My Celestial Ascension

Chapter 911: A Huge Crisis

Nerith arrived at the place where her brother and sister-in-law were. As soon as she entered, Rhex and Varia looked at her with strange smiles on their faces.

“What’s with those looks? Is there something funny on my face?” Nerith asked, raising her eyebrows with a puzzled expression.

“Oh, it’s nothing. We were just discussing you finally deciding to start a relationship with a man. After all, you’re already at the age to have a couple of children,” Varia said with a playful smile.

“Indeed,” Rhex nodded with a grin. “If not for that stubborn attitude of yours, your children would have already started having their own families by now.”

“Alas, you were never interested in finding a partner…” He sighed softly, shaking his head.

Upon hearing this, Nerith’s expression changed, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Stop with that nonsense in front of me… have I not made myself clear that I’ll only focus on becoming stronger? And having children would bring responsibilities that would only slow me down,” she said with a fierce look, irritation evident on her face.

She continued, “And besides, I’d never marry someone weaker than me. He has to be strong enough to match my strength or defeat me in a serious duel.”

“Unless a man possesses all these qualities, he isn’t even worthy of polishing my shoes,” Nerith finished her words and sat down on the empty sofa.

“Hmm… now that you’ve said that,” Emperor Rhex looked at her with a wide grin and said, “Weren’t you just defeated by Yuan? Heck, you even took some private time together in the bathroom.”

“…” Nerith looked at her brother with her mouth slightly open, seemingly in disbelief.

Seeing the look on her face, Varia let out a wide grin. After all, they had finally managed to corner Nerith in a position from which she couldn’t escape.

“I’ve never seen you get close to any man before, not to mention sharing a bath together…” Varia added, further fueling the fire.

Emperor Rhex looked at her with a teasing grin and said, “So, what’s going on between you two? Did you already fall for him after being defeated, even though this is the first time you’ve met him?”

“T-That… I… um… uh…” Nerith tried to speak, but no clear words escaped her mouth; she couldn’t even process her thoughts properly.

’Am I really attracted to him? Was I truly acting like a young maiden in love? How could this be? We only shared a bath together, and it’s not a big deal…’ She pondered inwardly, feeling deeply puzzled by her own behavior.

Before meeting Yuan, she had never shared a bath with anyone. Not even with other women. And she had certainly never shown any interest in a man.

And yet, she now found herself greatly interested in Yuan. At first, she had only been curious about him, as he was the first human she had met in a thousand years; that much was completely normal.

However, after the duel—after experiencing a defeat she had never expected—her view of him had completely changed.

It had begun in the middle of the duel. His strength had surprised her, making her curious about him—his training methods, his experiences, and his adventures on the other continents before coming here.

However, now that she thought about it, she had grown awfully close to him despite meeting him for the first time today. She had never been so fascinated by someone of the opposite gender before.

Sure, he was very handsome—perhaps the most handsome man she had ever met in her entire life. But it wasn’t merely his appearance that drew her in; it was his aura that truly made her curious about him.

’Am I really attracted to him? Am I in love with him?’ she asked herself, feeling like a puzzled girl who knew nothing about love.

’I was comfortable around him… I’ve never felt so comfortable with anyone before, not even with my own family… it’s very strange. I even let him look at my naked body…’ she thought, remembering what had happened inside the bathroom.

As soon as she recalled that moment, she felt a unique sensation bloom inside her heart, and it began to beat faster within her chest.

’What a strange feeling… I’ve never felt like this before… just what is happening to me…?’ she wondered, unable to understand it, as it was something completely unfamiliar to her.

“What happened? Why did you go silent?”

Suddenly, Rhex’s voice resounded, pulling her back to reality, and her face immediately flushed red.

“It has nothing to do with you, so shut your disgusting mouth. It makes me sick,” Nerith quickly regained her composure and spoke, her voice filled with irritation.

However, inwardly she felt extremely embarrassed, as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t. She realized that she was indeed very attracted to Yuan, in a way she could neither fully understand nor describe.

“Ahem!” Nerith cleared her throat and said, “I’m here to tell you something very important, and it’s not good news.”

“Is it related to those abominations outside the border?” Rhex immediately turned serious, fully aware of the weight of the situation.

“Indeed,” Nerith nodded, a grave look appearing in her eyes as she explained, “Our scouts have discovered something truly terrifying in the desert—something that would give goosebumps to anyone.”

“What’s the situation?” he asked, bracing himself for the worst possible news.

The atmosphere in the room shifted, and a heavy tension filled the air.

Varia tightly clutched the hem of her dress, her expression tense as she waited for Nerith to reveal everything.

Nerith took a deep breath before speaking, her voice cutting through the oppressive silence in the room.

“Our scouts have found a massive army of undead soldiers marching toward us… their number exceeds a million.”

“Over a million…” Rhex’s face turned pale immediately upon hearing this, and his breathing became unsteady.

Varia was so shocked that she covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes widening in disbelief.

“Indeed. As soon as I received the news, I rushed back here without delay,” Nerith nodded, her voice firm.

She continued, “However, we still have time. They will reach our border within a few weeks. We must mobilize every soldier and prepare for war. There is no time to waste, or it will be too late to stop them from crossing.”

“This is… hard to believe… How are we supposed to face a million undead? We don’t even have one hundred thousand soldiers…” Varia took a deep breath, her mind thrown into chaos by the revelation.

“Calm down. They are not here yet; we still have a chance,” Nerith said, trying to ease the despair in Varia’s heart. “We must immediately inform the other nations. That is the only way we can survive this crisis.”

Then, with a resolute look on her face, she added, “I’m planning to leave tomorrow for the Vampire Kingdom to inform them of the situation as soon as possible, or it may already be too late.”

“This is not a war where only we will be in danger… every living being on this continent will be threatened once they cross the border.” She said this before standing up from the sofa and leaving the room, leaving the two of them alone.