So, he reached out and took hold of her hand. But that was when he froze.

"Men are always the same," she said with a sigh. She took away her hand slowly and left him sitting there without the power to move even his head.

He couldn't understand the situation until his hand touched her. He suddenly realized her hand was laced with a demon python's fat.

It was a fat with no scent or color, something that couldn't be distinguished unless it was touched. Additionally, it wasn't poisonous by itself unless it was mixed with Fair Demon perfume.

His heart was instantly filled with a sense of dread. The fragrance she wore must have been laced with Fair Demon perfume. It wasn't distinctive also since other perfumes could be used to alter its scent.

The perfume was harmless on its own except when mixed with the demon python's fat. Damn.

All these weren't enough reasons for Biyakin to fall for such a trap. The real reason was that he had never even in his wildest dreams thought that Munniq would come after his life.

They were on the same side and there was nothing wrong with his subordination. Moreover, there wouldn't be any need for Munniq or Origin to use poison if they wanted him dead.

All they needed to do was merely give him a command, and he would take his own life. This made his situation all the more puzzling.

His body began to heat up and Munniq brought out a bottle, showed it to him, shook it, and chuck it down.

Samineg, referred to as emperor Biyakin for the past century, sat still. Ten minutes later, his skin began to melt, then his flesh and his bones.

One good thing about this poison was that the victim would be numbed of all pain as he died. He watched his body melt until he became unconscious.

The reason for his death remained unknown to him up to the last moment. His dying thought was of his two daughters, Fina and Sufir. How would they fare now after losing him? He thought distantly as his body melted and became nothing.

From a side door, Laluri and another Biyakin appeared.

Laluri stepped forward and handed a vial to Munniq. A drop of blood that stained the couch was all that remained after Samineg was gone. The queen stored the drop of blood inside the bottle and handed it back to her maid.

No one spoke for a long time. Samineg had become history, a thing of the past, a member of the dead, but Munniq had already substituted him with another.

"My Lady," Laluri called politely. "You could have killed him with a mere wave of your finger. And I understand why you lured him here in the first place. But I don't understand why you wasted so much of your time on him."

Munniq smiled a little. "Why do you think I did what I did?" She asked Biyakin instead.

Biyakin shrugged. He looked exactly like the Biyakin that was just killed. "You wanted to see if your looks could still destroy men. That was your reason for baiting him with your body."

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Munniq frowned. She wasn't smiling, but inwardly, she was chuckling. What woman wouldn't like a bit of drama when killing a man? What was the purpose of invincibility?

Laluri frowned without understanding what was said. After a while and no one provided more explanation to her, she shuffled closer. "Everything is in order, my lady. But I can't fight a sense of foreboding... The Satedel would find out if we don't succeed... And if that happens..." She let the words hang.

Laluri's face was a mask of terror as she spoke of the Satedel.

Munniq smiled nonchalantly and waved her away. "What in the heavens do you think would stop me from succeeding? It is just a matter of time now, my fellow Satedel wouldn't know a word about this. Everything is going to take off smoothly as planned." She sounded both excited and confident.

Laluri nodded. "I understand, my Lady. But you know how the counselor feels about going against his orders. He may get angry even if we succeed."

Munniq glared at the maid. She was getting weary of her questions. "I don't ever want to hear his name or that of the Satedel from you. That isn't something an inferior creature like you could fathom or comment on."

Laluri curtsied and apologized. "Forgive me, my Lady."

Then she smartly changed the topic and said, "I don't think Commander has told Juwaira everything. She doesn't even know his real name. Chances are she doesn't even know a fraction of how his skill works."

Munniq sighed. It amazed her how a human golem could try to outsmart her. "How can he tell her everything? And why would I need his body parts if I already know everything?"

Laluri bowed her head and after a while, she nodded. "I understand, my Lady. What are your orders?"

***

At the castle, Abdin rose into the air and studied his surroundings. Nothing could be seen for miles from every angle except the castle buildings. Towers and structures, the beauty of which wasn't to be found even in the Shurein capital, had jutted up overnight.

The castle had expanded twice in quick succession. Some structures stood as tall as five stories high, and some many times as wide.

The second expansion caught Abdin off-guard. Six towns were demolished and absorbed but only about four thousand casualties were recorded. Abdin found that to be comforting since there weren't many lives lost. It gave him a lighter burden of guilt to contend with even if he wouldn't repeat the current loop. But it still worried him since he didn't understand why this happened.

He landed on the ground. Tairen, Sulat, Renga, and the elderly man called Walik awaited his orders.

Walik was the old man who saved the day during the battle on the walls earlier. Tairen didn't want to sacrifice his fellow disciples to defend the castle. The young man felt that their agreement with Abdin still stood, that Will of San should stay out of any battles with Biyakis.

It was Walik who insisted that those intruders weren't from Biyakis. Ultimately prevailing over Tairen and convincing the young man to give a reluctant order to the disciples to join in the fray. But for Walik's insistence, it would have been a different story at the moment.

Abdin could see something wrong with the report. How could an ordinary disciple convince the sect leader's son to participate in a battle that could very well determine the future of the sect? Walik seemed to have some secret identity. There were so many things going on at the moment so Abdin decided to ignore it for now.

A thousand and five hundred men stood in ranks awaiting his orders. The other soldiers were either dead or currently indisposed. He had left a few others to stay guard over the civilians. Even if everyone was counted, the number of fighters in the whole castle wouldn't exceed one thousand and eight hundred men.

On the other side of the road, a dozen men knelt on their knees and a few soldiers stood guard over them. Abdin gave the kneeling men a curious glare as he narrowed his eyes and walked toward them.

Juwaira (and Silver Mask) hadn't shown up yet. Abdin was disturbed by this fact but could do nothing about it except plan and wait. A couple of hours ago, he sent out scouts to search for any survivors from the six affected towns. The people kneeling in front of him were the tenth group brought in for interrogation. They'd lost their homes and businesses, so Abdin didn't want to make it any harder than it already was. He decided to ask a few questions and then send them away. If no problems were found, he even decided to invite them to join the castle. However, problems were found.

Each of the men interrogated had given a simple yet implausible answer: they had the urge to leave town. Their answers were almost the same, which greatly amazed everyone present.

They had the urge to leave town, so they packed and fled. What did that even mean?