Isaac focused on the Soulbind pendant.
He could not see any change.
He frowned a little and tilted his head.
"Celeste, do you feel different?" Isaac asked.
Celeste, who had very clearly been resting instead of working, jumped as if struck by lightning.
She looked around first, then froze.
A second later, she coughed lightly, straightened her posture, and put on her usual polite smile.
"Master, let me check," she said.
She closed her eyes and focused.
Her form shimmered, light bending around her body, and then she appeared directly in front of Isaac.
The problem was that Isaac was currently standing on one of Qlippoth’s higher branches.
Celeste appeared in midair.
"Eh?" she muttered, eyes widening.
Gravity remembered her existence.
She tipped forward, and Isaac caught her without thinking, one arm hooking under her knees, the other supporting her back.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She froze in his arms. Their height difference made it awkward, and her face heated up almost instantly. She grabbed his coat with both hands and nodded.
"Th-thank you, master," she said quickly. It was unlike her to get flustered. Then, hesitating, she looked up at him. "But... um... master, does this mean we can...?"
"It seems like it. But let’s confirm it properly on the ground," Isaac replied.
She nodded again, still clearly flustered.
Professor Catherine was nowhere to be seen. She had vanished at some point without a word, which wasn’t unusual for her.
Isaac was about to step off the branch when he noticed Celeste turning her head slightly, her gaze drifting toward the space Catherine had last occupied.
Her eyes narrowed for just a moment.
Isaac paused.
’She noticed Professor Catherine?’ he thought, surprised.
That wasn’t something he expected. Catherine was extremely good at hiding her presence.
’Looks like she has some useful abilities I didn’t fully account for.’
He filed the thought away for later and stepped forward.
He jumped.
Wings spread from his back mid-fall, catching the air smoothly. He adjusted his grip and descended in a controlled glide, landing gently on the ground.
He set Celeste down carefully and released her.
She straightened her clothes, then looked around.
"This is your city, Master?" she asked.
"Yes," Isaac said. "Though it went through a pretty big battle recently."
Celeste’s eyes moved around for a moment as she took everything in. The damaged streets, the partially collapsed buildings, the awakeners moving supplies and tending to the wounded.
Her curiosity was obvious. But as a professional maid, she quickly curbed her curiosity in, and stood straight.
Isaac pulled the Soulbind pendant forward and spoke into it.
"Lyra, Kyra. Can one of you check if you can come out?"
Inside the Cradle, the twin dragon maids reacted immediately.
Kyra, whose right eye was hidden behind her bangs, had been washing dishes. She paused and glanced toward her sister.
"Yes, master," Lyra, her left eye hidden beneath folded wings, nodded. She closed her eyes.
A moment later, she appeared in the real world, standing a short distance from Isaac.
"Welcome, Lyra. You can look around with Celeste if you want. Just stay where I can see you," Isaac said.
"Understood, Master," Lyra replied calmly.
Celeste immediately moved closer to her, eyes bright with interest, and the two of them began quietly observing their surroundings.
They spoke to each other in low voices, pointing things out, comparing details.
Isaac watched them for a moment.
’So they really can leave the Soulbind now.’
’The other maids should be able to do it too.’
He exhaled slowly.
’Is that all?’
It was useful, but on its own, it felt... underwhelming for the change he had expected.
As he was thinking that, a strange sensation rose naturally within him. There was no warning. No system message. Just a quiet, instinctive pull.
Isaac crouched and placed one hand on the ground.
Then—
"Wow."
He felt it.
The city responded to him.
Not metaphorically. Not symbolically. It responded in the same way the everything bonded to him did.
His breath slowed as the realization settled in.
With enough focus, he could move it.
He could place the entire city inside the Soulbind pendant, just like Cradle.
’This is big,’ he thought.
If something like the Crimson Sky Wyrm attacked again—something that they could not defeat—he wouldn’t need to stand his ground at all costs.
He could evacuate everything, and everyone.
He closed his eyes and tested the process.
The answer came naturally.
Twelve to eighteen hours.
That was how long it would take to fully transfer the city into the Soulbind Pendant.
It wasn’t instantaneous, and it wasn’t something he could do casually in the middle of a fight. But even so, it was an absurdly powerful option to have.
Isaac straightened and let out a quiet breath.
"This changes a lot."
He slipped the pendant back around his limb and turned his attention back to reality.
There was work to do.
The aftermath of the battle was messy. Healing the injured, organizing supplies, accounting for losses. Isaac moved through the city, helping where he could. He gave instructions, stabilized areas, and made sure no one was overlooked.
Then there was the city itself.
Large sections had been damaged or outright destroyed during the fight with the Catastrophe. Rebuilding it manually would take time, coordination, and resources.
Of course, he could use the System.
He checked the cost.
Eighty gold coins just to repair the destroyed buildings.
Isaac stared at the number for a long moment.
"...That daylight’s robbery."
It felt like the System was mocking him. As if it were saying: if you can’t even fix this yourself, then pay up.
He closed the interface without confirming anything.
"I will just rebuild it myself."
The city had expanded when he became a Lord. There were enough intact buildings to house the residents temporarily. Infrastructure upgrades and full restoration could be planned later, once things stabilized.
He’d think about whether he wanted to rebuild it exactly as it was, or improve it while he was at it.
As Isaac was coordinating repairs, a familiar presence approached.
Emily.
She looked tired, but satisfied.
"I finished," she said.
"Tamed?" Isaac asked.
She nodded with a smile. "As soon as it accepted the contract, I transferred it to the Soulbind."
Isaac took the Soulbind Pendant he had given to her while he was helping other awakeners.
A massive presence settled into his awareness, coiling comfortably within the pendant’s space. He couldn’t help but grin.
’Share the Crimson Sky Wyrm!’
The connection opened.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm appeared clearly in his mind, its immense form coiled and calm.
Isaac smiled wider.
This... this was good. It was great!
Such a powerful monster was now under his command.
The Crimson Sky Wyrm increased his military strength by an absurd margin.
As he maintained the connection through the Soulbind, Isaac noticed something else.
Emily’s Crimson Sky Wyrm still possessed the Sixth Eye.
’The corruption disappeared after it was resurrected as a soul.’
’So there’s no way the Sixth Eye can control Red Rain anymore.’
’I wonder what ability its Sixth Eye has now. It should be the original ability it had before being corrupted.’
He didn’t dwell on it. There would be time later to test and understand it properly. For now, there were more immediate concerns.
Isaac pushed the matter to the back of his mind and continued helping wherever he was needed.
He coordinated with awakeners, checked damaged zones, and made sure the injured were found and treated.
People were being relocated to intact buildings, while others worked to clear wreckage and recover what could still be salvaged.
Unknown to Isaac, something else was happening nearby.
Alice, Ruby, and Celia approached Althea together.
"We want the footage," Alice said bluntly.
Althea raised an eyebrow. "Which footage?"
"Miss Althea. You sent the videos of Master to the Seventh Queen, did you not? Could you share the recording of them with us?" Ruby spoke politely.
"Yours should be better than what we recorded due to equipment difference. That’s why we need it," Celia explained.
Althea hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. But you didn’t get it from me."
They gathered around her device and began sorting through the recordings. They already had their own perspectives, but Althea’s equipment captured everything more clearly.
Angles. Timing. Impact.
They trimmed it carefully, selecting the best moments.
Isaac standing against the Catastrophe.
The turning points of the battle.
The moments where the tide shifted completely.
They weren’t doing it just for fun.
They were making a "promotional video" for Isaac.
Given his overwhelming sect, it would be useful to improve his religion and the followers’ number, and it would also improve his authority as Lord.
By the time they were done, the outline of a proper promotional video had taken shape.
Meanwhile, Isaac worked until exhaustion caught up with him.
The sun had long set by the time the last injured person was accounted for.
He didn’t even remember lying down.
One moment he was standing, thinking about repair schedules, and the next—
Sleep took him.
And then, he dreamed.
With Catherine.
...
Author’s Note:
This announcement is regarding this month’s update schedule. It’s been quite unstable. I had a lot to deal with: finishing my graduation, handling job-related matters, and I fell ill during constant travel.
On top of that, I’m about to finish my first novel ( Son of Hades ) in a few days. All of this ate into my time, and I couldn’t give Gathering Wives the attention it deserved.
Next month, the update schedule will return to normal like before.
See you tomorrow (for Catherine’s scene)!