CHAPTER 276: 276: THE BLACKSMITH’S ECHO

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She stepped closer, almost dainty despite her size. "Kai," she said softly, "can I... eat it?"

Kai raised a brow. "All of it?"

"I am hungry," Alka said, rubbing her belly with one wing. "I see a monster meat buffet."

Kai laughed. "Be my guest."

In a blink, Alka pounced.

What followed was a horrifying, glorious, awe-inspiring massacre of carnivorous efficiency. Alka tore into the carcass with beak, talon, and claw. The girls watched in stunned silence as the giant beast consumed another giant beast with the etiquette of a polite hurricane. Blood sprayed. Bones cracked. A horn flew past Azhara’s head and landed in the dirt.

"She is so elegant," Vel whispered.

"She is terrifying," Naaro corrected.

"I would be cooler than her if I was a bird," Azhara sighed.

Akayoroi crossed her arms. "This is... practical."

Sha simply muttered, "Remind me not to argue with her. Ever."

It took Alka ten minutes to finish the entire body. When she was done, not even a bone remained. She hiccuped, coughed out a plume of steam, and stretched her wings contentedly.

"Delicious," she said. "There is a nutty aftertaste."

Kai walked over to the smoldering pit where the basilisk’s heart had been and crouched again. Beneath the scorched cavity, nestled in the blackened heart of the beast, something still glimmered faintly.

A glowing orange crystal, pulsing with a rhythmic beat. The star core.

Kai reached down and plucked it. The heat didn’t bother him. Not anymore.

[Ding! System notification: Star Core obtained — Cindervore Predator Class.

Can be used for: Aura infusion, Rank advancement catalyst, or essence weapon reinforcement.]

He pocketed it without a word.

Akayoroi watched him closely. "You grow faster and stronger with every battle."

"I have to," Kai said. "My enemies will be sending stronger things each time."

He glanced at the sky. The wind shifted. The scent of metal. Ash. And something else.

A presence. Not just anyone. Someone was coming. The forge girl was approaching. She had felt the aura burst when he devoured the basilisk essence.

Now she wanted answers. And Kai? He was ready.

Hours later...

The sky was becoming dark, the sun was setting. Ember clouds drifted slowly across the valley as the scent of roasted basilisk lingered like a primal perfume. The battlefield had gone quiet. No beasts stirred. No birds sang. But deep within the stone beneath their feet, tremors still whispered.

Kai remained kneeling, inspecting the fading aura trails around where the corpse was. The blood had already soaked into the cracked earth, but the heat of the fire clung to the air like smoke on wet cloth. Behind him, Alka belched contentedly, curled in a satisfied heap with her wings tucked close and her head resting on one of her claws.

Sha approached with a tired gait, dragging a scorched piece of basilisk hide over her shoulder. She threw it near the fire pit they had hastily built beside the cliffside. "This could be good armor," she muttered. "If we find someone who can work with obsidian beastbone."

"We will," Kai said without looking up.

Azhara slid down beside him, trying to wrap an arm around him. Her breath tickled his ear. "Sir, You are still glowing."

Kai blinked. "That’s probably internal healing."

"No," she whispered, her fingers tracing a line down his chest. "I mean glowing. Literally. You are radiating aura. Again."

He looked down. His veins shimmered faintly, as if firelight pulsed from under his skin. A residual effect of the basilisk’s essence, likely still settling into his body.

Vel joined them, tugging Kai’s other arm. "Rest sir. You deserve it."

"I can rest when I am not surrounded by perver—" He did not finish. Because,

Akayoroi appeared beside him in a blur, holding a sharpened rock and a fresh cloth. "You will rest now. Let your harem work."

"Harem?" Kai asked flatly. "Because of the harem I don’t want to sleep."

"It is what we are," Azhara said proudly, pulling herself onto his lap. "It is a title of great honor. You are the King. We are your blades, your woman, your... other fun things."

"I did not vote on this," Naaro called from the edge of the camp.

"You never vote," Sha replied. "You just stab."

Kai groaned. "Is no one going to ask me what I want?"

"No," said all the girls in perfect harmony.

They surrounded him like bees around a particularly handsome, slightly bloodied flower. Akayoroi gently wiped the sweat from his neck with the damp cloth. Vel brushed dirt from his arms and reapplied healing salve with soft fingers. Azhara lay across his lap, dramatically useless, trying to whisper something seductive every few seconds to wake up his anaconda.

"Say the word and I will kiss you," she breathed. "Only on the mouth. Or somewhere more fun."

Kai pushed her forehead with two fingers. "Get off. As I said, no mating until we get home."

"I know... I know, you said that," she whispered.

Sha sighed. "This is why the frogs called us the mating swarm."

"I thought that was a joke," Naaro added.

"It was not," said Akayoroi, deadpan.

As the girls tended to him, the air shifted again. Not with heat. Not with wind. With pressure.

Kai sat up straighter. His Predator senses prickled.

He turned his gaze eastward, toward the cliffs beyond the scorched gorge. Just past the broken black trees, past the shattered altar where the basilisk had appeared, a faint metallic clang echoed.

Ting! Then another. Ting!

The sound was rhythmic. Calm. Powerful. Like someone hammering steel into shape with perfect control.

"What is that?" Sha asked, standing.

Naaro’s antenna twitched. "Forging. There is someone out there. South-east. Two ridgelines away."

Kai rose slowly, ignoring the chorus of protests.

"It’s not hostile," Akayoroi said. "At least not yet."

"But it is calling us," Kai replied. "That person is letting us know he or she is here."

Azhara blinked. "How do you know?"

Kai touched his chest, just over his heart. The mark of the Monarch appears faintly. "Because my crest feels it."

He looked up toward the peaks. And saw her.

A silhouette, tall and proud, outlined by molten light. A beast woman, her form radiant with strength. She carried a massive hammer slung over her shoulder, and her arms were wrapped in black gold bracers that shimmered with runes. Her body was lithe, muscular, built like a forge goddess. Smoke trailed behind her as she walked.

Her eyes glowed like smelted ore. And she was heading toward him.

"She is... beautiful," Vel whispered, almost reverently.

"Dangerous," Sha added.

"She will be my opponent," Azhara declared.

Kai didn’t respond. Because in that moment, as the new figure stepped into view, the Monarch’s mark on his chest gave signals.

And deep within his soul, the system whispered.

[An excellent Monarch Mark compatible candidate is detected. The system advises the host to mark her. It will be helpful for host future development.]

Kai narrowed his eyes. "Let’s see if she wants to be tamed."