Amidst the boundless golden light, the hazy night turned into a deep, dark one. The young elf women pulled the Wolf Race members along and began to dance again. Infected by the elves’ enthusiasm, the initially reserved God Race and witches gradually joined them.

While this area was bustling with excitement, the forest just a stream away was exceptionally quiet. A long table and a few wooden stools were set up, with bottles exuding a faint aroma of wine scattered across the tabletop. Cynthia, Olivia, Helen, Chelsea, and several Wolf Race elders sat dispersed around the table, a map of the Sitatul Continent laid out in the very center.

“The ceremony just ended. Aren’t you going to rest for a while?” Helen raised the cup before her, took a light sip of the fruit wine, and spoke with a smile.

“There’s no rush.” Cynthia reached out and smoothed a folded corner of the map. The silvery moonlight spilled over her, adding a touch of hazy, dreamlike beauty to her flawless features. “There are some things I’ve been wanting to discuss with Clan Leader Helen.”

Olivia had already mentioned in a letter to Helen that the God Race wanted to seize Thacker Plain from the vampires. Helen was more than happy to help. “Regarding the attack on Thacker Plain, you must have already formulated a plan.”

Helen set down her cup and reached out, her hand fumbling randomly across the map. “I’ve brought the elite of the Wolf Race. I will certainly help you take Thacker Plain.”

“The plan has taken shape, but to perfect it, we still need Clan Leader Helen’s…” Cynthia’s gaze suddenly shifted to Chelsea, who was sitting in the corner. She smiled and said, “and the help of the Morgan witches.”

Being called upon so suddenly made Chelsea freeze for a moment. This attack on Thacker Plain relied entirely on the strength of the God Race, Elves, and Wolf Race. She had brought her people along simply to contribute what she could; with the witches’ abilities, it could hardly be called “help.”

Chelsea shook her head at Cynthia and said, “Just tell us if there’s anything you need us to do.”

Chelsea always lacked confidence in the witch clans. Although they had successfully trapped a Second Generation Vampire with a formation while supporting the Elves, which had boosted her confidence somewhat, a series of events—Anderson’s betrayal and the drastic change in the Garcia witches’ temperament—had caused the heart that had just begun to open to close up again.

“Do you remember the formation used to trap Edeli in the Elf Territory?” Cynthia stood up, her long, fair fingers tapping several locations on the map. “I want you to find suitable positions in these places and set up this formation.”

Chelsea glanced at the places she had indicated and frowned. “Setting up the formations is no problem, but we don’t have a Godhead to activate it.”

Godheads were already rare, and many temples had been destroyed by the vampires. There was simply not enough time to find another one now.

“I’ve studied that formation carefully and found a way to activate it without a Godhead.” Cynthia didn’t reveal much about what this method was, but her tone conveyed extreme confidence in it. “Thacker Plain is a vast territory, so there are many places where formations need to be set up. It would be best for you to set out as soon as possible. I’ll have Clan Leader Helen send people to protect you.”

It wasn’t just setting up the formations that required time; finding suitable locations and avoiding the vampires’ eyes would also take time.

That was why Cynthia had asked Polly to find a quiet place to invite Helen and Chelsea for this discussion right after the Guardian Ceremony ended.

Since Cynthia said there was another way to activate it, Chelsea naturally had no objections. She looked up at the night sky and said expressionlessly, “We can set out now.” After speaking, she looked toward Helen.

Helen had been listening quietly to their conversation without interjecting. Feeling Chelsea’s gaze, she instructed the Wolf Race elder beside her, “You will personally lead a group to ensure the safety of the Morgan witches.”

The elder beside her had already described the locations Cynthia mentioned. They were all on the outskirts of Thacker Plain, not in the central region. Merely protecting the witches as they set up a few formations posed little risk.

Even if they were unfortunately discovered by the vampires, it didn’t matter. Besides the God Race, few other races could understand the witches’ formations.

Chelsea followed the Wolf Race elder down to gather her people. An elder sitting on Helen’s other side watched Chelsea’s small figure and frowned. “What use could a witch’s formation be against a Second Generation Vampire?” Though she didn’t mean it maliciously, her words still carried a hint of disdain for the witches.

“Don’t underestimate the witches.” Cynthia sat back down, propping her chin on her hands, her gaze also fixed on Chelsea’s back. She smiled and said, “In terms of combat strength, they are inferior to the Wolf Race, but they have their own areas of expertise.” The God Race could also set up the formations she required, but in such a short amount of time, only the witches could do it perfectly.

Helen had always admired Cynthia’s attitude of treating the witch clans and humans as equals. She rubbed the cup in her hand and, as if remembering something, asked, “By the way, Olivia’s last letter mentioned that the witches released the God of Darkness from the Temple of Darkness? What’s that about?”

“The Garcia witches broke a seal in the Temple of Darkness. Inside, someone claiming to be the God of Darkness gave them many spells and formations.” Olivia glanced through the not-so-dense trees at Betty, who was drinking flower nectar with the young elves, and said flatly, “After coming into contact with her, the Garcia witches’ temperaments changed drastically. Even when they lose consciousness, their minds are filled with the God of Darkness.”

“This…” Helen hadn’t expected things to be so complicated. She frowned in thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head. “In any case, the person in the Temple of Darkness is definitely not the God of Darkness.”

As a main god, how could the God of Darkness be trapped by a seal in her own temple? The idea of it being one of her missing generals was more plausible.

“According to legend, the two generals by the God of Darkness’s side were both extremely fond of battle. Among them, Wolf Fang’s personality was more low-key, while Blood Demon was arrogant and conceited. If they were to appear on the Sitatul Continent, the trouble they could cause might not be any less than that of the vampires.”

The vampire problem wasn’t even resolved, and now there was another potential danger.

“We’ll investigate the matter of the generals after we’ve driven the vampires out of Thacker Plain.” Cynthia rested her cheek on one hand, a portion of her long silver hair draping over the table. She looked at Olivia opposite her, her demeanor growing somewhat nonchalant. “Enemies must be cleared out one by one.”

In her view, the generals were merely a nuisance, not yet a danger. The real danger would probably only appear after they had driven out the Lasombra and Tzimisce clans.

After the ceremony, Cynthia hadn’t sought private time with Olivia precisely because of the matter of the formations. Now that the Morgan witches had departed under the protection of the Wolf Race, her mind began to wander again.

Cynthia’s gaze was unconcealed and quite naked. Olivia, who was drinking flower nectar, noticed it immediately. She looked up and met Cynthia’s eyes. Her opponent’s scorching gaze made her hand, which was holding the cup, tighten unconsciously.

Seeing that Olivia didn’t avert her gaze, a slight curve formed on Cynthia’s red lips. She reached for the bottle of flower nectar in front of Olivia, her fingers brushing against the back of Olivia’s hand as if by accident, deliberately lingering for a few seconds.

Olivia, long accustomed to these minor touches, initially paid no mind to Cynthia’s contact, until… thoughts that did not belong to her flashed through her mind, causing her upright posture to stiffen slightly as heat suddenly rose to her face.

She shot Cynthia an annoyed glare, then set down her cup and said in a low voice, “It’s getting late. I’ll go instruct Polly to arrange lodging for everyone.” With that, she stood up and left.

Cynthia watched her retreating back and let out a soft chuckle before following her, making up a random excuse.

After Cynthia and Olivia left, only the Wolf Race remained at the table. Hanni looked up at the night sky, puzzled. “Is it really that late already?”

The Wolf Race had great stamina; they weren’t tired at all and didn’t need to rest.

Helen took the nearby bottle of flower nectar and refilled her cup. She shook her head at Hanni’s words, smiling without speaking.

Olivia’s wooden house was in the deepest part of the forest. The overlapping canopy of trees blocked out most of the moonlight, allowing only a few strands to shine through. But whether by design or coincidence, these few strands of moonlight all fell upon the window, fully exposing the figures embracing and kissing within the wooden house.

The nights in the Elf Territory were very cool, but inside the house, it was a scene of fiery passion.

Olivia was pressed against the wall by Cynthia, her dress long since loosened and disheveled. The forceful nibbling on the side of her neck made her waist go soft unconsciously. She raised a hand to rest on Cynthia’s shoulder, her head slightly lowered, her warm breath brushing right against Cynthia’s ear. “You were too reckless just now.”

“To think you were thinking about those things in front of so many people.”

Cynthia lifted her head from the side of Olivia’s neck, her lips brushing against hers as she asked with a smile, “What things?”

Olivia opened her mouth, but before she could formulate a reply, Cynthia seized the opportunity to kiss her thoroughly.

Olivia’s long dress was half-removed, and Cynthia’s own robes had unknowingly come completely undone. The moonlight outside the window illuminated a corner of the world. As Cynthia was kissing Olivia, her gaze swept downward, and she suddenly caught a glimpse of a green mark on her collarbone. She paused, breaking the kiss to look down, and saw that it wasn’t her imagination.

The mark was just below her collarbone, a pale green shape that resembled a branch from the Tree of Life.

“Is this the Guardian’s mark?” Cynthia raised a hand to touch the mark, having no memory of when Olivia had placed it on her.

She had received the staff from Olivia and had assumed she wasn’t interested in leaving a Guardian’s mark on her.

“I placed it before giving you the staff.” Olivia gently touched the mark with her finger and said in a low voice, “You are my Guardian.”

So, of course, she had to leave her mark.

“You are my Guardian.” This simple sentence was the most heart-stirring declaration of love Cynthia had ever heard. The hand on Olivia’s waist gently kneaded her a few times before she pulled the other woman closer, about to continue, when a verdant vine silently snaked in from the window and wrapped around Cynthia’s wrist.

The hand around Olivia’s waist was forced to let go. Cynthia glanced down at the vine on her wrist, a brow slightly raised.

Olivia was also surprised by the vine that had appeared uncontrollably. She willed the vine to release Cynthia’s wrist and was about to explain that it had come on its own, but when she looked up and saw Cynthia with her robes loosened and the corners of her eyes tinged with a faint blush, she suddenly froze.

The vine on her wrist had just loosened, but soon other vines shot out and coiled around it. Cynthia casually tugged at the vines with her hand, gave up when she found she couldn’t pull them off, and took a step back to lean against the wall. She fixed her gaze on Olivia, her eyes gesturing for her to come closer, her soft voice laced with a hint of teasing. “Her Majesty the Queen just said I was being reckless.”

These vines had clearly emerged “uncontrollably” because they had sensed Olivia’s emotions.

She wasn’t the only one who wanted to be reckless.

Olivia: “…”

With so many vines as evidence, any rebuttal from Olivia would seem weak. She was silent for a moment, then wrapped her arms around Cynthia’s waist and actively kissed her lips.

It wasn’t often that a beauty offered a kiss so willingly. Cynthia tilted her head up slightly, responding gently. When the kiss ended, she leaned close to Olivia’s ear and said with a low laugh, “Her Majesty the Queen even used vines. Can I try using Light chains next time?” Her gaze swept suggestively over Olivia’s hands.

Olivia turned her head to look at her, her cool, ethereal voice carrying a unique charm in this atmosphere. “You can try.”

The deadpan delivery of the line sounded like a complete threat.

Cynthia let out a low laugh. She used her Power of Light to control a vine and pull Olivia onto her, then turned her head to kiss the corner of her lips, saying deliberately, “Then I’ll try next time.”

Olivia was silent for a moment, then raised her right hand to cup Cynthia’s cheek, once again actively sealing her lips.

It was better not to let this God Race speak at times like this.