KALEL realized that Soleil could be a little dense when she saw him talking to the naked Elis Ripperton, the Blue Dragon.

He wasn't surprised that the Beast God was naked, and he knew it wasn't because he was a pervert. In fact, even Winchell and Ainsworth would come out of the statues naked later. That was how gods descend to earth after all.

Thankfully, it seemed like Soleil didn't even notice that Elis Ripperton was naked.

But why do I feel relieved?

His thoughts were cut-off when he saw Soleil's flaming black wings vanish. Then, her knees buckled.

Before he could even process what he was doing, he just found himself standing behind Soleil to break her fall. He let her lean against his chest.

Ah, her body is warmer than usual.

Soleil looked up at him with a smile on her face. It seemed like she wasn't surprised to see him. She probably knew it was him because of his aura, and the unique coolness of his body. "Lord Kalel, thank you for catching me."

She only said one line but she was already out of breath.

When he reached the shrine, he felt the residue of Soleil's Black Flame inside. He knew that she just used a huge amount of Mana. No wonder she looked so exhausted at the moment.

Her Black Flame is too much for her.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Winchell and Ainsworth descend from their statues. Just like Elis Ripperton, both the Red Phoenix and the Golden Tiger were naked as well.

He gently covered Soleil's eyes with his hand. "Rest," he said. "Don't look at the ugly people in front of you."

Soleil laughed softly, then he felt her lean against him even more. "I actually feel sleepy so if you'll excuse me…"

He had to hold her shoulders this time because she fell asleep for real.

She must have been really tired.

He had no choice then but to carry her in his arms.

When he did that, he received disapproving looks from Elis Ripperton and Winchell. The only one who didn't seem to care was the Golden Tiger.

"Hah! Pathetic," Ainsworth said while looking at Soleil. "You've gone weak, Soleil!"

Winchell hit the back of the little tiger's head. "Shut it. My precious little sister is sleeping!"

The Golden Tiger could only glare at the Red Phoenix.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Black Serpent," Elis Ripperton said when he turned to her. "Since when did you become close to Soleil?"

"I'm not obliged to answer that," Kalel said, then he turned his back on his fellow Beast Gods. "And I have no intention to talk to naked men."

"Bastard," Winchell, Ainsworth, and Elis Ripperton snarled at him.

"My lords!" Alec Forrester said as soon as he arrived at the scene. The saint held a huge bag in his arms. Ah, right. The saint was late because he had to pick that up from their carriage. "I brought clothes for you."

***

"THE CRADES have evolved?" Soleil asked Kalel in surprise after hearing what he had to say about the monsters that they encountered a while ago. "And the Crades left here in their lair are the weaker ones?"

"That's right," Kalel, seated on her side (much to her delight), said in his usual disinterested voice. "I saw the skins and shells that most of them had shredded. I'm certain that it was caused by evolution."

They were still in the shrine because it was too dark for them to travel back to the Royal Capital.

Well, to be honest, with three other Beast Gods with them, using a teleportation spell wouldn't be difficult. But they knew that they had to talk first before they went separate ways. Thus, they were inside the shrine now while sitting around a campfire.

"It's probably the reason why the heavens decided to lend us the Beast Gods," Saint Alec Forrester said. "The evolution of the Crades might pose a huge threat to the human race soon."

"We just have to find them," Winchell, seated on her other side (much to her chagrin), said confidently. "I'm pretty sure that no matter how much evolution they go through, they can't possibly be a good match to four Beast Gods." Her brother turned to her, then gently patted her head. "Most of all, we have our brave little Soleil with us."

She wanted to tell her brother off but she didn't want to appear feral in front of Kalel.

Elis Ripperton, seated across from her, decided to annoy her then. "I don't think Soleil would be a good help to us though." He smirked at her. "You almost died just from finding us."

"That's an exaggeration," she said firmly. She wouldn't let this Blue Dragon humiliate her. Especially not in front of Kalel. "And shouldn't you be ashamed that you were sealed away by an unknown enemy? Is descending back to earth safely that hard to accomplish?" She smirked at Elis Ripperton when his annoying smirk finally disappeared. "You call yourselves 'gods' but you needed the help of a mere human just to get out of this shrine."

Winchell, Ainsworth, and Elis Ripperton looked offended by her words.

Alec Forrester, on the other hand, looked horrified after she insulted the Beast Gods.

To be honest, she was starting to doubt whether she said too much or not when Kalel laughed loudly. It was the first time that he showed such emotion to her– to them. And she was relieved that she was able to elicit such a lively reaction from the Black Serpent.

Now she was confident that she did the right thing by standing up for herself in front of these gods that were acting like children.

"Soleil was right," Kalel said with a proud smile on his face. "You don't have the right to look down on her– or on anyone for that matter– when you were easily sealed away by an unknown enemy during your descent. A god calling a human who freed them 'weak' is pathetic in my book." He looked straight in the eye of Elis Ripperton. "Yes, I'm talking about you, Blue Dragon."

Elis Ripperton didn't respond verbally. But he let Kalel know that he was pissed by releasing a bloodlust directed at the Black Serpent.

Of course, the prideful Kalel Moonchester responded in the same fashion.

If ordinary humans were around them, they would have already dropped unconscious because of the heavy pressure coming from two Beast Gods' aura.

Men and their immaturity.

"Soleil, I think you've become arrogant just because you were born a little special than ordinary humans," Ainsworth snarled at her, then he stood up and looked at her with glowing golden eyes. "I challenge you to a match. I don't care if the heavens have chosen you as the Beast Priestess or something. But I won't take orders from people weaker than me!"

Winchell laughed out loud. "Ainsworth, you're dead meat."

"You can say that again, Brother," Soleil said to the Red Phoenix, then she looked up at Ainsworth with glowing purple eyes. "Shall I remind you why you should ALWAYS call me 'Sister Soleil,' little tiger?"

The Golden Tiger gulped, but he still maintained the tough look on his face.

Alec Forrester, after realizing that the Beast Gods didn't really get along well, could only sigh and shake his head. "This is a disaster."

***

"YOU TWO, don't fight."

Kalel didn't lower his guard but he turned to Winchell.

And so did Elis Ripperton.

Although Winchell wasn't releasing his bloodlust to stop them, he and the Blue Dragon knew that if there was one person who could stop them if they got into a serious fight, it was the Red Phoenix.

The four of them never got along well in the past. But they never got into any serious fight because Winchell was always there to stop them.

"Let's just make a bet to kill time," Winchell suggested in a playful tone. He was definitely changing the topic to distract him and Elis Ripperton from fighting. "Who do you think would win between Soleil and little tiger?"

Soleil and Ainsworth stepped outside to fight.

Only Alec Forrester followed the two to "mediate."

He and Elis Ripperton were busy sizing each other up, while Winchell seemed to be too lazy to budge from his seat. And thus, the three of them were left behind.

"The little tiger will win this time," Elis Ripperton, who was successfully distracted by Winchell, said as his bloodlust began to vanish. "Although I respect Soleil as a warrior, Ainsworth didn't slack off during the time he spent in the heavens. I'm sure he has grown stronger than Soleil who chose to be reborn as a human."

"Interesting take," Winchell said while nodding his head. "I also bet on the little tiger. I don't want Soleil to win because if she does, that only means she's strong enough to be a Beast God. I don't want my little sister to be stronger than me because I want her to keep on relying on me." He laughed at his own reasoning. "And to be honest, my pride as a Beast God would take damage if a human beats the little tiger's ass– even if it's by my precious little sister."

The Blue Dragon nodded in agreement.

These two are garbage.

"Soleil will win," Kalel said firmly. "There's no way she'd lose to an arrogant Beast God like Ainsworth."

Their conversation was interrupted when the ground shook hard.

It was followed by a collision of two powerful Mana. But they couldn't tell which one between Soleil and Ainsworth won because their Mana mixed in the air. To be honest, the fact that a human like Soleil could be on par with the Golden Tiger was already a huge feat.

"Ah," Winchell said when they heard heavy footsteps. It obviously belonged to Ainsworth. Thus, the Red Phoenix and the Blue Dragon smiled at each other. "Here comes the winner."

Ainsworth entered the shrine.

He didn't look like a winner because his whole body was burnt, and he even had long and deep cuts all over his body.

"Strong," Ainsworth said in an exhausted voice, then he dropped on the ground– face first. "Sister Soleil is strong…"

When Ainsworth fell on the ground, they all realized that Soleil was standing behind him.

They just didn't see her because the little tiger was huge and she was petite.

Kalel smiled when he saw that Soleil came out of the fight unscathed. Well, she looked a little out of breath from using her Mana. But the fact that she didn't obtain a single scratch just proved that she was the winner. "Congratulations, Soleil."

Soleil's face turned pink, then she smiled at him. "Thank you, Lord Kalel."

On the other hand, Winchell and Elis Ripperton both turned to Ainsworth with a disappointed look on their face. "Disgrace," they said at the same time. "You are the heavens' big disgrace, little tiger."

***

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