A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

With a vicious snarl, she twisted her hand, and the dark spheres compressed, turning into lances of devouring darkness. They shot forward, piercing through the Baqum's newly formed ice armour.

The creature howled as its outer shell cracked and dissolved under the corrosive force. Emily's grin widened, delighting in its agony. "Got you!"

The Baqum writhed, its body convulsing as its flesh melted in places, but it didn't fall. Instead, it reared back, its lure pulsing wildly before releasing a sudden burst of blinding light.

Emily cursed as her vision blurred. In that moment, the Baqum struck again, its massive jaws opening wide, aiming to swallow her whole.

But her beloved's shadowy form was already there, unbothered by the blinding light. The hammer came down with a thunderous crash, striking the Baqum's head with such force that the creature's entire body slammed into the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust and seawater.

Emily blinked rapidly, clearing her sight just in time to see the Baqum struggle back up, shaking off the impact. It was slowing. Wounded. But not done.

She exhaled sharply, feeling the ache of expended aetherium gnawing at her. "Alright, big guy, let's end this."

The Baqum hissed, its tails coiling for another assault. Emily's dark spheres flared, twisting into new shapes as her protector readied his hammer, and the battle continued.

***

Meanwhile, Erik watched his wives' battle from a distance, a fond smile gracing his lips as explosions of sand, sunfire, darkness, and water surged into the air one after the other.

Behind him, the surviving villagers slowly emerged from the chapel they were hiding in, Naeku at their front. They, too, watched the battle, awed at the powers that seemed to be so casually thrown about.

The surroundings were safe enough now, as most of the first- and second-ranked creatures had already fled the violence and many overlapping third-rank auras.

Naeku stepped up next to Erik and looked at the environmentally devastating battle a little wryly. "This is the first time I've seen them fight since they reached the third rank," she muttered softly. "They're quite impressive…"

"Hehe, yes, they are," Erik chuckled, his voice filled with proud love. Then he glanced at her and winked, "You'll join them soon, won't you? I think my wives could use some compassionate strength."

Emma couldn't really hold that spot. Although she possessed plenty of compassion and kindness, most of it was now focused on the people she loved. This was the result of her harsh past.

Naeku pouted a little and immediately looked embarrassed, something that was both impressive and incredibly effective in her werepanther form. "Y— Yes," she muttered nervously. "You did what I asked, so…"

"Oh…?" Erik hummed curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Why so nervous suddenly? It's not the only reason you're going through with this, right?"

"N— No!" Naeku immediately denied, shaking her head with a hint of panic as her yellow cat eyes widened and swivelled in his direction. Seeing Erik's amused smirk, she quickly recomposed herself and sighed. "No, of course not… It's just…"

She looked back at the battle again and frowned sombrely. "I'll need to work hard… I'm sure Emma will reach the third rank soon as well, and I can't be lagging behind!"

Erik shifted his weight a little, swapping the shoulder on which his hammer rested, and chuckled softly. "Don't worry, Emma will still take a few months, at least. Even with Elora's help, it simply hasn't been that long since she broke through to the second rank, and she hasn't exactly been the most diligent in her training since then…"

Naeku smirked wryly, losing her sombre expression. "Right, she loves taking care of you more than anything, right? It must be nice to have someone so completely dedicated to your happiness and nothing else…"

Grinning, Erik turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "My, Naeku, is that jealousy I hear? I thought you'd made peace with the fact I have multiple partners?"
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"Hmpf," she snorted and looked away, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "I have… So long as you realize what I'm giving up for you! You know how many eligible men I've turned down, when any of them would have dedicated themselves to me completely?!"

"Hehehe," Erik chuckled as he extended his hands to pull the werepanther's back against his chest. "Of course I do, my beautiful princess!" he then exclaimed before bending forward to whisper softly in her ear. "So long as you realize that none of those mediocre 'men' were ever in my league…"

Naeku giggled, losing all traces of sombre anxiety and leaned back into his sturdy chest. "You don't even know any of them!"

"Okay, but was I wrong…?" Erik asked, confidence and pride swelling from his words.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Naeku smirked.

"You sure are!" Erik grinned as he pulled her closer.

Around them, the villagers looked extremely uncomfortable at their display and did whatever they could to remain focused on the battle in front of them.

How else would they react? These people were their saviours and appeared genuinely in love, but… they were also flirting in the middle of their devastated village. This was a fact that actually entered Naeku's mind as well, but a little late.

'I can't believe he made me completely forget where we even are,' she muttered in her mind, feeling a little shocked. Yet, she didn't move from her spot nestled in his chest. 'I guess that's not such a bad trait sometimes…' she sighed with a gentle smile.

They remained like this for a little while longer as the battle in the distance raged on. Erik remained constantly ready to intervene if necessary, but such a moment never came. He did trust his wives to take care of this from the start, but it was hard for a loving control freak like him to suppress his worst urges.

Truthfully, he wasn't so far from becoming like Emily in the past and simply locking all his wives inside his dimension… Such was the man that Edda's betrayal, his father's death, and Elora's attempts to make him more dominant had created, for better or for worse.

Fortunately, he had the strength of will not to give in to such ideas…

"By the way," he suddenly muttered when he thought of something important. "Have I already told you about Elora's marriage test…?"

Naeku blinked for a moment as his words sank into her comfortable mind. "Elora's what?!" she then exclaimed.