NOVPUBAfter Vesnia and Udras retreated from the Jade Palace, Dante and Megan took a look around the mansion to make sure that no other ghouls were left alive.
Fortunately, the Beta Team had taken care of most of the undead monsters, but the damage to the mansion was substantial.
As they gazed at the destroyed inner garden, they heard a loud voice approaching the area from above.
"I'm hereeeee!" *Boom!* A large cloud of dust was raised as Sami heavily landed inside the garden, leaving another small crater in the ground.
"Now, ghouls. Prepare to feel the wrath of the one and only Hell-Cyborg!" Sami exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips like a superhero.
Dante and Megan stayed still with wholly unamused expressions, as Sami was just a few minutes too late.
"It's over now…" Megan said.
"What!? Already!?" Sami desperately asked, dropping to her knees and looking down in defeat.
A few seconds later, Lilith arrived with her wings extended. She gracefully landed in the destroyed inner garden and took a quick glance around her, ensuring that no enemies were left.
"How was your patrol, Lilith?" Dante asked.
"I had to take care of a little piggy and came here right after…" Lilith replied.
"Whaaaa-? So even you got some action!?" Sami asked, still groveling on the ground.
As the rest of the Jade Dragons in Novis reunited at the Jade Palace, Camille began preparations for the repairments while Dante had to redo the magical barrier around it.
Dante wasn't expecting another warlock to be part of Netherius' Death Knights, which was the only reason his barrier was broken so easily. Still, having another one active could be helpful, so he restarted the process.
In the end, the Jade Dragons were the least affected by the cartel's attacks.
Curtis and Lindsey weren't able to fully stop the rampage of Saturio and Radeon, two of Netherius' Death Knights.
While the siblings managed to get away with their lives, there were still hundreds of casualties from the citizens who got caught up in their destruction.
It wasn't any better for the North either, as Isidor, the Holy Death Knight, managed to destroy and bring down a whole skyscraper during his fight with Balthazar.
Having the cartel attacking different places simultaneously around the country made Camille suspect that they were simply trying to gain time.
'If the cartel wanted an all-out war, then they could have sent all their troops to one place…' Camille thought.
Considering that all of their forces had to be split to protect three territories, focusing all of their troops on one could tip the scales of the mafia war to their side. However, that didn't seem to be Netheriu's objective.
The following day, reparations at the Jade Palace began while Camille went to the briefing room to speak with Noria, the director of the Novarian Secret Service.
The older woman was understandably angry at the attacks that the cartel orchestrated, and after she received a report on the culprits, Noria knew that they weren't someone that the NSS could deal with, at least not without the other mafia families' help.
"The scout team at Limsa reported that the ichor was covering more of the city. Apparently, it expanded substantially during the attacks," Noria commented.
The NSS director wanted to send another small group from the mafia to scout the place, but Camille was against it since the agents didn't want to work with Dante and Megan.
"If it weren't for Megan and Dante following their instincts, that entire mission would have been an immense waste of time…" Camille said to the director.
The only reason why Camille didn't consider that entire scouting mission to be a failure was because they brought back Lexia's soul. Otherwise, she would have prohibited the Jade Dragons and the NSS from working together again.
"I apologize for that… I can assure you that sort of experience won't happen again," Noria replied.
Still, while Camille didn't fully decline, she stated that she would think about it for the next few days, as they still needed to repair and rebuild the damages caused by the cartel.
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When the Jade Palace started its repairs, Dante was walking in the hallway, making his way to the infirmary, where Asher and Amara had been staying after the attack.
The twins woke up the following day, and after briefly scanning the infirmary room, they glanced at the backs of their hands, which had a pentagram symbol engraved on them.
With a bright smile on their faces, the twins sat up on the bed and shook their bodies with excitement.
"This is big brother's umbra!" Asher exclaimed.
"Heehee, it feels funny," Amara replied, staring at her symbol with admiration.
As the kids kept jumping on the bed from excitement, Dante entered the room, prompting the two to quietly sit back down.
Even though Dante healed their wounds and patted their heads, they still felt a bit intimidated by his presence. However, when the warlock softened his expression, the twins quickly stood up to give him a hug.
Megan entered the room right after, and she was surprised to see Dante interacting with the harpion twins so casually, as he had always shown disdain for them.
Still, seeing Dante patting their heads and solemnly smiling made Megan feel a bit fuzzy and warm. She was aware of Dante's good nature, but his interaction with the children felt a bit different.
"I'm glad you are okay. From now on, you'll be training with me," Dante said to the kids.
"Wait, what!?" Megan interjected, as using kids to fight other mafia factions seemed a bit cruel to her. 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
"It's fine, Meg. I asked Dante to train them…" Camille interrupted, arriving at the infirmary.
"I thought you didn't want to put any cute child in danger…" Megan replied.
"Well, yes. However…" Camille continued, explaining the events she witnessed during the attack on the mansion.
If it weren't for Asher and Amara, Camille would've most likely gotten kidnapped, as it was the twins who brutally killed a dozen ghouls without much effort.
Nonetheless, after they were completely overwhelmed by Udras, she believed that making the kids stronger would also be better for their own safety.
