Angel Monarch-Chapter 533: The Hunt Begins

The night moved by quickly. A few hours of kissing later, they left the great tree's top, and together they moved down into Sera's cozy room.

The villagers hadn't learned the meaning of luxury and elaborate decorations. Sera's room looked quite barren.

A wide bed covered with clean linen faced the doorway. There was also a small table, two chairs and a simple vase with blooming flowers placed in water. Another door led to a bathroom with a working shower and toilet.

Other than the bare vase, the only decorations were a few paintings, barely resembling flowers and similar objects.

Not that either woman cared for decor. They spent a second glancing around, then moved to the lone bed and climbed inside.

The covers rustled as Sera and Bea continued their kissing session. Their hands teased each other restlessly, yet they never went a step further, keeping themselves pure for a while longer.

Sometimes Sera fought her way up top; other times, Bea came out victorious. However, when the eastern horizon began bleeding with color, they halted their hourlong kiss and simply enjoyed the silent moment they shared.

Bea wrapped her arms around Sera's stomach as she gently pressed her body closer to her back. She took tiny whiffs of the golden locks brushing her face. They smelled intoxicating and perfect, like heaven itself.

Sera kept one hand under her head, while the other moved up and down over Bea's arm. She felt goosebumps rise on her lover's skin, which brought a wide, joyful grin onto the Angel's lips.

"So, did you like the date?" asked Sera in a barely audible whisper, trying to keep the peaceful quiet alive.

An exhausted sigh whistled through Bea's nose. It tingled Sera's scalp as it brushed against her hair.

"I loved it, but don't get cocky! You might've won this battle, but I'll prepare better for the third date, and I'll win this war. I already have a clear idea!... Also, you won't need any underwear!"

Sera snuggled closer to Bea, then glanced behind her back and seductively whispered, "You know I never wear underwear, and neither do you! We won't even wear shoes or socks! Our only clothing is whatever you create!"

Bea giggled and whispered back, matching Sera's tone...

"Really? Then if I remove your clothes, then you'll walk around naked?... Don't tempt me..."

A lighthearted chuckle echoed from Sera's lips as a cunning smile spread across her face...

"Sure, you can watch me naked, but I wonder how long you can hold back your jealousy... Wouldn't you feel angry when every bystander stares at my naked breasts and butt... Not to mention my pu—..."

"Okay-okay! I get it! I won't remove your clothes... At least not in public!"

They both giggled and continued their easy chatter. However, when the tiniest tendrils of sunshine shone onto the great tree's foliage high above, a loud knock broke their peaceful conversation.

The knocker didn't wait for Sera to answer. The door opened a second later, and Melinda stepped inside with Lilith in tow. Their eyes widened upon seeing the second woman lying beside Sera.

Lilith instantly averted her eyes, even though both women wore their usual dresses. Melinda, on the other hand, nodded in acknowledgment as she declared, "Finally!"

She then turned towards Lilith with a wide smile...

"I've won, so pay up, bitch!" she said, and a moment later, Lilith pulled a silver coin out of her pocket and handed it to Melinda. "Also, tell Cass she lost the bet too!"

"What bet?" asked Bea curiously, which caused Sera to shake her head with an exasperated sigh.

Unlike her lover, she knew her best friend's personality quite well. Melinda loved making bets, but only on stupid, meaningless stuff, which meant...

"We've made a bet about when you'll get in bed together. Lilith bet that you'll get together after the hunting expedition, while Cass bet that you'll fuck in the forest. But I had a feeling you'd been planning something special for last night. Otherwise, you would've gone with the scouts!"

Sera rolled her eyes, while Bea's eyes widened. She didn't even notice that Sera, who loved sacrificing herself for her friends, had sent them on the expedition alone.

"And what was the bet?" asked Bea after a momentary silence.

Melinda and Lilith glanced together, a bit of red appearing on their cheeks, marking their embarrassment.

"Well, Sera minted a few hundred of those Angelic Metal coins. We've taken a few dozen each, and use them as bets. We pay each other for favors and to escape from certain tasks." Said Lilith, while Melinda nodded in agreement.

"Yes, for example, once I didn't want to fight a monster while exploring Northern Europe, so I paid a silver coin to Joan. She then immediately gave the coin back, and we had se—... Anyway, you get the idea..."

Sera finally reached the limit of her patience. She jumped out of the comfortable bed and stood before Lilith, since unlike Melinda, she actually listened to her Goddess's words.

"What brings you here exactly? It seemed urgent, since you barged into my room!"

Lilith glanced away, her face fully red from embarrassment...

"It's not actually urgent, but Melinda heard two voices from inside, so she entered without care..."

Suddenly, Melinda reached out and smacked the back of the High-Priestess's head...

"Hey, don't lie! You heard their voices, then suggested we should enter after knocking!"

The Dreamweaver crossed her arms and glanced away from Melinda while pouting...

"I don't know what you're talking about. It's obvious you're trying to push the blame onto an innocent, humble priestess!"

Sera raised a surprised eyebrow, then reached forward and gently patted the top of Lilith's head. The short woman glanced up at her Goddess, her swirling purple eyes gleaming with fulfillment.

"I think you should spend less time with Cass and Lucy. They're a bad influence!"

Lilith tried refuting Sera's claim, but the Angel's hand still brushed against her long golden hair, making any resistance against her Goddess's charm futile.

"I'm just joking. It's nice to see you finally act normal and more lighthearted... Anyway, let's talk about the reason you came here in the first place!"

Before either woman could've answered, a young girl wearing her usual dress, which resembled the night-sky walked inside the room. The cozy space felt much smaller with five people standing inside.

Vicky yawned while wiping her groggy eyes. She looked quite tired, which didn't make sense since Transcended never reach such levels of exhaustion without expending lots of Essence.

"We've got an issue. I've been using my Spirit Body to explore with the scouts, while also teleporting them around. However, no matter how hard we looked, it seems we can't find traces of Yggdrasil."

Bea and Sera glanced together. They didn't need to say a single word. Their gazes conveyed enough information to reach the same understanding.

It's been about a day since the scouts set out. They knew the general area where Yggdrasil was located, so by all means, they should've seen the enormous tree sticking out of the great forest like a sore thumb.

However, after witnessing Valerie's power as an Ethereal, they needed to abandon their usual way of thinking. Even as an Abomination, the ancient World Tree held enough power to grow a continent-sized forest, so underestimating her would've been quite stupid.

She could've easily hidden herself in the depths of the great forest. Maybe she can even move thousands of kilometers with ease while inside her domain...

The power of Ethereals was mysterious and inexplicable. It escaped logic, defied physics and abandoned common sense. They couldn't judge it using their collected knowledge... Luckily, they didn't need to...

While judging Yggdrasil's power was impossible, they could easily anticipate her desires. Previously, she attacked Sera's camp and tried kidnapping them. However, of everyone, it wanted Bea's body the most.

A wide, knowing grin spread across both women's faces as they glanced towards the gathered women.

"New plan. Teleport the scouts back and after everyone took a few-hour break and ate breakfast, we'll meet in the base of operations!"

Everyone looked quite confused, yet nobody defied Sera's request. Melinda and Lilith left to tell Hestia about breakfast, while Vicky told Henry everything and a few minutes later teleported the scouts back to the Village.

The sun continued rising, and it was nearly noon by the time they gathered inside the base of operations. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Cass got quite annoyed when Bea told her that the scouting mission was useless. The others either chuckled at her anger or sighed with exhaustion.

When everybody calmed down, Sera and Bea revealed their new plan. An insane and risky one, which couldn't be performed with ease... It made everyone excited...

"Since we can't scout Yggdrasil's position and plan an attack that way, we'll need to set a trap. Bea will be the bait, and we'll spring the ambush when the World Tree attacks!"

The gathered group nodded collectively, and soon a long, arduous planning session began.

Since Bea would put herself in enormous danger, Sera wanted to plan out everything to perfection. She made a dozen different contingency plans, which David refined until they could somewhat guarantee Bea's safety.

As the planning went on, night fell outside, creating the perfect time to start the hunt!

Everyone summoned their war-gear, and then Vicky teleported them all to the coastline where Sera built the Angelic Metal house atop a great tree's branch.

They all sprang into action, setting up the perfect ambush circle. There were no other monsters nearby, making the area especially perfect for the hunt.

However, through all their preparations, there was something Sera could never have expected... As they all stared towards the forest, the waves below became more violent, as something gigantic rose from the ocean...