"Oh right, thank you for your protection and reminder. It might have gotten me in trouble later. But I have a question if you don't mind" Muku replied gratefully.

"Well, you've asked thousands already, so why not one more right?" Althea replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Cough. So how is it that you've killed 4 Monarchs but there are still 12? Like didn't you take their authority or something?" Muku asked feeling slightly awkward.

"Oh, that. I gave them away of course. You see, the Monarch of Destruction is not an official title. It's something I made myself and the others accepted since it just made sense. I could have kept the authorities and would have likely been stronger than I am right now. But meh, I don't want to be dirtied by those things. I also like using my own power. In fact, I barely use my authority's power. What I can say I got from it is the best talent in this world right now. All the authorities boost the user's talent by an absurd amount, but my own talent was special on its own. So I'm better than them even if we were given the same boost. Not to mention that they let the borrowed power go to their head and never worked on themselves..." Althea replied boastfully.

She quite liked telling people about how superior she was to everyone else.

As she spoke Muku turned to look at Raya. He wondered what kind of bullshit existence she would become if she had one of those authorities... Then again, the brat was lazy so maybe she won't be as strong as Althea.

But she would definitely be stronger than the average Monarch.

"Wait. If you're that much stronger. How's Ares still alive?" Muku asked without thinking.

"Didn't you say one more? Tsk, as expected of humans. They never stick to their promises. Just like my master told me. Lucky for you, I'm nice otherwise you would have lost an arm at least if it were anyone else. Anyway, that rat is only still alive because he hasn't come out of his private dimension since I chased him into it. Unfortunately, even I can't break into those things despite being the strongest. The trash uses clones for all the meetings he attends. And much as I don't want to compliment him in any way. I have to admit that there is no one better at preserving their life than him. But I promise you that he's dead the moment he comes out" Althea spoke in a slightly pissed off voice.

Whether she was pissed at Muku or Ares it was unknown. Maybe both pissed her off at the same time.

"Get in line. He's mine to kill" Jade who was still trying to calm down spoke without thinking.

"Is that so? And what would you do if I refuse? Will you take me out?" Althea asked with an amused look on her face.

Honestly, she admired Jade's courage despite it being powered by anger and not thinking first.

After all, she would never dare speak to a Monarch like that no matter what. Even if she knew the Monarch at a personal level, she would still be hesitant. Yet Jade hadn't known her for long yet she was already comfortable enough to threaten her.

It really amazed her as someone who couldn't completely relax in front of her own father who was the Monarch back then. Hell, she stopped calling him father the day she fathomed just what a Monarch was. They were the very peak of existence (from what she knew)

Even now when she was probably stronger than he was when he was alive, she still called him master.

"Not right now. But as soon as I can, then yes..." Jade replied without backing down.

The others looked at her with weird looks on their faces.

They wondered where the heck she was getting all this courage.

It better not be from expecting them to back her up because that would make zero difference. Negative zero is such a thing existence. That's how worthless they were in the situation.

This was different from fighting heavily restricted Monarchs. And even those times they survived purely because of luck really.

"Oh? Haha. I like you. For that reason, I'll cut you a deal. Whoever gets to him first gets to kill him. We both lost special people in our lives because of that bastard. In fact, you're just a descendant by many many generations in-between but I actually knew the one I want to fight for" Althea replied in the same amused tone.

"Fine by me. And I knew her too" Jade replied.

Her memories had finally cleared up after Althea explained everything back then.

She now knew that those visions were definitely real events that happened with zero lies.

She now knew that the lady who looked a lot like her in those visions was actually her birth mother. The one who refused to die before taking her to a safe place. The one she would have spent a lot of happy years with had it not been for Ares.

"Sure, whatever" Althea replied dismissively.

She felt that Jade just didn't want to lose in the argument so she was saying whatever she could to stay in the game.

After all, how could this young human know a woman from who knows how many years back?

Fortunately Jade didn't try to explain herself or who knows what Althea would have done.

"So, now it's my turn right?" Althea asked Muku.

"Sure. Just after you clarify this one thing. It's not even a new question, but just me wanting to understand what you said" Muku shamelessly requested to ask another question.

"Do I seem so nice that you ignore that I can kill you with a mere glance?" Althea asked with a dark look on her face,

"Forget I said anything. Ask anything you want to know and I'll tell you to the best of my abilities" Muku immediately backtracked.

He dared not push further after hearing that obvious threat to his life.

"Good. Now tell me how you got here" Althea asked.

She didn't accommodate Muku anymore as she had reached the end of her patience.

"I think my wife here is the best person to reply to that" Muku replied while looking toward Freya.

Yeah, there was no way he was going to expose his mother.

It wasn't for her safety... Obviously. But theirs, from her, as well as Althea's safety really.

After all, it was clear that the lady didn't want to be known by too many people.

So if he blurts it out, then he and the girls would definitely get punished somehow.

He was sure that it wouldn't be death, or something over the top. But it would definitely be something that would make them regret ever being born. Maybe she would make them go through hell training or something.

As for why he threw Freya into the mix, it wasn't that. It was a calculated move.

Before Mrs C came into the mix, they were planning on using Iris'

method to get there. So it wasn't Freya who was getting thrown under the bus but Iris instead.

Freya instantly understood the assignment and threw Iris under the bus to the best of her capabilities.

She explained everything about how Iris wanted to get them there. She even exposed Iris' origin without being asked.

Muku and the others looked at her with fear in their eyes.

They had no idea she was such a snake. And they thought she was the nicest of them all too.

Seeing their looks made Freya feel very aggrieved. She had gone above and beyond to get their appreciation but it only made them look at her like she was the most unforgivable traitor in existence.

She then looked at Muku hatefully. It was okay for the others to look at her like that, but how dare he do the same when it was his idea?

She might have done too much but it was still Muku's plan.

"Oh? So that's how it is. I have to say, that's such a daring method. Like the chance of failure was literally over 95% and yet you managed to make it with just the remaining 5. Truly lucky humans you are" Althea commented with admiration in her voice.

All her past negative emotions were wiped away.

She completely bought it too. After all, Freya had said it in a way that it wasn't a lie. She only spoke of the method but did not say whether it was what they used or not. Althea was so caught up in it that she missed that part.

"Life in the beast apocalypse requires guts or you won't get anything done" Muku commented casually.

The comment again didn't make things clear. It just led Althea into assuming that they used the method. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

She was completely fooled by them this time.

Then again, she wasn't used to deceptive beings.

After all, even the evilest beasts like Ares seldom lied if at all. They are too proud to lie. If they want you dead, they'll ambush you right away or come head-on.

To beasts, lying or being deceptive with words was beneath them. They would much rather act.

That's why most, if not all of them had zero resistance against deception...