Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 363: Episode 361: Do I have to Leave?
The simple, broken invitation to share a meal had been the catalyst the Vanguard desperately needed.
That evening in the master bedroom, the terrifying Alpha Kings had sat on the floor around the modern table, quietly eating winter broth and glazed ribs while Roxy held her newborn son.
It wasn’t a cure for the massive, bleeding void in their pack, but it was a collective, unspoken vow to survive.
Exactly one week later, the Matriarch of the Iron-Wood finally stood on her own two feet.
She was still exhausted, and the phantom weight of her grief was a permanent, suffocating cloak over her shoulders, but she refused to remain confined to the royal suite any longer.
She needed closure. The Fox King deserved a farewell that would echo through the very foundations of the Beastworld.
Roxy stood in the center of the grand hall and issued a continent-wide decree. She was building a tombstone in the eastern courtyard, right beneath the ancient, sprawling oak tree where Ren had so often lounged in his fox form to tease Kaelen and nap in the sun. And she commanded every single allied tribe to attend the unveiling.
Her only strict, uncompromising rule for the ceremony: everyone was to wear black.
When the morning of the memorial arrived, the sheer scale of the gathering was breathtaking.
The sprawling, snow-dusted courtyards of the Iron-Wood Manor were completely transformed into a massive, undulating sea of absolute, uniform mourning. The Northern Wolves, the Southern Tigers, the swamp Serpents, the Merfolk emissaries, and the towering Dragon-shifters of the peaks had all honored the Matriarch’s decree.
Every single warrior, elder, and child had draped themselves in thick, heavy black furs and dark, woven linens.
At the very front of the courtyard, standing in perfect, silent ranks, was the entire Kitsune tribe of the eastern plains. Kaito stood at their head, his vibrant red hair a stark, painful contrast against his clothes.
Roxy stood before the massive, newly erected monument.
It wasn’t a simple grave. It was a towering, magnificent slab. Carved flawlessly into the dark stone by Zarek’s own claws was the breathtaking silhouette of a colossal, nine-tailed fox.
The beast was captured mid-leap, looking over its shoulder with a distinctly arrogant, eternally mischievous trickster’s smirk.
Roxy wore a flowing, heavy black gown, holding little Fedor securely against her chest. The infant prince, bundled in black wool, slept peacefully, entirely oblivious to the monumental legacy etched into the stone before him. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Flanking Roxy were Zarek, Torian, Kaelen, Syris, Caspian, and teenage Drax, all dressed in formal, midnight-black Vanguard attire. The children, Iris, Axel, Onyx, Tanith, and Zale, stood quietly at their knees, holding hands in the cold air.
"We are not here to weep today," Roxy announced, her voice magically amplified by Syris to carry across the thousands of beasts gathered in the courtyard.
Her tone was steady. "My husband despised misery. He was the most vibrant, chaotic, and brilliant soul on this continent. Today, we bid him an official farewell. But tonight... we celebrate his life."
And they did.
Once the formal bowing and the placing of winter lilies at the base of the stone was complete, the heavy, suffocating mourning completely shifted.
Roxy had ordered the kitchens emptied. Casks of the finest aged wine were rolled out onto the frost. Massive bonfires were ignited across the grounds. Instead of crying, the tribes began to share stories.
Torian stood by the fire, loudly recounting the time Ren had used a localized illusion to make it look like the White Tiger’s prized battle-axes had turned into rubber chickens right before a skirmish, drawing roaring laughter from the tiger clan.
Kaelen, with a rare, fond smirk, admitted to the wolves how the trickster had once magically dyed his entire Northern fur coat a bright, humiliating shade of pink for a full week.
As the afternoon deepened, Kaito and the elite Kitsune subordinates stepped forward. In absolute, flawless synchronization, they unleashed their magic. Breathtaking, massive illusions of fireworks, dancing dragons, and blooming spring forests exploded across the crisp winter sky in a magnificent, chaotic tribute to the King of Illusions.
Roxy stood by the stone, watching the roaring fires and the laughing harem. She smiled, holding Fedor tightly. It was exactly what Ren would have wanted. A massive, continent-wide party entirely centered around his own brilliance.
They celebrated his life until the very last rays of the sun dipped below the tree line, painting the clouds in vibrant, fiery shades of Kitsune red, before finally surrendering the sky to the dark.
***
Hours later, the sprawling Iron-Wood Manor had finally fallen into a deep, exhausted silence. The visiting tribes had made camp in the outer woods, and the warlords had retired to their quarters.
All the children were fast asleep in the nursery. Little Fedor was resting peacefully in his bassinet, the bright red gemstone tucked securely into the folds of his blankets to keep his magical core warm and stabilized.
Roxy could not sleep.
She slipped out of the master bedroom, pulling a heavy, dark fur cloak tightly around her shoulders. She walked softly through the empty corridors, pushing open the doors that led out onto the secluded, second-floor master balcony.
The winter air was freezing, biting sharply at her cheeks, but she welcomed the grounding shock of the cold.
Roxy stepped up to the stone balustrade, leaning her elbows against the icy railing. She tipped her head back, her brilliant green eyes staring up at the vast, endless canopy of glittering stars scattered across the black Beastworld sky.
In the quiet, freezing dark, the adrenaline of the memorial completely faded, leaving her entirely alone.
Roxy gripped the stone railing until her knuckles turned white.
She looked out over the dark canopy of the Iron-Wood. She thought of Zarek’s booming laugh, Kaelen’s stoic loyalty, the soft weight of Fedor in her arms, and the devastating, starry explosion of Ren’s final moments.
She had bled for this world. She had wept, she had fought, and she had loved with every single fiber of her being.
I just couldn’t believe it, Roxy thought, a cold, suffocating dread pooling in her stomach. All the years I have spent here. The pain, the joy, the children... it wasn’t real to the heavens. It was just a story.
If they aren’t real... does that mean I am not real either?
[TheMotheroftheWorld: You are real! Do not let the darkness of his arrogance poison your mind, my child. Your soul is a brilliant, undeniable truth!]
[theWorldbuildingGod: The Architect may have laid the foundation of this realm, but you breathed the chaotic fire of life into it. You and your children are all absolutely real. They carry the undeniable weight of existence because they came directly from you.]
Roxy let out a hollow, broken laugh. The reassurance felt incredibly hollow against the absolute, devastating memory of Abaddon’s purple crystal throne.
"They came from me?" Roxy whispered aloud to the empty balcony, her voice cracking with a bitter, defensive edge. She looked down at her own stomach, which had housed the Kitsune heir just a week ago. "But my womb is also not real! You guys gave me this womb!"
[theSassyGoddess: Are you absolutely kidding me right now?! Are you seriously undermining us, just because of the arrogant words of a bored, sadistic devil?! You felt your bones shift! You felt the Fox King’s heart stop! Do not insult your own survival by calling it a simulation!]
The sharp, divine scolding hit Roxy like a bucket of ice water.
The sassy goddess was right. Abaddon wanted her to feel insignificant. The Architect’s entire impossible "Main Quest" was designed to break her mind before it broke her body. If she surrendered to the existential dread, if she believed her family was just code, the devil had already won the wager.
Roxy squeezed her eyes shut, a fresh, hot wave of tears finally breaking through the dry, numb barrier of her grief. She bowed her head, her shoulders trembling beneath the heavy fur cloak.
"I’m sorry," Roxy whispered frantically, quickly shaking her head. "I’m sorry. I know... I know you guys have watched over me. I am so incredibly grateful to all of you for the deliveries, for the warnings. I’m just..."
Her voice broke into a quiet, devastated sob.
"I’m just so sad."
They didn’t reply.
Roxy stood on the balcony for a long time, letting the quiet settle on her.
She looked up at the glittering stars one last time. The terrifying wager with Abaddon loomed over her head like a guillotine. He was going to push her to her absolute limits.
Roxy wiped her cheeks, her brilliant green eyes hardening into a mask of absolute, terrifying resolve. She looked directly at the moon.
"Do I have to leave?"
