New Threats?

Landen's smile remained until he returned to the bunker, where he received a warm welcome.

Well, in reality, only two people came out to greet him. Er... to be more precise, one person and a corpse.

The person was, of course, Lilith. This beautiful succubus had very particular tastes. She was interested in all the handsome Dark Elves, liked Hogg even more, and enjoyed teasing Avina from time to time. Vivian, on the other hand, did not interest her in the slightest.

So, after seeing Vivian in the bunker for the first time, Lilith decided not to meet with her. As a result, until Vivian had left with her troops last time, she had no idea that Landen had such a beautiful expert from the Silver Domain with him.

This time, however, Lilith had taken the initiative to appear before Vivian, dragging a corpse behind her.

"Little brother, it looks like you have quite a few enemies. Someone actually sent a Death Warrior to kill you." Vivian said this to Landen, but her beautiful eyes kept wandering over Vivian's face.

A Death Warrior?

Landen froze. The smile he had worn after Hogg's return vanished instantly.

One Death Warrior certainly wouldn't have caused such a huge reaction from Landen. After all, he had suffered countless assassination attempts throughout his life and seen plenty of Death Warriors. He could already face assassination attempts without changing expression or missing a beat.

What truly caused his expression to change was that he suddenly remembered certain fragments.

"If this is all the strength you have, I seriously doubt whether you'll still be alive when I return from conquering Morata City."

"You sent your strongest subordinate to me, yet you still dared to come out? I'm extremely surprised that you're still alive."

Since arriving here, during the short time she had spent with Landen, Vivian had said things like this more than once. At first, Landen hadn't taken them seriously. After all, Vivian had said things like that countless times since childhood.

Even after hearing those words, Landen still didn't believe Vivian would truly attack him. At the very least, she wouldn't do so while Vivian was leading her troops on campaign. They were siblings, after all, and Matriarch Isis was above them. No matter how badly Vivian wanted Landen dead, she still had to follow certain rules.

She could assassinate Landen while ensuring she remained beyond suspicion. She could also find a sufficient excuse to attack him openly. But she absolutely could not attack him directly like this!

This world was built on rules. No matter what one's status was, one had to follow them. Vivian was no exception.

Was she planning to tear all relations apart, even ignoring Mother?

Landen abruptly turned his head and stared fixedly at Vivian. Hogg and several Dark Elves tensed as well, ready to act at any moment!

Vivian, however, paid no attention to any of this. She didn't even look at Lilith, the beautiful succubus. She simply walked straight toward the corpse.

The corpse naturally belonged to the Death Warrior who had come to assassinate Landen. The poor fellow had finally found an opportunity to sneak into the bunker while Landen was away. He had thought he was hiding well, but he had failed to realize that the bunker wasn't empty. The strongest member of Landen's side had remained there precisely because she was too lazy to farm with Landen.

As a result, the poor fellow had been dragged out by Lilith as easily as a mouse being caught. He had been decisive as well. Once he realized there was no chance of escaping Lilith, he had immediately committed suicide.

Vivian walked over, reached out, and lifted the corpse directly. She examined it carefully, pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned her head slightly and said, "Mariko."

The Black Robe, one of her three subordinates, stepped forward, took the corpse, and began examining it on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, the corpse had been stripped completely naked. The ladies present were no ordinary people. Aside from Avina shyly covering her eyes, the others watched without changing expression. Hogg even looked at the corpse, then at Landen, as though comparing something...

The Black Robe rose and bowed to Vivian. "He's from the Mara Family. Although he went to great lengths to disguise himself, and even deliberately planted clues pointing toward you, Matriarch, some things cannot be hidden. The traces left behind by the Mara Family's secret methods for training Death Warriors cannot be erased so easily."

After saying this, the Black Robe turned and withdrew.

"The Mara Family..." Vivian turned around and looked at Landen with a half-smile. "I didn't expect to guess wrong. I always thought the only family that wanted to move against you was the Vol Family. I never imagined your talent for causing trouble would exceed my expectations by so much. I'm suddenly rather curious. During all the years I was away from Solennord, just how many families' Matriarch candidates did you ruin?"

"Wha... What?" Landen instantly looked utterly bewildered.

"What? You did it and still don't want to admit it? I saw that person from the Vol Family with my own eyes. You didn't seem to be an adult yet at the time, did you? You actually managed to trick that little princess of the Vol Family into your bed. Although she would certainly have countless lovers in the future, I'm still rather surprised that she gave her virginity to someone like you... You're no good in other areas, but you certainly know how to pick up women."

Landen's expression changed from bewilderment to embarrassment. While Vivian was saying all this, he was desperately searching his memories. Yet even after combing through everything left behind by his predecessor, Landen couldn't recall anything connected to what Vivian had said.

Damn it. I always thought you were like the old me—a "sealed package." I never expected you to already be an experienced player. Didn't I lose out big-time? Landen muttered to himself.

"I thought you'd really made some progress. Who would have thought..." Vivian clearly had no intention of continuing the topic. She abruptly changed the subject. "So, this succubus was also invited here using that ability of yours?"

Landen was still there feeling sorry for himself when Lilith spoke first. With a coquettish laugh, she said, "That's right, pretty girl. I have to say, your little brother's skills in that area are truly excellent. You didn't know? For Dark Elves, it seems perfectly normal to do such things even with close relatives. You've never tried it? What a pity. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't miss his first time."

After saying this, she ignored everyone's reactions and giggled at Landen. "Little brother, Big Sister will be waiting for you in her room tonight."

With that, she turned and left.

"Hmph!" Vivian simply watched Lilith enter the bunker. Only after a long while did she let out a cold snort. Without saying anything else, she led her troops into the bunker.

"So the lord really is that amazing? In that case, can I wait for you in your room tonight too, my lord?" Hogg, the Beast-eared Cutie, hadn't understood Lilith's words at all. But by instinct, she sensed that it was "not a bad thing," which led to this remark.

And then...

"The lord... is a pervert!" Poor Avina struggled to say those words before fleeing back into the bunker like a frightened fawn.

"What is any of this supposed to mean?!"

The lord's miserable howl echoed across the wilderness outside the bunker, lingering for a long time...