The spider-deer ran.
Trees blurred past.
Roots shattered beneath its hooves.
The forest itself seemed to bend aside as Jemina's parade thundered through the wilderness.
Behind her came absolute chaos.
The procession looked less like an army and more like a mountain of colorful monsters that had somehow collided and decided to keep moving.
It was magnificent.
It was terrifying.
It was completely disorganized.
Jemina's head pounded.
Every bond tugged at her consciousness.
Every familiar wanted something.
Different instincts.
Different priorities.
Different desires.
Trying to command all of them at once felt like holding hundreds of conversations inside her head.
Her vision blurred.
"Focus."
Ysilvern's voice cut through the chaos.
Jemina glanced sideways.
The crime lord looked terrible.
Pale.
Bleeding.
Held together almost entirely by sheer stubbornness.
Yet his eyes remained sharp.
"You don't need every monster."
"What?"
"Use the ones you understand."
Jemina frowned.
The advice sounded absurdly simple.
She had been trying to command everyone.
Every familiar.
Every movement.
Every instinct.
It was impossible.
She closed her eyes.
Then she let go.
The countless voices faded.
She reached only for the bonds she trusted most.
The mudwolves.
The owl snakes.
The Ghastlies.
The pressure disappeared almost instantly.
Jemina nearly burst into tears.
"It deeply annoys me to admit this..."
She let out a long breath.
"...but thank you."
Ysilvern smirked.
KA-BOOM!
The explosion shattered the forest.
The shockwave threw everyone from their mounts.
Jemina slammed into the ground and rolled through dirt and broken roots.
Her ears rang violently.
For several long seconds, she heard nothing except a piercing whine.
She forced herself onto her elbows.
Ahead of her, Ysilvern had already collapsed.
Several armed men rushed toward him.
Beyond them stood a woman with crimson hair streaked with silver.
Milena struggled desperately against the men restraining her.
Her mouth moved.
She was screaming.
Jemina couldn't hear a single word.
Darkness swallowed her.
When Jemina opened her eyes again, only a few minutes had passed.
The monsters had already recovered.
They surrounded her in complete silence, waiting for her command.
Slowly, she sat up.
Her head throbbed.
Then she remembered.
That crimson hair.
Her eye twitched.
"I am going to punch that tomato-headed woman so hard..."
She climbed back onto the spider-deer's back.
Ysilvern hit the ground on one knee.
Blood poured steadily from the wound in his abdomen.
His vision blurred.
The instant his senses returned...
He moved.
One of Sigrid's men barely managed to raise his rifle.
Ysilvern seized the barrel and twisted.
Bone snapped.
The rifle discharged harmlessly into the sky.
His elbow crushed another man's throat.
A knife flashed.
Another mercenary collapsed.
Even wounded...
Even barely able to stand...
The heir of the Hyde family remained terrifying.
"Protect Lady Sigrid!"
The remaining mercenaries charged.
Ysilvern met them head-on.
His movements lacked their usual precision.
His body was slower.
Heavier.
But every strike remained brutally efficient.
One man's knee shattered beneath a kick.
Another screamed as his shoulder dislocated.
A third never saw the punch that knocked him unconscious.
Then his injured leg gave way.
A rifle butt slammed into his back.
Another struck his wounded side.
Pain exploded through his body.
Several men tackled him at once.
Even then...
Ysilvern continued fighting.
He threw one attacker over his shoulder.
Headbutted another.
Nearly broke free.
"Enough."
Sigrid's calm voice silenced the battlefield.
The cold barrel of her shotgun rested against Milena's temple.
Everything stopped.
Ysilvern's breathing became ragged.
Very slowly...
He released the mercenary whose throat he had been crushing.
His hands fell to his sides.
The remaining men forced him onto his knees.
Blood soaked the grass beneath him.
Sigrid watched quietly.
Then smiled.
"Good."
She approached at an unhurried pace.
"I was beginning to wonder whether you'd forgotten your upbringing."
She crouched before him.
Despite everything, Ysilvern glared at her without fear.
"Let her go."
Sigrid ignored him.
Instead, she brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.
The gesture was almost maternal.
"I am pleased."
She smiled gently.
"You can still fight."
"That is what it means to carry my blood."
Ysilvern jerked his head away.
"I said..."
His voice turned icy.
"...let her go."
Sigrid sighed.
Then looked toward Milena.
"No."
She gestured toward her son.
"Look at him."
Milena didn't want to.
But her eyes obeyed anyway.
Ysilvern knelt in the dirt.
His breathing had become uneven.
Blood soaked his clothes.
Even now...
He was still trying to stand.
Still trying to reach her.
"This..."
Sigrid said softly,
"...is my son."
"My successor."
"The man destined to inherit everything I built."
Her gaze settled on Milena.
"And this..."
She gestured toward Ysilvern once more.
"...is what loving you has turned him into."
Milena's lips trembled.
"No..."
Sigrid laughed quietly.
"He challenged me."
"I shot him."
"He still chased after you."
"He is bleeding to death."
"And yet..."
Her smile hardened.
"...he is still looking at you instead of me."
Tears blurred Milena's vision.
"Please..."
"I'll do anything."
"I know."
Sigrid reached into her coat.
A revolver landed at Milena's feet.
Silence settled over the clearing.
"If you truly wish to save him..."
Sigrid folded her hands behind her back.
"...end this."
Milena stared at the revolver.
Slowly...
She picked it up.
It felt impossibly heavy.
Her hands shook.
Ysilvern's eyes widened.
"Milena."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"Don't."
She couldn't answer.
She lifted the revolver.
The barrel rested against her own forehead.
Sigrid nodded once.
"Good."
"At least one of you understands responsibility."
Milena closed her eyes.
A memory surfaced.
Ysilvern stood behind her.
Adjusting her grip.
"...No. Not like that."
"I hate this."
"I know."
"But learn anyway."
"Why?"
"So that one day..."
He smiled.
"...you'll be able to protect yourself."
The memory faded.
Milena opened her eyes.
Slowly...
She lowered the revolver.
Then turned.
The barrel pointed directly at Sigrid.
The former Queen blinked.
Milena inhaled.
Feet.
Grip.
Breathing.
Steady.
Exhale.
Bang.
The bullet tore through Sigrid's shoulder.
Blood splashed across her coat.
Silence.
Sigrid looked down.
Her fingers brushed the wound.
She stared at the blood staining her glove.
Then her expression darkened.
"You little bitch."
She shifted the shotgun into her left hand.
The movement was effortless.
As though decades of practice had prepared her for exactly this.
"...Shoot her."
The order was quiet.
More than a dozen rifles swung toward Milena.
Ysilvern struggled violently against the men restraining him.
"Move!"
His roar shook the clearing.
Fresh blood poured from his wound.
He ignored it.
"Run, Milena!"
Milena stumbled backward.
She raised the revolver once more.
Click.
Empty.
Her heart sank.
Only one bullet.
She looked around desperately.
Nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
Then...
She thought of Jemina.
The ridiculous parade.
The impossible monsters.
"...Please..."
Her voice barely escaped.
"...Jemina."
Bang!
A massive shadow crashed between them.
The shotgun blast scattered harmlessly against glistening diamantine scales.
An enormous owl snake coiled protectively around Milena while an adolescent crimson bird landed above her with a deafening cry.
Its voice rolled across the forest like thunder.
Every tree trembled.
Everyone froze.
Golden eyes locked onto Sigrid.
"...What an ugly chicken."
Sigrid muttered.
The bird took that personally.
With astonishing speed, it lunged.
Its talons seized Sigrid by the shoulders.
The former Queen left the ground before anyone could react.
"What—?!"
For the first time...
She looked genuinely surprised.
The bird climbed higher.
Sigrid fired twice.
Both shots missed.
At the peak of its ascent...
The bird simply opened its claws.
Sigrid plummeted.
She twisted gracefully through the air.
Prepared to land.
Prepared to recover.
Only to discover the ground beneath her had disappeared.
A gigantic owl snake burst from underground.
Its jaws opened impossibly wide.
Sigrid looked down.
"...Oh."
Snap.
Silence.
The owl snake swallowed once.
Then blinked innocently.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even the mercenaries forgot how to breathe.
The owl snake slowly slithered aside.
Behind it stood Jemina.
Leaves clung to her tangled hair.
Dust covered her clothes.
A thin trail of blood ran down one temple.
She looked exhausted.
She stared at the owl snake.
"..."
"...You ate her?"
The owl snake nodded enthusiastically.
Jemina pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I was going to yell at her first."
The owl snake lowered its head guiltily.
Jemina sighed.
"We're going to have a very serious discussion about patience later."
Only then did she look toward Milena.
Toward Ysilvern, who could barely keep his eyes open.
Toward the terrified mercenaries.
The warmth vanished from her face.
She slowly raised one hand.
Behind her...
The forest awakened.
Mudwolves emerged from beneath the earth.
Ghastlies drifted silently between the trees.
Owl snakes uncoiled from the undergrowth.
The giant crimson bird landed behind her with a triumphant screech.
Jemina's golden eyes swept across the remaining mercenaries.
"You came into my forest."
"You hurt my people."
"You burned my village."
She smiled.
It was not a pleasant smile.
"So..."
She pointed deeper into the trees.
"...before I change my mind..."
"Get the fuck out of my forest."