Kaiden's awareness slid out of Creation Mode and snapped back into his body. The screens hovering in front of the sofa dissolved. Warm bodies pressed along his sides.

His eyes opened, and he sat upright. His jaw locked tight, frustrated. The target had escaped questioning. Nothing was left but ash and a crater behind the man who killed his own ally and then self-destructed.

Calypso sat to his right, legs crossed, tail coiling behind her without any grace. Her smile was gone, teeth set together hard.

"I wanted to hear their screams, see their pain, and have them begging for a mercy that would not come."

Alice was on the floor in front of the sofa, sitting between Kaiden's legs, knees pulled up, arms around them. She stared at the blank screen where the explosion had been. Her brows pressed low and tight. She looked like someone deciding exactly how many strips a person could be peeled into.

"These bastards dared to invade my big brother's home. A couple of hours of agonizing torture is the least they should've paid with."

Luna, Nyx, and Aria, the trio of Valkyries, were watching Kaiden rather than the screen.

Bastet lounged on the other side of Kaiden, observant of his visible anger as well.

These four were more steady and composed in their reaction than the literal demoness, the Paragon of Sin, and the horrible murder machine of the highest order and self-proclaimed cutest and most loving little sister in the whole world.

Though Luna's fingers drummed against her knee, the four of them didn't like the outcome either; they just didn't look ready to shed the blood of the ancestors of these people, should they get their hands on them.

Aria stood after a short moment and stepped behind Kaiden. Her hands settled on his shoulders. Her touch was firm at first, working into the tight muscle near his neck. She leaned down a little so he could hear her without raising her voice, sounding extremely serene and full of support for her man.

"You wanted answers, but squeezing information out of agents like that was always going to be difficult, Kai," she murmured, thumbs pressing slow circles. "If my movies and books have told me anything, groups that move in shadows like the ones we're dealing with keep their people prepared. I'm sure they had some ways to prevent their agents from speaking, aside from self-destruction… Seals that block speech. Oaths tied to mana. Curses that trigger if someone talks. Even hidden toxins can trigger from a distance; it's possible in the world we're living in now."

Kaiden stayed rigid for a few seconds. Then his shoulders eased, tension leaving little by little. He let out a slow exhale.

"You're right, Aria. It's fine. We gained enough anyway. They gave the dungeon its first real test. Now we know where to tighten things and what worked great. They were good data, and an even better source of DMP."

Aria's face brightened. Relief washed across her features at how quickly his posture shifted under her machinations. The girl loved to see how immense an influence her touch and gentle voice had over her boyfriend. The sight made her all giddy and happy.

So much so that she couldn't contain herself. The Moon Valkyrie leaned down and pressed a soft kiss onto the top of her Paragon of Sin's head, then brushed her fingers through his hair with care, almost fanatically in love based on how she did it.

Kaiden smiled, reached back, caught her around the waist, and pulled the girl forward over the sofa. "Kya~!" She let out a startled yelp as she tipped into his lap, but the surprise vanished an instant later. She settled against him, head resting against his chest, eyes closed, arms draped around his neck without hesitation.

Her breathing slowed as the girl felt the firm embrace of her man around her. She loved to be hugged so tightly.

"Glory to the Queen of Night… long may she reign."

The line, repeated by Bastet, hung in the air for a few seconds.

Nyx arched a brow. "That stayed with you, too, hmm? I was just thinking about it."

The pink-haired beauty and the tanned feline exchanged a look. They were in full agreement. Those final words were the only thread that had not burned away with the bodies.

Bastet nodded. "Yes. I have a bad feeling about this Queen of Night." A shiver of disgust ran through her shoulders, and she looked away with her nose wrinkling as if she smelled something foul.

The Solar Empress was naturally predisposed to disliking anything related to the night.

Nyx gave a small smirk at the reaction, amused by how visibly it affected the usually composed felinid.

"I wonder if it is someone with night-related abilities," Luna pondered. "We should begin our search there. If she leads a group this strong while managing to stay hidden, she is likely both high-tier and high-level. That would allow us to narrow the search parameters down greatly."

Kaiden stroked Aria's long silver hair and nodded. "Yeah. It's also possible she is active on the world stage; we shouldn't assume that the leader of this organization is also a masked and robed person. She could be running a normal guild in the open for all we know and only use this group for whatever she does not want tied to her name."

The girls nodded around the room, each following the same trail of logic.

Alice rose to her feet. "I am going to ask Mother."

Aria lifted her head from Kaiden's chest. "Then I will contact Grace. She might know something."

"Are you sure it's a good idea? They found us the first time through a mole in the association…" Bastet asked with her head tilted to the side slightly.

Aria's lips curled upward with an expression that carried a little too much smug satisfaction. Luna and Nyx exchanged a look. Calypso narrowed her eyes. Bastet's tail flicked in irritation. The girl looked like she enjoyed sitting on her throne far too much, almost melting away into a puddle of fuzzy warmth.

"I already put my mother and sister to good use," Aria continued, tone sweet in a way that made it worse. "I told them to wait until they were alone with Vespera and ask what she thought of the secretary. If I could trust Grace."

The room stilled for a second. Even Kaiden was surprised.

Aria continued, clearly pleased with herself. "Vespera said Grace has a clean record. She investigated the incident and found that it was indeed a single mole who leaked our location. We were not sold out by the entire Association. But I agree, we cannot trust them all. That is why I will only ask Grace if she knows something and tell her not to talk to anyone else. I trust only her."

Silence followed.

Then Luna blinked slowly. Nyx stared. Kaiden shook his head while exhaling through his nose.

Vespera conducted her own investigation…?

On the government's awakened organization…?

As an outsider…?

"Just how heavy balls does she have to say something like that?" Luna grimaced.

"… Please don't paint extremely questionable images of my mother in my head," Kaiden begged.

Luna leaned back in her seat, grinning at the reaction of her poor man. "I wonder if placing a bounty for information would be the move. Someone might have heard the name."

"So you're just going to ignore me…" Kaiden sighed. He thought about her proposal while his thumb traced small circles against Aria's shoulder. Then he shook his head.

"I think it is better not to announce that we even know about a so-called Queen of Night. Keep them guessing. Investigate without their awareness for as long as possible."

Luna nodded without any sign of offense at her proposal being shut down. "I agree. I only wanted to put the option on the table."

Nyx folded her arms. "So we gather what we can quietly."

Then Calypso's grin widened. "With the pest control out of the way, tell me! What's next in store for us, Darling?"

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