"The more I come to know you, the more you become good in my eyes, Miss Ren," Alexander said, his voice carrying a note of genuine respect mixed with the calculated charm that had served him well over the years.
Luna Ren didn't say anything in response. She simply told him to rest for a bit and then be ready for the 11th raid of the East. The weight of her words lingered in the air long after she had left the room, a subtle reminder of the immense expectations placed upon him.
After their conversation, Alexander picked up a bottle of rich red wine and entered the private room where his bride, Kuroda Haruki, was waiting for him. The soft lighting cast gentle shadows across the elegant furnishings, creating an intimate atmosphere that contrasted sharply with the larger tensions of the world outside.
"Aren't you a virgin, are you? Huh, a girl who isn't virgin on the first day of the wedding night," Alexander said, his words laced with a full smirk and unmistakable happiness.
"Oh my husband, a wolf named Alexander Vane stole off my virginity like three to four years ago. Sorry for being unfaithful," Kuroda replied, her voice dropping into a seductive tone that pulled him closer. The night began in earnest between them, filled with passion, whispered words, and the kind of closeness that only newlyweds could share on such an evening.
---
Elsewhere, a woman entered the room of the vice guild master carrying a thick bunch of papers. She glanced at the empty seat behind the main desk and wondered where the vice guild master could be. Then her eyes fell on a figure behind the table a woman drinking heavily and smoking, half unconscious in a drunken state.
This was the vice guild master of the East Horizon guild, Vanya Aether.
"Umm, ma'am, are you okay?" the female worker asked cautiously.
"Ohh, am I definitely okay. Just don't tell godmother that I drank that much," Vanya replied, her voice cracked and slurred from the alcohol.
The female worker gently helped Vanya sit properly on the chair and then asked her to sign the papers with her official stamp and prepare for the 11th raid of the East.
"Do you really think I am not ready? I am hundred and one percent ready for this. This is the first time that I will personally be joining the raid," Vanya replied, though her words carried the weight of someone fighting through fog.
The expression of sadness was clearly visible on her face. After losing the people she loved the most, Vanya had broken down completely inside, but she could not waste her talent because of her grief. That was the saddest part of it all. Vanya wanted to die, yet her sense of duty would not let her, even when every part of her screamed for release. All she could do was cry. Nothing more in her life had remained as it once was. Her wishes had never succeeded once in her lifetime.
---
The next day, preparations for the 11th raid were in full swing. This would be the last raid of the humans in the East everyone knew it deep down. Aircrafts infused with synthetic inner flux and weaponries enhanced by the same energy were being readied and distributed among the hunters and warriors of the guild. Hunters from all over the West were gathering to participate in this massive undertaking.
The rules of the raid were simple.
Kill the monsters and submit them to the guild authority. The warriors who were participating had to give everything to the guild, while solo hunters could keep the magic items dropped by killing the monsters after a brief examination of the artifacts by guild officials. And if anyone saw a survivor, they were to make sure to rescue them without hesitation.
---
The raid was planned to proceed from the middle East region toward the central East region. The guild was deliberately avoiding raiding the easternmost part of the planet because of direct orders from Kurana Alexanderia. The farthest they could push was the centermost part.
---
Alexander Vane stood ready in his golden fur cloak and armor, looking every bit the leader he had become. Beside him was his newly married wife, Kuroda Haruki. She was taller than her husband, her presence commanding and steady. Then came the chief executive of this raid the vice guild master of East Horizon, Vanya Aether. She held her lord-class metallic chain weapon firmly, ready to dominate the monsters with her level 51 strength.
The army of warriors and hunters had gathered in front of the Great Wall of East and West. Slowly, the giant gates began to open with a deep, resonant sound that echoed across the assembled forces. The army started to ready itself for the crossing.
---
The plans for the raid were straightforward in their repetition. Conquer the cities by killing the monsters and camp inside them for some time. After clearing an area, half of the army would return to the main campsite of the East Horizon guild to submit the loot and resupply. During that time, the other half would remain camped within the conquered city to hold the position. When the first half returned, they would continue advancing together. The process would repeat again and again, pushing deeper with each cycle.
---
Now the gates stood fully open. The raid had officially begun.
---
The air was thick with anticipation and the faint metallic scent of weapons being checked one final time. Alexander adjusted his cloak, feeling the weight of leadership settle on his shoulders. This was not just another operation it was a statement. Kuroda stood close, her hand briefly brushing his in silent support before they both focused on the horizon. Vanya, despite the lingering haze from the previous night, moved with purpose, her chain weapon glinting as she tested its reach.
Hunters murmured among themselves, some sharing stories of past raids, others checking their flux-infused gear with nervous energy. The scale of this 11th raid was unlike anything before. For two years or more, this campaign would define the future of human efforts in the East. Lives would be lost, treasures recovered, and survivors if any still clung to hope in those ruined lands would be brought back.
Alexander's mind drifted momentarily to the conversation with Luna Ren. Her doubts were clear, but he had spoken his truth. Years of relentless training had brought him to his peak. Excluded from the system by his Alexanderia bloodline, he had turned that limitation into strength. He knew the risks, yet the fire in him refused to dim.
Vanya, walking a few steps ahead, gripped her weapon tighter. The sadness she carried was a constant shadow, but duty burned brighter. She would lead from the front, brutal and unrelenting, because stopping meant facing the emptiness she had tried to drown the night before.
As the first waves of the army began moving through the gates, the East awaited them, a land scarred by monsters, loss, and the relentless passage of four brutal years. The raid had started, and with it, a new chapter in humanity's struggle to reclaim what had been taken.