Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 169: The Ninetails Returns

The heavy golden doors of the Trial of Kings slammed shut, sealing Primrose, Rajah, and Rurik inside.

Primrose expected fire. She expected lava.

She did not expect silence.

The room was a void of blinding white. There were no walls, no floor, just an infinite expanse of oppressive, heavy heat. It wasn’t the kind of heat that burned skin; it was the kind of heat that weighed on the soul, demanding you confess every lie you ever told.

"It’s hot," Rurik noted, wiping sweat from his brow. "Like a sauna built by angry gods."

"It is Spiritual Pressure," Rajah growled, his tiger ears flattened against his head. "The Ancestor is testing our resolve. If we waver, we burn."

Suddenly, the white void shifted. The heat coalesced into a massive, swirling tornado of golden fire in front of them. Two eyes opened within the flames—the same ruby eyes as the statue outside.

"YOU HAVE ENTERED THE CRUCIBLE," the First Lion’s voice boomed from every direction. "HERE, INTENT IS FUEL. IF YOUR INTENT IS IMPURE, YOU WILL BE ASH."

The tornado lashed out. A tendril of golden fire whipped toward Primrose.

Rajah stepped in front, slashing his sword. The blue flames of the Tiger Clan collided with the golden flames of the Lion.

BOOM.

Rajah was skidded backward, his boots carving grooves into the nothingness.

"He’s strong," Rajah grunted, shaking his numbed hand. "This isn’t normal fire. It’s condensed history."

Primrose stood behind her two bodyguards. She felt the heat licking at her consciousness. Her Six Tails were bristling, trying to create a barrier, but the Blue Tail (Water) was sizzling, evaporating in the dry heat.

"I need the Red Tail," Primrose shouted over the roar of the fire. "But I can’t just catch the fire! I’m water-aligned right now! If I touch that, I’ll turn into steam!"

"Then how do we forge the tail?" Rurik yelled, dodging a bolt of white lightning the Ancestor threw at him. "Do we punch the fire?"

"No!" Primrose’s mind raced.

She looked at the satchel at her waist. She felt the heavy, cold pulse of the Heart of the Tide.

Ophelia had said the Heart was the Source. It wasn’t just water. It was the Heart of the world’s mana.

Water conducts electricity. Water creates steam when heated.

Water wasn’t the opposite of Fire and Lightning. It was the medium.

"I have an idea!" Primrose grabbed the satchel. "Rajah! Rurik! Don’t fight the fire! Feed it to me!"

"What?" Rajah looked at her like she was insane. "Primrose, you are flammable!"

"Trust me!" Primrose pulled the glowing blue sphere—the Heart of the Tide—out of the bag.

In this white inferno, the Heart looked like a drop of pure, cool salvation.

"The Heart is a prism!" Primrose explained, holding the sphere up high. "It can refract mana! Rajah, pour your fire into it! Rurik, hit it with your strongest bolt! Use the Heart to filter the energy so I can absorb it!"

The Ancestor roared, sensing the ancient artifact.

"THE STOLEN HEART! YOU DARE REVEAL YOUR CRIME IN MY SANCTUARY?"

The massive fire-tornado surged forward, mouths opening in the flames to swallow them whole.

"Now!" Primrose screamed.

Rajah didn’t hesitate. He sheathed his sword and placed both hands on the Heart of the Tide.

"Burn!" Rajah roared. He poured his entire essence—the Blue Flame of the Tiger Kings—into the sphere.

Rurik laughed maniacally. He grabbed the sphere from the top. "Zap!"

He channeled a bolt of indigo lightning straight from his core.

Fire and Lightning slammed into the Water artifact.

Normally, this would cause a catastrophic explosion. But the Heart of the Tide was divine. It didn’t break. It spun.

The blue sphere turned white. It began to vibrate, humming a sound that cracked the floor of the dimension.

It absorbed Rajah’s heat. It absorbed Rurik’s storm. And it mixed them with the ocean’s depth.

Primrose grabbed the sphere with both hands.

"Grandma Ophelia," Primrose whispered, closing her eyes. "Let’s cook."

The sensation was overwhelming.

It felt like drinking a volcano and a thunderstorm at the same time, chased with a glass of ice water.

The Heart of the Tide acted as a filter. It stripped the damage from the fire and lightning, leaving only the pure Elemental Concept.

Primrose screamed as the energy flooded her spine.

But this time, no Red Tail appeared. No Cyan Tail appeared.

Instead, a wave of pure, metallic light washed over her.

All the colors were being burned away by the sheer intensity of the synthesis.

WHOOSH.

From her lower back, mana erupted. But it wasn’t a rainbow.

It was Silver.

Pure, blinding, liquid Silver.

The color of moonlight. The color of starlight. The color of divinity.

One by one, her existing tails transformed. They turned into sleek, shimmering silver fur that glowed with an inner holy light.

And then, two more burst forth to join them.

Eight Silver Tails.

They fanned out behind her, not like a peacock, but like a halo of blades. They were uniform. Perfect.

The Lion Ancestor stopped his attack. The fire tornado slowed down.

The giant ruby eyes widened.

"SILVER..." the Ancestor rumbled, sounding baffled. "SHE HAS PURIFIED THE ELEMENTS? SHE HAS RETURNED TO THE ORIGIN?"

"It’s called multitasking," Primrose panted, clutching the Heart of the Tide. The sphere was glowing so brightly now it was hard to look at.

"But I’m not done," Primrose whispered. "I have eight. I need nine."

She looked at the Heart. It was pulsing rapidly, cracking slightly under the strain of holding so much power.

It wasn’t just an artifact. It was a cocoon.

"The Heart," Primrose realized. "It’s not just a battery. It’s the last piece."

She looked at Rajah and Rurik. They were exhausted, drained of their mana.

"Thank you, boys," Primrose smiled. "Now, stand back. I think I’m about to level up."

She lifted the Heart of the Tide to her chest.

She didn’t absorb it. She embraced it.

"Unity," Primrose whispered.

She pressed the Heart into her own chest.

SHATTER.

The artifact broke.

It didn’t explode outward. It imploded inward, dissolving into particles of pure silver light that sank into Primrose’s skin.

The water of the ocean. The fire of the tiger. The storm of the wolf. The light of the sun. The shadow of the void.

All of it mixed together in her soul and turned into one single color.

The silence returned.

Then, slowly, a Ninth Tail began to grow from the center of the others.

It was the largest of them all. A massive, flowing river of Silver Light.

The Nine-Tailed Silver Sovereign.

The blinding light of the transformation faded.

Primrose stood there. Her dress was still tattered. Her hair was messy.

But the Nine Silver Tails behind her were majestic. They moved in perfect synchronization, casting a glow that made the golden fire of the room look dim.

The massive fire-tornado of the Lion Ancestor dissolved.

The giant stone Lion reformed in front of her. But this time, it wasn’t attacking.

It lowered its massive head until its chin touched the nonexistent floor.

"I SEE," the Ancestor whispered. "OPHELIA DID NOT STEAL THE HEART TO HIDE IT. SHE STOLE IT TO PRESERVE IT... FOR YOU."

The Ancestor looked at Primrose with newfound respect.

"YOU ARE NOT A TRAITOR. YOU ARE THE SILVER STAR. THE BEAST EMPIRE ACKNOWLEDGES THE SOVEREIGN."

A golden mark—the Crest of the Lion—appeared on Primrose’s hand, right next to her engagement ring.

"Thanks, Kitty," Primrose said, patting the giant lava-nose. "Now, can you let us out? I think the sky is falling."

The golden doors of the Trial room burst open.

Primrose walked out, flanked by Rajah and Rurik.

The Throne Room was silent. Emperor Leonis, Bastion, Ellia, Caspian, and the kids were all staring at the door.

When they saw the Nine Silver Tails, a collective gasp echoed through the room.

"Whoa," Vali whispered. "She’s so... shiny."

Arjun adjusted his glasses. "The mana density is uniform. She has homogenized the elemental spectrum into a singular divine frequency."

Caspian walked forward. He looked at his fiancée. She looked exhausted, powerful, and very hungry.

"You did it," Caspian said, smiling.

"I did," Primrose nodded. She twitched a Silver Tail. "And I think I’m permanently glittery now. Sorry about the shedding."

"That is wonderful," Lucien said, his voice cutting through the celebration. "But look."

He pointed up.

Through the translucent golden dome of the palace, the sky had changed.

The Black Eye wasn’t just staring anymore.

It was blinking.

And from the center of the pupil, a single black tear fell.

It dropped through the clouds. It hit the Sun Shield of the city.

CRACK.

The golden barrier—the impenetrable defense of the Lion Empire—shattered like glass.

The sky tore open.

Massive black ships, shaped like floating cathedrals of obsidian, began to descend from the rift.

Void-Beasts dropped from the sky like rain.

The True Invasion had begun.

Emperor Leonis drew his sword. "Sound the alarms! The Empire is under attack!"

Prince Bastion grabbed his claymore. "Lion Guard! Defensive positions!"

Primrose looked at her Nine Silver Tails. She felt the power of the Ocean, the Fire, the Storm, and the Sun coursing through her, purified into one force.

She looked at the kids. Ellia was holding Arjun’s hand. Vali was standing in front of Clover. Silas was guarding Orion.

"Okay," Primrose said, her eyes turning a brilliant, diamond-white. "No one touches the kids."

She floated up into the air, levitating toward the shattered dome.

"Rajah, Rurik, Caspian, Lucien, Cassian," she called out. "Dads, on me."

The Warlords grinned.

"Let’s go to war," Rajah said.