The humidity in the clearing was suffocating, thick with the scent of sweet rot.
Hana pulled back from the kiss, her chest heaving. Wasn't this enough? She felt like she had been kissing him for nearly ten minutes, but there was still no notification on the mission completion.
Then, she turned to stare at the screen that refused to budge.
> [MISSION PROGRESS: 90%]
> [ALERT: STAGNATION DETECTED.]
What?!
Raiden's ninth tail flickered—the silver light flickering like a candle in a basket on a windy day.
His pink hair was damp against his forehead, and his eyes, though still full of that irritatingly triumphant glint, were beginning to glaze over again.
"It's… not enough," Raiden wheezed, his fingers clawing at Hana's shoulders. "The tail… it needs more than a breath, Great Female. It needs the soul."
What does that even mean? Hana frowned, her forehead creasing and her brows knitting together. She hated complicated things.
If she could not create a bond with her lips, then what did the system want her to do?
A new notification snapped into existence, pulsing a deep, warning violet in front of her eyes.
> [SYSTEM TIP: LACK OF DEPTH]
> Requirement: Full Core Integration. To save a fractured Nine-Tail soul, the Host must complete the Primal Mating ritual. A kiss is a bridge, but the act is the foundation. In simple terms, mate with the fox beastman.
> [WARNING: 5 MINUTES UNTIL TOTAL CORE COLLAPSE]
Hana's jaw tightened until it ached.
This fucking goddamn system!
She had just mated with the Dragon, and thanks to that, she was carrying his goddamn child.
A lizard child.
Her body was still feeling the consequences of taking Caspian's scaly monster cock, and between her legs was still throbbing. And now the System was demanding she double down on a fox who was clearly enjoying the 'tragedy' of his situation.
"You have to be kidding me," she hissed out loud.
"Hana?" Caspian's voice was a low, vibrating growl. He was still pinning Raiden by the waist, his obsidian scales glowing so bright they were singing the grass beneath his knees. "Why did you stop?"
Hana didn't answer him immediately. Her eyes were fixed on the flickering violet notification that had stalled at 90%. The air around the fox's ninth tail was turning a bruised, necrotic grey again.
Hana clenched her teeth. She looked at Raiden. The fox was panting, but even as his life force flickered, he had that look in his eyes—the look of a scavenger who had just found a shortcut.
He knew exactly what she needed to do to keep him from withering. And he knew she would do it.
He could see it in her eyes.
"It's… failing," Raiden wheezed, his fingers digging into Hana's shoulders, his touch cold and desperate. "It… it needs to be deeper..."
Hana looked at her debt: -1,246,500. Then she looked at the 'Agony' penalty. In her world, you didn't let a resource die when you'd already invested the effort. You've got to finish the job.
"Caspian," Hana said, her voice dropping into that terrifyingly flat, mercenary tone. "Strip him."
The clearing went dead silent. The only sound was the hiss of the burning grass where Caspian's knees touched the earth.
"What?" Caspian's voice was a low, dangerous grate. He understood exactly what she was asking for, but he couldn't understand why. His grip on Raiden's waist tightened until the fox's bones threatened to crack. "You're going this far?"
"I've already done too much," Hana snapped back at him, turning her cold gaze toward the dragon. "He is dying. If he dies, I lose way too much." And not to talk about the pain she'd have to go through and the point deduction. It was like starting from somewhere that was way below the bottom. "If you want to stay by my side, hell! If you want to keep your heir safe, you will do exactly what I say, and you will hold him still."
She didn't care if she had to use threats. She needed to get this done.
And if he refused to help, she would do it herself.
She just wanted to make sure the tail didn't get more mangled than it already was with unnecessary movement.
"Ouch," Raiden winced, the pain of Caspian's nails digging into his skin was sharp and burning.
Caspian's face was contorted with a mix of heartbreak and savage fury. Then, he looked at the fox—who had the audacity to still let out a wince of pain in this situation—and then at Hana. He was a King, an Apex predator. He should not be reduced to this.
No female, not even his kind, can bring him down to the level of a servant and have him beg.
No beast… and yet he was being asked to hold a stray fox who had trespassed into his territory in place for his own mate to ride.
With a roar of pure, jealous frustration, Caspian ripped away Raiden's remaining hide wraps. He didn't let go; instead, he used his massive, clawed hands to pin Raiden's shoulders against the ancient tree roots, turning himself into a living shackle. He turned his face away, his obsidian scales pulsing a violent, wounded gold.
He was hurt. His pride, his ego, his heart… he was hurt.
But he could not fight back.
The primal bond was supposed to shackle her to him, but it seemed like he was the one who had been shackled to her and couldn't do anything to go against her.
He felt… he would rather go through this than watch her get disappointed. That glare from before… he did not want to see it again.
"Caspian," Hana called. "You're my first mate." She said, "Be content with that."
She wasn't picking up strays because she wanted to. It was all the system's device to make her become a 'good' person.
However, the way she treated them was something for her to worry about.