After hearing Tatyana's announcement, Yasenia felt an electrocuting chill full of euphoria and hugged Tatyana tightly with her arms and tail. "Pregnant!? Are you really pregnant!?"
Tatyana looked at the flushed face of her Little Treasure and laughed gently, caressing her face. "Yes. It happened two days before we finished, during the thirteenth day of mating."
Yasenia began bouncing in joy, not knowing how to express her overwhelming happiness. She just leaned forward, kissing Tatyana deeply and laughing in a silly manner.
The girls, seeing how Yasenia completely lost control over her emotions because of happiness, smiled tenderly.
Yasenia placed a hand over Tatyana's stomach, looking down with eyes dripping with love, and soon, tears began falling. "I'm so happy…"
The girls just moved silently and hugged Yasenia in a group hug. The dragoness continued to laugh and cry, feeling completely overwhelmed. How many years had it been since her first instinct to mate started? Almost 35 years since then, more than two-thirds of her entire life. The moment she accepted Cecile as her mate, inside her, a burning flame to create progeny appeared like an uncontrollable tide.
While Yasenia wanted to shout about her first child, she never forgot Kaleina. While she might not be entirely her biological daughter, that didn't mean that Yasenia didn't think of her as one.
Kaleina would always hold the title of her eldest daughter.
Kaleina approached, and the girls opened a place for her. Kaleina looked at Yasenia and asked. "Will Mama Tatyana have a little sister or a little brother?"
Tatyana smiled. "We don't know yet, Kaleina."
Kaleina blinked. "I see..."
Yasenia hugged her little grown baby and kissed her. "From now on, Kaleina will become a big sister. So, in the future, you must protect your siblings, okay?"
Kaleina nodded seriously. "I will protect them!"
Yasenia laughed, rubbing her face with Kaleina. "I believe in you, love."
Tatyana saw Kaleina looking at her stomach with curious eyes and smiled. "It is not possible to feel anything yet, Kaleina. I'll let you know when it becomes possible."
Kaleina smiled and nodded. "When will it happen, Mama Tatyana?"
Everyone paused, looking at Tatyana. Kali asked. "Can you tell, mother-in-law?"
Tatyana closed her eyes, feeling the little life in her womb, and shook her head. "Not yet. It is too young."
Andrea asked playfully. "So… Egg or normal?"
Tatyana laughed. "I prefer normal, to be honest. If the egg is too big…" The girls imagined themselves giving birth to a head-sized large egg, and their spines chilled. A human baby's head could squeeze through thanks to the undeveloped cranium shifting, but an egg was solid…
Yasenia hummed. "I wouldn't mind either!"
The girls knew how "elastic" Yasenia was in that aspect, so they didn't say anything.
Tatyana asked. "By the way, Little Treasure."
Yasenia looked down and blinked her beautiful golden eyes. "Yes?"
Tatyana smiled wryly. "When are you going to stop hugging me?"
Yasenia's arms and tail tightened carefully around Tatyana, avoiding her stomach. "Stop? Why?"
The girls looked at Yasenia and gulped, feeling a deep sense of possessiveness and protectiveness radiating from the dragoness.
Tatyana, for the first since forever, felt like a small herbivore between the arms of its natural predator. "W-Well, if you don't want to, there is no need."
Yasenia smiled. "That's right. That's the correct answer."
Tatyana gulped, feeling strangely aroused at the sight of such Yasenia. The intense sense of being Yasenia permeated her entire existence, making her feel strangely snug even when the dragon tail coiled around her like a snake.
An immoral feeling of submissiveness filled her from toe to head, making her blush and lean in Yasenia's arms obediently. Placing her face in the crook of Yasenia's neck, Tatyana took in a deep breath, and her eyes and body relaxed. 'Ah~, being in the arms of the mother of my child is such a wonderful feeling~. So… relaxing. Even the usual powerful and attractive scent has changed to a milder and relaxing one. The general smell is still sweet, but instead of making my body tingle, it makes my nerves relax enough to almost fall asleep. Sigh, so nice.'
Yasenia caressed Tatyana's back and looked at the others with a deep smile. "Dears, when you are prepared, I'm ready~."
The girls coughed, feeling their wombs throbbing with desire. However, they resisted. Cecile commented. "Let's first upgrade all of our paths to the fifth realm. I don't know how the tribulation affects the child inside the mother, but I don't want to risk anything."
Yasenia nodded, her smile returning to normal. "Of course."
Kali asked, changing the subject. "So, what do we do about the races that came into the city?"
Yasenia titled her head. "Why? Did they do anything?"
Kali shook her head. "No, but I've heard a few tales about them from the Sect Members that had gone out to explore."
Yasenia, curious, asked. "Put me up to pace. I've been excommunicated until today, after all."
Evelyn stepped forward this time to speak. "Well, first of all, the undead, humans, and spirits are mildly active. There's nothing to worry about, though. On the other side, beasts, demons, and divines have been very active. These three groups, using technologies outside Distancia's expertise, have been gathering increasingly large support."
Yasenia pondered. "What are they using?"
Evelyn commented. "Spiritual Profession Knowledge. Instead of us who had to use it sparingly as a benefit because of our initial lack of strength, they are not holding back basic explanations. The value of our information will probably plummet to very little with their attempts at increasing influence."
Yasenia nodded. "I already predicted that since the moment I say them. That's why I provoked them."
The girls titled their heads, not understanding. Yasenia explained with a smile. "Facing them there is like publicizing that we are also not natives and that we don't fear those races. In the eyes of Distancia's powers, we are ten times more attractive than an unknown force that has come from the outside, and they know nothing about it. In short, while both sides are 'outsiders,' we have built our reputation enough to be considered 'allies.'"
Evelyn suddenly recalled a few things she had seen in the documents that didn't make sense to her, and her eyes widened in utter stupefaction. "Wait… Don't tell me…"
Evelyn looked at Yasenia and gulped. "Did you plan all of our power's moves taking into account that a situation like this might've occurred?"
Yasenia titled her head. "Isn't that obvious?"
Evelyn blurted, incredulous. "Monster."
Yasenia blinked. "Why?"
Evelyn spoke quickly, her mind still unable to wrap around it. "No, does it make sense to plan for something so outside of the norm? Did you ask Tatyana to peek into the Future with her Fate attribute?"
Yasenia laughed. "How could that be? Since my objective changed after the War to dominate Distancia, it's natural that I have to prepare for outside influence." Yasenia's smile became a bit creepy as she continued. "I need to make the people of this World loyal enough to die for us, after all."
Evelyn shuddered, not in fear, and thanked all celestial creatures she knew that this beautiful dragoness wasn't her enemy. 'My Dragon wife is freaking scary and sexy, okay? My panties are undergoing a crisis, okay!?'
Kali saw Evelyn's flushed face and coughed, changing the subject one more time. "Speaking of which, the Divines… they are different from what I imagined."
Valeria was lying sideways behind Kali, allowing the Fox to use her belly as a backrest, and asked with a smile. "How did you imagine them?"
Kali pondered and answered. "A group of righteous creatures that have a strong sense of responsibility and very high morals?"
Tatyana turned her head and spoke languidly. "It would be good if they were like that."
Andrea asked her. "How are they, generally?"
Tatyana rubbed her face against Yasenia's neck and explained. "It is the truth that they are generally righteous with a strong sense of responsibility. However, their 'morals' are that all creatures should bow down to them and ask to be protected. They are elitists who, instead of looking down on other races, think that they are the only ones who can unify the universe under one banner. So, they seek to protect other races forcefully. Naturally, these forceful manners are not much better than what Demons do."
Evelyn let out a peal of laughter. "Aren't they delusional? They have a Heaven complex."
Mirrory, who was floating about without aim, commented. "Actually, before the Heavenly Cataclysm, more than one million years ago, their race was not as influential. They usually gathered in religious groups that venerated certain high-level cultivators. Because of this, many of those immortals gave them blessings and protection, which allowed them to prosper as an individual race even when there were so many much more powerful creatures. Knowing their way of thinking, after the Heavenly Cataclysm killed most high-level cultivators, the Divines that survived thought that they were the chosen ones that would lead the next cultivation era."
Mirrory smiled while all of the others listened. "What I didn't expect is the Demons to become such a strong force. They were quite suppressed in the past, so I'm quite interested in knowing how they've become one of the leading races."
Valeria commented with curiosity. "What I didn't expect is for spirits to gather in such a manner. It feels that they've built civilizations."
Angel asked. "Is that strange?"
Valeria nodded. "Until the last time I checked, spirits had been quite a… free-spirited race, moving around as they pleased and never staying in one place. Groups were also formed very rarely. We have many blessings from the Heavens, so even if we roam the world alone, the chances of something serious happening to us are quite slim."
Yasenia asked, curious. "Were high-level spirits targeted by the Heavenly Cataclysm?"
Valeria shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't around at that time."
Yasenia blinked. "What do you mean?"
Valeria smiled. "As you know, I've transformed myself into something like a Cultivation Skill. So, when no one possesses me, my consciousness is blurry, and I stay in a hibernating state. I can wake up at will, but I never usually do unless I feel danger for myself. I only woke up around 200,000 years or so after the Heavenly Cataclysm had passed, and I couldn't communicate with the active high-level spirits because my previous master didn't search for any. If I return to the higher heavens, I might be able to get in touch with them if they survived."
Cecile asked. "You didn't ask your previous masters to investigate?"
Valeria blinked. "Why would I?"
Cecile tilted her head. "Don't you want to know if they are alive?"
Valeria made a confused look. "Why?"
Tatyana chuckled. "Cecile, Valeria is a Life spirit. For her, the cycle of life is not something to grieve but something to celebrate. If a spirit she knew died, Valeria wouldn't feel sad. Her mind won't, or better said, can't process such events as something to grieve. Her deep understanding of life is because, as a spirit, she is almost one with the concept. Valeria is, in a way, very close to a Natural Treasure related to Life."
Andrea asked, curious. "Then… Why did she show attachment to her previous master and the children they made together?" Andrea corrected herself and looked at Valeria with a laugh. "You are here; I don't know why I'm asking Tatyana, haha. Do you know why, Valeria?"
Valeria tilted her head. "I showed attachment?"
Andrea commented, confused. "Didn't you feel bad when you knew that the Divines invaded their world?"
The Nature Spirit Queen blinked, surprised. "Oh, I did. So strange."
The rest looked at the Life Spirit strangely.
Tatyana smiled. "The only reason she showed attachment to her previous master and the children she created is…" Valeria looked at Tatyana with strangely eager eyes. Tatyana's grin widened. "… because something started to change inside her."
Valeria's lips twitched, and she asked urgently. "What is changing?"
Tatyana shrugged. "You'll have to discover it yourself. Isn't it normal for these things? They lose value if you are not the one realizing it."
Valeria sighed. "Well, you are right."
Kali smiled at Valeria. "Don't worry, you are currently understanding those feelings, even if you don't realize it yourself."
Valeria looked at her master and laughed. "Even you know what Tatyana is talking about. I'm ashamed for not understanding."