After the letter from the Orobus's Snake Tribe arrived, the Warborns blurred into motion without wasting a single breath.

Serena opened the letter and read its contents, none of them even considered alliance with the snakes. Adding to that, the one who signed the letter was neither the Queen of Snakes, Garros, nor anyone Serena knew or had ever met.

The name was Bety. It rang no bell. And if none of them remembered it, that meant she was not strong enough to ever attract their attention.

Useless.

They dismissed it outright, much to Kaden's quiet relief, for he could sense a sinking feeling radiating from the letter.

It meant nothing good.

Not the fact that the snakes were plotting something against them, no — it meant the snakes were now enemies. Enemies to be slaughtered.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

And all of them understood that clearly.

After agreeing on how to act, Garros and Kaden went to Thornspire to explain the situation.

They didn't go in hiding. They went as Warborns — loudly, boldly, without care for anything.

The discussion that followed was… unusual.

Kaden had expected anger or scorn, but instead Eliot Thornspire only looked at him strangely, a mischievous smile on his lips as he asked a single question:

"Will you take care of my daughter to the best of your abilities?"

The question struck Kaden harder than expected. Eliot hadn't asked if he loved Rea, hadn't even asked about feelings.

He had only asked him to care for her. To not abandon her. To not neglect her.

Shame crept into Kaden's chest, gnawing at him like a hungry wolf. He almost would have preferred if Eliot had shouted at him. That would have been easier to endure. This quiet weight of expectation cut deeper.

For a moment he had only sighed, expression hardening before he answered,

"She is my fiancée. Not one I chose, true, but that makes it even more special. We are bound together, and I won't fail her."

Then his tone sharpened, his bearing far beyond his fifteen years.

"And besides, Father-in-law, Waverith is about to erupt. Chaos is coming. Rea may not be here to do her part, but you are here. And I am here."

He smiled. Garros, standing beside him, wore a wide grin.

"Houses will fall. It's time for Thornspire to take the first step back toward its former status," Kaden said. "Are you with us?"

Eliot blinked, stunned, then a wide smile spread across his face. The words that escaped him carried such sadness that Kaden was sure if his Will had not already reached a thousand, he would have cried.

"Let me give my daughter a worthy legacy."

The deal with Thornspire had been struck.

It was no secret. Everyone knew. The people of Waverith began to whisper, fear clouding the streets as the sense of something wrong grew heavier.

They could taste it. They could taste the air itself, looking like it was ready to detonate at any moment.

The old and the wise understood immediately, this was not their first war after all.

The Warborns and Thornspire had joined hands.

The Cerveau, meanwhile, had their subordinate houses moving, many of them not even hiding their preparations.

The Cerveau themselves stayed quiet, but something about that silence felt wrong, like a wolf holding its breath before the pounce. And also rumors soon began to spread: The Executor was dead.

Suspicion among the common folk grew and hardened into near-certainty.

Yet what no one knew was that it was not only Thornspire who allied with the Warborns.

The Elamin were too.

And at that very moment, a secret meeting was unfolding within the Elamin estate with Mayari and Serena speaking of war, of preparations, of how to move their troops… while their children spent those rare moments together, talking, laughing, catching up.

Before the sky shatter.

Before the bellow of war resonate across the world.

…

"I missed you, my Kaden." Meris's voice was like a purr as she pulled him into her arms.

She closed her eyes to savor the sensation, but all she could feel was her heart pounding so fast, so loud, she feared it might snap at any moment.

She was just that excited.

Kaden, too, smiled — small but happy — as he hugged her back and whispered into her ear,

"I missed you too. How have you been?"

They were in the same elemental garden as their first kiss.

Meris often came here to reminisce about that day, and now that Kaden stood here with her, she could not help but feel elated.

She truly loved him.

She began telling him about her training, about what she had learned, and how her Origin Core was now saturated. All she needed to do now was to begin her evolution quest to reach Master.

She was proud of this — puffing her chest, closing her eyes, wearing a smug expression, hands on her hips as she waited for a grand compliment to match her genius.

Kaden almost laughed, but only shook his head softly, finding her dangerously cute.

"No one can match you!" he said, clapping his hands in mock ceremony.

Meris nodded quickly, her happiness growing. She was about to ask about his progress, but froze as she noticed his rank.

"M-Master…?" she stammered.

Kaden smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am surprised too."

"But how? How did you become Master so fast?" she pressed, leaning closer until their knees touched.

"Just like anyone. I saturated my Origin Core and did the quest." His answer was simple, but it downplayed everything he had endured.

His saturation had come amid a rampart of corrupted undead eager to drag him down with them.

He had obtained his Mythic Stone inside the inheritance dungeon of Asterion, alongside a prideful princess who nearly got him killed.

And in the end, he had defeated an undefeatable being who revealed to him a part of himself he hadn't known he needed, forged his own Will, and finally stepped into Master.

Oh, and he had died more than ten times along the way.

Yes, it was not that simple. No one else could have done it so quickly.

Meris tilted her head. "I feel like you're hiding something from me. But I won't pry. I'm more worried about something else, my Kaden."

"What is that?"

"Will you participate in this war about to come?"

"That's a given." Kaden answered instantly.

Meris fell silent. She knew better than to ask for the impossible. Kaden was Warborn, and Warborn never turned from battle.

So instead of acting like a weak, worried lover — something she was not — she cupped his cheeks and kissed him.

Their eyes closed as they melted into the sensation they hadn't realized they missed so much.

Meris melted further as Kaden took the lead, his tongue sliding into her mouth, whirling until it found hers.

Once found, the two danced, sensual and fierce, saliva mixing, the sharp slurp of their kiss echoing in the silent garden.

Meris's hands slid from his cheeks to his neck, wrapping around him, pulling him closer as if to fuse them into one.

Kaden's arms tightened around her waist, holding her firm, holding her gently.

They kissed like there was no tomorrow.

They kissed like they might never see each other again.

When they finally pulled apart, a thin string of saliva still connected their lips.

Meris's smile curved as she pressed her breasts against his chest. She was shorter, but her presence towered.

She whispered,

"I will be behind you this time. You kill, I kill. You cry, I cry. If someone wounds you, I'll slaughter them all."

Her silver eyes lifted, locking into his blood-red ones as she licked them,

"But next time, I will be beside you. Next time… we fight together."

Kaden smiled.

"I do not doubt it. And I already know you'll make them live hell soon."

Meris's smile was as sharp and cold as ice.

"Oh baby… you can't even imagine." A monstrous and merciless light flashed deep within her eyes, and Kaden was immediately intrigued but before he could speak, his runic communication tool flared.

He pulled it out, blood already surging in his veins as he guessed the reason.

"Yes."

Through the tool, a hard rocky voice rang out, laced with hidden delight and excitement.

"Young Master, we have news for you."

"Go on," Kaden pressed.

"The Queen of Snakes, Medusa, and her daughter are in our military camp, demanding to speak with a Warborn."

Kaden tilted his head. "Did you tell my father or any of the others? They could meet them."

Even without seeing him, Kaden felt the man shake his head.

"That's the first news, Young Master. The second is this: the Steelbeasts are marching toward Waverith."

Both Kaden and Meris's hearts skipped a beat.

But the man wasn't finished.

"And…" His voice now brimmed with excitement. "The Patriarch is already on his way to meet them. He told me to tell you something, Young Master. He said…"

A pause, longer this time. Then:

"…let the Steels sing the song of the fallen…"

The man began and Kaden instinctively finished,

"…for the earth will be drenched in corpses as the Warborn rise."

The couple grinned wickedly.

…

Outside Waverith, high in the sky, space shattered into countless fragments as a figure emerged, shards cascading around him.

Below, an uncountable horde of Steelbeasts marched like a swarm of ants, each step quaking the earth, burning the ground black.

At their head loomed a colossal beast, its body flickering with white tongues of fire, looking like a beacon of doom.

It raised its head to the sky, locking its pale white eyes with Garros's blazing blood-red ones.

Garros grinned wide, his mouth stretching into madness.

"GOREMAWWWW!!!"

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

Space shattered.

Steelbeasts screamed as their brains exploded into pulped flesh.

The war had begun.

—End of Chapter 251—

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