"Then before that unearthly devil can even attempt to take you," Nerissa declared, her voice echoing with the crushing, immovable pressure of the Mariana Trench. She tilted her head, her tone dripping with absolute, unapologetic royalty. "Prove to him that you are entirely off-limits. The bad bitch way."

The sheer, unprecedented shock of the modern Earth slang, falling from the lips of an ancient oceanic deity completely shattered the tension in the room.

Roxy blinked, entirely stunned for a fraction of a second, before a massive, brilliant, and completely genuine smile broke across her face.

She let out a sudden, melodic laugh that was completely infectious. Torian barked a loud laugh in response, the tension instantly bleeding out of his broad shoulders, and even the stoic King of the North, Kaelen, let out a soft, amused huff. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"I will, Nerissa," Roxy swore, sitting up straighter on the sofa, clutching Little Fedor securely to her chest. "I absolutely will."

The heavy dread was entirely banished, replaced by a fierce, united front. For the next hour, the parlor was filled with a beautiful, deeply sweet, and entirely supportive conversation.

Nerissa, operating not just as a monarch but as a mother who had survived centuries of abyssal wars, offered Roxy profound advice on ruling a chaotic empire, managing the blinding territorial instincts of Alpha males, and protecting the fragile cores of supernatural children.

It was a conversation Roxy desperately needed, a genuine connection with a mother figure who truly understood the crushing weight of a crown.

However, the biology of the Beastworld was an uncompromising master.

As the afternoon sun began to dip behind the snow-capped peaks of the Iron-Wood mountains, a faint, iridescent dryness began to creep over Nimue’s bioluminescent shells, and Nerissa’s flawless skin lost a fraction of its pearlescent glow.

Unlike Caspian, who had permanently adapted his core to the terrestrial world, the Abyssal royals were operating on a strict biological countdown. The crushing, humid pressure of the deep ocean was calling them back.

"The tide pulls us," Nerissa sighed gracefully, standing up from the armchair. She smoothed down her shimmering robes, looking at her son with a heart full of absolute peace.

The family gathered in the grand entrance hall to see them off. The farewell was infinitely sweeter and lighter than their initial reunion. There was no agonizing finality. Caspian, his aquatic core completely restored and humming powerfully beneath his skin, knew that the ocean was no longer a forbidden realm.

"Do not make me wait a decade for a visit, my King," Nerissa chided gently, pulling Caspian down for a tight, fierce embrace.

"I won’t, Mother," Caspian promised, a brilliant, tearful smile on his handsome face. "I will bring the entire pack to the spires. Even the overgrown lizard."

Zarek simply grunted from the doorway, crossing his massive arms, though a faint smirk played on his lips.

Nimue pressed a lingering, watery kiss to little Zale’s forehead, leaving a faint, glowing mark of abyssal protection on the toddler’s pale skin, before hugging Roxy tightly.

With a final wave and a surge of oceanic magic to protect them from the freezing mountain winds, the Queen and Princess of the Deep stepped out into the snow, escorted by their Merman guards. They vanished into the winter landscape, leaving behind the heavy scent of sea salt and a profound sense of closure.

The absolute second the heavy oak doors closed, pure, unadulterated chaos erupted in the entrance hall.

The children, who had been exhibiting an unnatural, agonizing level of polite restraint during the royal visit, completely lost their minds. Like a pack of starving timber wolves, Axel, Onyx, Iris, and Tyara descended upon the massive, water-logged wooden chests left in the center of the hall.

"Look!" Onyx shrieked, hauling a massive, glowing pink pearl the size of a melon out of a chest. He immediately tried to balance it on his head, promptly dropping it onto the thick rug with a soft thud.

Tyara growled playfully, pouncing onto a pile of incredibly tough, chewable leviathan bone toys, her tiny tail flicking in absolute triumph.

Iris carefully pulled out a bolt of shimmering, waterproof abyssal silk, her violet eyes wide with wonder as the fabric shifted from deep purple to starlight silver in her hands. Even Axel, usually the stoic tactician of the pups, was running around the hall wearing a crown woven from glowing black coral, looking ridiculously pleased with himself.

"Alright, pups, easy!" Torian laughed, stepping into the fray to prevent a complete plundering riot. "There is enough deep-sea treasure for everyone! Let’s get these to the playroom before you break something!"

While Torian, Kaelen, and Caspian remained in the hall to manage the chaotic, joyful unboxing, Roxy shot a meaningful, highly intense glance directly at the Dragon King.

Zarek immediately understood the silent command.

Leaving the children to the ecstatic joy of their new abyssal toys, Roxy and Zarek slipped quietly away, walking down the grand corridor and ascending the stairs. A few moments later, once the children were fully occupied, Torian, Kaelen, and Caspian quietly joined them.

The heavy mahogany doors of the master bedroom clicked shut, instantly plunging the five adults into absolute, uncompromising privacy.

The massive stone hearth in the bedroom was already roaring, casting a thick, blistering heat across the plush crimson furs of their colossal bed. Roxy walked over to the mattress, gently laying a heavily sleeping Little Fedor into the center of the pillows, tucking the red gemstone securely against his chest.

She turned around to face her warlords.

The playful, domestic energy of the hallway completely evaporated. The four Alpha Kings stood in the center of the room, their massive frames radiating a lethal, hyper-vigilant combat tension. Without Syris’s calm, calculating presence, the room felt incredibly raw, dominated entirely by the bloodthirsty instincts of the Wolf, the Tiger, the Dragon, and the Sea.

"Nerissa saw the truth," Roxy began, her voice dropping into the quiet, commanding cadence of the Matriarch. She crossed her arms, pacing slowly at the foot of the bed. "The minor gods are silent. The ambient magic is tasting of corruption. Abaddon isn’t just playing a game anymore. He is moving to claim the board."

"Then we strike," Torian growled, his fangs fully baring. "We take the Vanguard, we march to the highest peak, and we tear a hole in the sky. We do not sit here and wait for him to drop his red mist into our home."

"You cannot, Torian," Kaelen countered calmly, though his icy blue eyes were completely ruthless. "We need a strategy. We need to fortify the Manor’s magical barriers with Caspian’s restored abyssal core, and we need to open Ren’s subterranean vault."

"Exactly," Roxy agreed, stopping her pacing to look at Kaelen. She took a deep, steadying breath. "But we cannot rush this. If we attack the Architect blindly, he will simply rewrite our reality and wipe us from existence. I need to fully recover my transmigrated core. We need to decode the first human’s diary in that vault. We need to prepare our children."

Roxy looked directly at Zarek, her green eyes filled with absolute, uncompromising determination.

"Give me a year," Roxy demanded softly, but firmly. "One year of absolute focus. No reckless cosmic challenges, no impulsive Vanguard strikes. Let me heal, let Tanith finish her hibernation, and let us build an impenetrable fortress of organic, unscripted love that his dark magic cannot pierce. I think I will be fine then. I will be ready to kill a god."

Zarek’s massive jaw clenched so tightly the muscles strained against his heavily scarred neck.

The Dragon King began to pace, his heavy boots shaking the floorboards. The sheer, unadulterated terror of losing her—of the Architect simply snapping his fingers and pulling her back into the void—was a toxic poison in his draconic veins. He was an apex predator; waiting a year felt like standing still in a burning forest.

"A year is an eternity in the eyes of the heavens, Roxy!" Zarek exploded, his golden eyes burning with frantic, protective hellfire. He stopped pacing, his massive hands gripping the heavy wooden bedpost. "We don’t have much time! Abaddon is impatient. He thrives on our suffering. He will not sit quietly in his crystal realm for three hundred and sixty-five days while you prepare a weapon! He will strike!"

The room grew incredibly tense. Torian and Caspian exchanged a highly anxious glance, silently agreeing with the Dragon’s paranoia. The Devil was unpredictable.

But Roxy did not flinch.

She stood her ground, her small frame radiating an ancient, transmigrated power that completely eclipsed the towering monsters in the room. She tilted her chin up, a slow, terrifyingly confident, and utterly wicked smile—a perfect mirror of the Abyssal Queen’s earlier swagger—curving across her lips.

"He won’t," Roxy stated, her voice ringing with absolute, cosmic certainty.

Zarek’s eyes narrowed. "Why? Why would the Architect of this universe hesitate?"

Roxy’s smile sharpened into a lethal, undeniable blade. She looked directly into the Dragon’s burning golden eyes, completely unbothered by the heavens.

"Because he loves the taste of my reckless defiance," Roxy whispered darkly. "He is too arrogant to end the game early. He wants to watch me try. He doesn’t dare."