Nock. Draw. Loose.

A swerving and dipping arrow, whose tip briefly glowed in a green sheen, embedded itself right into the bullseye that stood an impressive 200 meters away.

It was only a couple of seconds later that another arrow joined it there, kissing its tip, and another couple of seconds later, a third arrow pierced right between them.

Qingyue put the bow down, and a light smile crept on her face as she looked at all the twelve targets embedded with three arrows each. She was not much of an Artist, but to her, this was her art, and she was immensely pleased with herself.

She had come a long way after she had picked up Archery on Keith’s suggestion right before he had left for his Military duty. And after three years of hard work, she was proud to say that she was an excellent archer.

Of course, she was not narcissistic enough to claim that she was the best, like how Keith threw it on everyone’s faces that he was the best doctor there was in this world. But then again, he was probably right, and she could never be sure if there was anyone better than her at it or not.

Wearing the bow over her shoulder, she walked down the range and picked out all the 36 arrows from the targets she had shot this morning.

They were useless now, but she had developed this habit to tidy up her arrows after she was done with her training. At first, she had only started doing it to force herself to become better and not miss targets too much, and now, it had grown on her.

She was in a good mood today, better than she had been in the past few weeks, and she knew the reason behind it as well.

Keith was returning home soon.

She had missed him. It was much worse than it had been three years ago, and now, she could not wait to hold him in her arms again and rest her head against his chest, listening to his soothing heartbeat.

Wearing a silly smile, she walked back inside the Demiliore Castle. It was her new home now, and she had been staying here for the past couple of months.

The girls almost daily visited her, not letting her feel alone. It was especially the case with Kiara, who had supper with her every evening. And then there was the blonde, who was always on her nerves, but Qingyue would be lying if she said that Rebecca’s antics did not make her days interesting, even if she made her mad most of the time.

It was a hard decision for her to move out of the Demiliore Manor, and no one had asked her to do it. The blonde had even assured her that she would take care of everything, but she felt a sense of responsibility to her family, and she could not keep living there by their side knowing that she was a danger to them.

The accident with Viola two months ago was the last straw, and she feared that her presence by their side could bring them harm.

Grandmother could not cultivate, and it was the same for the maids at the Manor. The rest could survive the accidents thanks to their Auras, but had Rebecca not been there that morning, Viola would have been dead.

Viola was poisoned when she entered her room and inhaled the air which was contaminated because she had been in a sour mood the previous night and had also been experimenting with her Special Physique.

Qingyue’s heart constricted again at the thought, and her bright mood suddenly dimmed down. But with it came her resolve to grow stronger and master her Special Physique as soon as possible.

She was about to enter the hallway that led to her wing at the Castle when she came across the only girl who had been living with her here for the last couple of months.

“Ayesha.” She smiled at her assistant and friend, who smiled back at her. “Give me half an hour, and then we will leave for the Manor.”

The two of them were supposed to join the rest of the family at lunch today. And she also had promised Kiara something that needed to be completed by the end of the day.

“There’s no need” Ayesha shook her head. “The girls are here, and Mother is with them.”

“What?” She asked in surprise. “Where are they?”

“The Training Chamber.” The hazel-eyed girl informed her. “Nana told me that Amelia and Rebecca wanted to spar with Mother, but she only accepted on the condition that all of us come at her together.”

The more she listened, the more surprised and confused she became.

“Do I have to?”

“Mother sent me to call for you.” Ayesha nodded her head, and Qingyue frowned more.

“I…” She wanted to refuse, but it was Venessa, and Qingyue could not bring herself to say no to her. “Okay.”

She dropped off her equipment in her locker outside the Training Chamber and then entered it together with Ayesha.

Her eyes darted across the chamber, and then she heard someone call out to her from her left.

“Yue.”

It was Venessa who approached her with a smile and then proceeded to hug her before she could get away.

“Mother…” She wanted to warn her but only received a smile in return.

“It is fine,” Venessa assured her. “How have you been?

Qingyue could not help but feel warm in her heart and nodded her head.

“I am fine, Mother.”

“Good. And don’t hold back as I won’t be going easy on any of you.” She warned, and the grey-eyed girl inadvertently turned to look at her best friend.

Kiara was there, looking right back at her, but today, she was not wearing her usual bright smile. She was still smiling, but it was a pensive smile and Qingyue had a bad premonition for what was about to come.

None of the girls had ever trained with Venessa to know exactly how strong she was, except for Kiara. And his dearest friend and sister-wife had never told anyone anything about Vanessa’s skills in combat.

“We are in for a beating, aren’t we?” She could not help herself but ask as the girls took their positions, surrounding Venessa.

They all had fought several times against Keith, and they planned on fighting against Venessa with the same strategies.

“Yes. Mother has been training since she eleven.” Kiara sighed and nodded her head. “Keith is returning home in the evening.”

“Okay. Let’s finish this fast and then I will help you with what I promised.” Her mood was suddenly very bright, and after Rebecca rushed forward at Venessa, covered in her purple Aura, she narrowed her eyes in seriousness.

No one lunged forward together with the blonde. Everyone wanted to gauge Vanessa’s skills before jumping in, and they felt their hearts skip a beat when Rebecca failed to connect her fist and the kick that followed. Instead, she was sent flying towards the wall.

The moment she crashed against the wall, a golden Rune lit up, and it shielded the blow, preventing the wall from getting harmed.

Amelia had spent months in this chamber to set up all these Runes, and all of them were wearing their Runes on their bodies too. They were there so that they could go all out in their training without the fear of harming each other. And these Runes had come to their rescue several times when they fought against Keith, who never really shied away from hitting back with strength that could prove fatal.

“You are clumsy.” Venessa lightly said without even looking back at Rebecca, who was wincing at the pain that came with the punch she received in her abdomen before she was hammer thrown at the wall.

Even though she was covered in her Aura, Venessa had managed to pierce right through it, and the blonde’s eyes were now apprehensively looking at their mother-in-law.

All of them hesitated, but Amelia suddenly rushed forward, and Rebecca too lunged at Venessa at a much faster speed.

This time, her body was not only covered in just her Aura but she was also being shielded by her Aura Beast Avatar, which was a Hunterbird or Secretarybird as most called it.

Amelia too proceeded to summon her Aura Beast Avatar at the last stretch, which was an enchanting golden pheasant.

The two birds looked beautiful and determined, but they both ended up colliding against a shield of Crimson Aura that appeared out of nowhere at the last moment.

A loud explosion emanated from their clash, but to everyone’s dismay, Venessa did not even budge under the force of their combined attack.

“Shield!” Ingrid instinctively shouted out, and before anyone could understand what she meant, two menacing claws of crimson Aura attacked the two birds, shredding right through them, sending both the girls flying in opposite directions.

Ayesha and Nana fearfully stepped back when they watched an Avatar of a Crimson Dragon surrounding Venessa.

It was the first time they were seeing what Venessa’s Aura Beast was. And it was a dragon, a crimson Welsh Dragon.

“Come.”

The word was like the whisper of a devil, and though they all gulped in fear, they proceeded to rush right at Venessa in a combined attack.

Sibyl led the charge, and Ingrid and Qingyue did their best to hold on with the support of Kiara, Marianne, Ayesha, and Nana.

But their stand only lasted a few seconds before they were either on the ground or against the walls of the Chamber.

It was nine against one, but it was as if they were some little kids trying to gang up on an adult.

Ayesha and Nana wisely stopped after the fatigue kicked in. They were the weakest members of the family, and for the first time, they were rather glad that they were weak as they watched the other girls receive a beating at the hands of their mother.

“Physical confrontation is pointless.” Venessa lightly smiled after she sent the girls on their backs once again. “Why don’t you come at me with your all?” She meaningfully said, and both Rebecca and Amelia glanced at each other before they started utilising their other Powers.

A dozen golden chains sprouted from the ground, intending to bind the Crimson Dragon. And then, sharp spikes made out of solid Ice surrounded Venessa before they were hurled at her.

Rebecca then created several illusions of herself, and then a small brigade of blondes attacked the opponent who had just managed to shield the Ice Javelins and thwarted Amelia’s plan to bind her with her chains by exploding a very strange Crimson Fire around her body, recalling her dragon Avatar.

Amelia, who had just activated her speed and strength Runes, suddenly stopped in her tracks when she watched how the Runic Shields in Rebecca’s body cracked one after the other as Venessa punched and kicked her.

It was as if those fists covered in that strange flame felt no resistance from Rebecca’s Aura and Runic Shields, and when the blonde was pummeled into the ground, everyone winced at the sight.

The temperature in the chamber had dramatically risen since the moment Venessa generated those flames around her body, and it was only rising over time.

It soon became too suffocating, and everyone felt like they were being boiled as they watched how Amelia gave it her all to evade and block Venessa’s assault.

She did manage to hold on for a while, but then she suffered the same fate as Rebecca when the Runic Shields on her body started breaking one after another as they blocked potentially fatal attacks.

“Enough?” The Lady of the Demiliore Family smiled at Amelia and Rebecca, who were back up on their feet after catching their breath, but now they were hesitant to attack her again.

Both of them had lost four of their Runic Shields, and though they were not tired, they understood now that there was no point in this battle.

Venessa was much faster and stronger, and she was very smart too as she had thwarted all their plans so far.

“Not yet.” The blonde replied, and Qingyue nearly screamed at her for being so stubborn, but the words never came out of her mouth as a pressure suddenly descended on everyone present in the room.

A Ring appeared out of nowhere on Rebecca’s hand, and the locket on her neck started glowing too.

There was this mesmerising purple Aura around her body now, and she started floating in the air. The next moment, a terrifying pillar of flame sprouted from right under Venessa’s feet, engulfing her in it, and then Amelia conjured up some strange Golden Discs of Aura that she threw at the pillar of flame.

Venessa tried to dodge the discs, having sensed that they were dangerous, but she suddenly felt the gravity magnify on her body, and as she struggled a little, it suddenly disappeared and she felt her body leave the floor before the Golden Discs struck her Aura Shields, almost getting past them.

This time, it was she who had been sent flying back, but she manoeuvred herself in the air and gracefully landed on her feet.

Everyone watched in confusion at how Venessa was no longer moving after landing on her feet, and her eyes seemed a little vacant too.

“Is it done?” Amelia asked.

“Yes. She’s been put under an illusion.” Rebecca replied as she descended to the ground.

“Good job.” Her emerald eyes brightly shone before they turned golden, and then dozens of chains sprouted from the ground again, this time, successfully binding Venessa in her place.

“It should take her a few minutes to break out of the illusion…” The blonde’s words were cut short when the golden chains binding Venessa started shaking, and then to the horror and dismay of everyone, a terrifying force descended on everyone as Venessa’s Aura explored in the form of a crimson flame that surrounded all of her body.

The golden chains simply vaporised as the crimson flame started eating them. And Amelia was utterly shocked at seeing this happen, understanding well how powerful these chains were.

Qingyue knew that these chains were not simple. She had experienced first-hand how tough they were, and she had watched Keith struggle with them too.

But now it was as if these Golden Chains were made out of paper.

“Are you done?”

Everyone heard Venessa’s voice and raised their eyes to look at her face, and they were shocked at what they were seeing.

It was the same haunting Amethyst eyes that they had seen several times before, but not on her. And this time, these eyes made their hearts constrict instead of fascinating them.

Qingyue nearly felt her soul leave her body when she met those eyes, and she could only imagine what Rebecca and Amelia felt when those eyes bore into them, asking them if they were done now.