Lady Eve’s moans started off as nothing more than muffled and sporadic gasps. Soon, they became heavy, labored breathing.

Eventually, they became filled with a sensual, unrestrained air. In all his talk of sexually repressed women, it seemed that Lady Eve herself had forgotten to note that she fell within this very same category.

She told Leonidas to just fuck her and get it over with, but he was insistent on doing the exact opposite. His hot lips dotted her body, trailing her collarbone and neck, leaving patches of harsh red marks across her tanned skin.

Whenever she tried to pull back, she found a sturdy tail and a strong arm for her efforts. Eventually, she was lifted into the air, her legs forced to wrap around Leonidas' waist and her elbows resting on his shoulders.

By the time her panties finally left her body, they had been entirely drenched through. The slightest touch seemed to cause her to twitch, the subtle rocking of her body having long since been lost to her usually fine motor control.

Lady Eve found herself being bent over one of the few pieces of furniture that managed to remain intact, her eyes half closed and her bottom perked upward.

Inwardly, she was relieved. She didn’t want to make love with Leonidas. Though the experience had been better up until now than she had expected, it was only that.

She was a mature woman who was forced to please herself in the waning twilight hours. It had been a very long time since she had felt this kind of embrace, and her experiences before Leonidas were far from good.

A strong pressure pressed against her delicate pink entrance. Her calves subconsciously flexed as she stood to the tips of her toes.

How long had it been since she relaxed? She couldn’t remember at all…

Two strong hands clamped onto her wide hips, her cheeks spreading and her legs trembling as she felt herself being entered. The discomfort was slight, being far larger than anything she was used to. But, very soon, she forgot even that.

She lay her arms across the dresser, her cheek resting on her forearm. Her mind went blank and her eyes rolled back, ragged breaths leaving her lips as even her toes were lifted from the ground.

***

Dripping water fell from Leonidas’ body. As usual, he thoroughly cleaned himself, taking even more time than he would usually allocate. He had gotten used to being able to wash and clean himself daily, missing two days was a special sort of annoyance to him.

Looking down at a certain member between his legs, he shook his head. His cock was currently a bit bruised, nothing too bad, but it was enough to be a slight annoyance. It could be said that he had over-indulged during his first time.

He was a quick shot during his round, but it seemed that his blood also gave him fast recovery in this aspect.

He was so enraptured by how good it felt that he didn’t notice he was harming himself. If not for Lady Eve falling unconscious, who knew when he would have stopped?

‘My flesh is still weak; I have a long way to go. But, I’m far better than I was in the past. I have a feeling that it was because I tapped into a bit of Berserk due to my emotional high that this happened. I’ll be fine in a day or two.’

Leonidas strolled out of the shower, drying his hair and tail with a heavy-duty towel.

‘This is an interesting new discovery, though. Sex helped my blood circulation and also cleared my mind. War Cry feels a small measure sharper and Berserk feels a small bit easier to control. I don’t believe this is a coincidence.’

Leonidas exited the bathroom, displaying his body in full view as he wiped his hair down. Lady Eve sat in the disaster that was now his living room, wearing sleepwear Anabel had left behind without a care. Her legs were crossed over one another, but the see-through black fabric still left much of her chest in full view.

Flashbacks to her curvaceous back flickered through Leonidas’ mind. Those wide hips had most definitely not disappointed. It was the sort of image that would most definitely not leave Leonidas for a very long time.

Finding a pair of loose underwear, Leonidas wore them and sat down across from Lady Eve, his head covered by a towel that sagged down his shoulders and chest. His crimson gaze met Lady Eve’s, her calm brown irises looking back.

“How long until they’re aware?” Leonidas asked.

“My elder brother is already aware. As for everyone else, that would depend. He has no real need to inform anyone else unless it benefits him. With this, though, he has likely almost 100% confirmed that it was I who killed Manfroi.”

“And the matters surrounding Swallowing Tusk?”

“They’ve declared war and are already making a forceful push to encroach on our territory. The skirmishes that have erupted in the last few days are mostly around missions of Level 1. Usually, there’s a slow, methodical approach to taking up these missions since there are so few Apostles and yet hundreds of them. However, they‘ve thrown caution to the wind.”

“They won’t send a full assault onto Violet Waters?”

“Not immediately. A war between Sub-Shrines is complex and dependent on several factors. One of the most important variables to contend with are Blessings and having an immediate pool of them. Level 1 missions are the most easily accessible and as such are the first to be quickly cleared. Right now, it’s a war of economics and resources that will slowly evolve into a true war.”

“Lower Ogres are so patient and scheming?”

Lady Eve gave Leonidas an odd look. Well, it was a look far enough from her baseline that it could be considered odd to her. This Leonidas sure held a lot of disdain for a race that he was half of.

“Ogres are not fools. In fact, their current Deacon, Deacon Ezor, has survived longer than any active Deacon I know. He outlasted my father, Deacon Peyton, and hasn’t wavered during the rule of my brother. For a Lower Ogre to survive that long in their culture, he most definitely has something more than brawn.”

Leonidas’ eyes narrowed. Maybe his perspective had been too jaded by everything he had read about Bloodlines. The tome the spirit had left behind for him only helped him delve into that world all the more. He had a hierarchy of Intelligence in his mind that was already firmly implanted, and Lower Ogres were at the bottom of that totem pole.

“A person like this doesn’t seem like one that would attack purely because of the death of one Apostle.”

“Hm?”

Lady Eve sat up in her seat. Leonidas’ words seemed to confirm something, but she wanted to hear him say it personally.

“Two days ago, I fought a Level 2 Apostle during my mission and killed it. I assumed that this was the reason the war was being triggered, but now that you’ve said so much, it feels like much more of a convenient excuse. It’s just that the only people aware of this are myself and Anabel, so the rest of you are likely confused about why this is happening so the effect isn’t exactly how this Deacon Ezor planned it to be.

“In his shoes, I would probably want everyone to believe that I was hotheaded and irrational so that I could take advantage of it when my enemies tried to overextend themselves. But, even if he’s as smart as you say, he could never guess that an Apostle capable of killing a Level 2 Apostle was an unknown to the other Apostles of Violet Waters.”

Lady Eve didn’t know how to respond for a long while. She crossed her arms beneath her chest, their small buds protruding a slight bit beneath the added pressure.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Half a year ago Leonidas could barely jog, but now he was killing Level 2 Apostles? No, that wasn’t exactly right. She still remembered the shock she felt when he had killed a Lower Ogre with nothing more than his fists. This man had always had this sort of wild, unpredictable potential.

Still, it was human nature for Lady Eve to hope that this huge change was in thanks to the treasure she had missed out on. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to benefit as well.

“Then, what do we do from here?” Lady Eve asked. “What are your goals?”

“Violet Waters is my first stage. You were meant to be the challenge I returned to, but now it seems that this challenge had morphed into the form of the entire Rardin family. I will not leave this place until they are wiped from existence along with anyone else who’s had involvement in the death of my mother.”

“Leave?”

Lady Eve had wanted to leave this town for a very long time as well. To her, being here was no different from being trapped in a cage. But, the question of how was too heavy. Their Sub-Shrine was here, other Goddess Yves Sub-Shrines had their own quotas with their own noble families having laid claim to them. You couldn’t just pick up and leave because you wanted to.

“Yes. It isn’t possible to leave for another Sub-Shrine. However, the main Shrine is different. Goddess Yves only wants the strongest Fighters, Mages, and Healers under her immediate charge. While she won’t allow competition between Sub-Shrines to maintain peace, it’s a different matter altogether if your target is to enter her main Shrine.”

Lady Eve’s eyes lit up. This information was something even she didn’t have. And, if she didn’t have it, it meant the Bruthers family didn’t have it either. For Leonidas of all people to know of these matters confirmed her suspicions. He had access to a well of knowledge none of the rest of them did.

Soon, she calmed. Any family that could lay claim to quotas within a main Shrine was a different sort of monster altogether. While her ambitions were full-go, her logic told her that this felt like another death sentence.

“First, we need to flesh out a few things. We need to define the rules between us and also gain a deeper understanding of what we can and cannot do as a pair acknowledged as husband and wife by Goddess Yves.

“Next, I will need to find a way to gather 3 Blessing Units, only that way can I exchange the Lower Ogre Apostle’s head and advance to Level 2 Apostle. Once I do that, everything else will become easier.

“This war will be the stage I use to prepare everything we need to move to the main Shrine. I will make the Rardins bleed.”