When the Benevolent Goddess Mistress was Offended

While Arash was busy faking his way in front of Tok Silihan, Hana's heart was sufficiently prepared for the next phase of her agenda. There was a covert hard light within, signifying her increased determination.

The Goddess Mistress admired the scene in her front 'yard' where a large clearing was situated underneath the adulation of the creatures gathered below. Most of them were hardworking 'volunteers' from the Marine Waterwave Clan working on the Serpent Lair's fields and tiny little nosy birds from the Sanctuary who had nothing to do. 

The spacious clearing currently looked cramped with so many eagle-like birds the size of a one to three-tonne truck arranged neatly together in four rows. Elemental Fiends of various colors were working hard to maintain order. She smiled benevolently to the curious onlookers and waved a few times, acknowledging their presence. It invoked a flurry of cheers as if a festival was starting!

Lady, their liaison at their new vassal area, the recently acquired Grey Rock Mountain, stood up after prostrating on the ground for so long once she noticed the Goddess Mistress' presence. She had reached the Serpent Lair two days ago and waited patiently for the Goddess Mistress as instructed without making a fuss since she was told that the Mistress was cultivating in seclusion.

Little Pi-chan, the acting Lord of the Grey Rock Mountain, nestled atop their proxy's head comfortably, looking like a comical plump circular barret. Once Pi-chan noticed the aunty, it immediately flew towards her and crooned happily to be cradled over her bosom.

Hana was speechless when she noticed the naughty little bird and nearly laughed but she quickly adjusted her expression to only smile gently. She almost dropped her 'Goddess' facade she had been working hard to maintain! So dangerous! The chubby bird had gained a lot of weight! It must've lived well at the Grey Rock Mountain. 

Lady screeched heroically, "These are all the active late-staged Noble warriors of the Grey Rock Mountain, at your service! We are here to receive your Blessing!"

The aunty quickly counted the gigantic birds. 

Twenty-four new birds! 

Shiro whispered telepathically to Hana. It seemed that the Grey Rock Mountain lost a big deal by attacking us. All of them are at least at the late Noble stage. The strongest are the last two at the back row, Half-step Lords. The eagles' realms are on par with me. With this, we will have our very own force to protect our land.

Lord Shiro nodded with satisfaction at their servile attitude, but he knew that there could be someone who was secretly dissatisfied with Lady's arrangement. The clash of factions within the Grey Rock Mountain was within his knowledge. Lady could barely hold all forces together with the help of Pii-chan. Although Pii-chan did not have the real power to control the clan, his lineage as a genius Gold-banded Eagle shut the rest up. A Gold band signified a higher-tiered evolution; a better bloodline. There hadn't been a Gold-banded eagle born within the clan since the clan's founding.

"Stay in your formation and fly up one at a time!" The Guardian of the Serpent's Lair barked menacingly.

The gigantic birds stayed obediently under the rapt gazes of the busybody spectators. 

The ash-white Glacier Mirage Fox stood beside the aunty with a regal posture, getting ready to attack any would-be offenders. His cold gaze was filled with unbridled killing intent as he stared down at the birds who flew over to the platform one by one. They could not afford to let the Goddess Mistress of the Serpent Lair to be attacked again, especially when the majority of the population was watching. 

The binding was as uneventful as usual; as long as the Spiritual Beasts didn't fight, it would be smooth sailing for both parties. However, the event was treated as something solemn and sacred by everyone. Their eyes were glued to the Goddess Mistress and the Silver-banded Eagle atop the platform.

Hana was brave enough to produce her own blood by herself and pressed it at the forehead of the bird present; there was no need for the Spiritual Beast to ingest the blood droplet like before since her Soul Power had reached the Third Tier, the Adolescent stage. 

The eagle's eyes quaked in pain and fear once it felt its soul was cleanly cleaved into two. Half of the soul disappeared, leaving only the other wounded half. An ancient rune appeared and branded what was left, leaving them in excruciating pain. Slowly, a faint link was formed. The eagle could feel the being in front of it, as if they were tied by something.

Hana gently patted the eagle's yellow beak affectionately and tapped her forehead over the eagle's forehead in thanks, giving it a surprise. 

Welcome to the Family. 

Hana repeated the process and ended with the same greeting telepathically to each new family member. Her words were sincere as it could be felt directly by her new pets, making them feel touched.

The Third Tier represented a significant distinction between a Spiritual Beast and a Soul Beast as both had evolved through two different cultivation systems. Early-staged Third Tier Lightning Serpents could enslave creatures below the Lord rank.

Although lacking in physical prowess, her Soul energy was at par with an Adolescent Soul Beast. Her Soul was stronger than any of the Silver-banded Eagles present, although not by much. After all, all of them were late-staged Nobles whose Souls had been polished by the Lightning Tribulation once, making them quite sturdy. Due to that, each bird took Hana about twenty minutes to properly establish the Ownership Rune.

This time, Hana managed to soldier through without fainting as her Soul Hall Domain expanded rapidly through the Soul Energy absorption. Her Avatar absorbed multiple lights of different colors rapidly time and time again. 

Hana closed her eyes to feel her avatar within the Soul Hall Domain. 

She instinctively knew her Soul-based attack techniques became stronger. The previous Soul-linking experiences weren't so obvious since she had been enslaving her pets at different times. But this time, the change was very pronounced. Stars appeared one after another, adorning her Soul Hall Domain.

The clearing was filled with hushed sounds as the creatures working in the agriculture area nearby were appalled by the writhing birds who returned from the platform after the Bestowal Ceremony. The pain when one's soul was cleaved into two was excruciating and profound. Hana had done it as gentle as possible after so many practice sessions with the previous predecessors.

It looked painful, but not as bad as how the fire pangolin suffered from two weeks ago. 

...

..

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Time passed by. 

There were only the three strongest of the eagles left. 

Hana waited for the twenty-second Silver-banded Eagle to approach her patiently. Her Soul swelled so much with the addition of twenty-one partial Souls within her making her lose her focus slightly. Originally, she already had twelve. The Eagles increased the community to double the previous amount! Although the eagles didn't particularly have strong souls in general, Spiritual Beasts of a higher realm did have a more resilient soul.

The twenty-second Advanced-staged Noble eagle hid an unfriendly look as it silently prepared an attacking skill to finish off the Leader of the Serpent's Lair. It pretended to be solemn and meek.

Once Hana extended her index finger to touch its forehead, it immediately raised its gigantic razor-sharp metallic wings at Hana's throat!

Hana's gentle demeanor immediately turned cold. She blinked her eyes as they turned ruby red immediately. The horrifying pressure of a Lord-level beast descended on the attacker as she narrowed her eyes icily. The last three eagles were pressured in place until their bones creaked. 

Once bitten, twice shy.

Semut's attack on her Soul Hall Domain had taught her not to underestimate or even pity these animals if they didn't even realize their own position. Being too benevolent would only lead to her being seen as weak-willed and could be pushed around. She wouldn't want to die in vain. How stupid could she be when her family was waiting for her?!

Knowing that it wouldn't be able to survive, the attacking eagle struggled hard on the platform to make a last-ditch attempt at retaliation while screeching hatefully. It tried to release sharp saber-like feathers to at least fatally injure the Serpent's Lair Leader if it couldn't kill her! A Spiritual Energy Shield with ice property was already covering the Leader in a split second, annulling the follow-up attacks.

Hana observed the struggling eagle coldly. The other two on the clearing below had been locked down by all twenty-one of their own kin under Hana's Soul Decree.

"Lord Shi. Break its wings. Hold it in place." Assuming an authoritative dignity, Hana directed a merciless order. In a public setting, she would call her little favorite Shi-chan with his title.

Two sharp icy wind blades lopped off both wings. 

The eagles' and other avian's eyes turned wide in fright! Wings were the life of an avian. Losing one's wings was akin to killing the bird altogether. 

Hana invaded the attacker's soul roughly with her ownership rune, rendering it defenseless. She twisted her soul energy wave into a helical shape filled with barbed wires and scoured its soul as she listened to the leaking inner thoughts.

Hana narrowed her eyes dangerously. 

The other two were also would-be assailants. They just didn't manage to retaliate before being suppressed by the others.

The attacker was having a seizure with its saliva dripping from its mouth, scaring everyone present. It choked on its own saliva while screeching intermittently. It was almost the same as the previous Fire Pangolin! Looking at the bird invoked very painful memories within as he uncontrollably shivered! The other two late-staged Noble eagles struggled hard to escape the Goddess' confinement but failed!

Hana showered the last remaining ambers of the eagle's soul and actively extinguished it with her soul energy wave without mercy! The abundance of Soul Power from the dead Silver-banded eagle was then absorbed by her Avatar, giving her a significant boost of Soul Power.

The bird's eyes dimmed after a harrowing fifteen minutes of agony, and its breath became shallow, just like a lifeless doll. It slumped to its side and twitched slightly.

Hana took out the Claw Blade tied to her thigh and emotionlessly slashed the neck of the eagle. A torrent of blood spurted out from its jugular, splashing her like rain. 

The clearing was eerily silent as they watched the blood-soaked Benevolent Goddess silently staring at the last two Silver-banded Eagles cowering, daring them to take action. 

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