"Putting Poppy aside for now, who are the rest?" Alcott leaned back on his chair, and Pollo took a deep breath.

"Berth and Vincent, those two had also went insane, but they are too far for us to reach now." He looked at Alcott. "You remember them, right? The Sea King Berth and Behemoth Vincent."

"Both top-class A-rankers." Alcott rubbed his eyes, "I’ve heard rumors, but never got anything solid."

Alcott then shifted his gaze to Arad. "Berth is a half-blood merman, and Vincent is half-blood giant, half-monster. They went with us through many quests and were truly reliable. Berth helped us said the Dead Sea safely, and Vincent was an unmovable tank."

"We’ll need a list." Arad stood, flicked his finger, and the cell’s door opened up. "First, let’s get Pollo into a decent place to rest, and we’ll finish talking about this in the morning. I’m sure both of you would need time to figure things out."

He then turned around. "I know the others are important, but our priority is Poppy since she is close. I don’t think she’ll be stupid enough to attack this place directly with me around, but since we aren’t sure of her mental state, anything is possible."

Alcott stood as well. "I understand. Poppy is smart, so she must’ve felt your presence and power the moment you connected with her. She won’t attack us directly, but she might try some indirect methods."

Pollo stood as well, patted the dust off his shoulders, and then looked at Arad. "She might poison your water supplies, the goods coming into the city, spread diseases, or even slowly kill your trading partners to weaken you. While we all often preferred to attack bandit camps directly, she always suggested that we starve them first."

"I’d love to see her try. I myself might be an average alchemist, but I’ve got two people that cannot be bested when it comes to alchemy."

Back in the castle, Arad had just finished with Lexi and let her fall face-first on the bed, exhausted and dripping rivers. She probably won’t wake up for hours, so he should move to the next one, Ganta.

The maids rushed in to clean Lexi and move her out of the way, and at that time, someone knocked on the room’s door and immediately pushed it open. The maids scrambled to close the door, but they were no match for the harrowing power of the three-meter-tall giantess who stormed inside with a blushing, horny face.

"Arad!" Claug walked past the maids and humped on the bed, clamping her arms around him. "Were they so boring that you had to call me? Don’t worry, I’m always ready."

Arad looked at her with a tired face. "I’m pretty sure I just told you to watch out for a possible attack with alchemy. I didn’t call you here."

She grabbed him by the flesh and glared at him with a scary smile. "I know, but if you’re calling me about the possibility of such an attack. I have to ask for details."

Arad sighed and had to explain everything to her while everyone else listened, their faces contorting with worry, but Claug remained calm. "So, it’s that un-child demon. We’ve never seen eye to eye, but we had to trade some rare herbs from time to time."

Claug did seem to have a short history with Poppy, as both of them were great alchemists. While Claug mainly focused on poisons and diseases, Poppy had a more general approach and a great interest in all kinds of cures and remedies. They often were forced to exchange rare herbs, minerals, and ingredients that couldn’t be found anywhere else.

"Poppy looked like a child and acted like one. She’ll frown, mess around, and throw a tantrum when she doesn’t get what she wants, but all of that is just an elaborate act to make people drop their guard around her." Claug looked at Arad and the other wives.

"Poppy wanted to cure herself from vampirism, true, even I knew that. But it’s not for the reason you think. She didn’t hate the power; she hated being Vlad’s blood slave, she hated being under someone else’s control." Claug pointed at Arad. "Mentally, she is more deranged than Vlad himself. I myself would rather not fight her, because she has no morals or creed; she’ll do anything to win."

"That isn’t like what I heard. Did you know of anything she did?" Arad asked, and Claug closed her eyes. "Poppy hunted children to kill and steal their bodies. She isn’t staying young because of some magic or medicine; she is swapping bodies every few years to remain a child. I don’t know the exact method, but I know she had already given over a hundred bodies."

"What?" Arad gasped, and Claug wasn’t done.

"Don’t get me started on her experiments. She played with everyone from humans to elves and dragons; I even once heard that she kept a handsome demi-god locked in her basement to milk for divine magic. At one time, she funded the building of an entire town, only to then use its people in a pestilence experiment and kill them all."

Unlike anyone that Arad had faced so far, Poppy is bound to be one of the most troublesome ones. "You’ll hold the fort, while father and I go with a friend to find and hunt her down. I believe she had turned into the same kind of hybrid monster as I am."

Claug frowned. "To think she had reached such a height before anyone else. I’ll need to honor her effort and talent then." She stood, "Count on me. She might be talented, but I’m a bigger monster than anything she could ever become."

Claug then looked at the others in the room. Aella was sitting beside the bed, Kaede on her head, and Ganta on the bed in front of Arad, ready to start her turn. Lexi was on the couch, fast asleep, and she could hear Zephyr humming in the bath.

"Then, I’ll leave you to your fun. I’ll go and prepare countermeasures for her. I’m certain that if she attacked, we’ll face a huge disaster unless I’m fully prepared." She then threw one last glance at Arad.

"Do you know what her nickname was? And I’m not talking about the un-child, she-devil, or something like that. I’m talking about what the common people knew her as."

Arad shook his head, and Claug spoke. "The Blessed Child of God, to the common people, she was a divine child blessed with vast knowledge and the power to cure any disease and heal any wounds with her alchemy. Many almost worshipped her, even though she used them for experiments. I guess she is in a similar situation to Fernanda."

Claug left and didn’t think about Poppy much longer. He already learned all he needed to learn, and now had to leave the rest to time. It would be best if he let her attack first, because she’ll always run away if he is the one to attack first.

But for now, he has something else to worry about. A vicious, relentless, and hungry woman in front of him who needed some care. She probably won’t be as easy to tame as Lexi, so he had to put in some effort and focus a bit.

"Come on! I’ve been waiting..." Ganta called to him, and he leaned toward her. "Sorry for the wait. A few things came out, you see..."

She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him close. "I don’t care about things coming out, I want something to come in, and now."