Sarah felt her back being soaked in a cold sweat when Yasenia's unrestrained killing intent swallowed her.
The dragoness's slit pupils had thinned into lines, and her voice boomed like a dragon roar as she shouted. "You ungrateful woman! I haven't revealed the fact that you are a human out of consideration of our past friendship; I gave you a place to stay without you needing to worry about anything, even at the cost of being discovered for housing humans! I gave you resources, status, and living conditions, cultivators ten times stronger than you would dream about! I kept you informed, gave you elder-level privileges, and even shared and traded with you information you would wish to know, like the date of this secret realm! Yet you say that I'm trying to bully you!? That I am toying with you!? That I forced myself on someone!?"
Sarah was startled, and her heart skipped a beat out of fright.
Then, she realized that something in what Yasenia had said was too dangerous for herself, but it was too late to stop her.
Meanwhile, Yasenia summoned her sword and was about to continue when she saw the faces of the four beast human women behind Sarah open their eyes widely while looking at Sarah.
As sharp as she was with emotions, she could realize that there was not only surprise but a sense of betrayal in those eyes. 'Huh?'
Of them all, the one who loved Sarah the most, Harmony, screamed at Yasenia, her eyes trembling with convoluted emotions. "What are you talking about!? How dare you call Sarah a human!?"
Yasenia looked at Harmony indifferently for a second, and then her eyes flashed with realization. 'No way, did Sarah fake her bloodline?'
She couldn't help but look at Sarah with mocking eyes and sneered. "You are a worse piece of trash than I imagined. You haven't told your lovers that you are a human? Hahaha, this is ridiculous."
Lana, the dragon woman, shouted at Yasenia with a high-pitched but timid voice. "S-Sect Master, even if you are angry at Sarah, you shouldn't slander her!"
Yasenia looked at Lana and saw the innocence around her about to collapse. Out of all of Sarah's harem, Lana was someone Yasenia had previously talked with privately, becoming somewhat close.
Even while anger burned inside her, and she wanted nothing more than to charge forward and start fighting with Sarah, she tried to calm her tone while speaking to this innocent dragon princess. "Why would I lie with something so easy to prove?"
"No! You are lying! There is no way Sarah is a human!"
While Yasenia confronted the four beast humans, Sarah was frantically speaking with her system.
'System, can I buy a beast bloodline or something? I need to make my beast appearance foolproof, or things will go very bad!'
[Host. Changing from human to beast is expensive, but if the bloodline is low enough, you have enough points.]
'Perfect! Let's do it quickly!'
[Host. Let me finish. While possible, the process is not instantaneous, and your human bloodline will be revealed while the bloodline changes. Moreover, you need to be cultivating. I don't think you can do so in this situation.]
'Shit, then what do I do!?'
[Your concealing formations are strong. Even the tests Yasenia made for the entrance test would not be able to tell your human bloodline.]
Sarah looked at the affection from the beast human girls and saw that the numbers were lowering and increasing, a sign that they still trusted her and didn't believe Yasenia's words yet. 'Since I can't change, I'll need to fake it until I make it!'
Sarah used a few skills to avoid inspection and looked at Yasenia angrily while she shouted. "Yasenia. I'm not a human. Please stop trying to lie to them! If you want to separate us, you will need much more than a superficial lie!"
Yasenia stopped speaking and looked at Sarah.
Sarah saw no emotions directed at her through that draconic gaze for the first time since their altercation.
However, it was far more chilling than when Yasenia was angry. The moment she crossed her eyes with the indifferent golden orbs, she felt like she had become nothing in Yasenia's eyes.
Sarah's mind spun, and she spat coldly. "Even if you want to separate us, it is impossible. I've already proved I'm a beast before them multiple times. Your tricks will not be able to separate our bonds!"
The four beast humans recalled the tests and auras they had felt before and frowned, looking at Yasenia displeased. 'Is she really trying to lie to us?'
Sarah continued after she saw the reaction of the four. "See? Lana, don't believe her! She isn't who you think she is!"
Lana frowned, and Sarah saw with delight how the affection points toward Yasenia went to the negatives.
Yasenia continued looking as if her words were the same as the wind. Thinking about something, she looked at Angel and told her something through her spiritual sense.
Then, she asked Sarah calmly. "Do you dare to unleash your Beast Bloodline aura, then? You are a beast, right? Do something like this, then."
The atmosphere around Yasenia fluctuated, and a gentle ripple extended outward, allowing her [Empyrean Cosmos Dragon] bloodline to flood the area with her Empyrean presence.
The four beast human girls swallowed when Yasenia's aura enveloped them, feeling small and unworthy. The Peak-level Ancient Ranked bloodline was a massive deterrent for the beast humans before her, who didn't even reach the Divine rank.
Meanwhile, Sarah spoke coldly without much reaction. "Why should I listen to you? Yasenia, we've come to this point already, so stop spouting nonsense and fight me!"
However, Sarah's lack of reaction was something the four beast humans caught. Worse, it wasn't only Sarah who lacked a response; the others around them also didn't react to the powerful bloodline ripple, making their hearts twist. Even Lillian and Lea, who were point black, looked unaffected. 'This…'
Yasenia's bloodline ripple was gentle, unlike when she used it tyrannically to pressure, and therefore, for a human, it would feel something similar to a breeze passing through.
Yasenia's indifferent eyes landed on the four beast humans and saw their reactions. 'Since we are already like this… I'll make you feel the consequences of your actions, Sarah. Feel despair as everything you've built crumbles before your eyes.'
She looked at Sarah and smiled, asking in a calm manner that was filled with hidden poisonous thorns. "What about the other six, Sarah? Lea, Lillian, Astarea, Soraia, Bai Lin, and Su Lin Shi. Are they also beasts?"
The eyes of the four trembled as Yasenia indirectly confirmed their fears.
Remember that with Distancia's education system, humans were the lowest kind of creature. While sexual slaves existed, they were generally bought by perverts and people with low morals. For upright beast humans like Dorian, Lana, Harmony, and Paledora, mixing bodies with a human was similar to a mortal human mixing body with a wild pig.
If the person you always thought was a human turned out to be an animal disguised as one, you can imagine the amount of disgust and regret they were feeling.
Sarah shouted. "Of course, they are beasts. They've all done the same tests as me!"
Yasenia looked at Lea and asked. "You can speak now. Are you a human or a beast, Lea? Let's hear your answer."
Lea looked at Yasenia's emotionless eyes, and her body trembled.
Yasenia continued slowly, forcing Lea to peer deep into her draconic gaze. "However, remember that words have consequences. For now, it's only Sarah… Your words can change that."
Lea swallowed, her heart beating rapidly. 'W-What does she mean with it's only Sarah?' Lea was someone who hadn't really faced nerve-wracking situations like these, so she didn't want to think about the meaning behind Yasenia's words.
Her trembling eyes looked at the four beast humans, and saw their eyes looking at her desperately. Her heart jumped at those eyes. 'T-They know.'
It was easy to see that they knew once she looked, but they wanted a saving straw. They wanted to hold onto something, even if it was a lie.
Lea knew how deeply Harmony loved Sarah. Even during those strange six months when Sarah was timid and eccentric, Harmony always stood by her side, consoling and telling her not to worry.
If Lea had to say who loved Sarah the most, she would say Harmony without a second of hesitation. Lillian obsessively liked Sarah, but the bird woman with white wings was devoted to an unhealthy level.
Sarah was anxious and shouted. "Lea, I can protect you! Don't get misled by her! Tell the truth!"
Of course, Lea understood what "truth" Sarah wanted her to tell, but there was something that blocked the words that should've been easy to say.
Yasenia was pinning Lea down with her piercing, draconic eyes, wholly ignoring Sarah and everybody else.
Lea was sweating, her entire body trembling. 'W-Why is she so focused on my answer.'
Her mind had been feeling dizzy for a while because of her argument with Angel, and the effects of [Lover's Second Chance] were still present, forcing Lea to "love" Sarah and always try to take her part.
Yasenia could feel the unhealthy trembling through her tail that tightly bound Lea, but her heart didn't feel pity for a second.
Her eyes were locked on Lea, waiting for an answer.
The petite woman's heart rate shot up with anxiousness and fear. 'What do I do!? Should I tell the truth? Should I lie? But, if I lie and those four discover it later, they will hate us even more. Moreover, I don't know what Yasenia will do if I lie…'
Yasenia mocked her. "What is it taking you so long? Hesitating whether to tell the truth or not? How about an oath to the heavens? Do you dare do that?"
The four beast human women naturally caught Lea's hesitation, and their faces fell, becoming gloomier with each second without Lea answering.
Lea saw a dark aura slowly begin to leak from Harmony, scaring her enough that she almost let out a scream.
On the other side, the four beast women were feeling their hearts ripping to pieces slowly in real-time.
They naturally had their suspicions, and although they were angry at first when Yasenia revealed it, as long as Sarah told them the truth, they would eventually find it in them to forgive her, perhaps.
They were lovers, after all, and the good moments between them would not magically disappear because Sarah was a human. Even if they hated humans, thanks to Yasenia's efforts inside the sect to slowly teach them to accept humans, they were actually more accepting.
Yet, what was happening was something they'd never imagined. The person they trusted the most, their lover, their companion, and the person who had been sharing a bed with them for years was lying to their face.
Worse, it wasn't just one of the people they trusted lying to them.
Seven of them.
Seven people might be lying at them together, while these seven a few moments ago were people they would risk their lives for.
Dorian, the short and slender Amphibian girl, asked with a stiff face. "Lea, please answer honestly. Are you a human? Please, don't lie. Please."
Between all of them, Dorian was the one who still didn't believe it.
She had been quite secluded in her clan before, to the point that she was abandoned and later rescued. She had only recently gotten to know love from this group, and it had been the happiest moment of her life. So, she didn't want to accept that seven of them had kept their identities a secret from her.
It was an important identity for someone who had grown in their position.
Lea felt a lump in her throat. She and Dorian were really close, yet, in her hands, there was now a decision that could break them.
'I-I can't do it.'
Lea looked at Sarah and felt anger.
'W-Why must I suffer like this.'
Her anger ballooned, and her love twisted into hatred.
'Why didn't Sarah tell them before needing to have sex with them!?'
Sarah received the message that would crumble the sand castle she built.
[Ding! Lea's affection dropped by 178 points. Affection reduced to -90 points (Hatred).]
[Ding!
And Lea's thoughts were once again twisted. 'But even then, I can't betray the trust that Sarah placed in me!'
After a few deep breaths, Lea's face hardened, and she spoke firmly and loudly. "We are not humans!"
Sarah's face was filled with relief for a second.
Yasenia's golden eyes flashed, and then the indifference turned to chilling coldness. "So, this is what you choose."
Lea looked up, and her heart thumped in genuine fear. 'W-What is that gaze?'
Then, Yasenia rested that enormous sword she had summoned on the ground and snorted a laugh. "Impressive, truly magnificent. You are not even able to admit such a simple fact to them. Have you become their lovers because they are useful to you? You really see them as nothing but resources, and what's worse is that they are an expendable one."
Lillian was still being choked by Yasenia's hand, and she shouted with difficulty. "Slut… Who are… you… to say that! Aren't you… the same?"
When Sarah saw Yasenia turning to look at Lillian while not changing her indifferent expression, she felt a bad premonition, and her body chilled.
Yasenia looked at Lillian for a second and then spoke. "Come to think of it, I grabbed you like this to stop Sarah from doing a stupid thing because I didn't want to really kill her. I wanted to beat sense into her… But…"
Sarah shouted with a truly scared voice for the first time. "YASENIA STOP!"
But, not even paying attention to her, Yasenia's tail uncoiled from Lea and moved agilely, ruthlessly piercing Lillian's chest and exiting from the other side.
"NOOO!"
Sarah's shrill scream spread while faces filled with disbelief came from her harem members.
Meanwhile, Lillian's eyes widened, and then she coughed a mouthful of blood. "Y-You…" She didn't expect Yasenia to attack her because she had seen her lenience in the past. Being part of her sect, Lillian expected much more "impunity."
Still, she misjudged Yasenia. Not only her but also Sarah and Lea. They thought this was an altercation where no severe blows would be traded.
Yet, they couldn't be more mistaken.
The dragoness stated coldly while looking at the trembling Lea. "I warned you, didn't I? That if you don't tell the truth, you will regret it."
Then, Yasenia looked at the crying Sarah and the four human beast women and spat coldly. "Angel, activate it."
Before anybody could react, a perfect and beautiful glass formation spread above them, shining with colorful lights.
Then, a powerful wave of energy swept them, making them become alert as they prepared for battle.
Sarah was still filled with horror because of Lillian's impaled state, but she still looked around, clearing the tears that fell from her eyes as she prepared to counterattack. Yet, nothing happened for a few seconds, making her frown.
Her confusion lasted very little as one message popped in front of her eyes, making her feel as if someone had cut the rope holding the guillotine blade above her neck.
[Ding! Bloodline Concealing Formation has been disrupted for one minute.]