The Baby Isn’t Yours

The time had come for the power of the sun god to be obscured by the moon’s shadow.

Somewhere in the sky, Kalexia, who had been observing the gods hidden behind the stars, turned his head.

Leah adjusted her spear and smiled as she met Kalexia’s gaze.

For once, her back straightened in her combat attire.

Suppressing his tension and excitement, she spoke.

“I hear the sound of commotion. It seems they’re welcoming us to some sort of welcoming party.”

Kalexia lifted the corner of his mouth in response to Leah’s words.

Before leaving the hut, the two held hands and pressed their foreheads together.

“Neither the light nor the darkness will make us fear, for we were born of nature and shall return to nature.”

The voices of the two intertwined as if becoming one.

The energy of the two fairies, who had sworn eternal companionship, entwined together.

When souls blended in this way, if something happened to one of them, the other would be able to sense it.

Furthermore, even if one of them suffered a serious injury, they could share their life force with each other.

“…Please be safe, Kalexia.”

“I won’t tell you not to get hurt. But don’t die. Even if I have to pour out everything I have, I will save you.”

“Oh, goodness. How do you see me? I won’t die so easily. “

Leah, who was smiling mischievously, kissed Kalexia’s forehead.

“Now, let’s go. Kal. Our children are waiting outside.”

“Yes.”

Outside the hut, thousands of fairies were waiting.

There were fairies riding on the spirits of the mighty earth, as well as spirits of water and wind soaring through the sky, all of them at the peak of their powers.

“It seems they’re starting to crawl out.”

Ganini, who was wearing combat attire and had her dark gray hair tied up high, spoke with a resolute expression towards Kalexia and Leah.

From Furiosa and Hoa to Nua and Tokan.

They all gathered in one place, gazing at the Fairy King and the Guardians of the Forest.

A subtle vibration, imperceptible to humans but noticeable to the fairy race of the natural world, resonated beneath their feet.

Thud!

Kalexia and Leah simultaneously touched the ground with the tips of their spears and spoke.

“To Akan!”

At their words, waves of light emitted by the fairies surged towards Akan like scattered rays of sunlight.

* * *

“…It has begun.”

Gaia, who had been anxiously pacing back and forth, looked up abruptly and spoke to Kalia, who stood before her.

Kalia, who was preparing her armor, looked out the window at Gaia’s words.

Here, unseen but thousands of kilometers away, the war between light and darkness had begun.

She looked at the landscape beyond, covered in violet darkness, and suppressed the turmoil in her heart.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened her back.

In fact, the battle hadn’t only begun there.

Last night, dozens of chimeras suddenly appeared and swept through the vicinity of the capital.

If they hadn’t been on high alert and preemptively established a defense system, numerous cities would have already turned into seas of fire by now.

The excited demons ran rampant, and the chimeras, equivalent to high-ranking demons, instilled fear and reduced villages to ashes.

They swiftly dealt with the first battle by mobilizing the city guards and mage towers.

But Kalia, as well as the citizens, knew that it was only the beginning.

“How much progress has been made in resolving the Akan Cream addiction?”

“Except for seven small cities without mage towers and temples, all sixteen cities have been purified. Severe injuries are being healed by the mages.”

Thanks to the treatment of the afflicted individuals in the fairy forest, where cooperation had been promised, not just mage towers and temples, the purification process had been swift.

After thirty years, the boundaries of the fairy forest were lifted, and beautiful high-ranking fairies came out to welcome those who had come to seek them.

More than the fearful adults, children without fear and brimming with curiosity broke free from their mothers’ hands and ran ahead.

As they stepped into the deep forest and breathed in the pure air, the improvement in the children’s condition was noticeable.

Even without the power of sanctity or the purification ability of high-ranking fairies, the lingering magic that had permeated their skin quickly disappeared.

Thanks to this, people quickly found stability, and the cities that were once in turmoil were calmed.

However, it was too early to be at ease.

The palace and the mage towers soon informed them of the upcoming war.

People were taken aback by the sudden news, and some fell into confusion, but fortunately, most quickly regained their composure.

It was thanks to the imperial family and the temples that definitively resolved the Akan Cream incident and the trust in that person of rumor.

General Commander Kalia.

She had returned.

Bringing a brilliant light that defeated the evil forces.

On the day when she purified an entire city as a whole, those who witnessed it tirelessly spread the miracle they had seen.

“She can do it. Her sword will overcome the demons and protect us!”

And with the start of the rumors, the imperial family swiftly resolved the Akan Cream incident, increasing trust in Kalia.

On the Rojas side, they announced that the cause of the epidemic was in Akan, reiterating that it was that nation that had caused the war.

They sincerely vowed not to let such evil power dominate Rojas.

Thanks to that, even the confused citizens believed in the words of the imperial family and entrusted their safety to them.

But then, as expected…

Fierce chimeras broke through the darkness of dawn and attacked relentlessly.

Leading the excited demons and leaving the betrayed allied nations behind, they stormed into the city gates with great momentum!

In the distance, yellow flames erupted.

It was the light that signaled the demons’ assault.

“Gaia.”

Kalia called out to Gaia, who was worried about the family members who would be fighting in the distant battle, unable to be seen from the window.

Gaia turned to her slowly.

Kalia reached out her hand to Gaia.

And she smiled slightly to reassure Gaia, who seemed anxious.

“Let’s go too.”

“…Okay!”

Gaia, who had stepped away from the window, took Kalia’s hand.

Then she shimmered brightly for a moment and disappeared from that spot.

In case of any unforeseen danger, Gaia decided not to reveal her appearance until the actual battle began.

Kalia, caressing her bracelet, didn’t head straight to the command center but went to the room where Sasha and Drea were.

“I’ll come back soon, my darlings.”

Kalia leaned over and kissed the foreheads of the two children lying side by side, and smiled warmly.

Even in their sleep, Drea, who found the kiss ticklish, giggled and squirmed before letting out a sleepy laughter.

Drea, who had grown considerably, was already a year or two ahead of Sasha.

‘…Dragons indeed have an exceptional growth rate.’

Kalia chuckled and gently caressed Sasha’s head, who was sleeping next to her, before raising her head.

At that moment, Sasha’s eyes blinked open, and with a messy mouth, he uttered a word.

“Mya…”

Kalia’s eyes widened.

Did Sasha just call her ‘mom’?

Is our baby… a genius?

Lost in thought and staring at the baby absentmindedly, Sasha giggled and lightly patted Kalia’s cheek with his hand.

Then, as if asking when he had woken up, he fell back into a deep sleep, his eyes closed.

‘Hmm…?’

Strangely, although it felt like a baby’s innocent laughter, Kalia felt a sense of bewilderment. But she shook her head, thinking it couldn’t be possible.

She decided she would confirm whether Sasha had called her ‘mom’ or not when she returned. With that in mind, Kalia turned around.

Hemmie and Allen awaited her with familiar faces.

“Hemmie, Allen. I’ll entrust the babies to you.”

“Don’t worry about us and make sure you win and come back, Lady Kalia. Just like always!”

“With whatever feeble power I have, I will pray. Lady Kalia.”

Hemmie, who seemed even more tense than Kalia about the departure, pulled her into a tight embrace.

Kalia smiled and left the room where Allen and Hemmie were.

When she reached the lobby, Brik was waiting for her.

Kalia absentmindedly put on the gloves she hadn’t worn while handling the babies and casually asked, “What’s the current situation?”

The tightly fitted leather gloves enveloped her hands perfectly.

She lightly clenched and unclenched her hand, checking if she felt any discomfort wearing the combat gloves after a long time.

“A pack of monsters, including five chimeras, approached the eastern and western borders. Reports have also come in about monsters rampaging in the regions of Lasha, Kurium, and Handorio, but the local mage towers and guards seem to be handling them well.”

“What about the coastal area? Didn’t they mention an attack from Nathan?”

“They said His Highness the Crown Prince and the Princess of Nathan will personally lead the expedition there. We can reach there within an hour.”

Akan’s strategy wasn’t particularly clever.

It wasn’t about finding the enemy’s weaknesses and exploiting them or executing smart attacks with meticulous calculations.

Instead, they recklessly pushed forward, even to the point of being considered ignorant.

It was not pleasant to see the rampaging monsters, excitedly destroying the forest as they rushed in.

However, it didn’t mean that dealing with them would be easy.

They had no idea when and where these creatures would pop up.

Moreover, they always had to be on guard for the betrayers within Rojas who unknowingly opened the city gates for them.

‘We’re running out of time to catch all these hidden rats. What should we do…?’

Kalia received updates on the situation through Brik as she entered the command center.

Inside the headquarters, two gates connected directly to the Mage Tower and Prince’s palace.

As Kalia stepped into the spacious table in the center, reports from various sources were piled up.

“The suppression of the monster threat in the western border has been completed. We have received reports that the residents of each city have been relocated to temporary shelters.”

“Fortunately, our casualties in the border battle were not significant. There are injured, but the fact that we have no fatalities is close to a miracle. However, it is impossible to measure the exact strength of the enemy, making it difficult to devise a precise strategy.”

“They attack and retreat repeatedly. Has there been any situation report from Akan?”

“They are managing it from the Mage Tower. Should I connect the situation room?”

Brik connected the magic branch of the Urs region, where they were monitoring Akan’s situation, through the mage who was waiting.

A video appeared in the air through the mage’s incantation.

Instead of greeting with a nod, Kalia, who replaced it as a gesture, gave the command, “Show me the situation.”

-We apologize for showing it from a distance since it is difficult for us to have close-range access.

The tense-faced mage overlaid the video, which they were monitoring, onto Kalia’s mage video.

Soon, a video unfolded, depicting light and darkness colliding at the edge of the Akan forest.

Whenever the mage tried to bring the video closer, it would shake or distort as if being interfered with.

“It will be difficult to understand the situation like this.”

Kalia furrowed her brow in discomfort and, after contemplating, summoned Gaia again.

As long as they didn’t reveal anything to the enemy, it didn’t matter.

The cooperation with the Fairy Army had already been announced, so this much should be fine.

The appearance of the slender spirit that suddenly appeared surprised the soldiers inside the barracks, and even the observing mage couldn’t hide their astonishment.

“Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to be inside?”

“There is no other place to ask for help except Gaia.”

“My help?”

“Gaia, can you see their situation through the spirit realm?”

“Well, I’ve never tried it before… Ah! Maybe I can do it if I synchronize with the blue bird Father sent.”

It was the bird that Kalexia had told her to call through the blue bird when she needed help.

As Gaia reached out her hand into the air, droplets gathered and formed a blue bird.

With a chirp, the beautiful bird circled in the sky.

The spinning bird suddenly turned into droplets and the image appeared on the spreading droplets like a thin screen.

It was the sight of Kalexia, Leah, and the siblings.

That moment.

Kalia, staring at the screen with wide eyes, took a surprised step forward.

Gaia also gasped and stepped back, retreating.