War was weird. Seeing the dead—dozens of innocent people who had never even been in combat—was even weirder.

Why did civilians suffer so much when they wanted to have nothing to do with war? Was it really just to drag them into war?

The answer was as simple as it was disgusting: nobody cared about what they wanted. The Demons just wanted to wreak havoc, whether that was done by ripping civilians apart or through a fair fight with combat-attuned Chosen. They attacked all kinds of lifeforms, their instincts pushing them to spread death and chaos.

The Rotheart Vampires, on the other hand, focused on those with the greatest Bloodlines. Many times, that involved guards—most often demihumans rather than human Hunters—yet not all strong Bloodlines helped with combat.

Most of the demihumans lying dead on the ground in Cintre were civilians—farmers, masons, and whatnot. They all looked different, yet they had a few things in common. Their corpses looked like husks that had been sucked dry of all bodily fluids, for one. They were also more beast than humanoid.

Many of the dead demihumans showed stronger signs of their Bloodline affecting their appearance.

It was interesting, in more than one way, that the Rotheart Vampires had been so obsessed with the demihumans’ Bloodlines, but it was also disgusting.

Taking a deep breath to settle my emotions, I approached Fern. She looked even more powerful than I remembered her to be, yet I could finally grasp the limits of her current strength. What had once appeared like an insurmountable mountain was now a hill with a clear summit. It was still too far to grasp, but it was only a matter of time before I would reach the same heights as my mate.

"Are you fine?" Fern asked, her confident mask slipping away to be replaced by worry. Sizing me up from head to toe, she let out a relieved sigh. "What about Clove?"

Since I didn’t know how Clove was doing, I could only shrug. I told Fern that he’d been alright for most of the fight and that everything had devolved into a chaotic mess, but that wasn’t enough for her, so we rushed back to where I had last seen the young fae.

Finding him wasn’t all that hard. His claws, coated in an ethereal hue, carved through the carcass of a massive demon, tearing it into shreds.

"Is that a Tier-3 Demon?" I couldn’t help but ask, my eyes narrowing at the gargantuan corpse. I hadn’t seen that type of demon before, which was odd considering how large it was. Even lying on the ground, the creature was the size of a hut.

"It’s a Behemoth Demon," Fern said, as if that explained everything—which it did. While I hadn’t read much about Demons, I had heard of Behemoth Demons. I had simply forgotten about them until Fern mentioned the name.

Behemoth Demons were considered Elite among regular Demons. Being Elite signified that they were stronger than regular beings of the same Tier by a significant margin, which, in this case, hadn’t played a major role. Clove thrashed the Elite without sustaining as much as a single injury. He looked completely fine, if one ignored his violent outbursts.

It took Clove a few minutes to calm down—minutes in which he tore through the Behemoth Demon, transforming the massive corpse into a heap of flesh, blood, and intestines. It was a gory mess, but if that was what it took for Clove to regain his calm, so be it.

"You’re alive," Clove commented in an oddly detached tone when he saw us. "I was sure the demons would get to you after you transformed into the Nature Dragon. Your transformation messed up everything."

Fern raised an eyebrow at me, but I was more curious about the last part. "Messed up everything?"

"It sends my Bloodline into a frenzy, you—... You don’t even know what you’ve done, do you?" Clove let out a light chuckle, his voice laced with a bit of joy as he continued, "You turned into a freaking dragon. A full-fledged dragon, with presence and Bloodline. Do you have any idea what a dragon’s unleashed Bloodline does to weaker demihumans? It sends us into a frenzy—some panic and flee, others don’t. Fight or flight it is, and the Inugami do not flee."

"Is that a bad thing?" I couldn’t help but ask, my head turning to the Behemoth Demon’s remains.

"Probably not." Clove let out a heavy sigh. "I don’t think I would have defeated that thing alone if you hadn’t sent my Bloodline into a frenzy. I never felt that much power, but... I also never felt that helpless in my own body."

That didn’t sound pleasant. Strength was great and all, but only if you could control it.

"Sorry about that."

Clove waved dismissively. "It’s not your fault. You did what you had to do to fight above your Tier." The corner of his lips curled upward. "Good job, by the way. I saw what you did there. You used your Insignia, didn’t you?"

His words caught Fern’s attention. "You used the Insignia?"

"I did." There was no denying it. "Unfortunately, none of the Lesser Demons I forced into submission made it out alive. If they did, the Insignia’s empowerment would have been a lot better."

It was not a major problem. If anything, losing the subdued demons made everything a lot easier. I wouldn’t have to explain all that much, nor would I have to take care of my new subordinates.

"Trickster as well?" Clove asked, and I could have sworn that he looked a little sad.

"No, my Familiar is still alive. I shoved him back into the Insignia to rest up after all he’s done to help me."

The faintest hint of a smile crossed his features. "That’s nice."

Fern looked between me and Clove, uncertainty written across her face.

"He’s grown so much," she muttered, her eyes lingering on Clove for a little longer. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

While Clove did seem to have forgotten about his earlier fight with Fern, my mate hadn’t. She appeared to be considering bringing the topic back up, but this was not the time or place to talk about the Kitsune House.

I was sure they would talk about their issues at some point. For now, however, it was time to help the injured.