The gates of the mansion in Kaelthur opened slowly, creaking imposingly.

Yennifer and Cristine crossed the main courtyard with determined strides, still covered in road dust. The journey had been long, exhausting, and every muscle in them cried out for rest—but the urgency overcame their fatigue.

The contrast with the city under reconstruction was striking. From the outside, Kaelthur looked like a chaos of wood, stone, and workers trying to bring life back to a place once in ashes. But inside the mansion, an almost luxurious calm reigned. The air was fresh and fragrant, and the sound of the hustle and bustle of the streets seemed too distant to disturb.

As they pushed open the heavy doors to the main hall, what they saw was Scarlet, sitting with her usual impeccable posture.

She lounged in a crimson velvet armchair, a delicate porcelain cup between her fingers, and seemed completely oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the city. The candlelight reflected off the deep red of her hair, and the smile on her lips was soft… almost too sweet.

"You're early," Scarlet commented, without standing, calmly raising the cup to her lips. "I thought you'd be gone a few more days."

Yennifer and Cristine exchanged a brief glance. Cristine was the first to speak:

"We have information. Information about the Monarch of Beasts."

Scarlet arched an eyebrow, interested but not surprised. "Ah… that noisy little animal," she murmured. "And where is our dear Strax? I imagine you want to speak to him, not me."

"Where is he?" Yennifer asked, crossing her arms. Her voice was direct, without any room for beating around the bush.

Scarlet placed the cup on the small table beside her, the clink of china echoing through the silent room.

Her smile didn't fade; on the contrary, it seemed even sharper.

"He's back there." "I'm sorry," she replied, waving her finger casually toward the doors leading to the back of the mansion. "In the training area you recently created."

Cristine blinked in surprise. "Training? Strax?"

"And why not?" Scarlet replied, chuckling softly. "Our husband also enjoys breaking rocks and destroying training dummies when he's not crushing kings and monarchs."

Yennifer narrowed her eyes. "Crushing kings and monarchs?"

"Ah…" Scarlet leaned back in her chair, resting her chin on her palm, feigning innocence. "Did I say that out loud?"

Cristine tilted her head, confused. "Do you know something?"

"Maybe," Scarlet replied, with that same constant smile, as if she were keeping a precious secret. "But I'm not the one to tell you. If you have information… speak to him directly. I'm sure Strax will have much more fun hearing it from you."

The silence between the three grew thick for a moment. Cristine frowned, Yennifer took a deep breath. It was clear Scarlet knew something they didn't—and, more than that, she was relishing leaving them in the dark.

But they didn't press the point. Scarlet had that kind of personality: the more pressured she was, the less she spoke.

"Let's go," Yennifer said, tugging Cristine by the arm.

"Hm." Cristine nodded, giving Scarlet one last curious glance.

Scarlet merely waved, returning to her teacup. The smile, however, never faded. In fact, it seemed even wider, more satisfied, as if amused by a joke only she understood.

The two of them walked through the mansion's long hallway, heading toward the back. The stone walls were lit by magical torches, and in the distance they could already hear a rhythmic metallic sound—thuds, suppressed explosions, like steel on steel.

When they pushed open the door that led to the newly transformed backyard, the sight made them pause for a moment.

Strax was there.

The training yard looked like a newly tamed war zone.

The air smelled of iron, dust, and sweat. Blue flames danced on runic pillars all around, and each seemed to react to Strax's presence—flickering, bending, as if recognizing a sovereign.

But what truly stopped Yennifer and Cristine was not his aura.

It was the scene.

Ahead of them, in the center of that controlled chaos, was Strax. And beside him, sitting cross-legged with a lazy smile, was Kali.

She wasn't in a chair. She was sitting—relaxed, almost amused—on the back of a massive creature, a densely muscled, golden-maned beast-man, now in a submissive position, on all fours, with magical chains encircling his wrists.

Cristine's eyes widened, unable to hide her shock.

Behind them, a dozen feral warriors trained in absolute silence. No roars, no sounds of protest—just disciplined, mechanical movements. Their spears tapped the ground in rhythm, and each of them seemed filled with a mixture of obedience and fear.

It was an absurd scene.

Kali stretched out her arms, stretching as if at a picnic. "Ah... they took a while," she said, yawning. "Was Scarlet's tea good?"

Cristine blinked, trying to find words. "What... what's going on here?"

Before Kali could answer, Strax turned.

His cold, golden gaze met the two women's—and immediately, the air seemed heavy.

But the smile that followed was calm, almost welcoming.

"Yennifer. Cristine," he said, wiping the dried blood from his fingers with a cloth. "I thought you'd stay with the Dark Guild longer."

Her tone was casual, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice.

"The mission ended early," Yennifer replied, regaining her composure. "We've gathered a lot of information about Rakan… the Beast Monarch."

Kali, who had been watching one of the beasts training, slowly turned her gaze to her. A treacherous smile curved her lips.

"Rakan?" she repeated, almost singing the name. "Ah, so that's who you came to talk about."

She patted the beastman beneath her lazily on the head. The sound echoed dryly.

"Well then," she said. "He's here."

Yennifer and Cristine looked again—at first incomprehension, then with widening eyes.

Cristine took a step forward, almost in disbelief. "Wait… he… is that the Beast Monarch?"

Kali smiled in amusement, leaning forward slightly to look at the beast beneath her.

Rakan—once the ruler of instincts and the jungle—remained motionless, his muscles taut, his face bent toward the ground. His eyes, once blazing, were now two slits of dull gold.

"That's right," Kali replied, running her fingers through the creature's hair, as if stroking a pet dog. "The 'king' of the beasts."

The silence that followed was almost comical.

Cristine opened her mouth, closed it, and then shook her head in disbelief. "You're joking."

"Not really," Strax replied with a shrug, and walked over to one of the runic pillars. The heat of his presence made the runes tremble. "He thought he could face me. Now he's learning to kneel."

Yennifer placed her hand on her forehead, taking a deep breath. "We really should have known…"

Kali chuckled. "Oh, no need to feel bad. He thought he was going to win, too."

Cristine was still watching the scene, as if trying to piece it together. "And… the others?"

Kali stood up gracefully. The Monarch stood still, head down, not daring to move until she gave permission.

She pointed to the group of warriors training ahead—creatures with fangs, tails, and striped skin, now clad in black armor marked with Strax's seal.

"Those are the soldiers who came with him," she explained. "We thought about subduing them all, but…" she waved a careless hand, "we felt too lazy to go to their lair."

Cristine blinked. "Lazy?"

"Yes," Kali replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "So we sent Ouroboros and Tiamat there."

The silence was total.

The names of the two creatures—two draconic entities that, on their own, were natural disasters—seemed to vibrate in the air.

Yennifer let out a heavy sigh. "You sent two of the most dangerous beings in existence to... invade a lair of beasts."

"Not 'invade,'" Strax corrected with a half-smile. "Claim."

Kali laughed, crossing her arms. "The result was great. They returned with the well-trained survivors. And the lair... well, the lair is now a crater."

Cristine blinked slowly. "That's... insane."

"No," Strax replied, his voice calm but firm. "It's necessary."

Yennifer watched him, her eyes fixed. She knew him well enough to understand the subtext—for Strax, power and dominance weren't just goals. They were language. He spoke to the world through force, and the world listened.

She let out a soft sigh and stepped closer. "Then I guess our information about Rakan won't be very useful."

Strax laughed, a low, almost amused sound. "It depends," he said, turning to her. "What did you find out?"

Cristine hesitated, glancing at the monster kneeling beneath Kali. "Nothing he hasn't already told you personally, apparently."

Kali laughed loudly. The sound sounded like the tinkling of bells amidst the carnage.

Strax crossed his arms, watching the two of them. "Still, I want to hear it."

Yennifer nodded, exchanging a look with Cristine. "Fine. But…" She looked back at the Beast Monarch, still motionless on the ground. "Can we talk somewhere where no one's... acting as a carpet?"

Kali laughed. "Oh, relax. He likes it this way now."

Strax just smiled, walking toward them, the sound of his heavy footsteps echoing on the cracked ground.

Behind him, the feral warriors' "training" continued—each blow a silent bow to the new order.

Yennifer stared at him. "Fine, Strax," she said, her voice firm. "But when we're done talking... you're going to have to explain what the hell is going on here."

Strax inclined his head, the smile still on his lips. "Explain?"

He looked over his shoulder—at the kneeling warriors, at Kali smiling, and at the Beast Monarch bowing silently.

"It's simple," he said. "Kaelthur is no longer a city. It's a future empire."

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