Chapter 116: I will swear for Hana
"Swear it by your tails." Raiden suddenly declared and Lord Kaelen furrowed his brows. How dare this child tell him to swear by his tails?
"Hold your tongue!" Celene hissed venomously. "How dare you ask His Excellency to swear by his tails?"
"No, you hold your tongue, witch." Hana retorted and then turned to Raiden. "What does swearing on his tail do?"
"For a fox, our tails are our life line. So swearing on them marks an everlasting oath," Raiden explained, his emerald eyes locked onto his grandfather. "If this old man goes back on his word, he will lose the power of his tails."
The grand chamber instantly erupted into a furious uproar. Several elders stood straight up from their granite platforms, bared their teeth, and let out sharp, echoing snarls.
"Hold your tongue, brat!" Celene hissed venomously, her eleven crimson tails thrashing against the white stone pillars so hard the air cracked like whips. "How dare a half-breed rogue demand His Imperial Excellency to put the very foundation of the Crimson Line on a wager for a weak, hairless human! Your head should be on a pike for such insolence!"
"No, you hold your tongue, witch. Your head would suit better on a pike." Hana retorted, her voice cutting through the noise like a cold scalpel, completely ignoring the flaring tempers in the room.
Lord Kaelen raised his hand, his single sharp claw instantly silencing the chaotic uproar. He stared down at Raiden, his pristine white fur bristling with a dangerous, deeply insulted dignity.
To ask a High Sovereign to swear by his tails was the ultimate disrespect, but the old fox was entirely convinced Hana was running a desperate bluff.
"You demand an oath of blood, child," Kaelen said, his deep baritone dripping with a heavy, transactional chill. "The Crimson Line does not fear an everlasting oath. It is a fair request to ensure the validity of a contract. However..." He leaned forward, his predatory eyes narrowing into thin slits as he shifted his focus back to Hana. "...this bargain is entirely weighted in your favor. If a fox swears by his tails, he binds his core. But what can a human swear upon? You have no claws, no magic, and your word means nothing to the ancestral spirits. If you fail tomorrow, what is to stop you from going back on your word and ordering your dragon to burn my valley out of spite?"
The elders muttered in dark agreement, their sharp eyes scanning Hana’s unyielding posture. The old fox was smart. He knew that in a primitive, bloodline-driven world, a human’s verbal promise had no spiritual anchor. He wasn’t about to lock his own capabilities into a binding oath while leaving his opponent free to cheat.
Hana ran a quick mental simulation. The old man was trying to trap her in a logical deficit, entirely unaware that his assumption of her weakness was his biggest operational flaw. She opened her mouth to speak, but a heavy step forward cut her off.
Caspian stepped directly into the space between Hana and the throne, his massive, dark-plated form casting a giant shadow over the stone floor. He gave a heavy thwack of his scaled tail against the granite, his golden eyes slitting into savage predator needles as he glared up at the Sovereign.
"I will swear on her behalf," Caspian rumbled, the terrifyingly hot orange glow at the base of his throat flaring brightly. "If my mate fails to make those iron walls move tomorrow, and we refuse to leave this valley as promised, I will shed my own scales. Every single one of them."
A sharp gasp echoed from the lower platforms.
For a dragon, his scales were his absolute pride, his armor, and the very symbol of his apex dominance. Stripping a dragon of his scales was a fate worse than death; it would leave him vulnerable, disgraced, and broken.
Hana felt a sudden, strange warmth thump against her chest. She looked up at Caspian’s broad back, her fingers tightening slightly against her tablet.
She knew he wasn’t doing this out of reckless emotion—he was stepping up because he had absolute, unwavering faith in her terminal capabilities.
He knew she had already mapped out the layout of the world’s infrastructure. He was so confident she would win that he was willing to throw his highest pride onto the ledger just to lock the old fox into the deal. Still... It felt nice.
Kulu let out a sharp, approving whistle from Hana’s right, his steel-sharpened feathers scraping together with a metallic click that signaled his total alignment with Caspian’s bet.
Lord Kaelen looked at the massive dragon king, then at Hana’s cold, smirking expression. The terms were balanced now. A Sovereign’s tails against a Dragon’s scales.
"Very well," Lord Kaelen said, his white, red-tipped tails suddenly flaring out into a massive, blinding fan that radiated a sharp, static pressure through the hall. "By my blood, and by the Eleven Spires, I swear upon my tails to honor the contract tomorrow."
Caspian bared his razor-sharp fangs, his claws digging into the stone. "By my core and my lineage, I swear upon my scales."
Chime.
The system window blinked with a heavy, golden confirmation text.
> [QUEST UPDATED: THE TWIN PILLARS BET]
> Current Objective: Open Aegis Bunkers 03 and 04 at sunrise.
> Time Remaining: 18 Hours (At Sunrise).
> Current Quest Progress: 55%
Hana swiped the notification away with a casual flick of her thumb, her dark eyes locking onto the High Sovereign one last time.
"The deal is registered," Hana said flatly, her voice entirely unbothered by the heavy spiritual weight of the oaths. "Now, be a good host and show us a good resting place. I’ve had a long walk, my baby is hungry, and I don’t intend to repeat myself tomorrow."
Lord Kaelen’s jaw tightened at her blunt, dismissive command, but with the binding oath now etched into his tails, he simply waved his hand.
Celene snapped her fingers, her face twisted in a look of pure disgust as she signaled a group of low-tier servants to escort them out of the grand chamber.
They were led deep into the secondary court, far away from the heavy pressure of the spires, and shown into a lavishly decorated guest pavilion.
The floors were covered in thick, woven silks, and the large stone windows looked out over the quiet inner gardens of the valley.
