"Oh, so it's Lady Ruoin."

"Are those three our clan's young heirs?!"

"How promising!"

The people of the Nightrift clan readily welcomed the group and led them to the main palace at the top of the mountain.

Soon, all of them arrived in a regal and beautiful hall before sitting down on the couches.

"Please wait a bit. The matriarch will be here soon," the King-rank guard said and then left to resume his duty.

A few wolf beastfolks served them tea shortly after.

A couple of minutes later, the matriarch arrived.

She was an Emperor-rank middle-aged lady with black wolf ears and a tail, wearing a white long-sleeved dress.

Verisia Nightrift — the wife of the clan's leader, and the second most powerful monster in the clan. Level 2000, Emperor-rank.

"Good to have you here safely." She smiled at Ruoin before looking at Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea, her eyes lighting up.

"Hello, cute ladies." Verisia smiled. "I am your grandma, Verisia. Come here, tell me your names."

Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea introduced themselves one by one while smiling, feeling the blood connection between them and her.

"So, who is he?" Verisia looked at Ainen, her eyes glinting. "Why are you three soul-bound with him?"

"He is our master!"

Ainen smiled and stretched out his hand. "Hi, I am Ainen. Chef Ainen."

"Mother, I was caught up in trouble right before I had to give birth…" Ruoin started telling her the whole matter.

After learning everything, Verisia looked at Ainen with a ludicrous gaze.

She knew there had been some large movement from the Styxian Dynasty, but the core information was not spread to them. Moreover, the Nightrift clan was in a tense situation, and no one wanted to associate with them during their war, which was tipping in favor of their enemies.

"No wonder I sensed something in you briefly, but I thought I was just imagining things. You have a blessing, right?"

"Yep." Ainen nodded.

She looked at him. "But it's hard for me to comprehend that you could suppress Emperor-rank powerhouses below level 1500, and no King-rank is a match for you…"

Ainen smiled. "You'll understand once you see me in action. And with that said, I really don't want to waste time, so is there any Tier-6 or Tier-7 Labyrinth you know of? I really want to enter one."

"I don't know of such a Labyrinth, but what do you think about joining the war as our ally?" Verisia asked.

Ainen blinked. "Can I know more about this war?"

"Of course."

And so, Verisia began telling Ainen about the war.

The main reason for the war was the invasion of the Orcs into their territory.

The Orcs lived in the archipelago in the southern ocean, but recently, they started coming into the mountains from the seas and even built a war city on the beach to the south.

This southern mountain range was an area rich with resources, and the Nightrift clan had ruled this extreme southern part of the continent for thousands of years.

There had been scuffles between the TauKintha Clan of Orcs and the Nightrift clan, but the Orcs were simply too weak compared to the Nightrift clan, so they never dared to provoke them before.

The Nightrift clan also let them live in peace as long as they didn't cause trouble.

They could have annihilated the Orcs completely, but they decided to remain peaceful and let them live.

Alas, who knows what happened, but the Orcs started invading and building secretly — and their numbers were far higher than before.

This had never been the case.

Now, the number of mid-rank to high-rank Orcs — from Adept-rank to Emperor-rank — was far greater than the Nightrift clan's beastfolks.

Even if the Orcs weren't that strong individually, since their Bloodlines weren't as powerful, their overwhelming numbers were slowly pushing back and shaving away the Nightrift clan's forces.

After learning about the war, Ainen decided to participate.

He had two reasons: he could help the Nightrift clan, and he could hunt monsters and gather resources in the vast ocean. With his SSS-rank Water Manipulation, he didn't have to fear strong water-based monsters.

"Master, we will come with you!"

"We'll get stronger together!"

"And eat together."

Verisia was taken aback and frowned. "No! You three won't be going anywhere, especially not into war zones."

"Mother, it's fine. They'll grow much stronger, much faster with Ainen. And nothing will happen to them with Ainen around."

Verisia's furrowed brows didn't ease after hearing Ruoin.

"We will go with Master!" Saffa angrily said, stomping her feet.

"That's right! You can't stop us!"

The three of them stood beside Ainen and crossed their arms while pouting at Verisia.

"Ainen, you can't be seriously taking them with you, right?"

Ainen smiled. "I will take them with me, just like I take my siblings and friends."

He summoned Ron, Syl, and Yelvina. Ron and Syl appeared before him, while Yelvina perched on his shoulder in her mini form.

"T-This… there's no existence of a storage artifact that can house living beings." Verisia was shocked. "You have one?"

"Yeah." Ainen nodded. "And I have absolute defense that no one can break. Not even the strongest Emperor-rank, or a thousand of them together."

"I don't intend to die." Ainen grinned. "Nor do I intend to let anyone I care for die."

Verisia turned silent.

"Take this." She took out a black glassy bead with spatial fluctuations in it. "If you connect a thread of your Mana to other people and then use this bead, it will teleport you and those connected to you here."

"This will be helpful." Ainen nodded as he took the bead. "Thanks."

Ainen had absolute protection, but escaping could still be a problem since he knew he wasn't yet the fastest person alive in this world. As such, he could just use it while being inside the No-Entry Barrier to escape from a dangerous situation.

Though Ainen didn't plan to get himself into such a situation in the first place — unless misfortune found him.

…

"Matriarch, are we really going to allow a human to be soul-bound with our strongest heirs?" An old beastfolk wolf with an eyepatch and a missing left arm asked while frowning.

"He is enigmatic," Verisia muttered. "He showed me his power briefly, and I couldn't believe myself for a moment."

"Why?"

"He has SSS-rank Fire Manipulation, SSS-rank Water Manipulation, S-rank Earth, Wind, and Lightning Manipulation. He has more, but with these five, he can comprehend advanced elements. He already has S-rank in a few advanced elements."

"His bodily and magical aura measured like the peak of King-rank, even though he's at the peak of Lord-rank. Mind you, that's his constant state."

The old beastfolk wolf was dumbfounded. "Are you sure?"

"You doubt me?"

"I dare not."

"It's true." Verisia sighed. "He… may be the one to change this era."

…

Ainen was heading to the frontline warzone escorted by a King-rank powerhouse.

He was introduced to the main commanders first before being led to the Clan Emperor's castle at the very frontline.

'What a terrifying energy.'

The distance between this castle and the enemy Orc Emperor's castle was 500 kilometers, but the entire stretch was filled with Emperor-rank powerhouses fighting within massive domains of both leaders, who clashed against each other.

Ainen arrived in a large hall where he saw a massive eight-foot-tall figure — not just a humanoid beastfolk wolf, but a black werewolf with silver and crimson patterns.

He sat on a throne that looked like an artifact and was in constant stalemate with the enemy leader.

'There's not just one, but two very strong enemies.' Ainen's eyes glinted as he sensed two different domains that had combined into one, clashing against the Nightrift Clan's leader, Emperor Wolfgan Nightrift's domain.

And he was still overpowering them, keeping them at bay.

'He can instantly kill me, right?'

'Yeah,' Lord Black said with a chuckle. 'He's at my level when I was alive.'

'So there are people stronger than him?'

'Certainly.'

"Leave," Wolfgan spoke before the King-rank escort could say anything.

The escort left with a bow, quietly and swiftly.

"Where are my granddaughters?"

Ainen took them out.

"Grandpa!"

Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea rushed toward him, looking at him with bright smiles.

Saffa and Clovelle hugged his legs — as rehearsed.

For a moment, the black-furred Emperor didn't move, as if his body had forgotten gentleness. Then his massive hand — clawed, scarred, and trembling — rested softly on their heads.

"Good girls."

He then looked at Ainen. 'I hope their choice is also good.'

"So you are the one bound to them." Emperor Wolfgan's voice rumbled.

The overwhelming weight of his presence, sharp and heavy as gravity itself, rippled across the floor and walls.

"Grandpa, you can't be mean to our Master!"

Saffa, Clovelle, and Fraisea were trapped in a barrier and placed in front of the entrance.

"You are certainly loved by them."

Ainen smiled. "That I am, and I'm proud of that."

"A Lord-rank who suppresses Emperors. Why don't you go and show me proof of those words?"

"Sure." Ainen grinned. "What do I have to do?"

"Let's start with this." Wolfgan waved his hand and gave a scroll to Ainen.

"This is your first quest. The map inside marks a place that needs to be destroyed. It's within the Orcs' territory at the seashore, in a cavern, so only someone with exceptional stealth and heavy firepower can finish the job swiftly."

"You have five days to finish the job."

Ainen opened the scroll, scanned it briefly, then put it in his inventory.

"Alright. It will be done."

Ainen turned around and smiled at the girls. 'Don't worry. I'll be back. Until then, be good with your grandpa, okay? He loves you.'