[Some Minutes Ago.]

Shadow stretched on the huge bed, as she blinked, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes snapped open, instantly registering she wasn't in her own room. She sat up, the silk sheets pooling around her. Across the opulent chamber, she saw Lilith, the very embodiment power, lounging casually on a crimson couch, sipping a chalice of what Shadow recognized as blood.

​"Morning, sunshine." Lilith's smile was predatory, yet tinged with genuine satisfaction.

​Shadow's gaze dropped to her own body, naked and marked by the night's exertions. The vivid, overwhelming memories of their union flooded her mind.

​"Good morning, Great Mother," she murmured, offering a small, deeply ingrained bow from the edge of the bed.

​"You did good last night. Excellent work, my slave." Lilith took a slow, deliberate sip. "But it seems our fun will be cut short." She gestured with a tilt of her head toward the expansive window.

​Shadow slowly got out of bed, her powerful body moving with a newfound grace. She walked to the window and stared at the distant sight: thousands of battleships suspended in the atmosphere like a cloud of metal insects.

​"Why haven't they attacked us?" she asked, turning back to Lilith, her voice betraying a sliver of curiosity. She was genuinely perplexed by the hesitation of such a vast, aggressive force.

​Lilith laughed—a low, musical sound that promised destruction. "Of course, they're scared of me, dear one. Oh, I can feel their fear from here... it's so strong. A delicious vintage."

She licked her lips, her eyes gleaming. "Those fools are delivering themselves to be harvested."

​She then dropped the casual tone, her voice hardening with regal authority. "Go my slave. I have some things to say to those fools."

​Shadow immediately walked toward the discarded clothes, picking them up. "Yes, Great Mother." Her obedience was absolute.

​"Aren't you forgetting something?" Lilith asked with a sneer, a deliberate challenge in her eyes.

​Understanding the unspoken command, Shadow walked toward her. She bent down, their lips meeting in a deep, charged kiss. As they kissed, Lilith's fingers squeezed one of Shadow's breasts, eliciting a soft, involuntary moan.

​"Go now," Lilith commanded, pulling away. "We can't keep our guests waiting."

​Shadow nodded, her eyes now gleaming with Lilith's reflected power, and walked out to deliver the Great Mother's ultimatum.

__

​[Present.]

​Leonardo and the assembled leaders watched in tense silence as two figures materialized from the retreating red lights: Shadow and Xanor.

​Shadow's gaze immediately locked onto Leonardo. Recognition flashed across her face, replaced by a chillingly sweet smile.

"You! Why are you here?" she asked, her voice laced with familiar mockery. "I'm guessing this is your true body, not some clone. Right?"

​"Yes. I am here to speak to the one in that castle," Leonardo said, his hand remaining steady as he pointed his sword at the Ogres' Castle.

​Shadow merely nodded. With a sudden, dramatic flourish, she brought out a dagger and slit her own palm, drawing bright, rich blood.

​As the blood dripped, Shadow's eyes began to glow a furious crimson, and a terrifying spike of power erupted from her. Her strength rose to an unimaginable degree, forcing everyone, including Xanor—to stagger backward.

​"You aren't God Wolf," a new voice boomed, deep and ancient, issuing directly from Shadow's lips. It was Lilith.

"He is the only one who has the right to see me. I thought my message was enough."

​The revelation stunned the leaders and the seasoned Elders alike. The being they faced was not the Ogre King, but a monstrous power speaking through a host.

​"We aren't here to fight!" Leonardo declared, tightening his grip on his sword, refusing to yield ground.

"We came with the hope of peace! Can't we all cooperate or something?"

​"Peace? Of course, I want peace," Lilith's voice echoed through Shadow. A chilling smirk appeared on Shadow's face. "But on two conditions."

​Leonardo glanced over his shoulder at Patrick, whose face was grim but motioned for him to continue.

"What conditions?" Leonardo asked, bracing himself.

​"First," Lilith began, the words dripping with contempt, "Bring God Wolf to me, and make him beg at my feet. Second, surrender all your nations and people to the Wendigos."

".....?!!!"

​The silence that followed was absolute, a universal shock wave.

​Make God Wolf beg? He was a legend in the lower world, and likely untouchable. Surrender their entire civilization to the cannibalistic Wendigos? The conditions were not a negotiation; they were an insult and a death sentence.

​"With your expressions, I am guessing your answers are no?" Shadow asked, regaining control of her own voice, the smirk remaining in place.

​"We can't do that. Is there something else you need?!" Patrick asked, suppressing his rage. Despite his initial desire to blow up the planet, the survival of his people compelled him to exhaust every possibility.

​"The Great Mother has everything. You have nothing to offer," Xanor stated coldly, his eyes narrowed, perfectly aligned with his new mistress's will.

​BOOM!!

​Before another word could be spoken, the sky above them tore open. From the widening, jagged crack, hundreds of thousands of Wendigos poured out, their forms a horrifying, starving torrent.

​"Wendigos!" Cain roared, instinctively drawing his sword, his fighting spirit finally overcoming his dread.

​"Wait." Casey held up a restraining hand to Cain. She lowered her gaze, observing the ground below. Wendigos were not only falling from the sky but bursting out of the earth and materializing from thin air.

​"These... these Wendigos are being created continuously," she muttered, her face turning pale with pure, tactical terror. Her military mind grasped the immediate horror: they were facing a force that was regenerating in real-time.

​The group watched in stunned silence as the Wendigos' numbers exploded. In less than twenty seconds, more than a million stood above and below them, their ranks swelling with every passing instant.

​GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

​The Wendigos let out a unified, deafening shriek that ripped through the air, vibrating in their bones and the hulls of the warships.

​"From the very start, you aren't the Great Mother's match," Shadow stated, folding her arms beneath her unnaturally full chest. "I say, surrender now."

​Leonardo's eyes narrowed, his mind racing. Fighting an enemy that reproduced this quickly was unwinnable. A slow nod passed between him and Patrick.

​"I think we should retreat," Leonardo whispered, accepting the bitter pill of defeat for now.

​"We underestimated our enemy," Patrick conceded, his initial arrogance shattered. "We should gather more information before acting again."

​BOOOOOOOM!!!

​Before Patrick could issue the formal retreat order, a colossal pillar of red light shot out from the peak of the Ogres' Castle and slammed into the sky, instantly forming an expanding, shimmering dome.

​"Go and alert the other leaders!" Austin yelled, desperately trying to maintain command. A nearby battleship, belonging to his people, immediately shot toward the rapidly expanding barrier.

​Everyone watched in horror as the dome completed its movement, enclosing the entire ogre nation and the assembled leaders within its crimson energy.

​BOOM!

​The escaping battleship collided with the dome shield and instantly vaporized into a cloud of molten debris.

​"We... we are trapped," Sasha muttered, the word ringing with devastating finality in the stunned silence.

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