Alina Vladimir, aka Taiyi, was the Supreme Commander of the China-Russia Alliance. Even Kwon Oh-Jin, who normally paid little attention to the Seven Stars, had heard her name in passing more than once.

“If we succeed in recruiting this Alina, we could actually mobilize an army?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“Yes, exactly. She has complete control over the China-Russia Alliance’s military power.”

“Hmm.”

An army, huh.

Kwon Oh-Jin folded his arms, deep in thought.

“About how many troops are we talking?”

Just a few hundred Awakeners couldn’t be called an army. At the very least, he expected over a thousand.

Maybe over two thousand if there’s a lot of them.

More than two thousand Awakeners would be a tremendous force.

At first glance, that sounded far too little to be called an army, but only because that number was limited to Awakeners. The ratio varied from country to country, but on average, the ratio of ordinary humans to Awakeners was a thousand to one. In other words, even gathering two thousand Awakeners was already enormous.

And Awakeners are incredibly hard to gather.

Regardless of their star rank, Awakeners naturally believed they were special. After all, they carried the stereotype of being arrogant and conceited for a reason.

Well... you can’t really blame them.

With Stigmas granted by Celestials, they could perform miracles that ordinary people couldn’t even dream of. Of course, they would develop a sense of superiority.

Gathering those prideful Awakeners to form an army?

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

If someone had given him that role, he would have collapsed from stress.

“Hmm. Hold on. I don’t know the exact number, but...” After running some numbers in her head, Cassia continued. “At the very least, more than ten thousand.”

“What?”

Not a thousand, but ten thousand? How’s that even possible?

“Wait, are they forcibly conscripting Awakeners or something? How do they have that many?”

“You’re correct.”

“What do you mean?”

Don’t tell me—

“That’s right. The China-Russia Alliance forcibly drafts all Awakeners above adulthood, regardless of their star rank.”

“...”

Damn, so it is possible.

“Of course, they’re not all crammed together like a normal army in barracks. However, they are officially registered as military personnel. Forming guilds and such is also forbidden. I suppose, they’re closer to civil servants than soldiers.”

“Ha.” Kwon Oh-Jin dryly laughed and shook his head.

He never thought a country could actually conscript Awakeners.

Sure, he had grown up in a country with mandatory military service. Still, conscripting ordinary citizens was very different from conscripting Awakeners.

Whatever the reasons, from his perspective, it benefited him since he needed an army right now.

“Come to think of it, what Stigma does Alina Vladimir have?”

“The Stigma of Cygnus.”

“Cygnus?”

Isn’t that Deneb’s Stigma? Alina was one of Deneb’s twelve apostles?

If so, that was strange. During the proxy war and even afterward, Kwon Oh-Jin had never once seen her near Deneb. Either way, if she was one of Deneb’s twelve apostles...

“Perfect. I can just ask Allen to help me bring her in, right?”

Allen Oskar, aka Mizar, was basically the leader of Deneb’s apostles. With his help, recruiting her wouldn’t be difficult. Besides, Allen still owed him for the matter with Baek Mu-Kang.

Vega shook her head softly. “That... won’t be easy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I once heard Deneb grumbling about one of his apostles who never once visited his temple.”

“And that was Alina?”

“I believe so. Even though Deneb swallowed his pride and invited her to his temple several times, she refused and said she didn’t want to be tied to any Celestial.”

“Hmm.”

Alina had received her Stigma from Deneb, but didn’t want to follow him.

It’s not unheard of.

In fact, Awakeners rarely treated their Celestial like priests worshiping a god.

Even if you worship them, it’s not like it does you any good.

After all, a Stigma was just a seed. Once it took root in a human, the Celestial could no longer directly help or influence their growth. No matter how much an Awakener devoted themselves and sacrificed for their Celestial, they wouldn’t really gain anything.

I guess, besides receiving their blessings.

Not all Celestials had only one apostle like Vega. Most Celestials had hundreds or even thousands of apostles, so they couldn’t just hand out their blessings carelessly.

“You’re saying it’s unlikely I can even count on Allen’s cooperation?”

Well, perhaps Allen would still help since they shared the same Stigma. Unfortunately, this matter seemed far too big to lean on such a shallow connection.

For an Awakener, sharing the same Stigma is about as significant as having gone to the same school.

Asking a military commander to dispatch troops just because they once went to the same school probably wouldn’t work. And not just anywhere, but to a danger zone crawling with demonic beasts strong enough to wipe out an entire city.

You’d be lucky not to get shot down on the spot.

Anyway, relying on Allen was off the table.

“That means I’ll have to recruit Alina myself...”

Kwon Oh-Jin knew too little about her to do so.

“In that case, leave it to me.” Cassia confidently stepped forward. “I’ve already gathered all the basic information on Alina Vladimir.”

“Huh, when did you manage to dig all that up?”

“Hehe. Did you think I spent the past three months doing nothing?” Puffing her chest out proudly, Cassia tilted her head toward him.

The gesture looked like a puppy asking for praise. Before he realized it, Kwon Oh-Jin reached out and patted her head. He quickly pulled his hand back, remembering too late how much women hated having their heads touched without permission.

“Ah, sorry.”

However, Cassia quickly caught his retreating hand. “A-A little longer.”

How could he refuse when she looked at him with those sparkling emerald puppy eyes?

Kwon Oh-Jin gave in and gently ruffled her hair as she wished.

“Hehe.” Cassia’s lips curled into a loose smile as she leaned close, almost cuddling against him.

Her smooth, silky hair made him lose himself for a moment until he sensed the sharp stares from the other women around them.

Kwon Oh-Jin quickly pulled his hand back. “Ahem. What’s the info on Alina?”

Looking a bit disappointed at the loss of his touch, Cassia reached into her shadow and took out a photo.

The image showed a woman with short, silver hair just above her shoulders. Her tightly pressed lips and sharp eyes radiated the aura of a strong warrior.

“Alina Vladimir, born into a Russian military family. She was a soldier even before the first rift opened,” Cassia explained.

“A soldier through and through, then.”

“Yes. After awakening with the Stigma of Cygnus, she quickly rose in power and led a military unit of Awakeners to hunt demonic beasts. Oh, and she joined the Seven Stars about six years ago.”

Six years ago was shortly after the Seven Stars first formed.

She’s basically an original member.

Her star rank had to be correspondingly high.

“What’s her star rank now?”

“There’s no confirmed information, but... she’s estimated to be eleven star like us.”

“An eleven-star, huh.”

Alina was indeed strong enough to act as the supreme commander of an allied army.

“Let me see the picture too.” Song Ha-Eun, who had been listening quietly, suddenly snatched the photo. “Hmm. This is Taiyi.” She whistled as she studied the photo. “She’s pretty.”

Alina had a tall build, solid shoulders, and sharp eyes. A dignified might came to mind before being pretty. However, judged purely on her features, Alina Vladimir was undeniably beautiful.

“You’re saying we need to recruit her to our side? And Oh-Jin, you’re the one who has to do it directly?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“That’s right.”

“Hmm.” Song Ha-Eun narrowed her eyes as she kept staring at the photo.

“What is it?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“You’re not planning to get tangled up with this one too, are you?”

“What are you talking about? Of course not.”

Why did Song Ha-Eun suddenly bring up nonsense? 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“That’s a confident answer coming from someone with one hell of a record involving women.” Song Ha-Eun folded her arms and deliberately looked over at Isabella, Vega, and Cassia.

Kwon Oh-Jin flinched, feeling guilty.

Cassia burst into laughter and stepped over to Song Ha-Eun. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

From her shadow, another photo came out. This one showed a middle-aged woman. Her skin looked dry and weathered, her face etched with deep wrinkles as if worn down by years of hardship.

“And who’s this old lady supposed to be?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“That’s Alina Vladimir, ten years ago.”

Song Ha-Eun’s jaw dropped wide open. “W-What?”

From this photo alone, no one would believe it was the same person.

Cassia shrugged. “After becoming a high-ranking Awakener, her looks became younger again due to the body’s reconstruction, but she’s already over fifty years old.”

“Well, in that case, Vega’s actually even older—”

“B-Be quiet, will you!” Vega flew over and tugged Song Ha-Eun’s hair. “How many times have I told you never to speak of my age!”

“Ahhh! Sorry, I said I’m sorry!” Barely escaping Vega’s grip, Song Ha-Eun turned back to Cassia. “Anyway, her age doesn’t make her a sage.”

“Miss Ha-Eun, aren’t you forgetting something?” Cassia asked.

“What?”

“Apart from Celestials, most people in their fifties usually have their own families, you know?”

Song Ha-Eun faintly gasped. “Oh.”

“Alina Vladimir has a son who’s already an adult.”

“Ah. I see.” Song Ha-Eun almost sighed in relief.

At least, she was about to when Cassia added, “Though I think she was widowed some time ago.”

Song Ha-Eun’s eyes flicked to Kwon Oh-Jin.

A beautiful widow in her fifties with a child. An inexplicable chill crawled down her spine.

“Nothing will happen, right?”

I trust my dear Oh-Jin.