Yunia watches as the knights and the Sworn Hunters engage the buffed Symbols, and she notices that there's definitely a difference in style between the two classes of soldiers. Our knights are more used to acting as squad leaders for Lordsguard or Townsguard, so their fighting styles are more standardized. The Sworn Hunters, on the other hand, are like buffed-up adventurers, each with their own style, but with a level of lethality and confidence a clear step above the average monster hunter.

"Would you like to have my Hunters spar with your knights?" Léonne suggests as she approaches Yunia.

The elven queen is quick to recognize mischief. "I have a feeling my men would be at a disadvantage," she promptly replies with narrowed eyes.

And the fox milf smiles politely. "On the contrary. I believe my Hunters have more experience with monsters than other humanoids."

Yunia hums thoughtfully, searching for hints of duplicity, "Hm… Very well, we shall have a spar tomorrow, but only a casual one." And she decides to play it safe.

Léonne nods, her smile becoming cheeky due to Yunia's caution. "If that's your wish. I merely want to see our different styles set against each other."

The snobbish elf snorts snobbishly. "You're more sly than Alissa, so it's sometimes hard to see through your intentions."

And the mother fox clutches her pearls exaggeratedly. "I'm an innocent fox, I swear!"

Yunia holds back her smile as she emphatically states, "That is not a word I'd use to describe foxes."

"How prejudiced of you," Léonne offhandedly remarks.

But the Queen is serious about this. "Elves are prideful and graceful. I openly accept my race's strengths and flaws."

Léonne narrows her eyes questioningly. "Those sound like two strengths."

And Yunia sighs. "Fine. Elves are arrogant."

"I concur very much with that assessment," the mother fox calmly agrees.

"While foxes are devious and cheeky," the proud elf slyly adds.

And Léonne gracefully receives the blow. "I… concur with that assessment."

While the two have their little exchange of banter, the trickle of powered-up Symbols slowly increases with each Bestower of Dread killed. A faintly odd sensation coming from the edge of our view announces the entrance of the Bestowers, making it easy to find out where they are, so they don't last long enough for their infamous aura of dread to affect us. Though the weaker of the men feel their presence more intensely than we do.

"That daughter and father duo that you favor, they seem to be quite good fighters," Léonne changes the topic.

"They're experienced caravan guards, yes."

"The father, especially. He's quite the large man," she curiously remarks.

"He's married," Yunia deadpans.

Which actually makes Léonne chuckle. "Please, Jacques is bigger."

"I wouldn't know."

The fox lets a hint of edge seep into her tone as she replies, "I'm not here to talk about cocks, especially since I know you're just looking for a reason to mention your husband's."

And now it's Yunia's turn to clutch her pearls. "Me? Why, never!"

Léonne chuckles again and wryly remarks, "I'd be very disappointed in Wolf if he hasn't turned you into a slut just like my daughter."

"And soon, both daughters," my elf cumslut smugly adds.

"See? You just want to brag," the mature fox calmly replies while shaking her head.

But that just increases Yunia's smugness further. "And you don't?"

And Léonne candidly admits, "At first, I merely wanted to say that I'm interested in the wereape's fighting style, but if this is what you want to talk about, I'm happy to oblige."

I'm not interested in hearing about how good Alissa's father fucks, so I tune out their conversation, but I'll have Yunia repeat her description of my sexual prowess through squeals later when I have her under me, bent over and taking it up the ass.

Alissa overhears something interesting, so I turn my attention to Ofilia and Allura, who are near the edge of our Step, looking down at the knights as they fight.

And the jade-like beauty excitedly whispers to the young red beauty, "Look how Montague fights. He's just as big as that elf, and seeing how they both fight, who do you think would win?"

I think she's talking about Palo.

Allura doesn't seem interested at all in the conversation as she bluntly replies, "Hmph… they're two big brutes. They'd just whack each other in the head with those long rods of iron they call swords."

And Ofilia smirks teasingly. "Oh, I forgot that you prefer them small and slender."

I approach them and interject, "Who's Montague? Alissa has talked about him a few times."

"The biggest fox you can find," Ofilia politely replies.

The Hunters wear metal armor painted dark green while our knights prefer the dark browns of elven wood, so it's easy to know which is which. Montague is probably the big dude wielding a greatsword like a longsword, and I see a hint of jade-like white skin under his helmet when he glances behind him.

The White Stalkers are few among the Misty Foxes, so that's certainly Montague, Nenvieu's older brother.

"It'd be interesting to see him spar with Palo," I remark thoughtfully.

"You really think so?" Allura excitedly replies, seemingly forgetting her previous display of distaste.

"Their bodies are unusually muscular, so it'll be interesting to see how they each combine that advantage with their Style. I obviously don't have a lot of 'Strength,' so it'd be interesting to get a good perspective on how that can change a fighting style."

Allura glances at Montague, then stares intensely at me with her reddish orange jewels. "Well, I guess we should have them fight, then."

"Spar," I correct and glance at her, but she doesn't have a hint of mischief in her innocent gaze. "But yes, tomorrow would be a good day to have our men spar with each other."

"It'll be very informative," Ofilia states and sends me a wry glance.

"Yeah, informative," Allura repeats absentmindedly, and I flash a warm smile at her.

Bless this girl.

Another Bestower spawns, and they both tense up as a chill apparently runs down their spines.

"This is annoying…" Ofilia mumbles with a rather cute pout.

We follow the elementals as they make a beeline for the monster, then we avert our eyes before that accursed being can enter our view. But Allura turns to the adventurers, and she doesn't seem pleased with what she sees.

She frowns and lowers her tone. "Mom said the adventurers have it out for us…?"

I look down the Steps, following her gaze. The targets of her cute glare are behind the knights and Sworn Hunters, just waiting for their turn. I recognize the faces of a number of them from yesterday, and they might still be holding a grudge against us that they could transfer to our men.

The "friendly" fire incidents were harmless since they literally can't hurt us, but with our knights, it might be a different story. Not to mention the Lordsguard, who are even more vulnerable to backstabbing since they have a tendency to hyper-focus on the battle.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Golems, keep an eye out for our men.

"Yes, Master Wolf," they reply in unison.

"We'll keep an eye on them. We're expecting betrayal," I calmly admit.

And both beauties raise their eyebrows in surprise and concern. "Really? What about the puppets?" Allura questions.

She means the Imperial Army soldiers, who are on the Step above the adventurers, but with how subdued Bell-end is, we don't have much to worry about from them.

"We got a promise from Bell-en-… I mean, Belligax," I reassure them.

"Can you trust that it'll be enough?" Ofilia wisely inquires.

And I smile wryly. "No, but the soldiers won't do anything stupid… The adventurers, on the other hand…"

"Are stupid," Allura completes, and we chuckle.

"Very," Ofilia quietly adds.

I let the mirth die down again before I soberly continue, "Keep an eye on them yourselves. All the showmanship was to get us on their good side, but those with a grudge won't forgive so easily."

"Sure thing, Wolfy," Allura affirms chipperly.

And I raise an eyebrow at her. "I'm impressed by how much freedom your parents give you."

She pouts coyly, trying to make a cute pose, but her armor kind of ruins it. "It's because I'm a good girl."

Ofilia begins a long wheeze, instantly snapping Allura out of her attempt to look innocent.

"Come on. They really have nothing to complain about with me, do they?" The young red fox gloomily asks, and I detect a hint of insecurity in her tone.

Ofilia takes a moment to recover enough to answer, "Well, no… aside from your… unbearable thirst for Lord Wolf."

Allura crosses her arms and frowns. "Blame Dad for me being like this. I inherited this side of myself from him. And besides, I think Mom likes it. She wouldn't let me be like this if she didn't like Wolfy."

And the jade beauty gives her a wry glance as she vaguely remarks, "I think you inherited more from your mother than you think."

"What do you mean?" Allura asks, a bit peeved.

Ofilia glances at me, trying to hold back a grin. "You'll… find out."

That she's a bitch in heat in front of dragons? Yeah, I know that very well already.

Then we see Anton have a heated exchange of blows with undead He-Man, and even Palo struggles to bring down Skeletor.

Not only are the Symbols more dangerous as combatants, but their blood contaminates the air with a weakening poison. We have antidotes, but they take some time to work, so we have to frequently rotate out the front line while also gradually climbing further up the Steps.

And our men have done enough, so I flag Nohopu and order, "It's time to move up!"

The knights and Sworn Hunters move in an orderly manner past the adventurers and climb the Steps. The higher we go, the stronger the Blessing becomes, and the boosted Symbols lose more of their power the more Blessed ground they have to cross, so we go up to keep the Symbols from growing too dangerous.

But the adventurers are considerably weaker than the knights, so we'll give them a hand.

I get Kurii and a few Lordsguard to accompany me as we walk down the Steps. The Imperial Army soldiers make way immediately, but they stare as we pass, and I don't know if it's because of my draconic features or because they hate me. Maybe a bit of both.

But when we reach the adventurer mob, they pretend to not see us.

"Excuse us. We ask you to step aside," Kurii sternly announces, and even I am starting to get pissed at their pettiness.

I give them a couple of seconds, but then I order with [Godly Language], "Move." And the fuckers at the front squeak in confusion as they lose control over themselves.

Maybe I should've ordered them to piss themselves.

"Honeyed voice!" Someone exclaims, and the crowd starts to make a path for us, some of them giving us frightened looks.

Kurii and I glance and smile at each other, delighted at imparting a bit of fear upon the petty idiots.

We continue on until we stop at the edge of the Step, and below us, the front line of the adventurers is engaged with the trickle of intelligent, buffed Symbols.

Soon, we notice a swordsman having a bit of trouble with a Symbol. He falls for a feint from the monster, losing his balance as he almost trips, so I cast [Entangling Vines] at the Mad Max cosplayer to give the swordsman enough time to recover.

"The fu-… I don't need yer help, Lordling!" The man shouts indignantly, a hint of an accent in his tone telling of his "uneducated" upbringing.

For fuck's sake, I really don't want that fucking Title.

"It's Lord Wolf, and I advise you to finish off your opponent before you complain," Kurii promptly comes to my aid.

Thank you! If I complain about it myself, then they'll really make sure that it becomes a Title.

The swordsman notices that the cosplayer is busy cutting the vines, so he decapitates the ugly son of a bitch with a clean slash.

"Thank you, Lord Wolf!" He begrudgingly concedes with a smirk.

But Kurii dryly warns him, "I advise you to not turn away from your opponents, as in multiple."

And his eyes open wide. "Oh, f-…"

I cast [Entangling Vines] again, stopping the edgy black knight from impaling the swordsman.

The swordsman wastes not a second before shoving his sword into the slit of the dark knight's helmet, then he flashes us a shit-eating grin. "Well, fucking thanks!"

"Is the Lordling going to help us now?" One of the haters asks out loud mockingly.

"What do you think Their Highnesses have been doing?!" Kurii indignantly shouts.

I have a problem. I want to fuck this beagle woman really hard.

Anyway, the resting adventurers take a step back, not wanting to get involved in this childish little spat.

And another adventurer starts to instigate, "Devastation was supposed to give us more levels, but you just had to fuck with the Liches with your Lordling cock, huh?"

If they don't stop with this shit, I'll gut someone like a pig to make an example out of them.

But I still have enough diplomacy left in me to loudly reply, "What do you value more, the Experience, or your pride? Because if it's the former, then now's the time to get it!"

"No thanks to you!" He shouts back, and the others start to distance themselves from him.

Kurii steps forward, her hand on the crossguard of her saber, ready to draw it. "Your lack of respect is concerning. Need we remind you who's responsible for your healing?"

"Don't be a fucking idiot!" Another adventurer shouts at the instigator, and the crowd starts to turn on him.

Good, they're defending us. That will drive a wedge between those with a grudge and those with brains.

"Stop sucking his cock!" The idiot shouts back and turns around to face them.

"Make me!" One of my groupies chimes in, and the others pile on against him, swearing like sailors until he runs away back to his fellowship.

The crowd quiets down, and the mood returns to normal. I get a few respectful nods, making me believe that their opinion of us is now steadily in our favor.

Then Azador approaches us, and the adventurers quickly make way for him. The blood-red flowers in his beard give him an air of authority and experience, instantly earning him some respect from the adventurers.

Maybe we should've used our Ramodia set instead… Oh well, a bit too late for that now.

"Your Highness. I feel like the adventurers are too disorganized," he promptly states with a respectful nod.

I chuckle softly. "Well, that's a given, but how did you come to that conclusion, exactly?"

He tilts his head towards the frontline. "See the man you helped? He's alone and without a fellowship. And the trio of archers you're… 'fond of,' they don't have a front line. If we match them together, we can 'complete' their fellowships."

I hum thoughtfully, my tail starting to sway as I let myself relax just a bit. "Very well. Call Palo, and we'll start to clean up this mess."

I call Ciel and Lina to join us as the former has experience dealing with crowds and the latter is an excellent secretary, then we start making our way towards Armaa Bro.

"Our Lord desires to speak with you," Ted and Suzy announce at the same time, scaring the shit out of Gandalf and Fran.

"Skritter shit, this is creepy," the amazoness swears while her fellowship laughs at her.

"Yo, Armaars'r!" I exclaim cheerfully as I approach him. My favorite horseman doesn't seem to have a fellowship, but he has hired two mercenaries to help him fight.

"Lo- Highness…!" He exclaims in a panic. It does hurt a bit to see how scared he is of me.

But I just ignore his behavior and explain, "I need to speak with you and the other two representatives. They're coming, so let's just wait."

He nods repeatedly. "A-as you wish…"

And we aren't left waiting for long, so I don't waste any time and immediately assert, "Kashikoe, Armaars'r, Fran, the adventurers are disorganized, and we need to remedy that."

They seem a little surprised that I remember their names, and that seems to mollify them a bit, especially Fran and her bitchiness.

"We were going to do that, but you didn't give us enough time," Gandalf grumbles, trying to not sound too confrontational.

I give him a centimetri, "Fair enough. But now we need it, and we also have the time, so I'll have you work with two of my wives and two of my knights for that."

Then Ted pulls out a [Project Voice] magic tool and hands it to Ciel as she lands beside me.

"Attention! Fellowships with two melee members and two ranged members, please report to the front line. Fellowships who lack members, please approach us for pairings."

Her soothing female voice and stupidly high "Charisma" make it extremely hard for anyone to ignore her, and even the dumbasses with grudges against us obey like good little puppies.

The Blight phase isn't a desperate fight, but it does have quite a lot of different variables that we need to pay attention to. The most important thing is to minimize stamina use because the last phase will be intense, but we need to balance the culling of the horde below us because they won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Not only that, but we also need to efficiently rotate out the front line to keep the poison levels low and minimize the chance of injury.

It's quite a daunting task, especially when half of the men either hate you or might be secretly plotting to fuck you up. But we're nothing if not adaptable, so my soul space gets noisy as everyone works to support the adventurers. They're the most numerous, and the poison makes numbers more important than skill since it limits everyone's time on the frontline depending on their body size.

"Five minutes, you fuckers! You have to last five minutes, or you'll get a lashing!" I "encourage" them.

"And what if I'd like that?" A cheeky bastard asks back.

"I'll shove a handle up your ass and throw you to the goblins!"

This atmosphere is nice in small doses. It reminds me of my sweaty days online with Lily, the boys, and the girls as we made scrubs cry.

"Your swinging is pretty bad, boy. You'll do better if you only try to stab," Azador kindly advises a young swordsman.

The imperial youth seems twitchy and anxious. His blade looks rather shiny, and you know what they say about knights in shining armor. Then I notice that he's glancing somewhere near us. Could be at Roxanne, Lina, Kurii, or some other woman, but I can't be sure since he's a bit too far away.

Hopefully, he isn't glancing at me.

The next Symbol approaches, and he aggressively engages it, aiming for the exposed arms to disable the Viking-monster.

But then he goes for a chop, and his sword gets stuck halfway through the thick biceps of the monster.

"Oh…"

And the Symbol doesn't even hesitate before it guts him, though his belly is opened only partially as Roxanne brainsplodes the Viking before it can do serious damage.

And that's one noob down. Just a few hundred more that we have to babysit…