Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 367: Episode 365: To make you laugh.

The freezing winter air whipped across the rocky banks of the eastern stream, carrying the dissipating, foul scent of ozone and burning stardust.

The dark red mist had completely vanished, leaving a profound, echoing silence in its wake. But the warlords were entirely unable to simply turn off their apocalyptic combat auras.

hey had been completely prepared to die for her, and the Demon King had simply treated them like an amusing, fleeting annoyance.

Watching the towering, lethal monsters tear the riverbank apart in their helpless rage, the adrenaline that had been keeping Roxy standing violently evaporated.

Her knees buckled. She stumbled backward, her legs entirely giving out, and collapsed heavily onto the smooth, frost-covered surface of the largest boulder. She pulled her dark fur cloak tightly around her trembling frame, her chest heaving as she dragged in massive, ragged gasps of the freezing air.

"It’s enough," Roxy called out, her voice shaky but echoing clearly over the rushing water. "It’s enough, guys... he’s gone."

Zarek spun around. The colossal Dragon’s golden eyes were entirely dilated, completely consumed by an unholy, territorial wrath.

"I am going to kill him!" Zarek roared, the sheer volume of his draconic voice vibrating directly through the stone beneath her. "I will tear his unearthly head from his shoulders!"

Despite the sheer, cosmic terror she had just endured, a sudden, entirely involuntary sound escaped Roxy’s lips. She laughed. It was a broken, exhausted, and slightly hysterical sound that completely shattered the feral tension of the clearing.

"Zaza," Roxy breathed, shaking her head weakly as she looked at the towering beast. "How can you kill a being that doesn’t even belong to this realm? Claws and hellfire can’t hurt him."

The massive, thrashing beasts slowly began to freeze. The horrific, bone-cracking symphony of their shifting echoed through the dark tree line as they violently forced their monstrous forms back into their humanoid shapes.

Steam rolled off their incredibly hot, bare skin as the freezing winter air hit their heavily muscled bodies.

Syris stepped out of the boiling shallows, his vibrant green eyes completely dark with a grim, heavy resignation.

"Roxy is right," the Snake King murmured, running a wet hand through his long, dark hair. He looked at his brothers, his voice tight. "He is a Demon King. We cannot simply kill him with brute force."

They all went quiet. The Alpha Kings stood in the snow, entirely naked and practically vibrating with leftover adrenaline. They were incredibly edgy, their broad chests heaving, their fangs still partially elongated as they glared at the dark tree line.

Roxy couldn’t blame them in the slightest. The absolute, defining core of their existence was their ability to protect their Matriarch. To be completely powerless against the entity hunting her was a psychological torture they had never experienced.

Roxy forced her exhausted, aching body off the boulder. She walked forward, her bare feet sinking into the snow, and stepped directly into the center of her dangerous, unsettled warlords.

"Hey," Roxy soothed softly, reaching out to rest her small, warm hands against Torian’s tense arm and Kaelen’s rigid chest. She looked up at their furious, devastated faces. "I am going to work this out. I promise you. He thinks we are just characters playing a game, but he is wrong. We will find a way to break his rules."

Zarek stepped up behind her, his massive hands wrapping gently over her shoulders, entirely enveloping her in his profound, draconic heat.

"We are going to be there to support you," Zarek vowed, his voice a deep, uncompromising rumble against her back. "Whatever it takes, Roxy. We will burn the heavens down with you."

Roxy leaned her head back against his collarbone, letting out a long, shuddering sigh of relief. The cosmic threat of Abaddon was still hanging over their heads like a guillotine, but standing here, anchored by their unconditional love, the existential dread began to slowly recede.

As her heartbeat steadied, her transmigrated mind drifted to the logistical realities of the war they were about to wage. If they were going to fight a demon, the Iron-Wood Manor needed to be an absolute fortress, and their bloodline needed to be secure.

"Zarek," Roxy asked quietly, turning her head to look up at his sharp jawline. "Does Drax have to go?"

Months ago, before the trickster’s death and the Architect’s revelation, Zarek had arranged for their teenage son to train at the Dragon Peaks with Malcor. But sending her eldest boy away now, when the universe was actively trying to destroy them, felt terrifying.

Zarek’s golden eyes softened with a heavy, paternal weight. He gently squeezed her shoulders.

"The little one has to be able to learn the ropes of being a true king," Zarek explained softly, his voice leaving no room for argument, but filled with deep empathy. "If Abaddon intends to test us, our heir must be forged in the harshest fires. Drax cannot reach his full potential hiding behind our backs. He must go."

Roxy pressed her lips into a thin line, but she slowly nodded her head. "Fair."

The heavy, serious conversation seemed to finally bleed the last of the apocalyptic tension from the air. However, the warlords were still practically burning up from their unresolved combat auras.

"We need to cool off," Kaelen grumbled, his skin flushed with an unnatural heat.

Without another word, Kaelen, Torian, Syris, and Caspian turned and waded directly back into the freezing, icy waters of the eastern stream. The sub-zero temperatures didn’t bother them; it was exactly the physical shock their feral blood desperately needed to fully calm down.

Zarek, however, remained on the riverbank.

Before Roxy could even blink, the towering Dragon Alpha bent down and effortlessly scooped her entirely into his massive arms, lifting her against his broad, bare chest as if she weighed absolutely nothing.

Roxy let out a startled squeak, instinctively wrapping her arms around his thick neck.

Zarek looked down at her, a slow, incredibly arrogant, and purely draconic smirk spreading across his handsome face. The heavy, dark atmosphere of the Demon King’s visit completely vanished, replaced by the cocky swagger of the apex predator.

"Now," Zarek announced loudly, ensuring his voice carried perfectly over the rushing water. "Let’s go back to the part where I am your favorite."

Instantly, four pairs of glowing blue, green, and aquatic eyes violently snapped toward the riverbank. The other mates, chest-deep in the freezing water, turned and glared at the Dragon King with absolute, unadulterated hostility.

Roxy’s face burned scarlet. She slapped his thick thigh with her hand, completely scandalized. "Zarek!"

"What?" Zarek asked innocently, though his golden eyes were dancing with wicked amusement. He puffed out his chest, looking entirely unapologetic. "I am the strongest one here, and their king. It’s a simple biological fact."

"You don’t rule over me, lizard!" Caspian shouted from the middle of the stream, the former Merman crossing his arms defiantly.

Zarek slowly turned his head. He leveled a completely flat, terrifying, and utterly lethal glare directly at Caspian.

Caspian held the intense eye contact for exactly two seconds before he wisely, completely ducked his head underwater to avoid the Dragon’s wrath, leaving only a stream of bubbles behind.

Torian burst into a booming, chest-deep laugh, wiping the icy water from his face. The White Tiger waded closer to the bank, looking up at Zarek with a wicked gleam in his blue eyes.

"Toss her in," Torian urged, grinning broadly.

Roxy’s green eyes blew wide in sheer panic. She looked down at the freezing, swirling water of the stream and then up at Zarek’s highly amused face.

"What?!" Roxy shrieked, tightening her death grip on Zarek’s neck. "No! Why do I have to be tossed in?!"

Zarek didn’t even need to say a single word. His arrogant smirk simply widened.

"Zarek, I swear—!"

With a smooth, effortless heave of his massive arms, Zarek literally threw his Queen through the freezing night air.

Roxy screamed, a sound of pure, unadulterated surprise, as she went flying in a perfect arc over the rocky bank. But she didn’t hit the freezing water.

Torian stepped forward, his massive, heavily muscled arms catching her flawlessly against his wet chest. The impact was entirely absorbed by his towering strength.

Before Roxy could even catch her breath to scold him, the massive White Tiger immediately buried his face into the crook of her neck. He took a long, exaggerated sniff of her dark curls and let out a deep, theatrical groan.

"Mhm," Torian rumbled, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Smells like my size."

Roxy burst into a loud, ringing laugh, completely recognizing the ridiculous quote. Weeks ago, she had been scrolling through the divine tablet and had shown Torian a popular reel from her world about tall men. The fact that the terrifying Tiger Warlord had memorized the audio just to use it on her now was absolutely hysterical.

"You are an idiot!" Roxy laughed, slapping his wet shoulder.

"My turn," Syris demanded smoothly.

Torian didn’t hesitate. With a powerful thrust, the Tiger Alpha tossed her sideways through the air.

Roxy yelped again, but this time, she didn’t land in arms. A massive, incredibly thick, and perfectly smooth emerald serpent tail whipped out of the water. Syris had partially shifted his lower half. The thick coils wrapped flawlessly and securely around her waist, catching her with breathtaking grace.

The Snake King smoothly brought her directly to his elegant face. Water dripped from his dark hair as his vibrant green eyes locked onto hers, completely filled with a dark, playful hunger.

"I wanna gobble you up," Syris whispered, his lips brushing the shell of her ear, making her shiver from something entirely unrelated to the cold.

Before she could respond, the serpent tail uncoiled with a flick, launching her backward through the air.

Kaelen caught her firmly, the stoic King of the North holding her securely against his broad, freezing chest. The Wolf Alpha looked down at her, his icy blue eyes completely serious, though a faint, rare smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Care to have another triplets with me?" Kaelen asked smoothly.

Roxy laughed out loud, shoving weakly at his chest. "You wish, wolfboy!"

"Hey!" Caspian shouted, bursting up from beneath the surface of the water right beside them.

Kaelen effortlessly tossed her over to the aquatic warlord. Caspian caught her with fluid, beautiful precision, spinning her once in the water before holding her tight.

"Maybe another sea dweller?" Caspian offered eagerly, batting his long eyelashes at her.

"You are not even a merman anymore!" Roxy teased breathlessly, splashing a handful of freezing water directly into his handsome face.

Caspian laughed, wiping his eyes, and with a powerful heave, he tossed her all the way back toward the rocky riverbank.

Zarek stepped forward, catching his Matriarch with absolute ease, pulling her securely back against the dry, burning heat of his draconic chest.

Roxy lay in his arms, her chest heaving as she wheezed and panted for breath. Her dark hair was damp, her fur cloak was askew, and her face was flushed, but she was laughing. She was laughing so hard her ribs ached, a genuine, uninhibited sound of pure joy that completely banished the suffocating shadow of the Demon King.

She looked up at the towering, terrifying monsters surrounding her, her brilliant green eyes shining with overwhelming love.

"Why are you all doing this to me?" Roxy wheezed between breathless giggles.

Zarek leaned down, his massive frame shielding her from the winter wind. He pressed his lips gently against her damp temple, his deep voice dropping into a gravelly, incredibly tender whisper right against her ear.

"It’s because we want to make you laugh."