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00:00In my last life, I died for a god who stood by and watched me be torn to pieces.
00:05He even betrayed me and ran off with my little sister.
00:08But I'm back.
00:09Take your bird, sister.
00:11The trash is mine.
00:12Who would have thought that my trash is a god seething with hatred?
00:15My dear sister, in this life, you won't be so lucky.
00:20On the day of the bonding, I snatched the black sea wyvern right out of Bella's hands.
00:24The other knights crowded around me, their faces twisted in disbelief.
00:28Alara, have you lost your fucking mind?
00:30You're the best we've got!
00:31This mutt is a piece of gutter trash!
00:34Give it to Bella!
00:35In my last life, I chose the pure-blooded sun phoenix.
00:38What a fucking joke.
00:40I spent a decade playing the fool just to hand Bella everything on a silver platter.
00:44When the demons were ripping the life out of me, that bird didn't even blink.
00:48It spread its wings and flew off, shielding Bella without a single look back.
00:53This time, she can have the golden prick.
00:55Let's see how she likes being its goddamn servant.
00:58Every ten years, the Order of Ash and Ember pairs its elite recruits with primal familiars.
01:03I was the ward of the high sentinel, and the deadliest blade in my class.
01:07Naturally, I had first pick.
01:09The beasts were hauled in from the wild wastesome legendary, most just looking for a throat to tear out.
01:14The most eye-catching creature of all was the solar azure phoenix.
01:17Arrogant beyond measure, it held its neck stiff despite the iron chains binding its feet,
01:22gazing at us, as if we were nothing but roadside filth.
01:25The high priest didn't hesitate.
01:27He assigned the phoenix to me.
01:28The phoenix didn't budge.
01:30It looked at the ceiling.
01:31Its feet turned up in a silent, fuck you.
01:34It didn't lower its regal head until my little sister.
01:37Bella stepped forward, cradling that pathetic, shriveled black snake.
01:41The snake was bottom of the barrel scrap.
01:43Bella was a fresh recruit.
01:45She could have waited for the next cycle, but she insisted on playing with the big dogs.
01:49In a ritual where you pick your brother in arms, nobody gave a damn about her feelings.
01:54She held that snake, tears welling up in her eyes like she was the victim of some grand conspiracy.
01:59With the phoenix clearly obsessed with her, I looked like the villain tearing apart a star-crossed romance.
02:06Your mana is a mess.
02:09Even if the bird likes you now, it'll burn you to a crisp the moment you try to leave.
02:13I stood up, nodded to the elder, and walked straight to Bella.
02:16Allura, I know I'm not in your league.
02:20I grew up in the mud on the frontier.
02:24I've never seen something as beautiful as the phoenix-
02:27I snatched the limp, cold snake from her hands, and flashed the elder a sharp, jagged smile.
02:32I like the look of this one.
02:34If the bird doesn't want me, I'm not gonna beg.
02:36The barracks went dead silent.
02:38I'll swap with the kid.
02:39Allura, have you lost your goddamn mind?
02:41That thing is a mutt! It's a waste of your bloodline!
02:44My name is Ellara Bane.
02:46At 7th, I watched my parents get turned into mincemeat by feral claws.
02:49The grandmaster saved me and raised me in the citadel.
02:52I had status, and I used it.
02:53In my last life, the phoenix's noble act fooled me too.
02:56I thought, he's a badass, I have to be the one to break him.
03:00I poured every gold coin and sacred elixir I had into that bird.
03:04The order's stipend wasn't enough, so I bled for extra cash, taking the grittiest contracts I could find.
03:10Every time I dragged my bleeding corpse back home with new scars, it wouldn't even look at me.
03:14It only came close when I opened a vial of rare essence, taking it like it was doing me a
03:19fucking favor.
03:22It took 10 years of my life to help it break its limit, and take human form.
03:26He was beautiful, I'll give him that tall, ethereal, a real silver-tongued bastard.
03:31But the arrogance never left.
03:34He only spoke to me when he wanted me to go out, and kill something for his next upgrade.
03:39Then I saw him.
03:40He was brushing a hair from Bella's face.
03:42His eyes full of a tenderness I had never seen.
03:44Bella was skipping around him, placing a flower crown on his head like they were in a damn fairy tale.
03:50My blood turned to acid.
03:52Another elf walked by, glancing at them with a smirk.
03:55Elada, maybe stop asking Bella to watch your bird while you're out on missions.
04:00Looks like he's already found a new master.
04:03My vision went dark.
04:04I was out there risking my neck, and she was looting my fucking life while I was gone.
04:08Doesn't she have her own familiar?
04:10Why the hell is she touching mine?
04:11That black snake?
04:13It kicked the bucket in the second year.
04:15I'd been a goddamn sugar mummy to that phoenix.
04:17All Bella had to do was wait for her snake to die, and then step into my boots once I
04:22was gone.
04:22I'm no saint.
04:23I started making Bella's life a living hell.
04:26I hated her, and I didn't care who knew it.
04:28And that pissed off the phoenix.
04:30To punish me, he lured me into the forbidden zone and broke the seals.
04:34The monsters smelled blood and swarmed.
04:36One of them was a corrupted leviathan.
04:38A phoenix can fly thousands of miles in a heartbeat if he wanted to save me.
04:42There were no ifs.
04:44When the monster's teeth snapped through my leg, I clawed at the dirt, screaming for help.
04:48I looked up and saw him wings wide, golden and glowing, carrying Bella away from the carnage.
04:53He didn't even look back.
04:54This time around, I want to see how he reaches his human form without my gold.
04:59I want to see how Bella feeds that money-sucking bastard.
05:01Back to the present.
05:02The elder gave up on me.
05:04He looked at Bella with pure disgust, like he was handing a diamond to a pig.
05:08But the phoenix was obsessed, nuzzling her like a loyal dog.
05:14The ritual began.
05:15The surge of mana startled the black sea snake.
05:17It coiled around my arms so tight it cut off my circulation.
05:20It was terrified I'd change my mind and toss it back into the gutter.
05:24Bella was beaming now.
05:25She saw the snake on my arm and let out a soft.
05:28You and that snake really are a perfect match, Alara.
05:32I didn't even have to open my mouth.
05:34The other knights did it for me.
05:36Shut your fucking mouth, Bella!
05:38If Alara hadn't stepped aside, you wouldn't even be allowed to smell that bird.
05:42If I were you, I'd be on my knees thanking her for the charity.
05:45Drop it.
05:46Look at her, the waterworks are starting again.
05:48The phoenix saw its princess in distress and started shrieking, flapping its wings in a frenzy.
05:54Tough shit.
05:54After the bond, a familiar's power is capped by its master's mana.
05:59Bella was a weakling with barely enough energy to light a candle.
06:02This was probably the first time in two lifetimes that the bird felt like a loser.
06:06Get used to it, you golden prick.
06:08As for the snake on my arm, it realized I wasn't going to let go.
06:12It finally relaxed and passed out cold.
06:14I lived in a small cottage halfway up the mountain.
06:17The high sentinel had kept it for me ever since my parents died.
06:20Back home, I finally took a good look at the snake.
06:23It was tiny, barely a few decades old, practically an infant in beast years.
06:27It didn't look like any sea wyvern I knew.
06:30They usually have snake-like tails.
06:32But this thing had a fin like a fish.
06:34A hybrid.
06:35Probably some crack and blood mixed in.
06:37There was an arcane pool in the garden.
06:39The snake woke up the second it hit the water, diving deep and gorging itself on the manor.
06:44You've got balls, kid.
06:45Aren't you afraid I'll poison the water to make room for a better pholylium?
06:49The snake froze.
06:50Then, it spat in my face.
06:52I flicked its head.
06:53Hard.
06:56Shut up and heal.
06:58I can afford a phoenix.
06:59I can certainly afford a scrawny runt like you.
07:05I woke up the next morning feeling like something was crawling under my skin.
07:09I stiffened, slowly turning my head, only to find a goddamn man lying right next to me.
07:14His face was a deep tan, all sharp angles, and a straight nose.
07:18His lashes were thick and dark, casting shadows on his cheeks as they fluttered with every breath.
07:24He was gorgeous, sure, but a jolt of ice water shot through my veins.
07:28The fact that he'd crawled into my bed without alerting a single one of my senses meant his power level
07:33was fucking astronomical.
07:34Maybe he sensed my lungs seizing up, because he took his sweet time opening his eyes.
07:39I suddenly got out of bed and grabbed the dagger beside me.
07:42Who the hell are you?
07:43This is order territory.
07:44You better back the fuck off.
07:46He sat up, stretching like a goddamn cat.
07:49That's when I noticed he was wearing the gear I'd bought for a transformed familiar.
07:53And then I saw them.
07:54Under those thick lashes were a pair of glowing, golden slit pupils.
07:58The answer was staring me in the face.
08:01The snake?
08:01A smirk tugged at his lips, revealing two sharp fangs.
08:05He ignored my blade and flicked my forehead with a painful thud.
08:08Watch your mouth, kid.
08:09I have a name.
08:11It's Nyx.
08:12Apparently, Nyx had been running from some high-level enemies when he crossed paths with my uncle Silas the Order's
08:18resident, collector of useless junk.
08:20He'd turned into a wyvern just to catch a ride and stay.
08:23Alive, I let out a hollow, desperate laugh.
08:26If Nyx could transform, he was a heavy hitter, and the people who'd managed to skin him like that, they
08:32were probably gods compared to me.
08:34Great!
08:34Just goddamn great!
08:36When your enemies show up to finish the job, am I supposed to just lie down and die with you?
08:41What kind of luck was this?
08:43I'd barely ditch the Phoenix disaster only to pick up a ticking time bomb.
08:47Quit whining.
08:48The link is forged.
08:49You're the master, I'm the servant.
08:51So, master, you'd better train like your life depends on it.
08:54Because if you drag me down, you really won't like the consequences.
09:02Nyx wasn't just a pretty face.
09:04The guy actually knew his shit.
09:06My mana core was water-based, which synced perfectly with his element.
09:10He taught me a brutal technique to drain energy from the environment like a goddamn sponge.
09:14Even the Grand Master pulled me aside to praise my progress, saying my power was spiking faster than a fever.
09:20Most days, I was submerged in the arcane pool while he lounged on a peach tree branch, supervising me with
09:25a lazy smirk.
09:26The breeze shook the branches, dusting the water with pink petals.
09:30I looked up once, and caught him napping.
09:33His dark hair ruffled in the wind, and his tanned skin glowed under the sun.
09:37His collar was open just enough to be dangerous, revealing the hard lines of his chest.
09:42He was pure, unadulterated sin.
09:45I hadn't even finished my viewing when a voice ruined the goddamn mood.
09:48Bella was peeking through the fence like a stray rat.
09:51I climbed out of the pool, my patience already wearing thin.
09:55Nyx dropped from the tree in one fluid motion, grabbing my cloak and wrapping it around my shoulders before I
10:00could even shiver.
10:01Bella stared at Nyx like she'd just seen a god.
10:05What the hell do you want?
10:07Who is this?
10:08I took Nyx's hand and gave her a sharp...
10:10You know him, Bella.
10:12He's the mudblood snake you tossed my way during the ritual.
10:15You were the one who said we were a perfect match, remember?
10:19Bella's face went through three different shades of pale.
10:22Spit it out, Bella.
10:23She started fidgeting, doing that shy.
10:26Shouldn't you be at the training grounds eating dirt with the other recruits?
10:29Let me get this straight.
10:30You want me to pay for and help you raise that phoenix?
10:34If you can't afford that golden prick, that's your problem.
10:36I don't owe you a damn thing.
10:38How can you say you don't owe me, Alara?
10:41During the ritual six months ago, you snatched the wyland and dumped the phoenix on me!
10:46You can't just walk away now!
10:48You have to take responsibility!
10:52It had taken six months for the reality to sink in.
10:55That sacred bird was a bottomless money pit.
10:58She'd poured every coin and potion she had into the phoenix, leaving herself broke and weak.
11:03The other recruits had already leveled up, while she was still stuck in the novice tier, barely able to light
11:08a candle.
11:09I think you have a duty to it.
11:10It's a legendary asset for the order.
11:12If it doesn't level up, we all lose.
11:14You've been here your whole life.
11:16Even if it's just for the guild, you have to help it reach its potential.
11:18I flicked my wrist, and a blast of pressurizedness sent her tumbling right out of my garden gate.
11:24Bella, quit being a delusional bitch.
11:26Sugar mama?
11:27You think I'm that goddamn stupid?
11:29If you're too broke to keep the bird, break the soul link and walk away.
11:33Give the resources to someone who actually has a brain.
11:36I'm sure the high priest would be thrilled to take that golden headache off your hands.
11:43It didn't take long for my mana to hit the breaking point.
11:46I finally broke through the ceiling.
11:48I wasn't just an adept anymore, I was a master now.
11:52As luck would have it, the order acquired a rare nine-tailed spirit fox.
11:56The grandmaster had to trade two high-tier artifacts to get his hands on it.
12:00He sent me an elder lotus to escort the creature back to the stables.
12:04Elder lotus was 300 years my senior, but she had the temperament of a spoiled brat.
12:08I had to bribe and soothe her the entire way before she'd finally hand the fox over to the master
12:13of hounds.
12:15She was sulking because she'd fallen in love with the thing at first sight, and the grandmaster had flat out
12:20refused to let her keep it.
12:22She leaned in before leaving.
12:24Lara, honey, that snake of yours is possessive as hell.
12:29With that, she hopped onto her giant crane and took off into the clouds.
12:34I didn't catch her drift until I started the hike up the mountain.
12:37I saw a silhouette leaning against a gnarled oak by the trail.
12:42He didn't move.
12:44The air was heavy.
12:45The moment I got close.
12:46Lara, am I not enough for you?
12:48Are you already looking to replace me with something else?
12:50What the hell are you talking about?
12:51That bitch Bella showed up at the house today with a smug look on her face.
12:53Said you sent her to take care of me.
12:56What, now that you've reached master rank, you're already tired of your current contract?
13:04My stomach dropped.
13:06Bella.
13:06Still playing games.
13:08Before I could speak.
13:09Nyx's pupils narrowed to lethal needles.
13:12He buried his face in my neck.
13:14He licked my throat.
13:15A jolt shot through my spine.
13:17He whispered against my ear.
13:22He pulled back.
13:23Looming with a dark smirk.
13:30I smacked the back of his head.
13:41Nyx stopped fighting.
13:43And let himself be led like a sulky dog.
13:45The barracks were quiet.
13:47Recruits said Bella took the phoenix to the forbidden woods.
13:50I frowned.
13:51I hadn't even touched her in this life.
13:53What was she doing?
13:54They were having a goddamn domestic.
13:56Don't look at me like that.
13:57I haven't done anything wrong.
13:58Do you have any idea how many potions I've wasted on you?
14:00I'm broke because of you and you're still not satisfied.
14:01You want me to raid the black market for rare herbs?
14:03You're insane.
14:04I'm a novice.
14:04If you want me dead, just say it to my face.
14:06Alara's snake has a human form or a human speak.
14:08Stop scratching those symbols on the ground.
14:09I don't want to see them.
14:10I snorted.
14:11Last life he ignored me.
14:13Now he grovels in the dirt for her.
14:15Karma.
14:19You're a hard person to track down.
14:24Alina.
14:25Is there something you need?
14:27I tapped Nix's shoulder.
14:32My familius here has a question.
14:35What business did you have with him today?
14:38Bella blinked.
14:39Her brain scrambling for a lie.
14:42No.
14:42It's a misunderstanding.
14:43I was looking for you.
14:44She's lying.
14:45She told me you stole me from her.
14:47Said I belonged to her.
14:48And what did you do?
14:50She was trespassing.
14:51I handled it.
14:52Pathetic.
14:53She's so pathetic I didn't even need to use my mana to kick her out of the garden.
14:57Bella, if I remember correctly, you looked at Nix like he was garbage on bonding day.
15:01He was half dead.
15:02If you'd taken him, he'd be a rotting corpse by now.
15:05I wouldn't have.
15:05I would have treated him perfectly.
15:10You're trying to ruin my bond with the phoenix.
15:12I stepped in close.
15:14Bella, stop the goddamn games.
15:15Touch my property again and the next time we talk it'll be in front of the high inquisitor.
15:19Once you're in the inquisitor's hands, you're finished.
15:22They'll rip your soul link apart and kick you out of the guild.
15:25She wasn't that brave.
15:27Walking back, I felt lighter.
15:29The weight of my past life finally started to lift.
15:32However, Nix was sulking.
15:34He wouldn't even shift to carry me.
15:36You seem to know that pretty well.
15:37We have a history, a very ugly one.
15:39Want the details?
15:40No.
15:41I'm a hundred times better than that trash bird.
15:43You're never going back to him.
15:45Nix, I'm not looking for anyone else.
15:46It's just you, Nix.
15:53Alara, you're moving like a goddamn turtle.
15:56His eyes flashing with irritation.
15:59The sentinel said I'm the top of my class.
16:02I'm practically a prodigy.
16:03Turns out, his idea of a prodigy involved dragging me by the collar to hunt high-level bounties across the
16:08continent.
16:09Unlike my last life, every drop of rare elixir and every enchanted artifact went straight into my own veins and
16:15gear.
16:16Ten years banished in the heartbeat, I hit the middle tiers of the master rank.
16:20The old master of hounds retired to go find god or some such bullshit, and the grandmaster handed the keys
16:26to the stables to me.
16:28We thought the sun phoenix would be our ticket to the big leagues.
16:34But the damn bird hasn't even started its human transformation.
16:38He's too far off.
16:40No surprise there.
16:41Our order was broke compared to the alchemist's guilds or the sword schools.
16:45Raising familiars is a money pit, and we never had any surplus.
16:49Nobody joins the order unless they're desperate or looking for blood.
16:53And that bird wasn't leveling up.
16:55Thinking about the bloodbath from my last life, I'd stayed clear of that bird.
16:59But I couldn't shake the feeling that a storm was brewing.
17:01A beast with that much raw power if its heart turns black.
17:05It's not just a problem.
17:06It's a goddamn apocalypse.
17:08All I could do was watch it like a hawk.
17:10I thought about gutting the thing.
17:11But every time I tried to warn the sentinel or nix about the future, my throat locked up.
17:16It was like some cosmic barrier was keeping me mute.
17:19The new crop of recruits was enough to give me a stroke.
17:22They'd nod and promise to train.
17:23Then vanished the moment I turned my back.
17:25I'm starting to think the old master of hounds didn't find god.
17:28He just found a way to quit.
17:33Look, Ilara, your new brothers and sisters.
17:36Aren't they adorable?
17:40Please, old man.
17:42Just go back to your meditation and stop making this harder.
17:47I'd barely stepped into my cottage when he grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of
17:53grain.
17:53What the hell are you doing?
17:58Keep your voice down.
18:00I'm taking you to see a real show.
18:02The show was a screaming match between Bella and the Phoenix.
18:06Well, a loud mouth bitch screaming at a mute bird.
18:09Don't you dare blame me!
18:12You were the one who said the order was the best place for your ascension!
18:17I could have been living the high life at the Alchemist Guild if it wasn't for you!
18:23Now I'm stuck in this broke-ass dump!
18:26I can't even quit!
18:28Everyone thinks I'm a goddamn spy!
18:30You think I like living on these pathetic stinials?
18:33The elder tried to give you to Ilara, but you were too much of a stuck-up prick to take
18:37the deal!
18:38She's the sentinel's favorite!
18:40She has more potions than you have feathers!
18:42If you'd stayed with her, you'd have a human body by now!
18:45I stiffened, my knuckles turning white.
18:48I never understood why the bird chose her.
18:50They were partners in crime from the start.
18:52The order wasn't a home to them.
18:54It was a goddamn battery they intended to drain dry.
18:57So that was the game.
18:58A chill crawled up my spine.
19:00Which meant, whoever bonded with that phoenix was a dead man walking.
19:04There are only two ways to break a soul link.
19:07The master lets go.
19:08Or the master dies.
19:10But I didn't bond with him in my last life.
19:12Why did he kill me anyway?
19:13The realization hit me like a physical blow.
19:16Once the phoenix took human form, the order was dead weight.
19:19To get a better offer from a powerful guild, they needed a tragic backstory.
19:23What's better than the lone survivor and her noble beast escaping a fallen order?
19:28Nyx didn't seem to catch the dark undertones.
19:30He was shifted into his snake form.
19:32Hanging from a branch and twitching his tail like he was watching a comedy special.
19:37I looked at him and sighed.
19:38I was glad he was an idiot.
19:42A few days later.
19:44That golden bastard actually had the nerve to show up at my cottage.
19:48He stood by the gate.
19:49Glaring at Nyx.
19:51Nyx was being a total prick staying in his human form.
19:54Half naked and glistening.
19:55Radiating.
19:56I'm the better familiar vibes.
19:58What the hell are you doing at my gate?
20:00Yeah.
20:02Master lets me rest because she actually likes me.
20:06What's your excuse for being a lazy piece of shit?
20:09Nyx was decades older than me.
20:11Hearing him call me Master or Big Sister in that tone made my skin crawl in a way that wasn't
20:16entirely unpleasant.
20:18Nyx climbed out of the pool, soaking wet, and pressed his cold, damp body against mine.
20:24I just want that stupid bird to know there's no room for him here.
20:30Since when do you have squatting rights?
20:35You tell me Master.
20:40The bird is gone.
20:41Don't waste your breath on him.
20:43I need to know what he's planning.
20:45That bird is pure poison.
20:47He's regretting his choices.
20:49He wants to ditch that weakling and find a new gold mine.
20:52My heart skipped a beat.
20:54It wasn't just regret.
20:55What if the phoenix was reborn?
20:57Two.
20:57I grabbed a teleportation scroll and blasted myself straight to the forbidden zone.
21:02The seal was intact.
21:03But a few feet away, I found a single, glowing golden feather.
21:07The bastard had been here.
21:11The phoenix was flat out ignoring her commands and stalking me instead.
21:15Bella looked like she wanted to rip my throat out every time we crossed paths.
21:19Oh, look at that.
21:21The ex is crawling back, begging for a second chance.
21:27That girl can't afford him anyway.
21:29How about I talk to the sentinel?
21:32Well, we'll just transfer the contract to you.
21:37Shut up, you old bat!
21:40No, thanks.
21:41I'm not interested in an inquiry.
21:43Besides,
21:46Nyx is all I need.
21:47Finally, the elders decided to send Bella and the phoenix out on a long-term field mission.
21:52I knew it was a move to protect me.
21:54A familiar that hates its master is a ticking time bomb.
21:58Sending them away would give me the breathing room I needed to finish this.
22:01Once and for all.
22:05It helped that Nyx was a goddamn wrecking ball.
22:08Wyverns are born for the kill.
22:09And with our synergy, we could trade blows with the High Inquisitors without breaking a sweat.
22:14If Bella and her bird cleared out, I'd finally have a decade of peace.
22:18Ten years is more than enough time to turn the Forbidden Zone seal into an iron fortress.
22:23I wasn't going to give that bird a second chance to screw me over.
22:27The council hall.
22:28Bella lost her shit when she heard she was being sent on a field mission.
22:31The order isn't a five-star hotel.
22:33But it's a roof over your head.
22:35Bella was a stray scavenger.
22:37Before we picked her up, she wasn't about to give up a warm bed and three meals a day to
22:41go back to sleeping in the dirt.
22:43But she had the goddamn nerve to blame me.
22:45In her twisted head, I was orchestrating her exile so I could swoop in and claim the phoenix once she
22:50accidentally kicked the bucket in the wild.
22:53She stood before the elders, crying her eyes out.
22:56Doing the whole persecuted martyr act.
22:58Swearing she'd rather die than leave.
23:02If Aliyah wants the phoenix, she just has to ask.
23:05I'm her sister.
23:06I'd give her anything.
23:08But if I give her my bird, shouldn't she give me Nyx's compensation?
23:11Trading a mutt for a legendary phoenix, Alura would be getting the deal of a lifetime.
23:14Is your name again?
23:15Right, Bella.
23:15Watch your bird and keep your mouth shut.
23:17We're passing on that generous offer.
23:21I heard all about her little performance later through the grapevine.
23:24While she was busy gaslighting the elders,
23:27Nyx and I were at the stables investigating something that made the hair on my neck stand up.
23:32The stables hold the Wild Ones creatures recently captured and not yet bonded to a knight.
23:37Last night, two moon rabbits and a damn unicorn vanished into thin air.
23:42I locked the wards myself.
23:43I should have felt even a breeze hitting those gates.
23:46But last night, nothing.
23:50Not a goddamn sound.
23:53It wasn't a wild monster.
23:55There's no stench of the forest here.
23:58I looked around.
23:59The stables are carved into the mountain,
24:01lined with anti-teleportation wards.
24:03You don't get in or out without an order badge.
24:06Whoever took those beasts was one of our own.
24:08I turned around and saw the Houndmaster cooing at a trembling spirit stag.
24:12Don't worry, little one.
24:14The big scary wyther is just a mean-looking boy.
24:16He won't eat you.
24:19Do familiators ever kill each other?
24:22What kind of sick shit is that?
24:24They're sentient warriors!
24:25They don't pull that animalistic crap!
24:28Oh, did the mean lady scare you?
24:30Don't listen to her.
24:31She's just telling scary stories.
24:33Humans kill humans.
24:34Familiars are no different.
24:36There's a dark path.
24:37A way for a beast to power up instantly by devouring the soul cause of its own kind.
24:43Want the details?
24:44My blood went cold.
24:45Wild monsters don't have the luxury of elixirs.
24:48To them, the best fuel is the raw essence of another, familiar.
24:52Ten years ago, Nyx almost lost his life to one of those core snatchers.
24:56The higher the rank of the victim, the bigger the power spike.
24:59Now that this thing has had a taste, it's not gonna stop.
25:01We set an ambush in the stables that night, but the hours ticked by, and nothing happened.
25:07The place stayed silent as a tomb.
25:11It might not be a familiar.
25:12Go get some rack time.
25:14Nyx and I will pull the night shift tonight.
25:16I barely cleared the threshold when a recruit came skidding around the corner,
25:20his face the color of a goddamn sheet.
25:22Master, there's blood everywhere at the barracks.
25:24Something's wrong!
25:25My gut twisted.
25:26Damn it!
25:27Nyx didn't waste a second.
25:28He shifted into a massive, jagged-scaled wyvern, and let out a low rumble, signaling me to mount up.
25:35The moment my boots hit the ground at the barracks, Nyx's golden pupils thinned into lethal needles.
25:40I smell iron.
25:42A lot of it.
25:43I didn't need to step inside to hear the screaming.
25:46It was a raw, jagged sound that ripped through the night air.
25:49It was one of my recruits.
25:51He'd brought a fluffy, three-tailed catsith with him when he joined.
25:54The little thing used to spend its days napping in the sun.
25:57But now, he was cradling a heap of mangled, blood-soaked fur.
26:01Elder Lotus was already there, her face a mask of cold fury.
26:05Stomach was ripped open.
26:07The manochore was torn out raw.
26:09It was a clean kill.
26:11The poor thing didn't even have time to shriek.
26:14My knuckles turned white as I scanned the crowd.
26:17The phoenix was perched near Bella, looking like a goddamn saint.
26:21Acting like the perfect, loyal companion.
26:23Nix's hand clamped over my eyes.
26:25His voice a low vibration against my ear.
26:28Don't look.
26:29It's the bird.
26:32He reeks of it.
26:33He smells exactly like the core snatcher that tried to gut me years ago.
26:39I took the intel to the Sentinel.
26:41But the old man told me to keep my head down and wait for a slip-up.
26:45No evidence.
26:46No arrest.
26:47He said, looking grave in his mountaintop menagerie.
26:50The place looked like a goddamn farm, full of barking dogs and bleating sheep.
26:54I let out a dry, frustrated snort.
26:57Old man, aren't you sick of the smell of shit in here with all these animals?
27:02Get lost.
27:03They're family.
27:04And your hellhound just took a dump on my rug.
27:07Clean it up.
27:07Two years crawled by.
27:09The order moved on.
27:10The dead cat became a ghost story.
27:12A cold case that no one talked about anymore.
27:15But I didn't forget.
27:16I felt the bird's eyes on me every goddamn day.
27:18I was meditating in my cottage one night when a pair of blood-red eyes flashed outside my window.
27:23I bolted upright and chased the shadow outside.
27:26The garden was silent as a tomb.
27:28Only a sliver of a moon hung in the sky.
27:30And a single golden feather drifted in the pool.
27:33The feather felt like a taunt.
27:34Come find me, or watch Nyx die.
27:37I pulsed our soul link.
27:38Nyx was at the forbidden zone.
27:40I teleported in and was immediately slammed back by a shockwave of raw power.
27:44Nyx was locked in a brutal exchange with the phoenix.
27:47And Bella.
27:48Bella was slumped against a tree like a broken doll.
27:50Blood leaked from her eyes and ears.
27:52Her stomach had been ripped open.
27:54Her mana core completely gone.
27:56Elata.
27:57You were reborn too, weren't you?
27:59You knew on bonding day.
28:01That's why you ditched me.
28:02What the hell does that mudblood Wilson have that I don't?
28:05I'm letting them all out.
28:07We're going back together.
28:08In the next life, I won't give that snake a goddamn chance.
28:13Go to hell, you golden prank.
28:16Nyx took a heavy blow to the shoulder just to reach my side.
28:19He spat a mouthful of blood and grinned.
28:21Enough talk, Alara.
28:23Let's gut this bird.
28:25The sky turned a bruised purple, and lightning began to coil in the clouds like hungry snakes.
28:31He'd killed his master.
28:33The heavens were coming for him.
28:34Goodbye, you piece of shit.
28:37A pillar of lightning, thick as a well, slammed into the phoenix.
28:41He didn't even have time to scream before he was vaporized.
28:44Nothing left but a goddamn pile of soot.
28:46But the seals were broken.
28:48The monsters in the woods were waking up.
28:50Nyx froze.
28:50He stared into the darkness of the woods.
28:53My mother.
28:54I smell her.
28:56I thought he was a mutt.
28:58Turns out his mother was the goddamn legend herself, the torch dragon.
29:01We sprinted into the mist.
29:03Suddenly, a pair of eyes the size of boulders flared red in the darkness.
29:07The torch dragon.
29:08Her face was a warped mask of scales and madness.
29:11A primordial goddess corrupted by darkness.
29:15Mother!
29:16Stop!
29:17The massive jaws stopped inches from us.
29:19She thrashed her head, her eyes flickering between a sane gold and a mindless, murderous red.
29:25Nyx, kill me.
29:27She coughed up a glowing all-permanticore.
29:30Nyx grabbed the core.
29:31His hands were shaking so hard I thought they'd snap.
29:34Tears streamed down his face.
29:36He couldn't do it.
29:37He pressed the core into my hands, his palms covering mine.
29:41Goodbye, mother.
29:42I squeezed.
29:43The core shattered.
29:44The dragon let out a long, weary sigh of relief as her massive form dissolved into starlight.
29:50At the same moment, the sky above me exploded with a crack of thunder that nearly deafened me.
29:55With the massive surge of energy from the dragon's core, my mana was overflowing.
29:59I was leveling up.
30:01Nyx, I'm gonna die.
30:02Nyx grabbed my hand, standing before me like a wall of iron.
30:06Like hell you are.
30:07If the sky falls, I'll catch it for you.
30:1036 volts of lightning later, the clouds cleared.
30:13I was smoking, bruised, and bleeding but I felt like a god.
30:16We walked out of the woods, hand in hand.
30:19The sun was coming up.
30:23The chaos we caused in the woods gave the Grand Sentinel and the elders the breathing room they needed.
30:28They spent a month sweating over the seals, finally patching the forbidden zone until it was tighter than a vault
30:34at the iron bank.
30:35Within a month, every merc guild, a knightly order, on the continent knew the name Elara Vane.
30:40I had my junk collecting uncle Silas to thank for that the man couldn't stop running his mouth.
30:45Turning my survival into some legendary epic.
30:48Elara, seeing you so got away blessed by the stars, it puts my heart at ease.
30:53My time here is up.
30:54The council and I agree, you're the perfect fit for the big chair.
30:57Once I ascend, you're the new Grand Master.
31:00Lead the order into a glorious future, kid.
31:02Old man, quit the bullshit.
31:04You're just looking for a way to quit and leave me with the paperwork, aren't you?
31:08My ward here has a good heart, even if she's as stubborn as a mule.
31:12You're lucky to have her, son.
31:13I hereby name you High General of the Menagerie.
31:16You're in charge of every beast in the stables.
31:19The future is in your hands, try not to burn it down.
31:21The Sentinel's ascension wasn't some minor level up like mine.
31:24If he made it, he'd reach the higher plane's eternal life and all that crap.
31:28But it's a suicide mission.
31:30Word is, only one sword master in the last five centuries actually made it through the
31:35Great Gate without turning into a pile of ash.
31:37Two weeks later, the big day arrived.
31:39That's when I finally understood what the winner takes it all really meant.
31:43I expected something holy choirs of angels, blinding light, regal dignity.
31:47Instead, the Grand Sentinel looked like a frantic farmer at a livestock auction.
31:52He was literally herding a chaotic mob of cats, dogs, and bleating sheep toward the Golden Gate.
31:58I vaguely saw a hamster perched on that guy's head, gnawing on a nut.
32:03I looked at Nix.
32:04Then I looked at the chaotic mess of recruits in the courtyard.
32:07Yeah.
32:08The future of the Order of Ash and Ember.
32:10It was looking real goddamn bright.
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