1182 Nux! What are you doing!?
"I've come to pick you up, Mother-in-law."
Nux, who walked out of a portal spoke with a playful smile on his face. In front of him, there was Lazarus, Orpheus, Ambrosia, and Alaric.
"Oh? Lord Alaric is here as well."
Nux spoke as he bowed his head and greeted Alaric. The Vampire King nodded, and then suddenly, a frown appeared on Nux's face.
"The mood around here seems quite dull."
"It is you who is unusually bright, Nux," Lazarus spoke.
"But aren't I always like this?" Nux tilted his head in confusion.
"This is not an everyday situation, Nux.
You have declared War on Arcturus, the Dragon Lord.
I know you are strong, however, he is not an opponent you can take lightly. Even if he is a 'reject' like you say, he is a strong reject."
Alaric spoke with a grave look on his face.
He wanted to save his niece, however, even he knew that he couldn't fully support Nux in this situation. He cannot let this matter escalate to a War between the Dragons and the Vampires.
That could destroy the entirety of Yrniel.
"Lord Alaric, you are worrying too much."
Nux smiled.
Seeing his demeanor, a frown appeared on Orpheus's face,
"Do you have a plan?" he questioned.
"Well, we are thinking of something right now."
"So you do not." Orpheus narrowed his eyes.
"You are too calm for someone who has no clue how to deal with the situation," Lazarus spoke directly.
"We will figure something out, Brother-in-law. It is not a big deal." Nux shrugged.
"Dragon Lord and the Dragon Continent are a big deal..."
Lazarus muttered.
He couldn't understand how Nux was acting so carelessly when he was facing the greatest adversary of his life.
"You are faking it." Suddenly, Ambrosia spoke up.
Everyone turned towards her, Ambrosia, however, continued to look into Nux's eyes and,
"You are putting out a strong front because you do not want others to panic. I know because it is something I normally do when I find myself in a difficult situation."
Ambrosia spoke up.
Nux momentarily paused as he glanced at Ambrosia, then, however, he chuckled.
"Mother-in-law, you are thinking too much, there is no 'difficult situation' here. If worse comes to worse, me and my wives can simply stay in [Core] till I am strong enough to kill Arcturus."
"..."
"..."
This time, however, Alaric and Orpheus, who were close to Ambrosia and had seen her do what she just described didn't say anything and continued to observe Nux.
The room turned silent.
"Mother-in-law, shall we leave?"
Not liking the current atmosphere, Nux turned towards Ambrosia and questioned.
"We should..." Ambrosia nodded. There was something in her mind but she didn't say anything and decided to trust the man her daughter had chosen.
"Please enter the Portal." Nux pointed at the Portal as he sidestepped.
Ambrosia nodded, then, she glanced at the three Vampires, nodded at them, and walked into the Portal.
Nux glanced at the three Vampires as well, then, he smiled and, "I'll bring her back once I kick Arcturus's ass."
He then entered the Portal and the Portal closed.
"He is braver than I thought."
Alaric laughed out loud the moment Nux left.
"This won't be easy," Orpheus commented.
"No one said it would be." Alaric shrugged and the room turned silent again.
...
"Lady Vyriana."
As she walked out of the Portal, Ambrosia bowed her head and greeted.
"It has been a while." Vyriana nodded.
Unlike others, she had no qualms about looking right into Ambrosia's eyes, after all, no matter how strong Ambrosia's Charm was, affecting Vyriana with it was... well, impossible.
"Mother." Melia greeted her mother.
"Melia! It has been a while!" Ambrosia quickly hugged her daughter. Melia didn't bother resisting either and allowed her mother to do whatever she wanted.
Once she was satisfied messing her daughter's hair and kissing her forehead, Ambrosia turned towards Amaya and,
"Have you come up with any pla-"
However, before she could complete,
"Nux, you need to see this."
Riona walked into the room and ignoring everyone, she walked towards Nux and passed a paper to him.
"What is it?" Nux frowned.
"Soren Thorn made a public statement."
Riona spoke as she glanced at Amaya.
Amaya narrowed her eyes as she noticed her mother's off behavior, but before questioning that, another question appeared in her mind,
"Who is he?"
"He is a Complete Saint and a Leader of Ashenhelm Clan, one of the strongest 'new clans' that appeared 150 years ago."
"Why do we need to bother with his statement?" Melia frowned as well.
"Apparently, he challenged us when we were all inside [Core], since we didn't reply, the challenge was automatically rejected, and now...
He released a statement regarding it."
Riona then glanced at Amaya and,
"A statement that you might not like."
Amaya narrowed her eyes but before she could question, "Do you have the challenge scroll that he sent?"
Nux, who just read the statement questioned with a dark look on his face.
"Nux, you need to calm down, this is clearly a trap."
Riona spoke.
"That's not what I am asking, Riona. I asked if you have the Challenge scroll or not. I am sure you have it, no?"
"I do and there is no other copy.
So if you want it,
You need to calm down."
Riona spoke in an imposing voice.
"I am calm, Riona."
"You don't look calm."
Riona replied. Nux's mouth twitched, he however, held back, took a deep breath and,
"Trust me, Riona. I am calm. I know this is a Trap.
But that bastard said something he shouldn't have.
Please give me the Challenge Scroll."
"..."
Riona didn't say anything. She was still wondering if it was a good decision or not.
Nux, however, wasn't planning to give her a choice.
"I order you to give me the Scroll, Riona."
Activating the Slave Seal that was only implanted onto Riona so that she could talk to her daughter, Nux ordered. Riona's eyes widened as she realized that her body was moving on its own. She took out the scroll from her ring and passed it to Nux.
"Nux! What are you doing!?"
Amaya shouted.
