Chapter 45: Scorpion is the savior.

"So, what solution have you found?" asked Lady Valerie, leaning forward, her jewelry clinking nervously. "It took us years to re-establish earth to this state. We cannot go back to the dreadful years of the apocalypse. You have sat on this knowledge for years, so I assume you haven’t been sitting on your hands all along."

"Of course not." Trinity said with a faint, tired smile. "We have been doing what we are supposed to do. For years, we have been sending specialist teams led by chosen Soul maidens beyond the veil, to find the best of the best resonance stones.

A Somnivore’s resonance core would be the best of course, but no one has seen a Somnivore in over two decades. Anyway, the stones are our most urgent problem. You can’t find high-ranking beasts with the highest-grade resonance stones around here anymore.

That’s why we started the secret missions. It is why some of the Soul maidens from your nations have never been seen or heard from again. These are suicide missions, making it back is never guaranteed."

The leaders exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"The situation did seem to take a turn once," Trinity’s voice softened, "when Zena Scorpion took charge. Somehow, by some absolute miracle, she found a way to easily locate hidden dungeons beyond the veil. We need 99 high grade pure stones, the best of the best. Thanks to her, we managed to acquire 33."

Her Ladyship Valerie let out a long, heavy sigh, her eyes misting over with memories. "We all remember Zena. What a woman. A fierce hunter... heaven knows she could have been a truly great Divine Soul Maiden if things had gone differently."

Hearing those words, Trinity pinched her lips together tightly. It felt like a slap to the face, though she knew Valerie didn’t mean it that way. Even today, years later, Trinity could still hear the nasty whispers in the holy residence corridors. ’If Zena hadn’t died, Trinity would be a common soul maiden.’

She swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth, forced her lips into a warm, practiced smile, and nodded. "Yes. We all loved Zena," Trinity said, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness. "And that is exactly why I personally asked the Mayor to look after her daughter when she passed on. I wanted the girl to have a good family. A normal, boring life with chores and bedtime stories, at least until she awakened her bloodline. We were counting on the genetic lottery to bring back Zena’s miracle. That somehow, the ability to locate dungeons was passed on in her DNA."

"So, you are saying that our survival depended on the Scorpion village girl?" Jackson Hughes, the representative of the hunting guilds said flatly.

The room went quiet again, but this time, it was a thoughtful silence. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

"Yes, but we all know what happened on Resonance Day," Trinity said, her voice dropping an octave. "The girl didn’t awaken her bloodline. Her half-life beast turned out to be a useless common snake. Nothing special happened to her at all!!" She raised her voice in frustration, which was not normal. She exhaled and calmed herself. "She claimed her soul had been corrupted and out of panic, fled into the Wild lands."

"And whose fault is that?!" Gregory snapped, slamming his fist on the table. He stood up, glaring across the room. "I blame the Mayor! You completely mishandled the situation! Placing a bounty on a scared young woman’s head? What were you thinking?! You are the one that has everyone excited and hunting for her."

The Mayor turned bright red. "I was under pressure to find her as quickly as possible. I don’t believe that she is dead, hence the reason why the bounty is still up. If anyone has any better ideas on how to find her, you are welcome to share."

"Well, a simple invitation here would do the trick, I reckon. Even picking her up in a convoy protected by soldiers would have been better. Knowing how important this is, you should have personally attended the Resonance ceremony and brought her to the capital right after." Gregory said lazily. "Putting a bounty on her was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. Now, every greedy hunter, every mercenary, and every literal lunatic with a weapon is out in the Wild lands trying to hunt her down.

Have you ever seen wild starving wolves fighting over a lamb? They will kill each other and the lamb in the process. That is what you have created.

What if the hunters kill her? What if they’ve already killed her? If she dies, our only radar for those resonance stones dies with her. You might have just signed our death warrants because you wanted to play tough guy!"

The Mayor opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out.

"Reports coming in confirm that she maybe dead." Trinity revealed. Her voice dropped to a quiet, heavy tone that chilled the room. "Such sad news."

A collective shift went through the leaders. To be honest, they had all heard about this from whispers floating around their own nations over the past few days. But back then, they hadn’t really cared. But things were different now.

The mayor, however, wasn’t buying it. He slammed his palm on the table, his eyes bloodshot. "I don’t care what the reports say! I will only believe that after I see a body part! A hand, a foot, a finger.... anything! Until then, I am not giving up!"

"Oh, stop being so stubborn," Jackson grunted. He rubbed his temples, looking thoroughly exhausted by all the politics. "Even if that rumor isn’t true, we can’t just sit on our hands and do nothing. We can’t just cross our fingers and pray to the heavens that this Zyra Scorpion is alive somewhere out there, waiting to save us. Hope is not a strategy. We must take things into our own hands."

Lady Valarie nodded slowly. The anger from earlier had faded into deep, human worry. "Jackson is right. The soul maiden is broken. Even if she’s alive, she may not be able to awaken her bloodline or sniff out these hidden dungeons. What happens then? If she fails, do we just sit here and wait to become Somnivore bitches and monster food? Surely, we must have another plan. A Plan B!"

Jackson leaned forward, his muscular arms resting heavily on the round table. "We need to go back to the old ways. I’m talking mandatory military enlistment for every single male and female in good health. Compulsory military training for those who can’t fight or shoot. If the world is ending again, everybody works. No exceptions, not even for Soul maidens."