Zephyr crushed all of the devils beyond repair; her power was so oppressive that she could just will them never to exist in her wind, which engulfed the whole globe. Each time those devils tried to resurrect, they would be instantly crushed until they gave up and decided to just resurrect in hell.

Of course, those devils weren’t stupid, and they tried to resurrect in places where Zephyr’s wind didn’t exist, like in the bowels of the earth, in the boiling lava of volcanoes, and in the cold sea. But their attempts all failed.

Zephyr wasn’t just the Wind Spirit Queen; she was the leader of all the Spirit Queens of the world. If she rejected someone from her domain, all the other Spirit Queens would do the same. So the devils found out that it didn’t matter if they tried to spawn in water, fire, or the earth; all of those would just crush them as easily as the wind; the entire mortal world had become actively hostile against them.

Zephyr sighed and looked back at Yuwaku.

"What are you doing?"

Yuwaku looked away with a pout.

"Nothing, Mom. I just tried to stretch my arms a bit."

Zephyr flew at her and headbutted her.

"You didn’t even use your beauty! Do you really think I’ll believe that just covering their eyes saved them from you? If you unleashed your true beauty, they would’ve died just from knowing you’re there."

Yuwaku looked away. "Mother, what do you take me for? A whore? I’m not going to show my true beauty to anyone."

Zephyr stared at her with a disappointed face.

"So the exception that anyone is the brat over there, right?" She looked at Agnar.

Yuwaku rushed around Agnar and hugged him from the back. "Just think about it, it’s not a matter of who can see my beauty, it’s a matter of who can see it and live. Of course, I’m going to stick around the only person who can handle me. Besides you and dad, of course."

Zephyr stared at Agnar for a second and sighed. "How come he can look at you without dying? That doesn’t make any sense." She flew away. "Anyway, try to stay safe. Don’t make me come and save you every time."

Obelisk remained still for a few minutes, then she slowly looked around, her eyes stopping at Yuwaku, who was with Agnar and Ignis. "That was your mother, Zephyr?"

"You can say that. We Nymphs don’t have parents; we have an origin of beauty, mine is Arad and Zephyr, whom I take as my mother and father."

Obelisk wanted to yell at Yuwaku for locking her away in the void just as the fight was about to start, but she didn’t say anything. For all she knew, that was the better decision.

Obelisk knew her limit; she could barely kill five of those devils before falling. She might be a powerful slime, but she is by no means that powerful. On the other side, Yuwaku managed to kill nineteen of the twenty devils on her own. Such a feat was proof that her power was in another class entirely.

If Obelisk and the rest remained out, they might’ve just got in Yuwaku’s way. On top of that, even though Yuwaku didn’t unleash her true beauty, it wouldn’t have been able to even if she wanted, if Obelisk and Ignis stayed, because she would kill as collateral damage.

Obelisk started to understand why Yuwaku kept getting close to Agnar and stuck close to him like that. If he is the only one who can bask in her beauty without getting killed, then he can break Yuwaku’s lonely life.

Most could never understand her struggle, but Obelisk could feel it. Having to shapeshift daily, always morph and twist her own body so she won’t kill everyone around her. Obelisk is a slime, a melon-sized blob of blue goo, yet she couldn’t live like that among humans; she has to take a humanoid form, which was more annoying than useful.

Arad and Gojo were in the same boat, dragons having to live as humans and keep their wild, true draconic side in check. But none of them had to worry about everyone around them dying if they shifted. Yuwaku, on the other hand, can’t. If she unleashed her true look and beauty, everyone around her would just die.

"Let’s move. The devils are dead, so nothing should get in our way." Obelisk started walking deeper into the forest, and the others followed her with careful steps.

The deeper they went, the colder it got. After several minutes, not even Ignis could keep herself warm, and Agnar was far too cold and wet to move.

Yuwaku had to carry Agnar on her back, and Ignis latched onto his back to keep him warm. The only two who could endure the cold without much trouble were Yuwaku and Obelisk.

"How are they doing?" Obelisk asked, and Yuwaku looked back with a worried face. "Not so good, we’ve been moving for a long while in the snow. We should camp and rest for a bit. Agnar must dry his clothes, especially the boots, before he starts losing fingers."

Obelisk nodded.

"Ignis is a wyrmling as well; she needs to eat and rest to keep her flames ablaze."

Obelisk’s body shifted, her arms turned into sharp blades and flashed across the air, cutting several trees down, shoveling the snow away, and digging a hole where the frigid wind couldn’t reach.

"Ah, you’re a slime, right?" Yuwaku looked at her, and Obelisk sighed. "Of course, don’t tell me you forgot."

Obelisk’s body melted into a tiny blue blob, and she rolled down the hole that was just made. Countless blue tentacles rushed out of her body, each turning into a different tool. Some became hammers, others turned into saws and swords, all working in tandem to process the chopped trees and build a small hut inside the hole.

Yuwaku was shocked, seeing the small hut coming to life, getting built in minutes by the countless wiggling, slimy tentacles of Obelisk. The building had two rooms, a living hall, a kitchen, and a washroom. Simple in design, but quite durable and warm, because the kitchen was effectively in the center and had a large fire pit.

Agnar changed into dry clothes, and Yuwaku kept Ignis company by the fire pit as they cooked some food for everyone to eat. Obelisk remained outside to cut more trees and build fortifications around their new base. It won’t take her more than an hour, and since they’ll sleep here, it is worth it.

Even though Zephyr dealt with those devils, there was no telling if there were more of them hiding inside the forest or not. There are monsters as well, all of which could come out at any time. Yuwaku and Obelisk were relatively safe as powerful beings, but Agnar and Ignis weren’t.

Obelisk sighed.

One thing had become clear: whoever is behind all of this can mobilize devils to do their bidding, so probably a Devil Lord, an abomination, or something greater.

"This is going to get worse, I can just feel it." She stared at the endless frozen trees spanning far into the horizon.