Chapter 108: What are the next steps?

"Monica, you really know how to drive me crazy," he murmured, his hands sliding around her waist, holding her firmly.

She bit her lower lip, a shiver running through her body at his touch. "You have no idea, Strax," she whispered, leaning in to capture his lips in a deep, desire-filled kiss.

As Strax enjoyed his beautiful wife's embrace, the sounds outside grew louder, echoing through the house. Rhythmic booms and muffled shouts of effort mixed together, indicating an intense battle was underway.

"COME ON!"

Hearing that, Strax looked at Monica with a smile. "Sounds like things are heating up out there," Strax remarked, raising an eyebrow as he held her close.

Monica stood up, adjusting her clothes and giving Strax a playful look. "You should take a look," she suggested, a mischievous smile on her lips. "I'm sure you'll be surprised."

"Oh... really? Well then, maybe I should take a look," he replied, moving towards the door leading to the training grounds they had built.

Opening the door, the sounds of the fight became clearer. He could see Samira and Beatrice in the middle of the training field, engaged in a fierce combat. Samira, with fluid and precise movements, seemed to be giving her all, while Beatrice responded with impressive brute force, each of her strikes resonating like thunder.

"Let's see how they're doing," Strax murmured, stepping out.

Samira noticed his presence first. She stopped, panting, and gave Strax a teasing look. "Decided to finally grace us with your presence, Darling? Don't you think you overslept?" she said, her breath heavy and her eyes gleaming.

Beatrice, noticing Samira's distraction, seized the opportunity to attack. With a swift motion, she landed a blow that knocked Samira to the ground, eliciting a surprised groan from her.

"Ouch!" Samira growled in pain as she began to get up. "Hey you jerk, that's not fair!" Samira complained, Beatrice was not at all happy with that duel, the defeat was so certain then...

"In war, there's no justice, only winners, and I'm not going to miss my chance to be the first!" Beatrice replied with a mischievous smile, reaching out to help Samira up.

Beatrice took the pitcher with a smile. "Thanks, Darling. We really need this after the fight."

Samira, already pouring herself a glass, looked at Strax with a gleam in her eyes. "So, what's the plan for the next step? Anything special?" Samira asked as Strax sat down. "I don't know," Strax replied, the girls could feel how tired he was; it seemed like he had already thought about this several times.

"That woman... Xenovia... does she have problems with the King?" Beatrice said, they had already talked about what had happened to Xenovia and that she liked Strax but did not delve too deep into it. "Yeah, there's that too..." Strax murmured, for a moment he felt a little guilty for simply leaving Xenovia behind after that bloody duel.

"Honestly, I really don't know what to do yet. I just know that my father wants me to train with Diana using two swords, but I'm feeling uncomfortable about that specific order. I don't want to be a part of something like that, especially not in this family... In fact, I was thinking of creating a surname for us when I leave the family," Strax commented.

They already imagined this could happen one day, after all, Strax never wanted to be part of his current family.

"Have you thought about that?" Samira asked. She wasn't much different from Strax; she would easily abandon her surname too, especially after the problems with her family. For her, her family was dead. Strax was enough for her, along with her new 'sisters'.

"I have... but I'll leave that for later," Strax smiled. "Now..." Before Strax could say anything else, he felt his Spirits trying to communicate with him. "Just a moment," Strax said, summoning his two swords, which quickly transformed into their humanoid forms.

"What happened to you two?" Strax asked the two beautiful women who appeared from the swords. "There's a spirit approaching," Tiamat said, resilient and controlled, unlike the other one, who had a heavy and serious expression. "Damn it, she broke the seals," Ouroboros said, sounding a bit angry...

"Hm?" Strax was confused; his draconic eyes sensed nothing but... a void? "It's no use, master; when that bitch removes her limiters, she becomes quite troublesome for us dragons," Ouroboros said, and Strax heard footsteps...

Then the doorknob began to turn slowly, and the door opened... Revealing a woman they had no idea who she was.

"Bitch," Ouroboros said. "Did you come here to take our master?" Ouroboros roared, ready to attack the woman, who just looked at her curiously. She had an athletic and defined body, short grayish hair with purple tones, and gothic makeup. "Hey, your brother has changed a lot," she said, entering nonchalantly followed by another person...

"Xenovia? And who's this?" Strax questioned, seeming like he hadn't fully grasped what was happening yet. "S-Strax?" She stammered, seeing his appearance, which completely took her by surprise... "He underwent a body reconstruction; is his physique fully awakened now? Well, probably..." the woman murmured.

"And who are you?" Strax couldn't take his eyes off the woman... she was so... striking? That's how he could describe her without being rude... "Oh, he hasn't realized yet... Hey, Lust Dragons, tell him," she said with a mischievous smile...

"It's Xyn..." Ouroboros said.