The young man noticed glowing eyes within the bush and stopped moving. His three companions immediately stopped as well.
A large dog the size of an adult human slowly approached from twenty feet away, flanked by two more dogs of a similar size. These dogs had jet-black fur and moved like shadows. Without warning, they ran forward to attack!
Koji Adalwin Becker surged forward with his light footwork, and he met the trio halfway. Swoosh! He drew a saber from each hip in one smooth motion and slashed at the animal's neck.
The dogs ran past him, but two of them stopped once their momentum ceased. Suddenly their heads fell to the ground and rolled away. The bodies collapsed and soon emitted a sizzling sound as if acids poured and devoured them.
However, the four humans didn't pay attention to the dead dogs. Instead, their focus turned on the remaining shadowy creature, which almost reached one of Koji's companions!
The target maintained her calm despite the oncoming danger. Her beautiful face twisted into an arrogant snort. Daethix Colarte Nephosia returned to her lamia form. She lashed out with her thick, snake body and smashed it into her would-be attacker. The tyrannical lamia watched with unbridled glee as the demon hound flew through the air before crashing into a tree like a rag doll. BOOM!
Her protector appeared next to the creature instantly. With a stroke of his saber, Koji decapitated the vicious beast.
The Third Princess of Nephosia nodded her approval at the young man's clean kill of the troublesome demon while folding her arms under her ample chest. She appreciated the ease with which her husband killed these foul beasts with single strokes of his sabers. This fighting style was elegant and worthy of the man who became her Bonder.
"That makes twenty-one demon hounds that you killed, Koji," the second woman in the party noted as she collected the demon core from the ground. The speaker was petite and had green hair cut short in the pixie style. She was Zelea Sagoisa, the Fourth Princess of Nephosia and wife of Koji.
Suddenly, they heard something drop to the ground. The trio turned and saw a little girl laying, face first, on the floor. She wore a white uniform marred with dirt and tears in the fabric.
In an instant, Koji stood next to his royal maid. "Lin Lin, are you okay?" he asked with concern on his face. The nineteen-year-old Prince Consort of the Northern Kingdom of Nephosia turned the ten-year-old girl around and laid Lin Lin flat on her back. He pressed his palm on her forehead and felt her skin was burning!
The brave little girl opened her eyes. "Master Koji, please leave me behind. You need to hurry and save the kingdom!" she pleaded in a small voice.
"We can't continue," Zelea said. She wore a bright red dress with a golden arrow emblazoned on her chest; the garment was similarly dirty and torn from traveling through the Sailan Forest.
"We will camp here," Daethix asserted without room for rejection of her order.
"It's not safe," Koji protested and shook his head. "We fought twenty-one demons already," he reminded her.
Daethix ignored him. She pulled out a tent from her spatial ring. Then the headstrong princess pulled out two blankets and two pillows. Finally, she retrieved travel rations, which consisted of cured ham, nuts, and several biscuits.
Zelea helped Lin Lin sit up and handed the girl a waterskin to drink.
The young maid took a few gulps of the herbal tea, and her small body immediately felt better. Lin Lin's cheeks flushed with shame for her physical weakness. She should have stayed behind in the palace rather than accompany him to escape. Now, the girl was dragging everyone down!
Koji shook his head and sighed softly. Initially, he wished to find a clearing to set up camp; the young man felt the current location wasn't suitable because the trees and shrubs offered too many hiding places for monsters. But since Daethix made her decision, she wouldn't change it. Thus, he didn't bother to argue with her. Instead, the Bonder gathered small pieces of wood from his vicinity to start a fire. He made sure to remain within eyesight of his companions because he worried that more demon beasts would sneak around him to attack his companions.
Of the four persons in the party, only Koji retained his Qi. During the Marriage Celebration festivities in the Nephosian Arena, the two lamias exhausted their Yin Qi to fly over the audience and hand out red envelopes. Koji, on the other hand, spent only a small portion of his Yang Qi for his saber-telling performance. Thus, he had plenty of gas left in the tank.
Lin Lin, on the other hand, was a maid with no cultivation at all; she was the most vulnerable member of the party. When Koji saw her at the Nephosian Palace, the young girl was alone and terrified of what she saw. Since Lin Lin was his maid, he felt protective of her. Therefore, he decided to take her along instead of leaving her behind at the castle. But now, Koji wondered if he made the right decision because she started to drag the rest of the party down.
Koji was very surprised when Daethix prevented Zelea from objecting to his decision. But he appreciated it nonetheless. Before Daethix performed the Bonding Ritual with Koji, he negotiated for the tyrannical woman to treat him as an equal partner in their relationship. Koji was glad she showed her sincerity by allowing him to take Lin Lin along without a word of protest.
The two princesses had foreseen a problem with an ordinary person accompanying Koji during his mission, but Daethix allowed him to make this mistake. Perhaps, she wished to teach Koji a lesson and show that Daethix was smarter than him, and he should let her make all the decisions.
Well, Koji might not be smart like Daethix and Zelea. But he was loyal to his family and loved ones. Since Daethix made Lin Lin his maid, Koji will extend his protection to the little girl as well.
After Koji started the campfire, his companions gathered around it to enjoy its warmth. Nightfall had arrived and with it the evening chill. The group ate dinner in silence.
Daethix looked at Lin Lin and ordered, "Little girl, sleep in the tent."
"Your Highness, I wish to perform my share of the night watch duty," the maid said meekly and bowed her head to Daethix.
The lamia laughed. "If people ambush our camp, what can you do? You are useless. Now be a good little girl and sleep. Or else Koji will worry about you," she replied in a teasing tone of voice. Daethix was surprised the maid had the nerve to talk back to the princess. But she understood the denial was born from the girl's good intentions. Thus, Daethix didn't mind at all. At the same, the tyrant appreciated the maid showing some spine since that was rare among the servants in the palace.
Lin Lin's shoulders sagged upon hearing these hurtful words. She, too, recognized her uselessness but obeyed the royal command. The girl turned around and entered the tent. She laid down and turned her head away. However, the people sitting near the campfire heard her sobbing.
"You didn't need to be so harsh," Zelea admonished her older sister. Lin Lin was very cute, and Zelea barely resisted her motherly instinct to enter the tent and soothe the child.
"It's better to hurt her feelings, and make the girl understand her lack of capabilities," Daethix retorted arrogantly. She created a sound barrier around the tent using the meager amount of Yin Qi she had recovered from this brief respite. "Okay, let's have a frank discussion of our next move."
"What's there to discuss?" Zelea asked. "We're going to the Reid Rose Pinnacle to demand that the Immortal Phoenix give us the Eternal Flame," she said and showed her right fist. "And then we're going to kill it!" she added with a malicious glee in her eyes. The Phoenix had killed her father, the Royal Hunter, and she desired vengeance for his death! Zelea turned and looked at her husband to remind him of his promise.
Koji nodded helplessly. After she performed the Bonding Ritual and forcibly married him, Zelea explained that she wanted him to kill the divine animal to avenge her father's death. And Koji foolishly agreed. But he didn't expect her to ask him to uphold this promise right now! The husband realized he wasn't ready to fight this creature. Doing so will mean courting his death!
Daethix rubbed her temples at the irresponsible words from her younger sister. "Little Zelea, do you think that the divine beast will give us the Eternal Flame just because we ask for it? Besides, will Koji be able to hold it within his body?" she asked. "Also, our Bonder isn't strong enough to fight the divine beast either," she pointed out bluntly.
Koji raised his hand. "Since you mentioned the Eternal Flame, what does it do? Why do we need it?" he interrupted.
The third princess nodded her approval at this vital question. "Now you're starting to use your head, Koji," she praised. "Let's backtrack and discuss what happened in the arena. Our bastard of a brother, Cyreas, betrayed us and gave his body and soul to the demons. He used your Marriage Celebration festivities to create a portal connecting to the Demon Plane. The problem is that creating this entrance is much easier than closing it. Cyreas sacrificed his heart to open it. To destroy it, we need the Eternal Flame to burn it away."
"If that's the case, then what did Queen Herecia do?" Koji asked. He didn't understand why both the king and queen remained in the arena while their children escaped.
Daethix turned and pointed at the tent. "Just like how I used my Yin Qi to create a barrier around the tent, my mother created a barrier to block the portal and prevent the true demons from entering our kingdom," she explained.
"How long can mother keep it up?" Zelea asked with growing concern. "What happens once she runs out of Yin Qi?"
The big sister's face turned grim. "When our mother runs out of Yin Qi, she would normally drop the barrier. But she won't do that. Instead, I'm afraid that she will use her life force to maintain the barrier," Daethix answered with a melancholic expression.
Zelea's eyes widened with disbelief. "Mother will sacrifice her life?" she gasped in horror.
Daethix nodded. Her gaze turned toward Koji. "We are now in a race against time to acquire the Eternal Flame," she stated with helplessness. The third princess appreciated the difficulty of this mission, and she secretly worried that Koji's body couldn't carry the Eternal Flame even if they receive it from the Immortal Phoenix.
Koji noticed her look of concern. "But you think that my body isn't strong enough to accept the Eternal Flame," he pointed out.
"Correct," his wife nodded. "Read to us your menu report," Daethix ordered.
Koji called up his report, and he saw:
"Name: Koji Adalwin Becker
Age: 19
Power: 36,000
Qi: 18,000 (10,000 Yang, 6,000 Yin, 2,000 Wood)
Rank: 9
Skills: Di-Mak Martial Art Tier 4 (9/10)
Wing Chun Martial Art Tier 5 (1/10)
Body Refinement Tier 8 (8/10)
Indomitable Spirit Tier 4 (5/10)
Qi Perception Tier 4 (5/10)
Hurricane Kick Tier 4 (6/10)
Saber Proficiency Tier 5 (8/10)
Regeneration Tier 3 (8/10)
Heal Tier 2 (3/10)
Heart Synchronization Tier 3 (5/10)
Saber-Telling Tier 2 (7/10)
Affinities: Earth, Water, Wood"
The young man quickly read it aloud.
His wives had different reactions. Zelea's eyes widened in surprise, while Daethix offered him a beautiful smile.
"Koji, the gods have truly blessed you!" the third princess praised with open admiration. She remembered that he arrived in Nephosia less than a month ago. And no bonder since her father, Aphraphus, had raised his Rank rapidly like Koji. Her eyes turned serious. "To hold the Eternal Flame within your body, you need to be a Master in Body Refinement, Koji. Otherwise, you will die," Daethix said.
"What tier is that?" Koji asked.
"Tier 11," she answered.
The young bonder sighed. Koji understood the difficulty in raising his tiers. Koji immediately inserted his Qi into four his gravity talismans and increased the dial from 5g to 8g. He received these items as a wedding gift from King Aphraphus, and they would help temper his body continuously by making it several times heavier than usual.
"Also, Zelea and I need to spend some time cultivating to replenish our Yin Qi," Daethix continued. "This means we need you to stand guard tonight," she added.
"You can count on me," Koji replied. Frankly, he expected this. He had watched both princesses flying around the arena while pretending to be tooth fairies and giving all those red envelopes to the spectators. Koji knew that his wives had drained most of their Yin Qin for the performance, and they needed to spend a lot of time cultivating their Qi. On the other hand, he eagerly anticipated the night watch duty and using that time to practice his skills.
The two princesses began to cultivate side-by-side before the campfire. Zelea returned to her lamia form to match her big sister. Both women coiled their snake bodies on the ground and kept their human torsos upright.
The young bonder watched them in silence for several minutes before he quietly moved further away from camp.