NOVPUBSherry glanced down at the sleeping teenage boy cradled in her arms, then looked over at Princess Aracelle, who was embracing Zion from behind.
The Majin Princess was also very much awake, and just like Sherry, she looked at her Master's sleeping face, eyes full of tenderness.
The High-Tier Dimensional Gates would open in a few days.
With that in mind, Princess Aracelle asked Zion to spend as much time with her as possible. She was set to return to Alcove City, where she'd wait for the main army of House Pavareth to cross over to Pangea.
Thirteen agreed, allowing her to sleep on the same bed with him and Sherry.
"You know, I envy you," Princess Aracelle said after making sure Zion was in deep sleep.
"You envy me?" Sherry asked, her voice laced with confusion and curiosity.
"Yes," Princess Aracelle replied. "Have you noticed? Every time Zion holds your hand, his eyes soften a bit. Every time you kiss him, he would kiss you back and even hug you tightly.
"I can see he struggles to show his real feelings, unlike normal beings, but I can tell at a glance that he really cares for you. Lastly, I feel envious. I know that when he sleeps, he would suck—mmphh!"
"Okay that's far enough," Sherry said with a beet-red face, her hand tightly pressed against Princess Aracelle's lips. "You don't need to say anything else."
Princess Aracelle nodded, and Sherry finally pulled back her hand.
"You know, Zion wasn't always like that," Sherry said. "It took us nearly two years to make him open up."
"How did you do it?" Princess Aracelle asked with great curiosity, hoping to also learn the trick that would make the teenage boy see her in a different way.
"I-It just happened, you know?" Sherry replied. "Anyway, I know you want to get close to him. But before anything, you need to gain the approval of Erica and Shana first."
"How about you?" Princess Aracelle asked. "You're also Zion's fiancée. Don't I need to earn your approval, too?"
"I will follow whatever Erica decides."
"I see. The two of you are very close."
"Yes. It was our joint effort that thawed a part of the ice that covered Zion's heart."
Princess Aracelle sighed. Truth be told, she wished she had met Zion before he met the other ladies in his life.
Unfortunately, he wasn't born in Gomorra, and even if he was, Princess Aracelle might have completely ignored him.
There were countless Jinns and Majins who wished for her hand in marriage.
Every single one of her top suitors was more good-looking than Zion, stronger than Zion, and more suave than Zion.
But the teenage boy had something that they didn't have.
Wisdom, and the boldness to use that wisdom to take action.
The teenage boy reminded him of her father, who had led House Pavareth to become one of the strongest factions in Gomorra.
His diplomacy, bravery, and ruthlessness allowed their faction to thrive, intimidating their neighbors from taking action against them.
'I'm sure he will like him if they meet,' Princess Aracelle mused.
The Majin Princess then planted a kiss on Thirteen's head from behind before closing her eyes to sleep.
Seeing the princess no longer wished to talk, Sherry hugged Zion a little tighter before closing her eyes to sleep as well.
*****
Somewhere in the Cygni Continent…
"Your Highness, when our main force arrives, I'll make sure the general will immediately hear of the humiliation you suffered at the hands of that bastard, Zion Leventis!" Krag said with determination. "We will make him pay for what he did to Commander Zorren as well!"
"You do that," replied Kessari, who had taken over Prince Zorren's body. "He must pay for the crime of harming this prince!"
"Yes, Sir!" Krag placed his closed fist over his chest, as if making a pledge. "Strength beyond death!"
"Strength beyond death," Prince Zorren replied. "Now go. I wish to rest."
Krag knew how much suffering his prince had experienced under the hands of the hateful human. With that in mind, he no longer said anything and left the room.
'Hah… he's finally gone,' Kessari thought before glancing at the floor beside his feet.
A black shadow emerged from it, forming a shadow clone that looked exactly like Prince Zorren.
After Kessari had taken over the prince's physical body, the clone he produced also looked exactly like the prince.
"What did you discover?" Kessari asked.
"I found the portal the Skavari have used to cross over to this world," the Clone replied. "It's located in an underground cavern, two miles away from this city."
Kessari nodded. "Have you informed the Master about it?"
"Yes," the Clone answered. "I shall resume gathering more information about their war preparations."
"Make sure you don't get discovered."
"I know."
After that brief exchange, the Clone once again merged with the ground and disappeared from sight.
Thirteen had asked Kessari to properly pretend to be the prince of the Skavari Race, and if possible, become its Crown Prince.
If his subordinate could plant himself in a position second only to the Emperor of the Skavari, Zion would gain an authority that would allow him to give orders to an entire race.
Thirteen understood that it was impossible to fight against so many factions at once, especially when they were about to send over a Rank 9 Sovereign to Pangea in a few days.
He had been informed that the barrier protecting Pangea and Solterra had considerably weakened, allowing the High-Tiered Gates to mutate.
Athena could only be used three times at the moment, which meant he could only kill three Rank 9 Sovereigns.
Not to mention, her attack was so devastating that it was comparable to a nuke. She could instantly vaporize a city from the face of the world from outer space, making her the strongest trump card in Thirteen's arsenal.
Since the number of shots she could fire was limited, Zion planned to let Kessari, Prince Xylen, and Princess Aracelle direct their armies to attack the other Jinns instead of targeting the humans at the beginning of the war.
While the chances of them pulling it off were slim and might not be achieved by the start of the war, things could change once the Jinns understood just how tenacious and stubborn humans were.
Actually, Kessari liked his new role better. Not only was he now a Prince, but he was also more good-looking than before!
Of course, while he admit that his previous form was more awesome, it didn't change the fact that he had more benefits as Prince Zorren than as the demon Kessari.
Just as the Prince was about to sleep, his communicator suddenly made a notification sound.
Seeing the person calling out to him, the Prince frowned before accepting the call.
"Greetings, Your Highness. My name is Aaron Ashford, and I have a proposal for you. Would you like to form an alliance with my Ashford Clan?
"You and I have an irreconcilable grudge against Zion Leventis, and I want the two of us to work together to eliminate him. What do you say?"
Kessari eyed the Monarch of Pangea before nodding his head. "Speak, human. Tell me about this proposal of yours. Tell me how you plan to eliminate that hateful Zion Leventis!"
The smile on Aaron's face widened because he found another willing ally to eliminate the pest who had destroyed the reputation he had worked so hard to build over the past hundreds of years in just the span of a single day.
