In the rear of the mountain army, submerged in a bluish dimness, the silence felt almost offensive.
The roar of the Solar Furnaces did not reach there, nor the smell of hot iron that covered the slope. Only a tense, surgical calm, too orderly to feel real, contrasting with the distant screams of battle like a constant mockery.
Adela was sitting on a block of polished stone, engraved with ancient mana seals. Her cheeks were puffed out and her arms were crossed so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Her feet barely touched the ground, kicking the air without pause, in a rhythm both childish and furious.
Beside her, taking up more space than the surroundings seemed willing to accept, the Level 99 Ice Tiger exhaled slowly.
Its frozen breath crystallized the dust suspended in the air, lifting tiny specks of frost that hovered for a moment before falling. Its eyes—two diamonds of a deep blue that seemed to swallow light—rested on Adela with an ancient calm, patient… and slightly exhausted.
—Don't sigh! —she blurted out, lightly smacking its frost-covered flank—. It's your fault.
The tiger did not react.
It only closed its eyes for a second.
—If you weren't so big… and so "strategically necessary as a reserve," —she repeated, mimicking a high-pitched voice— like Lady Elizabeth said, I'd be out there. With Lord Lusian!
The tiger let out a deep, heavy purr that made the stone beneath them vibrate. It was neither annoyance nor approval. It was simply existence. For it, the rear was stability. For her, a cage.
—Can you imagine it? —Adela continued without waiting for an answer, her expression shifting from anger to something brighter, more dangerous—. The shadows closing in on him… a Chosen raising that hand full of false light…
She raised her fist into the air.
—And then BAM!
She jumped off the stone as if the entire world were watching her.
—We appear. I leap from your back, cut through the air, and Lord Lusian is completely impressed.
She stopped abruptly, hugging herself, swaying with an overly wide smile.
—He'd look at me with those yellow eyes of his… and say: "Adela, I always knew you would come save me. You are the only one I truly trust."
She sighed, completely lost in the scene she had just invented.
—And then he would thank me. A long hug… —she tilted her head—. Maybe he'd pat my head like a loyal maid. Or maybe something else.
She clicked her tongue, satisfied with the idea.
—And the others would just watch in envy. All of them.
The tiger opened one eye.
The temperature in the chamber dropped several degrees, an unconscious reflection of its growing discomfort. Adela blinked, returning to reality with an exaggerated snort.
—But no —she growled—. "Adela, stay behind." "Adela, protect the ones who fall back wounded." "Adela, you're our ace in the hole."
She spat the words out.
—Nonsense! I'm an ace who's bored to death.
She stood up abruptly and grabbed her weapon, adjusting the straps with unnecessary violence. The metal rang out dry and eager.
—If even one of those "Queens" comes back with a scratch —she muttered, with a twisted smile— I'll heal them so fast they won't even have time to complain. Just so they can go back out… and clear the way for me.
She lifted her gaze toward the tunnel leading outside.
Toward the war.
The childish obsession was still there, yes. But deeper underneath, something colder. Sharper. A contained ferocity that was no less than Kara's.
Adela was not a relegated maiden.
She was a predator on a leash.
And the leash was tight.
—Get ready —she said, her voice turning icy—. The moment I feel Lusian-sama's mana falter even a millimeter… I don't care what Elizabeth says, or that vampire girl, or any god with a judge complex.
The tiger rose, massive and silent. Its ice claws scraped the stone, leaving trails of living frost.
At last.
Something like a promise.
—We're going in there —Adela continued—. And we're going to tear the front apart.
The tiger bared its fangs, exhaling white vapor.
—And pity the god who stands between my grateful embrace… and me —she declared, chest swelling, with a determination both pure and terrifying.
In the distance, the mountain trembled again.
And this time, Adela smiled.
She knew it wouldn't be long.