It was early afternoon, and sharp clanking sounds resonated throughout the fortress repeatedly, followed by the buzzing echo of electricity.

“Tsk, you became harder again!” Poli rotated his wrist, holding the sword shimmering in soft blue light and spewing sparks, while Zern was standing before him, only wearing his shorts.

His entire body was covered in a shining, metallic luster as if he was a steel statue. Even his hair, eyes, and all the other body parts of his were silvery. It was covered with hot red sword strikes. Markings that slowly were cooling down, disappearing as his skin regenerated, before exhaling, letting himself return to a normal human appearance.

“Still, it’s not enough. I need my full power output to hold up against your sword. I can only sustain it for 5 minutes, tops.”

“But you know this sword of mine is not made from normal materials!”

“Yes, and we saw demon folk block it with their bodies.”

“True. Still, against human weapons, you are probably invulnerable.” He laughed as he sheathed his sword.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Isha came up, throwing a wet towel against Zern’s face. “How’s your wound?”

“Completely healed. No problems.” He slapped the scar on his abdomen, which was slowly disappearing. In a few weeks, it would be gone completely.

“Good to hear!” Ren came up to them while Rem followed her closely, now wearing a small, white-brown leather outfit similar to theirs, and finally Leinor, arriving after the two. “We have orders.”

“Where are we going next?”

“We are to meet with another Fairy tribe; Rem will be our main point of contact. Word got out, and one of our outposts discovered another tribe. Eldest Brother left in advance to verify their presence, and his letter arrived this morning! It’s legit. He already made contact.”

“I’ll work hard!” Rem added happily.

“Everyone should get ready. We will be on our way by daybreak. Any questions?”

Nobody said anything, only nodding, making Ren smile as she asked Rem to go and take a letter to her father, and after she left, everyone knew she still had something to say. It was evident from her eyes that the only reason for sending Rem away was because it was something confidential.

“It’s not the fairies, is it?” Isha sighed.

“That part was true. But there is more. We are being played as the bait.”

“I fucking knew it….” Isha held her temple with a helpless expression.

“The Intelligence Agency lost a few men but discovered which tribe is searching and eliminating every presence of ours they come around. They are a bunch of apes. They are leading them to a predesignated point. We discovered a Fairy village where we wanted to set the ambush. It’s a valley, 120 km northeast from here.” Ren explained as she unfolded a small map showing the topography. “It’s surrounded by three hills, covered in thick vegetation. We planned to establish an “outpost” there and make it seem we have people stationed down in the valley. Our main objective is to bury the monkeys as they enter, but we found out fairies populated it.”

“How many?”

“Around 200.”

“Ouch…” Poli smacked his lips.

“Yes... Feynor has arrived at the scene, starting the negotiation, but the fairies understandably are still not too trusting towards us. We go there with Rem and make them leave. Preferably as soon as possible!”

“We get it. What about the bait part?” Zern asked.

“We will act then as the scouting party for the garrison. We will lure the monkeys in.” Leinor continued, already knowing the full plan.

“Sounds dangerous. I like it!”

“Hah!” Ren smirked at Poli’s words. “Stop it, maverick! We are not going there to fight. The intel says they are composed of only evolved warriors, numbering around two dozen.”

“Double Fuck…” Isha cursed, looking more and more annoyed.

“Our job is not to fight but to lead! We will maintain a safe distance and leave enough traces so they can follow us. The main force of the battle will include the Emperor, my Father, and Mother at the helm.”

The announcement stunned everyone except Leinor, who was with Ren when they received the briefing.

“Will we see the Emperor fight?”

“Yes. This will be a show of force and destruction of the enemy. The Imperial Guards will take the field personally! It will also be my first time seeing this many Harmony Realm fighters duke it out. So everyone should feel lucky. It will be a great experience to see them fight, and it will give us inspiration on how to approach our breakthroughs.”

“What about Rem?”

“We will protect her while she is with us. She doesn’t need to know about this, and she will leave with the other group of fairies. It’s best not to stress her mind with it. Also, this is a strict “need to know only” operation. We go, complete what we are told, and follow orders from the higher-ups. We can’t screw up the overall plan. Got it?”

“Yes, Sir!” the group answered in unison, followed by the sighing voice of Isha.

“Good. Also, if I remember correctly...” she said with a sly smile, “I won the previous bet with the wasps… so when we go home… be prepared~”

“I object! We didn’t have the time to round up the numbers correctly!” Isha stood out with a provoking gaze.

“I hear you, I hear you. Tell you what, Boobies, we will hold a tiebreaker match after all this; what do you say?”

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“I’m in, mini-bitch!” she grinned widely.

“Nice, looking forward to it! Now disperse! Eat your dinners, and go to sleep early!”

After everyone left, she and Leinor stayed atop the walls as she leaned forward at the edge, watching towards the horizon.

“Is something bothering you?” Leinor leaned next to her.

“Yes.”

“Tell me.” He said as he gently stroked her silver, long hair, now worn in a ponytail.

“I’m still a virgin.”

“Ugh!?”

“Ouch! Don’t pull my hair! Or if you are into it, then sure but be more gentle at first!” she giggled as her head almost yanked backward by the sudden reaction of Leinor.

“S-sorry. That came out of nowhere.”

“Gotcha! You let your guard down. It was an easy score. You’ve been sloppy lately~” Ren laughed, looking up at him, grabbing onto his shirt, pulling down so as she tiptoed so that she could kiss his lips. “Be a man already and strike first; you got used to me taking the lead, right? I spoiled you rotten~” she whispered as their lips separated.

“It’s just not appropriate here! We are at the army, and we have ranks-” Leinor said, but he couldn’t continue as Ren sealed his lips again with hers.

“Shut it. We are alone now… Let me enjoy the moment…”

…

….

…..

“You are pretty fast, Rem.” Ren laughed, landing next to the little fairy who stopped on a tree branch, picking a ripe peach and biting into it with a happy face. Her reddish wings quickly fluttered, releasing beautiful pixie dust all over the air, signaling her enjoyment of the early dinner.

“I like flying in between the trees; it’s fun!” Rem replied happily, holding up the fruit so she could also take a bite. “It’s yummy, isn’t it, Big Sis?” she laughed happily.

“Yup, it is!” Ren said while taking a small bite out of the juicy fruit held up by her smiling new sister.

“Big Sis, huh? And where is she big exactly?” Isha arrived, scanning Ren up and down, and soon the others caught up too.

“Hmf, mind your business, Boobies. Let me enjoy the moment!”

“Ahahaha, okay, okay, I won’t take this from you, kid.” She stuck her tongue out.

“Ugh… you…” Ren shook her head. “Are we close?”

“By our designated route, we are getting closer.” Leinor said, checking his compass.

“We are!” nodded Rem. “I can smell the others' scent!”

“You do?”

“Uhum! When we fly, we leave a trail so the little ones can find us and return if they wander too far away! I smell the scent of another fairy who was here a few days ago! They have a nice smell! Really nice!” Rem hopped from one leg to another while finishing the peach, throwing the seed out, far away, so it could find a place to grow into a tree one day. “This way!”

Following the small, plump, little joyball, they soon arrived at a steep and high hill. Looking down from the top, they could see a valley with old ruins, maybe some kind of old logging town, grown with vegetation and hundreds of colorful flowers. They saw the group of Feynor who were already here, camping at the valley’s entrance, while a lot of small butterflies were fluttering in the air around their evolved parents.

“Pretty nice…” Zern murmured.

“Isn’t it? Isn’t it?” Rem clapped happily, and soon she flew down to meet them.

“Sadly, this place will be bathed in blood soon. Let’s move out. The earlier we can send them away, the better!” Ren sighed in a calm voice, then raced downwards, right after Rem.

At first, they greeted Feynor while Rem introduced herself to the other Forest Fairies, who were very welcoming to their brethren and especially curious at the never-before-seen clothes she was wearing and how she got something like this.

“Eldest Brother.” Leinor greeted him while Feynor just smiled at them.

“Good to have all of you here. Hopefully, this time everything will go smoothly!”

“Please, don’t jinx it.” Ren grimaced.

“Ahaha, what, are you superstitious perhaps?”

“What can go wrong, goes wrong.” Ren commented, shaking her head with a sour expression.

“I never knew you were that kind of girl Ren, hmm….” Feynor murmured, amused by her reaction, “Soon you will tell me you believe in gods! The old faith is still present, but fewer and fewer people follow it.”

“Old faith?” she whispered because it was only old in their perspective, but it was pretty new to her. “I don’t care about it but about Gods... I believe in the existence of powerful individuals who may seem like gods to us. But not in the omnipotent, everpresent kind.”

“Interesting. We need a good night's talk once we get back to the capital.” Feynor chuckled.

“Sorry, I’m already taken!” Ren joked, unable to leave it at that.

“Ahahaha, I start to see why Leinor is so infatuated with you!” He laughed as he slapped her shoulders.

“How’s the evacuation going?”

“Not good. They won’t leave. They are distrusting, and I can’t blame them. We just show up one day, scaring the living daylight out of them, and then say they need to move right now. Hell, I would’ve-”

“Okay, they are going!” Rem’s laughing voice came as she flew back with three other fairies in tow, who were also the epitome of curvy, ripe goddesses in the color of green, pink and blue, with sparkling wings behind their backs, wearing only leaves, looking a bit scared and apologetic at the same time.

“What…?” Feynor blinked, almost not believing his ears.

“I told them how you saved our lives and what’s coming here. They don’t want to get eaten by them, so they said they are willing to follow us out! Why?” Rem blinked her eyes with confusion because this is why they came, not understanding Feynor’s befuddlement.

“Get used to it. They are too pure for our thoughts!” Ren whispered to Feynor.

“I see that….” The prince nodded, but soon he gently bowed towards the other fairies. “Thank you for listening to us.”

“No, no, no! W-we need to thank you… if… if not, we would’ve been massacred!” The pink-colored fairy replied with a sweet, charming voice.

“We didn’t know humans were this kind!”

“Um, they are!” Rem nodded proudly. “Where are we going?” she asked, as she never knew the next part, looking questioningly at Ren.

“The safest place is back the way we came. Do you remember the route?”

“Sure!”

“Good! Then help them arrive there. The Pass is already prepared for them. From there, they can either stay with us under protection. We have places in our empire for them to inhabit or take up residence near somewhere in the forest where we can quickly help out if trouble arrives! It’s their decision. We won’t force them to choose. That was my Father’s orders.”

“Mm.” Feynor nodded approvingly as it was his suggestion to his father, and it seemed they took heed.

“Okay! Then let’s go, Big Sis!” Rem clapped happily.

“No, only you, we stay.”

“Eh? Why? I-its dangerous!”

“We know. But don’t worry, we will stay because we will catch some monkeys to play with! Relax, Rem.” Ren laughed as she patted the now teary-eyed little fairy. “Everything will be fine!”

Clearly, the others, too shocked, looked at them worryingly, not knowing why anyone would want to stay and fight or possibly die.

“Relax, Puffy!” Isha said, patting Rem’s butt. “It will be over and done. We will be back in a day or two~”

“Y-you sure? You will, won’t you? Promise you will! You must!” Rem said while flying all over them, asking with a trembling voice.

“We will. Promise!” Leinor nodded, smiling at her when she flew up to him.

Rem wanted to say something, but soon she wiped her tears and nodded rapidly.

“Um! You will! I’ll wait for you!” She tried to seem confident but still was on the verge of tears before leading the army of butterflies away as they disappeared into the trees like they never were here.

“Adorable!” Poli sighed, looking after them. “They are full of love. I have never seen anybody act like this before.”

“I wonder how many other tribes in the forest are like them. Well, if word gets out, we may see them!” Feynor thought out loudly.

“We will see when that happens. We should focus on the now!” Ren cut in.

“Mmm, let’s clear up the valley and set up a “base” as quick as we can.” Feynor grinned as they built up a mock garrison to prepare for the upcoming hunt.