All the fox beastfolk trembled, some nearly dropping to their knees out of fear as they witnessed the clash between two monarchs.
Of course, they knew that the strength of the Alpha of the West Wolf was on par with their Fox Lord, or perhaps even greater if he was enraged.
After all, wolves were stronger and more agile by nature.
It was thanks to the Fox Lord’s incredible mastery of magic that the foxes were able to have their own territory.
Gareth lunged and attacked again, only for his strike to be intercepted by another invisible barrier.
But then he pivoted and attacked from the flank, to which Ren quickly responded by blocking him with one of his tails.
Then, Ren counterattacked with fox fire from one of his tails, and Gareth’s instincts worked quickly, forcing him to dodge before the flames could hit him.
The fox fire struck a nearby tent and burned it to the ground.
Like an inextinguishable flame, the blue fire lingered on the ground even after the tent had been reduced to ashes.
The fight was so terrifying that nobody dared to stop them.
Instead, the foxes actively tried to get away from the crossfire.
They did not want to be burned alive by their lord’s eternal flame, nor did they want to be decapitated by the wolf’s claws.
As the clashes between the two monarchs continued outside the tent, Lily finally snapped out of her daze after a while.
She still could not process what she had just done.
Why hadn’t she pushed Ren away when he kissed her?
Why had she liked it?
Weren’t they enemies?
She had always intended to save everything, including her first kiss, for the man she would eventually marry.
She did not know who that man would be, and she had never thought it would be Gareth at first because she believed he was simply teasing her whenever he talked about bringing her to his hometown and marrying her.
On top of that, he had mentioned that he would have to return to his hometown eventually and would never come back to the barn.
Despite the aching feeling that thought had left inside her, Lily dared not place too much hope in Gareth and simply thought of him as an overprotective older-brother figure.
Lily touched her still-wet lips, reminiscing about her first kiss with the Fox Lord, and realized that she liked it.
No, she really liked it.
And that meant she wanted to experience it again.
She was horrified by her own thoughts.
She did not understand what was wrong with her mind or why she felt something so hot and strange right beneath her navel.
However, she did not have much time to ponder it because she suddenly heard another growl outside the tent.
“GRRHHH!” That growl sounded so familiar that Lily immediately remembered the first time she had found Gareth.
He had not groaned even when she treated his wounds, but he had growled instead, low and guttural, just like a beast.
Oh no, Gareth!
Lily rushed out of the tent and witnessed the Fox Lord fighting against a huge black wolf, a beast that was twice the size of a regular wolf often found in the Great Forest.
She was shocked at first by the sight of such a ferocious wolf, but then she saw those deep blue eyes.
They were unmistakable.
“GARETH!” Gareth stopped attacking immediately.
He turned his head, and his deep blue eyes glinted with possessive desire when he saw Lily staring at him with worry.
She was still fully dressed, with dirt stains all over her clothes, which made sense because his nose had picked up a moment when her scent had trailed away from Ren before returning again.
She had probably tried to run away, only to fail.
Gareth was glad that Lily seemed to be untouched…
Until his gaze halted at her lips.
His gaze deepened before a blaze of fury lit up behind his pupils.
He jerked his head toward Ren, his killing intent suddenly open and unmistakable.
The Fox Lord smirked when he saw his reaction.
“Did you just realize it?
You were so patient, protecting her for so long like a treasure, but it was I who took her first kiss.” Ren gave Lily a sidelong glance, and his smirk deepened.
“And she passed the first test.
I like her lips.
They’re the best I’ve tasted.” “BASTARD!” Gareth attacked like a mad wolf.
His attack carried far more weight than before, and everyone could see cracks spreading across the invisible barrier.
Then, in the next second, the barrier shattered like glass, forcing Ren to back away.
But Gareth did not want to waste any time.
His movement was so fast that it produced an afterimage, and he attacked again with his sharp claws.
This time, Ren finally lost his smirk.
He became serious and kept conjuring one barrier after another, yet each one was shattered the moment Gareth’s claws struck them.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more advantageous Gareth’s position became.
Knowing the situation was becoming unfavorable, Ren finally flew high into the air, and all nine of his tails lit up with blue flames at their tips.
The blue flames were extremely hot, causing the temperature around the camp to rise so rapidly that the fox beastfolk felt as though they were about to be boiled alive.
Ren knew this was the best time to kill this filthy mutt.
Despite being enraged, Gareth was still not in his best condition.
Gareth would have been able to severely injure Ren and push him to his limit if he were at his full strength.
Ren did not want to be pushed that far.
After all, his initial plan had simply been to use that stupid woman as leverage against the West Wolf Pack, squeezing their enemy’s territory dry before eventually tossing the woman back into Gareth’s embrace.
But Gareth was seeing red right now, and if Ren did not kill him now, then he would be the one who got killed.
It would be a mess if Ren arrived at the Court of Moonlight carrying the corpse of one of the monarchs.
But this was the Beast Realm, where the strong governed over the weak, was it not?
It was Gareth’s fault for losing his wolf.
“Let’s see if you can endure all these flames, you filthy mutt,” Ren said coldly.