I moved from the outer yard into the inner yard. Except for a few inevitables, I tried not to leave too many piles of lifeless bodies. It left a bitter taste in my mouth to see them drop like that, but surprisingly, that was just it.

I remembered how averse I once was to killing people. And Kael, whom I had killed because I refused to kill him earlier, and had come back to show me that I had made a foolish decision by sparing him.

There was Kai too. I had a feeling that we were going to cross paths again soon. And because I had failed to kill him then, he would probably have turned into a fine young summoner with a handsome face.

’Tch, I should at least have given him a large scar, no?’

I caught myself belatedly.

’Goodness... when did I become so comfortable with senseless violence?’

Aside from the necessary thought of killing Kai not bothering me one bit, there was also the fact that I no longer seemed to think twice when dealing a death blow. Yes, I had fought several humans, but there was no one whose death hadn’t made me feel... uneasy.

What remained of that unease was just a bitter taste in my mouth, and even now I could feel it slowly seeping away.

I sidestepped another forward slash from a soldier. Then, with an easy movement, I drove my sword into his stomach. The blade tore out from behind him, and a froth of blood bubbled from his mouth.

He was about to fall against my shoulder, but I sidestepped again and wrenched my sword free, letting him collapse onto the ground.

I stared ahead of me. Some of the women I recognized from the day we arrived were fighting men from the Crystal Deep Clan. One lady commanded a fish that looked like an ugly old cat and floated in the air. The fish lunged forward and released a pressurized jet of water that flew with immense force.

But the creature it faced was much larger and naturally built for combat. The thing spread its hard, spiked shells and rolled forward.

Before it could clash with the lady’s fish, I appeared in a low crouch, my sword already swinging across a horizontal arc.

Frostfang clashed with the shell and bounced back, though the shell was also knocked back a few meters.

The summoner seemed dazed for a moment. He must have thought it impossible for a summoner to face a summon directly, no matter the circumstances.

I twisted my grip, and flames traced along the cold blade. With a step forward, I drove the sword into the tiny gap between its shell and shoulder, severing the summon’s connection to its life.

I twisted my sword free while the summoner collapsed in horror. At the same time, I vanished, appearing beside two summons that were entangled. One looked like a horned kangaroo. It had massive legs, and a kick from those legs looked like it would hurt a great deal.

The opposing creature’s saving grace was that it was a snake.

I glanced at the lady.

"Withdraw your summon."

At once the snake slithered backward with furious speed. The horned kangaroo barreled forward with a kick of its gigantic legs. I thrust my leg forward, and our kicks collided. A ringing shockwave tore outward.

The next moment, however, I was behind the horned kangaroo, finishing a diagonal slash that sliced apart its torso from behind.

The summoner glared in fury and horror, twitching.

"H-How dare you?!"

"Go to sleep."

I slammed the pommel of my sword against his forehead, knocking him out cold.

There were two other girls ahead. My chains shot out, wrapped around the Crystal Deep soldiers, lifted them high, and slammed them to the ground. Instantly, their summons vanished.

The four ladies I had helped all bowed toward me in respect.

"Where is the Whit— the Matriarch? Where is she?"

One of them, with dark-emerald hair, responded in a calm tone.

"The Matriarch was in the Lotus Pavilion when the clan was attacked."

I glanced at her for a moment. Ahead, more battle still raged — cold blades clashing together and guttural sounds tearing from things that were anything but human.

’Perhaps Kassie was not so wrong. Having an army would’ve been nice.’

I looked down at the lady.

"Join your mates and help out however you can... I won’t be coming back to watch your beautiful head."

They lowered their heads, though not enough to completely hide the reddened cheeks beneath them.

It seemed my words had managed to captivate them despite the unsightly situation we were in.

’How odd... those things really work on girls?’

They were truly strange creatures.

’Perhaps I should commit to more research on them. I could start with Kassie... actually, I think White Feather would be a more convienient option.’

Knives of flame appeared behind my feet and launched me into the sky like a rocket.

The girls were left on the ground staring in amazement. While airborne, I scanned the battlefield below. Although the skirmish was unevenly stacked against the Boundless Wave Clan — they had already lost many forces to the Crystal Deep and Water Moon Clans prior to this — they still seemed to be holding on.

Though only by the skin of their teeth.

Most of their warriors fought with grim, unrelenting vigor, working tirelessly together to kill an enemy. They had no shame in ganging up — five injured people weakening and defeating one or two summoners together.

Kassie was somewhere toward the north wing of the expansive manor, fighting a summon whose essence felt nefarious and truly terrifying. If it were not Kassie, I might have been worried.

But now, I was simply worried for the nefarious summon.

Finally, I spotted White Feather. Behind her stood what looked like a large white bird with a man’s torso, and behind the bird-man was Shuǐyáo. White Feather herself looked haggard.

They were facing a towering beast with a massive frame cloaked in tenebrous midnight fur and a fearsome head. Draconic horns crowned its head, and four unreasonably long whiskers extended from its nostrils. If I was not mistaken, the creature bore an uncanny resemblance to the legendary kirin.

Behind it, a man walked slowly toward Shuǐyáo who, by the way, still looked like she had more fight in her, even though both she and her summon appeared worse for wear.

Slowly, I descended in front of them, landing in the middle of the arching bridge.

The man and his summon paused. Then a pleasant, curious smile appeared on his face.

"And who may you be?"