Chapter 36: The Afterglow and the Road Beyond

Title: Ashes and Embers: A Valeria Side Chapter

The sun hadn't yet risen, but Jin's room in the Valerian Lord's Hall was bathed in a warm, golden glow.

It wasn't sunlight, but the soft flicker of the dragon flame hearth embedded into the wall—a recent addition, custom-designed to provide gentle warmth and ambient qi flow.

Jin stirred, his enhanced senses already awake long before his body caught up.

The weight on his chest was soft but solid, the rhythmic rise and fall of another's breath steady against him.

Long hair brushed his jaw, and a pair of slender arms hugged him loosely.

Another body lay curled at his side, her head tucked under his arm.

A third, warmer figure had one leg draped over his thighs and an arm lazily tossed over his abdomen.

He opened his eyes slowly.

Sheets lay in chaotic disarray, crumpled and damp from heat, effort, and something deeper. The scent of firewood, sweat, and passion hung in the air like incense in a temple.

Memories flowed in slow, vivid ripples.

Arielle's trembling hands cupping his face as she whispered that it was for his own good.

Lila's golden eyes rimmed with tears before she kissed him, desperate to keep him tethered to life.

Sarah's shy stammers giving way to moans, her fingers intertwined with his.

It hadn't been just intimacy.

It had been sacrifice.

Jin had pushed his body to the absolute limit, invoking both his Dragon and Blood Demon bloodlines in a battle that would be sung about for generations.

The system couldn't stabilize his energy core without a massive release of yang energy. And so, without needing to be told, they gave him everything.

Not out of duty. Out of love.

Jin slowly, carefully slid out from under them. The floor was cool against his soles.

The wooden boards creaked gently under his weight. His muscles groaned as he stood—not from pain, but from density.

Every part of him felt heavier. Not burdensome, but... fortified.

He turned back.

Arielle's silver-blonde hair glowed faintly with draconic resonance, her skin radiant in the dim light.

Lila's figure curled protectively over a pillow, her breathing slow and steady.

Sarah lay with a slight smile on her lips, one hand resting where his heart had been.

Jin whispered, more to the universe than them, "Thank you."

Valeria mourned with dignity.

The funeral pyres had begun before dawn. Blacksmiths had paused their hammers. Soldiers cleaned themselves and wore ceremonial robes. The infirm hobbled forward, bandages fresh.

Jin joined the first procession in silence, carrying the body of a fallen archer to the flames.

He did not speak.

He did not need to.

One by one, he helped carry the fallen.

He knelt beside families.

He bowed to children clutching bloodstained cloaks.

He was not a lord that day.

He was a mourner.

When the pyres were ash and only prayers remained, Jin shifted to action.

Beast corpses littered the field outside the walls.

With blueprints unlocked via system synchronization, Jin oversaw the construction of Valeria's first dedicated Beast Material Refinery.

[New Building Constructed: Beast Material Refinery – Tier 1]

Allows breakdown of monster corpses into usable parts for crafting, trade, and alchemy.

Workers moved quickly, directed by Lana and the generals.

Beast bones were carted to the forge.

Cores were preserved in spirit containers.

Hide and sinew were stretched and cured.

Jin worked in the heart of it.

Personally shaping cores for spiritual conduits.

Teaching blacksmiths how to etch runes.

Assisting Sarah in identifying which organs could be turned into elixirs.

Each action was focused.

Purposeful.

[System Notification: Next Beast Horde in 25 Days]

Suggested Objectives: Expand population. Increase military readiness. Fortify wall defenses.

Later that day, Jin convened a strategy meeting.

"We need more people," he said flatly. "There are refugees in the forests. Survivors hiding in burned towns. Slaves in other cities who have no idea they deserve better."

Gorvan, the hulking infantry general, nodded. "I've seen camps on the border. Scattered, unarmed. Easy pickings if someone else finds them first."

Riven, calm and calculating, simply said, "We ride."

The next morning, Jin mounted his spirit beast stallion—a midnight-black charger with crimson eyes and hooves that left no prints.

With Gorvan, Riven, and thirty elite scouts, he set course for Kavan's Gate City, 300 kilometers west.

The journey was haunting.

Burned villages.

Caravans picked clean by beasts.

Children wandering with sticks.

Jin stopped at every ruin.

Left food.

Left letters.

Left hope.

By sunset, the walls of Kavan rose like judgment itself.

Flawless.

Tall.

Unbroken.

"No scorch marks," Riven observed.

"They paid to avoid the horde," Jin muttered.

At the gate, a bored guard waved them off.

"Three silver per head. No exceptions."

"For what?" Jin asked.

"Repairs from the horde. City needs funds."

Jin looked behind him. The walls were pristine. The guards well-fed.

A golden sedan rolled past the line without stopping.

"That one doesn't pay?" a woman in the crowd called.

"Mayor Siven's son," the guard yawned. "Exempt."

Anger rippled through the people.

Jin exhaled. "Not today."

He paid.

Inside, Kavan was bustling.

Markets overflowing.

Mages selling glowing stones.

Children laughing.

It was surreal.

Jin went straight to the slave quarter.

Boss Lu, a fat man with greasy rings and sharper eyes, greeted him.

"Lord Jin! I've heard of your rise. Valeria's new dragon prince, eh?"

"Don't flatter me, Lu. I want workers. Fighters. Survivors."

Lu's grin widened. "200 head. Mixed stock. Rogue mages, herbalists, three dwarves, and a water affinity healer."

"Two hundred gold," Jin said.

"No haggle?"

"No time."

That night, they lodged at the Red Lantern Inn.

Two rooms.

Women in one.

Men in the other.

As Jin paid the innkeeper, a perfume-drenched figure brushed past him.

"Move, peasant."

A shoulder slammed into Jin's back.

He turned slowly.

Mayor Siven's son.

Pampered. Arrogant. Surrounded by guards.

"Watch where you stand," the youth sneered. "Next time, I might mistake you for furniture."

Jin didn't even blink.

"Be careful, little prince," he said. "Some furniture bites back."

The youth scoffed and disappeared upstairs.

Riven glanced at Jin. "Not going to crush him?"

"Later," Jin muttered. "Right now, I just want a bath."

And so he bathed.

Alone.

Steam rose around his scarred chest.

His arms.

His hands.

He stared at his reflection in the water.

He did not recognize it.

Dragon.

Demon.

Tyrant.

He was all three.

And still somehow human.

But for how long?

Tomorrow, they'd return with 200 souls.

Tomorrow, Valeria would rise higher.

But tonight, he soaked in silence.

In peace.

In gratitude.

And in fear of the man he might yet become.