Heaven, Earth, Me

Once outside, Cecile's body went limp, and Yasenia easily caught her in her arms. She held her up by placing one arm beneath her knees and the other supporting her back, while using her tail to help support the rest of Cecile's body.

Looking at Yasenia's serious expression while looking down, Angel approached and asked, worried. "Did everything go well, Yasenia?"

The dragoness looked sideways and down at her, her irises still bloody red from her remaining anger. They were extremely intimidating, but Angel didn't flinch or look away, keeping her innocent and pure gaze locked on Yasenia's face. 'Wow~, she looks so good when she is angered! Kya!'

Seeing the blinking cute girl, looking up at her with her big and moist blue eyes, Yasenia couldn't help but smile softly. "Everything went well, Baby. Don't worry."

Mirrory spoke up, standing in front of Tatyana, who held a silver ball made purely of soul energy. "Interesting how a Soul Strand can become so different from the real deal. I wonder how much your Soul Strand will change over the years, Yasenia."

The dragoness looked at the ancient mirror and asked, curious. "Were you expecting her to do something like this?" 

Mirrory shook her head. "Of course not. I knew she didn't have good intentions, but I didn't know that she was going to try something like this." 

Yasenia mumbled. "I see…" 

"Don't think about it deeply, Yasenia." Mirrory smiled faintly. "Also, now that we have this, we can plan a little bit better how to help you with your Sixth Realm tribulation."

The dragoness sighed with a smile. "More than that, I want to know how to compress my energy into a solid state… I am still not sure how to squeeze it…" Yasenia paused and blinked twice. "Squeeze… Pressure…"

Remembering how the Moon Goddess couldn't even stand up under the pressure of the [Celestial Energy Star], Yasenia's eyes widened in realization. "Ah! I think I know how to do it!"

Everyone knew that Yasenia had been stuck here for already more than a year, so they were delighted to hear her words. Evelyn asked, curious. "What did you think about?"

This discovery slowly dissipated her remaining anger, allowing the gentle, beautiful, and warm golden color to wash the bloody red away. Seeing as the two charming golden orbs returned to normal, everyone felt a wave of relief and gratification. They really didn't want Yasenia to feel angry and upset if they could avoid it. 

"When I was fighting the Moon Goddess Soul Strand, I summoned the Celestial Energy Star into the Soul World." The girls listened closely, and her following words made them feel astounded. "The Soul Strand couldn't even bear its weight and fell flat onto the ground. This has given me the idea of using that same pressure in my own energy to squeeze my liquid energy into its solid form!"

Andrea asked, unable to just accept her words with a tolerant mind. "You did what to the Soul Strand?" The dragoness looked at her innocently and blinked cutely as she answered. "I stomped her against the ground several times and then completely overpowered her."

Andrea's startled expression made Yasenia chuckle. Evelyn rubbed her forehead and looked toward the seniors. "Weren't Sixth Realm beings basically invincible? How did our resident dragon manage to overpower one to that extent?"

Valeria answered them since Tatyana and Mirrory were focused on the Soul Strand. The giant and voluptuous green lady smiled and said. "Yasenia's soul is her strongest quality. We said this several times, didn't we?"

Evelyn protested, blurting. "I thought it was mortal-level strong! Not slamming-a-God's-Soul-Strand-Into-The-Ground-Helplessly strong!" 

Smiling at Evelyn's way of expression, Valeria explained gently. "The reason for this is because Soul Strands are rather fragile compared to real souls. Didn't you see her start to dissipate right away when she came into contact with the space outside of her trial? It was strong but similarly fragile. Of course, if any of you faced her, you'd be in deep trouble and would've lost, most likely. Only Angel might've had the chance to defeat her thanks to Mirrory other than Yasenia and Tatyana."

Kali asked, curious. "How about us?"

Valeria rubbed her chin. "Difficult… But we wouldn't be as helpless as the rest."

"Oh?" Sierra was surprised by that answer. "Even you would be in trouble, Lady Valeria?"

The Nature Queen nodded. "I am a creature with a very strong soul as a spirit. However, I am currently limited to mortal-level strength. Therefore, it would've been a very close battle. As I said, only Yasenia, Angel, and Tatyana had a chance against her in the Soul World. Outside of it… We were just lucky that she didn't decide to kill us."

"Indeed."

The ethereal voice coming from the side caught their attention, and everyone looked over. The Moon Spirit Qilin entered their sight, slowly walking over toward them. Evelyn crossed her arms and snorted. "You actually have the gall to appear? What's the meaning of this?"

The Spirit Beast looked at Evelyn and spoke, its tone calm. "I am here to fulfill the promise and become Cecile's Spirit."

Yasenia looked over, her face cold. "Do you think I will accept someone like you? You set all of us up in the Soul Strand's trap without a single strand of remorse, and now you appear as if nothing happened?"

The Qilin paused, looking at Yasenia with its ten eyes. Then, it spoke again softly. "I needed to become complete again if I wanted to make a contract with Cecile. Hence, it was necessary to go through this regardless."

"Ha!" Yasenia's lips arched, but her eyes were not smiling at all. "For you, if the Moon Goddess succeeded or not, it didn't matter, right? After all, you'd be doing the contract with this body, even if the soul inside is a different one."

The Qilin was silent, and Yasenia took the silence as confirmation, making her golden pupils start to be tainted with red again. "Leave."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Hm?"

The Qilin blinked, surprised. "What do you mean?"

Yasenia spoke again, her eyes squinting. "I told you to leave-."

"Don't."

Yasenia paused and looked down. Cecile was looking at her with a gentle gaze, her icy blue eyes gorgeous like Sky Pearls glittering in the sunlight. "I want to make the contract with Fluffy."

The dragoness couldn't help but frown, and she spoke somewhat firmly. "I don't agree. It basically threw you to the wolves to get what mattered to it!"

Cecile smiled softly and raised her arm, caressing Yasenia's cheek with her cold but gentle touch. "I know. It doesn't matter. Once the contract is done, it will be loyal."

"But…"

"Tengliu."

Yasenia flinched when Cecile said that name. Cecile raised her eyebrow and smiled. "You forgave that person. I should be able to do something similar at least once, no?"

Yasenia muttered. "But… The situation…"

"I don't want excuses." Cecile patted Yasenia's cheek, and the dragoness grumbled. Still, she relented after giving the Spirit Beast a cold glare that made it flinch. "If you ever do something like this, I'll make you wish for death."

Cecile jumped down from Yasenia's embrace and walked toward the Qilin with brisk steps and a smile. She was finally going to have a contracted spirit! Cecile didn't have anything else besides her talent and bloodline, so this was a big step in her long journey to slowly catch up with her extraordinary soulmate.

Moreover, this Spirit Beast didn't look any weaker than Soluna. "However… Fluffy can't really be your name, eh?"

Cecile looked at the Qilin and smiled faintly when she saw surprise in the Qilin's ten eyes. Cecile blinked. "Couldn't you tell that I was joking?"

'Who can!?' The Qilin complained since this new master of hers seemed to be quite emotionally… lacking. Of course, the Qilin didn't know that she was in for a big surprise after making the contract, and she would always mock her past self for thinking as such. 

Cecile extended her hand, caressing the snout of the majestic creature, and eventually, she spoke. "Your name will be… Fylia." 

Fylia blinked its ten eyes, surprised when she heard that. She really liked the sound of it and pushed against Cecile's hand. "... My name, from now on, will be Fylia, Master."

Cecile frowned. "Don't call me Master. In our family, Master-servant relationships are not to be treated like such. You will be my companion and my partner for an eternity. Hence, you are to call me by my name."

Fylia couldn't help but feel a strange sense of relief washing over herself. To be fair, no being in existence was willing to give up their freedom with a contract as restrictive as a Spirit Contract would. However, hearing Cecile's words and sensing her sincerity, Fylia could somewhat expect that her future wouldn't be as grim or dark as some tales she had heard in the past.

After that, Cecile and Fylia started the ritual to become contracted. It took three days and three nights to complete, but they eventually sealed their bond and became tightly interlocked, like Soluna and Yasenia.

Yasenia would not hold a grudge against someone who had become family. Hence, she approached and patted her snout once the formal ritual was finished and successful to reassure the Spirit Beast. "Fylia, you are now family. Hence, I will forgive your past. From now on, please work hard to protect Cecile and grow together with her. I am sure that both of you can reach heights like no other if you work together."

Thanks to their strangely interlocked connection, the Spirit Beast felt Yasenia's sincerity through Cecile's soul, and she nodded thoughtfully. "I will do my best, Yasenia."

"Also, since you are a spirit and sound like a girl, you are a girl from now on! Quite a trend we continue to follow…"

Evelyn laughed. "Indeed. It feels like not many males will join our ranks in the future, eh?"

The dragoness tilted her head. "It's not like we've been avoiding them, no?"

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "We have not, but they have been avoiding us!"

"Huh?" The gorgeous and extremely attractive dragon woman asked cluelessly. "Why would they avoid us?"

Everyone deadpanned while looking at her, and seeing that she was expressing genuine confusion, even Fylia was astounded. Looking at Cecile, Fylia asked. "Does your soulmate not understand how devastatingly attractive she is to males? I would honestly praise any male that can stay by her side for more than a few hours without trying or attempting to woe her." 

Cecile smiled faintly and began her first barrage of thoughts to Fylia. 

"Well, she does understand that she is extremely attractive. However, she seems unaware that they usually just avoid her to avoid any problems. Her close circle has had quite a few exceptions since she was little. One of the clearest ones is Oliver, and thanks to that…"

Fylia looked at the deadpan of her Master as word after word assaulted her mind, and she just didn't know how to react. '... Wasn't my master cold and someone who treated words like gold!? What is this!?'

After this intense adventure, the rest of the exploration of the Moon Swallowing Mountain continued. They had around one month left to explore, and they didn't plan to waste it.