Xanor sat atop the wall, his shadow stretching long and distorted in the harsh light of the sunlight. His booted feet drummed an anxious, irregular rhythm against the stone, and his gaze was a blend of impatience and apprehension, fixed on a point in the distant desert haze.

​"Something isn't right. He shouldn't take this long," Xanor muttered, the words tight and rasping. "All the traps set mustn't go to waste!"

​He swung his attention to the leading Wendigo, standing a few feet away. "Go and check what's keeping those Ogre bastards! They should be off by now!"

​"Yes!" The Wendigo began to turn, but a calm, low voice cut through the air.

​"Someone is here."

​Shadow Eyes, stated, her tone calm.

Xanor and the Wendigos followed her gaze to the distance as the air itself seemed to tear—a violent, shimmering rift that yawned open, and from it, a solitary figure walked out onto the desolate plain.

"...?!"

​Xanor's eyes widened in raw surprise: "Is that…?"

​Shadow Eyes' frown deepened, her hand instinctively touching the hilt of her dagger.

"Hey, isn't that your ex?" she asked, the question laced with judgment.

​"Em… Why is she here?" Xanor askez, ignoring Shadow Eyes' question. "Where is God Wolf?"

​"Xanor!!"

​The force of Josephine's scream was terrifying. It reverberated through the air, and instantly caused cracks to spiderweb across the wall Xanor stood upon.

​"This?! She has an ancient bloodline!" Shadow Eyes exclaimed in shock, finally drawing her dagger.

​"The Josephine I know doesn't have any ancient bloodline, you must have mistaken." Xanor said, his tone serious.

"I will take care of her." Xanor said and leaped into the air, landing with a forceful crunch in the sand, thirty yards before her.

​Josephine watched his theatrical descent, her face a mask of cold fury and profound disappointment.

​"Who would have thought you'd come back to me?" Xanor, forcing a smirk, a weak attempt to mask the shock he still felt.

'How did she improve in her rank so fast?' He thought.

​"Come back to you?" Josephine turned, a look of utter disgust crossing her features. She spat on the ground near her feet.

"Have you seen anyone go back to the toilet when they're done with it?" she asked, her voice dangerously level as she looked up at him.

".....?!!"

​Xanor was Flabbergasted by her insult.

​"I am here to get your head and present it to my husband!" Josephine declared, her voice ringing with purpose.

"Only that way can I wash your evil deeds from my mind." She stretched out her hand, and with a surge of brilliant power, a fully-starred Grand Class sword, snapped into her grip.

​"You really want to fight me?" Xanor asked, his facade of arrogance replaced by a strained frown. His battleaxe appeared, its red blade throbbing with an eerie, familiar light.

​"I don't want to fight you." Josephine gripped her sword, her knuckles white, and lunged, appeared before him and slashed downward. Her slash was fast, precise, and aimed to end the argument.

​"I want to kill you!" she yelled.

​BAM!!

​Her blade smashed into Xanor's axe. The force was staggering, a raw surge of power that pushed Xanor backward, his feet ploughing deep trenches in the sand.

​"This?!" He looked up at Josephine, the shock evident. This power wasn't hers—not the Josephine he remembered.

​'This fool! Thinking a normal bloodline can go against an ancient bloodline? Only God-rank bloodlines can match them in battle. If you aren't careful, you, a Peak God Rank, will lose to a Peak Divine Rank,' Shadow Eyes muttered, her eyes fixed on the battle.

​Josephine didn't pause for him to recover, she surged forward, sword raised.

​"You!!" Xanor raised his hand and brought his axe down with crushing force.

​BAM!!

​The weapon collided on Josephine's armor, but to his utter disbelief, not a scratch appeared.

​"This?" Before he could process the impossible defense, Josephine's sword flashed towards his chest.

​"How can!"

Xanor reacted instantly, dodging the blade by a hair's breadth and leaping back to create distance.

​"How come I can't even scratch your armor?!" he demanded, the disbelief curdling into panic.

​"I admit… You have a powerful attack force," Josephine said, spinning her sword, her stance radiating newfound confidence.

"But compared to my Love's defense, you are nothing." She lunged forward again.

​"I will see about that!!"

​Xanor roared, unleashing his full Aura—a wave of crimson, oppressive power. He charged, raised his axe, and smashed down on Josephine. She met the attack with her sword, bracing with every ounce of her will.

​BAM!!

​The collision of the two massive forces sent powerful shockwaves rippling across the plain, forcing both combatants meters backward.

​BAM!

​Josephine landed on her feet, but her hand, holding the sword, shook violently. She stared at Xanor, a flash of genuine surprise in her eyes. The defense had held, but the impact was brutal.

​"Your armor can support you from attacks, but can't from internal pain! You are so arrogant meeting my attack head-on!" Xanor laughed out loud, a sound of relief mixed with arrogance.

​"How cute."

​"...?!"

​Xanor watched, his laughter dying in his throat, as a soft, comforting green light enveloped Josephine. The numbness vanished. Her discomfort gone.

​"With my Love close by! I am invincible!" she hissed.

​Xanor raised an eyebrow, a chilling thought dawning. He sniffed the air, then blinked in shock, recognizing a powerful scent woven into her very being.

​"You… You let him touch you?" he asked.

​"I am fully bonded with him! As long as he is in range, I can keep on healing! This isn't a skill, it is the Mate Bond! You know that!" She pointed her sword at him, her eyes blazing.

​"That's why you faked our mate bond, and even tried to take the throne! Having me as your mate will greatly increase your powers! Well… thanks to my husband, your plan got ruined. Now… all my blessings, pleasures, and powers belong to him, and him alone!" She vanished from sight, utilizing a burst of speed far beyond her normal rank.

​'Fuck! If the mate bond is completed, and the two are truly each other's mates. They can both share their health, and stats… But the worse thing about it, is that… They can share each other's main skills,' Xanor thought, the chilling realization of his true danger setting in.

​BOOOOM!!

​The ground around Xanor burst open, and dark, heavy chains shot out, wrapping around his limbs.

​"Die!!"

​Josephine reappeared, her sword raised high, and with a desperate, two-handed grip, she swung with all her strength at Xanor's neck.

​WHOOSH!!!

​Xanor vanished, and Josephine's blade cut empty space. She blinked, looking up to see him standing on the distant wall.

​"…..?"

​"Thank you." Xanor's voice was strained as he slowly massaged his neck, the chains having been cut just in time. He turned to Shadow Eyes, the shock on his face hardening into cold resolve.

​"I underestimated the mate bond," he admitted, his voice low. "I just didn't expect she would have completed it with him. This isn't the Josephine I know… She is God Wolf's woman now." He stood up, his gaze turning utterly cold, the last remnants of feelings extinguished by the threat she now posed.

​"All of you!!!"

​He screamed, his voice laced with the oppressive force of his God-Rank power, reaching the thousands of elite Wendigos behind him.

​"Go and capture that woman!! If you can't, exhaust her!!! She will make a good bride for the King!!!" he yelled, his priority shifting from killing to capturing.

​With his command, the thousands of winged Wendigos—each a terrifying entity in the Divine Rank, Stage One—shot into the air, a dark cloud of death flying towards Josephine.

​"I am not proficient with my Love's skills, and it drains a lot of energy… But mine."

​Josephine's eyes glazed over, turning a terrifying, opaque white. Her mouth opened, and she let out a loud, soul-shattering howl.

​"HOOOOWLLLL!!!!"

​"AHHH!!!"

​Xanor and Shadow Eyes dropped to their knees, clutching their ears, their powerful bodies momentarily incapacitated by the sound wave of pure force.

​"She… She just used a bloodline skill!" Shadow Eyes gasped, her teeth gritted against the pain.

​"She is really not the Josephine I know," Xanor muttered, the pain in his ears nothing compared to the shock in his mind.

After ten agonizing seconds, the howling stopped, and they slowly rose.

"....??!!!"

​"What happened to them?" Xanor asked in confusion, staring out at the eerie stillness. All the flying Wendigos were no longer in the air. They were scattered across the ground, motionless.

​"Something isn't right here." Shadow Eyes murmured, gripping her dagger tighter, her eyes scanning the plain.

​"My children! Rise and kill my enemies in that city."

​Josephine spoke, her voice still carrying the cold, authority of the howl, which sent shivers down the spines of Xanor and Shadow Eyes, not because of the volume, but because of the horrific implications. The Wendigos hadn't been killed; they had been subjugated. God Wolf hadn't just given Josephine power, he had given her a weapon that could turn Xanor's own forces against him. The ex-lover was now a greater threat than any army.

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