Virela POV
The ambassador walked out of the store without another glance back.
As the door shut behind her, her figure blurred like smoke in the wind, vanishing before she reached the edge of the road. To anyone watching, it would've looked like she had simply disappeared.
Moments later, she reappeared inside a dark room.
The building she arrived in stood deep within the outskirts of Fortified City 50's outer sector.
Its windows were sealed with reinforced metal shutters, and every entrance was secured with multiple layers of detection spells and mechanical alarms.
No light entered from the outside, and every line of communication was blocked. It was, for all intents and purposes, invisible.
On the bed in the center of the room sat a man with a wine glass lazily held in his hand.
He wasn't human.
His green hair was made of slender, living snakes, each one curling and shifting as though it had a mind of its own.
Some of the snake-hairs were sipping from the wine glass, tasting the deep red liquid before slithering back.
He raised his head when the woman appeared.
"Back already?" he asked in a relaxed voice.
The ambassador's form twisted. Her skin shimmered, then dulled. Her once-human features changed.
Her hair uncoiled and transformed into green serpents, just like his.
She tore the human clothes into pieces, throwing the ruined fabric onto the ground with a snarl.
"Dammit!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the closed room. "What the hell was wrong with that brat and that bitch!?"
The man raised an eyebrow, clearly unbothered by her outburst.
He took another sip as she stormed across the room, pulling open a tall wardrobe filled with traditional naga robes and garments.
Unlike the stiff and suffocating human outfits, these flowed loosely, designed to suit the preference of nagas.
"These shitty human clothes!" she hissed, ripping off the last remains from her body. "So damn tight! It's like they were made to choke me."
He chuckled, rising from the bed.
As she rummaged through the wardrobe, still completely naked, the man stepped up behind her.
His arms wrapped around her naked waist. He pressed his lips against her nape, eliciting a sharp breath from her.
"What happened?" he murmured. "You don't usually lose your cool like this."
"The brat resisted my control," she said bitterly. "And there was another woman. Strong. Extremely strong. She was watching over him. I couldn't make a move without risking exposure."
His eyes sharpened slightly at her words, though the lazy charm didn't leave his face.
He continued kissing along her shoulder before gently turning her face toward his. Their lips met in a slow, intimate kiss, like they'd done this a thousand times before.
When they pulled apart, he spoke.
"They probably gave him a treasure that shields his mind. It's not surprising. He's valuable. And as for the woman… well, it makes sense. No one would leave a treasure like him unguarded. She must be the strongest human here."
She scowled. "I know but it's still pissing me off. Why does a shitty race like this has a mind protection treasure-"
He silenced her with another kiss. This one was shorter, but it did the trick.
They were quiet for a while.
The room was dimly lit, the soft humming of concealed systems in the walls the only background noise.
The two nagas, Kael'Zar and Virela, had been hiding here for weeks.
They had fled after their city—along with other nagas—had been obliterated.
Only a fraction of their people had survived.
Their already low numbers were barely reaching five hundred now, and not even a tenth of those could fight.
But they had a plan. And it involved Fortified City 89.
They were going to take it over.
And Isaac, the SSS-ranked Farmer, was a crucial part they needed to increase the chances of their race returning to their former glory.
With him, they would no longer have to worry about food.
"We'll try again," Kael'Zar said. "This isn't the end. Just a setback."
"I know," Virela said, still in his arms. She leaned onto him as his fingers explored her. "But it pisses me off. Why do those apes always get lucky? I should've had him wrapped around my finger within minutes."
Kael'Zar chuckled.
He leaned in and brushed his nose against hers gently.
"It's frustrating, sure. But we can't afford to be reckless. You know our numbers."
Virela clicked her tongue.
"We've already lost too many warriors," Kael'Zar said, his voice dropping slightly. "Even if we could wipe out every human city in a single night, it would cost us. And right now, we need every naga if we want to flourish."
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "So we wait?"
"Yes," he said, a grin spreading across his face. "We will destroy them closely instead of crushing them at once. In fact…"
"What? Don't keep me in suspense." She complained while leaning onto him.
"In fact, one of their strongholds was nearly wiped out in Fortified City 89. Their forces are exhausted, and injured. The cracks are already forming."
"And?" she asked.
Kael'Zar's grin widened. "Metavore Brood."
Virela's expression changed.
"You sent that thing?"
"I didn't just send it. I made sure its nesting area is near their main stronghold, so that they are forced to erase it. Now that they are exhausted, they don't have many forces to deal with Metavore Brood, and I've prepared a special gift for them there."
A low, dangerous laughter escaped her lips.
"So we bleed them out."
"Exactly. We will kill them without exposing ourselves. Let them grow desperate, and weak, and then when the time comes, we finally make a move in open."
Virela looked at him, her anger melting into something else.
She trusted him.
There was a reason they had survived as long as they had.
Kael'Zar wasn't just a warrior. He was a strategist. He saw the battlefield like others saw a chessboard.
Still, she tilted her head with a sly smile. "I have an idea too."
"Oh?" Kael'Zar raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
She leaned in and kissed him, a slow smirk on her lips when they pulled apart.
"We increase our population."
His smile faltered for just a second before returning.
"Now that… that's a very good idea."