Chapter 720: Disbelief |
Dogkin, thousands of them, flooded into the streets, weapons drawn. But their expressions were full of disbelief.
Their eyes widened as they took in the city around them. Emberfang was burning. The walls were scorched. The gates shattered. Corpses of lionkin and beasts littered the streets.
"Did… that little detachment cause all this?"
"Did they… really take the city on their own?"
"Impossible!"
"Where's Father?" Kitsara asked, interrupting their gawking.
The nearest warriors jolted. Their heads snapped to her, and their eyes bulged as they took in her features.
"The princess…"
"Lady Kitsara…"
"This way, my lady," he said with a tremble in his voice.
I followed as the soldiers parted for us.
After a minute or so, I saw him. Vargis stood at the center of the road, already in conversation with a familiar face. Darius. Kitsara's brother.
He was holding an item up in one hand, laughing. It was the lionkin skull of the captain he'd slain in battle. It seemed he preserved the head even while running around Emberfang, massacring everyone.
Vargis seemed impressed, nodding along at whatever story Darius was spinning. But then, his gaze turned to me, and his expression changed.
"Brother!" Darius roared, his grin stretching wider. He tossed the skull to the hands of his father and stomped toward me and began merrily patting my shoulder like we hadn't just torn an entire city to pieces.
I smirked.
"Looks like someone had fun."
"This was… The! Best! Day! Ever!" His usual composure was nowhere to be seen; the pure joy of having killed so many lionkin was coursing through his veins as if it were a drug.
He wasn't the only one high off the slaughter.
Two more figures emerged from the bloodied streets: Vex and Raika.
Gone were the pristine styles they usually favored. Vex's signature white kendo-style uniform had been soaked to a dark maroon, every inch of fabric caked in gore. Raika's trendy black outfit didn't fare any better; whatever chic she'd been going for earlier was now lost under a layer of dried blood and war grit. Not even their faces had escaped; each of them wore a red mask made not of paint or war paint, but death.
They looked terrifying. But also incredibly gorgeous… There was an odd charm to their utterly feral appearance.
To my surprise, Vex didn't stop at a respectable distance. She just kept walking… until her arms wrapped tightly around my waist and her head nestled into my chest with a quiet sigh, like she belonged there.
"Thank you," she murmured. "I've never killed so many lionkin in a single day."
Ah. So that was it.
I chuckled softly, letting my arms wrap around her in return, pulling her against me without the slightest hesitation. I didn't care about the blood—hers or anyone else's. She was beautiful even like this. Maybe especially like this. There was something obscenely attractive about a woman drenched in the blood of her enemies, victorious and exhausted in my arms.
She looked up at me, eyes sparkling under the dried crimson that streaked her cheeks. Then she giggled.
"I might have to ask you to make me another bath for me…" she teased, voice low and velvety. "Like last time."
A grin curled across my lips. "Does that mean I'll get to hold you like last time?"
Only a cheeky smirk was the response I got from this adorable woman.
"I'll make sure it's extra comfy then."
Her cheeks flushed beneath the blood, and she laughed again.
Vargis took this opportunity to remind us of his presence. "So, is anyone gonna tell me how the small group of yours conquered Emberfang?"
"Sure!" Kitsara chirped and began detailing the whole event. It took her only a few minutes. But by the end, Vargis's lips were twitching violently. I didn't quite understand what the issue was until he looked at Darius and growled, "… You sent my daughter into a city full of lionkin in her lonesome."
Seeing the troubled face of the prince, I knew he was in trouble. I rushed to his rescue. "Papa Vargis," his head snapped in my direction and his eyes narrowed into fiery slits, letting me know he hated the way I called him. Naturally, I ignored it and continued while strengthening my hold around the strangely needy Vex.
"Kitsara is not just your daughter but a combatant with incredible future prospects. I completely understand your desire to coddle her, but you'll only stunt her growth if you keep this up. Look at what she did today: without her, we never would've achieved this historical feat. She was the backbone of it all.
"Hmm!" Kitsara seemed to be incredibly proud; she even puffed her heavenly chest out during my torrent of praise.
"It worked today, but what about tomorrow?" Vargis asked. "I know perfectly well that one needs to take risks to soar high into the skies, but not unneeded risks. They have to be calculated. Walking into a lionkin city in her lonesome, trusting powers she hadn't had the time to master, is nothing but a fool's errand."
"But Papa Vargis!" Kitsara protested, which somehow made the old dogkin's eyes even more hostile as he glared at me, telling me he wanted nothing more than to strangle me. "My hubby was with me the whole time! He's just as protective of me as you are; he wouldn't have allowed me to do this alone!"
"… what do you mean?"
Rad latest chaptrs at novёl.ƈom Only.
"It's another one of what me and the girls like to call 'Quin's bullshit powers.'"
"Oh."
That's it? He understood it with that much?
"… I still don't like it!" he growled while stomping on the ground with his right foot, making the stone crumble beneath his might.
"You're too old to throw a hissy fit… And, well, you've already given me to Quin so… Sucks to be you?" Kitsara asked with a coy smirk, giggling as the veins bulged on Vargis's forehead.
As the dogkin people's flag was now proudly displayed on the walls of Emberfang, heralding its fall, it was time to resume the war with the lionkin and their allies. Although the conflict had only just started, we were making good progress, pushing them in from all sides.
Perhaps this war would be a swift one.