CHAPTER 279: 279: DON’T CORRUPT THE BLACKSMITH

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Sha smirked. "I will cut off their legs and make wind chimes from their screams."

Lirien turned slowly to look at all of them. "I must say, This is... a colorful ant army."

Azhara looped an arm around her neck. "Oh honey, this is nothing. Wait till you see our morning stretches. Very... revealing."

Kai sighed and dropped onto a warm flat stone. "All of you, rest. No sharpening blades, no torture threats, and no mating talk for the next two hours."

Vel grinned and whispered to Sha, "That means we have one hour and fifty nine minutes of potential mischief."

Naaro pulled a hood over her face. "Wake me only if we are attacked. Or if sir Kai takes his shirt off."

Akayoroi sat near the fire, tending her molten blade, but her eyes drifted once toward Kai’s shoulders. Just once.

Azhara, as always, took the initiative.

She straddled Kai’s lap from the side, not fully sitting, just enough to tease. Her eyes gleamed with the glint of moonlight and mischief.

"You know," she whispered, "you could reward us now. Again."

Kai closed his eyes. "You just want to see if I’ll get flustered."

She leaned in. "I want to see if you’ll let me ride the Anaconda."

Sha threw a rock at her. "He is still recovering."

"I can help him recover faster," Azhara said, dramatically untying her outer layer. "I am a professional motivator."

Vel rolled her eyes and elbowed her. "You mean a professional menace."

Naaro sat up suddenly, tilting her head. "Lirien hasn’t said anything."

Everyone turned.

Lirien, the fire ant blacksmith, stood frozen on the edge of the group, her face completely flushed. Even her mandibles seemed to be shivering. Her armor plates steamed slightly, not from heat, but pure embarrassment.

Azhara grinned like a predator sensing prey. "Oh? Are you blushing, Miss Ember Depth? Have you ever been with a man before?"

Lirien’s eyes widened. "No."

"Not once?" Vel leaned forward. "You said you’re old, right? Like really old. And you never once tasted the man’s rod?"

"I was busy forging!" she snapped. "I do not... have time for distractions."

Azhara clasped her hands together, eyes glinting. "Oh darling. You have no idea what you’re missing. One night with Sir Kai, and you will melt. Literally. You will forget what a hammer even is. You will only think about his big thick juicy anaconda."

"I forged in volcanoes," Lirien stammered. "You cannot compare—"

"Yes, we can," Azhara said proudly. "If you even once sleep with him, you will beg for more. You will crave it. You will weld yourself to his scent. It will haunt you in the best way. Your hole will make you beg him for more anaconda time."

Vel added, "And his abs are better than anvils."

Akayoroi chimed in, "He does not need flame. His touch is pressure enough."

Sha lifted a hand. "One night, and your loyalty will be sealed on his anaconda."

"Sir Kai is a divine pleasure giver," Azhara said sweetly. "He is an awakening."

"I am going to melt," Lirien muttered, covering her face with one armored hand.

"Oh, you will," Azhara said with a wicked wink. "Especially when he touches you. Just once is enough. After that, your brain never works the same again. The way his anaconda fills your lower lips, his strength, his stamina—"

Azhara tilted her head innocently. "Want to try?"

Before Lirien could combust from shame, a hand descended.

Bonk!

Kai’s fist met Azhara’s head with the grace of an annoyed king. "Enough. Stop corrupting the blacksmith. She’s new."

Azhara pouted, rubbing her head. "Just a little corruption is healthy."

Kai turned to Lirien, who stood red faced and motionless. "Don’t mind them. They’re... permanently broken."

"I see that," she mumbled, trying to hide her glowing cheeks behind her clawed gauntlet.

"You can take a break if you want. Explore the ridge. Just... stay close," Kai said gently.

"I... will," she nodded. "Excuse me."

She turned and walked away briskly, nearly tripping over a small rock, her armor clicking nervously.

Azhara called after her, "We are still accepting volunteers for the cuddle circle later!"

Lirien waved without turning around, her entire body stiff as an overheated blade.

Sha exhaled and lay back. "We’re a bad influence."

Vel added, "And that’s the best part."

Kai sighed and looked up at the stars. "I’m surrounded by perverts."

Akayoroi rested beside him. "Yes. By your warriors. And your anaconda madness."

And far off, the night still trembled with hidden threats. But for now, they rested.

A few moments later...

The predator that howled had begun to walk towards something.

But far from its path, under the charred dome of night and the gentle breath of cooling winds, Kai lay still, eyes closed, pulse steady. Around him, the ground had lost its bloodlust. The sky above, bruised with starlight, had begun to pale at the edges. The first hints of morning clung to the horizon like whispers of color, not yet gold, not yet blue, but something between. It was like the hush before a blacksmith’s hammer strikes.

Vel shifted in her sleep beside him, curled like a cat guarding treasure. Azhara mumbled something incoherent about peaches and Kai’s thighs, drooling slightly onto her blanket. Naaro lay with one eye half open, feigning slumber while calculating the best spear tip throwing angle against anyone who dared interrupt her peace. Sha, true to form, had not moved an inch since her last breath cycle. She was still meditating, or possibly dead with perfect posture.

Kai opened his eyes. The ceiling of stars above seemed thinner now, stretching like old silk, ready to be torn apart by dawn. Then he sat up.

Alka dangled from a vine-hammock she had built out of half a dozen stubborn trees and three confused squirrels. She snored once, rolled over, and kicked off a rock like she was dreaming of battle. Her feather shimmered in the soft violet glow of the vanishing moon.