[After wrapping up matters with the Commission, Stelle and March 7th spent two days indulging in food across the Xianzhou. As evening approached and they prepared to return to the inn to rest, Stelle suddenly received a text from Kafka.]
[Anonymous: Stelle, come to the Divination Commission alone. I'll send you the coordinates shortly.]
[Anonymous: Don't tell anyone—your loyal Kafka.]
[Stelle: You say you're Kafka, but where's the proof?]
[The reply came quickly with a selfie. In the image, Kafka's distinctive white slime and her slightly upturned, vibrant lips exuded charm and allure. There was no doubt—it was Kafka herself.]
[Anonymous: Is that enough? Blade's Mara condition is severe. I can't leave until he recovers.]
[Anonymous: But you know the Xianzhou hasn't lifted his wanted order. He's still a top-tier fugitive.]
[Anonymous: I need you, Stelle. Come find me.]
[Stelle considered refusing, but Kafka sent the coordinates the next second, confident that Stelle would come.]
[Stelle consulted Welt for advice, and he suggested checking it out. Based on intuition, Kafka wouldn't harm Stelle, and if she was truly in trouble, it was better to go in person.]
["Alright," Stelle nodded, immediately taking a starskiff to the Divination Commission.]
[Following Kafka's coordinates, Stelle easily found her location. Kafka was standing outside a small hut, while Blade, suffering from a Mara flare-up, sat quietly inside.]
Overlord
"Huh? This is what Blade looks like when his Mara acts up? He seems… so well-behaved!" Aura's eyes lit up. "But his Mara condition is completely different from Jingliu's or other Xianzhou folks'. He's just sitting there motionlessly?"
"Hehe, Aura… from the sound of it, you seem a bit disappointed?" Demiurge, standing nearby, pushed up his round-framed glasses and smiled faintly.
"Yeah, a little."
Aura didn't deny it. She lifted her head, her gaze quickly scanning Demiurge, and a faint smile curled her lips.
"But compared to me, you're even more disappointed, aren't you, Demiurge?" Aura said bluntly with a knowing look. "You were hoping Blade's Mara flare-up would lead to a massacre in the Divination Commission, right? Not seeing rivers of blood here… it's bumming you out, isn't it?"
Demiurge's cruel nature was well-known, his smiles and gentlemanly demeanor reserved solely for the Guardians and the Supreme Overlord. Compared to the other Guardians of the Great Tomb, Demiurge had the starkest contrast in personality.
"Indeed, to be honest, when I first saw Blade, I sensed his danger surpassed that of all our Guardians combined. But back then, I wasn't sure who was stronger between him and Jing Yuan."
"Now, after witnessing Jing Yuan and the others' battle with Phantylia, the answer is clear—that fight—"
Demiurge stopped mid-sentence, noticing Aura's face suddenly turn pale, her body trembling uncontrollably. Her dark elf emerald eyes quaked like a forest in an earthquake, as if his words had triggered a deeply terrifying memory.
Demiurge knew exactly what the forest's ruler was afraid of. After witnessing that earth-shattering battle, he had forcibly cast several mind-stabilizing spells on himself to avoid losing composure when later meeting the Supreme Overlord.
Several blue lights flickered above Aura's head, and the elf, trapped in her horrific memories, finally stopped trembling.
"Thanks, Demiurge," Aura said, a trace of guilt on her face as she recovered. "I'm such a failure. As Lord Ainz's servant, I actually felt fear toward someone else's power…"
"No need to worry, Aura. Lord Ainz won't hold it against you."
Demiurge wore a calm smile, though he didn't mention that Aura wasn't the first Guardian he'd had to stabilize with mind magic—nearly every Guardian in the Great Tomb had required the same treatment.
The aftermath of that battle seemed to have faded, but it left deep psychological scars on all the Guardians—a fact that was also why Lord Ainz had secretly summoned him.
——
["I knew you'd come," Kafka said with a slight smile, turning to look at Stelle. "Is this your choice? To accept my request and help me?"]
["I'm here to refuse you," Stelle replied, ever the rebel.]
["Oh? Really? You'd refuse me?" Kafka didn't panic at all, gently placing a hand on her chest. "If you wanted to refuse me, why are you here right now?"]
["Uh…" As Stelle pondered how to respond, her vision suddenly narrowed, replaced by a flash of white.]
[Kafka leaned closer. But before the visual impact, it was her scent that overtook Stelle's senses—not the sweet girlish fragrance of March 7th, but the aroma of a ripe peach, laced with an invasive gaze that seeped in bit by bit.]
[Feeling Kafka's faint breath brush across her cheek, Stelle instinctively stepped back. It was like a summer night's breeze rippling over a lake, stirring a subtle shiver.]
["Alright, let's keep that choice open then—Stelle, will you stay? …For me."]
[Stelle quickly averted her gaze: "Fine… I'll stay to help you."]
["Thank you. On this Xianzhou… you're the only one I can rely on," Kafka said with a smile, her lips slightly curved, her eyes glinting with fragmented light, as if she'd already seen through this silent defeat.]
Dragon Raja
——
"Oh no, Stelle got done in by the bad woman again! Why doesn't she ever learn?!"
On the other end of the phone, Finger vented his frustration to Lu Mingfei, though it was hard to tell how much of it was genuine complaint versus thinly veiled envy.
"Learn from that kind of lesson? You'd probably wish for more lessons like that!" Lu Mingfei retorted. "If a sexy, mature senior from the Executive Department sat at your table, she wouldn't even need to try—you'd probably surrender with both hands up!"
"Well… yeah," Finger admitted. "I'm not exactly the passive type. In front of a girl I like, I'd take the lead and go all out! But if a girl is that forward and trying to win you over, either you've already built a deep connection, or she's just after something."
"So… when's a sexy, mature lady going to come win me over?!"