leinor, who was with Ren when they received the briefing.

  “Will we see the Emperor fight?” Zern asked, amazed by the possibility.

  “Yes. This will be a show of force on our part and the complete destruction of our enemies. The Imperial Guards themselves will take to the field! It will also be my first time seeing this many Harmony Realm fighters duke it out..." Ren grinned, "So everyone should feel lucky. It will be a great experience to see them fight, and it will give us inspiration on how to approach our breakthroughs.”

  “What about Rem?” Isha asked.

  “We will protect her while she is with us." She shrugged, "She doesn’t need to know about this, and she will leave with the other group of fairies. It’s best not to stress her mind with it. Also, this is a strict 'need to know only' operation. We go, complete what we are told, and follow orders from the higher-ups. We can’t screw up the overall pn. Got it?”

  “Yes, Sir!” the group answered in unison, followed by the sighing voice of Isha.

  “Good. Also, if I remember correctly...” Ren said with a sly smile, “I won the previous bet with the wasps… so when we go home… be prepared~!”

  “I object!" Isha raised a hand at once, "We didn’t have the time to round up the numbers correctly!” She stood out with a provoking gaze, hands on her hips.

  “I hear you, I hear you." Ren nodded, raising her hands, "Tell you what, Boobies, we will hold a tiebreaker match after all this; what do you say?”

  “I’m in, mini-bitch!” she grinned.

  “Nice, looking forward to it! Now disperse! Eat your dinners, and go to sleep early!”

  After everyone left, she and Leinor stayed atop the walls as she leaned forward at the edge, watching the horizon.

  “Is something bothering you?” Leinor asked as he leaned next to her.

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me.” He said as he gently stroked her silver, long hair, now worn in a ponytail.

  “I’m still a virgin.”

  “Ugh!?”

  “Ouch! Don’t pull my hair! Or if you are into it, then sure, but be more gentle at first!” She giggled as her head was almost yanked backward by the sudden reaction of Leinor.

  “S-sorry. That came out of nowhere.”

  “Gotcha! You let your guard down. It was an easy score. You’ve been sloppy tely~!” Ren ughed, looking up at him, grabbing onto his shirt, pulling down so that she could tiptoe and kiss his lips. “Be a man already and strike first; you got used to me taking the lead, right? I spoiled you rotten~!” she whispered as their lips separated.

  “It’s just not appropriate here! We are in the army, and we have ranks-” Leinor said, but he couldn’t continue as Ren sealed his lips again with hers.

  “Shut it. We are alone now… Let me enjoy the moment…”

  …….…..

  “You are pretty fast, Rem.” Ren ughed, nding next to the little fairy who stopped on a tree branch, picking a ripe peach and biting into it with a happy face. Her reddish wings quickly fluttered at the compliment, releasing beautiful pixie dust all over the air, signaling her enjoyment.

  “I like flying in between the trees; it’s fun!” Rem replied happily, holding up the fruit so Ren could also take a bite. “It’s yummy, isn’t it, Big Sis?” she ughed happily.

  “Yup, it is!” Ren said while taking a small bite out of the juicy fruit held up by her smiling new little sister.

  “Big Sis, huh? And where is she big exactly?” Isha arrived, scanning Ren up and down, and soon the others caught up too, catching Ren's pouting expression.

  “Hmf, mind your business, Boobies. Let me enjoy the moment!”

  “Ahahaha, okay, okay, I won’t take this from you, kid.” She stuck her tongue out.

  “Ugh… you…” Ren shook her head. “Are we close?”

  “By our designated route, we are getting closer,” Leinor said, checking his compass.

  “We are!” nodded Rem. “I can smell the other's scent!”

  “You do?”

  “Uhum! When we fly, we leave a trail so the little ones can find us and return if they wander too far away! I smell the scent of another fairy who was here a few days ago. They have a nice smell! Really nice!” Rem hopped from one leg to another while finishing the peach, throwing the seed out, far away, so it could find a pce to grow into a tree one day. “This way!”

  Following the small, plump, little joyball, they soon arrived at a steep and high hill. Looking down from the top, they could see a valley with old ruins, maybe some kind of old logging town, now overgrown with vegetation and hundreds of colorful flowers. They saw the group of Feynor who were already here, camping at the valley’s entrance, while a lot of small butterflies were fluttering in the air around their evolved parents.

  “Pretty nice…” Zern murmured.

  “Isn’t it? Isn’t it?” Rem cpped happily, and soon she flew down to meet them, without asking if she could come over and py.

  “Sadly, this pce will be bathed in blood soon. Let’s move out. The earlier we can send them away, the better!” Ren sighed in a calm voice, then raced downwards, right after Rem.

  It didn't take long for Rem to ease the mood of the others, as they became especially curious about the never-before-seen clothes she was wearing and how she got something like this, while the rest stopped at the valley's entrance, walking up to the First Prince.

  “Eldest Brother.” Leinor greeted him while Feynor just smiled at them.

  “Good to have all of you here. Hopefully, this time everything will go smoothly.”

  “Please, don’t jinx it.” Ren grimaced.

  “Ahaha, what, are you superstitious perhaps?”

  “What can go wrong, goes wrong,” Ren commented, shaking her head with a sour expression.

  “I never knew you were that kind of girl, Ren, hmm….” Feynor murmured, amused by her reaction, “Soon you will tell me you believe in gods! The old faith is still present, but fewer and fewer people follow it.”

  “Old faith?” she whispered because it was only old in their perspective, but it was pretty new to her. “I don’t care about it, but about Gods... I believe in the existence of powerful individuals who may seem like gods to us. But not in the omnipotent, ever-present kind.”

  “Interesting. We need a good night's talk once we get back to the capital.” Feynor chuckled.

  “Sorry, I’m already taken!” Ren joked, unable to leave it at that.

  “Ahahaha, I start to see why Leinor is so infatuated with you!” He ughed as he spped her shoulders.

  “How’s the evacuation going?”

  “Not good. They won’t leave." Feynor shrugged, "They are distrusting, and I can’t bme them. We just show up one day, scaring the living daylight out of them, and then say they need to move right now. Hell, I would’ve-”

  “Okay, they are going!” Rem’s ughing voice came as she flew back with three other fairies in tow, who were also the epitome of curvy, ripe goddesses in the colors of green, pink, and blue, with sparkling wings behind their backs. Just like Rem's tribe, they were wearing only leaves, looking a bit scared and apologetic at the same time.

  “What…?” Feynor blinked his eyes, almost not believing his ears.

  “I told them how you saved our lives and what’s coming here." Rem smiled innocently, "They don’t want to get eaten by them, so they said they are willing to follow us out! Why?” Rem blinked her eyes with confusion because this was why they came, not understanding Feynor’s befuddlement.

  “Get used to it. They are too pure for our thoughts!” Ren whispered to Feynor.

  “I see that….” The prince nodded, but soon he gently bowed towards the other fairies. “Thank you for listening to us.”

  “No, no, no! W-we need to thank you… If… if not, we would’ve been massacred!” The pink-colored fairy replied with a sweet, charming voice, pying with her hair.

  “We didn’t know humans were this kind!” Another added.

  “Um, they are!” Rem nodded proudly. “Where are we going?” she asked, as she never knew the next part, looking questioningly at Ren.

  “The safest pce is back the way we came. Do you remember the route?”

  “Sure!” Rem nodded.

  “Good! Then help them arrive there. The Pass is already prepared for them. From there, they can either stay with us under protection or go wherever they want to. We have pces in our empire for them to inhabit or take up residence near somewhere in the forest, where we can quickly help out if trouble arrives. It’s their decision. We won’t force them to choose. That was my Father’s orders.”

  “Mm.” Feynor nodded approvingly as it was his suggestion to his father, and it seemed they took heed.

  “Okay! Then let’s go, Big Sis!” Rem cpped happily.

  “No, only you, we stay.”

  “Eh? Why? I-it's dangerous!” Rem yelled, suddenly scared.

  “We know. But don’t worry, we will stay because we will catch some monkeys to py with! Rex, Rem.” Ren ughed as she patted the now teary-eyed little fairy. “Everything will be fine!”

  Clearly, the others, too shocked to react, looked at them worryingly, not knowing why anyone would want to stay and fight... or possibly die.

  “Rex, Puffy!” Isha said, patting Rem’s butt. “It will be over and done before the sun sets. We will be back in a day or two~!”

  “Y-you sure? You will, won’t you? Promise you will! You must!” Rem gasped while flying all over them, asking with a trembling voice.

  “We will. Promise!” Leinor nodded, smiling at her when she flew up to him.

  Rem wanted to say something more, but soon she wiped her tears and nodded rapidly.

  “Um! You will! I’ll wait for you!” She tried to seem confident, but she was still on the verge of tears. Finally, after Ren's confident smile, she finally left, leading the army of butterflies away as they disappeared into the trees like they never were there.

  “Adorable!” Poli sighed, looking after them. “They are full of love. I have never seen anybody act like this before.”

  “I wonder how many other tribes in the forest are like them. Well, if word gets out that we are helping the weaker tribes... we may see them!” Feynor thought out loud.

  “We will indeed see the answer to that question when that happens. But..." Ren cut in, "We should focus on the now!”

  “Mmm, let’s clear up the valley and set up a 'base' as quick as we can.” Feynor grinned as it was time to y down the actual bait...