"When did you get here?"
Hel looked up, speechless, at Niv's pale feet swinging idly by the window. She couldn't help but feel that this mischievous girl was deliberately teasing her.
"Since you came out," Niv replied with a grin. "You just didn't notice me."
"…Right."
Hel sighed helplessly and leapt up, landing beside her with a soft thud.
"Alright then. You didn't come here just to make fun of me, did you?"
"Of course not." Niv's smile faded, replaced by a rare seriousness. "Vivian's departure was only the beginning. The scouts you had me place along the border have sent word— the beastmen's main force has already broken through the Wall of Vigilance. They're marching toward us."
"So soon?"
Hel's brows lifted in surprise. "And the wall's defenders didn't even slow them down?"
"A Saint-tier has taken the field," Niv said grimly. "And not just anyone — it's a witch. The soldiers there call her Gale, the Tempest Witch."
"Gale the Calamity Witch, huh…"
Hel rubbed her chin thoughtfully at the name.
Before this, she had made a point of learning everything she could about their enemies. According to the Arcane Witch, the Supreme Church's witches were divided into two factions: The Seven Kings, who governed military and politics, and The Seven Calamities, who embodied divine disasters and faith.
Each of the Beastman Courts possessed one of each — a King and a Calamity.
The Aella Court's King was Nikki, the War Witch, notoriously called the Shame of the Seven Kings.
And their Calamity — was Gale, the Tempest Witch.
A witch nearly a thousand years old, one of the few who had lived since the same age as the Arcane Witch herself.
If she had truly crossed the Wall and was heading toward Heim, Hel would have to start thinking about how to run.
"So Gale herself is coming?"
"Not exactly." Niv shook her head. "The Churches have an agreement that Saint-tier beings can't directly participate in mortal wars. Gale only intervened to create an opening. The real threat is the beastmen's main army — with no fewer than ten Sixth-tier powerhouses among them."
Hel exhaled. "Then it sounds like we'll have to retreat."
"Not necessarily."
Niv's lips curved slightly. "The Empire had sent a legion to Snowvel Kingdom to deal with the demon outbreak. But for some unknown reason, before they even reached the capital, they suddenly received orders to retreat. When the angel awakened, they happened to be camped by the Snowvel River. They followed it downstream, and now they're stationed in Count Ashton's lands.
"With their numbers, holding off the beastmen shouldn't be impossible."
"I see…"
Hel nodded slowly, sinking into thought.
Truth be told, ever since she gave Vivian the angelic blood, she had expected this — the entire continent descending into chaos.
The Supreme Church would never tolerate the Judgment Church birthing another angel.
Every time an angel awakened, it brought a new surge of faith — raising the Judgment Church's prestige and sparking a great revival.
And every time that happened, the Supreme Church reacted — through assassinations, kidnappings, even wars.
It had become their grim tradition.
Yet even knowing this, Hel had gone through with it.
It hadn't been an impulsive act born of emotion or a desperate rescue.
She had, in fact, thought about it carefully — for a solid thirty seconds.
The truth was simple: her open power base was still too weak. Too weak to stand against anyone.
The Grand Duke and Uriel had proven it. The Orad brothers had proven it again.
Even though she could kill such people in secret, she couldn't publicly defy them — because they all had powerful backers.
So, if she couldn't find a protector, she would create one.
And what could be a stronger shield than a newly awakened angel, a future Saintess of the Judgment Church?
Because in the end, status and titles are what you make of them.
As the "Saintess's closest friend" and the "God-touched savior of an angel," she could walk proudly — even arrogantly — across the Mandrake Principality.
But to make others truly fear her, she needed to show a glimpse of her hidden strength — to let the world know that Hel of Heim was not to be trifled with.
"Niv," she said at last, "have Morrigan follow Vivian's group. Have her maintain the soul network behind them and make sure they reach the Empire safely."
"Alright."
Niv nodded, then hesitated. "But, Mistress… if you send Morrigan away, what will you do if a Sixth-tier appears?"
"A Sixth-tier, huh…"
Hel rested her hands on the windowsill, gazing out at the horizon — as if she could see, across the vast plains, the millions of beastmen marching toward Heim.
Unbeknownst to her, at that same moment, far away in the beastman ranks, a silver-haired, wolf-eared girl lifted her gaze toward the distant sky.
She rode atop a massive white direwolf, surrounded by the fiercest warriors of the Wolf Clan — the Aella Court's proudest troops. This time, they had come in full force.
And they were not alone — champions from the other Beastman Courts had joined them as well.
Their combined army boasted over twenty Sixth-tier champions and more than a hundred Fifth-tier powerhouses.
Their might was such that they could easily wipe a human kingdom from the map.
But something ahead made even them uneasy.
Waiting across their path stood a heavily armed human army, banners snapping in the wind — the Crowned Wolf standard of the Knight Empire's Wolf Legion.
"The Silver Wolf meets the Ashen Wolf…"
The War Witch Nikki smiled faintly, eyes glinting gold. "How poetic."
She raised her blade high.
"Charge!"
…
Hel could not know what battles raged far beyond her sight.
She only stood silently for a long moment before murmuring,
"Sixth-tier powerhouses, huh…"
Her lips curved in a quiet, dangerous smile.
"The net's already laid. Now—"
She turned her eyes toward the horizon, voice barely a whisper.
"—let's see who's foolish enough to step into it."