With the letter in hand, Strax looked at the seal and immediately recognized the crest of his family: the Vorah. It was a sight that brought a mix of nostalgia and unease. It was something he hadn''t seen in a long time, not since Scarlet had torn him away from his old life and thrown him into a whirlwind of problems he could barely keep up with.


    For a moment, he just stared at the seal, his fingers hesitating before he tore it. Family. The word carried a weight he wasn''t sure he wanted to revisit. But in the end, curiosity and a sense of responsibility overcame him. With a quick and somewhat clumsy motion, he broke the seal, the sound of the paper ripping echoing through the room.


    He sighed, already feeling the weight of the words toe, briefly wishing he could just go back to sleep and dy the inevitable. But the contents of the letter pulled him into a reality he couldn''t ignore. He began to read, his neutral expression slowly changing as the words of the letter sank into his mind.


    "How''s it going, brother?


    I heard from Veronica that a lot has been happening with you. I''m sorry I''m not around to protect you from that woman..."


    Strax snorted quietly, a crooked smile appearing on his face. "That woman..." He knew exactly who his sister was talking about. Scarlet. The memory of the "kidnapping" and everything that followed quickly shed through his mind, but he kept reading.


    "I''m currently at the Royal Castle. My days have been... intriguing. I''m almost breaking through to the Emperor Level, thanks to an old friend of yours... Kryssia has been training me in my spare time. After all, well, she doesn''t have much to do around here."


    "Kryssia? Friend? I want that woman to die..." Strax murmured to himself, raising an eyebrow. The name brought back memories of a different time, of that crazy woman who controlled ice and tried to kill him. He shook his head, setting aside the ''nostalgia,'' and continued.


    "As for the marriage…"


    By the time he reached this part, he furrowed his brow, sensing the tone of the letter was about to shift.


    "…it seems like it''s being pushed forward. I don''t know how much time we have left to stop it. I''m in the Capital and I''ll try to buy more time, but... it seems we''ll soon be dered an Empire."


    The weight of this information hit Strax like a punch to the stomach. An Empire? His mind began to race, processing the implications. He already knew this would happen eventually, as Kryssia had been tasked with conquering the surroundingnds to expand the power of the Human Empire, but he didn''t expect it to be... this quick.


    "I miss you.


    Your sister, Xenovia Vorah."


    Strax let the letter rest in his hands, his fingers running over the paper as if he could extract more from it than the words had said. He sat in silence for a moment, staring into space, before finally speaking.


    "Well... looks like my sister has big ns for me," he murmured, a touch of irony in his voice.


    Samira, who had been watching his expression the whole time, tilted her head, curious. "So, how much time until the wedding you''re going to ruin?"


    Strax let out a low but darkugh, tossing the letter aside and stretching. "Enough time for me to wake up properly... and maybe have a coffee before making a mess." He shed a cheeky smile at Samira. "After all, if there''s one thing the Vorah are good at, it''s turning kingdoms upside down."


    Scarlet, overhearing this, gave a small smile. "Are you preparing to leave?" she asked.


    "Leave? Without My Four Vampire Wives? Oh no, forget it," he joked, then began to rise.


    "Currently," he began, stretching, "I want to go to the Capital and retrieve my sister." He said, "However... I still have some unfinished business..." He turned to Scarlet.


    "I need an Alchemist and a cksmith, preferably an Elf and a Dwarf." He smiled, "And of course... I want the best you can get... I need 5 perfect bodies." He grinned...


    ''It''s time to get the bodies of my beautiful dragon wives.'' He thought, smiling, something that all of them heard, deep inside Strax, in the dimension where the spirits inside his body resided...


    "FINALLY!!" Ouroboros screamed in the spiritual space, her voice filled with excitement and a hint of hysteria. "I''ll finally be free from this stupid fantasy world! I''ll be able to touch my dear!!" She spun around in the air like a child who had just received the greatest gift of all.


    "You''re exaggerating..." Tiamatmented, crossing her arms and casting a skeptical look at her friend, although she couldn''tpletely hide a small smile at the corner of her mouth.


    "Well, it''s a relief to leave here," Kamus, the spectral figure,mented with his usual calmness. "Even though I''ve been dead for so long and am used to this... ''existence,'' returning to the world of the living is a rare gift."


    Tiamat seemed lost in her own thoughts when something started to bother her. "Wait a minute..." she said, furrowing her brow. "He mentioned... five bodies, right?"


    "Hm? Yes, he said five," Ouroboros responded, still smiling with a childlike gleam in her eyes.


    "But... weren''t there three?" Tiamat insisted, tilting her head slightly, her tone now tinged with suspicion. "Me, you, and that... slut Xyn," she added, with a clear air of disdain as she spoke about the third member.


    Ouroboros stopped spinning, her smile freezing as her brain finally processed the information. She blinked a few times, evaluating Tiamat''sment. "Four, I''d understand... after all, Kamus is here too..." She threw a questioning nce at Kamus, who simply shrugged. "...But five?"


    A soft, maliciousugh echoed in the spiritual space, interrupting all their thoughts. A new voice,den with seduction and mischief, manifested.


    "You all seem to be forgetting someone," the voice teased, as though enjoying their confusion. The women quickly turned, searching for the source of the interruption.


    The ethereal figure of Lithara, the subus queen, slowly emerged, floating around them with a predatory smile on her lips. Her eyes gleamed with malice as her tailzily swayed behind her.


    "I''m still here, you know? I don''t know how you can ignore the presence of the queen of subi," Lithara dered, her voice overflowing with confidence and amusement.


    "Lithara..." Tiamat murmured, narrowing her eyes.


    "Ah, of course, it had to be you," Ouroboros responded, crossing her arms with an exaggerated sigh. "As always, you show up just to steal the spotlight."


    "The spotlight only exists because I make sure to keep it interesting," Lithara shot back, winking at Ouroboros as she continued to float gracefully around them. "Anyway, if he mentioned five bodies, well... sorry, darlings, but I''m the fifth piece of this puzzle."


    "That still doesn''t make sense," Tiamat insisted, now with a tone of irritation. "You shouldn''t even be here."


    "Oh, Tiamat, darling," Lithara replied, her voice dripping with mockery. "You should know by now that I don''t need a reason to be wherever I want. The question is: what are we going to do now that we''re about to manifest in the world of the living?"


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    Kamus, who had been silently observing the interaction with an impassive expression, sighed deeply, interrupting the two.


    "Just shut the hell up..." Kamus shouted, his voice filled with frustration, echoing through the spiritual space. His patience was clearly wearing thin. "I''m so tired of this, what''s your problem with this subus? All because Strax disappeared for a while? Oh,e on, just ignore it and learn to live with it! You''re not children!"


    The room fell silent for a moment, the tension thick in the air. Tiamat and Lithara stared at each other, their expressions a mix of surprise and difort with Kamus'' audacity.


    "Tsk, stupid dragon," Tiamat muttered as she turned and vanished.


    "Stupid subus," Ouroboros said, disappearing right after.


    "Great," Kamus murmured, before vanishing as well...


    ...


    [Capital]


    Xenovia and Kryssia were in the training field, thendscape around them marked by shattered trees and cracked earth, testaments to the violent exchanges of blows between the two. The sound of steel shing against steel echoed through the air, as their bodies moved with precision and agility, each of their attacks visibly calcted.


    Xenovia, now with a serious and focused expression, was in peak form, her sword slicing through the air with skill, cutting with a finesse that hadn''t been seen before. The pressure of her de against Kryssia''s was no longer awkward; she was learning, and quickly.


    Kryssia, with her calm smile, seemed to be the embodiment of tranquility, effortlessly dodging and blocking Xenovia''s strikes as if she were dancing, yet each defensive move carried power. She seemed more like a master than a friend, guiding the young warrior on the path to strength.


    During a brief pause, the two stepped back, breathing heavily, but with a sense of satisfaction in the air.


    "You''ve improved," Kryssia remarked, her voice one of someone evaluating every movement with a keen eye. "But you still need more control over your energy."


    "I know..." Xenovia sighed, frustration visible in her eyes. She lowered her sword with a nearly imperceptible motion, as if her mind was torn between the fight and what else was happening outside of the training field. "I''m still not where I should be."


    "You''re being too hard on yourself," Kryssia observed with a smile that, while gentle, carried a hint of reproach. "No one achieves perfection overnight."


    Xenovia let out a shortugh, her words more bitter than they should have been. "Maybe, but I''m racing against time... and that marriage."@@novelbin@@


    Kryssia raised an eyebrow, clear interest in her gaze. "Ah, the marriage." She stepped a little closer, her tone bing more serious. "What do you think, Xenovia? Will he be able to stop it?"


    Xenovia hesitated for a moment, her eyes drifting to the horizon as if searching for answers somewhere beyond the battlefield. "I... don''t know. Strax has always been unpredictable." She nced at Kryssia with a half-smile. "But if there''s one thing he knows how to do well, it''s cause chaos."


    Kryssia chuckled softly but soon regained herposure. "I can''t wait to fight him again," she smiled.